KOMO(SEATTLE) -- The Washington state teen who garnered national headlines after being turned in by his own grandmother over plans to commit a mass school shooting pleaded guilty to the charges on Thursday. Joshua OConnor pleaded not guilty to the charges when he was arrested in February, but submitted a new plea Thursday after coming to an agreement over the charges, according to Seattle ABC affiliate KOMO. He has been in custody since his arrest on Feb. 14, the same day as the Parkland school massacre, held on $5 million bond. O'Connor pleaded guilty to three charges on Thursday: first-degree attempted murder, first-degree robbery with a firearm and possession of explosive device. As part of the plea agreement, the prosecutor agreed to drop a weapons allegation on the attempted murder charge, according to KOMO-TV. "We do believe that it was important for Mr. O'Connor to take responsibility for what he did and be held legally accountable for the steps that he took," said Andrew Alsdorf, Snohomish County deputy prosecutor. The 18-year-old could face up to 28 years in prison when he faces sentencing in February 2019. O'Connor's grandmother, Catherine O'Connor, called police in February after discovering her grandson's journal, which outlined a plot to carry out a shooting at Aces Alternative High School in Everett, Washington. ABC News obtained a 911 call from Catherine O'Connor alerting police to the shooting plot. "What I'm reporting is I'm finding journal entries from my grandson," Catherine OConnor told the operator. "And he's planning on having a mass shooting at one of the high schools." At the time, KOMO obtained court documents detailing his violent journal entries. I need to make this shooting/bombing ... infamous," the student wrote, according to the court documents. "I need to get the biggest fatality number I possibly can. I need to make this count. ... I'm learning from past shooters/bombers mistakes, so I don't make the same ones." When police responded to the house, they found an AK-47 and grenades, police said. The armed robbery charge O'Connor pleaded guilty to stemmed from robbing a convenience store prior to the arrest for planning the school shooting. O'Connor was arrested just hours after Nikolas Cruz allegedly opened fire at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, killing 17 students and teachers. Copyright 2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Imagine you are ready to bring back home a full cart of Christmas food and gifts from the biggest supermarket in your neighborhood. At all the counters, long lines are gradually formed by dozens of people who are grumpy about waiting, while the cashiers are slowly scanning the bar codes on piles of items. Shopping might basically satisfy all of Maslows hierarchy of needs, but the last stop of such a pleasurable trip can sometimes be a nightmare. Now, this big challenge standing between the pleasures of shopping has been unshackled in China. (File pic of chips with RFID tags at a JD unmanned supermarket) Technology-driven business change Thanks to Chinas booming e-commerce, cashless payment has brought along many opportunities and the unmanned retail industry is one of them. It started off as do-it-your-self stores and cashier-free counters where customers could check out after scan and pay for their items. Then, soon afterward, facial recognition and motion capture technology were used, removing the final obstacle of waiting in line in shopping. According to the new book of China Machine Press, Unmanned Retail: Technology-driven Business Change, the unmanned retail industry is expected to reach 2 trillion yuan ($287.5 billion) in trade volume by 2022, with a total user frequency topping 245 million times. If the current retail industry follows the trends set by Japan and the US, that is, in the form of vending machines and supermarkets, then China is ushering in the reform of the new retail modes and might redefine the retail industry, Hector Tseng, senior director of the unmanned supermarket at the X Business Unit of Chinas e-commerce giant JD.com, said at the book launch event in Beijing in September. Beyond vending machines Traditional vending machines never took up the full stage of Chinas retail industry, but a new kind of retail is sprouting up in dozens of Chinese cities with thousands of machines from ready to serve residents and office workers. Similar to traditional machines, the special machines allow users to buy food only fresher, as the machines sell fruit, yogurt, and other fresh products that cannot be sold inside a traditional machine. People only need to log in to their account and the purchase procedure uses visual recognition or radio-frequency identification (RFID) reading, making it a simple and cashless process: door opens, goods taken, door closes, billed automatically. We know what is preferred in a different region and how much is needed every day. Is cherry more popular or chocolate cakes? Based on this data, we can guarantee the best appropriation of different products in each machine, so that the fruit will always stay fresh and will not go bad, Shang Xiaohang, Director of Strategic Cooperation Department of Missfresh, one of the machine suppliers, introduced at the book launch event. In addition to startups like Missfresh, many more companies have embraced the new technology-driven vending machines. At this years unmanned retail expo in Shanghai, several Chinese companies boasted their sophisticated, unique machines. However, many challenges remain for newcomers in the industry, including a high product damage rate and slow billing time. (File pic of a man takes out a glass of juice from a vending machine) Just walk out Meanwhile, some bigger companies have set their sights on something even bigger. Now, at JDs unmanned supermarkets, customers only need to log in to their shopping account and have their faces scanned before entering. After that, one can fully enjoy the completely free shopping experience. No more worries about long lines at the cashier. Just bring everything to a scanning zone for the radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags to be read and the shopping account will be automatically billed. No scan with a smartphone required. JD launched its first public unmanned supermarket in Yantai, east Chinas Shandong province, on December 30, 2017, beating its US counterpart Amazon Go by some 20 days, as the latter opened to the public on January 22. (File pic of a female customer having her face and goods scanned before leaving a JD unmanned store) New retail means data. The main point is to shorten the time spent on searching for something and checking out, Hou Xin, a solution architect at Amazons AWS Elemental, said at the same event, boasting Amazon Gos Just walk out Shopping experience. The US stores do not even require time for item scanning time, since motion capture technology and smart shelves are used to know what and how many items are taken away. Similar technology has also been under tested at JDs convenience store since October 2017 for future deployment at the companys unmanned supermarkets. With cameras on the smart shelves, the store will also be able to conduct thermal detection to analyze product popularity for better store layout another important factor for retail industry management. But all those giants lag behind the Chinese startup BingoBox, which launched the worlds first unmanned store as early as August 2016 in Zhongshan, south Chinas Guangdong province. BingoBox has entered 40 cities with hundreds of 24/7 unmanned stores, offering fast, self-served checkout service first with RFID tags and later with an independently designed checkout device that can automatically identify and calculate the prices of all items purchased. The new checkout device, according to BingoBoxs CEO Chen Zilin, can effectively bring down the labor cost of some 6.5 million family-run stores in China by half. BingoBox does not rely on high customer density. Instead the quality of the unmanned service can make it more easily survive in regions with fewer customers, hence providing more service than traditional retailers in the same area, Chen noted. The rising demands under the pressure of an aging society will give the industry a further spur, and with growing investment into the industry, the future of Chinas unmanned retail industry is no doubt promising, predicted Peng Jianzhen, secretary general of China Chain Store & Franchise Association (CCFA). (A BingoBox unmanned store stands outside a office building in a Chinese city. Photo courtesy of BingoBox) Kansas City, Mo. Formalizes Commitment to Data with a Departmental Name Change Indiana and Google Announce Expanded Digital Skills Training Program for the Incarcerated Pittsburghs PGH Lab Returns with Fourth Cohort 18F Launches Blog Series About What Its Like to Work There Want to Work in Gov Tech for Philadelphia? Now Is Your Chance Microsoft President: Rural Broadband Divide Can Be Bridged by Public-Private Cooperation More Civic Tech Reads This Week: A civic tech effort is making headlines this week, with The New York Times writing about an effort in which coders are working to build data-driven ways for tenants to overcome problems with bad landlords.These efforts have essentially existed in disparate iterations for some time. Examples include Heatseek , which primarily built a sensor that monitors whether landlords are meeting minimum temperature requirements set by the city, and the Displacement Alert Project , which was created by affordable housing advocates to visualizes areas where residents are at risk of being displaced. What made recent headlines, however, is a brewing idea that civic technologists involved in such work should band together into a formalized group.As thereports, coders concerned about landlord accountability have started to meet monthly in Brooklyn to focus and discuss their efforts, dubbing themselves the Housing Data Coalition. These meetings have already yielded one active project, specifically Who Owns What , which tenants can use to learn more about their landlords or their property management companies, including finding information about the other properties they own and whether they have committed past violations.That platform has a simple front end just enter your address into the space and a somewhat complicated backend that involves culling data from a number of siloed government agencies. According to the report, that database has already seen more than 4,500 unique users enter more than 20,000 searches. In other words, this is work with much demand.Kansas City, Mo., made a visceral commitment to open data this week, changing the name of its Office of Performance Management to DataKC A name is just a name, sure, but this actually feels significant for a couple of reasons. The office formerly known as performance management has spent nearly a decade working on data-driven governance culture change in that city. To change the name to actually include the word "data" is a small thing, perhaps, but it also suggests that work there has evolved to the point that much of city hall understands what data is and why it's needed. Second, being able to tell simpler stories about data work stories that non-technologists can easily grasp is a priority for municipal governments nationwide. DataKC, simply put, is way less wonky than the old name, to the point one assumes this shift will do wonders for users searching for the department.In addition to the name change, DataKC also announced it was implementing a scope of service that includes four areas in which they plan to partner with other public agencies on continued data work. The first area is customer feedback, which stresses the importance of taking resident-centered approaches to government work. The second is managing with data, which essentially urges public services to embrace data as a valuable tool. The third is continuous improvement, which is exactly what it sounds like, and the fourth is telling easy-to-understand stories with data, so that data isnt just something that government is throwing out into a void that no one notices.Indiana and Google are teaming up to expand a technology and business training program called The Last Mile, which works specifically with the incarcerated.Indiana Gov. Eric J. Holcomb and Google announced a grant aimed at expanding the program this week, noting that the money will in part go toward establishing a coding training for juvenile inmates. In addition, part of the $2 million grant will help pay for new computers and other technology for learners at Indianas womens prison.A testimonial from a past participant in The Last Mile program can be found here Pittsburgh is now working with 15 local startup companies to test projects that could eventually lead to contracts for the companies and effective digital solutions for the local government.The companies and the city are being brought together by a program called PGH Lab, which announced the new group of startups recently on its website . This is far from the first time the city has worked with its local private-sector talent.PGH Lab is coming back with a fourth cohort constituted by local startups and small businesses proposing solutions ranging from impact hub pop-ups, smart lots, smart facilities management, composting and environmental sustainability, IT network security, and business consulting, organizers wrote in a recent announcement. While participants are not guaranteed a city contract, in the past two companies have gone on to secure one, and the PGH Lab lends quite a bit of support for the development of ideas. Resources associated with the program include training from experts in the face, chances to test their product ideas in real situations and unique insight into the machinations of local government.This sort of program one aimed at facilitating better cooperation between municipal government and the local private sector is not unique to Pittsburgh. In fact, its actually one that is increasingly taking hold in cities across the country. One such program, Startup in Residence , has gone from local to international over the course of the past five years or so, growing from taking place strictly in San Francisco, to this coming year including 31 agencies, one of which is a state. Meanwhile, regional approximations continue to spring up in places like San Antonio The federal tech agency 18F has launched a new blog series, detailing what its like to be a product manager for 18F.The first part went live this week , and it details the role of product manager within the relatively new federal agency, which was first founded in 2014 and is far less well-known than the vast majority of older government work. Indeed, what this blog series seeks to do is give would-be government technologists a glimpse into its innerworkings, both describing the agencys role as well as that of the product manager. This is certain to be an especially relevant series of blogs for those considering moving from the private to the public sector.Speaking of finding new work in the public sector, Philadelphia is looking to do some hiring.The city, which recently did some reorganizing of its tech and innovation departments , now has some vacancies its looking to fill. Philadelphia Chief Data Officer Tim Wisniewski will step down Jan. 1, and as such the city is looking for a replacement . Responsibilities for that role include working with open data and GIS projects. In addition, Philadelphia is looking to hire a director of software engineering to help with modernization projects, organizing the tech team and other duties. Finally, the city is also looking to hire two senior engineers Also this week, Microsoft President Brad Smith wrote a piece about the rural broadband divide, describing it as an urgent national problem and suggesting it can be solved by a cooperative effort that specifically includes private sector investments and accompanying regulatory support from the government. (TNS) Leah Holzler may only be 8, but she already has a dream to create a Youtube channel dedicated to the joys of coding and computer science.Leah plugged in commands on her computer at Bay Haven School of Basics Plus Tuesday morning, watching as the short written cues on the computer created three cat figures dancing to the tune of Justin Bieber's "Sorry.""Coding is fun because you can change things, you can make things do so many cool things, you can make them change color and do different dance moves," Leah said. "Coding is awesome. I want to show people how awesome it actually is."For Bay Haven students, the first week of December marks their participation in Hour of Code, a global program intended to expose students to computer science education. Technology teacher Sarah Hu has spearheaded the program at the district's north Sarasota elementary school for the fourth year in a row.This year, she has also prioritized the involvement of female students through Bay Haven's chapter of Girls Who Code, a national program dedicated to getting young women interested in coding and computer science. Women tend to be under-represented in computer science, Hu said, but female elementary school students often outperform their male peers in science and math. It's at the middle school level where female students' participation tends to decline, she added."Early exposure is key," Hu said.Share your thoughts by joining the Herald-Tribune's Sarasota and Manatee Schools Facebook group.In her classes, she notices that boys and girls are often "totally equal" in their interest in computer science.Taeghan Scott and Emily Tindell sat next to each other on their respective computer screens, watching a video instructing them how to choose a dance move for their character and pick certain commands to change how often their character completed a dance and what size the character would be.The two female students represented the difference in interest many students have. Taeghan said she preferred to read, finding coding "sometimes confusing," while Emily admitted she had thought about pursuing technology as a career, though she is many years away from that reality."Sometimes coding gets my mind off of stuff when I'm mad," Emily said.If Leah's enthusiasm is any indication, maybe girls at the elementary school level are becoming increasingly confident in their coding abilities and, perhaps, the chance to make that their job one day.At one point, a classmate asked Leah to look at his work."I've already been through that level," she told him, "but you did a good job." Right after a natural disaster, say, a hurricane or major flood, there is usually an outpouring of generosity and support for those affected, often in the form of material needs. But a few weeks into the recovery effort, that support and all the donated goods that poured in dwindle.Often victims, having survived the initial onslaught, fall through the recovery cracks. They may not be covered by insurance or eligible for a small business loan, and the support FEMA can provide may be limited.There are many reasons why people may suffer disproportionately after disaster, said Lori Peek, director of the Natural Hazards Center at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Some of it is obviously financial, those living near or below the poverty line struggle to cobble together the necessary resources to adequately prepare or take action when disaster strikes. She said the elderly often possess less technological access and fewer social connections, and those for whom English is a second language are vulnerable as well.A recent article in the Raleigh, N.C., News & Observer suggested that as many as 10 percent of survivors fall into this category and often rely on the generosity of others for recovery.Recovery is a long, arduous process, even for those eligible for some assistance, such as FEMAs Individual Assistance Program. But for some, like those mentioned above, the process is even worse and many never fully recover. A year after Hurricane Harvey, many people are still in temporary housing.As a country, were now getting pretty good at immediate-relief response, said Bob Ottenhoff, president and CEO of the Center for Disaster Philanthropy. FEMA has a role, the big nonprofits like Red Cross and Salvation Army have roles, and there are many faith-based organizations that get involved. But long-term recovery is not as well coordinated, in part because the funds available are really kind of a crazy quilt of different sources.The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development provides assistance through various programs and there are philanthropic sources nonprofits, churches, businesses, individuals that provide relief, but navigating the process of getting that assistance can be a challenge.Ottenhoff said oftentimes the survivors might lack the wherewithal to navigate their way through the various sources and programs necessary to receive aid. One of the things that we see is that for people who are not well educated or have some sort of disability, getting through this maze is a really challenging thing.The extent of the recovery often depends on the nature of the disaster as well. Wildfires can cause total destruction, as is evident in Northern California where some people lost everything. Hurricanes cause wind damage and floods that leave a home with mold, mud and needing a lot of rehab.A lot of people who experience devastating floods dont have flood insurance. Up to 80 percent of victims in recent floods in Louisiana didnt have flood insurance. One reason is because the nation is experiencing considerably more 100-year, 500-year or 1,000-year floods than is normal, and often regular insurance policies dont cover water damage.Sometimes the disaster is not a national news item but is nonetheless devastating to a community and that community is left to recover largely on its own.Ottenhoffs organization tries to help by aiding the affected community in setting up a long-term recovery committee, which identifies community needs one family at a time. The committee is composed of local people who know the community and work with nonprofits, Ottenhoff said. You can lose your house and thats one thing, but often you may lose your business, your kids cant go to school and you may see a range of health issues.He pointed to the recent flooding of hog lagoons in North Carolina as a health concern that impacts long-term recovery.Ottenhoff said the nation should get more realistic about disasters happening with increased frequency and invest in mitigation efforts that serve recovery.And Peek said understanding that its happening isnt enough. We must also understand that social forces and dynamics render some groups all but invisible. (TNS) Self-driving cars are the future. An innovation that is projected to be an $800 billion business by 2035 double the size of the smartphone industry is impossible to stop.The present is another matter. Serious safety concerns demand a cautious approach. The story Nov. 30 about the Tesla Model S traveling down Highway 101 at 70 mph in driver-assist mode while its occupant was asleep behind the wheel, allegedly while under the influence of alcohol, makes that clear. Quick-thinking by highway patrol officers averted a potential disaster. This time. The next incident may not have such a good outcome.California updated its autonomous vehicle regulations earlier this year and began issuing state permits in April for public road operation of cars without drivers. And Congress is considering a self-driving car bill the AV START Act that would override the mishmash of regulations currently in place in 36 states.Regulating innovative technology has never been lawmakers strength. Very few have a background in science, much less tech expertise. The bill will die if it isnt passed by the end of the year. But Congress must not be rushed. It must take the time to get AV START right, even if that means starting over again in 2019.The issue is too important and has too many long-term repercussions to do otherwise. Its essential that Congress find the right balance between promoting innovation and addressing legitimate safety issues.Californias Dianne Feinstein is among those in the Senate expressing dissatisfaction with the language of the current bill. Consumer groups are adamant that Congress needs to do more to secure driverless cars from hacking. Theyre right. Congress must also toughen standards for what self-driving cars must recognize, including pedestrians, motorcycles and bicycles, and establish standards for how self-driving cars interact with people especially children.Beyond performance issues, transparency and oversight shortcomings need to be addressed. At a minimum, manufacturers and states should be required to report accidents involving self-driving cars and vehicles with driver-assist modes.The federal government needs to establish a database that informs the public on accident rates and technology performance issues.The database could work to automakers advantage if the results demonstrate that self-driving cars and vehicles with driver-assist capability are significantly safer than cars with drivers who often ignore basic safety rules. Human error is a serious issue, especially for elderly, teen and alcohol-impaired drivers. In 2016, 37,461 people died in traffic accidents in the United States. The U.S. Department of Transportation estimates that self-driving cars could reduce traffic fatalities by up to 94 percent. But that assumes that the technology works at optimal level.Surveys continue to show that nearly half of all Americans are wary of the safety of driverless vehicles. Manufacturers, consumer advocates and lawmakers should address that legitimate concern so the industry can reach its full potential. (TNS) A new system designed to make train travel safer after a string of crashes is being delayed again as railroads across the country including the San Francisco Bay Areas Caltrain ask for extensions of up to two years.I think the majority of commuter and passenger railroads, and even some freights, will ask for an extension, said Susan Fleming, director of physical infrastructure at Congress nonpartisan watchdog, the Government Accountability Office. Despite widespread support for positive train control the automated brakes that would override human error and potentially save lives smaller agencies are struggling to buy and set up the technology.That kicks the can down the road a bit, Fleming said.Among those commuter lines is Caltrain, which runs along the San Francisco Peninsula. For months it has hovered on a federal watch list of railroads that were at risk of missing the Dec. 31 deadline and getting hit with fines of up to $28,000 a day . Caltrain had installed 98 percent of the positive train control hardware by the end of October, but officials plan to request a two-year extension so they can test it and train the engineers.The San Joaquin Valleys Altamont Corridor Express is also on the watch list. Yet after months of jostling, spokesman Chris Kay said the rail line put equipment in place last week and will test it by the end of the year.ACE sped up the process by doing early trial runs on a partial system, using antennas that were recalled on the East Coast because they couldnt withstand heavy rain and snow. It has since swapped those parts for the correct antennas, Kay said.Each railroad has its own story, Fleming said. For some the challenge was money. Others had a limited pool of expertise ... and needed to hire people to make this happen.On top of that, she said, only a few vendors and suppliers make the software and do the testing.Congress set the timeline for all freight and passenger trains to incorporate positive train control after years of catastrophic accidents, in which trains overshot platforms, collided with posts or other vehicles, or hurtled off the track, sending passengers to their deaths. The mandate became more urgent last year, when an Amtrak Cascades train plunged from an overpass near Tacoma, Wash., killing three people, injuring many others and crushing cars on Interstate 5.But many railroads have struggled to build the intricate network of GPS monitors, wireless radio towers, track-side detectors and computers to automatically slow trains down when they approach curves or trundle into stations.Being a small but mighty rail line, we kind of get pushed to the back with these projects, Kay said, explaining why ACE has scrambled to catch up.Two big obstacles stood in the way, he said. First, only a few companies make this technology, and the competition to get it is stiff. Because ACE has only 13 passenger locomotives, it fell to the back of the line. Second, positive train control requires intense coordination. ACE runs on tracks owned by Union Pacific, which had to install the system before ACE could outfit its trains separately.Still, Kay said, theres an advantage to being small: We can install this equipment and get all the testing done quickly.Caltrains situation is even more complicated. The agency has folded positive train control into a huge modernization project that includes electrifying the rail cars . So officials have to test the new automated brakes at a time when workers are on the tracks, digging potholes and putting up wires for the new electric system. They expect to have positive train control fully operating along the Peninsula corridor by the end of next year.Some safety advocates are tentatively optimistic. Others are impatient.Weve been pressing for some form of positive train control for well over 40 years, said Chris ONeil, spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board. And theyve rolled it back, rolled it back, rolled it back. And now were on the brink of X number of railroads getting extensions, and one more deadline.Members of the safety board started rallying for positive train control in 1969 , when two Penn Central commuter trains crashed head-on near Darien, Conn., killing four people and injuring 43. But Congress was slow to react, even as technology improved and other deadly collisions showed the need to implement it.In 2008, 25 people died when a Union Pacific freight train collided with a Metrolink commuter train in Chatsworth (Los Angeles County), jolting the nation. That year federal lawmakers enacted the Rail Safety Improvement Act to require positive train control by 2015, a date they later pushed back.In the meantime, the countrys railways saw dozens more accidents with a common theme: An engineer, distracted or fatigued, misinterpreted a signal or paused to look at a cell phone. Legislators grappled with whether to enforce strict engineering requirements or go easy on agencies that lacked the money or manpower to build a complex control system.Officials at the Federal Railroad Administration set a hard line with the December deadline then extended it to 2020 for agencies that qualify. Robert Hall, director of railroad pipeline and hazardous materials investigations for the NTSB, said he hopes this will be the last postponement.Kay applauded the new train control system, which will speed up travel and allow trains to run more frequently, while improving safety.But he warned that positive train control is not an end-all, be-all safety feature. It wont help if someone runs across the track, for example, and wouldnt have prevented a 2016 mudslide in Sunol that derailed two ACE train cars and sent nine people to the hospital.Yet safety officials say it probably would have headed off last years deadly derailment in Washington. Amtrak officials said that train had positive train control, but the technology was not yet operating. 1. Enhance Crisis Management Training with Mobile Apps 2. Have a Backup Plan for Communicating 3. Use Platforms to Support Resource Management and Information Management 4. Use Social Media for Quick Alerts When disasters strike, they can create confusion as well as chaos in a community. Whether its natural disasters or human-imposed crises, these incidents pose a real risk to local and state governments, the systems they run and the people they serve.While there are many crisis management preventative measures to employ, including disaster rehearsals and crisis planning, technology helps accelerate and expand access to critical systems and resources. That is the reason why technology is crucial for crisis management. Consider using these effective methods for enhancing your crisis management plan:Training is a vital part of preparing for a natural disaster effectively. However, its important to provide access to this training in a dynamic way, and you can do it by creating a mobile app.You can upload updated copies of your crisis management content so that staff members can easily access the content from mobile devices. A mobile app also simplifies training on-the-go in new locations. This makes it easy to perform mock scenarios of a disaster and role-playing to test how well staff have learned since they can access the content from their phones or other mobile devices.The California wildfires offer a clear example of how important communication is during a disaster and how its crucial to have a backup plan. The Santa Clara County Fire Department experienced data throttling once their unit reached 25GB of use during the Mendocino Complex Fire this year. The data throttling significantly lowered the speed of their phone service and adversely impacted communications for responders, including impeding their ability to track firefighting resources and route them effectively.While the provider admitted to failing the fire department, this incident showcases the need for a backup communications system in the event your primary system is unavailable or does not work as planned.For example, having a backup communications system that uses a Wireless Mesh Network (WMN), should communications become blocked, is an option to keep communications flowing among teams during critical times. Its also important to include a mix of traditional communications, as mobile networks and cell towers can be unavailable during a disaster.Providing relief in the event of a natural disaster that impacts the well-being of your community is essential to preserving lives. But without proper resource management, its easy to lose track of supplies. However, you can leverage technology to support resource management and have a flexible emergency logistics plan.For example, you can use a tracking system to monitor the location of crucial supplies. You can also use a platform that leverages machine learning effectively to predict demands. This helps crisis management team leaders decide when to dispatch supplies to areas that need them the most. To effectively manage your resources, you have to manage information correctly and ensure it is accurate.You can leverage technology by using platforms and systems that deliver information in real time. For example, you can use an app or software program that provides analytics for tremors in an earthquake as they occur and is connected with your infrastructure and other critical local government centers.This information can be relayed to the appropriate crisis management team members so that they can make decisions effectively for managing the crisis at hand. Its important to establish the roles and responsibilities of each stakeholder so that the information goes to the right person as well. Consider also using a data management team with expertise in setting and managing these crisis systems so you can have the professional support you need. By using real-time information, you can make better, data-backed decisions for responding to a crisis.Sounding the alarm requires using technology that supports a speedy response. You also want to ensure that community residents have access to this form of communication, too. Social media has continuously proven its effectiveness during a crisis. Its important to take advantage of social media platforms and incorporate them into your crisis management plan.Social media played an important role in helping people account for missing persons during mass shootings, such as the Orlando nightclub mass shooting in 2016 and the Las Vegas shooting in 2017. Following the Las Vegas shooting, Facebook activated its Safety Check feature , allowing users to mark themselves as safe during the massacre so that family members, friends and first responder volunteers could confirm their safety.People have also relied on social media to communicate with others during major hurricanes in the last decade, including Hurricanes Sandy, Harvey, Irma and Michael. From journalists to school officials, people have used hashtags and posted geo-tagged images and videos to show the damage of these storms. This social-driven information has helped rescue agencies decide where to deploy help.According to the Pew Research Center , about 69 percent of Americans access social media, with Facebook being the most popular tool. Crisis management teams for state and local governments can leverage these social media platforms to provide alerts, news and other important information to their communities.However, its important to consider the types of social media platforms your community members are more likely to use. By evaluating which social media tools are most widely used in your area, you can know which platforms to focus on and use first. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown has appointed Terrence Woods as state CIO, after nearly eight months in which Woods filled the position on an interim basis.Browns office announced the appointment this week, noting Woods will be responsible for implementing Governor Brown's goal of ensuring user-friendly, reliable, and secure state technology systems that serve Oregonians. This means that Woods will continue with relatively standard CIO duties, including improving IT project management, bolstering cybersecurity and minimizing risk for the department.Woods was also instrumental in helping to develop a road map for IT work in Oregons state government of late, helping to form a related strategic plan that was released in September. Whats perhaps most notable about that plan is it includes commitments to internal IT infrastructure and management as well as to public-facing priorities such as helping residents enroll in health care or navigate the criminal justice system."Terrence's service over the past eight months as interim state chief information officer has brought a focus on my goal to streamline state government and modernize our systems to better serve Oregonians," said Brown in a press release. "I look forward to Terrence's continued leadership in providing reliable, resilient, and secure information technology systems and services."Woods is a veteran of Oregons public sector at the state level, having previously been the CIO and administrative services administrator for the Department of Revenue, the chair of the state CIO Council, director of IT for the Oregon Health Authority and deputy CIO for its Department of Human Services. He was unavailable immediately after his appointment to discuss departmental priorities and plans.Woods became interim CIO for Oregon earlier this year following the April resignation of then-CIO Alex Pettit. Pettit left the job in June for a newly created position with the Oregon Secretary of State's Office. (TNS) Ohio last week became the first state where businesses can pay their taxes in bitcoin.Seminole County, Fla., began accepting bitcoin for some payments this summer.Bitcoin is the most well-known of cryptocurrencies, which allow users to record data and transactions instantaneously in a way that is mostly unhackable.Over the last four months, two governments in the United States have started accepting certain types of payments in cryptocurrency, marking a growing trend that some hope will catch on.Last week, Ohio became the first state where businesses can pay their taxes in bitcoin. The move follows Seminole County, Fla., which began accepting payments in bitcoin for things like license fees and taxes in late August.The government adoption is the latest signal that cryptocurrencies are gaining legitimacy after initially being associated mainly with drug and weapons dealers on the dark web. "The negative stigma is really starting to go away," says Sean Rolland, director of product for BitPay, which has partnered with both governments. "These are not money launderers but real people using this on a regular basis."For both Ohio and Seminole County, accepting bitcoin has two major perks. First, BitPay -- much like currency exchange desks -- locks in an exchange rate and converts the currency to U.S. dollars. That makes the transaction less risky for governments. After all, it's been a topsy turvy year so far for bitcoin. The cryptocurrency's value plummeted 73 percent this year. This week, the currency saw a quick drop, falling more than 6 percent to $3,886 per coin on Monday."Whether bitcoin is worth $1,000 or $10,000 dollars is not relevant to us because it works like an exchange rate," says Joel Greenberg, Seminole County's tax collector.Second, bitcoin offers taxpayers an option with a lower fee 1 percent than those associated with credit cards, where there's usually a 2 or 3 percent surcharge for payments to the government. As part of their partnership with BitPay, Ohio and Seminole County lets the company keep the fee as compensation.Bitcoin is the most well-known of cryptocurrencies, which all use distributed ledger technology. Distributed ledger technology such as blockchain allows users to record data and transactions instantaneously in a way that is mostly unhackable.Given those features, Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel hopes accepting bitcoin for 23 business taxes will be particularly appealing to tech startups and international businesses. He eventually wants to expand payments to individual taxes and other types of cryptocurrencies."We want to project to the rest of America that Ohio is loud and proud about embracing blockchain technology," he says, noting that the launch of ohiocrypto.com coincides with a major blockchain conference in Cleveland. "We're trying to plant the flag and send the message to entrepreneurs and software developers across America that Ohio is open for business."Still, Mandel acknowledges that such a change in business climate won't happen overnight. The take-up rate in Ohio is likely to be slow, as it has been so far in Seminole County. But that's understandable given both the newness of the program and bitcoin's volatility.For now, it'll likely remain something of a novelty. To that end, Greenberg points out that his office installed a bitcoin ATM in the lobby where taxpayers can buy the currency and speculate. "If they want to sit on it for a week before they come back to make their payment, they can," he says. "If it goes up, they net the difference." The incident occurred Wednesday at Amazons warehouse in Robbinsville, N.J. Twenty-four workers were taken to the hospital, one of whom was in critical condition. Another 30 were treated on-site by first responders. All of the hospitalized workers were expected to be released by Thursday evening.While a preliminary investigation stated that a 9-ounce can of bear repellent fell off of a shelf, causing the dispersal, it was later revealed that the can had actually been punctured by one of the facilitys automated machines. Amazon has initiated a full investigation into the incident, and the contaminated area has been given the all-clear. News 100% of UAE population vaccinated with one COVID-19 dose According to the Our World in Data COVID-19, it said the share of people fully vaccinated against COVID-19 is well over 89% as of Nov.15, while the total vaccination rate of the population is over 98.10% as of Nov. 24. file pic China and India relations have moved into the fast lane of development after the informal meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi this April in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, which is believed to inject impetus for bilateral relations and promote more frequent multi-level exchanges, according to experts at a seminar held on Tuesday in Beijing. To move bilateral cooperation forward, both China and India should consolidate their mutual understanding, increase connectivity, and foster a closer development partnership, Lou Chunhao, deputy director of Institute of South Asian Studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations (CICIR), said at a seminar jointly held by Center for China and Globalization (CCG), the Himalayan Consensus Institute, and UNDP China. Specifically, cooperation among countries alongside the Himalaya area is essential, which is expected to develop major infrastructure projects and enhance civil exchanges, such as the possible China-Nepal-India Economic Corridor, all of which will benefit from intensive cooperation, Lou said. People-to-people exchange is the key to building sustainable dialogue between the two countries, especially for scientific cooperation between the two countries universities, added Nirupama Rao, former Indian Ambassador to China. Thanks to the geological advantages and Chinas favorable policy to attract international students, an increasing number of Indian students prefer to study in China or learn Chinese language at local Confucius institutes. At present, more than 20,000 Indian students are learning in China, which creates a foundation for China-India cultural exchange and shared values, according to Anushka Prasad, founding director of New Delhi-based NGO China-India Foundation and a Schwarzman scholar at Tsinghua University. While relatively small when compared to the nearly 200,000 Indian students in the United States, which is as 10 times the number of those studying in China, the prospect of Indian students in China still have great potential, James Zhan, president of Tata Group China, noted. The personal experiences of the two countries younger generations is an indispensable factor to eliminate misinterpretation and deepen understanding, Zhan emphasized. In addition to civil exchanges, cities can also play a role in improving bilateral relations. For example, Chinas Kunming and the Indian city of Kolkata established sister-relations in 2013 to facilitate intimate cooperation between local authorities, according to Nicholas Rosellini, the UN resident coordinator. Rosellini also suggested areas for the Chinese and Indian governments to improve ties, including ecological landscape and ecosystem preservation, water cooperation initiatives, global jointed interests, and integration with the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Over the years, China and India have witnessed more frequent high-level exchanges, enhanced trade ties, closer people-to-people contacts, and increased cultural interactions. With $84.4 billion worth of bilateral trade volume in 2017, China is Indias largest trading partner, and from January to July this year, the number reached nearly $55 billion, up by 15 percent on a year-on-year basis. China attaches great importance to the trade balance with India and has lowered tariffs on certain Indian goods exported to China, increased imports of sugar, non-Basmati rice, and other agricultural produce from India, facilitated the export of Indian medicines to China, and further improved the trade structure, according to Xinhua News Agency. Currently, some 14 pairs of friendship cities have been established and 42 flights traveling between the two countries are available per week. Yoga, Darjeeling black tea, and Bollywood movies are popular among Chinese youth. In return, India has also seen a craze of learning Chinese language. About 20 universities in India currently offer Chinese language courses and about 20,000 Indians are now studying Chinese, according to data released by the Chinese Embassy in India Accounting for 35% of the worlds population and 20% of global GDP, China and India have strong economic complementarities and great potential for cooperation in trade, infrastructure, information technology, cultural tourism, medical health, and other fields. Both sides should raise economic and trade cooperation to a higher level to benefit the two peoples and the world, Luo Zhaohui, Chinese Ambassador to India, said in a previous interview with Peoples Daily. The three flags were confiscated and their bearers brought into custody in order to safeguard public order and security, commented Seppo Kujala, a superintendent at the Helsinki Police Department. Four people were brought into custody for brandishing flags with swastikas during a national-socialist protest called Kohti vapautta (Eng. Towards Freedom) organised in Helsinki on Independence Day, 6 December, by the Nordic Resistance Movement (NRM). The Nordic Resistance Movement has been ordered to dissolve by both the District Court of Pirkanmaa and the Turku Court of Appeal. The ban cannot yet be enforced as the national-socialist movement filed a leave to appeal against the order with the Supreme Court of Finland in November, according to MTV. The incident prompted a flood of comments from researchers and policy makers in Finland. Swastikas in Helsinki on Independence Day absolutely abhorrent. The nationalists are demonstrating that they are indeed Nazis, exclaimed Li Andersson, the chairperson of the Left Alliance. Prime Minister Juha Sipila (Centre) declared emphatically that such symbols have no place in Finland. Nazi flags do not belong in Finland, or anywhere else. They definitely do not reflect the values of the Finnish society, he stated on Twitter. Petteri Orpo (NCP), the Minister of Finance, viewed that police made the right decision to confiscate the flags. Our veterans did not fight to allow Nazi flags to fly [in Finland]. They fought for independence so that Finns could live in peace and security in a country where human dignity is indivisible. Nazism represents none of these ideas, he stated. Mayor of Helsinki Jan Vapaavuori (NCP), meanwhile, expressed his detestation of marches organised by both far-right and far-left movements. Having Nazis march on the citys streets is disgusting! All marches by extremist movements are disgusting, be they by far-right or far-left movements, he tweeted. Minja Koskela, a researcher at University of the Arts Helsinki, described the incident as a miserable display of the current state of a civilised democratic country. According to studies, Finland is the most racist country in Europe and this Independence Day is a miserable display of the current state of a civilised democratic country. Brandishing the swastika flag is not a demonstration of freedom of speech but an attempt to limit freedom of speech, she analysed. Aleksi Teivainen HT Source: Uusi Suomi The public broadcasting company says its latest opinion poll indicates that popular support for the opposition party has surged by 2.6 percentage points to 13.9 per cent after the party handed over its reins to Pekka Haavisto on 3 November. The Green League has recorded a considerable up-tick in popularity after its recent leadership shuffle, reports YLE. Also over 65-year-old voters have shifted their support for the Green League, highlights Tuomo Turja, a research director at Taloustutkimus. Its a bit different to what were used to. This may be the Pekka Haavisto effect. Im sure there are people in the older age groups who think hes a suitable figurehead for the Greens, he explained to YLE on Friday. The Social Democratic Party remains the frontrunner in the run-up to the next parliamentary elections, even though popular support for the opposition party dipped by 1.2 percentage points to 21.5 per cent. The National Coalition recorded a comparable drop of 1.1 percentage points in popular support to 19.1 per cent. Support for the Centre Party contrastively increased by 0.5 percentage points to 17.0 per cent, pushing the winner of the previous elections closer to both the Social Democrats and National Coalition. The Finns Party saw its popularity plunge by 1.7 percentage points to 8.1 per cent, allowing the Left Alliance to re-claim its position as the fifth most supported party in the country despite a 0.7 percentage-point drop in popular support to 8.5 per cent. The Christian Democrats and Swedish Peoples Party similarly swapped places as the seventh and eighth most popular parties in Finland, with the former seeing its popularity creep up by 0.6 percentage points to 4.1 per cent and the latter seeing its popularity decrease by 0.3 percentage points to 4.0 per cent. Taloustutkimus interviewed a total of 2,937 people for the poll between 12 November and 4 December. 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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 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. In 1782, with help from an elite group of Polynesian warriors, the ambitious noble set his sights on unifying the Hawaiian Islands Every culture has its trained fighting forces, and within those services are elite units that train and perform at a much higher level. In Polynesian Hawaii the alii, the ruling class, had the na alii koa, or chiefly warriors. To fully appreciate the role the latter played in the history of the islands, particularly with regard to their unification, one needs to understand a bit about the archipelagos history and culture. Historians speculate the first settlers of the Hawaiian Islands were Polynesians who arrived sometime prior to the 13th century from the Marquesas Islands, some 2,400 miles to the south across open ocean. Using the sun, stars and sea signs to guide them, the Marquesans made the voyage in double-hulled sailing canoes loaded with crops such as taro and breadfruit, as well as pigs and chickens. These voyagers were not just exploring but looking for new lands to settle, which meant they had to be prepared for anything. By the early 13th century another wave of Polynesian voyagers, this time from Tahiti, had reached the Hawaiian Islands. Landing at South Point on the Big Island of Hawaii, they soon spread across all the islands, setting up independent kingdoms on each. The kingdoms often warred with one another, thus diminishing the chance for Hawaii to become a unified nation. It was the Tahitians who established the kapu (taboo) system, forbidding certain acts, foods, etc. in an effort to keep order. The code also established the sacred supremacy of the alii ruling class. As the islands became increasingly populous, conflict erupted between the competing alii. The advent of the kapu system and the rise of the alii created a need for a specialized fighting force to protect the alii and act as a vanguard in actual combat. The na alii koa constituted a highly trained, disciplined and well-organized full-time unit of lesser alii, in contrast to the na koa, an army of commoners called into action during wartime. Kamehameha, the alii who would unify the islands under his own rule, entered training as a na alii koa in the 1840s when he was 7 or 8 years old. The training usually fell to personal tutors and included a great deal of hand-to-hand combat known as luaa bone-breaking form of wrestlingas well as the use of an assortment of deadly handheld weapons. These included the pahoa, a long, double-edged hardwood dagger, sometimes fitted with sharks teeth; the niho oki, a curved wooden knife with a single sharks-tooth blade; and the maa, a sling fashioned of braided fiber from the inner bark of the hau (coastal hibiscus) tree, a coconut husk or even human hair. Other weapons used by the na alii koa included the pohaku newa, a war club comprising a carved stone head lashed to a wooden handle with a fiber cord, and the kuia, a quarter staff about 6 feet long and sharpened at both ends. Spears were also common. Shorter versions, like the javelinlike ihe, were meant to be thrown, while longer spears, such as the pololu, were meant to be used like European pikes. The latter was very long and heavy, requiring a warrior of great strength and skill to effectively wield it. Another common weapon was the koi pahoa, or stone adze, employed much like the battle-axes used by the Vikings and other European warriors. Na alii koa later trained to use firearms. Petroglyphs at Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park on the Big Island include depictions of muskets alongside men. Historians believe the area likely served as a training ground for the na alii koa. Kamehameha was the son of Keoua, a high-ranking alii on the Big Island. He was born sometime around 1736, a time of constant power struggles among the archipelagos alii. As Keoua died when Kamehameha was still a boy, he was raised in the court of his uncle, Kalani opuu. While there Kamehameha began training with his uncles na alii koa. He learned the skills quickly and was reportedly an expert warrior by young adulthood. On Kalaniopuus death in 1782, Kamehameha rose to prominence. Kalaniopuus son Kiwalao inherited the kingdom and gave his cousin Kamehameha control of the Waipio Valley, to the north, as well as symbolic guardianship of the Hawaiian god of war, Kukailimoku. The relationship between the cousins was strained at best, and soon after the funeral, when Kamehameha made a dedication to the gods instead of paying homage to Kiwalao, the scene was set for conflict. That same year Kiwalaos half-brother Keoua Kuahuula, who had inherited no property after his fathers death, went into a jealous rage, felling coconut trees in Kamehamehas district and killing some of his men. Adding insult to injury, Keoua offered their bodies as a sacrifice to Kiwalao, who accepted the offering. Kamehameha had no choice but to defend his honor. Recognizing the omens, women and children from both sides fled to Puuhonua O Honaunau, a place of refuge on the west coast where they would be safe no matter the outcome. The resulting Battle of Mokuohai (a grove to the south of Kealakehua Bay) was fought on land and sea, with both alii fielding their na alii koa as shock troops in forward echelons. It was a fierce battle, and one of Kamehamehas chief supporters, Kameeiamoku, was among the first seriously wounded when tripped up by a pololu and stabbed. Kiwalao saw him fall and dashed in for the kill, but before he could deliver a fatal blow, a sling stone knocked him down. The injured Kameeiamoku then slit Kiwalaos throat with a shark-toothed pahoa. The kings abrupt death left the battlefield to Kamehameha and his warriors, and they took over the northern and western districts of the Big Island. But Kamehameha set his sights far higher. Though no firearms were reportedly used at the 1782 Battle of Mokuohai, the Hawaiian alii were broadly aware of European weaponry as early as 1778. That year British explorer Captain James Cook and his contingent of sailors and marines aboard HMS Resolution anchored off the coast of Kauai, becoming the first Europeans to visit the remote islands. He collectively dubbed them the Sandwich Islands, after his patron John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich (and, yes, reputed progenitor of that sandwich). Though relations between the British sailors and Hawaiians were initially cordial, tensions quickly exacerbated. On Cooks visit to the Big Island early the next year Hawaiians stole one of Resolutions launches. On Feb. 14, 1779, the 50-year-old captain led an armed landing party ashore at Kealakekua Bay in a failed attempt to seize Kalaniopuu, Kamehamehas royal uncle, and exchange him for the stolen boat. As Cook sought to reboard one of the launches, indignant warriors clubbed and stabbed him to death. In the ensuing skirmishes the British sailors and marines killed scores of islanders with musket and cannon fire. Kamehameha witnessed much of what transpired and was intrigued by the power of the European firearms. He understood that mastering such weapons would enable him not only to defeat his enemies but also to be a deterrent to outsiders seeking to conquer the islands. In 1789 the ambitious alii persuaded Scottish-born fur trader Captain William Douglas, who was wintering in the islands aboard the merchantman Iphigenia, to give him muskets, ammunition and a swivel gun, ostensibly to protect the Big Island from enemies supplied with weapons by Douglas rivals. Kamehamehas desire for firearms only grew. In 1790 American trader Simon Metcalfe, captain of the brig Eleanora, arrived off the Big Island and immediately overstayed his welcome by having Kamehamehas trusted counselor Kameeiamoku flogged for some offense. Moving on to Maui, Metcalf and crew soon found themselves in a more serious skirmish with islanders and used their cannons and muskets to great effect against the attackers. Meanwhile, Eleanoras sister ship, Fair American, captained by Metcalfes son Thomas, dropped anchor off the Big Island. Unaware of the family ties between the captains, but having sworn revenge against the next Western ship to visit, Kameeia-moku directed his men to attack Fair American. They killed all aboard but wounded seaman Isaac Davis, whom Kamehameha ordered into protective custody. In the wake of that incident, Kamehameha detained Eleanoras boatswain, John Young, who had come ashore to ask after Fair Americans missing crew. Treated well, the two American sailors soon became trusted advisers and, later, ohana (family) through marriage to the aliis family members. They also instructed Kamehamehas warriors in the use, maintenance and repair of firearms, training that forever changed Hawaiian combat tactics. By then the Sandwich Islands had become a popular stop-off on the Pacific trade route between the Americas and China. Subsequent British and American traders, always eager to turn a profit, were more than willing to trade firearms and gunpowder with the Hawaiian alii. Kamehameha proved even more resourceful, soon obtaining the formula to make his own gunpowder. Its ingredientssulfur, potassium nitrate and charcoalwere plentiful in the islands, and with traders regularly bringing lead, the alii soon stored up all the ammunition he needed. Though the Westerners traded freely with Kamehameha, they also provided firearms and ammunition to the other alii, some of whom openly opposed Kamehameha. It was the latters leadership and ability to earn the trust and loyalty of his people, particularly the na alii koa, that made him successful. The addition of Western weaponry was icing on the cake. After securing victory at Mokuohai, Kamehameha began his quest to unify the islands. He first had to gain complete control of the Big Island. Between 1783 and 90 he led repeated assaults against Keouas stronghold in the southern Kau district. But the latters forces had allied themselves with the alii of Maui, bolstering their ability to resist, thus in 1790 Kamehameha resolved to first subdue Maui. To do so, he had to risk fighting on two fronts. If the gamble paid off, he would win bigif not, he stood to lose everything. Leading the charge on both fronts were Kamehamehas na alii koa. With most of its best warriors deployed to Hawaii in support of Keoua, Maui was left lightly defended, and Kamehamehas men ravaged the island. But word that Keoua was raiding his territory back on the Big Island forced Kamehameha to turn back before he could consolidate his gains. Later that year Kamehameha moved against Puna, in the southeastern Big Island, coming up against forces led by Keawemauhili, an alii loyal to Keoua. Though both armies were equipped with firearms, the battle was mainly fought using traditional Polynesian weapons and tacticsat which Kamehamehas na alii koa excelled. Kamehameha led by example, moving among his warriors and reportedly shouting, I mua, e na pokii, a inu i ka wai awaawa! (Forward, young brothers, and drink the bitter water!). The sight of their leader dodging spears and grappling with the enemy motivated his warriors to rallyenough to carry the day. On Oahu Kamehamehas forces pushed their opponents upward through the Nuuanu Valley and, ultimately, over a 1,000-foot cliff. (Herb Kane, LLC.) With Kamehameha engaged in Puna, Keoua sensed an opportunity and led an uprising. It was ultimately unsuccessful, and as Keoua retreated toward Kau, an eruption of Kilauea killed many of his men. It was a bad omen from Pele, the goddess of fire, and within months warriors allied with Kamehameha lured Keoua and his na alii koa into an ambush and slew them to a man. With his rivals on the Big Island subdued or dead, Kamehameha became the undisputed alii nui, or high chief, of Hawaii. Contesting his efforts to subdue the remaining islands, the respective alii of Kauai, Maui and Oahu joined forces against him in 1791. After amassing a great fleet of war canoes, they set sail for the northwestern coast of Hawaii, where they fought Kamehameha in the Battle of the Red Mouth Gun. It was a unique fight, both for the scale of the naval battle and the numbers of muskets and cannons used. Until that engagement most fights at sea around Hawaii had been little more than clashes of canoes in which combatants threw or thrusted with spears. But on that day the opponents employed canoes fitted with small, swivel-mounted guns, whose fire inflicted significant casualties and destroyed many vessels. Kamehameha watched from the deck of Fair American as his well-trained warriorsunder the watchful tutelage of Young and Davislaid waste to the enemy fleet. The long war had taken its toll on the alii and warriors of all islands, and over the next four years of relative peace the combatants licked their wounds and regained strength. During the respite Kamehameha continued training his forces, especially the na alii koa, and in 1795 he was ready to resume his quest to claim sole control of the islands. By early 1795 Kamehameha had amassed upward of 1,000 war canoes and an army of more than 10,000 men to move against his enemies. His first objectives were Maui and Molokai, whose combined forces he defeated at the Battle of Kawela on the latter island. From there he moved against Oahu, where he confronted the warriors of that island and Kauai. Fought that May, the Battle of Nuuanu was the largest and bloodiest engagement of Kamehamehas quest to rule the islands. The armies met on the southeastern side of Oahu, near present-day Honolulu. On landing at Waialae and Waikiki, Kamehamehas forces fought a 6-mile running battle, pushing the defenders northward into the Nuuanu Valley. Kamehameha failed to notice his enemy had carved gun emplacements into the high ground and had been drawing the attackers into a deadly trap. Despite heavy cannon fire from the heights, however, Kamehamehas forces continued to press the enemy into retreat. Realizing he had to silence the enemys guns, Kamehameha ordered two groups of na alii koa to scale the cliffs of Nuuanu Pali and get behind the guns. The elite warriors did so, surprising the enemy gunners and seizing control of the ridge. With the cannons silenced, the fighting turned to bloody hand-to-hand combat. Through a series of skirmishes Kamehamehas warriors eventually forced their enemy, whose strength had dwindled to 800 men, to the razors edge of the pali for a last stand. Rather than be captured and face enslavement or ritual sacrifice, most defenders fought to the death, many literally being driven over the edge of the 1,000-foot cliff at their backs. Though Kamehameha had yet to bring Kauai and Niihau under his dominion, Nuuanu proved the deciding battle of the war. Finally, in 1810 Kaumualii, the last independent ruler of Kauai, relinquished control of that island and Niihau to Kamehameha, making the latter alii nui of all the Hawaiian Islands. His victory in the long fight for unification was due in large part to the skill, dedication and loyalty of his na alii koa. U.S. Army veteran Dana Benner holds a degree in history and a masters in heritage studies. He teaches history, political science and sociology at the university level. For further reading he recommends A Brief History of the Hawaiian People, by William De Witt Alexander, and Captive Paradise: A History of Hawaii, by James L. Haley. Differences between Al-Azhar and the Ministry of Religious Endowments leave a new law regulating religious fatwas in limbo Differences between Egypts two major Islamic institutions, Al-Azhar and the Ministry of Religious Endowments, have led to parliaments Religious Affairs Committee suspending its discussion of a draft law regulating religious fatwas. Osama Al-Abd, head of the committee, told the media that if the differences between the two institutions are not settled soon parliament will intervene to give a final word on the matter. The law, drafted by the committees secretary-general, has already been discussed at length, said Al-Abd. One major issue remains, whether the Ministry of Religious Endowments has the right to issue fatwas. Al-Azhar wants the ministry be completely stripped of this right while the Ministry of Religious Endowments insists one of its affiliated committees has been mandated to issue fatwas since the 1980s and should continue to do so. The differences between Al-Azhar and the Ministry of Religious Endowments reached a crescendo last week when the representative of Al-Azhar announced he would not attend any more meetings on the law. Omar Hamroush, the independent MP who drafted the law, told Al-Ahram Weekly that members of the Religious Affairs Committee had tried to help Al-Azhar and the Ministry of Religious Endowments reach common ground in order that the law does not face any delays given there is a pressing need to contain the current fatwa chaos. Hamroush says his draft will prevent extremist clerics from issuing bizarre fatwas. These bizarre fatwas pose a major threat to internal stability. Many of them, issued by extremist Salafi clerics, attack Christians, and hark back to a pre-modern mindset. Hamroush says his draft penalises anyone who issues a fatwa without being licensed by Al-Azhar or the Ministry of Religious Endowments. Al-Azhar insists it has the sole right to issue such licences while the Ministry of Religious Endowments says its affiliated committee has the right as well. Ministry of Religious Endowments officials argue that the ministrys affiliated committee has also been authorised since the 1980s to issue religious fatwas and its members are respected clerics who graduated from Al-Azhar. According to Hamroush, fatwa chaos began when the Muslim Brotherhood and extremist Salafis came to power in Egypt in 2012. Since then a huge number of bizarre fatwas have been issued, many attacking Christians and urging Muslims not to have any dealings with them. Some of these fatwas encouraged terrorist groups to bomb churches and monasteries. We have ultraconservative clerics who issue rediculous fatwas on television channels. Some edicts claim citizens are forbidden by Islam from saluting the flag or singing the national anthem, that Islam demands women wear the niqab and that government schools are haram because they teach a secularist curriculum. Hamroush lamented that even Al-Azhar professors were issuing strange rulings, pointing to Said Noaman, a member of the Al-Azhar Fatwa Committee, who gained notoriety after pronouncing that girls can be married even when they are embryos in their mothers wombs. Noaman said that if ultrasound scans show an embryo is a female, then her father can decide on her marriage even if she is still in her mothers womb. Noaman issued his fatwa in the course of a TV interview during which he objected to the governments family planning and birth control campaign. Mohamed Abu Hamed, an independent MP and member of the Religious Committee, told the Weekly that Al-Azhar is resisting calls to reform religious discourse, and in the area of religious fatwas Al-Azhar claims that it is the sole arbiter under the constitution. Article 7 of the constitution states that Al-Azhar is the main reference on religious sciences and Islamic affairs, but does not stipulate it is the sole reference. The article opens the door to other institutions and intellectuals to give their views on religious issues, says Abu Hamed. The MP revealed he is in the process of drafting amendments to the law regulating the performance of Al-Azhar (Law 103/1961), since without legislative amendments Al-Azhar will continue resisting any calls for religious reform, particularly those voiced by President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi. Other draft laws that seek to contain extremism and push for religious reform have also been left in limbo. We have drafts which seek to reform the curricula in Al-Azhars schools, prevent Salafi clerics from preaching at Friday prayers, impose a ban on women wearing the niqab in public places, and to remove religious identification from ID cards and official documents, says Al-Abd. None of them appears to be going anywhere. * A version of this article appears in print in the 6 December, 2018 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly under the headline: Religious rulings Search Keywords: Short link: As an existing print subscriber it is easy to get FREE access to all our online content. When you click get started below it will walk you through creating an online account to attach your print subscription number to. After your account is created it will ask you to either add a subscription for online access or click on the print subscriber button. Click the print subscriber button header and it will open a dropdown, now click on get started. 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The investigation into the killing of Italian student Giulio Regeni in Cairo in 2016 reaches a critical stage Italian prosecutors have placed five Egyptian officials under investigation in relation to the death of Italian researcher Giulio Regeni in Egypt in 2016, Italian News Agency ANSA reported on Tuesday. They are being probed for their claimed involvement in the disappearance of Regeni. Earlier in the week Italy's foreign ministry had summoned the Egyptian ambassador to Rome to urge Cairo to conclude the investigation into the murder of Regeni nearly three years ago. The move came a day after Italian foreign minister Enzo Moavero, who visited Cairo in August, issued a statement saying the "search for truth in the killing of Regeni remains a priority in relations between Italy and Egypt". He pledged the foreign ministry would take all necessary steps to ensure justice is served. On 2 December a judicial source told the official Middle East News Agency (MENA) that Egypt had opposed an Italian request that officers in Egypts security services be named as suspects in the Regeni killing. The judicial source said the request to add the security personnel to a list of suspects was made during a meeting in Cairo on 28 November. "Italian prosecutors asked during the meeting that a number of Egyptian national security agents be named as suspects in the murder of Regeni. The request was rejected," said the source. "Italy made a similar request in December 2017 which Egyptian prosecutors also declined." The source said Egyptian prosecutors refused the request in 2017 because the Egyptian legal system does not include provisions for a "suspect list" and there was insufficient evidence to implicate the agents in the case. He said Italian investigators were suspicious of the policemen simply because they had conducted surveillance on Regeni, though this was a normal part of their duties as security agents. Regeni, 28, was conducting research into trade unions in Egypt when he disappeared in Cairo on 25 January 2016. His body was found by the side of a road outside the city eight days later showing signs of torture. Matteo Renzi, then Italy's prime minister, recalled Rome's ambassador in Cairo to protest what he said was a lack of cooperation in investigating the case. In September 2017 Paolo Gentiloni, Renzis successor as prime minister, decided a new ambassador should return to Cairo. The move came after high level contacts between Rome and Cairo resulted in a decision that judicial authorities in the two countries would together investigate Regenis abduction and grisly murder. The judicial source told MENA that during the 28 November meeting Egyptian prosecutors had responded to Italys request to name the security personnel by demanding the Italian authorities investigate why Regeni had entered Egypt on a tourist rather than a student visa. An MP and political analyst, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Al-Ahram Weekly that "recent developments in the Regeni case make it clear more investigation is needed. "There are questions that have to be answered by the Italian side, including why Regeni entered Egypt on a tourist visa even when he was intending to conduct academic research." "It would be a very hasty step if the Italian prosecutor named Egyptian security officers as suspects in the case. It is a very complicated investigation and as far as Cairo is concerned, I think it will reject any attempts to prosecute security officers in the absence of compelling evidence." Roberto Fico, speaker of the Italian parliament, announced on 29 November that Italy's Chamber of Deputies was suspending parliamentary relations with Egypt until the investigation into Regeni's death is concluded. Fico told Italian television channel RAI on Friday that "the Italian's prosecutor's decision to name Egyptian suspects in the Regeni murder next week is the right decision. It is strong and courageous decision, and a necessary one given Cairo prosecutors are not moving forward with the case." Fico said he had decided to suspend parliamentary relations with Egypt "until there is a credible investigation that brings results". Egypt's parliament released its own statement on 29 November expressing regret over the suspension of relations. "This is a premature and unilateral decision that does not serve the investigation into the death of Mr Regeni," said the House of Representatives. "Fico's decision signals a jump to hasty conclusions and does not serve the goal of revealing the truth and ensuring justice." Egypt's parliament said it was committed to the rule of law and not intervening in the work of the investigation authorities and insisted unilateral measures do not serve the interests of the two countries." "Italy is wrong if it thinks such moves pressure Egypt, said another parliamentary source. "These moves are surprising. They follow a number of top-level meetings between Egyptian and Italian officials after which all participants expressed satisfaction over the progress of the investigation into Regeni's death." Egypts House of Representatives own statement expressed surprise "that Mr Fico issue such an unjustified decision on behalf of the Italian parliament". "The statement was made after Egyptian and Italian prosecutors held a joint meeting on 28 November to discuss the Regeni case. The two parties exchanged viewpoints in a positive atmosphere and confirmed they were determined to continue their cooperation until a final result is reached." According to the parliamentary source "it is clear that once Egyptian prosecutors rejected the Italian request on 28 November Rome decided to apply pressure. Over the two days that followed we saw a flurry of provocative statements from Italy's foreign minister and speaker of parliament." The House of Representatives own statement said it was committed to the principle of the rule of law and that the investigation must proceed in a climate of integrity and neutrality without politicising legal issues". Egypt's parliament said the Egyptian state has a clear interest in revealing the truth about Regeni's murder. "Egypt's parliament urges that the investigation into the case be allowed to run its course in line with the principle of the rule of the law, without any influence or intervention in the work of the investigating authorities." "Egypt adopted a reserved position when Italy hastily recalled its ambassador in 2016 and in the end this resulted in Rome sending a new ambassador," noted one MP. "I think the state authorities the president, the foreign ministry and parliament - will adopt a similarly reserved position and refuse to escalate if Italy decides to up the ante next week." Many MPs interviewed by the Weekly argued that Rome was unlikely to take any actions that will damage relations with Cairo given Italys business interests in Egypt. They also agreed that Egypt is unlikely to surrender any suspects from the security forces. * A version of this article appears in print in the 6 December, 2018 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly under the headline: Tensions mount over Regeni case Search Keywords: Short link: Linda Dunlavy led a conversation about rural issues Thursday night. State Crafting Plan For Unique Issues of Rural Towns PITTSFIELD, Mass. Rural towns can have unique challenges apart from their urban counterparts. And now the state is taking a closer look at these issues. In 2015, the Legislature created the Rural Policy Advisory Commission and this year the group has been on a listening tour to dig into problems and situations that smaller towns are grappling with. On Thursday, the tour was in Berkshire County to get a better understanding of the issues here. "It will be the first time Massachusetts has really focused on rural areas," said Linda Dunlavy, the Franklin County representative on the commission. Dunlavy said Secretary of Housing and Economic Development Jay Ash tasked the group with developing a plan for rural areas. She outlined many of the issues already identified asked those in attendance to help determine whether those are specific to rural areas and if there are any other unique concerns. "We don't want this to try to be a plan for all of Massachusetts. This needs to focus on rural issues," Dunlavy said. The biggest issue Dunlavy sees is the demographics. "In the most rural areas of Massachusetts, Franklin County, Berkshire County, and parts of Cape Cod, the population is declining," she said. There are fewer people living in smaller towns and those who do are getting older. Dunlavy said the same trend is happening throughout rural areas whereas Massachusetts' population growth has been coming from foreign-born residents migrating to the urban areas, particularly in the Boston area. "We aren't having as many kids, we aren't attracting people to our regions," she said. The housing stock in places like Berkshire County may be less expensive. However, Dunlavy said transportation costs outweigh that. In Boston, 38 percent of a household's income goes to housing and transportation, in Springfield that jumps to 44 percent, and in the small town of Leyden, it is at 59 percent. Clarksburg Town Administrator Carl McKinney pushed for a focus on both east-west rail and a rail line to the Albany, N.Y., area, the latter with a path into Vermont. He said that would allow people to live in places like Clarksburg and still be able to work in urban areas. In turn, that would also raise the demand for housing in Western Massachusetts. Sheffield Selectwoman Rene Wood said the lack of connection to Boston also impacts civics. For someone in the Berkshires to attend meetings with state officials, it means an early morning and lengthy drive. And at the end of the day, driving back. "We are being cut out from our participation in government," she said. Williamstown Selectman Andy Hogeland is pushing for state officials to travel this way more often. Dunlavy also highlighted that in rural towns 59 percent of the workforce is in for-profit enterprises while it is 66 percent in the urban areas. That puts rural areas in a more vulnerable situation should federal or state policies change. "We also have more reliance on government and non-profit employment," she said. At the same time, many rural towns have few people working for the municipalities. For towns with populations less than 1,000, there is an average of five total employees. "They have the same reporting requirements and the same needs," Dunlavy said. McKinney gave an example of a water operator. He needs a certified person for only one hour a day but can't find anybody to take the job. He continued to say that if the town hires somebody for 20 hours a week, then it is on the hook for 75 percent of the health-care benefits as well. He pushed for a policy to allow towns to pay a smaller percentage for those benefits for those who work less than 40 hours a week. Dunlavy added that it can be difficult for towns to find enough elected officials. She said towns tend to hire part-time and offer low wages and aren't attracting the expertise they need. Washington Selectman Jim Huebner encouraged regionalization as a means to help provide the services. Heubner said his town struggles to find somebody to run a council on aging and sees an opportunity for a regional service. In recent years, a Public Health Alliance was created to provide various health services to an array of towns and Huebner said that is the only way some of those services would be provided at all. "We don't have a choice," he said. "It is the only way to get professional public health nursing and inspectors." Mount Washington Selectman Jim Lovejoy disagrees on that though. He wouldn't want to see the state require more regionalization but instead have state-hired circuit riders. With the health alliance, he contends that it doesn't save the towns any money by regionalizing. "I resist the temptation that regionalization is the cure to all of our ills because it is a matter of cost shifting," Lovejoy said. Keith Girouard, from the Massachusetts Small Business Development Center, added to that saying the lack of employees and time available hurts businesses. With limited staff, volunteers, and limited hours, permitting and inspections for small businesses is more difficult, takes more time, and ultimately costs more. "It is the inspections that are a problem," he said. Economically, Dunlavy said small towns tend to have small businesses and this plan is hoped to show state officials that many programs aimed for business development aren't applicable to the smallest of businesses. "We know in the very rural areas of Massachusetts most of our employers are under five employees so small business support and small business development is very important," she said. Mark Siegars, from Lanesborough, went further to say businesses in small towns have a different philosophy. He said they are more community oriented, helping out and employing others from the community, and not just focused on the bottom line. "It is a completely different view of the world," Siegars said. "They're comfortable living in their community helping out kids or relatives." Dunlavy also highlighted infrastructure, particularly noting that most rural towns do not have sewer systems and only limited water systems. "Without a solid infrastructure, we aren't going anywhere in Massachusetts," she said. Small towns have routinely raised concern with the state's payment in lieu of taxes for property here. McKinney said more than half of Clarksburg is owned by the state but the amount it's paying for it is woefully inadequate. At the same time, the town is maintaining roads that provide access to those lands and if there is a forest fire, the town will be the one to pay for it. He suggested an additional metric to be added to the Chapter 90 formula for road projects accounting for areas where there is a lot of state-owned lands. Chapter 90 is based on population, road miles, and employment -- two of which work against rural towns. Lovejoy said efforts to change the formula have been unsuccessful and he'd advocate for the state to start all over and develop a new one. He said even if spending on the program increased by 50 percent, the current formula would only give Mount Washington an additional $30,000. The average cost to fix a mile of road is $1 million. Huebner added that beyond having smaller budgets and smaller staff getting road projects done is even more difficult with state regulations. "We're putting in a lousy 20-foot culvert and I have to wait for the Army Corps of Engineer and Boston and my $200,000 engineer to tell me water will run through it," he said. Dunlavy identified that senior and workforce housing is an issue in rural towns. She said there need to be more financial resources eyed to rehabilitate an older housing stock. But, other than Berkshire Housing, there isn't much for a development capacity. The commission also noted a shortage of primary-care doctors and issues of isolation with those aging in place. Towns also struggle to find volunteer firefighters and emergency medical technicians, with many rural towns getting special permission to allow volunteer firefighters to stay on the job past the age restriction. Siegars added that isolation isn't just among the elderly but with everyone who lives in rural areas. In education, declining enrollment poses a threat and with that, the geographic distance makes it difficult. Windsor Selectman Doug McNally said 10 percent of his town's municipal budget is directed to just six students going to vocational programs. The cost to tuition students elsewhere for that education is costly for a small town, he said. Meanwhile, "our job openings are in those post-secondary but not college-skilled based areas," he said. McKinney said the budget in Clarksburg for town services has decreased by 10 percent over the years while school costs rose by more than 200 percent. The commission is hoping that when the plan identifying and addressing the issues is completed, lawmakers will start considering the impact bills have on rural issues first, rather than being an afterthought. Barrington Stage Board of Trustees Welcomes New Member PITTSFIELD, Mass. Barrington Stage Company has welcomed Richard Seltzer to the Board of Trustees. "Richard has demonstrated unwavering commitment and leadership in support of the arts in Berkshire County. We are very pleased to welcome him to our board," said Barrington Stage Board President Marita Glodt. Seltzer graduated from Harvard College in 1965 magna cum laude and then obtained a JD degree from Columbia Law School, where he was a Stone scholar. He spent all of his professional career at the New York City law firm of Kaye Scholer, chairing its real estate litigation group and also practicing in its patent group. "It is daunting to be joining an organization as successful as Barrington Stage. I feel like I am jumping onto a moving train," Seltzer said. He also noted that "strong cultural institutions, like Barrington Stage, are a crucial component in restoring the economic strength of Berkshire County." Egypts navy has carried out joint exercises with British and Italian naval forces in the Mediterranean, which is part of efforts by the Egyptian Armed Forces to further military cooperation with friendly countries. In a statement on Friday, Egypts Armed Forces spokesman Tamer El-Refaie said that participating in the drills were a number of Egyptian naval vessels as well as multipurpose Italian frigate ITS Carabiniere and British auxiliary landing ship dock RFA Lyme Bay. The exercise included the formation of naval flotillas, underwater communication, the take-off and landing of jets on naval units, as well as boarding and searching naval vessels. The drills also covered fuel supply at sea and protecting naval units in dangerous zones. El-Refaie said that the participating forces displayed proficiency in coordination and understanding in executing the planned training missions. Such exercises show the depth of military relations with friendly countries and the readiness of forces to confront different threats in the Mediterranean, the statement said. Search Keywords: Short link: Famed journalist Roland Martin promised a gathering at Central Library on Dec. 2 he would make them uncomfortable during School Choice is the Black Choice, a pro-education reform town hall focused on Black students in Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS). Martin delivered on multiple occasions. The panel Aleesia Johnson, deputy superintendent for academics at IPS; Candace Pate, director of admissions and community partnerships at Providence Cristo Rey High School; Derrell Bradford, executive vice president of 50Can, a nonprofit education advocacy organization; George Parker, education consultant and reform advocate; and Kelli Marshall, CEO of Tindley Schools answered questions from Martin, then took questions from the audience. But those who showed up thinking the event would be a warm, uncritical embrace of Indianapolis march toward public charter schools and innovation partnerships were probably caught off guard when Martin, named the 2013 Journalist of the Year by the National Association of Black Journalists, pushed panelists for better answers. When Martin asked Marshall how Black students are doing at Tindley, Marshalls answer included very well. Martin cut her off and warned the rest of the panel that very well wasnt going to cut it he wanted numbers. Martin was also critical of what he called a confusing IPS innovation model, in which all charter schools are innovation schools, but not all innovation schools are charter schools. IPS designates four categories of innovation schools: new, restart, conversion and charter. Thats a whole lot of cooks in the education kitchen, he said. That point circled back to one of Martins opening comments about why some people are skeptical of education reform. He said the issue becomes convoluted because pro-reformers make it sound too complicated. Bradford said another issue working against the education reform movement is how proponents viewed and treated charter schools in their early days. Those guiding the movement didnt account for the politics involved in education, and they didnt prioritize diversity, he charged. We proceeded under the idea that we would just make great schools and people would get on board with it, he said. Indianapolis is one of the countrys leaders in the education reform movement, and though IPS Superintendent Lewis Ferebees resignation announced on Dec. 3 takes away one of its champions, much has already been done to cement that legacy for the city. So Martin asked Johnson what the district is doing to replicate its successful schools. Johnsons roundabout answer was that a lack of resources makes it difficult to scale those schools that are working. Martin pushed again, asking if there are even schools worth scaling. Johnson singled out two schools: Edison School of the Arts 47 and Center for Inquiry 70, to which some in the crowd booed and said no. In general, Johnson said Black students in IPS it doesnt matter if its traditional, innovation or charter schools are not doing well, and this brought Martin to one of his strongest themes of the evening: The IPS innovation model wont work if those running the school dont look like the student body. One of the fundamental problems in education is there are conversations happening that arent including those people who are being affected, he said. Parker added that he believes a lack of Black male teachers fuels the infamous school to prison pipeline. Black men make up only 2 percent of teachers across the country, according to Teach for America, an organization that places teachers in public schools. Martin ended the night by evoking the spirit of the Montgomery bus boycott led by Martin Luther King Jr. in the mid-1950s, and implored those in attendance to take the same community-based action by staking their claim in education with an alliance to hold charter schools and their leaders accountable. Contact staff writer Tyler Fenwick at 317-762-7853. Follow him on Twitter @Ty_Fenwick. Senators Working to Slip Israel Anti-Boycott Law Through in Lame Duck By Ryan Grim, Alex Emmons December 06, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin is making a behind-the-scenes push to slip an anti-boycott law into a last-minute spending bill being finalized during the lame-duck session, according to four sources familiar with the negotiations. The measure, known as the Israel Anti-Boycott Act, was shelved earlier amid concerns about the infringement of free speech, after civil liberties groups argued that the original version would have allowed criminal penalties for Americans who participate in a political boycott of Israel. Some of the more aggressive elements of the provision have been removed under pressure, but the American Civil Liberties Union, which spearheaded the initial opposition to the bill, is still strongly opposed. In a letter to Congress, the ACLU warned that the amended version still creates unconstitutional restrictions on free speech. We understand the Senate is considering attaching a revised version of S. 720 to the end-of-the-year omnibus spending bill, and we urge you to oppose its inclusion, reads a letter dated December 3. On Monday, incoming Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., became the second member of Congress to publicly endorse the Boycott, Sanctions, and Divestment movement, or BDS, which Cardins measure is meant to combat. She joined incoming Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., who had become the first to publicly endorse it. Neither would be able to vote on the measure, as they wont be sworn in until January. Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter The Senate measure, which has a House companion, is part of a broad push to undermine support of BDS in both the U.S. and Europe, often conflating the boycott with anti-Semitism. According to the activist group Palestine Legal, which monitors anti-BDS legislation across the country, as of June 2018, 25 states had enacted laws punishing businesses that choose to boycott Israel. In 2017, one city in Texas even required businesses to certify that they would not boycott Israel before receiving hurricane aid. The Israel Anti-Boycott Act, which was introduced last year by Cardin and Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, would amend the 1979 Export Administration Act to allow penalties for companies who join boycotts of Israel called for by international institutions like the United Nations or the European Union. The new version clarifies that people cannot face jail time for participating in a boycott, but the ACLU has argued that it still leaves the door open for criminal financial penalties. Defenders of the bill say that it is strictly aimed at preventing companies from facing pressure to boycott Israel and that it is not meant to restrict an individuals free speech. Trumps Timidity is Letting Comey Off the Hook With just a few days left before Congress adjourns, House Republicans, like their President, have pretty much let the clock run out. Theres little chance now in taking on the intelligence community By Ray McGovern December 06, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - Because President Donald Trump has again pulled the rug out from under them, House Republicans face Mission Impossible on Friday when they try to hold ex-FBI Director James Comey accountable for his highly dubious authorization of surveillance on erstwhile Trump campaign adviser Carter Page. Comey let go his unprecedented legal maneuver to have a court quash a subpoena for him to appear behind closed doors before the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee before the Democrats take over the committee in January. The current committee chair, Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), decried Comeys use of baseless litigation in an attempt to run out the clock on this Congress. The Judiciary Committee has jurisdiction over the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA); so the still secret FISA application justifying surveillance of Page is almost sure to come up. Comey had wanted a public hearing so he could pull the ruse of refusing to respond because his answers would be classified. He has now agreed to a closed-door meeting on Friday, with a transcript, likely to be redacted, to appear soon after. In an interview with The New York Post last Wednesday, Trump acknowledged that he could declassify Comeys damning Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrant request to show how devastating those pages likely are, but said he would not do so until they were needed, namely, if a Democratic House starts going after him. If they go down the presidential harassment track, if they want go and harass the president and the administration, I think that would be the best thing that would happen to me. Im a counter-puncher and I will hit them so hard theyd never been hit like that, Trump told the paper. He added: Its much more powerful if I do it then, because if we had done it already, it would already be yesterdays news. Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter But they are needed before Comeys hearing on Friday. Barely a week will remain before Congress adjourns. Four weeks later Democrats take over the oversight committees. Cowardice Deja Vu This is not the first time Trump has flinched. On September 17 he ordered immediate declassification of Russia-gate documents, including FISA-related material. Four days later he backed down, explaining that he would leave it to the Justice Departments inspector general to review the material, rather than release it publicly. What exactly is in the FISA application, and why had House Intelligence Committee chair Devin Nunes, for example, kept pleading with Trump to declassify it? In July Nunes expressed hedged confidence that once the American people see these 20 pages, at least for those that will get real reporting on this issue, they will be shocked by whats in that FISA application to surveil Page, a U.S. citizen. Oddly, Trump echoed Nunes, telling The New York Post that, were he to declassify FISA warrant applications and other documents, all would see how devastating those pages are. But Trump blamed his reluctance to declassify on one of his lawyers, Emmet Flood, who thought it would be better politically to wait. He didnt want me to do it yet, because I can save it. I think [eventual release] might help my campaign. So Nunes et al. find themselves thrown under the bus, again. Worse still, according to Comeys attorney, the accommodation worked out with House Judiciary Committee includes a proviso that a representative of the FBI will be present on Friday to advise on any issues of confidentiality and legal privilege. Do not be surprised to see many Peter-Strzok-type responses: I would really like to answer that question, but the FBI wont let me. Afraid? In an insightful posting, David Stockman, budget director for President Ronald Reagan, was puzzled about why Trump doesnt seem to get whats going on. I think, rather, that Trump does get it, and that Stockmans puzzlement may be due mostly to his specific experience as budget director. In that role, Stockman did not have to pay much heed to the Deep State, so long as he did not demur about the obscenely excessive budgets automatically given to the FBI, DOJ, CIA, NSA, and the Pentagon. With Trump its a different kettle of fish and they are piranhas. Trump has ample reason to fear the Deep State is out to get him because it is. And by this point he seems to have internalized quite enough fear that it would be too dangerous to take on the the FBI and intelligence community. Needless to say, the stakes are exceedingly high for both sides. As president-elect, Trump dismissed the usual warnings as to how things work in Washington. But he could hardly have missed Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Schumers attempt to ensure that Trump knows what he should be afraid of. Not Afraid? Then Really Dumb On Jan. 3, 2017, three weeks before Trump took office, Schumer told MSNBCs Rachel Maddow, that President-elect Trump was being really dumb by taking on the intelligence community and doubting its assessments on Russias cyber activities: Let me tell you, you take on the intelligence community, they have six ways from Sunday at getting back at you. So even for a practical, supposedly hard-nosed businessman, hes being really dumb to do this. Schumers words came just three days before then-National Intelligence Director James Clapper and the heads of the FBI, CIA, and NSA descended upon the president-elect with the misnomered Intelligence Community Assessment a rump, evidence-free embarrassment to serious practitioners of intelligence analysis, published that same day, alleging that Russian President Vladimir Putin had done what he could to get Trump elected. Adding insult to injury, after the January 6, 2017 briefing of the president-elect by the Gang of Four, Comey asked the others to leave, and proceeded to brief Trump on the dubious findings of the so-called Steele dossier opposition research paid for by the Democrats (and, according to some reports, by the FBI as well) with unconfirmed but scurrilous stories about Trump cavorting with prostitutes in Moscow, etc., etc. (And according to The Washington Post, that incident with hookers was written by a Clinton operative.) That opposition research was apparently used in the FISA warrant request, without revealing its provenance to the judge. This Russia Thing It seems to have taken Trump a few months to appreciate fully that he was being subjected to the classic blackmail-type advisory previously used with presidents-elect by the likes of J. Edgar Hoover. Indeed, this may be what Trump had in mind when he told Lester Holt in May 2017 that he had fired Comey over this Russia thing. (Trump can be his worst enemy when he opens his mouth.) Comeys closed-door deposition is now scheduled for the 77th anniversary of the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. But dont look for any surprise attack on Comey this December 7 from Judiciary Committee members, highly vulnerable though he is. With just a few days left before Congress adjourns, House Republicans, like their President, have pretty much let the clock run out on them. Few will see much percentage at this late date in taking on the intelligence community. Trump has already pretty much thrown them under the bus. The leadership of the three House committees with purview over Russia-gate matters Judiciary, Intelligence, and Government Operations changes next month. So while Friday had seemed to be shaping up as a key day for confronting Comey and for getting answers to questions on Russia-gate the day will likely land with an anticlimactic thud. Even if the committee is able to expose additional misdeeds not already known, nothing much is likely to happen before Christmas. After that, the three committees and their aborted work will be history. The dominant mainstream media narrative about Russia-gate ignoring FBI-gate will hop happily into the new year. And no congressional oversight committee will dare step up to its constitutional duty, despite a plethora of documentary evidence on FBI-gate. And why? Largely because they of the Deep State have six ways from Sunday at getting back at you. Most consequential of all, any significant improvement in relations with Russia will remain stymied. And the MICIMATT (Military-Industrial-Congressional-Intelligence-Media-Academia-Think Tank) complex, with its Deep-State enforcer, will have won yet another round. Merry Christmas. December 06, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - Can I be the only one apart from his own sycophants to find the sight of Americas finest Republicans and Democrats condemning the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia for murdering Jamal Khashoggi a bit sickening? Crazy. Dangerous. A wrecking ball. A smoking saw. These guys are angry. CIA director Gina Haspel, who was happy to sign off on the torture of her Muslim captives in a secret American prison in Thailand, obviously knew what she was talking about when she testified about Mohammed bin Salman and the agony of Jamal Khashoggi. US government leaks suggest that Haspel knew all about the shrieks of pain, the suffering of Arab men who believed they were drowning, the desperate pleading for life from Americas victims in these sanctuaries of torment in and after 2002. After all, the desperate screams of a man who believes he is drowning and the desperate screams of a man who believes he is suffocating cant be very different. Except, of course, that the CIAs victims lived to be tortured another day indeed several more days while Jamal Khashoggis asphyxiation was intended to end his life. Which it did. A generation ago, the CIAs Operation Phoenix torture and assassination programme in Vietnam went way beyond the imaginations of the Saudi intelligence service. In spook language, Khashoggi was merely terminated with maximum prejudice. If the CIA could sign off on mass murder in Vietnam, why shouldnt an Arab dictator do the same on a far smaller scale? True, I cant imagine the Americans went in for bone saws. Testimony suggests that mass rape followed by mass torture did for their enemies in Vietnam. Why play music through the earphones of the murderers? Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter But still it goes on. Heres Democrat senator Bob Menendez this week. The US, he told us, must send a clear and unequivocal message that such actions are not acceptable on the worlds stage. The action, of course, is the murder of Khashoggi. And this from a man who constantly defended Israel after its slaughter of the innocents in Gaza. So what on earth is going on here? Perhaps the worlds stage of which Menendez spoke was the White House an appropriate phrase, when you come to think about it where the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia has been no stranger. Yet when at least one recent US presidential incumbent of that high office can be considered guilty of war crimes in Iraq and the deaths of tens of thousands of Arabs, how come American senators are huffing and puffing about just one man, Mohammed bin Salman, who (for a moment, let us set aside the Yemen war) is only being accused of ordering the murder and dismemberment of one single Arab? After all, world leaders and US presidents themselves have always had rather a soft spot for mass murderers and those who should face war crimes indictments. Trump has infamously met Kim Jong-un and invited him to the White House. We are all waiting for Rodrigo Duterte to take up his own invitation. Obama lavished hospitality at the White House on a host of bloody autocrats from Gambia, Burkina Faso and Cameroon before we even recall Suharto, whose death squads killed up to half a million people; and Hosni Mubarak, whose secret police sometimes raped their prisoners and who sanctioned the hanging of hundreds of Islamists without proper trials, and his ultimate successor, Field Marshal-President al-Sisi, who has around 60,000 political prisoners locked up in Egypt and whose cops appear to have tortured a young Italian student to death. But Giulio Regeni wasnt murdered in an Egyptian consulate. This list does not even include Ariel Sharon, who as Israeli defence minister was accused by an Israeli inquiry of personal responsibility for the massacre of 1,700 Palestinian civilians at the Sabra and Chatila camps in Beirut in 1982. So what is this clear and unequivocal message that senator Menendez is rambling on about? The message has been clear and unequivocal for decades. The US national interest always trumps (in both senses) morality or international crime. Why else did the United States support Saddam Hussein in his attempt to destroy Iran and his use of chemical warfare against Iran? Why else did Donald Rumsfeld plead with Saddam in December 1993 to allow the reopening of the US embassy in Baghdad when the Iraqi dictator (a strongman at the time, of course) had already used mustard gas against his opponents? By the time Rumsfeld arrived for his meeting, more than 3,000 victims had fallen amid Iraqi gas clouds. The figure would reach at least 50,000 dead. Which is, in mathematical terms, Jamal Khashoggi times 50,000. Yet we are supposed to recoil with shock and horror when Haspel who might herself have a few admissions to make to senators on other matters suggests that Americas latest favourite Middle Eastern tyrant knew about the forthcoming murder of Jamal Khashoggi. Does Menendez think that Saddam hadnt signed the death sentences of thousands of Iraqi men and women which, as we know from his later trial, he did before meeting Rumsfeld? Or that Duterte, who has compared himself to Hitler, doesnt sign off on the killing of his murdered drug suspects? Or that Suharto had absolutely nothing to do with half a million murders in Indonesia? Its instructive, indeed, that the thousands of innocents killed in the Yemen war, an offensive undertaken by Mohammed bin Salman himself with logistical support from the US and UK and it doesnt need Haspel to tell us this hasnt exactly left US senators shocked. Just another bunch of Arabs killing each other, I suppose. Starvation didnt get mentioned by the senators emerging from Haspels closed hearing. Yet the senators know all about the mosque bombings, wedding party bombings, hospital bombings and school bombings in Yemen. Why no tears for these innocents? Or is that a bit difficult when the US military on every occasion by accident, of course has bombed mosques, wedding parties, hospitals and schools in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria? No, the shock and horror and the need for full disclosure about the Saudis is primarily about Trump, and the need to tie him in to the cruel murder of a Washington Post journalist and US resident whose gruesome demise has been blamed by the American president upon a vicious world. But there is something more than this, the appalling fact albeit only a folk memory, perhaps, for many with scarcely any institutional memory at all that 15 of those 9/11 hijackers were Saudis, that Osama bin Laden was a Saudi, that George W Bush secretly flew bin Laden family members out of the US after 9/11, that the Saudis themselves are heir to a blighted, rural, cruel version of Sunni Islam based on the pernicious teachings of the 18th century Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab which has inspired the Taliban, al-Qaeda, Isis and all the other killer cults whom we have proclaimed to be the Wests Enemy No 1. Nailing Mohammed Bin Salman to a crucifix a method of execution favoured by the Wahhabis is an easy kill for US senators, of course. You hit the president and smash those unhappy historical details all in one fell swoop. But dont bank on it. Oil and arms are a potent mix. Old Abd al-Wahhabs home is protected in a new tourist haunt in the suburbs of Riyadh. Come to think of it, the national mosque of Qatar hostile to rapacious Saudi Arabia but another recipient of US weapons and a supporter of Islamist forces in Syria and Iraq has a capacity for 30,000 souls, was built only seven years ago and is named after Abd al-Wahhab himself. This is the dangerous world in which America and its allies now tread, disdainful of the thousands of Muslims who perish under our bombs and missiles and mortars proxy-delivered by those we should distrust ignorant of the religious currents which rumble on beneath our feet and beneath the House of Saud. Even the virtually useless information Haspel learned in the CIAs black centres could have told senators this. If they had bothered to ask. This article was originally published by " The Independent " - 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. President Muhammadu Buhari has commended the behaviour of a taxi driver, Abubakar Hassan, who returned valuables, a passenger forgot in his taxi. The president made this known in a statement signed by Garba Shehu, his Spokesperson on Friday. According to the statement, the president urged all Nigerians from cab drivers to government officials to emulate, the honesty of Mr Hassan. The president further noted that, the character portrayed by the cab driver, is exactly how Nigerians were, many decades ago before corruption and greed set in. See full statement below President Muhammadu Buhari is delighted to learn about the remarkable act of honesty by Abubakar Hassan, a taxi driver in Abuja, who returned valuable property forgotten in his car by a passenger. Even when the passenger had no way of tracing him, Mr. Hassan went out of his way to seek her, and to return her possessions intact. President Buhari commends Mr. Hassan for his outstanding conduct, which should be an example for every Nigerian, from cab driver to government official. His behaviour is a throwback to the Nigeria of some decades ago, before corruption and greed among public officials became accepted as normal, and polluted our national values. President Buhari appreciates Mr. Hassan for inadvertently making himself available as a shining example of the Nigeria that this administration has battled and continues to battle for, a Nigeria where our national resources are not appropriated by private individuals, who have no consideration for anyone beyond themselves and their private interests. Mavin artiste Reekado Banks has officially left the record label. In a very touching Instagram post on Friday, the Catapult crooner said leaving the label, is something he had to do for his own growth. He thanked Dont Jazzy, the label owner for all his support, as he moves on to move exciting things. See Reekados post https://www.instagram.com/p/BrFY9HxFOGU/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=orp96s6vnkbl The announcement came as a surprise to many Nigerians Although, they have hailed the musician for the noncontroversial move while urging other artistes to emulate Reekado. Heres how Nigerians have reacted to the announcement Why on God's green earth is Reekado Banks leaving Mavin. I really like him and Don Jazzy together pic.twitter.com/u3MUViGREv Fauziyya (@BFauzzy) December 7, 2018 The way Reekado Banks left Mavins is just classsss, leave your label without having any misunderstanding with anyone there, leave with joy and lastly wish them good. Every artiste should follow this step it makes everything easy. Otunba ICE (@ManLikeIcey) December 7, 2018 With the exit of Reekado banks Mavin is left with only Tiwa Savage. SHOPGL (@shop_gl_today) December 7, 2018 https://twitter.com/iSlimfit/status/1071036530330865668?s=19 Presidential aide, Lauretta Onochie has published the names of the men that destroyed Nigeria And now on a ploy to get back to power and do more damage. The media aide to President Muhammadu Buhari via a postbon Twitter accused former presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Goodluck Jonathan and former vice President Atiku Abubakar, of bringing the country down. In the tweet on Thursday, Onochie accused the men of trying to get back to the corridor of power, after the damage they have done to the country. Alsobin what may be interpreted as a swipe at Atiku, Onochie said N400m was allegedly paid to obtain an American visa, yet debased African by paying then N500 to attend his campaign rally. See tweet Former minister of Aviation, Mr Femi Fani Kayode, has reacted to a statement by the Wife of president Muhammadu Buhari, Aisha, that two powerful men have taken over Buharis government. Aisha Buhari made headlines on Thursday, when she asked Nigerian men, to rise up and get their country back, from two powerful men that have hijacked power from her husband. According to Mrs Buhari, while speaking at a national women leadership summit organised by a political group, known as Project 4+4 for Buhari & Osinbajo 2019, these two men(which she didnt name) have taken over a government which came to being through the votes of 15.4 million people. In her words; Our votes were 15.4 million in the last elections and after that only for us to be dominated by two people this is totally unacceptable. If 15.4 million people can bring in a government and only for the government to be dominated by two people or three people, where are the men of Nigeria? Where are the Nigerian men? What are you doing? Instead of them to come together and fight them, they keep visiting them one after the other licking their shoes (Im sorry to used those words). In his reaction, Fani-Kayode said Nigerians deserve urgent answers, as to who is truly ruling us. The former Aviation minister made this known via his Twitter handle on Friday. He wrote; The First Ladys claim that the FG has been highjacked by 2 men and that her husbands supporters should find the guts to confront and wrestle back power from them is alarming. Exactly who is running our nation?Almost 200 million of people and we dont know who runs our country! Some say it is a clone, others say it is a body double, others say it is a strange man that cannot even speak his own native Fulani language whilst the First Lady says it is two powerful and faceless men who have somehow usurped power and rendered the President impotent. Whatever the case we deserve answers. It is time for President Buhari to conduct a national television broadcast and clear the air. Nigeria has become a laughing stock and the butt of cruel clone jokes all over the world over the last few days. It is unbearable and shameful. Egypt is calling on its citizens in France to exercise caution amid the ongoing protests in the country, warning that riots could break out in the upcoming days. The Egyptian consulate in Paris has released a statement advising Egyptians to avoid areas of unrest in French cities. The consulate also advised Egyptians to carry personal identification while moving in cities and contact the consulate if they face problems. France is anticipating further protests in different areas after weeks of demonstrations over increased fuel prices. Last Saturday, Paris saw riots deemed the countrys worst in decades, with scores of people arrested and injured. France has said it will use exceptional means to deal with the unrest, deploying 89,000 police officers across the country; the largest such deployment since 1968. Many Parisian shops, museums and sites, including the Eiffel Tower, will be closed on Saturday. The protests, which erupted on 17 November, have shown no signs of easing despite the French governments announcement that it will temporarily suspend fuel tax increases. Protesters are now calling for the resignation of French President Emmanuel Macron. Search Keywords: Short link: Immediate past governor of Ekiti state, Ayo Fayose has reacted to President Muhammadu Buharis failure to assent to the 2018 Electoral Amendment Bill, again. Ita Enang, senior special assistant to the president on Wednesday, had revealed that Buhari has informed the senate of his decision not to sign the bill, as he needed the National Assembly revisit some clauses in the bill. This definitely came has a blow to many, who have been mounting pressure on the president to sign the bill. This wouldnt be the first time, Buhari would turn down the bill. In September, Buhari also turned down the bill for the second time, because of some errors. However, Fayose has lambasted the President for allowing his personal interest to override those of millions of Nigerians. The former governor, asked what fears, the president has concerning the bill. He wrote: What is President Buharis fear concerning this Electoral Bill? Can the interest of a single individual be placed above that of Nigeria and its people? Is he saying that even his party members in the NASS were wrong to have passed the Electoral Bill? May God save our country. See tweet Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Opinion Policies Editorials are longer opinion pieces that are written by a group of community members recruited across campus who address relevant issues on a local, national and international level. Editorials are research-based. The purpose of the Editorial Board is to promote discussion concerning relevant issues in the community while advising on possible solutions. Topics are chosen via relevancy and interests of the members, which are then discussed by the Editorial Board in order to reach a general consensus concerning the topic or issue. Feedback policy If you have a grievance concerning the content or argument of the Editorial Board, please contact either Opinion Editor Peyton Hamel (peyton.hamel@iowastatedaily.com) or the Editorial Board as a whole (editorialboard@iowastatedaily.com). Those wanting to respond to editorials can also submit a letter to the editor through the Iowa State Daily website or by emailing the letter to Opinion Editor Peyton Hamel (peyton.hamel@iowastatedaily.com) or Editor-in-Chief Sage Smith (sage.smith@iowastatedaily.com). Column Policy Columns are hyper-specific to opinion and are written by only columnists employed by the Iowa State Daily. Columnists are unique because they have a specific writing day and only publish on those writing days. Each column undergoes a thorough editing process ensuring the integrity of the writer, and their claim is maintained while remaining research-based and respectful. Columns may be submitted from community members. These are labelled as Guest Columns. These contain similar research-based content and need to be at least 400 words in length. The following requirements should be met: first and last name, email and relation or position to Iowa State. Emails must be tied to the submitted guest column or it will not be accepted or published. Pseudonyms are prohibited and the writer will be banned from submissions. Read our full Opinion Policies here. Updated on 10/7/2020 While Apple has continued to play hardball with Qualcomm, ever since the pair of companies started their lengthy legal battles, Qualcomm has, for whatever reason, always seen a potential resolution right around the corner. While Qualcomms President, Cristiano Amon, still sees a resolution as a forthcoming inevitability, it feels more like the company has downgraded things in the hope category. Amon recently spoke with Yahoo! Finance and said that a finality to the legal battle between Qualcomm and Apple is indeed coming, and that a resolution will be met one way or another. We feel like we are probably near the end of this game we have a lot of legal milestones approaching, Qualcomm President Cristiano Amon Told Yahoo Finance. We see 2019 as having events that will drive resolution one way or another. We recently reported that Apples lawyer had weighed in on the subject and said that there is no possibility of a settlement coming down the pipe. Before that statement though, Qualcomms CEO genuinely believed that a resolution between the two companies was right on the doorstep. The two companies havent been on the same page for quite some time, both in business dealings and legalities, so maybe it makes sense that they wouldnt be on the same page here about a potential end to their legal battles. Looking ahead, the two companies are scheduled to go to trial on April 15, 2019. That will probably be a catalyst that reignites plenty of hard talk from both companies, and just one more mark in the calendar for what will probably be a very lengthy battle between these two juggernauts of the market. [via Yahoo! Finance While AT&T was the first wireless carrier in the United States to switch on eSIM support for Apples newest iPhones, Verizon isnt too far behind. Verizon has since confirmed that it is indeed switching on support for the electronic SIM card (or eSIM) in the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and the iPhone XR. This means that, for Verizon customers who have the newest iPhones, the dual SIM functionality should now be up and running. Youll need to open up the My Verizon app on your iPhone and find the Join Now path within the app. Once you do follow the onscreen instructions to get everything running. For folks who turn on the feature and have two numbers on their iPhone, youll find the network status for your additional number in Control Center. If you are waiting for Sprint and T-Mobile to jump on board the eSIM train, it shouldnt take either one of the other networks to get the ball rolling. Of course, having support at launch would have been nice, but that just wasnt the case. Better late than never, right? [via @VZSupport Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday hailed majority backing in the UN General Assembly for condemning militant group Hamas even though a draft resolution failed to win enough votes to pass. The US draft won 87 votes in the General Assembly on Thursday compared to 58 against but fell short of a required two-thirds majority. Thirty-two countries abstained. "The draft condemnation of Hamas in the UN General Assembly received a sweeping majority by countries that stood against Hamas," Netanyahu said in an English-language statement. "This is the first time that a majority of countries have voted against Hamas and I commend each of the 87 countries that took a principled stand. "I thank the American administration and US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley for the initiative." Haley, who steps down from her post at the end of the year, has repeatedly accused the United Nations of having an anti-Israel bias. She has defended Israel in its latest confrontation with Hamas, the Islamist group which has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007 and has fought three wars with Israel since then. Israel besieged Gaza since 2007, waging three wars against the strip 2008, 2012 and 2014, leaving more than 3000 Palestinians killed, thousands injured and infrastructure in shambles. The United States had won crucial backing from the European Union, with all 28 countries supporting the draft that would have condemned Hamas for firing rockets into Israel and demanded an end to the violence. The European Union, like the United States, blacklists Hamas as a terrorist organisation. It was the first draft resolution condemning Hamas to be presented to the 193-nation assembly, which has been meeting since 1946. Hamas praised the outcome of the vote, describing it as a "slap" to President Donald Trump's administration. "The failure of the American venture at the United Nations represents a slap to the US administration and confirmation of the legitimacy of the resistance," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zahri tweeted, referring to militant groups that oppose Israel. * This story was edited by Ahram Online Search Keywords: Short link: QATPL Lahore Jobs 2019 for Legal Advisor Latest Quaid e Azam Thermal Power Private Limited QATPL Legal Posts Lahore 2021 Quaid e Azam Thermal Power Private Limited QATPL, Government of Pakistan are requires applications from experienced candidates for the posts of Legal Advisor. Skills Required Legal How to Apply on Quaid e Azam Thermal Power Private Limited QATPL Job Advertisement Apply as per details in job advertisement. In some cases, you may apply online at vacancies after registering at https://www.jobz.pk online. Note: Beware of Fraudulent Recruiting Activities. If an employer asks to pay money for any purpose, do not pay at all and report us at contact us form. Apply as per instuctions & dates mentioned in official job ad. Govt jobs may not be applied online here. Human typing error is possible. Error & omissions excepted. Shaikh Zayed Postgraduate Medical Institute Lahore Jobs Latest Specialized Healthcare & Medical Education Department Medical Posts Lahore 2021 Specialized Healthcare & Medical Education Department, Shaikh Zayed Postgraduate Medical Institute Lahore, Pakistan required experienced candidates for the posts of Dean and Chairman. Skills Required Medical How to Apply on Specialized Healthcare & Medical Education Department Job Advertisement Apply as per details in job advertisement. In some cases, you may apply online at vacancies after registering at https://www.jobz.pk online. Note: Beware of Fraudulent Recruiting Activities. If an employer asks to pay money for any purpose, do not pay at all and report us at contact us form. Apply as per instuctions & dates mentioned in official job ad. Govt jobs may not be applied online here. Human typing error is possible. Error & omissions excepted. Yemen's government supports the reopening of Sanaa international airport, shut down for years in the country's brutal war, but only under supervision, an official said Thursday. "We are keen on the opening of Sanaa airport, and we demand the opening of Sanaa airport and we know that the Yemeni citizen should have the right to reach any country in the world through Sanaa airport," said Abdulaziz Jabari, a presidential advisor and member of a Yemeni government delegation at UN-brokered peace talks in Sweden. "But... we are looking into who will supervise Sanaa airport." The airport is controlled by Yemeni rebels, who have battled the government for nearly four years. Search Keywords: Short link: We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form From left, Rick Mussellam, director of the Kelowna Club, Kit Kellendonk, treasurer of the Kelowna Club, and Richard Jacobsen, manager of the Kelowna Club, hold three of the 101 turkeys the club, along with Safeway Canada, donated to the Central Okanagan Community Food Bank this week. Yemen's government has proposed reopening the Houthi-held airport in the capital Sanaa on condition planes are inspected in the airports of Aden or Sayun which are under its control, two government officials said on Friday. The Houthis rejected the proposal floated at U.N-sponsored peace talks in Sweden that are aimed at cementing confidence-building measures that could lead to a ceasefire to halt air strikes by a Saudi-led coalition and Houthi missile attacks on Saudi cities. But given this is only the second day of the talks due to last until Dec. 13, and with both sides are coming under mounting pressure for action because of the human toll of the war, there could be room for concessions. The war has killed tens of thousands of people and spawned what the United Nations calls the world's direst humanitarian crisis, since the coalition intervened in 2015 to restore a government ousted by the Iran-aligned Houthi movement. The warring sides agreed on Thursday to free thousands of prisoners, in what U.N. mediator Martin Griffiths called a hopeful start to the first peace talks in two years to end a war that has pushed millions of people to the verge of starvation. Griffiths wants a deal on reopening the airport, shoring up the central bank and securing a truce in Hodeidah, the country's main port, held by the Houthis and a focus of the war after the coalition launched a campaign to capture it this year. Sanaa airport, which has been bombed several times, is in Houthi territory but access is restricted by the Saudi-led coalition, which controls the air space. Marwan Dammaj, Yemen's minister of culture in the internationally recognised government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, told Reuters Sanaa airport should be re-opened to put "an end to the people's suffering regarding transportation". "But it should be a domestic airport from where Yemenis can go to Aden and then leave to international destinations," added Dammaj, a member of the government delegation. Hamza Al Kamali, another member of the delegation, said airplanes must stop in airports in the southern city of Aden or Sayun, east of the capital, for inspection before leaving Yemen. The Houthi delegation head at the peace talks, Mohammed Abdusalam, rejected the proposal. "The airport should be opened in accordance to international standards, and we do not accept inspections," Abdusalam told Al Jazeera television. A U.N. source declined to comment. The United Nations is also trying to avert a full-scale assault on Hodeidah, the entry point for most of Yemen's commercial goods and aid. Both sides have reinforced positions in the Red Sea city in sporadic battles after a de-escalation last month. Yemen's government is sticking to its position that Hodeidah should be under its control, said Kamali. "We say that the city should be controlled by a police force from Hodeidah's sons and not the Houthis. We cannot legitimise the presence of the Houthi in Hodeidah." Abdusalam said the port of Hodeidah must be kept apart from the military conflict, and that a government should be formed first before all parties are disarmed. The war, widely seen across the region as a proxy conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran, has been in stalemate for years, threatening supply lines to feed nearly 30 million inhabitants. The Houthis control Sanaa and the other most populated areas, while the ousted government based in the southern city of Aden has struggled to advance despite the aid of Arab states. No peace talks have been held since 2016, and the last attempt in Geneva in September failed when the Houthis did not attend. *This story was edited by Ahram Online Search Keywords: Short link: Shenandoah, IA (51601) Today Partly cloudy. High near 60F. Winds NW at 15 to 25 mph. Higher wind gusts possible.. Tonight Some passing clouds. Low 27F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph. German Chancellor Angela Merkel will hand over the reins of her Christian Democratic Union Friday after nearly two decades, with the fate of the divided party up for grabs between a loyal deputy and a longtime rival. The contest's outcome is expected to be crucial in deciding whether Merkel, Europe's most influential leader, can realise her stated goal of completing her fourth term in 2021 and then leaving politics. Merkel, 64, is quitting the helm of the CDU after a series of poll setbacks rooted in controversy over her liberal refugee policy. "I hope we emerge from this party conference well-equipped, motivated and united," Merkel said, after accepting a standing ovation from delegates in Hamburg, many holding "Thanks, boss" placards aloft. "I am confident we will succeed." Merkel has led Germany since 2005, and moved her party steadily toward the political centre. More generous family leave, an exit from nuclear power and an end to military conscription are among her signature policies. The two main candidates, CDU general secretary Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, known as AKK, and corporate lawyer Friedrich Merz, are locked in a battle over whether to embrace or break with the veteran chancellor's legacy. A third contender, Health Minister Jens Spahn, 38, an outspoken critic of Merkel's 2015 decision to welcome more than one million asylum seekers to Germany, is running a distant third. While AKK, 56, is viewed as a keeper of the flame and similar to Merkel with an even temper and middle-of-the-road policies, Merz, 63, has become the torchbearer for those seeking a more decisive break with the chancellor. "The Merkel era is palpably coming to an end," political journalist and AKK biographer Kristina Dunz said. "Merz could be tempted to see his revenge and lunge for power (as soon as next year)." This week, Merz -- who has insisted in the face of widespread scepticism that he could work well with Merkel -- won the backing of powerful former finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, now the parliamentary speaker. Both men are seen as harbouring longstanding grudges against the chancellor, after she thwarted Schaeuble's ambition to become German president and Merz's desire to remain CDU parliamentary group leader several years ago. "Schaeuble's manoeuvre shows: the CDU of the old Germany is trying to make a comeback," news weekly Der Spiegel said. "It is the CDU of the (former chancellor Helmut) Kohl years, in which men like Schaeuble and Merz barked orders like military officers and women usually made the coffee." National broadsheet Sueddeutsche Zeitung said Schaeuble's move signalled that the CDU's long-festering divisions, thinly veiled by unity behind Merkel, could well break out in the open after the conference. "The CDU of the Merkel years is falling apart," it said. "Opposing camps are forming." Few observers have dared to predict how the 1,001 delegates -- political and party office holders -- will vote. AKK is believed to have Merkel's strong backing but much will depend on how deep and widespread the longing is for a stronger conservative profile. Economy Minister Peter Altmaier, a close Merkel ally, criticised Schaeuble's vocal support for Merz as divisive and threw his weight behind AKK as a moderate force who can keep voters from drifting to the extremes. "Since Wolfgang Schaeuble has now opened the floodgates, I can say that I am convinced that Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer has the best chance to unite the CDU and win elections," Altmaier told regional newspaper Rheinische Post. Whoever wins will face towering challenges for the party, which is currently drawing roughly 30 percent at the polls, far below the around 40 percent enjoyed during Merkel's heyday. It has bled support to the right, in the form of the upstart anti-immigration Alternative for Germany party, and to the resurgent Greens on the left. Armin Laschet, premier of Germany's most populous state North Rhine-Westphalia, said the CDU needed to begin projecting an image of unity ahead of European elections next May. "We can't afford another year like 2018 when we fought so much," he told public broadcaster ZDF. Search Keywords: Short link: Outbound shipments were expected to reach the benchmark on Dec. 27, which would make the nation the world's sixth-largest exporter. South Korea's exports are expected to exceed $600 billion for the first time this year on upbeat sales of memory chips, machinery and petrochemical products, the trade ministry said Friday. Outbound shipments were expected to reach the benchmark on Dec. 27, which would make the nation the world's sixth-largest exporter, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said. Total trade volume is set to reach over $1.1 trillion by the end of this year, the ministry said. The nation's trade volume accounted for 3.1 percent of total global trade in the first eight months of this year, up from 2.6 percent in 2008, it noted. By Jhoo Dong-chan A 31-year-old former movie distribution company worker who recently quit her job to raise her child said there is still a barrier for working women in Korea. "I was going to apply for maternity leave at the firm. It was defined by law, but the firm indirectly asked me to quit," she said. "The firm is a small one so it might not have been able to afford to pay me the mandated childbirth subsidies while I was on maternity leave. Laws for working moms are already in effect, but I believe the mentality has yet to follow, especially in small- and mid-size firms." More and more working mothers are struggling to keep their jobs amid worsening labor market conditions. Many women involuntarily quit when they get married or give birth, a disturbing trend still prevalent in small domestic companies. According to Statistics Korea, Friday, the number of the nation's female workers who raise children under the age of 18 stood at 2.87 million as of the first half of this year, down 0.9 percent from 2.89 million from the same period last year. The figure has slid two years in a row since the agency started releasing the data in 2016. The number of female workers raising children was 2.91 million in the first half of 2016, and then slid to 2.89 million a year later. "The decline is attributed to the fall in the nation's population of women of child-bearing age, accompanied with its sluggish economy," said Statistics Korea in a press release. The number of women between ages 15 and 54 stood at 14.39 million as of June, down 185,000, or 1.3 percent, from a year ago. Accordingly, the number of female workers who raise children was also down 101,000, or 1.9 percent, in the period. The employment rate of the nation's female workers was, however, up by 0.6 percentage point to 56.7 percent in the period. "The employment rate of the nation's working mothers was determined by the number and age of their children," it said. The rate of working mothers who raise only one child aged under 18 was 57.9 percent as of June while the figure of those who raise more than three children was 52.1 percent. The margin was 5.8 percentage points between the groups. The data also indicates the job rate of working mothers who raise a child less than six years old was only 48.1 percent. "This shows the nation's working women are experiencing difficulties in maintaining their careers when their children are young and need to be taken care more often," the data said. By Lee Min-young An increase in suspected influenza patients suggests a rough flu season ahead. According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Thursday, the number of suspected flu patients was 19 out of 1,000 sampled between Nov. 25 and Dec. 1, the highest figure since the 2009 swine flu pandemic. The figure has tripled from three weeks ago, signifying the flu virus is spreading at an alarming rate. Earlier last month, the government issued a nationwide influenza warning. A typical influenza is characterized by a mixture of Type A and Type B strains, symptoms of which include fever, chills, cough, sore throat, headaches and runny nose. It takes about four days for most young and healthy people to fully recover, but the flu can be fatal to those with weaker immune systems such as infants and the elderly. Experts say it is best to get flu shots, but once you catch the flu virus, you should stay indoors and avoid crowded places. To prevent the flu virus from spreading, patients should wear a mask and take particular heed of personal hygiene. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, second from left, and South Korean President Moon Jae-in with North Korean first lady Ri-Sol-ju, left, and her South Korean counterpart Kim Jung-sook next to them at Changgun-bong, the peak of Mount Paekdu, on Sept. 20, during the two leaders' third inter-Korean summit. Joint Press Corp By Ko Dong-hwan While it is still uncertain when North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will visit Seoul, his South Korean counterpart has invited him on Dec. 12-14, according to a Friday report. Chosun Ilbo said South Korean President Moon Jae-in, shortly after returning from G-20 Summit in Argentina on Tuesday, sent an "official invitation" to Kim for those dates. Signs of Kim's Seoul visit within this month have been seen from the South Korean presidential office Cheong Wa Dae's recent moves. On Thursday, Moon held an unexpected meeting with presidential aides to discuss Kim's possible Seoul visit. Presidential chief of staff Im Jong-seok even canceled his half-day vacation to attend. Other regular presidential meetings scheduled for that day were canceled. Cheong Wa Dae also reportedly discussed with U.S. Embassy officials on Thursday possible dates for Kim's visit. Cheong Wa Dae's latest official response regarding Kim's possible Seoul visit the first by a North Korean leader is, "We have not heard from Pyongyang yet." A rumor on Friday said that Kim Jong-un, if he visited Seoul, would visit Grand Walkerhill Seoul Hotel, above, and N-Tower. Korea Times file But voices around the National Assembly in Yeouido have suggested that the dates have probably already been set, but Cheong Wa Dae has not released the dates for security reasons. "We will prepare to accommodate Kim if he decides to come, possibly between mid-December and the end of the year," a Cheong Wa Dae official reportedly said. "We are also considering that the visit may be delayed till next year." Moon possibly invited Kim on Dec. 12-14 because there are significant dates regarding Kim's family later this month. The seventh anniversary of Kim's predecessor Kim Jong-il's death is on Dec. 17 and the birthday of Kim's late grandmother Kim Jong-suk is on Dec. 24. However, former South Korean unification minister Jeong Se-hyun predicted on a TBS radio show on Tuesday that Kim would come to Seoul from Dec. 18-20. "Kim is set to be very busy from Dec. 20," Jeong said. "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." Kim Jong-un could experience riding the South Korean bullet train KTX from Seoul to Busan if his Seoul visit comes true. Photo provided to Hankook Ilbo Jeong dismissed the possibility of Kim visiting Seoul in the week before Christmas because "Christmas has no meaning in the North" and "Furthermore, Seoul will be bustling around this time." With specifics from Cheong Wa Dae remaining unconfirmed, rumors say that Kim, once he crosses the inter-Korean border, will visit Olympic Park in Songpa-gu District to watch North Korea's art performance group on stage. He is also expected to visit N-Tower on Mount. Namsan in Jung-gu District and Grand Walkerhill Seoul Hotel in Gwangjin-gu District. Cheong Wa Dae official had said on Wednesday that Kim, on his possible Seoul venture, would ride South Korea's high-speed train. Jeju Island Governor Won Hee-ryong, second from right, checks Baekrokdam crater on Mount. Halla in the central region of Jeju Island, Nov. 10, to prepare for Kim Jong-un's possible visit. Yonhap By Kim Hyun-bin Controversy over the safety of using electronic cigarettes has stirred in the country after the government released a report stating e-cigarettes contained five harmful substances that could cause cancer. Cigarette manufacturing company Philip Morris filed a lawsuit against the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety over the report. Some 27 countries around the world including the United States, China and Hong Kong have some restrictions on e-cigarettes claiming they contain harmful substances. However, this is not the case in Korea where sales are through the roof, especially among young people. According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance over 230 million packs of e-cigarettes were sold between January and September this year, making up over 9 percent of total cigarette sales. Only two million packs were sold in the second quarter of last year, but that number skyrocketed 44 fold in the second quarter of this year to 87 million. Since Philip Morris launched its IQOS e-cigarettes in May 2017 it has sold over 32 million packs as of September this year. But according to the government, a problem is that e-cigarettes are popular among teenagers and this popularity is spreading. According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's "Young Adults' Health Condition Report," the smoking rate among middle to high school students rose to 6.7 percent from 6.4 percent last year. Some 9.4 percent of male students smoked, down from 9.5 percent in 2017. However, the female smoking rate rose from 3.1 percent to 3.7 percent in the same period. Among both genders, 43 percent smoked e-cigarettes more among male students than their female counterparts. Experts say e-cigarettes are popular among teenagers as there is less of an odor compared to conventional cigarettes. Most of the students smoke discreetly as they fear getting caught by teachers and parents. Also cigarettes are sold in most convenience stores, and the country's distribution of these has contributed to making Korea one of the top three markets for IQOS sales. "The fact that they are easily bought in convenience stores, and there is no odor and harm done to other people are crucial factors as to why it they are so popular in Korea," an official from Philip Morris said. Some want the government to take the initiative in banning ads in convenience stores targeting young people. In its Framework Convention Alliance for Tobacco Control, the World Health Organization's (FCTC) recommends all member nations to ban cigarette advertisements in convenience stores. New Zealand, England, Australia, Canada and Thailand do this and even ban the display of cigarettes on shelves. The U.S. government has also started a crackdown on youth smoking and slapped more restrictions on products called "Juul" a liquid e-cigarette from stores, as the government deemed it easier for underage smokers to buy these from convenience stores. A recent Washington Post report citing U.S. government statistics stated that there was a rise of 77 percent of high school students who smoke electronic cigarettes since last year and 50 percent increase for middle school students. The IQOS has not yet met requirements to be marketed in the U.S. and China. In May 2017, Philip Morris requested the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to approve its IQOS as a "less harmful cigarette," however, the approval has been postponed for over 18 months. Philip Morris claims that its IQOS reduces the chances of death and contracting diseases. However, the FDA advisory committee said there was no scientific evidence proving this to be the case. Fierce legal battle The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and the local unit of global tobacco giant Philip Morris is expected to face a fierce legal battle once a court hearing date is set. Philip Morris filed a lawsuit after the ministry announced in June that five cancer-causing substances were found in heat-not-burn tobacco products sold here, with the level of tar exceeding that of conventional cigarettes. The ministry announced the results after testing Philip Morris' IQOS, British American Tobacco's Glo and Lil from local cigarette maker KT&G Corp. Philip Morris sued the ministry for declining to provide information on its research methods. By Kim Hyun-bin The approval of the nation's first for-profit hospital on Jeju Island is facing a backlash from all sides. On Wednesday, the Jeju Special Self-Governing Province administration approved the Greenland International Medical Center as a for-profit hospital on condition that it services only foreign patients. However, the Chinese-owned medical center plans to take legal action against the provincial government's ban on domestic patients. Meanwhile, the local medical community, civic groups and politicians strongly protested the for-profit hospital. Soon after the announcement, the Greenland hospital submitted a letter, demanding that local patients be able to receive treatment at the center. "The Greenland hospital appears to be preparing a lawsuit, believing the ban on the treatment of local patients goes against the condition of permission," a Jeju government official said. However, the Jeju provincial government says it has no plans to lift the prohibition on treating domestic patients at the hospital. Opposition to the hospital has raised concerns that the domestic patients ban could eventually be recinded because there are no laws stating medical services can be denied to Koreans. The Jeju Civil Society Organizations Network strongly condemned the approval and called on the governor to step down. "Jeju Governor Won Hee-ryong, needs to take responsibility and must voluntarily step down for destroying deliberative democracy," the civic group claimed. "No Jeju residents can now trust the governor with his irresponsible politics." Ruling Democratic Party of Korea members of the Jeju Special Self-Governing Provincial Council also lambasted the governor's decision. "The decision was not for Jeju's future but a political stunt by the governor as a boost at his presidential run," their statement said. "How will he manage the social cost. He must take responsibility for his political actions." Korean Medical Association Chairman Choi Dae-zip met Governor Won Thursday to discuss the association's official stance on the matter. "I spoke with Gov. Won about the worries that the hospital could soon treat domestic patients or expand the treatment criteria," Choi told reporters. Under the approved conditions, the Greenland hospital is limited to four departments plastic surgery, dermatology, internal and family medicine. Under the law, the Korean government permits for-profit hospitals if the project obtains over 50 percent foreign investment or more than $ 5 million capital in Jeju Province and eight free economic zones. In December 2015, the Ministry of Health and Welfare permitted China's Greenland Group to build the Greenland International Medical Center on the island province. Construction was completed last year and the hospital has applied for permission to open. South Korea's ambassador to the United Nations was elected this week to lead the combined executive board of three U.N. development agencies next year, Seoul's foreign ministry said Friday. Cho Tae-yul took office as the president of the executive board of the U.N. Development Programme (UNDP), U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA) and U.N. Office for Project Services (UNOPS) during its special session following the election Thursday. It is the first time since the establishment of the board in 1994 that South Korea has taken its presidency. Since 1994, Seoul has served as a member of the board multiple times and is set to be on it for the 2019-2021 period. During his one-year term, Cho will preside over the board's regular sessions, set for January and September, and its annual gathering slated for June. "Cho's election will serve as a good opportunity to play a role as a bridge between traditional donor states and recipients, based on South Korea's experience in transitioning from a beneficiary to a donor state," the ministry said in a press release. The ministry added that Cho at the helm of the executive board will support efforts to enhance the efficiency of U.N. development programs in cooperation with civil society, private sectors and other U.N. agencies. (Yonhap) By Kim Hyun-bin Lee Cook-jong, a renowned surgeon at the Ajou University Medical Center in Suwon has been promoted to honorary navy commander. Last month, the Republic of Korea Navy's (ROKN) selection committee selected Lee as honorary navy commander for his continuous contributions to the Navy medical field and held an official promotion ceremony earlier this week. "Professor Lee has enhanced the Navy's aviation medical evacuation capabilities and supported on the job training of naval medics and their emergency first aid. His contributions greatly enhanced the medical field of the Navy," the Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN) said. Lee has been a vocal activist who continuously urged the need for air evacuation to better treat urgent patients. He is famous for saving the life of Seok Haw-kyun, a former captain of the freighter Samho Jewelry, which was hijacked by Somali pirates off the Arabian Sea in 2011. In response, the government sent a destroyer and 30 naval commandos to retake the ship and rescue its crew. In the process, Seok suffered multiple bullet wounds inflicted by pirates during the Navy's hostage rescue operation dubbed "Operation Dawn of Gulf of Aden." In July 2015, Lee's contributions in the rescue efforts led him to become Navy honorary ambassador and received the rank of honorary navy lieutenant. Last April, he was promoted to honorary lieutenant commander. "This is a great honor," Lee said. "I will do my best to enhance the Navy's medical field." Last April, Lee took part in the combat medical readiness exercise along with other ROK Navy medics during the Pacific Partnership 2017 in Malaysia and also gave humanitarian medical aid to nearby residents. He also treated a North Korean defector who crossed the Joint Security Area at Panmunjeom last year and received a letter of appreciation from the U.S. Embassy in Korea. He also served as honorary ambassador for the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the National Maritime Police. A Seoul court on Friday denied prosecution requests for warrants to arrest two former Supreme Court justices in connection with a massive power abuse scandal in the judiciary. The Seoul Central District Court made the decisions on retired Justices Ko Young-han and Park Byong-dae, citing low risks of them fleeing and that the charges against them were not substantiated enough to require pre-indictment detention. The two former chiefs of the National Court Administration (NCA), the top court's governing body, are accused of involvement in then Supreme Court Chief Justice Yang Sung-tae's plans to interfere in trials in order to lobby the presidential office of then President Park Geun-hye. Prosecutors filed for the arrest warrants Monday on a slew of charges, including abuse of power and dereliction of duty. The court held review hearings on the warrants Thursday. Prosecutors believe that Yang sought to establish a separate court of appeals and needed presidential approval to push it forward. Prosecutors suspect Yang instructed his officials, including Ko and Park, to exert pressure on presiding judges to deliver verdicts in Park's favor. They have denied any wrongdoing. Among the trials in question are a damages suit filed by Korean victims of Japan's wartime forced labor. Prosecutors believe Park Byong-dae deliberately put off the case to curry favor with the former president as she was seeking amicable relations with Tokyo. He is also accused of interfering in other trials whose rulings potentially held high political significance for the Park administration, such as a case involving a progressive teachers' union and a corruption trial of a former spy chief. Ko is accused of covering up an appeals court judge's wrongdoing in the southeastern city of Busan in 2016 because he had close ties with a then presidential secretary and Yang needed their connection to lobby the presidential office, Cheong Wa Dae. Ko served as NCA chief from February 2016 to May 2017 and retired in August this year. Park was his predecessor. (Yonhap) Women-only taxi services will begin within this year. Yonhap By Lee Min-young New taxi services in Seoul tailored to women will roll out by the end of the year. The service is aimed at transporting women safely and tackling the problem of sexual harassment and assault in taxis. Along with the women-only cab service, call taxis will be offered to prevent taxi drivers from rejecting passengers in the street. According to the service, taxi drivers will not get prior information on where the rider is headed, so they would not be able to choose passengers based on their destinations. The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced Wednesday that the new services will be introduced sometime in December. Local taxi company Tago Solutions will be the sole provider of the new cab services once the city authorizes its operation. This is part of the city's franchise taxi business aimed at launching various new taxi services to suit specific needs from riders. "The city government currently allows taxi companies to start new services if they secure more than 4,000 taxis to run the new business," city official Park Byung-sung told The Korea Times. "Tago Solutions has met those qualifications and will run two types of call taxis Waygo Blue, instantly allocated call taxis, and Waygo Lady, women-only taxis once the city gives them the go-ahead." The new services will run on a trial basis with 20 taxis. Women-only taxies will improve safety by hiring only female drivers. Only women can use Way Go Lady taxis with the exception of children up to the age of 13. The taxis will operate only through reservations, and have smartphone chargers, water bottles and air fresheners prepared in the vehicle for riders to freely use, and classical music will be played during transportation. "We are in the midst of trying out many transportation services to satisfy the needs of many different groups in society. Starting from the carpool service introduced most recently, the city government is trying to adapt its services and policies according to changing social trends," city official Park said. Tago Solutions is also planning to launch special taxi services including pet taxis and elderly-only taxis within the next year. Egypts state grain buyer, the General Authority for Supply Commodities, has bought 350,000 tonnes of wheat in an international purchasing tender, traders said on Thursday. Of the total, GASC bought 290,000 tonnes of Russian wheat and 60,000 tonnes of Ukrainian wheat, traders said. GASC is seeking the wheat for Jan. 21-31 shipment. Traders gave the following breakdown of the purchase in dollars per tonne: * Daewoo: 60,000 tonnes of Russian wheat at $236.30 and $15.90 freight equating to $252.20 * Daewoo: 55,000 tonnes of Russian wheat at $236.75 and $16.60 freight, equating to $253.35 * Aston: 60,000 tonnes of Russian wheat at $237.35 and $15.90 freight, equating to $253.25 * GTCS: 60,000 tonnes of Russian wheat at $237.40 and $15.90 freight, equating to $253.50 * Louis-Dreyfus: 60,000 tonnes of Ukrainian wheat at $236.60 and $16.70 freight, equating to $253.30 * Glencore: 55,000 tonnes of Russian wheat at $236.30 and $16.95 freight, equating to $253.25 Search Keywords: Short link: A child drinks from an Arisu fountain in front of City Hall / Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government By Lee Suh-yoon Despite the popular misgivings, Seoul's tap water may be healthier and tastier than bottled water. Commonly referred to as Arisu, the Han River's old name dating back to the Goguryeo Dynasty, Seoul's tap water is meticulously filtered through one of six treatment plants along the Han River. Scientists constantly monitor the water quality for 170 variables, as the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends. In a 2013 report by the National Institute of Environmental Research (NIER), the risk of bacterial growth was lowest in tap water. On the other hand, water that passed through household purifiers or was left inside opened bottles carried bacteria. Tap water is also just as healthy as bottled spring water in terms of mineral content. The same NIER study showed that mineral content between the two was similar. Purified water, however, had almost zero mineral content. Despite the scientific evidence, Koreans have not embraced tap water. Most households buy two-liter water bottles in bulk or install a purifier in their homes. Many are put off by the smell and taste of chlorine in the tap water and consider odorless water to be cleaner. To tackle this psychological barrier, the city government spent 528.5 billion won ($472 million) on upgrades to all treatment centers in 2015, aimed specifically at improving the smell of tap water. "By using ozone to disinfect the water, we lowered the amount of chlorine added to about one-third," said Oh Hyuk-joon, a PR official at the Office of Waterworks in the city government. "We wanted to break down the public perception of smelly tap water." The new filtering technology also includes carbon chunks that can filter out other odor particles from the river. New rust-proof water pipes being installed under Seoul. / Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, holding hands with South Korean leader Moon Jae-in, crosses into the South in a welcoming ceremony ahead of their historic first summit at Panmunjom, April 27. / Korea Times file Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha shakes hands with her U.S. counterpart Mike Pompeo at the Department of State in Washington, Thursday (local time). / Yonhap By Kim Bo-eun Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and her U.S. counterpart Mike Pompeo agreed to hold close consultations on realizing the goal of North Korea's denuclearization, in a meeting in Washington, Thursday (local time). The U.S. Department of State said the ministers "pledged to maintain close coordination to ensure the final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea" in a press release. The foreign ministry said the ministers shared their views on the denuclearization talks between Pyongyang and Washington, and progress in inter-Korean relations, while affirming the importance of sticking to sanctions on the North. While Pyongyang has called for sanctions to be eased as a corresponding measure for taking steps to abandon its nuclear program, President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Donald Trump affirmed at their meeting held on the sidelines of the G20 summit last week that sanctions would remain intact until the North achieved complete denuclearization. Kang and Pompeo are likely to have discussed North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's possible visit to Seoul this month, as well as plans for a second summit between Kim and Trump. The foreign minister was in Washington to attend the funeral of former U.S. President George H. W. Bush. It was Kang and Pompeo's first meeting in two months after one in October that took place when Pompeo visited Seoul after a high-level meeting in Pyongyang. According to the ministry, the meeting also touched upon the ongoing bilateral talks on the Special Measures Agreement, which covers how much of the costs of stationing U.S. troops here Seoul and Washington bear. President Moon Jae-in speaks at an event marking Trade Day at COEX in southern Seoul, Friday. / Yonhap By Kim Bo-eun South Korea has achieved the country's long-held goal of surpassing annual per capita income of $30,000, President Moon Jae-in said Friday. "As the seventh country in the world, South Korea has joined the 30-50 club, which refers to an economic power with $30,000 per capita income and a population of 50 million," Moon said at an event held at COEX in southern Seoul, citing a forecast by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). It expects the country to reach $32,000 annual per capita income this year. The $30,000 level is widely regarded as marking the ascension to a developed economy. Moon said Asia's fourth-largest economy is forecast to reach $600 billion in total exports by the end of the year, for the first time ever. He also said the country reached $1 trillion won in trade volume in the shortest period of time and cited forecasts that by the end of the year, this will exceed $1.1 trillion, the largest figure yet. At the event, the President said the government will seek to reach a deal on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) by next year. The RCEP is a multilateral framework for free trade among 16 countries including 10 ASEAN states plus South Korea, China, Japan, Australia, India and New Zealand. This will expand free trade with countries whose population accounts for half of the world and GDP accounts for a third, he said. North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho, center, arrives at the Beijing International airport in Beijing, Dec. 6. Ri arrived in key ally China for talks that come amid stalled efforts to persuade Pyongyang to dismantle its nuclear weapons programs. AP-Yonhap By Kim Yoo-chul If North Korean leader Kim Jong-un comes to Seoul within this year as he promised, he would be welcomed by a majority of people, according to a recent poll. Given the limited time for preparation, political analysts say it would be extremely difficult for Kim to visit by the end of the year. But some raise the possibility of it taking place given the several unexpected events that have occurred over the past months. South Koreans are ready to accept what would be a historic visit. A survey conducted by Realmeter of 500 South Koreans over age 19, showed that 61 percent would welcome Kim's visit if it helps to improve inter-Korean relations and accelerate the ongoing peace process. Thirty one percent of respondents responded that they didn't support the visit claiming it would be a "fake peace show." [POLL] What's your take on Kim Jong-un's Seoul visit Kim Jong-un invited to Seoul Dec. 12-14, report says [PHOTOS] Kang, Pompeo affirm coordination on NK denuclearization Demographically, respondents in their 40s with liberal political views backed Kim's visit to the South the most. Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon told lawmakers Friday that the ministry had suggested several dates to high-ranking North Korean officials, however, he declined to specify which ones, adding he was waiting for a reply. Chief presidential secretary Yoon Young-chan sent text messages to local reporters who speculated that Kim's trip to Seoul would happen between Dec. 18 and Dec. 20 saying this was "simply untrue." Yoon didn't elaborate further. President Moon Jae-in smiles while holding the hand of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un after they climbed to the top of Mount Paektu, on the sidelines of Moon's visit to Pyongyang for a summit with Kim in September this year. Yonhap Moon earlier said Kim's visit was "still possible" and stressed it would provide huge momentum to advance stalled denuclearization talks between Washington and Pyongyang. U.S. President Donald Trump is hoping to meet his North Korean counterpart in either January or February next year. Seventy-four percent of respondents in their 40s said they would welcome Kim. The majority of respondents in their 30s (66 percent) and 20s (61 percent) were also positive about the visit. One interesting finding from the survey was that more than half of those in their 50s (60 percent) and 60s (50 percent) also supported the visit. If Kim does come to Seoul, he will be the first North Korean leader to officially visit the South. Kim's father Kim Jong-il pledged to visit the South after his summit with the late President Kim Dae-jung in 2000, but this never materialized before he died in 2011. Those with liberal and neutral political views supported Kim's visit, according to the survey, while 49 percent of conservatives remained negative. The opposition parties are saying Kim Jong-un "should apologize" for his regime's 2010 attacks that killed 50 South Koreans before coming to Seoul. They also said the North's leader must visit the National Cemetery to pat his respects to fallen South Korean heroes from the Korean War. By Andrew Hammond U.S. President Donald Trump lauded "the incredible dealone of the largest ever made" with Xi Jinping at the recent G20 in Argentina. Yet questions remain about whether the agreement will be any more than a temporary truce, or the beginnings of the bigger U.S.-China grand bargain Trump wants. As ever from Trump, the rhetoric surrounding the meeting was fuelled with hyperbole. The U.S. president described it as an "amazingmeeting with unlimited possibilities". Given the massive stakes in play, both sides stepping back from the precipice of further sanctions in January is a welcome development. The trade tensions have the potential to severely disrupt what is probably the world's most important economic and political bilateral relationship which could still lead to a full blown U.S.-China trade war. In practice, what Trump has agreed to is holding off for 90 days from the planned increase from 10 percent to 25 percent in U.S. tariffs on some $200 billion worth of goods. In exchange, Xi offered a pledge to "purchase a not yet agreed upon, but very substantial" amount of U.S. goods. Yet, despite Trump's optimism at the weekend about future relations, it is by no means certain that the trade and wider relationship is now on a less combative path in 2019. Trump himself said Tuesday that if the truce did not work out "remember I am a Tariff Man. When people or countries come to raid the great wealth of our Nation, I want them to pay for the privilege of doing so." Trump's latest outburst comes after U.S.-Vice President Mike Pence gave a very hard-hitting set piece speech against China in October. Moreover, Trump signed legislation over the summer requiring the U.S. commerce secretary to deliver a "Report on Chinese Investment" in the United States to Congress and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States every two years up to 2026. The bill singles out Chinese investment as a security threat, and zeros in on Beijing's "Made in China 2025" plan. So this legislation, alone, could set the seeds for future strife and the Chinese Defense Ministry asserts that it "abounds in Cold War thinking, exaggerates the level of the China-U.S. confrontation...undermines the atmosphere of development of China-U.S. military ties, and damages China-U.S. mutual trust and cooperation." This underlines that, underneath this apparent welcome success of U.S. and Chinese diplomacy at the weekend, bilateral ties overall remain mixed, and it is unclear how much personal chemistry Trump and Xi have in practice, despite the praise that the former often gives the latter. This is relevant as, while economic and security fundamentals will largely determine the course of ties in coming years, personal warmth between the two leaders could also be key. During the Obama presidency, the fact that bilateral relations remained generally cordial reflected, in significant part, the personal commitment of Barack Obama and Xi to stability. Both recognized the super-priority of the relationship, and Washington pursued a strategy that promoted cooperation on softer issues like climate change, while seeking constructive engagement on vexed, harder issues such as South China Sea tensions. Meanwhile, Xi outlined his desire to fundamentally redevelop a new type of great power relationship with the United States to avoid the clashing great power patterns of the past. This is an audacious goal, which still lacks any detailed definition, and it is not certain how long the pledge will remain in place if Trump returns again to his previous bellicosity toward China. For a while Trump is very often warm in his rhetoric toward Xi, including in recent days, he and others in his administration genuinely believes China is a major threat to the United States. This is not only true on the economic front, but also the security domain too: much of the U.S. president's anti-Beijing rhetoric appears to be based on a conviction that China represents the primary threat to U.S. interests globally. Outside of North Korea, where Beijing and Washington cooperated to positive effect during some of 2018, a string of security issues still cloud the bilateral agenda, including the South China Sea. This topic frequently brings frustrations for both sides and last year even the comparatively moderate-mannered former U.S. secretary of state Rex Tillerson said Beijing should "not be allowed access" to its new, artificial islands there, a sensitive comment given China's animus toward U.S. sea and air maneuvers near its borders. Yet, it is economic disputes that are currently at the fore of the bilateral relationship. Trump has often asserted that "Chinahas been very tough on our countryWe probably lost last year $500 billion in trade to China. Think of it: 500 billion." And it is this narrative that Trump may yet return to in 2019, if not before, if he judges it in his political and economic interests with his 2020 re-election campaign fast approaching. As well as his concerns about U.S. trade deficits and purported U.S. job losses that come from this, he has repeatedly called Beijing "grand champions of currency manipulation", asserting the country is keeping its exchange rate artificially low in order to secure an export advantage. On the face of it, therefore, it appears much too soon to dismiss the prospects that tensions between Beijing and Washington will definitely subside in 2019. Yet such is the mercurial nature of Trump, it remains genuinely unclear when he might potentially seek to up the ante again. Ultimately, as he moves into the second half of his term in office, he needs to show his U.S. political base a wide range of concessions from China on these issues to seek to fulfill his "America First" agenda. Here he has previously asserted that "everything is under negotiation," and what he ideally favors building on the recent diplomacy with Xi over North Korea is a wider grand bargain with Beijing extending beyond the economics arena, where one of his key asks is to see the Chinese currency floated, to other security issues too. If such a deal can be pulled off, it would potentially provide for greater overall stability in the world economy and limit damage to the currently creaking international trade system which risks being undermined further by a major U.S.-China spat. An agreement of this kind could also have a broader positive effect on international relations, helping underpin a renewed basis for bilateral relations under the Trump presidency into the 2020s. ) is an associate at LSE IDEAS at the London School of Economics. Andrew Hammond ( andrewkorea@outlook.com By Joseph S. Nye CAMBRIDGE The term "fake news" has become an epithet that U.S. President Donald Trump attaches to any unfavorable story. But it is also an analytical term that describes deliberate disinformation presented in the form of a conventional news report. The problem is not completely novel. In 1925, Harper's Magazine published an article about the dangers of "fake news." But today two-thirds of American adults get some of their news from social media, which rest on a business model that lends itself to outside manipulation and where algorithms can easily be gamed for profit or malign purposes. Whether amateur, criminal, or governmental, many organizations both domestic and foreign are skilled at reverse engineering how tech platforms parse information. To give Russia credit, it was one of the first governments to understand how to weaponize social media and to use America's own companies against it. Overwhelmed with the sheer volume of information available online, people find it difficult to know what to focus on. Attention, rather than information, becomes the scarce resource to capture. Big data and artificial intelligence allow micro-targeting of communication so that the information people receive is limited to a "filter bubble" of the like-minded. The "free" services offered by social media are based on a profit model in which users' information and attention are actually the products, which are sold to advertisers. Algorithms are designed to learn what keeps users engaged so that they can be served more ads and produce more revenue. Emotions such as outrage stimulate engagement, and news that is outrageous but false has been shown to engage more viewers than accurate news. One study found that such falsehoods on Twitter were 70 percent more likely to be retweeted than accurate news. Likewise, a study of demonstrations in Germany earlier this year found that YouTube's algorithm systematically directed users toward extremist content because that was where the "clicks" and revenue were greatest. Fact checking by conventional news media is often unable to keep up, and sometimes can even be counterproductive by drawing more attention to the falsehood. By its nature, the social-media profit model can be weaponized by states and non-state actors alike. Recently, Facebook has been under heavy criticism for its cavalier record on protecting users' privacy. CEO Mark Zuckerberg admitted that in 2016, Facebook was "not prepared for the coordinated information operations we regularly face." The company had, however, "learned a lot since then and have developed sophisticated systems that combine technology and people to prevent election interference on our services." Such efforts include automated programs to find and remove fake accounts; featuring Facebook pages that spread disinformation less prominently than in the past; issuing a transparency report on the number of false accounts removed; verifying the nationality of those who place political advertisements; hiring 10,000 additional people to work on security; and improving coordination with law enforcement and other companies to address suspicious activity. But the problem is not solved. An arms race will continue between the social media companies and the states and non-state actors who invest in ways to exploit their systems. Technological solutions like artificial intelligence are not a silver bullet. Because it is often more sensational and outrageous, fake news travels farther and faster than real news. False information on Twitter is retweeted by many more people and far more rapidly than true information, and repeating it, even in a fact-checking context, may increase an individual's likelihood of accepting it as true. In preparing for the 2016 U.S. presidential election, the Internet Research Agency in St. Petersburg, Russia, spent more than a year creating dozens of social media accounts masquerading as local American news outlets. Sometimes the reports favored a candidate, but often they were designed simply to give an impression of chaos and disgust with democracy, and to suppress voter turnout. When Congress passed the Communications Decency Act in 1996, then-infant social media companies were treated as neutral telecoms providers that enabled customers to interact with one other. But this model is clearly outdated. Under political pressure, the major companies have begun to police their networks more carefully and take down obvious fakes, including those propagated by botnets. But imposing limits on free speech, protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, raises difficult practical problems. While machines and non-U.S. actors have no First Amendment rights (and private companies are not bound by the First Amendment in any case), abhorrent domestic groups and individuals do, and they can serve as intermediaries for foreign influencers. In any case, the damage done by foreign actors may be less than the damage we do to ourselves. The problem of fake news and foreign impersonation of real news sources is difficult to resolve because it involves trade-offs among our important values. The social media companies, wary of coming under attack for censorship, want to avoid regulation by legislators who criticize them for both sins of omission and commission. Experience from European elections suggests that investigative journalism and alerting the public in advance can help inoculate voters against disinformation campaigns. But the battle with fake news is likely to remain a cat-and-mouse game between its purveyors and the companies whose platforms they exploit. It will become part of the background noise of elections everywhere. Constant vigilance will be the price of protecting our democracies. Joseph S. Nye is a professor at Harvard and author of "Is the American Century Over?" Copyright belongs to Project Syndicate (www.project-syndicate.org). Within a span of a quarter-century, ancient rivalries and simmering tensions propelled the major nations of Europe into two devastating wars that eventually embroiled so many states that they became known as the first "world wars." At the end of the first of those conflicts 100 years ago last month the United States and other nations sought to create an international body through which they could mediate disputes and avoid future wars. The League of Nations didn't work out, as nationalism once again trumped internationalism and the globe descended into World War II. Out of those ashes in 1945, the nations of the world tried again to create a series of international mechanisms to increase cooperation, enhance dialogue, seek solutions to global problems and reduce the chances of yet another all-consuming war. That effort has been, in the main, successful. Which is why it is so troubling that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in a speech in Brussels on Tuesday, questioned the value of international institutions, singling out for criticism the United Nations, the European Union, the Organization of American States and the African Union, among others. "International bodies must help facilitate cooperation that bolsters the security and values of the free world, or they must be reformed or eliminated," Pompeo said. Eliminated? Really? Of course there are flaws in these institutions big ones that occasionally lead to devastating outcomes. But surely the goal should be to strengthen these organizations and fix their problems, rather than to weaken or abandon them in favor of some ill-defined, narrow and parochial modern-day nationalism. Peacekeeping missions do indeed last far too long, as Pompeo charged, but that doesn't mean they have been inconsequential in mitigating violence. Pompeo spoke dismissively of the work done by "bureaucrats" in the EU, asserting that Brexit is a warning that multilateralism has failed the people of Britain and other member states. But no Brexit arose as part of an ominous global move toward nationalism; it is likely to be as detrimental for the people of the United Kingdom as it is for others in the EU. Pompeo said, somewhat paradoxically, that President Trump, who has also criticized global institutions and multilateralism, "is returning the United States to its traditional, central leadership role in the world" by embracing an America first brand of nationalism. "He knows that nothing can replace the nation-state as the guarantor of democratic freedoms and national interests." Yet the nations of the world will not progress or develop or democratize or resolve their disputes by backing away from regional efforts to seek negotiated solutions to their problems. From human rights to climate change to economic development, internationalism is a better, though admittedly imperfect, solution. Yes, the General Assembly sometimes wastes time; the U.N. Security Council's structure, in which any of the five permanent members can veto an action, often renders it incapable of dealing with thorny issues. The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have made wrong decisions over the years. Yet anyone who has spent time with the dedicated staff of the U.N.'s World Food Program during a Sudanese famine, or with the troops who for years kept the peace on the Israeli-Lebanese border or with UNICEF in countries such as Iraq where children have been at grave risk knows that the international institutions built after World War II can, at their best, be extraordinary protectors of peace and advocates of prosperity and democracy. Nationalism and mistrust propelled Europe and the rest of the world into war twice in the last century, and war has persisted on smaller scales since, notably with the Balkan conflicts that followed the breakup of Yugoslavia, and that only ended with international intervention. That's a past we dare not repeat. Multilateralism is rooted in the belief that the more connected are the nations of the world, the less likely they'll be to turn their weapons on each other. That makes as much sense today as it did 70 years ago, when much of Europe lay in ruins. The above editorial appeared in the Los Angeles Times. It was distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Shift to private initiative goes in right direction South Korea has taken the first step toward joining the ranks of space powers in the past few weeks. On Nov. 28, the nation tested "Nuri," a 75-ton thrust booster engine that was launched from the Naro Space Center in Goheung, South Jeolla Province. The rocket engine, designed and developed by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), will be used on the three-stage Korea Space Launch Vehicle-2 (KSLV-2). A week later, Chollian 2, the country's first indigenous geostationary satellite, lifted off from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana, aboard a launch vehicle made by Arianespace. The recent successful launches have boosted Korea's hopes of entering the global commercial space market. Against this backdrop, the Ministry of Science and ICI proposed Thursday to change the nation's space development from state-led to a private sector-centered project. So far, KARI, a state-run research organ, has directly developed satellites and space launch vehicles or commissioned the job to private businesses. From now on, the government will hand the overall initiative to the private sector. Given the global trends in which the industry's leadership is shifting from the public to the private sector, the government is going in the right direction. The policy change, of course, is intended to lay the foundation for a space industry led by private businesses. In most advanced countries, too, the industry's initiatives are rapidly shifting from governments to private companies. The global market size is also likely to expand from $350 billion last year to at least $1.1 trillion in 2040. Among such corporate frontrunners abroad are SpaceX, which has developed reusable rockets, WinWeb, which provides internet services by launching "constellation" satellites, and Blue Origin, which has launched a space travel service. Korea has long been a global powerhouse in some manufacturing industries such as automobiles and shipbuilding, but it is little more than a toddler in the aerospace sector. We hope the recent switch of the initiative in the national space program will also help the country emerge as a global power in space exploration. Lotte Chairman Shin Dong-bin, third from left, shovels dirt over a banner at the groundbreaking ceremony for Lotte Chemical's petrochemical complex in Banten, Indonesia, Friday. The construction of the integrated petrochemical facility had been suspended due to his absence. / Courtesy of Lotte People browse Apple's latest products in the Apple retail store at a popular shopping street in Sinsa-dong, Nov. 2, when the iPhone XS was officially released here. / Yonhap By Jun Ji-hye The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) is set to hold a full session next week to deliberate on whether Apple Korea has abused its powerful market position and shifted the burden of advertising costs and other expenses to Korean mobile carriers. The full session of the FTC, scheduled for Dec. 12, corresponds to a court trial. If the corporate regulator rules the allegations as true, Apple Korea could face a fine of tens of billions of won, according to industry sources, Friday. The U.S. firm has been investigated by the FTC since 2016 for allegedly having shifted advertising expenses to SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus and forcing the mobile carriers to assume responsibility for the repair costs of iPhones. For example, in November last year, TV commercials for the iPhone 8 and the iPhone X were paid for by the mobile carriers, not Apple. Also, the company allegedly gave strict instructions to the mobile carriers when they held iPhones promotion events, but shared none of the burden. The FTC sent its examination report, which corresponds to a prosecutors brief, to Apple Korea in April. Industry sources said the mobile carriers had no choice but to accept Apple's demand due to the strong position of iPhones in the smartphone market. More recently, Apple faced protest from smartphone retailers for what they called "unfair" policies, which have pressed them to buy in-store iPhones used only for display and other promotional purposes. The Korea Mobile Distributors Association (KMDA) issued a statement Nov. 21, saying "Apple's policies contrast with those of other smartphone manufacturers, which provide all smartphones needed for promotional demonstrations at stores and collect them afterward." The KMDA claimed Apple does not allow them to sell iPhones if they do not purchase demonstration devices. Apple Korea is reportedly sticking to its position that all activities were fair dealings based on contracts. If the FTC concludes that Apple Korea committed unfair trading practices, it will face the hefty fine. The forecast comes as the FTC imposes fines equal to 2 percent of a company's sales. Apple Korea has not disclosed its sales here but market observers estimate them to be in the trillions of won. It remains to be seen, however, whether the FTC will make a final decision at it first full session. When the corporate regulator deals with a case involving a domestic company, it usually makes a final decision at the first session, but holds several more sessions when dealing with a case involving a foreign company. "The FTC is likely to make a final decision on Apple Korea around the first half of next year," a source said. By Jun Ji-hye Korean game companies will continue to suffer difficulties in exporting their products to China next year as the government there is not expected to resume issuing permits for games anytime soon, according to a research report, Friday. Wi Jong-hyun, a professor at Chung-Ang University and the head of the Korea Game Society, said in the report that Beijing has been carrying out a game quota system, adding it will continue to put priority on Chinese games in issuing permits over foreign ones. "Even if the Chinese government resumes issuing permits for Korean games, the number will be very limited," he said. Exports of Korean games to China have been blocked since March last year when the Chinese government suspended issuing permits as part of the country's protest of Korea's deployment of a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system. President Moon Jae-in's visit to China last December raised expectations that Beijing would resume giving out permits as at the time some officials of game companies were included in an economic delegation accompanying him. But no Korean games have obtained a permit since March. China is the top game market in the world the scale of online and mobile games in 2017 was estimated to be about $29 billion, according to market researcher Euromonitor International. About 10 Korean game firms have applied to Beijing for permits. Netmarble Games applied for "Lineage 2: Revolution" in December 2016, while NCSOFT did so for "Lineage Red Knights" in January 2017. Bluehole is also waiting for a permit for "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds" that was a huge hit on the global game market last year. Professor Wi claimed that the THAAD issue was not affecting cultural relations between Korea and China so much these days, saying Beijing appeared to be taking a more flexible attitude on exchanges between the two countries. But Beijing is still holding back on Korean games as they have been hugely popular on the Chinese market in the past, Wi said. "Korean game firms need to utilize an esports area as an indirect method to enter the Chinese market," he said. "They need to nurture esports based on wholesome games with less violent and sexually suggestive content." Sue Horton returned to the Los Angeles Times as Op-Ed and Sunday Opinion editor in December 2018, a role she served in for two years before moving to a senior editor position in the newsroom. For four years before that, she was a Top News editor and West Coast bureau chief at Reuters. She held a variety of editing jobs at the Los Angeles Times between 2001 and 2014, including Op-Ed and Sunday Opinion editor and deputy California editor. Before her first stint at The Times, she was editor-in-chief of the L.A. Weekly for six years. Prior to that, she was a journalism professor at the University of Southern California. Horton started her journalism career working for Community Information Project, an investigative reporting nonprofit that did stories on contract with public television, 60 Minutes, and a variety of newspapers and magazines. She is the author of a nonfiction book, The Billionaire Boys Club, which was the basis for an NBC miniseries. Horton has a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Redlands and a masters in journalism from USC. We think of Los Angeles as a city of sprawl, but it is just as much a city of neighborhoods. Heres an example of what I mean. A couple of years ago, I spent a day riding Metro Rail in its entirety: every station and mile of track. Expo Line to the Blue Line to the Green Line; Red Line, Purple Line and Gold. The idea was to see how limited the system must be if it could be traversed in such a narrow span of time, but the effect, it turned out, was the opposite. Starting in mid-Wilshire, I found myself passing through the South Bay, Long Beach, downtown, North Hollywood, East Los Angeles. I ranged as far east as Azusa, then west again to Santa Monica. As I traveled, I took note of landmarks: the Watts Towers, the Highland Theatre, LAX. The experience was like moving through a map in real time, in which Los Angeles revealed itself as small and large. By the time I was done, I was aware of a curious double vision, a sense of the pieces that make up the city and also the shape of the broader metropolis. It is this sort of cognitive dissonance or negative capability that, I want to tell you, Los Angeles requires of us. Gregory Ains Mar Vista Tract (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times) Advertisement A similar sensibility informs David Gebhard and Robert Winters An Architectural Guidebook to Los Angeles, which offers a complicated, and at times contradictory, engagement with the city not unlike what I discovered on the train. Originally published in 1965 by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, it has just been reissued in a sixth edition that is significantly revised. Many professionals simply call it The Bible, Nathan Masters notes in a foreword that traces the books history. Developed for the 1964 annual meeting of the Society of Architectural Historians the authors, in what may be my favorite detail, missed their deadline it was revised in 1977, 1985 and 1994, and again in 2003, despite Gebhards death in 1996. Inside the Gamble House (Alexander Vertikoff / Vertikoff Archive / The Gamble House: Building Paradise in California) That last edition was Winters alone; I am proud of it, he acknowledges, even though I realize that it would have been better if I had had another persons cooperation. This time out, Winter, who is 94 and largely homebound, has enlisted Robert Inman, his former student and author of two books about the citys urban stairways, to collaborate. What theyve done is essentially to reinvent the Guidebook, reworking its organization and adding 700 structures while removing 500 others, including 150 or so that, Inman writes, we deemed weak. I love this aspect of the project because it reveals, as it must, the inherent subjectivity of even the most authoritative look at a city that defies as it invigorates. They would always ask, Is it in the Guide? Winter remembers, referring to the 12 years he spent on the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Board. I told them, Its by two guys; its their personal feelings. Thats all. That subjectivity is one of the best things about An Architectural Guidebook to Los Angeles, because this is a book that encourages us to argue with it. For this new version, Winter and Inman have done away with the back-and-forth movement of earlier editions (the 2003 Guidebook started in Malibu and swept through Beverly Hills and Hollywood to downtown and Downey before shifting abruptly to Pasadena, Claremont and Diamond Bar), choosing instead to frame the city in more traditional terms. The Bradbury Building. built in 1893, has been included in every edition of An Architectural Guidebook to Los Angeles (Richard Hartog / Los Angeles Times) This means beginning with downtown Heart of the City, they call it then moving west, north, east and south. The decision imposes an order on the landscape that is both a projection of Los Angeles as a centered city and also, increasingly, a necessary filter through which to reckon with the place. After all, in the 15 years since the book was last updated, weve seen the revitalization of downtown finally take hold after a number of failed attempts. Weve seen the expansion of the transit network, attention paid to parks and public space. It only makes sense that the Guidebook would reflect all that. At the same time, the book continues to illuminate the citys history or, more accurately, the way history co-exists with, or even asserts itself upon, the contemporary. Again and again, I come upon a favored piece of the built environment. Theres the Darkroom, a 1936 mid-Wilshire camera store (now a tavern) that, with its facade built to look like a 35 mm camera, is [o]ne of the last remnants of Los Angeless catalog of Programmatic buildings. Or the Los Angeles and Mount Washington Railway Station, built in 1909 as the ticket office and waiting station for a 2,900-foot funicular with alternating cars that ran up and down the mountain; the building became a duplex after the train tracks were removed in 1930. We learn that [a]bout one-quarter of the extant nineteenth-century buildings in Los Angeles are in Westlake and Pico-Union, although that has less to do with preservation than it does with civic neglect. This too is a key strength of the Guidebook the way it not only lists but also contextualizes. A rule never boldly stated in this book, but sometimes implied, the authors observe pointedly of one community, is that good architecture and a good deal of money are constant companions. In San Marino, this rule often breaks down. The lobby of the Aztec Hotel in Monrovia in 1927. (File) Its no surprise that Winter and Inman focus on Los Angeless signature architects: the Wrights (Frank and Lloyd), Richard Neutra, Rudolph Schindler, Gregory Ain. Their essay on Ains Mar Vista Tract fifty-two dwellings along the east side of Beethoven Street and on each side of Meier Street and Moore Street is a masterpiece of compression; so too the riff on Monrovias 1925 Aztec Hotel, which begins simply: Words fail. Equally compelling are the threads they trace between these architects and their present-day counterparts. Barbara Bestors Ferris House features some Neutra-like vertical louvers. Eric Owen Moss Hayden Tract in Culver City in my view, the most fascinating architectural conglomeration in the urban landscape recalls the Pop Architecture of the 1920s and 1930s. Tellingly, however, Moss idiosyncratic collection of buildings resists the authors attempt to explain or encapsulate; it leaves them, as Id suggest its meant to do, at something of a loss. We find it impossible to describe these buildings adequately, they admit, so well limit ourselves to presenting the basics. The accounting that follows is the embodiment of boilerplate. Gregory Ains Mar Vista Tract (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) If there is a weakness to An Architectural Guidebook to Los Angeles, it may be this: the occasional failure to go deep enough. The apartment towers on Hollywoods Rossmore Avenue get just a single paragraph, as does the Anderton Court Shops, an under-appreciated Frank Lloyd Wright complex on North Rodeo Drive. Other buildings go unmentioned altogether: downtowns Douglas and Petroleum buildings, the Highland Theatre in Highland Park. This, however, is the nature of the project: It is less analysis than overview. As Winter suggests, it is a collaboration between individuals, one piece of a conversation in which we are encouraged to take part. I admire the inclusion of gas stations and bridges and subway stations, fast food restaurants and shops. In that, the authors illustrate one of the fundamental components of the citys identity its lack of pretension, its democratic impulse. Los Angeles has long defined itself by the idea that you can build what you want; its no coincidence that Programmatic architecture took root here. The city imagines itself as a blank slate, a template; like sprawl, this is both a cliche and one of the truest things about the place. In Los Angeles, we must hold multiple visions of the city in our minds at the same time. This is the contradiction and the complexity. As such, its only fitting that this new edition of An Architectural Guidebook to Los Angeles should operate as a long days journey through the city, a portrait in real time of the metropolis and its neighborhoods. David L. Ulin is the author of Sidewalking: Coming to Terms With Los Angeles. A 2015 Guggenheim Fellow, he is the former book editor and book critic of The Times. An Architectural Guidebook to Los Angeles: Fully Revised 6th Edition by David Gebhard and Robert Winter (Angel City Press) An Architectural Guidebook to Los Angeles: Fully Revised 6th Edition David Gebhard and Robert Winter Angel City Press: 576 pp., $45 paper Long before I discovered who Ruth Prawer Jhabvala was, I knew her work and you probably do too. She adapted both A Room With a View and Howards End by E.M. Forster for the big screen, winning Academy Awards for both, as well as other classic novels like The Bostonians by Henry James and The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro. She wrote some dozen other screenplays or so for Merchant Ivory Productions, but before she worked for Hollywood, Jhabvala was a fiction writer, winning the Booker Prize in 1975 for her novel Heat and Dust. Now, Counterpoint Press has collected a selection of her short fiction in a new book, At the End of the Century. Jhabvala, a Jewish German refugee to Britain in the final days before World War II broke out, later married Indian architect C.S.H. Jhabvala, living with him in India and raising her children there. Many of the stories in this collection take place there (a few are in America), and according to author Anita Desai, who wrote the introduction (which was also published in the Guardian), Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, like a great actor, becomes her characters and presents them to us from the inside out, not the outside in. She does not criticise or satirise them as so many Indian readers accused her of doing she becomes those she portrays. According to one obituary after her 2013 death, such accusations emerged from critics only after it was discovered that despite her name, she wasnt Indian. Its hard to say how her career would play out now, but her stories do not seem, to this reader anyway, to satirize or criticize Indians or India elements of satire appear rather in the do-gooder white female characters, and where there is criticism, it is of men and patriarchal structures. Often, she begins stories by setting the scene, and she treats both Indian and American landscapes with the same eye for detail and mood. In Miss Sahib, which takes place in India, she begins: The entrance to the house in which Miss Tuhy lived was up a flight of stairs between a vegetable shop and a cigarette and cold-drink one. And in Great Expectations, which takes place in New York City, she describes in the first paragraph real-estate agent Paulines tiny office, which was almost a storefront it had been an unsuccessful dry-cleaners before she had rented it and was now in a row of other commercial establishments, including a deli, a nail spa, a newsagent and a jewellery boutique about to go out of business. In other words, whatever locale she wrote about, she paid attention and made sure her readers did too. Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (Fay Godwin) Advertisement Jhabvala first and foremost treated her characters as human beings whose desires were messy and complicated. One of her obsessions was the love triangle, but she didnt succumb to the dull (and rather Hollywood) storyline in which the competing parties, here usually women, become bitter rivals for the affection of an often unworthy man. Instead, the women tend to become allies, their complex situations slowly becoming normal, if painful at times. In one story, Two Muses, the narrators grandfather Max, a famous German novelist, flees the Nazi regime with his wife, Lilo, only to be followed by his lover, Netta, and the relationships among the three shift over time. Netta at first is Maxs sole professional support, creating opportunities for him to meet with important journalists and agents. But over time, she becomes exhausted in her role, and in late middle age finally begins to live her own life and pursue her own pleasures, at which point Lilo becomes the one begging her to come back. Another story, Menage, is again about several women propping up the artistry of a man, this time the narrators own mother and aunt. This story hints at autobiographical elements, as the narrator is a writer, and the story ends with her admitting that the stories she writes are mostly about the relations between men and women, which appears to have been the subject that has impressed itself most deeply on my heart and mind. I keep coming back to it, trying again and again to render my mothers and my aunts experience, as I observed it, and my own. This account is one more such attempt. There is a lot in these stories that goes unspoken, a lot of private wrestling with emotions like jealousy and hurt pride, but ultimately, there is a strange element of cooperation that proves that millennials did not invent the polyamorous relationship. In other stories, Jhabvala keenly observes Western attitudes toward India, clearly scorning the spiritual quests of young and privileged English and American folk. She also condemns the falseness of certain Indian men who playact enlightenment while really building harems of gullible women who can pay for them to travel around the world in the lap of luxury. As a collection, At the End of the Century provides a good starting point for anyone wishing to dip into Jhabvalas oeuvre, and it stands on its own in its grappling with issues of love, family, white savior complexes and postcolonialism. Ilana Masad is a writer, critic and PhD candidate at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. At the End of the Century by Ruth Rrawer Jhabvala (Counterpoint) At the End of the Century Ruth Prawer Jhabvala Counterpoint: 448 pp., $26 Just over a year ago, CRISPR pioneer Jennifer Doudna of UC Berkeley talked with me about the prospects that the gene-editing technology she had helped develop might be used in violation of ethical boundaries. Ive mentally prepared myself for the day when I open my inbox or answer my phone, she said, and realize that somebodys going to be announcing the first CRISPR baby. That moment undoubtedly came sooner than she expectedin late November, in fact, mere days days before the opening of a scientific summit on human genome editing that Doudna had helped to organize. There has been a failure of self-regulation by the scientific community because of a lack of transparency. Caltech biologist David Baltimore Advertisement The news was that a researcher in China had altered a gene to endow an embryo with resistance to HIV, and that embryo had been carried to term, producing a live child purportedly with the heritable trait of HIV resistance. (A second child was born to the same anonymous couple, apparently without the altered gene.) The news stunned the scientific community on the eve of the Hong Kong summit, not least because it breached the scientific consensus that editing the human germ linethat is, the genetic material that can be passed down to future generationsis unethical. Not only was the science of genetic alteration too uncertain to be applied to live human subjects, but the consequences of altering genetic traits posed the risk of permanent changes for the future of humanity itself. As the claims made by Chinese scientist He Jiankui demonstrate, science has no real way of enforcing a consensus that something that can be done should not be done. But in the aftermath of Hes disclosure, the scientific establishment is pondering whether it took sufficiently firm actions to discourage germline editing. The answer plainly is no. Several scientists at the forefront of the ethical debate have acknowledged this. Biologist David Baltimore, the president emeritus of Caltech, said so from the podium at the Hong Kong summit just minutes after He made a presentation on his project. There has been a failure of self-regulation by the scientific community because of a lack of transparency, Baltimore said. His complaint was that He circumvented the only self-regulatory tool that science has, the public spotlight. Hes research had been conducted out of view of the scientific communityhe said at the summit that not even his superiors at the Southern University of Science and Technology were fully aware of his project. An open process has not happened, Baltimore said of the research. Weve only found out about it after its happened and after the children are born. Doudna also expressed frustration with Hes activities. It is imperative that the scientists responsible for this work fully explain their break from the global consensus that application of CRISPR-Cas9 for human germline editing should not proceed at the present time, she said in a statement distributed by UC Berkeley. Public and transparent discussion of the many uses of genome editing technology must continue. Doudna was fully alive to how He had conducted his work out of the mainstream. Just after the work was disclosed, she and other organizers invited He to dinner in advance of his own appearance at the Hong Kong summit. He arrived almost defiant, she told Jon Cohen of Science magazine. He just seemed surprised that people were reacting negatively about this. By the end of the dinner he was pretty upset and left quite abruptly. It shouldnt surprise anyone that scientific self-regulation has failed in this case. Self-regulation almost never works in any context, because the self-regulators are hopelessly conflicted, whether they operate on Wall Street, the auto industry, or the consumer products field. Science has an especially discouraging history, drawn from the efforts of J. Robert Oppenheimer and other physicists to place limits on nuclear bomb technology. Many of them vociferously opposed development of the hydrogen bomb, but even physicists who opposed the research in principle found themselves drawn into helping with it under government auspices. Scientists still hope to find a self-regulatory path because the alternative of government regulation and legislation has its own shortcomings. For one thing, that raises the likelihood of injecting politics into scientific researchwould anyone want the climate change deniers haunting the hallways of Congress to have even more authority than they do today over climate science? And legislation cant extend beyond national borders, leaving open the possibility, even the likelihood, that rogue scientists in rogue states will go ahead anyway. Hes presentation at the Hong Kong meeting underscored for many researchers the drawbacks of conducting such research so far out of scrutiny. Hes research has not been published in any scientific journal, though He says it has been submitted to several peer-reviewed publications. Its unclear from his presentation whether he actually achieved what he set out to do, including whether the putative alteration of the CCR5 gene actually will confer immunity to HIV. Its possible, experts say, that the alteration will make the subject more susceptible to other infections such as West Nile virus. There also are questions about whether the parents involved in the experiment had adequate opportunity to give informed consent and why He ignored advice not to proceed with the work when he consulted experts in the field. There also are questions about why those experts, once He informed them of his plans, didnt raise a public alarm. And many question whether Hes goal of endowing infants with HIV immunity really constituted an unmet medical need justifying a radical approach. Treatments of HIV are now common, and in any case the embryos He treated were not infected with HIV and unlikely to be, since the childrens father is HIV-positive is HIV-negative. Both Doudna and Baltimore, as it happens, were part of a group that pondered in 2015 whether to propose an outright moratorium on germline editing. They chose not to, for several reasons. One, as Doudna told me last year, was that the term moratorium implies some kind of enforcement, and how do you enforce something like that globally? But another is the natural reluctance of scientists to rule any research strictly out of bounds if it offers potential benefits, no matter how conjectural. Referring to the possibility that CRISPR might someday yield cures for conditions such as Huntingtons and Duchenne muscular dystrophy, she wrote in her book A Crack in Creation: The stakes are simply too high to exclude the possibility of eventually using germline editing. The result of the discussions that Doudna, Baltimore, and 16 other biologists and bioethicists conducted in 2015 was a public statement that open discourse on the use of CRISPR technology to manipulate the human genome is urgently needed. The statement recommended that steps be taken to strongly discourage, even in those countries with lax jurisdictions where it might be permitted, any attempts at germline genome modification for clinical application in humans, while societal, environmental, and ethical implications of such activity are discussed among scientific and governmental organizations. Other researchers say the scientific community missed a prime opportunity in 2015 to take a firmer standindeed, to implement a moratorium on gene editing experiments on humans. One is biologist Paul Knoepfler of UC Davis, who wrote this week on the medical site Stat that after the 2015 summit declined to call for a moratorium, my feeling was that someone would report the creation of the first CRISPR baby within the next few years. That might happen even with a moratorium, but the odds had just increased substantially. Knoepfler wrote that it was not too late to implement a moratorium now. He called for a three-year moratorium on the implantation of gene-edited human embryos to make genetically modified babies. Knoepfler acknowledged that a moratorium wont stop the most driven rogue, and one can reasonably ask how it would be enforced. But I believe it would send a strong message that going down this road in the near future wont be tolerated. Stung by the news of Hes experimentation, the organizers of the Hong Kong summit released a statement with rather sterner language than the 2015 statement. They called Hes claim deeply disturbing and said the procedure was irresponsible and failed to conform with international norms, including an inadequate medical indication, a poorly designed study protocol, a failure to meet ethical standards for protecting the welfare of research subjects, and a lack of transparency in the development, review, and conduct of the clinical procedures. Knoepfler found much to be alarmed about in the scientific establishments approach to human germline editing, which he believes to be entirely too tolerant. At the Hong Kong summit, he noted, George Daley, dean of the Harvard Medical School and one of the conference organizers, cautioned against overreacting and using the He disclosure to discourage future research. Just because the first steps into a new technology are missteps, Daley said, it doesnt mean that we shouldnt step back, restart, and think about a plausible and responsible pathway for clinical translation. What would be a responsible pathway? To Knoepfler, we simply dont know enough to map the route. While the human genome is not some kind of pure, untouchable construct, he wrote in his 2016 book GMO Sapiens, it nonetheless requires respect as something that is both incredibly powerful and incompletely understood. The lack of understanding is not only biological, but social. If optimistically it takes...100 tries to get a single, healthy GMO sapiens child, Knoepfler wrote, what happens to the 99 human embryos, fetuses, or even children that did not quite work out? So perhaps the only solution is a moratorium, strengthened by the transparency that Baltimore and others have called for. If the scientific establishment states with a single voice that human genome editing is outside ethical bounds, then ethical scientists will take care and comply; rogues will be rogues, but thats a permanent human condition. But the establishment isnt speaking with a single voice. Some say a moratorium is needed, others say, lets not be hasty. The work performed by He might have happened with or without a moratorium, but without it the outcome was almost inevitable. Keep up to date with Michael Hiltzik. Follow @hiltzikm on Twitter, see his Facebook page, or email michael.hiltzik@latimes.com. Return to Michael Hiltziks blog. CBS is still being haunted by the past of 60 Minutes. The company has been paying a former female CBS News employee millions of dollars over the last 20 years to settle claims that she was sexually assaulted by 60 Minutes creator Don Hewitt, according to an investigative report. The incident happened in the late 1990s when Hewitt was still executive producer of the storied newsmagazine, according to a person familiar with the report who was not authorized to comment. The woman is said to have received more than $5 million since reaching a settlement with the companys lawyers an agreement that has stretched well past Hewitts death in 2009. A CBS News representative declined to comment on the settlement, which was revealed in a New York Times report Thursday about the ongoing investigation into alleged sexual harassment and misconduct in the company and by former Chief Executive Leslie Moonves, who was fired on Sept. 9. Advertisement Two high-powered law firms have been conducting the inquiry since August and will report their findings including the payout to Hewitts accuser to the CBS board next week. An earlier leak of their findings said they had concluded that CBS board members were justified to fire Moonves for cause denying him any severance pay. The latest leak focused on the investigation into alleged misconduct at 60 Minutes, which Hewitt helped create in 1968 and oversaw until 2004, when Jeff Fager took over the reins of the top-rated program. Fager was under investigation after allegations of inappropriate workplace behavior when he was fired on Sept. 12. He was ousted after sending a threatening text message to CBS News correspondent Jericka Duncan, who was working on a piece following up on #MeToo-related reporting in the New Yorker, which included allegations against him. In the draft of the lawyers report leaked to the New York Times, investigators said the firing was justified. They cited several instances in which Fager behaved inappropriately with colleagues, including one in which he is accused of groping a female CBS employee. The report also alleged he tried to give another employee an open-mouth kiss at a corporate event. Additionally, the report said Fager failed to respond to employee complaints about bullying by two producers who worked under him. The draft document said 60 Minutes had become a more hospitable workplace for women in recent years. More women had been promoted to senior producing roles and Fager had been supportive of them. Nonetheless, investigators concluded Fager or other CBS News executives currently at the network were not aware of the extent of the inappropriate conduct by former CBS This Morning co-anchor Charlie Rose. Rose was fired in 2017 following numerous allegations that he sexually harassed female employees who worked on his PBS talk show. In response to the report, Fager sent an email statement saying he tried hard to make 60 Minutes an excellent workplace for everyone. We built a broadcast made up of fine men and women who do quality work. It hasnt always been perfect and, like anyone who has been in a leadership position, there are things I would do differently, including the angry text I sent to a CBS reporter. My intent was only to demand fairness in the coverage of a news story, but I regret the manner in which I accomplished that. Fager also said he was surprised and devastated to learn of allegations about his personal conduct through the New York Times report since I was not given the opportunity by CBS investigators to respond to their accuracy. Fager has yet to be replaced at 60 Minutes, as the division has waited for the results of the investigation before filling the role. Bill Owens, the programs executive editor, has been overseeing the operation since Fagers departure and is a candidate for the position. Susan Zirinsky, executive producer of the newsmagazine 48 Hours, is the other major contender for the post. stephen.battaglio@latimes.com Twitter: @SteveBattaglio UPDATES: 2:30 p.m.: This article was updated with a comment from Jeff Fager. This article was originally published Thursday, 9:30 p.m. With $93 billion in 2017 revenue and 141,000 employees, Boeing Co. was massive enough. But over the last year, the aerospace giant has steadily expanded beyond its traditional expertise in commercial jets, big satellites and fighters, gobbling up providers of parts and services. In October, Boeing acquired aerospace parts distributor KLX Inc. for $4.25 billion, the companys largest acquisition since its blockbuster merger in 1997 with rival McDonnell Douglas Corp. Chicago-based Boeing had previously proposed a joint venture with Brazilian aerospace firm Embraer, secured partnerships with suppliers of airplane seats and auxiliary power units, and bought small-satellite manufacturer Millennium Space Systems in El Segundo. Boeing isnt the only aerospace company thats bulking up. L3 Technologies Inc. and Harris Corp. said in October they planned to merge, creating the sixth-largest U.S. defense company. As defense funding increases and demand for commercial aviation and space grows, aerospace firms are looking toward acquisitions and other partnerships to add heft and diversity. For the hundreds of smaller companies in Southern California and elsewhere that supply the giants, the wave of consolidation presents opportunities and challenges. Advertisement In some cases, for the [original equipment manufacturers], their largest customer may also be their largest competitor, said Daniel Adamski, executive vice president of distribution at Kellstrom Aerospace, an aircraft parts supplier based in Miami Lakes, Fla. Global aerospace mergers and acquisitions totaled $30.3 billion through September, the latest data available through consulting firm PwC. That figure doesnt include the Harris and L3 deal and other recent big ones, and it was down 49% compared with the same period last year, when United Technologies Corp. paid $23 billion, excluding debt, for Rockwell Collins and Northrop Grumman Corp. bought Orbital ATK Inc. for $7.8 billion. The giants have been so active theyre running low on targets. The opportunities to consolidate companies of this size are diminishing, said Scott Thompson, U.S. aerospace and defense practice leader at PwC. I do see the trends continuing, but I dont foresee it continuing at the values weve seen. Industry experts point out that these tie-ups are different from those that followed the collapse of the Cold War in the 1990s, when a downturn in defense spending pushed Lockheed to combine with Martin Marietta and Boeing to acquire McDonnell Douglas. Rather than trying to consolidate in a shrinking market and cutting costs, companies are positioning themselves for growth, said Andrew Hunter, director of the defense industrial initiatives group at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank in Washington. In October, L3 and Harris officials described their $33.5-billion merger, not captured in the PwC report, as a way to compete for bigger government contracts. When I sit back, I look at the power that this enterprise will create, William Brown, chief executive of Harris, said during an October conference call with analysts. Our positions in electronic warfare really makes the combined company a much stronger competitor in spectrum warfare, networked battlefield. On the commercial aircraft side, Boeings acquisition of KLX and its joint ventures with suppliers such as automotive seat firm Adient and French engine manufacturer Safran are part of the aerospace giants plans to offer more services, including repair and overhaul capabilities. Commercial rival Airbus is making similar moves. Suppliers traditionally provided those services, which can be more profitable than providing parts to aircraft manufacturers, said Adamski of Kellstrom Aerospace. Boeings move into the so-called aftermarket gained traction in 2006 when it acquired Aviall Inc., which provides new aviation parts and aftermarket services. Last year, Boeing established a new business unit called Boeing Global Services to provide services to commercial and government customers. A company statement at the time estimated the worth of that combined market at $2.6 trillion over the next 10 years. Before the creation of the unit, the company had aircraft support operations embedded separately in its commercial aviation and defense businesses, said Stan Deal, chief executive of Boeing Global Services. It was all about better serving our customers, creating an environment that matched how our customers tended to operate, which is a fast-paced dynamic, he said. Ken Shaw, senior vice president of supply chain solutions, said the company heard quite a bit from customers that they wanted Boeing to have a wider service products offering. Vertical integration allows aircraft manufacturers to exert more control over their supply chains and better predict and deal with potential problems that arise, said Jim Adams, leader of the aerospace and defense practice at KPMG. Boeings share price climbed through much of its dealmaking but has been slammed recently over fears of a trade war with China, its biggest overseas customer. The stock is down 17% since the beginning of October, but still up 10% for the year. Deal said Boeings service unit looks to develop capabilities in-house before eyeing the landscape for acquisitions. Much of its attention has been focused on developing its own aircraft avionics and auxiliary-power engines, which are used to start an airplanes main engines in the case of an emergency and to power systems such as a planes lighting. In those areas, the company plans to make very deliberate investment into those areas and depend more on Boeing capability over our supply chain, Deal said. But in other areas, he said, well continue to buy from suppliers. Boeings moves have created a kind of nervous excitement among suppliers, an industry executive said. Theres a lot of unknowns, said Collin Jager, president of Aerofied, a Torrance company that connects aerospace and defense companies with suppliers. But at the same time they just opened their market tremendously. For example, he said, companies that supplied Orbital ATK could potentially target new and additional business opportunities with Northrop Grumman after the acquisition was approved in June. But vertical integration can also decrease competition, raise prices for commercial airlines and the Pentagon, and edge out the companies that had been selling those parts or services. Its a way of creating significant leverage for negotiation with their Tier One partners to moderate pricing and allowing them to keep more of the margin, if you will, said Adamski of Kellstrom Aerospace of air-frame manufacturers. After Boeing announced its joint venture to produce airplane seats with Adient, Safran executives tried to downplay concerns about how the partnership would affect its seat manufacturing business. Most of the business comes directly from airlines and they like competition and they like to discuss directly with the seat manufacturers, said Philippe Petitcolin, chief executive of Safran. We just have to do our job, be [an] innovator and propose good products that we will deliver on time, Petitcolin said during a February call with analysts after Safran completed its acquisition of seat manufacturer Zodiac Aerospace. As long as we master our own quality, our own delivery and our own performance, I believe that there is plenty of room for Zodiac, Safran to continue to grow the business. But, he said of the joint venture, its a competitor. Boeings Deal acknowledged that the companys acquisition strategy could affect suppliers but said most of the supply chain adapts to the current environment. They either transform [or] reinvest somewhere else, and were comfortable with that dynamic, he said. It sharpens peoples focus, which is important for the overall competitiveness of the industry. Anthony Previte, chief executive of Terran Orbital, an Irvine-based small-satellite manufacturer and data analysis firm, was looking at the bright side of Boeing snapping up his rival, Millennium Space Systems. In my mind, a competitor is gone, he said. He said Millennium was known for its agility and its culture may not fit with that of a traditional contractor. The government is trying to procure from multiple buyers aggressively, Previte said. Its harder for traditional business to adapt to that. samantha.masunaga@latimes.com Twitter: @smasunaga Nearly a week after her arrest at a Canadian airport, the U.S. charges against Chinese tech executive Meng Wanzhou took shape Friday as a prosecutor outlined alleged efforts to conceal the ownership of a company suspected of trying to skirt U.S. sanctions on Iran. The fraud case disclosed in a court in Vancouver, Canada, has relatively narrow lines. At its heart are U.S. claims that the heir apparent to Huawei Technologies one of Chinas biggest tech empires misled banks about Huaweis suspected financial links to a Hong Kong-based company called Skycom. Meng could face up to 30 years in prison if convicted. But the fallout from Mengs arrest and possible extradition spills far beyond the charges at hand. The case has increased uncertainty in global financial markets, bringing another day of sharp losses from Asia to Wall Street before a weekend breather. There also are worries about possible Chinese retaliation for targeting Meng, who is the daughter of Huaweis founder and a rising star among Chinas business elite. Advertisement For the moment, China insists the prosecution will not derail efforts to end the tariff-slinging trade battles with the Trump administration. But much has yet to play out. Meng listened in court Friday as Crown Prosecutor John Gibb-Carsley argued that she poses a flight risk and should be denied bail as the extradition process begins. That will give her attorneys another chance to fight her transfer to the United States. Meng was arrested at Vancouvers airport as she traveled from Hong Kong to Mexico on Dec. 1, the same day President Trump met Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Argentina. The arrest of a top Huawei executive is a shot into the heart of Chinas tech ambitions, analysts say There had been speculation that the charges were, in some way, linked to alleged violations of sanctions on Iran. Then, in a packed Vancouver courtroom, a prosecutor for Canadas Justice Department offered up the first details of the U.S. charges. Meng is accused of committing fraud in 2013 by telling U.S. financial institutions that Huawei had no connection to Skycom, which reportedly was selling goods manufactured in the United States to Iran in violation of American sanctions on Tehran. Meng has contended Huawei sold Skycom in 2009. The United States said Huawei uses Skycom to do business in Iran to work around U.S. sanctions. Ms. Meng personally represented to those banks that Skycom and Huawei were separate, when in fact they were not separate, Gibb-Carsley told the court. Skycom was Huawei. The U.S. Justice Department had no immediate comment on Fridays court proceedings. Among the questions is how long U.S. authorities had been tracking Mengs movements, waiting for a chance to take her into custody. The Canadian prosecutor said the U.S. warrant was issued Aug. 22 in the Eastern District of New York. A Canadian justice then issued a warrant when authorities became aware of Mengs travel plans. Fridays hearing suggested that U.S. authorities will allege that Meng played a direct role in fraud by telling banks that there was no link between Huawei and Skycom. These banks then cleared financial transactions for Huawei, Gibb-Carsley said, inadvertently doing business with Skycom and becoming victim institutions of fraud. Mengs attorneys denied the fraud allegation, telling the court that Huawei had divested of Skycom and left its board. The case marks just the latest high-profile tangle with Huawei and, by extension, with Beijing. Huawei is part of the A-list in Chinas ambitions to expand its global technology reach, including challenging U.S. and South Korean smartphone makers for dominance in next-generation 5G mobile phones. Huaweis bragging rights already include dethroning Apple as the worlds No. 2 smartphone brand, behind Samsung. But the United States, the European Union and allies also look at Huawei as a digital Trojan horse, fearing that phones made by Huawei and Chinese competitor ZTE Corp. could be embedded with spyware that could be tapped by China. Two members of the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing network Australia and New Zealand have effectively blocked Huawei from their networks on security grounds. Canada and Britain have not completely banned Huawei, but that may change. (The United States is the fifth member of the Five Eyes.) In 2012, the House Intelligence Committee issued a report on Huawai and ZTE saying the companies provide a wealth of opportunities for Chinese intelligence agencies to spy on U.S. companies or agencies that use their equipment. A previous case against ZTE accused of violating U.S. export sanctions on Iran brought ZTE to the brink of bankruptcy last year. ZTE was initially blacklisted in the United States, but after Trumps intervention, that was downgraded to an $890-million fine. On Friday, Huawei defended its systems. It said in a statement that no government has ever asked it to build back doors or interrupt any networks. The Huawei case will certainly have a negative impact on political trust between the United States and China, said Wang Yong, a professor at Peking Universitys school of international studies. But analysts do not expect Chinas government to let the incident derail attempts to ease the trade dispute. China has more incentive than the U.S. to stop the escalation, said Yanmei Xie, an analyst at the Gavekal Dragonomics consultancy in Beijing. The Chinese priority is to stop the U.S. from launching crippling sanctions against Huawei. If the U.S. does what it did to ZTE, theres very little China can do to prevent Huawei from collapsing, and thats not in Chinas interest. For that reason, China would try not to provoke the United States, she said. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Friday that China would not. China always protects the legitimate rights and interests of foreigners in China in accordance with the law, but I believe certainly they should also abide by Chinese laws and regulations, Geng said. The arrest of Meng feeds into a broader feeling in China that the trade war is not just about imports and exports but is also about the Trump administrations efforts to contain China and stop its rise. The U.S. is trying to do whatever it can to contain Huaweis expansion in the world simply because the company is the point man for Chinas competitive technology companies, the state-run China Daily said in an editorial Friday. For the sake of the global and American economies, the United States should change its mentality toward China, the paper said. The Peoples Daily, the mouthpiece of the Communist Party, painted the Huaweis travails as part of an epic battle. All the slings and arrows didnt stop it from growing or hinder it from rising into a global telecoms equipment giant, the paper said, adding that Chinese companies are instead gaining strength. No one will be able to stop Made in China from bringing benefits to the whole world. Rauhala and Fifield write for the Washington Post. Saudi Arabia, Russia and the rest of the OPEC+ coalition delivered a bigger-than-expected oil production cut, sending prices soaring and defying President Trumps calls for the cartel to keep the taps open. After a fractious two-day meeting in Vienna, the group which does not include the United States agreed Friday to remove 1.2 million barrels a day from the oil market in the first quarter of 2019. Thats more than 1% of global production. The goal is to drive up prices. Their decision will affect everything from the share prices of Texas shale producers, which surged after the meeting, to inflation rates in India, China and other consuming countries. Its political implications are also profound: The deal is a testament to the strength of Saudi Arabias two-year-long cooperation with Russia, a country that played a crucial role in brokering the pact. And it showed that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is willing to defy Trumps wishes. Advertisement Saudi Oil Minister Khalid Falih went out of his way to show that his country is serious about keeping the oil market under control. Because Saudi Arabia produced significantly more than its OPEC commitments in November, it will cut production by 900,000 barrels a day by January to 10.2 million barrels a day, a dramatic swing very few analysts saw coming. The Saudi output swing is equivalent to removing all the oil production of Libya in just eight weeks. This will be strongly felt in the spot oil market, said SEBs chief commodities analyst, Bjarne Schieldrop. We are going up to $70. U.S. benchmark crude rose 2.2% to $52.61 a barrel Friday. Brent crude, used to price international oils, climbed 2.7% to $61.67 a barrel. As in many other OPEC deals, a compromise was needed. Iran insisted on being exempted from the cuts because it is subject to U.S. sanctions. Venezuela and Libya were also exempted. Before the meeting, many OPEC watchers had predicted a maximum cut of 1 million barrels a day. Others fretted Saudi Arabia would balk at any deal for fear of offending the White House. Falih himself warned after the first day of talks that he wasnt confident of getting a deal. The breakthrough followed a series of bilateral meetings convened by Russia, which brokered the compromise between arch rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran a mediator role that showed the Kremlins growing influence inside the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, unthinkable only two years ago. Given how much expectations were downplayed around the outcome of this meeting, this result comes as a welcome surprise, said Harry Tchilinguirian, head of commodity-markets strategy at BNP Paribas. OPEC has given the oil market a rudder that appeared largely absent yesterday. Although the group wont publish individual quotas, this is how the deal will work: Producers will use October output levels as a baseline for cuts, and the agreement will be reviewed in April, when ministers meet again in Vienna. On average, that means a cut of 3% for OPEC countries that arent exempted. Russia proposed its own contribution would be equivalent to a 2% cut, according to one delegate. Such a cut would equate to 228,000 barrels a day, Novak said, higher than its initially pitched cut of at most 150,000 barrels a day. Im confident that our resolve, that our professionalism and our willingness to achieve results is as strong as ever, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said of the OPEC+ coalition. In current conditions its extremely important to send a strong signal to the market. Much has changed for OPEC since 2016, when Russia and Saudi Arabia ended their historic animosity and started to manage the market together. The alliance has transformed the cartel into a duopoly in which the Kremlin is asserting its power. OPEC, or more precisely Saudi Arabia, has been the head honcho of the oil world for nearly six decades; yet these days it seems unable to make a decision without Russias blessing, let alone without risking the wrath of the U.S. president, said Stephen Brennock, an analyst at PVM Oil Associates in London. OPEC has scheduled its next meeting for April, earlier than usual. It coincides with the expected tightening of U.S. sanctions on Iran when the waivers granted by Washington to several Asian consumers need to be renewed. Wells Fargo & Co. says its a different bank today than it was two years ago but it may not be different enough for regulators. Chief Executive Tim Sloan told investors at a conference Tuesday that the bank aims not only to meet but exceed regulatory expectations, so that we have the best risk management in the industry. Yet a new revelation about the companys regulatory issues shows that will require a lot of work. Over the summer, the Federal Reserve rejected parts of Wells Fargos plan to turn itself around and prevent further missteps, a person with knowledge of the decision said, following a Reuters report Thursday. The San Francisco banks scandals erupted in 2016 with the disclosure that employees created as many as 3.5 million accounts on behalf of customers who didnt want them or know about them. The issues have since spilled over into the banks consumer-lending, wholesale and wealth-management units. In February, the Fed restricted Wells Fargo from increasing assets beyond its end-of-2017 level due to the pattern of consumer abuses and a need to beef up internal controls. Advertisement Wells Fargo was required to submit a plan to the regulator within 60 days for improving compliance and operational-risk management the plan that failed to win Fed approval, according to the person, who asked not to be identified because the information wasnt public. After the bank implements the plan, its still required to conduct two independent reviews, for submission to the Fed, before the growth ban is lifted. The company has said it plans to operate under the growth ban through the first half of 2019. The asset cap will not be removed anytime soon, but I dont think thats a surprise, Portales Partners analyst Charles Peabody said in an interview. Wells Fargo declined to comment directly on the Feds feedback on its plan. We are in frequent and consistent dialogue with our regulators, including discussions regarding consent orders, and we work diligently to address feedback provided, spokeswoman Jennifer Dunn said in an email. It is an ongoing, iterative process. The Feds rejection of the banks plan is the latest in a series of recent indications that Wells Fargo has yet to move beyond its scandals. In October, two top executives were placed on leave and removed from Wells Fargos operating committee after receiving letters from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. The bank is also firing about three dozen district managers in its retail bank, a move related to the sales-practice scandal that came to light more than two years ago, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. Wells Fargo has approximately 560 district managers, according to spokeswoman Bridget Braxton. The latest disclosures bring Sloans leadership into question, according to Peabody. In the end, hes going to have to become a casualty, Peabody said, citing Sloans inability to get his arms around the extent of the scandal, the people involved and the fallout. Levitt writes for Bloomberg. Rules that could give immigrants reason to avoid enrolling in health safety net programs would deliver a blow to Californias economy, costing the state thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in economic output, a new study concluded. Under the rules proposed by the Homeland Security Department, immigrants could jeopardize their chances of getting green cards if they enroll themselves or their children in Medicaid the half-century-old government health insurance program for the poor or nutrition assistance programs such as CalFresh or federal housing assistance. The rules would likely cost the California economy more than 17,000 jobs and $2.8 billion in lost economic output if just 35% of the Californians in immigrant families currently making use of these programs decide to not enroll, said the study, which was done by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, UC Berkeley Labor Center and a nonprofit group, California Food Policy Advocates. The study said 6,200 of those lost jobs and $992 million of that lost output would be in the Los Angeles area. Californias healthcare and food-related industries would be hit hardest by the resulting job losses, the study said. Of the jobs lost, 47% would be in healthcare and 10% would be food-related, said the study, which added that 4% would be in real estate. Advertisement Every industry could be affected, though to a lesser degree than the top three industries we listed, said Laurel Lucia, an author of the study and director of healthcare at the UC Berkeley Labor Center. The proposal is an expansion of existing public charge policies that make it harder for immigrants who receive certain forms of public assistance such as income assistance or long-term care at federally funded institutions to apply to enter the U.S. or to become a permanent resident. Under the harsher public charge test proposed, participation in public programs is one of a number of factors that would be considered to determine whether a person is likely to use public benefits in the future, Lucia said. She also said prior enrollment in the expanded list of programs would not be considered unless the immigrant is still in one of the programs when the rule change takes effect. For more than two centuries, the United States has placed restrictions on immigrants deemed to be a public charge. But government officials long viewed health programs as important tools for protecting the well-being of citizens and noncitizens alike. If the proposed changes are implemented, about 765,000 immigrants in California may choose to disenroll from nutrition assistance and healthcare programs, according to the study. It said that level of disenrollment could in turn lead to California losing $1.46 billion in federal benefits. Immigrants make crucial contributions to Californias workforce, economy and tax base, Ninez Ponce, director of the UCLA center and an author of the study, said in a statement. The proposed changes to the public charge test would significantly reduce the use of much-needed public programs among those who are eligible, and the economic ripple effect would hurt communities statewide. The public can still comment on the proposed rules through Monday. The rules are expected to be finalized and published in February. In a joint statement in September, health officials, physician groups, hospitals and patient advocates across the country condemned the proposed changes and urged President Trumps administration to withdraw the proposal. The order puts a governmental barrier between healthcare providers and patients and stands in stark contrast to the mission each of our organizations shares: ensuring meaningful access to healthcare for patients in need, they said. When announcing the proposed rule change in September, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said immigrants must show they can support themselves financially. This proposed rule will implement a law passed by Congress intended to promote immigrant self-sufficiency and protect finite resources by ensuring that they are not likely to become burdens on American taxpayers, Nielsen said in a statement. The California Health Care Foundation and the California Endowment funded the new study. johana.bhuiyan@latimes.com Twitter: @jmbooyah Seven bras. Twelve T-shirts. Thirteen pairs of socks. One robe. Two nightgowns. Thirteen blouses. Nine pairs of shoes. Six sweaters. Seven hats. These items, along with an unspecified number of slacks, made up the entirety of Sara Bermans wardrobe when she died peacefully at age 84. Another thing should be noted about Bermans clothing: It was all white, and each item was meticulously starched, ironed and folded before being put in its place. Berman was the mother of author and illustrator Maira Kalman and the grandmother of curator and designer Alex Kalman, who together re-created a most intimate space as an exhibit titled Sara Bermans Closet, on view at the Skirball Cultural Center through March 10. The exhibition coincides with the release of a book by the same name, featuring original text by the Kalmans and illustrations by Maira. Twelve original paintings from the book will be displayed alongside the installation. Advertisement It was never about being overly fastidious. It was about a love of beautiful things, Maira said of her mothers immaculate boudoir. That was part of Saras persona, and when she died we stood in her closet and said, This should be an exhibit. A page from the recently released book Sara Bermans Closet, which catalogs the beauty products and accessories in Bermans closet. (Photos by Katherine Finkelstein / From Maira Kalman and Alex Kalman) Ten years later the Kalmans opened the first incarnation of the installation at Mmuseumm, Alexs Tribeca space a freight-elevator shaft in a graffiti-ridden alley. It was a token of the richness of city life left for passersby to stumble upon, and wonder about. There was very little context. A plaque invited anybody intrigued by the humble, tidy closet to call a number to hear more about what they were seeing. It wasnt just a re-creation of one womans closet. It was a testament to the power of an individual life. It was a monument to freedom and self-expression, a paean to feminism and a meditation on what makes us human, how we cope with adversity and the ways in which we persevere. People found the installation mesmerizing, Alex said by phone, precisely because it had been a real closet and not a premeditated work of art. Had it been created by artists as an artistic statement, it wouldnt be nearly as interesting, he said. When the installation closed at Mmuseumm, it made the auspicious leap much to the Kalmans amazement to the American Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it was placed adjacent to another period piece: the elaborate dressing room of the richest woman in late-19th century America, Arabella Worsham, a Southern belle who married railroad magnate Collis Huntington. The juxtaposition of unimaginable wealth and luxury with self-imposed austerity and restraint might have looked odd at first glance, Maira said, but it actually made quite a bit of sense. Both women were extremely powerful, just in different ways. Berman found power in deeply personal choices. Born in Belarus in 1920, Berman lived a fairly idyllic life with her large family, including her favorite sister, Shoshana. The children frolicked in forests of wild blueberries, ate cake and sang and danced to their hearts delight. In what her family describes as a sudden burst of self-expression, Berman decided to begin wearing only white. This painting by Maira Kalman, Sara Berman on the Terrace in Rome With Bougainvillea, serves as the cover for the book Sara Bermans Closet. (Maira Kalman / Julie Saul Gallery, New York) When Berman was 12, her family moved to Palestine, where she grew into a ravishing young woman. Despite what the Kalmans describe in the book as terrible misgivings, she married, moved to New York and had two daughters, including Maira. It was not a happy marriage, and when the daughters grew up, the couple returned to Tel Aviv. Then, at the age of 60, Berman took a single suitcase and left her husband. She returned to New York City and found a small studio apartment in Greenwich Village. This, Maira said, was Bermans liberation. She thrived as a single woman in the city. She developed habits and joys all her own. She loved Fred Astaire, devoured autobiographies, regularly visited the Museum of Modern Art, ate herring and watched Jeopardy every night. At some point, in what the book calls a burst of personal expression, Berman decided to wear only white. The clothes she kept from then on are the same ones that can be found in the installation bearing her name. The Kalmans are clearly a close family, and their love of Berman is palpable. Their installation, however, is not sentimental. This is not a shrine, said Maira, adding that although it is heartfelt and has quite a bit of emotional content, it is meant to be forward-thinking and inventive. Alex agreed. The purpose of the installation, he said, is to elevate Bermans personal life story into a set of values that people can connect to, or find meaning in. It was just how she was living her life, and that is also what is so powerful about it, he said. Its not coming from a place of self-consciousness or public presentation. Then there is the more personal meaning for the family. Alex and Maira consider Sara Bermans Closet to be the work of three generations. It doesnt feel like Maira and I are making something about Sara because Sara really made it, he said. I really feel like its a collaboration between Sara, Maira and myself. If one ponders the perfectly pressed whites of that diminutive Greenwich Village closet imagines Berman alone in her apartment carefully starching and pressing her few belongings, thinking of the books she is reading and the glorious visits to the museum she plans to make one can feel the inspiring resonance of a private life lived to its fullest potential, and the remarkable spirit of a woman, who at the age of 60, finally found peace in a room of her own. Sara Bermans Closet Where: Skirball Cultural Center, 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd., L.A. When: Noon-5 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturdays-Sundays, through March 10. Alex and Maira Kalman will appear at 8 p.m. Jan. 23 for a reading and conversation. Admission: $12, free on Thursdays. The event on Jan. 23 is $15. Info: (310) 440-4500, www.skirball.org MORE ARTS: Photographer Bruce Talamon captured black joy in the glory years of soul and funk Who invented abstract art? Victor Hugo show proves weve had it all wrong Academy Museum reveals what youll see inside jessica.gelt@latimes.com @jessicagelt Hollywood figuratively crashed the funeral Thursday. Even as President George H.W. Bush was being laid to rest in Texas following a final service and several days of heartfelt eulogies, the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. celebrated the movie Vice, a scathing biopic that blames former Vice President Dick Cheney and the man who empowered him, George W. Bush for much of the modern worlds problems. Welcome to the Gold Standard, the newsletter from the Los Angeles Times that helps guide you through the ins and outs of the awards season leading up to the Oscars. Im Glenn Whipp, The Times awards columnist and your newsletter host. Advertisement Vice earns six Globes noms, the most of any film Although it has yet to be released, or even reviewed, Vice led all movies with six Golden Globes nominations best picture comedy, nods for Adam McKays direction and screenplay, and acting recognition for Christian Bale, who plays Cheney, Amy Adams, who plays his wife, Lynne, and Sam Rockwell as George W. Bush. I really think the movie in some ways mirrors the times that we live in, and half the time I cant decide if were living in an absurdist comedy or a Greek tragedy, Vice writer-director Adam McKay told The Times in a phone interview. And thats kind of the way the movie is; there are parts that are very tragic and dark and there are parts that are very absurd. Times film writer Josh Rottenberg rounded up the Oscar implications for the Globes noms. Company Town reporter Ryan Faughnder wrote about how the nominations for Vice boost the fortunes of its distributor, Annapurna Pictures, which has had a rough year. And staffer Ashley Lee looks at the days snubs and surprises, including a best picture drama nomination for Bohemian Rhapsody. Nicole Kidman, lead actress drama Globe nominee for Destroyer. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times) Globes nominees talk to The Times Nicole Kidman had just landed at LAX after a long flight from her native Australia, just in time to offer her youngest daughter advice on braiding her hair. Rami Malek was cuing up some Queen. Michelle Yeoh made plans to wear her Crazy Rich Asians ring to the ceremony. These and other reactions to yesterdays exciting news can be found at The Times Golden Globes hub, where you can read all of our coverage of the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn.s doings. Lady Gaga got a Globe nom for A Star Is Born. The Oscars are next. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times) Here are your Oscar acting nominees Meanwhile, back on the Oscar front, I looked at the four acting categories for this seasons races. Lead actress remains the toughest race to call. It would have been heartening to see the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. nominate Yalitza Aparicio, the graceful star of Roma. I guess Ill have to prod my voting group, the Los Angeles Film Critics Assn., along those lines when we meet on Sunday. Feedback? Id love to hear from you. Email me at glenn.whipp@latimes.com. Cant get enough about awards season? Follow me at @glennwhipp on Twitter. glenn.whipp@latimes.com Twitter: @glennwhipp Nicholas Britell has quickly risen to the fore of todays film composers. Thats due in part to hooking up with two particular directors: Barry Jenkins and Adam McKay. Britell, 38, earned his first Oscar nomination for scoring Jenkins Moonlight, and the two immediately began working on If Beale Street Could Talk an adaptation of the 1974 James Baldwin novel, which stars KiKi Layne and Stephan James as a young black couple in Harlem, pregnant and madly in love but torn in two by racial injustice. The New York-based composer read both the novel and script, and in his early conversations with Jenkins said he was instinctively hearing horns. KiKi Layne as Tish and Stephan James as Fonny star in Barry Jenkins IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK, (Tatum Mangus / Annapurna Pictures) Advertisement I started writing music with trumpets and fluegelhorns and French horns and cornet, and muting different instruments and seeing what that sounded like, Britell said. I didnt want it to feel immediately connotative of any particular type of music. I was imagining that it might have potentially jazz-type harmonies but also would be classically written. Jenkins loved what he heard, but when they put the music against the picture it wasnt quite right. It was missing strings. For us, the strings really came to represent love, said Britell, because the film is about love and injustice, but it really focuses a lot on different kinds of love: the love of a parent with a child; a pure, kind of divine love; love between friends; erotic love. The strings took on different roles in the guise of all of those. The score opens with a wistful, jazz-leaning theme for trumpets, which the composer said represents the fullest feeling of love. During a lovemaking scene, Britell casts a spell with a cyclical, hypnotic theme for strings. (His wife, Caitlin Sullivan, performed solo cello on the score.) I wanted it to feel like youre in another state of consciousness at this point, he explained. Theyre going into this other place. For the darker parts of the story embodied by a cruel white cop played by Ed Skrein Britell morphed and distorted all of this love music. Its almost like theyre sitting at the gates of hell, he said. In a different key altogether is McKays Vice a sprawling, darkly satirical character study of Dick Cheney (Christian Bale). As he did in 2015s The Big Short, McKay tells a convoluted story, essentially of the past 50 years of American history, through a quick-cut smorgasbord of straight drama, meta commentary and surreal comedy. Christian Bale stars as Dick Cheney and Amy Adams stars as Lynne Cheney in Adam McKays VICE. (Matt Kennedy / Annapurna Picture) At its core, though, the film tries to find the real heart (prone to attacks) of Cheney the human being. Starting on the project during development, Britell wrote a theme for trumpet, woodwinds and orchestra that evokes a dissonant Americana as if Aaron Copland wrote a fanfare for Lex Luthor. You look at the arc of Dick Cheney, and it really lines up a bit with the arc of America, McKay said. Its a guy who wanted to do his wife proud, do his children proud, put food on the table. Then, somewhere along the line, that love started taking a weird turn and it became something else. What I love about Nicks piece is that it really gets both. Once that piece of music landed, we had our movie. Britells score tracks with the films timeline, assigning a cocky big band to Donald Rumsfeld in the 1970s and hip-hop swagger to Cheneys consolidation of power in the 2000s. The music goes meta during an especially funny scene midway through the movie, scoring a false ending with sentimentality and arch nobility. But, as with Bales nuanced performance, Britells score truly searches for the truth of a man who quietly conquered American politics. To that end, Britell wrote a fragile if still frictional family theme on piano. This is a complex story its not one-dimensional, he said. We were trying to get inside this idea of: Lets understand the love that he has for Lynne [Cheney], who inspired him and really was a propellant for his career. McKay noted the triumph in past film scores that played to the victorious three-act story of America. And what really kind of broke my heart, he said, was hearing Nick show us the next act of that story where its more complicated than that. When I heard Nicks music go in that direction, it really just deepened this movie for us in a way that was pretty profound. FULL COVERAGE: Get the latest on awards season from The Envelope calendar@latimes.com For close to two decades, Eminem has been a perennial favorite among Grammy voters particularly in rap categories where hes long dominated. Ever since his breakthrough with 1999s The Slim Shady LP, Eminem has been king of the rap album race. Hes collected the award seven times, the most of any rapper in history. But that wont happen in 2019. For the first time in his career, he was snubbed for a rap album nomination in a year in which he was eligible with two projects last years Revival and Kamikaze, a surprise release he dropped over the summer. Advertisement Not nominating Eminem for either project is, frankly, the smartest thing Grammy voters could have done. Eminem is one of the greatest emcees on the planet. But lets agree to agree that his track record has been spotty for much of the past decade and thats putting it nicely. No one can discount the output from the Rap God, but wins for muddy releases like Relapse and The Marshall Mathers LP 2, in particular, felt more like the voting body favoring name recognition over innovation. His latest releases, for all the hype surrounding both, came and went. Collaborations with Beyonce and Ed Sheeran, as well as a savvy marketing plan, made Revival feel like an event release. But its bloated tracklist and tired offerings made it a snooze. Eminem made up for it with Kamikaze, which showed his prowess as a muscular wordsmith, but it was far from his best work. It would have been hard to take the rap race seriously if either of Eminems projects made it in over Travis Scott, the late Mac Miller, Pusha T or Nipsey Hussle emcees who released some of the years most assured and adventurous projects, which would have surely been overlooked if voters made room for their favorite. Aside from Eminem, there were plenty of snubs that will surely divide rap heads. Late controversial rapper XXXTentacion felt like a sure thing, as did J. Cole and Lil Wayne, who all put out some of the years finest rap albums, but they did not earn nods. Neither did Migos, who are one of the biggest groups out right now. Nor did genre disrupters like Juice WRLD, Lil Pump, Noname, Brockhampton or Tierra Whack artists who would have shown voters were game to make some inspired choices at a time when theres so much great hip-hop arriving at a mind-blowing pace. Sure to be controversial was the overlooking of Nicki Minajs Queen and Kanye Wests Ye. Both had some of the most polarizing rollouts in their respective careers with West unveiling his album in the middle of a field in Wyoming and Minaj dominating the news cycle with a ferocious feud with Cardi B and its the first time theyve put out records denied by voters in this category (next to Jay-Z and Eminem, West has scored the most nominations in this category). Wests snub is especially surprising. While his political views and outlandish interviews sparked much derision among his fanbase and the public, this year saw him at his most creative as he bunkered down inside a remote studio in Wyomings Jackson Hole valley and oversaw production on a slew of projects, including Ye, a joint release with Kid Cudi as Kids See Ghosts, and albums from Teyana Taylor, Nas and Pusha T. All of the projects were well-received, but only Pusha Ts Daytona landed a nomination. West did, however, score a nod for producer of the year for his work behind the boards this year. That said, this years competition for rap album is as fierce as it could have been. Cardi B could make history as the first woman to win the award as a solo artist (Lauryn Hill, sadly, remains the only woman to win as her group the Fugees took the honor in 1997). Given that Cardis debut, Invasion of Privacy, also landed a nod for album of the year, shes got a particular edge here, as voters are clearly familiar with her meteoric rise. Travis Scott, Pusha T and Nipsey Hussles albums have been among the most beloved rap releases this year, and Millers Swimming showed an artist evolving his craft before his tragic death a few months after the albums release. Ultimately, its anyones guess who will win. Without Eminem weighing them down, theyve all got a much better shot. gerrick.kennedy@latimes.com For more music news follow me on Twitter:@GerrickKennedy The rap categories for the 2019 Grammy nominations are full of a number of the usual, laudable contenders (Kendrick Lamar, Drake) as well as worthy ascendant acts (Cardi B, Travis Scott). What they lack, notably, is much representation from the wilds of streaming service SoundCloud and the young, often troubled stars who redefined the genre for young fans on the internet. Call it a generation gap or a values question. But no other genre has such a split between the breakout acts that racked up gobsmacking streaming numbers in 2018 and the Grammy establishment looking for less-divisive acts to champion as standard-bearers. And in a year with, sadly, so much significant hip-hop from deceased young artists in contention, those absences are even more striking. The exception here is the very-much-alive Post Malone, who earned nods in record and album of the year, and pop solo and rap/sung performance. Malones rise and general aesthetic can be attributed to the SoundCloud scene, but his mix of folk balladry, Auto-Tuned crooning and pop-friendly trap has settled into the mainstream. Its telling that almost all of his nods came outside the rap categories. Advertisement XXXTentacion, Lil Peep and Mac Miller were very different but significant hip-hop acts who passed away during the 2019 Grammy eligibility period. Each was a giant on streaming services and earned co-signs from the hip-hop elite, rock, EDM and even jazz worlds alike. Miller, who emerged before the SoundCloud scene but had similar internet-driven early success, did earn a single nod for rap album, for his lauded 2018 LP Swimming. Given the depth of support he had across the music world (just look at the lineup from his posthumous tribute concert at the Greek Theatre), its perhaps surprising he didnt have more. Travis Scott, Childish Gambino and Anderson .Paak, all fellow Grammy rap nominees, each performed or paid tribute to Miller at that Greek Theatre set. Swimming was just the kind of omnivorous, reflective and musically virtuosic rap album the Grammys often looks to reward. Its a crowded field this year, but his now-haunting single Self Care could have been an important gesture in a nomination as well. Lil Peeps LP Come Over When Youre Sober, Pt.1 just missed the cutoff for the 2019 ceremony (its followup, released in November, will be eligible for the 2020 Grammys). But several singles, including the XXXTentacion-featuring Falling Down and Spotlight, a collaboration with the EDM superstar Marshmello, could have made the cut for eligibility this year. Peep was one of the most promising stars to emerge from the SoundCloud rap scene, and although he suffered from similar substance abuse issues that plagued many of his peers, he avoided the violence that wrapped up so many of its stars and was widely loved in rap, EDM and even experimental music circles. A rap or dance music nod could have been a worthy posthumous notice from the Grammys. Its less surprising that the late XXXTentacion didnt make it in. The 20-year-old rapper was perhaps the most divisive figure in music this year, with an array of sordid legal troubles and disturbing allegations against him even before his murder in June. His Capitol-affiliated label faced a backlash for even releasing his second LP, ?. But his streaming figures are indisputable (his total Spotify play count is well into the billions), and for those who looked past his criminal pursuits, his music was often compelling and praised by fellow artists. Grammy favorite Kendrick Lamar is reported to have threatened to pull his music from Spotify when the service planned to blacklist XXX from its playlists. XXXs SoundCoud peers probably stood even less of chance for Grammy nods. Tekashi 6ix9ine has all of XXXs sordid criminal baggage but almost none of his reluctant critical appeal. Lil Pumps self-titled debut was eligible, but hes exactly the kind of rapper Grammy ignores: beloved by teens but aesthetically raw and seen as unrefined. So maybe Post Malone is the ideal candidate for Grammy to reward in the fraught world of underground, internet-driven rap. He has face tattoos and huge streaming figures, but hes a white dude who covers Bob Dylan, insults his own genre and has avoided jail cells and overdoses. More hardcore rap fans have long since turned on him, but hes found an audience right smack in the middle of America. And thats just who Grammy loves to reward when rap is at the top of the ticket. For breaking music news, follow @augustbrown on Twitter. Standing on a step stool because the counters just too high for her, Ai Fujimoto is elbow deep into mixing a bucket of mashed soybeans with grains of rice that look as if they are covered in a layer of fuzzy snow. She is starting another batch of handmade miso, her 11th since February, bringing the total to more than 350 pounds of soybean paste she has fermented this year. Miso was, at first, a hobby for Fujimoto, a 39-year-old technical translator at a Japanese manufacturing company in Torrance. It quickly grew into an obsession. Then, the friends she gifted her miso to encouraged her to open a business. So early this year, she rented space at downtowns Crafted Kitchen, a shared-use commercial kitchen, and started Omiso Co. In May, she set up a stand at the Hollywood Farmers Market, but because most of her miso was still fermenting, she began selling limited amounts of miso balls miso mixed with dashi and other ingredients, rolled into a ball so that you can add hot water and have a sort of instant soup. Advertisement Ai Fujimotos miso starts with organic soybeans from Nebraska. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times) Now, her first awase or country-style miso also will be available. Miso should have character, Fujimoto says. It used to be that each Japanese family had their own miso recipe, and every family would say theirs is the best. Most miso is industrially produced these days, and, in response to that, Fujimoto is trying to recapture the individuality of miso, which is made by mixing soybeans, salt and rice koji grains inoculated with the beneficial mold Aspergillus oryzae, also used for brewing sake and soy sauce. The paste ferments for a few months (for light miso) or up to more than a year (for dark miso). You never know quite how each batch will turn out until the fermentation is in process, she says. Thats what I love about it. It used to be that each Japanese family had their own miso recipe, and every family would say theirs is the best. Ai Fujimoto The style of miso she grew up with in and around Kyoto is lighter and a little sweeter. So she has been experimenting with an amakuchi miso, with relatively more koji and less salt. Her awase miso takes nearly a year to ferment. Its a rich auburn color, chunky-textured, savory, salty, slightly sweet. It has a fresh soybean flavor and mellow funkiness unlike most of the commercial miso found in grocery stores. Her interest in koji-based fermentation started on a field trip to a sake brewery as a 6-year-old. I dont know how appropriate that was for small children. But I remember seeing the koji, presented in some kind of Tupperware. It was this fluffy, weird-shaped rice with a fermented smell. We were kind of disgusted and also fascinated. But years later, living in L.A., she says she couldnt find the right water to make sake with, and the temperature here isnt ideal for its fermentation and aging. So she experimented with brewing soy sauce from scratch. I got [koji] spores from Japan, sprinkled them over cooked soybeans kept at a certain temperature in an insulated cardboard box with a thermometer and a hot water bottle. After a few days of that, she added water and salt and just had to wait for a year and half for it to finish fermenting, before it was ready to use. In the meantime, she started watching Japanese YouTube videos on how to make miso, especially those of Koichiro Kawasaki, whose family runs Marukawa Miso, a 103-year-old producer in Fukui. She visited Marukawa two years ago during a trip back to Japan, and that was the beginning. Her miso starts with organic soybeans from Nebraska. The inoculated organic rice is from Marukawa Miso, which collects its own spores and oversees propagation in its koji muro, a dedicated temperature- and humidity-controlled room. The salt is from Japan too. Two people can have the same materials, same amount of ingredients, same fermentation time, but because of their shikomi the way each mashes and mixes the soybeans their miso will be different. Right now, we can have any food anywhere anytime instantly, Fujimoto says. People dont even realize miso is a fermented food. But the months-long [miso] process is what interests me the effort, the experimentation and the surprise. Her inaugural batches of completed miso are for sale in 8-ounce packages ($15 to $18) at the Omiso stand at the Hollywood Farmers Market every other Sunday. She has labeled each with its batch date and a name such as Hajimemashite, which means nice to meet you. Omiso instant miso soup balls. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times) food@latimes.com @latimesfood The big orange Katie Porter sign is gone from the frontyard of Honour Del Crognales home in Tustin. Its been replaced by four big vintage light-up Santas, clustered like a choir near the front door. I think one is tacky, but a bunch of them make a statement, Del Crognale told me when I visited her on Wednesday. Del Crognale, 54, is an elementary school librarian and mother of two, who loves to help kids get excited about reading. She collects ABC books and vintage toys, and displays them in her entry in a tall glass china cabinet. Advertisement She grew up in a Republican household in what she described as Reagan Country the Balboa Peninsula, near the legendary Wedge surf spot in Newport Beach. Republicans were different back then, she said. They were socially liberal, and not evangelical at all. We met on election day at Porter headquarters in a Tustin industrial park. The polls had run more or less consistently in Porters favor, so her supporters were confident that the UC Irvine consumer law professor would topple the two-term incumbent, GOP Rep. Mimi Walters, a former investment banker who was the only Orange County Republican in Congress to vote for President Trumps tax cut. As excited as all those Porter volunteers were that day, there was something even more revved up about Del Crognale. She was practically bouncing in her shoes as she gave canvassers information about where to knock on doors in a last-minute attempt to get out the vote in the 45th Congressional District, which includes Irvine, Tustin and Mission Viejo. Shed been a very quiet Democrat who had always watched with interest but hadnt participated. After Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton, and Del Crognales college-age daughter called home sobbing that night, she felt she could not sit on the sidelines anymore. The day after Trumps inauguration, she marched for the first time in her life, at the Womens March in Santa Ana. It was a revelation. Democrats are very quiet here because you dont want to get yelled at or have a confrontation, she said. It was so wonderful to see so many people out there from our own town, people you didnt know felt the way you did. That was the gobsmack. It was almost like the coming-out party for a secret society. Recalling the experience, she lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper: You are one of us. :: Election night was fraught for Porter and her volunteers. They gathered at the Irvine Hilton for what was to be a celebration, but it soon became clear that Porter was trailing her opponent. At the end of the night, she was behind Walters by more than 6,000 votes. Katie got up to speak and it sounded like a concession, but I dont think it really was, Del Crognale said. It was our first campaign and we all felt like we saw so much enthusiasm, so how could we lose? No one wanted a drink. Deflated, she and her husband, Greg, went to In-N-Out, where they ran into a bunch of other Tustin Democrats, including activist Lee Fink, who calmed them down. He told us there are still a lot of votes to count and its not over yet, Del Crognale said. When she got home, though, she yanked out her Katie Porter sign and stuck it in the garage. A few days later, as counting continued and the race started to tighten, she put the sign back out. On Nov. 15, Porter was declared the victor. In the end, she held 52% of the vote to Walters 48%. I did scream, Del Crognale said. Im always screaming. To be truly candid, I did it as much for me as I did to get Katie elected. It was such a positive experience, and it makes me want to keep doing it. There is so much to fix. :: It always makes me a little sad when I hear people say they are afraid to reveal their true political feelings. For years, though, I have heard from suburban Democrats in Orange County that they feel isolated. Its the flip side of the complaint that conservatives feel muffled in liberal places like San Francisco, Los Angeles, college campuses or that amorphous community called Hollywood. In California, Republicans really do have reason to feel lonely. As of November, Democrats had a 20-point registration advantage over Republicans, who are outnumbered even by voters who decline to state a party preference. GOP political power is shrinking like wet cashmere in a hot dryer. Among Californias 53-member congressional delegation, there are only seven Republicans not even enough to field a softball team, as my colleague Mark Z. Barabak pointed out. And not a single one is from Orange County, which was so red for so long that victorious Democrats seem almost too shocked to crow. I still feel like I am living among Republicans, Del Crognale said. Its still hard to talk about politics. Ive been friends with people who are Republican my whole life. But if you know someone is a big Trump supporter and its someone you really like, you cant unknow that. She is especially appalled by the dark undercurrents of racism and intolerance that Trump has not just unleashed but normalized. Do you remember Strom Thurmond? You think, no one can ever be that racist. And when he dies, that school of thought is going to die with him. And then it doesnt. As we sat in her cheerful kitchen over a plate of chocolate chip cookies, Del Crognale said something I have heard from many Orange County Democrats lately: I didnt think this could ever happen here. In a perverse way, she credits Trump. If Orange County can turn blue and it does give you a weird thrill to see it this horrible, horrible, horrible period, maybe, will have a point, she said. If it wasnt for Trump getting elected, people would not have gotten involved in this way. Maybe thats the silver lining. She has a point. robin.abcarian@latimes.com Twitter: @AbcarianLAT A 13-year-old autistic student has died after he was restrained by staff during an incident at his school in El Dorado Hills, authorities said Thursday. The incident occurred Nov. 28 at Guiding Hands School, about 30 miles east of Sacramento. The El Dorado County Sheriffs Office said the boy turned violent and had to be restrained by school staff to prevent other students and staff members from getting hurt. While he was restrained, the student became unresponsive, the Sheriffs Office said. A teacher administered CPR until emergency responders arrived. He was taken to Mercy Hospital of Folsom and later to UC Davis Medical Center. Two days later, the Sheriffs Office learned that the boy, who was 6 feet tall and 280 pounds, had died. Its unclear when the death occurred or what caused it. Advertisement The Sheriffs Office said there appears to be no evidence of foul play or criminal intent. The Sacramento Bee reported that the California Department of Education had launched an investigation and suspended the private schools certification. alene.tchekmedyian@latimes.com Twitter: @AleneTchek Officials continue to search for a Los Angeles woman who was swept out to sea Wednesday by a powerful wave while vacationing in Hawaii. Yayun Cheng, 23, was standing atop the rocky outcropping of Queens Bath, a popular tidal pool area in Princeville on the island of Kauai, when a wave knocked her into the ocean, said Kim Tamaoka, a spokeswoman for the Kauai Fire Department. A high surf warning had been in effect since Tuesday for the island, and the trailhead to Queens Bath had been closed since last week, the Fire Department said. The area where Cheng went into the sea had been gated. Queens Bath is known to be very dangerous, particularly in the winter months when surf is high, the Fire Department said. Advertisement Firefighters, rescue teams, lifeguards on Jet Skis and the U.S. Coast Guard searched for Cheng on Wednesday after her travel companions told officials they saw her unresponsive in the water. Officials said the search would continue Friday. alejandra.reyesvelarde@latimes.com Twitter: @r_valejandra The Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department has suspended operations by a team of deputies that stopped thousands of innocent Latino motorists on a stretch of the 5 Freeway in search of drugs and other contraband, an agency spokeswoman said Friday. The move comes amid accusations of racial profiling after a Times investigation in October found that 69% of drivers stopped by the team were Latino and that two-thirds of them had their vehicles searched a rate far higher than motorists of other racial and ethnic groups. Cars belonging to all other drivers were searched less than half the time, according to the newspapers analysis of Sheriffs Department data. Responding to an inquiry from The Times, department spokeswoman Nicole Nishida said Friday that sheriffs officials were gathering data on the Domestic Highway Enforcement teams activities and would evaluate whether to resume operations some time in the future. The decision to shut down the unit was made Nov. 16, before newly elected Sheriff Alex Villanueva was sworn in this week, she said. The team is suspended until further notice, Nishida said, adding that the deputies themselves remain working other assignments. Advertisement In an interview, Villanueva said he had been unaware the deputies had been pulled off the freeway but supported the move. I wouldnt want the effort to continue until we know that it is constitutionally sound, he said. The team was put on hold a day after the countys inspector general told members of the departments civilian oversight panel that the team violated the constitutional rights of drivers and was inadequately supervised. The inspector general, Max Huntsman, questioned the reason for the units existence and said sheriffs officials failed to take heed of several federal court rulings that found the deputies on the team violated the rights of motorists by detaining them longer than was reasonable. The system is inherently built to violate the constitutional rights of a vast number of people passing through the I-5 Freeway, Huntsman told the Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission. Thats a problem. Patti Giggans, chairwoman of the oversight body, said she thought the decision to suspend the highway teams operations was wise, in light of the findings by Huntsman and The Times. She questioned, however, why department officials had not announced it publicly. Im impressed they moved ahead like this, assuming they did it from a sincere place, she said. Whenever the sheriff is taking heed of what people around him are saying, its a good sign. Robert Bonner, a retired U.S. district judge and member of oversight panel, agreed. In light of the available information, it seems to be a good move to shut it down and evaluate whether the program was operating consistent with the Constitution and policies of the Sheriffs Department, he wrote in an email. The California League of United Latin American Citizens released a statement praising the decision to halt the teams operations and saying the organization looked forward to meeting with the new sheriff to discuss how we can better serve our communities. We cannot allow the construction of any system that is inherently built to violate the constitutional rights of people to exist, the statement said. L.A. County residents need to know that they are not being targeted. Huntsman, who began examining the team in response to the Times investigation, told the oversight panel his staff had conducted ride-alongs with the teams deputies and saw no signs they were using race when deciding whom to stop or search. He added he was still gathering data on the teams traffic stops that he plans to analyze for evidence of racial disparities. After The Times shared the findings of its analysis with the agency earlier this year, sheriffs officials declined to address the racial disparities but denied that deputies use race as a factor when making stops. Instead, they said, deputies pull over people for traffic violations or other infractions and then look for suspicious behavior or other signs from drivers and passengers that contraband may be hidden in the vehicle. Sheriffs officials repeated those claims to the civilian oversight commission and suggested the reason for the racial imbalance in stops was because Latinos drive that particular section of the freeway more often than drivers of other races or ethnicities. But data from the California Highway Patrol, which mainly polices traffic violations on the same section of freeway, appears to undermine that claim. Earlier this week, the CHP provided Huntsman and The Times data showing that Latinos made up only 43% of drivers stopped by its officers from April through September on the same stretch of freeway that the sheriffs team patrols. Sheriffs officials said they launched the highway team in 2012 as a response to a spate of drug overdoses in the Santa Clarita area, although Huntsman said in November that the team has not been effective in reducing overdoses. Similar units operate around the country as part of a federal program designed to use local and federal law enforcement agencies to combat drug trafficking. Though the deputies are looking for any criminal, nearly all of their arrests have been for drug-related crimes. The 5 Freeway, they say, is a pipeline for cartels to move drugs up the West Coast and return to Mexico with cash from drug sales as well as weapons purchased in the United States. The team has made more than 1,000 arrests and seized 600 pounds of cocaine and more than a ton of methamphetamine, among other drugs, since it was formed. But Huntsman said that, without knowing the total supply that is moving through the 5 Freeway corridor, its difficult to say how effective their efforts have been. The Times analysis shows that deputies found drugs or other illegal items in the vehicles of Latino motorists at a rate that was not significantly higher than that of black or white drivers. Times staff writer Maya Lau contributed to this report. Los Angeles County agreed Thursday to new jail-release planning policies designed to interrupt the incarceration-to-skid row pipeline for inmates with mental illness and dementia. The new procedures are aimed at stabilizing an estimated 2,500 to 3,000 mentally ill inmates who leave jail each month and at helping them find housing, benefits and employment and thus avoid reoffending. We know if you leave the jail with a place to stay and your next follow-up appointment youre less likely to reoffend, said Timothy G. Belavich, director of mental health for the jail. We really do believe this will reduce our recidivism, especially among the mentally ill. Although the county had been offering some release planning, mentally ill inmates continued to be put out in the streets in the middle of the night without medication or a clear understanding of where to go for treatment. Advertisement The Los Angeles County jail system is considered one of the three largest psychiatric facilities in the country, advocates said. The other two are Rikers Island in New York City and Cook Countys jails in Illinois. A third of L.A. Countys jail population of 16,704 is classified with mental health issues. Public Counsel, a nonprofit legal group, and the Munger Tolles & Olson law firm intervened on the inmates behalf in a landmark 2015 settlement between the Sheriffs Department and federal authorities to end deputy abuse of inmates and to improve chronically poor treatment of mentally ill inmates. The new procedures were filed in U.S. District Judge Dean Pregersons court Thursday as a settlement amendment. Under the amendment, the sheriff will begin planning to link mentally ill inmates to community-based treatment and services as soon as they are jailed. Two-week supplies of medication will be provided to those who need it when they are released, and inmates will leave with their first mental health appointment scheduled and a transportation plan to get them there, Belavich said. The county will also expand staff in the jail to sign inmates up for public benefits, to reunite them with family or to obtain their California IDs, and funding will be available for outside community agencies, including substance abuse treatment centers, to accept jail clients, Belavich said. Were going to make every leg of the stool strong so we have a successful launching of these people back into the community, Belavich said. Peggy Edwards, former executive director of the Los Angeles Regional Reentry Partnership, said many mentally ill inmates want treatment, but destabilize when they leave and go off their medication or dont know how to find it. Their crimes often relate to their mental impairment: probation violations or self-medication with illegal drugs. Sure, some people refuse treatment no matter what; they are seriously mentally ill and not capable of participating, she said, but I dont think thats the vast majority. Thats probably one of the myths, like the myth that a lot of people want to live in the streets. It still surprises me the county has dragged its feet so long in getting its policies implemented, Edwards said. This is an important step for incarcerated people with mental health issues, to try to provide services and avoid them being rearrested and using the jail as a mental institution, said Public Counsel lawyer Alisa L. Hartz. gholland@latimes.com Twitter: @geholland A prosecutor told a jury Thursday that James Alex Fields Jr. had hate and violence in his mind when he deliberately drove his car into a crowd of counterprotesters at a white nationalist rally, killing one woman, injuring dozens and leaving bodies strewn on the ground. As prosecutors urged jurors to find Fields guilty of first-degree murder and other felonies for the deadly August 2017 crash, his lawyers made a final attempt to convince them that Fields had plowed into the crowd out of fear. The jury is scheduled to begin deliberating the case Friday morning. During closing arguments Thursday, prosecutors portrayed Fields as a white nationalist who became angry after police forced crowds at the rally to disband. The police action followed violent clashes between the white nationalists, who descended on Charlottesville to protest plans to remove a statute of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, and some of the counterdemonstrators who showed up to oppose the white nationalists. Advertisement Senior Assistant Commonwealths Atty. Nina-Alice Antony reminded the jurors about a text message sent by Fields the day before the rally that included an image of Adolf Hitler. Fields sent the text to his mother in response to her plea for him to be careful. Fields wrote: were not the one (sic) who need to be careful, accompanied by Hitlers image. Antony also repeatedly reminded the jurors about a meme Fields posted on Instagram three months before the crash. The image shows bodies tossed into the air after a car plows into a crowd identified as protesters. What we have is a man who had a decision, and he decides to turn his Instagram post into reality, she said. Defense attorney Denise Lunsford urged the jury to consider the chaos earlier that day, when street fights broke out between the two groups and tear gas was thrown. Lunsford said Fields had urine thrown at him, had been yelled at by counterprotesters and found himself alone and unprotected as he attempted to leave Charlottesville and drive back to his home in Maumee, Ohio. She said he saw a large crowd down the street surrounding two other cars and feared he would be attacked. Look at the circumstances as they appeared to him, Lunsford said. He says he felt he was in danger; there were people coming at him. Antony told the jury no one was near Fields car when he drove into the crowd. She said he idled in his car for more than a minute before backing up, then speeding into the crowd. He gets toward that group and he goes for them, she said. Fields, 21, faces charges of first-degree murder in the death of Heather Heyer, a 32-year-old paralegal and civil rights activist. He also faces five counts of aggravated malicious wounding, three counts of malicious wounding and a count of leaving the scene of an accident. James Alex Fields Jr. in an artists rendering during jury selection on Nov. 26. (Izabel Zermani / Associated Press) Lunsford urged the jury to find Fields guilty of no more than the lesser charges of manslaughter in Heyers death and unlawful wounding in the injuries he caused to others. In testimony earlier Thursday, a man who was with Fields shortly before the crash said he appeared calm and maybe a little bit scared. Joshua Matthews said he met Fields in a Charlottesville park where white nationalists had gathered. After police declared an unlawful assembly, Fields, Matthews and two other people decided to walk together as it would probably be more safe, Matthews said. He said while they were walking, a group of antifas short for anti-fascists yelled at them. He said Fields yelled something back, although he said he couldnt remember what Fields said. The defense also called to the stand a left-wing defense group member who claimed in an earlier social media post that he had scared Fields away from a park where counterprotesters had gathered about an hour before Fields plowed his car into the crowd. Dwayne Dixon, a teaching assistant professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said hes also a member of Redneck Revolt and was armed with an AR-15 and providing security for counter-protesters. He testified that he saw a gray muscle car drive by several times. He said he yelled, Get ... out of here at the car while wearing his gun slung over his shoulder. He testified that he could not see the driver because the car had tinted windows. Dixon said he believes that was about 30 minutes to an hour before Fields slammed into the group with his car. Prosecutors called a Charlottesville police detective as a rebuttal witness in an attempt to cast doubt on Dixons account. The detective said geolocation data from Fields phone indicates his car was in the vicinity of the park only once, about four minutes before Fields struck counterprotesters in a different location. The Trump administration is pressing to open formal peace talks with insurgents in Afghanistan by April, a timetable driven by the presidents mounting impatience with the stalemated 17-year-old war. The short-term goal, current and former officials say, is a cease-fire agreement to at least temporarily curtail an alarming rise in attacks by Taliban insurgents that have caused hundreds of Afghan civilian and military casualties a month. But prospects for a far-reaching political settlement still appear dim, and President Trump faces the risk of a political backlash if he pulls out and the country again becomes a failed state where terrorists could find refuge, as Osama Bin Laden once did. Without signs of progress in coming months, Trump could face the same dilemma as his predecessors: withdraw all or most of 14,000 U.S. troops and risk a Taliban takeover, or leave them there indefinitely, even though he and his advisors consider the war unwinnable. Advertisement Zalmay Khalilzad, a former U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan whom Trump appointed in September to handle the peace initiative, is seeking to jump-start the talks. He has warned Afghan government officials who are reluctant to embrace the U.S. peace initiative that they cannot count on U.S. military support forever. We need the violence to stop, said a senior U.S. official familiar with the internal deliberations. This is a rare opportunity for every player in this. Khalilzad held preliminary talks in October with Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai, the Talibans political chief, in Qatar. The insurgencys leaders still refuse to deal openly with Afghan government officials, whom they dismiss as U.S. puppets. In hopes of persuading insurgents to come to the bargaining table, the Pentagon has dramatically stepped up airstrikes, dropping 5,213 bombs and other munitions on Afghanistan in the first nine months of this year, more than in any of the last five years, according to U.S. Central Command. Taliban officials have said for years that their objective is for U.S. troops and other foreign forces to leave Afghanistan. Increasingly, that appears to be Trumps objective, too a confluence that in theory could leave room for a deal. Trump said last month that he is cautiously optimistic about ending the conflict, but added that its a little bit too early to say whats going to happen. Setting an April target date for peace talks is similar to the approach President Obama tried unsuccessfully and was sharply criticized for by Trump when he set a 2014 deadline for ending U.S. involvement in most combat operations and withdrew all but 5,500 troops. Obamas plans to lower U.S. troop levels further were delayed amid worsening security. Trump then reversed the drawdown when he accepted a Pentagon recommendation shortly after taking office to send more than 9,000 military personnel back in. Trump has privately said he regretted the decision, as the military situation has shown no signs of improving, officials said. Without continued U.S. military backing, American commanders say, the Afghan military would quickly collapse. The dependence has left the government in Kabul with few good options if Trump threatens to pull out U.S. forces to pressure it into a deal with the Taliban. If we left precipitously right now, I do not believe they would be able to successfully defend their country, Marine Lt. Gen Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., Trumps nominee to head U.S. Central Command, told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday. The Taliban ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, imposing a harsh form of Islamic law, but it was driven from power by the U.S.-led invasion that followed the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The militant movement remains riven by factions, some favoring peace talks after years of casualties and some determined to fight on, experts say. Another obstacle is Pakistan, a nominal U.S. ally. Its security services have long nurtured ties to the Taliban and looked the other way as its leaders and fighters operated from Pakistans tribal areas on the Afghan border. Trump urged Pakistans newly elected prime minister, Imran Khan, in a letter this week to join the peace effort in Afghanistan and help Khalilzad, according to a White House official who spoke anonymously to discuss internal deliberations. In the letter, the president recognizes that Pakistan has the ability to deny the Taliban sanctuary on its territory, the official said. Bruce Riedel, a former CIA analyst on South Asia who helped craft Afghanistan policy in the Obama administration, said Trumps complaints on Twitter this year that Pakistan had given us nothing but lies & deceit means the White House appeal is likely to be ignored. I dont think they will help, Riedel said. Imran Khan detests Donald Trump and doesnt have any reason to do him a favor. The Taliban leadership, calling itself the Islamic Emirate, warned in a Dec. 2 statement against thinking that it was willing to agree to let U.S. troops stay in Afghanistan, and threatened to continue attacks against any who remain. If the American officials and generals are of the belief that their occupying forces will remain in Afghanistan and that they will be left alone, then they should reassess their talks, the statement said. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has laid out his own peace plan, which he said would take five years to implement. Khalilzad is on a much faster track. He is urging the Taliban and Ghanis government to at least prepare a blueprint for continuing negotiations on ending the war before presidential elections scheduled for April. Khalilzad said in tweet Thursday that he was in Kabul to discuss preparations for peace negotiations with Ghani. Ghani must deal with deep reluctance to deal with the Taliban, especially among ethnic Tajiks, who have spent decades fighting the primarily Pashtun Taliban. Ghani is not in a good position because theres no consensus about talking to [the] Taliban, and some people in his government and close to his government are adamantly opposed to it, said Thomas Ruttig, co-director of the Afghanistan Analysts Network, an independent think tank with an office in Kabul. Several recent insurgent attacks have killed scores of Afghans in Kabul and elsewhere. The Taliban has steadily gained rural territory and now has an estimated 60,000 fighters, U.S. officials acknowledged this week. Ghani recently said that more than 28,000 Afghan soldiers and police officers had been killed since 2015 a toll so severe that U.S. officials say the force could be irreparably damaged, adding urgency to the push for a peace deal. Previous attempts to launch talks with the Taliban quickly foundered. U.S. officials say this attempt has a better chance because Khalilzad, who was born in Afghanistan before immigrating to the United States, has Trumps backing and has dealt with many of the leaders before. Ruttig said negotiators may be able to reach a cease-fire and possibly even an agreement in principle on a phased-in U.S. withdrawal in return for security assurances from the Taliban. But more complex issues, including the role the Taliban could play in a future government in Kabul and a process for demobilizing its army of fighters, are too contentious to tackle in less than six months, he said. U.S. officials are adamant that any deal should ensure Afghanistan does not again emerge as a haven for terrorist groups intent on attacking the U.S., such as Al Qaeda and the Islamic State. They have reassured Ghani and his advisors that Afghan officials will lead negotiations with the Taliban. Army Gen. Austin Scott Miller took command of U.S. and other foreign forces in Afghanistan in September. The U.S. ground troops are primarily training and advising the Afghan army, which now handles most of the combat. As Taliban attacks have risen in recent months, Miller has pushed Afghan commanders to move their forces from manning checkpoints to more active operations against the Taliban a strategy aimed at raising military pressure on insurgents to reach a deal. Were near a political settlement, said Col. Dave Butler, Millers spokesman. If the Taliban want to keep fighting, we will fight and ensure that they feel the pressure. Four U.S. service members were killed in the last week and 13 since the start of the year. More than 2,400 U.S. military personnel have died since the 2001 invasion a cost that Pentagon officials and military commanders do not want to see squandered. Even if the talks do not lead to a deal, many who follow Americas longest war fear that Trump could pull U.S. troops out anyway, probably plunging Afghanistan into years of more fighting and bloodshed. There is not much time, Ruttig said. Everyone is afraid of one morning waking up and seeing a tweet from the president saying, Were leaving. david.cloud@latimes.com Twitter: @davidcloudLAT A man who drove his car into a crowd of counterprotesters at a white nationalist rally in Virginia was convicted Friday of first-degree murder for killing a woman in an attack that inflamed long-simmering racial and political tensions across the country. A state jury rejected arguments that James Alex Fields Jr. acted in self-defense during a Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville on Aug. 12, 2017. Jurors also convicted Fields of eight other charges, including aggravated malicious wounding and hit and run. Fields, 21, drove to Virginia from his home in Maumee, Ohio, last year to support the white nationalists. As a large group of counterprotesters marched through Charlottesville singing and laughing, he stopped his car, backed up, then sped into the crowd, according to testimony from witnesses and video surveillance shown to jurors. Prosecutors told the jury that Fields was angry after witnessing violent clashes between the two sides earlier in the day. The violence prompted police to shut down the rally before it even officially began. Advertisement Heather Heyer, a 32-year-old paralegal and civil rights activist, was killed, and nearly three dozen others were injured. The trial featured emotional testimony from survivors who described devastating injuries and long, complicated recoveries. The far-right rally had been organized in part to protest the planned removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. Hundreds of Ku Klux Klan members, neo-Nazis and other white nationalists emboldened by the election of President Trump streamed into the college town for one of the largest gatherings of white supremacists in a decade. Some dressed in battle gear. Afterward, Trump inflamed tensions even further when he said both sides were to blame, a comment some saw as a refusal to condemn racism. According to one of his former teachers, Fields was known in high school for being fascinated with Nazism and idolizing Adolf Hitler. Jurors were shown a text message he sent to his mother days before the rally that included an image of the notorious German dictator. When his mother pleaded with him to be careful, he replied: Were not the one[s] who need to be careful. During one of two recorded phone calls Fields made to his mother from jail in the months after he was arrested, he told her he had been mobbed by a violent group of terrorists at the rally. In another, Fields referred to the mother of the woman who was killed as a communist and one of those anti-white supremacists. Prosecutors also showed jurors a meme Fields posted on Instagram three months before the rally in which bodies are shown being thrown into the air after a car hits a crowd of people identified as protesters. He posted the meme publicly to his Instagram page and sent a similar image as a private message to a friend in May 2017. But Fields lawyers told the jury that he drove into the crowd on the day of the rally because he feared for his life and was scared to death by earlier violence he had witnessed. A video of Fields being interrogated after the crash showed him sobbing and hyperventilating after he was told a woman had died and others were seriously injured. The jury will reconvene Monday to determine a sentence. Under the law, jurors can recommend from 20 years to life in prison. Fields is eligible for the death penalty if convicted of separate federal hate crime charges. No trial has been scheduled on those charges yet. About 20 survivors gathered at Pearl Harbor on Friday to pay tribute to the thousands of men lost in the Japanese attack 77 years ago. They joined dignitaries, active duty troops and members of the public in observing a moment of silence at 7:55 a.m., the time the bombing began on Dec. 7, 1941. John Mathrursse traveled to Hawaii for the event from Mountain View, Calif. He was an 18-year-old seaman second class walking out of the chow hall on Ford Island to see a friend on the battleship West Virginia when the bombing began. The guys were getting hurt, bombs and shells going off in the water. I helped the ones that couldnt swim, who were too badly injured or whatever and helped them to shore, said Mathrusse, now 95. Advertisement He carried injured people to the mess hall and set them on mattresses grabbed from the barracks above. The youngest of the survivors are now in their mid-90s. Still, most stood to salute for the national anthem. Adm. Phil Davidson, commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, said the nation can never forget the heavy price paid on that day. He cited 21 vessels damaged or sunk, 170 planes destroyed, more than 2,400 people dead, including servicemen and civilians. Despite these losses, it did not break the American spirit. In fact, it charged it, he said in a keynote address. This year, no survivor from the battleship Arizona attended the ceremony as none of the men were able to make the trip to Hawaii. The Arizona sank after two bombs hit the ship, triggering tremendous explosions. The Arizona lost 1,177 sailors and Marines, the greatest number of casualties from any ship. Most remain entombed in the sunken hull of the battleship at the bottom of the harbor. Dozens of those killed in the attack have been recently identified and reburied in cemeteries across the country after the military launched a new effort to analyze bones and DNA of hundreds long classified as unknowns. In 2015, 388 sets of remains were exhumed from the battleship Oklahoma and buried in a national cemetery in Honolulu. The Oklahoma had the second-highest number of dead after the Arizona at 429, though only 35 were identified in the immediate years after the attack. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency has identified 168 sailors and Marines from the Oklahoma since the exhumations three years ago. It has said it expects to identify about 80% of the 388 by 2020. Several families were scheduled to rebury their newly identified loved ones on Friday, including Navy Seaman 1st Class William Bruesewitz of Appleton, Wis. Hes expected to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C. In the run-up to the Nov. 6 general election, North Carolina officials were so concerned about ballot fraud in Bladen County that they sent letters to every voter who requested a mail-in absentee ballot, warning them not to hand it over to someone who might knock on their door. Only you or your near relative or legal guardian can mail or deliver your ballot to the elections office, the State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement reminded Bladen County voters. Has someone else tried to take your ballot? Apparently some residents didnt get the message. A month after the election, North Carolinas 9th Congressional District race has dissolved into scandal and may have to be done over. State election officials are serving subpoenas and opening multiple investigations into allegations of irregularities involving absentee ballots in this rural part of the state that has long been dogged by complaints of election fraud. Advertisement Republican Mark Harris, a former Baptist preacher, leads Democrat Dan McCready by just 905 votes, but his victory is in doubt as investigators focus on the activities of Leslie McCrae Dowless, a longtime independent political contractor with a criminal record who was hired to work for Harris and lead a get out the vote team focused on absentee ballots. On Friday, the state board confirmed that four investigators led by Joan Fleming, a 26-year veteran of the FBI who specializes in fraud investigations are now working on the case. After days of silence, Harris said Friday in a video posted on Twitter that he was absolutely unaware of any wrongdoing and was cooperating fully with investigators. Im hopeful that this process will ultimately result in the certification of my election to Congress before the next House sessions begins, Harris said. However, if this investigation finds proof of illegal activity on either side, to such a level that it could have changed the outcome of the election, then I would wholeheartedly support a new election to ensure all voters have confidence in the results. McCready withdrew his concession on Thursday, calling on Harris to tell us exactly what he knew and when he knew it. Later Thursday, Harris submitted a federal campaign filing acknowledging he still owed $34,310 to the Red Dome Group, a right-leaning political consulting agency that hired Dowless, for Reimbursement Payment for Bladen Absentee and Reimbursement Door to Door. The North Carolina State Board of Elections was already investigating alleged irregularities in Bladen County after complaints were lodged in 2016 following that years elections. This year, after receiving reports that a large number of absentee ballot requests were being turned in by people who were still under investigation, officials began to send out their warning letters in October telling people not to hand over their absentee ballots. Some Democratic voters in this predominantly rural area of 33,000 residents have complained that they handed their ballots sometimes partially filled out and unsealed to a person who knocked on their door, only to learn their votes were never submitted. Part of the reason they were willing to hand over the ballots, some said, was because groups on both sides of the political aisle have long operated door-to-door campaigns to walk the city streets and collect absentee ballots before election day. The practice, known as harvesting, is a felony in North Carolina, where only a relative or legal guardian can assist a voter with an absentee ballot, whether its filling it out or turning it in. Jeneva Legions says she gave her absentee ballot to a group of women who came to her door. The ballot was never turned in. (Justin Kase Conder / Washington Post) Some girls go around and do that, said Emma Shipman, 87, who lives in a modest home down a sandy dirt road on the outskirts of the small town of Tar Heel. I thought she was assigned to do it, like them other girls were. Shipman signed a sworn affidavit, submitted to the state elections board by the state Democratic Party, stating she handed her absentee ballot to a young woman who came to her door, thinking she was legitimate. Her ballot, on which she voted a straight Democratic ticket, was never turned in. Jaroy Traquin Montgomery, 25, a welding student at Bladen Community College, said get-out-the-vote workers came to his home in October, first to get him to sign an absentee ballot request form and later to pick up his ballot. State documents show Montgomerys absentee application was witnessed by a woman associated with a Democratic-affiliated political action committee. The process was pretty rushed, Montgomery recalled. They had everything all set in and were telling me what to put. After he signed, he handed them the form and they told him they would turn it in, which they did. Lola Wooten, who witnessed Montgomerys ballot, turned in 230 absentee ballot request forms to the Bladen County Board of Elections in the 2018 general election. Under North Carolina law, collecting ballot request forms is legal. Collecting the actual ballots, however, is not. I didnt do anything wrong, Wooten said in a telephone interview. We have always done stuff the correct way, whether we lost or whether we won. Wooten said she helped elderly members of her church and in the community, and did not collect any ballots. Complaints of election fraud and manipulation of voters have been raised for years in this largely agricultural county dotted with cotton, peanut and tobacco fields, where the main employer is a massive pork-processing plant and about a quarter of residents live below the poverty line. Bladen County has a troubled history of political groups exploiting the use of absentee ballots in an effort to skew support for a specific candidate or group of candidates, Jon David, district attorney for Bladen, Brunswick and Columbus counties, wrote in a January letter to the interim assistant director of the State Bureau of Investigation. These groups package the anticipated ability to garner absentee ballots as a commodity to be brokered. After the 2012 primary, Robert Wayne Brooks, a Democratic candidate for Bladen County commissioner, filed a protest with the state board, complaining that people had signed multiple ballots as witnesses. In 2016, Dowless, who had just won an election for Bladen County Soil and Water Conservation District supervisor, filed a protest alleging that hundreds of fraudulent ballots were cast, pinpointing several individuals who were paid for their get-out-the-vote efforts. State election officials, however, turned the table and put the focus on Dowless at a subsequent hearing, prompting him to admit that hed paid people about $20 a day to obtain absentee ballot request forms and turn them in. He said he did not look at the ballots or tamper with votes. In the recent election, Dowless personally turned in 592 of the 1,341 applications for absentee ballots in Bladen County. Dowless declined to comment to The Times, but told the Charlotte Observer that he had committed no wrongdoing. Residents of the Twisted Hickory community in Bladenboro, N.C., say a woman asked them to hand over their absentee ballots for the midterm election. (Justin Kase Conder / Washington Post) William R. Gilkeson, a Raleigh-based lawyer who advises political groups, nonprofits and candidates on campaign finance and election law, said absentee ballot fraud had long been a pretty bipartisan affair in the states remote, sparsely populated pockets. There are people on behalf of both parties doing it, he said. In rural areas where the electorate is fairly small and it doesnt take that many votes to swing an election one way or the other, different kinds of political operatives would attempt to manipulate voters or use voter registration identities to vote and to cast votes in illegal ways. While the allegations have been bipartisan, the state board of elections appears to be homing in on Dowless work for Republicans. So far, it has issued subpoenas to the Mark Harris for Congress Committee, the Red Dome Group and a local committee Dowless was working on for Sheriff James Atlas McVicker, who won reelection in the November contest. The board has announced it plans to hold a public evidentiary hearing by Dec. 21. Republican legislators, including state Sen. Dan Bishop, who represents parts of the district, have asked Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper to set up a bipartisan task force to examine electoral fraud. Bishop suggested absentee voting could potentially be eliminated now that more people have the opportunity to vote early. If the absentee ballot involves too many compromises of security, Bishop said, maybe it has outlived its usefulness? While some residents said they would rethink absentee voting in the light of the growing scandal, others said it remains a convenient way to vote, rather than going to a polling station. Stacy Holcomb, 57, a resident of the Village Oak public housing complex who describes himself as Republican, said he was pleased this year when a woman came to his home to help him fill out a ballot request form and then collect his ballot. Its a whole lot better than walking to the polling station, he said, noting he suffers from diabetes and arthritis and does not have a car. Holcombs ballot was submitted. Next time, he said, he would send it himself in the mail. jenny.jarvie@latimes.com Twitter: @jennyjarvie Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. Its Friday, Dec. 7, and heres whats happening across California: TOP STORIES After years of drought conditions, a storm like the one that hit the Southland this week would typically be welcomed. But unprecedented fires over the last year have left hillsides from Montecito to Lake Elsinore highly vulnerable to mudslides during heavy rains. So the deluge brought more than the usual dangers and offered a preview of the tense times ahead if there are more powerful winter storms. Los Angeles Times On Wednesday, the National Weather Service predicted light rain and said the chance of mudslides and debris flows was expected to be minimal to none. But the storm ended up being much larger and more dangerous. Heres why the forecast was so wrong. Los Angeles Times Advertisement Snow closes a freeway. A Southwest jet skids off the runway. Mud covers roads. A rare rain day in L.A. Los Angeles Times Perhaps author John McPhee said it best. The New Yorker Awards season madness Comedian Kevin Hart has stepped down as host of the 2019 Oscars after claiming he was pressured by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to apologize for past homophobic comments. Hed been named as host on Tuesday. Los Angeles Times Offering the first major indication of where this years Oscar-season winds may be blowing, the Golden Globe Award nominations announced Thursday delivered a series of surprises that portend an unpredictable race to come. Among the nominees: Vice, A Star is Born and Roma. Among the losers: Widows and First Man. Los Angeles Times Will this awards season be a replay of the Bush years? Los Angeles Times -- And the Grammys get into the nominations act this morning. Los Angeles Times Get the Essential California newsletter L.A. STORIES Fifty-four names: For the first time in a decade, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles has updated its list of clergy accused of molesting children, addressing renewed outcry about how the Catholic Church responds to abuse allegations. But victims advocates say its not enough. Los Angeles Times Green Line, green light: Los Angeles County transportation officials temporarily preserved a one-seat ride for South Bay Metro riders along much of the Green Line after weeks of controversy over how the aging line should be connected to a new Metro rail project under construction in South Los Angeles. Los Angeles Times CLIMATE AND ENVIRONMENT Cough, cough: The Trump administrations plan to roll back vehicle fuel economy standards is based on a flawed and misleading analysis, a team of economists and other independent experts found. Los Angeles Times Touching story: Three people died in the Woolsey fire in L.A. and Ventura counties. But many more cremated remains of loved ones were lost when the fire burned homes. Now, a pair of dogs is helping families recover the remains from the ruins. Los Angeles Times A search dog named Jasper sniffs through the rubble of Shepha Schneirsohn Vainsteins home looking for Vainsteins mothers cremated remains. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) A group of Paradise residents has returned to nothing but misery. We have to rebuild, one victim declared. Theres too many memories of my husband here. Los Angeles Times More questions about PG&Es conduct in the Camp fire. San Francisco Chronicle The number of missing people in the Camp fire is down to only 10. Chico Enterprise-Record CRIME AND COURTS Judges ruling: Taxpayers will have to pay for the defense of the Golden State Killer suspect. Sacramento Bee IMMIGRATION AND THE BORDER Helping or hurting? Inside the small collective of volunteers behind the migrant caravan trend. Pueblo Sin Fronteras says the caravans help protect migrants from rape, kidnapping and other perils while drawing attention to the reasons they flee and their treatment on the journey north. But the group has drawn considerable criticism. Los Angeles Times Another consequence: Of the more than 90,000 people who cross the San Ysidro border daily, many are students. They live in Mexico and attend schools both public and private in San Diego County. If the border were to be closed again, they could be cut off from their education. San Diego Union-Tribune POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT Stepping down: Larry Wallace, a top aide to Sen. Kamala Harris, resigned after it was revealed that the California Department of Justice paid $400,000 last year to settle a sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit stemming from his time at the state agency. Los Angeles Times Plus: Harris denies any knowledge of the allegations. Sacramento Bee The concession: Another blow to the California GOP. New York Times Unusual: Questions about who was playing the GOP challenger who ran against Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters. Daily Breeze CALIFORNIA CULTURE Looking back: California had its own Ellis Island, a forgotten piece of our immigrant history. Los Angeles Review of Books Only in Silicon Valley: A Star Wars by way of Star Trek house. Wall Street Journal Surprise! It turns out turning the most egalitarian restaurant in L.A. history into a fancy eatery was an impossible sell. So whats next for Cliftons Cafeteria? LAist Oh, by gosh, by golly: In L.A., a Christmas cactus is a real thing. They can fit in even the smallest space, require far less of our precious water reserves, and after Christmas you can simply take off the decorations and continue to enjoy your awesome potted plant. Los Angeles Magazine CALIFORNIA ALMANAC Los Angeles area: sunny, 68, Friday; sunny, 69, Saturday. San Diego: sunny, 67, Friday and Saturday. San Francisco area: partly cloudy, 59, Friday and Saturday. San Jose: sunny, 63, Friday; mostly sunny, 62, Saturday. Sacramento: partly cloudy, 58, Friday and Saturday. More weather is here. AND FINALLY Todays California memory comes from Randolph Hall: I remember my dad got a military uniform (he was too old to get in the military). It was just after Pearl Harbor, and a whole patrol of 15 or 20 men were enlisted as a civilian militia with a .22 strapped on their backs as they rode bicycles throughout our North Hollywood neighborhood. They expected an invasion from Japan. If you have a memory or story about the Golden State, share it with us. Send us an email to let us know what you love or fondly remember about our state. (Please keep your story to 100 words.) Please let us know what we can do to make this newsletter more useful to you. Send comments, complaints and ideas to Benjamin Oreskes and Shelby Grad. Also follow them on Twitter @boreskes and @shelbygrad. Rather than take responsibility for their losses, Republicans have seized on a new state law that allows third parties to collect and turn in other peoples mail ballots to explain why they were so badly defeated in California races on Nov. 6. According to the conspiracy theories being spouted by Republican leaders and then repeated in the internet echo chamber, the new law allowed Democrats to steal GOP seats in Orange County by sending campaign workers door to door, collecting thousands of mail ballots from guileless voters and doing who knows what to the ballots before handing them over or not handing them over to campaign officials. Its rubbish, of course. Theres no evidence that the ballot collection law was misused, even in the few reported cases when people turned in dozens of collected ballots. (Indeed, GOP campaigners employed the same tactic, just not as well, evidently.) Republicans are just looking for an excuse to explain their embarrassing election day drubbing. Elections officials and Secretary of State Alex Padilla ought to, at the very least, limit the number of ballots that may be collected. Advertisement But and this is an important but the Democrats set themselves up for exactly these kinds of allegations when they passed what really is an overly-permissive ballot collection law. It was written without sufficient safeguards, and suspicions of abuse were inevitable. To reiterate: Theres absolute no reason to suspect fraud in last months election not through ballot harvesting or in the large number of provisional ballots turned in or how long it took to count ballots, as Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) has irresponsibly suggested. But the ballot collection law passed in 2106 does open the door to coercion and fraud and should be fixed or repealed before the next election. Before the law was passed, only a family member or a member of the household was authorized to deliver a ballot on behalf of a registered voter. But AB 1921 relaxed that rule, allowing others including canvassers, campaign workers and anyone else to solicit voters to fill out ballots and deliver them. The potential for misuse first became apparent in a special election in Los Angeles last year between two Democrats for an open seat in the state Assembly. In the final weeks of the race, complaints surfaced about aggressive campaign workers pressuring voters to hand over ballots on behalf of Wendy Carrillo, who ultimately won the race. Thats only one way the law could be misused. Doesnt it also encourage ballot collectors to gather the ballots and then lose them oops! on the way to the drop-off? Isnt there the possibility that they might pay voters to hand over their unfilled mail ballots? This is why some states dont allow ballot collection at all or limit ballot collectors to turning in only a small number of ballots. Colorado, for example, limits the number of ballots that can be turned in by a third party to 10, presumably making a race more difficult to manipulate. Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute from L.A. Times Opinion In light of Novembers victory, the Democratic-controlled California Legislature may be reluctant to tinker with a law that might have contributed to its victory. But it should do so nonetheless, because failure to do so might jeopardize wide-scale adoption of election reforms over the next year. Only six of 58 counties, including Los Angeles starting in 2020, have committed to adopting the new reforms included in the state Voters Choice Act. As long as ballot harvesting continues, other counties may be understandably hesitant to participate in the new system, in which mail ballots will be sent to every voter. Thats millions of opportunities for misuse. That would be unfortunate. The reforms in the Voters Choice Act do much to encourage voting more than mass ballot collection does. Elections officials and Secretary of State Alex Padilla ought to urge lawmakers to resolve this problem; at the very least, they should limit the number of ballots that may be collected. Meanwhile, instead of impugning the integrity of Californias voting system, we suggest Republicans focus their energy inward. There is no mystery to the historic upset, in which they lost every single statewide contest, seven of 14 U.S. House seats and enough state legislative seats to give Democrats a rare three-fourths majority in the state Assembly. This outcome was all but inevitable given the shifting demographics and politics of the state and the GOPs stubborn insistence on demonizing immigrants and focusing on social conservative policies that dont appeal to most Californians. Like the ballot collection law, this is fixable too. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook. Now that Orange County voters have ended the 20-year tenure of controversial Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas, what is to become of the DNA database he built up by pressuring jailed suspects to give up saliva samples? Should Supervisor Todd Spitzer, who defeated the incumbent district attorney last month and replaces him in January, keep it? For heavens sake, no. No other district attorney in the nation keeps an essentially private database of this sort, and for good reason. Everywhere else, DNA samples are collected by law enforcement and analyzed by labs that operate independently of the prosecutors office, to avoid conflicts of interest. The prosecutor who is trying to convict a defendant shouldnt also run the lab and employ the experts who study the evidence and testify in court that one sample matches another. A prosecutor shouldnt put himself (or people who work for him) on the witness stand. Orange County in fact has an official crime lab to analyze evidence collected by law enforcement. But Rackauckas wanted his own operation, and 11 years ago he began a collection that now includes 176,000 samples. Rackauckus DNA project is out of step not only with those more forward-looking district attorneys, but with Californias program for collecting DNA evidence. Advertisement How he gathered them, as reported in the Orange County Register, is an even greater problem than the potential conflict of interest. He used DNA as ransom. A person arrested for a minor crime might avoid a night in jail if he or she voluntarily offered up a cheek swab or some spit. There are proper ways to collect DNA. California law requires swabs or samples from anyone arrested for a felony. But to build his collection, Rackauckas went after samples from people arrested for even misdemeanors and used the possibility of criminal charges or jail as leverage. Even people never convicted of crimes were squeezed to give up samples and, with them, substantial privacy rights. Expungement is difficult to impossible. The intrusion is not merely that a person is pressured into giving a cheek swab. It is that in doing so, that person gives up to the government permanent access to his or her genetic code, which is the most personal and private sort of information. A person cornered into surrendering that material becomes part of a permanent database of suspects a sort of biological dragnet to be examined at will by prosecutors. Its like being on parole or probation forever, but without necessarily having been found guilty of anything. It should perhaps go without saying that Rackauckas practice affects Orange County residents unevenly. African Americans and Latinos are disproportionately arrested in that county, as they are throughout California, so the district attorneys database presumably is similarly disproportionate. The project keeps a large swath of the population in the criminal justice system. In a growing number of counties around the nation, a new generation of elected prosecutors is working to do just the opposite to keep as many people out of the system as possible, consistent with public safety and crime-solving. These prosecutors recognize that they are not cops but officers of the court, vested with the responsibility to ensure justice rather than merely to rack up a large prison-bound body count. Rackauckus DNA project is out of step not only with those more forward-looking district attorneys, but with Californias program for collecting DNA evidence. Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute from L.A. Times Opinion And thats saying something, because California law is already too intrusive. The requirement that DNA be collected from any person arrested for a felony comes from Proposition 69, a measure approved by voters in 2004, at the tail end of the overblown crime panic. Because the requirement covers even people who are ultimately acquitted, the law is unwise and unjust, and should be repealed. The argument that DNA collection is no more intrusive or prejudicial than fingerprinting is nonsense. Fingerprints are on file for members of the military, applicants for professional licenses, and many more categories of people never arrested or accused of crimes. Nor does it change things by noting that thousands of people voluntarily give up their DNA to genetic researchers or online ancestry services. Those groups are not part of the government and are not trying to convict anyone. In his campaign, Spitzer did not sound particularly like one of those new, more enlightened prosecutors, but who knows? He has long questioned Rackauckus DNA project. He ought to go one step further and, when he takes office in January, scuttle it. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook Everybody has a breaking point. Reading about the sexual harassment and assault allegations against Neil deGrasse Tyson this week, I found mine. Tyson had always seemed a force for good. Charismatic, entertaining and wicked smart, hed done what few ever manage: Make science interesting to the public. He demonstrated by example the value of seeking truth, the worth of curiosity and the possibility of a world that operates based on reason and thoughtfulness. These ethics are in short supply, and I was thrilled to watch his rise as spokesperson for the universe. That a black man achieved this visibility made me even more glad for his success. He was the role model I never had, and I was delighted to witness his influence on my students. I dont know what happened that night between Tyson and El Maat, but it was enough to make her decide to leave the field. Advertisement So it was with dismay that I read about the allegations against him. One came from a former production assistant, Ashley Watson. After inviting her over for wine and ending the evening with a strangely intimate gesture he called a Native American handshake, Tyson reportedly told her, I want you to know that I want to hug you so bad right now, but I know that if I do, Ill just want more. In a Facebook post, Tyson corroborated her story, explaining, on a few occasions, I clumsily declared, If I hug you I might just want more. He wrote that his intent was to express restrained but genuine affection. But the words I want more dont express affection; they express sexual attraction. Watson quit the next day, citing the incident as her reason. Another allegation came from Katelyn N. Allers, a colleague that Tyson met at a party thrown by the American Astronomical Society. Allers has an elaborate tattoo of the solar system running up her arm. He looked for Pluto, and followed the tattoo into my dress, she said, calling the move uncomfortable and creepy. Again Tyson corroborated, but in his version, this was simply a search under the covered part of her shoulder of the sleeveless dress. Tyson doesnt seem to get that you dont lift any part of the dress of a woman you just met at a party, especially a professional function. Allers felt sufficiently uncomfortable that, years later, she declined an invitation to a university dinner because she did not want to cross paths with Tyson. The most disturbing allegation came from Tchiya Amet El Maat, an African American woman who accused Tyson of drugging and raping her while they were graduate students. She recalled Dr. Tyson giving her a drink of water, and that she then blacked out, the New York Times reported. When she came to, she said, she was naked on his bed. She said that when he saw she had awakened, he started having sex with her, and she passed out again. She said she was blacked out much of the night. El Maat dropped out of the program shortly after and cited the alleged rape as her reason. Tysons response to El Maats accusation is, again, problematic. To him, what was most significant is that years later, when he checked her website, she was posting videos of colored tuning forks endowed with vibrational therapeutic energy that she channels from the orbiting planets. This detail is not significant; its irrelevant. Tysons comment that as a scientist, I found this odd is a transparent attempt to discredit El Maat by implying that shes unreliable. He is falling back on the most time-tested way that men discount womens allegations against them: making her sound crazy. Many Americans, when pressed, believe something youd probably consider irrational. Somewhere between 50% and 80% of Americans believe in angels, and 18% believe the sun revolves around the earth. If a worldview that wouldnt hold up to a scientific test rendered the believer unreliable in a court of law, most Americans could not take the stand. Tyson also questioned why El Maat waited so long to come forward. But her delay, and her subsequent desperation to find closure, are completely consistent with what we know about the aftermath of trauma. When she finally did press charges, in 2014, she wrote, I have waited for so long to make sure that I was taking the right action. That indecision is familiar to anyone who has been assaulted by an intimate. Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute from L.A. Times Opinion Women hold fewer than 10% of full professor positions in physics, and only 20% of the precarious and poorly paid adjunct positions. Of the tens of thousands of physics and astronomy PhDs in the U.S., about 90 are held by black women. Every time a woman of color walks into my physics classroom, it feels like a precious and precarious moment. I want to do everything I can to help her succeed. I know from my own experience that there are a hundred reasons for a woman to leave physics. I can only imagine how many more reasons there are for a woman of color. I dont know what happened that night between Tyson and El Maat, but it was enough to make her decide to leave the field. I would prefer that Neil deGrasse Tyson, the public face of my field and the most effective instrument for scientific literacy in this country, continue to be the role model he had become in my imagination. Unfortunately, the evidence thus far suggests that he is feckless at best, a rapist at worst. Even the feckless version is removing women from the opportunity pipeline. And I am tired of it. Jennifer Carson is an astrophysicist and professor of physics at Santa Monica College. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion or Facebook To the editor: I had to smile as I read the letter from a reader who said he voted for Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva not out of displeasure with the ousted incumbent Jim McDonnell, but because Villanueva was endorsed by the Democratic Party. Id suggest that this is a classic example of why the number of independent voters is increasing sharply in California. More and more voters are supporting candidates based on their records and platforms, not on their party affiliation. I voted for McDonnell based on his record and performance. Villanuevas record compared poorly to the former sheriffs, in my reading. It looks like Villanuevas tenure as sheriff may well turn out to be highly problematic and set back the progress that was being made by McDonnell and the department. That Villanueva may have won the election based on the endorsement of the Democratic Party is in my opinion a good lesson in why we should not blindly follow the recommendation of any political party. Advertisement Stephen Montgomery, Los Angeles Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook Donald Trump secretly authorized his longtime lawyer Michael Cohen to try to arrange a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in New York just three months after Trump had announced his White House bid, according to new disclosures from special counsel Robert S. Mueller III on Friday. The proposed meeting between the real estate mogul and the Russian leader, who was visiting New York for the United Nations General Assembly in September 2015, did not take place. Its unclear whether Russian authorities considered the offer, which Cohen made in a radio interview. Two months later, Cohen spoke with a Russian national who claimed to be a trusted person in the Russian Federation. The person, who was not named in the court document, offered Trumps campaign political synergy and repeatedly proposed a meeting between Trump and Putin. The Russian said a meeting with Putin would have a phenomenal impact not only on Trumps political career but in a business dimension as well, which prosecutors said was Trumps decades-long effort to build a luxury hotel and condominium tower in Moscow. Advertisement Whether the offer for collaboration with Moscow was genuine isnt known. Cohen did not pursue it because, prosecutors say, he already was working with another person who Cohen understood to have his own connections to the Russian government. The previously unknown interactions flesh out how Trumps personal financial interests repeatedly collided with his unconventional presidential campaign, the latest data points for the special counsel investigation into whether Trump or his aides assisted Russian interference in the 2016 election. The Trump Tower Moscow project could have generated hundreds of millions of dollars from Russian sources in licensing fees and other revenues for the Trump Organization, the holding company for Trump family businesses, prosecutors wrote, estimating the projects potential value for the first time. The company, they added, sought and likely required Russian government assistance to build the Moscow tower. The fact that Cohen discussed it with Trump well into the campaign was significant, prosecutors said, particularly because it occurred at a time of sustained efforts by the Russian government to interfere with the U.S. presidential election. The details were revealed in a seven-page sentencing memo for Cohen, who has cooperated with Muellers office after pleading guilty to several crimes involving the president. Cohen, who long served as Trumps self-described fixer and as an executive vice president in the Trump Organization, admitted last month to lying to two congressional committees about pursuing the Moscow deal during the campaign. He said he was trying to shield the president from more scrutiny. In August, Cohen pleaded guilty to violating campaign finance laws by arranging hush money for two women who said they had slept with Trump. Trump directed those payments, according to a separate sentencing memo filed Friday by the U.S. attorneys office in Manhattan, which is investigating the scheme. In their memo, the U.S. attorneys office urged a federal judge to impose a substantial prison sentence on Cohen, recommending about four years behind bars. Mueller did not recommend a sentence for Cohens lies to Congress, but said the term should run concurrently with his other sentence. Cohen is scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday in New York. Trump has denied any collusion between his campaign and Moscow, and he tweeted Friday night that the latest court filing totally clears the President. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House spokeswoman, said that the filings tell us nothing of value that wasnt already known. Mr. Cohen has repeatedly lied and as the prosecution has pointed out to the court, Mr. Cohen is no hero. Cohen recently admitted to pursuing the Moscow project until after Trump clinched the Republican nomination, when it was shelved. Around that time, U.S. intelligence officials have concluded, the Russian operation began to focus on boosting Trumps ultimately successful candidacy. Mueller hinted that Cohen had provided additional details, not yet publicly disclosed, about Trump and Russia, saying he had shared useful information concerning certain discrete Russia-related matters core to [the special counsel] investigation into potential coordination between Trumps campaign and Moscow. Cohen is also a key figure in another federal investigation involving the president and hush money paid to Stormy Daniels, a porn star, and Karen McDougal, a former Playboy playmate. Both were paid to stay quiet during the campaign about their alleged affairs with Trump. Prosecutors at the U.S. attorneys office in Manhattan, which is handling that case, wrote that Cohen acted in coordination with and at the direction of Individual-1, a reference to Trump. They were far less charitable than Mueller, describing Cohen as a man who knowingly sought to undermine core institutions of our democracy. In addition to the campaign finance violations, Cohen also pleaded guilty to tax evasion and bank fraud involving his taxi business and various mortgages. Cohen managed to commit a panoply of serious crimes, all while holding himself out as a licensed attorney and upstanding member of the bar, prosecutors in New York wrote. His offenses strike at several pillars of our society and system of government: the payment of taxes; transparent and fair elections; and truthfulness before government and in business. Cohen repeatedly declined to provide full information about the scope of any additional criminal conduct in which he may have engaged or had knowledge, they added. In a separate court filing Friday in Virginia, Muellers team said Paul Manafort, Trumps former campaign manager, had violated his plea deal with prosecutors by lying about his communications with a business associate in Ukraine, Konstantin Kilimnik, who U.S. officials say has ties to Russian intelligence. Details of those communications were blacked out in the 10-page document. Manafort also lied about his contacts with Trump administration officials, although the filing doesnt say what was discussed. Manafort was convicted in August of bank fraud and tax evasion tied to his work as a political consultant for Ukraines pro-Russia government. He later pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to avoid a second trial on related charges, and he agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. Manafort is scheduled to be sentenced in March. His defense lawyers have denied that he lied to prosecutors. The sentencing memos and indictments offer the only public glimpses into the Russia investigation, which has been largely kept under wraps by Muellers team. Earlier this week, the special counsels office submitted a separate sentencing memo for Michael Flynn, Trumps former national security advisor. Flynn pleaded guilty last year to lying to FBI investigators about his conversations with the Russian ambassador during the presidential transition period. Prosecutors did not recommend prison time for Flynn, saying he had assisted in multiple ongoing investigations by participating in 19 interviews and handing over his communications and other documents. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 18. Trump has appeared agitated by the recent developments, fiercely criticizing the special counsels office in a series of tweets on Friday morning. He accused Mueller of having big time conflicts of interest and said one of Muellers top prosecutors, Andrew Weissmann, had a horrible and vicious past in which he wrongly destroyed peoples lives, presumably a reference to his work as a federal prosecutor in white-collar and organized crime cases. Trump also implied that Deputy Atty. Gen. Rod Rosenstein should not be allowed to supervise Muellers work, a suggestion that came just hours before the president announced he would nominate William Barr as the new attorney general. Barr, who led the Justice Department from 1991 to 1993 under President George H.W. Bush, would likely oversee the Russia investigation if he is confirmed by the Senate. His predecessor, Jeff Sessions, had recused himself because he had served as a prominent Trump campaign advisor. chris.megerian@latimes.com Twitter: @chrismegerian At the funeral for President George H.W. Bush, former Sen. Alan Simpson recalled his friends reaction when Simpson and other allies urged him to go along with a tax increase to shrink the budget deficit. OK, go for it, but it will be a real punch in the gut, Bush said, knowing the political heat he would take. When the really tough choices come, its the country, not me, Bush said, according to Simpson. Its not about Democrats or Republicans, its for our country that I fought for. We venerate that country first attitude in theory, but in practice, it likely cost Bush the presidency: The tax increase, as Simpson said, sparked a revolt within the Republican party that was one of the main factors assuring his return to private life. Advertisement Sign up for the Essential Politics newsletter SILENCE OF THE DEFICIT HAWKS A generation later, Bushs successors, especially his Republican successors, have learned that lesson: Voters say they care about reducing the national debt, but more often than not, they punish politicians who do it. Bushs immediate successor, President Clinton, built on the budget he inherited, adding an upper-income tax increase of his own. By the end of Clintons term, with the help of an economic boom, the federal budget was in surplus. Bushs son, President George W. Bush, promptly pushed the government back into deficit with two large tax cuts. The financial crisis at the end of Bushs presidency caused the deficit to rocket upward. Republicans objected loudly to the deficit while President Obama was in office, even as he steadily brought it under control in his second term. But the deficit hawks have been mostly silent under President Trump as the red ink has once again spread. This past year, the annual deficit hit $779 billion, despite a healthy economy. A big tax cut, combined with spending increases on the military and some domestic programs have pushed it higher. By the time Trumps current term ends, the deficit will likely have hit $1 trillion a year. No one in either party claims that big deficits in healthy economic times are a good idea. But Republicans resist any tax increases, and neither side has much interest in cutting the biggest categories of federal spending social security, the military, Medicare. As Sarah Wire reported, Congress and the administration have a budget deadline right before Christmas that could cause a partial government shutdown. But its not the rising deficit thats at issue but, instead, whether to provide money for Trumps wall along the Mexican border. As much as anything else, Bushs willingness to take political heat for a balanced budget marks him as a political figure from a bygone era. 45 WATCHES AS 41 RECEIVES PRAISE As Noah Bierman wrote, Bush and his family wanted to avoid turning his funeral into an event that focused heavily on Trump, the way the funeral of Sen. John McCain did. The comparisons between the former president and the current one flowed inevitably, however, and Trump often appeared ill at ease as he sat in the pews, watching the pomp and pageantry of Bushs state funeral. MUELLER ON HIS MIND Judging by his Twitter habits, the subject most prominently on Trumps mind all week was the continuing investigation led by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III. Early in the week, as Chris Megerian wrote, Trump walked right up to the edge of witness tampering, according to some legal experts, with a tweet that praised his sometime-advisor Roger Stone for refusing to cooperate with Muellers investigators. He book-ended the week on Friday by launching a series of tweets attacking Mueller and his team as they prepared to file court papers recommending sentences for his former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, and his former lawyer, Michael Cohen. Mueller also appears close to bringing a case against one of Stones associates, Jerome Corsi, who has publicly said he expects to be indicted. Investigators have been looking into whether Corsi and Stone may have served as a communications link between Trumps campaign and WikiLeaks, which published emails stolen from the Democrats during the 2016 campaign. This week, Mueller wrapped up another part of his investigation, recommending no prison time for Michael Flynn, Trumps former national security advisor. Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI but then cooperated extensively with the investigation and should be spared prison as a result, Mueller wrote. A NEW-OLD ATTORNEY GENERAL Trump on Friday morning announced he had picked William Barr as his nominee for attorney general, Eli Stokols reported. If confirmed, Barr, 68, would take over supervision of Muellers investigation. Hes been publicly critical of some aspects of the investigation, which may appeal to Trump. But as a former attorney general under the elder Bush, and as a senior corporate lawyer, he has the sort of establishment credentials that likely will lead to a smooth confirmation. Trump had been under considerable pressure from some Republican senators to find a permanent replacement for former Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions. Acting Atty. Gen. Matthew Whitaker has drawn extensive criticism for ethical problems in his private businesses, and, as David Savage wrote earlier, many legal experts say his appointment may be illegal because he hasnt been confirmed by the Senate. Whitaker, however, likely will remain in charge at Justice for at least a couple of months as the Barr nomination moves through the Senate. Trump is also nominating Heather Nauert, the State Department spokeswoman and a former Fox News broadcaster, as ambassador to the United Nations. ELECTION NEWS FOR THE GOP GOES FROM BAD TO WORSE Bad was losing 40 seats to Democrats in this years midterm elections. Worse is that a 41st seat, in North Carolina, may now slip away because of allegations of election fraud by people working for the Republican candidate. As Jenny Jarvie reported, people in a rural part of southeastern North Carolina talk openly about turning over absentee ballots to a collection operation that allegedly was run by a contractor for Mark Harris, the Republican candidate. Collection of absentee ballots by people unrelated to the voter violates the law in North Carolina. Moreover, the number of absentee ballots that were never returned to be counted lends credence to the allegation that the contractor, Leslie McCrae Dowless, discarded an unknown number of ballots marked for the Democratic candidate, Dan McCready. The states board of elections has so far refused to certify the results in the 9th congressional district McCready lost narrowly and state Republican officials now concede that a new election may be needed. The case already appears to be the most significant example of election fraud in the U.S. since a disputed mayoral election in Miami two decades ago. Notably, it doesnt involve any of the practices that Republicans have talked about for years in their warnings about vote fraud no people voting twice or illegal residents casting ballots or college students voting where they dont truly live. Instead, the case involves the one type of vote fraud that has repeatedly been documented in recent years in the U.S., efforts to tamper with absentee ballots. TRADE WAR WITH CHINA DEEPENS At the G-20 economic summit in Argentina over the weekend, Trump had dinner with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and declared afterward that the two countries were on a path toward deescalating their trade war. As Don Lee wrote immediately after the dinner, the talks between the two would buy time but not resolve deep U.S.-China differences over trade. As events turned out, the dinner didnt even buy much time. Within days, it became clear that Trump had greatly exaggerated what he and Xi had agreed to. Senior White House officials admitted that the Chinese had not agreed to cut auto tariffs, as Trump said. We dont yet have a specific agreement on that, Larry Kudlow, Trumps top economic advisor, told reporters. The whiplash over China spooked investors and contributed to sharp declines in the stock market. Then came news that Canadian officials had arrested a top executive of Huawei, the Chinese telecom giant. As David Pierson and Robyn Dixon wrote, the arrest of Meng Wanzhou, the companys deputy chairwoman and chief financial officer, came at the request of U.S. officials who wanted to charge her with efforts to evade sanctions against Iran. The prosecution wasnt a shot across the bow, but a shot into the heart of the ship, a former U.S. official said. SAUDI PRINCE GUILTY, SENATORS SAY After a briefing by CIA chief Gina Haspel about the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, Republican senators said Saudi Arabias crown prince was complicit in the death of the dissident journalist. The question now is what theyll do about it. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina is pushing for the Senate to pass a resolution that would publicly name Prince Mohammed bin Salman as a part of the homicide plot. Other senators, led by Republican Mike Lee of Utah, Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Chris Murphy of Connecticut, want to cut off U.S. support for Saudi Arabias war in its neighbor, Yemen. That effort seems less likely to succeed. Senate votes on that issue could take place next week. TROUBLE FOR HARRIS? A senior aide to Sen. Kamala Harris has resigned over reports of gender harassment and a discrimination settlement. In a statement, the representative for the senator said she had been unaware of the allegations against the aide, Larry Wallace, until this week when the state attorney generals office settled a lawsuit over the allegations. Wallace served as a top aide in the attorney generals office when Harris held that job and then worked in her Sacramento office. Republicans quickly pounced on the news, and its likely to come up if, as expected, Harris runs for the Democratic presidential nomination. How much damage it could do likely will depend on whether she really was in the dark about Wallaces apparent misconduct. LOGISTICS That wraps up this week. Until next time, keep track of all the developments in national politics and the Trump administration with our Essential Washington blog, at our Politics page and on Twitter @latimespolitics. Send your comments, suggestions and news tips to politics@latimes.com. If you like this newsletter, tell your friends to sign up. David.lauter@latimes.com @davidlauter Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III is expected to disclose new details from the broad-ranging Russia investigation when he recommends sentences on Friday for convicted felons Michael Cohen and Paul Manafort, two of President Trumps former top aides. Cohen was Trumps personal lawyer and self-described fixer in New York, as well as a top officer at the Trump Organization, the private holding company for Trumps businesses. Manafort, a longtime lobbyist and Republican operative, served as Trumps campaign chairman in mid-2016, including at the Republican National Convention. Trump, who is occasionally briefed about major developments ahead of time, appeared agitated on Friday morning, slashing at the special counsels office in a series of tweets. He accused Mueller of having big time conflicts of interest and said one of his top prosecutors, Andrew Weissmann, had a horrible and vicious past in which he wrongly destroyed peoples lives. Advertisement Trump also took a shot at Deputy Atty. Gen. Rod Rosenstein, who supervised the investigation after then-Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions recused himself. Trump tweeted that Rosenstein wrote a memo recommending the president fire Lyin James Comey as FBI director, one of the key episodes under scrutiny by Mueller, and Trump asked, isnt Rod therefore totally conflicted? Muellers recommendations for Cohen and Manafort, which factor in the severity of the crime and the extent of any cooperation with prosecutors, will likely diverge for the two men. Cohen has avidly cooperated with federal and state prosecutors in New York and the special counsels office in Washington in hopes of reducing a possible sentence. He first pleaded guilty in August to multiple crimes, including campaign finance violations, implicating Trump in a felony by saying he directed election-year hush-money payments to women who claimed to have slept with him years ago. Cohen subsequently admitted to lying to Congress about pursuing a Moscow real estate project for Trump during the campaign, abandoning the project only after Trump had clinched the Republican nomination. His lawyers have described Cohens cooperation as part of an effort to repoint his internal compass true north toward a productive, ethical and thoroughly law-abiding life, and they asked a judge to spare him prison time. Follow the latest news of the Trump administration on Essential Washington Manafort was convicted in August of financial fraud and tax evasion stemming from his work for Ukraines former pro-Russia government, crimes that were unconnected to his work on Trumps campaign, although they continued into 2016. He later pleaded guilty to separate conspiracy charges to avoid a second trial, but his plea deal fell apart when Muellers office accused him of lying again to prosecutors. Manaforts attorneys have denied that he tried to mislead the special counsels office. Its unclear how many specifics will be revealed to the public in Fridays court filing. On Tuesday, Muellers office blacked out large parts of a sentencing memo for Michael Flynn, a retired Army three-star general who briefly served as Trumps national security advisor in the White House in early 2017. Flynn pleaded guilty last year to lying to federal agents about his conversations with the Russian ambassador during the presidential transition, falsely denying that they discussed sanctions imposed by President Obama as punishment for Moscows interference in the election. Prosecutors urged the judge to consider letting Flynn off without a prison sentence, saying he had submitted to 19 interviews and provided substantial assistance with multiple investigations. The investigations in which he has provided assistance are ongoing, they wrote. Mueller has obtained charges or guilty pleas from 33 individuals so far, and five of Trumps former aides have pleaded guilty to various charges. chris.megerian@latimes.com Twitter: @chrismegerian President Trump is expected to announce he will nominate State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert to be the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, officials familiar with the plans said. Two administration officials confirmed Trumps plans Thursday. 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 that Nauert, a former Fox News Channel reporter who had little foreign policy experience before becoming State Department spokeswoman, was under serious consideration to replace Nikki Haley, who announced in October that she would step down at the end of this year. If Nauert is confirmed by the Senate, she would be a leading administration voice on Trumps foreign policy. Trump told reporters last month that Nauert was excellent, adding, Shes been a supporter for a long time. Advertisement Still, with Trump, no staffing decision is final until he makes the formal announcement, as he has been known to change course in the past. Nauert, who became State Department spokeswoman under former secretary Rex Tillerson, did not respond to requests for comment. Plucked from Fox News by the White House to serve as State Department spokeswoman, Nauert catapulted into the upper echelons of the agencys hierarchy when Tillerson was fired in March and replaced with Michael R. Pompeo. Nauert was then appointed acting undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs and was for a time the highest-ranking woman and fourth highest-ranking official in the building. Nauert, who did not have a good relationship with Tillerson and had considered leaving the department, told associates at the time she was taken aback by the promotion offer and recommended a colleague for the job. But when White House officials told her they wanted her, she accepted. That role gave her responsibilities far beyond the news conferences she held in the State Department briefing room. She oversaw public diplomacy in Washington and all of the approximately 275 overseas U.S. embassies, consulates and other posts. She was in charge of the Global Engagement Center that fights extremist messaging from the Islamic State group and others, and she has a seat on the U.S. Agency for Global Media that oversees government broadcast networks such as Voice of America. Just 18 months ago, she wasnt even in government. Nauert was a breaking news anchor on Trumps favorite television show, Fox & Friends, when she was tapped to be the face and voice of the administrations foreign policy. With a masters degree from Columbia Universitys Graduate School of Journalism, she had come to Fox News from ABC News, where she was a general assignment reporter. She hadnt specialized in foreign policy or international relations. Shut out from the top by Tillerson and his inner circle, Nauert developed relationships with career diplomats. Barred from traveling with Tillerson, she embarked on her own overseas trips, visiting Bangladesh and Myanmar last year to see the plight of Rohingya Muslims, and then Israel after a planned stop in Syria was scrapped. All the while, she stayed in the good graces of the White House, even as Tillerson was increasingly on the outs. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders described Nauert in March as a team player and a strong asset for the administration. When Laphonza Butler announced in October that shed depart her leadership post in Californias largest labor union, a role she held for nearly a decade, the news set off a whirl of speculation among the states politicos about what shed do next. An administration post with Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom? A stint as national president of Service Employees International Union, where shes worked in various roles since 2001? A consensus pick to lead the California Democratic Party, in the wake of Chairman Eric Baumans recent resignation amid misconduct allegations? Instead, Butler is making the leap from advocate to operative, joining forces with some of the states highest-profile consultants in a move that could have implications for California and national politics. Butler will be a partner in the newly rechristened firm SCRB Strategies, along with veteran strategists Ace Smith, Sean Clegg and Juan Rodriguez. Their clients include Newsom, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf and Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), a frequent subject of speculation in her own right about 2020 presidential ambitions. Advertisement The firm, which has worked with the senator since her days as San Francisco district attorney, is expected to play a central role in Harris presidential bid, should she decide to run. That means Butler, a political ally of Harris since her first campaign for attorney general, could soon be in the thick of 2020 jockeying. Harris has played coy about her aspirations for higher office, telling MSNBCs Mika Brzezinski recently that shed make a decision over the holidays. In an interview with The Times, she described Butler as whip smart, a sentiment echoed by a soon-to-be colleague. Laphonza is one of the national talents of a generation, Clegg said. Shes almost universally respected and trusted as somebody who is motivated by the right things, who has a moral compass and follows it. Kamala Harris challenge in a 2020 presidential bid? Defining herself before her opponents do Butler lives in Los Angeles with her partner, Neneki Lee, and their 4-year old daughter, Nylah. Its a long way from where she grew up tiny Magnolia, Miss. as the youngest of three children. Her father, a small-business owner, was hobbled by heart disease for much of her childhood and died when Butler was 16. During his illness and afterward, her mother was largely the households sole provider, working as a classroom aide, a home care provider, a security guard and a bookkeeper, among other things, to keep the family afloat. In college at Jackson State University, Butler studied under civil rights organizers. Her dorm building still had bullet holes in its facade from a 1970 state police shooting that left two students dead. That was my socialization for doing the right thing, said Butler, 39. She was a national organizer for SEIU before moving to California in 2009, after she asked the unions leaders to let her lead a local representing home healthcare workers. The local, the biggest in Los Angeles, had been stung by controversy after a Times investigation detailed corrupt financial practices by its leaders. The in-home care workers remind me so much of my mom, Butler said. Their kids remind me so much of me. As leader of the home care workers local and in a four-year stint as president of SEIU California, Butler was in the mix for major policy initiatives, such as the efforts to raise the minimum wage to $15 in L.A. County, and then statewide. She also was heavily involved in statewide initiatives, including union-backed measures to increase income taxes in 2012 and 2016 on the wealthiest Californians. Dustin Corcoran, chief executive of the California Medical Assn., said he witnessed Butlers political acumen while working with her on initiatives including the 2016 effort to boost the states tobacco tax. She can put competing organizations in a room and find a way to get everybody a win, he said. Watching her in a political meeting was like watching Neo in The Matrix. You could tell she saw the world differently than everybody else. She sparred with Govs. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jerry Brown over the future of the state In-Home Supportive Services program, which enables low-income elderly and disabled people to receive home care. Now, with IHSS being framed less as a welfare program beset by fraud as it was portrayed in the Schwarzenegger years and more as a healthcare program, with a new crop of labor leaders eager to take the reins, Butler said the time felt right to leave SEIU. State Sen. Holly J. Mitchell (D-Los Angeles) said she wasnt surprised when her friend decided to leave her job in search of something that could further test her chops. Mitchell said she gave Butler some hip-hop inflected counsel. Youre a baller, shot caller, Mitchell recalled telling her. Youre very young. I dont want it to be a situation where you peaked early. How do you strategically position yourself so you continue to be a major influencer? Butler landed on joining the consulting firm, formerly known as SCN, which has deep ties to Harris. Can you imagine if we have a President Kamala Harris, what that would mean for Laphonza Butler? Mitchell asked. Butler and Harris share a years-long history. They met in 2010 when Harris was mounting an uphill campaign for California attorney general. Butler was impressed, but her SEIU colleagues had long-standing relationships with the other Democrats running in the primary. Butler helped negotiate a rare triple endorsement by the union in the primary Harris was one of the candidates it backed. She won the primary and eked out a narrow win against Republican Steve Cooley, then the district attorney of Los Angeles County. Early in that race, there were a lot of naysayers who didnt think I could get elected, Harris said. Laphonza stuck with me from the beginning through the end. Butler and her colleagues arent the only ones primed for Harris possible presidential run. Dan Newman, a former partner in SCN, along with longtime Harris consultant Brian Brokaw, are in discussions to run an independent super PAC to bolster her bid, according to a source with knowledge of the conversation. Butler, for her part, said she plans to stay focused on California. Shell remain a University of California regent, a job she was appointed to by Brown in August for a 12-year term. She said shed like to stay engaged on criminal justice and tax reform issues in the state. But that work, too, can ultimately have national implications, she said. We all say, As California goes, so goes the nation, Butler said, adding that politics elsewhere in the country can similarly affect the Golden State. I dont know if theres a real distinction beyond borders on a map. Coverage of California politics melanie.mason@latimes.com Follow @melmason on Twitter for the latest on California politics. It was the kind of imperious broadside that would strike fear into the hearts of most politicians. In a contemptuous tweet, the National Rifle Assn. admonished a medical group for speaking out about gun injuries and dismissed their concern by saying that physicians should mind their own business. Someone should tell self-important anti-gun doctors to stay in their lane, the NRA tweeted on Nov. 7. In drafting a policy statement that reflects every anti-gunners public policy wish list, the American College of Physicians seems to have consulted NO ONE but themselves, the NRA complained. Someone should tell self-important anti-gun doctors to stay in their lane. Half of the articles in Annals of Internal Medicine are pushing for gun control. Most upsetting, however, the medical community seems to have consulted NO ONE but themselves. https://t.co/oCR3uiLtS7 NRA (@NRA) November 7, 2018 Advertisement The response from doctors has been swift and sustained. And it has built on a growing consensus among medical professionals that firearm injuries and deaths whether self-inflicted, accidental, in mass shootings or in the daily drumbeat of one-on-one gun violence amount to a public health crisis that requires the nations immediate attention. This week, in the New England Journal of Medicine, a group of doctors made clear that those who patch up the wounded, inform families of a loved ones violent demise and rehabilitate bodies shattered by gunfire will not be backing off anytime soon. As a profession, we have become determined not just to develop solutions to this epidemic, but to make sure theyre implemented, the trio wrote. Their message is echoed by tweets from physicians on the front lines of emergency and trauma medicine, who have shared commentary and photos of their blood-stained workplaces with the hashtag #ThisIsOurLane. I held this 22-year-olds heart & used my hand to pump blood through a bullet-riddled body. We resuscitated this person for nearly an hour & they made it to the OR, but would never make it home to their family. Tell me whose lane this is @NRA ? #thisisOURlane @ResearchAffirm pic.twitter.com/aXinICgI2g Regina Royan, MD MPH (@ReginaRoyan) November 14, 2018 In the days following the NRAs social media swipe, even U.S. Surgeon Gen. Jerome Adams, nominated to the office by President Trump, begged to differ with the powerful gun rights organization. At the American Public Health Assn.s annual meeting in November, Dr. Adams declared: As a trauma anesthesiologist, if I want to talk to my patients about gun safety, its totally within my lane. Johns Hopkins Hospital trauma surgeon Elliott R. Haut said the NRA and Americans generally have only begun to hear from the physicians, nurses and first responders who care for gunshot victims. For the NRA to dismiss the voices of professionals entrusted with the lives of the injured and who are frequently experts on injury prevention as well is not only profoundly misguided, its offensive, Haut said. Dr. Judy Melinek, a forensic pathologist in San Francisco, seemed to sum up many doctors views in her twitter response to the NRA (profanity edited): Do you have any idea how many bullets I pull out of corpses weekly? she demanded. This isnt just my lane. Its my . highway. In its critique of the American College of Physicians policy statement, the NRA disparaged the research on which the groups recommendations were based. The problem is that the ACP cites studies that wouldnt qualify as evidence in any other debate, the NRAs Institute for Legislative Action wrote on its website. One cited study was focused on a single rural county in Iowa. Another was of 106 outpatients at a single clinic. The authors acknowledge evidence is limited but cite their own belief there is enough evidence or simply argue the policy should be enacted anyway. Inconclusive evidence is not enough evidence, the critique added. Applying narrow findings to a larger population is not enough evidence. For all its shortcomings, Haut argued that even research thats been starved of funding has generated some early guidelines for action. We have research that shows all these associations between the number of guns out there and deaths from gunshot, between depression and gun suicide, between a lack of safe gun storage and accidents affecting kids, he said. Is it perfect? No. Were advocating for high-quality research on what works to make a difference and what doesnt. Dr. Megan Ranney, an emergency physician at Brown University and co-author of the New England Journal of Medicine commentary, defended the quality of existing research. For any shortcomings in the current state of understanding about what works, she and her co-authors fault legislation passed by Congress in 1966 that has shut off most federal research funds on gun-injury prevention for decades. But that is changing, Ranney said in an interview. States and private organizations have begun to fill the virtual void in federal research funds for firearms-injury research. Under a five-year, $5-million state appropriation, California has established the University of California Firearm Violence Prevention Research Center, linking gun-injury prevention researchers from UCLA, UC Berkeley, UC Davis and UC Irvine. In May, the Laura and John Arnold Foundation announced it would commit $20 million and help raise another $30 million for a multiyear research effort on gun-related violence. The foundations commitment helped launch a national collaborative effort on gun violence research at the Santa Monica-based Rand Corp. In April, Kaiser Permanente ponied up at least $2 million for the study of gun injury prevention. And Ranney said that healthcare leaders from multiple specialties have so far raised $100,000 to create the American Foundation for Firearm Injury Reduction in Medicine, or AFFIRM. Ten years ago young physicians, including me, were told not to talk about guns, Ranney said. Newly minted researchers were discouraged from undertaking gun-related projects for lack of funding, and because the field was perceived as a political hot potato. Its different now, she said. One week ago. I hope you will join me in working to find solutions, so that no one else has to answer a page like this. #ThisIsOurLane @ResearchAffirm @FACTS_Safety @UChicagoEM pic.twitter.com/3pL4KwI2nQ Regina Royan, MD MPH (@ReginaRoyan) November 27, 2018 Andrew Morral, director of the Rand effort, said that in a comprehensive review of research in the field, the think tank found only 63 studies that met the standards of rigor that its researchers considered acceptable. But he cautioned that it would also be wrong to say that injury-prevention measures based on existing research arent working. Sometimes people hear theres a lack of evidence for gun policies and they interpret it to mean that the policies themselves are ineffective, Morral said. Thats a logical mistake. As new investments in research begin to bear fruit, physicians will gain better ammunition in the debate over how best to reduce the toll of firearms on Americans lives. Thats not political, Ranney and her co-authors wrote. We are not anti-gun, the trio wrote. Our focus is on stopping shootings before they happen and on saving human lives. melissa.healy@latimes.com @LATMelissaHealy MORE IN SCIENCE Its the holidays. And I can think of no better time to learn how to write holidays the specific ones, I mean, like the one that celebrates mothers or the one that recognizes veterans or any of the other holidays youre sure you know how to write until you sit down to write it. Is it Mothers Day, as in one mother, or does the name recognize that the day belongs to all of them, making it Mothers Day? Do veterans really own their day, which would make it Veterans Day, or are they recognized in a more adjectival fashion, which would make it Veterans Day? And what might St. Patrick and St. Valentine say about all this? First things first: Xmas is not an Xing out of Christ, as some would have you believe. The prejudice against it is unfounded and unfortunate, writes Bryan Garner in Garners Modern American Usage. The X is not a Roman X but a Greek chi the first letter in Christs name. The real controversy is which indefinite article to use before it. That is, would you say an Xmas gift or a Xmas gift? Heres Garner again: The answer depends on how readers hear the word in the minds ear. If readers hear Christmas, then a is the correct indefinite article. If readers hear Eksmas, then an would be correct. The final question: Should you put a hyphen in there: X-mas? No. I checked four dictionaries. They all like Xmas better. Moving on to New Years Eve and day: Its possessive, Years. If youre talking about a new year and not about the holiday, you should leave it lowercase: new year. Otherwise, you want New Years Eve and New Years Day. Moving on to Presidents Day: For holidays that seem to suggest possession but at the same time dont, your knowledge of apostrophes and powers of logical deduction are useless here. Sometimes the first word functions as a possessor, as in Presidents Day. Sometimes its more like an adjective, as in Presidents Day. In the case of this holiday, its both. Major dictionaries say this should be plural possessive, Presidents Day. The Associated Press Stylebook goes its own way with Presidents Day. Either way is correct. Valentines Day. Dont think of this as the day for Valentines. Think of it as the day belonging to St. Valentine. Thats why its singular possessive. You can include the Saint or not and you can abbreviate it, or not. Websters New World College Dictionary advocates Saint Valentines Day. Merriam-Websters writes it St. Valentines Day. Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Dont include Rev. or Dr. in the holiday neither the AP Stylebook nor the Chicago Manual of Style support that. And dont put a comma before Jr. I dont think Ive ever heard anyone say Groundhog Day. Everyone, myself included, seems to say Groundhogs Day. Were all wrong. Its singular, not possessive, according to dictionaries. There was just one St. Patrick, and March 17 is his day. Hence, its written St. Patricks Day. When April rolls around, remember theres more than one fool, and the days all theirs. Hence the spelling April Fools Day, which dictionaries and the AP Stylebook agree is the way to go. As for Mom: Yes, the day belongs to all mothers. But thats not how its written. Go singular possessive, Mothers Day. Fathers Day gets the same treatment. Think of it as your dads day and his alone. Veterans Day. Heres where the rules get a little maddening. Unlike Presidents Day, which often takes an apostrophe, Veterans Day does not, according to major dictionaries and AP, too. JUNE CASAGRANDE is the author of The Joy of Syntax: A Simple Guide to All the Grammar You Know You Should Know. She can be reached at JuneTCN@aol.com. JUNE CASAGRANDE is the author of The Best Punctuation Book, Period. She can be reached at JuneTCN@aol.com. Kurt Ellings family used music as a vehicle to praise the divine. Elling even went to divinity school, but soon realized he could better acclaim the spiritual with his musical gifts rather than by being ordained. I was interacting with people who were incredibly intelligent, but it was really more my metier to work in poetry and allusion, Elling says of his conversion from aspiring cleric at the University of Chicago to full-time songwriter. It was much more important to me to touch the heart, and the brain as well, but not to assert any specific outcome for my audience. Elling followed his path into songwriting and jazz. He has released over a dozen albums and won a Grammy. And on Dec. 15 he will perform two shows, The Beautiful Day: Kurt Elling Sings Christmas, which shares its name with his 2016 album, at the Segerstrom Center for the Performing Arts in Costa Mesa. The album applies a jazzy veneer to traditional holiday carols, including an ethereal take on We Three Kings and a spirited horn section backing up Ellings vocals on the funky This Christmas. Elling says its important to give the familiar tunes a new life. With some of the pretty old songs like We Three Kings I work with my collaborators and suss out the way that the melody wants to lay, he says. And I try to listen to what possibilities I feel I need to investigate, musically speaking. Elling says he has been as much influenced by Sting as by jazz greats John Hendrix, Mark Murphy, Shirley Horn and Ella Fitzgerald. However, he is quick to point out that jazz is not a dead art. Bobby McFerrin and Andy Bey live now [and] the music continues to move forward, Elling says. So I investigate those guys as much as I can as well. Of all his influences, it was the classical repertoire Elling absorbed in his fathers church that shaped his love for his art, with works ranging from Johann Sebastian Bach to Carl Orff. Ellings father, kapellmeister at a Lutheran church in Chicagos suburbs, insisted the entire family take up instruments and practice assiduously, as well as sing in his church choir. Music and the spirit were the two guiding forces in our family, so there was a heavy spiritual element that was interwoven throughout the holiday season, Elling says of his early Christmases. My father was a very pious man [and] very much believed that music existed to aid and abet the human spirit. While at divinity school, the younger Elling came to realize he differed with his father on certain doctrinal elements of Lutheranism and Christianity. There was a slow dawning of realizing I was in the wrong field, Elling says, although that didnt mean his days of praise were over. I think the spirit realm is in [music] the spirit of generosity and, I hope, kindness and compassion [My father] did everything he could to focus on [his] task, and I do everything I can as a jazz musician now to do the same. Kurt Ellings 2016 album A Beautiful Day: Kurt Elling Sings Christmas applies a jazzy veneer to many of the traditional holiday carols. He performs the songs at the Segerstrom Center for the Perfoming Arts on Dec. 15. (Photo by Anna Weber) Ellings Segerstrom shows will feature what he calls a hot band of fellow Chicago musicians. In addition to their jazzy riffs on perennial Christmas classics, Elling will come center stage to recite work by the 13th century Persian poet Jalaluddin Rumi. Were investigating compositions that are seasonal; theyre not exclusively Christian or even Judeo-Christian, Elling says. Even though the Chicagoan now lives in New York, most of his traveling band hails from the Windy City. And just as he once did, Elling encourages young musicians, calling music not just an art form by an area of inquiry. If you fall in love with a sound and you want to take part in that you will give all of that energy to engage in that field, he said. Youll want to meet everybody [and] do everything you can that you can think of to become the person thats in your imagination The biggest part is just giving yourself over wholly to your desires. And even though the music industry has drastically changed in the age of the internet, Elling maintains that for touring musicians like himself, much remains the same as it ever was: hes scheduling as many concert dates as possible and just trying to keep the band together. We sing and play for our audiences as well as we can, physically, mentally and spiritually on a given night, he says. That hasnt changed at all. Whats changed is the way music is recorded and sold. We think of mixing in a different way now because of [how] most people listen to music on tiny little speakers.Eric Althoff is a contributor to Times Community News. If You Go What: The Beautiful Day Kurt Elling Sings Christmas When: Dec. 15, 7 and 9 p.m. Where: Samueli Theater, Segerstrom Center for the Arts, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa Cost: Tickets start at $69 Information: (714) 556-2787, scfta.org When her son was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer at age 20, Debra Melikian had a choice to make. I could either cry and crumble or be strong and strategic, Melikian said. She chose the latter. Every day I am a mother on a mission to raise awareness and support for my sons disease, the Aliso Viejo resident said. Melikians only child, Merak Melikian Hatounian, suffers from gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST). The rare disease affects about 4,000 to 6,000 new patients in America each year. Hatounian has a particular subset succinate dehydrogenase-deficient (SDH) GIST that affects about 150 to 200 people a year in the U.S. For families impacted by rare disease, there are few places to turn for information or communal support. Aliso Viejo-based Global Genes seeks to fill that role. The organization is celebrating its 10th year advocating for those with rare diseases and providing support for sufferers and their families. In many instances these families dont know where to go or where to turn to thats where we come in, said Nicole Boice, the organizations founder. Usually these people feel so isolated and alone because they dont know anyone in their community who has the same disease. Boice founded the nonprofit after experiencing a friends frustration while trying to find a diagnosis for a host of health problems plaguing their child. Prior to her work with Global Genes, Boice was involved with an investment banking firm. I started looking into this world of rare disease, Boice said. I decided to drop everything and give it a go in making a real difference. Boice said there was only two other organizations in the country at the time that were doing similar work to Global Genes, but neither focused on the grassroots elements of advocacy working with and empowering patients. The reality is you get thrown into this world with a rare disease and there is nothing no drugs that exist, no research, Boice said. You have to do something as a rare disease patient or else nothing will be done. You have to become an expert and an advocate. The nonprofit seeks to educate and connect through providing free resources to those with rare diseases and their families, coordinating communities to bring people together, developing scientific research strategies and providing a face to the rare disease community. According to Global Genes, 30 million people suffer from rare diseases nationwide. A disease is considered rare in the United States when it affects less than 200,000 people. The National Institutes of Health claims about 50% of people affected by rare diseases are children. The organization is working at an international level, with touch points in 17 countries. Debra Melikian hugs her son Merak at a fundraiser. (Photo by Jeremi Peck) Like many parents in the wake of a rare disease diagnosis, Melikian was stunned and confused. But once the shock wore off, she kicked it into high gear, trying to gather as much information as she could about her sons illness. Melikian was already versed in the process because her husband had been diagnosed with cancer a year prior in 2013. He died about a year ago. To me information is power I want to learn as much as I can as quickly as I can, Melikian said. Global Genes became invaluable to me. Once Melikian found Global Genes she had access to vital information and a vast network of people working with rare diseases. Melikian connected with UC San Diegos Jason Sicklick, one of the few doctors in the world studying GIST. In particular, Sicklick focuses on some of the rarer subtypes of the disease, including Hatounians condition. There isnt a cure for Hatounians disease, but Sicklick is working to find one. Global Genes recently honored Sicklick with its Rare Champion of Hope Award. Sicklick has to contend with one of the central issues plaguing the study of rare disease: funding. Its incredibly difficult getting funding for diseases like this, Sicklick said. We spend a lot of money studying more-common diseases like pancreatic and lung cancers, but it can be to the detriment of these less common diseases. When applying for NIH grants, Sicklick has to compete with the more well-known diseases. One grant he applied for was rejected because reviewers determined that any progress made in studying GIST would be unlikely to have wide significance in medicine. Sicklick said the best way to fix this issue is to have grants specifically for rare diseases so they arent competing against breast cancer and other more common forms. Nobody is going to argue with you that the impact of studying pancreas cancer is going to be broader, but on the same token, the impact to these patients is pretty meaningful too, Sicklick said. Hatounian, now 24, has undergone four operations since his diagnosis. He refuses to let cancer define him he learned that from watching my husband, Melikian said. We are in a race against time and its my hope that by working with Global Genes and Dr. Sicklick we will be able to find a cure someday. Hopefully in time to save my son. They give us light and hope. To donate to the UCSD GIST research fund, visit bit.ly/2EgWEVX. For more information about Global Genes or to donate, visit globalgenes.org. benjamin.brazil@latimes.com Twitter:@benbrazilpilot Holiday time is in full swing, and there are several ways to celebrate it at local events this weekend and into next week: Friday Visitors can party with Santa on the streets of downtown Laguna Beach and cheer the lighting of a pepper tree during Hospitality Night from 5 to 10 p.m. along Forest Avenue. The tree lighting is at 6:10. A tunnel of multicolored lights and other glowing scenes will highlight the Nights of 1000 Lights celebration from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday at Sherman Library & Gardens, 2647 E. Coast Hwy., Corona del Mar. The event will include treats for all ages, crafts, a prix fixe dinner at Cafe Jardin, hula dancers, a gnome village, photo ops with Santa, a no-host wine and beer bar and a tamale vendor. Tickets are $10 for Sherman Library members and $20 for non-members. Children 3 and younger are admitted free. Saturday The Huntington Harbour Boat Parade will start and finish at the northern tip of Coral Cay on Saturday and Sunday. This years theme is A Space Odyssey. The procession begins at 5:15 p.m. and lasts about three hours. Nancy Wilson of Heart will headline KXMas, an annual fundraising concert for KX/93.5 FM, Laguna Beachs independent radio station. La Sera, Springtime Carnivore and Wilsons band, Roadcase Royale, will fill the bill at the Irvine Bowl at the Festival of the Arts grounds, 650 Laguna Canyon Road. Food and drink, indie carolers and Santa will be at the Winter Wonderland on the grounds. Doors open at 6 p.m., with the show at 7. Tickets start at $55. The Huntington Beach Historical Society will present a free Victorian Christmas from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Newland House Museum, 19820 Beach Blvd. The event will include demonstrations of Japanese and Japanese-American culture in tribute to Huntingtons Historic Wintersburg. The Ballet Repertory Theatre, Orange Countys oldest continuous ballet company, will present The Nutcracker from Saturday to Dec. 24 at Golden West Colleges Mainstage Theater, 15751 Gothard St., Huntington Beach. Matinee and evening shows are available. Tickets are $20 for general admission and $16 for students, senior citizens and children younger than 12. For the schedule and more information, visit bit.ly/2zwtn5B. Sunday Nine decorated homes will be featured in the 22nd annual Balboa Island Holiday Home Walking Tour from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Newport Beach. Tickets are $35 and are available at bit.ly/2DZtIlf or the day of the event at the Balboa Island Museum, 210 Marine Ave. Thursday Newport Beach will swear in four recently elected City Council members Tuesday, a day before a ballot recount begins that could reverse the outcome of one of the races. The city will swear in reelected incumbents Diane Dixon in District 1, Marshall Duffy Duffield in District 3 and Kevin Muldoon in District 4, along with newcomer Joy Brenner in District 6. Council members will then select a mayor and mayor pro tem from among their ranks to serve one-year terms. The ceremony which also will include a send-off for Councilman Scott Peotter, who fell to Brenner in his bid for a second four-year council term will begin at 7 p.m. at City Hall, 100 Civic Center Drive. The seven-member council lineup may not be settled, however. On Wednesday, the Orange County registrar of voters office will begin a recount in the District 3 race, in which Duffield defeated challenger Tim Stoaks by 36 votes out of nearly 37,000 votes cast in the Nov. 6 election. The county certified the results Nov. 30 after 3 weeks of counting ballots. Stoaks supporters filed a request for the recount this week after rounding up $10,000 to fund it, plus an additional $15,000 in pledges. California does not automatically do recounts in close races, but losing candidates or any voter can request one if they bear the cost. The county charges for recounts by the day; its unclear how many days the process will take. If the recount changes the outcome, the county will refund the payments. The recount will begin at 9 a.m. at the registrars office, 1300 S. Grand Ave., Building C, Santa Ana. It is open to the public. A four-member counting board will process ballots daily except weekends and holidays for at least six hours a day. hillary.davis@latimes.com Twitter: @Daily_PilotHD Scores are in for the second year of the California Schools Dashboard the states new system for ranking schools and they say local districts are mostly performing above state standards. The Dashboard is color-coded to show school performance levels, from red (lowest), to orange, yellow, green and blue (highest). Metrics include test scores in English and math, graduation and suspension rates, chronic absenteeism and students readiness for college and careers. Looking at scores for the 2017-18 school year across six coastal Orange County districts, the most prominent color is green, compared with yellow and orange in the state overall. The largest local school district, Newport-Mesa Unified which serves more than 21,000 students earned a green score in every core area except suspension rates, which was yellow. About 2.6% of the districts students were suspended at least once in the school year, and 8.5% were recorded as chronically absent, according to the Dashboard. The district maintained a graduation rate of nearly 91% and saw a 6% increase in students considered prepared for college and careers, bringing that total to nearly 60%. Its math scores were slightly below state standards, while English scores were slightly above. The upward trend of our scores can be directly attributed to the exemplary efforts of our dedicated professionals teachers, support staff and administrators, Supt. Fred Navarro said Thursday. Each comes to work every day with the express intent of getting every student to achieve and exceed grade-level skills and knowledge. Scores for the Huntington Beach Union High School District, which serves about 16,000 students, also were green in all areas except one, with math hitting yellow, a decline from the previous year. English scores, on the other hand, were well above the state standard, and nearly 93% of students graduated. The districts chronic-absenteeism score was not reported. The smallest of the three local K-12 districts, the 3,000-student Laguna Beach Unified, scored the highest, getting blue marks for math and English. Both scores increased from the previous year. We are excited that our students and staff continue to achieve excellent results in these Dashboard measures, said Chad Mabery, Laguna Beach Unifieds director of assessment and accountability. Our staff monitors progress on these important district performance, engagement and climate indicators throughout the year. Mabery said chronic absenteeism was an area of focus for district schools last year, which the score reflects. About 7.2% of students were chronically absent, a 3.6% decline. We know that students are more likely to succeed when they attend school consistently, so we were pleased there was a significant decline in the percentage of students who were [chronically absent], Mabery said. The Dashboard has provided valuable outcome data for student groups that support areas of strength and growth for us. About 70% of Laguna Beach Unified students ranked as prepared for college and careers, and about 96% graduated. Graduation rates and college readiness scores are not applicable to the Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach City and Ocean View school districts, which have only elementary and middle schools. The Fountain Valley School District received blue marks in English and math. We are thrilled with our overall performance in statewide accountability measures, said Steve McLaughlin, the districts assistant superintendent of educational services. FVSD has always been a high-achieving district, and these results continue to validate the work of our teachers, support staff and site administrators, as well as the vision set by our board of trustees. About 1% of FVSD students were suspended, and 3.7% were marked chronically absent. McLaughlin said an area of continued focus, similar to most districts, is students with disabilities. While we are encouraged by their overall growth in [state assessments] and the fact that we exceed county and statewide averages, we are working closely with our teachers to enhance our reading support at our elementary and middle schools, McLaughlin said. Both the Ocean View and Huntington Beach City districts outperformed state standards in English and math, with Huntington Beach City earning a blue score in English. Jennifer Shepard, Huntington Beach Citys assistant superintendent of educational services, said the districts academic scores were among the highest in Orange County. HBCSD continues to focus on high-quality instruction in these key academic areas as well as in science and history/social science for all students, Shepard said. Excellence in academics also means an emphasis on the skills of collaboration, creativity, communication and critical thinking through experiences in STEM [science, technology, engineering and math] and integrated technology. Nearly 6% of students were rated chronically absent in both Ocean View and Huntington Beach City, while nearly 2% were suspended. California Schools Dashboard reports for any school or district can be viewed at caschooldashboard.org. charity.lindsey@latimes.com Twitter @CharityNLindsey The month-long trial in a sober-living home operators lawsuit against the city of Costa Mesa was sent to the jury after closing arguments wrapped up Thursday. The case could have far-reaching effects on the citys jurisdiction over group homes within its boundaries. Yellowstone Recovery, which has had a presence in Costa Mesa dating to 1988, sued the city in November 2014 over an ordinance that regulates group homes. Yellowstone, which was joined in the suit by two other operators, Sober Living Network and Lynn House, alleged the law unfairly discriminates against people recovering from drug and/or alcohol addiction, whom the operators serve through residential group facilities. Ordinance No. 14-13, adopted in October 2014, regulates group homes in the citys single-family residential zones and requires sober-living homes to apply for permits to operate in those neighborhoods. It caps the number of residents in a group home at six and prohibits sober-living homes from being within 650 feet of one another. The ordinance also regulates sober-living staff, or house managers, saying they cannot have records of violent felonies or drug, arson or sexual offenses in the past seven to 10 years. In December 2014, the city Planning Commission unanimously denied Yellowstones request for an exemption to house 15 people in a recovery home on Boston Way. The company holds a state license permitting up to 15 beds in a single facility, and it had two other sober-living homes in town that were in compliance with the rules. In their closing argument Thursday in a Santa Ana federal courtroom before U.S. District Judge James Selna, lawyers for the plaintiffs painted their clients as well-meaning organizations blocked from providing adequate housing for recovering addicts, who are considered disabled and protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act and federal fair-housing laws. Just let us keep doing what weve been doing for 25 years, attorney Isaac Zfaty said. The citys lawyers portrayed Costa Mesa as accommodating and working in the best interest of group homes residents as well as the wider community. The plaintiffs argued that the ordinance unfairly targets sober-living homes when they shouldnt be classified any differently than other residential households. They called attempts to cap bed numbers, monitor parolees and determine who can work as house managers as excessive oversight. We are not a hospital, we are not treatment, we are just housing where disabled people live, said attorney Christopher Brancart. The city targeted sober-living homes by conducting parole raids, according to Zfaty, who added that one city employee scouted and documented sober-living housing. Brancart said code enforcement personnel accompanied police on calls to sober-living properties another example of what he called targeted oversight. Jennifer Keller, a lawyer the city contracted in March to defend Costa Mesa against lawsuits from sober-living operators, said the city had formerly lovely, tranquil neighborhoods and they were suddenly under siege by hoards of people moving into group homes. Keller described sober-living homes as places with bunk beds in every room where residents are packed in like sardines. She said such homes triggered neighbors complaints about noise and needles and that some nearby residents had been motivated to leave the area. She said the city decided not to grant Yellowstones request for 15 people after hearing from neighbors. The ordinance, she said, was a thoughtfully considered and carefully implemented law. The distance requirement aims to maintain the character of neighborhoods amid dramatic changes in housing, namely growth in group homes and rising housing costs, Keller said. She noted that the rule was refashioned to allow four times the density of group homes than originally proposed. But Yellowstone counsel Steven Polin argued that the city cant use land to tell addicts and alcoholics that they cant live in your city. Kellers closing showed that the city worked to create a thorough regulatory scheme that would protect disabled residents plus preserve the quality of the neighborhood, Costa Mesa Mayor Katrina Foley said. She said the plaintiffs position is essentially that the city cannot regulate in any way sober-living homes, which she called untenable. Attorneys for the sober-living home operators said their clients including Yellowstone Chief Executive Anna Dr. Honey Thames, who was in the audience Thursday morning would not comment about the trial. julia.sclafani@latimes.com Glendale High School junior Jamie Fritz has a novel idea this holiday season. The 16-year-old Jewel City resident is putting gift-giving ahead of gift-receiving. Fritz founded an on-campus club called Adopt-A-Family in August, and the group set a goal to raise $1,000 by Dec. 13 on its GoFundMe page. The 30-member organization is hoping to reach that target and use those funds to purchase presents for less-fortunate children. Unlike gift drives that hand out toys or presents in $10 or $20 increments, Fritz is valuing quality over quantity. Shes setting a $200 allowance per child, meaning if the club reaches $1,000, that money will go toward gifts for five children. Theres a certain joy you receive going out into the community and doing good, said Fritz, a driver on the schools water polo team. To have a list of names, to sort of get to know these people and to help, especially kids, it means a lot to them and me. Despite her age, Fritz has plenty of experience helping the needy. A product of Wilson Middle School and Glenoaks Elementary, she has been a member of an all-girl aide group called Assisteens, a branch of the national nonprofit volunteer organization called Assistance League, for four years. This is her passion, Fritzs mother, Betty, said. She believes in philanthropy, and she believes in giving back. Through the Adopt-A-Family Club, she gets one more avenue to do that. This opportunity wouldnt have been possible without the support of Glendale High math instructor Aurora Alamillo, Jamie Fritz said. Ive been so lucky because Mrs. Alamillo has been my math teacher for three years and, one morning, I asked her if shed be our clubs adviser, the younger Fritz said. She signed on, and shes been such a blessing. She gets all the kids in the club involved, and she helped me compose letters to businesses. Shes super supportive. Its through service where Jamie Fritz ran into Lisa Salomon, a fellow volunteer who has helped Pasadena-area social workers from the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Families help various people. There are so many negative stories out there and what Jamie is doing is really positive and amazing, Salomon said. She reached out to me about this club and getting in contact with families in need. I was just blown away. If the $1,000 goal is met by Thursday, club members plan to purchase and wrap gifts the next day and hand off to Salomon for distribution. Should the club surpass the $1,000 threshold, Jamie Fritz said she will likely buy more gifts, though she may also hold the money in reserve for the clubs next fundraiser. An aspiring pediatric nurse who would love to attend the University of Washington or New York University, Jamie Fritz said her next goal for the group will be seasonal campaigns, with the next fundraiser possibly being held around Easter. Ive been blessed to have wonderful Christmases with family, and I want to give that feeling to others, Jamie Fritz said. Thats really the best gift. andrew.campa@latimes.com Twitter @campadresports As Tony Thurmond, the newly elected state superintendent, and Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom prepare to take office, its a good time to review early-childhood education opportunities in California. In their campaigns, both Thurmond and Newsom expressed a desire to expand access to preschool, but so far I havent found many details about their plans. Ive seen references to both universal preschool, which many would define as state-funded preschool for every child, and to a more limited, needs-based expansion of public preschool options. In his recent L.A. Times column (Legislative blue wave could engulf GOP, Dec. 3), George Skelton opined that Newsom will target early-childhood education, focusing on what he calls the readiness gap kids not being adequately prepared to start school. Skelton went on to quote Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon as claiming hes definitely on the same page [with Newsom to] get the kids early and break the cycle of poverty. But whether preschool expansion is targeted to disadvantaged students or to all children, getting on the same page for early-childhood education will require a shared understanding of the variety of existing programs. For some local expertise and recommendations for the state superintendent and governor I visited with Marilyn Hande, a longtime Glendale Unified teacher who has served at state and county levels to develop Californias transitional kindergarten, or TK, program. Hande has taught a TK class at Columbus Elementary since the TK program started seven years ago. As a historical note, the California legislature initiated transitional kindergarten as part of a long-sought change in the age requirement for kindergarten. Before 2011, children had to turn 5 years old by Dec. 2 of the school year to start kindergarten. As kindergarten became more academic and elementary test scores more important, and as school years began starting in August or earlier (it was July in the era of year-round education), educators saw the challenges for 4-year-olds entering kindergarten. After years of discussion, the legislature approved transitional kindergarten as a compromise that, over the course of three years, allowed children who turned 5 during the months of September, October and November to enroll in a transitional extra year of school before enrolling in kindergarten the following year. The bill kept many parents happy and also prevented teacher layoffs in the transitional years. To this day, many of Californias fall-born children get an extra year of public education. Hande, who loves teaching TK, was ready with recommendations and questions about preschool expansion, starting with, What do they mean by preschool? What ages [are they targeting]? She pointed out different programs the district currently offers, including state-subsidized and non-subsidized classes, special-education programs for students as young as 3 and programs at some of the language-immersion schools. She suggested clarity in definitions and requirements. Many parents and teachers speak of Pre-K, for instance, referring to any programs for 4-year-olds in preparation for the rigors of kindergarten. But Pre-K does not necessarily mean TK, she pointed out. Californias TK teachers must have teaching credentials in addition to credits in early-childhood education, and TK emphasizes social/emotional development with lots of play. Theres also the issue of staffing, Hande told me. What staff-to-student ratios would be required? She currently has 26 children in her class the districts enrollment cap with an assistant usually in attendance for part of the childrens 4.5-hour day. But other publicly-funded programs have different ratios. She mentioned Head Start, a federally-funded, needs-based program in existence since 1965. Head Starts governing legislation requires staffing at 5-to-1, she said, so a class of 15 preschoolers has three adults in the room usually a teacher and two assistants. The state-sponsored preschool classes require similar ratios, she added. Head Start also has parent education and participation requirements that Hande would love to see included in any new legislation. What if California linked TK enrollment to parent participation and the chance to see how teachers help their children learn and develop? Supt. Thurmond might look for inspiration to the long-standing parent education program at Glendale Community College or to parent-cooperative preschools in California. Hed also do well to visit the parent nights Hande offers her students families throughout the year. At least one local Head Start program Ive heard about is looking for funding to provide financial-literacy training for its parents, so they can improve their financial footing and maybe start saving for college. Helping parents early could go a long way toward breaking the cycle of poverty. Joylene Wagner is a past member of the Glendale Unified school board, from 2005 to 2013, and currently serves on the boards of Glendale Educational Foundation and other nonprofit organizations. Email her at jkate4400@aol.com. JOYLENE WAGNER is a past member of the Glendale Unified school board, from 2005 to 2013, and currently serves on the boards of Glendale Educational Foundation and other nonprofit organizations. Email her at jkate4400@aol.com. The La Canada Flintridge Tournament of Roses Assn. earlier this month held its annual Evening of Wine and Roses party to raise funds for our citys float Panda-Monium that will roll down Pasadenas famed Colorado Boulevard on Jan. 1. A special treat for party attendees was the introduction of the recently crowned Tournament of Roses Royal Court. This event, held annually at the La Canada Flintridge Country Club, is one of the courts first public activities. Three of this years princesses attend La Canada schools. Georgia Servenka and Julianne Lauenstein are La Canada High School Spartans and Alexandra Artura, a Pasadena resident, attends Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy. Comprising the rest of the court are Rose Queen Isabella Marez from La Salle High School, Princesses Lauren Buehner and Sydney Pickering, who both attend Arcadia High School and Princess Savannah Bradley, representing Pasadena High School The Royal Court was escorted into the party by LCFTRA members Woody Walker, Greg Brown, Don Voss, Mike Cucueco, Charlie Plowman Jr., Len Pieroni and Mike Leininger. As guests were seated for dinner, they were greeted by Chuck Terhune, president of the association. State Sen. Anthony Portantino stepped to the lectern to present the organization with a proclamation. Mike Davitt, La Canadas mayor, acted as master of ceremonies. Peggy Hotaling and Nymia Cucueco co-chaired the event. Assisting them were Sue Beatty, Caroline Craven, Alison Davitt, Karen Freed, Mary Gant, Lee Johnson, Mary Ellen Knowles, Ann Neilson, Lorraine Riewe and Nancy Wolhaupter. A profitable silent auction was held during the event, as was a $1,000 opportunity drawing. The excitement about our float is building and of course the LCFTRA can use help. Volunteer sign-ups for its 2018 float, Panda-Monium, are now open. To reserve your date and shift, sign-ups must be completed online by Dec. 15. After that, sign-ups will be at the float site on an as-needed basis. For more information, visit online to lcftra.org. *** Psst, have you heard about this? Some community members say Im the gossip columnist or say, Dont tell her anything because you will read about it in the paper. I love telling your stories, but with your permission, of course. If something is going on in the community visiting relatives, fabulous trips, philanthropic events, etc., please let me know, because I will be thrilled to share the news. In that vein, the Pasadena Showcase House of Design will be on view before we know it. Marilyn Anderson, who was the benefit chair for the beautiful estate on Berkshire Avenue a couple of years ago, is this years president of Pasadena Showcase House of Design for the Arts. Marilyn and her committee did an outstanding job making the historical estate here in La Canada so gorgeous. This years house is rumored to be an example of Mediterranean architecture, and I can hardly wait learn of its mystery location and to see it up close. The house is scheduled for viewing next April 22 to May 20. More about the where and other pertinent details later. JANE NAPIER NEELY covers the La Canada Flintridge social scene. Email her at jnvalleysun@aol.com with news of your special event. A show of hands, please, for those who predicted that the spell that goalie Keith Kinkaid held over the Kings would be broken by Brendan Leipsic and Kyle Clifford. Leipsic is a journeyman who had never played the New Jersey Devils before Thursday. Clifford is a depth forward with no goals in 11 previous games against the Devils. They and Adrian Kempe beat Kinkaid, and it still wasnt enough to keep the Kings ship from sinking and one of their leaders from venting. Its pathetic. Its embarrassing. Its frustrating, said Drew Doughty after a 6-3 loss at Staples Center. Its one thing to lose games when guys are competing. You can live with that and you can live with doing good things but when were not playing well and were not competing, you cant live with it. And we havent lived with it since it started happening. Doughty liked how the Kings responded from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits. But they came out on the wrong end of odd bounces, notably Jake Muzzins crossbar-post shot that earned a lengthy review, in a wide-open game that belied the past defensive pedigrees of the teams. Advertisement Tyler Toffoli was stopped on a late second-period breakaway by Kinkaid, who moved to 4-0 lifetime against the Kings. New Jersey got two goals by Kyle Palmieri and a late score by Nico Hischier to put it away. It gets harder with each and every loss, Anze Kopitar said. You dig a bigger hole every night, and its hard to get out of it. When things dont go right, everythings going wrong against you. But then again, its up to us come out of that hole. The Kings were left with the potential of Leipsic. Moved up to the second line, with Jeff Carter and Matt Luff, his shot mentality got him his first goal as a King. Set up by an 80-foot cross-ice pass from Muzzin, Leipsic stopped at the right faceoff circle and his snap shot glanced off a defenders skate and fluttered past Kinkaid on the blocker side. Kinkaid had stopped 109 of 110 shots against the Kings prior to Leipsics goal, spread over five appearances. But it was Kinkaids miscue that led to Cliffords goal late in the second period. Kinkaid quickly swept the puck from the slot and Clifford shot it into an open net to pull the Kings to 4-3. Kempe put in Doughtys pass on an impressive rush play by the Kings earlier in the period. Doughty passed Rob Blake to become the franchise leader in assists with 334 and paid homage to Blake with a big hip check on Taylor Hall. Afterward, a dour Doughty reiterated a common theme this season. I just dont see enough emotion from the entire group to get us out of this, Doughty said. Its not going to take three or four guys every night. Its got to take the entire group. I know that no ones seeing the emotion out there were playing with a lack of emotion and thats the bottom line. Jonathan Quick looked sharp at the outset and got help from Derek Forborts block on Hischiers open-look shot on a Devils power play. But Quick couldnt stop the Kings penalty kill from allowing its 23rd goal this season. Asked about his level of frustration, Kopitar said, Quite high. While Leipsic played his second game with the Kings, Nikita Scherbak was not yet cleared to play because of his visa status. curtis.zupke@latimes.com Twitter: @curtiszupke There is little doubt that trainer Bob Baffert owns the Los Alamitos Futurity, even when it was run across town as the Hollywood Futurity. He has won it 10 times, including all four times it has been at Los Alamitos. And, given his success with 2-year-olds this year, its no surprise he has the first and second favorites in Saturdays running of the Grade 1 $300,000 race. But, hes not happy about things and the future of the race as the national committee that determines a races prestige status is downgrading it to Grade 2 next year. The implications are that the winner wont get the coveted Grade 1 victory so essential for breeding and there will be a smaller purse making it less attractive to horsemen. It was really disappointing when they did that, Baffert said. Thats what happened when Brad McKinzie died. It lost its protector. Thats what it came down to. Advertisement McKinzie was the longtime Los Alamitos executive, and close friend of Bafferts, who died last year. He was instrumental in converting the track to allow thoroughbred racing after Hollywood Park closed. McKinzie, the horse named after the executive, won last years Futurity after a disqualification and was on the Kentucky Derby trail until he was injured. He came back to win the Pennsylvania Derby and will run as a 4-year-old. The recent winners of the race include Mastery, a presumptive Derby favorite until an injury; Mor Spirit, a multiple graded stakes winner; Dortmund, winner of almost $2 million; and the Eclipse Award-winning Shared Belief. If you go back to the Hollywood Park days, you have seven Kentucky Derby winners. It seems one of the strikes against the race are the small fields. Only six are entered Saturday. Its always been a short-field race, Baffert said. One problem with the business is the analytics are taking over. It can still be a great race with five horses. In California, unfortunately, were on an island and its hard to get people to come out here and run. And gone are the days when owners would run horses just to run them. Baffert sees California at a real disadvantage. The only track that has big fields is Churchill Downs, Baffert said. And the owners would rather just run in Kentucky because thats where the horses are from. Its easier just to stay home. Or, they would rather run at Gulfstream, because theyve got [a strong breeding area in] Ocala nearby. California is not putting out the numbers. Weve got good horses, good trainers, good jockeys and its very competitive. But we dont have the gamblers money behind us because our tracks dont have the [slot] machines. Saturdays two Grade 1s, to include the Starlet Stakes for 2-year-old fillies, will likely be run in front of only a couple of thousand people, which doesnt help. Baffert has had tremendous success with his 2-year-olds this year. Going into this meeting, 19 of his 29 maidens making their debut have won. The morning-line favorite, at 6-5, is Improbable, winner of both his races, including a 7-length win in the Street Sense Stakes at Churchill Downs. Everybody is going to be watching Improbable because hes the favorite, and he should be, Baffert said. Improbable has always drawn poorly but [jockey] Drayden [Van Dyke] has ridden him with confidence. Down the backside in his last race, I wasnt liking his chances, but then he got it done. Bafferts other colt is Mucho Gusto, at 3-1, who is also undefeated in two starts. He won the five-horse Bob Hope Stakes at Del Mar after breaking his maiden at Los Alamitos. One of things that makes this 1 1/16-mile race so interesting is its the first time around two turns, an indication if the colt will have the distance to go for the Derby. I think you find out if they like two turns even if you think you already know, Baffert said. But with every horse there is usually this kernel of doubt for a few seconds where you wonder if they will hit the imaginary wall or keep going. But you find the real distance limitations at 1 1/8 [miles]. Baffert also has the top two fillies in the six-horse Starlet Stakes. Chasing Yesterday is the favorite at 9-5 followed by Mother Mother at 2-1. Chasing Yesterday has won three of four including the three-horse Desi Arnaz Stakes. Mother Mother has won two of three, with a second to Bellafina in the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante. The Futurity is the fifth race, with post time around 2:30 p.m., with the Starlet as the seventh race about 3:30 p.m. In 1940, the United States expanded its military. Several units were deployed to expanded Pacific bases. The 251st Coast Artillery was made up of 1,200 National Guardsmen from the San Diego, Long Beach and San Pedro areas. The unit was ordered into service on Sept. 16, 1940, and, after training in Ventura, was transferred to Hawaii. On Oct. 31, 1940, about 750 men from the 251st boarded the luxury liner Washington. They joined 1,200 new sailors and 1,000 shipyard workers already on board. The remainder of the 251st shipped out to Hawaii on Nov. 17, 1940. The 251st, an antiaircraft unit, saw action at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, and was credited with destroying at least two attacking Japanese planes. During World War II, the regiment served in Fiji, Bougainville and the Philippines. Five photos of the 251st deployment by Times staff photographer Robert Jakobsen were published in the Nov. 17, 1940, Sunday rotogravure section. This photo was the lead image. This image went on to win several major awards. It won first place in features in the 1942 Associated Press annual photo contest for California and Nevada. In 1943, Jakobsen's photo won fourth place in news in the national AP contest. It later appeared on page 53 of the 1955 book The Family of Man. This photo of Pvt. John Winbury also appeared as the Picture of the Week in the Nov. 25, 1940, issue of Life magazine. Life magazine reported, "The dock in Los Angeles harbor was crowded with 743 other men, all dressed like Robert's father, who were saying goodbye to other boys and girls like Robert and other women like Robert's mother. Robert's father called him "Butch" and told him to chin up, but Robert was not to be consoled." This post was originally published on Dec. 7, 2010. See more from the Los Angeles Times archives here Germanys ruling party Friday elected a protege of Chancellor Angela Merkel as its new leader, pushing back strong challenges from rivals who apparently were considering ousting Merkel before her term ends in 2021. The conservative Christian Democratic Union party, which Merkel led for 18 years, elected centrist Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer as its new chair, placing her on track to become the countrys next chancellor. Kramp-Karrenbauer, 56, defeated a strong challenge from two archconservative rivals who wanted to steer the party to the right and possibly oust Merkel well before the end of her term. Kramp-Karrenbauer received 517 votes from the 999 party delegates gathered in Hamburg, while millionaire businessman and erstwhile Merkel nemesis Friedrich Merz, 63, got 482 votes. Another candidate, Health Minister Jens Spahn, 38, was knocked out of the running in the first of two rounds of voting. Advertisement The competition to lead the party that has been the dominant force in post-World War II German governments marked a sharp break in tradition for the conservatives, who for decades had picked their leaders in closed-door meetings and then presented a single candidate to run uncontested at party congresses. Kramp-Karrenbauer, who is better known in Germany by her initials AKK, is a former governor of the small western state of Saarland. She is often called the mini-Merkel for her similar centrist outlook on many issues. This competition was good for our party and it has given us a boost, Kramp-Karrenbauer said. Thank you for your confidence in me. Merkel, 64, has been chancellor of Europes largest economy since 2005. Her decision in October not to seek another two-year term as chair of the Christian Democrats came after a string of state election defeats for her party. She had long ruled out giving up control of the party leadership because it could result in an erosion of power, dooming her chancellorship. Merkels popularity in her party has fallen in the last three years, after her decision to allow more than 1.5 million refugees from Syria and other troubled countries into Germany. She delivered an emotional speech at the start of the party congress and received a 10-minute standing ovation. Merkel urged conservatives to continue fighting for multilateralism in an era of dwindling international cooperation that is being replaced by the principles of deal-making. Because the Christian Democrats have ruled the country for 49 of the last 69 years, winning leadership of the conservative party is tantamount to being anointed as its candidate for the next election. Her victory means short-term political stability in Germany, Julius van der Laar, an independent political analyst, said of Kramp-Karrenbauer. Its more likely now that Merkels grand-coalition government will stay in power until 2021. Merz would have almost certainly tried to push Merkel aside in 2019 in order to position himself as the agent of change. Thomas Jaeger, a political scientist at Cologne University, said Merzs defeat was a setback to the powerful right wing of the conservative party that has for years been hoping to remove Merkel mainly over anger that she pushed the party to the political center. In the end, the CDU delegates voted for continuity, pure and simple, Jaeger said. It remains to be seen if Kramp-Karrenbauer can reunite the party now. Its going to be the big challenge. Kirschbaum is a special correspondent. Talks to bring peace to Yemen began Thursday with an announcement that the warring sides had agreed to a prisoner swap that would allow thousands of families to be reunited. The agreement was heralded as the first of what negotiators hope will be several confidence-building measures that create momentum to resolve a conflict that began in 2014 and became so brutal that the United Nations long ago gave up counting the dead. I dont want to be overly optimistic, but I want to be over-ambitious, Martin Griffiths, the U.N. special envoy to Yemen, told reporters in announcing the prisoner swap. He said other early steps could include ending the Saudi-led blockade of the airport in the Yemeni capital, halting an offensive on the port city of Hudaydah and implementing economic measures aimed at preventing an impending famine. Advertisement The talks, which are being held in a Swedish castle in the town of Rimbo, just north of Stockholm, are not formal peace negotiations but preliminary discussions known as consultations. It was the second time Yemeni President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadis government has met with Houthi rebels. The first talks, back in 2016, lasted 100 days and devolved into more fighting. The current talks are scheduled to last a week. There will be no face-to-face contact between the two sides. Instead, Griffiths and his associates will go back and forth between two rooms in the castle. Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom, left, and U.N. special envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths attend the opening news conference of the Yemeni peace talks in Sweden. (Stina Stjerknvist / AFP-Getty Images) The warring sides were willing to meet largely at the behest of the outside powers that are embroiled in the conflict and have grown weary as the worlds worst humanitarian crisis drags on. The United States has provided logistical support, intelligence and billions of dollars worth of arms, to a coalition led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. They fight alongside tribal militias, international mercenaries and even Al Qaeda with the aim of stopping the Houthis and their Iranian backers. U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo pushed for the talks last month. The recent slaying of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi has upped the pressure to end the war, as the CIA has pinned the killing on Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and U.S. lawmakers have sought to punish him by cutting off military support for the war. The people of Yemen have suffered far too long, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement this week. The parties owe it to their fellow Yemenis to seize this opportunity. We have no illusions that this process will be easy, but we welcome this necessary and vital first step, it said. Tens of thousands of civilians have been killed in airstrikes and shelling during the war and multitudes more were maimed or went missing. At the same time, the country is facing a cholera epidemic and a famine. The U.N. estimates that 22 million Yemenis more than three-quarters of the population need humanitarian assistance. With the economy in tatters, civil servants have gone unpaid for months, and farming and fishing work, the main source of livelihood for much of the population, has been disappearing. On Thursday, the U.N. World Food Program said the number of people facing a food crisis could soon climb from 15 million to 20 million, with another 237,000 facing a food castastrophe if aid does not get through. Such warnings have become more urgent in recent weeks as skirmishes have broken out again near Hudaydah. The Houthi-controlled port is vital for bringing in aid, but the coalition accuses the Houthis of using it to finance their fight and smuggle arms. The U.N. hopes to bring Hudaydah under its administration in a bid to mollify both sides, but the Yemeni government has demanded the Houthis completely withdraw from the city. Twitter: @nabihbulos Business Brief Introduction of Cable Television: Definition, History and Development | Soukacatv.com Modualtor Manufacturer 07.12.2018 05:21:46 - Cable television is a way of letting people watch television without having to get signals from an antenna. The television signals are brought to the television through a coaxial cable. (live-PR.com) - Cable television is a way of letting people watch television without having to get signals from an antenna. The television signals are brought to the television through a coaxial cable. People usually have to pay to subscribe to cable television. With cable television, people can watch hundreds of television channels carrying many television shows. Usually some of these are television - Cable television is a way of letting people watch television without having to get signals from an antenna. The television signals are brought to the television through a coaxial cable. People usually have to pay to subscribe to cable television. With cable television, people can watch hundreds of television channels carrying many television shows. Usually some of these are television stations and others are made for the cable companies. Cable TV is provided by many carriers in across with world. Some of those carriers in the United States are: AT&T U-Verse, CableVision, Comcast, Cox Communications, SuddenLink, Time Warner Cable and Verizon Another method of subscription television is by Satellite television, especially in places where cable TV is not available. HDMI Encoder Modulator,16in1 Digital Headend,HD RF Modulator at SOUKA www.soukacatv.com/. Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fiber-optic cables. This contrasts with broadcast television (also known as terrestrial television), in which the television signal is transmitted over the air by radio wavesand received by a television antenna attached to the television; or satellite television, in which the television signal is transmitted by a communications satellite orbiting the Earth and received by a satellite dish on the roof. FM radio programming, high-speed Internet, telephone services, and similar non-television services may also be provided through these cables. Analog television was standard in the 20th century, but since the 2000s, cable systems have been upgraded to digital cable operation. A "cable channel" (sometimes known as a "cable network") is a television network available via cable television. When available through satellite television, including direct broadcast satellite providers such as DirecTV, Dish Network and Sky, as well as via IPTV providers such as Verizon FIOS and AT&T U-verse is referred to as a "satellite channel". Alternative terms include "non-broadcast channel" or "programming service", the latter being mainly used in legal contexts. Examples of cable/satellite channels/cable networks available in many countries are HBO, Cinemax, MTV, Cartoon Network, AXN, E!, Fox Life, Discovery Channel, Canal+, Eurosport, Fox Sports, Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, CNN International, ESPN, GMA Pinoy TV and The Filipino Channel. The abbreviation CATV is often used for cable television. It originally stood for Community Access Television or Community Antenna Television, from cable television's origins in 1948. In areas where over-the-air TV reception was limited by distance from transmitters or mountainous terrain, large "community antennas" were constructed, and cable was run from them to individual homes. The origins of cable broadcasting for radio are even older as radio programming was distributed by cable in some European cities as far back as 1924. History in North America Cable television began in the United States as a commercial business in 1950, although there were small-scale systems by hobbyists in the 1940s. The early systems simply received weak (broadcast) channels, amplified them, and sent them over unshielded wires to the subscribers, limited to a community or to adjacent communities. The receiving antenna would be higher than any individual subscriber could afford, thus bringing in stronger signals; in hilly or mountainous terrain it would be placed at a high elevation. At the outset, cable systems only served smaller communities without television stations of their own, and which could not easily receive signals from stations in cities because of distance or hilly terrain. In Canada, however, communities with their own signals were fertile cable markets, as viewers wanted to receive American signals. Rarely, as in the college town of Alfred, New York, U.S. cable systems retransmitted Canadian channels. Although early (VHF) television receivers could receive 12 channels (2-13), the maximum number of channels that could be broadcast in one city was 7: channels 2, 4, either 5 or 6, 7, 9, 11 and 13, as receivers at the time were unable to receive strong (local) signals on adjacent channels without distortion. (There were frequency gaps between 4 and 5, and between 6 and 7, which allowed both to be used in the same city). As equipment improved, all twelve channels could be utilized, except where a local VHF television station broadcast. Local broadcast channels were not usable for signals deemed to be priority, but technology allowed low-priority signals to be placed on such channels by synchronizing their blanking intervals. Similarly, a local VHF station could not be carried on its broadcast channel as the signals would arrive at the TV set slightly separated in time, causing "ghosting". The bandwidth of the amplifiers also was limited, meaning frequencies over 250 MHz were difficult to transmit to distant portions of the coaxial network, and UHF channels could not be used at all. To expand beyond 12 channels, non-standard "midband" channels had to be used, located between the FM band and Channel 7, or "superband" beyond Channel 13 up to about 300 MHz; these channels initially were only accessible using separate tuner boxes that sent the chosen channel into the TV set on Channel 2, 3 or 4. Before being added to the cable box itself, these midband channels were used for early incarnations of pay TV, e.g. The Z Channel(Los Angeles) and HBO but transmitted in the clear i.e. not scrambled as standard TV sets of the period could not pick up the signal nor could the average consumer `de-tune' the normal stations to be able to receive it. Once tuners that could receive select mid-band and super-band channels began to be incorporated into standard television sets, broadcasters were forced to either install scrambling circuitry or move these signals further out of the range of reception for early cable-ready TVs and VCRs. However, once all 181 allocated cable channels had been incorporated, premium broadcasters were left with no choice but to scramble. Unfortunately for pay-TV operators, the descrambling circuitry was often published in electronics hobby magazines such as Popular Science and Popular Electronics allowing anybody with anything more than a rudimentary knowledge of broadcast electronics to be able to build their own and receive the programming without cost. Later, the cable operators began to carry FM radio stations, and encouraged subscribers to connect their FM stereo sets to cable. Before stereo and bilingual TV sound became common, Pay-TV channel sound was added to the FM stereo cable line-ups. About this time, operators expanded beyond the 12-channel dial to use the "midband" and "superband" VHF channels adjacent to the "high band" 7-13 of North American television frequencies. Some operators as in Cornwall, Ontario, used a dual distribution network with Channels 2-13 on each of the two cables. During the 1980s, United States regulations not unlike public, educational, and government access (PEG) created the beginning of cable-originated live television programming. As cable penetration increased, numerous cable-only TV stations were launched, many with their own news bureaus that could provide more immediate and more localized content than that provided by the nearest network newscast. Such stations may use similar on-air branding as that used by the nearby broadcast network affiliate, but the fact that these stations do not broadcast over the air and are not regulated by the FCC, their call signs are meaningless. These stations evolved partially into today's over-the-air digital subchannels, where a main broadcast TV station e.g. NBS 37* would in the case of no local CNB or ABS station being available rebroadcast the programming from a nearby affiliate but fill in with its own news and other community programming to suit its own locale. Many live local programs with local interests were subsequently created all over the United States in most major television markets in the early 1980s. This evolved into today's many cable-only broadcasts of diverse programming, including cable-only produced television moviesand miniseries. Cable specialty channels, starting with channels oriented to show movies and large sporting or performance events, diversified further, and "narrowcasting" became common. By the late 1980s, cable-only signals outnumbered broadcast signals on cable systems, some of which by this time had expanded beyond 35 channels. By the mid-1980s in Canada, cable operators were allowed by the regulators to enter into distribution contracts with cable networks on their own. By the 1990s, tiers became common, with customers able to subscribe to different tiers to obtain different selections of additional channels above the basic selection. By subscribing to additional tiers, customers could get specialty channels, movie channels, and foreign channels. Large cable companies used addressable descramblers to limit access to premium channels for customers not subscribing to higher tiers, however the above magazines often published workarounds for that technology as well. During the 1990s, the pressure to accommodate the growing array of offerings resulted in digital transmission that made more efficient use of the VHF signal capacity; fibre optics was common to carry signals into areas near the home, where coax could carry higher frequencies over the short remaining distance. Although for a time in the 1980s and 1990s, television receivers and VCRs were equipped to receive the mid-band and super-band channels. Due to the fact that the descrambling circuitry was for a time present in these tuners, depriving the cable operator of much of their revenue, such cable-ready tuners are rarely used now - requiring a return to the set-top boxes used from the 1970s onward. The conversion to digital broadcasting has put all signals - broadcast and cable - into digital form, rendering analog cable television service mostly obsolete, functional in an ever-dwindling supply of select markets. Analog television sets are still[when?]accommodated, but their tuners are mostly obsolete, oftentimes dependent entirely on the set-top box. Deployments by continent Cable television is mostly available in North America, Europe, Australia, South Asia and East Asia, and less so in South America and the Middle East. Cable television has had little success in Africa, as it is not cost-effective to lay cables in sparsely populated areas. So-called "wireless cable" or microwave-based systems are used instead. Cable television, generally, any system that distributes television signals by means of coaxial or fibre-optic cables. The term also includes systems that distribute signals solely via satellite. Cable-television systems originated in the United States in the late 1940s and were designed to improve reception of commercial network broadcasts in remote and hilly areas. During the 1960s they were introduced in many large metropolitan areas where local television reception is degraded by the reflection of signals from tall buildings. Commonly known as community antenna television (CATV), these cable systems use a community antenna to receive broadcast signals (often from communications satellites), which they then retransmit via cables to homes and establishments in the local area subscribing to the service. Subscribers pay a specified monthly service charge in addition to an initial installation fee. Established in 2000, the Soukacatv.com (DSW) main products are modulators both in digital and analog modulators,amplifier and combiner. We are the leading communication supplier in manufacturing the headend system in China. Our 16 in 1 and 24 in 1 now are the most popular products all over the world. For more, please access to Source: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia stations and others are made for the cable companies.Cable TV is provided by many carriers in across with world. Some of those carriers in the United States are: AT&T U-Verse, CableVision, Comcast, Cox Communications, SuddenLink, Time Warner Cable and VerizonAnother method of subscription television is by Satellite television, especially in places where cable TV is not available.HDMI Encoder Modulator,16in1 Digital Headend,HD RF Modulator at SOUKACable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fiber-optic cables. This contrasts with broadcast television (also known as terrestrial television), in which the television signal is transmitted over the air by radio wavesand received by a television antenna attached to the television; or satellite television, in which the television signal is transmitted by a communications satellite orbiting the Earth and received by a satellite dish on the roof. FM radio programming, high-speed Internet, telephone services, and similar non-television services may also be provided through these cables. Analog television was standard in the 20th century, but since the 2000s, cable systems have been upgraded to digital cable operation.A "cable channel" (sometimes known as a "cable network") is a television network available via cable television. When available through satellite television, including direct broadcast satellite providers such as DirecTV, Dish Network and Sky, as well as via IPTV providers such as Verizon FIOS and AT&T U-verse is referred to as a "satellite channel". Alternative terms include "non-broadcast channel" or "programming service", the latter being mainly used in legal contexts. Examples of cable/satellite channels/cable networks available in many countries are HBO, Cinemax, MTV, Cartoon Network, AXN, E!, Fox Life, Discovery Channel, Canal+, Eurosport, Fox Sports, Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, CNN International, ESPN, GMA Pinoy TV and The Filipino Channel.The abbreviation CATV is often used for cable television. It originally stood for Community Access Television or Community Antenna Television, from cable television's origins in 1948. In areas where over-the-air TV reception was limited by distance from transmitters or mountainous terrain, large "community antennas" were constructed, and cable was run from them to individual homes. The origins of cable broadcasting for radio are even older as radio programming was distributed by cable in some European cities as far back as 1924.History in North AmericaCable television began in the United States as a commercial business in 1950, although there were small-scale systems by hobbyists in the 1940s.The early systems simply received weak (broadcast) channels, amplified them, and sent them over unshielded wires to the subscribers, limited to a community or to adjacent communities. The receiving antenna would be higher than any individual subscriber could afford, thus bringing in stronger signals; in hilly or mountainous terrain it would be placed at a high elevation.At the outset, cable systems only served smaller communities without television stations of their own, and which could not easily receive signals from stations in cities because of distance or hilly terrain. In Canada, however, communities with their own signals were fertile cable markets, as viewers wanted to receive American signals. Rarely, as in the college town of Alfred, New York, U.S. cable systems retransmitted Canadian channels.Although early (VHF) television receivers could receive 12 channels (2-13), the maximum number of channels that could be broadcast in one city was 7: channels 2, 4, either 5 or 6, 7, 9, 11 and 13, as receivers at the time were unable to receive strong (local) signals on adjacent channels without distortion. (There were frequency gaps between 4 and 5, and between 6 and 7, which allowed both to be used in the same city).As equipment improved, all twelve channels could be utilized, except where a local VHF television station broadcast. Local broadcast channels were not usable for signals deemed to be priority, but technology allowed low-priority signals to be placed on such channels by synchronizing their blanking intervals. Similarly, a local VHF station could not be carried on its broadcast channel as the signals would arrive at the TV set slightly separated in time, causing "ghosting".The bandwidth of the amplifiers also was limited, meaning frequencies over 250 MHz were difficult to transmit to distant portions of the coaxial network, and UHF channels could not be used at all. To expand beyond 12 channels, non-standard "midband" channels had to be used, located between the FM band and Channel 7, or "superband" beyond Channel 13 up to about 300 MHz; these channels initially were only accessible using separate tuner boxes that sent the chosen channel into the TV set on Channel 2, 3 or 4.Before being added to the cable box itself, these midband channels were used for early incarnations of pay TV, e.g. The Z Channel(Los Angeles) and HBO but transmitted in the clear i.e. not scrambled as standard TV sets of the period could not pick up the signal nor could the average consumer `de-tune' the normal stations to be able to receive it.Once tuners that could receive select mid-band and super-band channels began to be incorporated into standard television sets, broadcasters were forced to either install scrambling circuitry or move these signals further out of the range of reception for early cable-ready TVs and VCRs. However, once all 181 allocated cable channels had been incorporated, premium broadcasters were left with no choice but to scramble.Unfortunately for pay-TV operators, the descrambling circuitry was often published in electronics hobby magazines such as Popular Science and Popular Electronics allowing anybody with anything more than a rudimentary knowledge of broadcast electronics to be able to build their own and receive the programming without cost.Later, the cable operators began to carry FM radio stations, and encouraged subscribers to connect their FM stereo sets to cable. Before stereo and bilingual TV sound became common, Pay-TV channel sound was added to the FM stereo cable line-ups. About this time, operators expanded beyond the 12-channel dial to use the "midband" and "superband" VHF channels adjacent to the "high band" 7-13 of North American television frequencies. Some operators as in Cornwall, Ontario, used a dual distribution network with Channels 2-13 on each of the two cables.During the 1980s, United States regulations not unlike public, educational, and government access (PEG) created the beginning of cable-originated live television programming. As cable penetration increased, numerous cable-only TV stations were launched, many with their own news bureaus that could provide more immediate and more localized content than that provided by the nearest network newscast.Such stations may use similar on-air branding as that used by the nearby broadcast network affiliate, but the fact that these stations do not broadcast over the air and are not regulated by the FCC, their call signs are meaningless. These stations evolved partially into today's over-the-air digital subchannels, where a main broadcast TV station e.g. NBS 37* would in the case of no local CNB or ABS station being available rebroadcast the programming from a nearby affiliate but fill in with its own news and other community programming to suit its own locale. Many live local programs with local interests were subsequently created all over the United States in most major television markets in the early 1980s.This evolved into today's many cable-only broadcasts of diverse programming, including cable-only produced television moviesand miniseries. Cable specialty channels, starting with channels oriented to show movies and large sporting or performance events, diversified further, and "narrowcasting" became common. By the late 1980s, cable-only signals outnumbered broadcast signals on cable systems, some of which by this time had expanded beyond 35 channels. By the mid-1980s in Canada, cable operators were allowed by the regulators to enter into distribution contracts with cable networks on their own.By the 1990s, tiers became common, with customers able to subscribe to different tiers to obtain different selections of additional channels above the basic selection. By subscribing to additional tiers, customers could get specialty channels, movie channels, and foreign channels. Large cable companies used addressable descramblers to limit access to premium channels for customers not subscribing to higher tiers, however the above magazines often published workarounds for that technology as well.During the 1990s, the pressure to accommodate the growing array of offerings resulted in digital transmission that made more efficient use of the VHF signal capacity; fibre optics was common to carry signals into areas near the home, where coax could carry higher frequencies over the short remaining distance. Although for a time in the 1980s and 1990s, television receivers and VCRs were equipped to receive the mid-band and super-band channels. Due to the fact that the descrambling circuitry was for a time present in these tuners, depriving the cable operator of much of their revenue, such cable-ready tuners are rarely used now - requiring a return to the set-top boxes used from the 1970s onward.The conversion to digital broadcasting has put all signals - broadcast and cable - into digital form, rendering analog cable television service mostly obsolete, functional in an ever-dwindling supply of select markets. Analog television sets are still[when?]accommodated, but their tuners are mostly obsolete, oftentimes dependent entirely on the set-top box.Deployments by continentCable television is mostly available in North America, Europe, Australia, South Asia and East Asia, and less so in South America and the Middle East. Cable television has had little success in Africa, as it is not cost-effective to lay cables in sparsely populated areas. So-called "wireless cable" or microwave-based systems are used instead.Cable television, generally, any system that distributes television signals by means of coaxial or fibre-optic cables. The term also includes systems that distribute signals solely via satellite. Cable-television systems originated in the United States in the late 1940s and were designed to improve reception of commercial network broadcasts in remote and hilly areas. During the 1960s they were introduced in many large metropolitan areas where local television reception is degraded by the reflection of signals from tall buildings. Commonly known as community antenna television (CATV), these cable systems use a community antenna to receive broadcast signals (often from communications satellites), which they then retransmit via cables to homes and establishments in the local area subscribing to the service. Subscribers pay a specified monthly service charge in addition to an initial installation fee.Established in 2000, the Soukacatv.com (DSW) main products are modulators both in digital and analog modulators,amplifier and combiner. We are the leading communication supplier in manufacturing the headend system in China. Our 16 in 1 and 24 in 1 now are the most popular products all over the world. For more, please access to www.soukacatv.com/ Source: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Press Information: Dingshengwei Buliding A,the first industry park of Guanlong,Xili Town,Nanshan,Shenzhen,Guangdong,China Contact Person: eMail: eMail Web: http://https://www.soukacatv.com/ 07.12.2018 05:21:46 - 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. GLADWYNE Rescue crews were called to the Flat Rock Park on River Road for a car in the Schuylkill River Wednesday afternoon. A passerby on the Philadelphia side of the river spotted the SUV and notified Lower Merion police at 1:47 p.m. that the car was just north of Flat Rock boat ramp. According to police, the person believed to be driving the car, only identified as a 36-year-old male, at time is listed as a missing person. Thursday, dive crews were in the river near the site but unable to find the man. Gladwyne Fire Company responded Wednesday with their boat and with Lower Merion police when they found the car had gone from a parking lot just beyond the Mill Creek and was sitting in three feet of water just off the embankment. Police said the back end of the car could still be seen and the driver-side door was open. Gladwyne firefighters donned water rescue gear and confirmed there was no person in the car or along the embankment in that area. Belmont Hill Fire Company and Narberth ambulance assisted. Police taped off the area as they investigated. The windows of the car could be seen rolled down and the hood ajar. Abandoned cars have often been found driven into the river Flat Rock boat ramp over the years. Lower Merion police are investigating the incident. Hyderabad : Polling was underway amid elaborate arrangements in all 119 Assembly constituencies in Telangana on Friday. Voting began at 7 am and will conclude at 5 pm, except in 13 constituencies classified as Left Wing Extremist-affected, where the process ends at 4 pm itself .Over 2.80 crore electorate are eligible to exercise their franchise in the state, which has a total of 32,815 polling stations. More than 1.50 lakh polling officials, including reserve staff, are on duty. Campaigning by political parties came to an end at 5 pm Wednesday. Additional DG ( Law and order) Jitender Thursday told PTI that about one lakh security personnel, including 25,000 central paramilitary forces and 20,000 from other states, are engaged in poll duties. A senior police official said security was beefed up at bordering areas which were identified as Left Wing Extremist-affected regions. Polling began Friday morning for 199 Assembly seats out of the 200 in Rajasthan, a key state which the BJP is fighting to retain. According to an official spokesperson, polling began at 8 am in all the 51,687 booths set up across the state. Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje (Jhalrapatan), Congress state president Sachin Pilot (Tonk), former chief minister Ashok Gehlot (Sardarpura) are among the 2,274 candidates in the fray. The election in Ramgarh constituency of Alwar district was put off following the death of Bahujan Samaj Party candidate Laxman Singh. The results will be out on December 11, along with those from the other four states which saw Assembly elections in the past few weeks. The outcome of the elections in Rajasthan, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram is expected to set the tone for the Lok Sabha contest next year. PTI The Secret Weapon for Getting America 5G Ready Who sells the basics? Thats the first question I answer when evaluating an investment trend. In markets, he who sells the basics gets rich. James Marshall did not sell the basics... and he left California broke. He was the first guy to pull a gold nugget out of the mud during the 1848 gold rush. He literally struck gold and ended up penniless. You know who got fabulously wealthy though? The businessmen who sold the basic tools needed to find and extract the gold. Investing in who sells the basics requires you to buy stocks that will never make the front page of The Wall Street Journal. For example, Google (GOOG) is famous for turning the search engine into a $120-billion-a-year business. Along the way it handed investors 1,900% gains. But without keyboards, mice, and screens the search engine wouldnt have taken off. Logitech (LOGI) is a leading maker of this basic equipment. Over the past five years its stock has more than doubled Googles performance, as you can see here: Were getting in on the ground floor of companies making the basics that will power superfast 5G We talked about the lightning-fast Fifth Generation Wireless Technology (5G) recently. In short, 5G is the new wireless network all our phones and computers will soon run on. It will be superfastwith speeds up to 20 gigabytes per second. Thats 1,000x faster than what we have today. Its important to understand that 5G isnt a small improvement. Its a huge leap that will enable world-changing disruptions like self-driving cars and remote surgery. Launching 5G will require the biggest overhaul of Americas wireless networks EVER. According to the GSM Association, which represents 800 of the worlds largest mobile operators, itll cost roughly half a trillion dollars to build out the necessary infrastructure! The first wave of dollars will flow straight into the basics that enable 5G. Superfast speeds are a key benefit of 5G. But just as important is the HUGE improvement in the amount of data that can run through a 5G network. Think about a cell network like a highway. The more lanes it has, the more traffic it can handle. 5G is going to widen the wireless highway by around 100x from what we have today. This is crucial because new technologies will require far more data than current 4G networks can handle. For example, according to Intel (INTC), a single self-driving car uses roughly 4,000 GB a day. Thats like downloading 1,000 HD movies a dayper car! To expand 5Gs highway network providers like Sprint (S) and AT&T (T) are using something called Multiple Input, Multiple Outputor MIMO. Sprint Chief Technology Officer John Saw calls it our secret weapon to getting 5G built. MIMO involves packing more antennas onto cell towers. Each antenna acts like a new highway lane, allowing the network to handle more traffic. Using MIMO, Sprint increased 5Gs capacity by 300%. Demand for MIMO is expected to explode by 1,500% over the next eight years, according to ResearchandMarkets.com. Heres a picture of a MIMO box in Seattle. Although it looks basic, each box houses roughly 1,000 antennas. And a large cell tower might house 50 boxes. Computer chip maker Xilinx (XLNX) builds the brain of these MIMO boxes. Computer chips are the brains of electronic devices like smartphones and computers. Xilinx is the leading maker of a type of chip called field-programmable gate array (FPGA). Think of them as powerful blank canvases that can be used for many different tasks. For example, Amazon (AMZN) and Google use Xilinxs chips in their giant data centers. The U.S. Air Force uses them for its drones. The key advantage of Xilinx chips is they are adjustable. You can change them to perform a brand-new task, or optimize an existing one. Most other chips are built for a specific purpose and arent adjustable. This gives Xilinx a huge competitive advantage for 5G. Network providers like Sprint, AT&T, and Verizon (VZ) are figuring out how 5G works as they build it. For the most part industry standards havent been set. Things are constantly changing which requires the equipment to change along with it. Several wireless carriers in America and South Korea are already using Xilinxs chips in their 5G rollouts. Using Xilinx chips, one carrier was able to slash the energy use of its MIMO boxes in half. It also reduced the number of chips inside each from 24 to 4. Xilinx is already collecting checks from the 5G buildout. It charges roughly $40,000 for each chip inside a MIMO box. Last quarter sales from this business line jumped 33% to $260 millionthanks mostly to the early 5G rollouts in America and South Korea I mentioned. Xilinx is a profitable, well-run business. Over the past year its profits soared 24% to an all-time high. And not only are its margins at record highstheyre 3x better than the industry average. Disruptive companies must hit a delicate balance between growth and profitability. To achieve record highs in both at the same time is impressive. Xilinx is trading at $92 today. My research suggests the stock could hit $130 in the next 12 months as it starts collecting bigger checks from the 5G buildout. Ive said it before and Ill say it again: The Great Upgrade to 5G is one of the greatest booms in American history. Best of all, its just getting started. Were in the initial infrastructure buildout phase. Nows the time to get in early on companies that build the basics to bring 5G to all of America. Wireless carriers have started upgrading to 5G in several American cities. Are you on 5G yet? Tell me at stephen@riskhedge.com. Stephen McBride Chief Analyst, RiskHedge Reader Mailbag After reading our Great Disruptors special report, RiskHedge reader Spindrift wrote me with a question about 5G. Mr. McBride... I thoroughly enjoyed this report which is clearly representative of the areas of current disruption. My only concern is that your report fails to mention that China is already using 5G and is clearly ahead of the US in this space. I would be grateful for your thoughts. Spindrift, Im glad you enjoyed the report. Its true that China is pouring billions into 5G. According to Big 4 accounting firm Deloitte, China has outspent the US by $24 billion in 5G infrastructure. So far, it has built roughly 10 times more small cell towers than the US. China does not plan to launch any 5G services until the second half of 2019. But the key thing to know is 5G is not a winner-take-all game. Both America and China will have it, just like they both have 4G. And because Americas financial markets are more developed, transparent, and trustworthy than Chinas, most of the best investment opportunities are in the American businesses pushing 5G forward. By Stephen McBride http://www.riskhedge.com 2018 Copyright Stephen McBride - All Rights Reserved Disclaimer: The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Information and analysis above are derived from sources and utilising methods believed to be reliable, but we cannot accept responsibility for any losses you may incur as a result of this analysis. Individuals should consult with their personal financial advisors. 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication. Karl Marx once remarked to Friedrich Engels, his lifelong friend and collaborator, that there were sometimes uneventful decades in which years passed as though they were just days. But, he added, these may be again succeeded by days into which years are compressed. The current period in Britain is like the latter. Events are moving at a blistering pace. Years if not decades of contradictions within British capitalism are rapidly coming to the fore. The political crisis facing the establishment is unparalleled in modern times. The country, as one headline in the Daily Mail put it, is on a knife edge. So finely balanced is the situation that things could quickly accelerate in any direction once pushed. The volatility is such that future developments have become impossible to predict. No outcome can be ruled out at this stage. All we can say for certain is that, for Theresa May and the Tories, all roads lead to ruin. United against May May has been described as many things during her two years of premiership: from a safe pair of hands in the early post-referendum days; to weak and wobbly after the backfiring gamble of the 2017 snap election. But the Prime Minister has managed to do what none of her predecessors ever achieved: seemingly unite the whole of Parliament in this case, against her and her fated Brexit deal. After two years of fraught negotiations, Theresa May proudly announced the result to MPs on 14 November. But her finely stitched-together deal quickly fell apart upon contact with reality. As Aesop remarked in one of his fables: the mountain had heaved and produced a mouse. May has managed to do what none of her predecessors ever achieved: seemingly unite the whole of Parliament against her and her fated Brexit deal / Image: Socialist Appeal Of course this anti-May unity hides a variety of mutually opposed opinions. To paraphrase Tolstoy, the famous Russian writer: every unhappy Member of Parliament is unhappy in their own way. The most fanatical Brexiteers will accept nothing short of a complete break with the European Union, with Boris Johnson and other ardent Leave-voting Tories continuing to proclaim that the UK is going to be a de facto colony under their leaders proposed deal. On the other side, many Remainers are still clinging to hopes that the 2016 referendum result will be reversed. Tony Blair, for example, is one of many forceful voices in a cacophonous choir that continues to call for a Peoples Vote. Parliament takes back control This possibility was given a boost in Parliament on Tuesday, when MPs voted against the government, securing the right to decide on the countrys plan B in the eventuality that Mays deal is voted down next week, on Tuesday 11 December an outcome that now seems almost certain. MPs are tonight starting the process of taking back control, stated Dominic Grieve, the Remain-supporting Tory MP who proposed the motion to give Parliament a greater say over which future options to explore. This is a blessing for big business, who now have renewed hopes of avoiding a calamitous no-deal Brexit and possibly even pressing the STOP button on Brexit entirely. At the very least, this recent government defeat will put pressure on the Prime Minister to return to Parliament with an even softer deal potentially the Norway plus proposal that is now being touted by many leading figures, which would see the UK stay in the EUs custom union and retain access to the single market. This outcome would be greatly welcomed by the vast majority of the bosses and bankers. But it would be seen as betrayal by Brexiteers, who would rightly call a spade a spade for this would be their much-reviled BRINO: Brexit in name only. It can therefore not be ruled out that these hysterical Tory MPs might now even do a volte-face and vote for Mays deal, such are their fears of seeing their Brexit dreams slip through their fingers entirely. Historic humiliation For Theresa May, however, events in Parliament on were nothing short of (in the words of the Telegraph) humiliation on a historic scale. Following her Brexit deal announcement last month, the Prime Minister has been touring the country in advance of the upcoming parliamentary vote, trying to sell her proposal directly to voters and put pressure on MPs to support it. The possibility of a head-to-head televised debate between May and Corbyn was raised, although this has now been scotched as neither side was able to agree on the terms (with May wanting a panel format on the BBC, and Corbyn a one-on-one on ITV). Mays government was defeated three times in the space of an hour during a pre-vote debate in the Commons. The government was even found to be in contempt of Parliament for withholding legal information over the Brexit deal / Image: Flickr, UK Prime Minister But all of May's efforts were soon exposed as futile when the five-day pre-vote debate began in the House of Commons this week, with Mays government defeated three times in the space of an hour. The government was even found to be in contempt of Parliament for withholding legal information over the Brexit deal a truly unprecedented situation. 63 minutes of Mayhem ran the headline of the Mirror, before stating that the hat-trick of defeats for the Prime Minister had thrown her Brexit plans into disarray and created further chaos. The Guardian, meanwhile, said that Mays own speech sounded like a first draft of her own political obituary, putting the future of her government in doubt. She is now, in effect, leading a minority government, noted Sebastian Payne in the Financial Times. She is in office, but no longer clearly in power. And yet, the astute author remarked, she goes on. For a socialist Labour government The messy Brexit process is now rapidly coming to a head. Events could quickly accelerate following a defeat for Mays deal on 11 December. Even a no-deal departure from the EU cannot be ruled out, such is the paralysis in Parliament. But big business will move heaven and earth to avoid this apocalyptic scenario. If the prime minister loses the first vote by a huge margin, or is defeated on her second try, the Financial Times commented recently, the government will be plunged into a full-scale crisis. This decrepit Tory government could therefore soon fall. A general election would then be on the cards and with it the possibility of electing a Corbyn Labour government; a possibility that would fill workers and youth across the country with hope and confidence. It is only the coming to power of a radical Labour government that can cut through the Gordian Knot of Brexit / Image: Socialist Appeal In the final analysis, it is only this the coming to power of a radical Labour government that can cut through the Gordian Knot of Brexit. The question has entangled the Tories for years and divided working-class communities in the process. And while establishment politicians have fought amongst themselves, the crisis of capitalism has continued unabated, with workers forced to bear the brunt in the form of austerity and attacks on their conditions and pay. In or out of Europe, this crisis of the system will continue. Indeed, the continent itself is being torn apart by these centrifugal forces. Italy is in a budgetary standoff with EU finance ministers. Yellow-vest-clad workers have taken to the streets against the Macron government in France. And a new world slump is on the horizon and with it another wave of cuts to wages, jobs, and public services. Only with a bold socialist programme of nationalising the banks and big monopolies under workers control can a Labour government put an end to austerity and really take back control. The strategists of British capitalism are getting jittery. Even the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, is worried. Capitalism is having a bad time of it. Conservatives, he said, should continue to make the case for the market economy a model which had evolved down the ages. This mission is urgent, he stated recently. But why the urgency? Mr Hammond accepted there was a growing sense of unrest in the country from people who had experienced years of slow wage growth, felt insecure in their jobs and had seen house prices spiral out of their reach, commented the Financial Times recently (1/10/18). In other words, people are angry at the system. British capitalism is in a parlous state and the working class is being asked to pay for the crisis. Welcome to Britain in the second decade of the 21st century. Contradictions surfacing The crisis affecting British capitalism has never been so great as it is today. The legacy of the 2008-09 world slump still casts its shadow over the UK as the age of austerity enters its ninth year. All the contradictions of British capitalism are coming to the fore. We are faced with a deepening economic, political and social crisis. Another economic downturn is just a matter of time, The Economist magazine announced recently. With a new world slump looming, we are heading for the most crisis-ridden period for British capitalism in the last century. Even before Brexit, British capitalism was in a poor state. Between 2000 and 2015, the growth of UK GDP per head was lower than in Germany, Spain and France. Over this period, it only outperformed Italy, which was growing at a snails pace. Projected growth over the next five years is estimated at between 1.3 percent and 1.6 percent, leaving aside Brexit. This is a dismal picture. Collapse of British capitalism Once a key industrial power, the UK is now highly dependent on inward foreign indirect investment to keep it afloat. This reflects the stark weakness of British capitalism today. Once a key industrial power, the UK is now highly dependent on inward foreign investment. This reflects the stark weakness of British capitalism / Image: Socialist Appeal This is no world-beating economy, remarked Martin Wolf, the chief economic writer at the Financial Times. It is not even a European-beating economy. This humiliating collapse in the position of Britain, compared to its rivals, has been the result of the failure of the British capitalists to invest and modernise industry. Their short-sightedness has turned Britain into a largely rentier economy. Rather than investing in advanced technology and techniques, British capitalism has based itself on short-term financial speculation and the super-exploitation of cheap, insecure labour. This is why productivity growth in Britain is so stagnant, continually falling further behind the UKs competitors. Inglorious decline In Britain, the government funds a survey of UK workers every five years to keep track of how the quality of work is changing, explains the Financial Times (16/10/18). The latest results show Britons are working harder than at any time in the past 25 years, to tighter deadlines and with less autonomy. That would be a questionable price to pay for better economic growth, but the reality is worse: we are working for no gain at all. So-called work intensity is much higher in the UK than in France and Germany, but productivity is about a fifth lower and barely improved in a decade. This inglorious decline is mirrored by the decline of many former industrial areas of Britain. Social decay, drug addiction, crime and crumbling infrastructure affect many areas. Once proud communities, formerly based on high wage manufacturing and industrial jobs, have been completely undermined and are increasingly reliant on low-paid casual work. Dying creature Living standards have also declined. Real wages have fallen year on year since 2008, seeing a greater relative drop than any other advanced country apart from Greece and Mexico. There has been a bigger fall in real wages in the last decade than at any time in the past 200 years. Poverty has risen dramatically, affecting millions of people, as has the demand for food banks. The introduction of Universal Credit will reduce the incomes of the most vulnerable families by nearly 50 a week / Image: J J Ellison Poverty has risen dramatically, affecting millions of people, as has the demand for food banks. The introduction of Universal Credit will reduce the incomes of the most vulnerable families by nearly 50 a week, forcing many into absolute destitution. The pressures, agony, toil and stress of overwork has reached historic levels. No wonder that physical and mental health problems have become an epidemic. It is this feeling of being left behind that has built up feelings of resentment, anger and even rage in society. This is not simply a broken system that can be fixed. The capitalist system is in terminal decline. It is time we put this dying creature out of its misery and replaced it with a socialist planned economy, which could rid us of all the ills of crisis-ridden capitalism. Le Bureau du Directeur des Poursuites Publiques a publie la 101e edition de son courrier electronique le 9 mars 2020 qui fait la part belle a la violence dans le lieu de travail, le trafic humain entre autres. In 2019 in a landmark decision given by a court in France, three former senior employees of France Telecom were found guilty of implementing policies which led to the suicide of several employees in the 2000 s This is an important decision because the court considered the idea of moral harassment at work What do our laws have to say on bullying at work? At the outset, violence at work is recognised as an offence in our law For a long time, it was the Employment Rights Act ( which criminalised both physical and verbal violence under section 54 1 The Employment Rights Act has since, been replaced by the Workers Rights Act ( In this piece of legislation, bullying is considered as a form of violence at work Section 114 1 is a replica of section 54 and it reads as follows No person shall (a) harass, sexually or otherwise (b) assault (c) verbally abuse, swear at or insult (d) express the intention to cause harm to (e) bully or use threatening behaviour towards (f) use aggressive gesture indicating intimidation, contempt or disdain towards (g) by words or act, hinder, a worker, in the course of or as a result of his work Violence at work can be in different forms It can be physical or verbal The offender is a which means that the he may be an employee, employer or someone who is not a party to the contract of employment. (1,9 MiB, 731 hits) Partager et informez vous aussi...... 0 shares Share Tweet LinkedIn 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. 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. The news that a soldier was injured by a landmine during a mine-clearing operation spread fast in a small village near China's border with Vietnam. It was told that in the minefield less than 1 kilometer away from the village, Du Fuguo, a 26-year-old soldier, lost both his eyes and his hands trying to dismantle a landmine, his thick blast suit torn to shreds. "We are saddened by the news," said Li Wanyan, a villager from Bazi Village of Malipo County in southwest China's Yunnan Province. "There was no road in the minefield; they had to climb all the way to the mountain while carrying tons of explosives a daunting task." The village, located at the foot of Laoshan Mountain along China's border with Vietnam, was one of the major battlegrounds during the Sino-Vietnamese War in which hundreds of thousands of landmines were laid down by both sides. More than three decades after the war, the hidden bombs still leave deep scars of war behind. Bazi Village of Malipo County in southwest China's Yunnan Province. /courtesy of Li Wanyan Only one leg left In Bazi Village, where Li Wanyan lives, it is not rare to see men with only one leg. "Powerful landmines in the minefield near Laoshan Mountain can rip off a leg easily," Li said. When Li was a kid, she used to dig up fruits from the ground near the mountain but sometimes ended up finding landmines. Elders in the village would ask her to keep a distance while taking out the detonator by hand. But many male adults, who had to go to the mountain to plow their fields or herd cattle were often injured by landmine explosions. "We were not even surprised when we heard someone was injured," Li said. But the village is hardly alone. In the neighboring Balihe Village, it is reported that on average every household has a family member that has lost one leg. About 1.3 million landmines and 480,000 other explosives were buried on southwest China's Yunnan Province bordering Vietnam, according to a Southern Weekly report. Swept away by rainfall, many of the landmines became hidden beneath thick layers of dirt, tangled within branches and grass. A single touch could trigger an explosion. Landmines and other explosives dug out by soldiers in Yunnan, November 24, 2016. /VCG Photo Months after emerging from austerity purgatory, Greece is still too poor to afford its battleship fleet, according to Defense Minister Panos Kammenos, who asked wealthy and ordinary Greeks to make up the difference. Kammenos is hoping to raise money for new battleships by appealing to his countrymen for funds, hoping to catch the ear of some of Greeces wealthy shipping magnates as well as working-class Greeks. In what may be the worlds first military Kickstarter, the defense minister will open a bank account on January 1 where Greek citizens will be able to donate for new frigates and a flagship. He promised to match all donations out of his own pocket. Also on rt.com Greeks slam Bavarian minister for joking that Greece should still be under German rule I will be the first to deposit my salary in this effort, he told navy personnel on Thursday, the feast day for St. Nicholas, patron saint of Greek seamen and the navy. The Defense Ministry plans to upgrade its fleet in 2019 as the nation continues to lock horns with Turkey, though its unclear how it expects Greece to pay for the new weaponry. In October, Kammenos visited the US in hopes of encouraging the US to expand its military presence in the country, and Greece recently signed a $1.5 billion deal to upgrade its F-16 fighter jet fleet. Greece has been paying back a total of $330 billion in loans that came in three International Monetary Fund programs with crippling austerity measures attached. While the government has fulfilled its obligations as of August, the average Greek household is still reeling from the effects of austerity cuts. While PM Alexis Tsipras hailed the end of the bailouts with the announcement that his government would focus on social spending, the country is in reality still closely watched by the IMF, which is unlikely to tolerate any deviations from neoliberal orthodoxy. Like this story? Share it with a friend! Chinas mission to land spacecraft on moons unexplored dark side Chinas mission to land spacecraft on moons unexplored dark side Beijing is preparing to launch the Change 4 mission early Saturday to soft-land a spacecraft on the largely unexplored far side of the moon. China hopes to be the first country to ever successfully undertake such a landing, AP said. The moons far side is known as the dark side because it faces away from Earth and remains comparatively unknown. It has a different composition from sites on the near side, where previous missions have landed. If successful, the mission scheduled to blast off aboard a Long March 3B rocket will propel the Chinese space program to a leading position in one of the most important areas of lunar exploration. China landed its Yutu rover on the moon five years ago and plans to send its Change 5 probe there next year. A crewed lunar mission is under consideration. Change is the goddess of the moon in Chinese mythology.Source : RT - Daily news Education Montgomery County Community College will present the spring installment of the interview/talk show program Issues and Insights April 20 from 12:30 to 2 p.m. in Science Center room 214, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The programs will be simulcast to the Colleges West Campus in South Hall room 216, 101 College Drive, Pottstown. Dr. Kolsky will offer a humorous presentation, Carrots, Sticks and Politics: A State of the Nation and the World Message. In this speech, he will provide his interpretation of domestic and international politics and then welcome questions from the audience for discussion. Issues and Insights, is free and open to the public. For information, contact Dr. Thomas Kolsky, professor of political science, at 215-641-6380 or tkolsky@mc3.edu. Montgomery County Community Colleges STEM Scholars Program will host a STEM Jam! open house April 25 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the Advanced Technology Center at the Colleges Central Campus, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The drop-in event is designed for students interested in learning more about careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Activities will include STEM program information and career advising, STEM speakers throughout the day from industry and academia, micro-helicopter and robotics competitive obstacle courses and demonstrations and static models of STEM student and faculty work. For more information about STEM Jam! or STEM programs at MCCC, contact William Brownlowe at wbrownlowe@mc3.edu or 215-641-6644, or Robin Zuhlke at 215-619-7440 or rzuhlke@mc3.edu. Temple Ambler, located at 580 Meetinghouse Road, presents the following events: International Club Global Bazaar April 15 from 5 to 8 p.m. The Ambler Campus International Club invites all students, faculty, staff and the community to celebrate a multitude of diverse cultures, which will be showcased at the organizations Global Bazaar. This family friendly event will highlight cultural traditions and celebrations in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, South American, North America and Africa through music, entertainment, food and informative displays developed and presented by students at the Ambler Campus. Young visitors will be provided with passports, which they may get stamped at each country they visit. Prizes will be awarded to world travelers who talk to cultural representatives, answer questions about the countries theyve visited and take part in fun-filled activities designed to help them learn about the rich diversity of cultures found throughout the world. Refreshments will be served. The event is free. For more information, call 267-468-8108 or e-mail tuc36466@temple.edu. EarthFest 2011 April 29 from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. More than 75 exhibitors, including the Philadelphia Zoo, The Franklin Institute, the Academy of Natural Sciences, the Elmwood Park Zoo and the Insectarium, will take part in EarthFest 2011. School students of all ages are invited to attend and develop displays of their own. EarthFest partner the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society also offers its Kids Grow Expo, featuring the Junior Flower Show, as part of the event. For more information, call 267-468-8108 or e-mail duffyj@temple.edu. Annual Spring Plant Sale May 7 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The plant sale an Ambler Campus tradition dating back to the early 1900s will feature woody plants and perennials in portable sizes, hardy trees, shrubs, and vines, native plants that are attractive to wildlife, herbs, and hanging baskets. There will also be numerous special plants for sale to highlight Amblers special anniversary year. Garden books and garden tools will also be available for sale. Students, staff, and volunteers from the Department of Landscape Architecture and Horticulture and the Ambler Arboretum Advisory Committee will be available to answer questions. All proceeds from the Spring Plant Sale will support the Ambler Arboretum Fund and the Pi Alpha Xi National Honor Society. Information: 267-468-8001 or judy.shatz@temple.edu. Learn more at www.ambler.temple.edu/anniversary. June Homecoming/Louise Bush-Brown Garden Dedication June 5 from 12:30 to 2 p.m. (June Homecoming), Bright Hall Lounge; 2 p.m. (Garden Dedication), Ambler Campus Formal Perennial Gardens. Tickets June Homecoming: Participant $18 per person; Sustainer $25 per person; Benefactor $40 per person. The 2011 June Homecoming, sponsored by the School of Environmental Design Alumni Association, will include the Alumni Association annual meeting and luncheon. June Homecoming will be followed by the formal dedication of Temple University Amblers Formal Perennial Gardens as the Louise Bush-Brown Formal Gardens. During this 100th anniversary of the campus, Temple University Ambler and the Ambler Arboretum of the Temple University is honoring Louise Bush-Browns many contributions to the history of the campus by formally dedicating the gardens in her honor. During the program, campus Executive William Parshall will welcome guests, Ambler Arboretum Director Jenny Rose Carey will speak about the Bush-Browns and the history of the garden, and an official ribbon cutting will be held for the Louise Bush-Brown Formal Garden. Following the ribbon cutting, guests are invited to take a tour of the gardens, which will wend their way to the Campus Greenhouse for the School of Environmental Designs annual Plant Auction. Information (Garden Dedication): 267-468-8001 or judy.shatz@temple.edu. Information (June Homecoming): 215-482-0722. Learn more at www.ambler.temple.edu/anniversary. Northview Garden Tour and Fundraiser for the Ambler Arboretum June 12 from noon to 5 p.m. Call for reservations. Tickets: $15 per person or $20 at the door. In addition to the gardens of the Ambler Arboretum of Temple University, Arboretum Director Jenny Rose Carey has a garden oasis all her own right in Ambler Northview. Visitors will have the opportunity to take self-guided tours throughout the many gardens, where garden experts will be available to answer questions about the various designs. The Ambler Keystone Chapter of the Womans National Farm and Garden Association will also provide tea and refreshments. All proceeds from the tours will support the Ambler Arboretum of Temple University. Information or to register: 267-468-8001 or judy.shatz@temple.edu. Learn more at www.ambler.temple.edu/anniversary. The Senior Adult Activities Center of Montgomery County, 536 George Street, Norristown, will hold the following events: SAAC Adult Day Care, an alternative to Nursing Home Care is available for information call 610-275-1960 Volunteers are needed for Meals on Wheels Program (call the number above) SAACs Fifth Avenue Boutique opens Monday through Friday from 10 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Exercise with Theresa will be held every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 1 p.m. Dance class is held every Monday at 10 a.m. Tai Chi is held every Monday at 10 a.m. Yoga is held every Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. Line Dancing is held every Thursday at 10:30 a.m. Dancing with Joan is held every Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. Sculpture Class is held Wednesdays from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Why Should I Learn Spanish? will be held Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m. Generations On-Line computer classes for seniors will be held Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. 4 p.m. computers are available during those hours. Health Living will be held every Tuesday at 1 p.m. Boomer U will hold the following events. Boomer U is located at 45 Forest Avenue, Ambler. Registration & payment is required for all events: 215-619-8863. Pilates Class is held Wednesdays and Fridays at 9:30 a.m. First class is free; please bring a mat. For information call 610-291-5376. Blue Bell School of Dance, 921 Penllyn Blue Bell Pike, Blue Bell, hosts Argentine Tango Classes and a Milonga dance party every Friday evening. Lessons start at 8:30 p.m. followed by dancing at 9:30 p.m. Andrew Conway, master Argentine Tango dancer, instructor and performer and his partner Linda Chase will instruct. All levels welcome and no partner is needed. Refreshments will be served. Fee is $12 per person and includes lesson and dancing. Information: 215-634-1101 or www.amoretango.com. The Montgomery Hospital Medical Center will offer the following classes: Childbirth Education Class- all parents are invited to participate, including those who are delivering at other hospitals. For more information on maternity services or classes, call 610-270-2020. CPR and First Aid Courses are offered for beginners to experiences health care providers. Call 610-270-2313. The Ambler SAAC (Senior Adult Activities Center), located at 45 Forest Ave in Ambler will hold the following events: Tai Chi every Monday and Thursday at 11 a.m. Yoga is every Tuesday at 1 p.m. and Friday at 10:30 a.m. Strength and balance training every Wednesday at 10 a.m. Armchair Aerobics is held every Monday at 10 a.m. Gourmet Weight Wise every Thursday at 12:30. Fitness Center and Pool Room open daily 8 a.m.-4 p.m. The Diabetes Education Center will offer day and evening classes each month. Health insurance pays for diabetes education classes. Preregistration is required. Call 610-270-2301. For Kids & Families The Ambler Kiwanis Club will host its annual Easter Egg Hunt April 26 at 10 a.m. in Ambler Borough Park, located just off of the intersection of Hendricks Street and Valley Brook Road. Members of the Wissahickon Key Club will assist Kiwanians in hiding thousands of wrapped chocolate eggs in a designated area of the park. Also hidden will be plastic colored eggs, which are redeemed for prizes. Elementary school children are separated by age. Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation will hold its 21st annual Storybook Egg-Stravaganza April 15 fom 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Upper Dublin Township Building. Toddlers and preschoolers love this annual event where photo opportunities with favorite friends abound! Treasures are collected from UDP&Rs assortment of lifesize cutouts of favorite cartoon characters from Disney, Sesame Street, Nickelodeon and other well-known animation. Children can have their picture taken with Bugsy OHare; bring your own camera. And dont forget a basket for goodies! $7 for UD residents; $12 for non-residents. Pre-register at 215-643-1600 ext. 3443. Splash Week is a free week-long program that teaches children and families basic swimming skills and water safety practices. All YMCA branches will host multiple classes each day from April 11 to 15. For more information, contact the Ambler Area YMCA at 215-628-9950. Healthy Kids Day is April 16 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The day is filled with fun, engaging and artistic activities that cultivate healthy living as part of the YMCAs larger efforts to help more kids and families become physically active. All activities are free and open to the community. For more information, contact the Ambler YMCA at 215-628-9950. No reservation is required. The Ambler Area YMCA has added several new programs for area youngsters. Classes are held late afternoons or evenings on various weekdays. For more information, visit philaymca.org or call 215-628-9950. Basic Beading: Ages: 10+. Wednesdays 7 to 7:45 p.m. This class will teach you the fundamentals of wiring and stringing along with how color can be used to create unique and vibrant beadwork design. You will create various jewelry including earrings, bracelets, charm pendants and much more! Supplies will be provided. Bringing your own jewelry pliers or tools would be a plus. Messin with the Masters: Ages: 8-12. Thursdays 7 to 7:45 p.m. Learn about some of the worlds greatest artists. You will be inspired to create your own Starry Night with oil pastels and tempera paints, a tissue paper painted Monet garden, a Picasso head using scraps of paper, a Georgia OKeeffe clay flower bowl and a Rousseau jungle collage. Super Scientist: Ages: 5-7. Mondays 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. Well be concocting chemistry experiments such as making slime, mixing potions and having fun with magnet magic. Your budding little scientist will enhance his/her creative thinking and motor skills and to top it off will learn that science can be serious fun. Wacky Junk Art: Ages: 8-12. Thursdays 6 to 6:45 p.m. Why throw it away! Instead join us to make household junk into aliens from outer space, wacky specs, crazy hats, body masks or a recycled train. Globe Trotters: Ages: 4-6. Tuesdays 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. Youre never too young to start thinking globally. Each week, we explore a new country through crafts, games, music, stories and even some taste-testing. A perfect introduction to our great big world! Crazy about Crafts: Ages: 5-7, Thursdays 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. Let your childs creative juices flow with our fun arts and crafts projects each week. Fine motor skills and creative thinking skills will be enhanced with this crafty class. Come out and join the Ambler Area YMCAs Teen and Junior Leaders Club. Participants are given the freedom to plan community service projects year round and truly make a difference in the lives of people in need. Those in Teen and Junior Leaders also attend leadership retreats all along the East Coast three times a year and meet other leaders who are doing the same great work in their respective areas. Dont miss out on this inspiring opportunity. Teen Leaders, ages 13-17, meet every Wednesday from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Junior Leaders, ages 10-12, will begin in the spring and will meet every Monday. For more information, contact Mike Miles, Teen Director, 215- 628-9950 x 1540 or mmiles@philaymca.org. Did you know that the new Ambler Area YMCA holds childrens birthday parties at its site for members and non members as well. The Ambler Y does all the work from start to finish and birthday parties include a personalized cake, ice cream, beverage and paper products. Parties are held on Saturday and Sunday afternoons and include two party hosts to lead activities, set-up, clean-up and assist with serving. You can have a Splash Party for children ages six to 12 in the new zero depth entry pool with water slide and spray fountains. Up to 25 children have exclusive use of the pool area with 30 minutes in the party room. Sports Parties are offered for kids ages four to 12 with age appropriate activities and games, and sports such as floor hockey, soccer, basketball or dodge ball. Children ages three to five years of age will enjoy parties in the Family Active Center with use of the Moon Bounce and organized activities, such as parachute play and songs. For information, 215-628-9950 ext. 1583. Community Events at the Ambler Y: -YAchievers YMCA Achievers is a developmentally based, extracurricular, educational and team mentoring program designed to help students in grades five through 12 prepare for fulfilled livelihoods in college and beyond. Participation is free and all students in this program receive a free YMCA membership. Registration for the 2009 program begins now. You do not need to be a YMCA member to utilize these special services. Call 215-628-9950 to register. Greater Norristown Art Leagues Childrens Weeklong Summer Art Camps will be held at 800 West Germantown Pike in East Norriton, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday throughout the summer. The cost per session is $125 per student for ages 6 and up. Jo Ann Cooksey Bono teaches an introduction to basic drawing skills and techniques from 10 a.m. until the lunch break each day. In the afternoon sessions, Mary Vogel Lozinak involves the students in hands on projects such as collage, papermaking, T-shirt printing, 3D design and sculpy clay. Fridays Graduation Day includes an art show, awards ceremony and reception for parents, siblings, grandparents and friends. All supplies are included. Students provide their own lunch. A refrigerator is available and the building is air-conditioned. This is the 15th year to run this successful program. Both instructors are professional artists with State Police and Child Abuse Clearances. To register, call Jo Ann at 610-279-1008, or register on-line at www.gnal.org. Health Dresher Physical Therapy is hosting an interactive seminar discussing its Golf Assessment Progam April 30 from 10 a.m. to noon at Dresher Physical Therapy, 1075 Virginia Drive, Suite 200, Fort Washington. Physical therapist Chris Miller, certified through the Titleist Performance Institute, will discuss why your body may be the most important piece of golf equipment you invest in and how this can drastically improve your game. $10 in advance; $15 at the door. Call 215-619-4545 to reserve your spot. The Chestnut Hill Center for Enrichment, Center on the Hill and Chestnut Hill Hospital will host a Senior Health and Resource Fair April 14 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Chestnut Hill Presbyterian Church, 8855 Germantown Ave. The event is free. For more information, call 215-248-0180 or e-mail chseniors@cavtel.net. The Ambler Senior Adult Activities Center is hosting Help Yourself to Health, a new six-week workshop for older adults with ongoing health conditions such as arthritis, diabetes, high blood pressure, anxiety, heart disease and others. The free workshop will take place at the Ambler Senior Adult Activities Center, 45 Forest Ave. on six Thursdays, May 12 through June 16 from 9:30 a.m. to noon. Although there is no charge to participate, registration is required. To register, call 215-619-8863. The Ambler Senior Adult Activities Center is sponsoring an eight-week program called A Matter of Balance: Managing Concerns About Falls. Presented by the Montgomery County Health Department, this workshop will be held on Tuesdays, May 3 to June 21 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Ambler Center, 45 Forest Ave. If you pre-register by April 27, the fee is only $5! Registration at the first class is $10. (Checks should be payable to SAAC and will benefit our Meals on Wheels program that serves homebound seniors.) A workbook will be provided and refreshments will be served. Call 215-619-8863 to register or for more information. Fort Washington Wellness Center classes are ongoing. There are several offered during lunch or right after work, for your convenience: Boot Camp from noon to 1 p.m. on Monday; Zumba is MWF from 11 a.m. to noon and Friday at 4 p.m.; there are 25 cycling classes; Ashtanga and Vinyasana Yoga and Pilates; and a group Womens Strength Training class M-F from 10 to 11 a.m. Questions, call Cathy DeMarco at 215-641-1245. Following the success of other local area programs, Impact Sports and Upper Dublin Parks and Recreation are delighted to team up again to offer a spring program for the 2011 season! Upper Dublin area children ages 3-5 years old can attend a Sports Program featuring their favorite sports games; soccer, rugby, hockey, track and field, basketball, and more. The program will start on April 27 and run through June 1. Cost for the program is $85 for the six weeks. The classes will be running 12- 1 p.m.; 1- 2 p.m.; 2- 3 p.m. For more info or to register, call Upper Dublin Township on 215 643 1600 or visit their website a http://www.upperdublin.net. Spring Aquatic Programs UDHS Pool: -Summer is just around the corner Community Aquatic Programs at the UDHS Pool can help get you into shape! Programs begin in March; preregistration is required. Shallow Water Aerobics Two 5-week programs, Wednesday nights, 8-8:45 p.m., $40R/$50NR. Adult Swim Instructions Two 5-week programs, Wednesday nights, 7-8 p.m., $50R/$60NR -Open Rec Swims are fun for the whole family! Come out on Fridays from 7-9 p.m. or Saturdays from 1-4 p.m. and enjoy use of the pool and diving area. Fridays are offered through June 17; Saturdays are offered March 12-May 21. -Join a growing group of adult lap swimmers and water walkers. Lanes are set aside evenings and weekends for use; lanes are shared. Monday Thursday from 7:30-9:30 p.m.; Fridays from 7-9 p.m. and Saturdays (March 12-May 21) from 1-4 p.m. -Private Swimming & Diving Lessons for ages 3-adult are offered at the UDHS Pool through a partnership with the Upper Dublin Aquatic Club (UDAC). Visit the UDAC website for more information, www.udac.us, and click the link to UDHS Private Lessons. -Looking for local programs for US Masters Swimming (adults) or Water Polo (all ages)? UDAC and UDSD are working together to develop programs that will be offered at the UDHS Pool. Add your name to Interest Lists by emailing slohoefer@upperdublin.net. emails will be sent about clinics and program start dates. Questions about Community Aquatic Programs at the UDHS Pool, group use of the pool or pool rental? Contact Susan Lohoefer, Facility & Community Affairs Manager at slohoefer@upperdublin.net or call 215-643-8800 x8994. SilverSneakers Fitness Program. The Healthyways SilverSneakers Fitness Program is a result-oriented program that enables older adults to take charge of their health. The program is an innovative blend of physical activity, healthy lifestyle and socially oriented programing. Members of the program are eligible for a free YMCA membership, with use of the pool and exercise equipment, along with customized classes designed for older adults who want to improve their strength, flexibility, balance and endurance. If you are a subscriber to Independence Blue Cross (Personal Choice 65 PPO) or Keystone 65 HMO, Bravo Health, or Health Options Programs (HOP), call the Ambler Area YMCA, 215-628-9950 or Hatboro Area YMCA, 215-674-4545. You can also visit www.silversneakers.com. Zumba Fitness offers Zumba dance/fitness classes at Academy of Dance and Music/BBAD Studio located at 1524 DeKalb Pike in Blue Bell (behind Sherwin Williams). Classes are offered three times a week: Tuesdays at 6 p.m., Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 8 a.m. For a free trial pass for your first class, email us at info@danceandmusic.biz or call 610-277-2557. For more info, visit our site at www.academyofdanceandmusic.org. Chestnut Hill Health Systems presents the following Health Education Programs: FITNESS CLASSES Golden Yoga: A Breathing, Stretching and Relaxation Class. Fridays, 2:30-3:30 p.m. Lea Auditorium, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave. Registration for four classes at a time required. Golden Yoga is Classical Yoga, adapted by the SKY Foundation, to accommodate those who have difficulty getting up and down from the floor. The program includes postures, breathing, relaxation and meditation techniques, all performed while sitting in a chair and standing. Registration required. Call 215-247-3029. Cost: $20 for 4 classes per month. Tai Chi: Tuesdays & Thursdays, 8:30 9:30 a.m. Springfield Residence, 8601 Stenton Ave. Classes, for the novice or beginner/intermediate student, are designed to improve balance, power, posture, coordination, flexibility and mental focus. Slow, gentle movements are modified to most everyones abilities. For more information or to sign up for a free introductory class, call 215-882-2804. Cost: $8 per class/paid monthly. SUPPORT GROUPS Weight Loss Surgery Support Group: Fourth Wednesday of the month, 7-8 p.m. Williams Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave., Philadelphia. Join us for a monthly get-together where well share information for those interested in weight loss surgery, learn from guest speakers discussing current news on issues including lifestyle modification, nutrition and exercise and provide ongoing support for those who have completed surgery. Registration required. Call 215-753-2000. Breast Cancer Networking Group: Fourth Tuesday of the month 5:30 7 p.m. Williams Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave., Philadelphia. A free, confidential support group for women living with a diagnosis of breast cancer designed to provide a forum for sharing information, feelings and concerns associated with breast cancer. Facilitated by Tish Wakefield, LCSW, Oncology Social Worker. Registration required. To register or for more information, call 215-248-8047. New Moms Support Groups Tuesdays 10:30 a.m. 12 p.m.; contact Jeanine ORourke, MSW or 2:30 4 p.m.; contact Susan Schack, Ph.D Volunteer Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave. The Center for Postpartum Depression at Chestnut Hill Hospital is pleased to offer two new support groups to support new moms. Both groups will be run by experienced mental health professionals who really get it when it comes to new motherhood and juggling relationships, extended family, work/family balance and self-care. If you are experiencing new mom challenges that often heighten anxiety and involve hormonally driven depression, join us for an informative and supportive forum to connect with other moms. Infants are welcome. $30 per session (flexible based on need). Registration is required. Call Dr. Schack, 646-265-2484, or Ms. ORourke, 215-206-2931. Man to Man Prostate Cancer Support Group Third Thursday of the month 8-9 a.m. Williams Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave. A networking group for men diagnosed with prostate cancer designed to provide education, support and encouragement. Spouses and partners welcome. Harry M. Baer, MD, Chief, Urology Division, will host Ask the Doctor. Registration required. Call 215-248-8325. Contact the Senior Center by phone 215-248-0180 or email (chseniors@cavtel.net) with your questions about these programs or any of our on-going activities and classes. Holy Redeemer HomeCare and Hospice seeks compassionate and emotionally mature volunteers to provide support to local hospice patients and their families in Bucks, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties. Volunteers may also assist with pet therapy and administrative work within the hospice department and are requested to have daytime availability. Hospice patient care volunteers visit with patients in their homes or nursing facilities once a week for two to three hours. They provide emotional support and companionship to patients and family members, assist with errands or provide respite for caregivers. Bereavement volunteers support the families of hospice patients following the loss of a loved one, while administrative volunteers assist with typing, mailings and/or filing. Hospice care workers provide a great service to families and loved ones of hospice patients. Many volunteers also report a great deal of personal satisfaction as a result of their services. Patient care and bereavement volunteers complete an application and attend an 18-hour volunteer training program that covers the medical, psychological and spiritual aspects of hospice volunteering. Day and evening training programs are offered. To sign up for volunteer opportunities in Pennsylvania, contact Holy Redeemer Volunteer Coordinator Jean Francis at 215-698-3737 or email jfrancis@holyredeemer.com. Librarytalk Upper Dublin Public Library, 805 Loch Alsh Avenue, Ft. Washington, 215-628-8744 www.upperdublinlibrary.org APRIL CHILDRENS PROGRAMS: Storytimes: Please register in the library. o Wee Ones: 0 to 23 months Thursdays and Fridays 10:30 to 10:50 a.m. o Tiny Tots: age 2. Wednesdays 10:30 to 10:50 a.m. and Fridays 11 to 11:20 a.m. o Jr. Book Lovers: ages 3 to 6. Tuesdays 10:30 to 11 a.m. o Bedtime Storytimes: 7 to 7:30 p.m. April 20 and 27. Wear your jammies, bring your teddy & hear Miss Barbara read bedtime stories! For ages 3 to 6. APRIL TEEN PROGRAMS: North Hills Library Teens April 28 from 4 to 6 p.m. Movie Matinee APRIL UDPL ADULT PROGRAMS: NEW! ESL Conversation Group. Tuesdays from 7 to 8 p.m. Interested in practicing your English in a safe and caring environment? Come to our conversation group and improve your skills! Please register with Kay Klocko at 215-628-8744 or kklocko@mclinc.org. One-on-One Computer Mentoring. Get personalized assistance from experienced computer volunteers! Sign-up for a one-hour session. Limit one session per month. Please register contact info above. Book Groups Please register with Kay Klocko 215-628-8744. o Daytimers: April 21 at 1:30 p.m. Tired of book groups where you all read the same book? Read any fiction or non-fiction book on this months theme: Explorers. Please register. Meetings: Annual Meeting of the Friends of UDPL: April 14 at 1 p.m. Board of Directors: April 20 at 7 p.m. Blue Bell Library www.wvpl.org Upcoming Events: The Wissahickon Valley Public Library, 650 Skippack Pike (Route 73) in Blue Bell, is diagonally across from the Blue Bell Inn. Call 215-643-1320 or visit their website at www.wvpl.org. For children and teens at Blue Bell: * Story times with guitar music by Miss Michelle, the singing librarian. * Mondays at 10:30 a.m. for all ages. * Wednesdays at 4:30 p.m. for all ages. * Fridays at 10:30 a.m. for all ages. * Family Movies, new releases, second Saturdays of the month at 1:30 p.m. * May 14 Despicable Me * June 11 Alpha and Omega * Special Events * April watch for date of spring/Easter events * April 14 at 4:30 p.m. Junior Lego Club for children ages 3 through 5. Parents and caregivers need to stay with children. * April 14 at 7 p.m. Jeopardy for ages 11 to 18. Test your book and library knowledge for prizes. Sign up to be a contestant. No sign up to be in the audience. Snacks provided. * April 16 at 1 p.m. Adult Mystery Book Group discussing The Beekeepers Apprentice by Laurie King. * April 16 at 1:30 p.m. Childrens event for One Book, Every Young Child celebration. Story and craft for book Whose Shoes? * April 19 at 7 p.m. and April 26 at 1:30 p.m.- Adult book group discusses The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester. Group led by Adam Button. * April 30 through May 3 Friends book sale with about 10,000 items for sale for children, teens and adults. * May sign up for Science in the Summer * June sign up for Enrichment Programs for Elementary-Age children * June sign up for Summer Reading, all ages For adults at Blue Bell: * Daytime Book Discussion Group fourth Tuesday, Jan April at 1:30 p.m. * April 26 The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester * Night-time Book Discussion Group third Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. o April 19 The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester * Art Series with Dr. Sheldon Weintraub, docent at The Barnes and speaker at local colleges o April 27 at 2 p.m. The Art of Looking at Art-Is She Nude or Is She Naked? *Mystery Book Discussion Group, third Saturday of the month at 1 p.m.; new mystery theme each month; www.wvpl.org/programs * Yoga on Mondays at 1:30 p.m. $20 for eight classes; $5 per drop-in class. * Tai Chi on Mondays at 3 p.m. with Dr. Kurt Findeisen. $20 for eight classes; $5 per drop in class. * Philadelphia Museum of Art presents class on their Marc Chagall exhibit, April 13 at 2 p.m. * Giant Book Sale, April 29 May 3 o Starts with almost 10,000 items for children and adults! o Held during library hours. o Preview for members of the Friends of the Library, April 28 at 7 p.m. o Join the Friends and attend the preview sale. Modest fee to join. * Blooms at Blue Bell Gardening Series o May 11 at 1 p.m. Summer Bulbs by PA Horticultural Society * Knitting group Mondays and Wednesdays at 10 a.m. Work on your project or observe and learn. The groups continue year-round in the community room. * Socrates Cafe discussion group every Monday at 7 p.m. You pick the topic to discuss each week. No sign-up, nothing to read. * Bridge every Friday at 12:30 p.m. New players welcome. * Mah Jong every Wednesday at 1 p.m. New players welcome. *Chess every Wednesday at 7p.m. for adults and teens 14 and older. * Movie Matinee showing recent releases every Thursday at 2 p.m. April 14: Maos Last Dancer; April 21: Welcome to the Rileys; April 28: Conviction; May 5: Inception; May 12: Inside Job; May 19 The Kings Speech; May 26 The Fighter; June 2 Rabbit Hole; June 9 Black Swan; June 16 127 Hours * Ongoing like-new, year-round book sale for adults & children during library hours * Library opening at 10 a.m. Monday through Saturday! Ambler Library, a branch of the Wissahickon Valley Public Library, 209 Race St., 215-646-1072. www.wvpl.org. All the following events occur at the Ambler Library. * Story times with guitar music by Miss Michelle, the singing librarian. * Tuesdays at 10:30 a.m. for all ages. * Thursdays at 4:30 p.m. for all ages. * For adults: * Beading Group meets the first and third Monday of every month at 1 p.m. Work on your own projects or come to watch and learn. * Free Family History Lookup with Connie Briggs. Email Connie for an appointment at the Ambler Library. conniebriggs@comcast.net * Special Events: * April 14 at 1:30 p.m. Book Group discusses Skeletons at the Feast by Chris Bohjalian. * April 19 at 7 p.m. Travel to Paris with world traveler Harry Balin. Tea and scones at 6:30 p.m. * April 21 at 7 p.m. Art with Sara for children in fourth through seventh grades. *May 2 at 6:30 p.m. Discuss the movie Lone Star with Temple Professor Lisa Hawkins. Watch the movie ahead of time. *May 10 Robert Capucci discusses Art into Fashion. Tea and scones served at 6:30 p.m. Program at 7 p.m. *May 12 at 1:30p.m. Book Group discusses The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman. *May 17 Tour the gardens of Devon and Southwest England with Lois McMullen. Tea and Scones at 6:30 p.m. Program at 7 p.m. *June 13 at 6:30 p.m. Discuss the movie Blade Runner with Temple Professor Lisa Hawkins. Watch the movie ahead of time. Meetings and Lectures The Unisys Blue Bell Retiree Group will meet in the Church on the Mall in the Plymouth Meeting Mall April 14 at 1:30 p.m. Kathy Sacket Young, director/trainer with the North Penn YMCA, will speak on Keeping Fit in Retirement. For more information, contact Membership Committee Chairperson Jerry Feldscher at 610-275-3538 or President Al Rollin at 215-368-4833. The next FWBA meeting will be April 28 at the Hilton Garden Inn Fort Washington. Networking begins at 11:30 a.m.; meeting from noon to 1 p.m. Leon Singletary, Principal, First Contact HR and FWBA Executive Board, will present: Social Media: How to Use It To Get More Business. Lunch is provided courtesy of the Hilton Garden Inn Fort Washington. Members are welcome to bring a guest. An RSVP is requested by return email or 215-628-0313. Big Brothers Big Sisters Southeastern PA is hosting a information sessions over the next few weeks on how to become a Big Brother. The information sessions will take place: April 16 at noon, April 19 at 8 a.m. and April 28 at 6 p.m. All sessions will be held at the groups Norristown Office,t 530 DeKalb St., Norristown. For more information, call 610-277-2200. The North Penn Chapter of the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) normally meets on the third Tuesday of each month from now until May. Meetings are held at the William Penn Inn on Route 202 and Sumneytown Pike, Upper Gwynedd, PA. Social hour starts at 5:30 p.m., dinner is served at 6:30 p.m., and the technical program begins at 7 p.m. Cost with reservation is $28 for members. Members without reservations and guests pay $30. Students with reservations pay $15. Reservations may be made by noon on the Monday preceding the meeting by phoning 215-371-1854 or emailing the reservation to northpennima@yahoo.com northpennima@yahoo.com. Information about the North Penn Chapter is available at http://northpenn.imanet.org/. LeTip, a professional organization of men and women who are dedicated to the highest standards of competence and service meets every Tuesday at Cedar Brook Country Club, 180 Penllyn Pike, Blue Bell at 7 a.m. -meeting officially starts at 7:16 a.m. and ends at 8:31 a.m. Our purpose is the exchange of business tips, leads, and referrals. Each business category is represented by one member and conflicts of interest are disallowed. Guests are welcome to visit any of our breakfast meetings. Every third Thursday of month, Sunrise Assisted Living of Blue Bell (795 Penllyn Pike, Blue Bell, PA 19422, 215-619-2777) serves as a satellite site to 148th Legislative district PA congressman Mike Gerber from 10 a.m. to noon. Stop by for help needed with things such as disability placards and license plates, vehicle registration, utilities issues, birth/death certificates,property tax/rent rebates, etc. Notary services arranged by appointment. The Eastern Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce is an action-oriented organization dedicated to promoting its members and the economic health of eastern Montgomery county. The Chamber is committed to serving as a catalyst by uniting business, community agencies, government and education to make our county a great place to live and work. For information, call 215-887-5122 or visit www.emccc.org. Do you have a fear of public speaking? Blue Bell Toastmasters Club can help. We meet from 7 to 9 p.m., on the second and fourth Tuesday at the Marriott Courtyard, located on Route 202, directly across from the Montgomeryville Mall. Learn how to improve communication and leadership skills in a friendly and supportive environment. Guests are welcome. Admission fee: $5. For more info, visit www.bbtoast.org. The PennSuburban Chamber of Commerce will hold the following meetings (for reservations to any of the following, email info@PennSuburban.org) -Breakfast News Network, 7:30-8:45 a.m. at Normandy Farm Hotel (1401 Morris Road, Blue Bell, PA 19422) $15 members, includes full buffet breakfast. Join us for a networking program at Normandy Farm Hotel every Thursday morning for breakfast, business news, informative speakers, and plenty of networking. The cost includes a full breakfast buffet. Copies of the business cards will be made available to those who would like them. The BNI, Fort Washington Chapter meets every Monday at The Hilton Garden Inn, 520 Pennsylvania Ave., Fort Washington for a networking meeting. Meetings are from 11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. Visitors are welcome. The only cost to attend is the cost of your meal. For information or a reservation to attend, please call Luanne Cram at 215-947-7784, or visit our Internet site at: http://www.BNIDVR.Com and click on the menu item Find a Chapter. For the past seven years, people have enjoyed participating in WVWAs Adopt-a-Tree program. Individuals can support the Association in its reforestation efforts by purchasing native trees to be planted. Supporters can plant their adopted tree or have WVWA volunteers will plant it. Trees cost $30 each. If you would like to volunteer or purchase a tree(s), please contact: Bob Adams at Bob@wvwa.org or call: 215-646-8866 for more information. Check www.WVWA.org for directions and maps. Sustainable Upper Dublin, http://sustainableupperdublin.org, meets the first Thursday of each month at 6:30 p.m., at the Upper Dublin Township Building, 801 Loch Alsh Avenue, Fort Washington, PA 19034. Please send any questions to suec@sustainableupperdublin.org or call 610-996-6316. To learn more about Sustainable Upper Dublin, view or join the discussion at http://googlegroups.com/group/sustainableupperdublin. Special Events The Mattie N. Dixon Community Cupboard will hold its first nutrition class April 19 at 10 a.m. at the Community Cupboard, 150 N. Main St., Ambler. Lynne Sinclair, a nutritionist from Abington Memorial Hospital specializing in diabetic nutrition, will conduct the class. Topics will include healthy eating, beneficial foods, recipes, making meals with every day foods, and how to use unfamiliar produce. A healthy snack will be provided.The class is is open to all residents in Montgomery County. The Historical Society of Fort Washington presents The History of Conshohocken April 19 at 8 p.m. at the Clifton House, 473 Bethlehem Pike, Fort Washington. Jack Coll will present an illustrated program on the history of the Borough of Conshohocken. Coll is a longtime resident of Conshohocken and a member of the Conshohocken Historical Society. He is co-author with his son, Brian, of the Arcadia Then and Now Series book Conshohocken. He has also done books Conshohocken and West Conshohocken Sports and Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Italian Feast. He has taken many photos for the Conshohocken Record and the Norristown Times Herald. This program is free. Refreshments will be served. For additional information, call 215-646-6065. Taste of the White House Soiree featuring former White House Chef Walter Scheib will take place April 29 at 6 p.m. at Manufacturers Golf & Country Club in Fort Washington to celebrate HealthLinks 10th anniversary and honor its founders, the Eugene Jackson Family. The evening will heat up with a Chef Meet & Greet, followed by a specially selected presidential menu. Gala tickets are $150 per person. Proceeds benefit HealthLink, a free clinic providing compassionate, quality medical and dental care to uninsured, working adults in Bucks and Montgomery counties who fall in between the health care cracks. Go to http://tasteofthewhitehouse.charityhappenings.org to make reservations online or lend support through sponsorship. For event information, call 267-699-0124 or email jmarushak@healthlinkmedical.org. The Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association will hold an open house at the Evans-Mumbower Mill April 17 from 1 to 4 p.m. The Mill is at the corner of Swedesford and Township Line Roads in Upper Gwynedd. The open house is free but donations are welcome. For more information, call 215-646-8866 o email info@wvwa.org. The Eastern Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce will host Breakfast With Your County Commissioners and State Representatives April 21 from 8 to 9:30 a.m. at the Holiday Inn Fort Washington, 432 W. Pennasylvania Ave. Commissioners: James R. Matthews (Chairman), Joseph M. Hoeffel (Vice Chair), State Representatives: Todd Stephens (District 151) and Josh Shapiro (District 153). Register onlineat www.emccc.org. $10 for EMCCC member; $20 for non-members. Upper Dublins Districtwide Allied Art Show will be held April 27 from 5:30 to 9 p.m. in the Upper Dublin High School Athletic Complex. The Rev. Alfred Muli, chaplain at Fort Washington Estates, will be the featured speaker at the Kiwanis sponsored breakfast observing the National Day of Prayer May 5 at 7 a.m. at the William Penn Inn. The breakfast is open to the public ($15). Reservations can be made by calling 215-646-4356 or by emailing georgesaurman@Juno.com. The Upper Dublin Shade Tree Commission invites people to participate in its spring bare root planting events, sponsored in part by Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation and Friends of Robbins Park. On April 9, zix trees will be planted at the Evelyn B. Wright Park & Community Pool, 401 Logan Ave., North Hills, at 9 a.m., followed by the planting of 10 trees at Sheeleigh Park, Loch Alsh Avenue and Douglas Street, Ambler, at 10:15 a.m. On April 29, students from Upper Dublin High School will join the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society to plant 16 trees in Robbins Park, Butler Pike and Meetinghouse Road, Ambler, to help launch the societys Million Trees campaign. This event will occur in conjunction with Temple Amblers EarthFest. Experienced tree-tenders are sought to assist the students. For more information,contact Ron Ayres at 215-653-0421 or 215-483-4348. The Friends of the Wissahickon and the Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association are teaming up once again to clean the Wissahickon Creek from top to bottom April 30 from 9 a.m. to noon. This spring marks the 41st anniversary of Wissahickon Valley Watershed Associations annual Creek Clean Up, and the second year that FOW has teamed up with WVWA. Volunteers of all ages will clean the creek, the surrounding trails and the many tributaries of the Wissahickon Creek. Armed with bags, volunteers will be assigned to sections of the creek. Following the clean up, all volunteers are invited to WVWAs Talkin Trash picnic in Fort Washington State Park, with food provided by Whole Foods Market of North Wales. The pavilion is located on Mill Road in Flourtown. To help out in Montgomery County, all volunteers must be pre-assigned a section of the Wissahickon Creek to clean. Please contact Bob Adams, WVWA director of stewardship, at 215-646-8866 ext. 14 or bob@wvwa.org. To work with the Friends of the Wissahickon in Philadelphia, meet at the pavilion along Forbidden Drive, a short distance south of the intersection of Forbidden Drive and Northwestern Avenue. Limited parking is available along Northwestern Avenue and other nearby streets. Volunteers are encouraged to bike or carpool to the event. To participate, register at www.fow.org. Contact Kevin Groves with questions at 215-247-0417 ext. 105 or groves@fow.org. Montgomery County Community Colleges International Club invites the community to the second annual International Festival April 20 from 5 to 9 p.m. at the Central Campus, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The rain date is April 26. The International Club will transform the outside quad area into multicultural celebration with various performances by dancers, singers and musicians. Artists will share their artwork at various display tables. Activities include games, raffles, Easter egg decorating and henna tattoos. Students will have samples of international cuisine at tables representing different countries and will serve food from various local ethnic restaurants. Throughout the evening, volunteers will accept donations and will raffle gift baskets and prizes to raise funds for Habitat for Humanity. Donations of food, international clothes and prizes are needed. Volunteers, including artists and performers, are welcome. For more information or to sponsor an activity, contact Gillian Nel, International Club president, at gnel9277@students.mc3.edu or 267-974-0163. The Arts and Humanities Division at Montgomery County Community College is partnering with the Philadelphia Writers Conference to host Memoirs Matter: How Life Stories (Including Yours) Can Transform Your Relationship to Literature April 23 from 1 to 3 p.m. in Advanced Technology Center room 101, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The event is free and open to the public. In the first part of this two-hour seminar, professor and author Robert Waxler will explain how writing his two memoirs affected his life as well as his relationship to literature. In the second part, blogger and workshop leader Jerry Waxler will present a sequence of steps to help writers find their own story. For information, contact Dana Resente at dresente@mc3.edu. The Maple Glen Garden Club will hold its fourth annual Plant Sale on May 7 from 8 to 11 a.m. Perennials, shrubs, vegetables and native plants grown by the club members will be sold. The club uses the plant sale proceeds to fund community projects, a college scholarship and community plantings. The sale will be held in the 500 block of Coach Road, Horsham, as part of a neighborhood garage sale. Plants will be sold at bargain prices. For more information, email MapleGlenGardenClub@gmail.com. The Relay for Life Craft Show is looking for local crafters to participate in show, which will be May 21 from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the Wissahickon High School track, 521 Houston Road, Ambler. There is a $10 entry fee, and 20 percent of sales are donated to the American Cancer Society. Participants will receive a 6-foot table under a tent. For information, contact Joanne at joannescoles@comcast.net or Mindy at mcamsilver@comcast.net. Spring House Estates is hosting its annual book fair on April 18 from 4 to 7 p.m. and April 9 from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Included will be hardback and paperback used books. Spring House Estates is located at 728 Norristown Road, Lower Gwynedd. The PennSuburban Chamber of Commerce will present the Penn Suburban/Hatfield Joint Business Card Exchange April 20 from 5 to 7 p.m. at Univest Bank Lansdale Area Financial Service Center, 120 Forty Foot Road, Hatfield. The event is free. To make reservations, visit PennSuburban.org/Events. Join Univest National Bank and Trust Co. for a spring-inspired Business Card Exchange at its newest office in the Hatfield Pointe Shopping Center. Come out and meet members of Univests executive management team while enjoying fine food and beverages. 13th Annual Community Reading Day Kick-off Breakfast Get Together April 26 from 8 to 9:30 a.m. at the North Wales Area Library, 233 Swartley St., North Wales. The event is free. To make reservations, visit PennSuburban.org/Events. For more information, contact the chamber office at 215-362-9200 or info@pennsuburban.org. Join presenting sponsor Verizon, chamber staff and fellow members for the Community Reading Day volunteer get together. The Community Reading Day program allows volunteers to read a designated book to second-grade students throughout 38 area public and private schools and present the book as a gift to each class. Even if you are not a volunteer, you are cordially invited to stop by to network, enjoy coffee and pastries. Ambler Mennonite Church is hosting a Spring Craft Show and Flea Market May 21 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Rain date will be May 28. The community is invited to shop the great craft booths, find some gifts and deals, as well as enjoy home baked goods and tasty lunch specials. Childrens activities are planned. All vendors are encouraged to contact the church at 215-643-4876 or AmblerMennonite@verizon.net. Advertising, signage, customer parking and a shuttle to auxiliary parking at nearby lots for vendors will be provided. 10 foot by 10 foot spaces can be rented for $5 each and tables for an additional $5 each. All proceeds from space and table rentals go toward school kits for children around the world. The church is located at the corner of East Mt. Pleasant Avenue and North Spring Garden Street, Ambler. The Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association presents The Life & Times of Aquatic Insects in the Wissahickon Creek April 16 from 1 to 3 p.m. Join WVWA for a hands-on program. RSVP required: www.wvwa.org or 215-646-8866. WVWA member fee: $5 per person / $15 per family. Non-WVWA member fee: $10 per person / $20 per family. The photography exhibition Natures Palette by photo-artist Judy Miller will run March 18 to May 19 at the Art in the Storefront gallery, 41 E. Butler Pike, Ambler. JPRN Networking For People in Transition & People Who Can Help Them Unemployment remains high. JPRN, the Jarrettown Professional Relationship Network can help. Are you trying to network your way to a new job? Do you have expertise or contacts that can help people in transition? Is your company or organization looking for people in the area? This is a free outreach program to support those seeking work, involve people with contacts and networking know how, and involve local companies. Meetings held monthly at Jarrettown United Methodist Church, Limekiln Pike. Pennsylvanias Low-Income Home Energy Assistance (LIHEAP) grant program is now open for the 2010-11 heating season. Grants are based on income, family size, type of heating fuel and region. Additional information, such as specific income limits, and applications for LIHEAP grants are available online via the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Access to Social Services (COMPASS) website at www.compass.state.pa.us. Applications are available at most public officals district offices, county assistance offices, local utility companies and community service agencies, such as Area Agencies on Aging or community action agencies. Begin your holiday shopping at Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation! Entertainment books for 2011, Philadelphia North, are now on sale at $30 each. Regal/United Artists movie tickets are on sale for just $7.50 each, and tickets to the Adventure Aquarium, Baltimore Aquarium, and the Philadelphia Zoo are also available. Discounted ski vouchers to area mountains will be arriving in December; call 215-643-1600 x3443 for more information. Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation office hours are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. RSVP of Montgomery County and the Wissahickon Valley Public Library have partnered again to offer the public their popular free mock interview sessions. The mock interviews are conducted by RSVP volunteers who are retired professionals, some of whom were in hiring positions themselves. Packets of information which include a sample employment application and interviewing tips with mock interview questions are available at the library to pick up prior to a scheduled mock interview or will be sent via email once the interview is scheduled. To schedule your interview, please contact Janis Glusman at RSVP 610-834-1040, ext. 16. The library is also offering a free resume review service. Bring in your current resume and the professional reference staff will assist you with hints and tips on capturing your work history accurately. Registration for Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation summer playgrounds, Camp B.I.G. and Small Folks, X-Zone, and sports camps has began. Register online at www.upperdublin.net/store, or at the UDP&R office, 801 Loch Alsh Avenue, Fort Washington. Call 215-643-1600 x3443 for more information. Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation and Danielles Espresso Cafe presents Mornings at Mondaug Bark Park April 16 and May 21 from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. Meet fellow dog lovers. These events include complimentary coffee, treats for people and pups and raffles/giveaways. Upper Dublins Annual Spring Flea Market will be held June 4 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Reserve a table, or come and shop. Tables are $15 for UD residents, $20 for non-residents. This successful event occurs rain or shine. Refreshments available. Call 215-643-1600 ext. 3443 to register for a table. Regal movie tickets available for purchase at Upper Dublin Township Parks & Recreation. Reduced rate: $7.50 per ticket. Some restrictions apply. Call 215-643-1600 x3443. Whitpain Township Parks & Recreation movie tickets $7.50 Regal Cinemas, United Artist & Edwards Cinemas on sale throughout the year Monday Friday from 9 a.m. 4 p.m. Whitpain Township Parks & Recreation Camp Sign-ups for Stony Creek Day Camp Stony Creek Tracers and Park n Tots. Register on-line at www.whitpaintownship.org OrCome to Township Building with check or Visa MasterCard Monday Friday from 9 a.m. 4 p.m. For additional information call 610.277-2400 ext. 374 Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation offers exciting new programs for the fall: -Returning favorites include UK Elite Petite Soccer, Tiny Dancers, Kiddie Tennis, Fun-nastics, Messy Playtime, Little Chefs, and more. Babysitters Training will be offered in November and December. Continuing Adult Fitness Classes include Cardio Circuit, Core & More, Yoga, Boxing, and Adult G.Y.M. For more information call 215-643-1600 x3443. Register for programs online at www.upperdublin.net/store. Music and Theater The community is invited to a Cantors Concert April 16 at 8 p.m. Congregation Beth Or, 239 Welsh Road, Maple Glen. Listen and hum-along to the Yiddish, pop tunes and classical music performed by Congregation Beth Ors own Cantor David Green and his special guest, Cantor Irvin Bell, from Temple Beth Israel in Deerfield Beach, Fla. The cantors will be accompanied by Mark Sobol and his Klezmer musicians. Tickets are $18 in advance and $25 at the door. RSVP with payment to Barb Murtha, 239 Welsh Road, Maple Glen, PA 19002, or call 215-646-5806 ext. 220. Gwynedd Friends Coffeehouse will host the Jameson Sisters May 14. Doors open at 7:30 pm, performance at 8:00 pm. Gwynedd Friends Coffeehouse is located at the corner of Rte. 202 & Sumneytown Pike, Gwynedd. $5 suggested donation. Light refreshment available at a modest cost. For further information, call 215-393-9576 or visit gwyneddmeeting.org/coffeehouse.html. Celebrate patriotism through song with Gwynedd-Mercy Colleges choir, the Voices of Gwynedd, as it presents Hear America Singing April 15 at 8 p.m. The choir will perform song selections from all over the country, including Georgia on My Mind, New York State of Mind, and a medley including Philadelphia Freedom and Allentown. The performance will end with When the Saints Go Marching In to acknowledge the choirs upcoming tour in New Orleans. Hear America Singing will take place in the Julia Ball Auditorium, located in St. Bernard Hall. Parking is available in lots A, C and D. Admission is free. The Choristers will present Anton Dvoraks Stabat Mater April 16 at 7:30 p.m. at Upper Dublin Lutheran Church in Ambler. The choir will be accompanied by a 41-piece orchestra. Tickets are $20 for adults, $15 for senior citizens, $10 for students and children are free. Tickets will be sold in advance or at the door. For more information, call 215-542-7871 or visit TheChoristers.org Religious News The Staircase Gallery at Or Hadash: A Reconstructionist Congregation in Fort Washington will feature the work of Emily Ennuat-Lustine. The artist will be showing paintings and graphics inspired by her own personal spiritual journey and quest for meaning. Some of the works to be shown have been inspired by Biblical Psalms and writings. Her work has been shown at Abington Art Center, Cheltenham Arts Center and Old City Gallery of Jewish Art among others. The exhibition is open Friday evenings starting Feb. 18 after Shabbat services. Gallery hours are: Mondays through Thursdays 10-4:30, Fridays 10-3 and following Shabbat Services and Sundays 10-1. The synagogue is located at 190 Camp Hill Road in Fort Washington. For additional information contact the synagogue office at 215-283-0276. Reunions St. Matthews High School Conshohocken Class of 1961 is looking for classmates. For details, contact Greg Marincola at 215-646-2239, 215-740-1296 or gregcola@comcast.net. Olney High School Class of 1971 is Lloking for classmates for a 40th reunion Oct. 28. For details, contact Judy at ohsclassof71@yahoo.com or 215-870-7572. Abington High School Class of 1961 is seeking classmates for a 50-year reunion to be held Oct. 14-15, 2011.Visit the website, www.abington61.com, for details or call 215-947-1779. Overbrook High School class of January 1956 is having a 55 year reunion on May 22, 2011 at the Bala Golf Club in Philadelphia. For information please contact overbrookreunion56@comcast.net Germantown High School Class Of January 1961 is looking for classmates for 50th year reunion to take place in May of 2011. Please contact: 215-362-9148, 856-577-0659 or samdelcomo@comcast.net The June 1961 class of Germantown High School is holding their 50th reunion on May 15, which will be a brunch. For further details please contact Linda Dorfman Alten at lindaalten@yahoo.com or call 215-441-8411. Support New Life Presbyterian Church in Dresher, will host GriefShare, a special seminar and support group which will run on Monday evenings from 7 to 9 p.m., from March 7 through June 6. At each meeting there will be a DVD about the grief process, discussion and reference to a grief workbook. Preregistration is required to secure a place in the group and to purchase a GriefShare notebook (for a one-time fee of $15). The notebook goes along with the 13-week schedule covering such topics as: living with grief, the effects of grief, and stuck in grief. For more information or to register, call: Sandy Elder at 215-884-5149. PUPS (People Understanding Parkinsons) A self-help group for those adjusting to a new diagnosis or dealing with the early stages of Parkinsons Disease. Meets fourth Tuesday of the month from 1 to 2:30 p.m., at Abington Health Center, Schilling Campus, Willowood Building, 2510 Maryland Road, Suite 251, Willow Grove. For more information or to RSVP, contact Lorna at 215-542-2931. The North Penn Visiting Nurse Associations Meals on Wheels program is looking for volunteers to pack or deliver meals to the elderly and infirmed. Meals are packed and delivered mornings, Monday through Friday. You can volunteer for as many days per week or month as you would like. Packaging meals requires approximately 2-1/2 hours of your time each day and involves making sandwiches, packaging food into individual serving containers and packing coolers with the meals. Delivering meals requires approximately 1-1/2 hours of your time each day and involves loading coolers into your car and delivering a route of approximately 10 to 15 stops. The Meals on Wheels program is also in need of emergency, winter-weather volunteers to pack and deliver meals in bad weather. North Penn VNA is located at 51 Medical Campus Drive in Lansdale and delivers meals in the Lansdale, North Wales and Blue Bell areas. For more information or to volunteer, please call Bridget, North Penn VNA Meals on Wheels coordinator at 215-855-8296. Elkins Park Area CHADD (Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) meets the first Tuesday of every month, 7- 8:30 p.m., at Einstein at Elkins Park Hospital in Elkins Park. For information on CHADD or ADHD, please see our website www.chadd.net/249 or call Claire Noyes at: 215-779-6656. Center for Loss and Bereavement, 3847 Skippack Pike, Skippack (610-222-4110) www.bereavementcenter.org Offers professional counseling for individuals, couples, children and families dealing with issues of loss and bereavement. Six-week adult support groups: Newly forming young adult grief support group every other Wednesday, 7 8:15 p.m. (free of charge); Monthly loss of child support second Mondays, 7-8:15 p.m.; Six-week young loss of spouse/partner Thursdays, 10-11:15 a.m.; Other groups scheduled as interest is shown for suicide loss support, adult loss of parent, motherless daughters, adult loss of sibling, coping with chronic illness and disability and mens loss of spouse. Nellos Corner Family Bereavement program offers peer grief support groups for ages 4 through teen and their caregivers Every other Tuesday or Wednesday (free of charge) Local chapter of Parents of Murdered Children also meets at the Center. Registration required. Call for further information. CHADD is a national organization for children & adults with Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder, providing education, advocacy and support for individuals and their families with AD/HD. Einstein at Elkins Park Hospital, 60 Township Line Road, Elkins Park, PA 19027, will host children & adults with Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder on the First Tuesday of each month 7 8:30 p.m. Free, no childcare provided. The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphias Kehillah of Old York Road is sponsoring a free Caregiver Support Group for individuals who care for an elderly person with cognitive and/or physical impairments. The group meets at SarahCare Adult Day Care Center, 101 Washington Lane, Suite G-6, Jenkintown, Pa., on the first Wednesday of each month. Patty Rich, NORRISTOWN Nearly all results from the 2021 general election were certified Monday by members of the Montgomery County Board of Elections. Several races were on the Nov. 2 ballot including councils, school boards and judgeships. There were a total... An F/A-18 fighter jet and a KC-130 tanker plane belonging to the U.S. Marines collided and crashed off Japan's western coast early Thursday morning, with five of the seven crew members still missing, the Japanese Defense Ministry said. One of those rescued by the Japanese Self-Defense Forces (SDF) was in the F/A-18 fighter jet and was taken to the Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in western Japan, where he is said to be in a stable condition, Japanese officials said. The other rescued crew member is assumed to have been taken to the same facility, although his condition had not yet been made clear. According to officials, there were two crew members aboard the fighter jet and five crew members aboard the tanker plane when the collision occurred at around 1:40 am local time. The ministry said the planes, based at the Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in western Japan, were conducting a routine training operation when the collision occurred around 100 km south of Cape Muroto in Kochi Prefecture. There is speculation that the F/A-18 fighter jet was refueling mid-air when the collision with the KC-130 tanker took place, although there has been no official confirmation of this as yet. The F/A-18 aircraft, a multirole combat jet, is designed as both a fighter and attack aircraft and known colloquially as the "Hornet." The KC-130 tanker plane is designed to refuel both fixed-wing, tilt-rotor and rotary-wing aircraft using the probe and drogue technique, aviation experts explained. Mid-air refueling can be a tricky process especially at night and in inclement weather, they added of the matter. A JSDF search and rescue aircraft was quickly deployed to help with rescue efforts, while other SDF aircraft and vessels are also searching the area for survivors, the Marines said. The SDF have deployed a total of 10 aircraft, while the Japan Coast Guard has dispatched six patrol vessels to conduct the ongoing search and rescue operations, officials from the government here said. The Japanese Defense Ministry is currently trying to ascertain more details from the U.S. forces in Japan about the accident, but has confirmed that no civilian ships have reported being affected by the incident. U.S. Forces Japan said in a statement that it was thankful for the quick response of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force "as they immediately responded in the search and rescue operation." "The circumstances of the mishap are currently under investigation," it added. The latest U.S. aircraft mishap comes on the heels of another F/A-18 fighter aircraft, belonging to the USS Ronald Reagan nuclear carrier, crashing into the Pacific Ocean in waters southwest of Kita Daitojima Island around 290 km from Okinawa, owing to mechanical issues, on Nov. 12. On Oct. 19, a U.S. Navy MH-60 Seahawk helicopter crashed on the deck of the USS Ronald Reagan during routine operations. The crashes occurring within a month of each other and related to the same aircraft carrier, sparked a great deal of concern from the Japanese government, who said it will strongly request information about the accident amid safety concerns and local citizens' fears. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said at the time that accidents "involving U.S. military cause immense worry to people in the area and should not occur." Japan's top government spokesperson at the time vowed to "strongly request that the United States provide us with information and ensure absolute safety management." Pennsylvania Horticulture Societys Harvest program ends season with almost 19,000 pounds of produce donated and $30K raised to fight food insecurity 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. BEIJING, Dec. 7 (ChinaMil) -- The international symposium titled From Arms Control to New Conflict Zones: Opportunities and Challenges for International Humanitarian Law was held in Beijing on December 4 and 5, 2018. The international symposium was co-sponsored by the China Arms Control and Disarmament Association (CACDA) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Regional Delegation for East Asia. Pei Daobo (director of the ICRC Regional Delegation for East Asia), Dr Knut Dormann (legal counsel-general and head of the Legal Division at the Geneva-based ICRC), retired Chinese Major General Qian Lihua (vice president of the CACDA), and Ma Shengkun (counsellor of the Department of Arms Control under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China), attended the symposium and delivered speeches. More than 60 officials, experts, and scholars from relevant departments of China, the ICRC, the United Nations International Law Commission and other institutions, attended the symposium. Representatives of a number of foreign embassies to China, including the United States, Russia, Australia, and Pakistan, were present as observers. The symposium focused on topics including Contemporary Armed Conflicts: Challenges and Opportunities in the International Arms Control and Weapons Treaties, Humanitarian Consequences of Modern Armed Conflicts, International Legal Framework for the Control of Weapons of Mass Destruction, and From Cyberspace to Outer Space: Legal and Policy Considerations. The attendees explored and discussed the challenges of conventional weapons, weapons of mass destruction, and emerging technologies to current regional hotspots, international treaties, and arms control issues, from the perspective of policy, law, and international humanitarianism, and also, analyzed the impact of regional armed conflicts on International Humanitarian Law. All participants agreed that the security situation for the current international arms control has undergone profound changes. The international community should raise awareness on security threats affecting future human survival and development, strictly implement the international treaties on weapons of mass destruction, promote the effective implementation of International Humanitarian Law in armed conflicts, closely follow the development of new weapons technologies, be aware of its underlying links with strategic security, and further strengthen the supervision of cyberspace and outer space. After the symposium, some participants also visited Chinas State Nuclear Security Technology Center. Warehouse Products; Vendor/Service Provider Directory; Yield Curve Primer The year has sped along, and here we are at Pearl Harbor Day already. Although mortgage rates have lagged, what has pushed Treasury rates down? Released earlier this week, the Federal Reserve's latest report on economic conditions, known as the Beige Book, says most of its 12 regions achieved satisfactory growth in November but also says there is "increased uncertainty" among businesses over the influence of U.S. tariff policy. The report highlights rising costs for manufacturers and problems for farmers due to counter-tariffs imposed by China and others. (The Trump Administrations trade fight with China has been particularly hard in Nebraska, with its Farm Bureau estimating that retaliatory tariffs let to a loss of more than $1 billion so far in 2018, which is about 11 to 16 percent of the entire value of Nebraskan agricultural goods. Factor in labor income losses and the total economic hit to the state is $859 million to $1.2 billion.) Lender Products and Services Get on point with BluePointMtg into 2019! At BluePointMtg we are pleased to present several new products to our Broker Partners and offer Rate Improvement specials as we close out 2018! Free appraisals for any loan over 300k till the end of the year as well. (Except reverse loans.) A .25 rate improvement incentive on non-Agency loans >500,000, and a .375 rate improvement on Non-Agency loans over $2 million. (Applies to Leverage Product and Pivot Product only!) BluePointMtg is positioning itself to be a go to lender for Government loan options, conventional Loans, and Non-Agency loan options. Newly released is a VOE loan. New pricing on FHA 700+ credit scores as well this month! Highlights this month is a MIC DROP campaign where BluePointMtg has highlighted all files Submission to CTC with our Broker Partners of 15 days or sooner! Sign up today to expand your product mix, gain incentives monthly and get your own MIC DROP on your next loan! Contact your AE or marketing@bluepointmtg.com for details. Guaranty Bank & Trust (GBT) is proud to announce the promotion of Nikki Maimone to Vice President of Warehouse Lending. In addition, we are pleased to announce Nicole Haba joining our team as Operations Manager of Warehouse Lending. Collectively, Nikki and Nicole have over 40 years experience in mortgage and warehouse lending. GBT is working hard to earn your business and become a leading provider of mortgage warehouse servicesVeronica Soto (214.710.2340). Carrington Mortgage Services launches its non-delegated Correspondent Lending Division. Carrington Mortgage Services, LLC (CMS), one of the nations largest privately held non-bank lenders with over $60 billion in servicing, announced the launch of its Non-Delegated Correspondent Lending Division to complement CMSs full portfolio of loan origination channels which include Wholesale and Retail. We have diligently planned and built the Correspondent Division and were now ready to make our presence known throughout the industry, said Raymond Brousseau, President of CMS. We are committed to delivering a high level of transparency and timeliness to the non-delegated correspondent lending process. We understand that its all about providing our sellers with the ability for further growth and profitability. CMSs wide program offers todays non-delegated sellers with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac products, FHA and VA products, and Carrington Advantage Products for underserved borrowers. To qualify, correspondent lenders should have a strong reputation of profitability in the industry. PrimeLending Joint Ventures = Excellent Customer Experience + Increased Profitability for Home Builders. You already know PrimeLending as a powerhouse mortgage lender providing an excellent home loan experience to customers across the U.S. Its proven joint venture model is no exception, providing home builders with a dependable formula for success, including an easy-to-use, fully-digital mortgage process, a huge range of loan options, an award-winning operations team, and solid backing from Hilltop Holdings Inc. and all its subsidiaries. If you are a home builder considering the next step to increase your profitability and give your customers a better mortgage experience, watch our videos and get more information at www.primelendingventures.com or contact Mike Matthews. This is an offer you wont want to miss! TMS partnered with Mortgage Educators to offer brokers extremely discounted rates on industry-required continuing education and pre-licensing courses. And the part that shocked me the mosttheyre exclusively offering it at 73% off! The industry-required CE courses include the 2018 Online 8 Hour SAFE Comprehensive CE and NMLS 20 Hour SAFE Pre-license Bundle. To get started, go here. PlainsCapital Bank National Warehouse Lending, a subsidiary of Hilltop Holdings (NYSE: HTH), is looking for mortgage bankers and lenders that offer renovation products and programs. PlainsCapital Bank National Warehouse Lending currently funds multiple renovation programs and products with little to no additional requirements. Whether it is a FNMA HomeStyle, FHA 203K Full, Limited or even an USDA Rural Housing renovation loan, PlainsCapital Bank National Warehouse Lending wants to be your preferred warehouse provider for these programs and products. Please ask us about our competitive rates, utilization and deposit incentives and other ways that we can reduce costs and time to exceed your loan funding needs in 2018. If you are interested in learning more, please contact Deric Barnett, EVP National Warehouse Lending. Vendor Updates Floify and Equifax have joined forces to expand the features and functionality of the industrys leading mortgage point-of-sale system. This groundbreaking partnership integrates the power of the Equifax Trended Credit*Hi-Liteand The Work Number with Floifys flexible and feature-packed mortgage automation solution. Now, LOs who use both solutions to originate loans can instantly obtain and sync tri-merge credit reports via Trended Credit*Hi-Lite and VOE and/or VOI via a secure integration with The Work Number directly with an application or loan file in Floify. Additionally, with GSE validation programs, such as Day 1 Certainty from Fannie Mae, LOs can help mitigate risk and limit underwriting cycle times by reducing lenders' reliance on applicant-provided W-2s, pay stubs and other income-related documentation. To experience the power of Floifys Trended Credit*Hi-Lite and The Work Number integrations, request a live demo. The Mortgage List, LLC., the most inclusive directory of all facets of the mortgage industry, announced at the National Association of Mortgage Professionals (NAMB) Annual Conference, its official launch of their online directory and community. The Mortgage List is literally, a Whos Who featuring thousands of listings and resources including industry associations, organizations, vendors, service providers and publications. The directory alone is the go to guide for mortgage professionals which includes attorneys, accountants, NMLS course providers, wholesalers, compliance companies, trainers, marketing companies and much more. Founded by long time industry professional, Ginger Bell, The Mortgage Lists goal is to become the hub for the mortgage industry. You can register for its webinar on Wednesday, December 12th to find out more. Flood and Disaster Updates Will Congress ever man up? With Congress moving to keep the government funded through December 21, the National Flood Insurance Program is again extended, this time for two whole weeks. Realtors point out that, This is the 43rd extension of the NFIP since 1998, and the 41st short-term deal made to avoid a lapse in the program over the past 20 years. NAR is relieved to know that the NFIP was again extended before a lapse could occur. Flooding is a constant, unavoidable threat to Americans living in both coastal and inland communities across the country, however. As such, NAR urges the House and Senate to continue working towards responsible, long-term reauthorization that includes meaningful reforms, as the current process of continuous short-term extensions is simply not sustainable. Fannie Mae announced the Fannie Mae's Disaster Response Network: a comprehensive case-management service for disaster-affected homeowners with Fannie Mae-backed mortgage loans. Homeowners may access this program, a supplement to the post-disaster mortgage relief options currently offered, by visiting Know Your Options or calling 1-800-2FANNIE. Regarding the California fires, and disaster areas in general, most lenders have a policy that says all impacted areas will require an internal escalation review to determine current containment percentage, evacuation status, and property distance from current burn zone prior to drawing loan documents. All impacted files have been conditioned appropriately (to include but not limited to photos of property and a disaster affidavit). No one wants to lend money on a house that isnt there. Mountain West Financial (MWF) is committed to helping its customers during the recovery process in areas impacted by the massive California fires. Re-inspection requirements for properties in FEMA-declared disaster areas are as follows: Conventional, VA and USDA loans require an exterior-only disaster inspection report to certify that the property was unaffected by the disaster. Conventional loans with property inspection waivers, VA IRRRLs and USDA Streamline loans will require re-inspections if the property is in a FEMA-declared disaster area. FHA requires an interior and exterior disaster inspection report and photos. FHA Streamlines do not require re-inspection. VA requires both the lender and the veteran to certify the property is not damaged. The Camp Fire (Butte County) and Woolsey Fire (Los Angeles and Ventura Counties) have been 100% contained. The following loanDepot Wholesale processes are in place for properties in impacted areas: Conventional Loan fundings have resumed for Butte, Los Angeles, and Ventura Counties. All files in impacted zip codes have been conditioned appropriately based on requirements for properties in FEMA declared areas. Regarding FHA Loans, Re-inspections are required, however cannot be ordered until FEMA issues a Disaster End Date. Funding exception requests can be submitted through your Account Manager. Capital Markets The MIAC Capital Markets Group is pleased to announce its offering of $365mm of new origination whole loans. The collateral consists of 100% ARM Loans originated by a Bank as a portfolio product with an alt-doc component. The portfolio is concentrated in MI & FL with approximately 640 loans potentially qualifying for CRA credit. Loans >80 LTV are covered by PMI; this product has experienced near zero defaults over the history of the program. Parties should contact their MIAC sales representative at 212-233-1250 or Steve Harris for additional information. There is chatter out there about the yield curve inversion - right up there with the coming of the Four Horseman, the Apocalypse, the Detroit Lions winning the Super Bowl, that kind of thing. There are different portions of the U.S. government securities yield curve (that graphs yields on the Y axis and maturity overnight Fed Funds all the way to 30-year bonds) that one can compare. When long-term yields are lower than shorter-term yields, it typically reflects expectations of slowing growth, or a possible recession. But the inversion between two-year and five-year Treasury yields could be temporary as it was in 1998. Everyone knows that, due to Quantitative Easing, the Fed continues to purchase long-term maturity securities, raising prices and keeping longer-term rates low. And LOs should know that inverted curves dont cause recessions. They simply reflect a market assumption that growth will slow based on current economic information. Yesterday was a volatile day for the Treasury market, which rallied strongly this morning when the S&P 500 was down as much as 2.9%, spurred by trade concerns which stemmed from the controversial arrest of Huawei Technologies' CFO in Canada on allegations the company violated U.S trade sanctions on Iran. The arrest and reported extradition to the U.S. would get in the way of the U.S. and China striking a trade deal, coupled with potential retaliatory action against U.S. companies doing business in/with China. After hitting a low of 2.82% intraday, the U.S. 10-year closed the day at 2.87%. The flight to safety in the Treasury market saw support from the drop in oil prices and remarks from Dallas Fed President Kaplan and Atlanta Fed President Bostic, who suggested the target for the fed funds rate is close to neutral. Oil prices dropped on reports Saudi Arabia oil minister floated a proposal to cut daily production by 1 million barrels per day, less than the market was thinking, though no formal agreement has been reached yet. Finally of note, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon told CNBC in an interview that if there is a bubble anywhere, it is in U.S. government bonds. Today began with the November employment data: Nonfarm Payrolls +155k (less than forecast, and with a back-month revision lower), the Unemployment Rate steady at 3.7%, and Hourly Earnings +.2%. At 10AM ET the University of Michigan Sentiment Index is seen falling in both current conditions and expectations, and October wholesale inventories and sales are due. Fed Governor Brainard speaks on financial stability before a luncheon just after noon. And October consumer credit will be released and is expected to rebound from September. After the employment data we have the 10-year yielding 2.87% and Agency MBS prices better a smidge versus last nights close. Jobs GSF Mortgage Corporation is pleased to promote our Direct Originator Partnership Program for originators who are interested in a low expense and best execution opportunity in todays market, while playing a critical role in delivering an exceptional customer experience during every step of the home lending journey. The program has no branch or lender fees, translating to better pricing and compensation for the originator. With access to management, technology, and a comprehensive set of products, we give you the tools to succeed and help you build solid and long-lasting relationships and engage all customers in a positive manner, ensuring the customer's best interests are your number one priority. Originators participating in this partnership have enjoyed a 28-percent production increase all while operating in a challenging market. Please reach out to VP of Retail Lending, Frank Papaleo. Mortgage Possible is expanding across the United States and has named Ty Kerns Senior Managing Director of National Production. With 25 years of industry experience, Senior Managing Director of National Production, Ty Kern, is leading the expansion of Mortgage Possible across the US. Kern has been in business leadership positions for 15 years and his experience makes him an excellent fit for the role of Senior Managing Director. Kern came to Mortgage Possible after a role as Senior Managing Director of National Retail Production elsewhere. He leads the channel to significant growth and profitability gains by overseeing the implementation of significant technology improvements and a reduction in cost structure. Its an honor to be a part of the expansion process with Mortgage Possible, said Kern. Our leadership team has what it takes to make a positive impact in the mortgage industry across the country. Visit https://mortgagepossible.com/ for more information. You have made us proud; but ... SOUTHINGTON Colleagues, family and community members remembered longtime probate judge Carl Sokolowski as a thoughtful man and father who cared deeply about his town. Sokolowski died Thursday at the age of 89. The son of Polish immigrants, Sokolowski moved to Plantsville when he was in elementary school. Most local residents know Sokolowski as the towns probate judge, a position he held for more than two decades. His daughter Janet Samuelson said shes heard from town residents about her fathers impact both as a judge and as a volunteer for numerous organizations. I didnt realize how many lives he touched until he got ill, Samuelson said. She and her father received visitors in the area hospitals. People would come in and say, You may not remember but you helped my mom with some difficult situations that she had legally. Sokolowski chose not to run again for probate judge in 1998 since he was turning 70 the next year. State law prohibits probate judges from holding office after they reach that age. He stayed in contact with subsequent probate judges even after the position was combined with the Cheshire probate district. Matt Jalowiec, elected to the newly combined seat in 2010, received a letter from Sokolowski congratulating him. He was thoughtful like that, Jalowiec said. It was a nice welcome. Letter-writing was a strength of Sokolowski who would travel with pre-addressed envelopes for his family and collected antique inkwells. His children and grandchildren have notes, letters and postcards sent by Sokolowski over the years. He wrote religiously to all of us, to his grandkids, Samuelson said. He was that kind of thoughtful. Sokolowski was born in Albion, New York several years before his family moved to Connecticut for work. He, his parents and brother survived the Hartford Circus Fire in 1944 which killed more than 150. Sokolowski joined the Navy at age 17. He spent 10 years in the service where he met his wife, Ensign Melita Snyder. With the aid of the G.I. Bill, Sokolowski attended Yale Law School and after practicing in Washington D.C. for two years moved back to Southington. He was elected probate judge in 1975. Samuelson is the oldest of Sokolowskis three daughters. She recalled him as a kind, good father who took time with his children and also with his grandchildren, each of whom he took on a trip. Upon hearing he was ill, the grandchildren traveled from around the country to visit him. He participated in their life on all kinds of levels, Samuelson said. Sokolowski met his first great-granddaughter in August. Through the years Sokolowski was involved with the American Legion Post 72, Polish Falcons, the Rotary Club, charter revision commissions, the former Savings and Loan Association of Southington, the Bradley Memorial board of trustees, and the Southington United Way, among other groups. Phil Wooding, the town historian, took over his position from Sokolowski who was a family friend as well as a fellow volunteer with the Southington Historical Society. The two worked on identifying places and people in historic photographs. He was a tremendous resource for accomplishing that by virtue of his interest in town history and knowledge of people who had contributed to the town, Wooding said. Despite having his own legal practice and serving as probate judge, Wooding recalled Sokolowski spending time at the Calendar House and other locations explaining probate issues to town residents. He did a lot of that kind of work, Wooding said. Wooding knew Sokolowski his entire adult life and described him as gracious and unassuming. Im really going to miss him, Wooding said. jbuchanan@record-journal.com 203-317-2230 Twitter: @JBuchananRJ SOUTHINGTON The case of a local man charged with patient abuse at Connecticut Valley Hospital will go to trial next month. Mark Cusson, 49, of 353 Harness Drive, was charged by warrant on Sept. 5, 2017 with eight counts each of cruelty to persons and disorderly conduct. Cusson is a forensic nurse who has been a DMHAS employee since 1996. He was released on $75,000 bond after his arrest. Cusson previously pleaded not guilty to the charges. He was scheduled to appear in New Britain Superior Court on Thursday and the case was continued to Jan. 18 for jury trial, according to the state judicial website, Others charged to date include Carl Benjamin, 38, of Hamden; Gregory Giantonio, 43, of Deep River; Clayton Davis, 48, of Hartford; Bruce Holt, 39, of Columbia; Robert Larned, 45, of Hebron; Willie Bethea, 45, of Middletown; Seth Quider, 34, of Enfield; and Lance Camby, 48, of New Britain. The investigation began when Reneta Kozak, director of nursing at Whiting Forensic Unit, contacted a sergeant with the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services police department on March 2, 2017 to report alleged employee abuse of a patient. State police were assigned to investigate and noted the patient, who is not identified in the warrant, has been committed since 1995. The patients room is also under video surveillance. A total of 31 DMHAS employees have been placed on paid leave for policy and procedure violations or potential criminal acts, the warrant said. State police noted that at no time did the (officer) observe behavior on behalf of the patient that would give cause to believe that (the patient) was the primary aggressor in those incidents, the warrant said. On various dates, Cusson was seen on video sitting in the patients room with other staff members. In one instance, Cusson was in a chair near the patients bed and kicked the patient for minutes at a time, according to his arrest warrant. In another instance, Cusson placed his legs over the patient to restrain the patient to the bed. On at least two occasions Cusson placed his legs around the patients head in a scissor type hold before releasing the patient and moving away. On March 7, 2017 Cusson entered the patients room holding a cup of an unidentified liquid, which he then poured over the patients head while the patient was in bed, the warrant said. He later took a mop and placed it on the patients head. On March 11, 2017 Cusson placed his buttocks by the patients head twice and climbed on top of the patient, at which point he placed his groin in the patients face and moved back and forth several times, the warrant said. lsellew@record-journal.com 203-317-2225 Twitter: @LaurenSellewRJ Leaders of the PLA Hong Kong Garrison bid farewell to officers who have completed their terms of service on Dec.5, 2018. HONGKONG, Dec. 7 (ChinaMil) -- The Chinese Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) Hong Kong Garrison completed its 20th officer rotation on December 5 in accordance with the Garrison Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC). Some Army, Navy and Air Force officers of the PLA Hong Kong Garrison bid farewell to their barracks after successfully completing their terms of service and returned to the mainland via Lok Ma Chau checkpoint in Hong Kong. The PLA Hong Kong Garrison held a grand send-off ceremony for the departing officers at the San Tin Barracks at about 9:30 a.m. on Dec. 5 and thanked them for their great contributions to the Garrison. Most of the departing officers were selected from all units of the PLA three years ago. When stationed in Hong Kong, they had strictly implemented the One Country, Two Systems principle, adhered to law and discipline, and successfully completed various tasks. These officers had reinforced the Chinese militarys positive image to the world and won high praise from all walks of life in Hong Kong. After leaving Hong Kong, they will be assigned to relevant units and continue to serve the military. It is learnt that a new batch of incoming officers have arrived in Hong Kong on December 2 to continue the defense duties. The total number of troops stationed in Hong Kong has remained unchanged after the 20th officer rotation. WALLINGFORD Members of the Chabad of Wallingford gathered at the Town Green to celebrate Hanukkah with the annual menorah lighting on Thursday night. Thursday marked the fifth night of Hanukkah, so five candles were lit on the large menorah outside the old railroad station. The ceremony, now in its 14th year, usually takes place on Sundays, but the group held a celebration at the Chabad Jewish Center to celebrate the first night of Hanukkah on Sunday. The center, which has over five thousand locations worldwide, has been doing public lightings for three decades. Its a networking of outreach, said Lawrence Kirchhmeier, who handed out menorah kits to those who battled the cold to celebrate. Weve had people drive by in the past when we were lighting the menorah, and later we see them at the Friday service. Go figure. Rabbi Baruch Kaplan lit the menorah after the crowd all had lit candles in hand. The group joined in song together before and after the menorah lighting, as the candle flames fought against the cold evening breeze. We were lucky tonight, Kaplan said. Its almost 40 degrees right now. Weve been out here when it was about 10. Guests warmed themselves with hot chocolate and snacks, including chips, popcorn and donuts, which came from New York. Kaplan estimated that 80 dozen donuts were delivered to the Chabads main center in New Haven, where they were distributed to surrounding towns for the lighting ceremonies. According to Kaplan, foods like donuts and chips, which are fried in oil, are eaten as a way to commemorate the pure oil that was used to light the original menorah. Were going big with the donuts, Kaplan laughed. All the good saturated fats. Prior to the lighting, parents passed around menorah necklaces while children colored their own menorahs, while enjoying Hebrew music playing in the background. This adds charm to Wallingford, Kaplan said. Its our way to share the light with everyone. rchichester@record-journal.com 203-317-2231 Twitter: @ryanchichester1 International France tightens security amid fears of more riots Paris, Dec 7 (Agencies) | Publish Date: 12/7/2018 11:34:51 AM IST France will deploy more than 65,000 security forces amid fears of fresh rioting at protests in Paris and around the nation. Police unions and local authorities held emergency meetings on how to handle the weekend protests, while disparate groups of protesters did the same thing, sharing their plans on social networks and chat groups. Prime Minister Edouard Philippe told senators yesterday that the government will deploy exceptional security measures for the protests in Paris and elsewhere, with additional new forces on top of the 65,000 security officers already in place. Some yellow vest protesters, members of Frances leading unions and prominent politicians across the political spectrum called for calm after the worst rioting in Paris in decades last weekend. Museums, theatres and shops in Paris announced they would close tomorrow as a precaution - including the citys famed Eiffel Tower. President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday agreed to abandon the fuel tax hike, part of his plans to combat global warming, but protesters demands have now expanded to other issues hurting French workers, retirees and students. In a move questioned by both critics and supporters, the president himself has disappeared from public view. Scores of protesting teenagers clashed with police at a high school west of Paris yesterday, according to French news reports, as part of nationwide student protests over new university admissions procedures and rising fees. Drivers wearing their signature yellow safety vests continued to block roads around France, now demanding broader tax cuts and wider government social benefits. A small union representing police administrators called for a strike on Saturday, which could further complicate security measures. French police have come under criticism for failing to prevent damage to the Arc de Triomphe and stores along the famed Champs-Elysees in Paris last weekend - as well as for violence against protesters. Videos on social media of police beating protesters at a Burger King near the Champs-Elysees have stoked the anger. A police spokeswoman said that an investigation is under way into that incident and police are examining other videos online for possible violations. Nirupama Viswanathan By Express News Service After a month of the police firing against anti-Sterlite protesters in Thoothukudi, the world outside will be flashed with images of a city getting back to business, news reports of the citys small but steady steps towards normalcy. In G Baskelins world, however, there is nothing normal. Her only son, 22-year-old G Princeton, had his right leg amputated on May 23 after a gunshot injury during the protests. Princeton, she said, was not even a part of the protest. This was a man on his way to work at a Titanium dioxide manufacturing and export company, not far from Sterlite. When he regained consciousness completely after the surgery the next morning, he cried to me not because he lost his leg but because he believed he would not be employed anymore, said Baskelin from her brothers house in Therespuram. Princeton was employed as a process operator, making Rs 9,000 a month after a diploma in mechanical engineering. His father Gladwin, the only other breadwinner in the family, is a cycle mechanic while his mother was a homemaker. Sitting on his bed at the Government Hospital in Thoothukudi, Princeton for the past month, has tried his best to avoid making eye contact with anyone visiting him, except his mother and cousin. People say that I should be grateful that Im alive. I know that too, but it isnt that simple, he said, toying with the newspapers before him. The remains of his own leg freshly bandaged, Princeton said, There was another boy named Vijayakumar who was admitted to the bed near me. His injuries were visibly more gruesome than mine. They had to shift him to a private hospital, we dont know how his family is managing now. When Express contacted him, Vijayakumar M said he had shifted to a private hospital in Thoothukudi since doctors at the GH told them private hospitals, especially in Chennai, would be better equipped to handle his injuries. Now, we spend up to Rs 1,500 a day. They are asking us to seek treatment in Chennai but we cant go that far so we were thinking of going to Madurai, he said. His mother is a conservancy worker in Thoothukudi. Doctors say theyll be able to ascertain the condition of my leg only after three months, he said. He was on his way to his previous employer to apply for withdrawal of his Provident Fund when he was shot above the knee, he said. While all the families mentioned said they had received the compensation announced by the government Rs 20 lakh for the kin of the deceased and Rs 5 lakh for the severely injured, they are set to carry the scars of the struggle for the rest of their lives. Kandiahs Singaram K Kandiah, the 58-year-old who was shot dead when he was protesting for the closure of the Sterlite plant, had a name for his son that only he was allowed to call Singaram. Not even his wife was allowed to call him by the name. Singaram, whose name is Jagadiswaran, is an intellectually-disabled 28-year-old. When my husband enters the gate every evening, he would ring the bell on his bicycle and call out Singaram. Jagadis would then run to the gate to meet him, said Kandiahs wife Selvamani (48). Kandiah was a daily wage labourer, a resident in one of the several houses built under Rajiv Gandhi Rural Housing Corporation (RGRHCL) in Ceylon colony, Thoothukudi. Selvamani first learned of his death from a news channel and then informed her relatives. We could only bring back his cellphone, the `50 note that he had carried that morning and his bicycle, she said. Three bullets Just a month ago, Kandiah had shared equal, or on some days, more than his share of responsibility, when it came to taking care of Jagadiswaran. Before leaving for work, he would wake Jagadis up, help him use the restroom, give him a bath and then get him dressed. Everything, right up to applying talcum powder to his face, Selvamani said, adding that he would repeat most these activities in the evening, after getting home. Now, Selvarani, whose work was restricted to feeding Jagadiswaran and taking care of household chores, is left to learn the ropes afresh. He is like a baby; he is used to a routine where his father takes care of him. I dont know if hell ever be satisfied with me like he was with his father, she said. However, Jagadis is yet to comprehend his fathers passing. For many, many years, the only type of slippers his dad would use was the Paragon blue and white slippers. Jagadis comes from his room in the evenings and searches for his slippers. He did it even today, said Selvamanis sister, Papathi. Fates sealed by bullets Jasmine and Anistta are the youngest of Jhansis three daughters. Jhansi was killed in the violence when she went to deliver fish gravy to her oldest daughter living a few streets away from their house in Therespuram. It has been exactly ten days since the girls returned to school. Jasmine is in class X, and Anistta in class XI. They dont speak much since then. They cry almost every evening after returning from school. A large decorated portrait of Jhansi sits on a table that occupies almost half of the familys living room. When she was alive, she kept asking me to let Anistta study after finishing twelfth. Now, Ill get her married; there is no one to keep an eye on the girls, you see, said Jesubalan, Jhansis husband. Anistta, who had been listening to the conversation silently, rushes to the kitchen, her eyes welling up. Ten minutes later, she comes out to ask her uncle feebly, When mother was alive, you promised to let me study. Youre all planning to get me married now, arent you? She had scored 380 in her board exams last year. Of a bike and a Tiger Maheswari G, had just returned from Papanasam after performing the poojas on Friday, the 30th day of the death of her son Kaliappan. She said he was on his way to his office. For the last one month, everytime I think of him and cry, I suffer from respiratory problems and eventually, faint, she said. She has since been admitted to a private hospital near their residence in Thalamuthu Nagar, on and off. Kaliappan is known to both friends and family as Raghu the reason perhaps, that the family didnt think much when they heard the news of a certain Kaliappan being killed in the violence. We first came to know when his uncle received a video clip of police taunting my son, asking him to stop acting and get on his feet when he was already very weak from the injury, said an emotional Maheswari. It was only in March that things had started looking up for Kalippan his family had agreed to get him married to the girl he had been in love with for the last three years. We went to meet their family in March and finalised everything. They were to get married after Deepavali, she said. Maheswari has found an unlikely companion in her grief Kaliappans pet dog, Tiger. I never really liked the dog, Maheswari said. Now I want Tiger to accompany me wherever I go, he is my only comfort, she added. 1,500 metric tonnes of sulphuric acid removed The district administration on Saturday said that they have removed nearly 1500 metric tonnes of sulphuric acid from the Sterlite plant. Collector Sandeep Nandhuri said 85 tanker lorries were used to transport the acid A poem penned by Snowlin, one of the victims of the firing... Inamum Thoongathil Ezhundhavudan, En Ammavin Mugathil Kanvizhikka Asaipadugiren, Enenil, Eppodhellam Thoonguvatharku mun Konjaneram en Ammavai Imaikamal Parthuvittuthan Kan Moodukiren, Oruvelai, Thookatileye en Uyir pirinthalum, Naan Kadaisiyaga Parthathu, En Ammavin Mugamagathan irukka Vendum (Loosely translated) Even now as soon as I rise from sleep I wish to see my mothers face, As, Before I sleep I gaze, unblinkingly, at my mother before closing my eye If perchance, My life left me while I slept, I want my mothers face to be what I saw last Richa Sharma By Express News Service NEW DELHI: For the sake of the cash-strapped Indian Railways, senior citizens are sacrificing the fare concessions they are entitled to. More than 32 lakh senior citizens decided not to avail fare concessions between July 2017 and June this year following an appeal by the Ministry of Railway to ease the transporters subsidy burden. The Give Up scheme was launched on July 22 last year. Senior citizens who book tickets online are offered three options: 100 per cent concession, 50 per cent concession and no concession.Data provided under RTI by the ministry shows 32.12 lakh senior citizens had given up fare concessions till June 2018, which made the railways richer by Rs 55.12 crore. The railways offers 53 concessions under various categories such as differently-abled people, students, defence personnel etc. The total subsidy burden amounts to Rs1,800 crore annually, with the highest Rs1,300 crore being on account of concessions offered to senior citizens.The railways does not maintain data of passengers opting for full-fare tickets in other 52 concession categories. I do not avail the senior citizen concession as I can afford the full fare. I am of the opinion that the foregone subsidy can be used by the government to help people who actually need it, said Gireesh Banakar, a retired Central government employee. Men above 60 years of age and women above 58 are given 40% and 50% concessions, respectively, on the base fare. By Express News Service VIJAYAWADA: Residents of some localities in Patamata dread to answer if anybody knocks on their door at night. It is not the fear of robbers or anti-social elements, but people who land at their door in search of a sex worker for whom they already paid. What makes the situation scarier is the visit of these customers at unearthly hours at these houses booked for them by their agents. With complaints about the visit of the strangers pouring in, a new problem has been thrust upon Patamata police. Residents of Postal Colony, RTC Colony and other surrounding colonies urge the police to put an end to the nuisance. Initially, Patamata police thought the obscene happenings were isolated cases and little did they realise that the so-called customers were being taken for a ride by a gang by giving them false addresses. However, the issue became serious on Monday when two residents of RTC Colony lodged a complaint with Patamata police about nuisance created by some youngsters on Sunday night demanding a refund of their money. The issue was so confusing for both the strangers and house owners. They (youth) paid money online to a person who offered call girl service and sent them to some randomly selected address. Its nothing but cheating in the name of online prostitution, said Patamata circle inspector K Umamaheswara Rao. When police questioned the youngsters as to how they landed at the house in question, they said, We visited a website which is offering personal services and contacted the organiser. He sent photos of some girls and asked us to pay an advance amount of Rsd 2,000. After the payment made, the organiser sent the location of the house through WhatsApp and asked us to pay the balance amount to the girl, said the youth on condition of anonymity. In their investigation, Patamata police found that fraudsters were luring youth with the photos of beautiful girls and collecting money from them and sending them to wrong addresses. Not knowing about the fraud, these persons (customers who paid money) are knocking at the doors of people living in residential colonies, the CI said. Based on the complaints lodged, a case under IT Act was registered. We are trying to trace the location of the organiser with his mobile number and bank account details, said the CI. A whole new level of Cheating In their investigation, Patamata police found that fraudsters were luring youth with the photos of beautiful girls and collecting money from them and sending them to wrong addresses. Not knowing about the fraud, these persons (customers who paid money) are knocking at the doors of people living in residential colonies, the CI said. They (youth) paid money online to a person who offered call girl service and sent them to some randomly selected address, said Patamata Circle Inspector. NEW DELHI: The Indian and Chinese militaries will be engaged in a joint military exercise that will involve tactical level operations in an international counter insurgency environment, the Defence Ministry said on Thursday. The annual Exercise Hand-in-Hand will commence on December 11 and go on till December 23 at Chengdu in China. The exercise is conducted annually as part of military diplomacy and interaction between the armies of India and China. "The aim of the exercise is to build and promote close relations between armies of both the countries and to enhance the ability of joint exercise commander to take military contingents of both nations under command," an official release said. "The exercise will involve tactical level operations in an international counter insurgency and counter terrorist environment under UN mandate," it added. Troops from the Indian side have been selected from 11 SIKHLI of Indian Army while troops from a unit of Tibetan military district will be taking part. Disclaimer: This article was originally produced and published by NDTV. View the original article at NDTV. By PTI JAIPUR: Selfies of people proudly showing off inked fingers flooded social media as Rajasthan went to polls Friday in 199 out of the 200 Assembly constituencies. Voters, particularly youngsters, took to platforms like WhatsApp, Twitter and Facebook to post their pictures after exercising their franchise. FOLLOW | Rajasthan elections 2018 LIVE UPDATES "Having voted is also a source of pride in the democracy. Therefore, I put a status (on social media about having voted) as soon as I came out of the polling station," a voter Girish Sharma said. "Have chosen my future, you too show up," read the status of Deepesh Goyal, who voted in Ajmer. CA students Nikita Sharma and Ankita Sharma also showed excitement after casting their votes in Malvia Nagar constituency in Jaipur. "Yes we are flaunting this mark of using our democratic right and we are happy after voting," they told PTI. Engineering student Avi Srivatava only posted a picture of his finger and said the focus was on the ink mark and it was a sign that he had voted. By PTI MUMBAI: Bollywood actress Zareen Khan has filed a complaint against her former manager for allegedly sending her insulting messages, a police official said here Friday. Anjali Atha, her former manager, allegedly sent Khan several objectionable messages on mobile phone after the two had a dispute, the official said. A case under IPC section 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) was registered against Atha at Khar police station Thursday, Deputy Commissioner of Police Paramjit Singh Dahiya said. "No arrest has been made yet. We are verifying the complaint," he added. Khan (31) made her Bollywood debut in the 2010 film "Veer". She was last seen in Vikram Bhatt's "1921". By Online Desk Avram Noam Chomsky, American theoretical linguist, widely known as the "father of modern linguistics," was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on December 7, 1928. Chomsky revolutionised linguistics with his work from the 1950s which treated language as a human, biological, cognitive capacity. ALSO READ | Noam Chomsky signs petition seeking justice for Madhya Pradesh residents displaced by Sardar Sarovar dam Often referred to as "America's Socrates" Chomsky made significant contributions in the fields of cognitive psychology, philosophy and politics as well. Here are a few interesting facts about one of the world's most influential intellectuals: 1. Chomsky was born into a middle-class Ashkenazi Jewish family. He faced anti-Semitism as a child and recalls German "beer parties" in Philadelphia celebrating the capture of Paris by the Nazis. 2. He wrote his first article about the spread of fascism when he was ten years old. 3. He is a critic of US foreign policy, capitalism and mainstream media, and got arrested multiple times for his strong opinions. 4. He was accused of anti-Americanism and being a terrorist apologist by critics. 5. In 2013, a newly discovered bee species was named after Chomsky as 'Megachile Chomskyi'. 6. Chomsky was on President Richard Nixon's 'Enemies List' -- a list of Nixon's political opponents -- for his stand against US involvement in the Vietnam War. 7. He has written over 100 books on various socially relevant topics. 8. He is known for his witty quotes and dry humour. Chomsky said his success is "a series of accidents". 9. In an interview, he described the Pentagon as "one of the most evil institutions in world history," "the most hideous institution on Earth," which "constitutes a menace to human life." 10. Chomsky has starred in around 160 films, documentaries and TV series like "Best of Enemies" and "The US vs. John Lennon." By PTI WASHINGTON: Scientists have developed a vaccine candidate for the Zika virus which they say successfully protected both mice and monkeys from the infection that causes brain deformations in human babies. Demonstrating the effectiveness of the 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, researchers at the University of Hawaii in the US said. ALSO READ | Indian Council for Medical Research to start Zika vaccine trials 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 such as microcephaly in their newborns. Zika is spread by the bite of infected mosquitoes 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 in the journals Frontiers in Immunology and mSphere, uses a 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 immunisations given three weeks apart and is a potentially safer alternative to other candidates already in clinical trials," said Axel Lehrer, assistant professor at the University of Hawaii. The vaccine may be safer than other candidate vaccines, especially keeping in mind that pregnant women constitute a significant part of the target population for a Zika vaccine. By PTI NEW DELHI: Using Bollywood, beer and the charms of its cities Brussels and Bruges, Belgium has upped the number of its tourists from India but wants the graph to rise higher by advancing cooperation in the field of tourism as well as education. "What we want to do is to make Belgium better known among Indians. As Indians are travelling more and more, they are visiting many European countries," said Francois Delhaye, Belgium's ambassador to India. ALSO READ | China's Yunnan launches initiatives to woo Indian tourists, 'golden opportunity' for tourism development The country's capital Brussels may not be as well as known as it deserves to be, Delhaye told PTI. The two countries should concentrate on student exchange besides tourism. "In the education sector, we have a growing number of Indians now in Brussels but we want to have more Indian students especially in sciences because Indian students are so good," Delhaye said. According to an estimate, Indian students are enrolled in 18 major universities in Belgium. About 400-600 students register in the KU Leuven each academic year, making them the second largest student community from a non-European community after China in the university in the town of Leuven. Delhaye added that there is already a large Indian presence in Brussels with more than 80 companies there. "Belgium is the home to international beer. We recently launched an Indian beer which was brought from Belgium but for the taste of Indians after a few years it will be probably brewed here in India," he said. Brussels, home of the European Parliament, has long been a pit stop for many tourists from the Indian subcontinent travelling to Netherlands, Germany or France, added Anousjka Schmidt, foreign markets manager, Visit Brussels, the communication agency for tourism in the Brussels-Capital Region. However, the city's many amusement parks, museums, including the one dedicated to the Herges' boy detective Tintin, and delights like Belgian waffles are drawing more people from India for longer stays, she said. She noted that much has changed in the past few years with Belgium opening its doors to Bollywood, handing out easy licenses for film-shooting. ALSO READ | 'Bring back tourists with festivals and destinations' A portion of Aamir Khan starrer 'PK', which released in 2014, was shot in the picturesque canal city of Bruges. According to statistics portal Statista, the number of outbound trips from India to Europe in 2017 was 27,14,000. In 2017, over 53,000 Indians travelled to Brussels for at least one night's stay, a 25 per cent jump from 2016, said Schmidt. "Brussels is growing to become an important go-to destination in all European itineraries. From January to July this year, Indian arrival to Brussels grew by over 14 per cent in comparison with the same period last year. While a significant rise of over 21 per cent in the number of nights spend in Brussels by Indians has been observed," Schmidt said. She said Brussels is promoting 20 different themes, including sports, heritage and gastronomy, in India. "We noted that for India, beer is a very important segment, chocolates too, and Belgian waffles, everything that is related to family activities and shopping is a very important element. We are trying to focus on these important factors and build itineraries accordingly," she said. Schmidt noted that Brussels had a rough period after the terrorist attacks in 2016. However, tourists from India didn't stop from going to Brussels. "Our first mission is to convince people who click a couple of pictures to stay at least one night in Brussels. We want to increase the numbers for sure but it is difficult to say whether we want them to double in the years to come. "From 2016 to 2017, we have seen up to 25 per cent increase, which is an important number. And we want to keep going," she said. Anu Kuruvilla By Express News Service KOCHI: The Jew Street in Mattanchery resounded with Hebrew greetings yet again when around 200 Jews, the descendants of those who used to live in Kochi, arrived from all across the world at the Paradesi Synagogue to celebrate its 450th anniversary. Deborah Koder along with Sam in front of the house where her father used to live before migrating to England It is not a formal function. It is a family gathering. A reunion of everyone who has a connection with not only the synagogue but also the city, said David Hallegua, a member of the Cochin Synagogue Trust. ALSO READ | Museum in Kochi to showcase Kerala Jews heritage According to David, the organisers had been expecting only around 100 or so to come down for the function. But lot of requests came and some even arrived without notifying since it is being considered a family reunion, he said. As soon as the clock struck 3 in the evening, people began pouring in, some attired formally while others chose Indian costumes. People have come from Canada, the US, England, Israel and Australia for the three-day event. We have representation from nearly all the generations. The youngest is an infant while the oldest is 87-year-old, said Kenneth who is based in Canada. Kenneth had left for Canada after completing his studies in 1987 but is a frequent visitor. In the case of Deborah Koder, 58, who now lives in Manchester, this visit is a trip which has a special goal. I was born in England where my father migrated to. I grew up hearing stories about Kochi, the Synagogue and the culture of Kerala. I had come down around 35 years ago to visit some relatives. This time around I have come with my son Sam and husband, who are making their first visit to Kochi. My father wanted to come. But he is 98 now and is not in a condition to travel, she said. So, she has decided to capture everything on camera and present it to her father to help him get a ringside view of present-day Kochi. Jew Street has undergone a dramatic change. It is now bustling with tourists and that is good. It will do the place a lot of good even though the people here dont approve of it quite, she said, while taking her son to have a peep into the police aid post which according to her was where her father used to live. The air was thick with nostalgia as everyone trouped in. 3. 85-year-old Ellis Joby being brought in a wheelchair to the function 4. David Hallegua and his daughter along with Nima Regev enjoy a laugh (Photos | EPS/Albin Mathew) We didnt know our initiative, which took a long time to take shape, will attract such attention, said David as he greeted each and everyone with a hug. Even as the old-timers talked in Malayalam, the youngsters spoke in a mixture of Hebrew and English. According to Kenneth, this might be the last visit for many of those have a direct connection with the place. If a function is held after 50 years, nobody in the crowd will have any direct connection with the place and also wont be speaking Malayalam. We hope that after us, the future generation will keep in touch with the place, he said. By PTI PANAJI: The Goa government Thursday sought time from the Bombay High Court to file an affidavit in response to a petition seeking details about the health condition of Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar. Advocate General Dattaprasad Lawande told the Goa bench of the Bombay High Court that since the state chief secretary was abroad on an official trip, the affidavit will be filed on Friday in the HC's registry. The court will hear the matter again on Monday, it said. Justice R M Borde had Tuesday asked the chief secretary to file an affidavit in response to the petition filed by social activist Trajano D'Mello. The activist had sought that the court direct Goa Chief Secretary Dharmendra Sharma to evaluate Parrikar's health by a panel of expert doctors and release a medical report. Parrikar, 62, has been undergoing treatment for a pancreatic ailment at his residence since October 14, when he was discharged from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. By PTI KOLKATA: The Calcutta High Court on Thursday said it cannot give permission at this stage for the BJP rally in Coochbehar, scheduled to be flagged off by party president Amit Shah on Friday after the West Bengal government refused to allow the event on the grounds that it might cause communal tension. The court directed that superintendents of police of all districts in West Bengal will file a report by December 21 to it on the holding of 'rath yatra' rallies by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), after hearing all the district presidents of the party. Directing that the rally stands deferred till the next date of hearing on January 9, Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty observed that the prayer of BJP for permission to hold the 'rath yarta' cannot be granted at this stage. The BJP was scheduled to hold three 'rath yatras' that will start from different parts and traverse all the 42 Lok Sabha constituencies. ALSO READ | Those trying to stop 'rath yatra' will get crushed: BJP leader Locket Chatterjee It had moved the court seeking a direction to the state government for giving permission for its rallies after its applications allegedly went unanswered, The BJP campaign was scheduled to begin from Cooch Behar district in the north on December 7, from Kakdwip in the South 24 Parganas district on December 9, and from the Tarapith temple in Birbhum district on December 14. State advocate general Kishore Dutta told the court that the Cooch Behar superintendent of police refused permission for the BJP president's rath yatra from Friday. The state government submitted that it might cause communal tension in the district. Dutta said the district has a history of communal issues and that there was information that some "communal provocators" and rowdy elements had become active there. The SP's refusal letter also noted that several top BJP leaders would come to Coochbehar, as also people from other states, stating that these may affect the communally sensitive district. The refusal of permission was an administrative decision in view of the ground situation, the AG said, adding that "details of apprehension" cannot be spelt out in open court due to their sensitive nature and he can submit these to the court in a sealed cover, if directed. The BJP told the court that it will hold peaceful rallies. Asked by the judge as to who will take responsibility if anything untoward happens, BJP counsel Anindya Mitra submitted that the party will hold a peaceful rally, but it was the duty of the state government to maintain law and order. Mitra submitted that the Constitution guarantees the right to hold political programmes. He said that assumption of untoward situation cannot be a ground for refusal. When the judge asked if he was agreeable to deferment, the BJP counsel answered in the negative and said that the party had started preparations for long and had approached the administration for permission in October. He submitted that "it is only now that they have refused permission after sitting on the applications for long." The advocate general also opposed the BJP filing a supplementary affidavit opposing the refusal of permission, saying it can either come with a fresh petition or an amendment to his petition. Namita Bajpai By Express News Service LUCKNOW: The Uttar Pradesh police are on the lookout for a soldier of the Indian Army, who was allegedly seen firing during the Bulandshahr mob violence leading to the death of police inspector Subodh Kumar Singh and a local youth, Sumit Kumar. Footage of the violence shows the soldier named Jeetu, who is from Bulanadhshar, purportedly firing a weapon. A senior police official said it was too early to ascertain if Jeetu had shot the inspector. The soldier is posted with the Nagrota-based 16 Corps. Two police teams have left for Jammu to bring him for interrogation. Army sources in New Delhi said the soldier had been located. The police are in touch, but he has not been handed over yet, army sources said. READ| Bulandshahr violence: Villagers dispute four names in cow slaughter FIR, complaint filed by main accused from Bajrang Dal Meanwhile, Additional Director General, intelligence, SV Shirodkar submitted his probe report to the Director General of Police, and it will be handed over to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Sources said the report blames senior police officials in Bulandshahr for mishandling the incident. ADG, Meerut Zone, Prashant Kumar has confirmed Jeetus involvement in the incident. The probe team examined 203 video clips to zero in on Jeetu. Kumar said Jeetu is one of the 27 named accused in the case lodged after the incident on Monday. The ADG also said the soldier apparently left Bulandshahr on Tuesday. The accused soldiers mother Ratan Kaur claimed that her son was posted in Kargil and was not in Bulandshahr on the day of the incident. But his relatives have confirmed that he was, in fact, at home during the violence and left for Kashmir the same evening. Jeetus cousin is also named in the FIR. So far four persons have been arrested for the violence, which erupted after cow carcasses were found scattered in a field in Mahaw village. A senior police officer said both the victims had been shot with a.32 bore revolver. However, it is not clear if both were shot with the same weapon or two different guns. The slain inspector was also carrying a .32 bore revolver with him, and it went missing after the incident. The Meerut zone police officials and the SIT probing the violence has released some WhatsApp numbers appealing to the public to share videos related to the incident. Fayaz Wani By Express News Service SRINAGAR: The National Conference (NC) president and three-time Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah on Friday ruled out forging an alliance with any political party during the forthcoming Assembly elections in the State, which has been necessitated after the dissolution of the State Assembly by Governor last month. "NC will not forge any alliance with any political party in the forthcoming Assembly elections in the State. We will go it alone in the polls," Abdullah told reporters on sidelines of a function in Jammu today. His statement has put an end to speculation that three major parties of J&K - National Conference, Congress and PDP - may jointly contest Assembly elections against BJP and its ally Sajjad Lone's Peoples Conference. READ| Sajjad Lone's father 'brought gun' to Valley: Farooq Abdullah The NC, PDP and Congress had last month formed "Grand Alliance" to form the government in the State. The PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti had on November 21 staked claim on government formation with the support of NC and Congress. However, the State Governor Satya Pal Malik dissolved the Assembly on November 21 after receiving two separate letters - one from Mehbooba and another from BJP ally Sajjad Lone - on staking claim on government formation. The dissolution of the State Assembly has necessitated holding of Assembly elections in the State within six months. Abdullah, who is MP Srinagar, said NC would be able to form the government on its own in the State."We are confident of receiving a massive mandate from the people, who have realized the crucial need of strong and stable government in the state to meet various challenges confronted to it," he said. The NC president said the government on crutches cannot deliver, which has been proven many times. He said if voted to power, his party's government would grant regional autonomy to various regions of the State."We have already formulated a blueprint in this regard," he added. By Zhao Yangyang, Jia Fangwen BEIJING, Dec. 7 (ChinaMil) -- The ninth Chinese peacekeeping engineer detachment to South Sudan conducted a joint defensive exercise with the Bangladeshi peacekeeping infantry battalion on December 5 to tackle the severe security situation in South Sudan. This exercise focused on countering terrorist attacks by unidentified armed personnel during the construction work. The exercise subjects included emergency response, support operations, firepower strike, first aid to the wounded and so on. Through the joint exercise, the peacekeepers of two sides enhanced the awareness of coordination, further improved coordination and cooperation in command and operations, complemented each others advantages and strengthened their overall defensive capabilities. By Express News Service NEW DELHI: Patients who have been offered compensations ranging from Rs 23 lakh to Rs 1.2 crore by Johnson and Johnson due to faulty hip implants, as per a formula decided by a Union health ministry committee, have rejected the offer outright. Members of Hip Implants Support Group, in a letter to the government, said that the formula was full of ambiguities and discrepancies and had been determined without consulting the patients. They also said that the formula was in the interest of the US device maker rather than patients who had lost their lives or suffered various degrees of complications. The government, in the first such instance, had last week directed a company to compensate patients and their nearest kin for death or disability caused by a medical device. Nearly 4,000 patients in India had got two types of faulty implants by DePuy, a subsidiary of Johnson and Johnson. Many countries made a big hue and cry due to the toxic build-up it caused in patients, before they were recalled in India in 2010. Vijay Vojhala, a patient who has been at the forefront of getting a government investigation carried out in the case, was the lead signatory in the letter.I am hopeful that the government will listen to the patients side of the story and have a relook at the formula at least now, he told this newspaper. As you can appreciate, the formula and the outcomes of the compensation process will have a bearing on the well-being of patients, the letter read. We have repeatedly said that transparency in the proceedings of the committees entrusted to carry out the compensation and in the implementation of the compensation mechanism is paramount.The support group also stressed that the compensation committee had been compounding the injustice of many years and had aggravated them by completely sidelining patients and reducing them to mere spectators even in the government-led process of compensating victims. Nearly 4,000 affected Nearly 4,000 patients in India had got two types of faulty implants by DePuy, a subsidiary of Johnson and Johnson. Pippa Virdee By Three kilometres from the Indian border, in the tranquil green plains of the Narowal district of Punjab in Pakistan is an unassuming sacred shrine: Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib. Its the final resting place of Guru Nanak (1469-1539), founder of the Sikh faith. On the other side of the river Ravi, about a kilometre inside the border in the Gurdaspur district of Punjab in India, is the bustling holy town of Dera Baba Nanak. Here stands Gurdwara Shri Darbar Sahib, associated with the life and family of the same first Sikh guru. On a clear day, both are visible to each other. But the Radcliffe Line, drawn in August 1947 between Pakistan and India, ensures that travel for the average Indian or Pakistani is impossible across this international border. Indias Sikh community is roughly around 20m people under 2% of Indias population of over a billion. More than half of them live in the Punjab, India and are cut off from the most significant shrines associated with the founder of their faith, all located in Punjab, Pakistan. On November 28, the governments of India and Pakistan took a momentous step towards making a corridor between these two gurdwaras to enable visa-free travel for pilgrims. A foundation stone-laying ceremony marked the beginning of its construction on the Pakistani side and its hoped that this Kartarpur corridor will be ready in 2019, when Sikhs mark the 550th anniversary of Guru Nanaks birth. READ | Kartarpur corridor: US welcomes efforts by India, Pakistan to increase people-to-people ties Cut off to most Sikh pilgrims Sikhs lost the most from the partition of British India in 1947, as their spiritual and material homeland got divided between India, a majority Hindu country, and Pakistan, majority Muslim. The Kartarpur corridor, with a bridge over the river, had been mooted for almost a quarter of a century before it emerged formally in 1999. However, at the hands of two insecure and hostile states, it never materialised. As a Punjabi and as an academic of the Punjab, Ive spent the last 18 years working on the fragmented history of this divided region and the ramifications of the fraught relationship between India and Pakistan. I have crossed the Radcliffe Line at the Wagha-Attari checkpoint made infamous by its daily flag-lowering ritual accompanied by the sounds and sights of a masculine, jingoistic spectacle numerous times. Ironically, as a British citizen, Im privileged enough to cross this checkpoint the only open border crossing regardless of the political climate between the two countries. It pains me to see this divided legacy and narrow-minded nationalistic tentacles spread over the social, cultural and economic milieu of this historic region. As a Sikh, Im resigned to the fact that most Sikhs will never be able to visit the birthplace of Guru Nanak and the place where he settled, preached and passed away. He spent the last 18 years of his life living in Kartarpur, setting up the first Gurdwara and establishing the first Sikh community. It was here that langar (communal cooking and dining, without price or prejudice), an integral, iconic part of the Sikh faith, began. ALSO READ | Farooq Abdullah urges India, Pakistan to imitate spirit of Kartarpur corridor by opening routes across LoC, IB In April 2017, I visited Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan for the first time. Whats striking once you get past the security is a sense of calm that pervades the place. The original, 16th-century shrine was on the banks of the river Ravi and was ravaged by floods. Todays structure was built from 1920 to 1929 with a princely donation from the Maharaja of Patiala. Since August 1947, the site has remained mostly closed to the public. During the 1980s, it was linked to the Sikh separatist Khalistan movement (a Sikh nationalist movement wanting a separate state). Despite further repairs and restoration in the 1990s and early 2000s, it has remained largely off the usual Sikh pilgrim circuit of Lahore-Nankana Sahib-Hasan Abdul, which are the places Sikhs are normally permitted to visit in Pakistan. A fascinating, and befitting, aspect of Kartarpur is its evident appeal to non-Sikh communities. Guru Nanak is revered by Hindus and Muslims as well as Sikhs. During my visit, I saw only a small trickle of local, mostly Muslim pilgrims whod come to pay homage to Baba Nanak. It is these devotees who ensured that the shrine was never abandoned. A leap of faith The visa-free corridor presents real opportunities for the Sikh community and for India-Pakistan relations. Yet the immediate response has been Janus-faced: alternatively euphoric and wary. While Pakistans prime minister, Imran Khan, attended the recent ceremony and laid the foundation stone, Indias prime minister, foreign minister, and the chief minister of Indian Punjab, stayed away, citing Pakistans alleged involvement in recent incidents of terrorism in India. It is easy to be cynical about the significance of the new corridor, because both India and Pakistan have failed to find a peaceful way of living together for the past 71 years. Many opportunities for peace have been squandered in the past. This latest initiative, while welcome, remains a local affair and is unlikely to impact on the tense politics of the relationship between the two countries. It might well prove to only be a vanity project for Khan, but still it presents Pakistan with an opportunity to offer a peaceful fig leaf to India. Perhaps India is happy to play along for now as part of a strategy to improve its standing in Punjab ahead of elections due in 2019. But, for the Sikh community this might still be a portentous moment, promising some regular, if limited, connection to the soil of Guru Nanak. ( Pippa Virdee is a senior lecturer in Modern South Asian History, De Montfort University. The article was originally published in theconversation.com) By ANI NEW DELHI: With polling for assembly elections underway in states of Rajasthan and Telangana, key politicians cutting across party lines on Friday urged people to cast their vote. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah took to micro-blogging site Twitter to urge citizens of both the states to exercise their franchise. "It is the day of polling in Rajasthan today. I request all the voters of the state to take part in this celebration of democracy with full excitement and cast votes in large numbers," Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted. "It is Election Day today and all my brothers and sisters in Telangana should come out in large number to vote. Especially my young allies should use their vote to make democracy more enriching, " he added. BJP President Amit Shah also tweeted and appealed the electorates from Telangana and Rajasthan to come out in large numbers and cast their vote. "I appeal to my sisters and brothers of Telangana to come out and vote in large numbers for an appeasement free and development-oriented government. I especially urge my young friends to participate in this biggest festival of democracy without fail," he tweeted. "Development, progress and prosperity are the rights of the people of the land of warriors, which is possible only with the mantra of 'pure leadership, right development'. I appeal to the people of Rajasthan to vote in greater numbers to maintain the speed at which the state is moving ahead of development," he added. Polling in Telangana and Rajasthan have begun today. The results for these elections will be announced on December 11. By Online Desk Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Friday fainted on the stage during an event in Rahuri near Ahmednagar in Western Maharashtra, about 275 km from Mumbai. The incident occurred when he was standing with other dignitaries for the National Anthem at the convocation function of the Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth (MPKV) Agricultural University. Gadkari started feeling uneasy, lost his balance and collapsed on the dais. Maharashtra Governor C Vidyasagar Rao and some others rushed to prevent him from falling. The Minister for Road Transport & Highways, Shipping and Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation was examined by a team of doctors present at the venue. His blood pressure was checked and he remained on his chair for about 10 minutes, after which he walked to his vehicle and proceeded to the nearby helipad. "I felt some suffocation during the event. The pandal (at the venue) was air-tight. I was wearing the robes of the convocation ceremony, that is why there was less oxygen. That is also why I fainted. My health is alright. (I have) no problem of blood pressure or sugar (now)," Gadkari told reporters. Earlier, the minister had attributed the incident to low sugar in his body. "Had slight medical condition due to low sugar. I have been attended by doctors and I am doing well now. I thank all of you for all the well wishes," Gadkari had tweeted shortly after the incident. Had slight medical condition due to low sugar. I have been attended by doctors and i am doing well now. I thank all of you for all the well wishes. Nitin Gadkari (@nitin_gadkari) December 7, 2018 He was later flown to his home town Nagpur and the rest of his engagements for the day have been cancelled, officials said. On Thursday, the union minister had made a controversial remark while warning road contractors of dire consequences if they indulged in corrupt practices. Gadkari said that if roads were found to be in bad condition, he would run a bulldozer over the contractor concerned. His comments came hours after the Supreme Court expressed concerns on road quality and termed the 14,000 plus deaths on account of potholes as "unacceptable", as the number was higher than lives lost in terror attacks. A bench headed by justice Madan B Lokur Thursday said the large number of deaths caused due to potholes across the country was "probably more than those killed on border or by the terrorists". Gadkari, who is credited for the country's first expressway, the Mumbai-Pune Expressway in the 1990s when he was the roads minister in Maharashtra, said 12 new expressways are under construction across the country. (With inputs from Express News Service) Namita Bajpai By Express News Service LUCKNOW: As per a major disclosure, Local Intelligence Unit (LIU) of Bulandshahr had alerted police top brass in Lucknow hinting at the possibility of a flare up at Mawha village under Syana police station area of Bulandshahr following the recovery of cow carcasses at 10:30 on Monday morning. The LIU proved right and the villagers, led by a few right-wing activists, went on rampage indulging in huge violence and vandalism which claimed the life of inspector Subodh Kumar Singh and a youth Sumit. Ironically, even after getting intelligence inputs, the district police brass failed to react in time and save the day. The situation, finally, snowballed into such a huge flare-up by the afternoon that it claimed claiming two lives. As per the highly placed police sources, acting on the LIU inputs, the DM and the SSP of the district should have rushed to the spot to pacify the swelling mob of villagers but they failed to respond to the gravity of situation act in time. READ| Soldier involved in Bulandshahr violence posted to Jammu and Kashmir The intelligence authorities also underlined the fact that the mob of over 500 of three villages could have been handled by district administration officers including, the SDM, Circle officer and reinforcement from adjoining police stations but it did not happen and the situation turned ugly after 1:30 pm. However, there are indications of an imminent action against some senior officers of district and police administration of Bulandshahr as there was adequate time of around four hours to act and keep the situation under control. "This failure is nothing but slackness on the part of those who are responsible to maintain the rule of law," said a senior cop in Lucknow. He added that it was unbecoming of the police personnel accompanying the injured inspector to leave him at the mercy of his fate and flee the spot during the violence. The intelligence inputs also hint at a 'pre-planned build-up". It is claimed that while it was the last day of Tabligi Ijtema (muslim congregation) and lakhs of muslim devotees, present in the town, were going away. The mob 'intentionally' gathered at the state highway through which the muslim devotees had to leave Bulanshahr. "Perhaps it was a design to embroil the muslim devotees in the issue. Had it been the case, it would have been a much bigger communal catastrophe," said a senior police official. Harpreet Bajwa By Express News Service CHANDIGARH: The battle of Saragarhi is an untold story of valour where 21 Sikh soldiers went down fighting 10,000 Afghan troops. The British Indian contingent of the 36th Sikhs (now the 4th battalion of the Sikh regiment) was stationed at an army post and came under attack by 10,000 Afghan troopers. Over the last 120 years, Sikh soldiers have been incorporated in the British army. Over 83,000 Sikh soldiers went to battle during the two World Wars. That proud legacy continues to this day, and, taking it forward are Major Sartaj Singh Gogana and Captain J.Singh Sahol. The two turbaned Sikh officers were part of the four member British army delegation, which was in the city on Friday to attend the Military Literary Festival, 2018. The event is dedicated to the valour of the over 74,000 Indians, who laid down their lives in the line of duty during the First World War. Speaking to this newspaper, Major Gogana, a 40-year old mechanical engineer who is serving in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineering Division of the British army, recalled the day he joined the army in 2000 as an officer cadet. Initially, my family members were hesitant and even voiced concern. However, seeing that I was determined to the join the forces and serve my country, they gave in, said the man who is presently posted at Royal Military Centre. Hailing from Jandusighwala village, near Jalandhar in Punjab, Gogana had moved to United Kingdom, along with his family, when he was just two years old. My father worked in a private security firm, but I always wanted to wear the army uniform and this proud legacy (of Sikh soldiers being drafted into the British army) forward, he said. A story of valour untold In the First World War (1914-18), the strength of the British Indian Army rose to 1 million and in the Second World War (1939-45), it numbered a staggering 2.5 million. Of all the colonies in the British, French and German empires, the contribution of undivided India (India, Pakistan and Bangladesh), in terms of manpower, remains the highest. A total of one and half million men, including soldiers as well as non-combatants, were recruited into the British Indian army during the First World War India joined the war as part of the British empire. Sanjoy Hazarika By The National Register of Citizens is a process that has not just the mandate of law, but also of political opinion in Assam. After all, who wouldnt like to know how many illegal immigrants are around, especially after decades of turmoil over the issues of illegal settlers and Bangladeshis. When the NRC exercise began, many hoped it would finally lay decades of fatigue, bitterness, harm and suspicion to rest. What has happened has created more confusion even as credible reports emerge of land being acquired for purposes of a detention camp in Goalpara district, even as the home minister declares no one will be placed in detention camps. Everyone in Assam wants a clear NRC. But the process has been mired in confusion from the start and created acute tension. This is not the way it should have been done. Upholding the law is one thing, but the technicalities of law cannot be divorced from facts on the ground. Let me cite a few cases of which I have personal knowledge: A relative who happens to be married to a Muslim man of Assamese lineagethe entire family was off the list because theres a discrepancy in the spelling of his grandfathers name between the record and the application. Another friend found herself on the list, but her adult sons and one daughter-in-law off it (now all of them are on it, but the cook is not). Prof. Monirul Hussain, formerly of Guwahati University and now holding a chair at Jamia Millia Islamia in Delhi, a top scholar and as Assamese as they come, found himself summoned to Guwahati for verification of his identity. Prof Hussain has spoken of this publicly and the sense of humiliation and hurt that it caused to a teacher of decades of scholarship. There are others, in my family, who are on the list and who havent had a problem. So its a mixed record of inefficacy and correctness. That is why the Supreme Courts decision to extend the deadline till December 15 to file contestations to those who are out of the list and re-allowing five documents including the 1951 NRC is not just welcome but critical to clearing the clouds of confusion. But the number of those earlier excluded who have filed for their inclusion is but a trickle of the 40 lakh shut out of the list and officials hope this will speed up. However, my view is that not less than six to 12 months should have been provided for examining details and cross-checking references. In addition, the NRC is afflicted by discrepancies and factual inaccuracies that have crept into name spellings as also the family lineage, which are critical to the establishment of identity. Parents are on the list and children are not, or vice versa. As far back as August, recognising such concerns, the Supreme Court ordered a pilot project on re-verification of 10 per cent of the people in Assam who were excluded from the draft NRC. It is to be noted that is staff at the lowest rung, data operators at NRC centres, are key as they control passwords and access to personal data. Going by the statements of various political leaders, there is a profoundly mistaken and widespread perception that the 40 lakh are illegal immigrantsthis is incorrect. There are illegal immigrants, but having researched the issue in Assam, the rest of the Northeast as well as in Bangladesh, my view is it is likely to be far less. This can be partly explained by the changing pattern of out-migration from Bangladesh as its domestic economy improved, decreasing the attraction of a risky trip away. However. movement still continues out of the country to West Bengal and from there to other parts of India as migrants seek to cross into Pakistan, reach the Middle East and even Europe. They also take perilous journeys to Thailand and Malaysia and even Indonesia on risky vessels. In all of this, it is worth noting Bangladeshs positiona senior retired military official wrote that the exercise of detection and possible deportation from Assam was a security threat to his nation. An adviser to Bangladeshs PM said Sheikh Hasina had been assured by none other than PM Narendra Modi that the NRC would not be an issue. What can be done after the tumult has died down and the process of claims, counter-claims and judicial challenges is overwhich could take years? We can rule out deportation as there is no deportation agreement with Bangladesh. Only those recognised as Bangladeshi nationals by their diplomatic missions can be sent back. The proposal of detention camps represents a failure of due process and an assertion of arbitrariness. It would lead to national and international opprobrium. One option is the disenfranchisement of those of voting age from the non-Indian category. But again, this cannot be held in perpetuity for it would institutionalise statelessness, which is unacceptable. Indias experience of handling statelessness is poor, whether it is accommodating Sri Lankan Tamils or Bengali Hindu refugees of Dandakaranya or the Chakma/Hajong refugees (the second and third groups from East Pakistan, now Bangladesh) who landed up in Arunachal Pradesh. At most, such disenfranchisement can be done for a decade or so as was Assams experience with the Bengali Hindu refugees who fled East Pakistan between 1966-71 and defined in the Assam Accord of 1985. I had designed a Work Permit regime about 20 years ago to enable a regulated labour flow into Assam of people who would be permitted to stay for a maximum of two years and would not be allowed permanent settlement, access to vote or citizenship. They could access healthcare, education, labour rights and repatriate funds home under a special arrangement. Of course, it never went beyond the National Security Advisory Board! Today talk of Work Permits has emerged in Assambut it cannot be a panacea for depriving people of other rights. If Indians are deprived of their rights through the NRC, it would show the process as flawed and unacceptable. Experience of border-crossings and migration patterns worldwide show detection and deportation is most effective at the border. Over 3,000 km of the Indo-Bangladesh border of 4,096 km is already fenced. However, there are extensive marshes, rivers, streams and sandbanks where fencing is difficult. Once migrants slip in, the process becomes complex and wrapped in legal knots as the experience of Assam shows. Border management is key, with investments in better intelligence as well as infrastructure such as sensors to detect physical movement. Sanjoy Hazarika is International Director of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), commentator and author. His most recent book is Strangers No More: New Narratives from Indias Northeast. Views are personal. Email: sanjoyha@gmail.com By Express News Service VIJAYAWADA: The Andhra Pradesh government on Thursday entered into a MoU with Kia Motors on Future Eco-Mobility Partnership to introduce eco-friendly vehicles in all regions of the State. APIIC managing director Babu A and Kia Motors India MD and CEO Kookhyun Shim signed the MoU in the presence of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu at the Interim Government Complex. Describing the introduction of eco-friendly electric cars as a milestone in the history of the State, Naidu suggested a new approach to improve transport quality by introducing electric cars. He said the quality of life and quality of public transport system would also improve. Naidu appealed to Kia Motors to introduce pollution-free transport system in Andhra Pradesh. He hoped that the first car would enter the market in January or February 2019 from its plant in Anantapur, Kias 15 production centre in the world. Rolling out a car within one-and-a-half years would be a record, he added. Shim added as many as three lakh cars would be produced annually at the plant, set up with an investment of $1.1 billion. Once charged, Kia electric car would run for four hours. The Kia unit would generate direct employment to 4,000 persons and indirect employment to another 7,000. With the entry of Kia, the face of Anantapur has been changed, Naidu observed. The Chief Minister said a 2018 policy for automobile sector and electric mobile policy were already in place. Earlier, the Chief Minister along with Kookhyun Shim went on a ride in an electric car given by Kia Motors to the State government. Kia Motors gave three Niro vehicles to the government. The cars include the new electric vehicle capable of travelling 455 km on a single charge by worldwide harmonised light vehicle test procedure combined test cycle, Niro Hybrid and Niro Plug-in Hybrid. Japanese firm to set up `225-cr aluminium unit in Chittoor The Andhra Pradesh Economic Development Board (APEDB) on Thursday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Japan-based Daiki Aluminium Industry to establish a recycled aluminium manufacturing facility in the State with an investment of `225 crore. The Japanese company will set up an aluminium alloy unit with a capacity of 84,000 MT per year. The project will come up in Sri City of Chittoor district, which will generate 600 jobs. The MoU was signed by APEDB chief executive officer J Krishna Kishore and Daiki Aluminium Industry Group president Takaaki Yamamoto. Initially, raw material will be imported from the United States, UK and major European countries and the automobile products will be exported to ASEAN countries and Japan. Number crunching By Express News Service BENGALURU: A day after the blast at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) claimed the life of one engineer and severely injured three others,the campus seems to have clamped down on the flow of information to everyone, including the police. The premier institute, which on Wednesday chose not to share any information about the Laboratory of Hyersonic and Shock Wave Research, the site of the incident, did not release any more information on the nature of the lab or work being carried out there, when the accident occurred. According to police probing the matter, they are being given the cold shoulder as well.Preliminary investigation showed that it could either be due to a gas leak or a fluctuation in pressure. ALSO READ | What caused blast? Confusion on IISc campus The city police, who are investigating the blast in a lab at the Indian Institute of Science here, are looking into whether there were any lapses on the part of the institute.The scientists do not seem to realise the value of a life lost. All our efforts at gathering information are being met with redirects, where department officials say they are unaware of the work going on at the laboratory and ask us to speak to others, a senior officer said on condition of anonymity. The family of Manoj Kumar, the engineer who died in the accident, had on Wednesday alleged that there were lapses in safety measures in place at the lab. During our initial inquiry, we found that professors from the aerospace engineering department were unable to tell us what was happening at the laboratory. Administration officials also keep repeating that the incident is accidental and that complicated experiments are being conducted here since 40 years, the police officer said. Meanwhile, officials from the Fire and Emergency Services visited the campus on Thursday to submit a preliminary report regarding the cause of the blast. The officials who visited the spot found that the cylinders used for the experiment were not stored by IISc in their laboratories but instead bought by the start-up company Super-Wave Technology Pvt Ltd (SWTPL) during the experiment and then returned to the supplier after the experiment. ALSO READ | Engineers injured in IISc cylinder blast critical but stable, say doctors Our preliminary investigations showed that the cylinders which were said to be the cause for the blast were not stored at the laboratory but instead were bought from a supplier, Sunil Agarwal, ADG Fire and Emergency Services. Fire officials who visited the spot today said the SWTPL researchers normally used one cylinder each of nitrogen, oxygen, hydrogen and helium. According to few research scholars at the institute, they informed the fire officials that none of these cylinders were stored at the laboratory and hence the question of licensing for storage was not valid. Police have asked SWTPL directors KPJ Reddy and Prof G Jagadeesh to provide them the number of supplier of cylinders. Fire officials will reportedly check if the supplier had the license to supply such cylinders for experimentation. It was also known that there is a possibility that the mixing of gases was done in one cylinder by the supplier himself and this possibility of shockwave transfer could have led to the blast. We are still enquiring, said Sunil Agarwal. Police are waiting for reports from the Forensic Science Laboratory to know the cause of the explosion. Preliminary investigation showed that it could either be due to a gas leak or a fluctuation in pressure. By Express News Service BENGALURU: Lobbying for ministerial berths has resumed, with coalition leaders announcing December 22 as the date for cabinet expansion. Congress has six berths of its quota vacant while JD(S) has two. Former Water Resources Minister M B Patil and former Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy are said to be almost certain to make it to the cabinet. As for the other aspirants, it is a toss between C S Shivalli and M T B Nagaraj for a berth under the Kuruba community quota in Congress. B C Patil, Amare Gouda Bayyapur, Rahim Khan, Tukaram and Parameshwar Naik are the other front runners for a berth in cabinet. JD(S) leadership is said to be mulling to induct one Dalit and one Muslim. But the party, which is known to spring surprises, could do it again. H K Kumaraswamy and Annadani are the prime contenders from the Dalit community, while the name of MLC B M Farooq is doing the rounds for a berth from the Muslim community. B Satyanarayana, the MLA from Sira, too is in contention. JD(S) keen to retain chairmans post Basavaraj Horatti The tussle between Congress and JD(S) for the post of the legislative council chairman was not resolved at the coalition coordination committee meeting held on Wednesday.Congress has been demanding the post as the council needs to elect a full time chairman in place of interim chairman Basavaraj Horatti. JD(S) is keen to continue with Horatti in the post by electing him as full time chairman in the winter session of the legislature. While Congress is staking claim to the post by stating that it has bigger strength in the house than JD(S), the latter is demanding the post by citing that the Congress has got the Speaker's post in the Assembly and so JD(S) should be allowed to have its chairman in the council. JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda is expected to take up the issue with Congress high command and is likely to have his way. By Li Zhixin Starting next year, Russia will require foreign military ships traveling through Russian Arctic sea route to give prior notification to relevant department of the Russian government, said Colonel General Mikhail Mizintsev, head of the National Defense Control Center of Russias Defense Ministry, on November 30, 2018. Back in October, Russia deployed its first Tor-M2DT anti-aircraft missile battalion suitable for the Arctic region. The Tor-M2DT air defense missile system is especially designed to be used for climatic and topographical conditions of the Arctic, which has an impressive cross-country ability and can operate at temperatures down to minus 50 degrees Celsius. The same month, the USS Harry S. Truman entered the Arctic Circle, becoming the first US Navy aircraft carrier to do so since 1991. It then reached Norway to join the NATO exercise Trident Juncture. This exercise was the largest military drill carried out by the NATO after the end of the Cold War, thus generating a strong deterrence effect. The Arctic is becoming a new battlefield for strategic wrestling among Arctic countries, near-Arctic states, and major Arctic stakeholders. Those countries strategic competitions for Arctic resources and military security are increasingly escalating. The Arctic is rich in strategic resources. The US Geological Survey has estimated that areas north of the Arctic Circle have 90 billion barrels of proven, technically recoverable oil, accounting for 13% of the worlds total unproven oil reserves, 1,669 trillion cubic meters of natural gas, accounting for 30% of the worlds total unproven natural gas reserves, and 44.1 billion barrels of liquefied natural gas (LNG), accounting for 20% of the worlds total unproven LNG. In terms of geographical location, the Arctic has great military and strategic importance. Due to its high latitudes and unblocked view, the region has a special value for strategic precaution. Theoretically, the distance from the Arctic to any point on the North Hemisphere is the shortest. Considering the strike capacity of current states with nuclear weapons, a missile launched from the Arctic Ocean can almost reach any place on the North Hemisphere, thus creating a very strong military deterrence. In the eyes of many countries, the ice-melting trend of the Arctic and the development of modern weapons just present a good opportunity for them to reinforce their military presence in the region. On one hand, any country controlling Arctic waterways can concentrate and deploy naval troops quickly to a designated place on the sea via those waterways; on the other hand, the Arctic Ocean is covered by ice and snow all year round, and its thick ice provides natural shelter for military weapons including strategic nuclear submarines. For these reasons, many countries have strengthened their efforts to contend for control of the Arctic. Because of their geopolitical advantages, the eight countries around the Arctic become the main players in the strategic games. Competitions for interests and rights in the Arctic have resulted in an escalating militarization of the region. As two major players in the geopolitical games in the Arctic, Russia and the United States have always been the leading forces that determine the direction of state-to-state relations in the region. In the past more than two decades, despite occasional conflicts, the two countries meticulously maintained a peaceful situation on the surface until the outbreak of the Ukraine crisis that broke the fragile balance between them. As the Trump administrations energy policy becomes increasingly clear, the possibility that Russia and the United States may fall into conflicts in the Arctic continues growing. Besides Russia and the United States, Canada is also a major power in the Arctic. Although it generally shows a mild attitude towards international affairs, Canada has always firmly defended its interests in issues concerning the Arctic region. Since 2001, the Canadian army has begun patrolling the region and built two military bases there. In 2007, Canada announced the establishment of an Arctic legion to protect its sovereignty of territorial waters and islands in the region. In June 2017, the Canadian government unveiled a new national defense policy report. The report indicated that Canadas Department of National Defense would enhance its armed forces maneuverability and range of projection in the Arctic, invest more funds to enhance its special operations capacity, and expand its air defense identification zone. Moreover, Canada would collaborate with the United States to develop new technologies for improving monitoring and control of the Arctic and carry out joint military exercises with its Arctic allies and partners, with an aim to reinforce Arctic-related prediction capacity and information sharing. While major countries are actively contending for control of the Arctic, other five Arctic states have never ceased their conflicts of interests in the region. In 2009, Denmark announced to establish the Joint Arctic Command and set up the Thule air force base on Greenland and an Arctic rapid reaction force. Then, Norway moved its military headquarters within the Arctic Circle and purchased F-35 fighters from the United States to reinforce its military deployment in the Arctic. Located on the shore of the Arctic Ocean, Denmark has long considered the Arctic an important region in its national strategy. In 2011, it issued the Kingdom of Denmark Strategy for the Arctic 20112020. In 2016, Denmarks foreign ministry and national defense ministry unveiled the Danish Defense and Diplomacy in Times of Change and the Future of the Ministry of Defense Mission in the Arctic, respectively, which clarified Denmarks status as an Arctic superpower and put forward the defense plan to strengthen its military deployment on Greenland. Denmark, Norway, and Sweden are planning to forge a joint rapid reaction force comprised of the navies and air forces of the three countries to monitor and deter other countries operations in the Arctic region. In addition, NATO members including Denmark, Norway, Britain, Finland, and Sweden hold the Loyal Arrow military exercise every year to get ready for intervening into potential Arctic conflicts. Britain even sent its aircraft carrier equipped with nuclear weapons to attend the exercise. In recent years, increasing numbers of non-Arctic nations and international organizations have set sight on the Arctic and gradually enhanced their political and economic presence in the region, with an aim to garner benefits in the competitions for Arctic interests. Japan and the Republic of Korea (ROK) are the representatives of non-Arctic countries keen on seeking interests in the region. The ROK isnt on the coast of the Arctic Ocean. Given its small economic size and lack of natural resources, the ROK has various interest appeals in the Arctic. In this context, it keeps a close eye on changes in the region. The ROKs operations in the polar regions began with its joining in the Antarctic Treaty in November 1986, and until the early 21st century has the country formulated its own Arctic strategy. The European Union also attaches great importance to the development of the Arctic. Its main interest appeals for the Arctic involve shipping, energy, mineral resources, and the environment. It is noteworthy that such countries as India, Germany, and Singapore also take an active part in Arctic affairs. With the increase of the Arctics strategic value, international political and economic forces are falling into complex conflicts and fierce competitions for interests in the Arctic. The multi-polarization trend of the Greater Arctic region is becoming increasingly evident. Disclaimer: The author is Li Zhixin is from the College of Politics of the National Defense University of the PLA. The article was published on the China Youth Daily and translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military online. The information, ideas or opinions appearing in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn. Chinamil.com.cn does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same. If the article carries photographs or images, we do not vouch for their authenticity. Ajay Kanth By Express News Service KOCHI: Even as the state government continues to blame heavy rainfall for floods that devastated Kerala, the Post Disaster Need Assessment (PDNA) report of the United Nations (UN) has cited low flood storage capacity in reservoirs and poor drainage capacity of canals and sea outlets as the major reasons for severity of floods, apart from heavy rains. While the draft PDNA report, presented earlier to the state, pegged the rebuild cost at over Rs 27,000 crore in the next five years, the 427-page comprehensive report mentioned in detail the reasons that caused floods, in the chapter Flood Diagnostics. The accumulation of several simultaneous and unique phenomena resulted in extreme floods in Kerala. These include extreme rainfall, immediate runoff, low flood storage capacity in reservoirs, poor drainage capacity of canals and sea outlets and high spring tides, the report said. The report, referring to the findings of the Central Water Commission, said, The overall drainage capacity to the sea of Kuttanad water body is far below the original capacity of the structures and the drainage canals/rivers draining towards them. The siltation of these canals, together with the overall poor state of maintenance, has drastically reduced their capacities. On dam management, the report said, Of course, protocols should be adhered to and these include operational rules for not only optimising power generation, irrigation supply and safeguarding of the dam but also for downstream flood protection when heavy rains occur. Its a fact that canals failed to properly carry the flood water to the sea. Panchayats continue to turn a blind eye on encroachment of canals for road widening and other construction purposes. We have taken the issue seriously and will soon put in place a mechanism for proper maintenance of canals and spillways, said Additional Chief Secretary (Revenue and Disaster Management, Environment) P H Kurian. Toby Antony By Express News Service KOCHI: The NIA and intelligence agencies have pinned their hopes of getting access to a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operative jailed in France on the fact that a French team probing the 2015 Paris attack was allowed to quiz an alleged Islamic State (IS) operative lodged in Viyyur Central Jail. The agency has already requested the French Government to allow it to quiz Pakistan national Muhammad Usman Ghani, an expert bomb-maker with LeT, who is imprisoned in France for conspiring the Paris attack. It is looking to grill him to get more information of Indians who joined the IS. An officer with the Ministry of Home Affairs said the French team was given access to alleged IS operative Subahani Haja Moideen under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty signed by India and France. Also, a Letter Rogatory was issued by the NIA Court in Kochi to a court in France seeking permission to complete the procedure for quizzing Ghani. Subahanis grilling by French authorities will strengthen NIAs chances of interrogating Ghani in France. We have already approached the French Government for the purpose. We expect legal formalities will be completed without delay and access to Ghani will be permitted, the officer said. India has signed the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty with 39 countries. India and France signed it in 2005. It was under this treaty (between Indian and the US) that India interrogated Pakistani-American David Coleman Headley, who conspired in plotted the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. Ghanis interrogation is needed to receive information about people from India who joined the IS in Iraq and Syria. Similarly, he can also reveal information about LeT operations, said the officer Meanwhile, The French investigation team probing the Paris attack visited Viyyur Central Jail again on Thursday to interrogate Subahani. It will wind up its interrogation on Friday. Subahani was grilled from the morning till the evening on Thursday. The team will hold a meeting with NIA officers in Kochi on Friday morning to decide whether to continue the interrogation, said an officer. Subahani, an accused in the Kanakamala IS case, had confessed to the NIA of fighting for an IS regiment Omer-Kathi-Kaliph, commanded by Abu Sulaimani Al Francisse, in Iraq in 2015. He said during his time there, some of the masterminds of the Paris attack, including Abdel Hamid, Abdesalam and Mohammad Usman, had visited Sulaimani. By Express News Service BHUBANESWAR: Five months after Air India suspended its operations between Bhubaneswar and Thailands capital Bangkok, Air Asia started its maiden flight between the two cities on Thursday. Air Asias Airbus A 320 arrived at Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) at 11.55 pm on Thursday. On its arrival, the plane was welcomed with a water cannon salute. Tourism and Culture Minister Ashok Panda lit the lamp at the airport to announce the launch of services. The flight will depart from Bhubaneswar at 12.25 am on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. On the return trip it will arrive here at 11.55 pm on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, BPIA officials said. Air India had suspended its operations from Bhubaneswar to Bangkok and from the City to Bengaluru on July 16 over operational reasons. Air India flight, a 162-seater Airbus 320 neo aircraft, was operating between Bhubaneswar and Bangkok every week on Thursday and Sunday. Library on Mahatma In another development, to celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, a library consisting of literature mainly on the leader of Independence movement was inaugurated at Veer Surendra Sai (VSS) Airport in Jharsuguda on Thursday. The books of the leader were procured from Gandhi Literature Centre in New Delhi. The library will be accessible to the visitors, passengers and the airport staff, VSS Director SK Chauhan said. By Express News Service BHUBANESWAR: Following up his letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday wrote to chief ministers of all States and Union territories seeking their cooperation to ensure 33 per cent reservation for women in legislative assemblies and Parliament. On Tuesday, Naveen had requested the Prime Minister to initiate steps to pass the Womens Reservation Bill.The support of chief ministers in giving rightful places to women in society will give a new direction towards women empowerment, Naveen said in letters to chief ministers. Stating that women have a major role to play in building the nation and society, he said, Empowerment of women is empowerment of the nation. No household, no society, no state, no country has ever moved forward without empowering its women. Naveens letters to the chief ministers came a day after the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) decided to seek the support of 22 political parties, including the Congress and the BJP, as part of its efforts to build a consensus on the Womens Reservation Bill, pending in the Lok Sabha. It was decided that delegation of BJD leaders would meet the leaders of seven national and 15 regional parties and discuss the proposal. Though the Bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha in 2010, it could not be passed in the Lok Sabha. BJD delegates would meet leaders of 22 parties in this regard. Meanwhile, the BJD has decided to put up a proposal regarding the Bill during the winter session of Parliament which is scheduled to begin in the second week of December. Sources said Naveen has convened a meeting of the party MPs here on December 9. The ruling party, in a meeting, presided by Naveen on Wednesday had decided to consult national and regional parties for implementation of the proposal. The Odisha Assembly on November 20 had unanimously passed a resolution seeking reservation of one-third of seats for women in state assemblies and Parliament. By Express News Service If you show 67-year-old karate teacher and martial arts practitioner Bruce Robson a wooden brick, he can break it to pieces using just his fingers. The Anglo-Indian is one of the earliest karate instructors in Coimbatore, who believes that this form of martial art not only teaches physical strength but also mental strength. To put it simply, you should learn the art to defend yourselves from the mind first, which is a monkey that resides in you and misdirects you. Upon doing this, you can feel how karate helps you build confidence and strength, said Robson, who has completed five degrees of black belt. He explained that there are no instructors in India to grade him further than this degree, and claims that he is mentally and physically qualified for the seventh and eighth black belt degrees. However, if I want to academically qualify above the fifth degree, I must go to Japan. I have plans of going and learning there sometime in the future, so that I can help my juniors come up in their lives, said Robson, who has been teaching karate in Coimbatore for around 48 years. He began learning karate under famed master Karate RVT Mani, in Chennai in 1969. Though I was passionate about karate when I was a student, my teacher advised me to complete my schooling first. When I was studying at his Karate school Budokai, which means the school of spirit, I had the opportunity of meeting various Karate instructors from Japan, including my teachers guru Gogen Yamaguchi, the most well-known Japanese karate master, who was called the cat for his grace and agility, said Robson, who has specialised in Ninjutsu, a style in Japanese martial arts, which is rarely taught in India. When I began teaching karate in Coimbatore in 1976, the town was calm, with less traffic. Those days, I could walk even in the middle of Variety Hall Road, Oppanakara Street and Big Bazaar Street without worry, said Robson, who starts his day at 4 am and practices Vipasana meditation for an hour. For Robson, karate is almost like the art of cooking. "Women make mouth-watering dishes by instinct. I teach karate, which is almost like cooking, but consciously. In my opinion, women, who are considered the weaker sex in the society, should come out of their myths about the martial art and learn it to defend themselves in situations like burglary and chain snatching. Whenever women hear a knock on their house doors, let them open the door having a spoon in their hand. I advise my girl students so, because, the possible burglar, at the sight of the spoon, would just think that the woman was busy cooking in the kitchen. He would not understand that it is no more a spoon, but a weapon!" says Robson. Born as the eldest of eight children, Robson says that Karate has taught him a lot. And the most important lesson he has learned from the martial art is to be a good human being. Robson says that people are caught in the myth that karate is just a martial art used to defend oneself and knock others. "The goal of learning karate is not about how many bricks you are going to break. While building a house, a traditional mason knows where to hit on a brick to break that into two pieces. And so does a karate champion. Karate teaches you to calm down when you are angry with someone. If you are angry with a person and you want to hit him, better hit a bag instead, and your anger is over now. Karate is not just a martial art, which is used to knock the person, whom you are angry with, but it is an art, which controls your anger and provides you a tranquil state of mind" explains Robson. By UNI CHENNAI: The sleuths of the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) on Wednesday conducted raids at government and children hospitals across Tamil Nadu following complaints of rampant bribery from patients. DVAC sources said the raids, which began in the morning, were on in more than 20 hospitals, during which unaccounted cash were seized from hospital staff and other departments, including labour wards. In Chennai city, all the major government hospitals, including the General Hospital, Royapettah Hospital, Kilpauk Medical College and Hospital, the Stanley Medical College and Hospital, the Kasturba Gandhi Hospital for Women and Children and the Egmore Children's Hospital, came under the DVAC scanner. The raids were being conducted based on specific information that the staffs in the hospitals, particularly the lower level Group D employees, were demanding money from the attendants, who accompany the patients in the labour wards to provide details about the time of birth of new born babies and their gender. The raids followed searches in the Kancheepuram government hospital, during which unaccounted cash to the tune of Rs 45,000 excess cash were seized from the staffs. There were also allegations against the hospital staff that they demand money for 'every service', be it taking X-rays or to release bodies from the mortuaries, though the treatment and services were completely free in government hospitals. By IANS HYDERABAD: "Come on, kill me. I go around without security" is how AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Wednesday reacted to a challenge by a BJP leader to leave his security and fight with him for 15 minutes. T. Raja Singh, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate from Goshamahal Assembly constituency in Hyderabad, had dared Asaduddin Owaisi and his brother Akbaruddin Owaisi to keep aside their security and wrestle with him. The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief told reporters that during the last 25 years, he never had even one security guard and goes around alone. "I am ready to die for my cause and I am not scared." Raja Singh, who was a member of the dissolved Assembly, had earlier threatened to cut the head of Akbaruddin Owaisi. ALSO READ | Modi has a degree in entire political science but Ive koncham degree from London: Owaisi "What kind of language is this. Had I used the same language for Prime Minister, you would have turned it into Hindu-Muslim, linked me to Pakistan, and branded me an agent of Lashkar-e-Toiba and a friend of Bin Laden," said Asaduddin Owaisi. The MP said ganging up of Modi, BJP President Amit Shah, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Congress President Rahul Gandhi and Telugu Desam chief Chandrababu Naidu against him had given strong message to the people of Hyderabad. "The pride of Hyderabad will be shown on December 7. People will reject politics of hate and threat and politics of entitlement. They will give a befitting reply." Referring to the allegations of the BJP and Congress leaders against him, Owaisi said they were working together in Telangana to stop AIMIM. "Whatever I do becomes a point of discussion. All parties whose graph is going down think that by criticising Owaisi they will become relevant in Indian politics," he said. On Yogi's recent statement that if the BJP comes to power, Owaisi will have to flee Hyderabad, the AIMIM leader said the BJP cannot treat Muslims as second-class citizens. "I am not only an Indian by birth like Yogi, but I am also an Indian by choice. We rejected Jinnah's theory and accepted India as our homeland. You can't treat us like second-class citizens." Owaisi said Rahul Gandhi should realise that the politics of entitlement would not work now. "Because of their ignorance, arrogance, incapacity, incapability and their feudal mentality, people are forced to vote for Modi. The moment they change, the change will happen," he said attacking the Congress. The Hyderabad MP remarked that India's politics cannot be bipolar because the country has huge diversity which is not being represented by the Congress and the BJP. "It has to be reflected by regional parties. They will play an important role in who should be the next Prime Minister," he said. By Associated Press HERAT: Wheat and opium farmer Murad Khan Ishaqzai, 80, has never seen a drought as bad as the one ravaging western Afghanistan where more than 250,000 people have been forced to abandon their homes. After his crops dried up in Gormach district of Badghis province earlier this year, Ishaqzai rented a truck and drove his family hundreds of kilometres through Taliban-infested areas to the neighbouring province of Herat. There, he and his family of seven took refuge in a squalid camp on the rocky outskirts of the provincial capital where aid agencies are struggling to meet growing demand for food, shelter and sanitation. "The farms were destroyed, our livestock perished, and we left our donkeys in the desert because we couldn't feed them any more," said Ishaqzai, his face weather-beaten by a lifetime of working in his field. It was only the second time in his life that drought had forced him to leave his land. But with Afghanistan ranked as one of the countries most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, it may not be the last. "It's the worst drought I have seen," Ishaqzai told AFP in August. "We had a lot of opium and wheat -- we lost them. "The land dried up and we didn't have enough to eat." The United Nations warned in October that at least three million people were in "urgent" need of food due to the dry spell mainly across northern and western Afghanistan, and could face famine if they do not get help. The UN is spearheading international efforts to reach 2.5 million of the three million most in need of food by mid-December, UN humanitarian coordinator in Afghanistan Toby Lanzer told AFP previously. Conditions are miserable in the camps where families displaced by the drought have settled as temperatures drop across the country. Ishaqzai is relatively lucky. He and his family have a canvas tent provided by an international humanitarian group. Others are living in pitiful, makeshift tents that offer little or no protection against the cold and rain. Ishaqzai, whose health is failing, wants to go home. "You can see that my life is almost over in this world," he said. "If I could have stayed there (in Badghis) I wouldn't have come here, even if you gave me all of Herat city." By Bloomberg Marjorie Jones trusted the man who called to tell her shed won a sweepstakes prize, saying she could collect the winnings once she paid the taxes and fees. After she wired the first payment, he and other callers kept adding conditions to convince her to send more money. As the scheme progressed, Jones, who was legally blind and lived alone in a two-story house in Moss Bluff, Louisiana, depleted her savings, took out a reverse mortgage and cashed in a life insurance policy. She didnt tell her family, not even the sister who lived next door. Scammers often push victims to keep promised winnings a secret, says an investigator who helped unravel this sinister effort to exploit an 82-year-old woman. Victim Marjorie Jones. (Source: Courtesy Angela Stancik) Her family didnt realize something was wrong until she started asking to borrow money, a first for a woman they admired for her financial independence. But by then it was too late, says Angela Stancik, one of Joness granddaughters. Jones had lost all of her life savingshundreds of thousands of dollars. About one week after calling Stancik at the family business in Ganado, Texas, to borrow $6,000, Jones committed suicide. That was May 4, 2010. When family members went to her home, they found a caller-ID filled with numbers they didnt recognize and three bags of wire transfer receipts in her closet. Jones had $69 left in her bank account. Some 5 million older Americans are financially exploited every year by scammers like the ones who targeted Jones. The elderly are also suffering at the hands of greedy, desperate or drug addicted relatives and friends, among others. The total number of victims is increasing as baby boomers retire and their ability to manage trillions of dollars in personal assets diminishes. One financial services firm estimates seniors lose as much as $36.5 billion a year. But assessments like that are grossly underestimated, according to a 2016 study by New York States Office of Children and Family Services. For every case reported to authorities, as many as 44 are not. The study found losses in New York alone could be as high as $1.5 billion. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention drew attention to elder exploitation as a public health problem in a 2016 report, citing groundbreaking research two decades earlier by Mark Lachs. Now co-chief of the Division of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine and New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Lachs says elder abuse victimsincluding those who suffer financial exploitationdie at a rate three times faster than those who havent been abused. Its a public health crisis, he warns. I knew these crimes were killing people, says Elizabeth Loewy, who directed the elder abuse unit at the Manhattan District Attorneys Office. As her exploitation cases steadily rose to hundreds per year, she says, so many family members told me, I cant prove it, but this killed him. Bente Kongsore, a retired accountant in Creswell, Oregon, says her parents mental and physical decline accelerated after an assistant manager at a local bank, Susan Paiz, befriended the octogenarians and subsequently stole $100,000 from them in 2014. To hide the theft, Paiz pretended Kongsores father, who had been diagnosed with Alzheimers at age 85, gave her the money. The lie soured the last two years the couple had together, as Kongsores father questioned himself and his wife questioned him. It was a total violation of the type of feelings we would want to share with each other at the end of their lives, Kongsore says. By 2016, her mother had become bedridden, eventually dying in June of that year. Kongsores father died in December 2017, just weeks before Paiz was sentenced to 10 months in jail. Paiz was caught and convicted thanks to a dogged detective in Bellevue and the King County prosecutors office in Seattle, which had established an elder abuse unit in 2001. When Kongsore saw Paiz in the courtroom, she says she thought to herself, How could you do that to older people who could not protect themselves? Adding insult to injury, the bank where Paiz worked, Union Bank in Bellevue, didnt return the money until Kongsore scanned and emailed a bank investigator an incriminating letter Paiz wrote her parents, Kongsore says. She adds that the bank still hasnt formally apologized. Union Bank didnt immediately respond to requests for comment. Paiz couldnt be immediately reached. Financial exploitation is a huge problem in the sense that its so profoundly destructive, says Page Ulrey, a senior deputy prosecutor who became the Seattle units first member. The bulk of her cases are financial, involving victims who rarely get their money back. Theyre usually emotionally devastated as a result of having been betrayed, she says. In many cases, it may appear the victim gave consent, but its often based on manipulation or deception. Like Kongsores father, victims often have some level of cognitive impairment, which makes it really difficult for them to figure out the truth of whats going on, Ulrey says. As a result, many of her cases hinge on showing incapacity. Obviously, you have the right to give your money to who you want, even if your family disapproves, Ulrey says. But when you suffer from dementia, you may no longer have the ability to judge whether another person has your best interests at heart, or to understand the consequences of your decisions. If an evaluation shows a victim lacks capacity to make financial decisions, we potentially have a stronger criminal case, she says. But capacity assessment by adult protective services investigators and police is uneven across the country. Law enforcement doesnt have good tools to assess capacity, Ulrey says, adding that most jurisdictions lack people who can conduct thorough evaluations. In 2015, Weill Cornells Lachs coined the term Age-Associated Financial Vulnerability, or AAFV, to sound the alarm. He defined it as a pattern of imprudent financial decision-making that begins at a late age and puts older adults at risk for material losses that could decimate their quality of life. Financial judgment can start to falter before normal cognition does, Lachs says, regardless of whether the person was savvy with money when they were younger. In other words, it can happen even when the person seems normal. Despite the severity of the problem, the federal governments response has been frustrating, according to practitioners and public officials. Joe Snyder, who served as director of older adult protective services at the Philadelphia Corporation for Aging, says hes doubtful necessary funding will arrive in his lifetime. Before he retired, he oversaw 27 investigators with limited resources handling about 3,500 cases a year. Snyder says it was like using water pistols to fight a forest fire. Marie-Therese Connolly. (Source: John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; Photographer: Eli Meir Kaplan) The Elder Justice Act, the first comprehensive legislation to address abuse of senior citizens, was enacted in 2010 but remained unfunded until 2015when it was allocated only $4 million. Dollars appropriated since then have, in Congressional terms, been dribbling, says Marie-Therese Connolly, a former Justice Department attorney who championed the law, working with the Senate Special Committee on Aging. Originally, the allocation was to be closer to $1 billion, she says. Financial exploitation causes large economic losses for businesses, families, elders and government programs, and increases reliance on federal health care programs, warned a 2014 elder justice report Connolly helped prepare. Three years later, a Congressional Record Service report bemoaned a lack of progress. As a result of this limited federal funding, the federal government has not substantially developed and expanded its role in addressing the prevention, detection, and treatment of elder abuse. It's a fundamentally reactive system, says Connolly. The big story is the dearth, the complete nonexistence, the shameful scandalous absence of any credible prevention or intervention research. Some progress, however, is being made. In February, the Justice Department announced the largest coordinated sweep of elder fraud cases in history, charging more than 250 defendants with schemes that caused 1 million mostly elderly Americans to lose more than $500 million. The alleged perpetrators include people who targeted Marjorie Jones, according to one investigator. The dragnet, which lasted one year, is part of an ongoing effort to detect and infiltrate these criminal organizations that are trying to exploit the elderly, says Antoinette Bacon, a career prosecutor who serves as the DOJs national elder justice coordinator. Her position was created through the Elder Justice Prevention and Prosecution Act, a law signed by President Donald Trump in October meant to improve coordination among federal, state and local agencies. States have been stepping up as well. Thirty-nine of them and the District of Columbia addressed financial exploitation of the elderly in last years legislative sessions, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. More than half enacted legislation or adopted resolutions. Still, Snyder worries the federal block grant many states rely on to pay for services that protect seniors could be cut dramatically under Trump. If that goes away, programs will be crushed overnight. The financial industry says its doing more, too. On Feb. 5, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, an industry body, put into effect the first uniform, national standards to protect senior investors. It now requires members to try to obtain a trusted contacts information so they can discuss account activity. It also permits firms to place temporary holds on disbursements if exploitation is suspected. Loewy, who left her job as a prosecutor in 2014 to join EverSafe, a startup that makes software to monitor suspicious account activity, is underwhelmed by the industry projects. They may say theyre focused on it, but they arent really doing much more than training employees, she says. Exploiters know what theyre doing. They take amounts under $10,000 that they know wont get picked up by fraud and risk folks at banks. And they steal across institutions over time. The dirty little secret about elder exploitation is that almost 60 percent of cases involve a perpetrator who is a family member, according to a 2014 study by Lachs and others, an especially fraught situation where victims are often unwilling, or unable, to seek justice. Such manipulation sometimes involves force or the threat of force, says Daniel Reingold, chief executive officer of RiverSpring Health, a nonprofit that provides care to about 18,000 seniors in the New York City area. In 2005, he helped establish the first elder abuse shelter in the country. While many families dont intervene when they suspect a family member is abusing an elderly relative, Philip Marshall did, in a famous example of elder exploitation. I was a family member who acted, says Marshall. And thats huge. Because people dont act. They say we dont want dirty laundry out there. Marshall wanted his grandmother, famed socialite Brooke Astor, to enjoy her final years at her country home, as she had wished. When his father, Anthony Marshall, wouldnt let her, Philip sought guardianship, setting off a legal battle. As the fight progressed, Philip says he discovered that his grandmother, who had been diagnosed with Alzheimers, was enduring various forms of neglect. It was all in an effort by my father to gain her money, he alleges. Brooke Astor and Philip Marshall at Holly Hill in Briarcliff Manor, N.Y. (Photographer: Alec Marshall; Courtesy Philip Marshall) The dispute culminated in his fathers conviction and prison sentence in 2009 for siphoning off millions of dollars from Astor. At first, says Philip, Our goal was just to stop my grandmothers isolation and manipulation. We didnt really care about money. A separate legal proceeding over the neglect allegations was eventually resolved. Last year, Philip quit his job as a professor to become a full-time advocate in the fight against elder abuse. He gives talks to government officials and financial institutions and spends hours speaking with strangers dealing with exploitation. So many times, its family, he says. I dont think people realize that. On a rainy April afternoon at the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Center for Elder Justice, the shelter Reingold helped start in the Bronx, there are countless versions of Astors story unfolding daily, albeit for smaller sums. More than 70 percent of the centers clients are victims of financial abuse, with most also suffering from emotional and physical abuse as well. Its often a slow and steady and unrelenting experience, says Joy Solomon, a former New York prosecutor and director of the center. She says her team is seeing an increase in seniors showing up in housing courtbecause theyre being evicted. A lot have been financially exploited and they dont even know whats happening until they get that notice. Losing housing usually accelerates mental and physical decline, she says. Unless we figure out how to protect the assets of senior citizens from this epidemic, Solomon says, were going to come to a place where were seeing a lot of homeless elderly people on the street. By PTI WASHINGTON: United States President Donald Trump has vowed not to allow Iran acquire nuclear weapons. "We cannot let the world's leading sponsor of terror, a regime that chants death to America and threatens Israel all the time with annihilation and constantly screams out death to Israel, to possess the deadliest weapon on earth. We will not allow that to happen," the US President told a select Jewish audience Thursday at the White House reception for Hanukkah. His administration has imposed some of the toughest sanctions on Iran, which among other things ask countries like India and China to cut off import of oil from Iran. Both the countries have significantly reduced their oil intake since then. Trump told the Jewish community that the US now has "left the horrible Iran nuclear" deal. ALSO READ | India to import Iranian oil using rupee post oil sanctions relief "It was a horrible, horrible deal. Should have never been made and imposed the toughest-ever sanction. We sanctioned Iran like I guess few have ever been sanctioned before. We must never allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon or a nuclear bomb," he said. A year ago, he said, the United States recognised the true capital of Israel. Commemorating the miracle of Hanukkah, Trump said throughout history, Jewish people have suffered unthinkable repression and terrible violence. "Yet in the face of this hardship, the Jewish people have endured, overcome and thrived like few that I can tell you. Thrived," he said. "Five weeks ago, our nation mourned a horrific tragedy. Jewish-Americans were brutally killed in a sinister anti-Semitic attack on the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh and we went to see what had happened and to meet some of the people and they were incredible people," Trump said. "The way they stood up so bravely, so proudly was just something very incredible to see, and the rabbi was just a great person. ALSO READ | US is loser by abandoning Iran nuclear deal: Hassan Rouhani In the aftermath of that wicked assault, we reaffirmed our solemn duty to confront anti-Semitism everywhere it occurs," the president said amid an applause. "We must stamp out this vile hatred from the world," Trump said as he invited eight survivors of the Nazi Holocaust: Sara Censor, Bertha Einhorn, David Einhorn, Ethel Flam, Gita Landau, Dolly Rabinowitz, Ruth Salamon and Zahava Ungar. Trump told the survivors that they inspired the world with their courage. Trump applauded Jewish people for building Israel into a "mighty and majestic nation". He also pledged his administration's support to Israel. During his speech, the audience started chanting "four more years!" Someone in the crowd noted that once the math is completed from this date, it would be "six more years". Trump expressed his agreement with the 2 + 4 equation. "I've actually never heard 'four more years,'" he said. "That's an interesting one. We'll go for six, and then we'll all be in very good shape." The president claimed he was told that renovating what now is the US embassy in Jerusalem could cost as little as USD 200,000, which he said was "too cheap". So he told his officials to do it for USD 400,000, Trump added. The photo shows the Chinese naval hospital ship Peace Ark (Hull 866) docks alongside Pisco (AMP-156) landing platform dock attached to the Peruvian Navy. (Photo by Visual China Group) VALPARAISO, CHILE, Dec. 7 (ChinaMil) -- The Chilean Navy hosted an international fleet review to mark its 200th anniversary in the port city of Valparaiso on December 2, 2018, local time. Twenty-four surface ships, two submarines and 15 aircrafts from countries such as Chile, China, the US and UK participated in the fleet review. The Chinese naval hospital ship Peace Ark (Hull 866), currently on its Harmonious Mission 2018, arrived in the port city of Valparaiso on November 29 for its first friendly visit to Chile. The Peace Ark participated in the celebration to mark the 200th anniversary of the Chilean Navy and the EXPONAVAL 2018, the 11th Chilean International Naval & Maritime Exhibition and Congress for Latin America. Chile is the 43rd country visited by the Peace Ark since its commission to the PLA Navy in 2008. Situated in the southwest of South America and bordering the South Pacific Ocean, Chile extends a coastline of about 10,000 kilometers. It is the worlds narrowest country. It is learnt that the Peace Ark made a special trip to Chile in order to take part in this event after having successfully completed its friendly visits to and medical service tasks in 10 countries in Oceania and Central and South America. This is the fourth time that a Chinese naval ship visits Chile since the three previous visits in 1997, 2009, and 2013 respectively. By UNI MOSCOW: "Yellow vest" protesters should not take to the streets of Paris, since doing so would "certainly" lead to deaths, Christophe Chalencon, who calls himself the movement's spokesman, told Sputnik on Friday. French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said earlier in the day that several thousand people were expected to participate in demonstrations this weekend, including groups that could get "extremely aggressive." According to French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, almost 90,000 police officers will be deployed across France on Saturday, including 8,000 in Paris alone, who will be equipped with armored vehicles. NEED TO AVOID VIOLENCE "We should no longer protest in Paris. If there are protests in Paris, there certainly will be deaths," Chalencon said, stressing the need to "continue putting pressure" on the government. According to Chalencon, if Saturday's demonstrations end in violence, French President Emmanuel Macron "will be politically dead." "What's happening outside Paris is not that serious. We need to avoid vandals and law enforcement forces, who are present in large numbers and have much more powerful weapons. We need to avoid contact with them. We need to continue putting pressure, but with an iron fist in a velvet glove," he stressed. DEMAND FOR CABINET RESHUFFLE The "Yellow Vest" spokesman stressed the need for a "cabinet reshuffle" in France, adding that the movement is sending "a strong message" to the government. "We need the government reshuffle to have ministers who will be much closer, more connected to people. That is a political aspect. At the level of economy we need the increase in the purchasing power, decrease in taxes and other things you know about," Chalencon noted. He underlined that the primary aim of the "Yellow Vests" was to fight against social injustice, stressing that the movement is "apolitical" and not affiliated with any trade unions. "We want the government to be dismissed, to have [officials] close to people's interests. We do not want the president to be ousted, and we do not demand dissolving the National Assembly. If one of the two things happen this [will lead to] the destabilization of the country," Chalencon pointed out. Major tourist attractions and museums in central Paris, including the Eiffel Tower and Louvre, said they would not open on Saturday amid fears that the protests could turn violent. The "yellow vest" movement has been organizing protests in France since November 17 in response to the government's plans to raise fuel taxes. At least four people have died in recent protests that turned violent and more have been injured. On Tuesday, Philippe said the government would suspend the three fiscal measures that were supposed to take effect on January, including the fuel tax increase, for six months. Amid the escalation in protests, however, French Finance and Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire announced on Thursday that the government would not increase the national fuel tax in 2019. Reporter Mary Schenk is a reporter covering police, courts and breaking news at The News-Gazette. Her email is mschenk@news-gazette.com, and you can follow her on Twitter (@schenk). Steve Hoffman is editor of the Piatt County Journal-Republican. He can be reached at shoffman@news-gazette.com Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. One of Editor & Publishers 10 That Do It Right 2021 Chief Executive Carrie Lam expressed regret over the cancellation of her Question Time session at the Legislative Council today, after protesting legislators disrupted the meeting. Speaking to the media, Mrs Lam said she missed a chance to take questions from legislators. She said it is beneficial to Hong Kongs governance if the Chief Executive takes questions from legislators more frequently. The Chief Executive can also respond in a timelier and more proactive manner to matters of concern through interactions with legislators, she added. Mrs Lam said she will maintain communication with legislators despite todays disruption and hoped her next Question Time session will go smoothly. Chief Executive Carrie Lam This creative coming together makes smart design sense. It makes great business sense, too. Melbourne and Hong Kong, after all, offer singular strengths in business and design. Hong Kong, one of the world's leading financial centres and a global research and business hub, is blessed with a distinctive East-meets-West culture. We are designed to create rewarding connections and to help our partners excel. Melbourne has been named the most liveable city in the world for the past seven years in a row. Apart from being a multicultural city, Melbourne is also a global centre for technology, health and education, as well as a hub for arts, culture and innovation. Under the theme of Think, Collaborate & Create this year, we all look forward to Melbourne's innovative showcase on how design and innovation are changing contemporary urban landscapes and bringing impacts to our societies and living. This year's Business of Design Week (BODW) features a wealth of design intelligence and insight. Alongside the BODW Conference and Fashion Asia, there's also the brand new BODW City Programme, which will foster collaboration among local designers and businesses and engage the wider public through workshops, festivals and other happenings in different districts. I look forward, as well, to the Design Centre's collaboration with our Tourism Commission, bringing design and creativity to a wider audience at the community level. My Government is committed to supporting the design and creative sector. Last year I announced the addition of $1 billion into our CreateSmart Initiative, a dedicated fund for our creative industries. This year my Government is earmarking another $1 billion, this time for our Film Development Fund. It will be used to boost local production, build our film audience and nurture talent, particularly in scriptwriting and script production. It will also help market Hong Kong films as a brand, while focusing on new markets. The Greater Bay Area and the Belt & Road regions in particular, offer great promise for film and our creative industries in general. And I'm delighted to note that a Greater Bay Area & Design discussion was held Monday afternoon as part of BODW. My Government is also committed to developing design thinking as a problem-solving capability. In the past year, the Design Centre has been organising classes and seminars both at the community level and within the Hong Kong Government. We are now working with the Design Centre to establish an event space here in the vibrant community of Wan Chai, to enhance public appreciation of design and design thinking. Chief Executive Carrie Lam gave these remarks at the Business of Design Week opening ceremony on December 6. Gold chains for men are uniquely designed, preserving in mind the durability. The excellent gold chain for men that are... While marathon running is specifically an athletic endeavor, it is also a very publicized sport, where your picture could get... Moving to a new city can be full of anxiety and excitement. When you feel scared, you cant enjoy the... Most real estate agents have an obligation to market their business to potential clients. You have to make sure that... I Agree This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy Another victim of wartime sex slavery died on Thursday. According to the House of Sharing, a home for the survivors of the Japanese World War II atrocity, Kim Soon-ok died on Thursday morning aged 96. Born in Pyongyang in 1922, she worked as a housekeeper and a nanny before being told at the age of 18 that there was a factory job offer. Instead, she was forced into a military brothel in China to serve Japanese soldiers. Now only 26 of the Korean victims survive. A public consultation on the management of public records was launched today. The Archives Law Sub-committee of the Law Reform Commission released a consultation paper to invite public views on whether reform of the current public records management regime is needed, and if so, what kind of reform is preferred. Government records and archives management are currently regulated by an administrative regime under which the Government Records Service is the central records management and service agency. The sub-committee has studied the laws and practices of a number of jurisdictions, in particular, Australia, England, Ireland, New Zealand and Singapore. It found that almost all other jurisdictions have archives laws in place. The sub-committee said it sees a case for the introduction of an archives law to further strengthen the management, protection and preservation of public records and archives in Hong Kong. Sub-committee Chairman Andrew Liao said government records form an integral part of the community's shared heritage that belongs to all. It seeks to engage as much of the public as possible in this consultation exercise, Mr Liao added. The consultation will end on March 5. Views can be sent by email. Click here for the consultation document. There Was No Chance of Survivorsbut They Found One (Newser) Sure, keeping your cat inside all day will protect it from cars, diseases, and predators, and the local birds will likely appreciate it, too. But in an op-ed in the New York Times, a deputy news editor at Science argues that cat owners should also acknowledge a truth: Cats "have not evolved to slumber in our living rooms." They need to roam outdoors, if only for an hour a day, and if only on a leash, writes David Grimm. In short, "we need to start walking our cats." Grimm recounts how he and his fiancee gained some neighborhood notoriety 13 years ago by regularly walking their two cats with small dog harnesses. story continues below "Im not saying that you should put your cat on a leash like we did," he writes. "They dont like you telling them where to go. But we should let our cats outside for 30 to 60 minutes a day to rove yards, stroll sidewalks and disappear into shrubbery." He advises that cat owners keep an eye on them, picking them up if they head for the street or clapping if they begin hunting a bird. "We dont let our dogs wander unsupervised or destroy whatever they want," and the same should be true of cats. Keep treats handy to lure the cat back inside, and don't be surprised if "he comes back a complete being, one who has salved his savage heart and who is now perfectly content to be the lion in your lap." Read the full op-ed. (Read more cats stories.) (Newser) The cause of California's deadly Camp Fire still has not been officially released, but sources say a single hook may be the culprit. Specifically, a steel hook that held up a high voltage line on a Pacific Gas & Electric transmission tower, sources tell NBC Bay Area. There had already been much speculation that PG&E, the state's largest utility, is to blame for the wildfire that burned through more than 153,000 acres, destroying the entire town of Paradise and killing at least 85. One of the company's power lines was reportedly causing sparks just before the fire started Nov. 8, and multiple lawsuits have been filed against the utility by fire victims. Now, sources say, investigators have determined a hook on a nearly century-old PG&E transposition tower failed in high winds the morning the fire startedand it started at the base of that tower. story continues below Neither Cal Fire nor PG&E would comment on NBC's story, but an attorney representing fire victims alleges PG&E failed to properly maintain its equipment, and another attorney suggests the utility may have more problems in store if it can't keep its aging equipment safe. See the NBC report for more, including video showing wires dangling where the hook failed on the tower. (Was the president right about California wildfires?) (Newser) The national school lunch program is making room on menus again for noodles, biscuits, tortillas, and other foods made mostly of refined grains. The Trump administration is scaling back contested school lunch standards implemented under the Obama administration including one that required only whole grains be served, the AP reports. The US Department of Agriculture said Thursday only half the grains served will need to be whole grains, a change it said will do away with the current bureaucracy of requiring schools to obtain special waivers to serve select items made with refined grains. Low-fat chocolate milk will also be allowed again and a goal for limiting sodium will be scrapped. Previously, only fat-free milk could be flavored, although that rule had also been temporarily waived. story continues below The School Nutrition Association, which represents local cafeteria operators and companies like Domino's Pizza, Kellogg, and PepsiCo, had called for the scale back of the whole grain-only requirement, saying it was too difficult for some districts to meet. Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the association, said whole-grain bread and buns generally aren't a problem. But she said students complained about other items, in many cases because of cultural or regional preferences. Whole-grain biscuits and grits are also a challenge in the US South, she said, while tortillas are a challenge in the Southwest. Not everyone welcomed the relaxed rules. The American Heart Association encouraged schools to "stay the course" and commit to meeting the stricter standards that started going into effect in 2012. The Center for Science in the Public Interest also said the decision to roll back the whole-grain requirement makes no sense because most schools were already in compliance. (This school cook's choice of ingredient cost him his job.) (Newser) After criticism that his acting attorney general wasn't confirmed by the Senate, President Trump is considering a permanent replacement who was confirmed in the role decades ago, insiders say. Sources tell the Washington Post that Matthew Barr, a 68-year-old Republican lawyer who served as attorney general under George HW Bush from 1991 to 1993, has emerged as the leading candidate and could be named as Trump's nominee within days. The sources say that Barr, who became a corporate executive after leaving the Justice Department, isn't especially keen to return to the attorney general position after 25 years, but will serve if asked to out of a sense of duty. story continues below Barr is seen as a mainstream choice, though critics note that he has spoken out against the Russia investigation and will face tough questions during the confirmation process. He has suggested that Hillary Clinton's role in a uranium deal "is more worthy of investigation than collusion between Trump and Russia," Obama-era White House ethics counsel Norman Eisen tells the New York Times. "That is bizarre. And he was involved in the dubious George HW Bush end of term pardons that may be a precedent for even more illegitimate ones by Trump." If confirmed, Barr will oversee his daughter, Mary Daly, who leads the Justice Department's fight against opioid abuse. (More than 400 former Justice officials have spoken out against acting attorney general Matt Whitaker.) New satellite pictures suggest that North Korea has significantly expanded a ballistic missile base in Yeongjeo-dong in the country's mountainous interior, CNN reported Thursday. Construction of new facilities has continued there even after the summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore in June and it could be building a missile capable of attacking the U.S. there. "The satellite imagery offers evidence that the Yeongjeo-dong missile base and a nearby, previously unreported site remain active and have been continuously upgraded," CNN said. "While the base at Yeongjeo-dong has long been known to US intelligence agencies and analysts, the images reveal construction on a new facility just seven miles away from the older site that had not been previously publicly identified." "It's one of several major bases our military has kept under surveillance in cooperation with the U.S.," a spokesman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff here said. (Newser) The father of a North Carolina teen who was abducted from outside her Lumberton home on Nov. 5 and whose body was found after a three-week search has been blocked from attending her Saturday funeral. Noe Aguilarthe Guatemalan father of 13-year-old Hania Aguilarwas immediately denied a temporary visa by the State Department when he visited the US Embassy in Guatemala City on Monday. Officials called out his lack of strong ties to his native country and low bank balance, which they say raised the risk that he wouldn't return, his Texas-based lawyer, Naimeh Salem, tells the New York Times. Aguilar, who previously lived in the US but returned to Guatemala in 2005, "has never attempted to come back to the US," says Salem. "He wanted to kiss his daughter goodbye." story continues below Salem notes Aguilar's visa request was denied despite him stating his intention to return to the Guatemalan business he owns. Still, "I'm hopeful we should be able to get it." North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper has asked the US ambassador to Guatemala to "reconsider" the decision so Aguilar "can properly mourn [his] lost child in this tragic and extraordinary circumstance." Members of the public are also getting involved. "No parent should be denied the right to attend their child's funeral," reads a Change.org petition with some 55,000 signatures as of this writing. Hania's murder remains unsolved, with a $30,000 reward offered for information leading to a conviction. An autopsy is underway, per WTVD. (More on the case here.) (Newser) Saturday might not be the best time to take in the sights of Paris: Authorities, fearing a repeat of last week's violent protests, are closing major tourist sites including major museums and the Eiffel Tower, the BBC reports. Thousands of anti-government "gilets jaunes""yellow jacket"protesters took to the streets of the capital and other French cities last weekend in some of the worst unrest the country has seen in 50 years. Prime Minister Edouard Philippe says 89,000 police officers will be mobilized around the country and armored vehicles will be deployed in Paris, where cars were burned and stores were looted during last week's riots. story continues below "We are facing people who are not here to protest, but to smash and we want to have the means to not give them a free rein," Philippe says. Authorities, warning that "significant violence" is expected from "radical and rebellious people," have urged stores and restaurants along the Champs-Elysees and other major streets to closeand told them to take items like tables and chairs inside. Authorities are also removing items like railings and construction site materials from 14 high-risk districts in Paris to deprive protesters of potential weapons, the AP reports. (France has done a U-turn on the fuel tax hike that first sparked the protests.) (Newser) State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert is in line for a big promotion: She'll soon be announced as President Trump's nominee to be America's next ambassador to the United Nations, insiders say. Sources tell Reuters that Nauerta former ABC journalist and Fox & Friends presenter whose State Department role was her first government jobcould be unveiled as the choice as soon as Friday morning. The 48-year-old became a department spokesman in April 2017 and was named as an acting undersecretary for public diplomacy and public affairs earlier this year. White House officials say the UN ambassador post will no longer be considered part of the Cabinet. story continues below Sources tell Politico that Nauert was an early contender to replace Nikki Haley, who departs at the end of this month, but they thought she had fallen out of contention. Other candidates who had been considered include former White House deputy national security adviser Dina Powell; the ambassadors to France, Germany, and Canada; and NATO ambassador Kay Bailey Hutchison, the sources say. The Guardian notes that Senate Democrats are likely to focus on Nauert's lack of policy experience or other qualifications, but it will only require a simple majority to confirm her. (After Haley's resignation, Ivanka Trump quashed rumors that she would replace her.) (Newser) CNN says its New York offices and studios have been given the all-clear after a bomb threat was phoned in Thursday night. The threat at Manhattan's Time Warner Center forced the evacuation of the facility and the closure of part of West 58th Street to vehicle and pedestrian traffic, the New York Post reports. Police say a man with a southern accent called CNN at around 10pm and said five bombs had been placed in the building, reports the AP. Fire alarm bells rang in the newsroom and Don Lemon's CNN Tonight, which had been on a commercial break, ceased broadcasting as the network switched to taped programming. story continues below After around 30 minutes, Lemon and Brian Stelter resumed broadcasting from outside the building. "We were told to evacuate the building and to do it as soon as possible," Lemon told viewers. "We grabbed what we could and got out of the building and now, we are standing outside of the building." After the all-clear was given, CNN Worldwide President Jeff Zucker thanked authorities for the swift action and praised the "patience and professionalism" of staff. (CNN had to evacuate the facility after a suspicious device was found in October.) (Newser) House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi on Thursday rejected the idea of paying for President Trump's border wall in exchange for helping hundreds of thousands of young immigrants avoid deportation. Funding for the walla top Trump priorityand legal protections for so-called Dreamers, a key Democratic goal, should not be linked, Pelosi said. "They're two different subjects," and most Democrats consider the wall "immoral, ineffective, and expensive," Pelosi said. Her comments came as the House and Senate approved a stopgap bill Thursday to keep the government funded through Dec. 21, the AP reports. The measure, approved by voice votes in near-empty chambers, now goes to the White House. story continues below Trump has promised to sign the two-week extension to allow for ceremonies this week honoring former President George HW Bush, who died Nov. 30. But he wants the next funding package to include at least $5 billion for his proposed wall, something Democrats have rejected. Trump is set to meet Tuesday at the White House with Pelosi and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer. Schumer said Thursday that a bipartisan Senate plan for $1.6 billion in border security funding does not include money for the 30-foot-high concrete wall Trump has envisioned. In a tweet late Thursday, Trump warned of the potential for "Big danger" at the US-Mexico border in Arizona, demanding, "Nancy and Chuck must approve Boarder Security and the Wall!" (Trump says he is "totally willing" to shut down the government if funding for the wall is not approved.) (Newser) You'll likely look more kindly upon even the most passive-aggressive roommate after reading this story out of Taiwan. A female student at Taipei's Chinese Culture University didn't resort to an angry fridge note after discovering one of her yogurt-drink containers empty in the trash of the home she shares with five other women. Facing denials from her housemates, she allegedly instead went to police, demanding they investigate who consumed the bottle, which cost a whopping $1.92, the BBC reports via broadcaster TVBS. Per Munchies, "we're not entirely sure what this says about the state of law enforcement in Taiwan, but the police department agreed." story continues below What's more, officers asked all six housemates to report to the local station to provide DNA samples. Per the BBC, each taxpayer-funded test cost roughly $100. In the end, cops got their suspect, who is now facing a charge of theft. Taxpayers, however, doubt whether the effort was worth the result. "If I were the policeman, I would buy a bottle [of yogurt] to give to her," one local tells Apple Daily, per Munchies. (A woman allegedly put moldy clam dip in her roommate's lotion, among other horrid actions.) (Newser) History paints them as fierce rivals. Mary Queen of Scots paints Queen Elizabeth I (Margot Robbie) and her cousin, Mary Stuart (Saoirse Ronan), as frenemies hobbled by the cruelty of men in a conflict that comes to threaten Elizabeth's crown. Four takes on the film, which carries a 74% rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes: "For intrigue, rivalry, betrayal and bloodshed, Mary's story is hard to beatand often hard to follow." Good thing for "Ronan, as well as Margot Robbie in an arresting turn as a wretched but wily Elizabeth, who keeps us watching even as the twists in Mary's narrative become increasingly, almost maddeningly complicated," writes Rafer Guzman at Newsday, giving the "handsome" film 3 stars out of 4. AO Scott calls it "consistently interesting even if it's not always convincing." But "there is enlightenment as well as pleasure to be found in the full and complicated sexuality of the film's characters," Scott writes at the New York Times, noting "students of Scottish history may be surprised to learn that the fate of the nation was partly decided by an act of cunnilingus." story continues below First-time film director Josie Rourke gets high praise from Richard Lawson. "Placing her actors and guiding their light with gorgeous results," she "does enough to both honor and reshape the hallowed mold to keep things interesting," he writes at Vanity Fair. Ronan is equally impressive, giving "a commanding, expressive physical performance." "Robbie is a bit wobblier, if only because she seems to have trouble with her accent." Monica Castillo gives Robbie higher marks, saying she "plays the paranoid and tortured queen well, using a tense, nervous energy against Ronan's cool and cutting performance." Writing at RogerEbert.com, she also compliments the "oil painting-like cinematography" and "regal costumes." She concludes Mary Queen of Scots is "entertaining" even if "it doesn't always work." (Ronan also impressed in 2017's Lady Bird .) (Newser) John Ackroyd was no stranger to Oregon police, or even to the district attorney in Jefferson County: The state highway mechanic had been accused of a 1977 rape and a suspect in a 1978 murder, both of which took place near Highway 20. Then, in 1990, his name surfaced again. Rachanda Pickle, the 13-year-old daughter of his ex-wife Linda, went missing from her Santiam Junction home. As Noelle Crombie writes in Part III of the Oregonian/OregonLive's five-part series "Ghosts of Highway 20," Ackroyd and Linda had an "unusual arrangement": They lived together, though they had divorced years earlier. And Ackroyd was molesting Rachanda. She vanished on July 10, while Linda was at work; Ackroyd took the day off, and was the last person to see the teen alive. story continues below He claimed she turned down his invite to go take photos of deer with him and was gone when he returned. But there were also disturbing sexual undertones: In speaking to police, he noted her bra size and said she had started to develop and was menstruating. He suggested her blossoming womanhood could have lured a predator to their home. He also had sex with Linda the night Rachanda went missing, "significant" because his low libido meant such an act rarely happened; investigators thought he may have gotten a rush from harming Rachanda. But there was no body or evidence, so they circled back to Kaye Turner's 1978 murder and caught a breakthe woman who provided an alibi for Ackroyd admitted she lied. Things accelerated, and by 1992, his arrest in Turner's case was nearing. Then two more women died. Read Part III in full here. (Or catch up on Parts I and II.) (Newser) Endangered Hawaiian monk seals have enough to contend withsharks, habitat loss, limited prey, netswithout eels wiggling in their noses. Yet NOAA researchers are noting just how much trouble an eel in the nose can cause after sharing a photo of an afflicted seal looking rather uncomfortable this week, before the eel was successfully removed, per CNN. The seal is actually one of "three or four" juveniles observed with an eel up its nose since the phenomenon was first spotted off Hawaii's Lisianski Island in 2016, biologist Charles Littnan tells the Guardian, adding "we've been intensively monitoring monk seals for four decades and in all of that time nothing like this has happened." He tells Live Science, "We have no idea why it's happening." story continues below In certain casesLittnan describes one in which an eel was so deeply embedded that "it was like a magician's handkerchief trick, we just had to keep pulling and pulling"it may be regurgitation gone wrong. But as eels like to hide from predators, including monk seals digging around in coral reefs and rocks, they might see a nostril as a place of safety in a sudden attack. It could also be that juvenile seals aren't good hunters, as no adult seals have been found with an eel nose plug, though that doesn't explain why eels have only been seen in right nostrils. The poor seals are suffering along with the eels, none of which have survived past removal. Bacteria from rotting flesh can trigger an infection, per Live Science, which that adds a seal's nostrils are meant to close underwater. (Eels hurt tourists, too.) (Newser) Democrat Dan McCready has withdrawn his Nov. 7 concession in the race for North Carolina's 9th District and is demanding his opponent "tell us exactly what he knew, and when" regarding absentee ballot irregularities. Republican Mark Harris leads McCready by 905 votes in unofficial returns a month after polls closed, though the state board of elections has declined to certify the results as it investigates a contractor who worked for Harris' campaign. Previously convicted of perjury and insurance fraud, Leslie McCrae Dowless is alleged to have hired people to encourage low-income voters in Bladen County to cast absentee ballots, which were returned to him, not the state, in violation of North Carolina law, reports the Charlotte Observer. Investigators are looking into allegations that ballots were tampered with or perhaps not turned in to the state at all. story continues below Concerns were similarly raised and possibly ignored earlier when Harris' primary opponent, Robert Pittenger, received 17 absentee mail-in votes in Bladen County compared to 437 for Harris, reports the Washington Post. "Dowless' efforts were widely known, and we did share our concerns," Pittenger says, though the National Republican Congressional Committee denies receiving reports of fraud. On Thursday, McCready said, "I didn't serve overseas in the Marines just to come home to NC and watch a criminal, bankrolled by my opponent, take away people's very right to vote." Top House Democrats say they will refuse to seat Harris until the issue is resolved, which may require a new election. State Republicans first want to see "overwhelming" evidence that fraud changed the outcome of the vote. (Read more Election 2018 stories.) President Moon Jae-in urgently summoned key officials on Thursday afternoon to discuss preparations for North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's possible visit to Seoul. All other Cabinet meetings were canceled that day. After returning to Seoul from the G20 Summit, Moon sent an official invitation to Kim to visit on Dec. 12-14. The government contacted North Korean officials several times recently to discuss Kim's visit and has apparently now received a positive response from the North. "There are many signs pointing to an imminent visit by Kim," a source said. "I believe discussions are taking place over the itinerary and agenda based on a date that has been tentatively agreed through unofficial contacts." But Cheong Wa Dae said no word has been received from North Korea, and both sides appear to be wary of announcing a firm date due to security concerns. The government believes this week is a watershed moment and preparations are being made to accommodate Kim. Cheong Wa Dae proposed Dec. 12-14, because the North has a series of major events later this month, including the seventh anniversary of former leader Kim Jong-il's death on Dec. 17 and Kim Jong-un's grandmother's 101st birthday on Christmas Eve. North Korea often treats Kim's itinerary as a top secret and Cheong Wa Dae seems to be going along. His trips to China were announced either after he arrived in Beijing or even after they were over. Cheong Wa Dae officials also contacted the U.S. Embassy in Seoul on Thursday, possibly to inform it of the schedule. Officials on Wednesday held back-to-back meetings to discuss Kim's accommodation, sites to visit, and other details. Opposition politicians criticized the government for fixating on Kim's visit without a game plan to get North Korea to scrap its nuclear weapons. Kim Byong-joon of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party said, "Cheong Wa Dae is not Kim Jong-un's official travel agent or publicity officer, and Kim touring Mt. Halla [on Jeju Island] and the N Seoul Tower will not resolve all of the problems." Meanwhile, North Korea was busy Thursday accusing South Korea of "fabricating" the sinking of the Navy corvette Cheonan and appeared focused on the upcoming anniversary of Kim Jong-il's death. (Newser) A private California school has had its certification suspended and an investigation is underway after an incident last month that left a special needs teen dead. The Sacramento Bee reports on what's said to have transpired Nov. 28 at Guiding Hands School in El Dorado Hills, when a 13-year-old student who cops say was severely autistic reportedly became violent, prompting staff to place him in what's called a "prone restraint," in which the person is held facedown. An El Dorado County Sheriffs Office rep says the boy, who was 6 feet tall and about 280 pounds, became unresponsive while in this position, and staff tried to administer CPR before help arrived. Per CBS Sacramento, the boy died at UC Davis Medical Center two days later. story continues below Using this type of restraint can be legal in some cases in California, though it's been banned in schools in several other states. A disability rights attorney tells the Bee if the move isn't done correctly, it "can cause trauma and death," as the positioning can keep oxygen from circulating. The school was sued nearly 15 years ago for using this type of restraint, and a former student tells FOX40 she left the school after eighth grade due to what her family thought was overuse of this type of response. A Guiding Hands statement announced the teen's death "with heavy hearts," adding that staff used "a nationally recognized behavior management protocol" and that an investigation continues. (A teacher says her Colorado school district didn't protect her from an autistic student.) (Newser) Paris and other large cities in France are bracing for violence this weekend. "Yellow vest" protesters promise to be out in force, and police promise to be there to meet them. One potential sign of good news: Representatives of the protesters will meet with Prime Minister Edouard Philippe Friday night. "Our message is that we are listening to them," says a government spokesman. A look at what the protests are about, and the mounting criticism on President Emmanuel Macron: The start: The original protests were over a fuel tax increase, part of a plan to steer France toward cleaner energy. Macron has since scrapped the tax hike in the wake of the protests in the first big about-face of his presidency, notes Reuters. But the protests have gone way beyond that single issue at this point. The original protests were over a fuel tax increase, part of a plan to steer France toward cleaner energy. Macron has since scrapped the tax hike in the wake of the protests in the first big about-face of his presidency, notes Reuters. But the protests have gone way beyond that single issue at this point. Much bigger: "This is now about so much more than fuel tax," one of the protesters, a 41-year-old single mom, tells the Guardian. "We seem to live in a world gone mad where the rich pay next to nothing and the poor are constantly taxed." The newspaper sums up the complaints: Macron presents himself as a progressive to the world, but at home, he defends the old guard and is seen as "an arrogant, would-be monarch." Protesters now want reform on a wide range of cost-of-living issues. "This is now about so much more than fuel tax," one of the protesters, a 41-year-old single mom, tells the Guardian. "We seem to live in a world gone mad where the rich pay next to nothing and the poor are constantly taxed." The newspaper sums up the complaints: Macron presents himself as a progressive to the world, but at home, he defends the old guard and is seen as "an arrogant, would-be monarch." Protesters now want reform on a wide range of cost-of-living issues. A pattern: The fuel tax "was the latest of several reforms proposed by Macron that would disproportionately affect France's least well-off, including abolishing a wealth tax, making it easier for companies to hire and fire employees, and fighting unions," per the Washington Post. story continues below Not helping: images (like this one) of police forcing protesting high school students to get on the ground with their hands behind their heads. Critics say the police, in ski masks, used undue force in the incident. "You don't beat up kids," a trade union representative tells Le Monde, per the AP. images (like this one) of police forcing protesting high school students to get on the ground with their hands behind their heads. Critics say the police, in ski masks, used undue force in the incident. "You don't beat up kids," a trade union representative tells Le Monde, per the AP. Miscalculation: Moving toward cleaner energy might be a noble move, but the UK director of the European Climate Foundation says Macron went about it wrong. His "policy didnt fail because it taxed carbon," writes Joss Garman in Politico. "It failed because it was a bad, regressive policy that hit the poorest hardest." Something like this requires a creative approach, not a "blunt" tax put into place without the public's approval. Moving toward cleaner energy might be a noble move, but the UK director of the European Climate Foundation says Macron went about it wrong. His "policy didnt fail because it taxed carbon," writes Joss Garman in Politico. "It failed because it was a bad, regressive policy that hit the poorest hardest." Something like this requires a creative approach, not a "blunt" tax put into place without the public's approval. Miscalculation, II: Analysts quoted in the New York Times echo the above point. They "say the French tax was not politically deft, falling hardest on people outside French cities who were already feeling the pain of stagnating incomes and who do not have the same mass transportation options as urban residents." The government, for example, could have figured out ways to soften the blow on low-income families. Analysts quoted in the New York Times echo the above point. They "say the French tax was not politically deft, falling hardest on people outside French cities who were already feeling the pain of stagnating incomes and who do not have the same mass transportation options as urban residents." The government, for example, could have figured out ways to soften the blow on low-income families. Survival: At Vanity Fair, Isobel Thompson wonders whether the 40-year-old Macron can survive this "civil war." As in the Guardian piece, she says he has developed a "reputation for arrogance and classism." He needs to drop those traits fast and truly listen to the protesters. "If Macron can successfully show that climate change and progressive social policy do not have to be mutually exclusive, he could quell France's popular revolt, restore his credibility, and become the global leader he already presumes himself to be, "she writes. "Nobody said it will be easy." At Vanity Fair, Isobel Thompson wonders whether the 40-year-old Macron can survive this "civil war." As in the Guardian piece, she says he has developed a "reputation for arrogance and classism." He needs to drop those traits fast and truly listen to the protesters. "If Macron can successfully show that climate change and progressive social policy do not have to be mutually exclusive, he could quell France's popular revolt, restore his credibility, and become the global leader he already presumes himself to be, "she writes. "Nobody said it will be easy." A 'monster': In the meantime, France's interior minister says the protests have created a "monster" and warns that "radical elements" may infiltrate them, reports the BBC. As for Macron, he is due to address the nation early next week. In the meantime, France's interior minister says the protests have created a "monster" and warns that "radical elements" may infiltrate them, reports the BBC. As for Macron, he is due to address the nation early next week. The name: "Yellow vests," or "gilets jaunes," refers to the safety vests many of the protesters wear. French motorists are required to have them in the car. (Read more Emmanuel Macron stories.) (Newser) At least 12 people, including two children, were killed Friday when police engaged in a shootout with bank robbers, according to authorities in northeastern Brazil, per the AP. The two attempted heists in the state of Ceara began around 2:30am in the downtown area of the city of Milagres. Robbers at one bank took several people hostage when police surrounded the area, according to a police statement. A firefight broke out, leaving several dead. Authorities have yet to identify the dead. story continues below Two suspects were apprehended, according to police. Milagres Mayor Lielson Macedo Landim told local media that two children, between 10 and 13 years old, were killed in the shooting. It was not immediately clear how the hostages were taken. Police did not immediately respond to email and phone requests for more information. Latin America's largest nation routinely is the world leader in total annual homicides. Ceara is one of the country's most violent states. (Read more bank robbery stories.) The United Arab Emirates yesterday lashed out at Qatar for its support of extremism saying, The political crisis will end when the cause behind it ends. Qatar, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash tweeted, should end its support of extremism and its interference in the stability of the region. Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have repeatedly warned Qatar to stop supporting terrorism in the region. The main success of the council is in its economic aspects and the creation of a Gulf common market, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash tweeted. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) continues to function despite crisis with Qatar, he said adding that the upcoming summit in Riyadh under the presidency of Oman and despite the Qatari crisis indicates that the Gulf Cooperation Council carries on. Saudi Arabias King Salman Bin Abdulaziz has invited Qatars Emir to attend the December 9 gathering of heads of states but Doha has not yet said what level of representation it would send. The message was delivered by Secretary-General of the GCC Dr Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, during a reception by Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Sultan bin Saad Al Muraikhi. Bahrains Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, in a statement to Asharq Al-Awsat, said that the Doha has burned the return ships. There must be a new agreement and a new regime, and Doha should be placed under scrutiny, he said. I do not know how Qatar will return. It has committed to the enemies of the region, such as Iran, and separated itself from the GCC. We are realistic in dealing with this issue and we dont want to waste more time, he affirmed. At last years summit, held in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain sent ministers or deputy prime ministers. A prominent trade union in the Kingdom yesterday lashed out at companies here for misusing an article in Bahrains Labour Law to sack employees in an unfair manner and deny them proper compensations. Urging the government to take strict actions against such practices, Karim Radhi, the General Secretary of the General Federation of Bahrain Trade Unions (GFBTU) told Tribune that there is a widespread increase in the number of such cases where the article 110 in the Labour Law No 36/2012 has been misused to lay off workers. The article, Karim Radhi said, allows companies to downsize in times of financial difficulties but are currently being employed as an excuse to fire employees. Many of the companies are making the plea that it is a matter of restructuring or full or partial closure making laid-off workers eligible for the least compensation which is 12 days per service year with a maximum of 6 months salaries, GFBTU said in a statement. The reality, however, is much more serious, Radhi told Tribune, with GFBTU suspecting a foul play where companies are using layoffs as a pretext to hire cheaper labour or to replace Bahraini workers. We have noticed that some companies have done this, Radhi said adding: The question is whether the companies are really having financial difficulties. They fired many but only to move on with expansion plans soon after. They are also using this article to pay workers less compensation, Radhi claimed We know that certain sectors such as the construction industry are having difficult times, but this is not the case with many other industries that are actually flourishing. South Korea and the U.S. have decided to cancel the large-scale "Foal Eagle" joint military exercise scheduled for April of 2019. Government sources here said U.S. troops will not take part and South Korean troops will train alone but reduce the size of its own contingent. Last year, around 10,000 U.S. and 290,000 South Korean soldiers took part in the drill. Instead, the South Korean and U.S. military will hold computer-simulated or CPX exercises that do not involve actual troops and equipment. One high-ranking military officer said, "We usually hold CPC drills when we stage the Key Resolve drills in March, so I don't know why we are holding two similar war games." The officer warned that U.S. and South Korean military readiness could weaken if live-training exercises are canceled. U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis said last month that joint military drills with South Korea will be "reorganized a bit to keep it at a level that will not be harmful to diplomacy." But South Korean officers say the changes are more drastic than they expected. But the decision was made because there are hopes of a second U.S.-North Korea summit early next year. "Discussions are taking place between working-level officials in the U.S. and [South] Korea, and I will inform you when a decision is reached," Defense Ministry spokeswoman Choi Hyun-soo told reporters. Moored in the endless South Atlantic Ocean far off the coast of Angola, the Kaombo Norte oil-extraction vessel is a deeply impressive sight -- 330 metres (1083 feet) long, with a tower 110 metres high sending a burning flame into the sky. But inside, daily life on the ship is a different matter, with a crew of about 100 sharing narrow passages and confined spaces, living for weeks at a stretch in close quarters 24 hours a day. The ship, owned by the French Total oil company, is an oil tanker converted into a FPSO (floating production, storage and offloading) vessel, pumping oil from deep under the seabed into its vast holds before collection -- a major innovation for the industry. Typical among the crew is 30-year-old unmarried engineer Benoit Tanguy, who shares a low-ceiling office with a colleague during the day. At night, he squeezes into a small cabin that has the rare luxury of a sea view, but which he must share with three colleagues. Tanguy doesnt complain, saying with a laugh: We have little privacy. But because we are always surrounded by people, it sometimes helps to spend a few moments on your own. We are caught up in work, so the days pass very quickly, said Tanguy, who always dreamt of a life at sea. When I joined Total, it was exactly to work offshore, he said, explaining he spent two years on an oil platform off Abu Dhabi before taking a posting on the Kaombo Norte. His job is to ensure that the ship, located 250 kilometres (155 miles) northwest of the seaside capital Luanda, draws in oil at exactly the right rate from nearly 2,000 metres under its hull. Of course I miss friends For four weeks in a row, seven days a week, he analyses data, looking out for the slightest error or problem. Then he leaves the ship via a helicopter shuttle to the shore and catches a plane home to Brittany for four weeks of vacation. The Kaombo oil project -- which will pump 230,000 barrels a day when two ships are fully operational next year -- is still in its early phase, and Tanguy said he never gets bored even thousands of miles away from his family. In the current stage of development, the word monotony does not even exist -- there is always something to do. Of course I miss friends and sport, but I live well, he said. Eyes glued to his computer screen, his neighbour nods in agreement. At 54, Christophe Marx is a veteran of offshore life. He has spent 10 years off Angola or Nigeria working for a French subcontractor and says he has found a balance between his work at sea and his family life in the south of France. Whenever I have returned to a more normal life, with a weekly work rhythm, I realised that I was missing life at sea, he said, even if a month away at sea does sometimes mean missing family events back home. The best part (of the fourweek on, four-week off way of working) is the month of real holiday, among my family, away from work. The worst is the month during which we are far apart, he said. You can be sure that it is always when the washing machine or the car breaks down. Aboard the Kaombo Norte, leisure time is scarce and the maze of corridors and offices quickly becomes claustrophobic. One temptation is to go outside on deck to breathe in some sea air, but the climate is far from refreshing. The equatorial air is heavy and moist, the smell is saturated with fumes and there is a constant din of engines, pumps and machines. A dangerous workplace Helmets, goggles, gloves and safety shoes are compulsory in such a dangerous work environment. The ship holds up to two million barrels of highly flammable crude in its hold. The amount of energy under our feet is huge, said one crew member. The slightest incident can escalate into a disaster. At 36, Elgar Ferreira, from Angola, is responsible for ensuring safety standards are upheld on a vessel that is like a floating tower of Babel with 23 nationalities on board. One of the difficulties is that we have different cultures... different ways of seeing things, he said, I spend a lot of time explaining. The Portuguese chef, Carlos Macedo, plays an essential role in boosting camaraderie among the crew by producing a daily menu of culinary treats. One captain told me that my job was one of the most important on board, he said. When he finishes his day, the sailor needs a clean room, a tidy bed and a good dinner. My goal is to satisfy all my customers, without exception. And as for women on board -- there are a handful. Here everyone is kind and helpful so its quite easy, said Franca Sabattini, a 38-year-old Italian engineer. I say to all my colleagues: if you think that offshore is not for women, look at me: Im here and Im happy. But the struggle for a settled family life is one issue that worries Tanguy. Its going to be four years that I am off-shore and then I would like a more sedentary life, he said. The other day we went round the table in the canteen, almost all were divorced. The Japanese government plans to revise the rules for its procurement of telecommunications equipment to take into consideration the risks related to national security. The only current rules are on the cost of procurement. The government will begin studying revisions of the internal rules of the relevant ministries and agencies as early as next week, with an eye toward preventing information leaks from cyber-attacks. The US administration of President Donald Trump has banned the government from using products made by Huawei and other Chinese telecommunications companies due to national security concerns. The US has also asked countries that host US military bases not to use Chinese telecommunications equipment. The Japanese government plans to avoid naming specific Chinese companies in the revised rules. The minister in charge of cyber security, Yoshitaka Sakurada, says the government will take various steps by studying cyber security technologies and measures taken by other countries. Asia-Europe potential highlighted at Boao forum From:ChinaDaily | 2018-12-07 01:46 Asia and Europe must deepen collaboration to protect multilateralism and reinforce open trade flow, according to political and business leaders speaking at the Boao Forum for Asia Rome Conference on Wednesday. Interests aligned by a drive toward win-win opportunities, created from China's further opening-up and the growing global connectivity enabled by the Belt and Road Initiative, must be developed, they said. "Great potential of cooperation (exists) in reshaping globalization and international rule-setting, based on their common grounds on international trade and investment, infrastructure development, climate change and digital economies," said Zhou Xiaochuan, former governor of the People's Bank of China, China's central bank. "Reforming WTO and preserving the multilateral trade system are top priorities. China will do its part to further reform and open up its market for international access and actively contribute towards globalization," said Zhou, who is also vice-chairman of Boao Forum for Asia and vice-chairman of the 12th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. Romano Prodi, former prime minister of Italy, said that China and Europe should deepen relations to defend globalization trends that "made possible the prosperity of the present" and make efforts to prevent the spread of protectionism and the rise of populism across Europe. "Economic transformation is the key feature of the present. In a world that for decades has been hinging on the economic primacy of the US, now the European Union and China are two of the) biggest economies," Prodi said. Attended by about 300 political, business and academic leaders across 15 countries, the Boao Forum for Asia Rome Conference was hosted just days after political leaders reaffirmed support for a rules-based international order at the in Buenos Aires, with a focus on reforming the WTO. At the G20 Leaders' Summit, China and the US also agreed to continue bilateral trade negotiations for realizing win-win cooperation. This spirit of open trade was a hot topic at Wednesday's conference and many speakers hailed the China-proposed Belt and Road initiative as a critical platform to reinforce the momentum of globalization through improving connectivity. "It is certainly an economic cooperation that would promote free trade, build infrastructure, create jobs and income, increase investment, and foster people-to-people understanding, not only between China and each BRI partner country but also between different BRI partners," said Surakiart Sathirathai, former deputy prime minister and foreign minister of Thailand. "The BRI is not only opening up more free trade, but it is opening up some 70 countries and their people through connectivity through road, rail, seaport and airport construction connecting different parts of Asia and between Asia and Europe," said Sathirathai. Proposed by President Xi Jinping in 2013, the Belt and Road Initiative advocates improved connectivity of infrastructure, trade, ideas and knowledge between Europe, Asia and other international markets. Li Baodong, secretary-general of Boao Forum for Asia, added that the objectives of BRI are coherent with the European Commission's 'Connecting Europe and Asia: The EU Strategy', which is a plan launched in September this year with a view to improve Eurasian connectivity. This sentiment for closer Asia-Europe collaboration was shared among business leaders from both continents at a CEO roundtable discussion on the sidelines of the conference. "Despite various uncertainties in the global political environment, Chinese companies are increasingly expanding overseas and global firms are quickly identifying opportunities from the further opening up of China's market," said Liu Bing, co-president of the Beijing-based Hengchang Litong Investment Management. "The tide of globalization cannot be turned back, and businesses across Asia, Europe and Belt and Road countries will continue to collaborate by leveraging on our complementarities, because it makes business sense for us to do so," Liu said. Dr Pedro Obaseki, the President of Midwest Movement, says the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, should stop using restructuring as a political gimmick to get votes, if he has no intention of fulfilling his promise, else, he will face court action.Obaseki, a cousin of Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State, told the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos on Friday that only a restructured Nigeria would engender peace, progress and prosperity for the country.He said,We will take any presidential candidate who promises restructuring to court if he or she reneges.Once you openly commit to restructuring, we will hold you in court if you dont prosecute it having made an open commitment; an open commitment is a contract whether verbal or written.Atiku has come with lets keep Nigeria working again as slogan, if Atiku is doing it as a gimmick to get campaign votes, he will regret it because we are going to hold him accountable to his promises unlike in the past, he said.According to him, the country needs a presidential candidate that strongly believes in and is committed to the restructuring of the nation for Nigeria to join the comity of developed nations of the world.He spoke against the backdrop of Abubakars promise to commence the processes of Nigerias restructuring within six months of his administration if he emerges the winner of the February 16 Presidential Election.NAN reports that Abubakar gave the pledge at the PDP rally in Ibadan, Oyo State, on Thursday. Uche Nwosu, the son-in-law of Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha, has been rejected by the National Chairman of his new party, Action Al... Uche Nwosu, the son-in-law of Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha, has been rejected by the National Chairman of his new party, Action Alliance party, AA, Tunde Anifowose-Kelani. Nwosu was rejected as the gubernatorial candidate of the party in Imo State. According to the Chairman, Nwosu was yet to become a registered member of the party. He said for this reason, the former Imo Chief of Staff, cannot be recognized as the partys standard-bearer in Imo State for the forthcoming general elections. Kelani told reporters on Thursday that Uche Nwosu is not yet a member of our party and cannot come through the back door to be a gubernatorial candidate of the party in Imo state. He further pointed out that the party had rules and regulations guiding its operation and that in order to become a registered member there were due process such person must follow. He advised that if Uche Nwosu really wants to be a registered member of Action Alliance Party, he should do the needful. People of such pedigree should know better than junk politicking which would not help towards 2019, he said. The National Conscience Party (NCP), a member of Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP), has described as an affront, the endorsement of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar by CUPP as consensus candidate for 2019 election.Atiku Abubakar, a former Vice President of Nigeria, is the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).NCP National Publicity Secretary and member, Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) Media/Publicity Committee, Dr Emmanuel Okereke, said in Lagos that the purported endorsement was an affront on the spirit and vision of CUPP.He noted that NCP entered into alliance with some political parties with the aim of producing consensus presidential candidate that would be financially and structurally supported by CUPP.The NCP National Executive Committee and National Coordinating Council unanimous resolve to fully go into alliance with the CUPP) for credence.Disappointedly today in CUPP, same poor Nigerian masses we all came together to rescue are alarmed as just few elements against the letter and spirit of CUPP purportedly adopted the PDPs presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar as a consensus candidate for the February 2019 presidential election.This is a rape to the ethos of political alliance viz social re-engineering; an affront not only to the NCP which gave the alliance credence but also to CUPP, therefore must be unfalteringly resisted.NCP dissociates itself from this macabre dance of shame, he said.Okereke, also frowned at the CUPP steering committee chairman, Mr Olagunsoye Oyinlola, for not following the guidelines for selecting a consensus candidate.He said the Oyinlolas committee invited all political parties in the coalition to forward intelligent memoranda.The same persons changed the goal post now, right in the middle of the match, no, and never, this is unacceptable!NCP resists this shenanigan in totality, hence CUPP initial procedures for this exercise is not only dubiously jettisoned but clandestinely emasculated, he said.The Social Democratic Party (SDP) had also on Thursday distanced itself from the endorsement.SDP National Publicity Secretary, Mr Mohammed Alfa who disclosed this said the party already had a candidate, Mr Donald Duke whose name was submitted to INEC as its presidential candidate for the 2019 election. The presidential and national assembly flag off campaign of All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA, took place yesterday in Awka, with the national chairman of the party, Dr Victor Oye, appealing to aggrieved members to sheathe their sword over the outcome of the partys primaries.Wife of the founder of APGA, and former Nigerian Ambassador to Spain Mrs. Bianca Ojukwu, was conspicuously absent at the ceremony.No reason was given for her absence, particularly when it was learnt that she had not been happy with the leadership of the party since she lost her bid to secure the senatorial ticket of APGA for Anambra South.Former national chairman of APGA and the Senator representing Anambra Central, Senator Victor Umeh, who must have been touched by the absence of Ojukwu, advised the party, to as a matter of urgency, reconcile with her, especially as it was the first time she was absent at APGA major function since the formation of the party.Addressing the well-attended rally, the national chairman of APGA said: As human beings, no one was infallible. I appeal to those who were not successful during the party primaries to forgive and join others for the success of APGA so that the party will go into the 2019 general elections as a united and one indivisible family.According to him, with what is on ground, by February 2019, the states of Abia, Imo and Nasarawa would join Anambra as APGA states. Boko Haram has again attacked Rann, a town in Kala Balge local government area in Borno state, Nigeria. The insurgents destroyed t... Boko Haram has again attacked Rann, a town in Kala Balge local government area in Borno state, Nigeria. The insurgents destroyed the only healthcare centre in the frequently attacked region of the local government, UNICEF clinic. Sources within the local government area revealed that the Nigerian army repelled the insurgents after a fierce gun battle. Mijin Yawa, a resident of Kalabalge who also confirmed the attack, said the insurgents stormed the town with various caliber of weapons, Anti air craft guns and mounted trucks. There may be a lot of casualties but from what i am hearing, the soldiers have repelled the attack and are dealing with the terrorist, Yawa said. I was told that some villagers fleeing the attack were also wounded during cross fire. Another sources who prove anonymity, said the whole Rann village was thrown into confusion as many resident scampered for safety in the bush. Rann local government is housing over thousands of IDPs, who are supported by International Non-Governmental Organisation(NGOs). The insurgents attacked the town in March this year, killed many security personnels and abducted three aid workers. President Muhammadu Buhari has declined assent to the amended electoral bill (2018). Ita Enang, senior special assistant to the pr... President Muhammadu Buhari has declined assent to the amended electoral bill (2018). Ita Enang, senior special assistant to the president on national assembly (senate), said the president has communicated his decision to the national assembly. Although Enang avoided making a categorical statement on the bill, he was clear about the National University Commission Amendment Act which the president assented to. President Muhammadu Buhari has taken decision on Electoral Act Amendment bill 2018. In accordance with his power under the 1999 Constitution and has communicated that decision to the Senate and House of Representatives in accordance with the law, Enang told reporters on Friday. President Buhari has also assented to National Open University Amendment Act, which allows the National Open University to operate as all other universities, having the same power and functions and the same administrative structures eliminating possible discrimination as some use to want to have on its products and programmes. It has also allowed the establishment of some centers to be called study centers and given conditions for the establishment of such study centers. Asked whether the bill was assented or rejected, he said the president has taken a decision in a accordance with the powers vested in him according to the constitution. And by convention that decision contained in the communication can only be revealed by the person to whom that decision is addressed. But the electoral bill has left Mr. President because he has taken a decision and has remitted it back. Pushed further Enang said, Thank You very much but this is all the law allows me to say by convention. Mr. President has sent that communication to the national assembly. When asked if it is safe to say he rejected the bill, he said it is safe to say that the president has taken decision as allowed by low and has communicated that decision to the senate and the House of Representatives. The implication of the decision is that the president has taken action on the bill within the time allowed by law. Opposition parties had mounted pressure on the president to sign the bill, with the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) challenging Buhari to sign the bill to prove that he had not been cloned. This is the third time that the president would reject the bill. In March, Buhari withheld assent to the bill saying the proposed law would usurp the constitutional powers of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to decide on election matters, including fixing dates and the order they would go. In September, Buhari turned down the bill for the second time, asking the national assembly to revise some clauses. The national assembly had passed the bill on July 24 and transmitted to the president on August 3. The Lagos chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) says Wale Oluwo, ex-commissioner for energy and mineral resources in the stat... The Lagos chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) says Wale Oluwo, ex-commissioner for energy and mineral resources in the state, defected from the party because his attempts to deceive party members were foiled. Oluwo had dumped the ruling party for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and resigned his position as commissioner. He had accused the leadership of the ruling party of being anti-democratic in the process through which Babajide Sanwo-Olu emerged as the flagbearer of the APC in the 2019 governorship election. However, the Lagos APC, in a statement by Joe Igbokwe, its spokesman, said Oluwo had been found wanting of anti-party activities. The party accused him of allegedly working to foil the emergence of Babatunde Fashola as the state governor in 2007. He also accused Oluwo of several attempts to use the power of his office to place his wife in strategic positions in the state. It is on record that Oluwo first made an attempt to reap from the challenges of internal party democracy in our progressive movement when he teamed up with one of the losers in the 2007 primaries of the Action Congress to stop Babatunde Fasholas sure victory at the polls. The unfortunate political adventurism failed woefully, the statement read. However, in the conventional demonstration of mercy and forgiveness, Oluwos principal, was accommodated in the second term cabinet of Governor Babatunde Fashola as the Commissioner for Tourism. A similar milk of mercy and kindness led to the consideration Of Oluwo as a member of the Lagos State Executive Council under Governor Akinwunmi Ambode in the hope that he has purged himself of opportunism, disloyalty and vaulting desperation for power. Oluwo had hardly resumed as the Commissioner when he began his plot to use that office to advance his quest for political fiefdom. The object of his ambition was the positioning of his wife as the chairman of a local government. The party rank and file aborted this abuse of power and reckless peddling of influence and everybody thought the lesson had been learnt. He, apparently, had not. As soon as the procedures for the general elections began, Oluwo once again became the only commissioner to seek his wife as the member of House of Assembly for Eti- Osa. By now the pattern of his ambition had become clear. The intrigue that enabled him to make his wife the first- term commissioners wife to become the chairperson of the committee which organised the annual National Women Conference became clear. It was meant to achieve undeserved visibility. This obnoxious attempt to deceive party members was again foiled and it is the aggravated frustration that has led to this defection. Igbokwe alleged that Oluwos defection is evidence that he was a mole of the opposition party. President Muhammadu Buhari has been urged to direct the Inspector-General of Police, IGP, to remove road blocks mounted by his officers on South East roads.The Campaign for Democracy, CD, and Human Rights, Liberty Access and Peace Foundation, HURIJE, in a joint statement called on the President to order for immediate dismantling of all road blocks in the South East which have become haven of corruption, extortion and intimidation.The statement signed by Dede Uzor A Uzor, Chairman, Board of Trustees, BoT, of HURIJE and National Publicity Secretary of CD, said there were not less than hundred road blocks mounted by the Police in different roads in the South East.They said from Onitsha to Owerri, there are about 25 road blocks; Enugu-Porthacourt, 28; Enugu -Owerri, 16; Onitsha-Enugu, 24; Onitsha -Orlu, 18 among others.The group said while the Police gave the checkmating of criminals as reason for mounting these road blocks, it had become clear that the road blocks had become oil well for the Police authority and officers. They do not provide the expected security again. They have grossly abused road blocks. Road blocks have outlived their usefulness. They should be scrapped and dismantled immediately. Why is it that it is only in the South East that the Police mounted larger chunk of their road blocks? You dont see much of Police road blocks in the North and West but here, they used road blocks to extort money from traders and other road users, said the groups. Decisions of the Cabinet meeting held earlier this week have received the biggest coverage on the front pages of major Nepali and English broadsheet dailies published from Kathmandu on Friday. In particular, the newspaper editors and reporters are most concerned about the decision to relocate the ministers residence from Pulchok to Bhainsepati and establish state guesthouses in Pulchok. The newspaper reports in general sound critical of the decision. On the other hand, the Supreme Court gave the clean chit to former IGP Motilal Bohora in relation to a corruption case against him. This decision has also received significant coverage as it ended the years-long corruption case. Meanwhile, there are reports about the ongoing investigation into the rape and murder of Nirmala Pant. Some other issues from political, sociocultural and economic spheres have been featured on the front pages of major newspapers today. Important Former IGP Bohora acquitted of corruption A division bench of justices Sharada Prasad Ghimire and Purushottam Bhandari acquitted former Nepal Police chief Motilal Bohora, his wife Kala and daughter Jyotsna from the charges, according to newspaper reports. Earlier in 2004, the anti-corruption constitutional body, CIAA, had filed a case against Bohora at the Special Court. The Court, however, scrapped the petition. Then, the CIAA had moved the apex court, Gorkhapatra informs. IGP interrogates Nirmala Pant murder suspect Nepal Police sources have said Inspector General Sarbendra Khanal himself interrogated a recently arrested suspect of rape and murder of Nirmala Pant, according to Annapurna Post. Meanwhile, with the arrest of Pradeep Rawal from Kathmandu, police have claimed they are quite close to cracking the mystery, according to other newspaper reports. The case has narrowed down to a few people now, IGP Khanal has been quoted in The Kathmandu Post. Intellectuals worried about PMs threats Kantipur and The Kathmandu Post report in their lead stories that intellectuals and academicians of the country have expressed their concerns over a recent statement made by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli. Oli recently expressed veiled threats on the intellectual community during a televised show, claiming they made uncivilised and cheap comments against him and his administration, informs The Kathmandu Post. Ignored Mishra ignores corruption cases in short tenure Nagarik has commented in a three column story that retiring Chief Justice Om Prakash Mishra has failed to give a momentum to around 700 pending corruption cases during his four month tenure. Mishra is retiring in the first week of January. NCP women leaders dissatisfied with party When the CPN-UML and the CPN-Maoist Centre merged to form the powerful Nepal Communist Party, women leaders had expressed concerns over absence of women in its Secretariat some months ago. Likewise, the party had also failed to include sufficient women in its Central Committee, and had been telling the women leaders that the corrections would be corrected next times. Now, the party has again failed to satisfy the women leaders as it announced the names of its provincial committee members, according to Annapurna Post. Congress leaders want all party officials elected Some leaders of Nepali Congress have demanded that the party elect all of its Central Working Committee officials through the voting of general convention delegates, reports Gorkhapatra. Leader Arjun Narsingha KC said all officials should be elected as per sentiments of the constitution. Meanwhile, KC also demanded that the party hold two general conventions in one term of the CWC to discuss policy issues and elect the new leadership separately, according to a report in Rajdhani. Interesting NEA establishing 20 charging stations for evehicles Supporting the government policy to increase the presence of electric vehicles in the country, the Nepal Electricity Authority has decided to establish 20 charging stations in various parts of the country, reports Abhiyan in its lead story. The Authority says it is currently searching for pieces of land to begin the construction works. Meanwhile, some private bus services are also planning to establish such stations, according to the report. President Muhammadu Buhari has promised to sign the petroleum industry bill (PIB) once it is transmitted to him. Speaking in Abuja... President Muhammadu Buhari has promised to sign the petroleum industry bill (PIB) once it is transmitted to him. Speaking in Abuja on Thursday at the 40th anniversary of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), the president said he is a worker-friendly president. Buhari was represented by Chris Ngige, the minister of labour and employment, urged the workers to support his administration towards ensuring better welfare for workers. The theme of the anniversary is, Nigeria Oil and Gas Workers; Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow,. (I am) a worker-friendly president who is concerned about better working conditions for workers, he said. (I) respect the rule of law and the law of the land. (I) promise to sign the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill once it is brought to (me). In his address, Williams Akporeha, NUPENG president, said there is a wrong perception about the union. The enormous challenges confronting our union, most especially with regards to the employers, government and general public perception of our enormous powers, influence and ever constant solidarity, he said. We know that most often many employers are scared of relating with us and this wrong perception is sometimes responsible for the hostile attitude to our efforts in organising their employees. In the light of this realisation, our administration will embark on massive public image polishing and mending relationship with all aggrieved stakeholders. We pledge to be more cooperative and collaborative in our dealings but without compromising on the best interest of our members and global labour best practices. We have further resolved to be more open and engaging in social dialogue with all stakeholders. We urge everyone, government, employers and the public to know that we are fully committed to rendering efficient, effective and public/stakeholders friendly services to our dear country and its citizens. The Vice President Professor Yemi Osinbajo, SAN has said that the launch of free Wi-Fi facility in Abuja on Thursday was in line with the Buhari administrations commitment to leverage on the gains that a data-driven digital economy offers, providing more Internet access and opportunities for Nigerians to improve their businesses.Speaking on Thursday when he launched the Google Free public Wi-Fi service in Wuse market, Abuja, Prof. Osinbajo stated that the event was a fulfilment of a promise made by the administration to democratise access to all Nigerians, despite social class or status.According to the Vice President, this is a very exciting event for me. A couple of months ago, we were at the Google Headquarters at the Silicon Valley. And we were told about the Google Station Free Wi-Fi in Railway stations in India. The CEO of Google was talking about this and I said if you can put this in railway stations in India, then you must put them in markets in Nigeria. Im sure at the time he wasnt quite certain what markets in Nigeria would look like. But we agreed on principle and a team has been working on it since then.Its incredible that today we have here at the Wuse market free Wi-Fi facilities in fulfilment of that promise that was made some months ago. One of the key reasons why it is important for us to do this is because of our own policy as a government to ensure that we democratize access in various ways so that the man in the street, the common man, can have access to the things that other people have. That informs our putting solar power in markets.We were in Sabon Gari market the other day, where we have shops that are now powered by solar power and also by bio-fuels. We decided that well power the markets, Sabon Gari is one, Ariaria Market is another. As a matter of fact, Ariaria has solar and a formal plant right there. We also have one in Lagos, (gas-fired) at the Sura Market and several other markets.The reason of course is that economic sites, where many of our people do their business must be powered. We must give them the same sort of access that bigger industries have; that bottom of the pyramid, the people in the streets, not just the people who buy and sell. You find such guys, who, after retiring from pushing their barrows and trying to get their business done, have access to Wi-Fi.Prof. Osinbajo said the administration was looking at expanding the scope so that more Nigerians can benefit from access to the Internet.He said, We are told that our own interaction with the Wi-Fi is almost a hundred times more than the likes of India, Thailand and Malaysia. It just shows you the massive potential out there of Nigerians who are waiting to be connected to the Internet to benefit in one way or the other. So, I think it is a very exciting moment for us and we are looking for the expansion of this service and all of our efforts to as many markets as possible.The more Nigerians can have access to the Internet connectivity, the better for us, the more prosperous our country can be, the more educated, the more informed our people become. So, we are really proud of what is happening today. I must thank Google; I must thank BCN the local partners as well. We are looking forward to more collaboration and co-operation with them.The launch of the free Wi-Fi facility in Wuse market, Abuja comes a few months after free Wi-Fi facilities was first rolled out in some parts of Lagos State. By next year, the plan is to have free internet access in 200 public places across the country.It would be recalled that the free Wi-Fi facilities was a direct outcome of the Vice Presidents visit to Silicon Valley, US, where he visited the Headquarters of some leading global technology companies, and met with Google CEO, Sundar Pichai, and other top executives in July 2018.The free Wi-Fi initiative is expected to create more economic opportunities for Nigerians through bridging societal gaps by providing free Internet access to some of the poorest in society, which means access to information, tools of education, improved business and job opportunities and expansion for many Nigerians.Meanwhile, on Thursday also, the Vice President went round Wuse and Karu markets in Abuja, interacting with TraderMoni beneficiaries in these areas. He was warmly received by Nigerians who commended the Buhari administration for the TraderMoni scheme that provides interest and collateral free loans from N10,000 to petty traders nationwide.The loans are repayable over a period of six months at which point the traders on repayment will receive a fresh N15,000 loan, which rises to N20,000 when repaid.The microcredit scheme, which has since been formally launched nationwide and the FCT, is expected to reach 2 million petty traders by the end of the year. More than 1.2m petty traders have received the loans across the 36 States of the federation and Abuja. Wife of the President, Aisha Buhari, on Friday, told the Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, to create a platform for mobilizing funds for taking care of sick Nigerians especially those suffering from HIV, saying nobody should be on national television begging money for treatment.She said this in Abuja at the launch of Nigeria Free to Shine Campaign targeted at eliminating mother-to-child transmission of the HIV virus in the country.A member of the Association of People living with HIV AIDS in Nigeria (ASWHAN), Mrs Florence Onu, had earlier shared with the gathering, her experience in soliciting for money on national television to treat complications arising from her HIV predicament.In her reaction, Mrs. Buhari maintained that it was an aberration for the sick to solicit for money for treatment on the media, saying Nigeria as a country has enough resources to make every citizen live comfortably, if judiciously utilized in the pursuit of the well-being of all.She said: I will like to call the attention of the Minister of Health based on (the story of) the lady (Mrs Onu) that has just spoken about the challenges that they are facing as people living with HIV and AIDS. I think she doesnt need to be on the national television to get help in solving her health challenges.Based on the number of government agencies we have dealing with HIV/AIDS, maternal health and sexually transmitted diseases issues in Nigeria, I think and hope and seek the attention of the Minister of Health to create a platform that will mobilize funds from these agencies and parastatals such as the Central Bank and NNPC to make sure that the funds are utilized in taking care of the sick.We dont need foreign investors getting involved. I believe that we have the resources. If they can be utilized judiciously, we will all feel comfortable living in Nigeria.Mrs Buhari, while restating her commitment to the on-going efforts at eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV in the country, said her vision for the campaign is to end childhood AIDS in Nigeria and keep HIV positive mothers alive.This vision will be achieved through several programmes that will increase the number of pregnant HIV positive women identified and placed under treatment for their health as well as prevent the transmission of HIV to their babies, she stated.The Presidents wife further called on the spouses of the 36 governors in the country to implement the Free to Shine campaign in their various states to drive the initiative down to the grassroots.In his remarks, Adewole said the time to swing to action is now. He noted that the cost of investing in women and children may be high but the cost of not investing in them may be unbearable for the nation in the long run.He said: I encourage all stakeholders including our esteemed development partners to play their part as we embark on this worthy cause for the well-being of our pregnant women and children.Speaking also, the Director-General of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), Dr. Sani Aliyu, said Nigerias HIV indices has continued to improve over the last five years but at a slow pace.He however stressed that the goal to end mother-to-child transmission of HIV is attainable, adding that countries such as Thailand, Belarus, and Armenia have achieved it.In Africa, the rate of mother-to-child transmission of HIV has been reduced o less than five per cent in several countries like Ethiopia, South Africa and Tanzania.Nigeria can replicate this. I strongly believe that our mutual goal of keeping all mothers healthy and offering children a HIV free start is achievable with collective effort of every stakeholder across all sectors, Dr. Aliyu stressed. Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State has cautioned the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole for... Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State has cautioned the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole for abusing the ex President Olusegun Obasanjo. Recall that Oshiomhole on Wednesday said God will punish both Obasanjo and Abubakar by allowing President Muhammadu Buhari defeat them in 2019. Okorocha, in a statement signed by His Chief Press Secretary, Sam Onwuemeodo lamented the manner Oshiomhole had been abusing sitting governors and the former president. He urged Oshiomhole to take a cue from Buhari, pointing out that the President has never used any foul language on any Nigerian, low or high, and that was the best way to go. The statement read: Chief Olusegun Obasanjo is the former President of the Country. And no matter the provocation or his political activities this time, Oshiomhole should have considered his status as the former President of the Country in talking about him, and should have exercised caution in addressing him. Saying that God would punish the former President was never advisable. This should not be the language of APC. The partys national chairman has, in less than six months, enthroned the culture of rascality into the party and the development is not good for the Party. APC is not known for rascality and abuses. And the earlier he is called to order the better for the party. Ondo state Governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu has urged Npower beneficiaries nationwide to reciprocate the gesture of their engagement by t... Ondo state Governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu has urged Npower beneficiaries nationwide to reciprocate the gesture of their engagement by the present administration by re-electing president Muhammadu Buhari and his vice in the forthcoming general election. at an interface with Ondo state beneficiaries in Akure, the state capital noted that this move would enable other people benefit from the scheme to improve their socio economic well being. The governor who gave the chargeat an interface with Ondo state beneficiaries in Akure, the state capital noted thatthis move would enable other people benefit from the scheme to improve their socio economic well being. The Senior Special Assistant (SSA)to the president on job creation, Afolabi Imoukuede led the volunteers to Gani Fawehinmi Arcade, Akure after a road show in solidarity with Buhari /Osinbajo administration . opportunity to explore their God given talents called for continuity in the scheme. Akeredolu who noted that the scheme has given many Nigerian youthsopportunity to explore their God given talents called for continuity in the scheme. He said the President and his Vice have kept to their promises to Nigerian youths also thanked them for the initiative. The Governor emphasized that his administration would continue to play all required roles for the success of the numerous social investment programmes of the federal government in the state. The SSA to the President on job creation, Imoukuede said about N15b is being expended on the 500,000 participants across the country. Imokuede emphasized that the Npower programme was being repackaged to connect beneficiaries to numerous economic opportunities beyond the monthly stipends. all structures and processes are being put in place to create more windows of opportunities that would take them to the next level with the hope of making them more useful to the society and their immediate families. According to him,all structures and processes are being put in place to create more windows of opportunities that would take them to the next level with the hope of making them more useful to the society and their immediate families. Afolabi Akinjide and Oluwatoyin Adebayo hailed the President for the scheme. Some of the beneficiaries including Bayisemore Orioye,Afolabi Akinjide and Oluwatoyin Adebayohailed the President for the scheme. They enumerated the impact the programme has made in the lives of over 16,000 beneficiaries in the state as many have gone further in their education while many have also become employers of labour. President Muhammadu Buhari has congratulated Gov. Willie Obiano of Anambra for the recognition by Pope Francis over his promotion of social harmony, good neighbourliness and philanthropy.Anambra election resultsAnambra election resultsMr Femi Adesina, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, in a statement in Abuja on Thursday, said the president felicitated with the government and people of Anambra for the deserved award on the governor.President Buhari noted that, the award takes into full cognisance the maturity and decency of the governor in handling the last elections in the state.The president commended Cardinal Francis Arinze, Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments at the Vatican, who would lead a Pontifical Mass preceding the special award by the Catholic Church to Obiano on Dec. 8.He affirmed that the recognition by the Catholic Church would send the right signal to other states and all Nigerians that free, fair and peaceful elections are realisable, especially when political leaders declared their stand against non- violence elections.President Buhari equally congratulated Chief Obi Adimora and Mr Chidi Amamgbo who would also receive awards at the event. Prophet Samuel Abiara, the General Overseer of Christ Apostolic Church, Vineyard of Comfort, popularly known as CAC Agbala Itura, on Friday identified one of the reasons for divorce as the inability of couples to forgive one another.The prophet, who lost his first wife in 2016 and kicked off his sermon by introducing his new wife to the congregation. He said, it was important to have a life partner as God hates divorce.Speaking during a Prayer Session for the Family at the ongoing 2018 Holy Ghost Congress at the Redemption Camp, Mowe, Ogun State, Abiara said many couples do not keep the law of marriage which is forgiveness.According to him, the reason most homes break up after a few months of marriage is that they do not forgive themselves and this will make love to cease in their homes.The bible says that a man has the right to remarry after he lost his wife, but God never wants separation.The bible also said let the brotherly love continue, but most couples do not forgive each other and thats the reason for most broken homes.You should always pray for the peace of God to reign in your family, he said.Abiara prayed for all families whose marriages were on the edge of collapse to regain love.I pray that the Lord Jesus should intervene in all family situations and grant them love and peace.Let all devilish acts and unforgiving spirits in all the homes and spirit of divorce be destroyed in families, he prayed. Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, on Friday, expressed the Federal Governments commitment towards the improvement of the wellbeing of Ni... Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, on Friday, expressed the Federal Governments commitment towards the improvement of the wellbeing of Nigerians through various intervention schemes. Osinbajo gave this assurance at the palace of the Emir of llorin, Alhaji Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari, when he visited him in llorin. The vice president said the Federal Government was working round the clock towards supporting the various economic ventures aimed at ensuring better times for Nigerians. Osinbajo disclosed that he was in Ilorin to inaugurate the TraderMoni scheme, being an economic intervention measure to support small scale businesses across the nation. The TraderMoni is a segment of the National Social Investment Programme, which was established about two years ago. The vice president lauded the Emir of Ilorin, who he said, had demonstrated competence in the judicial profession these past years. You are our leader in the legal profession and we are always proud of you, the vice president said. You are our leader in the legal profession and we are always proud of you, the vice president said. Osinbajo also praised the emir for upholding the llorin Emirate as an indivisible community since his enthronement more than two decades ago. The traditional ruler, who thanked the vice president for the visit, lauded the Federal Government under President Muhammadu Buhari for the various interventions to boost the nations economy. In company with Osinbajo included, the APC governorship candidate in Kwara, Alhaji Abdulrahman Abdulrasaq, APC candidate for the Kwara Central Senatorial District, Dr lbrahim Oloriegbe and Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Alhaji lsiaka Gold. The International Criminal Court (ICC) says it is examining the farmers-herders crisis in Nigeria. Fatou Bensouda, lead prosecutor... The International Criminal Court (ICC) says it is examining the farmers-herders crisis in Nigeria. Fatou Bensouda, lead prosecutor of the ICC, disclosed this at The Hague, Netherlands, while presenting the annual report of ICC activities for 2018, on Wednesday. She said the ICC is examining available information to determine whether there is a reasonable basis to believe that the crimes allegedly committed fall under its jurisdiction. In the preliminary examinations report, which addresses many countries including Nigeria, the ICC said from January to June 2018, over 1,300 people were killed and 300,000 displaced as a result of clashes between herders and farmers in five states. From January to June 2018, over 1,300 people were reportedly killed as a result of violence between herders and settlers in Plateau, Benue, Nasarawa, Adamawa and Taraba states and about 300,000 persons were displaced, the report read. Furthermore, the office received communications on attacks allegedly carried out by Fulani herders and Christian settlers in the context of the violence in Nigerias North Central and North East geographical zones. This violence, which has been observed by the office since 2016, is often referred to as a conflict between Fulani herders and Christian farmers, stemming from limited access to water, land and other resources. The report said the violence grew worse between 2017 and 2018. The escalation of violence in late 2017 and 2018 is reportedly the result of the rise of ethnic militias and community vigilantes and the passage of grazing laws in some of the affected States that reportedly imposed restrictions on herders, among others, it read. Militias are also reported to have clashed with NSF deployed in the affected area to address the deteriorating security situation. Zainab Ahmed, minister of finance, and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) have met with oil marketers to avert fuel scarcity. The m... Zainab Ahmed, minister of finance, and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) have met with oil marketers to avert fuel scarcity. The meeting, which held in Abuja on Thursday, also had the Debt Management Office (DMO) in attendance. Ahmed, was represented by the permanent secretary of the ministry of finance, said the marketers agreed to keep all depots working to avert scarcity. Minister of Finance, represented by PSF, CBN, DMO and others met and agreed with the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association, Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria, Independent Petroleum Marketers, that operations at all depots and sales will continue, the ministry of finance said via Twitter. Oil marketers have all agreed that operations at all depots and sales will continue unhindered. The minister reassured Nigerians that premium motor spirit (PMS) will be available through out the yuletide season. Members of the general public are hereby reassured of the availability of PMS as there will be no fuel scarcity. She added that engagements between the FG and marketers will continue. The marketers has initially threatened a strike action, which was poised to ensure scarcity within the country, going into the yuletide season. The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) had signed an agreement with British Petroleum to keep the nation liquid through the Christmas and new year celebrations. Recorder report ISLAMABAD: Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has committed $ 1 billion to finance Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India (TAPI) gas pipeline project. Sources said that the gas agreement has been reached with IDB to provide $ 700 million for TAPI portion in Turkmenistan and negotiations are underway to provide additional $300 million for remaining part of TAPI pipeline project. TAPI project will be implemented in two phases. In the first phase, pipeline will be constructed and in second phase, six compressors will be installed. Asian Development Bank (ADB) and ICIEC had shown interest to provide $ 500 million and $ 300 million respectively to finance the project. Financial close of first phase will be achieved in first quarter of next year. The Afghan government has given assurance to provide security of pipeline. The discussions are underway with different third party consultants to work out model of security of pipeline project. Pakistan and Afghanistan have given commitment in inter-governmental agreement and framework agreement to provide security to the project. However, there are some issues which need to be resolved. 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. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close Georgia Not Allowing Some Iranians To Enter The Country 12/03/18 Source: Radio Farda The Iranian embassy in Georgia has confirmed reports on December 2 about the deportation or entry ban of dozens of Iranian citizens from the Caucasus country. Georgia is one of the countries in Iran's vicinity that has visa free travel for Iranians and many visit the country or even choose to obtain residence permits and live in the Georgian capital Tbilisi. Georgia -- Shota Rustaveli International Airport, Tbilisi. File photo Earlier Fars news agency had reported that Georgia has been stopping Iranian travelers at its airport or ports of entry in the last few weeks, but the trend has accelerated in recent days, reaching 46 deportations. Fars said 18 Iranians, with return tickets and travel insurance, were not allowed to enter Georgia on November 30 and were put on a flight back to Iran. The report also says that the new tough policy towards Iranians might be the result of Salome Zurabishvili's election as Georgia's new president who "has a tough immigration policy". Fars quotes witnesses who say Georgian border security officers randomly pick out visitors arriving on flights from Iran and after an interview tell them they are not allowed to enter Georgia and must return. The Iranian embassy in Tbilisi says that it is pursuing the issue with Georgian authorities and asking for clarification of immigration laws and regulations and satisfactory explanation for the deportations. IRGC-Affiliated Media Report Dual National Among Group of Population Researchers Arrested in Iran 12/04/18 Source: Center for Human Rights in Iran An unknown number of university academics, including a dual national, who allegedly researched state population policies have been arrested in Iran, according to state media outlets. The main reports about the arrests, which do not include the detainees' names, were published by the Fars News Agency and Mashregh-both of which maintain close ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The IRGC, a powerful, ultra-conservative military force functioning alongside Iran's traditional military, is currently the main state body carrying out politically motivated arrests in Iran. In a short news item published on November 27, 2018, the IRGC-affiliated Fars News Agency reported: "It has been heard that one of the country's security agencies, with the cooperation of the judicial system, has arrested and summoned a number of infiltrators in the field of population control." "According to information obtained by the Fars reporter, these individuals had infiltrated government agencies such as the ministries of science and health as well as the legislature's research center, the Plan and Budget Organization, the Statistical Center of Iran, and the Presidential Strategic Planning Office," continued the report. Fars did not indicate how many people were arrested or any other information about the detainees' identities. It referred to the dual national individual as "M.B." However, on the same day, Mashregh, another IRGC-affiliated news agency, referred to the dual national as "Dr. M.H." who was reportedly arrested along with another individual, "M.M." "The agents are accused of acting against national security and cooperating with institutions that want to overthrow the state with the intention to deliberately deviate and disrupt decisions made by policy-makers, manufacture statistics and send information abroad," Mashregh alleged. The following day, Mashregh published a report expressing concern about Iran's aging population "in spite of the supreme leader's wishes," who has repeatedly insisted that Iran's population must keep growing, blaming the alleged downwards trend on a "smart war" hatched by foreign intelligence agencies. Precipitation reaches record high in the capital city Tehran 11/20/18 Source: Tehran Times TEHRAN - Rain set a record high in Iran's capital city Tehran on Monday, constituting 10 percent of the annual precipitation in the city, Tasnim news agency reported. With 20 millimeters of rain on Monday, Tehran surpassed the northern rainy city of Rasht in precipitation amount. "The Beauty with no Smog" (photo of Tehran by Mehdi Hassani, Iranian daily Shahrvand) On Monday, cities of Bandar Anzali, Hamedan, Tehran, and Rasht by receiving 37, 20.3, 20 and 17.7 millimeters of rain were among the regions with the highest amount of precipitation. In its latest report, Iran's Meteorological Organization (IMO) has forecast that precipitations will meet normal levels in the second half of the current Iranian calendar year, corresponding to autumn and winter. The report explains that precipitation amounts will exceed normal levels in the first month of autumn, particularly in western and northwestern areas. Over the second month of autumn, precipitation will remain at normal levels except for some areas in southwestern Iran where precipitation will be below the normal level. Precipitations will also remain at normal levels in last month of autumn. Over the first month of winter precipitation levels will plummet in western areas and in the one but last month of winter, precipitations will reach normal levels again, the report stated. However, the report warned that, despite the projected rise in precipitation amount, the country is still facing water shortage and sustainable use of groundwater resources is a must Eminent meteorologist professor Hossein Ardakani told Fars news agency that precipitation will be higher than normal in autumn and winter this year, but this doesn't necessarily mean that drought spells are over. The Government of Ghana (GoG) will own 10 per cent of the national carrier due to be begin operations next year. Ethiopian Airlines (ET), which is partnering Ghana to revive the country's dream will also hold 49 per cent and the remaining 41 per cent stake made available to other Ghanaian investors. The Minister of Aviation, Mr Joseph Kofi Adda who disclosed this on Thursday in Accra, stated that a meeting would be staged next week for Ghanaian investors to bid for the 41 per cent left. Goil, Teachers Fund, GLICO, and Africa World Airlines (AWA) are some indigenous companies who have expressed interest in investing in the proposed home-based carrier. A final agreement is expected to be signed before Christmas. The airline is also expected to start flying early next year. 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 After a somewhat protracted disagreement between embattled gold collectibles dealership firm, Menzgold Ghana Limited and its customers over the percentage to be paid to them on their principals, the company has reportedly started paying the initial percentage to its customers. It would be recalled that customers of Menzgold Ghana Limited had initially rejected a proposed 15 percent payment on their principals. The companys woes started on September 7, 2018 after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) directed it to suspend its gold trading operations. The directive, according to SEC, was based on the fact that Menzgold had been dealing in the purchase and deposit of gold collectibles from the public and issuing contracts with guaranteed returns to clients without a valid licence from the Commission. The move, SEC explained, was in contravention of Section 109 of Act 929 with consequences under Section 2016 (I) of the same Act. The company was, however, allowed to continue its other businesses of assaying, purchasing gold from small-scale miners and export of gold. The directive caused panic among Menzgold Ghana Limiteds numerous clients, who consequently besieged the offices to demand their investments. However, for several days, management of Menzgold failed to convince its clients to accept a proposed 15 percent initial payment on their principals. But reports reaching DAILY GUIDE indicate that normalcy has returned to Menzgold, with the company said to have completely paid off about 30 percent of its clients who wanted to terminate their contracts. The payment process, according sources close to Menzgold, has been smooth so far. Reports said that there are plans to pay the rest of the clients said to have accepted the agreed percentages. Menzgold Ghana Limited promised to pay its clients in October 2018 during a stakeholders meeting. DAILY GUIDE gathered that the majority of Menzgold customers kept faith with the firm and opted not to terminate their contracts. Menzgold gave its customers the option to cancel their contracts or continue to do business with it during the companys stand-off with government over licensing. A source close to Menzgold explained that the percentage payment schedules have been segmented into 100 percent, 50 percent, 30 percent, 20 percent and 15 percent. At East Legon Branch, two customers, whose gold investments were worth GH6,000 and GH10,000 reportedly received 100 percent and 50 percent respectively. Payment Mode A customer due for payment is accordingly sent an SMS before he or she goes to the branch for validation and payment, this paper has learnt. All customers who have received their direct SMS are expected to visit their various branches for payment. Every branch has been authorized to pay its customers who have received direct SMS ONLY according to the agreed schedule, a source revealed. All customers are expected to be paid by the end of November. 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 Ghanas ability to attract innovative financing to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) would depend on her ability to create a safe and progressive business environment, which promote transparency and accountability, Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has said. To that end, he said, the Government was creating an integrated system, including the digitalization of the public sector and government processes, to facilitate the ease of doing business. He noted that the recent banking reforms were initiated to ensure a resilient and robust banking sector that support the countrys vision of developing sound banking domestic capital market. Vice President Bawumia made the observation when he addressed the maiden Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Investment Fair in Accra. He said the Fair would be an annual event that would create the platform and opportunity to connect impact investors and projects, as part of the larger plan of achieving the SDGs. The meeting attracted private sector investment companies, entrepreneurs and representatives from the United Nations, who discussed strategies on how they could mobilize resources to implement social impact programmes to attain the SDGs in Ghana. The participants, at the end of the deliberations, presented a Charter that outlined various interventions and activities that could facilitate the attainment of the SDGs by 2030. Source: GNA 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 Nana Akua Afriyie, Queenmother of Atwima Fankyenebrah in the Ashanti Region has expressed worry over what she describes as the crippling effects of democracy on the chieftaincy institution. The Queenmother noted that the practice of democracy had rendered chieftaincy toothless, because the authorities that make it a strong institution have been ineffective, in that the powers entrusted in the hands of chiefs to ensure development and equity amongst their people in the communities, have been relegated to the ground. Speaking at the Annual Accountability Forum organised by the Ghana Anti- Corruption Coalition at Afari in the Atwima Nwabiagya Municipality, she lamented that chiefs are sidelined when it comes to initiating developmental projects in their communities, and that politicians embark on development projects without consulting nananom (chiefs). According to her, politicians are focusing on elections, and to them it is the electorate that vote them to power and that they must deal with them directly, hence the emergence of the situation where community members always relax and wait for the politicians who promise them of development to come and fulfill their promises. This development, she observed, had also killed the spirit of communal labour, resulting in disregard for the call by chiefs to communal labour for self-help projects Nana Akua Afriyie, therefore, called on politicians to see chiefs as development partners to ensure the proper allocations of projects to facility proper development, noting that sidelining the traditional authorities in the delivery of developmental projects would promote shoddy work and adversely affect development. The Queenmother noted that monitoring of projects by chiefs was effective, since politicians would not be effective in monitoring the projects. Nana Akua Afriyie also noted that the involvement of chiefs in monitoring projects in their communities would avert corruption in their execution, and appealed to Metropolitan, Municipal and District chief executives (MMDCEs) and Members of Parliament to always collaborate with chiefs to enhance total development and value for money projects in their respective jurisdictions. Mr. Peter Asuah, Municipal Director of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), also reminded the general public to report cases of abuse of their rights to life, dignity and liberty to the Commission. He indicated that it was incumbent on every citizen to report any acts of corruption in society or the community and workplace to the Commission to help the fight against or eliminate all the corrupt practices to make the country a better place for everyone. Mr. Twene K. Donkor, Municipal Planning Officer, stated that the assemblies prioritise the basic needs of the people in the communities, which, he said, is done in consultation with the people in the areas of education and health. According to him, the assembly had embarked on a number of projects in the municipality, including six-unit classroom blocks at Amadu Adankwame, Nerebehe, Afari, Manhyia and Asakraka to help improve the standard of education in those communities. Mr. Donkor disclosed that there was ongoing renovation of classrooms at Sepase and Nkawie Panin, supporting the School Feeding Programme, and tree planting in the municipality, while progress is ongoing on a Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) compound with nurses quarters project at Asakraka, and maternity ward at Nkawie at the cost GH480,000, while Gh4,000 has been budgeted for HIV/AIDS programmes for the 2018 fiscal year. Source: The Chronicle 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 FILE - In this Dec. 4, 2017, file photo, a portrait of 16-year-old Mexican youth Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez, who was shot and killed in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, is displayed on the Nogales street where he was killed that runs parallel with the U.S. border. Federal prosecutors on Thursday, Dec. 6, 2018, said they would not pursue another trial against Border Patrol agent Lonnie Swartz, who fatally shot the Mexican teenager but who was twice acquitted. (AP Photo/Anita Snow, File) Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 Embed from Getty Images Rioters took to the streets in Athens and other cities in Greece on the ten-year anniversary of the shooting death of 15-year-old Alexis Grigoropoulos. Rioters lobbed firebombs and chunks of concrete hacked out of the sidewalks at riot police, who responded with tear gas to disperse the crowd and a water cannon to squelch the flames, according to the New York Times. Police reportedly detained as many as 66 people. Following the death of Grigoropoulos in 2008, riots gripped Athens for weeks, with "solidarity demonstrations" happening in other European cities including London, Madrid, Paris, and Rome. The officer involved in the shootingEpaminondas Korkoneaswas subsequently sentenced to life in prison for murder. Ventura County Sheriff's Sergeant Ron Helus was hit by six rounds when he was killed during the Borderline Bar & Grill shooting in October. Authorities reported Friday that the Ventura County Sheriffs sergeant killed during the mass shooting at the Borderline Bar & Grill in October was struck by "friendly fire" during the firefight with the gunman. Sergeant Ron Helus was struck by five rounds from the suspects gun and a sixth round from the rifle of a California Highway Patrol officer. It was that sixth round which struck Helus in the chest and heart and ultimately killed him, according to CBS News. When Helus arrived to the scene of the shooting, he heard gunfire coming from inside the bar, which was occupied by nearly 200 college students. He and a California Highway Patrol officer immediately made entry into the bar and confronted the shooter. "Today I'm deeply saddened to inform you that Sergeant Helus was also struck by a sixth bullet, which we now know through forensic analysis from the FBI's crime laboratory, was fired from the CHP officers rifle," Sheriff Bill Ayub said at a news conference. "It is also important to note that the news I have shared with you today, in no way diminishes the heroic actions both men exhibited at the Borderline," Sheriff Ayub added. Delhi court takes cognisance of chargesheet against P Chidambaram, son Karti in Aircel-Maxis cases filed by CBI, ED; summons them on Dec 20. Posted by Jeremy on at 07:24 PM CST TRU Make & Take BB-8 40288 BB-8 75187 BB-8 Fans ofhave always had a soft spot for the droids of the galaxy - the inquisitiveness of R2-D2, the ineptitude of Separatist battle droids, L3-37's no-nonsense approach and the admirably low centre of gravity of the Gonk droid are great examples. But perhaps one droid has captured our attention more than any other.It was November 28th, 2014 when BB-8 made his debut in the trailer to, and since then he's secured a place in thepantheon by appearing in two (plus one upcoming)movies, two TV series, a video game, any number of animated shorts, two (and an upcoming) novelisations and a comic series.No where has BB-8 been more prevalent than in merchandising - Amazon lists nearly 1000 different products in their toys and games section alone, and making their top Holiday Toy List is none other than the subject of this deep dive into the LEGO BB-8 builds.Making his first appearance in a LEGO set, the BB-8 droid figure could be purchased in 75102 Poe's X-Wing Fighter in 2015. Since then this rolly-polly character has arrived in nine more sets - including one that is entirely in the first person (or first droid as the case may be) - a watch, an advent calendar, as two brick-built versions, a key chain and an LED torch.The focus of this review are those builds that are BB-8, rather than the BB-8 as an ancillary character in the persona dramatis of the set.The first of which is the last Star Wars Bricktober Make & Take held at branches of Toys "R" Us in the US, and later followed up by a overseas tour in Canada, France, Germany and the United Kingdom.The simple and free Make & Take events invited children to collect the required 39 pieces and a set of instructions from totes set up in a designated build area, where they could make the set. And because LEGO provided the pieces to Toys "R" Us at no cost, attendees could take their build home with them.The completed model was very simple - a basic and blocky structure with some round plates on the side to create the illusion of BB-8's round body, and a dome on top for the head unit. Without any printed pieces or stickers the completed model wasn't a particularly exciting set for collectors but a great chance for children to own a BB-8 that was a bit bigger than the pea-sized one that came with the available LEGO sets.To add this set to your collection you can use the part list in the instructions above and Bricklink to buy up the parts for around $5, or head over to eBay , where it is available - with original instructions and baggie - for around $9.The second BB-8 offering fromLEGO was a Gift With Purchase (GWP) during the May The 4th Be With You 2018 celebrations that LEGO held in their brand stores in the USA.Though the main draw was the new 75181 Y-Wing Starfighter , its $200 price tag didn't compare to the free (with $75 LEGOpurchase) brick-built 40288 BB-8 polybag. The dished plates, printed details and overall correctness of this build had kids entranced, and those with the previous year's Toys "R" Us version soon had a new favourite.Only officially available at LEGO brand stores during the May 4th (through 6th) weekend, it isn't a hard one to add to a collection with both Bricklink and eBay offering them at $9 and $25 respectively.The little droid who could got up-sized in 2017 when LEGO came out with 75187 BB-8 , a nearly 3:1 scale replica that is fully brick-built.Though it arrived amidst a certain amount of consternation eminating from the AFOL crowd, it proved to be popular and those who wanted it branded with the Ultimate Collector's Series badge soon - because of the complexity of the build, display stand and data plate - toned their murmurings down to a background level and got on with the build.However the UCS reference isn't an easy one to escape because if you've been into LEGObuilding for long enough you will have come across three previous sets that are akin to this set: the 7194 Yoda and 10018 Darth Maul busts and 10225 R2-D2 statue.If you suffered through the first two aforementioned sets you'll recall the difficulty in followingthe layered construction through the instruction manual. Thankfully this set is not as mindwarping, and while 75187 BB-8 has nearly half the parts as the Darth Maul and R2-D2 builds, it packs in four times as much detail and with it's mechanisation is much more rewarding as a result.The core of the construction is a Technic frame that houses the mechanisms that allow for the set's motions and allows five panels and the head to attach to. Crucially the build makes use of colour referenced bricks throughout so that you can keep the build orientated correctly, a technique any time-travelling LEGO set designers should take back to the early 2000's and retcon into the two earliest character sets.All told it takes around four hours to put it together so you can enjoy the two action features - the bobble-head and the flame thumb, both of which are pretty nifty. This set looks great on display (when the sloped bricks don't comr off) and the spinning head and pop-out limb are great for when you wantto show this set off. And if you really want to make this little guy pop then look to Light My Bricks , who have a lighting kit (which we will be reviewing soon) that really brings the set to life.If none of the above catch your eye there are also a number of ancilliary items that can help you feed your appet8 for this mischievious droid.Some of the links in this article use affiliate schemes to help to support Rebelscum's ongoing effort to bring the best LEGOcollecting news we can, at not cost - but great benefit - to you. Savannah, GA -- (ReleaseWire) -- 12/07/2018 --Lee Hill and Rowe Insurors are a family owned insurance agency located in Georgia. Being an independent agency, it represents numerous reliable and trusted insurance carriers. It also offers the products and policies of multiple different companies for sale. Founded in 1999, the company has been operating in the insurance sector for just a little less than two decades. They provide home, commercial, life, health, and auto insurance in Richmond Hill and Pooler Georgia. All through the state of Georgia, the agency has offered more than five thousand policies to businesses, individuals and families. Lee Hill and Rowe Insurors is the organization that provides the top quality insurance solutions and offers services in Statesboro, Brunswick, Hinesville, and Savannah. Through practical solutions, outstanding service and sound advice, the agency aim to build permanent and productive relations with all its clients. Buying an auto policy that is reasonably priced and has outstanding coverage is every car owner's highest priority. Lee, Hill, and Rowe Insurors has been assisting auto-enthusiasts, and car owners buy top quality and reasonably priced auto insurance policies since the year 1999. The growth of the agency which continues till today is mainly fueled by old relations and recommendations. Known for offering world-class service from the first moment of making contact, Lee Hill and Rowe Insurors boast 100% client satisfaction at all times. The company benefits the customers by doing all the research on their behalf and providing them with the most comprehensive coverage at the lowest price. To get in touch with this leading insurance agency in Rincon and Richmond Hill Georgia, or to get an insurance quote, one should call Lee Hill and Rowe Insurors at 912-525-3360 as soon as possible. One can also visit the website of the company to get more information. About Lee Hill and Rowe Insurors Lee Hill and Rowe Insurors is a Georgia based, independent insurance agency that provides business, home, life, car and health insurance to individuals and organizations located in Georgia. Savannah, GA -- (ReleaseWire) -- 12/07/2018 --Lee, Hill & Rowe Insurors is a Savannah-based, family owned and operated insurance agency which has been serving since the year 1999. The company offers flood, home, auto, health, commercial, life, and auto insurance in Richmond Hill and Pooler Georgia. The company has provided insurance coverage to more than five thousand individuals and businesses in regions across the state of Georgia. They offer their insurance solutions and services in places like Savannah, Pooler, Statesboro, Richmond Hill, Hinesville, and Brunswick. Through outstanding service, practical financial solutions and sound advice, Lee, Hill & Rowe Insurors aim to build stable and enduring relationships with its clients. With a team of licensed and experienced insurance agents and dedicated sales and service personnel, Lee, Hill & Rowe Insurors is an agency that is well equipped to cope with all of their clients' insurance and coverage requirements. Furthermore, they only appoint insurance agents who authentically care about the clients and are dedicated to offering them sound advice and personalized service. They aim to offer full insurance coverage to almost all residents and businesses of the place. As an independent insurance agent, Lee, Hill & Rowe Insurors works with numerous reputed and recognized insurance companies. As a result, they can modify the best coverage for each or business looking to purchase insurance policies at the most cost effective and reasonably priced rates. The insurance products offered by them comprise home insurance, automobile insurance, flood insurance, life insurance, commercial insurance, health insurance, rental properties insurance and many more. Not only does the agency provide an extensive and diverse product line, but their agents also have the needed knowledge and skill to meet each client's insurance requirements proficiently. To set up an appointment with this leading insurance agency in Rincon and Richmond Hill Georgia, one should call them at 912-525-3360. About Lee, Hill & Rowe Insurors Lee, Hill & Rowe Insurors is an independent, family-owned insurance agency based in Savannah, Georgia. Fort Lauderdale, FL -- (ReleaseWire) -- 12/07/2018 --Residential air conditioning systems are complex, hence, require expert handling when it comes to air conditioning installation in Plantation and Sunrise, Florida. While regular maintenance and care are essential to keep the existing system in good condition, replacement is the ultimate solution when the system is beyond repair. Quality Air Conditioning is the premier company offering superior air conditioning installation service. The quality air conditioning system holds tremendous benefits. Choosing the right system that is appropriately sized for the home can have a dramatic impact on the monthly cooling costs. The air conditioners available to them can improve indoor air quality and create a much healthier atmosphere. They are not just capable of flitting out pollen, dust, and other allergens present in the environment, but they also can prevent heat strokes. With years of experience in the industry, the technicians are factory-trained and highly qualified to deliver assured outcome through expert same-day repairs and installations. They keep abreast on the latest changes in the air conditioning systems, repair protocols, and technological advancements in HVAC repair, maintenance, and installation. Using the services of Quality Air Conditioning, one will be connected to the best, local air conditioner installation professionals, who will be able to securely and safely install the AC in the window. When one uses Quality Air Conditioning to find an air conditioner installation expert, one can be sure that they'll know the best way to make sure that the system is rightly outfitted in the window without any risk of falling onto the city streets. The professionals on the Quality Air Conditioning are all background checked, vetted, and verified. One can even read reviews and see ratings of the professionals to see their performance history. For more information on residential air conditioning in Deerfield Beach and Plantation, Florida, visit https://www.qualityac.com/residential-ac-repair. About Quality Air Conditioning Company Quality Air Conditioning Company is a family operated and owned company that offers services for replacement, repair and maintenance in Broward, South Palm Beach County, in addition to South Florida. . . , , , . - , - , , ... Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA (FMS) announced indicative preliminary assumptions for the development in 2019. For 2019, the company said it expects currently broadly assume solid comparable revenue growth and the comparable1 net income to be around the level of fiscal 2018. Fresenius Medical Care said it remains committed to a continuous optimization of its business, weighing future sustainable, profitable growth opportunities of potential investments and implied risks. Fresenius Medical Care also intends to reset its 2020 constant currency targets to also reflect the IFRS accounting changes, the divestiture of Sound Inpatient Physicians Holdings and the pending acquisition of NxStage Medical Inc., all as highlighted in the previous quarter. The compny plans to publish reset targets along with its fiscal year 2018 results, which are planned to be released on February 20, 2019. Fresenius Medical Care Chief Executive Officer Rice Powell said, "With the pending acquisition of NxStage Medical Inc., the corresponding build out of our home dialysis services infrastructure in the United States as well as investments in future growth in the Products as well as the Services business such as China, we have an investment year ahead of us," For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News Kevin Hart, who was selected to host the next Academy Awards ceremony, has relieved himself from the role following a controversy over some homophobic tweets he made years ago. The American comedian, actor and producer made the announcement Friday after arriving in the Australian city of Sydney for a comedy show as part of his massively hysterical "The Kevin Hart Irresponsible Tour." "I have made the choice to step down from hosting this year's Oscar's....this is because I do not want to be a distraction on a night that should be celebrated by so many amazing talented artists," he said on Twitter. The "Real Husbands of Hollywood" actor apologized to the LGBTQ community for "the insensitive words" from his past. "I'm sorry that I hurt people.. I am evolving and want to continue to do so. My goal is to bring people together not tear us apart. Much love & appreciation to the Academy. I hope we can meet again," he tweeted. Comments Hart made during a comedy routine in 2010 have been put under the spotlight in recent days. "One of my biggest fears is my son growing up and being gay. That's a fear," he told the audience. Hart said in a video Thursday that he had been called by the Academy and asked to apologize for the controversial comment or another host would be found. It was Hart himself who broke the news of being selected as the Oscars host Tuesday, and he had thanked the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) for giving him "the opportunity of a lifetime". Hart, who was in 2015 named by Time Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people, decided to step down within hours of promising to make this Oscars "a special one." Next year's Oscar award ceremony will be held on February 24 at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood. Hart has hosted many high-profile ceremonies, including the 2011 BET Awards and the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News President Donald Trump intends to nominate State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, according to numerous media reports. Trump's potential nomination of Nauert, which was first reported by Bloomberg News, is likely to draw criticism due to her lack of foreign policy experience. Nauert, a former Fox News host, joined the Trump administration as State Department spokeswoman in April of 2017 and briefly served as acting Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. If nominated by Trump and confirmed by the Senate, Nauert would replace current UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, who announced in October that she would step down from her post by the end of the year. Following Haley's announcement of her resignation, Trump indicated he would prefer to pick a woman as her successor. The potential nomination of Nauert comes as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and National Security Adviser John Bolton have both reportedly called for the UN Ambassador to be downgraded from a Cabinet-level position. Nauert's nomination to such a high-profile position would likely face intense scrutiny due to her lack of experience in the realm of international diplomacy. The State Department spokeswoman drew considerable criticism earlier this year for citing the Allied invasion of Normandy on D-Day as an example of the U.S.' strong relationship with Germany. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News Khartoum, Cairo plan to form a joint army along the border with Libya [07/December/2018] SANAA, Dec. 7 (Saba) - Sudanese Ambassador to Russia Nader Babeker revealed that his country and Egypt intend to form a joint monitoring force working along the border with Libya, to prevent the smuggling of persons and weapons from them. "We have very good cooperation with Egypt, we are planning to form a joint monitoring army or monitoring forces to protect the border and stop the infiltration of terrorists and people who use this area to transport people illegally," the RIA Novosti news agency quoted the Sudanese ambassador in Moscow as saying. "There are weapons smuggling and the transfer of terrorists and you must make every effort to ensure the Libyan border with neighboring countries, under good surveillance," he added. Babaker expressed his hope that these efforts will help settle the situation in Libya. He also pointed out that the crisis in Darfur and in the western region of Sudan and the south of the country will be resolved soon, pointing out that many Sudanese refugees began to return to Darfur from Chad, as a result of the efforts of the international community to bring peace to the region. Source: Novosti AA Saba No agreement on the fate of 700 foreign fighters detained in Syria : Canada [07/December/2018] SANAA, Dec. 7 (Saba) - Canada Defense Minister Harjit Sagan announced Thursday after an international meeting near Ottawa that the fate of about 700 foreign fighters detained in Syria will be determined by the countries from which they originate. "All countries must follow their own mechanism," Sagan said at a meeting attended by ministers and security officials from 13 countries, including Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany and the United States. "Many efforts have been made in detention centers to ensure their suitability for" Western "standards. US Defense Secretary Jim Matisse said the Syrian Democratic forces had imprisoned them and were from about 40 countries. He added that Washington hoped that the countries from which the fighters came from "return them because the Syrian democratic forces can not really arrest them in the long term." Some member countries of the International Coalition have repeatedly stated that they do not want to return these fighters to their territory because of the difficulties of collecting information about them. Source: Agencies< AA Saba In the backdrop of violence in Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his official residence 7, Lok Kalyan Marg, here. Although what transpired between them was not officially communicated, sources in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said the Chief Minister invited the Prime Minister for the "Ardh-Kumbh" to be held in Allahabad beginning next month. Sources also said that Yogi briefed the Prime Minister about the recent violence in Bulandshahr in which Police Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh was killed by a mob. Earlier in the day, family members of the killed Police Inspector met the Chief Minister in Lucknow. The Chief Minister announced a compensation of Rs 50 lakh to the family and assured them of justice in the case. Besides, assuring them all help, Adityanath said his government would not only take full responsibility of their education loans but would also give a government job to one of the family members. The Inspector was hit by a stone and then shot dead in a violence on Monday which erupted after cow vigilantes blocked a main road alleging cow slaughter. A civilian was also killed in the violence. Senior Congress leader and Lok Sabha MP from Bihar's Kishanganj, Maulana Asrar-ul-Haque Qasmi, passed away early on Friday following a heart attack. He was 76. According to district officials, he died at the Kishanganj Circuit House. He will be buried at his native Tarabadi village. Qasmi was a noted Islamic scholar and a popular face of the party in the state, particularly in Seemanchal comprising Kishanganj, Purnea, Araria and Katihar districts. He won the Kishanganj seat on a Congress ticket in the 2009 general elections after five consecutive failures. He retained the constituency in 2014 despite the Narendra Modi wave in Bihar and across the country. He had defeated the Bharatiya Janata Party's Dilip Kumar Jaiswal by a margin of over 1 lakh votes in 2014. He was a member of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board and also a founder member of the All India Milli Council. Political temperatures soared in West Bengal on Thursday after an attack on the state BJP president's vehicle by miscreants, even as the Calcutta High Court refused permission to the party "at this stage" to hold a rally in northern West Bengal's Cooch Behar that was slated to be flagged off by party chief Amit Shah on Friday. Acting on a petition moved by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that sought the court's direction to the state government for giving the go-ahead for the "Rath Yatra" rally, Justice Tapabrata Chakrabrorty said the rally stannds deferred till January 9 next year, the next date of hearing, after the state government declined to green light the programme, arguing it could trigger communal tension. Shocked by the high court's refusal, the BJP leaders rushed to Chief Justice Debasish Kar Gupta, and later claimed that he has asked them to draw attention of the division bench on Friday morning, when the plea would be considered. "The matter will be heard at 10.30 a.m on Friday," said state BJP vice president Jay Prakash Majumdar. The BJP has chalked out three Rath Yatra rallies, set to touch all 42 Lok Sabha constituencies of West Bengal, and lined up its prominent national leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Shah for public meetings this month, in its bid to expand its footprint in the eastern state where it is making a frenetic attempt to throw a strong challenge to the ruling Trinamool Congress in next year's general election. The BJP's ambitious plan has triggered a political slugfest, with the Trinamoool, Congress and the Left Front accusing it of hatching a conspiracy to cause a religious polarisation in the state for reaping political dividends. The heightened political tension took an ugly form on Thursday, as BJP state chief Dilip Ghosh's convoy was attacked allegedly by Trinamool workers in Sitalkuchi area of Cooch Behar district, after he reached there to participate in the Rath Yatra. Television grab showed some people, their faces covered with black clothes, beating the vehicles with sticks. Ghosh escaped unhurt but the vehicles were damaged. While the district administration said it is looking into the incident, Ghosh blamed the Trinamool Congress for the attack. "I was attacked for the 10th time. There were Trinamool workers who attacked my car and shouted slogans demanding that I should go back. The police, as always, were mute spectators. Some of my party workers were injured during the violence," Ghosh said. The court setback came in the afternoon, when Justice Chakraborty said he cannot grant permission to the BJP "at this stage" to hold the Rath Yatra rally and asked police superintendents of all districts to submit a report within December 21 on the event after hearing all BJP district chiefs. State's Advocate General Kishore Dutta contended that the Cooch Behar police superintendent has rejected the BJP's application for the rally from Friday as it could lead to communal tension in the district which has a history of communal issues. Dutta also claimed that rowdy elements and "communal provocateurs" have become active in Cooch Behar and the scheduled presence of senior BJP leaders alongside people from other states could cause breach of peace. The BJP state chief later said in Cooch Behar they are not putting the rally on hold, as all preparations has been completed. "We have moved the division bench, we are waiting for the hearing there. "The rally will begin tomorrow (Friday). We had started preparations six months back. We have spent lakhs and crores. Our workers have worked tirelessly for months. "Amit Shah ji will come tomorrow. We have told him we are ready. Lots of people have reached here. So, we can't stop the rally at this stage. We are looking at the court. We will decide tomorrow what we will do." However, state's north Bengal Affairs Minister Rabindranath Gosh said if the state BJP chief takes the law in his own hands, the district administration would take action. Making a vitriolic attack on Dilip ghosh, the Minister said: "He is a ruffian. If the BJP workers come with lathis-sticks, the lathis will be snatched and their legs broken with those. We won't let our workers to be victims of any violence perpetrated by the BJP." Left Front major CPI-M said a riveting drama is on in the state involving the Trinamool government and the BJP. "The government should have made clear its stand much in advance, why did they drag it? This is intended only to help the BJP," alleged CPI-M Legislative Party chief Sujon Chakraborty. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has an "anti-Muslim" and "anti-Pakistan" approach and claimed New Delhi rebuffed all his gestures due to the upcoming general elections. The ruling party (in India) has an anti-Muslim, anti-Pakistan approach," said Khan in an interview to the Washington Post on Thursday when asked why his gestures to India were dismissed since he took power earlier this year. He claimed that India rejected his repeated calls for peace because it has the general elections coming up in 2019. "India has elections coming up. They rebuffed all my overtures." Khan expressed the hope that once the elections get over in India, both countries can resume talks. Talking about the Kartarpur corridor, Khan told the Post that he opened the Kartarpur border to facilitate visa-free pilgrimage by Indian Sikhs to Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara where Sikhism's founder Guru Nanak Dev spent the last 18 years of his life. A day earlier, Khan slammed New Delhi for giving a "political colour" to his gesture of Kartarpur border opening and called it "unfortunate". "Unfortunately, India portrayed it as us seeking political advantage... The Indian media gave Kartarpur (border opening) a political colour as if we did this to gain some sort of political mileage. This is not true. We did it because it is part of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's manifesto," he said. The Pakistani leader also said that he "wants something done about the bombers of Mumbai", adding that "resolving that case is in our interest because it was an act of terrorism". Ten Pakistani terrorists sneaked into Mumbai through the sea in 2008 and went on a killing spree, leaving 166 Indians and foreigners dead. Indian security forces shot dead nine of them while a 10th, who was captured, was hanged. The Gagaifomauga district in Savaii has won an award for a short skit or a song competition focusing on gender-based violence and health-related issues. The presentation ceremony took place yesterday during the National Beautification Awards, which was hosted by Ministry of Women, Community and Social Development at Tooa Salamasina hall. Minister for Women, Community and Social Development, Faimalotoa Iemaima Kika Stowers-Ah Kau, said it is important to maintain peace and security within the communities and villages. There has been rapid growth of violence within families and our country. It is with this concern that we need to emphasise that working together with village council, church representatives and especially parents. We call upon you all to rise up and stand up, so we are can work for a better future and for our future generation, to live in a safe and secured environment. Lastly, your support and contribution in advocating for ending violence in Samoa is also commended, she said. Faimalotoa appealed to everyone to continue to take the lead in ensuring that villages, families and children live happily in a secured and peaceful environment, and to enjoy a good quality of life. I wish to express my sincerest gratitude to our Development partners for their ongoing support and assistance that allowed us to realize our dream of Having Safer Families, Stronger Communities. According to the C.E.O. of the Ministry, Afamasaga Faauiga Palepua Mulitalo, a total of 11 districts participated in the competition. The criteria for each constituency were to develop their own activity and the winners used songs to convey messages of awareness to end violence and the danger of non-communicable diseases. This is the first time we have conducted this awarding ceremony and this is all part of our District Development Plans (DDP), we are trying to use the DDP as the overarching framework for community development so with whatever assistance we get from our partners we try to use this mechanism to deliver it to our communities, Afamasaga said. The Vaa o Fonoti district won in the Upolu category. Fofoa Salesio of Saleimoa was worried recently when she saw four vehicles including a truck drive into her backyard. I was shocked at first, I thought maybe something had happened that we were not aware of, she told the Samoa Observer in an interview. But her worries soon turned into joy, when it dawned on her that she and her family were chosen, to receive Christmas food hampers from Island Rock. I am simply speechless because words are not enough to express how thankful I am, for the assistance from Island Rock. Our family depends on our plantation for daily survival, as no one is employed, but with these (food) supplies it will help our family. I am happy because my children will have a decent meal, and also I have nine kids, so many mouths to feed, she added. The food hamper giveaway is part of Island Rocks 25 days of the Spirit of Christmas Campaign. They were selected after their story on the difficulties they were facing at home, was published this year in the Village Voice column of the Samoa Observer. The hamper has a box of chicken, tinned fish, noodles, box of crackers, sacks of rice along with toys for the children. Fofoa, 21, said she remembers her interview with the Samoa Observer. But it turned out to be the programme that I was featured as one of Village Voice families for the Samoa Observer. The help we needed was assistance with our living conditions but not every day you are blessed with a Good Samaritan like Island Rock, she added. A representative from Island Rock, Maiava Iosia, said that their campaign is focused on giving back to the community. Christmas is season of giving and we have selected families and organisations that deserve to celebrate just like everyone the joy of Christmas. We acknowledge the assistance and work done by Samoa Observer in locating families that need help. Every family featured has different needs and concerns but we have chosen food supplies and childrens toys to bring happiness to selected families, he added. The campaign runs for 25 days and will also feature a variety of programmes and activities. Americans Robert Lutsky and Deborah Stanley are not your everyday tourists. The couple were sailing to Samoa in their own yacht, until engine failure and flat batterieswhich led to radio transmission blackoutleft them stranded out at sea for 24 hours before Samoan police went to their rescue. I love the Samoan police. They stayed with us until finally a tow boat that came the next night, threw us a rope and towed us to bay 60 miles, Deborah said, in an interview with Samoa Observer. And since getting into Asau on the big island of Savaii, after their boating mishap, they have fallen in love with the Samoan people. Samoan people are so giving. People made baskets then came and gave us fruit baskets of pineapple, bananas, papaya and the people are rich in culture, in heart, and minds but not always rich in money. They give all they can and thats why I love the Samoan people, added Deborah. The couple then talked about what they described as amazing snorkeling experiences in Asau, and claim that it has some of the best snorkeling in the Pacific Islands. We love Asau. We went all around the area there, swimming and kayaking and snorkeling in the area the airport used to be, some of the best snorkeling in all of the South Pacific, said Robert. We saw all different kinds of fish, and usually nobody goes there where new corals are growing there, water was so clear and we had a really nice time there. The couple has been in Upolu for a week and are currently staying at the Sheraton Hotel in Apia. And while in Apia, Robert has been soaking up all the attention he has been getting, since he bought his own lavalava to go with an aloathat was made and given by a hotel staff member. Since Ive been wearing it, everybody looks at me and smiles, and many people compliment me, and I feel like Ive been welcomed into the country almost like Im part of the community, he added. When the couple was asked if they plan to return to Samoa, Deborah said they would definitely be back next year but with more people. WASHINGTON (AP) The dramatic arrest of a Chinese telecommunications executive has driven home why it will be so hard for the Trump administration to resolve its deepening conflict with China. In the short run, the arrest of Huawei's chief financial officer heightened skepticism about the trade truce that Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping reached last weekend in Buenos Aires, Argentina. On Thursday, U.S. stock markets tumbled on fears that the 90-day cease-fire won't last, before regaining most of their losses by the close of trading. But the case of an executive for a Chinese company that's been a subject of U.S. national security concerns carries echoes well beyond tariffs or market access. Washington and Beijing are locked in a clash over which of the world's two largest economies will command economic and political dominance for decades to come. "It's a much broader issue than just a trade dispute," said Amanda DeBusk, chair of the international trade practice at Dechert LLP. "It pulls in: Who is going to be the world leader essentially." The Huawei executive, Meng Wanzhou, was detained by Canadian authorities in Vancouver as she was changing flights Saturday the same day that Trump and Xi met at the Group of 20 summit in Argentina and produced a cease-fire in their trade war. The Globe and Mail newspaper, citing law enforcement sources, reported that Meng is suspected of trying to evade U.S. sanctions on Iran. She faces extradition to the United States, and a bail hearing was set for Friday. The British bank HSBC is cooperating with U.S. authorities in its investigation, people familiar with the matter said Thursday. Huawei, the world's biggest supplier of network gear used by phone and internet companies, has long been seen as a front for spying by the Chinese military or security services, whose cyber-spies are widely acknowledged as highly skilled. A U.S. National Security Agency cybersecurity adviser, Rob Joyce, last month accused Beijing of violating a 2015 agreement with the U.S. to halt electronic theft of intellectual property. Other nations are increasingly being forced to choose between Chinese and U.S. suppliers for next-generation "5G" wireless technology. Washington has been pushing other countries not to buy the equipment from Huawei, arguing that the company may be working stealthily for Beijing's spymasters. Beijing protested Meng's arrest but signaled that it doesn't want to disrupt progress toward settling its trade dispute with the Trump administration. Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesman Gao Feng said China is confident it can reach a deal during the 90 days that Trump agreed to suspend a scheduled increase in U.S. import taxes on $200 billion worth of Chinese products. U.S. national security adviser John Bolton told NPR that he knew of the pending arrest in advance. He noted that there has been much concern about the suspicion that Chinese firms like Huawei use stolen U.S. intellectual property. In the view of the United States and many outside analysts, China has embarked on an aggressive drive to overtake America's dominance in technology and global economic leadership. According to analysts, China has deployed predatory tactics, from forcing American and other foreign companies to hand over trade secrets in exchange for access to the Chinese market to engaging in cyber-theft. Washington also regards Beijing's ambitious long-term development plan, "Made in China 2025," as a scheme to dominate such fields as robotics and electric vehicles by unfairly subsidizing Chinese companies and discriminating against foreign competitors. In addition to Trump's tariffs, the administration is tightening regulations on high-tech exports to China. It's also making it harder for Chinese firms to invest in U.S. companies or to buy American technology in such cutting-edge areas as robotics, artificial intelligence and virtual reality. Earlier this year, the United States nearly drove Huawei's biggest Chinese rival, ZTE Corp., out of business for selling equipment to North Korea and Iran in violation of U.S. sanctions. But Trump issued a reprieve, possibly in part because U.S. tech companies are major suppliers of the Chinese giant and would also have been scorched. ZTE got off with paying a $1 billion fine, changing its board and management and agreeing to let American regulators monitor its operations. The U.S. and Chinese tech industries depend on each other so much for components that "it is very hard to decouple the two without punishing U.S. companies, without shooting ourselves in the foot," said Adam Segal, cyberspace analyst at the Council on Foreign Relations. Dean Garfield, president of the U.S. Information Technology Industry Council trade group, said innovation by U.S. companies often depends utterly on product development and testing by Chinese partners, not to mention component suppliers. British Telecom said this week that it would stop using Huawei equipment in its 5G network, the BBC reported, and U.S. lawmakers have lobbied Canada's prime minister to freeze out the Chinese supplier. New Zealand and Australia already have. Other, less wealthy nations are concerned less about spying and more about low prices, which play to Huawei's advantage. Both Huawei and ZTE have not only been barred from use by U.S. government agencies and contractors; they have also been mostly locked out of the American market. A 2012 report by the House Intelligence Committee report urged U.S. businesses to avoid their products and called for blocking all mergers or acquisitions involving them. And nearly a year ago, AT&T pulled out of a deal to sell Huawei smartphones. "There is ample evidence to suggest that no major Chinese company is independent of the Chinese government and Communist Party and Huawei, which China's government and military tout as a 'national champion' is no exception," Sens. Mark Warner, D-Va., and Marco Rubio, R-Fla., wrote in October to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. They urged him to keep Huawei off Canada's next-generation network. Priscilla Moriuchi, a former East Asia specialist at National Security Agency now with the cybersecurity firm Recorded Future, said both ZTE and Huawei are wedded to China's military and political leadership. "The threat from these companies lies in their access to critical internet backbone infrastructure," she said. "No matter what happens in the short term, (the arrest of Huawei's CFO) is a symptom of a long-term technology clash," said Derek Scissors, a China specialist at the conservative American Enterprise Institute. "We're not going to deal that away in 90 days." Scissors said he doubts that China will change its tech policies. Beijing must develop innovative technologies to keep its economy growing as its labor force ages and it confronts a huge stockpile of debt. Yet its political and economic system which promotes inefficient state-owned companies at the expense of nimbler private ones discourages innovation. "I don't see a way out of this," Scissors said. Likewise, Rod Hunter, an international economic official in President George W. Bush's White House and a partner at law firm Baker McKenzie, said, "I'm skeptical that the Chinese are going to want to say 'uncle.' " U.S. and Chinese officials are "trying to tackle a problem that is going to take years, maybe a decade, to resolve." So who is telling the truth with regards to funding for the Asau Wharf? Thats the million-tala question today after conflicting stories have emerged from key players in this project. What should have been a really simple straightforward story has suddenly become a mystery for reasons that are beyond me. Why cant they just tell the truth? If China is funding it, whats new? Whats so secretive about China funding it given that just about everything in Samoa is funded by China these days? Here is what we know. In April, Prime Minister Tuilaepa Dr. Sailele Malielegaoi announced in Parliament that the government had secured funding to widen and deepen the channel at the Asau Wharf. For the uninitiated, the wharf in question, considered Samoas most protected harbour, is not fully fit for use. But it is a sleeping giant in terms of trade and tourism potential. Which is why the announcement by Prime Minister Tuilaepa was exciting, not just for the people of Savaii but especially to Asaus Member of Parliament and the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Lopaoo Natanielu Mua, who immediately saw a goldmine. This is going to trigger the re-use of the port because once that is done no matter what we do on the wharf I tell you, this will help the economic growth in Savaii, he said. It will stop migration to Apia and theres a lot of lands where companies can come and lease because they are all customary lands in Asau. But then he said something else which now we know he shouldnt have said. The Prime minister announced that funding through the Chinese government has been secured to deepen and widen the channel in the Asau Harbour. Fast forward to today, that statement has become a very contentious issue. It is even more contentious following a story in The Australian last week, which raised questions about Chinas motives in the Pacific. The story tells us that a Chinese hydrographic surveyor was discreetly brought in earlier this year to map the port. It continues that Chinas involvement has raised red flags with military analyst-s, who warned that the port could lead to a salient right through the heart of Americas defences in the South Pacific or threaten Australias east-coast trade routes to the US. The same story goes on to quote an Australian Strategic Policy Institute analyst, Malcolm Davis, as saying that if the Chinese were able to access a Samoan port, the risk would be that it could lead to a military base. He said the other issue was that a base in the southwest Pacifi-c would be well positioned to sit astride trade routes from the east coast of Australia to the US. They could potentially coerce Australia in that regard and project power to the north up to Micronesia, Guam and potentially Hawaii, Dr. Davis said. Former US diplomat and retired marine colonel Grant Newsham warned that the Chinese could use the same tactics by which they obtain a military base in Djibout-i, on the Horn of Africa. Its the Chinese modus operandi, Colonel Newsham said. You can see how it played out in Djibout-i, where they got the governmen-t to toss out the Dubai ports company that controlled the port. Colonel Newsham said any sort of port type access for China could lead to a salient right through the heart of the US, Japanese and Australian defences. Its getting in behind the American, Japanese and Australian defence. Back in Samoa, Prime Minister Tuilaepa immediately rubbished the article, calling it stupid as he does. The project that we have in discussions with China is the Vaiusu port, he said. Look. We are very bright people. We will never do that thing of building a thing we cant pay for. Dont underestimate us. You should tell off those journalists. As I said, I like that journalist for his stupidity, in one instance is helping us in another. His stupidity is helping us to expose to whichever rich Arabian somewhere, that there is a port that needs to be built that will be excellent for fishing! As for Chinas Ambassador to Samoa, Wang Xuefeng, he was apparently shocked, saying he wasnt aware of any negotiations. I have to check this news and I will answer you, he said. I dont know and I am not aware. I havent heard of this and I am not aware of the whole thing. I will read the news first. Well now that hes read it, can he tell us whats happening? Have a wonderful weekend Samoa, God bless! The Police have arrested and charged three men in connection to their investigation into the death of Jeremiah Malaki Tauiliili. Mr. Tauiliili, a 24-year-old Civil Engineer working at the Ministry of Works, Transport and Infrastructure, died at the Tupua Tamasese Meaole Hospital on Wednesday, following an incident at the Marina last Friday night. The three men, whom the Police did not identify, were at the Police Station last night where the charges were laid. Samoa Police Service (S.P.S.) confirms that three males have been arrested and charged in relation to our investigation into the death of Mr. Jeremiah Malaki Tauili'ili, said a statement issued by the Police last night. S.P.S. still encourages the public to come forward with any information relevant to our investigation. S.P.S. would like to thank the public for their ongoing assistance and patience during our enquiries. Attempts by the Samoa Observer to confirm from the Police what the charges are and the names of the men charged were not successful. On Thursday, Police Commissioner, Fuiava Egon Keil, assured the public that they will do what is necessary to uncover the truth about the circumstances that led to the death of Mr. Tauiliili. When we are done with the investigation, we will do what is necessary, he said. The investigation dictates what we do, so when the investigation is completed, we will act appropriately. Attempts by the Samoa Observer to get a comment from Mr. Tauiliilis family have been unsuccessful. This newspaper visited the family twice on Wednesday but they declined. But Police officers who spoke to the Samoa Observer on the condition of annomity said Mr. Tauiliili was involved in an altercation. The Samoa Observer was also told the Fire Emergency Services Authority was called and the man was taken to the Tupua Tamasese Meaole Hospital. They said the Police were not informed about the incident until the next day, when it was reported by the National Health Services to them. Mr. Tauiliili slipped into a coma and his condition deteriorated before he eventually passed away. Mr. Tauiliili, who is a young father of one, had worked as a Civil Engineer for the Ministry of Works, Transport and Infrastructure. Promoting Samoa on the international stage is the goal of Wilex Samoa with their newly-launched Samoa Noni-Loa brand. Founder of Wilex Samoa, Tagaloa Eddie Wilson told the Samoa Observer yesterday that the brand exists to tell the world that the nonu is from Samoa. In 1998, Wilex started using nonu in its boutique chocolate products and now theyre looking at reviving this by using nonu in their chocolates again. Wilex landed an export market in South Korea six months ago, Benefarm, and they are very interested in Samoa, Tagaloa said. The Korean market is very interested in Samoa not only for the impressive quality of the nonu but also with the beauty of our islands, Tagaloa said during the launch at their factory in Lelata. This is why a TV crew from South Korea is visiting to film Samoa as a world class country on pristine environment and source of noni products for the Korean markets. While many countries have been interested in nonu, Tagaloa said they are prioritising companies who are focused on promoting Samoa and utilising nonu in an effective way. Apart from South Korea, our other interests lie with Canada and America due to developing nonu products to cure cancer diagnosis including colon, breasts and kidneys, he said. Thats why weve also alerted the kidney dialysis unit in the hospital of our interests and Leituala Dr. Ben Matalavea is thrilled with the new development. Wilex collects nonu fruits from all over the island, beginning from area in Aleipata to Lefaga, Apia to Laulii, with a bucket costing $10 - $12 depending on the quality of the fruit. I believe that there is a great possibility for this to be a sustainable import because nonu grows effortlessly well in Samoa, growing in almost everyones backyard and easy to look after; this is Gods gift to Samoa, Tagaloa said. Also it benefits everyone in the family. Women and children make up 90 percent of people who collect nonu, which means while the men are working the land for root crops; women and kids are earning money from collecting nonu. He added about 5,000 families are involved and benefit from Wilex Noni Loa, including those who collect the fruit and work in the factories. The biggest challenge is the supply. Its so hard to convince people not to pick the green unripe nonu fruits, he said. It is especially difficult when there is also another company who is going around collecting both ripe and unripe nonu fruits, which doesnt look good for us. Even the Government has issued a notice through the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Labour to stop the picking of unripe nonu because this may lead to a tainted reputation of the country. Tagaloa said about $2 million was invested in the brand including tanks, laboratories and other investments. The University of the South Pacific (U.S.P.) Alafua Campus graduated 95 of its students from eight countries around the region, including one from Nigeria yesterday. Held at the E.F.K.S. Hall in Sogi, families, friends and supporters joined members of the diplomatic corps in congratulating the graduands during the colourful ceremony. This number of graduands would have been higher but because of the fire in the building housing the Student Administrative Services, we are still to verify the records of some students who are eligible to graduate, said the universitys outgoing Vice-Chancellor, Rajesh Chandra. Fifty-four percent of those graduating today (yesterday) are women, 69 per cent are graduating with undergraduate degrees, 13 percent from Pacific TAFE programmes, 6 percent with professional diplomas, 6 percent with postgraduate diplomas, four students are graduating with masters degrees and 1 percent with graduate certificate. Professor Chandra congratulated the graduands and told them their qualification will help them, their families and their countries enormously in the future. The enrolment at the Alafua Campus continues to grow and importantly, diversify into non-agriculture areas, especially science and technology. There has been an increase in enrolment since 2010. We expect this upward trajectory to continue into the future, giving this campus a bright future, Professor Chandra said. The increasing number of agriculture students in recent years shows that more and more students are interested in agriculture not only because of the importance of agriculture to the region, but also due to the quality of oure revised agriculture programme. The Campus has seen record undergraduate and postgraduate enrolments in the agriculture programme in recent years. In 2018 there are four PhD students in agriculture, 12 students in Master of Agriculture and 27 students in postgraduate diploma in agriculture. Professor Chandra said the School of Agriculture and Food Technology is punching well above its weight relative to other schools of the university in the area of Masters and PhD studies despite its isolation and scarcity of resources. The University of the South Pacific (U.S.P.) has produced 1,506 Samoan alumni from 1968 to 2018, which is 3.2 percent of all the universitys alumni. This is according to the universitys Vice Chancellor, Rajesh Chandra, who was speaking during the Alafua campus graduation ceremony yesterday. At the same time, 2001 qualifications have been awarded to Samoan students since 1968 out of a total of around 69,377 qualification awards, which is 3 percent of all our qualifications, Professor Chandra said. U.S.P. has contributed enormously to the development of Samoa through these quality graduates who now occupy very senior roles in Government, the private sector, academia, and in regional and international organisations. I also thank the Government and people of Samoa for their very strong contributions to the development of U.S.P. ever since its establishment in 1968. Professor Chandra said Samoa has provided two chancellors and two pro chancellors, including the first pro chancellor of the university. It has been my privilege to work with the former Head of State, His Highness Tui Atua Tupua Tamasese Efi when he was our chancellor as well with current Deputy Prime Minister Afioga Honourable Fiame Naomi Mataafa in her role as Pro Chancellor and Chair of Council. Samoa has also provided a vice-chancellor, afioga Esekia Solofa under whom I was privileged to serve as deputy vice-chancellor, the first professor and head and pro vice chancellor for Alafua Campus, Professor Felix Wendt; a registrar, Walter Fraser, Professor Albert Wendt; and many outstanding academic and administrative staff. Professor Chandra added Samoa has been a large part of the universitys success culminating to the celebration of the 50th anniversary. We are now almost at the end of the last year of the universitys strategic plan and we have successfully achieved 84 percent of what we set out to achieve, he said. This is an exceptional level of achievement because the only comparator data we could locate showed a level of 72 percent, and because it has been achieved with per student funding of less than half of Australian universities. We have now achieved a total number of 27 international accreditations and 15 international recognitions exceeding the strategic plan K.P.Is. All these have been achieved in the last nine years. Professor Chandra said the new strategic plan for 2019-2024 will now guide the university in the next six years with a mid-term review. What began as a Tuesday night respite from daily life has become an exhibition on display at Tiapapata Art Centre, something Cass Hart and her mentor are immensely proud of. Ms. Hart is a teacher during the day, but once a week she makes the windy journey up to Tiapapata with a friend, and they relax into the world of art in Wendy Percivals multipurpose studio. After months of exploring, she began to play with clay, which was the first step towards her collection on display today, reflecting on her years as a young missionary from New Zealand. Ms. Hart travelled a lot and lived with several tribes in Africa before returning home, and eventually arriving in Samoa. I have that inner calling, you could say, thats what draws me to other countries, Ms. Hart said. I moved to Africa when I was 22, I started in Tanzania, then came back to New Zealand, but I used to go to Africa and take groups over to do missionary work. I have a real love for people and thats taken me all over the world. Those experiences are on a wall at Tiapapata Art Centre now, in the faces of peoples she has lived with. Using the clay, and under Ms. Percivals tutelage, she created abstractions of people from her memories. The idea was not to be realistic, Ms. Hart said, but to highlight the enriching cultures shes experienced. I have really brought in the culture and put it all one face, letting memories come back as I made it, she said. I think when you are living in the Pacific, or you have lived overseas and you have experiences that are so rich and so raw I wanted to make something that had my experience behind it. Thats got a lot more flavour and a lot more passion. People from indigenous cultures are very dear to me. To carefully honour each culture, she either created faces true to the tribe she was recreating, or consulted with members to get their representations right, such as with the kaumatua from Aotearoa New Zealand (not pictured), or the woman from Samoa (bottom right). With the Samoan girl, I approached friends who have position and authority in the community, and talked to them about it, Ms. Hart said. I could tell they thought, thanks for doing that Cass, not just going ahead and doing whatever you want. Getting permission to take creative liberties with the facial tattoos was important, she said. You need to fully respect it coming in, you cant think you know whats best, you have to come under authority and thats how I felt. For the faces from African tribes, Ms Hart made no creative changes to the traditional facial tattoos, but rather recreated them as accurately as she could from text and memories. The unique black colouring of the masks was a mistake that both Ms Hart and Ms Percival found delightful. They were supposed to be beautiful and smokey, with some natural colour behind them from the clay. But I stuffed that up, Ms Hart said, laughing. I had no idea that this could be possible. I dont know anything about clay, lets tell the truth here! In a detailed process, the masks were fired in a raku kiln and buried in sawdust to be smoked, producing the black look. The idea was the smokey look would make them look more indigenous, and intriguing. When they came out, they were less smokey than we had expected, they were more solid black. But she made that work by adding the gold, Wendy Percival explained. Seeing her hobby up on the gallery wall is a blessing, Ms Hart says. The pieces werent designed for show or profit in mind, and shes proud of her work. Wendy takes a commission, and Im not keeping any of the money, Ms Hart said, opting instead use the funds for social work. It was really just playing around, having a bit of fun really. I came up here on a Tuesday night for a breather, and then the pieces turned out cool enough to be put in the gallery. Its been a blessing. A bail application by a husband who is accused of the murder of his wife has been denied. The decision was delivered by Chief Justice, His Honour Patu Tiavaiasuie Falefatu Sapolu, in the hearing of Kolani Junior Lam, who is accused in the death of the former Chief Executive Officer of the Unit Trust of Samoa (U.T.O.S.), Saiu Justina Saiu. In delivering his decision, His Honour Patu said the Supreme Court is satisfied ithere is a significant riski should Lam be given bail. This is his full ruling: Proceedings These proceedings are concerned with an application by the applicant for bail. The applicant has been remanded in custody since 6 November 2018. He has been charged by the police with one count of murder in respect of his wife, one count of assault in respect of a step daughter, and one count of possession of narcotics, namely, marijuana. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him. He is now seeking bail to await the date of his trial. The police opposes bail. The bail application is brought pursuant to s.98 (4) of the Criminal Procedure Act 2016 which provides: (4) A defendant charged with an offence and is not bailable as of right is bailable at the discretion of the Court unless the Court is satisfied that there is just cause for the defendant to be remanded in custody. Because of the nature of the charges against the applicant, he is not bailable as of right but at the discretion of the Court. The crucial question is whether there is just cause for the defendant to be remanded in custody. Approach to a bail application The modern approach of the Samoan Courts to an application for bail is now well established: see Police v Posala [2015] WSSC 92; Police v Ah Ching [2016] WSSC 31; Police v Barlow [2017] WSSC 103; Police v Leleimalefaga [2017] WSSC 121; Police v Pule [2017] WSSC 127; Police v Foai [2018] WSSC 99. Under this modern approach, the Court, in considering whether there is just cause for a defendant to be remanded in custody, must take into account: (a) Whether there is a risk that the defendant may fail to appear on the date to which he has been remanded; or (b) Whether there is a risk that the defendant may interfere with witnesses or evidence; or (c) Whether there is a risk that the defendant may offend while on bail; and (d) Any matter that would make it unjust to detain the defendant. All of the above considerations are mandatory and are stated in s.99 (a), (b), (d) and perhaps (k) of s.99 of Criminal Procedure Act 2016. The next stage of this approach is that in assessing the risks and any matter that would make it unjust to detain the defendant as stated in 5 above, the Court may take into account the other matters stated in s.99. These matters are discretionary. In other words, the modern approach to a bail application involves two stages. The first stage is mandatory and the second stage involves consideration of discretionary matters. The difficulty with s.99 is that it has lumped together the two stages of the modern approach, that is to say, it has made no distinction between considerations which should be mandatory and considerations which should be discretionary resulting in confusion and making it difficult to apply the provision. This is the difficulty that this Court was referring to in Police v Barlow [2017] WSSC 107, para 13, where it is stated: So it is a two-step process. Section 99 of the Criminal Procedure Act 2016 has lumped together the risks that must be taken into account and the factors that may be taken into consideration in the assessment of the risks and whether there is any other matter that would make it unjust to detain the accused. To avoid difficulties in the application of s.99 because of the way it has been drafted, I am of the respectful view that the approach to a bail application in Police v Posala [2015] WSSC 92 should be followed. It is a clear and logical approach. It also avoids the difficulties that would arise from a strict application of s.99. Presumption of innocence Counsel for the applicant in his submission referred to the presumption of innocence as the initial consideration to be taken into account in a bail application. He referred to Article 9(3) of the Constitution which provides that every person charged with an offence shall be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law. Whilst it is correct that a person charged with an offence is presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law, it must be borne in mind that an application for bail is not concerned with the innocence or guilt of a defendant. A bail application is concerned with the question of whether a defendant should be at liberty pending the determination of guilt or innocence. As the New Zealand Court of Appeal put it in its judgment in R v Lindsay James Tawairua Wilson [2003] NZCA 3, para [25], delivered by Elias CJ: The presumption of innocence is not eroded by the principles of public protection to be found in the Bail Act. Determinations of bail do not pre-determine guilt on the substantive charges. The question for the Court is whether the appellant should be at liberty pending such determination of guilt or innocence. The presumption of innocence is recognised in the general requirement that a defendant must be released on reasonable terms unless the Court is satisfied that there is just cause for continued detention (s.7. (5)). Bail application The application for bail is based on the following grounds: (a) The applicant is charged with a criminal offence and is presumed innocent until proved guilty. (b) The applicant poses no flight risk and is willing to surrender his passport and to report to the police on a regular basis. (c) The applicant has no previous convictions and there is no risk that he will offend if granted bail. (d) The applicant is willing to abide by any conditions if bail is granted by the Court. (e) The applicant intends to defend himself. Opposition to bail The bail application is opposed by the respondent/prosecution on the following grounds: (a) There is a risk that the applicant may fail to appear in Court on the date to which he will be remanded for trial. (b) There is a risk that the applicant may interfere with prosecution witnesses. (c) There is a risk that the applicant may offend while on bail. (d) The character and past behaviour of the applicant warrants that he be remanded in custody. (e) The gravity of the offence of murder with which the applicant is being charged. (f) The strength of the evidence and the probability of conviction. (g) The severity of the punishment to which the applicant is liable. The risks referred to in grounds (a), (b), and (c) of the respondent/prosecutions opposition to bail are mandatory. They must be taken into consideration in a bail application. The matters referred to in grounds (d) (g) of the opposition to bail are discretionary. These are matters which the Court may take into account in the assessment of the risks referred to in grounds (a), (b), and (c). This is what is meant by the two steps process referred to in Police v Barlow (supra). Affidavit evidence The sworn affidavits that were filed for the applicant in support of the bail application and for the respondent in opposition to the bail application are quite conflicting in several respects. I raised this with both counsel in Court and in an in - chambers meeting with them on 18 November 2018. At the in - chambers meeting, counsel for the applicant preferred not to call oral testimony to resolve the conflicts in the affidavit evidence as that may disclose before trial the defence that the applicant intends to run at the trial. Counsel for the respondent did not strongly oppose the position taken by counsel for the applicant. The hearing of the bail application therefore proceeded on the basis of submissions by counsel and the opposing affidavits and I am left to resolve as best I could the conflicts in the affidavit evidence. The issues I turn now to consider the relevant issues to a bail application. (a) First issue: Is there a risk that the applicant may fail to appear on the date to which he will be remanded for trial? The contention by counsel for the applicant is that the respondent has not demonstrated a real and significant risk that the applicant may fail to appear on the date to which he will be remanded for trial. This is because the applicant has undertaken to surrender all his travel documents to the Court, the applicant has a clean police record and has never been charged with an offence, and if the applicant is granted bail the Court may impose appropriate bail conditions to ensure that the applicant does not abscond. Counsel for the applicant also discussed the case for the respondent against the applicant on the charge of murder and submitted that the probability of a conviction on that charge is not high. The contention of counsel for the respondent is that in light of the strength of the police evidence, the likelihood of a conviction on the charge of murder, and the severity of the penalty that will follow, there is a real and significant risk that the applicant may fail to appear on the date to which he will be remanded for trial. Counsel for the respondent also mentioned that the applicant had only recently been granted New Zealand citizenship so that he is able to obtain a New Zealand passport and flee the country. After giving careful consideration to the competing contentions and submissions of counsel, I am not satisfied that there is a real and significant risk that the applicant may not appear on the date to which he will be remanded for trial if granted bail. This is because if granted bail, the applicant will be required to surrender any travel document he may have to the registrar. Appropriate bail conditions including reporting conditions will be imposed. The police may also seek a departure prohibition order to further prevent the applicant from leaving Samoa. The respondent may also advise the New Zealand immigration authorities in Apia about the police case against the applicant and request not to issue a New Zealand passport to the applicant until his case is completed. (b) Second issue: Is there a risk that the applicant may interfere with witnesses or evidence? Counsel for the respondent submitted that on the material before the Court there is a real and significant risk that the applicant may interfere with police witnesses if granted bail, especially Meaalii Tafa (Meaalii) a key police witness who was the babysitter for the children of the applicant and his wife, the deceased. Meaalii is an eye witness to the relationship between the applicant and his deceased wife and the nature of that relationship inside the home. In her sworn affidavit of 20 November 2018, Meaalii says at para 4 that the applicant told her that if the police ask about the rope then to tell them she does not know anything. The words used by Meaalii in her affidavit are as follows: O le aso 17 Oketopa 2018, sa faapea ona ou toe alu ai le fale i Sinamoga ina ua talosaga mai leoleo oute alu e faasino le maea. Sa faapea ona faapea mai ia Junior ia au e aunoa ma le iloa e leoleo a faapea e fesili mai ia leoleo, ona ou fai ai lea ou te leiloa se maea. E lei iai sau tala na tali ia Junior I lea tulaga ona ua maea ona faia lau faamatalaga e faatatau i le maea In para 12 of Meaaliis affidavit of 20 November 2018, she says that the applicant called her phone twice using a private number but she did not answer. She knew that it was the applicant who called her on the phone as her husband had told her not to answer the phone as the applicant had called him. The words used by Meaalii in her affidavit are as follows: E faalua ona vili atu i lau telefoni e faaaoga atu le numera private, ou te iloaina o Kolani ona sa fai mai lou toalua sa vili muamua atu ia te ia ae a vili atu se numera private ona aua lea le talia ona o Kolani lea e vilivili atu. Meaalii also says in her affidavit that after the applicant was remanded in custody, he sent a letter to her and her husband together with $100 which she interpreted to be an attempt by the applicant to make her a witness for him. This letter was given to Meaaliis husband by one Sio Aukusitino a neighbor of the applicant. As it appears from the applicants affidavit of 28 November 2018, the letter was given by the applicant to his parents when they visited him in prison. The letter was then given by the applicants parents to Sio Aukusitino to pass on to Meaalii and her husband. There is no mention in the letter of the $100 or what it was for. The letter is silent on the $100. The relevant part of the letter reads as follows: E manumalo lava le mea moni ma ou te talosaga atu ia te oe pe afai ou te tu ile faamasinoga ia e tumau pea i lau faamatalaga na ave i leoleo ona o i latou na tuaia au ma latou ave au i Tafaigata mo le fasioti tagata faamoemoeina. Faamolemole aua e te toe faia ni faamatalaga iai ona o loo taumafai lava le tiapolo e molia pea au. Given this part of the applicants letter and the absence of any reference in the letter to the $100 and what it was for, Meaalii has interpreted the $100 as a bribe to influence her to be a witness for the applicant. Meaalii says in para 14 of her affidavit: O le $100 sa... aumai ma le tusi e leai se mafuaaga e alai ona aumai lea tupe aua o lea e maua lou totogi mai ia Sofia ma o loo faapea foi ona iloa e Junior, o tamaiti o loo faapea ona tausi ma faatupe e Sofia. O lau faauigaiga o le $100 sa avatu ma le tusi, o loo faapea ona taumafai ia Junior ou te tu mo ia The applicant in his subsequent sworn affidavit of 28 November 2018 says that he asked his parents when they visited him in prison to give Sio Aukusitino some money to pass on to Meaalii to buy food for their children. I find this suspicious. Not only is there no reference in the applicants letter to the money or what it was for, but there is no evidence that the applicant was in the habit of giving money to Meaalii to buy food for her children before he was remanded in custody. The applicant in his affidavit of 28 November 2018 also says that the reason why he asked Meaalii in his letter to stick to the statement she had already given to the police and not to change it was because he knew that people can change their statements and this can complicate matters very quickly. He was also very worried about the whole process against him being wrongly influenced by people telling Meaalii what to say. But that is in effect what the applicant is doing here. He is telling Meaalii what to do or not to do by telling her to stick to the statement she had already given to the police and not to change it. There is, however, no evidence to show that the applicant was aware of what Meaalii had said in her statement to the police at the time he sent the letter to Meaalii and her husband. So it is not clear what he intended by asking Meaalii to stick to her statement to the police. What is clear is that the reasons now given by the applicant for asking Meaalii in his letter to stick to her statement to the police do not appear in that letter. These reasons are now given after Meaalii had made her affidavit of 20 November referring to the applicants letter. The applicant also says in his affidavit that his counsel has now advised him that it is not proper for him to contact Meaalii or any other police witness so that if he is granted bail he will not again contact any police witness. On the material before the Court, I am not satisfied that there is no real and significant risk that the applicant will not again try to contact the key police witness Meaalii. Having considered the affidavits of Meaalii and the applicant, I find what Meaalii says to be more plausible. I do not find the explanation by the applicant to be satisfactory. I am also not sufficiently confident that if the applicant is granted bail he will not try to contact or communicate with Meaalii again. The next important witness for the police is Talei Kelsall (Talei) the 13 year old step daughter of the applicant. Talei attends Robert Louis Stevenson College. She says in her affidavit of 20 November 2018 that while her statement was taken by a woman constable at the Apia police station she felt scared and intimidated by the applicant who was also at the police station as the applicant was consistently glaring at her. She felt so scared and upset that she was unable to finish her statement and had to come back to the police station another day to finish her statement. This is denied by the applicant in his affidavit of 28 November 2018. The applicant says that he was making a statement to a police officer at the Apia police station on the day in question. During one of the breaks from making his statement, he was allowed to go outside to smoke a cigarette. As he was walking out, he glanced up and looked at Talei who was being interviewed by a woman constable and simply walked past her. He did not stand and glare at her. It is not possible to reconcile these conflicts between the affidavit of Talei and that of the applicant without calling oral testimony. Counsel for the applicant preferred not to call oral testimony and counsel for the respondent did not strongly resist. The police witnesses Talei, Meaalii and Moira McFarland say in their affidavits that on a day when Talei and Meaalii were interviewed at the Apia police station, the applicant was seeing driving around the police station. Talei and Meaalii were scared because of what they knew of the applicant. This is also denied by the applicant who says in one of his two affidavits that he was not driving around the police station in a car while Talei and Meaalii were interviewed by the police. An affidavit sworn by a relative of the applicant supports what the applicant says. Again, I am not able to resolve this conflict between the affidavits of Talei, Meaalii and Moira McFarland and the affidavits of the applicant and his relative in the absence of oral testimony. Counsel for the respondent, however, is concerned that if the applicant is granted bail he will stay with his family at Falelauniu but Talei attends school at Robert Louis Stevenson College. Because of the proximity of Falelauniu to the Robert Louis Stevenson College, counsel for the respondent submitted that there is a significant risk that the applicant may interfere with this police witness who is scared of the applicant because of what she claims to have been done by the applicant to her and her mother in the past. What comes out quite clearly from the affidavits of Talei and Meaalii who had stayed together with the applicant and the deceased when she was alive is that these two police witnesses are very scared if the applicant is granted bail. I have carefully weighed up the material placed before the Court and the submissions of counsel and I am satisfied that there is a real and significant risk that the applicant may interfere with police witnesses if granted bail. (c) Third risk: Is there a risk that the applicant may offend while on bail? I am not satisfied that the respondent has demonstrated that there is a real and significant risk that the applicant may reoffend if granted bail. This is separate from the risk of interfering with witnesses which can also amount to the offence of obstructing or perverting the course of justice. The applicant has no criminal history of offending or offending while on bail. There is also nothing in the material before the Court to suggest with sufficient clarity that the applicant may reoffend if granted bail. (d) Fourth issue: Is there any matter that would it make it unjust to detain the applicant? The criminal cases already set down for hearing are now up to May 2019. It may be unjust to detain the applicant until that time because of the presumption of innocence. Counsel for the respondent has agreed for this case to be heard in February 2019 and for some of the criminal cases already set down for that month to be moved. That should answer any concern that if bail is denied the applicant will be kept in custody for about six months to await trial. Conclusion As I am satisfied that there is a real and significant risk that the applicant may interfere with police witnesses if granted bail and there is no other matter that would make it unjust to continue to detain the applicant, the application for bail is denied. This matter is further adjourned for re-mention on Monday 10 December 2018 to set a hearing date in February 2019. Question: Will the U.S. and China ever reach a trade deal that will be good for both economies? Phil Blair, Manpower YES: Both the U.S. president and the Chinese president know that a tariff war, in the long run, is bad for both countries. The challenge for the next 90 days (or many more) will be saving face. Both leaders will not allow it to appear that they lost and therefore the other leader won. How both back down and make reasonable changes that really do need to be made to be fair in this new world of massive trade will be the show to watch in the coming months. Kelly Cunningham, San Diego Institute for Economic Research YES: The U.S. should team with allies also frustrated with China to form pacts committed to open trade and investment, sufficiently strong intellectual property rights and enforcement, and legal recourse mechanisms. Most importantly, participating nations would commit to not engage in trade or investment with state-owned or closely related enterprises. This effectively leaves China out until they implement real reforms. Such free trade agreements would compel China and all nations to more sustainable paths of economic growth. David Ely, San Diego State University YES: There are numerous agriculture, technology and manufacturing organizations, in both the U.S. and China, that benefit from trade and who will push political leaders to negotiate good deals. However, given the wide range of trade-related conflicts between the U.S. and China, including protections for intellectual property, forced technology transfer, cyberspying and excessive tariff levels, it seems highly unlikely that all issues can be resolved in a single deal or in the near term. Gina Champion-Cain, American National Investments YES: The U.S.-China trading system is reaching a tipping point from which unraveling the damage would be an exceedingly difficult task. The post-Argentina messaging is so muddled that we are not certain what to be uncertain about. Uncertainty is in no ones interest. The markets will not allow the chaos to continue. We will eventually accept a deal similar to the new NAFTA, making marginal changes only but providing much needed market normalcy. Alan Gin, University of San Diego NO: The current trade structure strongly favors China, so any deal to help the U.S. would necessitate China being worse off by giving up some of those advantages. But there are so many issues involved that a deal probably could be worked out where the Chinese would yield on few points. They will try to limit concessions to avoid the image of giving in too much to U.S. pressure. The administration might accept this to get an apparent victory ahead of the 2020 elections. James Hamilton, UC San Diego YES: But its important to remember that there is no policy that will benefit everyone. Cheaper goods from China benefit U.S. consumers but hurt U.S. workers who cant compete against the cheaper labor. Nevertheless, there are policies that would help most Americans and help most Chinese. Theres too much at stake here not to get this right. Im hopeful we can get back on the right track. Gary London, London Moeder Advisors YES: But it may not be in this administration. The tariffs disproportionately impacted the presidents core constituency. One would think that he would back away at some point, as tariffs are an obstacle, not a negotiating tactic. Lost in the debate of a trade deal with China is that Chinas economy is actually in decline. That would form a better basis for a trade deal. Norm Miller, University of San Diego YES: China will for sure, since they understand capitalism and that trade is good. The U.S. did not need to enter a tariff war in order to re-negotiate NAFTA or the TPPA. Those options were always open and the pain caused to steel and aluminum users in this country caused permanent economic damage. The GOP used to support free and open markets, with reasonable protections. Lets hope we return to that view again someday. Jamie Moraga, IntelliSolutions YES: Eventually. But what it will look like and how long it will take is unknown. The stock market has shown increased volatility this past week with a rise on Monday of 288 points and a subsequent plunge of 800 points a mere 24 hours later due to fears and uncertainty of an ongoing trade war and economic slowdown. It is in the best interests of the global economy for both countries to reach a deal. Austin Neudecker, Rev YES: The two economies are highly dependent on each other. The escalating trade war is simply a game of chicken, with both sides willing to suffer until the other flinches. China's unwillingness to respect intellectual property rights, currency manipulation and other unfair behaviors certainly do not help negotiations. Regardless, neither side wants this to continue and will ultimately strike a deal (hopefully soon, as a large percentage of the world is collateral damage for the posturing). Bob Rauch, R.A. Rauch & Associates YES: The U.S. benefits when China reduces their trade barriers and consumers gain from reduced import costs. However, there remains a risk for stock markets and the economy, partly because creating an easier access for imports has potential negative impacts on U.S. labor. This trade negotiation will be especially difficult in areas like intellectual property and market access. Despite that, I say President Trump gets it done albeit with some bumps in the road. Lynn Reaser, Point Loma Nazarene University YES: The economies each have too much to lose to not ultimately reach an agreement. While the U.S. president will not achieve all of his goals, a reduction in forced technology transfer, more protection of U.S. intellectual property and a reduction in Chinese barriers to U.S. exports should help the U.S. China should benefit from an improvement in intellectual property rights for all firms, including its own, and a diversification from a dependence on exports to the U.S. John Sarkisian, Motion Ventures YES: There will be an agreement because of the importance of trade on the health of the two largest economies in the world. The U.S. will negotiate for more protection of intellectual property as well as lower tariffs on U.S. goods. Chinas economy is driven by manufacturing of U.S. designed products and cannot afford to lose those products and their manufacturing to other countries. Chris Van Gorder, Scripps Health YES: I think so as its in the interest of both countries to do so. While there will certainly be saber rattling, I suspect that the U.S. will get some concessions from China on issues ranging from the protection of intellectual property to greater access to Chinese markets. China, in turn, will likely gain some relief from the recently imposed U.S. tariffs. But I also suspect there will always be some level of tension. Have an idea for an EconoMeter question? Email me at phillip.molnar@sduniontribune.com. Follow me on Twitter: @PhillipMolnar Tech startups in San Diego are spending quite a bit less than their peers in other innovation hubs around the country not only in expensive cities like San Francisco, but also in affordable cities like Austin, Texas. Thats according to a new report by fast-growing financial firm Brex, which provides corporate credit cards to startups. The San Francisco firm has ballooned into a billion-dollar business in just two years of operation. Now, its publishing data to help other startups gauge their performance compared to peers. The company analyzed the spending habits of its clients mostly startups operating in technology. They discovered tech startups were concentrated in nine distinct regions: San Diego, Austin, Boston, Los Angeles, New York, Seattle, and three subgroups of the San Francisco Bay Area (San Francisco, the outer Bay Area and Silicon Valley*). Of those top tech regions, San Diego startups appear to be burning the least amount of money per month. San Diego startups spend about $207,000 per month, the report says. By comparison, startups in up-and-coming tech hub Austin spend about $281,000 per month to operate. In San Francisco, where tech companies are known to have high expenses, startups are spending $369,000 per month. SOURCE: 2018 State of Startup Spend Report (SF-based Brex, a provider of credit cards for startups) Advertisement Low burn rate good or bad? While a lower burn rate might seem good for business, Brex data scientist Chris Read said their data show a higher burn rate is also tied to higher quality investors, and down the road more growth. We found that the top startups (ones with top-tier VC backing) tend to spend more than other startups, Read said. Companies that raise venture capital tend to be growing fast enough to warrant investment dollars, which can then be used to support their growth. Larissa Rocha, a founding employee at Brex, said startups that graduate on to raise additional rounds of cash tend to have a bigger cash burn than those that did not. How did Brex come up with this data? The company has startup clients all over country, focusing in on software and technology. They have access to those spending habits and due diligence data that qualifies the company for a line of credit. Brex declined to publicly disclose the number of companies it analyzed for this report, citing privacy concerns for its clients. However, Read clarified that regions were only included if there was enough data to merit statistical significance in the report. The company said its data does not include biotech clients at this time, so those startups known for their big spending are not included. Read the full Brex report here. *Silicon Valley includes all companies from Millbrae to just north of San Jose. The Bay Area includes all startup companies in the Bay not included in Brexs Silicon Valley or San Francisco calculations. Business brittany.meiling@sduniontribune.com 619-293-1286 Twitter: @BrittanyMeiling A startup in San Diego is capitalizing on tired workers, students and travelers by selling access to napping pods portable steel structures (equipped with cushy beds) that can be rented by the hour through a smartphone. The company, called Hohm, says beds are in surprisingly short supply in places where people experience exhaustion: busy convention centers, university campuses, major events, airports and large corporate campuses. Sleep is just as important as food its a basic human necessity, said the startups founder Nikolas Woods. But when you need to sleep on the go, what are your options? Woods, 26, said beds should be accessible outside of hotel rooms and homes, especially in the age of smartphones. If we can order Starbucks, rent a scooter, or hail a ride with a smartphone, why cant we rent a bed? Advertisement Thats the problem Hohm is trying to solve. The company manufactures big steel pods sectioned into 43 square-foot bedrooms. Each room is soundproof and private. Inside, the rooms are furnished with a twin bed, a charging station for phones and other devices, and a mirror. Users can find nearby pods, book and pay for beds by the hour for up to four hours, Woods said. The amenity would be especially convenient at big international airports, where flyers often kill time napping in uncomfortable chairs between connecting flights. But Woods vision for the company goes beyond airports. Woods said he thought of the idea while working long hours at his last venture, a medical supplies company called Lightbox Medical. His startup was operating out of a coworking space, where Woods was surrounded by entrepreneurs and other tech types who work long hours. Exhaustion, he said, was a common occurrence. It reminded Woods of his days in college, when he and his peers would pull all-nighters at the library and needed a place to rest between classes (reminder: many students do not live in campus dorms). I asked myself how often I encountered this problem, and for me it was once or twice a week, Woods said. And coworking spaces arent the only place napping pods could be of use. Its a common tale in Silicon Valley for employees of big corporate campuses to be found snoozing in their cars. When employers like Google provide meals, gyms, laundry services and more on campus, theres not a big incentive to leave. This has pushed some employees to spend months sleeping in the parking lot. The concept of tiny micro-units rented by the hour isnt brand new. The idea is popular in Tokyo, where capsule hotels are a popular alternative to traditional boarding, says Bruce Baltin, managing director of CBRE Hotels. This has been done in Japan, and also in some airports, Baltin said. Even in the U.S., theres a trend towards micro hotel units. Baltin said millennials and other young consumers are more comfortable with such an idea, and sees these napping pods as a reasonable idea. While the concept of napping pods is intriguing, Hohm still has a long way to go to grow the company. Founded in 2016, Hohm spent the past two years designing and engineering portable steel pods. Their first manufactured pod, delivered in January, weighed in at 1,500 pounds and came in several pieces for assembly onsite. That pod was used as a demo for investors and customers, housed at a warehouse in San Diego. Just this month, Hohm got its first customer: The University of Arizona. The campus has four pods set up in its student union for students to use. Woods, who was on campus to oversee installation, said interest was high during set up, with curious students popping over to ask when the pods would be ready. The pods are now available for use at the rate of $10-$12 per hour, Woods said. It should be noted that Hohm is employing one person per pod location to help people check in, clean the rooms, and, most importantly, to ensure single occupancy, Woods said. Were excited about this new way to support our students well being, especially during finals when sleep is so important for success, said Neysha Aguilar, a spokesperson for the university. Hohm sleeping pods will be a great place for students to recharge and keep their minds sharp. Woods said hes raising $850,000 in startup capital to help support growth, and has $200,000 committed so far. Personally, Woods put $100,000 of his own money into the company to get it off the ground, and $50,000 from an angel investor. Business brittany.meiling@sduniontribune.com 619-293-1286 Twitter: @BrittanyMeiling Eighteen months ago, Qualcomm elbowed its way into the computer processor market with a chip that powered always on, cellular connected laptops running Microsofts Windows 10 operating system. Reviews were mixed for the inaugural three laptops from HP, Lenovo and Asus that ran on Qualcomms new chips in part because some popular software such as Adobe Photoshop didnt perform particularly well. (Samsung also launched a thin laptop with Qualcomm processors.) But Qualcomm hasnt given up trying to bring the best of smartphones fast cellular connectivity, longer battery life and always on features -- to laptops. On Thursday at its Snapdragon Technology Summit in Hawaii, the company rolled out its latest chip for computers the Snapdragon 8cx. Advertisement Designed in San Diego, the processor was built specifically for the computer market. Its graphics and central processor were custom designed to add speed and horsepower without sacrificing battery life, the company said. As the fastest Snapdragon platform ever, the Snapdragon 8cx will allow our customers to offer a powerful computing experience of multi-day battery life and multi-gigabit connectivity, in new thin, light and fan-less design for consumers and the enterprise, said Alex Katouzian, senior vice president of mobile for Qualcomm. Qualcomms foray into computers pits it against Intel and AMD, long-time suppliers to computer makers. Gaining a foothold in the computer market is important to the San Diego companys strategy of pushing smartphone technology into new markets such as cars, smart infrastructure and automated factory floors as the smartphone market slows. Peak performance of the Snapdragon 8cx would be roughly comparable to an Intel i5 U-series chip, according to Qualcomm. The chip delivers that computing power while still maintaining about two days of battery life under normal conditions. We are delivering the performance level of a fan design (computer) in a fan-less form factor, said Miguel Nunes, senior director of product management for Qualcomm. The new chip aims to power laptops not only for consumers but also for businesses. Its built using cutting edge 7 nanometer manufacturing technology, which packs more transistors onto a smaller chip. Besides instant on and 2-gigabit per second 4G LTE connectivity, the chip also includes top tier Wi-Fi and Bluetooth links. It supports more memory, quick charge technology and improved audio. It also enables voice assistants including Cortana and Alexa, and allows users to connect two ultra high definition display monitors to their laptops. Qualcomm didnt reveal any customers for the Snapdragon 8cx but said computer makers are sampling the processor now. Laptops with the chip are expected to come out in the third quarter next year, the company said. Business mike.freeman@sduniontribune.com; Twitter:@TechDiego 760-529-4973 Big changes in four coastal North County cities were locked into place Thursday with the release of the final results of the Nov. 6 election from the San Diego County registrar of voters. Carlsbad and Solana Beach both elected two first-time city council members, while Oceanside and Del Mar each chose one new member. In Oceanside, though, the outcome has created another council vacancy that could be filled immediately by an appointment or as late as next November in a special election. Oceanside and Carlsbad both recently switched from their long-standing, at-large council elections to district voting systems, in which each council member represents a separate quadrant of the city. Advertisement Mid-sized and smaller cities across California are changing to the council district system, which has the potential to create long-lasting change by encouraging people to become involved in local politics for the first time. Incumbents Esther Sanchez and Chuck Lowery both ran for Oceansides new District 1 seat, and Sanchez edged out Lowery by about 3 percentage points. Esther Sanchez (Courtesy photo) However, Sanchez was elected in 2016 to a four-year, at-large term, so her election in 2018 to the new district seat leaves a vacancy in the remaining half of her at-large term. The law requires the city to fill the vacancy by appointment within 60 days or hold a special election at the next available opportunity. A special election appears unlikely, because it could cost the city more than $750,000. Christopher Rodriguez (Courtesy photo) Oceansides only other council seat in the election was the new District 2. Christopher Rodriguez won that seat decisively with 5,610 votes, followed by Dana Corso with 3,449 votes and former Mayor Terry W. Johnson Sr. with 1,941 votes. Both Carlsbad council-seat winners were in second place when the initial results were announced election night. That count was mostly mail-in ballots, and the leaders changed within days as ballots from the polls trickled in. Jerry Kern, who had been on the Oceanside council since 2004, did not seek re-election when his term expired this year. Carlsbad elected two first-time council members, Barbara Hamilton in District 1 and Priya Bhat-Patel in District 3. Barbara Hamilton (Courtesy photo) Priya Bhat-Patel (Courtesy photo) In the final results, Hamilton had a 237-vote lead over her closest rival, Tracy Carmichael. Bhat-Patel finished 270 votes ahead of Corrine Busta, the only other District 3 candidate. Council incumbents Mark Packard and Michael Schumacher did not seek re-election. Carlsbad also re-elected Mayor Matt Hall with 55.55 percent of the vote over his only challenger, Councilwoman Cori Schumacher, with 44.45 percent. Schumacher (no relation to Michael Schumacher) will continue to serve the two years remaining on her at-large council seat. In Solana Beach, which still holds at-large council elections, there were five candidates for two open seats. The top two vote-getters were Kristi Becker, with 35.10 percent of the votes cast, and Kelly Harless, with 32.77 percent. Both will be first-time council members. In Del Mar, also an at-large election, voters elected Terry Gaasterland for the first time with 34.16 percent of the votes, and re-elected Mayor Dwight Worden with 27.72 percent of the vote. Councilman Terry Sinnott did not seek re-election. Solana Beach and Del Mar both appoint their mayor annually from one of the five council members. Carlsbad and Oceanside both elect their mayors separately from their other four council members. Those two cities will complete the switch to district council elections in 2020. Solana Beach also is preparing to switch to four council districts and an at-large mayor, probably beginning with the 2020 elections. The governing board of Tri-City Medical Center also switched to district elections this year, where incumbents Laura Mitchell and Jim Dagostino fell to challengers Rocky Chavez and Tracy Younger. Former board member George Coulter finished with a healthy lead over Vista attorney Erubey Lopez in the hospitals fourth division. And in the Palomar Health district election, incumbents Dale Bardin and Hans Christian Sison both found themselves just outside the top four candidates. Linda Greer, Richard Engel, Laurie Edwards-Tate and John Clark won the four seats on the ballot this year. philip.diehl@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @phildiehl The latest, controversial plan to build a public staircase down the bluff to Beacons Beach was rejected by a divided city Planning Commission Thursday after hours of public testimony and much commission debate. That may mean its back to the drawing board once again as the city continues its on-again, off-again, 15-year effort to come up with a workable plan to preserve public access to the popular beach, which is in a landslide-prone area just west of the 900 block of Neptune Avenue. For decades, the beach has been accessed via a switchback, dirt trail down the coastal bluff. The rustic trail, which is posted with Danger: Enter at Your Own Risk signs, is beloved by people who live nearby. They say a big staircase wouldnt fit with Leucadias funky, rustic look, while the dirt path connects visitors to the surrounding environment and is far more comfortable to traverse. Years ago, city planners proposed building an erodible, sandy concrete buttress at the base of the bluff, and rebuilding the bluff along with the dirt trail, but that failed to find favor with state regulators. So, theyve since been exploring designs for staircases that almost appear to float in front of the bluff on concrete pillars. Advertisement Last summer, commissioners voted 4-0 to reject staffs first staircase proposal, saying they wanted something that didnt look like a Las Vegas-style skywalk or a freeway onramp. In the months that followed, city employees hosted a series of community meetings and eventually settled on the redesign that commissioners reviewed Thursday before a crowd of some 60 people. In their 3-2 vote, with Chairman Glenn OGrady and Commissioner Jody Hubbard opposed, the commissioners took the unusual step of denying the latest proposal for a design review permit on the grounds that the project shouldnt have been before them at all that night. Its only been a few months since commissioners rejected the previous proposal and city planning regulations state that unless a projects backers are submitting a vastly different redesign, they must wait a full year before submitting a new plan, Commissioner Bruce Ehlers said as he put forward the denial idea. His proposal was immediately backed by Commissioner Al Apuzzo, who hadnt attended the July meeting when the previous proposal was rejected but said he had reviewed both that plan and this new one. It doesnt look that different to me, he said. Commissioner Kevin Doyle, who lives near Beacons Beach, said he liked the new version of the stairs far better than the old one, but agreed that it was essentially the same project as before -- a staircase -- thus a new design shouldnt have been submitted until July 2019. As it began to dawn on the many staircase opponents in the audience that the majority of the commissioners were likely to vote against the latest proposal, they erupted into applause. While Apuzzo and Ehlers said the new design didnt look that much different than the old one, the two commissioners who voted against denying the permit disagreed, as did city planner Roy Sapau, who said the new design called for using different materials and colors, and was less massive looking. I think its a big improvement, Hubbard said. Both Hubbard and OGrady said there were limits on how many different ways you could design a staircase, saying they didnt think it was fair to reject the latest proposal on the grounds that it was too similar to the previous one. OGrady said the City Council had tasked the commission with making a decision on a particular staircase project, not on deciding whether there ought to be a staircase at all. But Ehlers said that the Beacons trail is unique -- theres nothing else like it in the region -- and it ought to be given priority for preservation. These staircase plans include wording saying the dirt trail would be maintained, but the question ought to be whether a staircase really is a good idea, he said. The area may be prone to landslides, but a dirt trail would be relatively easy to rebuild after the earth moves, he said. A staircase, even if its on special concrete pillars, will likely sustain damage and be much more costly to repair, he said. While Doyle voted to reject the plans, he told the audience that he believed the staircase was inevitable, saying it may not be built now, but as coastal erosion continues it will be. Final election results posted Thursday by the Registrar of Voters show Paul Mac McNamara defeating two-time incumbent Escondido Mayor Sam Abed by 1,544 votes. MacNamara received 21,183 votes (51.89 percent of the total) to Abeds 19,639 votes (48.11 percent). The total number of votes cast, 40,882, far exceeds the number cast the other two times Abed ran for the citys highest position. In 2014, when Abed easily beat Councilwoman Olga Diaz and a third candidate, a total of 27,432 votes were cast for mayor. Thats 13,450 fewer than were cast last month. Four years earlier, when Abed beat Dick Daniels and two other challengers, 31,016 voters cast ballots. Advertisement Many have theorized that an increase in the Latino vote in the city played heavily into Abeds defeat. In the City Council District 1 race, incumbent Ed Gallo was trounced by challenger Consuelo Martinez, who received 65.18 percent of the vote: 3,692 for Martinez, 1,972 for Gallo. Four years ago, the first time elections were held by council district, Gallo beat Martinez by just 69 votes. This year, a total of 5,664 votes were cast in the District 1 race, 2,400 more than in 2014. District 1 is the geographic voting district created specifically to have a majority Latino demographic in order to settle a threatened California Voting Rights Act lawsuit. McNamara, Martinez and incumbent John Mason, who comfortably won re-election in his District 2 race by receiving just over 50 percent of the vote in a three-way contest, will be sworn in at the next council meeting on Wednesday, which will be held at the special time of 6 p.m. Abed and Gallo say they will attend the meeting and offer some closing thoughts before stepping down. McNamara and Martinez will join Councilwoman Olga Diaz in what appears to be a new Democratic majority on a council that has been controlled by conservative Republicans for close to 20 years. McNamara, 65, a retired Marine Corps colonel, considers himself to be a moderate Democrat. I feel grateful for the opportunity, McNamara said Thursday. I feel we can have a more inclusive culture in the city, that we can work together as a community. In another close Escondido election, Georgine M. Tomasi has defeated incumbent Zesty Harper in the Escondido Union School District Trustee Area 4 race. Tomasi, who was backed by the teachers union, beat Harper by 147 votes out of nearly 8,500 cast. jharry.jones@sduniontribune.com; 760/529-4931; Twitter: @jharryjones Crossroads of the West, which has held gun shows at the Del Mar Fairgrounds for nearly 30 years, will hold its last event there this weekend. Beginning in January, the shows will be suspended for up to one year while fairgrounds administrators work out a policy to ban the sales of firearms and ammunition on the state-owned property. The change comes after a string of horrific mass shootings across the nation, and in response to a small but persistent local groups efforts to find ways to reduce gun violence. This last Del Mar gun show is a first step to end the glorification, proliferation and sale of guns and ammunition into our neighborhoods, said Rose Ann Sharp, a Del Mar resident and founder of the group NeverAgainCA, by email Wednesday. Advertisement Supporters of the gun show say the efforts to end it are governed by fear and not logic, and have threatened legal action against the fair board. They say the events give like-minded people a place to gather safely, learn more and share their enthusiasm for firearms. Getting rid of gun shows is not going to change this country, said Tracy Olcott, Crossroads president and general manager. These are not the kind of people who perpetuate gun violence. The 22nd District Agricultural Association board of directors, which runs the state-owned fairgrounds, voted in September to suspend the shows beginning in January for up to one year, while a new policy is developed for hosting the events. Gun-related informational and educational activities, without firearms, could continue at the location under the proposed policy. Operators of the family-run firearms festival say that any ban on weapons effectively ends gun shows at the fairgrounds. They hope to find a new venue in San Diego County. We wont go away, Olcott said Tuesday. Were looking for another place in the Del Mar area. Olcott and other supporters of the show have said a firearms ban violates their Constitutional rights under the 1st and 2nd Amendments. We do have a lawsuit in motion, Olcott said Tuesday. Its going to be filed soon. Olcotts father, Bob Templeton, started the Crossroads company 42 years ago. It now holds more than 80 gun shows in four western states each year. Thousands of people attend each show in Del Mar. The events are hugely popular among firearms enthusiasts. Members of the political action group San Diego County Gun Owners have advocated loudly for continuing the shows. Michael Schwartz, president of the owners group, said in an email Wednesday that the suspension is harassment of law-abiding gun owners. The Agricultural Boards ban really has nothing to do with safety or crime prevention and everything to do with virtue signalling and bigotry, Schwartz said. We look forward to supporting Crossroads of the West once they settle on a new location. Opposition to the Del Mar shows has surfaced occasionally over the years, but grew strong with the formation of the locally based group NeverAgainCA after the mass shooting that killed 17 people at a Parkland, Fla., high school in February. At the urging of NeverAgainCA, city councils in Del Mar, Encinitas and Solana Beach approved resolutions calling for the fair board to end the gun shows at the fairgrounds. While each of the cities also called for the state and federal governments to do more to regulate firearms and prevent gun violence, its unclear how the cities might react should Crossroads try to move into their jurisdiction. Members of the group have raised a number of issues about the safety and legality of the shows. For one, Templeton, and his son, Jeff Templeton, have past felony convictions for federal firearms violations that prevent them from operating gun shows. Bob Templeton remains an owner of Crossroads and occasionally speaks publicly in support of the events. He has said repeatedly that the shows are legal because his daughter signs the contracts, holds the permits and manages the activities. The fair board sent a letter to the state Department of Justice in May requesting an investigation of Templeton. However, the department has not acknowledged any activity related to that request. Members of NeverAgainCA demonstrated outside each of the Del Mar shows beginning February. Sharp, the groups leader, said members now will turn their efforts to other communities with public facilities that host the events. We gave our community proof that they could take on the powerful gun manufacturers and NRA affiliates and prevail, Sharp said. We have inspired communities throughout the state to do the same. Five other California fairgrounds, including Ventura and Orange counties, also host gun shows on public property, Sharp said. The Orange County Fair Board delayed the renewal of its Crossroads shows over the summer to look into questions about the operators, then proceeded to hold the events as usual. Statistics related to guns in the United States can be difficult to find, and they vary according to the sources. One reason for that is the federal Firearm Owners Protection Act of 1968, which make it illegal for the federal or state governments to keep a database that ties specific guns to their owners. Estimates for gun ownership are based on other records such as sales, permits and even telephone surveys. The San Diego County Sheriffs Department has issued 1,957 current concealed weapons permits, for example. Yet each of those permits could be valid for as many as three firearms, and some permits are valid for two years, some for three or for four years, depending on the activities of the holder. Gun sales rise and fall over the years for a number of reasons, in part because of changing laws and the political climate. California has some of the strictest gun laws in the nation. The state requires background checks, a 10-day waiting period before taking possession of purchased firearms, and since 2015 has required all buyers to pay a $25 fee and pass a written test to obtain a Firearms Safety Certificate. Firearms sales records are kept by the Department of Justice Bureau of Firearms, which has a few general statistics on its website. Overall gun sales in the state climbed steadily during the eight years of Barack Obamas presidential administration, from 315,000 in 2008 to the all-time high of more than 1.3 million firearms in 2016. Then in 2017 total sales dropped to 880,000. Some people say firearms sales increase during a Democratic presidential administration because of a widespread belief that Democrats will restrict gun rights and make firearms more difficult to obtain. Sales information tends to support that theory. New firearms legislation also affects sales, usually in a negative way. California passed a law effective in 2000 limiting handgun purchases to no more than one per individual every 30 days. After that, handgun sales declined from 245,000 in 1999 to 202,000 in 2000, state records show. Since then handgun sales in California slowly increased to surpass 300,000 for the first time in 2012 and reached 573,000 in 2016. philip.diehl@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @phildiehl An ambitious plan by a local church to renovate the long-abandoned Ritz movie theater on Grand Avenue in downtown was unanimously and enthusiastically approved Tuesday by the Escondido City Council. The Grand project will convert the 80-year-old theater, which has been vacant for 15 years, into a dual-purpose church sanctuary and a theater that will be made available to the public. An adjacent single-story building at the southeast intersection of Grand and Juniper Street that is now home to the Arthur Murray Dance Studio and several smaller businesses will be razed. It will be replaced with a two-story structure to house church offices and meeting rooms geared toward childrens activities, as well as a coffee house and other businesses. New Vintage Church Pastor Tim Spivey said he expects construction to begin in February or March. He said the theater should be finished in time for Christmas Eve services next year, but the adjacent building likely wont be complete until early 2020. Advertisement The project has an estimated price tag of $7 million to $8 million. Each member of the council praised the development and Mayor Sam Abed and Councilman Ed Gallo, who will be replaced on the council next week after having lost their re-election bids, commented on how wonderful it was that the last project they voted on was universally supported. Following the vote, Spivey said he was thrilled for the church and the city. Some of the funding for the project will come from the sale of the churchs current building at the corner of 13th and Juniper streets. Spivey said it is likely the current church will be sold before the new one is complete, but that arrangements to hold services elsewhere will be made. The council noted how they had received many emails supporting the renovation plans and not a single one in opposition. The comments, the support that we received, every single one was polite, concise, positive. Its like the perfect storm of support for a project, Councilman Mike Morasco said. Spivey told the council the church has worked with the entire community on the plans, not just with church members. We feel this is our opportunity to do something really special for the city, he said. We understand the importance of that corner and hope that five or 10 years from now, as people are walking up and down Grand Avenue, they look back and say this is the best thing that ever happened to Grand Avenue. The council chambers were crowded with church members, as well as members of the arts and business community. Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Officer Rorie Johnston was effusive with her praise and said she was glad that Abed and Gallo could end their service on a high note. You have an opportunity to make one more legendary approval for a project thats going to bring a magnificent change to downtown, she said. Spivey has said the church imagines showing vintage movies at the theater at low cost and selling popcorn for perhaps 25 cents a bag. He said theater groups will use the full stage that will be built in front of the huge screen. The Ritz Theater opened in 1938 with seating for nearly 900. The remodel will likely call for nearly 600 seats.The theater was popular until 1951, according to the website cinematreasures.org, when a fire gutted the interior. It reopened in 1954, but never again did as much business. In 1970, it became an X-rated movie house called the Pussycat Theater that the city was able to shut down after a few years. The theater went through a couple other rebrandings and remodels, but eventually closed for good in 2003. I know were all going to be praying with you that this is a success, Gallo told Spivey and others in the audience. Im just happy, I mean Im not happy this is my last council meeting, but this is the last meeting that I have a vote on something and this is just awesome, he said. Its a great way to go out. The meeting, Spivey said, was almost fun. Laughter filled the chamber on several occasions. Abed had a message for incoming mayor Paul McNamara and councilwoman Consuelo Martinez, who he guessed were watching the meeting on television. Dont expect that every council meeting will be like this tonight, he said. Im just want to warn you. This is really a great meeting for me to cap my 14 years of service to the city. In my 14 years, we have never had such support for a project...This is more than a business approval for us. It brings the community together under the banner of faith and under the community gathering as well. The vote to approve a conditional-use permit, development plans and a demolition plan was 4-0, with Councilman John Mason recusing himself due to a conflict of interest. jharry.jones@sduniontribune.com; 760/529-4931; Twitter: @jharryjones Just two days after being named host of the Academy Awards, Kevin Hart has stepped down following an outcry over past homophobic tweets by the comedian. Capping a swift fallout, Hart wrote on Twitter just after midnight Friday that he was withdrawing as Oscars host because he didnt want to be a distraction. I sincerely apologize to the LGBTQ community for my insensitive words from my past, wrote Hart. Hart stepped aside just about an hour after refusing to apologize for tweets that resurfaced after he was announced as Oscars host on Tuesday. In a video on Instagram, Hart said the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences gave him an ultimatum: apologize or were going to have to move on and find another host. I chose to pass on the apology, Hart said. The reason why I passed is because Ive addressed this several times. Advertisement The film academy didnt respond to messages Thursday evening. Hart has since deleted some of the anti-gay tweets, mostly dated from 2009-2011. But they had already been screen-captured and been shared online. In 2011, he wrote in a since-deleted tweet: Yo if my son comes home & trys 2 play with my daughters doll house Im going 2 break it over his head & say n my voice stop thats gay. In an earlier post Thursday, Hart wrote on Instagram that critics should stop being negative about his earlier anti-gay remarks. Im almost 40 years old. If you dont believe that people change, grow, evolve? I dont know what to tell you, said Hart, who added, in all-caps: I love everybody. Harts attitudes about homosexuality were also a well-known part of his stand-up act. In the 2010 special Seriously Funny, he said one of my biggest fears is my son growing up and being gay. Keep in mind, Im not homophobic, I have nothing against gay people, do what you want to do, but me, being a heterosexual male, if I can prevent my son from being gay, I will, Hart said. GLAAD, the advocacy group for LGBTQ rights, had said Thursday that it reached out to Oscars broadcaster ABC, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences and Harts management to discuss Kevins anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and record. Actress Jamie Lee Curtis wrote: Homophobia is not positivity. Comedian and actor Billy Eichner said a simple, authentic apology showing any bit of understanding or remorse would have been so simple. Its not the first time an Oscars host has been potentially derailed by anti-gay remarks. Ahead of the 2012 Academy Awards, producer Brett Ratner, who had been paired with host Eddie Murphy, resigned days after using a gay slur at a film screening. Murphy soon after exited, as well. Don Griffin is in Hawaii today, in the place where his father died. For 20 years now, Griffin has made the trip from San Diego for ceremonies marking the anniversary of the Dec. 7, 1941, surprise aerial attack by the Japanese that pushed the United States into World War II. His father, a pilot at Kaneohe Bay, may have been the first U.S. service member killed that day, shot down by strafing Zeros as he tried to get his seaplane into the air. I go back every year out of respect, his son said. Advertisement Pearl Harbor remains one of Americas turning points, a shocking military catastrophe that galvanized and united a fractious nation coming out of the Great Depression and transformed it through four years of war in Europe and the Pacific into a global superpower. But the passage of time, 77 years now, has also weakened direct ties to the event, and that is altering how it is remembered, and whether it will be remembered at all. There were 50,000 service members on Oahu back then, and the number still alive dwindles by the hour, down to fewer than 2,000 by some estimates. Increasingly, it falls to people like Griffin to keep the flame of history flickering. With every year that goes by, fewer and fewer people know about Pearl Harbor and what it meant, he said. I think to a lot of people, Dec. 7 is just another shopping day. Griffin was a 14-month-old toddler when the attack happened, living at the Kaneohe naval air station with his father, mother and 7-year-old sister. When the enemy planes arrived, his mother put him in a root cellar. A bomb exploded nearby, leaving him with a concussion and damage to one eye. Because he was so young, he remembers none of that, but he grew up hearing stories about his father. When he turned 17, he joined the Navy, too, and spent 20 years in the service. Now retired after another two decades of work with San Diego Gas & Electric, Griffin has made sure his family members wife Donelle, five children, 12 grandchildren, one great-grandchild are well-versed in Pearl Harbor lore. Seven years ago, at the 70th anniversary of the attack, 21 members of the family went to Kaneohe Bay. One of Griffins sons, Dave, gave a speech about his grandfather, the seaplane pilot killed in the early minutes of the Japanese assault. The family had T-shirts made for the trip that had a picture of the fallen hero and these words: He gave his today, for our tomorrow. Start the engines! Daniel T. Griffin wasnt supposed to be on duty that day. But a squadron mate whose turn it was came back to the barracks too drunk to stand watch on one of the PBY-5 ready planes moored in the bay, fueled-up and ready to go at a moments notice. Griffin knew the other guy would get in trouble showing up for work intoxicated. So he took his place. At age 30, with a wife and two kids, Griffin was looked up to as the elder statesman of the group. The Colorado Springs resident first enlisted in 1930, did his training in San Diego, and served aboard the battleships California and Tennessee before transferring to the Saratoga, a carrier, where he got bit by the aviation bug. He went to flight school and became a pilot of PBYs, the seaplanes that were in many ways the eyes and ears of the Pacific Fleet, able to travel more than 2,000 miles on reconnaissance missions. Their effectiveness made them important targets on Dec. 7, 1941. The Japanese didnt want their planes being followed back to the carriers that had launched them, so before they devastated Battleship Row at Pearl Harbor, they hit the nearby airfields, including Kaneohe Bay, where about three-dozen PBYs were stationed. The Zeros arrived first, at about 7:50 a.m. Griffin was on the beach when he saw them, according to eyewitness accounts later relayed to the family. He called out to crew members, Start the engines! and then swam to his plane and climbed into the pilots seat. He was just getting airborne when Japanese bullets hit the plane. It caught fire and crashed into the sea. Burned on his face and right hand, Griffin managed to get out of the PBY and was swimming toward land when another burst of machine gun fire killed him. Five days later, his body washed up on shore. He was buried first in Hawaii, and then, in October 1947, back home at a cemetery in Colorado Springs, next to his mother. His actions that day escaped public notice, but not for long. Adm. Chester Nimitz signed a citation in August 1942 lauding Griffin for prompt and efficient action and utter disregard of personal danger in trying to repel the Japanese attack. Pearl Harbor Remembered Around the same time, the Navy named a destroyer escort after him. His widow, Lucille, was there for the launch on Feb. 25, 1943 at the Bethehem shipyard in Massachusetts. The 306-foot-long Daniel T. Griffin had a crew of about 180. It saw action at Okinawa and Saipan, survived several kamikaze attacks, and was preparing for a role in the invasion of Japan when the war ended in August of 1945. A year later, it was put on reserve status, and in 1966 it was decommissioned and transferred to the Chilean navy. At the decommissioning ceremony, held in Great Lakes, Ill., Griffins survivors were the guests of honor. His son was there in his Navy uniform, a 26-year-old mechanic who sometimes flew as a back-seater in jet fighters. Aviation, Don Griffin said, was in my blood. A legacy preserved Going back to Kaneohe Bay for the annual Pearl Harbor remembrances put Griffin in touch with retired sailors who had served with his father. They added depth to the silhouette of a man hed come to know mostly through that single act of combat bravery. He learned, for example, that his parents used to have the younger service members over to their house on the base for dinner. One of them remembered bouncing him on a knee weeks before the Japanese attack. He heard stories about how soft-spoken and thin his father was 15 pounds under the minimum weight during an annual physical in August of 1941. A month later, he had gained five pounds and was cleared for a promotion. He re-enlisted in October 1941. The more Don Griffin learned, the more he wanted to preserve his fathers legacy. He contacted the Chilean navy to find out if he could visit the ship that had carried his dads name. The answer was no it had been used for target practice in the mid-1990s and sunk at sea. He paid $889 to replace the bronze memorial plaque on his fathers grave in Colorado Springs with an upright marble monument, similar to those used at national cemeteries. And after marine archaeologists found coral-encrusted wreckage of a PBY about 30 feet down at the bottom of Kaneohe Bay, he got another idea. He would take the bronze plaque that had been replaced at the cemetery in Colorado and have it cemented into a concrete monument. Then the monument would be placed on the sea floor next to the wreckage. Although it hasnt been determined if the plane is the one his father tried to fly during the Japanese attack, various officials have helped Griffin pursue the idea. Weve been working on it for years, he said. But the area is a national historic site with restrictions on what can be done there. Hes been told its unlikely to happen. Ive thought about just sneaking in and his voice trailed off. He was joking. Sort of. My father, he said, has always been my hero. john.wilkens@sduniontribune.com Assemblyman Todd Gloria faced an immediate challenge when he took to Twitter the other day to say the states top three problems were Housing, Housing, Housing. Andy Kopp, board president of Bike SD, chided the San Diego Democrat, in a friendly way, for not including alternative transportation that he said, along with housing, is needed to address climate change. Gloria didnt relent, exactly. Housing, transportation, climate change, equity Theyre all connected! Gloria replied. The California Legislature had barely kicked off its two-year session Monday when dozens of legislators, including Gloria, introduced a flood of bills aimed at pulling the state out of its housing crisis. Not long before the new session launched, Gloria held a hearing in San Diego to discuss housing problems. Advertisement The cost of housing is out of reach for many Californians, and demand far outstrips supply. Thats the case from big cities like San Diego to rural towns even more so now in areas where wildfires wiped out much of the housing stock. By one estimate, 25 percent of the bills introduced on Monday were related to housing, suggesting there may be no greater priority in the coming legislative session. Some housing advocates gushed on social media, but their enthusiasm was tempered by recent history. Some, though not all, high-profile legislation to address the crisis failed last year. Things could be different this time around. For one thing, the housing problem has become worse and attention on homelessness has grown. Democrats also have complete control in Sacramento. The governor and more than two-thirds of both the Assembly and state Senate are Democrats. Those two-thirds majorities allow Democratic legislators to pass just about anything, including tax increases, without any Republican support. They only have to agree. Thats not easy, even with one-party rule. The marquee housing bill last year would have pushed local governments to create more density around transit centers. It failed in committee. The measure ran into opposition from interests typically aligned with Democrats, including some unions, advocates for the poor and environmentalists, along with local government groups. State Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, has introduced a new version of his bill, and made changes backers hope will address the previous issues. Among other things, SB 50 seeks to allay concerns about new development replacing existing affordable dwellings occupied by low-income renters. Some past opponents are taking a new look and others are now supportive. Expectations are high in Sacramento that a sea change in the states housing predicament may be in the offing, but success is not guaranteed. It is a bipartisan issue, and I know its at or near the top of Governor-elect Newsoms to-do list, said state Senate Pro Tempore Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, who has long made affordable housing one of her priorities. . . . We must do more, and everyone the state, local governments, community leaders, and anyone with an interest in where and how housing is built is going to have to come to the table. Wieners revived measure again has attracted a great deal of media attention. Another notable bill by Gloria and several others would bring back a form of redevelopment that would target a substantial percentage of the funds generated for housing. In the past, redevelopment agencies kept some property taxes that would otherwise have gone to other public agencies for urban renewal projects, including housing. But Gov. Jerry Brown shut them down in 2011 because he needed the money to help fill a budget shortfall. He also criticized some local redevelopment agencies for misusing funds. But thats just scratching the surface of the pending housing legislation.The breadth of the bills left some housing advocates slack-jawed. Heres just a smattering of the proposals: Appropriate $2 billion annually for housing-related redevelopment Drop the vote threshold for sales and use taxes and bonds going to affordable housing from two-thirds to 55 percent Make it easier to build granny flats or accessory units in backyards Increase the Low Income Housing Tax Credit by $500 million Create a statewide definition of homelessness Establish shelter as a human right Many of the housing bills, including the ones above, were listed in a lengthy Twitter thread by Louis Mirante, board member of Sacramento YIMBY. The growing Yes In My Backyard movement has chapters across the state, including in San Diego, to counter the long-held power of reflexive NIMBYism (Not In My Backyard). This is literally the YIMBY-est year in the Legislature. Ho boy, Mirante tweeted Monday as he launched his string about the bills. While acknowledging he might have missed some, Mirante counted 33 housing-related pieces of legislation out of 130 bills introduced, or about 25 percent. Atkins said more are expected next year. There has been and will continue to be a debate over whats the best way to make a real impact on the housing shortage. It often boils down to subsidies vs. easing restrictions. The increasingly popular idea of using incentives and pressure on local government to build more housing can fall somewhere in between, depending on the approach. For years there has been talk about the need to revise the California Environmental Quality Act, which critics say has blunted prospects to build housing in a timely fashion, adding costs along the way. Even Brown wanted changes in CEQA, but couldnt get it done. Messing with CEQA has become a third rail in California politics, but reasonable people believe the process it created can be streamlined while still providing needed environmental protections.That discussion also likely will be revived. Neighborhood resistance to denser housing is often fierce. While some housing advocates use the term NIMBY as a pejorative, legitimate concerns about traffic congestion, loss of existing affordable housing, effects of urban sprawl and wildfire threats cant be easily dismissed. On the other hand, people are going to have to get used to more neighbors if California is going to get anywhere on housing. During his campaign, Newsom set a goal of 3.5 million new housing units by 2025. Thats a tall order, even for the Legislatures housing-palooza. For the second time in seven years, Rebecca Zahaus 2011 death by hanging at her boyfriends Coronado mansion has been ruled a suicide. Sheriff Bill Gore on Friday announced the results of a fresh review of the case, saying a new set of investigators concluded there was no evidence of homicide, but acknowledged that Zahaus family and many in the public will remain skeptical. Its an unusual case, Gore said at an afternoon news conference. It lends itself to conspiracy theories. Gore said an 8-month review that ended on Nov. 30 concluded there is no evidence that Rebecca Zahau died at the hands of another. Advertisement We looked at the existing evidence in the case with fresh eyes, with a fresh perspective from scratch , said sheriffs homicide Lt. Rich Williams, adding that the review team looked at questions and theories raised in a civil trial this year that focused on Zahaus death. In fact we found that there was no new evidence offered or presented at that civil trial that would help us, Williams said. He said the department is confident that the initial investigation in 2011 was handled properly. All of the evidence points to one logical conclusion and thats a suicide, Williams said. Rebecca Zahau. (Courtesy Greer and Associates) (Courtesy Greer and Associates / TNS) The attorney who filed the civil wrongful death lawsuit, C. Keith Greer, reacted after the news conference, saying the sheriffs review was incompetent and that Gores team gave the same stupid answers that a (civil) jury summarily rejected. The lurid nature of Zahaus death quickly grabbed national headlines and became the topic of TV news-feature shows and endless commentaries. Zahaus body was hanging, nude, from a second-floor balcony at the mansion the morning of July 11, 2011. Her hands were tied behind her back with a length of nautical rope, her feet were bound and a T-shirt was stuffed into her mouth. An odd message, She saved him can you save her, was scrawled in black paint on the door of the bedroom where the hanging rope was secured to a metal bed. Zahaus family and attorney expressed outrage at the finding of suicide and asserted that she had been the victim of a homicide. They criticized the investigation, claiming evidence was overlooked or not tested. Zahaus boyfriend, Arizona pharmaceuticals company executive and millionaire Jonah Shacknai, asked the state Attorney Generals Office to open its own investigation, but was turned down. He owned the mansion where she died. His 6-year-old son, Max, suffered a mortal injury from a fall inside the residence on July 11, two days before Zahaus death. The boy died on July 16. Authorities theorized that Zahau was distraught over Maxs condition because she was the only adult at home when he fell over a second-floor stairway railing. Gore said on Friday that notes found on her cellphone revealed fears for her relationship with Jonah Shacknai and his teenage children, whom she called spoiled, and that no amount of money is worth what Im going through. Gore also said he asked the FBI to work up a psychological profile on Zahau, for her potential for suicide, but the agency said it was not given enough of her personal writings to complete such a profile. When the Sheriffs Department decided in its initial investigation to not file criminal charges against anyone, Zahaus mother, Pari Zahau, and sister, Mary Zahau-Loehner, filed a civil wrongful death lawsuit against Shacknais brother, Adam Shacknai, a Tennessee tugboat captain. He was the only other person at the mansion at the time of Zahaus death and called 911 to say hed found her hanging from the balcony. Adam Shacknai sits in court during the civil trial stemming from Rebecca Zahaus 2011 death in Coronado. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) In a trial that opened in March and lasted more than a month, Greer raised the theory that Shacknai sexually assaulted Zahau then strangled her before throwing her over the balcony with a rope around her neck. The jury voted 9 to 3 in favor of finding Shacknai liable for Zahaus death and that he had battered her with intent to harm her. Civil trials require only nine votes for a jury to reach a verdict based on a preponderance of the evidence, while in criminal trials the jury must reach a unanimous verdict beyond a reasonable doubt. The jury awarded Zahaus family $5 million in damages. Shacknai returned home and resumed his career piloting a tugboat on the Mississippi River. Greer said the lawsuit was never about the money. It was about getting (Shacknai) behind bars by getting investigators to file criminal charges against him. The Zahau lawyer asked the Sheriffs Department to re-open its investigation given the results of the familys lawsuit. When the sheriff on April 16 ordered a fresh review of the case, Greer turned over trial transcripts and evidence to be examined by Gores in-house experts. On Friday, Adam Shacknai called the civil verdict against him a gross injustice and said he was gratified that the Sheriffs Department continued to follow the evidence. In an emailed statement, Shacknai added, Today, the Sheriffs department, once again confirmed that there is no evidence to support an outcome that I had anything to do with causing Rebecca Zahaus death. He said his attorneys filed a motion earlier this week asking the judge to reverse the jurys verdict, saying no evidence was submitted at trial that could possibly support the jurys verdict. If theres any justice, the court will grant my motion and not let the jurys outrageous and totally unsupported verdict stand. Greer said he will be responding to the defendants motion for a reversal of the jury verdict and a separate motion for new trial. He expects a ruling on those motions in January. During the trial, in and out of court, Greer pointed to several pieces of evidence, witness statements and expert testimony aimed at challenging the official suicide finding. In particular, he noted Zahaus menstrual blood found on the handle of a knife that lay in the mansion bedroom above her body. Greer suggested that proved the knife had been inserted into her body in a sexual assault. The Medical Examiners Office found no evidence of sexual assault. At the news conference, Gores homicide lieutenant, Williams said the blood could have made its way to the knife by some means other than insertion. He did not elaborate. Gore also said he resented theories that Shacknai wasnt prosecuted because of his brothers wealth. I never took any money from Jonah Shacknai in my re-election campaign, the sheriff said. Williams addressed many of the plaintiffs other points, saying: No useful DNA was found on a latex glove found in a crawl space under the guest house or gardening gloves found on a coffee table, potentially used and discarded by a killer. A neighbor who reported a late-night cry for help told investigators it came from a teenager in front of her house but later testified the sound came from the Shacknai home. Girls underpants found in a guest house waste basket were discarded by Jonah Shacknais daughter a few days before Maxs fatal fall, and Shacknais DNA was not present on them. The lack of DNA on knobs to doors leading to the mansion balcony and the bedroom did not prove the knobs were wiped clean, but could mean the doors were standing open and not touched. Wounds on Zahaus head were minor and likely caused during her fall, not from blunt-force trauma as one defense expert had testified. Only Zahaus DNA was found on one of two knives in the bedroom while the second knife had insufficient DNA to test. A sheriffs investigator demonstrated, on a video, how she could replicate the knots of the rope found around Zahaus hands, slip one hand out, hold both hands behind her back, slip her loose hand back into the knot and tighten it. Gore summarized his teams review saying, We tried to leave no stone unturned. I know there is a lot of uneasiness about this. A lot of conspiracy theories have come up in the last seven years. pauline.repard@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @pdrepard Anthony struggled with the wrapping a bit, but as he tore open the colorful paper, the look on his face showed it was worth it. Inside was a collection of characters from the Pixar movie, Cars. Other children in the room at Father Joes Villages clapped and said Wow, as they did for just about every present opened Thursday morning. I want it to go faster, the 4-year-old said a few moments later as he raced one of the cars on the carpet. 1 / 9 Three-year-old Skylynn Durbin, left, plays Peekaboo with Carmen Thulin, aka, Mrs. Claus, as three-year-old Jyrese Ware, center, looks on, during the annual childrens Christmas party in the Therapeutic Childcare program at Father Joes Villages. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 2 / 9 Santas helpers, Darryl Cregar, left, Diane Ritchie, center, and Patty Uresti, right, organize the gifts before the annual childrens Christmas party in the Therapeutic Childcare program at Father Joes Villages began. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 3 / 9 Santa Claus, aka, Christian Perez, and Mrs. Claus, aka, Carmen Thulin, wait for the annual childrens Christmas party in the Therapeutic Childcare program at Father Joes Villages to begin. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 4 / 9 Four-year-old Keaton Andersen is all smiles after receiving a Batcave play set from Santa Claus, aka, Christian Perez and Mrs. Claus, aka, Carmen Thulin, during the annual childrens Christmas party in the Therapeutic Childcare program at Father Joes Villages. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 5 / 9 Three-year-old Skylynn Durbin opens her present, a ballerina princess, during the annual childrens Christmas party in the Therapeutic Childcare program at Father Joes Villages. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 6 / 9 Three-year-old Delilah Smith is all smiles after receiving her gift, dolls, as Santa Claus, aka, Christian Perez, and Mrs. Claus, aka, Carmen Thulin, look on, during the annual childrens Christmas party in the Therapeutic Childcare program at Father Joes Villages. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 7 / 9 Four-year-old Anthony Espinoza opens his present, toy cars from the Disney movie, Cars, as Santa Claus, aka, Christian Perez, and Mrs. Claus, aka, Carmen Thulin, look on, during the annual childrens Christmas party in the Therapeutic Childcare program at Father Joes Villages. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 8 / 9 Three-year-old Skylynn Durbin sits in Carmen Thulin, aka, Mrs. Claus lap while opening her present, a ballerina princess, during the annual childrens Christmas party in the Therapeutic Childcare program at Father Joes Villages. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 9 / 9 Santa Claus, aka, Christian Perez, and Mrs. Claus, aka, Carmen Thulin, wait for the annual childrens Christmas party in the Therapeutic Childcare program at Father Joes Villages to begin. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) Advertisement Deacon Jim Vargas, president and CEO of Father Joes Villages, said the annual Christmas event is a way of normalizing a non-normal life for children in the downtown San Diego homeless shelter. We remember our own upringing, and were trying to develop memories for them so in the future they can have fond memories of their time here, he said. About 200 children ranging from infants to 5-year-olds from the nonprofits Therapeutic Childcare Center sat on Santas lap and opened presents that had been bought with donated funds. Later that day, 30 school-aged children at the shelter hopped on an Old Town Trolley to tour holiday lights before returning to Father Joes for a party with pizza and pinatas. The holiday events are festive, but also a reminder that San Diegos homeless population includes families with young children. Vargas said about 1,000 children are served at the shelter each year, and 300 families are there on any given night. Besides its brick-and-mortar facility, Father Joes also operates a large tented shelter in downtown San Diego with 150 beds, including 50 for single women and 100 for families. Of the family beds, about two-thirds are used by children, Vargas said. Juana Cortez, who is staying at the shelter with her four children, said she appreciated the presents Thursday morning. Its thoughtful of them to do this for our kids, she said. Were lucky to have this help for us. A mother of five who had arrived at the shelter just three days earlier also said she was thankful. A domestic violence survivor, she asked to withhold her name for safety reasons. We always had great Christmases, and now that were here, we can still have a good Christmas, she said. Pedram and Mina Yari and their 15-month-old daughter Melina also got to meet Mr. and Mrs. Claus on Thursday. Father Joes has given us an opportunity as a famiily to stay together, and they help families get back on their feet, Pedram Yari said. Yari works in construction and became homeless two years ago because he isnt making enough for a rent. He said he is going to school to become an electrician and hopes he soon will be able to support his family. The couple was especially happy that Melina received a toy piano from Santa because she already has displayed some musical talent. Shes a good kid and when she listens to music she claps along, he said, adding that he believes his daughter will do something in music one day. Besides the presents distributed Thursday, more presents are coming to children at the shelter from the Father Joes Villages Ladies Guild. Vargas said members will take about 300 parents on a shopping spree at a Wal-Mart that will open early for them on Tuesday and Wednesday. Each parent will have $75 from the guild to spend on presents. Vargas said the guild was formed 35 years ago to help families at the shelter. Homeless Playlist On Now San Diego hepatitis outbreak continues to grow: 481 cases On Now Homeless entrenched in booming tent city along Santa Ana River On Now San Diego mayor agreed to homeless hub, then delayed, advocates say On Now Homeless outreach in San Diego On Now Video: Street Art: Portraits of San Diego's Homeless #8 On Now In poverty himself, 'Water Man Dave,' is the fearless saint of San Diego's homeless 5:41 On Now Video: Homeless living in cars find safe havens 2:21 On Now Street Art: Portraits of San Diego's Homeless #7 On Now Pitching a tent plan for San Diego's homeless On Now Homeless efforts get $80M boost for various services gary.warth@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @GaryWarthUT 760-529-4939 Kevin Hart has stepped down as host of the 2019 Oscars. After he claimed he was pressured by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to apologize for past homophobic comments, the comedian announced on Thursday night his decision to step away from hosting this years ceremony. I have made the choice to step down from hosting this years Oscars, said Hart on Twitter. This is because I do not want to be a distraction on a night that should be celebrated by so many amazing talented artists. I sincerely apologize to the LGBTQ community for my insensitive words from my past. I have made the choice to step down from hosting this year's Oscar's....this is because I do not want to be a distraction on a night that should be celebrated by so many amazing talented artists. I sincerely apologize to the LGBTQ community for my insensitive words from my past. Kevin Hart (@KevinHart4real) December 7, 2018 Advertisement I'm sorry that I hurt people.. I am evolving and want to continue to do so. My goal is to bring people together not tear us apart. Much love & appreciation to the Academy. I hope we can meet again. Kevin Hart (@KevinHart4real) December 7, 2018 Hart had previously revealed on Instagram that the Academy was demanding he apologize for tweets that had resurfaced after it was announced earlier this week that he would host the ceremony. Critics pointed out that the comedian had a history of making homophobic remarks (which he reportedly started deleting after the Oscars announcement). I just got a call from the Academy and that call basically said, Kevin, apologize for your tweets of old or were going to have to move on and find another host, Hart said in a video posted on Instagram. I chose to pass. I passed on the apology. In that same post, Hart insisted that he had already addressed this several times and that he had moved on. He added that he was refusing to bow to any internet trolls. I know who I am & so do the people closest to me. #LiveLoveLaugh https://t.co/HlvWFMkdST Kevin Hart (@KevinHart4real) December 7, 2018 Im not going to do it, man. Im going to be me. Im going to stand my ground, said Hart. Regardless, Academy, Im thankful and appreciative of the opportunity. If it goes away, no harm, no foul. Hart had urged people to stop searching for reasons to be angry in an even earlier post on Thursday. Our world is becoming beyond crazy. Im not going to let the craziness frustrate me or anger me especially when I worked hard to get to the mental space that Im at now, Hart said in the earlier Instagram video. Im almost 40 years old. If you dont believe that people change, grow, evolve as they get older, I dont know what to tell you. He added in the caption: If you want to search my history or past and anger yourselves with what you find that is fine with me. Stop looking for reasons to be negative...Stop searching for reasons to be angry....I swear I wish you guys could see/feel/understand the mental place that I am in. I am truly happy https://t.co/FEmiHWwwql Kevin Hart (@KevinHart4real) December 6, 2018 In addition to the comments made on Twitter, Hart was getting backlash for a joke featured in a 2010 stand-up comedy special. One of my biggest fears is my son growing up and being gay, Hart said in the special. Im not homophobic, I have nothing against gay people But me, being a heterosexual male, if I can prevent my son from being gay, I will. When asked about the segment by Rolling Stone in 2015, Hart explained that the joke was supposed to be about his worries as a dad. He admitted it was not a joke he would make anymore, but not necessarily because he considered the joke or his attitude problematic. I wouldnt tell that joke today, because when I said it, the times werent as sensitive as they are now, said Hart. More recently, GLAAD specifically called out Hart by name in its 2016 studio responsibility index, which examined LGBTQ representation in films released by the major studios the year prior. This year, there was a noticeable resurgence of outright offensive depictions of LGBT people, which relied on gay panic and defamatory stereotypes for cheap laughs, said the LGBTQ media advocacy group in its study. Among the worst were the Kevin Hart-starring films Get Hard and The Wedding Ringer, which contain more blatant and incessant gay panic humor than we have seen in a Hollywood film in years. In one of his Thursday statements, Hart emphasized how people live and learn and grow and mature over the years rather than directly address any of his past comments. Im in a great place, said Hart. A great mature place where all I do is spread positivity. tracy.brown@latimes.com Twitter: @tracycbrown The lines for asylum seekers waiting to enter the U.S. at California ports of entry are the longest of any along the southwest border, according to a forthcoming report. The new report, a partnership between the University of Texas at Austin Robert Strauss Center, the University of California San Diego Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies and the Migration Policy Center, found disparate and often unclear methods for getting added to a wait list depending on where an asylum seeker is hoping to cross the border. U.S. authorities have tried to push asylum seekers to ports of entry, said Savitri Arvey, a graduate student and researcher at Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies at UC San Diego. When asylum seekers show up to ports of entry to request asylum, the process is not that simple. Customs and Border Protection officials say that the number of people they can take each day to begin the asylum process depends on how much space they have available in their holding cells. Advertisement Lawyers and advocates, on the other hand, have questioned the legality as well as the ethics of telling those who are ostensibly fleeing for their lives to wait in a country where they might still be in danger. U.S. officials practice of metering or limiting the number of people seeking protection let in each day started in California before extending along the entire border. Such policies have led to wait lists, operated in some cities by Mexican officials and in others by non-government organizations. In Tijuana, migrants themselves manage the list in a notebook provided by Mexican officials to determine who will cross next to ask the U.S. for help. The metering policy that has led to long lines is believed to cause more asylum seekers to try to cross into the U.S. illegally, according to a government watchdog report. CBP countered that in order to balance resources among its responsibilities including detecting drug smugglers and facilitating international trade the agency has to limit how many asylum seekers come in its doors at a time. 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, an agency official said. No one is being denied the opportunity to make a claim of credible fear or seek asylum. To Arvey, the solution lies in where the federal government puts its resources. She said the administration should invest in more personnel who can process asylum seekers rather than deploying troops to the border. While close to 300 asylum seekers have signed up to hold their place in line to cross from Matamoros into Brownsville, Texas, more than 2,000 people were in line in Tijuana shortly before the recent migrant caravan arrived. The number waiting to ask for help in San Diego grew to more than 5,100 since the group came in November. Another approximately 350 people are waiting in Mexicali to be processed in Calexico. Though the San Ysidro port of entry with an estimated capacity of 300 according to CBP has by far the most room to process asylum seekers of any of the ports of entry analyzed in the report, and generally takes in more people per day than the other ports, it also has the longest wait times. Arvey and her fellow researchers found that, depending on the day, CBP officials at San Ysidros PedWest, where the asylum line forms, take in between 20 and 80 people per day. In El Paso, officers take between 40 and 60. Elsewhere along the border, the number accepted daily is in the single digits except in Nogales and Calexico, where CBP can take up to 20. With the addition of caravan members, researchers estimated that it would take about three months for those currently at the back of the line in Tijuana to make it to the front. Shortly before the caravan arrived, the wait was about six weeks. Asylum seekers in Matamoros generally wait between two and eight weeks, and those in Mexicali can expect to wait up to a month, the report said. Elsewhere along the border, people wait about two weeks. What worried Arvey most about the situation in Tijuana was the size of the wait list compared to the number of shelter beds available. With more than a dozen migrant shelters, the city has about 700 beds, not including the temporary shelters erected for the caravan. Those shelters also house newly arrived deportees. You really see the strain on the shelters, Arvey said, noting that many families end up begging to try to scrape together enough money for a cheap hotel room near the border. In cities with shorter waits, theres often a reason, like higher risk of being targeted by gangs as a migrant, Arvey said. Asylum seekers wont have an easy time making their request for help, no matter which option they choose, she said. The first signs of metering appeared in June 2016 when officers were in place at PedWest to prevent those without travel documents from stepping from Tijuana into the part of the port that was on U.S. soil. That summer, Mexican immigration officials in Tijuana implemented an appointment system to control how many from a large group of Haitians went for processing each day. The line of Haitians eventually disappeared, but metering created a backlog in Tijuana again in late 2017. By spring of 2018, migrants in Tijuana organized their names into a notebook to determine who was next in line. In the summer, reports surfaced of officials standing at the halfway point on bridges elsewhere along the border to similarly control how many asylum seekers came in each day. In some places, Mexican immigration officials maintain the wait list. In Piedras Negras, the mayors office ran the list for several months. NGOs have managed the lists in other cities, and in Ciudad Juarez, a migrant shelter keeps track of whose turn it is to go to the U.S. Meanwhile, Tijuanas system evolved from a single asylum seeker carrying the notebook around the plaza outside the port of entry to a group of migrants sitting under a blue canopy with caution tape showing newcomers where to queue. On Wednesday, among Mexican and Central American families waiting to hear if their numbers would be called, a boy from Turkey hurried to tell his mother and siblings that it was finally their turn. Immigration Videos On Now New developments in family separation case 9:53 On Now A San Diego woman volunteered as a medic in Texas helping migrant families 2:35 On Now Immigration policy protests in Carlsbad nearly cancelled after permit issue 1:38 On Now When children are separated from their parents at the border, here is where they go next On Now Prospects of a deal for 'Dreamers' may hinge on separating Trump from hard-liners on his staff On Now What is DACA? On Now Border wall prototype contractors selected On Now Video: Ukrainian boxer wins asylum in U.S. On Now 30 apprehended after Border Patrol agents discover tunnel On Now Video: Kurdish diaspora prepare to vote on independence Follow me on Facebook for live updates about immigration news kate.morrissey@sduniontribune.com, @bgirledukate on Twitter Retired U.S. Navy Cmdr. Don Long was alone on an anchored military seaplane in the middle of a bay across the island from Pearl Harbor when Japanese warplanes started striking Hawaii on Dec. 7, 1941, watching from afar as the bombs and bullets killed and wounded thousands. The waves of attacking planes reached his military installation on Kaneohe Bay soon after Pearl Harbor was struck, and the young sailor saw buildings and planes explode all around him. When the gunfire finally reached him, setting the aircraft ablaze, he jumped into the water and found himself swimming through fire to safety. Now 97, Long will mark the 77th anniversary of the attack from his home in Napa, Calif. Advertisement How things changed Long was fresh out of boot camp when he arrived in Hawaii in 1941. I got off that ship with my sea bag over my shoulder and we threw it on a truck, Long recalled, and they carted me over to Kaneohe from Pearl Harbor where we had landed. It was a different experience when he flew to Hawaii for the 75th anniversary in 2016, a trip that was paid for by a survivors group. We came in on a first-class United chartered jet. All the girls with the leis were there with the Hawaiian music, he said. We ended up not in a bunk in the barracks, but in a very nice ocean room at the Hilton Hawaiian. Don Long in his Navy uniform circa 1941. (Courtesy Don Long) He attended a dinner where survivors were seated at random with dignitaries. At his table were Japans Honolulu-based consul general and his wife. He and his wife were there in full regalia, Long said. He asked if they might be able to help him identify the pilot who attacked his plane 77 years ago. They did some searching I guess, or told somebody to do it, but within a month or so I got a message from them, and the proof is not positive, but they sent the information on three Japanese pilots. It was probably one of those three, Long said. All three have died, but Long was impressed the consul general had taken the time to find out. Long no longer harbors ill will against Japan or its people. I dont know when that feeling left me. But as you are probably well aware, we were taught to hate those people with all our hearts, and when youre looking at one down a gun sight, you cant really feel much love for anyone thats for darn sure, he said. That has long since changed. Long has not always marked the anniversary like he does now. For about 50, 60 years or so, it was a day that rang a little bell to me, but I did not do much, he said. In the past 20 or so [years], I take part in some kind of activity that Ill say is appropriate for the day. This year, Long plans to visit schoolchildren to talk about Pearl Harbor, then will light a beacon atop Mount Diablo in Concord, Calif. The beacon, known as the Eye of Diablo, was put out shortly after the attack in 1941. In 1964, Fleet Adm. Chester Nimitz, commander of U.S. Pacific forces during World War II, relighted the beacon, beginning a yearly tradition. On Friday morning at about the time of the attack, Long spoke with the Associated Press at his home as he prepared for the day: I recall the day very, very distinctly, he said. I dont usually think of it as this day but as the day that started the war for our country that caused so, so much havoc. And I do recall the friends who never came back with, oh, much sadness. A routine weekend Long remembers that weekend of the attack as routine, or so it started out, he wrote in a 1992 essay that he provided to the Associated Press. The 20-year-old seaman from Minnesota enrolled in boot camp in March 1941, a snotty nose kid, fresh off the farm. That Sunday morning was his first day of operational duty with the squadron he had been assigned to about a month earlier. He was tasked with standing watch aboard a seaplane in the bay across the island from Pearl Harbor. He arrived early and took a small boat toward the waiting Catalina flying boat, cruising across the turquoise waters of windward Oahu. I recall it was a beautiful, sunny day in Hawaii that morning, Long said. He relieved a comrade who had stood watch overnight and began preparing for a day of signal drills and regular maintenance checks. He settled into the pilots compartment to wait for contact from the beach signaling station to begin his drills. A few minutes later, he heard the roar of airplanes overhead and then the sound of explosions. He assumed it was U.S. military making practice runs but quickly realized he was wrong. In the distance, Long saw planes flying over hangars, and buildings exploding. Another plane that was anchored nearby was hit and burst into flames. A patrol bomber burns at a military installation on Oahus Kaneohe Bay during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. (U.S. Navy) Seconds later, a Japanese plane made a run toward his moored aircraft. The sequence of events during the next few minutes is not entirely clear, he recalled. Long jumped from the pilots seat and started looking for a life jacket, but bullets were immediately producing fountains of seawater inside the cabin. The fuel tanks in the wings were hit, and he was quickly surrounded by flames. He gave up on the life jacket and made a run for the rear exit. Gasoline was ablaze on the water, so he jumped into the bay and swam beneath the flames to get away from the burning plane. He came to the surface and through the flames three times for air. He soon realized his military-issued high-top work shoes were bogging him down, so he dove underwater and removed them. Still far from shore, Long found a wooden channel marker and swam to it, ducking beneath the waves to hide every time a Japanese plane made a pass. Once the attack planes left, Long saw flames, smoke and sinking aircraft all around the bay. He spotted a boat that was searching for survivors and flagged them down. Swimming through the flames burned his head, face and arms. Shipmates on the shore greeted me with comments like, We never expected to see you again, Long recalled. I was told I looked pretty bad. The attack was over, but much turmoil remained, he wrote. Thats it the start of the first day of a long war. In her first year as the State Department spokeswoman, where she arrived fresh from Fox News, Heather Nauert was not always privy to the inner circles of diplomatic power. Then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson did not trust her, viewing her as someone loyal first and foremost to the White House, not the foreign service. Those loyalties eventually paid handsomely for Nauert. When President Trump fired Tillerson in March and replaced him with close ally Michael R. Pompeo, her star rose. She came to occupy the No. 4 slot at State. And on Friday, Trump said he was nominating Nauert to replace Nikki Haley as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Nauert, 48, brings no previous foreign policy experience to the job, a post held in the past by august statesmen, seasoned diplomats, former governors, scholars and even a former Supreme Court justice. Advertisement Her nomination reflects Trumps homage to loyalty over experience or qualifications. It also underscores the administrations decision to downgrade the post from the Cabinet-level position Haley enjoyed. Trump openly disdains multilateral organizations like the U.N., a sentiment echoed by his two senior-most foreign policy advisors, Pompeo and national security advisor John Bolton. Pompeo, in a speech earlier this week, questioned the relevance of the U.N.; Bolton, himself a former ambassador to the world body, once said it could be leveled and no one would notice. For Trump, Nauert brings poise, telegenic visage and smooth communication skills all traits he values. She will likely never stray from Trumps positions, as Haley on occasion did, nor show much independence. Shes very talented, very smart, very quick and I think shell be respected by all, Trump said Friday at the White House in announcing her nomination. When he first raised her name last month, Trump said Nauert was excellent. Shes been with us a long time. Shes been a supporter a long time, Trump said. Nauert, whose husband and two young sons remained in New York when she went to the State Department in Washington, will rejoin her family when she goes to work at U.N. headquarters in Manhattan if confirmed by the Senate. She has shown herself to be fiercely protective of Pompeo, seeking to prevent even anodyne statements from being disseminated unless she can approve them. A former anchor on Fox News Fox & Friends who did a stint at ABC News, Nauert is known to scold journalists who report stories she does not like or deems unfair. In contrast to the months with Tillerson, Nauert is frequently at Pompeos side and has accompanied him on trips to North Korea and Mexico City. Nauert is able to seamlessly discuss Trump administration viewpoints even when they fly in the face of longstanding U.S. policy. From the State Department podium where she conducts fewer and fewer news briefings these days, Nauert has refused to endorse a two-state solution between Israel and Palestinians, a shift from previous administrations. She often deflects grilling on touchy topics, such as the U.S.-backed Saudi air war in Yemen, by calling on reporters she can count on for predictable softball questions. Reaction among lawmakers, who will have to confirm Nauert in the job, was mixed, largely along party lines. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said she was a fine, capable and effective spokeswoman who enjoys the confidence of Trump and Pompeo. But Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) sharply criticized the nomination, saying Nauert did not have the chops to serve in such a critical diplomatic position. We are living in serious times, and with all that is happening across the world, Nauerts experience as a TV personality in no way prepares her for the diplomatically sensitive work that is required of that position, Meeks, who is a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a statement. The ambassador of the U.N. will have to navigate complicated relationships, many that have only grown increasingly fraught under the Trump administration, Meeks added. The next U.N. ambassador must be prepared to stand up for our values on the world stage, and appointing someone with Nauerts background sends a poor message to nations around the world about the seriousness with which the U.S. conducts foreign policy. Peter Yeo, senior vice president of the U.N. Foundation, an advocacy organization that supports U.N.-U.S. work, said the proposed downgrading of the position will pose a challenge for Nauert. But he said she has the advantage of familiarity with a wide range of issues gained as the department spokeswoman. And because of her closeness to Trump and Pompeo, world diplomats will know she speaks with authority, he said. She will be an effective communicator defending Trump positions, several experts said, but will not necessarily be skilled in building consensus or marshaling votes for U.N. resolutions. She has not done the day-in, day-out policy negotiations; that hasnt been in her wheelhouse, Yeo said. Time will tell how good she is at those complex negotiations. He said he hoped Nauert, like Haley, would forge a close working relationship with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and avoid a slash-and-burn approach to U.N. financing and missions that some in the administration favor. Haley, a rising Republican star and former South Carolina governor, surprised many in October when she announced she would leave the post at the end of the year. tracy.wilkinson@latimes.com For more on international affairs, follow @TracyKWilkinson on Twitter Civil rights lawyer Monica Montgomery, one of three new members joining the San Diego City Council on Monday, says its time for new perspectives and policies at City Hall on neglected neighborhoods, racial profiling and many other issues. Montgomery, who will be the nine-member councils only attorney, says she wont accept any excuses from city officials for longstanding policies that havent gotten satisfactory results, especially in the low-income areas she will represent. Many expect Montgomery, a liberal Democrat, to immediately become a formidable presence because she knows the ropes as a former City Hall staffer, she has a keen intellect and she is highly energetic and committed. Her upset last month of Council President Myrtle Cole, despite strong opposition from labor and no council incumbent having lost a re-election bid since 1992, has been nearly universally praised as a remarkable achievement. Advertisement Montgomery, 40, says she plans to bring to the council the same energy, determination and commitment to social justice that she has displayed since battling with leadership at Bonita Vista High School as a student in the 1990s. School officials banned students from wearing bandannas based on concerns about gang activity at the mostly white school, where 3 percent of the students were black including Montgomery. They said it was OK for the goth kids to wear their stuff because it was a form of expression, but if we put a bandanna on, we were a gang member, Montgomery recalled this week. I told the vice principal it wasnt fair. Montgomery then attended historically black Spelman College in Atlanta, where she was exposed to elements of racism in America she had been unfamiliar with growing up in San Diego. I think it ignited something in me, being immersed in the history of things I hadnt known about, said Montgomery, who was also diagnosed with an auto-immune disease while in college. The newcomers Going through that really helped me have empathy for anybody struggling with anything, she said. All of these things made we want to have government work for the people. Thats arguably the ideal perspective to represent Council District 4, which covers the low-income neighborhoods of southeastern San Diego that lack crucial infrastructure and amenities such as supermarkets and full-service restaurants. I am going to try and try until the community gets the things it wants and needs, Montgomery said. Shes already begun the fight before even taking office, successfully lobbying last week to delay approval of a business park in her district that would be exempted from a federal requirement to create at least 72 local jobs. Quality local jobs, she says, are key to boosting the districts demographics and attracting the kinds of amenities that residents have craved for many years. Montgomery said she plans to study the federal requirement, which is based on the project getting a grant, and see why city officials think the waiver is warranted. This would lead to an additional development in our community that is not balanced, she said. Other such developments, she says, are the many low-income apartment complexes recently constructed or in the approval pipeline. Montgomery said the district also needs more commercial and industrial projects for a stronger jobs base and contends the areas proximity to downtown should make it relatively easy to attract such projects. I am all for affordable housing, but we need a balance, she said. You cant tell me a shovel-ready property thats 10 minutes from downtown is that hard. I wont believe it. Montgomery will be working from a position of power on the council, where Democrats will have a 6-3 supermajority thanks to Dr. Jen Campbells victory last month over Republican incumbent Lorie Zapf of Bay Ho. The council offices are nonpartisan but many votes follow along party lines. Going from a 5-4 majority to a 6-3 majority allows Democrats to override vetoes by Republican Mayor Kevin Faulconer on contentious issues. It also allows them to retain a majority on issues when one Democrat sides with the Republicans. Support from labor unions tends to tie council Democrats together, so some have expressed concerns the Democratic majority might be less united because labor backed the opponents this fall of Montgomery and fellow newcomer Vivian Moreno. But Montgomery said she doesnt think that will be a significant issue. I believe the six Democrats that sit on the council now have a desire to see the city do better than what its doing, she said, adding that she has no plans to be vindictive toward labor. My people hurt that way, and that is not what they signed up for when they voted for me. I will not lead that way. Another priority for Montgomery will be racial profiling, which spurred her decision last year to resign as Coles policy director and challenge the re-election of her former boss. She made that decision after Cole made comments seeming to condone some forms of racial profiling, saying blacks frequently shoot blacks. A recent San Diego State study found that blacks and Hispanics get searched more often after getting pulled over by San Diego police. I look forward to talking to the chief and officers, particularly in southeastern San Diego, Montgomery said. The goal is eventually it will be gone and everyone will be treated fairly and equally by the police. Councilwoman Georgette Gomez of City Heights, who is expected to be voted council president by her colleagues on Monday, said she expects Montgomery to make an immediate impact. We have some work to do on racial profiling and shes hopefully going to be very instrumental in that, Gomez said by phone. I think shes also going to be a strong advocate for a community thats been underserved. Gomez said the experience of Montgomery (who was a staffer for Mayor Faulconer and interim Mayor Todd Gloria in addition to Cole) and her legal experience will also make a difference. I think being a lawyer will be really helpful knowledge to bring to the dais, Gomez said. And she definitely has a strong policy focus and understanding. Montgomery was born in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of southeastern San Diego and has lived most of her life in that general area. She has two younger brothers. After leaving City Hall, she worked for the American Civil Liberties Union as an attorney, focusing mostly on bail reform. She also worked as an attorney before coming to City Hall, helping families avoid foreclosure during the Great Recession. Montgomery now lives in Skyline Hills. She attends New Seasons Church in Spring Valley and said she considers religion an important element of her life. She is a voracious reader and enjoys sharing quality time with those close to her. I love hanging out with friends and family because that is where the nurturing comes in, she said. City Council members receive an annual salary of $75,000 plus benefits, and that salary will double over the next few years under a ballot measure that passed last month. The new council members are scheduled to be sworn in at 10 a.m. on Monday at downtowns Golden Hall. david.garrick@sduniontribune.com (619) 269-8906 Twitter:@UTDavidGarrick A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter rescued two of the three passengers from a disabled sailing vessel Thursday morning about 30 miles off the coast of Oceanside after the boat was beset by bad weather and rough seas Wednesday night, authorities said. One of the men rescued by the helicopter crew was an 80-year-old with a head injury and apparent medical complications from diabetes, while the other was a 25-year-old showing signs of dehydration. Coast Guard Sector San Diego officials were first contacted by the crew of the Julia B. Lewis, a 35-foot sailing vessel, around 5 p.m. Wednesday, officials said. The three men aboard the ship reported two were seasick and the other had a head injury. The Coast Guard cutter Halibut arrived to help the disabled sailing vessel around 8:15 p.m. The crew launched a smaller rescue boat to get to the Julia B. Lewis, but were unable to reach it because of the weather and choppy water, Coast Guard officials said in a statement. Advertisement The Halibut stayed with the disabled ship through the night and planned to tow it to a safe harbor once the weather permitted Thursday morning. But around 7:45 a.m. Thursday, the disabled vessels crew reported the deteriorating health of two of the three men on board. San Diego Coast Guard personnel launched an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter around 8:15 a.m., and a rescue swimmer was lowered into the water to provide medical care to the two patients before helping to hoist them aboard the helicopter. The two men were flown back to San Diego, where they arrived a little before noon, and then taken by ambulance to Balboa Naval Medical Center. Both were admitted in stable condition, officials said. Meanwhile, the third mariner aboard the disabled vessel, a 54-year-old man, stayed with the boat as the Halibut towed it toward safety. The Coast Guard cutter was expected to tow the Julia B. Lewis to Avalon Harbor on Catalina Island. Twitter: @Alex_Riggins (619) 293-1710 alex.riggins@sduniontribune.com A big rig with nine unauthorized immigrants locked inside its trailer was discovered this week at the Border Patrol checkpoint on westbound Interstate 8 in Campo, authorities said. Border Patrol agents from the El Centro Sector were conducting surveillance on the 2010 Volvo tractor trailer around 8:30 p.m. Monday when it pulled into the Campo checkpoint, Border Patrol officials said. During an initial inspection, a dog zeroed in on the trailer, and the big rig was sent for a more thorough check. Agents found nine unauthorized immigrants locked inside the trailer with no way to (free) themselves, officials said. A Mexican man driving the big rig and all nine of those found in the trailer were arrested. Advertisement This human smuggling technique is extremely callous, El Centro Sector Chief Patrol Agent Gloria Chavez said in a statement. Weve seen all too often when people are locked inside tractor-trailers like this with no means of escape they are at the mercy of malicious smugglers. Later that same night, agents arrested a second suspected smuggler who was making unusual driving patterns on Interstate 8 in a 2015 Dodge Durango that had previously been spotted driving near the big rig, officials said. Through questioning, agents determined that the driver, a Mexican citizen, was a co-conspirator in the smuggling event, agents said in a statement. Both suspected smugglers were expected to face federal charges. Twitter: @Alex_Riggins (619) 293-1710 alex.riggins@sduniontribune.com A 24-year-old woman who went into medical distress after being arrested in La Jolla last week has died, police said Thursday. Aleah Mariah Jenkins was a passenger in a vehicle that officers pulled over on La Jolla Village Drive near Interstate 5 on Nov. 27 about 4 p.m. When they determined she was wanted on a warrant for possessing methamphetamine, they arrested her, San Diego police Lt. Matt Dobbs said. Before being taken away, Jenkins became ill and vomited. Officers initially called for paramedics, but Jenkins reportedly said she just had an upset stomach, so the paramedics were called off. She was then taken to Police Department headquarters to be processed before being booked into jail, Dobbs said. While she was there, an officer noticed she was unresponsive and appeared to be in medical distress. Advertisement An emergency crew responded to assist the woman, and she was taken to a hospital where she was placed on life-support. Dobbs said while paramedics were helping Jenkins, controlled substances were found concealed in her clothing. Because of her condition, homicide detectives who investigate in-custody deaths were asked to investigate. The two officers who stopped the vehicle Jenkins was riding in were identified as Nicholas Casciola and Jason Taub. Officer Lawrence Durbin drove her to headquarters. Dobbs said theres no indication the officers used force on Jenkins. The womans mother has requested access to all videos of her daughters arrest to better understand what happened, according to a post on the mothers Facebook page. Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call the Homicide Unit at (619) 531-2293 or Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477. Twitter: @LAWinkley (619) 293-1546 lyndsay.winkley@sduniontribune.com President Donald Trump confirmed he will nominate former Attorney General William Barr to lead the Justice Department again, telling reporters Friday that Barr was my first choice since Day One. He also said he would nominate Heather Nauert as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, saying the State Department spokeswoman, a relative novice on foreign policy, is very talented, very smart, very quick. The moves were expected; Trumps comments offered official confirmation. The Washington Post reported a day earlier that Barr, 68, a well-respected Republican lawyer who served as attorney general from 1991 to 1993 under President George H.W. Bush, had emerged as the leading contender, and Trump told associates he planned to nominate him as attorney general. Advertisement In a brief phone conversation Friday, Barr confirmed he had accepted the presidents offer. Both the attorney general and U.N. ambassador positions require Senate confirmation. Aides on the Senate Foreign Relations and Judiciary committees - which would take up the ambassador and attorney general nominations, respectively - said Friday that neither committee will hold confirmation hearings this year, given the limited time left before a new Senate takes over on Jan. 3. Barr likely will face tough questions at his confirmation hearing about how he will handle the ongoing special counsel investigation into possible coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election. That probe is being led by Robert Mueller. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who serves on the Judiciary Committee, said in a statement he would demand that Mr. Barr make a firm and specific commitment to protect the Mueller investigation, operate independently of the White House, and uphold the rule of law. Trump has railed against the probe and his Justice Departments supervision of it. Trumps relationship with his previous attorney general, Jeff Sessions, was severed in large part because Sessions had recused himself from the matter before Muellers appointment, leaving Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein in charge. Trump renewed his attacks on Friday, tweeting about what he called Muellers big time conflicts of interest and saying he planned to do a a major Counter Report to the Mueller Report. This should never again be allowed to happen to a future President of the United States! Trump wrote. Speaking to reporters as he left the White House, Trump called Barr one of the most respected jurists in the country and a terrific man, a terrific person, a brilliant man. I look forward to having him join our very successful Administration! he added on Twitter. Administration officials expect Barrs nomination will be received positively by Republicans, who respect his experience, and Democrats, who might view him as an old-school GOP lawyer with no particular personal loyalty to the president. After leaving the Justice Department, Barr served in a variety of high-level corporate positions, including as general counsel and executive vice president of Verizon Communications. He is now a lawyer at Kirkland & Ellis. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who will take over as chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee next year, said in a statement that Barr was highly capable, highly respected and will provide new and much-needed leadership for the Department of Justice. I will do everything in my power to push him through the Senate Judiciary Committee and onto the floor of the Senate for eventual confirmation as soon as possible, Graham said, adding, Well done Mr. President. Until Barr takes over - if he is confirmed - the department will continue to be led by Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker, who has drawn fierce criticism for his past business dealings and his public criticism of Muellers investigation. Barr shares at least one of the presidents views on Muellers team. In 2017, when asked by The Washington Post about political donations made by lawyers on the special counsels team, Barr said that prosecutors who make political contributions are identifying fairly strongly with a political party, and added, I would have liked to see [Mueller] have more balance on this group. Muellers team has donated largely to Democratic candidates, though Mueller himself is a Republican, as is Rosenstein, who appointed him. Mueller was nominated by President George W. Bush in 2001 to lead the FBI, a job he held for 12 years. Nauert, 48, joined the State Department last year with no government experience after a career as an anchor and correspondent at Fox News. She would replace Nikki Haley, who was twice elected governor of South Carolina but also lacked foreign policy experience. In her new role, Nauert would be responsible for maintaining international support for economic sanctions against North Korea and continuing the Trump administrations unflinching support for Israel in the face of mounting scrutiny at the United Nations. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said in a statement that Trump had made an excellent selection, adding, we look forward to all that she will accomplish at the U.N. as an advocate for freedom, liberty, and human rights. Her expected appointment was reported by Bloomberg News and confirmed by The Post on Thursday. The Judiciary and Foreign Relations committees will be under new leadership next year, with Graham expected to lead Judiciary and Sen. James Risch, R-Idaho, poised to become chairman of Foreign Relations. Based on past experience and given that the committee has not yet received a nomination from the White House, at this late date, it is highly unlikely a nominee would be able to complete his or her paperwork (committee questionnaire, financial disclosure, OIG report, etc.) and hold the meetings with committee members that occur in advance of a hearing before the end of the year, a Foreign Relations Committee official said Friday after Trump announced he will nominate Nauert. The Washington Posts John Wagner contributed to this report. First published in The Washington Post Last week, a woman approached me at lunch. You inspired me to vote for the first time, she said, pulling out her phone for a selfie. So what happened, did you win? I replied, Not this time. The final count 48.3 percent versus 51.7 percent. After running for two long years in a district President Donald Trump won by 15 points, my first election ended with a loss to Duncan D. Hunter, who won by 28 percent in 2016 and is facing federal charges for misusing campaign funds. Heres how it started. In November 2016, a major seismic political shift shook our nation to its core, triggering ground swells across inland San Diego like never before. While America was reacting to a new president, Californias 50th Congressional District was rebelling against an old power. That old power is the 40-year, 20-term, two-generation Hunter dynasty. Possibly the most powerful political family in San Diego history, with a legacy that includes running for president of the United States and surviving two serious criminal investigations, the likes of which sent political heavyweights Jesse Jackson Jr. and San Diegos Duke Cunningham to prison. Few political families have stood the test of time and scandal more than the Hunters. Advertisement Nevertheless, we persisted. Over the next two years, 50th district voters organized, mobilized and battle-tested 15 congressional candidates. Voters seized the moment, found their message and chose a messenger. I was honored to have the backing of local activists, unions, environmental groups and others. After a hard-fought primary, our campaign won, avoiding a runoff between two Republicans. Hunter came in first, we came in second, Republican Bill Wells came in third, followed by the other challengers. Our victory was powered by hundreds of volunteers, unprecedented enthusiasm, and the courage of our convictions: rejecting corporate donations, expanding health-care coverage, protecting Medicare, investing in apprenticeship job training, renewable energy and making debt-free college attainable. We remained faithful to our founding ideals through the general election. We were the outsiders taking on the insiders. The district taking on the dynasty, empowered people taking on people in power. We gave the Hunters hell. But more importantly, we spent two years listening and learning from voters. We gave youth voters, lifelong voters, people of all backgrounds, women and even fed-up Republicans something to believe in. We made history by garnering more votes than any challenger ever (124,000) and by far the highest vote percentage against the Hunter dynasty. We received nearly triple the number of votes Hunters last midterm challenger did. Hunter refused to debate; he probably knew hed lose if we did. Pinned down to the mat, the Hunters attempted a reversal: take the focus off of the indictment by spreading fear and chaos with the most vicious attack ad of 2018 (some even say in modern politics). We were forced to deploy more resources to keep Hunter pinned down instead of fully investing in our winning message. We tried to do both, but could only afford to do one. Through it all, we stood our ground, but also tried to find common ground. I believed, and still believe, Hunter and Trump voters arent ignorant, theyre ignored. We chose to explore unity rather than exploit division, put country over party, and peoples interests over special interests. We avoided the personal politics, asking voters more important questions instead: How are ya? Hows your family? Hows your health care? What keeps you up at night and gets you going in the morning? Lets set the partisanship aside and focus on what matters. And it worked. Everywhere we went, we won: San Marcos, Escondido, Borrego Springs, Alpine, Fallbrook, major parts of El Cajon, Santee, Lakeside, even overperforming in Temecula because of our second-to-none, amazing volunteers. Everyone I met moved our way. Personally, I dont believe voters succumbed to the racist attacks. I believe people voted their values, I just wish more of them had the chance to hear mine. Maybe next time. Hunters trial is Sept. 10, 2019. He will inevitably resign and the familys reign will end. So regardless of the outcome, this movement will go down in history as the best and last campaign against the Hunter dynasty. I have no regrets, only gratitude. Thank you, 50th district, for this incredible gift, for lifting me up. Thank you for opening your lives and homes to me. I promise to be a steward of what we built together for the rest of my life, come what may. Campa-Najjar ran for Congress in Californias 50th district in 2018. The Goldwater rule is an informal name for an ethics statute that prohibits mental health professionals (psychiatrists and psychotherapists in particular) from speaking about the mental health of candidates for elective office unless they have treated the candidate professionally in which case their code of ethics prohibits their revealing anything discovered during treatment. In 1964, conservative Arizona Republican Sen. Barry Goldwater was running for president. He made statements some considered extreme. Questions were raised about his emotional stability. Related: Why psychological opinions on Trump dont help anyone His acceptance speech at the 1964 Republican National Convention included these famous lines: Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice. Moderation in pursuit of justice is no virtue. And when asked by reporters if, like President John F. Kennedy, he wanted to send a rocket to the moon, Goldwater quipped, No, but I would like to know that I could lob one into the mens room at the Kremlin whenever I wanted. Advertisement So questions were raised about the senators mental health, his stability, and his fitness to serve, often using that all-purpose lay diagnosis crazy. Of course, such judgments are highly subjective. In 1964, Fact Magazine, a controversial and deliberately provocative publication, sent a questionnaire to all 12,000-plud members of the American Psychiatric Association, asking, Do you believe Barry Goldwater is psychologically fit to serve as president of the United States? About half of the 2,400 psychiatrists who responded said either that Goldwater was fit for office or that they didnt know enough to state an opinion. But the other half said that Goldwater was unfit to serve and many offered scathing diagnoses of the candidate (sadistic, schizophrenic, etc.), one comparing him to Adolf Hitler. The magazine cover carried this bold headline: 1,189 Psychiatrists Say Goldwater Is Psychologically Unfit To Be President! The survey was widely criticized. The write-up was sharply partisan and fiercely anti-Goldwater. Goldwater supporters saw it as a smear. The senator sued Fact Magazine and was awarded $75,000. This case encouraged the development of the Goldwater rule. The Goldwater rule, first adopted in 1973, was revised by the American Psychiatric Association in 2015 to make it possible for mental health professionals to educate the American public to the specifically psychological issues that may be activated by political candidates bids for public office, including the presidency, as long as the candidates themselves are not diagnosed or their personal psychologies referenced in any way (emphasis added). Thus the Goldwater rule was reaffirmed: Mental health professionals may not discuss public figures they have not treated and if you have treated such a person, you cannot reveal what you discover. Of course some mental health professionals violate the Goldwater rule, whether intentionally or unintentionally, in interviews, articles and books. But when they do this, they are breaking one of the rules of their profession. The Goldwater rule is a kind of self-censorship that assures Americans will not have benefit of the observations of our nations mental health experts on the most critical choice voters make: Choosing our president. Now Donald Trump is president. Questions about his mental health dwarf those surrounding Goldwater or any other candidate in living memory. The terms crazy, dangerous and narcissist are commonly used to describe this president. So we hope the nations mental health professionals will consider revising the Goldwater rule, thus authorizing such professionals not only to honor the principle of confidentiality in the treatment of patients, but also to discharge their professional duty to warn the American public about a political candidate who clearly manifests serious mental health problems. Such a candidate, if elected, could become a major threat to the well-being of our republic. Mental health professionals can reduce such risk by voicing their impressions about the mental health of public figures, including presidents and presidential candidates, on the basis of their public behavior and their spontaneous tweets. We suggest the Goldwater rule be further revised to make it possible for mental health professionals to opine on a specific candidates behavioral patterns that seem to point to deeper, more disturbing underlying conditions assuming they are willing to take individual responsibility for doing so, including the risk of litigation. This is especially true if those expressions are being managed by the candidate to keep those conditions hidden from the public or interpreted as normal, creating what Robert Lifton calls malignant normalcy. Of course any such observations should come with this disclaimer: I have not treated this person but, like you, I can observe his or her public behavior. Clanton, Ph.D., teaches sociology at San Diego State University and writes a column for the Del Mar Times and four other suburban weeklies. Ferrell, Ph.D., is a psychoanalyst in private practice in Vermont and New York City. He is editor-in-chief emeritus of the Journal for Religion and Health and serves on its editorial board. Public figures, especially presidents, invite scrutiny but should psychiatrists and psychologists weigh in? During the last three weeks, this question has become increasingly pressing given the presidents behavior since the midterm elections and during his trip to Paris. Such concern has been present from the beginning of the Trump presidency. In early 2017, Dr. John Gartner, a clinical psychologist in private practice in New York and Baltimore, initiated a petition stating that President Donald Trump manifests a serious mental illness that renders him psychologically incapable of competently discharging the duties of president of the United States and requesting that he be removed from office. Eventually the petition received over 70,000 signatures on the website Change.org. Gartner sees President Trump as narcissistic, paranoid, antisocial and sadistic. Related: Why its time to reconsider Goldwater rule Gartners petition revived a long-standing debate about whether it is appropriate for professionals, in this case psychologist and psychiatrists, to express professional judgments about public figures. When Barry Goldwater ran for president in 1964, thousands of psychiatrists were asked by Fact Magazine whether Goldwater was psychologically fit to serve as President of the United States. The American Psychiatric Association issued a new rule for its members in 1973 (Section 7.3 of its Principles of Medical Ethics, known as the Goldwater rule), declaring it unethical for a psychiatrist to offer a professional opinion unless he or she has conducted an examination and has been granted proper authorization for such a statement. The APA reaffirmed its position in 2017 and again even in 2018, calling for an end to armchair psychiatry. Advertisement On the surface, this debate is about the proper balance between two duties: the duty of confidentiality and the duty to warn unwitting possible victims of violence about threats made against them. Clinical psychologists and psychiatrists consider confidentiality as one of the cornerstones of trust between a patient and a therapist, and only in highly unusual cases can this confidentiality be breached, typically with a court order approved by an impartial judge. But confidentiality contains additional contradictions, especially if a client expresses a serious threat to a third party. Is the therapist obliged to warn that third person of this threat? This is not only a theoretical issue. In late 1969, it became quite real when a Berkeley graduate student killed another student, Tatiana Tarasoff, whom he had met at a campus dancing class. The graduate student had expressed his intentions to his psychologist in earlier sessions, but the therapist ultimately decided (in consultation with his clinical supervisor) that warning Tarasoff of the threat would violate confidentiality. This prompted a serious reconsideration of the boundaries of patient-therapist confidentiality. Lawsuits followed. Six years later the California Supreme Court handed down a ruling that effectively gave priority to the duty to warn over the duty of confidentiality. Similar laws were passed in two-thirds of the states. Opponents of the Goldwater rule appeal to the duty to warn as a principal motivation underlying their public critique of President Trump. As arguments go, this one is hardly decisive on its own. The duty to warn has not even been adopted by a third of the states, and typically it applies only within the context of a specific threat to a particular individual, a threat made during a therapeutic session. Clinical judgments about the president, made in order to warn the entire population, hardly fit this paradigm. There is no therapeutic session to be violated, and there is no specific individual being threatened. Physicians and therapists within the field of public health, however, see this matter differently, and in that area there is a fairly long-standing commitment to warning the public as a whole about certain dangers, particularly those that fall within their clinical area of expertise. The dangers of radiation, smoking cigarettes, air pollution, disease epidemics, even gun violence all these have been recognized as public dangers that professionals can, and perhaps must, comment on in a public forum without passing judgment on the psychological fitness of any public figure. However, the debate about the Goldwater rule misses the point. The removal of a president from office is, first and foremost, a political question. Psychological and psychiatric observations can sometimes illuminate that question, but rarely can they answer it. Diagnosis from afar often only serves to preach to the choir and is often dismissed as biased opinion by those who are not converted, which in turn undermines the credibility of the profession as a whole. If a formal 25th Amendment proceeding occurs, then psychologists can express their clinical opinion in an appropriate venue. In addition, there are plenty of other urgent psychological questions psychologists can address, including how reasonable people convince themselves to support persons and policies they would ordinarily decry. Hinman, Ph.D., is a USD professor emeritus of philosophy who writes on ethics. The latest caravan of Central American migrants fleeing violence in their home countries and seeking asylum in the United States has brought about 6,000 men, women and children to Tijuana. They have been camping out along the U.S.-Mexico border in hopes of crossing into the U.S. for a better life. Much has been written about this national story with immigration, asylum, health, humanitarian and law enforcement facets. We asked several people familiar with these issues to share their perspectives on the topic. Ann M. Durst, founder of Casa Cornelia Law Center Currently some 160 million persons worldwide are displaced, fleeing war, political and economic upheaval, natural disasters, persecution, starvation. Many nations have opened their borders temporarily to hundreds of thousands of refugees with little prospect of an immediate resolution to the crisis. But the world is ill-prepared for this global migration. Immigration laws and policies of developed nations barely sustained the post-WWII immigration crisis and the patchwork accommodations of the latter part of the 20th century simply do not serve the migration of peoples in the 21st century. When viewed within the context of the global refugee crisis, the crisis in Tijuana would appear manageable, but apparently this is not so. For months the Mexican government seemed to ignore the growing numbers of homeless migrants living on its streets; meanwhile, the United States government quarantined the crisis, isolating itself by disavowing culpability to avert responsibility and enhancing the militarization of the border. Given the complexity of the issues precipitating the migration north, allocating blame replaced the creative problem-solving and collaboration demanded by the situation. Advertisement Neither finger pointing nor hand wringing is a solution. Government agencies, nonprofit organizations, the faith community and concerned citizens on both sides of the border must aggressively address the humanitarian crisis collaboratively and with generosity and compassion. If justice is to be served, every effort must be made to identify those with credible asylum claims and to establish reasonable procedures to protect their right to refuge under international law. For the many who will not have the right to immigrate under current law, whose hopes for a better future in the United States will not be realized, care must be taken not to demonize their efforts. We would do well to remember that all persons are endowed by their Creator with the inalienable rights to pursue a better life, liberty and happiness. Mariano Francisco Navarrete Lara, immigrant I came to this country about 14 years ago. I was 29 when I left Honduras. I was a bus driver, but the violence and the Maras (gangs) were getting worse day by day. In Honduras, the violence is very bad and the poverty is even worse. I started paying the Maras 100 lempiras (Honduran currency) per trip. Later it could be up to 500 lempiras per day. The Maras were taking more than 50 percent of my earnings. By the time I decided to leave, I was being extorted 500 per trip. I was working for the Maras instead of working for myself and my family. I left Honduras to be able to provide food for my family. It was a very hard decision. I did not want to leave my country where my family and loved ones all lived. But someone from the family had to leave and I am the oldest so I made the journey in order to make money to send back to my family. I left Honduras with 600 lempiras to my name, that was probably equivalent to $30 U.S. dollars. It took me nearly 60 days walking and hitching a ride on the train, before I arrived in Houston. It was a hard and difficult path, we went days without food, it was cold and we were assaulted in Mexico. As difficult as that journey was, it was just as difficult once we made it to the U.S. I had to find a place to live, a place to work, sleeping on floors in friends homes, eating what was available until I could find work. Being in the U.S. has been difficult. Always trying to stay under the radar, wishing and praying that you do not get caught working and living illegally in the U.S. When I met and married an amazing woman who is a U.S. citizen, I thought God had answered my prayers. But now I am in deportation proceedings. Returning to my country frightens me. Ive been told the Maras targets individuals who return to Honduras after living in the U.S. They think that you return with money. If you are not assaulted, you are extorted, and if you dont have the money, you may be killed. I do not want to return to my country where there is nothing for me. Alex Mensing, project coordinator, Pueblo Sin Fronteras Pueblo Sin Fronteras is a transborder organization of human rights defenders of diverse nationalities and immigration statuses that promotes accompaniment, humanitarian assistance, leadership development, know-your-rights training along migrant routes, and monitoring and condemning abuses against migrants and refugees in Mexico and the U.S. We have accompanied three refugee caravans in the past, witnessing hundreds of Central Americans trajectory to San Ysidro where they lawfully request asylum despite U.S. Customs and Border Protection efforts to turn asylum-seekers away and limit their number their struggles for regularization in Mexico, the inhumane treatment in for-profit ICE detention centers, and their challenges as immigrants in a new society. The thousands of people who make up the Central American exodus in Tijuana were motivated by hunger, persecution and structural violence (economic and physical) to flee Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua. Those conditions are largely the result of U.S. intervention, such as support for last years electoral fraud by Juan Orlando Hernandez in Honduras. They traveled together for safety from the dangers of organized crime and corrupt authorities. The Mexican government tried to divide them, and in doing so put vulnerable people at great risk. Now they have tasted the tear gas and rubber bullets with which the U.S. government has welcomed them. The options they face are inadequate. They can seek asylum in the United States which currently means waiting for months in Tijuana in squalid conditions and dangerous neighborhoods with agitators whose hostility is encouraged by the Tijuana mayors attitude and by the U.S. unnecessarily shutting down the border. They can request a humanitarian visa in Mexico, where many of them have no relatives and few opportunities to live safely and support their families. In desperation, some jump the fence and risk losing their right to seek asylum because of the Trump administrations recent actions. We need civil society to come together, call for an inclusive solution, unite and not divide dividing only further criminalizes and endangers refugees and human rights defenders. Please go to Tijuana if you can to see for yourself, take donations and welcome refugees. Julie Sierra, internal medicine physician at UC San Diego Health and medical volunteer at migrant shelters As a physician who has seen patients in multiple refugee shelters in both Tijuana and San Diego, I am struck by the disconnect between what we are seeing on the news and what is really happening on the ground. The vast majority of the people we have seen from the caravan are women and children who have made a difficult journey to flee violence and persecution in their home countries not criminals or terrorists, as they are falsely portrayed by some media. Most of the people we see in our pop-up medical clinics have upper respiratory infections, aches and pains from the journey, or other acute illnesses. Some have chronic conditions, such as hypertension, diabetes, epilepsy and HIV, and have run out of their medications, so we make sure they are provided for. And there are special, and especially heartbreaking cases, such as a young girl with cerebral palsy whose father carried her from Honduras. Multiple activists and health care providers collaborated to ensure she gets the specialty care she needs. We have had an incredible response from the medical community in San Diego, and our physician colleagues in Mexico are doing an amazing job of working with each other and with other health care officials to provide all of the refugees with the care they need. As doctors, our calling is to care for the sick and suffering. We are treating these refugees the same way we would treat any of our own patients in the U.S. with respect and compassion. There are so many stories across this human rights crisis, stories that need to be heard so that we can seek long-term solutions for people fleeing violence. In the meantime, our coalition of medical providers is doing as much as we can to offer aid and relief while they wait and hope. Paola Avila, vice president of international business affairs, San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, and chair of the Border Trade Alliance Those who live in our border region know that the international boundary between the U.S. and Mexico is not what divides us, but what brings us together and makes us better. With complimentary assets, we share an integrated manufacturing supply chain worth $2.5 billion. We also share a workforce, which allows our businesses to grow and flourish. The commercial exchange between Tijuana and San Diego is valued at $2.1 million per day. And together, we have an economy valued at $255 billion. It extends beyond just the economy. Our cultures, history and families also are linked. That means our challenges are shared as well. For years, we have worked together to enhance our ports of entry, address transboundary water pollution and improve our immigration policies. The crisis of the migrants amassed in Tijuana further highlights the urgent need to comprehensively reform our immigration policies. The current situation must be addressed collaboratively. Closing the border is not the answer. It shouldnt even be an option. The closures over the last couple of weeks have a direct, adverse impact on our regional economy both in the short and long term. Closing the border creates uncertainty and unpredictability, which has discouraged trade and travel. At the San Ysidro Port of Entry alone, more than 70,000 vehicles and 25,000 pedestrians cross into the U.S. daily. Cutting off our cross-border connectivity, even for one day, resulted in businesses shutting down for the day. Retail and tourism sectors are not the only industries affected by border closures or delays. Various industries from manufacturing to construction depend on our regions interconnectivity. Ninety percent of Californias total exports to Mexico pass through San Diegos land ports of entry. Closure of any of them would yield immediate repercussions felt statewide. Our binational region recognizes the border as an opportunity and has worked over the years to increase our connectivity. The San Diego region is a national model for successful and productive cross-border commerce. We must continue this work, because our future depends on it. Editors note: The Border Patrol declined the U-Ts invitation to contribute an an op-ed for this package. Re Mueller urges Flynn serve no time (Dec. 5): It appears that Donald Trump either did not understand or underestimated Robert Muellers ability to secure information. Mueller has his own form of a pardon - reduced sentences and amnesty for subjects who cooperate. This combined with peoples distrust of Trump as a person who disregards the truth, will be his downfall - as it should be. Ronald Harris Scripps Ranch Advertisement Mueller conviction list just keeps growing So the number of convictions of persons associated with our fearless leader is now seven. I remember an old statement, something to the effect of, If you want to know what kind of person you are, look at five people you associate with. I wonder whether we will be more surprised if Muellers results exonerate or find evidence of wrongdoing? Tom Harpley San Diego Letters and commentary policy The U-T welcomes and encourages community dialogue on important public matters. Please visit this page for more details on our letters and commentaries policy. You can email letters@sduniontribune.com or leave a comment below. Follow @UTLetters on Twitter and UTOpinion on Facebook. Lightly edited comments from our online coverage. Re California will soon tire of Democratic leadership (Dec. 4): Nothing will change in this state, we will still have mediocre to bad schools, our roads will still never get fixed, it will be harder for small and medium size businesses to operate and cover the costs of regulation. California will be just like Europe where only large companies that can afford the costs of regulation can operate. Most people will either work for a large corporation, the government or have a small side hustle that does not pay taxes. SoCalBaker Joined May 27, 2016 Advertisement It will take a California bankruptcy for the constituents to get a clue. They will see it. nomorerinos Joined Feb. 1, 2017 That scenario is unlikely with the current $9 billion budget surplus. The biggest threat to Californias economy is probably the coming trade war with China, pushed by reactionary federal foreign policy. Ray H. Ramage Joined May 5, 2106 The GOP is finished in California. It is a party that is mired in the past. With racist and hurtful policies. The Democrats will rule for decades to come. w16521 Joined Feb. 1, 2017 As long as both parties remain polarized and put themselves above country or state, single-party rule will always be a bad thing. Our system works only when checks and balances are firmly in place. Our best hope lies in the increasing number of self-identified independent and swing voters, who have no real allegiance to either party, but who prefer to think for themselves and recognize, as the letter writer noted, that we need government that balances our citizens broad range of circumstances, needs and beliefs. Compromise is not a dirty word it is the only path forward. Democracy is a messy form of government, but I wouldnt have it any other way. j.eldon Joined June 21, 2016 Re Migrant caravan should not be Californias problem (Dec. 4): The letter writer proposes that our leaders, including Gavin Newsom, advocate for hard-working Americans, American veterans, American fire victims and Americans that are really mentally/physically challenged? Where is your compassion, morality and sense of decency? Yes! I am being sarcastic. fdbiddle Joined April 17, 2106 This article made me laugh and Im still laughing. You mean to tell me that sanctuary state California cant deal with the problems it has been begging for in each election over the past 15 years? Too funny. Jo Jo Baxter Joined May 27, 2016 Re Stocks tank: Did Wall Street fall for one of Trumps whoppers? (Dec. 4): The Dow is not tanking. The Dow closed at 24,719.22 on the last trading day of 2017. It closed at 25027.22 on Tuesday. Thats up 1.3 percent for the year. Care to revise your facts? Ill check back later. satyr0 June 14, 2016 Sorry friend but the Dow has lost almost 9 percent since October. No matter how you want to look at it, its tanking. Gordon M Joined Oct. 26, 2106 First of all, investors do not like uncertainty, which is what Trump elicits. They also do not like tariffs, which cause trade wars. All the gains that were made this year have been wiped out. Trump does not truly understand what he has caused. fbookheim Joined April 17, 2016 Letters and commentary policy The U-T welcomes and encourages community dialogue on important public matters. Please visit this page for more details on our letters and commentaries policy. You can email letters@sduniontribune.com or leave a comment below. Follow @UTLetters on Twitter and UTOpinion on Facebook. Carl Kruse clawed his way to the top this week. Nice work, sir. He will receive Steve Breens signed original in the mail. Thanks to all those who participated. Next weeks cartoon is below. Please remember to limit your submissions to three and keep em brief. Good luck! Winner OK, we make our move when he turns for a selfie. Carl Kruse, Poway Finalists Let us prey. Blaine Ziolkowski, Thousand Oaks Advertisement Wipe that smile off your face. Were supposed to be savage beasts. Bob Klein, La Mesa Do something cute ... they love cats. Well be all over the internet. Shirley Miller, San Diego When nature calls, you just gotta ignore the bystanders. Burt Smith, Oceanside Oh, look! A buffet ... Matthew Thomas, Fallbrook They look like they come in different flavors, but they all really taste the same. Elwood Miller, Rancho Penasquitos I decided to stop sleeping 20 hours a day and make something of myself. Sara Mationg, Imperial Beach Well, its a better gig than working for Siegfried and Roy. Noah Mationg, Imperial Beach All we need is a good bottle of wine. Barbara and Ed McCullough, Vista K-12 Simbas dad died because he couldnt Mufasa enough. Gabriel Leute, seventh grade, Correia Middle School Hey, lets do absolutely nothing so they kinda waste their money. Zion Taylor, sixth grade, Dana Middle School You go left, Ill go right. Ben Lewis, sixth grade, Muirlands Middle School I think we should have human asada. Adrian Ferreira, sixth grade, Muirlands Middle School I tried to ask the lion in my wardrobe what these people were doing here and he said it was Narnia business. Emily Beneventi, seventh grade, Correia Middle School This time I get to be Simba and youre going to be Scar. Alex Hill, seventh grade, Correia Middle School How would they like it if we went to their house and took pictures of them? Edward Barrett, fifth grade, Baker Elementary School Humans are friends, not food. Noah Chrisman, eighth grade, Correia Middle School Well, at least I still have my pride. Jacob Mationg, 11th grade, Olympian High School Next weeks cartoon To enter, email entries to cartooncontest@sduniontribune.com by 10 a.m. Tuesday. Please remember to limit your submissions to three and keep em brief. View last weeks winners. More than 300 homeless adults evacuated from downtown tent shelter to Mission Valley stadium amid heavy rain, flooding The flooding at the shelter run by the Alpha Project occurred amid a countywide flash flood warning from the National Weather Service that expired at 8:30 p.m. The Alpha Projects 324 clients the shelter was at capacity were bused to a temporary 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. Valley Cottage, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 12/05/2018 -- Apart from accurately depicting the position of aircraft and relatable information, demand for air traffic control equipment has increased multifold in recent times, considering its paramount utility in navigation and surveillance in various aircraft operations. Data processing innovations and advancements in the communication technologies has been providing major opportunities for the market players as the demand for air traffic control equipment continues to rise in the aviation industry. Technological Advancements Fostering Growth of Air Traffic Control Equipment Market Automation plays a crucial role when it comes to enhancing the capabilities of the air traffic control. The deployment of automation in the air traffic control equipment is witnessed in the major aviation bases. The deployment of automation systems in air traffic control centers by FAA is one instance, where the involvement of automation as key market driver could be observed. Request to Sample of Report @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-4841 Moreover, technologies innovations such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) are also expected to provide future avenues to the providers of air traffic control equipment. Ottawa's Searidge Technologies, an air navigation service provider and a company recognized as a major air traffic control equipment market player is partnering with the United Arab Emirates General Civil Aviation Authority for developing applications and conducting research for AI in air traffic control. Furthermore, the emergence of smart airports is expected to significantly boost the demand for air traffic control equipment to achieve next-generation navigation and control. Emerging Regions to Witness Key Investments by Major Manufacturers Amongst the key regions that hold a significant scope for air traffic control equipment, the North American market has witnessed developments in the form of investment strategies that allow effective business opportunities. For example, Raytheon Company, a key player in the air traffic control equipment market plans to invest $72 million in a manufacturing unit in Massachusetts campus which would a have industry's leading manufacturing innovations. The space would deliver advanced automation technology to foster the integration and complex testing of radars. BAE Systems, recognized as a key air traffic control equipment market contributor has entered into a contract with the U.S. Navy in accordance to which it is expected to support landing systems and air traffic control equipment at shore facilities and on ships. With such opportunities in the United States, air traffic control equipment providers could expect increasing profit in business while investing in this region. Europe has also been highlighting a promising future for the air traffic control equipment market with the increasing collaborations to suffice air traffic management needs. The partnership between HungaroControl and Azeraeronavigation Air Traffic Control Center (AZANS) for providing air navigation services in Azerbaijan. Such collaborations in Europe are expected to drive the growth of the air traffic control equipment market. Increasing Demand for Air Traffic Control Equipment to Provide Growth Avenues for Market Participants The market players in the air traffic control equipment market are grabbing major business opportunities as the demand for the product escalates. The market players are continuously seeking key opportunities to extend their capabilities. For instance, the France-based Thales group is supporting a program for modernization of surveillance radars in Saudi Arabia. Thales is recognized as a major supplier of air traffic control equipment in the region. This deal acts as a crucial commitment for Thales group as they focus on broadening their support in the civil aviation domain to the Kingdom. Another major player in the air traffic control equipment market, Raytheon Company, is also working towards providing effective solutions to FAA with a contract of over $70 million. With respect to this contract, the company focused on enabling futuristic next-generation air traffic control equipment and air traffic control tools which would enhance the efficiency and safety of National Airspace System. Collaborations and mergers have been a crucial strategy for companies as they focus on business expansion and growth. Similar merger between the key market participant, Harris Corporation and defense giant L3 technologies resulted in a largest defense merger. The combined company would offer an extensive portfolio of products including secret space hardware, military radios, and air traffic control system. Segmentation of Air Traffic Control Equipment Market Based on Device type, Application & End use The air traffic control equipment market is classified in accordance with the type of device, its application, and the end use sector. A broader classification based on the region also helps in understanding the scope of the air traffic control equipment market. Based on the device type, the air traffic control equipment market is subdivided into proximity devices, information system devices, radar devices, simulator devices, and safety and navigational devices. The application segments in the air traffic control equipment market include surveillance, navigation, and communication. According to the end use, the air traffic control equipment market is classified into commercial and cargo aircraft, defense aircraft, and private aircraft. Request Report for TOC @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-4841 The report on air traffic control equipment market exhibits a comprehensive evaluation of the overall market. It comprises of the facts and historical data, meaningful insights, and industry-verified and statistically-backed data providing a better understanding of the air traffic control equipment market. The report includes estimations using adequate set of methodologies and assumptions. The research report on air traffic control equipment market provides evaluations and data based on regions, technology, market segments, and applications. Pune, India -- (SBWIRE) -- 12/06/2018 -- Market Research Future (MRFR) has published a research report about the Brazil medical devices market that adumbrates massive growth during the forecast period between 2017 and 2023, with a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 9%. In terms of cash, it is expected to grow from the current US $ 1100 mn to US $ 1844 mn by the end of the forecast period. When devices like injections and stethoscope entered the world of medical sciences, their roles were limited. Science made progress, and today there are various kinds of machines that are integral to medical sciences. Today, people judge how good, or bad the medical facilities in a region or a particular hospital are, on the basis of what kind of advanced medical devices are available in that hospital. Some hospitals justify expensive medical treatments as they want money to maintain all the sophisticated devices and big machines that they use for medical diagnosis and treatment. However, due to more advanced devices are coming up every day, costs of devices with obsolete technology goes down. Today, the market for medical devices is rising due to various factors including advancements in connectivity and processing power of devices, cloud integration, demand for early detection and noninvasive therapies (like those for cancer), development of stronger biocompatible materials growth of healthcare mobile applications, growing awareness and spread of information technology (IT). Due to the falling cost of production, some medical devices are available today at nominal prices. Their usage can also boost the Brazil medical devices market. Get Sample Report @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/2869 Brazil Medical Devices Market - Key Players Some of the key players in this market are: Johnson & Johnson General Electric Medtronic Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV. Baxter International Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. Cardinal Health Boston Scientific Corporation Jude Medical Inc. Hitachi Medical Corporation Siemens Ltd Brazil Medical Devices Market - Latest News Thubrikar Aortic Valve, Inc., a privately held medical device company is developing a next-generation Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI) system. Its licensee, Labcor Laboratorios of Brazil, is set to receive an additional investment of $460,000 cash and a $500,000 promissory note, to widen the reach of TAVI when it gets released. Labcor is a world-renowned company that specializes in the manufacturing of biological prostheses. InspireMD, Inc., a leader in embolic prevention systems (EPS), neurovascular devices, and thrombus management technologies that announced that CGuard EPS was featured at the SBHCI Congress. Sponsored by the Brazilian Society of Hemodynamics and Interventional Cardiology, SBHCI Congress took place in Curitiba, Brazil from June 13-15, 2018. It hosted approximately 1,200 participants including doctors from across Brazil and Central and South America. Brazil Medical Devices Market - Segments Brazil Medical Devices Market has been segmented on the basis of product type which comprises monitoring devices, diagnostic devices, diagnostic molecular devices, drug delivery devices, surgical devices, bio implants and stimulation devices, automation and robotics and others. On the basis of therapeutic application; market is segmented into general surgery, diagnostic imaging, respiratory, orthopedics, cardiovascular, dental, neurology, ophthalmology, ear-nose-throat (ENT), nephrology and urology, and others. On the basis of end users; market is segmented hospitals, ambulatory and home. Brazil Medical Devices Market - Regional Analysis The healthcare sector of Brazil is divided between private and state with the public healthcare accounting for approximately 45% of total health expenditure in 2014. Local manufacturing represents a poor outlook which is limited to consumables and ordinary articles and there are a handful of high tech devices manufacturers. Another important factor to be considered is the extreme dependency of Brazil on imports which account for approximately 75% of total market for medical devices. U.S. medical device suppliers dominate the scenario with Europe in the second position. China is expected to substitute the western nations especially in low end devices which will be the fastest segment. Among the regions of Brazil, Sao Paulo, Minas Gerais, Bahia, Rio de Janeiro and Parana tops the healthcare expenditure list. The differential healthcare regional availability in Brazil with extreme social and economic differentiation of the Brazilian population are further threats to the market. Brazil also has poor healthcare in its vast rural areas with a few cities dominating the scenario such as Sao Paulo. Browse Complete 60 Pages Premium Research Report Enabled with Tables and Figures @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/medical-devices-market-2869 Major TOC 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 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. 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. Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 12/07/2018 -- Electricity plays a crucial role in modern life. Forklift battery possess a broad range of applications. Historically, the term 'battery' was used to refer to a device composed of multiple cells, but the usage of batteries has evolved substantially to include devices composed of a single cell. Demand for electricity is increasing exponentially around the world. Governments in various countries are undertaking modernization and development of their power generation infrastructure. Both developed and developing countries are undertaking efforts to develop new power generation, transmission, distribution infrastructure and revamp existing infrastructure. Read Report Overview @ https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/forklift-battery-market.html The forklift battery market can be segmented based on type, application, and region. Based on type, the forklift battery market can be classified into lead-acid battery, nickel-cadmium battery, and sodium-sulfur battery. Lead-acid batteries power most of the electric forklifts manufactured globally. These batteries are cost-effective and offer benefits such as high resilience in difficult environmental conditions involving dirt, chemicals, and vibrations. The maintenance costs of lead-acid batteries could be monitored and improved with inexpensive technology to reduce the total cost of ownership. Advanced charging technologies can bring up the efficiency to 90%, with power factors approaching 99%. It helps in keeping utility costs economical. In terms of application, the forklift battery market can be categorized into warehouse, manufacturing, construction, and others. Electric forklifts are being replaced by fuel cell forklifts. Technical innovations such as fast and opportunity charging during operator downtime add to the cost efficiency of lead-acid batteries. Rise in demand for green products is a major trend in the forklift battery market. Manufacturers of forklift batteries are increasingly focusing on developing efficient quality batteries with less detrimental impact on the environment. The tensile strength and fatigue strength of the forklift battery joint are low. These are some of the restraints of the forklift battery market. Technological advancements are emerging in order to reduce forklift battery manufacturing cost with an aim to provide environmentally friendly and safe electrical solutions. In terms of region, countries in Asia Pacific such as India, China, and Japan are investing significantly in development of forklift batteries with environmentally friendly and halogen-free insulation. Several end-users are replacing their old equipment such as transmission and distribution transformers, power cables, circuit breakers, and switchgears with technically advanced transmission and distribution equipment to revamp their existing transmission networks. It is widely used to store electricity. North America offers high potential for the forklift battery market. The usage of forklift batteries is expected to increase in North America, as the U.S. government plans to refurbish infrastructure and produce eco-friendly energy distribution and transmission control systems. This is driving demand for forklift batteries. Request to view Sample eport: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=44174 Countries in Europe such as Germany, France, Sweden, and the U.K. are increasing their focus on infrastructure investments for the development and improvement of renewable energy projects. This is anticipated to create the need to connect renewable energy sources to the grid network, thereby augmenting the usage of forklift batteries due to their properties such as low transmission loss. The forklift battery market in Middle East & Africa is anticipated to expand in the near future. Countries such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar have invested significantly in forklift batteries for development of infrastructure. Key players operating in the forklift battery market include Exide Industries, East Penn Manufacturing, Navitas System, Chloride Batteries, and Johnson Controls. New York, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 12/06/2018 -- Qyresearchreports include new market research report HVAC System to its huge collection of research reports. This report studies the global HVAC System market status and forecast, categorizes the global HVAC System 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, Central & South America, and Middle East & Africa). The major manufacturers covered in this report Daikin Ingersoll-Rand Johnson Controls LG Electronics United Technologies Electrolux Emerson Honeywell ... Year End Offer Get 15% off on All Reports: https://www.qyresearchreports.com/year-end-offer The regional scope of the study is as follows: North America United States Canada Mexico Asia-Pacific China India Japan South Korea Australia Indonesia ... The study objectives of this report are: To analyze and study the global HVAC System capacity, production, value, consumption, status (2013-2017) and forecast (2018-2025); Focuses on the key HVAC System 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. For more info, get sample report for FREE here: https://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=1752641&type=S 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 Stakeholders HVAC System Manufacturers HVAC System Distributors/Traders/Wholesalers HVAC System Subcomponent Manufacturers Industry Association Downstream Vendors Table of Contents 1 HVAC System Market Overview 1.1 Product Overview and Scope of HVAC System 1.2 HVAC System Segment By Heating Equipment 1.2.1 Global HVAC System Production and CAGR (%) Comparison By Heating Equipment (Product Category)(2013-2025) 1.2.2 Global HVAC System Production Market Share By Heating Equipment (Product Category) in 2017 1.2.3 Heat Pumps 1.2.4 Furnaces 1.2.5 Boilers 1.2.6 Unitary Heaters 1.3 HVAC System Segment By Ventilation Equipment 1.3.1 Humidifiers 1.3.2 Dehumidifiers 1.3.3 Air Purifiers 1.3.4 Air Filters 1.3.5 Ventilation Fans 1.3.6 Air Handling Units Browse Complete Research Report at: https://www.qyresearchreports.com/report/global-hvac-system-market-research-report-2018.htm 1.4 HVAC System Segment By Cooling Equipment 1.4.1 Room Air Conditioners 1.4.2 Unitary Air Conditioners 1.4.3 Chillers 1.4.4 Coolers 1.4.5 Cooling Towers 1.4.6 VRF Systems 1.5 Global HVAC System Segment by Application 1.5.1 HVAC System Consumption (Sales) Comparison by Application (2013-2025) 1.5.2 Residential 1.5.3 Commercial 1.5.4 Industrial 1.6 Global HVAC System Market by Region (2013-2025) ... 2 Global HVAC System Market Competition by Manufacturers 2.1 Global HVAC System Capacity, Production and Share by Manufacturers (2013-2018) 2.1.1 Global HVAC System Capacity and Share by Manufacturers (2013-2018) 2.1.2 Global HVAC System Production and Share by Manufacturers (2013-2018) 2.2 Global HVAC System Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2013-2018) 2.3 Global HVAC System Average Price by Manufacturers (2013-2018) 2.4 Manufacturers HVAC System Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area and Product Type 2.5 HVAC System Market Competitive Situation and Trends 2.5.1 HVAC System Market Concentration Rate 2.5.2 HVAC System Market Share of Top 3 and Top 5 Manufacturers 2.5.3 Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion 3 Global HVAC System Capacity, Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2013-2018) 3.1 Global HVAC System Capacity and Market Share by Region (2013-2018) 3.2 Global HVAC System Production and Market Share by Region (2013-2018) 3.3 Global HVAC System Revenue (Value) and Market Share by Region (2013-2018) 3.4 Global HVAC System Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018) 3.5 North America HVAC System Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018) 3.6 Europe HVAC System Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018) ... List of Tables and Figures Figure Picture of HVAC System Figure Global HVAC System Production (K Units) and CAGR (%) Comparison by Types (Product Category) (2013-2025) Figure Global HVAC System Production Market Share by Types (Product Category) in 2017 Figure Product Picture of Heat Pumps Table Major Manufacturers of Heat Pumps Figure Product Picture of Furnaces Table Major Manufacturers of Furnaces Figure Product Picture of Boilers Table Major Manufacturers of Boilers Figure Product Picture of Unitary Heaters Table Major Manufacturers of Unitary Heaters Figure Global HVAC System Consumption (K Units) by Applications (2013-2025) Figure Global HVAC System Consumption Market Share by Applications in 2017 Figure Residential Examples Table Key Downstream Customer in Residential Figure Commercial Examples Table Key Downstream Customer in Commercial ... About QYResearchReports QYResearchReports 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 feature valuable recommendations on how to navigate in the extremely unpredictable yet highly attractive Chinese market. Contact Us: Brooklyn, NY 11230 United States Toll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA) Tel: +1-518-618-1030 Web: http://www.qyresearchreports.com Email: sales@qyresearchreports.com In October 2017, a fast moving object of extrasolar origin, named Oumuamua, was discovered close to the Earth with a ground-based telescope in Hawaii. Motivated by the hypothesis that Oumuamua could conceivably be an interstellar probe, astronomers from the SETI Institute used the Allen Telescope Array (ATA) to search for radio transmissions that would indicate a non-natural origin for the object. Following its discovery in October 2017, Oumuamua was the subject of popular speculation about a possible non-natural origin. Its highly elongated shape and the fact that no coma was observed strengthened this hypothesis for some, as these are uncharacteristic of asteroids and comets. A recent paper by Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics researchers Dr. Shmuel Bialy and Professor Abraham Loeb has also suggested the possibility that Oumuamua is a deliberate construction. The scientists argued that the slight, unexpected acceleration observed for this object could be caused by pressure from sunlight as Oumumua swung around the Sun. Their hypothesis is that the object might be a light sail, either deliberately or accidentally sent our way. A deliberate origin is considered somewhat more likely because our Solar System is a very small target for any object that is not being aimed. Such arguments strengthen the importance of observations that can constrain the true nature of Oumuamua. We were looking for a signal that would prove that this object incorporates some technology that it was of artificial origin, said SETI Institute researcher Dr. Gerry Harp, lead author of a paper published online in the journal Acta Astronautica. We didnt find any such emissions, despite a quite sensitive search. While our observations dont conclusively rule out a non-natural origin for Oumuamua, they constitute important data in assessing its likely makeup. Dr. Harp and co-authors observed Oumuamua when it was about 170 million miles away, or slightly less than the diameter of Earths orbit. The observations were made between November 23 and December 5, 2017, using the wide-band correlator of the ATA at frequencies between 1 and 10 GHz and with a frequency resolution of 100 kHz. No signals were found at a level that would be produced by an omnidirectional transmitter on-board the object of a power of about 10 watts or more. In portions of the radio spectrum that are routinely cluttered by artificial satellite telemetry, the threshold for detection was higher. In all cases, these limits to the powers that could be detected are quite modest comparable to that of a citizen band radio. _____ G.R. Harp et al. 2019. Radio SETI observations of the interstellar object Oumuamua. Acta Astronautica 155: 51-54; doi: 10.1016/j.actaastro.2018.10.046 Press Release December 7, 2018 De Lima urges Senate's swift action on human rights defender's bill Opposition Senator Leila M. de Lima has called on the Senate leadership to act with dispatch on a House counterpart measure in the Senate seeking to promote and protect human rights defenders against harassment, intimidation and abuses. De Lima, a known human rights activist here and abroad, said the Senate, notably the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights, should take a cue on the urgency of passing into law the Senate Bill (SB) No. 1699 which she filed early this year. "It is very encouraging to learn that the House leadership is vigorously pushing for the immediate passage of a measure protecting human rights defenders, especially at a time when human rights defenders are now under serious attacks," she said. "I enjoin my colleagues in the Senate to act on a counterpart measure as part of our solidarity and commitment to Universal Declaration of Human Rights which we shall commemorate its 70th year this coming Dec. 10, she added. Last Dec. 4, the House Committee on Human Rights chaired by Zambales Rep. Cheryl Deloso-Montalla has approved a measure which seeks to define the rights and fundamental freedoms of human rights defenders. Known as the Human Rights Defenders (HRD) Bill, the measure also seeks to mandate government agencies to act within three days all reports about possible human rights violations committed against human rights workers and activitists. In her message at the National Summit of Human Rights Defenders at the Cocoon Hotel, Quezon City on Dec. 5, De Lima called for concerted efforts among human rights groups to push for the passage of a counterpart measure in the Senate. "Ang mas malaking hamon sa ating mga HRDs: ang magpunyagi para makamit ang isang pulitikal at lehislatibong kahandaan para tuluyang maisabatas ang sistemang poprotekta sa gawain at kapakanan ng mga nagtataguyod ng karapatang pantao," she said. Last February, De Lima has filed a counterpart measure, logged as Senate Bill 1699, which has, to date, remained unacted upon by the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights chaired by Sen. Richard J. Gordon. Under SB No. 1699, also known as the "Human Rights Defenders Act of 2018," it is the government's obligation to ensure protection of HRDs against intimidation and unlawful intrusion by any public or private individual. The Senator from Bicol said HRDs and civil society groups should work hard to make ordinary people and government leaders understand the importance of upholding the rights of HRDs, amid efforts by some quarters to paint them as enemies of the state. "Kritikal dito ang ipanalo sa isip at puso ng mga Pilipino na ang ating mga karapatan ay may tunay na kahulugan at pakinabang sa indibidwal na buhay ng bawat isa, at may saysay sa pagsasaayos ng bansa," she said. "Mahalaga ring maihakayat ang sapat na bilang ng mga lider na tataya para sa karapatang pantao at maniniwalang mahalaga ang mga ipinaglalaban ng mga HRDs," she added. De Lima maintained that the campaign for the passage of the HRD Protection Act cannot and should not be divorced from the larger struggle for restoration of democracy, respect for sovereignty and rule of law, and triumph of social justice in the Philippines. "We must establish the broadest coalition of geographical and sectoral formations under a common banner of dignity and freedom for all. We must also seek to be understood in the language of the ordinary Filipinos," she said. In last year's Report of the UN Working Group on the Philippines' Universal Periodic Review, it recommended, among others, the adoption of a national law for the promotion of the rights of the HRDs. Elena Trout and Rodger Blakeley have been appointed by the government to examine last years fuel pipeline shutdown in Northland and identify any lessons it has for the resilience of the countrys fuel supplies. The 170-kilometre pipeline from the Marsden Point oil refinery to the Wiri fuel terminal in South Auckland delivers about 95 percent of Aucklands fuel and all its jet fuel. The 10-day shutdown in September 2017 caused widespread travel disruption. Airlines had to ration their fuel and tanks in Christchurch and Wellington were converted to handle jet fuel. Emergency regulations were put in place to enable jet fuel to be trucked from Marsden Point, and tanks at Wyndham Terminal in Auckland were converted to receive jet fuel. Tanker deliveries were diverted and road shipments coordinated across the North Island to ensure sufficient petrol and diesel supplies for Auckland. The terms of reference issued today, almost a year after the inquiry was announced, instruct Trout and Blakeley to inquire into the causes, contributory factors and impacts of the outage and the operational responses and risk management practices of Refining NZ, fuel suppliers, airlines, and national and regional civil defence organisations. They are not to consider criminal or civil liability. The six-month inquiry is to then report back to Energy and Resources Minister Megan Woods with any recommendations regarding the resilience of fuel supply in the Auckland region, and any other relevant matters. Trout is a company director, a former president of Engineering New Zealand and a former member of the Electricity Authority. Blakeley was chief executive of the Ministry for the Environment and spent five years as chief planning manager for Auckland Council from 2010. The timing of the inquiry is ironic given Bulk Storage Terminals site on the southern end of Wyndham wharf and part of the Stolt-Nielsen operation there is currently being cleared to make space for the Americas Cup. The rest of the wharf is scheduled to be cleared from 2022. Auckland Council, which has proposed using the area for an urban park, says it has no plan for identifying wharf-side fuel storage to replace the Stolt-Nielsen assets. Aucklands reliance on the pipeline, and the increasingly tight jet fuel supplies for Auckland International Airport, were well-known to Auckland Council, the government and its predecessor. Options for additional jet fuel storage were highlighted in a national review of fuel security in 2012. Just prior to the shutdown, consultants Hale & Twomey provided an update of that earlier work to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. They specifically identified the importance of alternative wharf-side storage in Auckland in the event of a jet fuel outage, and the growing need for additional jet storage. Their report noted the important role the Wynyard wharf facilities in central Auckland would play should there be a significant disruption to normal Auckland supply. This needs to be considered when Auckland Council makes decisions regarding the relocation of these key facilities, the authors said. Wiri throughputs have increased significantly, particularly for jet fuel. Constructing additional storage near the Roscommon Road boundary, as noted in the Auckland Council Planning Hearings, would greatly increase the terminals resilience. The consultants advice, to convert part of the Wyndham storage to receive jet fuel, was drawn on during the shutdown. The shutdown cost Refining NZ about $14.3 million, including $6 million of repairs and a similar sum in lost processing fees. Insurance recovered part of that. Z Energy, which also operates the Caltex chain, estimated its losses from the shutdown at $5 million. In May Air New Zealand began High Court proceedings against Z and BP. It was claiming $4.3 million from Z. A Northland Regional Council investigation found the damage to the pipe near Ruakaka had probably been caused by unlawful use of a digger in mid-2014 but it was unable to identify the user to prosecute them. It found the refinery had no causative role in the pipelines failure. (BusinessDesk) Comments from our readers No comments yet Add your comment: Your name: Your email: Not displayed to the public Comment: Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved. Anti-spam verification: Type the text you see in the image into the field below. You are asked to do this in order to verify that this enquiry is not being performed by an automated process. Related News: Greenfern Industries Limited (NZX: GFI) Releases Interim Results Hallenstein Glasson Holdings Limited (NZX: HLG) Announcement of Final Dividend 26th November 2021 Morning Report EROAD Limited (NZX: ERD) Accelerates Towards Next Phase of Growth Green Cross Health Limited (NZX: GXH) REPORTS STRONG HALF YEAR PROFIT OF $9.7M Stride Property Ltd & Stride Investment Management Ltd (NZ: SPG) Placement Size Increased Following Strong Demand General Capital Limited (NZX: GEN) Announces Very Strong Growth 25th November 2021 Morning Report Gentrack Group Limited (NZ: GTK) Annual Results for the Year Ended 30 September 2021 Pacific Edge Limited (NZX: PEB) Results for Six Months Ended 30 September 2021 The directors of Vital Healthcare Property Trusts manager are insisting that theyre complying with their own board charter, even though its clear that isnt true. The directors are also reiterating previous arguments as to why Vitals investors should vote against a number of proposals put forward by three institutional investors, ANZ Investment Funds, Mint Asset Management and Accident Compensation Corp. Following public pressure from those investors, the manager, which is owned by Canada-based NorthWest Healthcare Properties Real Estate Investment Trust, has announced a board-led review of its fee structure. But the board charter which was updated in August says that when there are conflicts of interest between NorthWest and Vitals investors, a committee of independent directors should be making decisions. The board recognises that there may be circumstances in which the interests of unitholders and the companys shareholder may not be aligned, the board charter says. An example is where the fee entitlements of the manager or other contractual terms under the trust deed are under formal assessment (for instance, incentive fees) or review, it says. In such circumstances, the board may form a committee comprising the independent directors to represent the interests of the trust or more particularly, of unitholders. The charter states that the full board or established sub-committees can make decisions "absent circumstances of this nature". The board announced the review on Nov. 23 and said that the fee review will be led by the full board. Despite that, when BusinessDesk queried whether the directors are abiding by the board charter, their official response was: Yes, we are complying with the board charter. When BusinessDesk pointed out the discrepancy between this and what the board charter says, NorthWest sent a further response. "Vital is very conscious of the important role of the independent directors when it comes to negotiating fees, as it forms a sub-committee of independent directors on a regular basis. Independent directors will have a significant role in the fee review and will seek input from unitholders. The six-person board - which is the manager's board, not Vital's - has three NorthWest directors sitting on it. The rebel investors, who want an independent review of Vitals management fees, say the returns to NorthWest since it bought Vitals management contract for $11.5 million in 2011 have been spectacularly better than the returns to investors. In the explanatory notes to their resolution on the fee structure, they say that including incentive fees, per-unit earnings have fallen 19 percent over the last five years while the total base and incentive fees paid to NorthWest have increased by 481 percent. Actual distributions to Vitals investors have risen from 8.1 cents per unit to 8.56 cents, a 5.7 percent increase. However, Northwest is insisting that its interests are aligned with those of Vitals investors. There is a significant alignment of interests between (NorthWest) and the Vital unitholders with (NorthWest) being Vitals largest unitholder at just under 25 percent of the total units on issue, chair Claire Higgins says in todays statement. NorthWest has also made no mention of the managers board charter in deciding that Vital will lend it a total of $81 million to buy a 13.4 percent stake in ASX-listed Healthscope. The charter says that a further example of a circumstance in which a committee of independent directors should be making the decisions is where the shareholder of the manager is considering partnering with the trust on a transaction. While such partnering is clearly what NorthWest intends doing in relation to Healthscope, it has made no mention of any committee of independent directors driving any decisions. At the same time as NorthWest announced the fee review, it also undertook not to exercise its right to remove the independent directors in the meantime. Vitals trust deed allows NorthWest to sack the independent directors at will for any reason, a state of affairs NZX endorsed in 2007, which renders the assertion that any of the managers directors are independent a fiction. In todays statement, Higgins argues the letter of the law rather than the substance of the three investors arguments. Their proposals show a misunderstanding of the governance structure for Vital an externally managed listed trust rather than a listed company and suggest misleadingly that they will result in change. The investors acknowledge that Northwest holds all the cards. External manager structures such as Vitals generally result in conflicts of interest between the interests of the manager and the interests of unitholders, the dissident unitholders say in explanatory notes. Higgins also argues that Vital is delivering market-leading long-term total returns. While that is true over a five-year or 10-year period, the units have under-performed over the year-to-date, having fallen 4.5 percent while the benchmark NZX 50 Index has gained 4.3 percent. Higgins is also highlighting the irony that an ANZ unit is one of the three rebels, when it was ANZ which sold NorthWest Vitals management contract. That sale followed an investor revolt led by ACC, which rejected a proposal that Vitals investors buy the management contract for $8 million. ACCs attempt to get ANZ voted out as Vitals manager, a vote that needed the support of at least 75 percent of Vitals investors, failed miserably and paved the way for NorthWest to buy the management contract. (BusinessDesk) Comments from our readers No comments yet Add your comment: Your name: Your email: Not displayed to the public Comment: Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved. Anti-spam verification: Type the text you see in the image into the field below. You are asked to do this in order to verify that this enquiry is not being performed by an automated process. Related News: Greenfern Industries Limited (NZX: GFI) Releases Interim Results Hallenstein Glasson Holdings Limited (NZX: HLG) Announcement of Final Dividend 26th November 2021 Morning Report EROAD Limited (NZX: ERD) Accelerates Towards Next Phase of Growth Green Cross Health Limited (NZX: GXH) REPORTS STRONG HALF YEAR PROFIT OF $9.7M Stride Property Ltd & Stride Investment Management Ltd (NZ: SPG) Placement Size Increased Following Strong Demand General Capital Limited (NZX: GEN) Announces Very Strong Growth 25th November 2021 Morning Report Gentrack Group Limited (NZ: GTK) Annual Results for the Year Ended 30 September 2021 Pacific Edge Limited (NZX: PEB) Results for Six Months Ended 30 September 2021 The New Zealand dollar is steady on the week after ongoing worries about the China-US trade stoush were offset by news reports that the US Federal Reserve may signal a wait-and-see approach regarding rate hikes in 2019. The kiwi traded at 68.83 US cents versus 68.71 US cents at 8am in Wellington and 68.62 cents yesterday. It was at 68.78 cents last Friday in New York. The trade-weighted index was at 74.99 from 74.87 yesterday. The kiwi remained under pressure after the arrest of Huawei Technologies' chief financial officer Wanzhou Meng in Canada for extradition to the United States reignited fears over the US-China relationship. However, any fall was tempered after a Wall Street Journal report that said Federal Reserve officials are considering whether to signal a new wait-and-see approach after a likely interest-rate increase at their meeting in December, said Tim Kelleher, head of institutional foreign exchange sales at ASB Bank. According to the report, as officials push up their benchmark, they are becoming less sure how fast they will need to act or how far they will need to go. While any trade-related headlines are likely to push currencies around, Kelleher said tonight's US jobs data will be closely watched. Domestically the next key piece of data is the gross domestic product on Dec. 20. The kiwi traded at 95.15 Australian cents from 95.04 cents yesterday. Jason Wong, senior markets strategist for BNZ, said he now thinks the kiwi will hold up against the Aussie for longer. "Our updated forecasts have 0.95-0.96 being the new mid-point of a trading range that might well now be 0.93-0.98 through to the middle of next year." While the Australian economy outperformed NZ earlier in the year, "that dynamic appears to have switched over in the second half", he said. Another clear difference is the housing market, he said. Corelogic figures for Australia is showing house prices across the state capitals are down 5.5 percent year on year, with larger falls for Sydney and Melbourne, said Wong. NZ data shows house prices are holding up. The kiwi traded at 77.68 yen from 77.35 yen and increased to 4.7291 Chinese yuan from 4.7215 yuan. It was at 60.51 euro cents from 60.51 cents yesterday and fell to 53.89 British pence from 53.93 pence. New Zealand's two-year swap rate was unchanged at 2.04 percent; the 10-year swaps eased 2 basis point to 2.77 percent. (BusinessDesk) Comments from our readers No comments yet Add your comment: Your name: Your email: Not displayed to the public Comment: Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved. Anti-spam verification: Type the text you see in the image into the field below. You are asked to do this in order to verify that this enquiry is not being performed by an automated process. Related News: Greenfern Industries Limited (NZX: GFI) Releases Interim Results Hallenstein Glasson Holdings Limited (NZX: HLG) Announcement of Final Dividend 26th November 2021 Morning Report EROAD Limited (NZX: ERD) Accelerates Towards Next Phase of Growth Green Cross Health Limited (NZX: GXH) REPORTS STRONG HALF YEAR PROFIT OF $9.7M Stride Property Ltd & Stride Investment Management Ltd (NZ: SPG) Placement Size Increased Following Strong Demand General Capital Limited (NZX: GEN) Announces Very Strong Growth 25th November 2021 Morning Report Gentrack Group Limited (NZ: GTK) Annual Results for the Year Ended 30 September 2021 Pacific Edge Limited (NZX: PEB) Results for Six Months Ended 30 September 2021 Japan to ban government use of Huawei, ZTE products: reports Tokyo, Dec 7 (AFP) Dec 07, 2018 Japan is to ban government use of telecoms products made by Chinese tech giants Huawei and ZTE on concerns about cybersecurity, reports said Friday. The government plans to revise internal procurement rules to exclude products made by Huawei and ZTE as early as on Monday, the mass circulation Yomiuri Shimbun. Jiji Press agency also reported the expected move. The ban comes after a US request to allies to avoid products made by the two companies over fears they contain viruses used for cyberattacks, the Yomiuri said, citing unnamed government sources. Domestic products that use parts made by the two Chinese firms will also be excluded from government use, it said. The Yomiuri said the government was not expected to name the companies directly, so as to avoid angering China. Asked about the report, top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga declined to comment, adding Japan is "closely cooperating with the United States" on cybersecurity issues. The reports come after the arrest of a top Huawei executive infuriated China, sending global market wobbling on fears of intensifying tensions between Beijing and Washington. The detention of Meng Wanzhou, Huawei's chief financial officer, comes after American authorities reportedly launched an investigation into suspected Iran sanctions violations by Huawei. The firm was already under scrutiny by US intelligence officials who have deemed the company a national security threat. Huawei's affordable smartphones have made strong inroads in the developing world, but the company has faced repeated setbacks in major Western economies over security concerns. Huawei has been under scrutiny in Washington for more than a decade, and is facing bans for 5G contracts in Australia and New Zealand, both Pacific allies of the US. mis-kh/je Huawei arrest a 'despicable rogue' action: Chinese media Beijing, Dec 7 (AFP) Dec 07, 2018 Chinese state-run media on Friday condemned the arrest in Canada of a top executive of telecoms giant Huawei on a US extradition request as a "despicable rogue's approach" to contain Chinese high-tech ambitions. The arrest of Meng Wanzhou, Huawei's chief financial officer, has angered the Chinese government and raised concerns that it could disrupt a trade war truce between the world's two biggest economies. "The Chinese government should seriously mull over the US tendency to abuse legal procedures to suppress China's high-tech enterprises," said the nationalist tabloid Global Times in an editorial. "Obviously, Washington is resorting to a despicable rogue's approach as it cannot stop Huawei's 5G advance in the market," it said. The China Daily warned that "containing Huawei's expansion is detrimental to China-US ties." US authorities have not disclosed the charges she faces following a publication ban sought by Meng, but "one thing that is undoubtedly true and proven is the US is trying to do whatever it can to contain Huawei's expansion in the world simply because the company is the point man for China's competitive technology companies," the daily said. Though China's technology sector is still reliant on certain US exports like microchips, Beijing wants to transform the country into a global tech leader -- with a technological prowess rivalling the United States -- in a plan dubbed "Made in China 2025". Huawei is one of the world's largest telecommunications equipment and services providers. Its products are used by carriers around the world, including in Europe and Africa. But its US business has been tightly constrained by worries it could undermine American competitors and that its cellphones and networking equipment, used widely in other countries, could provide Beijing with avenues for espionage. Australia, New Zealand and Britain have followed suit this year by rejecting some of the company's services over security concerns. Chinese netizens have criticised Meng's arrest on Weibo, China's Twitter-like platform, where online trolls sometimes deliberately incite nationalist fervour or pro-government stances. Some users viewed the incident as part of the trade war -- and a broader conspiracy to keep down China's technological development. "One of the most important reasons why the US started the trade war was to attack China's technology sector and its 'Made in China 2025' plan," wrote one Weibo user. The goal is to keep China stuck in "low-end industries and force China into the middle income trap." The detention of Meng appears to be a "game of politics", wrote another user. The Huawei executive's arrest follows a US probe into the company's alleged violations of Iran sanctions. Earlier this year, another Chinese tech firm ZTE nearly collapsed after Washington banned US companies from selling crucial hardware and software components to it for seven years, though the ban was lifted after it agreed to pay a $1 billion fine. Thousands of Myanmar women forced into marriage in China: study Bangkok, Dec 7 (AFP) Dec 07, 2018 Thousands of vulnerable women and girls from northern Myanmar are being trafficked to China and forced to marry, a study said Friday, offering a rare look at an issue that grips the conflict-hit borderlands. China has around 33 million more women than men due to the decades-long one-child policy. To plug the gap tens of thousands of poor women from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam are sold as brides each year, some going willingly, while others are tricked or trafficked. In the first research of its kind, a report by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health estimated 7,500 women from war-torn Kachin and northern Shan states have fallen victim to forced marriage in China. Based on interviews with scores of people who escaped and returned to Myanmar, and others still inside China, the study found that the majority of those trafficked were also forced to carry a child for their husband. Women leave Myanmar because of "conflict, displacement and poverty" said report author W. Courtland Robinson, while "the male-female sex imbalance in China, especially in rural areas" means demand for a wife is high. One woman told researchers that she was trafficked into China three times, and each time "pushed into giving birth", said Moon Nay Li of Kachin Women's Association Thailand, who led the field research in Kachin and Shan states. "Because of political instability, conflict and land confiscation... security for women is a big challenge," she said. Marriages are often arranged and brokered by the women's own families and village elders, with brides-to-be unable to refuse as they are at the bottom of the social hierarchy. The youngest women command higher prices of up to $10-15,000. Their matches in China are typically to older, sick, or disabled men in rural areas -- people considered undesirable to the Han Chinese -- while the women's lack of documentation plunges them into a legal limbo. Some women have successful marriages and the issue of consent is complex and varies case-by-case, Robinson said. But all unions should be entered into without "threat, menace or penalty," he added. Researchers called for Myanmar to end the conflict in Kachin and Shan states, which has displaced tens of thousands of women, and to train anti-trafficking officials to enforce the law and recognise the women as victims. EU should worry about Huawei, other Chinese firms: official Brussels, Dec 7 (AFP) Dec 07, 2018 The European Union and its citizens should be "worried" about telecoms giant Huawei and other Chinese firms that cooperate with Beijing's intelligence services, a senior EU official warned Friday. European Commission Vice President Andrus Ansip issued the remarks after Meng Wanzhou, Huawei's chief financial officer and daughter of its founder, was arrested a week ago in Canada at Washington's request. The White House did not specify why she was detained but mentioned longstanding US concerns over Chinese firms using stolen intellectual property and how Beijing acquires information technology. "Do we (in Europe) have to be worried about Huawei or other Chinese companies?" Ansip asked during a press conference in Brussels. "Yes, I think we have to be worried about those companies because they set new rules according with their IT companies, their producers," Ansip said. "They have to cooperate with their intelligence services. And this is about mandatory backdoors," the former prime minister of Estonia added. He said he has long opposed such backdoors where the firm may use chips to obtain secrets from customers, though he pointed out little was known about concrete cases. "It's not a good sign when companies have to open their systems for some kind of secret services," he added. "As normal ordinary people of course we have to be afraid." Experts in the US see Meng's arrest last Saturday as a toughening stand in Washington on dealing with Chinese tech firms amid longstanding concerns over cyberespionage. Recent US federal law already bans military and government use of devices made by Huawei and fellow Chinese firm ZTE over security concerns. Federal regulators are also in the process of implementing rules that would bar Huawei for rolling out fifth-generation, or 5G, networks in the United States. Huawei has denied any ties to the Chinese government, but many in Washington are sceptical. Huawei is meanwhile facing bans for 5G contracts in Australia and New Zealand, and British telecom group BT revealed on Wednesday it was removing Huawei equipment from its core cellular network. zap-lc/nla ANZ - AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP ZTE Huawei exec faces fraud charges in US: Canada bail hearing Vancouver, Dec 7 (AFP) Dec 07, 2018 Chinese telecom giant Huawei's chief financial officer, arrested in Canada, faces US fraud charges for allegedly lying to banks about the use of a covert subsidiary to sell to Iran in breach of sanctions, a bail hearing heard Friday. Meng Wanzhou is accused of "conspiracy to defraud multiple financial institutions" and if convicted faces more than 30 years in prison, a Canadian government lawyer said, in asking the court to deny her bail request. The lawyer said that Meng had personally denied to American bankers any direct connections between Huawei and SkyCom, when in fact "SkyCom is Huawei." SkyCom's alleged sanctions breaches occurred from 2009 to 2014. He suggested that Meng has shown a pattern of avoiding the United States since becoming aware of the investigation into the matter, has no ties to Canada and has access to vast wealth and connections -- and thus poses a flight risk. Meng was arrested in Vancouver on December 1 while transferring planes on a trip from Hong Kong to Mexico, at the request of US authorities seeking her extradition. Page Content PHILIPSBURG The Marine industry has its challenges but the successes that the St. Maarten Marine industry has achieved over the years are worth celebrating and more importantly worth the full support of government, said Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Traffic & Telecommunication (TEATT), Stuart Johnson. His statement was made following a recent visit to Yacht Club Port de Plaisance which is operated by Marine Management / Jeff Boyd, one of the pioneers of the region in the Marine. Boyd who designed Isle Del Sol, Yacht Club Port de Plaisance and several others in other Countries, including St. Kitts took Minister Johnson on a tour of the facilities. As part of the Governing Program 2018 2022 for the St. Maarten United Christian Democratic Coalition, Johnson has been given the responsibility to ensure that the disaster management component of the Marine Trade Industry is revised. Johnson further commented that he is looking forward to working with the industry partners to strengthen the maritime facilities and services. The Mega Yacht industry has, and continues to play a vital role in providing St. Maarten with a unique quality of visitors and these visitor arrivals are crucial to our governments promise of providing a sustainable living for the people. Whenever there are super yachts docked at the various marinas, the economic activities that are generated as a direct result of their spending power are exponential as it goes beyond, car rentals, and restaurants, said Johnson. This is why I am committed through my Ministry to do whatever is necessary to get the industry back on track in a big way, said Johnson. Boyd explained the extensive damage the Dock sustained in 2017 when hurricane Irma devastated St. Maarten, resulting in a complete redesign, repair and some expansion work to accommodate several of the regular Mega Yachts that visit our island each year. Boyd told Johnson, I look forward to continuing the working relationship with you and appreciate your keen understanding of the importance of a robust marine industry to the future economic development of St Maarten which will be extremely refreshing. Minister Johnson said that the visit was crucial as his ministry is focusing over the next few weeks on ways to provide adequate support to the local partners in the Marine Industry. Johnson will be travelling to Antigua shortly to attend the Antigua Charter Yacht Show where he is expected to host captains and crew operators of Super Yachts from around the world. The event is being organised by Yacht Club Port de Plaisance as a night dedicated to celebrating all that St. Maarten now has to offer. During the event Minister Johnson will update guests on St. Maartens recovery efforts post-Irma and on the efforts made by the Government of St. Maarten to restore its longstanding status as the Caribbeans primary superyacht hub. Minister Johnson will mention new marina facilities, lowered crime rates and a cleaner island based on a dynamic approach by the Ministry of TEATT in collaboration with local environmental groups to ensure proper safeguards are in place for the preservation of marinas and marine life. Johnson said Boyd and Yacht Club Port de Plaisance like many others were excellent marine partners. He commended Boyd on especially his initiative to restore the Marker Buoys that were destroyed by the hurricane and his swift call to action to prepare for the arrival of the new mega and superyacht season. Mr. Boyd thanked Minister Johnson for his words of encouragement, but made it clear, that the management and staff of the marina led by Operations Director, Jesse Peterson, was where the real gratitude should be placed. They never lost focus and they never gave up A dock is basically concrete and bollards, but a Marina / Yacht Club is really about the people responsible for the experience our guests receive. Our team is one of the best and I am truly blessed to have them with me. Work is presently being done by predominantly local companies to restore the entire Yacht Facilities such as the bathrooms and offices which were damaged or completely destroyed by the hurricane. However, he said that the work is near completion. Mr. Boyd will also be travelling to Antigua on Saturday and will be taking one of the local DJs, Bossman from Soggy Dollar to entertain the Captains and crew members when they host the Dinner and Information Page Content POND ISLAND--On 6 December 2018, the University of St. Martin received its first significant corporate donation since Hurricane Irma. Carnival Corporation has secured a much-needed computer server equipment package worth over $31, 000 for the financially strapped university. The servers reached Philipsburg via the cruise ship Carnival Horizon and were delivered ceremoniously to mark the beginning of a new partnership. University administrators are reportedly pleased with the donation, as old servers are failing. This very generous donation on behalf of Carnival Corporation comes to us at a crucial time, said USM president Dr Antonio Carmona in written statements to the press on Thursday. Since September 2017, we have been going through a difficult time, and our computers and servers are running old, as is much of our other equipment which is used to prepare St. Maartens future teachers, business leaders and professionals. For this, we are eternally grateful. Upon the initiative of USM faculty member Sharon Freiburg and Carnival Vice President for Global Ports and Caribbean Government Relations, Marie McKenzie, a collaboration between the two entities began last July, when 10 Education, Business and Hospitality students were invited aboard the Carnival Princess. This was a great opportunity for students to learn and see our ship first-hand, said McKenzie. And now we are honoured to be able to make a difference in the lives of students at the University of St. Martin, especially after the devastating results of Hurricane Irma. We are always looking for ways to assist and give back to our port of call communities, especially within the education system, said Mike Pack, cruise director of Carnival Horizon. The Carnival Horizon team and the Carnival family, both on board and ashore, are so grateful that we can do our part in supporting the wonderful students in St. Maarten by providing the tools for fostering educational growth and development. Investing in higher education is an excellent opportunity to advance in the countrys continued recovery. As USM is the only university on the island serving the local population, it is essential for us to ensure its longevity. After meeting with Dr Carmona, we agreed that computer servers were an essential resource for both students and faculty alike. Carmona has expressed his enthusiasm for their future partnership. Ministry of Tourism and Economic Affairs, Transportation and Telecommunications (TEATT) said, Carnival Cruise line has been a key stakeholder in the Curies Tourism Industry on St. Maarten for many years. They continue to show their commitment to our destination, and we were happy to see their quick return to St. Maarten after we were devastated by hurricane Irma in 2017. Coming from the field of education, and as a USM Alumni, the University will always have a special place in my heart. Cruise Tourism, tourism in general and Education go hand in hand and are equally important for the sustainable redevelopment of St. Maarten. Therefore, especially with my vocation in education, I am excited to witness the very generous donation that Carnival Cruise Line has made to the USM. This will help to strengthen the Universitys position as it rebuilds and expands its reach to shine its bright light illuminating the pathway to the future for students from even more islands in the Caribbean. On behalf of the Government and the people of St. Maarten I want to say a special thank you to Carnival Cruise line for its very generous donation and continued commitment to St. Maarten. About data provided by (TEATT), cruise ship tourists are becoming less interested in retail and more attracted to onshore services; including tours and cultural activities. We hope to carry out more research in this area; hopefully our students can unveil this emerging niche as part of their studies, Carmona stated. McKenzie sees potential in linking business and hospitality students with cruise related internships or future mentorships for the multi-ethnic and multilingual student body. As St. Maarten continues to wait for the government to pass the Ordinance on Higher Education, thereby guaranteeing structural public funding, USM administrators have been pushed to solicit corporate giving. We are thinking creatively and forging new friendships with the private sector. We seek international liaisons and partnerships that are mutually beneficial, Carmona concluded. The reception took place at the port on the morning of 6 December. I am convinced that education plays a critical role in the sustainability of a country. Thus, it is truly a pleasure to witness a key stakeholder in St Maartens main industry giving back to education. Todays in-kind donation is a pleasant reminder that we all have a role to play in the rebuilding of the University of St Martin. I remain very grateful for the generosity of the Carnival Corporations and look forward to future collaborations said USM Dean of Academics Dr Rolinda Carter. Together with her colleagues, Dr Rolinda Carter was joined by Minister Stuart Johnson and CaribWorks IT consultants in welcoming the corporate donation System error error: Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. context: ... 21: 22: 23: % foreach my $c (@categories) { 24: <%perl> 25: my $category_id = $c->get_id(); 26: my @stories = Bric::Biz::Asset::Business::Story->list ( { element_type_id=>1148, category_id=>$category_id , Order=> 'cover_date', publish_status => 't' , OrderDirection=> 'DESC' , Limit=>10 } ); 27: 28: 29: ... code stack: /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html:25 /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm:951 /var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj:17 /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html:149 Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. 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The technology giant said it had partnerships with more than a dozen news organizations to deliver an audio feed in the same manner as its smartphone news feed. "This new experience will bring you an audio news playlist assembled in that moment, for you," Google product manager Liz Gannes said in a blog post. "It starts with a briefing of top stories and updates on topics you care about, and extends into longer-form content that dives deeper into more stories." Google Assistant, the AI program developed by the company, will manage the feed, allowing users to skip a story, go back or stop. The project aims to transform audio news into a Netflix-like experience, available on demand with personalized recommendations. "For the past century, radio has been a one-size-fits-all medium," Gannes wrote. "Turn on the radio and you're dropped into a show at a moment in time -- regardless of what you already know, where you are, or what you're interested in. "Imagine instead if you could have your own radio, one that's available on-demand, accessible throughout your day, and brings you news about the world and your interests." The new project builds on Google's existing efforts to deliver news over its speakers and smartphones, and comes amid a broad effort by news organizations and tech firms to develop more voice services. The audio news feature will roll out first to a limited number of people using the Google Assistant in the United States in English, the company said. rl/ft Mattis faces criticism after comments in Khashoggi case Washington, Dec 7 (AFP) Dec 07, 2018 US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who has enjoyed a level of bipartisan support rarely seen in Washington, is facing mounting public criticism amid the fallout from the slaying of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The fresh scrutiny of Mattis, often portrayed at home and abroad as a trusted steward of US values during the turbulent times of President Donald Trump, comes on the heels of his implementation of a controversial military order to place troops on the US-Mexico border, a move critics slammed as a political stunt. The most vocal attack on the former Marine general came from a member of Trump's own Republican party this week, when Senator Lindsey Graham blasted the Pentagon chief and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for refusing to directly link Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to Khashoggi's murder at the kingdom's Istanbul consulate in October. Mattis has repeatedly condemned the killing and called for those responsible to be held to account, but insisted he had seen "no smoking gun" connecting Prince Mohammed to the Khashoggi murder. "You have to be wilfully blind" not to conclude the murder was orchestrated by people under Prince Mohammed's command, Graham said, following a briefing to several senators by CIA Director Gina Haspel. "There's not a smoking gun, but a smoking saw," Graham added, referring to the reported grisly detail that an autopsy specialist dismembered Khashoggi's body with a bone saw. Graham is a firebrand in US politics, and his bouts of indignation should be viewed through the prism of his own ambition. Initially a fierce Trump opponent, he converted to a staunch ally, and Washington observers say he is angling for a top posting in the administration. - 'I need the evidence' - Still, Graham was not alone in his upbraiding. Democratic Senator Chris Murphy said Mattis and Pompeo have tried to "push aside" the question of Prince Mohammed's involvement and said that when the two men spoke to senators last week they had sought to mislead lawmakers. They "knew that there was no way this murder happened without the consent and direction of MBS," Murphy told MSNBC, using the abbreviation for Prince Mohammed. And Republican Bob Corker, who leads the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, came to a similar conclusion, saying a jury would convict the crown prince "in less than 30 minutes." On Wednesday, Mattis said Graham has "the right to his own opinion" and reiterated his careful interpretation of the intel on Khashoggi's murder. "If I say something, I need the evidence," Mattis said. "We are continuing to review. I am quite satisfied we will find more evidence of what happened. I just don't know what it is going to be or who will be implicated, but we will follow it as far as we can." - Border operations - Mattis was also thrust into the spotlight last month in the run-up to the midterm elections, as Trump repeatedly attacked "caravans" of Central American migrants headed for the US border. The president ordered a deployment of thousands of active-duty troops to beef up the frontier. Critics assailed the move as a costly political stunt to mobilize Trump's conservative base. Kelly Magsamen, a senior security official for both Republican and Democratic presidents, termed the deployment "a craven political stunt by President Trump ahead of the US midterm elections." Magsamen, writing on the Defense One website, said that Mattis should either explain his support for the move or quit if he does not believe it warranted. But Mattis defended the decision, saying it was not political and that the soldiers on the border are mainly providing much-needed logistical support: "We don't do stunts in this department," he said. The deployment of approximately 5,600 troops is Mattis's largest in his nearly two years at the Pentagon, and he this week approved a request from the Department of Homeland Security to extend the mission through January 2019. - 'Complicit' resolution - Saudi Arabia has sought to distance Prince Mohammed from the murder and has received unbending support from Trump, who sees Riyadh as a vital security partner in the Middle East and a key oil exporter and buyer of US arms. But US lawmakers have grown increasingly leery about American support for the Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen. A bipartisan group of senators on Wednesday introduced a resolution that, if approved, would say the Senate "has a high level of confidence" Prince Mohammed was "complicit" in Khashoggi's killing, and would assail Riyadh for its role in Yemen's humanitarian crisis. The Senate could also vote on a separate measure next week to force the US to end its military support to the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen. Mattis's cautious words come at a sensitive time. He must tread a fine line with Saudi Arabia as he publicly and privately pushes Riyadh to negotiate for a peace settlement with Houthi rebels in Yemen. For his part, Trump has said "maybe he did and maybe he didn't" when asked if the crown prince knew about the plot to kill Khashoggi. Graham suggested Mattis and Pompeo were being vague in their intelligence assessments to please Trump. "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 he's complicit," Graham said. Nadia Murad: from jihadists' captive to Nobel laureate Baghdad, Dec 7 (AFP) Dec 07, 2018 Nadia Murad survived the worst of the cruelties and brutality inflicted on her people, the Yazidis of Iraq, by the Islamic State group before becoming a global champion of their cause and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Murad, who was taken hostage by IS in 2014 but escaped, is the first Iraqi to receive the prestigious award. The 25-year-old won the Nobel in October alongside Congolese doctor Denis Mukwege for their "efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war". "For me, justice doesn't mean killing all of the Daesh members who committed these crimes against us," she said shortly after winning, using an Arabic acronym for IS. "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. The slender, dark-haired woman once lived a quiet life in her village in the mountainous Yazidi stronghold of Sinjar in northern Iraq, close to the border with Syria. But when the jihadists stormed across swathes of the two countries in August 2014, her nightmare began. IS fighters swept into her village, Kojo, killing the men, taking children captive to train them as fighters and condemning thousands of women to a life of forced labour and sexual slavery. Murad was taken by force to Mosul, the Iraqi "capital" of the IS's self-declared caliphate, where she was held captive and repeatedly gang-raped, tortured and beaten. IS fighters wanted "to take our honour, but they lost their honour", said Murad, now a United Nations goodwill ambassador for survivors of human trafficking. - Seen as heretics - For the jihadists, with their ultra-strict interpretation of Islam, the Yazidis are seen as heretics. The Kurdish-speaking community follows an ancient religion, revering a single God and the "leader of the angels," represented by a peacock. Like thousands of Yazidis, Murad was sold and forcibly married to a jihadist, beaten and -- in contrast to the official wives of IS leaders -- forced to wear makeup and tight clothes, an experience she later related in front of the United Nations Security Council. "The first thing they did was they forced us to convert to Islam," Murad told AFP in 2016. Shocked by the violence, Murad set about trying to escape, and managed to flee with the help of a Muslim family from Mosul. Using false identity papers, she managed to cross the few dozen kilometres (miles) to Iraqi Kurdistan, joining crowds of other displaced Yazidis in camps. There, she learnt that six of her brothers and her mother had been killed. With the help of an organisation that assists Yazidis, she joined her sister in Germany, where she lives today. The Yazidis numbered around 550,000 in Iraq before 2014, but some 100,000 have since left the country. Many others who fled their hometowns to Iraqi Kurdistan remain reluctant to return to their traditional lands. Since fleeing, Murad has dedicated herself to what she calls "our peoples' fight". She and her friend Lamia Haji Bashar, joint recipients of the EU's 2016 Sakharov human rights prize, have advocated to reveal the fate of 3,000 Yazidis who remain missing, presumed still in captivity. She has also campaigned for displaced Yazidis to be taken in by European countries and for the acts committed by IS to be recognised internationally as genocide. The Yazidi cause has won a high-profile supporter -- Lebanese-British lawyer and rights activist Amal Clooney, who also penned the foreword to Murad's book, "The Last Girl", published in 2017. That same year, the UN announced it would begin gathering evidence on IS war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide that would be used to try IS militants in Iraqi courts. Announcing the Nobel's recipients in October, committee chairwoman Berit Reiss-Andersen said: "A more peaceful world can only be achieved if women and their fundamental rights and security are recognised and protected in war." Yet in contrast to all the tragedies that have befallen her, recent pictures on Murad's Twitter feed show happier times. In August, she announced her engagement to fellow Yazidi activist Abid Shamdeen. "The struggle of our people brought us together & we will continue this path together," she wrote. Underneath, a photo showed her next to a young man in a bow tie, her face still framed by her long brown hair, but this time, bearing a broad smile. US-led coalition strikes kill 9 civilians in east Syria: monitor Beirut, Dec 7 (AFP) Dec 07, 2018 Air strikes by a US-led coalition battling the Islamic State group in east Syria killed nine civilians on Friday, a monitor said. The Kurdish-Arab Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), backed by coalition airpower, has been fighting to oust IS from the pocket in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor since September. "Air raids and artillery fire by the international coalition and the SDF are going on against neighbourhoods of the town of Hajin," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The air strikes "killed nine civilians, including six children, and two IS jihadists", the Britain-based monitor said. The coalition did not immediately comment on the alleged fatalities but has repeatedly said it does its utmost to avoid civilian casualties. The SDF broke into the key IS holdout of Hajin on Thursday after months of fighting that has seen the jihadists launch vicious counter-attacks. "The Syrian Democratic Forces have advanced into more territory once held by ISIS and thwarted their multiple counter offensives," US-led coalition spokesman Sean Ryan said Friday. He said IS losses had been "very high" and that intelligence reported jihadists had tried to flee across the border to Iraq but were prevented by Iraqi forces. In almost three months of battle, more than 820 jihadists and more than 480 US-backed fighters have been killed, the Observatory says. More than 300 civilians have been killed in that period, it says, though the coalition insists it does not target non-combatants. IS overran large parts of Syria and neighbouring Iraq in 2014, declaring a "caliphate" across territories it controlled. But various offensives in both countries have routed the jihadists from most of that land, crushing their dreams of statehood. In Syria, the jihadists retain a presence in the vast Badia desert that stretches to the Iraqi border, as well as the pocket under attack around Hajin. Syria's war has killed 360,000 people and displaced millions since starting in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-regime protests. 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Privacy Statement NEW YORK, Dec. 06, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A new report from Robin Hood, the largest anti-poverty force in New York City, reveals that proposed changes to the federal public charge rule could push as many as 115,000 New Yorkers, including up to 45,000 children into poverty. The report further estimates chilling effects from the public charge rule changes that could negatively affect the income of 400,000 to 700,000 people in New York City On Sept. 22, 2018, the Department of Homeland Security proposed changes to public charge policies that govern applications for legal permanent resident status. The changes would penalize applicants who receive public benefits including parts of Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), housing assistance, and other public benefits. To understand the implications of this proposed rule on poverty in New York City, Robin Hood employed data from the Poverty Tracker, a citywide survey created by Robin Hood in partnership with Columbia University, supplemented with data from the Census Bureaus Current Population Survey. The data shows that the policy changes would push between 65,000 and 115,000 New Yorkers into poverty, including as many as 45,000 children. We estimate that the number of New Yorkers in poverty could increase by almost 5 percent. This could increase the citys poverty rate by 1.4 percentage points, to 24.6 percent. The child poverty rate would increase by 2.5 percentage points, to 28.3 percent, the report states. The report also explores the so called chilling effect of the policy, where people drop out of public programs even if they are not directly affected because of misinformation or fear. Robin Hoods Poverty Tracker revealed that nearly 15 percent of non-citizens have avoided public programs, and 30 percent have a wide range of daily activities out of fear over their immigration status. With those chilling effects, the report estimates the public charge rule changes could negatively affect the income of 400,000 to 700,000 people in New York City. Robin Hood always uses data to inform how we invest in programs and policies that affect low-income New Yorkers, said Veyom Bahl, Robin Hoods Managing Director for Survival. Our new research with Columbia University demonstrates that changing the public charge rule would have a profoundly negative impact on poverty in our city. Reduced access to the safety net could needlessly thrust as many as 45,000 children below the poverty line. Robin Hood has 30 years of experience, lessons, and data that guides our work fighting poverty, said Robin Hoods Chief Program Officer Emary Aronson. It is that perspective and this data from our Poverty Tracker that shows how much damage could be brought by the stroke of a pen with this proposed policy change to public charge. At Robin Hood, we know how critical public benefits like Medicaid, SNAP, and housing benefits are for helping people escape poverty, said Robin Hood CEO Wes Moore. This new data from our Poverty Tracker affirms that and shows that these proposed changes to public charge would have real; dire; and frankly, unnecessary effects on our most vulnerable neighbors. The full report is available here . About Robin Hood: Founded in 1988, Robin Hood finds, fuels, and creates the most impactful and scalable solutions lifting families out of poverty in New York City, with models that can work across the country. Robin Hood invests roughly $120 million annually to provide legal services, housing, meals, workforce development training, education programs, and more to families in poverty in New York City. Robin Hood tracks every program with rigorous metrics. www.robinhood.org Facebook: facebook.com/robinhood Twitter: @robinhoodnyc Instagram: @robinhoodnyc About Poverty Tracker: Launched in 2012 and conducted in partnership with Columbia University, Poverty Tracker is a groundbreaking study of disadvantage in New York City. Unlike typical surveys of poverty that take an annual snapshot, Poverty Tracker checks in with the same 4,000 households quarter after quarter for several years. This approach provides a dynamic view of poverty over time. 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. English06/12/2018 WHEN A BOSNIAK TURNS INTO A BOSNIAN Since the referendum for an independent BiH and a false division, according to which the patriots were those who voted in favour and those who voted against, that is, for Yugoslavia, were traitors - we have testified a syndrome of false representation of the Bosniak policy, that is, a personality disorder of a kind. By Nenad Tadic BIJELJINA, December 6 /SRNA/ - A theory about Bosniaks as a fundamental people of Bosnia and Herzegovina is becoming prominent in the Bonsiak political scene, which is openly telling the election winners on the Serb and Croatian side that they are not wanted in Sarajevo if they do not fit in the Bosnian patriot pattern. The media in the Federation of BiH, that is, in the FBiH Sarajevo report daily on the views of the most powerful Bosniak parties, according to which the formation of the Council of Ministers should not be allowed until the issue of the Council of Peoples in the entity is resolved. They are prepared to agree to the current Council of Ministers remaining in office for the next four years, if need be. The reason they give is that "Milorad Dodik would not appoint his people in the Council of Ministers and that Dragan Covic would not side with him. The Bosniak parties believe that election winners in Republika Srpska and among the Croats are not good enough for the Bosniak interests. The SDA, SDP and Democratic Front, the strongest parties in the Bosniak electorate, think they are entitled to make their own and Bosniak interests with the interests of BiH equal, for an umpteenth time. Almost no one remembers a politician from Sarajevo ever saying something about the Bosnaik interests - they always speak of the BiH interests so the listener can infer from that alone what the actual interests of Bosniaks are. After the Bosniak politicians dared elect a suitable Croat to the BiH Presidency /with a tacit approval of international representatives/, these Prometheuses of alleged BiH interests would now like to prevent the Srpska election winners from entering the joint institutions. Who gave the approval to Bosniak politicians to speak on behalf of BiH and when? There are no such provisions in the BiH Dayton Constitution. Hence, they are some self-entitled figures who want to meet the 1990s war-time goals which they could not achieve at the time. Why would anyone from Sarajevo, Tuzla or Zenica have more right to speak on behalf of BiH than someone from Banjaluka, Bijeljina, Trebinje, Istocno Sarajevo or Grude, west Mostar, Capljina, etc? Since the referendum for an independent BiH and a false division, according to which the patriots were those who voted in favour and those who voted against, that is, for Yugoslavia, were traitors - we have testified a syndrome of false representation of the Bosniak policy, that is, a personality disorder of a kind. Medical journals define false representation or obtaining the personality of another person as psychopathy. As for the political life at the BiH State level, it is a dangerous syndrome which may produce a disintegration of the country with unknown consequences. Adamantly insisting on the Messiah role of the only Bosnians and the image of the only and greatest victims of war, apart from killing the little Bosnia left in Republika Srpska and Croat parts of the Federation of BiH, threatens to paralyse the constitution of government and normal life completely. As long as the Bosniak politicians unanimously equalise their own interests with the interests of BiH and define who can take part in the political life at the joint and every other level and who cannot, there will be just enough Bosnia to fill a few buildings in the FBiH Sarajevo. The obvious discontent and a collective sigh of Sarajevo media over the BiH Presidency Chair Milorad Dodik walking out of a meeting of the Peace Implementation Council because there was no flag of Republika Srpska there, without being punished for it, means that a citizen, colonial mind hides behind the megalomania. The self-declared guardians of Bosnias interests believe that BiH can exist only as long the foreigners guard it and as long as there are enough common people to allow them do that, and declare anyone who wants to be their own boss on their own land anti-Bosnian and a disturbing factor. Thats why we are living a paradox - those who believe in BiH so strongly constantly turn to foreigners seeking solutions outside the country, while those who wish to conduct their politics without any tutors or command from foreign embassies are dubbed anti-state elements and anti-Bosnians. The "Bosnian bloc /meaning: Bosniak parties who like to call themselves multi-ethnic, even though their voters are only in the communities where members of their people are dominant/ is a proper landmine for the BiHs future. The more such Bosnian patriots there are, the smaller the BiH. Even as it is. /end/ds The UKs sheep meat exports were worth 386 million to our economy in 2017, with lamb meat alone reaching 69 export markets. The new agreement, which covers a range of sheep meat cuts, is expected to build on this by over 6 million in the next five years. The deal has been secured following a detailed process of inspections and negotiations by the UK government, working with the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) and UK Export Certification Partnership (UKECP). Exporters can take advantage of the market as soon as the administrative listing process is completed and export certification is made available. It follows a number of recent successes for UK food and drink exports, which reached a record level of 22 billion in 2017. China recently lifted its two-decade long ban on UK beef exports, while Taiwan also opened its market to British pork for the first time. Together, the agreements are estimated to represent over 300 million in the first five years alone. In Wales, lamb exports account for a third of total food and drink exports - worth 110 million. International Trade Secretary Dr Liam Fox MP, said: The opening of the Indian market to British lamb is further good news for our farmers, and is another vote of confidence in our world-leading food and drink at a time when exports from the sector are at a record high. This latest agreement is a welcome progression in the already fruitful UK-India relationship, and I look forward to seeing British lamb on Indian tables in the near future. Atlanta, GA, Dec. 06, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PROLIM, a global PLM and IT Consulting leader, has been selected by Siemens USA as the 2018 Small Business Supplier of the year. This award is one amongst nine that recognize a supplier's exemplary co-operation in building a healthy relationship with Siemens USA while delivering a high level of performance in relevance with their product and services and optimizing processes in the shared supply chain. Siemens USA Inc with its associated business units Siemens Mobility Inc, Siemens Power and Gas, Siemens Corporation Pooling Categories, Siemens Building Technologies, Siemens Government Technologies, Siemens PLM, Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy, Siemens Healthliners went through the selection process that is grounded on SB Supplier with a valid contract, minimum of 3 years doing business with Siemens USA, and has demonstrated one or more of the following: Excellent Quality Cost savings Performance On-time delivery Innovation Ease of Use Sustainability PROLIM has received the Siemens USA Small Business Supplier Award 2018. The Theme of the event at Atlanta, GA was based on Small Business Big Impact speaking to strategic partners who deliver in key ways to support our business. "We are extremely pleased and proud to be honored with this award, especially given Siemens' wide range of high-quality suppliers, it is a tribute to all the dedicated and committed PROLIM employees said PROLIM CEO & President Prabhu Patil. About PROLIM PROLIM is a leading global provider of end to end PLM and IT Services company, providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations. PROLIM proudly serves over 500 global customers in aerospace, automotive, medical devices, and industrial machinery with global operations in the USA, Canada, Europe, and India. PROLIM works at the intersection of business and technology to help customers improve their performance and create sustainable value for their stakeholders. PROLIM helps customers to improve profitability and efficiency by providing high value IT and PLM technology services. NEW YORK, Dec. 06, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Aphria Inc. (Aphria or the Company) (NYSE: APHA) and certain of its officers. The class action, filed in United States District Court, Southern District of New York, and indexed under 18-cv-11427, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons and entities, other than Defendants and their affiliates, who purchased or otherwise, acquired Aphria securities between October 18, 2018, and December 3, 2018, both dates inclusive (the Class Period), seeking to recover damages caused by Defendants violations of the federal securities laws and to pursue remedies under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the Exchange Act) and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, against the Company and certain of its top officials. If you are a shareholder who purchased Aphria securities between October 18, 2018, and December 3, 2018, both dates inclusive, you have until February 4, 2019, to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com. To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at rswilloughby@pomlaw.com or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 9980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased. [Click here to join this class action] Aphria is headquartered in Leamington, Canada. The Company produces and sells medical cannabis in Canada and internationally. The Company offers sativa, indica, and hybrid medical marijuana products, as well as cannabis oils. It serves patients and health professionals. The Company also sells its products online. On January 29, 2018, the Company announced its acquisition of Nuuvera Inc. (Nuuvera) for approximately C$826 million, which was completed on March 23, 2018 (at a reduced price valued at approximately C$425 million). Announcing the acquisition, the Company touted Nuuvera as a leading, global cannabis company with a strong presence in Europe, Africa and the Middle East[.] Then, on July 17, 2018, the Company issued a press release announcing its planned expansion into Latin America and the Caribbean, through a massive transaction whereby Aphria acquired Scythian Biosciences Inc. (Scythian) for approximately C$280 million, in cash and Company stock. According to various public statements by the Company and media reports, Andy DeFrancesco (DeFrancesco), controller of the Delavaco Group (Delavaco), a purported private equity fund, participated in the founding investment of Aphria. DeFrancesco and the Delavaco Group have purportedly invested or advised on every Aphria equity financing. Throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Companys business, operational and compliance policies. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) Aphria engaged in numerous fraudulent acquisitions and transactions in order to provide undisclosed benefits to its insiders; (ii) Aphria substantially overpaid for the assets it acquired in 2018, which in reality had questionable value or were worthless; (iii) Aphria acquired these assets from undisclosed related parties, including Andy DeFrancesco; and (iv) as a result, the Companys public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times. On December 3, 2018, Hindenburg Research (Hindenburg) published an article entitled Aphria: A Shell Game with a Cannabis Business on the Side, alleging that Aphria is part of a scheme orchestrated by a network of insiders to divert funds away from shareholders into their own pockets. The article cited a thorough, on-the-ground investigation into Aphrias latest investments and described in detail the poor quality and questionable value of those investments. Following publication of the Hindenburg article, Aphrias stock price fell $1.85 per share, or roughly 23.4%, to close at $6.05 per share on December 3, 2018. Then, on December 4, 2018, the Financial Post published an interview with DeFrancesco to address the allegations described above. DeFrancesco seemingly confirmed his participation in the transactions, stating that the use of shell companies was not unusual in private equity transactions and defending the quality of the assets. On this news, Aphrias stock price fell an additional $1.54 per share, or 25.45%, to close at $4.51 per share on December 4, 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 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. NEW YORK, Dec. 06, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C. announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas on behalf of all persons or entities who purchased or otherwise acquired CURO Group Holdings Corp. (NYSE:CURO) securities between July 31, 2018 and October 24, 2018 (the Class Period). Investors have until February 4, 2019 to apply to the Court to be appointed as lead plaintiff in the lawsuit. The complaint alleges that throughout the class period defendants issued false and misleading statements, including ongoing financial guidance, relating to CUROs efforts to transition its Canadian inventory of products from Single-Pay Loans to Open-End Loans. Specifically, defendants materially misrepresented to investors the deleterious effect that the up-front loan loss provisioning in connection with the transition was having on the companys financial performance and 2018 full-year company guidance. The truth was revealed after the market closed on October 24, 2018, when the company announced disappointing financial results for the third quarter of 2018 and substantially reduced its guidance for full-year fiscal 2018. On this news, CUROs share price fell by more than 34%, closing at $15.18 on October 25, 2018. If you purchased CURO securities during the Class Period or continue to hold shares purchased before the Class Period, have information, would like to learn more about these claims, or have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Brandon Walker or Melissa Fortunato by email at investigations@bespc.com , or telephone at (212) 355-4648, or by filling out this contact form. There is no cost or obligation to you. Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C. is a New York-based law firm concentrating in commercial and securities litigation. For additional information concerning the CURO lawsuit, please go to https://bespc.com/curo/ . For additional information about Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C. please go to www.bespc.com . Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes. Contacts The National Print Awards ceremony has just taken place at the Marbella Print Museum (MGEC), where the winning works are now on display, and there was especially enthusiastic praise from the judges for British artist Roderic Stokes. His creative genius won him the Pilar Banus Foundation award for his work 'Viendo James Turrell en la tele' (Watching James Turrell on TV). Roderic impressed the panel with a digital print combined with a relief produced in a manual press. The unusual and colourful image not only won him the 4,000-euro prize, but is also being used as the image for this year's edition of the National Awards. This is not the first time Roderic Stokes has won one of these awards, but then he can boast a long and successful career, which has taken him from the UK to Germany and, many years ago, brought him to Spain. He now lives and works in a converted mill house by the Hozgarganta river in Jimena de la Frontera, Cadiz province, which is where I went to visit him. The property is in the Alcornocales Natural Park, a vast area of unspoiled, protected countryside. His light and airy studio has large windows looking out upon leafy trees. It seems an idyllic place to work. Is nature and greenery important to him? "Nature is very important. I have spent hours and hours at a time in the natural park, drawing, and some of my work is a reflection of what is around me. My transparent works, for example, can be associated with the water in rivers," he says. The immediate impact of Roderic Stokes' work, though, is its precision. There is nothing slapdash about it. Perhaps this is something inherited or handed down from his father, who owned a small pattern-making company in the Midlands. He had hoped that Roderic would take the company over but instead he left school early, at the age of 15, and went to Coventry College of Art, where he studied Painting and Sculpture. "We were taught to observe," he says. "Nudes, plants, we were sent out to the market in freezing weather to hone our powers of observation. We had to do 12-hour studies, looking at things with an analytical perspective." That is another factor which could have influenced the precision in his works. Roderic moved to London when he left art school, and worked in commercial design, theatre costume, book illustration and fairground art, while continuing to experiment with painting and sculpture. In 1969, he co-founded the Electric Colour Company with three fellow artists, Andrew Greaves , Jeffrey Pine and David Smith. The company worked on the border of fine art and contemporary three-dimensional design, and won the Italian Grand Prix for Design in 1971 for work on Piper aircraft customising. In 1974 Roderic began travelling in Spain and Morocco, and eventually settled in Andalucia, where he taught until 1990. He spent most of the next decade working in Cologne, Germany, and in 1994 he was commissioned to create a large-scale architectural illustration for the permanent collection of the Romisch Germanisches Museum. He still works every day, "a bit less now that I'm older". He focuses on individual projects for a few months at a time: drawing, painting, prints and sculpture. He says the subjects have to stimulate him, and indeed, the results certainly stimulate all those lucky enough to see them. Five Year 11 students from Almunecar International School, along with their teacher, Manuel Galiana, travelled to Malaga's Materno children's hospital earlier this week to donate 300 euros to the hospital's Asociacion de Voluntarios de Oncologia Infantil (AVOI, or child oncology volunteer association), which helps children with cancer as well as their families. Alex, Eva, Carmen, Christine and Maria raised the money through a series of activities which formed part of a project for their Global Perspectives class. The aim of the two-month project was to raise awareness of the global impact of different illnesses as well as raise money for AVOI, their chosen charity. The girls said that they were "very pleased" with what they had learned through the project, which is to be evaluated by the University of Cambridge, as well as with the money raised. Mr Galiana thanked Tomas Valero, a taxi driver from Almunecar, who drove the pupils and teacher to the hospital for free. Last year the school donated money to the same association after raising funds by organising a Christmas market as well as other events. The National Police, in collaboration with police in Sweden, have brought down a Swedish gang of hired killers linked to two murders on the Costa del Sol. Nine people aged between 24 and 64 - four in Sweden and five in Malaga- were arrested last week as part of 'Operacion Rueda', which started after a gym in San Pedro Alcantara and a beach bar in Estepona were set on fire. The seven men and two women are suspected of murder, belonging to an organised crime group and falsifying documents. They are considered to be responsible for the killing on 12 May of 'El Maradona', who was linked to the aforementioned gym and beach bar. He was shot as he left a church in San Pedro Alcantara following his son's communion and the killer fled the scene in a car. The second killing was on 20 August in the El Campanario area of Estepona. 'Zocato' was shot dead as he arrived back home in the early hours of the morning by an individual who fled the scene on a bicycle. From the beginning, investigators considered that both killings were related to the settling of scores, linked to the world of drug trafficking. Investigations then found that the same gang of hitmen was behind both attacks. This gang, they found, was led by two pairs of brothers, aged between 21 and 26, and consisted mainly of Swedes and Danes. They came to the Costa del Sol from the Malmo area of Sweden, attracted by the increasing demand for such services. Though they specialise in score-settling, the gang also dealt in debt collection, extortion and drug trafficking. Raids on nine properties also took place as part of the operation and three luxury watches were seized - one was worth a quarter of a million euros. WEST DES MOINES, Iowa, Dec. 06, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sammons Financial Group, Inc. (SFG) has been honored with a Glassdoor Employees Choice Award , recognizing the Best Places to Work in 2019. The Employees Choice Awards program, now in its 11th year, is based solely on the input of employees who elect to provide feedback on their jobs, work environments, and companies on Glassdoor , one of the worlds largest job and recruiting sites. At SFG, we strive to create a healthy, high performing culture that demonstrates value and appreciation towards each and every one of our employees, said Anne Cooper, senior vice president and chief human resources officer for SFG. We conduct an annual employee engagement survey and the results consistently indicate that SFG is a workplace where employees feel engaged, are satisfied in their roles, and are committed to our organization. Being named one of Glassdoors 2019 Best Places to Work reiterates our high employee engagement ratings, added Cooper. On Glassdoors website, current and former employees voluntarily and anonymously share insights and opinions about their work environments by providing a company review, designed to capture a genuine and authentic inside look at what a specific job may be like at a particular company. When sharing a company review on Glassdoor, employees are asked to rate their satisfaction with the company overall, and key workplace factors like career opportunities, compensation and benefits, culture and values, senior management, and work/life balance. In addition, employees are asked to describe the best reasons to work at their companies as well as any downsides. SFG has an overall rating of 4.8 on Glassdoor , with 96% indicating that they would recommend the company to a friend and 99% that approve the CEO. One anonymous employee posted a review that stated, SFG is unparalleled as a company in regards to the benefits it provides and how they treat their employees. Employees are viewed as valuable assets and compensated thusly in both salary, health benefits, and namely in the retirement benefits that are offered. People are continually challenged to grow and develop their skills with plenty of opportunities for promotion and advancement within the company, Glassdoors Best Places to Work were determined using company reviews shared by U.S.-based employees between October 23, 2017 and October 21, 2018. To be considered for the large category, a company must have had at least 1,000 or more employees and have received at least 75 ratings across each of the eight workplace attributes from U.S.-based employees during the period of eligibility. The final list is compiled using Glassdoors proprietary algorithm, led by its Economic Research Team , and takes into account quantity, quality, and consistency of reviews. For the complete list of the Glassdoor Best Places to Work winners in 2019, please visit: https://www.glassdoor.com/Award/Best-Places-to-Work-LST_KQ0,19.htm . About Sammons Financial Group, Inc. The member companies of Sammons Financial Group, Inc. (SFG) , are here to help families and businesses protect their future, so they can enjoy lifes moments today. A subsidiary of Sammons Enterprises , SFG is a group of privately-owned financial companies, including several of the most enduring and stable companies in our industry. SFGs member companies, Midland National Life Insurance Company , North American Company for Life and Health Insurance , and Sammons Institutional GroupSM offer some of todays most sought-after life insurance, annuity, and retirement planning products. Sammons Financial Group : With You for Every MomentSM. For more information about starting a career at SFG, and to find a current listing of job openings, visit the SFG careers website . Velez-Malaga town hall has announced plans to auction 31 plots of land in the town. Earlier this year it sold off two of the original 33 plots. The land in question can be used for residential or industrial purposes. Values are between 13,000 and 700,000 euros and sizes range from 100 to 7,000 square metres. The council hopes to raise 4.6 million euros through the sale. The founder of Vox, Santiago Abascal, said this week that his party was "growing thanks to the insults" of other political parties. That in part explains the stunning increase in support for his party, qualified by some as far-right and by others as just right wing. France's far-right leader Marie Le Pen congratulated Vox on its achievement in Andalucia after Sunday's vote. The regional leader, Francisco Serrano, is a judge from Seville well known for a tough stance in favour of fathers in domestic cases. Without any opinion poll predicting it, he managed to secure 11 per cent of the vote in last weekend's election. With the 12 seats of Serrano holding the key, the right-wing parties have a majority to remove the PSOE from power for the first time. Abascal said this week that he was prepared to work with either the PP or Ciudadanos party regardless. He said that he had no wish to form part of the regional government but has laid down conditions for his members' support in an investiture vote. One of these would be the closure of the regional broadcasting company RTVA, which has nearly 1,500 employees and runs the TV station Canal Sur. Vox's policies include the abolition of regional autonomies and a return to a centralised state. They want to repeal gender equality legislation, criticising the strength of the feminist movement, and repeal 'historical memory' laws that seek to investigate events under Franco's regime. They are conservative on abortion and pro-family. Some of Vox's more radical ideas have been filtered out of its manifesto since it was founded in early 2014. Other than a few councillors, until last Sunday, it has never had serious political representation. While left-wing parties and many members of the public called for protests and a fight back, claiming the party are "fachas" or fascists, analysts have been rushing to explain where the support came from last Sunday. Most point to Spain catching up with many other countries in having a home-grown version of far-right populism. They agree that its rise is down to discontent with the traditional parties, that have been mired in corruption scandals in recent years. Immigration has played a part, say some. Vox wants to expel illegal immigrants from Spain and build a stronger barrier in Spain's North African towns of Ceuta and Melilla. The highest vote for Vox last Sunday was 30 per cent in the town of El Ejido, Almeria, with a high immigrant population working in the fruit industry. A reaction to Catalan separatism has also been cited by observers, where many feel the PSOE government nationally has been too generous to those involved in the illegal independence movement. Analysis shows that moderate votes from both the left and right wing have been attracted for this reason. The success of far-right Vox and centre-right Ciudadanos in the Andalusian elections on Sunday has given Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez an idea. Although his party, the Socialist PSOE, has lost control of a region it has dominated for decades, Sanchez has nevertheless spotted an opportunity, saying on Tuesday that he'll present his 2019 budget to parliament for a vote in January. It'll be absurdly late by then, but you can see the strategy behind his decision. Sort of. The PSOE leader is hoping that the gains made by Vox and Ciudadanos, both of which are firmly opposed to Catalonian secession, will make Catalan separatist parties more willing to compromise, and thus to vote for his spending plan. Without their support - hitherto withheld because of his refusal to concede anything to Catalonia's secessionists - Sanchez's economic proposals for 2019 will be stalled. It's quite a gamble, one that also tells us that the prime minister has no intention of calling early national elections. One party that certainly wouldn't back the Socialist's budget, if they had seats in the national parliament (which they may well have before long), is Vox. The far right group, founded in 2014 by former members of the Conservative Popular Party, has announced a 100-point plan for Spain featuring economic policies diametrically opposed to the PSOE's. For example: Sanchez is for higher taxes, especially on corporations, whereas Vox's stance on tax is "the lower, the better". The latter party proposes a blanket income tax rate of 21%, lower corporation and property taxes, and the eradication of estate, inheritance and capital gains taxes. This is classic right-wing economic policy - anathema, in other words, to Spain's leftist parties and their voters. Yet there won't be many of the younger generation of Spaniards - those who have propelled Ciudadanos and their left wing counterpart, Podemos, to power - that wouldn't agree with Vox's proposals on how to deal with corrupt, profligate politicians. The far-right newcomer wants to "cut back on wasteful spending" among ministers by including it as an offence in the criminal code. It also proposes tougher measures on corruption among the political class and the banning of government pardons. The small print of such policies is still fuzzy, with "wasteful spending" yet to be defined; but it's precisely such proposals that account for some of Vox's success in Andalucia on Sunday. Spaniards are sick and tired of politicians squandering taxpayers' money, and Vox is tapping that vein of discontent. Whether or not the party's recent success will push Catalan separatists into the arms of the Socialists come January remains to be seen. But between now and then, Sanchez also has to think about what will happen if this far-right upstart becomes a presence in the national parliament. If (or, most likely, when) it does, leftist spending plans will face their staunchest opponents to date. Brazilian STS - a cause for concern Brazil has more than doubled the number of ship-to-ship (STS) oil transfers this year, but STS monitoring is lax, according to a Reuters review of Brazilian government and shipping records. In July, 2017, a collision between two tankers was not reported, the news agency claimed. STS transfers are forecast to keep rising as the countrys deepwater discoveries have encouraged oil majors to participate in recent offshore auctions. STS transfers have only been allowed in Brazilian waters since 2013. Reuters said that it found it difficult to establish the number of STS transfers that have taken place. The Brazilian Navy said it has logged 59 STS deliveries by oil producers through 30th October, up from 28 last year. However, Shell and a Repsol Sinopec joint venture have already undertaken 65 transfers through October, Reuters alleged. Reuters review of government and shipping records included interviews with 16 representatives of maritime agencies, lawmakers, regulators and service providers, which found that some incidents went unreported. Brazils oil regulator and Navy both said they were never informed of a 2017 collision between two vessels during an STS transfer. Shuttle tanker operator Knutsen NYK Offshore Tankers (KNOT) estimated that one of the vessels involved suffered $1 mill damages as a result of the collision. Brazils oil regulator, ANP and the countrys Navy said they were not informed of the collision, while an internal Knutsens document seen by Reuters noted authorities were told, without specifying who. The collision occurred during a seaborne transfer of oil conducted by UK-based STS provider Fendercare Marine, according to Knutsens records. Fendercare referred questions on the incident to Shell, which produced the crude transferred. A Shell spokesman said there was a minor collision, adding it complies with all laws where it operates. The number of STS transfers in Brazil could reach 300 by 2022, according to Erik Cunha, sales chief at OceanPact Servicos Maritimos, a local company that handles marine oil spills. NORDEN tests neutral biofuel NORDEN has successfully tested a tanker powered by CO2 neutral biofuel. The test voyage was conducted in September, in co-operation with Rotterdam-based GoodFuels. It involved a ballast trip from Rotterdam to Tallinn, with the 37,000 dwt, Handysize product tanker Nord Highlander. Commenting on the test, NORDEN CEO, Jan Rindbo said: NORDEN is proud to be at the forefront of testing and introducing CO2 neutral fuel that truly makes an impact on the highly important agenda of reducing the carbon footprint of shipping. The test voyage was supported by an international NGO. Kare Press-Kristensen, senior adviser, Ecological Council, said; We appreciate that NORDEN is investigating specific solutions to the climate challenge. We need actions here and now to meet the climate goals of the IMO and we are proud that NORDEN takes action, taking a leading role in biofuels, and look forward to following the development. NORDEN said that the test documented that second generation CO2 neutral biofuel is technically and economically suitable and thereby a realistic alternative to comparable fossil fuel. The test showed that the engine performance was not affected, ie that the full performance envelope can be delivered without restrictions. NORDEN has come a long way in increasing fuel efficiency and has reduced CO2 emissions per tonne cargo transported on owned tanker vessels by 25% between 2007 to 2017. With the newly introduced IMO targets on CO2 reductions, however, it is evident that increased fuel efficiency alone is not enough. We need alternative solutions and with this test, NORDEN has shown a viable method towards reaching these targets, Rindbo said. Now that we have proven CO2 neutral transport as a viable alternative, I am convinced many carbon conscious customers within a foreseeable future will demand this type of transport, he added. NORDEN acknowledged that biofuel may not be the sole solution in the long run, however, believed that the carefully chosen second generation biofuels used can contribute significantly to reducing its CO2 emission now. To compare how the engine reacted on the biofuel as an alternative to low sulfur fossil fuel, the departure from Antwerp was conducted on fossil fuel. After a visual inspection of the engine, the vessels switched to biofuel. During the voyage the engine was operated at different loads for sufficiently long periods to establish stable performance. After the test, a final visual inspection of the engine was conducted, which confirmed that the engine was not negatively affected by the biofuel. NORDEN said that it will continue working with GoodFuels to gain further experience with biofuel as an alternative to low sulfur fossil fuel. The company said it is also considering other possibilities to lower the carbon footprint with the goal of offering commercially attractive CO2 neutral transport to customers within the foreseeable future. Dirk Kronemeijer, CEO, GoodFuels Marine, commented: We want to greatly thank NORDEN for being a pioneer and for joining us as we take this crucial step towards developing a carbon-busting solution that is scalable, truly sustainable, technically compliant and crucially affordable. In our journey so far we have focused on realising the wide-scale use of bio-marine gas oil (MGO) equivalent biofuel, but for over three years we have been working day and night to develop our BFO solution. The importance of its arrival in the market is further underlined by the dual prospect of impending lower sulfur and carbon legislation. Bringing this to market now offers shipping a near-zero carbon and SOx alternative to HFO, and VLSFO 0.5% blended fossil fuel both of which will be prevalent in the market post-2020. From this point onwards we want to scale supply as fast as we can in order to actively contribute to the worlds 1.5 deg challenge, he said. In 2016, GoodFuels founded The GoodShipping Program to further engage cargo owners in the challenge of combating shippings carbon emissions. In September, 2018 the Program announced that five shippers had completely offset the carbon emissions of their cargo by refuelling a vessel with marine biofuels. Sale and leaseback deals prove popular At least three sales and leaseback deals have been confirmed by quoted tanker companies in recent weeks. In one transaction, Ardmore Shipping has refinanced the Ardmore Exporter and Ardmore Seavanguard, two 2014-built, 50,000 dwt Eco-design MRs. Signed with an undisclosed financier in China, the lease agreements are for seven years, with options to repurchase each vessel at various stages prior to maturity. In addition, the company has entered into an agreement for the sale and leaseback, under a finance lease arrangement, of the similar MR Ardmore Engineer with a Japanese financier. This agreement is for 11 years, and again the company has options to repurchase the vessel at various stages prior to maturity. Both transactions are expected to be finalised this month and will result in aggregate cash proceeds of around $13 mill, net of fees and the prepayment of senior debt secured by the vessels. We are once again pleased to have concluded these refinancings on very favourable terms, completing our current phase of sale leasebacks and thus enhancing our financial flexibility. We are also encouraged by the significant improvement in MR charter rates over the past several weeks, Anthony Gurnee, Ardmores CEO, commented. With our conservative balance sheet, strong liquidity position and improving market conditions, we believe Ardmore is well positioned to create significant shareholder value in the anticipated cyclical recovery, he added. Another transaction, dAmico Tankers signed a memorandum of agreement and bareboat charter contract for the sale and leaseback of the 2015-built MR High Trader. The vessel will be sold for $27 mill to an unnamed Japanese company. dAmico Tankers said that this deal allows the company to generate around $8.6 mill in cash, net of commissions and the reimbursement of the tankers existing loan. Through this transaction dAmico Tankers will maintain full control of the vessel, since a 10-year bareboat charter agreement was also concluded with the buyer, with a purchase obligation at the end of the charter period. Furthermore, dAmico Tankers has the option to repurchase the vessel, at any time starting from the second anniversary of the sale with three months notice and at a competitive cost. Finally, TOP Ships has concluded the $92.5 mill financial deal for two Suezmax newbuilds under construction at Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries. The sale and leaseback agreements mean that the two newbuildingss will be sold following their deliveries in April and May, 2019, respectively. The proposed financing deals include pre and post-delivery financing and have a term of seven years each. TOP Ships can buy back the vessels after the three year anniversary of each vessels delivery up until the expiry of the agreements. Once delivered, the vessels will enter into three-year timecharters with an oil major at a daily charter rate of $25,000 per vessel. Our Suezmax vessels, which account for the largest portion of our newbuilding capital expenditure, are now fully funded, Evangelos Pistiolis, the President, Chief Executive Officer and Director of the company, said. We are now focused on arranging the finance of our newbuilding vessel that will be delivered in January following the completion of which, the company will have completely covered its capital needs in relation to its current newbuilding programme. The company also said that it had increased the maximum borrowing capacity of the family trading credit facility to $25 mill and that it has drawn down an additional $5 mill from the companys outstanding loan facilities. NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWS WIRE SERVICES OR DISSEMINATION IN UNITED STATES CALGARY, Alberta , Dec. 06, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pieridae Energy Limited (Pieridae) (PEA - TSXV) announces that, as a result of a review by the Alberta Securities Commission, it has refiled its annual information form for the year ended December 31, 2017 (the "AIF") along with the related chief executive officer and chief financial officer certificates. A description of the revisions to the AIF are as follows: Business updates from the June 21, 2018 originally dated AIF to today; Expanded information on the entities incorporated within the Pieridae group; Expanded and updated information on the Companys oil and gas properties and the contingent and prospective resources of those properties including revised Forms 51-101F1, 51-101F2, 51-101F3, and 51-101F4; and Expanded information on the legislative environment and risks that the company operates within. The AIF is available on the Company's web site www.pieridaeenergy.com and has been filed on the Company's SEDAR profile. About Pieridae Founded in 2011, Pieridae, a majority Canadian owned corporation based in Calgary, is focused on the development of integrated energy-related activities, from the exploration and extraction of natural gas to the development, construction and operation of the Goldboro LNG facility and the production of LNG for sale to Europe and other markets. Pieridae is on the leading edge of the re-integration of the LNG value chain in North America. Pieridae has 50,572,765 shares issued and outstanding which trade on the TSX Venture Exchange (PEA). For further information please contact: Alfred Sorensen, Chief Executive Officer Telephone: (418) 657-1966 Melanie Litoski, Chief Financial Officer Telephone: (418) 657-1966 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. Singapore to ban open loop scrubbers - EGCSA response In a significant development, Singapore is to ban the discharge of wash water from open-loop exhaust gas scrubbers from 2020. "To protect the marine environment and ensure that the port waters are clean, the discharge of wash water from open-loop exhaust gas scrubbers in Singapore port waters will be prohibited," Andrew Tan, Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) CEO, said. Ships fitted with open-loop scrubbers calling at Singapore will be required to use compliant fuel, Tan said while addressing the the Singapore Registry of Ships Forum held recently. He also said ships fitted with hybrid scrubbers will be required to switch to the closed-loop mode of operation from 2020 onwards. As a party to MARPOL Annex VI, Singapore will be providing reception facilities for the collection of residues generated from scrubber operations. In a response to the announcement, the Exhaust Gas Cleaning Systems Association (EGCSA) said this edict came without prior notice or discussion with the IMO, despite the fact that the Singapore MPA is a signatory to MARPOL Annex VI. The MPA provided neither scientific evidence for its decision nor was the industry invited to consultation. If there had been discussion, the Singapore MPA might have realised the high risks to human health resulting from the high toxicity of low sulfur fuels and more toxic distillates if no exhaust gas cleaning systems are used. The many dumbbell low sulfur fuels (0.5%S fuel oils) are also expected to have less complete combustion, as the fuel boiling point distribution and that this will also contribute to higher particulate matter discharge and poorer air quality in Singapore. As the pronouncement by the Singapore MPA is likely to have a significant effect on crude carriers operating inert gas plant discharging into Singapore refineries and storage facilities, as well as all other vessels visiting Singaporean waters, it is disappointing that the Singapore MPA has been less than open about its plans and has not, as far as we can tell, based its decision on proven scientific findings, the EGCSA said. We would urge the IMO, national governments, port and harbour authorities to base any future decisions relating to the use of marine scrubbers, whether they use open or closed loop systems, on evidence and fact, the association said in a note. Ships operating an inert gas plant have discharged process water from open loop scrubbers in the port area for over 50 years. No studies have been published that indicate measurable harm to the marine environment. Nor has the operation of open loop scrubbers at numerous facilities on land, such as power stations, shown to be detrimental to waterways or the environment. In fact, Asia has adopted flue gas desulphurisation (FGD) for several power stations. Around the world there are 50 GW of Alsthom installed sea water scrubbing systems for FGD. Alsthoms sea water scrubbing process has been recognised and approved by several environmental agencies around the world. Port authorities should consider that the ban of open loop marine scrubber operations is likely to promote the use of low sulfur fuel oils using 0.1%S distillate, which have been shown to have a significantly higher toxic impact than heavy sulfur fuel oils (HSFO). There is furthermore evidence from the refining industry and the IMO secretary generals expert group on sulfur to show that scrubbers emit 3%-5% less CO2 than low sulfur fuels over their lifecycle. A study by the University of Rostock furthermore identifies the exhaust emissions from low sulfur diesel fuels as posing a greater risk to human health than marine exhaust gas scrubbers. As the Singapore MPAs announcement focused on open loop scrubbers, one conclusion that may be drawn is that there is a significant difference between the discharge from an open loop EGCS to the discharge from an EGCS operating in closed loop mode. What is not clear or published by the MPA is their assessment of the differences and consequent measured or predicted environmental impact. The EGCSA welcomes dialogue and evaluation based on science and evidence. We encourage all ports to avoid the quick headline, which is politically motivated and provides no measurable society benefit and instead to seek dialogue with the industry, conduct thorough investigations into all the available options for meeting the 2020 sulfur cap and to focus on sustainable solutions that will stand the test of time, the EGCSA concluded. Dublin, Dec. 07, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Global Catering Services Market 2019-2023" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The Global Catering Services Market is projected to grow at a CAGR of over 6% during the period 2019-2023. The report has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market. One trend affecting this market is the signing of new contracts. Vendors in the market are signing new agreements with businesses such as offices, airports, and educational institutions to provide catering services. According to the report, one driver influencing this market is the increasing popularity of online catering. Online catering enables a consumer to select food items from the prescribed menu on the website. Further, the report states that one challenge affecting this market is the fluctuations on food commodity prices. The market is highly dependent on the prices of food commodities such as sugar, grains, meat, salt, vegetables, and dairy products. Key Vendors Aramark Compass Group DO & CO Elior Group Gategroup Newrest Topics Covered PART 01: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY PART 02: SCOPE OF THE REPORT PART 03: MARKET LANDSCAPE Market ecosystem Market characteristics Market segmentation analysis PART 04: MARKET SIZING Market definition Market sizing 2018 Market size and forecast 2018-2023 PART 05: FIVE FORCES ANALYSIS Bargaining power of buyers Bargaining power of suppliers Threat of new entrants Threat of substitutes Threat of rivalry Market condition PART 06: MARKET SEGMENTATION BY SERVICE Market segmentation by service Comparison by service Contract catering services - Market size and forecast 2018-2023 Concession catering services - Market size and forecast 2018-2023 Market opportunity by service PART 07: CUSTOMER LANDSCAPE PART 08: GEOGRAPHIC LANDSCAPE Geographic segmentation Geographic comparison APAC - Market size and forecast 2018-2023 Americas - Market size and forecast 2018-2023 EMEA - Market size and forecast 2018-2023 Key leading countries Market opportunity PART 09: DECISION FRAMEWORK PART 10: DRIVERS AND CHALLENGES Market drivers Market challenges PART 11: MARKET TRENDS Increasing number of mergers and acquisitions New contracts Rising demand for healthy foods in menus PART 12: VENDOR LANDSCAPE Overview Landscape disruption PART 13: VENDOR ANALYSIS Vendors covered Vendor classification Market positioning of vendors Aramark Compass Group DO & CO Elior Group Gategroup Newrest For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/hdt6jh/catering?w=12 Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. LONDON, Dec. 07, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Though not as tumultuous as last year, 2018 still brought its own set of challenges. With prospects diverging across major economies, while financial market pressures have hit emerging economies, global growth is expected to settle at 3.7 percent, according to the IMFs recent revision. Against this backdrop, trade tensions have had adverse effects on global trade growth, impacting jobs and living conditions for low-income households in particular. The uncertainty of recent years gone by has thus continued for many companies. It is in these moments of instability that bold and decisive leadership is needed more than ever, which European CEO has celebrated in its latest awards. Each year the magazine counts down the top 100 companies and business leaders over the year, looking specifically for examples of strong strategy and commitment to corporate governance. European CEO examines a range of sectors, such as transportation, mining, apparel, brokerage and agriculture, among other industries, looking for the best contenders in each category. Some of the CEOs the magazine has recognised include Noel Moran, who has been named Entrepreneur of the Year in the Payment Solutions Industry (Western Europe). Moran was noted for his ability to innovate and technological prowess in a marketplace that constantly evolves. Filippo Bosco was also recognised for his leadership as CEO of BluSense Diagnostics a company that aims to provide an accurate and low-cost blood testing system for infectious diseases. Other winners include Zurich-based Paracelsus Medical clinic, which is renowned for its luxury recovery services. It tailors all of its programmes to the individual needs of its patients, and offers them a relaxed space in which to heal. Another organisation that has been honoured is OctaFX, a forex broker that has been recognised for the secure and cost-effective trading environment it offers. To read more about the winners and why theyve made the cut, pick up the latest issue of European CEO, available in print, online and on tablet now: www.europeanceo.com World News Media is a leading publisher of quality financial and business magazines, which enjoys a global distribution network that includes subscriber lists of prominent decision-makers around the world. CONTACT INFORMATION World News Media Elizabeth Matsangou Editorial Department +44 (0)20 7553 4162 elizabeth.matsangou@wnmedia.com NOT FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES OR THROUGH U.S. NEWSWIRES SASKATOON, Saskatchewan, Dec. 07, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GFG Resources Inc. (TSX-V: GFG) (OTCQB: GFGSF) (GFG or the Company) announces a non-brokered private placement to raise gross proceeds of up to C$2.0 million (the Offering). The Offering will consist of the sale of up to 5.2 million Tranche A flow-through common shares of the Company (the A FT Shares) at a price of C$0.29 per A FT Share and of up to 2.0 million Tranche B flow-through common shares of the Company (the B FT Shares) at a price of C$0.25 per B FT Share. Brian Skanderbeg, President and CEO commented, This financing allows us to fund and execute our exploration programs during the first half of 2019. The program will include an aggressive first quarter drill program testing some of our best targets at our Pen Gold Project west of the prolific Timmins gold district in Ontario. We have made excellent progress with the 2018 exploration program and look forward to sharing and building upon those results early in 2019. Gross proceeds raised under the Offering will be used for exploration activities in Ontario that will qualify as Canadian Exploration Expenses (within the meaning of the Income Tax Act (Canada)). The Offering is scheduled to close on or about December 21, 2018 and is subject to certain conditions, including, but not limited to, the receipt of all necessary approvals, including the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. The Offering is being made by way of private placement in Canada. The securities sold will not be offered or sold in the United States, and will each be subject to a hold period expiring four months and one day from their issuance. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities, in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of such jurisdiction. 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 unless an exemption from such registration is available. About GFG Resources Inc. GFG Resources is a North American precious metals exploration company focused on district scale gold projects in tier one mining jurisdictions, Ontario and Wyoming. In Ontario, the Company owns 100% of the Pen and Dore gold projects, two large and highly prospective gold properties west of the prolific gold district of Timmins, Ontario, Canada. The Pen and the Dore gold projects have the same geological setting that hosts most of the gold deposits found in the Timmins Gold Camp which have produced over 70 million ounces of gold. In Wyoming, the Company controls 100% of the Rattlesnake Hills Gold Project, a district scale gold exploration project located approximately 100 kilometres southwest of Casper, Wyoming, U.S. The geologic setting, alteration and mineralization seen in the Rattlesnake Hills are similar to other gold deposits of the Rocky Mountain alkaline province which, collectively, have produced over 50 million ounces of gold. 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. CAUTION REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION All statements, other than statements of historical fact, contained in this news release constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws and forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (referred to herein as forward-looking statements). Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the future price of gold, success of exploration activities and metallurgical test work, permitting time lines, currency exchange rate fluctuations, requirements for additional capital, government regulation of exploration work, environmental risks, unanticipated reclamation expenses, title disputes or claims and limitations on insurance coverage. Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as plans, expects or does not expect, is expected, budget, scheduled, estimates, forecasts, intends, anticipates or does not anticipate or believes, or the negative connotation thereof or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results, may, could, would, will, might or will be taken, occur or be achieved or the negative connotation thereof. All forward-looking statements are based on various assumptions, including, without limitation, the expectations and beliefs of management, the assumed long-term price of gold, that the Company will receive required permits and access to surface rights, that the Company can access financing, appropriate equipment and sufficient labour, and that the political environment within Canada and the United States will continue to support the development of mining projects in Canada and the United States. In addition, the similarity or proximity of other gold deposits to the Rattlesnake Hill Gold Project, the Pen Gold Project and the Dore Gold Project is not necessary indicative of the geological setting, alteration and mineralization of the Rattlesnake Hills Gold Project, the Pen Gold Project and the Dore Gold Project. Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of GFG to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to: actual results of current exploration activities; environmental risks; future prices of gold; operating risks; accidents, labour issues and other risks of the mining industry; delays in obtaining government approvals or financing; and other risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties are not, and should not be construed as being, exhaustive. Although GFG has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. 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. In addition, forward-looking statements are provided solely for the purpose of providing information about managements current expectations and plans and allowing investors and others to get a better understanding of our operating environment. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this news release are made as of the date hereof and GFG assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable laws. For further information, please contact: Dublin, Dec. 07, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Global Statin Market 2019-2023" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The statin market will register a CAGR of over 2% by 2023. The increasing statin use will help the market grow at a steady rate. In the US and the UK, people aged 40 and above are recommended to monitor their cholesterol level. Statins are considered an evidence-based treatment for high risk patients with elevated cardiovascular disorder. Rising prevalence of hypercholesterolemia The rising prevalence of hypercholesterolemia is fueling the demand for generic cholesterol medications. Cardiovascular disease is one of the primary causes of mortality in Western countries. Fierce generic competition Patient expiration is a major challenge for companies developing branded drugs as it provides an opportunity for the development of generic drugs. Key Players AstraZeneca Merck Novartis Pfizer Topics Covered PART 01: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY PART 02: SCOPE OF THE REPORT PART 03: MARKET LANDSCAPE Market ecosystem Market characteristics Market segmentation analysis Pipeline PART 04: MARKET SIZING Market definition Market sizing 2018 Market size and forecast 2018-2023 PART 05: FIVE FORCES ANALYSIS Bargaining power of buyers Bargaining power of suppliers Threat of new entrants Threat of substitutes Threat of rivalry Market condition PART 06: MARKET SEGMENTATION BY TYPE Market segmentation by type Comparison by type Synthetic statins - Market size and forecast 2018-2023 Natural statins - Market size and forecast 2018-2023 Market opportunity by type PART 07: CUSTOMER LANDSCAPE PART 08: MARKET SEGMENTATION BY APPLICATION Dyslipidemia Others PART 09: GEOGRAPHIC LANDSCAPE Geographic segmentation Geographic comparison Americas - Market size and forecast 2018-2023 EMEA - Market size and forecast 2018-2023 APAC - Market size and forecast 2018-2023 Key leading countries Market opportunity PART 10: DECISION FRAMEWORK PART 11: DRIVERS AND CHALLENGES Market drivers Market challenges PART 12: MARKET TRENDS PART 13: VENDOR LANDSCAPE Overview Landscape disruption PART 14: VENDOR ANALYSIS Vendors covered Vendor classification Market positioning of vendors AstraZeneca Merck Novartis Pfizer For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/p7wsvs/global_statin?w=12 Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. I am a survivor. I am resilient. I am a strong Black woman. I am a proud transgender woman. These were just some of the ways each of nearly a dozen speakers ended testimonials about their experiences with sexual assault and intimate partner violence and their relationship to HIV at the plenary session that kicked off the third Biomedical HIV Prevention Summit in Los Angeles on Monday, December 3, organized by NMAC. Tarana Burke, founder of the #MeToo movement, opened the plenary session and spoke about her personal connection to HIV. She told the story of her sister, a young woman who'd been a sex worker and used drugs, contracting HIV and dying in 1987. Burke described her shame around her sister's death and the way she disappeared from any and all discussions of HIV/AIDS, while a male and presumably straight community member received sympathy after it was thought that his HIV diagnosis was due to a philandering wife. "It wasn't until I started on my own path to healing from child sexual abuse that I managed to find some empathy for my sister," said Burke. "I often think about the long-term effects from shame, fear, and trauma of sexual violence, and how so many people are lumped into categories like race, class, or gender identity when examining their risk for HIV, but not by the trauma they might have experienced." Burke's account of the shame she's carried around her sister's diagnosis and ultimate death is not uncommon, even among people who do social justice work. I've complained personally to people over the past decade about this tendency. I am uniquely situated to have relationships with writers, academics, and activists across many disciplines and issue areas. For many years, I was the only person who would mention HIV at all in any discussion of its impact on Black communities, or as a centrally defining feature that shaped politics and culture, domestically and globally, in the late 20th/early 21st centuries. I've been approached quietly by well-known activists and academics thanking me for my work and writing, naming their own relatives and loved ones who succumbed to HIV. Some have even reached out when their loved ones needed assistance with health care, access to antiretrovirals, or housing. But most have never included HIV in their political or intellectual work. It was good to see Burke speak about her own need to shift this in her work in the #MeToo Movement, and the connection between sexual assault, adverse childhood events, and experiences of trauma for women. The plenary continued with a mix of powerful personal testimonies of people living with HIV sharing stories of how they've survived the trauma of sexual assault -- Black and Latinx women, transgender women and men, young and old. Some were overwhelmed when they left the stage and seemed to leave the ballroom to go take advantage of the mental health professionals on site, before coming back into the plenary. But the plenary also presented research and data on historical trauma, intimate partner violence, adverse childhood events, rape, and their associations to being vulnerable to HIV acquisition. Sexual Assault Trauma And HIV Among Black Queer Men Given that the highest rates of HIV diagnoses are among Black gay and bisexual men, it was curious that there weren't any speaking at the opening plenary. There are a number of studies about high rates of childhood sexual trauma and Black gay men that show an association with the likelihood of HIV acquisition. Nina Harawa, Ph.D., with Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science in Los Angeles, raised this issue in her incredibly insightful presentation at the closing plenary. She presented a number of studies and an analysis to get the audience to consider cisgender Black men as also being vulnerable to sexual assault and intimate partner violence. "I think we need to rethink the way we've gendered the conversation about intimate partner violence and sexual assault," she noted. "Because Black gay men are experiencing these at too-high levels." I have Black gay friends and loved ones who have been victims of violence in intimate relationships, including rape. I've written and discussed being fearful of abduction and assault when I've been approached on the street by men in cars and vans, sometimes late at night. It seems that our organizations and programs have to consider these as possible issues Black gay men are facing when they enter doors for services and programs as well. And as reproductive justice activists have called for more pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) resources for trans folks and cisgender women as a part of rape crisis services, HIV programs for gay, bisexual, and queer-identified men also need to have systems in place for rape crisis. But there's also a more pernicious issue that should be taken on within the HIV movement that I think needs to find space for discussion, engagement, and strategies to transform: the workplace culture of HIV organizations themselves. Stopping Sexual Harassment in HIV Organizations A large part of the #MeToo movement hasn't been just the worst examples of physical harm and rape -- it has forced us again to think about the workplace as a site for sexual harassment. It happens in far too many of our organizations, and often to young gay men. I have heard young Black and Latinx gay and bisexual men in particular discuss having to navigate a range of sexual harassment incidents in the HIV workplace over the years. This includes unwanted advances by coworkers, supervisors, board members, and sometimes clients. Or reports of people being asked for sexual acts in exchange for being considered for a job. In the early 2000s, I was working for a homeless shelter in New York City doing Medicaid billing. Every few weeks, I had to go to our mobile van to pull medical files to run Medicaid numbers to ensure the organization was paid for its medical services. I was propositioned to perform a sex act by the mobile van driver. I rejected his advances and left, but as the days drew nearer for me to return, I began to have anxiety about being near him (especially in a closed and confined space). I eventually reported the incident to human resources. Just a few years later, I worked for an HIV nonprofit that shared an office with another HIV nonprofit and was daily harassed by an employee at the organization we shared space with -- so much so that I started locking my office from the inside to avoid him coming into my office at all. I happen to know many men with even worse stories, and many people who have left the field as a result. This is of course not to suggest that consensual sexual and romantic relationships don't exist among people who meet at work. It's quite common. But when a rejection of an advance doesn't stop continued advances, or men are put into compromising situations with people who hold power over their livelihoods, it becomes another thing entirely. It is critical that those of us who labor in HIV and other health care-related settings think about how we research and implement trauma-informed care programs and services as a response to people who come into care having lived experiences with intimate partner violence, rape, and other forms of violence. But just as important is that we begin to ask the difficult questions about what the conditions are within our institutions that are in fact creating the need for trauma-responsive systems. I'm not endorsing call-out culture and social media dragging of people as the solution -- even on a conference stage. But I do think it's critical for us all to consider our institutions in the field of HIV prevention, treatment, and advocacy, and the work that needs to happen to ensure our institutions are safe spaces for people who work there, while we build systems that also support and nurture the people who come to our doors who have been harmed in their lives elsewhere. As Tarana Burke said in her closing remarks at the Biomedical HIV Prevention Summit, "We come to the work because we are the work." Dublin, Dec. 07, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Oil & Gas EPC Market - Segmented by Geography and End User - Growth, Trends and Forecast (2018 - 2023)" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. In 2016, the global spending on oil and gas projects was about USD 437 billion, a decrease of nearly 41.7% when compared to that of 2014. Factors, such as a decline in the investments in oil and gas projects and cancellation of projects, worth USD 380 billion since 2014, have resulted in a severe downturn in the global oil & gas EPC market. As a result, it is tough to maintain the profit margins, which has fueled the level of competition between EPC contractors. Oil & gas EPC companies are partnering with seasoned companies to complement their skillset, increase strength and improve the overall business portfolio. Increasing Demand for Oil & Gas - Accelerates Growth If the new projects are not approved, the global oil supply is expected to fall behind the global oil demand by 2020. Two scenarios can be considered due to this situation. Firstly, a majority of operating companies anticipate such situation and take the risk of investing in new projects, even if the oil prices are low; however until the prices rise, the companies can delay the production to prevent the oversupply. In this scenario, companies are expected to invest in exploration, so that the discovered oil reserves are utilized later when the oil & gas prices rise, resulting in the growth of upstream exploration contracts during the forecast period; while midstream and downstream contracts are expected to rise after 2020. The second scenario is that, if the majority of operating companies do not take the risk of investing in new projects due to low sustained oil prices, then the supply of oil and gas is expected to fall behind the demand, leading to a drastic rise in the oil prices. In this case, the oil & gas EPC contracts are expected to rise substantially during the forecast period. Therefore, in either case, the contracts in oil & gas sector are expected to increase within next five years. The low crude oil prices and lack of skilled labor are the major restraints for the growth of the global oil & gas EPC market. Variable Effect of Oil Price on Upstream, Midstream and Downstream EPC Market A decline in crude oil prices has led to a slump in the upstream oil & gas industry. On the other hand, it has had a variable effect on the downstream oil & gas industry based on geography. For instance, in Europe, the decline in crude oil prices has increased the profit margins for the downstream industry; while in the United States, the low oil prices have resulted in an oversupply of end-product in the downstream industry. This has led to the demand-supply deficit, which, in turn, has had an adverse effect on the US downstream oil & gas industry. The midstream oil & gas industry witnessed a sharp decline over the years, due to a decline in the volume of investments owing to the uncertainty of oil prices. North America to Lead the Market The North American upstream EPC market is expected to grow at a faster rate, due to the positive outlook of the oil & gas industry in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Oil production in the United States is expected to grow, drastically, due to the growing production from the Permian region of Texas and the Federal Gulf of Mexico. Canada provides tremendous a growth opportunity for the oil & gas EPC market as the country's major oil reserves, like oil sand, are open to private companies and not controlled by national oil companies. Mexico is the third-largest player in the oil & gas EPC market in North America, after the United States and Canada. New oil & gas projects are expected to start in Mexico, due to the growing requirement for infrastructure development activities in the oil & gas industry. This factor is expected to fuel the market growth in Mexico. Hence, growth in the United States, exploration opportunity in Canada, and need to build infrastructure in Mexico are likely to drive the oil & gas EPC sector in North America in the coming years. Moreover, in Canada, the transparency in the oil & gas sector is expected to help in mitigating risks in EPC projects. India to Drive the Global Oil Consumption Growth In 2016, India accounted for about 4.6% of the global oil consumption and registered a CAGR of nearly 8% for oil consumption during 2014-2016. Industrial growth, urbanization, growing population, and increasing per capita income are the major drivers fueling India's demand for oil. India is expected to be a major source for the global oil & gas demand during the forecast period. This demand is expected to drive the global oil & gas investments, thus, driving the oil & gas EPC market. Developments in the Market McDermott International Inc. and Chicago Bridge & Iron Company NV (CB&I) agreed to sign a merger. Statoil awarded TechnipFMC PLC an EPC contract for Snorre Field expansion projects. Key Topics Covered 1. Executive Summary 2. Research Methodology 3. Market Overview 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Market Size and Demand Forecast Until 2023 3.3 Recent Trends and Developments 4. Market Dynamics 4.1 Drivers 4.2 Restraints 4.3 Opportunities 5. Supply Chain Analysis 6. Global Oil & Gas EPC Market Analysis, by Sector 6.1 Upstream 6.2 Midstream 6.3 Downstream 7. Global Oil & Gas EPC Market Analysis, by Geography 7.1 North America 7.2 Asia-Pacific 7.3 Europe 7.4 Middle East & Africa 7.5 South America 8. Key Company Analysis 8.1 TechnipFmc Plc 8.2 Bechtel Corporation 8.3 Samsung Engineering Co. Ltd 8.4 Saipem Spa 8.5 National Petroleum Construction Company 8.6 McDermott International, Inc. 8.7 KBR Inc. 8.8 Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. 8.9 Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. Ltd 8.10 Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co. Ltd 8.11 Fluor Corporation 8.12 Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co. Ltd 8.13 CNGS Group 8.14 Hexa Oil & Gas Services LLC 8.15 Stroytransgaz OAO 9. Competitive Landscape 9.1 Mergers and Acquisitions 9.2 Collaborations and Joint Ventures 9.3 Strategies adopted by leading players For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/7zdmxd/global_oil_and?w=12 Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Daniel Murdiyarso (The Jakarta Post) Bogor, West Java Fri, December 7, 2018 09:07 1086 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e0f60e5 3 Opinion Indonesia,climate-change,Jokowi,emission,environment Free Katowice, formerly a mining town in southern Poland, is taking center stage in the world. Once home to heavy, polluting industries, the vibrant town of about 300,000 people is hosting the 24th Climate Change Conference ( COP24 ) until next week. Alongside the usual climate conference agenda items and formal negotiations, the discussions in the hallways of Katowices International Congress Center are also to be enlivened by the recently released Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report. Known as SR1.5, the report made headlines last month with troubling insights into the accelerating pace of climate change. Countries have been warned that an average global temperature increase of 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels poses greater risks than previously believed. These risks can be substantially reduced by limiting warming to 1.5 degrees but this requires dramatic emission reductions by 2030 and carbon neutrality by about 2050. This would entail unprecedented transformations of energy, land, urban and industrial systems. President Joko Jokowi Widodos pledge to restore more than 2 million hectares of peat land at climate talks in Paris three years ago is more relevant than ever. To move forward with this ambitious goal, the President established the Peatland Restoration Agency (BRG) in early 2016. The BRGs mandate of restoring peat land across seven peat-rich provinces in Indonesia covers an area of more than 12 million ha about the same size as the entire territory of North Korea. Having been hustling for three years and with two more to go, the BRG might just be able to achieve all the planned restoration targets. The numbers, however, have nothing to do with emission reduction targets. This absurdity may have something to do with the entire governance system for curbing climate change in the country. The historic emissions associated with peatland degradation in the past decade amounts to 430 million tons of CO2 equivalent annually. This includes biomass removal as a result of deforestation and peat decomposition and oxidation following excessive drainage and peat fires. It could be worse when El Nino, a climate phenomenon characterized by a long drought, comes. In the climate talks in Katowice countries are to be updating their individual efforts to reduce emissions and tackle climate change, a process known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC). Indonesia could improve its ambition by including restoration efforts as part of its emission reduction measures. This could be even more promising when avoidance of further conversion and conservation of intact peatlands is included. At the back of the envelope, the ambitions for the land sector could slash the 2010 emissions level of 650 million tons to 200 million tons by 2030. Peatland restoration and conservation would lead to unprecedented transformations of sustainable peatland management to achieve negative emissions, meaning peatlands would become net sinks for atmospheric carbon. This could offset the challenges associated with reducing emissions in the energy sector, which are growing exponentially. The largest source of emissions is from drained peatland (250 million tons of CO2 equivalent annually). Rewetting followed by revegetating the landscape could effectively halt the emissions and at the same time help avoid fires, the second-largest source of emissions (110 million tons of CO2 equivalent annually). Mitigating these sources by combining peat land restoration and conservation would meet emission reduction targets relatively easily. Financing peatland restoration is the key to success. In addition to public budgets, other sources worth exploring include the Reduction of Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) mechanism and bilateral arrangements, as well as multilateral streams, such as the Green Climate Fund (GCF). The latter would need coordination with the National Designated Authority to prepare the transformational change through the GCF. Peatland is the low hanging fruit by which Indonesia has the capacity to demonstrate technical evidence relatively easily. If the institution and the associated regulatory framework in place could form a strong peatland governance framework, development and conservation in Indonesia could be the gold standard for south-south collaboration. The recent joint declaration of Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya and her counterparts from the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of Congo, who agreed to establish the Interim Secretariat of the International Tropical Peatland Center, is paving the way for such leadership. It is likely that the environment minister from Peru would also be jumping on the peatland conservation bandwagon while mingling and debating during the COP24. Katowice has transformed itself from a town known for its dirty coal and acid rain into one of 16 European cities with the most vibrant and innovative economies. Lets hope the same spirit of transformation can spread to others at this years climate change talks. *** The writer is principal scientist at the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and a professor at Bogor Agricultural University. He is also a member of the Indonesian Academy of Sciences. Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post. English Norwegian Data Respons has signed a contract of NOK 11 million with a Norwegian customer. The contracts comprise R&D Services, software development and Smarter Solutions embedded in the customers' industrial products. The initial development services and prototype deliveries will be carried out in 2019 with potential to deliver these solutions later. - We notice that there is an increasing product development activity among our customers and that companies get more technology-driven in their strategy. This contract involves development of an advanced communication solution with high security requirements that will be operating in rugged environments. Our multi-disciplinary engineering competence and industry know-how enables Data Respons to take on advanced development projects, says Kenneth Ragnvaldsen, CEO of Data Respons ASA. - In Data Respons, we have a lifetime perspective on our relationships and work closely with our customers - from idea throughout the product lifecycle and into the next generation. This contract offers a great long-term opportunity to deliver products and services in many years ahead, says Kenneth Ragnvaldsen, CEO of Data Respons ASA. For further information: Kenneth Ragnvaldsen, CEO, Data Respons ASA, tel. +47 913 90 918. Rune Wahl, CFO, Data Respons ASA, tel. + 47 950 36 046 About Data Respons Data Respons is a full-service, independent technology company and a leading player in the IoT, Industrial digitalisation and the embedded solutions market. We provide R&D services and smarter solutions to OEM companies, system integrators and vertical product suppliers in a range of market segments such as Transport & Automotive, Industrial Automation, Telecom & Media, Space, Defence & Security, Medtech, Energy & Maritime, and Finance & Public Sector. Data Respons ASA is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange (Ticker: DAT), and is part of the information technology index. The company has offices in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany and Taiwan. www.datarespons.com This information is subject of the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Inforial (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta, Indonesia Fri, December 7, 2018 19:08 1085 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e118274 4 Inforial Free The secretary-general of World Zakat Forum (WZF), Prof. Dr. Bambang Sudibyo, MBA CA, delivered Resolusi Melaka 2018 (the 2018 Melaka Resolution) on the last day of the international conference, which was held in Melaka, Malaysia, on Thursday. The resolutions were read out in front of 300 participants from 28 countries and contained a statement calling for the strengthening of the global zakat movement. As a platform for the movement, the WZF plays an important role in improving the accountability and management of zakat to improve the welfare of the ummah, including combating poverty. "It is for these reasons that the WZF held the international conference with the theme Strengthening Global Zakat Cooperation in Increasing the Welfare of the Ummah," said Bambang who was accompanied by the WZFs deputy secretary-generals. . (./.) The conference discussed various contemporary topics regarding the development of the global zakat, including Zakat and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Zakat Cooperation between Countries, Strengthening the Role of Global Zakat and Good Amil Governance, as well as Improving the Transparency and Accountability of Zakat Institutions. The conference also acknowledged the increasing role of zakat in solving issues of global poverty and inequality. Moreover, the WZF proposed a new approach, incorporating the third pillar of Islam. The 11 points in Resolusi Melaka 2018 are as follow: 1. The philosophy and core values or zakat should become the driving force in increasing the welfare of the ummah 2. Zakat should be seen as the source of supplementary financial resources for achieving the SDGs. 3. The role of zakat in combating poverty and furthering social inclusion should be improved. 4. The WZF appeals to all members to adopt zakat as an important policy instrument in developing socioeconomic elements in their respective countries. 5. The WZF encourages all members to adopt: a) Zakat Core Principles (ZCP) to improve the quality of the management of zakat. b) The principles of Risk Management in Zakat Institutions (RMZI). c) The principles of Good Amil Governance on Zakat Management (GAGZM). 6. All WZF members are required to practice transparency and accountability in publishing their reports to the public. 7. The WZF encourages stronger cooperation and networking between WZF members. 8. The WZF encourages strengthening the capacity of the Zakat Management Organizations (ZMO) in Muslim-minority countries. 9. WZF members extended their deepest condolences to the victims of natural disasters that struck West Nusa Tenggara and Central Sulawesi and conveying deep compassion and sympathy to those afflicted by conflicts, such as the Rohingya, Palestinians and other communities around the world. The WZF appealed for collective action to restore and rehabilitate those who are afflicted by these conflicts. 10. The conference asked all Muslim countries, including IOC members, and zakat organizations in Muslim-minority countries to join the WZF. 11. The WZF reasserts its willingness to cooperate with developing countries in eradicating poverty through financing schemes based on the combination of zakat and donations from developing countries. May Allah SWT grace us all with blessings in our endeavors to advance the global zakat movement for a better future for the ummah," Bambang said in his closing remarks. At the conference, the WZF accepted 10 new members -- Australia, Sri Lanka, Kazakhstan, Ghana, Maldives, Senegal, Liberia, Togo, Benin and Sierra Leone -- bringing the number to 33. The idea of founding the WZF was the result of a rising need for a global zakat movement. At the WZF meeting in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, in 2007, Indonesia was appointed to host the first conference. The forum was officially established three years later on Sept. 30 in Yogyakarta. In the beginning, it was attended by nine representatives from international zakat organizations hailing from Indonesia, Malaysia, Qatar, Kuwait, Turkey, the United Kingdom, Bahrain, Jordan, Sudan and Saudi Arabia. At the first conference, Prof. Dr. K.H. Didin Hafidhuddin was appointed as its first secretary-general, a position he held until 2013. The next secretary-general was Dr. Ahmad Juwaini who held the post until last year. Bambang was appointed in March last year. The WZF is expected to formulate effective solutions for the multidimensional problems faced by the Muslim world: First, the essence of zakat should not only be about eradicating poverty and disadvantages, but also about empowering the ummah; second, zakat should be able to lessen social and economic constraints faced by the ummah; third, zakat should help create the welfare for the ummah; fourth, zakat should help influence the Muslim world; and, fifth, zakat should play a role in advancing the glory of Islam globally. The WZF connects activists, experts, researchers and academia, as well as various organizations committed to developing and promoting the practices of zakat on the global stage. The WZFs organizational structure: Secretary-General Prof. Dr. Bambang Sudibyo, MBA CA Deputy-Secretary Generals Saleh Ali Alawaji, Ph.D Elnur Salihovic, Ph.D Abdeslam Ballaji, Ph.D Muhammad Lawal Maidoki Shaikh Abdurraziq Mukhtar Muhammad Ayub Miah, Ph.D Haji Ahmad Shukri Yusoff Executive Secretary Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Inforial (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta, Indonesia Sat, December 8, 2018 00:04 1085 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e121b66 4 Inforial Free As most companies are still applying the minimum academic requirement for intern candidates of having at least a high school diploma or its equivalent, the Manpower Ministry has urged companies in Indonesia to simplify their internship requirements. In his written speech, which was read by the ministrys training and productivity supervision director general, Bambang Satrio Lelono, Manpower Minister M. Hanif Dhakiri called on companies to give a chance to people without high school diplomas to get an internship. Im calling on companies to open the door for junior high school and elementary school graduates--even for those who do not graduate from elementary schools. Even if they are not accepted as a new employee at the company, at least, the company has helped them to hone their skills so they can start a business, said Satrio at the Independent Internship Program (PPM) seminar themed Improving competence among workers through internships to increase Indonesias competitiveness in Bekasi, West Java, on Wednesday. . (./.) An internship is one of the best solutions to address employment problems, Satrio added, especially in equipping workers with the right skills needed in the current market. Interns can gain real work experience, shape their mentality and attitude, and increase the needed skills in the field, he said. Internship programs will also have positive impacts on the companies, he added. They can be an efficient and effective program to recruit new employees. They can also increase the skills of the staffers involved in the program, including internship coordinators, instructors and mentors. Another positive thing is that they can promote the companys concern for preparing the next generation to become competent workers, he said. Satrio added that he hoped there would be assistance for those in need until they became self-reliant. "Manpower agencies and other related agencies can mentor them and open access to venture capital, he said. . (./.) Satrio also advised the interns to make the most of the PPM so they can develop their competitiveness. With their experience, they can apply for a job of the right position in companies or they can start a business. The deputy mayor of Bekasi, Tri Adhianto, also expressed his hope that the PPM could be one of the solutions to reduce the unemployment rate in Bekasi, which is in accordance with the mission and vision of the citys 2018-2023 employment target. "[Bekasi aims to] generate 150,000 jobs through three activities--competency improvement, entrepreneurships and job fairs, he said. At the event, Satrio, Tri and company representatives signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on internship and job vacancies in Bekasi, which showed their commitment to training programs or the Human Resources Development (HRD) Forum. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (Reuters) Athens, Greece Fri, December 7, 2018 05:03 1086 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e0dd396 2 People Prince-William,Kate-Middleton,Britain,military,Cyprus,royals Free Prince William and his wife Kate visited British military personnel based on Cyprus on Wednesday to thank them for their contribution ahead of the festive period. During the brief visit to RAF Akrotiri on the southern coast of Cyprus, William and Kate met with serving personnel, families living on the base and members of the local community. "As we approach Christmas, Catherine and I feel strongly that praise for your work and recognition of your sacrifices is exactly what is due to you all. From my time in uniform, we both know a bit of what it feels like to balance your work commitments with your family life," William told troops. Read also: Prince William watches England thrash Panama in replay William and Kate passed on Christmas presents they had received from family members whom they met in London on Tuesday, Kensington Palace said on its official Twitter account. "You all put duty first. And so do your families, some of whom we had the chance to meet yesterday at a party at Kensington Palace. We know this isn't easy for you or for your wives, husbands, children, and friends back in the UK. "But on behalf of everyone back home, we would like to say thank you," William said. Britain has two military bases on the east Mediterranean island, which was a colony until 1960. RAF Akrotiri hosts an Expeditionary Airforce Wing that supports operation Shader, Britain's codename for attacks on Islamic State. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Gyanindra Ali (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, December 7, 2018 09:26 1086 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e0f71f1 1 Entertainment Annisa,film-festival,Barry-Putra,filmmaker,LGBT,#LGBT,Muslim,local-movie,#film Free The film by Barry Putra touches on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex plus (LGBTQI+) issues, which is a sensitive topic in Indonesia. His film was named a winner alongside two others I Am Not Afraid from France and Cycle from Hungary. Each of the three winners was awarded an opportunity to work with a real producer and a budget of 20,000 euros (US$25,426) for their next production. Barry said his win came as a surprise. The other films are as great, the issues they raised are also interesting, and the other filmmakers have great filmmaking experience. This is the first time I made a short film so I did not expect it at all. I did not even prepare a speech. When it was announced, I was trembling and I was at a loss for words, he told The Jakarta Post. With the reward, Barry plans to work on another project that will also focus on LGBTQI+ issues or highlight bissu (gender neutral identity that is part South Sulawesis Bugis tradition) for his next production. I want to expose womens sexuality, especially Muslim women. Hopefully, people can see that there is another dimension to women. That, I think, will help undo all of the negative perceptions that can harm them. And hopefully, people can see them as humans too. He is aware that in certain societies, knowledge about sexuality and the LGBTQI+ community is minimal, resulting in them being discriminated against. I hope with this film, I can talk about sexuality and the LGBTQI+ community differently; through media and film, so that hopefully it can educate people about women, sexuality and the LGBTQI+ community, Barry said. The one-minute film tells the story of a gay Muslim girl and her struggle in dealing with the pressure of a society that does not accept her sexuality. With brief yet intense shots, Barry portrays the girls sad process of hiding her true sexuality to fit in with the demands of society, as well as the punishment she faces after being shunned by friends and family. Ever since it was first launch in 2005, the festival has given home filmmakers all over the world an opportunity to shine. With the unique concept of 1 mobile, 1 minute, 1 film, the festival has erased the economic barriers for filmmaking requiring aspiring directors to use only the cameras on their mobile phones or tablets to express their ideas. Creators for change: Mobile Film Festival founder Bruno Smadja (right, standing) strikes a pose with the winners and the judges at the festivals award ceremony on Tuesday in Paris, France. (Courtesy of Mobile Film Festival/-) Their creativity is also challenged by time constraints, where filmmakers have to be able to convey their message to the audience in just under a minute. This year, for its 14th edition, the festival partnered with YouTube Creators for Change, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the European Union to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Under the theme Stand Up for Human Rights, the submitted films were expected to portray topics dealing with human rights; ranging from violence against women to freedom of the press. With this vast array of topics, the films were divided into eight categories, including women and childrens rights, LGBTQI+, racism, migrants rights and humor. This year, 51 out of the 715 submitted films from 81 countries were selected and published on the festivals social platforms, particularly YouTube, from Nov. 6 to 27. In the last edition alone, the films tallied a whopping 17 million views cumulatively, making the festival a platform not only for competitions and the showcasing of films, but also to promote human rights issues. Im sure the fight, the defense for human rights will still have to go on. Its a long battle. And its a very interesting goal for humanity to have respect for women, respect for kids and all the other subjects, the festivals initiator, Bruno Smadja, told the Post. The submitted films were judged by household names such as actress Amber Heard, YouTuber Funforlouis and Irelands former president Mary Robinson. The award ceremony was held at the MK2 Bibliotheque Theater in Paris. The films, which were mostly heart-moving and confrontational, portrayed the huge gap between the world and its humanitarian ideals. They also gave the audience a broad world view as each film raised different issues. One of them, The Tenants from Hungary, raises the issue of racism, telling the story of a gypsy couple who uses disguises and makeup to cover up their appearance just so they can rent an apartment in Budapest. This film touches on issues of discrimination that still exists in Hungary, forcing the couple to cave into pressure because appearances are used to judge an individual rather than his or her character. Smadja said the films were selected because they were creative, impactful and complimentary in terms of their countries, subjects they were approaching and in terms of storytelling. Its a great moment. These small films shot on smartphones were shown on screens that usually show films like Star Wars. The writer is an intern at The Jakarta Post. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Malick Rokhy BA (Agence France-Presse) Dakar, Senegal Fri, December 7, 2018 20:09 1085 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e11b45a 2 Art & Culture Museum,heritage,Dakar,senegal Free A museum showcasing black heritage from the dawn of time to the modern era opened in the Senegalese capital Dakar on Thursday. The opening came as African countries press harder for the restitution of artwork from their former colonial masters -- and as France made its first steps in that direction, pledging to return artworks to Benin. The Museum of Black Civilisations will foster the "dialogue of cultures" and offer a "new view of Africa and its diaspora, which recognises our part in the great human adventure," Senegalese President Macky Sall said as he opened the museum. "Today rekindles in us the precursors of pan-Africanism and African identity," Sall said after cutting the symbolic ribbon at the ceremony. Among the guests was Chinese Culture Minister Luo Shugang, whose country financed the project to the tune of 30 million euros ($34 million). Spread over 14,000 square metres (150,000 square feet), the museum has a capacity to house 18,000 pieces, said museum director Hamady Bocoum. Both Bocoum and the museum's lead scientist Ibrahima Thioub said the collection, which includes megaliths dating back more than 1,700 years ago alongside contemporary art, would both honour the past and look to the future. It should not be "a place of nostalgia but a crucible of creativity, a factory of self-esteem," said Thioub, rector of Dakar's Cheikh-Anta-Diop University. Read also: Getty museum vows to fight Italy court decision on prized statue A dream fulfilled Such a museum was the dream of Senegal's first president Leopold Sedar Senghor, among the drivers of the Negritude literary movement born in the 1960s. The poet, who was Senegal's president from 1960 to 1980, spoke of it at the first World Festival of Black Arts, held in Dakar in 1966. "We are in the continuity of history," Sall said Thursday. "Through the ages, Africa invented, fashioned and transformed, thus constantly participating in the flow of innovations. Our duty is to remain vigilant sentinels of the heritage of the ancients." The museum is among several new -- or overhauled -- facilities springing up around Africa that bolster growing demands for the restitution of artworks spirited out of the continent since colonial times. Late last month France announced it would return 26 cultural artefacts to Benin. It was a first gesture acting on the findings of a study commissioned by President Emmanuel Macron on repatriating African treasures held by French museums. Senegal was quick to call for the restitution of some 10,000 pieces of Senegalese art from France. Ivory Coast followed suit the next day, asking for the return of around 100 works of art. In a reflection of the museum's embrace of the ages, Thursday's ceremony was followed by a show featuring traditional music and dance as well as rap and slam performances. The hundreds of guests also heard homages to giants of black civilisation including American civil rights hero Martin Luther King and Burkinabe revolutionary Thomas Sankara. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) San Francisco, United States Fri, December 7, 2018 19:03 1085 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e117f67 2 Science & Tech Google,artifical-intelligence,News-Feed Free Google said Thursday it was launching a radio-style, on-demand audio news feed available on smart speakers, personalized with the help of artificial intelligence. The technology giant said it had partnerships with more than a dozen news organizations to deliver an audio feed in the same manner as its smartphone news feed. "This new experience will bring you an audio news playlist assembled in that moment, for you," Google product manager Liz Gannes said in a blog post. "It starts with a briefing of top stories and updates on topics you care about, and extends into longer-form content that dives deeper into more stories." Google Assistant, the AI program developed by the company, will manage the feed, allowing users to skip a story, go back or stop. The project aims to transform audio news into a Netflix-like experience, available on demand with personalized recommendations. "For the past century, radio has been a one-size-fits-all medium," Gannes wrote. Read also: Google to release low-priced mobile phones in Indonesia "Turn on the radio and you're dropped into a show at a moment in time -- regardless of what you already know, where you are, or what you're interested in. "Imagine instead if you could have your own radio, one that's available on-demand, accessible throughout your day, and brings you news about the world and your interests." The new project builds on Google's existing efforts to deliver news over its speakers and smartphones, and comes amid a broad effort by news organizations and tech firms to develop more voice services. The audio news feature will roll out first to a limited number of people using the Google Assistant in the United States in English, the company said. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Washington Fri, December 7, 2018 13:07 1086 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e104c15 2 Science & Tech Google,translation,technology,gender,google-translate Free Google said Thursday it was tweaking its translation application with the goal of reducing gender bias. The move comes amid criticism that Google Translate often defaulted to masculine names when it converted text to another language. "Over the course of this year, there's been an effort across Google to promote fairness and reduce bias in machine learning," product manager James Kuczmarski said in a blog post. Up to now, the translate program provided only one translation for a query, often choosing the masculine word for terms like "doctor," and the feminine word for "nurse," for example. Read also: Google to release low-priced mobile phones in Indonesia "Now you'll get both a feminine and masculine translation for a single word -- like 'surgeon' -- when translating from English into French, Italian, Portuguese or Spanish," he said. Google said it was planning to extend gender-specific translations to more languages, "and address gender bias in features like query auto-complete." "And we're already thinking about how to address non-binary gender in translations, though it's not part of this initial launch," Kuczmarski added. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Ni Nyoman Wira (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, December 7, 2018 11:34 1086 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e101c2d 1 Art & Culture Aan-Mansyur,poet,poetry,language Free Poet and author M. Aan Mansyur hosted a discussion about the power of language during the Indonesian Cultural Congress (KKI), held from Dec. 5 to 9 at the Education and Cultural Ministry office complex in Senayan, Central Jakarta. During the discussion, titled Kegamangan Puisi: Antara Bahasa Ibu, Bahasa Indonesia dan Bahasa Asing (Indecision in Poem: Between Native, Indonesian and Foreign Languages), Aan encouraged the audience to be more critical in their use of language, as it was more than just a communication tool. The indecision here concerns whether the Indonesian language can express all of a writers ideas. Originating from the South Sulawesi regency of Bone, Aan mainly spoke the Bugis language as a child. For him, the language was able to make intangible concepts tangible. Indonesian was considered a foreign language at that time [] [as] both my elementary school and pesantren [Islamic boarding school] used Bugis language daily, said Aan during his talk on Wednesday night, Dec. 5. Still considering Bugis his mother tongue, Aan uses Indonesian when writing. However, the writer of poetry book Tidak Ada New York Hari Ini (No New York for Today) often felt restricted when writing in Indonesian, as he could not find the right vocabulary to translate what he had in mind. He gave the example of the word listening that could be changed into your voice touches my ear or thinking into I put you in my head both becoming tangible. Aans examples showed the complicated connections between language, ways of thinking and culture that influence a poet. He said it required further research to find out whether Indonesian poets were affected by their native languages when thinking and writing in Indonesian, and whether it was visible in their work. Read also: Aan Mansyur: All poems are love poems Poet and writer M. Aan Mansyur during his public lecture on Wednesday, Dec. 5, during the Indonesian Cultural Congress (KKI) 2018 at Education and Cultural Ministry office complex in Senayan, Central Jakarta. (JP/Ni Nyoman Wira) Perhaps itd be more interesting for poets to return to their mother tongues to find new methods of writing. Poets who grew up with different languages may see the Indonesian language differently, he said. If they find new ways of writing, we can imagine how varied Indonesian poems would be. However, writing in native languages may not be easy. Poets may need to understand the culture and background behind it, especially how the language works within the community. Different languages have different structures as well. Aans lecture did not aim to coax the audience to use their native languages. Rather, he wanted to discuss whether poets were aware of the possibility of returning to their mother tongues, as he wanted Indonesian poetry to be more diverse. Its not about whether I use Bugis or Indonesian, said Aan. But Indonesia will be more rich if writers use their native languages as a method in their writings. Born in 1982, M. Aan Mansyur gained national fame when his book, No New York Today, was included in the popular 2016 romance-drama movie Ada Apa dengan Cinta? 2 (Whats up with Cinta? 2), directed by Riri Riza and staring Nicholas Saputra and Dian Sastrowardoyo. His other works include Hujan Rintih-rintih (Moaning Rain) and Cinta yang Marah (Angry Love). Meanwhile, the Indonesian Cultural Congress kicked off on Wednesday. The event features a range of activities including public lectures, film screenings, public debates, film discussions, performances and cultural parades. (wng) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Simon Morgan (Agence France-Presse) Vienna, Austria Sat, December 8, 2018 06:05 1085 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e124cab 2 Art & Culture Vienna,Austria,Opera,Europe,music,Far-Right Free World premieres are something of a rarity at the Vienna State Opera, but preparations are underway this week for the first performance of a new piece tackling the refugee crisis and the rise of far-right populism in Europe. It has been more then eight years since the State Opera, one of the world's most important music theaters, commissioned and premiered a brand new work. The 44-year-old Austrian composer Johannes Maria Staud says being asked to write an opera for such a prestigious house was "invigorating". "It really focuses the mind," he told AFP. Staud has already written two operas and his third, "Die Weiden" (The Willows), is being premiered on Saturday. The 135-minute work, scored for huge orchestra and live electronics, is based on a short story by British horror writer Algernon Blackwood and the novel Heart of Darkness by British writer, Joseph Conrad. The libretto, by German poet Durs Gruenbein, tells of a pair of young lovers, Lea and Peter, who go on a canoe trip into the country of Peter's childhood. The further they paddle into a region whose inhabitants view everything foreign with suspicion, the fiercer the tensions between the two of them become. Read also: La Scala to unveil first opera by master composer Kurtag, 92 - No time for escapism - In a joint interview with AFP, both the composer and the librettist said they could not have foreseen the current global political situation when they received the commission four or five years ago. "But we knew even then that now was not the time to write an escapist piece," Staud said. He said he found it "deeply alarming" that a far-right populist party, such as Austria's anti-Islam, anti-immigration Freedom Party (FPOe), should be in government in a western democracy. Gruenbein noted that at the time they began work on the piece, "there was already a lot of debate about migration. People were already using terms such as 'streams of refugees'." But the pair of artists could not have anticipated "this spiral of hatred, the resentment, the unsayable becoming sayable", Staud said. Gruenbein insisted "Die Weiden" was not intended as "a piece of political theory" with which to lecture the audience from a soapbox. "It wasn't a narrative that we went looking for. It was already there, all around us," he said, while Staud felt he was driven by an almost "existential" need to write it. Read also: Calixto Bieito brings his 'film noir' to Paris Opera - Quoting Wagner - Neither was it the two men's intention to be controversial, "even if we know that the piece will divide" Vienna's culturally conservative audiences, Staud said. "We're not looking to drive another wedge between people. Because it's precisely a wedge that the populists are seeking to drive through the whole of society." Nonetheless, a feeling of outrage over today's politics was a key factor in the creative impulse, he said. It was the first time he had ever used musical quotations from another composer, in this case Richard Wagner, in any of his works, Staud added. Wagner was "the central fixed star of Germany's dark romanticism" and "a great composer". But even though Wagner was also was "an artist from whom I distance myself in many points" -- particularly with regard to his anti-Semitism -- Staud also felt the need to reappropriate him from far-right, Nazi and identitarian thinkers. "We're taking back how we interpret Wagner and what his music means to us," Staud said. "Die Weiden" will receive an initial run of five performances and is being revived next season. The staging is by German director, Andrea Moses, with German conductor and contemporary music specialist, Ingo Metzmacher, in the pit. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin A. Muh. Ibnu Aqil (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, December 7 2018 Social media are creating new ways for the government and city administrations to reach out to citizens, which, unfortunately, does not necessarily translate into faster public services. The Jakarta administration, for instance, has more than 100 social media accounts across its agencies and working groups to communicate with citizens, according to Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan. He said the administration was looking at peoples interaction in social media as a trend they needed to catch up with rather than a problem to be overcome. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,000/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Dublin, Dec. 07, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Telemedicine Market Share, Analysis, Size - Segmented by Type (Telehospitals, Telehomes, mHealth (mobile health), by Clinical Service, by Technology, by Mode of Delivery and Geography - Growth, Trends, and Forecast (2018 - 2023)" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The global telemedicine market was valued at USD 32,842.48 million in 2017 and is expected to witness a CAGR of 18.83% over the period 2018-2023. Growing Medicare Reimbursement for Telehealth Services Boost Telemedicine Market Growth In 2016, Medicare paid a total of USD 28.75 million for telehealth services, spread across a total of 496,396 claims. This includes payments to distant site providers and originating site payments. In the previous year, the same expense amounted to USD 22.45 million, spread across a total of 372,518 claims. Overall, 2016 saw a 33% increase, in the number of Medicare telehealth claims submitted, and a 28% increase in total payments. This uptick in total payments is not attributable to fee schedule rate increases, but rather to more providers using telehealth services with their traditional Medicare FFS beneficiaries. Consequently, the growth rate of Medicare reimbursement for telehealth services is fueling the growth of the global telemedicine market. Additionally, factors, like increasing prevalence of chronic diseases and innovation in communication technology is driving the growth of the global telemedicine market. Privacy & Security Concerns in Telehealth to Hinder Market Growth When communicating with patients through telehealth, there are risks that the telehealth encounter itself could result in a privacy or security law violations. Because these interactions, by definition, involve communications with patients who are not physically present, there is a heightened risk of disclosing information to the wrong person (i.e. somebody who is not the patient), which would likely be an unauthorized disclosure under the HIPAA Privacy Rule. To minimize this risk, telehealth providers should have in place reliable methods for verifying and authenticating the identities of the patient and practitioner(s) at the beginning of each telehealth encounter. In the current market, there is a lack of such reliable methods for authentication purposes. Telehealth encounters may also be vulnerable to third-party interference, signal errors, or transmission outages. These types of incidents can result in the loss of data, interrupted communications, or the alteration of important clinical information, which, in addition to other liability risks, could lead to HIPAA privacy and security violations. As such, the current state of telemedicine is quite vulnerable from a privacy/security attack perspective. This shortcoming prevents many potential patients from undergoing telemedicine-based treatments due to privacy breach apprehensions. Additionally, factors, like lack of inter-operability between e-Health solutions, and fragmented legal frameworks, including lack of reimbursement schemes for e-Health services, is limiting the growth of the global telemedicine market. Market Segmentation Insights for the Telemedicine Market The global telemedicine market can also be segmented by type into telehospital/clinic, telehome, and mHealth. The telehospital/clinic segment is the largest share in the market for the year 2017. However, telehome is estimated to be the fastest growing segment during the forecast period. The estimated CAGR for the telehome segment is 25.35 %. Insights in the clinical services segment, telecardiology is one of the fastest-growing segments in telemedicine. The advancements in technology and web-based applications has allowed better transmission of healthcare delivery. Telesurgery is estimated to be the fastest growing segment during the forecast period with an estimated CAGR of 19.96%. The market is segmented by technology into software, hardware, and telecommunication. The hardware segment is the largest share in the market for the year 2017. However, telecommunication is estimated to be the fastest growing segment during the forecast period with an estimated CAGR for the telecom segment is 21.64%. By mode of delivery, the market is segmented into on-premise delivery and cloud-based delivery. In which on-premise delivery has the largest share of the market. However, Cloud-based Delivery is estimated to be the fastest growing segment during the forecast period with an estimated CAGR of 19.8%. North America is the Leader in Telemedicine Market The North America region has been the progenitor in the field of telemedicine. The beginning of telemedicine in the United States dates back to 1950-60s when first telepsychiatry service was provided in Omaha. In the current market, more than 50% of global market revenue is generated by US-based players and other players based in North America. The reimbursement policies although far from perfect, are still more conducive for telemedicine market growth in this region when compared with other geographies of the world. Developments in the Market BioTelemetry, Inc., announced a partnership with Apple Inc. to provide cardiac monitoring services in conjunction with the Apple Heart Study Telcare, (a division of BioTelemetry) the manufacturer of the world's first FDA-cleared cellular-enabled blood glucose monitor, entered into a strategic collaboration with Onduo, a joint venture created by Verily (an Alphabet company) and Sanofi. Key Topics Covered 1. Introduction 2. Research Methodology 3. Executive Summary 4. Key Inferences 5. Market Overview 5.1 Current Market Scenario 5.2 Porter's Five Forces Analysis 6. Drivers, Restraints, Opportunities and Challenges (DROCs) Analysis 6.1 Telemedicine Market Drivers 6.2 Telemedicine Market Restraints 6.3 Telemedicine Market Opportunities 6.4 Telemedicine Market Challenges 7. Market Segmentation 7.1 Telemedicine Market By Type 7.2 Telemedicine Market By Clinical Service 7.3 Telemedicine Market By Technology 7.4 Telemedicine Market By End-User 7.5 Telemedicine Market By Geography 8. Telemedicine Market Competetive Landscape & Company Profiles 8.1 Allscripts Healthcare Solutions Inc. 8.2 Aerotel Medical Systems 8.3 AMD Global Telemedicine 8.4 Bio Telemetry 8.5 Honeywell Life Care Solutions 8.6 InTouch Technologies 8.7 Medtronic 8.8 Philips 8.9 SHL Telemedicine Ltd. 9. Telemedicine Market Future Outlook For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/lcxgj7/global?w=12 About ResearchAndMarkets.com ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends. Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Tangerang, Banten Fri, December 7, 2018 18:02 1085 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e113bd5 1 Business Daimler,launching,bus Free German car and truck manufacturer Daimler launched on Thursday two new bus models to meet the growing demand for more comfortable and safer buses for public transportation. The new buses the Mercedes-Benz OF 1623 RF and O500RS 1836 -- were designed for medium and long-haul trips, said Daimler Commercial Vehicles Indonesia (DCVI) president director Markus Villinger during the launch ceremony in Tangerang, Banten. The components of the buses, which are produced in Brazil, will be assembled in the companys factory in Wanaherang, Bogor, West Java. DCVI, a subsidiary of Mercedes-Benz Indonesia (MBI), is among the major distributors of luxury passenger buses in Indonesia. The company sells various models of buses with a wide range of engine capacities. Villinger said the two new models were manufactured taking into consideration input from the companys customers. Weve put our customers voice into reality in order to give the best traveling experience to Mercedes-Benz bus passengers, he said. The OF 1623 RF has a load capacity of 16 tons with 230 horsepower, while the O500RS 1836 has a load capacity of 18 tons and with 360 horsepower. The emission standards of both buses are Euro 3 engines. Villinger said that amid the current significant growth of land transportation infrastructure, DCVI continued to improve the quality of its land transportation modes. (das/bbn) A 5.0-magnitude earthquake rocked Lebak District in Banten on Friday at 6:43 a.m., the fifth tremor of above 4-magnitude in the area this year. The earthquake was located around 83 kilometers southwest of Lebak at a depth of 19 km, according to the Lebak Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD). So far, we haven't received any reports of casualties or damage to infrastructure caused by the earthquake," Lebak BPBD Madias said as quoted by Antara news agency, adding that the earthquake was relatively small. The earthquake also did not panic people living nearby on the southern coast of Lebak, which is close to the epicenter. The current situation in the southern coastal area, including Wanasalam, Pangarangan, Cihara and Bayah remains normal, with people going about their activities as usual. Weve asked people to remain calm and not panic, Madias said. However, the agency also asked the residents to stay alert in a bid to minimize casualties. There will also be a 24-hour alert to anticipate another disaster. It was the fifth earthquake to hit the district this year. The largest one was 6.4-magnitude and occurred on Jan. 23, causing panic among people in Jakarta as some occupants of high rise buildings could feel the tremor. In March, the district was hit by another earthquake, this time of 5.2-magnitude, which was hardly felt. On July 7, another earthquake rocked Lebak, measuring only 4.4 but damaging three houses in Sukabumi, West Java. In October, the district was, again, hit by a 5.2-magnitude earthquake. (foy) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, December 7, 2018 18:25 1085 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e11625d 1 City tornado,BMKG,bogor,phenomenon Free The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) has explained the tornado that hit the municipality of Bogor in West Java, killing a resident, toppling 20 trees and damaging 848 houses and five vehicles. A tornado is a natural and commonly occurring weather phenomenon, BMKG spokesman Hary Djatmiko explained on Friday. A tornado is usually preceded by a short duration of heavy rain with lightning and strong wind. In Indonesia, it commonly occurs during seasonal transition, either from the dry season to the rainy season or vice versa, as well as during the rainy season when the morning was sunny and hot, Hary said in a written statement made available to The Jakarta Post. A tornado, which always moves in a straight line, tends to occur in the afternoon or early evening. It lasts less than 10 minutes and affects a stretch of less than 10 kilometers. Hary said a tornado could only be predicted up to one hour in advance and typically moved at a speed of up to 45 km per hour. It is less likely to recur in the same location, he added. Heavy rain with lightning and strong wind could be observed before a tornado, when the air would feel stiflingly hot from midnight until morning. Starting at 10 a.m. in the morning, the puffy-looking cumulus clouds would form, and one type of this cloud featured grey edges and tended to soar like a cauliflower. Before a tornado, that cloud would turn into blackish grey, growing into a dense and towering vertical cloud of the cumulonimbus type. A tornado could only develop from cumulonimbus clouds. However, not all cumulonimbus clouds would generate a tornado. If within one to three days there was no rain during the transition season, the first rain might potentially be heavy rain, followed by strong wind, which could result in a tornado," Hary said. (sau) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, December 8, 2018 10:17 1085 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e116cd0 4 Business Garuda-Indonesia,vintage,flight Free Garuda Indonesia launched its Vintage Flight Experience on Friday, giving passengers a taste of the past on three routes served by the flag carrier. Passengers on flight GA304 from Jakarta to Surabaya would notice several differences, from attributes and the attires of the cabin crew to brand livery adapted to the "Garuda Indonesia Classic Brand". In line with the continuous effort of the corporation to improve the service, particularly to give customers a different experience, Garuda Indonesia has introduced a breakthrough with this vintage nuance, said Garuda Indonesia operational director Bambang Adisurnya Angkasa during the Jakarta-Surabaya flight. He said the 100 percent seat occupancy rate during the first vintage flight on a Boeing 737-800NG plane indicated a positive response from the airlines customers. On todays flight, we present different inflight meals in the form of old snacks like bluder wheels, which were well-known in the middle of 1980s, Bambang said. He added that the cabin crew uniforms had been designed by Japanese designer Hanae Mori, and that the same designs had been worn by cabin crews in the 1970s and 1980s. The vintage flight experience will last until Dec. 17 at certain flight times on three routes Jakarta-Balikpapan, Jakarta-Surabaya and Jakarta-Singapore. (bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, December 7, 2018 08:16 1086 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e0f3057 4 Business SOEs,debt,monitoring,finance-ministry,State-owned-Enterprises-Ministry,Sri-Mulyani-Indrawati Free Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said on Thursday that the Finance Ministry and State-Owned Enterprises Ministry are monitoring the debt of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), which was recorded at Rp 5.57 quadrillion (US$369.04 billion) in the third quarter of 2018. About the SOEs debt, the state-owned enterprises minister and I are continuously monitoring it because they are the agents of development, said Sri Mulyani in Nusa Dua, Bali, as quoted by kompas.com, adding that it was important because the SOEs also received funds from the government in the form of capital injections from the state budget. We need to keep the SOEs debt ratio [sound]. I believe the State-Owned Enterprises Ministry should always monitor the performance of the SOEs, said Sri Mulyani. Previously, apart from revealing the debt, the ministrys restructuring and development undersecretary, Aloysius K Ro, also revealed several other points -- Rp 7.71 quadrillion in combined assets, Rp 2.41 quadrillion in combined equity and Rp 79 trillion in combined profits. He said state-owned lenders have combined debt of Rp 3.31 quadrillion or 74 percent of the total SOE debts, while the remaining figure was the debt of non-lending institutions. Aloysius said the figure was not a cause for concern as long as the SOEs were still capable of repaying their debts. The debt equity ratio to capital is relatively secure. Therefore, we do not need to worry. 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, and not their annual profit. (bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, December 7 2018 A crane that was being used to arrange sheet piling along the banks of the Sunter River in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, fell into the river and onto neighboring houses on Thursday afternoon. Yes, it fell onto the residents [houses], Herry Purnama, the district head of Kemayoran, said as quoted by kompas.com. The crane fell onto houses on Jl. Gelindra in Kebon Kosong. Usin, 56, Enah, 53, and Lis, 35, who were inside one of the houses hit by the crane, were injured. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,000/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, December 7, 2018 16:18 1086 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e11115a 4 Business fishing-tourism,international-fishing-tournament,Tourism-Ministry Free The Tourism Ministry is inviting global anglers to three events in the Indonesia International Fishing Tournaments/Festivals (IIFT/F) to boost tourist arrivals toward its 2019 target of 20 million foreign tourists. The events are to be held in the Central Sulawesi regencies of Banggai and Banggai Laut, and on Belitung Island in Bangka Belitung Islands province. The Nusantara Fishing Tourism, hosted by Banggai Islands regency, run from Dec. 8 to 9. The schedules for the two other IIFT/F events have not been announced. We want to increase foreign exchange inflow from fishing tourists, who spend seven times higher than the average tourist, the ministry's head of accelerated maritime tourism development, Dwisuryo Indroyono Soesilo, said in a press statement on Friday. As an initial step, we have organized three international fishing tournaments, he said. Meanwhile, Banggai Regent Herwin Yatim said that Nusantara Fishing Tourism had invited 60 foreign sport fishing boats to the event, which would take place at S1 33.302 and E122 38.512 in the waters off the peninsular regency. Herwin said the marine area would be promoted as a fishing destination. Indonesia also held a similar event in October last year, the Widi International Fishing Tournament (WIFT) 2017 on Widi Island in South Halmahera regency, North Maluku. WIFT 2017 met the international game fishing guidelines of the International Game Fish Association (IGFA) and The Billfish Foundation. (bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, December 7, 2018 15:13 1086 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e10bc1f 4 Business 5G,technology,Chinas-offer,ASEAN Free Indonesia will study Chinas offer to develop 5G technology in the archipelago, particularly the business model and ecosystem required in such an upgrade. China offered ASEAN countries its services in developing 5G technology at a press conference on the sidelines of the 2018 Telsom Telmin meeting between regional communications ministry officials in Ubud, Bali, on Thursday. "China is offering [to develop] 5G technology, but it is up to each [ASEAN] country because we need to consider the ecosystem and business model, Communications and Information Minister Rudiantara said as quoted by Antara. He said the government would leave it to cellular phone operators to make the decision of whether they would adopt 5G technology. The 5G network offers more speed than 4G, which is currently being used widely in the country, but by applying the upgraded technology, consumers will also pay more. Rudiantara estimated the price could be five to 10 times higher than the price of 4G networks. Previously, China's Deputy Minister for Industry and Informatics Technology Zhaoxiong Chen told journalists that the county had developed 5G technology and would share it with ASEAN countries. "We have good achievement in 5G technology and we have tested the system. We want to share our success and experience with ASEAN to accelerate the adoption of 5G technology," Zhaoxiong said, adding that two Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE were ready to offer their services and expertise. (bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Karina M. Tehusijarana (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, December 7, 2018 09:43 1086 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e0f88da 1 National #PapuaMassacre,#Papua,Papua,violence,OPM,separatism,Trans-Papua-road,Jokowi-administration Free At least 20 people have been killed in Nduga regency, Papua, by an armed group with ties to the Free Papua Movement (OPM). The casualties include 19 workers of state-owned construction company PT Istaka Karya, who were assigned to build a 275-kilometer section to connect Wamena and Mamugu as part of President Joko Jokowi Widodos flagship trans-Papua road project. One Indonesian Military (TNI) soldier was also killed. What happened? According to the account of surviving Istaka Karya worker Jimmi Aritonang, which he relayed to the Cendrawasih Military Command, an armed group kidnapped 25 workers from the Istaka Karya camp in Nduga regency on Saturday and forcefully marched them to the nearby Karunggame River. On Sunday, the workers were once again forced to move, this time toward the Puncak Kabo hill. On the way there, they were ordered to squat and line up in five rows. The gunmen then shot at the workers, killing 14 on the spot, while the remaining 11 pretended to be dead. Read also: They played dead on the ground: Survivor recounts OPM massacre In this picture taken and release on December 5, 2018 by Indonesian military shows alleged survivors in Wamena, Papua province, of an alleged killing in Nduga a day before. - Indonesian soldiers hunted for rebels suspected of killing a group of construction workers in restive Papua province, the military said, as they supplied one survivor's account of a grisly mass execution. (AFP/Indonesian Military) The gunmen then left the victims and continued their journey to Puncak Kabo. The 11 workers who had played dead attempted to escape, but they were spotted. The rebels caught and killed five of them, while the other six managed to escape toward Mbua. Four, including Jimmi, have been secured by TNI forces, but the other two were still missing as of Wednesday. Early on Monday, the TNI post where Jimmi and his friends were being protected was reportedly attacked by a group of rebels armed with guns, arrows and spears. One soldier was killed and another injured in the attack. How many casualties? National Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian and Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Wiranto confirmed on Wednesday that 20 people had been killed by the rebels. "Nineteen workers and one TNI [Indonesian Military] soldier died," Tito said on Wednesday. This number seems to be based on Jimmi's account. Initially, police had said that 31 workers were feared to have been killed by the gunmen. Istaka Karya president Sigit Inarto said, however, that there were only 28 workers at the location. A joint military-police task force recovered 15 bodies from the area near the location of the incident on Wednesday night. Our joint forces have found 15 bodies and will continue the search tomorrow, Papua Police chief Insp. Gen. Martuani Sormin Siregar told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday. Time of loss: Indonesian Military officers load coffins into a carrier aircraft in Wamena, Papua, on Thursday. Indonesian security forces have retrieved the bodies of 16 people in the aftermath of a massacre of construction workers by separatist rebels in restive Papua province, the military said on Thursday. (AFP/Staf Steel) Cendrawasih Military Command spokesperson Lt. Col. Dax Siburian said the joint military-police search team in Yigi district had found the bodies and a survivor named Johny Arung in the area around Tabo hill. Johny was evacuated to the Mbua TNI post. The bodies have not yet been identified, so we cannot confirm whether the 15 victims are all PT Istaka Karya workers, Dax told the Post. Who was responsible? A faction of the National Liberation Army of West Papua (TPNPB) led by Egianus Kogoya has claimed responsibility for the deaths of the construction workers and the TNI soldier. Yes, we conducted the operations in Kali Aworak, Kali Yigi and at the Mbua TNI post, and we are ready to take responsibility. The attacks were led by Makodap III Ndugama commander Egianus Kogeya and operations commander Pemne Kogeya, OPM spokesperson Sebby Sanbom said in a written statement on Wednesday. Sebby denied, however, that the workers killed were civilians, claiming that they were members of the Indonesian Army Corps of Engineers (Zipur). Our targets are not wrong, we know which are civilian workers and which are TNI Zipur members, even if they wear plain clothes, he said. What is the government's response? Jokowi has pledged that the government will hunt down those responsible for the shootings and that it will not halt infrastructure development in Papua. Currently, the TNI commander is in Papua to handle the attack by an armed group in Papua that has resulted in the deaths of workers that were assigned to build the trans-Papua road, Jokowi said on Wednesday. Let us pray together that the heroes of the trans-Papua development are welcomed at Gods side. I have also ordered the TNI commander and the National Police chief to pursue and arrest all the perpetrators of that savage act. He said there was no room for such armed groups in Papua or anywhere in Indonesia. This only makes us more determined to continue our great duty to develop Papua, he said. Presidential Chief of Staff Moeldoko called on the police and military to be proportionate in their response to the attack. The TNI should not be provoked, he said on Wednesday. The TNI and police have to show professionalism and work proportionately. He also called on domestic and foreign human rights groups to look at the incident with open eyes. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Montreal, Canada Fri, December 7, 2018 08:42 1086 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e0f4488 2 World #USA,#Canada,justin-trudeau,arrest,Huawei,executive,detainee Free Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday that politics played no part in the arrest of a top executive of Chinese tech giant Huawei, who was detained on a US extradition request. "I can assure everyone that we are a country (with) an independent judiciary," Trudeau told a tech conference in Montreal. "And they took this decision without any political involvement or interference." The prime minister declined to comment further on the case, citing a court-ordered publication ban sought by Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou, arrested at the request of US authorities as she was changing planes in Vancouver. Earlier, Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan also stressed that Canadian police agencies "work independently" of the government. "We have a good judicial process in regards to the next steps. It'll take it's course," he added, dismissing concerns of a diplomat row with Beijing over the arrest. Canada's cyber security chief, however, said Ottawa was prepared for any possible retaliatory cyber attacks over the arrest. "I think one of the key things is that we always have to be resilient no matter what the possible trigger could be," Scott Jones, director of the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security, told a press conference. Jones happened to be presenting his office's first report on cyber security threats assessment. Meng Wanzhou is scheduled to appear in court on Friday for a bail hearing. English Icelandic This morning the Government agreed to present to Parliament a bill of legislation from the Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs, which provides for amendments to the Act on the Treatment of Krona-Denominated Assets Subject to Special Restrictions, no. 37/2016, and the Foreign Exchange Act, no. 87/1992. Liberalisation of capital controls on offshore krona holders The amendments to the Act on the Treatment of Krona-Denominated Assets Subject to Special Restrictions that are proposed in the bill of legislation entail permission for owners of offshore kronur either to close out their offshore krona positions in full by exchanging them for foreign currency in the onshore market or to hold them as unrestricted onshore krona assets in cases involving continuous ownership from the time before the capital controls were imposed. If the bill is passed into law, this will provide expanded authorisations for withdrawals from accounts subject to special restrictions. These expanded authorisations are of three types. First is a general authorisation for all holders of offshore kronur to release their offshore krona assets in order to purchase foreign currency and export it to an account abroad. Second is an authorisation for offshore krona holders that have owned offshore krona assets continuously since 28 November 2008 to release those offshore krona assets from the legal restrictions. Third is an authorisation for individuals to withdraw up to 100 m.kr. from accounts subject to special restrictions. The amendments proposed here are based on the requirement that the efficacy of the special reserve requirement on capital inflows not be undermined. Therefore, those offshore krona holders that have not owned their krona assets continuously since before the capital controls were introduced and wish to invest in Icelandic bonds must exit through the foreign exchange market and then re-enter, subject to the special reserve requirement. Otherwise, foreign investors would not all be treated equally. The Act on the Treatment of Krona-Denominated Assets Subject to Special Restrictions, no. 37/2016, entered into force on 22 May 2016. The Act was an important element in the authorities capital account liberalisation strategy. When the Act entered into force, it was foreseen that the restrictions it provided for would be temporary measures and that the authorities would once again aim to lift the capital controls on offshore krona assets once resident entities asset portfolios had been better rebalanced and conditions allowed for liberalisation without excessive risk to economic and financial stability. The authorities have worked systematically and in various ways to solve the problem represented by offshore krona assets during the capital account liberalisation process, and the stock of offshore krona assets has been reduced substantially, or from 319 b.kr. to 84 b.kr. Economic conditions now warrant lifting the capital controls on offshore krona assets. Changes in implementation of the special reserve requirement on capital inflows The bill of legislation also proposes amendments to Temporary Provision III of the Foreign Exchange Act, which authorises the Central Bank of Iceland to impose special reserve requirements on capital inflows. This authorisation, passed into law in 2016, was an element in the authorities capital account liberalisation strategy. The proposed amendment allows for increased flexibility in the form of the special reserve requirement on new inflows of foreign currency, but it does not provide for changes in the holding period or the special reserve ratio. Until now, the parties concerned were required to satisfy the special reserve requirement by depositing funds to a term deposit account with a deposit institution. This arrangement is considered, among other things, to have complicated matters for investors interested in investing in Iceland, as in some instances they are not authorised to invest if they cannot sell the investment at any time. In order to respond to this, it is proposed that it be made possible to satisfy the special reserve requirement via repo transactions with Central Bank certificates of deposit. Furthermore, the new arrangement allows investors to release funds during the holding period by settling with a financial institution. It will remain possible to satisfy the special reserve requirement by depositing funds to a term deposit account in the same manner as before. Further information can be obtained from Mar Gumundsson, Governor of the Central Bank of Iceland, at tel: +354 569-9600. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Dian Septiari (The Jakarta Post) Fri, December 7 2018 Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi has talked with her Saudi Arabian counterpart over the controversial statement made by a Saudi envoy in Jakarta about an Islamist rally, which was held over the weekend. Retno and Saudi Foreign Minister Adel bin Ahmed al-Jubeir talked over the phone on Tuesday evening, during which he assured her that his country did not have an agenda with regard to Indonesias domestic affairs. We talked about the good and strong relations we have with Saudi Arabia, and it was inevitable that we also talked about the tweet of the Saudi ambassador in Jakarta, Retno told reporters on the sidelines of the second Bali Democracy Students Conference on Wednesday. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,000/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Karina M. Tehusijarana (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, December 7 2018 Time of loss: Indonesian Military personnel load coffins into a carrier aircraft in Wamena, Papua, on Thursday. Indonesian security forces have retrieved the bodies of 16 people in the aftermath of a massacre of construction workers claimed by separatist rebels in the restive province, the military said on Thursday.(AFP/Staf Steel) As the government looks to respond to the killing of civilians in Nduga regency, Papua, for which an armed separatist group has claimed responsibility, human rights activists have called for restraint in order to stop the cycle of violence plaguing the region. National Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian and Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Wiranto confirmed on Wednesday that 19 civilians and one Indonesian Military (TNI) soldier had been killed by an armed group linked to the Free Papua Movement (OPM). to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,000/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Washington, United States Fri, December 7, 2018 09:49 1086 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e0f9491 2 World #USA,#UN,DonaldTrump,appointment,Heather-Nauert Free US President Donald Trump is set to name State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert as the next US ambassador to the United Nations, according to multiple reports. If confirmed by the Senate, she would take over from outgoing ambassador Nikki Haley, who announced her resignation in October without offering details on why. Numerous reports in the US media -- the first of which appeared in Bloomberg news -- said Nauert would be nominated Friday, citing sources close to the matter. Nauert, 48, has been touted for the post since November. Trump told reporters last month the former Fox News anchor was "under very serious consideration." He added: "She's excellent, she's been with us a long time, she's been a supporter for a long time, really -- excellent." Nauert joined the State Department in April 2017. She has served under two secretaries of state -- Rex Tillerson and her current boss Mike Pompeo -- and was designated acting under-secretary for public diplomacy and public affairs from March to October 2018. Haley similarly had little foreign policy experience when appointed, although she had a national name as the governor of South Carolina. Nauert's appointment would reinforce the link between Fox News and Trump, who has been accused of turning to the conservative-leaning channel, rather than experts, for policy advice. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Liza Yosephine (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, December 7, 2018 12:32 1086 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e1035ab 1 Guide To Jakpost-guide-to,Kemang,food,coffee,tattoo,home-decor,menswear Free Jl. Kemang Selatan VIII is a small street branching off from the main road of Jl. Kemang Raya in South Jakarta. Although short and somewhat narrow, the street is home to several interesting spots worth stopping by, whether for a bite, to shop or even to get a tattoo. How to get there The area is not accessible by major public transportation options, such as Transjakarta or train, meaning it is most convenient to travel by private vehicle or ride-hailing transportation, such as Go-Jek or Grab. Keep in mind that the neighboring Jl. Kemang Raya area is prone to heavy traffic, so it may also be worthwhile considering getting there by motorbike. What to wear The street has a casual and relaxed vibe, so feel free to opt for comfortable clothes to enjoy the day. What to eat For a bite to eat, visit Lawless Burger Bar, a burger joint famous for its grilled beef patties and unique combinations for a generous serving enjoyed in its metal music-vibe location, complete with blaring loud music and a black-painted centerpiece wall covered in band posters. Lawless Burger Bar serves generously sized dishes. (JP/Wienda Parwitasari) Its most popular dish is the Motley Burg, consisting of a thick and juicy beef patty, along with a dash of beef bacon, lettuce and tomato. For an alternative choice, there is the Philly Anselmo, a Philly cheese steak open-faced sandwich with Cajun spice, sauteed onion, capsicum and mushrooms. Burgers range from Rp 42,000 (US$2.89) for a chicken variety and up to Rp 125,000 for The Lemmy, which consists of a double serving of beef patties. Enjoy the burger with a side dish or simply complement it with a gulp of beer, with choices ranging from local Bintang to Heineken or Germany's Erdinger. Read also: Jakpost guide to Jl. Kemang Raya: Part 1 For a more cuddly atmosphere, head over to Kopi Cat Groovy, where visitors can hang out with the resident playful cats, who are extremely adorable and fluffy. The cafe is bright with plenty of windows letting in sunshine during the day for a play date with the cats. Visitors can enjoy the uniquely served hot chocolate at cat cafe Kopi Cat Groovy. (JP/Wienda Parwitasari) Entrance fee is Rp 60,000 per person for an hour. While there, try out the 3-D hot chocolate, a delectable drink served with a cat-shaped milk froth. Those looking to relax in a simple cafe can visit Breakfast at Cayenne, which is actually joined to the main establishment of Cayenne, an independent local furniture and homeware store. Multicolored print tiles greet visitors in the foyer to the cafe entrance. Enjoy coffee and cake at Breakfast at Cayenne. (JP/Wienda Parwitasari) Stop by for an afternoon coffee and cake or try something from the all-day breakfast menu, such as mushroom toast, breakfast burritos or homemade granola. Where to shop The street is home to several clothing and accessory stores, mainly menswear. Among the favorites is Brodo shoes, a men's footwear brand from Bandung. Styles range from casual street wear to office and boots. Brodo, a local brand from Bandung, is among the favorite stores in the area. (JP/Wienda Parwitasari) Other stores of note on Jl. Kemang Selatan VIII cater to home decor, such as the previously mentioned Cayenne and also LOFT. Wares range from cozy wood-based items and pieces made from wicker to colorful tinted-glass accessories. Furniture store Cayenne in Kemang, South Jakarta. (JP/Wienda Parwitasari) Read also: Jakpost guide to Jl. Kemang Timur For a more personalized and long-term transaction, the street is home to Lawless Tattoo. Opened in 2011, Lawless has grown to become one of the most popular tattoo parlors in South Jakarta. The resident tattoo artists are Ferdy and Bongga, as well as a tattoo apprentice Prisa. Lawless Tattoo in Kemang, South Jakarta. (JP/Jessicha Valentina) The parlor is open from Tuesday to Sunday and the minimum charge is Rp 800,000 and Rp 18,000 for every square centimeter. Tips Be aware that Jl. Kemang Selatan VII is a small street, featuring one lane in each direction. Be prepared to face heavy traffic congestion that continues onto the main road of Jl. Kemang Raya, with rush hour in the afternoon the most critical time. Although there is no designated sidewalk, the street is small and comfortable enough to walk along. (wng) THUNDER BAY, Ontario, Dec. 07, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MEXICAN GOLD CORP. (the Company or Mexican Gold) (TSX-V: MEX) is pleased to announce that following the closing of Tranche 1 of its on-going financing, Mexican Golds wholly-owned subsidiary, Roca Verde Exploracion de Mexico, S.A. de C.V. ("Roca Verde"), has finalized the acquisition of a 100% interest in the Pepe, Pepe Tres, and San Jose concessions (the "Concessions") at its Las Minas property. The Company has completed the final payment of US$ 866,666 of the Purchase and Sale Agreement (the PSA). Pursuant to the terms of the PSA, (see press release June 18, 2017) ownership will now transfer to Roca Verde. The owners retain a 1.5% NSR royalty, of which one third may be purchased by Roca Verde for US$500,000 at any time. Furthermore, Roca Verde has a right of first refusal in the event that the owners intend to transfer all or part of the remaining 1% royalty. Dr. Carl Hering, CEO, stated, "Making the final payment is a significant milestone for the Las Minas Project. Mexican Gold can now focus entirely on advancing the Project towards a pre-feasibility study. The first step will be to complete an updated 43-101 Resource estimate which should show significant improvement over the 2017 43-101. This work has been initiated, and it is expected to be completed in Q1 2019. The Pepe, Pepe Tres and San Jose concessions form the core of the Las Minas property, covering a surface area of 1,117.7 hectares. The concessions encompass six highly mineralized zones, including the El Dorado/Juan Bran and Santa Cruz zones which cover the main Resource area identified to date. In August 2017, the company filed an initial resource estimate for the El Dorado/Juan Bran and Santa Cruz - see press release dated August 1, 2017. The resource, which was primarily open pit modelled, delineated 15.3 million tonnes with 304,000 gold equivalent ounces in the measured and indicated category (5.0 million tonnes grading 1.90 grams gold equivalent per tonne 0.92 g/t Au, 0.59% Cu, 4.37 g/t Ag)) and another 719,000 ounces gold equivalent ounces in 10.3 million inferred tonnes grading 2.17 grams gold equivalent (1.08 g/t Au, 0.66 & Cu, 3.99 g/t Ag). The updated resource model, to be completed in Q1 2019, will include drilling in the recently discovered, high-grade El Dorado Dike Contact zone, as well as additional step-out drilling in the Juan Bran and Santa Cruz zones. See Table 1 for some of the more significant, previously reported drill results that are not incorporated in the existing 2017 43-101 Resource model. TABLE 1: Drilling Post 43-101 Resource Calculation Zone Hole ID From (m) To (m) Interval (m)* Au (g/t) Cu (%) El Dorado ED-40 89.3 175.6 86.3 2.74 1.21 " including 123.6 161.6 38.0 5.39 2.20 " ED-42 41.0 83.0 42.0 1.80 1.23 " ED-48 161.5 195.5 34.0 2.99 1.22 " ED-49 140.1 178.1 38.0 4.51 1.66 " ED-52 101.0 134.0 33.0 1.44 1.40 Juan Bran JB-22A 40.3 60.3 20.0 1.20 1.30 Santa Cruz SC-19 182.0 222.7 40.7 1.15 1.15 *Intervals are core lengths not true widths About Las Minas The Las Minas Project hosts near-surface gold, silver and copper skarn mineralization and high-grade gold - silver mesothermal vein deposits. The project is comprised of six mineral concessions covering approximately 1,616 hectares (3,995 acres), with several small scale, past-producing mines and a number of untested targets. The district is host to a large gold, silver and copper skarn system that has a production history that extends back to the Aztec era. The Las Minas diorite intrusive measures approximately 10 kilometres in diameter and underlies the Las Minas concessions. The mineralization controls and association with magnetite appear to be similar to the Guerrero Gold belt, which is the site of the Los Filos and Morelos gold deposits. Quality Assurance/Quality Control The technical information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Sonny Bernales, P. Geo., a registered Professional Geoscientist in the Province of British Columbia and a qualified person as defined by NI 43101. Mr. Bernales is responsible for logistics and supervision of all exploration activity conducted by Mexican Gold on the property. The Company has implemented and adheres to a strict Quality Assurance/Quality Control program which includes inserting mineralized standards and blanks into the sample stream, about 1 for every 10 samples. The standards and blanks were obtained from CDN Resource Laboratories Ltd. of Langley, BC, Canada. Each sample bag is properly sealed and kept in a secured, restricted storage place prior to shipping to the lab. Samples are shipped directly by Mexican Gold or picked-up by the lab vehicle with chain of custody/sample submittal signed and dated. The Company sends its samples to SGS Mineral Services (ISO/IEC 17025) at Durango, Mexico, an accredited and independent laboratory. About Mexican Gold Corp. Mexican Gold Corp. is a Canadian based mineral exploration company committed to building long-term value through ongoing discoveries and strategic acquisitions of prospective precious metal and copper deposits in North America. Mexican Gold is exploring the Las Minas Project, which is located in the core of the Las Minas mining district in Veracruz State, Mexico, and is host to one of the largest under-explored skarn systems known in Mexico. For more information, please contact. Carl Hering, PhD Geology, CEO Brian E. Robertson, P. Eng., President Phone: 303-895-5241 or 807-474-4270 Fax: 807-474-4272 E-mail: info@mexicangold.ca Website at www.mexicangold.ca CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION: This news release includes certain information that may constitute "forward-looking information" under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, statements about the magnitude or quality of mineral deposits, anticipated advancement of mineral properties or programs, future operations, results of exploration, prospects, commodity and precious metals prices, future work programs, anticipated financial and operational results, capital expenditures and objectives and the completion and timing of mineral resource estimates. Forward-looking information is 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 information, including the risks identified in the Company's disclosure documents available at www.sedar.com. 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 information. Accordingly, readers 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. 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 law. 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. A staple of cinema has long been characters on the wrong side of the law that you can't help but root for. Or at least be highly entertained by. To celebrate the release of The Old Man & The Gun today, here's a list of our 10 favourites: Bonnie & Clyde Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway (1967) The famously violent bank-robbing couple have fascinated audiences for decades, and certainly wouldn't hold so much appeal if they weren't so charmingly portrayed in Arthur Penn's 1967 movie. Bodhi (Patrick Swayze) Point Break (1991) You're not a 90s kid if you weren't as taken with blond surfer criminal Bodhi as Johnny Utah (Keanu Reaves) was in this iconic film that I like to look as as a predecessor to the Fast & Furious franchise. Nothing can beat that cop/criminal friendship. Red (Morgan Freeman) Shawshank Redemption (1994) Tim Robbins' Andy Dufresne finds solace in the wisdom of fellow inmate Red when his life is turned upside down by his wrongful imprisonment in Shawshank prison. Freeman's performance is nothing short of iconic. Tom Ripley (Matt Damon) The Talented Mr Ripley (1999) Damon turns the charm on full blast as the titular Mr Ripley, sent to Italy to bring back millionaire playboy Jude Law to 1950s America. Seduction is key to a good con! Danny Ocean (George Clooney) Oceans Eleven (2001) Though Sandra Bullock could give him a run for his money, it wouldn't do to forget one of the most iconic criminals of the 21st century. Danny Ocean could hold together his casino-robbig team of 11 with the force of white-teeth smile alone. Max (Sigourney Weaver) and Page (Jennifer Love Hewitt) Conners Heartbreakers (2001) This mother-daughter duo use their feminine wiles to scam rich men out of their money, and honestly? We resepct the hustle. Weaver and Love Hewitt certainly make a formidable duo. Frank Abagnale Jr. (Leonardo DiCaprio) Catch Me If You Can (2002) A wildly compelling game of cat and mouse between young con-man Leo and long-suffering cop Tom Hanks literally could not be any more entertaining. I'd marry young Leo in a heartbeat too, regardless of his shady past too. Harry Lockheart (Robert Downey Jr.) Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005) Before he was Tony Stark, Downey stole our hearts as a thief masquerading as an actor, caught up unexpectedly in a murder investigation. The comedy will have you creasing. Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio) The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) Yet another Leo, this one older and significantly more coked up (on screen that is). Wall Street criminals really are the worst kind, but you can't help being sucked in to Jordan Belfort's ridiculous magnetism. Forrest Tucker (Robert Redford) The Old Man & The Gun (2018) In Redford's last role before his retirement, he plays aging bank robber Forrest Tucker, who always has a gun and a smile for those he's robbing. His Autumn romance with Sissy Spacek will have you aww-ing. N oel Conway has been left devastated after the Supreme Court rejected his application for a hearing. Noel was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease in November 2014. Since then the disease has progressed, leaving the 68-year-old wheelchair-bound and needing to use a ventilator for 20 hours a day. Noel wants the option of being able to end his own life in the comfort and privacy of his own home, surrounded by friends and family. According to the law, Noel's only options are the removal of his ventilator, which would lead to a slow and painful death by suffocation, or travelling to Switzerland. However, this journey is not only expensive and hard to make, it could also put his family at risk of facing arrest when they returned to the UK. What is Motor Neurone Disease (MND)? MND is a rare condition which affects the brain and nerve cells, causing them to become damaged. It is a terminal illness which significantly shortens the life-span of the patient. Over time, the disease increasingly restricts movement, breathing, and the ability to swallow. Campaign for Dignity in Dying organisation which believes everybody has the right to a good death. Including the option of assisted dying for terminally ill, mentally competent adults. After his diagnosis, Noel teamed up with the, anwhich believes everybody has the right to a good death. Including the option of assisted dying for terminally ill, mentally competent adults. Dignity in Dying say they are campaign [ing] for greater choice, control and access to services at the end of life. It advocates providing terminally ill adults with the option of an assisted death, within strict legal safeguards, and for universal access to high-quality end-of-life care. The late Stephen Hawking also suffered from Motor Neurone Disease: uk.anygator.com RT UK Speaking toin 2017, Noel said, I want to die when Im ready to die...swiftly and without suffering. However, according to the 1961 Suicide Act, anyone who might aid Noel in taking his life would face prison for up to 14 years. Why are there arguments against assisted dying? Many MPs have argued that changing the law might have an extremely negative effect on those who are already psychologically vulnerable. Speaking to the BBC in 2017, Dr Peter Saunders said that, Parliament have rejected this change to the law on at least ten occasions, on grounds of public safety, and the evidence from other jurisdictions shows that any change in the law to allow assisted suicide is both unnecessary and also dangerous, because its uncontrollable. However, Noel, along with many others, thinks that such a stance makes no sense, to argue, as some have, that the moral climate will have been so tipped to place indirect pressure on people is spurious and hypothetical and not borne out by practice in those countries where there is such a law. Mr Conway, who was too ill to attend the hearing in London, said it is "barbaric" that he must choose between "unacceptable options" to end his life. According to the BBC , Conway, who was too ill to attend the hearing in London, said it is "barbaric" that he must choose between "unacceptable options" to end his life. statement On the 27th November, Dignity in Dying released afrom Noel: I am particularly disappointed that the Courts have instead listened to the arguments of doctors who have never met me but think they know best about the end of my life. I have no choice over whether I die; my illness means I will die anyway. The only option I currently have is to remove my ventilator and effectively suffocate to death under sedation. To me this is not acceptable, and for many other dying people this choice is not available at all. The Chief Executive of Dignity in Dying, Sarah Wootton, said, We will now turn our attention back to Parliament and demonstrate to our MPs the strength of feeling on assisted dying. "Last time around, MPs failed in their duty to represent the views of their constituents. Next time, we hope they will stand up for a safer, more compassionate law that benefits dying people. 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 Home >Police Enforcement > Taxes and Tolls > Insurance Company Wants Nothing To Do With Toll Road Lawsuit Grinnell College is thoroughly entrenched in my identity. I grew up in a house just a block away from Gates-Rawson Tower. Since I can remember, my parents (both alumni) have regaled me with stories of their formative experiences at Grinnell stories of standing up for social justice and fighting for what is right. Throughout my childhood and adolescence, I admired how each successive student body shared that same commitment to social activism. In most instances, past administrations have respected and encouraged this activism in line with the Colleges commitment to social responsibility. Recent actions by the current administration, however, have filled me with grave concern for the longevity of Grinnells social justice traditions. On the afternoon of Friday, Nov. 30, a contingent of Grinnell students exercised their legal right to protest the administrations refusal to bargain with UGSDW. Earlier in the week, student workers voted overwhelmingly to approve the unions expansion. Despite assuring the campus community that, if the vote to expand the union [was] successful, [the College] [would] bargain in good faith with the goal of reaching an agreement in a special campus memo distributed on Nov. 12, the College has refused to recognize the students democratic decision. Instead, they have vowed to appeal the decision to the NLRB, a process that threatens to jeopardize the labor rights of thousands of student workers at institutions of higher learning across the country. Adding insult to injury, senior members of the administration have consistently refused to even meet with UGSDW leaders. Finding several legitimate grievances with the administrations conduct, supporters of the union engaged in direct action on Friday, collectively and respectfully voicing their concerns to senior administration officials. This demonstration comprised a peaceful march from JRC to Nollen House behind two senior administrators, during which students chanted and displayed pro-unionization signs. Union leadership planned this action in strict accordance with Grinnells Protest and Demonstration Policy. Photos and videos of this action are easily accessible on the websites of both The S&B and the Des Moines Register. I applaud these students for their courageous demonstration in support of labor rights, and I am deeply alarmed by the administrations response. Within a few hours of the action, the student body received a joint communication from the Associate Vice President of Student Affairs and the Dean of Students. This email claimed that some protesters had engaged in conduct that was clearly intended to harass and intimidate, citing instances of screaming within close proximity or otherwise violating [administrators] physical space. This is a gross mischaracterization of the demonstration. As was stated in a recent union press release, organizers asked each participant to respect the personal space of any administrator involved prior to the action, and the available video and photographic evidence clearly shows that participants adhered to these guidelines. For the College to erroneously claim that students sought to harass and intimidate administrators only minimizes real instances of harassment and intimidation that actually occur on our campus. The administrators communication also included a thinly-veiled threat to punish [f]uture incidents of this nature with sanctions up to and including suspension or expulsion from the college. Leaving the question of legality aside, this unprecedented and cowardly abuse of conduct policy language threatens to jeopardize our schools culture of activism. Contrary to the administrations apparent position, protests need not be comfortable, pleasant, or convenient; in fact, some of our countrys most lauded civil rights icons have suggested the opposite. John Lewis, for example, has consistently stressed the importance of getting into good trouble. And for the College to threaten inconvenient or unpleasant student activists while peddling marketing materials packed with social justice rhetoric to prospective families is hypocrisy of the highest degree. I say this to the administration of Grinnell College: Pay attention. Your egregious conduct has not gone unnoticed by students, faculty, staff, and alumni. It is time to recognize that your attempts to dictate and constrain our proud traditions are morally bankrupt and ethically abhorrent. It is time to stop threatening student protesters. It is time to recognize the expansion of our student union. It is time to recommit to our institutions core values the values that molded my parents adulthood and inspired my childhood. David Gilbert 21 Dublin, Dec. 07, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Oil and Gas Automation Market - Segmented By Technology (SCADA, PLC, and DCS), Type of Offering (Hardware and Software, Services) and Region - Growth, Trends, and Forecast (2018 - 2023)" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The oil and gas automation market was valued at USD 14.19 billion in 2017 and is expected to reach a value of USD 20.63 billion by 2023, at a CAGR of 6.47% over the forecast period (2018-2023). The increasingly diverse energy market and a shortage of skilled labor the automation of daily operations will be a key factor for sustainable growth in the oil & gas industry. With a growing worldwide population, the demand for new energy sources will increase as well as increase the costs for energy companies. By automating portions of daily operations, both on the job site and in the office, oil & gas companies can not only create efficiencies within their business but will also mitigate the effects caused by a lack of skilled labor currently available in the market. Need For Higher Productivity and Efficiency The current oil price environment is forcing major change along with difficult decisions within the oil & gas industry. New operating models and approaches that improve CAPEX and OPEX are required to respond to short-term and mid-term market supply and demand dynamics. The longer-term market dynamics need sustainable solutions that bolster safety as well as keep environmental performance an evergreen priority. From drill pad to refinery, Automation helps operators achieve this unique balance through a spectrum of upstream, midstream, and downstream technological innovations and solutions. The oil & gas industry is faced with several challenges including price volatility, uncertain energy policy, cost containment, worsening fiscal terms, and day-to-day operational challenges. Successful operation requires the ability to respond quickly and efficiently to these dynamic conditions. Upstream companies are challenged by severe resource constraints while struggling to increase production and replace proven reserves. Meanwhile, downstream companies are facing working capital and profit margin pressures. The processes and systems involved in the industry are exploration, production, refining, and marketing, therefore, the oil & gas industry is highly complex, capital-intensive, and requires state-of-the-art technology. Needless to say that the oil & gas companies are pressurized to adapt to dynamic technological advancements, increase productivity, and yet keep costs under control. This brings forward the urgent need for a higher-than-ever degree of collaboration and data-driven decision-making to optimize costs and maximize effectiveness and efficiency. Distributed Control Systems to Hold a Significant Market Share Distributed control systems (DCSs) are dedicated systems used to control manufacturing processes in the oil & gas industry. The control architecture comprises of a supervisory level of control, overseeing multiple integrated sub-systems, which are responsible for controlling the details of a localized process. These are connected to sensors and actuators, and they use setpoint control in order to control the flow of material through the plant. To achieve greater precision and control in process industries, such as the oil & gas industry, there is rising demand for controllers which offer specified process tolerance around an identified setpoint. These requirements have driven the adoption of DCS, as these systems offer lower operational complexity and project risk, as well as functionalities, like flexibility for agile manufacturing in highly-demanding applications. However, to deploy these DCS networks there is a difficulty in interoperability of various equipment in factories (from different manufacturers), as well as, checking the imposed requirements of the physical network. UAE to Hold the Largest Market Share in the Middle East The UAE has the world's seventh largest reserves of both oil and natural gas, estimated at 97.8 million barrels and 215 trillion cubic feet, respectively. Most of the UAE' reserves are in Abu Dhabi (95% of the nation's oil reserves and about 94% of its gas reserves), both offshore and onshore. A heavy program of investment in Abu Dhabi, amounting to more than USD 70 billion, continues as the Emirate's Supreme Petroleum Council (SPC) and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) are estimated to have achieved a target of 3.5 million bpd by 2017.Besides oil exploration, gas production is another prominent industry arm. Abu Dhabi's gas production has increased significantly in recent years due to major projects to integrate offshore and onshore production of associated gas from large oil fields and reduce gas flaring. By 2020, crude oil production is expected to amount 3.5 million bpd, especially as Abu Dhabi plans to invest USD 40-60 billion to reach this target. The country's future does not include major oil discoveries. Increase in production will be due mainly to enhanced oil recovery (EOR) techniques for the country's mature oil fields. 2017 Developments November 2017 - Rockwell Automation announced its investment in The Hive, a Silicon Valley innovation fund and co-creation studio, to gain access to an ecosystem of innovators and technology start-ups with a focus on applications of artificial intelligence (AI) to industrial automation. November 2017 - Schneider Electric launched a new service designed to help industrial manufacturers modernize their PLC systems safely. By reducing downtime and disruption to the operation, the service may provide an easier migration to the company's Modicon M580 programmable automation controllers. October 2017 - Mitsubishi electric announced that it will launch its newest MELSEC iQ-R Series general-purpose programmable controller, the IEC 61508 SIL 2-compliant redundant programmable controller paired with a redundant-function SIL2 CPU set for high performance and extra reliability September 2017 - Dassault Systems acquired EXA Corporation, a global innovator in simulation software for product engineering. This acquisition strengthens the company's Simulation Portfolio with next-generation fluid dynamics capabilities on the 3DEXPERIENCE Platform. June 2017 - GE launched New Solutions Purpose Built for Industrial Assets. GE Digital launched an integrated solution to deliver the industrial service model of the future that combines the power of ServiceMax which is company's cloud-based field service management solution, with its intelligent Asset Performance Management portfolio to develop service operations, reduce cost and eliminate unplanned downtime. Key Topics Covered 1. Introduction 1.1 Executive Summary 1.2 Scope of the Study 2. Research Approach and Methodology 2.1 Study Deliverables 2.2 Study Assumptions 2.3 Research Methodology 2.4 Research Phases 3. Market Insight 3.1 Market Overview 3.2 Industry Value Chain Analysis 4. Market Dynamics 4.1 Introduction to Market Dynamics 4.2 Factors Driving the Market 4.2.1 Increasing Oil Consumption 4.2.2 Increasing Scarcity of Skilled Workers 4.3 Factors Restraining the Market 4.3.1 Volatile Oil Price Saturation 4.4 Industry Attractiveness - Porter's Five Forces Analysis 4.4.1 Bargaining Power of Suppliers 4.4.2 Bargaining Power of Buyers 4.4.3 Threat of New Entrants 4.4.4 Threat of Substitute Products 4.4.5 Competitive Rivalry 5. Industry Policies 6. Technology Snapshot 7. Global Oil and Gas Automation Market Segmentation 7.1 By Process 7.1.1 Upstream 7.1.2 Midstream 7.1.3 Downstream 7.2 By Technology 7.2.1 Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) 7.2.2 Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) 7.2.3 Distributed Control System (DCS) 7.2.4 Machine Execution System (MES) 7.2.5 Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) 7.2.6 Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) 7.2.7 Human Machine Interface (HMI) 7.2.8 Others 7.3 By Type of Offering 7.3.1 Hardware 7.3.2 Software 7.3.3 Services 7.4 By Geography 7.4.1 North America 7.4.2 Europe 7.4.3 Asia-Pacific 7.4.4 Latin America 7.4.5 Middle East & Africa 8. Competitive Intelligence 8.1 ABB Ltd. 8.2 Honeywell International Inc. 8.3 Rockwell Automation Inc. 8.4 Mitsubishi Corporation 8.5 Schneider Electric SE 8.6 Emerson Electric Co. 8.7 Eaton Corporation 8.8 Dassault Systems 8.9 Yokogawa Electric Corporation 8.10 Siemens Corporation 8.11 Robert Bosch GmbH 8.12 Texas Instruments Inc. 8.13 Johnson Controls Inc. 9. Investment Analysis 10. Future of the Market For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/zz28gr/oil_and_gas?w=12 By Max Fenton fentonma@grinnell.edu The results of this semesters student initiatives were released by Joseph Robertson 19, Student Initiatives Fund Chair, on Monday, Dec. 3. Voting for student initiatives officially opened Nov. 2 and remained open until vote count reached the requisite 50 percent of the student body vote amount. Robertson said this semesters initiatives took on three general thematic trends: environmental, political and dining-related. A wide array of initiatives were proposed by students, ranging from simple dining requests like free water at the Grill or regular grilled chicken in the dining hall to more complex concerns like the proposed demolition or renovation of Burling Library. One particular political initiative that has engendered discussion was the proposal to ban guns from the dining hall, which Robertson and the Student Government Association indicated would effectively ban on-duty police officers from the dining hall. The subject has been a major discursive point on social media, with multiple discussions on police presence in Facebook groups like Current Grinnell Students 2018-19 or Grinnell Thumbs Down. The gun ban proposal ultimately failed. Though exact numbers were not released by SGA, Robertson believes the final tally for that particular initiative was close, and that it did not fail by a huge margin. Robertson said the initiative failed because people in the dining hall trust police officers with their guns, but was quick to indicate he was not totally sure of students motivations. Many students are disappointed in the failure of this initiative, given the perceived antagonism between the College and local police force, largely predicated on concerns about racism and potential violence. Sayles Kasten 19 called the failure unfortunate, and wished that it would have passed given the uncertainties of this relationship. Henry Brannan 21 expressed similar feelings of concern in an email to The S&B. [T]he fact is police violence and profiling is an everyday reality for many, has a long history of targeting marginalized individuals and communities and could easily happen in our own dining hall if they are there What implicit or explicit preformed ideas do they have about people of various identities and experiences that will influence how they handle that? wrote Brannan. Another proposed initiative this semester was to name the Colleges unnamed ceramics studio after Jack Gustafson 19, who passed away suddenly this March while studying abroad in Germany. Jasper Egge 20 considered himself passionate about this initiative in particular, having known Gustafson. I played video games with him hes someone Id consider to be a friend, said Egge. However, the initiative may run into trouble during its implementation. According to SGA President Myles Becker 19, College policy dictates that it costs money to name a building or space after an individual based on its square footage. The exact dollar figure for naming the ceramics studio for Gustafson remains unclear as of yet, as do potential funding sources. By Acadia Broussard broussar@grinnell.edu On Thursday, the fifth day of Chanukah, Rabbi Leibel Jacobson, the Chabad rabbi at Iowa State in Ames, joined the Jewish community at Grinnell in lighting the second largest menorah in the state of Iowa. While most menorahs are small enough to be perched on a windowsill, this one towered over Mac Field at an impressive nine feet tall. The thing about Chanukah is that, unlike many other of our holidays, this one is purposefully supposed to be very public, so thats why we have the giant menorah and are outside. Its a moment where you can try to spread light over darkness for the entire community, and as challenging as that is in the times were in, its really an opportunity for us to come together as a community and show that light survives. Even after all the hardships weve faced over 2,000 years ago and through the hardships were facing now, were still here and were still celebrating and were still having this light, said Dylan Caine 21. Chalutzim senior student leader Jacob Friedman 19 echoed these sentiments. There is a long history of Jewish resistance. [Chanukah] has always been kind of like a symbolic reference for that, said Friedman. Friedman also connected the importance of visibility. Theres this photo I think its the most powerful photo Ive ever seen and its a Jews windowsill facing the Reichstag with Nazi banners all over it, and there is a lit menorah. Theres a lot of pride in it and affirmation that despite insurmountable odds you should not recede into the shadows, very literally, because its a festival of light, he said. Chalutzim students expressed their gratitude that Rabbi Jacobson was able to join them to celebrate the holiday. Because we dont have a rabbi right now, this is the second time were kind of outsourcing our rabbinical needs to Rabbi Jacobson, and were very grateful for him offering his services, Friedman said. The CRSSJ is working really hard and really are doing an amazing job, but from what we understand its tough to find a rabbi. Caine elaborated on the difficulties of the search, adding, Outside of the college there isnt really much of a Jewish community at all for the most part. There is a little bit, but in rural Iowa there isnt that much of a significant Jewish population, so its hard to find rabbis who are willing to take on the challenge of building something within a not very established Jewish community. So its a work in progress and were very hopeful and we know that we will eventually find a rabbi. Caine expressed how happy he was with how the Chalutzim student leaders have been working to keep the Jewish community strong in this interim, and both he and Friedman voiced their optimism for the rabbi search. Optimism was a common theme with these students, from celebrating Chanukah and being proudly Jewish in the current political climate to the difficult search for a rabbi. Regarding this attitude through tough times, both students shared a common expression recited on Jewish holidays, including Chanukah: They tried to kill us, they failed, and now we eat, said Caine. By Eva Hill hilleva@grinnell.edu Thanksgiving is the second-most-celebrated holiday in the United States, with 90 percent of polled Americans in a 2000 Gallup survey reporting that they celebrate it. In a more recent study, conducted in 2015 by Walt Hickey of FiveThirtyEight.com, 74 percent of the 1,095 respondents reported that Thanksgiving was their favorite holiday, making it the second most popular in the country, immediately following Christmas. However, the historical and cultural tradition behind Thanksgiving is complex and frequently misrepresented in popular media and in educational materials. The story typically taught to schoolchildren in the United States offers a romanticized take on the actual origin of the holiday, which has much more to do with colonialism and violence. Mary Young Bear, the conservator of the Meskwaki Cultural Center in Tama, Iowa, spoke about how she and other members of the indigenous community view Thanksgiving as it is celebrated in the United States today. I do not celebrate ThanksgivingI usually spend the day here in the officeI come to the museum and I find some work to do. Thats just my way of acknowledging the day, to just come to work like any other day, said Young Bear of her own experience with the holiday. I think most people spend the day at home with their families and do the usual activities, have a meal together and watch sports. Its mostly a family day. I think that as more people find out how the holiday came about, we dont acknowledge the myth that we were taught in school, Young Bear said. The most commonly taught story, and the one that most people are familiar with, is that the Thanksgiving holiday came out of a feast celebrating a treaty between the Wampanoag tribe and the English settlers, negotiated by Squanto, a Patuxet Indian who spoke English. According to the Manataka American Indian Councils website, this feast was a real event, but it only happened once and was far from being an indicator of future positive relationships between the white colonists and indigenous residents of the area. Young Bear explained that the historical origin of Thanksgiving actually comes from feasts that were held in celebration after colonists, searching for new land to build upon as the settler population grew, would attack native communities, kill the inhabitants and take over the land. The Manataka American Indian Council website describes an early use of the name Thanksgiving relating to the holiday, when the governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony declared a day of thanksgiving in 1637 after over 700 members of the Pequot tribe were massacred by colonists. Following this event, the colonists continued to attack indigenous villages, killing many inhabitants and selling countless others into slavery, often holding thanksgiving feasts after each assault. Knowing this history, Young Bear said it is difficult to see Thanksgiving as the innocent, happy holiday it is often portrayed to be. When we think about all of the people that were lost over such a long period of time, theres really nothing to celebrate. Its really a day to mourn and to be thankful. Were thankful for all the tribes that are still here, that survived. Thats why I come into the office on Thanksgiving. By Jackson Schulte schultej@grinnell.edu Many Grinnell College alumni have spoken out through editorials and social media, offering vehement support for the Union of Grinnell Student Dining Workers (UGSDW) and its right to collectively bargain with the College. While many of the alumni have argued that the Colleges self-proclaimed progressivism does not fall in line with its opposition to UGSDW, they are especially concerned for the precedent an appeal would set for student workers nationwide. Chase Strangio 04, an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer who represented Chelsea Manning and a well-known figure on issues related to transgender peoples legal rights, tweeted on Nov. 30 that, I usually do whatever Grinnell asks of me, but I cant continue to support an institution that does this to their student workers. Many other alumni expressed similar sentiments over Twitter, recalling the hard work they did themselves when they were student workers. The more the College becomes another profit-driven institution that squanders what draws students there in the first place, the more it will lose its character, wrote Strangio in an email to The S&B. He added, Sadly, many non-profit institutions fight their workers with union-busting lawyers. I find it despicable and an awful reflection on leadership. My advice to the student union is to keep fighting and connecting with larger movements for justice to build strength. Grant Woodard 06, a lawyer in Des Moines and former chief of staff to a Democratic member of the House of Representatives, stated his frustrations with the Colleges attempts to shut down union expansion. I think the way theyve handled this entire situation has been atrocious, said Woodard. Their appeal could be used as regulatory precedence to undermine the rights of student workers not just at Grinnell but around the country. Woodard, like many students and alumni, is concerned with the higher powers to which the College may be answering. My guess is some of it is being directed by the board of trustees, Woodard said. Theyve always been a bit more conservative than the institution as a whole. The old political operative in me wants to know what else is behind this. What other amicus briefs are going to be filed using this case? The Koch brothers? Americans for Prosperity? The College needs to ask itself, is that really who we want to be affiliated with? Woodard also wonders whether the College can legitimately make an argument against the union based on its finances. He referenced the Colleges recent expenditures, like the new Grinnell College Poll and the one-page, color ad it took out in the New York Times Sunday issue a few weeks ago. That is all not to mention the legal fees of appealing this case. When I see them take out a full-page ad in the New York Times that probably costs 100-150k, it just shows hypocrisy from the institution, Woodard said. You know, what particularly set me off is when I heard they hired Proskauer Rose. As a lawyer, my guess is theyre billing associates at $600-$800 an hour and partners at even higher. I dont know that for sure, but from knowing friends at multinational law firms, this appeal might cost a million dollars. Woodards greatest frustration, though, is the national implications the appeal would have for student workers. Ive had friends that have gone on to grad school that have struggled with the way higher-ed works in this country, he said. Theyve dealt with the indentured servitude that teaching assistants are put through. [The appeal] just absolutely disgusts me. It is no secret that Grinnell College students enter graduate programs at a higher rate than almost anywhere. The College boasts on its website that it is 7th nationally in the percentage of Ph.D.s per graduate. Brendan Mackie 07, now a history Ph.D. candidate at UC-Berkeley, wrote how important his student union is to his life in graduate school in an email to The S&B. Grad students are in a financially precarious situation, wrote Mackie. We dont make a lot of money. We dont exactly have the ability to go out on the free market and get work. So we rely on the union to bargain for the things we need healthcare, wages and parental leave. A successful appeal from the College could set a precedence that would strip graduate student unions rights to collectively bargain with their institutions, potentially hurting graduate students like Mackie and other alumni in graduate school. Andrew Behrendt 06, a history professor at Missouri University of Science & Technology, organized for the graduate student union at the University of Pittsburgh. Behrendt feels that the College is going after the union with an intensity that he hasnt seen elsewhere. My other alma mater is [the University of] Chicago, said Behrendt, and Ive been paying attention to that and Columbia, Penn, Penn State. The colleges follow a certain kind of playbook because they use the same law firms. Pitt seemed to play it a little bit safer, but, theres something about Grinnell that seems more aggressive, and that is a little bit surprising. In my opinion, both as someone whos been involved in organizing and as a historian, union busting comes from the same place: the maintenance of power. That of capital over labor, and bosses over labor I think it could end up being a pointless tragedy, Behrendt said. Strangio said he does not currently donate, but the decision to appeal makes him unlikely to donate in the future. Woodard, Mackie and Behrendt all came to the conclusion that they will no longer donate money to the College should the school successfully appeal. I wont put my money somewhere that doesnt reflect my values, even if it is an institution that I loved for part of my life, Strangio wrote. I love the College, it changed my life, Woodard said. I would not be the person I am now were it not for the College. All my closest friends are people I met at the College. But if this were to pass, for whatever its worth, I would not be donating to the College. I will not give money to a [college] that refuses to recognize their students right to organize, Mackie wrote. If they were to be the cause for other unions to lose their bargaining rights I dont think I could continue to donate, Behrendt said. I feel like it is a betrayal of what I felt I learned there and the values I thought the school stood up for. By Chloe Wray & Zoe Fruchter wraychlo@grinnell.edu fruchter@grinnell.edu The Union of Grinnell Student Dining Workers (UGSDW) will receive their Certificate of Representation from the National Labor Review Board (NLRB) this week. The Certificate of Representation will be granted after the College did not object to the Nov. 27 election which showed that of the student-workers who voted, 84 percent supported being covered by the union. The College stated its intent to appeal the decision to hold the election in a Nov. 28 Special Campus Memo, stating [The College] will continue to appeal the decision by the regional director of the National Labor Relations Board regarding this election We think it is important for the full NLRB to hear and consider further the Colleges concerns, and we expect to file this appeal soon. Upon UGSDW receiving their Certificate of Representation, the College has 14 days to file a request for review with the NLRB. To break down the appeal process, The S&B spoke with Elizabeth Newman 08, a practicing employment and civil litigation lawyer in Cincinnati, Ohio who supports the unions right to organize. To be clear, she is not licensed to practice law in Iowa and is simply a vocal supporter. With Newmans insight, The S&B navigated the logistics of NLRB legal proceedings. What happens when the College appeals? The College will be appealing to the NLRB for judicial review of whether or not student-workers are recognized as employees under the National Labor Relations Act. This appeal is not for the election results. If the Colleges request for review is granted, the NLRB will hold a hearing to determine whether the Board members will uphold the Regional Directors decision in favor of the union or overturn it. The National Labor Relations Board consists of Chairman John F. Ring, William J. Emanuel, Marvin E. Kaplan and Lauren McFerran. Chairman Ring, Kaplan and Emmanuel were all appointed by President Donald Trump, while McFerran is left over from the Obama era. The fifth seat on the Board is currently vacant, giving the Trump-appointees a 3-1 majority. The new members made it pretty clear that this [student-worker rights] was an issue that they planned on reviewing and theres no reason to think that they wont overturn the precedent on which the regional director relied in ordering the election, said Newman. In overturning the Regional Directors decision in favor of the union, the Board would also overturn the national precedent relating to the employment rights of student workers, established in The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York and Graduate Workers of Columbia GWC, UAW, Case 02RC143012. This decision would effectually revert precedent in this area to Brown and UAW AFL-CIO, Case 1RC21368 (2004). The ruling in Brown determined that student-workers were not employees due to the primarily educational and not economic relationship they held with the University. If the Board rules in favor of the College and determines that student-workers are not employees, the union could potentially appeal to the 8th circuit Federal Court of Appeals and beyond that, the Supreme Court. However, judicial review, including the initial proceedings at the national board level, is an often lengthy and expensive legal process that would be extremely difficult for the undergraduate union leadership team to undertake successfully. I think the union knows that it is in everyones interests for them to withdraw the petition if the board grants review. If they drop out then this whole process should stop, Newman said. A few student unions have withdrawn their petitions to avoid the current labor board because they knew that it was hostile to them. What happens if the College does not appeal, or the NLRB declines to review the decision? Even if the College does not appeal or the NLRB does not grant a review of the Regional Directors decision and the union is allowed to retain their Certificate of Representation, UGSDW may nonetheless face another judicial hearing. Employers will refuse to bargain to prompt an unfair labor practice charge and that is a way to get judicial review of the election, Newman said of alternate strategies the College could use to direct appeal. In a Nov. 12 special campus memo, the College wrote that they would willingly bargain with the union if the vote to expand passed, despite their continued opposition to the unions efforts. However, the College is currently refusing to bargain with the union, as stated in a Special Campus Memo on Nov. 28, and reaffirmed in an email from College President Raynard Kington to union advisor Cory McCartan 19 on Dec. 4. Unfortunately, as Grinnell already communicated, the College has concluded that we legally cannot bargain or discuss a framework agreement with UGSDW while our appeal is pending before the NLRB, wrote Kington in the memo. The union contends in a Dec. 5 press release that this claim is completely and laughably false. Last month, Proskauer Rose, the Colleges legal representative, established collective bargaining between Columbia University and its graduate students while an appeal to the NLRB was still pending. The unions only recourse against the Colleges silence would be to file an Unfair Labor Charge for the Colleges refusal to bargain. This charge would be investigated by the Regional Director of the NLRB and possibly filed to the national board. Such a filing could lead to an NLRB hearing in which the Trump-appointed majority could reverse Columbia if the Board holds that students are not employees and thus cannot be bargained with. Grinnell: Think National, Act Local While the union debate has consumed Grinnells campus, the conflict ties in to a larger societal and legal shift to disempower unions. In late June of this year, the Supreme Court, which has only become more conservative with the installation of accused sexual assailant Brett Kavanaugh this October, limited the rights of unions to collect dues from non-members in Janus vs. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees. In the Trump era, there is less faith in the branches of government, so people are organizing their own groups to marshal whatever power they have. I think its working to a degree, but its scary [for] unions on the margins, that the courts can still destroy them. Because [a union] is still going to come up against the very forces that may have triggered organization in the first place, Newman said. The S&B will continue to provide updates on the status of the appeal process. Montreal, CA (H4T1V6) Today Partly cloudy. A few flurries or snow showers possible. High -2C. Winds W at 15 to 25 mph.. Tonight Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low -8C. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph. 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. News release from Vestas Mediterranean Madrid, 7 December 2018 Adding to the more than 1 GW of contracts signed by Vestas in Italys auction system, renewable energy projects developer Andali Energia S.r.l. has placed an order for the supply and installation of ten V136-3.6 MW turbines for the 36 MW Andali wind park located in the Calabria Region in Italy. Managing Director of Andali Energia, Gaetano Canosinohas, underline his satisfaction about the project Im proud of my team; we have dedicated a lot of time and have spent a lot of energy to start this adventure. This goal represents the opportunity to improve our experience and to collaborate with primary suppliers in the wind energy market. Rainer Karan, General Manager of Vestas Mediterranean Eastern Cluster, highlights, This project showcases, once again, that Vestas is the preferred supplier to compete in auctions. Our vast experience, in-depth customer knowledge and innovative technological solutions make Vestas the wind energy leader globally as well as in Italy. We are proud to work in close collaboration with customers like Andali Energia and we hope this contract becomes the beginning of a fruitful relationship. The project was awarded in the first Italian auction held in 2013. Turbine delivery and commissioning are planned for the second quarter of 2019. Since installing Italys first wind turbine in 1991, Vestas has installed more than 4 GW of wind energy, representing over 40 percent of the countrys total wind capacity. For more information, please contact: Irene Rodriguez Alvarez Marketing Manager Vestas Mediterranean Tel.: +34 91 362 81 13 Email: IRRAL@vestas.com About Vestas Vestas is the energy industrys global partner on sustainable energy solutions. We design, manufacture, install, and service wind turbines across the globe, and with 97 GW of wind turbines in 79 countries, we have installed more wind power than anyone else. Through our industry-leading smart data capabilities and unparalleled 83 GW of wind turbines under service, we use data to interpret, forecast, and exploit wind resources and deliver best-in-class wind power solutions. Together with our customers, Vestas more than 24,400 employees are bringing the world sustainable energy solutions to power a bright future. For updated Vestas photographs and videos, please visit our media images page on: https://www.vestas.com/en/media/images We invite you to learn more about Vestas by visiting our website at www.vestas.com and following us on our social media channels: Attachment MBABANE Creditors of Spintex Swaziland, which was placed under provisional liquidation by the High Court, have been called upon to prove their claims. Liquidation is the process by which a company is brought to an end, and the assets and property of the company are redistributed. An invitation where creditors will be expected to prove their claims has been extended to all creditors. The meeting to be convened at the office of the Master of the High Court starts at 10 am next Thursday. Considerations According to legal notice number 195 of 2018, There will also be considerations for offers to purchase assets of the business, during the meeting. This meeting follows the first one which had been placed by Liquidator Lucky Howe to all creditors on July 24, 2018. Order The order for the liquidation of Spintex Swaziland came after two South African companies which claimed to have loaned it a sum of about E50 million moved an urgent application at the High Court seeking an order that the latter be provisionally liquidated in terms of Section 287(d) of the Companys Act owing to its inability to pay its debts According to Sunset Bay Trading 226 (PTY) Limited and HGH Industrial Threads CC, who are applicants in the matter, the respondent (Spintex Swaziland) was unable to repay its debt to them. Owning Sunset Bay Trading 226 (PTY) Limited is a property owning company while HGH Industrial Threads CC is a manufacturer of cottons. Both companies are based at 8 Glenluce Road in Johannesburg HGH Industrial Threads CC claimed to have lent Spintex a sum of E45 271 601.83 while Sunset Bay Trading 226 (PTY) assert that it advanced Spintex a sum of E4 573 955.37. The exact amount which the two companies alleged to have loaned the Spintex was E49 845 557.20. The order placing Spintex Swaziland under provisional liquidation was issued by High Court Principal Judge Qinisile Mabuza. MBABANE- Did you accrue your assets through money obtained from dagga dealing? If so, look over your shoulder as the State has unleashed, the Prevention of Organised Crime Act (POCA), 2018. The Crown yesterday obtained an order to preserve assets that were allegedly procured through a sum of E900 000 that the money was stolen from an alleged dagga dealer. According to the State, the owner of the E900 000, Mfanaleni Dlamini, indicated that it was proceeds of dagga dealing. The assets which the State had seized include among others; a Toyota Quantum, Navy blue Nissan Sunny, E40 700 kept at the Central Bank of Eswatini, Samsung Galaxy S9 phone, white and grey Samsung Galaxy phone, three- piece Empress bedroom suite, four piece Trojan lounge suite, Casablanca maxi chest drawer, 45 bags of cement, door frame, wheelbarrow, brick force, orange Mac Africa Chainsaw, Carious Cement bricks, three 5 000-litre water tanks and corrugated iron sheets. Procured These items were reportedly procured by the people who stole the money from Dlamini. The order was issued by Judge Mumcy Dlamini. The order by the court comes after the Crown moved an ex parte application (application made without informing the other party). The application by the Crown was moved in terms of Section 50 (1) of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act (POCA) to ensure that the property is preserved pending the outcome of the process for a forfeiture order in terms of the Act. In motivating the application, Principal Crown Counsel Elsie Matsebula submitted that the properties were proceeds of unlawful activity of scheduled offences under the POCA. Matsebula, who is the Head of the Asset Forfeiture Unit in the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), averred that in terms of Section 42 (2) of the POCA, the High Court must make the preservation order if it was satisfied that the information provided on affidavit showed on the face of it that there were reasonable grounds to believe that the property was an instrumentality of an offence or the proceeds of unlawful activities. She informed the court that the properties were purchased through monies estimated to be E900 000. According to the principal Crown counsel, the money was stolen from Mfanaleni of Mzanceni by Mandla Sihle Twelve Hlophe, who was acting in concert with his friends on or about September 14, 2018. She said Hlophe was facing criminal charges of house breaking with intent to steal and money laundering. Investigations have revealed that the monies were the proceeds of unlawful dealing in dagga by the said Mfanaleni Dlamini and had kept it in his house at Mzaceni area since 2015, submitted Matsebula. She pointed out that such monies were all in South African notes, ranging from R10 to R200 notes and was wrapped in sellotape and placed in a white sack Matsebula informed the court that police investigations into the alleged theft of the E900 000 led them to Hlophe of Mkhaya (Mhlabatsini), Siphofaneni in the Lubombo Region. Dissipating Evidence sourced, revealed that the suspect was in possession of the white sack full of the money and had already started dissipating it willy-nilly through various purchases of motor vehicles, furniture, building material and personal clothing, alleged the principal Crown Counsel. She told the court that the suspect had already given huge sums of monies to other individuals as gifts or token of appreciation for assisting him in committing the crime of theft. Matsebula disclosed that such beneficiaries include, but not limited to, his wife one Ncobile Dlamini. She alleged that the monies mentioned in the application were the remainder of the E900 000 cash stolen by Hlophe at Mzaceni. Investigations revealed that when the police enquired from Hlophe about the source of such an amount, he advised the investigating team that the money was the proceeds of his dagga dealing in South Africa, alleged the Crown. According to Matsebula, pursuant to these findings, the investigating team recorded a statement and opened an enquiry file and took with them the R40 700 as part of the evidence. She further brought it to the attention of the court that, Hlophe has made an application at the Manzini Magistrates Court for the release of the R40 700 on the grounds that it did not form part of his criminal matter. Matsebula alleged that, through affidavits deposed to by various individuals; Hlophe allegedly argued that the R40 700 was money given to him by the said deponents as gifts towards paying lobola for his wife. The Crown argued that, the above argument by Hlophe was in stark contrast with what he had told the investigating team on the day he was found with the money. The money is currently kept by the Central Bank of Eswatini. Appearing for the Crown in the matter was Thulani Mamba from the chamber of the Director of Public Prosecutions. MBABANE While the aftermath of the storm left many homeless, a community at KaBhudla was left without a church. Following the storm which hit the country on Tuesday, Fellowship in Christ Ministries under the leadership of Elliot Gamedze, was brought down to ruins. assessment This was after the storm destroyed many homes in the country and left over 120 people homeless, according to an assessment report issued by the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA). The pastor of the church situated at KaBhudla under Mafutseni Inkhundla, elaborated that the destruction happened in the twinkling of an eye and this was before they attended their evening service. Everything happened so fast but the destruction was huge. Chairs, three speakers and windows were damaged, said Gamedze. narrating He further mentioned that the damaged church building was not far from new as they had erected the church structure two years ago. When narrating the incident, the pastor was heavy-hearted as he described that the wind swept away the rafters of the church and brought down the walls. Gamedze said the loss incurred amounted to E13 000. Only one person was affected but did not sustain injuries. Currently, the congregants have built a temporary church structure. Gamedze said they used corrugated iron sheets for the small building and that was where they held church services. discuss He said they were to meet as a church and discuss plans to raise funds for a new structure. Gamedze also requested the public to assist in any way they could towards the building of the church structure. Despite the horrendous destruction on the building, the pastor expressed his gratitude for no loss of lives. Gamedze thanked God for the protection of his church members and that no one was severely injured from the smash up. Fairfax, VA, Dec. 07, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AFCEA Internationals Augusta-Fort Gordon Chapter Education Foundation has received a $100,000 donation to establish the Henry M. Chestnut Scholarship from the Chestnut Family Foundation. The funds will be used to recognize two high school seniors annually who have demonstrated the potential to excel in college studies in the areas of STEM/STEAM and reside in the Central Savannah River Area in Georgia. Each scholarship recipient will receive $2,000 to be applied toward ongoing higher education. Scholarship applicants must be well-rounded students who have shown an aptitude for science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) subjects. They must intend to major in STEM or science, technology, engineering, arts and math areas of study that support national defense. The Chestnut Family Foundation partners with nonprofit organizations that have demonstrated compassion and creativity for children by improving access and choice in the areas of health and the performing arts. Atlanta residents Teresa and Ben Chestnut established the foundation in 2017. Ben Chestnut received a similar scholarship from AFCEA to support his college education, and the Henry M. Chestnut Scholarship has been established as an expression of gratitude for the associations support. He is the co-founder and CEO of Mailchimp, a marketing platform for small businesses. Members of AFCEAs Augusta-Fort Gordon Chapter scholarship committee will select the recipients annually. The students and their families will be invited to attend an awards dinner honoring them. The AFCEA International Educational Foundation has set up a restricted investment account for the donation under the management of a professional investment advisor and the guidelines established in the foundations investment policy statement. The goal is to ensure the scholarships can be awarded for many years. Together with its chapters, AFCEA awards approximately $2 million in scholarships annually. Additional information about applying for the scholarship will be available on the Augusta-Fort Gordon Chapter website. MBABANE Hospitals and schools could face a total shutdown as the PM, Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini-led government offered PSAs zero per cent. This was for the much anticipated cost-of-living-adjustment (CoLA) by public sector associations. After waiting a period of two months for a new government, yesterday, PSA leaders stormed out of the joint negotiation forum (JNF) as they were yet again offered zero per cent by government. The PSAs are formed by the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT), National Public Service and Allied Workers Union (NAPSAWU), the Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union (SWADNU), and the Swaziland National Association of Government Accounting Personnel (SNAGAP). The negotiations were held at the Ministry of Public Service Conference Room. They started at 10am and lasted until 1:40pm. The Secretary General of SNAT, Sikelela Dlamini, said government should brace itself for an exorbitant expenditure as of January 28, 2019. Dlamini said the police should take over schools and render the services they volunteered since the beginning of October 2018 when external examinations for Form Vs ensued. Incurred In the 46 days that the police spent manning schools, a bill in excess of E40 million was incurred by government. The Ministry of Education and Training rented 400 cars, fuelled them for the daily errands and bought food for the security personnel daily. Dlamini said the security personnel were the right personnel to run the schools given that they were of high preference by government as their stay in schools cost over E40 million in just 46 days. They should go run the schools as well be broke. Actually, let them interfere with our profession and bargaining leverage again, Dlamini vented. The Secretary General further released a statement to the membership of the organisation informing them the meeting was announced before the negotiation date. He said the deadlock was finally signed at 1:14pm. Meanwhile, SWADNU said they were were going to deal with government accordingly. Bheki Mamba, President of SWADNU said firstly, they will not be working on Christmas Day (December 25, 2018) as they will be broke that is if government implements the no-work-no-pay. This, he said, was in response to the minute released by government insinuating that deductions were to be made from salaries of some members of his union in December for partaking in an illegal strike. Mamba said the reason for this act would be that they would be broke. Carol McFadden, a Plumer resident who holds the world record for biggest earring collection, is auctioning off the bulk of her jewelry after moving into a smaller home. The auction will take place Saturday, in Oil City. By Azernews By Abdul Kerimkhanov Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov met with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Wess Mitchell on the sidelines of the 25th session of the OSCE Ministerial Council, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry told Trend. During the meeting, the sides expressed satisfaction with the existing partnership relations between Azerbaijan and the United States and exchanged views on a wide range of issues of bilateral cooperation agenda. Mammadyarov briefed Wess Mitchell on the current state of the negotiations on the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and the meeting held in Milan on December 5 with the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs and the Armenian foreign minister. Furthermore, Mammadyarov spoke about important energy and transport projects implemented on the initiative and with the participation of Azerbaijan, in particular, the projects of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway and the Southern Gas Corridor. He hailed the support provided by the U.S. in the implementation of these projects. In turn, Mitchell noted that the bilateral relations between the two states are developing dynamically and commended Azerbaijans contribution to the NATO Resolute Support Mission and the fight against terrorism. The sides also exchanged views on other issues of mutual interest. The United States established diplomatic relations with Azerbaijan in 1992, following its independence from the Soviet Union. Together, the two countries work to promote European energy security, expand bilateral trade and investment, and combat terrorism and transnational threats. The U.S. is committed to strengthening democracy and promoting economic diversification in Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan and the U.S. have a Trade Relations Agreement and a Bilateral Investment Treaty. The governments periodically convene the U.S.-Azerbaijan Economic Partnership Commission to discuss bilateral cooperation to promote trade and investment. The U.S. has long supported Azerbaijans efforts to develop and export its energy resources to Western markets, and crude oil is the single largest import from Azerbaijan. U.S. companies are involved in offshore oil development projects in Azerbaijan, export aircraft and heavy machinery to Azerbaijan, and have been exploring emerging trade and investment opportunities in agriculture, telecommunications, tourism, transportation services, and other fields. Azerbaijan was accepted as an associate member in the NATO Parliamentary Assembly on November 19, 2001. Azerbaijan decided to participate in the international coalition forces in peacekeeping operations in Iraq in May 2003. The U.S. is one of the key trade partners of Azerbaijan. Presently, 240 U.S. companies operate in industry, construction, communications, banking and other spheres in Azerbaijan. The trade turnover between two countries in January-June 2018 amounted to $ 476.1 million. Until now, the U.S. has invested $ 13 billion in the Azerbaijani economy and more than $ 1 billion was invested in the non-oil sector. I know this is a bit long, but I did my best to answer all the questions from the sticky'ed post.Im typing a novel which I need a 2in1 laptop for, which Ill be loading Microsoft Word on to. This will be my secondary method of typing my story for when Im away from my main computer in my apartment. I need one with a responsive keyboard and functional screen. I bought a used tablet last year, with a keyboard that attached through Bluetooth and the keyboard lag was terrible, and after 3 months half the screen stopped working.Since this will just be used as my secondary method for typing, it doesnt need much storage space, only about 64GB or so. Though a 2in1 that is small and portable are definitely nice, about a 12 inch screen with 1920x1080 would be equally nice. As I mentioned Microsoft Word will be the primary app, though being able to watch some Youtube videos and occasionally playing a game such as GTA San Andreas from the Google Play Store would be a bonus, but not necessary.Having the 2in1 so that I can type or lean back while holding it to proof read what Ive written. My budget caps at $900 USD, which appears to be the mid range with laptops. Id like it to have at least one USB slot, so I can transfer documents and files through USB drive as Im not very fond of cloud storage. (Thats weird, I know). Other aspects, about a 10 hour battery life would be nice and Id like the laptop to last a few years at least, longer would be great.Also I live in Michigan and Im not too picky about the brands or where I get from, as long as its a reputable brand from an equally reputable company. Im not a fan of Dell, while my tablet last year was by Google which Ive read a lot of horror stories about from others.I think that about summaries my specs. One last thing to mention, I did look at the sister site https /www.laptopmag.com/articles/best-2-in-1-laptops but that left me with more questions. So I wanted to ask for recommendations here.Thanks! The outlook for Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) banking systems remains stable, reflecting their improving operating conditions, weakening but still, solid loan performance and strong capital, Moody's Investors Service said in a report. Moody's 2019 Outlook expresses the rating agency's expectation of how banks' creditworthiness will evolve over the next 12 to 18 months in the GCC. "Current oil prices will support increased government spending, and stimulus packages such as UAE's Expo 2020, the Saudi National Transformation Plan and Qatar Fifa 2022, will underpin banks' stable financial performance," said Nitish Bhojnagarwala, a Moody's vice president-senior credit officer. A return to rising oil production after production cuts in 2017-2018 will drive real GDP growth next year to an average of around 3.3%, from 1% in 2017, easing fiscal pressures as well as keep government spending plans on track, it said. Banks in Kuwait, UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia will remain resilient, while fiscal pressures will weigh on banks in Oman and Bahrain, where oil prices will remain below the fiscal breakeven level, said the report. Credit growth will recover as government spending underpins economic activity and spurs private-sector growth. Lending growth in 2019 will range from 4% in Saudi Arabia to 6% -7% in Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain. Lending to construction and real-estate sectors will increase, it said. Problem loans will continue to rise due to the lagging effect of the economic slowdown in previous years. Moody's expects non-performing loans (NPLs) to stand at a still good 3% of total loans at the end of 2019. GCC banks will continue to exhibit large loss-absorption buffers against sudden asset quality deterioration and show resilience under our low probability stress scenarios. Capital will stay broadly stable, benefitting from modest credit growth and stable bottom-line profitability. Profitability pressures are expected to ease, with net income to tangible assets remaining strong at around 1.5% to 2.1%. Banks have adapted their cost base to the slowing economic environment, maintaining strong efficiency. Consolidation will ease competition and also alleviate some pressure on profitability. Governments' willingness to support GCC banks remains high and their capacity to support is strong, with the exception of smaller GCC economies. - TradeArabia News Service WBR ELS: Order Routing to Remain SEC Focus in 2019 Dude, wheres my order? And moreover, Dude, why did you send it there? In a quick fireside chat here at the the WBR Equities Leaders Summit in Miami, Florida, David Weisberger, co-founder of CoinRoutes.com sat down with John Roesner, Associate Director at the Division of Trading and Markets at the Securities and Exchange Commission to discuss briefly next years regulatory agenda and wwhat the market can expect from its top regulator. Roesner began by telling the crowd that he alone doesnt speak for the SEC and that his opinions are his own and do not reflect the Commission as a whole. That being said, he did say the equities market can expect to see a continued focus on order routing rules and how the broker dealers make those decisions as well as how ATS can improve their transparency. The Order Protection Rule always enters the mix of conversations we have, Roesner told Weisberger and attendees. You can follow the Equities Leaders Summit on Twitter @EquitiesLeaders or #EquitiesLeaders. Or search WBR ELS on www.tradersmagazine.com For more information on related topics, visit the following channels: WBR ELS: Buy-side Wants More Out of TCA Like famed comedian Rodney Dangerfield, TCA gets no respect. Trade Cost Analysis or TCA is the way buy-side traders attempt to evaluate their performance. But most buy-side traders know that most TCA offerings are either not complete or not high on their priority list as they struggle to meet best execution requirements. In a discussion here at the WBR Equities Leaders Summit in Miami, Florida, several traders and vendors sat down to discuss the evolution of TCA and its future. Setting the stage for the discussion was the circa 1991 birth of the TCA and how it calculated trade performance. What started as simply a check box on our screens has increased in focus and importance these days, said Michael Clements, Chief Trader, Employees Retirement System of Texas. We now even use it as a measure towards a traders compensation package. Liquidmetrixs Global Head of Sales, Henry Yegerman, explained that at its genesis TCA was simply used by the buy-side to evaluate its brokers. In turn, the sell-side then used TCA to evaluate how their algorithms worked and would fine-tune them based on the results. Fast forward to now and TCA, while an older measure of performance, is ripe for adjustment and refinement, the panelists agreed. While back in the 1990s there were only a handful of straight line post-trade TCA providers, now there are myriad vendors peddling not just post-trade products but TCA that includes pre- and intra-trade information. And armed with newer products and information isnt just about knowing how you are performing. Not knowing costs money, said Michael Mollemans, Pavilion Global Markets Head of APAC Sales Trading, referring to the danger of not knowing the details of market microstructure and how it impacts routing decisions. If you want the full picture of TCA and costs, you need to include some qualitative aspects into TCA that cover the entire trading process. You have to be able to anticipate changes in the marketplace. Five years ago we had navigation systems that told you the best way to get you from point A to point B. Today we have Waze, which takes real-time traffic conditions into account when making that recommendation. We see TCA evolving in a very similar manner, Stino Milito, Co-COO of Dash Financial Technologies added. TCA doesnt have to be limited to being inside of an OMS or EMS or those providers keeping it there really limits your options. Liquidmetrixs Yegerman added that TCA providers such as his firm need to remain flexible in the systems they create and the always evolving market structures. He sees TCA as becoming more thematic in terms of addressing broad themes in the market structure such as the usage of RFQ exchanges in Europe or Canadas move towards refining its trade analytics and algorithms. TCA is always number four on the buy-sides list of priorities, numbers one through three always change and shift, Yegerman quipped. But number four always stays the same. Employees Retirement System of Texass Clements said that he sees TCA usage falling into two groups clients who use it as a compliance box-checking exercise, and those who use it to help improve decision making and drive performance. And he reiterated he uses it for the latter and not the former. So, what about artificial intelligence and machine learning? Are they being incorporated into TCA systems of the future? The future of TCA is it being able to determine which brokers and algos are suitable at one moment in time and then recalibrating itself for future moments, Dashs Milito said. TCA should recalibrate with every trade and order. And while that made sense to the sessions panelists, it has yet to be seen in current market offerings. Liquidmetrixs Yegerman and Pavilions Mollemans said the inclusion of AI or ML remains more hype and marketing hyperbole than anything else. We really need now is TCA for blocks. Were in the markets for that, Mollemans said. Now. You can follow the Equities Leaders Summit on Traders Magazine on Twitter @EquitiesLeaders or #EquitiesLeaders. Or search WBR ELS on www.tradersmagazine.com For more information on related topics, visit the following channels: Dublin, Dec. 07, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Global Medical Alert System/Personal Emergency Response System Market - Segmented by Type (Landline PERS, Mobile PERS and Others), End-User and Geography - Growth, Trends and Forecasts (2018 - 2023)" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The Medical Alert System/Personal Emergency Response System market was valued at USD 1860.48 million in 2017, and is expected to register a CAGR of about 9.68% during the forecast period 2018-2023. Increasing Aging Population across the Globe to Boost the Medical Alert System/Personal Emergency Response System Market The world's older population continues to grow at an unprecedented rate. According to the national institute of health, in 2016 it was estimated that 8.5% of global the population (617 million) is aged 65 and above. According to a report given by the Aging World 2015, this percentage is expected to jump to nearly 17% of the world's population by 2050 (nearly 1.6 billion). America's 65 and above population is expected to increase that is nearly double over the next three decades, from 48 million to 88 million by the year 2050. The global population with age 80 and above is expected to become more than triple times between 2015 to 2050 period, according to United Nations in 2017, it was estimated that 962 million people were aged 60 or over in the world, comprising 13% of the total global population. The population aged 60 or above is growing at a rate of 3% approximately per year. With a rapid increase in the elderly population, there is a growing need for medical alert systems in residences. Moreover, among elderly people, falling down is one of the most common causes of injury. According to the American Hospital Association, more than one-third of adults aged 65 years and above suffers from a fall each year, and it leads to several other chronic problems if not dealt in time. Most of the elderly people opt for the comfort of their homes instead of preferring other options, such as nursing homes and assisted living facilities. According to the American Association of Retired Persons, 90% of the people aged 65 years and above want to remain in their homes for as long as possible. With the help of medical alert systems, the elderly can age in the comfort of their own homes. Moreover, caregivers have easy access to help via medical alerts. Overall Cost Associated with the System is high which is hindering the growth of Medical Alert System/Personal Emergency Response System Market All the medical alert systems offer 24-hour monitoring services, daily. These systems come with a waterproof neck pendant and wristband with battery backup. Few offer a GPS mobile feature, which works when you are travelling away from home. Cost varies, depending on the services and technology offered by the providers. Some systems also offer a mobile 911 phone, which places a call to local 911 services if a person in need is out of their normal service range for an additional cost. Specifically, few systems offer an automatic fall detection system, but they say it cannot detect 100% of falls, and the companies going to charge an extra cost for the service. In the same way, the cost is going to rise as other services are added and it may cost up to USD ~250-400 per month/person basis. Most of the seniors live on a fixed income. So they don't have a lot of money to spend on these type of devices and with most companies, the affordable system, which requires a landline, is usually around USD 50-80 a month. It's not going to end with a single landline several other additional packages and add-ons may require, such as fall detection, with these add on the cost can increase the monthly cost to as high as USD 80 and along with the service charge it is going to be high cost. As such, it's important for the customer to consider what you need versus what you can afford. Most of the seniors live on a fixed income. So they don't have a lot of money to spend on these type of devices and with most companies, the affordable system, which requires a landline, is usually around USD 50-80 a month. It's not going to end with a single landline several other additional packages and add-ons may require, such as fall detection, with these add on the cost can increase the monthly cost to as high as USD 80 and along with the service charge it is going to be high cost. Market Segmentation Insights Based on the type of medical alert system, it is further segmented into Landline PERS, Mobile PERS and others. Mobile PERS was the largest segment in 2017 as they possess many advantages over traditional PERS units which includes tracking capabilities via a variety of technologies, such as Global Positioning System (GPS), WiFi and Uplink-time Difference of Arrival (U-TDOA), which enable lost or disoriented users to be located and receive assistance. Also, they are lightweight and durable which are in favour of the growth of mobile PERS. Also, they have the highest CAGR in the market in the future forecast as they are widely utilised around the globe. According to world telecommunication data by Ministry of International Affairs and Communications (Japan), mobile phone usage is 100% in most countries, while landline usage is barely over 50% (ICT indicators database 2013). By end-user, the market is segmented into home-based users, senior living facilities and assisted living facilities. Home-based users have the highest share in the market which is about 63.4% due to increasing adoption rate and easy affordability. They also maintain the privacy of any individual by allowing them to remain in their own homes. Asia-Pacific is expected to have High Growth Opportunities in Medical Alert System/Personal Emergency Response System Market Asia-Pacific is estimated to be the fastest growing over the forecast period with a CAGR of around 10.50% due to the rise in the geriatric population in various countries. For instance, as per China National Committee on Aging (CNCA), the number of Chinese citizens aged 60 or above reached 241 million by the end of 2017, representing 17.3% of the country's total population. Based on United Nations documents, Japan has defined senior citizens as people aged 65 or above for more than five decades. In addition, there is a need for improved healthcare facilities and rising technological advancements, increasing awareness among the people and increasing investments from foreign players are expected to augment the medical alert system/personal emergency response system market in the future in these countries. Developments in the Market Dec 2017- ADT added video alarm verification services to its award-winning ADT Pulse Platform Jan 2018- Medical Guardian launched Freedom Guardian, a smart watch designed specifically for seniors' everyday use as well as for emergencies. Key Topics Covered 1. Introduction 2. Research Methodology 3. Executive Summary 4. Key Inferences 5. Market Overview 5.1 Current Market Scenario 5.2 Porter's Five Forces 5.2.1 Bargaining Power of Suppliers 5.2.2 Bargaining Power of Consumers 5.2.3 Threats of New Entrants 5.2.4 Threat of Substitute Products and Services 5.2.5 Competitive Rivalry within the Industry 6. Drivers, Restraints, Opportunities And Challenges Analysis (Droc) 6.1 Market Drivers 6.1.1 Increasing Aging Population Across the Globe 6.1.2 Technological Developments in Healthcare Wearables 6.1.3 Increasing Penetration of Smartphones in Healthcare 6.1.4 Constant Innovations in Technology and Easy Adaptability of PERS Devices 6.2 Market Restraints 6.2.1 Overall Cost Associated with the System is High 6.2.2 Lack of Know-how Pertaining to the New Technology Used in PERS System 6.3 Opportunities 6.3.1 Advancements in Communication Technologies 6.3.2 Emerging Markets Create Growth Opportunities for PERS 6.3.3 Thriving Healthcare Market to Create Need for Affordable Medical Alert Devices 6.4 Key Challenges 6.4.1 False Alarm Decreasing the Efficiency of PERS 7. Market Segmentation 7.1 By Type 7.1.1 Landline PERS 7.1.2 Mobile PERS 7.1.3 Others 7.2 By End User 7.2.1 Home-based Users 7.2.2 Senior Living Facilities 7.2.3 Assisted Living Facilities 7.3 By Geography 7.3.1 North America 7.3.1.1 United States 7.3.1.2 Canada 7.3.1.3 Mexico 7.3.2 Europe 7.3.2.1 France 7.3.2.2 United Kingdom 7.3.2.3 Germany 7.3.2.4 Italy 7.3.2.5 Spain 7.3.2.6 Rest of Europe 7.3.3 Asia-Pacific 7.3.3.1 India 7.3.3.2 China 7.3.3.3 Japan 7.3.3.4 Australia 7.3.3.5 South Korea 7.3.3.6 Rest of APAC 7.3.4 Middle East & Africa 7.3.4.1 GCC 7.3.4.2 South Africa 7.3.4.3 Rest of Middle East & Africa 7.3.5 South America 7.3.5.1 Brazil 7.3.5.2 Argentina 7.3.5.3 Rest of South America 8. Competitive Landscape 8.1 Mergers And Acquisition Analysis 8.2 Agreements, Collaborations & Partnerships 8.3 New Products Launches 9. Major Players 9.1 ADT Corporation 9.2 Bay Alarm Medical 9.3 Philips Lifeline 9.4 Life Alert Emergency Response Inc 9.5 VRI Inc 9.6 Tunstall 9.7 Medical Guardian Llc 9.8 Alertone Services Llc 9.9 Greatcall 9.10 Rescue Alert 9.11 Logicmark 9.12 Nortek Security And Control 10. Future of the Market For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/zzvnn6/medical_alert?w=12 FLASHBACK FRIDAY: Before the Fall Jingle Bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way December is usually festive and ushers in the holiday season of good cheer and good will towards men. But back in December 2008 there was a different type of jingle in the air the sounds of handcuffs and chains as Bernard Madoff was arrested and eventually found guilty for conducting the largest Ponzi scheme in U.S history. Madoff, now nearly 80 years old, plead guilty to fraud in December 2009 and is currently serving a 150-year sentence at a federal prison in North Carolina. Seven of his employees also plead guilty to associated crimes. Five former aides to Bernard Madoff who spent decades working for his firm were found guilty at the time on most counts in helping run the $17.5 billion fraud that was exposed by the 2008 financial crisis. Hatched in the 1970s, Madoffs fraud targeted thousands of wealthy investors, Jewish charities, celebrities and retirees. It unraveled in 2008 when the economic crisis led to more withdrawals than Madoff could afford to pay out. In addition to $17.5 billion in principal, it erased about $47 billion in fake profit that customers thought was being held in their accounts. The multi-year dismantling of the Madoff event stretched into 2013 when the liquidation of Bernie Madoffs defunct brokerage reached a total cost of $774.8 million, including lawyers and consultants fees and expenses of $737.1 million, the trustee for the firm reported. The prosecutions lasted until March of 2014 when an 11-person jury on March 24 found five former colleagues of Madoff guilty on all counts, including claims they conspired to create fake trade confirmations and false account statements for thousands of clients of Madoffs investment advisory unit. No trading took place in the business. So, whats the takeaway? In the wake of the Madoff affair, the so-called custody rule Rule 206(4)-2 of the Investment Advisers Act saw extensive revision. The following are the highlights of the new custody rule: Expanded Definition of Custody. The SEC has clarified that an advisor has custody of client funds when it physically possesses the funds or has authority to obtain possession, as well as when a "related person" of the advisor has such authority. Surprise Exams. RIAs with custody of their client's assets or whose client assets are held by an affiliated custodian that is not "operationally independent" now must undergo an annual surprise examination by an independent public accountant to verify that the money claimed to be in customer accounts actually exists. If funds are discovered to have gone astray, the auditors are required to notify the SEC. When an adviser, or a related person, acts as the qualified custodian ("self-custody"), the surprise examination must be performed by a PCAOB-registered accountant. An adviser that does not "self-custody" can use any independent public accountant. Custody Controls Reviews. In circumstances where the RIA, or a related person, acts as the qualified custodian--whether or not operationally independent--the RIA also will be subject to a custody controls review and will be required to obtain, at least annually, a written report, prepared by a PCAOB-registered auditor, that describes the internal controls in place at the custodian, tests the effectiveness of such controls and provide the results of those tests (typically, a "SAS-70 Report"). Advisers to pooled investment vehicles that "self-custody" must obtain such a report even if exempted from the surprise audit and the account statement requirements. Direct Delivery of Account Statements. Qualified custodians maintaining client assets must now send account statements directly to advisory clients in all cases, even if the adviser itself sends account statements. The rule eliminates the current alternative that allows audited advisors to send account statements to clients in lieu of the qualified custodian. In addition, any account statements sent by an adviser now must "urge" clients to compare such statements with those from the qualified custodian. Exemption for Advisers to Pooled Investment Vehicles. Advisers to hedge funds and other private funds that are subject to annual financial statement audits and that distribute those audited statements, prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP, to its investors are deemed to have satisfied the surprise audit requirement. The audit must be performed by an independent PCAOB-registered accountant. Exemption for RIAs Who Only Deduct Fees. RIAs whose managed assets are in the custody of an independent, third-party custodian, and either have no control over the funds or merely have authority to withdraw their agreed-upon advisory fees are exempted from the surprise audit requirement and the custody controls review. The SEC also saw some changes. In September 2009, the regulator released a 477-page report on how it SEC missed the numerous reg flags that were raised by Madoff and identifies repeated opportunities for SEC examiners to find the fraud and how ineffective their efforts were. In response to the recommendations in that report, eight SEC employees were disciplined; none were fired. As of February 2016, trustees reported that more than $11.079 billion of the $17.5 billion in principle investment has been recovered to date. U.S. judges ordered victims of the scheme could begin to receive payouts and individual distributions would range from $1,287 to $200.4 million. Bloomberg Business News also reported in 2016 that investors of approximately $2.5 billion of funds had made no effort to claim their lost funds. Analysts suspect that these parties have remained silent because their investments were from illegal activities such as drug dealing or tax evasion, or because they had civil liabilities in the United States and did not wish to subject themselves to the jurisdiction of the U.S. courts. In September 2017 in a case before the Irish High Court, Thema International Fund agreed to pay $687 million to resolve a trustee lawsuit brought on behalf of the fraud victims resulting from Madoff's frauds. The following article appeared in the December 2009 edition of Traders Magazine Before the Fall By Peter Chapman The abrupt closure of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities in December marked an ignominious end for a firm that, after nearly 50 years in business, enjoyed near universal respect on Wall Street, as well as major financial success. That its founder could be charged with defrauding its customers out of billions of dollars, as two arms of the federal government have alleged, shocked and dismayed those who know the man. He was considered a leader in the stock trading business who almost single-handedly created the modern-day Third Market for retail orders by attracting order flow destined for the New York Stock Exchange. His ability to anticipate punishing regulatory changes designed to sideline market makers, coupled with a commitment to spending on technology and sophisticated inventory management techniques, enabled him to survive and prosper whilst many competitors fell by the wayside. His knowledge of the intricacies of market structure and his openness with regulators, legislators, journalists, academics and industry executives served to boost his profile and influence. Those relationships also didn't hurt his market-making business. In 1982, after more than 20 years in business, Madoff reported $5.5 million in net capital, making his the 153rd-largest brokerage house. He had 35 employees. By January 2007, he reported $613 million in net capital, making his firm one of the 40 largest. He employed 146 people. His close ties to Nasdaq from its early days and their shared interest in wresting market share from the Big Board translated into a win-win for both parties as Madoff's Third Market business grew. His participation on NASD committees and his unwavering support for many of Nasdaq's often dealer-unfriendly initiatives through the years only cemented the bond. By the 1990s, Bernie had become something of a senior statesman in the industry, serving on the NASD board, as non-executive chairman of Nasdaq and as head of the Securities Industry Association's influential trading committee. For a while, he was spending one-third of his time in Washington as an unofficial lobbyist for the dealer community. Madoff was often quoted in the press. On a personal level, he was almost universally liked. He was open. He was helpful. He was willing to share his knowledge of market structure with almost anyone. The same could be said of all four Madoff principals, including Bernie's younger brother Peter (his number two) and sons Mark and Andy. "You couldn't say enough nice things about them," Jack Hughes, a former head of trading at Madoff customer Janney Montgomery Scott, said in a typical response. "They were just great, great people who would do anything for you. And if you had a question, they would always take the time to answer it." Competitors' View Not everyone saw eye to eye with the Madoffs. They championed regulatory initiatives that squashed bid-ask spreads and angered fellow market makers. Many are now quick to suggest that the profits Bernie generated through his alleged Ponzi activities made it easier to stomach those spread-narrowing changes. As Madoff's power grew, so did the resentment. His detractors said he was arrogant. Some said he could talk a good game but couldn't always deliver. Through his attorney, Bernie declined to speak with Traders Magazine for this article. Peter, Mark and Andy also declined comment. Bernie wasn't the whole show at BMIS. Peter had joined the firm in 1965 while still a student at Fordham Law School, from which he graduated in 1967. Peter was the firm's original computer whiz and eventually assumed responsibility for the trading operation. It was Peter, in fact, who saw the potential in trading securities listed on the New York Stock Exchange. And it was that decision that catapulted the firm into the big leagues of wholesaling. The second generation-Bernie's sons, Mark and Andy-took control of the trading desks in the 1990s. As the years passed, the two MBA'd brothers largely replaced their father and uncle as the faces of the firm through their work on committees and appearances at industry conferences. Mark and Andy were on the desk five years ago when it came time to usher in the black-box era-the use of computers to make markets, hit bids and lift offers. That forced the redundancy of a good swath of the firm's traders. The decision was unavoidable but perhaps came too late. For all the firm's savvy, it was being out-traded by a new breed of algorithm-toting market maker. Madoff lost market share and profits. In the end, an investment bank could find no buyers for BMIS, and the firm was disbanded. In the Beginning Ironically, the circumstances behind the fall of Madoff's wholesale business were exactly the same as those behind its rise. The business crashed in the 2002-2008 period after the powers that be in Washington forced the industry to trade in penny increments. The firm got its foot in the door in the 1960s after the Securities and Exchange Commission forced the over-the-counter industry to automate its quotes. Spurred on by a U.S. Congress upset by dirty dealings at the American Stock Exchange, the SEC spent two years analyzing the inner workings of the securities industry. In 1963, it produced the seminal "Special Study of the Securities Markets," which concluded that changes were needed. One of its criticisms was directed at the sprawling over-the-counter market and its lack of transparency. Quotes were only published once a day in the Pink Sheets and typically out of date by the time they reached traders' desks in the morning. To do a trade, a broker would have to telephone three market makers. The process was slow, inefficient and did not take into account all of the possibly 15 to 20 dealers bidding for or offering stock. Consequently, with no intraday transparency, bid-ask spreads were wide and market-maker profits flowed to just a few big New York wholesalers. Displaying quotes once a day was insufficient, the SEC concluded. It believed computer technology was advanced enough to support widespread intraday quote dissemination. It urged the NASD to investigate the possibility. At the time, BMIS was a small and struggling wholesaler, finding it difficult to make headway against larger and more established competitors. Eager to compete based on the quality of its quotations, the firm was often ignored by other dealers. Often as not, Madoff's firm did not get called when there was business to do. The over-the-counter market in the 1960s was dominated by large New York-based wholesalers. These are brokerages that maintain inventories in securities and fill orders for other brokers. The top wholesalers of the day included Troster Singer, Singer & Mackie, New York Hanseatic, J.F. Reilly and Eastern Securities. Wirehouses such as Merrill Lynch did run OTC desks, but their presence was negligible. So when the NASD was tasked with developing a quote display system that could be installed in dealing rooms around the country, Madoff saw the potential. "We felt, as a small market-making firm, it would level the playing field for us," Madoff told author Eric Weiner for his book "What Goes Up: The Uncensored History of Modern Wall Street." "So we pushed that concept, and I was not particularly popular with my competitors." With all quotes displayed in one place throughout the day, market makers would have to do business with those displaying the best prices, no matter who they were. That would give a newcomer like Madoff a fighting chance. It would also cut into the business of the dominant players. The NASD set up an automation committee in 1964, the year after the SEC report came out. It was chaired by Robert "Stretch" Gardiner, head of Reynolds Securities, and staffed with executives such as Johnny McCue, from Baird & Co., a regional broker, and Joe Fuller, from J.B. Maguire, a Boston wholesaler. Madoff was not on the committee. Seven years later, after much kicking and screaming by traders, the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation system, or Nasdaq, finally launched. Credit is given to the now-deceased Gordon Macklin, Nasdaq's first president, for making it happen. In the end, Nasdaq did what they thought it would. It brought quotes to the surface and competition to the market. Small wholesalers such as BMIS and J.B. Maguire and regional brokers such as Baird got a seat at the table. Spreads narrowed. Large wholesalers including Singer & Mackie saw their margins squeezed. "Nasdaq gave those relative unknowns a sort of instant prominence," Singer & Mackie executive vice president Robert Mackie Jr. told Financial World magazine in 1973. "If they make the best market on that machine, people are bound to do business with them. Before Nasdaq, there was no way for the small firm, except through a strenuous effort, to get itself known as a market maker." For Bernie, it was never a just one-way street. He got from the NASD, but he also gave back. The former head of trading from a large New York firm remembers Bernie "always made himself available in the early days of Nasdaq when it was hard to get volunteers. He was always willing to be involved in a committee or to help out somehow. After a while, he became a leading voice and was influential and valuable to Nasdaq." Another ex-head of trading at a large New York firm who participated on NASD committees agreed. "Bernie's strategy was to get actively involved in all aspects of the industry," he said. "He had a much bigger presence than the size of his firm would naturally warrant. By being visible, he'd boost his business. They never said no. They volunteered for everything. It was a very smart move." Third Market Nasdaq brought scores of market makers out of the woodwork and onto the desktops of Wall Street. The transparency benefited Madoff, but his firm was now one of about 500 quoting prices in OTC stocks. The competition was fierce. Was there a way to set himself apart? Sometime in the early or mid-1970s, Peter Madoff became enamored with the idea of trading NYSE-listed stocks. Because of the active market in these securities on the floor of the New York, they were much more liquid. That made them easier and safer to trade. OTC names were much riskier. "That was pretty much one-way order flow," a trading executive noted. "If there were no more buyers and if you were a market maker, you became the buyer." In addition to the stocks' lower risk profile, NYSE rules also lent appeal to Madoff's idea. NYSE Rule 390 prevented NYSE members from trading NYSE-listed securities on a principal basis away from the exchange. That eliminated many potential competitors to Madoff, as most firms of any size were Big Board members. The rule did allow them to send their NYSE orders to other exchanges or market makers. Most of Madoff's competition would come from NYSE and regional exchange specialists. Madoff was not, of course, a member of the New York. The business of trading NYSE-listed securities outside the confines of the exchange was known as the Third Market. Until Madoff dived in, the business was largely institutional. It was dominated by firms such as Weeden & Co., First Boston and Blyth & Co. Some wholesalers did offer retail brokers a Third Market service in the 1960s, but with the exception of Weeden, none was especially large. Others were A.W. Benkert and American Securities. Madoff started trading NYSE stocks on a small scale in the mid-1970s, at a time when the industry was embroiled in a contentious debate over regulatory changes that would make it easier for brokerages to compete with NYSE specialists. The SEC wanted to foster widespread trading of NYSE names outside the exchange's four walls. The U.S. Congress, via the 1975 Amendments to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, gave them the authority to do so. The SEC's dream was to break up the Big Board's monopoly in the trading of its securities by fostering the development of a central market system. The agency's original idea involved a consortium of OTC dealers and exchange specialists competing against each other for orders. As early as 1965, an SEC staff study concluded the NYSE's Rule 394 (later Rule 390) shielded Big Board specialists from competition. The plan to construct a central, or national, market system boiled down to two competing ideas. The Cincinnati Stock Exchange was proposing a Composite Limit Order Book (CLOB) known as the Multiple Dealer Trading System, within which all trades would take place. The New York Stock Exchange was promoting the Intermarket Trading System (ITS), a routing and quoting network that would link all the exchanges. The Cincinnati's CLOB, based on a trading platform designed by Weeden principals, was perhaps the more radical of the two ideas and eventually lost the SEC's endorsement. The ITS launched in 1978 with the participation of every exchange except the Cincinnati. Cincy The ITS was a godsend for Madoff if only he could plug into it. The network was a critical link to the New York Stock Exchange that would allow NYSE specialists to see and access the quotes of regional exchange specialists. In turn, it would allow regional specialists to access the New York to lay off their positions. Madoff, however, was not a regional specialist. He was an NASD member. And when the ITS launched, there was no connection to Nasdaq. That was not for lack of trying on the part of the NASD. The New York fought hard to keep the NASD out. It wasn't until 1982 that the NASD was permitted to link to the ITS, and even then, market makers could only trade a limited number of (Rule 19c-3) stocks over it. So in the late 1970s, the Madoff brothers started sniffing around the Cincinnati, hoping to become specialists. Although they were eventually allowed to purchase seats and Peter took a position on the board, they were initially treated with suspicion. Cincinnati executives were worried Bernie might be some kind of spy for the NASD, which was fighting hard to get full access to the ITS. In 1978, Bernie was a member of the NASD's National Market System Trading committee. In 1979, he was on the NASD's National Market System Design Committee. From 1981 to 1983, he was the head of the design committee. In 1983, he became chairman of the NASD's District 12 Committee, representing the New York area. For the Cincy, the fear was very real. If the NASD did get full access to the ITS, and all those market makers started trading NYSE names, there would be little reason for regional stock exchanges to exist. Imparting precious technical information to the Madoffs could prove hazardous. In any event, by 1980, the Madoffs were members. Peter joined the trading and technology committees, and the firm--along with other CSE specialists such as Merrill Lynch--had invested in an upgrade of the MDTS. That year, the Cincinnati closed its floor and opened for business as the country's first all-electronic stock exchange. In 1981, when the exchange finally won access to the ITS, Madoff could hang out his shingle as a full-fledged alternative to the New York Stock Exchange. ITS Access The ITS was terrific for Bernie," said Don Weeden, former CEO of Weeden & Co. "They were able to get their markets in and change them very quickly. They were very competitive with the New York and the other regional exchanges. He did very well doing that." (Weeden and Madoff are often considered in the same light, as both men took on the New York Stock Exchange in David-and-Goliath fashion and both invested heavily in technology to do so.) While it never succeeded in becoming the central marketplace backers like Weeden and the SEC had hoped, the Cincinnati did retain a special standing in the eyes of the SEC. One former Cincinnati specialist recalled that the rules of the exchange permitted maximum quote widths of 25 cents in the early 1990s, and so that was how he programmed his system. That got him a call from Peter Madoff, who asked the specialist to narrow his spreads. Madoff said the Cincinnati was always under scrutiny from the SEC and was held to a high standard. Tighter spreads would prove to the industry that the Cincinnati was "real" and its quotes accessible, Madoff explained. Bernie would later tell Traders Magazine: "The Cincinnati has done a better job than the other regionals in keeping their market makers in a competitive mode. We set the standard at the Cincinnati." The Customers Now that Madoff had the ability to trade listed stocks, he set about the task of acquiring a steady stream of order flow from retail brokers. He won Charles Schwab & Co.'s business in short order, but the majority of brokers proved a tough slog. The business didn't really pick up until after the 1987 stock market crash. During much of the 1980s, one source believes, the mainstay of Bernie's business was arbitraging the prices of OTC stocks with those of their attached warrants. Because the Black-Scholes options pricing model had yet to be fully understood by the Street, making money on the "optionality" of warrants was easy pickings. In those days, many speculative issuers, such as technology companies, would tack on a warrant to a new issue as a sweetener for the investor. The warrant was exchangeable into a certain number of shares at a certain price. "The third market was almost a side business," this former trader said. "Bernie was very big in that [warrants] business, along with about four other firms. You could see. You would offer size, and Bernie would step up and buy it. Then he would be out there doing a contra trade in the common." This source believes that the warrant trading operation was done under the aegis of Madoff's investment management operation, which allegedly eventually became a Ponzi scheme; and that losses in this warrant trading activity may have led to Madoff covering losses via the Ponzi scheme. "He had more share than you would expect a firm his size to have in those warrants," the source said. Whatever the case, Madoff still had high hopes for his Third Market business. And because he had hopes of becoming a volume player, he decided he needed to automate the intake of orders. That way, brokers could send him flow at the push of a button and receive their trade reports just as quickly. This was a big and expensive project. One exec estimated it cost firms that chose to do this between 25 and 40 percent of a year's profit-and-loss account. Peter Madoff was put in charge. In 1983, Madoff brought in TCAM Systems, a software vendor started in 1979 by the former chief information officer at Smith Barney, to build the system. TCAM had built a similar system a year earlier for Dean Witter Reynolds' OTC department. The system TCAM would build for Madoff would read the quotes from the newly launched Consolidated Quotation System and quickly execute incoming orders at prices based on those quotes. The project took five years to complete. When it was finished, in 1988, it automatically filled orders of up to 3,000 shares at the national best bid or offer in less than 10 seconds. That was considerably faster than the New York Stock Exchange, which, by rule, had 90 seconds to handle the order. "He was a pioneer," said Ken Pasternak, former chief executive of Knight Capital Group and a competitor to Madoff in the Third Market from the 1990s. "What helped him was the fact that he was the first to automate and provide [speedy] executions." Pasternak ran trading at Troster Singer in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Troster automated the intake of its OTC flow at roughly the same time Madoff automated the intake of his listed flow, Pasternak said. Other industry execs also acknowledged Madoff's technology prowess. "They always had the best technology," Dennis Green, the former head trader at Legg Mason, remembered. "They always did. Even when none of us could afford that technology. It was expensive for us in the hinterlands. Maybe not in New York. But they always had the best systems." Madoff's speedy fills involved trade-offs, though. An order sent to the New York might get filled at a price better than the NBBO, or within the spread. Madoff offered no such "price improvement." But, he argued, since he traded only the most liquid stocks, their spreads were as tight as they could be. Thus there was little chance they would get price improvement at the Big Board. Still, the criticism over Madoff's lack of price improvement would dog him throughout his career. Madoff's business plan was simple: Accept orders only in the biggest, most liquid stocks from "uninformed" retail investors. Charge no fees. Guarantee fills on all orders up to 3,000 (later, 5,000) shares. Execute orders faster than the New York Stock Exchange. Restricting his dealings to retail flow and the most liquid stocks would mitigate Madoff's risk. So-called uninformed investors-in contrast to professional traders-know less about a stock's immediate prospects than the dealer. And with the most liquid stocks, laying off positions would be easier. Madoff got his new TCAM system installed just in time. The stock market had crashed the previous October, and the public had deserted the market. Retail brokers were hurting and looking for ways to cut costs. Orders sent to the New York incurred both exchange fees and specialists' charges. Madoff, on the other hand, charged no fees. That was part of his appeal. Prior to the Crash of '87, NYSE member firms balked at sending their orders to Madoff out of loyalty to the exchange or fear of retribution. Afterward, those qualms vanished. To sweeten the deal, Madoff started paying brokers for their flow. That made it even harder for cash-strapped brokers to resist the trader's entreaties. "If you sent it to the floor of the New York, you got charged for it," Green explained. "If you sent it to Madoff, they paid you. For many, it was a no-brainer." Hard Times With hard times on Wall Street, the Third Market began to take off. According to a Wall Street Journal report, the share of trades in NYSE-listed securities under 1,100 shares done in the Third Market tripled between 1984 and 1989 to 6 percent. BMIS accounted for 70 percent of that figure, according to estimates of the exchanges. The surge left the New York Stock Exchange with only about 66 percent of all trades in its stocks, down from 87 percent in the late 1970s. "The New York Stock Exchange looked at them as serious competitors," remembered Chris Keith, the Big Board's former chief technology officer and a member of the exchange's executive committee from 1980 to 1988. "The Madoff name was well known at the exchange and the firm was a not infrequent topic of discussion in meetings. He was highly regarded." Meanwhile, over at the NASD, Bernie had reached the apogee of his relationship with the organization. In 1986, he was elected to the board of governors along with 39 others. He was also on the executive committee, the board surveillance committee and the long-range planning committee. He was chairman of the NASD's international committee, too, having recently opened an office in London to trade ADRs. After more than 25 years in the business, everything was finally falling into place for Madoff. In 1989, the firm had 20 traders dealing in the top 250 NYSE-listed names. It was handling about 15,000 trades per day, totaling about 5 million shares. That gave it 2 percent of the share volume in NYSE-listed securities. By the end of the decade, BMIS boasted 100 customers including regionals such as A.G. Edwards, Dain Bosworth and Rauscher Pierce and discounters such as Schwab, Quick & Reilly and Fidelity. For the most part, BMIS had the growing market to itself, but that would not last. In 1985, a veteran manager at several wholesalers started a small third-market dealer in White Plains, N.Y., called Trimark Securities. Steve Steinman, Trimark's founder, had held trading positions at a number of firms, including Troster Singer and M.H. Meyerson. Trimark was not much of a factor in the late 1980s, but was digging in. In 1990, the dealer signed an agreement with TCAM to build a trading system. Madoff didn't have all the retail flow not going to the New York Stock Exchange. Discount brokers such as Schwab and Fidelity also operated specialist posts at various regional exchanges to internalize their NYSE-listed orders. Pershing, a large clearing firm, also operated specialist posts at regional exchanges. Payment for Order Flow Market making in those days was still a spread game. The minimum trading increment was a relatively fat 12.5 cents per share, allowing dealers to make a profit buying at the bid and selling at the offer. The wide spread also enabled them to pay for order flow. The practice had been around since the 1970s, when wholesalers were paying brokers about 2 cents a share for their OTC orders. Madoff extended the practice to NYSE-listed securities in 1988, paying brokers about a penny per share. The move did not endear Madoff to the New York Stock Exchange and some of the regionals. As BMIS began to eat into their businesses, they complained bitterly to the SEC. They charged that Madoff's firm competed unfairly because it was not bound by the rules of exchanges. BMIS could pick and choose with whom it traded and which orders it would accept. Exchanges, on the other hand, had to take on all comers. Others contended the SEC should abolish payment for order flow, as it constituted a perverse incentive for order-flow senders. Brokers should choose their trading venues based on best execution, not kickbacks, Madoff's detractors argued. Madoff countered that the point was moot because his customers always got the best bid or offer. In addition, the brokerage could pass the savings on to its customers. Ray Pellechia, an NYSE Euronext spokesperson for many years, still maintains that PFOF is harmful and that investors deserve a shot at price improvement. He recently blogged: "I also believed-and still do-that pay for flow deprived investors of the opportunity to get the best price; that is, the ability to trade at a price better than the published best bid or offer." The SEC had long tolerated payment for order flow. But it was still concerned over possible conflicts of interest. In July 1989, the SEC convened a roundtable of industry leaders to discuss the issue. Bernie Madoff, the NYSE's Dick Grasso, Charles Schwab, Leslie Quick of Quick & Reilly, John Watson of the Security Traders Association, Peter DaPuzzo of Shearson Lehman and Buzzy Geduld of wholesalers Herzog Heine Geduld all sat down to offer their views on the subject. After listening to all the arguments, the SEC still took no action. The sniping continued unabated for at least five years. Eventually, Congress waded in. In the spring of 1993, Congress held hearings on the issue. NYSE chairman William Donaldson testified, asking Congress to ban the practice. So did NYSE president Dick Grasso. Bernie testified in defense of the practice, but said he would be open to brokerages having to disclose the practice. NASD president Joe Hardiman testified in support of the practice, defending the Madoff model. 1 2 next For more information on related topics, visit the following channels: Reading Tinkle & Amar Chitra Katha as a child spurred my writing: Chador Wangmo Navelim, Goa, Dec 5 (UNI) Bhutanese writer Chador Wangmo on Wednesday said that regular reading of the Tinkle and Amar Chitra Katha illustrated books while growing up as a child in Bhutan had spurred her interest in writing. Chador was speaking to students of the Rosary College of Arts and Commerce as part of the outreach programme of the 9th Goa Arts and Literature festival (GALF). GALF 2018 will be inaugurated on Thursday evening at the ESG in Panaji. Recollecting the time when her name was published in the letters column of the Tinkle magazine, she said, I was a fifth grade student and when the Tinkle published my letter in one of their editions, my joy knew no bounds. 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United Nations, Dec 7 (UNI) The first UN-led talks in six years over the disputed Western Sahara-region concluded on a positive note in Geneva, where the Organisations representative Horst Kohler said that further discussions are planned 'in the first quarter of 2019'. Speaking to journalists after two days of roundtable discussions in the Swiss city, Mr Kohler said the meeting was a first, but important step towards a renewed political process on the future of the disputed territory. I would like to applaud the delegations for having engaged openly and in a spirit of mutual respect, he said, adding that nobody wins from maintaining the status quo. Resolving the conflict lies in the interest of all, Mr Kohler added, in his capacity as Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General for Western Sahara, where decades of conflict over disputed ownership has been contained since 1991, by the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO). I would like to applaud the delegations for having engaged openly and in a spirit of mutual respect...nobody wins from maintaining the status quo - Western Sahara Envoy, Horst Kohler Following the Geneva meeting, Mr Kohler explained that the ultimate goal is to create an environment in the region that is conducive to strong economic growth, job creation and better security. And looking ahead to next years talks, the Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General for Western Sahara expressed the hope that the process would be guided by a concern for the men and women, the children and youth of the territory. A peaceful solution to this conflict is possible, he insisted, while also commending the representatives from Morocco, the Frente POLISARIO movement, Algeria and Mauritania for engaging openlyand committing to resolving the conflict. Reading an agreed final communique, Mr Kohler noted that all delegations recognised that cooperation and regional integration, not confrontation, were the best way to address the many important challenges the region is facing. Mr Kohler also underlined the significance of the Geneva meeting, which follows a recent UN Security Council meeting and resolution to extend MINURSO - and explained the overall objective for the people of Western Sahara to take charge of their future. The goal of this process isaccording to the United Nations Security Council, to find "a just, lasting and mutually acceptable solution that will provide for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara, he said. Adopted on 31 October 2018, UN Security Council resolution 2440 calls on the parties to the dispute over Western Sahara to engage constructively in talks. Parties should demonstrate political will in order to advance the negotiations, Council Members said, while also emphasising the importance of an enduring political solution based on compromise and the need to provide for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara in a manner consistent with the Charter of the United Nations. UNI XC RSU 0951 NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., Dec. 07, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Movandi, a privately held company with a mission to revolutionize millimeter wave networks, announced today that it received the coveted Start-up to Watch award at the 2018 Global Semiconductor Alliance (GSA) Awards Dinner Celebration. The awards are presented annually to outstanding companies worldwide that have demonstrated excellence through their success, vision and strategy in the industry. Movandis disruptive solutions for 5G millimeter wave networks addresses the growing challenges of rapid 5G deployment breaking the paradigm of traditional fabless semiconductor companies by combining new innovation and world-class experience in 5G integrated circuits, antennas, systems, and algorithms design disciplines, to address the challenges of 5G millimeter wave deployments. The company is providing the highest levels of performance and flexibility to ensure that 5G and millimeter wave technology can be broadly deployed in the real-world across abroad set of use cases and deployment scenarios. Winning the 2018 Start-up to Watch award from the GSA further validates Movandis rapid rise to the leading ranks of 5G technology leadership in only two years since the companys founding, said Maryam Rofougaran, Co-CEO and COO, Movandi. I attribute much of Movandis success to our innovative engineering team, as we continue to recruit some of the best and brightest minds in 5G wireless system design with a single mission to enhance the quality of life of every person on the planet and enabling the next wireless revolution of multi-gigabit connectivity. This year Movandi has engaged with global technology leaders, while also sampling BeamX into leading handset, carriers and infrastructure providers. The company has become a recognized 5G technology expert with over 11 issued patents and numerous recognitions and industry awards. The next generation of wireless, 5G, introduces new challenges that require out of box thinking and innovation. We congratulate Movandi on winning the 2018 GSA Start-Up to Watch Award, said Jodi Shelton, co-founder and president of GSA. We are excited to see that Movandi, the same team that has solved challenges of wireless connectivity over the past couple of decades is now focused on solving 5G challenges and already demonstrating market impact with their technology. GSAs Private Awards Committee, comprised of members of the Emerging Company CEO Council, venture capitalists and select serial entrepreneurs in the industry, selects winners of the Start Up to Watch award by identifying the semiconductor company that demonstrates the potential to positively change its market or the semiconductor industry, in general, through the innovative use of semiconductor technology or a new application for semiconductor technology. About the GSA Awards The GSA Awards Dinner Celebration is the industrys premier annual event attracting over 1500 leaders to celebrate the accomplishments of this industry and honor the best-performing companies and top leaders. Each year the GSA recognizes companies that have demonstrated excellence through their vision, strategy, execution and future opportunity. The celebration honors the achievements of semiconductor companies in several categories ranging from outstanding leadership to financial accomplishments, as well as overall respect within the industry. About Movandi Movandi is a venture-backed startup, formed by some of todays top leaders in wireless communications. Having pioneered the integration of RF and digital in standard bulk CMOS for numerous wireless standards, their focus now is to reinvent multi-gigabit millimeter wave solutions for fixed and mobile networks. Todays high frequency networks are filled with a myriad of technical challenges. Movandis innovative RF front-end technology provides the foundation for unlocking the potential of high frequency wireless communications, opening numerous new market opportunities and applications. www.movandi.com (Dec. 7, 2018) -- Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Kimberly Andrews Espy announced today that consultants would begin a formal evaluation of the Institute of Texan Cultures later this month. The assessment will be conducted by two experienced museum professionals, Charles Walter, director of the Mayborn Museum Complex of Baylor University, and Robert Mac West, president of consulting firm Informal Learning Experiences of Denver. Both have experience as museum managers, consultants to a variety of museums and related organizations, and reviewers for the American Alliance of Museums, the National Science Foundation, and numerous private and government organizations. College of Liberal and Fine Arts Dean Daniel Gelo is chair of the review. The last full external assessment of the Institute of Texan Cultures was conducted in 2010, the same year the institute was accepted into the Smithsonian Affiliations program. As ITC celebrated its 50th anniversary earlier this year, this is a fitting time to explore how we can better align the institute with the universitys academic enterprise, said Espy. This assessment will help us determine the next steps for the institute to strengthen those connections. During their visit, the consultants will tour the ITC facility and collections, the Hemisfair Park historic district, and potential alternative locations for the institute. In addition to interviewing university and institute leadership and senior staff, they will meet with selected advisory board members, volunteers and community partners, and educators from local schools. The assessment will utilize American Alliance of Museums accreditation standards. Akastor ASA (OSE: AKA), through its wholly owned subsidiary Akastor AS (Akastor), has today entered into agreements with Silverfleet Capital (Silverfleet), DNB Bank ASA (DNB) and Nordea Bank Abp, filial i Norge (Nordea) (together the AGR stakeholders) to combine AGR Bidco AS (AGR) with First Geo AS (First Geo) (the Transaction). The Transaction will be carried out primarily as an asset deal, whereby assets in the current AGR legal structure and three legal entities will, together with First Geo, be transferred to a new legal structure, which in turn will be transferred to Akastor to establish the merged company. The merged company will be named AGR. Akastor will hold 100% of the shares in the company and 55% of the economic interest. The AGR stakeholders will own the remaining 45% economic interest (economic interest regulated in equity participation agreement between the AGR stakeholders and Akastor). In addition, the merged company will roll over NOK 270 million of the debt of which DNB, Nordea and Akastor will hold NOK 90 million each. On a consolidated basis, the merged company would have total year-to-date revenues of NOK 500 million, EBITDA of NOK 18 million and approximately 415 professionals as of September 2018. Karl Erik Kjelstad, CEO of Akastor, says: "I am pleased that Akastor continues to find industrial transactions that visualize the value in our portfolio. With First Geo as our contribution, we have created a new global company to build on in the years to come". The merged company will be led by Svein Sollund, current CEO of AGR, who says: "Changing market dynamics and pressure on margins enforce a fundamental change in how we manage our business. We are excited to have found such a good match in First Geo, enabling us to provide an even broader and deeper service offering to our clients". Current Managing Director of First Geo, Helge Hedman Nyrnning, will take on a new leading role in the merged company, and says: "I look forward to working with our new colleagues in AGR and to providing first class services to our clients through a new strong platform". Closing of the Transaction is subject to approval from Norwegian competition authorities, and certain other customary conditions. Closing is expected to take place at the end of 1Q 2019. AGR will be consolidated in to Akastor ASA's financial reporting post-closing. DNB Markets, a part of DNB Bank ASA, and Nordea Bank Abp, filial i Norge, C&IB are acting as joint financial advisors to AGR in connection with the transaction. Advokatfirmaet Wiersholm AS are acting as legal advisors to DNB and Nordea and Advokatfirmaet BAHR are acting as legal advisors to Akastor. Further details on the Transaction and the operations of First Geo and AGR are included in the attachment. For further information, please contact: Leif Borge Chief Financial Officer Mobile: +47 917 86 291 E-mail: leif.borge@akastor.com Akastor is a Norway-based oil-services investment company with a portfolio of industrial holdings and other investments. The company has a flexible mandate for active ownership and long-term value creation. This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5 -12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act. Christmas-themed episodes of Netflixs cooking series Nailed It! started streaming today on Netflix. Seasons 1 and 2 are also available. TUCSON, Ariz., Dec. 07, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Physician-assisted suicide (PAS) or physician-assisted death (PAD) are now receiving strong public support, writes Jeffrey Hall Dobken, M.D., M.P.H., in the winter issue of the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons. He traces the history of the acceptance of PAS/PAD in public policy and law to the ascendancy of lifeboat ethics. Dr. Dobken is certified in bioethics and is an adjunct assistant professor at New York Medical College. He states that the bioethics enterprise claims ownership and authorship of a hierarchy of moral thinking designed to protect societys interests and the victims of injustice, and it tends to characterize any opposing opinion or concept as unethical. Scarcity of medical resources is the primary theme of bioethics, according to Dr. Dobkens analysis, and bioethical questions are generally framed as who should be thrown off the lifeboat if some are to be saved. Complex metrics are developed to determine, in an ethical manner, how decision-makers must set priorities among competing opportunities. The question bioethicists fail to ask is the reason for scarcity and how to remedy it. Instead, scarcity is assumed to be inevitable. Its existence is used as a device to advance a progressive agenda, to enhance the relevance of the bioethics community as moral guardians of the public welfare, and to redistribute goods and services for economic and political purposes. In the presence of a crisis, Dr. Dobken argues, the optimal prioritization of available resources cannot be determined by medically untrained bioethicists based on relative social worth, age, prognosis, or other social, non-medical determinants. When replacing advocacy for the frail, the sick, and/or the dying, on the assumption that they are somehow undeserving of treatment based on cost accountancy, with what is generally called assistance in dying rather than the abandonment that it is, the bioethics enterprise has clearly violated every tenet for which it supposedly stood or was created, Dr. Dobken states. The state, rather than the needy individual, has become the patient, he concludes. The Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons is published by the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS), a national organization representing physicians in all specialties since 1943. At the recommendation of city administrators, the Richmond City Council recently adopted a resolution to prohibit recreational marijuana establishments within the city. Council members also approved the first reading of an ordinance that mirrors the resolution. City Manager Jon Moore introduced the two items at the Dec. 3 city council meeting and explained that shortly after the passing of the Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marihuana Act in November, many communities started to look at the issue. Our recommendation from the administration side of things is to prohibit them at this time, Moore said. That doesnt mean that council, at a later date, couldnt come back and change the ordinance. But right now, we feel more comfortable passing both of these prohibiting it, to make sure and to take a longer more comprehensive look at this issue. The medical marijuana laws in the past were an automatic opt out, and municipalities had to pass resolutions to allow the establishments. But now, municipalities have to take proactive resolutions against them, Moore said. The resolution were doing tonight is something so we can put the state on notice because there are quick time tables for these, so the resolution gives notice to the state of our intent regarding an ordinance. Moore said. Mayor Tim Rix agreed that many aspects of the new law are up in the air, including what the laws and penalties could be. When you read various articles on it, it says that even if you do nothing, that means you automatically opt in on the use, yet nothing can be done until 2020, Rix said. Where did they come up with that date? Sorting it all out Richmonds planning and economic development director, Troy Jeschke, said the state will be drawing up licensing requirements, which is where the one-year time frame comes in because it will take that time to come up with rules and regulations. This does not prevent somebody from utilizing marijuana in their home, Moore said. What were doing is preventing the commercial operations of recreational marijuana. Officials pointed out that recreational marijuana establishments must be at least 1,000 feet from a school, but the rule does not apply to home use. If you are a marijuana user and you live next to a church and you smoke in your house, you are still allowed to do that, Jeschke said, noting the distance only has to do with commercial facilities. Rix asked if the law limits it to the inside of someones home or if it is allowable on a porch or in a yard. You are not allowed to walk down the street smoking it, Jeschke said. Police Chief David Teske said marijuana cannot be used in public places, but there is still the question of whether a house and property could be considered public. Mayor Pro Tem Michael Misteravich said that while looking at local election results, including Richmond and its four surrounding communities, it was interesting to see that, of the five, only Richmond voters approved Proposal 1. He wondered if voters who favored the proposal could go back to the ballot to seek change so they have somewhere to get the product if the council agreed to prohibit the commercial facilities. Teske said he believed it would have to be a referendum vote and would require a two-thirds majority to see it pass. That is something that will come up in the future, probably for other municipalities who also voted overall in favor of it, but its being recommending to prohibit it, Jeschke said. It will probably be coming up in a lawsuit soon enough. Well, again, certainly were not saying they cant smoke recreational marijuana in their home, Moore said. Its just the commercial operation of it. Teske said Colorado has had a similar law in place for five years and 75 percent of communities are changing their minds and opting out. Really? Is the crime rate raised because of it? Rix asked. Crime rate, homeless, ER visits for the children, use by youth acting up sooner, Teske said. The chief also noted that issues will also likely come up with enforcement because there are so many rules and regulations that are unknown as this point. Thats what bothers me the most about allowing it, Rix said. We dont know, the state doesnt seem to know and our planners tell us it will take a year to license it. But, again, it doesnt stop you from the use of it that the law now allows. Rix said the city is better off establishing an ordinance that states commercial establishments are prohibited until officials see what the state comes up with. I think thats good government as far as Im concerned, he said. The council adopted the resolution prohibiting marijuana establishments within the city and approved the first reading of a similar ordinance for the city. The final reading and vote is expected to take place at the councils next meeting on Dec. 17. Qatar has assumed responsibility with the consent of Tel Aviv of funding Gazas officials. The amount that Qatar will hand out will be as much as 15 million dollar per month. This announcement was made a little time before an announcement was made about an Israel Cyprus Greece Italy gas pipeline that will pass across the waters belonging to Palestine. Hamas, without any badge of legitimacy, is governing the Gaza Strip. It is voicing no opposition to this announcement. Qatar had blessed the gas agreement between Israel and the European Union. At the same time, Qatar has assumed responsibility for the fuel of the people of Gaza, which is worth as much as 60 million dollars. However, again at the same time, Saudi Arabia has paid 60 million dollars to the Palestinian Authority which in theory is managing the entire Palestine Territories, but in practice is managing Cisjordan alone. This payment has been presented as a donation that should have been made in 2017. These strange payments seem to form part of the implementation of the US Deal of the Century, even before the latter has been made public. The international community has hailed these donations as humanitarian acts that favour the people of Gaza. Yet if these gifts had been announced in the context of the Deal of the Century, they would have been unanimously denounced as an odious attempt to buy peace. The White House had announced that the Deal of the Century would be revealed in September 2018. This date has been pushed back without any explanations to February 2019. This photo was taken on 4 December in Kfar Kila (Lebanon). To the right youll see several vehicles of the Blue Helmets of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFL). To the left, between the Palestine flags and the flags of Resistance, you see a placard that pays homage to a young Hezbollah combatant now a martyr, and the flags of the Lebanese Resistance and the Palestine. In this area, the road signs to the Israeli border do not mention Israel, but rather Palestine. UNIFL is not confirming the existence of tunnels that the Israeli army says are within Israeli territory. Since 4 December 2018, Tshahal has been declaring that it has located and destroyed these tunnels. According to the Israeli general staff, these tunnels would be around 200m long, would pass under the Israeli Wall that is being built (along 130 km of the Blue Line) and would continue for around 40 m onto Israeli territory. The Israeli representation to the UN has prepared a draft resolution condemning Hezbollah for violating Resolution 1701. This Resolution it should be noted put an end to the Israeli war against Lebanon. The Resolution provides for setting up a demilitarized zone in South Lebanon under the sole responsibility of the Lebanese army. However the Lebanese soldiers have never been deployed and the area is under the control of Hezbollah with the tacit consent of the Lebanese authorities whose army is under-equipped. Furthermore and this is the most important point, Resolution 1701 forbids third states from delivering military materials to the Hezbollah without first getting permission from the Lebanese government. Now, the latter has never authorized Iranian deliveries. This was also the subject of the intra-Lebanese crisis of 2008. This Israeli analysis of Resolution 1701 ignores the reality on the ground. For starters, Resolution 1701 was only a truce that the US negotiated at that time so that Israel could escape with its head held high from the harsh destruction that was being inflicted on it by the resistance of the Hezbollah combatants. During the 2008 crisis, the Siniora government tried to forbid Hezbollah from using a Beirut airport runway to establish an air bridge with Iran. The Hezbollah considered that this decision would endanger the principle of Resistance to the Israeli occupation. It directed its response against the US and Saudi command centre secretly installed in the basement of the former home to the television station of the Hariri, that noone knew about till now. This means that the Resolution was violated by the Hariri before being violated by the Hezbollah. Israel is known for violating a number of UN Resolutions on Palestine. For 12 years, without taking a break, not even to respect Ramadan, Israel has been systematically violating the Lebanese air and maritime space. Each month, the Lebanese Minister for Foreign Affairs drafts a summary, validated by UNIFL, detailing these violations. It is from the Lebanese air space without entering into the air space of Syria, that for seven years now Israel, has been bombing the Syrian Arab forces in support of the jihadists. On the afternoon of 4 December, the Israeli general staff published a video showing 2 Lebanese dressed in civilian clothing in a tunnel. According to Tsahal, both individuals who appeared in the video would be terrorists of the Hezbollah in a tunnel that penetrates Israeli territory. We do not have any means of authenticating this video nor the commentaries of the Israeli general staff. TUCSON, Ariz., Dec. 07, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As early as 2001, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had data showing an increased rate of autism diagnoses in black male schoolchildren in Atlanta who received their first measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccination before 36 months of age, compared with those who received it later, writes Brian Hooker, Ph.D., in the winter issue of the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons. The relationship loses its statistical significance if the analysis is restricted to children with a Georgia birth certificate, which decreases the sample size by about 40 percent. Dr. Hooker reanalyzed the same data set, using the same methodology of conditional logistic regression. Children lacking a Georgia birth certificate were not excluded; race was ascertained from school records. Dr. Hooker noted that school data had this information on all children. The rate of autism diagnoses has increased alarmingly in the U.S., and is about 25 percent higher in black children, Dr. Hooker observes. Boys are far more likely than girls to receive this diagnosis. The original publication concerning the data downplayed the association, and no follow-up was conducted. Dr. Hookers interest was sparked, he reports, by communication with a CDC whistleblower, a senior scientist, who had retained some of the original analyses. Dr. Hooker noted that the CDC deviated from its original data analysis plan, possibly because of unwanted results. By stratifying data for African-American males by birth year, Dr. Hooker also found a statistically significant higher risk of an autism diagnosis in children who had received the first MMR vaccine 1 year earlier, only in children born in 1990 or later. Thimerosal exposure increased in the early 1990s, and it was not removed from most pediatric vaccines until 2001-2004. Dr. Hooker suggests the possibility that there may be some interaction between increased mercury exposure and early MMR vaccination. Further study would be needed to explore this possibility. Dr. Hooker concludes that failure to follow-up on these observations represents a huge lost opportunity to understand possible reasons for the enormous increase in this devastating neurological disability. The Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons is published by the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS), a national organization representing physicians in all specialties since 1943. For the third consecutive day, the Israeli defence forces are continuing operation Northern Shield. The project is under the command of the Head of the North Region, General Yoel Strick, and is being supervised by the Head of the General Staff, General Gadi Eizenkot. Tsahal has declared that it discovered two of Hezbollahs tunnels that penetrate into Israeli territory. The Permanent Representative of Israel to the UN, Ambassador Danny Danon, has denounced this as a violation of Resolution 1701 by Hezbollah and has called upon the UN to condemn it. Mr Danon thinks that Iran is funding the construction of these tunnels. The Interim Force of the United Nations in Lebanon (IFUNL) held a meeting where both Israeli and Lebanese representatives were present. Israel showed videos that allegedly show the tunnels but no proof of where they are located nor how they are funded by Iran. In other words, Israel has failed to provide proof that Lebanon is violating Resolution 1701. Lebanon has denied that these tunnels exist and recalled that, for the past 12 years, Israel has violated Lebanese air space and sea space about 150 times a month. The Lebanese Minister for Foreign Affairs, Gebran Bassil, announced that he was preparing to make a request to the United Nations to address Israels incessant violations of the resolution and the defamatory accusations that Israel persistently makes. The highest Israeli authorities are used to telling the most shameful lies. In September 2018, from the UN General Assembly tribune, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahou had already accused the Hezbollah of constructing an arms factory in the heart of Beirut, thus using the population as a civil shield. Minister Gebran Bassil had then invited the ambassadors in post in Lebanon to come to verify for themselves the lies of Netanyahu and took them to visit the places in the Lebanese capital that Netanyahu had mentioned. Another example: on 20 September, the Chief of Staff of the Army of the Israeli Air Force, General Amikam Norkin, went to Moscow to justify destroying a Russian military plane which was based in Syria and tried to do by saying things that totally contradicted the radar and satellite recordings. In Israel, the press mentions that it is possible that this propaganda operation was thought up by the Prime Minister to attack his former Minister of Defence, Avigdor Lieberman, or to divert the Israeli public attention from his own problems with the justice system, at a time when he is about to be put under investigation for embezzlement of funds. Washington has asked Ottawa to arrest Meng Wanzhou and to extradite her. This young woman is the financial director and daughter of the founder of Huawei, the Chinese Telecom Giant. She was arrested on 6 December in Canada. The motive for the war undertaken by Washington against Huawei is deep-rooted and spurious are the justifications. The heart of the problem is that the Chinese firm uses a system of encryption that prevents the NSA from intercepting its communications. A number of governments and secret services in the non-Western world have begun to equip themselves exclusively with Huawei materials, and are doing so to protect the confidentiality of their communications. The covers/excuses for this war are theft of intellectual property or in the alternative, trade with Iran and North Korea, and violating rules of competition by benefitting from national subsidies. The Five Eyes is a system of electronic espionage by Australia, Canada, the United States, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. They have begun to exclude Huawei from their auctions. TORONTO, Dec. 07, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Unisync Corp. (TSXV: "UNI") (Unisync") is pleased to announce that its wholly-owned subsidiary Unisync Group Limited (UGL) has been selected by WestJet to manufacture and distribute new uniforms to their more than 11,000 uniformed employees across Canada and the world. This multi-year agreement represents the culmination of an extensive review of Unisyncs award-winning product quality and customer-focused suite of fulfillment services. This new agreement covers the manufacturing, supply and program management of a new design of imagewear for all of WestJets pilots, cabin crew members, customer service agents, aircraft maintenance engineers, and ground crew. We are pleased and honoured to have been selected by WestJet to be their uniform provider, commented UGL President, B. James Bottoms. We look forward to showcasing the new WestJet uniforms on WestJet flights across Canada, the U.S. and internationally in the near future. The newly-designed imagewear will appear on crews operating WestJets Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner and select WestJetters across the network for testing in late 2019, with rollout across the remainder of the WestJet network through 2021. UNISYNC ON THE MOVE Unisync is a broad-based vertically integrated Canadian enterprise with exceptional capabilities in garment design, domestic manufacturing, and off-shore outsourcing, including state-of-the-art web based B2B ordering, distribution, and program management systems. Unisync operates through two business units: Unisync Group Limited (UGL) and Peerless Garments LP (Peerless). UGL provides full-service, managed apparel programs for major corporations and government-related entities through operations in Calgary, Carleton Place (Ottawa Region), Guelph, Mississauga, Moncton, Montreal and Vancouver. Its customer base includes a broad list of Canadian iconic brands as well as municipal and provincial agencies across Canada. The acquisition of Montreal based Utility Garments Inc. (Utility) in October of this year establishes a full-service base in Quebec to better service Quebec clients and National customers with operations in Quebec. With 80 years of dedicated service to clients based in Quebec and other parts of Canada, Utility also provides an expanded quality design team and supporting in-house manufacturing and distribution capabilities. Winnipeg based Peerless specializes in the manufacturing and distribution of highly technical protective garments, military operational clothing, and accessories for a broad spectrum of Federal, Provincial and Municipal government agencies. For more information on our capabilities, products and services please visit the Unisync website at www.unisyncgroup.com . On Behalf of the Board of Directors Douglas F Good CEO Investor relations contact: Unisync Corp. 778-370-1725 or Email dgood@unisyncgroup.com Forward Looking Statements This press release contains statements which may constitute forward-looking information under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the anticipated timing of the launch and introduction of newly designed imagewear. Persons reading this press release are cautioned that such statements or information are only predictions, and that no assurance can be given that the launch and introduction will occur in accordance with the timing currently expected or at all. Factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those suggested by these forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: operational risk, disruptions in production, reliance on few suppliers, reliance on subcontractors and including, but not limited to, other factors described in the Corporations reports filed on SEDAR, including its financial statements and managements discussion and analysis for the year ended September 30, 2017. All forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by this cautionary statement and there can be no assurance that actual results or developments anticipated by the Corporation will be realized. The Corporation disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Tilghman to play for state title; Mayfield's season comes to an end By WestKyStar & Red Cross Staff Dec. 06, 2018 | 08:49 PM | PADUCAH Blood and platelet donations often decline during the holidays. Regular donors are busy with holiday activities, and travel and severe winter weather may cause blood drive cancellations. Yet donations remain critical for patients like 4-year-old Wyatt Monacelli who is in the midst of intense chemotherapy treatments for leukemia. He has received a number of transfusions since his diagnosis in June and will likely need more. We are fortunate to have had so many donors give the gift of life to our child so far throughout the course of his treatment, and even more so, we are lucky to have had a supply of blood available for him when he needed it, said Julianna Monacelli, Wyatts mother. Donors are urged to give now to ensure that families like Wyatts dont have to worry about the availability of blood this winter. In thanks for helping meet the urgent need around the holidays, all those who come to donate blood or platelets now through Dec. 19, 2018, will receive a $5 Amazon.com Gift Card via email. (Restrictions apply; see amazon.com/gc-legal. More information and details are available at RedCrossBlood.org/Together.) Make an appointment to donate blood or platelets by downloading the free American Red Cross Blood Donor App, visiting RedCrossBlood.org or calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767). Another way to help keep the blood supply strong is to host a Red Cross blood drive this winter. To learn more about hosting a blood drive and to sign up, visit RedCrossBlood.org/HostADrive. Upcoming blood donation opportunities through December 19: First Baptist Church, 307 Massac Creek Road, Metropolis, IL 62960 12/10/2018: 11:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. First Baptist Church, Monroe and Jefferson, Golconda, IL 62938 11/27/2018: 12:30 - 5:30 p.m. Cross Road United Methodist Church, 1289 Ullin Road, Ullin, IL 62992 11/27/2018: 2 - 6 p.m. First Baptist Church, 135 N. Sixth St. Barlow, KY 42024 12/11/2018: 1:30 - 5:30 p.m. Calvary Baptist Church, 121 Kentucky Ave. Princeton, KY 42445 12/6/2018: noon - 6 p.m. Northside Church of Christ, 711 Housman St. P.O. Box 313, Mayfield, KY 42066 12/14/2018: 2 - 6 p.m. American Legion, 211 S. 7th, Mayfield, KY 42066 12/18/2018: 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. First United Methodist Church, 210 S. Washington St. Clinton, KY 42031 11/26/2018: noon - 6 p.m. Livingston Hospital Health Care Services, 131 Hospital Drive, Salem, KY 42078 11/28/2018: 12:30 - 4:30 p.m. Lyon County Courthouse, Lyon County Public Library, Eddyville, KY 42038 12/12/2018: 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Sharpe Elementary School, 8400 US Highway 60 W. Benton, KY 42025 12/3/2018: 1 - 5 p.m. Briensburg Church of Christ, 2349 Benton Briensburg Road, Benton, KY 42025 12/10/2018: 1 - 5 p.m. First Christian Church, 2515 S. Main St. Benton, KY 42025 12/14/2018: noon - 5 p.m. North Marshall Middle School, 3110 Highway 95 , Calvert City, KY 42029 11/26/2018: 8:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. Altona Baptist Church, 5817 US Highway 62, Calvert City, KY 42029 12/18/2018: 3 - 7 p.m. Hardin Baptist Church, 218 College St. Hardin, KY 42048 12/17/2018: 9:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. Paducah Blood Donation Center, 4635 Falconcrest Drive, Paducah, KY 42001 11/26/2018: 11:45 a.m. - 6:45 p.m. 11/27/2018: 8:45 a.m. - 3:45 p.m. 11/29/2018: 11:45 a.m. - 6:45 p.m. 11/30/2018: 8:45 a.m. - 3:45 p.m. 12/1/2018: 7:45 a.m. - 2:45 p.m. 12/2/2018: 7:45 a.m. - 2:15 p.m. 12/3/2018: 11:45 a.m. - 6:45 p.m. 12/4/2018: 8:45 a.m. - 3:45 p.m. 12/6/2018: 11:45 a.m. - 6:45 p.m. 12/7/2018: 8:45 a.m. - 3:15 p.m. 12/8/2018: 7:45 a.m. - 2:45 p.m. 12/9/2018: 7:45 a.m. - 2:15 p.m. 12/10/2018: 11:45 a.m. - 6:45 p.m. 12/11/2018: 8:45 a.m. - 3:45 p.m. 12/13/2018: 11:45 a.m. - 6:45 p.m. 12/14/2018: 8:45 a.m. - 3:15 p.m. 12/15/2018: 7:45 a.m. - 2:45 p.m. 12/16/2018: 7:45 a.m. - 2:15 p.m. 12/17/2018: 11:45 a.m. - 6:45 p.m. 12/18/2018: 8:45 a.m. - 3:15 p.m. First Christian Church, 415 Audubon Drive, Paducah, KY 42001 12/3/2018: 11:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. Lourdes Hospital, 1530 Lone Oak Road, Paducah , KY 42003 12/19/2018: 7 a.m. - 4 p.m. Lone Oak Church of Christ, 2960 Lone Oak Road, Paducah, KY 42001 12/19/2018: 2:30 - 7:30 p.m. Mt. Zion Baptist Church, 9701 Blandville Road, West Paducah, KY 42086 12/9/2018: 1 - 5 p.m. To donate blood, simply download the American Red Cross Blood Donor App, visit RedCrossBlood.org or call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767) to make an appointment or for more information. All blood types are needed to ensure a reliable supply for patients. A blood donor card or drivers license or two other forms of identification are required at check-in. Individuals who are 17 years of age in most states (16 with parental consent where allowed by state law), weigh at least 110 pounds and are in generally good health may be eligible to donate blood. High school students and other donors 18 years of age and younger also have to meet certain height and weight requirements. Blood and platelet donors can save time at their next donation by using RapidPass to complete their pre-donation reading and health history questionnaire online, on the day of their donation, before arriving at the blood drive. To get started, follow the instructions at RedCrossBlood.org/RapidPass or use the Blood Donor App. About the American Red CrossThe American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides emotional support to victims of disasters; supplies about 40 percent of the nations blood; teaches skills that save lives; provides international humanitarian aid; and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a not-for-profit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its mission. For more information, please visit RedCross.org or CruzRojaAmericana.org, or visit us on Twitter at @RedCross. The American Red Cross has an urgent need for blood and platelet donors to give now to ensure blood is available for medical treatments and emergencies during the holiday season.Come to give blood by December 19 and receive a $5 Amazon.com Gift Card. Email To : Multiple e-mail addresses must be separated with a comma character(maximum 200 characters) Email To is required. Your Full Name: (optional) Your Email Address: Your Email Address is required. Lithuanian English On the initiative and decision of the Company's Management Board the Ordinary General Shareholders Meeting of VILNIAUS BALDAI AB (identification code 121922783, address Savanoriu ave. 178B, Vilnius, LT-03154) is to be held on 31 December, 2018 at 10:00 a. m. in Savanoriu ave. 178B, Vilnius. Registration of the shareholders will start at 9:30 a. m. Only the persons who are the shareholders of the Company at the end of the accounting day of the Ordinary General Shareholders Meeting (19 December, 2018) are entitled to participate and to vote at the General Shareholders meeting. Shareholders rights accounting day 15 January, 2019. Agenda includes: 1. Consolidated annual report. 2. Companys Auditors report. 3. Approval of the Consolidated and Company's financial statements for the year 2018 ended 31 August, 2018. 4. Distribution of Company's profit. The Management Board of VILNIAUS BALDAI AB approved the Companys draft resolutions of the Annual General Shareholders meeting that will take place on the 31th of December 2018: 1. Consolidated annual report. Shareholders of the public joint-stock company VILNIAUS BALDAI AB are presented with the consolidated annual report of VILNIAUS BALDAI for 2018 (There is no voting on this issue of agenda). 2. Independent auditor's report. Shareholders of the public joint-stock company VILNIAUS BALDAI AB are presented with the independent auditor's report on the financial statements of VILNIAUS BALDAI for 2018 (There is no voting on this issue of agenda). 3. Approval of the Consolidated and Company's financial statements for the year 2018 ended 31 August 2018. To approve Consolidated and Company's financial statements for the year 2018 ended 31 August 2018. 4. Approval of the Companys profit distribution for the year 2018 ended 31 August 2018: To approve Companys profit distribution: (thousand EUR) Undistributed retained earnings, brought forward 8,586 Net result for the current year 2,278 Profit (loss) not recognized in the income statement of the reporting financial year (9) Distributable result 10,855 Transfers to the obligatory reserves - Transfers to other reserves - To be paid as dividends - To be paid as annual payments (bonus) to the Board members - Undistributed retained earnings, carried forward 10,855 The documents related to the agenda, draft resolutions on every item of agenda, documents what have to be submitted to the General Shareholders Meeting and other information related to realization of shareholders rights are available at the office of VILNIAUS BALDAI (Savanoriu ave 178 B, Vilnius) during working hours. The shareholders are entitled: (i) to propose to supplement the agenda of the General Shareholders Meeting submitting draft resolution on every additional item of agenda or, than there is no need to make a decision - explanation of the shareholder (this right is granted to shareholders who hold shares carrying at least 1/20 of all the votes). Proposal to supplement the agenda is submitted in writing by registered mail or delivered in person against signature. The agenda is supplemented if the proposal is received no later than 14 before the General Shareholders Meeting; (ii) to propose draft resolutions on the issues already included or to be included in the agenda of the General Shareholders Meeting at any time prior to the date of the General Shareholders meeting (in writing, by registered mail or delivered in person against signature) or in writing during the General Shareholders Meeting (this right is granted to shareholders who hold shares carrying at least 1/20 of all the votes); (iii) to submit questions to the Company related to the issues of agenda of the General Shareholders Meeting in advance but no later than 3 business days prior to the General Shareholders Meeting in writing by registered mail or delivered in person against signature. Shareholder participating at the General Shareholders Meeting and having the right to vote must submit documents confirming personal identity. Each shareholder may authorize either a natural or a legal person to participate and to vote on the shareholder's behalf at the General Shareholders Meeting. The representative has the same rights as his represented shareholder at the General Shareholders Meeting. The authorized persons must have documents confirming their personal identity and power of attorney approved in the manner specified by law which must be submitted to the Company no later than before the commencement of registration for the General Shareholders Meeting. Shareholder is entitled to issue power of attorney by means of electronic communications for legal or natural persons to participate and to vote on its behalf at the General Shareholders Meeting. The shareholders must inform the Company about power of attorney issued by means of electronic communications no later than before the commencement of registration for the General Shareholders Meeting. The shareholders must inform the Company about power of attorney issued by means of electronic communications no later than before the commencement of registration for the General Shareholders Meeting. The power of attorney issued by means of electronic communications and notice about it must be written and submitted to the Company by means of electronic communications. Shareholder or its representative may vote in writing by filling general voting bulletin, in such a case the requirement to deliver a personal identity document does not apply. The form of general voting bulletin is presented at the Companys webpage. If shareholder requests, the Company shall send the general voting bulletin to the requesting shareholder by registered mail or shall deliver it in person against signature no later than 10 days prior to the General Shareholders Meeting free of charge. The filled general voting bulletin must be signed by the shareholder or its authorized representative. Document confirming the right to vote must be added to the general voting bulletin if authorized person is voting. The filled general voting bulletin must be delivered to VILNIAUS BALDAI, AB by registered mail (address Savanoriu ave. 178B, LT 03154 Vilnius, Lithuania) or in person against signature no later than before the day of the General Shareholders Meeting. Information related with the convened General Shareholders Meeting (notice on convocation of General Shareholders Meeting, information about Companys shares, draft resolution, etc.) are available at VILNIAUS BALDAI AB webpage http://www.vilniausbaldai.lt . For further information please contact + 370 5 2525700. Additional information: Chief Financial Office Edgaras Kabecius Phone No.: +370 (5) 252 57 00 Attachments By West Kentucky Star Staff Dec. 06, 2018 | 05:55 PM | CRITTENDEN COUNTY A section of New US 641 between Fredonia and Marionin southern Crittenden County is now open to 2-lane traffic.The existing roadway that now becomes KY 91 is also open after the contractor completed paving of connecting points.On Thursday, Crittenden County Judge-Executive Perry Newcom and Caldwell County Judge-Executive Ellen Dunning met near the Crittenden-Caldwell county line to ceremonially remove one of the Road Closed signs along the new route.Motorists who travel county roads that cross the new highway are reminded they will now be facing 55 mile per hour cross traffic at the 5 intersections along New US 641.Traffic at the north and south connecting points will be on base courses of asphalt through the winter months. The contractor will return in the spring to apply a final driving surface.The 5.5-mile project is the first step in the reconstruction of US 641 from Marion to Eddyville. The improved road will provide Crittenden County industries a viable truck route to reach I-69 and I-24 near Eddyville. TORONTO, Dec. 07, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nutritional High International Inc. ("Nutritional High" or the "Company") (CSE: EAT, OTCQB: SPLIF, FRANKFURT: 2NU) is pleased to announce that the Nevada-based Green Therapeutics LLC ("Green Therapeutics") has successfully received conditional approval from the State of Nevada Department of Taxation, giving approval and granting Green Therapeutics a retail marijuana store license (the "License") allowing it to operate a retail marijuana store within the Douglas County. The License is considered conditional, subject to all applicable local and State government requirements. As announced in the Companys press release dated October 1, 2018, Nutritional High has entered into definitive agreements to acquire 75% of Green Therapeutics along with a put and call option to buy the remaining 25% interest (the "Acquisition"). The closing of the Acquisition is pending local and State regulatory approval. The granting of the License effectively provides Green Therapeutics additional opportunities in revenue growth and bodes well for further business expansion across the State. Green Therapeutics has each of two fully licensed grow and extraction facilities in North Las Vegas and Clark County area and is the midst of building out a larger state of the art grow and extraction facility to accommodate the companys plans for growth and expansion. They produce and sell cannabis flower and manufactured cannabis products to a number of Nevada dispensaries. In addition to producing and selling cannabis flower, Green Therapeutics manufactures dabs, vape pens, cartridges, oral sprays, topical creams, as well as pre-rolls. Nutritional High has been working closely with Green Therapeutics to fund its expansion and growth of Tsunami and Provisions product lines in Nevada. The Company is working with Green Therapeutics to launch its FLI-branded edibles to the wider Nevada market. The Nevada market is a priority for Nutritional High, commented Jim Frazier, CEO of Nutritional High, We are very pleased with Green Therapeutics success in receiving the conditional approval, especially given that it was a competitive process with few but established retailers winning multiple licenses. This further demonstrates that the Green Therapeutics team can compete with other market leaders. About Nutritional High International Inc. Nutritional High is focused on developing, manufacturing and distributing products under recognized brands in the cannabis products industry, with a specific focus on edibles and oil extracts for medical and adult recreational use. The Company works exclusively with licensed facilities in jurisdictions where such activity is permitted and regulated by state law. The Company follows a vertically integrated model with a fully developed strategy for acquisitions in extraction, production, sales, and distribution sectors of the cannabis industry. Nutritional High has brought its flagship FLI edibles and extracts product line from production to market through its wholly owned subsidiaries in California and Oregon, as well as Colorado where its FLI products are manufactured by a third-party licensed producer. In California, the Company distributes its products and products manufactured by other leading producers through its distributor Calyx Brands Inc. and is entering the Nevada, Washington State and Canadian markets in the near future. For updates on the Companys activities and highlights of the Companys press releases and other media coverage, please follow Nutritional High on Facebook , Twitter , Instagram and Google+ or visit www.nutritionalhigh.com . For further information, please contact: David Posner Co-Chairman of the Board Nutritional High International Inc. 647-985-6727 Email: dposner@nutritionalhigh.com NEITHER THE CANADIAN SECURITIES EXCHANGE NOR OTC MARKETS GROUP INC., NOR THEIR REGULATIONS SERVICES PROVIDERS HAVE REVIEWED OR ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE. This news release may contain forward-looking statements and information based on current expectations. These statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those implied by such statements. Forward-looking statements or information contained in this release include, but are not limited to, statements or information with respect to: the granting of conditional licensing by the State of Nevada, including statements or information with respect to our expectation as to future financial and operating performance, including expected production and our strategy, plans, goals and related timelines and schedules. The Companys securities have not been registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or applicable state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold to, or for the account or benefit of, persons in the United States or "U.S. Persons", as such term is defined in Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act, absent registration or an applicable exemption from such registration requirements. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities in the United States or any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. Additionally, there are known and unknown risk factors which could cause the Companys actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information contained herein. All forward-looking information herein is qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement, and the Company disclaims any obligation to revise or update any such forward-looking information or to publicly announce the result of any revisions to any of the forward-looking information contained herein to reflect future results, events or developments, except as required by law. Some of the risks and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in forward-looking information expressed in this press release include, but are not limited to: obtaining and maintaining regulatory approvals including acquiring and renewing U.S. state, local or other licenses, the uncertainty of existing protection from U.S. federal or other prosecution, regulatory or political change such as changes in applicable laws and regulations, including U.S. state-law legalization, market and general economic conditions of the cannabis sector or otherwise. Compassion, humility, and advocacy as embodied by Nurse Albertina Sisulu Prof. Lionel Green-Thompson is the Dean of the School of Medicine at the Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University. He is an alumnus of Wits University and the former Assistant Dean: Teaching and Learning in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Wits. Green-Thompson delivered the keynote address at a Wits Faculty of Health Sciences graduation ceremony on Thursday, 6 December 2018. He opened with a traditional isiZulu greeting, "Sawubona", literally translated, "I see you". He encouraged the audience to greet the person behind them with "Sawubona". Real recognition "But how often do we really see a person?" said Green-Thompson. He spoke about his own graduation in 1988 when he and other black students arranged a separate graduation ceremony in Lenasia, south of Johannesburg, to communicate their alienation. We prepared our own snacks. I dont know if we were even missed, he says. Wits University has since bravely embraced the challenges of transformation and todays graduands have a responsibility to contribute towards South Africa, said Green-Thompson. He recognised that the Class of 2018 entered higher education in 2015 the beginning of a tumultuous period in higher education when student protest erupted countrywide and set South African education on an irreversible trajectory. Green-Thompson acknowledged the courage it took these graduands to challenge their teachers, and urged them to reflect on the healthcare professional they had become because of their protest a professional identity possibly modelled on the flames of protest. Protest and professional identity Green-Thompsons own parents are healthcare professionals his father, a doctor, his mother, a nurse both role models who were his first example of social responsibility. Green-Thompson himself is married to a nurse. Albertina Sisulu was a nurse and high-profile anti-apartheid leader and activist. Ma Sisulu (whose centenary it is in 2018) signed the certificates that Green-Thompson and his cohort received at their protest graduation in Lenasia in 1988. Green-Thompson encouraged graduands to adopt a professional identity modelled on the values that Ma Sisulu embodied compassion, humility, and advocacy. Compassion, humility, advocacy Ma Sisulu communicated a persons true value and dignity, said Green-Thompson, adding that for many patients, the graduands as healthcare practitioners would be the only people ever to affirm their patients dignity. Albertina Sisulu exuded power because humility was her touchstone, said Green-Thompson. This enabled her to engage with state presidents and sick children alike. Advocacy refers to nurturing the ability to respond to the needs of others, said Green-Thompson. We are what we do to change who we are. About Prof. Lionel Green-Thompson Green-Thompson enrolled to study medicine at Wits in 1982 and completed his MBBCh in 1988. After some time in general practice, he entered the Anaesthetic Registrar programme at Wits and completed the Fellowship in Anaesthesia through the College of Medicine. Green-Thompsons main research interest is the social accountability of health professionals and developing responsiveness to the needs of a community. His Masters in Medicine reflected on the quality of anaesthetic services at selected Gauteng Hospitals. His PhD in Health Sciences Education explored the idea of social accountability in the practice and education of medicine in South Africa. He has published articles in both local and international journals on both anaesthesiology and health sciences education. 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, B.C., Dec. 07, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ceylon Graphite Corp. (Ceylon Graphite) (TSX-V: CYL) (OTC: CYLYF) (FSE: CCY) today announced the discovery of three new, natural crystalline graphite veins over 15 cms in width between 68.93 meters and 69.53 meters downhole at its H1 site in the Hakbewa area in Sri Lanka. These veins were discovered in the normal course of drilling at the H1 site and samples from the discovery have been sent to the Sri Lanka Governments Geological Survey and Mines Bureaus laboratory for testing. Coordinates of the drill location are E-130222, N-216410. The drilling azimuth is N30E and the dip is 55 degrees. This site is under the exploration license EL 222/R/2 . The Company also announced that the length of its surface vein(seen below) at its P1 site is over 20 ft before it goes underground. Ceylon Graphite will continue trenching around the vein for another 10 to 20 ft to get a better perspective of the direction. The Company anticipates that there are additional similar sized or larger veins at lower depths and is planning to actively pursue its aggressive exploration and production plans for the P1 site. A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/3affb37b-bdea-4ab6-8c01-b2a205183e50 We are delighted at another discovery, this is outstanding. We now have identifiable graphite at all four sites we are developing. said Bharat Parashar, Chief Executive Officer. This discovery coupled with the veins we discovered earlier in the year at the K1 and M1 sites clearly demonstrates that Ceylon Graphite has a large resource base. Our graphite veins are impressive by any standard. We continue to focus on our plan to start commercial production imminently and continue with a robust exploration program on our other grids. This is a great year end present. Qualified Person Robert Marvin, P. Geo (ONT) is a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the geological information provided in this news release. About Ceylon Graphite Corp. Ceylon Graphite Corp, is a public company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (CYL:TSX-V), that is in the business of exploration and development of graphite mines in Sri Lanka. The Government of Sri Lanka has granted the company exploration rights in a land package of over 120km. These exploration grids (each one square kilometer in area) cover areas of historic graphite production from the early twentieth century and represent a majority of the known graphite occurrences in Sri Lanka. Graphite mined in Sri Lanka is known to be some of the purest in the world, and currently accounts for less than 1% of the world graphite production. FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS: This news release contains forward-looking information as such term is defined in applicable securities laws, which relate to future events or future performance and reflect management's current expectations and assumptions. The forward-looking information includes statements about Ceylon Graphites grids, Ceylon Graphites plans to undertake additional drilling and to develop a mine plan, Ceylon Graphites Mining License application and to commence establishing mining operations. Such forward-looking statements reflect management's current beliefs and are based on assumptions made by and information currently available to Ceylon Graphite, including the assumption that, the drilling exercises will confirm the presence of high quality graphite, sufficient financial resources will be available, the records from the drilling exercises prove to be accurate, there will be no unanticipated delays or costs materially affecting Ceylon Graphites exploration, development and production, there will be no material adverse change in metal prices, all necessary consents, licenses, permits and approvals will be obtained, including various Local Government Licenses and the market. Investors are cautioned that these forward-looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause future results to differ materially from those expected. Risk factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results expressed or implied by the forward-looking information include, among other things, an inability to reach a final acquisition agreement, inaccurate results from the drilling exercises, a failure to obtain or delays in obtaining the required regulatory licenses, permits, approvals and consents, an inability to access financing as needed, a general economic downturn, a volatile stock price, labour strikes, political unrest, changes in the mining regulatory regime governing Ceylon Graphite, a failure to comply with environmental regulations and a weakening of market and industry reliance on high quality graphite. Ceylon Graphite cautions the reader that the above list of risk factors is not exhaustive. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and, except as required under applicable securities legislation, Ceylon Graphite does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. All of the forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements and by those made in our filings with SEDAR in Canada (available at www.sedar.com ) Further information regarding the Company is available at www.ceylongraphite.com Police warning over fake 50 and 20 notes being circulated in Wrexham This article is old - Published: Friday, Dec 7th, 2018 North Wales Police has issued a warning to businesses and shoppers the Wrexham area following reports of a currency offences. Fake bank of Ireland 50 and 20 have been used for payment in shops and pubs locally, with similar incidents in Flintshire. Police are asking public to be vigilant and if in doubt dont accept. Report suspicious activity. High quality fake notes are made by organised criminal gangs, and the profits from them can be used to fund further crime in your community. Use of fake money in the UK has seen retailers, businesses, schools, charities, the elderly and vulnerable conned out of their hard earned cash says Crimestoppers. The charity highlights a recent example which saw an 87-year-old man conned by an individual into handing over genuine money in exchange for a fake 50 note. The victim was asked to break the note for change so the fraudster could get a taxi, only to find out later when he tried to spend it that the note was fake. Christmas is a time when more cash changes hands, especially 20 and 50 notes, and fraudsters take advantage of the festive season by targeting busy shops and those with temporary staff. Counterfeit notes in circulation in Wrexham include 50 and 20 note from Bushmills 2013 Series. Design Features of a current 50 note. Front Colour Purple Serial Numbers font gradually increases in size Hologram above vertical serial number and in opposite corner Seated lady Hibernia Six county shields Serial numbers black horizontal and red vertical Date 1st January 2013 Signature S Matchett, Chief Financial Officer UK Back Vignette of the distillery If you have been handed counterfeit currency you should report it to North Wales Police via the live chat facility: https://www.north-wales.police.uk/contact/live-chat-support Welsh Government announces 120m North Wales Growth Deal commitment challenge made for more from both governments This article is old - Published: Friday, Dec 7th, 2018 The Welsh Government will match the UK Governments financial contribution to the North Wales Growth Deal, Cabinet Secretary for Economy Ken Skates announced today, meaning the current pot stands at 240m however the figure could rise further. The Welsh Governments investment in the Growth Deal will be in addition to its existing commitments in North Wales. The UK Government announced it will contribute 120m to the North Wales Growth Deal in the UK Autumn Budget in October. But the Welsh Government will urge the UK Government to go further and meet the deals original aspirations. The Cabinet Secretary for Economy said: Im pleased to announce today that the Welsh Government will match the UK Governments contribution to the North Wales Growth Deal. We are fully committed to delivering a transformative growth deal and are working with partners to get the package and direction right for North Wales. We will continue to work to ensure our funding contribution and the UK Governments meets the aspirations of the deal. We believe we need to keep pressing the UK Government to provide what the ambition board had been expecting and should its contribution increase, we will match it. The Welsh Governments contribution to the deal is above and beyond existing investments and commitments in North Wales. In the Cabinet Secretarys portfolio alone, these include more than 600m in transport infrastructure improvements, including the 135m Caernarfon to Bontnewydd bypass and improvements to the A55 and A494. Plans for the third Menai crossing continue to progress, with the recent announcement of the preferred route. Other investments include 20m in the Menai Science Park, which is the first of its kind in Wales and the 20m for the Advanced Manufacturing Research Institute, in Broughton, which will help attract businesses to North Wales and improve skills. Mr Skates added: With our existing investments, together with todays announcement, we are investing hundreds of millions of pounds in North Wales demonstrating that the continued improvement to the infrastructure and economy of the region is our priority. We all need to work together, the UK Government, Welsh Government, local authorities and private sector partners to make the best possible success of the deal. A spokesperson for the North Wales Economic Ambition Board said:We welcome this commitment of 120million from the Welsh Government, which matches the 120million set aside for the Growth Deal by the UK Government in the Autumn Budget Statement. The Ambition Board has been in discussions with the Welsh Government and Ken Skates, Cabinet Member for Economy and Transport, and had a very productive meeting with him today. We thank him for his continued support of the North Wales Growth Bid, and for sharing our vision to bring about further economic growth in the region. This gives us a firm foundation on which to implement the priority programmes and projects that formed the Growth Bid, from 2020 onwards. However, we urge both Governments to invest a larger matching capital sum to support an even bolder and more impactful Growth Deal. This is a strong starting point and one with which we can move forward as discussions continue and we look to kick-start a new phase of economic prosperity, supporting the world-leading industries and organisations we have here in North Wales, creating jobs, enhancing skills and improving infrastructure across all six counties. "I was about to buy a Gatorade out of the vending machine so I looked next to it, and it's the snack machine, and it's a rat just like going through it, like eating stuff," he said. TUCSON, Ariz., Dec. 07, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Of the more than $3 trillion dollars per year spent worldwide on health services, an untold amount is drained through corruption, according to the non-governmental anticorruption watchdog Transparency International. Albert Fisher, M.D., comments on the sources of corruption and proposed remedies in the winter issue of the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons. Dr. Fisher, a family physician in Oshkosh, Wis., is the immediate past president of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS). Evidence on the effectiveness of ways to reduce corruption is scanty, Dr. Fisher notes. The huge flow of money invites abuse. Having more than one provider of service, instead of monopolies, may reduce incentives for corruption. The Cochrane review of related studies did not even consider the role of patients in detecting corruption when they are responsible for paying the bills. One of Dr. Fishers patients, upon receiving a $100,000 bill for a hysterectomy, called the hospital billing office, and the charge for the robota $68,000 mistake?was immediately removed. Conflicts of interest certainly play a role, as when guidelines writers, who are recipients of research grants and consulting fees, recommend against a long-established drug like theophylline (a bronchodilator) and promote newer, far more expensive drugs. Architects of big government programs, like those established by the Affordable Care Act, have deep ties to interlocking individuals and organizations that benefit. Anticorruption interventions often target doctors as scapegoats. Tools designed to fight violent crimes and drug dealers have been used to imprison physicians who had no idea that they were engaging in any activity that could remotely be considered unlawful. Fighting corruption is a complex challenge, Dr. Fisher writes. Big government health programs invite corruption on a broad scale. He urges physicians to opt out of corrupt schemes, and to reaffirm their commitment to the primary mission of the medical professiontaking care of patients. The Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons is published by the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS), a national organization representing physicians in all specialties since 1943. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) Many Florida Christmas tree farms suffered losses due to Hurricane Michael, and this holiday season city officials say one of the ways you can help support the damaged timber industry is to buy a local Christmas tree. Many people forget trees are victims of Hurricane Michael. Downed trees littered the land in the wake of the Hurricane wreaking havoc on power lines, houses, roadways and tree farms. Franco and Sigrid Camacho, owners of the Bavarian Christmas Tree Farm said Hurricane Michael effected their crop. "I lost 10 percent of the trees and I have friends and labor to help me to straighten the trees because almost 60 percent of the trees were down," said Camacho. Camacho said he was lucky tree farmers he knows in areas like Pensacola had their crops devastated. The Camacho's gave one of their beautiful trees to Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putman so he could present it to the Governor and Cabinet members. Commissioner Putnam said one of the ways Floridians can help the state's timber industry is by buying local Christmas trees. Back at the Bavarian Christmas Tree Farm loyal customers like the Odom Family are enjoying thier holiday tradition, picking out and cutting down their Christmas tree, while supporting their community's tree farmer. PANAMA CITY, Fla. (AP) - A hospital on Floridas Panhandle says it will lay off 800 employees - nearly half its staff - because it suffered such serious damage from Hurricane Michael. Bay Medical Sacred Heart said it will make the cuts Feb. 4 after it reopens in January at one-fourth its previous size. The News-Herald reports that most of the hospital sustained heavy wind and water damage in the hurricane. It cant be repaired any time soon. Only the hospitals emergency room has been operational since the Category 4 storm in October. The citys other hospital, Gulf Coast Regional Medical Center, sustained less damage and has managed to reopen more of its services. The hospital has continued to pay employees and provide benefits in the weeks since the storm. WAKULLA COUNTY, Fla. (WTXL) - A 15-year-old Wakulla County middle school student has been charged with burglary after his social media post proclaiming to be a gang member sparked widespread concern earlier this week. The Wakulla County Sheriff's Office says that the 15-year-old Riversprings Middle School student who posted concerning content on social media on Tuesday has been arrested. The student was not arrested for the social media post, but was instead arrested for breaking into a home on in November. On Nov. 19, a homeowner reported that someone broke into his vacant Crawfordville rental home. When deputies responded, they saw that someone had removed the window air conditioning unit to break in. Five fingerprints were collected from the scene that were forwarded to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) Crime Laboratory for analysis. On Tuesday, deputies say a school resource officer assigned to Riversprings Middle School initiated an investigation after several students reported a concerning post on a 15-year old students social media page. Deputies say the post was "widely-circulated locally and concerning to many parents," prompting an investigation. While the post caused concern for many students, deputies say it did not make any specific threats towards any individual or school. Rather, it appeared as if the 15-year old was proclaiming to be a gang member. In the post, a "AK style rifle" was seen leaning against a wall. A follow up post also depicted numerous guns. WCSO says that the video in the post appeared to be shot inside a home where guns were displayed on furniture. As the investigation continued, deputies found no evidence suggesting that the social media posts were criminal nor did the 15-year-old possess any guns. However, on Thursday, detectives were informed by the FDLE Crime Lab that the fingerprints collected at the burglary scene matched the 15-year-old who made the concerning social media posts. On Friday, WCSO interviewed the 15-year-old in the presence of his mother. Following the interview, he was arrested for burglary and criminal mischief. They say the teen was processed through the Wakulla County Jail and was lawfully released to the custody of his parents. Wakulla County deputies investigate alleged social media threats from student WAKULLA COUNTY, Fla. (WTXL) - A middle school student has been suspended as Wakulla County deputies investigate a threatening social media post the student allegedly made. Tuesday morning at River Springs Middle School, the Wakulla County School Board says a student was detained by school administration and the school resource officer after students reported a threatening social media post allegedly made by the student. Officials stress there were no threats toward the school or the students. The situation is currently under investigation by school officials and law enforcement. The student has been suspended and has been handed over to their parents pending the outcome of the investigation by both school administration and the Wakulla County Sheriffs Office. There's no word on the gender or age of the student involved. School officials remind both parents and students to say something if you see something. If you are made aware of a potential threat after school hours, you are asked to immediately contact the Wakulla County Sheriffs Office. This is a developing story. Stay with us for details. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - A Tallahassee IT specialist has been arrested after he admitted to investigators that he regularly downloads child pornography to stop his "urges" to physically act on a child. Eric Hancock, 35, was arrested by the Leon County Sheriff's Office on Thursday. In October, deputies were conducting online investigations on a specialized law enforcement network developed to identify offenders sharing child pornography. Through the investigation, deputies identified a device in Leon County that was in possession of multiple files that were indicative of child sex abuse material. Based on information provided by CenturyLink to deputies, Hancock's home was identified as the only location where the files were being downloaded. After obtaining a search warrant for the home, members of the North Florida ICAC Task Force comprised of LCSO, FDLE, and United States Department of Homeland Security investigators searched his house on Thursday. Hancock was escorted out of the home and interviewed regarding the investigation. He admitted to downloading the child sexual abuse material and stated that he has "had a problem" for quite some time. When deputies asked how long he had been downloading and viewing the child sexual abuse material, Hancock said "since I was a kid." Hancock told deputies that within the last few years his activities included downloading the material and deleting the material once he was finished with it. He then would use a special software to "wipe" the files from the hard disk drive so he wouldn't be caught by his wife or law enforcement. He also said that he downloaded the materials to stop his "urge," so that he wouldn't physically act out his desires on a child. According to court documents, he later recanted that statement, saying he would never act on any of his urges and would never hurt a child. Investigators say Hancock is an IT specialist as well and is very knowledgeable about computer operating systems and the allocation of data. Hancock also told investigators he kept a log regarding his activities, stating that he had a hand written log and digital log on his cellphone. After the interview, deputies found Hancock's hand written log, which contained logs that documented the dates he downloaded the child sexual abuse material. The log made reference to the term "CP" with handwritten entries stating, "I slipped today. Looked at CP." Due to his admission, Hancock is being charged with two counts of possession of obscene material of sex performance of a child and 15 counts of possession of a photograph of sexual performance by a child. He was taken to the Leon County Detention Facility where his bond has been set at $85,000. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (The News Service of Florida) - The incoming administration of Governor elect Ron DeSantis may tinker with one of Governor Rick Scott's signature acts, pushed in response to Hurricane Irma. The law requires long-term care providers to have generators and a 72-hour supply of fuel on site. But Lieutenant Governor-elect Jeanette Nunez said that may need to be re-examined because a large number have been unable to meet the deadlines. Long-term care facilities were required to have submitted and implemented their plans by June first, but only 59 percent have met the requirements. "I know there was some concern, both at the House level and I suspect at the Senate level, in terms of the reality of those, especially on the ALF side, being able to come to fruition," said Nunez. Governor Scott first issued the rules through an emergency order following the deaths of as many as 12 residents of The Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills. The deaths came after the nursing home lost air conditioning during Hurricane Irma last year. PENSACOLA, Fla. (WTXL) - The Florida Department of Law Enforcement reports 21 people suspected in a drug trafficking ring have been arrested, including one here locally, during a multi-agency operation entitled, "Operation Crazy 8." The 21 suspects are accused of running a drug trafficking organization from South Florida to the Panhandle. They say the multi-agency investigation revealed the suspects were selling prescription painkillers including oxycodone and hydromorphone in Miami-Dade, Broward, Walton and Okaloosa counties. Authorities began investigating the case after identifying a local drug ring in Okaloosa County whose members were obtaining large amounts of illegal drugs from South Florida and selling those drugs in Walton and Okaloosa counties. This massive drug interdiction operation WILL save lives and send a strong message to anyone trying to traffic opioids in our great state, said Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi. This case is just one of many examples of how seamlessly our great law enforcement partners work together to stop drug trafficking and save lives. Four suspects remain at large. FDLE reports 21 suspects were arrested on Thursday: Victoria Bruton, 44, Miami, booked into Turner Gilford Knight Correctional Center. Trafficking in hydromorphone (conspiracy) Trafficking in hydromorphone, 2 counts Delivery of a controlled substance (conspiracy) Tanisha Lashan Curry, 39, Miami, booked into Turner Gilford Knight Correctional Center. Armed sale, manufacture, delivery or possession of oxycodone with intent to sell Delivery of oxycodone (conspiracy) Possession of morphine Clifford Erskin Howard, 51, Miami, booked into Turner Gilford Knight Correctional Center. Trafficking in oxycodone Possession of a firearm by a convicted felon Ronald Wesley Fields, 54, Miami, booked into Turner Gilford Knight Correctional Center. Trafficking in oxycodone Michael Williams, 58, Miami, booked intoTurner Gilford Knight Correctional Center. Trafficking in oxycodone Joycelyn Dolores Green, 74, Miami, booked into Turner Gilford Knight Correctional Center. Delivery of oxycodone (conspiracy) Georgiana Williams, 31, Crestview, already in custody at the Walton County Jail. Trafficking in hydromorphone (conspiracy) Trafficking in hydromorphone, 2 counts Robin Godsey, 60, Crestview, booked into the Okaloosa County Jail. Illegal use of a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony Conspiracy to possess a controlled substance Randal Dees, 50, Crestview, booked into the Okaloosa County Jail. Illegal use of a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony Conspiracy to possess a controlled substance Tidalux Burgess, 73, Destin, booked into the Okaloosa County Jail. Illegal use of a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony Conspiracy to possess a controlled substance Stormy Bones, 37, Panama City Beach, booked into the Walton County Jail. Illegal use of a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony Conspiracy to possess a controlled substance Matthew Barry, 27, Defuniak Springs, booked into the Okaloosa County Jail. Illegal use of a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony Conspiracy to possess a controlled substance Margaret Barbaree, Crestview, 45, booked into the Okaloosa County Jail. Illegal use of a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony Conspiracy to possess a controlled substance Dana Bafetti Clah, 48, Crestview, already in custody at the Okaloosa County Jail. Illegal use of a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony Conspiracy to possess a controlled substance Gary Thibault, 43, Crestview, booked into the Okaloosa County Jail. Illegal use of a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony Conspiracy to possess a controlled substance Tyshaun Tarver, 39, Pensacola, booked into the Okaloosa County Jail. Illegal use of a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony Conspiracy to possess a controlled substance Michelle Rogers, 42, Crestview, booked into the Okaloosa County Jail. Illegal use of a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony Conspiracy to possess a controlled substance Stacey Minick, 39, Crestview, booked into the Okaloosa County Jail. Illegal use of a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony Conspiracy to possess a controlled substance Ashley McDaniel, 36, Cantonment, booked into the Okaloosa County Jail. Illegal use of a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony Conspiracy to possess a controlled substance Jonathan Grice, 37, Crestview, already in custody at the Okaloosa County Jail. Illegal use of a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony Conspiracy to possess a controlled substance Elizabeth Haire, 71, Bainbridge, Georgia, booked into the Decatur County Jail. Trafficking in hydromorphone (conspiracy) Four suspects remain at large this morning: Daniel Bertram, 49, Destin Illegal use of a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony Conspiracy to possess a controlled substance Tiffany Russell, 34, Defuniak Springs Illegal use of a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony Conspiracy to possess a controlled substance Vickie Renee Acevedo, 49, Kissimmee Sale of a controlled substance Conspiracy to possess a controlled substance Illegal use of a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony Gabriel W. Manley, 48, Miami Sale of a controlled substance Conspiracy to possess a controlled substance Illegal use of a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony The case will be prosecuted by the Office of Statewide Prosecution and Office of the State Attorney, 1st Judicial Circuit. In Bob Woodwards book, Fear: Trump in the White House, Kelly is said to have called Trump an idiot, saying Its pointless to try to convince him of anything. Hes gone off the rails. Were in Crazytown. I dont even know why any of us are here. This is the worst job Ive ever had. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) -The Disney hit movie Frozen is coming to Tallahassee. It's set to debut at Lincoln High School next weekend. Two of the lead dancers, Lyn Mari James and Jordan Parnell spoke with WTXL on Friday about the magical holiday performance. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-06 22:52:02|Editor: yan Video Player Close BEIJING, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- China has lodged solemn representations with Canada and the United States and demanded the immediate release of Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Thursday. Meng was provisionally detained by the Canadian Authorities on behalf of the United States of America, when she was transferring flights in Canada, Huawei said in a statement Thursday. Spokesperson Geng Shuang told a daily news briefing that China has lodged solemn representations with the Canadian and U.S. sides, urging the two countries to clarify the reason they detained Meng, immediately release her and effectively protect her legitimate rights and interests. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-07 02:03:06|Editor: yan Video Player Close LONDON, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- The British economy will expect a steady growth over the next two years if the Brexit deal can be implemented smoothly, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said Thursday. Under the scenario of an orderly Brexit, British business investment will rise and export growth will keep continuing during the following two years, CBI said in its latest economic forecast. According its prediction, Britain's GDP will see growth of 1.3 percent in 2018, 1.4 percent in 2019 and 1.6 percent in 2020 if there comes an orderly Brexit in 2019. Carolyn Fairbairn, CBI Director General, said: "An orderly Brexit next year would see the UK enjoy steady economic growth for the next couple of years." By comparison, "no deal scenario would blow these figures out of the water, severely hurting businesses, jobs and living standards," she added. Carolyn said that the current deal was not perfect, but it was the only choice to protect British economy. She also noted that British business sector had proved resilient facing the great uncertainty since the referendum. MIRAMAR, Fla., Dec. 07, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Spirit Airlines (NYSE: SAVE) announced today it has hired airline veteran John Kirby as its newest Vice President of Network Planning. Kirby will oversee what is set to be a large network expansion in the coming years for Spirit. Kirby is a highly experienced, successful and well-regarded leader who has worked at seven different carriers throughout his 35-year career, most recently at Alaska Airlines as the Vice President of Capacity Planning and Alliances. He will oversee network expansion and scheduling, leading a seasoned team already in place. John Kirbys extensive knowledge and experience will be a vital asset to Spirit Airlines as we continue to grow our domestic and international network, said Ted Christie, Spirit Airlines President. John brings with him more than three decades of airline experience that has earned him a sterling reputation as an innovator and leader in moving airlines forward and realizing the potential of untapped routes and markets. I am excited to be joining a fast-growing, industry-leading carrier in Spirit Airlines, said John Kirby, Spirit Airlines newest Vice President of Network Planning. I would like to thank Spirits executive staff for having faith in my skill to take this airline to the next level as we seize on opportunities to grow our network and schedule. Kirby will succeed Spirits longtime Vice President of Network Planning, Mark Kopczak, who will be leaving the airline later in 2019. Kopczak held the role for nearly 19 years and provided invaluable leadership and expertise during the airlines immense service growth. During his tenure at the airline, Kopczak played an integral role in deploying more than 110 additional new aircraft to create a highly profitable route network. By 2019, Kopczak will have overseen the addition of over 60 cities to Spirits network, adding more than 240 additional nonstop routes and more than 600 additional daily flights. We would like to thank Mark Kopczak for his leadership and tireless work to grow Spirit to what it has become today, said Matt Klein, Spirit Airlines Senior Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer. Marks deep logistical knowledge and skill for identifying successful routes and cities has been a key factor to Spirits incredible success as a highly-valued international carrier. I speak for the entire Spirit Family when I thank Mark for his service. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-07 02:23:10|Editor: yan Video Player Close by Fuad Rajeh ADEN, Yemen, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- UN-sponsored peace talks to build confidence between the Yemeni warring parties kicked off Thursday in Sweden in the first step to resume the political process which ceased in 2016. However, the consultations are indirect, with the UN Special Envoy to Yemen, Martin Griffiths, talking to the delegations of the Houthi rebels and the Saudi-backed Yemeni government separately. This is not a good start. Also, controversial issues, especially Hodeidah, add complications to the political process. The Yemeni government insists on retaking Hodeidah province where its forces, with support from a Saudi-led coalition, have been engaged in battles with the Houthis for months. Moreover, it insists on implementing the UN Security Council's resolution 2216 which calls for Houthis' withdrawal from cities and handover of heavy weapons. Griffiths said at a news conference at the opening of the consultations that the talks are being focused on Hodeidah, reopening airports, the economy, the worst humanitarian crisis in the world and releasing all prisoners. Shortly before heading for Sweden, the government and the Houthis started arrangements for the release of all prisoners and detainees and all they need to agree on during the consultations is suitable mechanism to make that a reality. "These political consultations in Sweden are the first step toward putting Yemen on the path to peace," Griffiths said. "I hope that by the end of this round, the Yemeni parties will agree on the outline of an eventual comprehensive agreement, which will then be submitted to the United Nations secretary general and then to the Security Council for endorsement," he added. Any peace agreement should be based on the UN resolutions, the Gulf Initiative, and the outcomes of the national dialog conference which was attended by all Yemeni factions during 2013, he pointed out. The Yemeni warring parties have held several rounds of peace talks since the conflict began after Houthis seized power in late 2014. However, all talks collapsed, leading to more violence on the ground. Observers argued that the Houthis will not accept to give up their arms and preconditions indicate all parties still don't have goodwill to reach a peace deal. Abbas Al-Dhaleai, a political commentator, said "the political process after what Saudi Arabia has done and spent in Yemen means a defeat to Saudi Arabia. The Gulf kingdom will not accept defeat. It wants to disarm the Houthis, a thing that can't be achieved in reality." "The Houthis have been taking advantage of the Saudi-led coalition's confusion and political and military failures. But the most important thing is that they are not statesmen, but militants. They can't imagine themselves living without arms," Al-Dhaleai added. Adil Al-Shuja'a, a politics professor from Sanaa university, said foreign actors don't want to end the conflict in Yemen because they want to sell more arms. "The U.S. President Donald Trump, for example, has been saying that the U.S. will continue to back the Saudi-led coalition, ignoring the high humanitarian cost of this war," he said. "Big powers such as the U.S., the UK and France have convinced the world that they are arms dealers, not peace makers," the professor added. Peace talks between the Yemeni government and Houthi rebels, coordinated by the UN, started on Thursday at Johannesberg Castle, about 60 kilometers north of Stockholm, Sweden. The talks are expected to last for one week, depending on the consultations' progress, according to Hanan Eldawadi, chief public information officer at the office of the Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for Yemen (OSESGY). The Yemeni government delegation landed at Stockholm Arlanda Airport Wednesday afternoon, while the delegation of the Houthi rebels, together with Griffiths, arrived in Sweden on Tuesday evening. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-07 02:58:18|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close Iraq's Oil Minister Thamir al-Ghadhban (C, front) attends the opening ceremony of a meeting of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in Vienna, Austria, Dec. 6, 2018. No oil output cut decision was announced on Thursday after hours of the meeting. (Xinhua/Liu Xiang) VIENNA, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- No oil output cut decision was announced on Thursday after hours of a meeting of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). The oil cartel is to negotiate with its allies including Russia on Friday. "We still want Russia to cut as much as possible," Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih told reporters as no decision was announced after the meeting. OPEC was expected to agree on the amount of oil output cut in Thursday's meeting, however, there was no announcement of the oil output cut agreement after hours of meeting of the oil pumpers on Thursday, and a scheduled press meeting was canceled. OPEC is to discuss the joint oil output cut with Non-OPEC producers, including Russia on Friday. The Saudi minister noted before the meeting that the oil pumpers are looking for a sufficient cut to balance the market. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-07 03:13:25|Editor: Lu Hui Video Player Close BERLIN, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- Germany's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) committees are preparing the two-day party conference in Hamburg on Thursday. Polls predict a close race for Merkel's succession to the party leadership between Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, who is favored by Merkel, and Friedrich Merz who finds many supporters in the CDU conservative members. Former finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble was the most prominent CDU member to speak out in favor of Merz as the new CDU leader and justified his decision not only in the interest of his party but also of Germany as a whole. "It would be best for the country if Friedrich Merz obtained a majority at the party conference," he told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on Wednesday. In response, economics minister Peter Altmaier criticized the public recommendation of Schaeuble for Merz and told newspaper Rheinische Post on Thursday that he himself had not publicly expressed his preference for Kramp-Karrenbauer out of respect for the delegates of the CDU party conference, adding that Kramp-Karrenbauer had the best chances to "unite the CDU and win elections". At the Hamburg party conference on Friday, the 1,001 delegates will decide on Merkel's successor at the top of the CDU but not for the chancellorship. According to Altmaier, there was a "clear wish" both within the CDU and beyond that Merkel would not end her term as chancellor before 2021. Ralph Brinkhaus, who leads the conservative union of CDU and CSU, also strongly opposed speculations about an early new election leading to a change in the chancellor's office. "In the 2017 Bundestag elections, the voters gave the union and Angela Merkel as the top candidate, the mandate for government for the entire election period," Brinkhaus told the German press agency. Among CDU members, a recent poll by infratest dimap saw Kramp-Karrenbauer ahead of her rival Merz. 48 percent want Merkel's favorite candidate to take the party lead while 35 percent of CDU members polled support Merz. Regardless of the result of the vote during the CDU party conference, 72 percent of polled party members welcomed the competition for Merkel's succession as something positive. In October, Merkel announced not to run for party lead again and refrain from any political offices after her fourth term. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-07 04:03:36|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (R) meets with South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha at the U.S. Department of State in Washington D.C., the United States, on Dec. 6, 2018. Mike Pompeo met with Kang Kyung-wha here on Thursday, discussing the denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula, said the U.S. State Department. (Xinhua/Ting Shen) WASHINGTON, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha here on Thursday, discussing the denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula, said the U.S. State Department. The two sides agreed to maintain close coordination and insisted on "the final, fully verified denuclearization" of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), said Heather Nauert, spokesperson of the U.S. State Department, in a statement. Negotiations between Pyongyang and Washington saw little progress in the past few months, as differences between the two sides remained over the scale of denuclearization, U.S. sanctions, and whether to issue a war-ending declaration. A planned high-level meeting between Pompeo and a senior DPRK official in New York was cancelled, citing scheduling issue. Meanwhile, the momentum for talks continued. U.S. President Donald Trump revealed earlier this month that his second meeting with DPRK's top leader Kim Jong Un was likely to happen in January or February next year. The first-ever Kim-Trump meeting occurred in Singapore last June, followed by a joint statement in which the United States agreed to provide security guarantee to the DPRK in return for Pyongyang's commitment to denuclearization. Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said earlier this month that China encourages the United States and the DPRK to advance denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-07 04:38:45|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close Riot policemen clash with demonstrators at Exarchia in Athens, Greece, on Dec. 6, 2018. Protests held in several Greek cities on Thursday in the memory of Alexandros Grigoropoulos, a teenager shot dead by a police officer in Athens in 2008, were marred with violent incidents. At least 27 demonstrators in the Greek capital, Thessaloniki in northern Greece and Chania on Crete island were detained and held in custody for participating in clashes with anti-riot police forces and vandalism, according to Greek national news agency AMNA. (Xinhua/Marios Lolos) by Maria Spiliopoulou ATHENS, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- Protests held in several Greek cities on Thursday in the memory of Alexandros Grigoropoulos, a teenager shot dead by a police officer in Athens in 2008, were marred with violent incidents. At least 27 demonstrators in the Greek capital, Thessaloniki in northern Greece and Chania on Crete island were detained and held in custody for participating in clashes with anti-riot police forces and vandalism, according to Greek national news agency AMNA. According to police sources, among the detained were minors. No injuries have been reported, but material damages. In Athens, the focus of the scuffles on Thursday evening was at the district of Exarchia, where 15-year-old high school student Grigoropoulos was shot dead on Dec. 6, 2008, by a policeman, who was later sentenced to life imprisonment. Following a march organized by Leftist parties and anti-establishment groups, dozens of hooded youth hurled petrol bombs and pieces of marble cut down from pavements, put rubbish bins on fire and set up road blocks. Police responded by firing tear gas and stun grenades and deployed water cannons to disperse the rioters. Approximately 5,000 police officers had been deployed, while a police helicopter and drones were flying throughout the day over the city center of Athens to monitor the customary rallies. Similar clashes broke out on Thursday evening also in Thessaloniki and Chania. Earlier in the day, demonstrations held by students' unions in central Athens and Thessaloniki had also ended in violence. Grigoropoulos' death ten years ago was followed by a string of rioting across Greece for two weeks in protest of police violence. The anniversary has been marred by violent incidents every year. The victim's mother, Gina Tsalikian, has repeatedly made pleas in recent years against violence. "If my child was alive, he would speak against such clashes. He would not like to see his name linked to violence and vandalism. These incidents sully Alexandros' memory," Tsalikian told local ANT1 television channel. "Security is not safeguarded with weapons aimed at minors, but with democracy, justice, transparency and respect of citizens' rights," the family's lawyers added in a press release on Thursday. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-07 06:34:17|Editor: yan Video Player Close GAZA, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian factions and political groups hailed on Thursday night the failure of UN voting in favor of a United States draft resolution that condemns Islamic Hamas movement's attacks on Israel. Sami Abu Zuhri, Hamas spokesman, said in a statement that "the failure of the U.S. draft resolution in the United Nations is a slap to the U.S. administration." "This failure is a confirmation of the legitimacy of the Palestinian resistance and a great political support for the Palestinian people and the just Palestinian cause," said Abu Zuhri. On Thursday night, 87 state members in the UN General Assembly (UNGA) voted in favor, which is less than two thirds of the votes as 57 voted against and 33 abstained. President of the UNGA announced that because the vote hasn't reached two thirds of all the state members' votes, the draft resolution has failed. Member of the Political Bureau of the Democratic Front, Talal Abu Zarifa, said in another statement that "this failure is a victory of the international justice." Although the Palestinian Authority and Fatah Party of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Fatah are rivals to Hamas, they also stood against the U.S. draft resolution. Spokesman in the West Bank, Munir al-Jaghoub, said that "the U.S. decision to criminalize the Palestinian struggle has not passed, which is a success to the Palestinian cause." Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-07 07:14:25|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- The UN General Assembly on Thursday failed to adopt a U.S. drafted resolution condemning Hamas. Backed by U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, the draft was going to condemn Hamas' rocket attacks against Israel, and it was the first drafted UNGA resolution to condemn the Palestinian resistance. Before the vote, a separate vote was held by the General Assembly to decide the majority it would need to pass the resolution. The United States asked for a simple majority, while Kuwait asked for a two-thirds majority. The Kuwaiti request won as a result. The draft received 87 votes in favor, 58 against, and 32 abstentions, which failed to win the required two-thirds majority in the UN General Assembly. All the Arab countries voted against the resolution. The UN General Assembly also voted on a resolution pushed by the Palestinian Authority. It included condemnation of Israeli settlements and a reference to the parameters of a future peace agreement. The resolution was adopted with only 6 votes against it. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-07 07:24:29|Editor: ZD Video Player Close UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday welcomed the launch of intra-Yemeni consultations in Sweden and urged the parties to make progress by exercising flexibility and engaging in good faith and without preconditions. "The secretary-general appeals to the warring parties to continue the de-escalation in Hudaydah and explore other measures to mitigate the life-threatening economic and humanitarian situation," said Stephane Dujarric, Guterres' spokesman, in a statement. Guterres reminded the parties that a negotiated political settlement through inclusive intra-Yemeni dialogue is the only way to end the conflict and address the ongoing humanitarian crisis, said the statement. The warring parties in Yemen are holding consultations in Stockholm under the auspices of the United Nations. Yemen has been in civil war in the past three years, pitting Houthi rebels and forces loyal to the government of Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi. Saudi Arabia leads a military coalition to restore the Hadi government. UN Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Mark Lowcock warned at the weekend that Yemen is on the brink of a major catastrophe, after his just-ended visit to Yemen. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-07 07:39:34|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close HAVANA, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- Highly anticipated mobile internet service has been launched for the very first time in Cuba on Thursday. State-owned telecommunications company Etecsa said anyone with a cellphone with 3G technology could now access the web anywhere in the country, and without the need for a Wi-Fi hotspot. Navigation packages ranged from 600 megabits (Mb) for the equivalent of 8 U.S. dollars to 4 gigabits (Gb) for about 35 U.S. dollars. Prices were considered high in a country where the average monthly wage is approximately 20 U.S. dollars. Cuba has a total of 11.2 million inhabitants and 5.3 million mobile lines. Up to now, average Cubans could only access the internet through 1,200 Wi-Fi hotspots set up in public places and 670 Etecsa-run navigation rooms. Due to a lack of infrastructure, only some 60,000 Cubans have home internet access via their telephone land lines. Doctors, journalists and government officials get priority internet access at home due to their jobs. According to Cuban Minister of Communications Jorge Luis Perdomo, the government aims to boost internet access through wireless technologies, believing that "the internet is a very useful tool that must be made available to everyone." Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-07 07:39:35|Editor: Yang Yi Video Player Close ACCRA, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo commissioned on Thursday a 40-million-U.S.-dollar baby diaper production plant of Chinese firm Sunda International. The factory, which is described as one of the largest baby diaper producers in Sub-Sahara Africa, is sited in Bortianor Ngleshie Amanfrom, southwestern end of the Ghanaian capital Accra. Commissioning the factory, Akufo-Addo noted that the siting of such a manufacturing plant in Ghana was in line with his vision of "One District, One Factory." The initiatives the government has been implementing were not gimmicks, but part of a well-thought-out program of social and economic development of the country, the president said. "They all fit in as to how we can enhance the economy of our country and bring prosperity to Ghana," he said. The project was the result of existing good relationship between Ghana and China, Akufo-Addo said, urging local residents to collaborate positively with the Chinese investors. "We will try our best to make more contributions to the development of Ghana. We mean what we say, we will honor our promises," said Wang Shiting, Chinese Ambassador to Ghana. The ambassador lauded Ghana for its friendly investment environment, giving the assurance that his country will continue to partner with Ghana amid the west African country's industrialization efforts and programs. JOE CICAK/iStock(WASHINGTON) -- President Donald Trump announced on the White House South Lawn Friday that he will nominate William Barr as his next attorney general. Barr served as attorney general previously under President George H. W. Bush. He must still be confirmed by the Senate and, if so, would oversee special counsel Robert Mueller at a critical time in his investigation that involves the president. "He was my first choice from day one, respected by Republicans and respected by Democrats," Trump told reporters as he left the White House on a trip to Kansas. "He will be nominated for the U.S. attorney general and hopefully that process will go very quickly, and I think it will go very quickly," Trump said. Trump called Barr "one of the most respected jurists in the country, highly respected lawyer," and "a terrific man, a terrific person, a brilliant man." The president said he didn't know Barr before he began the search for a new attorney general. Trump had told advisers Thursday he intended to nominate Barr, multiple sources familiar with the matter told ABC News. The presidents' aides had previously floated the idea of Barr retaking his post in the Justice Department, sources said. The Washington Post first reported the news. Barr did not respond to ABC's request for comment. A source close to Barr said he is likely to accept the job if offered. In the early 1990s, as attorney general, Barr supervised Mueller in his work as head of the Justice Department's Criminal Division. Barr has been somewhat critical of special counsel Mueller's investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 elections and has claimed there is more basis to investigate former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for her role in approving the 2010 acquisition of U.S. uranium stockpiles by a Russian energy company -- a complicated deal that has come to be known simply as Uranium One. "To the extent it is not pursuing these matters, the department is abdicating its responsibility, Barr told the New York Times. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut and a member on the Judiciary Committee, said in a statement Friday that he would demand a firm commitment from Barr to protect the Mueller investigation. As a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Blumenthal will be part of Barr's confirmation hearings. "I will demand that Mr. Barr make a firm and specific commitment to protect the Mueller investigation, operate independently of the White House, and uphold the rule of law," Blumenthal said in the statement. "The Senate must closely scrutinize this nominee, particularly in light of past comments suggesting Mr. Barr was more interested in currying favor with President Trump than objectively and thoughtfully analyzing law and facts." Barr also supported President Trump's firing of former FBI director James Comey, writing in an op-ed in the Washington Post that Trump made the right move. "Unfortunately, beginning in July, when he announced the outcome of the FBI investigation into Hillary Clintons use of a private email server while secretary of state, he crossed a line that is fundamental to the allocation of authority in the Justice Department," Barr wrote in the 2017 article. "While the FBI carries out investigative work, the responsibility for supervising, directing and ultimately determining the resolution of investigations is solely the province of the Justice Departments prosecutors. With an investigation as sensitive as the one involving Clinton, the ultimate decision-making is reserved to the attorney general or, when the attorney general is recused, the deputy attorney general." Barr also at one point took issue with the political affiliations of those on Muellers team, telling the Washington Post in July of 2017 that "prosecutors who make political contributions are identifying fairly strongly with a political party." Barr was referring to reports in the Post that eight of Muellers prosecutors had donated to Democrats in the past. Richard Cullen, who served as U.S. Attorney under Barr, describes him as a good pick for the role. "I have worked with him for over 25 years and I believe it would be a great choice," Cullen told ABC News. "He is a wise man with great intellect and skills and someone who has broad experience in both the government and business world." Copyright 2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Phoenix, AZ, Dec. 07, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NEWMEDIAWIRE -- No Borders Dental Resources, Inc. a subsidiary of No Borders, Inc. (OTC:NBDR), has announced the filing of MediDent Supplies as a Trade name with the State of Arizona and the launch of the all new www.MediDentSupplies.com website. The launch of MediDent Supplies is a perfect example of how impactful our business strategies and expertise can be to the businesses that No Borders acquires. Our strategic vertical acquisitions not only provide NBDR with existing customer bases, revenue streams and valuable supplier relationships but also with opportunities to deploy world class digital, social and marketing solutions quickly and affordably in these businesses to make them more successful. Realizing synergies and improving data utilization creates incredible growth opportunities before we even begin looking at offering new software solutions and digital products within the vertical itself, said Joseph Snyder, CEO of No Borders, Inc. Using cutting edge, Artificial Intelligence (ai) based analytics, digital marketing and customer experience technology No Borders Labs, Inc. provides MediDent Supplies with actionable data that lowers costs and increases Lifetime Customer Value (LCV). In addition to internally focused technology solutions No Borders Labs, Inc. is actively holding focus groups comprised of some of No Borders Dental Resources, Inc.'s existing dental industry clients in order to understand the pain points and subsequent opportunities for Web 3.0 software product offerings in the dental industry. No Borders, Inc. strongly believes in the ability of its experienced team to create and deploy valuable products, services and software solutions in business verticals where the current market participants are behind the curve of technological adoption and deployment. The launch of www.MediDentSupplies.com is the first live example of the strategic deals that the company intends to pursue in order to provide immediate market access, non-technical revenue streams and in-vertical operations that allow for the deployment of technologies that reduce cost, improve results and add scale to verticals from the inside out. I want to take a moment to thank all of the incredible people who make these ideas come to life. It takes a huge amount of talent, passion and commitment, which are all things that our team brings in spades. I am incredibly proud of everyone on the NBDR teams and immeasurably grateful for all the late nights these folks put in on www.MediDentSupplies.com, continued Snyder. About No Borders, Inc. No Borders, Inc. (OTC:NBDR) is a remote work, diverse holding company for several brands in verticals that are ripe and ready for the impact of Web 3.0 technologies. With a strategic focus on acquiring, improving and utilizing Web 3.0 tech inside its target verticals, No Borders can leverage its technological talent alongside its best in class branding, messaging and product teams to scale revenues for multiple vertical product offerings. No Borders Dental Resources, Inc. provides equipment and supplies to medical and dental professionals across the USA through the Trade name MediDent Supplies with a strategic focus on expanding product portfolios and optimizing Lifetime Customer Value (LCV) while minimizing Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC). No Borders Labs, in addition to supplying leading-edge tech tools to our internal companies also offers consulting, architecture, and software development services to external businesses looking to update their technology infrastructure for greater efficiency, security, and transparency. No Borders is headquartered in Arizona with resources in the USA, South America, Asia, and Europe. Forward-Looking Statement This press release details forward-looking content projected based on present conditions. The reader is forewarned to not place expectation on speculative language. Except as required by law, the Company renounces any intention and accepts no obligation to update forward-looking statements, be it as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Furthermore, the Company assumes no obligation to comment on the expectations of, or statements made by, third parties in respect of the matters discussed above. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-07 08:59:50|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close CANBERRA, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- Australian authorities will have the power to access encrypted messages after the Opposition Australian Labor Party (ALP) backed down from its plan to oppose the legislation at the last minute. The assistance and access bill was passed by Parliament in the final Parliamentary sitting hours of 2018 on Thursday night after the ALP agreed to support the governing Liberal National Party Coalition (LNP). The ALP had previously declared it would oppose the bill, which it repeatedly described as flawed, unless the government agreed to key amendments but on Thursday night caved to pressure from the LNP. Under the new laws, Australia's security agencies will be able to access a suspected criminal's encrypted messages via a back door programmed into their mobile device. Despite the two major parties eventually joining forces on the new laws, which security bosses said were desperately needed before Christmas, Prime Minister Scott Morrison described ALP leader Bill Shorten as a "threat to national security." "I do think Bill Shorten is a threat when it comes to our national security because he has to be dragged kicking and screaming every time you try and get these things done," he told Nine Network television on Friday morning. Christian Porter, the Attorney General for Australia, accused the ALP of putting politics ahead of Australia's safety before Shorten backed down. The bill being passed marked the end of a prolonged stand-off between the two major parties over the policy and gave Morrison a significant victory over Shorten. Earlier on Thursday, the LNP effectively shut down Parliament so as to prevent the ALP from passing legislation that would have seen refugees being held indefinitely on Nauru and Manus Island re-located to Australia. Having won the support of independent Members of Parliament (MPs), the ALP had the support to pass the bill but was prevented from taking it to a vote. It would have been the first time a sitting government has lost a substantive vote in Parliament for over 90 years. "We want to see the kids off Nauru, kids who need medical treatment where the treating medicos say they should be done," Shorten said. "We simply say, they should get that treatment and the decision-making should be transparent and accountable." However, Morrison said that the refugee bill would have dismantled "the government's successful border protection policies." "They want to destroy the building blocks of border protection that keep Australians safe," he wrote in a column in The Australian newspaper on Friday. The Law Council of Australia condemned both major parties for supporting the encryption laws despite conceding it needed amendments. "We now have a situation where unprecedented powers to access encrypted communications are now law, even though the Parliament knows serious problems exist," it said in a statement. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-07 09:40:02|Editor: ZD Video Player Close Ceramic artist Ryan LaBar from the United States works in a workshop in Jingdezhen, east China's Jiangxi Province, on Sept. 19, 2018. (Xinhua/Zhou Mi) By H. L. Bentley JINGDEZHEN, JIANGXI, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- Tucked away in a valley in the southeast of China is a tiny city with a huge history. Today it is called Jingdezhen, the name bestowed upon it by Song dynasty Emperor Zhenzong in 1004. Its current name tells us very little except that there was something about this small rural settlement that made it very important to the royal court. That "something" can be found in Jingdezhen's previous name. Until around 1,000 years ago, Jingdezhen was called Changnan. The town was famous throughout the world for its primary output -- porcelain. Porcelain was a commodity. It was used in politics as gifts from one nation to the next. It was allocated to important members of the royal household. It was worth more than gold. Over time, through trade and interaction with outsiders, Changnan, or a corrupted pronunciation of the name, came to be used by outsiders to refer to porcelain -- or "china." You can't talk about china in China without mentioning Jingdezhen -- the "ceramic capital" of the world. I visited Jingdezhen at the end of September to speak to three ceramicists who had traveled thousands of miles to make their homes in the birthplace of china. Each had a very different story and reason for coming to Jingdezhen, but a common theme emerged from our conversations -- communication. THE SEARCH FOR LANGUAGE Camille Grandaty is a French artist. Her studio is in an old-apartment building near Taoxichuan, an art district built on the site of an old plate factory. The high ceilings of her studio lend themselves well to the huge vases, sculptures and pictures that she has created during her years in Jingdezhen. By a door, stand three tall statues. Their human forms are all but hidden by layer-upon-layer of metallic-glazed porcelain strands as thick as worms, Delicate white hands stretch out from the suffocating confines of their china straight jackets. Camille told me, "Creative work is like trying to find a language." I was obliged to ask if art really is all about "trying to find a language," how does relocation affect this quest? "The language that I had when I was practicing in Europe seemed to work but here it seemed like the communication was broken. [So, now] I use a language that speaks about experience, that can be used anywhere. I made it my own," Camille explained. While she may be speaking figuratively, language presented her with very real-world problems when she first arrived in Jingdezhen. "I couldn't speak Chinese, I didn't know anything. I just knew that I needed to work under a master... the way he worked with clay was so natural." The craftsman that she approached refused her, language being his greatest concern. It took her three years to feel confident enough to ask again. Those fine, sculptured hands of the statues by the door were one product of her apprenticeship. A traditional eastern sculpture shrouded, but not hidden, by a western cloak -- a marriage of the old and new. "This is the influence that foreigners bring to Jingdezhen," she said. "The development of the creative process." A SON RETURNING HOME In a corner of a renovated factory in Taoxichuan, American Ryan LaBar is wielding a pretty lethal-looking knife, attacking large thick sheets of foam. He is preparing to ship some of his work to Beijing for an exhibition. Peering into the box, I was met with a piece of "off-the shelf" Jingdezhen trade-ware; a mass-produced vase decorated with the blue-and-white pattern that the city is best known for. But this nondescript piece was brought to life by a nest of pale porcelain ribbons. "It is called 'Embrace,'" he explained. "I took my piece and I just married it around it. It is hugging tradition. What I want to do, instead of embracing tradition, is value tradition [and] use that process to say something more contemporary." In his studio there are three or four potter's wheels lined up along the center leading to a glass wall which divides off a small exhibition space housing six of his ceramic sculptures. The kiln is in another room filled with shelves of simple clay shapes. Ryan uses these shapes to construct his signature intricate sculptures, which manage to look sturdy -- architectural even -- while at the same time moments away from slipping and shattering. "I set up things in the kiln to react to the temperature [...] the work moves and shifts and combines. And then I turn off the kiln. And it stops. So, it's frozen -- it is frozen motion," he explains gesturing to a large blue and white piece that looks like it is collapsing in on itself. I asked if the giving of his creations to this outside entity -- the kiln -- was something he had developed during his years in Jingdezhen. "This was my vocabulary before I came here, but at the same time it is a vocabulary that Jingdezhen is quite used to. There is a flow of chaotic energy here," he explained. Anyone who has spent anytime in China will have experienced this frenetic vitality. Ryan likened this to his art. "It calls for a look-ahead mentality -- and because of that there is this sort of flow that happens. Not just with traffic but with every sort of project or idea or any sort of event that happens. My work is like that." Ryan seems settled. He has a dog and a cat. On the wall of his studio there is a hand-painted plate that features a couple -- a Chinese woman and a man painted in Ryan's likeness. His art is popular with the domestic audience. He seems to feed off the historic energy of the city. In fact, rather than adjusting to a new life in a foreign land, Ryan saw it as more of a homecoming. "For me, it's almost as if I emanated from China 2,000 years ago and I am son returning home in a sense. I would say that anyone working with clay -- that knows anything about clay -- knows that Jingdezhen is the homeland." CHINA, BIRTHPLACE OF CHINA In the hills not far from Jingdezhen is a cave complex. Almost 2,000 years ago, people began to mine the pale, soft, earthy mineral. Today we call it kaolin, the clay used in porcelain. This is where it all started. I kept being told that the clay in Jingdezhen is special. But it wasn't until I met Christiane Toewe, a German artist, that I really understood. Throughout our conversation, Christiane spoke with a slow confidence but didn't make eye contact until I asked her why she came to Jingdezhen. "As someone who works with porcelain it is so important to touch the Chinese clay because porcelain was born here," her eyes brimmed with tears, and in that moment I felt the passion that she felt. Clay is a natural element that has its own character, its own personality. You might have the best laid plans for your pot, sculpture or installation, but once the kiln doors close you release control. In life, maybe, you do not have complete control over anything you try to do, but you do have to suffer - or enjoy - the effects of both your own actions and those that are beyond control. Life, it, seems, is like working with clay. (Video by Li Na, H. L. Bentley, Xue Yanwen, Zhou Mi, Wen Meiliang) Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-07 10:15:10|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close WASHINGTON, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis said on Thursday that the U.S. military had already stopped refueling the Saudi-led coalition's aircraft engaged in Yemen conflict "some weeks ago," according to a Pentagon statement. The Pentagon chief made the remarks when asked in Ottawa by the traveling U.S. press corps if the United States still provided refueling assistance to the Saudis, according to the transcript of the press briefing provided by the U.S. Defense Department. "We had stopped that some weeks ago," the Pentagon chief said. Mattis also pointed out that America had only refueled about 13 to 15 percent, or even lower, of the Saudi-led coalition's total planes flying sorties over Yemen. Riyadh announced last month that it had requested an end to U.S. aerial refueling for its operations in Yemen since the kingdom can now manage it by itself, a move later backed by the Pentagon. The Saudi move came amid an ongoing investigation into the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, which has stirred the international community and drawn criticism from U.S. lawmakers who once threatened to take action over the refueling operations. Saudi Arabia has been leading an Arab military coalition since March 2015 to support the Yemeni government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi after Houthi rebels forced him into exile. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-07 10:35:14|Editor: Yang Yi Video Player Close By Hu Bin, Levi J Parsons SYDNEY, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- Although the inaugural China International Import Expo (CIIE) took place just one month ago in Shanghai, the wheels are already in motion to make the second event even bigger, and for Aussie exporters looking to grow their market share in China the news was warmly welcome. Hosted in the New South Wales State Parliament building in Sydney on Thursday with over 100 high-profile government and business leaders in attendance, the CIIE Bureau along with the National Convention and Exhibition Center (Shanghai), held a roadshow supported by the Chinese Embassy and the Chinese Consulate in Australia, to invite Aussies back for the 2019 convention. With the success of the first expo that came together in early November under the theme of "New Era, Shared Future," more than 3,600 exhibitors from all over the world gathered to establish a better platform for international trade and investment. At the forefront of this push to promote stable global growth, over 200 Aussie brands were on show in Shanghai, making Australia's presence at the event the sixth largest in size and the third biggest in terms of the number of products. "Australia's presence at the first CIIE, led by Australian Trade Minister the Honorable Simon Birmingham, was very strong," Consul General of the Consulate-General of China in Sydney, Gu Xiaojie told Xinhua at the event. As the two-way trade between China and Australia continues growing, well-known organizations like Metcash, Australia Post, Swisse and Blackmores were a major part of the first CIIE. But for some smaller outfits, the event was an opportunity to debut in China and begin their inroad into the bountiful Chinese consumer market with products like fresh produce, meat, diary, wine, healthcare and renewable energy considered to be huge potential areas of growth for Aussie companies. "All countries have their respective advantages, specialties and competitiveness when it comes to accessing their goods and services to the Chinese market with a population of 1.4 billion," Deputy Director of CIIE Bureau, Liu Fuxue, told Xinhua. "I hope the CIIE will assist liberalizing and facilitating international trade and investment, joining efforts in baking a bigger still global trade cake, and contributing toward the construction of a more dynamic, open and inclusive globalized economy." "The CIIE is a gift presented to the world by an open and opening-wider China," he added. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-07 10:40:17|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close SEOUL, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- A South Korean court on Friday rejected prosecutors' request to issue arrest warrants for two former top court justices over their alleged involvement in a judiciary power abuse scandal believed to embroil a former Supreme Court chief justice. The Seoul Central District Court decided not to put into custody Park Byong-dae and Ko Young-han, former Supreme Court justices who faced multiple charges such as abuse of power and obstruction of justice, before indictment by prosecutors. Prosecutors sought arrest warrants for Park and Ko on Monday, marking the first time in the country's history that the writs were requested against former top court judges. Park, 61, served as the chief of the highest court's administrative affairs body for two years through February 2016. He was accused of having engaged in the so-called "trial dealings," in which the top court ruled in the politically and diplomatically sensitive trials in favor of the policy directions of impeached President Park Geun-hye. In return for it, then Supreme Court Chief Justice Yang Sung-tae allegedly sought to win Park Geun-hye's approval for the establishment of a separate court of appeals, known to have been a long dream of Yang. Ko, 63, who succeeded Park as the chief of the top court's administrative body from February 2016 to May 2017, was also charged with abusing judiciary power to intervene in the rulings by lower courts. Dismissing the request to arrest Park and Ko, the Seoul court said doubts remained about whether there had been a collusion between them and Lee Jong-hun, a former deputy chief of the top court's administrative body who was already put under custody and indicted last month over his involvement in the judiciary power abuse scandal. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-07 11:25:23|Editor: Yang Yi Video Player Close BEIJING, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- At the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier paid a state visit to China, which lasts from Dec. 5 to 10. Steinmeier was born in January 1956 in Detmold, a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Steinmeier studied law and politics at the Justus Liebig University Giessen from 1976 to 1982. He carried out his practical legal training in Frankfurt and Giessen from 1983 to 1986. He worked as an assistant to the professor of Public Law and Political Science at Giessen University from 1986 to 1991. From 1991 to 1993, Steinmeier became a legal adviser for communication law and media policy in the State Chancellery of Lower Saxony. He went on to serve as chief of staff of then Prime Minister of Lower Saxony Gerhard Schroeder from 1993 to 1994. From 1994 to 1996, Steinmeier headed the Lower Saxony's State Chancellery's inter-agency and planning department. From 1996 to 1998, he served as a state secretary and head of the Lower Saxony State Chancellery. Steinmeier was appointed state secretary of the Federal Chancellery and Commissioner for the Federal Intelligence Services in 1998 and held the position until 1999. From 1999 to 2005, Steinmeier was chief of staff of the Federal Chancellery. Steinmeier served as federal minister of foreign affairs from 2005 to 2007. From 2007 to 2009, he served as vice-chancellor and as foreign minister. From 2009 to 2013, Steinmeier served as head of the Social Democrats' parliamentary group. Steinmeier was again appointed as federal minister of foreign affairs in 2013 and held the position till 2017. In February 2017, Steinmeier was elected as the 12th president of Germany. Steinmeier visited China as federal minister of foreign affairs in February 2006, June 2008, April 2014 and April 2016. In June 2016, he accompanied German Chancellor Angela Merkel on her trip to China for the fourth round of the China-Germany inter-governmental consultation. Steinmeier is married and has one daughter. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-07 11:25:24|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close WASHINGTON, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump will pick State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert as the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations (UN), U.S. media reported on Thursday, citing sources. Nauert, a former Fox news anchor, will succeed departing Nikki Haley who announced in October her intention to leave the post, according to a Bloomberg report. Trump, who has accepted Haley's resignation, will formally announce his pick for the next U.S. envoy to the UN on Friday, Fox News reported, citing multiple sources. Nauert, 48, assumed her current post in April 2017. She was reportedly a "leading contender" for the envoy post after Dina Powell, a former senior White House official, announced her withdrawal from the competition. Greenlighting Nauert, an Illinois native, to represent the United States at the international arena will be seen as an unorthodox choice by Trump, as the veteran news host had little political or foreign policy-making experience before joining the State Department. If nominated, Nauert will probably face a tough Senate confirmation hearing during which Democratic senators will grill her on her qualification for the post. Nauert has reportedly gained the trust of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The U.S. media have complained about the falling frequency of the State Department's press briefings under Nauert. Haley's resignation announcement nearly two months ago came as a surprise as many high-level administration officials had been blindsided about the news. Haley said then she will remain in the post till the end of the year. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-07 11:50:32|Editor: Yang Yi Video Player Close SEOUL, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- South Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) held a vice-ministerial-level meeting Friday at the inter-Korean liaison office in the DPRK's border town of Kaesong. Seoul's unification ministry vice spokesperson, Lee Eugene, told a press briefing that Vice Unification Minister Chun Hae-sung was scheduled to participate in the meeting between chiefs of the inter-Korean liaison office in Kaesong slated for 11 a.m. local time (0200 GMT). Chun's DPRK counterpart is Jon Jong Su, vice chairman of the DPRK's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland. They have served as co-heads of the liaison office, which was opened in September for round-the-clock communications between the two Koreas. During the meeting, Chun and Jon would review the implementation of agreements, which the leaders of the two Koreas reached, and make comprehensive discussions on relevant issues, the vice spokesperson said. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-07 12:40:41|Editor: Yang Yi Video Player Close SYDNEY, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- A 49-year-old man is facing lengthy prison sentence after a joint operation between the Australian Border Force (ABF) and the New South Wales (NSW) State Police Force cracked an alleged online firearms racket, uncovering a huge arsenal of guns, ammunition, body armour and grenade launchers. According to authorities on Friday, border intelligence officers became suspicious when they noticed a number of online "firearms-related" purchases headed to a property in the city of Newcastle, 160 km north of Sydney. As a result, police executed a search warrant for the property on Wednesday and seized "five long-arm firearms, two sound-and-flash grenades, one gas propelled anti-personnel mine, seven gas-propelled grenade canisters, various calibres of ammunition, body armour, camouflage gear, and a hydroponic (drug) set-up with five cannabis plants." Investigators also seized all the firearms for forensic and ballistic examination. Charged a string of offences including 11 counts of importing prohibited firearm parts and various other gun and drug charges, the man was refused bail when he faced court on Thursday. "We have significant intelligence capabilities to detect online purchases of firearms and accessories and through our investigations we have located a number of other serious weapons," ABF Investigations Superintendent Garry Low said. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-07 12:55:44|Editor: Yang Yi Video Player Close WASHINGTON, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- U.S. trade deficit widened for a fifth consecutive month and reached a 10-year high in October, the government reported Thursday. The total trade gap increased 1.7 percent to 55.5 billion U.S. dollars in October, spurred by all-time high imports, according to data from the U.S. Commerce Department. Imports of goods and services increased 0.6 billion dollars, or 0.2 percent compared with the previous month, in October to 266.5 billion dollars. The statistics showed the United States bought an additional 2 billion dollars' worth of consumer goods in October compared with September, and increased its overseas purchase of autos, auto parts and engines by 0.7 billion dollars. These two categories have mainly driven up the monthly imports of goods. With regard to imports of services, the increase was mostly due to travels made by Americans, which added 0.2 billion dollars and brought the U.S. services imports to 46.9 billion dollars. Exports of goods and services dropped 300 million dollars, or 0.1 percent month-over-month, to 211 billion dollars in October. Specifically, exports of goods decreased 0.4 billion dollars, while that of services added 0.1 billion dollars. Decreased goods exports mostly included foods, feeds, beverages and capital goods, while the increase in services exports was mainly driven by an upward trend in financial, research and development and professional and management services. The trade deficit added up to 502.7 billion dollars in the first 10 months this year, up more than 11 percent compared with the same period in 2017, the report said. Economists believe that raising tariffs on imports is not the right way to reduce the country's long-time trade deficit, which is likely to increase further because of the planned U.S. fiscal stimulus. A strong U.S. dollar has also contributed to the widening of the trade deficit. NASHVILLE, TN, Dec. 07, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NEWMEDIAWIRE-- LIG Assets, Inc. (OTC PINK: LIGA) (also known as the "Leader in Green Assets" or "LIGA") announces the results of the two tests conducted by LIGA CEO Allan Gillis and LIGAs partner company LiveStor America regarding the successful catching and transporting of Asian Carp. These tests focused only on the Silver Carp, which feeds on various types of plankton causing the removal of the food source for native fish species. Each mature female Silver Carp (one-year-old) can produce a million eggs per year. LiveStor Americas tests were set up with guidance from the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and the Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Resources Agency which recommended conducting the test program on Lake Barkley in Kuttawa, Kentucky. The main issue with harvesting Asian Carp is that they degrade very quickly once they die, which is usually with two hours of gill netting capture. If not processed quickly or packed on ice the carp will spoil quickly and then they are then only fit for sale to the fertilizer industry which is the lowest cost return of all four possible revenue streams. If the Asian Carp are not in a degraded condition once they reach the fish processing facility they can be used for human consumption such as fish fillets or industrially commercial applications such as fish meal, lobster/ crab bait and fish oil. The purpose of the following tests were to see if we could keep Asian Carp alive for twenty days to facilitate transport to Asia. I was advised by our researchers in Canada that, if we could keep the carp alive in the small T-250 pound system for ten days we could likely make adjustments to our larger forty foot live seafood transport sea containers to make this Asian transport possible. The first test was with industry standard seafood storage crates and the newly released BioNovations Traystor crate using a modified T-250 live seafood holding, biofiltration system. After ten days, eleven fish of the initial twenty one carp were still alive and all survivors were in the BioNovations Traystor crates. After 14 days the small T-250 system could not handle the ammonia levels and the remainder of the fish in the Traystor crates system died. According to Lig Assets CEO Allan Gillis this was a not totally unexpected result. The second test conducted gave the Company the results that LiveStor was looking and hoping for. This test was done using just the Traystor crates with sixteen fish with a constant supply of lake water and the Asian Carp placed in a stack of Traystor crates on the deck of the floating dock. This test lasted 7 days with no mortality, testing was stopped due to time restrictions. This method proved LiveStor America can quickly and safely transport the Asian Carp directly to the processing facilities using the BioNovations Traystor crates. In essence, the open-air method kept the Asian Carp alive and healthy long enough to successfully transport and deliver them literally anywhere in North America, Gillis also stated, Anyone who knows anything about this industry knows the longer you can keep the fish alive, the more valuable they are. What this testing program has proven is that Live Stor America working with Live Ship Ltd. should be able to safely move large volumes of Asian Carp alive for up to ten days. This opens up the transport of Asian Carp from any point in America affected by the invasive species Asian Carp to a central process facility ensuring the highest value for the product. What we are most excited about is our recent approval from the Department of Fisheries in Canada allowing Live Stor America to import Asian Carp into Canada for Lobster /Snow Crab bait. This invasive species product must be frozen and cut in pieces. The bait industry on the east coast of Canada uses hundreds of millions of pounds of bait per year, and the existing lobster/snow crab biomass of herring and mackerel are in decline due to over fishing and warming water temperatures on the east coast. Live Stor America this week has ordered its first 53 ft. semi-truck load of 42,000 lbs. of Asian Carp to be shipped to Nova Scotia in late December; 50% of this load is pre-sold to date. "The testing program in Kentucky enabled me to look at this Asian Carp issue as an outsider who has a vast international subsea construction history and a family history in the fishery business and I came up with some unique methods to remove the Asian Carp using modified industrial-scale fishing methods. I will provide a video and a podcast later next week which will better explain my thinking," stated Gillis. Important Note: LIGA and LiveStors CEO Allan Gillis will be creating a video and podcast to discuss in detail the entire process. LIGA will issue a news release in the very near future alerting interested parties the exact time and place the video/Podcast will be made public on the Companies websites. About LIGA Homes: LIGA Homes unique residential and commercial developments utilize specially designed and manufactured recycled "element resistant" steel framing, in addition to toxic free magnesium oxide building materials and panels that are 100% mold, fungus, termite and rot resistant and fire resistant against temperatures up to 3500 degrees Fahrenheit as well as famed environmentalist Robert Plarr's exclusive "maximum rated" R-60 insulation -- combining to create disaster resistant materials and structures that can withstand up to a 7.5 magnitude earthquake and sustained gale force winds up to 175 MPH while negating damage caused by rain and flood exposure. With the addition of Plarr's green and renewable systems and products, LIGA Homes is now capable of providing affordable, fully sustainable and disaster resistant living environments LIGA Homes is at the forefront of this new and improved direction for the green, sustainable and construction sectors. For more information about LIGA Homes visit - www.LIGAHomes.com or contact the Company directly at 833-LIGAHOMES General inquiries: ContactUs@LIGAHomes.com About LIG Assets, Inc.: LIG Assets, Inc. in association with Robert Plarr is the emerging "Leader in Green Assets" -- focused on exclusive green, renewable energy and sustainable homes, living systems, technologies and components to be utilized in the residential and commercial real estate acquisition and development projects currently under way and now individual product sales, as well as rapid expansion into other sectors via acquisitions, mergers and joint venture partnerships. LIG Assets, Inc. trades on the pink sheets under the ticker symbol "LIGA". LIGA Homes in association with the Companys other wholly-owned subsidiary, LIG Developments, LLC., a steel framing manufacturing and design entity incorporated under the LIG Assets corporate umbrella will fast track LIGA Homes development as an emerging pioneer in the green and renewable energy sectors having successfully created the worlds first earthquake, flood, hurricane and fire resistant homes and structures that are 100% fully sustainable and disaster resistant from individual green systems and homes to fully sustainable communities and commercial centers - completely revolutionizing the sustainable and renewable construction movement forever! For additional information about LIG Assets, Inc., Robert Plarr, and/or how to purchase our exclusive homes, structures, products and technologies or to subscribe online to LIGA's free Shareholder Newsletter for regular updates and alerts regarding important Company developments Please visit the Company's website at www.LeaderInGreenAssets.com -- also follow LIGA at Twitter.com/LIGAssets. About Live Stor Ltd., Global Seafood Logistics: Live Stor is a live seafood storage and distribution company located in North Sydney, Nova Scotia that is revolutionizing the way live lobster and snow crab are shipped worldwide. Live Stors system for eliminating or minimizing stress from catch to plate reduces mortality, improves health, freshness, and taste, therefore increasing market value and supplier profit. The Companys proprietary supply chain system developed by BioNovations minimizes product stress to improve health and longevity while providing system for care of product at all points of the supply chain. This reduces total cost of live seafood distribution and increases market value by delivering a fresh, premium taste experience. The BioNovations live seafood transport container allows Live Stor the ability to ship seafood over long distances and extended periods of time, both over land and sea. Both of BioNovations transport trailers and ocean faring containers minimize carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, resulting in a much lower carbon footprint than traditional methods such as air freight. Up until now live seafood holding and transport systems came with an inherently high mortality rate. BioNovations systems are specifically designed to provide highly controllable environments and have significantly reduced mortality rates associated with long term storage and long haul transport. As a result, the cost of storing and shipping live seafood will greatly reduce loss of life during transport, thereby maximizing the use of the targeted species and increasing the payload. URL: http://liveship.ca mail: info@liveship.ca Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-07 13:15:51|Editor: Lu Hui Video Player Close BEIJING, Dec.7 (Xinhua) -- Ten new railways with an aggregate operating mileage of 2,500 km will be put into service by the end of this year to enhance the capability of China's high-speed rails, sources from the China Railway said. About 553 new high-speed train services will be introduced simultaneously, which is expected to elevate China's high-speed rail transport capacity by 9 percent, according to the sources. The change will also make high-speed railway services available for the first time in a dozen cities, including Fuxin and Chaoyang in Liaoning Province, Chengde in Hebei, Tongliao in Inner Mongolia, Mudanjiang in Heilongjiang, Rizhao in Shandong, Lianyungang and Yancheng in Jiangsu, Yaan in Sichuan and Lijiang in Yunan. The travel times between some cities are also expected to be shortened. For instance, it will take three hours less for passengers to travel from Harbin to Mudanjiang, and nearly seven hours less from Mudanjiang to Beijing. A new train diagram will be put into use on January 5, 2019. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-07 14:21:04|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close SEOUL, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- South Korea and the United States will hold the 10th round of negotiations next week on how to share costs for U.S. troops stationed in South Korea, South Korea's foreign ministry said Friday. The negotiations will last for three days from Dec. 11 in Seoul to strike a deal on the cost-sharing for the stationing of the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK). About 28,500 U.S. soldiers are stationed in South Korea, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War that ended with truce. A five-year accord to share the costs is set to expire on Dec. 31 this year. Under the current accord, South Korea contributed about 960 billion won (860 million U.S. dollars) per year to help station the U.S. forces. The U.S. administration allegedly called for South Korea to sharply increase its contribution to the USFK stationing, a move opposed by the South Korean government. The foreign ministry said the two sides will make an in-depth discussion, based on what was discussed in the previous negotiations, to coordinate the positions of both sides. The South Korean side will be represented by Chang Won-sam, a career diplomat who served as ambassador to Sri Lanka, while his U.S. counterpart will be Timothy Betts, deputy assistant secretary of state. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-07 14:21:06|Editor: Chengcheng Video Player Close BEIJING, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- China's commitment to openness and multilateralism is a key stabilizer for the world amid rise of protectionism and unilateralism, experts across the globe have said. "In a world of risks and uncertainties, China's openness and predictability have obviously become a key stabilizer factor," said David Gosset, a French expert on international relations and founder of the Europe-China Forum. "While some sadly argue -- and act -- against the multilateralism which has been patiently established since the end of WWII, China speaks and behaves in order to protect multilateral mechanisms to tackle issues connected with trade, development, security and environment," Gosset said. Referring to Chinese President Xi Jinping's speech at the just-concluded 13th G20 summit, Gosset said it is "a clear reaffirmation" of China's commitment to inclusive economic development and global stability in a world of unprecedented interdependence. "In a time marked by fears, irrationalities and confusion, Xi Jinping is rightly calling for a rational approach to solve the issues we collectively face," Gosset said. Addressing the summit, Xi called on G20 members to "stay committed to openness and cooperation, and uphold the multilateral trading system." Abdul-Raouf Al-Sunni, a Sudanese political analyst, told Xinhua that the outcome of the summit is consistent with the ideas presented by Xi in his speech. "In his speech, President Xi focused on importance of upholding the WTO's core values and fundamental principles such as openness, inclusiveness and non-discrimination and ensuring the development interests," he said. Argentine Foreign Minister Jorge Faurie views China's commitment to openness as an opportunity for the South American country. "Argentina's objective is to sell its products, making them arrive at different markets, such as the Chinese market," Faurie said, while highlighting the contribution of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative to Argentina's development. The G20 summit was concluded in Buenos Aires, capital of Argentina on Saturday. On the sidelines of the summit, Xi and his U.S. counterpart, Donald Trump, held a dinner meeting, during which the two agreed to continue the trade talks between the two countries. The United States and China still share common interests in global and regional affairs such as counter-terrorism, non-proliferation, and prevention of epidemics, said Douglas Paal, vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Paal, who was on the National Security Council Staff between 1986 and 1993 as director of Asian Affairs, acknowledged that some in the United States claim it is time to adopt a more confrontational stance against China. "But the Cold War-designed containment and confrontational strategy do not serve long-term interests of the United States, and it would not get the support of any other countries," he said. Engagement and balancing should be the only option for U.S. policy toward China, Paal said. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-07 14:21:08|Editor: Chengcheng Video Player Close SYDNEY, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- Aussie businesses are learning how to use WeChat thanks to two seminars which took place in the South Australian (SA) city of Adelaide during the week. The seminars aimed at how to unlock the vast potential of social media marketing to Chinese audiences. Key speaker Jo Ruo from a Chinese social media agency, United Media Solutions, told Xinhua on Friday that most Australians have little experience with WeChat but are ready to learn. With the area around Adelaide famous for its vineyards, wine companies constituted the bulk of attendance, as well as councils, agriculture and film companies, and a mix of small businesses. "They wanted to know a bit more about the WeChat app itself first because a lot of them have the app, but they didn't know how to use it," Ruo said. A number of the wine companies attended the recent China International Import Expo in Shanghai, walking away with phones full of contacts but not much idea of what to do with them. "They wanted to reconnect but they didn't know how to use the app," Ruo said, adding "so the workshop was mainly just to get them up and running with WeChat, it's functions, how they use it properly for business and also for personal use." With about 900 million monthly active users, WeChat presents a vital access point for businesses which are looking to expand. "It was great because companies really need to know more about Chinese consumers," Ruo said. "I've already received some invitations asking me if I'm available to go back and do more deep dives into the app next year." Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-07 14:31:11|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close SEOUL, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- A group of South Korean government officials and experts will visit Pyongyang, capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), next week for inter-Korean forest cooperation, Seoul's unification ministry said Friday. The South Korean delegation, composed of 10 officials and forest experts, will make a three-day trip to Pyongyang from Dec. 11. It was part of efforts to implement the agreement, reached during the working-level talks between the two Koreas in October, the ministry said. During the Pyongyang trip, the South Korean delegation will tour a tree nursery and a factory, which produces tools and materials used for forestation. The delegation will also hold a working-level dialogue with its DPRK counterpart about the inter-Korean cooperation in preventing forest disease and pest and building tree nurseries. In late November, South Korea delivered about 50 tons of pesticides to the DPRK to help prevent a pine tree disease from spreading. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-07 15:31:26|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- A woman from the Central Valley in the U.S. state of California has been jailed on a possible charge of homicide after she was found to have drowned her two twin babies in a motel, police said Thursday. The 37-year-old mother, Heather Langdon, will be charged in the babies' death at the Virginia Motor Lodge Motel in Tulare County, Central Valley, local TV station Ksee quoted an officer of the Tulare Police Department as saying. In response to an emergency call, police officers were dispatched to the motel earlier Thursday, and rushed the two babies to a local hospital, where they died later, said the TV report. An owner of the motel said the mother and her two sons checked in Wednesday night after the police found them homeless, and the motel offered them a room for the night. Police said the motel does not have a pool and are investigating where the children were drowned. Authorities are looking into whether drugs or alcohol were involved in the deaths. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-07 15:31:27|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close Guests attend the celebrations of the 100th anniversary of Ukraine's National Academy of Sciences in Kiev, Ukraine, Dec. 6, 2018. A Chinese delegation of scientists headed by Bai Chunli, president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, attended the celebrations. (Xinhua/Sergey) KIEV, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese delegation of scientists called for deeper scientific cooperation with Ukraine here Thursday, while attending celebrations of the 100th anniversary of Ukraine's National Academy of Sciences (UNAS). The celebrations were held in the UNAS great conference hall, bringing together about 100 foreign guests from 13 countries and several international organizations. "Ukraine has always been a good partner of China. In the field of science and technology, the CAS and the UNAS have established close cooperative relations," said Bai Chunli, president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), who headed the delegation. Bai said the CAS is pleased to cooperate with the UNAS in the scientific sphere for the benefits of both countries and their people. Chinese Ambassador to Ukraine Du Wei attended the ceremony, saying "China and Ukraine, with each taking the lead in certain scientific fields, can give full play to their advantages by joining forces." When addressing the event, Anton Naumovets, first vice president of the UNAS, said international cooperation is crucially important for the development of science in Ukraine. "Our academy has signed over 130 agreements with partners from 50 countries. The UNAS attaches great importance to such cooperation and seeks to expand it in every possible way," Naumovets said. Representatives of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the European Federation of Academies of Sciences and Humanities also took part in the event. Founded in November 1918, the UNAS is the highest state-supported research institution in Ukraine with about 15,000 research staff members, including 98 foreign members. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-07 15:41:32|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close JALALABAD, Afghanistan, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- At least 20 militants of Islamic State (IS) were killed in Afghanistan's eastern province of Nangarhar overnight as security forces continued in mopping-up operations, authorities said Friday. In one incident, 17 IS militants including two divisional commanders of the outfit were killed after the National Directorate of Security (NDS), the country's primary intelligence agency, attacked IS hideouts in Haska Mina district, the provincial government said in a statement. Six militants' defense positions and hideouts together with amount of weapons and ammunition were also destroyed by the security forces, the statement added. In neighboring Pachir Aw Agam district, three IS fighters were killed after Afghan Air Force launched an airstrike in the mountainous district, according to the Afghan Ministry of Defense. The mountainous province, 120 km east of Kabul, has been the scene of clashes between security forces and IS militants from time to time. Clashes have forced thousands of villagers to flee to safer places. The IS group has yet to make comments on the report. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-07 16:01:38|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close NANNING, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in South China will introduce a tax refund policy on Dec. 11 for foreigners staying in China within 183 days and people from Hongkong, Macao, and Taiwan. Nanning, Guilin, and Fangchenggang will be the first cities to carry out the policy with a minimum refund amount of 500 yuan (about 73 U.S. dollars) and a refund rate of 11 percent. The money can be refunded in cash or via bank transfer. "In order to better inform the passengers of our policy, we have prepared handbooks in Chinese, English, Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese," said Lai Fuqiang, with the autonomous region's culture and tourism department, adding that Guangxi receives a large number of inbound tourists each year. According to local authorities, Guangxi received over 5.12 million in-bound visitors last year, creating 2.396 billion U.S. dollars of forex tourist consumption in which 20.9 percent was spent on shopping. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-07 16:11:40|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close KABUL, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- Afghanistan has condemned in its strongest terms a terrorist attack that hit an Iranian city, said the country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday. According to the latest reports, at least three people, including the attacker, were killed and 48 others were injured in the attack in Iranian city of Chabahar on Thursday morning. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan condemns in the strongest possible terms, the terrorist attack that took place in Chabahar city of Iran, the ministry said in a statement. The statement added that Afghanistan has made enormous sacrifices in its fight against terrorism which is "a common enemy of humanity." The government of Afghanistan expresses its deepest condolences and sympathy in respect of the Iranian citizen's lives lost and those injured in this tragic incident and stresses the need for closer cooperation among states in fighting this common enemy, the statement said. Dublin, Dec. 07, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Global Biomimetic Technology Market: Focus on Medical & Robotics: (End-User and Application) - Analysis and Forecast, 2018-2028" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. Global Biomimetic Technology Market is Anticipated to Reach $18.51 billion by 2028 The global biomimetic technology market was valued at $6.8 billion in 2017. Rising demand for biomimetic nano drones for search and rescue, surveillance, and biomimetic technologies in medical prosthetics are the main factors driving the global biomimetic technology market. Biomimetic drones have gradually gained importance with the rapid development in a number of airborne technologies. Moreover, biomimetic drones have huge benefits and can serve the defense, commercial, and consumer sectors. Biomimetic drones in commercial sector can mainly be used in inspection and site monitoring. Search & Rescue & Prosthetics are the leading market applications in the global biomimetic technology market. On the basis of application, the biomimetic technology market is classified into prosthetics, drug delivery, tissue engineering, wound healing in medical industry and search & rescue, surveillance, underwater research, security and safety, and traffic monitoring in robotics. The prosthetics segment dominated the biomimetic technology market in the medical sector. The growth in the market is mainly due to the increasing amputee population based on increasing accidents, diabetes, and vascular diseases, the dominance of the market is one of the crucial factors expected to drive the biomimetic prosthetic market. The robotics biomimetic technology market is expected to grow at the highest CAGR of 18.66% during the forecast period from 2018 to 2028.The penetration of biomimetic technology for nano drones in military/law enforcement has emerged with the development of latest innovations in nano technology. Globally, North America is one of the most prominent regions, which is continuously advancing its technologies related to bionic medical treatments. The North America region is one of the early adopters of biomimetic technology and is leading in biomimetic robots and medical material development. The North America biomimetic technology market is followed by Europe, which is estimated to be second in terms of revenue generation in the year 2017. Key Topics Covered Executive Summary 1 Market Dynamics 1.1 Market Drivers 1.1.1 Increasing Demand for Biomimetic Nano Drones 1.1.2 Growth in Tissue Engineering to Drive Medical Biomimetic Industry 1.2 Market Challenges 1.2.1 Privacy Concerns 1.2.2 Biomimetic is a Complex and Multi-Dimensional Technology with Operational Constraints 1.3 Market Opportunities 1.3.1 Rapid Growth in the Bio-Inspired Technologies 1.3.2 Burgeoning Prosthetics and Bionics Industry 2 Competitive Insights 2.1 Key Strategies & Developments 2.1.1 New Product Launch 2.1.2 Mergers & Acquisitions and Collaborations, Agreements, and Joint Ventures 2.1.3 Contracts 2.1.4 Other Developments 2.2 Competitive Benchmarking 3 Industry Analysis 3.1 Overview 3.2 Evolution of Biomimetic Nano UAV's 3.3 Global Drone Market: Regulatory Environment 3.3.1 Drone Regulatory Authorities (by Country) 3.3.2 Overview: Drone Regulations in the U.S. and Europe 3.4 Supply Chain Analysis 3.5 Industry Attractiveness 3.5.1 Threat from New Entrants 3.5.2 Threat from Substitutes 3.5.3 Bargaining Power of Buyers 3.5.4 Bargaining Power of Suppliers 3.5.5 Intensity of Competitive Rivalry 4 Global Biomimetic Technology Market, 2017-2028 4.1 Assumptions and Limitations 4.2 Market Overview 5 Global Biomimetic Technology Market (by Application) 5.1 Market Overview 5.2 Medical 5.2.1 Prosthetics 5.2.2 Drug Delivery 5.2.3 Tissue Engineering 5.2.4 Wound Healing 5.2.5 Others 5.3 Robotics 5.3.1 Search and Rescue 5.3.2 Surveillance 5.3.3 Underwater Research 5.3.4 Security and Safety 5.3.5 Traffic Monitoring 6 Global Biomimetic Technology Market (by End-User) 6.1 Market Overview 6.1.1 Medical 6.1.1.1 Key Materials in Medical Biomimetics Market 6.1.2 Robotics 6.1.2.1 Key Sensors in Robotics Biomimetics Market 7 Global Biomimetic Technology Market (by Region) 7.1 Market Overview 7.2 North America 7.3 Europe 7.4 Asia-Pacific 7.5 Rest-of-the-World 8 Company Profile 8.1 Overview 8.2 AeroVironment, Inc. 8.2.1 Company Overview 8.2.2 Product Offerings 8.2.3 Financials 8.2.4 Financial Summary 8.2.5 SWOT Analysis 8.3 Avinent 8.4 Biomimetics Technology Inc. 8.5 Chas. A. Blatchford & Sons Ltd 8.6 Hstar Technologies 8.7 Syntouch LLC 8.8 Veryan Medical 8.9 Wright Medical Group Inc. 8.10 Other Key Players For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/vgcxd7/global_biomimetic?w=12 Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-07 16:21:46|Editor: mym Video Player Close HAVANA, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- The 40th International Festival of New Latin American Cinema kicked off here Thursday to feast the audience's eyes on over 400 movies, documentaries, short films and animations. Among them, more than 300 films are from Latin American and Caribbean countries, in line with the yearly gala's purpose to encourage the work of Spanish language filmmakers. This year, 20 fiction movies, 22 short and medium-length films, 25 documentaries and 26 animated motion pictures, among other categories will compete against each other. "The movies demonstrate various aspects of the societies, countries, and cultures, and preserve our memories of struggles for social rights, against violence, racial and gender equality," said, Ivan Giroud, director of the film festival, which will run until Dec. 16. He said that the event has changed significantly since its foundation in 1979 and that Latin America's film industries must develop over time. Serbian director Emir Kusturica's documentary, "El Pepe, a supreme life," was screened at the opening ceremony. Kusturica is one of the few filmmakers who has twice won the Palme d'Or award at the Cannes Film Festival. Films such as "Roma," by Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron, and Japanese movie "A family affair," winner of the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in France will also be shown. Another highlight of the festival will be the debut in Cuba of the film "Yuli" by Spanish director Iciar Bollain, which tells the story of legendary Cuban dancer Carlos Acosta, who had been a leading figure of the Royal Ballet of London for over 10 years. File photo shows passengers queue to be screened at Uganda's Entebbe International Airport on May 15, 2018. (Xinhua/Joseph Kiggundu) KAMPALA, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- Although Uganda has not recorded any case of Ebola outbreak, the country is on high alert as chances of a likely spread from neighboring eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are high. The common border between Uganda and eastern DRC is porous and there is a lot of human activity. Large numbers of people cross the border daily for trade, health services, education and cultural relationships. Huge numbers of Congolese are also fleeing to Uganda seeking refugee due to fighting back home. According to Uganda's ministry of health, the Congolese government recently intercepted five families with affected persons trying to cross into Uganda. All this has caused concern to Uganda which fears that the deadly disease can easily spread beyond its current epicenter in DRC. Uganda's health minister Ruth Aceng is currently heading a delegation to DRC where they are discussing with their Congolese counterparts on measures how they can jointly fight the hemorrhagic fever. In a meeting held on Wednesday in the Congolese town of Goma, Aceng said the two countries need to have high level coordination mechanisms and common platform to address common challenges in containing the Ebola outbreak. Aceng, according to a ministry of health statement issued here on Wednesday told the Congolese delegation, head by Oly Ilunga, health minister that there is need to strengthen cross-border surveillance by encouraging collaboration between the local health zone in DRC and the border districts in Uganda. She also said there is need to deploy technical experts between the two countries when required. She added that joint risk assessments and joint response, in case of Ebola cases on the border line are needed. "We look forward to a formal engagement with your teams at the border health zones with my teams in the border districts," Aceng told the meeting. Minister Ilunga said fighting in some parts of eastern DRC have hampered government's response to the Ebola outbreak. He said there are areas with the Ebola outbreak but are under the control of local militias known as the Mai Mai. He noted that to access these areas, the health officials have to negotiate with the militias. He said areas controlled by the rebel Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) have not had any Ebola response interventions. "The security situation in the jungles controlled by the ADF has made it difficult for us to respond to the outbreak in these areas. We have not made any contact with the ADF," Ilunga said. The Congolese minister said that besides the challenges, the vast central African country is fighting the outbreak. According to the DRC ministry of health, over 10,000 health care workers in the affected areas have been vaccinated against the disease. UGANDA PREPAREDNESS Health experts on the Ugandan side of the border say they have put up strong measures to combat the disease just in case it spreads to Uganda. There is an ongoing vaccination exercise of health care workers in the five border districts that face the most risk. World Health Organization (WHO) in a statement on Nov. 25 said over 1,000 health care and frontline workers have so far been vaccinated out of the targeted 2,000. The vaccination started on Nov. 7. The global health body said at least 2,100 doses of experimental rVSV-ZEBOV Ebola vaccine are currently available in the east African country, while supplementary doses have been requested. Health workers in the border districts have been trained on how to handle Ebola cases. Surveillance and teams screening people crossing the border have also been deployed. Uganda has had five Ebola outbreaks in the last two decades, mostly along its western regions close to the DRC, according to the ministry of health. The ministry says all the outbreaks were controlled at source with limited spread beyond the localities of original incidence. The Ebola virus is highly contagious and causes a range of symptoms including fever, vomiting, diarrhea, generalized pain or malaise and in many cases internal and external bleeding. Mortality rates of Ebola fever, according to WHO, are extremely high, with the human case fatality rate ranging from 50 percent to 89 percent, depending on viral sub-type. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-07 18:17:15|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close TAIPEI, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- Taiwan's exports in November dropped 3.4 percent year on year to 27.81 billion U.S. dollars, the first decline since February this year, according to the island's finance authority Friday. The agency said the decline could be attributed to lower-than-expected sales for international smartphone brands, a weakening overseas demand for machinery investment, as well as a relatively high comparative basis from last year, adding that it expected a flat export growth for Taiwan in the future. In the first eleven months of the year, the island's exports rose 6.9 percent year on year to 307.46 billion U.S. dollars. During the same period, exports to the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong grew 8 percent year on year to 126.85 billion U.S. dollars, the agency said. From January to November, exports to the United States, Europe, and Japan were up 6.9 percent, 8.6 percent and 11.6 percent, respectively. Exports to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations gained 0.6 percent. Meanwhile, Taiwan's imports in November fell 11.6 percent from the previous month but edged up 1.1 percent year on year to 23.16 billion U.S. dollars. Total imports from January to November were worth 262.76 billion U.S. dollars, up 11.4 percent year on year. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-07 18:17:17|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close HERAT, Afghanistan, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- At least 14 Afghan army soldiers were killed after Taliban militants attacked an army camp in Afghanistan's western province of Herat overnight, a local official said Friday. "Hundreds of Taliban militants attacked and overran an army camp in Cheshma area of Shindand district, Herat province late Thursday night, killing 14 army soldiers," the official who declined to be named told Xinhua. The militants also captured 20 army personnel along with amount of weapons and ammunition and took them to an unknown location after the attack in the restive district, the official added. He said the militants also suffered casualties but did not give exact figures. The district has been the scene of heavy clashes as Taliban militants attacked security checkpoints and army camps from time to time. Early in June, 17 Afghan soldiers were killed after Taliban stormed an army checkpoint in Shindand. The Afghan security forces' casualties have risen recently as they struggle against a surge in attacks by the Taliban militant group and other anti-government fighters. In southern Kandahar province, one police officer and two militants were killed after Taliban attacked a police checkpoint with guns in Police District 11 of provincial capital Kandahar city earlier on Friday. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-07 18:22:19|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- Brunei's Consumer Price Index (CPI) in October 2018 decreased by 0.02 percent year-on-year compared to October 2017, owing to stable Non-Food prices, according to the latest statistics from Brunei's Department of Economic Planning and Development (JPKE) at the Ministry of Finance and Economy. In its monthly CPI report released on Friday, JPKE said that the Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages prices increased by 1.1 percent and Non-Food prices decreased by 0.3 percent year-on-year. A senior manager of Baiduri Bank, which is the second biggest local bank by total assets in Brunei, told Xinhua that there is no dramatic ups and downs in the country's CPI index for the past year, which is supportive of local economic growth. On a month-a-month basis, the CPI in October 2018 decreased by 0.4 percent compared to September 2018. CPI is a measure of price changes of goods and services paid by the consumer in a specified period. Brunei's list of goods and services in the CPI is based on the average expenditure per household. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-07 18:32:23|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) meets with Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 7, 2018. (Xinhua/Yao Dawei) BEIJING, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) in Beijing on Friday, calling for more efforts to advance the long-term, healthy and steady development of bilateral relations. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-07 18:47:25|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close RABAT, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- The Moroccan security services busted on Friday a six-member terror cell in the central city of Beni Mellal, the Interior Ministry said in a statement. The suspects are linked to the Islamic State (IS) group and were preparing terrorist attacks in the kingdom, according to the ministry. Electronic devices, books and manuscripts promoting IS extremist ideology, as well as bladed weapons were seized during the operation, the statement said. Initial investigations revealed the suspects, aged between 24 and 37, had recruited several young people to carry out attacks. More than 57 terrorist cells have been dismantled since 2015, according to the ministry. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-07 18:52:26|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- For the month of September 2018, Brunei recorded 101.1 million Brunei dollars (73.7 million U.S. dollars) trade balance from 204.4 million Brunei dollars in September 2017, a 50.5 percent year-on-year decrease. The exports amounted to 644.1 million Brunei dollars in September 2018, a 1.6 percent year-on-year increase. Mineral fuels recorded the highest contribution with 567.5 million Brunei dollars, or 88.1 percent of total exports, according to the latest statistics released on Friday by the Department of Economic Planning and Development (JPKE) at the Ministry of Finance and Economy. "Major exports decreased by 5.7 percent in September 2018, which was mainly due to a drop in the exports of liquefied natural gas by 29.8 percent. However, exports of crude oil increased by 28.8 percent," a JPKE official told Xinhua. The biggest export market was Japan with 31.3 percent of total exports, followed by Singapore (24.5 percent), Thailand (14.8 percent) and Malaysia (10.4 percent). In September 2018, total imports were valued at 543.0 million Brunei dollars, a 26.4 percent year-on-year increase. The highest imports came from China with 45 percent of total imports, followed by Singapore (15.4 percent) and United States (12.8 percent). (1 U.S. dollar equals to 1.58 Brunei dollars) Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-07 18:52:26|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close VIENNA, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- A European commissioner on Thursday said Western Balkans countries should have an equal opportunity to enter the European Union (EU). Johannes Hahn, commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, made the remarks at a local labor union event. Even though it is unlikely that all countries would join the EU at the same time, there must be a "realistic perspective" for countries waiting, Hahn said. Moreover, he said the EU does not wish to "import running conflicts," urging countries to resolve disputes with neighbors bilaterally. He cited the example of Macedonia's name-change agreement with Greece. These challenges can be overcome, Hahn said. Hahn added that he hopes accession talks for Macedonia, or the future Republic of North Macedonia, and Albania can begin next summer. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-07 18:57:28|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close WELLINGTON, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- New data showed a significant drop in the number of people who have been victims of crime in New Zealand, Police Minister Stuart Nash said on Friday. In the year to Oct. 31, 2018, the number of victimizations recorded by Police fell by 3.5 percent, which means 9,353 fewer people were victims of a crime during the year, Nash said in a statement. The fall in recorded crime equates to 1,304 fewer crimes against a person and 8,049 fewer crimes against property, he said, adding there were 6,377 fewer burglaries and clearance rates for burglary have increased. "Burglaries are a key focus for Police. It is an invasive crime which greatly affects how safe people feel in their homes and communities," the minister said. As one of the greatest crime prevention tools is the visibility of Police in the community, the government strives to increase Police numbers by 1,800 extra officers, he said. "We have a particular focus on community policing and organized crime, which is a driver of crimes such as burglary and assault," Nash added. SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 07, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Silver Bull Resources Inc. ( SVB:TSX; SVBL:NYSE.MKT) , a Canada-based mineral exploration company, released an updated resource for the Sierra Mojada project, located in Coahuila, Mexico. Recent measurements showed 5.35 billion pounds of zinc and 87.4 million ounces of silver. Company mentioned: Silver Bull Resources Inc. "This resource update models the mineralization defined at Sierra Mojada to zinc and silver prices realistic of the current market conditions," stated Tim Barry, president and CEO of Silver Bull. "Sierra Mojada is one of only a handful of projects with any appreciable zinc resources and is one of the largest undeveloped silver-zinc projects in Mexico. It has excellent infrastructure; it is located three hours from an international airport with a paved road right to site; it has a functioning railway right to site; runs on grid power; and it has a skilled mining work force to draw upon in the immediate local area. This resource provides excellent leverage to both zinc and silver prices and has the potential to be scaled in size depending on metal prices." In June, Silver Bull Resources signed a joint venture with South32 , a large, Australia-based miner. CEO Tim Barry noted how aggressive South32 is in the acquisition and joint venture arena, "The company recently took out Arizona Mining of US$1.6 billion. It also formed a joint venture with a company called Trilogy in Alaska, and has numerous other projects." Continue reading this article: Large Silver and Zinc Resource Found South of the Border About Streetwise Reports Streetwise Reports shares investment ideas in many sectors. The information provided above is for informational purposes only and is not a recommendation to buy or sell any security. DISCLOSURE: The following companies mentioned in this article are billboard sponsors of Streetwise Reports: Silver Bull Resources. Click here for important disclosures about sponsor fees. As of the date of this article, an affiliate of Streetwise Reports has a consulting relationship with Silver Bull Resources. Please click here for more information. As of the date of this article, officers and/or employees of Streetwise Reports LLC (including members of their household) own securities of Silver Bull Resources. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-07 18:57:28|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close TOKYO, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- Japanese forces and the coast guard have been continuing as of Friday to search for five U.S. Marines still missing following the mid-air collision and crash of two U.S. military aircraft during refueling training off Cape Muroto off Japan's western coast a day earlier. The mishap occurred in the early hours of Thursday morning and involved the collision of an F/A-18 fighter jet and a KC-130 tanker plane, both belonging to the U.S. Corps Air Station Iwakuni base in western Japan, during a routine training operation around 100 km south of Cape Muroto in Kochi Prefecture. Two of the seven Marines involved in the crash have been rescued by Japan Self-Defense Forces personnel, but one of them has been pronounced dead. The other is in stable condition, the U.S. side has said. "The United States Marine Corps confirms that two Marines have been found. One is in fair condition and the other has been declared deceased by competent medical personnel," U.S. Forces, Japan said in a statement. Five of the seven crew members are still missing, while search and rescue operations continued, the Japanese Defense Ministry and U.S. Forces, Japan said. "The search and rescue operations continue for the remaining five U.S. Marines who were aboard the KC-130 Hercules and F/A-18 Hornet involved in a mishap about 200 miles off of the coast of Japan around 2:00 a.m. Dec. 6," U.S. Forces, Japan also said, adding, "We are thankful for the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force's, the Japanese Coast Guard, and the U.S. 7th Fleet's efforts as they continue to respond to the search and rescue operation." Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, in talks in Tokyo with U.S. Ambassador to Japan William Hagerty, said that Japan is "making its best effort to rescue the crew members as soon as possible." Japanese Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya, meanwhile, intimated that the details of the crash were still pending. "We will call on the U.S. side for safe operations once we get details of the incident," Iwaya was quoted as telling a press conference. There is speculation that the F/A-18 fighter jet was refueling mid-air when the collision with the KC-130 tanker took place, although there has been no official confirmation of this as yet. The KC-130 tanker plane is designed to refuel both fixed-wing, tilt-rotor and rotary-wing aircraft using the probe and drogue technique, aviation experts explained. Mid-air refueling can be a tricky process especially at night and in inclement weather, they added of the matter. The SDF have deployed a total of 10 aircraft, while the Japan Coast Guard has dispatched six patrol vessels to conduct the ongoing search and rescue operations, officials from the government here said. The Japanese Defense Ministry is currently trying to ascertain more details from the U.S. forces in Japan about the accident, but has confirmed that no civilian ships have reported being affected by the incident. The latest U.S. aircraft mishap comes on the heels of another F/A-18 fighter aircraft, this one belonging to the USS Ronald Reagan nuclear carrier, crashing into the Pacific Ocean in waters southwest of Kita Daitojima Island around 290 km from Okinawa, owing to mechanical issues, on Nov. 12. Both pilots in this incident managed to eject to safety and were safely rescued by a U.S. military chopper. A Marines F/A -18 also stationed at the Iwakuni based crashed into the sea off Kochi, killing the pilot in 2016. Accidents, crashes and mishaps, involving U.S. military aircraft, always draw the ire of the Japanese government as fears about safety consistently grow within the Japanese public already reticent about the U.S. military presence in Japan and the rising incidents of accidents and crime. In some instances, due to the Status of Forces Agreement made between the United States and Japan, the former is not always legally required to disclose pertinent information on crashes and accidents related to its military hardware and can restrict access to Japanese investigators to crash sites and evidence. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-07 19:02:30|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close BEIJING, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- The State Council, China's cabinet, announced the appointment and removal of several officials on Friday. Sheng Laiyun was appointed deputy head of the National Bureau of Statistics, replacing Jia Nan, according to a statement issued by the State Council. Zhang Jianhua was named head of the National Energy Administration, said the statement. The State Council named Zhou Jie as deputy head of the China Academy of Engineering Physics while removing Tian Dongfeng from the post. Robots operated by Alibaba's logistics unit Cainiao move parcels at a new aunomated guided vehicles (AGV) warehouse inside the hub of delivery company YTO Express, in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China, on September 14, 2018. BRUSSELS, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has inked an agreement with the federal government of Belgium to open its first Electronic World Trade Platform (eWTP) in Europe with the aim of promoting long-term cross-border trade. The agreement was signed on Wednesday by Belgium's Deputy Prime Minister Kris Peeters and Senior Director of the Alibaba Group James Song. Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel and Alibaba Group President of Global Business Angel Zhao, were present witnessing the signing of the memorandum of understanding. Prime Minister Michel declared that "Today is a historic day. This cooperation will enhance the competitiveness of Belgian and European companies on the global stage". Cao Zhongming, the newly appointed Chinese ambassador to Belgium, said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua that this latest agreement is a sign of growing cooperation between Belgium and China, but hinted that more can be done to expand cooperation. "The establishment of this new electronic trading platform in Liege will drive more Belgian enterprises to cooperate with China and promote the export of high-quality Belgian products to China for our mutual benefit. Pragmatic cooperation injects new impetus," said Cao. A major element of the eWTP agreement signed is the establishment of a logistics infrastructure to support cross-border trade. Cainiao Smart Logistics Network Ltd., the logistics arm of Alibaba Group, and Liege Airport also signed a contract to lease a 220,000-square-meter area to build a world-class smart logistics hub at the airport. The initial investment will be 75 million euros, with the first phase of the facility planned to commence operations in early 2021. The Liege smart hub is expected to enhance overall logistics efficiency and help small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) better manage their exports especially with the surge in global e-commerce. The new smart logistics hub will be the cornerstone of the eWTP infrastructure collaboration, with Alibaba playing a key role in facilitating trade, particularly for accessing the China market, as part of the group's commitment to serve as the "Gateway to China" and help import 200 billion dollars worth of quality goods to China over the next five years. Michel Kempeneers, COO Overseas of Wallonia Export-Investment Agency, Belgian Deputy Prime Minister Kris Peeters, Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, Alibaba Group President of Global Business Angel Zhao and Senior Director of the Alibaba Group James Song (from L to R) celebrate after signing a MOU for opening the Electronic World Trade Platform at a signing ceremony in Liege, Belgium, Dec. 5, 2018. In addition, the government of Belgium and Alibaba will work closely together to introduce new technologies that will promote the digitization of customs procedures and the more efficient clearance of goods, which will be crucial for global trade, in particular for SMEs. Alibaba and Belgium's trade and investment agencies will also collaborate to increase the sales of quality Belgian products on e-commerce platforms within Alibaba's ecosystem. This will include product promotions, marketing and direct imports by Alibaba's platforms. Alibaba will also work closely with the Belgian government to promote Belgium as an attractive destination for Chinese tourists. Over the past two years, the eWTP has become an exceedingly marketable concept for Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma, who pitched the idea for the first time at the 2016 Boao Forum for Asia. The world e-commerce platform has already set up subsidiaries in Malaysia and Rwanda. This latest MoU with Belgium will sow the seeds for the eWTP's speedy entry into new European markets. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-07 19:32:43|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close LUSAKA, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- China's Anhui Foreign Economic Construction Corporation (AFECC) handed over a mega water dam with a storage capacity of 61 million cubic meters to the Zambian government on Thursday. Zambian President Edgar Lungu inspected the site and said his country has turned a new page in the advancement of irrigation agriculture thanks to the Mwomboshi Dam in central Dhisamba district. In remarks delivered during the handover, Lungu said the project is a stamp on the government's significant strides being made in infrastructure development aimed at fostering national development. The government intends to build at least one large-scale dam in each province to irrigate massive hectares of land for agricultural purposes, the president said. The Zambian leader further challenged other contractors in the country to emulate the work culture and dedication which the AFECC has shown by not only completing the construction of the dam ahead of schedule but also reaching world-class standards of quality and efficiency. The project, launched in March 2016, has been completed and handed over nine months ahead of schedule, according to Kan Jiatao, the Chinese firm's project manager. He said the AFECC had observed safety measures during the construction process. The 1.6-kilometer-long dam financed by the World Bank at a cost of 28 million U.S. dollars will see about 4,000 hectares of land be brought under irrigation with at least 1,500 hectares under smallholder farmers. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-07 19:42:46|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close BRATISLAVA, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- Slovakia's parliament approved a government nomination of Finance Minister Peter Kazimir as the next governor of Slovak Central Bank, local media reported on Friday. The current governor Jozef Makuch said he will step down in next March but did not provide any reasons. His term originally expires in 2021. The opposition criticized the nomination, saying Kazimir has political affiliation and is coming directly from the government. Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini said Kazimir is the best candidate for the post, praising his prior performance as the finance minister. Kazimir has to be appointed to the post by the president. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-07 19:52:49|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close BERLIN, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- 47 percent of CDU supporters would like Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer to take the party lead, one more percentage point than in the previous month's survey, according to the latest DeutschlandTrend survey published on Friday. Kramp-Karrenbauer puts herself ahead of her rival Friedrich Merz, who is supported by 37 percent but catches up to Kramp-Karrenbauer five percentage points compared to the previous month's survey. At the CDU party conference Friday, 1,001 delegates will decide on Angela Merkel's successor to lead Germany's conservative party although Merkel is expected to finish her fourth term as chancellor until 2021. A majority of Germans, 57 percent, want Merkel to remain chancellor until the next federal election, according the survey. Candidate Jens Spahn, 38, failed to find prominent supporters within the CDU to publicly voice support for him. In the latest DeutschlandTrend, only 12 percent of CDU supporters want him to be the new party leader. Merz' most prominent supporter is former finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble who told Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung earlier that "it would be best for the country if Friedrich Merz obtained a majority at the party conference." Economics minister Peter Altmaier on the other hand is in favour of Kramp-Karrenbauer who had the best chances to "unite the CDU and win elections". Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-07 19:52:50|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close BEIJING, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed a 60 million U.S. dollar loan agreement to increase financing to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in China. The agreement was signed between the ADB and Zhujiang Financial Leasing Company Limited to assist SMEs in central and western regions of China. "SMEs are important drivers of inclusive growth of China's economy as they provide so many jobs, but a lack of fiance is an impediment particularly in less developed regions," said Christopher Thieme, deputy director general of the Private Sector Operations Department in ADB. The ADB will also help the company to improve its safeguards and support the development of China's lease finance industry. "This loan is just the first step in the partnership between ADB and our company, but that will have a significant positive impact on China's SME development in central and western regions," said Ping Yang, CEO of Zhujiang Financial Leasing Company. The ADB was founded in 1996 in the Philippines' capital, Manila. It currently has 67 members. In 2017, ADB operations totaled 32.2 billion U.S. dollars, including 11.9 billion in co-financing. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-07 19:52:50|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close BEIJING, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- In 1979, Italian photographer Adriano Madaro took a photo of Shanghai's Pudong area, which was then a wasteland. At an exhibition that opened Friday in Beijing, the photo was displayed in juxtaposition with one taken in the same area this year by Chinese photographer Zhu Yaozhong, which depicts the business district full of skyscrapers. The special arrangement of the exhibition, held by China Photographers Association and the municipal government of Zhengzhou, is designed to show the tremendous change that has happened in China over the past four decades. "I am very proud to be a witness to China's reform and opening-up," said Madaro, who said he has made 208 trips to China since 1976. From 1976 to the late 1980s, the Italian photographer traveled extensively across China and took more than 35,000 precious photos of a land in the early days of reform and opening-up. Pointing at a photo he took in a train station in the city of Luoyang, Madaro said, "It's as if shouts 'Hurry Up!' and the sounds of peddling still ring in my ears." Madaro developed an interest in China during his childhood. After reading a book titled "Children's Dreams" when he was four years old, Madaro dreamed about traveling to China. At six, he had already begun to learn to write Chinese characters. As a photojournalist, Madaro has been committed to portraying China truthfully through his lens. During the SARS epidemic in 2003, he traveled to Beijing to cover the incident despite huge risks of being infected. His reporting presented a true picture of the epidemic as well as China's efforts to combat it. Besides being a photographer, Madaro is also a renowned Sinologist who has published more than 10 books about China, including "China, 700 Years after Marco Polo," "In the Great Unknown Country Beyond the Wall" and "Paper Flower - Poems from China," many of which have been translated into Chinese. Over the past 40 years, Madaro also curated a number of exhibitions about China in Italy, including ones depicting the ancient Silk Road and Tibetan culture, in an effort to bridge the cultural gap between China and the West. "China has endured many hardships," Madaro said. "In the course of the epic journey of China's reform and opening-up, Chinese people's spiritual outlook and livelihoods have undergone a tremendous transformation." "I am dedicated to documenting China's development," he said. "Half of my heart stays in China forever." Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-07 20:17:57|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close LUSAKA, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- Zambia's Constitutional Court on Friday declared that President Edgar Lungu is eligible to contest the 2021 presidential election. The full bench of the court made the ruling after two hours of deliberation which sparked wild celebrations from Lungu's supporters who had gathered outside the court to await the judgment. The Constitutional Court ruled that Lungu did not serve full term between 2015 and 2016, a move that makes him eligible to contest the 2021 polls. Justice Hildah Chibomba, who is president of the Constitutional Court, said the amount of time that the Zambian leader served following the death of his predecessor could not be considered a full term and that he was serving his first term after his victory in the 2016 polls. The issue was brought before the Constitutional Court for determination by small opposition political parties aligned to the governing Patriotic front (PF) that wanted a declaration on whether Lungu is eligible to contest the 2021 elections. His critics had argued that he is not eligible to contest the polls because he has served two terms in line with the country's constitution. The country's constitution allows for two five-year terms. Lungu has already made it clear that he wants to contest the 2021 polls on grounds that his first tenure was less than three years. Lungu was first elected president in 2015 following the death of President Michael Sata who did not finish his term; he was re-elected in 2016. Dan Pule, one of the opposition leaders who had brought the matter to court, welcomed the court's decision, saying it settles the debate which has been lingering in the Zambian political scenario. Earlier, a group of Lungu's supporters marched from different parts of Lusaka, the Zambian capital, and camped outside the court premises where they sang solidarity songs under the watch of police officers. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-07 20:28:03|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close Angela Merkel, German Chancellor and leader of Germany's Christian Democratic Union (CDU), delivers a speech at the party conference of CDU in Hamburg, Germany, on Dec. 7, 2018. German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union is holding its 31st plenary meeting on Friday and Saturday, when representatives will elect a new party chair to succeed Merkel. (Xinhua/Shan Yuqi) HAMBURG, Germany, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) is holding its 31st plenary meeting on Friday and Saturday, when representatives will elect a new party chair to succeed Merkel. In recent weeks, the CDU has organized a series of gatherings in various German states, where the candidates had a chance to present their visions to party members. A total of 1,001 party representatives, among them 658 male and 343 female, will vote on Friday to decide who will take Merkel's seat. The preliminary result will be announced in the afternoon. German media has dubbed the meeting a "battle to succeed Merkel," who has been the party head for 18 years. She decided not to rerun in late October, after suffering major setbacks in two state elections earlier this year. Merkel's decision broke a long party tradition that the posts of CDU chair and chancellor are held by the same person. Local analysts said Merkel's decision was a sign that she wants to withdraw from politics, and her promise to complete her term as chancellor was meant to ensure a smooth transition of power. Merkel has been CDU chair since 2000 and was elected chancellor in 2005. She was reelected in 2009, 2013 and 2018. Recent polls conducted by Infratest dimap have shown a close race among the three most popular candidates, General Secretary of CDU Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, lawyer Frederich Merz and health minister Jens Spahn. Whoever gets elected, the new party chair would face a number of tricky challenges, including finding the right way to cooperate with Merkel, coordinating party strategies and government policies, and coping with the other two governing parties -- the Christian Social Union (CSU) and the Social Democratic Party (SPD). The German coalition government has been on shaky ground for several months now due to fierce inner struggles. CHICAGO, Dec. 07, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Seed CX , which through its subsidiaries offers a licensed exchange for institutional trading and settlement of spot digital asset products and plans to offer a market for CFTC-regulated digital asset derivatives, today announced investors can access its market via Deltix Inc.s institutional crypto-trading platform, CryptoCortex . Deltix , which launched the CryptoCortex platform this year, has been providing quantitative research, analytics and algorithmic trading solutions for equities, futures, options and forex for over 12 years. The companys award-winning QuantOffice and QuantServer products serve institutional buy-side and sell-side firms. Deltixs CryptoCortex trading platform is preferred by the worlds most sophisticated quantitative trading firms and market makers, and we expect strong demand for trading on Seed CXs spot and derivatives markets, said Ilya Gorelik, Founder & CEO at Deltix. Available in multiple configurations, CryptoCortex provides advanced digital asset-trading capabilities to buy-side discretionary and systematic traders, market makers, exchanges and broker/dealers. We are excited about connecting Deltixs CryptoCortex platform to Seed CX, as it allows for frictionless access to our markets, said Edward Woodford, co-founder and CEO of Seed CX. Partnering with Deltix is another step in Seed CX becoming the digital asset trading standard for institutional investors. Seed CXs investment in its robust compliance and technology infrastructure has the exchange attracting early interest from trading firms and investors everywhere from Asia to down the street from the companys downtown Chicago headquarters. We are very excited to start trading on Seed CX, said David Nuelle, Managing Director at Hehmeyer Trading + Investments. We believe that Seed CX will bring the level of professionalism to the digital asset markets that we have come to expect in other conventional markets. The combination of a broad product mix and superior technology will enable Seed CX to become a leading exchange in the digital asset space. We also believe its business model as a regulated SEF will appeal to the institutional community. We intend to be very active on Seed CX from inception. About Deltix, Inc. Deltix was founded in 2005 by a group of computer scientists and mathematicians with extensive expertise in sophisticated quantitative and event-driven solutions. With a growing team of 70, Deltix provides software and services for quantitative research, algorithmic trading and execution analytics across equities, futures, options, FX, fixed income and digital assets. Deltix provides its solutions to institutional systematic and discretionary buy-side firms, sell-side firms and crypto exchanges. For more information, please see www.deltixlab.com . About Seed CX Seed CX is a Chicago-based licensed digital asset exchange, which through its subsidiaries offers a market for institutional trading and settlement of spot digital assets, and plans to offer a separate market for CFTC-regulated derivatives. Seed CX is backed by Bain Capital Ventures . Other investors include: trading firms CMT Digital, Queueco, Tetras Capital, BlueFire Capital; well-respected digital asset investing companies, including F2Pool, QCP Capital, Konza Ventures, Origin Capital, Dekrypt Capital, OKCoin USA and Divergence Digital Currency Fund; and investment bank XMS Capital. Seed CXs Board is composed of co-founders Edward Woodford and Brian Liston, and lead Series A investor Adam B. Struck from Divergence Digital Currency Fund. Salil Deshpande from Bain Capital is on the Board as an Observer. Zero Hash is a FinCen regulated Money Service Business and Money Transmitter in over 21 States. Zero Hash currently also has a pending BitLicense with NYDFS. Zero Hash custodies both fiat and digital assets, with on-chain settlement. Seed SEF is a CFTC-regulated Swap Execution Facility (SEF) that plans to offer a market for CFTC-regulated digital asset derivatives. Seed Digital Securities Market is pending registration as a Broker Dealer with FINRA. Media Contact: Josh Inglis, josh@propllr.com, (312) 504-7677 Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-07 20:28:03|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close HAIKOU, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- A large number of guns, bullets and explosives have been seized in a province-wide crackdown on illegal firearms in southern China's island province of Hainan this year, the provincial government said Friday. A total of 2,349 privately-made shotguns, air guns and nail guns have been seized, along with over 12,573 bullets, 2,884 kg of explosives and 192 detonators, the authorities said. During the crackdown campaign, 178 suspects were arrested in about 80 cases. The government said the number of gun and explosion cases shows a steady year-on-year decline. Hainan is a popular tourist destination thanks to its pleasant tropical climate, with the number of domestic and foreign tourists climbing rapidly. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-07 20:33:06|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close KIGALI, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- Rwandan First Lady Jeannette Kagame was Friday named the UN agency for HIV and AIDS's Special Ambassador of Adolescent Health and Wellbeing. UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe made the announcement in Rwandan capital Kigali at a meeting to review the current status of Rwanda's HIV response over the years in the context of 2018's World AIDS Day campaign. Sidibe highlighted initiatives spearheaded by Kagame, such as the one through a project called Protection and Care of Families against HIV/AIDS, established in 2001 under Office of the First Lady, to mobilize resources needed in the fight against HIV/AIDS. As an ambassador, Kagame will continue her leadership in the various response aspects such as elimination of mother to child transmission of HIV and access to sexual and reproductive health services among youth, said Sidibe. In her acceptance speech, Kagame committed to strengthening her efforts in advocating for and pushing towards the elimination of AIDS by 2030. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-07 20:33:07|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close by Dana Halawi BEIRUT, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- Nicolas Chammas, head of the Beirut Traders Association, said on Friday that the formation of cabinet, if realized, will lead to an improvement in retailing. "The formation of a government will boost consumers' confidence which will lead to some improvement in the retail activity," Chammas told Xinhua in an exclusive interview. Chammas cited three factors impeding retail activities in Lebanon. He said some Lebanese are reluctant to make a purchase because they have no confidence in the future with the absence of a government. "These people will spend their money in Lebanon when the government is formed because they will make sure then that the situation has become stable," Chammas explained. Another factor impeding retail activity in Lebanon is the high unemployment. The Syrian refugees in Lebanon are fiercely competing with local workers, which led to higher unemployment and a reduction in the purchasing power, Chammas said. A Lebanese official said more than three months ago that around 270,000 Lebanese people have lost their jobs after 384,000 Syrian refugees poured into the country's employment market. Earlier this year, Lebanese President Michel Aoun told a delegation from the Lebanese Press Syndicate that the unemployment rate has increased to an alarming 46 percent. The government formation will attract investment, which in turn, will create job opportunities and increase the purchasing power in the medium term, Chammas noted. A third factor negatively impacting Lebanon's retailing is the bigger number of Lebanese travelling and spending in other countries such as Turkey, said Chammas. He emphasized the need for the government to create awareness among the Lebanese about the importance of spending their money in Lebanon. Merchants should also know about "the importance of not raising their prices when the demand is high in a bid to attract more consumers and keep their businesses running," he said. According to a study published by Fransabank in cooperation with the Beirut Traders Association, the clothing sector witnessed a drop in sales by 21.89 percent in the third quarter compared with the same period last year. Other sectors influenced include medical care with a drop of 19.69 percent, household appliance with 11 percent, food with 9.47 percent, construction material with 6.34 percent, and furniture with 5.12 percent. The study recommends an urgent government formation to undertake necessary structural reforms to save economy and put it back on track for growth. "If the government is formed, the retailing sector will need around six months to improve. We want this to happen for us to witness a revival of the sector in the second quarter of the coming year," Chammas said. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-07 21:18:17|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close WASHINGTON, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- White House chief of staff John Kelly is expected to resign in the coming days, local media reported Friday morning, quoting sources familiar with the West Wing. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-07 21:38:23|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close JUBA, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- South Sudan on Friday denied a rights group's allegations over prisoner executions. Ateny Wek Ateny, spokesman for the President of South Sudan, said that the government put a moratorium on executions and President Salva Kiir has not signed any prisoner execution since 2011. "If there were prisoners executed before independence they were executed under Sudanese law," he told Xinhua in Juba. However, Ateny said that execution law is still on the law books of the country, and added that abolishing the death penalty will depend on the views of South Sudanese during the constitutional review process, which is being undertaken by the National Constitutional Amendment Committee (NCAC) under the revitalized peace agreement. Amnesty International said in a report on Friday that South Sudan has carried out more executions this year than it has done in any year since gaining independence in 2011. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-07 21:38:24|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close HAMBURG, Germany, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday called for party solidarity in the farewell speech as the chair of her conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU). Merkel began her address with the motto of the party conference "Bring together. Lead together", hinting the party should stay united despite the fierce competition vying for her seat. "Our liberal values must be defended, internally and externally," Merkel said, adding tough challenges are ahead, including European unity, Brexit and climate changes. Merkel, who has been the party leader for 18 years, in late October made the decision not to rerun as party head, after two severe setbacks in state elections this year -- which she avoided to mention in her address. Her retreat left a power vacuum, and candidates, including general secretary of CDU Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, lawyer Friedrich Merz and the health minister Jens Spahn, have been struggling to fill. On Friday afternoon, 1,001 party representatives at the party conference will vote to decide who will take the position. Merkel's decision broke a long party tradition that the posts of CDU chair and chancellor are held by the same person. Local analysts said Merkel's decision was a sign that she wants to withdraw from politics, and her promise to complete her term as chancellor was meant to ensure a smooth transition of power. "I don't need to be party chairman to remain bound to this party. And I'm still chancellor," Merkel said. Merkel also stressed that CDU should return to "past traditions and attitudes", which is largely interpreted by local media as her hints that she favors Kramp-Karrenbauer as her successor. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-07 21:53:27|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close ULAN BATOR, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- Mongolian parliament speaker Miyegombo Enkhbold on Friday submitted an official demand letter to the country's prime minister, asking to stop boycotting plenary sessions of the parliament. The demand letter came after the Mongolian Prime Minister Ukhnaa Khurelsukh and his government's 13 ministers adjourned the plenary sessions of the parliament on Thursday and Friday. "We planned to discuss many important issues, especially the appointment of the new Minister of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry during the sessions. However, you and your ministers did not intentionally attend the sessions and not officially present the proposal to appoint the minister," the letter said, demanding an immediate end to the parliamentary boycott. Mongolia's former Food, Agriculture and Light Industry Minister Batjargal Batzorig was dismissed from his post late October due to a scandal involving financial irregularities. Khurelsukh and his ministers has not explained the cause of the boycott, while the prime minister recently submitted a request to dismiss the parliament speaker to the Constitutional Court. Audio recordings were made public last year, which indicates that some officials of the Mongolian People's Party, including Enkhbold, allegedly used government positions as a tool to run the parliamentary election in 2016. According to Khurelsukh, Enkhbold has been interfering in the handling of the case by abusing his power. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-07 22:28:41|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close CHICAGO, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- Chief Judge James Shadid of the U.S. District Court in Central District of Illinois on Thursday granted an intra-district transfer of the trial of missing Chinese visiting scholar Zhang Yingying's case from the Urbana Division to the Peoria Division for further proceedings. "The case would be better off transferred," according to Shadid, who based his decision on docket management, courthouse space, and to allow for an earlier end to the trial. It is estimated that the trial of the case, which is currently scheduled for April 4, 2019, may exceed five weeks. Zhang's family is disappointed by the decision. When the defendant's lawyers asked that the trial be moved to Peoria from Urbana in September this year, Zhang's family requested the judge not to change the trial location. Wang Zhidong, legal advisor to Zhang's family, told Xinhua that though the decision on the transfer of trial location has come after due consideration of various factors, it would make it inconvenient for Zhang's family in handling the case as they have mostly stayed at Urbana when in the United States. Wang nevertheless said that the change of the trial location is not expected to influence the outcome, as the trial is based on evidence, not on media coverage or public impression. Zhang, 26, went missing on June 9, 2017, after getting into a black Saturn Astra about five blocks from where she got off a bus on her way to an apartment complex to sign a lease. Brendt Christensen was arrested on June 30, 2017, after being caught on tape pointing out people he described as "ideal victims" during a vigil in Zhang's honor. On July 5, U.S. Magistrate Judge Eric I. Long ordered that Christensen remain detained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending trial. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-07 22:53:50|Editor: yan Video Player Close Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) meets with Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 7, 2018. (Xinhua/Yao Dawei) BEIJING, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) in Beijing on Friday, calling for more efforts to advance the long-term, healthy and steady development of bilateral relations. Xi asked Ri to convey his cordial greetings to Kim Jong Un, chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) and chairman of the State Affairs Commission of DPRK. Xi said that during Kim's three visits to China this year, the two leaders had a thorough and in-depth exchange of views over major issues including deepening China-DPRK friendly cooperation as well as promoting regional peace, stability and development. "I'm happy to witness the effective implementation of the important consensus reached by the two sides," Xi added. The year of 2019 marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic ties between China and the DPRK. "The Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Chinese government highly value China-DPRK relations, and this is a principle that China unswervingly adheres to," Xi said. "Currently, the relations between the two countries have ushered in a new chapter," he said. Talking about celebration activities for the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries, he called on the two sides to take the occasion to promote the long-term, healthy and steady development of bilateral relations. The Chinese side supports the DPRK people to explore a development path suited to its national conditions under the leadership of Kim, and hopes that the DPRK will have a promising future in all its endeavors, the president said. Xi pointed out that since the beginning of the year, the situation on the Korean Peninsula has taken on positive changes, as evidenced by the fact that the Korean Peninsula issue has come back to the right track of political settlement. He expressed the hope that the DPRK and the United States meet each other halfway, and accommodate legitimate concerns of the other side, so as to ensure continuous and positive progress in the peace talks over the peninsula issue. "China will, as always, support the amelioration of inter-Korean relations and facilitate reconciliation and cooperation between the two sides," Xi said. The president urged diplomatic services of China and the DPRK to strengthen communication and make concerted efforts to advance China-DPRK relations and the political settlement of the Korean Peninsula issue. For his part, Ri conveyed Kim's cordial greetings and best wishes to Xi. A series of important consensus reached between the two countries' leaders during Kim's visits to China this year serves as guidance for elevating the traditional friendly relations to a new level, Ri said. Ri said the DPRK is willing to work with China to hold well celebration activities marking the 70th anniversary of DPRK-China diplomatic relations next year, consolidate the traditional friendship with China and enhance bilateral cooperation. He also said the DPRK is committed to denuclearization on the Peninsula, and is ready to keep close communication and coordination with China over peace and stability on the Peninsula and in the region. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-07 22:58:50|Editor: yan Video Player Close LONDON, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- A British teenager was jailed on Friday after making bogus bomb threats to hundreds of schools and sparking an airport security scare in Britain and the United States. George Duke-Cohan, 19, was jailed for three years at Luton Crown Court this afternoon. Duke-Cohan of Mutchetts Close, Watford, twice targeted schools in the UK and U.S. with hoax messages, before phoning in a fake report of a hijacked aircraft while under investigation. He pleaded guilty in September to three counts of making hoax bomb threats, during a hearing at Luton Magistrates' Court, the National Crime Agency (NCA) said. NCA senior investigating officer Marc Horsfall said Duke-Cohan's actions caused "serious worry and inconvenience to thousands of people" and he had carried them out "hidden behind a computer screen for his own enjoyment." Duke-Cohan had first created panic in March 2018 when he emailed thousands of schools in the UK warning about an explosive. More than 400 schools were evacuated as a result, according to the NCA. Police arrested him days later, but he was able to send another batch of emails to schools in the U.S. and UK while under investigation in April. His messages claimed a pipe bomb had been planted on the premises. Duke-Cohan was arrested for a second time and released on pre-charge bail with conditions that he did not use electronic devices. Detectives found that Duke-Cohan had made the calls to San Francisco Airport and their police force while he was on pre-charge bail for the two previous offences. He was arrested for a third time at his home in Watford on Aug. 31 this year. Las Vegas, Nevada, Dec. 07, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- OnliFunds, a global venture fund, launches its first investment fund focused on blockchain companies within Protect Pharmaceuticals (OTC PRTT) OnliChain Ecosystem. PRTT announces the launch of AES/OnliFunds LLC this week. The fund will be led by its joint venture partners AES, Inc and OnliFunds LLC headquartered in Utah. AES/OnliFunds will be a $250 million fund, which would make it one of the regions largest funds of its kind, and is supported by ViolaLux, a 5 billion asset-backed fund based out of Luxemburg. Erick Mosteller will lead the fund for AES/OnliFund LLC. Mr. Mosteller has spent the last five years working very closely with ViolaLux to create a Fund structure that can effectively support the US markets by greatly mitigating the risk of future projects through the unique abilities afforded Luxembourg based funds. AES/Onlifunds will be utilizing this structure to provide accelerated growth and security to this new innovative business model. Mr. Mosteller stated We see the blockchain space as the next safe haven for secure transactional business worldwide and not just a space for Bitcoin and other ICO tokens. The marketplace to date has not clearly embraced the power of blockchain technology but instead has relegated it to a speculative environment driven by day traders and new ICOs. We believe the Silicon Slopes area is emerging as one of the key marketplaces that will become the center of the blockchain universe and the OnliChain ecosystem. Through AES/OnliFunds, we are going to start making deployments next month and most if not all of those companies will be based in Silicon Slopes or the State of Utah Mosteller said. Some of those will be companies already identified as being important to the OnliChain ecosystem. AES/OnliFunds is aimed at bringing early-stage capital to the best-performing companies emerging from the OnliChain ecosystem. OnliChain, which is creating a blockchain ecosystem, has provided AES/OnliFunds the first right to invest in the ecosystem companies. About half of the AES/OnliFunds portfolio will be from the OnliChain ecosystem. CEO Una Taylor, of PRTT, commented on this announcement, This is a very exciting time in history and we are elated to be at the forefront of a technology that possesses the potential, and is well on its way, to disrupt all industries. This technology has vast potential for beneficial and practical use for economic growth and positive social impact. PRTT is in the process of building out a strong and capable team of advisors and venture partners. Together we want to execute a mission whereby we assist the disruptive and promising projects with the ability to offer actual, practical blockchain enabled applications to benefit the global economy. We will take a unique approach to bridge the worlds of traditional investing and the world of blockchain and digital asset investing. PRTT intends to provide their portfolio companies with a supportive ecosystem to position them for long-term success. PRTT and its consortium have created an ecosystem where promising technology companies can grow and thrive. Weve assembled a dream team of leaders in finance and technology that will accelerate Blockchain innovations from across the globe. Our platform goes well beyond cryptocurrency investment to unlock the power of Blockchain to transform our world, stated Wajed Salam newly appointed Board Member. AES/OnliFunds was formed to leverage the decades of experience of this investment team and the ecosystem they have built to offer sophisticated investors a unique fund structure to take advantage of this opportunity. Onlifunds growing list of global alliances intends to provide global deal-flow, expertise, and growing support for PRTTs portfolio companies. As part of their investment and execution strategy, the Fund intends to leverage its strategic alliances across the globe. Forward-Looking Statements: This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Except for historical matters contained herein, statements made in this press release are forward-looking statements. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, words such as may, will, to, plan, expect, believe, anticipate, intend, could, would, estimate, or continue, or the negative other variations thereof or comparable terminology are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risk, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Also, forward-looking statements represent our managements beliefs and assumptions only as of the date hereof. Additional information regarding the factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements is available in the Company's filings with the SEC including the Current Reports on Form 8-K and the Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Annual Reports on Form 10-K. Except as required by law, we assume no obligation to update these forward-looking statements publicly or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-07 23:23:59|Editor: yan Video Player Close JUBA, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- Norway has increased funding toward the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) to support education of underprivileged children in South Sudan. UNICEF said in a statement on Friday in Juba that 60,000 children in South Sudan will be provided learning opportunities as a result of increased funding from the Norwegian government to the Back to Learning initiative. It said Norway agreed to provide an additional funding of about 5 million U.S dollars to keep thousands of South Sudanese children in school. Lars Andersen, Norwegian ambassador to South Sudan, said education, particularly for young girls, is a crucial element in supporting lasting peace. "The Back to Learning initiative has provided education to tens of thousands of out-of-school children and we are very happy to support its further expansion," he said. Michael Lopuke, undersecretary at South Sudan's Ministry of General Education and Instruction, lauded Norwegian government for their continued support of education, noting that his childhood classroom was built with Norwegian assistance. Lopuke expressed hope that the funds would benefit some of the most deprived children across the country who lack access to education, despite the efforts of the government, national and international non-governmental organizations. "The Back to Learning program has brought education to children who would otherwise miss out on this vital resource for their future and the future of the country," said Andrea Suley, a UNICEF official. Back to Learning was launched in February 2015 as a flagship program to bring out-of-school children to the classroom. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-07 23:49:11|Editor: yan Video Player Close JUBA, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- South Sudan's President Salva Kiir and his deputy Wani Igga have joined a campaign seeking to reunite and reconcile South Sudanese torn apart by a five-year conflict. Using pre-recorded audio messages aired on local radio stations, the leaders of the world's youngest nation are urging the people of South Sudan to embrace forgiveness to pave way for nationwide reconciliation. The campaign, spearheaded by a local religious group, is using billboards and recorded voices to share peace messages across South Sudan. "As the president of the republic, I feel duty bound to lead the people of South Sudan to forgive each other even when forgiveness is being perceived as a weakness by those to whom they are forgiving," Kiir said in an audio message. "Indeed South Sudanese have brutally destroyed themselves - untold loss of lives, untold loss of property, and those who lost property and dear ones are definitely bitter. This reconciliation should be proceeded by forgiveness. You reconcile in order to forgive and open a new page," Igga said. South Sudan descended into civil war in late 2013, and the conflict has created one of the fastest growing refugee crises in the world. The United Nations estimates that about 4 million South Sudanese have been displaced internally and externally. A peace deal signed in August 2015 collapsed following renewed violence in the capital of Juba in July 2016. The conflict left many South Sudanese communities fractured along ethnic lines, prompting the United Nations to warn in 2016 that the east African nation risks descending into genocide if the use of inflammatory rhetoric, ethnic polarization and name calling by the warring factions do not end. A new peace deal signed in September appears to be holding as fighting and targeted killings have reduced in recent months. "All of us the people of South Sudan have to forgive one another for the wrongs we have committed against one another," he said. "I always forgive as I also ask to be forgiven when I had wronged someone," the South Sudanese leader added. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-07 23:59:15|Editor: mmm Video Player Close Rwandan President Paul Kagame (R) and visiting Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz attend a joint press conference in Kigali, capital of Rwanda, on Dec. 7, 2018. Rwandan President Paul Kagame said Friday Rwanda and Austria will co-host an Africa-Europe high-level forum, scheduled for Dec. 18 in Vienna. (Xinhua/Office of the President of Rwanda) KIGALI, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- Rwandan President Paul Kagame said Friday Rwanda and Austria will co-host an Africa-Europe high-level forum, scheduled for Dec. 18 in Vienna. This is due to Rwanda being the chair of the African Union (AU) and Austria holding the presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU), Kagame told a joint press conference with visiting Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz. Kurz arrived here Thursday on his first visit to the central African country. The forum will focus on unblocking the digital potential as a pathway to inclusion and prosperity for both Africa and Europe. Participants will also discuss ways to bring Africa and Europe closer, said Kagame, who is also the chairperson of the AU. The upcoming forum is an opportunity to build practical collaboration on several fronts, he said. Rwanda "continues to mobilize African leaders to participate in the forum" so that African countries can continue to seek ways to unblock the potential of the digital economy, Kagame added. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-07 23:59:15|Editor: mmm Video Player Close SINGAPORE, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- A two-day international conference opened here on Friday to discuss the promotion of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative. The meeting, organized by Nanyang Technological University (NTU), gathered more than 250 academics, government officials and business leaders from Singapore, China, Thailand, Malaysia, among others. At the opening ceremony, Liu Hong, director of NTU's Nanyang Centre for Public Administration (NCPA), called for discussions about how Singapore can "facilitate exchanges and connectivity" through collaborations with China and other countries on the Belt and Road Initiative. Singapore's role in the initiative "goes beyond its conventional status as a global financial and trade hub," but as a connector between China and Southeast Asia, "for not only business opportunities, but knowledge exchange and building human capital for the benefit for all," Liu said. On Friday, NCPA officially launched its Lien Research Programme on Belt and Road Initiative, which focuses on policy-oriented topics such as the Sino-Singapore relationship, cross-border philanthropy and social sector governance, and elder and palliative care. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-08 00:04:18|Editor: yan Video Player Close BEIRUT, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- Around 33,500 Lebanese youths emigrated from Lebanon in 2018, doubling the figure registered last year, the Monthly Magazine reported Friday. "Lebanon will become an aging society due to the immigration of thousands of its youths every year," it said. It noted that the reason behind this trend is the deteriorating economic and social situation in Lebanon. "The Lebanese youths are very well educated and they are very ambitious," Layal Mansour, a researcher at the American University of Beirut, told Xinhua. Mansour said that these people prefer to travel even if they manage to find a job in Lebanon because they are always looking for better opportunities, higher salaries and better living conditions. Mansour added that Lebanon suffers from numerous problems that make the country's daily life very complicated. "We have no electricity, no proper transport system or security which encourages these youths to seek better living conditions in other countries," she said. "What I am saying is very relevant because as you can see, people with high profiles are also leaving the country such as managers, instructors and business owners and not only fresh graduates and students," she added. The Monthly Magazine said that students who have traveled to join universities outside Lebanon reached 8,000 in September which is only half of the people who traveled during this month. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-08 00:09:24|Editor: Yang Yi Video Player Close People work in a marble and granite factory in Cairo, Egypt, on Dec. 6, 2018. In Shaq al-Thu'ban vast marble and granite industrial cluster near Egyptian capital Cairo's Maadi district, about 40 Chinese and Egyptian cooperative granite factories and 30 marble factories have significantly contributed to boosting the industry in the most populous Arab country. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa) by Mahmoud Fouly CAIRO, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- In Shaq al-Thu'ban vast marble and granite industrial cluster near Egyptian capital Cairo's Maadi district, about 40 Chinese and Egyptian cooperative granite factories and 30 marble factories have significantly contributed to boosting the industry in the most populous Arab country. The cluster, which is one of the largest in the Middle East, extends over hundreds of thousands of square meters and hosts hundreds of granite and marble factories and workshops. The industry has further grown over the past decade, with Chinese businesses holding partnerships with their Egyptian counterparts in the well-known cluster. The growing number of Egyptian-Chinese factories in the cluster led to the establishment of China in Egypt Stone Material Association (CESMA), which holds training for Egyptian workers and technicians to be familiar with the Chinese machines and the best ways to increase production. Al-Reda granite factory, one of the largest in Shaq al-Thu'ban with an area of about 15,000 square meters, is an example of the fruitful Chinese-Egyptian partnership in the industry. "The Chinese brought advanced machinery, technology and relevant accessories to this factory in win-win cooperation with its Egyptian owner," said Li Xin, CESMA's deputy chief. "The factory has 28 granite cutting machines that came from China three years ago in addition to a large granite polishing machine. This multiplied production and increased quality," Li told Xinhua inside the large factory. More than 80 percent of the workers in the factory are Egyptians, with a few Chinese technicians who handle the necessary maintenance for the machines and help their Egyptian colleagues with their operation. Ahmed Mokhtar, an Egyptian sales manager in his 20s, said that the entrance of Chinese machines in the industry helped provide more granite production at cheaper prices in the Egyptian market. "In the past, granite used to be large plates but the new cutting machines made it thinner with smaller sizes, which is cheaper and more convenient for customers," Mokhtar said. Mokhtar added that sales of Al-Reda factory have mounted to about 60,000 meters of granite per month. A few kilometers away from Al-Reda, El-Fayrouz marble factory stands on some 8,000 square meters as another model for such cooperation between Egyptian businessmen and Chinese counterparts. The factory has 60 workers including 55 Egyptians and five Chinese responsible for technical and managerial work. "We have been working in this factory for five years and our partnership is beneficial to both sides," said Luo Zhiping, manager of El-Fayrouz factory. Luo noted that the Chinese partners brought seven brand new marble gang saw machines and five block cutting machines to the factory that increased production and improved quality. Most of the marble produced by the factory is exported to China, according to the CESMA. Amer Eid, an Egyptian worker, is in charge of the block cutting machines that prepare and resize raw blocks before going through the gang saw machines. The 35-year-old man commended the advanced technology of Chinese machines and their constant maintenance which saves time and money as well as makes work more comfortable and productive. "We as workers like working with the Chinese because of their diligence, commitment, productivity and appreciation of workers," Eid told Xinhua at El-Fayrouz marble factory. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-08 00:09:24|Editor: yan Video Player Close YANGON, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- China will continue its support for Myanmar government's process of restoring peace and stability as well as promoting development in western Rakhine state, Chinese Ambassador Hong Liang said on Friday. Hong made the remarks at a donation ceremony to Myanmar's Union Enterprise for Humanitarian Assistance, Resettlement and Development (UEHRD). China encourages the Myanmar government's efforts on the repatriation process of displaced persons, he said. Myanmar Minister of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement Dr Win Myat Aye thanked the Chinese Embassy for the prompt donation, saying that it will help build houses for the returnees and will also take the lead to bring about more donation from others. Myanmar formed the UEHRD in Oct. last year for the effective performance of a long-term project of freedom from conflict in Rakhine state. It also established nine private sector task forces to join the mechanism of UEHRD. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-08 00:14:25|Editor: yan Video Player Close WASHINGTON, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday that he will nominate State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert as the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, succeeding outgoing Nikki Haley. "Heather Nauert will be nominated for the ambassador to the United Nations," Trump told reporters on Friday morning before departing the White House for a conference in the state of Missouri. Trump praised Nauert as a "very talented, very smart, very quick" person, working well with State Secretary Mike Pompeo. Nauert, a 48-year-old former Fox News presenter, assumed her current post in April 2017. She was reportedly a "leading contender" for the ambassadorship after Haley publicly announced her resignation in October. Picking Nauert, an Illinois native, to represent the United States at the international arena is seen as an unorthodox choice by Trump, as the veteran news presenter had little political or foreign policy-making experience before joining the State Department. Following the nomination, Nauert will probably face a tough Senate confirmation hearing focused on her qualification. Nauert has reportedly gained the trust of Pompeo, although reporters covering the State Department complained about the falling frequency of the press briefings under Nauert. Haley's resignation announcement nearly two months ago came as a surprise to many high-level administration officials. Haley, who took the job days after Trump's inauguration in January 2017, said she will remain in the post till the end of this year. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-08 00:24:29|Editor: yan Video Player Close KIEV, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and his Lithuanian counterpart Dalia Grybauskaite met on Friday to discuss bilateral cooperation, Poroshenko's press service said. The two leaders agreed to deepen economic and investment partnership between the two countries, and enhance collaboration in security, energy and cybersecurity. During the meeting, Poroshenko and Grybauskaite signed an array of bilateral agreements, including a roadmap for the development of strategic partnership between Ukraine and Lithuania for 2019-2020. An agreement on employment and labor migration was signed in the presence of the two presidents. The document is aimed at ensuring social guarantees for Ukrainian workers in Lithuania and Lithuanian workers in Ukraine. Grybauskaite arrived in Kiev earlier in the day for a working visit. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-08 02:04:48|Editor: yan Video Player Close VIENNA, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- Austrian authorities on Friday said they had arrested an internationally active money counterfeiter earlier in the year, which led to numerous investigations across Europe into buyers of the counterfeit cash. The Federal Criminal Police Office (BK) said in a press release that the suspect, a 33-year-old from the city of Leoben, began distributing counterfeit cash via the "darknet" at the beginning of 2017. Darknet refers to portions of the internet purposefully not open to public view. In October last year, the investigators found that a person from within Austria had been active on various illegal platforms selling counterfeit cash, and subsequently conducted investigations that took several months, leading to the eventual discovery of the suspect and his workshop. He had been sending fake 10, 20, and 50 euro notes to buyers across Europe through various parcel services. He was arrested in June, and along with his equipment, about 83,000 euros (95,000 U.S. dollars) worth of counterfeit notes were also seized. He is accused of having marketed at least 500,000 euros worth of fake bills in total. Authorities then took to the trail of the buyers, with the Europol coordinating the effort. Several hundred addresses were identified, and numerous house searches conducted between Dece. 3 and 6. Twenty such searches were conducted in Austria alone, with counterfeit bills, drugs, weapons, and computer equipment seized by the authorities. A closer examination of the latter is expected to lead authorities to more success in their efforts, the BK said. Two people have been arrested for allegedly attacking a 16-year-old Jewish boy last week in Forest Hills, and members of the Jewish community are asking the NYPD to classify the incident as a hate crime. According to the NYPD, two males, ages 17 and 18, were arrested on Thursday. The two are in custody at the 112th Precinct in Queens and were awaiting charges. Its not a hate crime, and the victim is in stable condition, said Detective Annette Shelton, a spokesperson for the NYPD. The boy, David Paltielov, remains at Elmhurst Hospital one week after the attack, which took place on November 29. He suffered lacerations, swelling and contusions on his head and body. The conclusion by the police that it wasnt a hate crime is at odds with that of the Bukharian Jewish immigrant community, especially in the wake of multiple recent attacks and hate crimes against Jewish New Yorkers. According to the Alliance for Bukharian Americans, some witnesses heard the attackers scream anti-Semitic phrases such as Kill the Jew. Yaniv Meirov, the CEO of the Chazaq organization, which also represents the Bukharian Jewish immigrant community, said it was 100 percent in my opinion a hate crime. According to Meirov and witnesses of the attack, at around 5 p.m., Paltielov was exiting Munch Place, a kosher eatery in Forest Hills, when he was attacked by a group of teenagers. This is a big group of guys, we understand twenty to thirty guys, said Meirov. And they start stepping on him, stamping on him. Punching him. Paltielov, who attends a yeshiva in Forest Hills, was wearing orthodox clothing, including a kippeh, or skullcap, and tzitzit, which Meirov said are fringes on the corners of his shirt. Waleska Mendez, a volunteer at Masbia soup kitchen in Forest Hills, intervened in an attack on a 16-year-old Jewish boy. (Arun Venugopal / WNYC) One witness, Waleska Mendez, emerged from Masbia, a Jewish-run soup kitchen located on 64th Road in Forest Hills, where she volunteers. She was working inside when she heard the commotion. When I went out I saw the kid next to the tree, already on the floor. All the gang was kicking and punching him. So I started screaming Leave him alone! She rushed back in, grabbed a broom and ran back out, wielding it as a weapon. It was the first thing that I find, she said. I was screaming and trying to hit them. Listen to Arun Venugopal's WNYC report on the incident: The attackers soon ran away. One of them, she recalled, was wearing a ski mask. She immediately turned her attention to the crowd of young onlookers, many of whom were recording the attack on their phones. That was really pissing me off, she said, adding that she exchanged profanities with them. One of them was trying to get on top of me. I just throw the broom, and said You want to fight? Lets do it. An employee of the soup kitchen, Harry, who asked that his last name not be used due to fear of retaliation, said he emerged to find Mendez in a confrontation. He told onlookers to call 911 and found the victim on the ground, his head next to an SUV. There were really about a hundred students there, he said. There were a lot. Adam Suionov, Director of the Alliance of Bukharian Americans, said the victim has no internal bleeding but has suffered physical trauma. He's communicating but there are certain things he forgot how to do. Jewish community members have been observing safety precautions after a spate of incidents, including an assault against a Hasidic man in Brooklyn. In Forest Hills, Meirov said theyve been warned to always walk in pairs. The fact that the victim in Forest Hills was visibly Jewish, said Meirov, has led many in the community to question the NYPDs initial response. The community and local elected officials met with police officials on Monday. Another community forum is scheduled for Thursday evening. Update: The two alleged assailants, Jonathan Torres, 18, and a 17-year-old male, were both charged with first-degree felony gang assault and second-degree felony assault. They were taken to Central Booking and will see a judge in Queens Criminal Court. At Thursday's community forum, the NYPD stressed that the investigation is ongoing. They are trying to obtain as much street camera video as they can. They also noted that there were conflicting accounts as to whether the victim was in fact dressed in Orthodox clothing and raised the possibility that this was a case of mistaken identity. You can submit tips about hate crimes to ProPublica's Documenting Hate project. ProPublica is collecting and verifying reports, building a database of tips for use by journalists, researchers and civil-rights organizations. Arun Venugopal is a reporter who focuses on issues of race and immigration at WNYC. You can follow him on Twitter at @arunNYC. Li Li (1st, L), a traditional Chinese physician, introduces knowledge of traditional Chinese medical science to Ukrainian doctors at a hospital in Qingyang City, northwest China's Gansu Province, Dec. 28, 2013. (Xinhua/Chen Bin) KIEV, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese delegation of scientists called for deeper scientific cooperation with Ukraine here Thursday, while attending celebrations of the 100th anniversary of Ukraine's National Academy of Sciences (UNAS). The celebrations were held in the UNAS great conference hall, bringing together about 100 foreign guests from 13 countries and several international organizations. "Ukraine has always been a good partner of China. In the field of science and technology, the CAS and the UNAS have established close cooperative relations," said Bai Chunli, president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), who headed the delegation. Bai said the CAS is pleased to cooperate with the UNAS in the scientific sphere for the benefits of both countries and their people. Chinese Ambassador to Ukraine Du Wei attended the ceremony, saying "China and Ukraine, with each taking the lead in certain scientific fields, can give full play to their advantages by joining forces." When addressing the event, Anton Naumovets, first vice president of the UNAS, said international cooperation is crucially important for the development of science in Ukraine. "Our academy has signed over 130 agreements with partners from 50 countries. The UNAS attaches great importance to such cooperation and seeks to expand it in every possible way," Naumovets said. Representatives of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the European Federation of Academies of Sciences and Humanities also took part in the event. Founded in November 1918, the UNAS is the highest state-supported research institution in Ukraine with about 15,000 research staff members, including 98 foreign members. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras (L) shakes hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Russia December 7, 2018. (REUTERS PHOTO) MOSCOW, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Friday discussed extending the Russia-Turkey gas pipeline to Greece and connecting it to another pipeline to reach Italy and beyond. "We consider it very realistic," Putin said at a press conference following talks with Tsipras in Moscow. He said that Russia is discussing this prospect not only with Greece, but also with Turkey. According to Putin, Greece has nearly finished building a pipeline between itself and Italy but has no gas to fill it with, while Russia could supply "the real product" if it proves to be economically feasible. Greece supports the principle of diversifying its energy sources, Tsipras said at the press conference. He said that Greece has already built 80 percent of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline to supply gas from Azerbaijan to Europe, including Italy, Bulgaria, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Croatia. "We have all technical conditions to include Russian gas in this pipeline as I believe it will help the European economy, cooperation and development of the entire region," Tsipras said. Talks about the Russia-Turkey gas pipeline crossing the Black Sea, known as the Turkish Stream, were halted in November 2015 after a Russian fighter was downed by Turkey near the Syrian border. Nevertheless, the pipeline construction agreement was signed in 2016 and works started last year. Its underwater part was completed last month. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-08 03:30:06|Editor: Yang Yi Video Player Close China launches Chang'e-4 lunar probe in the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province, Dec. 8, 2018. (Xinhua/Jiang Hongjing) XICHANG, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- China's Chang'e-4 lunar probe was launched in the early hours of Saturday, and it is expected to make the first-ever soft landing on the far side of the moon. A Long March-3B rocket, carrying the probe including a lander and a rover, blasted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province at 2:23 a.m., opening a new chapter in lunar exploration. The scientific tasks of the Chang'e-4 mission include low-frequency radio astronomical observation, surveying the terrain and landforms, detecting the mineral composition and shallow lunar surface structure, and measuring the neutron radiation and neutral atoms to study the environment on the far side of the moon, the China National Space Administration announced. China has promoted international cooperation in its lunar exploration program, with four scientific payloads in the Chang'e-4 mission developed by scientists from the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden and Saudi Arabia. Saturday's launch was the 294th mission of the Long March rocket series. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-08 04:25:22|Editor: yan Video Player Close OSLO, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- A 40-year-old man from southern Norway was arrested for sending a package with explosives to a police station in the country's south-eastern municipality Ski earlier this week, public broadcaster NRK published Friday. Parts of the police station were temporarily closed on Wednesday morning when a suspicious package was discovered. Police said Thursday that it was "a precise bomb" that was intended to harm people. According to police, it was the analysis of handwritten address on the package that made the man from Romerike in southern Norway a suspect. "He has not been questioned. He was arrested a few minutes ago. He will be questioned as soon as possible," police attorney John Skarpeid told NRK. The man has been in the police's spotlight quite early, as he has been threatening both the court and the police, Skarpeid added. The suspect's defender John Christian Elden told NRK that the person denies fault. According to newspaper VG, the same person threatened in 2008 to blow the police station at Lorenskog near Oslo with a homemade bomb. Following the bomb threat, the man was sentenced to psychiatric observation before being released from hospital and detained. In 2010 he was sentenced to imprisonment for one year for both threats to the police and for sexual intercourse with a minor girl. File photo taken on June 4, 2017 shows skulls of the Rwandan genocide victims at the Kigali Genocide Memorial in Kigali, Rwanda. Kigali Genocide Memorial is home to more than 250,000 genocide victims. It has three permanent exhibitions, the largest of which documents the 1994 genocide. There is also a children's memorial and an exhibition on the history of genocide around the world. (Xinhua/Lyu Tianran) UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday asked the international community to prevent rather than react to genocide as the crime does not happen overnight. "Genocide is deliberate and premeditated and requires serious preparations that take time. Those preparations should give the world time to act," Guterres told an event to mark the 70th anniversary of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and the international day to commemorate genocide victims. The Genocide Convention is preventive at its core, and punishes specific acts that are committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, he said. These acts include killing members of the group; causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; and forcibly transferring children of the group to another group. Preventing genocide means paying close attention to these provisions, said Guterres. "Tragically, the international community has sometimes failed to heed the warning signs and take early and decisive action. Rather than preventing genocide, we are still reacting to it, often too late." Since the end of World War II, the international community has failed to prevent genocide in Cambodia, Rwanda, and Srebrenica in the former Yugoslavia, he noted. In the past two decades, the world has at least started to hold perpetrators to account, he said. The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, and the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia have all convicted perpetrators for the crime of genocide. The work of these courts reflects a welcome resolve to punish perpetrators of genocide, he said. The UN General Assembly in September 2015 designated Dec. 9 as the International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of this Crime. Dec. 9 is the anniversary of the adoption of the 1948 Genocide Convention. The Genocide Convention was the first human rights treaty adopted by the United Nations. It embodies a collective determination to protect people from brutality and to prevent the repetition of the horrors witnessed by the world during World War II, said Guterres. The convention has been ratified or acceded to by 149 states; 45 member states have not become party to it, noted Guterres. "I urge those 45 states to consider becoming party as an urgent priority. Universal participation will send a unifying signal of resolve in this 70th anniversary year." He also called on those states that are already parties to the convention to back their commitments with action. "Preventing and punishing genocide is the duty, the responsibility and the obligation of the entire international community." Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-08 04:50:26|Editor: yan Video Player Close UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres "very much looks forward to working" with State Department spokesman Heather Nauert, named on Friday to be the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, replacing Nikki Haley. "The secretary-general very much looks forward to working with Miss Nauert when she assumes her post and continuing the very productive and strong working relationship he enjoyed with Ambassador Haley," Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for the United Nations Secretary-General Guterres, told reporters at a regular briefing. Nauert's selection by U.S. President Donald Trump was no surprise at the United Nations since her name was among the very first mentioned as a possible successor to Haley, a former governor of the U.S. state of South Carolina. By contrast, Nauert has little political or foreign policy experience, having worked as a State Department spokesman since April 2017 and before that as the host of a television show on Trump's favorite network, Fox, and a TV correspondent at ABC News. She follows a respected list of U.S. ambassadors to the world organization many of whom had distinctive careers in politics or diplomacy. Her future colleagues in the UN Security Council also have had distinguished careers in diplomacy. Haley, in announcing her intention to quit the post said she was leaving at the end of the year. She announced no further plans although she has been mentioned as a possible future candidate for the U.S. presidency. "She's very talented, very smart, very quick, and I think she's going to be respected by all," the president said of Nauert. However, Nauert has to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate before officially taking up her post, leaving little time for Haley to show her the ropes by Dec. 31. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-08 04:50:26|Editor: yan Video Player Close UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday asked the international community to prevent rather than react to genocide as the crime does not happen overnight. "Genocide is deliberate and premeditated and requires serious preparations that take time. Those preparations should give the world time to act," Guterres told an event to mark the 70th anniversary of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and the international day to commemorate genocide victims. The Genocide Convention is preventive at its core, and punishes specific acts that are committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, he said. These acts include killing members of the group; causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; and forcibly transferring children of the group to another group. Preventing genocide means paying close attention to these provisions, said Guterres. "Tragically, the international community has sometimes failed to heed the warning signs and take early and decisive action. Rather than preventing genocide, we are still reacting to it, often too late." Since the end of World War II, the international community has failed to prevent genocide in Cambodia, Rwanda, and Srebrenica in the former Yugoslavia, he noted. In the past two decades, the world has at least started to hold perpetrators to account, he said. The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, and the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia have all convicted perpetrators for the crime of genocide. The work of these courts reflects a welcome resolve to punish perpetrators of genocide, he said. The UN General Assembly in September 2015 designated Dec. 9 as the International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of this Crime. Dec. 9 is the anniversary of the adoption of the 1948 Genocide Convention. The Genocide Convention was the first human rights treaty adopted by the United Nations. It embodies a collective determination to protect people from brutality and to prevent the repetition of the horrors witnessed by the world during World War II, said Guterres. The convention has been ratified or acceded to by 149 states; 45 member states have not become party to it, noted Guterres. "I urge those 45 states to consider becoming party as an urgent priority. Universal participation will send a unifying signal of resolve in this 70th anniversary year." He also called on those states that are already parties to the convention to back their commitments with action. "Preventing and punishing genocide is the duty, the responsibility and the obligation of the entire international community." Guterres deplored the fact that 70 years after the adoption of the Genocide Convention, people are still being killed, raped, their homes torched, their lands confiscated -- just because of who they are. In Iraq, the violent extremists of the Islamic State brutally targeted the Yazidi people for murder, sexual slavery and trafficking. Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar were systematically killed, tortured, raped and burnt alive, victims of what has rightly been called ethnic cleansing, said Guterres. Elsewhere around the world, racism, hate speech, violent misogyny, anti-semitism, Islamophobia and all forms of xenophobia are on the rise, he said. "We now know that dehumanizing language is not only evil in itself. It may also sow the seeds for far more evil acts, including genocide." It is incumbent on all people, individually and collectively, to reject every single attempt to target people because of their nationality, ethnicity, religion or race, or any other form of identity, he said. The UN chief encouraged people to speak out and help nurture the courage and the political will to act decisively, at the right time, and to support others when they take action. "My generation believed that after the Holocaust, we would never see genocide again. We were wrong," said Guterres. "Modernity does not protect us from genocide. The digital age does not protect us from genocide. Nothing but our own actions, based on our values and principles, can protect us from genocide." The Genocide Convention offers an essential legal framework for efforts to fight this crime, he said. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-08 05:20:32|Editor: mmm Video Player Close CAPE TOWN, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Friday that the National Minimum Wage (NMW) bill, which he signed into law late last month, will take effect from Jan. 1, 2019. "This is a great achievement for the working people of South Africa, who have had to endure generations of exploitation," the president said. Once the NMW takes effect, no worker shall be paid below 20 rand (about 1.4 U.S. dollars) per hour, or 3,500 rand (about 247 dollars) a month for the majority of the country's 6 million workers. The NMW should also be seen as an achievement for business, as it demonstrates the commitment of employers to fairer wages and better working conditions, Ramaphosa said at an event in the township of Soweto. As one of the legacy legislations by the Parliament's Committee on Labor, the NMW was passed by both houses of Parliament earlier this year. The NMW marks another step in closing the huge inequality that is prevalent in South Africa, said Lemias Mashile, Chairperson of Parliament's Committee on Labor. The NMW will improve the lives of many families that have been earning less and will contribute to stimulating economy as a result of increased participation by many in the country, he said. The committee reiterates its view that while the NMW is a reasonable beginning, much more efforts should be placed in reaching the desired living wage, Mashile said. The committee remains of the view that a happy labor market is essential if the country is to grow economically, he said. "This is important if the country is to succeed in fighting the triple challenges of unemployment, poverty and inequality," he said. The NMW came into being four years after the National Economic Development and Labor Council first began deliberations on the protection of low-paid workers. Although opponents say the NMW is a slave wage that cannot make both ends meet for the working class, Ramaphosa said on Friday he agreed that the NMW "is far below what we would want workers to earn." "But we must understand that in setting the starting level, the social partners sought to strike a balance - between the need to measurably improve the income of the lowest paid workers and the need to sustain and increase levels of employment," the president said. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-08 05:50:38|Editor: mmm Video Player Close WASHINGTON, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday that he will nominate State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert as the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, succeeding outgoing Nikki Haley. "Heather Nauert will be nominated for the ambassador to the United Nations," Trump told reporters on Friday morning before departing the White House for a conference in the state of Missouri. Trump praised Nauert as a "very talented, very smart, very quick" person, working well with State Secretary Mike Pompeo. Nauert, a 48-year-old former Fox News presenter, assumed her current post in April 2017. She was reportedly a "leading contender" for the ambassadorship after Haley publicly announced her resignation in October. Following Trump's announcement, the White House Spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said in a tweet that she believed Nauert will be "a strong voice for the United States" at the UN. However, picking Nauert, an Illinois native, to represent the United States at the international arena is seen as an unorthodox choice by Trump, as the veteran news presenter had little political or foreign policy-making experience before joining the State Department. Nauert has reportedly gained the trust of Pompeo, who gave his "strong support" for her in the competition for the top U.S. diplomat post at the UN. But reporters covering the State Department complained about the falling frequency of the press briefings under Nauert. Following the nomination, Nauert will probably face a tough Senate confirmation hearing on her qualification. Meanwhile, experts noticed that Haley's successor will work under a circumstance largely different from Haley's days, when there were then the "nearly invisible" Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and "a practically dysfunctional National Security Council." Haley, 46, was confirmed as the U.S. ambassador to the UN days after Trump's inauguration in January 2017. She has been seen as one of Trump's most trusted advisers. Her resignation announcement nearly two months ago came as a surprise to many high-level administration officials. "I don't have anything set on where I want to go," the former South Carolina governor told reporters then. Haley will remain in the post till the end of this year. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-08 06:00:41|Editor: yan Video Player Close by Nathan Morley NICOSIA, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- An event in Cyprus to mark the 40th anniversary of China's Reform and Opening Up has highlighted the growing relationship between the two countries. The gathering of academics, diplomats and the media at the European University in Nicosia on Friday discussed China's milestone economic reforms which were launched in 1978. Since then, China has seen unprecedented economic growth, coupled with vast improvements in living conditions, health care, trade and education. In her opening remarks, Georgia Constantinou-Panayiotou, the deputy spokesman of the ruling Democratic Rally, said the party supported all efforts to make Cyprus a 'reliable and strategic partner' with China, citing existing ties in health, education, investment, research and tourism. "More and more Chinese people are discovering Cyprus as a tourist destination, showing great interest in its historic and cultural heritage," Constantinou-Panayiotou said. "We need to take all the necessary steps to boost touristic movements between the two countries by the issuing of visas and improving air connectivity. I am confident that the productive brainstorming which is taking place between Chinese and Cypriots will produce concrete proposals on the way forward," she added. Speaking at the same event, Chinese Ambassador to Cyprus Huang Xingyuan, said reforms since 1978 have 'changed the destiny of China and the Chinese people'. He also explained how China had built the world's largest social security network, whilst making compulsory education free for both urban and rural populations over the last four decades. "China's reforms and opening up are essentially twofold - reforms from the inside and opening up to the outside," Huang said. "Fourty years of reforms and opening up have brought about immense changes in China. China's GDP increased by 225 times, disposable income per capita grew 23 times, with 740 million Chinese people lifted out of poverty." In a short speech, veteran Cyprus Ambassador Dr. Andrestinos Papadopoulos described bilateral relations as being excellent and 'based on mutual respect and growth in cooperation.' "Needless to mention on many international issues China and Cyprus see eye-to-eye," Papadopoulos observed. In his closing remarks, Huang warned that any efforts trying to contain or stop China would put the global economy and poverty reduction 'in harm's way'. "China is now the world's second largest economy, with the world's largest industrial output and the largest number of outbound tourists. China has been driving global prosperity by contributing more than 30 percent to world economic growth," Huang concluded. Relations between China and Cyprus have been expanding rapidly over the last decade. In 2017, Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades said Chinese investors buying property on the island had contributed to the recovery of the moribund construction sector after a financial crisis hit the country in 2013. WinterFest, a holiday market that popped-up in the parking lot of the Brooklyn Museum just over two weeks ago, was supposed to be Brooklyn's answer to the Union Square Holiday Market. Instead, visitors have complained that it's closer to Fyre Fest: Christmas Vacation, with incomplete attractions (including a headless Little Drummer Boy) and paid attractions that are rip-offs. Now, the Brooklyn DA's office is investigating the organizers of the event. "This is a total scam and there are many angry New Yorkers," said Hannah Kim, who spent over $70 on opening weekend to attend the event and get access to its paid attractions. "The worst part [was] the chocolate dome house which consisted of Halloween candy and watered down hot chocolate, and the Christmas tree maze which was a really poorly decorated line of trees. In addition to the $75.08 [on tickets], we ended up spending $50+ dollar for food and wine." Kim, 34, said she and her husband traveled from Bergen County in NJ, sitting in traffic for over an hour and a half, to come to this specific event: "[We] really looked forward to this event as Christmas is the most exciting time of the year for us and especially in NYC and found it extremely disappointing," she said. "Especially since the way it was advertised, we were expecting one of the best winterfests in NYC." "Being that I made my husband drive for so long to go to this event, I was utterly embarrassed that I made him drive this long and spend $$ on this ridiculous event." Mike Burnett had equally high expectations for the event. He and his wife came up from their home in Jackson, Mississippi to visit their grandkids, and decided to buy tickets ahead of time for WinterFest for the whole family. He said because of the association with Brooklyn Museum (who leased the parking lot to organizer Lena Romanova) and the descriptions which made it "sound like a European holiday marketplace," he expected it would be a good family-friendly event, and was happy to put down $110 on tickets for all the attractions. "We started walking in and I just started laughing," he said. "It is the type of thing that if it had been a little bit better, it probably would have made me angry. But because it was so bad, it was funny." "I was walking through making cracks to my wife about this," he said. After the two of them got the lay of the land in a few minutes, they met the rest of their family. "I told them, 'be prepared for the most wonderful thing you've ever seen,'" he said. "I was laughing through this whole thing." At least two vendors dropped out after the first week. One of them, Pamela Barsky, told Brooklyn Daily that she paid more than $6,000 to sell bags inside faulty stalls, which she claimed constantly leaked and lost electricity. "This wasnt just disorganized, I think they had every intention of scamming everyone, she said, adding that sells her bags at similar bazaars across the city with no hitch. "It was like kindergartners trying to setup a show." In response to the complaints, WinterFest spokesperson Jennifer Crosby told Gothamist earlier this week that changes would be made to the event, including making all attractions free to the public starting yesterday. She added, "Original paid tickets to the attractions included free hot chocolate for all, free photo with Santa and complementary [sic] wine glass for Adult Tickets. Fee visitors, however, were unsatisfied. Since then, refunds have been issued to all visitors who previously paid for attractions but couldnt access them." However, several of the people Gothamist spoke with said they had emailed Crosby to no avail. Both Burnett and Kim said they tried reaching out and haven't heard back: "I didn't get any response back at all. I wrote seven emails to Jennifer," said Kim. "Interestingly she only replied back to some people and refunded money to some while giving free tickets to the event to go again for those who went on opening DAY, not the weekend." Liz Grif told us she thought it was a sham as well: "I reached out to the organizer to get a refund for a horrible day and was ignored and never got my money back. I am angry that it is free now. And that she is lying when she said she refunded the money! I am beyond livid! I even sent a copy of my paid ticket as proof. How dare they promise children a festival!" Kim added, "At this point, it is about the principle, how the Winterfest company is dealing with this." The Brooklyn DA's Senior Communications Officer, Oren Yaniv, told Gothamist on Friday, We are reviewing the complaint. Update: Crosby tells Gothamist WinterFest has not been contacted by DA about the complaints. "We regret any confusion about the event," she said. "Out of thousands of visitors, we received around 3.5% of complaints," she added. "For visitors who complained about the attractions we offered to re-visit the festival and have complementary drinks, wine tasting and Santa Picture on us. Many visitors have already re-visited the event and enjoyed a hot mulled wine and out wine tasting. For visitors who arrived during the soft opening when we experienced power outage, we offer full refund. We are reviewing every complaint on case by case basis as we found many illegitimate or repeated demands of refund for same tickets. There has also been many anonymous comments with fake or doctored pictures." Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-08 06:00:43|Editor: yan Video Player Close ANKARA, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- Turkey Friday urged U.S. Special Envoy to Syria James Jeffrey to remove military observation posts in northern Syria which aim at preventing clashes between Turkish forces and U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish militia. During a meeting with Jeffrey, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar conveyed Ankara's request, urging the United States to cut ties with the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG). Turkey sees YPG an offshoot of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which is listed a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union. "Turkey will not allow a terror corridor on its southern border," read a statement by Turkish Defense Ministry after the meeting. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Jeffrey said the U.S. military posts near Turkish border in northern Syria aim at "less harassment fire" and ensuring security of the region including Turkey. "That's of interest of Turkey, interest of us and people of north Syria," he said adding that these posts will "deter anybody" shooting into Turkey from across the border. Relations between Turkey and the United States have been strained because of the support provided by Washington to the YPG. The United States has long been complaining that tensions between Turkey and the YPG have at times slowed down progress on fighting the Islamic State (IS) in the east of Euphrates in Syria. The U.S decision to deploy observation posts in northern of Syria along with Turkish border came after the Turkish Armed Forces fired artillery shells at YPG positions east of the Euphrates in the Kobane region of northern Syria in November. Anadolu Agency reported that Turkish howitzers hit YPG targets in Zor Magar region along the Turkish-Syrian border line. Turkish army launched two massive operations in northern Syria in the past two years to push YPG out of the area in west of the Euphrates, but had to stop at the river to avoid a confrontation with the U.S. soldiers there. In a bid to calm down tensions, the United States and Turkey in June agreed to work together in Manbij, west of the Euphrates, for retreat of the YPG members after Ankara repeatedly threatened to attack the city. The Manbij deal envisaged not only removal of YPG from the town, but also joint patrolling of the U.S. and Turkish soldiers and establishment of new local administration and military personal cleaned from YPG people. After the meeting of Turkish-U.S. high level working group on Syria, a joint statement said both sides are committed to an accelerated and concrete progress on the Manbij roadmap by the end of the year. They agreed to continue to work on joint planning with regard to other areas as mentioned in the Manbij roadmap. Ankara asks Washington to take similar measures in other towns in the east of Euphrates as well, so that the YPG will be eliminated in the region. Manbij deal is a model for Turkish-U.S. cooperation in Syria in trying to bring peace to the war-torn country, the U.S. envoy said. "We think that there will be no final conclusion of this conflict without very close Turkish-U.S. cooperation. Manbij is a good model for that cooperation," Jeffrey noted. "How we apply it on other places depends on which places we are looking at. Now we focus on Manbij," he said when asked if Manbij model will be applied to other towns in the east of Euphrates. However, Turkey urges Washington for taking action soon on withdrawal of YPG fighters from other towns in the region. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Wednesday said the last paragraph of the Manbij deal says the same measures will also be applied to the other regions in east of the Euphrates. "For stability there, first of all the terrorist groups should be eliminated," he said noting that Turkey will take necessary measures and respond again if its border is threatened by YPG's harassment fire. Security expert Abdullah Agar expressed his doubt on the real aim of the U.S. observation posts near Turkish border -- whether to serve Turkey's security or to protect the YPG group from Turkey. He recalled recent tension in November between the Turkish security forces and the Syrian Kurdish group. "Immediately after the YPG had causalities, they stopped the military campaign in the middle Euphrates Basin. In the pretext of protecting Turkey, the U.S. is actually defending the YPG by these observation posts," he added. Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-08 06:30:51|Editor: yan Video Player Close CHICAGO, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- A student from U.S. University of Michigan has been selected as a 2019 Schwarzman Scholar and earns an opportunity to study for a master's degree at Tsinghua University in China next year, according to a report published on the school's website. It is the first time a student from the University of Michigan will be part of the Schwarzman Scholars program that sends young leaders from around the world to China. A total of 2,800 applicants worldwide competed for the appealing scholarship, but only around five percent of them were chosen. "I am thrilled to be part of this selected group of people," said Eduardo Batista, a University of Michigan senior from Brazil who is studying business and cognitive science. "I've been always interested in having a better and deeper understanding of China, because of its influence in Brazil, in the United States and in the world." Beginning in the fall of 2019, the 147 Schwarzman Scholars will study at Beijing's Tsinghua University for an academic year, graduating with a master's degree in global affairs. Scholars will choose between concentrations in public policy, international studies, or economics, and they accompany their classroom studies with hands-on experience in their fields of interest. Students will also study Mandarin during their stay in China. The Schwarzman Scholarships for graduate study in China were created in 2013 by private equity firm manager Stephen Schwarzman, who modeled them on the Rhodes Scholarships. The program, housed in Schwarzman College at Tshingua University in Beijing, fully funds participants' expenses, including travel costs and a modest personal stipend. Ministrul Muncii: In Romania se munceste 5 ani dupa speranta de viata sanatoasa Este necesar sa ne ocupam initial de speranta de viata din Romania si de traiul romanilor ca apoi sa discutam de o eventuala prelungire obligatorie a varstei de pensionare. Asta nu inseamna ca daca nu prelungim varsta nu [citeste mai departe] The first thing anyone who has seen the 1976 Oscar-winning film Network will probably be wondering: does lead actor Bryan Cranston nail the iconic "mad as hell" speech? Does he truly capture the "je not going to take it anymore sais quoi" the way Peter Finch did when he originated the role of newscaster Howard Beale? Does the speech come across as didactic and stilted, or does it still retain its raw, cathartic power? Is it even the same speech as the film, or has the '70s text been radically altered for our 24-hour news age? In case the headline didn't give it away, no one should doubt the chops of a man who could play Breaking Bad's ruthless Walter White and Malcolm In The Middle's zany Hal Wilkerson with equal amounts of colorful zeal and focused intensity. Cranston brings both his serious dramatic side and his impeccable comedic timing to the new Broadway adaptation of Network, written by Lee Hall and directed by Ivo Van Hove. And yes, Cranston nails the monologue, which is the centerpiece of this dizzying, often brilliant, sometimes weird-as-hell two-hour long production (no intermissions, so make sure you plan accordingly!). Aside from Cranston's outstanding performancehe nails each swing between erudite newscaster, tear-stained mid-life crisis, and of course, furious prophet of the airwavesthe most compelling aspect to the production is Van Hove's remarkable staging. While Hall made the decision to keep the narrative based in the '70s (and hence keep most of the original screenplay and those brilliantly-written monologues intact), Van Hove blends it with an anxious, ultra-modern sheen. There's a steady musical score humming in the background at all times, cameras are hauled all over the set, and the stage is constantly abuzz with TV screens, an apt reflection of our frantic modern news era. There are multiple screens packed in stage left to represent the UBS newsroom a la CNN; a giant one center stage where Beale's proclamations go out; and then the smaller ones inside a restaurant set stage right. (Note: a few audience members can buy tickets to have an actual meal and drinks onstage during the show, where they'll inevitably end up interacting with the cast a little.) The cast and creative team answer the question Why Network now? #NetworkBway pic.twitter.com/5r8fMCBcVc NETWORK Broadway (@NetworkBway) November 13, 2018 Van Hove, who previously helmed radical critically-acclaimed Broadway revivals of The Crucible and A View From the Bridge, clearly wants to draw some direct linessometimes surprisingly, often obviousbetween the prophetic script and our current "fake news" era. It creates a strange but welcome tension between the present and the past for most of the play, with things only going off the rails at the very end (more on that down below). The cast includes Tony Goldwyn (Scandal) as Max Schumacher, the jaded network news president originally played by William Holden, and Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black) as Diana Christensen, the ice-cold programming executive originally portrayed by Faye Dunaway. Their story, including an ill-fated love affair, is also given extra emphasis thanks to Van Hove's direction, which sees them walking the streets of NYC outside the theater at one point. There are snags to all these fancy camera tricks: the looks on the faces of oblivious NYers walking by elicited a lot of laughs from the audience, even though it was supposed to have been a seduction scene. While both Schumacher and Maslany are good, Cranston's amazing, physically-exhausting performance towers over the productionquite literally so when his face, twisted between madness and vision, is being projected onto the central giant screen (which happens quite a lot in close-up). The thing that really stands out about the performanceCranston has already won the Olivier Award for best actor for the show's run in Londonis how much humor Cranston is able to squeeze out of such a dark satire. As revealed in Dave Itzkoff's book Mad as Hell: The Making of Network and the Fateful Vision of the Angriest Man in Movies, screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky initially intended for Network to be a comedy, but instead found himself focused on the swells of anger rising throughout the country in the post-Vietnam/Watergate era, as reflected in television news broadcasts that were becoming "an indestructible and terrifying giant that is stronger than the government." The movie is so black in its satire that you probably didn't notice the humor, especially if you're someone, like me, who only saw it in the last twenty years, during a period in which many of its most seemingly cynical proclamations and over-the-top predictions about the commodification and degradation of TV news has become a frightful reality. I don't think I've ever even chuckled watching the film, but Cranston is somehow able to draw out this strand of humor that was in the script all along, whether Beale is yelling at a cameraman or ad-libbing with the audience. BREAKING: @BryanCranston's exclusive report on playing Howard Beale in Network. pic.twitter.com/KLpfY9SMEV NETWORK Broadway (@NetworkBway) December 4, 2018 Three-quarters of the play is so tightly bound with the movie, anyone who is a fan of the original will delight at seeing it brought back to life in such a temporally-daring and brilliantly staged context. But then comes the confused and awkward ending, which seems to be an attempt on Van Hove & Hall's force a truly unnecessary button on the entire play. I'll refrain from spoilers here and just note that Hall told the Times, "the play had to end with Beale undergoing 'a moment of anagnorisis' some final realization about the truth of his experience." Anagnorisis has never been this ana-groan-orisis. XyloCor, Philadelphia, says it has raised $17 million from Silicon Valley and European investors to test its gene therapies for heart conditions Read more XyloCor Therapeutics, a Philadelphia gene therapy developer focused on heart disease, said it raised $17 million from investors led by Silicon Valley-based Sofinnova Ventures and by Life Sciences Partners (LSP), of Amsterdam, Munich, and Waltham, Mass. The money will fund clinical development of a XyloCor treatment that seeks to grow new coronary artery tissue to help patients with severe chest pain (angina) who cant be treated by surgery. The drug, known for now as XC001, is designed to help such patients stay active so they dont become bed-ridden and have a better chance of fighting heart disease and delaying the deterioration of a sedentary life. XyloCor, formed by a pair of medical doctors who were professors and colleagues at Cornell Universitys medical school in New York, in 2016 hired Al Gianchetti, a former GlaxoSmithKline vice president for research who also ran the commercial side of Vanda Pharmaceuticals in the late 2000s, as chief executive. Gianchetti moved the company to Philadelphia, which, he told me, is a great area for drug development, based on the talent pool from his former employer and other drugmakers along the U.S. 202 corridor and at the universities. He is building a team of 20 as he ramps up for clinical testing. The area is not a venture capital center, but Sofinnova was already an investor in pioneering Philly gene-therapy developer Spark Pharmaceuticals, one of a number of cell and gene therapy companies started by professors at local universities so XyloCor was in territory familiar to Sofinnova partners, Gianchetti said. Financing companies is a challenge. Most dont get to the point they can move ahead with clinical trials. Were excited to be moving now to the clinic, he said. A Drexel MBA holder who also graduated from the University of Delaware and Penncrest High in Media, Gianchetti said he watched his father, a Center City building manager and leader of the managers' association, die of heart disease, losing strength so that by the end, walking up stairs was a challenge. He said that experience strengthens his interest in bringing treatments for similar patients to market. XyloCor said in a statement that the FDA has given XC001 its fast-track designation as a once-for-life therapy " for the improvement of exercise tolerance in patients with chronic angina that is refractory to standard medical therapy and not amenable to conventional revascularization procedures" such as coronary artery bypass surgery or stent drains. XyloCor has applied for FDA investigational new-drug status so it can start clinical trials on schedule next year. A second XyloCor product, a discovery-stage treatment dubbed XC002, is designed to regenerate heart tissue in patients who have had heart attacks. "XyloCor is poised to address serious unmet medical needs in cardiovascular disease, said co-founder Ronald Crystal, a physician and the Bruce Webster Professor of Internal Medicine and chairman of gene therapy at Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York, where he also directs the Belfer Gene Therapy Core Facility, in a statement. XC001 should "stimulate the formation of new coronary blood vessels to serve areas of the heart that are not receiving adequate blood supply, which may allow patients to increase their daily activities and improve their quality of life, said co-founder Todd Rosengart, also a physician and Crystals former Cornell colleague. He is now a professor and surgery department chairman at Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. XyloCor has added Sofinnova general partner Fouad Azzam, Ph.D., and Sofinnova partner Alan Colowick, M.D., as board members, joining co-founder Rosengart, CEO Gianchetti, and Massachusetts-based serial biotech founder Glenn Batchelder. Summit Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attends a plenary session on the second day of the G20 Leader's Summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Turkey is seeking the arrest of two former aides to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman who were dismissed amid the fallout from the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. Read more No other issue has roused GOP senators wrath at President Trump the way his whitewashing of the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi has. The venting over Trumps refusal to cast blame on Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman who the CIA believes ordered the killing at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul is not just coming from retiring GOP moderates like Sen. Bob Corker. Even Sen. Lindsey Graham, who morphed into a Trump sycophant even before the death of his sidekick John McCain, scornfully dismisses White House insistence that theres no smoking gun that links the prince to the murder. Theres a smoking saw Graham insisted, referring to the fact that the hit team traveled from Riyadh to Istanbul with a bone saw to dismember the body after the slaughter. Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby (R., Ala.) insisted all evidence leads back to the crown prince. Other GOP senators were so aggrieved they joined a 63-37 Senate vote to start debate on limiting presidential war powers to aid the Saudi-led war in Yemen. So why has the assassination of a Saudi journalist, albeit a U.S. resident writing for a top U.S. newspaper, stiffened the backbones of so many GOP senators whove remained mute over previous White House foreign-policy debacles? Here are four reasons why the Khashoggi affair resonates far beyond the brutal murder of one man. 1. Trumps cavalier treatment of other branches of government finally boomeranged. GOP senators were furious that Trump was treating them like fools given the clear evidence from CIA intercepts that the crown prince directed the Khashoggi hit job. Graham and others were incensed at apparent White House pressure on CIA Director Gina Haspel not to testify before the full Senate body. After she finally appeared at a closed-door Senate briefing, Graham snapped that those who denied the crown princes involvement have to be willfully blind. 2. Many GOP senators seem to have finally recognized that Trump has hitched his Mideast policy to a reckless prince who has failed to deliver. MBS, as the prince is known, has dragged America into helping him crush a tribal revolt in Yemen that was supposed to contain Iran. Instead, the endless air war has pushed Yemens Houthi rebels closer to Tehran and created a staggering humanitarian catastrophe. Meantime, MBS has split the alliance of Gulf states a supposed bulwark against Tehran by blockading Qatar. He rashly kidnapped the Lebanese prime minister in a failed effort to curb Hezbollah. Despite some security cooperation with Israel against their common Iranian enemy, MBS hasnt delivered on Trump hopes that he would godfather a Mideast peace plan. Add to that, the princes unprecedented crackdowns and jailing of peaceful and moderate Saudi opposition figures, including women activists who led the campaign for womens right to drive. So much for MBS as a modernizer. There was an accumulation [of MBS blunders] building up, says the Brookings Institutions Bruce Riedel, author of Kings and Presidents: Saudi Arabia and the United States Since FDR. Then the Khashoggi factor burst on the scene. The CIA told the White House it was a mistake to put all eggs on the MBS basket. Trump, of course, didnt listen. MBS is a wrecking ball to the region, jeopardizing our national security interests on multiple fronts, says Graham. 3. Yet Trump is treating Saudi Arabia as if it is the senior partner in this relationship and the U.S. is the supplicant. This also angers senators. Saudi oil production still matters globally, but Americas soaring energy production has changed that balance. And, despite MBSs ostentatious high five with Vladimir Putin at the recent G-20 summit, the Saudi military, and Saudi security, still depends on U.S. weaponry and training. The alliance with the country of Saudi Arabia still matters, but that doesnt preclude Trumps pushing back against the dangerous behavior of an erratic crown prince. 4. Given all of the above, Trumps steadfast defense of MBS seeds speculation about his true motivation. Is it his fascination with autocrats and the tribal pomp with which he was treated when visiting Saudi Arabia? Is it son-in-law Jared Kushners tight relationship with MBS, which was supposed to guarantee an Israeli-Palestinian peace plan, but hasnt? Trump, in his typical transactional fashion, keeps citing the supposed $110 billion in arms deals he concluded with the kingdom. But this is fake news. These are letters of intent, not contracts, and most of the proposals began in the Obama administration. In other words, nothing new and nothing yet concrete. Another explanation: personal gain. Saudi-funded lobbyists paid for hundreds of rooms at Trumps hotel after the 2016 election, according to the Washington Post, amounting to $270,000. But is that sum enough to buy Trump? Whatever the reason, the Khashoggi affair is another instance of Trumps misjudging a despot. And misjudging how long most GOP senators would act as lapdogs. Expect more pressure on the White House to end support for the Yemen war. Trumps devotion to a reckless prince has opened the door for more overt GOP skepticism about a reckless president whose judgment is also seriously flawed. From left: Grant Gustin as Oliver Queen/Green Arrow, Stephen Amell as Barry Allen/The Flash and Melissa Benoist as Kara/Supergirl in the first leg of a three-show crossover that begins Sunday, Dec. 9 with "The Flash" Read more The Flash, Arrow, and Supergirl. Comic book worlds collide once again in the CWs latest superhero crossover stunt, Elseworlds. 8 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 9, Monday, Dec. 10, and Tuesday, Dec. 11. 12th annual CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute. Anderson Cooper and South Jerseys Kelly Ripa cohost the live ceremony honoring 10 people who are helping others and naming one of them the networks 2018 Hero of the Year. Lenny Kravitz will perform, and presenters include Will Ferrell, Danai Gurira (Black Panther), Ted Danson, Mary Steenburgen, Omari Hardwick, Uzo Aduba, and others. 8 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 9, CNN. Counterpart. Oscar-winner J.K. Simmons (Whiplash) returns in the dual roles of Howard Silk, a mild-mannered bureaucrat who, in a parallel universe, is a ruthless spy. After the first seasons finale left them trapped in each others worlds, each must cope with his new circumstances and the repercussions of a terrorist attack. 9 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 9, Starz. Paris to Pittsburgh. Rachel Brosnahan (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) narrates a documentary looking at ways local and state governments and businesses are working to fight climate change, despite President Trumps decision to pull the U.S. out of the Paris climate accord because, as he put it, I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris. Among those making the argument that fighting climate change with alternative energy sources can be good for the economy is Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto. 9 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 12, National Geographic Channel. Chilling Adventures of Sabrina: A Midwinters Tale. A new run of episodes about the teenage witch (Kiernan Shipka) is due April 5, but in the meantime, heres a particularly chilling winter solstice episode to tide fans over. Friday, Dec. 14, Netflix. The Innocent Man. Six-part documentary series based on John Grishams 2006 nonfiction book The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town looks at two murders in Ada, Okla., and the wrongful convictions that followed. Friday, Dec. 14, Netflix. In the wake of Kevin Harts quick departure from the job, it has to be asked: Is there any such thing as a perfect host for the Oscars? And, if such a person exist and by some miracle has managed to become famous without offending anyone, ever why would he or she even want the gig? Hart, the Philadelphia-born comedian whose ability to dependably put moviegoers in seats, was an obvious attraction to an awards show whose ratings hit an all-time low this year. Did the thought of drawing in viewers whod come for Hart, rather than to cheer on nominated films that may be less popular than those he appears in, cause the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to discount the anti-gay comments hes made in the past? Or did Oscar officials believe that Hart has matured as he said he has in a late-night Instagram post Thursday but then panicked when LGBT advocacy group GLAAD raised the issue of what it called Harts anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and record?" I can see why GLAAD would have concerns. But given that the Oscars went through this just seven years ago, when Eddie Murphy also dropped out as host following the exit of producer Brett Ratner over what the Hollywood Reporter called a series of ill-judged remarks that included at least one homophobic slur, Id have thought those issues wouldve been addressed with Hart by ABC and the academy before he was offered the job, not after. But then, Ive never tried to book an Oscars host. I have been watching the show as a critic, though, for more than 20 years, and the only thing I know for sure is that theres no longer any upside to hosting the Oscars for anyone whos famous enough to be considered. Not even Billy Crystal, who stepped in to host in 2012 after Murphy dropped out, was as good as we remember him being in the years he set the bar for Academy Awards hosts in the post-Johnny Carson era. The worst outings have been the ones in which the academy was clearly reaching for the kind of viewers who long ago wrote off the Oscars for the bloated, self-congratulatory show it too often is: the ill-advised pairing of Anne Hathaway and James Franco in which she was as charming as the writing could allow for and he seemed at times half-asleep, or the night when Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane showed off his song-and-dance chops with We Saw Your Boobs. Jimmy Kimmel, whos hosted for the last two years, brought neither diversity nor a new audience for ABC, but he did handle both the Moonlight-La La Land mixup and the first Oscars of the #MeToo era with aplomb. The network, which still has him on the payroll, could do worse than bringing him in for a third go. Or maybe they could ask Harts Night School costar Tiffany Haddish to break out that Alexander McQueen dress one more time. Almost anything would be better, though, than making the Oscars all about the host. Hart, an enthusiastic, funny guy whom I truly hope has evolved, might have been a breath of fresh air for the 2019 Academy Awards, but its unlikely he could have overcome the structural problems of the show, which delivers its biggest moments after much of its potential audience is in bed. In a viewing universe where we can get almost anything on demand, awards shows, like sports, make us wait. And in the case of the Oscars, wait some more. By the time the Best Picture people are mounting the stage, weve had time enough to pick the hosts to bits. Carson and for most of his hosting gigs, Crystal -- didnt have to contend with Twitter, or with what have become outsize expectations that some timely quips can make up for the shows often-sluggish pace, or the speeches that have become a litany of people who are either on the winners' payroll or to whom they owe fealty. The Oscars may be better off without a controversial host, but Hart, too, may be better off without the Oscars. Jonathan Harris (left) and Andre Melton both face criminal charges relating to Christina Carlin-Kraft. Harris is accused of strangling the model during an argument in her Ardmore apartment, and Melton, police say, robbed her just days earlier in an unrelated incident. Read more Two men tied to a slain Ardmore model appeared before judges in Montgomery County this week. One had been on the run from police for four months. The other had stayed put, locked in a jail cell, for nearly as long. Jonathan Wesley Harris, 31, was formally arraigned Friday in Norristown on murder, robbery, and related charges in the death of Christina Carlin-Kraft, who police say was murdered inside her apartment this summer. Two days earlier, Andre Melton, 31, was arrested in his native Southwest Philadelphia on minor drug charges. That run-in with city police ended the manhunt for Melton, a suspect in an unrelated robbery of Carlin-Krafts apartment the same week that Harris is accused of killing her. Harris, from Western Pennsylvania, told investigators in August that he met Carlin-Kraft in Center City and accompanied her home to sell, and use, an ounce of cocaine. After the two had what he described as consensual sex, they fell into an argument, and he beat and choked her to death, he later confessed to police. Little was said at Harris' arraignment Friday, attended by Carlin-Krafts family and Alex Ciccotelli, her fiance. Assistant District Attorney Brianna Ringwood, who is handling the case, said afterward that prosecutors will not seek the death penalty. A trial in the slaying of the 36-year-old model is tentatively scheduled for May. Harris remains in custody at the county jail, denied bail due to the nature of the charges. Meanwhile, Melton was arraigned late Thursday after investigators brought him to the Lower Merion Police Department. He was charged with burglary, criminal trespass, and receiving stolen property, according to the warrant for his arrest issued Aug. 21. He remained in custody on $25,000 bail, and he faces a preliminary hearing in the case Dec. 21. Meltons attorney, Lawrence J. Bozzelli, declined to comment at length Friday, saying only that his client has not been charged in the homicide and has no connection to that crime. Carlin-Kraft reported a burglary at her apartment inside the Cambridge Square building on Aug. 18. She told investigators that she had taken a Lyft car to the Sofitel hotel in Center City the night before and ordered an espresso martini at the hotels bar. After that, she said, she remembered nothing. She told police that she woke up the next morning in her apartment extremely sick with no recollection of what occurred and wearing the same clothes as the night before, according to the warrant. Then she noticed several things missing, including credit cards, jewelry, and designer purses. She told police that she did not give anyone permission to enter her residence or permission to take her property. Surveillance footage from her apartment building shows Carlin-Kraft returning to her apartment early on Aug. 18 with a man police believe was Melton, according to the warrant. She seemed unsteady on her feet, and he supported her as she walked. It was unclear how Melton and Carlin-Kraft had met, but investigators believe that he had given her a ride home from the city. As the two walked into her building, Carlin-Kraft fell, and Melton picked her up from behind and helped her to an elevator. Surveillance footage shows him later coming back down on the elevator, carrying a box that police believe contained Carlin-Krafts belongings. Police later tracked some of Carlin-Krafts stolen credit cards to convenience stores in Delaware County. Surveillance footage from those stores captured Melton and another man using the cards. When investigators went to serve a warrant at Meltons home in Southwest Philadelphia on Aug. 22, he wasnt there. That same day, Ciccotelli discovered Carlin-Krafts body. For months, Melton continued to elude law enforcement amid reports that he was in the area, including a brief sighting by police in Upper Darby. Finally, a car he was riding in was pulled over late Wednesday on Paschall Avenue near 67th Street, in the Elmwood section of Southwest Philadelphia, according to a spokesman for Philadelphia police. Melton was arrested for marijuana possession, court records show. When the officers ran his name, they saw the four-month-old warrant for his arrest in Montgomery County and took him into custody. Three men are dead following a shooting Thursday night inside a Frankford rowhouse. A 13-year-old boy called 911 about 8:10 p.m. to report that his father had been shot in a house on the the 5100 block of Saul Street. Uniformed officers arrived at the house just as a wounded man was stumbling down the front steps with a gun in his right hand, Capt. John Walker of the 15th District said. After disarming the 31-year-old man, officers took him to Temple University Hospital, where he later died. Officers found another weapon before entering the house and discovering a man in his 20s with no pulse and a bullet wound to his head on the ground floor, Walker said. In a second-floor bathroom, they discovered a man in his 40s who had been shot once in the chest. When officers checked for his pulse, they uncovered a gun beneath his body. Medics pronounced both men dead at the scene, Walker said. In another room, police found two women, an infant, and the 13-year-old boy. We dont know if he saw the shooting or he heard it, but the kid called 911 and said one of the guys was his father, Walker said. Walker said about 9:30 p.m. that the crime scene had been secured and that his officers were awaiting search warrants before continuing their investigation. We still dont have IDs, and were not sure of a motive, Walker said, adding one of the responding officers was being treated for a dog bite. Too hot for school: District kids, like these at Dunbar Elementary in North Philadelphia. were dismissed early at the start of the year from their broiling classrooms. Read more Summer might last a little longer for Philadelphia students next year. After sweltering heat forced school closures during an earlier-than-traditional start this year, the School District is recommending that classes next year begin Sept. 3, after Labor Day. The proposal, which district officials presented to a school board committee Thursday night, would mark a return to the districts past practice of not starting classes before Labor Day. This year, the school year began Aug. 27 a full week before the holiday. But a heat wave disrupted the early start. Without air-conditioning, many district schools dismissed students early. At Thursdays committee meeting, Chief Schools Officer Shawn Bird told board members that the hottest day at the start of this school year wasnt during the first week, but the day after Labor Day. (The high that day, Sept. 4, was 93 in Philadelphia; the high on Aug. 29 was 95. It did reach 95 on Sept. 5 and 6.) We cant ever predict the weather, Bird said. While district officials said that weather wasnt the determining factor in their decision to recommend a later start, there was certainly feedback on that, spokesman Lee Whack said. The district gathered opinions on the calendar through a survey posted to its website and an email to employees. It got 6,000 responses, according to district officials, who then formed a committee and a parent focus group to evaluate two calendar options. They also consulted SEPTA, Bird said. Respondents prioritized time to rest and time off for cultural and religious holidays, Bird said. He said parents placed high importance on starting the school year close to Labor Day. In addition to pushing back the first day, the proposed 2019-20 calendar would allot eight days for winter break and a week for spring break, with the year ending June 12. School cant run past June 15 next year, Bird said, due to an issue with how teachers are currently paid. Theres actually not a whole lot of wiggle room in the calendar, Bird said. Theres 180 days you have to go, and holidays you have to take. Still, he said, we could miss four days and not have to make up any time" for snow days, based on instructional hours. Only after the first four, Bird said, would the district have to make up days by drawing from spring break. The district also proposed a calendar for 2020-21 that would begin Aug. 31 -- before Labor Day, which isnt until Sept. 7 that year -- and include a full two weeks for winter break and one week for spring break. Classes that year would end June 14. The school board is expected to vote on the new calendars at its Dec. 13 meeting. Temple students, alumni, and activists march at Temple University in support of Marc Lamont Hill, who was recently fired from CNN for comments he made in support of Palestine on Thursday. Read more About 60 students at Temple University waved Palestinian flags and marched in support of professor Marc Lamont Hill on Thursday, as a group of Zionists with American and Israeli flags clamored for Temple to fire the embattled academic for controversial comments he made at the United Nations. In a speech delivered Nov. 28, Hill demanded a boycott of Israel and accused the Jewish state of rampant discrimination against Palestinians. He also voiced support for a free Palestine from the river to the sea." Hills words were interpreted by some as anti-Semitic. From the river to the sea is often used by supporters of Palestinian causes to refer to the territory between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, the location of Israel and territories it occupies. Critics call the phrase coded language used by terror groups as a call for the obliteration of the State of Israel. Until last week, Hill was a frequent commentator on CNN. The cable news network swiftly severed ties with him following the speech. The professor of media studies and urban education in the Klein College of Media and Communication said his comments had been misconstrued. Patrick OConnor, chair of the universitys board of trustees, said Hills words had blackened Temples reputation. He called Hills comments lamentable, disgusting, and hate speech. OConnor, a high-profile Philadelphia lawyer, said that people wanted to fire [Hill] right away and that he had asked Temples legal staff to look at what remedies we have. Those comments prompted Thursdays demonstrations. About 100 people -- the majority there to champion the professor -- faced off under Temples Bell Tower as the sun began to set and a chill set in. Susan Abulhawa, a Palestinian American writer and political activist, led the pro-Hill students in a chant of From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free before handing the microphone to students who declined to identify themselves. Were here to support Marc Lamont Hill, said Abulhawa. Temple is threatening to dismiss him and trying to destroy his life. Were here to show [Temple president Richard M.] Englert and the university trustees they cant censor this faculty. Directly across the sidewalk, Steve Feldman, executive director of the Zionist Organization of Americas Philadelphia chapter, led an opposing chant that grew in intensity. Am Yisrael Chai, the smaller group shouted. The Hebrew phrase loosely translates to the nation of Israel lives. Feldman and his group later launched into The Star-Spangled Banner in an attempt to drown out Hills supporters. Hayley Kanonji, 19, a media studies major at Temple and a Hill supporter, wrapped a keffiya loosely around her neck to keep out the cold. I hope they dont fire him, she said. At the very least, they treat him with the same respect and protections they give the anti-Palestinian professors on campus. He has a right to voice his opinions. Robert Sklaroff, an oncologist from Elkins Park, demanded Hills immediate ouster. His words were an overt exhortation to annihilate Israel, said Sklaroff, adding that he applauded CNNs decision to fire Hill. The university trotted out the hackneyed cowards defense that while it does not share Hills views, it supports his constitutional free-speech right to say whatever he pleases. Hill, a former columnist for the Daily News, declined to comment. In a commentary piece published Monday in the Inquirer and Daily News, he expressed sorrow for his choice of words. To this extent, I did no favors to Israelis or Palestinians," he said. "For this too, I am deeply sorry. For nearly two decades, Patrice Smith has celebrated every holiday with her family through a half hour phone call. Thats because Smith has been in prison for the past 19 years, serving a 25-to-life sentence for the accidental death of a man whom she says sexually abused her as a teenager. Now, she and her family are hoping that Governor Andrew Cuomo will allow her and her family a second chanceand an opportunity to spend the holidays together. In 2015, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the creation of an Executive Clemency Board, which would help identify people in the states prison system eligible for clemency. Clemency can take two formsa pardon, usually granted after a person has served their prison sentence, which expunges a persons criminal history, or a commutation, in which a persons prison sentence is shortened. The following year, in 2016, Cuomo granted seven commutations, raising the hopes of thousands in prison that they too might be shown some gubernatorial compassion and a second chance at life. The governor has also granted dozens of pardons to immigrants whose convictions put them at risk for deportation and people convicted of non-violent crimes in their youth. But, despite the increasing numbers of petitions and attorneys volunteering their time to prepare them, the number of commutations has waned. In 2017, the governor granted only two. In 2018, Cuomo has not issued a single commutation. There are no limits on the number of commutations a governor can dole out. During his two terms from 1975 to 1982, Governor Hugh Carey granted 155 commutations. Cuomos own father, Mario Cuomo, issued 37 commutations. His successor, Republican George Pataki, who eliminated parole for violent felonies and reinstated the death penalty, issued 32. More recently, outgoing California governor Jerry Brown granted 70 commutations shortly before Thanksgiving, bringing his total to 154 since entering office in 2011. This week, Oklahoma's Republican governor Mary Fallin commuted the sentences of 21 women in state prison. If the Governor of California can recognize redemption by commuting the sentences of 70 people, including several who were convicted of violent crime, then so, too, should the Governor of New York, Steve Zeidman, director of the Criminal Defense Clinic at the CUNY School of Law, told Gothamist. The clinic is currently helping 25 people with their clemency applications. Dave George is the associate director of Release Aging People in Prison (RAPP). He notes that Cuomos record is thin compared to Brown and other state governors. Trumps granted more clemency in 2018 than supposedly-progressive governor Andrew Cuomo. Some of those incarcerated in New Yorks prisons remain hopeful, in spite of these low numbers. Theyre hopeful because of the advocacy work weve been doing, said Jose Saldana, who spent 38 years in prison and is now a community organizer with RAPP. Theyre hopeful because they know were going to push Cuomo on this. Patrice Smith is one of the many people who share that hope. Smith was 15 years old when she met 70-year-old Robert Robinson, Jr., who began offering her money in exchange for sex. On at least one occasion, he forced her to have sex when she refused. When she was 16 years old, she and a friend were at Robinsons house when he demanded that she have sex with him. She refused and, according to her testimony, an argument ensued. Robinson backhanded her across the face and threatened to get his gun, a gun that he had shown Smith in the past. The argument escalated into a physical scuffle and a phone cord got tangled around Robinsons neck. (In court, Smith testified that she did not know how she "got [the cord], but it was in [her] hands.") Her friend jumped in to help and, when Robinson stopped struggling, the two left in Robinsons car. According to her testimony, Smith did not know that Robinson was dead when they left; it was not until later that night that they learned about his death from television news. Smith was convicted and sentenced to 25 years to life. She was 17 years old. (The other woman was tried separately, convicted and sentenced to 17 years in prison. She was paroled in 2013.) Now age 36, Smith is desperately hoping for a second chance. In a letter to Governor Cuomo, Smith writes, I do not seek to justify a death, or to minimize the pain I undoubtedly caused to his familyImagine being 16, with limited recourse, lacking the wherewithal to give voice to my shame, so I accepted silence. Smiths family, too, is hoping for gubernatorial compassion. Shes been in prison longer than shes been free, Carmmella Beard, Smiths older sister and a single mother of four, told Gothamist. Every year, Beard and her daughters drive over 900 miles from their Atlanta home to Bedford Hills for a visit. For Beard and her children, clemency would mean the chance to finally be able to share holidays, finally be able to call her back, finally be able to hug her. Beard notes that the prisons visiting rules permit only one hug at the start and end of each visit. Smiths niece, who asked not to be named publicly, has few memories of Aunt Tricie babysitting her as a child. But even from prison, her aunt has remained an influence on her life. During the girls teenage years, which she describes as dark times, Smith encouraged and mentored her by phone. Now, the 25-year-old says, her aunt wants to help mentor teens who might be going through dark timesand do everything that she can to ensure that they dont end up in similar situations. Saldana does not know Smith personally, but he personally knows dozens of men who have spent decades in prison. Over those years, these men have taken every available class and program to transform themselvesand, says Saldana, should be given a second chance. They should be measured by who they are and what theyve accomplished, he said. These men and women will be valuable assets to their home communities. At a rally outside Governor Cuomo's office earlier this week, advocates demanded that the governor more thoroughly exercise his powers of clemency before the year runs out (Victoria Law / Gothamist) On Tuesday, December 4th, a dozen organizers with #FreeThemNY, a clemency campaign for incarcerated abuse survivors, arrived at the governors Midtown office holding signs, buttons and petitions containing over 2,500 signatures demanding that he free Smith and other incarcerated abuse survivors. We want them out and we want them out for the holidays, explained Alison Brown, a member of #FreeThemNY. This is the #MeToo moment. Cuomo has come out and said that he supports survivors. Then why are they in prison for defending themselves or their children? Its time for him to walk the talk. This isnt the last that Cuomo will be hearing about clemencies and commutations. On Saturday evening, organizers will gather outside his Mount Kisco home for Candles for Clemency, a vigil demanding that he commute more sentences. Cuomo really needs to step up, George said. He says hes a proponent of ending mass incarceration, but he doesnt use the power that he has. Words spoken and promises made about New York's clemency initiative are meaningless, added Zeidman. What's needed is the stroke of a pen. A spokesman for Governor Cuomo issued this statement in response to Gothamist's current clemency plans: Vanessa Lowery Brown, on the steps leading down to the Pennsylvania Capitol rotunda. Read more HARRISBURG The top prosecutor in Dauphin County on Friday filed a civil suit against Democratic State Rep. Vanessa Brown, seeking to force her to resign from office in the wake of her conviction on bribery and other crimes. Brown, 52, who represents portions of West Philadelphia, was convicted in October on charges that she accepted envelopes stuffed with cash in exchange for official action during an undercover sting investigation. She was sentenced to probation late last month. She has refused to step down from her $88,600-a-year job, even though Pennsylvanias constitution states that anyone convicted of bribery, perjury, or other infamous crime is ineligible to serve in the legislature. Generally, those convicted of corruption crimes resign on the day they are sentenced. Brown, who was reelected to another two-year term last month, has not returned phone calls seeking comment. In a separate interview, she said she does not plan to appear at the Capitol when legislators are to be sworn in on Jan. 1. Her lawyers have said that she intends to appeal her conviction. In court papers filed late Friday with the judge who oversaw Browns trial, Dauphin County District Attorney Fran Chardo argued that Brown is flouting the courts judgment. Brown was still acting as a lawmaker after sentencing, Chardo wrote, noting she introduced a condolence resolution Tuesday to honor Ardie Stuart Brown, founder of a Philadelphia dance studio and an author of childrens books. Chardo is seeking to have the judge amend Browns sentence to require her to resign as a condition of her probation and return to the state any money that she may have received this month, either in salary or the expense allowances for lawmakers travel from their districts to Harrisburg. He also asked the judge to consider modifying the sentence to include jail time. According to legislative officials, Brown has not been paid a salary for the month of December (lawmakers are paid in advance for the month). But the message on her Capitol complex voicemail still identifies her as a state representative. Salewa Ogunmefun, right, of One PA, speaks as advocates hold a press conference for the "Fair Workweek" scheduling bill before Council votes at City Hall in Philadelphia, PA on October 30, 2018. Read more As we head into the weekend, many workers across Philadelphia are cheering for another reason. City Council has passed a "Fair Workweek" law which will lead to more predictable schedules for thousands of employees across the city. But it doesn't come without critics. Meanwhile, the Council's president is proposing legislation that will take aim at loopholes in the system that allowed developers to rack up big profits on city-owned land. Money is also flowing into 30th Street. A federal grant will send millions of dollars toward the effort to revitalize SEPTA's 30th Street subway stop. Reading this online? Sign up here to get this newsletter delivered to your inbox every morning. Ray Boyd (@RayBoydDigital, morningnewsletter@philly.com) READ MORE: Philadelphia approves Fair Workweek and wage hike With a 14-3 vote, City Council has made Philly the latest city to pass a "Fair Workweek" law. It will regulate how retail, fast-food, and hospitality companies assign their workers to shifts, making it easier for employees to budget and plan their lives. But critics argue it will hurt business growth. Workers launched a campaign nearly a year ago to fight for more predictable schedules for service industry jobs. Seattle stands as the leader in worker protection laws. Philly's law might be stronger than other cities' in some ways, experts say. But it's weaker in others. According to Councilwoman Helen Gym, the law will impact 130,000 workers. City Council also voted unanimously to raise the minimum wage for city workers and those employed by city contractors. READ MORE: Council president proposes land sale reform in Philadelphia City Council President Darrell Clarke is proposing legislation to close loopholes in the city's land sale process that allowed developers to make money off the shortcomings in the system. In November, reporters Mark Fazlollah and William Bender reported Councilman Kenyatta Johnson helped a childhood friend purchase three valuable city-owned lots and flip them for a profit. Johnson says he supports Clarke's legislation which would call for city approval before a purchaser could resell property acquired from the city. READ MORE: SEPTAs 30th Street stop is getting a makeover A lot is changing at 30th Street Station and the area that surrounds it. SEPTA's 30th Street subway stop is set for an upgrade thanks to a $15 million federal grant. The money from the Department of Transportation will bolster millions in funding already put forth by SEPTA and the Brandywine Realty Trust. The plan is for a $37 million upgrade of the site by 2020. It's all part of an even bigger effort to remake 30th Street Station, including reopening a tunnel that connects subway and trolley lines to the Amtrak station. What you need to know today Through Your Eyes | #OurPhilly What a gorgeous shot of history. Thanks for sharing, @thrudseyes. Tag your Instagram posts or tweets with #OurPhilly and we'll pick our favorite each day to feature in this newsletter and give you a shout out! Thats Interesting Opinions "It's bright. It's vibrant. It's the life of the party. And in all honesty, after the year we've had all of the unnecessary shootings, the natural disasters, and political animosity I would have preferred a no-nonsense navy or a cloudy gray." Columnist Elizabeth Wellington Columnist Elizabeth Wellington on the selection of Living Coral as the 2019 Pantone Color of the Year America's national parks, including Philadelphia's Independence National Historical Park, are crumbling and need Congress to step up, writes the Inquirer Editorial Board. The Pa. Supreme Court's decision to redact the names of Catholic clergy in the grand jury report on sexual abuse in the church is a win for due process, writes columnist Christine Flowers. What were reading Your Daily Dose of | Aroma Sights and sounds won't be the only things you're hit with during the Pennsylvania Ballet's The Nutcracker. You'll also have a chance to experience the show's distinct scent. Coun Perez reiterates warning to barangay leaders involved in drugs 07 Aug 2017 Hits:37 Comments(0) Liga ng mga Barangay President, Councilor Jerry Perez yesterday reiterated his warning to all barangay officials from using or selling drugs. Perez said he is closely monitoring the activities of all the barangay officials and vowed sanctions against erring leaders. Aqui gane na mio barangay ya quita ya iyo na puesto cunel dos barangay leaders quien mas temprano ya sale positivo na... The Madhya Pradesh High Court on Friday dismissed the plea filed by Congress in connection with malfunctioning of Electronic Voters Machine (EVM). The court, while dismissing the plea, refused to interfere in the matter and expressed satisfaction on the steps that the Election Commission (EC) is taking towards it. The court also reserved its decision over plea filed over the countring of VVPAT slips along with that of EVMs. Two petitions were filed on Tuesday in the Madhya Pradesh High Court in connection with EVMs used in the state assembly polls held on November 28. Congress leader Naresh Saraf sought direction from the high court to set up a special investigation team (SIT) to probe alleged irregularities in the handling of reserve electronic voting machines (EVMs) in Bhopal, Satna, Sagar, Shahjapur and Khandwa. The petitioner's counsel Shashank Shekhar said no separate facility was created to keep the unused reserve EVMs after polling was held. These were kept within the vicinity of EVMs used in polling in all the assembly seats, Shekhar alleged. The petition sought direction to the Election Commission to reveal the number of EVMs under the unused, reserve category. It also sought punishment for authorities for alleged dereliction of election duty, he informed. The other petition, filed by advocate Amitabh Gupta, sought direction from the high court for counting of the slips of VVPAT machines used in the November 28 polling. The voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) unit is used to verify that a vote polled by a voter goes to the chosen candidate. Gupta said no additional infrastructure is required to carry the counting of the slips in VVPAT machines. He said the slips of VVPAT machines must be tallied with the votes polled in the EVM for all 230 Assembly constituencies that went to polls on November 28. Counting of votes will take place on December 11. (With Agency Inputs) It's been more than four years since a shocking viral video documented the death of 43-year-old Staten Island man Eric Garner. On Thursday, Daniel Pantaleo, the NYPD officer accused of using an illegal chokehold to take Garner down, appeared before an administrative judge who said the officers disciplinary trial would begin May 13th, 2019. Its expected to last 10 days. Pantaleos punishment could range from losing vacation days to being fired. The judge, Deputy Commissioner of Trials Rosemarie Maldonado, is an NYPD employee appointed by former Police Commissioner Bill Bratton. The prosecutors are lawyers for the Civilian Complaint Review Board [CCRB], the watchdog agency that investigates complaints against police officers. The brief hearing took place inside a small courtroom at police headquarters in Lower Manhattan. The hearings are open to the public, and reporters filled a back row. Gwen Carr, Eric Garner's mother, sat in the front row, two seats from Patrick Lynch, President of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, and several of its members. It was the first time Carr was in the same room as Pantaleo. During a press conference outside police headquarters, Carr expressed gratitude for the different groups who attended in a show of support. You know the family is in pain; it's been four-and-a-half years with no justice, she said. And just to have the amazing groups that have stood with me throughout this all, I just can't explain how I feel. Carr was joined by activists like the Reverend Al Sharpton, who said the Garner family has waited patiently for a long time. Theyve done it without bringing any acrimony and venom to this city, Sharpton said. The city owes them justice. Garners death and the video that showed him gasping for air while repeating the words, I cant breathe, sparked widespread outrage and was a catalyst for the Black Lives Matter protest movement. Pantaleo has been on desk duty since Garners death. He did not speak during the hearing and was barely visible. But his lawyer, Stu London, objected to a trial starting any earlier than the summer. He argued too many issues remained unresolved, including a lawsuit filed by the CCRB. The agency sued for access to minutes from a Staten Island grand jury that declined to indict Pantaleo in December of 2014. The case is still pending. London also argued that the trial should be postponed until mid-July, after the statute of limitations runs out for federal prosecutors who have not said whether the Department of Justice would prosecute officer Pantaleo or not. The judge rejected Londons arguments. Pantaleo has been charged with reckless use of force by using a chokehold and intentional use of a chokehold. London said the case would include more than 40,000 documents submitted as evidence including autopsy reports and Garner's medical records from prior hospitalizations. The defense attorney said he intends to prove that Garner was not choked to death. The medical evidence in this case has been misconstrued and inaccurate from the beginning, London said. Lets start with the fact that number one there were no external bruises on the neck. Lets now go to number two, the hyoid bone, which is the most sensitive bone in the neck, was intact. The death was ruled a homicide by the citys medical examiner due to neck compression and the compression of Garner's chest when he was on the ground in a prone position. Speaking outside police headquarters, Lynch called the process rushed. This is pure politics and pressure from noise on the outside of this building, Lynch said. We need to slow down. Let the evidence speak for itself. And allow this police officer to go on with his career. Protesters chanted over both London and Lynch as they spoke. In a disciplinary trial, the CCRB puts forth their recommendation for punishment. The judge then decides whether the officer is guilty or not. But NYPD Commissioner James O'Neill ultimately has the final say and will decide whether he agrees with the verdict. He also has the authority to decide whether to punish Pantaleo or not. Carr believes punishment needs to extend beyond Pantaleo. Justice would look like whenever who was involved in my son's murder that day stands accountable and loses their job, she said. In an earlier interview with WNYC in her home, Carr said, "We know we can't save Eric, because he's gone, but there are other lives that have to be saved." For more, listen to Cindy Rodriguez's segment on WNYC: Cindy Rodriguez is the urban policy reporter for New York Public Radio. You can follow her on Twitter at @cynrod. Jaipur: Violence erupted in Rajasthan on Friday following a clash, amid polling for the state assembly elections. The clash broke out at a polling booth at Subhash school in Sikar's Fatehpur. Vehicles were vandalised and set ablaze during the clash which broke out between two groups. The violence affected the voting procedure for 30 minutes. Rajasthan: Vehicles were set ablaze&vandalised in a clash which broke out b/w 2 groups at polling booth at Subhash school in Sikar's Fatehpur today. Voting remained affected for 30 minutes. Miscreants were later removed from spot by police&voting resumed. #RajasthanElections pic.twitter.com/x6nQChT0vR ANI (@ANI) December 7, 2018 Police later removed the miscreants from spot following which the voting was resumed. Nearly 60 per cent of the 4.74 crore registered voters cast their vote by 3 pm in Rajasthan as the state witnessed brisk polling in the assembly elections on Friday. With two hours still to go before the end of polling, 59.14 percentage of the votes had been cast, according to the Election Commission website. Polling for 199 seats out of the total 200 in the assembly began at 8 am with voters lining up at 51,687 booths. The results will be out on December 11, along with those from the other four states which saw Assembly elections in the past few weeks. (With inputs from agencies) The polling for the Rajasthan Assembly elections 2018 ended on Friday and the state witnessed brisk polling in the assembly elections. Polling for 199 seats out of the total 200 in the assembly began at 8 am with voters lining up at 51,687 booths. The election in Ramgarh constituency of Alwar district was put off following the death of Bahujan Samaj Party candidate Laxman Singh. The several exit poll predicted different results for the BJP and Congress in the state. According to Axis exit poll, the BJP will win 63 seats, Congress will win 130 seats and others will win 6 seats in the state. According to Jan ki Baat, BJP will win 93, Congress will win 91 and others will win 15 seats. As per CNX, BJP will win 85 seats, Congress 105 seats, BSP 2 seats and others will win 7 seats in the state. According to C-Voter, the BJP will win 52-68 seats, Congress will win 129-145 seats and others will win 5-11 seats. As per CSDS, BJP will win 83 seats, Congress will win 101 seats and others will win 15 seats. BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said that the party is confident of victory in Rajasthan. The BJP leader recalled Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that the results in Rajasthan this time will change the usual tradition of any party not retaining the state in any Assembly elections. Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, who is the BJP's chief ministerial candidate, is fighting against veteran BJP leader Jaswant Singh's son Manvendra Singh in Jhalrapatan, the constituency she has represented since 2003. Manvendra Singh switched to Congress just before the election, making the fight tougher for Raje this time. She had won 63 per cent of the votes cast in 2013, winning the seat by a margin of 60,896. Tonk, with a sizeable Muslim population, is a keenly-watched contest between Sachin Pilot and BJP candidate and Rajasthan Transport Minister Yoonus Khan, who is the saffron party's only Muslim face in the elections. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had initially fielded sitting MLA Ajit Singh Mehta in Tonk. But in a change of strategy, the party dropped him and sent Khan to take on Pilot. This is a maiden assembly election for Pilot, a two-time MP who is seen as a chief ministerial possibility if the Congress wins. He has represented Dausa and Ajmer Lok Sabha constituencies in the past. In about 130 constituencies, the contest appears to be mainly between the BJP and the Congress. In the current House, the BJP has 160 seats and the Congress 25. The results for the state will be declared on December 11, along with those from the other four states which saw Assembly elections in the past few weeks. Mumbai: The Sara Ali Khan-Sushant Rajput starrer Bollywood film 'Kedarnath' will not be released in the hill state of Uttarakhand, an official said on Friday. While there has been no official ban on the film by the state government, it has written to all district magistrates (DMs) about the film and the controversies surrounding it. It has asked the DMs to take a call on their own and has left it to their discretion whether or not the film should be released in their respective jurisdictions. Following this, all the DM's have banned the film's release in their districts. A decision to this effect was taken after a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat reviewed the report submitted by a committee headed by Tourism Minister Satpal Maharaj. The Hindi flick, with the 2013 flash floods in Kedarnath as the backdrop, was being opposed by the right-wing activists from the day its shooting began in the hill state and they alleged that it hurt Hindu sentiments and promoted the idea of "Love Jihad". With the latest orders by the DMs, it would mean that the film will not release now in state capital Dehradun, Haridwar, Pauri, Tehri, Nainital, Almora and Udhamsinghnagar. Other districts of the state do not have a film theatre. The film was shot extensively in Triyuginarayan, Gaurikund, Soneprayag, Rambada, Kedarnath and Chopta, and it had to face protests even then. The Uttarakhand High Court on Thursday refused to ban the film and asked the petitioners to approach the District Magistrate with their complaints. New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday ordered forensic audit of all Unitech group companies similar to that of Amrapali Group. The apex court has ordered for the appointment of an auditor who will do audit of all the 74 companies of Unitech group and its subsidiary companies since 2006. The Court has asked the forensic auditor to be present before it next Friday. Sanjay Chandra, the MD of the firm and his brother Ajay Chandra are in jail. Chandra is seeking interim bail from the apex court after the Delhi High Court on August 11 last year had rejected the plea in a criminal case lodged in 2015 by 158 home buyers of Unitech projects -- 'Wild Flower Country' and 'Anthea Project' -- situated at Gurgaon in Haryana. Chandra's lawyer had pressed for his bail today, however the court said that his bail can not be granted till the completion of the company's forensic audit. In August, SC directed a panel headed by former Delhi High Court judge Justice S N Dhingra to go ahead with the sale of unencumbered assets of the directors of real estate major Unitech Ltd to refund money to hassled home buyers. The court had on July 5 asked the Justice Dhingra panel to proceed with the auction of Unitech Ltd's unencumbered properties at Agra and Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh and Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu to refund money to home buyers. The top court had earlier set up the three-member panel for "expeditious" auction of over 600 acres of land of the real estate firm for refunding money to home buyers who do not want possession of their homes or flats. The Income Tax department had also moved the apex court for making itself a party in the ongoing litigation claiming that the real estate firm owed it Rs 950 crore as tax. With PTI Inputs New Delhi: The Union Cabinet has approved the Agriculture Export Policy, 2018 aiming to double agricultural exports to USD 60 billion by 2022. The government underlined that one of the prime objective of the Agriculture Export Policy is to double agricultural exports from present USD 30 billion to USD 60 billion by 2022 and reach USD 100 billion in the next few years thereafter, with a stable trade policy regime. Exports of agricultural products would play a pivotal role in achieving this goal. In order to provide an impetus to agricultural exports, the Government has come out with a comprehensive Agriculture Export Policy aimed at doubling the agricultural exports and integrating Indian farmers and agricultural products with the global value chains, an official release said. Among major objectives, the government said that the policy is to diversify export basket, destinations and boost high value and value added agricultural exports; enable farmers to get benefit of export opportunities in overseas market; promote novel, indigenous, organic, ethnic, traditional and non-traditional Agri products exports; provide an institutional mechanism for pursuing market access, tackling barriers and deal with sanitary and phyto-sanitary issues. The Cabinet has also approved the proposal for establishment of Monitoring Framework at Centre with Commerce as the nodal Department with representation from various line Ministries/Departments and Agencies and representatives of concerned State Governments, to oversee the implementation of Agriculture Export Policy. New Delhi: Krishnamurthy Subramanian, a top-ranking IIT-IIM alumnus, has been appointed as the new Chiec Economic Advisor for a period of 3 years. Subramanian is currently serving as Associate Professor of Finance and Executive Director for the Centre for Analytical Finance at the Indian School of Business. He holds a PhD from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. "The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved for the appointment of Dr Krishnamurthy Subramanian, Associate Prof. And ED (CAF), ISB, Hyderabad, to the post of Chief Economic Adviser," said a government notification. An influential voice in the Indian banking sector, his service on the expert committee on governance of banks for the RBI Reserve Bank of India has been widely recognised. The government on June 30 invited applications for the appointment of CEA on deputation basis after Arvind Subramanian quit the office ahead of completion of his term. The finance ministry had appointed a search committee headed by former Reserve Bank of India governor Bimal Jalan to shortlist candidates for the post. Economic affairs secretary Subhash C Garg and B P Sharma, secretary, department of personnel training are also members of the selection panel. Arvind Subramanian was appointed as CEA on October 16, 2014, for a 3-year term and was given an extension last year. His official contract was till May 2019. Kolkata: The Bharatiya Janata Party has moved an appeal before a division bench of Calcutta High Court challenging the West Bengal government's decision to not give permission to a planned Rath Yatra here. The matter will be heard by a bench comprising Justices B Somadder and A Mukherjee after noon on Friday. A day earlier, a single bench of the Calcutta HC had refused to grant permission to BJP to hold a Rath Yatra in Coochbehar. It was scheduled to be flagged off by BJP president Amit Shah on Friday but was put off after HC refused to give permission on the grounds that it could cause communal tensions. While state BJP leaders had said they respect the court's decision, some of them also questioned if the state's security machinery is weak. "If the government says that it can't maintain law and order if we take out Rath Yatra, then I think Governor's Rule should be immediately imposed in the state," Mukul Roy of the party had said. Meanwhile, a poster war between BJP and the ruling TMC is visible across the state. While the BJP has put up posters on the Rath Yatra programme and welcoming Shah, the TMC has posters saying "Only Lord Madan Mohan can ride the Rath and BJP's Rath Yatra program is an attempt to ignite communal tensions". The Madan Mohan Temple in the town, which was once the capital of the princely state of Coochbehar, is one of the biggest temples of the district. (With PTI inputs) At least five more people have been arrested on Friday, taking the total number of arrests to nine in the murder case of a police inspector during the Bulandshahr violence. A Uttar Pradesh police team was also sent to Jammu to arrest an Army jawan allegedly involved in the case. Sedition is one of the 17 charges in the FIR in which 27 people have been named besides 50-60 unidentified people. They were allegedly involved in the violence that led to the killing of Inspector Subodh Singh and Sumit Kumar, 20. The violence was triggered after cattle carcasses were found in nearby fields. Jeetu alias Fauji of Mahav village is a named accused in the case, Inspector General (Crime) S K Bhagat told reporters in Lucknow when asked about his alleged involvement in the mob violence. Jeetu's actual name is Jeetendra Malik and he is the 11th suspect named in the first information report (FIR) lodged at Siyana police station on December 4. According to preliminary information, he is posted in Jammu and a police team has been sent there, Bhagat said. "We hope that he will be arrested soon," the IG said, adding the Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed to probe the case would be able to ascertain his actual role. Army sources in New Delhi confirmed that the police have contacted the Northern Command and they are cooperating in the probe. The five people arrested were identified as Chandra, Rohit, Sonu, Nitin and Jitendra but their names were not mentioned in the FIR lodged for the murder of the Syana SHO, Bhagat said. They were nabbed on the basis of video footage and eyewitness accounts, he said. Police teams were conducting raids to make more arrests, the IG said. The IG said that the confidential report of an inquiry conducted by ADG Intelligence S B Shirodkar has been handed over to senior officials. The cattle carcasses were found outside Mahav village strewn in the fields of former village head Rajpal Chaudhary, who too has been named in the FIR along with five more men from the village. All of them are absconding. Sources that PTI spoke to in the village revealed that Jeetu had come to the village on leave and was "present at the site of violence" but left soon after the incident on Monday afternoon. His elder brother is also in the Army. "Both of my sons are in the Army. They are not here, they on duty," his mother Ratan Kaur told PTI, adding the police had raided her house around 1 am Tuesday, assaulted her daughter-in-law, vandalised the house and picked up her husband, Rajpal Singh. The 60-year-old woman said she was away in Pipala village at the house of her elder daughter-in law as her family had suffered a bereavement recently. She said she returned home only on Wednesday Speaking to a TV news channel, she Friday said, "Jeetu is in Kargil and if any evidence like a picture or a video emerges showing he killed the policeman then I will kill him myself. I'm not so heartless, I'm equally pained by the death of the policeman and the other boy from Chingrawathi and also for what the entire village and its people are going through." Jeetendra's wife Priyanka, 24, also supported her mother-in-law's claim of post midnight vandalism and assault by the police. "I was at home with my father-in-law and my three- month-old baby when the police came to our house. They assaulted me so badly that my hand got fractured and I suffered an injury in one ear," she told PTI over phone from a hospital in Meerut. Sumit Kumar, from Chingrawathi village, who died in the clash is among those named in the FIR which also accuses Bajrang Dal's Bulandshahr unit convenor Yogesh Raj, local BJP worker Shikhar Agarwal among others of instigating violence. According to the FIR, the suspects were booked on the charges of mischief by fire or explosive substance, murder, attempt to murder, sedition, rioting, voluntary assault on public servant to obstruct them from performing their duty and endangering life or personal safety of others. They have also been booked for destroying public property, among others. with PTI inputs Kolkata: The Central government has instructed the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to lay stress on "descriptive and objective knowledge" to upgrade the quality of education, Union Minister of State for Human Resource Development Satya Pal Singh said here on Thursday. "CBSE has been instructed to make the examination pattern so as to test the descriptive and objective knowledge of the candidates. This was done after discussing with all members of the state boards to bring parity in the system," Singh said. He was speaking at a session on higher education organised by Merchants` Chamber of Commerce & Industry in the context of students scoring 100 per cent marks in board examinations. The Minister gave the example of students seeking admission in the Delhi University. The quality of education is not clear as some states give 98 per cent or 85 per cent and there is a huge disparity. So, the Central government is trying to make a comparison, take out a ratio and move ahead with the admissions, he said. Calling for a forward-looking approach in framing educational policies, Singh said: "Scientists are talking about fourth industrial revolution, Internet of Things, Big Data, Artificial Intelligence... Are we preparing our children for these? Innovation and creativity have to be ensured at the school level, it can`t just crop up at the college level." In order to awaken curiosity in school children, "Atal Tinkering Labs" was started in almost 3,000 schools of different states. It is not a matter of employability, it is to see the next generation is well prepared to receive, understand and adopt the new technologies, Singh said. He pointed out that access to higher education is around 25.2 per cent in India. For this, the government is building new schools and colleges to end social and regional imbalance. "We are ready to give 100 per cent funds to states for making Central universities, provided they give us land for free. Priority will be given to those states that do not have a Central university." Singh described school education as the foundation of higher education quality. "In our educational policy, we are trying to address the no-detention policy till Class 10 started by the previous (UPA) government. We tried to make Class 10 board examination compulsory but education is mainly a state subject," he said. President of MCCI, Vishal Jhajharia referred to a NASSCOM-McKinsey Report "Perspective 2020: Transform Business, Transform India", which said that only 26 per cent of Indian engineering graduates were employable. In this context, the Minister said: "We are seeing how academic and industry interface can be improved. This year we have made it compulsory for engineering students to go for internships every year for almost a month. This will give them hands-on experience which will make them employable." The Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials on Friday reached three locations in the national capital connected to close aides of Robert Vadra. Vadra's company lawyer said that the ED team locked people of Skylight Hospitality. Nobody was allowed to go inside, the lawyer said. "Is this nazism? Is this jail?" he added. The lawyer also said that the ED is framing, planting and fabricating evidence as they have not found any evidence against them. "It has been 4.5 years and they found nothing, so now they are locking us outside and planting and fabricating evidence," the lawyer added. Raids were also held at locations in Bengaluru. ED has evidence that the persons being raided had received money in their bank accounts from defence suppliers, news agency ANI reported. According to the ED, Vadra-owned Skylight Hospitality had purchased 69.55 hectares of land for Rs 72 lakh and then sold it to Allegeny Finlease for Rs 5.15 crore, earning a profit of Rs 4.43 crore. Vadra is Congress' chief Rahul Gandhi's brother-in-law and was summoned by ED in connection with Bikaner land deal case. Vadra had earlier reacted to ED summons and termed it as a relentless "political witch-hunt". "The political witch-hunt carries on unceasingly with government departments clearly operating on an agenda to besmirch my dignity and reputation," Vadra`s statement said, claiming that he was being asked for the same set of documents, which has already been furnished before. "It is indeed strange that I was asked for the very same documents once again even though they had already been furnished over the last few years. "In fact it is even stranger that I was sent another summons within 24 hours without the agency even perusing the latest set of 600 documents supplied to them. "My lawyer has been compelled to appear in Jaipur once more today (Wednesday)(no surprise that this is just two days before the polling in Rajasthan). "The authorities know perfectly well that there is no case to proceed against me," he said. Vadra claimed the summons were aimed at distracting the public and said: "This is nothing but a politically motivated, malicious and baseless prosecution." The summons were issued in connection with an ongoing probe into the 2012 alleged scam in the purchase of land in Kolayat area of Bikaner. The agency registered a criminal case under the Money Laundering Act in 2015, taking cognizance of a case filed by the Rajasthan Police following forgery allegations. (With Agency Inputs) Noodle joints have been a huge part of the East Village dining scene since at least the early aughtswe're in about the fourth or fifth wave of openings at this pointbut tsukemen, or dipping ramen, has never really caught on in these parts. Hoping to change all that is Tomotsugu Kubo, the co-owner and head chef of the brand new TabeTomo on Avenue A, an ambitious restaurant that, among its many other appealing aspects, puts tsukemen at the forefront of the menu. Kubo has plenty of experience with the dip-your-own-damn-noodles genre, working the kitchen at Los Angeles hotspot Tsujita, where apparently tsukemen reigns supreme and, per the press release, "waits can be up to 2 hours" for a seat. Let's hope it doesn't come to that here in the East Village, but after a quick dinner last night from the restaurant's limited, soft opening menuthe full slate of dishes kicks in on Mondayit seems likely that TabeTomo will be a tough table this winter. The thing to get here, at least on your first visit, is the Tonkotsu Chasu Tsukeman. The noodles are fat and slightly wavy, cooked firm and chewy, and served at room temperature, as are the slabs of tender pork. The broth, which Kubo simmers for upwards of 60 hours, is thick, super-rich, and warm, with a layer of fat swimming on top and a pleasant, almost citrusy tang deep within. A lovely orange-yolked egg, a few greens, and a whole mess of crisp roots and sprouts add further interest. And if your soup cools down too much with all that dipping, your server will bring over a steaming-hot stone and slide it in your bowl. Also on the soft-opening menu (which Kubo and his team will making all weekend) are a number of small dishes, such as Kakuni, which is braised pork belly; Japanese fried chicken with ponzu dipping sauce; an assortment of pickles known as Otsukemono; and Tori Kawa, strips of lightly battered, crisp-fried chicken skin (which could probably use a little more salt). There's also traditional Jiro-style ramen here, which arrives with everything preassembled in a single bowl, and a handful of Donburi options, including a salmon sashimi and ikura one that sounded like a good counterpoint to all that chicken and pig. The space itself is comfortable but also has a slightly unfinished feel to it, though some of that can be attributed to the cold wind blowing right through the thin front wall of windows. There's seating for about 30, at a J-shaped bar and tables along the raw-brick wall. Decor is pretty much non-existent, and for music... youll be dipping and slurping to the sounds of Post Malone, Rae Sremmurd, and Drake. TabeTomo is located at 131 Avenue A between St. Marks Place and 9th Street. Soft opening hours are 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. (646-850-6414; tabetomonyc.com) New Delhi: Accusing the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government in West Bengal of indulging in widespread in the state, Amit Shah on Friday said that Mamata Banerjee got scared of BJP's planned Rath Yatra. In a scathing attack on the West Bengal government under Mamata, the BJP national chief said that the administration of being a roadblock. "A democratic process (Rath Yatra) has been suppressed in West Bengal with rampant misuse of power. The CM is following this trend, this is non-democratic," he said. "I want to tell Mamata Banerjee that by not giving permission to BJP programs, you will only invite the ire of people in your state. She (Mamata) is scared that if BJP takes out all these three rallies in the state of West Bengal and assemble in Kolkata then the foundation of a complete change will be laid down. So she attempted to stop all these yatras." Listing out the maladies in West Bengal, Shah assured that he himself would lead the Rath Yatra. "We will fight it out, I will personally lead the Rath Yatra when it happens. Our party workers in the state will not bow down to tactics of Mamata," he said, adding that he respects legal institutions and that the Rath Yatra has not been cancelled but only postponed. Earlier in the day, BJP moved an appeal before a division bench of Calcutta High Court after West Bengal government refused permission for a proposed rath yatra in Coochbehar. The state's advocate general Kishore Dutta informed the Calcutta High that this had been done as such a program could flare up communal tensions. Amit Shah, in his press conference after an emergency meeting, however, claimed that there is more violence in the state under TMC rule than what was witnessed here ever before. "The people are tired of what they are seeing, experiencing. I am sure voters will side with us in state elections here next year." At least 12 people were killed on Friday, including six policemen, in an early morning shootout between police and bank robbers in a small town in northeastern Brazil, the state governor's office said. Five hostages, including two children, died in the shootout, local media reported, when police interrupted a gang trying to rob ATMs at two bank branches on the main street in Milagres in the interior of Ceara state. "Our preliminary information is that 12 people died, including six police officers," a spokeswoman for the governor said by telephone. The G1 news website, quoting Milagres Mayor Lielson Landim, reported that the five dead hostages belonged to the same family. Their car had been hijacked on a nearby highway and taken into town by the armed gang. Broadcaster GloboNews said it was the family of a local businessman and that two suspects had been arrested by police. The gang escaped in two vans without taking any money, G1 said. A local press report said the body of one bank robber was found in an abandoned vehicle by police. Police were searching for gang members with the help of a helicopter, the mayor's office said. Ukraines parliament decided to terminate the Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation, and Partnership between Ukraine and the Russian Federation Ukraines Verkhovna Rada decided to terminate the Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation, and Partnership between Ukraine and the Russian Federation. 277 deputies voted for this decision. The issue of the Great Treaty between Ukraine and Russia has periodically been raised since the Russian annexation of Crimea. Brief background In April 2018, President Poroshenko announced plans to submit to the Verkhovna Rada a draft law on the suspension of the operation of certain provisions of the friendship treaty with Russia. Poroshenko emphasized that the Treaty cannot be completely canceled: Why can't this contract be canceled, and we are just suspending the operation of certain articles? Because there are important provisions for Ukraine in which the parties, I quote, respect the territorial integrity of each other, the parties confirm the inviolability of the existing borders between them. In January 2018, President's Humanitarian Envoy at the Minsk peace talks regarding the War in Donbas Iryna Gerashchenko said: "It was very strange to just hear representatives of the opposition, who again called on breaking the state treaty of friendship with the Russian Federation. The entire State Duma of the Russian Federation now repeats it. And we must demand that the Russian Federation return to international law and implement the law, including the friendship agreement, which recognizes territorial integrity, sovereignty and respect for our borders within internationally defined borders, including Donbas and Crimea. And the opposition proposes: let Ukraine be the first to leave this Treaty, so we ourselves will give away Donbas and Crimea." Related: Russia's controversial 9M729 missile system: Not much of a secret What happened next? The end of August 2018. Poroshenko instructs the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry to prepare for the termination of the treaty on friendship and cooperation with Russia. The whole Treaty, not its separate parts. In early September 2018, the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) supported Poroshenkos proposal on the non-renewal of the Treaty with the Russian Federation for the next 10 years. The decree on the enactment of the decision of the National Security Council on the termination of the treaty of friendship between Ukraine and the Russian Federation came into force on September 19. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine sent a note to Russia on the non-renewal of the Treaty on September 21. Important retreat The key argument, repeated by the authorities, was not about breaking the contract, but about refusing to renew it. I want to make some comments and clarity from the point of view of the non-renewal of the Great Treaty with the Russian Federation. I emphasize that it is not broken because it is a complicated procedure. It ceases to be valid due to non-prolongation, Poroshenko noted. He has actually generally stated that the position of the authorities regarding the contract has not changed since it is not broken, but non-prolonged. Iryna Gerashchenko stated that: Ukraine has not broken and does not terminate the contract, we will not prolong it. This is not the same. We did not give the Kremlin such a trump card, our claims to international courts are based on the evidence base that it was the Russian Federation that violated the Treaty. Deputy Head of the Ukrainian MFA Olena Zerkal underlined: "Then (in April, - ed.) and now the position remains unchanged. In all the elements." If we agree to extend the non-use of force point of the Treaty, does this mean that we agree with the non-use of force, which includes shelling of residential areas of Mariupol? If we agree to the continuation of the position on the inviolability of borders, do we agree that the Russian Federation is preventing to control hundreds of kilometers of the border? If we agree to the continuation of the provision of respecting territorial integrity, then we agree with the occupation of the Crimea. Art. 40 of the "Great Treaty?" This Agreement is for a period of ten years. Its action will then be automatically extended for subsequent ten-year periods if none of the High Contracting Parties declares to the other High Contracting Party that they wish to terminate it (by written notification at least six months before the end of the next ten-year period). The first ten-year period, the starting date of which began April 1, 1999, has ended April 1, 2009. Then neither Ukraine nor Russia wanted to terminate the document, so it was automatically extended for another 10 years. Thus, it was necessary to notify Russia of the refusal to renew the contract until September 30. And Ukraines MFA did it. A brief summary of the Great Treaty Both sides pledge to respect each others territorial integrity and borders. Both countries guarantee the rights and freedoms of citizens of another country on the same grounds and in the same amount as their citizens, except in cases established by the law of states or international treaties. Economic cooperation. Political cooperation, including supporting each other in accession to international organizations. That is, the cooperation and support of each other wherever possible. Who signed it and when? It was signed on May 31, 1997 by President of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma and President of Russia Boris Yeltsin. The Verkhovna Rada ratified the treaty on January 14, 1998, and the State Duma on December 25, 1998. The document entered into force on April 1, 1999. Russias reaction Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Russian ultranationalist politician and leader of the LDPR party, suggested that Russian President Vladimir Putin notify the Ukrainian authorities about the termination of the Treaty. "After almost 20 years since the Treaty of Friendship entered into force, many of its articles are grossly violated by Ukraine and ignored, and some articles have lost their relevance altogether." Russian senator Alexei Pushkov on Twitter: "Poroshenko continues his mission as a destroyer: he announced the beginning of a breach of the 1997 treaty of friendship with Russia. Kyiv acts to its detriment: the treaty recognizes the territorial integrity and borders of Ukraine. In the event of its rupture, Russia is relieved of all obligations." Leonid Kalashnikov, head of the State Duma Committee on CIS Affairs, Eurasian integration, and relations with compatriots: "This treaty does not have any special meaning. No any real practical consequences. On the other hand, Russia will have no moral-political obligations to implement certain agreements." Read the original text at 112.ua. Autumn has traditionally been extremely restless for Ukraine: Another ammo depot explosion, worsening of relations with the neighboring state, failure to start heating season in time, martial law, and many others. The last three months - September, October, and November - have traditionally been extremely restless for Ukraine. Another ammo depot explosion, worsening of relations with the neighboring state (this time, western), and failure to start heating season in time. Moreover, in some regions of the country, martial law was imposed, and the Prosecutor General, despite his resignation zeal, did not leave his post. Let us recall the most vivid news of the autumn. Crimea chemical disaster in Armyansk Open source The disaster at Tytan Factory, located in the north of Crimea in the city of Armyansk, has sounded due to its environmental situation. Moreover, toxic chemicals were detected in the air in the Kherson region, southern Ukraine. Although the leakage, reportedly from an acid storage tank at the Crimean Titan Factory, occurred during the night from 23-24 August, schoolchildren were only evacuated from the area on 5 September, with parents given just an hour to pack the childrens things. The emergency regime was introduced in Armyansk due to the exceedance of the maximum permissible concentration of chemicals by more than five times. Residents were seeing, breathing, and feeling the consequences, which one described as true hell, and are clearly unconvinced by upbeat assurances The photos posted on social media are alarming, as are reports of problems with breathing, etc., and of damage to crops and to the flora in the area. 61 Ukrainian border guards were affected by the emission of chemicals. Five of them have been hospitalized. Friendship with Russia is over shutterstock.com Ukraine has officially declared its reluctance to continue the friendship with the Russian Federation. Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation, and Partnership between Ukraine and the Russian Federation was signed on May 31, 1997, by President of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma and President of Russia Boris Yeltsin. In early September 2018, the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) supported Poroshenkos proposal on the non-renewal of the Treaty with the Russian Federation for the next 10 years. The decree on the enactment of the decision of the National Security Council on the termination of the treaty of friendship between Ukraine and the Russian Federation came into force on September 19. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine sent a note to Russia on the non-renewal of the Treaty on September 21. Scandal with Hungarian passports in Zakarpattia Open source A video where a few Ukrainians receive the Hungarian passports and owe allegiance to Hungary in the Consulate in Berehove, Zakarpattia region, western Ukraine, appeared in the social media. The receivers owe allegiance to Hungry in the Consulate in Berehove. The Hungarian diplomat recommended not to inform the Ukrainian authorities about receiving the new documents. Pavlo Ukraine MFA head Klimkin said that if the video is authentic, the Hungarian consul might be expelled from the country. In his turn, Peter Szijjarto, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs, claimed the attempts to intimidate the Transcarpathian Hungarians and threatened to make Ukraines integration more complicated. Yuriy Lutsenko, Ukraines Prosecutor General, claimed that Security Service investigates this case; however, the service denied this. Ukraine's Foreign Ministry issued an agreement for appointing Istvan Ijgyarto a new Ambassador of Hungary in Kyiv. He is expected to come to Ukraine on November 8. Explosions at Ichnia ammo depot Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Over the past four years, it's been the fifth accident with the ammunition stocks in Ukraine exploding; the incidents took place in Balakliya (Kharkiv region), Svatove (Luhansk region), and Kalynivka (Vinnytsia region). This time, fire took place at the armory of the Ministry of Defense in Ichnia in Chernihiv region. The fire and explosions began at around 3:30 a.m. October 9, at the Defense Ministry's depot No. 6, which covers about 700 hectares. The air-space within 30 km was shut down, traffic and railway movement were stopped due to the emergency situation. No injured and dead as a result of the emergency situation reported. All 39 settlements near the depot were checked and cleared of the ammunition; pyrotechnists found 3,600 explosive devices at Ukraine's Ichnia ammo stocks. On October 11, the fire was completely eliminated. Kerch Polytechnic College massacre Reuters Two dozen dead and more than fifty injured. Most of them were college students. These are the tragic consequences of the attack at Kerch Polytechnic College of the National University of Food Technologies in occupied Crimea. According to the Emergencies Ministry, an extraordinary event in Kerch college occurred around 12:00 on October 17. Initially, it was assumed that the reason for the explosion was a gas cylinder, but everything turned out to be much worse. At about 2:00 pm, the Investigation Committee of the Russian Federation stated that an unidentified explosive device filled with metal objects was detonated in the college canteen, and an hour later it became known that a shooter was also involved. Eyewitnesses assure that the killer organized an explosion only in order to sow panic and shoot more people. Thus, 21 people died (including 16 students and five teachers) as a result of an explosion and a shooting in Kerch college. Russias Investigation Committee believes that an 18-year-old student of the fourth year of college Vladyslav Roslyakov conducted mass murder in Kerch. The footage shows him right before the incident with a rifle in hands. The investigation reports that Roslyakov shot people in the college and then he committed a suicide. He was found with gunshot wound in college premises. Kerch shooter was cremated and buried secretly. Great tariff escalation Open source Gas prices in Ukraine increased by 23,5% from November 1. Now, the price is $305 for a thousand cubic meters. Ukraine and the IMF reached an agreement on a new stand-by program for $3,9 billion right after the Cabinet of Ministers decided to increase the tariffs. Another price increase by 35% is out of the question, it wont happen as it is unacceptable for the Ukrainians. And here I am with people, PM Groysman said in an interview on October 23. Russian sanctions against Ukraine Reuters October 22, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree imposing sanctions against Ukraine. The government, headed by Dmitry Medvedev, worked quickly, and on November 1, a list of 322 individuals and 68 legal entities was published. These people and companies are subject to "blocking (freezing) non-cash funds, non-documentary securities, and property in Russia and a ban on the transfer of funds (withdrawal of capital) outside of Russia." Resignation zeal of Prosecutor General Open source Yuriy Lutsenko claimed on the intention to resign from the position of prosecutor general on November 6, during the report in the Parliament on the investigation of the murder of public activist Kateryna Handziuk. Today, I am passing the statement of resignation to the President of Ukraine, so that there is no doubt that one clings to power. And the Parliament has to consider this matter: I am asking to do so this week. I have been and will be doing my work, the Prosecutor General claimed. According to Lutsenko, he is resigning because he cannot let be the duality of power in the country when the law enforcement system is being destroyed without evidence even for solved offenses. Poroshenko did not accept the letter of resignation of Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko. Cold radiators during heating season Open source Almost a month after the start of the heating season (October 15), the first snow has already appeared on the streets, but the radiators in hundreds of apartments allover Ukraine were still cold. Due to numerous problems with the gas supply, part of Kyiv, Kryvy Rih, Kherson, Smila (Cherkasy region), Pavlohrad, Shepetivka (Khmelnytsky region), and other cities remained without heating. Local residents expressed their protest in various ways: they blocked the roads, burned tires, organized protest rallies. Many town hall administrations declared a state of emergency. Declaring martial law Open source The coast guard ships of the Russian Navy acted aggressively against the ships of the Ukrainian Navy, which have been carrying out a scheduled transition from Odesa port to Mariupol port in the Sea of Azov. Given the tough situation in the area of Kerch Strait in the Sea of Azov, President Petro Poroshenko supported the offer of Ukraine's national security and defense council; it stipulates that the Ukrainian Parliament should consider the option to impose the martial law in Ukraine. The martial law in Ukraine, which, according to the National Defense Council, started at 14:00 on November 26, covers 10 regions of the country. These areas are on the border with Russia and unrecognized Transnistria, or they have access to the seas. Russian Ombudsman Tatyana Moskalkova named the exact number of the detained Ukrainian servicemen 24. Kyiv demanded from Moscow to immediately provide the medical service to the wounded sailors and provide them urgent return to the Ukrainian territory. According to the Naval Forces of Ukraine, six sailors were wounded and two of them were in the critical condition. Read the original text at 112.ua. On December 6, Russian mercenaries opened fire in Donbas combat area three times. The skirmishes resulted in no victims among the government forces of Ukraine. This is mentioned on the official Facebook page of the Joint Forces Operation HQ. 'Over the day, Russian occupant forces have violated the ceasefire regime three times. The enemy continues using the Minsk-banned weapons', the message says. Armed militants fired 82 mm mortars, shelling the Ukrainian outposts near Novotoshkivske, Luhansk region. They also opened fire from heavy machine guns and small arms near Lebedynske. On December 5, one Ukrainian serviceman was wounded in action in the combat zone. His current health conditions are fine. Open source For four days, Minsk did not officially comment on last months (November 25) Russian-Ukrainian naval conflagration that occurred around the Kerch Strait. The situation is so explosive, opined Valer Karbalevich of Radio Liberty, that even a neutral and pacifying appeal to both sides may cause irritation in the Kremlin, so Minsk is trying to figure out which way the wind is blowing. According to Karbalevich, the Azov crisis undermines the Minsk [ceasefire] Accord and Minsks status as the venue for conflict resolution [between Russia and Ukraine] (Svaboda.org, November 27). Alexander Alesin, an independent Belarusian military expert, also expressed the belief that the conflict is harmful for Belarus, if only because both sides count on Minsks support, which, either way, would be contrary to Belaruss own interests (Svaboda.org, November 26). In his turn, Alexander Klaskovsky, the doyen of opposition-minded journalism, found one personal benefit for Alyaksandr Lukashenka in the recent Russian-Ukrainian naval skirmish. Specifically, he recalled that on the eve of the last presidential elections in Belarus (October 2015), popular trust in the government increased despite a lousy economic situationsimply because the crisis in the neighboring country of Ukraine prompted Belarusians to consider what might lay in wait for them if sociopolitical order (personalized by and presided over by Lukashenka, the journalist argued) had been shattered (Naviny, November 27). When, on November 29, Belaruss Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei eventually made a statement about the conflict, it did not by any means sound as an unequivocal or even tentative support of Russia, let alone Ukraine. Rather, it was an appeal to both sides to exercise restraint and refrain from a large-scale war. One of Makeis pronouncements even alluded to being poorly informed about the goings-on: We have been keeping an eye on the statements made by the parties, but there have been no direct contacts. Certainly, it would be important for us to obtain objective information from one side and the other in order to have our own real analysis of the situation (Belta, November 29). Note again that Makeis comments became public four days following the accident. Likewise, Makei revealed that no direct information from the Ukrainian side had been received regarding the potential effect on Belarusian visitors of Kyivs subsequent declaration of martial law (Tut.by, November 27). Many, if not most, Belarusians traveling to Ukraine cross the border between Gomel and Chernigov, two regional capitals 105 kilometers apart, as the crow flies. As for Belaruss most powerful neighbor, Russia, the biggest upcoming news story with a positive connotation is that after a year and half of negotiations between Moscow and Minsk, the agreement on mutual recognition of visas issued to citizens of third countries is going to be signed in December (Rossyiskaya Gazeta, November 30). This is good news for those traveling to both countries. But at the same time, the names of those unwanted in Russia and in Belarus will now be combined into a single list. On the habitual negative side, Lenta.ruone of Russias most popular news portals, which, following the 2014 change in its leadership, joined the circle of consistent and virulent Lukashenka basherspublished a new anti-Belarusian long-form article. The piece argues that Belarus helps the Ukrainian military with obtaining refined oil supplies and military hardware (like accumulator batteries for tanks). Moreover, Belarus re-exports to Russia lots of repackaged Ukrainian foods (Lenta.ru, November 22). For his part, Kirill Koktysh, of the prestigious Moscow-based Institute for International Relations, revealed that most deliveries of Belarusian-refined oil to Ukraine occur through collaboration with Russian companies. That way, they circumvent government restrictions (Oilcapital, November 21). Surprisingly related to this discussion was a recent lengthy interview of Jennifer Moore, the United States charge daffaires in Minsk since August 2018, in Belorusskie Novosti, an opposition-minded online newspaper. An aggressive interviewer, Tatyana Korovenkova tried as hard as she could to bait Moore on what the former sees as the main pet peeves of Washingtons Belarus policynamely, Belaruss relationship with Russia and human rights. However, the US diplomat remained unfazed. To the question of how problems in US-Russian relations affect relations between the US and Belarus, Moore assured the interviewer that close relations between Belarus and Russia are quite natural and conditioned by geography, culture, history and interpersonal ties. When the interviewer came at the same issue from a different angle, trying to contrast Moores response and Assistant Secretary of State A. Wess Mirchells October 19 speech at the Washington-based think tank the Atlantic Council, Moore suggested that Mitchells speech ought to be looked at in full and even repeated. We understand that Belarus is closely related to Russia, Moore declared. To the question of whether the US was sacrificing human rights on the altar of realpolitik, Moore responded that only by virtue of dialogue and cooperation can we fully resolve the issues of human rights and basic freedoms (Naviny, November) 29. Apparently, as a result, the entire interview ended up being titled USA Will Not Ask Belarus to Choose Between East and West. Meanwhile, a recent comment by Yury Shevtsov, an experienced pundit and the author of a number of seminal books, such as The Phenomenon of Belarus (2005) and War in Ukraine and Transformation of Europe (2018), is of interest regarding Belarus relationships with European neighbors Lithuania and Poland. Writing on his Facebook page (Facebook.com/yury.shevtsov, November 29), Shevtsov notes the creation of a government taskforce to plan the development of new energy-intensive production lines in Belarus that will be made possible thanks to the construction of the Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) (Interfax, November 29). As such, Shevtsov opines that once Lithuania elects a new president, it will be more inclined to change its obstructionism with regard to the BNPPobstructionism that is harmful for Lithuania itself, he argues. Moreover, his Facebook post refers to aforementioned military expert Alesins extended commentary on the development of a new version of Belaruss Polonez rocket launcher (originally designed and built jointly with China) (Naviny, November 21). The new model replaces the systems Chinese components (most importantly, the M20 rocket) with a Belarus-made equivalent and increases the maximum firing range from 300 to 500 kilometers. Shevtsov argues that this missile artillery system is the cheapest and the most effective response to the North Atlantic Treaty Organizations (NATO) increased presence in the region. The irony of a rocket launcher aimed at Poland and called the Polonez (Polonaise) is, of course, inherent. In 2014, for the first time in seven decades, a state sought to redraw Europes map by way of military aggression. Russias theft of Ukraines Crimean peninsula commanded condemnation and economic sanctions from around the world. But as the news coverage moved on, Moscow was left to design a new assault: a 12-mile bridge between Russias mainland and Crimea. The Ukrainian people will not watch as Russia continues its creeping annexation of our country. Four years ago, in the aftermath of our revolution, Ukraine alone was not able to withstand a Russian military adventure. But today our resolve is strong, and we are prepared to stand up to Russia. This is why I have enacted limited martial law in Ukrainian territory near the Russian border, so that we are able to mobilize and protect our security should Russia dare to intensify its aggression. But we also need the support of the international community in the form of further sanctions against Moscow for its latest assault. Russias attack in the Kerch Strait and the Black Sea on Nov. 25 was not an isolated incident. Since 2014, Russia has regularly violated international rules of navigation and treaties in both those waters and the Sea of Azov. It has stolen our energy supplies and fisheries, harmed Ukrainian livelihoods, and blocked traffic and trade to our ports. It's good for Ukraine, but the Russian side is quite skeptical, - German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas Open source Heiko Maas, the German Foreign Minister offered to extend the mandate of OSCE monitoring mission in Ukraine to the Sea of Azov. He claimed this during the 25th OSCE ministerial session in Milan, as Zeit quoted him. 'It's not going to be so simple (...) I guess it's good for Ukraine, but the Russian side is quite skeptical', Maas said. The Ministry's offer should be discussed on Tuesday, December 11, when the Ukrainian and the Russian delegates are to negotiate, with Germany and France being the mediators. Currently, OSCE observers are in eastern Ukraine, where they monitor the observation of Minsk agreements. Earlier, the Ukrainian delegation in Minsk trilateral contact group urged the OSCE SMM to start a boosted monitoring of the Azov Sea waters and the adjacent territories due to the Russian military provocation. As we reported earlier, the coast guard ships of the Russian Navy acted aggressively against the ships of the Ukrainian Navy, which have been carrying out a scheduled transition from Odesa port to Mariupol port in the Sea of Azov. Today, November 25, the ships of the Ukrainian Navy with two armored gunboats and a sea mule tugboat have been carrying out a scheduled transition from Odesa port to Mariupol port in the Sea of Azov. The intention to make the transition was informed in advance in accordance with international standards in order to ensure the safety of navigation. However, contrary to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and the Treaty between Ukraine and the Russian Federation on cooperation in the use of the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait, the Russian coast guard ships - Sobol class patrol boat, Don border guard cruiser, Mangust class patrol boat and Suzdalets anti-submarine warfare ship performed blatantly aggressive acts against the ships of the Ukrainian Navy, reads the message. It is specified that Don border guard cruiser rammed the Ukrainian armored artillery boat, which led to the damage of the main engine, planting and accommodation rail, life float is lost. The Ukrainian Navy states that "the dispatcher service of the occupiers refuses to ensure the right of freedom of navigation, guaranteed by international agreements. The Ukrainian Navy states that 'the dispatcher service of the occupiers refuses to ensure the right of freedom of navigation, guaranteed by international agreements.' Thus, according to the Ukrainian side, Russia has once again demonstrated its aggressive nature and complete disregard for the norms of international law. Lithuania introduced national sanctions against 20 individuals directly engaged in the capture of the Ukrainian ships and the servicemen of the Ukrainian Navy in the Kerch Strait performed by the Russian Federation on November 25. Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Linas Linkevicius claimed this during the conference at the Diplomatic Academy of the Ukrainian MFA, reports Ukrainska Pravda. Related: Russia reacts at Kyiv's claim on Ukrainian Navy in Kerch Strait We issued national sanctions against 20 people from the personnel, who personally took part in the combat actions against the servicemen of the Ukrainian Navy, as well as their managers and commanders, Linkevicius claimed. In particular, the sanctions provide a ban to enter Lithuania It is noted that among the persons who fell under the sanctions there are foreigners also. Linkevicius stressed that accusations are not enough in response to the Russian aggression. This is also a direct call to others, and I am sure that others also think about such measures, he added. Related: 112 Ukraine becomes absolute leader among Ukraines news TV channels On December 6, the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry addressed the Migration Department under the Ministry of the Interior with a proposal to include in the list of undesirable people in Lithuania who directly participated in the act of aggression against the Ukrainian warships and the crews near the Kerch Strait. As we reported earlier, the U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine Kurt Volker claimed that the U.S. and the EU might increase sanctions against Russia or introduce new ones for capturing the Ukrainian sailors and the vessels. Polish Foreign Minister noted that legal significance of Russias official recognition of the attack at the Ukrainian ships Foreign Minister of Poland Jacek Czaputowicz claimed that the legally proved status of Russia as the side of the conflict is the result of the attack of the Russian Naval Forces at the Ukrainian ships during the negotiations of the OSCE on the militarization of Crimea, Azov Sea and the Black Sea as European Truth reported. Now, Russia cannot say that it is not a side of the conflict. Now, they cannot hide behind some little green men, Czaputowicz said. Besides, the Polish minister assured that the motives of the attacks claimed by the Russians are not persuasive. The explanations of Russia that it must protect the critically important object of the infrastructure, particularly illegally constructed bridge in illegally annexed Crimea is not serious, he said. Wess Mitchell, the associate of the U.S. Secretary of State reminded that Russia shelled and seized the Ukrainian ships when they aimed to the Crimean Bridge and were in the international waters. As we reported earlier, the coast guard ships of the Russian Navy acted aggressively against the ships of the Ukrainian Navy, which have been carrying out a scheduled transition from Odesa port to Mariupol port in the Sea of Azov. 21 Ukrainian sailors have been delivered to Lefortovo remand center in Moscow, three others are in the hospital of Matrosskaya Tishina prison. On December 3, the Russian prosecutors officially accused Ukrainian sailors with the 'illegal crossing of the state border'during the Kerch Strait incident. Given the tough situation in the area of Kerch Strait in the Sea of Azov, President Petro Poroshenko supported the offer of Ukraine's national security and defense council; it stipulates that the Ukrainian Parliament should consider the option to impose the martial law in Ukraine. On November 28, the Uriadovy Kurier, the official outlet of the Ukrainian Cabinet, published the presidential decree No.392, which activates the decision of the National Security and Defense Council in Ukraine about the 30-days-long martial law in Ukraine. Related video: Lithuanian president notes that the Sea of Azov is not the Russian territory and the agreements for the international waters act there President of Lithuania Dalia Gribauskaite claimed that Russia should fulfill all international agreements on the navigation in the Sea of Azov. She made such statement during the official visit Kyiv and joint briefing with the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko as 112 Ukraine reported. If Russia continues to stir up its hostile actions against Ukraine and the international community, then we want to remind one more time that the Sea of Azov is not the territory of Russia and the international agreements act in this sea. Russia as all others should fulfill the terms of these international agreements, Gribauskaite claimed. She also added that Lithuania can increase the military presence in the Sea of Azov if Russia does not fulfill these agreements. If there is a negative response; then we will help, support Ukraine, increasing our military presence. We should provide the navigation in the strait across the Sea of Azov. We should fulfill all agreements acting for the international waters, the Lithuanian president assured. As we reported earlier, the coast guard ships of the Russian Navy acted aggressively against the ships of the Ukrainian Navy, which have been carrying out a scheduled transition from Odesa port to Mariupol port in the Sea of Azov. Given the tough situation in the area of Kerch Strait in the Sea of Azov, President Petro Poroshenko supported the offer of Ukraine's national security and defense council; it stipulates that the Ukrainian Parliament should consider the option to impose the martial law in Ukraine. On November 28, the Uriadovy Kurier, the official outlet of the Ukrainian Cabinet, published the presidential decree No.392, which activates the decision of the National Security and Defense Council in Ukraine about the 30-days-long martial law in Ukraine. Related video: Foreign ministers of the four member countries held a session in Milan, where the ceremony took place; Ukraine took the leadership from Moldova 112 International Ukraine replaced Moldova as the leader in GUAM Organization for Democracy and Economic Development. The press service of Moldova's Ministry for Foreign Affairs and European Integration reported this on late Thursday. Foreign ministers of the four member countries (Georgia, Ukraine, Armenia and Moldova) held a session in Milan, where the ceremony took place. 'I'm convinced that the tradition within the GUAM frameworks, which aims to work based on consensus, will let the member countries continue a fruitful and mutually beneficial cooperation on both the regional and the international level', said Tudor Ulianovsky, Moldovan Foreign Minister. He also wished the Ukrainian delegation good luck and expressed hope that the organization's members would deepen the economic and humanitarian cooperation. GUAM's charter was signed during a summit in Yalta (Crimea) in June 2001 by the four current members and Uzbekistan, which later withdrew. The charter set objectives for cooperation, such as promoting democratic values, ensuring stable development, enhancing international and regional security and stepping up European integration. President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko and President of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaite have signed the road map of the strategic partnership between the countries for 2019-2020 as 112 Ukraine reported. On the results of todays negotiations as you have seen, a number of the important bilateral documents were signed, including the roadmap of the strategic partnership between Ukraine and Lithuania for 2019-2020, Ukrainian president reported. According to him, the inter-governmental agreement on the employment and cooperation in the sphere of labor migration was also signed. This document is about the fact that our citizens (working in Lithuania) will be provided with the proper protection of their rights for the unshadoving of these processes and the protection of the Lithuanian citizens who plan to work in Ukraine, Poroshenko explained. Earlier the Finance Ministries of Lithuania and Ukraine agreed on the creation of the Coordination Committee for the implementation of the reform of the Ukrainian State Fiscal Service and creation of the Financial Investigations Service. The Ukrainian consul visited the sailors of the Ukrainian Navy in Lefortovo remand center in Moscow, as Ombudsman Lyudmyla Denisova reported on Facebook. I have just talked to Ukrainian consul in Moscow Albert Cheriakov. He told that he visited four sailors today: Denys Hrytsenko, Roman Mokriak, Yuriy Beziazychny and Bohdan Holovash. Our guys havent expressed any complaints and hold tight. In particular, when the consul asked Denys Hrytsenko about him, he answered as a real captain, in response he answered: How are the wounded guys feeling? All of them said hello to their families, and asked not to be worried, she said. Related: Lithuania imposes sanctions against 20 people involved in Russias acts in Kerch Strait Citing the consul, Denisova claimed that the sailors are dressed in clothes given by volunteers. They have tv sets in their cells, however, they dont use it, they read books. Today, they have transferred financial assistance in the amount of $ 74 per person, and there is already an agreement on the possibility of a telephone conversation of prisoners of war with their relatives, Denisova told. The schedule of visiting the consul and other sailors, who are kept in the Lefortovo, has already been drawn up. On Monday, he will visit six prisoners of war, six more on Tuesday, December 11, the remaining five on Wednesday, December 12. Related: Russia reacts at Kyiv's claim on Ukrainian Navy in Kerch Strait He also noted that he had visited three our wounded soldiers tonight in Matrosskaya Tishina prison. According to him, their health condition is satisfactory. The guys have shrapnel wounds, no one has amputations, the bones and joints are all right, the Ombudsman noted. As we reported earlier, the coast guard ships of the Russian Navy acted aggressively against the ships of the Ukrainian Navy, which have been carrying out a scheduled transition from Odesa port to Mariupol port in the Sea of Azov. Related: Russia still impedes passage of ships through Kerch Strait, - Ukraines Border Guard Service Today, November 25, the ships of the Ukrainian Navy with two armored gunboats and a sea mule tugboat have been carrying out a scheduled transition from Odesa port to Mariupol port in the Sea of Azov. The intention to make the transition was informed in advance in accordance with international standards in order to ensure the safety of navigation. However, contrary to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and the Treaty between Ukraine and the Russian Federation on cooperation in the use of the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait, the Russian coast guard ships - Sobol class patrol boat, Don border guard cruiser, Mangust class patrol boat and Suzdalets anti-submarine warfare ship performed blatantly aggressive acts against the ships of the Ukrainian Navy, reads the message. It is specified that Don border guard cruiser rammed the Ukrainian armored artillery boat, which led to the damage of the main engine. The Ukrainian Navy states that "the dispatcher service of the occupiers refuses to ensure the right of freedom of navigation, guaranteed by international agreements." Thus, according to the Ukrainian side, Russia has once again demonstrated its aggressive nature and complete disregard for the norms of international law. The streets are cordoned off in anticipation of more violence Protesters and police clash on the Champs-Elysees on 24 November. Photograph: Julien de Rosa EPA / UPG French security forces will deploy armoured vehicles in Paris on Saturday in anticipation of more violence by fringe elements of the gilets jaunes (yellow vests) movement. This was reported by Guardian agency. A government official said 89,000 police and gendarmes would be mobilised across the country, 8,000 of them in the French capital, alongside a dozen VBRG armoured vehicles. We are facing people who are not there to demonstrate, but are there to smash things up and we want to make sure were not leaving them to do what they want, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said in an attempt to justify the use of the VBRG, which are capable of firing tear-gas grenades and clearing barricades and rarely used in city areas. Paris went into lockdown on Friday, as the city prepared for a fourth weekend of protests. There was a sense of impending attack in the city centre as banks, shops, restaurants and businesses rushed to board up their premises to protect windows from looters. The preparations come after the city saw the worst street unrest in 50 years last Saturday as groups of casseurs (hooligans), confronted riot police, torched vehicles and looted shops. As it was reported, the gilet jaunes movement started as a protest against a proposed rise in diesel and petrol tax, and takes its name from the yellow high-vis jackets that all motorists must by law carry in their cars. Protesters gathered on the Champs Elysees demanding from the French President to cancel plans to raise taxes on fuel, which from January 1 will lead to higher prices. UN has requested for $204 million for the humanitarian operation in the east of Ukraine Over 3.8 million citizens of Ukraine living in the eastern regions, where the Joint Forces Operation takes place, need the humanitarian aid as UN reported. UN has requested for $204 million for the humanitarian operation in the east of Ukraine at the end of the past year, where 3.8 million people wait for the aid. The year is almost finished but the amount financed makes only 37% from the payment plan per each recipient, the message said. Next year, the UN pledges to provide aid for 2.3 million Ukrainians the next year, requesting $162 million for this; it is less by 13% than in 2018. Totally, more than 132 million people on our planet will need humanitarian aid next year. The establishments and agencies of the UN pledge to provide aid to the most vulnerable 94 million of them. In addition, $22 billion will be needed, excluding the operations in Syria. Earlier, the UN delivered more than 100 tons of humanitarian aid to the occupied territories in Donbas region. According to him, the receiving of Tomos by Ukraine is the geopolitical collapse of Putin beaten by Poroshenko Open source The return of the church to Ukraine is the geopolitical victory of Petro Poroshenko over Vladimir Putin, which will allow getting rid of the agents of the hostile special services inside the country as political scientist Volodymyr Makarovsky reported on Facebook. The fact that the president succeeded to achieve the autocephaly for our church is the most important event for the country! I am sure that in the recent future our children will read about the Tomos for Ukraine in the history books, Makarovsky said. According to him, the receiving of the Tomos by Ukraine is the geopolitical collapse of Putin beaten by Poroshenko. Thus, the official recognition of the autocephaly of the Ukrainian Church is the loss of the possibility to influence the minds of the faithful Ukrainians by Moscow. Receiving of the Tomos is the salvation of Ukraine from the state security yoke of Kremlin as there is no secret that many pseudo-priests of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) were regular and non-staff KGB agents and now FSB. Historically, the ROC takes its history from the times of Stalin. Those priests who were not repressed became the part of the Soviet Special Services. Not accidentally, Stalin presented limo to Patriarch Alexey in 1949. It is the same with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate. So, Ukraine gets rid of the agents of the hostile special services by the autocephaly, he is sure. Makarovsky emphasized that the receiving of the Tomos by Ukrainian Church is the restoration of the historic justice. Now, the Ukrainian nation is in the process of the large-scale acquisition of the lost state identity. We wrest our history with fights and the time of the church has come a long time ago. As when Kyiv Prince Volodymyr baptized Rus the pagan idols stood in Moskovia. Now, Moscow unjustly tries to steal Volodymyr and erect the monuments to him. But it is our history and our right for independence, including the issues of religion. It is very important that each faithful Ukrainian know that Kyiv got the anointing first, he concluded. On October 11, the Synodus lifted the anathema from Filaret, head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Kyivan Patriarchate, and Makariy, Primate of Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church. Filaret stated that the united Jubilee Bishops' Council would take place soon to create a unified Ukrainian local church. In addition, the Ecumenical Patriarchate recognized Russias Orthodox Church annexation of Kyiv metropole in 1686. Related: Churches collected 16 mln euros for Donbas victims as part of Pope for Ukraine project As we reported earlier, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew signed an agreement on cooperation between Ukraine and the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Turkey. As of the morning December 7, over 140 vessels expects the passing through Kerch Strait at the anchorages The Russian Federation continues to obstruct the navigation of ships through Kerch Strait to the Ukrainian ports despite the international law as Ukraines State Border Guard Service reported. According to the data of the Border Guard Service, as of the morning December 7, over 140 vessels expects the passing through Kerch Strait at the anchorages, 98 of them stay at the side of the Black Sea, the message said. The number of the vessels in Kerch Strait amounted to 400 at the end of November. The increasing of this number is spotted again, despite the stabilization of the situation in the first days of December and its decrease up to 105 ships. The Border Guard Service notes that Russia continues to intentionally violate the norms of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea dated 1982 and Agreement between Ukraine and Russia on the cooperation in the use of the Sea of Azov and Kerch Strait dated 2003 and forces Ukrainian an foreign merchant ships to wait for the passage during a long period of time. The obstacle created for the ships forwarded to the Ukrainian ports. Thus, only 41 ships in either direction were passed during the past 24 hours, eight of them were aiming to or from the Ukrainian ports. Those ships aiming from the Ukrainian port were checked by Russias FSB. Earlier Ministry of Temporarily Occupied Territories and IDPs reported that the vessels accidents were spotted in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov due to the blocking of the Kerch Strait by the Russian Federation. As we reported, the Russian Federation has blocked the movement of civilian ships in the Sea of Azov due to the confrontation with the ships of the Naval Forces of Ukraine, which were passing from Odesa (the Black Sea) to Mariupol (the Sea of Azov). Russian Federation has lifted the restriction of movement of civilian vessels across Kerch Strait. The ships already cross it. According to the official who represents the Crimean occupant authorities, the decision took effect movement at about 4 am, November 26. Related video: Otherwise, according to Defense Minister, Ukraine can lose the Sea of Azov Open source Defense Minister of Ukraine Stepan Poltorak stated that the Ukrainian Naval Forces will continue to use Kerch Strait for the passage of its ships, as Pryamy TV channel reported. When we are ready to hold the next passage for the rotations of our detachments, we will carry out such passages with the fulfillment of all international norms and laws. By then, I think, the international pressure will send Russia a message that it does not fulfill the international commitments, Poltorak said. He underlines that Ukraine cannot refuse from the right for a passage through Kerch Strait. If we refuse from a passage through Kerch Strait, it will mean that Russia has completely occupied the Sea of Azov and we will lose one more territory. We cannot afford it, the minister added. As we reported earlier, the coast guard ships of the Russian Navy acted aggressively against the ships of the Ukrainian Navy, which have been carrying out a scheduled transition from Odesa port to Mariupol port in the Sea of Azov. Given the tough situation in the area of Kerch Strait in the Sea of Azov, President Petro Poroshenko supported the offer of Ukraine's national security and defense council; it stipulates that the Ukrainian Parliament should consider the option to impose the martial law in Ukraine. On November 28, the Uriadovy Kurier, the official outlet of the Ukrainian Cabinet, published the presidential decree No.392, which activates the decision of the National Security and Defense Council in Ukraine about the 30-days-long martial law in Ukraine. Related video: #MGPAhora Conferencia de prensa y recorrido por el Buque Oceanografico con capacidad polar #BAPCarrasco pic.twitter.com/qPts2jR6xo 11:08 | Chiclayo (Lambayeque region), Dec. 7. This burial ground was used between the final stage of the Mochica culture (A.D. 800-1000) and the end of the Lambayeque culture. The archaeological complex is situated in Chiclayo's Pomalca district. A total of 32 tombs have been unveiled so far, 23 of which date back to the final stage of the Mochica culture (Middle Horizon) and nine belong to the Lambayeque civilization. "The importance of this cemetery is evidenced by the quantity and density of its tombs, plus the number of feasts held there," he affirmed. The archaeologist highlighted the discovery of a female mummy among many graves of women and youth along with textile tools and a ceremonial copper metal knife typical of the Lambayeque culture. "Apparently, it was an offering representing a sort of lineage or hierarchy within the group because the object considered an element of differentiation was seen only in that grave," he underlined. Dissection of children's feet Bracamonte indicated there is a pattern in the body of about 17 children: Their feet were cut up on purpose. "We have to bring two more to the surface, and an adult whose hand was cut up and placed near his feet. We are going to find out the gender and age with a physical anthropology study," he pointed out. It must be noted excavations at the Chiclayo-based site started two months ago. (END) SDC/JOT/RMB/MVB A cemetery with a banquet area to commemorate the dead was discovered at El Chorro archaeological site, located in Chiclayo's Pomalca district in northern Peru, said Edgar Bracamonte, the person responsible for the Lambayeque Valley Archaeological Project.Published: 12/7/2018 Presidente @MartinVizcarraC: No podemos dejar de hacer publica nuestra preocupacion por la reciente aprobacion, en el Congreso de la Republica, de un proyecto de Ley que reduciria las penas a aquellos que vienen siendo investigados por el delito de lavado de activos. pic.twitter.com/T3TRrMNnaU Presidente @MartinVizcarraC: Desde el Cusco nos comprometemos con la construccion de las grandes obras que merece la region y el Peru, y este domingo, con el referendum, construiremos instituciones mas solidas. Tengan la seguridad que no los vamos a defraudar. pic.twitter.com/CxWVqXKeQ0 Musical Bakeries And other Saline marketplace changes by Billie Ochberg Published in December, 2018 Just over a year ago, Sheila Vish opened Sweet Leilani's Desserts in Saline. She talked about age being a state of mind, about how juggling multiple roles like mom, grandmother, and new business owner energized her. Vish isn't slowing down. In fact, she's moving and expanding. "I've been wanting to grow the business, sell more products, offer classes and cake tastings, but I had to find more room," she explains. "When the old train depot in Tecumseh was for lease, we jumped on it. It's more than double the size." The charming little retail space nestled between Bill's Barber Shop and McPherson's Local has just 550 square feet. "But I'll be sad to leave this spot too," Vish adds. "I'm really glad it'll be home to another baker." Amber Wardia hopes to open Enchanted Oven there in time for the holidays. She started her bakery in 2007 in Birmingham then relocated to Tarpon Springs, Florida, where she ran a full-scale bakery. But, with three young children, she decided it was time to return to her roots and be closer to extended family. "We chose Saline because it's a quiet, family-friendly town, and we were ready for a fresh start," says Wardia. "I walked all over town. I met the folks at Benny's, and I met Sheila at Sweet Leilani's. I wanted to be right downtown. Sheila took my number." Wardia worked at a law firm while selling Enchanted Oven baked goods at the Saline Farmer's Market, where she's gained a following, especially for her kolaczki pastry-based cookies made with preserves and dusted with powdered sugar. She was about to give up hope that she'd find a downtown Saline retail space when Vish called to tell her she was moving. That "happy surprise" meant she'd need to downsize, because "the space is half of what I had in Florida. But I'm ready to change my menu and focus on making what we love the most, what we think ...continued below... makes people the happiest," she says with a smile.She means cake. And who's the "we"?"My children. They help me creatively. My daughter came up with our slogan: 'For Cake Lovers.' She said we need to put it on a neon sign."Wardia is passionate about investing in high-quality, fair-trade ingredients. She buys her chocolate from Guittard, a California-based artisanal chocolate company certified by both Fair Trade USA and the Rainforest Alliance."It's very good chocolate. You won't taste any waxy fillers," Wardia emphasizes. She's still on the hunt for the best local butter.Wardia will bake special-order custom cakes and wedding cakes, but her bakery will also sell cake by the slice, and she says that her slices are generous. Look for chocolate and vanilla birthday cakes layered with buttercream, hummingbird cake, carrot cake, seven-layer rainbow cake and "Brooklyn Blackout" cake--chocolate cake filled with chocolate pudding, covered in chocolate fudge icing and topped with chocolate cookie crumbs. Enchanted Oven will sell wedding cake whole or by the slice. Asked how much she plans to charge per slice, Wardia warns that it'll be a splurge, given her high-end ingredients: "Most will cost five to six dollars a slice; it depends on the cake," she says.Wardia's middle-school-aged son loves the Kolaczki cookies so much that he suggested his mom create a Kolaczki cake. It's white cake with apricot and raspberry preserves, white buttercream icing, covered all over with Kolaczki cookies."It's my son's creation, and it's selling at the market," giggles Wardia.She loves to bake pies too. Enchanted Oven will offer seasonal fruit pies as well as peanut butter pie, coconut cream pie, Key lime pie and Mississippi mud pie. It will stock a variety of freshly baked cookies, including chocolate chip, decorated sugar cookies, raspberry bars, Greek almond cookies, and, of course, kolaczki. Cupcake flavors will rotate. Wardia lists the favorites as mint chocolate chip, cafe mocha, and a Hawaiian cupcake made with pineapple, coconut, and cherries."I've baked my whole life. My mother and grandmother taught me: always bake from scratch," says Wardia. "No mixes, no ingredients from a bucket, and I will never cut corners." That rule comes from her mom and grandmother, but Wardia's heritage as an entrepreneur goes back even further.In the 1960s, "my great-grandmother, Marjorie Wanner, ran a little place called Twilight Grill near Seven Mile and Van Dyke in Detroit," says Wardia."I'd love to find a photograph of it someday," she says. In the meantime, Wardia has her great-grandma's sifter and cookie cutters."I use that sifter every day," she says.---A small sign printed on copy paper hangs on the glass door of theresale shop in the Commons at Sauk Trail shopping center and reads: "Nu2U is officially closed. Thank you for your business for the past 7 years! God Bless." It's signed by the Nu2U Staff. Repeated calls to the Nu2U phone number went unanswered. [Originally published in December, 2018.] YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 21, ARMENPRESS. The fact that Armenia has announced and carries out fight against corruption is also appreciated by the world, President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian said at a meeting with businessmen in Yerevan, reports Armenpress. This fight is noticed both in the US, Russia and Europe. Its a very positive phenomenon. The talk is not only about the fight against corruption, but also the steps on improving the judicial system. We want to have a court we dream of, because the business cannot develop, there will be no investments in the country if people do not trust the courts. If we look carefully, we will see that the countries with the largest investment volumes in the world have the best judicial system, the President said, adding that he would like very much for Armenia to develop the culture of arbitral court. According to the President, the stability of banking and financial-economic system in the country is a good precondition for making investments, running a business in Armenia. I say in all occasions that a revolution took place in Armenia, but our dram and banking system remained unchanged. This is a great advantage in the peoples consciousness that Armenia has a stable economic system, and if the currency and banking system in Armenia remain stable during dramatic changes, one can trust the country, he said. Armen Sarkissian said the April events this year raised Armenia to the highest level since in todays instable world the human, beautiful processes are becoming invaluable. Today Armenia is a unique country in some sense, where a major change occurred, a historic change, a revolution occurred, but in a very simple and human way. And we are unique in some sense because there is a place in the instable world where a revolution was carried out with its means. In other words, this is the highest level in the peoples consciousness in business circles that Armenia is different, unique, therefore there is a different attitude towards Armenia, the President noted. He considered the recent La Francophonie Summit in Yerevan as a positive affect for Armenias image. Armen Sarkissian thanked all the diplomats for their efforts aimed at holding this event in Armenia at a high level, as well as the government for great contribution to the organization of the event. He informed that he has signed a decree on awarding a group of individuals for their contribution to organizing and holding the Summit at a high level. Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, DECEMBER 1, ARMENPRESS. For more than a month the preachers at a church in the Netherlands are holding a round-the-clock service to stop an Armenian family of being deported, Sky News reports. According to the Dutch laws, the law enforcement agencies have no right to enter into the church territory during liturgy, therefore, the church made a decision to hold a round-the-clock service aimed at stopping the deportation of Tamrazyan family - including the parents, their two daughters and son. This story is under the spotlight of both local and foreign media outlets. The family lives in the Netherlands for already nine years, the judicial procedures for granting an asylum continues for years. During this period the members of the family already managed to be integrated to the local society and acquire friends. But the court made a decision on October 25 according to which the family should return to Armenia, which is considered by the Dutch government as safe for them. Theo Hettema, chairman of the general council of the Protestant Church of The Hague, said: Its heartbreaking. We had compassion and we had good reasons and we thought it was the mission of our church to act like this. Lawyer Martine Goeman said there are about 400 children in a similar position in the Netherlands. The Dutch government introduced a rule in 2013, known by many as a children's pardon, that under special circumstances grants asylum to children who have been in the country for more than five years while their asylum application is processed. But the lawyer said appeals for such a pardon are rarely honoured. The Dutch justice ministry refused to comment on the Tamrazyan family case. As the familys asylum issue is still unresolved, the church preachers expressed readiness to continue the liturgy which is going on for more than 800 hours. YEREVAN, DECEMBER 1, ARMENPRESS. On December 1 acting defense minister of Armenia Davit Tonoyan held a meeting and Q&A session with the representatives of several Russian leading media outlets, the ministry told Armenpress. Commenting on the current situation over the position of the CSTO Secretary General, the acting minister said Armenia has its candidate for the Secretary General and is ready to continue fulfilling its commitments. Davit Tonoyan also touched upon the Armenian-Russian allied relations, noting that Armenia attaches great importance to the military and military-technical cooperation with Russia. As for the current situation in the Artsakh-Azerbaijan line of contact and the Armenian-Azerbaijani state border, the acting minister said in the recent period the number of ceasefire violations by the Azerbaijani forces has decreased. He also talked about the operative communication established between the sides, stating that before this Armenias communication with Azerbaijan was operating within the frames of the International Committee of Red Cross and the OSCE, and this new communication can contribute to reducing the border tension and intensity of ceasefire violations. At the request of reporters, Davit Tonoyan also talked about the humanitarian aid provided to Syria, emphasizing that Armenia will continue providing assistance to the settlements and the Syrian-Armenian community affected by the conflict. Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, DECEMBER 7, ARMENPRESS. The meeting of the delegations of Armenias emergency situations ministry and the Kansas National Guard, USA, led by Adjutant General, Major-General Lee Tafanelli was held today on the sidelines of the regional simulation training of the International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG) organized on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the 1988 Spitak earthquake, the Armenian ministry of emergency situations told Armenpress. Deputy minister of emergency situations Ara Nazaryan said Armenia views the Kansas delegations visit as a continuation of the assistance provided by the US to the Armenian people during the 1988 Spitak devastating earthquake. This year we mark the 15th anniversary of the cooperation between the Kansas National Guard, USA, and the ministry of emergency situations. Although the agreement was signed in 2010, but de facto it started in 2003. Its a whole life. Thanks to a productive cooperation we had an opportunity to develop the capacities of our regional search and rescue services, Ara Nazaryan said. Lee Tafanelli thanked for the invitation and the opportunity to attend the events dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the earthquake. Its very important for us to always remember the innocent victims. But it is also very important to reach the point so that similar tragedies will never take place during such natural disasters, Lee Tafanelli said. He said they are looking forward to the trainings next year aimed at reducing the risk of disasters which will be held in Syunik province. One of the sectors, in which we expect active cooperation, is the fight against forest fires. We have a special team which participated in the anti-forest fire operations. They will also participate in the upcoming exercises in Syunik, he said. In his turn deputy minister Ara Nazaryan thanked the delegation for declaring December 7 as a remembrance day for Spitak earthquake innocent victims in Kansas, as well as the decision on declaring December 5 as a Kansas-Armenia cooperation day. At the end of the meeting Ara Nazaryan awarded Lee Tafanelli with the ministry medal Cooperation for Salvation. Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, DECEMBER 7, ARMENPRESS. Caretaker Minister of Healthcare Arsen Torosyan has issued a statement on the 30th anniversary of the 1988 Armenian earthquake, known as the Spitak earthquake. No matter how much time passes, the earthquake has left a great scar on us all, especially on the population of the greatly affected northern regions of Armenia, he said. 30 years ago on this day, the devastating earthquake nearly leveled a number of regions in Armenia big cities of Lori and Shirak provinces, more than hundred of villages and settlements, claiming 25,000 lives and leaving nearly more than half a million people homeless. The pan-national disaster united Armenians around the world, more than 100 countries brought their contribution, the continued. Although December 7th has left hard psychological and emotional memories in our hearts, it is time to [shake off] the sorrow and build a new Armenia, he said, noting that recently the new Vanadzor Medical Center was opened with modern equipments, among other initiatives, and that such steps will be continuous. He also expressed certainty that soon all consequences of the disaster will be able to be completely overcome. Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan YEREVAN, DECEBER 7, ARMENPRESS. Armenias caretaker FM Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, taking part in the Milan OSCE Ministerial Meeting, held a meeting with his Estonian counterpart Sven Mikser on December 6. Issues related to bilateral and multilateral partnership were discussed, the foreign ministry said. Both sides emphasized readiness to boost the bilateral agenda and enhance mutually-beneficial cooperation. In this context, the sides pointed out the high tech and innovations sector as a priority and highlighted the formation of practice exchange platforms and initiation of projects in this area. Mnatsakanyan also briefed his Estonian counterpart on the Armenian governments reforms and achievements. The parties also addressed the Armenia-EU partnership. They concurred that the 10th anniversary of the Eastern Partnership is a good milestone for assessing the achievements in this format and outlining prospects for further partnership. Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan YEREVAN, DECEMBER 7, ARMENPRESS. Acting foreign minister of Armenia Zohrab Mnatsakanyan on December 6 met with foreign minister of Canada Chrystia Freeland in Milan within the frames of the OSCE ministerial council, the Armenian MFA told Armenpress. The sides highly valued the partnering relations between Armenia and Canada both in bilateral and multilateral formats, by attaching importance to the format of the International Organization of La Francophonie as a valuable platform for cooperation. The officials also touched upon the agreements reached between the PMs of Canada and Armenia during PM Justin Trudeaus recent official visit to Armenia and their implementation process. Acting FM Mnatsakanyan said Canada is a priority partner for Armenia in numerous matters and attached importance to the steps aimed at further boosting the Armenian-Canadian mutual partnership in Armenias development agenda. Both stated that there is a good potential to make the two peoples closer, considering the digital agenda a priority direction in this process. Presenting Armenias achievements in development of innovation, high technologies and creative education, the acting FM highlighted the initiation of joint programs with Canada aimed at deepening the cooperation. The sides also highlighted the role and importance of the Armenian community in Canada, as a bridge connecting the two friendly countries. Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, DECEMBER 7, ARMENPRESS. Acting Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan delivered remarks at the event in Gyumri dedicated to the memory of the 1988 earthquake victims, reports Armenpress. In his remarks Pashinyan said the earthquake was a blow to our people, but it also became a cornerstone of unity for the whole people. 30 years ago this day the Spitak major earthquake took place the epicenter of which was in Shirakamut village. More than 25.000 citizens have been killed, nearly 500.000 remained homeless in the quake. Thousands of buildings have been destroyed. The scale of victims was just a blow to our peoples potential, the disaster was just a blow to our countrys economy and was a moral blow for our people. But this disaster also became a unique cornerstone of national unity. Millions of Armenians worldwide drew their attention to the historical homeland. Perhaps the vivid example is that of Aznavour who visited the disaster zone immediately after the earthquake, after which he remained more connected to the homeland until the end of his life. It also became a reason for a world humanitarian unity. Many peoples of the world provided their support to the Armenian people, Pashinyan said. According to him, 30 years after the earthquake, the term disaster zone is not eliminated yet, but its elimination is not linked only with the restoration of buildings. Till now by saying disaster zone we understand the housing needs of the people, the construction and opening of schools, but let us record that a major economic segment has been destroyed due to the earthquake. Therefore, by saying restoration of the disaster zone we must also understand the entire economic potential which existed in the whole territory of the disaster zone. The restoration works of the disaster zone started shortly after the earthquake, but its not always the case when the peoples hope, fate and optimism are being recovered in line with the restoration of buildings. By recovering the disaster zone we must return the hope and fate to the people, our key task is to overcome the psychological and civilian disaster formed after the earthquake, and I am confident that today we are moving on this path jointly, the acting PM said. Addressing the Armenian people and those injured in the earthquake, Pashinyan assured that everything will be very good. Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, DECEMBER 7, ARMENPRESS. Armenias caretaker Minister of Foreign Affairs Zohrab Mnatsakanyan and his Czech counterpart Tomas Petricek held a meeting on December 6 in Milan, Italy. Mnatsakanyan congratulated Petricek on his appointment and wished good luck in his tenure. The two FMs exchanged ideas over the partnership between Armenia and Czech Republic and the Armenian-Czech relations. They emphasized mutual readiness for the full realization of potential for expanding and deepening the bilateral agenda. In this context, Mnatsakanyan pointed out the sectors of innovations, high tech and smart development as main directions of practical cooperation, attaching importance to initiating exchange of experience programs. The Armenian caretaker FM briefed his Czech counterpart on the latest domestic developments in Armenia and reiterated the Armenian governments commitment in ensuring free, fair electoral process expressing the peoples will based on the broad mandate given by the people. The sides also exchanged ideas over the Armenia-European Union partnership. Mnatsakanyan emphasized that the 10th anniversary of Eastern Partnership is a good occasion to address achievements and to outline the prospects of joint work, with special attention to the youth. He also presented to Petricek Armenias stance and approach regarding the exclusively peaceful settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. Mnatsakanyan emphasized that Artsakhs status and security are priorities for Armenia, and that the formation of an atmosphere contributing to peace through first of all the full implementation of previous agreements and stopping ceasefire violations and belligerent rhetoric is important for advancing the process. Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan YEREVAN, DECEMBER 7, ARMENPRESS. The military prosecutions division of state interests has revealed that suppliers of the defense ministry have failed to fulfill contract obligations totaling 700,000,000 drams. The prosecution did not specify the products or services involved. It said that although the military had paid a total 620,000,000 drams in prepayment under four different contracts totaling 1 billion 317 million to the suppliers, the latter breached the contract and failed to fulfill nearly 230 million drams in obligations anyhow. The suppliers have been warned as required by law. The materials have been sent to the general military investigative committee for further proceedings for a probe. Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan YEREVAN, DECEMBER 7, ARMENPRESS. This week the U.S. Embassy was pleased to welcome to Armenia a delegation from the U.S. state of Kansas headed by Governor Jeff Colyer and the Adjutant General of Kansas, Major General Lee Tafanelli, the U.S. Embassy told Armenpress. The delegation traveled to Armenia to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the devastating Spitak earthquake and to pay their respects to the Armenian people. During his visit, Governor Colyer presented the Armenian Government with proclamations designating December 6, 2018, as Kansas-Armenia Partnership Day and December 7, 2018, as Spitak Remembrance Day in the state of Kansas. The Governors relationship with Armenia dates back to 1988, when as a White House Fellow with the USAID Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance, he was part of one of the first U.S. assistance teams on the ground in Armenia, providing food and supplies to survivors of the earthquake. On Friday, the delegation was honored to participate in the Disaster Resistance Day events in Gyumri, dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the Spitak earthquake, and to place a wreath on the Memorial of the Innocent Citizens. The delegation also traveled to Vanadzor to meet the family of an Armenian high school student, Emilya Nazinyan, who is currently studying in the state of Kansas as part of the Embassys Future Leaders Exchange Program (FLEX). The Governor was pleased to be able to deliver a package to the family from Ms. Nazinyan, and to bring a package back to her in return understanding the importance of maintaining that family connection even from thousands of miles away. Earlier in the week, General Tafanelli accompanied U.S. Embassy Charge dAffaires Rafik Mansour to meet with Armenias acting Defense Minister David Tonoyan. The General also met with officials from the Ministry of Emergency Situations and observed an earthquake simulation exercise. General Tafanelli oversees the Kansas Army and Air National Guard, which celebrated the 15th anniversary of its partnership with Armenia earlier this year. Since the beginning of the partnership in 2003, the Republic of Armenia and the state of Kansas have engaged in a number of military, emergency preparedness, law enforcement, business, medical, public health, educational and humanitarian exchanges. YEREVAN, DECEMBER 7, ARMENPRESS. President Armen Sarkissian and First Lady Nune Sarkissian visited the U.S. Embassy today to offer condolences on the passing of 41st President of the United States George H. W. Bush. The Armenian president signed the condolence book in the embassy. The world lost a World leader, the president wrote, according to his office. We are left with big and warm memories of a wonderful man, a great American and a wise politician who made the world a better place, by eliminating obstacles and walls and building trust. I will never forget our meetings. Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan YEREVAN, DECEMBER 7, ARMENPRESS. The Court of Appeals has issued its verdict in former President Robert Kocharyans trial over his measure of restraint. The court has ruled to reject the complaints of Kocharyan. The first instance court ruling has been left unchanged, Kocharyans lawyer Hayk Alumyan said. Other details werent immediately clear. Earlier the first instance court had remanded Kocharyan into pre-trial detention. Former President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan was charged by the Special Investigative Service in July 2018 for breaching constitutional order during the 2008 March 1 unrest. Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan YEREVAN, DECEMBER 7, ARMENPRESS. Acting Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan demanded an explanation from President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko in St. Petersburg for discussing the details of the recent CSTO closed-format session with the Azerbaijani Ambassador in Belarus, reports Armenpress. Asked what he has told to the Belarussian President, Pashinyan stated: If I accuse him on disclosing the content of the closed session, I think it wouldnt be right if I also do that. Asked whether he was satisfied with the response of Lukashenko, Pashinyan told reporters: The conversation satisfied me. Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, DECEMBER 7, ARMENPRESS. President of Belarus is waiting for an invitation to visit Armenia, Chairman of the Prosperous Armenia party Gagik Tsarukyan told reporters in Yerevan, reports Armenpress. I visited Belarus on November 24, met with President Alexander Lukashenko. I can state that today he is waiting for an invitation from Armenia in order to visit the country and say his word to the country and the Armenian people, Tsarukyan said. Tsarukyan also stated that he has presented his programs during the meeting with the citizens on the sidelines of the pre-election campaign. He said his desire is for the Armenian people to live well. With my actions I have showed that I always stand together with my people, he said. He advised the voters to remember the actions taken by the political figures during upcoming voting. YEREVAN, DECEMBER 7, ARMENPRESS. Acting foreign minister of Armenia Zohrab Mnatsakanyan met with Wess Mitchell, US Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, in Milan on December 6 on the sidelines of the 25th OSCE Ministerial Council, the foreign ministry told Armenpress. During the meeting the officials discussed a number of issues of bilateral agenda, highlighting the readiness to take practical steps to further intensify the political dialogue. They also exchanged views on further deepening of the commercial cooperation, by attaching importance to the works of the Armenia-USA inter-governmental commission in this regard. Zohrab Mnatsakanyan introduced the recent domestic political developments in Armenia, the process of reforms launched by the government based on the broad mandate of the people, as well as reaffirmed the governments commitment to hold free, fair election process expressing the will of the people in the context of the upcoming early parliamentary elections of Armenia. The acting FM said the promotion of development agenda is one of the priorities of the Armenian government, and in this sense emphasized the deepening of the mutual cooperation with the US partners. Talking about the approaches of the Armenian side on the peaceful settlement process of the Karabakh conflict, Zohrab Mnatsakanyan reaffirmed Armenias commitment to the exclusively peaceful settlement of the conflict within the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship, by attaching importance to the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair countries the US, France and Russia, in this process. The officials also exchanged views on a number of issues of mutual interest of international and regional agenda. Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, DECEMBER 7, ARMENPRESS. The Police of Armenia, in collaboration with the law enforcement bodies of a number of European countries, as well as the Interpol, discovered on December 6 internationally wanted Narek Sargsyan, ex-president Serzh Sargsyans nephew, in Prague. As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the Police of Armenia, Narek Sargsyan was discovered when presenting a false passport of Guatemala, with the name Franklin Gonzales. The Prosecution Generals Office of Armenia has been informed of Narek Sargsyans exposure for the reason of organizing the process of extradition. The criminal case against Narek Sargsyan was initiated on June 26 charged with obtaining, keeping, transporting and trading illegal weapons, armaments, explosive devices, as well as carrying out illegal movement and trade of narcotics. Manhunt against Narek Sargsyan was announced on July 6, while starting from July 24 he has been internationally wanted. Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan YEREVAN, 7 DECEMBER, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs Armenpress that today, 7 December, USD exchange rate down by 0.13 drams to 484.99 drams. EUR exchange rate up by 1.26 drams to 551.29 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate down by 0.02 drams to 7.25 drams. GBP exchange rate up by 1.58 drams to 618.85 drams. The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals. Gold price up by 29.90 drams to 19374.82 drams. Silver price down by 2.64 drams to 224.22 drams. Platinum price down by 252.84 drams to 12287.12 drams. YEREVAN, DECEMBER 7, ARMENPRESS. During the 13th session of the Second Protocol to the Hague Convention of 1954 for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict at the headquarters of the UNESCO on December 7 the members of the committee unanimously made a decision to grant Monastery of Geghard and the Upper Azat Valley with Enhanced protection. As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the MFA Armenia, by this decision Monastery of Geghard and the Upper Azat Valley became the first cultural heritage of Armenia to be granted with Enhanced protection. The monastery of Geghard and the Upper Azat Valley contains a number of churches and tombs, most of them cut into the living rock, which illustrate Armenian medieval architecture at its highest point. The complex of medieval buildings is set into a landscape of great natural beauty, at the entrance to the Azat Valley. High cliffs from the northern side surround the complex while the defensive wall encircles the rest. The monuments included in the property are dated from the 4th to the 13th century. At the early period, the Monastery was called Ayrivank (Monastery in the Cave) because of its rock-cut construction. The monastery was founded, according to tradition by St. Gregory the Illuminator, and was built following the adoption of Christianity as a state religion in Armenia (beginning of the 4th century AD). The main architectural complex was completed in the 13th century AD and consists of the cathedral, the adjacent narthex, eastern and western rock-cut churches, the family tomb of Proshyan princes, Papaks and Ruzukans tomb-chapel, as well as various cells and numerous rock-cut cross-stones (khachkars). The Kathoghike (main church) is in the classic Armenian form, an equal-armed cross inscribed in a square in plan and covered with a dome on a square base, linked with the base by vaulting. The east arm of the cross terminates in an apse, the remainder being square. In the corners are small barrel-vaulted two-storey chapels. On the internal walls there are many inscriptions recording donations. The masonry of the external walls is particularly finely finished and fitted. A gavit (entrance hall) links it with the first rock-cut church. The first rock-cut church was built before 1250, entirely dug into the rock and on an equal-armed cruciform plan. To the east, a roughly square chamber cut into the rock was one of the princely tombs (zhamatoun) of the Proshyan Dynasty. This gives access to the second rock-cut church built in 1283. The second zhamatoun, reached by an external staircase, contains the tombs of the princes Merik and Grigor. A defensive wall encircled the monastery complex in the 12th to 13th centuries. Most of the monks lived in cells excavated into the rock-face outside the main defensive wall, which have been preserved, along with some simple oratories. St. Astvatsatsin (Holy Mother of God) chapel is the most ancient preserved monument outside the ramparts and is located on the western side. It is partially hewed in the rock. There are engraved inscriptions on the walls, the earliest of which date back to 1177 and 1181 AD. Residential and economic constructions were built later, in the 17th century. The monastery of Geghard is a renowned ecclesiastical and cultural centre of medieval Armenia, where a school, scriptorium, library and many rock-cut dwelling cells for clergymen could be found in addition to the religious constructions. Historians Mkhitar Ayrivanetsi, Simeon Ayrivanetsi, who lived and worked there in the 13th century, contributed to the development of the Armenian manuscript art. It was also renowned for the relics housed there. The most celebrated of these was the spear, which had wounded Christ on the Cross and was allegedly brought there by the Apostle Thaddeus, from which comes its present name, Geghardavank (the Monastery of the Spear). The spear was kept in the Monastery for 500 years. Relics of the Apostles Andrew and John were donated in the 12th century and pious visitors made numerous grants of land, money, and manuscripts over the succeeding centuries. The Monastery of Geghard, with its remarkable rock-cut churches and tombs, is an exceptionally well preserved and complete example of medieval Armenian monastic architecture and decorative art, with many innovatory features which had a profound influence on subsequent developments in the region. The Geghard complex is an exceptionally complete and well preserved example of a medieval monastic foundation in a remote area of great natural beauty. There have been no changes on the components of the inscribed property since the time of inscription. In addition, the property is surrounded by a substantial buffer zone, established in 1986, within which there are strict controls over any form of development and change. However, its location in an active seismic zone, the pollution of the surrounding environment, the risk of rockslides, as well as the active tourism route are the main threats to the integrity of the site. The Monastery of Geghard, with its remarkable rock-cut churches and tombs, is still preserved in its natural setting. The authenticity of the group is high, not least because the property has been in continuous use as a monastery for many centuries. All constructions included in the property, as well as the landscape, are not threatened in spite of restorations carried out during course of time. To meet conservation challenges, scientific research, renovation, fortification, design and preventive measures have been undertaken in order to ensure that authenticity is retained. Due to the passage of time, a part of the wall adjacent to the auxiliary construction collapsed and was renovated in 2006-2007, keeping the original materials. The designs for water isolation of the rock-hewn part and comprehensive interventions for Geghard Monastery were drafted in order to strengthen the complex. The property is under the ownership of the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church. Notwithstanding the ownership, the monuments are protected by the Law On protection and usage of the historical and cultural immovable monuments and historical environment of the Republic of Armenia, and by the regulation On State registration, study, protection, fortification, restoration, reconstruction and usage of the historical and cultural immovable monuments. Additional articles exist also in Civil, Administrative, Land, and Criminal Codes of the Republic of Armenia for the protection of monuments. The Ministry of Culture of Armenia, with its specialized units acting as authorized republican bodies, and the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church with its specialized units and the diocese as owner, as well as non-governmental, nature protection units and people interested in Armenian heritage conservation are engaged in the protection of the monastery complex. Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan There was lack of knowledge and the means for managing disabilities and, because of the cultural and traditional perspectives influencing the lives of people with disabilities, they were unable to join community life or go to school or work. Enoch was born with physical disabilities to his left hand and feet. He has had a slow development through life. The implementation of the Water and Sanitation Hygiene (WASH) project in Western Province by World Vision has enabled Enoch to attend school, move around freely, drink clean water and be happy in his community. PORT MORESBY - Twenty-year-old Enoch Wedewa (pictured) has experienced a change that directly benefits him in school and in his community. Enoch, the second born of 12 children, is from Kodoro village, which is about three hours drive from Daru. Western Province is the largest PNG province in area and has several large rivers running through it. Kodoro is a remote upriver village without infrastructure like roads, airstrips or electricity. Despite the cultural norms associated with disability, Enoch attends Kodoro Primary School and is in Grade 6. He likes school and enjoys his studies, especially mathematics, language and science. More than 85% of Papua New Guineans live in rural villages where access to social services such as health and rehabilitation, mobility equipment, employment and education are difficult and limited. Before World Vision implemented the WASH project, Enoch and the rest of the community depended on the river for everything. Clean drinking water was not existent because of the absence of water catchment amenities like roofing iron and water tanks. Before World Vision came to put water tanks, we drank from the river and it did not taste good, Enoch said. The children accessed the main river for drinking and cooling off and went into the bushes because there were no proper latrines. During the rainy season, the slippery river banks posed many problems for Enoch. The impairments to his left hand and leg caused him particular difficulties. The water from the river was not boiled or purified causing diarrhoea and other water borne sicknesses. The World Health Organisation estimates that about 975,000 people in PNG are living with some form of disability or impairment. About 98% of this group are not receiving any support. The WASH project has given training in disaster risk reduction, hand washing and sanitation. It has a disability inclusion approach with all the water installations, cement pathways and hand rails that makes it easy for Enoch and everyone accessing these facilities. I feel happy with the new water tanks, Enoch said. The community has made many changes, he said. World Vision project coordinator in PNG, Sawiam Marei, said the Kodoro village have embraced the training and have redesigned their village with proper drainage, flowerbeds and removing trees prone to fall on houses. Through the support of World Vision, conditions have improved and the community is better able to stand up for its human rights. After they had conducted an inspection and spoken with both parties, the mediators demanded payments from Betty as the complainant. This was improper, since they were court officials and had not been engaged by her. Other members of Bettys village disagree about which parts of the land she can use. In 2016, the local land court appointed two local mediators to assist in resolving the dispute. PORT MORESBY - Betty, a resident of southern Papua New Guinea, is in a dispute over traditionally-owned family land which was passed to her by her late father. Situated within the capital, Port Moresby, the land has high commercial value. Like many Transparency International chapters around the world, TIPNG runs an Advocacy and Legal Advice Centre (ALAC), which gives free legal advice to people who have experienced or witnessed corruption. Land corruption takes many forms, disproportionately impacts the poorest and most vulnerable in society, and makes up a large part of the complaints we receive. TIPNG advised Betty on the laws governing village mediators and of the illegality of the demand for payment. Anti-corruption officers then wrote to the countrys chief magistrate on Bettys behalf to raise the issue. Both mediators were suspended. Bettys case is still before the courts and she is still seeking advice from TIPNG as she tries to navigate Papua New Guineas legal system. Hers is just one of the many types of land issues faced by Papua New Guineans who have reached out to TIPNG for assistance. ALAC has received around 600 complaints since 2009. Due to the increasing amount of land corruption complaints, TIPNG successfully lobbied to have a complaints box at the Lands Department changed into a complaints desk. This has since been expanded into a fraud and complaints unit. TIPNG meets officials from the department on a regular basis to follow up land complaints that come to ALAC. Community engagement and institutional reform can be successful. However, there are also instances where cases of alleged corruption need to be raised publicly with the responsible government agencies. Confronting the government is not easy and sometimes we face attack for flagging politically sensitive issues, such as with the recent road to Manumanu case concerning an alleged illegal land deal worth over K42 million. Nonetheless, TIPNG has been able to keep matter on the public agenda. We revealed that implicated ministers had joined the ONeill government after they had been suspended previously and the case drew national media attention as well as international media coverage. The prime minister felt it necessary to brief Parliament on the case. In February 2018, files critical to the investigation went missing but the investigation report was shared with parliament. Following weeks of sustained pressure, TIPNG managed to make the report public and is now calling on the police and the national ombudsman to take action. This is one of 20 unresolved cases from 200717 that TIPNG has promised not to forget. We will continue to tackle this and other cases of land corruption through various forms of active engagement, whether the case involves man millions of kina or a pair of unscrupulous village court mediators. Denmark's government announced it intends to isolate dozens of "unwanted" migrants on a remote island. The island was once used to house contagious animals for research, and held stables and a crematorium for dead animals. Migrants will be allowed to leave the island via a ferry, but the service is infrequent and migrants must live on the island and report there daily. Denmark has adopted an increasingly hostile attitude toward immigrants in recent years, making international headlines for its hardline policies on assimilation. Denmark's right-leaning government says it intends to isolate dozens of "unwanted" migrants on a remote island two miles out to sea that once housed contagious animals for research. The island of Lindholm spans just 17 acres and was used since 1926 for laboratories, stables, and a crematorium for dead animals, The New York Times reported. Nowadays, it houses a veterinary institute for the Technical University of Denmark, and runs a ferry service named "the Virus." The Danish government announced last week it intends to decontaminate the island in 2019 and have the facility ready to house up to 125 migrants by the end of 2021. "If you are unwanted in Danish society, you should not be a nuisance to ordinary Danes," Inger Stjberg, Denmark's immigration minister, wrote on Facebook. "They are undesirable in Denmark, and they must feel it!" Denmark has adopted an increasingly hostile attitude toward migrants in recent years, making international headlines for implementing a ban on religious face coverings, and imposing new laws for "ghetto" neighbourhoods that regulate the way immigrant children assimilate into Danish culture. Read more: The Trump administration admitted the lowest number of refugees the US has accepted 40 years - here's what people go through to make it to the US In a statement, the Danish government said the "return center" on Lindholm will house migrants who have been denied refugee status, but who cannot be deported to their home countries due to danger. Story continues The island will also house migrants who the Danish government has sought to deport due to their criminal records, but whose home countries refuse to accept them. "The residents are not detained," the statement said, adding that the migrants will be required to sleep at the center and report there daily. "They are free to leave the island, and a ferry service will be provided." But a government spokesman has also said Denmark intends to minimise ferry departures and make them "as cumbersome and expensive as possible," The Times reported. Already, the plan has sparked an international outcry. The United Nations' human rights chief, Michelle Bachelet, told reporters on Wednesday she had "serious concerns" with the Danish government's plan, and intended to monitor and discuss the situation. "We've seen the negative impact of such policies of isolation, and [they] should not replicate these policies," Bachelet said. "Because depriving them of their liberty, isolating them, and stigmatizing them will only increase their vulnerability." Lilian Rincon, the director of product management for the Google Assistant, runs a global team of about 150 people. When she's hiring someone new, Rincon doesn't look for someone who's a "rock star." Instead, she looks for people who are humble, care about the people with whom they work, and focus on the user. The term is popping up in more and more job descriptions, but one Googler is not at all interested in hiring "rock stars." Lilian Rincon, director of product management for the Google Assistant program, has grown her immediate team from four to nearly 20 people since she started at the company about two years ago. Although the term "rock star" has become a bit of a hiring buzzword, Rincon doesn't look to hire those who fit that stereotype. "To be honest, I'm not a big fan of people when they're very boastful ... or maybe too confident about something, and then I drill into it and I realise that they actually don't have the experience," Rincon told Business Insider. "I much prefer people who are much more humble about their experience and can talk well about experiences that they have had in the space." She added that at Google, they "hire much more on culture fit rather than necessarily on being a rock star in a very particular, specific area." Read more: Google's former HR boss shared the company's 4 rules for hiring the best employees For Rincon, whose team dictates what the Assistant does across various devices, finding someone who will fit into the culture at Google is much more important than what school they went to or the exact type of technology they have worked on. Rincon said she's "very lucky" to work with people who are not only smart, but also humble and willing to help each other - and that's exactly the type of person she looks for when interviewing candidates. "To me, I think it's a combination of having this focus on the user and making sure that you care about the people you work with," she said. Story continues Rincon also looks for people who will bring diverse personalities and ways of thinking to the team. "I like to make sure that you have people who are going to kind of push each other to think a little bit differently, and not necessarily everybody that kind of acts and feels the same," she said. Google had an infamously gruelling interview process in the early days of the company, interviewing candidates up to 16 times and asking them bizarre questions. Former CEO Eric Schmidt said in a recent podcast interview that they later set a limit of four to five interviews for each candidate, Business Insider reported. Rincon, who was born in Venezuela and has lived in Canada, Indonesia, and the US, said she likes to involve several members of her team in the interview process to ensure diversity across the team. "I've grown up with a very diverse, global perspective because I was born in Venezuela, and lived in Canada, Indonesia, and the US," she said. "These experiences are a core part of how I hire for our team as I look to hire individuals who focus on how people around the world may use our products." Bill Shorten is driving the negative gearing reforms. Images: Getty Only five months out from a federal election and Australians are increasingly looking to a future Labor government. And with a suite of bold reforms planned, investors and homeowners are paying extreme interest. There will be a significant impact, both short term and long termif Labor wins the next federal election, wealth partner at HLB Mann Judd, Jonathan Philpot said in Sydney this week. As Labor plans to limit negative gearing to new property developments, anxious property investors will seek out new ways to preserve their capital, he added. With the property market already going through difficult issues with the banks tightening on lending, limited access to interest only loans, and a general downturn in the property market, many potential investors are probably already on the sidelines, he said. Superannuation could be the answer Personal superannuation contributions could become the next safe haven, Philpot said, noting that the main reason investors negative gear is to reap the tax benefits. Australian adults can make super contributions up to $25,000 a year including the 9.5 per cent mandatory contribution paid out by employers. As superannuation is only taxed at 15 per cent, this can provide a large tax deduction, Philpot said. Particularly for those over age 40, contributing more into superannuation for the primary reason of a tax deduction may be a sufficient incentive to lock money away until retirement. What about the property market? Philpot argued the changes to negative gearing could take further fuel out of the already declining Australian property market, but it will bounce back. If a Labor win looks certain, there may be some short term support for the property market; however once changes take place we would expect to see further weakness in the property market. Over the longer term, if less rental property becomes available over time, we would expect to see rental yields increase, possibly even to the point where they start to become positively geared, he said. Story continues The arguments for and against negative gearing reforms With a federal election on either 11 May or 18 May looming next year, theres only a small window for Labor to pass their changes before the new financial year, so anxious investors could have another year to figure out their strategy. Even so, the future is uncertain. Yahoo Finance contributor and economist Stephen Koukoulas argues Labors plans could put a floor on house prices and prompt rental rates to fall. He said its basic economics: if more investors are pushed to invest in new dwellings, there will be a greater supply of rental properties so prices will naturally fall. On the other end of the spectrum, the founder of Aussie Home Loans, John Symond said the reforms will be a nuclear bomb for the Australian housing market. He said it could even tip the economy over. However, Symond last year said negative gearing could be improved upon. You can very easily say Can it be improved? Yes, it can be. But its got to be in an orderly way where they tackle the whole of the tax system. It would be a mistake to do it piecemeal. They really do have to bite the bullet, he told the Australian Financial Review. Fellow Yahoo Finance contributor Michael Yardney is also stridently against negative gearing changes. According to Yardney, Sydney and Melbournes markets will suffer slides of up to 9 per cent if Labor implements the reforms. It will also make things more difficult for investors, he added. Investors will be driven to buy new properties, both apartments (which will generally be in the CBD) and houses (which are likely to be in the outer suburbs). Both these types of property make poor investments because of their locations and will make even worse investments as, once purchased, will instantly be established properties with a thinner potential resale market. Make your money work with Yahoo Finances daily newsletter. Sign up here and stay on top of the latest money, news and tech news. Amal Clooney further cemented her status as one of the worlds most stylish women last night, as she brought a dose of Hollywood glamour to the United Nations Correspondents Association Awards in New York. For the prestigious event, the human rights lawyer proved she cant put a sartorial foot wrong in a sheer floor-traipsing gown by French fashion house J. Mendel. Amal Clooney wore a sheer J. Mendel dress for date night with husband George [Photo: Getty] The $8.995 colour-block number featured delicate spaghetti straps, a sweetheart neckline and a silk hand-pleated finish. To accessorise the ensemble, the mother-of-two carried a miniature black clutch bag and opted for a lick of stand-out winter berry lipstick. Red carpet-worthy curls and glitzy diamond earrings finished the ensemble. The dress is not available to purchase yet though there is a similar midi dress up for grabs if you have a spare $6,230. The mother-of-two demonstrated how to work colour-block tones for AW18 [Photo: Getty] Her actor husband George Clooney who brought his parents along to the event also scored highly in the fashion stakes courtesy of a dapper tux. But the evening wasnt just an opportunity to showcase the power couples covetable wardrobes, as Amal accepted the 2018 UNCA Global Citizen of the Year Award. Taking to the stage, the 40-year-old called out US President Donald Trump for labelling American journalists the enemy of the people. She also defended two Reuters journalists, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, who were jailed in Myanmar after covering the murders of the Rohingya community. And you, the press, are under attack like never before, Clooney said. You are being jailed at a higher rate than ever. You are dying while covering wars, not just because you walk unarmed on the most dangerous places on earth but because you are being targeted for exposing crimes committed, for speaking the truth that perpetrators find the most difficult to hear. Story continues Got a story tip? Send it to tips@oath.com Want more lifestyle and celebrity news? Follow Yahoo Lifestyle on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Or sign up to our daily newsletter here. Theyve been married for 14 years and it appears the spark in Princess Mary and Prince Frederiks relationship is still as strong as ever, if these pictures are anything to go by. The 46-year-old Tasmanian-born beauty and her 50-year-old husband attended a dinner with Latvian President, Raimonds Vejonis, last night, to celebrate the countrys 100-year anniversary of independence. In a snap posted to the official Danish royal family Instagram account, Princess Mary could be seen looking lovingly at Prince Frederik, as the pair giggle at an inside joke. Wearing a long burgundy blazer, Princess Mary looked elegant and chic, wearing her hair in a slicked-back up-do and matching her ensemble with a pair of glistening earrings. Their appearance came just hours after they were photographed at the wreath laying ceremony at the Monument of Freedom in Riga, Latvia. The princess stunned in a bright pink coat and a matching pillbox hat. Princess Mary famously met Prince Frederik at the Slip Inn pub in Sydney, with the pair marrying in 2004. The 46-year-old mum-of-four, previously claimed that it was hard for her to up sticks and move from Tasmania to Denmark, admitting that she felt very lonely. Speaking in an interview with Australian Womens Weekly, Princess Mary said it was hard for her to adapt to the new culture but she soon settled ind, picked up the language and now loves everything about her adopted country. Their appearance came just hours after they were photographed at the wreath laying ceremony at the Monument of Freedom in Riga, Latvia. Photo: Getty Images The princess stunned in a bright pink coat and a matching pillbox hat. Photo: Getty Images I did experience a feeling of loneliness short-term when I first moved to Denmark, she said. Moving to Denmark was a huge change in my life a new culture, new language, new friends, and another way of life. Story continues So, I see it as quite natural that at times I felt quite alone or a little bit like I was on the outside looking in. Princess Mary married Prince Frederik of Denmark in 2004 in a lavish ceremony and the couple went on to have four adorable kids together. Last year, it was claimed the princess was being put through Queen training, in preparation for her husband taking over the throne from Queen Margrethe. Queen Margrethe is said to be keen to prepare the royal for her new role. Princess Mary was pictured appearing alongside Queen Margrethe on many royal engagements, where the 46-year-old looked like she was taking in a lot of pointers from the Queen. Got a story tip? Send it to tips@oath.com Want more lifestyle and celebrity news? Follow Yahoo Lifestyle on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Or sign up to our daily newsletter here. A photo has emerged of Meghan Markle leaving an event earlier this week, and seems to suggest the Duchess of Sussex is further along in her pregnancy than previously thought. The 37-year-old attended a carol concert at St Lukes Church in tribute of Prince Harrys close friend, Henry van Straubenzee, who died as a teenager. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were spotted leaving the church by a side door, before climbing into a waiting car. The Duchess of Sussex showcased her growing bump at a carol service last night [Photo: Rex] The couple havent been seen for a couple of weeks, so fans were keen to catch a glimpse of Meghans pregnancy bump as she stepped out in a royal blue dress from Serephina maternity. The former Suits actress teamed her outfit with a matching coat and a blue clutch bag. The images prompted Twitter users to speculate how far along in her pregnancy the Duchess actually is. In the official baby announcement, Kensington Palace merely stated that the royal baby would be making an appearance in the UK spring, which is our autumn 2019. Hmmmmm. Its her 1st pregnancy (most women are late to show with #1), one person wrote, while another said, That is not a 5 months bump. The Duchess of Sussex (pictured) was last seen on a visit to the Hubbs Community Kitchen back in November [Photo: Getty] Pregnancy speculation Meghans pregnancy was announced the very day she and Harry touched down in Sydney for their tour of Australia, New Zealand, Tonga and Fiji, after the Duchess arrival at the airport sparked suspicion. While walking out a back exit to an awaiting car, the former actress was seen holding folders over her mid-section, to shield her body from cameras. Since announcing her pregnancy back in October, fans have been on royal bump watch. Back in October, people were a tad confused about the quickly changing size of the Duchess stomach. Meghan held two folders against her body when she touched down in Sydney in October. Photo: Getty But turns out there was a medical explanation for why her bump appeared to grow, then quickly disappear within the same day. And fans couldnt help but notice the number of times the mum-to-be touched and cradled her growing bump during the royal tour and beyond. But according to medical experts, there are several reasons some pregnant women cant keep their hands of their bump including bonding with their unborn baby and feeling flutterings. Story continues The Duchess of Sussex currently does not have any upcoming public engagements in her diary, after a hectic couple of months with the royal tour, the Remembrance Day services and Prince Charles 70th birthday celebrations. We may not seen Meghan until Christmas, when she and Harry are expected to join the Cambridges and the Queen at Sandringham for Christmas. The Duke of Sussex will attend a gala performance of Bat Out of Hell in support of the Invictus Games Foundation on Thursday 6 December. Ecuador's president said Thursday that conditions have been met for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to leave the country's embassy in London, which would end a six-year standoff with British authorities. "The way has been cleared for Mr Assange to take the decision to leave in near-liberty," President Lenin Moreno told reporters, explaining that he still had to answer in Britain for violating the terms of his bail. Moreno, however, said Britain had guaranteed that the 47-year-old Australian would not be extradited to any country where his life would be in danger. Ecuador has been seeking a way to terminate Assange's stay for several months, amid souring relations with its embassy guest, who recently sued Quito for restricting his internet access. Assange, who gained international renown by publishing huge caches of hacked State Department and Pentagon files, has repeatedly expressed fear that Britain would extradite him to the United States to face charges there. The 251,000 classified cables from US embassies around the world -- released by WikiLeaks in 2010 and published by leading international newspapers -- embarrassed the Bush administration in Washington and caused ructions in its bilateral relations with other countries. US prosecutors last month inadvertently revealed the existence of a sealed indictment against Assange, according to WikiLeaks, but it was not known what the actual charges were. The possible indictment suggested that Washington will seek Assange's extradition if he leaves the embassy. There is speculation that the US interest in Assange is connected to the investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller into Russian interference in the 2016 election that brought President Donald Trump to office. Britain's the Guardian newspaper last month reported that Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort held secret talks with Assange, whose organization is accused of leaking thousands of emails allegedly stolen by Russian hackers from the Democratic campaign of Hillary Clinton. In July, Mueller charged 12 Russian spies with conspiring to hack the Democratic National Committee computers, stealing and publishing data in an effort to sway the election. - Years in embassy refuge - Assange took refuge in the Ecuadoran embassy in London in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden to face questioning in two alleged cases of sexual assault. Sweden has since dropped that case, and Ecuador says there are no pending extradition requests against the WikiLeaks founder. "The British government sent us an official communication indicating that the constitution of Great Britain bars extradition of a person to a place where his life would be in danger," Moreno said. That could be an issue in the case of the United States because it has the death penalty. His lawyer Carlos Poveda said last month that Assange was prepared to surrender to British police if he receives assurances he will not be extradited. Ecuador's foreign minister Jose Valencia said at the time that Britain was merely asking him to appear in court to answer for having broken his bail conditions, and that he was likely to get a sentence of no more than six months. "We do not see the British changing their point of view, they continue to insist that he appear before the courts," said Valencia. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been holed up in Ecuador's embassy in London since 2012 Ecuador's President Lenin Moreno said Britain had guaranteed that Julian Assange would not be extradited to any country where his life would be in danger Yemen's Huthi rebels sit at the negotiating table in Sweden with delegates of the internationally recognised government, undefeated on the battlefield and still firmly in control of the capital Sanaa. Saudi Arabia and its coalition partners predicted a quick victory when they launched a military intervention in 2015 to restore President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi after he fled into Saudi exile. But more than three and a half years later, the two sides have fought themselves into a quagmire that has set off the world's worst humanitarian crisis prompting an outraged international community to demand peace. Here is a look at how the outgunned rebels have clung on against the military and financial might of the Saudi-led coalition: - Who are the Huthis? The Huthis come from the minority Zaidi Shiite sect of Islam and have their traditional stronghold in the mountainous north of Yemen. The movement, which takes its name from late spiritual leader Badreddin al-Huthi and his son Hussein, rose up in the 1990s over alleged sectarian discrimination. Between 2004 and 2010, the Huthis fought six wars against Yemen's then-government and battled Saudi Arabia in 2009-2010 after storming over the border. Officially calling themselves the Ansarullah (Supporters of God), the Huthis took part in the Arab Spring protests that forced veteran ruler Ali Abdullah Saleh from office in 2012. In the chaos that followed they later reconciled with Saleh and together they ousted the government of Hadi, Saleh's longtime vice president, who had succeeded him. The rebel takeover of Sanaa set off the Saudi-led intervention in March 2015. The Huthis later fell out dramatically with Saleh and killed the former president in December 2017. - Does Iran support the Huthis? The war in Yemen is viewed by many as a front in the broader struggle between regional heavyweights Saudi Arabia and Iran that has heated up since Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman took over the running of the kingdom's affairs. The Saudis and their ally the United States say Shiite Iran provides military support to the rebels, including components for ballistic missiles that have been fired over the border. Tehran denies the accusation and insists its backing for the Huthis is purely political. Brigadier Jamal al-Moammari, a former Yemeni air force officer, told AFP that Iranian arms, experts and "equipment to develop ballistic missiles" arrived in 2015. Security analyst Aleksandar Mitreski says Iran helps the Huthis both directly and indirectly. "Where and when possible, Iran supplies the rebels with equipment and training for the Huthis to remain a formidable opponent," he said. The Saudi-led coalition has claimed that members of Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah have been killed in Yemen while training the Huthis. Hezbollah has denied this. - Arms taken from army? Despite the allegations of Iranian support, it appears that the bulk of the Huthi's weaponry comes from stockpiles of the army, much of which remained loyal to Saleh after Hadi's succession to the presidency. Brigadier Abdo Majli, a spokesman for pro-government forces, told AFP that "90 percent of Huthi arms came from Yemeni army depots" taken along with Sanaa in 2014. Majli said coalition warplanes had managed to destroy some of the heavy weapons, but the rebels had concealed the rest in bunkers in its strongholds in the northern mountains. The rebel's impressive arsenal has been on display in the latest battles for the key port city of Hodeida as they deployed tanks to halt the advance of pro-government forces. The Huthis have also laid a large number of landmines and manufacture some of their own weapons, including rockets and reportedly also drones. - Local backing? The Huthis have benefited from home advantage and local alliances as they have faced off against some of the best equipped militaries in the region. Despite hailing from northern Yemen, they know the rest of the country and the terrain very well, said analyst Mitreski. "Aside from geography, what aids the rebels is cooperation with local tribes. Yemen remains a fragmented society along tribal lines, and the rebels capitalise on that," he said. "Local tribal support goes a long way in this conflict." The International Crisis Group said in a report in November that the Saudi-led coalition has underestimated the resilience of the Huthis. "The Huthis are resourceful, committed, experienced and ruthless, and the core fighters are likely to fight until the last man if called upon to do so," the Brussels-based think tank said. Yemeni rebel delegate Saelem Mohammed Noman al-Mughalles gives an interview in front of the peace talks venue in the picturesque Swedish village of Rimbo outside Stockholm, on December 5, 2018 A Yemeni supporter of the Shiite Huthi movement attends a rally in the rebel-held capital Sanaa on November 20, 2018, marking the anniversary of the Prophet Mohammed's birth Yemeni supporters of the Shiite Huthi movement unfurl a Palestinian flag in the rebel-held capital Sanaa on June 8, 2018, to mark international Jerusalem Day, an annual show of solidarity first initiated by Iran in 1979 Yemeni rebel fighters ride a tank outside the residence of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh in Sanaa on December 4, 2017, after the rebels killed him following a dramatic falling out A picture taken by mobile phone shows armed members of the Al-Ahmar tribe on February 2, 2014, somewhere in Omran province in Yemen's northern mountains from where the Huthi rebels swept into the capital Sanaa and much of the rest of the country Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday hailed majority backing in the UN General Assembly for condemning militant group Hamas even though a draft resolution failed to win enough votes to pass. The US draft won 87 votes in the General Assembly on Thursday compared to 58 against but fell short of a required two-thirds majority. Thirty-two countries abstained. "The draft condemnation of Hamas in the UN General Assembly received a sweeping majority by countries that stood against Hamas," Netanyahu said in an English-language statement. "This is the first time that a majority of countries have voted against Hamas and I commend each of the 87 countries that took a principled stand. "I thank the American administration and US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley for the initiative." Haley, who steps down from her post at the end of the year, has repeatedly accused the United Nations of having an anti-Israel bias. She has defended Israel in its latest confrontation with Hamas, the Islamist group which has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007 and has fought three wars with Israel since then. The United States had won crucial backing from the European Union, with all 28 countries supporting the draft that would have condemned Hamas for firing rockets into Israel and demanded an end to the violence. The European Union, like the United States, blacklists Hamas as a terrorist organisation. It was the first draft resolution condemning Hamas to be presented to the 193-nation assembly, which has been meeting since 1946. Hamas praised the outcome of the vote, describing it as a "slap" to President Donald Trump's administration. "The failure of the American venture at the United Nations represents a slap to the US administration and confirmation of the legitimacy of the resistance," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zahri tweeted, referring to militant groups that oppose Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, seen here during a menorah-lighting ceremony with Israeli soldiers for Hanukkah, has hailed majority backing at the UN for condemning militant group Hamas even though a US draft resolution failed to pass Police have arrested a man and seized a weapon after two people were murdered at a Queensland caravan park. Detectives found a confronting scene after being called to the Calliope Caravan Park, south of Gladstone, on Thursday afternoon. A 63-year-old man with severe head injuries was found lying outside his caravan. He was taken to hospital but could not be saved. A crime scene was declared at the campsite. Source: 7News The man and woman lived in separate caravans at the park. Source: Google Maps A woman, 60, was found dead inside her caravan. Detectives are questioning a man over the killings, but no charges have yet been laid. The two victims were known to each other, but its unclear if they knew their attacker. Police have seized a weapon. Its not a gun, but officers havent said what it is. Detective Inspector Darrin Shadlow believes the pair was attacked between 3.30pm and 4.40pm on Thursday. We are appealing for anyone who may have noticed or heard something or seen anyone suspicious to contact us, he said. Yemen's government would not rule out an offensive on the key port of Hodeida if rebels refuse to withdraw, sparking an immediate rebuff by the Huthi insurgents as the warring sides met for UN-brokered talks on Friday. Nearly four years into a war that has pushed 14 million Yemenis to the brink of mass starvation, the Saudi-backed government of Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi and Huthi rebels, linked to Riyadh's archrival Iran, are in the rural town of Rimbo, Sweden for what UN officials expect will be a week of negotiations. Government representatives, rebel spokesmen and UN Yemen envoy Martin Griffiths have all said the talks are not aimed at finding a political solution to the conflict. Both Yemeni parties have threatened to leave the talks if certain demands are not met. Among the issues under discussion are potential humanitarian corridors, a prisoner swap, the reopening of the defunct Sanaa international airport, and Hodeida, the rebel-held city at the heart of an ongoing government offensive. The goverment has held firm to its demand that the Huthis evacuate the western governorate of Hodeida, home to a Red Sea port that is the entry point for 90 percent of food imports to impoverished Yemen, and hand the area over to security forces. The rebels, however, refused that demand Friday, saying it was "not on the table". - Military option still open - The Sweden talks mark the first meeting between the two sides in two years. The last round of talks, in 2016, broke down after three months. While the days leading up to the gathering saw the government and rebels agreeing on a prisoner swap deal and the evacuation of wounded insurgents, both parties have publicly traded threats and accusations in Sweden. The two sides have not yet met face-to-face. The government, which accuses the Huthis of arms smuggling from Iran through Hodeida and Sanaa airport, was not open to negotiations on control of the port, a member of the delegation said Friday. "We are now in negotiations in response to calls by the international community, the UN and the UN envoy. We are still looking into means towards peace," said Agriculture Minister Othman al-Mujalli. "But if they (the rebels) are not responsive, we have many options, including that of military decisiveness," he told reporters in response to a question on the rebel-held city. "And we are ready." Mujalli said the UN could play a "supervisory" role, but he rejected the idea of placing management of the port in the hands of a third party. The Hodeida battle, launched in June, has sparked fears for more than 150,000 civilians trapped in the city. UN Yemen envoy Martin Griffiths, who has pushed for months for the Yemen talks, urged both parties to spare Hodeida, "a humanitarian pipeline to the rest of the country". - Sanaa airport - A prisoner swap has been agreed between the two sides, to be overseen by the International Committee of the Red Cross after the talks. The two parties are also looking at the potential reopening of Sanaa airport, located in the rebel-held capital and largely shut down for three years, sources in both delegations said. The Saudi-led government camp controls Yemeni airspace and maritime borders. The government is demanding planes be searched in Aden or Sayoun, two government-held areas, en route to or from rebel-held Sanaa -- a proposal the rebels immediately rejected. "We are keen on the opening of Sanaa airport, and we demand the opening of Sanaa airport ... but we are looking into who will supervise Sanaa airport," said Abdulaziz Jabari, a presidential advisor and member of a Yemeni government delegation at the talks. Jabari also floated the idea that the airport could serve as a hub for domestic flights. Huthi representative Abdulmalik al-Ajri turned down both demands. "Sanaa airport is an international airport," Ajri told AFP. Saudi Arabia and its allies joined the Yemeni government's fight against the rebels in 2015, triggering what the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis. At least 10,000 people have since been killed, according to the World Health Organisation, as children are bombed on buses, recruited as child soldiers and die of hunger. Other rights groups estimate the death toll could be five times higher. Saudi Arabia and its allies joined the Yemeni government's fight against the rebels in 2015 Yemeni pro-government forces are fighting for control of Hodeida Yemen's Agriculture Minister Othman Hussein al-Mujalli said a government offensive on Hodeida remains an option if the rebels do not withdraw The rebel delegation left Yemen for the talks following a prisoner swap deal 14 million people risk famine and many have been displaced by war in Yemen An Indian princess allied to Prime Minister Narendra Modi faced a tough battle for re-election on Friday as the hard-fought desert state of Rajasthan went to the polls. Defeat for Vasundhara Raje, Rajasthan's chief minister, in the western state of 47 million people would be a blow for Modi's image as a surefire vote-winner ahead of general elections in 2019. That the charismatic but fiery Raje is a maharani, or princess, is nothing unusual in Rajasthan, a state famous for its forts and grand palaces with peacock-filled lawns. It is one of India's few regions where the local royal families going back centuries -- and outlasting British rule -- have flourished in democratic politics since independence in 1947. Raje, 65, is the daughter of a former maharaja and married an erstwhile ruler of another dynasty. Her main challenger in her constituency is Manvendra Singh, another blue blood from western Rajasthan. Another is Siddhi Kumari, also a princess and a two-time state lawmaker who lives in a wing of her ancestral palace in Bikaner around 340 kilometres (210 miles) from the state capital Jaipur. The rest, its walls decorated with family portraits of resplendent kings, queens and princes of yore and mounted heads of hunted beasts, has been converted into a hotel. "I do my work and go. No one needs to know (me) apart from my work," said Kumari, 45, perched on a sofa next to a stuffed leopard. "I don't take the people's trust in me or the family I come from lightly. But the trust that is there has to be earned every day. I take it very seriously and work every day," she told AFP. Ayodhya Prasad Gaur, author of a book on one of the state's leading royal families, said the nobility's popularity had to do with their "permanence" compared to ordinary politicians who just "come and go". "The erstwhile rulers of Jodhpur still receive a wedding invite -- just like kings of earlier times -- from hundreds if not thousands of people in the region each year. And they maintain that relationship by sending a token amount as a gift for every invite they receive," Gaur told AFP. "Family name only works in the first election," cautioned Vishvendra Singh however, a Congress lawmaker running in the state election from the erstwhile royal family of Bharatpur, around 190 kilometres from Jaipur. "I have been in politics for three decades and have been elected multiple times as parliamentarian and a state lawmaker. I am in constant touch with the people, meet everyone and that is what works in politics," he told AFP. - 'Aloof and autocratic' - Raj Singh, a voter in Bikaner, said he voted for Kumari in the last two elections. "Unlike ordinary politicians, (royals) won't indulge in local schemes to make money or shield criminals as that could tarnish the family name," he told AFP. State premier Raje, representing Modi's ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), swept to power in a landslide in 2013, much like Modi did nationally a year later. But her personal popularity has waned, with critics calling her aloof and autocratic and out of touch with the interests of ordinary people. Like Modi, she never holds press conferences. Her government's handling of caste protests and problems boosting investment and creating jobs have also gone down badly with voters. "There are so many things that were promised but not delivered," said Shiv Prakash, a voter in Jodhpur. Results from Rajasthan, as well as for Telangana, also voting on Friday, plus from Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram -- which have already cast ballots -- will likely be published on December 11. The contests are seen as a dry run for 2019, with Modi and his likely rival from the Congress party, Rahul Gandhi -- scion of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty -- both campaigning actively. The most closely watched will be the central state of Madhya Pradesh, home to 73 million people, where polls suggest Modi's BJP might suffer a bitter defeat after 15 years in power. Vasundhara Raje (centre) is the daughter of a former maharaja who married an erstwhile ruler of another dynasty The candidates include Siddhi Kumari (pictured inside her palace in Bikaner) who is also a princess and a two-time state lawmaker Results from the Rajasthan ballot will likely be published on December 11 Women queue to vote in the Rajasthan ballot which is is seen as a key test for Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of general elections next year The state polls are seen as a dry run for 2019, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his likely rival from the Congress party, Rahul Gandhi -- scion of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty -- both campaigning actively OPEC members and 10 other oil producing nations, including Russia, agreed Friday to cut output by 1.2 million barrels a day in a bid to reverse falls in prices in recent months. Energy ministers reached the deal -- which takes effect from January 1 but has already sent prices surging on oil markets -- after two days of talks at OPEC headquarters in Vienna. "OPEC group countries are contributing 800,000 barrels per day as a cut, and the non-OPEC (countries) will be contributing 400,000 barrels per day," Emirati Oil Minister Suhail Mohamed al-Mazrouei said at a news conference. OPEC and its partners, which together account for around half of global output, met against the backdrop of a glut in the market which had led to oil prices falling by more than 30 percent in two months. Mazrouei said that three countries had been allowed exemptions from the agreement due to "special circumstances". "Those countries are Iran and Venezuela because of the sanctions and Libya because of the fact that unfortunately they are on and off," he added, alluding to the impact on Libyan production of continuing conflict there. Mazrouei said that the exemptions mean that the cuts introduced by other member states are "going to be a bit higher than just the average for everyone". For his part Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak -- whose country is the world's second biggest producer of oil -- said that the agreement "should help the market reach a balance" and recognised that negotiations had been "complex". - Not enough? - The price of Brent crude, the European benchmark, surged 4.43 percent on Friday to $62.7 as of 17:15 GMT. But some said Friday's deal may not be enough to keep oil prices buoyant. "I would describe the cuts as close but not close enough with regards to eliminating the global oil glut," said Stephen Brennock, oil expert at London brokerage PVM. "A combined reduction of 1.5 mbpd was needed to avoid a supply surplus in the first half of next year," he told AFP. "Accordingly, the price outlook for the coming few months still remains skewed to the downside despite today?s knee-jerk reaction." The deal was announced after Novak held bilateral meetings with several counterparts, including Iranian Energy Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, before the full meeting. However, the major players all had their own reasons to look to others to act first and the details of how any cuts will be shared out will be key. Novak said that Russia, which leads the non-member countries in the so-called OPEC+ alliance, would introduce cuts "gradually" to allow for "climatic and technical conditions" but aimed to reach the cuts target "in the next few months. OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, had to bear in mind pressure from the United States after President Donald Trump demanded in a tweet on Wednesday that the cartel boost output so as to lower prices and help the economy. The kingdom's diplomatic position has been badly weakened by the furore over the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Trump insists he will stick by Riyadh despite the outrage but he has been also ramping up the pressure for more oil. However, at Friday's press conference Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih sought to play down Trump's influence on the decision, saying: "Over 2018 I have met with consumers in Asia more often than I have read tweets coming out of the White House." India had also asked for action to bring down high oil prices, he said. In addition, while admitting that "many consumers are suffering from the high cost of energy", Falih said: "I take the opportunity to plead with consumer nations to take it easy on their own people with taxation," claiming that this was the main driver of prices at the pump. In June, OPEC and its partners agreed to allow for a boost in production by Saudi Arabia and Russia to compensate for the expected losses in output from Iran after the US dramatically withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal in May and decided to re-impose tough sanctions. However, the US then granted temporary waivers to eight countries, including crucially China, to allow them to carry on importing Iranian oil, contributing to a plunge in oil prices which wiped out the gains seen since early 2017. A glut on the market has led to oil prices falling by more than 30 percent in the space of two months Oil prices have dropped from $115 a barrel in May to about $60 OPEC and its non-cartel partners together account for around half of global output If the OPEC members and other nations meeting in Vienna keep pumping at current record levels, they risk seeing prices continue to tumble College student Abigail Finney thought she was in bed with her boyfriend in his dorm when she had sex with him. But she was horrified when she got up to go to the bathroom and realised the man in the bed was instead her boyfriends friend Donald Grant Ward. Confused as she had fallen asleep next to her boyfriend, she ran to her dorm room at Indianas Purdue University and discovered him sleeping soundly in her bed. He moved to her dorm room three hours earlier as he couldnt sleep with her taking up so much space in the small bed. Telling her story to Buzzfeed News, Ms Finney said she told her boyfriend and they reported it to police. Ward was charged with two counts of rape. I remember him grinning at me. It was a freaky image, she said. I was just kind of I was frantic. I didnt know what was going on. I was like, I feel violated. This feels wrong. But I dont know if its illegal. Abigail Finney said the not guilty verdict made her feel like she wasted a year of her life. Source: Facebook/Abigail Finney To make the nightmare worse, Wards actions were not considered rape because the sex was technically consensual. Tricking somebody into sex through fraud, deception or impersonation is not illegal in most states across the US. Buzzfeed reports only California, Idaho, Missouri and Tennessee have laws that make these actions illegal. College students second trauma Wards defence lawyer Kirk Freeman argued his clients behaviour was ungentlemanly and the jury agreed it was not illegal. Something can be bad, something can be against cultural norms, against etiquette doesnt mean its a crime, he told Buzzfeed. So there are lots of things in this world that we wouldnt ourselves do, but it doesnt make it a crime. The Hovde Hall of Administration building on the campus of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. Source: Daniel Acker He claims prosecutors shouldnt have pursued a rape charge and should have instead chased a case for sexual battery. If your concern was for her, then why not prosecute for what you could do rather than what you know was way out of bounds? Mr Freeman said. However in Indiana, a sexual battery charge would have only covered the moment Ward first groped the college student to initiate sex when she was asleep. Story continues Abigail Finney unknowingly had sex with her boyfriends friend. Source: Facebook/Abigail Finney Ms Finney told Buzzfeed when the first not guilty decision was read by the jury in February this year she felt angry. I felt like Id wasted a year of my life because I couldve been trying to heal, but instead I was reopening the wound over and over again, she said. My therapist even called the trial a second trauma, so I guess I felt like I had done all that for no reason. Push to close the loophole Ms Finneys case has exposed the loophole in rape law and pushed US politicians to fight for a law that covers rape by fraud. Tippecanoe County Republican representative Sally Siegrist said she did not want another case like Ms Finneys. I never want another victim of rape to have their rapist go free just because of a loophole in our state statute, she said. Days ahead of an international conference in Morocco to endorse a UN migration pact, the United States made the case Friday for opposing the deal that it shunned a year ago and which has since prompted a wave of withdrawals. In a lengthy statement, the United States said the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration represents "an effort by the United Nations to advance global governance at the expense of the sovereign right of states to manage their immigration systems." The non-binding pact agreed in July last year has become a target for right-wing and populist politicians who have denounced it as an affront to national sovereignty. The US, which quit negotiations in December 2017, expressed concern that supporters of the agreement would use it to build "customary international law" or "soft law" in the area of migration. The three-page US statement outlined a number of objections such as a provision in the compact stating that detention of migrants should be "a last resort," arguing that this was inconsistent with US law. Washington is also concerned that it "downplays the cost of immigration to destination countries" such as the "loss of employment opportunities" for low-skilled workers and "stresses on public services." The US statement came with the UN preparing to host a two-day conference opening on Monday in Marrakesh to endorse the pact, despite a string of defections. Hungary withdrew last year and since then Australia, Israel, Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Austria, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Belgium Latvia, Italy and the Dominican Republic have quit the pact or expressed strong reservations. - No closed door - The global pact lays out 23 objectives to open up legal migration and better manage the influx as the number of people on the move worldwide has increased to 250 million, or just over three percent of the world's population. When the deal was approved in July, it was held up as an example of a UN diplomatic success achieved without the United States at a time when President Donald Trump is questioning the relevance of the world body. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said it was "regrettable" that some countries had over the past week walked out but added that there was no "closed door" and that they were "always welcome to come back." Stressing that the pact was non-binding, he recalled that the accord was aimed at helping countries manage migration and did not pose a challenge to state authority over borders. "It seems to defy logic to see how you can manage migration without having a global conversation," he said. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will travel to Marrakesh for the conference to be attended by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the most high-profile leader at the event. The document will return to the UN General Assembly for approval at a session scheduled for December 19. The United States quit the UN migration pact in December last year with US Ambassador Nikki Haley saying it was inconsistent with US law When running a Christmas tree business, youd naturally expect to find a surge in visitors during the festive period. And while one family-run business on the NSW Far South Coast is constantly overcrowded as it nears December 25, their scores of visitors this year are far less interested in purchasing Christmas Trees. Wolumla business Xmas Tree Bob, 20km south of Bega, has been plagued by deadly brown snakes, leaving owner Deb Court with her work cut out to shift this years crop of trees. Im now up and out the front at 6.30am everyday to get people in before 10am, she told Yahoo News, in reference to an old wives tale about rising early to beat the heat and the snakes. The Xmas Tree Bob property has been plagued by brown snakes in recent weeks. Source: Deb Court/ Supplied Ms Court said her estate has been plagued by dozens of brown snakes. Source: Supplied/ Deb Court While business hasnt taken a noticeable hit, the snakes presence has certainly hampered the tree shopping routine. In previous years, Ms Court and customers have been able to roam the property relatively care-free, yet thanks to their unwanted intruders, they must now tread with caution. Ms Court, who took over the business from her father Bob when he passed away in 2016, revealed protective, closed footwear is now a must along with other safety precautions for customers when coming to choose a tree theyd like to buy. Ms Court has erected a huge sign warning visitors of the dangers. Source: Supplied/ Deb Court I Just have to let everybody know now, she said, revealing she stands at the gate all day so customers dont roam the property without knowing about the snakes. Shes even been forced to erect a big sign indicating the dos and donts on site. Community battles surge in snakes Ms Court said people have been coming to the property for over 30 years and the business had become an integral part of the community. Its a bit of a day out and a family tradition coming here and its a bit difficult to tell a little boy not to pick up a rock to throw, she said. She admitted she has spent considerably less time pruning the trees due to the snakes, meaning customers have been purchasing trees a little rough round the edges. Ms Court pictured pruning a tree last year in sandals. This year shes been unable to tend her trees as often and must wear gumboots. Source: Supplied/ Deb Court Ms Court speculated several reasons for the spike in brown snakes, telling Yahoo News she believes the prolonged dry weather has been the main cause, with the majority of her local customers in the same boat. Story continues In general when I mention it to locals the most common response is theres been a lot of snakes all across the local community, she said. She said a plethora of frogs and lizards for the snakes to feed on around her property only heightened the situation. Head of reptiles at the Australian Reptile Park Daniel Rumsey warned last year that extreme caution should be taken when enduring a dryer, warmer spring which often leads to an increase in snake activity. He said NSW residents in both rural and suburban areas should be on the lookout. Snakes dont go out to harm humans, but if you get in their path or startle them, they will bite and it can be fatal, he said. It appears a spike in snakes is affecting Queensland as well, with one snake catcher warning about the dangers of uncovered drains earlier this week after a woman found a red-bellied snake in her shower. Yemen's Huthi rebels will assess the "seriousness" of fragile UN-brokered talks with the rival government in Sweden on Friday, the head of the delegation said. "We have no problem holding talks with the other side," Huthi spokesman Mohammed Abdelsalam said Thursday, as the first day of the talks wound down. "We will judge whether the Stockholm talks are serious or not tomorrow," Abdelsalam told the Arabic-language Al-Mayadeen television channel. Talks between the Iran-backed Huthis, armed tribesmen from northern Yemen, and a pro-government military coalition led by Saudi Arabia opened on Thursday in Rimbo, Sweden, a rural area some 60 kilometres (37 miles) north of Stockholm. They are expected to last a week, a UN official told reporters. The meeting marks the first time warring Yemeni parties have officially met since 2016, when more than 100 days of negotiations in Kuwait yielded no breakthrough in the devastating conflict. The UN special envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, said he was cautiously optimistic the talks would help find common ground between the warring parties, particularly over the fate of rebel-held city of Hodeida. The Red Sea city has been the target of a Saudi-led offensive to drive the Huthis out. Hodeida is home to Yemen's most valuable port, the entry point of 90 percent of all food imports to a country at the brink of famine. Members of the rebel and government delegations in Sweden however traded accusations of aggression, refusing to compromise on Hodeida. The government is demanding the full withdrawal of the rebels from the city and port. The Huthis, however, have refused to evacuate Hodeida. The United Nations now qualifies Yemen as home to the world's largest humanitarian crisis, with 14 million people at risk of famine and one child dying every 10 minutes of preventable causes. The conflict between the Saudi-backed government and armed rebels has killed more than 10,000 people in Yemen, one of the poorest countries in the world. Talks between Iran-backed Huthis, armed tribesmen from northern Yemen, and a pro-government military coalition led by Saudi Arabia opened in Rimbo, Sweden More than a month since he became Onondaga County executive, Ryan McMahon issued his first executive order. Before his town hall meeting in Skaneateles Thursday, McMahon signed an order designating the wood frog as Onondaga County's official amphibian. The document recognizes the work of Skaneateles students in their push for state legislation to name the wood frog as New York's official amphibian. Two Skaneateles High School students, freshmen Ellie McSwain and Lili Winkelman, were present for the signing. The effort to designate the wood frog as the state amphibian began in 2014. Winkelman, a fourth-grader at the time, received national attention. She was interviewed by the HuffPost and the New York Times. Winkelman and her classmates wrote letters urging state lawmakers to support the wood frog bill. Skaneateles' state representatives, state Sen. John DeFrancisco and Assemblyman Gary Finch, visited the school. That year, the state Senate passed the bill by a 53-4 vote. But it wasn't considered by the state Assembly. The following school year, Winkelman and fifth-graders at the State Street Intermediate School in Skaneateles formed the Wood Frog Club. In June 2015, the wood frog bill drew criticism from some Democratic state senators who called it "asinine" that the body considered the legislation instead of focusing on extending rent control regulations for New York City. The bill passed by one vote, 32 to 31, in the Senate. However, it again didn't receive a vote in the Assembly. DeFrancisco and Finch continued advocating for passage of the wood frog bill in their respective chambers. DeFrancisco, who is retiring from the state Senate this year, sponsored the bill. The Senate passed the legislation in June by a 56-3 vote, but it didn't advance in the Assembly. With DeFrancisco's retirement, the wood frog bill will be carried by incoming state Sen. Bob Antonacci. Antonacci recently visited the Skaneateles Wood Frog Club to discuss the bill and legislative process. Before signing his executive order, McMahon noted that it was Antonacci who informed him about the wood frog bill. "It's really a good learning experience about the legislative process and about perseverance," McMahon said. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 New Braunfels, TX (78130) Today A steady rain this morning. Showers continuing this afternoon. High 52F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a half an inch.. Tonight Cloudy skies this evening will become partly cloudy after midnight. Low 44F. Winds light and variable. The tight race between Republican U.S. Rep. John Katko and Democratic challenger Dana Balter was one of the most expensive congressional campaigns in central New York history. Between the campaigns and outside groups, more than $9.1 million was spent on the 24th Congressional District race, which Katko won by five points. The tally includes post-general election fundraising reports filed this week by the Balter and Katko campaigns. It's the second-most expensive race in the region's history. The 2012 campaign between then-U.S. Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle, Democratic challenger Dan Maffei and Green Party candidate Ursula Rozum holds the record with nearly $10 million spent in the election cycle. In the 2014 midterm election, Katko and Maffei spent more than $8 million in a race the Republican won by 20 percentage points. For the period covering Oct. 18 through Nov. 26, Balter outraised Katko by nearly $125,000 $366,857 to $241,924. The Democratic challenger also outspent the GOP incumbent by a $932,507 to $654,728.27 margin. The campaigns' main expenditure was advertising. Balter's campaign spent $650,236 on ad buys and production in the post-general period. Katko's ad buys and productions cost his campaign $449,217. His campaign also spent $54,000 on polling in the weeks leading up to the election. The top donors to Balter's campaign included $5,000 from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's IMPACT political action committee, $5,000 from SEIU COPE and $5,000 from EMILY's List. Some House Democrats contributed thousands to the Syracuse Democrat's campaign. One notable donor: CHERPAC, the political action committee led by Illinois U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos, contributed $3,500. Bustos is the incoming chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which is tasked with recruiting House Democratic challengers. Katko's campaign received $5,000 from accounting firm Ernst & Young's PAC, and $3,000 from U.S. Rep. Will Hurd's Having Unwavering Resolve and Determination PAC. The Republican also collected a $2,700 donation from Dr. Miriam Adelson, a top GOP donor along with her husband, Sheldon Adelson. Miriam Adelson was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom last month. Balter nearly matched Katko in fundraising for the entire election cycle. Katko, whose incumbency advantage helped boost his war chest, raised $2,775,873 from January 2017 through late November. Balter reported receipts totaling $2,735,275, with most of those funds coming in the last few months of the campaign. Nearly 86 percent of Balter's total receipts came from individual donors. She raised $2,347,636 from individuals in the 2018 cycle. She also netted $213,881.97 from political action committees. Katko received more money from PACs than individuals. He raised $1,371,490 from PACs and other committees, which accounted for nearly half of his total receipts. He raised $1,010,604 from individuals. Balter raised more than $1.5 million in the third quarter of 2018, a new record for Syracuse-area congressional candidates. She raised more than $367,000 in the first two and a half weeks of October. As of the end of November, Katko spent $2,971,657 in the 2018 election cycle. Balter spent $2,640,442. Some of Balter's funds were spent on the congressional primary in June, when she defeated fellow Democrat Juanita Perez Williams by 25 points. Outside groups, such as the Democratic-aligned House Majority PAC and the National Republican Congressional Committee, spent $3,552,396 on the 24th district race. Love 0 Funny 2 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 SKANEATELES On a snowy Thursday night in central New York, Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon faced questions about water quality and outlined a few of his top priorities during an hour-long town hall meeting. Many of the questions asked during the open forum focused on the health of Skaneateles Lake. Harmful algal blooms were present on the lake this year, which raised water quality concerns. The lake provides drinking water to several municipalities in Onondaga County, including Skaneateles and the city of Syracuse. In response to a question about what the county is doing to address toxic blooms, McMahon highlighted the importance of partnerships. He explained that the county is working with the town of Skaneateles and state agencies to develop strategies for combating the problem. McMahon acknowledged that climate change is a factor in the development of the blooms. He mentioned other proven or potential factors, such as runoff into the lake and the use of pesticides on lawns. It's not yet known, McMahon added, if the reemergence of the harmful algal blooms will be a permanent problem or a temporary challenge. But he wants the county and other stakeholders to be ready. "This lake is the heart and soul of not just this community, but of the rest of our county," he told the crowd of about 30 people who attended the meeting at Skaneateles Town Hall. He recognized the lake as the county's "best economic asset." Cayuga County Legislature Vice Chairman Tim Lattimore was among those who asked questions. He expressed interest in Cayuga County entering a shared services agreement to use water provided by the Onondaga County Water Authority. Being able to tap into OCWA's supply would give parts of Cayuga County "dual sources of water," Lattimore said. He supports the idea because of what he described as the "degradation of Owasco Lake." If the water supply from Owasco Lake can't be used for some reason, OCWA's supply could be a backup. McMahon offered to work with Lattimore on the issue. Before taking questions, McMahon outlined what he views as the three challenges facing the county: modernizing infrastructure, refocusing economic development initiatives and addressing poverty. With sewers crumbling and municipalities across the county with aging water pipes, McMahon considers it an economic development problem. He said there are two local companies looking to expand, but the infrastructure presents challenges. "They can do it here or go somewhere else," he said. He wants to focus on existing businesses to boost economic development. That could lead to more investment and job retention, he said. With the county's economic development efforts he wants to promote local assets, such as Onondaga Lake. Redeveloping the west of the lake, he said, can help it become a tourism draw. He also touted some of the region's major industries, including agriculture, engineering and the life sciences. "We're going to focus our strengths and we're not going to go swinging for the fences on some of these projects that don't make sense for us," he said. Poverty rounds out McMahon's to-do list. He noted that there is poverty not just in urban areas, but in rural areas and the suburbs. He knows the data, especially in Syracuse, but doesn't want that to define the city or county. He will unveil a plan to combat poverty within the next 60 days. He offered a glimpse at his plan by revealing it will focus on education, health, housing, transportation and workforce development. "We're going to talk everywhere we go about poverty," he said. "We're going to talk about what results and success looks like." It was McMahon's third town hall meeting since being appointed county executive. He was chairman of the Onondaga County Legislature before taking on the new role. He succeeded Joanie Mahoney, the longtime county executive who resigned to take a job with the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry. She is the chief operating officer at the school, and an adviser to SUNY Upstate Medical University. McMahon has three other town hall meetings scheduled for later this month. His next forum is Tuesday at Clay Town Hall. He will follow that with a meeting Dec. 13 at Cicero Town Hall and Dec. 17 at Salina Town Hall. The events, which are open to the public, begin at 6:30 p.m. Online producer Robert Harding can be reached at (315) 282-2220 or robert.harding@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @robertharding. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 November was snowy and cold, maybe one of the coldest Novembers in the last 100 years. Wow: We hit 1 degree in the Fosterville vineyard the day after Thanksgiving. Thats cold for the mid-fall; remember, winter doesnt start until the solstice on Dec. 21. Then, the Friday before Thanksgiving, we received over a foot of snow. I remember back in November 2016 that we had a major snowfall, so its not unheard of for the Finger Lakes. All that snow and cold has put us behind in some vineyard work. We normally cover up the grapevine graft union in the fall. Since most of our vines are grafted to a specific root stock suited for our soil, we need to protect the graft union from extreme cold. Some vineyards pull soil up around the graft area; this is called hilling up. The soil protects the graft during the winter and then, in the spring, the dirt is pulled back down away from the vine. Some vineyards use straw to accomplish the same thing, an insulating layer to protect the vines. So hopefully we see a little drying out in early December and we can get to work protecting the graft union before Old Man Winter really sets in. Most of our winemaking from this years harvest is behind us, with the wines now aging in tanks and barrels. After several rackings through the winter, some wines will be ready for bottling in the spring, so winemakers can now start planning for next year. Other wines, especially dry reds that are barrel-aged, may not be ready until 2020 for bottling. We also start to prepare for wine seminars and conferences in the new year. Cornells B.E.V.N.Y. 2019 Business, Enology and Viticulture of New York will be in Rochester Feb. 27, and the Eastern Winery Exposition will be held this year in Syracuse March 19-21. Well get more information to you about these upcoming events in future columns. Wineries saw a busy November in their tasting rooms, with visitors from all over traveling to and through the Finger Lakes. Well, Chanukah is here and Christmas is only a few weeks away, and before you know it, well be celebrating the new year 2019. People will be looking for wines for their holiday dinners, parties and festivities. Thats where a trip to local Finger Lakes wineries can help you pick out wines for the holiday season. Taste several different types of wine while thinking about what youre serving. Wine is a very personal choice, so do what you think is best. Here are a few ideas based on our personal experience and that of many of our winery customers: Before dinner, or with appetizers, a sparkling wine or a lighter style wine, possibly a rose, can be a good choice. It gets the occasion started and isnt too filling or heavy. Maybe with a first course or salad, a Riesling or chardonnay will work. For the main course, try cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, chambourcin or a hardy red blend to accompany beef. If youre having turkey, goose, chicken or duck, try pinot noir, Riesling or a rose. For a vegan spread, try a lighter-style Riesling, pinot noir or frontenac. Desserts can be served with maybe a sweeter wine, port style, ice wine or a Concord-based wine. With good wine, you really cant go wrong, so taste and experiment and see what pleases your palate. Ill be back next year with more winemaking and grape-growing information from the Finger Lakes. Meanwhile, have a great holiday season, happy Chanukah, merry Christmas and a happy new year! Chris Scholomiti is co-owner and winemaker at CJS Vineyards & Aurelius Winery, located at 6900 Fosterville Road, Aurelius. Our tasting room is now open Saturdays and Sundays through December, or during the week by appointment. For more information, questions or comments about the column or wine and grape-growing in the Finger Lakes, email wine@cjsvineyards.com, call (315) 730-4619 or find the winery on Facebook or TripAdvisor. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 In remembrance of the attack on Pearl Harbor, an Auburn business will raise a flag Friday that was flown over the USS Missouri in Pearl Harbor on last year's anniversary of the 1941 attack that propelled the nation into World War II. Seventy-seven years ago on Dec. 7, Pearl Harbor a U.S. naval base in Hawaii was surprised by a devastating attack by Japan that killed about 2,400 sailors, soldiers and civilians and wounded about 1,000 more people. The next day, president Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan and the U.S. entered World War II. Although Emperor Michinomiya Hirohito announced Japan's surrender on Aug. 15, 1945, it was aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on Sept. 2 that Japan formally surrendered to the Allies. These surrender documents marked the end of WWII. Today, the USS Missouri is part of the Pearl Harbor Historic Sites. While on vacation in Hawaii earlier this year, Michael Cartner, chief financial officer and an owner of Currier Plastics, spotted a flag in a store at the Pearl Harbor Memorial site that said it flew over the USS Missouri on Dec. 7, 2017, said Currier's Sales and Marketing Manager Elizabeth Roberts. Due to the battleship's significance and connection to Pearl Harbor, Cartner bought the flag and brought it back to Currier Plastics with the idea that the company could fly it on Dec. 7. Roberts said Currier is "pretty patriotic" and staff were enthusiastic about the idea, especially since many employees are veterans. In a meeting about the flag-raising ceremony this week, Roberts said staff went around the room to share what the flag meant to them and a former Marine said, "I see my freedom when I see the flag." "There's still some of us who are personally touched by (Pearl Harbor)," said Roberts, who's father was a Pearl Harbor survivor. Others, she added, are also connected by knowing a friend or family member who was there or by having served in the military. At 8:15 a.m. Friday morning, the company will gather for what Roberts described as a "small, intimate ceremony," to raise the flag in Currier's courtyard. It will fly at half-staff in honor of former President George H.W. Bush, who died last week, and those who lost their lives in the attack on Pearl Harbor. Any veterans in the area are welcome to come and join the ceremony. Eagle Scouts Jason Schmidt and Tim Walawender will raise the flag "by the book," Roberts said, and Currier employees and veterans Pat Hahn, Jason Kelley, Mike Rojo, Corey Richardson and Cory Pine will "be up front and center" during the flag-raising. The ceremony is important to Currier because the company sees it as a way "to recognize the day and not forget what happened" as well as to "celebrate and honor" the American flag, Roberts said. Staff writer Megan Ehrhart can be reached at (315) 282-2244 or megan.ehrhart@lee.net. Follow her on Twitter @MeganEhrhart. Love 2 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 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. AUBURN The Auburn City Council gave the green light to purchasing a new ice resurfacer to maintain the ice rink at the Casey Park recreational facility. The council voted unanimously Thursday to replace Casey Park's current ice cleaning unit which, according to the city resolution, has become "deteriorated" and "unreliable." The unit, which costs just under $140,000 and is expected to last for 15 years, will be covered through the city's general fund. Another unit will be rented until the new ice-resurfacing machine arrives. Zamboni Company, which typically charges $6,500 a month for rental units, has agreed to provide a short-term deal where monthly payments would be chopped to just $100 a month. The short-term rental will be covered by the Casey Park operating budget. The old equipment will be sold at auction to help offset the cost of the new unit. In other news Two-way traffic will resume on Lincoln Street by the Auburn parking garage. Auburn City Manager Jeff Dygert said the street is expected to reopen Friday morning. A three-way stop is now placed at the intersection of Lincoln and William. Staff writer Dan Orzechowski can be reached at (315) 282-2239 or dan.orzechowski@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @OrzechowskiDan Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 1 Angry 0 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. SENNETT As one of 600 municipalities with a combined sewer system in New York, the city of Auburn is required to submit reports through the NY-Alert system in the event of any overflow discharge. At a meeting of the Cayuga County Water Quality Management Agency Thursday, Auburn Municipal Utilities Director Seth Jensen provided an explanation of combined sewer overflows. Under the 2013 Sewage Pollution Right to Know Act, municipalities with publicly-owned treatment works or publicly-owned sewer systems must report any untreated or partially treated discharges to the state within two hours and to the public in four through the NY-Alert system. "If a drop from the sanitary system makes it out of the pipes and into the environment, we note it," Jensen said. Combined sewers collect stormwater runoff, domestic sewage and industrial wastewater in the same system and transport it to a wastewater treatment facility, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation. During wet weather events like significant rainfall or snow melt, such sewers are designed and permitted to overflow into a waterbody. In Auburn's case, the system flows into the Owasco River. In Auburn, which has more than 100 miles of sanitary sewers and 65 miles of stormwater sewer in the 16-square-mile city, approximately 85 percent of the system is separated, while the remainder is combined, according to Jensen. A 6.5 million gallon storage and release facility that activates during peak flows helps ward against overflow events, which the city is able to monitor for using a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition system. When an overflow discharge does occur, rather than simply flowing into the river, the water is partially treated by one of four high-rate treatment facilities throughout the city. Each of the facilities partially treats the water in a process that includes the use of what's called a swirl converter. Water flows into into a rounded structure that forces floating materials, including grease and oils from restaurants, to the bottom while smaller solids are caught by a collector. The facilities are only allowed four discharges per year under the permit issued by the DEC. If the city separated more of the system which a 1993 DEC consent order stopped it from doing that could mean stormwater runoff would go untreated. In the currently separated sections, stormwater flows in specific catch basins within the city. Separating the parts of the system which are still combined would come at a significant cost, according to Jensen. Just the planning for such a move would likely be approximately $2 million, while actual implementation could run as much as $20 to $30 million. In the meantime, Jensen said the utilities department is constantly identifying funding to enable them to strategically "pick away" at areas. For example, the city recently applied for a grant to combine a current project mapping the system with an engineering study that would allow points of inflow and infiltration to be identified and repaired, reducing the likelihood of overflows. Staff writer Ryan Franklin can be reached at (315) 282-2252 or ryan.franklin@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @RyanNYFranklin Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 AUBURN An Auburn sex offender was sentenced to prison for failing to report social media accounts. Steven Strecker, 28, was picked up on a warrant in September and an investigation revealed that he had various social media accounts and phone numbers that were unreported. In Cayuga County Court Thursday, Strecker was sentenced for two counts of failure to register internet accounts under state corrections law, class E felonies, as well as violating probation. Cayuga County District Attorney Jon Budelmann said Strecker was on probation for a 2014 conviction of second-degree rape. Strecker must register as a sex offender for the rest of his life for having consensual sex with a 14-year-old girl in the summer of 2013. Due to Strecker's mental health and learning disabilities, Cayuga County Judge Thomas Leone sentenced Strecker in October 2014 to six months in jail and 10 years on probation both for the rape charge as well as choking another victim in January 2014. Budelmann said Thursday that community supervision is "just not working" and he hopes Strecker "will take advantage of treatment while he's (in prison)." "I want to apologize for coming back into your court again," Strecker said. "It's no one's fault but my own ... I've made mistakes in my life (and I need) to learn from them." For each count of failing to report internet accounts, Leone sentenced Strecker to one to three years in prison and for violating probation, Strecker was sentenced to a determined two years in prison with 10 years post-release supervision. The sentences will all run concurrently. Also in court A former Auburn Correctional Facility inmate pleaded guilty to possessing a makeshift stabbing weapon in prison. During a frisking at the prison in December 2017, Mark Brown, 25, was found with a 5-inch sharpened toothbrush that could be used to stab someone and two paper bundles of marijuana, police previously reported. In court Thursday, Brown said he had the toothbrush for protection and admitted to knowing it was unlawful to possess a weapon. While originally charged with first-degree possessing dangerous contraband in prison, a class D felony, and second-degree possessing contraband in prison, a class A misdemeanor, Brown plead guilty to one reduced charge on Thursday. In light of Brown's guilty plea to first-degree attempted promoting prison contraband, he will likely be sentenced to 1 1/2 to three years in prison, which will run consecutive to to his current sentence for a 2017 conviction of second-degree burglary in Erie County. Brown will return to court for sentencing Feb. 21. Christopher Vanetten, 44, pleaded guilty to purchasing a motorcycle in August with a check he knew wouldn't go through. Vanetten, who is currently being held in Madison County Jail as he faces a number of charges in other counties, said he purchased a motorcycle in Port Byron with a bank account, knowing there were insufficient funds. The theft amounted to about $3,050. While he could face up to seven years in prison, Leone said he would likely sentence Vanetten to two to four years in prison with a drug treatment order, given he is provided the appropriate documentation. As he is facing sentencing in another county Feb. 26, Vanetten is scheduled for sentencing in Cayuga County Feb. 28. An Auburn woman was sentenced to six months in jail for selling drugs to the Finger Lakes Drug Task Force in 2016. Deanna Stone, 49, of 3 Wood St., previously plead guilty to her entire indictment including fourth-degree conspiracy, a class E felony, and two counts of third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance and two counts of third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, all class B felonies. In exchange for her plea, Leone followed-through on his previously agreed-upon sentence of six months in jail with five years probation. "I'm sorry for causing an unjust pain and suffering to my community at large," said Stone, who already served the necessary jail time prior to her sentencing. Leone warned her that this was her "last stop," as she was also convicted of a felony drug sale in 1990, and she'll see prison time if she "screws up" again. A Sempronius woman, previously charged in a meth lab bust, pleaded guilty to violating her probation after authorities discovered marijuana in her home. Theresa Estebanez, 36, was remanded to Cayuga County Jail on Oct. 18 when Probation Officer Nick Flanigan said that her home, listed as 6470 Frazier Road, was filled with dried marijuana and marijuana plants. Estebanez plead guilty in court Thursday both to violating her parole, as well as a charge of first-degree identity theft, a class E felony, that she was charged with by Supreme Court Information. Leone explained that Estebanez used another individual's social security number to obtain services from New York State Gas and Electric that exceeded $2,000, totaling around $3,800. Estebanez admitted to knowingly deceiving NYSEG. Estebanez also pleaded guilty to first-degree criminal possession of marijuana for having more than 10 pounds of marijuana in her house, which is home to her and her boyfriend's eight children. She also admitted to violating her five year sentence of probation received in December 2014. Estebanez will likely be sentenced to a determined two years in prison with one year post release supervision for violating her probation, two to four years in prison for her identity theft charge, and 2 1/2 years in prison with 1 1/2 years post release supervision for her marijuana charge. All of these sentences will run concurrent with a shock camp order, meaning Estebanez will likely serve six months in prison and whatever is left of her sentences will be served as parole. She is due back in court for sentencing Dec. 20. Staff writer Megan Ehrhart can be reached at (315) 282-2244 or megan.ehrhart@lee.net. Follow her on Twitter @MeganEhrhart. Love 0 Funny 3 Wow 1 Sad 0 Angry 0 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. AUBURN Cayuga Community College took a step forward in making a trio of capital projects a reality. CCC's board of trustees endorsed the college's request for getting the projects considered for state funding at a special meeting in Auburn Thursday. SUNY community colleges are able to annually request SUNY capital funding for campus initiatives. CCC would request the funds through SUNY, which would look to incorporate it into their funding requests for the state executive budget, CCC president Brian Durant said. CCC will bring the capital projects to the Cayuga County Legislature's Dec. 13 meeting. If approved, the initiatives would be sent to SUNY for consideration in the hopes of the projects being included in the state executive budget by April. From there, CCC would start the projects in some capacities by the summer, Durant said. The college is requesting $2.4 million for site and infrastructure improvements to the Cornell Cooperative Extension building in Auburn. The college seeks to use the 19,243-square-foot building as a collaborative workforce development center, where agencies such as CCC's Continuing Education and Workforce Development division, Cayuga County Employment and Training, state Department of Labor and the Cayuga-Seneca Community Action Agency would all be under the same roof, with cost-sharing with marketing, resources and staffing. The extension donated the property to CCC in exchange for a no-cost lease of some of the property to the extension. The anticipated value of the building and property is $2.4 million, which matches the amount CCC would seek from the state, Durant said. For the second initiative, CCC wants $500,000 to expand the college's childcare program. CCC's Faculty-Student Association donated that same amount to CCC for the project. Durant said the college has expanded its childcare services in recent years, citing Cayuga Community College Child Care Center's "rich history of being a community resource in supporting community day care needs." He said the money would allow CCC to explore either acquiring a new building, enhancing its current facilities, or providing additional space to serve more families and improve its day care operations. For the third capital project, Cayuga County Community College Foundation has donated $100,00 for campus infrastructure improvements in the hopes of receiving a matching amount from the state. The project includes column repairs and other external enhancements, with additional work being identified once winter passes, Durant said. Durant said he is excited about the projects. "When we're talking about partnerships in the area of workforce development, partnerships in the area of expanding childcare, certainly we know that it demonstrates our mission and our vision extremely well by supporting our community in both areas," Durant said. Staff writer Kelly Rocheleau can be reached at (315) 282-2243 or kelly.rocheleau@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @KellyRocheleau. Love 2 Funny 0 Wow 1 Sad 0 Angry 1 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. HIT: To offering a helping hand. A group of Jordan-Elbridge High School students who raised more than $3,000 to pay for solar panels, recently saw their project completed when the panels were installed on the roof of a home in Syracuse. The students teamed up with CNY Solar and A Tiny Home for Good, which helps the homeless in the Syracuse area, and their work will provide power to a new residence for a homeless veteran. MISS: To a failure to learn a lesson. A young man from Moravia was sentenced to probation earlier this year after being charged with felony criminal possession of a firearm. The sentence, that included several weekends in jail, would have allowed the man to finish his final year of high school. But he was back in court this week, where he admitted violating the terms of his probation. The judge said that the man had smoked marijuana, used heroin and drank alcohol in addition to stealing from vehicles and garages. The court terminated probation in the case and imposed a sentence of 1 and 1/3 to four years in prison. HIT: To aspirations of sweet success. Gretchen Christenson has been in the chocolate game a long time. With a culinary degree, a chocolate company internship, and the completion of a chocolatier program on her resume, Christenson recently relocated from Tacoma, Washington to Auburn, where she has opened a business at 27 E. Genesee St. Gretchen's Confections serves lattes, cappuccinos, espressos and desserts along with handcrafted chocolate treats, and we hope the shop is here to stay for a long time to come. The Citizen editorial board includes publisher Rob Forcey, executive editor Jeremy Boyer and managing editor Mike Dowd. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif.Flirt4Free will host a five-day promo with a prize pool of more than $12,000 in time to celebrate the holidays. Big holidays are so exciting because our models really get to showcase their spirit and creativity, said Jamie Rodriguez, Director of Product. And offering so many ways for them to win, whether its through Flirt of the Year, Very Merry Nights, or one of our daily contests, can only mean more stellar broadcasts for our members to enjoy. The Very Merry Nights model contest kicks off at the stroke of midnight (EST) Monday, Dec. 10. When the competition ends at 11:59 p.m. Friday, Dec. 14, the top earning male and female performers will win a $2,000 cash prize, with $500, $300, $200, and $100 bonuses going to the performers who place second through fifth. But what sets this promo apart from the sites other major holiday events is that models can also stuff their stockings with additional hourly prizes. Every hour from 6 p.m. to midnight on all five days, performers in the Top 10 for total credits earned throughout the contest automatically enter a $100 random drawing. The guy and girl in first place at each hourly deadline also will also win $25. Thats four prizes an hour, 24 prizes a day. Lucrative contests like this have become a staple of the Flirt4Free brand, and are a major contributor in bringing top talent to the site. That this promotion runs during the final weeks of the hallmark Flirt of the Year competition should make for some Very Merry Nights for fans of the network. Members should anticipate a multitude of holiday-themed shows and all-out performances as the sites elite stars push for a share of the massive $300,000 Flirt of the Year prize pool. Studios and models interested in broadcasting with Flirt4Free can sign up here. Affiliates whod like to promote the Flirt4Free platform can apply here. For more information on Very Merry Nights or the 2018 Flirt of the Year competition, visit Flirt4Free.com. Free-from baker Tara Taylor has launched a crowdfunding campaign to secure 150,000 investment for her Good Grain Bakery business. Taylor said the investment would enable her to upgrade and expand the equipment at the bakery, boost its brand presence and create the capacity to launch into major grocery outlets. For now, weve got the capacity to expand within our current premises, so wed be looking to upgrade our equipment which we need a deposit for, Taylor told British Baker. Wed also like to increase our shift output so we can run two shifts and produce up to four times what we currently do, as well as introduce some automation in the packing department. The campaign is currently being run through Crowdcube, which gives businesses the opportunity to gain investment shares for 30 days after 20% of the target has been reached. Taylor set the target investment as 150k but hopes she can over-fund and reach a total of 250k. To support this, she has been promoting the page on social media. The idea is that you raise the money through your own network of people, so Ive really promoted the campaign on LinkedIn, and Ive made promotional videos to share on there. Im also using sponsored campaigns, emails, and talking to friends, family and customers, Taylor added. Investors paying over 5,000 will receive a share in the business, and those under that amount will receive preferential shares. King Tides Project Needs Help from Oregon Coast Photo Aficionados Published 12/06/2018 at 5:49 PM PDT By Oregon Coast Beach Connection Staff (Oregon Coast) Winter has arrived on the Oregon coast, at least meteorologically speaking, and that brings larger tides and storm surges. This, in turn, makes it King Tides season, and the King Tides Project is asking for your photographic assistance. (Above: King tide floods the Nestucca Valley. Photo by John Bauer.) Volunteer photographers are invited to participate in this this winters first round of gargantuan tides, coming up on December 21 23. However, the fun actually starts a little earlier than that. Speakers at the event will include Sally Hacker, a professor in Oregon State Universitys Department of Integrative Biology. Dr. Hacker will discuss the interaction of dunes and the ocean, how the sea fertilizes dunes through the deposition of wrack, and how this relationship may be affected by the sea level rise, more intense storms and increased erosion anticipated with global warming. Also speaking will be Steve Dundas, an economist also based at Oregon State University, who is studying the economic implications of shoreline management and shoreline protection. Appetizers will be offered; additional food and drink area available from the Rogue. The other two high-tide series the project will cover this winter take place January 19-21, and February 18-20, 2019. This is the ninth year the Oregon coast has participated in this citizen science endeavor that spans international boundaries. The project is sponsored by the CoastWatch Program of the Oregon Shores Conservation Coalition, the Oregon Coastal Management Program of the Department of Land Conservation and Development, and local partners including the Surfrider Foundation, Shoreline Education for Awareness (SEA), South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve, Coos Watersheds Association, Curry Watersheds Association, Friends of Cape Falcon Marine Reserve, Friends of Netarts, and Haystack Rock Awareness Program, among others. The King Tides Project began in Australia, where the highest tides of the year have long been called king tides. These engorged tidal conditions occur when the sun, moon, and earth are in alignment, causing a stronger-than-usual gravitational pull. Anyone with a camera can participate. At high tide on any of the three project days, find a good location to observe the tide in relation to the land, snap photos, and post them online. More information on the project, a link to tide tables, and instructions for posting photos, can be found on the website, http://www.oregonkingtides.net/. King Tide photos can be taken anywhere affected by tides, whether on the outer shoreline, in estuaries, or along lower river floodplains. Photos showing high water in relation to infrastructure (roads, bridges, seawalls, and the like) can be particularly striking, and reveal where flooding problems threaten. But shots of marshes or other habitats being inundated, or coastal shorelines subject to flooding and erosion, are also useful. The goal of this long-term citizen science project is to document the highest reach of the tides on an ongoing basis, for comparative study over a period of many years. (Participating photographers are urged to return to the locations from which they took King Tide photos and take comparison shots at ordinary high tide.) While the King Tide Project can help to identify areas that are currently threatened by flooding, the more important purpose is to gain a preview of sea level rise. The king tides, while extreme today, will become the new normal as sea level continues to rise, and storm surges increase, due to global warming. Gaining a glimpse of tidal inundation likely to become common decades into the future will benefit planners, resource agencies, conservationists, and coastal citizens in preparing for these changes. Photographs from past years of the King Tide Project can be viewed on the projects Flickr site, https://www.flickr.com/people/orkingtide/. King Tide preview parties will also be held on the south coast prior to the second high tide series: Jan. 17, 5:30 p.m., at Arch Rock Brewing Company in Gold Beach; and Jan. 18, 5 p.m., at the Charleston Marine Life Center in Charleston. More information about these events can be found on the CoastWatch website, https://oregonshores.org/coastwatch. Events will be held on the north coast prior to the projects third round, but are TBA. For more information, contact Fawn Custer, CoastWatch volunteer coordinator, at (541) 270-0027, fawn@oregonshores.org, or Meg Reed, Coastal Shores Specialist with the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development, (541) 574-0811, meg.reed@state.or.us. Oregon Coast Lodgings for this event - Where to eat - Maps - Virtual Tours More About Oregon Coast hotels, lodging..... More About Oregon Coast Restaurants, Dining..... Coastal Spotlight LATEST Related Oregon Coast Articles Back to Oregon Coast Contact Advertise on BeachConnection.net All Content, unless otherwise attributed, copyright BeachConnection.net Unauthorized use or publication is not permitted When I was a child, and as I grew into a young man, Pearl Harbor Day; December 7, 1941, a day which will live in infamy, was never celebrated, but was always remembered. I can vividly remember sitting at the breakfast table with my older brother before Sunday school, when I was nearing my fourth birthday, my father stated, 17 years ago today, I was sitting at my mothers boarding house table, just like us, waiting for my Sunday Supper, when we heard bits of broadcast over the radio that the Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor had been bombed, and devastated by the Japanese. At that point, we were at war, and I could hardly wait until I turned seventeen so I could join the military and become a Navy pilot and take revenge on those murdering Japs.In 1943, shortly after my father turned 17, he had a decision: continue his education as to become a civil engineer at North Carolina State, or seek his wings as a Navy pilot. He chose to seek his wings, and was provisionally accepted after taking the appropriate tests, but he still had one more hurdle: He had to get his mother to sign the underage waiver, which she wisely did not sign. In 1944, when my father became 18, he joined the military, but the Navy no longer needed smart young men, like Robert Earle, the United States Army needed him for the imminent invasion of Japan.My father was the greatest patriot I ever really knew . He did not come home from the war with a chest full of medals, or stories (he never wanted to talk about the battles he participated in until he became much older), but he did bring to our home the fundamental understanding of the responsibilities of being an American. That understanding: First and foremost, one took an interest in our nations place in the scheme of this world for humankind, and you heeded the call of duty if necessary. The casual forgetting of the day the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the empire of Japan was never an option.The USS West Virginia sailing into Pearl Harbor: Above. The USS West Virginia on December 7, 1941: Below.Remember Pearl Harbor was as ever on our lips on December 7: Partly to honor the over 3,000 brave men and women that died that day, but, moreover, as a warning to be ever vigilant and always prepared to defend our nation and its people. This December 7, 2009, it was 2:00 when I was writing a check to pay some forgotten bill, I realized, as I stroked the checks date, that today is Pearl Harbor Day. I had my small TV tuned to CNBC (a business news channel), and no one mentioned Pearl Harbor. That evening, as I continued to work on my notebook computer, I tuned to FOX News for a few shows including the evening news, and I can not recall any mention of that fated day. December 8th surely came and went, and still not a mention of December 7ths significance.The capsized USS Oklahoma, that was moored along "Battleship Row" in Pearl Harbor lost 429 of her sailors in the December 7th attack - many when it rolled over trapping over a hundred sailors, who drowned before they could be saved. The USS Maryland was damaged, but manged to keep her anti-aircraft batteries blazing throughout the battle: Above. The USS Arizona Memorial, where the great battleship sank and took 1,177 of her brave sailors to their watery graves: Below.Even I, who was so inspired to write this tome by the end of the 8th day of the last month of the year, is now finally finding the time to write this opinion piece. Are we just too busy, or just too apathetic to pay homage and remember? Or are we just becoming increasingly oblivious to our past - that treacherous path that has been trodden by better men and women than we, who forget their collective sacrifice? I dont know for sure.What I do know is that the youth of nation, more and more in escalating measure, are becoming disaffected with our nations history. Our schools, primary and secondary, are teaching our youth just enough to hopefully field a job, or some mandatory test that, if better passed by its students, will enrich the public funding of their avocation. Some parents allow their children to rage on with few rules to counter their insipid roar. Scrupulous, tortuous lawyers feast upon the weak administrators of our schools, aided by a corruptible legal system, and now real discipline and sensible structure within our schools are becoming as forgotten as Pearl Harbor Day itself. Just this Tuesday, that aforementioned 8th , we county commissioners heard, in our monthly general meeting, that our county school system was awarded a federal grant so that they could more broadly teach our nations history to our youth.In all seriousness, I find it very sad that we, and obviously other school systems, must receive special funding to teach our youth our past. Obviously, if ignorance is bliss, we are becoming a very happy ignorant people.I hate war, and I respect the reality that war is hell, but some wars must be fought: To save our freedom, but, moreover, to preserve our existence. World War II was that variety of hellacious war, but there are others just like that Great War. Our worlds short human history of our warring species will bear this out.True pacifists will proffer that all wars can and should be avoided, but I counter: Find those believers among what few survivors of the Holocaust that breathed the rare air of freedom as the liberating allied forces rolled through Germany and Austria, and find those believers among the surviving children of the murdered fathers and raped mothers of Nanking in 1937.My great fear is that if we, as a nation cannot collectively remember Pearl Harbor Day, we may soon lose the resolve to wage total war, as my fathers generation did, against the savage and evil people, who would destroy not only our way of life, but murder our people as we beg for our survival. At one time the remembrance of Pearl Harbor Day was our flag to remain vigilant, and prepared to protect our destiny. Today, as our nation forgets that day of infamy, we are reminded that the canary that keeled over from the foul air of a coal mine was a warning to strike out for the fresh light of fresh air above. Today, we are warned that as a nation, there is much work ahead, and we must be prepared to train ourselves, and our youth, to be more able in the strength of body and mind, with the interminable spirit to preserve, with great resolve, what is so great in we Americans - our freedom.My father, the great patriot, would expect it. The blood and the sacrifice of our forefathers demand it. The timeline for identifying and selecting a school to be included in the Innovative School District is too short, the vice chair of the State Board of Education said Wednesday, Dec. 5.Members of the state education board during a meeting asked ISD representatives about their decision to select Carver Heights Elementary for the turnaround program. Vice Chair Alan Duncan voiced concerns over the short timeline to select a school and to find an operator. ISD representatives said they are constrained by statute.Under the law, the ISD must make a final selection by Oct. 15, a deadline that's only a few weeks after the most recent school performance grades are released. The SBE must then approve the recommendation by Dec. 15. An operator for the newly approved ISD school has to be approved no later than Feb. 15.Duncan said.Duncan asked whether Carver Heights should even be selected this year, since the school has taken steps to turn things around. Wayne County public schools hired Patrice Faison, a former principal of the year with a track record of turning around low performing schools, as Carver Heights principal.Duncan said he can't imagine how the ISD would do a better job than WCPS in bringing in a former state principal of the year to improve the school's performance.SBE member Olivia Oxendine objected to the idea of a waiver from the law allowing Carver Heights to avoid inclusion.Oxendine said.Oxendine said Carver Heights has no information listed in its actionable item plan based on the Comprehensive Needs Assessment for teaching and learning, professional capacity, and planning and operational effectiveness.WCPS has submitted an application for Carver Heights to become a Restart school, a turnaround model available for continuously low performing schools. The school district has hired a new School Improvement Grant coordinator and new assistant principals.Eric Hall, deputy superintendent of innovation with the Department of Public Instruction, said he recognizes that WCPS has made changes to help Carver Heights, but those changes came after the school was selected by the ISD. Improvement plans for other schools also qualified for the ISD were already under way before the ISD made its final selection.SBE member J.B. Buxton said the ISD selection process has been difficult.Buxton said.Ever since Carver Heights was chosen, community leaders, WCPS, and Carver Heights officials have come out against the selection . WCPS leaders have sent several letters arguing against the ISD, claiming the selection process failed to consider the county's track record for turning around low performing schools. They also contend the ISD didn't give them enough time to respond to claims made about the school's shortcomings and failed to fully engage the community in the decision process.At a meeting Nov. 5, LaTeesa Allen, ISD superintendent, said Carver Heights failed to meet seven of the eight identified School Improvement Grant requirements last year. The ISD superintendent said Carver Heights didn't use $185,256 of the available $318,969 from its School Improvement Grant during the 2017-18 school year.In a Nov. 30 letter to the SBE, WCPS leaders said a bulk of the unspent funds were for teacher stipends if they exceeded growth. Since the school failed to meet performance goals, the money wasn't spent. Instead, the letter says, the money would carry over to next year.Another portion of the money was for teachers to attend a professional development conference in Texas. Instead, the school opted to do professional development in-house to avoid losing instructional time.WCPS leaders say the ISD based its selection on faulty analysis of data, failed to take into consideration the school going through a grade reconfiguration, and haven't been transparent enough throughout the process.The state education board was supposed to vote on the ISD recommendation last month. It decided to wait another month to vote to give the ISD more time to engage the community. Allen told board members Wednesday the ISD has met with the Goldsboro mayor and City Council, the local NAACP chapter, Men who Care Goldsboro, and has held community meetings with parents.WCPS may end up keeping control of Carver Heights if, that is, a provision in a technical correction bill becomes law. SB 469 is moving through the General Assembly and includes a provision allowing a local board of education to become an ISD school operator. The provision gives the local education board the opportunity to submit to the ISD aSBE member Wayne McDevitt said.The board will vote Thursday, Dec. 6, on whether Carver Heights will join the ISD. Too broad. Too narrow. Too lenient. Too stringent.These descriptors were tossed around the N.C. House floor during a Dec. 5 debate over a bill which codifies a new constitutional amendment requiring voters to present photo identification at the ballot box.Fifty-five percent of North Carolina voters on Nov. 6 affirmed a legislative proposal to write a photo ID rule into the state's constitution. Senate Bill 824 , Implementation of Voter I.D. Constitutional Amendment, lays groundwork for enforcement. On Wednesday, it passed the House 67-40, igniting hot protest from Democrats, who will gain traction in the legislature next year when new seatholders upend the GOP's veto-proof supermajority.The bill is on Thursday's Senate calendar for a concurrence vote.S.B. 824 is a point of tension between Republicans and Democrats. In a debate that lasted the better part of two hours, members of both parties swarmed the bill with laments, comments, and amendments.Democrats called S.B. 824 a voter-suppression device, citing underprivileged and minority residents who might suffer under the requirements. Several Republicans said the bill was too lax and pushed for tighter restrictions on forms of ID.The bill offers several options for voters. Driver's licenses, military IDs, student IDs from community colleges and public or private universities, tribal enrollment cards, state employee IDs, and free, state-issued voter ID cards are just a few examples.Shorten that list, several Republican members said. Student IDs were especially objectionable to some who said the option will invite more fraudulent voting.Minority leader Rep. Darren Jackson, D-Wake, said the bill is fraught with arbitrary stipulations. There are too many exclusions, he said, questioning why Republicans are shunning public school IDs for students who want to pre-register to vote.Voter ID has long been a center of conflict for legislators. In 2013, the General Assembly passed a voter ID bill that later was struck down by a three-judge federal appeals panel who called itThat bill nixed a week of early voting and cut out-of-precinct voting in addition to requiring specific forms of photo ID.The provisions targeted "African Americans with almost surgical precision," the judges' 83-page ruling states.S.B. 824 is an improvement over that law, but it's not great, and the legislature should take more time to work out a better bill - not ram legislation through before the end of the year, said Rep. Pricey Harrison, D-Guilford.Cost is a concern, some lawmakers said. A $2.25 million appropriation was added Dec. 4 to implement S.B. 824. It includes funding for the Division of Motor Vehicles and Department of Transportation to pay for producing new IDs.Republican leaders insisted their bill is the right one for the state.said House Speaker Tim Moore R-Cleveland, in a press release.Rep. David Lewis, R-Harnett, told Carolina Journal.In a press release issued after the final House vote, Lewis highlighted a provision in the bill which would strengthen security measures for absentee ballots, citing the disputed, too-close-to-call election in the state's 9th U.S. Congressional District.The provision requires the General Assembly to set temporary rules by July 2019 and permanent rules by January 2020 for enhanced security of absentee ballots.Lewis said in the release.If the Senate adopts the amended measure, it will head to Gov. Roy Cooper, who hasn't indicated if he will veto it.Lewis' office did not respond to a question from CJ about the possibility of lawsuits over S.B. 824 if it becomes law. Liartown, USA is Sean Tejaratchi's (previously) incredible, longrunning visual surreal satire site, and it is the latest casualty of parent company Verizon's decision to purge the site of all NSFW content effective Dec 17. Tejaratchi writes, "I expect many posts will no longer be visible, and I've already noticed nonsexual material is being flagged. I wouldn't bet on much being left up." He's going to leave his archive intact, but has few hopes it, and will not be adding to it (he's exploring the possibility of setting it up somewhere else). But it's not all bad news: Tejaratchi has also announced a new 544 page book celebrating his incredible found-art collage zine Crap Hound (previously), to be published by Feral House before next fall: it's a collection of unhappy people in bad situations. I didn't want to make an anthology, so this book will basically be an enormous, horizontal tenth issue devoted to images notable for their lack of positivity. There will be men, women, children, and even pets in states of confusion, pain, fear, stress, anger, embarrassment, sorrow, depression, and frustration. There'll be headaches, upset stomachs, storms, earthquakes, fires, floods, vehicular collisions, weight issues, drugs, suicide, murder, execution & punishment, atomic bombs, unemployment, riots, injuries, falls, fistfights, tantrums, and the silent, nocturnal shame of bedwetting. I'm including accessories (syringes, knives, pills, crutches, splints, etc.), and imminent unhappiness (e.g. roller skates on stairs and overloaded electrical sockets). From the tearful sting of a scraped knee to the ominous shadow of impending planetary doom, you can expect a rich tapestry of trouble. I've been collecting unhappy material for more than fifteen years. As of today, it stands at FIVE HUNDRED AND FORTY FOUR pages. Only the intro and acknowledgements remain to be finished. A street date hasn't been officially announced, but it'll be published by Feral House prior to Fall 2019. Goodbye and thank you. [Sean Tejaratchi/Liartown, USA] In 2017, Pricewaterhousecooper published Using science fiction to explore business innovation, a guide for corporations that wanted to work with sf writers to think about the future of their businesses; it was part of a wave of corporate interest in the insights of sf writers, which also coincides with a parallel trend in academia (see, for example, ASU's Center for Science and the Imagination and UCSD's Clark Center for Human Imagination, both of which I have some involvement with). Some science fiction writers are now experiencing a small boom in consulting contracts, which often take the form of writing short stories (here's one I wrote for Intel) or participating in workshops. I've done a small amount of this work myself, and I've been getting more offers over the transom, including one this week, which I passed to my agent to negotiate; he told me that his other clients are also getting these gigs. I can't see any downside to this, to be honest. I recently spoke to a bunch of senior Audi people about the link between DRM and Dieselgate, and how a lack of competition in the corporate sector has led to market concentration, weak regulation, and a festering corruption problem. I don't know if the top management will take what I had to say to heart, but the people in the audience definitely connected, as I learned in speaking to them one to one afterwards. I don't think that science fiction is a very good way of predicting the future (I also don't think that the future can be predicted), but I do think that science fiction is a great way to influence the future. There's a "Sci-Fi Prototyping" business around the corner from my house that I keep driving past and meaning to go and check out clearly, there's something going on in the sector beyond these gigs that keep mysteriously materializing for me. They get some press in an article on the trend, and cite Boing Boing pal Brian David Johnson as inspiration. Popper says he relies on a process called "science fiction prototyping." The man who literally wrote the book on the method is Brian David Johnson, a professor, engineer, and sci-fi author based in Portland, Oregon. In his book Science Fiction Prototyping: Designing the Future with Science Fiction, Johnson outlines "How to Build Your Own SF Prototype in Five Steps or Less." It begins by exhorting practitioners to "Pick Your Science and Build Your World," moves on to instructions on how to identify the inflection point upon which that science or technology will collide with people, and suggests a framework for considering the ramifications. It's sort of a basic sci-fi writing prompt guide through the lens of business management literature. "It's science fiction based on science fact," Johnson says. "It's used as a way to prototype the future, and sci-fi is about people." The best example, he says, is Intel, where until recently he served as chief futurist. "It took Intel 10 years to design and deploy a chip, so they needed to know 10 years out what people would do with computers." For an initial fee in the range of $50,000, SciFutures will take a prompt from a client say, the Future of Sustainability for Naked Juice, or the Future of Home Improvement for Lowe's and farm it out to 30 or so writers. Popper and company read the stories, which usually clock in around 1,000 words (he typically pays writers $300 to $500 for each one, though more seasoned writers can command more), and scan them with an eye to intellectual property, novelty, and technology. Then they'll choose five or so and polish them up for delivery to the client, often translating them into graphic novels or other media. If the client is hooked on a specific science fictional idea, SciFutures will help them develop further blueprints, even actual prototypes. "The program we helped set up for Lowe's is a phenomenal case study for how science fiction prototyping can transform culture, bring genuine innovation into the business," Popper says. The hardware chain told him it was having trouble getting customers commit to home improvement projects, so SciFutures put forward the idea of decorating in virtual reality. "This was before Oculus VR wasn't a thing, AR wasn't a thing." Nike and Boeing Are Paying Sci-Fi Writers to Predict Their Futures [Brian Merchant/Medium] (via Marginal Revolution Robbo writes, "Gerald Casale, founder of DEVO, has written an open letter in response to the band being inducted into the Rock 'N' Roll Hall Of Fame." Casale was an SDS activist who was present at the Kent State massacre and who was friends with the students who were murdered by the National Guard there. He describes how his hope for an society that evolved toward a better world soured with the conviction that the world was devolving, thanks to the "encroaching fusion of technological advances with the centralized, authoritarian power of the state." Casale describes a 40-year career on the sidelines of America where "the capacity for critical thought and reasoning were eroding fast" thanks to right-wing dumbing-down, and the commodification of rebellion, right up to the 2016 election, with "our vile, venal Mobster-in-Chief (who makes Idiocracy's Macho Camacho look fit for office) and his corrupt minions rob the nation's coffers in a shamelessly cruel, Grab-'Em-By-The-Pussy Kleptocracy." He proposes that Devo was inducted into the Hall of Fame "because Western society seems locked in a death wish" they're "the house band on the Titanic." This is amazing stuff, especially played against Capital in the 21st Century, which describes the same phenomena in terms of capital flows: during the years when Casale was cultivating his belief in human progress, power and wealth were broadly distributed. The capital destruction of the World Wars had weakened the grip of the rich on policy outcomes, letting everyone else get a turn, with the result being a massive surge of innovation, prosperity and social programs to ensure inclusion. But capital reasserted itself, with the richest commanding an ever-larger share of the world's wealth, tipping over in the late 70s and the Reagan/Thatcher/Mulroney/Pinochet moment, when policies were enacted that would throw gasoline on the fire, accelerating the accumulation of wealth at the top, to everyone else's detriment. 40 years later, it's a devolved world: rich people are secretly funding fascist movements, dismantling public education, and systematically looting the meagre wealth of everyone who isn't rich. Our political discourse has fallen apart, as conspiracy theories about powerful rich people doing weird terrible shit and getting away with it scot-free have become increasingly plausible. When someone tells you that vaccines or climate change or the round Earth are a conspiracy, you must first ask yourself, "Do I live in a world where rich, powerful people conspire to confuse and hurt me?" and if the answer is yes, then everything else seems sadly plausible. So, let us not talk falsely now; the hour is getting late. Perhaps the reason Devo was even nominated after 15 years of eligibility is because Western society seems locked in a death wish. Devo doesn't skew so outside the box anymore. Maybe people are a bit nostalgic for our DIY originality and substance. We were the canaries in the coalmine warning our fans and foes of things to come in the guise of the Court Jester, examples of conformity in extremis in order to warn against conformity. We were certainly not the one-hit wonders the dismissive rock press likes to say we were. We have always been the Rodney Dangerfields of Rock 'N' Roll. We were polarizing because we did not "play ball" with the sex, drugs, rock 'n' roll messaging dictum. But today Devo is merely the house band on the Titanic. With three generations of fans, 10 studio albums, five live albums, scores of singles, scores of music videos (a format which we pioneered), and eight world tours committed to history since our 1978 debut record, Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo, we've all too chillingly stood the test of time. 2020 will be the 40th anniversary of our Freedom of Choice record. Don't be surprised to see us on tour then in our iconic, red Energy Domes, careening toward the latest Presidential election/selection. Speaking truth to power is a never-ending battle. In the best-case scenario, we avoid sinking into the abyss and, as a society, scratch ourselves back to square one. We Are Drowning in a Devolved World: An Open Letter from Devo [Gerald V. Casale/Noisey] Jury finds James Fields found guilty on all 10 charges, including first degree murder of Heather Heyer. Never forget: Trump said they were 'very fine people.' During the 2017 racist rally in Charlottesville, white supremacist James Alex Fields Jr. deliberately drove his car into a crowd of counter-protesters, and killed two of the anti-racism demonstrators his vehicle slammed into. This is what a court ruled today, in finding Fields guilty on Friday of murdering one of those victims. Her name was Heather Heyer. BREAKING: James Fields found guilty on all 10 counts, including 1st-degree murder, for ramming car into a group of peaceful counter-protesters following Charlottesville white nationalist rally in 2017. NBC News (@NBCNews) December 7, 2018 From the Daily Beast: Fields, 21, an Ohio native, was charged with first-degree murder last year following the hit-and-run attack, which killed 32-year-old Heather Heyer and injured dozens other anti-racism protesters who ran counter to the "Unite the Right" rally. He was found guilty on that top charge. Fields was also found guilty on five counts of aggravated malicious wounding, three counts of malicious wounding, and one count of failing to stop at an accident involving a death. All of this on top of the 30-count hate crime indictment brought against him by the Department of Justice. More here. James Fields's fate is in the jury's hands now, so let's have a quick recap of the alt-right conspiracy theories and how this trial has exposed them all as desperate shams. Emily G (@EmilyGorcenski) December 7, 2018 James Fields has been found guilty on all counts, including first degree murder. https://t.co/2sk9h3MLq1 Emily G (@EmilyGorcenski) December 7, 2018 Thinking about today's closing arguments in VA v James Fields. The defense said, "Over the course of the past 1.5 yrs, there have been many misconceptions about the events of August 12, 2017 and who those ppl were. Hopefully this trial showed who those ppl were and y they came." Blake Montgomery ? (@blakersdozen) December 7, 2018 Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who called Trump a "moron" while he was in office, from which he was later fired, has expressed some more choice thoughts on the president. Speaking to Bob Shieffer last night, which was aired on CBS, Tillerson said, "What was challenging for me coming from the disciplined, highly process-oriented Exxon Mobil corporation, to go work for a man who is pretty undisciplined, doesn't like to read, doesn't read briefing reports, doesn't like to get into the details of a lot of things" He also said that Trump "acts on his instincts," which "in some respects looks like impulsiveness." WATCH: Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is speaking publicly about what led to his firing in March by President Trump. CBS News political contributor @bobschieffer interviewed Tillerson in Houston last night, at a dinner to benefit MD Anderson Cancer Center. pic.twitter.com/47qDqcsrMs CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) December 7, 2018 Not seen in the clip above but mentioned in The Washington Post is that Tillerson then talked about "how Trump as president regularly attempted to do things that violated the law." "So often, the president would say, 'Here's what I want to do, and here's how I want to do it,' " Tillerson said, according to the Houston Chronicle, "and I would have to say to him, 'Mr. President, I understand what you want to do, but you can't do it that way. It violates the law.' " Tillerson also wasn't keen on Trump's use and the American's love of Twitter. News / National by Staff reporter THE decision by government to go it alone in negotiating a US$130 million Cold Storage Company (CSC) deal with a foreign firm without involving the meat processor's board in scrutinising the package has backfired, it has emerged.Government, through Lands, Agriculture, and Rural Development minister Perence Shiri (pictured), last month announced that a partner for the once vibrant meat processor had been found.Shiri said the CSC would work with the United Kingdom-based Boustead Beef (Pvt) in a deal that would see the company use CSC infrastructure dotted around the country to process beef for export. Boustead Beef (Pvt) would also, under the deal, finance the rehabilitation of some CSC farms where cattle fattening used to take place.The Zimbabwe Independent is reliably informed that the CSC board has referred back some terms of the deal to the Agriculture ministry for refining as the agreement was littered with a litany of glaring shortcomings that even the government's lawyers, from the Attorney-General's office, could not stomach."We were summoned to Harare last month where government was to announce the new CSC partner. However, the meeting did not yield the desired results since there were a lot of issues that needed to be attended to on the primary document that should be the basis of the working relationship," a highly-placed CSC source said.Information at hand suggests the first sticking point was the state of the meat processor, with officials from the AG's Office querying whether the CSC's name should read Cold Storage Company or Cold Storage Commission."When drafting agreements, there should be clarity as to things such as names. As for CSC, there was a problem because in some quarters, it is regarded as a company while others say it is a commission. We were advised by the AG's Office to clarify that point and, in the final analysis, we were able to explain that CSC is a company with its own board and not a commission. We did explain that the board holds regular meetings as per the dictates of corporate governance frameworks," one of the sources added.Another issue that emerged was how the CSC would ring-fence and protect the intended investment by Boustead Beef (Pvt) given that there were companies and institutions that were eager to recover what they are owed by the meat processor. The sources indicated that they were apprehensive about the deal.Their worry was that the investment would go to waste if the money was used to only off-set CSC's debts. The meat processor's debt, as reported by the Independent a fortnight ago, stands at over US$40 million."It was explained that there is a scheme of arrangement that is in place and registered with the High Court. Under that scheme, creditors are expecting to get their first payment in March next year. We did explain this position to government and cleared the air that the investment would be used to finance the things that have been listed as imperatives in the revival of CSC, mainly equipment rehabilitation," another source said.Other sources who attended the meeting said CSC board members were also concerned that the deal appeared to benefit more the foreign investor.The sources said it was unclear how the CSC would benefit from the deal in the long run."We have a situation where this company is coming in and saying for the next 25 years we will use your equipment, use your farms, labour, and produce meat that we will export. After that 25-year period, it is now like we are saying this company will pack its bags and go. Our question is what will we benefit, as CSC, from this deal because it looks like it's a deal that will only benefit Boustead Beef (Pvt) and leave the CSC in the same old state," one source said.The issue of funding, sources added, was another issue raised in the meeting. It is alleged the agreement allows Boustead Beef (Pvt) to show the availability of the funds it intends to invest in the CSC four months after the signing of the agreement. "We were of the opinion that Boustead Beef (Pvt) was supposed to show us the proof of funds first as per the norm. But it appears government had things its way. Boustead Beef (Pvt) is now supposed to show proof of its funds four months after the deal has been signed. It was quite a queer arrangement for some of us, but given that government has moved way ahead of us as the board, we will have to live with that queer arrangement," the source said.The CSC is angling for a return to the international beef market. At the attainment of independence, the company exported beef to the European Union, a business that earned the country the much-needed foreign currency. News / National by Staff reporter A BLAZING war of words has erupted between outspoken legislators Justice Mayor Wadyajena and Temba Mliswa over control of the influential Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Lands and Agriculture.Mliswa, who chairs the mines committee, wants Wadyajena kicked out of the lands committee, which he chairs, accusing him of being conflicted.Documents in possession of the Zimbabwe Independent show that Mliswa unsuccessfully tried to lobby for the removal of Wadyajena from chairing the committee, arguing that he was compromised because of his business dispute with business mogul Kuda Tagwirei, whose company is a major funder of command agriculture.In a letter to speaker of the National Assembly Jacob Mudenda dated November 28, Mliswa expressly stated that he wanted Wadyajena removed from chairing the committee because he would not act fairly."I hereby submit my official concern regarding Hon Justice Wadyajena's chairmanship of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Agriculture with respect to the enquiries pertaining to command agriculture. Unfortunately, Hon Wadyajena, as competent as he may be, is conflicted in the matter of command agriculture. The point of conflict arises from past business disputes as encountered between himself and Mr Kuda Tagwirei, a financial facilitator for the command agriculture programme," Mliswa wrote."During the period of the 8th Parliament, Hon Wadyajena was the chairperson of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Lands, Agriculture Mechanisation and Irrigation. In an unprecedented and unprofessional move unbefitting of his Honourable Parliamentary role, Hon. Wadyajena blocked the parking area at Mr Tagwirei's offices with his branded cars in an attempt to intimidate Mr Tagwirei to pay a certain amount in a claims dispute between the two parties.Due to this unsavoury action, the then government leaders intervened and facilitated an amicable agreement that Hon Wadyajena receive an out of court settlement from Mr Tagwirei to the tune of US$2,5 million which obligation was fulfilled and ordinarily should have brought the matter to a close.""However, it did not. Now that we are in the 9th Parliament and Hon. Wadyajena is the current chairperson of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement, he has unscrupulously gone on to recently bring the matter before the courts again in a bid to seek additional payment. Whilst I would not hasten to judge and label Hon Wadyajena's actions as extortionist, the fact that he is currently at loggerheads with Mr Tagwirei, heightens the propensity for Hon Wadyajena to use the Parliamentary Committee as a platform to settle personal scores," reads Mliswa's letter, which was also copied to President Emmerson Mnangagwa.Information at hand however indicated that the wrangle between the two extends to other areas.Mliswa, the information shows, has been trying to join Wadyajena's committee but failed.The Independent obtained from parliamentary sources a memorandum which Wadyajena wrote to Mudenda on November 15 this year informing him of his decision."I write to advise that Honourable Temba Mliswa approached my chair on Tuesday, 13th November 2018 during our closed session and informed me that he wrote a letter to the Clerk of Parliament Mr Chokuda and Honourable Speaker Mudenda intending to join the committee. He also stated that the necessary announcement was made in the House."Being cognisant of the past events, Mr Speaker Sir, there is strong evidence that Hon Mliswa is a highly conflicted individual in regards to substance to be addressed by the committee. I strongly recommend that he be allocated another committee as this shall enable us to fully execute our mandate in line with the standing rules and orders as read with the constitution of Zimbabwe without interference," the memo reads.In interviews with the Independent this week, both MPs showed no signs of ending the fight."The facts are simple. On two occasions, Hon Mliswa barged his way into committee sessions and outrightly lied to myself and to members that someone higher-up had added him to the committee to protect their interests. Because of his known reputation, as a matter of procedure, the committee sought clarification from the speaker. True to form, it turned out that absolutely nobody had given any such instruction and Hon Mliswa was advised to find another committee to join. It is incredulous, really. He had just invented the story, foolishly believing we would be intimidated."He accused Mliswa of being a member of a shadowy "third force" working to undermine government processes."These are the futile actions of a political novice like Hon Mliswa who has no real political weight, is predictable and easily excited. There is absolutely nothing for me or members of the committee to fear. His unending stories about how we are undermining command agriculture are not just untrue but disgraceful. I am personally very clear about his motives. There is nothing to be feared about Hon Mliswa, the amateur tactics will not be enough to sway the committee from doing its right and proper work," he added.But Mliswa hit back, saying he was fighting for Tagwirei's rights just like he would fight for ordinary people's."Who told you rich people should also not be represented by MPs? I fight for the people and they include Tagwirei as well. I am not a corrupt man."Where is the evidence that I am being paid to fight Wadyajena? There is no evidence at all. He is a highly compromised figure who should recuse himself from the chairmanship of the committee," Mliswa said. News / National by Mandla Ndlovu Zimbabwean mathematician and best-selling author, Edzai Zvobwo is on a mission to use Zimbabwe's application to be readmitted into the Commonwealth as a vehicle to push for sustainable development goals in the country.Zimbabwe has applied to be readmitted into The Commonwealth. The application has been met with varying reactions. Some analysts believe that it is high time that the country comes out of international isolation and be rejoin the Commonwealth club, whilst some analysts believe that sound changes should be effected before it can be readmitted.The country left the Commonwealth in 2003 at the height of political tensions with the West over the Fast-Track Land Reform Programme. It was flagged for gross human rights violations. The withdrawal of Zimbabwe left the Commonwealth divided as different nations had opposing positions with regards to Zimbabwe.Edzai Zvobwo, a Tutu Fellow had the privilege of meeting with the Commonwealth Secretary General, Baroness Patricia Scotland at Marlborough House in London in September, as part of the fellowship. The young patriotic gentleman passionately pleaded with the Secretary General to readmit Zimbabwe into the Commonwealth because the ordinary people were the ones who were losing out on scholarships, human rights oversight and other technical assistance offered among members of the club.Upon returning to Harare, Edzai immediately set up a website https://zim-commonwealth.org and started campaigning for people to sign his petition for Zimbabwe to be readmitted into the Commonwealth club. The site gained traction as Zimbabweans were very opinionated around the subject but the majority of sentiments were negative.Trolls and other angry Zimbabweans attacked Edzai and his campaign, they even labelled him "Mnangagwa's poodle" for taking a pro-Mnangagwa stance on the issue."It was such a nightmare, I was doing this for my people so that the country can move away from international isolation but I was vilified for this", said Zvobwo in anguish.Zvobwo did not cut the feedback loop and had to reconfigure the site to a consultative forum. He alluded to the fact that he under-estimated people's anger and should not have taken a position on the matter based on his analysis that did not factor in all perspectives.To redeem himself, Zvobwo is now on a mission to use the site https://zim-commonwealth.org and the application to join the Commonwealth to open dialogue about the changes needed in Zimbabwe to achieve the sustainable development goals (SDGs).He is eliciting people's opinions with questions like: Do you think that Zimbabwe has turned the corner? Should it be readmitted into the Commonwealth? Should Zimbabwe be admitted so that they are accountable to the club? Or should sound changes should be effected before it can be readmitted? What do you think?To engage in this dialogue you can anonymously say your mind on https://zim-commonwealth.org/say-your-mind News / National by Mandla Ndlovu Seasoned journalist and ZANU PF apologist Reason Wafawarova has sensationally claimed that businessman Wicknell Chivayo bribed himself out of jail to be given a shorter sentence for a fraud case.Wafawarova was commenting on the sentencing of ZANU PF member Psychology Maziwisa and former TV anchor Oscar Pambuka.Said Wafawarova, "Wicknell was convicted and jailed 3 years for 3 million Rand fraud, Maziwisa and Pambuka jailed 6.5 years each for $12K fraud. Wicknell bribed every male involved in his trial, and fell in love with every woman that was involved, regardless of age. His mum paid everyone and organised to meet the daughters in law while he was at Chikurubi. Our justice system stinks. I am sure none of these guys is tempted by $12K, so Psycho and Oscar can suffer continue."Controversial businessman Chivayo was convicted in 2005 conviction for money. He was in 2005 jailed five years two years were conditionally set aside, leaving him to serve an effective three years in prison.Maziwisa and Oscar Pambuka were yesterday jailed for six-and-a-half years for duping Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) of over $12 000.They will however, serve three-and-a-half years each after part of the sentence was made to run concurrently.Their jail term could be reduced by another year if they restitute ZPC $6 000, each by January 31, 2019. News / National by newZwire President Emmerson Mnangagwa has appointed diplomat Nicholas Kitikiti as deputy chief secretary, his office said Friday.Kitikiti's appointment as Deputy Chief Secretary (Policy Analysis, Development Planning and Coordination) in the Office of President and Cabinet is with immediate effect, Mnangagwa's office said in a statement.An economist with experience in macro-economic analysis, policy development and implementation management, Kitikiti has served in Government in Trade, Mining Energy and Foreign Affairs."Ambassador Kitikiti brings vast private sector experience, national visions and national economic development plans. The Office of the President and Cabinet welcomes Ambassador Kitikiti into its fold from his latest assignment in the Islamic Republic of Iran and Turkey," said Misheck Sibanda, Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet. Opinion / Columnist The streets of Harare reminisced the scenes of independence celebrations close to four decades ago. While the incidence of tribal, character and colour differentiation cannot be undone, it is the realization that when a people are faced with a common enemy, they coalesce by convenience for common security. The ill-famed Reverend Jones for his infamous part in the annuls of history convinced hordes of families to drink poison and die, as they all faced a common enemy. Theirs was not a political agenda or movement but rather a religious one, otherwise how the story unfolded would have been much different today.The factional fights of the then Zanu-PF had reached their crescendo, things simply could not have gone on like that. The economy was in tatters, national security was at its most threatened, corruption bled government and state enterprises. Mugabe was no longer in control, that much was evident. The then president's name carried more weight than his actual oversight and this allowed his name to be abused by all chancers aiming at their own big breaks in the big projects in the provinces. As things later unfolded, clearer it became that Mugabe was now all but tacit in control, power was borrowed elsewhere across town. In the words of the current president himself, Mugabe could not even remember that he had fired ED, it is said he was shocked to hear of this during a telephone conversation between the two men from either sides of the Limpopo. If Mugabe did not fire Mnangagwa then who did? It is either that Mugabe was now too old than we all thought to remember anything, or that it was the last kicks of a dying horse, realizing the little corner he had been confined to by the army, and wanted to use "ignorance" at firing Mnangagwa as a bargaining convenience with the army. Or yet still, it could have been one sinister culmination that everyone in the country was now convinced of, that there had been a bedroom coup in Zimbabwe and power had shifted hands, traded even with the G40 across town.Mugabe became a prisoner and victim of the very system he created and benefitted from all these years. Factionalism was his natural creation, he became its biggest beneficiary in that its strategic convenience of weakening succession processes ensured that he remained undisputed and weighed down heavily on the natural processes of succession contestation within the party amongst ambitious minions. What caught up with him ultimately was that he was outpaced by the growth, ambition and capability of these minions. Minions became giants, or maybe minions they never were. November 2017 was not an event, it was a process.While the old man is gone and resting in his peace, the system he created remains haunting the country and government. The catfights playing out in public are indeed telling of the more dramatic scenes in the shadows of the night. The Mutsvangwas, Matemadandas, Lumumbas, Tagwireis, RBZ drama and even the shootings inquiry. Zanu-PF failed to rid the party of factionalism by dispensing with Mujuru. Solomon's mystery still is surrounded with a lot of loopholes, but it ultimately points to the fact that it was not an inferno accident. After the fall of the general, the group emerged much stronger under the captaincy of his widow. So strong it became that the old man had to strengthen the hand of the other grouping, the then Mnangagwa faction. Mnangagwa's time for being demolished came too, albeit he would not go down without a fight. Mugabe does not sit behind the desk of power today. Gone. Still, there could be another third force surging at the moment in Zanu-PF. No penny for guessing.Mugabe's legacy will remain one of divisiveness, corruption ravaging and pillaging organs of government while nobody serves time for it. It is what took us to this today as a country and moving away from all this will need a whole revamp of the system upside down. At the end of the day the question that confronts us all and needs the biggest answer is what will work for the day in order to move forward as a country. It absolutely does not matter who rules or who doesn't, what matters is finding the right panacea that cures our political and economic ills. Firstly, Zanu PF has had too much of the dance that there is absolutely no hurry in them to bring wholesale policy shifts to alleviate high poverty levels, Zanu PF has gone too deep into hell to correct its own mistakes. Not even a reformed Zanu PF, DNA does not lie. It has survived many attempts at its own lifespan even, to even activate emergency economic rafts.Secondly the world does not have confidence in anything with a Zanu-PF DNA to either invest or borrow the much-needed cash injections into the sickly economy. Thirdly, the crisis in the country has always been about the legitimacy of government. The issue of legality can be satisfied by use and manipulation of prevailing laws, they are the laws of the day by the way, but legitimacy goes beyond these and seeks to harmonize that the ruling office be because of a freely given mandate from the people. The apartheid government of South Africa were well acting with the "laws" that parliament made and were thus legal but the fact remained that it was a racist, minority government that survived each day on the back of disenfranchising millions of natives. Drawing parallels within Zimbabwe the continued incidence of disputed elections on every turn remains an issue that eats and feeds on the legitimacy crisis affecting the country and its economy. It does not matter how good Mthuli Ncube may be but the political credentials of those he answers to will work against his every effort. The markets do not have confidence in the government at all.It certainly is not prophetic to note that Zanu -PF is living on borrowed times, it has failed to reform itself and cannot reform itself. It has gone too deep into hell to do that. The world's capital lack of confidence in Zimbabwean political processes, the legitimacy crisis prevailing and commonplace corruption will be permanent features, only fundamental policy shifts and a new constitutional order founded on legitimacy, rule of law, anti-cronyism and economic solutions not founded on popular sentiment will see this country move forward and catch up with the rest of the developing world.Robert Sigauke is a political commentator, author, legal professional and entrepreneur. He writes from Cape Town and can be contacted on dialogue@highveldmail.co.za WhatsApp +27713348876. Opinion / Columnist The authentic 1893 Mthwakazi (Matebeleland) Human Rights Restoration Movement (1893 MHRRM) once again reminds the public that there shall be a demonstration against the Motlante Commission outside the RSA embassy in the UK on the 15h Dec 2018 from 10:00 am to 15:00 pm.The demonstration is a protest against the compromised Motlante Commission for its failure to protect the victims of Matebeleland Gukurahundi Genocide who testified before it and were subsequently victimised by the sectarian Zimbabwean police and state agents for raising the issue of the Matebeleland Genocide.Motlante's captured Commission has kept mum about this issue and has failed to issue a statement condemning such beatings and arrests. The Commission's failure to call for the need for the Genocide Testifiers to be protected is unacceptable and is condemned in the strongest of terms possible. This seemingly captured Commission, by all accounts, intents and purposes, abdicated its duty to protect those that testified before it. It has been negligent. It must be rounded up on this.Matebeleland citizens, friends of Matebeleland and all Human Rights Activists and Defenders are therefore invited to attend this event and register a strong complaint against the Motlante Commission via the South African UK embassy.With dedication, unparalleled and unprecedented commitment to our people, we vigorously unleash their voice regarding the Restoration and Protection of their sacred, sacrosanct and inalienable Human Rights without fear or favour, home and away!Our Matebele generational mandate attests to the fact that the Restoration and Protection of Matebele Human Rights and those of other subdued peoples of the world is the only game in town! Opinion / Columnist When MDC-T Morgan Tsvangirai was ailing and walking and breathing his last, he made it clear that he wouldn't die as someone who failed the party on its succession debate. The fake news paddled by his spokesperson who nicodemusly had jumped ship into Chamisa coup team made the world believe that Tsvangirai had spoken.When he went for his routine treatment, Tsvangirai left the party in the hands of his Vice President Elias Mudzuri and a loose alliance in the "hands" of Chamisa. Welshman Ncube knows the REAL truth not what he said during rallies. As was the tradition, the MDC-T part of the Alliance was always the bigger constituency within the Alliance and the presidency of the party was not supposed to be affected by what was happening at the Alliance where each party retained its autonomy.The clear indication is that Tsvangirai knew that according to the Alliance agreement, the union would either transform into a coalition once it wins the election for it to remain alive or it would collapse thereafter meaning the end of tenure for its presidential candidate. The party would continue being marshaled by the Acting President. The Alliance lost!Due to the unfortunate event that when Tsvangirai died there was violence against anyone who stood against Chamisa, Mudzuri stepped aside to allow the party to mourn and to go forward as it faced a crucial election.There was a clear difference as is day from night between the MDC-T acting President and the Alliance presidential candidate. The role of the later was to contest and either win or lose that election. Supposed he won, then the extra ordinary congress which must constitutionally organized by the Acting President within 12 months after Tsvangirai died must be organised to integrate party and Alliance leadership.This did not happen as unconstitutional mobocracy took Centre stage bringing forth a crisis of leadership and constitutional crisis within the party. MDC Alliance no longer exists and MDC-T was left to go with Thokozani Khupe. To then abuse the MDC-T constitution to govern dynamics within the Alliance is gross misgovernance. When Thokozani et al left the party, gap filling into all structures was supposed to be done by MDC-T members.To then take outsiders and impose them into the Standing Committee, the world would want to know which constitution was used. The world wants to know the identity of the new hybrid party created without going to congress. They say they are going back to the 'original' MDC, but this can not be done by rewarding rebels some who made it back in parliament via an MDC-T vote and not their party membership nor did they bring back what they took when they left or sold what they have to assist the hybrid creature. So only MPs and Councillors are identified as MDC Alliance, yet outside parliament and council they are tenants of a nameless, constitutional-less party.Unilateral appointments by Chamisa were as unconstitutional as is his fight to remain as leader of the party beyond February 2019. Zimbabweans and the world must know that the party has been taken to a path that destroys every tenet to which it was founded upon. The party misquandnering as MDC-T or Alliance doesn't exist and Chamisa knows this too well, but he has decided to abuse the voters, the members and emotions of Zimbabweans that his fight was for them. Look at how he abused the Government grant to fund his personal campaign and yet he has the nerve to turn around and fire poor Councillors elected by voters to become Mayors. It's about Nelson and even his roadrunner cabal has not made his quest for power any easier.The obsession with trying to fire VP Mudzuri and SG Mwonnzora is a clear sign of a person with an unstable deafitist mentality who sees 'enemies' even where democracy should thrive. Zimbabweans must know that the attempted agreement by Chamisa to negotiate 72 NPF (G40) seats with Grace Mugabe, without the knowlege of other Alliance principals or MDC-T leadership, the grabbing of seats especially from Welshman Ncube's MDC and the eventual double candidates in his party points to one author, Nelson Chamisa. Those G40 seats where allowed to contest under Zanu-PF, but against weak or penniless MDC alliance candidates. This is why he was quick to accept MPs and Councillors' defeat whilst rejecting his loss. It's was to leave G40 MPs untouched. Can one do all this without Grace Zipiting it?So the party is not in its current crisis by accident. Chamisa, Hwende and Zwizwai and Komichi are allowed to talk privately with junta and yet other members can't do it officially and openly. What are they hiding? How are rules applied?This is how the party has gotten to where it is right now and yet the general people celebrate blindly. This is not the MDC founded in 1999 and in whose name people have lost lives, property and limb. Today a new section shouts Sokwanele!Sidney ChisiHarvest House (Bloomberg) -- The arrest of Huawei Technologies Co.s chief financial officer in Canada provoked outrage from China at a critical point in trade talks with the U.S. Wanzhou Meng faces extradition to the U.S. over potential violations of American sanctions on Iran. Key Developments Meng will have a bail hearing Friday in Canada, scheduled for 10 a.m. Pacific Time, to determine whether she is a flight risk and should remain in detention during proceedings on extradition to the U.S.Chinese umbrage continues as state-backed media lash out at a despicable rogues approachHuawei agrees to U.K. demands to address risks in its hardware, to avert a potential British banThe telecoms giant reassures global suppliers and partners its business as usual with them Huawei Is Said to Prepare $2 Billion Overhaul (8:58 a.m.) Huawei is planning to overhaul its global software systems as it tries to avoid a ban in the U.K. and other European markets, after previous piecemeal fixes failed to assuage national security concerns, according to people familiar with the matter. Huawei is set to commit at least $2 billion in spending to make its equipment less vulnerable to hacking and snooping, said the people, who declined to be identified because the discussions are private. Huawei will offer to transform the way it engineers software, instead of merely applying one-off changes and workarounds in response to specific demands from companies and governments, and that work will continue until all security concerns are assuaged, they said. Le Maire Says Huawei Welcome in France (7:20 a.m. ET) French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire says Huawei investments are welcome in France, and that the company is an important investor in the country. In a press conference in Paris on Friday, he also said France would consider setting limits to Huaweis investments to protect sovereignty, if necessary. EU Commissioner Ansip Says Europe Should Worry (5:42 a.m. ET) The risk posed by Chinese technology companies like Huawei "should worry" members of the European bloc, EUs tech commissioner Andrus Ansip told a news conference in Brussels on Friday, Reuters reported. Story continues China Debates Pros and Cons of Retaliation (5:13 a.m. ET) The arrest has triggered a debate in China over whether to carry on with trade talks or link the two issues and retaliate. Conversations with seven Chinese officials across five government agencies, all of whom asked not to be identified, revealed a split between those focused on the economy and others who deal with national security. The first group saw a need to keep the two issues separate, while the second wanted to push back more forcefully against the U.S. One official mentioned being personally angry because Huawei is a point of national pride for the Chinese people, and keeping the issue separate from trade talks would be difficult even if top leaders wanted to. China has Serious Concerns About Ban Reports (3:40 a.m.) China, addressing media reports that Japan will effectively ban the use of Huawei and ZTE gear by a swathe of government agencies and its defense force, urged the country to maintain a level playing field. We express serious concerns over the relevant reports, foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters in Beijing. We hope the Japanese side will provide a level playing ground for Chinese enterprises and refrain from hurting mutual trust and cooperation. The comments come as countries around the world impose or consider imposing bans on the use of Huawei equipment. Donald Trump signed a bill in August banning the U.S. governments use of the companys technology based on security concerns. That same month, Australia barred the use of Huaweis equipment for 5G networks in the country and New Zealand last week did the same. The U.K. is currently debating whether to follow suit. Huawei Makes Concessions to Avert U.K. Ban (1:30 a.m. ET) Huawei has agreed to demands from British security officials to address serious risks in its software and equipment as it tries to avoid getting banned from supplying fifth-generation telecom equipment in the country. The Chinese technology giant agreed to a series of technical demands that will change its practices in the U.K. at a meeting this week between Huawei and senior officials from GCHQs National Cyber Security Centre. Huawei Tries to Reassure Partners Around the World (12:15 a.m.) Huawei sent a communique to its suppliers worldwide, reassuring partners that it abides by relevant laws and intends to keep its business relationships around the globe unchanged. The company added that it feels it is unreasonable of the U.S. government to use these sorts of approaches to exert pressure on a business entity. They are against the spirit of free economy and fair competition, according to a copy of the memo obtained by Bloomberg. Chairman Liang Hua will assume Mengs duties as CFO in the interim, according to a person familiar with the matter. Chinese Media Rail About a Despicable Rogues Act (9:07 p.m.) Prominent government-run media are painting Mengs arrest as a politically motivated effort to contain Chinas -- and Huaweis -- ascendancy. Obviously Washington is resorting to a despicable rogues approach as it cannot stop Huaweis 5G advance in the market, the nationalist Global Times said in an editorial. The English-language China Daily chimed in: One thing that is undoubtedly true and proven is the U.S. is trying to do whatever it can to contain Huaweis expansion in the world simply because the company is the point man for Chinas competitive technology companies. Trump Said Unaware of Extradition Before Xi Talks (4:06 p.m.) President Donald Trump wasnt aware the U.S. had requested Mengs extradition from Canada before he joined Chinese President Xi Jinping for dinner on Saturday, a White House official said. Trump and Xi dined at the Group of 20 summit in Buenos Aires, where they sought to defuse the trade war the U.S. president sparked with Beijing this year by enacting tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars worth of Chinese imports. Trumps national security adviser, John Bolton, said in an interview with NPR earlier on Thursday that he knew in advance of the plan to arrest Meng. Arrest Said Tied to Iran Transactions Via HSBC (2:47 p.m.) Mengs arrest is part of an ongoing investigation by U.S. prosecutors into whether Huawei violated banking laws as it sought to evade sanctions against Iran by routing a series of transactions through HSBC Holdings Plc, according to a person briefed on the matter. A federally appointed monitor of HSBC flagged the transactions involving Huawei as suspicious to U.S. prosecutors, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. HSBC was among several banks that have done business with Huawei and isnt a target of the probe, the newspaper said. Rob Sherman, a spokesman for HSBC in New York, didnt immediately respond to a request for comment from Bloomberg News. Bolton Knew in Advance of Plans to Arrest Meng (2:00 p.m.) U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton said he knew in advance about the plan to arrest Huaweis Meng Dec. 1, but stopped short of saying that he knew particulars during the dinner between Trump and Xi that was happening at the same time in Buenos Aires. Bolton, speaking Thursday in an interview with NPR, said that actions of Chinese companies, particularly when it comes to intellectual property, will likely play a role in ongoing talks between the two leaders. I think this is going to be a major subject of the negotiations that President Trump and President Xi Jinping agreed to in Buenos Aires, Bolton said. Weve had enormous concerns for years about the -- in this country -- about the practice of Chinese firms to use stolen American intellectual property, to engage in forced technology transfers, and to be used as arms of the Chinese governments objectives in terms of information technology in particular, Bolton said. Huawei is one company weve been concerned about, he added. There are others as well. Europe Had Already Been Weighing Huawei Crackdown (11:43 a.m.) Officials from the U.K., Germany and France were already becoming increasingly wary of the telecom-equipment maker, according to people familiar with the matter. The U.S. has been bringing allies on board with its warnings that Huaweis gear could enable Chinese spying. Australia and New Zealand in recent months have barred Huaweis equipment from next-generation phone networks, though Europe has yet to take action. Europe, where 5G networks will be rolled out starting next year, is a key battleground for Huawei as its largest market outside Asia, and where the company has spent more than a decade notching contracts with the likes of Deutsche Telekom AG and Vodafone Group Plc. U.S. Said to Seek Extradition as Part of Crackdown (10:59 a.m.) The U.S. will seek to extradite Meng, who was arrested in Canada on Dec. 1, but it could take more than a year if the executive puts up a legal fight, according to two people familiar with the matter. The arrest of Meng was in the works for a while and is part of a stepped-up effort by U.S. authorities to hold Chinese nationals accountable for committing crimes, said the people, who asked not to be identified speaking about the sensitive matter. It wasnt immediately clear if the U.S. Justice Department had already started the process to extradite Meng, or when that will occur. The people said the White House supports the extradition effort, even though it could complicate sensitive trade talks with the Chinese government. Regardless, extraditions dont happen fast, the people said. For example, the U.S. spent more than a year trying to extradite Chinese national Su Bin from Canada for conspiring to hack military information, and even then the extradition only happened after he consented. Read More: Huawei CFO Arrest Pursued by U.S. Despite Risk to Xi Trade TalksChina State Media Calls Huawei Arrest a Despicable Rogue ActHuaweis Arrested CFO Rose Through Ranks Despite Fathers RebukeU.S. Pursued Huawei CFOs Arrest Despite Risk to Trade TalksHuawei Arrest Tests China-Canada Ties as Trudeau Weighs Risk Europe Was Growing Wary of Huawei Even Before CFOs Arrest --With assistance from Erik Wasson, Chris Strohm, Mark Gurman, Josh Wingrove, Jennifer Jacobs, Nate Lanxon and Helene Fouquet. To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Terrence Dopp in Washington at tdopp@bloomberg.net;Josh Wingrove in Ottawa at jwingrove4@bloomberg.net;Ian King in San Francisco at ianking@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Peter Elstrom at pelstrom@bloomberg.net, Molly Schuetz, Edwin Chan For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com 2018 Bloomberg L.P. (Bloomberg) -- Huawei Technologies Co. Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou was charged with conspiracy to defraud banks and should not be granted bail because she may flee, a lawyer representing Canada said during a court hearing on Friday. The U.S. alleges that Huawei used an unofficial subsidiary called Skycom to do business in Iran for Iranian telecom companies, breaching U.S. and European sanctions against the Middle Eastern country, according to Crown attorney John Gibb-Carsley. Banks in the U.S. cleared money for Huawei, but unbeknownst to these financial firms, they were conducting business with Skycom in contravention of the sanctions, the lawyer said. In her dealings with the banks, Meng hid ties between Huawei and Skycom, when in fact Skycom employees worked for the Chinese telecom-equipment giant, Gibb-Carsley added. He noted that some Skycom workers used Huawei email addresses and employees in Iran used a different set of stationary. Canada is presenting the case against Meng on behalf of the U.S., which wants to extradite her. The Crown attorney argued against granting Meng bail because shes so wealthy that she will easily be able to pay whatever is required and then flee. Since learning of the investigation into her alleged activities, Meng has avoided the U.S. and other Huawei executives have stopped traveling to the U.S., he added. "To feel the pull of bail, we are in a different universe in this case," he added. Banking institutions were induced into transactions that violated sanction laws and exposed them to risk of fines, he also said. The attorney didnt name the banks. Mengs defense lawyer David Martin said the evidence presented doesnt prove she broke either U.S. or Canadian law. U.S. sanctions law is very complex, has changed over time, and there are exemptions for telecom equipment in the countrys Iran sanctions, Martin argued. A major pillar of the U.S. case is a misrepresentation that Meng allegedly made to a U.S. bank in 2013, referred to as "Financial Institution 1." Martin identified the firm as HSBC Holdings Plc, but he disputed the U.S. allegation that Meng misrepresented anything to that financial institution. "HSBC has rich experience in trade compliance," he added. Story continues Meng was arrested in Vancouver Dec. 1 at the behest of U.S. authorities for allegedly violating American sanctions on selling technology to Iran. She was flying from Hong Kong to Mexico with a stop in the Canadian city. Meng spends two weeks a year in Vancouver, her family owns properties in the area, and she has a 16-year old son at school in Boston. Martin, her lawyer, said she would never breach a court order on bail because that would embarrass her father and China. The case has roiled markets already hammered by months of rising trade tension between the worlds two largest economies. The move has especially enraged China, which called for her release. Meng is one of Chinas most prominent businesswomen. She is the daughter of Ren Zhengfei, the founder of Huawei, a national champion at the forefront of President Xi Jinpings efforts for China to be self-sufficient in strategic technologies. While the U.S. routinely asks allies to extradite drug lords, arms dealers and other criminals, detaining a major Chinese executive in this manner is unusual. Thumbs Up Meng entered the courtroom in downtown Vancouver at 10:25 a.m. local time, wearing a green sweatsuit and accompanied by her lawyer. She sat at the back of the courtroom in a clear plastic cubicle. About 100 people looked on from the public gallery. She gave a thumbs up to her lawyer before proceedings began. Throughout the hearing, Meng sat in the back of the courtroom mostly still, occasionally leaning toward her interpreter. At one point, the interpreter stepped forward to ask the judge to ask everyone to proceed slowly so she could keep up. The judge agreed. The hearing in Vancouver is the start of a long legal process in Canada that could end with Meng being sent to the U.S. to stand trial. Even though the North American neighbors have a longstanding treaty governing extradition, it can take months, even years, for a defendant to be handed over, if at all. Should a judge agree to extradite Meng, she would have multiple chances to appeal the decision. (Updates with details of U.S. allegations in fourth paragraph.) --With assistance from Christian Berthelsen and Josh Wingrove. To contact the reporters on this story: Natalie Obiko Pearson in Vancouver at npearson7@bloomberg.net;Kevin Orland in Calgary at korland@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Scanlan at dscanlan@bloomberg.net, Alistair Barr, Molly Schuetz For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com 2018 Bloomberg L.P. Canadian Natural Resources is doubling down on its concerns about wasted space on Canada's biggest oil pipeline, blaming a "dysfunctional" process as one reason for slashing its spending plans next year. It follows complaints the company's executive vice chairman Steve Laut made last month, saying current rules allow "certain players" to exploit the system by booking pipeline space they don't need when capacity is tight. There are concerns these so-called air barrels mean less oil is reaching the market, resulting in lower prices for Canadian crude. On Wednesday, Canadian Natural slashed its capital spending for 2019 by about $1 billion. "Currently the lack of market access and a dysfunctional pipeline nomination process are creating industry challenges," the Calgary-based company said in a release. So-called "air barrels" are caused when oilpatch players or traders book more pipeline space than they physically need, resulting in leftover pipeline space. Alberta is desperate for any spare space right now. Mark Blinch/Reuters Because there is so much competition for pipeline space these days, pipelines can become overbooked, causing the pipeline company to then cut allocations across the board. Oil companies react by booking more space than they need, so that if there is an allocation cut they will still be able to ship all their oil. Serious complaints The Enbridge Mainline, running from Edmonton to Sarnia, Ont. and into the U.S. midwest, is the focus of concern that pipeline space is potentially being misused. Most pipelines allocate space based on long-term contracts, while the Enbridge Mainline divvies up space on a monthly basis. Analyst Samir Kayande, a director at RS Energy Group, said Laut's recent complaints around a dysfunctional pipeline nomination process are serious. And he has his own questions about how the system is working. Looking at National Energy Board data, he said Mainline pipeline flows in the third quarter of 2018 appear lower than in the second quarter "by just a little bit" around 100,000 barrels per day. Story continues Jeff McIntosh/Canadian Press "But of course we're in a very tight market and so small differences in flows actually make a big difference in price," Kayande said. "The logical question we should be asking ourselves is: why are Enbridge pipeline flows down when there's all this oil production everywhere and storage is bulging at the seams?" Enbridge told CBC News the primary reason for the difference was a higher level of planned maintenance. The year-to-date delivery average is within industry standard, it said. Government priority Alberta Premier Rachel Notley has said her government is examining the issue, something the provincial government confirmed Wednesday. "We think it's unacceptable if the process for booking pipeline space is resulting in producers having their oil turned back unnecessarily," said spokesperson Mike McKinnon. "We're in close discussions with companies who are working to develop support for an industry-led solution to this issue and we'll consider if any further actions by government are needed." In an emailed response to questions by CBC News, Enbridge said it is working with customers and the provincial government to maximize takeaway capacity out of the province, but said its Mainline system "is essentially full." "There is no material capacity to be gained by changing the apportionment and supply verification procedures," spokeswoman Tracie Kenyon said. She said Enbridge's nomination process is the result of customer consultation and regulatory proceedings, adding "it is a robust process, with a number of checks and balances." For an industry facing an oil price crisis, every ounce of space is critical. Increasing oil production, coupled with limited space on oil export pipelines, has created a backlog of oil in Western Canada. This oil glut has weighed heavily on the price of Alberta crude, most of which is sold into the U.S. Past concern Besides Canadian Natural, other companies have also raised concerns about air barrels, also known as over-nominations. Devon Energy, for one, wrote to the National Energy Board in June stating its issues with over-nominations or the process of companies booking more space than they actually need. "Over-nominations inflate the demand for pipeline capacity and pipeline apportionment on the Enbridge Mainline and negatively impact the ability of producers to access pipeline capacity to sell their monthly oil production," Devon wrote. Jason Franson/Canadian Press "Producers and other industry participants suffer significant economic harm every month as a result of ongoing over-nomination on the Enbridge Mainline." The issue of air barrels is not new, but is now under scrutiny due to financial pressure facing the oilpatch. "There can be people given space and they don't necessarily use it," said Dennis McConaghy, a former executive with pipeline firm TransCanada. He said there is always going to be some elements of "gamesmanship" in the process of booking space on the Enbridge line. "There is always some possibility that you will have an individual shipper getting an allocation of space and how they choose to use that allocation through the month can sometimes result in air barrels," he said. Enbridge tried to revise how it allocates space on its pipeline system earlier this year, but quickly scrapped the plan. The company said in recent months it spoke to shippers about potential changes, but it "determined there is no consensus" on how to modify current procedures. Machel Rayner, the Jamaican-born man who feared having to leave his adopted country of Canada, has had his work permit reinstated by the Newfoundland and Labrador government. Rayner, 31, received tremendous support after a CBC News story aired Thursday morning on his plight to stay in the province. By late Thursday afternoon, Rayner received word that his work permit had been reopened, allowing him to stay and work in the province until an appeals hearing in January. His appeal, however, could still be denied, but the move by provincial officials allows him to continue to make money for him and his family. "People may think social media is full of anger all the time, but in this case, it was really just a demonstration of support for Machel," said Liberal MP Nick Whalen, whose office helped Rayner with his permanent residency application in the spring. The back story After eight years living in the most easterly Canadian province, Rayner received confirmation of his permanent residency in Newfoundland and Labrador in September. However, there was one more thing he had to do. Rayner needed to find a good-paying job, one that could support him, his two younger siblings and his mother back in his home country of Jamaica. But that one move temporarily relocating to Halifax for work put him at odds with the rules of the Newfoundland and Labrador government immigration program, which insisted that he stay put inside the province. The expulsion threw his life, and the lives of his family, into flux. "I was distraught. I was weak in the knees," Rayner, 31, said in an interview Wednesday. "I cried at the airport. I ... feel as if I let everyone down." Love of Newfoundland Nearly a decade ago, while working at a Sandals resort in Jamaica, Rayner was approached by a couple from Newfoundland who sold their province as a place where the charismatic Rayner could live and thrive. Intrigued, he applied to do his undergrad at Memorial University and was accepted. Story continues Bruce Tilley/CBC The province upheld all his expectations, he said. I had to think on my feet as I have been doing since I was 19, sending them to school right through since kindergarten. I have to find a way to keep providing for them. - Machel Rayner "Everyone here is friendly. They go out and beyond to make sure that I'm comfortable here," he said. "The university professors, they are as helpful as they possibly can and it's always a first name basis, which is quite a bit difficult for me," Rayner laughs. "Because back home it's all sir and madam." Rayner's contagious laughter, positive outlook and big smile caught the attention of CBC cameras in 2011 while he was working behind the counter at Tim Hortons at the Aquarena in St. John's. CBC He would sing and dance for customers to brighten their day. After completing his degree in kinesiology at MUN, Rayner brought his positive outlook to the gym, where he sang and danced for clients looking to improve their physical fitness. He was "living the Newfoundland dream," taking chilly walks along the edge of the North Atlantic with Newfoundland dog Jam Jam, and giving a hearty nod and "whattaya at, b'y?" to anyone who passed by. Cash-strapped in the city But after his employer cut one of the fitness programs Rayner taught at a local gym he suddenly found himself losing out on $10,000 a year or about 25 per cent of his annual income. "With that reduction in income, I was financially stifled. I couldn't meet my bills with my regular livelihood and also take care of my diabetic mom back home," Rayner said. "So, I had to think on my feet as I have been doing since I was 19, sending them to school right through since kindergarten. I have to find a way to keep providing for them." Rayner had already saved enough money to bring his younger brother Shaquille, 23, to the province, where he's currently studying to be an electrical engineering technologist at the College of the North Atlantic. Bruce Tilley/CBC His youngest brother, who is 21, is set to arrive next year. Rayner needed to find money to fulfil the wish he made his mother eight years earlier to get his little brothers to Canada. "I wasn't thinking. I was just thinking about how to provide for my family because if my income is cut, there's a ripple effect on everyone else." He didn't have any luck securing a higher-paying job in Newfoundland, but Rayner did get an offer in Halifax. "I was hesitant in going because Newfoundland is home," Rayner said. "This was a temporary move because my other brother is coming. I have to prepare for him and be here when he arrives." Axed from N.L. program By leaving the province for work albeit temporarily Rayner said he was automatically removed from the Newfoundland and Labrador Provincial Nominee Program. Rayner had confirmation of his permanent residency but had to complete one more step before it became official. Through his travel to Halifax from a celebratory trip to the United States, Canada Border Services learned Rayner would be working in Halifax, and not Newfoundland and Labrador, as had been agreed upon. While it wouldn't discuss the case, the Department of Advanced Education, Skills and Labour said that the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Immigration Agreement requires immigrants to live and work in this province as they pursue permanent residency. The certificate is granted to people who have skills that the province can use to address specific economic development and labour market needs. Federal immigration and refugee protection regulations require that people "must intend to reside" in the province that nominated them. "It's important for people to realize that if new Canadians are here on work visas, they do need to follow all the terms of their conditions of them staying in the country and working in the country," MP Nick Whalen said. "Often times mistakes will happen and then my provincial counterparts and my office are there to help people get through mistakes should they happen." Submitted Without the program, Rayner either has to leave the country voluntarily within two weeks and start the process over again or appeal and run the risk of being banned from Canada for a minimum of one year. While the appeal hearing is risky, Rayner said, he plans to continue working in St. John's as long as the province allows him. He is hopeful the appeal will work in his favour. Packing 8 years of memories If Rayner was told about the stipulation, it simply slipped his mind, he said, adding he originally applied for his residency three and a half years ago. On Wednesday, Rayner and his brother Shaquille packed a small storage unit in St. John's full of Rayner's things. His framed diploma from Memorial University perched atop a pile of possessions collected over eight years. Working two jobs and seven courses, Shaquille will shoulder the family financial burden for now. It was something I did wrong, by not reading the fine print. - Machel Rayner "All my mom has been doing is praying that I don't return [to Jamaica] and that there's some sympathy," Rayner said. "But it will [end] up on my little brother now to continuously send $100 back home so they can eat for two weeks." It's on me, Rayner says In recent years, the Newfoundland and Labrador government has put a big push on immigration. With more citizens dying than being born, the population is dwindling and is in desperate need of a boost. A provincial Liberal immigration action plan released last year indicated the province has a "roadmap" to welcoming 1,700 newcomers annually by 2022. Submitted Now, one of their longtime residents is leaving. Rayner may have worked on the beach at a Sandals resort, but he grew up in one of Jamaica's toughest neighbourhoods: Trench Town in the capital of Kingston. Meghan Felt, Rayner's immigration lawyer, said he does have the option to apply under a federal express entry program that should allow him back in about six months. As for Rayner, he's not jaded by his experience. Nor does he blame the province. "It was something I did wrong, by not reading the fine print. And I will just have to see what's the best route to come back." Over the next five years, a team of doctors and experts in varying disciplines will be putting their heads together and comparing notes in hopes of gaining a better understanding of how Multiple Sclerosis progresses in patients. The Canadian Proactive Cohort Study for People Living with MS or, CanProCo for short, will be led by Toronto-based neurologist Dr. Jiwon Oh at St. Michael's Hospital. "It's a very common disease in Canada. Probably most people in Canada know somebody with MS," Oh told CBC Toronto. MS is an auto-immune disease that attacks myelin, a substance that sheathes and insulates the nerves in the brain and spinal cord. Although there are drugs that can slow its progress, there's no cure and researchers have no idea what causes it. Its symptoms can include loss of balance, pain, problems with mobility and vision, chronic fatigue, cognitive impairment, depression and anxiety. In some cases, the patient's condition can deteriorate rapidly; in others, symptoms can remain mild for decades. "The challenge with MS is that when somebody is presenting for the first time we don't have a great way to predict exactly how they will do in the next five 10, 15, 20 years," Oh said. The study brings together about 50 clinicians and scientists who have expertise in many different fields of study that are important to MS. 'It's making everybody step outside of their comfort zone and look at things with another scientific field's lens.' - Dr. Jiwon Oh To name a few, the team will consist of neuro-immunologists who'll use their expertise in identifying molecules and pathways to examine how MS starts and progresses. They'll be working in conjunction with imaging experts who use novel MRI techniques to get better images of the brain and spinal cord. Epidemiologists will be studying patient populations and health economists will look at the cost of the disease to the healthcare system. Story continues Oliver Walters/CBC Aside from the eventual findings, this think tank-style collaborative method is what excites Dr. Oh most. She says it forces scientists to exchange notes so to speak. "it's making everybody step outside of their comfort zone and look at things with another scientific field's lens," she said. Bridging the gap between research and lived experience One thousand MS patients will be recruited for the study in early 2019. They'll represent people dealing with the different forms of the disease including Relapsing Remitting MS, which is the most common. iStock It's what Heidi Pylypjuk has. "There's highs and lows," she explained. "Sometimes it gets better, sometimes it doesn't." CBC She acted as a patient consultant when the scope of the study was being defined. "I represent the patient population that is affected by MS," said Pylypjuk. "One thing the MS Society is starting to do is really encourage patients to be engaged in the research but also help direct it," she said. 'A way for people to communicate better' She wanted to make sure the team of elite experts also know how to communicate with the patients they'll be working with. "Right now, when you go to the MS clinic for your appointment, [which is] usually is a one once-a-year thing, you might not feel like you've been heard," she said. She says she wanted to stress the importance of consistent follow-up appointments and that patients should be updated on the study's progress. "I wanted to make sure that there was a way for people to communicate better and to be followed," said Pylypjuk. "This is an opportunity to maybe bridge the gap a bit between research and actually lived experiences." The $7-million study is supported by the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada, its donors and the nationally funded Brain Canada Foundation. The minimum study duration is five years but Dr. Oh hopes to have it extended. "The value of a cohort only increases as the follow-up duration increases," she said. "MS is a disease that really lasts decades." A Terrace, B.C., man's idea to reduce single-use plastics in food packaging will be the subject of a private member's bill, thanks to a unique contest. Ben Korving is the winner of the Create Your Canada contest, which allows people to submit ideas for new laws. Started by Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP Nathan Cullen in 2009, it was originally designed for high school students in his riding to participate in the law-making process. This year, constituents of all ages were allowed to participate. Korving was sitting at his kitchen island when he saw the ad for the contest, and that's where he was inspired by his idea. "My biggest frustration is with packaging in general, specifically the [plastic] ... that has to get tossed into the garbage after one use because they have no subsequent life," Korving said. "And if you look at your day-to-day examples, you'll probably find dozens within the span of a few minutes: food packaging, Styrofoam, various metals, etc." Michelle Hall Korving's idea banning all single-use plastics in consumer products that aren't either recyclable or compostable beat more than 100 other entries to win this year's contest. "I've never won anything in my life other than maybe a Roll Up The Rim coffee," Korving said, laughing. "I was very surprised and quite elated." Listen to the interview with Ben Korving here: Korving's idea was picked by a panel of judges made up of community leaders across northwestern B.C. Cullen said Korving's idea seemed "like a no brainer." And while there might be resistance from industry to this idea, Cullen said there's plenty of room for innovation. "There might be some in the industry that see the opportunity in this to be able to offer packaging that people know won't end up in a landfill," he said. Korving will now fly to Ottawa in early 2019 to witness his idea being turned into a private member's bill and tabled in the House of Commons. The Cree Nation Government has voted in favour of a ban on Cree hunters harvesting caribou from the George River herd, whose numbers have seen a decline of 99 per cent since 2001. A resolution to limit the Cree hunt of the herd, which is down to just 5,500 caribou, passed unanimously last week at a regular council board meeting of the Grand Council of the Crees/Cree Nation Government in Matagami, Que., including community chiefs. Let the population rest and replenish and build its strength again. Nadia Saganash, Cree Nation wildlife administrator "We are concerned about current harvesting still occurring with this herd," said Nadia Saganash, wildlife administrator for the Cree Nation Government. Saganash says when populations reach such critically low levels the "genetic fitness and diversity" of the herd is reduced and it becomes less able to adapt to environmental stresses and changes. "Let the population rest and replenish and build its strength again," said Saganash. Matthew Mukash 'Unauthorized' harvesting condemned In reality, the measure is not likely to impact Cree hunters too much, as the George River herd is down to so few animals, its normal range is greatly reduced and is now concentrated mostly in Labrador, says Saganash. The Cree Nation Government also passed a second resolution last week condemning what it calls "unauthorized" hunting of the second herd of caribou in Quebec the Leaf River herd by other Indigenous groups on Cree territory. According to Quebec government statistics, the population of the Leaf River herd dropped by around 70 per cent between 2000 and 2016 down to 181,000, before rebounding slightly in 2017 to just over 209,000 caribou as of February 2018. Saganash says the Cree are still concerned that increased pressure from outside Indigenous hunters will put the Leaf River herd at risk for future generations of Cree, Inuit and Naskapi who have benefits under the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement. Story continues "I know that a lot of Aboriginal nations are also relying on this population because of the scarcity of the George River herd," said Saganash, saying non-beneficiary hunters are increasingly coming from Labrador and elsewhere to harvest in Cree territory with the help of local Cree, Inuit or Naskapi guides. The resolution says "unauthorized guiding" activities have to end to protect the Leaf River herd for future generations. "We want to have the population to stabilize so we can continue a small harvest on this population." 'Gifted' Quebec caribou seized Matthew Mukash All of this comes as several Innu were stopped by Quebec provincial police from bringing harvested caribou from Quebec to Labrador last week. The officers seized the caribou Tuesday afternoon and fined the group, including Innu Nation Grand Chief Gregory Rich. The Innu say they had a letter from the chief of Chisasibi showing the caribou had been given to them as a gift and are considering taking the matter to court. According to a statement issued by Quebec's wildlife ministry on Monday, the area in question falls under the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement, which protects the hunting rights of the Cree, Inuit and Naskapi beneficiaries. Saganash says the tradition of sharing and gifting has always been a part of Indigenous "core" values, but too much is happening right now under the radar and without clear guidelines and limits. "We want guidelines in place so there's no abuse of this practice. This is especially important when the resources are low or depleting," said Saganash. Crees want Nation to nation agreement The Grand Chief of the Cree Nation, Abel Bosum, says he would like to see "nation to nation" agreements with other First Nations about managing caribou and harvesting wildlife. "We know that people are feeling pressured because they are hoping to get some caribou for Christmas," said Bosum. "We need to sit down together and talk. Once we have an agreement in place, then we can negotiate with Quebec and Canada." Saganash says she is confident the conservation message will be adhered to. "Our hunters are wise enough to adopt conservation measures," said Saganash. "Because ultimately they are the ones that will be most impacted by the decrease." Narcos: Mexico, the Narcos spinoff series that rolled back the clock a bit on the timeline and moved the action from Colombia to Mexico, is going to return for a second season. This won't come as a surprise to anyone who watched Narcos: Mexico. Despite focusing on a very specific story about the rise of the Guadalajara Cartel and the man who built it, Narcos: Mexico takes plenty of care to contextualize itself in a way that makes it very easy to imagine many more seasons of the cartel dramaearly on, for example, we meet a young, seemingly insignificant driver who goes by the nickname "Chapo." We don't yet know where, exactly, the next season of Narcos: Mexico will take us and which members of the cast will be returning, but suffice it to say that there's a cliffhanger ending that suggests that the team behind Narcos: Mexico have a very clear idea of where their show is going next. Which makes sense: Narcos: Mexico is a show that doesn't ever play coy with where it's goingright at the start, it tells you who's doomed, and what lies at the end of its journey: the start of the modern War on Drugs. Which, given Narcos' popularity, we can likely count on being recounted in painstaking detail across many more seasons, as cartel dramas seem to be a high viewers can't get enough of. The federal-provincial bluster leading up to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's fourth first ministers meeting didn't translate into any dramatic showdowns. But as the talks wrapped up in Montreal Friday, it became clear the tension didn't lend itself to any tangible progress, either. Several days of public bickering over the agenda, including a threat from Ontario Premier Doug Ford to walk out, seemed to simmer down when the leaders actually got into a room together. Sources told CBC News Ford spoke very little during the day-long meeting, as cameras caught him smiling and saying things were "fantastic." The prime minister met early Friday morning with national Indigenous leaders before the premiers joined First Nations, Inuit and Metis leaders for a larger discussion of their economic development issues. Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc, Environment Minister Catherine McKenna, Finance Minister Bill Morneau and Canada's ambassador to the United States, David MacNaughton, joined the group this morning for six hours of talks on economic and trade issues. Cameras were invited into the room briefly to record opening remarks from Trudeau, who touted his government's record on job creation and economic growth and its efforts to protect the environment. "Pollution should not be free anywhere in Canada," he said, as several premiers who adamantly oppose the federal carbon pricing strategy looked on. (Saskatchewan and Ontario are both challenging the federal carbon tax in court, calling it unconstitutional.) Trudeau praised Quebec's cap and trade system for reducing carbon emissions. Emissions cut confusion The biggest disagreement that emerged from the talks seemed to come more from confusion than controversy. The Ford government's decision to end its cap and trade system has affected Canada's overall math for meeting its 2015 commitment to the UN's climate change convention in Paris to cut carbon emissions by 30 per cent by 2030. Story continues The previous Ontario government had committed to a 37 per cent reduction, but the new Ford government's plan will only curb provincial emissions by 30 per cent. The difference has to be made up somewhere, a fact noted by Trudeau when, according to people in the room at the time, he told the premiers that some provinces are going to exceed their targets and if it's possible for Ontario to exceed 30 per cent without bringing in a carbon tax, it should do more. Other provinces, Trudeau reportedly said, can't hit 30 per cent. (He may have been referring to Alberta, which because of its carbon-intensive oil industry faces a significant challenge cutting emissions.) The prime minister's remarks were interpreted by Ford and Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe as the federal government changing its demands on provincial governments and asking some to do more. "All of a sudden, the goal posts got changed," Ford said. "That creates uncertainty." "We're going to keep our side of the bargain. We're now asking the prime minister to keep his side of the bargain." Paul Chiasson/Canadian Press "We did not move the goal posts," Environment Minister Catherine McKenna told reporters. Other premiers, including Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil, agreed with McKenna that Trudeau wasn't asking some provinces to exceed their emissions reduction targets. Nova Scotia, McNeil said, is on track to exceed the 30 per cent target. "Premier Ford put forward a plan that is a step backwards," Trudeau said. "Canada's targets are national targets, even though the premier may wish to play games with numbers. "If anyone is moving the goal posts, it's Premier Ford." Trudeau said later that all the premiers expressed a desire to protect the environment, but disagree on how to do it. Ford, Moe and New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs, all of whom oppose the federal government's carbon pricing strategy, collaborated on strategy ahead of the talks. Other premiers, like B.C.'s John Horgan, remain supportive of carbon pricing, while other premiers like McNeil have come around to the federal climate strategy despite initial concerns. Paul Chiasson/Canadian Press Protesters outside the Montreal meeting called on the premiers to do more, not less, to reduce carbon emissions. After this meeting, McKenna, the federal environment minister, is heading to Poland for the UN climate conference. Debate over C-69 Several premiers made it clear going into the meeting that they were not interested in being lectured by Trudeau or any of his ministers. A source in the room told CBC News that, at one point, New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs interrupted Morneau's presentation to suggest he take questions. Morneau answered one, then carried on speaking. Higgs later told reporters he didn't think he was being lectured and felt positive about how things were going. "People presented a few issues that we need to continue to work on," Morneau told reporters, describing the ambiance as "good" and the premiers, including Ford, as "leaning in", engaged and working constructively during his one-hour session with them. Jessica Rubinger/CBC When the discussion turned to energy issues such as pipelines and Bill C-69, the Trudeau government's legislation to change the environmental assessment process to approve future projects premiers expressed a fear that the federal cabinet's veto power will deter future investments. Some premiers said they want C-69 repealed. (It's currently stalled in the Senate.) Others disagreed, saying the old system was worse. Trudeau pushed the premiers to suggest other solutions to the oil crisis. The only one offered was to move more oil by rail, a source said. Close to alcohol announcement? Interprovincial trade barriers were supposed to be original focus of this gathering. But the premiers don't appear to have done much on this file since they last met in July. Quebec was chairing the committee on internal trade before the October election that replaced Philippe Couillard's Liberals with a Coalition Avenir Quebec government under Premier Francois Legault; a new minister is now in the chair. Efforts to harmonize regulations for the trucking industry have moved forward, but on other files such as liberalizing alcohol sales the provinces seem to be digging in their heels. THE CANADIAN PRESS McNeil, one of two premiers tasked with the alcohol file coming out of the premiers' talks last July, issued a news release outlining several moves his province was making to facilitate internal trade, including removing personal exemption limits on alcohol transported into Nova Scotia for personal consumption. The premiers tried but failed to draft a joint announcement on alcohol exemption limits last summer. Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister, the other premier working with McNeil on trade issues, said nine provinces are ready to end these exemption limits, but the other provinces haven't agreed to opt out publicly so the rest can move forward. "Perfection is the enemy of the good," Pallister said, lamenting that other priorities keep taking precedence and standing in the way of progress on issues that should have been settled 30 years ago. Energy, climate issues divisive Instead of these trade issues, Alberta Premier Rachel Notley and Saskatchewan's Premier Moe went public with a letter Tuesday demanding a focus on the energy crisis. Canada's energy sector is being crippled by rock-bottom prices for Canadian oil and pipeline bottlenecks frustrating efforts to sell Canadian petroleum products in new markets. The federal government purchased the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project earlier this year, but a renewed consultation effort to secure approval for the project is not guaranteed to succeed. In the meantime, Notley is moving to purchase extra freight cars to move more oil by rail a plan Trudeau seemed willing to consider getting involved in during an interview Thursday with The National's Rosemary Barton. Notley reminded reporters that it only "makes sense" for Canada to be more strategic about how it uses its oil resources. Although no solutions resulted from this meeting, she expressed satisfaction with having raised the profile of the issue. At the closing news conference, Trudeau said he wants to keep working with Notley on how to help the oil and gas sector in her province in difficult times. Higgs had expressed interest in reviving the Energy East pipeline proposal, perhaps with new government investment. Premier Legault has said he isn't interested, citing strong opposition in his Quebec. Legault told reporters he wants $300 million in federal funding to pay for the costs of asylum seekers crossing Canada's border illegally outside regular border crossings. The federal government had only been paying for the cost of housing them about $76 million over the last year and Legault said Ottawa is willing to discuss doing more. Paul Chiasson/Canadian Press Representatives from Quebec's dairy sector were also protesting outside the meeting. They're anxious for compensation from the federal government for what they've given up in recent international trade deals, something Legault also raised Friday. A judge in Calgary is hearing the final arguments in a long-running Indigenous land claim that affects a large swath of territory in southern Alberta. Lawyers representing the Crown and the Blood Tribe wrapped up their cases Thursday in what's become known as the Big Land Claim at Federal Court. The band already occupies the largest reserve in Canada, stretching 1,400 square kilometres across the southwestern Alberta prairie, from west of Lethbridge south to Cardston. But the Blood Tribe has long claimed its territory encompasses more land everything from the St. Mary River in the east all the way to the Waterton River in the west, and south to the U.S. border or from the rivers to the mountains. Justice Russel Zinn is evaluating evidence from letters, oral history and a past government's intentions including statements made by Canada's first prime minister, Sir John A. Macdonald to try to determine whether the tribe's reserve should be bigger. This week in Calgary, more than 110 people piled into a sweltering courtroom to hear the final arguments from both sides, with hundreds more watching on live feeds. At its heart, this case is the story of how the dominion government settled the west, how rapid development helped give rise to the Blood Tribe's reserve, and how the band became unlikely neighbours with early Mormon settlers. But it's also a story about land surveys, promises, expectations and misunderstandings. Since the band started seeking the land claim in the 1970s, Ottawa has repeatedly argued the Blood Tribe isn't legally entitled to any more territory. In 2003 the Indian Claims Commission conducted an inquiry into the Big Land Claim. Four years later, it ultimately dismissed the claim. But the panel did find the federal government breached its fiduciary duty when it formed the Blood Tribe's territory and "arbitrarily" shrunk it the following year. An account of history, but whose? Story continues When the Canadian Government was drafting out reserve land, they used each band's population to calculate the Treaty Land Establishment (TLE). Those populations were typically calculated from "pay lists," which weren't necessarily a complete census, but considered, by the government of the time, to be pretty accurate. These pay lists were also known as treaty annuities. They were an annual payment the Crown made to treaty band members. In the Big Land Claim, these become quite important because the government used the population to plot out how big a reserve for a given band should be in this case, the government was setting aside one square mile of land per five people. An agreement in 1880 with the then-chief Red Crow exists. It was an agreement made to exchange one piece of land for another. "A treaty is different than an agreement, it invokes spiritual, culture and sacred elements," Brendan Miller, one of the band's lawyers, said. "It's not simply a contract, it's a solemn contract elevated to the highest levels." The size of the Blood Reserve should have been, in the tribe's position, based on th pay list population number from 1881, showing that the tribe had 3,640 members. A historic map shows the boundaries as plotted out by surveyor John Nelson in 1882, and details about the size of the land are published in documents to the government and the public. This is the land the band believes they are owed. And in a report to the government, that same surveyor writes he's plotted out 650 square miles for the Blood Tribe, in a laundry list that includes the Ponoka reserve, among others. But, in 1883 the boundaries change significantly in Treaty 7. And this is the "solemn Treaty" the government believes finalizes the agreement. Counts not reliable: Crown So, what changed? The Crown continues to argue that while the government was doing preliminary work and setting aside land for a reserve there was a sense that something was wrong with the pay lists. They weren't reliable and may have been, for one reason or another, inflated. So between 1882 and 1883, officials were scrambling to get a better idea of how many people were in the tribe and had, in the meantime, set aside land so that no one would settle on it until they had squared away the problems with the pay lists. So, the boundaries were finalised, and, officials said Red Crow knew and understood those boundaries. The Blood Tribe's lawyers see this differently. They argue that there was a ceremony smudging and other Indigenous traditions for the 1880 agreement with Red Crow that didn't happen in 1883, meaning the tribe doesn't see it as a legitimate agreement. Judge questions Crown's argument On Wednesday afternoon in court, the judge was skeptical. "I'm fairly convinced that whoever gave Nelson that number while the number may not have been accurate and it was believed to have been accurate at the time," said Zinn. He asked the lawyers whether drafting a map signalled to the world that those boundaries were, in fact, where the reserve was planned. "The responsibility [to find an accurate count] was on Canada," he said. The Crown's lawyers say that it wasn't uncommon for the Canadian government to survey land, and then make tweaks and changes because a survey isn't what decided a reserve or finalized it, the government had to make it official. The maps were created to assist settlers and reduce conflicts, according to Canada's submissions. And they say, the Blood Tribe's lawyers are relying on two maps that did not, and could not, accurately depict established boundaries for the band's reserve. The Canadian lawyers say nothing is missing, nothing was lost, no one was short-changed and there were no shenanigans. And the band didn't raise any concerns with their boundaries until 1887, when a group of Mormons fled from the strict anti-polygamy laws in the United States. They settled near what is the town of Cardston today. And, that's when the Blood Tribe complained to the government, confused about why the group they called Manywives were on their land. That's when the Crown says the Canadian government sent out someone to help then-chief Red Crow understand where the boundaries were. They say he was taken on a five-day, post to post tour of his reserve's southern boundary. The Crown's lawyer said it was clear after that tour that Red Crow knew where the boundary was, that he was satisfied with it, and was prepared to complain if the boundary changed. Final decision will take months Zinn is expected to take months to prepare his final decision and if he finds the Blood Tribe's arguments persuasive, there will be another hearing about what kind of remedies and compensation are appropriate. Miller said this is a legal case but it also embodies reconciliation. "I can't think of a case more coming within it, than this one," he said. And on Tuesday, the crowded room of band members nodded some quietly making sounds of affirmation. "This needs to be settled in order to reconciliation between Canada and the Blood." Humans will struggle to go cold turkey on 'anti-animal' idioms, wordsmith says Instead of killing two birds with one stone, how about feeding two birds with one scone? High-profile animal rights activist group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals caused a stir on social media this week when it instructed supporters to stop using "anti-animal language." In a tweet, PETA said "words matter" and people should "remove speciesism" from their daily conversations. Don't say "beat a dead horse" the group advised. Instead, try "feeding a fed horse." Instead of "bringing home the bacon," bring bagels home instead. Edmonton writer, poet and educator Tim Cusack said humans will struggle to follow PETA's advice. So many expressions evoke images of animals and PETA may have jumped the shark on the issue. Cusack wonders if they don't have bigger fish to fry. "Animals play an important part in our culture and over time we've come to use animals as a metaphor or an illustrative example for many things," he said. "For instance, when we talk about the importance of a community working together we say, 'Birds of a feather stick together.' When we think of giving directions we say, 'As the crow flies.'" Cusack said animals, insects and all kind of creatures have taken on a prominent role in how we express feelings and these phrases are a common crutch for most humans. They've become ingrained in our language. "Perhaps you've been as busy as a bee, or have a bee in your bonnet, or feel badgered to death," Cusack said in an interview Thursday with CBC Radio's Edmonton AM. "There are a lot of animal cliches and statements that really have been part of vernacular for quite some time and it's often very difficult to dislodge that." We're crying a lot of crocodile tears. - Tim Cusack Cusack has a certain affinity for animal related expressions and said he has no interest in going "cold turkey." Story continues Most of these idioms are benign, and are often nonsensical. "I can certainly appreciate how we want to be mindful of how we're treating animals, how we want to be humane and value animals in our society," he said. "But I think we're crying a lot of crocodile tears over some traditional sayings that are perhaps still quite appropriate or fitting, depending on the circumstances you're trying to depict. "If a cat's got your tongue, make a beeline for your favourite expression." The Nova Scotia government will fund a full restoration of CSS Acadia, a floating national historic site that served during both World Wars and is the only ship to have survived the Halifax Explosion that remains afloat today. Restoration work will include fixing the deck and subdeck. The vessel will be placed in a dry dock sometime in 2019 so the hull, electrical systems and ballast tank can also be repaired, but in the meantime any work that can be done while the ship is dockside will begin very soon, said Communities, Culture and Heritage Minister Leo Glavine. Robert Short/CBC After several years of being noncommittal about how much, if any, work beyond regular maintenance would be done to the ship, Glavine was emphatic Thursday about the need to return CSS Acadia to her former glory. "As we develop the culture action plan we realize that this can be a very, very big part of the future of tourism," Glavine said in a telephone interview. "If we're going to keep the Acadia on the waterfront for the next 40 or 50 years well into the future we need to get working on the vessel now." The minister would not say how much the work would cost because it hasn't gone to tender yet, but he said the government believes it has a firm estimate on the cost. A 2013 assessment for the Department of Transportation estimated it would cost at least $1.4 million to repair visible degradation on the ship. That estimate didn't account for any damage below the waterline or issues that could be out of view. CBC Earlier this year, a caretaker spotted holes in the 105-year-old vessel's steel hull. Rust and marine growth were visible on the Acadia's hull from its berth outside the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic on Halifax's waterfront. Emails and documents obtained through freedom-of-information laws painted an alarming picture of the state of the vessel. A year ago, Glavine said the government planned to take the ship out of water in 2018 to start the necessary repairs. While it appears unlikely the province will receive help from Ottawa with the bill, Glavine said the significance of the ship and its historic and tourism value makes the work worth doing regardless. Story continues "Anywhere up to 40,000 people visit the ship down on the waterfront each year," he said. "We're going to do all we can to keep it in the water, keep it available and perhaps have an even greater opportunity to go below deck and for Nova Scotians and for visitors alike to really appreciate the CSS Acadia." Canadian Navy archives The Acadia, which was built in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, was originally designed to survey Canada's Arctic waters. She did so in Hudson's Bay, and was also used to chart the coast of Newfoundland and for surveying off Nova Scotia. The vessel was called the "workhorse of the Canadian Hydrographic Service." During the First World War, the Acadia guarded Halifax's Bedford Basin. It was part of the Battle of the Atlantic during the Second World War. The Bluenose II was the last notable ship restored by the provincial government a project that was millions of dollars over budget and years behind schedule. Glavine said the problems the Bluenose restoration encountered won't be repeated with Acadia. This time around, engineers with the Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal Department have been involved throughout the process, Glavine said. Premier Francois Legault says his government isn't looking at changing the legal drinking age in Quebec. His junior health minister, Lionel Carmant, brought up the idea Thursday morning in an interview on CBC Montreal's Daybreak. But Legault said later in the day the idea is a non-starter. "We have no intention to change the age for alcohol," he told reporters at the National Assembly. On Wednesday, the Quebec government tabled a bill that would raise the legal age to buy and possess cannabis to 21, up from 18. The legal age to drink and buy cigarettes in Quebec is 18. During the Daybreak interview, Carmant, who is a doctor by profession, was asked how it makes sense to raise the cannabis age, but leave the alcohol age as is. He said there is an opportunity to make the change with cannabis now, since it has been legal for such a short period of time. Carmant said the dangers posed by alcohol are different from cannabis, but still present, and if what we know about it now had been known when it was legalized, the legal age might never have been set to 18. Daybreak host Mike Finnerty then asked Carmant whether the age to drink alcohol should be changed. "Well, that's a debate we should have. Same thing with tobacco," Carmant replied. Listen to the exchange: Later in the morning, Carmant said he doesn't think there will be a debate on drinking age right now. "Let's deal with cannabis first," he said. No evidence age change will work, minister says The legal age to buy, possess and consume cannabis in Quebec is currently 18. The new Coalition Avenir Quebec government wants to increase it over concerns about the drug's long-term impact on young peoples' mental health. It cited findings in the medical community for those concerns. Groups representing Quebec psychiatrists, medical specialists and emergency physicians have applauded the CAQ for its proposal to raise the legal cannabis age. Story continues But Carmant said there is no scientific evidence that fewer adolescents will use cannabis if the legal age is increased. Jacques Boissinot/Canadian Press He said the move is meant to "send a message that we're not going to deal with cannabis the same way we've dealt with alcohol and tobacco." He also said the key to lowering the number of young people using cannabis is through prevention campaigns. Listen to the full Daybreak interview with Lionel Carmant below: Decisions based on ideology, Opposition says Liberal health critic Andre Fortin said Carmant's comment is an example of the CAQ's ideology-driven policies. "He's saying we're not apt at 18 years old to make a decision on our well-being, whether it's tobacco, whether it's alcohol, whether it's cannabis," he said. Parti Quebecois MNA Veronique Hivon said she believes the CAQ has taken a very "paternalistic" approach to the legal age question, and that raising the age is not good public policy if the goal is reducing consumption. "When you decide as a society that 18 years old is the age of majority, how [can] you decide that for certain things, it's not good enough?" she said. The age of majority across Canada used to be 21, but that changed in the early 1970s. For more on the age of majority in Quebec, watch the video below. Despite Kim Jong Uns pledge to reduce his countrys nuclear capabilities, activity has been seen at bases Satellite images have picked up activity at a North Korean missile base. The new satellite images suggest that North Korea has expanded an unidentified long-range missile base along the mountainous interior of the country, according to CNNs Zachary Cohen. Last month, images revealed that North Korea had been working to improve 16 hidden ballistic missile bases, despite halting moves on dismantling a major site in order to appease the US. Although the construction does not technically violate any agreement between the U.S. and South Korea, it could be seen as evidence that numerous sites remain active. The images appear to show that Yeongjeo-dong missile base and another, previously undiscovered, nearby site remain active. North Korea has expanded a key long-range missile base in the months since a summit between the countrys leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump, according to satellite images published by CNN on Wednesday. This could lead President Donald Trumps administration to conclude that Pyongyang has failed to live up to its vow. Satellite images show that the base remains active. Moreover, in the past year North Korea has significantly expanded a nearby facility that appears to be another missile base, said researchers at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. Whatever Kim says about his desire for denuclearisation, North Korea continues to produce and deploy nuclear armed missiles. In October, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met Kim Jong-Un in Pyongyang to verify that the Punggye-ri nuclear test site had been irreversibly dismantled. The satellite images, obtained by CNN, imply that Kim Jong-Un has done little to keep his promise of denuclearisation.https://www.yahoo.com/south-korea-releases-footage-north-045407848.html?format=embedion=GB&lang=en-GB&site=news&expType=wordpressrelatedvideo By Hyonhee Shin and Joyce Lee SEOUL (Reuters) - In downtown Seoul, some 40 young South Koreans last month braved early winter chills to show their support for a planned visit to the South Korean capital by North Korea's leader, chanting "Kim Jong Un! Kim Jong Un! Kim Jong Un is a great man!" Kim Soo-geun, who founded a youth group called "Welcome Committee for a Great Man", has been drumming up donations from passers-by so they can run a subway advertisement to welcome Kim, who this year agreed to visit Seoul. "I like the communist party. You'll like them soon as well," he shouted. More than a dozen civic groups have sprung up to welcome Kim, visiting schools to collect welcome messages, imitating the dance moves of a North Korean art troupe and even naming their group after Mount Paektu, which Pyongyang says is the birthplace of Kim's sacred bloodline. Such activities have become possible as President Moon Jae-in's administration relaxes enforcement of South Korea's National Security Act amid efforts to improve relations with North Korea and halt its nuclear weapon and missile programs. Thousands of students, citizens and defectors were prosecuted, jailed and even executed under the 1948 law, which bars "praising, inciting or propagating the activities of an anti-government organization". Most were accused of spying for Pyongyang or undertaking other pro-North activities. Now, the rise of far-left, pro-Pyongyang activists exploiting the looser enforcement of the law has sparked a backlash from conservative groups and ordinary citizens that experts say could erode public support for Moon and his peace drive. Economic and jobs woes have already pushed Moon's approval ratings to the lowest levels since his 2017 election. Security officials and some defectors also say any abolition of the law could allow an influx of the North's propaganda glorifying the Kim regime. "Most South Koreans would support peace-building efforts with the North, but they're not ready to praise Kim who has yet to show his credentials as a trustworthy leader," said Cho Han-bum, a senior fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul. "To them, Kim is still a dictator." 'DEAD LETTER' Between January and October this year, only 15 people were charged with violating the law, the lowest level in 10 years, according to a Reuters review of Justice Ministry data submitted to Joo Kwang-deok, a lawmaker. Five years ago, 129 people were charged. "The act is virtually not being enforced," Kim Jong-kwi, a lawyer who worked on six relevant legal cases. "Some say it's now almost a dead letter." The law was enacted by the South in the wake of a revolt by some 2,000 troops following Korea's liberation from Japanese occupation in 1945. Amid decades of sometimes violent confrontations with the North, the law became primarily aimed at suspected North Korean spies and sympathizers. Critics say opaque definitions like 'praise' and 'incitement' in the law allowed for arbitrary interpretations that led to abuses by past military dictatorships and governments to silence dissenters and political enemies. Between 2007 and 2016, the South Korean government paid more than 212 billion won ($190 million) in compensation to 1,311 South Koreans who were falsely charged for violating the law in cases dating back to the 1960s, according to Kim Dang, who compiled the data from the Justice Ministry and the National Intelligence Service. Now the political pendulum has swung to the left, the same opacity is allowing the law to fade in practice, experts say. Moon, who as a presidential candidate said the law should be amended to prevent abuse by authorities, has cut staff at agencies tasked with enforcing it. The National Police Agency said its security investigation bureau has been cut to 479 this year from 580 last year. The administration has also reduced a military intelligence agency's workforce by more than 30 percent to 2,900. In an October survey of 1,013 South Koreans, more than half of them said they supported the National Security Act, while about a third said it should be scrapped or replaced, according a poll by R & Search. Pyongyang's state media on Tuesday urged repeal of the "unprecedented fascist, anti-reunification" legislation. "There is no reason for (the law) to exist now that a new phase of reconciliation and unity has arrived at the north-south relations," KCNA said in a commentary. DEEPENING CONFLICT The division in South Korea is coming to a head as Moon pushes to host Kim to Seoul as soon as this month. On Monday, a coalition of eight defector, human rights and lawyers' organizations said they were opposed to any more inter-Korean summits that fail to address human rights in the North. U.N. investigators have reported the use of political prisons, starvation and executions in North Korea, saying security chiefs and possibly even Kim Jong Un should be held accountable. "The National Security Act is an anachronism from the Cold War era that really now should be repealed," said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director of Human Rights Watch. "But human rights must be on the agenda for all the various dialogues and discussions between North Korea and the outside world." After the 40 young students staged their pro-Kim campaign, a conservative civic group filed a complaint to the prosecution against them for breaching the National Security Act. The Supreme Prosecutors' Office told Reuters that police are investigating the complaint. "Peace is all well and good but those organizations extolling Kim Jong Un are going way too far," said Kim Jong-hoon, a 27-year-old IT worker. "I don't think that's the way to lasting peace." When asked about a potential souring of public sentiment over Kim's visit, Moon said there can't be a "split in public opinion" and he believes all South Koreans would welcome Kim "with open arms". "Isn't it every citizen's wish if it helps realize denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, and achieve peace between the South and the North?" Moon said. (Reporting by Hyonhee Shin and Joyce Lee; Additional reporting by Jeongmin Kim and Minwoo Park; Editing by Soyoung Kim and Lincoln Feast.) Scott Pearson found out this week that Florida retirement living isn't all sunshine and shuffleboard you also have to watch out for alligator attacks. Pearson and his wife Andrea helped save a Florida man from an alligator at the Cypress Lakes Retirement Community in Lakeland near Tampa, on Monday. "I'm still a little freaked out," Pearson told CBC News. "We were both pretty shaken up." The pair was out for a walk while visiting his parents and strolling near a pond when they noticed a flock of birds flying off into the distance. WFLA/NBC That's when Pearson, an Ottawa native who now lives in Stoney Creek, looked across the water and saw an almost three-and-a-half metre long alligator lunge at a man from the shoreline. "Both of us were just stunned," he said. "I thought, 'are we really seeing this?'" Neither of them had a cellphone at the time, so they ran to a nearby roadway to flag down help. Pearson says he spotted a man in a truck and yelled at him to stop. "I said, 'A gators got him, a gators got him!" he said. WFLA/NBC By the time all three people got back to the scene, the man had managed to get free from the alligator's jaws and had gotten to a small, wooded are nearby, Pearson said. The animal, meanwhile, was swimming around in the water with the man's shoe in his mouth, he said. The two men then set about helping the senior. Pearson pulled off his shirt and the other man used it to wrap up the injured man's foot, as he was bleeding heavily. "My shirt was bright red within like a minute," Pearson said. Scott Pearson Not long after that, emergency crews arrived on the scene and loaded the injured man onto a stretcher. According to the NBC station in Lakeland, the 85-year-old victim, George Ihle, survived the attack and was last listed in stable condition on Tuesday. A representative from the Polk County Sheriff's Office said she believed the animal had been put down. Story continues Pearson says it was an experience he won't soon forget especially any time he's walking near a body of water down south. "I'll be watching a little more closely now," he said. adam.carter@cbc.ca By Crispian Balmer MILAN (Reuters) - Ukraine urged a gathering of dozens of foreign ministers on Thursday to increase sanctions against Russia, accusing Moscow of ramping up aggression against Kiev and sowing "instability and insecurity" across the West. Speaking at a meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the foreign minister of Ukraine denounced the recent seizure of three Ukrainian naval vessels and their crew by Russian forces off Crimea, saying it represented another assault on international law. "It is a matter of urgency to provide a prompt and consolidated international response to this act of aggression. Declarations are not enough. There must be action," Pavlo Klimkin told the annual gathering of OSCE ministers. "We must raise the cost for Russia with comprehensive and tailored sanctions ... There can be no business as usual." The 57-nation OSCE, a security and human rights watchdog, has been rattled by the military and diplomatic stand-off between Russia and Ukraine, both of whom are member states. But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov appeared untouched by the wall of criticism that faced him in Milan, thanking hosts Italy for creating a "warm atmosphere" at the meeting and pinning the blame for years of escalating tensions with Kiev on Ukraine and its allies. "Striving for dominance, a small group of countries uses blackmail, pressure and threats," Lavrov told the gathering in a cavernous conference center in Italy's financial capital. "Kiev (is) free from any punishment, shielded by its Western sponsors, who justify all its outrageous actions," he said. FIGHTING The United States and the European Union have imposed sanctions on Russia since 2014, when Moscow annexed Crimea, previously Ukrainian territory, after a pro-Russian leader was toppled in Kiev. Fighting between Ukraine and Moscow-backed separatists in the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine has killed more than 10,000 people. Most of the fighting ended with a 2015 ceasefire, but deadly exchanges of fire are still frequent. The unresolved crisis returned to the fore last month when Russian patrol boats fired on and seized three Ukrainian vessels in the Black Sea and captured 23 sailors. Moscow has accused Kiev of orchestrating the clash, saying the Ukrainian boats had entered Russian waters -- something Ukraine denies. Lavrov said on Thursday the move was a "provocation" and charged that Ukraine was seeking to sabotage any efforts to restore peace in the region. But U.S., Canadian and European ministers dismissed his version of events and pledged their full support for Kiev, demanding the immediate release of the detained sailors. "The Russian aggression was a miscalculation," said Wess Mitchell, the U.S. assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs. "It has strengthened Western resolve to maintain sanctions against Russia and has galvanized the international community's efforts to ensure the respect of international law... It is time for Russia to rethink this approach," he said. Canada's foreign minister, Chrystia Freeland, who has family roots in Ukraine, voiced her support for the country in Ukrainian in one session. "Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea, its direct involvement in the conflict in the Donbass and now its illegal actions targeting Ukrainian sailors and vessels ... cannot and must not be accepted by the international community," she said. (Reporting by Crispian Balmer; Editing by Hugh Lawson) There was loud sobbing in a Halifax courtroom as four temporary foreign workers who were underpaid by a Halifax businessman told their stories about the impact this had on their lives. Hector Mantolino pleaded guilty a year ago to a charge under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act relating to 28 temporary foreign workers that he employed in his cleaning business. He admitted to paying them less than he promised in an employment contract. The court was told the difference between what he promised and what he actually paid is $500,000. The Crown and defence were supposed to make their sentencing arguments on Thursday, but one of Mantolino's lawyers, Lee Cohen, was unable to attend court so the judge granted an adjournment. The final arguments will now be heard on Jan. 4. Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice Glen McDougall has indicated he will not be in a position to deliver a sentence on that date, but since many of Mantolino's victims had packed the courtroom Thursday expecting to hear the end of the case, McDougall invited those who wanted to read their victim impact statements in person to come forward. Twelve of the 28 victims had filed statements with the court and four of them opted to read them into the record. Liza Alcantara, 49, said she came to Canada from the Philippines looking for a better life for herself and her family. It wasn't until she got her first paycheque that she realized things weren't what she expected. Mantolino said she owed him money $2,000 for her airfare and $100 a month for rent. She told the court she was paid $500 for 134 hours of work. "But I always thought about what will happen to my children, my family with this little salary," she said. "How can I save? And what better life I can give to my children?" Joan Borromeo, 38, told court about the pressure he felt trying to support his family on his meagre salary. "It's very difficult and painful for us," Borromeo told court. Story continues Andrew Vaughan/Canadian Press "Behind our financial struggles, Hector [was] enjoying his luxurious life, party, vacation and gambling in casino until now." As each victim spoke, Mantolino sat with his back to them, looking at the opposite wall of the courtroom. Marivic Carrios sobbed and trembled as she read her statement into the record, and finished with an appeal. "It is imperative my lord, that when you decide his sentence, you remember all the lives he destroyed with every single act of greed," she said. "All of his victims suffered so much." 'The smile in my face changed to hatred' Amelita Dela Cruz told the judge she always dreamed of coming to Canada because she wanted to see snow and wanted a better life for her family. She was shocked to discover the reality of working for Mantolino. "I cried and prayed. This is not my future, my dream," she said. "Since then the smile in my face changed to hatred. He [took] advantage of everything from us." Mantolino is free on conditions. Two words came to my mind after smoking the QuickDraw Habano Corona Gorda flavor bomb. On top of that, this cigar delivers the whole package excellent construction, a nice amount of complexity, and of course great flavor. Wrapper: Ecuadorian Dark Habano Binder: Nicaraguan Filler: Nicaraguan Country of Origin: Nicaragua Factory: Tabacalera Fernandez Corona Gorda: 5 1/2 x 46 Price: $6.31 Review: QuickDraw Habano Corona Gorda by Southern Draw Cigars (12/11/17) Appearances on Countdown (By Year/Company): 2 (2017, 2018) Coming in at #30 is the QuickDraw Habano Corona Gorda by Southern Draw Cigars. This was a part of three Corona Gorda (5 1/2 x 46) sized line extensions added to the blends of the QuickDraw line. QuickDraw is a brand in the Southern Draw portfolio that has featured connoisseur-sized offerings geared at smaller, quicker smokes. The Corona Gorda size was added to the QuickDraw Connecticut, QuickDraw PA Broadleaf, and QuickDraw Habano lines. The blend features an Ecuadorian Dark Habano wrapper over all-Nicaraguan tobaccos used for the binder and filler. As with all Southern Draw Cigars, the cigar is produced at AJ Fernandezs Tabacalera Fernandez facility in Esteli, Nicaragua. This little cigar comes up big in the flavor department producing a mix of flavors such as natural tobacco, fruit, dry wine, chocolate, pepper, and classic wood. Its a medium to full-bodied smoke countered by medium strength. Southern Draw Cigars has been on fire the past couple of years, but this is perhaps the companys most under-the-radar release and earns a spot on the best of the best for 2018. For details of the 2018 Cigar of the Year Countdown, see our 2018 criteria. Photo Credit: Cigar Coop, except where noted Brand protection is much harder in the digital age - small packages are a big part of the problem Ekaterina Makarova of Sberbank gave us a sneak peak into its cyber squatting problems. The most memorable copycatwas a purported airline (an unusual second line of business for a bank) which mimicked the bank's branding colours, website layout and overall appearance. These issues are being successfully litigated via the Russian courts. Magdalena Kaput of Oriflame Cosmetics discussed the Protection of image rights. This is particular issue under their direct sales model where social media engagement and photos of Oriflame events are an important part of their business. As Magdalena explained in the world of post GDPR it is important to understand context and consent before using an image. Getting this wrong can create major reputational harm and a large liability under GDPR. Magdalena highlighted a particular feature of c elebrity and model contracts which needs to change - whilst they can be very long regarding location timing, lighting, hair and makeup to be used they do not tend to include specific consent to use of the image. This is a major omission which will need to be resolved in model/celebrity contracts to avoid problems in the future. Jan de Visser of Philips ' brand protection team explained the background to Philips' move into healthcare together with the divestment of its electronics name and many of its white goods and electronics products (which are now sold under licence). Many of the issues Jan raised will be familiar to IPKat readers from the plethora of infringing products sold on online platforms to the varying experiences of IP enforcement in China. A particular complaint concerned the absence of data on the sellers so it is not possible for brand owners to determine whether the goods are being sold by authorised resellers or not. During questions, a n audience member gave the platform perspective and pointed out that not all platforms are created in the same way. She highlighted that not every platform knows the precise origin of the goods sold on the site and whilst the data may technically be available, big data doesnt equal knowledge. She also noted that brand owners often refuse to do the test purchase so it is impossible for the platform to verify whether or not the goods are counterfeit. The impact of the track and trace legislation for cigarettes was discussed by Alexandra Munch of Philip Morris International . This means that it is now possible to see the full product route from factory to retail. She also noted that the move to e-cigarettes means that big tobacco is starting to worry more about online sales. I have recently returned from thein Frankfurt.It was a very interesting event with a wide range of speakers and topics all linked to brand protection. The talks ranged from the various online anti-counterfeiting tools and latest technological developments and intermediary liability through to the various methods that brands have adopted to protect their rights. There were far too many issues discussed for me to go into the detail they deserve but these blogs will cover off the points which I found most interesting (and I hope will be of the most interest to IPKat readers).The dangers associated with counterfeits and illicit trade were highlighted in David Luna s opening keynote. Oliver Fein went on to note that there is a tendency for business teams such as brand protection, security, IT security, IP and trade marks to work in very separate universes. He urged them to work together. Ken Bonefeld-Nielsen used a ball of wool and a funnel to highlight the importance of planning and prioritisation in crisis management. He reminded everyone that you have plenty of time before a crisis and none when one erupts. Get a standard operating procedure in place now! The key is clear communication in a timely manner. Whilst it may not be the brands legal responsibility for damage resulting from brand counterfeits, the brand name is in the news and it is an opportunity to present a positive solution for the public.The next post will look at the other perspectives which were covered such as law enforcement, the EU and academia as well as a quick overview of some of the technical solutions which were discussed in the course of the conference. An Australian kickboxer convicted of the murder of a Hells Angels drug trafficker is expected to be released from jail today, despite an ongoing appeal. Antonio Bagnato was convicted of the 2015 murder of Hells Angels boss Wayne Schneider and sentenced in February last year to the death penalty. The former kickboxer was the bodyguard of Mr Schneider, who was kidnapped and bludgeoned to death near the resort town of Pattaya. A staff member at Bangkwang Prison, where Bagnato is being held, told the ABC that he would be released on Friday. "Yes, there is [a] court order to release him," said the official, who did not give his name. The prison official said Thai police planned to re-arrest Bagnato immediately on separate charges. "He has a pending charge and will not walk out police will come to take him from prison to police station," the prison official told the ABC. The brutal murder of the bikie boss is believed to be linked to a wider criminal network smuggling methamphetamines from Thailand to Australia. FIND related content here In 2015, Australian Luke Cook was convicted of helping Bagnato flee to Cambodia after Wayne Schneider's murder. Last month Cook and his Thai partner Kanyarat Wechapitak were sentenced to the death penalty for smuggling 500 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, also known as ice. The Bangkok Post quoted Police Lieutenant General Sommai Kongwisaisuk as saying the couple bought the drugs from a Chinese supplier in international waters and stored it aboard a boat. Police said that while the boat was heading back to shore in the Sattahip district of Chon Buri province, they encountered a patrol boat and dropped the drugs into the sea before escaping. More than 50 kilograms of ice later washed ashore at a beach in Rayong. American Tyler Gerard was also convicted of being involved in the smuggling plot and was last month sentenced to death. Gerard previously stood trial alongside Bagnato and received a 3-year sentence for deprivation of liberty and helping to dispose of Wayne Schneider's body. Thai police used the GPS tracker on a rented vehicle used in the crime to identify the gravesite. | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE! "One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed, but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde abc.com.au, December 7, 2018 Iran on Thursday executed 12 prisoners in Kerman Central Prison, most of them convicted of drug charges. 4 of the executed prisoners were identified as, Abdolghani Ghalandarzehi, Yaghub Ghalandarzehi, Jalil Khodabakhsh and Yousef Jalaledin, all from Irans ethnic Baluch minority. According to witnesses, the bodies of 12 people executed today were handed over to their families. More recently, on November 21, the Iranian authorities, hanged three prisoners collectively in public in Shiraz on charge of moharebeh (waging war against God). In yet another case on November 14, Iran carried out a mass execution of 10 prisoners in in Gohardasht Prison of Karaj. The National Council of Resistance of Iran in November called on all international human rights advocates, in particular the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, and the Working Group on arbitrary death penalty, to condemn these executions. | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE! "One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed, but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde Activists are urging Morocco to vote in favor of joining an international agreement banning executions during the upcoming UN session. Rabat Although Morocco has not executed an individual since 1993, some human rights groups say the de facto abolition of the death penalty is not enough. The Moroccan Organization of Human Rights (OMDH), and the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty (WCADP) are urging Morocco to join an international agreement ending capital punishment. Morocco still maintains the death penalty as a lawful practice, and reports estimate there are at least 95 people currently on death row, according to a report from Cornell. Morocco had six chances prior to 2018 to join the UN moratorium banning the practice,but each time the country chose to abstain from the vote. This angered activists who cite the countrys constitution as proof the practice is immoral and should be ended. Though the vote to join the agreement was scheduled for December 13, activists managed to postpone Moroccos official vote until December 19, giving them an opportunity to repeat their pleas to the government, according to news outlets. Globally, capital punishment is steadily declining as more arguments emerge against its cruelty, as well as its statistical failure to deter future crimes. Currently, Egypt is the only country in North Africa to still carry out executions, reports Amnesty International. Even though the other countries are abstaining from executing criminals, no country in North Africa has legally abolished the practice yet. About 60 percent of the worlds population live in countries where the death penalty is still legal. The Huffington Post reports that powerful nations like the US, China, India, and Pakistan are the top executors. However, activists still hold out hope that things will change. Amnesty International Secretary-General Salil Shetty commented that as more countries have abolished the practice the isolation of the worlds remaining executing countries could not be starker. For Morocco, banning capital punishment could potentially have benefits in the political realm. As Morocco looks to become a more involved member of the international community both economically and politically, joining the growing team of abolitionist countries will make Morocco a pioneer among North Africa and a leader of human rights globally and accomplishing something a developed country like the US has still failed to do. | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE! "One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed, but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde Ever since the teaser of Saaho has released, it has piqued immense excitement in Prabhas fans not only in India but Japan as well. The actor's fans from Japan have started reaching to Prabhas and his team saying that they really are keen on meeting the actor and hence, there's a promise he has made. The Pan-Indian success of Baahubali: The Beginning and Baahubali 2: The Conclusion is evidence that Prabhas is the next big thing in Indian cinema. Prabhas has already been a huge star in the South and with Baahubali, his graph of popularity soared to new highs. A source tells, "Prabhas' recent movies have done well in Japan. Also, it has been noticed that tourists from Japan keep visiting his house in Hyderabad. Prabhas and his team will arrange a meet and greet for his Japanese fans before the trailer launch of Saaho." The actor who dedicated 5 years to the shoot of Baahubali was showered with multiple offers during the shoot of the film. However, Prabhas chose to focus only on the magnum opus. Enjoying tremendous fanbase across the nation, Prabhas is one of the most loved actors of India with a vast fan following on social media. The actor will be next seen in the big-budget film 'Saaho' alongside Shraddha Kapoor and he is currently shooting in Italy shooting for his next movie under the direction of Jil fame Radha Krishna Kumar. The working title of the movie is Amour co-starring Pooja Hegde. However, items such as petroleum and petrochemical products, automobiles, steel, precious metals and graphite are not allowed to be exported to Tehran. New Delhi: In a breakthrough, India has signed an agreement with Iran to pay for crude oil imports in rupees, industry sources said on Thursday. On Tuesday, India had signed a currency pact with the UAE that allows both countries to conduct trade in their own currencies eliminating a benchmark currency like the US dollar. According to sources, Indian refiners will make rupee payments in a UCO Bank account of the National Iranian Oil Co (NIOC). Around 50 per cent of these funds would be used for exporting items to Tehran. Asked why only 50 per cent had been earmarked for exports, industry sources said, It will be difficult for India to export items for even 50 per cent of the funds. Under US sanctions, India will be allowed to export farm commodities, food, medicines, and medical devices to Iran. However, items such as petroleum and petrochemical products, automobiles, steel, precious metals and graphite are not allowed to be exported to Tehran. Oil payments are being made in rupees only as against earlier arrangements where there was a ratio of 45 per cent rupees and 55 per cent euros, said sources. Indias UCO Bank is expected to announce the payment mechanism in the next 10 days. The MoU was signed following the US letting India and seven other nations to keep buying Iranian oil despite sanctions were reimposed on Nov. 5. Russian and Chinese shipping companies were pitching to facilitate India-Iran trade. FIEO president Ganesh Kumar Gupta said on Thursday that Indias exports to Iran grew by about 22 per cent in first six months of 2018-19. However, the imposition of sanction has definitely impacted Indias exports as three months window provided by the US got over in August, 2018, he said. Mr Gupta said that in past six months, India has shown good growth in export of cereals, meat, paper, pharmaceuticals, made-ups, auto-components, electrical machinery and equipment, glass and glassware among others. However, exports of iron and steel, article of iron and steel, copper, plastic and plastic products, essential oils, inorganic chemicals, man-made staple fibre, apparels suffered during the first six months of the fiscal. We have been given to understand that UCO bank is working on necessary modalities to start the rupee payment. This should apply to all exports except those in OFAC list, said Mr Gupta. shopping in Tulum is good but the road is a real bare. its the only thoroughfare through the jungle, to the hotels and restaurants and its heavily trafficked by huge construction trucks, delivery vehicles and cabs. the pot-holes are otherworldly in size, so everyone is sort of swerving their own path. its dangerous and not my best life, so more often than not, we stayed put at ahau, or would walk to beach to check out new spots. notable finds a new hotel (next to ahau) called delek, which had the most beautiful bathroom Ive ever seen in my life (outdoors, trees, concrete bath tub), and those great little wicker floor lamps. the boutique at the spa at sanara is right on with some great easy breezy dresses and pants, and the gift shop at ahau is a little tea-spot plus a little of everything else, including a friendly cat and a very small dog that gives nose-licks freely. I am a retired newspaperman. I live in Poca, WV, with my wife of 44 years, Lou Ann. I grew up in Cleveland. Three kids. Grandfather. Report all errors to DonSurber@GMail.com New Hanoi taxi merger to fight Grab on the streets G7 Taxi was joined by three cab operators in Hanoi. Photo acquired by VnExpress Three Hanoi operators have banded together to create the largest taxi business in the capital and compete with Grab. The union, named G7 Taxi, has been able to undercut the fares of Grab, at least over short distances, and it may be looking to bring still more players into its group, the Nikkei Asian Review reports. G7 was formed in October by Thanh Cong, Ba Sao, and Sao Hanoi. Together, they have about 3,000 cars, accounting for around 20 percent of taxis in the Hanoi area. The G7 base fare is VND9,900 (43 U.S. cents) for the first one km, while Grab charges VND20,000 (86 U.S. cents) for the first two km. The entrance of the new brand is expected to increase competition between traditional taxis and raid hailing firms like Grab. Earlier, Nguyen Cong Hung, chairman of the Hanoi Taxi Association, had said: "Traditional taxis, each with their own app, are now trying to compete with Grab. But we are divided, therefore we need to unite." Before Thanh Cong, Ba Sao, and Sao Hanoi teamed up, annual sales at the three companies had declined by 10-15 percent on average over the past few years. The number of taxi companies in Hanoi has also fallen down to 70 taxi now, from 115 in 2010. Joining the fight The taxi trio is not alone in pushing back against the ride-hailing industry. In March, southern taxi firms ComfortDelgro Savico and Vinataxi had merged with the same purpose. Vinataxi, the third largest taxi firm in HCMC, was confident the merger would increase its growth six-fold this year. Mai Linh, Vietnam's No. 1 taxi operator, has developed a smartphone app similar to that of Grab. Meanwhile, second-ranked Vinasun has launched a ride-hailing service using Facebook's Messenger app, enabling customers to hail cars and make complaints and requests directly, much like Grab. But Grab, the dominant player in the ride-hailing business in Vietnam, is also working on strategies to compete better with local taxi firms. Several months ago, it introduced Grab for Business in Vietnam, a service that helps a company track the trips its employees make to limit unnecessary trips and control expenses. Grab is also deploying various policies to attract drivers by offering bonuses and opening stops with free wifi and coffee. Vietnams first airplane parts factory opened on Thursday. Photo by VnExpress/Le Tien Vietnams first airplane parts factory, invested in by South Korean conglomerate Hanwha Group, was inaugurated Thursday in Hanoi. Located in the capital citys Hoa Lac Hi-Tech Park, Hanwha Aero Engines will make aircraft engine components for export. The $200 million factory is expected to turn out its first products by January 2019. Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Nguyen Van Binh, head of the Partys Central Economic Commission, said the project will become a representative for technology transfer from Korean enterprises to Vietnam, opening up opportunities to access key technologies and build capacity in the country. He said it would create a spill-over effect, attracting more hi-tech enterprises from South Korea and other countries to Hoa Lac Hi-Tech Park. Hanwha Group chairman Kim Seung Yeon said they were the only South Korean company producing aircraft engines, and one of the 10 companies with most advanced technologies in the world. More than 40 technicians from Hanwha Group are present at the factory to train about 200 Vietnamese technicians. The factory is expected to create jobs for thousands of workers, train high quality workers, transfer know-how, and contribute to Vietnam's technological capabilities. Kim said he hoped that with advanced technology, the production facility will contribute to the development of Vietnams aviation industry and precision manufacturing. Chu Ngoc Anh, Minister of Science and Technology, said at the ceremony that Vietnam will continue to support Hanwha throughout its operations in the future. As of now, the Hoa Lac Hi-tech Park has 87 investment projects with a total registered capital of VND78 trillion ($3.35 billion). Prices to rent industrial land in Vietnam have increased in recent time. Photo acquired by VnExpress. With China and the U.S. suspending imposition of new trade tariffs, Chinese companies are rethinking their move to Vietnam. The cost of building a new factory and hiring land at industrial parks in Vietnam has increased in the past few months and become an obstacle for many foreign investors, including those from China. Given the higher costs, many Chinese export manufacturers, especially small and medium-sized ones, have taken advantage of the recent trade cease-fire between China and the U.S. to postpone plans to relocate their factories to Vietnam, according to South China Morning Post (SCMP). U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping have recently agreed to a 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 agreed to hold off on imposing more tariffs for 90 days starting December 1 while they negotiate a deal to end the dispute following months of escalating tensions, according to Reuters. But experts repeatedly expressed doubt that any concrete steps to totally ease tensions between the two economic giants can be achieved in so short a time. "This is not a truce, this is not an armistice," Steve Okun, senior advisor at McLarty Associates, told CNBC. He noted the additional tariffs that the U.S. and China have imposed on each other's products are still in place, so the 90-day withholding of further levies doesn't signal the end of the trade fight. Even so, many export manufacturers, especially small and medium-sized firms (SMEs) in China, have jumped at the chance to postpone. Xie Jun, a Chinese furniture exporter, said the cost of building a new factory in Vietnam had soared in the past few months and become unaffordable to many. A sofa foam and sponge factory owner in Chinas eastern province of Zhejiang moved to set up a factory in Vietnams southern Dong Nai Province early this year, he said. The preparatory steps cost him nearly 10 million yuan ($1.4 million), including paying for and converting the industrial plants, transferring automated production lines from Zhejiang, as well as paying allowances to send skilled Chinese workers there. The expense was even higher than building a new factory of the same size in Zhejiang, Xie said. "So the [trade war] truce is really a relief for us. And we hope the government can really end [the trade war] next year," Xie told the SCMP. At an industrial park in Dong Nai, the price to rent industrial land on a long-term lease of up to 50 years reached $90 per square meter as of last month, up from $60 to $70 last year. The prices also increase in other localities. The average rent of industrial land in northern Vietnam hit $82 per square meter per lease term in Q3, an increase of nearly 9 percent compared to Q1, according to a report of real estate service firm Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) on Vietnams property market in the Q3. Hanois average rents increased significantly to $137 per square meter per lease term, the highest in the north, driven by limited supply. JLL said the countrys industrial properties will remain desirable due to strong foreign direct investment coming mostly from Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. Gao Jian, co-founder of Vnocean Business Consulting Service company, which helps more than 50 industrial parks in Vietnam to recruit Chinese manufacturers, said there were various costs associated with setting up a plant. "If we talk about founding a small electronics factory of about 300 workers in popular industrial parks near Ho Chi Minh City, it would cost about $1 million," Gao said. Thus, for those firms that remain in China, the tariff truce has allowed them to cling to the possibility that there might be no need to relocate, at least in the short run. AirAsia planes sit on the tarmac at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Malaysia. Photo by Reuters Malaysia-based AirAsia and Vietnamese firm Hai Au Aviation agreed Thursday they would launch a new low-cost airline. A memorandum of understanding to this effect was signed by AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandes and Vietnamese businessman Tran Trong Kien, CEO of Hai Au Aviation. Two companies will invest in construction, infrastructure and development of human resources to establish a low-cost airline. The new airline is expected to adopt Air Asia's business model. In Vietnam, with a population of 95 million, the number of aircraft would be higher, said Fernandes. Tickets would be affordable and sold online, he added. In April 2017, AirAsia Investment had signed an agreement with Hai Au Aviation, Gumin Co. Ltd and businessman Tran Trong Kien to set up a joint venture in Vietnam to establish a new airline. Kien is also CEO of Gumin. Then, the venture envisaged an investment of VND1 trillion ($44 million), with AirAsia contributing 30 percent and the Vietnamese partner 70 percent, Bloomberg reported. The joint venture will launch the sixth carrier in Vietnam, joining Vietnam Airlines, Vietjet Air, Jetstar Pacific, VASCO and Bamboo Airways. AirAsia, the biggest budget carrier in Southeast Asia, has recently established branches in Indonesia, Thailand, India and Japan. The carrier operates 141 return flights weekly on 13 routes - including six unique routes - connecting Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, Nha Trang and Phu Quoc with Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Johor Bharu in Malaysia, Bangkok and Chiang Mai in Thailand and Manila in the Philippines, and has carried 12 million passengers to and from Vietnam since entering the market in 2005. The Hai Au Aviation Joint Stock Company, established in 2011, is a subsidiary of Thien Minh Group (TMG), one of Vietnam's leading travel and hospitality companies. The firm provides seaplane tourism activities and air taxi services. Vietnam received 14.12 million foreigners in the first 11 months of the year, up 21.3 per cent year-on-year and exceeding last years 12.9 million, according to the General Statistics Office. Up to 80 percent of foreign tourists come to Vietnam by air. "Vietnam tourism has performed extremely well. The number of international arrivals has doubled over the last three years and domestic and outbound travel have also grown tremendously," said Kien of Hai Au Aviation. The newly-licensed Bamboo Airways, Vietnam's fifth airline, is expected to make its maiden flight on December 29. It is allowed to operate 10 aircraft on both domestic and international routes and to carry passengers and cargo. The airline plans to fly on 100 routes, connecting Vietnam's major cities with popular domestic andinternational tourist destinations. Bamboo Airway has signed deals to buy 24 Airbus A320neo and 20 Boeing B787-9 Dreamliner aircraft worth a total of about $8.6 billion. Hanoi is set to spend VND640 billion ($27.5 million) on infrastructure near the circuit for its inaugural Formula 1 race in 2020. The Nguyen Co Thach Road is next to the My Dinh National Stadium. The city recently approved two projects -- widening of Do Xuan Hop Road in Nam Tu Liem District and filling up the Nguyen Co Thach and Dong Bong channels. They are expected to finish in April 2020, when the first race has been scheduled. The Nguyen Co Thach channel, which runs along the road of the same name, will be part of the circuit. An angle on the Nguyen Co Thach ditch. It is five meters wide, three meters deep and the blackish sewage often stinks. "We must cover [it] to build the circuit," Nguyen Manh Quyen, head of the city's Department of Planning and Investment, said. The Nguyen Co Thach channel behind the My Dinh Stadium. Nguyen Co Thach Street currently has two lanes on each side of the channel. After the channel is filled in, the street will be large enough for four to five lanes on each direction. The Dam Bong channel near the My Dinh Stadium is also polluted. Do Xuan Hop Street will be expanded. Authorities in Nam Tu Liem District have already demolished dozens of shops near the My Dinh Stadium's left wing to build stands for race spectators. Last month Hanoi authorities had announced that Vietnam would become the third Southeast Asian nation to host an F1 race after Malaysia and Singapore. Four Vietnamese women were among 12 people arrested in Taiwan Monday night in an anti-prostitution raid. Taiwan's Central News Agency reported that another Taiwanese woman, three pimps and four male customers were also detained afer police raided a building in Xishimei, Miaoli County. The raid was part of a crackdown following public complaints, police said. Xishimei is well-known for numerous illegal brothels. Three of the Vietnamese women were found to have overstayed their travel visas, while the other one was a worker who allegedly ran away from her contracted employer, police said. Miaoli County police are investigating the case to see if any human trafficking syndicate was involved in running the illegal operation and coercing foreign women into sex work. In September, two Vietnamese women were arrested in Brunei for suspected involvement in commercial sex work. Vietnam reported 670 human trafficking victims last year, down almost half from 1,128 in 2016. Most victims were uneducated women and children from poor areas who were sold to men seeking wives in other Asian countries, or just to bear children, or work as prostitutes there. National flags fly high as Hanoi fans celebrate the country's victory over the Philippines on Thursday night. Photo by VnExpress/Ngoc Thanh Vietnams semifinal victory at the AFF Cup triggered predictable celebrations and traffic violations on major city streets. In Saigon, police seized 56 motorbikes and issued fines for 78 traffic violations Thursday night. On Sunday, 55 traffic violations were fined in celebrations that followed Vietnams victory in the first leg of the AFF Cup semifinals. Meanwhile, Hanoi police detained more than 10 fans who burned flares and engaged in disorderly behavior in the pedestrian area around Hoan Kiem lake. The mayhem began minutes after the final whistle blew at the My Dinh National Stadium. Vietnam secured a ticket to the final of the AFF Suzuki Cup 2018 Thursday night with a 4-2 semifinal aggregate over the Philippines, and the whole country seemed to roar with happiness. As they hit downtown streets, mostly on motorbikes and cars, many fans got carried away and committed the usual violations of speeding, not wearing helmets and carrying more than two people on a bike. Vietnams next encounter is an away match against Malaysia, the other finalist, on December 11. The second leg will be played at home in Hanoi on December 15. Tung Thanh Nguyen (R) is working with other advocates to oppose deportation order by the Trump administration against Vietnamese immigrants. Photo acquired by VnExpress A Vietnamese refugee granted clemency by the California governor wants to fight for his brethren at risk of deportation. "I hope I will get all previous criminal records removed and be issued a green card to continue living in the U.S.," said Tung Thanh Nguyen, one of the three Vietnamese Americans who were facing federal removal orders, but received pardons from California governor Jerry Brown on November 21. Tung arrived in the U.S. as a refugee when he was just 13. Three years later, he was convicted of murder and robbery after engaging in a hotel fight that ended in the death of another man. He was sentenced to 25 years in jail though he was a minor. While serving his sentence for the 18th year, he risked his life to save 50 people in a prison riot that earned him an early release in 2011 under the Governor Browns clemency policy, the Los Angeles Times reported. At that time, Tung thought he would have the opportunity to start a new life. However, he received a deportation order from the U.S. government in October 2011 because he has not yet a naturalized U.S. citizen. He was held in custody for a month awaiting deportation but was released later as per a 2008 bilateral agreement between Vietnam and the United States which states that "Vietnamese citizens are not subject to return to Vietnam" if they "arrived in the United States before July 12, 1995." But he had never felt safe, and the fear of being deported from the U.S. remained. Always fearful "This feeling of fear will follow me until my last breath," he said. Earlier, in 2017, former citizens of Vietnam, Cambodia and several other countries were caught up in a hardline immigration policy adopted by the Trump administration. The administration sought to deport immigrants with criminal records who have green cards but never became naturalized U.S. citizens, even if theyd served their sentences. Since March last year, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has launched a crackdown to detain Vietnamese immigrants who had committed crimes and deport them back home. According to ICE figures, 71 Vietnamese people were deported to Vietnam last year, compared to 35 in 2016, and 32 in 2015. No information is given on when the deportees arrived in the United States. Data from the U.S. Census Bureau reveal nearly 1.3 million Vietnamese citizens have immigrated to the United States since the end of the Vietnam War and obtained green cards. Of them, 10,000 Vietnamese nationals are subject to deportation under the new regime. Most of these have criminal convictions or lost their green cards. The push by the Trump administration led to the resignation of Ted Osius, former U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam whos opposed to the policy. Osius, who left his post in October last year, told Reuters last April that most people targeted for deportation had arrived in the United States prior to 1995, the year diplomatic relations between Vietnam and the United States were resumed after the Vietnam War. Furthermore, a 2001 Supreme Court ruling had determined that the government cannot detain immigrants for more than 180 days if their deportation was not "reasonably foreseeable." Still in limbo Tung is focused on finding all ways to survive and fight against the deportation order. He said he and those convicted like him have paid for their mistakes by serving the sentences. They have also showed remorse and want to lead a normal life and become useful citizens. ICE has not considered the current situations of the targeted immigrants. In recent years, Tung has become an advocate for changes to the juvenile justice system and helped start an Orange County organization to help Asian and Pacific Islander inmates reenter society after prison. Earlier this year, Tung joined those who shared his same plight to file a class-action lawsuit with the California government to oppose detentions ordered by the Trump administration. Following a California district court ruling on October 18, thousands of Vietnamese immigrants who came to the U.S. as legal residents before 1995 have been spared from the risk of deportation, the New York Times reported last month, citing an unnamed official in the Department of Homeland Security. But Tung said this was not a decision to lift the removal order. He warned that those included in the ICE blacklist will be sooner or later be deported and they should "do something to rescue themselves." Tung also said he would spend more time fighting for Vietnamese immigrants to be spared the risk of deportation. "Many people havent grasped the U.S. law and federal policies and have failed to protect themselves," he said. "I hope that those targeted for deportation will continue making greater efforts to fight for themselves and dont wait until everything is too late." A scene above Spokane Valley, Washington, U.S. Photo by Shutterstock/aarongrub A Vietnamese woman has been missing since Monday in Washington State in the U.S., the Krem newspaper reported Wednesday. Loc Nguyen, 24, had contacted her family and roommate Monday evening after finishing work, telling them she would be home late, Spokane Valley city officials said. She hasnt been heard from since. Authorities are trying to locate her and her 2009 silver Volkswagon Tiguan. She was last seen wearing a sweater and jeans. Last month two Vietnamese exchange students had been reported missing in Canada by the families they were staying with in the eastern province of New Brunswick. They were later found safe in Toronto by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Hanoi named among top destinations for every type of traveler Hanoi has made it to Time magazines list of best destinations for every type of traveler. The U.S. magazine said a trip to the Vietnamese capital is the right choice for romantic people and those who are looking for love. "Navigate the hectic, crowded streets of the Old Quarter, dodge motorcycles that zip down the roads and sample street food at the Hang Dao Night Market for the perfect opportunity to bond with a loved one." Tourists enjoying beer on a busy Hanoi street full of bars. Photo by Shutterstock/Michal Stipek. "Walk hand in hand around Hoan Kiem Lake, go on a boat tour of Ha Long Bay or watch the sunset over West Lake. Southeast Asia can be a challenging destination for first-time visitors, noting Hanois madcap nature." Hoan Kiem Lake or Sword Lake in the heart of Hanoi is one of the city's symbols. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Trang Other destinations on the list include Sydney (Australia), Reykjavik (Iceland), Northern Croatia, Galway (Ireland), Naples (Italy). In the ten months of 2018, Hanoi welcomed over 3.4 million foreign visitors, up 16.9 percent year-on-year, according to the Hanoi Statistics Office. Earlier this year, TripAdvisor readers ranked Hanoi in 12th position on a list of the world's top 25 destinations, alongside Paris and Rome. In August, Hanoi and HCMC were named among the 15 best destinations in Asia by the U.S. News newspaper. Hanoi on air: CNN videos introduce the best of Vietnam capital to global viewers. Women plant rice saplings at a paddy field in a village in Nagaon district, in the northeastern state of Assam, July 3, 2018. Photo by Reuters/Anuwar Hazarika Rice export prices fell the second consecutive week in India, while strict inspections from China muted exports from Vietnam. Indias 5 percent broken parboiled variety was quoted around $364-$368 per tonne this week, from $366-$370 the last week. "Prices are down as traders are adjusting to the drop in the rupee. Demand is still weak," said an exporter based at Kakinada in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh. The Indian rupee fell nearly 1 percent on Thursday to the lowest level in two weeks, increasing exporters margin from the overseas sales. In an attempt to accelerate exports, the Indian government last month said it will give a 5 percent subsidy for non-basmati rice shipments for the four months to March 25, 2019. In neighbouring Bangladesh, rice imports in July-November stood at 106,640 tonnes, the countrys food ministry data showed, after the government imposed a 28 percent tax on shipments to support its farmers after local production revived. Meanwhile, in Vietnam, rates for 5 percent broken rice dipped to $400 a tonne from $408 last week as exports to China fell on stricter inspections and conditions on Vietnamese rice, traders said. "Exports to China are almost frozen, no one dares to buy or sell. Some people who had their rice ready at the port now have to take them back because they fear the Chinese side will not take them," a trader in Ho Chi Minh City said. However, the fall in prices was limited due to tight supply at the end of a small crop season in Vietnam and orders from rice-scarce Philippines. The next major crop harvest in the southeast-Asian nation, the winter-spring crop, is due next March. In Thailand, benchmark 5 percent broken rice prices narrowed to $390-$393, free on board (FOB) Bangkok, from $380-$397 last week. "Apart from the recent order from the Philippines, Thai rice exporters are not expecting any large order until early 2019," a Bangkok-based rice trader said. Traders attributed this weeks fluctuation in rice prices to the exchange rate. The Thai baht shed more than a quarter of a percent on Thursday, after rising for four previous sessions. "Some exporters are still talking about a possible deal to markets like Japan and Indonesia, but so far things are quiet and will likely remain this way until January," said another Bangkok-based trader. Chinese President Xi Jinping shakes hands with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the G20 Summit in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China September 4, 2016. Photo by Reuters/Damir Sagolj China and India may be talking about improving their trade relationship but there is little action to go with the words. According to Indian government officials and representatives of various Indian trade bodies, progress is very slow - and may even be getting slower after last weekends truce between the United States and China in their trade war. Both India and China have sought to rebuild trust after a armed standoff over a stretch of the Himalayan border last year. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping have met a number of times this year to give impetus to the trade discussions. The latest was last week, when they met on the sidelines of the G20 meeting in Argentina. Indian and Chinese officials said after that meeting there was talk of Beijing increasing its soymeal, rapeseed meal, rice and sugar imports from India, while China would push for more Chinese exports of dairy products, apples and pears to India. India is also keen to increase its exports of drugs to China. In reality, though, getting such exchanges turned into deals is going to be a laborious process. "When we say the Chinese are receptive, it means the talks are happening, but its going slow," said one senior Indian government official with direct knowledge of the discussions. "It can be termed as progress because just a few months ago, we werent even talking," said the official, who did not wish to be named because he is not authorized to talk to media. The Chinese commerce ministry did not respond to a faxed request for comment for this article. Bilateral trade between China and India touched $89.71 billion in the year ending March 2018, with the trade deficit widening to $63.05 billion in Chinas favor, more than a nine-fold increase over the past decade. The Indian government is very keen to reduce that gap. A recent study commissioned by Indias trade ministry and reviewed by Reuters, said: "There is no bilateral trade relationship of greater economic and political significance for India than with China." The reduction in trade tensions between Washington and Beijing, which has led to a delay in the imposition of larger punitive tariffs by the United States pending further trade talks over a 90-day period, means that the Chinese government may not feel the need to speed up its discussions with New Delhi, Indian officials said. The government has received calls from jittery exporters who want to know whether the improvement in the relationship between China and the United States would make Indias position weaker, said the senior Indian government official. Roadblock for India Ajay Sahai, director general of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations, also said Chinas truce with the United States may be a roadblock to improved trade with Beijing. "As it is, the China-U.S. tariff tension was a temporary opportunity and it is not correct for companies to base their long-term strategies on it," said Sahai. One longer term impediment to improved trade is product quality, and trade, industry and government officials in India said both Beijing and New Delhi could take time to iron out their differences. Last week, India and China signed an agreement allowing Beijing to inspect imports of Indian fish meal and fish oil. A Chinese trade delegation is coming to India on Dec. 10 to inspect soymeal plants, said D.N. Pathak, executive director of the Soybean Processors Association of India. India wants China to drop a years-long ban on soymeal imports from the South Asian nation. China was a leading buyer of Indian soymeal, a key ingredient in animal feed, until Beijing banned the purchases in late 2011 over quality concerns. In November, Indias trade ministry said the country could export up to 2 million tonnes of sugar, but trade officials said the target was too steep because China has already exhausted its import quota for this year. Although India has contracted to sell some tiny shipments of rice to China, officials said New Delhi would find it difficult to boost volumes as Beijing has traditionally been importing the staple from Vietnam and Thailand and the Chinese would take time to develop a taste for Indian rice. The Huawei logo is pictured outside their research facility in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, December 6, 2018. Photo by Reuters/Chris Wattie President Donald Trump did not know about plans to arrest a top executive at Chinese telecoms giant Huawei in Canada, two U.S. officials said on Thursday. The statement is seen as an apparent attempt to stop the incident from impeding crucial trade talks with Beijing. Huawei Technologies Co Ltd's chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, the 46-year-old daughter of the company's founder, was detained in Canada on Dec. 1, the same day Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping dined together at the G20 summit in Buenos Aires. A White House official told Reuters Trump did not know about a U.S. request for her extradition from Canada before he met Xi and agreed to a 90-day truce in the brewing trade war. Meng's arrest during a stopover in Vancouver, announced by the Canadian authorities on Wednesday, pummeled stock markets already nervous about tensions between the world's two largest economies on fears the move could derail the planned trade talks. The arrest was made at Washington's request as part of a U.S. investigation of an alleged scheme to use the global banking system to evade U.S. sanctions against Iran, according to people familiar with the probe. Another U.S. official told Reuters that while it was a Justice Department matter and not orchestrated in advance by the White House, the case could send a message that Washington is serious about what it sees as Beijing's violations of international trade norms. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, acknowledged that the arrest could complicate efforts to reach a broader U.S.-China trade deal but would not necessarily damage the process. Meng's detention also raised concerns about potential retaliation from Beijing in Canada, where Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sought to distance himself from the arrest. "The appropriate authorities took the decisions in this case without any political involvement or interference ... we were advised by them with a few days' notice that this was in the works," Trudeau told reporters in Montreal in televised remarks. Iran sanctions The United States has been looking since at least 2016 into whether Huawei violated U.S. sanctions against Iran, Reuters reported in April. More recently, the probe has included the company's use of HSBC Holdings Plc to make illegal transactions involving Iran, people familiar with the investigation said. In 2012, HSBC paid $1.92 billion and entered a deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. attorney's office in Brooklyn for violating U.S. sanctions and money-laundering laws. An HSBC spokesperson declined to comment on Thursday. HSBC is not under investigation, according to a person familiar with the matter. After news of the arrest, Huawei said it has been provided little information of the charges against Meng, adding that it was "not aware of any wrongdoing by Ms. Meng." Huawei is under intense scrutiny from Washington and other governments over its ties to the Chinese government, driven by concerns it could be used for spying. It has been locked out of U.S. and some other markets for telecom gear, but has repeatedly insisted Beijing has no influence over it. On Friday, a person with direct knowledge and a person briefed on the matter told Reuters that Japan plans to ban government purchases of equipment from China'sHuawei and ZTE Corp . The Yomiuri newspaper, which first reported the news, said the Japanese government was expected to revise its internal rules on procurement as early as Monday to prevent intelligence leaks and cyber attacks. ZTE pleaded guilty in 2017 to violating U.S. laws that restrict the sale of American-made technology to Iran in efforts to curb Tehran's missile and nuclear programs. Before the arrest on Wednesday, Britain's BT Group said it was removing Huawei's equipment from the core of its existing 3G and 4G mobile operations and would not use the Chinese company in central parts of the next network. Republican Senators Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio and Ben Sasse welcomed news of the arrest and said the world's biggest telecoms equipment maker posed a security threat. Cruz tweeted: "Huawei is a Communist Party spy agency thinly veiled as a telecom company." Huawei has said it complies with all applicable export control and sanctions laws and other regulations.. Ukraine's government to allocate US$3,574 for each family of captured Ukrainian sailors Relatives of the prisoners of war will receive the funds after their personal data has been verified. If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+Enter Ukraine's Rada passes bill to additionally allocate over US$385 mln in pensions in 2018 The draft law also provides for keeping unused subventions from the national budget on the accounts of the local budgets as of the end of the year. If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+Enter Ukraine's Oschadbank says Russia already owes it US$180 mln in fines The arbitration award is final and binding on the parties. If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+Enter Poroshenko signs off State Budget 2019 The law on the national budget will enter into force on January 1, 2019. If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+Enter Srinagar, (PTI): Two residents of Jammu and Kashmir including a minor, allegedly involved in pelting stones at Indian forces, have been detained in Kutch district of Gujarat, police said Thursday. Altaf Najar (23) and a 16-year-old boy were allegedly involved in attacking security forces, and three FIRs have been registered against them in J&K, said a senior Gujarat police official. Following a tip-off, the two were detained from a guest-house in Bhuj town of the district a few days ago and have been kept under preventive detention till the J&K police take their custody, said the official. One of them is also facing a charge of attempt to murder, the official said, without giving more details. A pedestrian in Toledo is breathing polluted air from a traffic jam in Madrids Gran Via avenue. And in the Sierra Norte, outside of Madrid, hundreds of people from the capital spend their weekends thinking they are enjoying fresh air without realizing it was one of the most polluted areas in Spain last year. Meanwhile, other rural areas such as the Plain of Vic in Catalonia and villages like Villanueva del Arzobispo in Jaen, in Andalusia, have levels of contamination that break EU air quality regulations. These are just a few of the pollution paradoxes that are adversely affecting the health of at least 15 million people in Spain, according to EL PAIS estimates. The most severely affected areas are Madrid and Barcelona but the regions of Andalusia, Extremadura, Castilla-La Mancha and Valencia are also battling with high-risk levels. Spain is plagued by three main pollutants: nitrogen dioxide (NO2), caused by traffic and predominantly a problem in big cities; PM10 particulate matter, consisting of dust, ash, soot and similar substances produced by traffic as well as central heating systems, industry and construction; and finally ozone, a pollutant linked to the others, which is prevalent during hot weather and can spread long distances which is why areas where the air might be assumed to be clean, such as Madrids Sierra Norte, can be highly contaminated. Road traffic is responsible for more than 50% of NO2 emissions, particularly diesel vehicles EL PAIS has calculated the number of those affected using the latest data from 2017 from the Ministry for Ecological Transition, taking into account the size of the population living in the areas where any of the three pollutants exceed EU limits. Each of the zones contains one or more air quality monitoring stations. For the zone to fail to meet legal requirements, it only needs one of the stations to exceed the legal limit. In the largest or most populated regions such as Andalusia, it is quite common for most stations to record acceptable levels with only one breaking the law. The environmental organization Ecologists in Action, using its own methodology, puts the number of people in Spain affected by poor air quality last year at 17.5 million. Meanwhile, the Ministry for Ecological Transition insists it is impossible to measure the effects on health with any precision. It does say, however, that it would produce data relating to health if it had population figures for the areas covered by each station, but this information is in the hands of each region. As far as the government is concerned, the preliminary data on pollution levels from 2018 shows a certain improvement, particularly with respect to NO2. The climate has helped, as there has been more wind and rain. It makes us think that the measures taken by the authorities are working, says a government spokesman. But Miguel Angel Ceballos from Ecologists in Action is skeptical. While he recognizes that the situation was worse before the economic crisis, he claims: The [economic] recovery has been triggering the problem again since 2015, with an increase in the burning of fossil fuels and the consequent emissions. He adds that the authorities are not adopting adequate measures to reverse this. The Ministry for Ecological Transition does, however, recognize that in 2017, the balance was negative, meaning the quality of air was worse than the year before. Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) The hotspots for NO2, a pollutant largely associated with volume of traffic, are big cities and their outlying areas, such as Madrid, Barcelona and Granada as well as Bilbao. NO2 is a byproduct of combustion at high temperatures, for instance in car motors and electricity plants. According to data from the Inventory of Contaminating Emissions in Madrids Atmosphere, road traffic is responsible for more than 50% of NO2 emissions, particularly diesel vehicles. During pregnancy, breathing polluted air can affect the development of the fetus. It is also potentially carcinogenic Lung specialist Ramon Fernandez In Granada, where traffic is less dense than in Madrid and Barcelona, the pollution problem is exacerbated by geography and climate, according to ministry experts. The city is located in a valley surrounded by mountains that trap the pollution in winter, when the colder, polluted air cannot rise and disperse due to a lid of warm air. Central heating systems and the burning of crop stubble in the agricultural region of La Vega further aggravate the situation. And the weak winds particular to the region do nothing to mitigate the problem. To protect our health, the EU stipulates that the annual average of NO2 should not exceed 40 micrograms per cubic meter. In Madrid, 62 micrograms were registered last year 55% over the limit; and in Barcelona, the figure was 59 micrograms 47.5% over. There is a second emergency limit linked to spikes of NO2 which are common in Madrid and which happen when the air is stagnant. The capital was the only place in Spain that exceeded this emergency limit last year, which is set at 200 micrograms per cubic meter an hour, no more than 10 times during the year. Madrid was six times over the limit on 62 occasions. One station called Fernandez Ladreda, which measures air quality at one of the main entry points to Madrid from the south, recorded 88 hours when the limit was breached. PM10 particulates The problem with PM10 particulates is more spread out. Its not a big problem in big cities but it is increasingly affecting Granada and its outlying areas, as well as Malaga, the entire Costa del Sol and Aviles in Asturias, not to mention rural areas such as the Plain of Vic and the village of Villanueva del Arzobispo in Jaen province. PM10 particulate matter consists of dust, ash, soot and other non-organic components measuring between 2.5 and 10 micrograms in diameter. They are usually caused by central heating systems, construction and demolition works but traffic can also be a source. Of the 126 zones in Spain, 36 have illegal levels of ozone gas In Granada, two air quality stations measured ratios of PM10 above the EU limit that, according to experts, are caused equally by traffic, heating and building works. An inventory of 1,460 boilers carried out by the council this year revealed that 1,044 or 62.93% use diesel, which is a highly contaminating fuel. Meanwhile, 371 use natural gas, 27 biomass and 18 propane gas. In the Malaga area, the problem was worst in Marbella due to the volume of traffic in the city. Ozone gas The ozone layer protects the planet but ozone gas at ground level is very polluting and it is hard to tackle because it appears where it is least expected. It forms as a result of the other pollutants when there is strong solar radiation on the earths surface. It is also blown long distances by the wind. On the Mediterranean coastline, for example, the wind blows contamination inland during the day and out to sea at night. Further inland, the wind blows the ozone gas from the center of Madrid to Castilla y Leon and to Castilla-La Mancha. Of the 126 zones in Spain, 36 have excessive levels of ozone gas. The more cars and pollution in the cities, the bigger the ozone problem in the outlying areas. Sierra Norte in the region of Madrid was one of the worst hit areas. In this area, which covers 1,952 kilometers and is home to 110,000 people, two municipalities El Atazar and Guadalix de la Sierra violated recommended levels. The levels are breached when they go above 120 micrograms per cubic meter over a period of eight hours more than 25 times a year. In the Sierra Norte, this happened 68 times. La Cuenca del Rio Tajuna, an area with a population of 45,171 in the region of Madrid, also broke the limits as did the area in Andalusia that groups towns of 50,000 to 250,000 inhabitants the worst hit being Las Fuentezuelas and Ronda del Valle in Jaen. The outskirts of Cordoba were also over the limit, according to the Asomadilla monitoring station. Federico Velazquez de Castro, a doctor in chemical science, explains that while the whole of Spain has a problem with ozone gas, Andalusia has the highest levels due to solar radiation and high temperatures. The ozone gas on the coast near Granada may well have been blown by the wind from as far as the petrochemical plant in Tarragona. Health impact Be it due to one or all of the pollutants, more than half of Spain does not meet EU air quality regulations. Breathing polluted air affects our respiratory system in a number of ways, says Ramon Fernandez, a specialist in environmental issues for the Spanish Lung Society (Separ). It aggravates chronic respiratory diseases such as asthma or COPD [chronic obstructive pulmonary disease] and can lead to hospitalization. It can also trigger vascular problems, such as strokes and heart attacks. During pregnancy, it can cause breathing problems that affect the development of the fetus. It is also potentially carcinogenic. Lately, there has been a big drop in the density of particles but all pollution at high levels is potentially damaging, says Fernandez, who adds that while pollution enters the body through our respiratory system, it moves quickly into other areas. These particles are able to penetrate our circulation, triggering inflammatory mechanisms that damage different organs. The worst affected are the lungs, the heart and the blood vessels, he says. Studying the effects of pollution on the health is challenging. Poor air quality never features as the cause of death on a death certificate. The effects are accumulative and there is no obvious cause and effect. According to the most recent annual report from the European Environment Agency (EEA), 38,600 premature deaths in Spain in 2015 were due to pollution and 27,900 of these were caused by particulate pollution. Meanwhile, different studies have shown there is a direct correlation between the numbers of hospital admissions and spikes in pollution. English version by Heather Galloway. The Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) is drafting a sweeping bill to address the legal limbo affecting prostitution, which is neither regulated or criminalized in this country. Experts estimate that Spain has a 3.7 billion sex industry Spains governing party wants to penalize clients and those who provide apartments for prostitution activities. The sex workers themselves would not be targeted in any way, as they would be regarded as victims. The bill is inspired by the abolitionist model pioneered by Sweden (see side box). Under the terms of the new legislation, gentlemens clubs there are an estimated 1,500 in Spain, or three for every hospital would be shut down through court orders. The new law seeks to disincentivize demand by outlawing the purchase of sex. It also considers human trafficking for sex exploitation to be a form of gender violence. Several models The Swedish model. Sweden was a pioneer of the abolitionist model with a 1999 law that penalizes clients with as much as one-year prison sentences. In 2016, France introduced fines for people who purchase sex. In Finland, the client is punished if the prostitute is the victim of a trafficking ring. Other countries that go after the client include Iceland, South Africa, Canada, South Korea, Singapore and Northern Ireland. The Dutch model. The Netherlands has opted for a regulation model, and prostitution has been considered a job since 2000. Brothel owners pay taxes and pay social security contributions for their sex workers. Germany adopted a similar model in 2002 with the aim of improving women's working conditions and avoiding stigmatization. The United Nations and the European Parliament consider that these goals have not been met. Spain and Italy. Prostitution is not regulated and is therefore neither legal nor illegal, although the Spanish criminal code does consider pimping a crime. Several cities have their own bylaws setting out fines for both clients and prostitutes. Hungary. The government has taken a prohibitionist approach. Prostitution is illegal and sex workers bear the brunt of the punishment, which includes prison sentences for those working in "protected zones." Clients are only targeted it they accept sex with minors. Experts estimate that Spain has a 3.7 billion sex industry; last year the police identified 13,000 women in anti-trafficking raids and said that at least 80% of them were being sexually exploited. Government sources said that the bill is still at a preliminary stage, and that there are three versions under consideration. The 50-page document that this newspaper had access to includes 93 articles and several additional provisions that would modify half a dozen existing laws and codes, including the Criminal Procedure Law and the Criminal Code. The overarching idea behind the initiative is to protect victims by eradicating prostitution because of its close ties with human trafficking for sexual exploitation purposes. The draft document also considers creating a fund to compensate victims of trafficking. Several sources told EL PAIS that the government wants to incorporate feedback from groups and associations that work closely with prostitutes. The PSOE heads a minority government, and in order to secure congressional approval for its initiative, it will need additional support from 92 deputies to add to its own 84 lawmakers. Debate The Spanish executive is adopting an abolitionist approach, but sources admitted that there is an ongoing debate within the party on whether the bill should focus on trafficking for sex exploitation, or target trafficking in general. There is also a division of opinion on whether to include the word prostitution in the title of the act. The preliminary draft considers several other forms of human exploitation, including forced labor, slavery, mendicity, organ extraction and forced marriages. Prostitution remains a divisive issue in Spain. In August, the first sex workers union, OTRAS, was registered with the Labor Ministry, but in November the High Court struck down its bylaws, considering that its activities cannot be the object of a valid work contract. English version by Susana Urra. The city of Girona was the site of violent clashes on Thursday between Catalan riot police and a group of pro-independence individuals who tried to break up a public tribute to the Spanish Constitution. Protesters shout slogans against the demonstration. JOSEP LAGO (AFP) The tribute was held on Spains Constitution Day and attended by groups that defend the unity of Spain. Representatives of the far-right Vox party were present at the event, which drew a crowd of around 150 people. Despite preventive measures rolled out hours earlier, the counter-demonstrators broke through the security lines and confronted officers of the Catalan police force, who were pelted with stones, chairs and other objects. A total of 15 Mossos dEsquadra officers and three activists were injured in the clashes. One arrest has been made. Several hundred self-styled anti-fascists showed up at Plaza 1 de Octubre to try to break up the event, which had been organized by a group called Borbonia that defines itself as a citizen movement made up of Girona residents who oppose the Catalan independence movement. The far-right Vox party openly supported the tribute. Pro-independence parties have criticized the Catalan interior chief Miquel Buch for the way the regional police force dealt with the counter-demonstrators. A wounded man receives medical assistance following clashes between riot police and protesters. JOSEP LAGO (AFP) Girona councilor Lluc Salellas, of the separatist CUP party, has demanded Buchs resignation and accused the Catalan police of assaulting anti-fascists. On Friday, Catalan premier Quim Torra gave Buch four days to make changes to the leadership of the Mossos dEsquadra. The head of the Mossos, Andreu Martinez, has stated that the police charges were correct and adequate to contain the counter-demonstrators and to guarantee everybodys right to demonstrate. There were also clashes in Terrassa, where the Mossos made three arrests and several people were injured. Around 2,000 people marched to support the Constitution in Barcelona, where no incidents were reported. Pro-Spanish unity demonstrators in Girona. Toni Ferragut (EL PAIS) English version by Susana Urra. 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 CK Raut remanded to judicial custody The Rautahat District Court has remanded CK Raut, coordinator of the Free Madhes Campaign, to judicial custody. Mayor of Yerevan Hayk Marutyan receives Chinese Ambassador Mayor of Yerevan Hayk Marutyan received Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of China to Armenia Tian Erlong, the Yerevan City Hall reports. During the meeting the Mayor highly appreciated the productive cooperation between Yerevan and the Chinese cities. He said memorandums of cooperation were signed between Yerevan and Beijing, as well as with one of the largest cities of China, Qingdao. The Chinese government has implemented several technical support programs in Armenia and in particular in Yerevan, by providing city buses, ambulance vehicles and other equipment. Hayk Marutyan expressed hope that the Chinese government will continue the programs in different areas, as well as will encourage the Chinese business representatives to invest in Armenia thanks to the activities of the Embassy. In his turn the Chinese Ambassador congratulated the Yerevan Mayor and his team on assuming office and expressed confidence that this change will contribute to Yerevans development. The Ambassador informed that the construction works of new Chinese Embassy in Yerevan will be completed in the near future, and thanked the city authorities for assisting in this process. The sides agreed to continue making efforts to deepen the cooperation between Yerevan and Chinese cities. 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 On Thursday, the Verkhovna Rada passed at second reading bill No. 8044, amending to the Budget Code of Ukraine on the implementation of medium-term budget planning, which introduced three-year budget planning. An Interfax-Ukraine correspondent reported that 238 deputies backed the document. "We have been working for three years to consolidate a civilized approach to budget planning in the state. This is the main reform in the field of public finance," Finance Minister Oksana Markarova said, commenting on this decision on the ministry's website. She recalled that in the pilot mode, this approach has worked successfully since 2017. The Finance Ministry said that the adopted bill establishes the rule that state and publicly guaranteed debt cannot exceed 60% of GDP, and the national budget deficit - 3% of GDP. In addition, state guarantees will not exceed 3% of the planned revenues of the general fund of the national budget, and the maximum amount of the national budget deficit in the law on the national budget cannot be larger than the deficit in the Budget Declaration. The finance minister said that three-year budget planning is necessary to ensure strategic priorities with a financial resource, as well as to increase the responsibility of spending units. In the adopted document, the Finance Ministry is responsible for drawing up the Budget Declaration determining the budget policy for the next three years, and annually together with other key spending units updates it and submits the corresponding draft to the Cabinet of Ministers by May 15. The Cabinet of Ministers annually, no later than June 1, by its resolution approves the updated Budget Declaration. The parliament, in turn, may, before July 15, adopt a draft resolution on the Budget Declaration, which will take note of it and/or approve the recommendations of the Verkhovna Rada on budget policy. "The Budget Declaration will contain general marginal indicators of spending and lending, marginal rates of spending and lending to key spending units, as well as an assessment of fiscal risks," the Finance Ministry said. The three-year local financial plans will be the medium-term budget planning tool at the local level, the ministry said. "The adopted bill also provides for the switch to the program-targeted method, when the state finances not just spheres or directions, but the achievement of concrete results in each budget program," the finance ministry said. According to the new rules, when considering the Budget Declaration in the Verkhovna Rada, ministers and heads of other authorities will present their strategic goals and report on their achievements. The main category for evaluating the effectiveness of budget programs and activities of key spending unit will be public services. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has sent 255 tonnes of humanitarian aid to territories temporarily uncontrolled by Ukraine, the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine has reported. "Some 12 trucks from the International Committee of the Red Cross and eight trucks from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) have crossed the Novotroyitske checkpoint to enter the temporarily occupied territory," the press service of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine said on Friday morning. The information says that all vehicles transported food and hygiene kits, stationery, printed and building materials, medicines, medical supplies, an electric convector and a winter household kit for a total weight of almost 255 tonnes for residents of Donetsk region. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin during a meeting with German Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas discussed the issues of the release of Ukrainian prisoners of war and the situation of the civilian population in the occupied territories of the Ukrainian Donbas. The meeting took place in the framework of Klimkin's participation in 25th OSCE Ministerial Council on December 6, the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine said. The parties also agreed to continue the dialogue within the framework of Klimkin's working visit to Germany next week. "Ukraine counts on Germany's further leadership in making a strong and comprehensive EU's response to the Kremlin's belligerent rhetoric and aggressive actions that threaten the security of the Euro-Atlantic space," the message reads. Russia's hybrid military forces have mounted six attacks on Ukrainian army positions in Donbas in the past 24 hours, with one Ukrainian soldier reported as wounded in action, the press centre of the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) has reported. "Occupants opened fire on our troops six times and continued to use weapons banned by the Minsk agreements. As a result of the hostilities, one Ukrainian military was injured," the JFO staff said on Facebook on Friday morning. JFO positions near Novotoshkivske came under 82mm mortar fire, and small arms were used in the vicinity of Maryinka, it said. The militants demonstrated the greatest fire activity in the Azov Sea region. Here, the enemy conducted aimed fire from manual and automatic grenade launchers, small arms and large-caliber machine guns on JFO's strongholds near Chermalyk, Vodiane and Lebedynske. "The adversary has fired large-caliber machineguns near Taramchuk since the beginning of the day. There have been no casualties among Joint Forces personnel," the press center said. One enemy troop was killed and another two were wounded, intelligence reports say. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin has met with Italian Foreign Minister Enzo Moavero Milanesi at the 25th OSCE Ministerial Council in Milan, the press service of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has reported. "During the talks, the sides reviewed the results of the interaction of the two states in the framework of the Italian OSCE chairmanship in 2018. In addition, the ministers discussed topical issues of Ukrainian-Italian cooperation in the political and economic spheres, noting the importance of intensifying the political dialogue between Ukraine and Italy at a high level, as well as the deepening of economic cooperation between the countries," the message reads. The Ukrainian side separately drew the attention of the Italian side to the need of strengthening the sanctions regime against the Russian Federation for its aggressive actions in the Azov and Black Seas, the Foreign Ministry noted. Hewa Khola losing out on Rs200 million in revenue Privately-owned Hewa Khola Hydropower Project is losing out on Rs200 million in revenue annually as it cant feed the electricity it generates into the national grid for lack of adequate transmission lines. Evidence of the militarization of the occupied Crimea and direct armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine has been presented in the OSCE, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine reported. A ministerial-level thematic event was held on the Problem of Militarization of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol (Ukraine) and Parts of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov" was held in the framework of the 25th meeting of OSCE Ministerial Council. The event was held with the assistance of delegations and with the participation of the heads of the foreign affairs ministries of the U.S., Canada, Poland, Lithuania, Denmark, Sweden, Great Britain, Latvia, Romania, Georgia and Estonia. "A wide audience of participants and the media were shown the evidence of militarization of Crimea, which is currently occupied by Russia, and the direct armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine in the Kerch Strait area, which poses a serious threat to the entire Black Sea region," the statement reads. In their speeches, the partners expressed full support for Ukraine, called for the immediate release of Ukrainian prisoners of war and also discussed possible steps towards deterring the aggressor. "The presentation was of great importance in the context of consideration of the draft resolution "Problem of Militarization of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol (Ukraine) and Parts of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov by the UN General Assembly," it says. Ukraine will continue sending its military ships through the Kerch Strait, Ukrainian Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak said, adding that the next such passage will happen when the country's Navy is ready for it. "When we are ready for the next passage to rotate our units, we will conduct these passages in compliance with all international norms and rules. By then, I think, international pressure on Russia will have made it clear to them that they fail to fulfill international obligations," Poltorak told the Priamy TV channel. Ukraine will not relinquish its right to pass through the Kerch Strait and be present in the Sea of Azov, the defense minister said. Otherwise, "it will mean that Russia has fully occupied the Sea of Azov and we will simply lose another territory," he said. "We cannot afford to let this happen," the minister said. For Ukraine, it is very important that NATO and the United States boost their naval and air presence in the Black Sea region, Parliament Speaker Andriy Parubiy has said. "We do reckon upon American support, which we feel day by day - and we hope that it will be even more decisive," said Parubiy during a meeting with Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Ukraine, Russia and Eurasia Laura Cooper. The speaker of the Ukrainian parliament thanked the U.S. for supporting Ukraine after the aggressive attack of the Russian Federation in the Sea of Azov. "This naval attack upon Ukrainian ships was not only an act of aggression. It has been the mere longing to show the whole world that the Sea of Azov is the inland waters of the Russian Federation, where nobody can enter. This is actually another step towards the annexation of Ukrainian territory and international waters," he said. Parubiy also noted that it is "extremely important for Ukraine to return Ukrainian sailors home, to their families back to their homeland." In her turn, Cooper once again assured support to Ukraine's independence and territorial integrity. The aggression of the Russian Federation is a violation of international maritime law ... the Russian Federation carried out a provocation and can continue to act in this way, she said, adding that they saw a very balanced reaction from Ukraine. The participants of the meeting also discussed possibilities of further cooperation in the fields of cyber and information security, marine navigation and air control. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said Western countries should better coordinate their steps so that Russia could not attack non-threatening countries. According to the president, such steps could be a package of sanctions on Azov or a halt to the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. Poroshenko in an interview with Polish TV channel TVN24 stressed that the Polish leader Andrzej Duda is a lawyer and an important partner of Ukraine not only in the European Union, but also on the UN Security Council. "Poland, in coordination with our partners from the United States, France, and the United Kingdom, launched a special resolution of the Security Council, and we have absolutely firm words against Russia as aggressor country," Poroshenko said, recalling the G7 statement and the statement of the European Union. "This is an act of aggression and it undermines the security situation in the whole world. But while Europe makes statements, Russia is attacking. In this situation, we need to better coordinate our steps so that Russia cannot attack a country that is fighting for freedom, democracy and does not create any problems for Russia and its territorial integrity," Poroshenko said. Poroshenko said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin would attend a meeting of the EU Council at the ministerial level and other institutions to build up steps. "Steps are possible - a package of sanctions on Azov for those who participated in this provocation," he said. The president stressed that Ukraine demands the immediate release of the ships and Ukrainian seamen without any conditions, since they are prisoners of war, and Russia has no jurisdiction over them. Poroshenko also called for a halt to the construction of Nord Stream 2, which is a tool for Russia to influence the security of the entire European Union and receive additional funds, as another option for sanctions. "I hope the EU will have enough political will to demonstrate unity and solidarity with Ukraine," said Poroshenko. Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada has passed a bill amending the national budget for 2018, which cuts the financing of three programs to support agriculture by UAH 2.079 billion, to UAH 4.232 billion. According to the explanatory note to the bill No. 9369 on the national budget of Ukraine for 2018, funding for the budget-sustained program to support the livestock industry decreases by UAH 979 million, to UAH 3.021 billion, support for farms - by UAH 850 million, to UAH 150 million, and support agricultural producers - by UAH 250 million, to UAH 695 million. "We are categorically opposed to these changes. Those UAH 2 billion, which the government allegedly saved, should be paid to farmers. "Savings" arose solely as a result of the ugly distribution of funds, which actually left agricultural producers without government assistance. All the largest agricultural associations last year warned that everything would happen like that," Deputy Head of the Ukrainian Agrarian Council Mykhailo Sokolov said, commenting on the decision of the parliament. The Agricultural Policy and Food Ministry, as of November 30, 2018, sent to agrarians UAH 2.577 billion out of UAH 6.311 billion provided from the budget for government support of the agro-industrial complex this year, which amounted to 41%. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite have signed a road map for developing strategic partnership between Ukraine and Lithuania in 2019-2020. The press service of the president reported on Friday that the document was signed in Kyiv after the 11th meeting of the Council of Presidents of the two countries. The road map defines the key areas for further development of the Ukrainian-Lithuanian strategic partnership. "The document sets out the tasks of cooperation on international and regional security, in the field of European and Euro-Atlantic integration, in the trade and economic, energy, transport sectors, as well as in the cultural, humanitarian and social spheres," the press service said. In addition, Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration Kostiantyn Yeliseyev and Chief Foreign Policy Advisor of the Lithuanian President Nerijus Aleksiejunas signed the protocol of the 11th meeting of the Council of Presidents of Ukraine and the Republic of Lithuania. "The protocol also defines practical issues of bilateral cooperation on international and regional policy and security issues, interaction within international and regional organizations. The document reflects areas of cooperation in the framework of Ukraine's strategic goals regarding membership in the EU and NATO," the press service said. The protocol defines specific measures of bilateral cooperation in various areas of mutual interest, namely: security and defense, energy, transport, education and science, culture and tourism. In addition, Head of the State Migration Service of Ukraine Maksym Sokoliuk and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Linas Linkevicius signed a protocol between the governments of Ukraine and the Republic of Lithuania on the implementation of the agreement between Ukraine and the European Community on the readmission of persons. "The conclusion of the agreement will help to improve the coordination of cooperation between Ukraine and Lithuania in the field of migration and asylum, intensify the exchange of relevant information, strengthen cooperation between the migration authorities of both countries in the relevant field," the press service said. In addition, Minister of Social Policy of Ukraine Andriy Reva and Linkevicius signed an agreement on employment and cooperation in the field of labor migration between the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the Government of Lithuania. "The purpose of the document is to ensure the protection of the social rights of Ukrainian citizens who stay in the Republic of Lithuania and Lithuanian citizens who stay in Ukraine, as well as countering illegal work," the press service of the head of the Ukrainian state said. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko will take part in the 31st Congress of the Christian Democratic Union in Germany, the press service of the mayor of the Ukrainian capital has said. "The mayor of Kyiv Vitali Klitschko will attend the 31st Christian Democratic Union (CDU) congress to be held on 7-8 December in Hamburg, Germany," the press service said on Thursday. This year's Congress is of crucial importance for both the future of the party and the Federal Republic of Germany. The CDU which is one of the most successful political parties in Europe, will be holding a vote to elect a new leader. Angela Merkel, who has chaired the CDU for 18 years, steps down as the CDU chairwoman and, according to her earlier announcement, will not seek re-election as Germany's chancellor in 2021. There are twelve candidates for the CDU leadership but the most likely winners are three of them. "Founded in 1945, the Christian Democratic Union is Germany's largest and dominant political party. The CDU is a member of the European People's Party and partner of UDAR of Vitali Klitschko political party," the message reads. Russia must comply with international agreements on shipping in the Sea of Azov and ensure the free use of the Kerch Strait, Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite has said. "We would like to remind once again that the Sea of Azov is not a territory of Russia, and all international agreements operate there. And Russia, like all others, must comply with international agreements. If not, we will always help, support Ukraine, and we will increase our military presence. We must ensure free movement through the [Kerch] Strait ... we also must comply with all agreements that are in effect for international waters," Grybauskaite said at a joint press conference with President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko in Kyiv on Friday. She condemned the act of aggression against the Ukrainian sailors in neutral waters in the waters of the Black and Azov Seas. In turn, President of Ukraine Poroshenko noted that the aggressive actions of the Russian Federation, which ignores the Minsk agreements, and aggravates the situation in the Black and Azov Seas is "a direct threat to European security and the whole democratic world." Leader of the Batkivschyna Party Yulia Tymoshenko, during her visit to the U.S., has discussed with the Senate Intelligence Committee member Joseph Manchin the escalation of the Russian aggression against Ukraine, in particular the recent events in the Kerch Strait area. They also spoke about the situation over the introduction of martial law in the Ukrainian state, the press service of the Batkivschyna party said on Friday. "Tymoshenko called for the strengthening of sanctions against Russia and stressed the need for negotiations in the "Budapest plus" format with the leaders of the signatories of the Budapest Memorandum and with the involvement of the EU High Commissioner and the German leaders," it says. The meeting was also attended by deputy head of the Batkivschyna party, head of the Verkhovna Rada committee on human rights Hryhoriy Nemyria and chairman of the Rada committee on state-building, regional policy and local self-government Serhiy Vlasenko. President Petro Poroshenko of Ukraine has called on the Verkhovna Rada to ratify the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention) at its nearest plenary session. "I would like to absolutely clearly insist and call to make everything possible to complete inter-state procedures and ratify the convention. Why not bringing it [on the agenda] of the nearest session of the Verkhovna Rada?" Poroshenko said in his address to the Second Ukrainian Women's Congress in Kyiv on December 7. He recalled that to solve the domestic violence issues, Council of Europe member states have developed the convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence. "We signed it as early as 2011. As of today, some 33 nations have ratified it, and I regret to say it that there are still some certain manipulations about this topic in our society, including the understanding of the term gender," Poroshenko said. President Petro Poroshenko of Ukraine has stressed that the share of the use of the Ukrainian language in the media, science, and education has grown in the past few years. "After the Revolution of Dignity, there has been a dynamic promotion of our state Ukrainian language in education and in public life. It can be heard more and more on the radio and television. The number of books published in Ukrainian has been growing," Poroshenko said at a meeting in Kyiv on December 7 with scientists of the National Science Academy of Ukraine that was dedicated to its 100th anniversary. According to the president, some 82% of scientific papers by the Science Academy's members have been published in Ukrainian. "Compared to 2013, this number has grown by 13%," Poroshenko said. At the same time, he said the remaining part of the scientific papers have been published in English and other languages of the European Union. President Petro Poroshenko of Ukraine and President Dalia Grybauskaite of Lithuania have called to toughen sanctions against the Russian Federation for its aggression in the basin of the Sea of Azov. "We herewith call on our international partners to impose harsh sanctions [on Russia] to stop Russia's aggressive encroachments in the Black and Azov Seas and restore free navigation in that region," Poroshenko told a press conference in Kyiv on December 7 he held jointly with Grybauskaite. He thanked his Lithuanian counterpart for Lithuania imposing sanctions against all those involved in the aggressive actions in the Black Sea. "Today we know that international organizations have not imposed any sanctions in response to Russia's actions. We have imposed our own national sanctions as an act of protest against the actions done by the Russian Federation in the Kerch Strait," Grybauskaite said. The Lithuanian head of state said those sanctions apply, in particular, to individuals who, from now on, will not be able to do business or other activities in Lithuania, and "in this way, they will bear the responsibility for the attack" on the Ukrainian naval vessels. Also, Grybauskaite recalled that Lithuania continues to assist Ukraine in humanitarian issues and sends its cybersecurity instructors to teach in Ukraine. She also said Lithuania has supported the sanctions that had been imposed by the international community against the Russian Federation and also calls to toughen them. The Verkhovna Rada's chairman Andriy Parubiy will be on a visit to South Korea from December 10 to discuss, in particular, a visa-free regime between the two countries. "We are on the brink of crucial decisions," Parubiy said in an interview with Rada TV channel, adding that there are plans "to reach the finish in discussing the decision to discontinue the visa regime between Ukraine and South Korea." "Today South Korea is one of the most dynamically developing economies in the world. It is one of the top twenty most effective world economies. It is important that Ukraine could have a visa-free regime with South Korea as well," the politician said. The Ukrainian parliament's speaker said the parties are planning to sign an agreement between the Verkhovna Rada and the parliament of South Korea that will help promote closer cooperation between the parliaments of both countries. Also, he voiced the hope for receiving support and assistance in upgrading the Rada system, which is used by the Ukrainian parliament for voting purposes. Parubiy said his trip will be very important for the inter-parliamentary diplomacy and for cooperation with that region. Ukrkosmos is considering the investigation of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) within the Lybid project in one context with the protection of Ukraine's interests in proceedings to settle the dispute with the project's general contractor, Canada's MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates (MDA), started in London arbitration in 2018. Director General of Ukrkosmos state enterprise Ivan Nazaruk told Interfax-Ukraine Ukrkosmos has been cooperating with the investigators for more than two years. "We have been cooperating with the NABU for more than two years. Earlier the documents were seized at the state enterprise, our employees are testifying," he said. "We are striving to provide the investigators with all possible assistance, given that this is a serious matter that overlaps with even more serious: protecting the interests of Ukraine within the London arbitration started early this year on the dispute with the general contractor of the project, Canada's MDA, which announced unilateral withdrawal from the project in the autumn of 2017. We want to return about $300 million allocated from the budget for the project and received by Canadians to fulfill contractual obligations to create and launch our first Ukrainian satellite into orbit," Nazaruk stressed. The Ukrkosmos head said today the Ukrainian party has already paid the arbitration fee and hired lawyers. The interests of Ukraine in court will be represented by a Canadian law firm with a serious professional reputation, as well as a Ukrainian company, he said. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has said the arrest of lawyer Emil Kurbedinov in Russia-occupied Crimea is an attempt to deny the Ukrainian nationals whose rights he has defended the right to be defended. In connections with this incident, the Foreign Ministry has called on the international community to heighten pressure on Russia so that it would de-occupy Crimea and release all the Ukrainian nationals it has illegitimately been keeping in custody. "The charges of 'demonstrating the attributes or symbols of extremist organizations' used by the Russian occupiers' 'court' to throw Emil Kurbedinov behind bars are groundless and fabricated. In fact, Russia is trying to deprive Ukrainian citizenspolitical prisoners in the Russian Federation and in the occupied territoriesthe right to defense by intimidating and harassing those who support the Ukrainian hostages of the Kremlin and protect them in courts," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement with regard to the illegitimate arrest of the lawyer Kurbedinov. The Foreign Ministry has also strongly protested against the arrest of Kurbedinov. The statement says that he is one of the key lawyers working on the cases against Ukrainian citizens who have illegitimately been held in custody by Russia on trumped-up and politically motivated charges. Also, since recently he has been defending one of the Ukrainian naval sailors who had been taken prisoners of war by Russia. "It was the latter fact that could have led to his arrest, but this is not the very first case when the Russian occupiers are prosecuting lawyers and human rights activists. In November alone, Emil and two of his colleagues, Lily Gemenji and Edem Semedlyaev, received groundless 'warnings' against the 'inadmissibility of violation of the law on demonstration,'" the statement said. The Foreign Ministry of Ukraine condemns such unworthy practices and calls on Russia to immediately stop them. "Russia must fully comply with the relevant resolutions of the UN General Assembly adopted in 2014, 2016, and 2017, as well as the decision of the International Court of Justice on interim measures in the Ukraine vs. Russia case, adopted in 2017," the ministry said. "We herewith call on the international community to heighten political, diplomatic and sanction pressure on the aggressor country pending Crimea's de-occupation and the release of all the Ukrainians illegitimately held by Russia," the Foreign Ministry said. On Tuesday, December 11, at 10.30, the press center of the Interfax-Ukraine news agency will host a press conference entitled "Actual Socio-Political Attitudes of Ukrainian Citizens" according to the results of a nationwide representative public opinion poll conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology on November 23 - December 3, 2018, with the participation of Deputy Director of Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) Anton Hrushetsky (8/5a Reitarska Street). Registration requires press accreditation. KYIV. Dec 7 (Interfax-Ukraine) - Ukrainian experts have announced the creation of the "Helsinki Group 2.0" initiative and called for a massive anti-war movement involving the international community based on the OSCE standards and principles. "We are on the verge of a real continental war, the cause of which can be a military clash on any day in Russia and Ukraine. Russia's attack near the Kerch Strait was a kind of last straw. It showed a qualitative transition in the situation of Ukraine-Russia relations after the annexation of Crimea and the prolonged hybrid military conflict in Donbas," director of the Institute for Strategic Studies "New Ukraine" Andriy Yermolayev said at a press conference on Thursday hosted by the Kyiv-based Interfax-Ukraine news agency. He said in the case of full-scale military actions, not only the collapse of political systems, but also for the states themselves, the consequences could be catastrophic. "The anti-war movement is impossible only in a single country. Therefore, the Helsinki Group 2.0 is our initiative not only for our like-minded people in Ukraine ... but also in the states that were and remain members of the OSCE," he said. "We consider it critical as early as 2019 to initiate and bring to a logical conclusion a meeting at the highest level of the OSCE participating states on one key issue: preventing the threat of the Ukrainian-Russian and continental war," he said. Serhii Kaplin was nominated for the President of Ukraine at the Congress of the Party of European Socialists in Lisbon The Ukrainian Social Democratic Party takes part in the 11th Congress of the Party of European Socialists, which takes place in Portugal. PES is the union of all the socialist and social democratic parties of Europe. The SDP is the only political force from Ukraine, which was invited to the global assembly of the left forces. The PES congress is attended by the High Representative for the Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany Federika Mogerini, the Prime Ministers of Spain, Portugal and Malta, British Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn. At the congress, Ukrainian Social Democrats held consultations with their PES colleagues, presented their program and leaders. With the participation of European socialists, the SDP political council held a meeting and nominated a candidate for the presidency of Ukraine. The European Left appreciated the plan of the Ukrainian Social Democrats and their choice and supported the candidacy of Serhii Kaplin. "There is a great interest in Ukraine and its future at the congress of the Party of European Socialists. I am proud that the SDP is the only Ukrainian left party that was invited to such a historic meeting. It is very honorable that the world leaders here supported the political council of the Social Democratic Party and authorized me to run for the President of Ukraine to build a successful European Social Democracy in Ukraine. Therefore, to implement decent wages and pensions, jobs and social justice. I thank the leaders of the European countries and the EU functionaries for their guidance and wishes for victory. Now we are looking forward for our PES colleagues at our Forum in Ukraine, where we will confirm this decision ", - said Serhii Kaplin. European socialists are also preparing for the election - at the congress PES is nominating a common candidate for President of the European Parliament Frans Timmermans. Following the rejection of his appeal for a conviction on financial rules violations, former Central Bank of Iran (CBI) governor Valiollah Seif is now banned from holding public office for life. The ban means he will have to step down from his current post as one of President Hassan Rouhanis advisors, the Islamic Republics judiciary announced in a statement on its website December 6. On November 19 Irans Supreme Audit Court of Iran (SACI) upheld a February 2017 conviction of the former governor and his deputies. After serving nearly five years as the CBI governor, Seif found himself in hot water in early 2017 when one of the five official Central Bank-approved credit institutions was unable to pay back the deposits of the customers. Meanwhile, the unprecedented nosediving of the national currency (rial) against dollar and chaos in Iran's currency market put added pressure on the 66-year-old governor. Meanwhile, in May, the U.S. Treasury Department had sanctioned both Seif and his staff for their roles in laundering money through an Iraqi bank to Tehrans Lebanese proxy Hezbollah and the Quds Force, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps' (IRGC) extraterritorial force. Washington has previously designated both Hezbollah and the Quds Force as terrorist organizations. Ultimately, Rouhani replaced Self in July with politician Abdolnaser Hemmati, who is considered a moderate. There is a long history of criminal behavior at Irans central bank, the U.S. daily The Hill reported October 18, adding, "The Obama administration sanctioned the CBI itself in 2012 for facilitating transactions with smaller banks to circumvent previous global sanctions. An executive order by President Obama justified the move, citing the deceptive practices of the Central Bank of Iran and other Iranian banks to conceal transactions of sanctioned parties, the deficiencies in Iran's anti-money laundering regime and the weaknesses in its implementation, and the continuing and unacceptable risk posed to the international financial system. Seif represents a rare case of an Iranian official who has been sanctioned both by the U.S. and censured at home. However, almost immediately after his dismissal as the CBI governor, Seif was appointed as President Rouhanis advisor for financial and banking affairs. Two months later, on September 24, the judiciary's spokesman, mid-ranking cleric, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, told reporters that Seif was under investigation and banned from leaving the country. Ejei had earlier confirmed that Seif was also suspected of being involved in violating the law after the detention and interrogation of his deputy in forex affairs, Ahmad Araqchi, the brother of deputy foreing minister Abbas Araqchi. The dramatic downfall of the rial's value that led to the widespread anti-establishment demonstrations in large cities of Iran last July, was attributed by conservatives to Seif's mismanagement. Parviz Sorouri, secretary-general of the conservative Society of Path Seekers of the Islamic Revolution, demanded Seif also be prosecuted for the national currency devaluation. The senior officials of the CBI, especially Valiollah Seif, are the main suspects of this case and they should be held accountable for their weak and provocative measures, Sorouri was cited as saying by state-run website MNA in July. Economists both in Iran and abroad believe that the currencys weakness is due to structural problems of Irans economy and also U.S. sanctions. Even Seifs dismissal as CBI governor did not satisfy his critics. Mohammad Hassannejad, a member of Iranian parliament's Economic Commission, said in August dismissing office-holders does not mean that they cannot be held accountable for their wrongdoings. Nonetheless, Seif has repeatedly maintained that the CBI did not have any role in financial policy-making and was always subservient to the government's orders. VIENNA, Dec 6 (Reuters) OPEC tentatively agreed an oil output cut on Thursday but was waiting for a commitment from non-OPEC heavyweight Russia before deciding the exact volumes for a production reduction aimed at propping up crude prices, two sources from the group said. Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak flew home from Vienna earlier for talks with President Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg. Novak returns to Austria's capital for discussions among Saudi-led OPEC and the group's allies on Friday. The price of crude has fallen almost a third since October but U.S. President Donald Trump has demanded the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries make oil even cheaper by refraining from output cuts. "We still want Russia to cut as much as possible," Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih told reporters as the OPEC meeting concluded without yielding concrete figures. "I'm not confident but I hope to reach a deal ... Hopefully, he (Novak) will come tonight," Falih said. Possible output cuts by OPEC and its allies range from 0.5-1.5 million bpd. A reduction of 1 million bpd would be acceptable and so far was the main scenario, Falih said. Brent oil futures fell as much as 5 percent to below $59 per barrel on fears that there could be no deal but later recovered somewhat, trading down 3.5 percent at 1720 GMT. "One million bpd may disappoint many. But should the cut be from a September or October baseline, rather than November, the net impact would be sufficient to limit storage builds," Greg Sharenow, executive vice-president for Pimco, said on the sidelines of the OPEC meeting. "It is unlikely to spark a meaningful price rally, but also will not be so dire either. In many respects it is the middle road, which may be the optimal solution," said Sharenow, who helps manage a $15 billion commodities fund at the $1.77 trillion U.S. investment management firm. OPEC delegates have said the group and its allies could cut by 1 million bpd if Russia contributed 150,000 bpd of that reduction. If Russia contributed around 250,000 bpd, the overall cut could exceed 1.3 million bpd. Novak said on Thursday that Russia would find it harder to cut oil output in winter than other producers because of the cold weather. Oil prices have crashed as Saudi Arabia, Russia and the United Arab Emirates raised output since June after Trump called for higher production to offset lower exports from Iran, OPEC's third-largest producer. Russia, Saudi Arabia and the United States have been vying for the position of top crude producer in recent years. The United States is not part of any output-limiting initiative due to its anti-trust legislation and fragmented oil industry. On Thursday, U.S. government figures showed the country had become a net exporter of crude oil and refined products for the first time on record, underscoring how the surge in production has altered the supply equation in world markets. TRUMP RAISES PRESSURE Iranian exports have plummeted after the United States imposed fresh sanctions on Tehran in November. But Washington gave sanctions waivers to some buyers of Iranian crude, further raising fears of an oil glut next year. "Hopefully OPEC will be keeping oil flows as is, not restricted. The world does not want to see, or need, higher oil prices!" Trump wrote in a tweet on Wednesday. Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said on Thursday he would support a cut as long as Iran did not need to reduce its own output. Iraqi Oil Minister Thamer Ghadhban said Iraq as OPEC's second-largest producer would support and join a cut. 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. (Additional reporting by Shadia Nasralla and Alex Lawler; Writing by Dmitry Zhdannikov; Editing by Dale Hudson; Graphics by Amanda Cooper) More homework needed We only considered a few things while making policy to integrate ICT into education Details added (first version posted on 11:10) Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 7 Trend: Azerbaijans Trade House has opened in the capital of Poland - Warsaw, Trend reports citing the Azerbaijani Ministry of Economy on Dec. 7. Azerbaijans Trade House created at the initiative of the Ministry of Economy will supply the products under the "Made in Azerbaijan" brand to the Polish market, support the promotion and expansion of export of Azerbaijani goods and sell domestic products in Poland, etc. The Trade House sells various types of products of about 30 Azerbaijani companies producing alcoholic beverages, dried fruits, pomegranate, hazelnuts, tea, jams, fruit juices, mineral water, cosmetic products, etc. A delegation led by Azerbaijani Minister of Economy Shahin Mustafayev, Polish officials and businessmen took part in the opening ceremony of the Trade House. While speaking at the event, the minister said that Azerbaijans trade representative on European countries was appointed in Poland in 2017. The trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Poland increased by 57 percent in the first nine months of 2018. Poland has invested over $20 million in Azerbaijan up till now, while Azerbaijan has invested $6.5 million in the Polish economy. Presently, 21 Polish companies operate in Azerbaijan. Then Polish Minister of Entrepreneurship and Technology and Deputy Foreign Minister Jadwiga Emilewicz and Azerbaijani ambassador to Poland Hasan Hasanov delivered speeches. Then the participants of the event reviewed the Trade House and the exhibition of Azerbaijani products constantly functioning there. During the event, a Memorandum of Understanding on the sale of hazelnuts and pomegranate juice concentrate was signed between Azerbaijans Trade House and the Polish company Stx One. During his visit to Poland, Mustafayev met with Emilewicz. Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 7 Trend: Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov met with the EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus, Toivo Klaar within the framework of the OSCE 25th Ministerial Council, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry told Trend. Minister Elmar Mammadyarov informed EU Special Representative on the recent meeting with the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs and acting Foreign Minister of Armenia. He stated that the conflict must be resolved in accordance with the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council and the Helsinki Final Act, on the basis of territorial integrity, sovereignty and internationally recognized borders of Azerbaijan and emphasized that attempts to change the internationally recognized borders of states and acquisition of territory by use of force are unacceptable. Minister Elmar Mammadyarov underlined the importance of the EUs support to the settlement of the conflict, including the withdrawal of the occupying armed forces of Armenia from the Azerbaijani territories and return of the hundreds of thousands of the Azerbaijani internally displaced persons to their places of origin. At the meeting the next visit of the Special Representative to the region was discussed and satisfaction with meeting the EU official in Baku in near future was expressed. Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 7 Trend: Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov met Harlem Desir, OSCE representative on freedom of the media, on the sidelines of the 25th OSCE Ministerial Council in Milan, Trend reports citing the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry. The commitments of the OSCE in freedom of media and expression, as well as the issues of common interest were the main subjects of discussion. The perspectives of the existing cooperation relations between Azerbaijan and OSCE representative on freedom of the media and possible steps to be taken in this direction were discussed. The sides also exchanged views on impact of new technologies on developments in freedom of media and expression. Touching upon the developments on freedom of expression and media Mammadyarov emphasized that 80 percent of the countrys population are internet users. Details added (first version posted on 15:32) Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 7 Trend: Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had a conversation at the event in St. Petersburg, Deputy Head of the Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Azerbaijani Presidential Administration Hikmet Hajiyev said in an interview with Trend on Dec. 7. He stressed that at the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin, President Aliyev took part in the unofficial summit of the CIS heads of state on Dec. 6. "An unofficial summit of the CIS heads of state was held in Moscow in 2017, he said. At these summits, the views on the work carried out during the year within the CIS are exchanged, directions for further activity are discussed. The St. Petersburg informal summit was held in a sincere atmosphere, Hajiyev said. There was a joint dinner for the presidents. Then, the presidents watched the 'Nutcracker' ballet at the Mariinsky Theater. I would like to stress that while watching the ballet, President Aliyev was sitting to the right of President Putin, which testifies to special respect for the president and his personality, Hajiyev added. President Aliyev had conversations and discussions on the issues of mutual interest with all the heads of state participating in the event, he said. "President Aliyev talked with Pashinyan during the event, he added. Discussions were held to continue active negotiations on the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and observe the ceasefire regime." It is necessary to take into account that these two factors are closely related to each other and must remain in the spotlight, he said. Recently, the situation on the contact line of Azerbaijani and Armenian troops and along the state border has been relatively quiet, which creates a good background for conducting substantive and intensive negotiations to resolve the conflict. This should in no way mean freezing the conflict or maintaining an unacceptable status quo, he added. Azerbaijans decisive position is that the status quo based on the occupation must be changed soon." Hajiyev stressed that the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries repeatedly at the level of heads of state stressed the importance of changing the status quo. "As a result of negotiations on the conflict settlement, Azerbaijans sovereignty and territorial integrity within the internationally recognized borders must be restored," Hajiyev said. He added that during the conversation, the issue of exchange of prisoners and hostages between Armenia and Azerbaijan was also discussed. "Focusing on Azerbaijans position on this issue, President Aliyev said the hostages must be exchanged upon the "all for all" principle and Dilgam Asgarov and Shahbaz Guliyev must be among them, he said. Such humane steps can have a positive impact on the negotiation process, he said. This position is also supported by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, therefore, the Armenian side must take this into account. During the meetings with the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Andrzey Kasprzyk and others, the president always raises the issue of liberating Dilgam Asgarov and Shahbaz Guliyev and their return to Azerbaijan. The president is making big efforts to liberate Dilgam Asgarov and Shahbaz Guliyev and pays special attention to this issue." Hajiyev also touched upon the agreement reached during the conversation held between President Aliyev and Pashinyan. "During the conversation, the sides agreed on ensuring opportunities for establishing contacts in case of necessity, he said. These contacts are not systematic and are not the communication at the level of heads of state, foreign ministers and defense ministers. They are used in case of necessity and at a low level." He also commented on the issue regarding the new CSTO secretary general. "The conversations on the sidelines testify that before the unofficial summit of the CIS heads of state, the issue of the CSTO secretary general was discussed at the summit of the Eurasian Economic Union, he said. According to the information received from some sources, the meeting was tense due to the issue of the CSTO secretary general. According to the available information, we can say with confidence that Armenia has lost the position of the CSTO secretary general, he said. Probably, a representative of Belarus will be appointed to this position without taking into account Armenias opinion. Armenias all efforts to retain the position of secretary general were futile. This is another failure of Armenias policy and diplomacy. He said Azerbaijan is not a member of the CSTO and does not intend to interfere in the processes in that organization. "I would like to mention the president's remarks voiced while receiving the Belarus ambassador in November, he said. President Aliyev said, 'Armenia is a country occupying Azerbaijans territory, of course, we want to know who and which country's representative heads the CSTO - a military-political organization. Discussion of these issues between partners and friends is natural." Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 7 By Ilhama Isabalayeva - Trend: Azerbaijan is very active in the field of human rights protection and fulfills its obligations arising from the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Trend reports citing UN Resident Coordinator in Azerbaijan Ghulam Isaczai. He was speaking Dec. 7 at the international conference Ensuring equality is the main foundation of peace and sustainable development. He said that Azerbaijan complies with recommendations related to human rights, demonstrates respect for human rights, and also joined many international agreements. The UN conducts regular work in the field of human rights protection, he noted, adding that however, the rights of many people are still being violated. He said that human rights are reflected in the Constitution of Azerbaijan. Human rights protectors are still being persecuted, he noted. Eliminating poverty to ensure sustainable development is a step towards improving human rights, he added. Azerbaijan achieved success in human rights protection, and regularly reports to the relevant structures, he said, noting that the UN supports Azerbaijan in this direction. Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 7 Trend: Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had a conversation at the event in St. Petersburg, Head of the Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Azerbaijani Presidential Administration Hikmet Hajiyev said in an interview with Trend on Dec. 7. He stressed that at the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin, President Aliyev took part in the unofficial summit of the CIS heads of state on Dec. 6. An unofficial summit of the CIS heads of state was held in Moscow in 2017, he said. At these summits, the views on the work carried out during the year within the CIS are exchanged; directions for further activity are discussed. The St. Petersburg informal summit was held in a sincere atmosphere, Hajiyev said. There was a joint dinner for the heads of state. Then, the heads of state watched the 'Nutcracker' ballet at the Mariinsky Theater. I would like to stress that while watching the ballet, President Aliyev was sitting to the right of President Putin, which testifies to special respect for the Azerbaijani president and his personality, Hajiyev added. He said President Aliyev had conversations and discussions on the issues of mutual interest with all the heads of state participating in the event. President Aliyev talked with Pashinyan during the event, he added. Discussions were held to continue active negotiations on the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and observe the ceasefire. It is necessary to take into account that these two factors are closely related to each other and must remain in the spotlight. Recently, the situation on the contact line of Azerbaijani and Armenian troops and along the state border has been relatively quiet, which creates a good background for conducting substantive and intensive negotiations to resolve the conflict, he said. This should in no way mean freezing the conflict or maintaining an unacceptable status quo, Hajiyev added. Azerbaijans decisive position is that the status quo, based on occupation, must be changed soon. Hajiyev said the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries have repeatedly at the level of heads of state stressed the importance of changing the status quo. Azerbaijans sovereignty and territorial integrity within the internationally recognized borders must be restored as a result of negotiations on the conflict settlement, Hajiyev said. He added that during the conversation, the exchange of prisoners and hostages between Armenia and Azerbaijan was also discussed. Focusing on Azerbaijans position on this issue, President Aliyev said the hostages must be exchanged upon all for all principle, and Dilgam Asgarov and Shahbaz Guliyev must be among them, he said. Such humane steps can have a positive impact on the negotiations, he said. This position is also supported by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs. Therefore, the Armenian side must take this into account. During the meetings with the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Andrzey Kasprzyk and others, the president always raises the issue of liberating Dilgam Asgarov and Shahbaz Guliyev and their return to Azerbaijan. The president is making big efforts for liberating Dilgam Asgarov and Shahbaz Guliyev and pays special attention to this issue. Hajiyev also touched upon the agreement reached during the conversation between President Aliyev and Pashinyan. During the conversation, the sides agreed on ensuring opportunities for establishing contacts in case of necessity, he said. These contacts are not systematic and are not at the level of heads of state, foreign ministers and defense ministers. They are used in case of necessity and at a low level. He also commented on the issue regarding the new CSTO secretary general. Sideline conversations testify that before the unofficial summit of the CIS heads of state, the issue of the CSTO secretary general was discussed at the summit of the Eurasian Economic Union, he said. According to the information received from some sources, the meeting was tense due to the issue of the CSTO secretary general. According to the available information, we can say with confidence that Armenia has lost the position of the CSTO secretary general, he said. Probably, a representative of Belarus will be appointed to this position without taking into account Armenias opinion. Armenias all efforts to retain the position of the secretary general have been futile. This is another failure of Armenias policy and diplomacy. He said Azerbaijan is not a CSTO member and does not intend to interfere in the processes in that organization. I would like to mention the presidents remarks voiced while receiving the Belarus ambassador in November, Hajiyev added. President Aliyev said, Armenia is a country occupying Azerbaijans territory; of course, we care who and which country's representative heads the CSTO, which is a military-political organization. Discussion of these issues between partners and friends is natural. Armenia is trying to hide behind the CSTO to continue its aggressive policy against Azerbaijan, Hajiyev said. Armenias loss during the April battles testified to that. President Aliyev discussed the appointment of the new secretary general in one form or another with all the heads of the CSTO member states, except Armenia. Of course, any defeat of Armenia in political, diplomatic, economic and other spheres, as an aggressor country, can be regarded as Azerbaijans victory, because these defeats are stipulated by Azerbaijans big role, he said. And Armenias another humiliating defeat in the CSTO, in which it is a full member, was one of such examples. President Aliyev is a personality who, based on deep strategic thinking and pragmatic views, is able to skillfully carry out a policy called strategic diplomacy, rather than a declarative policy, like some individuals, he said. This strategic diplomacy ensures Azerbaijans victory, serves to protect national interests, strengthens the position and role of the country in international relations, Hajiyev added. Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 7 Trend: In accordance with the plan approved by the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Azerbaijan Colonel General Zakir Hasanov, an annual meeting of foreign military attaches accredited to the Republic of Azerbaijan was held on December 7, Trend reports referring to the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry. Some 30 representatives from 28 nations and international organizations attended the meeting. Major General Huseyn Mahmudov, Chief of International Military Cooperation Department, welcomed the guests on behalf of the Defense Minister and briefed them on current military-political situation in the region, Armenia's aggressive policy against Azerbaijan, as well as on reforms in the Azerbaijani Army, other activities conducted within military cooperation during the year, and the events to be held in 2019. The guests expressed their gratitude to the Ministry of Defense leadership for organizing such events and visits and hoped that this cooperation would be more fruitful in the future. Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 7 By Elnur Baghishov Trend: In the previous years, India exported goods worth $4.5 billion to Iran, while Iran exported goods worth $2.7 billion to India, Hossein Bamiri, Commercial Counselor of Embassy of Islamic Republic of Iran in India, said. He said that India's big companies supply a small volume of products to Iran because it fears the US. Therefore, the trade balance has dropped, Trend reports citing ILNA. Iran exported goods worth about $1.370 billion, while India exported goods worth $1.470 billion, Bamiri added. In 2011, India's non-oil exports to Iran totalled $5.2 billion, while Iran's non-oil exports to India amounted to $2.4 billion, he said. Presently, trade turnover volume between Iran and India is $5.5 billion, Bamiri said. Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 7 By Matanat Nasibova Trend: The Gemikaya Bereket Gida Mahsullari LLC located in Azerbaijans Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic intends to export its products to more countries. The company intends to begin to export fruit juices and nectars to the Russian market in the future, the company told Trend. "Presently, the company is working on a big business plan which envisages the expansion of production volumes and export supplies, the company said. We plan to increase export volumes, as well as establish cooperation with partners in Russia from 2019. This year we have constantly negotiated with the Russian entrepreneurs. We plan to supply fruit juices and nectars to Russia in 2019." The company's products have ISO 9001: 2008 certificate and a certificate of conformity issued by the State Committee on Standardization, Metrology and Patents of Azerbaijan. The company has been provided with Italian, German and Turkish equipment. ---- Follow the author on Twitter: @MatanatNasibova Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 7 By Matanat Nasibova Trend: The Gemikaya Bereket Gida Mahsullari LLC located in Azerbaijans Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic intends to increase the production of mineral waters in 2019. This is mainly connected with the growing demand for mineral water in Nakhchivan, as well as in Baku, the company told Trend. "Our mineral water fully covers the domestic needs of the population, the company said. At the same time, a certain part of the mineral water is exported to neighboring countries, having demand for it. We plan to increase production capacity of the company to expand export volumes," the company added. The mineral water may be also exported to Belarus. The company has ISO 22000: 2005, as well as ISO 9001: 2008 certificates. Meanwhile, the company uses modern French and Belgian equipment. ---- Follow the author on Twitter: @MatanatNasibova Nepali student dies in Australia A Nepali student, who had come to Australia two months ago to pursue higher study, has died. Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 7 By Sara Israfilbayova - Trend: In January-October 2018, 10 leading companies of Azerbaijan exported non-oil products worth $615.6 million, according to the Export Review, published by the countrys Center for Analysis of Economic Reforms and Communication. These companies exported goods worth $486.6 million in the first ten months of 2017. The share of Azerbaijans biggest exporters of non-oil products in the reporting period accounted for $348.4 million, while the share of private companies accounted for $267.2 million. Ranking of 10 leading companies and individuals in terms of non-oil exports in January-October 2018: Company/ individual Sector Volume of exports (in $ million) in January-October 2018 Volume of exports (in $ million) in January-October 2017 SOCAR Department of Marketing and Economic Operations State 151.5 122.6 Representative office of Azerbaijan International Mining Company Private 88.5 65.6 Det-al Aluminium LTD State 84.6 86.3 Azerenerji State 59 36.2 MKT Istehsalat Kommersiya LLC Private 52.5 22.3 Kapitan Fruits LLC Private 51.8 0 Baku Steel Company LLC Private 47.7 50.9 SOCAR Methanol LLC State 26.8 35.7 AzFruitTrade LLC Private 26.7 0 AzerGold LLC State 26.5 67 In January-October 2018, Azerbaijani companies exported non-oil products worth $1.35 billion, which is 11 percent more than in the same period of 2017. (1.7 manats = $1 on Dec. 7) Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 7 By Matanat Nasibova Trend: The Gemikaya Bereket Gida Mahsullari LLC located in Azerbaijans Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic will begin to produce new types of dairy products soon. New types of cheese may be available in 2019, the company told Trend. "The technologies that are used in the company, along with the production capacity, allow the company to think about the production of new types of cheese, the company said. This type of dairy products is in the great demand in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, Baku and neighbouring Turkey. Therefore, we consider the issue of producing new types of cheese mainly for export, the company added. Taking into account the favorable logistics, we intend to gradually increase the export volumes to Turkey in the future." The company's products have ISO 9001: 2008 certificate and a certificate of conformity issued by the State Committee on Standardization, Metrology and Patents of Azerbaijan. The company has been provided with Italian, German and Turkish equipment. ---- Follow the author on Twitter: @MatanatNasibova Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Dec. 7 By Huseyn Hasanov Trend: The EU supports capacity building for multi-sectoral investments in Turkmenistan, Trend reports citing the EU representative office in Ashgabat. Ashgabat hosts a workshop and a meeting of an Inter-Sectoral Working Group on the development of multi-sector investment projects for achieving water, energy and food security in Turkmenistan within the EU funded Nexus project. The events are organized within the Project "Central Asia Nexus Dialogue Project: Fostering Water, Energy and Food Security Nexus Dialogue and Multi-Sector Investment". The project is funded by the EU and implemented by the Regional Environmental Centre of Central Asia in partnership with the International Union for Conservation of Nature and with the support of the Executive Committee of International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea. The first phase of the project will last until December 2019 with a total budget of 1.52 million euros (with the EU contribution of 1.3 million euros). The training workshop introduces all participants to the methodology, templates and criteria used by the EU Nexus project for selection multi-sectoral investment projects of regional importance. The Investors Guide and the Knowledge Platform developed for Central Asian professionals by EU WECOOP2 project introduces practical tools to support the development of bankable project proposals. The participants of the events could practice new skills through discussion the investment project ideas confirmed at the third meeting of projects Regional Steering Committee (October 13, 2018, Astana), selecting three most feasible ones and their further elaboration. Proposals address such issues as modernization of the water management system and facilities and improvement of reclaimed irrigated lands in the basin of the Amudarya and Syrdarya Transboundary Rivers. One more important result of the event is a selection of the pilot project for testing benefits of water, energy, food security Nexus approach. It proposes the construction of a traditional hydro technical architectural construction for household purposes Sardob*. The EU strategy for Central Asia stresses the importance of respecting the strategic interests of all five Central Asian countries, while promoting multilateral and regional frameworks of dialogue and increased adhesion to international conventions and legal principles governing the environment, trans-boundary water resource management, and the consequences of the disappearance of the Aral Sea, Lubomir Frebort, Head of the Liaison Office of the EU in Turkmenistan, said. * Sardob is a construction buried in the ground and covered with a stone vault pool for the collection, storage and use of fresh drinking water. The vault or Gumbaz over the basin prevented significant evaporation of water, to some extent protected it from dust and sandstorms, created a permanent shadow. It is used in some regions of Turkey, Iran and Central Asia. Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 7 By Sara Israfilbayova Trend: A state program on the development of the agriculture sector is being prepared in Azerbaijan, Trend reports citing Advisor to the countrys Agriculture Minister Shabnam Mammadova. She was speaking at a press conference in Baku dedicated to the international forum AgTech and Green Energy. Mammadova noted that the forum, to be held for the first time in Azerbaijan Dec. 10-11, will be attended by diplomatic delegations from 20 countries, experts from 16 countries. Further, 15 startups from Israel, the US, Estonia and other countries will be represented at this forum. In total, more than 40 speakers will deliver speeches at the forum, she said, adding that a great interest is shown to the forum - about 1,200 people have registered for participation in this event. The main idea of the forum is to get acquainted with the experience of other countries in the agricultural sector and the field of alternative energy, Mammadova said. Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 7 By Rashid Shirinov Trend: Kazakh Invest National Company is presently negotiating with about 20 leading Turkish holdings, Managing Director of the company Erik Yakubayev told Trend. The negotiations are aimed at establishing in Kazakhstan the production of canned vegetables, paint and varnish products, sandwich panels, yarn and home textiles, processing of meat products, construction of solar power plants, as well as the opening of a modern clinic and projects in the logistics, chemical, mining and metallurgical industries. It is worth noting that since the beginning of this year, 23 projects with Turkish capital worth $1.5 billion have been in the monitoring system of Kazakh Invest. "For Kazakhstan, the implementation of agreements with Turkish companies will contribute to the development of the non-primary sector of the country's economy, as well as will have a positive socio-economic effect," Yakubayev said. For instance, more than 3,000 jobs will be created in the regions of the country. New plants will appear in Zhambyl, Kyzylorda, Aktobe and Almaty regions in the fields of mining and smelting, production of building materials, agriculture, agricultural chemistry and manufacturing. Since Kazakhstan gained independence, Turkey has invested more than $3 billion in the country. Moreover, Turkey is among the top 10 trade partners of Kazakhstan. Trade turnover between the two countries in 2017 increased by 27 percent and amounted to almost $2 billion. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @ShirinovRashid Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 7 By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend: Turkish Minister of Trade Ruhsar Pekcan called on partner countries to trade in national currency, Trend reports referring to Turkish media. Presently, Turkey is trading with Russia, China, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iran, and Qatar using national currency, the minister noted. The minister stressed that trading in national currency will strengthen the countries' economies. The Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had earlier called Muslim states to use national currencies in mutual trade operations. In January-November 2018, Turkey's trade turnover reached $360.695 billion, having increased by 1.93 percent. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 7 By Fikret Dolukhanov Trend: The Central Bank of Uzbekistan and the Federation of Consumer Rights Protection Societies called on citizens of Uzbekistan not to accept sweets, matches and napkins offered instead of a change, Trend reports referring to Uzbek media. Many grocery stores offer buyers matches, sweets, napkins and other similar goods instead of a small change of up to 500 soums. The Central Bank of Uzbekistan has issued new coins of 50, 100, 200, 500 soums worth of cash in order to optimize money circulation and create favorable conditions for cash payments, in particular, to eliminate problems with returning change for goods and services purchased, the Central Bank noted. According to Article 21 of the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan On Protection of Consumer Rights, a seller (executor) does not have the right to insist on a consumer purchasing additional goods or services, as well as charging for those not rendered. The Central Bank asked customers to call helpline of the Federation of Consumer Rights Protection Societies in case if a seller refuses to return change in cash. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @FDolukhanov Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 7 By Fikret Dolukhanov Trend: A scientist from Uzbekistan created a new theory about stars, according to which Einstein's theory of gravity leads not to black holes, but to objects of a previously unknown type frozars, Trend reports referring to the Uzbek media. The author of the new theory is Ph.D. in Physics and Mathematics Zahid Zakir. Relying on exactly solvable models, he, unexpectedly for himself, came to a rigorous proof of the absence of black holes in Einstein's theory. I managed to be the first in the world to understand and prove that the collapse of stars in Einstein gravity has an internal mechanism of self-retardation. This mechanism doesnt exist in the Newtonian theory and therefore the black hole model, which roots out from this theory, did not take it into account, Zakir said He noted that all stars with a mass of more than three solar masses at the final stage of their evolution, when their sources of energy are exhausted, cool and then their own gravity begins to compress them uncontrollably. According to him, the main problem so far has been the determination of the nature and structure of the objects into which the stars will turn as a result of such a gravitational collapse. Now it has become clear that they are becoming frozars, stars with a completely frozen structure, which turn out to follow from Einsteins theory of gravity. In this theory, the strong gravity of a contracting star slows down all processes inside the star compared to the outside world. When the surface approaches the gravitational radius, all layers of the star completely freeze, which stops the collapse, the scientist believes. According to the author of the new theory, all compact stars and supermassive objects in the nuclei of galaxies, already discovered by astronomers and considered black holes, will now be considered frozars. Objects that will be opened later will also be considered frozars. Gravity was the first interaction described by mathematical theory. Aristotle (4th century BC) believed that objects with different masses fall at different speeds. And only much later (1589) did Galileo Galilei experimentally determine that this was not the case if the air resistance is eliminated, all the bodies are accelerated in the same way. Newton's law of universal gravitation (1687) described the general behavior of gravity. In 1915, Albert Einstein created the General Theory of Relativity, which more accurately describes gravity in terms of space-time geometry. The theoretical possibility of the existence of black holes follows from some exact solutions of the Einstein equations, the first of which was obtained by Karl Schwarzschild in 1915. Einstein himself and Arthur Eddington, the creator of the modern theory of the structure of stars, were against the possibility of the formation of black holes. Einstein considered it impossible that within a black hole particles can exceed the speed of light. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @FDolukhanov Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 7 By Taleh Mursagulov - Trend: Azerbaijan is working to create a centralized registry of natural resources, Trend reports citing Deputy Economy Minister Niyazi Safarov as saying at an event on the efficient use of natural resources in industry. He said that the work is carried out jointly by the Economy Ministry, the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources and the State Committee on Property Issues. Safarov noted that the creation of the registry will contribute to the development of industry in Azerbaijan. Creation of a registry will contribute to the formation of a clear vision for business entities that have the appropriate potential and opportunities, as well as expansion of their ability to use natural resources, he said. He also noted that as part of Azerbaijans economic policy, the important areas include sustainable development of the economy, ensuring macroeconomic stability, diversification of the non-oil sector, as well as holding large-scale industrialization, effectively using natural resources. He added that in this direction, program documents have been adopted, the business and investment environment has been improved and the support to entrepreneurs activity is being provided. Tehran, Iran, Dec. 7 Trend: Europe is suspending the purchase of Irans steel due to uncertainty over Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), an Iranian official said. Europe has announced that due to US sanctions and uncertainty over SPV, they would not extend their steel purchases, Trend reports citing ILNAs interview with Manager of South Steel Investment and Development Company Ahmad Donya Nour. The European Union has proposed Special Purpose Vehicle that could help match Iranian oil and gas exports against purchases of EU goods in an effective barter arrangement. However British, French and German attempts to establish SPV were faltering because no EU country was willing to host it for fear of its banks provoking US penalties, including a ban from US markets. Our trade contracts with India and China have remained for six months; during this time great volume of our products will be exported to those countries. But our contract with Europe has ended and our European partners have announced they would not extend the contract due to SPV problem, Donya Nour noted. We currently have no problem in steel trade with Iraq since the transactions are done using other currencies rather than dollar or euro; but in other countries there would be problems in the future regarding the revenues return, therefore the exporters are reviewing the issue with government officials, he added. None of the national pride road projects set to meet deadline Not a single road project of national pride will meet the deadline set when their construction began a decade ago. This has prompted the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport to push their deadlines. Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 7 By Taleh Mursagulov - Trend: Azerbaijan will receive about 10 billion manats from the development of Filizchay, one of the biggest polymetallic deposits in Europe, Trend reports citing Chairman of the Board of AzerGold CJSC Zakir Ibrahimov as saying at an event on the efficient use of natural resources. He said earlier it was assumed that the revenues from the development of this field will amount to 6 billion manats, but recent studies have shown that revenues may increase. He said there are reserves of copper, lead, zinc and silver in the field. Development of a preliminary assessment document was entrusted to the international consulting company SRK Consulting. AzerGold, which started its activity in July 2016, is engaged in studying, research, investigation, management of deposits of precious and non-ferrous metals, their production, processing and sale, and also application of new technologies, improvement of material and technical base, and performs other work connected with development of this area. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @TalehMursagulov Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec.7 By Leman Zeynalova Trend: Qatar can get benefit of OPEC without continuing to be its member, Spencer Welch, director of the oil markets and downstream team in the London-based IHS Markit told Trend. Qatars move is interesting but not hugely significant, said the expert, adding that Qatars oil production is a small part of OPEC. "They see little value in continuing to be a part of the organization. Maybe, relations with Saudi Arabia are strained, and they probably dont want to be told when they have to cut oil production. By dropping out they can potentially get the benefit of OPEC without having to cut production," he added. He pointed out that ultimately Qatars focus is gas production, much more than oil. At the same time, he the expert noted that OPEC is stronger now than for a while with the alliance with Russia and other non-OPEC countries, plus other African countries keen to join OPEC. Qatars Energy Minister, Saad al-Kaabi, has announced that the country will leave OPEC with effect from 1st January 2019. Mr. al-Kaabi pinned the decision on the countrys desire to focus on investing in its LNG capacity and that, as a small oil producer, it had little influence over OPEC policy. Saad al-Kaabi said Qatar has decided to withdraw its membership form OPEC effective January 2019 and this decision was communicated to OPEC. The announcement comes ahead of the meeting by OPEC and its allies including Russia on Dec. 6-7 to discuss cutting supply. The minister said the decision was not easy as Qatar has been in OPEC for 57 years, but that the countrys impact on OPEC production decisions was small. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 7 By Fikret Dolukhanov Trend: Uzbekistan's oil and gas company Uzbekneftegaz JSC refutes information spread by some media about an alleged explosion at the Mingbulak oil field, Trend reports referring to the company's press service. The company noted that these messages do not correspond to reality and are false. Uzbek and Chinese experts are currently conducting geological exploration at the M-15 well at the Mingbulak field as usual, the press service noted. In this regard, Uzbekneftegaz asks citizens of Uzbekistan to turn to reliable sources of information, and journalists not to publish unverified data and not to mislead the people. The company stressed that they have an open information policy and are always ready to cooperate with the media. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @FDolukhanov Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 7 By Taleh Mursagulov - Trend: The words said by Azerbaijani Finance Minister Samir Sharifov Dec. 4 during an interview on a state TV channel over the strengthening of the manat are quite clear, and interpreting them as a devaluation announcement is either a conscious provocation or an amateur approach, spokesman for the Azerbaijani Finance Ministry Mais Piriyev told Trend Dec. 7. He noted that some experts and economists, by isolating a certain part of the context, consciously or unconsciously on social networks and on a number of websites tried to distort the essence of what was said by the minister. Piriyev said that however, the controversial and provocative attitude towards the ministers words in connection with the strengthening of the manat several days after the 2019 budget was discussed by an experienced politician and member of the economic policy, industry and entrepreneurship committee of the Azerbaijani parliament Vahid Ahmadov is regrettable. During the speech, the minister noted that a sharp, excessive strengthening of the manat rate affects the activities of domestic producers, creates attractive conditions for imports, which is not in the interests of the Azerbaijani state, Piriyev said. That is why a new fiscal rule has been adopted as part of targeted economic reforms carried out in recent years under the leadership of Azerbaijani president, so that through this rule the state would regulate sales of foreign currency revenues from the oil sector in the domestic currency market within the frames established by the state budget. Thats because even greater use of excess oil revenues creates pressure for strengthening of the manat rate, and this, as the minister noted, negatively affects exports, leads to an increase in imports, which is unprofitable for national production, including those involved in exporting, Piriyev noted. Therefore, to eliminate these negative impacts, state budget expenditures should be kept within the established framework. He stressed that the achieved macroeconomic stability and its preservation in the future are related precisely to the observance of the fiscal rule, state support for the monetary policy pursued by the Central Bank of Azerbaijan. All this currently provides and will ensure stability of the manat rate, he said. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @TalehMursagulov Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 7 Trend: Bakcell, the First Mobile Operator and the Fastest Mobile Internet Provider of Azerbaijan informs that during the Bakutel-2018 exhibition, the companys CEO Nikolai Beckers has presented mobile internet speed of up to 600 Mbps to the Minister of Transport, Communications and High Technologies of Azerbaijan Ramin Guluzade. The 4.5G technology, demonstrated at the Bakcell stand within the frames of Bakutel-2018, allows processing of large volumes of traffic, thus ensuring nearly instant download speed of content, consumption of which grows day by day. The 5G readiness technology, presented by Bakcell provides internet speeds that greatly exceed capabilities of LTE networks. In 2018 Bakcell nominated as the Fastest Mobile Network in Azerbaijan. This award, presented by world-famous Ookla company, recognizes Bakcells commitment to delivering fastest speeds to customers all across Azerbaijan. Bakcell, the First Mobile Operator and Leading Mobile Internet Provider of Azerbaijan, offers a wide range of products and Services to users of modern mobile communications Services. The company provides its customers with the best-in-class 4G mobile internet. The 4G services of Bakcell are already available in Baku and Absheron peninsula, as well as central parts of more than 40 regions of Azerbaijan. With more than 7000 base stations, Bakcell network covers 99 percent of the population and 93 percent of the land area of the country (except for the occupied territories). In 2017, Bakcell network has been recognized as the Best in Test in Azerbaijan by P3 Communications, being one of the most trusted independent authorities in mobile benchmarking. For more information about Bakcell products and services, please visit www.bakcell.com or call 555. If you are not a Bakcell subscriber, but wish to find out about Bakcell and its products and services, please call 012 498 89 89. Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 7 By Fikret Dolukhanov Trend: Turkish Airlines (THY) plans to increase the number of flights between Istanbul and Tashkent as well as between Istanbul and Samarkand, THY Vice President of Sales Tuncay Eminoglu said, Trend reports referring to Uzbek media. From April 2019, the number of flights between Istanbul and Tashkent are to be increased to twice a day, and between Istanbul and Samarkand to thrice a week. Uzbekistan is a very important and promising market for us. Citizens of Uzbekistan are interested in flying to Turkey, and citizens of Turkey are interested in visiting Uzbekistan. The abolition of visas [for Turkish citizens] has contributed to the growth of air traffic. Relations between our countries have noticeably improved, Eminoglu said. He noted that in addition to Turkish citizens, tourists from other countries, especially from Europe, fly to Uzbekistan as well, therefore, THY is interested in the development of this direction. The airline is interested in opening flights to other cities, in particular, to Bukhara. We have always viewed Bukhara as a potential destination, and would like to fly there. We are negotiating on this issue with our partners Uzbek Airlines, the representative of THY said. Eminoglu also noted that with the increasing number of flights to Uzbekistan in 2019, THYs pricing policy could be revised, and even now, in the winter period, significant discounts are offered for tickets to Istanbul. The vice-president of THY also announced that from Jan. 1, flights to Istanbul will be transferred from Ataturk Airport to the new airport, which will become the largest in the world. The airport was opened on Oct. 29, on the Republic Day of Turkey, and so far three local and two international flights are operated from it. It is expected that after full commissioning, the airport will have six runways (now three) and will be able to serve up to 200 million passengers per year (90 million at the first stage), and its contribution to Turkeys GDP in 2025 will be 4.9 percent. There will also be the world's largest cargo terminal with a handling capacity of 5.5 million tons of cargo and the largest aircraft maintenance center. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @FDolukhanov In a report delivered at the 25th meeting of the Ministerial Council of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Milan, Italy, Tajik Foreign Minister Sirojiddin Muhriddin on December 6 once again called on the OSCE participating States to refrain from conducting the policy of double standards while tackling the topical issues of the days agenda, according to the Tajik MFA information department, Trend reports referring to news.tj. Tajik minister reportedly also pointed out the crisis of confidence among the OSCE participating States. Muhriddin also pointed to the necessity of taking joint measures to strengthen security within the OSCE area, including the fight against terrorism and extremism and measures to strengthen borer security for the purpose of preventing trafficking in drugs, weapons and human beings. A two-day 25th meeting of the Ministerial Council of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) concluded in Milan, Italy on December 7. The meeting participants reportedly discussed a broad range of matters within three dimensions: military and politics, economy and environment as well as humanitarian field. The Ministerial Council meeting is held annually to review and assess the OSCE's activities, discuss the situation in the region and identify tasks for the near-term perspective. The Ministerial Council is the central decision-making and governing body of the OSCE. The meeting, held annually, provides the Foreign Ministers of the 57 OSCE participating States an opportunity to review and assess the Organizations activities and strengthen the dialogue on security issues in the OSCE area. Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Dec. 7 By Huseyn Hasanov Trend: Turkmenistan has announced the concept of its presidency in the CIS, Trend reports citing the Turkmen government. The priority objectives in the concept of Turkmenistans presidency in the CIS in 2019 are to strengthen trust among the countries, support stability and security, strengthen political and diplomatic interaction, increase the level of cooperation between the CIS and international organizations, including the UN and the OSCE, create conditions for intensifying trade and economic cooperation and integration into world economic relations. The key areas of partnership among the CIS countries are energy, transport and communications. Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov paid a working visit to St. Petersburg to attend the informal summit of the CIS heads of state. Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Dec. 7 By Huseyn Hasanov Trend: Turkmenistan, in accordance with international commitments, is starting the process to revise the National Strategy on Climate Change, Trend reports citing the Neutral Turkmenistan newspaper. This measure is taken as part of the international commitments of Turkmenistan to implement the provisions of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the global Paris Agreement and in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals in the country. This work will be coordinated by the Turkmen State Committee for Environmental Protection and Land Resources, with the support of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ). The National Strategy on Climate Change was developed considering the provisions of the UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol, to which Turkmenistan joined in 1995 and 1998, respectively. Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec.7 Trend: The International Conference of Ministers of Transport of the States-Parties to the Agreement on Transit and Transport Cooperation (Lapis Lazuli) continued its work in the format of plenary sessions in the National tourist zone Avaza on Nov.28, 2018, Trend reports citing Turkmenistan's embassy in Baku. During the speeches at the meeting, participants touched on the role of international cooperation in the development of transport and transit corridors, multimodal transport and their prospects in the transport corridor of Lapis-Lazuli and international transit corridors, as well as the importance of logistics companies in the development of transport corridors. Following the results of the conference, the heads of the delegations adopted the Final Declaration of the International Conference of Ministers of Transport of the States Parties to the Agreement on Transit and Transport Cooperation (Lapis Lazuli). Also participants of the International Conference of Ministers of Transport left for the International Sea Port of Turkmenbashi, where a program was organized to familiarize them with the capabilities of this new port, and a presentation of the International Sea Port was held. Police arrest robbery fugitive after gunfight in Ratopul Police arrested Rajan Limbu, a man wanted for robbery and stabbing, after exchanging gunfire with him at Ratopul, Kathmandu on Friday. Tehran, Iran, Dec.7 Trend: The Iranian minister of roads and urban development criticized the outflow of human capital, in particular from the country's aviation industry, due to US sanctions. Iran should prevent leaving the country's manpower, such as pilots, the Iranian Minister of Roads and Urban Development said on December 7, during the International Civil Aviation Day, Trend reports citing IRNA. "Our graduates are not trained to work for others," he said. Aviation is one of the most important pillars of science and technology. And yet, specialists, who are highly educated, still don't have jobs," Minister of Roads and Urban Development Mohammad Eslami said. Pointing out the importance of human capital in aviation, Eslami said that Iran should not allow its most valuable human resources, such as pilots, leave for various reasons, preferring serve somewhere else. He went on to add that Iran must have a decisive policy on this matter. Eslami also said that it is clear the US is trying to put up various barriers for Iran to prevent it from paths of progress. Iran Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh hopes OPEC discussions, though held in a tough atmosphere, will bear fruits, Trend reports referring to IRNA. Zangeneh made the announcement in an interview with reporters after leaving the 175th OPEC session held in Vienna, Austria, behind closed doors. He said Iran is not worried about outcome of the OPEC talks. 'Man lives on hope,' said Zangeneh when asked whether there is any hope for agreement in the OPEC. Saudi Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources Khalid A. Al-Falih said while leaving the session that the talks will continue. Iraq Oil Minister Thamir Ghadhban also said talks will continue on the production level. He said talks will continue with the non-OPEC members on Friday. Some ministers made no comment while leaving the session. The 175th OPEC session, attended by 14 members, was held behind closed doors for six hours on Thursday and it will continue on Friday. Earlier, Reuters had announced that OPEC members had agreed to tiny cut in the output. Zangeneh had said prior to the OPEC session that the idea of 1.3 to 2.4 million output cut is on the table and there will be more discussions on the figures. He said Iran has no problem with the OPEC output cut and it depends on the decision of majority of the members. He added that Iran will not join any agreement for output cut as long as sanctions are not totally eliminated. Iran's parliamentary friendship group arrived in Moscow on Friday to meet their Russian counterparts, Trend reports referring to IRNA. Ramezan-Ali Sobhanifar, Iranian head of Iran-Russia parliamentary friendship group, heads the delegation. The two sides are expected to discuss mutual political, economic, commercial, cultural and scientific cooperation. Iranian delegation is also to meet members of Russian Chamber of Commerce. Indian President Ram Nath Kovind has called for expansion of relations with Iran in various fields, in commercial and economic domains in particular, IRNA reported. Kovind made the announcement in a ceremony to receive credentials of Iran's new ambassador to New Delhi Ali Chegini. He called for upgrading Iran-India trade value to more than $13 billion. He also strongly condemned Chabahar terrorist attack which martyred two and injured 43 Iranians and voiced sympathy with the Iranian government and people. He said the visit of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to New Delhi in February will open a new chapter in bilateral relations, adding that New Delhi's approach to Iran is in favor of safeguarding and expanding relations. He said that present opportunities should be fully exploited for the purpose. The president said Iran-India cooperation in transportation sector, especially India's contribution to development of Chabahar Port, are signs of good mutual cooperation. He added that delegating management of the port to an Indian company by the end of this month is good news. Chegini in turn conveyed warm greetings of Iranian president to Indian counterpart and, while referring to very friendly and historical bilateral relations, said Iran's approach to relations with India is a long-term one. He said the Islamic Republic of Iran hopes that the relations will be further upgraded and new grounds, especially in the trade and economic domains, will be expanded and developed. Tehran, Iran, Dec.7 Trend: The OPEC's decision has not been officially announced yet, but, there are some news reports that claim OPEC members have not agreed upon a mutual agreement, the secretary general of the Iranian Oil, Gas, and Petrochemical Products Exporters' Association (OPEX) Hamid Hosseini told Trend. An OPEC delegate recently crossed the wires announcing that the meeting has concluded and they haven't decided on the figure of the output cut. The delegate further added that the debate would continue with non-OPEC members on Friday. Hosseini added that the preliminary news was an agreement on the reduction of production, the announcement was made and the final position for cut in production was postponed until the meeting with the Russian oil minister on Friday. Indeed OPEC countries own 65 percent of the world's oil reserves, and 35 percent of the world's oil production, and it has managed the global oil market till now. If they cannot agree, the oil market will get worse, he said. We have seen a sharp decline in oil price over the past two months from $89 to $59 per barrel, and if OPEC countries will not agree on a cut in production or insist on reducing Iran's oil production, which is likely to be agreed upon, due to US sanctions, there will be problems that all oil countries will suffer from, said Hosseini. Hosseini further spoke about the impact of the US waivers to 8 major oil importers from Iran. Saudi Arabia had an average export of 7.700 million barrels per day, but it increased its production to 8.200 million to compensate for Iran's heavy losses. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iraq have increased their production, but the global market showed that it could not compensate for Iranian oil, he said. He went on to say that the US Congressional election and rising oil prices, forced US to issue licenses to Iranian major importers, so this exemption broke the world oil market. "I think Saudi Arabia uses its cards. At present, under the pressure of some movements inside the United States, it is trying to bring itself closer to Russia and the countries of the region, the Iranian official said. Of course, Saudi Arabia will definitely consider Trump's order, but would at the same time play its own game, and it is not about to halt its own interests, Hosseini said. He added that Saudi Arabia would have problems with falling oil prices. "Saudi Arabia's budget will be in trouble, and because of this, I think it will be in the midst of a decline in production, but not as much as to cause a sharp increase in oil prices," said Hosseini. OPEC countries gathered to set production targets for its members in an effort to control the price of oil available on the global market. Donald Trump repeatedly has criticized both OPEC and U.S. ally Saudi Arabia over rising oil prices in recent weeks, demanding a production increase to drive down U.S. gasoline prices. That rising supply, coupled with the Trump administration allowing many countries to continue to import Iranian oil despite his targeting of Tehran with sanctions, has seen global prices drop. Baku, Azerbaijan, December 7 By Azer Ahmadbayli Trend: Today, Armenia marks a tragic date 30 years since the devastating Spitak earthquake that killed 25,000 people. By that time, The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was already gaining momentum. Throughout 1988, thousands of refugees from different regions of Armenia arrived in Baku and other regions of Azerbaijan. Despite the expulsion of the Azerbaijani population from Armenia, accompanied by mayhem and murders, Azerbaijan did not distance itself from the Spitak tragedy, sending, like many Soviet republics and countries, to the "brotherly" country thousands of tons of fuel, lots of units of special equipment, a 200-people squad of professional builders, as well as financial assistance. The English-speaking audience read a lot about those events, but there are certain little-known facts that weren't spoken or written about in detail. For example, some foreign newspapers spread information that fireworks were set up in Baku at that night and people rejoiced over the disaster. The above turned out to be nothing but fake news. Back then Azerbaijan, as part of the USSR, was not yet aware of the existence of such dirty tactics, and didn't know how to react to it. Besides, a curfew was imposed in Baku and other major cities in connection with the tension in Nagorno-Karabakh and with the refugee situation. Those who are a little familiar with the Azerbaijanis did not believe it, but many people, unfortunately, took it at face value. Even in the days when their homeland stood in ruins, the Armenian Diaspora, with the help of well-known media outlets, did everything to make Azerbaijanis look like "savages" in the eyes of the world community. Meanwhile, hundreds of planes with humanitarian cargo and professional rescuers on board landed daily at the airports of Yerevan and Leninakan (today's Gyumri). Of all the planes that arrived in Armenia at that time, two crashed: a military plane from Baku with 69 servicemen on board and 9 crew members, as well as a Yugoslavian military plane with a cargo of medicines and a crew of seven. It turned out that the plane, flying from Yugoslavia, flew via Turkey with an intermediate landing at the airport of Ankara, and as a result, for the Armenian air traffic controllers it was identified as a flight Ankara Yerevan. The first message about the crash of the aircraft was made in a special news release saying that the aircraft was flying to the disaster zone from Turkey. However, in the evening news release it was changed to the plane flying from Yugoslavia. Thus, of the hundreds of planes that arrived in Armenia from all over the world in those days, only two crashed the Baku flight and the Yugoslavian one, but perceived as Turkish. Given the hatred of everything Turkic in Armenia, Azerbaijan still doubts the integrity of the Armenian flight operators. Armenia remembers with gratitude the international assistance provided after the earthquake, except for the assistance from Azerbaijan. In those days, Armenian newspapers reported that on the night of December 12, a Yugoslavian military transport plane with a cargo of medicines for Armenia crashed near Yerevan, and the day before the Soviet military transport plane IL-76 crashed. The mentioned "Soviet plane" was actually the one with Azerbaijani rescuers, flying from Baku. The Armenians failed to admit that Azerbaijan, like the rest of the world, provided them with assistance in hard times, because it could call into question the plans for the seizure of Nagorno-Karabakh in the minds of many Armenians. Azerbaijanis had to remain savages in the eyes of Armenian people. Therefore, no word was officially said about the killed rescuers from Azerbaijan. A monument was erected in Armenia in memory of the Yugoslavian pilots. Azerbaijani rescuers didn't receive such honor. All these details now, 30 years later, may not seem very significant, but they shed light on how representatives of both peoples acted in extreme circumstances. Georgia is participating in the 5th Eastern Partnership Business Forum taking place in Vienna, Austria, Trend reports referring to Agenda.ge. The Austrian Presidency of the Council of the European Union is hosting the forum with the European Commission it will be followed by the Eastern Partnerships Annual Conference on 7 December. The two events bring together high level representatives from the EU and the six Eastern Partners Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine to help promote socio-economic development across the region. The Eastern Partnership Business Forum and Annual Conference are a great opportunity to highlight our joint achievements to date in the framework of the Eastern Partnership and its 20 Deliverables for 2020. Building on this, the EU will drive forward reforms to ensure the right business environment for small and medium-sized enterprises and create further opportunities for young people to study, work, participate fully in society, EU Commissioner for European Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn said. The events will serve as a platform to discuss how to further promote stronger economies and societies in order to help increase prosperity and living standards of citizens and thereby lead to greater stability of the region. Panel discussions will also focus on how to further SMEs and to attract foreign direct investment, creating and sustaining job opportunities in Partner countries, and to fostering skills development in line with market demands. Major oil producers have reached a deal to cut oil production and boost the market, following two days of grueling negotiations and despite opposition from US President Donald Trump, CNBC reported. OPEC clinched the deal with allied oil-producing nations including Russia at its headquarters in Vienna, Austria on Friday. The gathering came after deep divisions in the energy alliance were laid bare at a closely-watched meeting on Thursday, with OPEC unable to agree on the terms of crude output cuts. The alliance will take 1.2 million barrels per day off the market for the first six months of 2019. The 15-member OPEC cartel has agreed to reduce its output by 800,000 bpd, while Russia and the allied producers will contribute a 400,000 bpd reduction. The deal is in line with expectations for the allies to throttle back output by 1 million to 1.4 million bpd. Brent crude, the international benchmark for oil prices, was trading at $63 a barrel, up 4.9 percent, at 11:15 a.m. ET (1615 GMT). West Texas Intermediate (WTI) stood at $53.69, around 4.3 percent higher.The meeting between OPEC and non-OPEC members comes at a time when the oil market is near the bottom of its worst price plunge since the 2008 financial crisis. Oil prices have crashed around 30 percent over the last two months, ratcheting up the pressure on budgets in oil-exporting countries. OPEC began capping supply in partnership with Russia and several other nations in January 2017 in order to end a punishing downturn in oil prices. The alliance reversed course and agreed to hike output in June after it removed more barrels from the market than it intended, largely due to the ongoing freefall in Venezuelan output and supply disruptions in Libya. The talks made progress on a critical front on Friday, with Russia agreeing to cut output. The 15-member OPEC group had delayed a decision on how many barrels it would take off the market until Moscow committed to a specific reduction. Russia will reduce production by 2 percent from Octobers output of 11.4 million bpd, equaling about 228,000-230,000 bpd, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said. However, Novak warned that Russia would reduce supply gradually due to climactic conditions that affect its oil fields. Discussions hit another impasse earlier on Friday because Saudi Arabia had refused to agree to an exemption for Iran, OPEC sources told Reuters. US sanctions against Iran, OPECs third-largest producer, have already significantly reduced its exports. Iranian Energy Minister Bijan Zangeneh argued his country should not be forced to cut production in light of the sanctions, which are backed by the Saudis. Ultimately, OPEC agreed to exempt Iran, along with Venezuela and Libya. The exemptions mean the remaining members will cut production by about 2.5 percent from October levels, said OPEC president and UAE Oil Minister Suhail Mohamed Al Mazrouei. OPEC rescheduled its mid-year meeting for April so it can review market conditions and adjust its policy if necessary. The alliance did not release specific quotas for individual countries, but top OPEC exporter Saudi Arabia laid out its production path during a press conference. The kingdoms production hit an all-time high at 11.1 million bpd in November, said Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih. That will likely fall to 10.7 million bpd in December and 10.2 million bpd in January. This is partly driven by our commitment to start on the right foot in 2019 and to demonstrate that delivering on this agreement is not going to take a long, protracted period of gradually winding down, Falih said. We say what we mean and we deliver on what we say. The disclosure was remarkable because analysts had speculated that Saudi Arabia could seek to mask the size of its production cuts to avoid alienating Trump. The Trump administration lobbied for the mid-year production increase as it prepared to restore sanctions on Iran, a policy that has pushed up oil prices throughout much of 2018. Trump has sought to blame OPEC for rising oil prices, ordering the cartel to take action to cut the cost of crude several times this year. On Wednesday, Trump tweeted that he hoped OPEC would not restrict supply and instead keep oil flowing as is. Yemens government supports the reopening of Sanaa international airport, shut down for years in the countrys war, but only under supervision, an official said Thursday, Trend reports referring to TASS. We are keen on the opening of Sanaa airport, and we demand the opening of Sanaa airport and we know that the Yemeni citizen should have the right to reach any country in the world through Sanaa airport, said Abdulaziz Jabari, a presidential advisor and member of a Yemeni government delegation at UN-brokered peace talks in Sweden. But... we are looking into who will supervise Sanaa airport. One of the governments conditions is that planes are first inspected in the airports of Aden or Sayun which are under its control. Sanaa airport is currently controlled by the Houthis. The proposal was made at the UN-sponsored peace talks which started on Thursday in Sweden. The government also said that peace cannot be achieved if the Houthi militia refuses to hand over all their weapons to the government. A government offensive on Yemens Hodeida is still an option if rebels refuse to withdraw from the port city, a minister said Thursday, as the warring sides met for UN-brokered talks. We are now in negotiations in response to calls by the international community, the UN and the UN envoy. We are still looking into means towards peace, said Othman al-Mujalli, Yemens agriculture minister. But if they (the Houthis) are not responsive, we have many options, including that of military decisiveness, he said in response to a question on the rebel-held city. And we are ready. A top executive of Chinas Huawei Technologies Co Ltd who is under arrest in Canada is set to appear in a Vancouver court on Friday for a bail hearing as she awaits possible extradition to the United States, Trend reports referring to Reuters. Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou, 46, who is also the daughter of the company founder, was arrested on Dec. 1 at the request of the United States. The arrest, revealed by Canadian authorities late on Wednesday, was part of a U.S. investigation into an alleged scheme to use the global banking system to evade U.S. sanctions against Iran, people familiar with the probe told Reuters. The news roiled global stock markets on fears the move could escalate a trade war between the United States and China after a truce was agreed on Saturday between President Donald Trump and Xi Jinping in Argentina. Trump did not know about the arrest in advance, two U.S. officials said on Thursday, in an apparent attempt to stop the incident from impeding talks to resolve the trade dispute. Details of the case against Meng, to be heard in the Supreme Court of British Columbia, remain sparse. Parsa sanctuary builds artificial wetland An artificial wetland is being developed at Ramauli Pratappur of Parsa National Park to conserve wildlife. Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday told North Koreas foreign minister that he hoped North Korea and the United States could meet each other halfway and address each others reasonable concerns, Chinas foreign ministry said, Trend reports referring to Reuters. China is the Norths most important economic and diplomatic backer, despite anger over its neighbors nuclear and missile programs. Ties have warmed in the last year as Pyongyangs relations with both Seoul and Washington have also improved. At a landmark June summit in Singapore, the Norths leader, Kim Jong Un, and U.S. President Donald Trump pledged to work towards denuclearization, but the pact was sketchy and talks since have made little headway. Xi hoped North Korea and the United States meet each other halfway and address each others reasonable concerns, allowing positive progress on the peninsulas nuclear talks, the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement. In comments made before reporters, Xi added, The international and regional situation, as well as the situation on the Korean peninsula, remains in flux, so timely exchanges and the coordination of positions between China and North Korea are still extremely essential. Ri said North Koreas commitment to denuclearization and safeguarding peace and stability on the Korean peninsula were unchanged, the foreign ministry added. Meeting the Chinese governments top diplomat Wang Yi earlier, Ri said North Korea hoped to build required mutual trust with the United States and move in the same direction, it said. Ri, who is due to leave China on Saturday, visited Syria this week. Kim has visited China three times this year to meet Xi. Diplomatic sources say Xi will probably go to North Korea at some point soon. Last month, South Korea said Xi intended to visit North Korea next year at Kims invitation, which would make Xi the first Chinese leader to do so since 2005. Last weekend, Trump said he was likely to meet Kim again in January or February, with three possible sites being considered for their second meeting. The two countries have held talks over a second meeting after the unprecedented June summit, Reuters reported in October, citing a senior official. French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said 89,000 members of the security forces would be deployed nationwide on Saturday, including 8,000 in Paris, where armored vehicles will also be out on the streets, Reuters reported. We are facing people who are not here to protest, but to smash and we want to have the means to not give them a free rein, Philippe told TF1 televisions evening news program on Thursday, revising an earlier figure of 65,000 forces. Philippe said about 10 armored vehicles belonging to the gendarmerie would also be used, the first time since 2005 when riots broke out in Paris suburbs. The European Union should be worried about Huawei [HWT.UL] and other Chinese technology companies because of the risk they pose to the blocs industry and security, the EUs technology commissioner said on Friday, Trend reports referring to Reuters. Do we have to be worried about Huawei or other Chinese companies? Yes, I think we have to be worried about those companies, Andrus Ansip told a news conference in Brussels, days after a top executive at Chinese tech giant Huawei was arrested in Canada as part of an investigation into alleged bank fraud. Huawei, which generated $93 billion in revenue last year and is seen as a national champion in China, faces intense scrutiny from many Western nations over its ties to the Chinese government, driven by concerns it could be used by Beijing for spying. Ansip said he was concerned because Chinese technology companies were required to cooperate with Chinese intelligence services, such as on mandatory back doors to allow access to encrypted data. He also said those companies produce chips that could be used to get our secrets. As normal, ordinary people we have to be afraid, he said, adding he did not have enough information about the recent arrest in Canada. Germany said on Friday it opposed excluding any manufacturers from the planned construction of 5G mobile networks. Belgiums center for cyber security was considering the possibility of banning Huawei in the country, newspapers LEcho and De Tijd reported. The company supplies equipment to telecom providers Proximus and Orange Belgium. The center was not immediately reachable for comment. The EU as a whole is braced to launch a far-reaching system to coordinate scrutiny of foreign investments into Europe following a surge of Chinese investments and concerns about security and forced technology transfer. However, the arrest in Canada of Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou relates to a U.S. investigation into an alleged scheme to use the global banking system to evade U.S. sanctions against Iran, people familiar with the probe told Reuters. Europeans too could potentially face prosecution in the United States, which has withdrawn from an agreement with Iran on its nuclear program. Reimposed U.S. sanctions have already forced many European companies to stop trading with Iran. Meng was due to appear in a court on Friday as she awaits a possible extradition to the United States. US President Donald Trumps decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israels capital exactly a year ago has resonated throughout the world and has led to enhanced respect both for Israel and the United States, US ambassador David Friedman said on Thursday, Trend reports referring to The Jerusalem Post. Friedman, at a Hanukkah candle lighting ceremony at the Western Wall with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said Trumps decision made on December 6, 2017, and followed up in May with the move of the embassy showed the world that the US stands with its allies and does not flinch from its enemies. In addition, he said, the move showed that the US no longer embraces a policy born of wishful thinking, but rather follows a policy based upon truth. Friedman added that many parts of the world now see Israel through a new lens as well, as diplomatic and strategic relationships that were unthinkable a decade ago are emerging in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, South America and elsewhere. Friedman asserted that Trumps decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israels capital was the most significant political victory since the recognition of the State of Israel by president Harry Truman on May 14, 1948. Today, Friedman said, we celebrate the presidents courageous act, we celebrate the festival of Hanukkah, and we celebrate the city of Jerusalem, which under Israeli sovereignty has become perhaps for the first time in its long history an open city in which all religions may come to worship in peace. Netanyahu said that Trump recognized a historical truth, and termed his decision last year historic. It is impossible to promote peace on the basis of lies, Netanyahu said. Truth is the basis for everything; it is the basis for peace. In a related development, Jerusalem Affairs Minister Zeev Elkin said that Israel is currently in talks with 10 countries about moving their embassies to Jerusalem. In an interview with the Russian news Agency Ria Novosti, Elkin said that among those countries were some former members of the Soviet Union. This does not mean that these countries already made a decision, it means that they are in contact with us on one level of intensity or another. Last December, Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely also said that Israel was in contact with 10 countries about moving their embassies. But so far, only Guatemala has followed Washingtons lead and relocated its embassy to the capital, Elkin said. Around 50,000 security officers have been deployed across Mexico to counter high criminality rates in the North American state, Mexicos new Public Security Minister Alfonso Durazo said, Sputnik reported. "The order has already been given. Starting on December 1, almost 50,000 officers, including 35,000 military police officers, around 8,000 Navy police and the others from the federal police, will be deployed in 150 regions of the country on the permanent basis," Durazo said as quoted by the Excelsior news outlet. On December 1, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador was sworn in bringing the new government to power. The new authorities have already announced the creation of the national guard, which would include the most skilled law enforcement officers, to maintain order in the country. Over recent years, Mexico has been reportedly facing high criminal rates due to the activities of drug cartels in the country and violence between them. According to the official figures, over 31,000 people were killed in this violence in 2017. Moscow believes that the upcoming talks between Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and the Russian leadership will help bring the bilateral dialogue back on track, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, Sputnik reported. "We assume that [Tsipras] talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev will allow bringing bilateral dialogue back on track," Lavrov said in an interview with the Greek Efimerida ton Syntakton newspaper. The Russian top diplomat noted that the second six months of this year were not simple for bilateral relations due to a diplomatic crisis sparked by the expulsion of Russian diplomats from Greece that led to the temporary hiatus in bilateral dialogue. Lavrov argued the worsening of relations was against the interests of both Moscow and Athens. Moscow considers Tsipras' visit to Russia very timely and important, according to Lavrov. "We are convinced that there are no barriers to the gradual development of Russian-Greek relations," Lavrov pointed out. Russia considers Greece an important partner in ensuring peace and stability in Europe, particularly in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Balkans, according to Lavrov. The negotiations between Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on December 7 will make it possible to pacify the dialogue between Moscow and Athens, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with Greek newspaper Efimerida ton Syntakton, Trend reports referring to TASS. "The second half of the ending year was difficult for the Russian-Greek relations," the Russian foreign minister noted. "The political-diplomatic crisis, which was provoked by actions of Greek authorities, which expelled the current and former employees of Russian foreign diplomatic missions in Greece, led to temporary suspension of the interstate dialogue. We did not carry out any actions to scale back cooperation and reacted only to the accusations against us." "We consider the reached agreement on Greek PM Alexis Tsipras working visit to Moscow on December 7 to be timely and rather important," Lavrov pointed out. "We proceed from the fact that his negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev will make it possible to return the bilateral dialogue back to normal." The Russian foreign minister expressed confidence in the absence of real obstacles which could impede the development of Russian-Greek relations. In his opinion, Moscow and Athens are capable of building up ties in all areas, including economy. "The implementation of massive joint projects should be a priority," he went on. "It will make it possible to approach new stages of cooperation." "We still consider Greece an important partner in supporting peace and stability in Europe, in particular in the East Mediterranean region and the Balkans," the Russian foreign minister stressed. On July 11, Athens newspaper Kathimerini reported, citing sources, that the Greek government decided to expel two Russian diplomats and ban entry to the country for two more. According to the newspaper, Athens blamed them for intervention in the countrys domestic affairs, as well as actions that undermine national security. Later Greek government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos confirmed the information about the diplomats expulsion. On August 6, the Russian Foreign Ministry summoned Greek Ambassador in Moscow Andreas Friganas, where he was given a note on retaliatory measures. In light of this Lavrov cancelled his visit to Athens, which was scheduled for September. India and Russia will create a joint working group on cooperation in manned cosmonautics, the press service of the Indian government reported on Friday, Trend reports referring to TASS. The Indian cabinet of ministers studied the information about the memorandum on cooperation in manned cosmonautics that was earlier signed between India and Russia and approved it. According to the report, the document will consolidate relations between the countries and prompt the development of technologies and advanced systems needed for a manned flight, the press service noted. In his speech devoted to Independence Day, August 15, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated that the country will have independently sent an Indian crew to space by 2022, when India will be celebrating the 75th anniversary of independence. Representatives for the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) reported then that a crew of three people is expected to be sent into the low-earth orbit at an altitude of 300-400 km where it will work five to seven days. The crew may include a woman. The spacecraft and the program were named Gaganyaan ("Skycraft"). ISRO reported that it may need the help of a foreign state in the advanced training of the first national crew. Turkey will hold a tender for the construction of a 45-kilometer shipping canal running parallel to the Bosphorus Strait, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said , Hurriyet Daily News reported The Canal Istanbul has been delayed too much. We will hold a tender for it in 2019 and start the process, Erdogan told a meeting of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in the capital Ankara. There are other ongoing investments, including the high speed train project and airport constructions, Erdogan said. The Canal Istanbul is one of Erdogans favorite mega infrastructure projects. Erdogan had announced on Sept. 14 that Turkey was putting new government investments on hold as it seeks to rein in spending and halt a slide in the lira. It was announced in January that the Kucukcekmece-Sazlidere-Durusu corridor had been chosen as the most appropriate route for the Canal Istanbul project, which would extend for a length of 45 km. Many mega projects have marked Turkeys last decade, from the new Istanbul airport, which opened on Oct. 29, to Eurasia Tunnel, a road tunnel which connects both sides of Istanbul, and the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge, the third bridge over the Bosphorus. The route will start on the Kucukcekmece Lake, located between the districts of Esenyurt and Avcilar on Istanbuls European side. It will continue north through Istanbuls Sazlidere Dam and reach the Black Sea east of the Terkos Dam, located in the village of Durusu in the Catalca district. Erdogan had first announced what he dubbed the crazy project in 2011. But in September, Erdogan had said his government would not consider news investments, casting doubt on the $16 billion plan. Turkey would put new government investments on hold as it seeks to cut down on spending and quell a plunge in the Turkish Lira, Erdogan said at the time. In a speech on Sept. 14, he noted that ministries were reviewing their plans and would not consider making fresh investments. We are not considering any fresh investments right now, he added. There could be extraordinary and must-do investments, thats another issue, but apart from this, we will start looking [at investments], Erdogan said. Yet, later in September, Environment and Urban Minister Murat Kurum had said that the Canal Istanbul would proceed as it was planned. Kurum also said the Transportation Ministry and Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality would also be involved in the project. Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 7 By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend: Over 41 Turkish servicemen have been detained in Istanbul during the fight against terrorist movement FETO (movement of Fethullah Gulen), Trend reports citing the Turkish media. During the investigation, it was revealed that the detainees had contacts with the terrorist movement FETO, the message says. The detainees transmitted the information about the military units to other FETO members. Earlier, 103 military men were detained in Istanbul and 188 in Ankara, all of whom were accused of contacts with the Gulen movement. Earlier, Turkish Minister of National Defense Hulusi Akar said 15,153 people were dismissed from the Turkish Armed Forces as part of the fight against the FETO terrorist movement. He said the purge in the ranks of the Turkish Armed Forces will continue. Fethullah Gulen and his supporters are accused of a military coup attempt in Turkey. A group of rebels attempted a military coup in Turkey on the night of July 16, 2016. The main confrontation broke out in Ankara and Istanbul. More than 250 Turkish citizens were killed, over 2,000 people were injured, the mutiny was suppressed. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu PMs threats are unbecoming of his high office, intellectuals say Prime Minister KP Sharma Olis veiled threats on the intellectual community during a televised show on Wednesday night has drawn widespread attention and criticism, including on social media platforms, where many accused him of making remarks that are beneath the office of the prime minister. Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 7 By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has ratified amendments to the law on granting citizenship, in order to simplify this process, Trend reports citing the Turkish newspaper Resmi Gazete. Foreigners who invest $250,000 in Turkish economy will be able to obtain Turkish citizenship, the report said. Earlier, this amount was $500,000. From 2015 to August 9, 2018, 721,735 people received residence permits in Turkey. Foreign citizens who have permanent jobs in Turkey, who buy real estate and arrive in Turkey for study purposes, as well as those who create a family with a Turkish citizen can get residence permits in Turkey. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu US President Donald Trump has decided to pick State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert to be the US Envoy to the United Nations, Sputnik reported citing Bloomberg. The White House views the former Fox News host as a capable advocate for the Trump administrations foreign policy, who could replace outgoing UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, media report said. Nauert also currently serves as the acting Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs at the State Department. On October 9, Trump announced Haley had submitted her resignation and planned to leave the administration at the end of the year. Haley, former governor of the US state of South Carolina, said she did not know what she would do next, but clarified that she would campaign for Trump ahead of the 2020 presidential election. In October, Fox News reported, citing two sources familiar with the selection process, that Trump was considering US Envoy to France and Monaco Jamie McCourt for the post of the US ambassador to the United Nations. McCourt as well as several other officials are potential candidates for the position, but US State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert remains a "leading contender" to become the ambassador to the United Nations, sources have told the US-based media outlet. Last month, Trump said State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert was under "very serious consideration" for the position. In 2017, Veteran Fox News correspondent and anchor Heather Nauert was named as the Trump administrations new lead foreign policy spokesperson. Among other roles at Fox, Nauert reported on the morning news show "Fox and Friends." She was previously a network correspondent for ABC News. US President Donald Trump in a tweet said he agrees with a statement issued by China expressing full confidence that a trade deal between the two countries can be reached within the next 90 days, Sputnik reported. "Statement from China: 'The teams of both sides are now having smooth communications and good cooperation with each other. We are full of confidence that an agreement can be reached within the next 90 days.' I agree!" Trump said via Twitter on Thursday. On Saturday, Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed on a truce in their escalating trade war during their meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Trump agreed to suspend plans to raise tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese products from 10 percent to 25 percent in order to pave the way for trade talks with Beijing, but warned that if the negotiations do not succeed within three months, the tariffs will be hiked as planned. China and the United States have been engaged in a trade war after Trump announced in June that $50 billion worth of Chinese goods would be subject to 25 percent tariffs in a bid to fix the US-Chinese trade deficit. Since then, the two countries have exchanged several rounds of trade duties on hundreds of billions of dollars worth of goods. The United States has withdrawn its bid to convene a United Nations meeting on North Korea's human rights situation due to a lack of support, Yonhap reported. The US sought to have the UN Security Council meeting next Monday, but won the backing of only eight of the necessary nine member states in a procedural vote, the AFP reported. The council is made up of 15 nations, including the five permanent members -- the US, China, Russia, France and Britain. It's the first time since 2014 that the council has failed to meet to discuss North Korea's dismal human rights record. According to AFP, Ivory Coast objected to the session. China and Russia have consistently opposed any discussion of human rights at the council. North Korea has rejected accusations of human rights abuses as a US-led attempt to topple the regime. Last month, the country's ambassador to the UN, Kim Song, protested plans for the now-scrapped meeting, saying it would harm the current mood of peace amid diplomatic engagements between Washington and Pyongyang. A UN panel overseeing humanitarian issues last month adopted a resolution condemning the North's human rights abuses for the 14th consecutive year. The document recommended that the Security Council continue to address the country's human rights situation. The resolution will be put to a vote at the UN General Assembly later this month. KYODO NEWS - Dec 7, 2018 - 18:50 | All, Japan, World The Japan Times said Friday in a full-page notice that its editorial policy remains the same despite its recent change in descriptions of wartime "comfort women" and forced laborers from the Korean Peninsula, denying that it has bowed to external pressure. The rare announcement by the country's oldest English-language newspaper came amid sharp reactions on social media and some overseas media reports that the change in the terms it uses was in line with the stance of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government. Japan Times Executive Editor Hiroyasu Mizuno said in the notice, "I categorically deny any accusations that The Japan Times has bowed to external pressure," while apologizing to readers and those working for the company for damaging the relationship of trust. The change in the descriptions of the so-called comfort women and forced laborers has triggered an outcry inside the publisher and some readers have said they would quit subscribing to the daily. The editor's note of Nov. 30 said, "The term 'forced labor' has been used to refer to laborers who were recruited before and during World War II to work for Japanese companies. However, because the conditions they worked under or how these workers were recruited varied, we will henceforth refer to them as 'wartime laborers.'" As for "comfort women," the paper similarly said it "will refer to 'comfort women' as 'women who worked in wartime brothels, including those who did so against their will, to provide sex to Japanese soldiers'" because their experiences "varied widely." The note appeared at the end of an article about a South Korean Supreme Court order for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. to pay damages to two groups of South Koreans for wartime forced labor. Mizuno said in the notice Friday, "Given the complexity, the brief note was insufficient, and therefore led to a number of assumptions about the direction of The Japan Times." Mizuno later said in a separate comment that what is written in the editor's note does not mean the newspaper is banning phrases such as "comfort women" or "forced labor" and such descriptions will be used when they describe an issue in general. Style rules on whether to use the phrase or the descriptions referred to in the note "will have to be applied on a case-by-case basis," Mizuno said. The company is currently engaged in "further internal discussions to scrutinize and amend" its language regarding "these contentious issues" and plans to present its findings and fully clarify its descriptions in the near future, according to the notice. The Japan Times, founded in 1897, became a wholly owned subsidiary of News2u Corp. in June last year. The DGP has also directed station house officers to take timely action to avoid any difficulties arising for the complainants from those demanding the illegal fee. Prithvi Man Shrestha is a political reporter for The Kathmandu Post, covering the governance-related issues including corruption and irregularities in the government machinery. Before joining The Kathmandu Post in 2009, he worked at nepalnews.com and Rising Nepal primarily covering the issues of political and economic affairs for three years. Sales of winter wear up as weather turns chilly Sales of winter clothes start to rise as the mercury plunges, and the recent shivery weather proved a bonanza for sellers of jackets, sweaters, mufflers and gloves. Best-selling author releases book worldwide VietNamNet Bridge Best-selling author Nguyen Nhat Anh will sign autographs for readers on Sunday at Ha Noi Library at the launch of his latest book Cam On Nguoi Lon (Thank You, Adults). Nguyen Nhat Anh signs books for readers in HCM City on November 11. Photo courtesy of Youth Publishing House This is the first book published worldwide by Tuoi Tre (Youth) Publishing House with a record 150,000 copies. It was released at the same time in Vietnam and countries where many Vietnamese people reside such as Japan, the US, the Czech Republic, Germany and Chinese Taipei. The book includes 19 chapters, telling stories of childhood, friendship and love. Its written for children and those who have been children, said Anh. Thai writer Prabhassorn Sevikul (1948-2015) once said that although the had not met Anh, reading his books made him feel as though they had been friends for a long time. "Anh says many things that people cant say," he said. Poet Huu Viet said Anh is a secretary who writes about childhood. "He is one among very few authors who do this work well, he said. Thats why his books always are a big attraction to readers." The book was released to commemorate 10 years since the book Cho Toi Xin Mot Ve i Tuoi Tho (Give Me a Ticket to Childhood) was published. 400,000 copies were published, making Cho Toi Xin Mot Ve i Tuoi Tho the most successful book in the history of the Vietnamese publishing industry. It was translated to various languages. In Vietnam, books by local authors are usually printed with about 1,000-2,000 copies. A translation of See Me written by Nicholas Sparks, a number one New York Times Best-selling Author, was printed early this year in a run of 3,000 copies. Tuoi Tre (Youth) Publishing House also holds the copyright of worldwide phenomenon Harry Potter. The book was published in the country for the first time in 2000 with 20,000 copies. Anh holds the distinction of being the author who has had the most books printed in the country. Readers always come early and queue up for Anhs autographs at book signing events. Source: VNS Sanghiya Samajbadi likely to hold general convention in May The Sanghiya Samajbadi Forum-Nepal (SSF-N) has proposed holding its general convention in the second week of May, 2019. The reluctant federalist Excessive centralisation of power has become a fait accompli of the present federal Nepal Although hybrid-electric cars are becoming commonplace, similar technology applied to airplanes comes with significantly different challenges. University of Illinois aerospace engineers are addressing some of them toward the development of a more sustainable alternative to fossil fuels to power airplanes. "Jet fuel and aviation gasoline are easy to store on an airplane. They are compact and lightweight when compared to the amount of energy they provide. Unfortunately, the actual combustion process is very inefficient. We're harnessing only a small fraction of that energy but we currently don't have electrical storage systems that can compete with that," said Phillip Ansell, assistant professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering in the College of Engineering at the University of Illinois. Ansell said adding more batteries to fly farther may seem logical, but it works against the goal to make an aircraft as lightweight as possible. "That's one of the big barriers we run into when designing battery-powered electrified aircraft. The current technology has very significant range disadvantages. But strong fuel-burn advantages." He, along with former aerospace undergraduate student, Tyler Dean, and current doctoral student Gabrielle Wroblewski, utilized a series of simulations to model the performance of hybrid-electric aircraft. "We started with an existing twin-engine aircraft and looked at how we might create a hybrid-electric drivetrain for it using existing off-the-shelf hardware," Ansell said. "We wanted to know how well it would perform. If I used a certain set of drivetrain components, I want to know how far the aircraft could fly, how much fuel does it burn, how fast can if climb--all of the overall flight performance changes." A flight-performance simulator was created to accurately represent the true flight performance of a Tecnam P2006T on a general mission to include take off, climb, cruise, descent, and landing, along with sufficient reserves to meet FAA regulations. Transition segments were incorporated into the simulation during climb and descent where the throttle setting, flap deployment, propeller rotation rate, and all other flight control variables were either set to mimic input from a typical pilot or prescribed in accordance with the aircraft flight manual. After configuring the simulator to collect baseline performance data, a parallel hybrid drivetrain was integrated into the simulation. The researchers compared the sensitivity of range and fuel economy to the level of electrification, battery specific energy density, and electric motor power density. The same sensitivities were studied with a series hybrid-electric drivetrain. Ansell said that, overall, a hybrid-electric drivetrain can lead to substantial improvements in fuel efficiency of a given aircraft configuration, though these gains depend strongly on the coupled variations in the degree of drivetrain electrification and the required mission range. Both of these factors influence the weight allocation of battery and fuel systems, as well as the weight scaling imposed by internal combustion engine and electrical motor components. In general, to obtain the greatest fuel efficiency a hybrid architecture should be used with as much electrification in the drivetrain as is permissible within a given range requirement. The fuel efficiency improvements were shown to particularly shine for short-range missions, which is a good thing since range limitations serve as one of the key bottlenecks in hybrid aircraft feasibility. Though, through this study the changes in the range capabilities of the aircraft were also able to be forecast with advancements in hybrid component technologies. "For example," Ansell said, "the propulsion system today could be configured to have 25 percent of its propulsive power come from an electric motor. However, it would only be able to fly about 80 nautical miles. Fast forward to projections for lighter battery technologies for roughly the year 2030 and the same aircraft could fly two and a half to three times as far. The range increase is nonlinear, so the largest improvements can be seen for the most immediate improvements with battery specific energy density, with gradually diminishing returns for that same proportional increase in specific energy." "One interesting and unexpected result we observed, however, came about when comparing the parallel and series hybrid architectures. Since the parallel architecture mechanically couples the shaft power of the engine and motor together, only one electrical machine is needed. For the series architecture, a generator is also needed to convert the engine power to electrical power, along with a larger motor than the parallel hybrid configuration to drive the propulsor. Unexpectedly, this aspect made the parallel architecture more beneficial for improved range and fuel burn almost across the board due to its lighter weight. However, we did observe that if significant improvements are made in maturing electrical motor components in the very long term, we may actually someday see better efficiency out of series-hybrid architectures, as they permit a greater flexibility in the placement and distribution of propulsors." The team chose to model the Tecnam P2006T using a series of performance variables found in published articles by the aircraft manufacturer. They selected that particular aircraft, in part, because NASA has been working on their X-57 aircraft, which has leading-edge propellers for high lift. "This study was being conducted for NASA, and use of this aircraft also allowed our results to be better applicable to the X-57 concept vehicle," Ansell said. "Using our data, they will be able to have at least a ballpark idea about how the hybrid system will perform without the other distributed propulsion modifications." Ansell said propulsion electrification is still very much an unknown in terms of how a vehicle should be built, engineered, flown. "Our study helps inform those discussions. We looked only at battery storage systems though there are many more that can be implemented, each with their own advantages and disadvantages. This study allowed us to look at what types of advancements need to be made in motor technology, in battery technology, etc." ### The study, "Mission Analysis and Component-Level Sensitivity Study of Hybrid-Electric General Aviation Propulsion Systems," was conducted by Tyler Dean, Gabrielle Wroblewski, and Phillip Ansell. It appears in the Journal of Aircraft. This project was supported by NASA Neil A. Armstrong Flight Research Center under Small Business Technology Transfer in collaboration with Rolling Hills Research Corporation. With new arrest, police say they will crack Nirmala murder case soon More than four months after the mystery rape and murder of 13-year old Nirmala Pant in Kanchanpur, police say they have narrowed down probe and are close to arresting the guilty. When someone has a deadly disease or sustains a life-threatening injury, a transplant or graft of new tissue may be the best -- or only -- treatment option. Transplanted organs, skin grafts and other parts need blood vessels to bring oxygen-rich blood their way, but for tissue engineers and regenerative medicine experts, making a functional blood vessel network within large tissues in the laboratory has long been a major challenge. Now, a research group at the University of Delaware has pioneered methods to grow a self-assembling, functional network of blood vessels at a size relevant for human use. Jason Gleghorn and his colleagues are the first to make this system work at this scale, and their results were recently published in the journal Biomaterials. Gleghorn, an assistant professor of biomedical engineering at the University of Delaware, studies how the embryo builds tissues and organs during development with the goal of using this knowledge to define new regenerative medicine strategies. While other groups have made blood vessel networks that span millimeters in size, the UD system works across centimeter scales, necessary for functional tissue replacement. With more development and refinement, Gleghorn's microfluidic system could someday be utilized to grow blood vessels for tissue and organ transplantation into humans. How to build blood vessel networks The team embedded human blood vessel cells into a gel made of collagen, a protein found in connective tissue such as skin and joints. The goal was to determine the physical conditions necessary to make the cells grow, multiply and connect with each other so that a network of blood vessels assembled itself. Making blood vessel networks is tricky business because the system doesn't always behave how investigators expect. During his doctoral training, Gleghorn was part of the first team that developed techniques to create patterned blood vessel networks for tissue engineering using microfluidic techniques. "As an engineer, we can say we think the cells need to be this far apart or the vessels need to be a certain size and spacing," Gleghorn said. "We can create a very precise environment and structure for the cells, but the problem is that biology doesn't work that way. The cells remodel everything. They change shape and size and push and pull on each other and the materials they are embedded in to rearrange our 'perfect' home that we think they need. The reality is we need to design systems that will encourage cells to remodel themselves and their environment to generate a functional tissue." Instead, Gleghorn's group asked: "What is the fundamental initial starting point of the system that we need, and then can we kick it in the right direction to get it to evolve and build its own architecture similar to the way your body does it during development?" he said. For one, using a powerful confocal microscope at the Delaware Biotechnology Institute, the group found that the density, or stiffness, of the collagen gel affected how the cells suspended within it behaved, ultimately affecting the size and connectivity of the vessels. "It looks kind of like the holiday dessert with fruit suspended in Jell-O," said Gleghorn of the cells in the collagen gel. "You have a bunch of cells randomly distributed throughout the volume of the gel, and if they are sparsely distributed, it gets very hard for them to talk to each other and form connections to form vessels. The languages they use are chemical signals and physical forces." The key is to find the sweet spot of stiffness, stiff enough so that neighboring cells can interact with the material and each other, but not so stiff that the cells can't move. The team also found that by perturbing their system in a specific way, they could affect the size and shape of the vessel networks under assembly. "From larger vessels to much smaller microvessels, which are really hard to make, we can now tune the vessel network architecture with the initial starting parameters," said Gleghorn. This means that the new system could have applications from forming larger vessels deep within the body to tiny capillaries, the teeny vessels in your fingertips. Gleghorn's team also found that their lab-grown blood vessels were perfusable, suggesting that blood could flow through them without leaking out of the vessels into surrounding gel. The vessel networks can also form throughout a variety of shaped gels, meaning that this system could be useful for building blood vessel networks in tissues with complicated shapes, such as the meniscus cartilage that pads your knees or a large skin graft for burn patients. ### In addition to Gleghorn, authors on the new paper include Joshua Morgan, a former postdoctoral scholar at UD who is now an assistant professor at the University of California, Riverside; Jasmine Shirazi, a graduate student in biomedical engineering; Erica Comber, a former undergraduate research assistant who earned an honors degree in biomedical engineering from UD in 2017 and is now pursuing a doctoral degree at Carnegie Mellon University; and Christian Eschenburg, head of R&D at Orthopedic Technology Services GmbH active in Germany, who did research in Gleghorn's lab as part of the Fraunhofer-UD graduate student exchange program. This work was supported in part by grants from the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, University of Delaware Research Foundation, the Oak Ridge Associated Universities Ralph E. Power Junior Faculty Enhancement Award and the March of Dimes Basil O'Connor Award. Now, Gleghorn's group is learning even more about how blood vessel networks form so that they can refine their system. With Babatunde Ogunnaike, the William L. Friend Chair of Chemical Engineering, Gleghorn is mapping out mathematical formulas to describe how blood vessels form and remodel in developing chicken embryos in the egg. "Then we plan to take the math and systems engineering and couple it with the biology -- the molecules and the signaling pathways -- that we know, and apply it to these 3D tissue-engineered models to make more complex hierarchical blood vessel networks" said Gleghorn. That project is supported by an award from the University of Delaware Research Foundation. Fridays-Sundays, 5-9 p.m., Through Dec. 23, 5-9 p.m. and Through Dec. 30, 5-9 p.m. Continues through Dec. 19 Henson Robinson Zoo 1100 E. Lake Shore Dr., Springfield Lake Springfield Area Adults $7, kids 3-12 $5, ages 2 and under are free Holiday Happenings Take a stroll through the zoo and enjoy thousands of lights and displays. Enjoy the hot cocoa bar or roast a marshmallow over the fire pit for a delicious s'more. Grab the family and gather at one of the photo opportunities for your holiday pics! See the Zoo animals as they enjoy the lights too; red wolves, arctic fox, eagles, barnyard, cougars, birds of prey and many others that are all out on the grounds or viewable still this time of year! There will be bonus features scheduled for certain dates, so keep an eye on our schedule for all. 217-585-1821 Description Malcolm Nance, counter-terrorism and intelligence consultant for the U.S. governments Special Operations, Homeland Security and Intelligence agencies, will offer a talk at Temple Emanuel of Great Neck, Friday, December 7, 2018 at 7:30 p.m. The title of the talk is: The Plot to Destroy Democracy. Malcolm Nances talk is preceded by a brief service. A Q&A, book signing and refreshments will follow the talk. All members of the community are invited to attend. Temple Emanuel of Great Neck is located at 150 Hicks Lane. For further information, please call 516.482.5701. Ive been in San Diego with Amy for a while but we are returning to Boulder in a week. San Diego has been great, but I miss my dogs, my friends, and the Colorado vibe. When people ask me about the Colorado vibe, I often talk about GiveFirst. Soon there will be a book (by me) on this, but for now theres an increasing amount of content on the web building up to explain it. This article in the Colorado Sun How Techstars GiveFirst mantra became a road map for the startup community in Colorado and beyond was excellent and had numerous short examples of how GiveFirst works and influences a startup community. Next up is a fun article by my co-author of Startup Communities Way (my new Startup Communities book coming up mid-year 2019) Ian Hathaway. A few days ago he cranked out a post titled Colorado is for Founders. I love that phrase and he led off the post with this great tweet from Phil Weiser. Excited to work with our new Governor and my client to be, @jaredpolis. pic.twitter.com/5jOv1K0gDL Phil Weiser (@pweiser) December 5, 2018 He goes on to explain Jared and Phils huge accomplishments and impacts around startups and the startup community. The punch line in the post is: By many measures, Colorado is the most entrepreneurial state in the country, a fact that I discovered in 2013 when studying high-technology business formation around the United States. I was struck by just how many places across the state had a high proportion of startup activity occurringa finding that has been extended to looking across other types of high-growth entrepreneurship as well. Something special is happening there, and it has been for many years. Ill end with the Holiday Gift Guide from Techstars. If you want to give someone you know the gift of something from a Techstars company this holiday season, here are the choices all in one place. Happy Friday Colorado. See you in a week. Utilities provide power and income. Utility stocks are some of the most reliable investments on Wall Street. Electricity is a necessity, which guarantees strong baseline demand. And thanks to a highly regulated industry, publicly traded utilities are very close to legalized monopolies with little competition. On the flip side, there's not much growth. It's unlikely a regional electric utility is going to see its revenue double because of a spike in demand or a massive rate increase. However, investors looking for income have a lot to like because many utility stocks pass on a decent portion of their profits to shareholders through stable dividends. Here are seven utilities that offer powerful dividends. NextEra Energy (ticker: NEE) NextEra is the largest stock in the U.S. utility sector by market capitalization, with a value now of about $85 billion. It is also one of the sector's best performers in 2018, gaining about 15 percent. Besides providing electricity as a conventional utility, NEE is aggressively investing in wind, solar and nuclear power. And its burgeoning battery storage business helps smooth peak generating periods faced by renewable energy. When compared with some of the other stocks on this list, NextEra's yield may seem a bit low. But its earnings growth also has more potential and could provide an extra source of returns. Current yield: 2.4 percent Exelon Corp. (EXC) Another high flier, Exelon has tacked on more than 10 percent gains in 2018 in addition to its substantial dividend. The $45 billion electric utility is smaller than some on this list, but it's no slouch. Headquartered in Chicago, EXC serves a wide swath of the Northeast from New Jersey to Illinois. Earnings trends have been modestly higher without a one-off event lifting results. That makes investors confident that this is a well-run operation -- and one with reliable income potential no matter what the broader economy throws its way. Current yield: 3 percent Story continues Duke Energy Corp. (DUK) Duke is another electric power giant worth a look for dividends. Based in North Carolina, the company has a market capitalization topping $60 billion and serves a large area from Florida through the Carolinas to Kentucky and Tennessee. From electricity generation to natural gas storage and distribution, Duke is diversified. Several years ago, DUK was in the crosshairs thanks to reliance on coal-powered generating plants, however, a more favorable regulatory environment has allowed the stock to stabilize. With nearly a century of uninterrupted dividend payments, income investors can rely on Duke going forward. Current yield: 4.4 percent Dominion Energy (D) Virginia-based Dominion is another diversified utility with a big footprint. It serves about 6 million customers through natural gas and electricity operations, and generates power from sources including hydro, solar, gas, coal and oil. The stock was hit hard during a proposed all-stock merger with South Carolina utility SCANA. Recently, the companies have taken steps toward final approval with offers to freeze rates in the near term. The process is slow, with much red tape and public hearings, but the deal looks to be a boon to long-term investors who can benefit from a massive combined utility with unrivaled stability in the Mid-Atlantic region. Current yield: 4.6 percent American Electric Power Co. (AEP) American Electric Power serves 5 million customers across 11 states, and at $40 billion in market value is another stable and entrenched utility. Short-term earnings rose for this Ohio-based company thanks to hotter than normal weather in the first half of 2018, increasing demand. But it's not just weather to watch as strong management has resulted in a nice run of four consecutive earnings beats. The stock is slightly outperforming the broader S&P 500 index year-to-date as a result, adding a nice mix of share appreciation to its income potential. Current yield: 3.5 percent Southern Co. (SO) SO's stock performance hasn't been as rosy as some other utilities, but that may provide a buying opportunity for investors. Furthermore, current pricing has driven up the company's dividend yield to just north of 5 percent -- well above many peers. Ironically, one of the things working against Southern is its strong performance in 2017, which set expectations a bit too high. A failed "clean coal" project at a Mississippi facility also resulted in a public black eye for the company after it was forced to revert to natural gas generation. However, short-term negativity won't keep this regional powerhouse down for long. Current yield: 5.1 percent Sempra Energy (SRE) Headquartered in San Diego, Sempra is a rare multinational utility company. It provides energy services to more than 40 million customers in Southern California and Texas and in Latin American regions that include Chile and Peru. There's a bit more risk for SRE stock, since South America doesn't have the infrastructure or regulatory certainty of the United States. But Sempra's business is doing quite well in 2018 as measured by revenue and earnings trends, and the diversification across geographies and energy classes should help smooth things out. Sempra also has made big investments in its liquid natural gas business to complement traditional electric power. Current yield: 3.2 percent More From US News & World Report ALAwards-0928_FirmSmall Finalists: Ashitiva Advocates; LNP Attorneys; Ngassam, Fansi & Mouafo Avocats Associes; PLMJ, Law Firm; SAL & Caldeira Advogados; Signum Advocates (highly commended). Zimbabwes Manokore Attorneys was named African Law Firm of the Year Small Practice, as it continues to make strides towards becoming the countrys foremost corporate legal services provider. Since its launch at the beginning of the decade, Manokore has grown from one partner to three, and two associates to seven, attracting a client roster of banks, international corporations, private equity funds and high-net-worth individuals. Turnover has grown at an average annual rate of 23.4% during the past five years, as it positions itself as the go-to firm for cross-border work in and around Zimbabwe. Standout deals during the past 12 months have included advising the African Development Bank on a $25m trade credit line to Central African Building Society, and supporting a client through an acquisition of a controlling stake in a company that holds oil and gas exploration rights in Zimbabwe. It is also currently working on two major infrastructure projects in the country. The firm has boosted its efficiency and driven down costs by using a global legal outsourcing firm to provide support and legal research, and it is also now a member of DLA Pipers African legal network. Impressive growth and turnaround, commented a judge. To return to the full list of winners, click here. Meng Wanzhou, Executive Board Director of the Chinese technology giant Huawei, attends a session of the VTB Capital Investment Forum "Russia Calling!" in Moscow, Russia October 2, 2014. REUTERS/Alexander Bibik/Files By Sijia Jiang HONG KONG (Reuters) - Like many top Chinese executives, Meng Wanzhou is a mysterious figure even in her home country, but the 46-year-old chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies had been widely tipped to one day take the helm of the tech giant her father founded. That was until her shock arrest in Canada at the request of U.S. authorities on Wednesday, a move that has entangled her in the protracted diplomatic tensions between Washington and Beijing. Her fate is now uncertain. A source familiar with the matter told Reuters the arrest stems from Huawei Technologies Co Ltd's alleged violation of U.S. sanctions on Iran. Similar allegations of breaching U.S. export restrictions led to rival Chinese telecoms equipment maker ZTE Corp being hit with a devastating ban and heavy fines this year. Huawei said in a statement that it had been provided with little information "about the charges" against Meng, who is also one of the vice chairs of its board and the daughter of founder Ren Zhengfei from his first marriage. Huawei added that it was "not aware of any wrongdoing by Ms. Meng". The detention of Meng, who takes her family name from her mother and has also used the English first names "Cathy" and "Sabrina", has once again thrown the spotlight on Huawei at a time of heightened global concerns over electronic security. Much of the scrutiny stems from Ren's background with China's People's Liberation Army (PLA), where he worked as a civilian engineer for nearly a decade until his departure in 1983, after helping to build its communications network. Officials in some governments, particularly the United States, have voiced concern that his company is close to the Chinese military and government. Huawei has repeatedly insisted Beijing has no influence over it. LOW PROFILE Ren, 74, founded the Chinese telecommunications company in 1988 and, like his elder daughter, has largely kept a low profile. Story continues But in a rare move, he posed last month for a family photoshoot for French lifestyle magazine Paris Match with his younger daughter and current wife. Annabel Yao, 20, Meng's half-sister, posed in front of a grand piano with her mother, identified by the magazine as Yao Ling, and Ren, who wore a blue shirt with his hand resting on his smiling daughter's shoulder. A Huawei spokesman confirmed to Reuters that Yao is Ren's wife. Few outsiders had previously heard of the younger daughter, a Harvard computer science student and ballerina. She recently made a high-profile appearance at the exclusive Le Bal Debutante ball in Paris. Huawei is privately held and describes itself as employee-owned. Though Ren owns only around 1.4 percent of the shares, employees say he has supreme leadership within the company, frequently communicating to staff scattered throughout the world via internal memos. Huawei, now China's largest technology company by employees, with more than 180,000 staff and revenue of $93 billion in 2017, started off selling digital telephone switches in the 1990s. It won its first big overseas contract for fixed-line network products from Hong Kong's Hutchison-Whampoa in 1996. Today, Huawei's domestic and overseas revenue are equally split, according to the 2017 annual report. Huawei derives around half of its revenue from supplying equipment to telecoms carriers around the world. It has overtaken Sweden's Ericsson and Finland's Nokia to be the world's largest telecoms equipment maker by revenue. Smartphones have become another key business in recent years, pitting it against Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics in the highly competitive market. HEIR APPARENT According to Huawei's website, Meng joined the company in 1993, obtained a master's degree from Huazhong University of Science and Technology in 1998, and rose up the ranks over the years, mostly holding financial roles. She has held the positions of director of the international accounting department, CFO of Huawei Hong Kong, and president of the accounting management department, according to the website. In her first media appearance before the Chinese press in 2013, Meng said she had first joined the company as a secretary "whose job was just to take calls". She also said she was married with a son and a daughter and that her husband did not work in the industry, dismissing speculation she was married to a senior Huawei executive. Meng's importance at Huawei became apparent in 2011, when she was first named as a board member. Company insiders describe her as capable and hardworking. While her brother, Meng Ping, as well as her father's younger brother and his current wife all work at Huawei and related companies, none has held such senior management roles. "The other family members are in back office, Sabrina is CFO and sits on the board," a Huawei source said. "So she is viewed as the boss's most likely successor." (Reporting by Sijia Jiang; Editing by Anne Marie Roantree and Alex Richardson) MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) A newly enacted law rushed through Australia's parliament will compel technology companies such as Apple, Facebook and Google to disable encryption protections so police can better pursue terrorists and other criminals. Cybersecurity experts say the law, the first of its kind globally, will instead be a boon to the criminal underworld by undermining the technical integrity of the internet, hurting digital security and user privacy. "I think it's detrimental to Australian and world security," said Bruce Schneier, a tech security expert affiliated with Harvard University and IBM. The law is also technically vague and seems contradictory because it doesn't require systematic weaknesses so-called "backdoors" to be built in by tech providers. Such backdoors are unlikely to remain secret, meaning that hackers and criminals could easily exploit them. Backdoors were central to a 1990s U.S. effort to require manufacturers to install a so-called "Clipper chip " into communications equipment so the government could listen in on voice and data transmissions. U.S. law enforcement officials, including Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, are again pushing for legislation that would somehow give authorities access to secure communications. The Australian bill is seen by many as a beachhead for those efforts because the nation belongs to the "Five Eyes" security alliance with the U.S., Britain, Canada and New Zealand. "There is a lot here that doesn't make any sense," Schneier said of the Australian bill. "This is a technological law written by non-technologists and it's not just bad policy. In many ways, I think it's unworkable." A leading figure in cryptography, Martin Hellman of Stanford University, said it appears the bill would "facilitate crime by weakening the security of the affected devices." The law won final legislative approval late Thursday, parliament's final session of the year. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said it was urgently needed. Story continues "This was very important legislation to give police and security agencies the ability to get into encrypted communications," he told Nine Network television. "Things like WhatsApp, things like that which are used by terrorists and organized criminals and indeed pedophile rings to do their evil work." He noted that the opposition Labor Party "had to be dragged to the table" and backed the legislation as an emergency measure out of concern extremists could target Christmas-New Year crowds. Labor lawmakers they want amendments passed when parliament resumes in February. Opposition leader Bill Shorten said he supported the current bill only because he could not "expose Australians to increased (national security) risk." Duncan Lewis, director-general of the Australian Security Intelligence Organization, noted during hearings that extremists share encrypted messages that Australia's main secret service cannot intercept or read. President Morry Bailles of the Law Council of Australia, a leading lawyers' group, criticized the bill's swift parliamentary journey though lawmakers knew "serious problems exist" with giving law enforcement "unprecedented powers to access encrypted communications." Australian law enforcement officials have complained that the growth of end-to-end encryption in applications such as Signal, Facebook's WhatsApp and Messenger and Apple's iMessage could be the worst blow to intelligence and law enforcement capability in decades. Federal Police Commissioner Andrew Colvin said it hampers criminal investigations at all levels. But Apple, in comments filed with parliament in October, argued that "it would be wrong to weaken security for millions of law-abiding customers in order to investigate the very few who pose a threat." The company's iPhones, because of their strong encryption, are bulwarks of national security around the globe and help protect journalists, human rights workers and people living under repressive regimes. "The iPhone is national security infrastructure right now," said Schneier. "Every Australian legislator uses the systems and devices that that law will target and making them insecure seems like a really bad idea." Apple also complained in October that the bill was "dangerously ambiguous." One apparent contradiction confounds technologists. The legislation says the government "must not require providers to implement or build systemic weaknesses in forms of electronic protection ('backdoors')" but also says it can "require the selective deployment of a weaknesses or vulnerability in a particular service, device or item of software on a case-by-case basis." Technologists say that the mathematics underlying encryption and the manner in which it is encoded into software make it impossible to decrypt a single user's communications without affecting all users. Eric Wenger, director of cybersecurity and privacy policy for the U.S. technology giant Cisco Systems, warned during debate on the bill that Australia could be at a competitive disadvantage if its data was not regarded as secure. Australia was a major driver of a statement agreed to at the Group of 20 leaders' summit in Germany last year that called on the technology industry to provide "lawful and non-arbitrary access to available information" needed to protect against terrorist threats. ----- Bajak contributed from Boston. 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 FILE PHOTO: The logo of Brazilian planemaker Embraer SA is seen at the company's headquarters in Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil February 28, 2018. REUTERS/Roosevelt Cassio/File Photo SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazil's government said on Friday that it would appeal an injunction issued Thursday blocking a proposed tie-up between planemakers Embraer and Boeing , joining Embraer, which has also said it will challenge the decision. The Brazilian government will appeal through its solicitor general. Embraer announced in July its intention to sell 80 percent of its commercial aviation business to Boeing for $3.8 billion. Embraer has said the deal is crucial for its survival. Meanwhile, Boeing's takeover is widely seen as a response to a similar deal earlier this year, in which Airbus took a controlling stake in the commercial segment of Canada's Bombardier Inc , which used to directly compete with Embraer. The Embraer deal has stalled since July partly because the Brazilian government, which has veto power over any significant business decisions, has been reluctant to approve it. Embraer needs government approval, a remnant of when the company was state-owned before its privatization in the 1990s, before it can formally present the deal with Boeing to its shareholders. (Reporting by Marcelo Rochabrun; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Bernadette Baum) By David Ljunggren OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday said his government had no involvement in the arrest of a top executive from Chinese technology giant Huawei, who was detained at Vancouver airport. Trudeau said Ottawa had been given a few days' advance notice about the plan to arrest Meng Wanzhou, who faces extradition to the United States. He declined to give further details, given that Meng faces a bail hearing on Friday. The news pummeled stock markets already nervous about increased tension between the United States and China and prompted experts to predict that Beijing would retaliate against Canada. "The appropriate authorities took the decisions in this case without any political involvement or interference ... we were advised by them with a few days' notice that this was in the works," Trudeau told reporters in Montreal in televised remarks. Asked whether he had spoken to the Chinese premier or the ambassador, Trudeau said he had had no conversations with international counterparts about the case. China's embassy said late on Wednesday that it firmly opposed what it called an unjustified arrest. The move comes at a challenging time for Trudeau, whose attempts to boost trade ties with China are sputtering. Brock University professor Charles Burton, a former Canadian diplomat who had served two postings in China, said Beijing was convinced the U.S. administration had pressured Canada to go ahead with the arrest. "We can expect China to retaliate against Canada very vigorously," he said by email. In June 2014, Chinese businessman Su Bin was picked up on a U.S. warrant in Canada, where he had been attempting to establish residency. Shortly afterwards a Canadian citizen in China was arrested and charged with spying. Kevin Garratt spent two years in detention before being deported. Su pleaded guilty to conspiring to hack defense contractors and was sentenced to nearly four years in prison in 2016. Asked about the potential for ties with Beijing to sour, a Canadian government official said the two countries had a sophisticated relationship. "We will continue to discuss issues across a range of fora designed to do just that," said the official, who requested anonymity given the sensitivity of the situation. Richard Kurland, a Vancouver-based immigration lawyer, said there was little chance Meng would be released from detention. Most people held on U.S. warrants are extradited quickly, he said in an interview. "If you have deep pockets, you have options," he said. Huawei has a small Canadian operation, employing just shy of 1,000 people. But the company said early this year it had become the 25th largest research and development funder in Canada, thanks to partnerships with local universities. (Additional reporting by Julie Gordon in Vancouver and Allison Martell in Toronto; Editing by Susan Thomas) (Bloomberg) -- The arrest of a high-profile Chinese executive has amped up jitters among U.S. technology companies already fretting that a trade war between the two countries could hurt business. After Huawei Technologies Co. Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou was arrested in Canada at the behest of the U.S., there were signs that U.S. companies were starting to reconsider sending executives to China for fear of retaliation. Unconfirmed social media reports said that Cisco Systems Inc. is restricting non-essential travel by U.S.-based employees into China. The San Jose, California-based maker of computer networking gear told Bloomberg that an email was sent in error to some employees regarding travel to China and does not reflect Cisco policy. We have not implemented restrictions on travel and normal business travel to China continues. Meanwhile, officials from major U.S. companies at a meeting in Singapore on Thursday voiced concerns about retaliation against American firms and their executives, Reuters reported, citing people with knowledge of the meeting. Several attendees said their companies were considering restricting travel to China and looking to move meetings outside the country, Reuters reported. The U.S. technology industry is being roiled by the escalating trade war between the worlds two biggest economies and the prospect of crippling tariffs on American products made in China and exported globally. Companies such as Cisco and Apple Inc. trade with, manufacture in and buy components from China, with executives traveling regularly between the two regions. Cisco shares declined as much as 4.2 percent while the Russell 3000 Communications Technology fell as much as 3.4 percent. U.S. President Donald Trump met with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping this week to discuss trade policy, and U.S. National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow told CNBC that the Huawei CFOs arrest is on a separate track from trade talks. The U.S.s top trade adviser, Robert Lighthizer, also met with several top tech executives on Thursday, though the official agenda was to discuss emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, 5G networks and robotics. Story continues (Updates with share price in fifth paragraph.) To contact the reporters on this story: Clementine Fletcher in New York at cfletcher5@bloomberg.net;Gerrit De Vynck in New York at gdevynck@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Sarah Kopit at skopit@bloomberg.net, Molly Schuetz, Robin Ajello For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com 2018 Bloomberg L.P. Law firm partners in Dallas saw their compensation jump 55 percent in 2018 compared with 2016, while compensation for partners in Houston dropped by 14 percent during the same period, according to a new survey by Major Lindsey & Africa. In Dallas, partners' average compensation totaled $1.128 million in 2018, compared with $727,000 two years before. In Houston, partners' total compensation averaged $914,000 in 2018, compared with $1.062 million in 2016 according to Major Lindsey's 2018 Partner Compensation Survey. The last time the recruiting firm conducted the pay survey was in 2016. The survey found that average total compensation by city ranged from a high of $1.448 million in New York to a low of $593,000 in Minneapolis for the 13 cities plus Silicon Valley broken out in the survey. Jeffrey Lowe, global practice leader for Major Lindsey's law firm practice, said Dallas compensation rose so much over the two years because so many big firms moved into Dallas. "There's been some huge heavy hitters who entered the market the last couple years and there's been a tremendous amount of competition in that market," Lowe said. "It's not unlike what we saw in 2016 when firms started to get back into Houston." The Texas legal market, and Dallas in particular, has been changing at a frenzied pace this year as some big Texas firms merged, a number of out-of-state firms opened Texas offices, and many lawyers around the state made lateral moves. Originations, which tend to track compensation trends, were up 67 percent in Dallas in 2018 compared with 2016, but declined by 20 percent in Houston during the same period, according to the survey. For the 2018 survey, Major Lindsey gathered responses from 1,390 partners in the United States working at Am Law 200, NLJ 350 or Global 100 firms. Major Lindsey conducted the survey with legal market intelligence and research specialists Acritas. Partners in Dallas were more satisfied with their compensation than lawyers in Houston. In Dallas, 76 percent of lawyers were satisfied to some degree with their compensation, compared with only 66 percent of partners in Houston. Dallas partners were also more satisfied with their life when compensation was considered a factor. A total of 83 percent of partners in Dallas were satisfied on some level, while only 73 were satisfied in Houston. When compensation was not considered as a factor in life satisfaction, 89 percent of Dallas partners said they were satisfied, while in Houston, the number was only 69 percent. Lowe said that typically, the higher the compensation, the higher the level of satisfaction, which may explain why satisfaction levels are higher in Dallas. "Attorneys are pretty happy being attorneys, and money is part of it," he said. The gender pay disparity was a key finding in the fifth biennial survey, which found that male partners are earning $959,000, on average, at large U.S. firms, compared to $627,000 on average for female partners. This means male partners are earning 53 percent more than female partners. Of the partners who responded to the survey, 28 percent said they believe a gender pay gap exists within their firm. But 67 percent of female partners and only 11 percent of male partners believe there is a gender pay gap. Lowe said those results should be a wake-up call for firms. "Looking at the whole industry, everybody has some thinking to do," he said. Story continues Further Reading: New Survey Finds Even Bigger Gender Gap in Big Law Partner Pay What's So Hot About Texas? For Law Firms, Apparently Everything When President Donald Trump was having the highly-anticipated dinner with Chinas President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit, farmers in the Midwest had just finished harvesting their crops and were busy placing seed orders for next year. Like many investors, they were closely watching the meeting, and as expected agricultural products came up in the discussions. According to the White House, China has agreed to buy agricultural products from the U.S. immediately. Farmers will be a very BIG and FAST beneficiary of our deal with China, Trump tweeted following the meeting. But so far, farmers are hesitant to believe Trump and his cheerful promises. I dont think there is anyone changing their crops mix up for spring today from last week. Even if China starts to buy, the question is, how big the buy will be? said Kristin Duncanson, a soybean farmer in Minnesota. Were hopeful, but well be cautious. While the temporary U.S.-China trade war ceasefire is good news to many, some farmers have decided to grow fewer soybeans next year after a painful 2018. China used to be the largest purchaser of U.S. soybeans, but the market plunged 98% from the $1.2 billion imports in January. China levied a 25% tariff on U.S. soybeans in a retaliatory strike and turned to other soybean growers like Brazil. Soybean plants in the U.S. hit a record 89.1 million acres planted in 2018. The U.S. Department of Agriculture expects it to drop 7.4% to 82.5 million acres in 2019 the largest year-over-year decline since 2007. We do not see much promise in soybeans for next year as basis continues to reveal that the market does not want soybeans, and there is a lot of soybeans from 2017 that have not been moved, Scott Henry, who runs a family farm named Long View in Iowa, told Yahoo Finance. This will take a while to chew through and so we are continuing to anticipate higher corn acres on our farm next year. Farmers turn to corn for safety Torsten Slok/Deutsche Bank Research Henrys plan echoes many other farmers across the country. Blake Hurst, who has been a farmer for 40 years, usually grows half soybean and half corn, and rotates the two crops every year at his family farm in northwest Missouri. Having seen the disruption in the market by the trade war, he has purchased more corn seeds than in previous years and plans to shift 5%-10% of production to corn. Most farmers dont want to gamble by cutting all of their soybean production since they still sell soybeans to other countries, including Mexico, Netherlands and Japan. But the trade dispute with Beijing doesnt just cause them to lose the big market, it also affects soybean prices, which has been down more than 5% since the beginning of this year. Story continues Although Hurst has paid for his corn seeds, he is still waiting to see if any breaking deals happen. Until planting on the ground in late March, we can make the changes if needed, he said. The current deadline for China to strike a trade deal with the U.S. is March 1. Until then, he will keep a close eye on the Trumps Twitter feed, which sometimes sends mixed messages. I do not like Mr. Tariffs man, that was not helpful, said Hurst, referring to a tweet in which Trump called himself a Tariff Man. Krystal Hu covers technology and trade for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter. Read more: White House keeps contradicting itself on U.S.-China trade negotiations Here are the discrepancies between statements from U.S. and China on Trump-Xi meeting 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 Julian Assange can walk out of the Ecuadorean Embassy in London any time he wants and face little prospect of jail time or extradition to face charges that carry a death penalty, the president of Ecuador told a radio station in Quito on Dec. 6. Wikileaks founder Assange has remained in the Embassy since 2012, and maintains that the United Kingdom would extradite him to the U.S. to face charges if he exited his sanctuary. Then-U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in April 2017 that arresting Assange was a priority. President Lenin Moreno said he had sufficient guarantees from the U.K. that it would not extradite Assange to face the death penalty in another country, and that Assange faced only a brief sentence in the U.K. for skipping bail by claiming sanctuary in the embassy. The road is clear for Mr. Assange to take the decision to leave, Moreno said in a live radio interview. In recent months, Ecuador has clamped down on Assange and his behavior, cutting off his Internet access in March 2018 after making political statements that Ecuador said violated his agreement for sanctuary. Reports in May indicated that Assange might be in jeopardy of losing asylum. More recently, Assanges personal hygiene and care of his pet cat were brought under scrutiny. Assange later gave the cat up for adoption, according to La Repubblica. President Moreno also said, I do not like the presence of Mr. Assange in the Ecuadorean embassy, but we have been respectful of his human rights. The president said that six years was too long for someone to remain nearly incarcerated in an embassy. Assanges statement doesnt preclude extradition on non-capital charges, however, and on Nov. 15, U.S. federal prosecutors accidentally revealed that Assange had been fingered under seal in the ongoing investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Assanges Wikileaks released a variety of U.S. secrets, including diplomatic cables and CIA hacking tools, as well as a dump of email hacked from the Democratic National Committee in 2016. Assange entered the embassy after two years of battling an extradition to Sweden to be questioned by prosecutors, who were considering whether charges should be brought against Assange for sexual assault. Some of the matters under investigation expired under Swedish statute of limitations by May 2017, when Swedish authorities revoked the arrest warrant. Prosecutors deemed it impossible to proceed on a remaining potential offense, which remains active were Assange to return to Sweden by 2020. The lawyer for a woman who accused Assange of rape told news agencies at the time that her client was shocked and maintained her accusations. By Christopher Bing (Reuters) - Hackers behind a massive breach at hotel group Marriott International Inc left clues suggesting they were working for a Chinese government intelligence gathering operation, according to sources familiar with the matter. Marriott said last week that a hack that began four years ago had exposed the records of up to 500 million customers in its Starwood hotels reservation system. Private investigators looking into the breach have found hacking tools, techniques and procedures previously used in attacks attributed to Chinese hackers, said three sources who were not authorized to discuss the company's private probe into the attack. That suggests that Chinese hackers may have been behind a campaign designed to collect information for use in Beijing's espionage efforts and not for financial gain, two of the sources said. While China has emerged as the lead suspect in the case, the sources cautioned it was possible somebody else was behind the hack because other parties had access to the same hacking tools, some of which have previously been posted online. Identifying the culprit is further complicated by the fact that investigators suspect multiple hacking groups may have simultaneously been inside Starwood's computer networks since 2014, said one of the sources. If investigators confirm that China was behind the attack, that could complicate already tense relations between Washington and Beijing, amid an ongoing tariff dispute and U.S. accusations of Chinese espionage and the theft of trade secrets. "China firmly opposes all forms of cyber attack and cracks down on them in accordance with law," Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Geng Shuang told Reuters."If offered evidence, the relevant Chinese departments will carry out investigations according to law." Marriott spokeswoman Connie Kim declined to comment, saying "We've got nothing to share," when asked about involvement of Chinese hackers. Marriott disclosed the hack on Friday, prompting U.S. and UK regulators to quickly launch probes into the case. Compromised customer data included names, passport numbers, addresses, phone numbers, birth dates and email addresses. A small percentage of accounts included scrambled payment card data, said Kim. Marriott acquired Starwood in 2016 for $13.6 billion, including the Sheraton, Westin, W Hotels, St. Regis, Aloft, Le Meridien, Tribute, Four Points and Luxury Collection hotel brands, forming the world's largest hotel operator. The hack began in 2014, shortly after an attack on the U.S. government's Office of Personnel Management (OPM) compromised sensitive data on tens of millions of employees, including application forms for security clearances. White House National Security advisor John Bolton recently told reporters he believed Beijing was behind the OPM hack, a claim first made by the United States in 2015. Beijing has strongly denied those charges and also refuted charges that it was behind other hacks. Former senior FBI official Robert Anderson told Reuters that the Marriott case looked similar to hacks that the Chinese government was conducting in 2014 as part of its intelligence operations. "Think of the depth of knowledge they could now have about travel habits or who happened to be in a certain city at the same time as another person," said Anderson, who served as FBI executive assistant director until 2015. "It fits with how the Chinese intelligence services think about things. It's all very long range," said Anderson, who was not involved in investigating the Marriott case and is now a principal with Chertoff Group. Michael Sussmann, a former senior Department of Justice official for its computer crimes section, said that the long duration of the campaign was an indicator that the hackers were seeking data for intelligence and not information to use in cyber crime schemes. "One clue pointing to a government attacker is the amount of time the intruders were working quietly inside the network," he said. "Patience is a virtue for spies, but not for criminals trying to steal credit card numbers." FBI representatives could not immediately be reached for comment on the evidence linking the attack to China. A spokesperson said on Friday that the agency was looking into the attack, but declined to elaborate. (Reporting by Christopher Bing in Washington; Editing by Jim Finkle, Rosalba O'Brien and Susan Thomas) By Karen Freifeld WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Chinese telecoms giant Huawei Technologies Co Ltd's chief financial officer was arrested as part of a U.S. investigation of an alleged scheme to use the global banking system to evade U.S. sanctions against Iran, according to people familiar with the probe. The United States has been looking since at least 2016 into whether Huawei Technologies Ltd violated U.S. sanctions against Iran, Reuters reported in April. More recently, the probe has included the company's use of HSBC Holdings Plc to make illegal transactions involving Iran, the people said. Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou, daughter of the company's founder, Ren Zhengfei, was arrested in Canada and faces extradition to the United States. The news roiled global stock markets on fears the move could escalate the Sino-U.S. trade dispute. In 2012, HSBC paid $1.92 billion and entered a deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. Attorney's office in Brooklyn for violating U.S. sanctions and money-laundering laws. An HSBC spokesperson declined to comment on Thursday. HSBC is not under investigation, according to a person familiar with the matter. After news of the arrest, Huawei said it has been provided little information of the charges against Meng, adding that it was "not aware of any wrongdoing by Ms. Meng." A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's office in Brooklyn, which Reuters has reported is investigating Huawei, declined to comment. Stock markets around the world tumbled on Thursday on fears actions against Huawei could derail talks to resolve the trade dispute between the world's top two economic powers, whose tariffs have disrupted the flow of hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of goods. HSBC's U.S.-listed shares initially fell as trading volume rose, dropping as much as 6 percent after Reuters reported the bank's link to the case. They were subsequently down 4.6 percent. INTENSE SCRUTINY Huawei is already under intense scrutiny from Washington and other western governments over its ties to the Chinese government, driven by concerns it could be used by Beijing for spying. It has been locked out of U.S. and some other markets for telecom gear, but has repeatedly insisted Beijing has no influence over it. Meng, one of the vice chairs on the company's board, was arrested on Dec. 1 at the request of U.S. authorities and a court hearing has been set for Friday, a Canadian Justice Department spokesman said. U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping had dined in Buenos Aires on Dec. 1 at the G20 summit. Story continues Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday said his government had no involvement in the arrest of Meng, who was detained while changing planes at Vancouver airport. Trudeau told reporters that Ottawa had been given a few days' advance notice about the planned arrest, but declined to give further details, citing an upcoming bail hearing. Trump's national security adviser, John Bolton, said in an interview with National Public Radio that he knew in advance about the arrest, but a White House official said Trump did not know about the Huawei extradition request before his dinner with Xi in Argentina. Huawei, which generated $93 billion in revenue last year, confirmed the arrest. "The company has been provided very little information regarding the charges and is not aware of any wrongdoing by Ms. Meng," it said in a statement. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a daily briefing on Thursday that China had asked Canada and the United States for an explanation of Meng's arrest, but they have not provided any clarification." The Chinese consulate in Vancouver has been providing her assistance, he added, declining further comment. On Wednesday, China's embassy in Canada said it resolutely opposed the arrest and called for her immediate release. Republican U.S. Senators Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio and Ben Sasse welcomed the arrest, saying the Chinese tech giant posed a security threat. Cruz tweeted: Huawei is a Communist Party spy agency thinly veiled as a telecom company." The probe of Huawei is similar to one that threatened the survival of China's ZTE Corp, which pleaded guilty in 2017 to violating U.S. laws that restrict the sale of American-made technology to Iran in efforts to curb Tehran's missile and nuclear programs. ZTE also paid a $892 million penalty. Earlier this year, the United States said ZTE made false statements about disciplining some executives responsible for the violations, and banned U.S. firms from selling parts and software to the company. After ceasing major operations as a result, ZTE paid another $1 billion as part of a deal to get the ban lifted. Huawei has said it complies with all applicable export control and sanctions laws and other regulations. News of the arrest came the same day Britain's BT Group said it was removing Huawei's equipment from the core of its existing 3G and 4G mobile operations and would not use the Chinese company in central parts of the next network. (Reporting by Karen Freifeld; Additional reporting by David Ljunggren in Ottowa and Susan Heavey and Roberta Rampton in Washington.; Writing by Tomasz Janowski; Editing by Chris Sanders, Jonathan Oatis and Dan Grebler) The logo of the Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. is seen outside its headquarters in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, April 17, 2012. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu/Files By Jonathan Weber (Reuters) - The arrest in Canada of Meng Wanzhou, a top executive at China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd and daughter of the founder and CEO, jolted the global business community on Thursday and raised fears that a truce in the U.S.-China trade war could come to a swift end. Meng's arrest came at the behest of U.S. authorities and is connected to an investigation into alleged violations of U.S. trade sanctions, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters. China's foreign ministry said neither the United States nor Canada have explained reasons for the arrest. What is Huawei? Huawei is the world's largest supplier of telecommunications network equipment and second-biggest maker of smartphones, with revenue of about $92 billion last year. Unlike other big Chinese technology firms, it does much of its business overseas and is a market leader in many countries across Europe, Asia and Africa. The company was founded in 1987 by former military officer Ren Zhengfei. It remains privately held and describes itself as employee-owned, though its ownership structure is unknown. It is based in the southern Chinese tech hub of Shenzhen and employs about 180,000 people. How did the company become so successful? Huawei was a pioneering supplier of telecom gear at a time when China was spending heavily to upgrade its networks, importing much of its equipment. Huawei began competing internationally in the 1990s and was known for drastically undercutting rivals on price. Competitors branded Huawei a cut-rate vendor of copycat equipment, and companies including Cisco Systems and Motorola filed lawsuits over alleged trade secret theft. But Huawei spent heavily on research and development and is now regarded as a global leader in key telecom network technologies and high-end smartphones. In contrast, its major Western rivals, Nokia and Ericsson, have struggled financially in recent years. Huawei today continues to expand into new areas including chip development, artificial intelligence and cloud computing. Story continues Why have some governments banned Huawei equipment? U.S. intelligence agencies allege that Huawei is linked to China's government and that its equipment could contain "backdoors" for use by government spies. No evidence has been produced publicly and the firm has repeatedly denied the claims. But suspicions persist. Concern now centres on the deployment of fifth-generation (5G) mobile networks, where Huawei is at the cutting edge. A new law in China requiring any domestic firm to assist the government when asked has also stoked concern. The U.S. government has taken a series of steps to block the firm from U.S. markets, including banning government purchases of Huawei gear and denying government help to any carrier that uses Huawei equipment. Top carriers Verizon Communications and AT&T pulled out of deals to distribute Huawei smartphones earlier this year. Most countries, even close U.S. allies such as Canada, Britain and Germany, have not made any moves against Huawei, arguing they have sufficient procedures to test equipment for security. But Australia and New Zealand recently banned Huawei from building 5G networks, and there are indications that other countries including Germany are revisiting the issue. Is the arrest of Meng Wanzhou related to these security concerns? U.S. authorities have not disclosed circumstances surrounding Meng's arrest, but a person familiar with the matter told Reuters the arrest relates to violations of U.S. trade sanctions. Reuters published an investigation almost six years ago about her and Huawei's ties to a company call Skycom that tried to sell Hewlett-Packard computer equipment to an Iranian mobile-phone operator, in contravention of those sanctions. (https://reut.rs/2SzlxPV) Wasn't another Chinese company also accused of Iran sanctions violations? Huawei's smaller rival ZTE Corp pleaded guilty last year to conspiring to evade embargoes by selling U.S. equipment to Iran. Earlier this year, the U.S. Commerce Department said ZTE violated the settlement and barred it from buying any U.S. components - a move that all but halted many ZTE operations. A new settlement was reached and the ban lifted at the behest of U.S. President Donald Trump, a perceived concession to Chinese President Xi Jinping that surprised and angered others in the U.S. government. Are these issues related to the U.S.-China trade war? The sanctions investigations long preceded the trade war. But the timing of the arrest tangles the issues as it came just as Presidents Trump and Xi reached a temporary trade war truce. Financial markets turned negative on news of the arrest on fears it could scupper the truce. However, there is no evidence of it being a deliberate provocation by the U.S. rather than just an awkward coincidence. What might happen to Huawei now? A ban on U.S. component purchases, such as the one temporarily imposed on ZTE, would be devastating, but there is no immediate reason to suggest that will happen. If the case prompts major European countries in particular to turn against the firm, that would have a long-term impact on its growth and influence. Still, Huawei's status as a kingpin of China's high-tech industry, at a time when the country is racing to catch up with the U.S. in difficult areas such as chip development, means it will almost certainly remain a powerful force for years to come. (Reporting by Jonathan Weber; Editing by Christopher Cushing) Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer at CDUs board meeting in Hamburg, Germany. Photo: Thomas Lohnes/Getty Images Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer has been chosen by some 1,000 delegates as the new Christian Democratic Union (CDU) leader at the party congress today in Hamburg, Germany, bringing Angela Merkels 18 years at the helm to an end. The 56-year-old, currently CDU general secretary, beat Friedrich Merz by 517 to 482 votes to clinch the leadership position. Merz, a wealthy corporate lawyer, was set to make a political comeback after nearly a decade in the private sector. Federal health minister Jens Spahn came in third. I stand here just as I am, as life made me, and Im proud of it, Kramp-Karrenbauer said in her final pitch to delegates. Leadership is more about the inner strength than outer volume. Todays vote has been closely watched, as whoever leads the CDU is likely to become the next chancellor of Europes biggest economy. The choice of leader also has more immediate implications for the future survival of Germanys biggest party, which has been struggling with an identity crisis, as well as Merkels chances of serving out the rest of her term until 2021. Had Merz won, it would probably have meant an untimely end to Merkels reign, since she pushed him out of politics in the early 2000s, and he believes she led the party too far left of centre. A close ally of Merkel, Kramp-Karrenbauer (known as AKK in Germany) is a down-to-earth, experienced politician, who was formerly the state premier of Saarland. While she has often been dubbed mini Merkel for her steady, pragmatic style, she subtly distanced herself from the chancellor in the run-up to todays high-stakes vote. She has indicated she would implement tougher rules on migrants, telling a German newspaper that while she owes much to Merkel, they have different views on a number of issues, and criticising her predecessors lack of consistent explanation on migration policy. Merkel suddenly announced she would step down as head of the CDU in October this year, after the party took a severe drubbing in two big state elections this year. READ MORE: The most powerful woman in Europe Merkel to step down as CDU party leader (Bloomberg) -- Wanzhou Meng isnt just any C-suite executive. As the daughter of Huawei Technologies Co. founder Ren Zhengfei and a possible heir to his company, her arrest in Canada raises the stakes in an already complicated standoff between the U.S. and China. The chief financial officer in her mid-40s was born to Ren, an army engineer, and Meng Jun, the daughter of a senior Sichuan government official. In 1987, her father started Huawei, and over the next three decades it would expand to become Chinas biggest maker of smartphones and telecommunications equipment. Meng and Ren had two children: Wanzhou and her younger brother Ren Ping. Since joining Huawei more than 20 years ago, Meng has gone from helping out at sales exhibitions to become a central figure in the companys leadership -- though the question of whether she will eventually take over from her father remains. Despite her familys wealth and connections, the executive has eschewed the socialite lifestyle embraced by her younger half-sister, a ballerina studying at Harvard University. Shes always very confident and highly competent, said James Yan, who has met Meng at public events. The arrest and threat of sanctions are a big risk for the company in part because Meng is one of its most important executives, said the research director at Counterpoint Research, which analyzes the technology market. Meng -- who goes by both Cathy and Sabrina -- took her mothers last name at 16. Other than a short stint at China Construction Bank after graduating from college, shes spent her entire working life at Huawei. In 1997, she left to get a masters degree from Huazhong University of Science and Technology, returning a year-and-a-half later to the companys finance department. There was frequent speculation within the company and in the media that the presence of Meng and her younger brother Ren at Huawei was part of their fathers succession planning. Ren was so strongly viewed as the next head of the company that the elder Ren sent an internal email in 2013 sharply denying the possibility. Ren is not a member of the companys board. Story continues In his email, Ren Zhengfei laid out qualities a successor should have, including vision, character and industry-specific knowledge. He concluded that "none of my family members possess these qualities" and "will never be included in the sequence of successors," online news service Sina Tech reported. Despite the rebuke, Meng continued to rise through the ranks at Huawei. The company said she was executive director and CFO in 2011, when it disclosed its senior leadership for the first time. In December 2011, her father told employees he had cancer surgery twice in the past eight years and announced a rotating system for senior executives to prepare them to lead the company. The system began with a rotation of CEOs. That has recently shifted to a new model that installs a new chairman every six months who runs the companys day-to-day operations. The current rotating chairman is Guo Ping. Ren Zhengfei is the companys CEO. In March, Meng replaced her father as a vice chairman. News of her arrest provoked an immediate protest from the Chinese embassy in Canada, demanding the U.S. and its neighbor free her. Hong Kong shares fell on Thursday as the incident reignited concerns about U.S.-China tensions. Huaweis dollar bonds tanked to record lows. The U.S. is seeking Mengs extradition to stand trial, a process that could take years. A hearing Friday in Vancouver will determine if she is a flight risk and the judge could order her to remain detained. If not, and bail is set, she probably would be forced to surrender her passport. After that, thered be a separate extradition hearing. Company Succession At least for now, it appears unlikely that Meng would ascend to the top job at her fathers company. She would probably have to do a stint as rotating chairman to become a viable contender for the CEO role and probably doesnt stand a chance unless that happens, a headhunter familiar with the companys executives said. Ren has not displayed any noticeable favor to his daughter at the company, said an employee who declined to be named. While Meng has a lot of influence over the finance team, her expertise in other areas of the business is perceived by others at the company as limited, the person said. A former employee described her as charming and elegant, coming across almost like a diplomat and at ease around bigwigs and government officials. Mengs marital status is unclear. In 2013, she denied that Xu Wenwei, a member of Huaweis board and the companys Chief Strategy Marketing Officer, is her husband. She told 21st Century Business Herald that she has two children, who were 10 and 4 at the time. Ren Zhengfei has at least one other daughter. After divorcing Mengs mother, he married Yao Ling and they had a daughter, Annabel Yao, a computer science student at Harvard in her early 20s, according to the South China Morning Post. Yao, who danced the opening waltz at the Bal des Debutantes in Paris last month, has said she has no interest in joining Huawei. Rens third wife, Su Wei, was pictured in a Paris Match magazine article on the event. (Adds details of extradition process in 11th paragraph.) --With assistance from James Mayger and Gao Yuan. To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Huang Zhe in Beijing at zhuang37@bloomberg.net;Haze Fan in Beijing at hfan40@bloomberg.net;David Ramli in Beijing at dramli1@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Peter Elstrom at pelstrom@bloomberg.net, Sharon Chen For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com 2018 Bloomberg L.P. By Julie Gordon and Anna Mehler Paperny VANCOUVER/TORONTO (Reuters) - A top executive of China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd who is under arrest in Canada is set to appear in a Vancouver court on Friday for a bail hearing as she awaits possible extradition to the United States. Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou, 46, who is also the daughter of the company founder, was arrested on Dec. 1 at the request of the United States. The arrest, revealed by Canadian authorities late on Wednesday, was part of a U.S. investigation into an alleged scheme to use the global banking system to evade U.S. sanctions against Iran, people familiar with the probe told Reuters. The news roiled global stock markets on fears the move could escalate a trade war between the United States and China after a truce was agreed on Saturday between President Donald Trump and Xi Jinping in Argentina. Trump did not know about the arrest in advance, two U.S. officials said on Thursday, in an apparent attempt to stop the incident from impeding talks to resolve the trade dispute. Details of the case against Meng, to be heard in the Supreme Court of British Columbia, remain sparse. Canada's Justice Department has declined to provide details of the case and Meng has secured a publication ban, which curbs the media's ability to report on the evidence or documents presented in court. Chinese Foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said on Friday that neither Canada nor the United States had provided China any evidence that Meng had broken any law in those two countries, and reiterated Beijing's demand that she be released. The bail hearing could be just a preliminary session to set out a schedule, lawyers said. The Crown counsel is expected to argue that Meng poses a flight risk and should be kept in a detention facility, legal experts said. The onus will be on Meng's lawyer to provide evidence that she will not flee, they added. Huawei, which has confirmed Meng was arrested, said on Wednesday that "the company has been provided very little information regarding the charges and is not aware of any wrongdoing by Ms. Meng." A Huawei spokesman declined to comment on Thursday and said that Wednesdays statement still stands. Huawei staff briefed on an internal memo told Reuters on Friday the company had appointed Chairman Liang Hua as acting CFO following Meng's arrest. Chinese state media have slammed Meng's detention, accusing the United States of trying to "stifle" Huawei and curb its global expansion. LONG FIGHT If granted bail, Meng will likely have to post bail with "a surety of several million dollars", Vancouver lawyer Gary Botting, who has experience with extradition cases, said. She would also have to give up her passport, he said. Meng could also be fitted with electronic monitoring equipment, and the court could go so far as to order security to monitor her while she awaits a decision on extradition, lawyers said. If Meng fights extradition, her case could go on for years, lawyers said, pointing to examples like Lai Changxing, a Chinese businessman who fled to Canada after he was implicated in a bribery case and fought extradition to China for 12 years. If she chooses not to fight, she could be in the United States within weeks, experts said. "You need massive material and evidence to support detention release," said Richard Kurland, a Vancouver-based immigration lawyer. He said Meng would likely be returned to detention if there was no decision on bail. It is unclear where Meng is being held in Vancouver. Several lawyers have noted that detention facilities in the region are spartan and she would likely be sharing her quarters with other inmates. Huawei, which employs about 1,000 people in Canada, faces intense scrutiny from many Western nations over its ties to the Chinese government, driven by concerns it could be used by Beijing for spying. Japan could be the latest country to shun Huawei, with sources telling Reuters on Friday it plans to ban government purchases of equipment from Huawei and smaller Chinese peer ZTE Corp. The news came as the Financial Times reported that Huawei had agreed to demands by UK security officials to address risks found in its equipment and software in a bid to avoid being shut out from future 5G telecoms networks. The United States has also been looking since at least 2016 into whether Huawei violated U.S. sanctions against Iran, Reuters reported in April. More recently, the probe has included the company's use of HSBC Holdings Plc to make illegal transactions involving Iran, people familiar with the investigation said. HSBC is not under investigation, according to a person familiar with the matter. Huawei, which generated $93 billion in revenue last year and is seen as a national champion in China, has said it complies with all applicable export control and sanctions laws and other regulations. (Reporting by Julie Gordon in Vancouver and Anna Mehler Paperny in Toronto; Additional reporting by David Ljunggren in Ottawa; Ben Blanchard and Yilei Sun in Beijing; and Sijia Jiang in Hong Kong; Editing by Denny Thomas, Sonya Hepinstall and Muralikumar Anantharaman) Canadian officials have jeopardized tighter trade ties with the worlds second largest economy in arresting the heiress apparent of telecom giant Huawei Technologies, according to Chinese-Canadian relations experts monitoring the situation. Meng Wanzhou, the daughter of the Huaweis founder and a top executive widely believed to be in line to lead the company, is reported to be facing extradition to the United States for allegedly violating U.S. sanctions against Iran. The 46-year-old was arrested by Canadian authorities in Vancouver on Saturday. Gordon Houlden, director of the University of Albertas China Institute, expects Chinese officials will be unforgiving towards Canada for its role in the incident. A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson has demanded the U.S. and Canada justify the arrest, and referred to Wanzhous detention as a human rights violation, a charge often leveled at Beijing. It is being seen by as a hostile act, Houlden told Yahoo Finance Canada on Thursday. Houlden added that Canada doesnt have much wiggle room when it comes to extradition requests from south of the border, noting that a Canadian judge does not have to rule on Wanzhous guilt or innocence before handing her over to U.S. authorities for trial. The Chinese have difficulty accepting that there is really no possibility of interference in a decision like this, he said. The idea that no one here, not even the prime minister, can call up a judge and tell them what to do. They have trouble understanding that. Huawei recently surpassed Apple as the second-biggest smartphone maker, and is one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world. In China, the company is seen as a symbol of technological prowess and economic achievement. Wanzhous arrest threatens the delicate 90-day truce in the U.S.-China trade war that the two nations agreed to at the recent G20 meeting. For Canada, the arrest could sour the chances of improving trade ties with Beijing as Ottawa looks to strike more global economic allies in the wake of the NAFTA 2.0 skirmish with the U.S. This is really not good for the Chinese-Canadian Trade relationship, Sui Sui, a Canada-China trade expert and professor at Ryerson Universitys Ted Rogers School of Management, told Yahoo Finance Canada. Story continues She said Canada could also face backlash from Huawei, which employees over 500 people in the country and operates research facilities in Toronto, Ottawa and Waterloo, Ont. The company is currently the third largest hardware supplier to Telus Corp. (T.TO), and has stuck partnerships with both BCE Inc. (BCE.TO) and Telus on 5G wireless projects. It could jeopardize all of this, Sui said of the arrest. Of course, Huawei is a global company and wants to expand into foreign countries. They may see that Canada has to do this, and the Canadian investment relationship is important. Houlden said he expects China will take a wait-and-see approach for the time being, but warns officials may also opt for a tit-for-tat response against the U.S. I would not be astounded if a U.S. individual were arrested, he said. You can expect it to be a business person charged with something like industrial espionage or tax evasion or something like that. Houlden believes Huawei will prioritize business, and continue working towards approval for a 5G network with its Canadian partners. As for Hauwei and Beijings attitude towards the U.S., thats another story, he said. Imagine if Bill Gates daughter, lets say she played a prominent role at Microsoft, and she was arrested, Houlden said. The reaction of the U.S. government would be very strong. Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for Apple and Android. (Bloomberg) -- HCL Technologies Ltd., founded by Indian billionaire Shiv Nadars family, was the worst performer among the nations top 50 companies after the software maker said it was buying some of International Business Machines Corp.s software assets for $1.8 billion. The shares slid 5 percent to 961.95 rupees at the close in Mumbai on a day when the S&P BSE Sensex was the biggest gainer among Asian benchmark equity gauges. The decline was the steepest in seven weeks. HCL is buying seven products, including Connections that enables streaming from social networks, document authorization, reporting expenses and reviewing emails. The planned purchase -- the biggest by an Indian software maker -- has had some investors questioning the price tag in relation to the assets return potential. The market is grappling with the question of whether HCL has bitten too much, too early with this deal, said Girish Pai, head of equity research at Mumbai-based Nirmal Bang Equities Pvt. This is a bet the company is taking as a new source of growth, but this revenue stream isnt going to deliver you great return ratios. HCL will borrow $300 million to fund the deal, while the remainder will come through its profits. The transaction is expected to close by mid-2019, according to a statement. The market is divided on whether it is a good thing to get into an intellectual property business, which has inherent risks and volatility, Neerav Dalal, an analyst at Kim Eng Securities Pvt. in Mumbai said. Post this deal, the IP business will contribute roughly 20 percent to HCLs revenue from the current 12 percent. Customer Acquisition The deal will help HCL acquire 5,000 customers, a task that would have otherwise taken two decades, HCL Chief Executive Officer C. Vijayakumar said on a conference call with investors. An existing licensing pact between the two companies will continue for five of the products. Its a mix of products, some of them are cash cows and some of them will keep growing, Vijayakumar said. Some of the products will need some infusion of fresh life to allow them to grow faster. Story continues The asset-sale comes as IBM is seeking to become a leader in the hybrid cloud market, which combines software and services delivered over the public Internet with similar offerings run on companies own servers and data centers. In October, the Armonk, New York-based company agreed to buy Red Hat Inc., a specialist in this area, for $33 billion. To contact the reporters on this story: Ameya Karve in Mumbai at akarve@bloomberg.net;Jeran Wittenstein in San Francisco at jwittenstei1@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Arijit Ghosh at aghosh@bloomberg.net, ;Catherine Larkin at clarkin4@bloomberg.net, Ravil Shirodkar For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com 2018 Bloomberg L.P. FILE PHOTO: A gas flare on an oil production platform in the Soroush oil fields is seen alongside an Iranian flag in the Persian Gulf, Iran, July 25, 2005. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi/File Photo By Neha Dasgupta and Mayank Bhardwaj NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India will import crude oil from Iran using a rupee-based payment mechanism, an industry source involved in discussions told Reuters on Thursday, adding that 50 percent of those payments will be used for exporting items to Tehran. India's state-owned UCO Bank is expected to announce the payment mechanism in the next 10 days, the source said. "An agreement had been signed by the Indian and Iranian government on Nov. 2 2018 for oil payment in rupees and 50 percent of those funds had been earmarked for exports," according to an Indian government document reviewed by Reuters. Oil payments are being made in rupees only as against earlier arrangements where there was a ratio of 45 percent rupees and 55 percent euros, the document said. Russian and Chinese shipping companies were pitching to facilitate India-Iran trade, the source said. Under U.S. sanctions, India will be allowed to export farm commodities, food, medicines, and medical devices to Iran. However, items such as petroleum and petrochemical products, automobiles, steel, precious metals and graphite are not allowed to be exported to Tehran. (Reporting by Neha Dasgupta and Mayank Bhardwaj; Editing by Sunil Nair and Martin Howell) WASHINGTON (AP) The Latest on the arrest of an executive of Chinese telecoms equipment maker Huawei Technologies. (All times local): 3:47 p.m. Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia called Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei a "threat to our national security" and urged Canada to exclude Huawei equipment from its 5G mobile phone network. Canadian officials arrested Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou on Saturday. The Globe and Mail newspaper, citing law enforcement sources, reported that she is suspected of violating U.S. sanctions against Iran. The arrest has complicated U.S.-China negotiations over trade. "This is a reminder that we need to take seriously the risks of doing business with companies like Huawei and allowing them access to our markets," said Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate intelligence committee. ____ 2:40 p.m. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he knew in advance of the pending arrest of an executive for a Chinese tech company but says it was the decision of law enforcement authorities and there was no political interference. The arrest of Meng Wanzhou, who is suspected of trying to evade U.S. trade curbs on Iran, could further complicate a trade standoff between Beijing and Washington. China's foreign ministry is demanding that Canada release Meng, the chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies, and the daughter of its founder. She faces possible extradition to the United States. Huawei, the biggest global supplier of network gear used by phone and internet companies, has been the target of U.S. security organizations. Trudeau says the government respects its independent judiciary process and there was no political involvement. He noted there is a publication ban on the case and says cannot comment further. He says he's had no direct or indirect conversations with the Chinese about the case. ____ 1:58 p.m. U.S. national security adviser John Bolton says in an interview with NPR that he knew in advance of the pending arrest in Canada of an executive for a Chinese tech company. The arrest of Meng Wanzhou, who is suspected of trying to evade U.S. trade curbs on Iran, could further complicate a trade standoff between Beijing and Washington. Story continues China's foreign ministry is demanding that Canada release Meng, the chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies, and the daughter of its founder. She faces possible extradition to the United States. Huawei, the biggest global supplier of network gear used by phone and internet companies, has been the target of U.S. security organizations. _______ 4:20 p.m. China's foreign ministry has demanded Canada release a top executive at Chinese telecoms giant Huawei Technologies who has been detained while in transit, and reveal the reasoning behind her arrest. Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters Thursday that China was in contact over the case of Meng Wanzhou with both Canada and the U.S., which requested her detention on suspicion of trying to evade U.S. curbs on trade with Iran. Geng also said Meng's legal rights must be ensured. He said neither Canada or the U.S. had so far responded to China's concerns. Meng, Huawei's chief financial officer, faces possible extradition to the United States, according to Canadian authorities. Meng was detained in Vancouver on Saturday, the day President Donald Trump met with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Argentina. ___ 1:50 p.m. China has demanded Canada release a Huawei Technologies executive who was arrested in a case that adds to technology tensions with Washington and threatens to complicate trade talks. Huawei's chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, faces possible extradition to the United States, according to Canadian authorities. The Globe and Mail newspaper, citing law enforcement sources, said she is accused of trying to evade U.S. curbs on trade with Iran. The arrest follows a U.S.-Chinese cease-fire in a tariff war over Beijing's technology policy. Asian stock markets tumbled on the news, fearing renewed U.S.-Chinese tensions that threaten global economic growth. The Chinese Embassy in Ottawa said Meng broke no U.S. or Canadian laws and demanded Canada "immediately correct the mistake" and release her. Slaughter and May and Allen & Overy (A&O) have joined a government-backed project led by the University of Oxford to research the use of artificial intelligence in UK legal services. The project, titled "Unlocking the potential of AI for English law", is due to run for two years and will draw 1.2m from the government's Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund. Oxford University law professor John Armour, who will lead the research, told Legal Week: Adopting a disruptive new technology like AI requires changes in skills, training, and working practices, without which the productivity gains will be muted. This challenge is coming at the same time for everyone in the sector - it affects not only students intending to work as lawyers in the future, but also qualified lawyers already in the profession. Armour said the research will aim to identify best practices in the use of AI, its application in dispute resolution and other cases, and examine how the UK can learn from other jurisdictions in terms of policy and teaching in the use of AI. Barristers Robin Dicker QC and Ryan Perkins of South Square Chambers, the Law Society, Thomson Reuters, lawtech start-up LexSnap and legal education charity the Legal Education Foundation will also contribute to the project. The project will also create education and training packages, aimed at both universities and private-sector firms. Slaughter and May learning and development manager Julia Robinson told Legal Week that the project is a "great opportunity for us to share expertise and experience on the governance and training implications of AI for the UK legal market." "We all recognise the need for lawyers to develop their digital skill-set as we continue to innovate in the way we provide legal services. Shruti Ajitsaria, who runs A&O's tech incubator Fuse, said: "As AI continues to develop and is starting to change the way we work as lawyers, it is clear that the way in which we train our lawyers also needs to be re-examined. The project forms part of a wider research initiative commissioned by UK Business Secretary Greg Clark, who this week pledged 3m to investigate how the legal and insurance professions can make better use of AI. Emily Foges, CEO of Slaughters backed legaltech AI company Luminance added that the UK has been "watching from the sidelines" on AI so far, and that the government's latest backing "will serve as a valuable endorsement to AI, ensuring that the UK does not fall behind." Several countries have decriminalised the use of cannabis and some have even legalised its use (AFP Photo/Ethan Miller) Blantyre (Malawi) (AFP) - Malawi's parliament has approved steps to draft a bill for the legalisation of marijuana for medical use, which could be ready for scrutiny as early as next week. Deputies agreed to let independent deputy Boniface Kadzamira draw up the bill. It would propose licensing farmers to grow the drug strictly for medicinal use, Kadzamira told AFP. "But before it is tabled, it will go to five committees for scrutiny," he added. He said he could have a bill drafted for examination by parliament by next Thursday. Lucius Banda was among the deputies who welcomed the development. "The benefits of legalising marijuana for medicinal and industrial purposes are endless for a country like Malawi, which is famed for producing a lot of marijuana which is illegally sold on the international market," he told AFP. Several countries have decriminalised the use of cannabis, and some have legalised its use. In October, Canada became only the second country to fully legalise the recreational use of cannabis, five years after Uruguay. Advocates of the medical use of marijuana say it can help with a range of conditions, easing chronic pain and the symptoms of multiple sclerosis and paraplegia. By William Sumner, Hemp Business Journal Contributor Last week, news broke that Congressional lawmakers had reached tentative agreement on the 2018 Farm Bill, including an amendment to fully legalize hemp in the United States. Yet, even as the hemp industry awaits final passage, some industry players have already taken steps to enact large-scale growing and processing operations to gather market share and establish position when the starting bell rings. One such company is Vitality Natural Health (Vitality), reportedly the single-largest hemp operation in North America. With over 20,000 acres of hemp growing, Vitality on daily average produces 150 tons of hemp biomass and can produce about 10,000 kilograms of CBD isolate. Despite being North America's largest hemp producer, Vitality is yet to enter the retail market. Instead, the company is focused on the production and wholesale of hemp-based CBD isolate, distillate, and full-spectrum softgel capsules. According to Vitality CEO Robert Leaker, one of the keys to the company's success as a producer was its choice of location to establish operations. Though based in Canada's capital Ottawa, Vitality's farming operation is located in Eureka, Montana, less than 10 miles from the U.S.-Canadian border. What makes Montana particularly advantageous for production, beyond a Colorado or Kentucky, are its spare, favorable regulations. While 18 U.S. states allow hemp production, many among them do not allow for the commercialization of hemp products, and often require that producers partner with an academic institution. Even in states that allow hemp commercialization, there are limits on how much hemp companies can produce. Though Canada has legalized adult-use cannabis, hemp-based CBD is treated as a controlled substance. CBD products in Canada, regardless of origin, can only be sold or distributed through licensed producers, and is not available for sale over the counter like in the United States. Story continues In contrast, Montana has no restrictions on commercial hemp-derived products, does not require producers to partner for research, and has no limits on production. When combined with its cheap land and low property taxes, Montana becomes surprisingly attractive for companies looking to set up large-scale cultivation and processing operations. Vitality remains focused on its industrial processing capacity, which Leaker describes as key to helping the company win economically. "What we realized very quickly is that you needed to integrate the supply chain," he explained. "If you don't integrate your supply chain, you will never capture hemp's full value: It's a game of capacity." On average, a kilogram of CBD isolate can cost between $5,500-$7,500, depending on current market supply and demand. Looking forward, Leaker believes that demand for CBD products will soon outpace supply, especially once the 2018 Farm Bill is passed and large retailers like Walmart enter the market. Leaker noted that a year ago, 5 kilograms of CBD isolate was considered a large order. Today, Vitality is regularly receiving orders for anywhere between 50 and 100 kilograms of CBD isolate, and expects to see orders of up to 10,000 kilograms. Hemp operators will need several years to develop the infrastructure necessary to equal Vitality's production capacity, which gives Leaker confidence that Vitality is positioned to dominate the industry. "Prices will remain high as long as demand outstrips supply," he said. "In fact, companies should be locking in contracts to guarantee their production capacity. As the market increases, it's going to be harder to get the product we are able to produce at scale." Following a deal with Ottawa-based Livwell Canada Inc. (OTCMKTS: LXLLF), Vitality has plans to go public in Canada via a reverse takeover. Through the deal, Livwell will issue new common shares for Vitality to own 85 percent of the public company. The transaction is set to close in March, when announcement of a new company name is expected. William Sumner William Sumner is a writer for the hemp and cannabis industry. Hailing from Panama City, Florida, William covers various topics such as hemp legislation, investment, and business. William's writing has appeared in publications such as Green Market Report, Civilized, and MJINews. You can follow William on Twitter: @W_Sumner. The post Montana-Based Grower and Processor Vitality Quickly Gathering Hemp Market Share appeared first on New Frontier. See more from Benzinga 2018 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. A pumpjack is seen at sunset outside Scheibenhard, near Strasbourg A pumpjack is seen at sunset outside Scheibenhard, near Strasbourg, France, October 6, 2017. REUTERS/Christian Hartmann By Jessica Resnick-Ault NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices jumped more than 2 percent on Friday as Saudi Arabia and other producers in OPEC, as well as allies like Russia, agreed to reduce output to drain global fuel inventories and support the market. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its Russia-led allies, referred to as "OPEC+," agreed to slash production by a combined 1.2 million barrels per day from 2019. This was larger than the minimum 1 million bpd that the market had expected, despite pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to reduce the price of crude. OPEC will curb output by 800,000 bpd from January while non-OPEC allies contribute an additional 400,000 bpd of cuts, Iraqi Oil Minister Thamer Ghadhban said after the organization concluded two days of talks in Vienna. Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak confirmed the combined output cuts of 1.2 million bpd, saying the market would be oversupplied through the first half of the year. Brent crude rose $1.64, or 2.9 percent, to $61.70 a barrel by 1:46 p.m. EDT (1746 GMT). In early trading, the global benchmark had dropped below $60 when it looked as if oil exporters might leave output targets unchanged. It then rallied to a session high of $63.73 on news of the agreement. U.S. crude rose $1.10 to $52.59 a barrel, after earlier reaching a session high of $54.22. U.S. crude was on track to end the week up 3.7 percent and Brent was 5.4 percent higher on the week so far. Without cuts there would have been extreme downward pressure on the market, said John Paisie, executive vice president at Stratas Advisors, a consultancy. I think the Saudis tried to walk a tightrope: they want to make sure they maintain their relationship with the U.S., but they also need to make some cuts because they need a higher oil price to balance their budget." A 1.2 million-bpd cut, if implemented fully, "should be enough to largely attenuate, but not eliminate, expected implied global inventory builds in the first half of next year, Harry Tchilinguirian, global oil strategist at BNP Paribas in London told the Reuters Global Oil Forum. Story continues Oil prices have plunged 30 percent since October as supply has surged and global demand growth has weakened. Prices fell almost 3 percent on Thursday after OPEC ended a meeting in Vienna with only a tentative deal to tackle weak prices. Talks with other producers were held on Friday. But Iran gave OPEC the green light Friday to reduce oil output after finding a compromise with rival Saudi Arabia over a possible exemption from the cuts, an OPEC source said. Output from the world's biggest producers - OPEC, Russia and the United States - has increased by 3.3 million bpd since the end of 2017 to 56.38 million bpd, meeting almost 60 percent of global consumption. The surge is mainly due to soaring U.S. oil production, which has jumped by 2.5 million bpd since early 2016 to a record 11.7 million bpd, making the United States the world's biggest producer. U.S. drillers this week cut oil rigs by the most in over two years, after adding rigs in recent weeks. Energy companies cut 10 oil rigs in the week to Dec. 7, the biggest weekly decline since May 2016, bringing the total count down to 877, General Electric Co's Baker Hughes energy services firm said in its closely followed report on Friday. Rig count is an indicator of future production. Still, the number of rigs remains up from a year ago. Given supply due to come online, some analysts and market participants said the cut may not be sufficient to end oil's rout. Relative to how big this looming supply tsunami is, it is not nearly enough to prevent big inventory builds next year, said Robert McNally, president of Rapidan Energy Group in Washington. President Trump and President Putin prevented OPEC+ from cutting by more, which was certainly needed to put a sturdy floor under prices. They are putting a fuzzy floor under prices. Trump has asked OPEC to keep prices low, pleading with the Saudis in twitter messages. Russia had initially balked at cutting production alongside OPEC. (Graphic: OPEC, Russia & U.S. crude oil production - https://tmsnrt.rs/2QdhkVc) (Graphic: U.S. turns into net exporter of oil - https://tmsnrt.rs/2QiW7cA) (Additional Reporting by Julia Payne and Christopher Johnson in London and Henning Gloystein in Singapore; Editing by Marguerita Choy and Bernadette Baum) Investing.com - Succeeding in a "most difficult" situation," Saudi Arabia got its brethren within OPEC and non-member allies led by Russia to agree to a production cut of 1.2 million barrels per day that the market rewarded on Friday with the best weekly gain in 10 for oil. At settlement, U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was up $1.64, or 2.2%, at $52.61 per barrel. For the week, it gained 3.3%, the biggest advance since the week ended Sept. 23. Brent, the global benchmark for crude, was up by $1.48, or 2.5%, at $61.54 by 2:55 PM ET (19:55 GMT), after racing to $63.70 earlier. What wasn't immediately clear was how Riyadh would deal with the resultant political fallout, if any, with President Donald Trump, who had been haranguing the kingdom for weeks now with tweets demanding that OPEC's oil be kept flowing without disruption and at low prices to help the U.S. economy. Many had expected the Saudis to play ball with the president, who had been protecting Riyadh from the threat of U.S. sanctions after the murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi, whom the CIA believes was killed at the urging of Saudi Crown Price Mohammed bin Salman. Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih received praise from his Russian counterpart Alexander Novak for being able "to find a solution in the most difficult situation". Trump hadn't tweeted or issued any verbal response as yet on Friday to the OPEC decision, although he made a live but brief media appearance to announce his new picks for Attorney General and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. "I think he has other things on his mind and will probably tweet again depending on how much oil prices rally between now and the next few days on this production cut," said John Kilduff, partner at New York energy hedge fund Again Capital. WTI initially hit $54.22 after Iraqi Oil Minister Thamer Ghadhban announced an 800,000 bpd cut by OPEC and a 400,000 bpd reduction by the group's allies over a six-month timeline. Cut exemptions were granted to OPEC's most economically depressed members Venezuela and Libya, as well as Iran, which is facing U.S. sanctions on its oil exports. Story continues Despite the rebound, WTI still remained some 30% lower than the four-year highs of nearly $77 per barrel hit in early October. Brent was off about 27% from similar peaks achieved two months back. Analysts said any price rebound here on will not be straight-lined, but dependent on whether the producers in Friday's deal do as pledged and not cheat by producing more. OPEC also interestingly didn't make public any country quotas this time for production, although Russia pledged to reduce between 228,000 and 230,000 bpd. Another major challenge to the market will be how U.S. crude output and exports -- which are not part of any OPEC cuts -- perform over the next six months. The United States is already the world's largest oil driller, with output that is expected to reach 12 million bpd in 2019, well above Saudi and Russia, the second- and third-largest producers, respectively, with production of just under 11 million barrels. The number of active U.S. rigs drilling for oil fell by 10 to 877 this week, data showed, but analysts said the number could jump again as prices rally. U.S. crude exports hit a record 3.2 million barrels per day last week, just within two years of coming out from its self-imposed four-decade-old oil exports embargo. Weekly U.S. net imports of crude oil and petroleum products were at a negative 211,000 bpd last week, meaning that the U.S. was a net exporter of that amount. Related Articles U.S. oil drillers cut most rigs since May 2016: Baker Hughes Gold Rises as Jobs Report Decreases Chance of Fed Hikes in 2019 OPEC, Russia agree to slash oil output despite Trump pressure FILE PHOTO: An oil refinery of Essar Oil, which runs India's second biggest private sector refinery, is pictured in Vadinar in the western state of Gujarat, India, October 4, 2016. REUTERS/Amit Dave/File Photo By Devika Krishna Kumar NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil fell nearly 3 percent in choppy trading on Thursday after OPEC and its allies ended a meeting without announcing a decision to cut crude output, and prepared to debate the matter the next day. The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries met in Vienna to decide production policy in coordination with other countries including Russia, Oman and Kazakhstan. OPEC tentatively agreed to cut oil output but was waiting for a commitment from non-OPEC heavyweight Russia before deciding volumes. [nL8N1YB1II] Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak flew home from Vienna earlier for talks with President Vladimir Putin in Saint Petersburg. Novak returns to Austria's capital on Friday for discussions among Saudi-led OPEC and its allies. Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said OPEC needed Russia to cooperate, and said a decision was likely by Friday evening. "If everybody is not willing to join and contribute equally, we will wait until they are," al-Falih said. Market watchers had expected a joint cut of 1 million to 1.4 million barrels per day (bpd). The OPEC, non-OPEC meeting is set to start on Friday at 1100 GMT. "All eyes are now fixated on tomorrow's OPEC+ joint declaration, and a combined output cut of at least 1 million barrels per day will be required to see a meaningful recovery in oil prices," said Abhishek Kumar, senior energy analyst at Interfax Energy in London. Brent crude futures fell $1.50, or 2.4 percent, to $60.06 a barrel, after dropping to a session low of $58.36. U.S. crude futures fell $1.40, or 2.7 percent, to $51.49, bouncing off a low of $50.08. The benchmarks have slumped more than 25 percent so far this quarter. Prices found some support after data showed U.S. crude stockpiles declined last week, the first drawdown since September. Inventories had climbed for 10 straight weeks as domestic production grew to a weekly record at 11.7 million bpd, data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed. [EIA/S] The United States, however, last week became a net exporter of crude and refined products for the first time since at least 1973, exporting a net 211,000 bpd, on the back of a jump in crude exports to a record of 3.2 million bpd, the data showed. Story continues Crude prices have sagged almost a third since October, in part due to concerns about oversupply coming to the fore again as U.S. production rose in tandem with increased output from Saudi Arabia and Russia. The three countries are the world's largest producers of oil. OPEC's crude oil production has risen by 4.1 percent since mid-2018, to 33.31 million bpd. European equities hit their lowest in two years. Commodity-sensitive currencies such as the Russian rouble tumbled on sliding oil prices and the arrest of a top executive of Chinese tech giant Huawei in Canada for extradition to the United States, just ahead of crucial trade negotiations between Washington and Beijing. Barclays said in its Global Outlook that "investors need to lower their expectations" and "2019 should be a period of lower returns and higher volatility." It forecast that the global economy would "slow over the next several quarters" although it added that "not one major economy is near recession." Ann-Louise Hittle, vice president, macro oils at Wood Mackenzie, said world oil demand growth is expected to average close to 1.1 million bpd in 2018 and 2019. "This sits against a backdrop of rapid non-OPEC production growth ... the strength in non-OPEC production creates pressure on OPEC to curtail its output for 2019 from recent levels, if oil prices are to remain stable," Hittle said. (Additional reporting by Amanda Cooper, Christopher Johnson in LONDON and Henning Gloystein in SINGAPORE; Editing by Marguerita Choy and David Gregorio) FILE PHOTO: Mohammed bin Hamad Al Rumhy, Oman's Minister of Oil and Gas, arrives to a meeting between OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers, in Doha, Qatar April 17, 2016. REUTERS/Ibraheem Al Omari VIENNA (Reuters) - Omani Energy Minister Mohammed bin Hamad al-Rumhy said on Sunday that he believed there was a consensus among OPEC oil producers that oil output should be cut. Asked if he thinks there is a consensus for a cut, he told reporters: "I think so, yes. We enjoyed the benefits of cuts." He added Oman was ready to join any cuts decided by OPEC and its allies next week. "Of course, we have always been a champion of cutting." Oil ministers from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries meet in Vienna on Thursday, followed by talks with non-OPEC oil producers. (Reporting by Ahmad Ghaddar; Editing by Kevin Liffey) By Rania El Gamal, Olesya Astakhova and Shadia Nasralla VIENNA (Reuters) - OPEC and its Russia-led allies agreed on Friday to slash oil production by more than the market had expected despite pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to reduce the price of crude. The producer club will curb output from January by 0.8 million barrels per day versus October levels while non-OPEC allies contribute an additional 0.4 million bpd of cuts, in a move to be reviewed at a meeting in April. Oil prices jumped about 5 percent to more than $63 a barrel as the combined cut of 1.2 million bpd was larger than the minimum 1 million bpd that the market had expected. Saudi Arabia, de facto leader of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, has faced demands from Trump to help the global economy by refraining from paring supplies. An output curtailment also would provide support to Iran by increasing the price of oil amid attempts by Washington to squeeze the economy of OPEC's third-largest producer. Asked whether the decision to cut could sour Riyadh's relations with Washington, Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih told reporters the kingdom was ready to pump more should a major supply outage occur. "We will not squeeze consumers beyond what they can afford," he said, adding that given the United States had recently become the biggest oil-producing nation, its energy companies were "breathing a sigh of relief". Further complicating Riyadh's decisions this week was 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 the kingdom. Falih refrained from answering a question on whether the OPEC decision might prompt Washington to withdraw support, but said Saudi-U.S. relations were based on shared values. (Graphic: Who might agree to an OPEC crude supply deal? - https://tmsnrt.rs/2Ru61od) TWO-DAY MARATHON The OPEC deal had hung in the balance for two days - first on fears that Russia would cut too little, and later on concerns that Iran, whose crude exports have been depleted by U.S. sanctions, would receive no exemption and block the agreement. But after hours of talks, Iran gave OPEC the green light and Russia said it was ready to cut more. Russia gave a commitment to reduce output by 228,000 bpd from October levels of 11.4 million bpd, though it said the cuts would be gradual and take place over several months. The country's energy minister, Alexander Novak, said Russian President Vladimir Putin had discussed an output decrease with Saudi Prince Mohammed. Iraq, OPEC's second-largest producer, pledged to cut 140,000 bpd. Falih said Saudi production had dropped to 10.7 million bpd in December from 11.1 million in November and was set to decline to 10.2 million bpd in January. Iran, Libya and Venezuela were effectively given exemptions. Nigeria, which has been exempt since the previous round of cuts from January 2017, agreed to participate. Helima Croft, managing director at RBC Capital Markets, said the deal exceeded expectations. "Having the next meeting in April will be important for planning purposes to speed the cycle up a bit," she said. OPEC normally meets once every six months. "We don't know what will Iran's sanctions picture look like. We don't know the Iranian volumes which will be coming off the market," Croft said. But Bob McNally, president of U.S.-based Rapidan Energy Group, said the details of the cut were "fuzzy" and would likely result in a lesser reduction than the headline figure. "President Trump will not be happy to see todays headlines, but how strongly he reacts depends mainly on whether crude prices rise strongly as a result in coming days and weeks." (Graphic: OPEC's battle to coax Russia to cut oil output as the U.S. ramps up - https://tmsnrt.rs/2RzCE3J) (Graphic: Difference in OPEC oil output between Nov 2018 and Oct 2016 - https://tmsnrt.rs/2RqgBMS) U.S. special representative for Iran Brian Hook met Falih in Vienna this week, in an unprecedented development ahead of an OPEC meeting. Saudi Arabia first denied the Hook-Falih discussion took place but later confirmed it. "U.S. political pressure is clearly a dominant factor at this OPEC meeting, limiting the scope of Saudi actions to rebalance the market," said Gary Ross, chief executive of Black Gold Investors and a veteran OPEC watcher. The price of crude has fallen almost a third since October as Saudi Arabia, Russia and the United Arab Emirates raised output to offset lower exports from Iran. (Graphic: Oil producers' budget-balancing act - https://tmsnrt.rs/2QfNS0J) (Graphic: OPEC* crude production in November-Reuters Survey: https://tmsnrt.rs/2RqgctQ) Russia, Saudi Arabia and the United States have been vying for the position of top crude producer in recent years. The United States is not part of any output-limiting initiative due to its anti-trust legislation and fragmented oil industry. On Thursday, U.S. government figures showed the country had become a net exporter of crude oil and refined products for the first time on record, underscoring how the surge in production has altered the supply equation in world markets. (Additional reporting by Ahmad Ghaddar and Alex Lawler; Writing by Dmitry Zhdannikov; Editing by Dale Hudson; Graphics by Amanda Cooper) Dec 7 (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. - The ride-hailing company Lyft said on Thursday it had taken a key step toward an initial public offering, confidentially filing a draft registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission. https://nyti.ms/2QDoUaX - Drug maker Actelion Pharmaceuticals, a unit of Johnson & Johnson, has agreed to a $360 million settlement stemming from an investigation into whether the company illegally funneled kickbacks through a patient-assistance charity, federal prosecutors said Thursday. https://nyti.ms/2roSBOM - The Trump administration is expected to put forth a proposal that would significantly weaken a major Obama-era regulation on clean water, according to a talking points memo from the Environmental Protection Agency that was distributed to White House allies this week. https://nyti.ms/2UoDJ05 (Compiled by Bengaluru newsroom) The Republican-controlled state legislature in Wisconsin passed a sweeping set of bills on Wednesday to limit the power of the newly elected Democratic governor Tony Evers. Evers denounced the lawmakers as "power-hungry politicians" in a statement. In Michigan, Republicans are working to pass similar legislation to limit the incoming governor's power. Wisconsin's Republican-controlled state legislature passed a sweeping set of bills on Wednesday to limit the power of the newly elected Democratic governor and attorney general, part of a growing trend in state governments also seen in Michigan and North Carolina. Last month, Tony Evers defeated Republican incumbent Scott Walker in the Wisconsin governor's race, and Josh Kaul similarly ousted the Republican incumbent to become attorney general. The state legislature will remain under Republican control. One of the bills passed on Wednesday in the lame duck session would require the governor to get approval from the legislature before changing programs managed by both federal and state governments, such as welfare, the New York Times reported. Another limits the governor's control of the state's main economic development agency, which Evers pledged to disband during the campaign in favor of giving authority to local communities, the paper said. Additionally, the incoming attorney general would not be able to withdraw the state from a lawsuit against the Affordable Care Act, which was one of Kaul's campaign promises. Wisconsin's early voting period would also be restricted to just two weeks going forward. Evers denounced the lawmakers as "power-hungry politicians" in a statement . "Wisconsin values of decency, kindness, and finding common ground were pushed aside so a handful of people could desperately usurp and cling to power while hidden away from the very people they represent," he said. In Michigan, Republicans are working to pass similar legislation to limit the incoming government's power. The state elected Democrats to serve as governor, attorney general and secretary of state for the first time in nearly three decades. Story continues As part of the proposed bills, the state House of Representatives hopes to delay a planned minimum wage increase and reduce the requirements on companies to provide paid sick leave. Both the Wisconsin and Michigan state legislatures are replicating what occurred in North Carolina after Democrat Roy Cooper was elected governor in 2016. Then, the Republican-controlled state legislature passed a number of bills that reduced the number of Cooper's political appointees and made his cabinet members subject to Senate approval, among other changes. Cooper has been entangled in lawsuits to roll back these changes ever since. Republicans' actions in Wisconsin and Michigan have drawn scores of protesters to the state's capitol buildings and garnered the attention of lawmakers nationwide. "It is disgraceful that Republicans in Wisconsin and Michigan, having lost on Nov. 6, are trying to decrease the power of incoming Democratic governors Tony Evers and Gretchen Whitmer and limit future voting," Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-Vt., tweeted Monday. "This power-grab is pathetic and must be stopped." The bills in both states, although passed in the legislatures, still need to be signed by the current Republican governors in order to become law. More From CNBC MarketWatch Its exactly what investors didnt want to hear as we close in on two years since the pandemic first reared its ugly head in China. A team at Saxo Bank advises traders to tread with extreme care, given that near term volatility risks are extreme on the unfortunate timing, particularly giving the sudden shift in focus that this news brings relative to recent themes and current market positioning. The one mercy for Friday is that its a shorter session for Wall Street. FILE - In this Oct. 15, 2018 file photo, a Sears department is seen in Hackensack, N.J. Eddie Lampert and his ESL Holdings hedge fund are offering to buy the rest of Sears for up to $4.6 billion in cash and stock. The Sears chairman and ESL own just under half of the Hoffman Estates, Illinois, company, according to FactSet. Sears filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October, weighed down by years of declining sales and massive debt. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) NEW YORK (AP) Eddie Lampert and his ESL Holdings hedge fund are offering to buy the rest of Sears for up to $4.6 billion in cash and stock in a move to stave off liquidation. The Sears chairman and ESL founder own just under half of the Hoffman Estates, Illinois, company, according to FactSet. Sears filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October, weighed down by years of declining sales and massive debt. It then said it would shutter 142 unprofitable stores in the hopes that it could stay in business. ESL Holdings said in a regulatory filing Thursday that its nonbinding offer for the roughly 500 remaining Sears stores will keep about 50,000 employees working. The offer is subject to due diligence and ESL's ability to get financing, among other things. "ESL believes that a future for Sears as a going concern is the only way to preserve tens of thousands of jobs and bring continued economic benefits to the many communities across the United States that are touched by Sears and Kmart stores," the firm said in a prepared statement. The pace of the deterioration has been rapid. As recently as 2012 the company operated 4,000 Sears and Kmart stores. Including the closings after the bankruptcy filing, Sears would have just over 500 functioning locations left. As of the bankruptcy filing, the company employed about 68,000 people. The ESL bid follows a series of moves that Lampert has offered to salvage the company over the past few years. And it comes as it's lacking support from many vendors who have been reluctant to work with Sears as they fear they won't get paid. "I think he has a plan whether it will be evident or not to us," said David Tawil, president and co-founder of Maglan Capital, which follows distressed companies. "Whether that plan will be successful, I don't know." Robin Lewis, a New York-based retail consultant, questioned whether Lampert is honestly trying to save the business and bring it out of business. Story continues "If he is successful in doing so, the first person he should fire is himself," said Lewis. "He will continue to destroy it and it will be right where it was." ___ AP Business Writer Dorothea Degen in New York contributed to this report. (Bloomberg) -- On the same day Donald Trump and Xi Jinping struck a trade war truce in Argentina, some 7,000 miles away Canadian authorities made an arrest that now threatens to make the U.S.-China conflict much worse. The U.S. is seeking the extradition of Wanzhou Meng, chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies Co., after convincing Canada to arrest her on Dec. 1. Canada confirmed she was in custody shortly after the Globe and Mail reported she had been arrested in connection with violating sanctions against Iran. China promptly reacted with outrage after the news broke, demanding that both countries move to free Meng. Later, the foreign ministry said it was waiting for details on why she was arrested, and said trade talks should continue. Its hard to overstate the significance of her arrest in Beijing: Meng is the daughter of the founder of Huawei, a national champion at the forefront of Xis efforts for China to be self-sufficient in strategic technologies. While the U.S. routinely asks allies to extradite drug lords, arms dealers and other criminals, arresting a major Chinese executive like this is rare -- if not unprecedented. The timing and manner of this is shocking, Andrew Gilholm, director of North Asia analysis at Control Risks Group, said by phone. Its not often the phrase OMG appears in our internal email discussions. Right now its unclear what role Trump played in Mengs arrest, or if he will intervene at some point. The U.S. leader has spent the past few days seeking to convince the world -- and skeptical equity investors -- that China has agreed to major concessions, including reducing or removing tariffs on U.S. cars. Stocks fell across Asia on Thursday. Analysts said its more likely the case proceeded separately from the trade talks as part of Trumps efforts to step up prosecutions against Chinese companies that conduct economic espionage and violate sanctions. In October, the U.S. said Belgium extradited a Chinese intelligence official accused of stealing trade secrets from U.S. companies -- an unprecedented development. Story continues Either way, China is almost certain to view Mengs arrest as a major escalation in the trade war that will foment fears of a wider Cold War between the worlds biggest economies. As part of trade talks, Trump has insisted that China stop providing government support to strategic sectors including artificial intelligence and robotics as part of its Made in China 2025 policy. New Game It will definitely complicate the negotiations and they may believe this was done to increase the pressure during this 90-day period, said Dennis Wilder, a former CIA China analyst and senior director for Asia at the National Security Council under President George W. Bush. This is sending a signal that there is a new game, Wilder said of the recent U.S. arrests. They are trying to deter Chinese espionage and make it clear that there are real consequences. Perhaps no company better personifies the perceived trade threat than Huawei. Its overtaken Apple Inc. in smartphone shipments and aims to surpass Samsung Electronics Co. while targeting record sales of $102.2 billion this year -- more than Boeing Co. Its shooting for the lead in fifth-generation wireless networks and preparing to take on some of Americas biggest chipmakers. Thats why Trumps administration invoked its name in blocking a Qualcomm Inc.-Broadcom Inc. merger that wouldve been the largest deal ever, saying it would hand the lead in 5G to China. Huawei has since been blocked from selling its gear in Australia and New Zealand, got frozen out of a Korean contract, and faces U.S.-led competition even in Papua New Guinea. The latest U.S. action against Huawei may be even more significant. While the company has made advances in developing its own microchips, it still relies on American equipment to make its networking gear and smartphones. ZTE Corp., another Chinese technology company, nearly collapsed due to U.S. penalties for violating Iran sanctions before Trump rescued it following a request from Xi. The ZTE case showed Chinas leaders that they needed to become independent from the U.S. when it comes to critical technologies like semiconductors and network infrastructure, according to Graham Webster, coordinating editor of DigiChina at the Washington-based think tank New America. What makes Huawei important is that it is a leader in developing technologies that will make China less dependent on U.S. or European suppliers, he said. Targeting Huawei through seeking the extradition of a top executive is a major move by the U.S. government, whether coordinated or not. For some analysts in China, it shows that the U.S. national security apparatus isnt interested in cutting a deal, no matter what Trump thinks. Their goal is to decouple with China, said Wang Yong, a professor at the School of International Studies at Peking University. Negotiations are the wish of Trump and Wall Street. --With assistance from Edwin Chan and Kevin Hamlin. To contact the reporters on this story: David Tweed in Hong Kong at dtweed@bloomberg.net;Peter Martin in Beijing at pmartin138@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Daniel Ten Kate at dtenkate@bloomberg.net, Edwin Chan For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com 2018 Bloomberg L.P. (Bloomberg) -- SoftBank hired Facebook Inc. executive Kirthiga Reddy as a partner at its $100 billion Vision Fund, the first woman to join a group of just a dozen that oversees the worlds biggest pool of technology investments. Reddy has joined SoftBank Investment Advisors, which manages the giant fund globally, to focus on frontier and enterprise technology globally, according to a SoftBank spokeswoman. She will work closely with Senior Managing Partner Deep Nishar, the spokeswoman added. Reddy had worked at Facebook in India and the U.S. for eight years and serves as chair of the Stanford Business School Management Board, according to her LinkedIn page. Reddy is joining a crew thats helped SoftBank Group Corp. founder Masayoshi Son orchestrate an unprecedented wave of investment in Silicon Valley, China and beyond. The Vision Fund has committed more than $65 billion to acquire stakes in the likes of Uber Technologies Inc., WeWork Cos. and Chinas Didi Chuxing. For perspective, in 2016, the entire U.S. venture capital industry invested $75.3 billion, according to the National Venture Capital Association. In an interview in September, Son was asked about the fact that all the Vision Fund partners were men and he said he has no prejudice of any kind. Vision Fund head Rajeev Misra had been leading an effort to hire more women, including at the managing partner level. Reddy will become the funds first venture partner and will be investing. SoftBank said she may become what it calls an investing partner, depending in part on her desire to devote 100 percent of her time to such activity. SoftBank said that it intends to hire more female investors, particularly at the more senior levels, and it is actively recruiting. Son plans to raise a new $100 billion fund every two or three years and will spend around $50 billion a year. To help oversee that money, he said that he wanted to increase the number of dealmakers from about 30 to 300 over the next few years. Story continues Managing partners filter potential investment ideas and hold a weekly call to discuss progress. Once the prospects are vetted, they go to an internal investment committee that includes Son. To contact the reporter on this story: Saritha Rai in Bangalore at srai33@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Peter Elstrom at pelstrom@bloomberg.net, Edwin Chan For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com 2018 Bloomberg L.P. illinois robinhood crypto Residents of the 6th most populous U.S. state, Illinois, can now access the cryptocurrency trading services of Robinhood. In a tweeted statement, the trading app disclosed that Robinhood Crypto was now available in the prairie state, making it the 29th state in the U.S. to get the commission-free round-the-clock trading service. Trade winds are blowing in Illinois. You can now use Robinhood Crypto to trade Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other crypto in the Prairie State! pic.twitter.com/uKUgrxxu1e Robinhood (@RobinhoodApp) December 5, 2018 As the financial services startup promised earlier in the year, it has been rolling out the crypto trading features across the U.S. gradually. While Illinois is the only state to get Robinhood Crypto this month so far, the trading app launched in two states last month North Dakota and South Dakota. Relatively speaking October was busier with the app launching cryptocurrency trading services in Rhode Island, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Wyoming. Additionally, Robinhood Crypto also became available in Ohio, marking the halfway milestone in its coverage of all the states in the Union, as CCN reported. Six Tradeable Cryptocurrencies Though the pace of the geographical rollout has been at a steady pace, the same cannot be said of the cryptocurrency assets that have been made available for trading so far. Initially, Robinhood Crypto only allowed the trading of bitcoin and ether but has only added four more almost one year later litecoin, bitcoin cash, dogecoin, and ethereum classic. The most recent tradeable digital asset to be added on Robinhood Crypto was ethereum classic, and that was back in August, as CCN reported. Ethereum Classic Becomes the 6th Cryptocurrency Listed on Robinhood Crypto https://t.co/SOGVRjLb4G CCN (@CryptoCoinsNews) August 6, 2018 Despite the relative scarcity of tradeable digital assets on the app, users can still add 16 cryptocurrencies to a watch list and access market data, news, and price alerts on the same. The watchlist cryptocurrencies include ripple (XRP), zcash, monero, dash, stellar, qtum, bitcoin gold, omisego, NEO, and lisk. Story continues Rapid Growth The receipt of a money transmitter license in Illinois comes at a time when the trading app has been beefing up its executive suite. Towards the end of last month, the trading startup hired two executives from established tech giants, Amazon and Google. Gretchen Howard, an alumna of Google, joined Robinhood as the vice president of operations, while Jason Warnick, an alumnus of Amazon, was hired as the startups chief financial officer. Howards appointment, in particular, was notable because it signaled that the startup is ready to embark on the next level of growth, as indicated in the responsibilities of her new role: Gretchen will oversee various operational functions that are critical to growing our business, including customer support. Her expertise in scaling operations will help us accelerate our product and business growth even faster, a blog post read late last month. Featured Image from Shutterstock The post State #29: Robinhood Brings Zero-Fee Crypto Trading to Illinois appeared first on CCN. Andrea Balcer listens to testimony during the sentencing hearing for killing her parents, Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2018, at the Capital Judicial Center in Augusta, Maine. Balcer was 17 at the time of the Oct. 31, 2016, stabbings at their Winthrop home. The teenager told a police dispatcher that she "snapped" on the night of the stabbings. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) -- A teenager who told authorities she "snapped" and killed her parents while struggling with gender identity and acceptance was sentenced Tuesday to 40 years in prison. Andrea Balcer, who was 17 at the time of the fatal stabbings, asked for forgiveness from her remaining family members, many of whom had called for the maximum penalty. "I do not speak today to beg for lenience or to try to save myself from due punishment. I'm here only to ask for one thing, the forgiveness of my family," she said. Her attorney argued that the teenager was dealing with her transition from male to female in isolation and without family support at the time of the killings. She had no criminal record before the violence early on Oct. 31, 2016, in the family's Winthrop home. Andrea's older brother, Christopher Balcer, who she spared, said his sister's excuses were "flimsy" and urged the judge to be firm. "In my view, all leniency does is put a remorseless murderer back on the street," he said. Family and friends disputed the notion that the parents, Alice and Antonio Balcer, were anything less than loving and supportive to Andrea and Christopher. Balcer, now 20, looked down, wiped away tears and took notes while friends and family testified about the pain caused by the deaths. They said the couple, who were both 47 when they died, was widely regarded as caring people. Carl Pierce, Alice's brother, said the suggestion that gender identity, abuse or lack of family support played a role was an "insult to our family, an insult to our society and an insult to the LGBTQ community." Pierce said he'd talked openly to the father about his daughter's sexuality. "There was no hatred. There was no malice. There was no ill will. There was resignation to be sure but ultimately there was acceptance," he said. The killings were gruesome. On a 911 recording, Andrea Balcer told the dispatcher she stabbed her mother in the back before stabbing her father when he awoke to his wife's screams. She told detectives she stabbed her mother while she was hugging her. A military-style knife was found stuck in the floor near her father's body. She also killed the family pet, a Chihuahua, but allowed her brother to escape, telling him, "It's not your day," the brother said. Story continues Balcer was unable to explain her actions at first, telling a dispatcher she "snapped" and telling detectives she didn't understand her actions. She later said that from an early age she felt that she was a woman trapped in a man's body, and that her parents weren't supportive when she told them of her transition. She also claimed she had been abused by her mother. Despite her age, Balcer was treated as an adult in court proceedings, and she pleaded guilty under an agreement that capped her sentence at 55 years. She turned 20 the week of her sentencing. Justice Daniel Billings found mitigating factors including Balcer's lack of criminal record, her good grades, her age and her acceptance of responsibility by pleading guilty. But the judge declined to take into account her struggles with gender identity in imposing the sentence. The judge said other transgender people struggle with societal and family acceptance, and that it shouldn't be used as an excuse for her actions. (Bloomberg) -- A group of prominent computer scientists has come together to form a new pan-European laboratory devoted to artificial intelligence. The European Laboratory for Learning and Intelligent Systems, or ELLIS, will run physical laboratories and create an education program for doctoral students studying a type of AI called machine learning, while building bridges between universities and companies in the region. Siemens AG, Bayer AG and DeepMind, the London-based AI company owned by Google parent Alphabet Inc., are among companies that have pledged to support the group. "We need this because we have faced this development with huge investments in artificial intelligence in China and also from America from large corporations," Bernhard Scholkopf, director of the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, said Thursday, announcing the initiative. While many AI researchers are European, they often end up working for U.S. tech companies or universities. "Europe will fall behind if they dont up their game and invest much more heavily," he said. In a pointed reference to Chinas rapid development of AI, he said ELLIS will develop AI "in a beneficial way and that the highest level of AI research is done in open societies." Besides Scholkopf, scientists backing the project include Nicolo Cesa-Bianchi from the University of Milan, and Neil Lawrence, a researcher at the University of Sheffield who also works at Amazon.com Inc. Scholkopf announced ELLIS in Montreal, which is hosting the Neural Information Processing Systems conference, an important annual gathering of AI researchers, and a Group of Seven conference on AI. To contact the reporter on this story: Jeremy Kahn in London at jkahn21@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Giles Turner at gturner35@bloomberg.net, Alistair Barr For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com 2018 Bloomberg L.P. Hosna Jalil is well aware of the complexities of improving security and the rule of law in Afghanistan, a country that has been engulfed by nearly four decades of war. But since being appointed on December 5 to a senior post in the Interior Ministry, the 26-year-old Kabul native's first challenge has simply been to gain acceptance. "People are criticizing my appointment because they think Afghan women are not competent," Jalil told RFE/RL in a telephone interview. "But this is natural because there is resistance in any country going through change." While some Afghans have applauded Jail's appointment as a sign of the progress women have made since the fall of the Taliban in 2001, her selection as deputy for policy and strategic affairs has led to a backlash from some who claim she is too young and inexperienced to have a senior post in the critical security sector. The Taliban has been waging a deadly, 17-year insurgency against the Western-backed government in Kabul. Embattled government security forces are failing to fend off militant attacks and sustaining record casualties. And the rule of law and governance are weak. But Jalil says she relishes the challenges, and rejects her critics. "My goal has been to serve the government, to have a position in which I have responsibility and the power to bring change," Jalil told RFE/RL. "I want to bring change for the benefit of my country." For Jalil, her appointment is the realization of a dream. Born in Kabul, her family moved to the southeastern city of Ghazni. She received her masters degree in business administration at the American University of Afghanistan (AUAF) and has worked in policy planning at the Mines and Petroleum Ministry. Ershad Ahmadi, a former deputy foreign minister and current vice president of development at AUAF, said Jalil's appointment was a "welcome improvement." Women's rights activist Wazhma Frogh said Jalil's appointment was an "important step," saying it was "time to support more young women taking charge." President Ashraf Ghani, who has led the national unity government since 2014, has attempted to clean up corrupt institutions and has appointed dozens of young, Western-educated Afghans to positions of power in his administration, including in the security and finance ministries and as senior advisers. Afghan women are playing a greater role in government than ever, with 11 female deputy ministers, three female ministers, and five female ambassadors. Twenty-three-year-old Diwa Samad became the country's youngest-ever deputy minister when she was appointed to her post in the Health Ministry in October. Such changes have not gone over well with those who suggest Ghani's appointments are purely symbolic, and that his appointees are inexperienced and lacking the necessary skills. Diva Patang, a former staff member at the Afghan Embassy in London, responded on Twitter to Jalils appointment by saying the president was leading a "kindergarten government." Patang said the government was "ruining" the future of young women like Jalil, who she claimed did not have the required "expertise and experience." She alleged that the governments new hires were puppies who would simply follow orders. Omar Samad, an analyst and former Afghan ambassador who has advised senior Afghan officials, wrote on Twitter that Jalils appointment showed that "something is seriously wrong with the 'system.'" More than four years after the Department of Veterans Affairs ordered a probe into long waits at the Floyd Lindstrom Clinic in Colorado Springs, veterans here still face some of the nations longest delays in care. The latest wait time data from VA shows that one patient in five waits more than a month to be seen, and the average wait for mental health visits is more than three weeks. The wait times, virtually unchanged despite years of congressional cries for a fix, come after the agency opened its massive, new and incredibly expensive hospital in Aurora. The $1.7 billion hospital was more than $1 billion over budget, but it was supposed to help ease wait times statewide. It hasnt. The latest, low health grade for the VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System also remains unchanged, with two stars out of five. Thats three straight years of two-star care for the Pikes Peak regions 85,000 long-suffering veterans. And the hits just keep coming for VA. The agency has long held up its benefit arm as an example of its best work. But for veterans who want to use their GI Bill benefits at college, its been a nightmare of late. VA has blamed an elderly mainframe computer for glitches that have held up some GI Bill payments for thousands of veterans. Colorado Republican U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner has been pushing VA to fix the issue, which came as the agency switched how it calculated housing allowances. VA has said its working on a fix, and Gardner wants to make sure veterans who saw their checks shorted get their money. Hes pushing a bill to force VA to pay up. Most problems Congress addresses are complicated and do not have one right answer. This is not one of those issues, Gardner said in an email. To me, its pretty clear what the right thing to do is: Congress must act to ensure our student veterans receive every penny they are entitled to. While 2019 is expected to be a fractious year in Congress, with a Republican-run Senate and a new Democratic majority in the House, Gardners bill is a model of bipartisan harmony. Hes working the measure with Alabama Democratic Sen. Doug Jones. VA Secretary Robert Wilkie said the agency is committed to fixing the GI Bill snafu. Although VA has encountered issues with implementing the Forever GI Bill on Congress timeline, we will work with lawmakers to ensure that once VA is in a position to process education claims in accordance with the new law each and every beneficiary will receive retroactively the exact benefits to which they are entitled under that law, Wilkie said in a news release. Contact Tom Roeder: 636-0240 Twitter: @xroederx Does the name Starr Kempf ring any bells? The late artist created those towering steel kinetic sculptures that look like birds or windvanes in his Cheyenne Canyon front yard. One of them gently spins in the breeze downtown beside the Plaza of the Rockies, and a local furor has surrounded the legacy of the behemoths. But those sculptures called monumentals are only the biggest and most visible examples of Kempfs art. His hidden gems are bronzes he sculpted for nearly two decades before embarking upon the sky-high, sparkling monumentals. The works were born in the artists basement after he studied at the Cleveland Institute of Art. A new exhibit, presented by Kempfs grandson Joshua Kempf, displays some Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper talks about his two terms as the chief executive of Colorado in his office in the state Capitol in Denver. Hickenlooper and his allies are taking new steps toward launching a presidential campaign, including interviews with dozens of potential staffers and hiring a pollster and national fundraiser. El Paso County Sheriff Bill Elder cant hold inmates if they are eligible for release solely on the basis of federal immigration authorities suspicion that they are in the country illegally, a judge ruled Thursday. The decision by 4th Judicial District Judge Eric Bentley came amid a national debate over illegal immigration that has seen President Donald Trump shut down the U.S.-Mexico border to prevent a caravan of asylum seekers from entering the country. Trump also has threatened a government shutdown this month if Congress does not give him at least $5 billion for a wall along the southern border. The lawsuit, one of two filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado challenging area sheriffs authority to honor so-called immigration detainers, was the first to be decided and contradicts a different judges earlier finding. The detainers issued by the Immigration Customs and Enforcement request that inmates suspected of being in the U.S. illegally be held for up to 48 hours beyond their release dates to give authorities a chance to take them into custody. The requests were described by Bentley as a central tool in the governments approach to finding and deporting undocumented immigrants. In a 31-page decision, however, the judge concludes the practice violates inmates rights under the Colorado Constitution and exceeds sheriffs arrest powers under state law. His ruling bars Elder from honoring the ICE requests, making permanent a temporary injunction the judge approved in April. The court ruled that when individuals have posted bond or resolved their criminal case, sheriffs have a clear legal duty to release them, ACLU of Colorado Legal Director Mark Silverstein said in a statement that praised Bentleys ruling as very thorough. Sheriffs Office spokeswoman Jackie Kirby said Elder planned to appeal, declining further comment. Carl Rusnok, an ICE spokesman, said Friday evening that the ruling would result in more crimes being committed by aliens who were released to the streets since an ICE detainer wasn't honored. As an example, Rusnok cited Ever Andres Valles, a Mexican citizen who was released from Denver County Jail in December 2016 despite ICE having requested that he be held on a detainer. He was sentenced March 9, 2018, to 29 years in prison for robbing and fatally shooting a man at a light rail station on Feb. 17, 2017, Rusnok said in a statement. This very serious crime could have been avoided through cooperation between law enforcement partners by honoring ICE detainers. Bentleys ruling resolves the legal debate over ICE detainers only in El Paso County. The judges findings conflicted with those of a different 4th Judicial District judge who came to the opposite conclusion in a similar lawsuit by the ACLU challenging the same practice by the Teller County Sheriffs Office. Judge Lin Billings Vela declined to grant the ACLUs request for a preliminary injunction barring Teller County Sheriff Jason Mikesell from honoring ICE detainers. The case is pending, but the judges comments suggest she is poised to hand the ACLU a defeat. Billings Vela found there is a legitimate public interest in not obstructing the federal government from enforcing immigration law. She wrote in her ruling that the ACLU failed to cite a specific statute that prohibits the sheriff from cooperating with the federal government or to prove that an inmate would suffer irreparable damage if he or she posted bond and was held up to two more days. Elder is the only other sheriff in Colorado who was honoring the detainers. Bentley welcomed a definitive ruling by the Colorado Court of Appeals, although he portrayed the issues as clear cut. No Colorado statute currently authorizes sheriffs to enforce civil immigration law or even to cooperate with its enforcement, Bentley wrote. Most other Colorado sheriffs halted the practice of honoring detainers in 2014 after a letter-writing campaign by the ACLU, which raised constitutional challenges. The ACLU sued Elder in February on behalf of two people who were held in jail despite trying to post bond through intermediaries. One of them, Saul Cisneros, has a separate lawsuit alleging false imprisonment. He seeks unspecified damages for the four months he served in jail beyond when he was eligible for release. Cisneros is free on an immigration bond and fighting an effort to remove him from the country, Silverstein said. The flag-draped casket of former President George H.W. Bush passes through Magnolia, Texas, on Thursday, along the train route from Spring to College Station, Texas. WASHINGTON President Donald Trump says he will nominate William Barr, former President George H.W. Bush's attorney general, to serve in the FILE - In this Dec. 7, 1941 file photo, part of the hull of the capsized USS Oklahoma is seen at right as the battleship USS West Virginia, center, begins to sink after suffering heavy damage, while the USS Maryland, left, is still afloat in Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Hawaii. (AP Photo/U.S. Navy, File) In solving the growing problem of homelessness, the public should welcome and support innovative ideas to get people off the street. President George H.W. Bush signs the Americans with Disabilities Act during a ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House in July 1990. The Colorado Secretary of States Office has dismissed campaign finance complaints against a Democrat elected last month to the states House of Representatives. The complaint, filed in October, claimed Marc Snyder was not fully transparent with his campaigns finances, illegally accepted contributions from businesses and illegally accepted contributions exceeding the $400 limit set by the state. But Wednesday, Stephen Bouey, campaign finance manager with the Secretary of States Office, dismissed the complaint. Snyders noncompliance was not an intentional attempt to mislead the electorate or election officials, Bouey wrote. And because Snyder rectified those violations, which were the result of clerical errors or a misunderstanding of the laws, the complaint was dismissed, Bouey wrote. Other allegations in the complaint, filed by Colorado Springs attorney Kirk Garner, werent violations at all, Bouey also determined. Snyder previously acknowledged that several of his expenditures, filed with the Secretary of States Office, failed to identify certain purchases as electioneering communications but said those violations were unintentional and quickly rectified. On other occasions, several limited liability companies that donated to Snyders campaign were owned by the same person, so two checks exceeding the states $400 contribution limit were returned, he said. But one reported violation noted that Chris Cummings from El Paso, Texas, donated more than that $400 limit. However, Snyder said Cummings is actually two people: His father-in-law, Chris Cummings Sr., and his brother-in-law, Chris Cummings Jr. The Cummingses donated $400 each, but did not exceed the states contribution limits, Snyder said. Another complaint, filed in September against organizations backing one of Snyders opponents, unaffiliated candidate Maile Foster, remains under investigation. The complaint, filed against Unite Colorado, Unite America and the Unite America Election, claims that the organizations havent followed disclosure requirements and contribution limits while advocating for each of the candidates theyve endorsed. The Secretary of States Office passed that complaint to an administrative law judge last month, but the organizations formerly known as the Centrist Projects have maintained the allegations are frivolous. Snyder won the District 18 seat with 57.5 percent of the vote; Fosters tallied 6.9 percent. Republican Mary Elizabeth Fabian earned 35.6 percent of the vote. conrad.swanson@gazette.com @conrad_swanson Colorado Springs and the four parties suing the city have three months to either settle a lawsuit over federal stormwater permit violations or agree on how best to continue the 2-year-old case. U.S. District Court Judge Richard P. Matsch on Thursday ordered that the parties have until early March to find common ground. The plaintiffs the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Pueblo County and the Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District this week filed a request to temporarily halt the case. Matsch ruled last month that Colorado Springs violated federal stormwater regulations at three development sites, leaving the city liable for what some councilmen have said could be hundreds of millions of dollars in penalties. Additional claims against the city are still pending, but the plaintiffs asked for the three-month respite in the case to continue settlement negotiations, which are underway, the court filing says. The citys attorneys agreed. This will allow the parties to focus upon settlement discussions without the distraction of intensive discovery and litigation preparation for the second segment of trial, the attorneys said in a filing submitted this week. The first portion of the trial lasted nearly two weeks, and the case has, cost the city more than $3 million. City officials have said those costs and possible future civil penalties Matsch might levy against the city are counterproductive and detract from improvements in Colorado Springs stormwater program. Possible settlements have been discussed throughout the lawsuit, to no avail. Mayor John Suthers has repeatedly expressed his disappointment that the case went to trial, citing proactive work completed by the city for the monumental liability his administration inherited. But more work must be done. One of the three sites that Matsch ruled contained stormwater permit violations held a drainage basin. Several hundred similar drainage basins sit within Colorado Springs, the citys attorneys said in the filing. Plaintiffs apparently wish to litigate the remedies for each in a second trial; that will be a large and complex evidentiary task, the filing says. Rather, remedial actions should only be discussed for the three sites where Matsch has already ruled the city violated its stormwater permit, the filing argues. But the parties now have three months to come to an agreement and either present Matsch with the framework for a settlement or scheduling recommendations for the next leg of the trial. conrad.swanson@gazette.com @conrad_swanson Amsterdam, The Netherlands, November 8, 2018 - Kiadis Pharma N.V. ("Kiadis Pharma" or the "Company") (Euronext Amsterdam and Brussels: KDS), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, today announces that it has appointed three new senior team members to further strengthen the Company as it transitions into commercial stage. Mr. Dirk De Naeyer has been appointed Head of Supply Chain, Mr. Jonathan Sweeting has been appointed Head of Commercial Europe and Mr. Marcel Zwaal has been appointed Head of Corporate Development. Arthur Lahr, CEO of Kiadis Pharma, commented: "I am delighted to welcome Dirk De Naeyer, Jonathan Sweeting and Marcel Zwaal to Kiadis. Building a biotech company requires highly experienced people across all disciplines. With Dirk, Jonathan and Marcel joining our team we have succeeded in attracting yet more highly experienced international talents to develop and commercialize ATIR101 and build out Kiadis. These appointments confirm our ability to attract seasoned senior executives to deliver on our strategy." Mr. Dirk De Naeyer joins Kiadis Pharma as Head of Supply Chain from Janssen Pharmaceuticals where he spent 14 years in various leadership positions. Most recently, he was co-lead for the integration of Actelion into Janssen. Prior to that, he was the head of the Janssen Global Clinical Operations team and held multiple supply chain and operations leadership positions. This included heading up the Janssen Clinical Supply Chain, overseeing all active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) and Drug Product manufacturing, Packaging and Distribution for Janssen R&D, which covered Small Molecules, Biologics and Stem Cell therapies. Mr. De Naeyer joined Janssen after five years at McKinsey. He holds a degree in Engineering from the KU Leuven, Belgium, and an MBA from the University of Chicago. Mr. De Naeyer is a Belgian citizen. Mr. Jonathan Sweeting joins Kiadis Pharma as Head of Commercial Europe. Prior to this he spent over five years at GSK in various leadership positions, most recently as Senior Vice President and Head of the Global Respiratory Franchise and previously in roles as General Manager Poland and Global Commercialization Leader for Respiratory Biologics. Mr. Sweeting joined GSK from AstraZeneca where he spent over eight years in global and local roles in the UK and Russia. Prior to that he was at Accenture for five years. Mr. Sweeting holds an MA (Hons) degree in Chemistry from the University of Cambridge and an MBA from INSEAD. Mr. Sweeting is a British citizen. Mr. Marcel Zwaal joins Kiadis Pharma as Head of Corporate Development from his previous role as CEO of Hubrecht Organoid Technologies. Before that Marcel worked in Corporate Development at Galapagos, served as CEO of cell therapy biotech startup DCPrime and held several senior management positions at Crucell in finance and business development prior to its acquisition by Johnson & Johnson in 2011. Mr. Zwaal has over 20 years' experience in finance and business, 10 years of which has focused on medical innovation and biotechnology. He holds an Executive Master of Finance and Control degree and a Finance BA Master's degree from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Mr. Zwaal is a Dutch citizen. For more information, please contact: Kiadis Pharma: Karl Hard, Head of Investor Relations & Communications Tel. +31 611 096 298 k.hard@kiadis.com Optimum Strategic Communications: Mary Clark, Supriya Mathur, Hollie Vile Tel: +44 203 714 1789 David Brilleslijper (Amsterdam) Tel: +31 610 942 514 kiadis@optimumcomms.com About Kiadis Pharma Kiadis Pharma is developing its lead product candidate, ATIR101, for use in conjunction with haploidentical (genetically half-matched) hematopoietic stem-cell transplantations (HSCT) for adult blood cancers to address key limitations of haploidentical HSCT, without prophylactic immunosuppression and its associated morbidity and mortality. Based on the positive results from the single dose Phase 2 CR-AIR-007 study, the Company submitted a marketing authorization application to the European Medicines Agency in April 2017 for approval of ATIR101 as an adjunctive treatment in haploidentical HSCT for high risk adult hematological malignancies. If the product is conditionally approved, Kiadis Pharma intends to launch ATIR101 through its own commercial organization in a first EU member state in the second half of 2019. In December 2017, Kiadis Pharma commenced an international, multicenter, randomized and controlled Phase 3 clinical trial of ATIR101 against the Post-Transplant Cyclophosphamide, (PTCy) protocol, the main protocol used to perform a haploidentical HSCT. The trial will be performed in 250 patients with acute leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome at approximately 50 sites in the United States, Canada, Europe and certain additional countries. ATIR101 received regenerative medicine advanced therapy (RMAT) designation from the FDA in September 2017, which provides benefits that are materially equivalent to a Breakthrough Therapy designation from the FDA. In addition, ATIR101 has been granted multiple orphan drug designations both in the European Union and the United States. The Company's shares are listed on Euronext Amsterdam and Brussels under the ticker KDS. Forward Looking Statements Certain statements, beliefs and opinions in this press release are forward-looking, which reflect Kiadis Pharma's or, as appropriate, Kiadis Pharma's directors' current expectations and projections about future events. By their nature, 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. These risks, uncertainties and assumptions could adversely affect the outcome and financial effects of the plans and events described herein. A multitude of factors including, but not limited to, changes in demand, regulation, competition and technology, can cause actual events, performance or results to differ significantly from any anticipated development. Forward looking statements contained in this press release regarding past trends or activities should not be taken as a representation that such trends or activities will continue in the future. As a result, Kiadis Pharma expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release any update or revisions to any forward-looking statements in this press release as a result of any change in expectations or any change in events, conditions, assumptions or circumstances on which these forward-looking statements are based. Neither Kiadis Pharma nor its advisers or representatives nor any of its subsidiary undertakings or any such person's officers or employees guarantees that the assumptions underlying such forward-looking statements are free from errors nor does either accept any responsibility for the future accuracy of the forward-looking statements contained in this press release or the actual occurrence of the forecasted developments. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Nov. 15, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aequus Pharmaceuticals Inc. (TSX-V: AQS, OTCQB: AQSZF) (Aequus or the Company), a specialty pharmaceutical company with a focus on developing, advancing and promoting differentiated products, is pleased to announce the addition of Dr. Vikram Lekhi, a Comprehensive Ophthalmologist of Seema Eye Care, Ken Patterson, National Director of Business Development at Vision Group Canada, and an undisclosed regulatory consultant to the previously announced strategic advisory board in ophthalmology. We are pleased to have a full compliment of expertise on our advisory board that spans clinical, commercial, and regulatory, said Doug Janzen, CEO of Aequus. The board will be an invaluable resource moving forward as we continue to validate global products for use in the Canadian market and make strategic decisions on current and future internal development programs within Ophthalmology. Aequus has formed the Advisory Board to assist in assessing and rationalizing the many ophthalmology pipeline opportunities, both in therapeutics and medical devices, available to the Company. The advisory board will help Aequus in determining whether a product can improve patient outcomes, integrate into a clinicians workflow, and navigate the Canadian reimbursement and commercial landscape. Dr. Vikram Lekhi, Ken Patterson, and the undisclosed regulatory consultant will join the previously announced advisory board members, Dr. Rosa Braga-Mele and Dr. Ike Ahmed. ABOUT DR VIKRAM LEKHI Dr. Vikram Lekhi is a medical and surgical Comprehensive Ophthalmologist with a broad clinical practice, including but not limited to pediatric cases, lid lesions, meibomian gland disease, corneal dystrophies, degenerations and infections, glaucoma and retinal pathology. Dr. Lekhi regularly presents at conferences around the country and internationally. His work has appeared in various publications, such as Canadian Family Physician and BioSpectrum. Dr. Lekhi serves the rural population in Alberta through his own practice, High River Eye Surgeons. He also sees residents of Calgary as a part of the well-established Seema Eye Care Centre. Apart from his clinical and surgical duties, Dr. Lekhi is a clinical lecturer with the University of Calgarys department of surgery. ABOUT KEN PATTERSON, MBA Mr. Ken Patterson is the National Director of Business Development at Vision Group Canada. Vision Group Canada oversees and manages a network of over 40 of Canadas leading vision correction providers including LASIK MD, TLC, and the London Eye Centre. Prior to his position as National Director, Mr. Patterson dedicated over 15 years to the commercial space with Alcon, Bausch and Lomb, and Johnson and Johnson. He has built a reputation for developing business strategies and incubating new business models while remaining sensitive to supporting a positive patient experience. Ken holds an MBA and bachelors degree majoring in Economics. ABOUT AEQUUS PHARMACEUTICALS INC. Aequus Pharmaceuticals Inc. (TSX-V: AQS , OTCQB: AQSZF ) is a growing specialty pharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing high quality, differentiated products. Aequus has grown its pipeline to include several commercial products in ophthalmology and transplant, and a development stage pipeline in neurology and psychiatry with a goal of addressing the need for improved medication adherence through enhanced delivery systems. As a complement to its focus in neurology, our most recent addition to the development pipeline was a long-acting form of medical cannabis, where there is a high need for a consistent, predictable and pharmaceutical-grade delivery of products for patients. Aequus intends to commercialize its internal programs in Canada alongside its current portfolio of marketed established medicines and will look to form strategic partnerships that would maximize the reach of its product candidates worldwide. Aequus plans to build on its Canadian commercial platform through the launch of additional products that are either created internally or brought in through an acquisition or license; remaining focused on highly specialized therapeutic areas. For further information, please visit www.aequuspharma.ca . FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENT DISCLAIMER This release may contain forward-looking statements or forward-looking information under applicable Canadian securities legislation that may not be based on historical fact, including, without limitation, statements containing the words believe, may, plan, will, estimate, continue, anticipate, intend, expect, potential and similar expressions. Forward- looking statements are necessarily based on estimates and assumptions made by us in light of our experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as the factors we believe are appropriate. Forward-looking statements include but are not limited to statements relating to: rationalizing the companys pipeline opportunities; determining whether a product can improve patient outcomes, integrate into a clinicians workflow, and navigate the Canadian commercial landscape; our ability to assess the utility of products for Canadian patients and physicians; our ability to provide access to promising technologies not currently available to Canadian patients. Such statements reflect our current views with respect to future events and are subject to risks and uncertainties and are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by Aequus, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties and contingencies. Many factors could cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance, or achievements that may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. In making the forward looking statements included in this release, the Company has made various material assumptions, including, but not limited to: obtaining positive results of clinical trials; obtaining regulatory approvals; general business and economic conditions; the Companys ability to successfully outlicense or sell its current products and in-license and develop new products; the assumption that the Companys current good relationships with its manufacturer and other third parties will be maintained; the availability of financing on reasonable terms; the Companys ability to attract and retain skilled staff; market competition; the products and technology offered by the Companys competitors; and the Companys ability to protect patents and proprietary rights. In evaluating forward looking statements, current and prospective shareholders should specifically consider various factors set out herein and under the heading Risk Factors in the Companys Annual Information Form dated April 29, 2016, a copy of which is available on Aequus profile on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com, and as otherwise disclosed from time to time on Aequus SEDAR profile. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties, or a risk that is not currently known to us materialize, or should assumptions underlying those forward-looking statements prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this release and we do not intend, and do not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable securities laws. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are inherently uncertain. Accordingly, investors are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward looking statements. CONTACT INFORMATION Aequus Investor Relations Email: investors@aequuspharma.ca SANTA CLARA, Calif. and SHANGHAI, China, Dec. 06, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Greenliant will exhibit its broad portfolio of high-reliability solid state storage products at the China International Semiconductor Expo & Summit (IC China) in Shanghai, December 11-13, in hall W3, booth 022. Visitors will be able to discuss their data storage requirements with Greenliants technical experts and see the companys new industrial solid state drive (SSD) products, including SATA M.2 ArmourDrive, and NVMe solutions for datacenters. Designed for embedded applications operating in extreme environments, SATA M.2 ArmourDrive is a high-performance, industrial temperature (-40C to +85C) removable SSD. See SATA M.2 ArmourDrive product information at http://bit.ly/SATA-M2-SSD. For compact, space-constrained systems, Greenliant offers its portfolio of ball grid array (BGA) package NANDrive SSDs. Customers can choose from a wide range of capacities and industry-standard interfaces (eMMC, PATA, SATA). Greenliant will unveil a new line of ultra-high endurance NANDrive products to address the most demanding industrial applications. See NANDrive information at http://NANDrive.com. Greenliant will also display its large capacity NVMe enterprise storage solutions. Available in a standard 2.5 and PCIe add-in card form factor, these high-reliability, high-performance products operate between -40C and +85C, with endurance up to 30 drive writes per day (DWPD) for 5 years. Greenliants enterprise storage products are ideal for defense, aviation, automotive, industrial control, cloud computing and big data applications. According to IHS Markit, Chinas market will continue to contribute a large share of the world total industrial machinery output in the long term, https://technology.ihs.com/604985/global-industrial-automation-equipment-market-will-have-a-revenue-of-usd-2098-billion-in-2018. Visit Greenliant at booth 022, hall W3 at IC China ( http://www.ic-china.com.cn/ ) to learn how Greenliants products meet lifespan, endurance and reliability requirements for data storage in automotive, defense and aerospace, industrial, networking and communications, security and video applications. About Greenliant By leveraging more than 25 years of solid state storage design expertise, Greenliant is dedicated to developing durable, reliable and secure storage solutions for embedded systems and enterprise datacenters. The company is headquartered in Silicon Valley with product development centers in Santa Clara, Beijing, Shanghai, Xiamen and Hsinchu. https://www.greenliant.com Greenliant, the Greenliant logo, ArmourDrive and NANDrive are either registered or trademarks of Greenliant. All other trademarks are recognized as being held by their respective owners. SURREY, British Columbia, Dec. 07, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Heuro Canada Inc., a leading provider of innovative neurological health solutions, is championing a new therapeutic paradigm for individuals experiencing neurological symptoms in clinics across Canada. Heuro Canada is launching a new revolutionary, non-invasive treatment program at its newly opened Neurotherapy Montreal, Canadas first clinic to feature the highly anticipated PoNS neurotechnology from U.S.-based Helius Medical Technologies. They have plans to open their second location, the Surrey Neuroplasticity Clinic in Surrey, B.C., in January 2019 with others to follow in major urban areas across Canada. Helius Medical Technologies Health Canada-approved PoNS (Portable Neuromodulation Stimulator) neurotechnology can provide powerful therapy to clients experiencing persistent balance deficits, from past mild to moderate traumatic brain injuries, when combined with physical or cognitive therapy. The PoNS device is the first non-invasive means for delivering neurostimulation through the tongue, and is designed to amplify the brains powerful ability to heal itself. Rudi van den Broek, Managing Director of Heuro Canada, says the technology can help many Canadians manage balance disorder in a non-invasive way. The PoNS technology offers a transformative treatment experience for balance symptoms from previous mild to moderate traumatic brain injuries, he says. By combining physical or cognitive therapy with innovative neurotechnologies, successful treatment is possible and can help Canadians maximize their potential and overall wellness. Nicole Strachan, clinical lead for Heuro Canada, says the new comprehensive treatment plan, which spans 16 weeks, focuses on each clients personal rehabilitation. Each therapeutic plan is highly individualized to the needs of the client, she says, making it possible for Canadians to manage their neurological symptoms and improve their overall quality of life. The grand opening of Neurotherapy Montreal is Friday, December 7th at 5:30 p.m. Heuro Canada is continuing to deploy the Heuro Program in licensed clinics across Canada, as part of its broader goal to offer innovative treatment programming that helps Canadians restore their livelihood and overcome persistent deficiencies, such as gait and balance, from past brain injuries. ABOUT HEURO CANADA INC. Heuro Canada Inc. is a leading provider of innovative and transformative neurological health assessment and treatment technologies and solutions. With few viable therapeutic options currently available for managing and treating the neurological symptoms associated with traumatic brain injuries, Heuro is championing a new treatment paradigm that helps individuals experiencing persistent deficits, particularly with gait and balance, to restore their livelihood and overcome past moderate traumatic brain injuries. Heuro Canadas Neurotherapy Montreal clinic is the countrys first clinic to offer the Helius Medical Technology PoNS therapy, with a second location opening in 2019 the Surrey Neuroplasticity Clinic in Surrey, B.C. Website: https://heuro.ca LinkedIn: Heuro Canada Twitter: @HEUROCanada Instagram: @heurocanada ABOUT THE HEURO PoNS TREATMENT PROGRAM The Portable Neuromodulation Stimulator (PoNS) by U.S.-based Helius Medical Technologies is a Class II Medical Device cleared for commercial distribution in Canada and an investigational, non-invasive, medical device currently under review by the United States Food and Drug Administration for clearance to improve balance in patients following a mild-to-moderate traumatic brain injury (mTBI) when combined with targeted physical therapy. PoNS Treatment is the first and only tongue-delivered neuromodulation treatment being developed to combine stimulation of cranial nerves with physical and cognitive therapy to restore lost neurological function. For media inquiries, please contact: Holly Featherstone holly@durrellcomm.com $250,000 in Units for Exploration & Working Capital $600,000 in Flow Through for BC & Yukon Exploration VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Dec. 07, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Alianza Minerals Ltd. (TSXV:ANZ) (Alianza or the Company) is pleased to report that it has arranged a financing of $850,000 to further advance its projects in BC, Yukon, Nevada and Peru. This financing is the last piece required to carry out our next phase of work at the Haldane silver project in the Keno District, Yukon. We recently received our permit and this will provide the funds for additional trenching and our first drill test of this high-grade silver target, stated Jason Weber, P.Geo., President and CEO of Alianza. This leads into a very active 2019 with programs planned on several projects. Financing Terms Non-Flow Through Shares Each non-flow through unit is comprised of one common share and one common share purchase warrant at $0.05. The warrant is valid for two years from the date of closing of the offering and is exercisable at $0.10 to acquire one common share. Financing Terms Flow Through Shares The flow through shares will be eligible for a tax deduction for Canadian income tax payers for the 2018 year. These shares will be issued at $0.06 per share and the proceeds will be spent on qualifying exploration expenditures in British Columbia and Yukon Territory. Finders fees of 7.5% in cash and 7.5% in finders warrants will be paid to eligible parties. Members of Alianzas board of directors and management team will be participating in this offering. Use of Proceeds Alianza will use proceeds of this financing to advance its Haldane silver project in the Keno District, Yukon. The 2018 field program identified a new silver vein target at the Bighorn Anomaly, 2.5 km from known mineralization at the MHVS targets where work extended the potential strike length to over 3.5 km. Trenching and/or drilling are planned for these targets. A portion of the funds will also be used to advance earlier-stage projects to the drill-ready stage, to find partners for existing projects and to identify new exploration projects in key jurisdictions. Field programs are planned for the newly-acquired high-grade KRL gold property in the Golden Triangle, BC and are being considered for the Bellview, BP (Nevada) and Tim (Yukon) properties to identify and prioritize drill targets. 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. Jason Weber, P.Geo., President and CEO of Alianza Minerals Ltd. is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Weber 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. Re: Calling all Admitted Students - Tuck (Dartmouth) Class of 2021 [ #permalink sjhruby89 wrote: Did anyone have scholarship info communicated on their phone call with admissions? Posted from my mobile device sjhruby89 From what I see in the Tuck decisions chat, nobody was communicated with scholarship info. So, I guess that comes later._________________ Bunuel wrote: Constructed with the finest Italian marble, the floor of the church is its greatest attraction and is more attractive to tourists than are its ornate stained-glass windows . (A) attraction and is more attractive to tourists than are its ornate stained-glass windows (B) attraction, itself more attractive to tourists than are its ornate stained-glass windows (C) attraction, itself more attractive to tourists as are its ornate stained-glass windows (D) attraction, being more attractive to tourists than its ornate stained-glass windows are (E) attraction as it more is attractive to tourists than are the church's stained- glass windows IMO it must be B.See there are two main attractions in Church:1)its floor2)its windowsbut floor is more attractive to tourists than windows are.(A) attraction and is more attractive to tourists than are its ornate stained-glass windowsA is proper in meaning but its not proper construction.See we say :Burj Khalifa is tallest building in the world,taller than any other building.if our intention is to focus on tallness of Burj khalifa we use above sentence.We wont sayBurj Khalifa is tallest building in the world and it is taller than any other building."and " makes these two unrelated clauses having no relation.Its like citing two features of building without emphasizing any of the features.(B) attraction, itself more attractive to tourists than are its ornate stained-glass windowshere itself refers to floor ,cant refer to church as church cannot be more attractive than windows.we are comparing two characteristics/two features of church.Itself here emphasizes that floor is itself more attractive than windows are.(C) attraction, itself more attractive to tourists as are its ornate stained-glass windowsCorrect idiom is More ..Than not More ...asAlso wrong meaning.it means both floor and windows are equally attractive.(D) attraction, being more attractive to tourists than its ornate stained-glass windows arebeing here is modifying floor (contextually) but being can never be a modifier.So wrong.(E) attraction as it more is attractive to tourists than are the church's stained- glass windowswrong meaningIt is like sayingfloor is greatest attraction because it more is attractive to tourists than are the church's stained- glass windows.We are not giving reason for church having greatest attraction ,we are concerned with emphasizing that church's floor has greatest attraction.Pizza is the most consumed food because it is eaten more than burger.Does not make sense.So B is the answer. By Moses Kyeyune. Parliament has directed the Ministry of Health explain the recent decision by the Board of Uganda Cancer Institute Shs 300,000 from patients seeking radiotherapy treatment. The directive by the speaker Rebecca Kadaga followed a complaint raised by Kapelebyong County MP Julius Ochen who questioned the motive behind the new charges. According to the 30th October 2018 memo issued by the Institute patients on private arrangement would part with Shs 500,000 while international patients will be charged USD 2,000 approximately Shs 7,467,833 M 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 By Moses Kyeyune. Members of parliament have expressed concern over fears that the recently commissioned women hospital in Mulago is operating amidst severe financial inadequacies. The Highly Specialised hospital was commissioned early this year with great hope that Ugandans especially women, will be saved from losing their lives to curable diseases. However, during the House sitting this afternoon, Kasilo County MP Elijah Okupa has shocked members, that many doctors and other medical workers at the facility are scared by the working environment without basic tools. The Speaker, Rebecca Kadaga has asked the finance minister and that of health to explain the developments at the facility, next week. Internet access will be a human right in Yucatan The Yucatan Times Such executions are categorically banned by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Iran is a signatory to both of these documents, but the judiciary and the Iranian regime as a whole have routinely rejected key provisions, including the ban on juvenile executions, while insisting that international human rights standards are often examples of cultural imperialism. Despite such talking points, the regime has occasionally showed sensitivity to widespread international condemnation of juvenile executions and other clear instances of prisoner abuse. However, these sorts of death sentences are rarely overturned, even when they are delayed and placed under review. The judiciary has a long history of affirming the supposed intellectual and emotional maturity of people who allegedly committed capital offenses when they were young teenagers. Iranian law sets the age of legal majority at 13 for boys and only 9 for girls. International outcry over death sentences for juvenile offenders was credited with bringing about case reviews as recently as last year. But at the beginning of 2018, human rights organizations warned that the pace of implementation for such sentences was actually accelerating, with three taking place in the month of January alone. That pace did not continue, however, and only two other juvenile offenders were known to have been put to death prior to last month, although executions are often not officially recorded by the regime, leaving domestic human rights activists to reveal more complete numbers over time. Indeed, the report issued by Iran Human Rights on Monday indicated that the most recently reported juvenile execution actually took place on November 14. The identity of this individual, Omid Rostami, initially went unnoticed in part because he was only one of 10 prisoners to be executed on that same day in Rajai Shahr Prison. Now that new details have been revealed, it has been reported that this was Rostamis fifth trip to the gallows for a murder that he allegedly committed only two days after his 16th birthday. Many death row prisoners in Iran have reported being taken to solitary confinement in preparation for their executions, only to then be returned to their cells, adding an element of uncertainty and psychological torture to their ordeal. Iran Human Rights explained one contributing factor in this phenomenon, noting that the family of Rostamis victim had repeatedly requested more time to reconsider whether to grant him reprieve, as is their right under the principle of Islamic jurisprudence known as qisas. This feature of the Iranian criminal justice system also allows a victims family to set an amount of blood money, or diyeh, to be paid in order to spare the convict from execution. In the case of another juvenile offender, Milad Azimi, this figure was set as the equivalent of 50,000 dollars. Iran Human Rights reported on Tuesday that his family is unlikely to be able to raise this amount of money, making poverty an imminent determining factor in the young mans death, while indecision was a determining factor in Rostamis. According to Rostamis mother, On September 4, 2018, the prosecutor told the plaintiffs that they have the maximum of one month time to take their final decision to forgive Omid or carry out his execution. Otherwise, Omid should be released on bail. Facing this pressure, the family finally visited the prison to see the sentence carried out on November 14. The prosecutors instructions to the family arguably help to paint the picture of a judiciary that is committed to maintaining its world-leading rate of executions along with the practice of juvenile executions. And this picture is further clarified by the judiciarys failure to take steps that might have allowed a legal alternative to Rostamis execution. Under an amendment to Irans Islamic Penal Code put into effect in 2013, a judge may vacate the death sentence for a young offender who was unable to fully understand the consequences of his or her actions. Not only was this option refused in the given case, but the judge denied the Rostami familys request for a forensic examination to determine Omids level of psychological development. The same issue hangs over another juvenile death sentence, which may be the next to be implemented now that it has been upheld by the Iranian Supreme Court. On Sunday, Iran Human Rights reported upon the case of Seyed Danial Zeinol-Abedini, who allegedly committed murder at the age of 17 in September of last year. Given that his case was so recent, it was fully subject to the New Islamic Penal Code, and yet his lawyer complains that the defendant was never sent to forensics as is required for the court to make a determination of his maturity. There is little chance of the attorneys argument holding sway over the judiciary now that the death sentence has been upheld by the highest court. But in the case of Omid Rostami, no lawyer was even present to argue his case prior to the death sentence being carried out. This, of course, casts serious doubt upon the fairness of his case even under the outmoded and non-amended principles of the Islamic Penal Code. And it is indicative of a problem that has serious bearing on other capital cases besides those involving juvenile offenders. Iran Human Rights Monitor called attention to two such cases last week. In the first place, it reported that the judiciary had issued and carried out a sentence of hanging while ignoring clear signs of the defendants mental illness. The individual in question, barely more than 18 years old himself, had been hospitalized only days before committing the murder for which he was very promptly executed. IHRM adds: The execution of this convict and all other judiciary processes were carried out in less than 10 months, raising concern over lack of sufficient due process. In another recent case, the hanging was carried out for a convicted murderer who claimed diminished responsibility because his victim was an Islamic cleric who had subjected him to sexual abuse over several years, beginning when he was 14 years old. According to Iran Human Rights, far from being regarded as a mitigating factor in the case, the victims identity only accelerated the conviction and further erased the appearance of due process. The mans father was quoted as saying, We did not have a chance to prove [the abuse] in the court, because the victim was a clergyman and he had an influential family. Everything was for them and the court did not listen to us Finally, the judge issued the death sentence in three or four months and then the Supreme Court upheld the verdict. According to IranWire, the protest specifically highlighted a longstanding strike organized by steel workers in Khuzestan Province who have gone unpaid for upwards of a month. The explicit solidarity of student activists with labor rights activists is indicative of a larger movement that has been lauded by Iranian opposition groups. In December of last year, economic grievances gave rise to a mass public protest in the city of Mashhad, which in turn sparked protests in over 100 cities and towns. The nationwide uprising featured virtually unprecedented anti-government slogans such as death to the dictator and was organized in large part by the Peoples Mojahedin Organization of Iran. Regime officials personally acknowledged this while the uprising was still in full-swing in January, and many went on to emphasize the governments need to confront the expanding activities of the most prominent pro-democratic Resistance organization. These calls-to-action have helped to spur more repression by Iranian security forces, as well as terrorist plots on foreign soil, including the foiled bombing of a rally organized on June 30 near Paris by the PMOIs parent coalition the National Council of Resistance of Iran. The PMOI and the NCRI have been quick to respond to these incidents by dismissing them as ineffective a narrative that is arguably supported by the ongoing outbreak of solidarity protests like the one at Amir Kabir. IranWire reported on Wednesday that that demonstration had ended in violence following an attack by the Basij civilian paramilitary, which operates as a subdivision of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. A number of students were reportedly injured during that clash, but they are far from the first protesters to suffer this fate in recent months. In light of many similar examples of repressive activities by the Basij, the IRGC, and the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence, it is certain that the protesters were aware of the danger and proceeded with the demonstration anyway. By the same token, there is little reason to believe that the latest clash will discourage more solidarity demonstrations or anti-government protests. These conclusions are further supported by the fact that protests like that at Amir Kabir have broken out even as participants in pre-existing demonstrations faced arrest, aggressive prosecution, and even torture. The Khuzestan steelworkers strike has closely coincided with an equally high-profile strike at the Haft Tappeh sugarcane factory in the city of Shush. And on Monday, the same day as the students solidarity demonstration, the Center for Human Rights in Iran reported that one of the labor activists involved in that protest had been severely tortured following his detention on November 20. An Iranian labor news outlet reported that Esmail Bakshis face has been swollen and bruised from receiving several blows to the head. He is also in a dangerous condition suffering from bleeding in the stomach, for which he has been transferred to a hospital in Ahvaz. There is no [official] information about his condition. Lest there be any doubt that mere support for, or affiliation with ongoing protests is also considered grounds for repression by Iranian authorities, CHRI also reported that Peyman Nejati and Majid Roayaei, respectively the son and a family friend of another Shush labor organizer, Ali Nejati, had been targeted for arrest alongside the activist himself. Ali Nejati was reportedly beaten at the time of his arrest, conducted at his home in absence of a warrant, and experienced a deterioration in his health as a result of the stress and a pre-existing heart condition. There has been a steady stream of very similar-sounding stories in the months since the nationwide uprising was violently suppressed. Indeed, the direct crackdown on protests coincided with mass arrests of known political activists and critics of the Iranian regime, many of whom were also arrested at home and subjected to abuse after their detention. But when this proved ineffective at preventing subsequent protests bearing many of the same slogans as the initial uprising, the crackdown took on an even broader scope, targeting people who sought to defend the purveyors of ongoing activism. Among these targets are lawyers who have sought to defend arrested activists in court. On Monday, another CHRI report identified Amirsalar Davoudi as the eighth known human rights activist to be jailed by Iranian authorities in just the past six months. His initial detention took place on the same day as that of Esmail Bakhshi, and no information has subsequently been released about Davoudis case, his location, or his condition. Judging by previous cases involving defense attorneys, experts indicate that Davoudi is likely undergoing broad-ranging interrogation in the interest of building a national security case that could result in a sentence of 10 years or more. Yet even in these individual cases, the response from the arrestees and their supporters has been indicative of the escalating conflict between repressive authorities and a defiant populous. In just one example of activism continuing from behind bars, Nasrim Sotoudeh, perhaps the most recognizable human rights attorney currently imprisoned in Iran, initiated a hunger strike on November 26. Notably, the protests is not intended to bring more attention to her own case but to show solidarity with Farhad Meysami, a fellow political prisoner who has been barred from receiving medical treatment despite his deteriorating health. This is a common tactic of extrajudicial punishment for prisoners in Iranian facilities, especially political prisoners. But hunger strikes are also a common form of protest in those same jails, and they have proven at times to be somewhat successful. In late 2016 and early 2017, a wave of hunger strikes, some lasting in excess of two months, prompted Irans judiciary to initiate reviews of certain cases, following public protests and widespread condemnation of Iranian authorities by both the domestic population and the international community. Under present conditions, activists inside the Islamic Republic and throughout the world may prove to be even more sensitive to hunger strikes and their causes. Domestically, there is already a strong, ongoing trend of solidarity protests. And within the international community there is a growing push for collective action in support of a strategy that has been outlined by the White House as aiming for a comprehensive change in the Iranian regimes behavior regarding military development, support of terrorism, and human rights abuses against the Iranian people themselves. Irans cyber warfare programme fact file Established in 2012 Run by the Supreme Council of Cyberspace, which answers to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei An indispensable pillar of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and Irans foreign policies Fourth-largest cyber power in the world, according to IRGC, and a major player according to some think tanks What is Irans cyber warfare programme used for? It is used solely to carry out cyber espionage and launch cyber attacks in an attempt to damage the financial, security and political infrastructures of other countries. Just last week, two Iranians were indicted in the US for a series of cyber attacks, targeting hospitals, schools, state agencies and other institutions, that held data hostage for ransom payments. Brian Benczkowski, the head of the criminal division of the Justice Department, said that those individuals deliberately engaged in an extreme form of 21st-century digital blackmail, attacking and extorting vulnerable victims like hospitals and schools victims they knew would be willing and able to pay. And this is far from the first time that the Iranian regime has been accused of something like this. In 2013, US banking systems were attacked on an unprecedented level, which US officials said pointed to the Iranian government, while the US Justice Department recently indicted seven Iranians for attacks on 46 companies mainly in the banking and financial sector. Furthermore, US intelligence believes that Iran was behind the 2012 Shamoon attack on Saudi Arabias Aramco oil corporation. Why is Iran doing this? Iran likes to avoid direct confrontation, as they know they are no match to the US military might, so they use proxy groups and cyber warfare, which are much harder to track and in some cases much more devastating. Sadly, Irans cyber warfare programme is advancing too quickly for it to be ignored any longer and the international community must act now. Dr Majid Rafizadeh wrote: The regime has shown that it will not hesitate to attack rival countries through cyber platforms and inflict significant damage on ordinary people, as well as governmental, private and public institutions. It is incumbent on the international community to act swiftly and hold the Iranian regime accountable for its cyber attacks against other governments and their citizens. - After four years, the Sandiganbayan finally had their decision regarding the case of Bong Revilla - The court found Revilla not guilty of his plunder charge - However, he has to give back P124 million to the Philippine treasury PAY ATTENTION: Click "See First" under the "Following" tab to see KAMI news on your News Feed The Sandiganbayan acquitted former Senator Ramon Bong Revilla Jr. of his plunder case in relation with the alleged pork barrel scam. KAMI learned that Sandigans special first division found Revilla not guilty of kickbacking P224.5 million worth of Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or pork barrel as reported by GMA News. KAMI brings this news to the readers to enlighten about the four-year-long plunder case regarding the pork barrel scam which included three former Philippine senators such as Revilla, Jinggoy Estrada and Juan Ponce Enrile. Revilla also thanked those who supported and prayed for him. In a report by Rappler, the anti-graft court ordered Revilla to give back P124 million to the Philippine treasury. However, Revilla still has a separate PDAF graft cases as reported by ABS-CBN News. 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! However, as reported by Inquirer, pork barrel queen Janet Lim-Napoles and lawyer Richard Cambe were found "guilty" by the court. Revilla was detained for four years in Camp Crame. However, Enrile and Estrada were first released before him. Revilla is known as an actor before he ventured into politics. As previously reported by KAMI, Revilla filed his certificate of candidacy (COC) as a Senatorial candidate for mid-term polls in 2019. His wife, Lani Mercado along with their sons filed the COC at the Comelec office on behalf of Revilla. Enjoyed reading our story? Download KAMI's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major Filipino news! Filipinos Street Quiz: Philippines tricky questions - can you answer these tricky questions? Today we are going to ask the Philippines strangers some very funny Tagalog tricky questions! These individuals from the Philippines have their answers on KAMI HumanMeter YouTube channel! Source: Kami.com.ph - A billboard of Bong Go wishing Maligayang Pasko to the residents of Silay City was posted in the plaza - However, the government of Silay took down the billboard - They said it was a violation to the City Ordinance No. 2 Series of 1997 PAY ATTENTION: Click "See First" under the "Following" tab to see KAMI news on your News Feed The local government unit of Silay City in Negros Occidental removed the billboard of former Special Assistant to the President (SAP) and Senate candidate Christopher Bong Go, wishing Maligayang Pasko to the residents. KAMI learned that the billboard was placed in the plaza of Silay. KAMI brings this news to the readers to impart knowledge regarding the City Ordinance No. 02, Series of 1997 in Silay. According to a lengthy Facebook post of Silay Citys Mayor Mark Golez, they removed the tarpaulin to comply with City Ordinance No. 02, Series of 1997. This act regulates the posting of advertisements through signboards, billboards, posters, etc. in the city. There must be a filed application form to the Office of the City Engineer and permit fees before posting any kind of advertisement. Golez added that there was no application filed for the billboard and they did not mean any offense to anyone nor Bong Go. It was never the intention of the City Government to offend anyone, most especially, SAP Bong Go, but merely to apply the rule of law fairly and squarely to all, the Mayor said in the post. 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! The netizens also agreed to the act made by the local government unit. Here are some of their comments on the Facebook post of Mayor Golez: no one is above d law No need to apologize mayor you did the right thing. Great job! Tama lang, besides hnd nmn si bong go ngkabit nyan. Idaan nlng sa tamang process As previously reported by KAMI, Go was seeking a seat in the Senate and was accompanied by President Rodrigo Duterte when he filed his certificate of candidacy (COC) at the Comelec office. Enjoyed reading our story? Download KAMI's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major Filipino news! Filipinos Street Quiz: Philippines tricky questions - can you answer these tricky questions? Today we are going to ask the Philippines strangers some very funny Tagalog tricky questions! These individuals from the Philippines have their answers on KAMI HumanMeter YouTube channel! Source: Kami.com.ph - Senator Antonio Trillanes faces another warrant of arrest - This time, it was issued by Davao court with regard to his libel case - The case was filed by Presidential son Paolo Duterte PAY ATTENTION: Click "See First" under the "Following" tab to see KAMI news on your News Feed A court in Davao issued an arrest warrant against opposition Senator Antonio Trillanes IV with regard to the libel case filed by Presidential son and former Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte and his brother-in-law Atty. Mans Carpio. KAMI wants to bring this news to the readers to impart knowledge regarding the cases Senator Trillanes has been facing during the current administration. As reported by PTV4, the libel case is bailable for P24,000. It was Judge Melinda Alconcel-Dayanghirang that issued the warrant of arrest for Trillanes. In a report by ABS-CBN News, the arrest warrant came after Trillanes posted a P200,000 travel bond since the Makati court allowed him to travel abroad which the Department of Justice contested. As previously reported by KAMI, Duterte and Carpio filed libel against Trillanes because the senator accused the two of extortion with ride-hailing firm Uber. However, Duterte and Carpio denied this accusation. Trillanes faced several cases during the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte after the chief executive revoked the amnesty of the senator. The cases were in relation with Oakwood mutiny in 2003 and the Manila Peninsula siege in 2007. POPULAR: Read more news about Senator Antonio Trillanes! Enjoyed reading our story? Download KAMI's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major Filipino news! Filipinos Street Quiz: Philippines tricky questions - can you answer these tricky questions? Today we are going to ask the Philippines strangers some very funny Tagalog tricky questions! These individuals from the Philippines have their answers on KAMI HumanMeter YouTube channel! Source: Kami.com.ph - Janet Lim-Napoles was sentenced to reclusion perpetua or 40 years of imprisonment - Along with her was lawyer Richard Cambe who will be transferred to New Bilibid Prison - However, Senator Bong Revilla who was involved in the case was found not guilty by the court PAY ATTENTION: Click "See First" under the "Following" tab to see KAMI news on your News Feed The Sandiganbayans anti-graft court sentenced reclusion perpetua to the businesswoman behind the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) scam or pork barrel scam, Janet Lim-Napoles. KAMI learned that lawyer Richard Cambe was also sentenced to reclusion perpetua or 40 years imprisonment as reported by Philippine Star. KAMI brings this news to the readers to share knowledge about the case of alleged misuse of PDAF by Napoles and other government officials like former Senators Bong Revilla, Jinggoy Estrada and Juan Ponce Enrile. 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! According to the report of Yahoo Philippines, was found guilty by the court for the misuse of PDAF. Napoles will be detained in the Correctional Institution for Women. On the other hand, Cambe will be transferred to New Bilibid Prison. Napoles and Cambe were also ordered by the court to give back P124 million to the Philippine treasury. As previously reported by KAMI, former Senator Bong Revilla who was involved in the plunder case was acquitted by the Sandiganbayan. He was found not guilty by the court. Revilla was released from detention after four years. Enjoyed reading our story? Download KAMI's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major Filipino news! Filipinos Street Quiz: Philippines tricky questions - can you answer these tricky questions? Today we are going to ask the Philippines strangers some very funny Tagalog tricky questions! These individuals from the Philippines have their answers on KAMI HumanMeter YouTube channel! Source: Kami.com.ph - Two websites were claiming that former Pres. Noynoy Aquino and other officials transferred the gold bars of the Marcoses to a company in Thailand - They also said the Aquino was facing a plunder and graft charges - However, the details about these claims were verified PAY ATTENTION: Click "See First" under the "Following" tab to see KAMI news on your News Feed There were two websites which claimed that the Aquino family took the gold bars of Marcos family as well as the jewelries of former first lady Imelda Marcos. KAMI learned that the websites said that former President Benigno Noynoy Aquino III, Mar Roxas, Senators Leila de Lima, and Franklin Drilon were facing plunder and graft charges for allegedly depositing the gold bars of the Marcoses to a company in Thailand. According to sites headline, Ito na! Isiniwalat sa Publiko ang Gold Bars ng mga Marcos na deniposito nina Ex-Pnoy, De Lima, Mar at Drilon sa bansang Thailand. Screenshot from News Center PH site Source: Facebook In their report was a video of a certain director general named Galma Arcilla who is part of a group calling itself as the Transnational-Anti Organized Crime Intelligence Group (TAOC-IG). Arcilla said that they have the authentic documents that can support their claim regarding the $141 billion worth of gold shipped going to Thailand. A certain lawyer named Fernando Perito and CPA Rogelio Cantoria filed complaint to the said officials. They said that the based the complaint on Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Circular No. 49 that was issued in December 2014. Another website claimed that former President Corazon Aquino created the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) to allegedly transfer the wealth of the Marcoses to her own family. 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! However, the aforementioned claims were debunked by Rappler and Manila Bulletin. According to the report of Rappler, they have received an email from the PCGG saying that there were no gold bars retrieved from the Marcoses. There were no gold bars recovered from the Marcos loot nor annexed in cases filed, it stated. In a report by Manila Bulletin, the BSP did not issue any Circular No. 49 in December 2014. The BSP also said they, "never issued such types of document because it does not accept gold bullion deposits for safekeeping. According to a report by GMA News, the claims came from a fake news site as stated by Aquinos spokesperson Abigail Valte. How does one answer a complaint so patently absurd on its face? It defies logic, which is not surprising since it came from a fake news site, Valte said. The blatant disregard for simple facts is telling of the provenance of the allegations. Sana ay hindi na piliting pasagutin pa ang dating pangulo, dahil napaalala sa amin ang kasabihang ito sa Tagalog: ang pumatol sa baliw, mas baliw, she added. President Noynoy Aquino was the country's chief executive back in 2010 to 2016. He is the son of former President Corazon Aquino who served as an opposition to then President Ferdinand Marcos. Enjoyed reading our story? Download KAMI's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major Filipino news! Filipinos Street Quiz: Philippines tricky questions - can you answer these tricky questions? Today we are going to ask the Philippines strangers some very funny Tagalog tricky questions! These individuals from the Philippines have their answers on KAMI HumanMeter YouTube channel! Source: Kami.com.ph Freely accessible local news is vital. Please power our reporters and help keep us independent with a donation today. Start your day with LAist Sign up for the Morning Brief, delivered weekdays. Subscribe The National Park Service says 88 percent of its land in the Santa Monica Mountain National Recreation Area was burned in the Woolsey Fire. It's by far the largest fire in the history of the popular park. NPS spokeswoman Kate Kuykendall previously described the area as a "moonscape" and photos from the burn zone give breathtaking scope to the devastation. But while the fire was massive, the overall intensity was not particularly severe, according to John Tiszler, a plant ecologist for the Park Service who is coordinating recovery efforts at the park. "In the way that the shrubland burned, it wasn't atypical," he told us. He described the burning as "low to medium intensity." That's not to say the park didn't suffer significant losses. Tiszler, who has worked in the park for 22 years, said the blaze fire destroyed many trees, especially oaks in woodland areas, leaving only "skeletons." For many trees, hollowed over the years after surviving continuous fires, this was the last straw. They "just must have went up like a candle," he said. "It's just all gone." THE PATH TO RESTORATION Park Service plant ecologist John Tiszler documents new plants sprouting in the Santa Monica Mountains after the Woolsey Fire. (Courtesy National Park Service) The initial response from the Park Service is sort of like "triage," Tiszler said. One of the more immediate, critical tasks for rangers and scientists will be the "early detection and suppression of invasive plants," he said. Wildfires create opportunities for invasive species to "muscle out" native plants, Tiszler explained, which can have a lasting impact on the landscape and biodiversity in the mountains (more on that later). Park Service scientists are already seeing some of them sprouting from the scorched dirt. NPS will also be replanting trees, but that work wouldn't get going for several more months as researchers assess the area after the rainy season. "By late spring we should starts to get a sense of what's coming back and what isn't," Tiszler said. A lot of work will go into keeping the park's many trails stable and safe so they can reopen to the public -- and stay open. All that effort take time, he noted. "It's a long-term commitment. It's not something that we can turn around in a year." (Courtesy National Park Service) WHAT WILL IT TAKE FOR THE REGION TO BOUNCE BACK? That's a hard question with no quantifiable answer, but in a general sense there are two things the land needs: time and the right amount of rain. We've been getting a fair amount of the latter these past couple weeks, but that can be a "double-edged sword," Kuykendall said. Too much rain too close together could cause mud and debris flows, washing out seeds and new sprouts. But if we don't get enough, germinating seeds might not make it. "If we kind of get the rains we've been seeing ... that could be very beneficial in terms of encouraging regrowth," Tiszler said, adding that one silver lining is the possible blooming of post-fire wildflowers, which "could be quite spectacular." He was quick to point out that the effort humans can put into recovery "is miniscule" compared to what nature will have to do. And a major factor in how the environment will respond is the condition of the land before a fire. Recent years of dry conditions aren't encouraging, but Tiszler said there's no simple way to predict how well the Santa Monica Mountains will recover. "Nature is really complex and we look for models to simplify it, but ultimate there can always be surprises," he said. WHO PAYS FOR RESTORATION AND HOW WILL THE MONEY BE SPENT? The initial money for recovery efforts comes out of the Burned Area Emergency Response, or BAER plan, which kicks in as soon as 14 days after the start of a fire. That money comes from the U.S. Department of the Interior's emergency funds for fire suppression. Tiszler said the key question officials will be asking is "what do we need to do to make our park land safe again?" Based on that goal, one of the top priorities is emergency trail and soil stabilization to prevent possible flooding, erosion and landslides. Tiszler said there will also be increased storm patrols to look for rock falls and other hazards throughout the park. Money will also be used to replace equipment and infrastructure lost to the fire, including remote cameras used to study wildlife and protective fencing. More than a mile of split rail fencing was destroyed in the fire, according to Tiszler. The Woolsey Fire burned 88 percent of land in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, according to the National Park Service. (Courtesy National Park Service) Another potential problem is that the the park has become more accessible, so funds might also pay for extra law enforcement staffing to patrol the park. BAER funds are designed to last a year and are then followed by up to four years of funds through the BAR program, or Burned Area Rehabilitation. That program aids efforts to grow new trees and plants and repair or replace NPS facilities. BAR funds are determined by the executive branch and are competitive, Tiszler said. That means local park officials will have to make a case for getting them at a time when other national parks have also suffered devastating fires and seeking aid. The Department of the Interior, which oversees the Park Service, typically gets about $20 million to disperse among its land management bureaus, according to Tiszler. So, the NPS' continuing role in helping the park recover will be determined by how much the DOI requests and receives from Congress, how much of that the DOI gives NPS and how much of that NPS gives to our local park. Tiszler said another source of funding could come through a special appropriations request to Congress, which would help the park repair and replace structures lost in the fire, which other funding won't cover. The park "lost a significant number of buildings," Tiszler said, including a research facility, ranger housing and restrooms. A collections building that housed much of the park's significant archives also burned. Workers were able to save some items, but most of the paper materials, including historical photos, charts and maps, were destroyed. "We lost a lot of the park history there," Tiszler said. LESSONS LEARNED FROM PAST FIRES Tiszler has witnessed four major fires in the Santa Monica Mountains during his time with the park, most recently the Springs Fire, which burned roughly 12 percent of park land in May 2013. "The Springs Fire was a bit of a disaster in terms of vegetation," he said, describing a "huge diminishment of habitat value" in the years after the blaze. Native shrublands were lost and replaced by annual grasses, which changes the "structural complexity" of the region, Tiszler explained. Wildlife like lizards and snakes that lived among certain plants can't always adapt to the new landscape, and that reduces biodiversity in the mountain range. "Overly frequent fires can cause that type of conversion," he said. "It's worrisome that if we stay in the drought pattern... it could have a huge impact on the recovery of the native plants." There's no simple solution for recovery in the Santa Monica Mountains, but two things it will definitely need are time and the right amount of rain. (Courtesy National Park Service) CAN'T THE PARK SERVICE JUST THROW OUT A BUNCH OF SEED BOMBS? After the Woolsey Fire tore through park land, some local nature lovers wondered on Facebook if NPS officials planned to use seed bombs before a storm system came through the area. Some even urged locals near the burn zone to hike out and disperse some on their own. But Park Service scientists say that while it's great people want to help, seed bombs aren't the way to do it. First off, many don't include native plants, which means potentially invasive species could sprout. And even if they are labeled as being native, that doesn't necessarily mean they grow in the park, Tiszler said. Second, "seed bombs won't make a big impact," he said, given the vast amount of burned land. "You're not going to find enough seeds to put out there." Tiszler added that native chaparral and coastal sage scrub should have a "sufficient seed bank to provide for strong regrowth." SO, WHAT CAN WE DO TO HELP? First, "don't throw seed bombs," Tiszler repeated. Right now, there's not much the public can do, but the Park Service is putting out the call for future volunteers to help plant new trees, maintain local plant life and control invasive species. You can fill out this online form and NPS officials will start reaching out in early 2019. To help local wildlife affected by the fire, NPS officials recommend donating to nonprofit rescue organizations that rehabilitate injured animals. UPDATES: Friday, Dec. 7, 12:25 p.m.: This article was updated to clarify how the park will receive BAR funds and with information about the NPS structures lost in the fire. This article was originally published at 3:51 p.m. Thursday. Hey, thanks. You read the entire story. And we love you for that. Here at LAist, our goal is to cover the stories that matter to you, not advertisers. We don't have paywalls, but we do have payments (aka bills). So if you love independent, local journalism, join us. Let's make the world a better place, together. Donate now. Freely accessible local news is vital. Please power our reporters and help keep us independent with a donation today. Start your day with LAist Sign up for the Morning Brief, delivered weekdays. Subscribe THIS STORY IS PART OF HOW TO L.A., OUR ONGOING SERIES OF PRACTICAL GUIDES FOR DAY-TO-DAY LIVING IN LOS ANGELES. On any given night, there are 52,765 people who fall asleep homeless in Los Angeles County either unsheltered on the street, or in a dedicated homeless shelter. But big numbers do very little to convey who the homeless individuals are. Each case of homelessness is unique to the person experiencing it, something largely lost when trying to talk about a social issue with the complexity, scale, and severity of homelessness in Southern California. What follows is a demographic breakdown using data collected by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) in its 2018 homeless count, or from third party analysis of previous homeless count data by research nonprofit Economic Roundtable. Some information here is also sourced from LAHSA's more detailed demographic survey, used by professional demographers to assess population characteristics. ROUGHLY THE POPULATION OF BURBANK This precise number of 52,765 people was generated by the 2018 "point-in-time" Los Angeles Homeless Count, which canvassed the entire county over a few days last January with the help of thousands of volunteers. That count looks for people who are "literally homeless," a federal government definition of homelessness that means someone falling asleep unsheltered, or in a structure that not built for human habitation like a tent encampment, outbuilding, or a car. The number of "literally homeless" people counted in the homeless count is added to the number of people in homeless shelters for a total number. Although the count revealed a decrease for the first time in four years (and a four percent drop from the 55,048 counted in 2017), the number of people who experience homelessness is likely higher than the count-generated tally because many people who become homeless do so for a short period of time before finding a more secure living situation. The Economic Roundtable estimates that overall, about 103,000 people experienced homelessness in L.A. County in 2017. For context, that's approximately how many people live in Burbank. Researchers also think about 35 percent of those 103,000 people were homeless for more than a year (the so-called chronically homeless). WHERE ARE OUR HOMELESS NEIGHBORS FROM? Sixty-five percent of the homeless people in Los Angeles County have lived in L.A. County for more than 20 years, according to LAHSA's 2018 demographic survey. Three-quarters have lived in L.A. County for more than 10 years. Only about 20 percent of the homeless people in Los Angeles County have lived here for fewer five years. LAHSA's survey also found that 14 percent of the people who are homeless here now first became homeless outside of California, and then moved here. That is, though some of the homeless people in L.A. did come from somewhere else, the vast majority of people experiencing homelessness in Southern California are long time Southern California residents. HOW OLD ARE OUR HOMELESS NEIGHBORS? Homelessness affects people of all ages. One of the most concerning findings of the 2018 homeless census was a 21 percent year-over year increase in homelessness of adults 62 years old or older, about 5,000 on any given night. About a quarter of all homeless people in Los Angeles County (12,698 on any given night) are 55 years old or older, 85 percent of whom are unsheltered. On the other end of the age spectrum are the 9 percent of the homeless population who are children younger than 18 years old, almost all who experience homelessness alongside at least one parent. The number of homeless youth LAHSA counted in 2018 dropped two percent from 2017, but it bears mentioning here that the Los Angeles Unified School District counts student homelessness using methods different from LAHSA -- and it estimates 16,200 of its students are homeless. (LAHSA counts homelessness by tabulating shelter occupancy and looking for people on every block, LAUSD surveys families for information.) There are also about 3,000 homeless young people between 18 and 24 years of age on any given night. Many of those people are individuals, but the 2018 homeless count counted 827 homeless households with children where the head of household is 24 years old or younger. About 60 percent of all the people experiencing homelessness on any given night in L.A County -- roughly 32,000 people -- are between the ages of 24 and 55. Homeless residents chat beside their tents on a street in downtown Los Angeles on June 25, 2018. (Photo by Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images) THE GENDER BREAKDOWN: About 67 percent of the people experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles County are male, and about 31 percent are female. A further 2 percent of the people LAHSA surveyed identify as transgender or gender-nonconforming. One of the key differences between homeless men and homeless women is the rate at which each population has experienced domestic violence. Fourteen percent of the homeless women surveyed during LAHSA's 2018 count say they are homeless because they're fleeing a violent partner. Only 3 percent of homeless men say the same. Pulling back, 48 percent of Los Angeles' homeless women say they have experienced domestic violence in their lifetime, more than double the 21 percent figure for homeless men. HOW MANY FAMILIES ARE THERE? Though most (84 percent) of the people LAHSA counted as homeless in Los Angeles County are single individuals, about 16 percent (8,300 people on a given night) of those experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles are families. Of those roughly 8,300 people, about 4,900 of them are children under the age of 18. Making sure homeless families don't have to fall asleep in a makeshift shelter or a car is one of the highest priorities for Los Angeles' city and county governments. At the same time, public assistance programs intended to keep families from becoming homeless in the first place, like CalWORKS, are left playing catch-up with an ever-rising cost-of-living, as KPCC reported in early 2017. RACIAL REPRESENTATION: People of all races become homeless, but black people are significantly overrepresented. Though black people make up about 9 percent of L.A. County's total population, they make up about 36 percent of the people experiencing homelessness. The overrepresentation is one of the reasons LAHSA formed a working group to analyze black homelessness in Southern California. In December, that group will finalize a report itemizing policy changes local government can make to address the overrepresentation of Black homelessness. Los Angeles' Latinx population, by contrast, is underrepresented among the homeless. About half of the county identifies as Latino, but they make up about 35 percent of people experiencing homelessness. The share of non-Hispanic white people among the homeless roughly mirrors the county's demographics - about 26 percent of the county's total population and 25 percent of the homeless. The remaining four percent of people experiencing homelessness identify either as Asian, Indigenous, or Multiracial. WHAT ABOUT DRUGS AND ALCOHOL? WHAT ABOUT MENTAL ILLNESS? The majority of people who are homeless in Los Angeles County do not report a substance abuse disorder or serious mental illness. According to LAHSA, 26 percent of L.A. County's homeless report a serious mental illness, 15 percent report substance abuse, and about 10 percent report both substance abuse and mental illness. "What the data shows is that 74 percent of the population does not suffer from a serious mental health issue," said Jonathan Hans, who organizes LAHSA's annual homeless count. "If someone is having an episode on a street corner, everyone sees that person. It's very visible. But what nobody sees is the mom getting her two kids ready in the van down the street, because she's trying not to be seen." SEE ALSO: LA County Gets More Power To Force Severely Mentally Ill Homeless Into Treatment There's also the fact that homelessness is extremely stressful. Though a person who just became homeless may not have previously struggled with mental illness or substance abuse before they became homelessness, the stresses that come with lived experience of homelessness -- things like chronic sleep deprivation, malnutrition, exposure to the elements, and constant anxiety over personal safety -- do little to foster long term health, mental and physical. HOW DO OUR NEIGHBORS BECOME HOMELESS? The individual pathways that lead to homelessness are at as diverse as the population itself. The particular circumstances that force a fixed-income senior out of her home are going to be different from a 20-something couple with a child. But there is one major constant: poverty. According to an analysis of homeless demographic surveys by Economic Roundtable, 40 percent of people who are homeless directly cite economic reasons like a lost job for their homelessness. Besides economic reasons, researchers say that about 45 percent of surveyed homeless people say social disconnection is a factor in their homelessness. This includes everything from divorces and breakups, a fight with a family or household member, the death of or serious illness of a family member, having no friends of family to turn to, and domestic violence. On that last point, LAHSA's 2018 demographic survey found that about 6 percent of those homeless are homeless because they fled an abusive living situation. "Homelessness touches every societal issue," said Hans. "When you count 53,000 people on any given night, that's 53,000 unique names with 53,000 unique stories, unique needs, and unique causes." On the spot, Hans listed several reasons why someone might fall into homelessness. "It's 'I just got back from war and I don't know how to deal with what I just saw.' It's 'I'm fleeing a domestic violence situation.' It's 'I have a serious mental health issue.' It's 'I just aged out of foster care and I don't know where to go.' It's 'my parents think my sexual orientation is immoral and have kicked me out.' And then some that aren't even as dramatic as that: 'my company got taken over and I got laid off and I can't afford rent anymore,' or 'my wife got a disease that my insurance won't cover, so I had to foreclose on my house.'" READ MORE: How California's Housing Crisis Turned Into A Homelessness Crisis At the core of the problem is the Los Angeles region's high housing costs. Though the region has added hundreds of thousands of jobs in the past two decades, it has not built a comparable amount of new housing to house workers for those new jobs, particularly in neighborhoods where those new jobs are located. That means more people competing for a limited number of housing units, leaving those without a high salary struggling to make ends meet each month. People become homeless when the ends don't meet, and they don't have anyone to turn to for help. HOW LONG DO PEOPLE STAY HOMELESS? About 45 percent had been homeless for six months or less, about 20 percent had been homeless for between six and 12 months, and that about 36 percent had been homeless for more than a year, according to nonprofit research organization Economic Roundtable. "The majority of people who fall into homelessness figure out how to get out of homelessness without touching the system," said LAHSA's Hans. "Most cases are self-resolving." Helping people quickly recover and minimizing the amount of time they remain in the limbo of homelessness is a key part of the Los Angeles' overall homelessness strategy. With limited resources, government and service providers make a calculated decisions about how to use those resources in the most effective way. In other words, an 18-year-old who is homeless because they recently exited the foster care system will be a higher priority than a 60-year-old who has been homeless for several years. WHO GETS INTO A SHELTER? Of the roughly 53,000 people who are homeless in Los Angeles County on any given night, only about a quarter of them are able to secure a bed somewhere in county's disparate network of homeless shelters. The remaining three quarters of the homeless population, about 40,000 people, are left to shelter themselves on the street. Because the homeless population exceeds the number of available shelter beds, homeless service providers concentrate on a getting the most vulnerable people into the shelter system, particularly families with children, young people under the age of 25. Of the roughly 8,000 families who are homeless on any given night, about 79 percent of them are connected to a shelter somewhere in L.A. County, according to the 2018 homeless count. This includes about 5,000 children, who make up 9 percent of L.A. County's total homeless population. However, several thousand shelter beds go unused each night. On the nights when LAHSA administered the 2018 homeless count, about 13,000 shelter spots were in use, but another 2,500 shelter spaces weren't. KPCC has previously reported that homeless people may avoid shelters because of poor sanitary conditions or concerns over personal safety. That reporting prompted Los Angeles County to pass health and safety standards for homeless shelters, and develop a centralized inspection system. Expanding the capacity of L.A.'s shelter system is a priority for local governments. WHAT ABOUT PEOPLE WHO WORRY THEY MAY BECOME HOMELESS? Economic Roundtable estimates that about 600,000 Los Angeles County residents are in living situations where 90 percent of all household income gets spent on housing. It's this group of people who's most at risk for falling into homelessness, and not being able to recover. At the same time, most people in this group successfully avoid "literal" homelessness. "On any given day, over 90 percent of these extremely precariously housed individuals succeed in avoiding homelessness through employment, public assistance, housing support, help from friends and relatives, social services, and the generosity of people in their lives," wrote researchers. Hey, thanks. You read the entire story. And we love you for that. Here at LAist, our goal is to cover the stories that matter to you, not advertisers. We don't have paywalls, but we do have payments (aka bills). So if you love independent, local journalism, join us. Let's make the world a better place, together. Donate now. Freely accessible local news is vital. Please power our reporters and help keep us independent with a donation today. Start your day with LAist Sign up for the Morning Brief, delivered weekdays. Subscribe A mountain lion who made headlines earlier this year for his multiple freeway crossings survived the initial danger of last month's Woolsey Fire, but was found dead earlier this week, National Park Service officials said. The remains of P-64 were discovered in a remote area of the Simi Hills that burned in the fire, which scorched 88 percent of park land in the Santa Monica Mountains. NPS biologist Jeff Sikich from the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area said the cougar had continued to move in the days after the start of the blaze and eventually "hunkered down" in a drainage area. When the Woolsey Fire broke out on Nov. 8, P-64 was in the Simi Hills, north of Oak Park. GPS data shows he continued to roam the Simi Hills for the next few days. Sikich and fellow researchers later hiked into the area and used a telemetry device to locate P-64. When they saw he was moving around within the drainage area, they were hopeful he had made a kill and would survive. The last GPS point sent by P-64's collar was on Nov. 28, but researchers weren't overly alarmed since the collars commonly go multiple days without transmitting. Then on Dec. 3, Sikich hiked in and found the cougar's remains. All four of his paws were burned, which the biologist suspects happened as he moved through the burn zone. "He basically had two options," Sikich explained. "He could have entered an urban area, where there's a lot of firefighters and noise and people fleeing and a lot of disturbance there, or choose to enter the burnt landscape -- and that's what he did." Biologists can't say for certain how the mountain lion died, according to NPS spokeswoman Kate Kuykendall, but the California Department of Fish and Wildlife will conduct a necropsy to determine the cause of death. The 4-year-old puma was nicknamed "The Culvert Cat" by researchers for his exceptional skill in navigating the region's freeways, which form a often-deadly barrier to the local mountain lions. In the nine months he was studied by NPS biologists, P-64 crossed the 101 and 118 freeways a combined 41 times. Mountain lion P-64 was nicknamed "The Culvert Cat" for his skill in safely bypassing the region's freeways -- which are often a death sentence for cougars. He crossed the 101 and 118 freeways a total of 41 times in the nine months he was tracked by NPS biologists. (Courtesy National Park Service) Researchers were surprised to see he used a storm drain under the 101 near Liberty Canyon in Agoura Hills to bypass the dangerous roadway. "It's very unfortunate that he was seemingly so successful surviving in this fragmented landscape and then died in the aftermath of a devastating wildfire," said Sikich, who has managed field work for the mountain lion study since it started in 2002. Biologists believe P-64 is the father of four female kittens born in May 2018, but will need to do DNA tests to confirm. P-64's home range included the northern Santa Monica Mountains, the Simi Hills and the southern Santa Susana Mountains. He was first captured and fit with a GPS collar in February 2018, then was recorded crossing the two freeways five times in 14 days. The cougar's rare ability also represented a gleam of hope for the Santa Monica Mountains' threatened mountain lions. Our freeway system has isolated the local population, which has led to inbreeding and could put the pumas on a path to extinction within 50 years. P-64 was one of 11 mountain lions NPS researchers were tracking in the area of the Woolsey Fire and likely the second to die in the burn zone. Park Service officials announced last week that mountain lion P-74 had vanished without a trace in an area consumed by flames. The nine surviving pumas in the burn area appear to be moving normally, according to NPS officials. Hey, thanks. You read the entire story. And we love you for that. Here at LAist, our goal is to cover the stories that matter to you, not advertisers. We don't have paywalls, but we do have payments (aka bills). So if you love independent, local journalism, join us. Let's make the world a better place, together. Donate now. District Attorneys Reach Settlement with Amazon to Prohibit Force-Fed Foie Gras Sales in California Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey announced today that Amazon.com Inc. has agreed not to sell force-fed foie gras in California under a consumer protection settlement reached with her office and the Monterey County and Santa Clara County district attorneys offices. The settlement was based on allegations of unlawful sales in California of foie gras on Amazons website. In the stipulated judgment, Amazon also agreed to pay $100,000 in civil penalties, investigative costs and restitution to a state trust fund used to enforce consumer protection laws. Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge James L. Stoelker approved the settlement in case 18CV338822 yesterday. Deputy District Attorney Steven Wang of the Consumer Protection Division represented the Los Angeles County District Attorneys Office in the case. ADVERTISEMENT In 2004, former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law Health and Safety Code section 25982, which banned the sale in California of foie gras (fat liver from duck or goose liver that can also be made into a mousse or pate) produced by force feeding a bird for the purpose of enlarging the birds liver beyond normal size, effective July 1, 2012. California also banned the production of foie gras via such force-feeding in California. These laws were enacted because of the cruelty suffered by birds that are force-fed to make foie gras. In addition to the pain caused by having metal pipes forced down their throats, force-feeding damages the livers of the birds so badly it induces an extremely painful disease known as hepatic lipidosis. Upon contact from prosecutors regarding sales of foie gras to consumers in California, Amazon took immediate steps to stop such sales. As the parties were in negotiations, in January 2015 a federal district court ruled in a lawsuit filed by the foie gras industry against the California attorney general that the states law was preempted by the federal Poultry Products Inspection Act. This decision was overturned on appeal by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in September 2017. During the long pendency of the appeal, Amazon continued to block sales of foie gras in California. The foie gras industry plaintiffs appealed the Ninth Circuits decision to the U.S. Supreme Court and obtained a stay on the Ninth Circuits mandate to the lower federal court. The Supreme Courts decision on whether to review it is still pending. Registration Available Now for Winter Classes at El Camino College Yaxhel Lozoya is focused on transferring to a university in the near future, with a goal to pursue a career in mechanical engineering. As a STEM major, sheregularly takes a heavy load of science and math courses each semester. Lozoya is enrolled in the El Camino College winter term, a move she says keeps her on track and prepared for the next level of study. By taking Physics 2A during the winter I get the chance to refresh and solidify my basic physics knowledge before I embark on the rest of the sequence without getting behind, said Lozoya, a Torrance High School graduate and current ECC mechanical engineering major. Registration is now open for the 2019 winter term, which runs Jan. 3 to Feb. 5. The schedule of classes, in both digital and searchable formats, is available online: http://www.elcamino.edu/admissions/schedule.asp. ADVERTISEMENT Chelsey Sanchez, a communication studies major who plans to transfer to the University of California, Davis next fall, said that taking winter classes is helping her complete general education courses at a faster pace. Winter classes also helped me improve my GPA; the fast-paced environment really pushes me to stay focused in my classes, she added. Online classes are also offered during winter 2019. El Camino College is pleased to offer winter courses next month, a great opportunity for students to take courses in order to get ahead in their studies and satisfy prerequisites, said El Camino College President Dena P. Maloney. A variety of day and evening courses are available, from transferrable general education to basic skills courses. Many students find that winter courses also help them prepare for the next semester by keeping them focused on their studies. All students are encouraged to register as soon as possible for the best class selection. Students may register online at www.elcamino.edu by clicking on MyECC. The college will be closed for winter recess Dec. 24 Jan. 1, however, online registration is available at www.elcamino.edu 24 hours per day, seven days a week, even during the recess. For more information, go to www.elcamino.edu or call toll free 1-866-ELCAMINO. Rep. Waters Statement on Republican Voter Fraud in North Carolina Congresswoman Maxine Waters (CA-43) issued a statement on voter fraud allegations in the 2018 midterm election for North Carolinas 9th Congressional District. The results of the race which were initially projected in favor of Republican Mark Harris who had a 905-vote lead over Democrat Dan McCready are under investigation after evidence of illegal activity by operatives associated with Mark Harris campaign was uncovered. I am utterly disgusted by the evidence of voter fraud in the 2018 midterm elections in North Carolinas 9th Congressional District. According to media reports, Republican operatives orchestrated a fraudulent operation on behalf of Republican candidate Mark Harris campaign for the U.S. Congress against a Democrat, Dan McCready. The operatives, led by Republican Leslie McCrae Dowless an employee on Mark Harris campaign who was convicted and served time in prison for felony fraud and perjury charges encouraged voters in Bladen and Robeson counties to request absentee ballots and illegally collected the ballots. At least one voter claimed that she handed over her ballot even though it had not been completely filled out and sealed.[1] This fraudulent operation also appears to have specifically targeted communities of color in the 9th District. Not only was there an unusually high volume of absentee ballots requested in the 9th District, but nearly 36 percent of African American absentee ballots and 55 percent of Native American absentee ballots were never mailed in.[2] Voters have signed sworn affidavits alleging their ballots were stolen, and Republican operatives have gone on the record admitting that they were paid by Mr. Dowless to illegally collect ballots. [3] This is not what Democracy looks like. ADVERTISEMENT As a sitting member of the U.S. Congress, an African American woman, and a lifelong champion of civil rights, I am beyond the point of outrage. Far too often, we are witnessing Republican-led efforts to suppress the votes of Americans in minority communities by passing strict voter identification laws in Pennsylvania, Arkansas, Wisconsin, and North Carolina; closing down 868 polling places from Arizona to North Carolina; thwarting early voting in Indiana, Florida, Nebraska, and Ohio; and creating a so-called exact match policy that disqualified voters if their names did not precisely match records because of typos, missing hyphens, or clerical errors in Georgia. This is not merely a local or state issue this is a matter of national concern. I join my colleagues in calling for credible and thorough investigations of any and all voter fraud claims in North Carolinas 9th Congressional District election by the state elections board. If, as it appears, the voting rights of American citizens have been violated, then I demand that the perpetrators be prosecuted and punished to the fullest extent of the law. Furthermore, based on the evidence of voter fraud by Harris campaign operatives that has already been uncovered, I believe that the U.S. House should refuse to allow Mark Harris to be seated in the 116th Congress. Must have been a slow news day at Law.com. That legal media outlet published an article by fitness counselor Jonathan Jordan on how to prevent the "screw it" attitude toward overindulgence in holiday treats and under-use of healthy routines. Yes, we weak human beings can pass up the tray of whatevers or be totally content with just one. But isn't that the essence of this best time of the year? The universe gives us permission to take a break from the oughts. We need that. And, before she committed suicide by hanging herself UK broadcaster Vicki Archer exclaimed that she needed a break. Bankruptcy lawyer Gabriel MacConaill might be still alive to celebrate in this joyful season if he had taken a break. As a clinical depressive since the age of 11, I have probably saved my life by picking up a soup spoon and going through a half gallon of cookie dough ice cream in one sitting. So far, I have outsmarted the family's suicide gene. Supposed experts shouldn't become nags about how we can live healthy. More needed and more urgent is caring guidance on how we can remain alive, not hurt others, nurture those we love, and find work (and hold onto it) which means something to us. In just about every state in the U.S., reports the CDC, the rate of suicide is rising. It isn't just in professional pressure cooker Manhattan that the best and brightest are doing themselves in by leaping off tall buildings and hanging themselves in closets. What form will taking a break have for you this best time of the year? As he was dying in what would be his last Christmas, my father took a break from the darkness descending by being stationed by the window. He watched the human comedy and for the first time in his life did not judge the neighbors. No longer was he locked into the oughts. Coaching and Thought Leadership Ghostwriting about Issues Associated with Careers. Tuesday, December 4, 2018 The Fifth Circuit ruled that plaintiffs lacked standing to challenge a Mississippi town's decision to fly the state flag over city hall as a violation of the Fair Housing Act. The ruling ends the case. The plaintiffs in Mississippi Rising Coalition v. City of Ocean Springs, Mississippi, challenged a city council resolution requiring the state flag to be flown over city hall and other municipal buildings. They claimed that flying the flag, which includes the Confederate battle flag, amounted to "racial steering" in violation of the FHA. But the Fifth Circuit ruled that they lacked both Article III and statutory standing. As to Article III, the court simply pointed to a 2017 ruling, Moore v. Bryant, also denying standing to plaintiffs challenging the state flag, but under equal protection: "That Plaintiff alleges that he personally and deeply feels the impact of Mississippi's state flag, however sincere those allegations are, is irrelevant to . . . standing analysis unless Plaintiff alleges discriminatory treatment." The court said that "[i]f exposure to a flag does not injure a plaintiff for equal protection purposes, exposure to the same flag does not injure a plaintiff for FHA purposes either." As to statutory standing under the FHA, the court said that flying the flag is not a "discriminatory housing practice," and that the plaintiffs therefore weren't "aggrieved persons" under the Act. https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/conlaw/2018/12/fifth-circuit-says-no-standing-to-challenge-mississippi-flag.html Wednesday, December 5, 2018 In its opinion in Association of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs v. Attorney General of New Jersey, a divided panel of the Third Circuit rejected a challenge to New Jersey's prohibition of large capacity magazines (LCM), defined as magazines capable of holding more than ten rounds of ammunition, N.J. Stat. Ann. 2C:39-1(y), 2C:39-3(j). The challengers sought a preliminary injunction based on violations of the Second Amendment, the Equal Protection Clause, and the Fifth Amendment's Taking Clause; after an evidentiary hearing the district judge denied the injunction. On the Second Amendment claim, the Third Circuit majority agreed with the general analysis laid out by the Second Circuit in New York State Rifle & Pistol Assn, Inc. v. Cuomo (2015). Judge Patty Shwartz, writing for the majority, first determined that a "magazine" is an arm regulated under the Second Amendment. Judge Shwartz then considered whether the regulation of a specific type of magazine, namely an LCM, imposes a burden on conduct falling within the scope of the Second Amendments guarantee," by inquiring whether the type of arm at issue is commonly owned, and typically possessed by law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes." The court noted that the record showed there were "millions" of such magazines and then assumed "without deciding that LCMs are typically possessed by law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes and that they are entitled to Second Amendment protection." The court then turned to the level of scrutiny to be applied a question left open by the Court in Heller v. D.C. by inquiring how severely the challenged regulation "burdens the core Second Amendment right." Here, the court held that the New Jersey law did not severely burden the core Second Amendment right to self-defense in the home for five reasons and thus determined that intermediate scrutiny should apply. The court then held that the State of New Jersey has, undoubtedly, a significant, substantial and important interest in protecting its citizens safety," including reducing the lethality of active shooter and mass shooting incidents. The court rejected the challengers' argument that the rarity of such incidents should negate the state's interest, finding instead that the "evidence adduced before the District Court shows that this statement downplays the significant increase in the frequency and lethality of these incidents." The court further found that the LCM ban was a sufficiently close fit to the state's interest in promoting safety. It was on the Second Amendment issue that Judge Stephanos Bibas dissenting, arguing that strict scrutiny should apply and that even if it does not, the New Jersey statute fails intermediate scrutiny. For Judge Bibas, although the majority stands in good company: five other circuits have upheld limits on magazine sizes," the courts err "in subjecting the Second Amendment to different, watered-down rules and demanding little if any proof." While the Second Amendment challenge was at the heart of the case, the majority also rejected the challengers' claims under the Takings Clause and the Equal Protection Clause. On the Takings Clause, the majority held that there is not actual taking, and no "regulatory taking because it does not deprive the gun owners of all economically beneficial or productive uses of their magazines." On the Equal Protection Clause, the challengers faulted the Act because it allows retired law enforcement officers to possess LCMs while prohibiting retired military members and ordinary citizens from doing so.The majority did not engage in a robust analysis, but held that "retired law enforcement officers are not similarly situated to retired military personnel and ordinary citizens, and therefore their exemption from the LCM ban does not violate the Equal Protection Clause." In short, the Third Circuit's opinion is part of a trend of determining that intermediate scrutiny applies to various regulations of high capacity firearms or magazines and upholding state regulation. Most likely a petition for certiorari will follow this opinion and it will be interesting to see whether the United States Supreme Court continues its own trend of denying such petitions. [image: double-drum magazine, which holds 100 rounds, via] https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/conlaw/2018/12/third-circuit-upholds-new-jerseys-large-capacity-magazine-prohibition.html Thursday, December 6, 2018 The Kansas Supreme Court released a lengthy disciplinary opinion on November 30, 2018 that concerns, among other things, excessive fees. The case, In re: Crandall, resulted in a 6 month suspension. The opinion is available here. The Kansas Supreme Court addressed several procedural issues in its opinion. As far as fees, the court found that "testimony provides clear and convincing evidence and establishes that the representation of [clients] was straightforward and did not require the time and labor needed to justify the amount ... charged." The opinion goes step-by-step through the provisions of Rule 1.5(a) criteria to determine reasonableness of a fee. The Court found that there was clear and convincing evidence that the attorney had violated Rule 1.5. The opinion also examines other issues and concludes "that the fees in two cases were unreasonable in violation of KRPC 1.5(a) and that [the attorney] violated KRPC 1.1 (competence), 1.3 (diligence), 1.4(b) (communication), 1.7(a) (concurrent conflict of interest), and 8.4(d) (conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice)." https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/elder_law/2018/12/kansas-disciplinary-case-on-fees.html This report is the result of a collaboration among the Strauss Center at the University of Texas at Austin, the University of California San Diego Center for US-Mexican studies and the Migration Policy Centre at the European University Institute. Here is the executive summary: "For more than two years, CBP has implemented "metering" procedures for asylum seekers in multiple ports of entry across the U.S.-Mexico border. However, over the past six months, these practices have become institutionalized and have been extended across the entire southern border. Currently, CBP officers are stationed at the international dividing line between the United States and Mexico at all ports of entry and provide a similar message "there is currently no processing capacity"-to arriving asylum seekers. Instead, each port of entry coordinates with Mexican officials to accept a certain number of asylum seekers every day. These shifts in CBP procedures have left lines of asylum seekers waiting in almost every major Mexican border city. Yet while CBP officers have standardized their practices, there is no set process for asylum seekers on the Mexican side of the border. While almost all border cities now have a "list" that functions as a virtual line for asylum seekers-for example, the infamous "notebook" in Tijuana-the list management and logistics vary significantly by city. For example, the actual list managers have ranged from Grupo Beta (the Mexican government agency in charge of humanitarian assistance for migrants) to civil society organizations to municipal governments, and the processing steps may entail providing asylum seekers with bracelets or taking their photos after they arrive to the U.S.-Mexico border. There are also a range of practices and dynamics in Mexican border cities that block asylum seekers from accessing U.S. ports of entry. In Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexican migration officials stationed near the international bridges have stopped all asylum seekers from crossing during the past three months. In Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas and Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Central Americans cannot access the international border bridges without temporary transit permits. In Matamoros, Tamaulipas there are allegations of asylum seekers having to pay a fee in order to get on the waiting list, and in Tijuana, Baja California asylum seekers currently face a three month wait time in order to make their claim. This report provides a snapshot of the asylum processing system at the U.S.-Mexico border, with particular attention to asylum seekers waiting in Mexico. The report compiles fieldwork carried out in eight cities along the U.S.-Mexico border in November 2018. It draws on in-person and phone interviews with government officials, law enforcement officers, representatives from civil society organizations, journalists, and members of the public on both sides of the border. The report also relies on observations carried out at ports of entry and neighboring areas, and draws from government and legal documents, and news articles to detail current asylum processing dynamics. KJ Thursday, December 6, 2018 Greenville News (Dec. 4, 2018): South Carolina's anti-abortion lawmakers say theyll push for stricter laws in 2019, by Tom Barton & Avery G. Wilks, The State: Conservative state lawmakers in South Carolina say they will push for a ban on abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected when the full General Assembly reconvenes in January. If it becomes law, the proposal effectively would bar most abortions in South Carolina and could set up a showdown in the federal courts. Its a common-sense bill. If a heart stops beating permanently, the person is dead, said state Rep. John McCravy, R-Greenwood, who plans to file the fetal heartbeat bill in the South Carolina House. Common sense should tell us that when a heart is beating, we have a precious human life that should not be terminated. The proposed law would ban nearly all abortions after a fetus has a detectable heartbeat as early as six weeks in a pregnancy. That would be about two weeks after a womans first missed period, and well before many women realize they are pregnant, said Vicki Ringer, the public affairs director for Planned Parenthood South Atlantic. More than 60 percent of the roughly 5,100 abortions performed in South Carolina in 2017 occurred after six weeks of gestation or post-fertilization, according to the latest data from the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control. Iowa passed a fetal heartbeat bill this spring, among the strictest abortion laws in the country. But that law is on hold for now as opponents challenge it in court. North Dakota and Arkansas passed similar laws, only to see them overturned by federal courts. The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to review the lower court rulings, but that could possibly change with Justice Brett Kavanaugh now on the court Efforts to pass a fetal heartbeat law in South Carolina have thus far failed. Bills introduced in 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2018 all died without reaching the House or Senate floor. The proposal faces a tough road to passage again this year, especially in the state Senate, where Republicans hold a majority but Democrats can filibuster controversial bills and block them. Last year, Senate Democrats took turns stalling a vote on an outright abortion ban for days until Republicans gave in and dropped the proposal. Anti-choice lawmakers in the General Assembly also plan to reintroduce a ban on dilation & extraction, also known as a D&E ban, as well as the sweeping "Personhood Act," which would establish that fetuses have legal rights at the moment of conception, banning almost all abortions. South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster has promised to sign anti-choice legislation into law. https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/reproductive_rights/2018/12/south-carolinas-anti-abortion-lawmakers-say-theyll-push-for-stricter-laws-in-2019.html Download Lesson 14 Speaking Pronunciation Conversation Anna: Tonight I am going to the theater with my friends. But I dont know what clothes to wear. Maybe this magazine can help. Anna: Her clothes are beautiful! I really want a friend like her to help me. Anna: Who are you? Genie: I am Genie! You want help. I am here to help you find the right clothes! Anna: Awesome! How about jeans and a t-shirt? Genie: No! Jeans and a t-shirt are too casual. How about something more formal? Anna: Sure! Anna: Wow! Genie, this dress is beautiful. But its not the right size. Its too small. Genie: Yes, it is too small. But green looks great on you. Anna: Thanks. Genie: Take off the green dress. Lets try a green shirt and a skirt. Anna: Oh, Genie! This green shirt is too large and this orange skirt is too orange. Genie: Yes, the right size for you is medium. Lets try again. Anna: Oh, I dont like this outfit. Genie: No. That does not match. Anna: Nothing. Anna: These clothes are formal: a suit jacket, a dress shirt and a tie! They look great! Genie: Those clothes look great for a man! Something is wrong. Anna: Let me see. Anna: There. Now try. Genie: Oh. Thanks! Now these clothes look great on you! Anna: They do! Um, Genie, can you put on a gold belt? Genie: Sure! Genie: That looks great. Anna: Can you put on a jacket? Genie: Why not? Anna: I love the jacket! How about a hat? Genie: Why not? Genie: Mm, take off the hat. Thats better. Anna: Genie, these clothes look and feel great! Lets go to the theater! Genie: Sorry, Anna. I have to help other friends. Go to the magazine if you want me to help again. Anna: Thanks, Genie. Sure thing. Goodbye! Genie: Goodbye! Anna: There are many places in DC to go for a great evening out! And its nice to have a friend to help me look my best. Until next time! Bye! Listening Quiz United States President Donald Trump announced Friday that he will nominate former attorney general William Barr to lead the Justice Department. Trump told reporters that Barr was my first choice since day one. Barr held the same position from 1991 to 1993 under former President George H.W. Bush. Trump also said he would nominate Heather Nauert as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Nauert is the current State Department spokeswoman. She also is acting undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs. Trump said Nauert is very talented, very smart, very quick. Barr confirmed that he had accepted the presidents nomination. He is currently a business lawyer. Barr will replace acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker who was appointed last month after Jeff Sessions resigned. Both the attorney general and U.N. ambassador positions require Senate confirmation. Trump said he hopes the process would be completed quickly, but Congress closes for its winter break in one week. The newly-elected Senate is seated on January 3. Barr will have to answer questions at his confirmation hearing about the special counsel investigation into Russian influence in the 2016 presidential election. That investigation is being led by Robert S. Mueller III. Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal serves on the Judiciary Committee that will question Barr. He said in a statement that he would demand that Mr. Barr make a firmcommitment to protect the Mueller investigation, operate independently of the White House, and uphold the law. The investigation, and the Justice Departments supervision of it, have angered the President. Trump dismissed his former attorney general, Jeff Sessions, partly because Sessions had removed himself from the investigation. Trump renewed his attacks on Friday, tweeting that he planned to do a major Counter Report to the Mueller Report. This should never again be allowed to happen to a future President of the United States! Trump wrote. The Mueller investigation appears to be nearing its end. The Trump administration expects that Barrs nomination will be well-received by Republicans, who respect his experience. Officials also hope Democrats might consider Barr a traditional republican with no personal ties to the president. Nauert joined the State Department in 2017 after working as a TV reporter for Fox News. The 48-year-old spokesperson would replace U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, who announced she was leaving the position at the end of the year. Nauert has joined Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on several international trips. Nauert would be responsible for voicing the administrations foreign policy positions to diplomats at the U.N. Among those are continued support for Israel and for economic sanctions against North Korea and Iran. If she accepts the position, Nauert will most likely face difficult questions from the Senate about her lack of experience as a diplomat. Im Susan Shand. Susan Shand wrote this story for Learning English. Mario Ritter Jr. was the editor. _______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story talented adj. having a special ability to do something well commitment n. a promise to do something counter adj. something in defense or in response to something allow v. to permit sanctions n. an action that is taken or an order that is given to force a country to obey international laws by limiting or stopping trade with that country, by not allowing economic aid for that country The Senate held a meeting with the leaders of interested government agencies on the implementation of the Concept of Cyber Security 'Cyber shield of Kazakhstan' chaired by the head of the Committee on International Relations, Defense and Security of the Senate, Dariga Nazarbayeva, a press service of the Senate of Parliament of Kazakhstan reports. Opening the meeting, Dariga Nazarbayeva underlined that the rapid development of information and communication technologies, global trends of digitalization need measures to protect the corresponding infrastructure. In her speech, she pointed out that the final objective of the measures taken to protect the infrastructure OS (operating system) to information safety of the society and State. The threat of cyber attacks grows around the globe, as well as risks to cybersecurity increase in all spheres of technology. Today cybersecurity is the key objective of a high priority for any modern state," said Dariga Nazarbayeva. Speaking of the meeting's tasks, the Senator noted that during the event the initial review of the 2017 Concept of Cybersecurity 'Cybershield of Kazakhstan' would be conducted. In particular, according to Dariga Nazarbayeva, the following questions need to be answered: What has been done on the legislative, technical and organizations provision of the Concept? How has the resistance of the systems to cyberthreats improved? What are the main problems the government agencies face in this stage of the creation of 'Cyber protection'? What are the spheres remaining the most vulnerable and prone to cyber threats? What are the further steps? In general, does the strategy of cybersecurity need elaboration in case new threats? The Vice Minister of Defense and Aerospace Industry, Timur Shaimergenov, informed the Senators on the implemented organizational and legal and organizational and technical measures within the implementation of the Concept 'Cybershield of Kazakhstan'. The speaker said that a legal and regulatory framework to ensure information security of government agencies, the quasi-state sector and key facilities of information and communication infrastructure was created. A national anti-crisis response plan to face information security incidents was approved. During the speech, the reporter outlined the statistics data on training specialists majoring Information security systems in higher education facilities of Kazakhstan and abroad under the Bolashak program. Reports were also delivered by the representative of the National Security Committee, Sergei Zhuravlyev, Vice Minister of Information and Communication Dinara Shcheglova. The discussion was partaken by members of the International Relations, Defense and Security Committee of the Senate Tuleubek Dzhaksybekov, Mukhtar Kul-Mukhammed, Nurzhan Nursipatov. Following the discussion, Nazarbayeva called on the authorized bodies to keep on working on the staffing problems in information security and IT sphere as a whole, creating databases, supporting domestic developers of software, clarifying the functions and responsibility of the corresponding government agencies. The Chairman of the Senate Committee noted that the matters and proposals voiced during the meeting would be sent to the interested Ministries and agencies. The Macau International Airport Company has announced plans to launch the Passenger Terminal Building South Extension Design & Build Project in early 2019. According to a press release, the project will occupy an area of 5,700 square meters, extending three levels from existing passenger terminal buildings for a total floor area of 17,100 square meters. Upon completion of the project, the overall design capacity of the passenger terminal building will be increased to 10 million passengers per year. The expansion includes features such as an additional departure hall area, office area, commercial area, food and beverage area, VIP area and an additional three loading bridges. To cope with an increasing number of passengers and the airports future development, the Passenger Terminal Building North Extension Project was completed and put into operation early this year. With an increase of 14,000 square meters of passenger terminal floor area and a total of five passenger loading bridges, the overall design capacity of the passenger terminal building increased from 6 million passengers per year to 7.8 million passengers per year. North Koreas foreign minister arrived in key ally China yesterday for talks amid stalled efforts to persuade his government to dismantle its nuclear weapons programs. Ri Yong Ho is to meet today with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, according to Chinas foreign ministry. China is North Koreas most important economic and political partner, but has agreed to United Nations economic sanctions aimed at pressuring leader Kim Jong Un to abandon his drive to develop nuclear weapons and the ballistic missiles to deliver them. 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 now seeking security guarantees from the U.S. and relief from the international sanctions. Ri is also expected to be briefed on discussions last week between Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump, who recently said his next meeting with Kim would likely happen in January or February. Despite the initial optimism generated by Kim and Trumps June summit meeting in Singapore, little has transpired since then. At the time, some experts said the United States could soon accept a North Korean request for a joint declaration of the end of the 1950-53 Korean War as part of security assurances to the North. But diplomacy has since come to a halt amid disputes over a U.S. demand that North Korea first produce a full inventory of its nuclear weapons and take other denuclearization steps before winning significant outside rewards. North Korea wants sanctions relief, the end-of-war declaration and other reciprocal measures from the United States, arguing it has taken some steps, like dismantling its nuclear testing facility and releasing American detainees. China fought on North Koreas behalf during the Korean War, and while ties have grown frosty at times, Xi hosted Kim for three summits in China this year, both before and after Kims meeting with Trump. However, Xi did not attend celebrations of the 70th anniversary of North Koreas founding in September in what was seen as an indication that Beijing expected further actions from Kim, including concrete progress toward denuclearization. Ris visit also comes amid intense speculation over the possibility that Kim will visit South Korea this month. No North Korean leader has traveled to South Korea since fighting stopped in the Korean War, which killed millions. There have been five summit meetings between the leaders of the Koreas, three of them between Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, but they all happened either in Pyongyang, North Koreas capital, or the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjom. Fighting in the 1950-53 Korean War ended with a cease-fire, not a peace treaty. Christopher Bodeen, Beijing, AP A proposal to attract a greater number of talented individuals from outside Macau to work in the region will be discussed further by the Talents Development Committee, with more details to be announced after, the Chief Executive said this week. Chui Sai On said the government will closely analyze the Macau residency policies relevant to such matters, and noted the topic of talent import had generated intense discussion in the community. In his comments to reporters, Chui said the government has no timetable regarding possible implementation of such measures. According to a statement, the government noted a number of neighboring cities had launched policies and measures to attract skilled professionals or otherwise talented people, so as to propel the respective socio- economic development of those cities. The CE said that while nurturing the development of a greater number of talented local people, the government seeks to review its own policies regarding attracting talented people from outside Macau, and take note of the proactive measures implemented in neighboring jurisdictions, in order to maintain the regions overall competitiveness. Security forces have located the bodies of 16 people and a soldier who were killed in one of the bloodiest separatist attacks in Indonesias restive Papua province, a military official said yesterday. Army helicopters transported eight bodies and eight survivors, including a 4-year-old boy, from a remote mountainous village in Nduga district, Papua province military spokesman Col. Muhammad Aidi said. Gunfire between security forces and an armed group linked to the Free Papua Movement was hampering efforts to recover the eight other bodies, he said. The area is a stronghold of separatists who have battled Indonesian rule in the impoverished region for half a century. Police earlier said 31 workers and a soldier were killed Sunday when gunmen stormed a government construction project in a remote village in Nduga district, citing reports from witnesses. Authorities on Wednesday revised the figure to 19 civilians, including workers, and a soldier, based on the accounts of survivors. Security forces on Tuesday rescued 12 survivors, including five injured construction workers. A forensic team at a hospital in the mountain mining town of Timika was determining whether the eight bodies were those of other construction workers employed by PT Istaka Karya, a state-owned construction company, to build bridges on a section of the trans-Papua road network. 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. The workers are considered outsiders by the separatists. AP China yesterday demanded Canada release a Huawei Technologies executive who was arrested in a case that adds to technology tensions with Washington and threatens to complicate trade talks. Huaweis chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, faces possible extradition to the United States, according to Canadian authorities. The Globe and Mail newspaper, citing law enforcement sources, said she is suspected of trying to evade U.S. trade curbs on Iran. The timing is awkward following the announcement of a U.S.-Chinese cease-fire in a tariff war over Beijings technology policy. Meng was detained in Vancouver on Saturday, the day Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping met in Argentina and announced their deal. Stock markets tumbled on the news, fearing renewed U.S.-Chinese tensions that threaten global economic growth. Hong Kongs Hang Seng lost 2.5 percent and the DAX in Germany sank 1.8 percent. A Chinese government statement said Meng broke no U.S. or Canadian laws and demanded Canada immediately correct the mistake and release her. Beijing asked Washington and Ottawa to explain the reason for Mengs arrest, said a foreign ministry spokesman, Geng Shuang. He said arresting her without that violated her human rights. But the Ministry of Commerce signaled Beijing wants to avoid disrupting progress toward settling a dispute with Washington over technology policy that has led them to raise tariffs on billions of dollars of each others goods. China is confident they can reach a trade deal during the 90 days that Trump agreed to suspend U.S. tariff hikes, said a ministry spokesman, Gao Feng. Huawei Technologies Ltd., the biggest global supplier of network gear used by phone and internet companies, has been the target of deepening U.S. security concerns. Under Trump and his predecessor, Barack Obama, Washington has pressured European countries and other allies to limit use of its technology. The United States sees Huawei and smaller Chinese tech suppliers as possible fronts for spying and as commercial competitors. The Trump administration says they benefit from improper subsidies and market barriers. Trumps tariff hikes on Chinese imports stemmed from complaints Beijing steals or pressures foreign companies to hand over technology. But American officials also worry more broadly that Chinese plans for state-led creation of Chinese champions in robotics, artificial intelligence and other fields might erode U.S. industrial leadership. The United States is stepping up containment of China in all respects, said Zhu Feng, an international relations expert at Nanjing University. He said targeting Huawei, one of its most successful companies, will trigger anti-U.S. sentiment. The incident could turn out to be a breaking point, Zhu said. Last month, New Zealand blocked a mobile phone company from using Huawei equipment, saying it posed a significant network security risk. The company was banned in August from working on Australias fifth-generation network. Yesterday, British phone carrier BT said it was removing Huawei equipment from the core of its mobile phone networks. It said Huawei still is a supplier of other equipment and a valued innovation partner. The Wall Street Journal reported this year U.S. authorities are investigating whether Huawei violated sanctions on Iran. The Chinese government appealed to Washington to avoid any steps that might damage business confidence. Huaweis biggest Chinese rival, ZTE Corp., was nearly driven out of business this year when Washington barred it from buying U.S. technology over exports to North Korea and Iran. Trump restored access after ZTE agreed to pay a USD1 billion fine, replace its executive team and embed a U.S.-chosen compliance team in the company. Huawei is regarded as far stronger commercially than ZTE. Based in Shenzhen, near Hong Kong, Huawei has the biggest research and development budget of any Chinese company and a vast portfolio of patents, making it less dependent on American suppliers. Its growing smartphone brand is among the top three global suppliers behind Samsung Electronics and Apple Inc. by number of handsets sold. Meng was changing flights in Canada when she was detained on behalf of the United States of America to face unspecified charges in New York, according to a Huawei statement. The company has been provided very little information regarding the charges and is not aware of any wrongdoing by Ms. Meng, the statement said. A U.S. Justice Department spokesman declined to comment. Huawei said it complies with all laws and rules where it operates, including export controls and sanctions of the United Nations, the United States and European Union. Mengs arrest also threatened to inflame disagreements over Iran and Trumps decision to break with other governments and re-impose sanctions over the countrys nuclear development. Geng, the foreign ministry spokesman, said China objects to unilateral sanctions outside the United Nations. China has said it will continue to do business with Iran despite the possible threat of U.S. penalties. Meng is a prominent member of Chinas business world as deputy chairman of Huaweis board and the daughter of its founder Ren Zhengfei, a former Chinese military engineer. Despite that, her arrest is unlikely to derail trade talks, said Willy Lam, a politics specialist at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. I think too much is at stake for Xi Jinping. He desperately wants a settlement, said Lam. Longer term, however, the case will reinforce official Chinese urgency about developing domestic technology suppliers to reduce reliance on the United States, said Lam. Trump has pulled out all the stops to hamper Chinese ambitions to challenge the United States as a technology leader, Lam said. That includes imposing limits on visas for Chinese students to study science and technology. If the Chinese need further convincing, this case would show them beyond doubt Trumps commitment, said Lam. David Mulroney, a former Canadian ambassador to China, said U.S. and Canadian business executives could face reprisals in China. Thats something we should be watching out for. Its a possibility. China plays rough, Mulroney said. Its a prominent member of their society and its a company that really embodies Chinas quest for global recognition as a technology power.Joe McDonald & Rob Gillies, Beijing, AP The MSAR government signed an agreement with the National Development and Reform Commission yesterday, aimed at advancing Macaus participation in the Belt and Road initiative. The Chief Executive, Chui Sai On, and the Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission, He Lifeng, were co-signatories to the document during a ceremony held in Beijing. Following the signing ceremony, the first joint conference to coordinate work under the new agreement was held. According to a statement issued by the government, the arrangement covers matters including cooperation on financial services, economic and trade affairs, people-to-people exchanges, and cooperation between Macau and the other cities covered by the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area. Macau is expected to continue to develop as a financial services platform between China and Portuguese-speaking countries, in order to advance the internationalization of the renminbi. Macau is to develop as a major transport hub and an important logistics center of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. [] The document also seeks to help develop Macaus role as a base for multicultural exchange and cooperation with the goal of further promoting Chinese culture. The National Development and Reform Commission and other central authorities pledged to maintain close touch with the SAR Government including holding joint conferences on a regular basis in order to implement policies outlined in the agreement signed in Beijing. Speaker of the Senate of the Parliament of Kazakhstan Maulen Ashimbaev met with the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill during his working trip to Moscow, Kazpravda.kz reports with reference to the press service of the upper house of the Parliament of Kazakhstan. The Senate Speaker conveyed to the head of the Russian Orthodox Church the invitation of the President of the country, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, to take part in the next Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions, which will be held in September 2022. Maulen Ashimbayev noted that the people of Kazakhstan highly value the contribution of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill to the promotion of moral and ethical values in the modern world, to the development of interreligious dialogue, to strengthening peace and harmony between peoples. At the meeting, the sides discussed issues of preparation for the upcoming Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions. For 18 years, six congresses have taken place, and the Kazakhstani interreligious forum has become a representative and recognized dialogue platform. Taking this opportunity, I would like to express my gratitude to the Moscow Patriarchate for the constant and active support of this initiative of Kazakhstan," said the Speaker of the Senate. According to Maulen Ashimbaev, the topic of the upcoming forum is defined as "The role of leaders of world and traditional religions in the spiritual and social development of mankind in the post-pandemic period." The Speaker of the Senate stressed that in the new conditions it is important to unite efforts to find answers to the challenges of the modern world. During the conversation, the parties also noted the traditionally high level of relations between Kazakhstan and Russia. The First President of Kazakhstan - Elbasy Nursultan Nazarbayev has made and is making a huge contribution to the development of relations between the two countries. President of the country Kassym-Jomart Tokayev continues this policy and pays great attention to further strengthening relations between our countries. The Senate of the Parliament of Kazakhstan, for its part, does everything necessary for further development of Kazakh-Russian relations, including the legal support of the agreements reached by the leaders of our countries," the speaker of the Senate noted. In turn, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill expressed gratitude to the Head of State and gratefully accepted the invitation to take part in the work of the congress. The head of the Russian Orthodox Church highly appreciated the efforts of Kazakhstan to promote interreligious dialogue at the global level. Patriarch Kirill especially noted the outstanding role of the First President of Kazakhstan - Elbasy in strengthening the country's independence and forming an effective model of peace and harmony. He also noted the great contribution of the Head of State to maintaining the continuity of this policy and further strengthening public harmony in the country at the present stage. He also emphasized the high level of relations between Kazakhstan and Russia. He expressed confidence that spiritual leaders should do everything possible so that the allied partnership of our countries is strengthened and developed in the coming period. At the end of the meeting, the speaker of the Senate noted that, in general, Kazakhstan's initiatives in the field of interfaith dialogue are closely correlated with the activities of the Russian Orthodox Church. In this regard, Maulen Ashimbaev expressed readiness for further active cooperation to promote interreligious dialogue and accord at the international level. New Zealand police were searching yesterday for a 22-year-old British tourist who has been missing for five days and failed to contact her parents on her birthday. Grace Millane was last seen on Saturday evening in central Auckland. She had been staying at a backpacker hostel and left some of her belongings there. Her birthday was on Sunday and police said it was unusual for her not to contact her family then. Detective Inspector Scott Beard told reporters the investigation is focusing on videos from surveillance cameras around the city. He urged anyone who has seen Millane or knows her to contact police. The police investigation today has concentrated on her movements and activities in Auckland since shes arrived in New Zealand, Beard said. A large part of that focus has been around CCTV footage around Auckland. Police released a blurry image of Millane taken from a surveillance camera in which she is wearing a black dress and white sneakers. The longer this goes on the more concerning it is, Beard said. At the moment, we dont have any evidence of foul play but were keeping an open mind. Beard said Millanes father was on his way to New Zealand. Millanes brother, Michael Millane, posted an appeal for help on Facebook. He said they had been in contact with the British High Commission in Wellington. Grace has been missing for five days, he wrote. She has not returned to her hostel room in Auckland, New Zealand, and family members have had no contact since Saturday 1st December. AP A federal jury convicted a Hong Kong businessman yesterday [Macau time] of bribing the presidents of two African nations to secure oil rights for a Chinese energy conglomerate, a case that stretched from the halls of the United Nations and highlighted the often blurry line between nongovernmental organizations and private enterprise. Dr. Chi Ping Patrick Ho was found guilty of seven of eight counts, including conspiracy, money laundering and violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in a case that involved several former presidents of the United Nations General Assembly. Hos attorneys did not dispute that he made the payments, including USD2 million secreted in gift boxes delivered to the president of Chad in 2014. But they insisted the transactions were charitable donations intended to foster goodwill in Chad and Uganda and expand the business of CEFC China Energy . Ho, 69, showed little emotion after the verdict was announced. He addressed reporters briefly in Cantonese as he left the courtroom, saying the outcome had been expected. Hos defense attorneys said they had not yet decided whether they would appeal the verdict. U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska set sentencing for March 14. The jury harbored little doubt of Hos criminal intent but spent some time debating whether the U.S. Justice Department had jurisdiction on some of the counts, said Margaret Ann Withers, the jury foreperson. There was just a lot of evidence, Withers said outside the courtroom. Ho was charged and tried in New York, prosecutors said, because several relevant meetings, communications and wire transfers occurred in Manhattan. Hos repeated attempts to corrupt foreign leaders were not business as usual but criminal efforts to undermine the fairness of international markets and erode the publics faith in its leaders, U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman said in a statement. Prosecutors portrayed Ho, an ophthalmologist and former secretary for home affairs in Hong Kong, as an astute bagman who parlayed his position at the helm of CEFC China Energys nonprofit think tank to befriend and line the pockets of government officials as the oil and gas company sought new business ventures around the world. Perhaps the most colorful, and critical, testimony in the trial came from Cheikh Gadio, a former foreign minister to Senegal who had been indicted with Ho before agreeing to testify. The energy conglomerate engaged Gadio as a consultant. Ho relied on him for an introduction to President Idriss Deby of Chad. Gadio told jurors Deby became enraged after his security team discovered $2 million in cash had been included in more than a half dozen gift boxes the energy company presented during a visit to the presidential compound. Deby said his first impulse was to expel the companys delegation from his country. Gadio said the president asked him why people believe that all African leaders are corrupt. Gadio said Ho told the president he was impressed by his refusal of the bribe . He said CEFC insisted the Chadian government keep the cash as a charitable donation. This is not how legitimate business is done, Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas Zolkind said. Its bribery. Hos defense attorneys claimed it was Gadio who suggested the bribe. Ho did not testify during the seven-day trial. Jim Mustian, New York, AP Philippine immigration authorities say they have arrested an American Roman Catholic priest accused of sexually assaulting altar boys in a remote central town in a case one official described as shocking and appalling. Bureau of Immigration spokeswoman Dana Sandoval said yesterday the Rev. Kenneth Bernard Hendricks, who has been indicted in Ohio for alleged illicit sexual conduct in the Philippines, was arrested in a church in Naval town on the island province of Biliran. An Ohio court had issued a warrant for the arrest of 77-year-old Hendricks, who has been living in the Philippines for 37 years, Sandoval said, adding that the U.S. criminal case stemmed from complaints from Filipino minors who were allegedly victimized in the Philippines. There was no immediate reaction from the U.S. Embassy, Philippine Catholic church officials or Hendricks, who was flown to Manila and detained in an immigration cell. The suspect allegedly abused seven victims, who served mostly as altar boys in Naval, in 50 counts of molestation in his residence in a case thats both shocking and appalling, Sandoval said. The victims were in his house and the abuses were committed while he was taking a bath with each of them, Sandoval said by telephone. U.S. authorities provided information about the alleged sexual assaults to the Philippine government, she said. The victims were reportedly warned they would be locked up in jail if they told anyone about the abuses, she said. Several of his victims have come forward with their statements, Sandoval said. The U.S. Embassy may revoke Hendricks passport to help Philippine authorities immediately deport the priest, the immigration bureau said in a statement. Hendricks is a fugitive from justice that poses a risk to public safety and security, Sandoval said. We will not allow sexual predators to prey on our children. People like him must be kicked out and banned from the Philippines. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has repeatedly lashed out at the dominant Catholic church and its priests over such abuses, saying he himself along with other students were sexually molested by an American priest in their high school days. In separate speeches Wednesday, the volatile leader claimed almost 90 percent of Catholic priests were homosexual and also admonished Catholics to kill your bishops, they are useless fools. All they do is criticize. Im telling you, the most hypocritical institution in the entire Philippines is the Catholic church and the pope knows that, Duterte said. A Catholic priest and Duterte critic, Amado Picardal, said the presidents remarks on the church may be aimed at diverting public attention from his widely criticized deadly war on drugs, the governments failure to stop the smuggling of illegal drugs into the country, continuing poverty, corruption and other issues. He said Duterte may also feel threatened by the Catholic church, which played a role in the ouster of two Philippine presidents, including the 1986 overthrow of dictator Ferdinand Marcos. AP A massive hack into hotel group Marriott International Inc. may have been an intelligence-gathering operation by Chinas government, Reuters cited unidentified sources as saying. Private investigators found hacking tools, techniques and procedures that featured in past attacks attributed to Chinese hackers, according to the report. But other parties have access to the same tools, meaning China can only be described as lead suspect, Reuters sources said. Our primary objectives in this investigation are figuring out what occurred and how we can best help our guests, a Marriott spokesperson told Bloomberg News by email. We have no information about the cause of this incident and we have not speculated about the identity of the attacker. Marriott is tallying the cost of one of the biggest corporate hacks in history, which exposed the personal data of some 500 million guests through a breach of its Starwood Hotels and Resorts reservation system from 2014. A Chinese connection might be less significant for the company than for the U.S. government, which is clashing with the rising super-power over technology and trade. Identifying the culprit is even harder because investigators suspect multiple hacking groups may have simultaneously been inside Marriott computer networks since 2014, Reuters quoted one of the sources as saying. The incident will seem less of a failure on Marriotts part if the Chinese government turns out to be the perpetrator, James Lewis, director of the technology policy program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Bloomberg News. No corporation can take on a government and expect to win, he said. China foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang, speaking at a regular press briefing Thursday, said that while he wasnt aware of the specific case, I believe China firmly opposes and cracks down on all forms of hacking. We firmly oppose any groundless accusations on the issue of cyber security. The hotel group disclosed the attack last week. Bloomberg Two women have been arrested for fraud after they were discovered keeping two non-local workers salaries (estimated at MOP220,000). The two women are sisters, both surnamed Wu. One is 61 years old (Macau resident) and the other is 57 years old (Hong Kong resident). The police found more than 300 bank books, 24 bank cards and 24 agreements in the womens apartments. The suspects company employs more than 100 non-local workers in construction projects. The Judiciary Police did not rule out the possibility of more victims. Govt insists on not having cameras inside taxis The government has insisted that cameras not be installed inside taxis, according to the Third Standing Committee of the Legislative Assembly. Chairman of the Committee Wong Hin Fai noted that more than half of the committees members hoped the government would reconsider the proposal. Lawmakers proposed the installation of cameras in the back of taxis at an 8 oclock position, which would not be allowed to record either the drivers or the passengers faces. However, the government did not provide a reply to the lawmakers. The city of Almaty introduces new approaches to the formation of a market of qualified foreign workforce. The procedure to obtain a permit for work purposes by foreign specialists has become simpler, they informed in the Department of Employment and Social Programmes of the city. The city held a conference themed 'Formation of a effective migration policy within the improvement of an investment climate' involving Chairman of the Committee of Labor, Social Protection and Migration of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of Population of Kazakhstan Akmadi Sarbasov, Deputy Chairman of the Federation of Trade Unions of Kazakhstan Mukhtar Tinikeyev, Deputy Chairman of the Migration Service Committee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kazakhstan Arman Sadanov and 200 foreign companies operating in Almaty. So a Centre of Migration Services in the Alatau District involving tax services, banks, medical facilities was opened in Almaty this year. The Centre provides such services as the medical examination, getting an insurance policy, and IIN. The same center is planned to be launched in the Nauryzbay District. In addition, the filling process has been shortened from 3 months to 30 days. The search for candidates by publishing vacancies in publications was canceled. Almaty has become the first region of Kazakhstan to fully switch to an electronic form of the submission of documents on elicense.kz According to Director of Work Permits Kazakhstan Daniyar Ibragimov, the conference was organized primarily for the enterprises with foreign specialists. We have established this platform so foreign specialists could voice all their concerns, produce their proposals to representatives of government structures. Now open and trustful relations are established between government agencies and investors. The attraction of qualified foreign specialists creates conditions for ensuring the competitiveness of the economy. In addition, international specialists pass over their knowledge, experiences, qualifications, and specialization to local colleagues," said Ibragimov. On top of that, the staying order of tourists is being simplified in the city. For instance, citizens of 45 states are freed to obtain visas for up to 30 days, as well as foreign citizens from 48 states, are registered by the local border guard of the Security Committee of Kazakhstan when entering the country up to the entire period of staying. Citizens of Russia, Belarus and Kyrgyzstan are freed to register up to 30 days since the entry day, citizens of Ukraine - up to 90 days. Tourists from China and India in transit through the Almaty International Airport enjoy a 70-hour regime to enter, stay and leave the country. 90 hotels, hostels and motels of Almaty also registrate foreign visitors online. To attract foreign investors and specialists, Almaty has allocated 6 thousand quotas for 2018, involving specialists from Turkey, USA, Canada, South Korea, Western and Eastern Europe, which drive the development of construction, hotel business, oil and gas and trade in Almaty. Now 14 thousand enterprises involving foreign capital and workforce ply in the city, as well as 45 thousand foreign dwellers. Images | aboutoutdoors.wordpress.com Air Astana announced the restoration of regular flights to India. Flights will be operated from December 16, 2021, 3 times a week on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays on an Airbus A320, Kazpravda.kz reports. Departure of the flight from Almaty at 07:50, arrival in Delhi at 11.10. Return flight from Delhi at 12:20, arriving in Almaty at 16:40. The duration of a one-way flight will be 3 hours 50 minutes. Transit passengers from Kiev, Bishkek, Istanbul, Tbilisi and Baku are offered convenient connections," the press service said. The cost of tickets in economy class in both directions, including airport, fuel and other taxes, starts from 234 755 tenge, in business class 453 419 tenge. All passengers flying to Delhi, including children, must fill out a form on the portal , and passengers over 5 years old must also upload a negative PCR test for COVID-19, made no earlier than 72 hours before arrival. In addition, before boarding an aircraft in the country of departure and after arrival, each passenger must undergo a thermometry procedure. If a traveler is diagnosed with symptoms of coronavirus infection, he will be sent for isolation to a medical facility in the republic. Unvaccinated or partially vaccinated tourists will need to take a COVID-19 test upon arrival in India, go through a seven-day home quarantine and take a second PCR test on the eighth day after arrival. Fully vaccinated passengers are exempt from these requirements, the airline said. Credit: CC0 Public Domain According to the latest World Health Organization (WHO) report on road safety, more than 1.3 million people die on the world's roadways each yearand millions more are injured or disabled. Yet despite the huge cost to families from New York to Mumbai, that death toll has not changed much in the last decade. A commentary published today in The Lancet Public Health says that these reports, while extremely valuable, have not brought about the needed change, and it is time to start holding policymakers accountable for making roads safer. "More than a million people are dying from traffic crashes on roadways around the worldand that death toll has not declined since 2009," said Adnan Hyder, MD, MPH, Ph.D., senior associate dean for research and professor of global health at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health (Milken Institute SPH), who authored the commentary. "While we see bright spots where road injuries have been reduced, the widespread change needed to prevent these deaths across the world has not happened so far." Hyder goes on to say that the new 2018 Global Status Report on Road Safety serves as a valuable tool for monitoring the risks, outcomes and progress related to road safety but such measurements alone do not bring down the death toll. What needs to happen? First, Hyder says that governments must commit to reducing traffic deaths by delegating both authority and financial resources to make roadways safer. Second, WHO and partners must support a truly multi-sectoral approach to road safety and make it a priority not only for health and transportation officials but also for those in the environment, justice, education and economic sectors. Third, WHO needs to provide support, operational assistance and implementation guidance so that member countries can actually put in place effective interventions on the ground to make roads safer. Fourth, WHO and partners must help develop the relatively weak non-governmental sector around this issue. Expansion of non-governmental organizations that take an interest in road safety will help promote social and political change on a broad scale, he says. Finally, the commentary says WHO and partners must acknowledge threats to road safety, including those posed by industry. For example, Hyder says the alcohol industry "openly engages and promotes action that at best have little or no evidence of impact." He calls on the United Nations to adopt a policy of non-engagement with industries where there is such potential for conflict of interest. "Safe roads are of critical importance for people around the world," Hyder said. "Accepting our lack of progress is the first step to developing a strong and sustainable set of actions for changing the status quo on global road safety." The commentary, "Measurement is Not Enough for Global Road Safety: Implementation is the Key," was published Dec. 7 in The Lancet Public Health. Explore further Researchers recommend steps to improve implementation of global road safety More information: Adnan A Hyder. Measurement is not enough for global road safety: implementation is key, The Lancet Public Health (2018). Adnan A Hyder. Measurement is not enough for global road safety: implementation is key,(2018). DOI: 10.1016/S2468-2667(18)30262-7 This graphic compares the economic indicators for people and without disabilities. Both groups had increases in their employment-to-population ratio and labor participation rate. Credit: Kessler Foundation Americans with disabilities saw modest job gains in November, indicating the continuation of an upward trend, according to today's National Trends in Disability EmploymentMonthly Update (nTIDE), issued by Kessler Foundation and the University of New Hampshire's Institute on Disability (UNH-IOD). These gains extend the upward trend that resumed in August 2018, following a brief downturn. On December 3, during the commemoration of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities at the United Nations, a minute of silence honored President George H. W. Bush, who died on November 30. In 1990, Bush proudly signed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), calling it "the world's first comprehensive declaration of equality for people with disabilities." Almost three decades later, the ADA continues to ensure fair and just access to community life and the workplace for individuals with disabilities. In the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Jobs Report released Friday, December 7, the employment-to-population ratio for working-age people with disabilities increased slightly from 30.0 percent in November 2017 to 30.7 percent in November 2018 (up 2.3 percent or 0.7 percentage points). For working-age people without disabilities, the employment-to-population ratio also increased slightly from 73.6 percent in November 2017 to 74.3 percent in November 2018 (up 1 percent or 0.7 percentage points). The employment-to-population ratio, a key indicator, reflects the percentage of people who are working relative to the total population (the number of people working divided by the number of people in the total population multiplied by 100). "These November data continue the upward trend in economic indicators for people with disabilities," said John O'Neill, Ph.D., director of employment and disability research at Kessler Foundation. "The continued strength in the labor market is producing higher demand for workers, including jobseekers with disabilities." The labor force participation rate for working-age people with disabilities increased slightly from 33.1 percent in November 2017 to 33.5 percent in November 2018 (up 1.2 percent or 0.4 percentage points). For working-age people without disabilities, the labor force participation rate also increased slightly from 76.5 percent in November 2017 to 76.9 percent in November 2018 (up 0.5 percent or 0.4 percentage points). The labor force participation rate is the percentage of the population that is working or actively looking for work. "These are pretty modest gains for both people with and without disabilities," said Andrew Houtenville, Ph.D., associate professor of economics and research director of the UNH-IOD. "While it is good to see the continued increase in the employment and participation of people with disabilities, there is still a long way to go toward closing the gap between people with and without disabilities," he emphasized. At the signing of the ADA, President Bush addressed the potential benefits for American business. Advances in civil rights and accessibility meant that individuals with disabilities would be better positioned to contribute to the workforce, providing a new source of workers. "Today, we know that the majority of Americans with disabilities are striving to work," remarked Dr. O'Neill, "and that many are succeeding in overcoming obstacles to finding and maintaining work by getting further education or necessary training, and finding solutions to transportation issues." Jobseekers with disabilities find some barriers more difficult to overcome, however, according to the 2015 Kessler Foundation National Employment and Disability Survey. They cite a major barrier to be employers' underestimation of their ability to do the job. In 1990, President Bush told employers that jobseekers with disabilities had "only one request: the chance to prove themselves." Given that opportunity, they "would move proudly into the mainstream of American life." The spotlight on the Bush legacy provides the opportunity to focus efforts on the persistent barriers to greater participation in the workplace. "President Bush understood that hiring people with disabilities benefits employers and our economy, as well as the individuals who gain greater independence," noted Dr. O'Neill. "When more employers recognize that they can rely on employees with disabilities, more job seekers with disabilities will effectively compete for jobs. Let's encourage employers across the nation to raise their expectations and honor his memory by hiring people with disabilities, thus providing opportunities for them to succeed." In November 2018, among workers ages 16-64, the 4,726,000 workers with disabilities represented 3.2 percent of the total 146,968,000 workers in the U.S. The next nTIDE will be issued on Friday, January 4, 2019. Each nTIDE release is followed by a Lunch & Learn webinar at 12:00 pm Eastern. This live broadcast, hosted via Zoom Webinar, offers attendees Q&A on the latest nTIDE findings, provides news and updates from the field, as well as invited panelists to discuss current disability-related findings and events. On December 7, Maria Kukla, Ph.D., HSPP, research scientist and clinical psychologist from Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis (IUPUI), joins Dr. Houtenville, Dr. O'Neill, and Denise Rozell, Policy Strategist at AUCD, to discuss the use of cognitive behavioral therapy for employment success. Join live, or watch the recordings at: http://www.ResearchonDisability.org/nTIDE. Explore further Rise in indicators extends positive trend for Americans with disabilities More information: The statistics in the nTIDE are based on Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers, but are not identical. They are customized by UNH to combine the statistics for men and women of working age (16 to 64). nTIDE is funded, in part, by grants from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) (9ORT5022 and 90RT5017) and Kessler Foundation. Provided by Kessler Foundation Multigene tests have been used in breast cancer treatment to assess the risk of metastasis for several years. A team at the Breast Cancer Center at the Technical University of Munich's (TUM) Klinikum rechts der Isar has now presented results based on data collected in its routine clinical work. These results show that the multigene test used at the university hospital is indeed helpful in making more targeted use of chemotherapy treatments and thus improves prognosis of breast cancer patients. Since November 2011, the Gynecological Clinic at Klinikum rechts der Isar has used a multigene test for patients with early hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer. Using tissue samples and other clinical indicators, the test helps to determine a patient's risk of metastasis. "Based on the test results, which combine molecularbiological properties of the tumor along with the individual factors of tumor size and the presence of cancer in lymph nodes, doctors decide whether chemotherapy is recommended in addition to the surgical removal of the tumor followed by anti-hormone treatment," explains Prof. Marion Kiechle, the Director of the Gynecological Clinic. "In case of a low metastasis risk, chemotherapy may place an unnecessary burden on the patient. But in case of a high risk, it may prevent tumors from relapsing later." At the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium in the USA, one of the world's most important congresses in that field, Dr. Johannes Ettl, Head Physician of the Gyneco-Oncological Outpatient Clinic, Technical University of Munich, Germany has now presented the results of an independent study not commissioned by a test manufacturer of the test used at the Breast Center. 373 patients tested For the study, Dr. Ettl and his team tracked 373 breast cancer patients from the start of initial treatment and the related multigene test. The test indicated a low risk for 238 patients (63.8%) and a high risk for 135 (36.2%). After a median follow up of 3.5 years, the risk for disease recurrence was twice as high in the high-risk group as in the low-risk group. Similarly, high risk patients were at five-fold increased risk of developing metastases in other organs. The low-risk and high-risk patients who received chemotherapy in addition to anti-hormone tablets had three-year disease free survival rates of 96.6% and 96.3%, respectively. By contrast, for high-risk patients who did not receive chemotherapy despite the doctors' recommendation based on the test results, the rate was only 91.5%. "Our health care study has delivered the first data from routine clinical practice indicating that the test does, in fact, provide useful input when deciding on chemotherapy," says Prof. Kiechle. "Gene signature tests are important tools that help us to make more targeted use of chemotherapy treatments, both by limiting unnecessarily stressful treatments and avoiding the potentially serious consequences of rejecting chemotherapy in case of high metastasis risks." Explore further Delaying adjuvant chemo associated with worse outcomes for patients with triple-negative breast cancer More information: First prospective outcome data for the clinico-molecular test Endopredict in hormone receptor positive, HER2-negative early breast cancer in clinical routine , First prospective outcome data for the clinico-molecular test Endopredict in hormone receptor positive, HER2-negative early breast cancer in clinical routine , www.abstracts2view.com/sabcs18 =SABCS18L_1275&terms Credit: MEDILIGHT Consortium A smart dressing that uses blue-light therapy for wound healing and which can also monitor and treat infections has been developed by an EU-funded consortium. Blue light is already known for its anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory effects, but now the EU-funded MEDILIGHT consortium has harnessed it to aid the healing of chronic wounds such as those suffered by patients with diabetes. "The aim is to have a non-chemical solution for chronic wounds," says project coordinator Dionysios Manessis of the System Integration and Interconnection Technologies Department, Technical University Berlin. "We found that blue light originally thought to be good for disinfection also produces good results for proliferation of keratinocytes and fibroblaststhe types of skin cells needed for wound closure." With EUR 3 million of EU funding for just over three years, the research team was able to produce a smart wearable device from scratch. The prototype consists of a soft, flexible foil with blue LEDs (light emitting diodes) and sensors. This is inserted into a transparent pocket over the wound dressing. Attached to the foil is a small electronic box containing the circuit board with, among other components, the LED driver that regulates the intensity of blue light and a microcontroller or smart interface that acquires and analyses the sensor data so that adjustments to the light therapy regime can be made for each individual patient. "The threethe flexible foil, the electronic box and the wound dressingfit together as one holistic MEDILIGHT device," Dr. Manessis explains. The foil's sensors monitor temperature and blood oxygen levels at the wound siteoxygen levels indicate that the wound is healing while raised temperatures can be a sign of inflammation and infection. This data is communicated to the electronic box. Testing of light therapy effects In the first stages of healing, blue light irradiation inhibits the formation of bacterial colonies. Once the wound is disinfected, blue light intensity can be adjusted to prevent premature skin growth. "There has to be a good synchronisation of therapy schedules so that the wound does not close before it is disinfected and the risk of trapping bacteria inside the wound is completely eliminated," says Dr. Manessis. In vitro studies on different bacterial strains revealed that blue light can prevent several strains common in infected wounds from reproducing and kills some types of bacteria. "The effect of blue light on skin cell proliferation was tested in vitro, using different light intensities and wavelengths, and in vivo on mice, and has been patented," says Dr. Manessis. Innovative materials and software The biggest technical challenge was minimising light loss so that sufficient blue light reaches the wound and ensuring heat generated by the LEDs is dissipated efficiently. "LEDs can generate heat and the temperature can rise up to 4250 degrees, depending on the length of the light therapy," Dr. Manessis explains. To address this, new wound dressing materials were developed by consortium partner URGO, France, and an advanced flex foil was designed and manufactured that enhances heat management. An innovative sensor acquisition interface and new software were developed under the project to transfer data wirelessly to a smartphone for evaluation and therapy adjustments. A functional prototype flex foil that can be worn under the foot in a special shoe was also developed, connected wirelessly to the electronic box and controlled by a smartphone app that a health professional can use. Human clinical trials on healthy and diabetic individuals will be conducted by URGO in the next stage of development towards product commercialisation. Explore further Researchers develop new method to diagnose, monitor chronic wounds Credit: CC0 Public Domain Taking cholesterol-lowering drugs, or statins, as a preventive measure can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. A study by the University of Zurich now shows that this measure is recommended too often, as current guidelines fail to take into account the risks of side effects. Even healthy people who don't suffer from a cardiovascular disease are prescribed cholesterol-lowering drugs, known as statins, if they meet certain risk criteria. However, for years the use of statins for primary prevention has been hotly debated among experts. "Ultimately, this measure helps to prevent heart attacks or strokes in only a few cases. But all people who take statins are at risk of experiencing the side effects," says Milo Puhan, professor of epidemiology and public health at the University of Zurich. No systematic studies for guidelines When deciding whether to prescribe statins to a patient, doctors use a number of risk factors such as cholesterol level, BMI and smoking to determine the likelihood of a person suffering a heart attack or stroke in the next 10 years. If this figure reaches or exceeds 10 percent, many medical guidelines recommend the use of statins; however, some guidelines put this number at 7.5 percent, whereas a Swiss association of general practitioners only suggests doing so from 20 percent. If these guidelines, most of which are drawn up by cardiology organizations, are to be believed, more than one third of all people between the age of 40 and 75 would have to take statins as a preventive measure in other words, hundreds of millions of people around the world. According to Puhan, however, these guidelines were drawn up without properly taking into account the unwanted side effects, such as muscle pain, cataracts, liver defects or diabetes. "The thresholds set by experts aren't based on any systematic studies." Weighing up benefits and harmful effects Striking a good balance between the benefits and the harmful side effects is therefore one of the great challenges of developing improved guidelines for preventive statin use. This is why Prof. Milo Puhan and his team at the Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Prevention Institute of UZH have now for the first time carried out a comprehensive statistical modeling study. The researchers systematically compiled all data from specialist literature that documents the benefits and side effects of the preventive use of statins. To include the view of patients in their model, they also performed a survey among healthy people about the significance of heart attacks, strokes and certain side effects. Using this information, the scientists determined new thresholds for men and women across different age groups between 40 and 75. They also compared the benefits and unwanted side effects of four widely used statin preparations. Recommendation given to too many people "Our study shows that today statins are recommended far too often," says Puhan about the study's findings. According to his estimates, the newly set thresholds could cut the number of people who are given a recommendation to take statins by half. The benefits of cholesterol-lowering drugs have been greatly exaggerated particularly when it comes to senior citizens: For the 70 to 75 age group, the study's model put the threshold at approx. 21 percent in other words, the benefits of statins outweigh the harm from potential side effects of statins only if there's a 21 percent risk or higher that a person will suffer a heart attack or a stroke in the next 10 years. For men and women aged 40 to 45, the threshold is slightly lower, at 14 percent and 17 percent respectively. The researchers also noted that two of the four examined statin preparations, atorvastatin and rosuvastatin, had a significantly better balance of benefits and harms than the other two (simvastatin und pravastatin). Considering the study's findings, Puhan recommends that all people concerned should discuss their individual risk for cardiovascular disease as well as possible side effects with their doctors before deciding whether to take statins as a preventive measure. Explore further Evidence does not support statin use for conditions other than heart disease More information: Henock G. Yebyo et al. Finding the Balance Between Benefits and Harms When Using Statins for Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease, Annals of Internal Medicine (2018). Journal information: Annals of Internal Medicine Henock G. Yebyo et al. Finding the Balance Between Benefits and Harms When Using Statins for Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease,(2018). DOI: 10.7326/M18-1279 WPI biologist Pamela Weathers with the plant Artemisia annua, or sweet wormwood, which performed better that the frontline drug against the tropical disease schistosomiases in a clinical trial she helped run in Africa. Credit: Worcester Polytechnic Institute Tea infusions made from two species of the wormwood plant cured the tropical disease schistosomiasis significantly faster than the drug most commonly used against the ailmentand with no adverse side effectsin a large clinical trial conducted in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The study's authors, including a professor and two research associates at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), say the treatment should be considered for implementation on a global scale. Schistosomiasis, which is caused by parasitic flatworms, affects nearly 210 million people worldwide, primarily in Africa, Asia, and South America, and is responsible for about 200,000 deaths each year, according to the World Health Organization. Infecting the intestines and urinary tract, it causes a range of symptoms, including abdominal pain and diarrhea, and in more severe case can lead to liver damage, kidney failure, and even bladder cancer. The only cost-effective treatment is praziquantel, or PZQ, a drug used to treat a number of parasitic worm infections. Previous clinical trials have shown that the effectiveness of PZQ is enhanced when it is administered along with one of three anti-malarial drugs: artemisinin, artesunate, or artemether. Artemisinin is a chemical derived from the sweet wormwood plant, Artemisia annua, while the other two are chemically synthesized from artemisinin. While artesunate alone was found to be less effective than PZQ at eliminating the disease in the same trial, anecdotal reports suggest that a tea made from the Artemisia annua plant has been used successfully as a treatment for schistosomiasis. "In preclinical studies, we showed that ingesting the dried leaves of Artemisia annua effectively eliminates the parasite that causes malaria," said Pamela Weathers, professor of biology and biotechnology at WPI, a co-author of the new study who is also currently overseeing the first clinical trial involving the use of dried leaf Artemisia (DLA) against malaria. "Some of the plant's antimalarial properties would be expected to have a similar effect on the schistosomiasis parasite, so it made sense to explore the effects of orally ingested leaves of the plant on that disease, as well." In the study conducted by researchers in Africa, Europe, and the United States and published in the journal Phytomedicine ("Effect of Artemisia annua and Artemisia afra tea infusions on schistosomiasis in a large clinical trial," December 2018), 800 patients from Maniema Province in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) who exhibited signs of schistosomiasis infection were assigned to one of three groups. One group was treated with PZQ, while patients in the other two drank about a third of a liter of a tea infusion made from the dried leaves and twigs of either Artemisia annua or Artemisia afra (another member of the wormwood genus) three times daily. Patients were considered cured when no more parasite eggs were found in their stool samples. The results showed that both of the Artemisia tea infusions were just as effective in eliminating the parasite as PZQ, but that they achieved that result in two-thirds of the time14 days, vs. 21 days for PZQ. And while many of the patients receiving PZQ suffered adverse side effects (more than 18 percent experienced abdominal pain, for example, and more than 26 percent had headaches), no side effects were reported among those who consumed the teas. "This is an important study with promising results" said Lucile Cornet-Vernet, vice president of La Maison de l'Artemisia, a non-governmental organization in Paris, the corresponding author of the Phytomedicine paper. "It points to the need for more studies like this to better understand the medicinal value of Artemisia. Finding support for such studies has proven challenging, but it is important that we try, since this work benefits humanity." Artemisia annua is categorized as a "generally recognized as safe" (GRAS) medicinal herb by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which means it is safe to add to foods and can be consumed without adverse effects. Made into a tea, the plant has been consumed as a remedy for malaria for hundreds of years in Asia, though it was not until 1972 that Chinese scientist Tu Youyou isolated artemisinin from the plant and demonstrated its effectiveness against malaria, a discovery that won her the 2015 Nobel Prize in Medicine. Weathers said one of the most intriguing aspects of the results of the clinical trial in the DRC is that extracts of both species of wormwood were effective against schistosomiasis, even though only one, Artemisia annua, contains artemisinin (Artemisia afra has been found to contain, at most, trace amounts). "Each species of Artemisia contains a unique, complex mixture of phytochemicals, a number of which have been shown to have antimalarial properties," Weathers said. "The results of this study make it clear that the effectiveness of Artemisia against schistosomiasis and malaria is not due to artemisinin, alone. The plants should really be considered rich combination therapies." In her research, Weathers has compared the effectiveness of administering the dried leaves of Artemisia annua, ground up and made into tablets or capsules, to that of the standard malarial treatment, artemisinin combination therapy, or ACT, in which artemisinin is combined with one or more other anti-malarial drugs. In animal trials, her team has shown that the body more readily absorbs artemisinin from the plant than from the drug, that the plant-based therapy is more effective in eliminating the malaria parasite, and that the plant-based therapy may avoid the problem of drug resistance.Weathers believes that these differences between ACT and DLA are due to the presence of the other phytochemicals with medicinal properties in DLA. Weathers noted that Artemisia's utility as a medicine goes beyond its demonstrated effectiveness as a treatment for schistosomiases and malaria. She said many species of wormwood, including Artemisia annua and Artemisia afra, grow naturally in areas of the world where tropical diseases are rampant and that the processes of growing, harvesting, and processing the plant and producing the DLA capsules or tablets can be done locally and even become the basis for local businesses, which could significantly lower the cost of treating these diseases and increase the availability of effective treatments. Also, Weathers noted that while the schistosomiasis trial tested the effectiveness of tea infusions, she has chosen to focus her own studies on the efficacy of ingesting the plant, itself. "Tea infusions are the traditional way to get the benefits of Artemisia, but they have some disadvantages," she said. "First, the tea must be prepared carefully to ensure that the beneficial compounds from the plant end up in the tea, and this may not be easy for everyone to do. Second, for many people, the tea will taste very bitter, and may simply not be palatable to some patients, especially children. With the tablets and capsules containing the dried plant, the dosage can be carefully controlled, storage is possible, and most people have no problem consuming them." Cornet-Vernet said that her organization will continue to focus on tea infusions since she believes that they offer a more affordable option for the poorest residents of Africa and other areas impacted by tropical diseases. In addition, she said the widespread problem of fraudulent medications in Africa has led her non-governmental organization to favor a treatment that people can create themselves, from plants they grow on their own property. "People in Africa are used to making tea infusions," she said. "This is something that is very familiar to them, and it can save lives." Explore further New whole plant therapy shows promise as an effective and economical treatment for malaria More information: Jerome Munyangi et al. Effect of Artemisia annua and Artemisia afra tea infusions on schistosomiasis in a large clinical trial, Phytomedicine (2018). DOI: 10.1016/j.phymed.2018.10.014 The low unemployment rate in the U.S.which fell to a 49 year-low in September and Octoberis good news to many people, but perhaps not to residents of nursing homes. A Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) study found that quality of care in nursing homes improves during periods of recession and worsens when the economy is good. The reason, according to the investigation, published in The Gerontologist, is likely linked to how the strength of the economy affects the ability of nursing homes to maintain adequate staffing levels and retain employees, researchers say. The study found that when staffing is tight during low unemployment rates, nursing homes are more likely to suffer from symptoms of inadequate care. Nursing home care is highly labor intensive and mainly delivered by nurses and nurse aides. Most nursing home residents have cognitive dysfunction or physical impairment, and require 24/7 care and providing this care can be physically and mentally taxing, making it difficult for nursing homes to hire and retain staff. "During economic downturns, many people are willing to take positions with work environments they may not prefer because there aren't many options. But when the economy is good, there are plenty of employment opportunities and taking a nursing home job may not be that attractive," says the study's principal investigator, Sean Shenghsiu Huang, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Health Systems Administration at GUMC's School of Nursing & Health Studies. This is among the first known studies to examine whether fluctuations in business cycles (economic expansions and recessions) affects quality of nursing home care, nursing staff levels, and turnover/retention of staff. The study examines more than a decade of records. Data from 2001 through 2015 were drawn from multiple data sources, such as state annual recertification of all Medicare and Medicaid certified nursing homes (about 15,000 nursing homes), and county-level unemployment rates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. These data include two economic expansions and contractions. Statistical models were estimated to determine the effect the unemployment rate had on nursing home quality and staffing outcomes. Researchers found that higher unemployment rates are associated with a statistically significant improvement in quality. Nursing homes were found to be more compliant with health regulations during period of higher unemployment. And nursing home residents, on average, were less likely to have pressure ulcers, be physically restrained, or have significant weight lossall measures of care quality. "It is clear from our data that as unemployment rates increased, nursing home quality was higher as fewer residents would develop pressure ulcers, be restrained, and experience weight loss," Huang says. "This is likely due to nursing home staff. Higher unemployment rates are linked to higher nursing staff levels. In these recessions, nursing homes were better able to retain their staff and reduce turnover." The study also found that when unemployment rates were low, nursing homes have lower nursing staff levels, higher employee turnover, and lower staff retention rates. Because most care is provided by nurses and nurse aides, maintaining adequate and stable workforce is important for delivering high quality of care, researchers say. For example, high turnover of staff inhibits the ability of nursing homes to consistently assign staff to the same resident, a practice that is associated with quality care. However, nursing homes have high turnover rates. Given today's low unemployment rates, it will be challenging to maintain or even attempt to lower the turnover rates, say the investigators. Any efforts to address this issue need to target helping nursing homes with workforce challenges they face during economic expansions, the authors say. "The solution lies with changes to federal and state policy, such as measures to increase reimbursement for nursing home care with the goal of paying staff enough to make these positions attractive," Huang says. "In general, the work environment offered by nursing homes are not considered desirableand this situation, especially in today's economy, needs to be addressed through better compensation and benefits." Any effort to improve the compensation and benefits of nursing home workers would require efforts from federal and state policymakers as almost three quarters of nursing home residents are funded by Medicare and Medicaid, he says. "Policymakers and researchers have long been concerned about nursing home quality, and this study suggests strong action is needed now." Huang says. Explore further Updated staffing data lowers ratings for many nursing homes @alextdaugherty As Debbie Mucarsel-Powell of Miami and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York shivered while waiting for the official House of Representatives photo on a cold November morning outside the U.S. Capitol, Donna Shalala was nice and toasty. Freshman members of Congress were required to ditch their jackets for the group photo, so Shalala, ever the Miamian, waited until the last possible second to join the group without layers in the 30-degree weather. Shes used to Washington. Shalala, 77, who will become the second-oldest first-year member of Congress in U.S. history, greets constituents and fellow lawmakers with the slogan, I may be a freshman, but Im not a rookie. She claims to have found a 15-minute commute from her Georgetown condo to Capitol Hill, a product of her years of working within the highest levels of government and preference for rising early. After a long career as President Bill Clintons Health and Human Services Secretary, leading the University of Miami and a stint as the head of the Clinton Foundation, Shalala is excited to become a low-ranking cog in a 435-person lawmaking body that recently earned a lower approval rating than cockroaches and traffic jams. Im the only one walking around saying this is going to be fun. Everyone else looks tense, Shalala said. At least in official channels, Shalala wont have much power. She cant lead a committee as a first-year member, and ascending the leadership rung takes time. She hasnt been assigned to any committees yet, but is looking to sit on the Energy and Commerce Committee or another committee that is likely to address healthcare, though major policy changes are unlikely until at least 2021. Certainly, in the first year Im trying to stay focused, Shalala said. The people in this district have a handful of things that theyd like us to do. I listened to the peoples priorities and they made it very clear that theyre deeply concerned about healthcare and obviously about immigration, the environment and sensible gun control. But Shalalas advantage over her peers is that she already knows the key players. Nancy Pelosi has already assured Shalala that she will be a part of any high-level policy discussions related to healthcare, Shalala said. Read more here. @NewsbySmiley Pete Antonacci, the former general counsel to outgoing Republican Gov. Rick Scott, was sworn in as elections chief in Floridas most liberal county Thursday, beginning a shotgun marriage with Broward Democrats that could prove crucial during the 2020 presidential elections. Picked by Scott to replace suspended elections supervisor Brenda Snipes, Antonacci referred to himself as a caretaker following a ceremony in Fort Lauderdale inside the 15th floor courtroom of Chief Judge Jack Tuter. The 70-year-old Republican said he hopes to ensure that every vote counts and restore trust in the elections process following a rocky recount that saw the governor cast Snipes and her staff as unethical liberals trying to steal the election from Republicans. But how can voters in Floridas Democratic bastion trust that Antonacci appointee will run the office with integrity? Watch me, he said. Antonacci has been in Broward County and meeting employees at the elections office since Monday morning. Upon his swearing in at 11:06 a.m., he assumed control of operations at the autonomous $19 million department, where Scott has announced Antonacci will serve the remainder of Snipes term through the 2020 elections. But Antonacci may be walking into a buzz saw. Snipes announced the day after her suspension that she would rescind her previously submitted plan to resign on Jan. 4 and fight to be reinstated. Democrats in the Florida Senate are beginning to prepare for a possible trial overseen by the upper chamber. And Broward County commissioners, who dont control the supervisor but will set Antonaccis budget, ordered their team of attorneys Tuesday to look into whether they have recourse to challenge Snipes suspension or at least block Antonacci from serving beyond the time when her ouster becomes final, should that be the case. The governor didnt need to do what he did, said Broward Commissioner Dale Holness, who is part of an effort to organize opposition to Snipes suspension. There was no need for it. And hes putting somebody in place whos not from Broward, and who from what Ive read is a political hatchet man. Click here to read the rest. Incoming Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nicole "Nikki" Fried announced her inaugural committee, which will be co-chaired by her senior adviser, Ben Pollara and her sister, Jenni Shaffren. Shaffren said the role brings her deja vu to the sisters shared University of Florida days. Shaffren, who is four years Fried's junior year, took an active role in both helping her sister campaign for student body president, but also planned an elaborate ball in her honor. "It was a formal dinner, a string quartet," she said. "This is another chance for me to let Nikki shine in a much bigger venue. It's just an honor to be a part of such a monumental, historic event." Over the course of the campaign, Shaffren served as the Palm Beach hub for people who wanted campaign signs or literature. She even brought her 6-year-old son and 9-year-old daughter along to learn about the voting process. "After all of my work I did on the campaign, she felt it was something I had worked hard toward," Shaffren said. Pollara, who was also the campaign manager of the successful 2016 ballot initiative to legalize medical marijuana, said the committee is "a big burden of responsibility" to "put the best face on the Florida Democratic party," since Fried was the only Democrat elected to statewide office this year. Pollara was also involved with planning three Democratic National Conventions as well as Barack Obama's inauguration in 2012. Finance chairs for the committee are several longtime Democratic strategists and activists, notably including Sean Pittman one of the top advisers on Andrew Gillum's failed campaign for governor. The senior financial adviser to Frieds campaign, Stephanie McClung, will serve as executive director of the committee. Honorary co-chair seats include soon-to-be former U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, state Senate Democratic Leader Audrey Gibson, state House Democratic Leader Kionne McGhee and the state's Democratic Party Chair Terrie Rizzo. Shanghai (Gasgoo)- FAW Group-owned premium car brand Hongqi saw its retail sales climb 5.33% over a month ago to 4,311 units in November, achieving month-on-month (MoM) growth for 9 consecutive months. For the first 11 months, the automaker delivered 24,800 vehicles in total with a tremendous year-on-year surge of 520%. The retail sales of the Hongqi H7 and the H5 reached 1,405 units and 2,905 units last month, both completing their respective sales target ahead of schedule. Hongqi's wholesales volume in November amounted to 4,504 units, among which the sales of the H7 and the H5 were 1,506 units and 2,998 units. The automaker received 4,389 units of orders last month including 1,391 H7s and 2,998 H5s. As one of two sales drivers, the Hongqi H7 C-segment sedan was formally launched in 2013. The existing H7 up for sale is a facelift that hit the market in September last year. The Hongqi H5 B-segment sedan is the brand's first strategic model tailor-made for Chinese younger consumers. It formally went on sales at the Auto China 2018 in Beijing. It is reported that Hongqi is ambitious to fulfill an annual sales goal of 100,000 units in 2019. To achieve the target, the automaker will launch a SUV offensive next year by releasing such models as the Hongqi E-HS3, HS7 and HS5 in succession. ARCHIVED - Concern throughout Spain after a lurch to the far right in the Andalucia election The Vox party are viewed as the natural successors of General Francos Falange group Until recently Spain has resisted the upsurge of far-right-wing parties which has been noticeable in much of Europe for the last few years, but the results of the regional election in Andalucia on Sunday have caused concern and even fear among many commentators that the situation is changing drastically. The Vox party, headed by Santiago Abascal (a former MP representing the PP in the regional parliament of the Basque Country), won 12 of the 109 seats in the Andalucia parliament, having never before won representation in any of the parliaments of Spains 17 Autonomous Communities, and its radically right-wing policies have clearly struck a chord among many voters disenchanted with what they see as the inability of parties occupying the centre of the political spectrum to deal with issues such as law and order, immigration, the Catalan separatist movement and those related to society and family values. It is noticeable that among the areas with the highest percentages of Vox voters in Andalucia were municipalities such as Balanegra, El Ejido, Nijar, Vicar, Roquetas de Mar and La Mojonera in El Ejido the party won more votes than any other where the number of immigrants is far higher than the national and regional averages. For example, in Nijar immigrants represent 41.4 per cent of the population, as opposed to 6.6 per cent in Andalucia as a whole, and here Vox polled over 25 per cent of the vote, while in Balanegra, where over 30 per cent of voters backed Vox, over a quarter of residents are immigrants. This correlation is doubtless due to the tough stance on immigration taken by the party, which advocates the expulsion of all illegal and unauthorized migrants. Santiago Abascal is adamant that illegal immigration is a threat to the security and prosperity of Spain, and that restricting the entry of non-Spaniards is merely a matter of common sense, not of xenophobia or racism. Thus, he proposes to reinforce the border fences in the north African enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla with a wall he has no objection to comparisons with Donald Trump on this issue to make it clear that not all of Africa can fit into Spain and Europe. If those already in Spain are not forced to leave, he adds, there will be social conflict and other problems, and he even goes so far as to suggest that the majority of gender violence is due to the aggressive behaviour of immigrants. For this reason Vox proposes to repeal the Gender Equality Law on the grounds that it does not combat violence against women and converts half of the population into suspects, and most attacks are carried out by foreigners! Other controversial social policies include a repeal of the LBGT law and far stricter laws governing abortion (which has become a contraceptive device), and these have led to inevitable comparisons with the regime of General Franco between 1939 and 1975. The comparisons are also fuelled by the extreme nationalism of the party, which led to their being no Andalucia flags waved at campaign events prior to last weekend, the preferred symbol always being the Spanish national flag. The insistence on national unity is such that Vox also advocate the scrapping of Spains Autonomous Communities and regional parliament, despite their having just become part of one for the first time. There is, of course, no telling where this will lead, but as the next EU elections loom in May 2019 it is worth remembering how the voting went in 2014. That election resulted in the eruption of the far-left Podemos group onto the Spanish political scene, and now it appears that some of those who voted for Vox last Sunday defected from Podemos, not due to their political ideologies having altered dramatically but because the group led by Pablo Iglesias has not managed to alter what they see as the ineffectiveness of the more moderate governing parties. Such is the desire of many voters in Spain to shake up the political scene after 40 years of democracy that it appears that they are willing to back any extreme or different view, making the centre ground less and less fashionable, and perhaps it is this rather than the specific policies of Vox which the mainstream parties such as the PP, the PSOE and Ciudadanos need to address as the European, regional, municipal and possibly general elections approach next year. Follow Murcia Today on Facebook to keep up to date with all the latest news, events and information in the Region of Murcia and the rest of Spain: https://www.facebook.com/MurciaToday/ article_detail --> Uber has announced a 5% price hike in South Africa, which will take effect from 7 December 2018. While we have always tried to keep prices as low as possible, we need to be aware of the increased costs for driver-partners, the company said in a statement. Uber said the change in fare prices will allow drivers to earn more in order to make up for the rising cost of business. It also said the new prices would allow Uber to invest in further development of technology features. Fares for UberX and UberXL trips are affected by this price change, although it is important to note that UberXL rides are not available in Johannesburg, Pretoria, or Port Elizabeth. Below are the old Uber prices compared to the new fares. Scarborough Leader Funding for the project would come from a bond and through a capital campaign. After 32 years, its time to pass the pizza paddle. Checkers owner Ron Goldin has announced that he is selling the popular Calistoga eatery after 32 years of serving generations of Calistogans. The news comes just months after Goldin closed Brannans Grill, just a couple doors down, in July. Although Goldin initially intended to continue operating Checkers, an unsolicited offer came along and he decided that it was time. Mark and I will always be a part of this amazing community and we both look forward to the next chapter in our lives Goldin said in a statement. Im hoping that all of the friends and loyal patrons that Ive come to know over the years will join me one last time this week to say goodbye to my staff and raise a glass with me. In addition to Checkers, Goldin and partner Mark Young owned and operated four restaurants downtown on Lincoln Avenue. The Flatiron Grill, Barolo and Brannans were known for their stylish interiors and affordable, approachable menus, Goldin said. The new owners, Elizabeth Montana and Kenny Luciero, plan to continue with pizza and other Italian dishes and will be in Checkers this coming Friday evening to greet the locals and establish themselves as the new pizza paddle bearers. Come in and say hello. Saturday will be our last night of operation and 50 percent of all sales will go to the staff for Holiday Bonuses, Goldin said. Goldin originally came to Calistoga to visit and vacation at the property of Diamond Creek vineyards and fell in love with the town. After asking his hosts at Diamond Creek what he could do here, they recommended a pizza place and the rest, as they say, is history. You can reach Cynthia Sweeney at csweeney@weeklycalistogan.com or 942-4035. Napa Valleys historic Oakville Grocery has been sold. Jean-Charles Boisset has added the grocery store to his collection, purchasing it from the Rudd family, which has owned it for the past 11 years. The sale will close in early 2019. The purchase price was not disclosed. The sale includes the Oakville store and property, the Healdsburg location, and the brand from the Rudd family, proprietors of Rudd Estate and Press Restaurant, who completed significant restoration of the Oakville property, grocery store, and adjacent Victorian house during their ownership. It joins Boissets family-owned portfolio of historical wineries and lifestyle and gourmet retail destinations. On Dec. 5, Boisset, proprietor of Boisset Collection, said he plans to evolve the grocery store into local, sustainable and organic food. We will focus on health and what makes us great, he said. Additionally, the Oakville Grocery will offer an incredible assort of wines. Id like to bring all our friends and guests to our table, he added. He sees the grocery as becoming a plaza, where people gather throughout the day, whether for coffee in the morning or lunch at mid day, for conversation. I have always adored the Oakville Grocery for what it represents for Napa Valley, for California and for America. I have fond memories of visiting from France with my parents and sister when I was 11 years old, he said. Purchased that day were mustard, local fig jam there were few fig trees in France, he said organic tomatoes, an amazing tomato sauce and pasta and great, local cheeses, including a goat cheese. In the late 2000s, when Boisset bought Raymond Winery, he said he spent thousands of dollars on wine at the grocery, to understand what the Napa Valley was all about. After the sale has closed, he added he will be at the grocery store a lot not behind a cash register because, I feel at home there, I feel centered, and being there, I have the opportunity to start a conversation. With its history the Oakville Grocery was founded in 1881 and is the oldest grocery store in California Boisset said he couldnt resist buying the historic property. It is a landmark and iconic destination at the crossroads of history in Napa that has been the community gathering place, mercantile, farm stand, and grocery for neighbors and visitors alike for well over a century. The Rudd family have been remarkable stewards, believing in its past and future, and infusing the property with the passion, care and respect it deserves. We are exceptionally honored to be entrusted to carry forward this timeless property and continue their dreams, he said in a press release. Samantha Rudd, proprietor of Rudd Estate and PRESS Restaurant, said, Oakville Grocery has been a staple of Napa Valley since 1881. My family purchased it in 2007 in order to revive the illustrious historical store that has meant so much to this community. My fathers vision was to restore it to its rightful place in California wine country, and to ensure that its legacy remained for the local and tourist community for decades to come. Our family invested significantly in the site and the store, including a restoration to the historic Victorian house in Oakville, to achieve his vision. I am proud of my fathers stewardship. Samanthas father, Leslie Gerald Rudd, passed away on May 3, 2018 in New York City at age 76 after a battle with esophageal cancer. He was a vintner, entrepreneur, businessman and philanthropist, who founded The Rudd Group. One of his friends, venture capitalist and former tech executive, Joe Schoendorf, said Rudd rescued the Oakville Grocery from bankruptcy in 2007, not because of its investment potential, but because he saw it as an important institution to preserve for the Napa Valley and its visitors. For many years, Rudd owned the grocery chain, Dean & DeLuca, which has a store in St. Helena. He sold the chain to a Thai development company in 2014. Samantha Rudd said the sale allows her to focus on Rudd Estate and Press Restaurant, knowing that Oakville Grocery is in good hands. Oakville Grocery joins Boisset Collections historical wineries and destinations in California and France, including Buena Vista Winery, founded in 1857 as the first premium winery in California. Boissets portfolio is anchored in history, heritage and terroir in Napa, Sonoma, Burgundy, Jura, Beaujolais, the Rhone Valley and the South of France. Pop the cork on Napa Valley wine! Discover the hidden stories of Napa Valley wine and the people behind it -- plus expert analysis from our columnists and more with our weekly email newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. At age 16, Larkin Dewyer is proving that you dont need to be an adult to flex your democratic muscles and effect change. A junior, Dewyer serves as vice president of St. Helena High Schools Students for Change club, organized the schools Rock the Congress event in May, interns for Congressman Mike Thompson, worked with Blue Wave Napa Valley to support Democratic congressional candidates, and successfully lobbied the City Council to suspend St. Helenas 10 p.m. youth curfew. Dewyer considers herself a feminist and has always been interested in politics. The 2016 election, the stark contrasts between Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump, and a wave of student activism that followed the February 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Florida convinced her that she was part of a generation that was going to bring about dramatic change, and she wanted to be part of it. Change starts at the local level, Dewyer said. You cant go out and change the world right away its a process. Its important to start local and better your own community before you can better others. A Rock the Congress event in Napa inspired her to organize a similar gathering at St. Helena High School. With only three weeks of preparation, organizers booked a panel of activists and politicians, including Thompson, and attracted more than 100 people. Dewyer reached out to businesses like Robert Mondavi Winery and Gotts, which donated items for a silent auction. Julie Jenanyan, founder of Blue Wave Napa Valley, invited Dewyer to serve on her steering committee. The organization raised more than $57,000 for three candidates, who were each elected to Congress in the Nov. 6 election. Dewyers activism also impressed Thompson and his staff. The St. Helena congressman named her as one of the 2018 Student Leaders of the Year in Napa County, and in September she started an internship in his Napa office. Once a week, Dewyer sifts through letters and emails to Thompson, answers phones, and directs constituents with questions or concerns to the appropriate staff member. As someone who plans to study law and political science and maybe run for office someday, Dewyer said its fascinating to see how politics works on the inside. In November, she stood before the City Council and argued for the elimination of St. Helenas 10 p.m. youth curfew, drawing praise from councilmembers who agreed to suspend it. Students had previously raised the issue during an Oct. 17 mayoral debate between Alan Galbraith and Geoff Ellsworth at St. Helena High School. Dewyers fellow students chose her to speak for them when it came before the full council. With guidance from AP history teacher Evan Blasingame, Dewyer researched constitutional law to challenge the curfew on legal grounds and attacked its effectiveness based on crime statistics she found in an online database. She was struck by stats showing that in 2015 the most recent year for which data was available only six juveniles were arrested in American Canyon, which has no curfew. Meanwhile, 60 juveniles were arrested in Napa, which does have a curfew. Even factoring in Napas higher population, the stats suggested to her that Napas curfew wasnt reducing its juvenile crime rate. Making her case in front of the council was intimidating, but Im glad I did it, Dewyer said. Once the council takes formal action to suspend the curfew, Dewyer hopes her peers will act responsibly in exercising their new privilege. Its a trial period, so we dont want to abuse it, because if we do (the council) will probably put it back into place, she said. Dewyer is eager to work with the Students for Change club on more events this year, like a second annual Rock the Congress or an event focusing on college tuition. Shes also applied to get involved in the Youth Empower Coalition organized by the Womens March. After her junior year is over, she wants to get a summer internship in Sacramento or Washington, D.C. She hopes to keep working in Thompsons office too. Once she graduates, she wants to major in political science, possibly minor in psychology, and pursue a career in law and politics. She said she would love to run for local office someday. She advises younger students who are becoming politically aware to form clubs, go to marches, and plan events. Her own parents support her activism, but she realizes that not every student is that lucky. Dont let people tell you that your opinion isnt right, she said. Stand up for what you believe in, and not just for what your parents believe in. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. AMERICAN CANYON COMMUNITY CHURCH Worship at 10 a.m. Programs for children and youth during worship service. 2 Andrew Road, American Canyon. ARBOR ALLIANCE Join us Sundays at 5 p.m. Why 5 p.m. worship? It is a good time for busy people and young families. Kids church and nursery available. 721 Trancas St., Napa. thearborchurch.org; 530-304-4704. BEIT ABBA Messianic Jewish ministry of The Fathers House is held the first and third Friday of each month at 7 p.m. Child care provided for ages infant to 7 years old. 2557 Napa Valley Corporate Drive, Napa. tfh.org/beitabba. CARMELITE MONASTERY Mass times: Sunday, 9 a.m.; Monday-Saturday, 8 a.m. Confession Days for English and Spanish: Mondays and Fridays, 10 a.m.-noon; 3-5 p.m.; 8-9 p.m. First Saturdays: Confessions at 10 a.m. followed by Mass at 11 a.m. 944-2454. oakvillecarmelites.org. CENTER FOR SPIRITUAL LIVING Services are 9 and 10:30 a.m. with Teen Group at 10 a.m. and Youth Program at 10:30 a.m.. Rev Jay Lang's topic is The Love and Light of Hanukkah. Please return bags for Napa Food Bank. Piners Party, Saturday 2-4 p.m. Spanish Meditation Mondays 7-8 p.m. Course in Miracles Tuesdays 6:15-8:15 p.m. Open Meditation Wednesdays 6:30-7 p.m. Holiday activities include Candle Light Service Friday Dec. 21 at 7 p.m. and Metaphysical Christmas Service Sunday Dec. 23 at 10:30 a.m. (only service). World Peace Meditation, Monday Dec. 31 at 4 a.m. 1249 Coombs. 252-4847. CHRISTIAN SCIENCE CHURCH Sunday service and Sunday school for youths up to age 20 at 10 a.m. The Wednesday evening service is at 7:30. Child care provided at all services. New hours for the Reading Room, located in our church building, open to the public weekdays except Wednesdays, 1-4 p.m. All current Christian Science literature, including the writings of Mary Baker Eddy and the renowned Christian Science Monitor, are available to all to read or purchase. 2210 Second St., Napa. 255-5255. christiansciencenapa.com. CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS, NAPA SECOND WARD Sacrament meeting is each Sunday at 10 a.m., followed by Sunday School at 11:15 and Priesthood and Relief Society at 12:10 p.m. Young mens and young womens programs are on Tuesdays at 7 p.m. Corner of Trower Avenue and Dry Creek Road, Napa. 224-6496. CONGREGATION BETH SHALOM Worship services Friday, Dec. 7 at 6 p.m. will be followed by our annual congregational Chanukah celebration at 7 p.m. Torah Study with Rabbi Niles Goldstein is on Saturday, Dec. 8 at 9:30 a.m. Soul Sisters Book Club will meet on Monday, Dec. 10 at 7 p.m. 1455 Elm Street, Napa, www.cbsnapa.org, 254-7305. CORNERSTONE MINISTRIES Sunday service is at 10:15 a.m. Spanish Church begins at 1:30 p.m. Sunday school and childcare are available at both services. Our midweek service is at 6:30 on Wednesday nights. There is childcare and childrens activities at this service. Middle school and high school study meets on Wednesday nights, as well, at 6:30 in the Youth Room. 3305 Linda Vista Ave., Napa; 252-2909. cmnv.org. COVENANT PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH Join us at Covenant Presbyterian Church, 1226 Salvador Avenue, as we celebrate the glorious season of Advent! All are welcome. 255-9426; www.cpcnapa.org Dec. 9: Worship at 10:30 a.m., 2nd Sunday of Advent. Christmas Joy Offering. Caroling after church. Dec. 12: Blue Christmas service, 7 p.m. Dec. 16: Worship at 10:30 a.m., 3rd Sunday of Advent: Childrens Pageant, Cookie Decorating during coffee hour. Dec. 23: Worship at 10:30 a.m., 4th Sunday of Advent, Choral Christmas Presentation. Dec. 24: Christmas Eve Candlelight service, 7 p.m. Dec. 24-- Jan. 2, 2019: Office closed CREEKSIDE COMMUNITY CHURCH Weekly worship service is Sunday at 10:30 a.m. Services and attire are casual with a blend of fellowship, music and teaching. Child care and childrens church offered during service. 1050 Hagen Road, Napa. CreeksideChurchNapa.org. 255-7266. CROSSWALK COMMUNITY CHURCH Join us on Sundays at 8:30 or 10 a.m. for a new series, A Christmas Carol. New episodes every Sunday until Dec. 25. A twist on an old Classic led by senior pastor, Dr. Peter R. Shaw. Childrens programs are at 10 a.m. You are also invited to join Pastor Pete for Praxis at 11 a.m. and again at 6:30 p.m. 2590 First Street. www.crosswalknapa.org FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCH We welcome you to come and experience church at First Christian Church and become part of our family. Our Sunday service is at 10 a.m. and Kids Ministry has a great time planned for your kids (babies through 5th graders). Students@First for middle and high schoolers is at 6:30 p.m. 2659 First Street. www.fccnapa.org. FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH Please join us this week. We have our Sanctuary decorated for Christmas and visitors are always welcome. Pastor David will be preaching this week and he will continue with our Advent candle lighting and Advent meditations. We sing hymns at 9 a.m. and we have praise music at 10:30 a.m. Look for our greeters near the front doors to answer any questions. Childcare for newborn to age 4 is available each week. We will have our Advent Choral Concert this Sunday in the Sanctuary at 4 p.m. Our weekly Sunday School programs are: The Path Sunday School for kids at 10:30; The Friendship Class at 10; The Adult Bible Study meets at 10:30. We have treats and coffee after both worship times. 1333 Third St., 707-224-8693, fpcnapa.org, facebook.com/fpcnapa, look for us on Givelify. GRACE CHURCH OF NAPA VALLEY Worship service at 9 a.m. and 10:40 a.m. Adult Sunday school classes at 9 a.m. Childrens service at 9 and 10:40 a.m. Nursery and preschool care available. Junior high ministry meets Tuesday at 7 p.m.; high school meets Thursday at 7 p.m. at 3765 Solano Ave., Napa. 255-4033, GraceNapa.org. HIGHLANDS CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP If youre a regular church attendee, never been or maybe its just been awhile, we invite you to come join us this Sunday and start the adventure with us at 10:30 a.m. Spanish speaking service on Sunday evenings at 6:30. Alcoholics Anonymous group meets weekly on Monday and Wednesdays from 6-7 p.m. 970 Petrified Forest Road, Calistoga. HILLSIDE CHRISTIAN CHURCH We meet at 9 a.m., 11 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. at 100 Anderson Road, Napa. 255-3036. hccnapa.com. HOLY FAMILY PARISH Holy Mass is celebrated at 9 a.m. on Sundays and in the traditional Tridentine Latin (Extraordinary) form of the Roman Rite, according to the 1962 Missal, at noon. Before Low Masses, there is a recitation of the Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary at 11:30 a.m. Confession is available after every Low Mass. Holy Family Parish is a Catholic mission-parish of St. Joan of Arc in Yountville. 1241 Niebaum Lane, Rutherford. 944-2461. HOLY GROUND CHRISTIAN CENTER Sunday worship begins at 10 a.m., and Bible study is Wednesday at 7 p.m. 3860 Broadway, Suite 111, American Canyon. 373-2015. LIVING VINE CHURCH We meet every Sunday morning at 10. 3305 Linda Vista Avenue, Napa. 226-5551. MEMORIAL CHAPEL AT VETERANS HOME OF CALIFORNIA, YOUNTVILLE Sunday worship service 10:15 a.m. Coffee fellowship one hour before service. Bible study on Wednesday at 1 p.m., Fellowship Room, with refreshments served; prayer meetings Thursday at 1 p.m. The memorial chapel is on the Veterans Home at Yountville campus on California Drive, across from the administration building. 944-4840. The public is welcome. MONT LA SALLE CHAPEL Roman Catholic liturgical services are open to all in this chapel of the De la Salle Christian Brothers at 4401 Redwood Road, Napa. Sunday Mass is celebrated at 11 a.m. NAPA COMMUNITY SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH Please join us on Saturday at 10 a.m. for Sabbath School and Connection Classes. Stay for the worship service at 11:15 a.m. Our Community Services is open on Tuesdays from 9 a.m. to noon at 2110 Seminary St., 252-8552, Napacomm.com, 1105 G St., Napa, 252-2444. NAPA METHODIST CHURCH Napa Methodist is a progressive church where all people are welcome! This Sunday, the Holy Communion Worship service at 9:30 a.m. will include Pastor Marylee Sheffer's sermon, "The Remembrance of Christmas Past: Hope from Heartbreak." At 11 a.m., the Fusion Worship and Holy Communion service sermon will be "Bearing the Beams of Love." NAPA FRIENDS MEETING (QUAKERS) Sunday worship at 10 a.m. Silent meeting in the custom of Friends. Meet at the VOICES Youth Center, 780 Lincoln Ave., Napa. Enter at parking lot on left side of building, using door at end of wheelchair ramp. Quaker signs will be posted on Sunday mornings. We welcome visiting friends or those who are new to Quaker practice. Childrens program available with advance notice. nvquaker@gmail.com; 253-1505. NAPA VALLEY BAPTIST CHURCH Join us Sundays at 9:30 a.m. for Bible Study for all ages, 10:30 a.m. for worship service and a fun, interactive and energetic childrens program for preschool through fifth grade. Nursery provided for all Sunday services. 2303 Trower Ave., Napa. napavalleybaptist.org; 252-2100. NAPA VALLEY BIBLE CHAPEL Dr. Don Tinder will continue his series on the Bible book of Hebrews in the 11 a.m. service on Sunday, Dec. 9. An internationally recognized church history scholar and dean of the Zinzendorf School of Doctoral Studies at Olivet Theological College and Seminary, Tinder has served as associate editor of Christianity Today and earned his doctorate in historical theology from Yale University. We start Sunday services by remembering the Lords death, burial and resurrection during a time of worship and thanksgiving at 9:30 a.m., followed by a fellowship and coffee time starting at 10:30 a.m. At 11 a.m., we enjoy a time of Bible teaching. On Wednesdays at 6 p.m., we meet for a brief Bible study and a time of prayer. 1559 Second St., Napa. napavalleybiblechapel.com. NAPA VALLEY COMMUNITY CHURCH Who really was Jesus, and why did he really come to earth? We celebrate his birthday rather lavishly, but do we really know who he is? More importantly, what does a 2,000 year birthday have to do with our world today? Join us this Sunday at 10 a.m. as we open Gods Word to study John 1 and the theme: From Son to Sons. Childcare and Sunday school provided. 4149 Linda Vista Ave, Napa. www.NapaValleyChurch.org. NVCC is a ministry of the Christian Reformed Church. NAPA VALLEY LUTHERAN Sunday worship at 10 a.m. Includes Children's Time. Fellowship time follows. All are welcome. Church is located at Jefferson and Elm. 226-8166, napavalleylutheran.org NAPA VALLEY UNITARIAN UNIVERSALISTS At 9:30 a.m., service leader is Rev. Christian Schmidt. The sermon is, Where Do We Come From? Contemporary Unitarian Universalism is a pluralist, non-creedal religious group that attempts to be radically welcoming. But our roots come from different places; as we approach Christmas, it's worth engaging with our Christian roots and talking about how we relate to them now. 11 a.m. sermon is Whodunit Traditional service with Rev. Christian Schmidt and Sunday Service Assistant, Vicki Wolf. Join us as we explore our world through the lens of mystery novels. Is life a mystery to solve, are we called to be great detectives, and if so, then who dun it? Infant care, child care, and religious education provided. 1625 Salvador Ave., Napa; www.nvuu.org; 707-226-9220. NEW LIFE TABERNACLE Sunday school at 10 a.m., followed by worship service at 11. Sunday evening service the first Sunday of every month. Bible study on Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m. 2625 First St., Napa. 255-1062; NewLifeNapa.com. ST. APOLLINARIS CATHOLIC CHURCH All masses are in English. Visitors are welcome. Sunday Mass times: 7:30, 9 and 10:30 a.m., noon, and 5:30 p.m., Saturday Evening (Vigil for Sunday) 4:30 p.m. Daily mass times: Monday-Friday: 7 and 8:45 a.m.; Saturday: 8:45 a.m . Confession: Saturdays: 3:30-4:15 p.m., Monday-Friday: 6:30-6:50 a.m., Monday-Saturday: 8:15-8:35 a.m. 3700 Lassen St., Napa. ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST St. John the Baptist Church holds daily masses in English at 7:30 a.m. and 12:05 p.m. Weekend masses are Saturday at 5 p.m. (English) and 7 p.m. (Spanish) and Sunday 8 a.m. (Spanish), 10 a.m. (English), noon (Spanish), and 5 p.m. (English). Wednesday evening mass at 7 (Spanish). Corner of Caymus and Yajome streets in downtown Napa. ST. JOHNS LUTHERAN CHURCH Sunday services are at 8:30 and 10:15 a.m. The early service makes use of traditional Lutheran liturgy and hymns, with the singing led by the organ. The 10:15 service is more informal with the singing led by the band. Childrens church is offered during the 10:15 service for preschool through 4th grade. ST. MARYS EPISCOPAL CHURCH Worship on Saturdays at 5:30 p.m. or Sundays at 8 a.m. or 10 a.m. (organ and choir). Childrens Chapel (Sunday school) is at 9:50 a.m. Sunday. Nursery care is provided during the 10 a.m. service. Coffee hour follows the worship services on Sunday. 1917 Third St., Napa. 255-0991; StMarysNapa.org. ST. STEPHENS ANGLICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH Sunday at 8:30 and 10:30 a.m., sung using the 1928 Book of Common Prayer. Refreshments and social time after the 10:30 service. 1250 Oakville Grade, Oakville. 944-8915; ststephensoakville.org. ST. THOMAS AQUINAS CHURCH Mass times are Saturday at 4 p.m. (English), Sunday at 8 a.m. (English), 11 a.m. (English) and 1:30 p.m. (Spanish). Daily mass is at 9 a.m., except on the first Friday, which is at noon and in English. 2725 Elm St., Napa. 255-2949; stthomasaquinasnapa.com. SALVATION ARMY Worship meetings every Sunday at 9 a.m. breakfast included! Everyone is welcome and we always includes solid Bible teaching. Need something less churchy? Try our 10:30 a.m. Coffee and Conversation time: A Bible study which allows anyone to bring their questions about life, spirituality, and Jesus to the table. Join us for one or both each week. Childrens meetings are available too. The Salvation Army, 590 Franklin Street, Napa, CA 94559. 707-226-8150 Napa.Salvationarmy.Org THE FATHERS HOUSE Service times are Saturday at 6 p.m., and Sunday at 9 and 11 a.m. Child care and Kids Church are available (ages infant through sixth grade). Youth ministry Encounter meets every Wednesday night at 7. Celebrate Recovery meets on Monday nights at 6:30. 2557 Napa Valley Corporate Drive, Napa. tfh.org. UNITY SPIRITUAL CENTER IN NAPA VALLEY Sunday, Dec. 9, at the 10 a.m. service, Unity will welcome, Rev. Robert Brach. His message is titled,The Second Sunday of Advent: My Peace I Give Unto You. His theme: In keeping with the advent theme of peace for the second Sunday, we will be looking at the concepts of peace and harmony within us and our world and that relationship to achieving it. We will look at the words attributed to Jesus of Nazareth by the writer of the gospel of John Peace I leave with you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." Please join with us in our second Advent Sunday, celebration! Our Sunday Service music will be performed this week by our guest musician, Ric Morgan. 11:40 a.m., Forum. Following a brief refreshment break, Rev. Bob will facilitate a discussion group, question/answer session, pertaining to his message. Sunday Service and Forum are held at the historic Grange Hall, 3275 Hagen Road (1 mile east of the Silverado Trail), Napa. Parking next to the building. www.Facebook.com/USCNV www.UnitySpiritualCenterNapa.org (707) 255-6881. YOUNTVILLE COMMUNITY CHURCH This Sunday at 10 a.m., we will have our weekly service. The main church building is under repairs and we are meeting in our Sunday School classrooms on the North side of the church. Come join us for coffee, doughnuts, and learn about our Savior, Jesus Christ. Sunday School is for all ages. We have an Adult Bible class, Youth Group (fifth-eight grades and high school students,) and Children's classes "Jesus and Me," (Birth-Kindergarten) and first through fifth grades are offered. Church office hours, Tuesday 8 a.m.-2 p.m., Wednesday-Thursday, 8 a.m. - 1 p.m.; 6619 Yount Street, Yountville, 944-2179. Want to have your church included in Worship Notes? Need to update your congregations information? Contact editor Kelly Doren at kdoren@napanews.com or 256-2263. The Napa Valley Vintners, trade group for the local wine industry, received the states highest environmental honor this week for its work turning Napa wineries green. One of 10 recipients of the 2018 Governors Environmental and Economic Leadership Awards, the Napa Valley Vintners (NVV) were lauded during a ceremony Wednesday night at the California Environmental Protection Agency headquarters in Sacramento. The awards were first given in 1993 to recognize people and groups that have made strides in conservation benefiting California. Michelle Novi, associate director of industry relations for the NVV, accepted the award alongside NVV President and CEO Linda Reiff and Bruce Cakebread of Cakebread Cellars. Speaking Thursday, Novi said, I think what last night kind of showed is that Napa Green really isnt about what an individual winery is doing, but kind of what we can accomplish when we all work together and when the entire Napa Valley puts its mind to something there can be really meaningful results. Begun in the early 2000s, the Napa Green program is split into two certifications, one land-specific and one tailored to wineries. For land-use certification, participants create a farming plan based on requirements set by either the Napa County Resource Conservation District or Fish Friendly Farming. Working with either program partner, land owners plans are audited and certified once all requirements are met. Participants must then recertify every five years. Winery owners follow a similar path with third-party auditing to see their facilities meet certain sustainability benchmarks to qualify for Napa Green. For wineries, recertification is required every three years. According to Novi, 70 percent of the NVVs eligible members currently participate in the program somehow. So far 46 members have been certified in both the winery and land-use programs. Of Napas 45,000 vineyard acres, more than half are today certified through Napa Green. However, the land program extends beyond vineyards to include entire parcels, bringing the total certified acreage in Napa County to more than 80,000. So far, at least 80 wineries have been Napa Green certified, making up a significant chunk of winery sustainability efforts statewide. There are other certification programs, which we think are fantastic, Novi said. But I think its just kind of meaningful to know that out of all the wineries that are participating in some kind of certification program throughout the state, Napa Green accounts for 40 percent of that. Interest continues to grow, Novi added, with more wineries reaching out to enroll. The NVV has ambitions of 100 percent participation from all of its eligible members by the end of 2020. Standing in the way for many of those remaining is an issue of size. A lot of these wineries are pretty small and you have a small staff. Everybody kind of has to be a jack-of-all-trades and sometimes there just isnt the bandwidth, Novi said. But, she noted, the NVV has brought on additional resources for members that need extra support to reach certification. So theres really no reason why a winery couldnt become certified. We have someone on staff to help through every step of the process. Thus far, the group remains confident about hitting its 2020 goal, Novi said. It would be fantastic to be able to say that the Napa Valley is one of, if not the, greenest wine regions in the world. 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. Californias big utilities breathed easily in the early fall this year, relieved by a new state law that seemed to guarantee they would never go bankrupt over liabilities from fires caused by their equipment. But that relief lasted only until the Camp, Hill and Woolsey fires flared up spectacularly, destroying the Butte County town of Paradise and some surrounding areas, while many hundreds of homes burned in the Thousand Oaks and Malibu areas of Ventura and Los Angeles counties. For last summers utility bailout bill known as Senate Bill 901 contained what amounted to a doughnut hole noticed by few before it passed. The law ended this years fiercest legislative battle on terms long sought by utilities like Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric. They forgot one thing: Their pet bill covered liabilities from most future fires and the big blazes of 2017, which raged through the wine country, Lake County and Ventura County but it left out 2018. Oops. Few noticed the omission until the states most destructive fire ever broke out near Paradise in Butte County. It was quickly linked to possible power line problems. Then came huge flames in Southern California, where an electric line connection was also alleged. But it appears the utilities will soon get more relief. We think its clear anything that would cause the bankruptcy of a major utility would have a negative effect on the ratepayers, said Democrat Chris Holden of Pasadena, chairman of the state Assemblys Utilities and Energy Committee. Translation: Some utilities are too big to fail. Holden, who received more than $51,000 well over one-fourth of his 2018 campaign funds from the big utilities now at risk and other power-producing companies, promised in an interview to carry a bill in the new Legislative session filling the SB 901 doughnut hole. If it could have passed this month, current Gov. Jerry Brown, whose sister Kathleen sits on the board of San Diego Gas & Electrics parent company, would surely have signed it. But Holden delayed his bill until January, and its not so certain what Governor-elect Gavin Newsom might do. Holden and Newsom have talked. Heres the rub in the potential fire bailouts for the utilities: If any company can show it is in danger of bankruptcy due to fire damage it caused negligent or not its customers would pick up much of the resulting tab. Like SB 901, Holdens putative new bill would force the companies to pay all damages not covered by their insurance until the state Public Utilities Commission determines they are close to going broke. At that point, Holden said, the PUC would have the companies issue 20-year bonds for the rest, to be paid back via increased rates. So all utility customers, including any who consciously chose not to live or build businesses in fire-prone areas, most likely will foot most of fire expenses. No one knows just how broke a company must be for the PUC, which historically favors utilities over their customers, to declare it in danger. In the Camp Fire alone, potential PG&E liabilities could exceed $15 billion, Holden said. He did not explain why a utility bankruptcy would necessarily harm consumers, when PG&Es Chapter 11 filing during the energy crunch almost 20 years ago caused no service interruptions. Nor did he say why, in case of bankruptcy, utility assets like dams and power lines couldnt be sold to the highest bidders and keep operating, while city- and county-run Community Choice Aggregation utilities move in and provide other services. CCAs are already spreading rapidly around the state, with Republican San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer the latest local official to advocate one for his city. In short, if customers dont quickly fight the new bailout, they will likely find themselves paying for most damage from the latest fires and all other major ones going forward. Then the sky would be the limit on millions of electric bills. 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. Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio on Thursday met Air Marshal Raghunath Nambiar, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C) of Eastern Air Command, Indian Air Force (IAF) at Kohima, the State capital of Nagaland. Air Marshal Raghunath Nambiar was in Kohima to attend the ongoing 19th Hornbill Festival being organised at the Naga Heritage village in Kisama village near Kohima. The Nagaland CM also thanked Air Marshal Nambiar, the AOC-in-C of Eastern Air Command being part of the momentous occasion of the 55th Nagaland Statehood Day and the inaugural ceremony of the Hornbill Festival. Chief Minister Rio on his Twitter handle on Thursday stated: An honour to meet with Air Marshal Raghunath Nambiar, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C) of Eastern Air Command, Indian Air Force. I once again thank the IAF being part of the momentous occasion of the 55th Nagaland Statehood Day & inaugural (ceremony) of Hornbill Festival. On Thursday, Nagaland Chief Minister Rio also met Preeti Sudan, Secretary of the Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and officials from the Ministry. Chief Minister Rio had a fruitful discussion about the health sector in Nagaland and on other issues. Informing about the meeting with the Secretary of the Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Preeti Sudan, Rio stated on his Twitter handle on Thursday: A pleasure to meet with Preeti Sudan, Secretary @MoHFW_INDIA and officials from the Ministry. Had a fruitful discussion about the health sector in Nagaland and on other topics. Look forward to the points of discussion bearing fruit. Armenia PM participates in Board of Trustees of Hayastan All-Armenian Fund meeting Gyumri ex-mayor's son found and apprehended Russia and China call for peaceful coexistence of countries with different ideologies 517 new cases of COVID-19 reported in Armenia per day Ombudsman rejected after applying to initiate proceedings against Armenia Security Council Secretary Karabakh emergency situations service: Remains of one serviceman found in Varanda Armenia defense minister meets with Karabakh President, situation on Artsakh-Azerbaijan line of contact discussed Armenia State Revenue Committee ex-chief appointed Armavir Province governor Putin to inform Russian Security Council about meeting with Aliyev and Pashinyan Putin: Russia attaches importance to strategic and allied nature of relations with Armenia Aliyev: A 'thorough and sincere conversation' was held with Putin and Pashinyan Pashinyan: I affirm Armenia's and its government's willingness to open an era of peace Meeting of Vladimir Putin and Nikol Pashinyan kicks off Putin gifts Pashinyan and Aliyev olive branches Armenia's Pashinyan, Russia's Putin and Azerbaijan's Aliyev adopt joint statement Putin: There is an agreement to create mechanisms for demarcation and delimitation of Armenia-Azerbaijan border 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 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 PM: Many issues can be resolved in the trilateral and even bilateral formats 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 France plans to introduce its own tax for digital giants in 2019 if the European Union fails to agree on a unified plan for the GAFA group (Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon), RFI reported. France's Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told France 2 television on Thursday that he would give himself "until March" to reach a deal with other EU members on a digital tax. France had been hoping to reach an agreement on the issue by 31 December. "I'm not letting anyone get away", said Le Maire. "The money is with the internet giants who make considerable profits thanks to French consumers. They [the companies] pay 14 points less on the income tax scale than other small and medium companies." On Tuesday, at an EU finance ministers meeting in Brussels, France and Germany agreed on a scaled-back version of the tax in a bid to overcome significant opposition to the plan among some of their EU neighbours. European tax rules require unanimous backing by all EU members. Under the new plan, presented as an interim solution while waiting for a global deal brokered by the OECD, digital giants would pay a three-percent levy on online advertising sales. As a light drizzle fell Sunday evening, thousands gathered for a historic Menorah lighting in Berlin, Germany. I just watched a light extinguish a dark history at the foot of the Brandenburg Gate, tweeted Richard Grenell, US Ambassador to Germany. He was one of over 25 ambassadors from countries around the world who attended the Chabad Menorah Lighting at the Brandenburg Gate. Many religious and business leaders and Government ministers also attended. While the Chanukah light doesnt quite erase the countrys dark past, the poignance of its kindling on the very location where Hitler once held his venomous rallies was apparent. Germanys President lighting a menorah, at the spot where just eighty years earlier, his predecessor spewed hatethe contrast doesnt get starker, shared Rabbi Yehuda Teichtal, Chief Rabbi of Berlin. Rabbi Teichtal has been lighting a Menorah at this iconic location since 2003, but this is the first time the countrys President participated. Germany is marking eighty years since the ignominious events of November 9 1938. Frenzied hordes, fueled by the Nazi partys hate-filled rhetoric pillaged Jewish homes, businesses and communal buildings in towns and villages throughout Germany and Austria. The streets were left littered with shattered glass, earning the date its moniker, Kristallnacht-the night of broken glass. In conjunction with the eightieth anniversary President Frank-Walter Steinmeier joined Rabbi Teichtal as they were raised in a cherry-picker to kindle the first light on Germanys largest menorah. It is a gift that we can reach out to join hands over the chasm of our history, he remarked to the crowd. Around 3,000 attended with thousands more around the world watching via live coverage provided by German and international media. This is a mega-awareness of the Chanukah message of light overpowering darkness, Rabbi Teichtal said. Chabad of Berlin has placed 25 public menorahs around the city this year for the more than 100,000 Jewish residents to partake in the Chanukah festivities. The 20 other Chabad centers in cities around the country all have at least one public menorah, each with a sign declaring that Chabad wishes you a Happy Chanukah, in keeping with the wishes of the Lubavitcher Rebbe to publicly advertise the Chanukah miracle. YEREVAN. Armenia's Ararat TV has shot a film about the events that unfolded in Yerevan on March 1, 2008, which also contains the viewpoint of Armenia's second president Robert Kocharyan who is a defendant in the March 1 criminal case. He told how he had learned about a call to the Special Investigation Service when he was in Greece and informed family members and office staff. According to Kocharyan, he was not surprised at all. I did not event ask myself a question whether I should come back, and there have been many speculations in the media regarding the March 1 events, and they were tied to me. I thought it was a good reason to show the public that I have no relation to the death of ten people. I had positive emotions that the investigation was resumed and continued, Kocharyan said. Ex-president says he was called to the Special Investigation Service as a witness, but was charged upon his arrival. And it was decided to apply to the court for the arrest immediately. I got the impression, and later it became stronger, that the investigation team did not pursue a goal of solving the case, but there was a person who was appointed as responsible, and they have to do everything to prove his guilt, said he added. Kocharyan also noted that now he was surprised that the same officials continue to be in office. Armenians remember what they have lost and Armenians dream of the world that will honor those they lost, Kansas Governor Jeff Colyer said while delivering remarks in Gyumri on the 30th anniversary of the 1988 devastating earthquake. We are humbled to represent the people of Kansas who by a twist of fate shared relationship with the amazing people of Armenia, he said, adding that he had never dreamed that once he would return to the city of Gyumri as a Kansas governor, and would share this special day of resilience for Armenians. December 7 changed me forever. When I went to State Department to work and heard the news about the disaster, that morning we saw the photos of Gyumri, and how the buildings collapsed, and thousands of people were killed. I should never forget this, he said. Jeff Colyer recalled that they called President-elect Bush and described what happened. Bush said we should help. Although the Soviet Union has never accepted international assistance before, he felt it was important to help Armenia that time, Colyer emphasized. Seventy Americans headed to Armenia, and what they saw in the city was the scene that was difficult to imagine. It is one that I cannot describe but we saw something special: we met the most fantastic spirit in Armenia, the spirit of love, kindness and heroism. We met Armenians who were longing to overcome the tremendous disaster that came their way, the governor noted. Today when I meet Armenians around the world, I meet them as very special people with culture, science business and dignity. And here is the great lesson of 1988. When we arrived in Armenia, many of us thought that the best days were behind, and today we know that Armenias best days are ahead of us, and here is why. Memory may be fading from many people but Armenians remember, that is why you are special. Armenia has touched me, my family my state and my country in a very special way. No matter what, Kansas and America will remain your friend. One of the most devastating earthquake of the twentieth century hit Armenia 30 years ago, at 11:41 on December 7, 1988. The Spitak earthquake, which affected around 40 percent of Armenias territory, according to official figures, claimed the lives of 25 thousand, left 19 thousand disabled and 500 thousand without shelter. Over 300 settlements were affected. A 30-second line that divided the lives of people to before and after Scared children calling their parents, parents calling their children in horror... According to the experts, According to experts, during a natural disaster, energy equivalent to the explosion of ten atomic bombs was released, each of which was similar to the one dropped on Hiroshima back in 1945. The wave caused by the earthquake was recorded by scientific laboratories in Europe, Asia, America and Australia. Virtually all countries responded to the tragedy, doctors and rescuers from France, Switzerland, UK, Germany and the United States headed to Armenia. Planes with medicine, donor blood, medical equipment, clothes and food from Italy, Japan, China and other countries were landing at the airports of Yerevan and Leninakan (Gyumri). Overall, 111 countries from all continents provided humanitarian aid. Thirty years later many people still live in temporary houses that were built after the earthquake. The epicenter of the magnitude 11 earthquake was registered in the village of Nalband, now called Shirakamut. Gyumri, the second largest city in the Armenian SSR, was destroyed by 80 percent. Around 14,000 died in Gyumri. Spitak the city of 17,000 people was destroyed completely. Some people mark December 7 as their second birthday, they believe it is miracle that they and their families survived. Some people have been missing, and their families still hope that they will be found. The Armenian government, representatives of the political forces and of diplomatic missions are in Gyumri to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Spitak earthquake. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. Armenia's acting FM Zohrab Mnatsakanyan met with Wess Mitchell, US Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, in Milan on December 6 on the sidelines of the 25th OSCE Ministerial Council, the foreign ministry reported. During the meeting the officials discussed a number of issues of bilateral agenda, highlighting the readiness to take practical steps to further intensify the political dialogue. They also exchanged views on further deepening of the commercial cooperation, by attaching importance to the works of the Armenia-USA inter-governmental commission in this regard. Zohrab Mnatsakanyan introduced the recent domestic political developments in Armenia, the process of reforms launched by the government based on the broad mandate of the people, as well as reaffirmed the governments commitment to hold free, fair election process expressing the will of the people in the context of the upcoming early parliamentary elections of Armenia. The acting FM said the promotion of development agenda is one of the priorities of the Armenian government, and in this sense emphasized the deepening of the mutual cooperation with the US partners. Talking about the approaches of the Armenian side on the peaceful settlement process of the Karabakh conflict, Zohrab Mnatsakanyan reaffirmed Armenias commitment to the exclusively peaceful settlement of the conflict within the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship, by attaching importance to the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair countries the US, France and Russia, in this process. The officials also exchanged views on a number of issues of mutual interest of international and regional agenda. Posted by Mark Williams | December 7, 2018 It's a long-held belief here at PickupTrucks.com that to find out which pickup truck is the best in a given class, you must combine empirical tests and expert judges' opinions. Related: 2018 Best Half-Ton Truck Challenge Video: What the Judges Said For our recent 2018 Best Half-Ton Truck Challenge, we spent a week testing five competitors: the 2019 Chevrolet Silverado 1500, 2018 Ford F-150, 2019 GMC Sierra 1500, 2019 Nissan Titan and 2019 Ram 1500 (Toyota declined our request to send a Tundra). We scored the trucks in 16 empirical tests and 10 subjective categories. Each competitor could earn a maximum 2,200 points, 1,600 of which came from objective tests such as acceleration, braking, dynameter and capacities. The remaining 600 points were awarded in the 10 subjective categories that targeted the trucks' comfort levels, handling, utility, visibility and value. Judges could award up to 10 points per category; their totals for each truck were multiplied by two. We double the judges' scores so that they account for 22 to 27 percent of total scoring. Some readers let us know they'd like to see a deeper dive into how the judges scored, so that's what we're doing here. Our expert judges for this Challenge were PickupTrucks.com Editor Mark Williams, Cars.com Detroit Bureau Chief Aaron Bragman and automotive freelancer journalist/longtime pickup owner Andy Mikonis. You'll notice in the charts below that there was a good amount of disagreement among our judges, as well as agreement. While we're testing, we share our thoughts with one another but, like most pickup buyers, everyone has their own priorities and preferences. Here's how the judges' scoring broke down by category, followed by the grand totals. Interior Layout Even though the Ram 1500 did well in all interior categories, layout can be a personal taste question. Interior layout scoring considers how easy it is to reach function controls and how easy those controls are to see and use. Interior Quality Perceived quality was probably the category in which our judges agreed the most. The Ram 1500 blew its competitors away here with material choices and an amazingly well-done design. Our judges have to focus like a laser beam on the details, so the scoring reflects forgivable quality hiccups and cost-cutting choices that are not. Interior Storage This is an area that's seen tremendous improvement in the last 10 years, with all the major truckmakers providing more unique ways to stow cargo and offer security solutions to buyers. The more you can make your interior like a Swiss army knife, the more points you'll like receive from our judges. Overall Interior Comfort For this test, the judges moved through all the seats in each contender's cabin to see how comfortable each seat is and what accommodations and compromises have been made for front and rear passengers. Think legroom, storage, layout and quality. Not surprisingly, the Ram 1500 made a strong showing. How It Drives Empty Since many vehicles, including pickups, are driven empty most of the time, we spent time checking how well these trucks were suited for daily drive duty. We considered things like cabin noise, whether the ride was smooth or bumpy, and how the brakes responded. How It Drives With a Trailer If there's one absolute requirement for pickups, it's that they handle a good-sized trailer with a certain level of confidence, which is why we tow with them. For this category, we look at what comes in the truck's trailer package. Does it include towing mirrors, sway control and light-check technology? We also consider how the brakes handle the extra load. Bed Features and Access The business end of the pickup truck needs to be more than a big tub for carrying sacks and rocks. It needs to solve day and night storage, cargo-loading problems and provide tie-down and storage solutions. The RamBox storage system is impressive but, like everything, it comes with trade-offs. Access into the bed also is key here. Related: 2018 Best Half-ton Truck Challenge: Bed Strategies Visibility Being able to see over a large hood or down the side of long pickups can be tricky, especially if the truck lacks 360-degree camera technology. The adjustability of side and rearview mirrors can create visibility issues, too, as can the adjustability of interior lighting. We also factor in trailer detection and towing mirrors. Engine Layout This category allows judges to consider the practicality of engine layout in terms of adding fluids, maintaining batteries, changing filters or just getting access. How well does the engine compartment provide a novice pickup owner with schematic information on fuse replacement? Worth the Money? Our long-standing value category gives judges a chance to evaluate the content on a given trim level. What kind of bang-for-the-buck proposition does each player offer? Grand Totals When you see the grand totals for each judge, as well as each vehicle, you get a pretty clear sense of which categories resonated with our judges and where they thought the manufacturers were not doing as much as they should when compared with their competitors. Cars.com photos by Christian Lantry Editor's note: This story was updated Dec. 7, 2018, to insert the correct Interior Quality chart. Mitchell Hill Shows What It Means to Be Saluki Strong by Amber Henderson CARBONDALE, Ill After being diagnosed with a brain tumor at the age of two, it was unclear if Mitchell Hill would ever live a normal life. Forty MRIs and three brain surgeries later, and Hill is preparing to graduate from Southern Illinois University Carbondale with a degree in Communication Studies. During his time at SIU, Hill has been hard at work with more than just coursework. In the last year, he has raised over $10,000 to help other children who suffer with similar challenges to find a little ease in the long journey. Helping children better endure MRIs The biopsy and removal of the brain tumor left Hill initially with an 85% paralysis on the left side of his body. A second surgery added a shunt to repair a damaged ventricle, allowing excess fluid to drain from his brain. Hills determination and commitment to ongoing rehabilitation has allowed him to regain functionality and live a life typical to most 22-year-olds. Hill has had many opportunities to give support to other children who were also suffering, but it wasnt until his time at SIU that he really felt ready to get involved. "Over the years, I had many opportunities to fundraise for Childrens, participate in brain tumor studies, and to just give back in general, Hill said. However, I turned them down when I was younger because I didnt feel ready for that responsibility. For about a year now, thanks to the skills, knowledge, and confidence I have obtained at SIUC, I have been in contact with the fundraising sector at Childrens Circle of Friends Program, and they have helped me develop fundraising campaigns." Those campaigns have turned into a $17,400 project to upgrade MRI rooms at the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Childrens Hospital in Chicago. Remembering those days of continual MRIs, Hill felt compelled to do what he could to ease the discomfort for others. Scans last several hours, and the machines are cold, sterile, and intimidating, Hill said. By customizing the equipment with animal murals and other artwork, children feel more relaxed. Emergency surgery during last semester Just a few months before his anticipated graduation date, Hill started noticing a few odd symptoms. I realized something was wrong when I was giving a presentation in a course and was experiencing double vision, Hill said. After finishing the class period, Hill went to the hospital for an examination. Doctors determined he needed immediate surgery to replace a faulty shunt, which included five separate incisions. True to form, Hill was back to class in less than two weeks to finish his final semester. After graduation, Hill will either continue his education with an MBA degree, or pursue a job with a company he interned with over the summer. Wherever he ends up, Craig Engstrom, director of undergraduate studies for communication studies, is confident Hill will find great success. Hill is a survivor and works hard, that is obvious, Engstrom said. You wont find too many people who can have brain surgery and be emailing you two days later for help with a resume. Each year, doctors and public health officials urge virtually every American to get a flu shot. But a new poll suggests that many people dont plan to follow that advice. As of mid-November, 43% of American adults said they had already received a flu shot, according to a nationally representative survey of 1,200 people conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago, an independent research institution. But the majority of people who hadnt been vaccinated already 41% of the total sample said they werent planning to get the shot at all. Fourteen percent said they were planning to get a flu shot but had not done so yet. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends flu shots for almost everyone older than six months of age, with very few exceptions for people with certain allergies or past medical conditions. While the efficacy of the flu shot isnt perfect during last years severe influenza season, it was around 36% experts say it can reduce a persons likelihood of getting sick and spreading the flu and lessen the severity of any illnesses that do occur. Nonetheless, 31% of people who said they did not plan to get the vaccine cited the fact that it [doesnt] work very well as a major reason for holding off. Thirty-six percent said they feared side effects, and 30% believed they didnt need it because they never get the flu. Only 5-6% of people said that costs or time were major hindrances to getting the vaccine. Any side effects from the flu shot tend to be minor, and the vaccine does not cause influenza. Experts recommend that even healthy people get the shot, since high rates of vaccination in a community help protect the most vulnerable individuals. Flu shots are especially important for the elderly and young children, who are more susceptible to flu-related complications that can lead to serious health problems or death. That message seemed to resonate with older adults, as only 24% of people in the survey who were older than 60 said they did not plan to get vaccinated this season. But 39% of adults living with children younger than 18 said they do not vaccinate their children. Most people in the survey (63%) did not know that last years deadly flu season was unusually severe. That knowledge, however, may have motivated people to get the vaccine. Forty-three percent of already-vaccinated people knew that last years flu season was particularly bad, compared to 30% of those who did not plan to get the shot. If you havent gotten your flu shot yet, its not too late. While its best to get the shot before the bulk of flu season hits, the CDC says its a good idea to get vaccinated as long as influenza viruses are still widely circulating which they will be for at least the next three to four months. The year before the Japanese raid An aerial photograph taken on May 3, 1940, the year before the Japanese raid, shows the East Loch and the the Fleet Air Base on Ford Island in Pearl Harbor. Visible are the carrier Yorktown, 10 battleships, 17 cruisers, two light cruisers and over 30 destroyers. (U.S. Navy/National Archives/Handout via Reuters) On the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, a Sunday, Japanese bombers flew across Oahu, Hawaii, and began their assault. The attack killed more than 2,300 people, nearly half of them on the battleship USS Arizona. More than 1,100 were injured. After the attack, President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered a speech before Congress, calling Dec. 7 a date which will live in infamy. The U.S. declared war against Japan. (AP) Dec. 7, 2018, marks the 77th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Heres a look back at that fateful day. See more news-related photo galleries and follow us on Yahoo News Photo Tumblr. A top aide to Saudi Arabia's crown prince, fired for his role in the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, personally oversaw the torture of at least one detained female activist earlier this year, two sources with knowledge of the matter said. Saud al-Qahtani was a royal adviser to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman until October, when he was sacked and then sanctioned by the US Treasury over the Washington Post columnist's murder. Now three sources, briefed on the activists' treatment, say a group of men subjected this woman and at least three others to sexual harassment, electrocution and flogging between May and August at an unofficial holding facility in Jeddah. They described the group of about six men as distinct from the regular interrogators the women saw and said they belonged to the Saudi Federation for Cybersecurity, Programming and Drones, which Mr Qahtani headed at the time, or to state security. Mr Qahtani was present when at least one of the women was tortured, two of the sources said. Reuters has been unable to reach Mr Qahtani since he was sacked in October. Portraits of Saudi King Salman (R) and his son Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) are displayed in Riyadh Credit: FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP/Getty Images A Saudi official said the allegations of mistreatment and torture of the female detainees were "false ... and have no connection to the truth." "The detainees were detained based on accusations related to harming the security and stability of the kingdom," the official said in response to questions from Reuters. Their legal rights were being respected and they were receiving medical and social care, family visits and had the right to an attorney, the official said. Related Video: For more news videos visit Yahoo View. The women are among more than a dozen prominent activists arrested since May amid a broader crackdown targeting clerics and intellectuals. Eleven women are still being held, activists say, including the four alleged to have been tortured. The allegations come as Riyadh tries to get past the Oct. 2 killing of Khashoggi, a long-time royal insider who became a critic of Prince Mohammed and went into self-exile in the United States last year. Story continues Khashoggi was killed inside the kingdom's Istanbul consulate, damaging the crown prince's reputation and opening Riyadh up to the threat of sanctions. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said last month at least three of the activists -- most of whom had agitated for the right to drive and an end to a male guardianship system -- were tortured. They did not report Mr Qahtani's involvement. The sources, who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisals, told Reuters that Mr Qahtani was in the room on several occasions when one of the four detained activists was subjected to kissing, groping and electrocution. He made threats of rape and murder to the woman, the sources said. At least two other detainees endured sexual insults, flogging and electric shocks that turned one of the women's fingers blue, the sources said. Captors also made another woman kiss a male detainee while they watched, one of the sources said. Reuters could not determine whether Mr Qahtani was in the room during the episodes with those three other detainees, but the sources said all of the women's tormentors were from "Saud's group". A third source said Mr Qahtani addressed several of these women in May when they were initially transferred to Jeddah from Riyadh, telling them the penalty for treason was 20 years in prison or the death penalty. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the new Democratic darling in Washington DC, has poked fun at Donald Trumps eldest son, suggesting it is not wise to troll a member of a body that will soon have subpoena powers over him. Earlier this week, Donald Trump JR sought to mock the 29-year-old congresswoman-elect apparently hated by conservatives as much as she is loved by progressives with a meme he posted to his Instagram page. The Washington Post reported the meme implied Ms Ocasio-Cortezs democratic socialist views would lead to Americans eating dogs. Video: Ocasio-Cortez Calls for Staffers to Earn a 'Living Wage' Consisting of two images that had been placed together, the top photograph showed the New York congresswoman-elect with the words: Why are you so afraid of a socialist economy? The second picture showed President Trump, with the text: Because Americans want to walk their dogs, not eat them. The Post said Mr Trump Jr, 40, a pugnacious social media presence who frequently jumps to his fathers defence and attacks his critics, shared the meme to his 1.5m Instagram followers along with the caption: Its funny cuz its true! I have noticed that Junior here has a habit of posting nonsense about me whenever the Mueller investigation heats up. Please, keep it coming Jr - its definitely a very, very large brain idea to troll a member of a body that will have subpoena power in a month. Have fun! https://t.co/oQ6MsdJYCk Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Ocasio2018) December 7, 2018 On Friday, Ms Ocasio-Cortez, who has as many Twitter followers as the other incoming 60 Democratic freshman House members combined, issued something of a warning to Mr Trump Jr, reminding him that when the new House of Representatives sits in January, the power to hold investigations into almost any issue it wants to, will lie in the hands of Democrats. Story continues I have noticed that Junior here has a habit of posting nonsense about me whenever the Mueller investigation heats up, she said. Please, keep it coming Jr its definitely a very, very large brain idea to troll a member of a body that will have subpoena power in a month. She added: Have fun! LAREDO, Texas Prosecutors here will seek the death penalty for Juan David Ortiz, a U.S. Border Patrol agent charged with killing four women around Laredo earlier this year. But ask Patricia Ortiz, an aunt to Nikki Enriquez, one of the victims, and she'd be OK if he just spent the rest of his life in prison. Im a good believer in God and I know God will take care of this situation, she said. I cant say I want to see him die. Wednesday's announcement that prosecutors will seek the death penalty for Ortiz, 35, has split families and friends over who wants the alleged killer of the women to die and who wants to see him spend a lifetime in prison. Texas by far leads the nation in putting convicted criminals to death, with 511 executions, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, a Washington-based group that advocates against the death penalty. Virginia is in far-off second, with 113 executions, followed by Oklahoma with 112. But the Texas borderlands largely Hispanic, Catholic and generally anti-death-penalty see things differently. Cristina Benavides, mother of Melissa Ramirez, another victim, said she still suffers from crying bouts when she thinks of her daughters slaying and has barely slept in the three months since her death. She said she wants to see Ortiz suffer the same way her family has but doesnt think the death penalty is the right choice. Let God apply justice, she said. God is knowing. Hes watching him. Authorities allege that Ortiz, a 10-year veteran of the Border Patrol, picked up four women Ramirez, 29; Claudine Ann Luera, 42; Guiselda Alicia Cantu, 35; and Enriquez, 28 on different occasions from Sept. 3 to 14, drove them to remote locations and killed each with gunshots to the head. All the women were sex workers who congregated around San Bernardo Avenue in Laredo, known for its sex and drug trade. Ortiz, 35, was arrested after a fifth woman fled from his truck and alerted police. He was charged with four counts of murder and has been held at the Webb County Jail on $2.5 million bond. Officials described him as a "serial" killer. Story continues Isidro Alaniz, district attorney for Webb and Zapata Counties, said at a press conference Wednesday that Ortiz was indicted on one count of capital murder for the killings and showed a consistent "scheme" in allegedly conducting the killings. All the women except Ramirez knew they were going to die soon after entering his truck, he said. It's only the second time in 25 years that Webb County prosecutors will seek the death penalty, Alaniz said. "Ortiz preyed on the weak, the sick, the vulnerable," he said. "San Bernardo was his hunting ground. What does that make him? That makes him a predator." Texas law mandates a trial in death penalty cases. An arraignment is expected in the next 30 days, Alaniz said. In a tearful statement after the indictment was read, Colette Mireles, Luera's sister, said she was "leaning on faith" to get through this difficult time and the emotional days ahead of a protracted trial. "God has the last word and God is what gives us the strength to move forward," she said. She added: "In my heart, I just want what's right. We're no one to wish death on anybody. But we know God has the last word. Whatever the outcome, justice will prevail." Karina Ramos and Kristian Montemayor, Luera's nieces, said they were split on their desire of punishment for Ortiz, if he's convicted: Ramos wants him to spend the rest of his life in prison; Montemayor would prefer to see him executed. Ramos, 29, said Ortiz was suicidal as police caught up to him and likely wants to die. A long prison sentence thinking of his alleged acts is worse punishment, she said. But Montemayor, 24, said he deserves to die for the pain he brought to her family and other families. "He'll be in jail, comfortable, eating three times a day," she said. "He doesn't deserve to be alive." Follow Jervis on Twitter: @MrRJervis. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Serial' killer Border Patrol agent faces execution, but victims' families rebuke death penalty So, its official, Avengers 4 is actually Avengers: Endgame, a title which was supposed to be so much of a spoiler Kevin Feige and the Russo brothers kept it from fans until today. Of course, Yahoo Movies UK editor Tom Butler called it back in April, but thats beside the point. I called #AvengersEndGame in a chat with @HannaFlint back in April. Still think #AvengersElectricBoogaloo would have been better. pic.twitter.com/PWEr7Yadn8 Tom Butler (@TomButler) December 7, 2018 So, just what is it about Endgame thats so spoilerrific, what clues do we get from the trailer about the future of the MCU, and will Tony die? Weve fired up our Infinity laptops to have a good guess. Avengers: Endgame title: What does it mean? Endgame is a pretty popular title in the comics, but its more associated with other characters (unless Batman and Spawn show up in Avengers 4, and we wouldnt put it past Feiges negotiating skills) than the Avengers themselves, so unlike Winter Soldier and Civil War, we cant use our graphic novel collection for clues here. Weve heard the phrase before of course, in Avengers: Infinity War, when Benedict Cumberbatchs Doctor Strange announced Were in the endgame now shortly before everything turned dusty. Its more likely to be a reference to fact this is the most significant MCU phase-closer since the franchise began 10 years ago and, were sorry to say, the spoiler-element probably kicks in more of your faves are going to die. Avengers: Endgame Iron Man: Will Tony die? Are these the darkest opening moments in blockbuster trailer history? Tony Stark, dictating his last words to a broken helmet, in the hope that somehow Pepper Potts finds it floating in space? Story continues Dont feel bad about this, part of the journey is the end, Tony says to Pepper, but he might as well be talking to the entire audience. When I drift off, I will dream about you. Its always you. CAN SOMEONE PASS THE TISSUES WE HAVE SOME SPIDER-DUST IN OUR EYES. But we think this is a bit of a misdirection if Tony does die, itll be as part of the fight against Thanos. We predict Captain Marvel will rescue our Iron Pal on her way back to earth. And even when he does die, we guarantee hell live on as a JARVIS type voice-over, either in the next Iron Mans suit, or in Spider-Mans next upgrade (when he comes back from the dust). So dont feel bad about this. Part of modern Hollywood is the ability to continue to appear in franchise films via an audio booth. Avengers: Endgame Hawkeye: Is he a baddie now? We know Hawkeye looks like a bit of a villain in Endgames first trailer, but dont worry hell still be on the Avengers side. This footage confirms Clint Barton has swapped his bow and arrows for a sword, a new look and a new name (presumably) Ronin, a secret identity taken on by several characters in the comics. While its not immediately obvious why Hawkeyes changed up his look in the movie, Captain Americas trailer voice-over probably reveals something We lost friends cut to the Hawkeye reveal We lost family Clint takes off his hood and reveals a sad face We lost a part of ourselves. Does Clint lose the family we first met in Age Of Ultron to Thanos snap, which inspires him to go rogue / dark? Wed bet our last arrow on it! As for who Ronins fighting in the trailer, it looks like Thanos might be worshipped as a messiah (that shot of his armour strung up like a crucifix is a bit weird) post-snap, with a bunch of punchable acolytes probably worshipping him / helping him to keep numbers down. Thats who Ronins taking down in this trailer, we reckon. We also predict Hawkeye will make all the difference in the fight against Thanos, once hes picked up his bow and shooty sticks back up. Avengers: Endgame Ant Man: Whats Scott Lang up to? Of course, Clint wasnt the only Avenger to sit out Infinity War, Ant-Man was also absent, but it looks like hell be back in a big way if this trailer is to be believed. The last time we saw Scott, he was in the Quantum Realm when all his mates vanished in the snap. He shrunk to such a tiny size, he was counted amongst the dusted we see his headshot flash up when Mark Ruffalos Bruce Banner is examining the dead (which also includes Shuri, in a blink and youll miss it moment). But now Langs back, and all those fan theories that Avengers: Endgame will probably involve the surviving heroes using the Quantum Realm to travel through time (using the time vortexes described in Ant-Man And The Wasp) are now looking pretty legit. Avengers: Endgame: What does it mean for the future of the MCU? Whats next? Well, in the immediate future were getting another Marvel trailer tomorrow, for Spider-Man: Far From Home, which is just a little bit awkward considering we just watched a trailer that told us hes still dead. But maybe Far From Home will be framed as taking place between Homecoming and Infinity War? That timelines already so messed up, were sure people wont mind too much. As for the distant future, we know weve got a Black Widow movie on the way, which could feature the newly-blonde incarnation of Infinity War and now Endgame. We also know weve got another Guardians Of The Galaxy, that is if Marvel can replace James Gunn and bring pretty much the entire cast back from the dead in Endgame. Speaking of coming back from the dead, if the confirmed Black Panther 2 and rumoured Doctor Strange 2 are going to happen, our Avengers pals are going to be pretty busy bringing people like TChalla and Stephen Strange back throughout Endgame (along with Peter Parker, wholl be needed for the third Spider-Man movie), or weve got a lot of prequels in our future. Avengers: Endgame will be in UK cinemas on 26 April. Read more Avengers 4 trailer finally drops, titled confirmed as Avengers: End Game The 6 biggest names to fall out with Marvel Why Thanos Didnt Kill All Of The Avengers TIJUANA, Mexico (AP) The woman crawled under first, squeezing face down through a gap dug under the border fence. The space is only a few inches high, and her feet kicked dust into the air as she wiggled. Next was her 3-year-old daughter, dressed in a pink sweat suit, pushed through to the California side on her back and feet first by a man who stayed in Mexico. The mother anxiously urged them on. "Hurry," she said. "I'm right here. It doesn't matter if you get dirty." Fifteen seconds later, the mother and daughter from Honduras were together in the U.S. And soon a U.S. Border Protection agent approached on an all-terrain vehicle to take them away in custody. U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Tuesday that the San Diego sector has experienced a "slight uptick" in families entering the U.S. illegally and turning themselves in to agents since the caravan of Central American migrants arrived in Tijuana two weeks ago. Thousands of migrants on the Mexico side of the border are living in crowded tent cities in Tijuana after a grueling weekslong journey through Mexico on foot and hitching rides with the goal of applying for asylum in the U.S. Frustrated with the long wait to apply, with the U.S. processing 100 requests at most each day, some migrants are trying to cross over clandestinely. Rachel Rivera, 19, told The Associated Press that Honduras had become unlivable. Moments before flattening herself under the fence, she said she was slipping through to the U.S. in an attempt to "give a better life" to her daughter Charlot. An AP video journalist also witnessed more than two dozen migrants scale a fence between Mexico and the U.S. on Monday evening. Once across, entire families raised their hands before border patrol agents who arrived swiftly in white trucks. It's unclear where the families were taken from there. On a typical day before the caravan arrived in Tijuana, U.S. border patrol agents in the San Diego area detained about 120 or so people trying to cross the border illegally from Mexico. Story continues President Donald Trump issued a proclamation in November suspending asylum rights for people who try to cross into the U.S. illegally. Rights groups question the legality of that proclamation. U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman Ralph DeSio said the U.S. was trying to deter illegal crossings by issuing the proclamation. The U.S. has an established process for asylum seekers to present themselves in an "orderly" manner at a port of entry, DeSio told AP via email. "When people choose to ignore that process, they put themselves in danger and, in the case of families, they choose to put the lives of their children at risk." Trump took to Twitter again Tuesday to drum up support for a better border wall, arguing that the expense would be less than the U.S. incurs each year due to illegal immigration. People mainly from Honduras but also from El Salvador and Guatemala formed the caravan to Tijuana, seeking safety in numbers while crossing Mexico to avoid criminals and the fees demanded by the gangs that prey on migrants. Dozens of the migrants have told AP they are fleeing poverty and searching for a better life, while many also tell of harrowing violence and death threats back home. Margarita Lopez, a migrant from Honduras, said she would definitely jump the fence to the U.S. if she got the chance. But in the meantime, Lopez stood in line Tuesday to request a humanitarian visa from Mexican officials that would allow her to live and work in Mexico for a year. Standing nearby, Luis Fernando Vazquez, a migrant from Guatemala, said he won't make a run for the border. "I'm not like that," he said. "I prefer to work, to behave well, here." ___ Associated Press writers Amy Guthrie in Mexico City and Elliot Spagat in San Diego contributed to this report. Brazen the group of prisoners posted pictures of themselves on Facebook (Picture: SWNS) A group of brazen prisoners have posted selfies of themselves online, along with a video tour of their cells, just weeks after being punished for a similar offence. The inmates posted footage of themselves proudly posing at privately-run HMP Doncaster in South Yorkshire. The images, filmed on mobile phones and posted on Facebook. show them kicking back while serving time, wearing designer tracksuits, with games consoles and TVs in their cell. The 44-second clip shows one inmate playing pool and dancing then gesturing towards the camera with his fingers as music blares out. The footage has prompted one MP to brand security at Doncaster prison a farce (Picture: SWNS) The footage has prompted one MP to brand security at the prison a farce given that inmates are banned from possessing mobile phones and posting on social media. The group of inmates, aged in their early 20s, are thought to be from Bradford, West Yorkshire, and to have known each other before being jailed. MORE: Britains vilest paedophile ordered to pay 127,000 to five Filipinos over abuse MORE: Criminal gang jailed for total of 71 years for 2m crime spree involving high-performance cars They have already been disciplined for breaching prison rules by updating their social media profiles last month but continued to post online. When a member of the public commented a post saying, you lot will be in the paper again, an inmate replied, thats the aim mate. Friends the group are thought to have known each other before they were in prison (Picture: SWNS) The pictures include Dom Hunter, Mikey Pemberton, Tom Lalor, Kyle Thompkins and Michael Craggs who was sentenced just last month for burgling a house. MP Phillip Davies branded the situation at HMP Doncaster an absolute farce and has demanded the Prison Service to get a grip. He said: I have argued for a long time that prison is too soft and this proves the point. People are sent to prison to be punished and this is an absolute farce. What sort of a regime is this? Given they know these people are using mobile phones in prison, they should be searched on a regular basis. The message it sends out is that there is no deterrent to committing a crime, and its not good enough. Its a kick in the teeth to victims of crime. Story continues The group have also been disciplined before (Picture: SWNS) HMP Doncaster is a Category B mens private prison containing 1,145 inmates run by public service provider Serco. Serco contract director Jerry Spencer said: We are working extremely hard to stop the illegal use of mobile phones. It is a problem faced in all prisons and we have recently installed a new body scanner to help find phones that people are trying to smuggle in. The phone used in this incident has been found and confiscated and the individuals concerned have been referred to the Independent Adjudicator who has the power to add up to 42 days to a prisoners sentence. Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UK Douglas Slade (PA) A man dubbed Britains vilest paedophile has been ordered to pay 127,000 to five Filipinos, despite not being convicted of any offences relating to them. In what their lawyer described as an unprecedented case, a High Court judge ruled that Douglas Slade had sexually abused the four young men and one boy. Slade, 77, was not convicted of any criminal offence in the Philippines and denies any wrongdoing. The five victims, one of whom was just 10 at the time of the abuse, sued Slade for personal injuries arising out of sexual abuse and will each receive payouts of between 20,000 and 35,000. Slade, who is originally from Bristol, was jailed for 24 years in 2016 after being found guilty of abusing five boys in the UK between 1965 and 1980. A founder member of the Paedophile Information Exchange, a pro-paedophile activist group which ran for a decade until 1984, he moved to the Philippines in 1985. MORE: Teenage hacker jailed for three years over hoax bomb threats to schools and airline MORE: Criminal gang jailed for total of 71 years for 2m crime spree involving high-performance cars Lawyer Alan Collins, who represented the five men, told the BBC that this is the first case in which foreign victims have successfully claimed compensation against a British abuser, despite a failed attempt to prosecute him abroad. He said: This landmark case is unprecedented for a High Court in London, showing how the legal system in England and Wales delivers justice for victims of sexual abuse whether they live in England or overseas. The judgement has finally provided a sense of vindication for the victims after Slade avoided justice for so many years through his lying and deception and Im sure this case will set a precedent for others in a similar situation to seek justice. Samuel Davies and Roxanne Davis were jailed for 10 years each (Hampshire Constabulary/PA) A mother who used her baby as a fashion accessory has been jailed along with her ex-partner for 10 years each for the brutal death of her three-week-old son. Roxanne Davis, 30, Samuel Davies, 24, were convicted by a jury at Winchester Crown Court of causing or allowing the death of Stanley Davis. Stanley died of a skull fracture and brain haemorrhage at just 24-days-old on March 28, 2017, after suffering 32 fractures to his ribs and nine to his arms and legs, sustained during at least three separate occasions. A British backpacker missing in New Zealand was last seen at a hotel with a male companion, Auckland Police said. Grace Millane, 22, has not been seen since December 1, less than two weeks after arriving in the country on a round-the-world trip. Her father David Millane made an emotional appeal to help find his outgoing, fun-loving daughter as police said they hold grave fears for her safety. A teenage hacker from Watford has been jailed for three years for making hoax bomb threats to hundreds of schools and sparking an airport security scare. George Duke-Cohan twice targeted schools in the UK and US with hoax messages, before phoning in a fake report of a hijacked aircraft while under investigation. The 19-year-old was sentenced at Luton Crown Court on Friday after pleading guilty in September. A judge told him he had a perverted sense of fun. A mum was left mortified after sending her five-year-old son to school with an inflatable sex sheep. Helen Cox bought son Alfie a 16.99 shepherd fancy dress costume on Amazon for his school play, which came with a free blow up sheep. But Alfie was told to take the sheep home after a teacher found it had a hole in its bottom as well as red lips and eyelashes. A Loblaw supermarket is pictured in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, November 14, 2017. REUTERS/Chris Wattie Loblaw Companies Ltd. is launching a subscription program for its loyalty members, offering perks such as free shipping and online grocery pickup as the company continues aggressively investing in e-commerce. Loblaw said in a news release that after launching the subscription program to a small group of loyalty members, it has decided to roll it out to its 16 million PC Optimum members. For $99 a year, subscribers will have access to several perks, including free e-commerce grocery pickup, free shipping for online purchases from Shoppers DrugMart and Joe Fresh, and 20 per cent back in PC Optimum points on purchases of specific products. The launch of the program comes as retailers grapple with the dominance of Amazon, which offers Amazon Prime, a similar subscription service to the PC program that also features free shipping. What started as a small test quickly ballooned, drawing more subscribers than we imagined and a long waiting list, Loblaw president Sarah Davis said in a statement released Friday. The launch is a big opportunity for our most loyal customers, as the more they use the subscription box, the more they will save and earn This is a new opportunity for members who want to take their loyalty benefits to the next level. Loblaw, Canadas largest grocer, has been aggressively investing in its digital presence, focusing on e-commerce initiatives such as its click-and-collect program, which allows customers to order groceries online and then pick them up in store. Loblaw has said it aims to have more than 700 pick-up locations across the country by the end of the year. Loblaw isnt the only grocery chain that is aggressive pursuing online customers. Costco announced in September that it would be expanding its delivery service of non-perishable groceries, health and beauty products in Ontario. Metro Inc. announced last year that it would bolster its e-commerce operations, launching services in Ontario. Sobeys Inc. also signed a partnership with United Kingdom-based Ocado Group to help builds its online shopping business. With files from the Canadian Press. Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for Apple and Android. Eat This, Not That! You pour it out, wear it on your sleeve and love people from the bottom of it. But do you take carewe mean, proper careof your heart?For decades, heart disease has been the No. 1 killer of Americans.The good news: You can make quick, easy changes to your lifestyle to cut your risk, and add years to your life, and it's never too late. Here are the top 50 things you're probably doing that put you in dangerfrom the Eat This, Not That! Health to you, with all our heart. Read onand to ensure your A profile of Huawei's chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou is displayed on a Huawei computer at a Huawei store in Beijing, China - AP China on Thursday demanded Canada release a Huawei Technologies executive who was arrested in a case that adds to technology tensions with Washington and threatens to complicate trade talks. Huawei's chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, faces possible extradition to the United States, according to Canadian authorities. The Globe and Mail newspaper, citing law enforcement sources, said she is accused of trying to evade US curbs on trade with Iran. China's foreign ministry urged Canada and the US to "clarify" the reason Ms Meng was detained. "We have made solemn representations to Canada and the US, demanding that both parties immediately clarify the reasons for the detention, and immediately release the detainee to protect the person's legal rights," foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a press briefing on Thursday morning. The timing of the arrest is awkward following the announcement of a US-Chinese cease-fire in a tariff war over Beijing's technology policy. Meng was detained in Vancouver on Saturday, the day Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping met in Argentina and announced their deal. Asian stock markets tumbled on the news, fearing renewed US-Chinese tensions that threaten global economic growth. Market indexes in Tokyo and Hong Kong by 1.9 percent and 2.8 percent and Shanghai was off 1.7 percent at midday. The Chinese Embassy in Ottawa said Meng broke no US or Canadian laws and demanded Canada "immediately correct the mistake" and release her. "The Chinese side expresses firm opposition and strongly protests this serious violation of human rights," said an embassy statement. Huawei Technologies Ltd, the biggest global supplier of network gear used by phone and internet companies, has been the target of deepening US security concerns. Washington has pressured European countries and other allies to limit use of its technology. Story continues The US sees Huawei and smaller Chinese tech suppliers as possible fronts for Chinese spying and as commercial competitors that the Trump administration says benefit from improper subsidies and market barriers. Trump's tariff hikes this year on Chinese imports stemmed from complaints Beijing steals or pressures foreign companies to hand over technology. But American officials also worry more broadly about Chinese plans for state-led industry development they worry might erode US industrial leadership. US leaders also worry that Beijing is using the growth of Chinese business abroad to gain strategic leverage. By Sergio Goncalves and Catarina Demony LISBON (Reuters) - China will always stick to "mutual respect" in its efforts to deal with global challenges, President Xi Jinping said on Wednesday in Lisbon, where he signed agreements to link Portugal to Beijing's belt and road initiative. Portugal was Xi's last stop on a trip that included a meeting of G20 leaders in Buenos Aires, where China and the United States agreed to negotiate a solution to their trade war. "Even though the world is facing many challenges, China will always adhere to mutual respect and peaceful development, promote peace and stability," Xi said in a short speech. He said that during his trip he had felt people's aspirations for "peace, stability, prosperity and a better life". His comments came on the back of growing caution in parts of Europe about Chinese investment in strategic sectors such as energy and ports, with governments wary that the security of infrastructure could be compromised or that innovations that have had years of research could be lost. By contrast, Portugal, which had to be bailed out by the international community during the global financial crisis, has been open to such acquisitions in recent years. Chinese companies have invested about 10 billion euros in Portugal in recent years, making it one of the biggest recipients of Chinese investment in Europe. During Xi's visit, Portugal and China signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation on Beijing's belt and road initiative - which promotes expanding land and sea links between Asia, Africa and Europe, with billions of dollars pledged for infrastructure development. The memorandum on the belt and road initiative covers a wide range of sectors, especially digital connectivity and electric mobility, a statement from the Portuguese prime minister's office said. Beijing sees Portugal as an important partner in its project because its location makes it the closest point in Europe for ships sailing through the Panama Canal from Asia. A separate memorandum was also signed between Portugal's export promotions agency AICEP and COFCO, a state-owned Chinese food processing holding company which also has interests in transportation and trade. Under the agreement, COFCO will establish a global shared service center in the northern Portuguese port of Matosinhos. Other agreements confirmed previously announced deals, such as development of micro satellites to collect data in agriculture, fishery and oceanography, and the development of 5G networks in Portugal by China's Huawei and telecoms firm Altice.. State-owned China Three Gorges has already launched a bid for utility EDP, Portugal's biggest company by assets, where it already holds a 23 percent stake. Xi made no mention of the bid, which is expected to run into 2019. (Reporting by Sergio Goncalves and Catarina Demony; Writing Axel Bugge, Editing by Andrei Khalip and Alison Williams) Costa Rican authorities said Wednesday that the suspected murder of a 36-year-old American tourist was sexually motivated, and announced they had a suspect in custody. The search for Florida resident Carla Stefaniak came to an end Monday when police announced they found a body in the backyard of the Airbnb where she had stayed with her sister-in-law for a birthday vacation in San Antonio de Escazu, just outside the capital city of San Jose. Stefaniak was last heard from on the evening of Nov. 27 the day before her scheduled flight home but then disappeared, according to a GoFundMe set up by family members. Costa Ricas Judicial Investigation Departments General Director Walter Espinoza confirmed the arrest of 32-year-old Bismarck Espinosa Martinez, according to ABC-7 in Tampa and other outlets. Authorities said Espinosa Martinez worked as a security guard at the complex where Stefaniak was staying, and lived in the apartment next to Stefaniaks. Authorities also said Stefaniak was killed inside her apartment before her partially nude body was dumped 1,000 feet from the Airbnb, according to the Orlando Sentinel and other outlets. NEW: Photos shared by Costa Rican authorities show the suspect in the murder of Carla Stefaniak in custody. Hes been identified as 32 year-old Bismark Espinosa Martinez of Nicaragua. He was a security guard at the building where Carla was staying. pic.twitter.com/ZUljl0ARZP Frank Guzman (@fguzmanon7) December 4, 2018 The official cause of death was a stab wound to the neck, authorities said. Stefaniak was also reportedly stabbed in the arms and suffered blunt trauma to the head. Police added that the crime was sexually motivated. Authorities said Espinosa Martinez originally told police he helped Stefaniak pack her luggage into a taxi at around 5 a.m. on Nov. 28 but then changed his story, leading police to follow up. They added that Espinosa Martinez, a Nicaraguan native living in Costa Rica since June, is still considered a suspect and that the investigation is ongoing. Story continues The person detained for the homicide was near her, had chances to commit the act and became a suspect through all our investigation. Espinoza said. Stefaniaks family confirmed her death on Facebook. According to the page Finding Carla, set up when Stefaniak was still considered missing, her father identified her body on Wednesday night shortly before midnight. Its now official, the post said. Words cannot express the devastation within her family and friends. We want the world to know that we will never forget Carla. 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. May God bless her soul. The family said they will continue to post updates on the investigation and continue asking questions about the involvement of others in Carlas murder. We will make sure this case is not closed like many others in Costa Rica. the family posted. Federico Jenkin, the attorney representing the owner of the Airbnb, released a statement to ABC Action News announcing they were cooperating with authorities and closing the villa as police continue their investigation. According to Jenkin, Villa Le Mas has been in operation since 2013 and received thousands of guests. We are deeply saddened and devastated by the tragic events that occurred last week, the statement said. The owners are fully cooperating with the authorities in the investigation and we hope that once the facts are determined, the perpetrator is brought to justice. While the investigation is ongoing, and since the focus of the owners is the comfort of our guests, the facility has been temporarily closed. The villa, still available to view on Trip Advisor, has mostly favorable reviews, but some called their stay a nightmare and terrible. The murder rate in the country of 4.9 million has been on the rise, with a record-high of 603 people killed in 2017, Bloomberg reported. Thats a 63% increase compared to 10 years ago. According to the U.S. Commerce Departments National Travel & Tourism Office, Costa Rica ranked 15th among international destinations for Americans, with more than 1 million visiting in 2017. However, tourism dipped in 2017 as the number of American visitors declined for the first time since 2009. Crime is increasing in Costa Rica and U.S. citizens are frequent victims, the U.S Embassy in Costa Rica said. U.S. citizens are encouraged to exercise a high level of caution and vigilance due to increasing levels of violent crime. The criminal gang has been jailed for a total of 71 years after going on a 2m crime spree (Picture: SWNS) A gang of brazen burglars has been jailed for a total of 71 years after stealing high performance cars in a 2million crime spree. The gang, all from the travelling community, committed more than 200 burglaries between February and December last year in the south east of England. Wearing balaclavas, they would smash or force open doors and windows of businesses and homes in broad daylight then steal high-powered BMWs and Audis, firearms, cash and jewellery. As they were jailed for a total of 71 years on Thursday at Norwich Crown Court, the judge described the conspiracy as the most serious he had ever encountered. Brazen the gang carried out 200 burglaries between February and December last year (Picture: SWNS) In one attempted robbery last year at a Co-op in Burwell, Cambridgeshire, a gang member drove a stolen red Audi TTRS through a railway crossing at Lakenheath, Suffolk in a bid to get away from police. When the car was later recovered at a nearby travellers site, officers found booty from eight separate burglaries, a firearm and seven stolen puppies. MORE: Car attack driver who rammed into pedestrians with mothers vehicle admits murder charge MORE: Beats being on death row: Final words of US inmate who chose electric chair over lethal injection The gang put false plates on stolen vehicles and left them in residential parking areas before using them to commit further crimes. They managed to dispose of some of them through their contacts some were disposed of through chop shop premises where they were dismantled for sale or export but others were never found. Raids most of the raids were on homes but the gang also targeted commercial premises and ATMs (Picture: SWNS) Most of the raids were on homes but the gang also targeted commercial premises and ATMs. Norfolk suffered almost 100 of the raids, with Cambridgeshire seeing a similar number and other offences took place in Suffolk, Essex and Bedfordshire. Nine of the gang had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit burglary. Charlie Albert Webb, 20, from Newton Flotman, Norfolk was jailed for five years. John Eli Loveridge, 42, of Carleton Rode, Norfolk was jailed for seven-and-a-half years. Story continues John Stanley Loveridge, 23, of Carleton Rode, Norfolk was jailed for six-and-a-half years. Joseph Holmes, 21, of Willingham, Cambs., was jailed for four years. Danny Stone-Parker, 28, of Great Dunmow, Essex was jailed for six-and-a-half years. Timothy Stone-Parker, 24, of Ely, Cambs., was jailed for six-and-a-half years. Joe John Spencer Loveridge, 19, of Sandy, Beds., was jailed for four years. Richard Oakley, 27, of Beck Row, Suffolk was jailed for five years. Johnny Oakley, 25, of Beck Row, Suffolk was jailed for five-and-a-half years. A tenth man, Simon Oakley, 45, of Hempnall, Norfolk was found guilty of conspiracy to burgle in October and was jailed for nine years. Detective Inspector Craig Harrison, who led the investigation, said: These sentences reflect the scale and impact of this gangs offending. Every one of their crimes had a victim so the trauma and devastation caused in quite a short space of time was immense. They clearly had no care at all for the impact their offending was having on communities, particularly in south and east Cambridgeshire, which were particularly badly hit, and, indeed, across the region. Two other men James Pateman, 55, of no fixed abode, and his brother, Thomas Brown, 54, of Cambridge were also found guilty of handling stolen goods in October following a trial at Norwich Crown Court. The court heard the men were involved in the disposal of jewellery between March and November last year. Pateman was jailed for three-and-a-half years, and Brown for eight years. Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UK President Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: AP( 2), Getty Images) WASHINGTON The 2020 cycle began less than a month ago, but one of the highest profile Republican politicians up for reelection is already feeling the heat as he finds himself faced with a choice between crossing President Trump or angering some of his Senate colleagues. Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell currently controls the fate of the First Step Act, a bipartisan criminal justice reform push that has the support of Trump but is also vehemently opposed by many Republican senators. McConnell is now in a unique situation, without a clear option to keep everyone in the party happy, and at a time when he is beginning to think about shoring up his base ahead of a coming campaign. McConnell is now looking over his right shoulder, said a Republican source with extensive ties to both the White House and Congress. Its very complicated for Mitch from now on. The First Step Act would reduce mandatory minimum sentences for drug crimes, certain low-level offenses and instances where a firearm is used. It also includes incentives for inmates to participate in vocational and rehabilitative programs. The bill was crafted by a uniquely bipartisan coalition including Republicans Rand Paul, the junior senator from McConnells home state of Kentucky, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham and Utah Sen. Mike Lee. It is also backed by prominent Democrats like Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker. Proponents argue that it gives judges more leeway in sentencing and allows a more compassionate approach to nonviolent offenders. Trump echoed this rationale and emphasized the bipartisan nature of the legislation when he threw his support behind the First Step Act on Nov. 14 with a public event at the White House. Did I hear the word bipartisan? Did I hear did I hear that word? Trump asked, provoking laughs and applause. Im 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 have served their time. Story continues Trump also stressed the endorsements the bill has received from some law enforcement organizations, including the Fraternal Order of Police. Despite the bipartisan support for the First Step Act, it remains controversial, particularly among Republicans who advocate taking a hard line on crime. The legislation has also drawn staunch opposition from the National Sheriffs Association, which has argued that it would release dangerous criminals back into our communities without necessary services. In the Senate, Arkansas Republican Tom Cotton has emerged as one of the more outspoken opponents of the legislation, arguing that it could allow some sex offenders to have early release. With Trump on board, the bills backers are increasingly confident it has enough support to pass. However, so far, McConnell has not allowed it to come to the Senate floor for a vote, and First Step Act supporters on both sides of the aisle have accused him of blocking the legislation. A Democratic Senate aide who has been involved in discussions about the First Step Act told Yahoo News that Cotton and his allies have been leaning on McConnell to keep the bill from passing. If McConnell were bringing it to vote he would be facing serious division in his caucus, the aide said. A former McConnell aide added that any kind of softer approach to drug sentencing is a harder sell in Kentucky due to the ongoing opioid crisis. That presents an obstacle to McConnells ability to maintain popularity in his home state as he enters his reelection cycle. The former aide also expressed doubt the Republican Senate conference is solidly behind the bill. McConnell tends to move things along when the conference is united, the former aide said. It is obvious there is not unity in the conference. But appeasing conservative opponents of the legislation would mean crossing Trump, who has a net positive approval rating in Kentucky and wide support among Republicans. After Trump announced his support for the First Step Act, he aimed a tweet at McConnell and Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer urging them to pass the bill and calling it a real chance to do something so badly needed in our country. And Trump has a personal investment in the bill. A White House official said that Jared Kushner, the presidents son-in-law and senior adviser, is leading the Trump administrations effort to pass the legislation. Its passage would be the first major victory for Kushner in Congress. Passing the legislation might also benefit Trumps relationship with the African-American community, giving the president a concrete accomplishment that has long been sought by black leaders. When asked about the status of the First Step Act, Don Stewart, a spokesperson for McConnell, pointed to comments the majority leader made on Tuesday during a news conference about Senate Republicans agenda for the remainder of the year. In those remarks, McConnell indicated he would decide what to do with the bill based on how much support it had among Senate Republicans. Stewart disputed the claim that McConnell is blocking the legislation by preventing it for coming up for a vote. Hes letting his members review and discuss the bill before anybody makes a decision. Its just premature for anybody to block it, Stewart said. However, Stewart also suggested the legislation may not make it to the floor until next year because the Senate currently needs to address the remaining funding bills for the government prior to Dec. 7 to avoid a government shutdown. First Step Act supporters who believe they have enough votes to pass it now are concerned that delaying until the next session would effectively block it, because of the larger Republican majority that was cemented in the midterm elections. The Democratic Senate aide who has been involved in discussions about the legislation said its totally in Trumps power to make McConnell move on the bill now. Trump just has to go to McConnell and say, I need this. Do this if you need anything else from me. Either that, or threaten to go after him and blow him up with the base, the aide explained. The president has hinted he might be willing to lean on the majority leader. On Monday night, Trump participated in a roundtable about the First Step Act as he campaigned in Mississippi. Trump predicted there would be a little celebration in Washington fairly soon about the First Step Act and said there were more than enough votes to pass it. A reporter at the event asked Trump if he would insist that McConnell bring the bill to a vote before the end of the year. At a certain point, well have a talk, Trump said of the majority leader. But if we have the votes, Im sure that well be voting. Read more from Yahoo News: Washington (AFP) - A three-term Republican congressman conceded defeat on Thursday in a close race in California, giving the Democrats a total of 235 seats in the US House of Representatives. Republican David Valadao, who was first elected to the House from California's 21st Congressional District in 2012, called Democrat T.J. Cox to concede the race. The result gave the Democrats 235 seats in the 435-member chamber, a net gain of 40 seats over the previous House. Republicans won 199 seats with one race still to be decided. Mark Harris, a Republican, defeated his Democratic opponent Dan McCready by 905 votes, in a North Carolina district, according to preliminary results, but the state elections board has declined to certify the result. The close election in North Carolina's 9th Congressional District has been marred by allegations of ballot fraud on behalf of the Republican candidate Mark Harris. The state elections board is investigating the electoral fraud allegations and it could potentially call for a new election. McCready, who had conceded the race, withdrew his concession on Thursday and called on Harris to "end his silence and tell us exactly what he knew, and when." Nancy Pelosi, the California lawmaker who is expected to become the speaker of the Democratic-controlled House which convenes in January, welcomed Cox's victory. "It's pretty exciting to have won a minimum of 40 seats -- one more to come maybe," Pelosi told reporters. "And it is wonderful that we had the biggest midterm vote in the history of our country." While suffering big losses in the House, Republicans managed to pick up two seats in the 100-member Senate, increasing their majority to 53 seats from 51 seats. U.S. President Donald Trump looks on upon his arrival on the opening day of Argentina G20 Leaders' Summit 2018. President Donald Trump isnt very happy about his unfavorable approval ratings. While its no secret Trump adamantly believes hes a stellar representation of the White House and the United States of America, many news outlets have reported that his overall rating has been on a gradual decline since he entered the White House last year. However, Donald Trump insists theres also a reason for that and it has nothing to do with his leadership. According to Politico, Donald Trump is reportedly blaming Robert Mueller for his low approval rating. On Thursday, December 6, Trump even took to Twitter to sound off about the situation voicing his frustrations via social media. Describing the whole debacle as presidential harassment, Trump believes Muellers probe, which hes referred to as a phony Russian Witch Hunt on multiple occasions, is an incriminating point of controversy that has gravely affected how hes being perceived by the media. Click here to continue and read more... An elementary school principal was put on leave after trying to enact a controversial new policy on holiday decorations. Jennifer Sinclair, the principal of Manchester Elementary School in Elkhorn, Nebraska, recently sent out a memo to parents stating that she comes from a place where Christmas decor was not permitted in schools, according to WOWT. She did not specify where she was from. In an effort to be more inclusive and culturally sensitive to all students, Sinclair said she wanted Manchester Elementary teachers to follow suit and nix all holiday garb from their classrooms. Sinclair's list of banned items included images of Santa, Christmas trees, reindeer toys, red and green patterned items, the playing of Christmas music and even Elf on the Shelf. The principal's ban also gave candy canes the ax. "Historically, the shape is a 'J' for Jesus," she wrote in her memo. 'The red is for the blood of Christ, and the white is a symbol of his resurrection. This would also include different colored candy canes." The strict new policy naturally angered some parents. "I feel like it was very deliberate and intentional about eliminating just Christmas and putting an attack on what Christmas is and what it stands for," mom Jenni Myers told WOWT. After the school faced severe backlash over the memo, Kara Perchal, a spokeswoman for Elkhorn Public Schools District, addressed the issue, stating that Sinclair is a new principal and did not consult with administrators about policy concerning religious holiday themes. "The memo does not reflect the policy of Elkhorn Public Schools regarding holiday symbols in the school," Perchal wrote in a statement obtained by KETV. "The District has since clarified expectations and provided further direction to staff in alignment with District policy. This issue was limited to Manchester Elementary School and did not arise at any other schools within the District." "As of this morning, Principal Sinclair has been placed on administrative leave," Perchal added. "Due to the fact that this is an ongoing personnel issue, the District cannot comment further." A protest against the Brexit deal outside the Houses of Parliament (Reuters) European politicians have given a final strongly-worded warning to British MPs preparing to vote against the Brexit deal, with one branding the belief it could be renegotiated almost insane. Both Conservative and Labour MPs are coming in for harsh criticism on the continent for opposing the deal negotiated over the last 18 months. With opponents on both sides of the Commons, its widely expected the deal will be rejected next Tuesday by MPs motivated by the hope of a securing better terms. But suggestions of any renegotiations are being brutally dismissed on the EU side. I found this idea of renegotiating the deal quite strange, not to say on the verge of being insane, Swedish liberal MEP Jasenko Selimovic told Euronews. READ MORE: Barnier hits back at claim Brexit deal is a humiliation for the UK Theyve been negotiating for two years and they got the deal. This is the deal. Now they want another two years to negotiate? And then what? Then they will have another say? This is the deal that is done. Selimovic suggested that Theresa May would have to put the deal to a referendum if it is rejected by MPs. Thats up to them to decide, he added. But having an idea to change this deal after two years of negotiation is kind of strange to me. Separately, French MEP Philippe Juvin accused Conservative MPs of acting like children. They put conditions on everything and are continuing to ask, a bit like a child in front of father Christmas, things that they know are impossible to implement, he told French TV. Urging French voters to turn away from populist parties, he said: Look at whats happening to the British they are in the process of suicide and I dont what that for my country. Swedish liberal MEP Jasenko Selimovic said the idea the Brexit deal could be renegotiated is on the verge of being insane. (European parliament) Belgian MEP Philippe Lamberts, a member of the European Parliaments Brexit steering group, said: A renegotiation of this deal cant take place simply because its the only deal that respects the red lines of the British government and the red lines of the EU. Story continues He said a general election wouldnt change that, branding Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn a hard Brexiteer and wants to leave the European Union. The most logical thing to do is to ask the people now that they know what Brexit means, Lamberts added. A spokesperson for the Conservatives group in the European parliament told Yahoo Finance UK: An orderly Brexit is in everybodys interests so I would say if it [the vote] does go the way we dont want it to go I imagine we would need, or would encourage, both sides to show a bit of flexibility and resolve any issues that come up. Whether or not fresh talks are possible will become clear when EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier responds to the result of meaningful vote in a speech to the European parliament next Wednesday morning. READ MORE: EU leaders to hold crisis talks within 48 hours if Brexit deal is rejected The French politician said on Thursday that the deal on the table is the only and best possible. But the commissions chief spokesperson has said that Barnier remains available for talks. However, sources say changes could be made only to the 26-page political declaration on the future relationship rather than the 585-page withdrawal agreement. European leaders are set to hold crisis talks on Thursday if the Brexit deal is voted down. The likes of German chancellor Angela Merkel and French president Emmanuel Macron are coming to Brussels for a European summit. Brexit is not currently on the agenda but one senior EU source said: Few of us have doubts that it wont end up on it. READ MORE: Barnier remains available 24/7 for talks even though Brexit deal agreed WASHINGTON A high-ranking State Department official has offered a stark warning about the potential of computational warfare to destroy the Enlightenment order that has governed Western society for more than two centuries. And he called for an Enlightenment 2.0, one that would bring the ideals of the original Enlightenment reason, civil discourse, humanism to the digital sphere. We dont need to say that this is the death of the Enlightenment. We need to create Enlightenment 2.0, said the official, Matt B. Chessen, who serves as acting deputy science and technology adviser to the secretary of state. He has been at the State Department for more than a decade, with postings in Baghdad and Kabul. Chessen is also a science-fiction novelist with vivid ideas about the future of humanity and technology. (Photo: Getty Images) His remarks came at a briefing held on Capitol Hill earlier this week by the Helsinki Commission, a bipartisan agency concerned with international security. The briefing was titled Lies, Bots, and Social Media: What is Computational Propaganda and How Do We Defeat It? Chessen said that the possibility of a post-truth world actually directly undermines the Enlightenment ideals of a search for truth and reason. The advent of such a world, in which intentionally misleading news stories jostle with truth, would benefit adversaries of the United States, Chessen said. They want to see this post-truth world. Because in that world, a fact is whatever you can convince people of. It was not immediately clear whether Chessens remarks suggested a renewed commitment from Foggy Bottom to countering concerted disinformation campaigns from domestic extremists and foreign U.S. adversaries such as Russia and China. Chessen did not respond to requests to clarify his remarks, but a spokesperson for the State Department said that the Department is broadly concerned about threats to democracy, including threats posed by state-sponsored disinformation and manipulative information operations designed to undermine democratic processes and institutions. Story continues Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, a former Republican congressman from Kansas who supported Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign, has not evinced much anxiety about disinformation. As director of the Central Intelligence Agency, he has sometimes downplayed the extent to which Russian information warfare played a role in the 2016 election. President Trump listens to Japans Prime Minister Shinzo Abe speak during a meeting on Nov. 30. (Photo: Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP) Trump has discounted that possibility outright. And he has at times appeared to advocate for a post-truth world of the very kind Chessen warned against. In July, he told a gathering of veterans that what you are seeing and what you are reading is not whats happening. Just stick with us, dont believe the crap you see from these people, the fake news. Although the presidents invocation of fake news refers to news reports about his administration he believes to be inaccurate or unduly critical, the way he has framed his complaints about the news media, and the intensity of those complaints, has worried the keepers of democratic institutions. The president also has endorsed conspiracy theories about the Clintons and liberal financier George Soros. These tend to bubble up from the computational warfare swamp. Trumps personal attorney, the former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, offered what may well become the motto of the post-truth world: Truth isnt truth, he said during an August appearance on Meet the Press. Recent months have made clear that technology giants like Google, Facebook and Twitter have enabled the dissemination of purposefully deceptive news, frequently serving as unwitting participants in the information war waged on the Western establishment. But in a response to a question from Yahoo News, Chessen said it was too soon to hold hearings similar to those that brought the nations top cigarette executives to Capitol Hill in 1994. Their deceptions ultimately led to the unraveling of Big Tobacco. Chessen, who once worked for the technology company Razorfish, said that companies like Facebook and Twitter lack the malicious intent of nicotine purveyors. Chessen did suggest that the federal government may need to create a new institution that would treat social media companies like a public utility with a civic function. He also expressed some admiration for Europes new General Data Protection Regulation, which gives Internet users more control over their data. California has a similar law, but Silicon Valley has resisted a push for greater regulation. Calling for a national conversation on technology issues, Chessen said that maybe Congress needs to convene a commission on data privacy, information security and disinformation. In addition to serving as a career diplomat, Chessen is the author of science fiction novel, Broad Horizons, described on Amazon as a satirical, futuristic, cyberpunk novel, one that combines self-replicating nanites with temporal acceleration to create a nanotechnology intelligence, with devastating effect. On his website, Chessen also writes about the future of technology. In one article, he predicts that artificial intelligence will facilitate the creation of artificial realities custom virtual universes that are so indistinguishable from reality, most human beings will choose to spend their lives in these virtual worlds rather than in the real world. People wont breed. Humanity will die off. Chessens fellow panelists agreed that the notion of an unregulated Internet was coming to an end. There was this idea that this technology itself was pro-democratic, said Karen Kornbluh, who served as an economic development official in the Obama administration. Nina Jankowicz, an expert on Russian information warfare at the Wilson Center, seconded that sentiment. Social media self-regulation, she said, has been a failure. _____ Read more from Yahoo News: The FBI has uncovered evidence that foreign hackers penetrated two state election databases in recent weeks, prompting the bureau to warn election officials across the country to take new steps to enhance the security of their computer systems, according to federal and state law enforcement officials. The FBI warning, contained in a flash alert from the FBIs Cyber Division, a copy of which was obtained by Yahoo News, comes amid heightened concerns among U.S. intelligence officials about the possibility of cyberintrusions, potentially by Russian state-sponsored hackers, aimed at disrupting the November elections. Those concerns prompted Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson to convene a conference call with state election officials on Aug. 15, in which he offered his departments help to make state voting systems more secure, including providing federal cybersecurity experts to scan for vulnerabilities, according to a readout of the call released by the department. Johnson emphasized in the call that Homeland Security was not aware of specific or credible cybersecurity threats to the election, officials said. But three days after that call, the FBI Cyber Division issued a potentially more disturbing warning, titled Targeting Activity Against State Board of Election Systems. The alert, labeled as restricted for NEED TO KNOW recipients, disclosed that the bureau was investigating cyberintrusions against two state election websites this summer, including one that resulted in the exfiltration, or theft, of voter registration data. It was an eye opener, a senior law enforcement official said of the bureaus discovery of the intrusions. We believe its kind of serious, and were investigating. The bulletin does not identify the states in question, but sources familiar with the document say it refers to the targeting by suspected foreign hackers of voter registration databases in Arizona and Illinois. In the Illinois case, officials were forced to shut down the states voter registration system for 10 days in late July, after the hackers managed to download personal data on up to 200,000 state voters, Ken Menzel, the general counsel of the Illinois Board of Elections, said in an interview. The Arizona attack was more limited, involving malicious software that was introduced into its voter registration system but no successful exfiltration of data, a state official said. Story continues FBI Flash PDF: Targeting Activity Against State Board of Election Systems >>> The FBI bulletin listed eight separate IP addresses that were the sources of the two attacks and suggested that the attacks may have been linked, noting that one of the IP addresses was used in both intrusions. The bulletin implied that the bureau was looking for any signs that the attacks may have attempted to target even more than the two states. The FBI is requesting that states contact their Board of Elections and determine if any similar activity to their logs, both inbound and outbound, has been detected, the alert reads. Attempts should not be made to touch or ping the IP addresses directly. This is a big deal, said Rich Barger, chief intelligence officer for ThreatConnect, a cybersecurity firm, who reviewed the FBI alert at the request of Yahoo News. Two state election boards have been popped, and data has been taken. This certainly should be concerning to the common American voter. Barger noted that one of the IP addresses listed in the FBI alert has surfaced before in Russian criminal underground hacker forums. He also said the method of attack on one of the state election systems including the types of tools used by the hackers to scan for vulnerabilities and exploit them appears to resemble methods used in other suspected Russian state-sponsored cyberattacks, including one just this month on the World Anti-Doping Agency. The FBI did not respond to detailed questions about the alert, saying in a statement only that such bulletins are provided to help systems administrators guard against the actions of persistent cyber criminals. Menzel, the Illinois election official, said that in a recent briefing, FBI agents confirmed to him that the perpetrators were believed to be foreign hackers, although they were not identified by country. He said he was told that the bureau was looking at a possible link to the recent highly publicized attack on the Democratic National Committee and other political organizations, which U.S. officials suspect was perpetrated by Russian government hackers. But he said agents told him they had reached no conclusions, and other experts say the hackers could also have been common cybercriminals hoping to steal personal data on state voters for fraudulent purposes, such as obtaining bogus tax refunds. Yahoo News photo Illustration; photos: AP, Getty Still, the FBI warning seems likely to ramp up pressure on the Department of Homeland Security to formally designate state election systems as part of the nations critical infrastructure requiring federal protection a key step, advocates say, in forestalling the possibility of foreign government meddling in the election. Such a formal designation, which would allow state election officials to request federal assistance to protect their voting systems, is under consideration, a Homeland Security spokesman told Yahoo News. Federal and state election officials say that the prospect of a full-blown cyberattack that seriously disrupts the November elections is remote, but not out of the question. About 40 states use optical-scan electronic-voting machines, allowing voters to fill out their choices on paper. The results are tabulated by computers. These are reasonably safe because the voting machines are backed up by paper ballots that can be checked, says Andrew W. Appel, a Princeton University computer science professor who has studied election security. But six states and parts of four others (including large swaths of Pennsylvania, a crucial swing state in this years race) are more vulnerable because they rely on paperless touchscreen voting, known as DREs or Direct-Recording Electronic voting machines, for which there are no paper ballot backups. Read also: Michael Isikoff chats with Sidewires Jonathan Allen about foreign hackers penetration of election data >>> Then whatever numbers the voting computer says at the close of the polls are completely under the control of the computer program in there, Appel wrote in a recent blog post titled Security Against Election Hacking. If the computer is hacked, then the hacker gets to decide what numbers are reported. All DRE (paperless touchscreen) voting computers are susceptible to this kind of hacking. This is our biggest problem. Another area of concern cited by Appel and other experts is the growing number of states that allow overseas and military voters to cast their ballots online. In his conference call this month with state election officials, Johnson urged them to guard against potential intrusions by taking basic precautionary steps, such as ensuring that electronic voting machines are not connected to the Internet while voting is taking place. The FBI bulletin addresses additional potential threats, such as the targeting of state voter registration databases comparable to the attacks in Arizona and Illinois. This is a wake-up call for other states to look at their systems, said Tom Hicks, chairman of the federal Election Assistance Commission, an agency created by Congress after the 2000 Florida recount to protect the integrity of elections and which helped distribute the FBI alert to state election officials last week. Hackers could conceivably use intrusions into voter registration databases to delete names from voter registration lists, although in most states, voters can request provisional ballots at the polls, allowing time for discrepancies to be resolved, an official of the National Association of Secretaries of State told Yahoo News. Still, according to Barger, the cybersecurity expert, such attacks can be used to create havoc and sow doubt over the election results. As a result, the FBI alert urges state officials to take additional steps to secure their systems, including conducting vulnerability scans of their databases. In addition, the bulletin urges officials to sharply restrict access to their databases. Implement the principle of least privilege for database accounts, the FBI alert reads. It adds that any given user should have access to only the bare minimum set of resources required to perform business tasks. . Federal prosecutors and special counsel Robert Muellers office filed court documents on Friday that revealed new details about the governments cooperation with Michael Cohen, President Donald Trumps former personal lawyer, ahead of his sentencing next week. The U.S. Attorneys Office for the Southern District of New York submitted a sentencing memo for Cohen recommending a sentence of 42 months, while Muellers office said in its filing that Trumps former attorney committed a serious crime but has made significant efforts to assist the special counsels office. Cohen, 52, has been cooperating for months with Muellers investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election, and Cohens attorneys revealed in their own sentencing memo last week that their client sat for seven interviews with Muellers team. Muellers filing stated that Cohen provided information that was credible and consistent with other evidence the special counsels office had collected. The court document also outlined how Cohen assisted the special counsels office, including by providing information about his own contacts with Russian interests during the campaign and details on the Trump Organizations real estate plans in Russia. Cohen also told Muellers team that he was in contact with a Russian national who claimed to be politically influential and offered to help the Trump campaign make inroads with the Kremlin, according to the filing. But the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Southern District of New Yorks filing rejected the idea that Cohen should receive leniency for his assistance, stating that Cohen had a rose-colored view of the seriousness of the crimes. After cheating the IRS for years, lying to banks and to Congress, and seeking to criminally influence the Presidential election, Cohens decision to plead guilty rather than seek a pardon for his manifold crimes does not make him a hero, prosecutors said in the filing. Story continues Michael Cohen, Trump's former personal attorney, pleaded guilty last week to lying to Congress. (Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS) Cohen worked for the Trump organization for over a decade and spent years as Trumps go-to fixer, helping negotiate international real estate deals and threatening journalists pursuing stories that would hurt his boss. He became a central figure in the Mueller investigation after the FBI raided his law office, home and hotel room in April this year. Months after the raid, Cohen pleaded guilty to two criminal counts related to paying women to keep quiet about alleged sexual affairs with Trump. Cohen told a Manhattan court in August that, at Trumps direction, he had paid porn star Stormy Daniels $130,000 in hush money through a shell company during the 2016 election campaign. Federal prosecutors also included in their filing on Friday that Trump had directed Cohen to make the payments. Last week, Cohen accepted a plea deal in a separate case and admitted that hed lied to Congress about the extent of the Trump Organizations planned real estate development in Moscow. Cohen had told two congressional committees last year that negotiations for a Trump Tower in Moscow ended in January 2016, but court documents revealed that the talks lasted as late as approximately June 2016 while Trump was the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. Cohens pre-sentencing filings on Friday are part of an intense week in the Mueller probe, and come the same day as the special counsels office outlines how Trumps former campaign chairman Paul Manafort broke his plea deal by lying to investigators. On Tuesday, Mueller also filed two memos recommending that former national security adviser Michael Flynn serve no jail time as a result of his extensive cooperation with the probe. Meanwhile, Trump has continuously tried to distance himself from Cohen and accused his former attorney of lying to protect himself. After Cohen pleaded guilty last week to lying to Congress about the Trump Organizations planned real estate project in Moscow, Trump called him weak and not a very smart person. Cohen will be sentenced in both the U.S. Attorneys New York case and the special counsels case on Dec. 12. Cohens lawyers have argued for leniency in recent weeks, saying their client should only be sentenced to time served given his continued cooperation with prosecutors. Read the memo from the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Southern District of New York: SDNY Cohen Sentencing Memo by Anonymous wUhMotV on Scribd Read the special counsels memo: SCO Cohen Sentencing Submission by Anonymous wUhMotV on Scribd Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. The knotweed could be seen from space A property firm has been fined 18,000 for allowing an 8ft-high jungle of knotweed to grow so big it could be seen from space. The invasive plant was allowed to spread for 10 years and was blocking light from neighbouring homes. Bristol City Council prosecuted the landlord MB Estate Limited on behalf of seven residents using anti-social behaviour laws. It is thought to be the first prosecution of its type. The knotweed had been allowed to grow for eight years (SWNS) Amie King moved into a 400,000 property in Ash Road, in the trendy Horfield area of the city, in 2007 and soon became plagued by the forest next door. Its worrying because it can affect the sale of our properties, mortgages its the stress of it all. You dont have anyone to help you, she told BBC Radio. We had no idea what it was and were unsure of what exactly it was overgrown with just big green plants. Its like a forest, my children refer to it as the forest next door. We went through the council and for years they were unable to do anything because legally they didnt have anything to use. Neighbours called it the forest (SWNS) For years and years weve been banging our heads against a brick wall feeling like no one can help. MB Estate Limited was served with a community protection notice in May 2017 but, after failing to comply, were prosecuted using the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. The company didnt attend the hearing or sentencing and was fined 18,000 plus costs in its absence at Bristol Magistrates Court. It is unfortunate that the council needed to resort to formal action, but we hope that this sends a message that appropriate action will be taken, when necessary, to protect the public, said councillor Kye Dudd. Knotweed has the potential to cause significant nuisance to property owners, causing structural damage as well as anxiety over the effect on property prices and the ability to secure a mortgage. The house is in the Horfield area of Bristol (SWNS) Japanese knotweed was introduced to the UK around 200 years ago as an ornamental plant, but is now common and widespread. Story continues Under the provisions made within Schedule 9 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, it is an offence to cause Japanese knotweed to grow in the wild. It can which can grow up to 20cm a day. Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UK A demonstrator watches a burning car near the Champs-Elysees avenue during a demonstration last Saturday in Paris. (ASSOCIATED PRESS) French President Emmanuel Macron reversed course on his controversial gas tax on Tuesday, announcing a six-month suspension in the face of weeks of fiery protests, where nearly 300,000 motorists donned the yellow vests French law requires drivers keep in their cars and blocked highway traffic. The decision delighted the Wall Street Journal editorial board, who this week feted the protests as a global carbon tax revolt against green piety. Nothing reveals the disconnect between ordinary voters and an aloof political class more than carbon taxation, the board wrote. It was an unsurprising take from authors whose regard for monocled 19th-century industrialists as civilizations ethical and political peak renders them ideologically incompatible with the scientific realities of human-caused climate change and what itll take to address it. Their analysis, while incomplete, stumbles backward into the most vital climate policy debate happening outside the confines of the Republican Partys outright science denialism. Since the 1970s, neoliberalism the philosophy that preaches prosperity through privatization has dominated both major political parties in the United States, and been imposed throughout the world via hegemonic Washington-based financial institutions. Yet averting cataclysmic global warming, scientists say, requires an economic transformation that such free-market absolutism appears unable to deliver. Rather, scientists and experts point to the kind of large-scale economic mobilization governments typically reserved for waging war as the only policy capable of scaling clean energy infrastructure with the speed researchers say is needed. This would keep temperatures within 2.3 degrees Fahrenheit above pre-industrial levels and protect food systems, freshwater supplies and coastal cities from catastrophe. That framework undergirds the so-called Green New Deal, the proposal progressives like Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are pushing to scale down emissions over the next 12 years, the deadline by which United Nations scientists say world governments must halve emissions to keep warming within the 2.3-degree limit. Such a plan offers a chance to not only end the global economys dependence on fossil fuels, but it also provides the mechanisms to reduce growing income inequality and provide good-paying jobs to millions who struggle to make ends meet even as they work multiple low-wage jobs. Story continues French President Emmanuel Macron. Some proposals, including the proposition Washington voters rejected last month, suggest taxing carbon dioxide and using the revenues to help pay for that kind of costly infrastructure build up. But pioneering work by economists such as Stony Brook Universitys Stephanie Kelton finds that the government can simply print more money without raising the additional funds through direct taxation or borrowing. Frances gas tax was was far less ambitious. Revenues from the levy, which would have raised prices by 24 cents a gallon on diesel and 12 cents a gallon on unleaded gas, were intended to pay down the countrys growing budget deficit. A carbon tax should not be the leading force in any initiative, Greg Carlock, who authored a blueprint for a Green New Deal for the think tank Data for Progress earlier this year, said by phone. It is one component of a broader suite of investments and reforms, and its those investments and reforms that are going to not only end up benefiting the people, so they dont feel the pain, but that are really going to sell the package. The role of carbon pricing, then, is to hasten the shift away from fossil fuels, according to Anders Fremstad, an assistant professor of economics at Colorado State University who in September published a paper proposing a carbon tax and redistributing the revenues to the low-income people whod be most impacted by the cost spikes it could trigger. Its about class politics. The gas-tax stuff is the proxy. Brad Johnson, co-founder of Climate Hawks Vote A carbon tax is not the full solution, he said by phone. Its not the only public policy we need, because thats not going to build mass transit for us, or get us to buildings we need people to start living in. Heres something it will get us: Get private companies to put up more windmills and solar panels and phase out their coal use. The protests in France were not against a climate policy. We are not against the ecology, on the contrary, Benoit Julou, a spokesman for the protest movement, said last week on a France 3 talk show that was translated by the news site Earther. The demonstrations, instead, were against higher consumer costs imposed by a so-called president of the rich. Macrons debut budget last year cut taxes on Frances wealth tax by 70 percent and lowered capital gains taxes to a flat rate of 30 percent. That, according to the Paris-based journalist Cole Stangler, increased earnings for the countrys wealthiest 100 taxpayers by more than $662,000 a year on average, with 40 percent of the total benefits flowing to the top 1 percent of earners. In his latest budget, released in September, Macron capped public pensions and welfare benefits, and proposed slashing public sector jobs in what his left-wing rival Jean-Luc Melenchon warned would be a real bloodbath. Its worth noting that the richest 10 percent of people on Earth account for half the worlds carbon emissions, according to OxFam. Concluding the yellow-vests movement protests is a revolt against green piety and not austerity merits the same sort of skepticism Wall Street Journal editorial writers apply to climate science, research considered settled by all but those who make mistakes or take money from the fossil fuel industry. Its about class politics, said Brad Johnson, the co-founder of the super political action committee Climate Hawks Vote. The gas-tax stuff is the proxy. He likened the protests to the Boston Tea Party that ignited the American Revolutionary War. Obviously the colonists didnt care about tea, he said. They liked tea, but they were really mad about the British government claiming monopoly on the economic activity that surrounded it. 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. 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The toilet was installed for bus drivers caught short in the area, but locals are furious about the stone-grey building, because they reckon it could drive down house prices. Locals are already fed up with the permanent portaloo, who say it looks like the Tardis from Dr Who. Stephanie Willis, 33, said: "I was at work and saw it on Facebook and thought the image was photo shopped and I laughed. "But after I started reading the comments I thought oh my god this is real - I am furious." The council claimed they had no involvement with the toilet - which was built on the street in Biggin Hill, south east London, on December 4. Terraced houses nearby sell for upwards of 300,000. The private convenience is only for bus drivers, who carry a specially access key. Bromley Council wrote to residents and explained that the transport authority did not need permission. They said: "We understand that this facility has been installed by TfL under permitted development rights. "These are available to them as a bus operator, and therefore this is a development for which no planning permission is required." Stephanie, who only bought her house in February, added: "It has a PIN lock so it is probably for bus drivers because it isnt public. "I bought my first home this year and already it is devalued because there is a toilet outside. "In the summer it will be smelly, it will attract rats and criminal activity - the glass window has already been smashed." The angry resident, who believes it looks like something from Doctor Who, said neighbours were not informed this would happen. Councillor William Huntington-Thresher said the council has "urgently" tried to contact TfL to demand why residents were not warned. He said: "While neither Bromleys permission nor planning permission may be required, this does not mean that the views of local people can be disregarded. "We are making TfL aware of the views of our residents to these installations at these unwelcome locations. "We will continue to engage with TfL to provide them with the benefit of local knowledge and alert them to local issues and remain hopeful they will listen more often than at present." Nick Fairholme, director of project and programme delivery at TfL, said: "We are sorry that not all residents were aware of our plans to install a toilet for bus drivers in Biggin Hill before work began. "The toilet is part of our work to improve conditions for Londons bus drivers and was installed in agreement with the London Borough of Bromley, but unfortunately our courtesy letters did not reach all residents. "We are investigating how this happened to ensure it does not happen again." The deeds that George HW Bush are carved into the "granite of history" former Secretary of State James Baker said as Texas said goodbye to one of its most famous residents. A day after thousands of Americans and every living president mourned the death of Mr Bush at the National Cathedral in Washington, friends and family were given a chance to pay their final respects to the former president. More than 1,000 mourners sang America the Beautiful at St. Martins Episcopal Church on Thursday, where the 41st commander in chief, who died last week in Texas at age 94, worshipped for over 50 years. Mr Baker, a longtime friend, eulogised the former president as a peacemaker and a truly beautiful human being while describing his accomplishments in foreign policy. He was not considered a skilled speaker, but his deeds were quite eloquent and he demonstrated their eloquence by carving them into the hard granite of history, Mr Baker said. George P Bush, son of former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and one of the Mr Bushs 17 grandchildren, reminisced about fly fishing and sharing Blue Bell Creameries ice cream, a well-known Texas brand, as a child with the man he called Gampy. George W Bush, who followed his father to the White House after Bill Clinton, sat in the front pew near the flag-draped casket. The funeral featured Mr Bushs grandchildren, who served as honorary pallbearers, as well as his granddaughters, who read from the Bible. Much like the Wednesday procession at the National Cathedral, eulogies read Thursday included light-hearted and sometimes comical memories of Mr Bush. Mourners laughed as Mr Baker recalled how Mr Bush would let him know a conversation was over. Baker, if youre so smart, why am I president and youre not? The former secretary of state reportedly visited the former presidents death bed last week. Raised in an Episcopalian family in Massachusetts, Mr Bush fused his preppy New England background with the more free-wheeling traits of his adoptive state of Texas, where he moved as a young man to work in the oil industry. Story continues This mix was reflected in some of his musical choices for his funeral: the St Martins Parish Choir sang The Battle Hymn of the Republic, while country music star Reba McEntire chose The Lords Prayer. The casket was later carried out of the church at the end of the service to the thunderous rhythm of Onward Christian Soldiers. Following the service, Mr Bushs remains were taken by car and train nearly 80 miles (130 kilometres) northwest to his presidential library in College Station, Texas. The train is a Union Pacific Corp locomotive, numbered 4141 and bearing the name George Bush 41 on the side. The former president will be buried there alongside the graves of his wife, Barbara Bush, who died in April, and their daughter Robin, who died of leukemia at the age of three in 1953. Mr Bush, who narrowly escaped death as a naval aviator who was shot down by Japanese forces over the Pacific Ocean in World War Two, will be buried with military honours, including a flyover by 21 aircraft from the US Navy. Reuters contributed to this report LUMBERTON, N.C. McCrae Dowless, the political operative at the center of an election fraud investigation in North Carolinas 9th Congressional District, now appears to be connected to both counties in the district where a suspiciously high number of absentee ballots were never returned to election officials. The North Carolina Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement is looking into the irregularities in Bladen and Robeson counties, neighboring rural jurisdictions near the South Carolina border, where 40 percent and 62 percent of absentee ballots, respectively, werent returned. In Bladen County, Dowless employees told local television station WSOC and BuzzFeed News that they collected absentee ballots from people and gave them to Dowless, which violates state law. Dowless was hired by a consultant to work on behalf of Republican Mark Harris, who appeared to defeat Democrat Dan McCready by 905 votes in the election. McCready, however, withdrew his concession to Harris on Thursday amid the ongoing investigation. Theres now new evidence that links Dowless to Robeson County and suggests he employed at least one person there: Jennifer Boyd, who served as one of two legally required witnesses for an unusually high number of people, 55, when they filled out their absentee ballots, according to a WSOC review of the forms. She indicated she helped 52 of them fill out their ballots. The employees who worked for Dowless in Bladen County also served as witnesses for an unusually high number of voters. Absentee ballots in North Carolina require two witnesses signatures. Boyd also listed Dowless office address when she dropped off over 230 voter registration forms at the Robeson County Board of Elections in September, according to board records reviewed by HuffPost. The second witness on many of the absentee forms Boyd signed was Lisa Britt, who told BuzzFeed she worked for Dowless. An employee at the Robeson County Board of Elections, who agreed to be identified only as a staff member, told HuffPost she believed Boyd was working with Dowless. Story continues The records HuffPost reviewed at the Robeson County Board of Elections on Thursday didnt contain evidence of wrongdoing. One log showed Boyd dropped off only four absentee ballots during the election and that they were from herself, her husband and her husbands parents. North Carolina law allows someone to turn in an absentee ballot on behalf of a close relative. No one answered the door at Boyds home Thursday. She told WSOC she was trying to assist people who didnt have time to go to the polls but declined to comment when asked if she worked for Dowless. There is no evidence that the irregularities in absentee ballot returns changed the outcome of the race. Its unclear how many ballots could be affected and if any ballots were actually tampered with. But the numbers are unusual. Harris won 61 percent of the absentee-by-mail vote in Bladen County, even though just 19 percent of the returned and accepted ballots came from Republicans. In Robeson County, McCready won the overall mail-in absentee vote, but the 62 percent non-return rate was remarkably higher than any other county in the district. State investigators can order a new election if irregularities or improprieties occurred to such an extent that they taint the results of the entire election and cast doubt on its fairness. Robeson County saw a surge in requests for absentee ballots this summer, which was unusually early, Steve Stone, chairman of the county board of elections, said in an interview Thursday. The board also got a rash of calls from residents who said that canvassers told them their voter registration had been canceled, Stone said, and he alerted the North Carolina State Board of Elections of the irregularities this summer. The Robeson County board staff member said she didnt think that surge was due to people working for Dowless. A different group, she said, dropped off batches of hundreds of voter registration applications and vote-by-mail requests from August to October. Related Coverage North Carolina Delays Certifying Results Of Congressional Race Amid Probe Of Irregularities Amid North Carolina Election Probe, Voters Are Scared, Confused And Angry Democrat Dan McCready Retracts Concession Amid North Carolina Election Fraud Probe Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. Ugh, don't you hate it when the police rush you into turning yourself in? A Facebook post led to an unexpectedly hilarious exchange between the Richland Police Department and a wanted criminal who was taking his sweet time. SEE ALSO: Puppy detained by police has now been released after massive social media campaign For its weekly "Wanted Wednesday," the Washington police department posted a mugshot of 38-year-old Anthony Akers, who allegedly violated his probation. He has a history of illegal possession of prescription drugs and resisting arrest, according to the Tri-City Herald. But Akers, clearly exasperated by the attention, didn't want to be rushed. "Calm down, im going to turn myself in," he commented. When he didn't show up, the Richland Police Department tried reaching out again. They even offered him a ride to the station. Akers said he needed to tie up "a couple loose ends" before his impending incarceration, but assured the police that he would show up in "the next 48 hours." On Monday, the police responded with another post, days after Akers promised to turn himself in. "Dear Anthony, is it us?" the Richland Police Department asked. "We are beginning to think you are not coming." When he didn't show over the weekend, Akers wrote a heartfelt apology for standing up the police. Here's his tongue-in-cheek note admitting his "commitment issues." After nearly a week of ghosting, empty promises, and leading them on, Akers finally turned himself in. He replied to the Richland Police Department's post with a cheeky selfie captioned, "Here for our date sweetheart." Love, Actually who? Watch this romance blossom over Facebook instead. WATCH: Audi shows its wild side with an unexpected R8 convertible George H.W. and Barbara Bush Point at The Camera. Today many are in mourning following the death of former president George H.W. Bushs death at 94-years-old. The 41st president took his final breaths less than a year after losing his beloved wife Barbara at 92-years-old back in April. Now many are wondering if the president died due to a broken heart, according to Today. The former president was laid to rest on Wednesday at a funeral attended by many at the Washington National Cathedral. During a touching eulogy for his father, former president George W. Bush spoke of his fathers heartbreak following his mothers death. Bush was crushed after losing his wife who was the love of his life and wanted nothing more than to be reunited with her again. Dad is holding moms hand again, George W. Bush said, as he assured loved ones that his father had found peace in heaven. Click here to continue and read more... Warning: Health secretary Matt Hancock says more needs to be done on medicine stockpiling (PA) Britains health secretary has warned that some stockpiling of medicines does not go far enough in case of a no-deal Brexit. In a letter to health and care sector professionals, Matt Hancock praised the efforts so far to stockpile medicines. But he added that more may need to be done in case Britain drops out of the European Union without any negotiated settlement. His is the latest warning amid many, that Britain could face serious economic and social issues in the immediate aftermath of any no-deal Brexit. Medicines may be flown in after Brexit (PA) In areas where we cannot tolerate significant risk to the flow of goods, such as with medicines and medical products, we need to have contingency plans in place for this worst-case planning assumption, Hancock wrote. This means that whilst the six-week stockpiling activities remain a critical part of our contingency plans, this now needs to be supplemented with additional actions. He also said the government is buying refrigeration units to enable some drugs to be stored. Speaking on BBC radio on Friday, he added that preparations are being made to fly medicines in and fast-track trucks with medical supplies. Mr Hancock also warned supermarkets they should keep their warehouses full. We are working on ensuring that we have aviation capacity, he said. If there is a serious disruption at the border, we will have prioritization and prioritization will include medicines and medical devices. He added that the contingency plans showed that people should back the Brexit deal negotiated by Prime Minister Theresa May. His warnings came on the same day as ministers said Dover and other Channel ports face disruption for up to six months if the UK leaves the EU without a deal. There have also been warnings about traffic issues around Kent ports (PA) And Kent County Council warned that dead bodies may remain uncollected and children might miss exams due to gridlocked roads in the event of a no-deal Brexit. This follows from dire warnings last week by the Bank of England over a possible no-deal, dismissed as scare stories by those who back a hard Brexit. Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UK Los Angeles Chargers tight end Antonio Gates confirmed on Thursday that his California home was burglarized last weekend, while he was in Pittsburgh with the Chargers playing the Steelers. The scariest part: Gates family was home at the time. Items taken from garage Via Eric D. Williams of ESPN, Gates confirmed a TMZ report that his home was broken into last weekend. The home of Los Angeles Chargers tight end Antonio Gates was burglarized last weekend, while the player was in Pittsburgh and his wife and children were home. (AP) They did not enter his main home, instead taking a garbage bag of items from the Gates garage. Gates said his wife, Sasha, and their two children were upstairs in the home at the time. No one was injured. All that stuff didnt really matter to me, to be honest with you, Gates said. I was just so concerned with my kids. Jewelry taken, cars searched The suspects were caught on surveillance cameras, and while in the garage took jewelry they found, as well as a hoverboard. They also searched Gates cars, including a Rolls-Royce. Police are searching for the suspects, who may have cased the home previously, as they hopped a fence and seemed to know just where to go once they got on the property. Gates is the not first athlete in that area to have his home burglarized: the Los Angeles Rams Robert Woods and Los Angeles Dodgers Yasiel Puig have as well. More from Yahoo Sports: Titans Derrick Henry obliterates Jags on historic 99-yard TD run Robinson: Huge payday on horizon for Dak Prescott, other Cowboy stars Report: 2 ex-MLB players killed in car crash in Venezuela Passan: Indians look to deal Trevor Bauer or Corey Kluber A temporary spending bill has been passed in the US to plug a shortfall in funding and stave off a looming government shutdown. The measure provides funding through to 21 December, as lawmakers continue to grapple with Donald Trumps demands to provide billions of dollars in the next budget to build his campaign promise of a sprawling wall across the US-Mexico border. Without the stop gap bill passed on Thursday by the US House of Representatives, several federal agencies would have had to shut after Fridays deadline, including the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Agriculture. The bill now goes to the Senate for approval. Before it expires, the Republican-led congress is expected to consider a $450bn (350bn) bill to fund the departments through the fiscal year that ends after September 2019. Mr Trump has demanded $5bn this year to build his wall. Democrats argue it would be ineffective at keeping out illegal immigrants and illicit drugs. Instead, Democrats want to continue improving less costly fencing and technology to detect illegal border crossings. The total cost of the wall is expected to exceed $25bn and could spark lawsuits over the government seizing private property in some construction areas. House Democrat leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democrat leader Chuck Schumer are expected to support the bipartisan measures which allow for an additional $1.6bn in border security, despite opposition from several House Democrats. The Democrat leaders also signalled they would be willing to extend funding for the Department of Homeland Security for one more year. The department is tasked with overseeing production of the wall. On Monday, Trump tweeted: We would save Billions of Dollars if the Democrats would give us the votes to build the Wall. Either way, people will NOT be allowed into our Country illegally! We will close the entire Southern Border if necessary. Also, STOP THE DRUGS! Story continues Previously, Mr Trump threatened to force a partial government shutdown if Congress did not give him the money he wants for the wall. The president had been scheduled to meet on Tuesday with Ms Pelosi and Mr Schumer to discuss the impasse and their opposal to his plans for the wall. But memorial observances for former President George HW Bush postponed that meeting until next week. A government shutdown doesnt effectively mean a blackout in Washington. If at any point Congress and Trump cannot agree on legislation to keep government agencies running, essential services, such as the FBI and other federal law enforcement, would continue. Reuters contributed to this report Username: Password: or Register Back to Forum Reply to This post Post New Thread Thread Rating: 1 Vote(s) - 5 Average 1 2 3 4 5 Page: 1 2 A Cool Kid Communist Comeback LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 408320 12-07-2018 10:28 AM Post: #1 A Cool Kid Communist Comeback Advertisement https://www.tabletmag.com/scroll/276374/...t-comeback "The Western lefts romance with Communism is as old as Communism itself. In the 1920s and 1930s, a large chorus of intellectuals and political activists hailed the Soviet regime as a beacon of humanitarian ideals even as millions disappeared into the gulags meat grinder." LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 408320 12-07-2018 10:38 AM Post: #2 RE: A Cool Kid Communist Comeback 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." https://www.theepochtimes.com/world-comm...27796.html "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." LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 408320 12-07-2018 10:44 AM Post: #3 RE: A Cool Kid Communist Comeback https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-06-0...est-groups "Documents released by the FBI Records Vault have revealed a troubling connection between figures associated with Chinese communist affiliated protest groups in the 1960's and 70's and Bay Area politicians. The FBI identified a number of individuals who were working with groups that were militant and Chinese-oriented in nature. Today, these individuals are involved with organizations who financially and politically support figures tied to protest groups operating in San Francisco, including the far left movement By Any Means Necessary (BAMN). The parties involved in support for these protest groups are also tied to institutions connected to billionaire George Soros."" LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 408320 12-07-2018 10:48 AM Post: #4 RE: A Cool Kid Communist Comeback https://imgur.com/gallery/BcZOg "Democratic National Committee deputy chairman Keith Ellison is facing backlash online after he tweeted a smiling photo of himself holding a copy of Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook, a book that has been criticized as promoting left-wing violence." https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/201...ter-posin/ "Democratic National Committee deputy chairman Keith Ellison is facing backlash online after he tweeted a smiling photo of himself holding a copy of Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook, a book that has been criticized as promoting left-wing violence." LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 408320 12-07-2018 10:51 AM Post: #5 RE: A Cool Kid Communist Comeback That was the post-election assessment from the Democratic Socialists of America, which backed 40 winning candidates at the state, county and municipal levels. As of Friday, 11 of this year's winning candidates had been endorsed by the national DSA organization, and 29 others had been endorsed by local chapters." http://www.governing.com/topics/politics...level.html "This years midterm elections saw the rebirth of the American socialist movement after generations in retreat.That was the post-election assessment from the Democratic Socialists of America, which backed 40 winning candidates at the state, county and municipal levels. As of Friday, 11 of this year's winning candidates had been endorsed by the national DSA organization, and 29 others had been endorsed by local chapters." LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 408320 12-07-2018 10:55 AM Post: #6 RE: A Cool Kid Communist Comeback "President Barack Obama on Thursday brushed aside concerns that he favors socialism, saying in an interview with Univision that his policies are so mainstream that he would have been considered a moderate Republican in the 1980s." https://www.politico.com/blogs/politico4...ist-151997 Remember this whopper? Well, it is true that so-called moderate Republicans are socialists."President Barack Obama on Thursday brushed aside concerns that he favors socialism, saying in an interview with Univision that his policies are so mainstream that he would have been considered a moderate Republican in the 1980s." LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 465050 12-07-2018 11:02 AM Post: #7 RE: A Cool Kid Communist Comeback Ironically most of the old communist countries are no longer communist. Eastern Europe, virulently anti-communist. They know from experience. Russia, no longer communist. I honestly have no idea what they have now. China, extremely free market dictatorship. Communist in name only Vietnam, single party state. Extreme free market. Communist in name only North Korea. Borderline theocratic isolationist personality cult dictatorship. Communist? Probably not. The only other country I can think of that might actually be communist is Laos . Considering it's one of the poorest countries on the planet I wouldn't be surprised if everyone was more or less equally poor there. LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 465050 12-07-2018 11:03 AM Post: #8 RE: A Cool Kid Communist Comeback LoP Guest Wrote: (12-07-2018 10:55 AM) Remember this whopper? Well, it is true that so-called moderate Republicans are socialists. "President Barack Obama on Thursday brushed aside concerns that he favors socialism, saying in an interview with Univision that his policies are so mainstream that he would have been considered a moderate Republican in the 1980s." https://www.politico.com/blogs/politico4...ist-151997 And most republicans today have similar positions to democrats of the early 90s. The terms Democrat and Republican are as meaningless as liberal and conservative. And most republicans today have similar positions to democrats of the early 90s. The terms Democrat and Republican are as meaningless as liberal and conservative. LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 465050 12-07-2018 11:04 AM Post: #9 RE: A Cool Kid Communist Comeback LoP Guest Wrote: (12-07-2018 10:51 AM) "This years midterm elections saw the rebirth of the American socialist movement after generations in retreat. That was the post-election assessment from the Democratic Socialists of America, which backed 40 winning candidates at the state, county and municipal levels. As of Friday, 11 of this year's winning candidates had been endorsed by the national DSA organization, and 29 others had been endorsed by local chapters." http://www.governing.com/topics/politics...level.html Much of the new "right"/alt-"right" is also socialist. Oh, what a tangled web we weave. Much of the new "right"/alt-"right" is also socialist. Oh, what a tangled web we weave. LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 408320 12-09-2018 11:15 AM Post: #10 RE: A Cool Kid Communist Comeback "Give me four years to teach the children and the seed I have sown will never be uprooted." - Vladimir Lenin LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 408320 12-09-2018 11:25 AM Post: #11 RE: A Cool Kid Communist Comeback ''It's been diluted to the point where it's a very thin gruel,'' said the Princeton historian Lawrence Stone. ''Some of my young colleagues call themselves neo-Marxists. I can't see much difference between their views and mine, and I call myself a liberal Democrat...'' And diversity is now the signature of once-monolithic Marxism. Professor Spivak calls herself a Marxist feminist, Professor Roemer designs Marxist market-driven economies, and Erik Olin Wright, a sociology professor at the University of Wisconsin, calls himself an analytic Marxist, seeking to break Marx's grand theories down into their components." https://www.nytimes.com/1989/10/25/us/ed...leges.html That was just the strategy to bring about monolithic Marxism in America. Marxism had to adapt in order to undermine the American system, to bring as many people into the fold as possible, before it springing its inevitable trap upon any population that falls for it false teachings. It was not truly diluted, nor was it really diversified, as we are seeing, evidenced by kind of intolerance even these "diverse" Marxists have when someone veers off groupthink point. See Google's corporate culture. Look at the clampdown on free speech on the internet under the guise of diversity. Diversity was only used as a tool to trick as many people as possible into adopting the philosophies needed to undermine the America system, and then as a tool to bludgeon anyone who now gets in the way as it becomes that monolithic version that most people living under repressive communist regimes would recognize. "As Karl Marx's ideological heirs in Communist nations struggle to transform his political legacy, his intellectual heirs on American campuses have virtually completed their own transformation from brash, beleaguered outsiders to assimilated academic insiders...''It's been diluted to the point where it's a very thin gruel,'' said the Princeton historian Lawrence Stone. ''Some of my young colleagues call themselves neo-Marxists. I can't see much difference between their views and mine, and I call myself a liberal Democrat...''And diversity is now the signature of once-monolithic Marxism. Professor Spivak calls herself a Marxist feminist, Professor Roemer designs Marxist market-driven economies, and Erik Olin Wright, a sociology professor at the University of Wisconsin, calls himself an analytic Marxist, seeking to break Marx's grand theories down into their components."That was just the strategy to bring about monolithic Marxism in America. Marxism had to adapt in order to undermine the American system, to bring as many people into the fold as possible, before it springing its inevitable trap upon any population that falls for it false teachings.It was not truly diluted, nor was it really diversified, as we are seeing, evidenced by kind of intolerance even these "diverse" Marxists have when someone veers off groupthink point. See Google's corporate culture. Look at the clampdown on free speech on the internet under the guise of diversity.Diversity was only used as a tool to trick as many people as possible into adopting the philosophies needed to undermine the America system, and then as a tool to bludgeon anyone who now gets in the way as it becomes that monolithic version that most people living under repressive communist regimes would recognize. LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 408320 12-09-2018 11:26 AM Post: #12 RE: A Cool Kid Communist Comeback But the more immediate work was to get our system of schools adopted. To this end it was proposed to organize the whole Union secretly, very much on the plan of the Carbonari of Europe, of whom at that time I knew nothing. The members of this secret society were to avail themselves of all the means in their power, each in his own locality, to form public opinion in favor education by the state at the public expense, and to get such men elected to the legislatures as would be likely to favor our purposes. How far the secret organization extended, I do not know; but I do know that a considerable portion of the State of New York was organized, for I was myself one of the agents for organizing it. Thus we know that as early as 1829, the communists and socialists had adopted subversive techniques to further their ends in the United States, techniques they would continue to use right up to the present. Public education was the result of an unholy alliance between Owenites, who wanted public schools to promote socialism, Unitarians who wanted public schools to get rid of Calvinist influence, and Protestants who wanted public schools to counter increasing Catholic immigration. The system we now have is anti-Christian, pro-socialist, and owned lock, stock, and barrel by behavioral psychologists." http://www.home-school.com/Articles/19th...cation.php https://www.thenewamerican.com/reviews/o...ic-schools ""The Convert" in The Works of Orestes A Brownson, AMS Press, Inc., vol. V, p.56):Thus we know that as early as 1829, the communists and socialists had adopted subversive techniques to further their ends in the United States, techniques they would continue to use right up to the present.Public education was the result of an unholy alliance between Owenites, who wanted public schools to promote socialism, Unitarians who wanted public schools to get rid of Calvinist influence, and Protestants who wanted public schools to counter increasing Catholic immigration. The system we now have is anti-Christian, pro-socialist, and owned lock, stock, and barrel by behavioral psychologists." LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 408320 12-09-2018 11:32 AM Post: #13 RE: A Cool Kid Communist Comeback LoP Guest Wrote: (12-07-2018 11:02 AM) Ironically most of the old communist countries are no longer communist. Eastern Europe, virulently anti-communist. They know from experience. Russia, no longer communist. I honestly have no idea what they have now. China, extremely free market dictatorship. Communist in name only Vietnam, single party state. Extreme free market. Communist in name only North Korea. Borderline theocratic isolationist personality cult dictatorship. Communist? Probably not. The only other country I can think of that might actually be communist is Laos . Considering it's one of the poorest countries on the planet I wouldn't be surprised if everyone was more or less equally poor there. Yeah, what's happened there globally is very similar to what I was just discussing about how the communists pretended to dilute Marxism in the American education system, and diversified it long enough to undermine the system that it was attacking, to get people to adopt and promote a diluted form, so as to create the momentum to generate the acceptance and the impetus of its hardcore followers to try to push the monolithic form in America. I suspect that what we have been witnessing in this regard globally, with respect to the points you are raising, is much the same, except the idea is to push its true economic form globally. Yeah, what's happened there globally is very similar to what I was just discussing about how the communists pretended to dilute Marxism in the American education system, and diversified it long enough to undermine the system that it was attacking, to get people to adopt and promote a diluted form, so as to create the momentum to generate the acceptance and the impetus of its hardcore followers to try to push the monolithic form in America. I suspect that what we have been witnessing in this regard globally, with respect to the points you are raising, is much the same, except the idea is to push its true economic form globally. LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 408320 12-09-2018 11:55 AM Post: #14 RE: A Cool Kid Communist Comeback http://www.americaseducationwatch.org/communism.html http://www.americaseducationwatch.org/up...du.sml.pdf "Probably the most important early (1946) documentation of the plan to Communize American education. This article by Dorothy Dawson, secretary to the school superintendent, entitled "Community Centered Schools THE BLUEPRINT which appeared in the Montgomery County, Md. "Advertiser" , April 11, 1973, clearly spells out the socialist education revolution which would take place in American education, using Montgomery County schools as pilot schools for experimentation." LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 408320 12-09-2018 12:02 PM Post: #15 RE: A Cool Kid Communist Comeback https://www.britannica.com/topic/educati...-communism Advertisement Back to Forum Reply to This post Post New Thread House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California emerges victorious from the Democratic caucus leadership elections, Nov. 28, 2018. (Photo: J. Scott Applewhite/AP) Ive never been very kind to Nancy Pelosi, or to her contemporaries in the Democratic Party. In this space last year, after Democrats lost two special elections for Congress, I suggested, not nearly for the first time, that Pelosi and her entire generation of party leaders ought to step aside or at least give some thought to a succession plan. I said this not just because they were projecting a tired image, but because they seemed to be endlessly trafficking in played-out, 20th century slogans. Asked if she was a political liability, Pelosi told reporters, I think Im worth the trouble, which struck me as the best summation of the 60s generation, generally, Id ever heard. So when youre trying to oust Pelosi from power in favor of younger leaders, and the whole effort seems so ill timed and poorly thought out that even I find myself sympathizing with her, then youre probably doomed to fail spectacularly. Which is exactly what happened this week, when a few of the partys young stars in the House took on Pelosi and proved mainly that none of them have anything like the political acumen to replace her. The movement to unseat the 78-year-old Pelosi has been building since the days after the 2016 election, when Ohios Tim Ryan ran against her for minority leader and picked up 63 votes. During this falls midterm campaigns, according to a tally by the Washington Post, about a third of the non-incumbent Democrats running for Congress said they wouldnt get behind another Pelosi speakership. After the election, Ryan and fellow centrist Seth Moulton of Massachusetts, both of whom have been eyeing long-shot presidential runs, led a cadre of Democrats in trying to derail Pelosis return to the speakership. This masterfully conceived plot seems to have run into a few complications. First off, the conspirators forgot to think of any substantive argument against Pelosi, aside from her age. Generational change is great when theres a real disagreement among generations; getting rid of old people just because theyre old is generally regarded as cruel. Story continues They also forgot that they needed someone to run against her especially when their outside-the-box first choice, Ohios Marcia Fudge, decided shed back Pelosi instead. Also, they overlooked the small fact that, unlike in 2016, they actually won the elections this time in large part because Pelosi raised a boatload of money in support of candidates who werent as liberal as she is and in some cases opposed her outright. And they seem not to have considered that Democrats elected a record 89 women to the House this month, in the first midterm cycle since #MeToo became a thing. So, you know, maybe not the best moment, optically speaking, for a couple of guys to take down the first female speaker in history. Other than that, it was a cant-miss plan. When it turned out that there wasnt going to be any mass rebellion, and that Pelosi was pretty good at wrangling votes when she needed them, Moulton who by now had emerged as the public ringleader of this thing, Ryan having quietly tiptoed away while no one was looking offered to end the uprising in exchange for her shaking up her leadership team. Imagine the last, starving holdouts at the Alamo issuing their final demand to the Mexicans who had the place surrounded. Thats sort of what were looking at here. In the end, 32 Democrats voted against Pelosi in the caucus vote for speaker yesterday. That stings, but shell almost certainly win back the votes she needs to become speaker about half of those when the full House votes in January. What all of this tells you, though, is that Pelosis job as the partys titular leader is about to get a lot harder. Whenever a party shrinks to a small minority of members, they tend to come from safe districts that are more ideologically pure, which makes them easier to unify. The more your caucus expands, however, the more diverse it becomes politically, and the more factions begin to emerge. In the case of this Democratic caucus, you have at least three rough factions coalescing right now. One group comprises Democrats from contested districts bent on projecting moderation. According to an analysis by Third Way, the lonely centrist Democratic think tank, candidates endorsed by the New Democratic caucus in the House flipped 32 seats from red to blue this cycle an impressive showing that may act as a counterforce to runaway populism. Then you have the more firebrand leftists from safe districts like the partys latest celebrity, New Yorks Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who want the party to pursue a more aggressive, Bernie Sanders-like assault on capitalism. These candidates didnt take any Republican seats, but their real power resides in the explicit threat of primaries against members they dont deem sufficiently pure. In this way, theyre the lefts analog to the Freedom Caucus. And finally theres the so-called Problem-Solver Caucus, a small group of Democrats who are pressuring Pelosi for rules changes that would make it easier to introduce compromise legislation with Republicans. Im not sure where theyre supposed to compromise, since on every issue where that matters deficit reduction, immigration, taxes feckless Republicans are way more scared of President Trump than they are of national ruin. What all of these factions disagree about, really, is why theyre suddenly a majority. Were the elections a verdict for moderation and nonpartisanship? Were they a call to action for more radical policy? What message were the voters trying to send? The answer, of course, is probably the same as in every recent wave election, at a time when most voters are perennially disgusted. Theyre here now because they represented an alternative to the status quo. They werent in charge of this mess. Thats all the message there is. It sounds nice to say, as Ocasio-Cortez did last week, that the voters sent them here to get things done. But everyone knows you dont get things done controlling a single chamber of Congress, with an unhinged president of the other party living up the street. No, theyre here to keep the crazy at bay. Theyre a brushback pitch aimed squarely at the chin of Donald Trump. As for the Democrats governing vision, that only gets worked out one way now: in the dust storm of presidential politics thats about to engulf the party. Thats how it always works, when it works at all an out-of-power party finds its voice in the primaries, which this time will be more chaotic and contentious than you can imagine. Until then, a speakers main job is to preserve order, beat back extremism and stay off the radar. Keep the focus on Trump, where it belongs, and where it most benefits the opposition. Pelosi gets this. Its what she did in the midterms, and its what she does best. Shes the wrong leader for a party that needs to modernize and broaden its appeal in the longer term. But shes exactly the right speaker for now. _____ Read more from Yahoo News: By Aditi Shah NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Pilots flying Boeing Co's 737 MAX jets in India should be trained on a simulator that replicates the suspected scenario that led to the Lion Air crash, India's aviation regulator said in a statement on Thursday. An Indonesian Lion Air 737 MAX passenger jet flying to Jakarta from Bali crashed on Oct. 29, killing all 189 people on board. While India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) recommended more training, it said Jet Airways Ltd and SpiceJet Ltd, which operate 737 MAX jets in India, have not had problems with the aircraft. "Even though Indian operators have not experienced such major concern ... following decisions were taken as interim precautionary safety measures till such time Boeing issues more detailed information or clarification," the DGCA said. An interim Indonesian report did not give a cause for the crash but focused on airline maintenance and training and the response of a Boeing anti-stall system to a recently replaced sensor. Lion Air pilots flying the same plane on its penultimate flight a day earlier had experienced a similar problem of nose-down movements, but used a procedure to switch off the relevant system. Boeing has said this was the correct procedure. But U.S. pilot unions have said a software upgrade was not included in training or manuals and that it changed the behavior of some controls in a way that could confuse pilots. The Seattle-based airplane maker is weighing plans to launch a software upgrade for the 737 MAX that would help address the issue faced by the Lion Air crew, sources have told Reuters. Boeing did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. The DGCA has asked the airlines to provide detailed technical information and a reporting plan to its crew if it detects a Manoeuvring Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) defect. The Indian regulator said airlines must instruct the crew to divert to the nearest possible airport in case there is a MCAS defect in the flight. Indonesia's transport safety committee, in its preliminary report, criticized the decision by a crew on the same jet the evening before the crash to continue to their destination rather than diverting the flight after the MCAS system activated. The crew in that case managed to shut off the system. The DGCA said that if an aircraft has had any MCAS related issues, the airline would need to carry out a verification flight, meaning one without passengers, before undertaking any commercial flight. Lion Air did not perform a test flight after conducting maintenance the night before the crash, according to the Indonesian report. (Reporting by Aditi Shah; Editing by Jamie Freed and Elaine Hardcastle) An urban explorer has captured creepy footage which he claims was taken inside the abandoned former home of Tony Martin. Mr Martin, a farmer from Norfolk, was convicted of murder in August 1999 after shooting 16-year-old burglar Fred Barras dead at his home. The abandoned house in Emneth Hungate, Norfolk (Caters) Tony Martin pictured outside his farmhouse, Bleak House, in Emneth Hungate, Norfolk, shortly after his release from prison (PA) His sentence was later reduced to manslaughter on grounds of diminished responsibility and he was released in 2003 after three years behind bars. His former home and farm outbuildings, in Emneth Hungate, Norfolk, appear to have remained empty for many years with the 74-year-old now living at a different secret address. Bones were found hanging from the ceiling in one of the upstairs rooms (Caters) Tony Martin was convicted of murdering 16-year-old burglar Fred Barras in 1999 (Caters) YouTuber Abandoned World Explorer UK filmed the eerie house in June this year while on holiday with friends. His creepy video gives a tour around the property showing the house covered in overgrown plants and grass. The bathroom had piles of unidentified bones lying around it while an upstairs room had animal bones hanging from pieces of string on the ceiling and a pile of bones lying on the floor. One of the derelict outbuildings (Caters) MORE: Paul Nuttall quits UKIP in protest at partys direction following controversial Tommy Robinson appointment MORE: Residents in leafy suburb furious after Dr Who Tardis toilet installed only for use by bus drivers The explorer said: We spotted the house whilst on holiday and decided to explore it without realising whose house it was. The bones around the place made the house seem like it was something out of Texas Chainsaw Massacre. They were hung up like decorations and looking like a spider web. A Range Rover was found abandoned in one of the outbuildings (Caters) The urban explored admitted to feeling intimidated and scared while at the property (Caters) He added: I dont think I will be going back, I felt so intimidated and scared whist we were there. To me the most interesting thing I saw was the classic MK1 Range Rover in the garage and the hanging bones. I film abandoned places all the time and realised this one seemed a little odd. Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UK John Grisham has written dozens of legal thrillers but just one book of nonfiction: The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town. Published in 2006, the true-crime story profiles Ron Williamson, a mentally ill man who, along with his friend Dennis Fritz, was wrongly convicted in the 1982 rape and murder of cocktail waitress Debbie Sue Carter. Grisham was hardly the first reporter on the case, but his best seller put a tale of egregious judicial corruption in sleepy Ada, Okla., back in the news. Although the six-part Netflix docuseries The Innocent Man, which will be available to stream on Dec. 14, further updates that investigation, the shared title is a bit misleading. Director Clay Tweel weaves together Williamson and Fritzs storywhich culminated in their exoneration by DNA evidencewith that of a minor character from the book: Tommy Ward, a gentle, devoutly Christian inmate at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary, serving a life sentence in the abduction and murder of 24-year-old Ada resident Denice Haraway. The case the DA mounted against Ward and his co-defendant in 1985 is eerily similar to the one that convicted Williamson and Fritz three years later: both relied on bizarre coerced confessions in lieu of definitive physical evidence. And the two investigations shared a cast of police, prosecutors and snitches. Yet Ward has remained behind bars for decades, desperate to prove his innocence. The stylistic conventions of prestige true crime have ossified over the past few years, and Tweel adheres to them: there are tasteful, dimly lit re-enactments. Archival audio is paired with closeups of dusty cassette tapes spinning their tiny wheels. The soundtrack alternates between hysterical strings and the wholesome country chestnuts filmmakers love deploying, to grimly ironic effect, while uncovering the evil that lurks within some little town. An intrepid reporter turns up to inject suspense into the final few episodes with her search for alternate suspects in the Haraway murder. Story continues Yet this isnt a typical whodunit; its a character-driven study of the power that broken institutions wield over vulnerable individualswhich includes the families of victims who are led to believe justice has been served when it hasnt. Tweel and Grisham, an executive producer who appears in the miniseries, ask why the justice system so thoroughly failed these people, and demonstrate how hard it is to get convictions overturned. This can, at times, make the series feel like an ad for the Innocence Project, the nonprofit that uses DNA to contest suspicious verdicts. (Grisham sits on the groups board of directors.) But Wards story is powerful enough to underscore the necessity of such a compassionate appeal. J.B. By Saumya Joseph and Tamara Mathias (Reuters) - Mallinckrodt Plc plans to spin off its specialty generics business to shareholders by the second half of 2019, but said it was still open to a sale of the unit. The company has been looking to sell the division since 2016 and talks held this year with at least two potential buyers fell through, according to media reports. Mallinckrodt's shares fell 7.5 percent to $21.41 on Thursday morning. The generics business, which generated revenue of $839.5 million in fiscal 2017, largely makes opioid drugs and has come under pressure as more doctors in the United States shy away from prescribing the addictive medicines that had claimed nearly 50,000 lives last year. Mallinckrodt is facing several lawsuits that have alleged that the company contributed to the opioid addiction epidemic through its marketing and promotion practices. Like other generics makers, the company is also struggling with falling prices for such drugs. In a bid to cushion the impact, the new generics company will include constipation drug Amitiza, which was added through the firm's purchase of Sucampo Pharmaceuticals last year. "The lion's share of the revenue stream that we see coming out of our pipeline is 4-5 years out ... Amitiza will help us as we transition to the portfolio," Chief Financial Officer Matthew Harbaugh, who will head the generics spinoff, said on a conference call. Executives also said on the call that the cash impact from any sort of opioid settlement was "probably a number of years away". The generics business is expected to launch as many as five new products in 2019 and will be headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. It will take Mallinckrodt's name. The remaining business of specialty branded products will be renamed later and headed by Chief Executive Officer Mark Trudeau. The business is expected to benefit from being able to deploy capital more freely and focus on its pipeline, even as it relies on Mallinckrodt's biggest drug Acthar - whose sales have been declining - for nearly half of its revenue. The company will also be "less encumbered by opioid liability", according to Mizuho Securities analyst Irina Koffler. The planned separation is expected through a pro-rata distribution of common stock to shareholders and will be tax-free, Mallinckrodt said. (Reporting by Tamara Mathias and Saumya Sibi Joseph in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila) You never know what you'll find at a flea market like a 4,000-year-old piece of pottery. That's what a guy in England discovered, though he didn't realize what he had until later, after he'd repurposed the jar as a toothbrush holder. The pottery vessel, adorned with the painting of an antelope, caught the eye of Karl Martin while he was browsing a yard sale five years ago. He picked the jar up, along with another pot, for about $5 (4 pounds). "I liked it straight away," Martin said in a statement from Hansons Auctioneers, where he now works and where the pottery was auctioned selling for about $100 (80 pounds) in November. The jar dates to the Indus Valley Harappan civilization, which thrived in the northwestern regions of South Asia during the Bronze Age, according to James Brenchley, head of antiquities at Hansons Auctioneers. The Indus, along with ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, is one of the three cradles of civilizations in the Old World, he added. This pottery jar seems to date to the Indus Valley civilization. Hansons Auctioneers That backstory was unbeknownst to Martin, a collector, at the time of his purchase. So who could blame him for plopping the jar in the bathroom, right? "I used it in the bathroom to store my toothpaste and toothbrush it even ended up getting a few toothpaste marks on it," he said. Years later, while helping Brenchley unload a van at the auction house, Martin noticed some of the pottery going up for auction looked similar to his toothbrush holder. "The painting style looked the same, and it had similar crudely painted animal figures," he said in the statement. Brenchley examined the pot and confirmed that it was a genuine artifact from Afghanistan dating to 1900 B.C. "That means it's around 4,000 years old made 2,000 years before Christ was born," Martin said. "It's amazing, really. How it ended up at a South Derbyshire car-boot sale, I'll never know." Originally published on Live Science. Post: #7 RE: Im gonna say it. We Nuked Hiroshima and Nagasaki Archangel Wrote: (12-07-2018 06:15 PM) Balut56 Wrote: (12-07-2018 06:05 PM) It was revenge and our racist government put them in internment camps while German Americans owned factories that put out the munitions. We had to use a nuclear bomb. Why? Whats wrong with a naval blockade. Its a fricken island for Gods sake. The Japanese were already negotiating their surrender. It was a 'Killing out of the goyim'. https://www.americanthinker.com/articles...ingne.html Quote: A staple of Hiroshima Revisionism has been the contention that the government of Japan was prepared to surrender during the summer of 1945, with the sole proviso that its sacred emperor be retained. President Harry S. Truman and those around him knew this through intercepted Japanese diplomatic messages, the story goes, but refused to extend such an assurance because they wanted the war to continue until atomic bombs became available. The real purpose of using the bombs was not to defeat an already-defeated Japan, but to give the United States a club to use against the Soviet Union. Thus Truman purposely slaughtered hundreds of thousands of Japanese, not to mention untold thousands of other Asians and Allied servicemen who would perish as the war needlessly ground on, primarily to gain diplomatic advantage. One might think that compelling substantiation would be necessary to support such a monstrous charge, but the revisionists have been unable to provide a single example from Japanese sources. What they have done instead amounts to a variation on the old shell game. They state in their own prose that the Japanese were trying to surrender without citing any evidence and, to show that Truman was aware of their efforts, cite his diary entry of July 18 [1945] referring to a "telegram from Jap Emperor asking for peace." There it is! The smoking gun! But it is nothing of the sort. The message Truman cited did not refer to anything even remotely resembling surrender. It referred instead to the Japanese foreign office's attempt (under the suspicious eyes of the military) to persuade the Soviet Union to broker a negotiated peace that would have permitted the Japanese to retain their prewar empire and their imperial system (not just the emperor) intact. No American president could have accepted such a settlement, as it would have meant abandoning the United States' most basic war aims. If you mean "surrender" as keeping all their conquered land, continuing to oppress everyone under strict feudalism, and maintaining their military forces and presence in the Pacific, then yes they wanted to "surrender" before the bombs were dropped. If you mean "surrender" as keeping all their conquered land, continuing to oppress everyone under strict feudalism, and maintaining their military forces and presence in the Pacific, then yes they wanted to "surrender" before the bombs were dropped. Washington (AFP) - US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who has enjoyed a level of bipartisan support rarely seen in Washington, is facing mounting public criticism amid the fallout from the slaying of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The fresh scrutiny of Mattis, often portrayed at home and abroad as a trusted steward of US values during the turbulent times of President Donald Trump, comes on the heels of his implementation of a controversial military order to place troops on the US-Mexico border, a move critics slammed as a political stunt. The most vocal attack on the former Marine general came from a member of Trump's own Republican party this week, when Senator Lindsey Graham blasted the Pentagon chief and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for refusing to directly link Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to Khashoggi's murder at the kingdom's Istanbul consulate in October. Mattis has repeatedly condemned the killing and called for those responsible to be held to account, but insisted he had seen "no smoking gun" connecting Prince Mohammed to the Khashoggi murder. "You have to be wilfully blind" not to conclude the murder was orchestrated by people under Prince Mohammed's command, Graham said, following a briefing to several senators by CIA Director Gina Haspel. "There's not a smoking gun, but a smoking saw," Graham added, referring to the reported grisly detail that an autopsy specialist dismembered Khashoggi's body with a bone saw. Graham is a firebrand in US politics, and his bouts of indignation should be viewed through the prism of his own ambition. Initially a fierce Trump opponent, he converted to a staunch ally, and Washington observers say he is angling for a top posting in the administration. - 'I need the evidence' - Still, Graham was not alone in his upbraiding. Democratic Senator Chris Murphy said Mattis and Pompeo have tried to "push aside" the question of Prince Mohammed's involvement and said that when the two men spoke to senators last week they had sought to mislead lawmakers. Story continues They "knew that there was no way this murder happened without the consent and direction of MBS," Murphy told MSNBC, using the abbreviation for Prince Mohammed. And Republican Bob Corker, who leads the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, came to a similar conclusion, saying a jury would convict the crown prince "in less than 30 minutes." On Wednesday, Mattis said Graham has "the right to his own opinion" and reiterated his careful interpretation of the intel on Khashoggi's murder. "If I say something, I need the evidence," Mattis said. "We are continuing to review. I am quite satisfied we will find more evidence of what happened. I just don't know what it is going to be or who will be implicated, but we will follow it as far as we can." - Border operations - Mattis was also thrust into the spotlight last month in the run-up to the midterm elections, as Trump repeatedly attacked "caravans" of Central American migrants headed for the US border. The president ordered a deployment of thousands of active-duty troops to beef up the frontier. Critics assailed the move as a costly political stunt to mobilize Trump's conservative base. Kelly Magsamen, a senior security official for both Republican and Democratic presidents, termed the deployment "a craven political stunt by President Trump ahead of the US midterm elections." Magsamen, writing on the Defense One website, said that Mattis should either explain his support for the move or quit if he does not believe it warranted. But Mattis defended the decision, saying it was not political and that the soldiers on the border are mainly providing much-needed logistical support: "We don't do stunts in this department," he said. The deployment of approximately 5,600 troops is Mattis's largest in his nearly two years at the Pentagon, and he this week approved a request from the Department of Homeland Security to extend the mission through January 2019. - 'Complicit' resolution - Saudi Arabia has sought to distance Prince Mohammed from the murder and has received unbending support from Trump, who sees Riyadh as a vital security partner in the Middle East and a key oil exporter and buyer of US arms. But US lawmakers have grown increasingly leery about American support for the Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen. A bipartisan group of senators on Wednesday introduced a resolution that, if approved, would say the Senate "has a high level of confidence" Prince Mohammed was "complicit" in Khashoggi's killing, and would assail Riyadh for its role in Yemen's humanitarian crisis. The Senate could also vote on a separate measure next week to force the US to end its military support to the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen. Mattis's cautious words come at a sensitive time. He must tread a fine line with Saudi Arabia as he publicly and privately pushes Riyadh to negotiate for a peace settlement with Houthi rebels in Yemen. For his part, Trump has said "maybe he did and maybe he didn't" when asked if the crown prince knew about the plot to kill Khashoggi. Graham suggested Mattis and Pompeo were being vague in their intelligence assessments to please Trump. "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 he's complicit," Graham said. The incident took place in Woodville, Derbyshire. (SWNS) WARNING GRAPHIC IMAGE A thug stabbed a driver in the neck at a petrol station in full view of a police officer because he was taking too long in the queue. The bizarre and horrific attack was caught on CCTV. Jack Oldfield, 26, knifed Robert Taylor who was choosing a soft drink as he paid for fuel. Oldfield has now been jailed for eight years. Oldfield has been jailed for eight years (SWNS) Robert Taylor was stabbed while on a petrol station forecourt (SWNS) CCTV captured the chilling moment Oldfield stabbed Mr Taylor at the Asda petrol station in Burton Road, Woodville, Derbys., on July 11. Mr Taylor, 30, was paying at the night-serving hatch when Oldfield, who was behind him in the queue, suddenly flipped. After thrusting the six-inch blade into Mr Taylors neck, Oldfield calmly turned back to the shocked cashier to continue paying. The brutal attack happened in front of PC Kim Wheldon, of Derbyshire Police, who had just finished refuelling her patrol car. The horrific injury sustained by Robert Taylor (SWNS) She arrested Oldfield, of Swadlincote, Derbys., at the scene and an imitation handgun was also found in his pocket. Mr Taylor was rushed to hospital where he was treated for a single stab wound. Oldfield was jailed on November 16 at Derby Crown Court after he admitted wounding with intent, and three counts of carrying a bladed weapon. Speaking after the sentencing, PC Wheldon said: This was a completely unprovoked attack on an innocent man who had popped out to the shop that July evening. The six-inch knife used in the attack (SWNS) Oldfield had become annoyed at waiting in the queue because he felt that Mr Taylor had taken too long to choose a drink. There was an argument and Oldfield pulled a knife from his pocket and stabbed him in the neck. Oldfield also attempted to conceal the knife he had used and also left an imitation firearm in the police car in a bid to hide that. It was only good fortune that the injuries Mr Taylor suffered were not more serious. Although these kinds of incidents are rare, Oldfields sentence reflects the fact that the courts take them extremely seriously. Id like to offer my best wishes to Mr Taylor, on behalf of the force, and hope that he can find some comfort in knowing that Oldfield is off our streets. Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UK Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer waves next to German Chancellor Angela Merkel after being elected as the party leader. Photo: Reuters It was a bittersweet day for Angela Merkel on Friday, as she gave her final speech as leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). On one hand, she was stepping down to try and save her party, but on the other, the German chancellor got what she wanted: to pass the baton to her protege Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer. Kramp-Karrenbauers slim victory is likely to have provoked sighs of relief in the European Union as it means Merkel looks more likely to see out her final term as the leader of the blocs biggest economy. The same could not have been said had Friedrich Merz triumphed. As well as disagreeing with Merkels policies and party leadership as too left-leaning, the millionaire businessman had an axe to grind after she ousted him from politics nearly 10 years ago. The person who heads the CDU is normally expected to become the next chancellor in Germany, but, first, the woman many see as Merkel Mark II has big problems to fix namely uniting and breathing new life into a divided old party, at the same time as bringing back CDU voters whove given up on it. Can she bring back voters? is the million dollar question, says Emily Mansfield from the Economist Intelligence Unit to Yahoo Finance. The CDU won just 32% in the September 2017 general election, and lost around one million voters to the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD). READ MORE: German conservatives to replace Merkel with Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer as party head Despite a concentrated lurch to the right by many in the CDU, who started preaching tougher migration laws in an attempt to lure back people still angry at Merkels open-door refugee policy in 2015-2016, the party continued to haemorrhage support. This was especially apparent during the recent state elections of Bavaria and Hesse, to both the Greens and AfD, who scooped 17.5% and 10% respectively in Bavaria. The most recent opinion polls put the CDU between 27% and 30%. Bringing back those voters might be tough considering, to a large extent, Kramp-Karrenbauer represents continuity. She shares many traits with her powerful mentor, including steadiness, pragmatism, and political acumen (she was state premier of Saarland for years), although she has been trying to subtly set herself apart, calling for stricter migration laws and a tougher response to Russia over its recent aggression against Ukraine. Story continues She has done her best to distinguish herself from Merkel and enunciate that she has a slightly tougher more conservative position, says Mansfield. READ MORE: Merkel backs Macrons call for a real European army The atmosphere at the party conference today was buzzing and electrified around the leadership vote it was the first time delegates had gotten to chose their leader in years. However, Carsten Brzeski, Chief Economist at ING Germany is less optimistic about the outcome, and doesnt see any clear way forward for the CDU in the wake of Kramp-Karrenbauers close victory over her more conservative rival Merz. Im afraid this means a continued struggle within the party about the right direction to take, says Brzeski to Yahoo Finance. Both candidates had more or less 50 percent, and they are representing two different directions for the party. If we would see the current government fall in the next six-to-nine months, I could see Merz coming back, Brzeski added. The earlier it would fall, the higher the chance Merz would run for chancellor candidate for the CDU. Rep. Mia Love, the first black female Republican elected to Congress, talked about her recent election ouster on The View Friday. And while many, including President Trump, think she lost at the polls for not more fervently embracing the presidents message and policies, Love presented a different reason she thinks she failed to keep her seat. Were not going to let Democrats off the hook. Because I was actually targeted by Democrats, Love said, when asked about whether or not she needed to be in lockstep with the president and his policies. I need to say this. They targeted me because I was a because I am a black female Republican. And they replaced me with a middle-aged white male in the state of Utah. Love went on to say, To me, diversity on the left side is good for them if you think the same way they do. And viewers had mixed reactions on Twitter. Some took Loves side, saying shes correct. Shes correct! Philip Cooper (@PH85) December 7, 2018 @MiaBLove Thank you Mia for not taking the bait today on the view. Yeah, Trump was classless saying "Mia Love gave me no love etc" But, PLEASE, don't let these crazy liberals [who care nothing about you] use you to divide us. Stay strong, God is in control Oyebambo (@currentnewstalk) December 7, 2018 What @MiaBLove said this morning on @TheView regarding the Dem. Party in Utah is right on. Our Utah Dems have a LOOOOONG way to go. I could not in good conscience vote for @BenMcAdams and the racist campaign he ran and approved. And I'm a #Democrat. Registered since 1980. Gigi Hill (@GinaGGHill) December 7, 2018 Others, on the other hand, suggested plenty of other reasons that she lost her seat. Story continues #TheView. Mia Love lost because she had no "real" town hall meetings and voted with Trump 97% of the time, nothing to do with race. Nieder (@TomNiederhauser) December 7, 2018 She was targeted by democrats because she voted against our healthcare, gave the top 1% a ridicilious tax break that caused our deficit to spin out of control. She also opposes common sense gun laws and environmental protections. I could go on#TheView LightNDarkness (@PoetTLStarr) December 7, 2018 Mia Loves Mia. She supported Trump until he no longer supported her. She thought she was the exception and quickly found out otherwise. #TheView Her. (@HouseJones_) December 7, 2018 Honestly Im a utahn. I feel like she was just to harsh and Utah needed change. Our state is growing and needs better representation. Brigitte D Fries (@DeeBrigitte) December 7, 2018 Love also turned heads when she said she was surprised by Trumps negative comments about her in the days following the midterms. He thought he didnt need me anymore. So he said, I dont need her. Well throw her under the bus, Love said. And of course she was asked about the now-famous Trump quote: Mia Love gave me no love. I dont know what that means, Love said with a laugh. The View airs weekdays on ABC. Tell us what you think! Hit us up on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram, or leave your comments below. Michael Douglas is speaking out about the sexual harassment allegation that was made against him in January. Author and journalist Susan Braudy claimed that Douglas mastrbated in front of her when she was his assistant in 1989. He categorically denied the accusation at the time and is still smarting over how it played out. As a guest on the TBD With Tina Brown podcast on Dec. 11, which Us Weekly was able to preview, the Ant-Man and the Wasp star said, I was extremely, extremely disappointed in The Hollywood Reporter, which ran the story. He said the magazine has been having a crusade in this area, reporting on the #MeToo movement. Now, the way this generally works is, somebody makes a charge and then they, if they are responsible, reach out as they did to every person I worked with over 25 years and they did, because everybody got back to me and there was nobody that ever complemented that accusation, Douglas, 74, said. So I thought it was really a misuse of power. Very disappointed. Michael Douglas is reflecting on the sexual harassment allegations made against him in January. (Photo: Mike Coppola/FilmMagic) But at this point, its all in the past, the Academy Award winner said, adding, Its the way it goes. And he said false stories about him have been circulating for years, saying, I was accused back when I was in 1990 of being a sex addict, when I went to rehab. Braudy had told THR, that she and Douglas were in a one-on-one script meeting at his New York City apartment when he allegedly unzipped his pants and began to pleasure himself. She also claimed he harassed her in other ways. Douglas came forward in the press to deny the allegations before the story even ran, calling it a complete fabrication. In a recent interview with U.K. newspaper the Times, Douglass wife since 2000, Catherine Zeta-Jones, recalled how their family, including their two children Dylan, 18, and Carys, 15, had a family discussion about the claims against Douglas. This woman came out of nowhere and accused my husband, Zeta-Jones said. I had a very big conversation with him, with the kids in the room, and said, Do you understand if more comes out She said that as someone who supports the #MeToo movement, she struggled a lot over it. It was a really hard position for me and, in the height of it all, it was nasty. Story continues The whole family was affected by the allegation. My children and I were profoundly devastated by those allegations. And I was torn about where my absolute morals lie, Zeta-Jones said. There was nothing to back it up at all. For any accusation that comes out that isnt backed up, that knocks the movement back 20 years. Read more from Yahoo Entertainment: Samuel Davies and Roxanne Davis have been jailed for 10 years each for the brutal death of her three-week-old son (Picture: PA) A mother and her ex-partner have been jailed for 10 years each for the brutal death of her three-week-old son. Roxanne Davis, 30, of Gosport, Hampshire and ex-partner Samuel Davies, 24, of Southampton, were convicted by a jury at Winchester Crown Court of causing or allowing the death of Stanley Davis. The trial heard that Stanley dies of a skull fracture and brain haemorrhage at just 24-days-old on March 28, 2017. He had also suffered 32 fractures to his ribs and nine fractures to his arms and legs sustained during at least three separate occasions. Brutal Stanley Davis died of a skull fracture and brain haemorrhage at just 24-days-old on March 28, 2017 (Picture: Hampshire Constabulary/PA Wire) Sentencing the pair, judge Jane Miller QC said that the baby suffered a brutal attack in which he was violently shaken and could have been thrown across a room. She said: Stanley was in pain for much of his short life. The medical evidence is he would have cried inconsolably for 10 to 30 minutes, which means both of you would have been aware of his distress because the flat was so tiny. MORE: Romanian cyclist dubbed Brightons serial bottom slapper spared jail MORE: Brazen inmates post footage of themselves kicking back at HMP DoncasterAGAIN She added: One of you may have been absent when one of the sets of injuries was inflicted, but not all. Davis, who the judge said had treated her baby as a fashion accessory, sobbed during the hearing and shouted: Hes a murderer as she was taken to the cells. Jail the former couple were jailed at Winchester Crown Court (Picture: PA/Chris Ison) The judge told her: Much of your upset is self-serving crocodile tears. Your upset was more about you rather than Stanley. She added: You were delighted to show him off to family and friends, but when you were back at home and he wasnt a fashion accessory, you were happy to hand him over to your partner. The court heard that the former couple, who are not married but share similar surnames, had a fractious relationship, with the police called to the one-bedroom flat they shared in Gosport on March 11 by neighbours who had heard shouting. Both defendants were tested positive for taking cocaine and cannabis after they were arrested following Stanleys hospitalisation. Story continues Katie Thorne QC, defending Davis, said that she suffered from depression and added: Miss Davis case has always been that she didnt cause the injuries. Miss Davis did accept her strong feelings of guilt in failing to protect Stanley. Sally Howes QC, defending Davies, who was not Stanleys biological father, said he had a great sadness and a great feeling of guilt. Derek Benson, chairman of the Hampshire Safeguarding Children Board, confirmed that a review is being carried out of the handling of Stanleys care by the authorities. Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UK Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos; AP (3), Getty Images WASHINGTON Special Counsel Robert Muellers investigation into President Trumps efforts to build a skyscraper in Moscow has led him to ask questions about the role two of the presidents children played in attempting to secure a Russian real estate deal, sources tell Yahoo News. Muellers interest in the Trump family real estate companys plans for a skyscraper in Russia was confirmed on Thursday when Michael Cohen, the presidents former attorney and fixer, pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about the proposed deal. In charging documents, Mueller said Cohen falsely claimed that the effort to build a Trump Tower Moscow ended in January 2016 in an attempt to minimize links between Trump and the project and to give the false impression the effort ended before the Republican primaries in 2016. Yahoo News first reported in May that congressional investigators had obtained text messages and emails showing Cohens work on Trump Tower Moscow continued for longer than he admitted under oath. But Cohen wasnt the only person at the Trump Organization who was pursuing deals to build a skyscraper in the Russian capital. Multiple sources have confirmed to Yahoo News that the presidents elder daughter, Ivanka, who is now a top White House adviser, and his eldest son, Don Jr., were also working to make Trump Tower Moscow a reality. The sources said those efforts were independent of Cohens work on the project. One of the sources said Ivanka was also involved in Cohens efforts. And a separate source familiar with the investigation told Yahoo News that Mueller has asked questions about Ivanka and Don Jr.s work on Trump Tower Moscow. Muellers charging documents against Cohen included a line that described the Trump familys involvement in the project. According to Mueller, one of the things Cohen lied about was that he briefed family members of Trumps who worked at the Trump Organization about the proposed Moscow skyscraper. Prior to joining the White House, Ivanka was an executive at the company. Don Jr. and Trumps middle son, Eric, remain with the Trump Organization. Story continues A spokesperson for the special counsels office declined to comment on this story. Cohen and his attorney, Guy Petrillo, did not respond to requests for comment, nor did lawyers representing the president. Donald Trump Jr. and Kimberly Guilfoyle arrive at the lighting of the National Christmas Tree at the Ellipse near the White House on Nov. 28, 2018. (Photo: Andrew Harnik/AP) A source familiar with the Trump Organization confirmed to Yahoo News that Ivanka and Don Jr. engaged in separate efforts to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. The source said these efforts began years earlier than Cohens project and concluded in 2013. They were not looking at any other deals after that, the source said. The source also confirmed that both Ivanka and Don Jr. were aware of Cohens attempts to build in Moscow. According to the source, Ivankas role was limited to recommending an architect and Don Jr. was only peripherally aware of the plan. Michael was looking at that deal. Don and Ivanka knew about it and Don testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee that he was peripherally aware of it, the source said, adding, Thats why were so perplexed Cohen would lie about briefing them, because no ones ever disputed that they knew he was looking at it. Don Trump Jr. did not respond to a request for comment on this story. An attorney for Ivanka Trump declined to comment on record. Just prior to his inauguration, Trump vowed his familys real estate company would do no new deals abroad while he was in office. It would not be illegal for the Trump Organization to have conducted business in Russia prior to that point, and Mueller inquiring about Ivanka and Don Jr.s work on Trump Tower Moscow does not mean they are targets of his investigation. The source familiar with the Trump Organization said the pair were not aware of any work Cohen did on the project beyond the period he initially described to congressional investigators. White House advisers Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump walk to Air Force One to depart for Argentina and the G-20 Summit with President Trump at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Nov. 29, 2018. (Photo: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters) Theres no question they knew about it, but they had no knowledge of any work on the project after January 2016, the source said. The Trump Organizations dealings in Moscow have attracted added attention given the U.S. intelligence communitys conclusion that Russian President Vladimir Putin interfered in the 2016 presidential election to help Trump. The president has repeatedly denied that he colluded with Russia and has called Muellers probe a politically motivated witch hunt. Messages obtained by the government show Cohen reached out to Putins office for help as he pursued the Moscow project. He initially said the Russian government did not respond to his overtures, but Muellers charging documents said Cohen did receive a response from Putins government. On or about January 20, 2016, COHEN received an email from the personal assistant to Russian Official 1 (Assistant 1), stating that she had been trying to reach COHEN and requesting that he call her using a Moscow-based phone number she provided, Mueller wrote. According to Mueller, Cohen and the officials assistant spoke for approximately 20 minutes and he requested assistance in moving the project forward, both in securing land to build the proposed tower and financing the construction. Mueller said Felix Sater, a developer who was working on the project with Cohen, subsequently followed up. Sater is a Russian-born longtime business associate of Trumps who first met Cohen while they were both in high school. During the mid 2000s, Sater worked with Trumps real estate company to build hotels in Florida and New York. He also discussed potential projects in Russia with Trumps company during that period. As part of his deal to build Trump-branded properties, Sater had an office in the Trump Organizations Manhattan headquarters and a company business card. Sater was convicted on charges related to a stock fraud scheme involving organized crime figures in 1998. He also spent years working as federal intelligence asset providing crucial information to the government about mobsters and terrorists. Sater declined to comment on this story beyond saying that his work to build a Trump Tower in Moscow began in 2003. Correspondence provided by Sater to government investigators that was obtained by Buzzfeed showed that he reached out to Cohen in May 2016 and said Putins top spokesman Dmitry Peskov wanted to invite him to attend an economic forum in St. Petersburg the following month. Sater said Peskov wanted to talk with Cohen there and possibly introduce him to Putin. Peskov was the same official whom Cohen emailed in January 2016. According to Muellers charging documents, Cohen eventually told Sater he couldnt make the trip to Russia on or about June 14, 2016, just as Trump was on the way to securing the Republican presidential nomination. President Trumps former lawyer Michael Cohen leaves Federal Court in Manhattan after entering a guilty plea on Nov. 29, 2018. (Photo: Andrew Kelly/Reuters) Trump never managed to build a skyscraper in Russia, but he has tried for the better part of three decades. His first attempt was in 1987, when he traveled to the former Soviet Union to examine possible building sites. According to Buzzfeed, Trumps company announced another exploratory trip in 1996 and that he had his eye on an abandoned factory in the country in 2005. Reports have previously emerged detailing Ivanka and Don Jr.s involvement in the Trump Tower Moscow efforts. The Buzzfeed report revealed that Sater accompanied the two Trump children to Moscow in 2006. A source told Yahoo News that, while there, the pair held meetings about the project separately from Sater. The book Russian Roulette, which was written by Yahoo News chief investigative correspondent Mike Isikoff and by David Corn, detailed a 2013 effort that involved the Russian oligarch Aras Agalarov and his son Emin. According to the book, Don Jr. was in charge of that project and Ivanka flew to Russia and scouted sites with Emin. The Agalarovs helped Trump host his Miss Universe pageant in Russia in 2013 and helped arrange the infamous June 2016 Trump Tower meeting. The Trump Organization registered the web address TrumpTowerMoscow.com in December 2012. A source familiar with the deal said this was in conjunction with the work being done with Agalarovs. Trump tweeted at Aras Agalarov about the deal on Nov. 11, 2013, two days after the pageant. He expressed optimism they would get the skyscraper built together. I had a great weekend with you and your family, Trump wrote, adding, You have done a FANTASTIC job. TRUMP TOWER-MOSCOW is next. _____ Read more from Yahoo News: State-run Development Bank of the Philippines, the eighth-largest lender in terms of assets, is expanding its development initiatives in the Bicol region through the grant of a P1.6-billion loan facility in Camarines Sur that will finance infrastructure projects and improve social services to local residents. DBP president and chief executive Cecilia Borromeo said the bank approved a P1.485-billion loan to the provincial government of Camarines Sur that would partly finance over 170 infrastructure projects, including the construction of farm-to-market roads and bridges as well as the repair and maintenance of existing road networks. DBP continues to promote sustainable development in Camarines Sur with its latest funding assistance to the provincial government which showcases the synergy between DBP and the local government unit in catalyzing economic growth in the countryside, Borromeo said. Camarines Sur is classified as an agricultural-based economy with rice, corn, feed meal, freshwater fish, coconut, sugar and abaca among its main products. The province is comprised of 35 municipalities and two cities. It is the most populous in the Bicol region with nearly two million residents.Borromeo said the financing assistance to the provincial government would also be used to fund the construction of multi-purpose buildings, school buildings, hospital buildings, barangay halls, and evacuation centers as well as the acquisition of hospital machineries and equipment. She said the bank and the provincial government of Camarines Sur had been long-time partners with DBP financing numerous projects in the area, including the construction of the Cam Sur Watersports Complex and Gota Beach Resort in the Caramoan Islands in the eastern side of the province. These projects have helped boost the local economy and generate jobs by energizing the tourism sector in the province, she said. The Kremlin and Russian President Vladimir Putin: Did the Russians hack U.S. election databases? (Yahoo News photo illustration, photos: Maxim Shemetov/Reuters, Sergei Karpukhin/Reuters, AP, AP) A top cybersecurity firm said Friday it has found significant links between the hacks of two U.S. state election databases this summer and suspected Russian state-sponsored attacks against the ruling political party in Turkey and members of the Ukrainian Parliament. ThreatConnect, a firm founded by former U.S. military intelligence analysts, said it discovered the connection this week by researching a Web address linked to one of the election hacks and cited in an Aug. 18 confidential flash alert to state election officials. The alert was first reported Monday by Yahoo News. The same IP address was previously used in a spear-phishing campaign that began last March against members of the Ukrainian Parliament, Turkeys ruling AKP party and Germanys Freedom Party, ThreatConnect said in a research report titled Can a BEAR Fit Down a Rabbit Hole? Yahoo News has obtained an advance copy of the report, which is being released on ThreatConnects website today. The firm acknowledged that the connections were not conclusive since different hackers can use the same IP address. But it concluded that the common IP address and other circumstantial evidence make it more likely that the cyberattacks on the Arizona and Illinois Boards of Elections this summer were state-backed rather than criminally motivated activity. Weve cracked the egg open, said Rich Barger, the chief intelligence officer of ThreatConnect and a former U.S. military intelligence analyst. My gut tells me that with enough evidence, this eventually could point us to Russian state involvement. The release of the ThreatConnect report comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin, in his first public comments on the issue, denied that his government had any role in the recent cyberattack on the Democratic National Committee. Putin said the focus of public attention should be on the content of emails released by WikiLeaks, not on the hackers. Does it even matter who hacked this data from Mrs. Clintons campaign office?, Putin said. I dont know anything about it, and on a state level, Russia has never done this, he said in a Reuters interview. Story continues Putin also said that the Russian government had no intention of interfering in the U.S. election. We have never interfered, are not interfering and do not interfere in domestic politics, he said. Still, the possibility that Russian intelligence may have been behind the recent election database attacks in Arizona and Illinois has heightened concerns among U.S. officials that the Kremlin may be seeking to tamper with this Novembers presidential election. While not commenting on the details of his investigation, which is ongoing, FBI Director James Comey underscored those concerns at a cybersecurity conference in Washington this week: We take very seriously any effort by any actor, including nation-states, and maybe especially nation-states, that moves beyond the collection of information about our country and that offers the prospect of an effort to influence the conduct of affairs in our country, Comey said. FBI Director James Comey speaks at a government symposium on cybersecurity, Aug. 30, 2016, in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Mark Wilson/Getty Images) The ThreatConnect report highlights the danger of what some U.S officials describe as increasingly brazen Russian cyberattacks. Besides the Democratic National Committee, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and other political groups, several Washington think tanks that specialize in Russian affairs have been targeted, according to a report this week in Defense One. James Lewis, a cyberexpert at one of those think tanks, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), told Yahoo News that his organization has been regularly visited by FBI agents about once a month, he said who have informed it of Russian cyberattacks on its computers, including the pilfering of emails and of internal research by its scholars. CSIS own cybersecurity firm has concluded that the hacks were committed by the same Russian intelligence service suspected of the attack on the DNC, Lewis said. Ive had the distinction of having had the most number of hard drives that have been infected, said Heather Conley, a former State Department official and now a CSIS scholar who specializes in Russian military affairs. She said the attacks on her computer have occurred around times when she is preparing to give congressional testimony. One instance was when she was about to appear before the Senate Armed Services Committee last fall to present findings about Russias military buildup in the Arctic. She was alerted by CSIS security that a virus had infected her computer and then metastasized on her hard drive. They just must be interested in what Im writing and what Im pursuing, she said. While some of these attacks might seem to fall under the category of standard spy agency snooping, the cyber intrusions cited by ThreatConnect point to potentially more sinister activity, involving apparent attempts to manipulate political events overseas. The firm said it found evidence that fake Turkish domains, hosted at the malicious IP address cited in the FBI flash alert, were registered in January 2016 and used to send phony spear-phishing emails to members of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogans ruling AKP party. The cyberattacks began shortly after Turkey shot down a Russian airplane on the Syrian border. This was followed in July by the release by WikiLeaks of nearly 300,000 AKP emails and the WikiLeaks data-dump of nearly 20,000 internal Democratic National Committee emails. That episode embarrassed top party officials and led to the resignation of DNC chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz. If Russian intelligence was behind the release of the AKP emails, it would be consistent with Russian collection and influence operations that have recently focused on U.S. politics as well as providing it with intelligence about Turkeys knowledge of ongoing [Russian] military operations in Syria, ThreatConnect wrote in its report. The firm pointed to other indicators of potential Russian involvement in the Turkish attacks and in cyberattacks targeting Ukrainian Parliament members of the political party of President Petro Poroshenko, who is at odds with Russian President Vladimir Putin. In its flash alert to state election officials, the FBI identified a total of eight IP addresses that were used in the attacks on Arizona and Illinois. Six of them, ThreatConnect says, are hosted by a Russian-language Internet firm called King Servers. In addition, ThreatConnect noted that one of the IP addresses appears to link to a 2015 cyberattack on the Ukraine power grid and a so-called denial-of-service attack on news media in that country. The firms conclusion: Whether it is to ultimately collect intelligence, influence public opinion, or sow discord, doubt or contempt with respect to political ideologies the individuals behind this activity, whoever they may be, are looking to manipulate multiple countries democratic processes. By Michel Rose and Luke Baker PARIS (Reuters) - It began as a home-spun Facebook campaign against French fuel tax increases. But in a few weeks it has spiraled into a movement powerful enough to force Emmanuel Macron into the biggest U-turn of his presidency. Yet the "yellow-vest" movement -- named for the fluorescent jackets carried by French motorists -- remains an amorphous, hard-to-define group with a rapidly shifting agenda. It has no leader. It named eight spokespeople, some of whom disagreed with each other and one of whom was promptly sacked. Members are broadly opposed to decision-making authority. One of its originators, a 51-year-old accordionist from Brittany called Jacline Mouraud who also works in hypnotherapy and makes YouTube videos, received death threats after suggesting the movement should talk to the government. Anyone who has a "gilet jaune" -- and most people in France suddenly seem to -- can put it on and become part of the movement, meaning it brings together people of hugely different ages, social classes, occupations and views. This is its strength but also its weakness. The government does not know who to engage with, even though the movement has drawn hundreds of thousands of people onto the streets, closing roads and fuel depots, and spurring riots and violence in the capital Paris on successive weekends. Since Macron gave in to the movement's main demand on Wednesday by scrapping a fuel-tax increase set for January, the "yellow vests" have also been trying to agree on other issues to fight for -- from boosting household incomes to reinstating a wealth tax or ousting Macron. "He betrayed us. He was elected promising to blow out political parties, no left, no right, to reconnect political power with the people," Christophe Chalencon, a blacksmith from Provence in southern France who has become one of the more recognizable faces of the movement, told Reuters. "He's done the opposite. We're only the mirror of what he had proposed, what he sold to us. We need a new representative body," said Chalencon, who has been criticized for postings on social media that some have seen as anti-Muslim. WE ARE YELLOW In an age of a populist backlash against globalization in the Western world, the "yellow vest" movement shares many features with other populist forces, such as the Occupy movement in the United States and Italy's Five-Star, which now governs. An opinion poll published by the Elabe Institute on Wednesday showed that in the presidential election in May 2017, many in the movement voted for candidates on the far-left or far-right, although many also didn't vote. They mostly have a high-school diploma or a lower level of education and live in tight financial circumstances, often in rural or outer-urban areas, where depending on a car to get to work or go to the shops is essential, and increasingly costly. There is a high level of solidarity among volunteers who mount roadblocks, share food and post pictures together online. Polls show they still have the backing of about 70 percent of the population, despite the violence in Paris which the government blamed on "extremist" groups". Some government officials play down the prospects of such a diverse movement uniting as a political force. "For the time being, no, they're having trouble just structuring themselves," a government source said. But, with elections to the European parliament coming up next May, others warn against complacency, especially as Macron was taken off guard by the protest. Some members of Macron's team say privately they did not expect the planned rise in fuel prices to be more politically explosive than other reforms. Macron himself rose to power barely a year after creating his own movement, En Marche, in 2016 on a promise to be "neither of the left nor the right" and to introduce a new style of politics. His campaign book was called "Revolution". The "yellow vests" do not have the same education or work background as Macron -- he had experience in government as a former economy minister. Yet ironically, they are using some of the same techniques as he used on social media and echoing some of the anti-establishment rhetoric. "The yellow vests are a political movement, we need to stop feeling sorry for them," Bruno Bonnell, a lawmaker in En Marche (On The Move) and an early follower of Macron, said. "In three weeks, it's transformed itself into the fiery core of a strong populist movement," he said. "It reminds me of the start of En Marche. They're our future opposition." TO THE VOTE! Macron enjoyed high ratings at the start of his presidency and managed to ram through changes to France's labour code. But his brash style alienated some voters and changes to a tax to reduce the burden on the wealthy earned him the label "president of the rich". His ratings now hover in the low-20s and he is battling to keep his reform agenda on track. His biggest threat now is from a popular national uprising that, while not associated with a political party, has elements that sympathize with the far-right and far-left and want a radical shake-up -- the sort of new politics U.S. President Donald Trump and his former strategist Steve Bannon advocate. "We can already see they ("yellow vests") have huge appeal but this is because they are apolitical and can genuinely say they have nothing to do with political parties," said Charles Lichfield, Europe analyst at Eurasia Group risk consultancy. "For the 'gilets jaunes' to become a political force, they need to accept the notion of leadership and get over the fact that their chosen leaders will need to balance between various contradictory demands." France, a nation built on revolution, is not new to populist uprisings. In the 1950s, a shopkeeper called Pierre Poujade spurred anti-tax, anti-elite protests which eventually secured 52 seats in the French parliament in the 1956 election. Although Poujadism, as it became known, eventually faded from view when war-hero Charles de Gaulle returned to power, it left a lasting legacy. The youngest member of its deputies was Jean-Marie Le Pen, the founder of the far-right National Front. One of the "yellow vests", Andre Lannee, has launched Facebook pages for protesters to elect two representatives per region. Another, Jean-Francois Bernaba, has said he is working on a list of candidates for the European Parliament elections, in which French voters traditionally back more populist parties. Asked to assess the "yellow vests'" chances of contesting the European Parliament elections, which are based on a system of proportional representation, Lichfield said they would first have to organize quickly and find a charismatic leader. "They will understand that a proportional ballot gives them their best chance of making a splash," he said. (Additional reporting by Richard Lough and John Irish, Editing by Timothy Heritage) Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images, Getty Images [2] On October 3, the second day of the new term, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear a case that likely poses the most momentous question on its docket: Should it, for the first time in history, strike down a states electoral map on the grounds of partisan gerrymandering? Gerrymandering a term coined in 1813 to describe a practice that goes back to Colonial times refers to the intentional drawing of electoral district boundaries in ways that stack the deck in favor of one partys candidates, entrenching that partys control for multiple elections to come, even if the party loses majority support in the interim. In the upcoming case, Gill v. Whitford, the alleged gerrymanderers are the Republicans, and the body is the Wisconsin State Assembly, where, in 2012, GOP candidates won a supermajority of seats while winning fewer than half the total votes. Because state legislatures also draw electoral districts for the U.S. House of Representatives, gerrymandering impacts that body too. After the same round of redistrictings that led to the Gill lawsuit, the Republican Party won a 33-seat majority in the 2012 races, even though Democratic candidates outpolled Republicans by more than one million votes. The bias embedded in those redistrictings still overshadows the upcoming 2018 midterms. In addition, the caustic hyperpartisanship that characterizes national politics is at least in part a result of gerrymandering, which creates a plethora of safe seats for incumbents of both parties. Those representatives have disincentives to work across the aisle, lest the more extreme factions of their own party field a candidate to challenge them in the primaries increasingly the only remaining contested elections. With the upcoming 2020 census the event that will trigger the next round of electoral map redrawing the stakes of the case could not be higher. its critical that the court act now, says Michael Li, a senior attorney with the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law, which studies elections law. If it doesnt, Big Data and technology are about to make things much worse. While the current beneficiaries of extreme gerrymandering are congressional Republicans, this case isnt about Republicans or Democrats. Story continues In Gill, a group of Democratic voters challenged Republican-controlled redistricting in Wisconsin in 2011. In 2012, under the new map, Republican candidates for the state assembly garnered a minority, 48.6%, of the total votes cast, yet won a supermajority of seats 60 out of 99. In contrast, Democrats would have had to capture 54% of the statewide vote a once-in-a-generation landslide, by Wisconsin standards in order to come away with even a simple majority, according to evidence presented at trial in May 2016. A three-judge federal district court in Madison, voting 2-1, struck down the plan last November, finding that it intentionally discriminated against Democratic voters on the basis of their political viewpoints in violation of their free speech rights under the First Amendment and their equal protection rights under the Fourteenth. Though the Supreme Court has invalidated racially motivated gerrymanders, it has repeatedly refused to strike down purely political ones even while recognizing that the practice was pernicious. In its 2004 ruling in Vieth v. Jubilerer, where the court, by a 5-4 vote, declined to intervene in a partisan gerrymandering case from Pennsylvania, every justice agreed that such machinations were incompatible with democratic principles and that excessive injection of politics into redistricting was unlawful. Yet historically, the court has declined to wade into the inherently political quagmire of district mapping. A decision ordering the correction of all election district lines drawn for partisan reasons would commit federal and state courts to unprecedented intervention in the American political process, wrote Justice Anthony Kennedy in his concurring opinion in Vieth. Whether the Court and especially Kennedy, who was the swing vote in Vieth will now reverse tack in the upcoming case, will likely hinge on whether, in its view, advances in technology have changed the landscape since Vieth. Partisan gerrymanders have become more common, more severe, and more durable in their effects since this court last considered their constitutionality more than a decade ago, argues attorney Paul Smith in a brief for William Whitford and the 11 other voters challenging the redistricting. This is the product of better map-drawing technology utilizing more sophisticated voter data about an increasingly polarized electorate. Smith, who argued the unsuccessful voter challenge in Vieth, will also argue next months case. Fortunately, technological advances cut both ways, Smith will argue. There are now objective, mathematical metrics that judges can use to decide whether a legislative map is unconstitutionally partisan, he maintains. In the past, the court has cited the absence of such tools as the basis for its refusal to intervene in partisan gerrymandering cases. While the court has not hesitated to strike down racial gerrymanders reasoning that judges can easily determine whether one impermissible factor, race, played a role it has found no principled basis for condemning partisan gerrymanders, where judges are asked to divine when an intrinsically political process becomes too political. Smith and many of the outside organizations and individuals supporting his clients position about 30 amicus briefs have been filed supporting the plaintiffs insist that neutral tools for drawing that line do now exist, and that the lower court relied on several. But Wisconsin Solicitor General Mischa Tseytlin, defending the 2011 redistricting, argues in his brief that the lower court based its decision on the same social-science hodge-podge and cherry-picked metrics that the court has repeatedly rebuffed in the past. Tseytlin represents Wisconsin elections commissioner Beverly R. Gill and five other defendant state officials. If the court were to strike down Wisconsins map, claims the Republican State Leadership Committee in an amicus brief one of 14 filed in support of Wisconsin it would politicize the courts and go far beyond intervention in the political thicket; it would impale the judiciary on its thorns. U.S. congressional seats are reapportioned after each decennial census. Reapportionment often requires redistricting at the state level. If a single political party can win control of all levels of a state government in time to command that process, it has the opportunity to gerrymander. Historically, both parties have gerrymandered when given the chance. Recognizing an opportunity in early 2010, the Republican State Leadership Committee set up the Redistricting Majority Project (REDMAP) to try to win Republican control of state legislatures in key battleground states. In March 2010, Republican strategist Karl Rove stressed the importance of the groups work in a Wall Street Journal article subtitled, He Who Controls Redistricting Can Control Congress. Redistricting in a few states, including Wisconsin, he wrote, could determine which party controls upwards of 20 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. Nationally, Republicans won big in the 2010 midterms the election then President Barack Obama called a shellacking. In Wisconsin, Republicans won control of the statehouse for the first time in more than 40 years. Its leadership then tasked a private law firm, in consultation with a political scientist, to select the new electoral map. In a secretive process, computer simulations were run of voting outcomes under different mapping scenarios, the district court later found. The goal was to maximize the number of seats that Republicans could capture with even a minority of votes, according to the court. The manipulations employed standard gerrymandering techniques, known as packing and cracking. Packing means massing the bulk of the opposing partys voters into a very few districts, which are effectively conceded to opposing party candidates. Cracking means dispersing the rest of the opposing partys voters into the remaining districts, where they are expected to be a permanent minority. By creating many more cracked districts than packed districts, the party in charge of redistricting hopes to achieve enduring control of the legislative body. After the final map was selected and submitted to the legislature for passage, one of its drafters told the Republican caucus, The maps we pass will determine whos here 10 years from now. Most observers believe the plaintiffs face an uphill battle at the Supreme Court. The roadblock is the legal concept known as justiciability. Under longstanding precedent, federal courts decline to decide inherently political questions called nonjusticiable on the grounds that judges have no principled basis for doing so, and that such matters are best left to the elected branches of government. In Vieth, the four liberal-leaning justices voted to strike down the Pennsylvania redistricting plan. The four most liberal justices today are expected to do the same in Gill. The four most conservative justices, on the other hand, found that partisan gerrymandering disputes were nonjusticiable. The late Justice Antonin Scalia, writing for that faction, explained that the Constitution clearly contemplates districting by political entities, so some degree of political calculation in the process was inevitable and permissible. For this reason, courts lacked judicially discoverable and manageable standards for resolving allegations of unconstitutional partisan gerrymandering. Crucially, Justice Kennedy joined neither faction in Vieth. His separate opinion defines the narrow opening through which the Gill plaintiffs must try to squeeze. While Kennedy agreed with Scalia that the plaintiffs in Vieth had presented no neutral standard for deciding the case, Kennedy left open the possibility that, in the future, some other challenger might succeed in doing so. The prospect of technological change lay at the heart of his reasoning. Technology is both a threat and a promise, he wrote. On the one hand, if courts refuse to entertain any claims of partisan gerrymandering, the temptation to use partisan favoritism in districting in an unconstitutional manner will grow. On the other hand, he continued, these new technologies may produce new methods of analysis that could facilitate court efforts to identify and remedy severe gerrymandering. To prevail, then, it seems that the plaintiffs must convince Kennedy (or, perhaps, Chief Justice John Roberts Jr., who was not on the Vieth court) that he was right on both scores. The first challenge is the easier of the two to meet. There is compelling evidence, assert political scientists Bernard Grofman and Ronald Keith Gaddie in their amicus brief, that the 2010 redistricting cycle yielded partisan gerrymandering of a magnitude that is qualitatively and quantitatively different from what we have seen in the past as much as three times more partisan bias than in the 2000 redistricting cycle. As for the tougher part proving that neutral analytical tools are now available the plaintiffs relied at trial on a family of statistical analyses called partisan-symmetry tests, which many of the amici supporting the plaintiffs have also endorsed. Partisan symmetry is simple to define, writes Yale Law School Dean Heather Gerken in a brief she co-authored on behalf of herself she is an elections-law scholar and four experts in the quantitative analysis of elections. A set of districts are symmetrical when reversing the outcome of the election flipping each partys average district vote totals would also reverse the number of seats won. Heres what that means and doesnt mean. Importantly, partisan-symmetry tests do not require that votes and outcomes be proportional a notion that the court has rejected in the past. They do not require, for instance, that if one party wins 51% of the electorate, it must also win about 51% of the assembly seats. What these tests do say is that if a 51% Republican victory translates into, say, a 60% Republican majority in the legislature, a 51% Democratic victory should also translate into an at least roughly comparable Democratic majority. This was clearly not the case in Wisconsin. Partisan symmetry has near universal support within social science and has withstood robust testing, Gerken writes in an email to Yahoo. But the availability of partisan-symmetry tests was brought to the courts attention once before albeit cursorily in a 2006 gerrymandering case, and the majority at that time, including Kennedy, were unswayed. In addition, Wisconsin Solicitor General Tseytlin mocks the particular species of partisan-symmetry test that the plaintiffs focused upon at trial, claiming that it would find that one out of every three legislative maps drawn in the last 45 years has impermissible partisan effect. (The plaintiffs contest that claim.) Ultimately, if the challengers cant win over Kennedy with their technology-based arguments, they might yet have one last hope. That one stems from the opposite of technology: the human condition and its corollary, mortality. Kennedy is now 81. There has been frequent and widespread speculation about his impending retirement. A landmark condemnation of partisan gerrymandering would become part of his legacy. This may be his last chance to write it. _____ HONOLULU (AP) Retired U.S. Navy Cmdr. Don Long was alone on an anchored military seaplane in the middle of a bay across the island from Pearl Harbor when Japanese warplanes started striking Hawaii on December 7, 1941, watching from afar as the attack that killed and wounded thousands unfolded. The Japanese planes reached his base on Kaneohe Bay soon after Pearl Harbor was hit, and the young sailor saw buildings and planes explode all around him. When the gunfire finally reached him, setting the aircraft ablaze, he jumped into the water and swam through the flames to safety. Now 97, Long marked the 77th anniversary from his home in Napa, California on Friday. He shared some of his memories with The Associated Press: ___ DECADES OF ANNIVERSARIES Long was fresh out of boot camp when he arrived in Hawaii in 1941. "I got off that ship with my sea bag over my shoulder and we threw it on a truck and they carted me over to Kaneohe from Pearl Harbor where we had landed," Long recalled. It was a different experience when he was flown to Hawaii for the 75th anniversary in 2016. "We came in on a first class United chartered jet . all the girls with the leis were there with the Hawaiian music," he remembered. "We ended up not in a bunk in the barracks, but in a very nice ocean room." He attended a dinner where survivors were seated with dignitaries. At his table were Japan's Honolulu-based consul general and his wife. "He and his wife were there in full regalia," Long said. He asked if they might be able to help him identify the pilot who attacked his plane. "They did some searching I guess, or told somebody to do it, but within a month or so I got a message from them and the proof is not positive but they sent the information on three Japanese pilots. It was probably one of those three," Long said. Long no longer harbors ill will against Japan or its people. "I don't know when that feeling left me. But as you are probably well aware, we were taught to hate those people with all our hearts, and when you're looking at one down a gun sight, you can't really feel much love for anyone that's for darn sure," he said. Story continues "That has long since changed." Long has not always marked the anniversary like he does now. "For about 50, 60 years or so, it was a day that rang a little bell to me, but I did not do much," he said. "In the past 20 or so (years), I take part in some kind of activity that I'll say is appropriate for the day." This year, Long was visiting school children before attending a Pearl Harbor ceremony atop Mount Diablo in Concord, California. On Friday morning at about the time of the attack, Long spoke with the AP at his home as he prepared for the day: "I recall the day very, very distinctly," he said, remembering "the day that started the war for our country that caused so, so much havoc. And I do recall the friends who never came back with, oh, much sadness." In his office are about 25 photos of old planes on the wall including one of the type of aircraft he was aboard that day. There is also a photo of a Japanese plane similar to the one he believes attacked him. He keeps about a half dozen medals, including his Purple Heart. On his dresser is a photo of himself as a pilot in 1943. He also keeps one of his wife, who died 10 years ago. His 1999 Volkswagen camper van has two magnetic signs one with a photo of him and another reading "Remember Pearl Harbor." A special license plate notes he is a Pearl Harbor survivor. ___ A ROUTINE WEEKEND Long remembers that weekend of the attack as routine, "or so it started out," he wrote in a 1992 essay that he provided to The Associated Press. The 20-year-old from Minnesota enrolled in boot camp in March 1941, a "snotty nose kid, fresh off the farm." That Sunday morning was his first day of operational duty with the squadron he had been assigned to about a month earlier. He took a small boat toward the awaiting Catalina flying boat, cruising across the turquoise waters of windward Oahu with Hawaii's 73-degree air splashing across his face. "I recall it was a beautiful sunny day in Hawaii that morning," Long said. He began preparing for a solitary day of signal drills and regular maintenance checks. He settled into the pilot's compartment to wait for contact from the beach signaling station to begin his drills. A few minutes later, he heard the roar of airplanes overhead. In the distance, Long saw planes flying over hangars and buildings exploding. Another plane that was anchored nearby was hit and burst into flames. Seconds later, a Japanese plane made a run toward his position. "The sequence of events during the next few minutes is not entirely clear," he recalled. Long jumped from the pilot's seat and started looking for a life jacket, but bullets were immediately producing fountains of seawater inside the cabin. The fuel tanks in the wings were hit, and he was surrounded by flames. He made a run for the rear exit. Gasoline was ablaze on the water, so he jumped into the bay and swam beneath the fire to get away from the sinking plane. He came to the surface and through the flames three times for air. His military-issued high-top work shoes were bogging him down, so he dove underwater and removed them. Still far from shore, Long found a wooden channel marker and swam to it, ducking beneath the waves to hide every time a Japanese plane made a pass. Once the Japanese were gone, Long spotted a boat that was searching for survivors and flagged them down. Long burned his head, face and arms making his escape, but he considered himself in good health compared to the wounded and dead around him. "Shipmates on the shore greeted me with comments like 'we never expected to see you again,'" Long recalled. "I was told I looked pretty bad." "The attack was over, but much turmoil remained," he wrote. "That's it the start of the first day of a long war." ___ Follow Associated Press Hawaii correspondent Caleb Jones on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CalebAP ___ Associated Press photographer Eric Risberg contributed to this report from Napa, California. 38640751 In this file photo taken on Aug. 1, 2013, then-FBI Director Robert Mueller speaks during a farewell ceremony in Mueller's honor at the Department of Justice. WASHINGTON The window into Justice Department special counsel Robert Muellers closely held investigation into Russian interference could become clearer Friday during a simple convergence of the federal court calendar. In Washington, prosecutors are due to file papers explaining last weeks collapse of a cooperation agreement with Paul Manafort, President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman. The filing is likely to outline what Muellers team characterized as Manafort's repeated lies and additional crimes, leading to a breach of his plea agreement reached in September. His sentencing is set for March 5. In New York, Muellers team is scheduled to file a sentencing memorandum for its newest cooperating witness former Trump lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen before his sentencing Wednesday on two convictions. Cohen pleaded guilty to a series of campaign finance law offenses as part of a plea agreement in August with federal prosecutors in New York. He reached a separate deal with Mueller's team last week in which he pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about plans for a Trump Tower project in Moscow. The sentencing documents will probably reveal the scope of Cohens cooperation in both cases, which has included allegations about Trumps hush money payments to two women alleging extramarital affairs with him and the presidents efforts to conceal plans for a Moscow tower project even as Trump denied any Russian business interests during the 2016 campaign. "Given his proximity and centrality to Trump's operation before and after the election, it would be difficult to find any better cooperating witness than Michael Cohen," former Miami federal prosecutor Kendall Coffey said. "If (prosecutors) are looking for information about Trump's business dealings and how they may tie in to Russia, Cohen is likely to know that, and all of us may get an idea of where Mueller is headed in these new filings. Story continues "In Manafort's case," Coffey said, "we are likely to learn of what may have pushed him to commit legal suicide." Manafort agreed to cooperate with Mueller's team in September as part of a plea agreement to avoid a second trial on financial fraud charges in the District of Columbia. In August, a Virginia federal court jury convicted Manafort on eight counts of related financial fraud charges in the first contested prosecution brought by Mueller's team. The filings are scheduled days after Mueller cited the "substantial" cooperation provided by former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn. Investigators recommended that he serve no prison time after pleading guilty last year to lying to the FBI in part about his pre-inaugural contacts with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. Though the 13-page Flynn filing was heavily redacted, Mueller acknowledged that Flynn met with prosecutors 19 times in the past year and cooperated in the Russia inquiry and two other investigations. The subjects of those additional investigations, one of them a criminal inquiry, were not disclosed. The shadow of Mueller's investigation is likely to reach beyond the courtroom as former FBI Director James Comey is set to deliver closed-door testimony Friday to House members of the Judiciary and Oversight Committees. Republican committee leaders pushed for the politically charged meeting to question whether Comey was biased in favor of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in his management of the Clinton email investigation and the early stages of the Russia inquiry. Trump fired Comey in May 2017 because of his oversight of the Russia inquiry, a move that spurred the appointment of Mueller. Prosecutors to outline Manafort misdeeds Manafort, 69, a former lobbyist and political operative, reached a plea agreement in September in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia. He admitted leading a long-running conspiracy involving his work on behalf of a pro-Russian faction in Ukraine led by the country's former president Viktor Yanukovych. He pleaded guilty to obstructing Mueller's investigation. Manafort was convicted in August in federal court in Virginia for bank and tax charges related to the work in Ukraine. He faces sentencing Feb. 8 on those eight counts. The combined punishments could become a life sentence. Manafort was not convicted in either Virginia or D.C. of participating in election interference. But his oversight of the Trump campaign and his participation in key meetings made him a potentially valuable witness to Mueller's team. Prosecutors weigh in on Cohen compliance Cohen pleaded guilty Nov. 29 to lying to Congress about the extent of plans for the real estate deal in Moscow, which continued into June 2016 well into the presidential campaign and longer than Trump acknowledged. Cohen has cooperated with Mueller since pleading guilty in August to making six-figure hush payments to women alleging they had extramarital affairs with Trump. The prosecution filings will probably describe Cohen's cooperation since August on those and perhaps other issues. House to question Comey Before Democrats take control of the House of Representatives next month, Republicans want to question Comey about his decision not to prosecute Clinton for her use of a private email server when she was secretary of state. They also want to ask about Comey's role in the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. Lawmakers interviewed senior Justice Department and FBI officials privately for months. Comey has testified that he didnt coordinate with the Democratic administration at the Justice Department or White House. Some Republicans questioned whether investigators were biased. Trump suggested Comey wanted a job in a potential Clinton administration. Unbelievably, James Comey states that Polls, where Crooked Hillary was leading, were a factor in the handling (stupidly) of the Clinton Email probe. In other words, he was making decisions based on the fact that he thought she was going to win, and he wanted a job. Slimeball! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 15, 2018 Comey initially refused to answer questions in private because he was concerned lawmakers would leak partial statements. He reached an agreement for a transcript to be released within 24 hours. Papadopoulos leaves prison George Papadopoulos, a former foreign policy aide on Trump's campaign, finishes his 14-day sentence Friday for lying to the FBI about his Russian contacts. Papadopoulos arrived Nov. 26 at a minimum-security camp in Oxford, Wisconsin, the Bureau of Prisons confirmed to USA TODAY. This sentence was shortened by time served when he was arrested. He was fined $9,500 and ordered to complete 200 hours of community service. Papadopoulos "lied to the FBI regarding his interactions with a foreign professor whom he understood to have significant ties to the Russian government, as well as a female Russian national," according to Mueller's team. Papadopoulos identified that professor as Joseph Mifsud, who introduced him to the Russian woman he knew as Olga. Mifsud told Papadopoulos that Olga was related to Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Papadopoulos identified her as "Putin's niece" in a campaign email. When asked about his contacts with Mifsud and Olga, Papadopoulos falsely told the FBI agents that his meetings with them happened before he joined the Trump campaign. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Robert Mueller: Here's what to expect in Friday's court filings on Paul Manafort and Michael Cohen Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani arrives to campaign for Republican Senate hopeful Mike Braun on November 3, 2018 in Franklin Township, Indiana. Former White House counsel to Richard Nixon, John Dean, told CNNs Don Lemon that Rudy Giuliani is deluding Trump about the extent of trouble the president is in. Deans statements came in response to the revelation that special counsel Robert Mueller is not planning to pursue a jail term for former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn, as reported by the BBC. In a memo released ahead of Flynns sentencing on December 18, Mueller maintained that Flynn had provided substantial assistance in the criminal probe regarding Trump transition teams contacts with Russian government officials and as a result should not be incarcerated for lying to the FBI earlier. Click here to continue and read more... A sinuous swamp salamander with spots like a leopard and Christmas-tree-shaped fronds growing from its head hid from scientists for decades. But researchers have finally described this elusive and two-legged aquatic oddity. Dubbed Siren reticulata reticulated siren the animal bears a closer resemblance to an eel than a salamander, with a long body and no hind limbs. In fact, its body shape and spotted pattern previously earned it the name "leopard eel," scientists reported in a new study. Only recently did researchers confirm that the slippery salamander is a new species. Like other sirens (a group of aquatic salamanders) the newfound species is huge it measures up to 2 feet (60 centimeters) in length, and is one of the largest animals with backbones described in the U.S. in more than a century, according to the study. [In Photos: The World's Freakiest Looking Animals] Unlike many other types of salamanders, sirens have extremely elongated bodies, are entirely aquatic and only have front legs. Their heads are crowned with branching external gills structures that help them extract oxygen from the water, study co-author David Steen, a research ecologist with the Georgia Sea Turtle Center, told Live Science. Sirens were first described in the 18th and 19th centuries, but they remain poorly understood; the group has flown under the scientific radar for so long primarily because they're tricky to detect and observe in the murky streams and ponds of their swamp habitats in the southeastern United States, Steen explained. Frond-like structures in the siren's external gills help it to breathe underwater. Pierson Hill To determine if the spotted siren was indeed a new species, the researchers needed specimens. Steen caught one in 2009, and it wasn't until 2014 when scientists captured three more. Evaluation of these sirens along with preserved museum specimens enabled the study authors to perform detailed analysis of the animals' DNA and body structures, determining that they were genetically and physically distinct from known siren species that live in the area: the greater siren and the lesser siren. Story continues Patterns of dark spots on the reticulated siren's back inspired the animal's previous common name of "leopard eel," though it is "neither a leopard nor an eel," according to the study authors. David Steen Natural predators for the reticulated sirens likely include snakes, herons, egrets and predatory fish, Steen told Live Science. But the giant salamanders face a more dire threat from human activity, such as development that encroaches on their habitat. Because little is known about the extent of the sirens' range, it's possible that wetlands where sirens lived are already being drained, Steen said. Identifying this giant salamander also serves as a reminder that there are new species to be discovered "right in our own backyards," Steen said. "This is a big animal, and it's only being described in 2018. There's probably a lot more species for us to learn about and we should do it quick, before these things disappear." The findings were published online today (Dec. 5) in the journal PLOS ONE. Originally published on Live Science. Globe Telecom Inc. signed a $40-million loan facility with Bank of the Philippine Islands to fund expansion and refinance debts. The loan shall be used to partially finance the companys maturing obligations, capital expenditures and general corporate requirements, the company said. Globe, a unit of Ayala Corp., earlier raised its full-year capital spending budget to $950 million this year from the original $850 million. The company allocated P32.5 billion or $618 million for capital expenditures in the first nine months to support the growing subscriber base and address the rapidly changing and rising demand for data. The massive investment accounted for nearly 32 percent of top line revenues, among the highest in the region, as the company continued to reinvest in its network to improve the quality and experience of its subscribers. About 78 percent of the total expenditures in the period was for data-related services. Globe said it was on course to fulfill its commitment to deploy LTE services to 95 percent of cities and municipalities nationwide by the end of 2018 and upgrade its network to support the pilot 5G deployment in 2019.Globe has a total of 40,522 base stations, with close to 27,000 for 4G to support the service requirements of its customers. Globes mobile subscriber base reached 65.4 million as of end-September 2018, up 10 percent from the 59.3 million subscribers reported in the same period last year. The increase led to mobile data traffic growing by 49 percent from 430 petabytes last year to 641 petabytes in the nine-month period. Total home broadband subscriber base increased around 23 percent to more than 1.5 million, of which around 48 percent were home wireless subscribers. The company plans to roll out ultra-fast internet service to two million homes by 2020. President Trumps order cracking down on asylum seekers at the southern border has been stayed by a federal judge, but a small group of determined migrants who made it through the border fence discovered that at least some Border Patrol agents appear to be enforcing it anyway. On the afternoon of Dec. 1, about 10 women and children, a small part of one of the caravans that traveled hundreds of miles through Mexico from Honduras, crossed the border fence near its western end on the beach near San Diego. Their plan was to apply for asylum, which, by American and international law, anyone physically present in the U.S. is eligible to do. But beyond the fence, separating them from the rest of the United States, was a further barbed-wire barrier, and armed Border Patrol agents who warned them that if they proceeded they would lose their right to claim asylum and threatened to arrest them, presumably for child endangerment, if any children received even a scratch from the barbed wire. A US border police talk to migrants who entered in US territory through a hole in the borders wall on December 1, 2018. (Photo: Fabio Bucciarelli for Yahoo News) So they turned back. It isnt clear whether the patch of ground they were standing on was, in fact, U.S. territory. We returned to Mexico because they told us to go back, said Dariela, one of the mothers in the group. The encounter was captured on camera by photographer Fabio Bucciarelli and videographer Francesca Tosarelli. It appears to be one of the only documented cases of asylum seekers being turned back to Mexico by U.S. officials, pursuant to Trumps Nov. 8 proclamation that required asylum seekers to present themselves at one of the 48 official ports of entry along the border, since a federal judge issued a restraining order blocking implementation of the proclamation. But the incident is in line with other reports from Tijuana and elsewhere of the various ways in which people are being prevented from legally seeking asylum in the United States. Back on the southern side of the fence, Bucciarelli followed the group as they were transported by Mexican authorities to a new shelter where Tijuana officials have begun moving migrants after the stadium previously used to house them was closed for health reasons. There, he interviewed each of them about their experience at the border. Story continues Mirna (43) and her daughter Mirna (10) are caught by Mexican border police along the Mexico-US borders wall, December 1, 2018. (Photo: Fabio Bucciarelli for Yahoo News) Dariela, 24, left Honduras with her 7-year-old son, Eric, in September to join the caravan of migrants embarking on the typically dangerous journey to the United States through Mexico. They arrived in Tijuana last month, and followed the recommended procedure of adding their names to a waitlist along with thousands of others also hoping to seek asylum in the United States. The wait time on the list was estimated at a month or longer, as Customs and Border Protection officials have placed strict limits on the number of refugees processed each day, citing capacity constraints. Desperate in the face of this daunting prospect, Dariela and a few others from the caravan decided to take their chances on crossing the border illegally. Their plan, Dariela explained, was to turn themselves over to U.S. officials once they reached the other side and request asylum once in their custody a legal practice that, in recent years, had become common, particularly among Central American asylum seekers. Last month, ahead of the caravans arrival, Trump attempted to crack down on that practice by signing a proclamation that essentially banned access to asylum for anyone who crosses the border outside official ports of entry. The proclamation was immediately challenged in court by immigration rights advocates, and a little over two weeks later, U.S. District Court Judge Jon S. Tigar, of San Franciscos Ninth Circuit, issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting the administration from implementing its new asylum restrictions, pending further legal proceedings. The law is very clear that individuals can apply for asylum whether they enter at a port of entry or between ports of entry, said Omar Jadwat, director of the ACLU Immigrants Rights Project, which is pursuing the lawsuit against the policy, along with the Southern Poverty Law Center and Center for Constitutional Rights. Dariela (24) and her son going by bus to the bank to receive money by her mother from Honduras, December 2, 2018. (Photo: Fabio Bucciarelli for Yahoo News) However, after making it through a hole in the fence that separates Tijuana from San Diego, Dariela, Eric and the others found themselves sandwiched between the northern facing side of the border fence and coils of concertina wire. How long that second barrier has been in place is unclear, although it is believed to be part of the recent border fortifications undertaken by the military, ordered by Trump in anticipation of the arrival of the caravans, which he characterized as an invasion. The women were undeterred. I was set on passing the wire fence, said Mirna, another one of the mothers, describing how she planned to guide her 10-year-old daughter carefully through openings in the wire that had apparently been made by earlier migrants. But the group was confronted by U.S. Border Patrol agents who told them to turn around and go back to Mexico. If you cross this wire fence, and these kids get injured, were going to put you in jail, said Mirna, recounting what the border agents told them. And thats going to make things worse for you. The border wall between Mexico and US on December 1, 2018. Honduran migrants are trapped between the wall and the barber wire in US territory. (Photo: Fabio Bucciarelli for Yahoo News) In separate interviews, at least three of the women independently recalled similar threats of arrest if any of the children were injured or even scratched. Like Dariela, they each also recalled being told that if they proceeded to cross from this point, they would be ineligible for asylum in the U.S. They scared us, saying they werent going to give us asylum. They were going to deport us, said Xinia, a 19-year-old from Honduras traveling with her 4-year-old son, Kevin. My dream is to be there in the United States, and I was happy when I stepped foot on U.S. soil, said Mirna. But they didnt give us the opportunity. They sent us back again. Its not entirely clear if the particular sliver of land between the wall and wire where Mirna and the others wound up is technically considered U.S. soil. Schneider crosses under the wall between Mexico and US, December 1, 2018. (Photo: Fabio Bucciarelli for Yahoo News) If an individual who entered unlawfully is encountered in the United States by Border Patrol agents, they are arrested and processed according to current law, a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) spokesman said in a statement to Yahoo News. If they are encountered south of the border (through the bollards for example, having not yet made entry) and request asylum, they are encouraged to seek asylum through a lawful port of entry. There are many instances of aliens fleeing from Border Patrol agents after they enter, and they sometimes flee into Mexico, the spokesperson continued. This is referred to as a turn back, but agents will not instruct an alien to turn back to Mexico. Xinia with her son Kevin and her friend Fabiola along the Mexican-US border, December 1, 2018.(Photo: Fabio Bucciarelli for Yahoo News) Asked to comment on the encounter described by this particular group of migrants, a spokesperson for CBP in San Diego confirmed that the agency was investigating the specific incident but did not respond to Yahoo News before this article was posted. The ACLUs Jadwat argues that the Border Patrol agents behavior described by the women in this situation is problematic regardless of what side of the international line they were on at the time. Its just wrong for border agents to be telling people that they cant apply for asylum or to be intimidating them out of applying for asylum once they reach the United States, said Jadwat, calling the accounts very disturbing. Whats being reported in this case is directly contrary to what the law provides, he said. Its critical for the Border Patrol to make sure that its agents are complying with the law and not either intimidating people out of asylum or flatly and incorrectly telling them that they cannot apply. Xinia (19) and her son Kevin (4) talk with Mexican border police after being caught crossing the Mexico-US border wall, December 1, 2018. (Photo: Fabio Bucciarelli for Yahoo News) In a statement announcing the release of the latest border apprehension numbers Thursday evening, Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Katie Waldman criticized the order by Judge Tigar blocking the implementation of Trumps policy to ban access to asylum between ports of entry on the southwest border. To address the obvious crisis at our border, the President has recently deployed the military and signed a new measure that, in conjunction with a joint DOJ regulation, makes illegal border crossers ineligible for asylum, Waldman stated, declaring that Bad decisions from the Ninth Circuit are directly responsible for the more than 25,000 family units who violated our national sovereignty and are effectively immune to consequences for their illegal actions. Oliver (7) and Schneider (4) watch the border wall between Mexico and US on December 1, 2018. (Photo: Fabio Bucciarelli for Yahoo News) According to the numbers released Thursday, during the month of November, a total of 51,856 undocumented migrants were apprehended by Border Patrol agents between ports of entry along the southwest border, 25,172 of whom were caught crossing the border with a family member. The numbers are significantly higher than those reported during the same period of time last year, when a total of 29,085 people were apprehended along the southwest border. However, many immigration experts and advocates have taken issue with the administrations characterization of the current situation at the border as a crisis, arguing that the apprehension numbers reported in fiscal year 2017 were unusually low, with attempted illegal entries dropping significantly in the wake of the November 2016 election and the first few months of Trumps presidency. Compared with the numbers reported during November 2016, for example, when a total of 47,211 people were apprehended, the disparity is much less shocking. A young honduran migrant looks through the wall that divides Mexico from US on December 1, 2018. (Photo: Fabio Bucciarelli for Yahoo News) Jadwat said that he and his colleagues on the border plan to further investigate this incident and others like it in response to what they call a concerted and unlawful effort by the Trump administration to prevent people from legally pursuing asylum in the United States. The wait system for asylum seekers in Tijuana predates the arrival of the caravan, the CBP spokesperson noted. But U.S. and Mexican officials have recently begun collaborating to implement similar processes at various other points along the southwest border, including in El Paso. Its just a fundamentally upside-down approach to this whole situation, said Jadwat, arguing that such measures suggest that the administration has no real interest in actually accepting and processing asylum applications in an orderly fashion and instead is doing everything it can to exacerbate the problems that people are facing on the border so they can claim there is a huge crisis there. Xenia (19) and her son Kevin (4) rest at Tijuanas Barretal shelter, December 2, 2018. (Photo: Fabio Bucciarelli for Yahoo News) The experience of this one particular group seems to illustrate at least one predicted result of the increased restrictions on asylum seekers at the official ports of entry. After spending time with the women back in Tijuana, Bucciarelli, the photographer, predicted that they would not be there long before making another attempt to cross the border driven by a desperate desire for refuge in the United States and a growing fear that they could be deported by Mexico back to Honduras. I cant go back, Mirna said at the migrant shelter in Tijuana, tearing up as she reflected on the rampant violence that has consumed much of her country and her own family over the past few years. They took away my life, my mom, my son Thats why I cannot go back to Honduras. Reporting from Tijuana: Fabio Bucciarelli and Francesca Tosarelli Read more from Yahoo News: WASHINGTON (AP) Senators are considering multiple pieces of legislation to formally rebuke Saudi Arabia for the slaying of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, with momentum building for a resolution to call Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman complicit in the killing. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker said Thursday that senators are looking at moving three measures a resolution to condemn the crown prince for Khashoggi's murder, a bill to suspend arms sales to the kingdom and a resolution to call on President Donald Trump's administration to pull back U.S. help for the Saudi-led war in Yemen. "We have three different efforts underway, all of which have a lot of momentum," Corker, R-Tenn., said after meeting with other senators to negotiate on Thursday. Corker said that most senators "in some form or fashion are going to want to speak to Saudi Arabia and where they are and send a message." It's unclear how strong that message will be. The Senate is expected to vote next week on the Yemen resolution, but senators are wrestling with how to limit amendments to prevent a freewheeling floor debate that would allow votes on unrelated issues. Corker said the Foreign Relations panel may vote on the other two measures related to Saudi Arabia, but it's unclear if there will be enough time or willingness from leadership to hold a Senate floor vote. Republican House leaders haven't indicated they will take up any of the measures, meaning any action by the Senate is likely to be symbolic, for now. Democrats taking over the House in January have introduced bills similar to the Senate legislation and would be more likely to rebuke Saudi Arabia. House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said the chamber will have a briefing from intelligence officials next week on Khashoggi and "we'll know more after that." Senators in both parties have been enraged over the killing and over Trump's equivocating on who is to blame. Pressed on a response to Saudi Arabia, the president has said the United States "intends to remain a steadfast partner" of the country, touted Saudi arms deals worth billions of dollars to the U.S. and thanked the country for plunging oil prices. Story continues Senators from both parties emerged from a CIA briefing earlier this week saying there was "zero chance" that the crown prince wasn't involved in Khashoggi's death. Their frustration with Trump's response has fueled interest in the Yemen resolution, with 63 senators voting last week to move forward on it. Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who sponsored the resolution with Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, said he is "confident that we have the bipartisan votes to pass" the bill when the Senate is expected to take it up next week. But senators will also have to figure out how to avert dozens of amendments that could be allowed under the special rules of a resolution dealing with U.S. involvement in a war. If any of the amendments passed, the resolution's passage could be jeopardized. Negotiations on how to proceed are underway, according to several senators. Corker also predicted the Yemen resolution will pass, but he wouldn't say whether he would vote for it and suggested it wouldn't be forceful enough as a rebuke. "In my opinion, I'd like to do something that actually has teeth," Corker said. Corker said he is supporting the legislation by Sens. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., and Todd Young, R-Ind., that would suspend weapons sales to Saudi Arabia and impose sanctions on people blocking humanitarian access in Yemen, among other actions. Human rights groups say the war is wreaking havoc on the country and subjecting civilians to indiscriminate bombing. Corker said he has suggested some changes to the legislation to Menendez, who is the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations panel. Lastly, senators are considering a resolution condemning the crown prince over Khashoggi's death. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., introduced a resolution Wednesday that would call bin Salman "complicit" in the slaying. Corker said he is negotiating with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to move that resolution or one that is similar. Khashoggi was killed two months ago. The journalist, who had lived 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!" Tokyo (AFP) - One US Marine died and five were missing Thursday after two American military aircraft crashed during a refuelling operation off the coast of Japan, officials said. Japanese and US military officials earlier said two of the seven crew of the planes had been found. "One is in fair condition and the other has been declared deceased by competent medical personnel," the US Marine Corps said late Thursday. "US military and the Japanese Self-Defense planes and vessels are searching for those still missing... I hope all the members will be rescued safely as soon as possible," Japanese Defence Minister Takeshi Iwaya said. The search would continue through the night, Kyodo news agency reported. The Marines were conducting "regularly scheduled training" when the crash occurred around 2:00 am local time, the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force said in a statement. The F/A-18 fighter jet with two crew onboard and a KC-130 refuelling tanker with five crew crashed into the sea around 100 kilometres (55 nautical miles) off the cape of Muroto in southwestern Japan, Iwaya said. The crew member rescued had been in the fighter jet, the minister confirmed. Japan's SDF had deployed nine aircraft and three vessels for the search, he said. "We are thankful for the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force's efforts as they immediately responded in the search and rescue operation," the Marines said. A spokesman for the Japanese coastguard said six vessels and an aircraft had been dispatched separately to assist in the rescue efforts. There are few details about the circumstances of what the Marines described as a "mishap" and an investigation is underway. Public broadcaster NHK sent a helicopter to try to find the crash site but was unable to locate it due to heavy fog and rain. During a normal KC-130 refuelling operation, the tanker aircraft trails a hose from the back of the plane with a so-called "drogue", shaped a bit like a windsock, at the end. Story continues The fighter jet then inserts a probe inside the drogue to receive fuel, which it can do at a rate of up to 300 gallons per minute, according to globalsecurity.org. - 'Appropriate measures' - The US military has about 50,000 troops stationed in Japan and accidents are not uncommon. In November, a US navy fighter jet crashed into the sea off Japan's southern island of Okinawa and its two crew members were rescued alive. And in November 2017, a C-2A "Greyhound" aircraft with 11 people on board went down in the Philippine Sea -- eight were rescued and the search was called off for the remaining three after a two-day search. The US military has also experienced difficulties with its Osprey helicopters, with several emergency landings, a deadly crash and a piece of chopper falling on the grounds of a Japanese school. Those incidents have stoked tensions between close military allies Washington and Tokyo and led to protests against the deployment of Ospreys by residents living near US bases. Iwaya said the incident was "regrettable but at this point we are doing our utmost to rescue those still missing". "Later, if we get to know the details of the accident, we will take appropriate measures," added Iwaya. He said that there was no information that any passing vessels were affected by the crash. Yoshihiko Fukuda, mayor of Iwakuni that hosts the US base where the two aircraft were based, told the city assembly he had asked the military to halt operations until the cause of the accident became clear. "I will urge the government and the US military to take thorough measures in finding out the cause of the accident and preventing a repeat," said Fukuda. The US ambassador to Japan, Bill Hagerty, said he was sending "heartfelt thoughts and prayers to families and colleagues of those still missing" and also praised the Japanese response. Southwest A Southwest Airlines plane skidded off the runway Thursday during rainy weather in southern California. The incident occurred at Hollywood Burbank Airport, also known as Bob Hope Airport, in Burbank The FAA said Southwest Flight 278 from Oakland to Burbank "rolled off the end of runway 8'' shortly after 9:05 a.m. local time. The plane came to rest in the Engineered Material Arresting System (EMAS) at the end of the runway, a safety measure designed to stop an aircraft from overrunning the runway. FAA safety inspectors are on the scene. Southwest said there are no reports of injuries among the 112 passengers and five crew members. Southwest passenger Moe Storch said on Twitter that the plane hydroplaned on a wet runway after landing and that the pilot regained control, hit brakes and reverse thrust "just in time.'' He praised the pilots for regaining control of the Boeing 737. Closer to the back wall than we would prefer... excellent job of the pilot regaining control of the aircraft!! #burbank @SouthwestAir pic.twitter.com/9IZ8Gf51jx Moe Storch (@MoeStorch) December 6, 2018 In response to his tweet, Twitter user Megan Pepper said she saw the incident and was scared the plane was going to crash. So glad you are ok! I was on Hollywood way and really thought the plane was going to crash into us!! Scary! What an awesome pilot! Megan Pepper (@megancpepper) December 6, 2018 In a reply on Twitter that has since been deleted, Southwest said: "We have some really great pilots who ensure the safety of our customers! We hope we can welcome you onboard again soon, Moe.'' Story continues The runway where the incident occurred is closed, but another runway is operational and the airport remains open, Burbank airport officials said. Southwest temporarily suspended operations at the airport, with 20 departures canceled so far. A spokesman said the airline hopes to resume operations after 4 p.m. local time today, but did not give a timetable. Southwest has 57 daily departures from Burbank. California is a giant market for the airline, with service from airports up and down the coast and inland. The airport had issued a weather advisory to travelers on Wednesday. Inclement weather in parts of California may affect flights at Hollywood Burbank Airport. Please check your flight status with your airline. pic.twitter.com/XqqTUutt7D Hollywood Burbank (@fly_BUR) December 5, 2018 This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Southwest plane skids off the runway in rainy weather in California Pupils check their A Level results. Photo: Andrew Matthews/PA Wire Attending one of eight top schools in the UK can make you 70 times more likely to get accepted to Oxford or Cambridge, according to research published by the Sutton Trust on Friday. The Access to Advantage report, which analyses UK university acceptances rates for the 2015-2017 cohorts, found that the eight schools and colleges with the highest number of Oxford and Cambridge acceptances had 1,310 between them, while almost 2,900 schools had just 1,200 collectively. Independent school pupils are more likely to win a place at Oxbridge, the report found. While a third of all applications come from independent school students, a much larger proportion (42%) are granted places. In comparison, a third of applications come from comprehensively educated students, but only a quarter of them gain a place. This is despite the fact that just 7% of the UK population and 18% of those taking A-levels attended a private school over this period. Pupils from Halton, Knowsley, Lincolnshire, North Lincolnshire, Portsmouth, Rochdale, Rutland, Salford, Southampton and Thurrock are the least likely to get into Oxbridge, having two or fewer acceptances over the three years. While some of these gaps were driven by differences in A-level results, the research also showed different progression rates between comprehensive and independent school pupils with similar exam results. Of those from schools in the top fifth for exam results, not only are independent school pupils far more likely to apply to Oxford or Cambridge in the first place, theyre 7% more likely to be accepted. One factor that remained the same across the board was achievement. Students who were accepted to Oxford or Cambridge earned, on average, straight A* A-level grades. The Sutton Trust wants universities to use the data in their future admissions processes to focus on areas that are under-represented, and make reduced grade offers to recognise the difference in circumstances faced by applicants. Campaign signs on display in Montgomery, Ala. (Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: Drew Angerer/Getty Images) CHOCCOLOCCO, ALA. One at a time, or sometimes in pairs, worshipers walked to the front of the large sanctuary, knelt, and placed their head or hand on the stage. Are you hurting and broken within? the congregation sang. Overwhelmed by the weight of your sin? Jesus is calling. Most who came to the front were young men. As one of them knelt, visibly distraught, an older black man standing near the stage approached and put his hand on the young white mans shoulder, a gesture of support and prayer. O come to the altar, the church sang in 6/8 time, as a full rock band repeated the chorus several times. The Fathers arms are open wide. When the young man rose a few minutes later, tears in his eyes, he embraced the older man. Pastor Michael Cox stood a few feet away, giving thanks to God. But religion only goes so far to unify, especially in the South, as I saw firsthand traveling through the state recently to understand how one of the most religious states in the Union could be on the verge of sending an accused molester of teenaged girls to the United States Senate. Worshipers kneel in front of the stage at Cornerstone Church in Choccolocco, Ala., as the congregation sings, O come to the altar, the Fathers arms are open wide. (Photo: Jon Ward/Yahoo News) In the pastors office, Cox and I talked about Roy Moore, the controversial Republican, who has denied charges of sexual impropriety that date back some 40 years. Moore, who was born and raised 35 miles north of Coxs church, in the town of Gadsden, recently said he thought Americas greatest days were before the Civil War. Cox, a 62-year-old former nightclub musician who rides a Harley-Davidson and has two stuffed black bears on display in his office (he shot them while hunting in Canada), didnt say who hell vote for. But his description of the race could be seen as a way of to borrow a common term here these days giving himself permission to vote for Moore. We are still a nation that youre innocent until proven guilty. If its what he did, its deplorable. Its deplorable, Cox said. If he didnt I would hate to go back 40 years and try to remember everything that I did. I think Id remember some things. Story continues Cox added that if Moore is elected, There needs to be a vetting process to investigate, and if hes not found worthy to be in that office, remove him. The most venerated conservative political figures in the state, including U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, have said they believe Moores accusers. But Cox said that Moore has 40 or more years of pretty stellar service. Hes a West Point graduate, honorable in Vietnam. I was around when all of the Ten Commandments fight was going on, said Cox, referring to the removal of Moore from his post as chief justice of the state over his refusal to remove a religious monument from the grounds of his courthouse. This nation was founded on the word of God. A painting of George Washington kneeling in prayer hangs over Coxs desk. Cox was more ambivalent about Democrat Doug Jones. I have learned that he was a tough prosecutor, that he stood for the laws of the land. I have heard that he was pro late-term abortion. He has come out with an ad that says that is not true. So I do not know about that, Cox said. He says hes a hunter and pro Second Amendment. Again, I have no idea. Pastor Michael Cox of Cornerstone Church in Choccolocco, Ala. (Photo: Jon Ward/Yahoo News) When I asked Cox how hed explain evangelicals voting for Moore to people outside the state, he paused, and then said, Evangelicals are not dumb. Many are troubled by the allegations against Moore, Cox said, just as they were troubled by a lot of the allegations with Trump. But they are also committed, he said, to conservative values. Some voters in his part of the state might be so turned off by the allegations against Moore that they dont vote at all, Cox said. But, he said definitively, In the South they still believe in the rule of law. Some things can never be proven. ***** Michael Bullington also believes in conservative and biblical values. But that has led the 23-year-old Republican to a very different place than Cox. Bullington was one of the leaders of the Birmingham chapter of the Alabama Young Republicans, which a month ago passed a near-unanimous resolution censuring Moore and openly denouncing his candidacy. An Auburn graduate who works in logistics for an industrial supply company, Bullington is bright and politically connected. But he and others in the state have distanced themselves from some in the Alabama GOP by decisively standing against President Trump and now Moore. When Sessions endorsed Trump during the 2016 election, Bullington called the then-senators chief of staff, Rick Dearborn, on his cellphone and asked for an explanation. (Dearborn is now deputy White House chief of staff, which has not kept his wife, Gina, from openly campaigning for the Democrat Jones against Moore on social media.) Roy Moore, Republican candidate for U.S. Senate from Alabama, speaks during a campaign rally in Fairhope, Ala., in December 2017. (Photo: Nicole Craine/Bloomberg via Getty Images) Bullington says Dearborn encouraged him to jump on in with Trump. When I met Bullington at a coffee shop in the Highlands neighborhood of Birmingham, he said, I didnt jump in and Im glad I didnt. He said he has sought to personally confront state Auditor Jim Ziegler over his infamous comparison of Moores liaisons with teenagers to the marriage of Jesuss own parents Joseph and Mary. Bullington says he would tell Ziegler that he is unqualified to serve, drawing on the model for resolving interpersonal conflict many Christians look to in the 18th chapter of the book of Matthew. Biblically if you have a problem with someone you should try to address that with them privately, Bullington said. And if it cant be handled that way you can go more public with it Its just good ethics because sometimes theres stuff you dont know. He sipped a coffee while Arcade Fire played over the coffee shops speakers. I would call myself theologically evangelical, but politically I dont really even understand what that means anymore. Bullington was disturbed by the message of support for Moore from Republicans and from Christians. Theres an opportunity for the church to stand up for victims and say theres a better way and we can be better people. But many havent done that because theres this idea that theres a cultural battle and we have to focus on the bigger battles, and thats a shame, he said. Bullington is the kind of urban young voter whom Jones, the Democrat, badly needs in his corner. But for all of Bullingtons conviction that Moore should not be elected, he told me he was still not going to vote for Jones. He planned to write in Del Marsh, the third-ranking state Senate Republican. If Im not going to vote for Roy Moore because he doesnt fulfill my list of needs from a candidate, I wont vote for any candidate that fails in that way, Bullington said. Jones and I dont agree on a few issues, most notably abortion. ***** The abortion issue has helped keep conservative voters aligned with Moore, or at least away from Jones. And that dynamic extends into the African-American community in Alabama, where there are a number of Democrats that are pro-life, according to House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels. Jones has said he favors keeping in place Alabamas ban on abortions after 22 weeks and opposes a proposal in the Alabama legislature to roll it back to 20 weeks. Daniels is the first person of color to hold the House minority leadership position in Alabama history. The 35-year-old rising Democratic star said his party has not figured out how to message on abortion. But he predicted higher than normal turnout for Jones among African-American voters, a constituency that the Democrat badly needs to turn out. Democratic Alabama U.S. Senate candidate Doug Jones and Sen. Cory Booker attend a campaign rally in Birmingham, Ala., in December 2017. (Photo: Carlo Allegri/Reuters) But Rev. Oscar Montgomery, pastor of Union Hill Primitive Baptist Church in Huntsville, expressed concern that longstanding disillusionment among black voters in Alabama will keep many from voting. There are some who refuse to believe that our vote can make a difference, Montgomery said. Theres this prevailing belief among many that the majority are totally spiritually and morally bankrupt. Those whites, if they had an ounce of morality, would be forced to vote for Jones. No matter how right we are, if 100 percent of us go out and vote, we only make up 27 percent of the population. Thats the disillusionment, the pastor said in a phone interview, his voice rising. Montgomery lamented what he considers the black communitys complacency following President Obamas election and reelection. Many of them felt we had arrived. But evil never dies. It only metamorphosizes itself and reanimates itself in another form. The racism in this country is recalcitrant in this country, and nowhere is it more prevalent than in Alabama. You only have two choices, Jones or Moore. And Moore is certainly not a choice. His desire along with Trump is to take African-Americans back to slavery, Montgomery said, referencing a comment Moore made in September: I think [America] was great at the time when families were united even though we had slavery they cared for one another. Our families were strong, our country had a direction. Montgomery said he agonizes over apathy in the African-American community but is hoping that whites will heed their consciences when they vote: I am praying that there is a flicker of morality in the majority that will make a difference at the polls, that they will do the right thing when they get into the booth and they realize that the only person there is them and God. ***** Back in Birmingham on Sunday afternoon, Hatton Smith was grieving over the failure to stop Moore earlier this year in the Republican primary. Smith, a wealthy businessman, was the finance chair and a senior adviser to Sen. Luther Strange, who was appointed to fill Sessionss seat earlier this year but lost to Moore in the primary. Smith, 67, welcomed me to his home in the posh Highlands neighborhood. He wore a starched white dress shirt and a red Waffle House neck tie. We sat in his sunroom drinking freshly brewed Royal Cup coffee. Smith is the CEO emeritus of the coffee company. He reflected on how until recently, Moore seemed to have diminished in power. Moore was removed from the Alabama Supreme Court in 2016, for the second time in his career. But Sessionss appointment as attorney general opened up his seat, giving Moore an opening. The thinking was he would never win, Smith said. But national Republicans in Washington didnt take advice on the need to reach out to religious conservatives in Alabama, and the small turnout in the special election primary gave an outsized influence to Moores small but intense base. Smith, one of the few establishment Republicans in Alabama willing to go on the record about Moore, said he is disgusted with the Republican nominee. He said he would be not just disappointed but ashamed if Moore is elected. Patricia Riley Jones attends a Women for Moore rally in support of Roy Moores candidacy in front of the Alabama State Capitol in November 2017 in Montgomery, Ala. (Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images) But he has friends in the business community who are scared of Democrats taking control of the Senate and reinstating government regulations that the Trump administration has begun to roll back. Smith had his own story of what he felt was overbearing federal regulation during the Obama administration, when the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission requested information about Royal Cups hiring practices and opportunities for minorities. What people are missing is the extreme anti-Washington feeling, Smith said. That defeated us and it may end up carrying Moore to victory. For the African-American community, of course, talk of states rights and anti-Washington sentiment has a very different ring. The state of Alabama has never done anything progressive for blacks without federal intervention. Thats the real reason they dont want federal intervention, Montgomery said. And for white conservative evangelicals like Cox, there is a feeling that soon this sordid affair will be past and they can move on. The biggest thing I kept hearing was, Ill be glad when this is over, Cox said. Because Alabamians really do not like all of the negativity, the mudslinging, the name calling. Most people are just glad when its done. During his sermon on Sunday, Cox told a story about resting after a hike through the woods. Id been setting on the edge of a rock and Id was looking back into the forest, and to me I think all of Gods things are beautiful, but if there were ever a tree that got the ugly stick, this tree got it. It was like, bent, warped, gnarly, he said. And then I turned around and here was all of this beauty, he said, as a keyboard played softly to set the mood. I just kinda glanced back over my shoulder at that ugly tree. The Lord spoke to my heart and said, You have that choice every day of your life. You can choose what youre going to look at. You can choose what youre going to focus on. Cox said he took a dead branch from the gnarled tree and put it in his office to remind himself of the lesson. I choose to remember to look at whats good, he said. I make a choice. The problems still there but I choose to focus on God. _____ Read more from Yahoo News: George Duke-Cohan has been jailed for three years (NCA) A teenage hacker from Watford has been jailed for three years for making hoax bomb threats to hundreds of schools and also sparking an airport security scare. George Duke-Cohan twice targeted schools in the UK and US with hoax messages, before phoning in a fake report of a hijacked aircraft while under investigation. The 19-year-old, of Mutchetts Close, Watford, was sentenced at Luton Crown Court on Friday after pleading guilty in September to three counts of making hoax bomb threats. Jailing Duke-Cohan for three years, Judge Richard Foster accused the teenager of having a perverted sense of fun. You knew exactly what you were doing and why you were doing it, and you knew full well the havoc that would follow, he said. Duke-Cohan knew exactly what he was doing, said Judge Richard Foster (NCA) You were playing a cat-and-mouse game with the authorities. You were playing a game for your own perverted sense of fun in full knowledge of the consequences. Duke-Cohan had first created panic in March 2018 when he emailed thousands of schools in the UK warning about an explosive. More than 400 schools were evacuated as a result, according to the National Crime Agency. Police arrested him days later, but he was able to send another batch of emails to schools in the US and UK while under investigation in April. His messages claimed a pipe bomb had been planted on the premises. Duke-Cohan was arrested for a second time and released on pre-charge bail with conditions that he did not use electronic devices. Before long his name was in the frame for a third hoax, regarding a bogus tip-off that hijackers had taken over a United Airlines flight between UK and San Francisco. Detectives found that Duke-Cohan had made the calls to San Francisco Airport and their police force while he was on pre-charge bail for the two previous offences. Duke-Cohan also made bomb threats to a US-bound plane via phone calls to San Francisco Airport (NCA) He was arrested for a third time at his home in Watford, Hertfordshire, on August 31 this year. NCA senior investigating officer Marc Horsfall said Duke-Cohans actions caused serious worry and inconvenience to thousands of people and had carried them out hidden behind a computer screen for his own enjoyment. Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UK David Lee Miller (Tennessee Corrections Department) A US death row inmate has become the second person to be executed in the electric chair in just over a month. David Lee Miller, a murderer who killed a mentally disabled woman while on a date in 1981, died at Nashville maximum security prison, Tennessee. His last words were: Beats being on death row. Miller, 61, had been on death row for 36 years, longer than anybody in Tennessee previously. Sponges were applied to his head, then a shroud placed over Millers face before two jolts of electricity were administered. The electric chair used in Millers execution (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey) He was pronounced dead minutes later at 7:25pm local time on Thursday. Miller is the second murderer to be executed with the electric chair in the past two months. On November 1, Edmund Zagorski also chose the chair. Protesters stood vigil outside the prison (AP) The inmates argued in court that Tennessees current midazolam-based method causes a prolonged and torturous death. They pointed to the August execution of Billy Ray Irick, which took around 20 minutes and during which he coughed and huffed before turning a dark purple. However, their case was thrown out, largely because a judge said they failed to prove a more humane alternative was available. In recent decades, states have moved away from the electric chair, and no state now uses electrocution as its main execution method, said Robert Dunham, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Centre, which does not take a stand on the death penalty but is critical of its application. Mounted police outside the Tennessee prison (AP) Georgia and Nebraska courts both have ruled the electric chair unconstitutional. Mr Dunham said he was not aware of any state other than Tennessee where inmates were choosing electrocution over lethal injection. In Tennessee, inmates whose crimes were committed before 1999 can chose electrocution over lethal injection. Millers victim, Lee Standifer (AP) The builder of Tennessees electric chair had warned it could malfunction before the executions but the state went ahead anyway. Both executions appear to have been carried out without incident. It was only the third time Tennessee had put an inmate to death in the electric chair since 1960. Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UK PRAYER RALLY FOR BOL. Members of a Muslim community held a prayer rally outside Manila Golden Mosque in Quiapo, Manila in support of the Bangsamoro Organic Law or RA 11054, also known as Organic Law on Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao on Dec. 7, 2018. Norman Cruz The Commission on Elections on Friday said the plebiscite for the ratification of the Bangsamoro Organic Law will be conducted on two separate days. In a statement, the poll body said the plebiscite will be held on Jan. 21, 2019 and Feb. 6, 2019. The plebiscite for the ratification of the Bangsamoro Organic Law [BOL] will be conducted on two separate days to allow time for the full resolution of petitions for voluntary inclusion in the plebiscite, the Comelec said in a statement. The plebiscite scheduled for January would be held for the geographical areas comprising the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, including Isabela City in Basilan, and Cotabato City.The February plebiscite, on the other hand, will be for the province of Lanao del Norte, except Iligan City; the municipalities of Aleosan, Carmen, Kabacan, Midsayap, Pikit, and Pigkawayan in the province of North Cotabato; and all other areas contiguous to any of the Bangsamoro core areas where: (a) the local government of such area, by way of a resolution, asked for inclusion in the plebiscite; or (b) at least 10 percent of the registered voters in a local government unit, by way of a petition, asked for inclusion in the plebiscite. The poll body said there are currently 99 pending petitions for inclusion in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said the Commission en banc decided to hold the plebiscite on two dates since they cannot meet the cut-off date which is Dec. 15 to rule on the petitions filed before them.What happened is there were many petitions filed. So, mukhang hindi aabot doon sa cut off natin which is Dec. 15 also mukhang hindi aabot yung resolution ng ibat ibang mga petition, he said in an earlier interview. The poll body official noted that there would be no added cost. Its still within the budget. Ini-split lang natin. The budget for the plebiscite is P857 million. Based on the proposed BARMM, being eyed for inclusion are the current provinces under the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, which are Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi. Also eyed for inclusion in the would-be region are 39 barangays in North Cotabato, six municipalities in Lanao del Norte, and the cities of Cotabato in Maguindanao, and Isabela in Basilan. Le Mans (France) (AFP) - The French have gone sour on their 40-year-old President Emmanuel Macron, who has been heckled and booed in recent days as he grapples with a tax revolt. Why does he inspire such hatred among the "yellow vest" protesters? At a blockade outside a fuel depot in the city of Le Mans -- famous for its 24-hour motor race -- around 50 protesters were fortifying their barricades on Tuesday in preparation in for a long winter of discontent. While all expressed bitterness with the political class as a whole, seen as out of touch with the concerns of ordinary voters, Macron was the main target of their ire. The former investment banker swept to power at the head of a new grassroots political movement in May last year but once in office adopted a top-down approach. Tax hikes on fuel and pensions, seen by the protesters as fleecing the working and middle classes to fund tax breaks for the rich, coupled with a series of remarks seen as scornful of the poor, have hardened feelings towards him. In September Macron told a 25-year-old man looking for a job in Paris that "if I crossed the street I'd find you one." On Sunday he was booed while surveying the damage caused by rioters in Paris,. Two days later Macron received a similar reception as he was heckled during a visit to local government offices in the central town of Puy-en-Velay, which were torched during a protest last weekend. "Emmanuel Macron is a little boy who has always been told he's the best, hes always been idolised. He's never been told 'you shouldn't do that'. The guy thinks he's God!" said Claudio, a 47-year-old mason and father of four, standing next to a stack of burning pallets outside the depot in Le Mans. Like many of the demonstrators, Claudio -- he refused to give his full name because he did not want to be accused by the "yellow vests" of speaking out of turn -- likened the explosion of anger to the 1789 French Revolution. Story continues "He deserves to have his head chopped off, symbolically," he said of Macron, who has been accused of draping himself in the symbols of the pre-revolutionary Ancien Regime. "He's the king. It's as if we're in the Middle Ages!" fumed Philippe, the 74-year-old leader of a group of "yellow vests" that has been periodically holding up traffic in the central Sarthe region. - 'Napoleonic method' - Macron's refusal to acknowledge any of the protesters' demands before rioters ran amok in Paris last weekend have sealed the image of a president short on empathy. "The Napoleonic method which worked at first for launching his reforms is no longer working," Philippe Moreau-Chevrolet, a specialist in political communication, told AFP. His government has this week offered a series of concessions aimed at boosting the purchasing power of low-income families -- but for many "yellow vests", they're insufficient. The wider public appear to feel the same: an Elabe poll published Wednesday found 78 percent did not think the measures met the protesters' demands. - 'Cardinal sin' - Adding fuel to the fire is the perceived extravagance of Macron and his wife Brigitte, with many protesters citing a set of porcelain tableware he ordered -- reportedly worth half a million euros -- days after complaining about the "crazy amounts of dough" spent on social security. Analysts say that by sidelining trade unions and centralising power in the presidential palace, Macron has left himself singularly exposed to voters' anger. Similar criticisms were levelled against right-wing president Nicolas Sarkozy during his time in office from 2007-12. "Sarko" left office as France's most unpopular leader ever, only for his successor Francois Hollande to do even worse, famously falling to four percent in one opinion poll. An Ifop poll Tuesday showed Macron's approval rating sinking to a new low of 23 percent. Macron, who had never held elected office before becoming president, tried to respond to popular anger about the political class by bringing scores of newcomers into government. But Michel Papin, a retired poultry farmer at a protest camp in a field 40 kilometres (25 miles) south of Le Mans, said the greenhorns had become part of the problem. "These people cannot respond to the people because they are technocrats," he said. The spark that lit the revolt was Macron's perceived bias towards the rich, exemplified first and foremost by his decision to scrap wealth taxes on investors at the same time as he raised taxes on pensioners, the protesters say. The government has defended the move, one of Macron's first on taking office, as necessary to encourage the investment needed to create jobs. But Macron was henceforth branded the "president of the rich" -- a label he has struggled to shake off. At a cabinet meeting on Wednesday he stood by the policy. "Pay your wealth tax!" some demonstrators shouted during the first of two weekends of violent protests in Paris last month, swarming down the Champs-Elysees avenue. "Macron, you bastard, resign," another protester had scrawled on her yellow vest at a motorway toll booth near Marseille on Tuesday. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert has been chosen as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, President Donald Trump confirmed Friday following multiple reports. The former Fox News host had been Trumps top pick for the spot since mid-October, shortly after Nikki Haley surprised the White House by announcing her departure by the end of the year. Trump was reportedly looking for a loyal candidate who had a willingness to defend him, according to CNN. Trump called his U.N. pick very talented, very smart and very quick as he spoke to reporters in front of the White House, praising her work at the State Department. I think shes going to be respected by all, he said. Haley had insisted that her ambassadorship be a Cabinet-level role, but Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reportedly has asked that Nauerts position not be so high-level. Nauert was criticized over a stunningly tone deaf Instagram photo she shared in October depicting her smiling in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh shortly after Pompeo arrived there to discuss the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a U.S. resident. The Saudi government would later admit that Khashoggi had been murdered. Sara Boboltz contributed to this report. Related Coverage Nikki Haley Quits The UN Dina Powell Withdraws Her Name From UN Ambassador Consideration Nikki Haley Gets Some Laughs Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. By Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump will nominate State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, two White House officials said on Thursday, tapping someone with no prior policy or political experience to deal with some of the world's thorniest issues. The decision was expected to be announced on Friday morning, the officials said, requesting anonymity. Nauert, whose nomination would require Senate confirmation, is a former Fox News Channel correspondent and anchor. She became the State Department's spokeswoman in April 2017 and was named earlier this year as the acting undersecretary for public diplomacy and public affairs. If confirmed, Nauert, 48, would succeed Nikki Haley, who said in October she would be leaving the U.N. post at the end of the year. A senior White House official said late on Thursday that the U.N. ambassador post would not remain part of the Cabinet, as it has been under Haley. The State Department declined to comment and Nauert did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Nauert, who earlier this year had been considered a possible successor to White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders, gained experience on diplomacy by working at the State Department, but she lacks the political and policy credentials of Haley, a former South Carolina governor. Having the direct support of the president and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo could buttress her image, however, among global diplomats at the United Nations, who have bristled at Trump's "America First" foreign policy. She will face a variety of challenges if confirmed for the job, including championing U.S. efforts to contain Iran's influence in the Middle East and ensuring the global body maintains tough sanctions on North Korea as Washington tries to negotiate an end to Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs. Trump has been critical of the United Nations, complaining about its cost to Washington and criticizing it for focusing on bureaucracy and process rather than results. He pulled the United States out of the U.N. human rights body in September, citing bias toward Israel, and his administration has cut funding for the U.N. refugee agency and last year proposed U.S. funding cuts for aid and diplomacy that could curb the work of the global body. But Trump has also used the United Nations to try to advance his foreign policy agenda on Iran and North Korea. The administration has also worked through the United Nations to try to find a political solution to the wars in Syria and Yemen, two issues that will confront Nauert. The president is weighing a number of other end-of-year staff changes, including replacing Chief of Staff John Kelly, two of Trump's advisers said on Thursday. (Reporting by Steve Holland; Additional reporting by Makini Brice, David Alexander and Arshad Mohammed; Writing by Makini Brice and Tim Ahmann; Editing by Sandra Maler and Peter Cooney) By Jonathan Allen (Reuters) - The U.S. Air Force missed four chances to block the shooter in 2017's deadly church attack in Texas from buying guns after he was accused of violent crimes while in the military, a report by the Department of Defense's inspector general said on Friday. Because the Air Force failed to submit Devin Kelley's fingerprints to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the former airman was able to clear background checks to buy the guns he used to kill 26 people at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs. A Reuters investigation last year found that the Air Force missed multiple chances to submit Kelly's fingerprints into the FBI's criminal databases after the November 2017 attack. Kelley, who was 26, was shot by a bystander as he fled and was found dead soon after, having shot himself in the head. According to the inspector general's report, the first missed chance came in June 2011, after the Air Force Office of Special Investigations began investigating a report of Kelley beating his stepson while Kelley served at a base in New Mexico. The second chance came in February 2012, after the Air Force learned of allegations that Kelley was also beating his wife, the report said. The third was in June 2012, when Kelley confessed on video to injuring his stepson, the report said. Video: Air Force Admits Errors After Church Shooting (2017) For more news videos visit Yahoo View. The fourth was after Kelley's court-martial conviction for the assaults in November 2013. "If Kelley's fingerprints were submitted to the FBI, he would have been prohibited from purchasing a firearm from a licensed firearms dealer," the inspector general's report said. Each missed instance was a breach of Department of Defense policy, the report said. Multiple Air Force officials involved in Kelley's case did not understand these policies or were unable to explain why they were not followed in interviews with the inspector general's office. The inspector general recommended that the Air Force improve its training of staff on submitting fingerprints and examine whether officials involved in Kelley's case should face discipline. Previous inspector general reports have found widespread lapses in the military's reporting of criminal histories to the FBI going back years. The Air Force agreed with the inspector general's findings and said they matched the conclusions of its own investigation last year, a spokeswoman said. The Air Force said it has been correcting other instances where it failed to submit fingerprints to the FBI going back to 1998. (Reporting by Jonathan Allen; Editing by David Gregorio) Europeans prefer to view themselves as sober climate realists as the worlds most committed actors when it comes to fighting climate change. They pride themselves on leading global treaties like the Paris accord and decry Trumps announcement that America will pull out. So its more than a little ironic when the continent that seemed to be steering the process is, in fact, lagging badly behind America even as a climate changedenier occupies the White House and dinosaur conservative lawmakers continue to ignore the crisis and the policies required to deal with it. Despite Trumps reckless dismissal of recent dire warnings from the IPCC and 13 federal agencies predicting the disastrous impacts of accelerated climate change increased droughts, fires, super storms and floods; mass crop failure and water scarcity, and hundreds of millions of people displaced by rising seas; and projected costs of more than $500 billion annually to the U.S. economy alone the U.S. managed to slash its CO2 emissions by 42 million tons in 201617. It was the largest cut of any nation. By contrast, in the same period, the E.U. increased its CO2 emissions by 43 million tons the worlds fourth-highest rise, behind China (120 million tons), India (93 million tons) and Turkey (45 million tons). From 2014 to 2017, U.S. emissions fell by 5%, while E.U. emissions grew by 3%. Going back to the 1997 Kyoto protocol, and up until just a few years ago, Europe was considered the boldest decision maker when it came to setting carbon-cutting goals; as former European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said in 2014: No player in the world is as ambitious as the E.U. How did the tables turn so quickly on Europes clean energy leaders? Its certainly not the result of climate-friendly policies advanced by team Trump or the Republicans. Instead, its economics, plain and simple: American utilities, investors and energy companies understood last decade that coal no longer makes long-term financial sense due to price-competitive alternatives, so they jumped on the low-cost gas and renewables train to move a greater share of the U.S. economy toward cleaner power. The country has since seen a raft of coal plant closures and a flood of cheap gas and renewables enter the market. Which is to say that emissions regulations didnt drive the change money did. In the process, the industry has saved consumers money, lowered emissions and laid the groundwork for a more sustainable energy future. Story continues In 2017, we suggested that Donald Trump could become an accidental climate hero thanks to the rapid replacement of coal with renewables and gas. We didnt think our prediction would bear out this quickly. But as the U.S. climate delegation reveals its numbers this week in Poland at COP24 a follow-up to the Paris accords it will be hard to argue against Trumps hands-off, free-market strategy that has done more than Europes regulatory and subsidy framework to fight climate change. Americas clean-energy transition was already well underway when Trump took office; between 2014 and 2017, 34 Gigawatts of coal-fired power plants were retired, assisted though not driven by Obama-era tax credits for wind and solar projects. Now, a record-breaking 16 Gigawatts of coal plants have been taken offline in the U.S. this year alone, the equivalent of powering 12 million homes, while the countrys overall coal power emissions have fallen by one-third since 2010. The big question Europeans must now ask is: Why arent we doing the same? What is preventing Germany, for instance, the worlds former leader on renewable power, from shuttering more coal facilities? Lost jobs (and the subsequent political consequences) are one reason. Just look at the violent yellow vest protests engulfing France, where President Emmanuel Macron was forced to back down this week on a proposed fuel tax to combat climate change. When it comes to reducing fossil fuel use, the public appears to prefer the economic carrot over the regulatory stick. Cutting a deal on a global carbon tax would be the best, most effective way to speed the planet towards goals of reaching 100% renewables and limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels, as laid out in the Paris accord. This kind of mechanism is needed, though it could raise energy costs on consumers in the short-term and therefore be politically damaging. But implementing the measure wont happen at COP24 because, for one, the U.S. wont sign the deal and without the U.S. on board, China, India, the E.U. and others would face a competitive disadvantage. So where do we go from here? E.U. and world leaders would be advised to study the U.S. model that has, on its own economic merits, succeeded in slashing CO2. In the absence of a carbon tax, European climate negotiators need to reckon with the fact that America, for all its anti-climate bluster, has figured something out. Its in everyones interest to follow its lead. United Nations (United States) (AFP) - The UN General Assembly will vote Thursday on a US-drafted resolution condemning the Palestinian Hamas movement, in what could mark US Ambassador Nikki Haley's parting gesture at the United Nations. Haley, who will step down as UN ambassador at the end of the year, has repeatedly accused the United Nations of having an anti-Israel bias and strongly supports Israel in its latest confrontation with Hamas in Gaza. If adopted, it would mark the first time the assembly has taken aim at Hamas, the Islamist militant group that has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007. The United States has won crucial backing from the European Union, with all 28 countries set to support the US measure that condemns Hamas for firing rockets into Israel and demands an end to the violence. But diplomats said the US draft resolution was unlikely to win the two-thirds majority required for adoption in the 193-nation assembly. The Palestinians sought to thwart the US move by presenting an amendment to the US text to include a reference to UN resolutions that condemn Israeli settlements, call for negotiations on East Jerusalem and pledge support for the two-state solution. After talks with the Europeans late Wednesday, the Palestinians agreed to withdraw their amendment and instead table a separate resolution, diplomats said. That draft resolution calls "for the achievement, without delay, of a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East" based on UN resolutions. In negotiations with the Europeans, the United States agreed to add a mention of "relevant UN resolutions" in its draft, but without specifying which ones. The US text does not refer specifically to the two-state solution. The European Union, like the United States, considers Hamas a terror group. EU countries will support both draft resolutions, according to diplomats. - US takes vote seriously - Haley rattled the United Nations when she arrived in January 2017 vowing that the United States will be "taking names" of countries that oppose President Donald Trump's foreign policy. Story continues Ahead of the vote, the US ambassador sent a letter to all UN missions to make clear that "the United States takes the outcome of this vote very seriously." The vote at the assembly comes as Haley prepares to step away from public life even as polls show she remains one of the most popular members of Trump's cabinet. "She would like to go out with something," said a Security Council diplomat of the US-drafted resolution. Resolutions adopted by the General Assembly are non-binding, but they carry political weight and are seen as a barometer of world opinion. The United States put forward the resolution as it prepares to unveil new peace proposals that the Palestinians have already rejected. The Palestinians have severed ties with the Trump administration after the decision a year ago to move the US embassy to Jerusalem and declare the city Israel's capital. The US administration has also cut more than $500 million in Palestinian aid. The Palestinians see East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state. International consensus has been that Jerusalem's status must be negotiated between the two sides. The assembly session is scheduled to begin at 3:00 pm (2000 GMT). Washington (AFP) - Congress will consider measures next week to reprimand the Saudi crown prince, punish those involved in journalist Jamal Khashoggi's murder and curtail US support for the Yemen war, senior American lawmakers said Thursday. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said she expects a briefing on Yemen and Saudi Arabia by national security officials to the entire House, as senators received last month, followed by an intelligence briefing specifically on Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. His alleged role in ordering the murder of Khashoggi, a palace critic, is at the heart of a burning controversy in Washington and internationally, with key Republican senators saying after a closed-door briefing by CIA director Gina Haspel that they firmly believe he was complicit in the killing. "I'm hoping that we will have the director of the CIA as well as the other leaders of the intelligence community," Pelosi said of upcoming briefings for House members. Pelosi, who will likely be House speaker when the Democratic-majority Congress opens in January, said there is bipartisan support for a measure seeking to end US support for the Saudi-led coalition conducting a brutal war in Yemen. The United Nations has called the conflict the world's most urgent humanitarian crisis. "Let's see after the briefing where we go," Pelosi said. Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Bob Corker, who has been fiercely critical of the crown prince, said "everybody" in the upper chamber is alarmed about the behavior of Saudi leadership and about Khashoggi's death at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. "People have concerns just about the crown prince himself being out of control," he said. "People have concerns about Yemen, and the huge humanitarian crisis." Senators are taking multiple paths of action, including a resolution seeking to curtail US war powers in Yemen that cleared a significant first hurdle last week and is sure to get a subsequent vote. Story continues Democratic and Republican senators have also introduced a resolution that would hold the crown prince accountable for contributing to the Yemen crisis, preventing an end to a blockade of Qatar, the torture of dissidents and "the abhorrent and unjustified murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi." Corker said negotiations were underway on a catch-all measure addressing Yemen, the crown prince, sanctions against those involved in Khashoggi's death, and suspension of US arms sales to Riyadh. "I'd like to do something that actually has teeth," said Corker, who is retiring from the Senate this year." The Davao City Regional Court Branch 54 on Friday ordered Senator Antonio Trillanes IV arrested for libel and fixed his bail at P24,000, with the citys Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte as complainant in a libel case. Duterte filed libel complaints against Trillanes over the opposition senators allegations which linked him to the smuggling of billions worth of shabu and to extortion from ride-sharing firm Uber and other firms. But it was not clear which of the libel complaints was the subject of Judge Melinda Alconcel-Dayanghirangs arrest warrant. There was no immediately available comment from Trillanes, who is in Manila. Earlier, the Department of Justice asked the courts in Pasay City and Davao to issue hold departure orders against Trillanes who has been charged with inciting to sedition and libel. The DOJ made the move after Trillanes was able to secure travel permit from the Makati City Regional Trial Court, Branch 150, where he has a pending rebellion case, allowing him travel abroad. Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra on Thursday revealed that prosecutors have filed motions for issuance of an HDO against the arch critic of President Duterte before the Pasay and Davao RTCs where he is facing inciting to sedition and libel cases, respectively. Trillanes is scheduled to fly to the Netherlands, Spain and United Kingdom from Dec. 11, 2018 to Jan. 12, 2019, and the US from Jan. 27 to Feb. 10, 2019 to meet different groups and attend various activities as part of his official duties. However, Guevarra said the new motions in Pasay and Davao courts are coincidental and were not filed following the decision of Makati RTC branch 150 Judge Elmo Alameda on Nov. 29 that granted Trillanes motion to travel in exchange for a P200,000 travel bond.It has no connection with that (ruling of Makati RTC). Those are cases which are independent of the rebellion and coup d etat charges in Makati. These are not related at all. There are different complainants here and they are pending in other courts. And just like in any case where the jurisdiction belongs to the RTC, it is the right of and prerogative of the prosecution to ask for the issuance of an HDO, Guevarra said. Its not planned. It just so happens that there are other cases pending against Senator Trillanes--some for inciting to sedition and some for libel. These are pending elsewhere in other RTCs and the prosecution has the right to file a motion for the issuance of an HDO in those courts, he said. The Davao RTC handling the libel case filed against Trillanes filed by presidential son and former vice mayor Paolo Duterte will hear the DOJs motion Friday, he said. The inciting to sedition case before the Pasay RTC, on the other hand, was filed earlier this year in connection to a privilege speech where Trillanes supposedly suggested that the military might use an M60 machine gun against President Duterte for his alleged hidden wealth. The rebellion case before Makati RTC branch 150 stemmed from the senators role in the 2007 Manila Peninsula siege. A separate coup detat case before the Makati RTC Branch 148 was filed against him for leading the Oakwood mutiny in 2003. Both cases were revived after President voided the amnesty granted to Trillanes by the previous administration through a proclamation issued in September. WASHINGTON A bill that would have significantly bolstered the nations defenses against electoral interference has been held up in the Senate at the behest of the White House, which opposed the proposed legislation, according to congressional sources. The Secure Elections Act, introduced by Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., in December 2017, had co-sponsorship from two of the Senates most prominent liberals, Kamala Harris, D-Calif., and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., as well as from conservative stalwart Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and consummate centrist Susan Collins, R-Me. Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., was set to conduct a markup of the bill on Wednesday morning in the Senate Rules Committee, which he chairs. The bill had widespread support, including from some of the committees Republican members, and was expected to come to a full Senate vote in October. But then the chairmans mark, as the critical step is known, was canceled, and no explanation was given. The White House. (Photo: Andrew Harnik/AP) As it currently stands, the legislation would grant every states top election official security clearance to receive threat information. It would also formalize the practice of information-sharing between the federal governmentin particular, the Department of Homeland Securityand states regarding threats to electoral infrastructure. A technical advisory board would establish best practices related to election cybersecurity. Perhaps most significantly, the law would mandate that every state conduct a statistically significant audit following a federal election. It would also incentivize the purchase of voting machines that leave a paper record of votes cast, as opposed to some all-electronic models that do not. This would signify a marked shift away from all-electronic voting, which was encouraged with the passage of the Help Americans Vote Act in 2002. Paper is not antiquated, Lankford says. Its reliable. Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., speaks during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Russian interference in the 2016 elections. (Photo: Andrew Harnik/AP) A paper record could prove effective against hackers if they tried to change the reporting of votes on the internet, as opposed to altering the votes themselves. Election officials needs to be able to say, Nope, we can check this, as Lankford puts it. Heres the paper, heres the machine, heres our poll count. Story continues In a statement to Yahoo News, White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters says that while the administration appreciates Congresss interest in election security, [the Department of Homeland Security] has all the statutory authority it needs to assist state and local officials to improve the security of existing election infrastructure. Under current law, DHS is already able to work with state and local authorities to protect elections, Walters wrote. If Congress pursues the Secure Elections Act, it should avoid duplicating existing DHS efforts or the imposition of unnecessary requirements and not violate the principles of Federalism. We cannot support legislation with inappropriate mandates or that moves power or funding from the states to Washington for the planning and operation of elections, she added. However, the White House gave no specifics on what parts of the bill it objected to. In a statement, Klobuchar thanked Blunt and Lankford, making clear that they were both allies in the effort. They tried valiantly to salvage the votes for this bill on the Republican side, Klobuchars statement said. In the end we had every single Democrat on the committee committed to vote for the bill. Any changes that were recently made to the bill were made to accommodate the Republican leadership. A spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who sits on the Rules Committee, declined to say whether the majority leader, widely renowned on Capitol Hill for his backroom tactics, was involved in efforts to hobble the Secure Elections Act. Blunts office would not comment on the record. The Trump administration has been unable to settle on how elections should be secured, and whom they should be secured against. Despite consensus from the nations intelligence agencies that Russia interfered in 2016, President Trump has dismissed the threat, even as others in his administration have issued unambiguous warnings. Trump has instead asserted that millions voted fraudulently in New York and California for Hillary Clinton, thus giving her an edge of some 3 million votes in the 2016 presidential race. No evidence of statistically significant voter fraud has been uncovered. Senator Roy Blunt (R-MO) speaks with reporters at the U.S. Capitol. (Photo: Joshua Roberts/Reuters) Lankford, Klobuchar and others had worked for months to persuade their peers that electoral security is a nonpartisan issue. Supporters expected the legislation would make its way out of committee and become law, a rare bipartisan success story in the current Congress. As the chairmans mark approached, they appeared to have won the votes they needed in the Senate Rule Committee. Speaking to Yahoo News on Tuesday afternoon, Lankford seemed confident. He acknowledged that the federal government should not encroach on states administration of elections, but he also argued that states had to show more awareness of the high stakes involved. Your election in Delaware affects the entire country, he said. Your election in Florida affects the entire country. In an earlier television appearance with Lankford, Harris rendered the issue of electoral security, and hacking by foreign powers, in stark terms: We have to be prepared for wars without blood. But some apparently remained unconvinced. A staffer for a Republican senator on the Rules Committee described unease with certain provisions in the Secure Elections Act on the part of secretaries of state, who oversee elections. In order for a truly bipartisan election security bill to reach the floor, additional majority support is necessary. The bills sponsors disputed the notion that it lacked support, noting that secretaries of state had had plenty of time to comment on the proposed legislation. Lankford, a rising young Republican legislator, vowed to press on. The issue of election cybersecurity is very important and more must be done now, he said in a statement. Congressional inaction is unacceptable. _____ Read more from Yahoo News: Authorities in California announced this week that the team searching for Camp Fire victims had mistakenly counted the remains of three people twice lowering the death toll from 88 to 85. This discovery underscores how difficult has been to identify the victims of the deadliest American wildfire in a century. Anthropologists who helped recover the remains of victims in and around Paradise, Calif. explained that it is understandable for mistakes to have been made given that the process was so difficult and involved combing a large disaster area. Many victims of the fire were so badly burned that their remains were hard to distinguish from the charred debris of the homes where they died, say Marin Pilloud and Kyra Stull, anthropologists from the University of Nevada-Reno who travelled to Paradise to help identify remains. Everything looks the same when it is destroyed by fire, Stull says. Pilloud says the process of recovering remains was like an archaeological excavation, and that workers needed to move slowly and carefully to avoid missing remains. While the fire has been contained and the active search for victims of the fire has concluded, officials are still examining three unidentified sets of remains. They are also working to confirm the identities of 36 people whose remains have tentatively been identified. Given the intensity of the fire, some of the remains will likely not have any remaining DNA, which will force investigators to use other methodssuch as dental recordsto positively identify them. Miranda Bowersox, a spokesperson for the Butte County sheriffs office, says that the separated remains had been divided into different bags. She says the recovery teams had erred on the side of caution when examining the severely damaged remains in order to avoid counting the remains of two people as one. Stull and Pilloud say that some of the remains were little more than bone fragments, which made them particularly difficult to find and sort. Story continues Complicating the recovery process, Pilloud says that the remains were often mixed in with the remnants of buildings destroyed in the blaze. You have to remove whatever is around the remains, like drywall and other debris, to make sure things dont get missed, Pilloud says. G. Richard Scott, an anthropologist who specializes in dental anthropology at the University of Nevada-Reno, says that while investigators prefer biological evidence to positively identify remainssuch as DNA evidence and dental recordsthe fire may have destroyed teeth and burned collagen, from which DNA is typically extracted. The fires were so intense that the bone was almost completely destroyed, Scott said. In these cases, Scott said, investigators must instead rely upon situational evidence, such as where the remains were found. In November, French President Emmanuel Macron stood under the Arc de Triomphe in Paris and told world leaders on the centennial of World War I that they needed to work together to solve global problems. Less than a month later, the French leader is trying to find the right phrase to unite his own citizens amid perhaps the worst street violence in Paris in 50 years. The gilet jaune or Yellow Vest protests that erupted in the French capital and across the country in November and December risk torpedoing Macrons young presidency and threatening his reform efforts, leaving him open to challenges by far-right and far-left rivals. Named for the high-visibility vests they wear to demonstrations, the Yellow Vests took to the streets for a third consecutive weekend on Dec. 12. Although Macron activated an additional 4,600 security personnel and had tall barriers erected along the Avenue des Champs-Elysees, demonstrators managed to reach the Arc de Triomphe, partly vandalizing the war memorial under the arch. The protests began in mid-November over an almost banal grievance: Macrons decision to raise the tax on fuel in order to finance renewable-energy proposals. The tax would increase the price of diesel by 30 per gallon and regular gasoline by 17 per gallon, after a year in which prices have already risen by 16%. The tax is especially resented in small-town and rural areas, where more people depend on their cars and jobs are not as plentiful or well paid as in the capital. But the protest has mushroomed into a much wider rejection of Macron and his policies, which the Yellow Vests say favor the rich. Macron came out of the banks and finance, and that goes down very badly for many people, says Thierry Paul Valette, a protest coordinator in Paris. The President attended an elite university and was an investment banker before being appointed Economy Minister in 2014. We do not like rich people in France, Valette says. Voters seemed to like Macron enough when he won the presidency in May 2017 with 66% of the vote in a runoff against the far-right candidate Marine Le Pen. But Eddy Fougier, a political analyst at the Paris-based Institute for International and Strategic Affairs, says his support was driven by disappointment at the two parties that have led France for decades and fear of the far right. He was elected largely by default. Story continues Since then Macron has done little to win over those beyond his base of middle-class professionals, 38% of whom still approve of him, according to a Dec. 4 survey by pollster IFOP. Soon after taking office he scrapped the so-called wealth tax, which had been imposed on taxpayers with assets worth more than 1.3 million ($1.47 million). At the same time, he hiked taxes on retirees. Macrons often blunt communication style has made matters worse, fueling the perception that he doesnt understand life on the breadline. Numerous protesters interviewed by TIME cited Macrons recent off-the-cuff remark to an unemployed man that he could cross the street and find a job at a local cafe. Only 11% of those polled by IFOP think he understands the concerns of the French people, while other polls suggest 7 in 10 support the protests. On the streets, protesters frustrations have spilled into destructive violence. Hundreds have been injured and four people have died, according to police. Some attribute this to the right-wing fringe groups and anarchist factions that have come to the fore as turnout for the demonstrations has diminished. One groups slogan is ACAB, for All Cops Are Bastards, according to reporters at the scene. While the Yellow Vests are led by no political party, both Le Pen and far-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon have called for the National Assembly to be dissolved and fresh elections called. That was the solution in May 1968, when widespread strikes and protests by workers and students brought the French economy to a halt for over a month. Macrons government has ruled out such a move. In fact, there is no easy political solution for Macron against a movement that has no leader, no set list of demands and no geographic base. On Dec. 5 his government said it would scrap the fuel-tax increase at least through 2019. But hours before, some of the self-proclaimed Yellow Vest leaders issued far broader demands, including boosting pensions and minimum wages. For now Macron will hope that the tax cancellation and the violence begin to dampen public support for the protests and that the holidays sap turnout. But the damage to his broader ambitions may be harder to repair. Since being elected, Macron has attempted to cast himself as the successor to Europes de facto leader, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who plans to step down in 2021 after 16 years in power. But with his approval ratings flatlining at 23%, Fougier doubts Macron will be re-elected in 2022. His only route to a second term is if the economic situation gets better, unemployment goes down and salaries go up and no other party produces an attractive leader in the next three years, he says. Its a tall order. With reporting by Ciara Nugent/London WELINGTON, New Zealand (AP) New Zealand police were searching Thursday for a 22-year-old British tourist who has been missing for five days and failed to contact her parents on her birthday. Grace Millane was last seen on Saturday evening in central Auckland. She had been staying at a backpacker hostel and left some of her belongings there. Her birthday was on Sunday and police said it was unusual for her not to contact her family then. Detective Inspector Scott Beard told reporters the investigation is focusing on videos from surveillance cameras around the city. He urged anyone who has seen Millane or knows her to contact police. "The police investigation today has concentrated on her movements and activities in Auckland since she's arrived in New Zealand," Beard said. "A large part of that focus has been around CCTV footage around Auckland." Police released a blurry image of Millane taken from a surveillance camera in which she is wearing a black dress and white sneakers. "The longer this goes on the more concerning it is," Beard said. "At the moment, we don't have any evidence of foul play but we're keeping an open mind." Beard said Millane's father was on his way to New Zealand. Millane's brother, Michael Millane, posted an appeal for help on Facebook. He said they had been in contact with the British High Commission in Wellington. "Grace has been missing for five days," he wrote. "She has not returned to her hostel room in Auckland, New Zealand, and family members have had no contact since Saturday 1st December." NEW YORKCNNs New York offices were evacuated Thursday night after a bomb threat, but no explosive was found and police later gave the all clear, the network said. The roughly 90-minute drama recalled a similar evacuation in October after an explosive device was discovered at CNNs New York headquarters. Fire alarm bells rang inside the newsroom to signal an evacuation shortly after 10:30 pm, CNN said on its website, as the network went to pre-taped programing. An hour later the network was broadcasting from Skype. People just tuning in wondering why youre seeing me on Skype, why theres such technical difficulties, its because we have been taken off the air because a bomb threat was called in to CNN, said host Don Lemon. We were evacuated and we know as much as you do.Due to a police investigation at Columbus Circle, West 58th Street between 8th and 9th Avenue is closed to vehicle and pedestrian traffic, the New York Police Department tweeted, referring to the address of the news organizations offices. Please avoid this area. Update to follow. Around midnight, CNN said police had given the all clear for people to go back into the building. The bureau was previously evacuated in October after a package with an explosive device was discovered. CNN was targeted amid a wave of pipe bombs sent to opponents of President Donald Trump. A Florida man named Cesar Sayoc was arrested for allegedly sending them and was indicted on 30 federal counts. He faces up to life in prison if convicted. (Bloomberg) -- Australias parliament passed some of the worlds toughest anti-encryption legislation Thursday, installing a bill that seeks to force Facebook Inc. and other tech giants to help decode messages used in terrorism and organized crime. Under new powers to be given to police and intelligence agencies, companies may be required to help decrypt communications on platforms such as WhatsApp, Telegram and Signal, and even insert code to help capture data. The bill had support from both major parties and, late on Thursday, the opposition Labor party said it was withdrawing amendments it had previously demanded. That allowed the upper house to vote in support of the legislation, meaning it becomes law. The new law thrusts Australia to the center of a global battle between tech companies and governments over privacy and security. In 2016, the U.K. gave authorities sweeping powers to hack, intercept and retain the communications of all British citizens, while Chinas Cyber Security Law requires internet operators to cooperate with criminal and national security investigations. There has been similar legislation in the U.K. and possibly a few other jurisdictions but their legislation doesnt go anywhere near as far as whats happening here, said Mark Gregory, an associate professor specializing in network engineering and Internet security at Melbournes RMIT University. The government here can coerce the company to actually provide backdoors into their systems and into devices and force the company to build systems that can help with investigations." In arguing for the legislation, Prime Minister Scott Morrisons government said 95 percent of people being monitored by security agencies use encrypted messages. The technology has resulted in law enforcers effectively going blind or going deaf, according to Alastair MacGibbon, the governments cyber security adviser. Security Risks The Digital Industry Group, an association whose members include Facebook and Google, campaigned against the legislation in a loose alliance with Amnesty International and the Melbourne-based Human Rights Law Center. Critics warned the legislation could undermine security across the Internet, jeopardizing activities from online voting to market trading and data storage. Story continues The legislation will be subject to a review by a parliamentary committee for 12 months. The new powers will be limited to tackling serious crimes. And there would be strict oversight of so-called technical capability notices that would seek to force companies to amend their services to help police access data. Many technology companies began to add encryption to their products after former U.S. government contractor Edward Snowden exposed the extent of U.S. spying. Thats left security agencies facing an uphill struggle to keep up with new technology, and caused repeated tussles with tech giants. In 2016, the U.S. Justice Department clashed with Apple Inc. when the company refused to unlock an iPhone connected to a mass shooting in San Bernardino, California. The U.K. government, meanwhile, has been deeply critical of WhatsApps end-to-end encryption, which was used by a terrorist shortly before he killed five people in London in March 2017. Lobby group Digital Rights Watch said some extremely dangerous elements of the Australian legislation had been addressed by the agreement between the government and the opposition. Gross Overreach But the fundamental fact remains that the powers being sought by law enforcement are ill-informed, badly drafted and a gross overreach, Digital Rights Watch said in a statement. This bill is still deeply flawed, and has the likely impact of weakening Australias overall cyber-security, lowering confidence in e-commerce, reducing standards of safety for data storage and reducing civil right protections. RMIT Universitys Gregory said the effect of the laws would likely spread beyond terrorist or criminal activities and into private-sector investigations. Its too rushed, too broad, not well-defined and ultimately will be misused," he added. People will also be able to use this not just for criminal law matters but also corporation law matters." Monique Mann, a researcher in technology, law and regulation at the Queensland University of Technology, agreed there were problems with the legislation, which she described as world first in its scope. There are issues around transparency, accountability, oversight, and the potential and scope for misuse, Mann said. (Updates with law passing in first paragraph.) --With assistance from Edwin Chan and David Ramli. To contact the reporter on this story: Jason Scott in Canberra at jscott14@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ruth Pollard at rpollard2@bloomberg.net, Edward Johnson For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com 2018 Bloomberg L.P. Yemen's government and rebels, locked in a devastating war, traded accusations Thursday as they sat down for hard-won talks the United Nations described as "difficult" but "critical". The talks in Sweden are the first in two years, in a conflict between a pro-government military coalition, led by Saudi Arabia, and Iran-backed Huthi insurgents that has pushed impoverished Yemen to the brink of mass starvation. While the days leading up to the gathering saw the government and rebels agreeing on a prisoner swap deal and the evacuation of wounded insurgents for medical treatment in Oman, both parties dug in on their demands as the talks began. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday urged the warring parties not to impose pre-conditions after both sides put forward demands, while the rebels said they were still assessing the "seriousness" of the hard-won talks. "We will judge whether the Stockholm talks are serious or not tomorrow," Huthi spokesman Mohammed Abdelsalam told the Arabic-language Al-Mayadeen television channel Thursday night. The talks, in the picturesque Swedish village of Rimbo north of Stockholm, where the two sides have to eat in the same cafeteria, are slated to run for one week. The UN special envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, said the talks presented a "critical opportunity" but did not amount to negotiations on a full end to the conflict between the Iran-backed Huthi rebels and the rival government alliance led by Saudi Arabia. Speaking on condition of anonymity, one UN official said the talks marked "the beginning of difficult work". - 'Humanitarian pipeline' - On the table at the Sweden talks is the fate of Hodeida, the last rebel stronghold on Yemen's Red Sea coast and the conduit for 90 percent of vital food imports. The Saudi-led military coalition, which includes troops trained by the US and UAE, has for months led an offensive to retake Hodeida. The battle has sparked fears for more than 150,000 civilians trapped in the city. Saudi Arabia and its allies accuse the rebels of smuggling arms from Iran through Hodeida, a charge Tehran denies. "We'd like to take Hodeida out of the conflict because... it's the humanitarian pipeline to the rest of the country," said UN envoy Griffiths. Yemeni Foreign Minister Khaled al-Yamani, who heads the Saudi-backed government's delegation to the UN-sponsored talks, told AFP his team would deliver on a planned prisoner swap with the Huthi rebels. But he refused to compromise on Hodeida, home to Yemen's most valuable port. "The Huthi militias must withdraw from the city of Hodeida and its port and hand it over to the legitimate government, and specifically internal security forces," Yamani said. Hamid Issam, a member of the team of Iran-backed Huthi rebels in Sweden, dismissed Yamani's role in the talks altogether. "We came here with the intention that these talks would succeed," Issam told AFP. "But it is not up to Khaled al-Yamani... It is up to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the United States. "If they could have taken Hodeida four years ago, they would have. They have not been able to take it, and they will not be able to take it as long as the people of Yemen are fighting." - Sanaa airport - More than three years since Saudi Arabia and its allies joined President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi's fight against the Huthis, Yemen is now home to what the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis. Fourteen million people face starvation, according to the UN. And as the talks started, a World Food Programme official warned even halting the war would not end hunger in Yemen. The head of the Huthis' political council, Mohammed Ali Huthi, threatened Thursday to bar UN planes from using the Yemeni capital's airport and keep it closed unless the talks led to its full reopening. Sanaa international airport, in the rebel-held capital, has been largely shut down for years. It has been the target of air raids by the Saudi-led coalition, which also controls Yemeni airspace. "We would like to see that airport open, but it needs to be assessed," Griffiths said. "We'd like to see progress on this." International pressure to end the conflict has been ratcheted up in recent weeks, after the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi focused attention on Saudi Arabia's foreign policy. Griffiths' plans to host talks in Geneva in September collapsed on the opening day after the rebels refused to leave the Yemeni capital in case they were not allowed to return. The Yemen conflict has killed at least 10,000 people since 2015 and triggered what the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis Yemeni Foreign Minister Khaled al-Yamani said the government would not compromise on the flashpoint port city of Hodeida, home to Yemen's most valuable port Map showing territorial control in Yemen as of December 5 The talks are being held in the picturesque Swedish village of Rimbo, some 60 kilometres north of Stockholm On Tuesday, just days after president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador took office in Mexico, the Mexican government announced that it would be suspending a scheduled auction of long-term, clean-energy contracts. The new administration under leftist president Lopez Obrador, who won the presidency in a landslide election back in July, will keep the auction on hold until they have had time to thoroughly review the plan. Lopez Obrador has vowed since the campaign trail that the Mexican government will be much more involved in the nations economy for the duration of his tenure. Flagging oil output has been a persisting problem for Mexico, as its mature fields are in severe decline. More than 70 percent of Mexicos crude oil comes from just 24 areas, all of which will be depleted over the next decade according to experts. In response, the new president has announced that he will be investing heavily in exploration during his time in office, focusing on developing and exploring onshore and shallow water areas under the control of Pemex to boost the country's oil production. In fact, in September, nearly two months before he took office, Lopez Obrador announced that he was planning to pour 75 billion pesos ($3.9 billion USD) of next years budget into oil extraction. Lopez Obrador has long been a very vocal skeptic of the previous administrations decision to open the energy industry to private investors and the international market under outgoing right-wing president Enrique Pena Nieto. Part of the new presidents big plans for the nations struggling oil economy is heavy investment in state-owned Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) as well as state-owned electric utility Comision Federal de Electricidad (CFE). The energy auction that is being suspended as of this week would have been the fourth of its kind, in which developers compete for lucrative long-term contracts to supply CFE with clean energy. The first three of these auctions resulted in contracts amounting to approximately 7,000 megawatts produced by primarily wind and solar power, which further planned investment of a whopping $8.6 billion over the next three years. Lopez Obrador says that he will honor all exploration and production contracts that have already been signed but will continue to freeze any upcoming auctions and will unilaterally oppose fracking. Related: Libya Closes All Oil Ports, Expects To Shut-In 150,000 Bpd The 7,000 megawatts represented by the contracts won in auction, enough energy to power 6.5 million homes, also saw a major decrease in price, from around $42 per megawatt hour at the first auction, held in 2016, to only slightly more than $20 per megawatt hour last year. The auctions in a way have become an interesting sideshow, just to see how low prices will go, said Mark Repsher, an expert in energy markets at Londons PA Consulting who works directly with companies in the Mexican power industry. Some reporting shows, however, that Lopez Obradors auction-freezing strategy will only further stifle Mexicos fledgling crude output, in direct contradiction of his platform of boosting Pemexs production and revitalizing the Mexican energy industry. It should be said that this projection comes from a transition report put together by the outgoing administration, who openly oppose the politics and policies of leftist Lopez Obrador (and may therefore be taken with a grain of salt). The report shows that if Mexico goes through with the new Presidents plan to suspend auctions for the next two years, the countrys crude output will only reach 2.46 million b/d by 2027, not the previously projected 3.07 million b/d. If auctions are cancelled indefinitely, according to the same report, Mexicos crude output would fall to just 1.75 million b/d by 2030. In addition to putting the auction on hold Lopez Obrador says that he plans to lower electricity rates, already subsidized for small consumers use, by harnessing more of CFEs potential hydroelectric capacity. In addition, the President will walk back previous plans to phase out the state electrical utilitys aging generation plants, opting to invest in revamping them instead. By Haley Zaremba for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Oil prices shot up on Friday after the stubborn holdout Iran agreed to have OPEC reduce oil production by a total of 800,000 bpd, while non-OPEC nations, led by Russia, are reportedly adding another 400,000 bpd of cuts, for a total of 1.2 million bpd OPEC+ production cut. At 09:31 a.m. EDT on Friday, WTI Crude was soaring 3.73% at $53.41, while Brent Crude was surging 4.15% at $62.55. Iran was the last holdout in the talks within OPEC, which dragged on from Thursday after members failed to agree on the size of a cut and who would be exempt. As talks resumed on Friday, Iran continued to refuse to accept wording that it would cut and insisted on exemption, remaining the only sticking point in the OPEC negotiations, while the deal broker, Russias Energy Minister Alexander Novak, flew in from Moscow for the non-OPEC part meeting, and sat down for separate talks with each of oil ministers of Iran and Saudi Arabia, Bijan Zangeneh and Khalid al-Falih, respectively. As the talks began on Friday, reports emerged that Russia may be ready to cut its oil production by 200,000 bpd as part of a deal with OPEC to reduce oil supplya higher commitment than 150,000 bpd previously aired. Related: U.S. Becomes Net Oil Exporter For First Time In 75 Years Shortly before the meeting between OPEC and the non-OPEC partners, various OPEC ministers and delegates started to talk to reporters, saying that there is a principle agreement for an 800,000 bpd cut within OPEC from October levels, with Iran, Libya, and Venezuela given special considerations. According to delegates, OPEC will not be providing who is cutting how much, and sources say that the deal is for a total of 3-percent cut. Early reports also say that the agreement is for six months, but will be reviewed again in April 2019. OPEC and non-OPEC are now meeting behind closed doors, and the UAEs Energy Minister Suhail Al Mazroui said in an open session before the meeting that he hopes the OPEC and non-OPEC cooperation will continue for years to come. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Iran hopes that the special purpose vehicle that would allow the European Union (EU) to continue buying Iranian oil amid the U.S. sanctions will become operational by the end of this year, Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, told local outlet PressTV on Thursday. The idea behind the SPV is to have it act as a clearing house into which buyers of Iranian oil would pay, allowing the EU to trade oil with Iran without having to directly pay the Islamic Republic. The EU has been struggling to set up the vehicle for months, because no EU member was willing to host it for fear of angering the United States, the Financial Times reported recently, citing EU diplomats. Last week, Germany and France were said to be joining forces to host the special vehicle to keep trade with Iran, including oil trade, flowing, according to the Wall Street Journal. In another energy-currency related development, the European Commission (EC) is calling for a wider use of the euro currency in energy-related transactions. The Commission will start a consultation on the market potential for a broader use of euro-denominated transactions in oil, refined products and gas, the EC said in a statement on Wednesday. The EUs energy import bill each year is US$340 billion (300 billion euro), around 85 percent of which is paid in U.S. dollars, while the share of the imports from the U.S. is currently just 2 percent, said Miguel Arias Canete, European Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy. Irans take on this is that the EU would ditch the U.S. dollar and start paying in euros for all its oil-related transactions. The EU is going to ditch the US dollar and just use the euro in the financial transactions of all European oil deals with other countries, PressTV quoted Salehi as saying on Thursday. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Russia may be ready to cut its oil production by 200,000 bpd as part of a deal with OPEC to reduce oil supplya higher commitment than 150,000 bpd previously aired, a source at Russias energy ministry told Reuters on Friday, as the deal broker of the tedious negotiations, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak, is now in the house. In the past few days, Russia was said to be willing to cut up to 150,000 bpd, much lower than Saudi Arabias ask for around 250,000 bpd. On Thursday, Novak said that it was much more difficult for Russia to cut its oil production in the winter. The talks within OPEC only, which adjourned with a stalemate on Thursday without any agreement, due to wrangling about exemptions and how to divvy up the cuts, resumed on Friday with Iran still holding firm that it would not be reducing its production in any circumstances while it is under U.S. sanctions. Then, Russias Novak, who arrived in Vienna today, held a meeting with Irans Oil Minister Bijan Zangeneh, presumably to try to soften Irans firm stance and find a middle ground, offering a symbolic cut, according to reports. As of 7:00 a.m. EDT on Friday, OPEC delegates were telling reporters at OPECs headquarters in Vienna that the OPEC talks are deadlocked, with Iran not accepting any cut, symbolic or not, and insists on exemption in any OPEC deal. Saudi Arabias Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih and Novak were also holding a two-way meeting, while the cartel has not yet reached any deal on the size of the OPEC cuts and exemptions and on the position of Iran, which continues to refuse to accept wording cut and insists on exemption. According to OPEC delegates, Iran is now the only sticking point in the OPEC talks. After al-Falih meets with Novak, he may have a new proposal of the size of the cuts within OPEC, depending on how much Russia may be willing to commit. At any rate, the report that Russia may have accepted a higher-than-previously floated cut pushed Brent Crude up 0.47 percent to $60.34 and WTI Crude up 0.10 percent at $51.44 at 7:23 a.m. EDT, following Thursdays 3-percent slide. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: British Golden Globe Race sailor Susie Goodall was plucked from a stormy Southern Ocean by a Chinese ship on Friday, a day after her yacht was dismasted, Chile's Maritime Rescue Services told AFP. Goodall "was rescued at 1500 GMT and is already on the ship heading to Punta Arenas," in southern Chile, a spokesperson for the service said. A photo tweeted by the Chilean service showed Goodall, her head wrapped in a bandana, being winched above the waves and aboard the Hong Kong-flagged vessel Tian Fu. "Susie is on the ship!!!! Wowowow! Message just received from Susie Goodall," the Golden Globe Race organizers announced on their website. "This is fantastic news indeed...well done Susie too," they said. The 40,000 tonne Tian Fu was expected to dock in Punta Arenas on December 12. The youngest competitor in the race and the only woman, 29-year-old Goodall was briefly knocked unconscious when mountainous seas upended her yacht DHL Starlight early Thursday, tearing off its mast and trashing much of her equipment. Goodall had managed to get her engine running but it failed after just 20 minutes, complicating rescue efforts as Chilean authorities diverted the Tian Fu to the area. The race organizers said Goodall had managed to use a sea anchor to slow her yacht down, making a rescue less dangerous. Goodall was attempting to navigate the southern Pacific's notorious Roaring Forties as part of the Golden Globe Race. The young Briton sent a series of frantic text messages to race organizers throughout her ordeal. "Taking a hammering! Wondering what on Earth I'm doing out here," she texted as the storm hit. When concerned organizers finally managed to contact her by satellite phone several hours later, she confirmed her boat had been dismasted but said the hull had not been breached. "The boat is destroyed. I can't make up a jury rig," she said. "The only thing left is the hull and deck which remain intact. "We were pitchpoled (rolled end over end) and I was thrown across the cabin and knocked out for a while." While "beaten up and badly bruised" she was safe and had managed to bring flooding under control and get her engine going, giving her some maneuverability when the rescue ship arrived, race organizers said. In text updates, Goodall said she endured "a looong night". "In need of a good cuppa tea! But sadly no cooker," she messaged. The Golden Globe Race involves a gruelling 30,000-mile solo circumnavigation of the globe in yachts similar to those used in the first race 50 years ago, with no modern technology allowed except the communications equipment. Entrants set off from France on July 1 and are expected to finish in April next year. burs-db/mw As we contemplate what is happening around us, we find ourselves being bombarded every day with news and images of a world seemingly out of control. There seems to be across the board disruptions in so many fields at the same time. Long stable countries have disintegrated internally. Old alliances are being called into question. A large-scale trade war is unfolding between major economic powers. These trends raise both troubling and obscure questions. Are we on the verge of another nuclear arms race cycle? How will we fare in the struggle for global economic dominance among some of our closest foreign trade and investment partners? What must we do to manage the inevitable onslaught of the results of the new wave of artificial intelligence captured in the Fourth Industrial Revolution? Is it possible to have better global migration governance with hundreds of millions of our people on the move, involving millions of our own OFWs? It is easy to be overwhelmed. One of the distinctive features of our present times is growing uncertainty. It would not be too much of an exaggeration to say that we are at the dawn of an Age of Uncertainty. The comfortable policy certainties of the past have evaporated. We can no longer rely exclusively on historical lessons. Our Ship of State now has to navigate uncharted waters that are broader and more perilous than perhaps at any other time in the past half-century. We must choose our course carefully. We must ensure that our Ship of State is seaworthy. And our seamanship has to be the best we can provide. With the daunting challenges to our foreign policy, our prime objective is to assert our rightful place in the community of nations. It starts and must end with the global observance of the rule of law.To pursue an independent foreign policy should not be a zero-sum game. It is not a simple choice between war or peace but about initiating new friendships and strengthening old ones in the spirit of sovereign equality. It is of utmost importance that we should stand strong in being able to deliver the main pillars of foreign affairs: First is national security. The Philippines has to be able to ensure its territorial integrity and independence as a nation-state. Its integrity as a state can and has been threatened externally and internally. Sovereignty is the touchstone of our actions, whether in defense of our maritime territory, or to protect against domestic terrorists, separatists and insurgents. Second is enhancing economic diplomacy. The Philippines is a developing nation with a growing population in Southeast Asia. Whereas in earlier years, Southeast Asia had been beset by conflict and instability, it is now known as the home of ASEAN, the fastest-growing region in the world. As a developing nation, the primordial concern for us is to promote inclusive growth, expand decent employment, improve technological capabilities and elevate the general standard of living of the people. This can best be done through improving the countrys competitiveness in the context of a policy of economic openness and regional integration. But, in pursuing economic growth, we should not put all our eggs in one basket. We need all the help we can get; and we need all the partners we can find. Third is preserving the rights of our Overseas Filipino Workers. The total number of international migrants in the world is estimated at some 280 million people. The Philippines accounts for only about 10 million of those, but these have been vital for the economic well-being for our country. Hence, there must be continuing emphasis in Philippine foreign policy on protecting the rights and welfare of migrant Filipinos and, by extension, its profound interest in securing bilateral, regional and international migration governance cooperation. There is yet a fourth, intangible but fundamentally important wellspring of our foreign policy. And that is the values by which we aspire to live as a nation. We see ourselves as an emerging democracy with a proud national tradition not only of fighting for freedom, but endeavoring to ensure that such freedom provides a better life for our people. The liberty and rights we cherish as a free people inform much of our action on the international stage. From these fundamentals we forged our stance of friendship for all who seek to be our friends, of cooperation with like-minded nations, of the renunciation of war as an instrument of national policy, of respect for international law covering many areas including non-aggression, sovereignty, the peaceful resolution of disputes, adherence to the rule of law in international relations, human rights, climate justice and humane conditions for migration. These democratic values moved us to become a Charter Member of the United Nations and a founding member of ASEAN, APEC and other groupings aiming to promote closer understanding, mutual benefits and progress overall through the peaceful avenues of diplomacy, commerce, economic integration, functional cooperation and peaceful exchanges of all kinds.These then are the guiding pillars, priorities or focal points of Philippine foreign policy: National security, national development, and overseas Filipinos. Philippine foreign policy, therefore, must continue to navigate through the problems and issues of international relations with these focal points, often interlinked with one another, as the principal guides for action.In a world beset by growing uncertainties, our diplomacy must in general support national development while helping to secure stability, security and peace at home, within our immediate region and if at possible, globally as well. Philippine diplomacy has long assisted our security agencies in the major tasks of combating internal insurgency and terrorism. The spread of violent extremism after 9/11 has not stopped. Modern terrorism is transnational as well as increasingly cyber-enabled. We must continue to seek counter-terror assistance in the form of capacity-building, training, intelligence sharing and other measures with the United States, our Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) ally and other partners nearby and further afield, as well as in regional and multilateral organizations. No country can defeat modern terrorism on its own so cooperation with other states will remain a national security priority. In addition, Philippine diplomacy has sought to be instrumental in aiding the countrys military modernization for external defense to protect our maritime territories. However, with our defenses being modest, our country must be more committed to the peaceful resolution of disputes in accordance with the rule of law.This was why the Philippines chose to go for arbitration in trying to manage the South China Sea dispute. Arbitration is fully consistent with international law, the United Nations Charter and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Our legal position was found to be sound and the international arbitration tribunal ruled against Beijings so-called Nine-Dash Line, which by claiming virtually the whole South China Sea, was the principal source of this dispute. This legal victory for the country is, not only of great significance to the Philippines, but it also defends the applicability and hence stability of UNCLOS. The tribunal outcome has now become an integral part of international law. For countries like the Philippines, international law remains as the great equalizer among states. There have been many unlawful acts of aggression committed by China in the South China Sea including illegal reclamation, degrading of marine environment, interference of petroleum activities of Philippine commercial vessels within Philippine EEZ, interference of Filpino fishermen within Philippine EEZ. Militarization of artificial islands, violating agreements on marine safety and directly confronting our President with the threat of war. Violations should be protested as these are hard earned gains of the Filipino obtained from the outcome of the tribunal. The Philippines should seek a resolution from the UN General Assembly to ask China to abide by the arbitral ruling. We can pursue multilateral cooperation and support through ASEAN, EAS, ARF while at the same time utilizing bilateral engagements. Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio will be able to add to this list of options in addressing Chinas unilateralism.Our most critical foreign policy project has been ASEAN and its many mechanisms and other regional bodies especially APEC. The reasons are compelling. Southeast Asia is our home region. It is where we find our closest neighbors. Southeast Asia, moreover, is part of East Asia and the Western Pacific, a part of the world where vital interests of all other major world powers, and our largest economic partners, intersect. Despite storm clouds gathering on the trade front, and the slowing down of global growth, East Asia and ASEAN still face very good economic prospects. If only investments can be mobilized and properly channeled to where they are most needed, such as in expanded and refurbished transportation networks, urban renewal and greening the economy.The advent of the Trump Administration and Chinas rising power have generated challenges we must face. Fortunately, we seem to have had measured progress on the Korean Peninsula. But there are other problems. There continue to be flareups in the South and East China Seas. And most recently, there is now the possible danger of a renewed nuclear weapons race which may affect the Asia-Pacific. It is believed that there is now a cold war between the US and China encompassing not only trade and cyber but also a renewed build-up of military capabilities. TRAVELERS from Visayas and Mindanao now have a chance to fly direct to Asia's "Las Vegas" with the launching Friday, December 7, of Cebu Pacific's Cebu-Macau maiden flight.The new route TRAVELERS from Visayas and Mindanao now have a chance to fly direct to Asia's "Las Vegas" with the launching Friday, December 7, of Cebu Pacific's Cebu-Macau maiden flight. The new route is also expected to promote Cebu as a gateway of Visayas and Mindanao, said Cebu Pacific Director for Marketing Blessie Cruz. "Cebu Pacific is very proud to launch a direct Cebu-Macau flight as we expand our Cebu network to cater to a growing number of leisure travelers. We are committed to expanding our air services out of Cebu, providing Cebuanos and residents of neighboring provinces in the Visayas with more travel options," Cruz said in a speech. The first flight Friday -- a 180-seater Airbus A320 -- left the Mactan Cebu International Airport at 6:35 p.m. and it is expected to arrive in Macau at 9:45 p.m. The return flight will leave Macau at 10:25 p.m. and arrive in Cebu at 1:25 a.m. the next day. (function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = 'https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v3.2'; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk')); Cebu Pacific's maiden flight from Cebu to Macau WATCH. Send-off of Cebu Pacific's Cebu-Macau maiden flight. This Airbus A320, which has 180 seats, left the Mactan-Cebu International Airport at 6:35 p.m. It will arrive in Macau at 9:45 p.m. Cebu Pacific is the only airline that flies direct to Macau from Cebu. | Allan Cuizon Posted by SunStar Cebu on Friday, December 7, 2018 The Cebu-Macau flights are available four times a week, every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday. Base fare for the direct Macau-Cebu flights starts as low as P2,388 or P3,151 all-in. "A direct Cebu-Macau route would provide logistics support to further stimulate investments...We expect to further boost trade and tourism between Cebu and Macau," said Cruz. Story continues (function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = 'https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v3.2'; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk')); Starting today, December 7, Cebu Pacific flies direct to Macau from Cebu. The first flight will leave at 6:35 p.m. today. #MakeFirstMomentsHappen #CEBfliesCebuMacau #CEBTravels #NiHaoMacau Posted by SunStar Cebu on Thursday, December 6, 2018 Department of Tourism (DOT)-Central Visayas Director Shalimar Tamano, for his part, said the launching Friday is "a very big step for all of us, and the Department of Tourism is very happy with this development." He said the Cebu-Macau direct flight of Cebu Pacific will not be servicing Macau alone but also Hong Kong, citing the two regions are located just about two hours and a half. "So Macau and Hong Kong are now like Bohol and Cebu because they are connected by probably the longest bridge in the world...The Cebu Pacific flight will also serve Hong Kong and the greater region of Macau and Hong Kong," Tamano said. Cebu Pacific, at present, is the only airline that flies to Macau from Cebu. It is also the only carrier that flies to Macau from Manila and Clark in Pampanga. "The days when Cebuanos have to fly to Manila to catch an international flight are fast becoming a thing of the past. Today, we are offering more direct flight options from Cebu to key destinations in the Asia Pacific Region," said Cruz. Lawyer Steve Dicdican, CEO and general manager of Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA), said he is hoping that Cebu Pacific will continue to increase its flights from and to Cebu. "I hope that you will continue to increase your flights because we will also expand the airport," he said. "Next year, you can expect a better Terminal 1," he added, stressing the building of the second runway. The GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corporation (GMCAC), a consortium that is managing the airport operations, is set to rehabilitate the MCIA Terminal 1. GMCAC Airline Marketing head Aines Librodo said the consortium and MCIAA are "working very hard to have additional connections to and from Cebu, so you will not go to Manila anymore." She said the Cebu airport now services a number of flights operated by different airlines. "We have 35 domestic destinations connected to Cebu and we have about 24 international destinations," Librodo said. She thanked Cebu Pacific for continuously supporting the Cebu airport by launching more flights that will connect Cebu to the world. (SunStar Philippines) Australian quantum physicist Tim Byrnes happily accepted a faculty post to work in China about five years ago, swapping the barbecue for dumplings. But for someone whose work is based on observing nature at the smallest scale of energy levels and atoms, it came as something of a surprise to find himself in the middle of a clash between two much bigger powers namely the US and China over trade and technology. His position as assistant professor of physics at New York University Shanghai and research funding of at least one million yuan (US$146,000) from the Chinese government, has now put the 42-year-old in what he calls an interesting position. Byrnes received the funding as a member of the Thousand Talents Plan (TTP), Chinas flagship recruitment programme to hire some of the worlds brightest minds to contribute to Chinese president Xi Jinpings desire to build an innovation-led economy. US scientist extols benefits of Chinas Thousand Talents Plan Set up 10 years ago by Beijing as part of the countrys drive to build world-leading capacity in key tech sectors, such as robotics and aerospace, the TTP has added to US concerns over potential espionage threats from China after several of the programmes Chinese scientists were arrested in the US on accusations of technology theft. It is hard to say what the impact is at the moment, said the Shanghai-based Byrnes in an interview. I dont know if this [being a member of Chinas TTP] is going to impact me if I want to apply for research funding in the US in the future we will all have to wait and see. As an Australian working at the Shanghai campus of New York University, Byrnes is perhaps one of the few in China who feel comfortable to talk freely about their experience of being enlisted in the TTP. The programme has become a sensitive topic in China in recent months amid fears that a connection between the high-profile global talent plan and espionage could become a new front in the US-China trade war. Story continues These concerns are unlikely to change anytime soon, given the latest twist in US-China relations. Sabrina Meng Wanzhou, the CFO of Chinese tech giant Huawei and daughter of founder Ren Zhengfei, was arrested last weekend by police in Canada at the request of the US government on suspicion of violating US sanctions against Iran prompting an immediate protest in Beijing. Although Xi Jinping and US president Donald Trump reached a temporary trade truce at last weekends G20 meeting in Argentina, the US has set a 90-day deadline for China to address concerns over certain trade practices. At the top of the White Houses list are the ending of forced technology transfers and stronger intellectual property protection. Chinese premier Li Keqiang calls for more creativity to help countrys economic transformation The TTP, which mainly taps into the pool of Chinese citizens educated or employed in the US, has been described by the National Intelligence Council, the branch of US intelligence that assesses mid- to long-term strategic threats and trends, as a means of facilitating the legal and illicit transfer of US technology, intellectual property and know-how to China. The TTP actually incorporates a number of different programmes to enter the long-term plan, participants need to work in China full-time but for the short-term plan, they need only work in China at least two months a year for three consecutive years. But in the current heated climate, being in the TTP is an honour you can no longer brag about in China. Is Xi Jinpings iron grip better than Adam Smiths invisible hand for technology innovation? A large number of news articles featuring the TTP have been removed from Chinas cyberspace. Chinese universities and companies who up until a few months ago were eager to promote professors and executives recruited by the plan, have suddenly become mute. The Post approached many of these organisations for comment but received a curt no or an explanation that the subject is just too sensitive right now. The official TTP site has also deleted the names of enrolled scientists to protect their safety as many of them do not work in China full time. Chinas State Council Information Office didnt immediately reply to faxed questions about the clampdown on information related to the TTP and whether or not this signals a big strategy shift in China's talent strategy. A secretary general at a top Beijing think tank with close ties to the government said Chinese authorities have ordered the deletion of information regarding the programme online mainly because of overreaction to it from the US. Tens of thousands of top scientists worldwide go to the US to work or further their studies every year, and the TTP has brought back literally thousands of talents over the past 10 years, but still the US will not let it go, said the person who declined to be named due to the sensitive nature of the material. To reverse a perceived brain drain, the Chinese government has launched several policies to encourage the return of overseas-educated Chinese students since the 1990s. But the TTP is the most important one due to the direct involvement of the Organisational Department of the Communist Party of China. The goal of the programme is to attract and support high-level talent from overseas, over the next 5 to 10 years, to innovate and form companies around national key innovation projects, key disciplines and key laboratories in line with national development goals. This information used to be on the official TTP site before being removed recently. Since 2008, about 7,000 Chinese scientists, academics and entrepreneurs living abroad have come back to China through the programme, according to media reports. It has also attracted hundreds of foreign experts to work in China and successful applicants can expect a one million yuan starting bonus, with the opportunity to apply for a research fund of three to five million yuan. China to boost its national team to meet goal of global AI leadership by 2030 Foreign scientists can also receive additional incentives, such as accommodation subsidies, meal allowances, relocation compensation, paid-for home visits and subsidised education costs. But is the TTP a simple talent recruitment policy or is it providing incentives to engage in international espionage? Although Chinese universities have been climbing up world rankings, it is hard to gauge how much of the increase in Chinas scientific stock can be attributed directly to the TTP. However, China has seen output of high-quality science and engineering research papers jump from 250 in 2008 to 426 in 2016. In the US, the number rose from 392 to only 409 over the same period, according to data from the US National Science Foundation. The TTP poses a particular concern to US interlocutors given their focus on the same cutting-edge industries identified in Made in China 2025, said Abigail Grace, a research associate at the Center for New American Security, a Washington D.C.-based think-tank. Furthermore, the programmes linkages with state-backed institutions, such as SOEs and official research institutions, raises the spectre of possible dual-use technology development, said Grace. This programme also incentivises violations of US corporate espionage law. In August, Zheng Xiaoqing, a 56-year-old Chinese-American engineer, was arrested in New York State for allegedly stealing technology secrets from General Electric, where he had worked since 2008. Zheng was recruited to the TTP in 2012. He often travelled between the US and China, founding two companies in China that specialised in turbine technology. At least two other programme participants were caught up in US judicial cases this year. Although there may be some cases of technology theft to answer, Jia Hepeng, a Cornell University-based science policy expert, says the main problem is that the TTP has become a totem for those in the US who feel threatened by the rise of China. The flow of talent to China has been linked with allegations of intellectual property theft since the 1990s, says Jia. But it has never really grabbed the attention of the US government until today. The difference now is that China has the ability to rapidly transform technologies for commercial use, thanks to the combination of its economic progress and the return of overseas educated talent. In 2017, 608,000 Chinese students went overseas and 480,900 returned. China is proud of this 79 per cent rate as it compares with a rate of about 5 per cent in 1987 and only 30.6 per cent in 2007. Although the Chinese government has sought to play down the TTP, Jia does not think it signals a sea change in Chinas global recruitment drive. Chinas demand for overseas talent remains unchanged. With or without the promotion of the TTP, those who want to return to China are still coming back through this programme or another. Shi Guojun, a biologist at University of Michigan, travelled to the US in 2012 to pursue postdoctoral training and has been job hunting for about a year. He has not noticed a big change in the recruitment pitches from Chinese universities in recent months though but has seen overall promotion of the TTP toned down. China urges AI elites to unite in global village despite background of US-China trade war For Shi though, the TTP still remains the Holy Grail for scientists who want to work in China. Getting the award means that you get recognised by peers as potentially a top expert in your field, which can get you long-term funding support for research, he said, adding that doing research in a rising country means more opportunities. According to Shi, there are more positions for junior scientists like him in China than in the US. Plus, China has been catching up quickly in terms of the hard academic elements, such as research funding and facilities support even though the soft elements still need improvement, like administrative support and the hierarchies in academia. Another Chinese executive, recruited by the programme about three years ago, said it is the huge opportunities in China that brought him back. I used to lead a team of 20 in one of the worlds most valuable tech companies in Silicon Valley, said the scientist who wants to remain anonymous due to the sensitive nature of the subject. But within three years in China, I was promoted to chief scientist of our entire company. Leading a team of 1,000, I get to apply artificial intelligence from health care to finance. For Byrnes, its a question of science not politics. Despite the progress China has already made in attracting Chinese scientists, for him the country is still sort of an unusual place for foreign scientists relatively, mainly due to linguistic and cultural differences. However, this is not a deal-breaker. The TTP is working, people have already made the move and the number will probably keep on increasing, says Byrnes. Its tough to get research funds in any country in the world. Scientists will continue to seek funding for their work wherever they can find it, this is not political. This article China mutes volume on Thousand Talents Plan as US spy concerns rise but scientists still covet funding first appeared on South China Morning Post For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2018. Chinese villages magic stalk cut down by police because its superstitious Local authorities in east China have cut down a giant sorghum stalk that villagers had started venerating for its magical qualities. Police in Heze in Shandong province confirmed that the 5.7-metre (18.7 feet) tall stalk had been uprooted and villagers had been warned their actions were superstitious. Chinese tradition holds that objects that grow to an unusually large size can sometimes be endowed with magical powers. In recent days, a video clip of large crowds of villagers worshipping the plant, dubbed the Magic Sorghum, in Fangshan village went viral on Chinese social media. The plant could be seen in a patch of cleared ground outside some rural buildings, with giant lit incense sticks and prayer flags surrounding it. Peddlers at the site were hawking incense and joss paper, traditionally burned for ceremonial offerings, near the plant. Sometime this week, the chief officer of the local police station and the village party secretary brought some workers there and used a bulldozer to excavate the sorghum, a source at the Fangshan police station in Dingtao district told Thepaper.cn. The plant was destroyed on Monday and was stored in a villagers attic, where its length was measured. Sorghum is a crop which is used for grain, animal feed, and for making the famous Chinese liquor baijiu. When growing in good conditions, its very normal for sorghum to grow over five metres tall, Li Ye, a Heze Agricultural Management Bureau researcher, was quoted as saying. Dingtao district police are investigating the incident. In October 2017, several thousand tourists flocked to worship a giant wild mushroom in Yunnan province for good fortune. The 83.5cm tall edible fungi was nicknamed the king of mushrooms. This article Chinese villages magic stalk cut down by police because its superstitious first appeared on South China Morning Post For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2018. 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 PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday, December 6, revealed that he went to a hospital and underwent a blood test before gracing an event arranged by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in Pasay City. Duterte was delivering his keynote speech during DOLE's 85th founding anniversary celebration when he changed the subject and talked about his hospital visit prior to his attendance to the event. He revealed that he underwent a blood test, a procedure taken to evaluate the overall health status of an individual and detect possible disorders. "Ako rin, galing sa ospital. Kinunan ako ng dugo. Iyang media, magtatanong na naman kung anong sakit ko (I came from the hospital. They took some blood from me. The media will surely ask about my ailment)," Duterte, who was seen rubbing the front of his elbow covered with cotton, said. "Well, I'll give you an idea. Tanggalin ko na lang 'to. Ayan, may dugo kaunti. Pero 'pag tusok nila sa syringe, kukunan akong dugo, walang lalabas, puro hangin (I'll remove the cotton. There's a little blood. They used syringe to take my blood but they get nothing but air)," he added. The President did not elaborate on his visit to the hospital. Duterte, 73, first bared on September 21 that he had undergone colonoscopy and endoscopy in relation to the previous diagnosis of Barrett's esophagus, a condition in which the esophagus changes. Endoscopy is a nonsurgical procedure to examine a person's digestive tract, while colonoscopy is a procedure that checks for abnormalities in the large intestine and rectum. On October 4, Duterte announced that he underwent another endoscopy and colonoscopy, hinting that his Barrett's esophagus had gotten worse and might have developed into cancer. Malacanang then admitted on October 5 that the 73-year-old Chief Executive was monitoring a "growth" in his digestive tract. Duterte, however, announced on October 9 that he tested negative for cancer. Under Section 12 of the 1987 Constitution, the country's highest elected official in the land is compelled to inform the public about his health, "in case of serious illness." On Monday, December 3, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said there was no need for Duterte to release medical bulletins on his health, re-assuring that the President is in good shape. (SunStar Philippines) Chinese telecom giant Huawei's chief financial officer faces US fraud charges related to sanctions-breaking business dealings with Iran, a Canadian court heard Friday, a week after she was detained on an American extradition request. Meng Wanzhou, 46, was arrested in Canada's Pacific coast city of Vancouver on December 1 while changing planes during a trip from Hong Kong to Mexico -- ratcheting up tensions between the United States and China just as the countries' leaders agreed to a truce in their trade war. A day-long hearing was adjourned until Monday, when the judge is expected to render a decision on bail. Until then, she will remain in custody. Canadian government lawyer John Gibb-Carsley asked for bail to be denied, saying Meng has been accused of "conspiracy to defraud multiple financial institutions" and if convicted faces more than 30 years in prison. She is specifically accused of lying to a US bank, identified by her lawyer as "Hong Kong Bank," about the use of a covert subsidiary to sell to Iran in breach of sanctions. Meng had personally denied to bankers any direct connections between Huawei and the subsidiary, SkyCom, when in fact "SkyCom is Huawei," Gibb-Carsley said, putting the bank in jeopardy of violating sanctions. SkyCom's alleged sanctions breaches occurred from 2009 to 2014, while Meng's alleged fraudulent misrepresentations were in 2013. Meng had been a member of SkyCom's board a decade ago, but the company was later sold, said her lawyer David Martin. US authorities, however, claim Huawei continued to control the company, with Gibb-Carsley noting that SkyCom employees continued to carry Huawei identification and use its email. He suggested that Meng has also shown a pattern of avoiding the United States over the past year since becoming aware of the investigation into the matter, arguing that she has no ties to Canada and has access to vast wealth and political connections -- and thus poses a flight risk. Huawei said in a Friday statement that it "will continue to follow the bail hearing" next week, expressing "every confidence that the Canadian and US legal systems will reach the right conclusion." Meng's detention in Canada came on the day of a summit at which US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping agreed to a truce in the escalating trade dispute between the two economic powerhouses. China says Meng -- the daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, a former engineer in China's People's Liberation Army -- has violated no laws in Canada or the United States and has demanded her release. Washington and Beijing have exchanged steep tariffs on more than $300 billion in total two-way trade, locking them in a conflict that has begun to eat into profits. Trump tweeted Friday that negotiations to defuse the high-stakes dispute were "going very well," but the messages since Meng's arrest have been mixed, roiling global stock markets. Her appearance at the British Columbia Supreme Court in Vancouver is a prelude to an extradition process that could take months. - 'Princess' of Huawei - CNN, quoting an unnamed official, said the United States saw the arrest as providing leverage in US-China trade talks -- although White House trade advisor Peter Navarro has denied any link to the dialogue. Chinese state-run media said the arrest was part of US efforts to curtail China's tech industry. "The Chinese government should seriously mull over the US tendency to abuse legal procedures to suppress China's high-tech enterprises," said the nationalist tabloid Global Times in an editorial. "Obviously, Washington is resorting to a despicable rogue's approach as it cannot stop Huawei's 5G advance in the market," it went on. Meng spent most of the past week at a women's detention facility in a suburb of Vancouver. If she is released on bail, she has agreed to surrender her passports and submit to electronic monitoring until she is discharged or surrendered for trial to the United States. All security costs would be borne by her. The extradition process could take months, even years, if appeals are made in the case. The court heard Meng's husband Xiaozong Liu owns two mansions in the city. - Repeated setbacks - Canada has a longstanding extradition treaty with the United States, requiring it to cooperate with US Department of Justice requests to hand over suspects. The offense for which extradition is being sought must also be a crime in Canada. A Canadian court must decide if there is sufficient evidence to support the extradition, but then it is left to Canada's justice minister to sign the order. On Thursday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau defended Canada's arrest of Meng, saying politics played no part in the decision. "I can assure everyone that we are a country (with) an independent judiciary," Trudeau told a tech conference in Montreal. Huawei's affordable smartphones have made strong inroads in the developing world, but the company has faced repeated setbacks in major Western economies over security concerns. Canadian officials have said Ottawa was continuing to review Huawei's technology for use in upcoming fifth-generation networks. The company faces being shut out of Australia, New Zealand and US 5G rollouts, and British telecom group BT revealed on Wednesday it was removing Huawei equipment from its core cellular network. The five nations together form the "Five Eyes" intelligence alliance. Tokyo prosecutors have decided to indict Nissan as well as its former chairman Carlos Ghosn and another executive as early as next week over alleged financial misconduct, a report said Friday. The report comes amid speculation that Ghosn and his right-hand man Greg Kelly will face new allegations related to under-reporting of the auto titan's compensation. The pair were arrested on November 19 on suspicion of conspiring to understate Ghosn's pay by some five billion yen ($44 million) in official filings during the five years up to March 2015. The Nikkei business daily reported Friday that Ghosn and Kelly would likely be indicted on those allegations as soon as Monday, when their current detention period expires. The daily said prosecutors had decided that Nissan was also responsible for the alleged financial wrong-doing and would bring charges against the firm. It reported that Nissan's chief executive Hiroto Saikawa signed documents discussing payment and employment for Ghosn after his term as chairman. But prosecutors reportedly doubt Saikawa was involved in the under-reporting, though he may face questions about failing to correct the false reports even though he apparently had opportunities to do, the Nikkei said. Under Japanese law, prosecutors can hold suspects for up to 22 days while investigating a single allegation. But they can seek an additional 22 days of detention for each new accusation against a suspect. Reports suggest Ghosn and Kelly could face a new accusation related to under-reporting of the former chairman's compensation by another four billion yen ($35.5 billion) over the last three years. The new accusation is also expected to be announced next week. Japanese prosecutors said they could not comment on the report and Nissan said only that it was cooperating with the prosecutor's office. "The company has been... fully cooperating with its investigation. We will continue to do so," spokesman Nicholas Maxfield told AFP. Neither Ghosn nor Kelly have yet been officially charged, and they deny any wrongdoing. Ghosn's November 19 arrest in Tokyo shook the business world, where he has long been a highly regarded top executive. In Japan, Ghosn was celebrated as a charismatic business leader who saved Nissan from the brink of failure and rebuilt it as a money-maker in the alliance with Renault. But since his shock arrest, he has been removed from the boards of Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors. Nissan has begun the process of choosing Ghosn's successor, with the final decision expected on December 17. FILE PHOTO: Former senator Jinggoy Estrada QUEZON CITY, Philippines Former senator Jinggoy Estrada couldnt be happier for his friend former senator Ramon Bong Revilla Jr. On Friday (December 7), the Sandiganbayan acquitted Revilla of plunder charges in line with the multi-billion Priority Development Assessment Fund (PDAF) or pork barrel scam in which Estrada was a co-accused. Estrada said he was speechless as he personally heard the decision during the promulgation of the case. Now that his good friend is a free man, he only has one advise for Revilla. Walang nararapat na salita para i-express iyong nararamdaman ko ngayon. Spend more time with his family dahil apat na taon din siya nakulong and well hit the campaign trail soon, he said. Estrada is on temporary liberty after posting P1.33-M bail in September 2017. The anti-graft court said that though they found irregularities in the disbursement of Estradas PDAF, there is no strong evidence to show that he is a main plunderer. Along with Estrada, another co-accused former senator Juan Ponce Enrile was granted bail due to old age. Enrile was then 92-years-old. Despite Revillas victory in the case, legal expert and dean of San Beda College of Law, Atty. Ranhilio Aquino, explained that though the three senators Revilla, Estrada, and Enrile were all accused in the same plunder case, the anti-graft courts decision may still vary. Cases are decided on their own merits so Im sure that the courts will decide on the merits of each case. The issue of one does not necessarily affect the other cases, Aquino clarified. Also in some cases, Aquino noted, that despite the acquittal, the court still demands the suspect to pay for his civil liability such in the case of Revilla wherein the court requires them to return a total of P124-M to the national treasury. Criminally you need proof beyond reasonable doubt. Civilly, you only need preponderance of evidence so mas mababa ang standard of proof for civil cases, he explained further. Story continues Still, Estrada said he has high hopes that his case will yield the same results as that of Revilla. For now, he leaves it to the court to decide. I dont want to preempt the decision of the Sandiganbayan with regard to my case, he concluded. Marje Pelayo (with reports from Mai Bermudez) The post Jinggoy Estrada expresses high hopes of acquittal for plunder after Bong Revilla appeared first on UNTV News. Construction workers massacred at a remote jungle work camp in Papua were legitimate military targets, a rebel group said Friday, as authorities hunted for more bodies after the grisly weekend attack which killed at least 16. The National Liberation Army of West Papua (TPNPB) has claimed responsibility for the deadliest bout of violence in years to hit Papua, an Indonesian-controlled region wracked by a low-level independence insurgency. "(We killed them) because they were members of the Indonesian military in disguise. They're our enemy," Sebby Sambom, spokesman for the TPNPB, told AFP. "This is war. It's kill or be killed." The rebel group said this week it had killed two dozen people working for a state-owned contractor. Indonesia's military has confirmed 16 dead and said at least three more company workers were unaccounted for. An earlier eyewitness account supplied by the military described execution-style shootings and rebels slitting the throats of workers who tried to escape. On Friday, the military said most of the victims' hands were tied together with some suffering gunshot or knife wounds and blunt-force injuries. One worker was almost decapitated. A soldier was also killed by rebels while investigating the killings this week, authorities said. "We have five children -- he was the youngest. Our only son," said the soldier's distraught mother, Septiani. - 'Support of the locals' - Authorities said they were scouring the jungle in search of more victims and the suspects, who could number as many as 50. "There are around 40 to 50 of them scattered around various places," Papua military spokesman Dax Sianturi told AFP. "They have the support of the locals." The contractor's employees were helping build bridges and roads to boost infrastructure in the impoverished region. Some in Papua view Indonesia as a colonial occupier and its building work as a way to exert more control over the resource-rich island region which shares a border with Papua New Guinea (PNG), just north of Australia. "We want to be like PNG -- independent," the rebel spokesman said. 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 protesters. The attack on Sunday came as about 500 activists were arrested in a nationwide police crackdown that coincided with rallies on December 1, a date many Papuans consider their anniversary of independence from Dutch colonialists. Papua declared itself independent on that date in 1961, but neighbouring Indonesia took control of the region two years later on the condition it hold an independence referendum. Jakarta annexed Papua in 1969 with a UN-backed vote that was widely seen as a sham. Papua experienced several spasms of violence this summer, including the killing of three local people, allegedly by rebels. While construction workers have been targeted in the past, much of the violence has involved skirmishes between rebels and Indonesian security forces. Some fighting has been centred around 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. People walk past a Huawei retail shop in Beijing Thursday, Dec. 6, 2018. China on Thursday demanded Canada release a Huawei Technologies executive who was arrested in a case that adds to technology tensions with Washington and threatens to complicate trade talks. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Latest on the arrest of an executive of Chinese telecoms equipment maker Huawei Technologies (all times local): 11:45 p.m. Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei says it has "every confidence that the Canadian and U.S. legal systems will reach the right conclusion" over the arrest of one of its top executives in Canada. Huawei released a brief statement Saturday in China following a bail hearing in Vancouver for Meng Wanzou, its chief financial officer and the daughter of its founder. She faces possible extradition to the U.S, where officials allege that Huawei used a Hong Kong shell company to sell equipment in Iran in violation of U.S. sanctions. Meng will spend the weekend in jail after a Canadian judge said Friday that he needs to weigh her proposed bail conditions. The bail hearing continues Monday. ___ 7:20 p.m. A Chinese executive will spend the weekend in jail after a Canadian judge said he needs to weigh her proposed bail conditions. Meng Wanzhou's lawyer also says he will continue his arguments for her bail on Monday. Meng is the chief financial officer of telecommunications giant Huawei and daughter of its founder. She is facing possible extradition to the U.S, where officials allege that Huawei used a Hong Kong shell company to sell equipment in Iran in violation of U.S. sanctions. The U.S. also says that Meng and Huawei misled American banks about its business dealings in Iran. Meng was detained at the request of the U.S. during a layover at the Vancouver airport last Saturday the same day that Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping of China agreed over dinner to a 90-day cease-fire in a trade dispute that threatens to disrupt global commerce. ___ 3:30 p.m. The lawyer for the chief financial officer of Chinese telecom giant Huawei says the fact that a person has extraordinary resources cannot be a factor that would exclude them from bail. Meng Wanzhou's lawyer David Martin said at her bail hearing that her own dignity would not allow her to go against a court order. He also said Meng would not embarrass her father by breaching a court order. Story continues The prosecutor earlier argued that Meng has vast resources and would be motivated to flee Canada and return home to China. Prosecutor John Gibb-Carsley says the charges Meng is facing in the U.S. have to do with Huawei using a sham subsidiary to access the Iran market in dealings that would contravene U.S. sanctions. Meng is accused of fraud. Gibb-Carsley says she assured U.S. banks that Huawei and Skycom were separate companies but he says Skycom is Huawei ___ 2:30 p.m. A prosecutor for the Canadian government says the chief financial officer of Chinese telecom giant Huawei has incentive to flee Canada because she faces charges in the U.S. of up to 30 years in prison. The prosecutor said at the bail hearing for Meng Wanzhou that she has vast resources and would be motivated to flee Canada and return home to China. He says the charges Meng is facing in the U.S. have to do with Huawei using an unofficial subsidiary to access the Iran market in dealings that would contravene U.S. sanctions. Meng is accused of fraud. The prosecutor says she assured banks that Huawei and Skycom were separate companies but he says the U.S. contends that Skycom is Huawei. ___ 2:15 p.m. A prosecutor for the Canadian government says the charges that the chief financial officer of Chinese telecom giant Huawei is facing in the U.S. have to do with Huawei using a unofficial subsidiary to access the Iran market in dealings that would contravene U.S. sanctions. The prosecutor said at the bail hearing for Meng Wanzhou that is she is accused of fraud. He says she assured banks that Huawei and Skycom were separate companies but he says the U.S. contends that Skycom is Huawei. The prosecutor is saying she is a flight risk and should not be granted bail. He says the arrest warrant was issued in New York on Aug. 22. Meng's arrest came as a jarring surprise after Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping agreed to a trade truce last weekend in Buenos Aires, Argentina. ___ 1:40 p.m. The chief financial officer of Chinese telecom giant Huawei is appearing in a Canadian court as she seeks bail while awaiting possible extradition to the United States. Sporting a green sweater, Meng Wanzhou, smiled and spoke to her lawyer as she waited for the judge to arrive. Meng's arrest came as a jarring surprise after Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping agreed to a trade truce last weekend in Buenos Aires, Argentina. White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said Friday on Fox Business Network's "Varney & Co" that Huawei had violated U.S sanctions on Iran. ___ 12:40 p.m. Huawei has denied that it poses a security threat, after an EU commissioner raised concerns. The Chinese telecom giant said Friday it has never been asked by any government to build "back doors" to its systems or "interrupt any networks." "We would never tolerate such behavior by any of our staff," it said. The statement was in response to comments by EU tech commissioner Andrus Ansip, who said that after the arrest of Huawei's chief financial officer, "we have to be worried" about the company. Ansip cited concerns Beijing could require Chinese tech companies to cooperate with intelligence services or add "back doors," when asked about Huawei's role in European 5G and driverless car projects. Huawei said, "We categorically reject any allegation that we might pose a security threat." ___ 10:10 a.m. Russia's top diplomat has criticized the arrest of a Chinese telecommunications company executive as an example of heavy-handed policies of the U.S. The chief financial officer of Huawei, the world's biggest supplier of network gear for phone and internet companies, was arrested in Canada Saturday and faces extradition to the U.S. on charges of trying to evade U.S. sanctions on Iran. Speaking during a meeting in Rome, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Friday the executive's arrest shows how the U.S. is pushing to implement its laws beyond its borders, which he called "a very arrogant position." Lavrov said "that is not even being supported by anyone, even the closest allies of the U.S.," adding that "we need to put a stop to that." ___ 8:05 a.m. The European Union's technology commissioner says the bloc should be worried about possible security risks from telecom giant Huawei and other Chinese companies. EU Digital Market Commissioner Andrus Ansip said there's reason for concern following the arrest of Huawei's chief financial officer reportedly on suspicion of involvement in sanctions evasions. "The next question is, do we have to be worried about Huawei or other Chinese companies? Yes I think we have to be worried," Ansip said at a press briefing. Ansip said there are fears about Beijing requiring the country's tech companies to cooperate with its intelligence services or add "back doors" to their systems. Huawei is the world's biggest supplier of network gear for phone and internet companies but the arrest has intensified concerns that its dominance threatens the national security of Western allies. ___ 6:00 a.m. China has expressed serious concern about media reports that Japan might exclude Chinese telecom equipment makers Huawei Technologies and ZTE Corp. from government purchases. Foreign Ministry Spokesman Geng Shuang said Friday that both companies have been operating legally in Japan for a long time and that China hopes Japan "will provide a level playing field for Chinese companies .... and avoid doing anything that would undermine mutual trust and cooperation." The Japanese newspaper Yomiuri reported that Tokyo might take the step because of security concerns, as the United States and some other countries have done. A Japanese official said though that no decision has been made. ___ 3:30 a.m. A Japanese official has cast doubt over reports that Japan plans to exclude Chinese telecoms equipment makers Huawei Technologies and ZTE Corp. from government purchases due to security concerns. The Japanese newspaper Yomiuri reported Friday that Tokyo might take the action following the lead of the U.S. and some other countries. The report, citing unnamed sources, said government officials planned to meet to discuss such a move. A senior official at the government office in charge of cybersecurity said Japan has not made such a decision. He said some new policy may be announced next week but it would likely not be what was being reported. ___ 12:48 a.m. The dramatic arrest of a Chinese telecommunications executive has driven home why it will be so hard for the Trump administration to resolve its deepening conflict with China. The Huawei Technologies executive, Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou, faces extradition to the United States. A bail hearing was set for Friday. In the short run, her arrest heightens skepticism about the trade truce that Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping reached last weekend in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Share markets were rattled by fears that the 90-day cease-fire won't last. Huawei has been a subject of U.S. national security concerns that extend well beyond tariffs or market access. Washington and Beijing are locked in a clash between the world's two largest economies for economic and political dominance for decades to come. 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 FILIPINO food exporters are urged to explore the huge opportunities presented by South Koreas coffee market. Emman Ang, executive director of Foreign Trade Service Corps., noted there are other areas local exporters have not really tapped, apart from fresh fruits and frozen seafood. There are some other areas that we have not really tapped but can be areas where we can export in food. One of them would be coffee, coffee-related products, anything that can be sold in a coffee shop. Korea is a coffee crazy country so it is a very big market, he said. Ang said they can sell specialized coffee beans, as well as muscovado and coconut sugar as more South Korean people are becoming health conscious. Just make sure your packaging is ready for the coffee market, he advised local exporters during the Usapang Exports forum this week. Ang identified other products they can sell in South Korea, such as confectioneries and biscuits, which coffee shops can serve alongside their coffee beverages. Seventy percent of food consumption in Korea is imported. Food consumption in Korea is growing around eight percent a year so its a very big market, very friendly to imports, he said. Ang further said the Philippines is a big exporter of fresh fruits to Korea. Philexport News and Features "It was during a dark time that God chose to send a messenger." Luke, the Evangelist and writer of the Acts of the Apostles, announces the coming of John the Baptist to the Jews embroiled in their own topsy-turvy world. Gone were the days when the peoples faith in one God and their leaders was solid as a rock as in the time of the Macabees. The Idumean Herod the Great, the client king of the Romans and a polarizing figure in Jewish society, is long dead; many religious factions adhering to diverse religious views, such as the Pharisees, Sudducees, Essenes, Zealots and what have you, have emerged in their midst further dividing and confusing the community. Roman Emperor Tiberius divided Israel among Herods sons, assigning Judea and Jerusalem to Herod Archelaus. There was no trusted leader among the people unlike in the Davidic era. Caiaphas and his father-in-law Annas were mistusted because of their questionable allegiance as they were seen as lackeys of the Roman oppressors. The Roman emperors stranglehold over Jewish society remain stronger than ever. In other words, John came into the scene during one of the most turbulent times in Jewish history. It is a time of uncertainty and insecurity when John came out of the wilderness to preach the gospel of repentance, urging the people to be baptized. His message resonated among the people who were beginning to doubt Gods providence, feeling that he has abandoned his people. It was a message of hope amidst hypocrisy, violence and greed, conflict and confusion. It was at this time when everything seemed hopeless that God sent a messenger to rekindle the hope of the people, calling on them to put their trust in the Lord. Every persons relationship with God is a microcosm of the Chosen Peoples historical experiences. Sometimes a person is driven to a point so low such that he teeters on the verge of despair. It is as if God has concealed his face from him. Regardless of the extent of ones spiritual maturity, its possible to reach this point to actually feel that everyoneeven Godhas made himself scarce. It was at this point in life that King David, hiding in a cave being pursued by his enemies, cried out in despairHow long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?John the Baptist spoke the words of God, but he also acknowledged that there is one greater than him whose sandal he is not worthy to unstrap. The Prophet was speaking about Jesus, the Prophet of all Prophets. God answered the peoples cries through Jesus Christ who revealed himself to redeem humanity from the bondage of sin. Do our world and society not mirror the kind of social environment that John the Baptist was in? Ours is a society so permeated with violence, fear, insecurity, poverty, hypocrisy, disrespect for cherished values and all forms of societal ills. Is it not that communities are now so detached from God that people would preoccupy themselves with their own secular devices, plots and schemes rather than cultivate a good relationship with God? Moral callousness and spiritual apathy have effectively enveloped so many such that even murder, blasphemy, profanity and all forms of abomination are now met with nary a whimper of protest, if at all. Several decades ago this was unthinkable. These actions would arouse the most vehement and vigorous expressions of indignation. How much our society and the world we live in have changed! * * * I write this on a plane to Katowice, Poland for the 24th Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. It will be a challenging conference. From a purely human point of view, one must say that it is an uphill climb to overcome this most serious development and environment challenge of the world. But I go to Katowice with confidence and hope. This is because God never abandons his peoplethe faithful who repose their trust in him especially when they are called upon to swim against the tide. Ours is a faithful God of history. He intervenes in every point of human events, even when sometimes we do not recognize him. It does not matter whether you are a Christian, a Muslim, a buddhist, a Jew, black, yellow, brown or white. Salvation is for all people and situated in world events. It is understood as Gods breaking into this political and social history. Always, God never fails to intervene. He walks among us even as we try to survive in the darkest of hours. A true believer clings to his faith despite the promptings of forces telling him not to trust in his God. Yet they shall be amply rewarded. This Advent, the Lord is once again calling on us to renew ourselves and straighten our crooked ways. He promises to lead us to the path of salvation if we do. Just as John called upon his people to prepare the way for Jesus, we too are being called to welcome Him this Advent Season and are called to be prophets to illumine, by our lives, the dark path that surrounds us, just as John the Baptist did. The Lord keeps his promises. This is what Advent assures us of. And so in this season, let us sing together the Canticle of Mary and proclaim the greatness of the Lord, for He has remembered His promise of mercy, the promise He made to our fathers, to Abraham and his children for ever. Credit: CC0 Public Domain A newly enacted law rushed through Australia's parliament will compel technology companies such as Apple, Facebook and Google to disable encryption protections so police can better pursue terrorists and other criminals. Cybersecurity experts say the law, the first of its kind globally, will instead be a boon to the criminal underworld by undermining the technical integrity of the internet, hurting digital security and user privacy. "I think it's detrimental to Australian and world security," said Bruce Schneier, a tech security expert affiliated with Harvard University and IBM. The law is also technically vague and seems contradictory because it doesn't require systematic weaknessesso-called "backdoors"to be built in by tech providers. Such backdoors are unlikely to remain secret, meaning that hackers and criminals could easily exploit them. Backdoors were central to a 1990s U.S. effort to require manufacturers to install a so-called "Clipper chip " into communications equipment so the government could listen in on voice and data transmissions. U.S. law enforcement officials, including Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, are again pushing for legislation that would somehow give authorities access to secure communications. The Australian bill is seen by many as a beachhead for those efforts because the nation belongs to the "Five Eyes" security alliance with the U.S., Britain, Canada and New Zealand. "There is a lot here that doesn't make any sense," Schneier said of the Australian bill. "This is a technological law written by non-technologists and it's not just bad policy. In many ways, I think it's unworkable." A leading figure in cryptography, Martin Hellman of Stanford University, said it appears the bill would "facilitate crime by weakening the security of the affected devices." The law won final legislative approval late Thursday, parliament's final session of the year. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said it was urgently needed. "This was very important legislation to give police and security agencies the ability to get into encrypted communications," he told Nine Network television. "Things like WhatsApp, things like that which are used by terrorists and organized criminals and indeed pedophile rings to do their evil work." He noted that the opposition Labor Party "had to be dragged to the table" and backed the legislation as an emergency measure out of concern extremists could target Christmas-New Year crowds. Labor lawmakers they want amendments passed when parliament resumes in February. Opposition leader Bill Shorten said he supported the current bill only because he could not "expose Australians to increased (national security) risk." Duncan Lewis, director-general of the Australian Security Intelligence Organization, noted during hearings that extremists share encrypted messages that Australia's main secret service cannot intercept or read. President Morry Bailles of the Law Council of Australia, a leading lawyers' group, criticized the bill's swift parliamentary journey though lawmakers knew "serious problems exist" with giving law enforcement "unprecedented powers to access encrypted communications." Australian law enforcement officials have complained that the growth of end-to-end encryption in applications such as Signal, Facebook's WhatsApp and Messenger and Apple's iMessage could be the worst blow to intelligence and law enforcement capability in decades. Federal Police Commissioner Andrew Colvin said it hampers criminal investigations at all levels. But Apple, in comments filed with parliament in October, argued that "it would be wrong to weaken security for millions of law-abiding customers in order to investigate the very few who pose a threat." The company's iPhones, because of their strong encryption, are bulwarks of national security around the globe and help protect journalists, human rights workers and people living under repressive regimes. "The iPhone is national security infrastructure right now," said Schneier. "Every Australian legislator uses the systems and devices that that law will target and making them insecure seems like a really bad idea." Apple also complained in October that the bill was "dangerously ambiguous." One apparent contradiction confounds technologists. The legislation says the government "must not require providers to implement or build systemic weaknesses in forms of electronic protection ('backdoors')" but also says it can "require the selective deployment of a weaknesses or vulnerability in a particular service, device or item of software on a case-by-case basis." Technologists say that the mathematics underlying encryption and the manner in which it is encoded into software make it impossible to decrypt a single user's communications without affecting all users. Eric Wenger, director of cybersecurity and privacy policy for the U.S. technology giant Cisco Systems, warned during debate on the bill that Australia could be at a competitive disadvantage if its data was not regarded as secure. Australia was a major driver of a statement agreed to at the Group of 20 leaders' summit in Germany last year that called on the technology industry to provide "lawful and non-arbitrary access to available information" needed to protect against terrorist threats. Explore further Australia passes cyber snooping laws with global implications 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Credit: Salmonella bacteria New research from scientists at Imperial College London unravels how so-called bacterial persister cells manipulate our immune cells. The work potentially opens new avenues to finding ways of clearing these bacterial cells from the body, and stopping recurrence of the bacterial infection. The latest findings, published in the journal Science, may help explain why some people suffer from repeated bouts of an illness, despite taking antibiotics. In the study, funded by the Medical Research Council, the Lister Institute and EMBO, the scientists, in collaboration with the Vogel lab at the Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research in Germany, studied bacterial cells of Salmonella called persisters. Whenever bacteria such as Salmonella invade the body, many of the bugs enter a type of stand-by mode in response to attack by the body immune system, which means they are not killed by antibiotics. These bacteria persister cells stop replicating and can remain in this dormant, 'sleeper-cell' state for days, weeks or even months. When antibiotic treatment has been stopped, if some of these bacterial cells spring back to life, they can trigger another infection. Dr Sophie Helaine, senior author of the research from the MRC Centre for Molecular Bacteriology and Infection in Imperial's Department of Medicine explained: "Persisters are often the culprit for repeat or hard-to-treat infections. The classic scenario is a person suffers some type of illness such as a urinary tract infection or ear infection, and takes antibiotics that stop the symptoms, only for infection to return a few weeks later." These persister cells are formed when bacteria are taken up by macrophages, which are human immune cells that have a key role in protecting the body against infections by engulfing bacteria and viruses. Once inside the macrophage, the persister can exist in this state in which antibiotics can't kill it for weeks, or even months. Time-bomb for infection Persisters were discovered in 1944 and were thought to be dormant inactive bacteria lying low in the body, acting as time bomb for relapse. In the latest research, the scientists reveal that the persisters, while hiding in the body's immune cells, are actually able to weaken the killing ability of the macrophages. Dr Peter Hill, co-author of the research explained: "Previously, it was thought the persisters are completely dormant. However the reality we revealed here is much scarier. They chip away at the defences from the inside, weakening the power of the macrophages which are a key part of our arsenal against infection. This means that once antibiotic treatment stops, they might have created a much more favourable environment for another bout of infection, or even a completely new infection from another bacteria or virus." Bacterial weakness Although scientists studied Salmonella infection of mouse macrophages in this research, many types of bacteria that commonly cause illness are known to form persisters in humans, including E.coli and the bacillus responsible for tuberculosis and Salmonella itself. The scientists are now investigating whether there is any way of turning the tables against the bacteria, and if they can target the mechanism by which the persisters weaken our immune cells. Dr Helaine added: "Although these findings suggest the persisters have a more profound effect on our immune defences than previously thought, they also reveal a potential bacterial weakness. Persisters are hard to treat as they are invisible to antibiotics, but it may be this mechanism of weakening our immune cells could be a vulnerability of these persisters. We could potentially target this mechanism, and more efficiently clear hard-to-treat infections." Explore further New clues to how bacteria evade antibiotics More information: Daphne A. C. Stapels et al. Salmonella persisters undermine host immune defenses during antibiotic treatment, Science (2018). Journal information: Science Daphne A. C. Stapels et al. Salmonella persisters undermine host immune defenses during antibiotic treatment,(2018). DOI: 10.1126/science.aat7148 When nonprofit organizations coordinate large green infrastructure projects such as Chicago's 606 Trail, the likelihood of gentrification occurring significantly increases, University of Illinois recreation, sport and tourism professor Alessandro Rigolon reports in a new case study. Credit: L. Brian Stauffer When nonprofit groups coordinate large green infrastructure projects such as Chicago's 606 Trail, the risks of gentrification multiply significantly due to the fragmentation that occurs among nonprofits, government agencies and housing organizations, according to a new case study of the trail. In a paper published in the journal Cities, Alessandro Rigolon, a professor of recreation, sport and tourism at the University of Illinois, and University of Colorado urban and regional planning professor Jeremy Nemeth examined the planning processes associated with the 606 Trail and conclude that these processes may have made gentrification the most likely outcome. Heralded as a cornerstone of Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel's sustainability plan, the $95 million project converted an abandoned rail line into a multiuse path and series of open green spaces that connect four diverse neighborhoods on Chicago's northwest side: Bucktown, Humboldt Park, Logan Square and Wicker Park. The environmental nonprofit The Trust for Public Land was the lead private partner for the 606 Trail, which opened to the public in June 2015, according to the study. While relying on park nonprofits to coordinate such projects is popular in the U.S. and other countries, offering real benefits in terms of efficiency, fundraising and community engagement, the researchers suggest that delegating management of these projects to these groups increases the likelihood of environmental gentrification by drawing attention away from displacement concerns. Rigolon and Nemeth reviewed planning documents for the 606 Trail and interviewed 16 people who were involved in the planning process, including representatives of nonprofit organizations and city officials. "A key finding from our interviews is that putting a nonprofit agency that is 'not in the business of housing' in charge of a redevelopment project ultimately created a situation wherein connections between park development and affordable housing were further fissured, and park planning and public health concerns took precedence over the gentrification concerns raised by many neighborhood advocates and local residents," Rigolon said. Emmanuel recognized early on that "sustainability sells" and that new parks are revenue generators, attracting investors, increasing property tax revenues and creating jobs, according to the study. "It is important to note that the 606 was intended to address real, documented needs and deficiencies in park access and active transportation routes, and that several community organizers we interviewed felt that the mayor's office co-opted these environmental justice efforts to deliver on his campaign promise to complete this signature project during his first term," the researchers wrote. In the case of the 606 Trail, the green growth machinewhich are coalitions of developers and elected officials that use sustainability to drive economic developmentused the popularity and the apolitical nature of sustainability and the trail's potential public health benefits to accelerate the planning process and push the project through with little resistance, Rigolon said. Although many residents of the park-poor neighborhoods near the trail supported the project initially, less than a year after it opened hundreds of demonstrators marched along it in protest of rent and property value increases. In analyzing census data for the period 2010-2016, Rigolon and Nemeth found that the median monthly rent on tracts bordering the trail increased by $201, nearly double the average increase of $102 for the city of Chicago. During that time period, tracts bordering the trail also experienced an influx of non-Hispanic whites, with this racial/ethnic group increasing by 4.83 percent on these properties compared with an increase of 0.56 percent citywide. Accordingly, Rigolon and Nemeth found that the median household income of people living on tracts bordering the trail jumped by $14,682, compared with an average citywide increase of $3,557 during the same time period. "These quantitative analyses corroborated claims by several interviewees that although neighborhoods along the 606 had started to see gentrification in the 2000s, the trail's construction served to accelerate these trends, particularly in close proximity to the project itself," Rigolon and Nemeth wrote. However, when affordable housing advocates raised concerns, the Trust for Public Land had neither the expertise or the authority to address them, a representative of the group told the researchers. Likewise, a city official told them that municipal departmentswith their disparate mandates, funding sources and expertisehad no centralized mechanism for responding either, which resulted in failure "to connect the dots between critical environmental, health and affordability challenges." The researchers suggest that emerging coalitions of housing and environmental nonprofits such as the Los Angeles Regional Open Space and Affordable Housing Collective provide a promising way forward to address environmental gentrification concerns proactively. More information: Alessandro Rigolon et al, "We're not in the business of housing:" Environmental gentrification and the nonprofitization of green infrastructure projects, Cities (2018). Alessandro Rigolon et al, "We're not in the business of housing:" Environmental gentrification and the nonprofitization of green infrastructure projects,(2018). DOI: 10.1016/j.cities.2018.03.016 Credit: CC0 Public Domain On a recent weekday morning, hundreds of passengers lined up at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport to board Japan Airlines Flight 11 to Tokyo. After a standard check of boarding passes and passports, passengers were asked to do one more thing before walking down the jet bridgepose for a picture. The facial recognition capturesusing tablet-sized monitors with camerastake a few seconds each and are used to keep record of people exiting the country. The scene is one from a rapidly approaching biometric future at U.S. airports that could bring facial and fingerprint scanning technologies to points throughout the travel journey, from self-checking a bag and navigating security checkpoints to boarding a plane and renting a car at your final destination. It's a world that promises increased security and new convenience for passengers that airlines and airports are quickly rushing toward, even as the technology raises a new round of questions about privacy. DFW is one of many large airports around the world embracing the technology, with a pilot program currently being run at two gates operated by Japan Airlines and British Airways in Terminal D. DFW plans to bring the facial recognition technology to more than 75 gates in the coming months, where it will be used to track people leaving the country by comparing their facial captures to an existing government database culled from passport or visa photos. This month, the company signed a two-year, $630,000 contract to license biometric software. For now, the facial screening is predominantly aimed at foreign nationalsU.S. passport holders can opt outto comply with federal requirements put in place after Sept. 11, 2001, to better track people entering and exiting the country. But airports, airlines and technology makers see widespread possibilities for biometrics. DFW is looking into bringing biometric technology into its international arrivals hall to speed up customs lines. Next year, it will pilot a program for a DFW-to-London flight that will give passengers the option to use biometric technologies at as many points along the journey as possible, from booking to their hotel. The airport's strategy is to leave as much of the decision-making up to passengers about how and when they make use of the technology, said Julio Badin, DFW's senior vice president of customer experience. "The experience itself will be much more seamless; the customer is now even more in charge of how they want to use it," Badin said. "A simple example would be I don't have to take out my passport, I don't have to take my ticket. ... It really simplifies the things that don't have to be difficult." A recent study by technology provider SITA found that while only one in five global airlines have major biometrics programs in place, more than half are researching the technology or have tests underway. By 2021, about half expect to have biometrics play a role in the boarding process. Delta and JetBlue have led the way among U.S. airlines, with Delta beginning tests as far back as 2016. In September, the Atlanta-based carrier announced an end-to-end process at one of the terminals at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport that covers check-in, luggage drop, the security checkpoint, boarding flights and arrival processing at customs. American Airlines recently began testing the technology for international departures at Los Angeles International Airport and is looking at other ways to incorporate it, spokesman Ross Feinstein said. "It takes a lot of collaboration to make this work. ... We want to see how the technology works within our systems," he said. "We're going to have to continue to figure out how we can make the process easier for our customers while enhancing aviation security. ... We also have to maintain the privacy of our passengers." Passenger privacy is one of a number of legal and technical concerns that biometrics technology will have to address before it becomes widespread. While airports, airlines and government agencies maintain that protecting passenger data is a top priority, a 2017 report by the Georgetown Law Center on Privacy and Technology raised questions about increasing government surveillance and how accessible the data is to third parties using the technology. "If the federal government is going to use biometric technologies on American citizens, then three things, as a baseline, should be true," said Harrison Rudolph, who co-authored the report. "Compelling evidence should exist to show biometrics are necessary, the technology should be proven to be accurate, unbiased and privacy protective, and the legal authority should be crystal clear. (The Department of Homeland Security) has come up short on all three." Concerns about the accuracy and reliability of face-scanning technologies have been raised as well, with a recent audit from the DHS Office of the Inspector General showing that biometric technology was only able to confirm the identity of 85 percent of passengers screened over several months in 2017. Reasons for that ranged from network connectivity issues to lack of staff and rushed boarding processes, and the report also found the technology performed worse for certain demographics, including younger and older travelers. The report commended Customs and Border Protection for the "considerable progress" made, but said results from the 2017 pilot "calls into question" the CBP's ability to further scale the program to full capacity by 2021. On its website, CBP states that it's "fully committed to meeting existing privacy laws and regulations." Images captured of passengers are only accessible by the CBP and are routinely discarded12 hours after verification in the case of U.S. citizens and 14 days for noncitizens. While airlines, airports, federal agencies and consumer advocates continue to sort out these issues, the deployment of biometric technologies continues to pick up pace and is beginning to show the myriad ways it can be used. In August, facial recognition technology flagged a traveler arriving in Washington, D.C., from Brazil who presented a French passport that wasn't his. The system used software developed by Japanese-company NEC Corp., which has its North American headquarters in Irving and is positioning itself to be a major player in the biometric age. "It's about helping airports and airlines become more efficient while giving the best travel experience," NEC Corp. of America spokesman John Wise said. Explore further Delta to use facial recognition in Atlanta's international terminal 2018 The Dallas Morning News Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Credit: CC0 Public Domain Internal emails at Facebook Inc., including those involving Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg, were published online by a committee of U.K. lawmakers investigating social media's role in the spread of fake news. The documents, which had been sealed by a California court, led lawmakers to conclude that Facebook undertook deals with third party apps that continued to allow access to personal data. Damian Collins, head of the committee, added that Facebook shut off access to data required by competing apps, conducted global surveys of the usage of mobile apps by customers possibly without their knowledge, and that a change to Facebook's Android app policy that resulted in call and message data being recorded was deliberately made difficult for users to know about. In one email, dated Jan. 23 2013, a Facebook engineer contacted Zuckerberg to say that rival Twitter Inc. had launched its Vine video-sharing tool, which users could connect to Facebook to find their friends there. The engineer suggested shutting down Vine's access to the friends feature, to which Zuckerberg replied, "Yup, go for it." "We don't feel we have had straight answers from Facebook on these important issues, which is why we are releasing the documents," said Collins in a Twitter post accompanying the published emails. The senior lawmaker said last week that he would release the emails and that he was free under U.K. law to do so. He'd obtained the documents after compelling the founder of U.S. software company Six4Three to hand them over during a business trip to London. A spokesman for Facebook was unable to immediately comment. Six4Three's founder, Ted Kramer, had obtained them as part of a legal discovery process in a U.S. lawsuit against Facebook that his company has brought against the social network in California. Facebook touted itself as championing privacy four years ago when it decided to restrict outsider developers' access to data about its users' friends. In one email, dated Feb. 4, 2015, a Facebook engineer said a feature of the Android Facebook app that would "continually upload" a user's call and SMS history would be a "high-risk thing to do from a PR perspective." A subsequent email suggests users wouldn't need to be prompted to give permission for this feature to be activated. Kramer was ordered by a judge on Friday to surrender his laptop to a forensic expert after admitting he turned over the documents to the British lawmakers, in violation of a U.S. court order. "What has happened here is unconscionable," California Superior Court Judge V. Raymond Swope said to Kramer and his attorneys during the hearing. Facebook wants the laptop to be evaluated to determine what happened in the U.K., to what extent the court order was breached, and how much of its confidential information has been divulged to the committee. Explore further Facebook accused of giving access to users' data 2018 Bloomberg News Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Carlos Ghosn's November 19 arrest in Tokyo shook the business world, where he has long been a highly regarded top executive Tokyo prosecutors have decided to indict Nissan as well as its former chairman Carlos Ghosn and another executive as early as next week over alleged financial misconduct, a report said Friday. The report comes amid speculation that Ghosn and his right-hand man Greg Kelly will face new allegations related to under-reporting of the auto titan's compensation. The pair were arrested on November 19 on suspicion of conspiring to understate Ghosn's pay by some five billion yen ($44 million) in official filings during the five years up to March 2015. The Nikkei business daily reported Friday that Ghosn and Kelly would likely be indicted on those allegations as soon as Monday, when their current detention period expires. The daily said prosecutors had decided that Nissan was also responsible for the alleged financial wrong-doing and would bring charges against the firm. It reported that Nissan's chief executive Hiroto Saikawa signed documents discussing payment and employment for Ghosn after his term as chairman. But prosecutors reportedly doubt Saikawa was involved in the under-reporting, though he may face questions about failing to correct the false reports even though he apparently had opportunities to do, the Nikkei said. Under Japanese law, prosecutors can hold suspects for up to 22 days while investigating a single allegation. But they can seek an additional 22 days of detention for each new accusation against a suspect. Reports suggest Ghosn and Kelly could face a new accusation related to under-reporting of the former chairman's compensation by another four billion yen ($35.5 billion) over the last three years. The new accusation is also expected to be announced next week. Japanese prosecutors said they could not comment on the report and Nissan said only that it was cooperating with the prosecutor's office. "The company has been... fully cooperating with its investigation. We will continue to do so," spokesman Nicholas Maxfield told AFP. Neither Ghosn nor Kelly have yet been officially charged, and they deny any wrongdoing. Ghosn's November 19 arrest in Tokyo shook the business world, where he has long been a highly regarded top executive. In Japan, Ghosn was celebrated as a charismatic business leader who saved Nissan from the brink of failure and rebuilt it as a money-maker in the alliance with Renault. But since his shock arrest, he has been removed from the boards of Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors. Nissan has begun the process of choosing Ghosn's successor, with the final decision expected on December 17. Explore further Nissan chief Ghosn arrested over financial misconduct: reports 2018 AFP Since March 2017, the NELIOTA project has been monitoring the dark side of the moon for flashes of light caused by tiny pieces of rock striking the moon's surface. Credit: NELIOTA project Every few hours observing the moon, ESA's 'NELIOTA' project discovers a brilliant flash of light across its surface the result of an object hurtling through space and striking our unprotected rocky neighbour at vast speed. Based at the Kryoneri telescope of the National Observatory of Athens, this important project is now being extended to January 2021. From the moon's past, to Earth's future Impact flashes are referred to as 'transient lunar phenomena', because although common, they are fleeting occurrences, lasting just fractions of a second. This makes them difficult to study, and because the objects that cause them are too small to see, impossible to predict. For this reason scientists are studying lunar flashes with great interest, not only for what they can tell us about the moon and its history, but also about Earth and its future. By observing lunar impacts, NELIOTA (NEO Lunar Impacts and Optical TrAnsients) aims to determine the size and distribution of near-Earth objects (NEOs) meteoroids, asteroids or comets. With this information, the risk these space rocks pose to Earth can be better understood. The world's largest eye on the moon In February 2017, a 22-month campaign began to observe lunar flashes with the 1.2 metre Kryoneri telescope, the largest telescope on Earth to monitor the moon. The flashes of light caused by lunar impacts are far dimmer than the sunlight reflected off the moon. For this reason, we can only observe these impacts on the moon's 'dark side' between New moon and First Quarter, and between Last Quarter and New moon. The moon must also be above the horizon, and observations require a fast-frame camera, such as the Andor Zyla sCMOS used in the NELIOTA project. SMART-1 view of Shackleton crater at lunar South Pole. Credit: ESA/Space-X (Space Exploration Institute), CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO To date, in the 90 hours of possible observation time that these factors allowed, 55 lunar impact events have been observed. Extrapolating from this data, scientists estimate that there are, on average, almost 8 flashes per hour across the entire surface of the moon. With the extension of this observing campaign to 2021, further data should improve impact statistics. The NELIOTA system is the first to use a 1.2 m-telescope for monitoring the moon, and as such is able to detect flashes two magnitudes fainter than other lunar monitoring programs, which typically use 0.5 m-telescopes or smaller. Another unique feature of the NELIOTA project is its ability to monitor the moon in two 'photometric bands', which recently enabled the first-ever refereed publication to determine the temperature of lunar impact flashes ranging from 1300 C to 2800 C. A modern approach to an ancient phenomenon For at least a thousand years, people claim to have spotted flashes lighting up regions of the moon, yet only recently have we had telescopes and cameras powerful enough to characterise the size, speed, and frequency of these events. While our planet has lived with the risk, and reality, of bombardment from objects in space for as long as it has been in existence, we are now able to monitor our skies with more accuracy than ever before. Locations of lunar impact flashes. Credit: NELIOTA project The NELIOTA project relies on funding from ESA's Science programme, and is one exciting part of ESA's Space Situational Awareness programme, which is building infrastructure in space and on the ground to improve our monitoring and understanding of potential Earth hazards. The programme is currently in the process of setting up a network of Flyeye telescopes across the globe, to scan the skies for risky asteroids, including those that could hit the moon. In the future, ESA will move towards mitigation and active planetary defence, and is currently planning the ambitious Hera mission to test asteroid deflection. Explore further Temperature of lunar flashes measured for the first time A team of researchers has developed a method to investigate the structures of polymers that are sensitive to external stimuli. Left to right, Yaxin An, Karteek Bejagam, and Sanket Deshmukh. Credit: Virginia Tech Polymersmolecules of repeating chemicalsare the basis of many materials: plastic water bottles, rubber tires, even the keratin in your hair. When certain kinds of polymers are sensitive to changes in external stimuli such as temperature, they become helpful, particularly in biomedical applications like drug delivery, tissue engineering, and gene delivery. A team of researchers led by Sanket Deshmukh, assistant professor of chemical engineering, has developed a method to investigate the structures of polymers that are sensitive to external stimuli. In a recently published journal article in the Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, the group developed a first-of-its-kind, temperature-independent computational model for one particular polymer that is sensitive to temperature. Simulation trajectories of this computational model were analyzed by using a data-driven machine-learning method. The group chose the polymer poly(N-isopropylacrylamide), also known as PNIPAM, which is temperature sensitive. Unlike most materials, this thermosensitive polymer dissolves in water at temperatures below 32 and is insoluble at higher temperaturesthe reverse of most materials. The temperature at which the polymer's behavior changes is known as a lower critical solution temperature. The thermosensitive polymer's uniquely lower critical solution temperature can be altered, however, by incorporating groups of atoms that control the way the polymer reacts to changes in the surrounding temperature. Adding atoms to the thermosensitive polymer that like or dislike water allows the polymer to change its lower critical solution temperature to be close to the human body temperature of 37 valuable for controlled drug delivery applications. A type of computational model Deshmukh's team has developed for the thermosensitive polymer is called a coarse-grained model, where a group of atoms is arranged together in the model in what's known as a bead. Moreover, this is a first-ever attempt to utilize a specific data-driven machine-learning approach, called a non-metric multidimensional scaling method, to analyze molecular dynamics simulation trajectories of a coarse-grained model of a temperature-sensitive polymer. "This analysis shows the presence of multiple metastable states of PNIPAM during its conformational transition above the lower critical solution temperature, which provides entirely new insights on this process," Deshmukh said. "Development of accurate coarse-grained models is a very challenging task because one needs to capture the interactions between the polymer with itself and between the polymer and water molecules very precisely," said Karteek Bejagam, a post-doctoral researcher in Deshmukh's lab and a lead author of the study. "Specifically, the subtle balance in the interactions between the polymer and water must be captured accurately so that it can reproduce the solubility behavior of polymers at different temperatures." "We know the model works, because it held up even under varying conditions," said Yaxin An, a third year Ph.D. student in Deshmukh's group. "It's fantastic to see the behavior as expected both on the computer and in reality." Experimentally, several factors have been reported to affect the lower critical solution temperature of the thermosensitive polymer. For example, the polymer's backbone tacticitya term denoting a particular arrangement of moleculescan alter the observed lower critical solution temperature in the range of 17 to 34 . "This new coarse-grained model of PNIPAM was built such that it can retain the taciticity of PNIPAM and hence can capture effects observed in laboratory experiments," said Samrendra Singh, a visiting scholar in Deshmukh's group. This research used the Cori supercomputer at the Department of Energy's National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center to develop these models. The extensive validation of the model was done at Advanced Research Computing at Virginia Tech. At present, Deshmukh's group is utilizing the model of the thermosensitive polymer to simulate complex architectures with the goal of providing insights on the structures on individual polymer chains present in these materials, which are otherwise inaccessible even with the existing advancements in the experimental techniques. Explore further Researchers report a temperature-responsive gel that absorbs and releases moisture More information: Karteek K. Bejagam et al. Machine-Learning Enabled New Insights into the Coil-to-Globule Transition of Thermosensitive Polymers Using a Coarse-Grained Model, The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters (2018). Journal information: Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters Karteek K. Bejagam et al. Machine-Learning Enabled New Insights into the Coil-to-Globule Transition of Thermosensitive Polymers Using a Coarse-Grained Model,(2018). DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.8b02956 Credit: Swedish Institute of Space Physics Computer simulations of the plumes of liquid water that stream out of Jupiter's moon Europa show that the forthcoming space mission JUICE may offer an answer to the question as to whether the Jovian moon's subsurface ocean could harbour life. Hans Huybrighs comes to this conclusion in the doctoral thesis he has recently completed at the Max-Planck Institute of Solar System Physics and the Technical University Braunschweig, Germany, in collaboration with the Swedish Institute of Space Physics in Kiruna. A deep ocean of liquid water is hidden under the icy surface of Jupiter's moon Europa. Life might have developed here, shielded from sunlight and curious observers from planet Earth. Peeping through the ice to find traces of this hypothetical life is easier said than done, especially when you realize that the ice could be several kilometres thick. In 2022 the European Space Agency (ESA) will launch its space mission JUpiter ICy moon Explorer (JUICE). The JUICE spacecraft will arrive at Jupiter and its icy moons in 2030 and on board will be the Particle Environment Package (PEP) developed at the Swedish Institute of Space Physics (IRF). New research shows that PEP, an instrument consisting of several particle detectors, will be able to "taste" the plume in different ways and shed some light on the contents of Europa's ocean. Observations from the Hubble Space Telescope of Jupiter's moon Europa, made in recent years, have shown that water is erupting from Europa's surface. "Europa's plumes are the most straight-forward way to taste its subsurface ocean," says Hans Huybrighs. "Flying through one of the plumes of water and taking samples of the material could be the easiest way to study Europa's ocean. JUICE will be the first mission that might be able to do this." After its arrival at the Jupiter system in 2030, JUICE will make two flybys of Europa. To figure out if JUICE will indeed be able to sample the plumes, Hans Huybrighs and his colleagues made computer simulations of the plume eruptions. By calculating the trajectories of millions of particles launched by the eruption, it is possible to determine if the particles can reach the spacecraft and, if enough of them do, to detect them. The simulations show that though most of the particles fall back to the surface after the eruption, enough of them can reach the JUICE spacecraft as long as a plume is active near the spacecraft's orbital footprint. Interestingly, some of particles won't fall back. They become electrically charged after being bombarded by radiation particles moving in Jupiter's strong magnetic field. These newly-charged particles are no longer bound by gravity and will move away from Europa, guided by electromagnetic fields. Even though only a fraction of the plume particles become electrically charged, enough of these particles can still be detected by the PEP instrument. "Our simulations show that JUICE will be able to detect the plume eruptions in at least two different ways," says Hans Huybrighs. "It might even be possible to detect not only the water of the plume, but other substances that tell us more about the contents of the sub-surface ocean and its habitability as well." Hans Huybrighs defended his doctoral thesis, "A search for signatures of Europa's atmosphere and plumes in Galileo charged particle data", at the Technical University Braunschweig, Germany, on 5 December 2018. Explore further ESA's JUICE spacecraft could detect water from plumes erupting on Europa Credit: CC0 Public Domain Qualcomm said Tuesday that another milestone has been hit in efforts to bring ultra-fast 5G wireless devices to consumers next year when a smartphone using its latest modem chip operated on a 5G network at an event in Hawaii. Verizon conducted the 5G demonstration on its network using a Samsung prototype device with Qualcomm's X50 modem at Maui hotel where the San Diego cellular technology giant is holding its annual Snapdragon Technology Summit this week. Along with Verizon, AT&T also served up 5G demonstrations, and BT Group in the United Kingdom and Telstra in Australia attended to talk about the coming rollout of 5G starting next year. Network launches are expected in North America, Europe, Japan, South Korea, Australia and China. "Through our close collaboration with Qualcomm Technologies, Verizon reached a number of milestones over the last year to help make 5G a reality for consumers in 2019," said Nicki Palmer, chief network engineering officer for Verizon. Samsung, Ericsson and other equipment and device makers also attended. San Diego's Inseego, formerly Novatel Wireless, said a new 5G mobile hotspot using Qualcomm's technology that is expected to be launched on Verizon's network next year. Qualcomm is betting big that 5G will jump start the saturated smartphone market. The technology promises to deliver fiber-optic-like speeds to wireless devices with imperceptible transmission delays. If 5G quickly gains traction with consumers next year, it also could help push forward a resolution in Qualcomm's wide-ranging legal war with Apple. Apple uses Intel chips to link iPhones to cellular networks. Qualcomm is believed to have a technology lead on Intel in 5G though it's unclear how much. Intel has said it will have 5G chips ready for the second half of 2019 but hasn't announced customers. Qualcomm claims that 18 device makers signed up to use its chips in 5G devices next year. The company says it's ready to deliver 5G not only using so called sub- 6 gigahertz airwave frequencies which are akin to those used now for 4Gbut also millimeter wave frequencies. Millimeter wave has some tricky technical challenges because the frequencies are prone to interference and do not travel far. But Qualcomm has developed beam forming antenna modules and other techniques to enable millimeter wavewhich would add massive wireless capacity to cellular networks. That capacity could potentially power data plans with unlimited video streaming. In addition to touting 5G, Qualcomm introduced its latest chip for smartphones. Called the Snapdragon 855, the new flagship processor will support 5G devices, with beefed up processing speeds, artificial intelligence, camera and mobile gaming capabilities. In addition, Qualcomm re-launched its ultrasonic, under-glass fingerprint sensor technology, called the Qualcomm 3-D Sonic Sensor. The company says it can accurately detect fingerprints even through contaminants. The under-screen sensor allows smartphone makers to build devices with edge-to-edge screens and still have high levels of security, according to Qualcomm. "Today marks a massive and exciting step forward underscoring how Qualcomm Technologies and ecosystem leaders are driving 5G commercialization, a journey that went from R&D, accelerated standardization and trials, the launch of innovative products and technologies, to the imminent launch of 5G networks and smartphones across the globe starting in early 2019," said Qualcomm President Cristiano Amon. Explore further Qualcomm says it has developed antenna technologies to power super fast 5G smartphones 2018 The San Diego Union-Tribune Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. In 1799, the German anatomist Samuel Thomas Soemmerring authored 'images of human embryos': two large copper plates with ten pages of Latin text. This article features details from the first plate, depicting 'embryos' between the third week and the fourth month of pregnancy in seventeen steps. It is generally regarded as the first connected series showing not just growth, but also an increase in complexity through human development. Credit: Cambridge University Library The first book to take in 3,000 years of baby-making shows how women functioned as "vessels" in early ideas of creation, until the ancient Greeks established theories of "dual contributionwhether two seeds or two soulsthat dominated beliefs about how everything multiplied for centuries to come. This notion of "generation", when two individuals combine to produce new life, was understood as an "active making of humans, beasts, plants and even minerals". Likened to artisanal processes such as baking and brewing, say researchers, it shaped cultural and religious doctrine right up to the 19th century. From the 1740s, new science promoted a fresh concept: reproduction. The book's authors show how this more abstract view gave us the sperm and egg, "test-tube" conception outside bodies, and all the language and ethical dilemmas we live with todayfrom population anxieties to surrogate mothers. Published by Cambridge University Press, Reproduction: Antiquity to the Present Day is the first major synthesis of decades of scholarship comprising millennia of human attempts to make (and not make) more of ourselves, other animals and plants. Led by three University of Cambridge academics, and pooling the expertise of historians from across Cambridge and around the world, the book is the culmination of a five-year project funded by the Wellcome Trust. "When we talk about major issues facing global society today, from climate change and migration to childcare and medical ethics, then to a large extent we are talking about reproduction: how it happens and how it should," says Professor Nick Hopwood, from Cambridge's Department of History and Philosophy of Science. "Reproduction has always been important, but in different ways. To provide a long-term perspective, we wanted to look deep into the history of reproductive practices and beliefs." Hopwood co-edited the book with Cambridge colleagues Professor Lauren Kassell and Dr. Rebecca Flemming. Over its 44 chapters and 40 'exhibits', the lavishly illustrated volume features contributions from nearly 70 leading researchers. Flemming, from Cambridge's Faculty of Classics, directs the first section, which takes the reader from antiquity to the early middle ages, and tells the story of the "invention of generation". "The framework of 'generation' produced in classical Greece gave important, if unequal, roles to both women and men. This contrasted with the exclusive emphasis on masculine potency creating life and the cosmos that dominated Egypt and the ancient Near East," says Flemming. Women and procreation became an integral part of the thriving Greek medicinethe "Hippocratic gynaecologyof the fifth and fourth centuries BC. Female "seed" and blood provided vital contributions, and the child "grew like rising bread dough" in the womb. Cures for infertility and instructions for safe birthing were prominent. Philosophers including Aristotle grappled with "coming to be" in all its manifestations, along with the ideal population size for a state and how to achieve it, while farmers applied burgeoning livestock techniques. As different areas of the Mediterranean world converged, so too did ideas of generation. Greece gave way to Rome, and, according to Flemming, "the imperial metropolis of the second century AD was where the physician Galen put seeds, womb and menstrual blood into their most influential arrangement". This would hold through the religious and political changes of the next centuries. Societies were still highly patriarchal, however. Romans mapped male physiology onto female bodies, says Flemming: ovaries were women's testicles, the uterus was a deflated scrotum and a weak female 'sperma' was designed to lock in male seed. "Women were viewed as inferior versions of men due to their apparent 'mutilations' for accommodating babies." The front cover of the new book Reproduction: Antiquity to the Present Day. Credit: Cambridge University Press Lauren Kassell of Cambridge's Department of History and Philosophy of Science oversees the medieval and early modern periods, when theories of 'generation' expanded. Scientific inquiry was applied to distant lands and microscopic structures, and women and artisans joined in debates. "Numerous Greek works were translated into Arabic from the eighth century. Scholars from Asia and Egypt reworked theories about the importance of the female seed and the formation of the fetuschallenging older authorities," says Kassell. Following the devastation of the Black Death, Christian clergy were instructed to counsel parishioners about sex to encourage "fruitful marriages". Influenced by sex-positive attitudes from Arabic texts, church law supported spousal obligations to "honour each other's desire for sexual gratification". Lineage, paramount to social order, was threatened by women having children outside marriage, although men were free to do sowith theories of family resemblance invoked in cases of disputed paternity. While unwed women feared pregnancy, Kassell says that moral and medical advisors continued to be more interested in promoting rather than limiting fertility. "Questions about pregnancy defined early modern medical encounters. Seventeenth-century medical casebooks reveal diagnostic approaches for female fertility that are superficially familiar to modern readers, such as observing changes to a woman's body and examining her urine, as well as the more otherworldly interpretations of the positions of the stars." Within households, fertility was the business of men as well as women. Some husbands charted their wives' menstruation cycles. The book features diary sections written by the mathematician and occult philosopher John Dee, in which he recorded his wife Jane's periods alongside notes about meetings with Elizabeth I. Hopwood guides readers into the era of 'reproduction': a long revolution not just in society and culture, thought and technology, but also in terminology. The word is older, but its modern use began in earnest in the 1740s, when experiments to regenerate tiny freshwater animals after cutting or sieving provided a model for reproduction in general. It was not until the 1870s, however, that a scientific consensus emerged on the roles of eggs and sperm in fertilization. (In 1827, the same year he discovered the mammalian egg, embryologist Karl Ernst von Baer named 'spermatozoa' but dismissed them as parasites.) "As European birth-rates fell, reproduction became linked to worries about the quality as well as the quantity of populations, including nationalist fantasies of racial vigour," says Hopwood. These would result in some of humanity's darkest hours. People in industrialized countries increasingly limited the size of their families in the early 20th century, while governments initially fought contraception and abortion. Some worried that state control of reproduction would lead doctors to create humans "as farmers breed their beasts". Others were more concerned that maternal mortality stayed stubbornly high. As reproduction moved centre stage after World War II, science and medicine took ever more important roles in childbirth (now safer), contraception (now respectable), and attempts to alleviate infertility. Feminist activists campaigned against "battery births" and for "a woman's right to choose". Environmentalists promoted population control. Hopwood contributes a chapter on the strange history of artificial fertilization, taking in horse-semen thieves,test-tube sea urchins, experiments to produce human-orangutan hybrids, and fertility magnates promising Nobel Laureate sperm. More routinely, over five million IVF babies have now been born around the world, though assisted conception is provided through the market more than by states. The book closes with contemporary phenomena, from egg freezing and "repro-travel" to food security and infant mortality, and the media debates that shape attitudes towards them. "Today, reproduction happens on screens as well as in bedrooms, clinics and barns," says Hopwood. The editors hope the book's extraordinary chronological range will give readers new insights into the past and prompt reflection on current challenges. "Long views reveal continuities we miss by focusing on a mere century or two, but the very similarities direct attention to the specifics of change," Hopwood adds. Explore further Study finds no increased risk of womb or breast cancer after fertility treatment Credit: CC0 Public Domain Otago researchers have discovered a rare case of genetic population discontinuity on the Mediterranean Island of Ibiza. Essentially, the original genetic signature of the founding female population, handed down through centuries on Ibiza has been replaced, prompting a change in understanding of the island's genetic history. Ancient DNA from Ibiza demonstrates a clear genetic discontinuity in the maternal lineages of the early Phoenician settlers and the modern inhabitants of the island according to a study published in Scientific Reports. The study was led by Professor Lisa Matisoo-Smith and her team from the University of Otago, New Zealand, and Professor Pierre Zalloua of the Lebanese American University, Beirut, with the collaboration of researchers from the Institute of Evolutionary Biology (Universitat Pompeu Fabra-CSIC), Barcelona, the Archaeological Museum of Ibiza and archaeologists from Lebanon and Italy. The team analysed mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), which is maternally inherited, from archaeological Phoenician remains and from modern inhabitants of Ibiza. They also obtained whole genome data (representing their total ancestry from both parents) from one ancient Phoenician individual. Arriving from Cadiz, on the Iberian mainland, the Phoenicians first settled on the strategic island of Ibiza around 654 BCE and remained the main inhabitants of Ibiza for about seven centuries. Burial rituals and other archaeological findings at the Puig des Molins necropolis of Ibiza provide evidence for a second population influx from Carthage or other Punic settlements in the Mediterranean, coinciding with a period of prosperity and major development of the island around 5th BCE. After the 2nd Punic War, Ibiza started a long process of integration of Ibiza into the Roman Empire, followed by the Islamic conquest of the island around 900 CE. Beginning around 1200 CE Ibiza was the recipient of migrations from the Iberian and Southern European mainland. Based on the mtDNA results, the study showed clear genetic discontinuity between the early Phoenician settlers and the modern inhabitants of the island. "Thus, the unusual genetic signature that has previously been identified in modern Ibizans does not appear to be the result of their Phoenician ancestry, at least from a maternal perspective," explains Professor Matisoo-Smith. Multiple population arrivals through invasions or other movements combined with periods of population instability after the early Phoenician settlement seems to have led to a reshuffling of the genetic makeup of this island. "It is fascinating to see that the ancient maternal lineages were replaced over time. Today the mitochondrial DNA lineages in indigenous Ibizans appear to be most closely related to those of modern French, which may indicate a Catalonian connection," adds Professor Zalloua. While ancient DNA evidence generated over the last few years does now show us that there were population replacements in deep time, for example in Europe when farmers moved into western Europe several thousands of years ago and replaced many hunter-gatherer populations, we do not often see genetic replacement during more recent times. Despite the lack of continuity observed in the mitochondrial genomes, previous Y chromosome analyses suggest that there is still some Phoenician signature in the modern Ibizan population. The whole genome data obtained from one ancient Phoenician from Ibiza belonged to an individual with a European maternal lineage but with a significant Eastern Mediterranean component to their genetic ancestry, indicating an admixed Phoenician community in Ibiza during the 3rd century BCE. This result is consistent with the archaeological evidence and further indicates that diversity and integration was a hallmark of Phoenician societies. The results are consistent with historical evidence suggesting that Phoenician influence in the West was male dominated and indicates that there was not a total replacement of the Ibizan founding population, however, we now know that the genetic distinctness of the modern indigenous inhabitants of Ibiza is not due to Phoenician ancestry as has often been suggested. Further whole genome data is needed to help us understand why and how the genetic makeup of the Ibizan population changed over time. For example, disease or social impacts like war or famine may have played a major role in shaping the genetic makeup of the population of the island. A third part of all fluvial systems in Spain presents high salinization, an environmental problem with severe environmental, economic and health impacts worldwide. Credit: Ruben Ladrera, University of La Rioja One out of three rivers in the Iberian Peninsula are highly salinized mainly due the impact of agricultural activity and urbanization. This environmental problem will affect hydric ecosystems due global warming, the growing use of water and the exploitation of soil natural resources. These are some of the dangers revealed in a special volume on salinization in water ecosystems, published this December in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, and edited by the experts Miguel Canedo-Arguelles, member of the research group Freshwater Ecology, Hydrology and Management (FEHM-UB) and the Water Research Institute of the University of Barcelona (IdRA), Ben Kefford (University of Canberra, Australia), and Ralf B. Schafer (University of Koblenz and Landau, Germany). Salinization is a serious environmental threat worldwide, and one of the most extreme cases is found in Australian rivers. In some fluvial basins of the peninsulaSoldevilla torrent in Sallent, the plain of Ebro River, or the region of Murciasome of the rivers' salinity is three or four times higher than the sea. In the European continent, salinization related to human activity is increasingly worrying, but there is a lack of regulation. High salinization in fluvial systems creates a serious ecological, economic and global health impact, in some cases related to the concentration of carcinogens in the water environment or metals released by pipe corrosion. Apart from damaging the systemic values of natural ecosystems, salinization makes the purification of water more expensive. One out of three rivers in Spain Salinization affects biodiversity and the functioning of water ecosystems directly, "but we need a lot of baseline information on organisms, communities and ecosystems to predict their effects," says Miguel Canedo-Arguelles, postdoctoral researcher from the Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences of the UB. "We can only create efficient models to predict and mitigate the salinization effects on water ecosystems once we have this base-line information," he adds. The map of the rivers that are affected by salinization in Spaina third of all current fluvial systemswill be wider, according to the new study, which analyzes the main causes of salinization and creates future predictions about climate change and the uses of soil. Mining, agriculture and farming and regime changes in precipitation, which limit the dilution of salt in rivers, are drawn as the main threats for the environmental health of rivers regarding salinization. When aquatic fauna collapses due high salinization Some organisms die due the effect of exposure to an aquatic overconcentration of salt. Experts study how the physiology of aquatic insects is altered in rivers with salinization, since they have to adapt their metabolism to regulate the internal osmotic pressure and adapt to the environmental conditions. This adaptation process has a high energy cost and can affect vital functions and cause organisms to collapse (even in salt-tolerant waters). The authors analyse whether other aquatic insect species adapted to high salinity live in rivers with salinizationis it because they do not tolerate rivers with a lower amount of salt, or are there are other reasons? Evidence points to the fact that these salt-tolerant species can perfectly tolerate waters with less salt, but they colonize extreme habitats so as to avoid competitors and predators. According to the conclusions, the aquatic insects' response to the environmental conditions varies depending on how the salinity gradient goes: In high-salinization rivers, the number of species declines, while in rivers with less salt, the salt-tolerant organisms are replaced by freshwater species. Changes in the gallery forest landscape The common landscape in gallery forests is also altered due the effects of salinization. Apart from salt concentration in the water environment, there is a lower activity leaf decomposition as a result of the decline of insect populations that feed from it. Moreover, diluted salt is absorbed by trees, altering the conditions of palatability of gallery forest leaves, and this could affect aquatic fauna. Moreover, fungi and bacteria seem to show mechanisms to maintain their physiological efficiency in rivers with high levels of salt. How can we change the response of rivers with salinity? The new study reviews the effects that can modify the aquatic system response to salinization. "There are three fundamental factors to consider," says Miguel Canedo Arguelles. "In particular, the synergy with other factors that can interact with salinization (temperature rise, pollution due metals, etc.); water ionic decompositiondifferent ions have different toxicityand biogeographic factors (rivers without salinization nearby that can serve as a source for colonizer organisms) and evolutionary factors (generation of population of salt-resistant organisms)." The expansion of salt mines in Germany during the 1950s had a severe impact on the ecology of rivers (in particular the Werra and Wipper). The new study reveals these episodes of extreme salinization in water ecosystems in Germany, which caused the massive death of fish populations and the outcropping of toxic algae, among other environmental impacts. Today, some countries such as Australia and the United States have made some advances to regulate the level of salinization in rivers but the level of protection is not enough yet. "It is clear that the current legislation on salinization in aquatic ecosystems is too lax and incomplete, and we lack many efficient management measures," says Canedo-Arguelles. "The most important and urgent management measure is to establish limit concentrations of ions in water to protect biodiversity and the health of water ecosystems." Collaboration of all actors involved to activate the right preventive and management actions and therefore preserve the environmental health of fluvial systems which are threatened by the serious salinization problem, the experts warn. More information: Miguel Canedo-Arguelles et al. Salt in freshwaters: causes, effects and prospects - introduction to the theme issue, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences (2018). Journal information: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Miguel Canedo-Arguelles et al. Salt in freshwaters: causes, effects and prospects - introduction to the theme issue,(2018). DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2018.0002 Volgatitan simbirskiensis anterior caudal vertebra (holotype), in right lateral (A), anterior (B), left lateral (C), posterior (D), dorsal (E), and ventral (F) views; photographs. Credit: Alexander Averianov and Vladimir Efimov Paleontologists from Russia have described a new dinosaur, the Volgatitan. Seven of its fossilized vertebrae, buried in the ground for about 130 million years, were found on the banks of the Volga, not far from the village of Slantsevy Rudnik, five kilometers from Ulyanovsk. The study has been published in the latest issue of Biological Communications. The Volgatitan belongs to the group of sauropodsgiant herbivorous dinosaurs with a long necks and tails, which lived about 200 to 65 million years ago. Weighing around 17 tons, the ancient reptile from the banks of the Volga was not the largest among its relatives. The scientists described it from seven caudal vertebrae. The bones belonged to an adult dinosaur characterized by neural arches (parts of the vertebrae protecting the nerves and blood vessels), which completely merged with the bodies of the vertebrae. The remains of the dinosaur were discovered near the village of Slantsevy Rudnik. This is where, in 1982, Vladimir Efimov discovered three large vertebrae that had fallen out of a high cliff. Later, in 1984-1987, three nodules of limestone fell off, which contained the remaining vertebrae. In his works, the head of the Undorovsky Paleontology Museum called the unusual finds "giant vertebrae of unknown taxonomic affiliation." Alexander Averianov said, "In the early 1990s, Vladimir Efimov showed photographs of the bones to Lev Nesov, a well-known Leningrad paleontologist. Lev Nesov thought that the vertebrae belonged to sauropods, giant herbivorous dinosaurs. In 1997, Vladimir Efimov published a preliminary note about this find in the Paleontological Journal. He referred to the vertebrae as a sauropod of the Brachiosauridae family. Last July, I finally managed to visit him in Undory and study the bones, and also managed to determine that they belonged to the new taxon of titanosaurs." The dinosaur received a scientific nameVolgatitan simbirskiensis. It comes from the Volga River and the city of Simbirsk (currently, Ulyanovsk). Titans are ancient Greek gods known for their large size. Therefore, according to a paleontological tradition, this word is used in many scientific names of sauropods from the group of titanosaurs. It is also part of the name of the group. Today, along with the Volgatitan from Russia, 12 valid dinosaur taxa have been described. There are only three sauropods among them: Tengrisaurus starkovi, Sibirotitan astrosacralis and Volgatitan simbirskiensis. The first two are the first sauropods in Russia, which were also studied by St. Petersburg University scientists in 2017. According to Aleksandr Averianov, the description of dinosaur taxa in recent years has become possible due to progress in understanding the anatomy and phylogeny of dinosaurs. In addition, the Russian sauropod allowed scientists to learn more about how these species of ancient reptiles had lived and developed. "Previously, it was believed that the evolution of titanosaurs took place mainly in South America, with some taxa moving into North America, Europe and Asia only in the Late Cretaceous," explained the St. Petersburg University professor. In Asia, representatives of a broader group of titanosauriform, such as the recently described Siberian titanium, dominated in the early Cretaceous. However, the recent description of the Tengrisaurus from the Early Cretaceous of Transbaikal Region and the finding of the Volgatitan indicate that titanosaurs in the Early Cretaceous were distributed much more widely; and, perhaps, important stages of their evolution took place in Eastern Europe and Asia." Explore further Paleontologists discover new sauropod species in Argentina More information: et al, The oldest titanosaurian sauropod of the Northern Hemisphere, Biological Communications (2018). et al, The oldest titanosaurian sauropod of the Northern Hemisphere,(2018). DOI: 10.21638/spbu03.2018.301 Provided by AKSON Russian Science Communication Association Maohokite. Credit: CHEN Ming Scientists long believed that Earth's lower mantle was composed of Bridgmanite (Mg,Fe)SiO 3 and magnesiowustite (Mg,Fe)O, in which Fe2+ dwells. This view changed when experiments showed that Fe2+ simply can't exist at the pressure and temperature of the lower mantle. What is present is Fe3+. The two phases (Mg,Fe)SiO 3 and (Mg,Fe)O both shed Fe2+ and, in turn, MgSiO 3 and MgO remain. However, what mineral hosts Fe3+ had remained unknown. Now, scientists have a possible answer: Maohokite, a newly discovered high-pressure mineral. It may be what composes the Earth's lower mantle along with Bridgmanite MgSiO 3 and magnesiowustite MgO. The study reporting this new mineral was published in Meteoritics & Planetary Science. Maohokite was discovered by Chen Ming's team from the Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and SHU Jinfu from the Center for High Pressure Science and Technology Advanced Research. The mineral was named after Hokwang Mao, in honor of his great contribution to high-pressure research. The mineral and its name have been approved by the Commission on New Minerals, Nomenclature and Classification of the International Mineralogical Association under the designator IMA 2017-047. Natural minerals can be divided into two types: low-pressure minerals and high-pressure minerals, depending on their formation pressures. The pressure and temperature required for the formation of high-pressure minerals can only be provided by the environment of the mantle or the hypervelocity collision between celestial bodies. Maohokite is the second case. It was found in shock-metamorphosed rocks from the Xiuyan impact crater in China. This high-pressure mineral was formed from the decomposition of ferromagnesian carbonate via a self-oxidation-reduction reaction at a temperature >900 degrees C and impact pressure >25 GPa (a pressure range found at depths more than 670km below Earth's surface). In this reaction, Fe2+ oxidizes into Fe3+ and then later combines with Mg2+ to form maohokite, thus making it a possible important constituent of the lower mantle. Maohokite, with a composition of MgFe2O 4 , has an orthorhombic CaFe2O 4 -type structure. The existing mineralogical model of the Earth's mantle shows that the ferromagnesian lower mantle is mainly composed of Bridgmanite (Mg,Fe)SiO 3 and magnesiowustite (Mg,Fe)O. Therefore, the fact that Maohokite contains Mg and Fe, two major components of the lower mantle, only makes the case stronger that Maokohite is a key mineral in the lower mantle. Explore further Our planet's most abundant mineral now has a name More information: Ming Chen et al. Maohokite, a post-spinel polymorph of MgFe2 O4 in shocked gneiss from the Xiuyan crater in China, Meteoritics & Planetary Science (2018). Ming Chen et al. Maohokite, a post-spinel polymorph of MgFe2 O4 in shocked gneiss from the Xiuyan crater in China,(2018). DOI: 10.1111/maps.13222 Tumblrs new rules will likely shut much of the LGBTQ youth activity. Here a chaptered LGBTQ youth themed comic on Tumblr. Credit: Akshay Varaham As of Dec. 17, Tumblr will no longer allow "adult content," defined as that which shows "real-life human genitals or female-presenting nipples, and any content including photos, videos, GIFs and illustrations that depicts sex acts." Before this, the platform's lenient policies contrasted significantly with those of Facebook and Instagram, which have stricter content moderation guidelines. This update follows the removal of Tumblr's app from Apple's app store after child pornography was found on the platform. However, it also reflects broader changes following Verizon's acquisition of Yahoo, Tumblr's parent company. Katrin Tiidenberg, a researcher who has studied self-expression on Tumblr, conjectures that this change may have more to do with advertising sales than protecting users. Regardless of Tumblr's motives, this update will seriously affect LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer) youth who rely on Tumblr and its communities for self-discovery and support. 'Safer' online spaces Since LGBTQ identities have often been stigmatized, the internet has been pivotal in helping those with diverse gender and sexual identities learn about themselves and find each other. Tumblr has provided a safe space for this through many of its key features (e.g. pseudonymous accounts, reblogging) and the communities it attracts. Given this, it's not surprising that a large Australian survey found LGBTQ youth use Tumblr much more frequently than the rest of the population. Many respondents indicated content on Tumblr broadened their understanding of sexuality and gender and facilitated self-acceptance. Tumblr has served as an essential outlet for LGBTQ youth in relation to other popular platforms. Alexander Cho, a postdoctoral fellow at UC Irvine, has written about Tumblr's "queer ecosystem" where "users circulate porn, flirt, provide support to deal with homophobia as well as advice on coming out" Cho has found that queer youth of colour experience Facebook as a space of "default publicness" and prefer Tumblr for sharing intimate and personal content. LGBTQ people have also found Tumblr to be powerful for self-representation. Through sophisticated hashtagging practices, transgender people share art, stories and engage in dialogue that challenges cisgender norms. Researcher Tim Highfield and I have explored how sharing queer GIFs short, looping media not only allows LGBTQ youth to engage in Tumblr's fan communities but also playfully displays queer culture en masse. This broad representation of LGBTQ identities may dissuade homophobic harassment, as some of the queer women I've interviewed perceive less discrimination on Tumblr. What's porn got to do with it? Porn is a portion of the multiple forms of media resonating among LGBTQ users. This media allows them to knit together non-mainstream identities and survive in a world where heterosexuality is ubiquitously portrayed across social media and broadcast outlets. Not all LGBTQ content contains genitals, "female-presenting nipples" or sex acts, but not all content with these elements constitutes what we would generally think of as pornography. Much of the sexualized content circulated among LGBTQ Tumblr users make available depictions of sexuality that are frequently rendered invisible or marginalized. These can take the form of fan art, remixed film clips of sensual embraces and selfies. This media allows LGBTQ people to see themselves as sexual beings something that is particularly important for young people developing a sense of sexual and gender identity. Even if you disagree with teenagers accessing this type of content, Tumblr's new policy bans it for everyone regardless of age. Formerly, users could voluntarily mark their blogs as "NSFW" (Not Safe for Work) if they posted occasional nudity and "adult" if posting substantial nudity. This provided a sort of checkpoint to hinder younger users in accessing this content. Now even adults won't be able to access "adult content." This means that young people over 18, who may be facing formative life changes, like starting post-secondary education or moving away from home, won't have access to media that may help them learn about their identity and feel supported while doing so. Commercial platforms shape culture Strict content moderation policies tend to have negative outcomes for already marginalized users. In my research with Jean Burgess and Nicolas Suzor, we found that some queer women experienced Instagram's content moderation as overly stringent. Instagram asks users to report content and responds through automated mechanisms. Therefore, queer women's content was subject to removal based on other users' whims and the banning of certain hashtags like #lesbian. Tumblr's new updates promise a similar mixture of user reporting and automated content detection tools. Several scholars have begun to critically examine how platforms' decisions shape our social and cultural norms. In Canada, Chris Tenove, Heidi Tworek and Fenwick McKelvey have pointed out that content moderation is not standardized and lacks federal oversight. Platforms often apply content moderation categories, such as "adult content," without transparency or accountability. Tumblr's CEO, Jeff D'Onofrio, said: "There are no shortage of sites on the internet that feature adult content. We will leave it to them and focus our efforts on creating the most welcoming environment possible for our community." It seems that with this new change, youth who want to encounter sexual content will need to relocate. While some young people may turn to pornography sites, many of these sites are not designed with diverse sexual and gender identities in mind. Youth entering these sites may be more likely to encounter stigmatized, stereotypical and demeaning representations of women and transgender people. Even LGBTQ-friendly pornography sites don't have the elaborate community networks unique to Tumblr. Such communities help youth to make sense of sexual content in relation to who they are becoming as they grow up. Tumblr's decision means LGBTQ youth will have one less outlet where they can learn about sexual identity and gain support from peers who are like them and sharing content for them. Explore further Tumblr bans porn to clean up the blogging platform This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. 9 hours ago Will flight restrictions help as new virus variant emerges? A new coronavirus variant identified in southern Africa is leading to a new round of travel restrictions just as many had finally begun to ease. The risks of the variant, called omicron, are largely unknown. Read Article 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 Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed the consultations underway in Sweden between the two Yemeni warring sides and urged the parties to make progress by exercising flexibility and engaging in good faith and without pre-conditions. The Secretary-General appeals to the warring parties to continue the de-escalation in Hudaydah and explore other measures to mitigate the life threatening economic and humanitarian situation, said a statement issued by his Spokesman a few hours after talks commenced. He reminds the parties that a negotiated political settlement through inclusive intra-Yemeni dialogue is the only way to end the conflict and address the ongoing crisis. Special Envoy Martin Griffiths, the senior UN official facilitating inter-Yemeni talks, said that the resumption of the political process, after two-and-a-half years, is an important milestone and the presence of the two delegations shows that they are ready to work together. Let us be in no doubt that Yemens future is in the hands of those of us in this room, he told delegates, adding that the countrys institutions are at risk, the fragmentation of the country is an enormous concern and we must act now before we lose control of the future of Yemen. Later, he added that being together in the room demonstrated to each other, and most importantly to the people of Yemen that you are ready to come together in the name of a peaceful political solution to the conflict, Mr. Griffiths declared, addressing a press conference alongside Yemeni representatives and the Swedish Foreign Minister, Margot Wallstrom. The UN Special Envoy also highlighted that the calls made by leaders from both parties in recent weeks for reduction of violence and de-escalation of military operations, have formed an important backdrop for bringing the two sides together. Such a reduction of violence and restraint on the battlefield has a significant impact on the lives of Yemenis, but is also a signal to the people that we are here with serious intent to pursue a political solution, he said. The day also witnessed the parties signing an agreement on the exchange of prisoners, including some under house arrest, announced Mr. Griffiths, prospectively allowing thousands of families to be reunited. The bar for success here, however, is higher, continued the Special Envoy, noting the deteriorating situation in Yemen, including the countrys economy, health care, education and all aspects of life. Since the conflict escalated in 2015 with the beginning of an air war backed by a Saudi-led coalition thousands of civilians, including many hundreds of children, have been killed as a direct consequence. Many more have lost their lives to malnutrition and deadly diseases such as cholera. Across Yemen, more than 24 million people over three-quarters of the population are dependent on humanitarian assistance or protection, of whom over 8 million are severely food insecure and at risk of starvation. Humanitarian aid agencies, which have been providing life-saving assistance to millions across Yemen, have underscored the urgency of talks, warning that the situation on the ground has deteriorated dramatically in recent months. Not In Our Name, a research and documentary project produced by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) to help communities in Central Asia understand and prevent the spread of violence and extremism, has won Best Television Project in the religion category of a contest organized by the Prosecutor's Office of Almaty City together with the Investigative Journalism Foundation of Kazakhstan. Zhuldyz Tuleova, the projects Kazakhstan producer, accepted the award on behalf of RFE/RLs international team at a ceremony in Almaty November 27. Not In Our Name is the first regional counter-extremism project of its kind in Central Asia. The documentary project follows the journey of those who left their homes in Central Asia for the conflict zones of Iraq and Syria. It is estimated that more than 4,200 Central Asians joined the conflict, many with their families. At the heart of the project are ten town hall sessions, or moderated discussion groups, conducted in local languages in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. With support from local residents and NGOs, these 30-minute segments that were published online and broadcast on TV have helped local communities confront the taboo topic of extremism. Documentary Executive Editor Noah Tucker congratulated the entire team and took the opportunity to highlight the tireless production work of Tuleova and discussion moderator for the Kazakh team Serik Beysembeayev, as well as the producer of the whole series Harut Mansuriya. The quietly devastating interviews Zhuldyz did with families who had lost members to ISIS in Syria were the backbone of discussion in the talk shows and the key to the entire project, said Tucker. Not In Our Name has been screened alongside open discussions with audiences in Washington, Boston, New York, Pittsburgh, and London. The foreign affairs journal The Diplomat wrote that the project lays crucial groundwork for progress in recognizing the forces that push people toward violent extremism in Central Asia, the Exeter Central Asian Studies Network said it will be a tremendous aid to teaching the topic as well as stimulating improved policy in the area of countering violent extremism. Leader of the Catholic Church Pope Francis is planning to visit the United Arab emirates in February next year and is expected to preach inter-faith dialogue, the Vatican said in a statement on Thursday. The religious leader, according to his office, will make the trip February 3-5 at the invitation of Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan and the small Catholic community living in the Arab country. After the UAE trip, the Pope is expected in Morocco for a visit at the invitation of King Mohammed VI. Pope Francis will deliver in the UAE an inter-faith dialogue message around the theme: Make Me a Channel of Your Peace, the Vatican spokesman, Greg Burke said. Thats the Popes intention in going to the United Arab Emirates. How all people of goodwill can work for peace will be a major topic on this trip, Burke added. This visit, like the one to Egypt (2017), shows the fundamental importance the Holy Father gives to inter-religious dialogue. Pope Francis visiting the Arab world is a perfect example of the culture of encounter, Burke said. The trips to the UAE and Morocco extend the list of countries with a majority of Muslims that Francis has already visited since his election in 2013. Outside Egypt, the Pope was in Turkey, Jordan, Bangladesh and Azerbaijan. The Emirati Crown visited the pontiff at the Vatican in September 2016. The Unites States Thursday failed to garner decisive support at the UN to condemn Gaza ruler Hamas for firing rockets on Israel after a draft resolution championed by the US diplomat missed the target of two-thirds of the General assembly members. The UN-sponsored draft resolution received the backing of 83 countries, including the European Union members, but met the opposition of 57 countries in addition to abstention from 33 other member-states. US diplomat to the UN, Nikki Haley called on the world to support Washingtons hardline on Palestinians mainly on Hamas, which she accused of firing rockets on the Israeli ally. Haley, who is stepping down end of this year, has repeatedly castigated the UN for being biased and anti-Israel. The US diplomat before the vote said the resolution on Hamas would be an opportunity for the UN to right a historic wrong by correcting its awful record of passing resolutions against Israel. The US and the EU have blacklisted the Islamist movement, which has taken control of Gaza since 2006 and has fought three wars with Israel since 2008. Following the vote, Hamas said the UN rejection was a slap to the US administration. The failure of the American venture at the United Nations represents a slap to the US administration and confirmation of the legitimacy of the resistance, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zahri wrote on Twitter. While Malians have traditionally practiced a relatively tolerant version of Islam, over the past few years the West African country has become increasingly militant and intolerant. In the northern part of the country especially, this intolerance has resulted in intense Christian persecution. In 2012 militant Islamic groups, aided by foreign fighters linked to al-Qaeda, took over a significant portion of the northern region, and their influence is still felt though most have been expelled. In addition to these groups radicalization of the Muslim population, ongoing insurgency still poses a threat to Christian believers. How Christians are Suffering When radical Islamic militant groups took control of the northern part of the country in 2012, churches were burned down and Christians had to flee. After losing their homes and having their churches destroyed, these displaced believers are still affected. Although some Christians and congregations have returned to the north under police protection, they still live under the threat of attack by Islamist militants. Evangelistic activities are especially risky, often leading to attacks. Christian missionaries operating in the country live under the constant threat of abduction, while Christians from Muslim backgrounds face violence and pressure from relatives and family members if their conversion to Christianity is discovered. Examples In 2016 and 2017, three foreign Christian missionaries were kidnapped in separate incidents by different Islamic groups. In November 2016, suspected Islamic militants shot and killed Moussa Issah Bary, the Christian deputy mayor of Kerana (city near the Burkina Faso border). Bary was a rare example of a Christian member of the predominantly Muslim Fulani ethnic group. Recently, a group of some of the most promising entrepreneurs in Asia gathered in Singapore to learn more about tech and its potential use cases for their own enterprises. Despite Bitcoins massive decline over the past month, interest in blockchain technology is still going strong, and some of the brightest minds in business still see a lot of potential in its adoption. The group of some of Asias wealthiest are looking to join the likes of JPMorgan, Bank of America, WalMart, Apple and other major companies exploring the blockchain space. The invitation-only event, sponsored by Forbes Asia, Deciphering Blockchain For Business, featured young and old attendees from all over the continent, eager to learn more about the technology. Supply Chain Management One speaker, Anderson Tanoto, director of the $18 billion Royal Golden Eagle (RGE) manufacturing conglomerate, explained the benefits of using blockchain technology in supply chain management. RGE, for its part, is aiming to move its palm oil supply chain onto a blockchain, citing better security, efficiency, and transparency. Though RGE is leading this charge, the company is part of a larger consortium, the Sustainability Assurance & Innovation Alliance, which together controls over half the worlds supply of palm oil and plans on following suit. There are two herds of people in blockchain. Those who want to get rich off crypto, and those who want to change the world with blockchain. I would like to associate myself with the second group, Tanoto explained. Smart Cities Though the primary focus of the conference centered around business applications, one speaker jumped on top of the benefits for governments embracing the new tech. Janil Puthucheary, Singapores senior minister of state at the ministry of communications and information and the ministry of transport, is a driving force behind Singapores Smart City initiative, and believes that blockchain technology is a vital tool in making that idea a reality. Related: This Indicator Suggests A Recession May Be Looming Puthucheary noted several industries, specifically, which stand to benefit from blockchain adoption, including healthcare, transportation and finance. Additionally, Puthucheary highlighted specific security benefits that blockchain tech brings to the table. He went on to say that the countrys cybersecurity experts were working with government organizations to explore the benefits of the tech to track resources and cut back on human error. Blockchain is not inherently secure, by itself, said Puthucheary, adding No tech is. But it does have some properties that could ensure a higher degree of securities with few resources. Big Blockchain With blockchain technology finally maturing, its clear that Big Business is taking note. Related: Russia Will "Respond Appropriately" If U.S. Ditches Nuclear Deal Already, major enterprises are using functioning blockchains to improve supply chains, settle contracts and improve the efficiency of financial transactions. BBVA, one of the worlds most influential financial institutions, has been on the forefront of the push in the financial world, hitting landmark after landmark in its applications. From corporate loans to international payments, BBVA has carved out a path for blockchain tech in Big Finance. Big Oil is joining the race, as well. More recently, BP and Shell, two of the worlds energy Supermajors , officially launched a brand new blockchain platform with Vakt Global based on JPMorgans Quorum Blockchain. The platform aims to replace old paper-based contracts and to automate some of the more tedious processes in contract settlement and oil trading. By Michael Kern via Crypto Insider More Top Reads From Safehaven.com Hakan Fidan, Head of Turkeys National Intelligence Organization (MIT) has briefed members of the US senate about the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi killed on Oct.02 in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul by a hit-man squad dispatched from Saudi Arabia; a key US ally in the Arab world. Fidan travelled to the US at the demand of the US lawmakers, Al Jazeera reported Thursday, adding that the behind closed-door briefing took place in the presence of CIA Director Gina Haspel. Haspel early this week briefed leaders of the House on the death of the dissident journalist and contributor to the Washington Post. Khashoggi, 59, was killed soon after he entered the Saudi consulate on Octo. 02 for some paperwork. Turkey identified a 15-man squad, which strangled the journalist who has emerged as a critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman (MbS). Turkish authorities said the men butchered Jamal Khashoggi soon after killing him. His body has not been found yet. Ankara believes the order for the killing came from the highest levels of the Saudi leadership but excluded King Salman from the plot. The Turkish MIT shared recordings of the killing with the CIA. According to the Washington Post and several media, the recordings identify MbS as the mastermind of the murder. Following Haspels briefing, several US senators said they have no doubt the Saudi heir to the throne is linked to the slaughtering. Bob Corker, R-Tenn, chairman of Senate Foreign Relations Committee said if MbS were put on trial, a jury would find him guilty in about 30 minutes. International pressure has been mounting on MbS since the killing of Jamal Khashoggi. Western powers have expressed their anger over the killing, with countries such as Germany and Norway suspending arms exports to Saudi Arabia and senators in the US questioning Washingtons strategic partnership with Riyadh. On Wednesday, a bipartisan group of Senators introduced a strongly-worded resolution holding the Saudi Crown Prince accountable for alleged atrocities committed during the Yemen war. Shirley Contreras lives in Orcutt and writes for the Santa Maria Valley Historical Society. She can be contacted at 623-8193 or at shirleycontreras2@yahoo.com. Her book, The Good Years, a selection of stories shes written for the Santa Maria Times since 1991, is on sale at the Santa Maria Valley Historical Society, 616 S. Broadway. Tennessee completes execution by electric chair | Main | So what does Bill Barr now think about federal criminal justice reforms or state marijuana reforms? The title of this post is the headline of this Washington Post commentary authored by historian Matthew Pembleton. Here are excerpts: And Bushs complicated legacy does include much good, from his handling of the end of the Cold War to his support for climate science and the Americans With Disabilities Act. But it also includes some bad specifically, a profound escalation in the War on Drugs. Ronald Reagan may have reoriented public attitudes about drugs when he pronounced in 1982, Drugs are bad, and were going after them . . . And were going to win the war on drugs. But, it was Bush and later, Bill Clinton who put real resources into the effort. When Bush took office, the federal drug control budget was around $5 billion. When he left office in 1993, it was over $12 billion. This was the sharpest escalation in the history of the drug war and it locked the country into a strategy of punishment, deterrence and intolerance. Based on instinct rather than evidence, Bushs approach did little to alleviate the public health crisis of addiction or halt the flow of drugs to American shores. And we remain trapped within this largely punitive approach today. So while we remember Bush as a gentle soul, we should also remember his role in fomenting a drug war that harmed millions of American citizens, particularly in communities of color. In a tale retold quite a bit over the last few days, one of those citizens was an 18-year-old D.C. resident named Keith Jackson, who was arrested as part of a White House publicity stunt. In September 1989, Bush astonished the American public by brandishing a bag of crack cocaine during a nationally televised address. The drug, a seemingly bemused president remarked, looked like candy, but its turning our cities into battle zones, and its murdering our children. Rather than address the underlying poverty, despair or thrill-seeking that drives destructive drug use, Bush sought to wipe out the drug menace by punishing everyone involved to the fullest extent of the law and doubling down on policing. The solution, Bush said, was more prisons, more jails, more courts, more prosecutors, and a $1.5 billion increase in federal police spending, the greatest single increase in the history of drug enforcement. Jackson, meanwhile, was a hapless pawn in Bushs theatrics. When the DEA learned that Bushs people wanted to use crack seized near the White House as a prop for the speech, they lured the local high school student to Lafayette Square, even giving him directions to get him there. An obvious setup, the case was subsequently thrown out by two juries, but Jackson was eventually sentenced to a mandatory 10 years for selling to an undercover agent in the months leading up to his fateful September arrest. Bush was widely mocked for the incident but remained unrepentant and paid little price. Thats because the fundamental strategy of escalating the War on Drugs enjoyed widespread bipartisan support, including significant buy-in from the black political class.... The instinct to punish drug users, particularly the poor, runs deep in American political thought, and the consensus supporting these tough-on-crime attitudes continued to harden as Bush championed the growing War on Drugs. On the first anniversary of Bushs speech, Los Angeles police chief Daryl Gates told the Senate that casual drug users ought to be taken out and shot. This wholly punitive approach reached its apotheosis with the 1994 Clinton crime bill and its notorious three-strikes provision. Latest seemingly encouraging news on debate over FIRST STEP Act | Main | Tennessee Supreme Court rule in high-profile case that juve life sentence allows for possible release after 51 years This new Washington Post article reports that "Former attorney general William P. Barr is President Trumps leading candidate to be nominated to lead the Justice Department." Here is more: Barr, 68, a well-respected Republican lawyer who served as attorney general from 1991 to 1993 under President George H.W. Bush, has emerged as a favorite candidate of a number of Trump administration officials, including senior lawyers in the White House Counsels Office, these people said. Two people familiar with the discussions said the president has told advisers in recent days that he plans to nominate Barr. One person familiar with the discussions cautioned that while Barr is the leading candidate, the decision is not final and the president could decide to pick someone else. Another person familiar with the discussions said Barr is a really serious contender and possibly the front-runner for the job but stressed it was impossible to predict Trumps pick definitively until it was announced publicly. That person said those advising the president viewed Barr as someone who knows the department well and is a good manager. Barr, this person said, also had a bluntness that is likely to resonate with the president. Hes a serious guy, the person said. The president is very, very focused on [a candidate] looking the part and having credentials consistent with the part. Barr declined to comment. Those familiar with the discussions said Barr, having already been attorney general, doesnt feel a particular ambition for the position, but does feel a sense of duty to take it if offered.... Even if Barr were announced as the presidents choice this week, it could take months for a confirmation vote, given the congressional schedule. In the meantime, acting attorney general Matthew G. Whitaker would still serve as head of the Justice Department... Administration officials expect Barrs nomination would be received positively by Republicans who respect his experience and Democrats who would likely view him as an old-school GOP lawyer with no particular personal loyalty to the president.... After leaving the Justice Department, Barr served in a variety of high-level corporate positions, including as general counsel and executive vice president of Verizon Communications. He is currently a lawyer at Kirkland & Ellis and does work advising corporations on government enforcement and regulatory actions. Any confirmation hearing for a new attorney general will likely be dominated by questions about how the nominee would handle political pressure from the White House, and oversee the ongoing Russia probe into whether any Trump associates conspired with Russian officials to interfere in the last presidential election. Barr shares at least one of the presidents views on the probe being conducted by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III. In 2017, when asked by The Washington Post about political donations made by lawyers on the special counsels team, Barr said prosecutors who make political contributions are identifying fairly strongly with a political party and added: I would have liked to see [Mueller] have more balance on this group. Barr also wrote last year that the administrations decision to fire James B. Comey as FBI director was quite understandable because, in his view, Comey had usurped the power of the attorney general when he publicly announced his recommendation not to charge former secretary of state Hillary Clinton during the investigation of her private email server. Barrs daughter, Mary Daly, is a senior Justice Department official overseeing the agencys efforts against opioid abuse and addiction. Tuareg, in dozens last Tuesday staged a protest against the US Africa Command (AFRICOM) after it carried out an airstrike in Southern Libya last week in which 11 members of al-Qaeda members were killed. The protesters; men, women and children, of Tuareg ethnic group called on Tripoli-based UN-backed administration, Government of National Accord (GNA) to launch an investigation into an AFRICOM airstrike in southwestern desert on November 30 that they said killed civilians. Africom attacked civilians, and Africom is killing our sons, witnesses and participants told Reuters. AFRICOM in a statement after the sortie said the operation mowed down 11 al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) terrorists and destroyed three vehicles. No civilian was injured or killed following an assessment, the statement added. The US command also noted that airstrike was conducted in conjunction with the GNA. The airstrike was the third by the US air force this year. In June, AFRICOM killed one AQIM member in an airstrike. The Stuttgart-based command helped the GNA flash the Islamic State group (ISIS) out of Sirte that the terror group seized in 2014. Talk of William Barr for Attorney General (and his "Case for More Incarceration") | Main | Yet one more round-up of news and notes as debate over the FIRST STEP Act rages on As reported in this local article, "Tennessee Supreme Court said Thursday that Cyntoia Brown, a Nashville woman serving a life sentence in prison for a murder she committed at 16, could be eligible for release after she serves 51 years in prison." Here is more about a notable ruling in a high-profile case: Brown, now 30, has been locked up since 2004, when she was convicted of shooting 43-year-old Nashville real estate agent Johnny Allen. Her legal team launched a challenge to her life sentence in the federal court system, pointing to a 2012 ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court saying that giving juveniles life sentences without parole was cruel and unusual in most cases. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, which is considering Browns case, said Tennessee sentencing laws are unclear. Some sections suggested Brown's conviction should lead to life without parole while others suggested she should eventually be released. During a hearing this summer, Sixth Circuit judges suggested that if Brown would never be eligible for release under state law, her sentence could be overturned. The appeals court asked Tennessee's high court to weigh in before it made a final decision. The Tennessee Supreme Courts unanimous answer that Brown would eventually be eligible for release sometime after her 69th birthday could complicate her legal teams argument. In its eight-page decision released Thursday, the state Supreme Court determined that a defendant sentenced to life in prison for a first-degree murder committed on or after July 1, 1995, will become eligible after serving a minimum of 51 years in prison. The rule also applies to 14 other offenses including rape, kidnapping and aggravated child abuse. The opinion will be handed over to the federal appeals court for review. Brown also is asking Gov. Bill Haslam for clemency. The state parole board, which was split in its recommendations, sent the case file to the governor's office in July.... At 16, Brown climbed into a pickup truck on Murfreesboro Pike with Allen, a stranger, drove to his home, got into his bed then shot him in the back of the head with a .40-caliber handgun as he lay naked beside her. Brown's advocates say she was forced into prostitution in fear of her life and wronged by the legal system. Prosecutors say Brown killed the man to rob him. Following her trial in 2006, Brown was convicted of Allen's murder. Pop stars such as Rihanna and Kim Kardashian West have taken to social media encouraging Brown's freedom. Motley Fool When you have a newborn baby, planning for your child's retirement may not be at the forefront of your mind. If you want to help set your child up for a lifetime of financial success, follow this advice from three Motley Fool retirement planning experts about how you can begin retirement planning for a newborn during their first years of life. Christy Bieber: A Roth IRA is a fantastic retirement savings account for people who start young. Photo of Noble Group logo. (Reuters file photo) Noble Group may seek to implement its restructuring through a court-appointed officer, after Singapore authorities barred the re-listing of its shares as part of its US$3.5 billion debt restructuring plan. The board, which still intends to complete the restructuring, said that it is weighing alternative processes that do not involve a transfer of the companys listing status, in a filing to the Singapore Exchange on Friday (7 December). In doing so, the Board, in discharging its fiduciary duties, may implement the restructuring through a court-appointed officer, the statement said. Noble said in a circular in August that if its first-choice plan fails, the alternative restructuring, or Plan B, would involve filing for administration in the United Kingdom. The Monetary Authority of Singapore and Singapore Exchange Regulation (SGX Regco) on Thursday said it will not allow Noble to transfer its listing to New Noble, after reviewing the findings so far of an ongoing probe into the company by MAS, the Singapore polices Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) and the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA). There are significant uncertainties about the financial position of New Noble, they said in a statement, referring to the restructured unit. It would be imprudent to allow the re-listing as investors will not be able to trade in New Nobles shares on an informed basis. MAS and SGX Regco will therefore not allow the re-listing of New Noble to proceed, the statement said. The decision by the MAS and SGX Regco came two weeks after the authorities announced its investigation into Noble and its unit Noble Resources International. The probe involved suspected false and misleading statements and breaches of disclosure requirements, as well as potential non-compliance with accounting standards. The Singapore authorities said on Thursday that after the investigation started, Noble had submitted simulated financial statements which took into account potential non-compliance with accounting standards highlighted by ACRA in its letter to Nobles unit. Story continues The simulated financial statements show that the net asset value (NAV) of New Noble as at 31 December 2017 could be adjusted downwards by about 40 per cent, and that the NAV as at 31 March 2018 could be adjusted downwards by about 45 per cent. Noble said in the statement on Friday that the simulated financial statements cited by the authorities most recent joint statement were submitted on a confidential basis. They do not represent the views of the company and were intended only to illustrate the effects of applying ACRAs accounting positions. Noble Resources said it disagrees with the positions taken by ACRA and plans to submit a comprehensive response regarding the investigation into the companys technical accounting. Amid the regulatory probe, Noble had extended the deadline to complete its debt restructuring deal from 27 November to 11 December, and said it was cooperating fully with authorities. Once Asias largest commodity trader, Nobles troubles began in February 2015 after Arnaud Vagner, a former employee, published anonymous reports under the name of Iceberg Research that accused Noble of inflating its assets. Related stories: Noble Group extends restructuring deadline to 11 December Singapore probes Noble on suspected false statements, disclosure breaches Where Does Noble Investigation Leave $3.5 Billion Restructuring? SINGAPORE (Dec 7): While business leaders in Singapore do not deny an organisations success is intrinsically linked to the happiness of its people, nearly half say they have lost valued human resources as a result of failing to ensure employee satisfaction. This finding comes as part of a global study com missioned by Fujitsu, which explores organisations relationships with their employees, customers and society and how vital each group, along with culture, creativity and digital technology, is to achieving business success. In line with trends in other regions, a significant proportion (68%) of Singapores business leaders said they prioritised customers (66%) and the society (30%), although they understand the need to find a way to deliver for all audiences in order to ensure sustained success. In particular, almost one in two (48%) business leaders in Singapore admit they have lost great employees because they felt stifled in frustrated. 42% of local business leaders said they did not feel confident in their organisations ability to unlock employee creativity. Other challenges believed to limit the potential of employees in their organisation include too much focus on day-to-day tasks and too little on employee development (52%); limited opportunities for growth and development (34%); and limited chances for employees to contribute new ideas (38%). About 40% believed that maximising the potential of, and creating new opportunities for, employees, is a factor to define their organisations success albeit not as much as having a good reputation (50%) and achieving financial growth (78%). Among the respondents surveyed in Singapore, 68% feel the duty to improve the lives of their employees, followed by their customers (66%) and their wider society (30%). 68% also admit the difficulty in balancing the expectations of all three audiences, which is higher than the global average of 60%. Globally, two thirds (66%) of leaders surveyed believe employees have an increasing influence on their business, while 73% say unlocking employee creativity is vital for growth. Wong Heng Chew, country president, Fujitsu Singapore, believes the future of business success in general will be driven by knowledge, creativity and trust, supported by digital technology advancements and an evolved business approach with people at its heart. People have always been vital to business. The survey findings show that over the last few years, businesses have shifted their focus - where once, success felt very much hinged to the customer, it is increasingly clear that employees and citizens within society play a big role as well, says Wong. Stocks listed in mainland China and Hong Kong on Friday barely recovered from a sell-off sparked a day earlier by the detention in Canada of the chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies, as traders reassessed the outlook for US-China trade negotiations in the aftermath of the episode. On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite Index swung between gains and losses for most of the trading hours on Friday before closing 0.03 per cent higher at 2,605.89. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index slipped by 0.4 per cent to 26,063.76. On Thursday, both gauges slumped by at least 1.7 per cent after Canada said it had detained Huawei CFO Sabrina Meng Xiaozhou, daughter of the founder of the Chinese telecom juggernaut, at the request of the US government. Trading was light on Friday, as traders scrambled to parse which way the 90-day trade talks between the United States and China two of the worlds largest economies would head. Trading values on the Shanghai Exchange fell beneath 100 billion yuan (US$14.5 billion) for the first time in three months to 97.7 billion yuan. The timing is very sensitive. Both countries leaders were at dinner when she was put in custody, which puts uncertainty on both countries trade war negotiations, said Louis Tse Ming-kwong, managing director of Hong Kong brokerage VC Asset Management, referring to Donald Trump and Xi Jinping. On top of that, there is the reversal of the bond yield in the US. All of this is putting pressure on global markets and causing a sell-off. Huawei, the worlds seventh-largest information technology company by revenue, is under investigation by US prosecutors over whether it breached banking laws to evade sanctions against Iran. HSBC Holdings was in the spotlight on Friday, becoming the latest company to be associated with the developments at Huawei. The banks stock slid by 1.9 per cent to HK$63.70 in Hong Kong. A monitor assigned by the US government to the bank told federal prosecutors about suspicious transactions linking Huawei with Iran, according to Bloomberg News, which cited a person familiar with the matter. The lender is itself not under investigation in the matter, according to Bloomberg and Reuters. VC Asset Managements Tse said the banks price would stay stable, suffering minimal impact. Story continues Pharmaceutical stocks continued to perform poorly on concerns a pilot government procurement process, which has slashed prices of some generic drugs by about 60 per cent, will be expanded nationwide. The rout showed no signs of abating, as traders continued to pull out of the industry on concerns that more companies will need to cut prices to win tenders under the new procurement process, a pilot programme conducted in 11 cities. Hainan Poly Pharm and Furen Group Pharmaceutical tumbled by the 10 per cent daily limit on the mainland. Sinopharm Group retreated by 4.5 per cent to HK$35 in Hong Kong. The low price will not only be implemented in the 11 cities other provinces are likely to follow suit on the low pricing and procure from the tender winner, said Cyrus Ng, an analyst at Jefferies. News that China had given major phone operators the go-ahead to start testing fifth-generation wireless (5G) networks helped to ease selling at Huaweis suppliers. Sunwoda Electronics dropped by 0.4 per cent to 9.19 yuan in Shenzhen after tumbling by 3.1 per cent on Thursday, and Zhejiang Crystal-Optech climbed by 0.7 per cent to 10.16 yuan. Chinasoft International slipped by 0.2 per cent to HK$4.06, after a 12 per cent tumble during Thursdays session. This article Detention of Huaweis Sabrina Meng Xiaozhou casts shadow on China, Hong Kong stocks first appeared on South China Morning Post For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2018. DRVR uses telematics that allows devices to send and receive information across large distances to track vehicle performance, driver behaviour and unscheduled stops Bangkok-based startup DRVR, which provides a fleet intelligence platform for the logistics industry, is close to raising US$450,000 in fresh funding from an undisclosed group of investors, a top executive of the firm told e27. DRVR has earlier secured a small round of funding from an angel investor group in Hong Kong. We are looking to close a small bridge round of US$450,000 which will be used to deliver some major projects for large Japanese car makers and others, Founder David Henderson said. This round should be closed in a couple of weeks. Also Read: The State of Singaporean Venture Capital DRVR was founded in 2015 by Henderson (CEO), Yevgen Peresada (Chief Architect), and Damien Williams (CFO). It provides a fleet intelligence platform that helps businesses reduce the cost of operating vehicles. The firm uses telematics that allows devices to send and receive information across large distances to track vehicle performance, driver behaviour, unscheduled stops, etc. Sharing more details about the product, he said: Suppose you have a fleet of trucks delivering goods. As soon as a truck leaves your warehouse, you lose the visibility of it. You dont know where exactly the truck is, how its being driven, or if someone is pinching your cargo or valuable fuel, etc. What if you could make a digital clone of the truck and put that on the internet? You could suddenly see in real time information about the way it is being driven. This is what we do. We can also help you predict if its going to break down and help you service it. We take this raw data and we transform it into actionable knowledge. Currently, DRVR is focussing on the ASEAN markets. We see a huge opportunity across the region. We are targeting customers with large fleets of vehicles. Our main is to connect the vehicles of Asia. We aim to do that through winning the vehicles makers and dealers. We have a strong partnership with Cycle and Carriage and Daimler, and have been delivering the first connected truck service in Myanmar. Story continues Also Read: How to acquire your first 1,000 loyal users and get them to actively use your product Thailand also has massive potential, says Henderson. The government has launched an initiative called Thailand 4.0, which is aimed at transforming the economy from a largely paper-based one to a digital one. The post (Exclusive) Thailands fleet intelligence solutions startup DRVR close to raising US$450K funding appeared first on e27. A Firefly Airlines turbo-prop plane (PHOTO: Facebook/Firefly Airlines) Firefly Airlines is seeking the Malaysian governments intervention in regaining its landing slot at Changi International Airport, amid the ongoing Seletar Airport airspace dispute between Singapore and Malaysia. The short-haul arm of Malaysia Airlines failed to obtain aviations approvals to land in Seletar Airport, forcing it to suspend its flights into Singapore since 1 December, reported The Malaysian Insight. Its previous landing spot in Changi Airport had been allocated to another airline. The airline had been running 20 flights daily to Changi, from places such as Subang Jaya, Kuantan and Ipoh. Almost 13,000 passengers affected Firefly chief executive officer Ignatius Ong said that almost 13,000 passengers were affected by the suspension, resulting in a major loss of revenue for the airline. About half of the passengers took up Fireflys offer to transfer to Malaysia Airlines flights, while the rest were refunded. He added that the company is appealing to the Malaysian government to intervene to help it reclaim its Changi landing rights until the Seletar airspace issue is resolved. We are urging the Malaysia government to assist, since this is (government-to-government) now, he told The Malaysian Insight. Was to be 1st operational airline at new Seletar terminal Firefly was to be the first commercial airline to start operations on 1 December at the new Seletar terminal, which is meant for turbo-prop aircraft and has a capacity for 700,000 passengers yearly. The indefinite delay in issuance of Fireflys landing rights at Seletar stems from Malaysias objection to new Instrument Landing System (ILS) procedures being proposed for the airport. Malaysian Transport Minister Anthony Loke has said the ILS infringes on Malaysias sovereignty, while Singapore insists that under current arrangements agreed upon by both countries, the Republic is responsible for putting in place the flight procedures in the delegated airspace, which include those going into and out of all airports in Singapore. Story continues Related stories: Malaysia sends Singapore two protest notes on airspace, port limits issues MOT releases documents detailing extensive discussions on Seletar Airport airspace issue Changes to airspace arrangements need consultations with stakeholders: Singapore MOT Firefly to suspend flights into Singapore from December until further notice Four smugglers jump from speedboats and escape as Hong Kong customs and police seize HK$4 million in electronic goods Four suspected smugglers jumped into the sea from their speedboats and escaped into the mangrove swamp near the Hong Kong border during a joint police and customs operation on Wednesday night. As of noon on Friday, the four men were still at large. Officers arrested a 56-year-old male suspect on the shore, seized HK$4 million (US$512,000) worth of electronic goods and impounded a delivery van and the two speedboats at the Lau Fau Shan coastal area. Dennis Wong Lai-yung, divisional commander of Hong Kong customs syndicate crimes investigation bureau, said on Friday that the operation had dealt a heavy blow to a cross-border smuggling ring that had been in operation for about two weeks, ferrying goods across the border to escape taxes. Hong Kong and Shenzhen authorities smash HK$620 million iPhone smuggling operation About 40 customs officers had begun lying in wait at Lau Fau Shan at about 6pm on Wednesday. Roughly four hours later, two speedboats carrying four people in total entered Hong Kong waters from Shenzhen in mainland China and berthed next to a shipping container at high tide. Meanwhile, a delivery van arrived, and the driver unloaded cartons from the vehicle and moved them into the container. Wong said the container was used to store smuggled goods that could be loaded directly onto speedboats through a concealed opening. As the officers swooped, the four men in the boats abandoned their vessels and fled. Officers scouted the area but found no trace of them. On land, officers caught the driver and seized 38 cartons of electronic goods from the container and the vehicle. The haul included 7,359 mobile phones, 264 computer tablets, 1,825 USB flash drives and 1,344 portable wireless routers. A law enforcement source said the goods had an estimated street value of HK$4 million in the city but could be sold for more than HK$4.7 million on the mainland. Hong Kong customs seizes HK$5 million in smuggled gold as cases double from last year Story continues The driver was released on bail pending further investigation. Wong said the investigation was ongoing and further arrests were possible. In Hong Kong, importing or exporting unmanifested cargo carries a maximum penalty of a seven-year jail sentence and a HK$2 million fine. This article Four smugglers jump from speedboats and escape as Hong Kong customs and police seize HK$4 million in electronic goods first appeared on South China Morning Post For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2018. Hong Kongs anti-terrorism task force headed to Chinas northwestern region of Xinjiang on Thursday to study how its counterpart there has tackled extremists, the Post has learned. The visit takes place against the backdrop of international calls to investigate mass internment centres for Muslim minorities in the region. But a government source stressed the move did not mean Hong Kong supported such centres, or that it would be borrowing ideas from them, as the local contexts were different. Xinjiang is, among all places, where China has vowed the most to fight against terrorism. It is therefore a good place for us to learn how officers there have gathered intelligence and protected facilities, the insider said. The controversial re-education centres are among the measures used but that doesnt mean Hong Kong should borrow the idea. As a matter of fact, we have no such needs due to the differences in terrorism situations we each face. The Post understood that deputy security minister Sonny Au Chi-kwong was leading seven members from the Interdepartmental Counterterrorism Unit, established in April, to visit the province for five days to study its counterterrorism measures and facilities. The response time to terrorist attacks in Xinjiang is just one minute, to avoid mass casualties. It is worth knowing how they manage to execute such a prompt response, the source continued. On a similar mission, security minister John Lee Ka-chiu will next month lead the unit chiefs to Beijing and southwestern Yunnan province. Islamist terrorists have been said to be using coastal routes to slip into Xinjiang via Myanmar and Vietnam and then Yunnan in recent years. The Security Bureau confirmed the visit and said members from six law enforcement agencies in the unit would exchange views on counterterrorism-related areas with their counterparts in Xinjiang. It did not confirm the reported visit to Beijing next month. The bureau and local law enforcement have visited the northwestern province every few years. This current trip comes just after China rejected a German human rights delegations request to visit Xinjiang to investigate detention centres for Uygurs. Story continues China implemented restrictive policies in Xinjiang as part of a strike hard campaign to combat terrorism after riots by the Uygur ethic minority in the autonomous regions capital Urumqi in 2009. Last week, Uygur woman Mihrigul Tursun told the United States Congress she was tortured multiple times while detained in one of the centres, where a number of detainees died. Germany, along with the United States and France, called on China to close the camps during a UN review of Chinas human rights record in Geneva last month, as rights campaigners said up to a million members of the Uygur minority and other Muslims were detained. Chinese officials have been pushing back against growing criticism of the detention of Muslim minorities in internment camps, claiming authorities were merely providing professional training and education. Last month, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the world should ignore gossip about the Xinjiang region and trust the authorities there. [People] should not listen to gossip or rumours, because the Xinjiang regional government, of course, understands the situation in Xinjiang best, and not other people or organisations, Wang said after meeting German foreign minister Heiko Maas in Beijing. The efforts are completely in line with the direction the international community has taken to combat terrorism, and are an important part of the global fight against terrorism. Hong Kongs anti-terrorism task force was established in April to boost the citys preparedness and capability in light of global terror threats and attacks. The task force was announced by Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor in her policy address in October 2017. Headed by the Security Bureau, the unit comprises 43 officers from the six disciplined services, namely the police, customs, immigration, correctional services, the fire services authority and the Government Flying Service. This article Hong Kongs anti-terrorism task force goes to Xinjiang to study local methods, as China rejects international calls to investigate mass internment centres first appeared on South China Morning Post For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2018. The fifth edition of the African Governance Report (AGR-V) recently launched in Kigali Rwanda has examined efforts made to improve the governance of Africas abundant natural resources Entitled Natural Resource Governance and Domestic Revenue Mobilization for Structural Transformation, the report, which is produced by the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), builds on the themes and recommendations of previous African Governance Reports, which place good economic governance at the center of Africas structural transformation. Natural resources are major contributors to public domestic revenue in Africa, largely expressing the structural dependence of resource-rich African economies on one or a few raw material export commodities and hence their vulnerability to price and demand volatility. As part of wider governance reforms for the natural resource sector, greater engagement of the private sector is required to optimize resources from natural resource rents and expand revenue base, the report says. Moreover, it adds, the decision-making chain of government should follow the entire value chain from information on resource deposits, to deal making, development, extraction, downstream value addition and project closure. The report says that if well managed and sustainably exploited, natural resources have the potential to drastically improve domestic revenue mobilization and promotion of economic diversification across Africa. It says Africa has been slow to convert its natural resources endowments to tangible development outcomes. AGR-V emphasizes the need to strengthen natural resource governance institutions and frameworks for the enhancement of domestic revenue mobilization, promotion of economic diversification, and ultimately, structural transformation. The fifth edition of the Report is based on empirical evidence drawn from case studies done in Botswana, Cameroon, Cote dIvoire, Egypt, Madagascar, Nigeria, Uganda and Tanzania. The case studies address four broad issues; resource-rich African countries and their inability to transform their economies; institutions for improving the development impact of Africas natural resources; development planning and African policy outcomes; and raising of domestic revenue in Africa. There is urgent need to sustainably manage Africas diverse natural resources, including land and water for agriculture, forests, minerals, oil and gas, ECAs Macroeconomic Policy Division Director, Adam Elhiraika said in his presentation. The direct exploitation of natural resources has dominated economic activity, with benefits not being channeled down to everyone; and this has to change. Good natural resource governance must be underpinned by resource based development planning, Adam Elhiraika, adding that good natural resource governance required good institutions both formal and informal. Chinese state-run media on Friday condemned the arrest in Canada of a top executive of telecoms giant Huawei on a US extradition request as a "despicable rogue's approach" to contain Chinese high-tech ambitions. The arrest of Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer and daughter of the company's founder, has angered the Chinese government and raised concerns that it could disrupt a trade war truce between the world's two biggest economies. Canada defended the arrest on Thursday, saying there was no political motivation, and a senior advisor to US President Donald Trump denied it was linked to US-China trade talks. But Chinese media cast the move as an assault on the development of the country's high-tech industry. "The Chinese government should seriously mull over the US tendency to abuse legal procedures to suppress China's high-tech enterprises," said the nationalist tabloid Global Times in an editorial. "Obviously, Washington is resorting to a despicable rogue's approach as it cannot stop Huawei's 5G advance in the market," it said. The China Daily warned that "containing Huawei's expansion is detrimental to China-US ties". US authorities have not disclosed the charges she faces following a publication ban sought by Meng, but "one thing that is undoubtedly true and proven is the US is trying to do whatever it can to contain Huawei's expansion in the world simply because the company is the point man for China's competitive technology companies," the daily said. China has lodged diplomatic protests over the arrest and has repeatedly asked the US and Canada to "clarify" reasons for the arrest. "In the past seven days, be it Canada or the US, neither have provided any evidence of the involved party breaking the law in either country," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a regular press briefing in Beijing. Meng's arrest follows a US probe into the company's alleged violations of Iran sanctions. She faces a bail hearing in Canada on Friday. -'Game of politics'- Though China's technology sector is still reliant on certain US exports like microchips, Beijing wants to transform the country into a global tech leader -- with a technological prowess rivalling the United States -- in a plan dubbed "Made in China 2025". Huawei is one of the world's largest telecommunications equipment and services providers. Its products are used by carriers around the world, including in Europe and Africa. But its US business has been tightly constrained by worries it could undermine American competitors and that its cellphones and networking equipment, used widely in other countries, could provide Beijing with avenues for espionage. Australia, New Zealand and Britain have followed suit this year by rejecting some of the company's services over security concerns. Japan too plans to ban government use of telecom products made by Huawei and Chinese tech firm ZTE, reported Japanese media Yomiuri Shimbun on Friday. Chinese netizens have criticised Meng's arrest on Weibo, China's Twitter-like platform, where online trolls sometimes deliberately incite nationalist fervour or pro-government stances. Some users viewed the incident as part of the trade war -- and a broader conspiracy to keep down China's technological development. "One of the most important reasons why the US started the trade war was to attack China's technology sector and its 'Made in China 2025' plan," wrote one Weibo user. The goal is to keep China stuck in "low-end industries and force China into the middle income trap." The detention of Meng appears to be a "game of politics", wrote another user. - 'Totally separate issues' - Earlier this year, ZTE nearly collapsed after Washington banned US companies from selling crucial hardware and software components to it for seven years, though the ban was lifted after it agreed to pay a $1 billion fine. Some analysts say Meng's arrest could be used as a bargaining chip, but White House trade advisor Peter Navarro denied it was linked the US-China trade negotiations. "The two issues are totally separate," Navarro told CNN. But CNN, quoting an unnamed official, said that the United States saw the arrest as providing leverage in trade talks. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also denied "any political involvement or interference" in Meng's arrest. "I can assure everyone that we are a country (with) an independent judiciary," Trudeau told a tech conference in Montreal. Trump's national security advisor, John Bolton, said he knew that Canada was planning to arrest Meng, but he declined to discuss specifics of the case. But, he added, the United States has had "enormous concerns for years" about the practice of Chinese firms to "use stolen American intellectual property" and being used as "arms of the Chinese government's objectives in terms of information technology in particular." "So not respecting this particular arrest, but Huawei is one company we've been concerned about," he added. As the daughter of the company's founder, Meng Wanzhou was known internally as the "princess" of telecoms giant Huawei and possible heir to the throne, but now finds herself a pawn in the US-China trade clash. Meng, Huawei's chief financial officer, was arrested in Canada at the request of the United States, which seeks to extradite her in a move that could blow tensions between the two powers wide open. Her arrest follows a US probe into the company's alleged violations of sanctions against Iran. The affair is a major setback for a woman who had been rising through the company founded by her father Ren Zhengfei, sparking speculation in recent years that she would some day assume full control. Doing so would make her one of the world's top female corporate bosses. Huawei is the second-largest smartphone manufacturer in the world after Samsung Electronics, having overtaken Apple earlier this year, and is ranked 72nd on the Fortune Global 500 with revenues of nearly $90 billion in the most recent fiscal year. Its officials have taken pains to stress that the company is a meritocracy, but there seems little doubt that family ties aided Meng's rise. Ren, 74, a former People's Liberation Army engineer, founded the company with a few thousand dollars in 1987, growing it into one of the world's leading suppliers of hardware for telecommunications networks. He remains Huawei's president. Meng has sought to stress her own "humble" beginnings, with Chinese media reporting that she once penned an internal memo claiming that her first tasks at the Shenzhen-based company involved secretarial work -- answering phones and acting as a typist. But Meng, reported to be in her mid-40s, went on to earn a Chinese management degree and later joined Huawei's finance department. According to Chinese media, Meng kept her head down for years, to such an extent that few knew who her father was. This may have been aided by the fact that she took her mother's surname from a young age, for reasons that remain unclear. "He is a CEO at work, and a father at home," Meng once said of Ren, to emphasise that competence, not connections, determined one's path at Huawei. In interviews, she has referred to him as "President Ren", rather than "father". - Rising star - But Meng's career soon took off and she rose to top financial positions. Huawei credits her for re-organising the company's financial and IT architecture beginning in the early 2000s, so that the company could cope with its rapid global growth. Little is publicly known about the un-listed Huawei's internal operations, however, and Meng remained an obscure figure until 2011, when the company unveiled its top leadership for the first time with Meng listed as CFO. From there, she began to assume a higher-profile financial role. In contrast to the often colourless male executives who populate the upper ranks of China Inc., Meng is known for an easy smile and good English, and appears to have taken not one but two English names -- "Cathy" and "Sabrina". Despite being dubbed the "Princess of Huawei", she is said to be respected among company rank and file as approachable and self-deprecating. She also appears to have eschewed the socialite lifestyle of her much-younger half-sister, Annabel Yao, a ballerina studying at Harvard University. Speculation that Meng was being groomed for Huawei's pinnacle has increased in recent years. In 2013, it was rumoured that Ren's son, Ren Ping, was the patriarch's favoured successor, which Ren Sr. took pains to deny in an internal email that was later leaked. But Ren Ping is not currently listed on the company's board and mention of him in Chinese media has been rare in recent years. It remains unclear whether Meng is married, but Chinese media previously have reported that she has two children. Equally unclear, now, is Meng's future. Even if a deal is reached to release her, it remains a question whether Huawei -- or Chinese authorities -- would permit the continued rise of an executive who will now always be linked to US accusations of company wrongdoing and a symbol of bilateral trade tension. Singapore Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan giving a media briefing at Parliament House on 6 December 2018 on Malaysias intrusions into Singapore Territorial Waters. (PHOTO: Nicholas Yong/Yahoo News Singapore) The Malaysian vessel shown in a video aired on Thursday (6 December) during Singapore Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wans media briefing has been anchored in the Republics territorial waters and is used for marking territory. Khaws media briefing explained Singapores stance in the ongoing Johor Straits port limits dispute with Malaysia, and he also announced the extension of Singapores port limits off Tuas with effect from Thursday in response to Malaysias recent maritime provocations. During the briefing, he showed reporters a video on a Malaysian buoy-laying vessel, the Jabatan Laut Polaris. Jabatan Laut refers to the Malaysia Marine Department, and such vessels are usually deployed to mark territory or indicate safety hazards. This particular Malaysian vessel has been there since 3 December, I think, and even as we speak, continues to be there, Khaw said. As of Friday morning, the Jabatan Laut Polaris continued to be in Singapore waters off Tuas, according to MarineTraffic, a global ship tracking site. The website noted that the vessel was built in 2017 and measures 84m by 16m. Multi-purpose vessel According to a 2017 Bernama news agency article posted on the Malaysia Marine Department website, the Polaris can also be used to tow ships and fight marine fires. Furthermore, it can be used for training, being equipped with a classroom, meeting room, gym and bunks. Khaw said there have been 14 intrusions into Singapore territorial waters off Tuas in the past two weeks, after Malaysia extended its Johor Bahru port limits in October. Singapore has repeatedly maintained that Malaysias extension of Johor Bahru port limits encroaches into its territory and violates its sovereignty. Related stories: Singapore extending its Port Limits in response to Malaysias blatant provocation: Khaw Singapore and Malaysia ties hindered by past baggage, need to avoid destructive path: Khaw Malaysia sends Singapore two protest notes on airspace, port limits issues Malaysian sea incursions have violated Singapores sovereignty, international law: Khaw Spize Restaurant at River Valley (FILE PHOTO: Yahoo News Singapore) Asian fusion restaurant Spize will have to shut down its River Valley branch, after the National Environment Agency (NEA) terminated its licence with immediate effect on Friday (7 December), following last months mass food poisoning incident which left one dead. NEA will be taking enforcement action against the restaurant for the lapses, including pressing charges in court. A joint statement by NEA, the Ministry of Health (MOH) and Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) on Friday said that there was strong evidence of severe contamination from poor hygiene and food handling practices. Two inspections found many hygiene lapses The three authorities first did a joint inspection on the premises on 7 November, a day after the first food poisoning cases were reported. They found several hygiene lapses, including: Not providing soap for hand-washing, leaving ready-to-eat food uncovered in a chiller, and slotting knives for preparing ready-to-eat food being placed in the gaps between food preparation tables. A second joint inspection on 14 November found more lapses, such as having seven unregistered food handlers and preparing food outside the licensed kitchen area. There were also poor personal hygiene and food preparation practices observed among the food handlers. A commonly-occurring bacterium, Salmonella Typhimurium, was found in investigations from blood and stool samples from those who fell ill, as well as from the raw and ready-to-eat food as well as environmental samples from the outlet. They were closely related by genetic analysis, suggesting they are from the same source, said the joint statement. The investigations found that the outbreak of Salmonella gastroenteritis was unusually severe, suggesting that the food was likely to be heavily contaminated, added the statement. Other Spize outlets allowed to operate Spizes other outlets at Rifle Range Road, Bedok, and Siglap will still be allowed to operate. The NEA has checked these other outlets as a precaution, and have found no evidence to link the current outbreak to them. Story continues Between 6 and 9 November, 82 cases of gastroenteritis inflammation of the stomach and intestines which causes vomiting and diarrhoea were reported amid seven food poisoning incidents at the Spize restaurant branch. The fatal case involved Sats officer Fadli Salleh, 38, who had eaten a bento box prepared for a Deepavali celebration organised on 6 November at security company Brinks Singapores Kaki Bukit premises. The cause of death is pending and has been classified as a coroners case, said the joint statement. Over 500 affected by food poisoning incidents The incident was the first of a spate of food poisoning cases in the past month, which affected more than 500 people. On 23 November, 190 people fell ill after eating food from TungLok Catering at a Singapore Civil Defence Force event at Max Atria@Singapore Expo. None of the 190 affected were hospitalised. On 26 November, 131 kindergarten pupils and teachers fell ill after eating food from FoodTalks Caterer & Manufacturer during a learning camp. Earlier this week, 175 people falling ill with food poisoning after attending four separate events at the grand ballroom of Mandarin Orchard Hotel between 1 and 3 December. The NEA and AVA will be stepping up checks on food establishments during the festive season. With the increase in volume of consumers dining out and ordering catered food, all food operators must ensure that the food sold is prepared hygienically and safe for consumption. The authorities will take action on any operator who fails to maintain food safety. Related stories: 175 ill in mass food poisoning linked to events at Mandarin Orchard Hotel ballroom 131 fall ill in third mass food-poisoning case this month NEA suspends licence of Tung Lok Catering at Singapore Expo after reports of illnesses Man dies after gastroenteritis outbreak at Spize Restaurant at River Valley Back off, Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan asserted in a stern message to Malaysia yesterday amidst tensions over Malaysian vessels trespassing into Singapores territorial waters for the past two weeks. Leave our waters while we pursue sit-down dialogues to resolve it, he said in a media briefing yesterday, expressing displeasure about the 14 intrusions Malaysian vessels have made into Singapores territorial waters off Tuas. The minister also showed a clip of The Republic of Singapore Navy and coast guard issuing repeated warnings to trespassing Malaysian government vessels. The strain relations began back on Oct 25, when Malaysia published altered limits to its Johor Baru Port, which extended significantly eastward and intruded into Singapores territorial waters. Despite Singapores objection to the changes (three diplomatic notes were sent), it appears that Malaysia paid no heed to the protest and allowed its vessels to cruise into Singapore waters after the alteration. This is a blatant provocation and a serious violation of our sovereignty and international law, Khaw said. Historical arguments Since at least 1999, Singapore has been exercising its jurisdiction in the waters that are now covered in the altered boundaries of the Johor Baru Port. We have been patrolling the area regularly, and protested any intrusions or unauthorized activities. Malaysia has never laid claim to these waters, or protested our actions there, Khaw said. Now, out of the blue, Malaysia is claiming these territorial waters that belong to Singapore. On Wednesday, Malaysia rebutted with an argument that Singapore is not allowed to lay its claim on the area on the basis of its reclamation works in Tuas in recent years. But Khaw clarified that when Malaysia published a map showing the limits of its claimed territorial waters in 1979, there had been no reclamation yet, and Malaysias boundaries certainly werent extended as it is right now. Story continues How it has been since 1999. Graphic: Ministry of Transport The changes made on Oct 25, 2018. Graphic: Ministry of Transport Malaysia disagreed that the altered Johor Port Limits infringed on Singapores territorial waters off Tuas, emphasizing that its government vessels were simply patrolling its territorial waters. The altered port limits for Johor Baru Port has not in any way encroached into any part of Singapore, said Malaysias Transport Minister Anthony Loke in a media statement. Malaysia has always had and continues to have sovereignty over the waters within the port limits for Johor Baru Port. Graphic: Ministry of Transport Tuas extended In response to the provocative developments, Singapore has since extended its own port limits off Tuas, but the lines remain well within its territorial waters. Singapores extended limits now. Graphic: Ministry of Transport So far, local authorities have responded with restraint against the actions of Malaysian government vessels one of which has been anchored in Singapore waters for several days in a bold move to mark its territory. Singapore cannot allow our sovereignty to be violated, or new facts on the ground to be created, affirmed Khaw. Therefore, if it becomes necessary, we will not hesitate to take firm actions against intrusions and unauthorized activities in our waters to protect our territory and sovereignty. No need to get your bug-out bag ready just yet, though. Malaysia has proposed that officials from both sides meet to work it out, which Singapore has agreed to and will follow up. We still seek good bilateral relations and hope we can work together to find an amicable solution to these issues. When our national interests are challenged, we have to quietly but firmly stand our ground and stay united as one people. This article, Neighbourly tensions as Singapore tells Malaysia to back off after repeated vessel intrusions into territorial waters, 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 seed round is led by Summit Media, including a personal angel investment from Summit Medias president and CEO Lisa Gokongwei-Cheng Kumu, a Philippines-based livestream and content mobile app, has secured a total of US$1.2 million seed funding round. The funding was led by Summit Media, with a personal angel investment from the media companys president and CEO, Lisa Gokongwei-Cheng, whos also the director of Robinsons Bank. Summit Media was joined by FOXMONT Capital Partners; Two Culture Capital, which is managed by ex-Googler Scott Hartley; and Jove Schrottmann of Mandala Spa Boracay. The company claimed that the investment marks one of the first notable investments ever made in the sector in Southeast Asia region as live streaming and content industry are mostly dominated by larger markets like in the US or China. As for Summit Media, the company believes that the investment it has made is a strategic one as Summit Media will gain a livestream and content platform to its sprawling media portfolio. Our investment in Kumu is an important addition to our portfolio. We are committed to investing in the future of media, as we are cognizant of our audiences rapidly changing needs, said Gokongwei-Cheng. Also Read: Property agent comparison platform Propseller secures US$1M seed funding In exchange, Summit Media claimed that Kumu will gain a client network that already includes many of the top advertisers by spend in the Philippines. Kumu allows fans to tip their favorite content creator on the platform, giving life to the term social television. It was founded in 2017 by founders Roland Ros, Rexy Dorado, Andrew Pineda, Clare Ros, and Angelo Mendez. Kumu understands how hard it is to earn from your passion. We are therefore allocating some of the funding to support our livestreamers across the creative process, beginning with training and going all the way up to production. Our goal is to create the worlds first social television network, where content creators can readily find enthusiastic fans who want to engage with them, said Roland Ros, CEO and co-founder of Kumu. Story continues The platform collaborates with many shows and provides multiple ways for brands to reach their target audiences, like using the apps community chats called Kumunities. Some examples on how brand can utilise Kumu is with advertising prizes on in-house shows or sponsoring individual livestreamers. Using Kumu, other companies will be able to launch branded digital gifts that users can gift to their favorite content creators, who can redeem them for cash via the platforms wallet feature. In addition to user-generated content, the other key to Kumus vision of social television is its own in-house productions, which also will be expanded after the funding. Kumu features original shows via livestreaming. Since livestreaming is still relatively new in the Philippines, it is our companys responsibility to show Filipinos what is possible to achieve through this medium. I believe our users will run with these examples to produce something uniquely their own, and more importantly, engaging for us all, said Kumu Head of Strategy and Co-Founder Rexy Dorado. Also Read: (Exclusive) Thailands fleet intelligence solutions startup DRVR close to raising US$450K funding One of Kumus first financially successful creatives are Ffyona and Earl, an acoustic duo that dropped out from the University of the Philippines to pursue music full-time and find success on Kumu. To date, the app said that it has posted double-digit, month-over-month growth in both users and content creators, reaching over 100,000 users. Image Credit: Kumu The post Philippines-based livestream mobile app Kumu raises US$1.2M seed funding appeared first on e27. Australia's top legal body on Friday warned of police and intelligence "overreach" after Canberra rushed through parliament controversial laws allowing authorities to circumvent encrypted communications. Under the legislation, police and intelligence agencies can force technology firms -- including overseas communication giants like Facebook and WhatsApp -- to remove encrypted protection for people under investigation. Canberra says the laws are needed to intercept communications between serious criminals, like terrorists and paedophiles. Despite fierce debate, the legislation rushed through parliament late Thursday, on the last day of sitting for the year, after the opposition Labor party agreed to drop amendments in the interest of public safety over the Christmas break. "I think these laws were rushed," opposition leader Bill Shorten admitted Friday. "I thought it was important that we reach at least a sensible conclusion before the summer on the important matter of national security," he told reporters. The opposition will "seek to improve" the legislation when parliament resumes next year, he said, acknowledging that "legitimate concerns" persist. The government has agreed to consider further amendments to the bill early next year in line with recommendations made by a parliamentary joint committee on security. The Law Council of Australia on Friday said the legislation "rammed" through parliament left open the possibility of "overreach" from the police and intelligence officials. The council was concerned the new laws could circumvent the need for authorities to get a warrant before obtaining communications, while people could be detained in some circumstances without being allowed to contact a lawyer. "It's not just the rights of citizens that are potentially compromised by this outcome, but intelligence agencies and law enforcement that are at risk of acting unlawfully," said council president Morry Bailes in a statement. Bailes said the security committee process has been "politicised" with the rushed legislation. "The committee must now be given the time it needs to ensure there are no unintended consequences, which could be to the detriment of us all," he said. "Next year, as well as passing the remaining amendments, the intelligence and security committee needs to be brought back into the frame to get these laws right." The US Africa Command best known as AFRICOM Wednesday said it killed four members of al Shabaab militant group in Somalia, in an airstrike. U.S. forces conducted a self-defense airstrike targeting al-Shabaab militants in the vicinity of Awdheegle, Somalia on December 04, 2018, Africome said in a press release, indicating the operation was in support of Somalias continued efforts to degrade al-Shabaab. The U.S. airstrike was conducted against militants after U.S. and partner forces came under attack, the press release said adding that according to initial assessment, the airstrike killed four militants with no civilians involved. U.S. force had conducted an airstrike targeting al-Shabaab militants near Lebede, Somalia on November 30, killing nine militants. U.S. forces will use all effective and appropriate methods to protect the Somali people, including partnered military counter-terror operations with the Federal Government of Somalia, Africa Union Mission in Somalia and Somali National Army forces Africom renewed commitment to prevent, alongside Somali and international partners, al-Shabaab from taking advantage of safe havens from which they can build capacity and attack the people of Somalia. In particular, the group uses portions of southern and central Somalia to plot and direct terror attacks, steal humanitarian aid, extort the local populace to fund its operations, and shelter radical terrorists, it recalled. Africom said it will continue to work with its partners to transfer the responsibility for long-term security in Somalia from the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) to the Federal Government of Somalia and its Member States. Meanwhile, U.S. forces will use all effective and appropriate methods to protect the Somali people, including partnered military counter-terror operations with the Federal Government of Somalia, AMISOM and Somali National Army forces, it said. Al Shabaab has waged years of insurgency but is currently losing ground due to the presence of UN forces who have been backing regular forces. Police officers near Dataran Merdeka in Kuala Lumpur before a rally in 2015. (FILE PHOTO: Reuters) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) has on Friday (7 December) advised Singaporeans to defer all non-essential travel to Kuala Lumpur, in light of rallies taking place at various locations in and around the Malaysian capital on Saturday. It said in a travel advisory, According to media reports, a large-scale rally will take place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, at Dataran Merdeka on 8 December, 2018. Current indications are that turnout at the event may number in the tens of thousands. There are also media reports of another large rally taking place in Petaling Jaya at Padang Timur on the same day. As with large congregations or demonstrations, there is a possibility that limited and isolated skirmishes might take place. There may also be traffic disruptions and other disturbances that will impact travellers. Opposing opinions on ICERD The Dataran Merdeka rally refers to a public demonstration by opposition groups Umno and Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS), along with Malay-Muslim non-governmental organisations, to celebrate the Malaysian governments decision to back away from ratifying the United Nations International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD). It will begin at 2pm and is scheduled to end at 6pm. The Petaling Jaya rally, on the other hand, is organised by Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam), which supports the ratification of ICERD. Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad is expected to speak at the rally, in what is seen as a counter to the opposition gathering. Both rallies have been given the green light by the authorities, in a signal of higher tolerance for freedom of expression under the six-month-old Pakatan Harapan government. Staying vigilant, avoiding large gatherings The MFA travel advisory added: Singaporeans are advised to defer all non-essential travel to Kuala Lumpur for the time being. Singaporeans who are currently in Kuala Lumpur are advised to stay vigilant and avoid large gatherings, monitor local media for developments and heed the instructions of the local authorities. Story continues MFA said Singaporeans are encouraged to eRegister with the ministry, and stay in touch with family and friends. Consular assistance Those who need consular assistance may contact the Singapore High Commission in Kuala Lumpur or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs duty office at: Singapore High Commission in Kuala Lumpur: 209 Jalan Tun Razak, 50400 Kuala Lumpur. Telephone: +60 321 616 277/+60 1665 610 400 Email: singhc_kul@mfa.sg Ministry of Foreign Affairs Duty Office (24-hours): 1 Sherwood Road, Singapore 248163 Tel: 63798800/ 63798855 Email: mfa_duty_officer@mfa.gov.sg Security was stepped up outside Sri Lanka's top court on Friday ahead of an expected ruling on whether the president broke the law by sacking parliament last month, a decision that could potentially lead to impeachment proceedings. President Maithripala Sirisena plunged the country into crisis on October 26 when he fired the prime minister and appointed the contentious Mahinda Rajapakse in his place. He then dissolved parliament on November 9. Four days later, the Supreme Court issued an interim ruling suspending Sirisena's decree and restoring parliament, which almost immediately passed a no-confidence motion against Rajapakse. The court's seven-judge bench was likely to deliver a final ruling on the constitutionality of Sirisena's move on Friday. "If the morning session is brief, we can expect a decision later today," a court official said. Sacked premier Ranil Wickremesinghe's party and their allies, who command a majority in the 225-member assembly, have suggested that they could begin impeachment proceedings again Sirisena depending on the ruling. Wickremesinghe's party loyalists believe that the court decision will go in their favour, a view held by many independent lawyers. Problems for Sirisena were compounded on Monday when the Court of Appeal suspended the entire cabinet and asked Rajapakse to explain on what authority he was holding office. With parliamentary proceedings degenerating into brawls, the United States, the European Union and other powers have raised concerns over the crisis in the strategically important island nation of 21 million people. Only China has recognised the appointment of Rajapakse, who during his decade as president until 2015 relied heavily on Beijing for diplomatic and financial support. As president from 2005 until 2015, he ended Sri Lanka's four-decade civil war in 2009 by crushing the rebel Tamil Tigers. But 40,000 ethnic Tamils were allegedly massacred in the process. Rajapakse and his family are also alleged to have profited from his time in power through corrupt deals. During an earlier stint as prime minister from 2001 until 2004, Wickremesinghe is credited with pulling Sri Lanka out of its first ever recession, in part with reforms that have endeared him to the West. Thai cops shot dead a smuggler and seized 15 million meth pills at a checkpoint in Thailand's portion of the "Golden Triangle", officials said Friday, the latest death in an intensifying drug crackdown. Millions of dollars worth of methamphetamine pour into Thailand each week from neighbouring Myanmar, where drug lords are flooding the market with narcotics. The Golden Triangle is a notorious lawless border zone that straddles Laos, Myanmar and Thailand. Experts say drug lords in the zone, mainly in neighbouring Myanmar's self-administered Wa state, have been churning out more drugs than ever in a trade worth tens of billions of dollars annually. Thai drug police and military have ramped up operations in the northern gateway to Myanmar, killing and arresting smugglers who are often from ethnic hill tribes who live across the lawless area. The latest shootout happened as three trucks were stopped late Thursday night in Chiang Rai province. "They fought back... one smuggler was shot dead," said Major General Pornchai Charoenwong, deputy commander of the Narcotics Suppression Police. It is the 15th death of an alleged smuggler in just over a month in northern Thailand as authorities intensify a crackdown on the rampant trade in meth tablets, the crystallised "ice" version, and heroin. In the trucks were a total of 75 sacks with the numbers "999" printed on them, a brand used by Myanmar drug lords. "Each bag had 200,000 tablets... we estimate there are around 15 million tablets." Two other men escaped in the dark, said the major general. More than 79 million meth tablets have been seized by authorities in the north's 17 provinces over the past seven weeks, said third army commander Chalongchai Chaiyuakham. "They are all from the same group of smugglers," he said. U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at a Hanukkah reception as Vice President Mike Pence looks on in the East Room of the White House in Washington, U.S. December 6, 2018. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said without evidence on Thursday Arizona "is bracing for a massive surge" of immigrants along part of the border that has no protective fence, reiterating his call for Democrats to back funding for his proposed border wall. "Arizona, together with our Military and Border Patrol, is bracing for a massive surge at a NON-WALLED area. WE WILL NOT LET THEM THROUGH," Trump wrote in a post on Twitter, appearing to maintain pressure on lawmakers seeking to approve legislation to keep the government open through to Sept. 30 next year. Representatives for the White House, the Department of Homeland Security and the Pentagon did not respond immediately to requests for comments. It was unclear if Trump had a specific group of migrants in mind. On Wednesday, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection said that border agents in Arizona had apprehended two groups of families from Honduras and Guatemala comprising a total of 124 migrants who had crossed into the United States. The U.S. Congress approved a stopgap two-week spending bill on Thursday but lawmakers still need to agree on a longer-term funding measure to fund government agencies until the end of the fiscal year in September. Trump, who has made the construction of the wall a foundation of his presidency, has demanded $5 billion this year from Congress for the boundary and has threatened to shut down the government if lawmakers do not accede. Democrats have argued the wall would be ineffective at ending illegal migration and stemming the flow of illicit drugs across the border. (Reporting by Makini Brice; Editing by Tim Ahmann and Simon Cameron-Moore) PORT MORESBY (Reuters) - The United States will not back down from its trade dispute with China, and might even double its tariffs, unless Beijing bows to U.S. demands, Vice President Mike Pence said on Saturday. In a bluntly worded speech at an Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) summit in Papua New Guinea, Pence threw down the gauntlet to China on trade and security in the region. "We have taken decisive action to address our imbalance with China," Pence declared. "We put tariffs on $250 billion in Chinese goods, and we could more than double that number." "The United States, though, will not change course until China changes its ways." The stark warning will likely be unwelcome news to financial markets which had hoped for a thaw in the Sino-U.S. dispute and perhaps even some sort of deal at a G20 meeting later this month in Argentina. U.S. President Donald Trump, who is not attending the APEC meeting, is due to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in Argentina. Pence's warning on Saturday contrasted with remarks made by Trump on Friday, when he said he may not impose more tariffs after China sent the United States a list of measures it was willing to take to resolve trade tensions. Trump has imposed tariffs on $250 billion worth of Chinese imports to force concessions on a list of demands that would change the terms of trade between the two countries. China has responded with import tariffs on U.S. goods. Washington is demanding Beijing improve market access and intellectual property protections for U.S. companies, cut industrial subsidies and slash a $375 billion trade gap. There was no hint of compromise from Pence. "China has taken advantage of the United States for many years. Those days are over," he told delegates gathered on a cruise liner docked in Port Moresby's Fairfax Harbour. He also took aim at China's territorial ambitions in the Pacific and, particularly, Xi's Belt and Road Initiative to expand land and sea links between Asia, Africa and Europe with billions of dollars in infrastructure investment. Story continues "We don't offer constricting belts or a one-way road," said Pence. While not referring directly to Chinese claims over various disputed waters in the region, Pence said the United States would work to help protect maritime rights. "We will continue to fly and sail where ever international law allows and our interests demand. Harassment will only strengthen our resolve." Just minutes earlier, Xi had spoken at length about his initiative and the need for free trade across the region. "It is not an exclusive club closed to non-members, nor is it a trap as some people have labelled it," Xi said of his brainchild project. He also called protectionism a "shortsighted approach" that was "doomed to fail". "History has shown that confrontation, whether in the form of a Cold War, hot war, or trade war will produce no winners," said Xi. (Reporting by Jonathan Barrett, Tom Westbrook, Charlotte Greenfield, Philip Wen; writing by Wayne Cole and Swati Pandey; Editing by Robert Birsel) Singapores strengths lie in its conducive business environment and advanced tech ecosystem Claudia Hyun, Senior Manager of Global Acceleration Division of GCCEI For decades, government agencies from across the world have been drawn to Singapore, owing to its renowned status as a sturdy regional financial and tech hub. A good example would be South Korea. It shares strong diplomatic relations with Singapore and they have long been bosom trade partners. Both countries also actively invest in high tech industries. One reason why Korean companies and organisations are eager to tap into Singapores ecosystem is the ease of market access. Korean startups used to look mainly at China but More and more Korean startups get interested in getting acceleration and doing business in Southeast Asia, said Claudia Hyun, Senior Manager of Global Acceleration Division, GCCEI (Gyeonggi Center for Creative Economy & Innovation). And since there is no language barrier in Singapore because its official language in the country is English and seeing that it has a multicultural and open business environment, making Singapore an ideal market for collaboration and partnerships. Launched in 2015, GCCEI is a government- and Korea Telecom-funded agency that aims to help high-potential startups navigate the growth journey so that they may leapfrog towards regional and global expansion, with great chances of success. Hyun said that while South Korea is adept at developing and manufacturing innovative high tech products, not many have the capabilities to go abroad due to language barriers (low English literacy in the country) and strict regulations. Last year, a Financial Times article pointed out that in South Korea, startups often get overshadowed by tech conglomerates such as LG and Samsung. In addition, the country has stringent funding climate that is risk-averse; tight controls around new technological innovation such as autonomous driving; and a rigid corporate environment that still favours a top-down hierarchy. Story continues Indeed, one of the countrys most successful startups, Viva Republica, which operates p2p money transfer platform Toss, had to raise funding from Silicon Valley and other overseas investors. But while these deep-rooted issues remain a challenge to overcome, the South Korean government have taken active steps to power up its startup ecosystem. Also Read: Meet the most exciting startups at the Indonesia-Korea Tech-Startup Demo Day Since 2015, the South Korean government has pledged US$9 billion to develop the country into a regional startup hub. There have been some positive outcomes. Famed Silicon Valley VC 500 Startups Korean chapter has invested in over 30 startups locally, and the country has attracted the likes of Google and accelerator SparkLabs to set up offices there. In 2016, Singapores central bank, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), and the Korean Financial Services Commission (KFSC) signed a cooperation agreement to bolster joint fintech projects in Singapore. In 2018, Singapore and South Korea also inked agreements to deepen ties between small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and startups of both countries. This would allow these companies to leverage each others tech infrastructure and investment opportunities, to accelerate growth beyond their respective markets. GCCEI recently held a Demo Day in Singapore in collaboration with e27, with the aim of drawing Korean startups to the attention of both local and regional investors. It brought in 13 startups, with many, interestingly, in the IoT or hardware space. Hyun attributed this to Koreas strong expertise in the feature phone space. Hyun explained that many of these startups were founded by engineers who worked at design and engineering companies that manufactured phones for conglomerates such as Samsung. By being exposed to Singapores environment and investors, these engineers would be able to develop a product/market fit and construct business use cases for their product, as well as gain an understanding on how to tailor and localise them for other markets. In the future, these startups could also tap into R&D facilities and testing environments (sandboxes) that Singapore offers. But it is not only Korean startups which would benefit from being exposed to Singapores ecosystem, local companies would also be to glean important technical knowledge from these startups and potentially enhance their own product. Collaboration, after all, is a two-way street. All in all, with the South Korean governments renewed commitment to innovation, Singapores status as a regional tech hub provides a good nesting ground for Korean tech agencies like GCCEI to enhance their pool of startups, equipping them with the necessary knowledge and skills to reach a global audience. Disclosure: This article was written by the e27 marketing team, in collaboration with GCCEI The post Why the Singapore tech scene is a big draw for Korean startups appeared first on e27. The stakeholders to the Sahara issue, namely Morocco, Algeria, Mauritania and the Polisario have decided to hold a second roundtable on this regional conflict during the first quarter of 2019. The decision was made at the initial round table on the Sahara issue held in Geneva December 5-6, at the invitation of the UN Secretary Generals personal envoy, Horst Kohler, with the participation of delegations representing Morocco, Algeria, Mauritania and the Polisario. The joint statement issued after the first Geneva round table and read out by the UN envoy, announced that a second round table on the regional dispute will take place in the course of the first quarter of 2019. The delegations agreed that the Personal Envoy would invite them to a second round table in the first quarter of 2019, said Mr. Kohler when reading the joint statement before the media. The delegations reported on recent developments, discussed regional issues and discussed next steps in the political process for the Sahara, the statement said. All delegations recognized that cooperation and regional integration, rather than confrontation, were the best ways to address the many important challenges facing the region, the statement said, noting that all talks took place in an atmosphere of serious commitment, openness and mutual respect. The round table was held in accordance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 2440. Resolution 2440 has actually confirmed Algerias involvement 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. The resolution also stressed the need for all parties to demonstrate political will in order to advance the negotiations and emphasized the importance of an enduring political solution based on compromise. So, it was the first time that Algeria participated in talks on the Sahara as a party to the conflict and not as an observer as it has long claimed. The Moroccan delegation to the Geneva round table included Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita, Moroccan permanent representative to the UN Omar Hilale as well as three local elected representatives from the Sahara Provinces. These are Hamdi Ould Errachid, President of the Laayoune-Oued Eddahab region, Ynja El Khattat, President of the Dakhla-Oued Eddahab region (a former member of the Polisario) and Mrs Fatima Adli, a civil society activist and member of the Smara municipal council. The presence of the elected Sahrawi trio sent a strong message to the international community that the Polisario secessionists are not the sole and legitimate representatives of the Sahrawis as they claim and that the majority of Sahrawis are leading a peaceful life in their native country, Morocco. Mary Queen of Scots isnt afraid to spoil its own endingit opens moments before Marys execution, clearly conscious that most viewers have at least a vague sense of where shell end up. But how faithful is the new biopic to the facts of how she got there? While the story follows the broad outline of Marys rise and fall, it takes considerable liberties with its relationships, motives, and timelines. Below, we break down where Beau Willimons screenplay departs from the history as we know it. Mary Stuart (Saoirse Ronan) After teasing her decapitation, the film flashes back to 1561, when the newly widowed Mary returned to Scotland following the death of her first husband, Francois II. Her uncertainty around her half-brother James (James McArdle), who served as regent in her absence, and her immediate antipathy with John Knox (David Tennant) are decidedly true to life. The preacher was one of her brothers earliest allies and one of her own most outspoken criticsthree years before she arrived in Scotland, he penned The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women, which was as polemical (and sexist) as it sounds. As historian Retha Warnicke puts it, Claiming it was monstrous for a realm to have a woman as its head, Knox validated rebellion against the rule of ungodly governors. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Knox wasnt alone in his hostility toward Mary. On her arrival in Scotland, the government was composed largely of Protestants who had outlawed Catholic mass. As the film shows, she attempted to preach tolerance for both religionsand according to Warnicke, Unlike many of her contemporaries, she seems to have genuinely wished that people of differing faiths could live unmolested together. Even so, an ascendant Catholic queen could only be seen as a threat by the Protestant Elizabeth. Elizabeth I (Margot Robbie) Advertisement When we first meet Elizabeth in Mary Queen of Scots, shes in her element at the English court, skeptical of and even amused by her young challenger to the north. But counter to the films framing, Marys claim to power was arguably more assured than her cousins. Where Elizabeth was the illegitimate daughter of Henry VIII, Marys descent from the Tudors was more direct, and, per UCIrvines Jayne Lewis, her sterling pedigree, untainted by the stain of bastardy, put her before Elizabeth in the line to the English crown in the eyes of many. Advertisement Even at the time, it was tempting (and common) to compare and contrast the two. As Lewis puts it, politically maladroit and sexually active Mary Stuart was indeed everything that her famously chaste and indomitable cousin once-removed was not. In the film and in life, Marys fertility threatened her older (and, yes, eventually smallpox-ridden) counterpart, but its unlikely that Elizabeth was as fixated on childbirth or as politically disengaged as the screenplay makes her out to be. Its more plausible that she refrained from marrying explicitly for political reasons: She avoided alienating her own people (and losing her autonomy) by refusing to partner with a foreign royal, while at the same time keeping her suitors hopes high enough to incentivize peace with their respective countries. Advertisement Advertisement Her rumored affair with Robert Dudley (Joe Alwyn) also failed to end in marriage, though that was perhaps in part because he was suspected of having killed his own wife to be with hera fact that the film leaves out entirely. Its true that he was suggested as a match for Mary, but she likely rejected him on those grounds, not because Elizabeth expressed a desire to keep him for herself. Henry Darnley (Jack Lowden) Advertisement Advertisement In the film, Henry Darnley charms Mary before revealing his true colors as a petulant, power-hungry prince who beds a courtier, David Rizzio (or Riccio), instead of his wife on their wedding night. Angry at being denied kingship, he drinks, swaggers, and schemes. Ultimately, hes pressured into killing his former lover to avoid being exposed as a sodomite before meeting his own untimely end in an assassination at Kirk oField. Just 19 years old when he arrived in Scotland, Darnley was in fact young and handsome by all accounts, but Mary was likely more strategic than infatuatedshe knew reports of her favoritism would reach Elizabeth, and even as she was courting him, she was actively pursuing other possible alliances in England and Spain. As a fellow Stuart (and one born in England, at that), marrying Darnley ultimately made sense for her claim to the English throne, which was only strengthened by the birth of their son, James. Advertisement Advertisement In terms of personality and conduct, the real Darnley is a difficult figure to pin down, though their eventual alienation probably had more to do with politics than anything else. Most of what we know comes from Thomas Randolph, Elizabeths exaggeration-prone ambassador, whom historian John Guy describes as a hostile witness. His task was to prevent Marys marriage to Darnley, and so he found as many reasons as he could to discredit the man That Randolph didnt accuse him of alcoholism under these circumstances means Darnley probably wasnt the heavy drinker we see on screen (though he was often intoxicated in the days leading up to Rizzios assassinationWarnicke speculates that his decision to plot the death of Riccio was unnerving the young man). Advertisement The circumstances of Darnleys own death are also relatively accurate (minus the male lover), with an early-morning explosion followed by strangulation when he managed to escape the initial blast. Mary, for her part, became convinced that the attack was meant for herthough she and Darnley were by then mostly estranged, shed been with him at Kirk oField mere hours earlier, and only by chance left around 11pm that night. David Rizzio (Ismael Cruz Cordova) Advertisement Advertisement In Mary Queen of Scots, Rizzio is established as an Italian courtier, musician, and eventually Marys dear friend, the only man among her coterie of maids. Hes also heavily implied to be gay, though Mary says explicitly that she doesnt hold his nature (or, more to the point, his relationship with her husband) against him. Advertisement Advertisement Its true that Rizzio became one of Marys confidants, playing cards with her nightly and assisting with her correspondence once she retained him as her secretary. Darnleys supposed sexual relationship with him has far less to substantiate it. There is one claim, attributed to Randolph, that they were so intimate they would lie sometime in one bed together, but somewhat convolutedly, that seems to have sprung up to explain Marys interest in Darnley. The men around her didnt believe that she could have come to her own decision about her future husband, so they concluded that she was led astray by the Catholic Rizzio whispering in her ear. Per Warnicke, These rumors helped fuel the animosity that led later to Darnleys conspiracy against Riccio, as did Randolphs insistence on blaming him for any royal policies he disliked. Advertisement Its become popular for Rizzio to be coded as gay in more recent adaptations, including the CWs Reign and the 1971 movie Mary Queen of Scots. Despite this, the prevailing historical narrative is more straightforward (and, well, straighter): Darnley was jealous of the other man, whether because he genuinely believed rumors of Marys adultery or because those rumors reduced him to a cuckold in the eyes of the court. Feeling emasculated by Marys refusal to make him her equal, he latched onto the gossip blaming Rizzio, and retaliated by signing off on his murderwhich was, in the film as in life, an extremely bloody affair. Mary herself was threatened at gunpoint, and Rizzio was reportedly stabbed 56 times (though in reality, he was dragged into the next room rather than murdered at her feet). In the centuries since, the site of the supposed blood stain has become a gruesome tourist attraction. Opposition to Marys Rule In the film, Marys relationship with her half-brother James, the Earl of Moray, is fraught from the outsethes both her chief advisor in the Scottish court and a Protestant who expects obedience and conformity. Historically, that resentment culminated in the quickly-quashed uprising known as the Chaseabout Raid, when Moray found himself outnumbered five to one by the forces of, according to Guy, an energetic, charismatic and infuriated queen who had the loyal, unstinting support of her own native Scots. While England didnt mind bankrolling the rebellion (as is hinted at in the film), sending troops was another, messier matter, and Moray found himself without Elizabeths support for a second attempt. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mary ultimately pardoned her brother, but the power vacuum following her husbands death brought fresh conflict. Though the film acknowledges the hostility she faced from her captor and eventual third husband, Lord Bothwelland from her own people after their hasty marriageit collapses the timeline of events considerably. After Darnleys assassination, Bothwell abducted her and kept her as his prisoner for months. They didnt marry right away, and one of his allies later recalled that Bothwell boasted he would marry his royal captive whether she would or would not have him. He raped her, sought a divorce from his own wife (who doesnt appear in Mary Queen of Scots), and ensured that [Mary] could neither escape nor be rescued before publicly repeating her promise to wed him. Marys subsequent miscarriage is also elided, and the film cuts straight to her concession of the throne to her infant son, James. Marys Time in England Mary Queen of Scots most marked departure from history is the secret, in-person rendezvous between Elizabeth and Mary at the latters lowest point. Though this isnt the first time such an encounter has been dramatizedmeetings between the two were imagined as early as 1801the reality is that the pair never saw each other face-to-face. Guy asserts that the real reason became apparent from [Elizabeths] many lame excuses. She feared that the younger, possibly more beautiful Queen of Scots was so magnetic, so brilliant in conversation, that she would overshadow or surpass her. Advertisement Advertisement The film takes this insecurity to its logical endpoint, painting the young queen as having won over her elder cousin with sheer charisma and sincerity, their would-be alliance scuttled solely by the men around them. But we know from Elizabeths own letters that she wasnt taken in by Marys image: When her cousin implored her to set aside jealousy and mislike, Elizabeth wrote that we wish She were as innocent therein as she laboreth greatly to beare both us and the world in hand that she is. Far from being quietly sympathetic to her cause, Elizabeth was reportedly resentful of the cost involved in Marys upkeep during her long internment in England. Marys fate was sealed when she was implicated in a plot to assassinate Elizabeth. The aesthetics of her execution in Mary Queen of Scotsnamely the tearaway black dress, the blazing red one underneath, and the fact that she hasnt aged a day during her 19-year imprisonmentall seem to underscore the biopics guiding principle, for better or for worse: Where the two conflict, the legend wins out over the reality every time. Rabbit Holes is a recurring series in which writers pay homage to the diversity and ingenuity of the ways we procrastinate now. To pitch your personal rabbit hole, email humaninterest@slate.com. I must have been 6 or 7 when I first learned about Bigfoot. I was curled up in my dads old reclining chair, watching the most underrated Disney film of all time, A Goofy Movie. In it, Goofy is demonstrating to his son, Max, how to cast a fishing line, when he accidentally lures the bumbling apelike being to their campsite instead of a fish. As Bigfoot stumbles over, Goofy grabs his camcorder, eager to document Bigfoots existence. Bigfoot towers over them, and Goofy perfectly captures a frustration of many Bigfoot believers who come away from their encounters with nothing but shadowy, fuzzy images of the beast. Can you back up a bit, Mr. Foot?, Goofy says. Youre out of focus. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bigfoot is hardly a main character in the film, but its larger-than-life persona stayed with me long after the credits rolled. I was deeply transfixed by this mythical creature, for its intimidating yet weirdly approachable form but also for what it representedthe possibility of the unknown, of discovery. In fact, I blame A Goofy Movie for what launched my lifelong fixation with Bigfoot and all other cryptidscreatures whose existence has yet to be proved or disproved by science. Advertisement Cryptids expanded my childhood world. Researching them was a way to escape the daily humdrum of living in an insular Connecticut city. I was a child obsessed with imaginary worlds and the mysteries that unfolded in them. My inner Nancy Drew was drawn not necessarily to solving the mysteryaka proving the existence of cryptidsbut to the quest itself. Unlike mythical beasts (think: Pegasus and dragons), most cryptids seemed just real enough, given their obvious counterparts in the natural animal kingdom. There was a chance my investigations would lead somewhere, but that wasnt the goal. Tracking Bigfoot is a form of escapism from the dumpster fire thats become the news. Soon after A Goofy Movie, when I was in elementary school, I maxed out my library card with books about unusual beasts. Bigfoot led to Yeti, Yeti to the Loch Ness monster, the Loch Ness monster to the Mothman, and so on. Id jot down interesting facts about them in my Lisa Frank notebooks. Like how the Wolpertinger, a rabbitlike creature, hangs out in the forests of Bavaria, or that the earliest report of Nessies existence dates back to the seventh century. My Bigfoot obsession grew so large that on one Girl Scout camping trip, I wandered off in search of the strange bipedal creature. Im sorry to say I found no footprints. Advertisement Advertisement Reading eyewitness accounts and collecting blurry photographs was a way to disassociate from reality, at least a little bit. But back then, the process was cumbersome. Stacks of books littered library tables. Chicken scratch filled my notebooks, as did photos I scanned for research purposes. Today, my cryptid fascination has taken on a slightly more tech-savvy form. It isnt nearly as obsessive as it was then, but its definitely more efficient thanks to search engines, bookmarking apps like Pocket, and Google Docs. Advertisement Whenever Im bored (or procrastinating), I check in with some of my favorite cryptids on sites like Cryptozoology News. One day, there might be a Jersey Devil spotting in South Jersey. On another, a Mothman sighting in the Chicago skyline. I binge-watch shows and documentaries like Animal Planets Finding Bigfoot. I troll Reddit threads and set Google Alerts for some of my favorites: Bigfoot/Sasquatch, Nessie, Mokele-mbembe, Chupacabra, Akkorokamui, and Wolpertinger. Advertisement Last year, I was suffering from anxiety attacks that frequently kept me up until the wee hours of the morning. During one episode, in an attempt to distract myself, I started a Google Doc tracking recent news coverage. Im a journalist by day, so it seemed natural to chart the cryptids whereabouts based on evidence and eyewitness accounts compiled from multiple sources. Ive dubbed both the Doc and what it contains my #Cryptidbits (which also happens to be a great name for a podcastI already bought the domain). Lately, Ive been especially busy following Bigfoot. Towns proclaim Bigfoot as their official animal, and festivals are held in its honor. The cryptid got the Hollywood treatment with not one but two adorable films in the past year: The Son of Bigfoot and Smallfoot. Bigfoot even broke into politics thanks to one weird and confusing congressional race in Virginia. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The act of tracking cryptids soothes me. My obsession can wane at moments, but when I need a distraction, its right there for me, with another piece of the unsolvable puzzle buried deep in the forests of the Pacific Northwest, where Bigfoot is said to lurk. Also, I spend so much of my day immersed in facts that its refreshing to step back and contemplate the unknown. Tracking Bigfoot is a form of escapism from the dumpster fire thats become the news. For me, cryptids also tap into the latent wonder of my youth, when I was comfortable, even excited, about the possibility of the unknown, not anxious. Plus, having a stockpile of #cryptidbits is great first date fodder. Well, depending on your definition of great. If someone is too weirded out by this hobby, then, in the words of Ariana Grande, I tell them thank u, next. In some ways, Im happy we dont know enough to confirm or deny cryptids existence, so that I can keep falling down this rabbit hole. Maybe thats where the Wolpertinger has been hiding this whole time. In Slates column Who?, the hosts of acclaimed podcast Who? Weekly explore the world of near-fame. It feels like just yesterday that we were speculating on Nick Jonas and Priyanka Chopra. As they walked the Met Gala carpet together, in matching Ralph Lauren, we thought, Are these two hooking up? Now this is an unexpected pairing! But OK! (We werent alone: Is This the Most Unexpected Thing to Happen at the Met Gala? asked a Coveteur piece.) This was in May of 2017. Why did their pairing seem so unlikely? Because he was a recently hunky (credit to the 2014 banger Jealous) former teen idol and she a breathtakingly beautiful Bollywood superstarslashUNICEF Goodwill ambassador whom Americans knew primarily from ABCs Quantico. Plus, she was 10 years older than Jonas, a surprising twist on the typical celebrity age gap. Plus, dont forget that immediate denial: She would tell Jimmy Kimmel that they attended the Gala as friends because we were both wearing Ralph Lauren! Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement What could one of the most famous and glamorous women in the worldsomeone who knows Duchess Meghans private cellphone numberpossibly want with a twentysomething most famous for his familys former commitment to purity rings and Disney? When the answer was, simply, friendship, we were allowed to rest easy. Things made sense again. Nick would eventually, we assumed, fall for a moderately successful pop musician or former child star whose name we hadnt thought about in years, and Priyanka would no doubt marry a world leader and become something approaching or equal to actual royalty. But then they got engaged, and now theyre married! In a now-deleted post that drew the ire of older brother Joe Jonas, Priyankas soon-to-be sister-in-law Sophie Turner, and many readers, the Cut called their relationship a scam. But come on: As the two grace this months cover of People magazine, aglow in holy pre-matrimony, its clear that this relationship wasnt merely the real dealit was also the impetus for the wedding of the year. Advertisement Its clear that this relationship wasnt merely the real dealit was also the impetus for the wedding of the year. But what about Meghan and Prince Harry?! you might scream, remembering that lovely wedding for the ages just a few months ago. Well: Did Meghan and Harry have a sangeet in which both families performed elaborate musical numbers with choreography and costumes? I think not. Theirs was the idealized version of a proper English wedding, while Priyanka and Nick took the tradition of the spectacular, multiday Indian wedding and ran with it. What were trying to say here (using Peoples reporting to support our argument, as we were not included on the guest list) is that Meghan and Harrys wedding was limited by tradition, while Priyanka and Nicks was an over-the-top extravaganza because of it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It is super important to Priyanka to have an Indian ceremony that honors her heritage and culture, just as its important to also have a Western ceremony that honors Nicks Christian upbringing, a source (or more likely, publicist) told People. They are doing both. #Nickyanka fully embraced the most elaborate forms of their respective religionsa mehendi ceremony and that sangeet, plus a Hindu wedding ceremony and a bridal ritual called a Bidaai. And, perfect for Peoples cover, Chopra wore a custom Ralph Lauren gown (shades of their first date!) covered in 2.4 million mother-of-pearl sequins as she walked down the aisle. Behind her: a 75-foot long veil manned by five handlers responsible for keeping it from catching in the perfectly verdant lawn. Above her: a drone, capturing the grandeur of it all in glorious HD. Compare this to Meghan and Harrys wedding, which despite its A-list guests and historic, inspiring inclusivity was a dreadfully boring affair apart from a few choice musical moments and a very good sermon. Advertisement But Chopra and Jonas commitment to the art of being extra extended beyond the wedding itself. Meghan and Harrys most exciting pre-wedding content came in the form of a formal interview with the BBC in which they revealed the fact that they became engaged over roast chicken. Meanwhile, Chopra and Jonas hyped up their multipart spectacular with a foray into spon con. While that kind of partnership would be unheard of for a royal who reports to Elizabeth II, it makes perfect sense for a plain old celebrity looking to capitalize on an immense social following. Rich people often say one key to wealth is straight-up frugality, and Instagrams like this one, of Jonas showing off branded scooters used (or at least photographed) at his bachelor party, or this one, of Priyanka thanking Amazon for helping her build her registry, prove that no one is above saving a little green when planning a wedding. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And in addition to good ol People, befitting Nicks status as locally popular, the wedding attracted the highest of highbrow coverage, befitting a megarich international superstar and fashion icon. Vogue detailed the couples origin storycomplete with a video of them playing a sappy, sanitized version of The Newlywed Gameand gave them a digital cover, whatever that means these days (while Priyanka herself will sit solo for Vogues actual January coveron breaking barriers and landing the man of her dreams, it reads). People still got the full wedding-album exclusive, while video of the ceremony posted to Chopras personal Instagram is branded with a #PeopleWeddings hashtag and @People is tagged on her wedding photo. Advertisement From top to bottom, Vogue to People, Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam to Exotic feat. Pitbull, the cover of Rolling Stone to Forbes 100 Most Powerful Women list, Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas are the most delightful celebrity relationship of the year. Theyre both Whos and Themslittle-known to many Americans or people who werent recently teen-pop fans but also astonishingly famous within their respective celebrity ecosystems (he: pop music; she: the worlds biggest film industry). The result was a perfect storm of earnest shamelessness and enthusiastic joy of the sort that this years other big wedding was forced to either tone down or mute entirely. With such a spectacleand the subsequent outpouring of support for these two after their love was questionedNickyanka have pushed each other into broader Themdom and given us the royal wedding we needed in 2018, just under the wire. Diplomats from around 180 countries will be gathering in Marrakech, Morocco for a ceremony on Monday to sign the U.N.s Global Compact on Migration, a landmark agreement aimed at promoting international cooperation to manage the unprecedented population of migrants and refugees in the world. The United States will not be among them. The United States announced it was pulling out of talks over the pact in December, describing it as a threat to U.S. sovereignty. The agreement has also proved controversial in Europe. Italy became the latest country to pull out of the agreement last week, following the lead of Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Poland, Estonia, and Switzerland. Hungary, whose prime minister, Viktor Orban, has vocally opposed EU migrant quotas, quit while the agreement was still being negotiated. Belgiums government is currently on the verge of collapse over disagreements about the compact; Prime Minister Charles Michel says he will be attending the meeting in Marrakech merely in a personal capacity. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Given all this controversy, its worth noting that the 34-page document, formally known as the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration, is a non-binding agreement. It doesnt actually obligate its signatories to change any laws or implement any new policies. It includes no quotas or targets for the number of migrants that destination countries should accept. Rather, it lays out some general goals, including reducing the causes of migration, collecting accurate information about migrant populations, improving pathways for legal migration, combating human trafficking, and ensuring the human treatment of asylum seekers. The objections to the pact are probably less about any of its specific clauses than about a generalized hostility toward the idea of taking in new migrants. Stephen Miller pulled the United States out of the compact before there was even a draft text, says Michael Clemens, a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development who studies migration. The fact that the word migration is in the title was sufficient for him to consider this a violation of U.S. sovereignty. He notes that the countries that have pulled out of the compact offer nothing in counterpoint. Advertisement The absence of the Trump administration from the negotiations is reflected in the text of the final document. For instance, it urges countries to prevent family separation and reunite families when family separation occurs, urges them to use immigration detention only as a measure of last resort, and includes references to the role of climate change in driving mass migration, all sections that might have been negotiated away or watered down had the U.S. participated in the discussions. Advertisement Clemens, who was a firsthand observer of some of the negotiations over the pact, said some of delegates were glad not to have to deal with the U.S., given its positions on these issues, even though the American absence damages the legitimacy of the compact. Advertisement Advertisement Given how controversial even this document has been, its clear that a binding treaty including World Trade Organizationstyle obligations for signatories on migration issues would have been a nonstarter. But Clemens says, People who see that it isnt a treaty might be surprised by how much time and effort was spent negotiating each line. Some of the more contentious discussions, he says, were around a section on the safe and dignified return and readmission of people who are found to not have the right to remain in destination countries. Put simply, wealthier destination countries want a way to send back those who are rejected for asylum, while origin countries dont think the burden should be on them to reintegrate people who tried to leave. (Reintegration has been a contentious issue in a number of countries.) Advertisement The compact is notable in that its emphasis is less on numbers of migrants each state should accept, the main focus of many of the discussions on this issue, than in how both origin and destination states can ensure the safety and dignity of migrants and even make the process beneficial for both sides. While the document wont solve any major crises in the near term, the drafting of the compact, Clemens argues, was a process of interaction that helps build trust between origin and destination countries at a time when backlash is growing. In that context, the decision by so many Western countries to withdraw from the conversation entirely, is important. There are more than 258 million people who need that conversation to happen quickly. In less than two years, Heather Nauert has gone from Fox & Friends anchor to State Department spokesperson to undersecretary of state for public affairs and now to U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. President Trump announced Friday that he has chosen Nauert to replace the departing Nikki Haley. Nauert got generally high marks in her role at State, even from many of the reporters who covered hera rarity for Trump administration spokespeople. But shes heading into a very different role, and her resume will raise some eyebrows as she heads to the Senate for confirmation to a position generally held by experienced diplomats or career politicians. Advertisement The general consensus is that the Nauert pick indicates the Trump administrations lack of interest in the U.N. and its view that the ambassador is more of a spokesperson than a policymaker. And given that the U.S. has already pulled out of institutions ranging from the Human Rights Council to the Paris climate accord to UNESCO, the U.S. ambassador will have limited influence no matter who it is. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On the other hand, increasingly influential national security adviser John Bolton, a former ambassador to the body himself, takes the U.N. and its associated organizations extremely seriously. Hes deeply hostile to these international institutions, which he sees as dangerous intrusions on American sovereignty. They often seem to be his central concern. Bolton has reportedly taken a strong interest and prominent role in the minutiae of U.N. policymaking on issues like peacekeeping and diminished the role of Haley, who until Boltons arrival had enjoyed substantial autonomy. Haley had cultivated her independence from the White House and occasionally took public positions that were out of step withand sometimes at odds withthe presidents, particularly on Russia policy. Nauert seems less likely to freelance in her role, which means that Boltons influence, and his crusade against the worlds multilateral institutions, is only likely to expand. For the past two years, attempting to understand the complexities of the Mueller investigation and President Donald Trumps ties to Russia has felt like stumbling through a smoke-filled landscape. For every news story that seemed to chart a path forward, a new layer of unanswered questions would cloud the way. The past seven days may have marked the point at which things began to change, when the smoke began to dissipate, if only the tiniest amount. One of the biggest developments of the past week, Robert Muellers Wednesday sentencing memo for former national security adviser Michael Flynn, can be read in a very straightforward way. Despite the insistence of the president and his surrogates, Mueller still has plenty to reveal, and a lot of it will get to the heart of the question of whether any Trump officials colluded with the Russian government in its efforts to interfere with the 2016 election. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Full of redactions, the filing is another reminder that the investigation is looking into something much bigger and far-reaching than it may sometimes seem, especially when we talk about individual indictments and convictions for process crimes such as lying to investigators. This is a giant counterintelligence case involving possible election-law violations, money laundering, and who knows what other criminal behaviors. Flynn started working with Mueller after pleading guilty to lying to the FBI about his interactions, as a member of the Trump transition team, with the Russian ambassador to the United States during the runup to Trumps inauguration. As Muellers memo lays out, Flynn began helping investigators early and often, giving substantial information to not just Muellers inquiry into collusion but at least two other Justice Department investigations, one of which we know from the memo is a criminal investigation. The details about the second and third investigations are mostly redacted, but given Muellers description of Flynns assistance and his recommendation that Flynn not serve time in jail, we can infer that the former three-star general and head of the Defense Intelligence Agency provided very useful information. Advertisement As Muellers memo lays out, Flynn began helping investigators early and often. That Flynn is helping with not only Muellers immediate probe into team Trumps interactions with Russians during the campaign but also the two other investigations indicates that the collusion question is tied to something broader. Advertisement For more than a year, Muellers team and other investigators have been looking into Trump and his associates business dealings, in part because they could very plausibly be tied to that issue of collusion. A former U.S. intelligence officer with experience in Eastern Europe told me using such deals to draw in potential assets would be typical Russian intelligence tradecraft: I do believe this is about business in Russia or in places Russia has influence. Thats how you pull someone in, by making them offers that are harder and harder to refuse. This is all about trading favors for future Russian spoils. Advertisement Advertisement Last spring, it was reported that Mueller has been looking into a proposed peace deal between Ukraine and Russia that made its way to Flynn in his role as national security adviser. The proposal was reportedly brought to Flynns attention via Trumps ex-personal attorney Michael Cohen and former Trump business affiliate Felix Sater. That plan, nominally put forward by a Ukrainian lawmaker representing a pro-Russia political movement with reported ties to former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, was skewed heavily in Russias favor. The plan called for Ukraine to hold a referendum on whether Crimea should be leased to Russia for 50 to 100 years in exchange for Russian forces leaving eastern Ukraine. The Times further reported that the plan may have also involved the release of compromising material on Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko, who was elected following the 2014 revolution that ousted Ukraines pro-Russia President and Manafort client Viktor Yanukovych. The plans blatantly pro-Russia tilt along with the involvement of several Americans with connections to Russia raised concerns that the plan had actually come from Moscow. Last week, Mueller revealed that Cohen and Sater were working together during the 2016 presidential campaign to advance Trumps efforts to develop property in Moscow and that Cohen lied about it to Congress. Advertisement Advertisement Trumps history here is worth remembering. The president has long wanted to do business in Russia, he has a long history of traveling to the country as a high-profile American, and there have been a large number of people linked to the intelligence services and Mafia buying his and his family members real estate properties and working with him. It can be difficult to separate high-level Russian business dealings from the Russian government. Trump and many of his associates have either made, or tried to make, money in Russia and other former Soviet countries. There is almost always an unofficial price to making significant money in Russia, often in the form of favors that the Kremlin will seek to advance its political agenda. Trump appears to have struggled for years to secure a major deal in Russia, possibly for lack of a political patron, or krysha. By mid-2016 he looked like an increasingly viable candidate for victory in the presidential election. The Kremlin may have begun to eye Trump not only as a candidate who could hurt Hillary Clinton simply by campaigning against her but as a potential U.S. president who could be enticed into doing the Kremlin favors by the prospect of lucrative business deals in the former Soviet Union. This has always been the major question hanging over Trumps presidency, and indeed Mueller appears poised to get to the bottom of it. During a conversation about Google in China on Fox Business today, Texas Rep. Louis Gohmert launched into a rambling non sequitur about financier George Soros, saying, George Soros is supposed to be Jewish, but you wouldnt know it from the damage he inflicted on Israel and the fact that he turned on fellow Jews and helped take the property that they owned. Putting aside the unfounded accusationspushed by Roseanne Barr,* Donald Trump Jr., and othersthat Soros turned over fellow Jews to the Nazis in wartime Hungary when he was a child, Gohmert is arguing that because of his support for groups critical of Israeli policies, he is a perpetrator rather than a victim of anti-Semitism. Advertisement This is an absurd position but is one that the prime minister of Israel unfortunately seems to agree with. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Barak Ravid reports for Axios today that Benjamin Netanyahus office is negotiating with the government of Hungarys Viktor Orban over a controversial planned Holocaust museum. The museum has been criticized by Jewish groups in Hungary and around the world as an attempt by Orbans government to whitewash the role of Hungarians in the Holocaust and portray them solely as innocent victims of the Nazi occupation. The director of the library at Yad Vashem, Israels official Holocaust memorial, told Reuters, The museum concept clearly avoids addressing the role and responsibility of Hungarian leaders of that era for the plight of the nations Jews, and their eventual abandonment to the hands of Nazi Germany. It is implied that Hungary was actually a nation of rescuers. This is a grave falsification of history. Advertisement Netanyahu is a close ally of Orban, one of the dwindling number of staunchly pro-Israel leaders within the EU. The Israeli government backed Hungary last year, contradicting its own embassy in Budapest, when Orban was accused of fomenting anti-Semitism with an advertising campaign targeting Soros. Officials in the Israeli foreign ministry, who object to the new museum and have apparently been shut out of the discussions, worry that Netanyahu is working to help Orban save face. The prime minister similarly reached a deal with Poland in July after it passed a controversial law making it illegal to accuse the country of complicity in the Holocaust. After Poland agreed to drop prison sentences for those convicted under the law, Netanyahu issued a joint statement with his Polish counterpart praising Polands wartime resistance to the Nazis, eliding any discussion of the culpability of some Poles in the killing of Jews during that period. Advertisement Advertisement As Ravid notes in his Axios piece, Netanyahu needs the support of the central European governmentsmainly Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republicinside the EU and is willing to look the other way as those countries whitewash the history of the Holocaust or use age-old tactics to smear prominent Jews. As shown by previous statements about some of U.S. President Donald Trumps supporters, for the prime minister, as well as his backers in Washington, criticism of Israel is the only form of anti-Semitism that matters. Democratic candidate Dan McCready withdrew his concession Thursday in North Carolinas still very murky 9th Congressional District race, where accusations of voter fraud leveled against his opponent Republican Mark Harris campaign have raised questions about the legitimacy of the Nov. 6 vote. Over the last week, we have seen the criminal activity come to light, and we have seen that my opponent Mark Harris has bankrolled this activity, McCready said in an interview to local TV station WSOC. As of today, I am withdrawing my concession to Mark Harris and, furthermore, I call on Mark Harris to tell the people exactly what he knew and when he knew it. Advertisement I didnt serve overseas in the Marines to come home to NC and watch a criminal, bankrolled by my opponent, take away peoples very right to vote. Today I withdraw my concession and call on Mark Harris to end his silence and tell us exactly what he knew, and when. pic.twitter.com/2hcT00DVhQ Dan McCready for NC (@McCreadyForNC) December 6, 2018 Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement McCready conceded the race the day after the election, and Harris, a pastor who knocked off the Republican incumbent in the GOP primary, now holds an unofficial lead of 905 votes over the former Marine. The 9th District has historically been deep red and represented by a Republican in Congress for more than five decades. After the initial results, McCready did not ask for a recount, despite being legally entitled to one because of the close margin, saying at the time: For me now, country over party means offering my help to Mark, which I did by phone, as he takes over his new job representing us. Advertisement Since then, McCready has stayed largely out of public view as alleged breaches of election law, centering around the collection of absentee ballots in two counties in particular, have prompted the state elections board to refuse to certify the election. A broader state inquiry is now underway into whether an operative working on behalf of the Harris campaign illegally collected incomplete absentee ballots from voters in two counties. It is against the law in North Carolina for a third party to collect absentee ballots. The operative in question, Leslie McCrae Dowless, was hired as an independent contractor by a consulting firm for the Harris campaign and is alleged in some instances to have altered absentee ballots in Harris favor and in others to have collected and discarded ballots supporting McCready. The absentee ballot returns in Bladen and Robeson* counties, where Dowless operated, showed pretty significant statistical anomalies compared with the rest of the counties returns. Advertisement Advertisement The North Carolina State Board of Elections said it will hold a hearing on the allegations by Dec. 21 and determine a course of action that could include a revote. Theres also the possibility that the leadership in the House of Representatives could refuse to seat Harris, if the allegations remain unresolved. Even North Carolina Republicans appear to be bracing for another round. We are not ready to call for a new election yet, North Carolina Republican Party Executive Director Dallas Woodhouse said. I think we have to let the board of elections come show their hand. If they can show that this conceivably could have flipped the race in that neighborhood, we will absolutely support a new election. Slates expanded voting rights coverage is made possible by the support of Slate Plus members and readers like you. It is easy for Democrats to feel some glee about revelations that a Republican operative may have committed absentee ballot fraud in connection with last months election for North Carolinas 9th Congressional District. Not only does this mean that Democrat Dan McCready may have a chance to beat Republican Mark Harris in a new election that the state election board or the U.S. House of Representatives may order, giving Democrats a chance to pick up a 41st Republican seat this election cycle. The idea of a Republican operative being caught up in election shenanigans after North Carolina Republicans and others have been yelling so loudly in the past decade about the false specter of Democratic voter fraud deliciously demonstrates the hypocrisy and disingenuousness of Republican rhetoric about election integrity. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But to me, the circumstances surrounding the North Carolina election controversy are profoundly depressing, because they reveal that even incontrovertible facts are not going to get in the way of a narrative used to justify a host of suppressive laws aimed at making it harder for those likely to vote for Democrats to register and to vote, not only in North Carolina, but in Florida, Georgia, Wisconsin, and elsewhere. The efforts are likely going to continue to accelerate despite what we can learn about election integrity from the North Carolina ballot shenanigans, and it is unclear at best whether courts will continue to step up to block efforts aimed at assuring that Republicans can hold on to as much power as possible even when they lack the support of a majority of voters. Advertisement Republicans keep their heads in the sand when it comes to the real problems with our election system. Lets begin with what happened in the recent North Carolina 9th District congressional race. The state board of elections has refused to certify the results, and there is an ongoing investigation over the fate of absentee ballots, which might have swung the result in an election decided by 905 votes. Harris, the Republican candidate, signed a contract with a consulting firm that used Leslie McCrae Dowless Jr., a Republican political operative, for absentee ballot operations in Bladen County. Evidence so far suggests that Dowless used operatives to collect absentee ballots, sometimes filling in blank ballots and sometimes destroying ballots cast for Harris opponent, McCready. BuzzFeed reports that it was an all-cash operation where workers turned ballots over to Dowless rather than returning them to election officials as required by state law. Advertisement Advertisement The scandal shows that the system of safeguards put in place by North Carolina officials works to help ferret out fraud. Members of the public and state officials have been looking at names of witnesses who signed an unusually high number of absentee ballots and at the strange pattern of high absentee ballot requests and unreturned absentee ballots requested from Democratic voters. Follow-up investigations have revealed many of the unsavory details of a history of potential problems in Bladen, history which Republican Party officials apparently ignored for at least a few elections. Advertisement At this point, it is easy to take a victory lap and point out the hypocrisy of the voter fraud outrage machine, the members of the fraudulent fraud squad who proclaim voter fraud at every turn but ignore whats going on in Bladen. Fox News has barely covered the allegations despite spending a ridiculous amount of time on nonscandals like the handful of New Black Panther activists who went to a single Democratic precinct in Philadelphia in 2008 (Fox News billed this as a profound case of voter intimidation). Conservative vote-monitoring group True the Vote, in a fundraising email sent Thursday, made no mention of the Bladen problems. It did claim, though, that Advertisement Advertisement subversion spread coast to coast in 2018. And if you think this is bad, just wait until 2020. Wait until President Trump is on the ballot. Wait until the same forces that weaponized against me, against True the Vote, against Justice Kavanaugh wait until they begin to flex the muscle of all their newly won AG, Sec of State, and local judicial races. We may well witness the most orchestrated election manipulation this country has ever seen. The usual suspects like Hans von Spakovsky and Kris Kobach have called for an investigation when asked about it, but here, when faced with the first credible allegation of a congressional election stolen by manipulation in years, they have remained mostly silent. (When reached for comment by Slate, von Spakovsky said that all allegations of potential voter fraud, including those like the one in North Carolina, should be investigated.) North Carolinas Voter Integrity Project, which claims voter fraud is a major problem to be stamped out at every turn, has flipped the switch, accusing Democrats of plotting to steal an NC congressional seat. Advertisement Kobachs response, though, is telling about how little is likely to change for the fraudulent fraud squad and whats likely to happen going forward. He told the Washington Post that, based on what I have read, I am very concerned that voter fraud did occur. In the National Review, Rich Lowry loudly proclaimed that voter fraud is real and suggested it could happen in California, which allows ballots to be collected by nonrelatives. Of course, Bladen did not involve voter fraud at all, but instead an election crime which took votes away from actual voters. And theres no evidence that anyone acted illegally in collecting absentee ballots in California. Advertisement Advertisement This bleeding of categories and states is clearly going to be a pattern. Theres likely going to be a new election in North Carolinas 9th Congressional District, and Harris might even win again if theres no way of connecting him directly to the election crimes. But the facts of Bladen will be elided into a general sense that elections can be stolen and that voter fraud remains a major problem. Indeed, even as North Carolina Republicans were mostly silent about Bladen, they were busy passing a new restrictive voter identification law in the name of preventing voter fraud after the last one was struck down by the Fourth Circuit as targeting black voters with almost surgical precision. Voter ID laws prevent only voter impersonation fraud and would do nothing to stop what went on in Bladen, and Ive been arguing for the better part of a decade that there is simply no evidence that such a stupidly conceived crime is being used to swing any elections. If the Bladen absentee scandal came to light, can you imagine what would happen if people paid others to show up in great numbers to vote in the names of others on the rolls? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Over in Wisconsin, too, we are seeing a replay of past suppressive efforts. In 2016, the state had its cutback in early voting stopped by a federal court, and now in the lame-duck session before a Democratic governor comes in, the legislature is passing another cutback in early voting. Currently, counties can provide up to six weeks of early voting, and the new law would mandate that counties offer no more than two. Republican Wisconsin legislators made the specious argument that they were enacting the latest cutback in the name of uniformity by making sure each county has the same amount of time to vote. What they are really trying to do is make it harder for voters in more densely populated Madison and Milwaukee to have a chance to vote without facing long lines. The principle should be uniformity of voter opportunities, not counties. Advertisement Advertisement In Florida, the secretary of state (who serves at the pleasure of the Republican governor) has been putting stumbling blocks in front of county election officials who are trying to register former felons who have completed their sentences. Florida voters overwhelmingly passed an initiative restoring these voting rights, and now the secretary of state is claiming the need to slow it down for administrative reasons, when the real reason is likely that many of these voters will vote for Democrats. Advertisement Meanwhile, Republicans keep their heads in the sand when it comes to the real problems with our election system. Witness Georgia, where data scientists have uncovered a very troubling pattern of 100,000 missing votes in the race for lieutenant governor in November. It is likely going to take another lawsuit to try to figure out if deliberate manipulation, voting machine error, or something else explains this troubling pattern. And this is on top of a pattern of vote suppression which has led allies of Stacey Abrams, who ran unsuccessfully for Georgia governor, to bring a monster lawsuit attacking the totality of Georgias election system as discriminatory. Advertisement In the past, we could count on courts to step up and police some of the most egregious attempts to disenfranchise voters. And perhaps they still will, given how blatant and transparently troubling some of these new actions are. But Im far less confident that a new Supreme Court with Chief Justice John Roberts as the deciding vote is going to be a big protector of voting rights. Instead it is going to take continued vigilanceand political agitationto make sure we have a fair election and voting system. Nows not the time for even a short victory lap. The Trump campaign and the National Rifle Association appear to have illegally coordinated their ad buys during the 2016 presidential campaign, according to an investigation published Thursday by the nonprofit gun-related news organization the Trace and Mother Jones magazine. The coordination wasnt even subtle; it was done out in the open and filed with the Federal Elections Commission and the Federal Communications Commission, according to the report. The NRA dumped $30 million into Donald Trumps presidential campaign, making it Trumps largest independent conservative group booster. During the run-up to Election Day, the Trump campaign and the NRA bought and placed millions of dollars worth of strikingly similar targeted ads using what amounts functionally to the exact same media firm using two different firm names, Red Eagle and American Media & Advocacy Group, but run by the same people. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The two purchases may have looked coincidental; Red Eagle and AMAG appear at first glance to be separate firms. But each is closely connected to a major conservative media-consulting firm called National Media Research, Planning and Placement, the Trace and Mother Jones report. In fact, the three outfits are so intertwined that both the NRAs and the Trump campaigns ad buys were authorized by the same person: National Medias chief financial officer, Jon Ferrell. The pairs investigation found FCC filings that listed at least four current or former National Media employees as representatives of both the Trump campaign and the NRA, but the overlap didnt stop there: Red Eagle Media, the firm that the NRA used to place its pro-Trump ads, is merely an assumed or fictitious name used by National Media, according to corporate records. Corporate, FEC, and FCC records for all three entities list the addresses of 815 Slaters Lane or 817 Slaters Lane, a pair of adjacent brick buildings that share a parking lot in the historic Old Town section of Alexandria. Records in the FCC public inspection filesfiles that television stations maintain in order to comply with transparency regulations around political advertisingshow that Red Eagle and AMAG often bought ads around the same time, on the same stations, for the NRA and the Trump campaign, respectively. Advertisement Advertisement Independent groups, such as the NRA, can spend freely to help elect a candidate if, by law, they dont coordinate with that candidates campaign; coordination would make any ad buy an in-kind donation, which would be capped at $5,000. Campaign finance experts told the Trace and Mother Jones that the NRA/Trump ad buys were the most egregious coordination theyd seen, but the FEC is unlikely to launch an investigation because it is mired in a yearslong partisan squabble that has left it with only four of six commissioners and unable to get a quorum to take action. Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, whom President Trump fired with a tweet nearly nine months ago, spoke about his experience with the president for the first time on Thursday evening in an interview with CBS News. In the interview, which occurred at a fundraiser in Houston, Tillerson described an undisciplined president with whom he shared no common value system and talked of his frustration over Trumps tendency to demand action that would illegally go beyond his executive powers. Advertisement In fact, Tillerson indicated that he believes he was ultimately fired over his tendency to push back on the presidents unreasonable or illegal demands. When the president would say, Heres what I want to do and heres how I want to do it, and I would have to say to him, Mr. President, I understand what you want to do, but you cant do it that way. It violates the law, Tillerson told CBS reporter Bob Schieffer. I think he grew tired of me being the guy every day that told him, You cant do that, and lets talk about what we can do. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its likely not the first time Tillerson has spoken critically of Trump. In October 2017, NBC News reported that Tillerson muttered to his colleagues that Trump was a fucking moron after the president made a sudden and arbitrary demand to build thousands of unnecessary nuclear weapons. (His spokeswoman said he never called Trump that.) Advertisement But Tillerson was a little more cautious in his public remarks Thursday. He acts on his instincts, and in some respects it looks like impulsiveness. But [it is not his] intent to act on impulse. I think he really is trying to act on his instincts, he said. But his depiction of the presidents unorthodox style did not come off positively: It was challenging for me coming from the disciplined, highly process-oriented ExxonMobil Corporation to go to work for a man who is pretty undisciplined, doesntdoesnt like to read, doesnt read briefing reports, doesntdoesnt like to get into the details of a lot of things but rather just kind of says, Look, this is what I believe and you can try to convince me otherwise, but most of the time youre not going to do that. Gamble v. United States, which was argued before the Supreme Court on Thursday, has been touted as a potential problem for Robert Muellers investigation. It isnt. The case poses, at most, a minor threat to the probe. By contrast, the doctrine at issuewhich allows the federal and state governments to prosecute an individual for the same offenseposes a grave threat to the liberty of all Americans. With Gamble, the Supreme Court has a chance to limit prosecutorial overreach by revitalizing the Constitutions bar against double jeopardy. Instead, a majority of the justices appear poised to affirm a loophole that never made any sense to begin with. Advertisement Gamble revolves around the meaning of the Fifth Amendments guarantee that no person may be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb. This rule applies to both the federal government and each state government. Broadly speaking, it means that the government cant retry you for the same offense. The Framers intended the Double Jeopardy Clause to prevent prosecutors from harassing defendants by trying them over and over again until they obtained a conviction or a punishment they consider appropriate. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The facts of the case illustrate the injustice of the current rule. But the Supreme Court has created an exception to this fundamental safeguard. Under the dual sovereignty doctrine, the federal government and a state government can prosecute a defendant for the exact same crime. The idea here is that the federal and state governments are separate sovereigns, and each has independent authority to prosecute criminal activity. This rule stands on shaky jurisprudential ground. It was first developed to punish people acquitted under state law for protecting fugitive slaves. In 1959, the court affirmed it in a sharply divided decision without identifying its basis in the text of the Constitution. Gamble is a direct challenge to the dubious doctrine, an opportunity for the court to re-evaluate its prior decision to carve a loophole in the Fifth Amendment. Advertisement The facts of the case illustrate the injustice of the current rule. In 2015, Alabama officers caught Terance Gamble, a convicted felon, carrying a gun. State prosecutors charged him under an Alabama law that forbids felons from possessing firearms, securing a one-year prison sentence. While state charges were pending, a U.S. attorney brought charges under a federal law that forbids felons from possessing firearms, based on the same 2015 incident. Gamble pleaded guilty and received a 46-month prison sentence. He is scheduled for release in February 2020, almost three years after he wouldve been released under the Alabama sentence alone. Advertisement Is that fair? Almost certainly notindeed, its precisely the kind of arbitrary double prosecution the Framers warned against. Is it constitutional? Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg doesnt think so, nor does Justice Clarence Thomas. In 2016, the two justices issued a concurring opinion all but declaring that the court should overrule the dual sovereignty exception. And on Thursday, Ginsburg was the most active questioner on the bench, pummeling Assistant to the Solicitor General Eric Feigin with barbed queries. Advertisement Advertisement You have to concede, wont you, that this rule, this separate sovereign rule, has been widely criticized by both academics and federal judges? Ginsburg asked Feigin. (It has.) She also dinged Feigin for claiming that the exception somehow strengthens federalism, the division of power between the federal and state governments. Is there another case where federalism has been invoked to strengthen the hand of government? Ginsburg asked. Federalism is usually invoked because its a protection of the liberty of the individual, but here the party being strengthened is not the individual, it is the states freedom and the federal governments freedom to prosecute the same offense. Here, Justice Neil Gorsuch jumped in for the layup. I had thought in this country that the people were the sovereign, he told Feigin, and that sovereignty was divided, exercise of sovereignty was divided, not multiplied. It is awkward, isnt it, to say that there are two sovereigns who get to multiply offenses against you? I cant think of another case where federalism is used, as Justice Ginsburg indicated, to allow greater intrusions against the person, rather than to protect more against them. Advertisement Advertisement But Ginsburg and Gorsuch were the only two justices who seemed convinced that the dual sovereignty exception is constitutional codswallop. Everybody elsemost notably, Justices Elena Kagan and Samuel Alitowere plainly hesitant to overrule precedent and invite the unforeseeable consequences of a new legal regime. Part of the problem is that Louis Chaiten, who represents Gamble, just didnt do a very good job making his case. Chaitens brief fixates on treatises from the 17th and 18th centuries in an attempt to appeal to the courts originalists. But for Kagan and Alito, that effort fell flat. At one point, Kagan scolded Chaiten about his arguments shortcomings, telling him: Advertisement Im a little bit confused to why your argument seems, frankly, a little bit one note. You know, your brief and now your argument is just all about the original jurisdiction. And there are some people on this bench that think that that is the alpha and omega of every constitutional question. But there are other people on this bench who do not. Advertisement Kagan noted that the dual sovereignty exception has been around for 170 years and affirmed by 30 justices. And she told Chaiten that stare decisisadherence to precedentis a kind of doctrine of humility where we say we are really uncomfortable throwing over 170-year-old rules that 30 justices have approved just because we think we can kind of do it better. Advertisement Alito was equally blunt, repeatedly rebuking Chaiten for overstating his case. I wonder, he said, whether you have perhaps exaggerated in saying theres a mountain of support for your position. After Chaiten tried to back up the claim with scraps of evidence, Alito scoffed: So this is a mountain? When Kagan and Alito, the courts best bullshit detectors, both think youre full of it, youre probably going to lose. Advertisement That outcome would be a relief to those who feared that Gamble could imperil Muellers Russia probe, but it shouldnt be. Some legal commentators have worried that the abolition of the dual sovereignty doctrine would impede the investigation, bestowing Trump with a stack of get-out-of-jail-free cards. The theory goes like this: Right now, if Trump pardons his associates for their federal offenses, state prosecutors can still charge them for state crimes. Without the dual sovereignty rule, though, double jeopardy would prevent states from charging Trumps cronies, since they would have already been tried and pardoned for an analogous federal offense. Advertisement As Teri Kanefield and Jed Shugerman explained in Slate, this concern is overhyped. Mueller obviously refrained from prosecuting Manafort et al. for the full battery of crimes they may have committed. Each instance of money laundering or tax fraud qualifies as a separate crime, and its highly doubtful that Mueller covered the waterfront with regard to the Trump cliques criminal activity. By preserving certain charges, Mueller ensured that state prosecutors can bring fresh indictments in the case of a pardonno matter how Gamble turns out. Indeed, the federal tax crimes at issue in the Manafort case have state law corollaries that are completely separate crimes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Similarly, its improbable that Gamble could jeopardize the federal governments ability to enforce Americans civil rights. The feds have occasionally stepped in to prosecute bias-motivated crimes when state juries deliver patently unjust acquittals; consider the successful federal retrial of Rodney Kings tormentors.* But federal civil rights laws define crimes differently from state statutes: What constitutes a murder under state law, for example, may qualify as unlawful deprivation of rights under federal law. Even without the dual sovereignty exception, then, federal prosecutors could continue to charge violent bigots and abusive cops for violating civil rights without running into a double jeopardy roadblock. These issues, however, will likely remain theoretical for now. Gamble seems headed toward a 63 loss, with Ginsburg, Gorsuch, and Thomas voting to end the dual sovereignty exception, and every other justices sticking by it. The court is wary of overhauling double jeopardy jurisprudence, even if it has strayed far from the text and purpose of the Fifth Amendment. Thats unfortunate. A ruling against Gamble may make Robert Muellers job slightly easier. But it will also mean that the rest of us remain vulnerable to prosecutors whose zeal for incarceration outweighs their commitment to justice. On Tuesday, Wisconsin Republicans escalated their lame-duck power grab, confirming 82 appointees from outgoing Gov. Scott Walker after passing bills to lock in conservative policy and keep incoming Democratic Gov.-elect Tony Evers from exercising meaningful power over state government. The hypocrisy is striking. In 2010, thenGov.-elect Scott Walker asked outgoing Democratic incumbent Jim Doyle not to finalize any permanent civil service personnel as he finished his term. I believe these appointees should be required to go through the same application process as any other civil servants, wrote Walker, and my Administration will review any new permanent hires during the next two months so they can be considered for termination during the probationary period. He also opposed a lame-duck session to approve public employee union contracts as they would tie the hands of the governor and the newly elected Legislature as they work to balance the state budget. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Walker, a dedicated partisan, has no interest in reciprocity and has endorsed the GOP-controlled Legislatures constitutional coup despite his previous stance. Members of the Legislature were elected not on a term that ended on election daythey were elected in a term that ends in January, just like my term ends in January, he said, attempting to justify his partys open attack on the democratic transfer of power. This is just public relations. More interesting are the statements from Republican legislative leaders that reveal the actual basis for this power grab, beyond extreme partisan self-interest. Law written by the legislature and passed by a governor should not be erased based on the political maneuvering of an incoming administration, said state Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald on Tuesday, before adding Citizens from every corner of Wisconsin deserve a strong legislative branch that stands on equal footing with an incoming administration that is based almost solely in Madison. His last line echoes a comment made by state Assembly Speaker Robin Vos just after the election. If you took Madison and Milwaukee out of the state election formula, we would have a clear majoritywe would have all five constitutional officers and we would probably have many more seats in the Legislature. Advertisement Advertisement The idea that you could remove the states major population centers and still have an acceptably democratic result is a reasoning that gets to the heart of the matter. Its not just that Democrats are poised to undo gains made under Walkers administration, but that Democrats themselves are illegitimate because of who they represent. Vos isnt saying that Republicans should do better in Madison and Milwaukee, hes saying that the states major cities shouldnt count. And if they do count, says Fitzgerald, they dont count the same way. They are the wrong voters, and the Democrats they elect have no right to roll back a Republican administration backed by the right ones. Advertisement Advertisement Their understanding of who counts, and who ought to count, is tied to an urban and rural divide that encompasses divisions along race, economic class, education, and ideology. In The Politics of Resentment: Rural Consciousness and the Rise of Scott Walker, Katherine Cramer, a political scientist at the University of WisconsinMadison, shows how the states politics have been shaped by a rural sense of distributive injusticea sense that rural folks dont get their fair share. (Their) sense of identity as people from a place that was disadvantaged economically coexisted with the perception that wherever their hard-earned money was going, it was not coming to them. It seemed instead to be going, in part, to bloated government programs and overpaid and underworked public employees. Advertisement Advertisement The idea that you could remove the states major population centers and still have an acceptably democratic result is a reasoning that gets to the heart of the matter. Its impossible to disentangle these views from racist attitudes and racial assumptions embedded in the ideologies and identities that shape white Americans everywhere. But thats particularly true of Wisconsin, which is extremely racially segregated with just 29 percent of its black population residing outside of Milwaukee and Madison. Even these two cities are highly segregatedthe Milwaukee metro area is among the racially segregated in the country. For Cramer, antiurban resentment is not simply resentment against people of color, but its not unrelated. Since the cities, particularly Madison, are perceived as liberal and vote Democratic in elections, people who harbor racial resentment may indeed be equating city people with racial liberalism. Now as in the past, racial animosity is directed toward groups of whites that help minorities, such as government employees and academics. Advertisement Indeed, Scott Walkers climb to the governors mansion, and his eight years in office, are marked by skillful use of rural consciousness, weaponizing resentments against urban liberals and racial minorities. As Cramer puts it, paraphrasing her conversations with voters across the state, To people who perceived that public employee benefits came directly from their own pockets Walkers proposals were a victory for small-town Wisconsinites like themselves. Advertisement Advertisement The Wisconsin Republican Partys legislative coup is happening in a political environment shaped and polarized by these divisions and resentments. Eight years of hyper-partisanship, premised on a belief in the illegitimacy of the opposition, has culminated in a so-far successful effort to rob that opposition of its ability to exercise power now that it has claimed the reins of governance. Advertisement The broader implications are clear. The nation at large is wracked by a rural and urban divide that encompasses deep divisions along race, culture, and education. Increasingly polarized along partisan identity, those divides have helped produce a Republican Partyled by Donald Trumpthat sees its opposition as illegitimate and seeks to restrict its influence on the nations politics and governance. The national Republican Party has yet to adopt the aggressively anti-democratic tactics of its state-level counterparts. But the ingredients are there. Indeed, if Hillary Clinton had won the 2016 presidential election, we have may have seen it in action: Several Republican senators all but pledged to keep a President Clinton from ever filling a vacancy on the Supreme Court, directly challenging the presidents constitutional authority to fill the federal judiciary. Should a Democratbacked by a broad, diverse coalition of urbanites and suburbaniteswin the presidency in 2020, will the GOP relinquish power? Or, facing not just defeat but reversal, will it bring the experiment in anti-democratic resistance currently being piloted in North Carolina, Wisconsin, and Michigan to Washington? The world learned Wednesday night that on Dec. 1, Canadian authorities arrested Meng Wanzhouthe chief financial officer at Chinese electronics giant Huaweiover allegations that the company violated American sanctions on Iran. The timing of the arrest is very charged, and the stakes of the case are extremely high. Huawei is one of Chinas largest tech companies, and Meng is the daughter of its founder. She faces extradition to the United States while a 90-day clock is ticking on wide-ranging negotiations between the U.S. and China that, if fruitful, could reshape the two countries globally vital trade relationship. Advertisement Whether intentionally or not, the arrest came on the same day that U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping met at the G-20 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Following their dinner, the two governments announced a 90-day round of talks, during which the U.S. would pause planned tariff increases against China. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Although the two sides differed considerably in how they described the agreement, reports and markets were initially optimistic that the nations so-called trade war had entered a truce. The Trump administration had downplayed the potential for any deal during the meeting, and this announcement was the first strong signal of restraint in Americas escalating pressure campaign against Chinese trade, market access, and intellectual property practices. Advertisement Then, after Trump on Twitter dubbed himself Tariff Man, market optimism seemed to deflate. And when markets opened after news of Mengs arrest, they dipped further downward. There are crucial unknowns about Mengs arrest and Americas associated efforts against Huawei, but this development will certainly complicate U.S. efforts to coerce Chinese officials to capitulate to American demands and to abandon a development strategy that champions the Asian countrys independent technological capabilities. Below are some of the cases most salient remaining questions and its most important likely consequences. 1. Was the Huawei arrest designed to increase pressure on China during the tariff negotiations? News of Mengs arrest did not emerge for four days, but did Trump know during dinner with Xi that Canadian police were acting against a Huawei executive at the Americans behest? Thursday night, the White House said that the president did not know before the meal. But meanwhile, national security adviser John Bolton told NPR that he knew the arrest was coming in advance. Advertisement Advertisement If Trump knowingly took action on an issue the Chinese government regards as sensitive during a bilateral meeting, it wouldnt be the first time hes done it. At the leaders first dinner in 2017, at Trumps Florida resort, the U.S. president surprised his Chinese counterpart with news that American forces had attacked targets in Syria. Chinas government had sided with Russia in supporting Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, and Trumps revelation led Chinese commentators to speculate that the administration wanted to make its threats against North Korea more credible. Advertisement It is entirely possible that the U.S. case against Meng developed on its own time scale over years of investigation into alleged sanctions violations. Without knowing when the United States asked Canada for its help, or when authorities learned of Mengs travel to Canada, it is hard to nail down whether the timing was a coincidence or a message. Advertisement What seems clear is that U.S. law enforcement authorities were not restrained from acting at such a sensitive time. Its less clear what happens next. If Meng is successfully extradited to the United States, CNN reported that an administration source said she could be used as leverage with China in trade talks. This may never happen, but if it does, it would be an extraordinary breach of diplomatic convention, and one that would pose retaliatory risks for thousands of Americans working in China. Advertisement 2. This arrest follows a near-total shutdown of Huaweis Chinese competitor ZTE over sanctions violations. What does ZTEs treatment tell us about U.S. efforts against Huawei ? U.S. scrutiny of Huawei goes back at least to 2012, when a congressional committee report identified the company, along with its smaller rival ZTE, as a risk to U.S. national security. The two companies cannot be trusted to be free of foreign state influence and thus pose a security threat to the United States and to our systems, the report said. Advertisement More recently, U.S. and other governments have scrutinized the role Huawei might play in next-generation 5G wireless infrastructure, which requires new technology and a lot of new hardware. Australia, New Zealand, and British Telecom have gone so far as to explicitly ban Huawei from their 5G build-outs. Getting shut out of markets is one thing. Earlier this year, however, in a related sanctions case, ZTE faced the real possibility of total shutdown. ZTE admitted in a 2017 settlement that it had violated sanctions by providing technology containing U.S. content to customers in Iran and North Korea. After the U.S. Commerce Department found, in a damning court filing, that ZTE had violated the settlement agreement, the government announced that it would impose a previously suspended penalty. Advertisement Advertisement This dynamic is not predestined to escalate, but nor is it clear how to stop itespecially given the volatile state of American politics. That penalty, called a denial order, would cut off ZTE from U.S. components, including semiconductors crucial to a wide array of the companys products. The announcement threw the company into shambles, causing it to cease major operation activities. Only an intervention by Trump, after speaking with Xi, allowed the company to survive. The Huawei case is connected. ZTE documents unearthed in the U.S. investigation referred to a competing company they called F7 as an example of how a company could arrange transactions to evade sanctions enforcement. Many believed F7 referred to Huawei. The U.S. action against an individual Huawei executive is different from a sanctions case against the company, but the memory of the ZTE case is fresh, and it is at least conceivable that the U.S. government would seek to threaten Huawei with a similar denial order. Advertisement Huaweia much larger company than ZTE and one with growing efforts to develop its own semiconductors and other core technologies instead of buying them from abroadmight not be forced to shut down by a denial order. But such an order would be dramatic and damaging for the company. 3. No question: U.S. determination to undermine Huawei will strengthen Chinas efforts to develop independent core technology. Advertisement Advertisement For Chinese strategists, the ZTE case was a clarifying moment. Authorities had long sought to make Chinese computer systems more secure and controllable. Edward Snowdens 2013 revelations about NSA surveillance galvanized concerns that Chinese use of American tech products could be an advantage for U.S. spies. In 2018, the denial order against ZTE made clear that the U.S. government was not merely wielding tariffs but was also willing to use sanctions power in a way that would destroy a major Chinese company. In April, when ZTEs fate was uncertain, Xi gave a speech in which he underlined the importance of construction of China as a cyber superpower through indigenous innovation. As our DigiChina project at New America reported, Xis emphasis on independent capabilities in core technologies echoed a speech he gave at a similar occasion two years earlier. Advertisement Advertisement Core technologies refers to things like semiconductors, operating systems, and foundational A.I. algorithms without which no country can thrive at the leading edge of technological developmentand Huawei and ZTE are two major developers of such capabilities. U.S. government threats to cut key firms off from these core components made Chinas perceived need to develop solutions without U.S. dependencies very clear. Advertisement Though the technologies at issue have changed, the conflict has historical echoes, and Xi has seized upon them. In an April speech, he recalled Chinas rhetoric and practice of self-reliance during past blockades. Chinese people, he said, had tightened their belts and grit their teeth, eventually succeeding in developing nuclear weapons and missile programs back in the 1960s. Advertisement 4. What are the limits of American coercion? The Trump administrations economic policies toward China are designed to address long-standing U.S. grievances. Whether its China failing to live up to expectations following acceptance into the WTO in 2001, blocking American firms from major sectors in China, or wrenching intellectual property from foreign companies through joint ventures or outright theft, stubborn trade-related frictions long predate Trump. What has changed is a turn from negotiations, quiet advocacy, and name-and-shame tactics to measures designed to be coercive, most prominently through an escalating tariff program. Though key administration figures have often disagreed (and often in full view of their Chinese counterparts), the broad Trump administration consensus is that the United States can exert enough pain on China economically and diplomatically that it will relent and accede to U.S. demands. Advertisement Advertisement But this economic-coercion campaign comes alongside an emerging rivalry over security and geopolitics, one resulting from several factors: for instance, Chinas brazen violation of international law in the South China Sea, efforts on both sides to build military advantages over the other, and Chinese policies abroad that at times appear designed to make the world safer for authoritarianism, all amid alarming human rights abuses against Muslims in northwest China. This dynamic is not predestined to escalate, but it is not clear how to stop itespecially given the volatile state of American politics. However the Trump administration fares in coercing Chinese concessions, it is all but certain that tariffs will not quash Chinese government efforts to free their country from foreign government leverage over its technological supply lines. Whether the U.S. is targeting Huawei for legitimate and laudable law enforcement goals or over murky national security suspicions, the administration must know that doing this targeting will make the company even more important to its champions in Beijing. With the stakes heightened by a turn to coercion and a public test of wills, some concessions from China become ever more unlikely. Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus A.Dapkiunas meets the Ambassador of South Africa 07-12-2018 On December 7, 2018, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus, Andrei Dapkiunas, held a meeting with the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of South Africa to the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus (non-resident) Nomasonto Maria Sibanda-Thusi. During the meeting the state of friendly relations between Belarus and South Africa as well as the ways of their gradual development were discussed. Background: Ambassador of South Africa N.M. Sibanda-Thusi has repeatedly visited Belarus, she is one of the most active non-resident African ambassadors accredited in Belarus. The interlocutors noted with satisfaction that in the first 10 months of 2018 the trade turnover between the two countries increased by two thirds. This was largely facilitated by the meeting of the Belarus-South African Intergovernmental Committee on Trade and Economic Cooperation (ITEC), which was held in Pretoria in March 2018. In this regard, the Deputy Minister and the Ambassador discussed preparations for the next meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee, which is scheduled for early 2019 in Minsk. A.Dapkiunas and N.M. Sibanda-Thusi noted the importance of actively promoting direct contacts between the business circles of both countries and examined possible forms of such assistance through the use of mechanisms of The Belarus-Africa cooperation forum, as well as thematic industrial and agricultural exhibitions. During the conversation the Belarusian and South African diplomats raised issues of expanding cooperation in the field of education, creating favourable conditions for tourism and human exchanges, as well as for developing interregional ties between Free State and Mpumalanga provinces of South Africa and Minsk and Mogilev regions. A separate point of the conversation was the discussion of the possibility to accelerate the joint work on the practical promotion of contacts between citizens of both countries through the mutual abolition of visas for ordinary passport holders. The interlocutors confirmed the intention of Belarus and South Africa to further strengthen cooperation and friendly interaction in international organizations on the principles of mutual respect and support. print version Canadian authorities revealed in a Vancouver court on Friday that the U.S. had asked them to arrest Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of the Chinese tech giant Huawei, on charges of sanctions fraud. Meng allegedly deceived U.S. financial institutions into processing transactions that violated American sanctions against Iran, Canadian prosecutors said. Meng was arrested while transferring flights in Canada on Saturday, the same night that President Trump and President Xi Jinping struck a 90-day truce on the trade war between the U.S. and China at the G20 summit in Buenos Aires. Advertisement The arrest sent shockwaves through financial markets and the international community when it became public on Wednesday. Meng is a prominent tech executive and the daughter of the founder of Huawei, a company with close ties to the Chinese government. The U.S. Department of Justice had declined over the past few days to specify the reason for Mengs arrest. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Canadian prosecutors told the court that the U.S. believes that Meng had been obscuring ties between Huawei and SkyCom, a Hong-Kong-based company that was reportedly selling U.S.-made technology to Iran. The U.S. Commerce and Treasury departments forbid technologies developed in America from being shipped to Iran. Meng allegedly informed an unnamed financial institution during a presentation that Skycom and Huawei were separate entities. Prosecutors claim that Skycom was an unofficial subsidiary of Huawei. Meng could face up to 30 years in prison if found guilty of the charges. Advertisement The arrest is sure to complicate current negotiations between the U.S. and China to end the trade war before the 90-day truce is over. Xi is attempting to persuade Trump to loosen tariffs on $200 billion of imports from China, while Trump is attempting to get Xi to lower trade barriers and open Chinas economy further to American companies. CNN reported that some officials in the Trump administration believe that Meng could be used as leverage during the negotiations. The stock market fell on Thursday in reaction to the arrest, with the S&P 500 down as much as 2.9 percent, before rebounding and then dropping again on Friday. Mengs lawyer offered two Vancouver properties to make a cash deposit for her bail and contended that she would not embarrass her father, Huawei, and China by violating a court order. Prosecutors argued that Meng is a flight risk and should be held without bail awaiting possible extradition by the U.S. The U.S. Justice Department has 60 days to present evidence and make a request for extradition. Mary Queen of Scots opens on Friday, featuring Saoirse Ronan as Mary and Margot Robbie as Elizabeth I. In Robbies Elizabeth, we get the latest filmic representation of the queens famous chalk-white face and bright-red wigs. Interviews with Robbie have understandably focused on the remarkable makeup and prosthetics the crew created for the actress, though not everyone loves the lookmy colleague Inkoo Kang hilariously called it perilously close to Ronald McDonald cosplay in her review. The movie doesnt really delve into the question of Elizabeths makeup directly, but her shockingly white face is a deeply woven part of the historical image of this singular queen, and its worth unpacking in greater detail. Advertisement In our historical memory, Queen Elizabeth I owed her clown-white face to cerusea form of powdered lead. Archaeologists have found traces of white lead in the graves of upper-class women who lived as far back as ancient Greece, Lisa Eldridge reports in her history of makeup. Nor were the Greeks the only ones in the ancient world to hit upon the idea of using lead to whiten. Eldridge writes that cerusethe cosmetic powder produced via a process combining lead and vinegarmay have been in use in ancient China as early as the period of the Shang Dynasty (c. 16001046 B.C.) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In Europe during the Renaissance, women in both city and country used cosmetics freely, unaffected by satires and sermons and the unfortunate effects of poisonous ingredients, Richard Corson writes. Corson adds that ladies who could afford it sometimes applied one coat of ceruse powder on top of anothereither to avoid the trouble of removing the paint each day, or in order to fill in wrinkles. Neck and decolletage received a coating as well. Other whitening preparations included powdered borax and sulphur, but ceruse was the most effective. The type branded Venetian ceruse, also called spirits of Saturn, was, Eldridge writes, the most fashionable, expensive, and toxic skin whitener available in the sixteenth centuryso expensive that aristocracy (and royalty) were its major users. Advertisement When young, Elizabeth (who ruled from 1558 to 1603) was, reportedly, a naturally good-looking woman. Eldridge writes that a visitor to court when Elizabeth was 24 described her as comely rather than handsome tall and well-formed, with a good skin, although swarthy; she has fine eyes and above all, a beautiful hand with which she makes display. As Eldridge points out, Elizabeths mother, Anne Boleyn, was reported to have olive skin, which accounts for the mention of swarthiness. But its hard to tell for sure what Elizabeth looked like, because, as scholar Anna Riehl argues, contemporary documents of the queens physical appearancebe they textual reports or artistic productionswere always partially political. People perceived a queens beauty as a sign of her divine right to rule. As Elizabeths reign proceeded, perceptions of her physical beauty and her power were ever more entangled. Advertisement Its hard to tell for sure what Elizabeth looked like, because contemporary documents of the queens physical appearancebe they textual reports or artistic productionswere always partially political. Elizabethan women had their reasons for wishing to present a totally white facethe appearance of youth and fertility; conformity to an ideal of beauty that demanded women look like they never worked outside in the sun. (Despite racial undertones that read as very familiar to us today, the prioritization of whiteness in female beauty in 16th-century England seems to have had more to do with classism than racism. Contemporary sources show that anti-black racism was present in Elizabethan culture; however, as my colleague Jamelle Bouie recently wrote, refinement of the kind of widespread hierarchical racist thinking that we know today came later, during the Enlightenment.) Advertisement But Queen Elizabeths relationship to her own body and her presentation was even more complex. She was a female ruler and remained unmarried. Throughout her reign, there were those who questioned her right to be on the throne. The unusual fact of her queenship meant that her body was under substantial scrutiny. The body politic of English kinship was incarnated in the natural body of an unmarried woman, Louis Montrose writes, which ensured that gender and sexuality were foregrounded in representing the Elizabethan state. Advertisement During her reign, Elizabeth became an icon to worshipthe Protestant object of a royal cult that, Montrose reports, clashed with and contested the Catholic worship of the Virgin Mary. This cult of Elizabeth, which emphasized her virginity and beauty, provoked a range of responses among Britons, who sustained, elaborated, and appropriated [the cult] to their own ends during her time in power. Living inside it all, Elizabeth clearly seemed to realize her presentation of a mask that didnt slip was critical to her survival. Advertisement Did Elizabeth use ceruse to excess, as most every filmic representation of the queen from the 20th and 21st centuries would have us believe? Elizabeth had smallpox in 1562, which apparently left her with tell-tale pocks (or pits) on her face. The combination of her swarthiness, these blemishes, and the aging process (which would have been abetted by the use of the toxic lead powder) may have led her to apply yet more ceruse as time went on and her skin became more and more unsightly. That might have resulted in a clownish appearance, like Robbies in the latter part of the new Mary Queen of Scots. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But, Anna Riehl argues, there are very few contemporary testimonies to Elizabeths supposed ceruse overuse. One very colorful reference from late 1600 is often repeated in later historiesthe aging Elizabeth, according to this account, was continuously painted not only all over her face, but on her very neck and breast also the same was in some places near half an inch thick. But this account seems to have been a street rumor, picked up by Father Rivers, a Jesuit in hiding during a time when Catholics (especially Jesuits) were persecuted in England. Riehl sees Rivers report as unlikely to be true in every detail, but historically important nonetheless because it shows how Elizabeths critics used her habit of painting against her. Advertisement Even if they didnt directly criticize Elizabeth for it, her contemporary (male) writers hated the very existence of ceruse. Andreas de Laguna, a physician to Pope Julius III who Corson cites in his history of makeup, said the paint had been invented by the devil. Firenzuola, an Italian monk (who used a single name), published a book on ideal Renaissance beauty in 1548. Firenzuola decried use of the paint as an example of womens ridiculousness. These foolish maids, he wrote, believe that men, whom they seek to please, do not discern this foulness, which I would have them to know wears them out and makes them grow old before their time, and destroys their teeth, while they seem to be wearing a mask all the year through. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Religious writers made the use of ceruse and other cosmetics a particular concern. Philip Stubbes The Anatomie of Abuses (1583) included a religious critique of cosmetics: Thinkest thou that thou canst make thy self fairer than God who made us all? These must needs be their inventions, or else they would never go about to colour their faces with such sibbersauces. (Sibbersauces! Put that obsolete synonym for concoction in your pocket for later.) Puritan Thomas Tuke wrote in a 1616 Discourse Against Painting and Tincturing: A painted face is a false face. He charged that women who used ceruse were ugly, enormious [abnormal], and abominable, and that one could easily cut off a curd or cheese-cake from either of their cheeks. Advertisement Advertisement Our historical understanding of Elizabeths decline has been built around her thwarted vanity. Elizabeth was 69 when she died, and had been queen for 45 years. Ben Jonson wrote, 16 years after her death, that Elizabeth never saw herself after she became old in a true glass; according to this story, her servants painted her, and sometimes had fun by putting vermilion (a red paint) on her nose, knowing that shed never see it. Anna Riehl wonders how true this anecdote is. Was Jonson reporting a truth or indulging the younger generations frustration with an aged monarch? Either way, Riehl sees the story as reflecting a typical misogynistic distrust of the perceived vulnerability and waning power of the aged queen. Advertisement Advertisement How did Elizabeth die? Blood poisoning from all that white face paint she may have relied upon? Pneumonia, strep, cancer? No postmortem was performed on her body, so we will never know. By the end of her life, she had lost all her teeth and was largely incapacitated. The Royal Museums of Greenwich, on a page about the myths and mysteries that still surround Elizabeths death, writes that Elizabeth Southwell, one of the queens ladies-in-waiting, reported that the Queen was haunted by visions of her frail body, and that her corpse was so full of noxious vapours that it exploded in her lead coffin. (Dryly, the museum adds: Southwell proved to be an unreliable source after she converted to Catholicism following the Queens death.) Advertisement Southwell and Jonson aside, cultural representations of Elizabeths old age and death were largely kind until the second part of the 19th century, when, Michael Dobson and Nicola J. Watson write, Elizabeth would actually be discovered as a ridiculous, if dangerous, old fraud. Her use of cosmetics and wigs became central to this image. Writers and painters began to depict Elizabeth as a preposterous and vain old maid. Satirically represented by the writer Walter Savage Landor, shes described as a skinny old goshawk, all talon and plumage. In 1848 Augustus Leopold Egg exhibited his painting Queen Elizabeth Discovers She Is No Longer Young, a re-creation of a supposed incident when the old queen looked in a mirror for the first time in years. Dobson and Watson describe the painting as punitive, a work of art that crystallizes the Victorians unprecedented preoccupation with Elizabeths old age. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Dobson and Watson write that this new representation of Elizabeth as a decaying woman was also a critique of the monarchy. By destroying Elizabeths magical agelessness, a central component of contemporary nationalist Elizabethan nostalgia, Eggs painting made a commentary on Englands current state. Even childrens books in the Victorian period used Elizabeths vanity to teach a moral lesson. With all her courage, childrens magazine Bow Bells wrote, good Queen Bess had not strength of mind to look her wrinkles in the face. Advertisement One of the queens ladies-in-waiting, reported that the Queen was haunted by visions of her frail body, and that her corpse was so full of noxious vapours that it exploded in her lead coffin. Yet somebe it out of royalist sentiment or gallantrycontinued to defend Elizabeth. Dobson and Watson point to writer Charles Kingsley, who argued in 1855: Men had accepted [Elizabeths youthful beauty] as what beauty of form and expression generally is, an outward and visible sign of the inward and spiritual grace; and while the inward was unchanged, what wonder if she tried to preserve the outward? If she was the same, why should she not try to look the same? Advertisement Lead powder remained in use through the 19th century, when Eldridge writes that the rise of womens journals meant that women shared their findings and became more savvy about potentially harmful whiteners like arsenic and lead. But some women didnt get the message. Historian Kathy Peiss writes that a 19th-century American doctor reported in a medical journal the case of Mary C., a housewife in St. Louis who used a commercial skin lightener, sold as Lairds Bloom of Youth, for years, before being admitted to a hospital in 1877 with her arms paralyzed. This patient eventually died of lead poisoning; the doctor, Peiss writes, condemned womens vanity as he exposed a dangerous commercial product. The use of lead in cosmetics seems like a preposterous relic of history now. But lead powder, whether used by Elizabeth (in myth or truth) or the American Mary C., was an expensive product that slowly sapped womens strength, even as it promised an extension of their meager power. In that, its painfully familiar. In March, Chris C. was disqualified from driving for Uber. The reason? Two criminal convictions had been found in his most recent background check. The news confused Chris for a few reasons. For one, his convictions were relatively minor, one for a fake ID (officially, criminal possession of a forged instrument) and one for theft. For another, they happened nearly 20 years ago (specifically, in 1999, when he was 19) and had never disqualified him from other jobs. Then there was the real puzzler: He had been driving for the ride-hailing platform for nearly two years without the issue ever coming up before. Advertisement After failing to get further explanation from Uber as to why this happened, Chris (who asked to use only his first name and last initial for privacy reasons) took his lingering questions to the same place many other current or would-be drivers with criminal records go for answersone of the online forums for drivers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Looking at posts on Uber and Lyft subreddits and specialty forums like uberpeople.net, you quickly see that Chris is not alone in his confusion. Variations of his story and questions about what sort of criminal or driving records might disqualify someone from working for companies like Uber or Lyft clutter the forums. Posters debate questions like whether a 10-year-old drunken driving conviction might get them rejected from driving for the ride-hailing companies, or whether any of the delivery services would consider hiring a woman with a decade-old, nonviolent, non-drug-related felony record. Individuals experiences often contradict each other. The biggest source of consensus is that the company policies are confusing and seem to be randomly applied. Advertisement The confusion that fills these forums isnt surprising considering the lack of guidance Uber, Lyft, and other on-demand companies offer about their criminal record policies for contracting gig workers. The information the companies provide publicly on their websites is often confusing, brief, hard to find, or, in some cases, nonexistent. And for the estimated 8 percent of adults in the U.S. with a felony convictionplus many more who have lesser convictions and infractions that can also get flagged in background checksthe lack of transparent policies only exacerbates the difficulties they face finding work and participating in society. Advertisement Given the personal nature of their workers responsibilitiesdriving you around in their cars, showing up at your doorstepthese on-demand companies need to take responsible measures to keep their customers safe. There are horrific stories of what happens when safeguards fall short. People with records of sexual assault, kidnapping, and other types of violent offenses are banned from these services, which also have to follow a complex set of employment and public safety laws that can vary by state and municipality. Advertisement Advertisement But not all criminal records are equal, and not all criminal records are predictive of future dangerous behavior. Whats more, because gig-economy platforms like to classify their workers as independent contractors, would-be and current workers arent usually granted the same legal protections against discrimination as applicants or hires classified as employees. So theres a difference between those looking to work at a grocery store or office building versus those looking to work for TaskRabbit or Amazon Flex. Given that many gig workers shift across multiple platforms, it can also be hard to discern what might be disqualifying on one platform and what isnt on another. And just as workers with criminal records deserve to understand how past convictions might affect their opportunities, customers who use gig platforms deserve to understand how these companies decide who will greet you on the other side of an app request. Advertisement Advertisement To try to get a sense of how criminal records are weighed in the gig economy, I contacted eight popular on-demand companies about their policies. I asked each company which specific criminal offenses would disqualify someone from working for its service. In cases where companies published some information about their criminal records policies online, I also asked them specific follow-ups related to those published policies. For example, if the company stated that certain felony convictions might disqualify a candidate, I asked which specific categories of convictions and timelines of records they considered acceptable or unacceptable from a candidate. If a company indicated it would conduct an individualized assessment to make a determination about a candidate, I asked how such an assessment would be conducted. The patchwork of responses I received began to show how complicated it can be for people with criminal or driving records to figure out. Advertisement Advertisement See a full chart of the responses from Uber, Lyft, Instacart, Amazon Flex, Grubhub, DoorDash, Postmates, and TaskRabbit below: While some companies identified certain more obvious convictions as disqualifyingamong them violent offenses, sexual assault, and kidnappingall fell short of providing a comprehensive overview of their guidelines. Even Uber, which provided the most details of the eight, only did so by referencing a chart buried in a 2015 blog post about safety practices in California. (A spokesperson clarified that Uber generally uses the same guidelines laid out in the chart nationwide while also noting that some additional requirements come into play depending on the drivers jurisdiction.) Its unclear how many applicants see this chart given that its hidden in the archives of the Uber Newsroom and does not appear on the general help page about background checks that Uber provides for current and would-be drivers. (A Google search, for example, would likely direct you to the latter.) Advertisement If platforms care about creating opportunities for communities that are shut out of traditional employment, they need to be more transparent about which offenses are disqualifying. Between the patchwork of limited information that these companies provide on their websites and the additional, highly general responses Slate was given, its easy to see how potential candidates whose convictions fall into grayer territory may get confused or turned away altogether. Part of the fogginess surrounding these policies is related to the complex regulatory waters companies face when operating across jurisdictions with different employment and anti-discrimination codes. For example, some states have laws that limit the number of years a criminal background check can look back for particular crimes, or what type of felony is automatically disqualifying in a particular sector. There are also federal laws aimed at protecting employees from discrimination through the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The EEOC provides official guidance on how criminal records can be considered in hiring. Specifically, the EEOC stipulates that employers shouldnt use a policy or practice that excludes people with certain criminal records if the policy or practice significantly disadvantages individuals of a particular race, national origin, or another protected characteristic, and doesnt accurately predict who will be a responsible, reliable, or safe employee. (Enforcement, unsurprisingly, gets complicated.) Advertisement Advertisement Key to EEOC regulation, however, is the word employee. By classifying workers as independent contractors rather than employeesas gig economy companies like Uber and Lyft docompanies seek to exempt themselves from various employment laws that would otherwise hold them to more rigorous standards on issues such as nondiscrimination and compensation. Their insistence on workers being independent contractors is, however, highly contentious. And it remains to be seen if it will hold up to current and future court challenges. Advertisement Advertisement Laura Padin, an attorney for the National Employment Law Project, said that while this designation is in limbo, the government should expand employment discrimination statutes to cover both employees and contractors. Such a move would provide some much-needed clarity and protection for on-demand workers, Padin said, though she hopes most of these workers will ultimately be legally considered employees. (A change that, given current trends, is unlikely to happen.) Advertisement While some criminal offenses legally and logically disqualify applicantswhatever their designationfrom certain work, others are less clear. Uber and Lyfts ban on drivers with a sexual assault record definitely makes sense. But, for example, Uber and Uber Eats prohibitions on applicants with any felony convictions in the past seven years get into more ambiguous territory. It could disqualify someone with a six-year-old felony marijuana possession conviction on their record from delivering you burritos on their bike. Its also worth noting that the third-party services these on-demand companies often use to conduct criminal background checks and arrive at rejections have come under fire for both reportedly skimping on the screening process and for erroneously flagging applicants for rejection. Such issues highlight the dual pressures these companies have when it comes to deciding who gets to work on their platforms. On the one hand, high turnover and customers who demand quick, seamless service mean that on-demand companies are constantly jockeying for a steady stream of workers (and doing so in a way some critics say cuts corners). On the other hand, these companies also face pressure from a public that stigmatizes criminal records. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Part of this stigma comes from a legitimate concern for safety and liability. But it also comes from a less-than-legitimate generalized public equation of a criminal record with dangerousness, says Nayantara Mehta, also an attorney with the National Employment Law Project. The false assumption that people with criminal records are necessarily dangerous leads some companies to institute blanket policies that exclude people with records automatically, without much consideration of what those records look like. Mehta thinks that if platforms care about creating opportunities for communities that are shut out of traditional employment, they need to be more transparent about which offenses are disqualifying and what mitigating factors, such as time elapsed since a conviction, are relevant. Unclear and inaccessible policies, she said, represent an additional barrier for people with arrest and conviction histories to even understand or to push back on a rejection. Advertisement Many of these companies say they want to build a more inclusive workforce where workers set their own terms. They also all say they want to keep their customers safe. But a lack of clarity and transparency about decisions over who gets to use their platforms seems to contradict both of these aims. It was this kind of clarity, after all, that Chris was seeking after he was cut off from driving for Uber back in March. When I reached out to him recently via email, he said that he had difficulty getting answers from the platform. Advertisement He explained that he wrote to Uber once in March and again in June asking why, after passing an initial background check and driving for Uber for two years with no problems, two old convictions (for the fake ID and for theft) became an issue. In the first email reply, the company referred him back to the more recent background check but didnt offer any specific explanation related to his case. In the second, he received a message from Uber that said, in part, We completely understand where youre coming from and the details you provided has [sic] been noted accordingly. The representative suggested that if Chris suspected that the convictions listed in the report were inaccurate, he could file a dispute with Checkr, the third-party service Uber used to run it. Advertisement Advertisement But Chris problem wasnt that the information was incorrect. His problem was that he didnt understand why two relatively minor convictions from 20 years agoconvictions that didnt seem to initially matterwere suddenly disqualifying in his case at all. When contacted independently by Slate, a representative from Uber explained that Chris was disqualified because in Seattle, where he works, a local law requires Uber to disqualify any driver convicted of theft, fraud, robbery, burglary, assault, sex crimes, alcohol, drugs, or prostitution, regardless of when that conviction occurred. (Uber had not provided this explanation to Chris.) But the law Uber cited isnt new, and Chris hadnt moved. Slate followed up to ask why Chris had been allowed to drive previously with no problems, but Uber, as of this writing, has yet to respond. So its not clear whether Ubers prior background checks on Chris failed to surface his 20-year-old convictions, or whether Uber knew about them and didnt follow the Seattle rules. Advertisement Advertisement Unlike some other drivers, Chris hasnt been set back too much from the lack of work. He says his disqualification from Uber didnt affect his life that much because driving wasnt his only source of income; it was just a quick way to make extra travel money. Plus, he says, theres always Lyft. Though he hasnt driven for the rival ride-hailing company in a while, he said that when Lyft conducted his most recent routine background checkone that occurred after his disqualification from Uberhe wasnt made aware of any problems resulting from it. But other drivers with records? They might not be so lucky. Pellegrini convinced him. News: Receive favorite authors articles by email. Try the new feature and turn on the subscription. Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled One week after submitting his written resignation to President Andrej Kiska, Foreign Affairs Minister Miroslav Lajcak changed his mind and decided to stay put in the ministerial post for now. Lajcak originally filed his resignation following a dispute regarding the UN Migration Compact. While he defended the document, the ruling Smer and Slovak National Party (SNS) opposed it in a way that prompted Lajcak to make strong statements against it. Read also: Read also: Lajcaks resignation raises concerns about Slovakias future political orientation Read more Slovakia will not join the Migration Compact, based on a resolution passed by the Slovak parliament and the subsequent decision of the cabinet not to send a representative to Marrakesh on December 10. Lajcak now says that he has received guarantees from PM Peter Pellegrini and the leader of the Smer party that nominated him to the post, Robert Fico, regarding Slovakia's foreign policy. Lajcak said that he received guarantees from Pellegrini and Fico that "the programme statement of the government is valid and that there will be no steps taken that would question the fundamental pillars of our foreign policy, which I am responsible for as minister," Lajcak stated, as quoted by Sme, adding that only under these conditions is he able to continue as minister. He added that his decision is in line with Slovakia's efforts to be perceived as a modern European country and reliable partner. The minister is still convinced that it is not right for Slovakia to remain uninvolved in attempts to find a common solution for migration. De Poezenboot. Goedemorgen? That translates to The Catboat. Good morning? and it is how Judith, in a warm yet clearly down-to-business voice, answers the office phone. She is the manager and the publichumanface of a cat refuge long moored in the Singel, a large canal that once moated Amsterdams medieval center and still provides the embankment for Golden Age mansions. By contrast, De Poezenboot (pronounced POOH-sen boat; poezen is Dutch for cats) appears as a simple wooden rectangle floating on concrete, in a boat style known as an ark. Hardly of Noah dimensions, the shelter can hold 50 cats at a timethis month theyre the chosen charity supported by sales of Santa Claude, a special holiday coffee collaboration between Sprudge, Cafe Imports, Roundhill Roasters, and Dutch Pack. Currently, there are 17 in-house cats, each with a distinctive personality, and while most of the cats at the shelter are rehomed in short order, some are too rascally to place with families, and now call De Poezenboot their forever floating home. Kasumi is a yellow-eyed Persian that hams it up for the camera, but gets pushed aside by her housemates during mealtime and pees where she pleases. Samus, the dead ringer for Scut Farkus, comes with his own scratch-warning sign and last year posed in a photo with Ricky Gervais. On a recent Wednesday, one of the two days the boat is closed to the public, Judith sat at her desk in the reception area. Between fielding calls, she talked about De Poezenboot and sipped a drink that Sprudge picked up prior to the interview. Good Beans, a nearby espresso bar which this past summer came under new American-Norwegian ownership, prepared Judiths hot chocolate and an Americano with their own Rwandan Bourbon roast. The coffee went to Michi, a feline portrait artist and the volunteer that morning taking care of rigorous kennel cleaning. Even though stray animals are not a systemic problem in the Netherlands, De Poezenboot has plenty of work. It takes in cats that are occasionally found on the street, orphaned, aging, or otherwise too difficult for owners to continue tending. Sometimes we have a whole family crying here because they have to bring in their cat, says Judith. As a schoolchild, she was one of De Poezenboots earliest volunteers, and eventually became a friend and a caregiver to Henriette van Weelde, the woman who began the sanctuary. That was in 1968, on a barge one canal over. Van Weelde died at age 90 in 2005. Today, the De Poezenboot has 22 volunteers, organized into fixed teams that rotate boat shifts. Their main responsibilities are feeding, administering medicine, and cleaning. They also keep an eye on the neighborhood swan that likes to swim up to the deck and out-hiss its water-wary canal-mates. Some volunteers double as foster parents, socializing and nursing cats to more adoptable states. Judith had planned to do precisely that with a once really tiny and scared kitten, she recalls, but eight years later, Jumi is her family pet (as is a merle-coated Chihuahua named Rosa). The boat survives on donations, with money put towards cat provisions plus mooring and other houseboat-related costs. The small fee that adopters pay largely covers health costs, including sterilization, vaccination, chipping, and sometimes deworming. This past June, De Poezenboot celebrated its 50 year anniversary. Feline-themed festivities aside, the jubileum allowed the organization to raise funds for a campaign to help financially struggling Amsterdammers get their cats spayed and neutered almost for free, says Judith. The program is scheduled to run in February 2019. In the meantime, rehoming remains the main mission. Would-be adopters who see a listing on the website or via social media can call or visit to inquire if they might be a good match. We do want to have the cats go to the most suitable house, Judith emphasizes. If we have a cat, for instance, that is scared of kids, but really beautiful, and somebody comes in and says, Oh I like that beautiful cat, but she has three screaming kids, she will not get the cat. Yet, most adopters are, much like the creature they covet, sensitive and self-assured. We get nice people, people that think about what theyre doing, not people who are like Oh give me a cat, and I dont mind what kind of cat. Just give me one, says Judith. Included in that group are business proprietors that seek a mouser or, for whatever reason, a whiskered workplace companion. Up the block, Cafe Kobalt got a red one from us, notes Judith, and Cafe de Doelen also. More recently, a local cigar store requested neither a cafe lounger nor a lap-sitter, but rather an independent cat that goes his own way. The satisfied owner has already emailed photos, says Judith. Everybody loves him and hes running through the store. Karina Hof is a Sprudge staff writer based in Amsterdam. Read more Karina Hof on Sprudge. Support De Poezenboot and drink delicious coffee with Santa Claude! Worldwide shipping available. The Meadowlands kicked off its Borrow Kens Binoculars Thursdays as guest announcer Larry Lederman was on the microphone at the Big M, describing the action and entertaining fans at the same time. It was a great night for Lederman -- and for the fans who love his style -- given the fact that he has been battling a brain tumor for some time now. He had surgery several months ago to remove most of the mass, and to see him back in the booth was a great thing. Post time should be within the hour, Lederman cracked as a horse reported to the paddock for equipment repair after there had been a recall before the second race. During the eighth race, Lederman asked: Do the Mets really need Robinson Cano? Ledermans never been one to follow the track announcer handbook. Lederman was the first of what are scheduled to be four different announcers to call the Big M races on Thursdays during December, and he did not disappoint the masses as the response to hearing him call was overwhelmingly positive on social media. It was nice to hear Larry in the booth, said Big M Chief Operating Officer and General Manager Jason Settlemoir, who will call the races on Dec. 13. Through all of Larrys health issues and his daughter passing away this year, he has never lost his passion for race calling or his enthusiasm. The industry loves Larrys race calling and Larry loves the industry. A LITTLE MORE: One player wagering into the Oregon hub was the only bettor to have a ticket bearing the winning combination of 4-3-6-5-1 in the Late 20-Cent Jackpot Super High-Five and walked away with $29,547.... The 50-Cent Pick-5 failed to yield a winning ticket, creating a carryover of $18,376 heading into Fridays card.... Nine different drivers won on the nine-race program.... All-source handle totaled $1,069,585. (Meadowlands) Due to his size and distinctive coat, Im Blue Too is hard to miss on the track and also looked pretty good taking pictures in the winners circle at Cal-Expo last weekend. The nine-year-old gelding is owned and trained by Robin Clements and posted a 7-1 upset when he got the job done in that conditioned affair with Dean Magee doing the honours. Hes a blue roan just like his older brother Im So Blue and hes a perfect horse in the barn with such fretful eyes, Clements said. For the giant horse that he is, he wouldnt hurt a flea and is such a gentle soul. My groom Teresa calls him Boo Bear and he is a barn favourite, of course after Franky Provolone. Im Blue Too was sent to Running Aces this summer under the care of Tim and Denise Maier, but midway through that meet became sick and was shipped back to California. Blue came back training strong for this meet, but due to the Camp Fire and smoke I didnt race him right away. He had a good tightener that led up to his win the other night. Clements was high in her praise for Magee, who guided her pacer to a perfect stalk-and-pounce journey. I cant say enough good things about Dean. He has driven my horses in the past at Running Aces and I was excited to hear he was coming out to Cal-Expo. Hes a top-notch driver with great instincts and will be a great asset to our drivers room. He gave Blue the perfect drive and I look forward to teaming my horses up with him again and wish him a great meet. Alan Horowitz eliminations atop marquee Two divisions of the Alan Horowitz eliminations head the Saturday night (Dec. 8) action at Cal-Expo, with Scary Harry and Magnifique heading their respective races. The eliminations will go as the seventh and ninth events on an 11-race Watch and Wager LLC program with first post set for 6:15 p.m. Pacific time. Scary Harry will be seeking his fourth straight victory while leaving the outside post in a field of nine in the first division. The six-year-old son of Sportswriter carries the banner of Kenneth Seastrom with Chip Lackey doing the driving and training. Scary Harry has yet to be beaten to a pole in his trio of outings at this stand, going coast-to-coast in all three outings and never looking like a loser at mid-stretch while rewarding the chalk players on each occasion. A 1:52 victor at Pompano last season, the Seastrom colour bearer actually started this year having to settle for minor awards in his first 27 trips to the post, but he is making up for lost time at this meeting with those dominating performances. Magnifique looms large in the second division after having posted back-to-back solid efforts since coming in from Indiana. The seven-year-old Tell All mare is owned by Nikki Hudson with Luke Plano reining and training. Magnifique tracked and attacked for a length score in her first start at the stand, then stepped up to the Fillies and Mares Open for last weeks assignment and was third in a blanket finish after having some traffic issues. (Cal-Expo) The French horse racing wagering organization Pari Mutuel Urbain (PMU) has had a long working relationship with many foreign countries, sending and receiving races for simulcast. The United States has been one of those countries, with races from Yonkers being simulcast since 2014 into France and other European countries where PMU processes wagers. After six years of decline in the horse racing betting turnover in France and in order to increase the attractiveness of its domestic races and its domestic betting pools, the PMU has made a change to their business model for 2019 and beyond, where they will curtail in part or in whole its domestic and international simulcasting throughout the world. The consequences and ramifications will be felt all around the racing world through the dozens of racing jurisdictions that enjoyed simulcasting relationships with PMU for many years. In view of the tremendous working relationship developed between Yonkers Raceway, the Standardbred Owners Association of New York, on behalf of the United States Trotting Association, and the French breed registry Le Trot, other projects besides simulcasting of races will continue to be developed and pursued between the entities into the future. Le Trot, the SOA of NY and Yonkers Raceway just completed a ground-breaking experiment to purchase 22 French-bred horses to bring to Yonkers and compete for substantial purses. Those purses were made available by Yonkers Raceway in cooperation with the SOA of NY and were supplemented by Le Trot. Much time, effort and money was expended over the years to develop this market with France and we are obviously disappointed with this decision, said Standardbred Owners Association of New York President Joe Faraldo. Regardless of the decision taken by the PMU we will continue to work to open up new ventures with our French friends at Le Trot and the PMU, creating imaginative programs to grow our partnership in the future. Guillaume Maupas, Racing Manager of Le Trot, stated: The decision taken by the French racing authorities gallop and trotting is a major strategic change for 2019. Our main concern was to listen to the French punters regarding the racing offered and the number of bets, in order to relaunch, by a new calendar, business and interest on racing (betting and spectacle). Even if we suspend the broadcast of Yonkers races in France next year, members of the board of Le Trot have re-affirmed the importance of the development of our partnership with the U.S. Standarbred Owners Association initiated for several years now. We will discuss in the next few weeks with President Joe Faraldo how we can orientate and reinforce our actions from 2019. (SOA of New York/Le Trot) Tauranga 10-year-old Myesha Wilson is delighted at the response from Kiwis who have shown their support at Farmers stores nationwide. The designer of this years Hospice Charity Bauble, Myesha, urges shoppers to keep it up and help to sell out this very special bauble. Myesha designed the bauble in honour of her mum Kat, who died of cancer two years ago. Thanks to everyone who has purchased my bauble, says Myesha. Weve still got 17 days before Christmas so please help us to help Hospice. By buying my bauble you will help families like mine get the support they need. Thoughtful New Zealanders who are about to decorate their Christmas trees can help this incredible annual cause in two ways by purchasing a specially designed Christmas Bauble, or with donations via the Tree of Remembrance. Myesha drew the design in an art workshop hosted by Waipuna Hospice the Hospice that supported her family. That very drawing was selected as the hero design for the Farmers Christmas Tree Bauble which is now available at Farmers stores around the country, although some stores have already sold out. With 100 per cent of the $10 purchase price of Myeshas beautiful baubles being donated to Hospice, the funds raised at each Farmers store will go directly to supporting a hospice in the area, which provides services free of charge. While government funding is a huge help for covering operational costs, more than $45M is needed to meet the annual shortfall and fundraising is an important part of ensuring local hospice services remain free of charge. During the regime offensive to retake eastern Ghouta, 1,700 civilians were killed and there was extensive damage to infrastructure writes Zaman Al Wasl. It has been seven months since eastern Ghouta fell to the regime but living conditions and public services have not improved, residents say. The eastern enclave of Damascus is largely neglected by the government, and this neglect has negatively affected the lives of the people and their opportunities for resettlement in the area. Naim al-Taweel, pseudonym, an activist living in the Marj district says most of the health centers suffer from a lack of equipment and medical staff. No electricity, No Water. Most families in Marj depend on car batteries and small chargers to light their homes at night. People have to get water from the wells they have dug, he added. People find it very difficult to secure their supplies of water, electricity and bread. The fall of eastern Ghouta last April was achieved in a brutal fashion and changed the course of the war. More than 1,700 civilians were reportedly killed during the eight-week offensive. Eastern Ghouta was the scene of the first major protests in the capital against the rule of Bashar al-Assad. Diab Hamo, resident in Bala suburb, said most of the people feel that they are still living under the siege that was imposed by the regime on Ghouta for 6 years. In November, the regime intelligence launched a wide-scale arrest campaign in the eastern suburbs, seizing former rebel fighters. The notorious Air Force Intelligence has arrested former fighters from Jaish al-Islam and Faylaq al-Rahman rebel groups. Also, the General Conscription Department has sent demands to 3000 young men to perform the military service. Most young men in the capitals eastern suburbs have rejected the regimes conscription call, but the reconciliation deals have imposed a new de-facto. They must join the army or face being arrested by military intelligence. Bashar al-Assad urged all Syrians, including the Druze minority, to send its young men to the army. The regime is trying to attract more young men who are outside Syria by enacting laws and regulations that encourage them to return home, and enroll in mandatory and reserve services. More than 125,000 pro-regime soldiers have been killed during seven years of brutal war, according to local monitoring groups. Since the Syrian revolution erupted in 2011, more than 470,000 people have been killed, and more than 6 million people have been displaced. This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. Among the cache was a variety of weapons, vehicles, communications devices and medical equipment reports SANA On Thursday, authorities discovered US and Israeli made weapons and medicines, left behind by terrorists in the southwestern countryside of Damascus and the northern countryside of Quneitra . The seized weapons, SANAs reporter said, included missiles, various anti-tank munitions, medium machine guns of 23mm and 14mm, communications devices, stolen vehicles, Israeli , American and British made medicines, medical equipment and food. The reporter added that the authorities continue to comb all areas liberated from terrorism in the countryside of Damascus and Quneitra to secure the return of the displaced people to their homes and the resumption of normal lives. This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. Syrian refugees living in Lebanon have reportedly been tricked by Lebanese security into promising to return home writes Alsouria Net. On Thursday, Lebanese media reported that a batch of Syrian refugees had returned to their country as part of the so-called voluntary return, but Syrian rights sources said that arrests and raids carried out by Lebanese General Security had affected hundreds of refugees, and that they were them handed over to the Bashar al-Assad regime. The Syrian Center for Legal Studies and Research said that the raids had affected the Arsal region in northern Lebanon, with about 750 Syrians arrested, including women and children and entire families. The center said that the arrests were carried out under the pretext of these displaced people signing settlements with the regime in which they vowed to return to Syria. The source said that at dawn, refugees were handed over to regime authorities by Lebanese security in addition to about 250 Syrians who had been under arrest in Lebanon. The number of refugees, which reached about a thousands, was confirmed by the Lebanese Janoubia page, although it did not address how they were handed over or the raids that were carried out against them. The Lebanese National News Agency also confirmed the arrival of dozens of refugees to border crossings with Syria. Tricking Refugees The legal center said that, Lebanese security forces committed fraud, and forced Syrian refugees to sign papers that later turned out to include promises to return. It said that, Lebanese securitys claims about the refugees signing settlements and vowing to return are untrue, especially given that they could have returned on their own without the need for raids, arrests and forcibly being handed over to the regime. The center condemned the, criminal actions against refugees at the hands of Lebanese security, which was premeditated and that could subject returning refugees to dangers that threaten their freedom and lives. It also called on all international organizations concerned with refugees to mobilize immediately to follow up on the situation of those who were handed over to the regime and to protect their lives and freedoms. The Minister for Displaced Affairs in Lebanon, Mouin Merhebi, recently revealed that the Bashar al-Assad regime had killed a number of Syrian refugees who had returned from Lebanese territory to their country. Merhebi said that the regime had taken revenge, including killings, on Syrian refugees who returned to areas under their control. Russia has intensified its efforts to return Syrian refugees to their country despite the dangers that these refugees fear in Syria, primarily the ongoing arrests and revenge-taking by the regime against its opponents, in addition to the destruction of a large part of the infrastructure of the cities where the regime has carried out military operations. In Lebanon, the Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil and Hezbollah in particular are leading major efforts in the Lebanese government to return Syrian refugees to regime-controlled areas in Syria. The United Nations say that the conditions are not favorable for the return of Syrian refugees to their homes, but Russia aims to return them to aid the Assad regime by telling that world that the situation in Syria is getting better. It is part of an attempt to rehabilitate the regime internationally and persuade Western countries to participate in the reconstruction, while the regime remains in power, according to opposition members. 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. With Qualcomms new Snapdragon 855 unveiled only a few days ago, many OEMs were gearing to be the first to release a smartphone with the SoC and we now have a winner. The winner is Xiaomi who released the Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 5G and this phone isnt new to us other than it using the 5G network and Snapdragon 855 chipset. At the China Mobile Partner Conference, Xiaomi demonstrated it's 5G use while browsing through web pages, live videos and more. The company mentioned that the 5G network has a more demanding antenna design and transmission compared to 4G networks. So it is isnt surprising that Xiaomi came up on top as they are currently on top in terms of research and development for antennas. Due to their extensive research in the 5G development, Xiaomi will be joining the first batch of 5G pre-commercial city test launched by China Mobile in Q1 of 2019 and will be launching the Mi Mix 3 5G smartphone in Europe. Finally, on Q3 of next year, they will be providing China Mobile with the Xiaomi commercial terminal to support the 5G network. Do you think that Xiaomi will be helming the 5G network next year? For more news on tech, stay tuned to TechNave.com! So here it is! You have settled in Luxembourg, and it feels that a huge share of your income is going in rent and you are wondering what you can do about it. Prices in Luxembourg are indeed high, but comparison with other European capitals makes this observation more mitigated as we detailed in our previous article. Perceiving it as a pure financial choice is perhaps a bit of a limited view. Many components need to be considered, where you live is a choice highly impacting your lifestyle! Real estate prices & ownership costs No matter where you look ; Belgium, France, Germany, real estate prices are falling at the border, by a minimum of 30% on the listed prices. But real estate is an investment and it should be considered as such, the equation gets more complex if you include robustness to crisis and revaluation potential at resale. It is a bit of an extreme case, but as an example, real estate prices in Longwy have lost 10% over the last ten years, a sorry-looking comparison to any location inside the Great Duchy. Moreover ownership costs are also booming as you cross the border while they remain negligible in Luxembourg. Home acquisition costs do exist in Luxembourg, but are clearly limited thanks to the Bellegen Akt. Link to 2. What are the costs when buying a property in Luxembourg Tax aspects and long term consequences are least concerns of those who choose to rent; only a housing tax for the tenants in France. Commuting Living on the other side of the border and working in Luxembourg means a longer commute, and usually leaves participants with the cornelian dilemma between complaining about traffic or about public transportation problems (from malfunction to strikes). It is not all bright inside the country either, but we can argue that being close to ones workplace partly solves the problem. Integration Living in Germany is easier if you speak German, same thing apply for France and French... Luxembourg is clearly a more welcoming place for those of us which are more international. Being among a more international population is perhaps also a nice way to make new connections for the non native of the Greater Region. Authors notes: https://www.meilleursagents.com/prix-immobilier/longwy-54400/ Cuba became one of the last countries in the world to get 3G mobile internet services on Thursday, though most citizens on the communist-run island won't be able to afford it. Cuba's internet provider Etecsa rolled out its 3G service from 8:00 am to answer pent-up demand, though initially only for clients with numbers beginning with a 52 or 53 prefix. Others will have to cool their heels for a few more days before they can connect to the 21st Century. At $30 dollars for 4 gigabytes per month -- an average monthly wage -- the convenience will be too costly for most. The roll-out left Idalmist Mendoza a little frustrated on a Havana street. "The prices are a little bit high. But well, maybe with time, if there are a lot of people signing up, prices will go down," said the bureau de change employee. According to government figures, some 5.3 million people on the island use mobile phones, a little under half the population of 11.2 million. People use their mobile phone to connect to the internet in Havana / AFP Cubans have relied for years on WiFi zones in public parks and squares. There, it's common to see hundreds of people talking, laughing and crying into their phone screens, keeping in touch with some of the two million Cubans in exile. Etecsa's home internet service, Nauta Hogar, only has 60,000 clients. Their connections costs are often paid by family members aboard, as a means of keeping in touch. - 'People with money'- "Mobile internet in Cuba, it's for people with money, because those that don't have it won't be able to connect much," said Hector David, 28. However, he was happy with the connection speed on his phone: "Fast, very fast. I talked and used up a few megabytes, I think, but then I switched to WhatsApp and it consumed much less." Apart from 1,200 public WiFi zones, the government says there are 670 internet cafes around the Caribbean country, where connection charges are a dollar an hour. "We are continuing to advance on the computerization of our country," President Miguel Diaz-Canel said in a congratulatory message on a Twitter account that he only opened in August. His example has since been followed by several ministers as his government tentatively embraces social media. Cuba, which has been under US embargo since 1962, signed an agreement with Google in late 2016 to ensure a faster connection to its content. People use their mobile phones to connect to internet through WiFi at a park in Havana / AFP "Mobile internet is a good option, but Etecsa really has to have the technical capacity to provide a stable service, not that this is what happened during the tests, when the servers were overwhelmed," computer engineer Enrique Rivero told AFP. "Our internet service is probably the most expensive in the world," when set against the standard of living of its clients, Rivero said. - Test of progress - Etecsa carried out several tests of its fledgling 3G service in recent months, but by its own admission they were disrupted by "connection problems and significant congestion of voice and data services due to the instability of part of the network." Diaz-Canel, who took over from Raul Castro in April, visited the United States in September and held meetings with tech giants Google, AirBnB and Twitter on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting. Cuba, which has been under US embargo since 1962, signed an agreement with Google in late 2016 to ensure a faster connection to its content / AFP For now, Cubans like Aguilera -- a homemaker from Havana -- will take this small, uncertain step towards progress. "It's not the same as connecting in a park, when you have the possibility to connect directly on your phone from anywhere," she says. "It's very good for Cubans because it gives us one more chance to connect." Following the news that there are personnel shortages within Post, the Luxembourg Institute of Regulation has reacted on Tuesday morning. The mail carriers' trade union confirmed on Monday that postal workers were currently understaffed and unable to deliver the post to areas each working day of the work. The ILR has reacted to this news, stating that post must be delivered five times a week and that there are no known cases of this not occurring. Both customers and the mail carriers' trade union have raised concerns about the impossibility of delivering post every day everywhere in Luxembourg, mainly due to the lack of personnel and impossible overtime hours. Luc Tapella, the director of the IRL, explained at a press conference on Tuesday morning that the IRL did not know of any cases in which mail carriers have not been able to deliver post every day. He highlighted that there is both a European directive and Luxembourgish law that stress that the post must be delivered five days a week, which according to the IRL's information, is happening. Too few staff? As for whether too many postmen are off work due to holidays or illness, does the law account for any exception? According to Tapella, Post must organise itself in these cases as it offers a universal service in the Grand Duchy. Consequently, if there are personnel shortages, the group must find other people to provide that service. If you happen to be dissatisfied with the postal service (if an item arrives too late or does not arrive at all), you can contact the IRL by letter or by their website ilr.lu (category: Mediatioun). Tapella stressed that there had been few complaints in the last few years. Tapella provided statistics on the quality of the postal service in Luxembourg. Over 95% of post arrives in "day+1", which means it arrives the day after it was sent. Officially, Post is obliged to ensure that 85% of letters and parcel arrive by "day+2" and 99% by "day+3". Tapella confirmed that Post is fulfilling its duty in no uncertain terms. He did however explain that this is different to the obligation of delivering items five days a week. On average, each resident in Luxembourg received 21.78 letters per month in 2017. The number has dropped slightly, but not as much compared to other countries. A total of 185.6 million letters were sent in 2017 alongside 8.56 million parcels. Parcel postage is a market which is booming with a growth of 10.7% compared to the year before. 1,800 individuals work in the sector, of which 1,300 work for Post. Nowadays, there are 4,972 mailboxes in the country, which is 5% less than in 2016. There are 102 post officers or shops which other postal services and 84 pack-up stations. On Tuesday evening, the three parties got together to discuss the new coalition agreement and the distribution of posts and mandates. All three parties were in agreement and the "Gambia 2.0" coalition got the green light. LSAP: It took a while There were a lot of discussions, questions and criticism at the LSAP party conference at the Centre Barble in Strassen on Tuesday. In the end, all mandates were distributed and the new government and its programme were agreed upon. Even though the party base gave the new government the green light, the LSAP is in a bit of turmoil and there might be some directional changes in he coming months. While the LSAP will form part of the next government, many members aren't convinced that Gambia 2.0 is the way to go. Some party politicians, such as Marc Hansen, are convinced that the 2018 election was not a ringing endorsement of the government, but rather a rejection of the CSV party. Many LSAP members were also unhappy about a lack of communication from party leadership to the rest of the party. Goerges Sold, the secretary general of the young socialists, called their treatment by the party leadership "pure insolence": "It can't be that a conference is only announced a week ahead of time. It can't be that we only found out about what is in the coalition agreement yesterday. It almost seems to be on purpose, to make sure that no groups can meet ahead of time and take a closer look at the agreement because you know that the agreement doesn't serve us well. The fact that the coalition agreement was already signed yesterday (Monday) and will be sworn in tomorrow (Wednesday) shows that this conference is just for show and that our opinion doesn't really matter." LSAP member Fabio Secci agrees that communication was lacking: "Let's stop telling people that we aren't talking about posts and mandates when it's exactly what the party leadership has been talking about for a number of weeks." Etienne Schneider later reacted to these criticisms: "I just want to say that I am convinced that it's not our policies that are hurting the party. I doesn't have anything to do with age either. Our party is breaking apart through all of these leaks and open letters by people who haven't been voted into a committee or a coalition task force and don't really work with the party to further its agenda." Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party conference held its suspense until the very end. In the end however, a large majority of the 379 delegates voted in favour of the new coalition. 13 people voted nay and 9 did not cast their vote. A little later, the party candidates received their individual mandates: - Etienne Schneider: Deputy prime minister, minister for the economy and health. - Jean Asselborn: Foreign secretary, minister for immigration and asylum. - Romain Schneider: Minister for agriculture and social security. - Dan Kersch: Minister for employment, social and solidarity economy, and sport. - Taina Bofferding: Minister for the interior and equality. - Paulette Lenert: Minister for cooperation and consumer protection. Nicholas Schmit will be a nominee for the post of EU commissioner. Alex Bodry will be the fraction leader for another year, before the mayor of Sanem Goerges Engel takes over for four years. While it is not known what was going on behind closed doors, there was surprisingly little talk about Tess Burton and Paulette Lenert in the open session. The party is definitely looking for a new direction though, and party president Claude Haagen confirmed that there will be a party conference during the week of 21 January in which all committees will be renewed. DP: That was quick! The Democratic Party came to a quick and unanimous decision on the future of Gambia 2.0. They did not have a party conference, but rather a meeting of the governing board. After only about an hour, Xavier Bettel came out to meet the press and reported that that all 50 party members present at the assembly unanimously voted in favour of the coalition agreement. - Xavier Bettel: Prime minister and minister for religion, media and communication. He also heads the newly formed ministry for digitalisation and administrative reform. - Pierre Gramegna: Minister for finance. - Claude Meisch: Minister for education, higher education policy and research. - Corinne Cahen: Minister for family affairs, integration and the greater region. - Marc Hansen: Minister for public service, and parliamentary relations. He will assist Bettel in leading the ministry for digitalisation and administrative reform. - Lex Delles: Minister for the middle class and tourism. Fernand Etgen will become the new president of the Chambre des Deputes, Luxembourg's parliament. The Greens: Satisfied and unified The Greens also voted unanimously in favour of the agreement. The party mandates were voted in by 213 votes of a possible 217. The party conference even ended in a standing ovation. - Felix Braz: Deputy prime minister and minister for justice. - Francois Bausch: Minister for mobility, infrastructure, interior security and defence. - Carole Dieschbourg: Minister for sustainability, the environment and climate. - Claude Turmes: Minister for regional planning and energy. - Sam Tanson: Minister for housing and culture. Josee Lorsche will become the new fraction president for the Greens. The new advisor for Luxembourg City will be Linda Gaasch, who will replace Sam Tanson in that role. The Greens announced this decision after Tanson was confirmed as the new minister for housing. Gaasch is an environmental policy advisor for MEP Tilly Metz. What now? On Wednesday, the former government will come together for one last cabinet meeting. After this, the ministers that will no longer be part of the new government will present themselves to the Grand Duke and announce their abdication. At 2.30pm, the members of the new government will be sworn in by the Grand Duke. At 4pm, the new government will meet for its first cabinet session. On Thursday, the mandates will be handed over in the individual ministries. The Irish airline giant Ryanair will start offering flights from Luxembourg to Berlin in 2019. This will bring the total number of Ryanair destinations from Luxembourg up to 10. Ryanair will fly to the new destination from 21 April 2019 and will offer four flights per week: Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Tickets are already available online and sell for between 26 and 66 depending on the dates. Return tickets currently don't vary in price. With this latest move, Ryanair will be in direct competition to the Luxembourgish airline Luxair and budget airline EasyJet, which both offer flights to Berlin already. Ryanair currently trails just behind Findel's number 1 airline Luxair in terms of passenger numbers. In 2017, 364,000 people used Ryanair's services from Findel airport. Ryanair currently offers 10 destinations from Luxembourg: Milan, Lisbon, Porto, Barcelona, Madrid, London, Seville and Dublin. In 2018, Edinburgh and Berlin will be added to that list. On Thursday, Luxembourg and Monaco signed a partnership agreement which allocates part of a data centre in Bissen to the principality. This data centre department will be considered in the same way as an embassy on Luxembourg territory, having the same privileges and immunity guarantees as a diplomatic mission. Monaco will be the second state to keep sensitive data in Luxembourg following Estonia. The Estonian justification is a precautionary one, in cause local servers break down or are destroyed by a natural catastrophe or targeted attack. The official press release issued by the ministry of state states that "it has become strategically important for the Principality of Monaco to find a solution to safeguard particular data against cyber attacks or natural catastrophes." The press release goes on to state that this is impossible to do in a territory of two square kilometres. SIP / Jean-Christophe Verhaegen, tous droits reserves On Thursday, Monaco's minister of state Serge Telle and Luxembourg prime minister Xavier Bettel signed the agreement which resulted from negotiations between the Government IT Centre (CTIE) and the interministerial delegation for Monaco's digital transition. Luxembourg has already developed a reputation for the safe harbouring of sensitive data in Europe and already hosts data belonging to NATO and the European Union. Joining efforts with the environmental administration, Luxembourg's police inspected crossborder waste transportation. The checks were performed as part of the traffic police's continuous training. Officers conducted the truck controls on three different occasions. On 27 November, they inspected trucks at the Aire de Capellen gas station in direction of Luxembourg. On 4 December, they scrutinized lorries at the same gas station, only this time in direction of Belgium. The last check point took place on 5 December on the N31 near Petange. The lorry drivers had to present valid documents and their waste transport authorisation. The checks are part of Luxembourg's so-called national inspection plan, which was created in accordance with European waste regulations. In their press release, Luxembourg police explained that these checks "ensure the prevention and the detection of illicit transfers" and make it possible to "guarantee adequate management of dangerous waste." The checks also aim at optimising the process of waste treatment and cut down on waste transportation. Out of the 46 inspected trucks, police found 32 to be in violation and handed out fines. 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". A researcher at the University of Luxembourg, Daniele Brida, has won an award for his research in laser imaging. The European Research Council (ERC) awarded Brida with the "Consolidator Grant". The award includes a 2 million grant towards his research for 60 months. Brida is a professor in experimental condensed matter physics, and is working on a project to discover the characteristics of matter using laser imaging technology. Daniele Brida, Tobias Rybka Brida joined the university in 2018, having previously been active at the University of Konstanz in Germany. With the grant, he will be able to expand his research team and set up a new laboratory. His project, titled "Ultrafast tunneling microscopy by optical field control of quantum currents UpTEMPO", examines the inner functioning of matter. The European Union's flagship plan for a 10,000-strong bloc-wide border and coastguard force in two years exceeds "what is feasible," the EU's Austrian presidency said Thursday. Some EU member states have expressed fears the plan would erode their sovereign right to control national borders while others had concerns about funding a force that the European Commission unveiled in September. "The Commission's target with these fixed figures (of 10,000) by 2020 actually goes beyond the scope of what is feasible," Austria's interior minister Herbert Kickl told reporters. "That is why we are now exploring corresponding compromises," Kickl said without elaborating. "We have nothing to gain from writing 10,000 on paper and then they do not really exist, and that is why the timetable is being extended," Kickl added. He spoke instead of a "gradual buildup" during the next seven-year EU budget from 2021-2027, which is now under negotiation. Austria, which currently holds the six-month rotating presidency of the EU, was hosting a meeting of EU interior ministers in Brussels on Thursday to discuss ongoing plans to curb migration. Germany's interior minister Horst Seehofer said: "We will have to discuss how many posts are realistic by 2020. We should not make any utopian promises here." - 'Unrealistic' - An EU diplomat told AFP on condition of anonymity that it is "pretty fair to say" the bloc has abandoned the plan to meet the 10,000 target. "For now it is unrealistic." EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker (pictured December 5, 2018) announced the plan to sharply boost the current pan-EU force of 1,300 staff to help individual member states patrol their borders / AFP In September, Jean-Claude Juncker, who heads the Commission, the EU's executive arm, announced the plan to sharply boost the current pan-EU force of 1,300 staff to help individual member states patrol their borders. But a number of member countries were uncomfortable with it, including Juncker's call for 10,000 border guards. Poland, for example, said that funds for the force might mean less money for road and other infrastructure projects. Frontline countries Italy, Greece and Spain expressed fears that border guards recruited from other member countries would erode their national sovereignty if deployed to their territory during a crisis. The beefed-up force has been the flagship of EU efforts to bolster its long maritime and land borders against flows of migrants fleeing war and poverty from the Middle East and Africa. The unlikelihood of meeting the border guard numbers by 2020 is all the more glaring as EU member states have found it easier to bolster borders than agree how to share responsibility for refugees who reach European shores. The EU is trying to boost its defences against future migrant surges after having sharply reduced arrivals since a 2015 peak as a result of cooperation with Turkey and Libya. The last surge, which amounted to Europe's biggest migration crisis since World War II, fuelled divisions across the bloc -- particularly over a plan to relocate tens of thousand of asylum seekers among EU member states. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday called on Yemen's warring sides to engage in UN-brokered talks without imposing pre-conditions after the government and rebels put forward demands. Yemen's government and Huthi rebels began talks in Sweden on Thursday aimed at ending nearly four years of war that have pushed the impoverished Arab country to the brink of mass starvation. Guterres "urges the parties to make progress on the agenda for the consultations ... by exercising flexibility and engaging in good faith and without pre-conditions," said a UN statement. The UN chief appealed to the sides to continue the de-escalation of Hodeida, the rebel-held port city that is a key entry point for humanitarian aid and vital supplies. In Sweden earlier, Yemen's foreign minister called for the withdrawal of the Huthis from Hodeida, a demand rejected by the rebels. The United Nations is offering to play a supervising role in Hodeida, but the Saudi-led coalition backing Yemen's government is insisting on a rebel withdrawal as a first step. The coalition, which includes troops trained by the US and UAE, has for months led an offensive to retake Hodeida, the last rebel stronghold on Yemen's Red Sea coast and the conduit for 90 percent of vital food imports. Ecuador's president said Thursday that conditions have been met for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to leave the country's embassy in London, which would end a six-year standoff with British authorities. "The way has been cleared for Mr Assange to take the decision to leave in near-liberty," President Lenin Moreno told reporters, explaining that he still had to answer in Britain for violating the terms of his bail. Moreno, however, said Britain had guaranteed that the 47-year-old Australian would not be extradited to any country where his life would be in danger. Assange, who gained international renown by publishing huge caches of hacked State Department and Pentagon files, has repeatedly expressed fear that Britain would extradite him to the United States to face charges there. US prosecutors last month inadvertently revealed the existence of a sealed indictment against Assange, according to WikiLeaks, but it was not known what the actual charges were. Assange took refuge in the Ecuadoran embassy in London in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden to face questioning in two alleged cases of sexual assault. Sweden has since dropped that case, and Ecuador says there are no pending extradition requests against the WikiLeaks founder. "The British government sent us an official communication indicating that the constitution of Great Britain bars extradition of a person to a place where his life would be in danger," Moreno said. That could be an issue in the case of the United States because it has the death penalty. Latvia on Thursday rejected the United Nations migration pact set to be adopted next week, following similar moves by several other European countries as well as Australia and the United States. The 100-seat parliament of the Baltic EU state voted against the UN Global Compact for Migration agreed in July after 18 months of negotiations. It lays out 23 objectives to open up legal migration and better manage migratory flows as the number of people on the move worldwide has increased to 250 million, or three percent of the world's population. Latvia's outgoing centre-right Prime Minister Maris Kucinskis vowed earlier this week to "adhere to parliament's decision, whatever the outcome." Among the lawmakers who voted down the pact, Dagmara Beitnere-Le Galla from the New Conservative Party charged that the treaty was "very poorly prepared for a document that may have major implications throughout the entire world". Latvia is the latest state to either disavow or withdraw from the pact that is focused on promoting cooperation to deal with the world's growing migrant flows. It has been targeted by right-wing politicians who denounce it as an affront to their countries' national sovereignty. The United States quit negotiations early on, in last December, and was followed by Hungary seven months later. Since then, other naysayers include Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Israel, Poland, Slovakia and Switzerland. Thousands of people took part in protest marches across Bolivia on Thursday amid a general strike called by opponents of President Evo Morales' bid for a fourth term. Groups of activists blocked streets in the capital La Paz and other main cities, many waving Bolivian flags and waving banners saying "Bolivia said No" -- a reference to a 2016 referendum ignored by Morales. Interior Minister Carols Romero played down the blockades and said the country was working "as normal". Banking and other businesses remained opened in defiance of the general strike call, despite widespread disruption of public transport. The government said 5,000 people took part in the protests. "The results are far from what the organizers were looking for, " said Alfredo Rada, minister with responsibility for the presidency. The protests follow the decision Tuesday by Bolivia's Supreme Electoral Court to give a green light for Morales -- in power since 2003 -- to seek a fourth term. - Electoral Court decision - The ruling party last year dismissed the result of the 2016 referendum that denied Morales the possibility of seeking a fourth term as president. People with a sign reading "Evo Morales: Fire spreads! And if we burn, you will burn with us," march against the nomination of the Bolivian president as candidate for reelection for the October 2019 elections, in La Paz on December 6, 2018 / AFP Morales argued that it is his human right to seek reelection. His main opponent in the October 2019 elections, ex-president Carlos Mesa, called on the opposition to wage "a democratic battle" against the court decision. The influential Catholic Church hit out at the court ruling, saying it "called into doubt the basis of democracy" in Bolivia, and "left Bolivians with an uncertain future." The biggest protests came in the eastern province of Santa Cruz, whose governor Ruben Costas heads opposition to Morales. Three separate marches that set off earlier this week from outlying provinces were expected to converge in the capital La Paz later Thursday. La Paz mayor Luis Revilla, an opponent of Morales, a supporter of Mesa, said "what remains now is to resist this decision, is to turn to street protests, to prevent this decision being realized." People argue with policemen during a march against the nomination of Bolivian President Evo Morales as a candidate for reelection for the October 2019 elections, during a national strike, in La Paz, on December 6, 2018 / AFP Another opposition figure, Samuel Doria Medina -- a three-time loser to Morales at the polls who has dropped out of the 2019 campaign in favor of a single candidate -- called for "unity to stop the dictatorship." Western donors said Thursday they have pledged 2.4 billion euros ($2.7 billion) in funding aimed at preventing terrorism and lawlessness along the southern rim of the Sahara. The updated pledge total was announced in a final statement from a donors conference held in the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott. "These pledges from our partners broadly cover the overall needs" of around 40 development projects to fight jihadism in the region, Niger President Mahamadou Issoufou told reporters earlier. The five Sahel states -- Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali and Niger -- have been struggling against extremism and lawlessness in the Sahel since a jihadist revolt that began with a Tuareg separatist uprising in northern Mali in 2012. The Sahel Alliance -- which was launched last year and includes the European Union, the World Bank, the African Development Bank, the UN Development Programme, Germany, France and six other European countries -- contributed 1.3 billion euros, it said in a statement. The EU's International Cooperation and Development Commissioner Neven Mimica annnounced a 122 million-euro contribution on Thursday. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Paris would add 220 million euros. The five Sahel countries had sought 1.9 billion euros to help them fund the Sahel Priority Investment Programme (PIP) for projects in border regions vulnerable to jihadists. They themselves provide 13 percent of that sum. Governments hope that with an array of projects, including building schools and health centres and improving access to water, they can prevent communities from falling under the influence of extremists. Jihadism in the region has been fuelled by the chaos that engulfed Libya in 2011, the Islamist takeover of northern Mali in 2012 and the rise of Boko Haram in northern Nigeria. The extremists were largely driven out of Mali in a French-led military operation launched in January 2013. The France-backed fledgling African regional force fighting jihadists is also suffering from lack of funding, and shortfalls in equipment and training have led to delays in its operations. As well as fighting terrorism it tackles smuggling and illegal immigration networks that operate in these vast, remote areas on the Sahara's southern fringe. A devastating attack in June on the force's headquarters in Mali, claimed by an al-Qaeda-linked group, destroyed the communications room, forcing a brief halt in operations. Ecuador's president said Thursday that conditions have been met for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to leave the country's embassy in London, which would end a six-year standoff with British authorities. "The way has been cleared for Mr Assange to take the decision to leave in near-liberty," President Lenin Moreno told reporters, explaining that he still had to answer in Britain for violating the terms of his bail. Moreno, however, said Britain had guaranteed that the 47-year-old Australian would not be extradited to any country where his life would be in danger. Ecuador has been seeking a way to terminate Assange's stay for several months, amid souring relations with its embassy guest, who recently sued Quito for restricting his internet access. Assange, who gained international renown by publishing huge caches of hacked State Department and Pentagon files, has repeatedly expressed fear that Britain would extradite him to the United States to face charges there. The 251,000 classified cables from US embassies around the world -- released by WikiLeaks in 2010 and published by leading international newspapers -- embarrassed the Bush administration in Washington and caused ructions in its bilateral relations with other countries. US prosecutors last month inadvertently revealed the existence of a sealed indictment against Assange, according to WikiLeaks, but it was not known what the actual charges were. The possible indictment suggested that Washington will seek Assange's extradition if he leaves the embassy. Ecuador's President Lenin Moreno said Britain had guaranteed that Julian Assange would not be extradited to any country where his life would be in danger / AFP There is speculation that the US interest in Assange is connected to the investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller into Russian interference in the 2016 election that brought President Donald Trump to office. Britain's the Guardian newspaper last month reported that Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort held secret talks with Assange, whose organization is accused of leaking thousands of emails allegedly stolen by Russian hackers from the Democratic campaign of Hillary Clinton. In July, Mueller charged 12 Russian spies with conspiring to hack the Democratic National Committee computers, stealing and publishing data in an effort to sway the election. - Years in embassy refuge - Assange took refuge in the Ecuadoran embassy in London in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden to face questioning in two alleged cases of sexual assault. Sweden has since dropped that case, and Ecuador says there are no pending extradition requests against the WikiLeaks founder. "The British government sent us an official communication indicating that the constitution of Great Britain bars extradition of a person to a place where his life would be in danger," Moreno said. That could be an issue in the case of the United States because it has the death penalty. His lawyer Carlos Poveda said last month that Assange was prepared to surrender to British police if he receives assurances he will not be extradited. Ecuador's foreign minister Jose Valencia said at the time that Britain was merely asking him to appear in court to answer for having broken his bail conditions, and that he was likely to get a sentence of no more than six months. "We do not see the British changing their point of view, they continue to insist that he appear before the courts," said Valencia. Wonder Caves: Ideal Spot for Hikers and Cave Explorers The requested page is currently unavailable on this server. Back to [RTHK News Homepage] Your browser does not support the audio element. Vietnams first aircraft engine factory officially began production on Thursday morning, a milestone for the countrys aviation sector. The factorys opening was marked by an event attended by top Vietnamese officials, including deputy premier Truong Hoa Binh, many of whom shared their hopes that the plant will help put Vietnams on a par with countries who currently lead the aircraft technology industry. The plant, operated by Hanwha Aero Engines Factory, is situated in Hanois Hoa Lac Hi-Tech Park, is designed to manufacture airplane engine components that meet international export standards. Hanwha Group, one of South Koreas largest conglomerates, invested US$200 million in the facility and completed the construction and installation of its assembly lines a little over a year after first breaking ground in September 2017. After a test run, Hanwha Aero Engines Factory began mass production on Thursday and is expected to roll out its first products in January 2019. The plant will create jobs for over a thousand people, provide high-quality training, and bring new and advanced aviation technology to Vietnam, according to Hoa Lac Hi-Tech Parks management. A Vietnamese worker operates an aircraft engine production line at the Hanwha Aero Engines Factory in Hanoi, Vietnam, December 6, 2018. Photo: Tuoi Tre The factory is also expected to help develop the Southeast Asian countrys precision engineering sector, Hanwha's chairman Kim Seung Yeon said at the opening ceremony. Hanwha Group is the only airplane engine corporation in South Korea and one of the top ten companies in the world in terms of its ability to produce advanced aviation technology, Kim said. The corporation sent multiple Vietnamese engineers to South Korea for professional training and over 40 of its technicians are supporting 200 Vietnamese workers at the factory, the chairman said. With 900 employees and investments projected to reach $370 million by 2024, Hanwha Aero Engines Factory hopes to become the role model for technology transference from South Korea to Vietnam, Kim added. The involvement of Hanwha Group in Hoa Lac Hi-Tech Park might also spur more foreign technology companies to gravitate to the area, Chu Ngoc Anh head of Vietnams Ministry of Science and Technology said at the event. Companies have so far committed to invest VND78 trillion ($3.35 billion) across 87 registered projects at the park, Anh said. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Your browser does not support the audio element. The Ho Chi Minh City Urban Environment Company is expected to launch a mobile app aimed at encouraging local residents to sort their household garbage. The application, named mGreen, will be available on both iOS and Android devices. Citizens will be asked to create an account before selecting a specific schedule during the week for garbage collectors to come and fetch the waste. On the selected days, the collectors will confirm on the app whether each resident has properly sorted their rubbish. If the waste sorting is done correctly, users will earn a certain number of points, which will be later used to exchange for coupons and vouchers provided from partner companies of the app developer. According to Huynh Minh Nhut, director of the Urban Environment Company, the idea was suggested a while ago and will be easily executed thanks to the app. The app is designed to create a habit of waste sorting among residents, Nhut stated The firm is also planning to establish a center in charge of collecting recyclable waste from households across the city, he continued. Citizens can sell such type of waste for cash or exchange it for points in the mGreen app. Ho Chi Minh City authorities started enforcing a set of regulations requiring local residents to classify their garbage on November 24, in a bid to reduce the harmful effects of household waste on the environment. According to the regulations, each family is required to categorize their garbage into three groups, namely biodegradable organic waste, waste that can be reused and recycled, and the others. Garbage collectors are scheduled to fetch biodegradable organic waste on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday and the other two groups of rubbish on the remaining days of the week. The rules will be phased in before authorities begin fining violators. The interface of the app, named mGreen, which is developed by the Ho Chi Minh City Urban Environment Company. Photo: Tuoi Tre Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! A man entered a bank in Ho Chi Minh City on Friday and used what looked like a gun to coerce clerks into handing him cash, police said the same day. The incident happened at an office of Vietnamese lender Viet A Bank on Dinh Tien Hoang Street in Binh Thanh District at around 11:10 am. A man, armed with pepper spray, entered the bank and started spraying the lachrymator at security guards and bank tellers to create confusion. There were only around one to two customers inside the venue at the time, as it was almost lunchtime. The lone suspect then pulled out what looked like a gun and intimidated the employees into handing over two piles of cash, valued at VND500 million ($21,500) each. He put the money into a large shopping bag and fled the scene before police arrived. A crowd of onlookers could be seen outside of the bank at 12:30 pm the same day, as officers investigated the crime scene and took statements from eyewitnesses. Binh Thanh District police say they are working with relevant parties in investigating the case. A crowd of onlookers gather outside an office of Viet A Bank in Binh Thanh District, Ho Chi Minh City, where a robbery happened on December 7, 2018. Photo: Tuoi Tre Tran Tien Dung, deputy general director of Viet A Bank, confirmed the incident to Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Friday afternoon, adding that no human casualties were reported in the heist. All deposits at Viet A Bank are insured as per regulations by the State Bank of Vietnam, so our customers rights are always guaranteed, Dung said. CCTV footage acquired by police shows the suspect being around 1.7 meters tall and wearing denim clothes, sneakers, a red-and-white helmet, and a face mask. He used a Honda Dream motorbike to get to and away from the site of the robbery. Police officers investigate the scene of a heist at an office of Viet A Bank in Binh Thanh District, Ho Chi Minh City, on December 7, 2018. Photo: Tuoi Tre Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Vietnamese police on Thursday arrested three college students for scamming 300 victims out of more than VND2 billion ($86,000) since early 2018 by offering fake online sales promotions. Le Ngoc Minh Hoang, Pham Thanh Hai, and Luong Thanh Quoc Huy, all aged 20, were taken into custody for appropriating property via the Internet and other electronic means after police uncovered that the trio were accepting payments for low-cost motorcycles on e-commerce websites but refusing to deliver the goods. Beginning in January, the three students, all from the same hometown in central Vietnam, began advertising the motorcycles and taking phone calls from would-be buyers, officials said. After making a sale, the scammers would have the victims deposit full or partial payments into bank accounts opened with fake ID cards or purchased from other bank card holders. Of course, customers never received their motorcycles. Police officers are expanding their investigation and ask anyone who believes they may have fallen victim to the scam to contact authorities. The three college students in the custody of police in Da Nang City, Vietnam. Video: Tuoi Tre Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! The Family Law returns for its third and final season in early January to screen simultaneously on SBS and SBS VICELAND. SBS is claiming it as Australias first ever TV comedy about teen sexuality. SBS Director of Television and Online Content, Marshall, Heald said: Ive always loved this series and have been so personally and professionally proud to be associated with it. Season three has more depth, and the characters are incredibly rounded and authentic. Its warm and funny sometimes bittersweet but most importantly, there are real human hearts beating throughout. I feel like Ive seen this family grow up and theyre very dear to me. Im laughing with them, never at them. I know an enormous amount of love and effort went into making the show be so beautiful and heart-warming. Its also a real triumph for diversity on screen under-represented faces and voices but defiantly Australian in every regard. Creator and co-writer Benjamin Law said: Were so proud of how The Family Law broke ground in showcasing an Asian-Australian family in TV comedy with season one. Given ongoing debates around youth sexuality and gender identity in Australia right now, were especially proud season three will look at these issues head-on. We think its our best and funniest season yet. Everyones favourite Chinese-Australian family, The Laws, are back for one final spin, this time with added hormone-induced angst and awkward, sexual fumbling. The third and final season of the award-winning series returns with a double episode of The Family Law launching on Saturday, 12 January at 8.30pm on SBS and SBS VICELAND simultaneously. All six episodes of The Family Law season three will also drop on SBS On Demand that evening. As Jenny dives headfirst into the giddy world of new romance, a mildly terrified Benjamin delves into the heady world of booze-drenched teen parties and unwanted sexual attraction, before finally facing up to some hard truths about himself and his sexuality. Based on Benjamin Laws hit memoir of the same name, the critically acclaimed first season was awarded Best Casting in a TV Comedy (Casting Guild of Australia) and Comedy Series Production of the Year (SPA Award) it also earned two AACTA nominations. The Family Law season three is a Matchbox Pictures Production for SBS. Principal production investment from Screen Australia. Financed with support from Screen Queensland. The Family Law season three is executive produced by Debbie Lee (Matchbox Pictures), produced by Julie Eckersley and Sophie Miller (Matchbox Pictures), and co-produced by Lisa Wang. Directed by Ben Chessell (Offspring, Doctor Doctor), along with Sophie Miller (directed episode 6), the show is written by Benjamin Law and Kirsty Fisher. Seasons one and two of The Family Law will be available on SBS On Demand from Saturday, 29 December. Episode one and two screen Saturday, 12 January at 8.30pm on SBS VICELAND and SBS simultaneously with the full season at SBS On Demand. The Stanford University Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (d.school) named four University of Dayton students to a global program that empowers student leaders to increase campus engagement through innovation, entrepreneurship and creativity. Jennifer Winn, Sydney Szafarski, Ian Sikora and Evan Krimpenfort are among 358 students from 96 higher education institutions in 16 countries recently named University Innovation Fellows. They will advocate for fellow students to engage in innovation, entrepreneurship and creativity through innovation spaces, entrepreneurship organizations, experiential-learning events and new courses. This is the fourth group of University of Dayton students selected to the program. The quartet said they want to create a University of Dayton Common Academic Program course in innovation, entrepreneurship and design that can be implemented across all majors, and a yearly "design-a-thon" open to all students. They also have their sights on streamlining the University's annual student organization information day, "Up the Orgs," and bringing a TedX event to campus around innovation, entrepreneurship and design. "The University of Dayton does a great job incorporating innovation and entrepreneurship and design thinking into the business and engineering schools. Now the fellows want to spread that thinking across campus, opening potentially thousands of minds to innovation and entrepreneurship and design thinking," said Emily Fehrman Cory, faculty of practice in innovation and entrepreneurship in the University of Dayton School of Engineering and the group's advisor. You can read more about the group's specific goals and strategies here. Goals of previous University of Dayton fellows have included more collaboration and study space in the School of Engineering's Kettering Labs, an app or scheduling system to allow students to better locate study space in Kettering Labs, a student-run incubator to help advise students in the early stages of project development, a database of innovators students can tap for mentoring and partnerships, and an innovation and entrepreneurship course open to all first-year students. Previous groups also have worked on integrating more engineering themes into University of Dayton Common Academic Program courses, establishing an engineering and innovation learning living community, and incorporating more art into engineering to help students use their creative and analytical skills. "Through this program, fellows gain skills, mindsets and knowledge to face complex challenges at their schools and in the world," said Humera Fasihuddin, co-director of the University Innovation Fellows program. "During training, fellows analyze their campus ecosystems and identify learning opportunities related to innovation, entrepreneurship, design thinking and creativity. They work to understand the needs of peers across disciplines and the perspectives of faculty and administrators. Armed with this knowledge and perspective, they design strategies to take advantage of these opportunities for change." Overall, the program has trained more than 1,800 students. Participation with the University Innovation Fellows program is another example of how the University of Dayton is striving to instill an entrepreneurial mindset in its students. The University is a member of the Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network (KEEN), a national partnership of universities with the mission of graduating engineers with an entrepreneurial mindset so they can create personal, economic and societal value through their work. Since joining KEEN, the University of Dayton has received the 2013 KEEN Best in Class Award; Eddy Rojas, dean of the School of Engineering, was honored with the 2015 Outstanding Dean Award; and Ken Bloemer, director of the Visioneering Center at the University of Dayton's School of Engineering, was recognized for his work in the network with the 2016 Outstanding Faculty Award. In 2014, The Kern Family Foundation, which created KEEN, awarded the University of Dayton a $1.2 million grant to initiate the largest faculty and curriculum development program in the School of Engineering's history. Much of the funding is going toward developing activity-based, project-based and entrepreneurially minded classes to enhance the student experience. In November 2017, The Kern Family Foundation awarded the University $2 million to help faculty work with industry and community partners to infuse entrepreneurially minded learning examples and case studies into their courses. For more information or interviews, contact Shawn Robinson, associate director of news and communications, at 937-229-3391 or srobinson@udayton.edu. Animals could teach humans a lot. They are loving and caring and will even take in an animal of another species who might need help or a loving mother. Below are unusual stories about a monkey with a dog bodyguard, a cat that raised an orphan squirrel along with her kittens, a King Charles spaniel who adopted orphaned baby rabbits, a Dalmatian dog who adopted a black and white spotted lamb and a monkey who lovingly took a ginger kitten into her family. 1 Bullied monkey at Chinese zoo gets a doggy bodyguard As reported by Digital Journal, a small orphaned monkey at Jiaozuo City Zoo was constantly bullied by the alpha male monkey. Zookeepers often had to intervene to save his life. This all changed when they placed a dog named Sai Hu in the cage to protect the little monkey. Whenever the alpha male starts bullying the tiny monkey, Sai Hu senses the danger and instantly comes to the rescue. The monkey then jumps on his back and holds on tight. Monkey At Zoo Got Bullied By Other Monkeys So They Gave Him A Guard Dog - Dogtime https://t.co/kkxg0xwudE via @po_st Anne Sewell (@anners2008) December 6, 2018 2 Cat raises squirrel along with her kittens and it purrs! Jim and Karen Watkins run a shelter called T.A.I.L.S. (Taking Animals Into Loving Shelters). Emmy, a rescue cat, gave birth to kittens and at around the same time, the Watkins found an orphaned baby squirrel that had fallen out of a tree. Karen put the squirrel into the box of kittens and Emmy immediately adopted it, feeding it like one of her own. The little squirrel has even, apparently, started to purr like a kitten. 3 King Charles spaniel adopts baby rabbits 4 Dalmatian dog adopts black and white spotted lamb 5 Monkey adopts ginger kitten in Indonesia ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Japan Tokyo Mount Fuji Japanese equities stock market It is six years this month since Shinzo Abe became Prime Minister in Japan, making him the longest serving Japanese Prime Minister ever. Since being elected, Abe has implemented significant economic reform, including an unprecedented monetary easing programme. This has buoyed markets the Japanese stock market is up more than 100% over Abes tenure but many believe valuations still dont reflect the extent of the reforms that have taken place, and say stocks have further to rally. Abenomics three arrows; fiscal policy, monetary policy and structural reform, have dragged Japan out of permanent deflation. Economic growth statistics remain erratic, with the most recent third quarter statistics showing a contraction of 1.2% year on year. Few are predicting a recession, but it means that Abe has little room to back-track on his stimulus policies. Japanese Firms Clean Up their Act Abes reforms have had a significant impact in the corporate sector. The introduction of the Stewardship Code in February 2014, and reforms initiated by a variety of policymakers including Japans FSA, the Ministry of Economy and the Government Pension Investment Fund have seen Japanese companies improve corporate governance and balance sheet efficiency, while paying higher dividends. They are also improving profitability. Chris Taylor, manager of the Neptune Japan Opportunities fund, says: Japanese companies are producing record aggregate profits and profits growth. Theres no reason for that to stop or slow down because what drives Japanese corporate profits is global economic growth rather than trade growth. You have a 3:1 gearing on global growth, so if you get 1% global growth, you get a 3% uplift in aggregate Japanese corporate profitsthe reality is that global growth is still steaming along, which benefits Japanese companies disproportionately. Yet this is not reflected in valuations. Rob Burdett, joint head of multi-manager at BMO Asset Management, says: The market is cheaper today than when Abe came to power, in spite all of his reforms. While people might have hoped that the arrows would fly a little faster, they have undoubtedly worked. Story continues Investors Wary of Japans Gains Why does the market remain cheap? Partly it is simply a legacy of Japans wilderness years, when deflation was endemic and corporate profitability weak. Some investors struggle to believe that it has changed. Another problem, says Burdett, is that it can be treated like the ATM of Asia. It is the most liquid market in the region and therefore tends to be the first port of call for investors taking down their Asia weighting. This means it gets blown about by global sentiment. For example, it dipped 8% on news over Brexit even though it is barely relevant for the Japanese market, he explains. It also reflects concerns over global growth. For the time being, global growth is standing firm at around 3.7% for 2018 and 2019, but many fear that once the impact of the US tax cuts dissipates and the withdrawal of global liquidity starts in earnest, global growth will slow. This is a possibility but is by no means certain and Japanese valuations leave some room for weakness. At the same time, Japan remains an open economy and is a potential casualty of the trade war between China and the US. A Reuters poll in September found that a third of Japanese companies are affected, worrying about the prospects for their exports from China as well as slower Chinese demand. Although China and the US have called a temporary truce following the recent G20 summit, some Japanese companies are considering moving production away from China. Opportunity Knocks Burdett believes that even if the export part of the economy weakens, there are some fantastic domestic plays in Japan, particularly among small and mid-cap companies. There are also industries where Japan has a particularly strong presence, such as robotics, which are difficult to find elsewhere. Burdett is overweight Japan across his multi-manager portfolios. Japan may not have go-go growth, but the economy is undoubtedly in better shape than it was when Abe took power and this is not reflected in valuations. Corporate reform continues to be a major spur for the Japanese stock market. Dividend pay-outs are increasing, but have some way to go. In the end, this, more than economic growth, may prove to be the catalyst to realise value in the Japanese stock market. BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday told North Korea's foreign minister that he hoped North Korea and the United States could meet each other halfway and address each other's reasonable concerns, China's foreign ministry said. China is the North's most important economic and diplomatic backer, despite anger over its neighbour's nuclear and missile programmes. Ties have warmed in the last year as Pyongyang's relations with both Seoul and Washington have also improved. At a landmark June summit in Singapore, the North's leader, Kim Jong Un, and U.S. President Donald Trump pledged to work towards denuclearisation, but the pact was sketchy and talks since have made little headway. Xi "hoped North Korea and the United States meet each other halfway and address each other's reasonable concerns, allowing positive progress on the peninsula's nuclear talks," the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement. In comments made before reporters, Xi added, "The international and regional situation, as well as the situation on the Korean peninsula, remains in flux, so timely exchanges and the coordination of positions between China and North Korea are still extremely essential." The North's foreign minister, Ri Yong Ho, said its commitment to denuclearisation and safeguarding peace and stability on the Korean peninsula were unchanged, the foreign ministry added. Meeting the Chinese government's top diplomat Wang Yi earlier, Ri said North Korea hoped to build "required mutual trust" with the United States and "move in the same direction", it said. Ri, who is due to leave China on Saturday, visited Syria this week. Kim has visited China three times this year to meet Xi. Diplomatic sources say Xi will probably go to North Korea at some point soon. Last month, South Korea said Xi intended to visit North Korea next year at Kim's invitation, which would make Xi the first Chinese leader to do so since 2005. Story continues Last weekend, Trump said he was likely to meet Kim again in January or February, with three possible sites being considered for their second meeting. The two countries have held talks over a second meeting after the unprecedented June summit, Reuters reported in October, citing a senior official. (The story refiles to fix minister's truncated name in paragraph six.) (Reporting by Philip Wen and Ben Blanchard; Editing by Clarence Fernandez) Cape Verde a small island nation off the shore of Senegal is often depicted in guidebooks as a paradise on earth: photos abound of white sand beaches and crystal clear water. However, on the ground, activists are documenting a startling trend that could put the islands image in peril. Rubbish, especially plastic, is building up on once-pristine shores and tourism is leaving its mark. On the island of Boa Vista, which is one of the most popular destinations for tourists flocking to Cape Verde, people are using old rusty shipping containers as makeshift bins. On the Facebook page of the Movement Against Pollution in Cape Verde, photos show plastic bottles filling these rusty containers, which often sit just a few metres from the ocean and Sal Rei port. In the caption of the photo below, the group explains that these abandoned containers have become both public toilets and dumpsters where fishermen dump the plastic bottles that they use to make ice. "Were inviting [] the Minister of Maritime Economy, the Minister of the Environment and the city government of Boa Vista to come and see, the post reads. In this post the group complains about the containers abandoned on the coast that are now being used as bins and public toilets . The Movement Against Pollution in Cape Verde publishes posts like this several times a week on its Facebook page and in its Facebook group. In every post, they call out the authorities responsible by name. Activists found plastic rubbish on the Ribeira da Barca beach on Santiago island. They ask the authorities to carry out awareness campaigns in fishing villages. In Boa Vista, part of the population lives in shacks known as 'barracas', which dont have sanitation systems The founder of the Facebook page is 42-year-old Cesar Freitas. This champion of the environment saw the archipelago transform as the economy and tourism industry developed. He thinks that there needs to be a campaign to raise awareness about the importance of conserving Cape Verdes natural heritage. Story continues I grew up by the ocean, immersed in the islands coastal culture. Unfortunately, I constantly see people disrespecting our natural environment. For example, many locals leave their rubbish on the beach. There are also places that have essentially become "marine landfills, where residents dump their rubbish and waste water. People act in this way because of a lack of awareness and education. Most residents dont know the consequences that their behaviour might have. In this post the group decries a beautiful sea view ruined by rubbish. This is where residents discard their rubbish and their wastewater, a "tradition" that will be hard to end as residents say theyve always used this site as a dump. The environmental group is asking the authorities to ban the practice. The development of the tourism industry can also have a negative impact on the environment. For example, we published a post on the stones piled up by tourists on Sal island. Tourists often build little stone towers as a way to say, I was here. But in some places there are so many that the area looks like a lunar landscape. Sal city authorities picked up this thread and posted on social media about the negative impact the towers can have on the ecosystem [Editors note: City officials said that the practice pulls the moisture from the ground, eliminates vegetation, destroys the habitats of animals and insects, and alters the landscape]. So our posts are having an impact. Weve witnessed several problems arising from the development of tourism on Boa Vista. With all the hotels and restaurants that were built, it has become an island where there is lots of work. But many workers arent from Boa Vista and cant travel back to their homes every day. They also cant afford decent housing in Boa Vista. So many live in "barracas", which are shacks without proper sanitation systems. Many residents dont have access to toilets and will defecate along the coast or in old rusted containers [Editors note: In 2017, only 57.7% of the population of Boa Vista had access to a toilet, according to the local press]. Near the port in Boa Vista, old abandoned containers are used as toilets. Plastic waste is scattered on the ground. We also let authorities know of specific zones that are being neglected and ignored. For example, on the island of Santiago, Achada Baleia is one of the rare beaches that still has sand. Soldiers were actually stationed there to make sure that people were not removing it. Now, however, the beach has no monitoring system. "This is one of the rare beaches in Santiago that still has sand. Before, soldiers made sure that people werent collecting and transporting sand and that the turtles who live there were protected [...]". Disappearing sand is a major problem on the island. Many people make a living collecting and selling it, most often to the construction sector. But there are serious environmental consequences to this practice [Editors note: among other problems, it causes salt water to seep into the ground, harming agricultural production]. In light of these problems, I started organising clean-up campaigns last October. Clean-up campaign by Cesar Freitas and other volunteers on Aguas Belas beach, Santiago island. Rubbish from 25 different countries on one beach On November 27, another environmental group, Biosfera Cabo Verde, posted striking images of rubbish on the Achados beach on the island of Santa Luzia, where many sea turtles lay their eggs. In the video, activists showed that the rubbish, which had been washed up on the beach by the ocean, came from at least 25 different countries. Last June, on World Oceans Day, the Cape Verdean minister for the marine economy posted a video on Facebook that showed customers at a restaurant being served not fish but plastic. "According to estimates, in 2025, there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean, the video asserts. Cape Verde invested 1.5 million into waste management plans in 2017. The year before, a law was enacted to ban all plastic bags except those made with biodegradable plastic. This article was written by Maeva Poulet (@maevaplt). FILE PHOTO: Brian Tonna speaks to the media at his office in Swatar, Malta, June 11, 2012. Picture taken June 11, 2012. Times of Malta/Chris Sant Fournier/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo Thomson Reuters By Stephen Grey LONDON (Reuters) - A private accountant who set up offshore companies for two senior political figures in Malta was given a government consultancy in recent years worth nearly 60,000 euros per year, documents obtained by Reuters show. Brian Tonna, who created companies in Panama for a Maltese government minister and the prime minister's chief of staff, held the consultancy full-time from August 2014 to August 2016, and part-time from then until August 31, 2017, contracts obtained from a Freedom of Information request show. His pay - about 55,000 euros annually plus expenses - was almost as high as that of the prime minister. Simon Busuttil, a former leader of the opposition Nationalist Party in Malta, told Reuters that Tonna's work as a personal accountant for government figures and his government contracts created a conflict of interest. "The bar for ethical standards has now been lowered so far by this government, it has been crushed into the ground," he said. Tonna declined to comment. A spokesman for Joseph Muscat, Malta's prime minister, said the prime minister was not involved in granting Tonna's government contract. Tonna was hired as an adviser to Owen Bonnici, minister for justice. The work was in addition to previously disclosed business contracts, worth more than 800,000 euros, awarded by other government ministries to NexiaBT, an accountancy firm that Tonna owns. In a statement, a spokesman for Bonnici said that Tonna and NexiaBT "offered advice and technical guidance on purely financial matters relating to infrastructural projects in the field of culture." Asked if Tonna's employment involved any conflicts of interest and how this was managed, the spokesman did not respond. Tonna set up companies in Panama that in 2015 he transferred to Keith Schembri, the prime minister's chief of staff, and Konrad Mizzi, then energy minister and now tourism minister. Tonna has known Schembri as a personal friend and client for 20 years, according to a written declaration made by Tonna and seen by Reuters. Mizzi engaged NexiaBT as a personal accountant in 2015, according to his own statements. Schembri and Mizzi did not respond to questions about the contracts given to Tonna. Story continues Tonna's role in creating companies for Schembri and Mizzi was first disclosed by Daphne Caruana Galizia, a journalist who was murdered in October 2017. No evidence has emerged that connects her death to any of her journalism. Details of Tonna's personal government consultancy contract emerged from Freedom of Information requests for details of any payments made to either Tonna or Nexia BT since the current administration took power in 2013. The requests were filed by the Times of Malta and the results shared with Reuters. They showed that his full-time contract was worth 54,684 euros annually, plus 7,474 euros in allowances for his expenses, including for his car and mobile phone. The part-time contract was worth 38,241 euros plus 3,736 euros in expenses. The prime minister earns 55,978 euros plus 6,769 euros in allowances, his spokesman told Reuters. In May 2017, Maltese authorities launched a judicial investigation into payments totalling 100,000 euros made by Tonna to Schembri at a private bank. As Reuters reported in April https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-malta-daphne-pilatus-insight/malta-had-concerns-about-bank-with-azeri-clients-kept-it-open-idUKKBN1HX1JE, the probe was launched after Malta's anti-money laundering watchdog, the Financial Intelligence and Analysis Unit (FIAU), said in a report that the payments gave rise to "reasonable suspicion of money laundering." Both men have denied any wrongdoing and said the 100,000 euros were repayment of a personal loan. The FIAU declined to comment on the investigation, which continues. In November, Prime Minister Muscat came under political pressure from opposition lawmakers to sack or suspend Mizzi and Schembri after Reuters reported new details https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-malta-daphne-offshore-exclusive/exclusive-mystery-company-named-by-murdered-maltese-journalist-is-linked-to-power-station-developer-idUKKCN1NE196 about 17 Black, an obscure company based in Dubai. That company, according to an email from NexiaBT, planned to pay up to 2 million euros to Panama companies owned by Mizzi and Schembri. According to government statements following the Reuters report, 17 Black's activities are now the subject of both a criminal probe by police and a judicial investigation. Muscat told reporters https://www.reuters.com/article/us-malta-muscat/maltese-pm-says-ready-to-quit-if-implicated-in-probe-into-mystery-firm-idUSKCN1NL29Z in Malta that if he were implicated in any wrongdoing by the probes, he would resign. Tonna said he was "fully committed to cooperating with the authorities." (Reporting by Stephen Grey; editing by Richard Woods and Janet McBride) See Also: A Norway-plus arrangement with single market membership and a customs union is being pushed as a plan if Theresa Mays deal is rejected by MPs. At least 10 Cabinet ministers could back a Norway-style Brexit if Theresa Mays deal is rejected, one of the MPs leading a cross-party campaign has claimed. Under the Norway-plus plan, the UK would remain in the single market and customs union, which would remove the need for the Irish backstop provision and protect trade links with the EU, but it would fail to deliver on key Brexiteer promises over free movement and sovereignty. If the Prime Ministers Brexit plan is defeated next week, her Cabinet colleagues could argue for the Norway-plus option, according to an MP involved in cross-party efforts behind the plan. The instruction given by 52:48 referendum vote is clear: move house, but stay in same neighbourhood. To leave EU's political project, but to retain full access to a market of 500m consumers. #NorwayPlus meets those aims, introduces a safeguard on FoM & solves Irish border issue pic.twitter.com/EuKHwpsNkj Stephen Kinnock (@SKinnock) December 6, 2018 Labours Stephen Kinnock said: The country is crying out for us to put our narrow tribalism to one side. We understand that there are at least 10 Cabinet ministers who are supporting this arrangement. He told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: What we need the Prime Minister to do, when she loses the vote on Tuesday, is to go on to the steps of Downing Street and make a very clear statement that we must pivot now to Norway-plus. A Norwegian-style compromise is opposed by many Eurosceptics, who believe it will amount to Brexit in name only, and by former Remainers who are pushing for a second referendum. There is also resistance within Europe about the possibility of an economy the size of the UK joining the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and European Economic Area (EEA) along with Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. Story continues Norwegian MP Heidi Nordby Lunde told The Guardian: Really, the Norwegian option is not an option. We have been telling you this for one and a half years since the referendum and how this works, so I am surprised that after all these years it is still part of the grown-up debate in the UK. You just expect us to give you an invitation rather than consider whether Norway would want to give you such an invitation. It might be in your interest to use our agreement, but it would not be in our interest. "Norway Plus will leave us lobbyists camped outside of the European Parliament" WATCH: @JoJohnsonUK expertly picks apart why 'Norway Plus' is a nonstarter. It's time for a #PeoplesVote on the Brexit deal. Read our report dismantling 'Norway Plus' here: https://t.co/CKoPl8jskF pic.twitter.com/DxBJjeTFhK People's Vote UK (@peoplesvote_uk) December 7, 2018 The Peoples Vote campaign, which wants a second referendum, published a dossier condemning the Norway-plus proposal. In a joint foreword, Labour former foreign secretary David Miliband and Tory ex-minister Jo Johnson who quit his Government role in November over Brexit said: Norway-plus would represent a long-term commitment to pay to benefit from the European Unions regulatory structures while choosing to be outside it. They added that while rejoining EFTA may limit the economic damage it would represent a significant loss of power and influence. Both sides would be entitled to ask, if the past two and a half years of upheaval and tortuous negotiation culminated in a Norway-plus deal, what was the point of all that? Mr Johnson said the arrangement would turn the UK into a nation of lobbyists seeking to influence rules set in Brussels over which it had no say. Norway Plus is a compromise that has broad appeal to the pragmatic middle. It delivers a softish Brexit with a deal that preserves membership of the Single Market and keeps the union of the UK intact. 6/ Nick Boles MP (@NickBoles) December 7, 2018 But Tory ex-minister Nick Boles said: Norway-plus is a compromise that has broad appeal to the pragmatic middle. It delivers a softish Brexit with a deal that preserves membership of the single market and keeps the union of the UK intact. Saeed Noori faces life in prison for the attack A man who deliberately rammed a car into pedestrians in a busy Australian city street injuring 17 people has pleaded guilty to multiple charges including murder. Saeed Noori drove his mothers car into pedestrians on December 21 last year on a pavement in Melbourne, Australias second-largest city. One of his victims, 83-year-old, Antonios Crocaris, later died from his injuries. Noori, 33, pleaded guilty in the Victoria state Supreme Court on Friday to the murder of Crocaris. Noori being arrested after the attack He now faces a potential life sentence. The attack happened when he drove his mothers SUV into pedestrians at a major Melbourne intersection. It was alleged that he shouted Allahu Akbar after the attack. Police also found images of car attacks on his computer, including those in London and Barcelona, and police said he had a certain degree of radicalisation. However, politicians said he was not linked to any extremist groups. Nooris lawyers said he suffered from schrizophenia and had not slept, nor eaten for days before the attack. Noori was arrested immediately after the attack Noori was born in Afghanistan but was an Australian citizen by the time of the attack after coming to the country as a refugee in 2004. He also pleaded guilty to 11 counts of recklessly causing serious injury, which carries a potential maximum of 15 years in prison. Noori faces life in prison (AFP) In addition, he pleaded guilty to five counts of conduct endangering life, which carries a potential 10 years in prison. He will return to court for sentencing in February. A month ago in Melbourne, a man was shot dead after stabbing three people, killing one, in a suspected terror attack. Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UK A powerful earthquake that struck in the southern Pacific Ocean on Wednesday sent jitters around the region after authorities warned of possible tsunamis A powerful magnitude 7.5 earthquake has prompted a tsunami threat warning for tiny islands in the south Pacific Ocean. After the quake shook near New Caledonia, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said tsunami waves of between 3ft and 10ft were possible along some coasts of New Caledonia and Vanuatu. Meanwhile, waves of up to 3ft were possible in Fiji. The quake struck about 104 miles east of Tadine in New Caledonia at a shallow depth of six miles, according to the US Geological Survey. Earthquakes are generally more destructive when the epicentre is near the surface. At least five aftershocks also hit, ranging in magnitude from 5.6 to 6.0, prompting nearby buildings to be evacuated. A 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck near New Caledonia (PA) New Caledonia is situated on the Pacific Ring of Fire, which is an arc of seismic faults around the Pacific Ocean where the majority of the worlds earthquakes and volcanic activity occur. Dan McGarry, the media director at the Vanuatu Daily Post, said he heard only of three small wave surges hitting the southern island of Aneityum. Mr McGarry said he felt the quake where he is based in Vanuatus capital, Port Vila, as a mild shaking. We get a lot of earthquakes every year, he said. The tsunami warning was what was different this time, though. He said the waves travelled only a couple of meters beyond the normal tidal waves, and that everybody was fine on the island. The warning centre said there was no threat to Hawaii. Turkey's Defence Minister Hulusi Akar and Italy's Defence Minister Elisabetta Trenta pose for a family photo during a NATO defence ministers meeting at the Alliance headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, October 3, 2018. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar told U.S. Syria envoy Jim Jeffrey that the United States should give up on building observation posts in Syria, state-owned Anadolu news agency said on Friday. The United States is setting up "observation posts" along parts of the border between Turkey and Syria to help keep the focus on defeating Islamic State militants in Syria, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said last month. Turkey has expressed unease with the plans and has been angry at U.S. support for the YPG, which is a main ally in the fight against Islamic State militants. Jeffrey is in Turkey for a meeting of the Turkey-U.S. working group on Syria. (Reporting by Ali Kucukgocmen; Editing by Ece Toksabay) Although UN-brokered peace talks this week between the disputed territory of Western Sahara and Morocco have been hailed as an important development in dealing with the conflict, a watchdog group on ... EU trade deals with Morocco, which will be voted upon on Monday, have been marred by the reported bias by the French MEP head of committee. As long as Morocco is scoring political points and can attract the EU in dealing with EU products, its useless to conduct peace talks with Morocco, says Erik Hagen, the Executive Director of Western Sahara Resource Watch (WSRW), a watchdog umbrella organization that looks into companies working in Western Sahara. Hagen was referring to approval late last month by the EU Competitiveness Council for the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement (SFPA) between Morocco and the EU that applies to fishing in the waters off the coast of Western Sahara. Western Sahara is the worlds largest disputed territory, which has been occupied by Morocco since 1975. SFPA approval Western Sahara fought Morocco until a UN-brokered cease-fire in 1991 when a referendum for independence was proposed. No referendum has ever been held. The SFPA approval by the EU ministers goes against the 2016 legal opinion of the European Court of Justice which states that Western Sahara is not part of the Moroccan territory, so EU-Moroccan trade agreements should not apply to the disputed territory. The Frente Polisario, the self-appointed Western Sahara government-in-exile, issued a statement on Thursday about the UN-brokered talks, the first since 2012, but pointed out that the EU is undermining the UN peace process by continuing to sign off on trade agreements with Morocco. We are therefore deeply concerned by the EU Commissions sustained, illegal and uncompromising efforts to secure trade deals with Morocco which include the territory of Western Sahara in violation of the rulings of the European Court of Justice, the Polisario said in a statement. Story continues Such an approach, which clearly preempts and undermines the outcome of negotiations, defies logic, it added. French MEP's input Next Monday, the EU International Trade (INTA) Committee will vote on EU trade deals with Morocco, which include fishing permits, phosphate and other mineral extraction, along with goods such as tomatoes. The vote will be based on a report written by French MEP Patricia Lalonde, the rapporteur and head of the committee. Lalonde led the two-day fact-finding mission to the Western Sahara in September 2018. According to analysis and interviews on the ground conducted by watchdog WSRW, nearly 80 percent of [Lalondes] programme has been spent on meeting Moroccan interlocutors or with actors that have a direct (economic or political) interest "Nearly 80 percent of [Lalondes] programme has been spent on meeting Moroccan interlocutors or with actors that have a direct (economic or political) interest. Only 20 percent of the interlocutors could be suspected to potentially having opposing views and they are granted but 9 percent of the mission report. A meager result for a fact-finding mission. French MEP plays a role in upcoming vote next week Another investigation was carried out by independent EU news website, EUobserver, which found that Lalonde was a board member of EuroMedA Foundation, which also boasts former Moroccan ministers and politicians in its membership. The foundation is not listed as a lobby group with the EU. Lalonde is currently under investigation for a possible code of conduct breach after stepping down from the foundation. Green Party parliamentarians have protested the upcoming vote on Monday in reaction to the investigation. EU parliament Vice President, Heidi Hautala, a Finnish Green MEP, said on Thursday that she will be boycotting the vote and suspend work on the trade agreement. A number of members of her party and the European Free Alliance party will do the same. Southeastern chain Shoe Station announced today on its e-commerce site, www.shoestation.com, and social media platforms that it invites Virginia College students and staff to apply for retail positions in its 21 stores. Virginia College, one of the nation's largest operators of for-profit colleges, permanently closed earlier this week with little notice, drawing national attention. Virginia College's closure affected many in the five states where Shoe Station has large locations. "We welcome the hard-working and motivated former students and staff of Virginia College to join our retail teams in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Florida, and Mississippi this holiday season." Shoe Station anticipates continued sales growth due to its new locations and e-commerce site upgrade. Shoe Station in Midtown Mobile, Alabama especially welcomes talent as it moves from The Shoppes at Bel Air to a larger, updated space at Springdale Mall the first week of March. The 21,000 square-foot anchor space will employ approximately 45 individuals to provide clients with a large selection of shoes for the entire family. Shoe Station encourages sales and management candidates to email hiring@shoestation.com. In 2019, the chain of open-shelf shoe stores will celebrate its 35th anniversary. "Shoe Station proudly employs more than 500 individuals across the Southeast," Barkin said. "We hope the fine former students and staff of Virginia College will further launch their careers with Shoe Station." The family owned Shoe Station chain is a supporter of United Way of Southwest Alabama, University of South Alabama and Distinguished Young Women. New data released this week shows the University of North Georgia (UNG) had a $620 million economic impact on northeast Georgia during fiscal year 2017. The annual study of the University System of Georgia's (USG) economic impact measures direct and indirect spending that contributes to the university's service region. "This study is a timely reminder of the significant role UNG has in advancing economic growth and prosperity in the areas we serve," President Bonita C. Jacobs said. "The report complements our ongoing work with industry and community partners to increase educational attainment and regional economic development efforts that enhance this region." Most of UNG's $620 million economic impact consists of initial spending by the university for salaries and benefits, operating supplies and expenses, and other budgeted expenditures. Included in UNGs economic impact is $248 million in spending by UNGs nearly 19,000 students, which alone created 3,721 jobs in the study area. On average, for every dollar spent by the university, an additional 52 cents is generated for the region. The study areas for UNG included Banks, Barrow, Clarke, Dawson, Forsyth, Greene, Gwinnett, Habersham, Hall, Jackson, Lumpkin, Morgan, Oconee, Oglethorpe, Union, Walton, and White counties, communities where UNG campuses are located or contiguous communities. The 17 county study areas were defined based on commuting data obtained from the Residence County to Workplace County Flows for Georgia, compiled from U.S. Census Bureau. UNG, which has campuses in Blue Ridge, Cumming, Dahlonega, Gainesville, and Oconee County, also had a regional employment impact of 6,769 jobs in the same period. The employment impact includes on-campus positions and off-campus jobs that exist due to the institution. As a whole, the public colleges and universities that comprised the USG in 2017 had an impact of $16.8 billion on the state. "As we strive to graduate more students, keep college affordable and increase the efficiency in delivering education, it's important to keep in mind that higher education is an investment, and from these numbers it's a smart one," USG Chancellor Steve Wrigley said. "Communities across our state and the state as a whole are benefiting from the economic engine that is the USG and its 26 institutions." The study found Georgia's public university system generated more than 163,000 full- and part-time jobs. Approximately 31 percent of these positions are on campus as USG employees and 69 percent are off-campus positions in the private or public sectors. The report also noted that on average, for each job created on campus, two off-campus jobs exist because of spending related to the institution. To calculate the economic and employment impact for fiscal year 2017, the Selig Center for Economic Growth in the University of Georgia's Terry College of Business, on behalf of the Board of Regents, analyzed data collected between July 1, 2016 and June 30, 2017. For fall 2018, UNG's student enrollment totaled more than 19,722. The full economic impact report is available on the USG web site. Kevin Hart and the Twitterverse have been going through an apparent whirlwind, circa 2009. According to Associated Press (AP), just days after being elected the 2019 Oscar's host, Hart has decided to step down after some controversial, homophobic tweets were discovered, dating between 2009 to 2011. According to New York Times, Hart's tweets were released the same time as his standup comedies. After enduring the backlash regarding his past LGBTQ comments, the famous comedian took to Twitter offering an apology. However, I know you're curious. 'What did Kevin Hart say?' you might ask If anyone knows Kevin's tour from that time period, his tweet comments were from part of his skit. For instance, New York Times reports that Benjamin Lee, an editor with The Guardian, captured some of Hart's tweets via screenshots and shared them on his Twitter page deeming them "unfunny, disrespectful, and inappropriate jokes about the community." The New York Times states one of Kevin's old tweets read: "Yo if my son comes home & trys 2 play with my daughters doll house Im going 2 break it over his head & say n my voice 'stop thats gay' [sic]." Kevin Hart won't apologize for past homophobic remarks, despite ultimatum from the Academy: "I chose to pass on the apology. The reason why I passed is because Ive addressed this several times." https://t.co/VRf35N86P4 pic.twitter.com/GKToBEGjGg Variety (@Variety) December 7, 2018 That's similar to his act from "Seriously Funny," a Kevin Hart tour. Transparently, Benjamin Lee does not follow Kevin Hart's material. You don't find it coincidental that this specific standup was from 2010, around the same time as the tweets? For years, one of his goals has been to, one day, host the Academy Awards. Now, over-sensitivity is going to rob him of his hard work? Mind you, Kevin isn't even the same person he was nearly a decade ago. Discuss this news on Eunomia But, you won't know that if you don't follow his career. If you're someone just looking for a bite on a hot topic not caring if you tarnish an entire career on something that apparently hasn't offended the LGBTQ community until it was brandished in its face like, "You should be appalled!" shouldn't you find better use of your time, than orientation baiting? Kevin Hart's LGBT apology It'd gotten so bad for Kevin that the Academy of Motions Pictures Arts and Sciences issued Hart an ultimatum, according to Associated Press. Without more apologies from Kevin, the organization reportedly mentioned, "we're going to have to move on and find another host." Keep in mind, via Kevin Hart's tweets, he'd already been apologizing all day, attempting to rectify the situation. "I'm sorry that I hurt people...I am evolving and want to continue to do so. My goal is to bring people together not tear us apart," Hart tweets. "I sincerely apologize to the LGBTQ community for my insensitive words from my past." But, you want him to continue apologizing? That's utterly ridiculous. And obviously, AP reports, Hart possibly thought so as well because he chose to step down rather than continue repeatedly addressing the situation. Via Twitter, Hart stepped down as 2019's Oscar's host. I have made the choice to step down from hosting this year's Oscar's....this is because I do not want to be a distraction on a night that should be celebrated by so many amazing talented artists. I sincerely apologize to the LGBTQ community for my insensitive words from my past. Kevin Hart (@KevinHart4real) December 7, 2018 Now, you don't find it possible that someone would hate on Kevin Hart's opportunity? Tuesday, via CNN, the comedian told the source that hosting the Oscars had been a dream of his, that it'd be the "opportunity of a lifetime." Then, on Wednesday, the very next day, Benjamin goes searching for incriminating tweets from Kevin Hart and has to go back as far as 2009 to find them? In the world of Twitter, that's like going back to the 1950's. Even in Kevin Hart's interview with Rolling Stone (2015), he said point-blank: "I wouldnt tell that joke today, because when I said it, the times werent as sensitive as they are now. I think we love to make big deals out of things that arent necessarily big deals, because we can. These things become public spectacles. So why set yourself up for failure?" It's utterly ridiculous, I say again, that Kevin Hart's Oscar's opportunity was snatched from him due to this country's over-sensitivity these days. Good lord, is it ever ridiculous, America. VT Alerts When a situation arises in which the university determines that immediate action is required, a campus-wide VT Alert is issued. VT Alerts allow students, faculty, and staff who subscribe to the system to receive urgent notifications by a phone message, text message, and/or desktop alert. 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Note: As a public service, information will be sent to local media outlets as needed, such as in the case of an authorized closing or delayed opening during inclement weather; however, Virginia Tech is not responsible for inaccurate reporting of information on local media outlets. I hope you share my excitement, and my deep gratitude to the Fralins for their amazing support of what we are doing here, Friedlander said. We stand here on a campus that is a centerpiece for an amazing story of rejuvenation and discovery happening in Roanoke right now. Some 10 years ago this was an aging industrial district. Today, its exactly the type of thriving, knowledge-economy environment that cities all over our nation are striving to develop. As one of the regions largest employers and a one of the nations leading health systems, Carilion Clinic celebrated the Fralin gift to Virginia Tech. This will have a direct and powerful impact on the health of our community, and on health outcomes worldwide, Agee said. It will spark discoveries that will improve the physical health of people in communities near and far, and it will fuel the transformation of Roanokes economy that is positioning our city for such a bright future. Sharon Ramey, a research professor and distinguished research scholar at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute, talked about two studies, including one that suggests participants who received educational interventions in early childhood show positive effects on social decision-making more than four decades later. Meanwhile, Ramey detailed how research institute scientists expect to lead the largest clinical trial ever to test a form of high-intensity rehabilitation for infants who have had strokes by the end of the first month of life. The trial is based on a form of high-intensity intervention invented by research institute scientists that helps children overcome severe brain damage and motor impairments. I only wish you could meet the hundreds, actually thousands, of children and families we have been fortunate enough to study, Ramey said. Not all good ideas prove to be right but rarely do we give up, and often we discover benefits that force us to re-think the human condition and how to promote health, happiness, productivity, and cooperation. Roanoke Mayor Lea talked about how the city has long worked to create new business opportunities and congratulated Fralin, calling him one of Roanokes greatest champions. Whether he is working in Richmond or Washington, D.C., we know he is working to grow and strengthen our community and our economy, Lea said. The city is delighted to support this transition. We are confident that the enhancement of research and education associated with this project will elevate the quality of life in our region and help us all be stronger and healthier. Fralin said helping the community was imperative. When Horace developed terminal cancer, we had a serious conversation about the administration of the trust, Fralin said. He told me that when making gifts, he wanted to consider two things. First, he wanted gifts to make a significant difference. Second, he wanted the gift to benefit the majority of the citizens of the Roanoke Valley. This gift to the Virginia Tech Foundation fits both charges. The Five Eyes intelligence network, comprised of the United States, Canada, Britain, Australia and New Zealand, have each warned that national security was at risk because authorities were unable to monitor the communications of suspects. Australia has passed landmark laws that will give security agencies new powers to force tech companies to write them code to help crack encrypted messages, after Labor dropped last-minute amendments and voted with the Morrison government to pass the controversial bill. The encryption backdoor bill guarantees it will stay that way - every Australian-manufactured IT product must henceforth be regarded with suspicion that any features using encryption will be hopelessly compromised, with a backdoor back to Australian intelligence agencies. Australian law enforcement representatives unsurprisingly celebrated the parliamentary approval, with Attorney General Christian Porter saying that the opposition Labour Party had "put the safety of Australians above political point-scoring", after initially opposing the legislation. In the United States, Silicon Valley has so far resisted efforts by USA lawmakers and law enforcement agencies seeking to gain access to the communications of suspects in criminal investigations. Thursday was the last sitting day for the Australian parliament this year. When the Federal Bureau of Investigation asked Apple in 2015 to unlock the phone of one of the shooters in the San Bernardino attack, Apple declined, citing the threat of such a back door. Critics fear the vote sets a risky precedent. Opponents argue it will weaken Australians' online security and privacy. The Digital Industry Group Inc (DIGI), whose members include Facebook, Apple, Google, Amazon and Twitter, said in a statement that the Australian legislation was "out of step" with other countries that had strong national security concerns. While the government claims that it won't be requesting any tech companies to build "systemic weaknesses" into their products (i.e. backdoors), there may be little alternative when it comes to encryption, and the terminology used in the bill has been hotly debated. They say that both initiatives do not necessarily have to contradict each other. Particularly after the surveillance revelations of NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, tech firms such as Apple, Google and Facebook have been encrypting more and more devices and apps, in order to convince users that they can communicate safely over them. The bill provides for fines of up to A$10 million (US$7.2 million) for institutions and prison terms for individuals for failing to hand over data linked to suspected illegal activities. Earlier in the week, the bill, with some amendments, appeared to have enough support to be passed. John Perry at the LRB: In her new book, The Long Honduran Night, Dana Frank asks whether Honduras should now be called a failed state. She argues that it shouldnt, as it works perfectly for those who control it: landowners, drug traffickers, oligarchs and transnational corporations, the US-funded military and corrupt public officials. The Trump administration has seen Hernandez as an ally in their project of restoring US influence in Latin America, promoting transnational capitalism and widening the reach of the US military. But Hernandez has earned Trumps displeasure for failing to stop the migrant caravan, mainly of Hondurans, that has now arrived at the US border. Trump threatened to punish Hernandez by cancelling all aid, even though the pressures on people to migrate are a result of the policies the US has encouraged Honduras to pursue. Hernandez seemed nonplussed, closing a border post to migrants days after theyd left, and persecuting anyone still in Honduras who could be blamed for the exodus. Desperate to regain his credentials with Washington, he even told Mike Pence that Venezuela had financed the caravan. more here. Anjan Basu in The Wire: As a scientist, Chomsky always locates the question of rational choice at the centre of any debate about issues of real public interest. That is not to say, though, that he is concerned with rationality alone. Far from it, in fact. Chomsky has written extensively about how a rational debate can be so constructed as to completely undermine indeed, subvert the irreducible moral values implicit in a choice. With withering scorn, he wrote in his 1969 classic, American Power and the New Mandarins, about well-known American liberals who managed to successfully mask the immorality of the war on Vietnam, projecting the debate around the war as primarily one about the proportionality of its costs to its likely outcome. In a talk given at Harvard in June, 1966 in the course of the anti-war protests later published as the celebrated essay The Responsibility of Intellectuals Chomsky argues that Americans can hardly avoid asking (themselves) to what extent the American people bear responsibility for the savage American assault on a largely helpless rural population in Vietnam. More here. Ben Ehrenreich in The Guardian: There has been nothing so dramatic as a war in the Gaza Strip since 2014, but the Israeli military has nonetheless killed more than 200 Palestinians there this year. On a single Friday in March, snipers took the lives of 52 protesters. Most weeks, the casualties dribble in more slowly: two or three or seven are shot while demonstrating along the fence that confines them; or, unsuspecting, they are blown apart by missiles fired from drones and F16s. Only when the toll is particularly high, or an unusual proportion of the dead are children, do the international media take notice. Then there is the siege that Israel has imposed on the territory since Hamas took power in 2007 and the many deaths that this has more obliquely caused along with the shortages of nearly all goods necessary for survival, regular power outages and lack of drinking water. Most Gazans are unable to travel even for emergency medical care outside the narrow boundaries of the Strip, generating a sense of suffocation and despair. You may have skimmed an article reporting that the UN predicted, in 2015, that the privations of the siege could render Gaza uninhabitable by 2020, which is no longer far away. Depending on your political orientation, you may choose to focus on Hamass failures of governance and fundamentalist rigidities, on rockets fired into Israel, on terror kites and terror tunnels. Taken together, this is the worlds image of Gaza: a place of violence, hopelessness, extremism and death. It is not inaccurate, but it is profoundly incomplete. Asmaa al-Ghoul, who was born in the Rafah refugee camp at the southern end of the Strip, writes with clarity and tenderness of these realities and others that are less widely reported. Despite it all, she insists: People continued to laugh in Gaza. Her own laughter bubbles through the pages of A Rebel in Gaza: a stubborn, defiant joy in living, as keen as her rage or her grief. Ghoul, who has travelled widely and lived abroad, understands why so many of her friends have chosen to emigrate, but the cities of the west, oozing with indifference, hold little attraction for her. Her Gaza is a place of suffering but also of magic, as if its isolation and its privations bring the humanity of its inhabitants into sharper relief. Life in Gaza has a strength that makes you feel that death doesnt exist, Ghoul writes. Except in war. More here. Reports from earlier this year indicate Mossack Fonesca announced it would close in March 2018. Four men have been charged in the USA with fraud and tax evasion in connection with investigations prompted by the leaked Panama Papers. Four men connected to the Panama Papers investigation have been indicted for their roles in allegedly defrauding the U.S. government through worldwide money laundering and wire fraud associated with Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, the Justice Department announced Tuesday. Three of the four have been arrested. Authorities said Owens remained at large Tuesday; the other defendants have been taken into custody. Gaffey of Medfield, Massachusetts (the lone American named) was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit tax evasion, one count of wire fraud, one count of money laundering conspiracy, and four counts of willful failure to file an FBAR (an IRS form required for high-value foreign accounts). Three of the four - Richard Gaffey of Massachusetts, Dirk Brauer of Germany, and Harald Joachim Von Der Goltz of Germany - have already been arrested. The investigation comes from more than 11.5 million leaked documents on the law firm that helped some of the world's wealthiest people hide their riches. Messages to an attorney for Gaffey weren't immediately returned and it was unclear whether the other two men had attorneys, the AP reported. An attorney for Von Der Goltz told The Associated Press that the indictment is "a desperate attempt to salvage an American case out of the Panama Papers" and said his client will be vindicated at trial. U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman said the defendants "shuffled millions of dollars through off-shore accounts" and had "a playbook to repatriate un-taxed money into the U.S. banking system". Richard Gaffey, an accountant in MA, was arrested Tuesday morning, and Harald Von Der Goltz, a former USA resident now living in London, was arrested Monday. Von Der Goltz, a former U.S. resident and taxpayer, was allegedly a Mossack Fonseca client who concealed tens of millions of dollars by setting up shell companies and bank accounts with Owens and Gaffey, a US-based accountant, according to the indictment. Among those charged was Ramses Owens, a partner at the now-defunct firm who the USA said helped create, market and service shell companies for the firm's wealthy clients. One of those clients was von Der Goltz, an 81-year-old German citizen, according to the indictment. Gaffey and Owens are also accused of helping an unnamed US taxpayer defraud the U.S.by maintaining a series of offshore bank accounts to hide wealth from the Internal Revenue Service. Clients were then advised on how to illegally bring the funds from their offshore accounts into the USA, using specially created debit cards and falsely claiming the money had come from the sale of companies. This past summer, Teresa Secrest left Orange County, Calif., to move into a small beach cottage in Mexico Beach, Fla., that she had inherited from her father. Like many Americans, she considered life on the beach a retirement paradise; even better, the homes mortgage was paid off, so living would be cheap. Secrest, a 58-year-old cancer survivor, tidied up the yard, did some repairs and went to sleep listening to the waves crash on the sugar-white sand 300 feet from her door. Then in October, Hurricane Michael arrived. Secrest evacuated to a place of safety. Days later, she returned to discover the worst: Her home was gone, reduced to a pile of rubble that was still wet from the storm surge. My only plan right now is, how do I clean up my property? Secrest said after viewing the wreckage. Thats step one. Step two is ... I dont really know step two. Secrest doesnt think she will be able to rebuild. She did not have an insurance policy through the federal National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which provides coverage to more than 5 million homeowners, condo associations and businesses. Moroccan authorities announced on Friday the arrest of six operatives of ISIS extremist group who were planning to carry out terrorist acts in the North African Kingdom. Aged between 24 and 37, the members of this jihadist cell were nabbed in the city of Beni Mellal by units of the Central Bureau of Judicial Investigation (Moroccos FBI). Investigators seized in their homes knifes, electronic materials, books and publications praising the extremist ideology of Daesh and inciting violence, says a press release issued by the Interior ministry. The members of the cell of fanatics were engaged in recruiting young people and indoctrinating them with their extremist ideas, inciting them to attack their opponents and carry out terror acts. This anti-terrorist operation shows that jihadist networks continue to target the countrys stability, seeking to undermine its peace and security. Morocco has a comprehensive counterterrorism strategy that includes vigilant security measures, regional and international cooperation, and counter-radicalization policies. Thanks to this strategy, there have been no terrorist attacks on Moroccan soil since 2011. The authorities have placed counterterrorism at the top of priorities following the Casablanca terror attacks in 2003 and the two subsequent attacks of 2007 and 2011. Moroccos counterterrorism efforts mitigated the risk of terrorism, but the country continues to face threats, largely from numerous small, independent violent extremist cells. When enemies not enemies? And why we should be thankful for them? A peaceful solution to the Sahara conflict is possible, said on Thursday Mr. Horst Kohler, the personal envoy of the UN Secretary General for the Sahara at the end of a two-day roundtable held in Geneva. Delegates from Morocco, Algeria, Mauritania and the Polisario took part in this initial meeting, the first of its kind since 2012, convened at the invitation of the UN envoy. Speaking at a press conference, Mr. Kohler (a former German president) said the meeting was first but important step towards a renewed political process on the future of the Sahara. The UN envoy who commended the participating delegations for having engaged openly and in a spirit of mutual respect, he said maintaining the status quo benefits no one. I would like to applaud the delegations for having engaged openly and in a spirit of mutual respectnobody wins from maintaining the status quo, the UN Envoy said, insisting that resolving the conflict lies in the interest of all. The ultimate goal is to create an environment in the region that is conducive to strong economic growth, job creation and better security, explained Mr. Kohler. The delegations to the initial round table on the Moroccan Sahara decided to meet again in the course of the first quarter of 2019, said Mr. Kohler without specifying the date of the second meeting. However, the correspondents of Moroccan e-journal Le360 in Geneva reported that the next meeting would take place at the end of March and / or early April 2019, i.e. one month ahead of the semi-annual meeting of the Security Council on the Sahara, scheduled for late April. In this connection, the UN envoy expressed hope that during the next meeting the process would be guided by a concern for the men and women, the children and youth of the territory. According to Mr. Kohler, all delegations recognized that cooperation and regional integration, not confrontation, were the best way to address the many important challenges the region is facing. The UN Envoy also underlined the significance of the Geneva meeting, saying that the goal of this process is to find a just, lasting and mutually acceptable solution to the Sahara regional conflict. Adopted on 31 October 2018, UN Security Council resolution 2440 calls on the parties to the conflict to engage constructively in Geneva talks and demonstrate political will in order to advance the negotiations to achieve an enduring political solution based on compromise in a manner consistent with the Charter of the United Nations. RIMBO, Sweden Representatives from Yemens warring sides sat in the same room in Sweden on Thursday as U.N.-sponsored peace talks for the war-torn Arab country got underway, aimed at halting a catastrophic three-year civil war. Swedens foreign minister, Margot Wallstrom, opened the talks at a castle in Rimbo, a town north of Stockholm, wishing the Yemen adversaries strength to find compromise and courage as they embark on the difficult task ahead. Now it is up to you, the Yemini parties, she said. You have the command of your future. The U.N. envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths said the coming days were a milestone and urged the parties not to waver let us work in good faith to deliver a message of peace. Griffiths announced the sides have agreed on a prisoner exchange as a first step toward building confidence. He said both sides have signaled they were serious about de-escalating the fighting through calls theyve made in recent weeks, and urged them to work to further reduce the violence in the Arab worlds poorest nation, scene of massive civilians suffering. Im also pleased to announce the signing of an agreement on the exchange of prisoners, detainees, the missing, the forcibly detained and individuals placed under house arrest, Griffiths said. It will allow thousands of families to be reunited, and it is product of very effective, active work from both delegations. U.N. officials, however, have sought to downplay expectations from the talks, saying they dont expect rapid progress toward a political settlement but hope for at least minor steps that would help to address Yemens worsening humanitarian crisis. Both the internationally-recognized government, which is backed by a U.S.-sponsored and Saudi-led coalition, and the Iran-aligned Houthi rebels say they are striving for peace. The Houthi delegation arrived in Stockholm late Tuesday, accompanied by Griffiths. The government delegation and the head of the rebel delegation travelled to Sweden on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the U.N. food agency said Thursday it is planning to rapidly scale up food distribution to help another 4 million people in Yemen over the next two months, more than a 50-percent increase in the number reached now if access can be maintained in the poor, war-stricken country. World Food Programs spokesman Herve Verhoosel said the ambitious undertaking finalizes plans in the works in recent months to reach 12 million people with food and nutritional supplements through January, from between 7-8 million now. The target population includes some 3 million women and children who need special support to prevent malnutrition. Verhoosel said the rollout will require safe, immediate and unimpeded access for food and other vital supplies. ___ Associated Press writers Brian Rohan in Cairo and Jamey Keaten in Geneva contributed to this report. State Police found a man dead inside a Bluewater, NM, home after they say he traded gunshots with Cibola County Sheriffs deputies who were serving a warrant Thursday afternoon, according to New Mexico State Police. NMSP spokesman Mark Soriano said no deputies were injured and it is unclear if the man killed himself or was shot by deputies. He said deputies were approaching the home Thursday afternoon to serve a warrant when they heard a gunshot inside. Soriano said deputies then returned fire and took cover outside the home until NMSP arrived. He said another gunshot was heard from inside the home when NMSP negotiators and tactical teams arrived. Negotiators tried numerous times to make contact, Soriano said. Our tactical teams made entry into the residence and discovered a deceased male subject. He said NMSP is investigating the shooting and did not identify the man who died or give any other details. The Cibola County Sheriff could not be reached for comment. ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. Three U.S. senators want federal officials to publicly release information about the circumstances surrounding the death of a Honduran transgender migrant who was in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Roxsana Hernandez, 33, died in May at an Albuquerque hospital where she was admitted after showing symptoms of pneumonia, dehydration and complications associated with HIV. The New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator confirmed Thursday it has yet to complete an autopsy report. Hernandez arrived in the United States in the spring as part of a highly publicized caravan of Central American asylum seekers. Her death sparked protests, with immigrant and LGBTQ advocates saying her case underscores concerns that transgender migrants in detention facilities often do not receive adequate medical care. Sens. Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich, both of New Mexico, and Sen. Kamala Harris of California sent a letter this week to top officials with ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The three Democrats contend that federal officials are responsible for publishing an initial report within 30 days when someone dies while in custody and that a final report is due within two months. It has been over 180 days since Ms. Hernandez was pronounced dead and no such report has been publicly released, their letter states. ICEs failure to release this report diminishes the systemic, traumatic, and in this case fatal, violence that transgender individuals experience daily as a result of their gender identity. Federal officials have said previously they were awaiting the results of the state autopsy. The senators also requested documentation on the training that officers, agents and contractors undergo related to the processing, care and safety of transgender detainees. The request comes after an attorney representing Hernandezs family threatened to sue over claims she did not receive adequate medical care and was physically abused. Immigration authorities have maintained that Hernandez wasnt abused while in their custody. After arriving in the United States, Hernandez was taken into custody in San Diego and later transferred to El Paso, Texas, before being taken to the Cibola County Detention Center in western New Mexico. She was housed at the centers transgender unit for a day before being admitted to a local hospital. She was then transferred to the Albuquerque hospital, where she died several days later. Federal officials announced Hernandezs death May 25 , saying she was the sixth detainee to die in custody since Oct. 1, 2017. According to immigration authorities, Hernandez twice illegally entered the United States between 2005 and 2009. She was allowed to return to Mexico each time because she claimed Mexican nationality when encountered by immigration officials. In 2006 and 2009, she was convicted of theft, prostitution and other charges in two separate cases in Texas. In 2014, Hernandez illegally re-entered the U.S. a third time, was arrested and removed. Just because the U.S. and China have agreed to call a truce in their trade war doesnt mean that its over: This was a classic exercise in can-kicking. Nonetheless, most cans have quite a few kicks in them, and overall this is good news for the global economy. Instead of sweeping everything under the rug, as was the case before Donald Trump took office, America and China have found a new way of addressing conflict by talking openly. Lets consider the announcement itself. The U.S. has pledged to postpone raising tariffs to 25 percent on $200 billion of Chinese goods. China in turn has pledged to buy more U.S. goods, and the two countries have 90 days to reach a broader trade agreement, which is supposed to cover forced technology transfer and cyberattacks, in addition to typical trade issues. Thats not enough time to allow the bureaucracies to work out the relevant details, but extensions can and probably will be granted. The symbolic elements of the deal are at least as important. First, China has acknowledged that exports of fentanyl, a highly addictive synthetic drug, are a very real problem for the U.S., and has pledged to ban them. In addition to the benefits of the ban itself, simply getting China used to the idea of accepting blame for anything counts as a step forward. Its a sign that China will start conducting its diplomacy less defensively and more like a normal member of the global community. Another symbolically important detail: White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, a trade hawk, attended the meetings and participated in the process. Maybe hes unhappy with the temporary deal, but still this is a sign that Navarro and a Chinese trade agreement even if only a can-kicking one can coexist. If Trump sees this deal as beneficial to him politically, Navarros protectionist influence may be reduced. Perhaps most important, both the Chinese government and public opinion are not in a downward-spiraling, negative dynamic. Im fully aware that giving China points for not getting worse is not the best way to keep score. Still, the Trump administration has managed to send China a real warning on trade, more than it received under previous U.S. administrations, without destroying relations. That too has to count as a victory. Some observers have pointed out that the American and Chinese summaries of the deal offer somewhat different emphases. I see that as a feature of the deal rather than a bug, and one that is hardly uncommon for can-kicking arrangements. Each side can present this agreement to domestic interest groups in a way that will shore up political support. The relevant alternatives on the table, most of all an escalation of trade tensions, were far worse. So what is the most likely outcome from here? The basic problem with any U.S.-China trade conflict is that there is not very much the Chinese are interested in offering, and their intransigence is more than just a bargaining stance. They are willing to buy more American soybeans and manufactured goods (and probably wish to, anyway) and they might give U.S. financial institutions freer rein within China. But they wont dismantle their system of state-owned enterprises, as those companies are among Chinas most powerful special interest groups. Nor will China give the major U.S. tech companies free rein in China, if only for reasons of national security and Chinas desire to build a surveillance state based on data controlled by China. Overall, the grievances on the U.S. side are significant and the possible concessions on the Chinese side are minor. So the most likely outcome is only modest progress in difficult negotiations. Its also likely that the power and focus of the Trump administration will wane as it deals with investigations from the new Democratic-controlled House of Representatives. It might be said that the trade war you now see is the trade war you are going to get. Foreign relations gridlock will set in. Nonetheless, its not quite fair to describe the trade war with China as a problem that Trump started and then pretended to solve. The reality is that hostility toward Chinese trade practices has been building for some time. Anti-China measures have long commanded bipartisan support, not only in Washington, but also among corporate leaders, who see themselves as victims of unfair Chinese trade practices and espionage. This is an issue that predates Trump and he deserves some credit for doing something to help solve it. Tyler Cowen is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. He is a professor of economics at George Mason University and writes for the blog Marginal Revolution. His books include The Complacent Class: The Self-Defeating Quest for the American Dream. Serving the community is not just something Nusenda Credit Union does when working with its members at the counter or through its many financial services. No, it means giving back to the community in any number of ways via monetary donations to different organizations, through cooperative efforts with like-minded community organizations and, even more importantly, through grassroots efforts by employees to help charitable organizations with hands-on aid. Because we were born out of this community, we highlight the connection to the community, said Robin Brule, Nusendas senior vice president community relations/assistant to the president. One of the things we believe is we do well so we can do good. Its that commitment to the communities in which its members live and work that earned Nusenda selection as the 2018 Philanthropist of the Year by the Journal North and the St. Vincent Hospital Foundation. For us, its very humbling and its a true honor because we work very hard to build partnerships and collaborations where our members live and work, Brule said. We want people to know that we take the needs of each community very seriously. Although there are common needs across New Mexico, each city and community has things there that they are prioritizing and trying to work on. Nusenda has been particularly proud of its work with the Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center. We helped them specifically to expand their intensive care and critical care unit to increase capacity, Brule said. And we helped in the effort to upgrade the hospital to a Level II trauma center. Both of these particular efforts were financial in nature, she said. We want our philanthropic efforts to support their priority areas, ones that serve the community, she said. When they come to us with a list of items that theyre working on and what they need, we try to be as responsive as possible to make sure that were delivering what they need, and thats truly collaboration. And were not saying how they use our money. Were asking how we can best serve the members of our community. But Nusenda does far more than simply throw cash at problems. We work specifically with the school system, Santa Fe Public Schools and Santa Fe Community College, Brule said. We partner with the Santa Fe Community Foundation on different types of initiatives that are collaborative in nature. We look to optimize programs that have an impact. Nusenda also works with La Familia community health center in Santa Fe, helping the uninsured and the underinsured to improve their medical coverage, and with United Way of Santa Fe County, which is focused on expanding early childhood learning to reach more children and families. With SFPS, Nusenda offers a free summer school program designed to help students catch up on their credits, as well providing important life skills in terms of finances and credit. Enrolled students receive a comprehensive student guide/workbook at no charge and those who successfully complete the course receive half of an elective credit towards their graduation goals, Brule said. This past summer, classes were offered at Santa Fe and Capital high schools, serving 40 students. Nusenda provided the money for teachers and supplies. Nusenda has since expanded the partnership with SFPS to incorporate the Financial Capability Curriculum into a semester-long elective algebra class, Brule said, including providing 350 curriculum books and support for the teachers. About 350 SFPS students will benefit from this free math class over the course of the 2018-19 school year. Nusenda offers an elective Summer School credit to students in APS Schools, Santa Fe Public Schools and Bernalillo Public Schools. The big point for us is always trying to make sure people know we cant do our work if were not keeping our members in mind, she said. The bottom line for us is we want the community to know that we dont take a cookie-cutter approach. Were a co-op, so we believe in collaboration. The collaboration is a great model to how we work together to create a bigger impact and meet the needs of the people in the community. NUSENDA CREDIT UNION Asset size: $2.1 billion Membership: About 190,000Employment: Almost 500 employees serve in 19 branches from Socorro to Taos. The good news from city officials is that lodgers tax revenue in Santa Fe continues to outpace totals in previous years, thanks in part to a good economy and the money the city is now collecting from short-term rental units. The bad news is the city could be doing even better. I still think theres another couple of hundred thousand dollars that were not collecting in short-term rentals, Randy Randall, executive director of Tourism Santa Fe, said during an Occupancy Tax Advisory Board meeting last week. Randalls comment came after he delivered what was otherwise a glowing recap of lodgers tax revenues from the month of September, the most recent data available. The report shows the city collected $1.11 million in lodgers tax revenue that month, up a tidy $78,400 from September 2017. A little more than $160,000 of the total roughly 10 percent came from short-term rentals. That amount was up about $28,000 over September of last year, even as some residents continue to fight the proliferation of short-term rentals in Santa Fe. Were up 9 percent year-to-date, Randall said of the lodgers tax revenue, which according to Randalls schedule for a budget year reflects whats been collected since June 1. I did a quick calculation the other day and if we just continue to see a 5 percent increase in hotel lodgers tax collections and about a 10 percent increase in short-term rental collections, we will exceed last years result of $11,489,000 by just shy of a million dollars. The lodgers tax is 7 percent thats $14 dollars on a room that costs $200 a night. With lodgers tax revenue from hotels and motels also running ahead of last years pace, the city collected $5.26 million from lodgers taxes from June through September, the height of the tourist season. Thats up more than $460,000 over the same four months of last year. And thats despite a good, but not great, July, during which the National Governors Associations summer meeting was held in Santa Fe. Value for the city Critics complained the city would be hurt by hosting the NGA meeting at a time of year when hotels in Santa Fe would be full anyway. While the $1.33 million of lodgers tax revenue from July was $58,000 better than July last year, it was a much lower increase than what was collected in the other three summer months and was sandwiched by collections of $142,675 in June and $152,295 in August. The governors convention itself probably didnt generate a lot of extra revenue for us because it was a Thursday, Friday, Saturday event when were going to be full anyway, Randall said. And the rate they paid, if anything, in some of our better hotels was a little below what it might have been had they sold (rooms) to individuals. But what it did do was give us national exposure. Thats the value for the city and to the state as a whole. Looking at the data, Randall said the hotels on Cerrillos Road fared better during the NGA event. A lot of the support for the convention stayed on Cerrillos Road and they run a lower occupancy than the downtown properties during the summertime. While they might have been filled on Friday and Saturday anyway, they may have picked up one, two or three extra nights from police and support that came in early and stayed late, he said. July, however, was the best of the four months in short-term rental revenue from lodgers tax, taking in $179,265. The four-month run continues a general upward trend in short-term rental revenues that has occurred over the years. He said a strong economy coming out of the Great Recession and effective marketing campaigns by the city have contributed to the trend. More permits issued The revenue generated from short-term rentals has consistently contributed to gains in revenue from the lodgers tax in recent years. The final numbers from 2017-18 show it has more than tripled since 2015-16, jumping from $529,000 to $1.61 million. That can largely be attributed to two things that happened two years ago: an increase in the number of short-term rental permits the city issued and an agreement to collect lodgers tax by Airbnb. The City Council kicked off 2016 by nearly tripling the number of short-term rentals that could legally operate in the city. At a time when the city was facing a $15 million deficit, the council took action to increase the number of short-term rental permits from 350 to 1,000. Actually, the skys the limit. Language in the legislation allows the city to issue more than 1,000 permits whenever demand for short-term rental units exceeds the number permitted, though an increase would require City Council approval after a public hearing. Not only was increasing the limit an effort to help close the budget gap, but also it opened the door for hundreds of rental units that had been operating illegally to fall in compliance. Now, there are 812 short-term rental units registered with the city and another 41 in the process of getting registered, Land Use Director Carol Johnson said. The city used to have a contract with a vendor to monitor websites in order to identify illegally operating short-term rentals, but the contract expired about a year ago. She said the city is in the process of issuing a request for proposals seeking a new vendor. Cities have been most effective when they have the information pulled from the web, she said in an emailed response to questions. The selected vendor will provide them with the contact information the department needs to enforce regulations, she said. Another issue that has plagued the department in the past was a lack of resources to dedicate to enforcement of the tax requirement for short-term rentals and the requirement to get a permit. A few years ago, just one person was in charge of enforcement. We currently have four field personnel, but lack the administrative and legal support to process cases and see better compliance. Organizational changes are in the works to address this, said Johnson, who has only been on board since June. Some pay, some dont A few months after the City Council increased the limit on short-term permits, the city announced it had reached an agreement with Airbnb for the vacation rental service to start collecting lodgers tax from hosts and remit the revenue to the city. Randall said in an interview after last weeks Occupancy Tax Advisory Board meeting that nearly half of the $160,000 collected in lodgers taxes from short-term rentals this September came from Airbnb. The other half came from property companies that rent short-term units, such as Kokopelli Properties and Santa Fe Property Management. Other companies offering short-term rental stays, such as FlipKey, VRBO and Craigslist, and anyone who has made a side business out of renting out properties outside the citys permitted short-term rental program, likely dont pay the city anything by way of lodgers tax. Nine years ago, there were 150 Airbnb units offered in Santa Fe, Randall said. Last year, there were 1,200 and thats just Airbnb. Theres got to be 2,000 units out there. And its not just lodgers tax that the city is missing out on, he said. Santa Fes hotels and motels pay the city gross receipts tax, as well as the lodgers tax, and so do property management companies. But not Airbnb. The GRT, similar to a sales tax, in Santa Fe is 8.4375 percent on the price of most goods and services (with the revenue divided among the city, county and state). Santa Fe has an agreement with Airbnb for lodgers tax because Airbnb will make agreements with the entity that collects the funds. The state collects GRT, Randall said. So what we dont know is how many people in the short-term rental business are paying gross receipts tax. But what we do know is that, beyond Airbnb, the other organizations that represent multiple rentals here in Santa Fe are paying gross receipts taxes. A balancing act The limit on issuing permits for short-term rentals was originally designed to help keep a supply of housing for people who arent just visitors, but who live and work in the city. But partly because so many people were violating the law and not permitting their rentals, limiting permits hasnt worked. Recent studies have shown that Santa Fe has a housing supply gap in the thousands. Short-term rentals reduce housing stock for residents and are considered a factor in driving up home prices. Many advocates also decry the loss of the feel of having real neighbors as Airbnb and other short-term rentals proliferate. At last weeks Occupancy Tax Advisory Board meeting, board member Jon Hendry ranted against the impact that short-term rentals has had on the citys housing market. They should stay in a hotel because the hotel pays a wage and doesnt hire people who dont have papers for six or seven months in order to clean their house, he said of visitors to Santa Fe. Im sick of it when people say this is how were going to solve these problems in Santa Fe, by taking money from short-term marketers. The short-term marketers in residential areas are the problem in Santa Fe. Hendry said the city ought to be treating short-term rental operators like commercial businesses. The first thing we need to do is make these people subject to GRT, he said. And the second thing the city needs to do is to say, Youre running a commercial enterprise and you need to start paying commercial prices for the services the city is providing. He also complained about renters taking up parking spots in residential neighborhoods and their contributions to the sewer system. Land Use Director Johnson, who previously worked for Maricopa County in Arizona and for the city of Berkeley, Calif., was asked how the short-term rental situation in Santa Fe differs from other places shes worked. The state of Arizona has passed legislation legalizing short-term rentals and limiting the extent to which municipalities may regulate them. So the situation is very different in Phoenix than either Santa Fe or Berkeley, she said. In Berkeley, legislation addressing short-term rentals was adopted just before she left. It was a similar situation to Santa Fe in that community members were concerned that accessory dwelling units which might otherwise be available for long-term housing were being used for short-term rentals, she said. On the other side of the equation, people testified that having a short-term rental was the only way they could cover their mortgage in such a high-cost housing market, and absent that option they would be forced to leave the area. It was a difficult issue to balance, she said. In the end, the Berkeley City Council voted to prohibit short-term rentals of accessory dwelling units, but they were allowed for accessory buildings that had a bathroom, but no kitchen. They also restricted the number of short-term rental days for those properties where the owner did not live on site, she said. Similar conversations are happening in Santa Fe about the relation between accessory dwelling units and short-term rentals. Once we have our vendor in place to monitor the actual number of active short-term rentals, we will have access to the data needed to factually address this issue. By the numbers City of Santa Fe lodgers tax revenues, June to September 2018: $5.26 million 2017: $4.80 million 2016: Not available 2015: $4.32 million By the end of the weekend, just about everyone across New Mexico will have experienced several different types of weather rain, freezing rain, fog, sleet and snow, National Weather Service meteorologists say. A storm system arriving from Southern California interacting with a cold front entering eastern New Mexico will produce a wide variety of winter weather today through Saturday, ranging from snow and rain across western New Mexico to a more wintry mix with freezing rain and ice pellets likely for the southeast portion of the state. A chance of rain is in the Albuquerque metro forecast today, with high temperatures reaching only the mid-40s. A reinforcing shot of cold air tonight could turn precipitation over to snow in north and central New Mexico, including the metro area, where temperatures will drop to around freezing. And that could cause some traffic difficulties, said Sharon Sullivan, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Albuquerque. Friday night, were expecting a low of 32 degrees right on the border between rain and snow, Sullivan said. Drivers should be cautious. Valley rain showers and mountain snow are expected over central and western New Mexico today and tonight. Several inches of snow are possible in the higher terrain, especially above 7,500 feet. Freezing drizzle and freezing fog along the east slopes of the central mountain chain early this morning will develop into a more widespread area of freezing rain across eastern New Mexico through late morning. A transition back over to rain is expected as temperatures warm. However, if cold air does not retreat from the eastern plains, then freezing rain will persist through the day, with significant icing possible. Significant snowfall accumulations are possible across the east central and southeast plains of New Mexico through Saturday morning. A winter storm watch is in effect for portions of southeastern New Mexico from 6 a.m. today through noon Saturday. The system could significantly affect travel in parts of east-central and southeast New Mexico, including the Interstate 40 and U.S. 70/285 corridors. Isolated power failures are possible in east central and southeast New Mexico, especially if freezing rain accumulations approach a quarter-inch. Locally, hazardous travel conditions are possible across western New Mexico, particularly in the higher terrain and near the continental divide. Residents should continue to monitor weather forecasts in case of changing conditions. Snow will likely end over New Mexico on Saturday afternoon, followed by cold temperatures Saturday night through Monday. SANTA FE A municipal employee compensation study commissioned by Santa Fe city government arrived at three key findings: the city has too many job classifications; while pay overall is close to that in peer cities, some employees lag behind; and pay ranges are too disparate across different jobs. The study also says that itll take $1.5 million to get the salaries of employees currently being paid below market value in line with recommendation minimum salaries. Mayor Alan Webber said thats the cost of good government. It is about producing results and creating a government capability that really delivers hires great people, develops them, pays them, produces great results, he said during a press briefing at the Santa Fe Community Convention Center on Thursday. The city has already spent $240,000 on the study, conducted by Springsted Inc. of St. Paul, Minn. And Webber doesnt want to see the money go to waste. Two similar studies conducted since 2006 were shelved, he said. We should be clear, the purpose of this study is not to do a study; the purpose of the study is to professionalize and improve management of city government, he said. In order to make that happen, the City Council will have to agree to allocate the $1.5 million in the next city budget and approve a reclassification plan. And, the city will have to come to terms with the unions representing affected city workers. Basically what this would mean is we would have to sit down at the table with them because it would require some changes to the current structure, said Bernadette Salazar, the citys human resources director. And, of course, for any salary adjustment we would have to come to the table with them, as well. Michelle Gutierrez, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3999, which represents many of the citys 1,400 employees, said in a phone interview Thursday she had not yet seen the report and couldnt comment on it. She said she has a meeting scheduled with Salazar today. I see it as a positive step. I wont really know until I review everything, but Id like to be optimistic and positive for our members. Of the $1.5 million, more than $831,000 would be allocated to AFSCME employees. Another $276,000 would be designated for union-represented police officers and $420,000 would be distributed to non-union employees. Fire department employees should not expect to see any upward salary adjustments because none of them fall under the minimum pay range for the recommended salary structure, Salazar said. Morocco has committed to contribute to the Priority Investment Program of the regional G5-Sahel group, which held Thursday a Coordination Conference of Partners and Donors in Nouakchott. Head of the Government Saad Eddine El Othmani who led the Moroccan delegation to the conference outlined the broad lines of Moroccos contribution to the group, mustering Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Chad. It aims to ensure security and contribute to the development of the region. He said in this connection that in accordance with its Africa-oriented strategy and its traditional support for South-South cooperation, spearheaded by King Mohammed VI, the kingdom will assist the G5 Sahel countries in several areas, including the fight against desertification, the promotion of farming, the management of water, the upgrading of vocational training and health services. He added that the Moroccan Agency for Sustainable Energy (MASEN) will participate in carrying out electrification projects in border rural zones, planned under the first phase of the G5-Sahel Priority Investment Program (PIP) covering the 2019-2021 period. El Othmani noted that MASEN is also party to a partnership agreement concluded with the African Development Bank within the framework of the Desert to Power program, meant to transform countries in the Sahel region by accelerating their access to energy through solar power. The Moroccan agency will thus share with G5 Sahel countries its know-how and provide them with technical assistance to implement integrated renewable energy projects. Another Moroccan agency, the Moroccan Agency for Energy Efficiency (AMEE), will conduct technical studies on the rural electrification projects in border zones and extend assistance to local operators. Other measures of support to the G5- Sahel will be announced later by the Moroccan government, he said. The Coordination Conference ended on a positive note as the groups partners and donors pledged an overall amount of 2.4 billion, which represents 127% of the financing needs expressed by the G5-Sahel. The commitments announced are intended to finance the Priority Investment Program, a portfolio of 40 projects, focusing on security, resilience, governance and infrastructure, and covering the period 2019-2021. The PIP needs 1.9 billion for its implementation. On the sidelines of his participation in the Coordination Conference, El Othmani conferred with the Mauritanian Prime Minister Mohmed Salem Ould El Bechir on means to give a new impetus to cooperation between the two countries. El Otmani who described these talks as very important said Morocco attaches great importance to its cooperative relations with Mauritania. He said talks also covered preparations for the holding of the High Joint Moroccan-Mauritanian Commission in 2019. SANTA FE Another one of Gary Gregors alleged victims on Thursday gave jurors graphic descriptions of the sexual abuse Gregor is accused of inflicting on his fourth-grade students a decade ago. During the ex-teachers criminal trial in District Court, the alleged victim now a young woman told of Gregor assaulting her in a closet, under his classroom desk and while she sat next to him. Gregor, 62, is facing a total of 13 counts of criminal sexual penetration of a minor, criminal sexual contact of a minor and kidnapping with intent to commit a sexual offense for allegedly sexually assaulting two female students when he was their fourth grade teacher at Fairview Elementary in Espanola during the 2007-08 school year. This is the first of four trials Gregor is expected to undergo for similar crimes against female students in Santa Fe and Espanola. The Espanola school district has already paid a total $9.2 million to female students who filed civil suits for Gregors alleged abuse. The woman who testified Thursday, who is serving time in Mississippi on a felony conviction, said Gregor would ask her to wear a skirt to school and would get upset with her if she didnt comply the next day. As punishment, she said he would have her sit at the student council table, where she and another former student who testified Tuesday said Gregor would sit next to them and touch their private areas. She also described one time when Gregor asked her to go under his desk with him during what she recalls as active shooter training. He got my hand and put it on his penis and rubbed himself with it, said the woman, now 20. I started feeling scared. I knew it was wrong. It didnt feel right. There was another time when she went under his desk with Gregor and he kissed her, she said. The woman said she went to school Principal Ruby Montoya twice, once with the other alleged victim in this case and once by herself. She didnt tell Montoya that Gregor was touching her the first time at the principals office and instead just requested to be moved to a different class. But she says she went another time and told Montoya that Gregor was touching her thigh. After the second conversation I did tell her that he was touching me, but she didnt do anything about it, the woman said. She said she would. No one from the school ever went to police about Gregor, according to civil litigation. The other alleged victim in this case testified earlier this week that when she and other girls went to principal Montoya with complaints about Gregor, her response was to tell students to stop spreading false information. The woman who testified Thursday also said there was one instance where Gregor pulled her into a classroom closet. He gave her a peck on the lips and touched her backside, she said, before he reached down and touched her vagina. He put his hands down, and this time he actually got to where he wanted, she said. The woman said she lied to law enforcement agents when she said during a pretrial interview in March 2017 that Gregor never took her to a closet. She later said she didnt tell the truth because of her criminal history and wasnt comfortable around police. I dont like talking to agents, period, she said. I hadnt really told anyone what had happened to me. One of the best things about living in New Mexico is the abundance of great natural beauty and opportunities to enjoy the great outdoors. Whether its the view from just about any rural highway or one of the many state and national parks and forests, New Mexico boasts some of the most beautiful land in the nation. It is a heritage that all proud New Mexicans want to protect for future generations, a pride woven into our culture. The preservation of our public lands is a sacred trust, but its being made more difficult by the inaction of Congress. Much of New Mexicos beautiful landscape has been protected and enhanced by one of the best federal programs youve probably never heard of: the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). Created with bipartisan support more than 50 years ago, the LWCF has pumped millions of dollars into our states national parks and monuments, wildlife refuges, community parks, hiking trails and even ball fields. The LWCF has done more to protect precious landscapes, wildlife habitat, open space and healthy waterways, and develop recreation opportunities, than any federal program in American history. Just a couple of years ago, the LWCF gave hikers and other outdoor enthusiasts another reason to visit our state by providing money for expanding public access into the rugged and stunning interior of the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument and in support of the recently designated Organ Mountains-Desert Peak National Monument. The LWCF has also supported the Valles de Oro National Wildlife Refuge in Albuquerques South Valley, which provides urban families and kids easy access to outdoor recreation. More recent initiatives such as the Rio Grande Trail, running from the southern Colorado border to the Mexican border, will also benefit from continued funding. Beyond enhancing access to and conservation of our national public lands, LWCF has also benefited state parks in New Mexico, including Elephant Butte Lake, Mesilla Valley Bosque, Eagle Nest Lake, and City of Rocks. Locally, nearly every municipality in our state has used the LWCF to create or improve city parks. Its very likely the LWCF has benefitted the park where your family goes to picnic or your kids play on the swings or your dog stretches its legs. One of the reasons this program has long had bipartisan support is that no taxpayer dollars are used for the LWCF so it does not add to our nations debt or burden our communities. The program receives its funding via royalties paid by oil and gas companies that are drilling offshore. Sadly, Congress allowed the LWCF to expire at the end of September. Since then the LWCF has lost more than $150 million because the oil and gas royalties are no longer being deposited into the fund. And, unless Congress acts in December before adjourning until 2019, the fund will likely continue to lose funds for months to come. New Mexico is fortunate that many members of our congressional delegation understand the LWCFs win-win benefits and have worked hard to protect the program. Both U.S. Sens. Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich have been leaders in the fight for the permanent reauthorization and full funding of the LWCF to ensure that our outdoor heritage and public lands will be protected for future generations to enjoy. Unfortunately, the Trump administration has shown no interest in continuing the LWCFs legacy and, before the LWCF was allowed to expire, had proposed reducing its funding by more than 90 percent. (Members of) Congress needs to revive the bipartisan spirit that has characterized the LWCF since its inception and come together to reauthorize and fully fund this great provider of public lands access and enjoyment. And they must do so before they take their winter recess. Democrat Nathan Cote served three terms in the New Mexico House of Representatives, beginning in 2006, representing District 53 in southern New Mexico. He is on the board of directors for New Mexico Voices for Children. WASHINGTON All of the leaders assembled at the Group of 20 meeting in Buenos Aires committed their nations to the fight against climate change, except one President Trump, of course. But pay him no mind. As the proverb says, The dogs bark but the caravan moves on. We dont have to wait for history to prove how utterly, stupidly wrong Trump is on this existential issue. Current events are making the point. We have baked ourselves into an era of superlatives the rainiest storms, worst floods, deadliest fires, most punishing heat waves. The hottest years on record. The highest levels of atmospheric carbon in thousands of centuries. Leaders of the world, you must lead, the British naturalist David Attenborough said Monday. If we dont take action, the collapse of our civilizations and the extinction of much of the natural world is on the horizon. Attenborough was speaking at a key United Nations conference in Katowice, Poland, where diplomats and scientists from around the world will spend the next two weeks working on a concrete plan for meeting the goals of the landmark 2015 Paris Agreement. The aim is to sharply reduce carbon emissions, limiting human-induced global warming to noncatastrophic levels. No one has time for Trumps foolishness. The U.N.s annual Emissions Gap Report, released last week, showed that worldwide greenhouse gas emissions grew by 1.2 percent last year after remaining roughly stable for the preceding three years. Emissions need to begin falling, and rapidly, if we are to meet the original Paris target of keeping the increase in average temperature to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) by the end of the century. And the target is moving. A report earlier this year from the U.N.-sponsored Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, reflecting the latest scientific analysis and consensus, warned that current goal is not ambitious enough. To avoid doing serious harm to the planet and ourselves, we really should limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit), which would require rapid and drastic action. As we go about our daily lives leaving our toasty homes every morning and driving our cars to climate-controlled office buildings, where we work in front of computers before driving home at night, on brightly illuminated streets, to fire up our microwave ovens and watch our big-screen television sets the idea of radical change in our energy use seems daunting. But we dont have much of a choice. The consequences of a warming world are no longer theoretical. They are here, they are doing great harm to humans and the environment, and they are getting worse. It would be much better if the government of the worlds greatest economic and scientific power were leading the fight against this collective threat. One of Trumps first consequential acts as president, however, was announcing his intention to withdraw from the Paris accord. He is our centurys King Canute, arrogantly trying to hold back the sea which has risen nearly 3 inches in the past 25 years. But while the United States may not be participating in the Paris process now, it cannot formally leave the pact until November 2020 when, one hopes, voters will elect a more responsible president. Meanwhile, state and local governments, universities and the private sector are actively working toward the clean-energy future that is mandatory if we are to avert disaster. According to Americas Pledge, an initiative founded by former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg and California Gov. Jerry Brown, current commitments and market forces are expected to reduce U.S. emissions to 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2025. Former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger spoke Monday at the U.N. climate conference in Poland. Every time you talk about America, youre right when you say that our leadership in Washington is a little bit backwards, he said. But youre wrong when you say that America dropped out of the Paris Agreement. Because if you look a little bit beyond Washington you will see all the extraordinary work that is going on (at the) state and city level in America. It is far from assured the world will succeed in reaching the emissions targets scientists say are advisable. But it is clear Trumps know-nothing stance has not wrecked the Paris Agreement process and perhaps has even strengthened commitment to it. According to a Monmouth University poll released last week, about eight in 10 Americans now believe in climate change and a majority recognize it as a very serious problem. One ignoramus cannot stem this tide. New Mexico voters helped the state take an important first step last month toward reducing/punishing government corruption when they approved a constitutional amendment creating an independent state ethics commission. New Mexico is one of just six states that doesnt have one, and its a good-government reform a long time coming our last Tax and Revenue secretary just pleaded not guilty to state charges of embezzling money from an ex-client and abusing her Cabinet post; our last secretary of state pleaded guilty to state felonies and misdemeanors after embezzling campaign donations to feed a gambling habit; a longtime state senator recently got a year tacked onto his 18-month state sentence for fraud, bribery and other charges; a former state treasurer did federal time for racketeering; his predecessor did federal time for attempted extortion; and a former state Senate leader went to federal prison for his role in a construction kickback scandal. And those are just the high make that low lights. So this first step is an important one: it created a seven-member panel to function as a clearinghouse of sorts for complaints involving state officials, legislative employees, lobbyists and government contractors. But sometimes the second step is the hardest. A working group headed by Democratic Sen. Linda Lopez and Republican Rep. Jim Dines, both of Albuquerque, has been exploring ways to set up the commission. They expect competing proposals to come up in the legislative session, which starts Jan. 15. A major issue will be how much of the ethics commission business should be shrouded in secrecy, and this is where the wheels have come off this cart before. Once again Dines, who is locked in a recount and may not return to the Roundhouse in January, is pushing to make the commissions work as public as possible. Hes right. Transparency will help build public confidence in the ethics system. Considering the criminal behavior mentioned, it is crucial the system operates in sunlight to be accountable and trusted. But several lawmakers fear frivolous complaints will be filed as political weapons and that making them public immediately could damage an innocent public officials reputation. Dines has a reasonable fix: Make a persons formal response to allegations and the original ethics complaints public at the same time so the public gets the whole story at once. Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, brings up the false parallel of professional complaints filed against N.M. lawyers and judges, which are only made public in certain circumstances. But the state bar is a highly regulated professional operation that deals with lawyer-client disputes, and Judicial Standards would benefit from more transparency; the ethics commission deals with public policy questions with the primary goal of ensuring public confidence in government. Wirths argument is merely the latest attempt to make an ethics commission a toothless tiger. Several high-ranking New Mexicans are weighing in on the side of transparency. Former U.S. Sen. and N.M. Attorney General Jeff Bingaman and former Gov. Garrey Carruthers encourage the public to keep an eye on the process to ensure the commission operates transparently. New Mexico Ethics Watch, chaired by retired state Supreme Court Justice Richard Bosson, says any commissions operations should be transparent, especially how it handles complaints. Advocacy group Common Cause New Mexico has been pushing for an ethics commission for 40 years and should be commended for helping get it to, and approved by, voters. Now it is essential Common Cause as well as Ethics Watch, New Mexico First, the Foundation for Open Government and the League of Women Voters stay involved to ensure lawmakers build a strong, open ethics commission with teeth to fully investigate complaints and help ensure honest government. Theres much else to be determined in the enabling legislation what discipline will be imposed, whether jurisdiction extends to school board members and how to fund the work. But if the commission does not operate in public, then its likely much worse than having no ethics commission at all. This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers. Copyright 2018 Albuquerque Journal SANTA FE New Mexicos 2018 gubernatorial race featured hard-hitting attack ads, deep-pocketed out-of-state groups and hefty spending by both general election candidates. Combined, Michelle Lujan Grisham and Steve Pearce spent more than $14.4 million in this years open race for governor a figure that does not include outside spending despite a limit on the size of campaign contributions they could receive. The total spending is among the highest in state history for a contested race for public office and the highest since the contribution limits took effect after the 2010 election cycle. I think this is the new normal, said University of New Mexico political science professor Lonna Atkeson, who cited the proliferation of campaign staffs as among the reasons for the growth in political spending. Lujan Grisham defeated Pearce in the Nov. 6 election, winning more than 57 percent of the votes cast in a race that with nearly 700,000 New Mexicans casting ballots had the highest voter turnout of any state gubernatorial contest in recent history. On Thursday, she reported spending roughly $545,000 in the final period before Election Day and the weeks that followed, bringing her total tally for campaign expenditures during this years election cycle to nearly $9.6 million. In all, Lujan Grisham raised roughly $9.7 million for her gubernatorial bid, which she first announced nearly two years ago. Those fundraising figures were nearly double the roughly $4.9 million that Pearce reported spending on his campaign, although Pearce, unlike Lujan Grisham, did not face opposition in the primary election. In addition, some of the money Pearce reported raising actually came from his congressional account, after he won a legal dispute over whether more than $780,000 in such funds could be transferred to his gubernatorial account despite the state cap on campaign contributions. In all, the combined spending of the two gubernatorial candidates amounted to about $20 in campaign spending for each vote that was ultimately cast. Both Lujan Grisham and Pearce are members of the U.S. House who forwent re-election bids to run for governor. It was the first time two sitting members of Congress faced off for New Mexico governor in a general election. This years race for governor was open because incumbent Gov. Susana Martinez, a Republican, was barred from seeking a third consecutive term in office. She will step down at the end of the year. Martinez spent nearly $11 million on her 2010 gubernatorial campaign in which she won a five-way GOP primary race and then defeated Democrat Diane Denish in the general election and an additional $8.7 million on her successful 2014 re-election campaign. Meanwhile, outside groups also spent big sums during New Mexicos just-completed election season. A pro-Democratic independent expenditure group, or super PAC, called Patriot Majority reported spending more than $1.7 million this year to assist the campaigns of Democrats running for state House seats. On the other side, a Texas-based political committee that launched hard-hitting TV ads in New Mexicos land commissioner race in support of Republican candidate Pat Lyons who lost to Democrat Stephanie Garcia Richard reported spending more than $2.7 million. That group, called New Mexico Strong, got most of its money in a $2 million contribution from Chevron. It also reported Thursday getting $100,000 from Houston-based Occidental Petroleum Corp. New Mexicos campaign donation caps which were set at $5,500 per donor for each the primary and general election this year dont apply to super PACs, which can accept contributions of any size but are barred from coordinating directly with candidates. The fundraising reports filed Thursday with the Secretary of States Office were the final mandatory campaign finance reports for this years election cycle. They covered all campaign spending and fundraising from Oct. 31 through Dec. 1. Per state law, the secretary of state will do a random audit of at least 10 percent of the campaign reports filed by candidates and political committees in the coming weeks. Copyright 2018 Albuquerque Journal The Albuquerque police officer who failed to collect a 7-year-old girls bloodstained underwear as evidence didnt violate department policy. But another officer didnt follow procedures when he or she reported earlier child abuse allegations involving the girl to a state child welfare agency and didnt see to it that the issue was also investigated by law enforcement. Those are the findings outlined in a draft letter summarizing the investigation by an agency that looks into citizen complaints against police. The executive director of the Civilian Police Oversight Agency said in the letter that when presented with the girls underwear, the officer called Crimes Against Children Unit detectives, who said they had talked to the girl in question and her brother and there was no proof of a crime so the clothing didnt need to be collected. Months later, the girls relatives were arrested. Authorities with the state Attorney Generals Office allege that the girl was forced into prostitution, and they have revealed that state child welfare and law enforcement authorities for years had been warned of possible abuse within the family, yet the girl was left in their custody. The CPOA has completed its initial investigation of a citizen complaint that was filed after the arrest of James Stewart and Teri Sanchez, both 38. In May, Stewart was indicted on one count of human trafficking and multiple other charges, including criminal sexual contact of a minor and child abuse. Sanchez was indicted on five counts of child abuse and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Edward Harness, executive director of the CPOA, said the agencys investigations are limited to finding policy violations and not deeper-rooted problems within the Police Department. He told a subcommittee of the Police Oversight Board members last month that they could possibly use the case as an example to more deeply review police officers responses to child abuse cases. The CPOA reports to the Police Oversight Board, a citizen volunteer board that makes recommendations on policy to the Albuquerque Police Department. It doesnt answer all the questions, Harness said of the CPOA investigation. Thats the boards function in looking at trends and policy analysis. Harness also acknowledged that the CPOA investigation was limited because the police union didnt waive a deadline the CPOA has for completing an investigation into an officer. Shaun Willoughby, president of the police union, said, It was important for the officers involved in the case to ensure that the city of Albuquerque, including the CPOA, fall within their respective timelines that everyone is very well aware of. That is a right that is bestowed on the officers. Harness said the case required CPOA investigators to review police contacts with the family dating back to 2012 and interview at least 20 officers. The family lived in different hotels throughout the city, which further complicated the investigation, he said. Harness declined to comment further on the CPOAs findings until after board members vote on whether to approve them, which is scheduled for next week. The investigation was launched when Jim Larson, a former Dallas police officer and U.S. Secret Service agent, filed a complaint with the CPOA alleging numerous lapses in the police investigation of the family of Stewart and Sanchez. The only policy violation the CPOA found was committed by a detective who was volunteering at the school when a teacher raised a concern about the girls well-being. The detective, identified as Det. S, volunteered at the childs school on Sept. 22 and Nov. 9 of 2017. During those days, a teacher approached the detective and reported the girl had recently said that her grandmother held a knife to her throat and that the girl had stolen mail with her father. The detective reported the case to CYFD. The CPOA found that the detective violated one section of APDs procedures regarding crimes against children, which says that referring a case to CYFD does not relieve an officer of the responsibility of completing a criminal investigation. Harness, in the draft letter to Larson, said the CPOA determined many of his concerns were unfounded. Im completely dissatisfied, Larson said of the CPOAs investigation. I found it shocking. I think there is substantial evidence that those kids should have been removed (from Stewart and Sanchez). In the years before their arrest, CYFD had received more than 20 tips about the family alleging emotional, physical and medical abuse and neglect. Two of the tips mentioned possible sexual assault. Police also had prior dealings with the family. In November 2017, police were called to the girls school after her teacher, while helping her change clothes, noticed blood in her underwear. The teacher said in court that the officer threw away the clothes and said they couldnt be collected as evidence. The CPOA letter said that the officer first contacted detectives who told him not to collect the underwear. The officer said he left the school without taking them and doesnt know what happened to them, according to Harness letter. The CPOAs review of the police investigation is just one of the second looks after Stewart and Sanchez were arrested. Mayor Tim Keller and Police Chief Michael Geier last summer announced that a police internal affairs investigation would be completed. Keller said then that the IA investigation would be made public. Gilbert Gallegos, a police spokesman, said late Thursday that five officers were found to have violated policies and they were disciplined with either verbal or written reprimands or counseling. Police havent provided the investigation to the Journal through an Inspection of Public Records Act request. Keller also said last summer that APD issued several special orders after Stewart and Sanchez were arrested, such as requiring officers to access a CYFD database when investigating possible child abuse. APD officials didnt respond to questions Thursday about what affect the special orders have had in the past six months. The warm storm moving in is translating into icy roads east of Albuquerque, causing schools in the area to delay their starting times Friday by two hours Other schools in Northern New Mexico, including Los Alamos, are also on a delay. For a current list, see KOAT-TV By the end of the weekend, just about everyone across New Mexico will have experienced several different types of weather rain, freezing rain, fog, sleet and snow, National Weather Service meteorologists say. A storm system arriving from Southern California interacting with a cold front entering eastern New Mexico will produce a wide variety of winter weather today through Saturday, ranging from snow and rain across western New Mexico to a more wintry mix with freezing rain and ice pellets likely for the southeast portion of the state. A chance of rain is in the Albuquerque metro forecast today, with high temperatures reaching only the mid-40s. Three New Mexico police officers have been named in a federal lawsuit that claims they wrongfully detained a man as he stood near a parked car, and arresting another after he asked officers what they were doing as they interrupted their family gathering. The family believes race was a factor in polices decision to approach the men in Hobbs, their attorney said. The lawsuit stemming from a June 28 encounter was filed earlier this week on behalf of Shamus Wright and his nephew Kentoine Penman. Both men are African-American, from Hobbs, and part of a family that had been planning an annual reunion set for the next day in the small New Mexico city near the Texas border, according to their attorney, Joseph Kennedy. His law firm in Albuquerque has filed multiple lawsuits against Hobbs police, including a pending class action lawsuit in state court that raises concerns over humiliating unconstitutional stops and arrests that has left some residents fearful of crossing public streets. Both Penman and Wright are also plaintiffs in that case. Kennedy said the firm would continue to pursue litigation against police each time concerns about unconstitutional policing emerge. We have zero tolerance for this, Kennedy said. A Hobbs police spokesman and city attorney did not return messages requesting comment. According to the federal lawsuit, they had obtained city permits for their annual family reunion in June to hold a block party and close off part of the street, where Penman had been standing when an officer first approached him and another relative, according to their lawsuit. Kennedy described the road as a residential street, and not a heavily trafficked thruway. Officer Juan Jaimes had approached the men on grounds they were standing in a roadway, instead of the sidewalk, and asked Penman for his identification, according to the lawsuit. Officers Kevin Martinez and Ruben Gastelum also are named as defendants in the lawsuit. Penman provided his identification to the officers, but Wright who had asked police why they were questioning his nephew refused, prompting officers to charge him with concealing his identity, as well as resisting, evading and obstructing an officer. The men are seeking attorneys fees and an unspecified sum for damages. FARMINGTON In an effort to improve service and to hear from the public, the Navajo Police Department has been conducting listening sessions in communities on tribal land this month. Navajo police spokeswoman Christina Tsosie said the sessions were arranged as part of the mission initiated by Chief Phillip Francisco to improve the department and to provide the public the opportunity to participate in determining the new direction. The department has police districts in Shiprock and Crownpoint, and in Chinle, Dilkon, Kayenta, Tuba City and Window Rock in Arizona. The first set of listening sessions was held Dec. 1 in Church Rock and in Chinle. During the discussion in Chinle, which was live streamed on the departments Facebook page, Francisco explained he is pushing the department to become responsive, reliable and trustworthy. I want to gain your trust, and I think we need to gain that and work very hard at being trustworthy, he said at the session. Francisco, along with chief prosecutor Gertrude Lee and the police district command staff, responded to audience questions about drunken driving, bootlegging, illegal dumping and the slow processing time related to obtaining police reports. The next listening session will take place from 3 to 5 p.m. Saturday at the Shiprock Chapter house in Shiprock. Tsosie said up to an hour will be devoted at each session for public comments, and questions can be submitted on Facebook during the live stream. NPD will utilize the comments gathered as a baseline assessment of where the major concerns are and how we can improve, Tsosie said. Chief Francisco is working to get an overall department assessment completed and the major concerns from the public will be used as part of those improvements. She added the department is setting up an online form for comments and complaints on its new website, and there are plans to schedule additional listening sessions next year. Noel Lyn Smith covers the Navajo Nation for The Daily Times. She can be reached at 505-564-4636 or by email at nsmith@daily-times.com. 2018 The Daily Times (Farmington, N.M.) Visit The Daily Times (Farmington, N.M.) at www.daily-times.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. WASHINGTON President Donald Trump announced Friday hes nominating State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert to be the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Shes very talented, very smart, very quick, and I think shes going to be respected by all, Trump said Friday before departing the White House for an event in Kansas City, Missouri. If she is confirmed by the Senate, Nauert, a former Fox News Channel reporter who had little foreign policy experience before becoming State Department spokeswoman, will replace Nikki Haley. Haley, a former South Carolina governor, announced in October that she would step down at the end of this year. Nauert would be a leading administration voice on Trumps foreign policy. Trump told reporters last month that Nauert was excellent, adding, Shes been a supporter for a long time. Plucked from Fox by the White House to serve as State Department spokeswoman, Nauert catapulted into the upper echelons of the agencys hierarchy when Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was fired in March and replaced with Mike Pompeo. Nauert was then appointed acting undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs and was for a time the highest-ranking woman and fourth highest-ranking official in the building. Nauert, who did not have a good relationship with Tillerson and had considered leaving the department, told associates at the time she was taken aback by the promotion offer and recommended a colleague for the job. But when White House officials told her they wanted her, she accepted. That role gave her responsibilities far beyond the news conferences she held in the State Department briefing room. She oversaw public diplomacy in Washington and all of the roughly 275 overseas U.S. embassies, consulates and other posts. She was in charge of the Global Engagement Center that fights extremist messaging from the Islamic State group and others, and she has a seat on the U.S. Agency for Global Media that oversees government broadcast networks such as Voice of America. Just 18 months ago, she wasnt even in government. Nauert was a breaking news anchor on Trumps favorite television show, Fox & Friends, when she was tapped to be the face and voice of the administrations foreign policy. With a masters degree from Columbia Universitys Graduate School of Journalism, she had moved to Fox from ABC News, where she was a general assignment reporter. She hadnt specialized in foreign policy or international relations. Shut out from the top by Tillerson and his inner circle, Nauert developed relationships with career diplomats. Barred from traveling with Tillerson, she embarked on her own overseas trips, visiting Bangladesh and Myanmar last year to see the plight of Rohingya Muslims, and then Israel after a planned stop in Syria was scrapped. All the while, she stayed in the good graces of the White House, even as Tillerson was increasingly on the outs. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders described Nauert in March as a team player and a strong asset for the administration. Dont expect too much. Photo: Joe Klamar/AFP/Getty Images Oil prices in free fall a barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude now sells for $52, down a third since October has been good news for American consumers, but its bad news for countries with oil-dependent economies. That is why leaders from Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) have been meeting in Vienna and trying to agree on a production cutback to push up prices. But they havent been able to reach an agreement. These days, OPEC tries to coordinate with Russia, which isnt an OPEC member, because the group doesnt believe it can affect global oil prices enough through the actions of its own members. And the Persian Gulf countries that dominate OPEC want a larger cutback than Russia is willing to agree to. As Bloomberg describes, this split is partly driven by conflicting interests: The Gulf producers are mostly concerned about how low oil prices affect their government budgets, but Russia doesnt want prices to rise too much. Bloomberg cites a Kremlin official who worried higher gasoline prices could upset consumers and reduce political support for Vladimir Putins economic policy. But a broader reason OPEC control of oil prices isnt working anymore is that the world oil market has changed in ways that make a cartel strategy less effective. The usual idea behind a cartel is: You agree to limit production, and that means you sell less oil, but you make more profit per barrel because prices have to rise to bring demand in line with the reduced supply. Historically, constraining supply has been an effective way to change the oil price, because non-OPEC countries had limited flexibility to increase their production when OPEC production declined, and because consumer behavior is inelastic, especially in the short term. High oil prices might eventually cause you to buy a smaller car or live closer to work, but probably not right away. The rise of fracked shale oil has changed the non-OPEC production side of that analysis. There have been a lot of headlines recently about how, because of the shale boom, the U.S. is now producing so much oil we are a net oil exporter. But as importantly for OPECs loss of control, the shale boom makes the U.S. a more elastic oil producer. What I mean by that is, some of the oil in the ground under the U.S. is easy (cheap) to extract, and some of it is hard (expensive) to extract. We produce the easy oil in any market condition. But if OPEC moves to cut back supply and drive up prices, U.S. producers will become more inclined to find and extract the expensive oil. In the medium term, that will tend to push U.S. production volumes up and oil prices partially back down. Among other things, that means a production cut just doesnt produce as much benefit to OPEC producers as it used to. After a while, theyll be faced with prices not that much higher than today, and a smaller share of the global market. With less total benefit to go around from a production cut, cartel members are more likely to get bogged down in fights over who exactly should do the cutting its harder to put together a positive-sum deal for every member of the cartel. And of course, political divisions among OPEC members also dont help, and neither does Saudi Arabias need to stay in the Trump administrations good graces. But consumers shouldnt get too excited about a weak OPEC. Its likely the fall in oil prices over recent months the one that raised OPECs urgency to find a supply-reduction deal is driven by some of the same factors that are driving stock prices and bond yields down: a worsened outlook for global economic growth, and therefore lower expected demand for fuel. welcome to the Resistance. Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Ammon Bundy is best known as a leading light of the American militia movement (a motley coalition of various different flavors of firearms enthusiasts who hate the federal government). Hes famous for getting into armed standoffs with federal agents and violently occupying bird sanctuaries. His friends are the kind of folks who co-chair pro-Trump veterans groups; his father is the kind of man who says, I want to tell you one more thing I know about the Negro and proceeds to explain why black people were better off as slaves. So, this being 2018, Bundy naturally just disavowed the militia movement in solidarity with the migrant caravan, suggested that nationalism is actually the opposite of patriotism, and said that Trumps America resembles nothing so much as 1930s Germany. Last week, Bundy posted a video to Facebook in which he criticized President Trump for demonizing the Central American migrants who were traveling in a caravan to seek asylum in the United States. To group them all up like, frankly, our president has done you know, trying to speak respectfully but he has basically called them all criminals and said theyre not coming in here, Bundy observed. What about individuals, those who have come for reasons of need for their families, you know, the fathers and mothers and children that come here and were willing to go through the process to apply for asylum so they can come into this country and benefit from not having to be oppressed continually? Bundy went on to observe that faith is the opposite of fear and that we have been asked by God to help, to be welcoming, to assist strangers, to not vex them. He also provided his viewers with a quick fact-check of the presidents claims that liberal billionaire George Soros had orchestrated the caravan, and that there were terrorists embedded among the migrants. Bizarrely, the following that Bundy had amassed by threatening insurrectionary violence against Barack Obamas government did not take kindly to his call for solidarity with the oppressed of Central America. Its like being in a room full of people in here, trying to teach, and no one is listening, Bundy told BuzzFeed News this week. The vast majority seemed to hang on to what seemed like hate, and fear, and almost warmongering, and I dont want to associate myself with warmongers. Thus, Bundy shut down his social-media accounts Tuesday, and announced that he was cutting ties with the patriot groups that had once rallied to the cause of helping his dad shirk over $1 million in grazing fees. Here are a few other words of wisdom Bundy dispensed during his interview with BuzzFeeds Salvador Hernandez: I believe President Trump, the best way I could explain it, is that hes a nationalist, and a nationalist in my view makes the decision that best benefits the nation, not the individual, Bundy said. That is not freedom, and that is not what America was built upon. The time we find ourselves in now that is closest found in history is Germany in the 1930s, and they had a leader that was loved, and it was the same kind of following, he said. I dont want to say there is that extreme similarity, but it very well could go that way, and people just give up their thinking, their rights, and they give up their government because they were so willing to follow him. As Hernandez notes, Bundys heretical hostility to xenophobic hate isnt as out of character as it might appear to a lay audience. While the Bundys are heroes to a movement associated with militant nativism, theyve always belonged to a peculiar strand of the American militia movement one whose hostility to the federal government is rooted less in white nationalism than a libertarian Mormonism that honors the Church of Latter-day Saints traditional support for refugees. Nevertheless, woke Bill Kristol (and woker Axl Rose) notwithstanding, anti-Trump Ammon Bundy has to be the #Resistances weirdest recruit yet. BUTTE COUNTY, Calif. -District Attorney Mike Ramsey announced that a Magalia man is the first in a series of Camp Fire looting cases to enter a plea in court. Shayne Storm Tinnel Jr., 22, pleaded no contest to vehicle left in a case involving a stole RV from a Magalia residence during a Camp Fire evacuation. On Nov. 12, a former owner of the RV spotted the vehicle in Oroville with Tinnel. After recognizing the vehicle, he called the current owner to inquire about whether they had sold the RV. When the current owner told them no then he reported the theft to California Highway Patrol. Officers located the RV the next day in the vicinity of Walmart in Chico and detained Tinnel. The deputy found that the RV's ignition had been "punched." Tinnel was arrested in connection to vehicle theft. Additionally, officers found a large amount of suspected stolen property inside the RV which the owner of the RV confirmed did not belong to him. The stolen property included two backpack leaf blowers, car batteries and a large, flat-screen TV. Ramsey said that Tinnel faces three years in county prison when he is sentenced on Jan. 3. He remains in custody at the Butte County Jail. ORANGE COUNTY, Calif. - Authorities are keeping an eye on fire-scarred hillsides in Southern California that have brought flooding and mudslides to the area. Evacuation orders are in place for Trabuco Canyon in Orange Canyon and for several neighborhoods in the Lake Elsinore-Area east of Los Angeles. Other Elsinore areas had the mandatory evacuations downgraded to voluntary evacuation warnings as the storm eased. The heavy rains have jammed major roads, flooded neighborhoods and even caused a Southwest plane to skid off the tracks. No major injuries or damages to homes have been reported due to the heavy rain conditions. Authorities are continuing to monitor the conditions. PARADISE, Calif. - The Placerville Rotary Club raised $100,000 for the Paradise Rotary Club to benefit Camp Fire survivors. The club held a spaghetti feed and collected donations, which they said exceeded their expectations. In the past, the Paradise Rotary Club has awarded grants to local schools, hiking trails and fire departments. "We knew it was gonna be good, but we didn't know it would turn into what it did," said a member of the Placerville Rotary Club. There is no word yet on where exactly the money will go, but it has been allocated toward Camp Fire relief. SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Gov. Brown and First Lady Anne Gust Brown hosted the 87th annual "Capitol Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony," Friday. This year's tree is a 66-foot tall white fir from the Latour Demonstration State Forest located near Redding in Shasta County, the seventh capitol Christmas tree to come from a state forest managed by Cal Fire. The tree is illuminated by approximately 10,000 L.E.D lights and is decorated with more than 900 hand-crafted ornaments made by children and adults with developmental disabilities. President Trump Nominates William Barr as Next Attorney General President Trump has nominated William Barr as his next Attorney General. Barr was the Attorney General under President George H.W. Bush. Man Leads Chico Police on High-Speed Chase Chico police say Patrick Dowell led them on a high-speed chase in a stolen car early this morning. It started just after 2 a.m. Police say Dowell crashed into a trailer at West 8th Avenue and ran into a pool in someone's backyard before his arrest. Evacuation Orders Underway for Homes in Southern California due to Mudslides Evacuation orders are underway for hundreds of homes in Southern California. A storm system created mudslides and flooding in areas in Los Angeles and Orange County. Oroville Police Searching for Suspect in Murder of 86-Year-Old Woman Oroville police are searching for the person who murdered 86-year-old Greta Putnam on the day the Camp Fire. She was found dead in her home in Cottonwood Estates Mobile Home Park. Police say her relative 21-year-old Dominic Potts has not been seen since her murder and is a potential suspect. Redding Police Identify Suspect in Officer-Involved Shooting Redding police say Benjamin Larson was killed by police after opening fire on two officers during a high-speed chase. It happened yesterday morning in the area of Knighton Road and I-5. The Sheriff's Office is now investigating. Six People Unaccounted for due to Camp Fire The Butte County Sheriff's Office says six people remain missing from the Camp Fire. Another idenitity has been released of the 85 people killed. Chico Airport Animal Shelter Closes The Chico Airport has closed as a shelter for pets displaced by the Camp Fire. 300 cats and 150 dogs have now been moved to Old County Hospital in Oroville. Mercy Medical Center Faces $30,000 Fine Mercy Medical Center in Redding is facing a $30,000 fine for not meeting licensing requirements. The California Department of Public Health says the hospital failed to provide adequate care to a patient back in 2017. Dignity Health is investigating. YUBA CITY, Calif. - The Yuba City Police Department has arrested two men in connection to a sword fight, which left one man with injuries to his face and leg. On Nov. 4, around 2:59 p.m., Officers were patrolling the Sikh Parade in the area of Butte House Road and Stabler Lane when they were flagged down with a report of a stabbing. During the investigation, officers located several swords that had been discarded from people running from the scene. The victim, who has not been identified, suffered injuries to his face and leg. The victim stated that an argument ensued between two groups of people. After the argument got heated, an unknown suspect struck him in the leg with a sword. As the victim tried to punch the suspect in self-defense, he was struck in the face with a sword. Manpreet Singh, 35, of Sacramento, turned himself into the courts on Nov. 21 on a warrant charging attempted murder. Parmvir Singh Gosal, 39, of Tracy, turned himself in on Nov. 30 to the court on a warrant charging attempted murder and mayhem. Both suspects have posted bail and are out of custody pending further court appearances. A viewer sent Action News Now video of the scene. The police department is still investigating the incident and attempting to identify the other people involved including potential witnesses and suspects. HDFC Bank is all set to organise the 12th edition of its national Blood Donation Drive on December 7. This drive is part of HDFC Banks Parivartan; its umbrella brand for all its social initiatives. The campaign inspire and encourage more and more people to come forward to donate blood. As a run-up to December 7, the Bank has initiated a campaign #StopMithani #YourBloodMatters, where inspiring stories involving ordinary citizens are being communicated as role models for society, particularly the youth to emulate and donate blood. This will help bridge the annual deficit of 1.9 million units India faces when it comes to availability of blood. Mr. Rajdeepak Das, Chief Creative Officer (South Asia) & Managing Director Leo Burnett had to say about the campaign, Communications is best created when we tap into an insight that is universally relevant. Its about looking at it from the consumers perspective. At Leo Burnett we refer to this as the HumanKind approach.Usually blood donation narratives have been told from the recipients perspective we decided to change this. Lets look at it from the donors perspective. A serial donors perspective. Someone who has been donating for a long time. In Mr. Mithani we found an extraordinary donor a donor like no other. He is 65 and advised not to donate anymore, his story is compelling enough to get the youth of the country to get behind the cause of blood donation. Hopefully, it will move you to share and most importantly sign up to donate. Real life Case Study Jyotindra C Mithani, a 64 year-old resident of Mira road in Mumbai is one such inspirational story. Over the past 40 years, Mr. Mithani has donated blood 151 times. He first donated at the time of the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war, when there was an appeal for blood for our armed forces. Since then, hes made it his lifes mission to do his part to bridge the gap between demand for safe blood and its supply. His inspirational record of donating blood on average 4 times a year will end once he turns 65. Mr. Mithani refuses to stop despite the medical advisory owing to his advanced age. This stand by Mr. Mithani to only stop when India starts forms the crux of the Banks campaign where the message is to galvanize Indians to do their bit and stop Mr. Mithani. Note: This article discusses a change in Quebec, Canada which will substitute the GlaxoSmithKline HPV vax in place of the Merck vax in an effort to save money for the province. I can't help but wonder if a GSK Rep got to a Quebecois politician to convince him or her that the money savings was wise. In fact, it's a money loser for Merck and a win for GSK. I won't even combine Eveready and Duracell batteries in a toy - here we have students being experimented upon with two separate brands and formulations of a vaccine that is meant to be given in multiple doses. HPV vaccination will topple the myth of vaccine safety - croyez nous. And bonne chance to these poor students. ### Students in Quebec are the first in Canada to be vaccinated in a program that uses two different vaccines to protect against the human papillomavirus, a change that has divided experts. Under the new program, which started this fall, students receive one shot of Gardasil 9, which protects against nine strains of HPV, including 16 and 18, the two that cause the majority of cervical, anal and other HPV-related cancers. Early next year, students will receive a shot of Cervarix, which protects against HPV 16 and 18 only. The new schedule is expected to save the Quebec government $3-million a year. Several experts and organizations call the change a risky experiment that puts savings over health. None of the experts dispute the safety of Cervarix. The concern is that students who do not get two doses of Gardasil 9 will not build sufficient immunity to seven of the nine strains. Cervarix, produced by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), costs about $110 per dose, while Gardasil 9, made by Merck, costs about $190. [The change] took a lot of us by surprise, said Nancy Durand, a gynecologist at Torontos Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. Its a living experiment." But members of Quebecs immunization committee say clinical evidence shows the amended vaccine program will protect young people. Committee member Vladimir Gilca says much of the backlash originates from Merck, which stands to lose if provinces reduce use of its vaccine. School-based HPV vaccination programs in every other province use two doses of Gardasil 9. Its nothing new to change a vaccination program. The most of these changes pass without a lot of attention, said Dr. Gilca, a scientific adviser for the National Public Health Institute of Quebec. Some of the opposition is because Cervarix has been approved for use only in girls and women in Canada. That does not mean it is unsafe for boys, but it is unusual for policy-makers to use vaccines in this off-label way, said Marc Steben, who works in the unit for sexually transmitted infections of the National Public Health Institute of Quebec. Some experts fear one dose of Gardasil 9 could leave students vulnerable to genital warts and other less common forms of cancer not covered by Cervarix. This is based on pretty skimpy evidence, particularly in terms of long-term outcomes, said Zeev Rosberger, a psychologist who studies HPV prevention and is on the board of advocacy group HPV Awareness. Read more at The Globe and Mail. WILMINGTON, Delaware -- Perhaps the best way to begin this story is with Dona Krystosek's own words: "When the most precious child asks you 'Momma, just hold my hand a little while', you sit bedside holding his hand and give him reassurance with each passing day it's going to get better," Dona posted to Facebook Monday night. "It doesn't matter that you're exhausted, your back is hurting from leaning over or that it's 2:30 a.m. "He has made it clear that, even if I let go, he wants me within his eyesight. So I'll do whatever it takes to bring him comfort, ease his worries and stay where he can see me. "I'm here, my precious child. Like I've been since day 1. I'm not going anywhere. I'm planted in this world right beside you to love and care for you. "Nobody ever know what life will be like on the other side of surgery, but in Levi's case, there will always be an abundance of love." Dona is the mother of 12-year-old Levi Krystosek, widely known throughout Ocean Springs as "Little Levi." Levi was born with a degenerative form of dwarfism called Jansen's Metaphyseal Chrondrodysplasia -- at the time one of only 20 known cases worldwide and currently only one of six in the U.S. Since the diagnosis, which came when Levi was about a year old, he had undergone numerous medical procedures, including skull reconstruction when he was just over a year old, having both eardrums reconstructed and his adenoids removed. In October 2013, he had another surgery to realign both of his ankles. In an interview four years ago, Dona noted that future orthopedic surgeries for Levi were "probable." In August, he had surgery to insert screws/plates in his left ankles and knees to help them grow correctly and, this week, he underwent nine-hours of spinal surgery in which doctors inserted metal rods and screws to straighten a spine which had become dangerously bent due to Levi's condition. "About a year ago, we were in Delaware for a follow-up appointment and when we come for appointments they generally do x-rays from the neck down," Dona recalled. "At that point, they noticed that not only was Levi's spine curved at 57 degrees, but it was also rotating, making it worse. "In addition, the bone structure -- it was like an old person with osteoporosis." Levi's orthopedic surgeon, Dr. William McKenzie, explained that a 50 percent curvature of the spine is typically the point where, if a child is still within his/her growing years, it generally will get worse. "About a year ago, we knew this was probably going to happen," Dona said of the surgery. "But we wanted to wait and see if it might get better, or at least stabilize. But nothing's ever gotten better on its own." And so the surgery was scheduled, originally for November but ultimately for Dec. 4, when a neurosurgeon would be available if needed. When the Dona, Levi and Levi's father, Joey, arrived at the Nemours Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, Del., Monday, x-rays revealed the curve in Levi's spine had increased to 62 percent. Levi's condition alone isn't what makes him such a popular figure in Ocean Springs. His mother started a "Little Levi" Facebook page a few years ago that currently has 7,200 followers. It's his irrepressible spirit which has made Levi a beloved figure in the community and elsewhere. That spirit was on full display even as he was being taken into surgery Tuesday morning. Levi told the surgical nurse in no uncertain terms, Dona said, that he insisted on speaking with the surgeon before putting him under anesthesia. He had a very important question to ask. "After you fix my back," he said to the surgeon, "will I be able to ride a jet ski?" The doctor assured Levi that, once his back had time to heal and he had gone through the requisite physical therapy, he would indeed be able to ride a jet ski. Then, when the anesthesiologist was ready to administer the IV's, Levi gave specific instructions on where on his arm the needles should go. "Levi is a very smart kid," Dona said. "He's been through a lot. He knows if he speaks up, they'll hear him. He's never been at a loss for words." The spinal surgery was no slam dunk. There was a chance Levi's bone structure would be too poor to allow for the hardware to be inserted. "He told us he wouldn't know for sure until he opened Levi up what the quality of the bone would be," Dona said. "Mentally, I had prepared myself that they would open him up and then say, 'Close him. There's nothing we can do.'" Thankfully, that's not what happened. Dona said the surgery went "remarkably" well -- although what had been expected to last 4-7 hours instead took nine hours. "The two surgeons were meticulous," Dona said. Photos of x-rays of Levi Krystosek's spine before and after his Tuesday surgery. The procedure involved surgically exposing Levi's spine, with electrodes attached from Levi's head to his toes to ensure no nerves were being hit during the procedure. Rods were inserted along the length of each side of his spine, with screws attaching them. In places where they found gaps in the bone, cadaver bones were used to fill. When Levi awoke the next morning, his first words were to tell his parents his back hurt -- to be expected, Dona said. But then his father showed him a picture of an x-ray of his now-straight back. "We knew this procedure would gain him a few inches (in height)," Dona said. "We're not sure how many, but we were excited to tell him he looked taller." That same day, Wednesday, Levi was out of bed. With assistance from a nurse and his father, Levi sat up, got out of the bed and walked to a nearby chair to sit down. "The way it was explained to us," Dona said, "if we let them lay in bed, they'll lock up. All these muscles are used to the bones being bent and crooked. Once they straighten the back, the muscles twitch and spasm quite a bit. That happened with Levi through the (first) night." Other than some expected post-operative issues that were quickly addressed, Levi is doing well, Dona said. She marvels at her son's bravery and determination. "I have no idea where he gets it from," she said. "The kid has not had the meltdown I probably would have had. He's had a few tears, but he's been doing great." "My dad used to always tell me that this is all Levi has ever known. From day one, he's had this chronic illness. But he also used to tell Levi to live life to the fullest. If you ask Levi what he learned from his grandfather, he'll say 'Live life to the fullest. Don't let anything hold you back.'" Levi's physical therapy is already underway and Dona said, while Joey will return to Ocean Springs for work, she and Levi will likely remain in Delaware until a few days before Christmas to continue physical therapy there. Thursday featured visits from Tinker Bell and Princess Jasmine, a Delaware state trooper, Miss Delaware and none other than Santa Claus himself -- all in Levi's room simultaneously as he chatted away with Kris Kringle. Not that he needs it, but Levi has some additional motivation to get his backed healed and strong. Come Feb. 16, he will serve as the Grand Marshal of the 44th annual Ocean Springs Elks Mardi Gras Parade. Oh, and Feb. 16 just happens to be his 13th birthday -- unknown to the Elks Lodge until after they extended the invitation. "It just happened that way," Dona said. "Levi has already said he wants an Army tank to ride on. I don't think that's going to happen, but we want to find a ride that fits his personality." Political cults are filling the space left by the decline of organized faiths. Photo: Loren Elliott/Getty Images Everyone has a religion. It is, in fact, impossible not to have a religion if you are a human being. Its in our genes and has expressed itself in every culture, in every age, including our own secularized husk of a society. By religion, I mean something quite specific: a practice not a theory; a way of life that gives meaning, a meaning that cannot really be defended without recourse to some transcendent value, undying Truth or God (or gods). Which is to say, even todays atheists are expressing an attenuated form of religion. Their denial of any God is as absolute as others faith in God, and entails just as much a set of values to live by including, for some, daily rituals like meditation, a form of prayer. (Theres a reason, I suspect, that many brilliant atheists, like my friends Bob Wright and Sam Harris are so influenced by Buddhism and practice Vipassana meditation and mindfulness. Buddhisms genius is that it is a religion without God.) In his highly entertaining book, The Seven Types of Atheism, released in October in the U.S., philosopher John Gray puts it this way: Religion is an attempt to find meaning in events, not a theory that tries to explain the universe. It exists because we humans are the only species, so far as we can know, who have evolved to know explicitly that, one day in the future, we will die. And this existential fact requires some way of reconciling us to it while we are alive. This is why science cannot replace it. Science does not tell you how to live, or what life is about; it can provide hypotheses and tentative explanations, but no ultimate meaning. Art can provide an escape from the deadliness of our daily doing, but, again, appreciating great art or music is ultimately an act of wonder and contemplation, and has almost nothing to say about morality and life. Ditto history. My late friend, Christopher Hitchens, with a certain glee, gave me a copy of his book, God Is Not Great, a fabulous grab bag of religious insanity and evil over time, which I enjoyed immensely and agreed with almost entirely. But the fact that religion has been so often abused for nefarious purposes from burning people at the stake to enabling child rape to crashing airplanes into towers does not resolve the question of whether the meaning of that religion is true. It is perfectly possible to see and record the absurdities and abuses of man-made institutions and rituals, especially religious ones, while embracing a way of life that these evil or deluded people preached but didnt practice. Fanaticism is not synonymous with faith; it is merely faith at its worst. Thats what I told Hitch: great book, made no difference to my understanding of my own faith or anyone elses. Sorry, old bean, but try again. Seduced by scientism, distracted by materialism, insulated, like no humans before us, from the vicissitudes of sickness and the ubiquity of early death, the post-Christian West believes instead in something we have called progress a gradual ascent of mankind toward reason, peace, and prosperity as a substitute in many ways for our previous monotheism. We have constructed a capitalist system that turns individual selfishness into a collective asset and showers us with earthly goods; we have leveraged science for our own health and comfort. Our ability to extend this material bonanza to more and more people is how we define progress; and progress is what we call meaning. In this respect, Steven Pinker is one of the most religious writers Ive ever admired. His faith in reason is as complete as any fundamentalists belief in God. But none of this material progress beckons humans to a way of life beyond mere satisfaction of our wants and needs. And this matters. We are a meaning-seeking species. Gray recounts the experiences of two extraordinarily brilliant nonbelievers, John Stuart Mill and Bertrand Russell, who grappled with this deep problem. Heres Mill describing the nature of what he called A Crisis in My Mental History: I had what might truly be called an object in life: to be a reformer of the world. This did very well for several years, during which the general improvement going on in the world and the idea of myself as engaged with others in struggling to promote it, seemed enough to fill up an interesting and animated existence. But the time came when I awakened from this as from a dream In this frame of mind it occurred to me to put the question directly to myself: Suppose that all your objects in life were realized; that all the changes in institutions and opinions that you are looking forward to, could be completely effected at this very instant; would this be a great joy and happiness to you? And an irrepressible self-consciousness distinctly answered: No! At that point, this architect of our liberal order, this most penetrating of minds, came to the conclusion: I seemed to have nothing left to live for. It took a while for him to recover. Russell, for his part, abandoned Christianity at the age of 18, for the usual modern reasons, but the question of ultimate meaning still nagged at him. One day, while visiting the sick wife of a colleague, he described what happened: Suddenly the ground seemed to give away beneath me, and I found myself in quite another region. Within five minutes I went through some such reflections as the following: the loneliness of the human soul is unendurable; nothing can penetrate it except the highest intensity of the sort of love that religious teachers have preached; whatever does not spring from this motive is harmful, or at best useless. I suspect that most thinking beings end up with this notion of intense love as a form of salvation and solace as a kind of instinct. Those whose minds have been opened by psychedelics affirm this truth even further. I saw a bumper sticker the other day. It said Loving kindness is my religion. But the salient question is: why? Our modern world tries extremely hard to protect us from the sort of existential moments experienced by Mill and Russell. Netflix, air-conditioning, sex apps, Alexa, kale, Pilates, Spotify, Twitter theyre all designed to create a world in which we rarely get a second to confront ultimate meaning until a tragedy occurs, a death happens, or a diagnosis strikes. Unlike any humans before us, we take those who are much closer to death than we are and sequester them in nursing homes, where they cannot remind us of our own fate in our daily lives. And if you pressed, say, the liberal elites to explain what they really believe in and you have to look at what they do most fervently you discover, in John Grays mordant view of Mill, that they do, in fact, have an orthodoxy the belief in improvement that is the unthinking faith of people who think they have no religion. But the banality of the god of progress, the idea that the best life is writing explainers for Vox in order to make the world a better place, never quite slakes the thirst for something deeper. Liberalism is a set of procedures, with an empty center, not a manifestation of truth, let alone a reconciliation to mortality. But, critically, it has long been complemented and supported in America by a religion distinctly separate from politics, a tamed Christianity that rests, in Jesus formulation, on a distinction between God and Caesar. And this separation is vital for liberalism, because if your ultimate meaning is derived from religion, you have less need of deriving it from politics or ideology or trusting entirely in a single, secular leader. Its only when your meaning has been secured that you can allow politics to be merely procedural. So what happens when this religious rampart of the entire system is removed? I think what happens is illiberal politics. The need for meaning hasnt gone away, but without Christianity, this yearning looks to politics for satisfaction. And religious impulses, once anchored in and tamed by Christianity, find expression in various political cults. These political manifestations of religion are new and crude, as all new cults have to be. They havent been experienced and refined and modeled by millennia of practice and thought. They are evolving in real time. And like almost all new cultish impulses, they demand a total and immediate commitment to save the world. Now look at our politics. We have the cult of Trump on the right, a demigod who, among his worshippers, can do no wrong. And we have the cult of social justice on the left, a religion whose followers show the same zeal as any born-again Evangelical. They are filling the void that Christianity once owned, without any of the wisdom and culture and restraint that Christianity once provided. For many, especially the young, discovering a new meaning in the midst of the fallen world is thrilling. And social-justice ideology does everything a religion should. It offers an account of the whole: that human life and society and any kind of truth must be seen entirely as a function of social power structures, in which various groups have spent all of human existence oppressing other groups. And it provides a set of practices to resist and reverse this interlocking web of oppression from regulating the workplace and policing the classroom to checking your own sin and even seeking to control language itself. I think of non-PC gaffes as the equivalent of old swear words. Like the puritans who were agape when someone said goddamn, the new faithful are scandalized when someone says something problematic. Another commonality of the zealot then and now: humorlessness. And so the young adherents of the Great Awokening exhibit the zeal of the Great Awakening. Like early modern Christians, they punish heresy by banishing sinners from society or coercing them to public demonstrations of shame, and provide an avenue for redemption in the form of a thorough public confession of sin. Social justice theory requires the admission of white privilege in ways that are strikingly like the admission of original sin. A Christian is born again; an activist gets woke. To the belief in human progress unfolding through history itself a remnant of Christian eschatology it adds the Leninist twist of a cadre of heroes who jump-start the revolution. The same cultish dynamic can be seen on the right. There, many profess nominal Christianity and yet demonstrate every day that they have left it far behind. Some exist in a world without meaning altogether, and that fate is never pretty. I saw this most vividly when examining the opioid epidemic. People who have lost religion and are coasting along on materialism find they have few interior resources to keep going when crisis hits. They have no place of refuge, no spiritual safe space from which to gain perspective, no God to turn to. Many have responded to the collapse of meaning in dark times by simply and logically numbing themselves to death, extinguishing existential pain through ever-stronger painkillers that ultimately kill the pain of life itself. Yes, many Evangelicals are among the holiest and most quietly devoted people out there. Some have bravely resisted the cult. But their leaders have turned Christianity into a political and social identity, not a lived faith, and much of their flock a staggering 81 percent voted for Trump has signed on. They have tribalized a religion explicitly built by Jesus as anti-tribal. They have turned to idols including their blasphemous belief in America as Gods chosen country. They have embraced wealth and nationalism as core goods, two ideas utterly anathema to Christ. They are indifferent to the destruction of the creation they say they believe God made. And because their faith is unmoored but their religious impulse is strong, they seek a replacement for religion. This is why they could suddenly rally to a cult called Trump. He may be the least Christian person in America, but his persona met the religious need their own faiths had ceased to provide. The terrible truth of the last three years is that the fresh appeal of a leader-cult has overwhelmed the fading truths of Christianity. This is why they are so hard to reach or to persuade and why nothing that Trump does or could do changes their minds. You cannot argue logically with a religion which is why you cannot really argue with social-justice activists either. And whats interesting is how support for Trump is greater among those who do not regularly attend church than among those who do. And so were mistaken if we believe that the collapse of Christianity in America has led to a decline in religion. It has merely led to religious impulses being expressed by political cults. Like almost all new cultish impulses, they see no boundary between politics and their religion. And both cults really do minimize the importance of the individual in favor of either the oppressed group or the leader. And this is how they threaten liberal democracy. They do not believe in the primacy of the individual, they believe the ends justify the means, they do not allow for doubt or reason, and their religious politics can brook no compromise. They demonstrate, to my mind, how profoundly liberal democracy has actually depended on the complement of a tolerant Christianity to sustain itself as many earlier liberals (Tocqueville, for example) understood. It is Christianity that came to champion the individual conscience against the collective, which paved the way for individual rights. It is in Christianity that the seeds of Western religious toleration were first sown. Christianity is the only monotheism that seeks no sway over Caesar, that is content with the ultimate truth over the immediate satisfaction of power. It was Christianity that gave us successive social movements, which enabled more people to be included in the liberal project, thus renewing it. It was on these foundations that liberalism was built, and it is by these foundations it has endured. The question we face in contemporary times is whether a political system built upon such a religion can endure when belief in that religion has become a shadow of its future self. Will the house still stand when its ramparts are taken away? Im beginning to suspect it cant. And wont. Whats Left? Here are a couple of questions for Democrats about two of their potential 2020 candidates: What motivated Kirsten Gillibrands widely noted tweet this week? And why is there so much discontent on the left with Elizabeth Warren? On Tuesday evening, Gillibrand tweeted: Our future is female. Intersectional. Powered by our belief in one another. And were just getting started. I get the point: Women are succeeding more than ever before, are poised to do even better, and this is a great thing. But why express this as if men are also not part of the future? And intersectional? Its telling that, in Democratic circles, this is such a mainstream word now that she doesnt have to explain it to anyone. Gillibrands evolution, of course, has been long in the works and reveals, Id say, where the Democrats are going. When Gillibrand was a member of Congress, she identified as a Blue Dog conservative Democrat. She once campaigned in defense of gun rights, was in favor of cracking down on illegal immigration, voted against the 2008 bank bailout, and opposed marriage equality. Fast-forward a decade and look at the change. She first reversed her previous anti-gay positions, and was even instrumental in ending the gay ban in the military. By 2015, she invited Emma Sulkowicz to the State of the Union, a person who alleged they had been raped at Columbia University, despite Columbias, the NYPDs, and the district attorney generals investigations ending without a finding of rape, indeed finding a lack of reasonable suspicion. On social media, Sulkowicz was known as Mattress Girl, carrying an extra-long twin around the campus to exemplify the burden they felt (Sulkowicz identifies as nonbinary) and to pressure Columbia into expelling her alleged rapist. Gillibrand, who once opposed allowing illegal immigrants to get driving licenses, is also now a supporter of abolishing ICE. And, of course, she famously engineered the resignation of one of the more talented Democrats in the Senate, Al Franken, because of a forced stage kiss, allegations of groping, and a photo of him pretending to grab a fellow USO entertainers boobs. We wont ever get to the bottom of all that because Gillibrand demanded Frankens resignation merely on the basis of allegations, and within a day, Franken had resigned, before the Senate Ethics Committee had finished an investigation. Enough is enough, she declared, invoking the existing power structure of society to end due process for Franken. I do not begrudge Gillibrand for her transformation, but it is hard to believe that political calculation was absent. Shes running for president, and invoking the language of critical gender theory, she seems to believe, will help her in the primaries. Then theres the Democratic backlash against Elizabeth Warren. Youd think it would be about her terrible political judgment, as demonstrated by her spectacular self-immolation on the issue of her claimed Native American ancestry. But no! The reason many Democrats have turned on her is that she used a DNA test at all to prove her family lore. From the New York Times: She has yet to allay criticism from grass-roots progressive groups, liberal political operatives and other potential 2020 allies who complain that she put too much emphasis on the controversial field of racial science and, in doing so, played into Mr. Trumps hands Ms. Warren has also troubled advocates of racial equality and justice, who say her attempt to document ethnicity with a D.N.A test gave validity to the idea that race is determined by blood a bedrock principle for white supremacists and others who believe in racial hierarchies. The social-justice movements suspicion of science, especially genetics, is at work here. And it is not racial science to examine your DNA to see which genetic subpopulation in the world you belong to, or where your ancestors lived. Its science. So if you send off for a 23andMe test, in the view of many Democrats, youre a white supremacist! This seems to be where the Democratic Party now is. Hunker down for a second term of Donald J. Trump. A Moment of Truth I almost never cry in movies, even tear-jerkers. But the other night, I sat down and watched Darkest Hour, the movie, now available on HBO, that follows (well, kinda) John Lukacss account of the five days in May 1940 when Britain, its entire army stuck in France and its air force still woefully unequal to the Luftwaffe, stared into the abyss. Many in the elite believed that some kind of accommodation with Hitler was the only option keeping him at bay and preserving much of the Empire. That policy of a peace treaty was, to my mind, a highly persuasive way forward in the naked short-term interest of the United Kingdom. Lord Halifax famously championed it in a vital cabinet meeting. Something in Churchill resisted. Theres a factually ridiculous but dramatically powerful scene when Winston jumps out of his official car and into the tube, where the passengers greet him first with British politeness (no mass selfies back then), and then begin a conversation. Churchill lays out the reasons for a peace treaty and asks the Londoners what they think of dealing with Hitler this way. Never! they shout back. Never! Interests be damned. A figure like Hitler has to be confronted and defeated. To slink away from this moral obligation violated their sense of patriotism, their understanding of what Britain meant to a world suffocating in tyranny. The great symbol of this refusal to appease was, of course, the rescue of the troops from Dunkirk by hundreds and hundreds of ordinary Brits in various boats and ships, defying Nazi control of the air to save their boys as they called them. It was an upwelling of moral purpose, of real grit against all the odds, and as I watched Gary Oldman deliver the Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat speech that Churchill gave in the Commons, my eyes were swimming. Why had my response been so intense, I asked myself when my bout of blubbering had finally subsided? Part of it, of course, is my still-lingering love of the island I grew up in; part is my love of Churchill himself, in all his flaws and greatness. But I think it was mainly about how the people of Britain shook off the moral decadence of the foreign policy of the 1930s, how, beneath the surface, there were depths of feeling and determination that we never saw until an existential crisis hit, and an extraordinary figure seized the moment. And I realized how profoundly I yearn for something like that to reappear in America. The toll of Trump is so deep. In so many ways, he has come close to delegitimizing this country and entire West, aroused the worst instincts within us, fed fear rather than confronting it, and has been rewarded for his depravity in the most depressing way by everything that is foul on the right and nothing that is noble. I want to believe in America again, its decency and freedom, its hostility, bred in its bones, toward tyranny of any kind, its kindness and generosity. I need what someone once called the audacity of hope. Ive witnessed this America ever since I arrived especially its embrace of immigrants which is why it is hard to see Trump tearing migrant children from their parents. That America is still out there, I tell myself, as the midterms demonstrated. It can build. But who, one wonders, is our Churchill? And when will he or she emerge? See you next Friday. Would you like to receive breaking news notifications from The Post and Courier? Sign up to receive news and updates from this site directly to your desktop. Breaking News Columbia Breaking News Greenville Breaking News Myrtle Beach Breaking News Aiken Breaking News N Augusta Breaking News Click on the bell icon to manage your notifications at any time. Success! Please click the 'Allow' button in the 'Show Notifcations' alert in your browser if one is available. Thank you for signing up! Please enable notifications in your browser and reload the page. El Chupeta before (left) and after (right) plastic surgery. Photo: AFP/Getty Images The prosecution of Joaquin Guzman Loera, better known as El Chapo, currently underway at the Eastern District courthouse in Brooklyn, promised to be the Scopes trial of narco-trafficking. The U.S. Attorneys office was selling Chapo, Mexican leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, as the biggest, baddest dope-pusher in the recorded history of the trade, at least back to the commanders of British warships during the Chinese opium wars of the 1840s. Yet as Americas first great narco trial ground through its fourth week, it was apparent that something was missing. It wasnt the lack of information. The governments array of cooperating witnesses (they used to be called rats) have produced reams of testimony on Chapos Amazon Primelike ability to flood the market with an unprecedented volume of addictive drugs. Chapter and verse was presented on the drug lords bribes to corrupt Mexican officials, including alleged payouts to two former presidents. Spates of killings were described, some in graphic detail. Still, the process was a drama without a center. Part of the problem was the U.S. Attorneys choice to try El Chapo as a traditional drug kingpin, as if moving the man they call Shorty off the board was going to somehow end the cartels and justify the untold billions the government has spent on the War on Drugs. It was a misconception of both time and scale. When Frank Lucas, the so-called American Gangster, was riding high in the early 1970s, his area of control consisted of a couple of blocks along 116th Street in Harlem. The territory wasnt vast, but Lucas was the kingpin of it, just as other old-school dope-pushers like Nicky Barnes and Pappy Mason were the bosses of their slivers of sidewalk. Narcoland is another realm. It is a worldwide canvas, a realm where drugs are the ultimate globalized commodity, a decentralized zone where the nation-state and the cartel are often one in the same. It is a system that transcends its players. No one mortal man could be its kingpin. This isnt to say that El Chapo shouldnt be on trial, or be sent to the Supermax prison in Florence, Colorado. The evidence was fairly clear on that. Hed been responsible, out of sheer machismo and greed, for the horrific cartel wars in both Tijuana and Juarez, turning both Mexican border towns (with a total population of 2.6 million) into terrains of fear and despair. Hed amassed an estimated $14 billion without ever paying an unlaundered cent to either the Mexican or American governments. In his numerous depictions in the popular culture, both in Netflix series and who knew how many Mexican telenovelas he was a ruthless kill-or-be-killed figure. The trouble for watchers of the first great American narco trial was that Chapos alleged immorality, his vicious disregard for the best of the human spirit, was not manifested in the Brooklyn courtroom. It could have been the fact that the drug lord was being kept in lockup 23 hours a day, or whatever meds they had him on, or his lack of physical stature, but Chapo simply didnt look all that scary sitting day after day at the table for the defense. He certainly didnt appear to be the fearsome legend whose penchant for uncanny escape had caused the city to shut down the Brooklyn Bridge just to transport him across the East River. Possibly because of these overhyped exploits, in person, the Culiacan gangster seemed little more than a burnt 61-year-old shell of his former hell-raising self. You could see it his eyes the resignation, the sense of defeat. Sitting at the defense table, the drug lords famous black-eyed Roberto Duran stare had dissolved to abject neediness as he stole glances at his faithful young wife, Emma Coronel Aispuro, sitting in the second row of the gallery. In short, he brought no menace to the room. And if there was one thing any decent drug prosecution needed, it was a palpable sense of living, breathing malevolence what most recognize as sheer evil. The calculus would reconfigure with appearance of Juan Carlos Ramirez Abadia, the 55-year old Colombian-born narco known as El Chupeta. A federal prisoner since 2008, El Chupeta his nickname means Lollipop first met El Chapo in a Mexico City hotel lobby during 1993. He was a major coke importer looking for someone capable of moving large quantities of product into the U.S. quickly, with the least amount of drama. Chapo, then known as El Rapido owing to his high-volume, high-efficiency business model, was Ramirezs man. It was one of most lucrative dope-distribution deals in history, raking in billions in yearly profits. But this history was the least of what El Chupeta brought to the current case. It was the face that you noticed first, the result of four separate rounds of plastic surgery the former leader of Columbias Norte del Valle Cartel underwent while on the run in Brazil during the late 1990s. I had changes done, Chupeta said as he sat in the witness chair wearing a shiny black ski jacket with the collar rolled up, fleece gloves on his hands. I altered the physical appearance of my jawbone, my cheekbones, my eyes, my mouth, my ears, and my nose. If Jocelyn Wildenstein, the famous Catwoman of tabloid sensation, undertook rigorous elective facial surgery to bring out her feline nature, El Chupeta went for something darker. Hed transformed himself into Nosferatu. The surgeries were the end product of years of peripatetic escapes on El Chupetas part. After years of success, the trafficker disappeared from Colombia when the government put a $5 million bounty on his head. He moved to the wild borderlands of then-Chavezista Venezuela. In addition to wrecking the petro economy, the leftist Venezuelan caudillo had tweaked the tail of American power by banishing the DEA, which made the country a narco paradise. During that time, El Chupeta allegedly entered into a dope-smuggling partnership with the FARC, or the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the agrarian Marxist-Leninist group of brutalists seeking to overthrow the government of his home country. But then someone tried to collect the $5 million reward, and Ramirez was on the move again, relocating to Brazil, where he lived as a reclusive king, with thousands of bottles of wine in his cellar, a multimillion-dollar art collection, and personal zoo stocked with a lion, monkeys swinging from trees, and a flock of peacocks. The governments direct examination of El Chupeta had its highlights, notably his spooky Conradian tale of a shipment lost at sea. Speaking in his harsh, electronic-inflected voice, El Chupeta spoke of a ship captain who had dipped too deeply into his cargo. The man went crazy, the witness said. He started to see ghosts. He though the American Coast Guard was everywhere, and deliberately sank the boat along with 20,000 kilos of coke. Anxious to check on the fate of his product, El Chupeta requisitioned a helicopter owned by friendly elements of the Mexican federal police. He cared nothing for the ship, or the men that had gone down with it, only the cocaine. But he saw nothing, only the sea. When I saw all that sea I became very sad. A richer picture of the demon within El Chupeta came to light during the defense cross-examination this past Tuesday morning. The defense doesnt have all that much to work with. No one thinks theyre going to get El Chapo off. Their only hope is to beat the first count against their client, the continuing criminal enterprise RICO charge that will send Chapo to jail for life (until of course he flips on whomever else the government tries next). The best tactic is to make the cooperating witnesses look even worse than their fatally compromised client. The cross-examination was handled by William Purpura, who at 66 is the senior member of El Chapos estimated $5 million defense team that also includes Jeffrey Lichtman and A. Eduardo Balarezo, former counsel to Arturo Beltran Leyva, a former Chapo cartel ally turned enemy. Previously, Purpuras crosses had been a mixed bag. He was a shine-headed pit bull of the team, always on the attack, sometimes excessively so. But with El Chupeta, the man that trial wags joked spent his off-hours wrapped in leathery wings upside down in his cell like a bat, the Jersey-born Purpura found the proper tone. When youve got the devil on the stand, youre not going to outsmart him. The best thing you can do is keep him talking, listen closely, study the methodology. This Purpura did. He asked about the people Chupeta had ordered dead, including the one he shot in face at point-blank range. Was this all true? Correcto! El Chupeta answered, over and over, with the defiance of the wholly unashamed. Purpura moved to one of the trials outstanding bits of evidence, El Chupetas ledger, his accounts of seemingly every transaction the narco engaged in over his mendacious career. There was an OCD compulsion about the accounts accuracy. Purpura asked El Chupeta how much he paid to assassinate a particular group of enemies; he knew the more than 20-year-old figure from memory, down to the last dollar: $338,776. Later Purpura asked El Chupeta about his nickname, Lollipop, a sardonic reference to a poison candy to be sucked on at your own risk. Like a wiseacre street guy, Purpura asked, You mean like a pacifier? It was a diss, an open challenge to which El Chupeta reacted in an unexpected way. He smiled, his lips spreading over his pointed chin, lifting the angle of his tubular cheek bones. For an instant it appeared that the Lollipops face might break wide open, revealing whatever darkness lurked beneath. Then a kind of guttural noise came forth, something of delighted giggle. It was a moment of victory for a street lawyer pleading his sure loser of a case. Hed made the devil laugh. Blockchain technologies, especially cryptocurrencies, have become a hot topic in Iran during the past few years, just as in most other countries. Few tangible results have materialized so far, but US officials may have actually done Iran a favor as they have significantly accelerated development of blockchain-based projects. The unilateral reimposition of US sanctions and a local drive for transparency have prompted Iranian authorities to increasingly turn to blockchain and everything it enables. At least two state-backed virtual currencies are in the works, one spearheaded by the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) and the other by the Information and Communications Technology Ministry. Authorities have signaled they will at least partially embrace cryptocurrencies. The head of the High Council of Cyberspace, Abolhassan Firouzabadi, said Nov. 4 that Irans government has accepted cryptocurrency mining as an industry. The CBI is expected to divulge its regulatory stance on cryptocurrencies in the coming months and recognize the decentralized phenomena; while it is unclear what degree of recognition will take place, the expected move signals an about-face from the blanket ban on handling cryptocurrencies for financial institutions issued in April. The latest example of Iran striving to expand its blockchain development efforts came Nov. 14, when a trilateral agreement of cooperation was signed with Russia and Armenia during the ChainPoint 18 conference in Yerevan, Armenia. It was signed between the CBI-affiliated Iran Blockchain Labs, the Russian Association of Cryptoindustry and Blockchain and the Armenian Blockchain Association. The agreement deals with transferring knowledge and experience, holding mutual consultations, participating in joint work groups and raising awareness about blockchain technologies. Al-Monitor unsuccessfully sought comment on the agreement from Iran Blockchain Labs. However, Armenian Blockchain Association President Vigen Arushanyan said the accord is about sharing the expertise and experience between professionals from the participating countries, adding, All of the three countries have strong and prominent academia, and technical and technological human resources, so it is natural to combine efforts for the sake of the development of emerging technologies. The president of the Russian Association of Cryptoindustry and Blockchain, Yuri Pripachkin, said his group is comprised of players and companies representing various aspects of the Russian crypto industry: miners, traders, developers of blockchain technologies, lawyers and information and security specialists. He said the command that Russian developers and experts have about the subject is seen as quite high by those outside the country, "so the interest of Iranian colleagues in the experience of domestic Russian] specialists is understandable. Pripachkin told Al-Monitor, We are waiting for Iranian colleagues to exchange the experiences, contacts and knowledge that they have accumulated during their work. Practical applications of the distributed ledger technology offered by blockchain are immensely diverse and promise radical transparency. Iranian authorities have also started tapping into some of its various applications as it was announced in early August that the National Library and Archives of Iran will become accessible on blockchain. However, especially in light of reimposed US sanctions, Iran is now mostly focused on blockchain-enabled solutions in the financial sector. In remarks reported by Russias RBK following finalization of the trilateral blockchain agreement, Pripachkin said it could prove especially useful to Iran, where the situation is more complicated in terms of sanctions. According to our information, an active development of an Iranian version of SWIFT is currently under way, he said, adding that cryptoeconomic tools can be effectively utilized to bypass sanctions restrictions. On Nov. 5, the day the second tranche of US sanctions targeting Irans banking and oil industries among others came into effect, CBI Governor Abdolnasser Hemmati said the central bank had actively planned for various sanctions scenarios. He also confirmed that the CBI has already commenced work on a replacement for Society for the Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT). Shortly after, the Belgium-based global financial messaging service caved in to US pressure and disconnected the CBI and several other Iranian banks. On Nov. 18, the semi-official Fars News Agency quoted an unnamed banking official who also confirmed work on a replacement for SWIFT, and said all Iranian banks and a number of foreign banks have already connected to it without mentioning any names. More recently, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Nov. 28 that Russia is actively working with partners to create financial systems that are independent of SWIFT. According to Mohammad Tehrani, a senior member of the Khatam University Blockchain Lab, building a blockchain-based financial messaging service would entail two major dimensions: technical and commercial-legal. Blockchains distributed ledger technology can provide the required technical grounds that will have beneficiary countries, perhaps the Commonwealth of Independent States [CIS] nations, as members, he told Al-Monitor. The blockchain-enabled financial system could be pegged to gold, or a more sustainable backer that could be a basket of Iranian and CIS member states currencies. This way, If Irans rial continues to slide, for example, the impact on the overall currency will be limited, he said. For Tehrani, the more problematic aspect will be working out the commercial and legal challenges. The cryptocurrency expert said a multilateral blockchain-enabled financial messaging system would be nothing but a pipe dream absent committed negotiations to work out the details. The text of the trilateral blockchain agreement does not mention any specific applications, including a financial messaging service. Pripachkin said Iran and Russia could potentially use cryptocurrency instruments to facilitate international payments. However, at the moment this is impossible due to the lack of legal status of cryptocurrency in the Russian legislation, he said, adding that his association is involved in an ongoing lawmaking process concerning cryptocurrencies in the Russian parliament. Pripachkin said the Russian association's experts think Iran should for now primarily focus on creating a domestic market through employing cryptocurrencies that will be aimed at bettering the daily lives of citizens and boosting transparency. And if investors, including foreign ones, see that this market actively operates and develops, then the next stage will be access to the international level, he said. For Arushanyan, even if the countries use virtual currencies in the future and commercial banks clear the transactions, They will probably face some pressure from their international counterparts side. Fully aware of the potential ramifications of virtual currencies for its sovereignty, the United States has so far proved very vigilant in trying to monitor and curb crypto use by Iran. In a detailed advisory published Oct. 11, the US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network dedicated a lengthy chapter to Irans use of virtual currencies. The US Department of Treasury recently designated two Iranians for allegedly using bitcoin to facilitate malign activities and payments. Perhaps more noteworthy, it was the first time that US sanctions targeted digital currency addresses. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu loves Hanukkah. The annual ritual of lighting the Hanukkah candelabra organized by his party provides him with a stage from which to project his brightness unto the people of Israel and the world. At the same time, he uses the platform to cast into shadow all those who wish ill on the State of Israel and the Netanyahu family which the prime minister views as one and the same. This year, the Festival of Lights provided an ideal opportunity to save residents of northern Israel from the tunnels dug by Hezbollah from Lebanon into Israel, which residents have reported for years and largely been ignored. On Dec. 4, the IDF launched operation Northern Shield to uncover and neutralize these tunnels. Those claiming the timing of the operation, which has been in the planning for months, was linked to the Dec. 2 police recommendations to indict Netanyahu on suspicion of bribery and other crimes, do so at their own risk. For Hanukkah 2012, Netanyahu posted a photo to Facebook of Israel taken from a satellite, writing in Hebrew, The State of Israel is a light unto nations. One can see this from outer space, too. Earlier that year, in February, Netanyahu took the opportunity of the appointment ceremony for Judge Asher Grunis as president of the Supreme Court to boast about Israels exemplary legal system that serves as a light unto nations. And not only a light unto nations, Netanyahu waxed poetically, a bright light. On a Hanukkah 2017 conference call with Israeli embassies around the world, Netanyahu bragged, Many countries understand that we are spreading light unto the nations in our search and rescue missions and in health, agriculture, water and all the important fields. And what about the fields of corruption and law enforcement? Does the prime minister not regard them as important, or does he have trouble portraying Israel as a bright light in these areas? As the devil or the police commissioner would have it (Netanyahu sees them as one and the same), this Hanukkah the police have turned Netanyahus festival of light unto nations into a festival of dark recommendations. On Dec. 2, the police announced that with the completion of the investigation known as Case 4000, it was recommending Netanyahus indictment on suspicion of taking a bribe, fraud and breach of trust and fraudulently accepting benefits under egregious circumstances. Netanyahu is suspected of making regulatory decisions benefiting Shaul Elovitch, the controlling shareholder in the countrys largest telecommunications firm Bezeq, in exchange for positive coverage for Netanyahu and his wife by Elovitchs Walla! news site. In February, police announced it had sufficient grounds to suspect that the prime minister engaged in a relationship of bribery with the publisher of the Yediot Ahronoth news group, Arnon Mozes. Police have also recommended indicting Netanyahu on bribery charges, fraud and breach of trust stemming from his relationship with Hollywood mogul Arnon Milchan, and on charges of fraud and breach of trust resulting from his relationship with Australian businessman James Packer. The announcements noted that the offices of the state attorney and the attorney general had closely monitored the investigations. If there is any substance at all to the recommendations, then the State of Israel is indeed a model unto nations of government corruption and the undermining of the pillars of democracy. However, even if Netanyahus reactions to the recommendations were close to the truth (he categorically denied the allegations), Israeli society is in trouble. In December 2015, at the ceremony appointing Roni Alsheikh to head the Israeli police, Netanyahu described the organization as a foundation stone of our national defense wall," saying, "There is no government without police, without police that enforces law and order. An efficient, determined, professional and dedicated police. Heaping praise on Alsheikh, Netanyahu added, I am confident you will guide the police toward a successful future while serving as a personal example of responsible command. A lot has changed since. In reaction to the recommendation to indict him in Case 4000, Netanyahu said that the investigation process was poisoned from the start. According to Netanyahu, rather than law enforcement, Israel now has a police force conducting a tainted process that levels crazy claims against the prime minister, a police force most of whose recommendations are binned, a body that has lost public trust and senior figures who bend judges. Alasheikh, who Netanyahu himself appointed and was convinced would guide the police to a successful future, ended his three-year term this week. Netanyahus parting words to him were that his successor would have his work cut out for him to rehabilitate the police force. The best-case scenario is still troubling. If it turns out that Netanyahu did not accept bribes, did not buy media coverage and did not take gifts from business people, the prime minister by his own admission fell asleep at the helm while the state drifted and foundered. He failed to notice that the guardians he had named to protect the rule of law were undermining him. And if he turns out to be right in saying that all those who have turned states witness his aide Ari Harow, his confidant Nir Hefetz and his yes man Shlomo Filber conspired against him, that means the prime minister had surrounded himself with a gang of corrupt officials. Don't forget that Netanyahus personal lawyer David Shimron and his candidate for national security adviser, Avriel Bar-Yosef, are both suspects in the submarine scandal. In September 2000, then-attorney general and subsequently Deputy Chief Justice Elyakim Rubinstein issued a scathing public report about suspicions that Netanyahu accepted gifts while serving his first term as prime minister. Rubinstein wrote, Elected officials and public servants, not to mention those at the top of the pyramid and those alongside them, [must] ensure they do not fail in any way. Even if the weight of evidence does not meet the standard for a criminal conviction, it contains a degree of ugliness." What was considered ugly in those days is currently covered by heavy layers of makeup and rewarded with the spotlight. One cannot end without expressing hope that the Israeli public will in the future be able to feel that its servants are not its masters, and that theyre doing their job for the sake of the public out of honesty and integrity, Rubinstein summed up. One should add, "out of respect for the rule of law and defense of democracy," which should have gone without saying in a civilized state, especially one that presumes to serve as a light unto nations. The most important achievement of the womens protest that swept across the country Dec. 4 was the intensity of its media coverage. It topped the news even if that same morning the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched a military operation along the border with Lebanon to destroy Hezbollahs network of tunnels penetrating Israeli territory. Every available studio was used to provide live coverage of the security incident in the north. As such, it was only natural that this would draw public attention. After all, Israelis had long been preparing themselves for just such a military conflagration. The leaders of a coalition of womens groups skipped a beat, fearing that the tense security situation would sideline public attention from their campaign. In the past couple of days, they actually felt the seething outrage at the governments apparent inability to act against the phenomenon of violence against women. The protest began on Facebook following the murders of two young girls just two days apart last November. From there it spread like wildfire across social media. Sylvana Tsegai, 13, from Tel Aviv, and Yara Ayoub, 16, from Jish, were both victims of serious abuse by men just before they died. The murders sent shockwaves across Israeli society. They succeeded in breaking through the apathy and touching a raw nerve. Two women, Ruti Klein and Dror Sadot, set the ensuing protest into motion. Both of them work in the public and social sectors. Together they decided that it was time to act and they did. About a week ago, they started a Facebook campaign under the name I am a woman. I am striking: Dec. 4, 2018. In less than a day, some 10,000 people, men and women alike, announced that they would be taking part in the demonstration. Soon, womens groups, businesses and local authorities announced that they would allow women who work for them to strike so that they can participate in the protests. Adding to the public outrage was the fact that driven by coalition discipline, many female Knesset members, including government ministers, voted against the oppositions initiative to create a parliamentary committee of inquiry to study the phenomenon of domestic violence on Nov. 21. At the same time, it was revealed that the government had failed to transfer 250 million shekels ($67 million) budgeted in 2017 for groups assisting battered women, even though the money had been promised to them. In the spirit of the #metoo campaign, this parliamentary and government failure was not overlooked by the media or the public at large. The overall impression was that while women across all divides are too often considered passive, this time they are showing solidarity with their sisters across the country. They want to take an active part in the protest. Then, on Tuesday morning, everything seemed to be collapsing around the organizers of the protest. Anyone living in Israel knows that major security incidents have the ability to reshuffle the deck and overwhelm the public agenda. Yet despite concerns that this would happen again, the protests organizers made a principled decision not to cancel the event. It turned out to be the right decision. From morning until that evenings main rally in Tel Aviv, protest events only intensified. They topped the agenda in traditional media and social networks alike. The day started with the riveting exhibit of red shoes in Habima Square and continued with the blocking of roads and 24 minutes of silence in memory of the 24 women who have been murdered so far in 2018. Knesset member Meirav Michaeli of the Zionist Camp has been a major figure in Israels feminist struggle for the past two decades. At noon on Dec. 4, she called on men and women across the country to take to the streets despite the tension in the north. In a post that appeared on her Facebook page, she wrote, Thats right. A military operation is underway in the north: Operation Northern Shield. Trust the IDF. Its on the case, and it says that everything should carry on as normal. So this is our new normal for today. Were on strike. The climax was a mass demonstration in Tel Avivs Rabin Square, where an estimated 30,000 women and men converged to protest. No one could believe their eyes. The demonstrators included religious and secular, right and left, Arab and Jews. This was not a political demonstration, and that was the source of its strength. Family members of victims of violence, their daughters and their sisters appeared on stage to tell their loved ones stories. All of this was happening while Prime Minister and Defense Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called a press conference in the Ministry of Defense in Tel Aviv to report on Operation Northern Shield along the Lebanese border. As he spoke, one of the most moving and important civilian protests of the last few years was taking place less than 2 kilometers away. Until Dec. 4 this week, the banner of womens rights and action against domestic violence and sexual assault was held aloft mainly by womens groups, a handful of Knesset members and hardcore feminist activists. This week, that all changed. The public at large took to the streets in a historic show of solidarity. According to an October 2017 report by the Adva Center, some 20 women are murdered in Israel every year by the people closest to them. Another 10,000 women file complaints about violence, but in most cases, their cases are closed. It is safe to assume that it will take more time until there is a major change in the country, but it is now clear that public awareness of the phenomenon has infiltrated politics. Just one day after the big protest and strike, even with the military operation up north underway, Netanyahu convened the special ministerial committee that he heads to discuss domestic violence and violence against women. Participating in the discussion were Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked and Minister of Public Security Gilad Erdan. At this meeting, Netanyahu said, I see violence against women as terrorism for all intents and purposes. He then promised to advance rapid legislation, which would require physically abusive men to wear an ankle monitor. Still, what was very much needed now was for Netanyahu to order immediately the transfer of the 250 million shekels to the relevant bodies. This sum was already budgeted, but because of bureaucratic and coalition considerations, it never reached its destination. The money was supposed to finance important projects for battling domestic violence. As long as the funding isnt transferred, the promises made by Netanyahu remain just that empty words. This is the same Netanyahu under whose leadership three inter-ministerial committees were created in 1998 (during his first term), 2014 and 2016 to study the same issue. In other words, this would be his fourth committee. Netanyahu has an acute ability to sniff out events that are potentially damaging. He realized that the current womens protests were widespread and authentic, and he skillfully switched to the right side. He wasnt the only one either. Including men, many politicians who were never very enthusiastic about raising the banner of violence against women have become frontline soldiers in this struggle. So, for instance, Zionist Camp Chairman Avi Gabbay released an aggressive post on Facebook that said, among other things, Once we are in power, we will increase enforcement of the law and impose stricter punishment on violent criminals. Even if these are nothing more than public statements by politicians, they indicate a shift in the public discourse. What was once a niche topic has become a major agenda item. Now, the test for womens groups will be whether they know how to take advantage of this momentum before the upcoming election, preventing their struggle from fading. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a speech to Likud activists on Dec. 2 that was both defensive and combative toward law enforcement authorities. He complained about the supposedly suspicious timing of the police announcement recommending his indictment for taking bribes in Case 4000, coming as it did one day before Police Commissioner Roni Alsheikh concluded his term in office. Barely 48 hours later, on the morning of Dec. 4, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced the launch of Operation Northern Shield to locate tunnels dug by Hezbollah along the Lebanese-Israeli border. Along with relevant remarks about the actual operation, quite a few commenters joked and wondered about its timing. Operation Bullshit was how one commenter described it. Another ridiculed it as Operation Balfour Street, a reference to the address of the prime ministers residence, and someone else dubbed it Operation 7000, the sum of the criminal investigation case names against Netanyahu Cases 1000, 2000 and 4000. This last comment was in response to an analysis published Dec. 4 in Haaretz by military correspondent Amos Harel, who wondered whether the move was nothing more than an Operation Grandma, referencing a satirical cult movie about Israels obsession with defense. None of those ridiculing the timing of Operation Northern Shield expressed any doubt about the need to destroy the tunnels dug by Hezbollah to infiltrate Israel, but the operation does raise quite a few questions and doubts that are hardly amusing. It turns out that the IDF has long known about Hezbollah's cross-border tunnels. A senior military source told reporters that Israel knows all about the Hezbollah project and is aware of every one of its tunnels (in the IDF's estimation). Interestingly, the operation has so far exposed only one such tunnel, despite the great fuss. The timing issue is not the only indication that the decision to expose and block the tunnels involved considerations other than security. The code name Northern Shield lends the impression of a defensive operation of paramount importance, which it does not appear to be. Added to that is the media circus the likes of which has not been seen on Israels northern border since the Second Lebanon War (2006), complete with live news updates throughout the day, as if there were some sort of emergency. And let us not forget that it all began with Netanyahus urgent dash to Brussels on the evening of Dec. 3 to meet with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Netanyahus office, instead of issuing a laconic announcement about what was essentially a working meeting, volunteered that the prime minister had taken off urgently to discuss a defense-related development linked to Iran. Did Netanyahu fly all the way to Brussels to get the go-ahead for an operation to locate tunnel openings within Israels sovereign borders? The photos from the northern border on the following morning raised even more questions. The IDF deployed a few bulldozers and some digging equipment for the type of activity that it has carried out dozens, if not hundreds, of times along the Gaza border over the past two years. Down south, the IDF destroyed Hamas' flagship tunnel project without fanfare, without long-winded declarations, without pounding the drums of war, and certainly without leaks to the media about an urgent overseas meeting. Also in the case of the Hezbollah tunnels, the IDF actually added to the hype when it announced the re-deployment of artillery and call up of reserves. As far as anyone knows, however, the tunnels up north are not a flagship project for Hezbollah, especially when compared to the importance Hamas accorded its tunnels. Hezbollah's primary efforts are focused on other military strategies. A war-like atmosphere featuring attack tunnels, an emergency operation, a call up of reserves, convening of the Security Cabinet was created and then underscored by Netanyahu with a special broadcast to the nation on prime time, evening television. Media events of this kind, designed to convey to the public that things are under control, usually take place in times of war or after a multiple-victim terror attack. Surprisingly, the IDF went along with it all. Such military operations are typically complex, sensitive, and dangerous. Secrecy is generally preferable to beating the drums of war. The dramatic declaration about the launch of widespread military operations and creating a false impression of a major force deployment along the northern border could have been interpreted as a (needless) declaration of war against Hezbollah. So far, Israeli troops have not stepped an inch into Lebanon, but the declarations and announcements, including about mobilizing reserves, led Hezbollah to declare a state of readiness. Who was it that the IDF had sought to scare? Hezbollah or perhaps the Israeli public? As noted, the IDF has thus far exposed only one tunnel. It could have been cemented shut and reported as a successful, one-off operation. Netanyahu, however, wanted (and got) a full-scale television performance out of it to help him rehabilitate his image of being strong on defense, after it was tarnished by his decision to accept a cease-fire deal with Hamas rather than get drawn into a war in Gaza. The agreement drew harsh criticism from Netanyahus political base. Since Netanyahu will have to hold elections some time in 2019, he is now trying to rebuild his Mr. Security image as an indispensable minister of defense. In a bid to forestall HaBayit HaYehudi leaving the governing coalition after the Nov. 14 resignation of Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman over the Hamas cease-fire, Netanyahu called a news conference on Nov. 18 and hinted that Israel was facing a security threat, the nature of which he could not divulge. In the midst of a security campaign, said Netanyahu, You dont play politics. In his case, however, it appears that all means justify the end, even if it requires launching an Operation Grandma or Operation Bullshit to rehabilitate one's image. Even in an amusing video produced for Hanukkah, the Prime Minister's Office portrays Netanyahu more as defense minister than the leader of the country. The clip shows him walking into a bakery, where there is a long line to buy Hanukkah donuts. While waiting his turn, he goes on about his diplomatic successes and the economic progress Israel has made. The video ends with a humble request by one of the customers a selfie with the minister of defense. Netanyahu will probably only call elections after he feels his supporters have forgiven him for the Hamas cease-fire and view him as an indispensable defense minister. Efforts to restore his image are legitimate political moves. What is not acceptable and is even dangerous is to launch a military operation that could have been conducted differently without using soldiers and bulldozers as props for the defense minister to stage an operation to expose tunnels and conceal criminal investigations. Like other right-wing governments in the West, Israel will not be participating in the international conference in Morocco this month where the United Nations will present the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration. Agreement to develop the compact and introduce it at a conference had been reached during meetings of the UN General Assembly in September 2016. At the time, the plan was for participants to sign the convention in Marrakesh, even though it would not be legally binding. Representatives from Israels Foreign Ministry participated in the discussions during which the convention was written, but on Nov. 20 Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israel would not be participating in the conference nor would it become a signatory to the compact. We have a duty to protect our borders against illegal infiltrators, Netanyahu said. Thats what weve done, and thats what we will continue to do. Netanyahu first announced his opposition after the newspaper Israel HaYom revealed that Israel planned to take part in the initiative. The paper's reporting generated a reproach from the right. Israeli opponents of migration believe that the countrys very participation in the initiative would be a step too far. A major reason behind this opposition is the supposedly liberal character of the initiative, which blurs distinctions between illegal immigrants, asylum seekers and refugees. Among the provisions, the convention would permit the entry and resettlement of migrants leaving their countries due to climate change. It also provides these immigrants an opportunity to bring their families from their countries of origin to join them under a family reunification framework and grants legal representation to immigrants regardless of their legal status. It eliminates criminal sanctions for entering countries illegally, rejects the creation of closed detention centers for illegal immigrants, encourages the full integration of immigrants into the host society and ensures multicultural activities there. The compact additionally supports training members of the media to use more sensitive terminology when describing immigration and calls for action against media outlets that encourage discrimination against immigrants. The clauses that stand in particularly stark contrast to current official Israeli policy are those eliminating criminal sanctions for entering a country illegally and rejecting the creation of detention centers. The Israeli Immigration Policy Center works to limit immigration to Israel, and according to spokesperson Yonatan Yakobovich, The agreement runs counter to the most basic sovereign interests of the State of Israel. There can be no justification for signing an international agreement that runs counter to these interests. For the past few years, the Israeli government has been waging a battle with the Supreme Court, which has frequently overturned legislation intended to deal with the problem of people entering the country illegally. Its rulings have included placing bans on deportations and imprisonment in detention centers. In April 2018, Netanyahu announced that he had reached an agreement with the United Nations by which some migrants would be transferred under UN auspices to other countries while others would be allowed to remain in Israel, where they would receive legal status. After coming under a barrage of criticism from the right, the prime minister backtracked one day later, revoking the agreements that he had just reached with the United Nations. Now the right has been sharply critical of the Foreign Ministrys participation in formulating the new convention. At an urgent meeting of the Knessets Interior Committee convened Nov. 21, Likud representative Yoav Kisch declared that under no circumstances should Israel sign such an agreement without public debate on the issue. He went on to describe the convention as an injurious measure that would have a deleterious impact on the country for many generations to come. Alon Bar had tracked the conventions development as the Foreign Ministry's representative for the past two years. At the emergency Knesset meeting, he said that Israel participated in the process mainly to ensure that no decisions are made that run counter to our policies. We sat down with all the countries in the world, including those countries which have decided not to sign the agreement, and we made an active effort to adapt the agreements wording to Israeli laws and norms. He went on to emphasize that in any event, the agreement is not legally binding. Under Netanyahu, the Israeli government has aligned its opposition to the new convention with other Western nations where the right holds power. In conversations, Netanyahu has said that Israel has coordinated with US President Donald Trump and his administration on the issue. The United States is, in fact, the most vociferous opponent of the convention, and this kind of coordination is particularly important to Trump, who is currently waging his own fight against immigration. The governments of Australia, Poland, Austria, Italy and Hungary are also opposed to the compact and will not be participating in the conference. Netanyahu, in his statement on Israel refraining the conference and convention, bolstered his overall policies of cooperation and alignment with other right-wing governments in the West and elsewhere. In the past year alone, he hosted Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Czech President Milos Zeman and openly expressed his delight at the election of the far-right Jair Bolsonaro as president of Brazil. Many of these leaders have recently announced that they will be changing their country's policy toward Israel. Some have even said that they plan to follow the United States lead by moving their embassy to Jerusalem. This alliance with right-wing governments in the West is worrisome to the left in Europe and around the world. The leading proponent of such a convention on migration is Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany. Surprisingly, she has been criticized for this by none other than former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. In an interview with the Guardian newspaper, Clinton said that while she admires the very generous and compassionate approaches that were taken particularly by leaders like Angela Merkel, the policy has roil[ed] the body politic and empowered the European right. So, for instance, she attributed the Brexit vote, in which Britain decided to leave the European Union, to issues of immigration and Europes lax policy toward immigrants. I think Europe needs to get a handle on migration, Clinton said. We are not going to be able to continue to provide refuge and support. In parallel with the commotion surrounding the new convention, Israel seemingly continues to search for a solution in regard to the handling of illegal immigrants. One possible approach is to send people from Eritrea home, since several countries in Europe have recently determined that the country is no longer dangerous. In other words, Eritrea immigrants should no longer benefit from refugee status. This conclusion was reached after Eritrea and Ethiopia signed a peace treaty this summer. In October, it was revealed that Israel is already holding talks with Eritrea to deport illegal immigrants there. Israel has also had contact with Rwanda and Uganda to receive African immigrants. Understandings to this effect had been reached in the past with these two countries but no actions were ultimately taken. A senior Foreign Ministry official who requested anonymity said that Israel wants to resolve the illegal immigration problem under UN auspices and that all local discussions on the issue take place with the full knowledge of those people at the relevant bodies of the United Nations handling illegal migrants and refugees. He went on to tell Al-Monitor that the discussions involve the United Nations providing aid to those African nations that agree to accept migrants who entered Israel illegally, adding that Israel would also help cover the cost of their absorption. An overwhelming bipartisan majority of senators wants to retaliate against Saudi Arabia for murdering journalist Jamal Khashoggi, arguing that President Donald Trumps response has been insufficient. But with a historic vote looming next week, Congress has yet to coalesce around a consensus solution and a wide array of options remain open. Theres three different efforts, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, R-Tenn., told Al-Monitor. Theres no effort to combine those efforts. But its all going very well. The most immediate track does not deal directly with Khashoggis murder and instead takes aim at the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen. Early next week the Senate is set to hold an unprecedented vote over ending US support for the war. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., introduced the resolution pursuant to the War Powers Act, marking the first time that the Senate has tried to use the 1973 law to limit a US military intervention abroad. Because the resolution only requires 50 votes, Democrats feel confident it will pass. Despite opposition from Corker and several other Republicans, the resolution does have one Republican co-sponsor, Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah. Turkish media reported today that Ankaras intelligence chief, Hakan Fidan, met with some senators this week to discuss Khashoggis murder, which could also fuel support for the Sanders resolution. A Senate Intelligence Committee aide confirmed the Turkish media accounts, but did not specify whom Fidan met with or what they discussed. Notably, the Turks have a recording of Khashoggis grisly murder at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. In addition to prohibiting US midair refueling assistance for the Saudi coalition, which the Defense Department ended last month, several Democrats maintain that the Sanders resolution would also force the Trump administration to end targeting and logistical assistance. Corker, however, does not believe the resolution would go that far, while the Trump administration rejects the resolutions legality. I understand why theyre doing it, and Im certainly not going to rail against it, said Corker. Im just not going to support it myself. The chairman prefers to deal with the Saudis and Yemen via another bill unrelated to the War Powers Act. That bill, introduced by the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Bob Menendez of New Jersey, has five bipartisan co-sponsors, including several Iran hawks. Unlike the Sanders resolution, Menendezs bill is not a blanket ban on all US support for the Saudi coalition, but it does ban support for midair refueling in Yemen. It would also ban offensive arms sales to Saudi Arabia and sanction Saudi officials and members of the royal family both for Khashoggis assassination and for blocking humanitarian aid flows to Yemen. Corker hopes to advance the bill out of the Foreign Relations Committee next week. Ironically, Menendez himself may thwart Corkers attempt to do so: He hasn't agreed to a markup of his own bill, opting instead to play hardball in order to secure a straight up or down vote on the Sanders resolution, hoping to avoid watering it down with amendments on the Senate floor. Citing broad support for his bill, Menendez suggested that Democrats could hold up Senate floor business to secure a floor vote or attach it to an unrelated, must-pass spending bill. But Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard Shelby, R-Ala., told Al-Monitor earlier this week that he is hesitant to put unrelated riders on the spending bill. Meanwhile, Iran hawks are also determined to thwart the Yemen resolution next week even as they call for other action against Riyadh. Empowering Iran is not the right way to punish the crown prince, said Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. Rubio has instead joined five other bipartisan senators in introducing a nonbinding resolution stating that the Senate has a high level of confidence that Mohammed bin Salman was complicit in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. CIA Director Gina Haspel briefed a select group of Senate leaders on Khashoggis assassination Tuesday, apparently contradicting statements from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary James Mattis last week that there was no smoking gun implicating the crown prince. Reuters reported today that Pompeo and Mattis are set to brief the House next week. Rubio also joined four other Republicans in October to ask the Trump administration to suspend all negotiations on civil nuclear cooperation with Riyadh. The Florida Republican told Al-Monitor today that it would be a mistake to move ahead with a deal without changes in our relationship. Nonetheless, Energy Secretary Rick Perry, who is involved in the negotiations, announced this week that he is planning another trip to Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., has once again called on the Trump administration to expel the Saudi ambassador to the United States, Khalid bin Salman, the crown princes brother. Prince Khalid allegedly told Khashoggi that he needed to obtain divorce papers at the Istanbul consulate, where the journalist was killed. Democrats are also determined to forestall Republican efforts to attach unrelated amendments during the vote next week for fear of setting a bad precedent during the first such Senate War Powers Act vote in history. I dont think anyone would ever use the War Powers Act to try to send a message on foreign policy if it would then force votes on health care, immigration and oil drilling, said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., an original co-sponsor on the Sanders resolution. Even if the Sanders resolution passes the Senate next week, House Republican leaders have been more reluctant to challenge Trumps pro-Saudi stance than their Senate counterparts, going so far as to quash the same resolution in the lower chamber last month. As such, the Senate will likely have to vote on the Yemen resolution once again after Democrats take control of the House in January. However, Republicans will simultaneously expand their margin in the Senate, making it more difficult to pass in the upper chamber. And Sen. James Risch, R-Idaho, who is less critical of both the Saudis and Trump, is set to take control of the Foreign Relations Committee after the retiring Corker leaves office at the beginning of next year. Still, lawmakers are confident that Congress will pass something taking aim at the Saudis. All of this activity occurring at the same time itself sends a very strong signal, Corker said. At its Ancient Sculpture & Works of Art event on Dec. 4 in London, Sothebys auctioned off 59 antiquities. The vast majority of these antiquities were Graeco-Roman with price tags in the thousands of pounds, but the star of the show was a Roman marble funerary portrait statue, which was auctioned for 4.1 million British pounds ($5.2 million). However, the top five objects listed were ancient Egyptian perhaps a nod to the enduring popularity of everything Egypt, a modern hint of Egyptomania. The objects had been dated to the Pharaonic dynasties: a fragment of a basalt bust of a man dated to the 26th Dynasty (664-525 B.C.), or earlier; an almost-complete limestone block statue of a man dated to the early 18th Dynasty during the period of Amenhotep I (1539-1493 B.C.); a fragment of a limestone relief dated to the 19th Dynasty, early in the reign of Ramesses II (circa 1279-1250 B.C.); a polychrome wood mummy mask dated to the 25th/early 26th Dynasty (circa 750-600 B.C.); and a bronze figure of Osiris dated to the 26th/30th Dynasty (664-342 B.C.). Individually the five items were prevalued anywhere from 4,000 to 80,000 British pounds ($5,100-$102,000). The most expensive was the limestone relief from the reign of Ramesses II, prevalued at 80,000-120,000 pounds (roughly $102,000-$153,000). Sothebys declined to comment to Al-Monitor about the auction or the valuations of the objects, but the piece showing the head of a priest facing left and holding a falcon-headed censer with hieroglyphs identifying him as the son of the vizier, Bakenptah could be one of the first of many sunk reliefs that appeared during the reign of Ramesses II and which marked a stylistic change in relief style from his father and predecessor, Seti I, whose artisans carved in raised relief. Fatma Keshk, an archaeologist and heritage outreach specialist, told Al-Monitor, It is very special as we do not have that many objects from [Ramesses IIs] early reign. In the end all but one of the objects sold for more than estimated, generating total sales of 275,000 pounds ($351,000).The block statue sold for 137,500 pounds ($175,000). Perhaps more importantly than the price of specific objects, however, is the general issue of ethics. The auction is yet another occasion at which the morality of the private ownership of antiquities let alone the legal movement and trade of such antiquities might be questioned, or, in some cases, openly contested by the source countries and others that advocate object repatriation. For example, in 2014, amid protests both inside and outside the auction room, Egypt's Ministry of Antiquities challenged Christies auction of a 4,500-year-old Egyptian painted limestone statue of Sekhemka, a scribe (senior administrator in the royal court). More recently, in November, the Iraqi Ministry of Culture asked Christies to repatriate a 7-feet-high Assyrian relief from Nimrud. In both cases, however, the items were sold. The statue went for 14 million pounds (roughly $18 million) and the relief for 21.5 million pounds ($27.4 million), the fourth- and second-most expensive antiquities ever auctioned. As yet, no call seems to have been made by Egypt for the repatriation of these five objects, but they are nevertheless representative of the problems of provenance (where the objects are from), access (who has a right to see them) and integrity (how the objects will be protected). As Neil Brodie, a senior research fellow on the Endangered Archaeology of the Middle East and North America Project at the University of Oxford, has written in 2014, the history of the objects in this catalogue are offered only in barest anonymized outline under provenance, only European mainly French or New York private collections are noted, and there is no mention of where the objects might have come from in Egypt, nor how they journeyed into the hands of the private individuals. For many observers, this opacity shrouds the market and provides ideal conditions for items to enter the illicit trade. In some instances they have been proved right. Despite claims to the contrary, Sothebys itself was investigated in the 1990s and found to have been selling illegally traded antiquities. Furthermore, the prices at which the objects are sold preclude public institutions from purchasing them and thus perpetuate the circulation of these objects within small elite and usually white societal groups. This is a particular issue for Keshk, who said, I do not support the idea of having original ancient objects in private collections because these are an integral part of the world human heritage everyone should have the right to see [the objects] publicly at museums. Ahmed M. Mekawy Ouda, a lecturer at Cairo Universitys Faculty of Archaeology, told Al-Monitor, Even when you come to the publication of these objects, they are not available for all scholars." At the very least, as Alice Stevenson, a British archaeologist and curator, has noted in the Independent, the safety and sound treatment of the objects in the private domain cannot be assured. It is for these reasons that some in the industry have called for a more transparent market; it is also for these reasons that others such as Stevenson have called for the eradication of the market altogether. In future, Keshk said that she hopes to see objects in private collections removed [and sent] back to Egypt. The Egyptian Museum in Cairo has installed repatriated objects in a special gallery No. 39 and both she and Ouda aspire to objects such as these being placed there for public consumption. However, if the sale of Sekhemka and the Nimrud relief show that outcries about the auction of the most coveted objects from the highest political levels clearly do not work, then there is little hope for smaller objects. Unless international laws are changed, it seems that the future of these antiquities will be at the mercy of the private collectors. TUNIS Under the advisement of President Beji Caid Essebsi, the Tunisian Cabinet on Nov. 23 approved an amendment of the Personal Status Code in a move geared toward furthering equality between men and women in several areas, including gender equality in inheritance. The amendment now requires approval by the parliament to become law. In a statement following the Cabinet meeting to approve the measure, Essebsi emphasized Tunisia's secularity and the requirement of gender equality in rights and duties, as per Chapter 21 of the constitution. Progressive parties and rights organizations welcomed the amendment, while Islamic groups and other organizations with religious authorities rejected it. The Quran mandates that men inherit two-thirds more than women, which is the basis for the law currently in place. For the moment, because the Quran directly addresses the issue of inheritance, it has received more attention than the other provisions in the proposed new law, such as those allowing Tunisian women to marry non-Muslims and permitting them status as head of household (or family). At a Nov. 29 press conference, Nidaa Tunis, the leading party in the government, announced the formation of a national commission to support the equality measure by rallying progressive political powers for the eventual vote in parliament, which is not yet scheduled. The commission currently consists of 19 members from different political, artistic, cultural, media and civil society sectors. No date has been set for the commission to begin operating. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet issued a statement on Nov. 27 praising the governments approval of the proposed change in inheritance law, lauding it as a step toward gender equality. Yousra Fraous, director of the Tunisian Association of the Democratic Women, commenting on state-owned Shems FM on Nov. 23, underlined the importance of the measure's alignment with the Tunisian constitution. Nidaa Tunis leader Ridha Belhaj said during a Nov. 29 seminar that the bill will most likely and easily pass, noting that the Islamist Ennahda, Nidaa Tunis coalition partner, does not have the power to block its passage despite objecting to it. Although Ennahda has the most seats in parliament, 68 out of 217, and rejects the bill, the parliamentary blocs likely to support the bill collectively outnumber the Islamists in the legislature. Among the other parties, Nidaa Tunis has 46 seats; the National Coalition, 44; the Popular Front, 15; Machrouu Tunis, 15; the Democratic Current, 12; al-Walaa (Loyalty), 11; and independent deputies, 6. Also of note, in regard to the 2014 presidential elections, Essebsi attracted the vote of around 1 million women, that is 61% of all votes according to statistics gathered by the Sigma Conseil Company. Radhia Jerbi, head of the National Union of Tunisian Women, told Al-Monitor that discrimination and inequality in inheritance constitute an injustice that has long gone unmentioned among Tunisians. She remarked that it is time to stop this offense against women and give them full rights, like men. Tunisias grand mufti, Sheikh Othman Battikh, told the Assarih website on Nov. 28 that there should be no equality in inheritance, calling Quranic scriptures determinative on the matter. Battikh warned that religious extremists might exploit a change in the current arrangement to target Tunisia. Mohammad al-Hamidi, member of parliament for Tayar al-Mahaba, told Al-Monitor that his party's initiative to block the amendment, the Public Petition to Defend the Islamic Identity of Tunisia, has so far collected 5,000 signatures. Hamidi's party, like the mufti, believes the measure violates the Quran. Ennahda is yet to make an official statement about the bill. Ennahda member of parliament Osama al-Saghir told Al-Monitor that the party's representatives will wait for the proposal to be referred to parliament before examining it. Only then will they decide on how to vote. He said Ennahda might propose amendments to the bill to bring it in line with the Quran. One Ennahda leader, Abdul Hamid al-Jalasi, told Shems FM on Nov. 28 that bringing up this topic at this particular time will only stir tensions at all levels. He believes his parliamentary bloc will vote against equality in inheritance. Ghazi al-Shiwashi, a Democratic Current representative, told Al-Monitor that the bill could spark strife in the country if the parliamentary blocs do not seek some sort of compromise. He, however, supports the inheritance measure and the other provisions related to rights and freedoms. Salah al-Din al-Jourashi, political analyst and director of the Jahedh Forum, an Islamist cultural and intellectual platform, told Al-Monitor that the equality bill is bound to ignite heated debate and controversy in parliament. He believes Ennahdas stance will be at the center of contention. He claimed that Tunisian families will also face problems if women start demanding equality in inheritance. Essebsi had first suggested drafting a law ensuring equality in inheritance a year ago, during the celebration of Womens National Day in Tunisia, Aug. 13, 2017. To that end, he also announced the formation of the Individual Freedoms and Equality Committee to draft suggestions for laws supporting personal freedoms and equality in line with Tunisias commitments to human rights. A few days later, on Aug. 17, several Islamic jurists in Tunisia and scholars from Al-Zaytuna Mosque posted a signed petition online opposing Essebsi's initiative, calling it dangerous because it goes against Gods law. The committee presented its report on June 8, 2018, with recommendations that included a series of proposals related to amending the Personal Status Code, among them gender equality in inheritance. Tension that erupted Nov. 25 between Russia and Ukraine in the Black Seas Kerch Strait is continuing, as other countries assess how the row might affect their own situations. The increasing pressure there reminds people of the Russia-Georgia clashes of August 2008. The critical Kerch Strait allows access from the Black Sea to the Sea of Azov, an internal sea of Russia and Ukraine. The strait brought the two countries face to face that day, when a Russian ship rammed a Ukrainian tugboat, seizing it and two of Ukraine's small armored artillery vessels, as well as two dozen crew members, six of whom were injured. Russia is still holding the vessels and crew. The 33-kilometer (20-mile) strait also allows access to Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and other Central Asian and Caucasus countries via Russias Don and Volga rivers. In short, the Kerch Strait is a vital vein for the economies of at least 10 countries. Use of the Azov Sea and Kerch Strait is governed by an agreement between Russia and Ukraine ratified in 2003. The then-friendly Russian Federation and Ukraine signed a treaty of cooperation granting freedom of navigation to merchant ships, warships and state noncommercial vessels flying the flag of the Russian Federation or Ukraine. Earlier this year, Russia started to delay merchant ships in the Azov Sea by detaining and inspecting them if they were headed for a Ukrainian port. These legal but abusive inspections delay the ships at least two or three days. The European Parliament stated that from April to October, Russia had detained at least 120 vessels flying EU member states' flags destined for Ukraine. These arbitrary and unnecessarily long inspections seriously hurt the Ukrainian economy. In recent months, Russia has moved naval units from its Caspian and Black Sea fleets to the Azov. As a countermove, Ukraine decided to reinforce its naval assets in the region and create a new base at Berdyansk, a port in the country's southeast. In early September, Ukraine deployed two Gurza-M class gunboats to Berdyansk. Instead of sailing through the Kerch Strait, they were moved over land by truck. This meant Russia wasn't in a position to prevent this deployment. These boats are still operating in the Azov Sea. Furthermore, on Sept. 24, Ukraine's navy dispatched the command ship Donbas and the seagoing tug Korets through the strait. During that deployment, the tug was towing the command ship. According to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, at least seven vessels from Russia's Black Sea fleet and Coast Guard closely escorted them during their passage through the strait, but didn't intervene as they would do Nov. 25. Both the Donbas and Korets were unarmed and their passage created no direct threat to Russia but it was a highly symbolic move by Ukraine in answer to Russias aggressive actions in the Azov. Thus, Ukraines decision in November to send two more Gurza-M class gunboats the Berdyansk and the Nikopol and the unarmed tug Yana Kapu by sea instead of by land wasn't made because of nautical necessities. Naval expert Devrim Yaylali told Al-Monitor the decision challenged Russia's position and showed that Ukraine doesn't accept Russia's sudden, unilateral change to the 2003 agreement. On the other hand, Russia revealed that it would confront Ukrainian armed forces without proxies, rather than putting its assumed ownership of the Kerch Strait in question, and demonstrated that it was ready to physically block the strait, if necessary, by all means, Yaylali said. As a result, Kiev has lost a third of its Gurza-M class gunboats, which are much needed to strengthen the Ukrainian navy. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, after meeting Dec. 1 with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G-20 summit in Buenos Aires, said, Freedom of navigation in the [Azov] Sea must be ensured. But European countries although indirectly supporting Ukraine by stressing freedom of navigation aren't really willing to engage in military confrontation with Russia. Though the US this week reportedly is preparing for the option of sending a warship to the Black Sea, a naval strategist speaking to Al-Monitor without identifying himself said neither the US nor European countries are keen to do so. He noted that Russia, using the pretext of a crisis, might threaten ships and planes that use Turkish airspace and territorial waters with anti-access/area denial targeting Crimea and its environs. This expert said the situation isn't an issue right now because of the current close ties between Ankara and Moscow, but would probably become a military confrontation should tensions arise between them. According to Moscow-based foreign policy analyst Kerim Has, the matter should be viewed from a realpolitik angle. Russia doesnt want to debate its [2014] annexation of Crimea with Kiev," Has told Al-Monitor. "Despite criticisms by Western countries, Moscow tries to formulate a legitimate cover to its unilateral actions and faits accomplis." He added that Moscow has rejected any reference to Crimea in the Minsk Protocols that suggests solutions to clashes in Ukraine and also did not consult with Kiev or anyone else while deploying S-400s in Crimea or constructing the Kerch Strait Bridge (Crimean Bridge). The S-400s Russia has deployed in Crimea today can cover Turkey's entire airspace over the Black Sea. No power, be it Kiev, Turkey or an alliance such as the EU or NATO, is willing to challenge Russia, except perhaps with limited economic sanctions. Has said Russia by increasing its military presence in the Azov Sea to control use of the Berdyansk port and by blocking Kievs military reinforcements at the port of Mariupol against the separatists in Donbass may be preparing for a military operation. He said deploying S-400 batteries and Pantsir-S1 missiles at Crimea offers Russia multiple advantages when it comes to dealing with Turkey and other countries, including those of NATO, for use of Black Sea airspace and territorial waters. It's possible that Russia is on the verge of an era of stronger military presence in the region. It's clear that the expanding crisis between Russia and Ukraine will open the way for a deeper conflict in the Black Sea which wont benefit Turkey. Ankara has called on both parties to settle their differences peacefully. But for Ankara to take on a mediation mission isn't realistic or compatible with its interests. Ankara hasn't recognized Russias annexation of Crimea, so any mediation effort could trigger hard debates, and nothing guarantees Russia would return Crimea to Ukraine. A unilateral attitude by Ankara over Crimea wont produce anything positive. If Ankara is to mediate, it would be more appropriate for it to do so with EU countries such as Germany and France, or to encourage those countries to serve as mediators. At present, the general inclination in Ankara is to refrain from getting between Ukraine and Russia, at least until Turkey's election March 31. Eight Catholic priests who served at Spring Hill College in Mobile have been named as part of a list Friday that accuses former Jesuits of sexually abusing children. The list of 42 comes one day after the Archdiocese of Mobile named 29 former priests and clergy who had similar accusation of sexual child abuse made against them. Fr. Ronald Mercier, the leader of the Central Southern organization, said in a letter that the names represented a sinful part of history. He added: Words cannot possibly suffice to express our sorrow and shame for what occurred, our promise of prayers for healing, and our commitment to work with them. Caring for these survivors and preventing any such future events must be our focus as we move forward. Not every priest on the list is linked with Alabama. In response to the list a spokesperson from the Jesuit college in Mobile said: Their inclusion does not necessarily mean they were found guilty of any charge of sexual abuse against a minor. It should also be noted that Spring Hill College has no knowledge that the alleged abuse occurred during their assignment to our campus community. This list contains the names of the Jesuits who are or were members of the U.S. Central and Southern (UCS) Province and its predecessor entities: the New Orleans Province, the Missouri Province, or the Independent Region of Puerto Rico of the Society of Jesus. These men fall into one of three categories: Jesuits of this province against whom one or more credible claims of sexual abuse of a minor or a vulnerable adult have been made. Jesuits from other provinces against whom there are credible claims resulting from their work while assigned to this province. Jesuits of this province whose names have been published on diocesan websites or the websites of other Jesuit provinces. The priests who served at Spring Hill College are: Vincent R. Malatesta, SJ. Estimated Timeframe of Abuse: 1980s. (Single allegation). Claude L. Ory, SJ (Brother). Estimated Timeframe of Abuse: 1970s. (Single allegation). Elmo J. Rogero, SJ (DECEASED). Estimated Timeframe of Abuse: 1950s. (Single allegation). Claude P. Boudreaux, SJ (DECEASED). Estimated Timeframe of Abuse: 1960s. (Multiple allegations). Edward D. DeRussy, SJ (DECEASED). Estimated Timeframe of Abuse: 1970s. (Multiple allegations). Charles G. Coyle, SJ (DECEASED). Estimated Timeframe of Abuse: 1960s and 1970s. (Multiple allegations). Austin N. Park, SJ (DECEASED). Estimated Timeframe of Abuse: 1960s. (Multiple allegations). J. Donald Pearce, SJ (DECEASED). Estimated Timeframe of Abuse: 1960s. (Multiple allegations). The remaining priests are: Michael O. Barry, SJ Charles Bartles, SJ Jody Blanchard, SJ John Campbell, SJ Cornelius J. Carr, SJ (New York Province which is now part of USA Northeast Province) Mark A. Clark, SJ Francis X. Cleary SJ James A. Condon, SJ (Chicago Province which is now part of USA Midwest Province) Donald Dickerson, SJ Burton J. Fraser, SJ (Wisconsin Province which is now part of USA Midwest Province) Chester E. Gaiter, SJ Thomas J. Hatrel, SJ Thomas J. Hidding, SJ John W. Hough, SJ Francis J. Kegel, SJ Dennis P. Kirchoff, SJ Bernard P. Knoth, SJ (Chicago Province which is now part of USA Midwest Province) Philip D. Kraus, SJ Francis M. Landwermeyer, SJ Gerhardt B. Lehmkuhl, SJ Alfonso Madrid, SJ (Province of Mexico) Eugene A. Maio, SJ James L. McShane, SJ Edward P. Murphy, SJ Thomas J. Naughton, SJ (Priest of the New Orleans Province, NOT Brother Thomas Naughton of the Missouri Province) Patrick H. OLiddy, SJ Vincent A. Orlando, SJ George M. Pieper, SJ Paul C. Pilgram, SJ Norman J. Rogge, SJ Anthony J. Short, SJ Arthur O. Verdieck, SJ Richard H. Witzofsky, SJ (Brother) Benjamin Wren, SJ More to follow. Did the self-styled Mr. Clean Josh Hawley violate the constitution of Missouri by letting campaign consultants run his public office? Photo: John Sleezer/TNS via Getty Images On October 31, the Kansas City Star reported that Missouri Attorney General and GOP Senate nominee Josh Hawley had let his campaign staff coordinate activities with public employees on state property, violating a constitutional provision banning use of state resources for political or personal use: [W]ithin weeks of Hawleys swearing in as the states top law enforcement official, the high-powered political team that would go on to run his U.S. Senate campaign had stepped in to help direct the office of the Missouri attorney general and raise his national profile. Hawleys out-of-state political consultants gave direct guidance and tasks to his taxpayer-funded staff, and followed up to ensure the tasks were completed, according to emails, text messages and other records obtained by The Kansas City Star. Whether or not these actions violated the law or constitution of Missouri, they definitely contradicted the sanctimonious air of his original campaign for the office he held, in which he contrasted his outsider probity with the sleaziness of career politicians. Hawleys Democratic opponent, incumbent Senator Claire McCaskill, tried to make an issue of the alleged misconduct by Hawley in the final days of the race, as the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported: Seizing on a report that Attorney General Josh Hawley had political consultants working out of his public office, Sen. Claire McCaskill compared those acts to the lawbreaking that got the previous Republican attorney general sent to prison for two years. McCaskill told reporters Thursday that this is a huge, red line that (Hawley) has crossed. She was alluding to the 1993 conviction of William Webster for misuse of state funds. Hawley blew off inquiries about the allegations, and six days later he defeated McCaskill. But the bad odor over Hawleys operation wont go away. Even before the election, the American Democracy Legal Fund asked Secretary of State Jay Ascroft (a Republican) to look into the case. While its too late to help McCaskill, Ashcroft has now agreed to investigate. As the Star notes, its unclear how deeply this inquiry will probe: Ashcrofts office has authority to investigate election-related offenses but lacks subpoena power. And yes, in case you were wondering, Jay Ashcroft is the son of former Senator and U.S. Attorney General, John Ashcroft. If he hasnt been in the legal or political big leagues before, hes certainly been in the vicinity. The Montgomery metro area saw more than half a billion dollars in capital investment this year, according to the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce. Thats the second best number since Hyundai announced its coming to Alabama. The chamber today held its ninth annual Success Starts Here Tour, highlighting the record-breaking growth of existing industries in 2018. According to the chamber, Montgomery had $546,688,066 in announced capital investments, the largest investment number for Montgomery County in more than 15 years. It was the second largest number since the chamber began to maintain records 25 years ago. That includes a $37 million investment to acquire the F-35 fighter for the 187th Fighter Wing at Dannelly Field, which helped secure more than 8,300 existing local jobs. The millions of dollars these companies and many others are investing here, demonstrate Montgomerys ability to retain and grow business, particularly manufacturing, Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange said. Attendees included elected officials and community business leaders. They traveled by bus to three industries highlighted on the 2018 tour: DAS North America, a Korean auto part supplier, Whitfield Foods, a manufacturer of food products and Hyundai Power Transformers USA. This record-breaking year shows our support and commitment to our existing industries, said Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce Chairman Judge Charles Price. Alabamas education budget could top $7 billion next year, state officials said Friday during a presentation at the states school board association conference in Hoover. That was just one of two pieces of good news for schools this holiday season. Because tax collections exceeded projections during the 2018 fiscal year, schools and colleges will receive an additional $272 million to spend before the end of the 2019 fiscal year, according to Kirk Fulford, the Deputy Director of the fiscal division of the state's Legislative Services Agency. That is astronomical, Fulford said. Thats the highest Advancement and Technology appropriation we will have made so far. Fulford cautioned school board members to budget carefully and to not add too many recurring expenditures to their budgets because he isnt sure the growth in collections is sustainable. Fulford said he has seen projections from state education officials showing the record $7 billion education budget possible for 2020. I dont disagree with those [projections], he said, but I have not calculated those amounts. While there is enough money for a teacher pay raise, Alabama Association of School Boards Director of Government Relations Lissa Tucker said the sustainability of a raise needs to be considered. There is enough money there for a generous teacher pay raise, but you dont want to pass a pay raise that you cant sustain, she said. Education employees received a 2.5 percent pay raise this year, effective Oct. 1, costing $109 million. Every 1 percent raise costs about $40 million, Tucker said. The $272 million in excess tax revenue, transferred to the states Advancement and Technology Fund in November, Fulford said, will be split between K-12 and higher education in the same way allocations were split for the FY19 budget. That means $198 million for K-12 and just under $74 million for higher education institutions, he said. The $198 million would be allocated to school districts based on enrollment, he said. K-12 school officials must submit a plan for spending that money to the state department of education before receiving any of that funding, he said. For K-12 schools, that money can be used for facility repairs and maintenance, classroom instructional support, transportation costs, for the purchase of educational technology and equipment and for school security measures. That funding wont be automatic, Fulford said, as state lawmakers must appropriate the money during the upcoming legislative session, which doesnt start until March. The head of the state superintendent association, Ryan Hollingsworth, said superintendents are optimistic about the additional funding, both in the supplemental allocation and the expected record education budget. Regarding the allocation from the Advancement and Technology Fund, Hollingsworth said, Theres a lot of flexibility for the local school to address their needs. Thats the beauty of that. Weve got some systems that have huge needs for facilities, Hollingsworth added, and districts are still recovering from three straight years of proration in 2009, 2010, and 2011, when they put off making needed building repairs. Both Hollingsworth and Tucker said they hope lawmakers will allocate that funding early in the session because it can be used during the current fiscal year. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey has appointed two men to vacant Madison County judgeships. Judges Claude Hundley III and Don Rizzardi were sworn in Thursday afternoon in Circuit Judge Karen Halls courtroom. Hundley was appointed to replace recently retired Circuit Judge Dennis Odell. Hundley had been a district judge since 2011, when he was appointed by then-Gov. Robert Bentley. Madison County Circuit Judge Claude Hundley was sworn in Thursday, Dec. 6, 2018. Im pleased to be given the opportunity, Hundley said. I look forward to continuing to serve the people of this county. Before he became a judge, Hundley spent 26 years in private law practice mostly handling civil cases. In circuit court, Hundley will preside over contested divorces, civil disputes and criminal cases, including felony trials. Circuit court civil cases involve disputes about $10,000 or more. Last year there were 12,270 cases filed in Madison County circuit court, while 12,732 cases were disposed. Hundley was chosen over two other applicants: Meridianville lawyer D. Milburn Gross and Huntsville lawyer Sydney G. Dean Rizzardi, a longtime Madison County prosecutor, was appointed to replace recently retired District Judge Schuyler Richardson. Madison County District Judge Don Rizzardi was sworn in Thursday, Dec. 6, 2018. Rizzardi has spent the past two decades as the countys chief drug crimes prosecutor. He started working at the district attorneys office in 1992. This is home, Rizzardi said of the Huntsville area. He said he appreciates the opportunity to make the community safer from the bench. The district court handles misdemeanor criminal cases, civil disputes up to $10,000, small claims and traffic cases and a variety of family-related cases. In 2017, there were 30,575 cases filed in district court, and 29,700 were disposed. Were ready to go to work, Rizzardi said. Rizzardi was chosen over two other finalists: Huntsville lawyers Patrick Tuten and Meteasa Collins. The selection process for district judge began with 16 applicants. The list was narrowed to the three finalists by the Madison County Judicial Commission. Because Hundley is leaving district court for the circuit judgeship, the commission will soon accept applications for Hundleys replacement. The governor will also be asked to appoint the new judge from a list of finalists. Once Hundley and Rizzardi complete the current terms, they will have to seek election to remain on the bench.untsville area. He said he appreciates the opportunity to make the community safer from the bench. Were ready to go to work. Two north Alabama cities have received multi-million dollar grants to help address infrastructure issues, U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby said Friday. Decatur received a $14.2 million grant while Cullman received a $14 million grant, both from the U.S. Department of Transportation. According to the announcements from Shelbys office, the Decatur grant will aid in the construction of an overpass bridge at the intersection of State Route 20 and Bibb Garrett Road. The project also includes ramps, a new access road, improved highway lighting, and accommodations for safe pedestrian access. And the Cullman grant will help to widen State Highway 157. According to the city, traffic on Highway 157 has increased to over 15,000 vehicles per day, creating hazardous driving conditions and lengthy delays for numerous businesses and individuals. This project will to help address existing transportation issues and provide infrastructure enhancements that will benefit the city and surrounding areas. The creation of a Highway 20 overpass and exchange is the catalyst of growth and change our city has been striving to achieve, Decatur Mayor Tab Bowling said in the announcement. Through the keen oversight of Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao, the generosity of Sen. Richard Shelbys office, and the ever-diligent work of the City of Decaturs grant team and Director of Development Wally Terry, our collaborative efforts have culminated in a regional development that will benefit North Alabamians for generations to come. Both grants were made available as part of the DOT Better Utilizing Investment to Leverage Development (BUILD) Grant program, which focuses on economic development and infrastructure improvements. The widening of Alabama Highway 157 is one of the most critical transportation projects needed in our community, Cullman Mayor Woody Jacobs said in the announcement. I am delighted the city of Cullman has been awarded this grant that will make the construction a reality. Our team at the city of Cullman did a remarkable job preparing this grant. The City of Cullman, Cullman County and the surrounding area will benefit greatly from this project. I would like to thank Senator Shelby and his staff for their assistance with this grant process. Without their support, this project would not be possible. Protests surrounding the Thanksgiving-night death of Emantic E.J. Bradford Jr. continue, garnering attention and scrutiny from around the country. Heres what theyre saying about Bradfords death at the hands of police and the latest legal developments: CNN Dad of man killed by police in Alabama mall gets apology but few answers Emantic Bradford Sr. has received an apology from Hoover, Alabama, officials, he said Thursday, but he remains disappointed they did not extend him the courtesy of promptly letting him know police killed his son Thanksgiving night. Washington Post Bulldoze the blue wall of silence or black men will keep dying Anyone who has remotely been paying attention should be aware that unjustified police killings of African American men continue unabated. In far too many police departments, the unwritten rule for encounters with black men is shoot first, ask questions later. US News & World Report 2 Deadly Shootings Send a Chill Through Black Gun Owners Twice in the span of 11 days last month, a black man who drew a gun in response to a crime in the U.S. was shot to death by a white police officer after apparently being mistaken for the bad guy. MySanAntonio.com Lawyer: Man charged in mall shooting didnt start the melee Gunshots that wounded two people and sparked the fatal Thanksgiving day police shooting of a black man in a shopping mall erupted from an "ongoing thing" between people who knew each other, the lawyer for a suspect said. WKOW.com The Latest: Alabama mans family devastated by autopsy Emantic Bradford Sr. was visibly angry at the news conference, jabbing his finger as he addressed the unnamed officer through TV cameras. He said this is murder and called the officer a coward for shooting his son in the back. Essence Judge Orders Videos Of Alabama Mall Thanksgiving Shooting To Be Released To Suspect's Attorney All body camera and surveillance footage showing the shooting at the Riverchase Galleria outside of Birmingham, Ala., must be given to the attorney representing Erron Brown, the 20-year-old charged in the shooting, a judge has ordered. RocketCityNow.com Attorney General Steve Marshall reacts to deadly Hoover mall shooting Marshall say hes had multiple conversations with not only ALEA, but the lead investigator in this case. This is an opinion column. People keep telling me they didnt know Giles Perkins. Yeah you did, I say. You just dont know it. There used to be a strip of deserted industrial land just south of the railroad tracks in downtown Birmingham, where on any given day you might see a down-on-their-luck couple making the best of things in the scraggly bushes. Perkins saw something else in that desolate place. He saw possibilities others did not. That strip of land, because of him, is now called Railroad Park. It changed the character of downtown and spurred growth. But it did way more than that. Somehow, someway, it changed the expectations of a city. It changed the way Birmingham saw itself and gave that town permission to dream bigger. That was Giles Perkins. People know what happened in Alabama last year, too. They know Doug Jones did the impossible to become a U.S. senator. Jones fitted a stone in his sling and put it between the eyes of GOP Goliath Roy Moore. When the world was watching. That was Giles Perkins too. He didnt just help run the unlikely Jones campaign. He saw it in the beginning when others could not. He along with Doug Turner helped Jones buy into the vision, persuading him to run and convincing him he could win. People in Alabama knew Giles Perkins. They just dont know. Perkins, a lawyer and strategist and former Democratic Party executive who left a mark far beyond politics, died this week at the age of 51. He had struggled for years with pancreatic cancer, making his political swansong the Jones campaign -- all the more remarkable. He received treatments for his brutal cancer during the campaign, and knew his illness was a death sentence. But he had strength to push campaign workers, and to remind Jones to stay in his lane, to remain authentic. A win, he believed, would be a win for a fairer, more accepting world. It was important to him. If you dont count his marriage or the birth of his children, It probably meant more to him than anything in the world, Sen. Jones said. Because Perkins, a Texas native who married into Alabama, saw something in the South others didnt always see. The world looked on Alabama and the rest of this region like Birmingham looked on that strip of railroad track. It saw hate and blight and whatever might be going on the bushes. Perkins saw a different South. And he wanted Jones to help tell its story. He believed the South can be a place of healing for this country, Jones said. There are new voices in the South that are changing the world. They are young, more diverse, more tolerant and respectful. We are on the cutting edge. Thats what Perkins believed. Until the end. At the end of the day Giles believed in the best of people, Jones said. I believe that. Perkins was involved in much of the politics of the last two decades. He worked on campaigns for Gov. Jim Folsom Jr. and Gov. Don Siegelman, not to mention local races in Birmingham. He made a run for attorney general in 2010, but was better behind the scenes than in front of them. I admit I did not always see Perkins vision when he had it, whether it was Railroad Park or reshaping the Birmingham Zoo. I did not always agree with him, or him me. But he dreamed of a better, more equitable Alabama. Not just for the state, but for all its people. You may never have known Giles Perkins. Someday, though, I hope you see his vision. 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. All 42 district attorneys in Alabama will have at least one full-time, certified officer to help crime victims and their families under a $6.3 million federal grant announced today by Gov. Kay Ivey. The grant goes to the Alabama Office of Prosecution Services to hire 88 victims services officers across the state. It covers one year of funding. Barry Matson, executive director of the Office of Prosecution Services, said the grant fills a vital need, helping prosecutors meet the daunting challenge of guiding victims through the confusion and anxiety of the criminal justice system. Matson said there are only about 25 to 30 victims services officers across the state now and they have other responsibilities. Matson joined Ivey for a press conference at the capital to announce the grant. Tom Anderson, district attorney for Coffee and Pike counties and president of the Alabama District Attorneys Association, also spoke, as did Carolyn Tyus, who became a victims services officer in Montgomery County after her son was killed by a drunk driver. Tyus said victims need someone to be available for information, understanding and support, such a someone to just be a companion in the courtroom. We have to be the liaison between the prosecutor and the victim, Tyus said. Anderson said the addition of 88 victims services officers is groundbreaking. He said crime victims dont ask to be thrust into the system. Youre dealing with grief and at the same time youre dealing with your court case, Anderson said. Matson said the victims services officers would be allocated based on caseloads and other factors. He said the funding would cover the cost of a computer and cellphone for each officer to help make them accessible to victims. The money comes from the U.S. Department of Justice and the grant is administered by the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs. The Business Council of Alabama, one of the states most powerful political organizations, announced today that Katie Boyd Britt, chief of staff for Sen. Richard Shelby, will be the next BCA president and CEO. Britt will start the job on Jan. 2 and will be the first woman to serve as BCAs president and CEO. Britt will replace Billy Canary, who departed in July after some of the BCAs largest members withdrew because of dissatisfaction with his leadership. Canary had served as president for 15 years and accepted a position as senior fellow at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Alabama Power CEO Mark Crosswhite, who chairs the BCAs executive committee, said in a press release that the organization was excited to welcome Britt to the job. As the top staff member for Senator Shelby, she has worked daily with businesses and elected officials from around Alabama and the country, Crosswhite said. She also has a special ability to work with and unite people from all walks of life. She has all of the tools we were looking for to support the business growth across the state that will drive our economy in the years ahead. Alabama Power, Regions Bank and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama all returned to the BCA in August and hold seats on the executive committee. Britt grew up in Enterprise and served as president of the Student Government Association at the University of Alabama. She earned her law degree from the University of Alabama School of Law. Before becoming chief of staff, she worked in other positions for Shelby, including as press secretary. She previously led state governmental affairs for the Butler Snow law firm in Montgomery and practiced corporate law. She is married to Wesley Britt and they have two children and will live in Montgomery. My heart is in Alabama, Britt said in the press release. Our state has made significant progress in recent years, and I am honored to have been chosen to lead BCA during this time of growth. I look forward to building on that momentum through collective efforts with our BCA members, elected officials, and business allies across the state identifying opportunities every day in which we can provide and advance real, tangible solutions. This story was edited at 5:53 p.m. to correct the job title for Katie Britt as president and CEO. The early morning attack at the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, shocked the country and propelled America into World War II. The Dec. 7, 1941 attack killed 2,335 Americans and wounded 1,143 more. The U.S. lost 18 ships, including five battleships. A day later, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt described Dec. 7 as a date which will live in infamy. Today, Dec. 7 is known as National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day or Pearl Harbor Day. Heres a look at the quotes, remembrances on the anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack: Yesterday, December 7, 1941 a date which will live in infamy the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan. Franklin D. Roosevelt You ask what is our aim? I can answer in one word: Victory. Victory at all costs. Victory in spite of all terror. Victory however long and hard the road may be. For without victory there is no survival. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill Pearl Harbor caused our nation to wholeheartedly commit to winning World War II, changing the course of our nation's history and the world's future. - - Joe Baca Millions of people gave their lives fighting fascism and imperialism, but Pearl Harbor was the event that forever changed the course of human history. - - Sam Graves The lesson of Pearl Harbor ought never to be forgotten, and of course the motto that came from that, 69 years ago, the war which my dad fought, was 'Remember Pearl Harbor, never again.' We need to keep that to mind. - - Oliver North I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve. - - Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto Seventy years ago today, a bright Sunday morning was darkened by the unprovoked attack on Pearl HarborWe salute the veterans and survivors of Pearl Harbor who inspire us still. Despite overwhelming odds, they fought back heroically, inspiring our nation and putting us on the path to victory. - - President Barack Obama No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory. - - Franklin D. Roosevelt A religious sexual abuse advocacy group has called on Mobile Archbishop Thomas Rodi to allow an independent investigation into the child sexual abuse claims within the Catholic church network in Mobile. The request from the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) comes hours after Archbishop Rodi released 29 names of priests and other clergy credibly accused of sexually abusing children in Mobile going back to the 1950s. If Archbishop Thomas Rodi is confident in the accuracy of this list, we think he should reach out to Alabamas attorney general and urge an outside, independent investigation into his diocese and other dioceses in the state, said the SNAP press release. Only trained law enforcement professionals can truly judge when an accusation is credible or not and compel full transparency. Mobile District Attorney Ashley Rich told AL.com when asked about the list that she encourages all victims of crime to come forward. If there is any person in this community that has been a victim of crime they need to report the crime to law enforcement or the District Attorneys office," she said. The first 12 names on the list are those that were formally part of the Archdiocese of Mobile, while the second list contains 17 names of men and priests who belong to religious orders but were not formally attached to the Archdiocese. In an accompanying letter, Archbishop Thomas Rodi asked for forgiveness from those that had been hurt. The most vulnerable members of the Church, the children, have been grievously hurt by clergy and religious, the very people who should have been trusted to help and not to injure, wrote Archbishop Rodi. In addition, the Church has at times failed to act as it should have to immediately protect children and to promptly remove those who have preyed upon them. To all the people of the Church, and especially to the victims of child sexual abuse by clergy and religious, I ask for your forgiveness. From the depths of my heart, I ask your forgiveness. Of the 29 listed, 17 are deceased and the remainder have moved on. Reverend Monsignor Cordell J. Lang was accused but cleared of abuse in a civil court. SNAP also called on the Archbishop to publicize the names on the diocesan website and run an updated list of the accused quarterly in the parish bulletin. It should include every single proven, admitted, or accused church employee: bishops, priests, seminarians, brothers, nuns and lay people, no matter who supervised or ordained them, and no matter where they originated, said SNAP, who also called on Archbishop Rodi to give more specific details of the accusations, such as when they were first alerted and what was done with the information. Finally, we encourage anyone who may have seen, suspected, or suffered abuse at the hands of church officials to contact Alabama law enforcement to make a report, not the Diocese directly, said SNAP. Lets make a (green new) deal. Photo: Zach Gibson/Bloomberg via Getty Images A thousand infrastructure weeks have come and gone, and Donald Trump still doesnt have a plan for rebuilding Americas crumbling roads and bridges. Over his first two years in office, the president has unveiled several proposals that were branded as such. But these were all, in fact, schemes for delivering tax breaks to wealthy developers, loosening environmental regulations, and transferring resources from urban areas to rural ones all without increasing infrastructure spending enough to offset the cuts proposed in the White Houses budget. Nevertheless, theres reason to believe that Trump is interested in signing his name to a genuine infrastructure stimulus. A pledge to do so was, after all, a cornerstone of his 2016 campaign. And everything in the presidents biography suggests that hes perfectly comfortable sacrificing fiscal discipline for the sake of investing in new construction. The primary obstacle has been congressional Republicans, whose governing philosophy all but forbids public investment in anything that cant be used to kill people overseas. And since Trump has been wholly reliant on either Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan or the kind of populists whod rather build prisons for child migrants then new roads for legislative aid, hes been incapable of forcing Congress to bend in his heterodox direction. But next January, that could change. With Democrats in control of the House, and the presidents political advisers (presumably) interested in broadening his support ahead of the 2020 campaign, one can almost see how a grand bargain on infrastructure might take shape if one stipulates that the Democratic Party is interested in self-sabotage, anyway. There are a lot of productive things that Team Blue can do with one chamber of Congress. Helping Donald Trump secure a popular, bipartisan policy victory ahead of his reelection bid is not one of them. And this is especially true when one considers how substantively flawed any infrastructure bill backed by Mitch McConnell is certain to be. Fortunately, Chuck Schumer appears to understand all this. Rather than trying to meet the president halfway (as has been his wont), the Senate Minority Leader has made Trump an offer he cant accept. In an op-ed for the Washington Post, Schumer tells the president that, when it comes to an infrastructure deal, he can either go green, or go home: Now that Democrats will soon control one branch of Congress, President Trump is again signaling that infrastructure could be an area of compromise. We agree, but if the president wanted to earn Democratic support in the Senate, any infrastructure bill would have to include policies and funding that help transition our country to a clean-energy economy and mitigate the risks the United States already faces from climate change. Truthfully, infrastructure investment has been a priority for Democrats for decades. Thats why Democrats last year proposed a trillion-dollar infrastructure bill, which the president ignored. Our plan suggested bold new investments in clean energy and climate resiliency, one step on our path to a 100 percent clean-energy economy. And we could finance the bill entirely by reversing the worst giveaways in the Trump tax bill, those gifted to multinational corporations and the wealthiest of the wealthiest. We should provide permanent tax credits for clean-energy production and storage, electric vehicles, and energy-efficient homes. We should invest in conservation, wildlife and deferred maintenance on our public lands, because this can both mitigate the impacts of climate change and grow the outdoor economy. We should significantly reduce the release of methane pollution from domestic energy production. And we have to reduce the amount of carbon we release into the atmosphere. All of these policies can and will create good-paying green jobs. This is a sound approach on (at least) three levels. First, it allows Democrats to obstruct a popular policy idea by baiting Republicans into obstructing an even more popular one. The GOP is never going to sign onto an infrastructure package that raises oil CEOs taxes to subsidize their competitors. But the American public would be quite happy to. A Data for Progress/YouGov Blue survey from earlier this year found majority support for a wide variety of climate policies, including a massive green infrastructure stimulus. Meanwhile, Gallup recently found that 62 percent of voters believe that the government is doing too little to protect the environment while 57 percent want policymakers to prioritize environmental preservation over economic growth. And soaking the rich remains as popular as ever. Second, it sends a signal to the partys growing left flank and activist base that the Democratic leadership welcomes the formers ideas and energy. In her first few weeks as congresswoman-elect, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has made a green new deal her signature issue; now, so has DSAs second-most-reviled New York Democrat. Finally, it puts green jobs near the top of the next Democratic governments agenda. Which is a welcome a development, given the partys failure to make legislative progress on climate the last go-round. Schumer has done little over the past two years to earn a reputation for political savvy. But infrastructure is now, officially, one issue that the Senate Minority Leader didnt Chuck up. Questions over repeat violators of the states crossover voting law centered on only one person after the recent runoff election, according to Secretary of State John Merrills office. And that one turned out to be a mistake. At the conclusion of the 2017 U.S. Senate Special Election runoff, Merrills office conducted a review that found 140 people had been given credit for voting in the Democratic primary election on Aug. 15 and then switching over and casting a ballot in the Republican runoff election on Sept. 26. Alabama law prohibits anyone who cast a ballot in one partys primary from crossing over and voting in the other primarys runoff. For the Senate runoff, Merrill tasked probate judges in each county to determine whether the crossover voters cast a ballot in error, did so on purpose or an error occurred. In each of the 41 counties, the Probate Judges determined it was not necessary to prosecute any of the 140 individuals found to have violated the crossover voting law, Merrills office said. After the 2018 runoff, Merrills office reviewed a list of 398 alleged crossover voters and compared that to the list of 140 previous violators. The review left Merrills office with only one name of someone who had potentially violated the law in both 2017 and 2018. Merrills office said the Secretary of State later met with the potential violator. At the conclusion of that visit it became clear to Secretary Merrill that either the poll worker or a county registrar improperly marked the wrong political party in processing the voters primary voter participation credit. Due to this information, Secretary Merrill determined further legal action was not necessary, at this time, the Secretary of States Office said in a press release. The Secretary of States Office didnt identify the county where the voter lived. Ramifications for violating the states crossover voting law are serious. Its considered fraud for a person who voted in one partys primary to attempt to cast a ballot in the other partys runoff. The crime is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000. Expect a cold and rainy weekend in many spots across Alabama this weekend. But there's a chance the rain could mix with a few snowflakes as well -- especially early Monday morning. And forecasters aren't ruling out accumulations in north Alabama. The National Weather Service said an area of low pressure is expected to develop and track near the northern Gulf Coast over the weekend. That will generate widespread rain over Alabama, especially over south Alabama. The weather service in Mobile said 2-4 inches of rain will be possible over the weekend near the coast with 1-2 inches possible inland. Forecasters there will also be on the lookout for the possibility of a few strong storms as well. But it could be cold enough in north Alabama to see some changeover to snow. There will be two chances to see snowflakes in north Alabama. The weather service in Huntsville will be watching closely Friday night into Saturday morning, when enough cold air could filter into the area to set off some wintry precipitation in northeast Alabama before it changes over to all rain during the day. Then there will be another shot at snowflakes on Sunday night into Monday morning -- and this one is more substantial. A secondary storm system will move across the region Sunday night, and it could bring snow to north and north-central Alabama Sunday night into early Monday morning. The weather service office in Huntsville says it could be all snow, and "accumulating snow is becoming a more likely scenario with this event." The weather service in Birmingham said as of Wednesday morning that the track of the low suggests it will be too far east "for anything more than flurries" for central Alabama. President Donald Trump is nominating William Barr for U.S. Attorney General. He was my first choice from day one, respected by Republicans and respected by Democrats, Trump said. He will be nominated for the U.S. attorney general and hopefully that process will go very quickly, and I think it will go very quickly." Trump described Barr as a terrific man, a terrific person and one of the most respected jurists in the country. Barr served as AG from 1991 to 1993 under the late former President George H.W. Bush. If confirmed, Barr will replace Jeff Sessions, who resigned at Trumps request last month. Sessions, a former Alabama Senator who was one of Trumps earliest supporters, ran afoul of the president when Sessions recused himself from the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Matthew Whitaker has been serving as acting attorney general after Sessions' departure. Barr also served as deputy attorney general from 1990 to 1991 and assistant attorney general in charge of the Office of Legal Counsel from 1988 to 1989. He later returned to the private sector. A native of New York, Barr is a graduate of Columbia University. He earned his law degree from George Washington University Law School. Trump also announced he would nominate current State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. If confirmed, Nauert would replace Nikki Haley, who announced in October she would be leaving the post at the end of the year. Nauert is a former Fox News Channel correspondent. She joined the State Department as spokesperson in 2017. An investigation is underway after a man was shot Thursday afternoon in Birmingham. The shooting happened just before 4:30 p.m. Birmingham police said the shooting happened at an undisclosed gas station. The victim was then driven to a home in the 900 block of 47th Way North. The area is known as Baby Kingston. Birmingham police say the 36-year-old victim was in the passengers seat of a silver sedan when drove by and fired at least one shot, striking the man in the face. At least one other person was inside the vehicle at the time but was not injured. South Precinct officers said they dont know if the victim was the intended target. He was taken to the hospital with an injury not believed to be life-threatening. Authorities are searching for a man who police say stole a womans car at Birmingham convenience store and then carjacked a woman at gunpoint at the Riverchase Galleria in Hoover. It all began Thursday morning when a woman contacted Birmingham police to report her car had been stolen while she was inside a convenience store on Fourth Avenue in Birmingham, said Hoover police Lt. Keith Czeskleba. The victims phone was inside the vehicle and she was able to track its movements via a phone tracking app. The woman contacted a family member who brought her another vehicle which enabled her to locate her car as it was entering Hoover. While calling 911, the victim pulled up beside her stolen vehicle while it was stopped in traffic in the 1500 block of Montgomery Highway. She confronted the suspect and fired two shots into the vehicle as he was pulling away. The suspect fled the area and the victim went to Hoover City Hall to report the incident. Just 13 minutes later - at 10:27 a.m. - police responded to the Riverchase Galleria on a report of a robbery that happened in the North Parking deck. A female shopper told police she was getting out of her vehicle when a black male with a handgun approached her. The suspect demanded the keys to her SUV and she complied, Czeskleba said. The suspect fled the area in the second victims vehicle, which is described as a black 2013 Nissan Pathfinder with Alabama tag 1BC1345. The original stolen vehicle from Birmingham was recovered in the J.C. Penney parking lot. Late Thursday afternoon, detectives learned that the Nissan Pathfinder was spotted in the Atlanta area but it has not yet been recovered. The suspect is described as a black male, medium build, and between 5-feet, 5-inches tall to 5-feet, 9-inches tall. He was wearing a tan jacket with a grey hood. Anyone with information is asked to call Det. Drew Mims at 205-739-7274. If you wish to remain anonymous and qualify for a cash reward, you are encouraged to call Crime Stoppers of Metro Alabama at 205-254-7777. Growing differences between Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson and the Mobile City Council officially hit the courts on Thursday, though a compromise fended off a request for a restraining order against the council. The decision, which came after the request was bounced around among several circuit court judges, sets the stage for a hearing on Friday, Dec. 14. City attorney Ricardo Woods called that a win, saying "we got the relief that we needed." Its true the compromise means that the councils move to rehire its communications coordinator, Marion Steinfels, will not move forward despite the fact that Council Vice President Levon Manzie has signed a contract authorizing her employment. However, Circuit Court Judge Michael Youngpeter said he wasnt certain at first glance that the city could meet the threshold needed to justify a temporary restraining order. "A TRO, it's hard to get to the standard of irreparable injury," Youngpeter said. "I think it's better if she doesn't perform any work until this gets adjudicated." Bill Wasden, representing the city alongside Woods, and Council Attorney Wanda Cochran told Youngpeter they had just worked out an agreement under which the council wouldnt immediately proceed with Steinfels' hiring, and would maintain the status quo at least until Youngpeter could rule on a preliminary injunction. After some discussion, a hearing on a possible preliminary injunction was set for the afternoon of Dec. 14. Cochran also said that Steinfels hadn't yet sealed the deal: "We have no guarantee that she's going to sign this contract." I wouldnt, said Youngpeter, apparently a good-humored reference to the legal entanglements to come rather than an opinion on the contract itself. Stimpson fired Steinfels in early October, in apparent retaliation for council amendments to his proposed budget. The majority of the council called for her reinstatement, and eventually passed a resolution demanding that Stimpson sign a contract hiring her back under a professional services contract. The resolution laid out that if Stimpson didn't authorize the contract, it would. He didnt and Manzie signed it earlier this week. Speaking to reporters at an unrelated function on Wednesday, Councilman Fred Richardson said that as far as he was concerned, Steinfels already was back at work for the council. Cochrans remarks indicate that was not correct in the legal sense of having an executed contract. The administration has maintained that hiring authority belongs solely to the mayor; Cochran has said that doesn't necessarily preclude the council from arranging a contract for professional services. Both administration officials and some council members had previously signaled that they were prepared to go to court for a ruling on that point. George Talbot, senior director of communications for Stimpson, said the administration requested the restraining order because "we saw this as a necessary step to stop what we believe is an illegal expenditure of city funds." In a news release issued a short while later, Stimpson said that "Separation of powers does not equal duplication of powers I respect the duties and responsibilities of the City Council as the legislative branch of city government. And as stewards of the taxpayers dollars, we cannot allow the duplication of expenses. Stimpson said the legal action is the most expedient solution to recent sparring over issues of council authority. Weve wasted enough time arguing over these questions of authority," he said. "Its time for the courts to decide and allow us to move forward with the business of the city. We have too much momentum and too much opportunity ahead of us to allow this to slow us down. Stimpson wasn't present for the hearing, and the only council member on hand was Bess Rich, who said she'd found out about it by chance. "It's sad," Rich said. "I am shocked the administration is willing to spend taxpayer dollars on this." Cochran told Youngpeter that the council had reasons of its own for wanting a speedy resolution. We need a decision, she said, adding that Steinfels' absence was disrupting the work of the council. One aspect of Thursdays proceedings was that Cochran, Woods and other administration officials spent an hour or two waiting outside Presiding Circuit Court Judge John Locketts courtroom, only to be sent down the hall to Youngpeter. Lockett explained that such a request normally would have gone to Circuit Judge Ben Brooks. But since Brooks is a former city council member, it was generally assumed from the beginning that he would recuse himself. In his heart he feels he can resolve this and be fair to both sides, Lockett said. But he added that Brooks acknowledged there would be a possible appearance of bias, so he had in fact recused himself. Lockett said that the case raised "some fascinating questions which I would love to explore." But there was an established rotation for situations involving recusals, and in this case it wasn't his number that came up. Next in line in that rotation is Michael Youngpeter, who is here and ready, he said. "Y'all have fun," he said, as the two sides gathered up their documents prior to walking down the hall to Youngpeter's courtroom. "I may come down and watch." Youngpeter received the case in much the same spirit. Somebody remind me to send a Christmas card to Judge Lockett to thank him for sending this to me, he said. What a Palestinian grandfather, an Israeli soldier and the Hilltop Youth taught me about the power of forgiveness and violent radicalism. Israel took control of the West Bank after the Six-Day War in 1967 and sanctioned Jewish settlers to set up homes throughout the area, who have occupied it ever since. Today, the occupied West Bank is home to two-and-a-half million Palestinians; its an integral part of their homeland. There are constant hostility and frequent violence between settlers and Palestinians. Thou Shalt Not Kill follows Israels Hilltop Youth, a hardline, religious, nationalist settlers organisation that sets up illegal outposts across the occupied West Bank. In the following account, filmmaker Fatima Lianes provides a personal insight into the making of her film and the issues behind it. Before embarking on this film, I had last visited Israel in 2007. I hadnt known it then, but that trip would be the key to making Thou Shalt Not Kill, 11 years later. When I first met Itamar more than a decade ago, he had just resigned from the Israeli army after years of leading military operations in the occupied territories. He had told me that, as a child, hed never imagined he could kill someone, let alone have the desire to kill them. But, as a soldier, he had killed and that tore him up. So much so that hed contemplated committing suicide. He recalled a particular night when hed entered a Palestinian village to arrest an alleged terrorist and the mans son had stared at him intensely. He knew that look too well. It was a look of hatred the same hatred Itamar, whose grandparents had all been killed in the Holocaust, had felt as a child towards Nazis. He realised then that if that Palestinian child looked at me as I looked at a Nazi, there is something that does not work, something has to change. {articleGUID} From that moment, Itamar changed his life and dedicated himself to working for peace. Forgiveness particularly learning to forgive himself helped him to heal his wounds. Forgiveness, he taught me, is the only thing that can win over revenge. So, when more than a decade later, I learned that I was going to make a documentary about youth and radicalism, the first person I called was Itamar. But the call did not go as I expected. Itamar had stopped believing in peace. Things in Israel had grown worse and peace was now an unattainable utopia, he told me. The photo of Hussein Dawabshe A few days before I was due to leave for Israel, I received a telephone call that would change my life. My mother had had a medical emergency. I postponed my trip. During long hours spent waiting in the hospital, between laughter, tears and family confessions, I came across a picture of Palestinian Hussein Dawabshe. Hussein had lost his daughter, son-in-law and 18-month-old grandson in 2015, when a group of radical Jewish settlers known as the Hilltop Youth had firebombed their home in the occupied West Bank. The only survivor was Dawabshes four-year-old grandson, Ahmed, who had burns to more than half of his body. Hussein Dawabshe has lost his daughter, son-in-law and his 18-month-old grandson in 2015, when a group of radical Jewish settlers had firebombed their Duma home [The Associated Press] The picture of Hussein had been taken at the entrance to the court where a hearing for the accused was due to take place. Young radicals surrounded him, singing about his deceased grandson: Where is Ali? Ali is burned, Ali is on the grill. Husseins expression conveyed immense pain and frustration, but also a certain calm. I suddenly knew the story I had to tell, and everything took a 360-degree turn in my life as well as in my plans for the film. My mother died. So I found myself heading to Israel during a moment in my life when I was at my most fragile. But being close to death can give us a different perspective on life and instead of destroying me, my mothers death gave me a certain strength: the empathy to feel the pain of a Palestinian grandfather and the determination to give him a voice. Entering the world of the Hilltop Youth When I landed in Tel Aviv, entering the world of the Hilltop Youth seemed almost impossible. The group is reclusive and although our fixer had tried contacting them, they refused to talk. Our first insight into their world came through the Goldberg family, devoted followers of the late radical rabbi, Meir Kahane, and associates of the defendants in the arson attack. Without an appointment, we travelled to their home in Tapuach, a Jewish settlement in the Judea and Samaria region. As expected, we werent welcome. But we decided to wait in front of their house. After a few hours, during which several people entered and left the house casting suspicious looks our way, 20-year-old Rut Goldberg allowed us to enter her home. The people who burned the house in Duma wouldnt have done it if the state treated Arabs as enemies, says Rut [Al Jazeera] The hall was filled with pictures of Kahane and the American-Israeli Baruch Goldstein. Ruth looked at them with pride, while telling me how Goldstein, who was responsible for the 1994 Cave of the Patriarchs massacre, in which 29 Muslims were killed, gave his life for his people. Gradually, more members of Ruts family arrived her father Lenny and her sisters and we began to immerse ourselves into their lives. Gaining their trust was a slow process that took several days, many conversations and moments of great internal struggle. My intention was never to judge them but to listen and understand, which is difficult when a young woman is speaking proudly about the death of an 18-month-old Arab baby while affectionately hugging her two-year-old niece. I felt angry. Sometimes I thought I was going to explode with anger. But I also felt compassion and even a certain sorrow for Rut. She was just a girl who had never had the opportunity to know a different reality. Her father proudly said that he made sure to give her the best Jewish values. My intention was never to judge them but to listen and understand, which is difficult when a young woman is speaking proudly about the death of an 18-month-old Arab baby while affectionately hugging her two-year-old niece. Fatima Lianes, filmmaker Youths lost to a lie Our goal of finding the Hilltop Youth continued throughout this. Every day, for hours, we went around the hills of the occupied West Bank, looking for ways to talk to them. But nobody wanted to cooperate. Some of them took photos and videos in order to denounce us on social networks. We always returned to our hotel bereft of hope. Then, one day, when we were about to give up, we read on social media that the Hilltop Youth were due to begin the reconstruction of an outpost demolished two weeks earlier by the Israeli army. We decided to look for the outpost and, after hours of searching, finally spotted a small structure with a flag on it. We got out of the car and began, tentatively, to approach it. My primary feeling was fear. If these people were able to burn a Palestinian family, what would they do to us? Members of the Hilltop Youth at the Maoz Esther outpost, near the settlement of Tapuach [Al Jazeera] It was an inhospitable, hostile place, and the Hilltop Youth hid in their little house. Our fixer approached them first and, gradually, we got closer. The flag read God is the King. I expected to find monsters but they were just shy children who hardly ever stopped praying and constantly recited the Torah. I felt the same way for them that I had for Rut: compassion and grief for the youths theyd lost to a lie. Revenge was the protagonist in their lives. Slowly, these kids who devoted their lives to conquering the hills, started opening up sharing their thoughts with us. We listened. I expected to find 'monsters' but they were just shy children who hardly ever stopped praying and constantly recited the Torah. I felt the same way for them that I had for Rut: compassion and grief for the youths they'd lost to a lie. Fatima Lianes, filmmaker The power of forgiveness: Meeting Hussein Throughout this, I could see Hussein Dawabshes expression in that photo, but I hadnt yet felt ready to meet him. He would be the last person I met on my trip. After days spent with those who celebrated his tragedy, I didnt want to be carried away by my emotions when I did finally meet him. When that time came, Ahmed, Husseins grandson and the only survivor of the attack on his family, was playing in his grandfathers house. He was the only one able to draw a trace of a smile on his grandfathers face. Ahmeds room was full of pictures of him with his deceased mother and I could not help but cry. I had been lucky to enjoy a mother for 41 years of my life, but Ahmed would not. We walked together to the house where his family was murdered. Hussein had decided to leave it intact so that no one would ever forget what had happened there. I struggle to find the words to express the feelings that overtook my body upon seeing it. Emptiness? Anger? None of them does it justice. Hussein walked calmly around the house in silence and, again, the power of forgiveness appeared in my life. How does a man who has lost everything have the dignity to get up every day, to stay alive struggling but determined that his grandson would grow up not with the idea of revenge but of forgiveness? After everything, and in spite of its harshness, filming Thou Shalt Not Kill has been a haven of peace and hope for me, helping me feel gratitude for my upbringing, for my family and, especially, for my mother, for the values that she taught me, for the tolerance and respect. People say that forgiveness is capable of healing even the deepest wounds and this trip to Israel reminded me of this by healing mine too. Security forces struck 18-month-old Hiba Nasir as her mother tried to protect her at home during clashes with rebels. Shopian, Indian-administered Kashmir Hiba Nisar is a toddler determined to play with her tricycle as her mother, Mursala Jan, struggles to keep the child from racing out onto the lawn. Any contact with dust could cause an infection to her eye. She cant talk much yet, but regularly fusses and points her finger to where the pain is. Doctors have warned that she may have permanently lost vision in her right eye. On November 23, the 18-month-olds eye was ruptured by pellets fired by security forces inside her home at Kapran, a village in the Shopian district in Indian-administered Kashmir. She was in her mothers arms when the volley of pellets hit her. In recent years, more than 6,000 people, mostly teenagers, have lost their eyesight fully or partially after being struck by the pellets, which are fired from iron shotguns used by security forces to control demonstrations in Kashmir, the disputed territory, over which India and Pakistan have fought three wars. 170929102239932 Hiba is the latest and youngest victim, her injury has stirred debate over the use of force. There was heavy tear [gas] outside and we all felt choked. The kids started vomiting and were struggling to breathe, 30-year-old Mursala Jan told Al Jazeera at her home in Shopian, an area that has become the epicentre of violence between rebels and Indian forces in the Muslim-majority region. Fearing her children might venture out, Mursala Jan tried to keep them inside. When I saw them vomiting, with their eyes turning red, I opened the door of the room and took them towards the corridor. We were in the corridor when the pellets came towards us. I pushed my son aside and he fell down. I tried to shield Hiba with my hands but the pellets had already turned her face bloody. I went out and shouted. A group of young boys saw her and took her to the hospital on the bike in another district. It was after a while that I was able to reach the hospital from where she was referred to the main city of Srinagar. During a gunfight between rebels and Indian forces that took place in Kapran village that day, six rebels and a civilian were killed, triggering massive clashes. The residential house where the gun battle took place is near Hibas home. What can be more painful for a toddler's mother? I know she is in immense pain and she doesn't even know how to express it. Mursala Jan, Hiba's mother Mursala Jan says her daughter is too young to comprehend the darkness that has befallen her but has not slept well since the incident. I dont know what her future will be like. What will she do with darkness in the world? She is too young to even tell me where it hurts. She just points her finger to her eye. She refuses to close her eye even once. Maybe it hurts her too much when she closes her eye. Hibas few words include biscuit, mama, and eye. I wish that the pellets had hit me instead of her. It has taken away my peace to see my little girl suffering. How would she come in terms with her disability for life, if she does not gain her sight completely? said Mursala Jan. These things will haunt her in future and they have started haunting me now. No one cares about it, my child is a number, among thousands of others who have lost their light because of pellets. At 18 months, Hiba Nasir is Kashmirs youngest pellet gun victim. Authorities have described her injuries as unfortunate collateral damage [Shuaib Bashir/Al Jazeera] It is not the first time the family has suffered because of pellet guns. Hibas teenage cousin, Insha Mushtaq, was hit during civilian unrest in 2016 in Kashmir. She was blinded two days after Burhan Wani, a young rebel commander, was killed. Wanis death led to a five-month protest, in which at least 100 civilians were killed and thousands were wounded. Hibas mother says there were dozens of other victims in the ophthalmology ward when her daughter was undergoing the first surgery. She cried for the whole night, said Mursala Jan, adding that a second surgery which should determine whether or not Hibas sight can be restored is scheduled for December 11. Amnesty International says the weapons that cause these injuries are dangerous and violate international standards on the use of force. Authorities claim the pellet shotgun is not lethal, but the injuries and deaths caused by this cruel weapon bear testimony to how dangerous, inaccurate and indiscriminate it is, the rights group has said. The guns were introduced in the disputed territory in 2010. Their use has blinded hundreds and killed at least 14 people since July 2016, according to Amnesty International. Speaking to Al Jazeera, doctor Saleem Tak, medical superintendent at the Shri Maharaja Hari Singh hospital, did not rule out the possibility that Hiba could lose her eyesight. She has suffered corneal perforating injury, an anomaly of the cornea resulting from damage to the corneal surface. When a pellet enters the eye, it makes a hole, Tak said. She has one pellet inside her eye. The eye is sensitive like a water ball. There is always a risk. We have performed one surgery on her and multiple surgeries need to be performed. She is perhaps the youngest pellet victim we have treated. Hiba Nasir, pictured in the black jacket, will undergo a second surgery on Tuesday [Shuaib Bashir/Al Jazeera] Muhammad Ashraf Wani, who leads a group of 1,233 pellet gun victims, told Al Jazeera that Hiba is the youngest to date. The authorities in the region have termed her injury as unfortunate collateral damage. Vijay Kumar, adviser to the governor of the Jammu and Kashmir state told Al Jazeera: I have talked to some doctors. Within one week, there would be next intervention. It will make her perfect thats what we are trying. We have also announced the compensation. The preliminary inquiry says that the mother was trying to close the window. Its not intentional firing. It was a collateral and its very unfortunate, Deputy commissioner Shopian Owais Ahmad told Al Jazeera that they had ordered a magisterial inquiry into the incident; the report will be ready in two weeks. In the meantime, Mursala Jan will attempt to comfort her young daughter as she prepares for another surgery. What can be more painful for a toddlers mother? she said. I know she is in immense pain and she doesnt even know how to express it. Photo: Courtesy of retailer Those who like to lean into lazy Sunday afternoons (or any time on the couch, lazy or otherwise) know that a good throw blanket is key to creating a comfortable cocoon especially as the weather cools and the days shorten. Curl up with one on the sofa in front of the fireplace, or use it to dress up a bare piece of furniture, says Maggie Lydecker, a design expert at Wayfair. As Lydecker points out, when youre not snuggled beneath it, a throw can instantly add texture or color to a room just by being draped across a chair. Plus, she adds that a throw blanket is also the perfect gift, as you can never have too many, and they are so versatile. To help you find the perfect throws for cozying up, zhuzhing up your space, or both, we asked Lydecker and 17 other cool people from interior designers to artists for their favorites. Read on for their picks, which suit practically every home-decor style and include cashmere, wool, and faux-fur options. Faux-fur throw blankets CB2 Premium Grey Faux Fur Throw $169 $169 Faux-fur blankets work well in many spaces, and make especially great picks in the colder fall and winter months. According to Alessandra Wood, director of style at Modsy, Theyre luxurious and a great way to stay warm in the cold months while adding a winter wonderland feel to a space. Theyre also more affordable (and less ethically complicated) than blankets made from actual fur, but often just as cozy (and cozy-looking) as the real deal. They add instant warmth and elegance to any space, says Decorist creative director Jessica McCarthy. For a comfy pick at a relatively approachable price point, few styles beat this extra-large throw from CB2. As Lydecker says, size is super important. Remember to stay within the range of 50 to 70 inches, so its large enough to snuggle up in. This throw blankets gray shade should work with most rooms decor schemes, and its rich, textured layers make it look much more expensive than it actually is. $169 at CB2 Buy West Elm Faux Fur Brushed Tips Throw $100 $100 For a less-expensive faux-fur option, Sean Juneja, the founder and CEO of Decor Aid, likes this West Elm throw that he says is inexpensive, easy to maintain, has a great look, and is ultrasoft. He adds that his companys designers often order these throws by the dozen for their clients. Molly Schoneveld, president of the Storied Group, also likes the West Elm faux-fur throws, noting they can make great gifts. I think it looks and feels luxurious, but the best part is that with a throw like this, you dont have to worry so much about matching someones decor. They can store this away and pull it out when they want to snuggle on the sofa, she explains. $100 at West Elm Buy Wool throw blankets Pendleton Washable Wool Blanket From $149 The faux-fur look isnt for everyone, and those in the market for something less opulent-looking might consider a wool throw especially one from a heritage brand with a legacy of quality. Oregon-based Pendleton has been family-owned for six generations, and producing wool products in the Pacific Northwest since 1863. Pendleton is a classic that has been around for a very long time, and for good reason, says stylist Emily Henderson. Their plaid patterns are timeless and will never go out of style. The brands ecofriendly wool is also machine washable a very nice plus for something timeless that youll always want out on display. From $149 at Amazon Buy From $149 at Pendleton Buy Faribault Trapper Wool Throw $150 Based in Minnesota, Faribault Woolen Mill is another company with an impressive history, according to McCarthy, who told us she loves a classic Faribault wool blanket. She added, Its the type of blanket that is crafted to last for generations and still made today in an old historic factory. Faribault has been making blankets, scarves, and more since 1865; this one has a small amount of cotton blended into the wool to keep it from feeling itchy. $150 at Faribault Woolen Mill Buy Faux Mohair Grid Throw Blanket $25 $25 While its technically made of faux wool, Modsy designer Irah Price says this under-$25 blanket is an easy and inexpensive way to add a rustic touch to a living space or bedroom. I love the deep autumn colors of navy and gold, she says. Plus, she notes the faux wool is still incredibly soft, and stresses that you cant beat the price. $25 at Target Buy Cashmere throw blankets Williams Sonoma Home Solid Cashmere Throw, Smokey Amethyst $299 For something truly luxurious to throw over yourself or your furniture, cashmere blankets are hard to beat. As Wood says, Who doesnt love the soft luxury of a cashmere sweater? She recommends this fringe-trimmed Williams Sonoma throw that comes in a slew of colors more than 25 by our count with her favorite being smokey amethyst, because she says it will add a glam touch to your room year-round. $299 at Williams Sonoma Buy Alt for Living Cashmere Throws $395 $395 Christine Gachot, the co-founder of design firm Gachot, is also a fan of adorning a couch with cashmere. Her favorite cashmere throw is from Alt for Living, which makes its blankets in custom colors, ranging from mustard yellow to sky blue. The bespoke service makes it even easier to match the throws to your space or, as she points out, to someone elses. How chic to give a beautiful blanket as a gift with a color chosen by you, Gachot says. $395 at Alt for Living Buy Ben Soleimani Ribbed Cashmere Throw $488 The soft cashmere of these throws makes you want to curl up with a book all day long, says Gibson, who adds that the ribbing brings unexpected texture and a layer to a space. In addition to ivory, these supersoft blankets come in other subtle neutrals, including a light gray and charcoal. $488 at Ben Soleimani Buy Velvet throw blanket Opalhouse Velvet Tufted Stitch Quilt $70 $70 A throw made from velvet is another way to add a touch of decadence to a room, according to Price, who says, I always love a good, rich velvet fabric. His favorite velvet throw is a reasonably priced tufted number that has some really beautiful options for color, including bronze, blush, and teal. $70 at Target Buy Linen throw blanket Citta Design Linen Throw $169 $169 Linen, on the other hand, is a great option if youre looking for something crisp and clean (though it may not keep you as warm as other throws on this list). According to Lia-Belle King, the creative director and co-founder of Worn Store, New Zealandbased textile brand Citta Design does the best home textiles made from natural fibers, and is my absolute favorite. King notes that the colors Citta Design uses in its products are among the things she loves about the brand, and this linen blankets orange trim is a nice and subtle contrast to its plum body. Their colors are always vibrant and rich, she explains, adding that the quality of their products is premium, and everything has an element of luxury without being precious. $169 at Citta Design Buy Knit throw blankets Lane and Mae Merino Wool Blanket $598 $598 For a blanket thats just as cozy as your favorite sweater, many of the cool people we talked to suggest a woven throw. Chunky knit blankets are like a giant sweater for your sofa, says Wood. Designer Nick Olsen loves this option from Lane and Mae: I love the massive knit on a neutral sofa. Plus, the weave gives these luxe throws a special, handmade feel. In addition to the white, gray, and graphite colors shown, the blanket also comes in blue, fawn, and blush. $598 at Nordstrom Buy Pine Cone Hill Chunky Knit Throw $188 A slightly less chunky and far less expensive option is this Pine Cone Hill knit blanket, which comes recommended by Wood, who notes that Pine Cone Hills blankets are 100 percent wool for extra warmth. $188 at Annie Selke Buy TexturableDecor Knot Wool Blanket From $390 From $390 With throws and blankets, look for natural colors that add a lot of texture to a room, advises interior design duo Porter and Hollister Hovey. Their other design tip is to source from international Etsy sellers, like the Montevideo-based shop TexturableDecor, which sells handwoven Uruguayan textiles. Buying from retailers like this gives you access to handmade goods that are really rare and special, the Hoveys explain. They call the sellers knot blanket an absolute favorite. From $390 at Etsy Buy Patterned throw blankets Ferm Living Mirage Throws $179 If youre looking for something more graphic than any of the plaid or bold-colored options above, consider a blanket sporting a subtle pattern or abstract print. Among the latter is this reversible cotton blanket by Fern Living a favorite of designer Jenny J. Norris with soft, geometric forms on either side. So on-trend and very cool, she says. Its a statement, certainly more unique than your traditional throw blanket. The highly stylized look, she adds, makes it an especially fun gift to give and receive. $179 at 2Modern Buy Tactile Home Horizon Throw $210 Im a big fan of artist Kenesha Sneed, and this throw is a beautiful way to bring her iconic artwork into the home, says designer and author Justina Blakeney. The cotton throw is woven in North Carolina, and features a graphic desert scene in a modern color palette. $210 at Tactile Matter Buy Zara Home Two-Tone Blanket $119 $119 With a slightly more restrained pattern, this color-blocked number recommended by Norris is perfectly earthy, which feels appropriate when autumn kicks in, she says. $119 at Zara Buy Crate and Barrel Carreno Multicolored Throw $90 $90 For a blanket as colorful as it is cozy, Wood suggests this throw from Crate and Barrel, which she says is perfect for family rooms or spaces where you cuddle up to watch television, since this soft and textured throw adds layers of comfort. $90 at Crate and Barrel Buy Eider & Ivory Brampt Herringbone Throw $94 $94 Our cool people also mentioned herringbone-patterned throws as timeless options that suit a wide range of tastes. According to Lydecker, A tailored herringbone pattern with fringed ends always blends seamlessly with ones existing decor. At just more than $100, this cozy, cotton-blend blanket is her favorite reasonably priced herringbone throw. In addition to this light sky-blue color, you can get the blanket in soft yellow, bright blue, or traditional shades like charcoal or coffee brown. $94 at Wayfair Buy Fells Andes Sill Throw Charcoal $395 Homepolish interior designer Amy Courtney agrees that you can never go wrong with a classic herringbone throw. Her pick is this ultraluxe version with a slightly more subtle pattern thats made from Peruvian baby alpaca wool and comes with its own leather carrying strap. $395 at Fells Andes Buy Pom-pom throw blankets Jayson Home Pom Stripe Wool Blanket $295 Lots of the stylish folks we talked to say that pom-pom or Moroccan-style blankets are a great way to add both texture and a touch of bohemian flair to your space (though they may not be as warm as some other options on this list). I just returned from a trip to Morocco and wanted to buy everything with pom-poms, says Gibson. I love the strips and chunky weave of this blanket, which would look great at the foot of a bed or draped over a sofa. $295 at Jayson Home Buy Mistana Symonds Block Print Cotton Throw $140 A less-expensive pom-pom option is this embroidered piece that effortlessly ties together pattern, comfort, and color into one cozy package, according to Modsy designer Megan Huffman. She notes that while the throw is subtle enough for any room or style, it still adds a perfect pop of color that will complement any aesthetic, from mid-century modern to traditional. $140 at Wayfair Buy Quilt-style throw blankets March Thompson Street Studio Indigo Tile Quilt $700 I didnt think that I was a quilt person until this stopped me in my tracks, says Gibson. According to the brand, the blankets design was inspired by a trip through Portugal and North Africa while reading the book Chatting With Henri Matisse, the Lost 1941 Interview. Each of the Indigo Tile Quilts is made with more than 100 pieces of recycled cotton and linen remnants. $700 at March Buy Calvin Klein Vintage Eight-Point Star Throw Blanket $100 This eight-point star throw provides the same dose of Americana as the quilted blanket above, but at a far more palatable price point. It came recommended by Olsen, who says it also serves as a nice memento to Raf Simonss tenure at Calvin Klein. $100 at Bed Bath & Beyond Buy get the strategist newsletter Actually good deals, smart shopping advice, and exclusive discounts. Email This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Terms & Privacy Notice By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice and to receive email correspondence from us. The Strategist is designed to surface the most useful, expert recommendations for things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape. Some of our latest conquests include the best acne treatments, rolling luggage, pillows for side sleepers, natural anxiety remedies, and bath towels. We update links when possible, but note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change. Every editorial product is independently selected. If you buy something through our links, New York may earn an affiliate commission. The settlers takeover of Batan al-Hawa is the most extensive expulsion process in recent years in East Jerusalem. Batan al-Hawa, Occupied East Jerusalem Over the years, Israeli settlers have repeatedly offered Zuheir Rajabi and his neighbours millions of dollars for their modest homes stacked on the hillside of Silwans Batan al-Hawa, a neighbourhood in occupied East Jerusalem. The homes are in what is known as the Historic Basin of the Old City and in proximity to the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque, making them prized possessions. A Jewish settler once offered Rajabi a blank cheque for his house, asking him to write any figure he chose, from 3m to 30m shekels ($800,000 to $8m). But for Rajabi and 700 other neighbourhood residents who are now facing eviction no amount of money could make them part with their homes. They thought that in 30 days the people would give up their houses, Rajabi said, standing on the roof patio of the neighbourhoods community centre, overlooking the valley. The people here are very simple. They have only one thing, which is honour. We dont mind living in poverty or in bad conditions, but we just cant handle losing our honour, said Rajabi, who is also the spokesperson for the Batan al-Hawa Committee. For Palestinians, their home is their honour, says Zuheir Rajabi [Mersiha Gadzo/Al Jazeera] A large number of Batan al-Hawa residents have been there for over 70 years, many after being expelled from their ancestral homes as Israel proper was being established. Residents now face another expulsion with a Jewish settler organisation, Ateret Cohanim, trying to wage what Ir Amim, an Israeli NGO, calls the single-largest takeover of a Palestinian neighbourhood in East Jerusalem since Israel occupied it in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. The Judaisation of East Jerusalem Ateret Cohanim, which aims to Judaise East Jerusalem, claims the homes in Batan al-Hawa were built on land owned by the Jewish Benvenisti Trust in the 19th century, which it used to settle Yemeni Jews in the area. In 2002, Israels Justice Ministry issued a title deed for the land, about 5.5 dunams (1.4 acres), to the Benvenisti Trust without notifying the residents. By then, Ateret Cohanim had established control of the Trust. The deed was used as a basis for eviction notices to residents, such as the one received by the Rajabi family in 2015 demanding that the seven families living in the house leave. In June this year, over a hundred Palestinian residents fighting evictions filed a petition, arguing that the Benvenisti Trust owned just the buildings and not the land on which they stood. Since the original buildings had since been destroyed and rebuilt, the Trust could not claim the land, the residents argued. That same month, the Israeli government admitted that the Ministry of Justice had failed to investigate the Trust before issuing the title deed. Yet, the Israeli High Court of Justice last month rejected the residents appeal to overturn the 2002 decision, effectively allowing Ateret Cohanim to pursue the takeover of Batan al-Hawa. Al Aqsa Mosque is seen from Rajabis home [Mersiha Gadzo/Al Jazeera] Israeli human rights organisation BTselem said that the courts ruling had paved the way for the cleansing of Palestinians from Silwan. The judgment proves, yet again, that the Israeli High Court gives its seal of approval to almost any infringement of Palestinians rights by the Israeli authorities. The octopus in East Jerusalem So far, Ateret Cohanim has evicted 17 families and now owns six buildings in the area. According to the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 45 percent of all Palestinian families facing eviction in East Jerusalem live in Batan al-Hawa. BTselem called it the most extensive expulsion process in recent years in the city. Rajabi was offered nearly $8m for his home seen on the right [Mersiha Gadzo/Al Jazeera] Rajabi said his father bought their plot of land in 1966 after they were expelled from the Old Citys Jewish Quarters without any compensation. I was born here, I grew up here, I got married here, I have lived here all my life, he said. Disappointed over the courts ruling, he said Israeli society is heading to the extreme right. An Israeli flag covers six floors of a building occupied by settlers in Batan al-Hawa [Mersiha Gadzo/Al Jazeera] Rajabi compares Ateret Cohanim to an octopus whose tentacles have gripped the Old City and Silwan. Ateret Cohanim is a powerful organisation, not just politically. It has money too, Rajabi said. According to Israeli daily Haaretz, the organisation uses a number of tactics to coerce Palestinians into selling their properties, including sexual entrapment and blackmail of various types such as threatening to publicise a sale agreed in secret so the seller, fearing for their life, would then be forced to lower their price significantly to avoid their communitys ire. Ir Amim says the Israeli government has been directly involved in facilitating illegal private settlement in the Old City and surrounding Palestinian neighbourhoods. The government acted through the General Custodian and the Registrar of Trusts (both under the Ministry of Justice) to facilitate settlers seizure of Batan al-Hawa, as well as increasing its security budget by 119 percent from 2009-2016 to ensure the protection of radical Jews settling in the hearts of Palestinian neighbourhoods in East Jerusalem, the NGO said. Housing shortages, poor infrastructure and lack of government services affect all Palestinians in East Jerusalem [Mersiha Gadzo/Al Jazeera] Consolidating Jewish control According to a report by Ir Amim, the political objective of groups such as Ateret Cohanim is to consolidate Jewish control in East Jerusalem and thwart the two-state solution. Yacoub al-Rajabi, a member of the Batan al-Hawa Committee, said that settlers have been trying to buy their house since 2003. A year and a half ago, Ateret Cohanim offered him $2m to sell his home and drop the court case, but to no avail. If they evict us from our homes, we will build tents next to our homes. We will not go anywhere. We refuse to go anywhere. We refuse to be transferred [for the third time], Yacoub said. He described their neighbourhood as a prison where residents feel trapped and are regularly harassed by settlers, police, army and Israeli governmental institutions who pressure them to leave. Whenever there is a Jewish holiday, he says the residents cannot leave their homes and the children cant go to school under military order. We do not have anything but our steadfastness. [We will] try to defend ourselves and our rights We have the ownership of this land and it is ours by law, he said. Some 2,500 settlers live in about 100 buildings in Palestinian neighbourhoods in and around the Old City [Mersiha Gadzo/Al Jazeera] Rajabis office is located in the community centre built for children the only place in the neighbourhood where the kids can play safely. In one corner of his office, a screen displays CCTV footage from the cameras installed outside. Across the street, a dozen more cameras surround his home. He had them set up to document attacks by settlers or Israeli authorities after his father died from inhaling tear gas fired by the police. Rajabi says his cameras have been extremely useful in disputing false claims by the settlers and the Israeli authorities. The Swiss-funded community centre in Batan al-Hawa provides children a safe place to play [Mersiha Gadzo/Al Jazeera] The fate of their homes is now with the magistrates court in Jerusalem, which has to decide whether the Benvenisti Trust owns just the buildings or the land too. But Yacoub said there is little hope that justice can be delivered from Israeli courts. Even during the hearing the judge herself mentioned that there are some legal dilemmas in the courts verdict, Yacoub said adding that residents will try all possible means to stay, even taking the case to the International Criminal Court. This [court decision] will never break us. We will keep fighting for our rights, we will keep fighting for our ownership over our land and houses, he said. With regard to the current macabre embrace between US President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, it is difficult to assess which side has gambled more recklessly on the other. At first glance, it is tempting to conclude that the United States has made the riskier bet. Not only has it soiled itself by association with the author of Jamal Khashoggis murder, but it has also tethered its interests in the Middle East to a heedless ruler whose combination of youth and a penchant for blundering on an epic scale promises negative dividends for years and even decades to come. However, any side that places its bet on the mercurial Trump is making an audacious gamble of its own. The crown prince seems, in any case, to have overlooked the fact that Trump is the temporary chief executive of the US. Whenever he leaves the scene, there will be a reckoning for his international enablers and abettors. The next administration will surely conduct a foreign policy that once again reflects enduring American values and interests. It will have, moreover, the CIA report at hand which identifies Prince Mohammed as responsible for the pre-meditated murder of a journalist who was a legal, permanent resident of the US. At that point, the crown prince will achieve the official US pariah status that he deserves. For this alone, King Salman ought now to replace him in the line of succession. But the greater risk for Saudi Arabia is that in aligning with Donald Trump it has also effectively aligned itself with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and made itself complicit with the Trump administrations systematic campaign to eradicate the political identity and national aspirations of the Palestinian people. That the Saudis could benefit from tactical cooperation with Israel to counter the threat posed to both countries and the region by Iran is one thing. But the price that the Saudis have agreed to pay for Prince Mohammeds triangular alliance with Trump and Netanyahu is almost beyond measure. For the remarkable steps taken by the administration closing the PLO office in Washington, eliminating the US diplomatic outpost to the Palestinians in Jerusalem, defunding UNRWA and challenging the refugee status of millions of Palestinian exiles aim at stripping the Palestinians of any claims to disputed lands, a right of return and ultimately to independent statehood. Media accounts indicate that Prince Mohammed has vigorously pressured Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to accept US and Israeli terms for a peace settlement, an astonishing betrayal. However, it is over the issue of Jerusalem, the third holiest site in Islam, that the crown prince has gambled potentially with the legitimacy and stability of the House of Saud itself. As the protector of Mecca and Medina, the Saudi monarchy lays claim to unique responsibilities with regard to the defence of the Islamic faith. To be complicit in any way with Donald Trumps move of the US Embassy and unilateral recognition of Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem carries existential risks for the Kingdom. Trump openly boasts that he has taken the issue of Jerusalem off the negotiating table, and no Israeli government can be expected to surrender such a monumental concession. The potential alienation of Islamic and Arab claims on the Holy City is fraught with consequences for the entire region. 181120113409460 The irony is that a US-Saudi-Israeli alliance meant to counter Iran may actually redound to Irans benefit. Not only does it enable Iran to score easy propaganda points, positioning itself as the alleged champion of Palestinian rights and defender of Arab interests against Israel. The Jerusalem issue, in particular, can be exploited by Iran to advance Shia claims to preeminence within the Islamic world. It would seem that the current leadership of the US and Israel are so blinded by short-term considerations and besotted with a pliable prince that they have lost all sight of strategic interests. It will take the intervention of King Salman himself to restore balance to the Kingdom and curb reckless gambling on all sides in the combustible Middle East. The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance. The wave of protests sweeping through France is not a rejection of green policies. Its a revolt against the 1 percent. For the past three weeks, France has been experiencing one of the most significant social mobilisations in its recent history, which laid bare the countrys social ills, anti-elite sentiment, growing inequalities and thirst for social justice. It all started on November 17 when tens of thousands of people took to the streets across the country to protest against rising fuel prices. The protesters, dubbed Les gilets jaunes (the yellow vests) after the high-visibility jackets they adopted as a symbol of their complaint, blocked roundabouts, burned effigies and clashed with the police. They were angry about the almost 20 percent increase in the price of diesel since the start of the year, as well as the planned fuel tax hike President Emmanuel Macron had recently announced. While Macron said the tax was necessary to protect the environment and combat climate change, protesters claimed the decision was yet another sign that the arrogant and privileged president is out of touch with regular folk struggling to make ends meet. The intensity of the protests quickly forced the government to make a U-turn and first suspend and later permanently shelve its plans for fuel tax increases. However, the protest movement was not only about fuel prices. It encompassed wider anger and frustration against the political establishment in general and President Macron in particular. As a result, the governments decision to abandon fuel tax hikes failed to calm tensions. The yellow vests want further concessions from the government. Their demands include a redistribution of wealth as well as the increase of salaries, pensions, social security payments and the minimum wage. Some say they will not settle for anything less than the presidents resignation. 181202174239086 So how did day-to-day frustrations about fuel prices and green taxes transform into a nation-wide protest movement attracting hundreds of thousands of people in a matter of weeks? It all comes down to Macrons apparent failure to connect with the people, understand their concerns and steer France away from destructive neoliberal policies. Misleading the electorate 40-year-old Macron was elected last year on pledges to change the face of French politics, create more jobs and improve lives. On the eve of the 2017 presidential election, French voters were tired of career politicians. They wanted a different kind of leader, someone who can understand their long-rooted social and economic concerns and deliver real, practical solutions. For the past four decades, French people have been worried about the erosion of social protections in their country. Since Francois Mitterrands socialist government controversially decided to impose austerity policies in 1983, successive governments have taken slow but consistent steps to dismantle the French welfare state. All this gradually accentuated the economic concerns of the French middle and working classes and led them to be more and more suspicious of all mainstream politicians on the right and the left. They came to believe that the political elite protects the interests of the wealthy and does not care about the wellbeing of ordinary citizens. Successfully diagnosing the publics frustration with the political class, Macron worked hard to differentiate himself from the establishment in Paris and act as the representative of a new world order throughout his election campaign. He had the youth, the energy, the positive message. He was the leader of a brand-new political party, aligned neither with the right nor the left. He appeared to be carrying no political baggage. Many viewed him as a possible saviour and did not hesitate to give him their vote. Moreover, he was running against National Front leader Marine Le Pen. This also made him look like a progressive saviour. A significant portion of the French electorate was ready to vote for any moderate candidate who could stop the far right from taking power. So, they voted for Macron, even though many of them did not support his agenda completely or have faith in his ability to respond to their concerns. As a result, Macron was elected by a landslide. However, it didnt take long for his supporters to realise that his reformist, new world image was nothing more than an illusion. Macrons failure to bring about change should not have surprised anyone. Even though he seemed young and new, he was part of the establishment. He had served as the minister of the economy, industry and digital affairs from 2014 to 2016 under Francois Hollande he was in charge of implementing the former presidents infamous Labour Law reform, which caused widespread protests across the country. Before that he was a Rothschild investment banker. Once elected, Macron showed his true colours almost immediately. He decided to amend the wealth tax known in France as ISF by narrowing it to a tax on real estate assets, rather than covering all worldwide assets over the value of 1.3m euros. This led to him being swiftly labelled the president of the rich. Macrons disdain for the poor On top of making controversial policy decisions that favoured powerful corporations and rich individuals, Macron also repeatedly demonstrated his unfamiliarity with and at times disdain for ordinary people struggling to survive in the countrys increasingly harsh economic environment. In 2016 while he was the minister of economy, for example, Macron was confronted by angry trade unionists and was recorded telling one young man: You dont scare me with your T-shirt. The best way of paying for a suit is to work. In a July 2017 speech Macron said train stations were wonderful places, for there you can cross paths with both people who succeed (people like him) and people who are nothing (presumably ordinary French citizens like the rest of us). In October of the same year he was filmed accusing disgruntled workers of preferring to stir up chaos rather than find jobs. Instead of kicking up bloody chaos, some of them would be better off going to see if they can get a job over there, he said, alluding to an aluminium factory in Ussel, a region in which employers were struggling to hire new workers. More recently, in September this year, Macron told an unemployed man he could easily find work if only he crossed the street. Everywhere I go people say to me that they are looking for staff, the president said. This lack of empathy coupled with business-friendly policies helped shape the French publics perception of Macron as an arrogant, privileged politician who is a friend of the rich and the powerful. The fuel tax that he tried to impose on people that are already feeling their economic concerns are being ignored was the straw that broke the camels back. This is why the yellow vest movement is not only about fuel prices but about social justice. There is a profound discontent among ordinary people in France who see themselves as the losers in a world dominated by international elites who dont seem to care or understand what they are going through. Macron is pursuing the exact same neoliberal agenda his predecessors pursued in the 1980s. And just like the policies of his predecessors, his policies are hurting the poorest and helping the rich get even richer. The protests are not rejecting climate change action The yellow vest movement should not be seen as the publics rejection of the green transition. The French state indeed has a responsibility to take action to combat climate change and protect the environment. But powerful companies that are primarily responsible for the pollution, and not regular citizens, should bear the brunt of this necessary revolution. The yellow vest movement is, of course, not perfect. Some protesters were responsible for outrageous racial and homophobic attacks. Some also damaged national monuments and were violent towards police officers. While we should not turn a blind eye to any of this, we should remember that the yellow vests movement is a reflection of the ongoing tensions in France. Almost 11 million people voted for the far right only a year ago in this country. There are some extremist elements in the French society and they were inevitably some among the protesters. But we should not dismiss the entire movement as extremist because of this. The yellow vests are the French people who we never see on TV. Their despair can at times appear offensive because anger is neither polite nor sophisticated. It is disorganised, shocking and comes with emotion, which can translate into violence. The point is not to defend any of the violence that has tragically occurred, but to remember that the unrest France is currently facing came in response to other forms of violence, much more insidious and harmful: social exclusion and injustice. Unemployment, discrimination and poverty are at the root of the daily humiliation French people feel which has now transformed into a general despondency. The French political elites will find it hard to pacify this public anger unless they commit to introducing radical changes to the way this country is governed. The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance. Taliban fighters overrun army outposts in Herat province, killing 14 soldiers and taking 21 captive, official says. The Taliban fighters have killed at least 14 Afghan soldiers and taken another 21 captive overnight in coordinated attacks in the western Herat province of Afghanistan, according to an official. Najibullah Mohebi, a member of Herat Provincial Council, said on Friday that attackers besieged two army outposts late on Thursday in Shindand District. The fighting lasted for six hours before reinforcements arrived and repulsed the fighters early on Friday but not before they had captured 21 troops, Mohebi said. But the Defence Ministrys spokesman, Ghafor Ahmad Jaweed, put the number of army dead and wounded at 10. The different accounts couldnt immediately be reconciled. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid posted a video on Twitter allegedly showing the captive soldiers inside a room. Al Jazeera could not independently verify the authenticity of the video. The surge in violence comes as the United States is pushing for a peaceful resolution of the 17-year-old conflict, while the Taliban has increasingly asserted control over vast tracts of the country. The Trump administration is holding direct talks with the Taliban, which was toppled following a US-led invasion in 2001. Taliban officials have held three days of talks with US special representative for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad in Qatar, aimed at renewing the peace process. Last month, President Ashraf Ghani formed a 12-member team to hold peace talks with the Taliban as his government tries to bring peace ahead of next years presidential elections. Ghani had earlier said that 28,529 Afghan security forces had been killed since the start of 2015, a figure far higher than anything previously acknowledged. That is an average of around 20 soldiers killed every day. The US watchdog Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) said the killings have contributed to the high rate of attrition and low morale among the security forces. Lieutenant General Kenneth Mckenzie, a top US general, told members of the Senate on Tuesday that the death toll will no longer be sustainable unless urgent measures were taken to address recruiting and training issues. A US Congress-mandated watchdog estimates that nearly half of Afghanistan is either under Taliban control or the armed groups influence. Washington has committed $4bn a year to finance, train and outfit Afghan forces. The war has cost the US about $1 trillion since the 2001 overthrow of the Taliban and even though most of the funds have gone for security, the situation continues to deteriorate in much of the country. Chinese media and social media users have condemned the arrest of Meng, but Canadian PM denied political interference. Chinese state-run media on Friday condemned the arrest in Canada of a top executive of telecoms giant Huawei on a US extradition request as a despicable rogues approach to contain Chinas hi-tech ambitions. Meng Wanzous arrest follows a US probe into the companys alleged violations of Iran sanctions. She faces a bail hearing in Canada later on Friday. The arrest of Meng, chief financial officer and daughter of the companys founder, has angered the Chinese government and raised concerns that it could disrupt a trade war truce between the worlds two biggest economies. Canada defended the arrest on Thursday, saying there was no political motivation, and a senior adviser to US President Donald Trump denied it was linked to US-China trade talks. But Chinese media cast the move as an assault on the development of the countrys hi-tech industry. The Chinese government should seriously mull over the US tendency to abuse legal procedures to suppress Chinas high-tech enterprises, said the nationalist tabloid Global Times in an editorial. Obviously, Washington is resorting to a despicable rogues approach as it cannot stop Huaweis 5G advance in the market, it said. The China Daily warned that containing Huaweis expansion is detrimental to China-US ties. US authorities have not disclosed the charges Meng faces following a publication ban she sought. But one thing that is undoubtedly true and proven is the US is trying to do whatever it can to contain Huaweis expansion in the world, simply because the company is the point man for Chinas competitive technology companies, China Daily said. If granted bail on Friday, Meng will likely have to post bail with a surety of several million dollars, Vancouver lawyer Gary Botting, who has experience with extradition cases, said. She would also have to give up her passport, he said. She could also be fitted with electronic monitoring equipment and the court could go so far as to order security to monitor her while she awaits a decision on extradition, lawyers said. If Meng fights extradition, her case could go on for years, lawyers said, pointing to examples like Lai Changxing, a Chinese businessman who fled to Canada after he was implicated in a bribery case and fought extradition to China for 12 years. Chinas nationalist tabloid Global Times called Mengs arrest a rogue move [Alexander Bibik/Reuters] If she chooses not to fight, she could be in the US within weeks, experts said. Game of politics At the heart of the Mengs detention is the debate about Chinas use of advanced technology to enhance its IT industry that rivals the USs. Though Chinas technology sector is still reliant on certain US exports like microchips, Beijing wants to transform the country into a global tech leader with a technological prowess rivalling the US in a plan dubbed Made in China 2025. Huawei is one of the worlds largest telecommunications equipment and services providers. Its products are used by carriers around the world, including in Europe and Africa. But its US business has been tightly constrained by worries it could undermine American competitors and that its mobile phones and networking equipment, used widely in other countries, could provide Beijing with avenues for espionage. Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom have followed suit this year by rejecting some of the companys services over security concerns. Japan too plans to ban government use of telecom products made by Huawei and Chinese tech firm ZTE, reported Japanese media Yomiuri Shimbun on Friday. Chinese social media users have criticised Mengs arrest on Weibo, Chinas Twitter-like platform, where online trolls sometimes deliberately incite nationalist fervour or pro-government stances. Some users viewed the incident as part of the trade war and a broader conspiracy to keep down Chinas technological development. One of the most important reasons why the US started the trade war was to attack Chinas technology sector and its Made in China 2025 plan, wrote one Weibo user. The goal is to keep China stuck in low-end industries and force China into the middle-income trap. The detention of Meng appears to be a game of politics, wrote another user. ZTE case Earlier this year, ZTE nearly collapsed after Washington banned US companies from selling crucial hardware and software components to it for seven years, though the ban was lifted after it agreed to pay a $1bn. Some analysts say Mengs arrest could be used as a bargaining chip, but White House trade adviser Peter Navarro denied it was linked the US-China trade negotiations. The two issues are totally separate, Navarro told CNN. But CNN, quoting an unnamed official, said that the US saw the arrest as providing leverage in trade talks. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also denied any political involvement or interference in Mengs arrest. I can assure everyone that we are a country (with) an independent judiciary, Trudeau told a tech conference in Montreal. Trumps national security adviser, John Bolton, said he knew that Canada was planning to arrest Meng, but he declined to discuss specifics of the case. Police and protesters clash in Athens as annual march to mark Alexandros Grigoropoulos killing descends into violence. Athens, Greece Athens police have battled hundreds of protesters late into the night after demonstrations marking the 10th anniversary of the killing of a teenager by police, which has become a rallying cry for anti-authority movements and left wingers in Greece and beyond. A Greek and international medley of black-clad, hooded protesters on Thursday manned barricades made of materials dragged from corner parking lots and building sites in Exarchia, the central Athens neighbourhood where 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos was killed in 2008. Rolling gates, steel mesh rebar, scaffolding, shelving, insulation, concrete flower pots and dumpsters were piled up at intersections surrounding Exarchia Square. Fires smouldered on the asphalt, giving off a perversely meat-like smell. Riot police fired tear gas and stun grenades from a carefully-held distance of two blocks from each barricade. Occasionally, protesters made sorties towards them or stampeded in rapid retreats back onto the square, but the battle seemed to be a stalemate. Protesters were momentarily concerned with a series of explosions loud enough to be felt as body blows, that came from a school just off the square. Its OK, theyre not police, theyre ours, came the reassuring reply from a protester who called out to people within the school compound. Flames flickered from inside. Some protesters held bottled beers as they took a break from the fighting. Others held Molotov cocktails. Broken glass and concrete pavement slabs lay everywhere. At one blockade, a group of middle-aged women pleaded with Polish protesters not to set fire to the materials. We have babies sleeping upstairs, they pleaded, pointing to their apartment block. Later, one woman murmured to the others, We didnt go to Krakow or Warsaw to do this mischief. Other protesters spoke in Arabic or Albanian-accented Greek. Some spoke English. By midnight, four cars had been burned and at least 30 protesters had been taken into custody. Protesters shouting slogans during the rally marking the 2008 police shooting of Alexandros Grigoropoulos [Costas Baltas/Reuters] Exarchia, which has long been a stronghold of anarchists and left wingers who regularly battle with police, wraps around the downtown campus of the Athens Polytechnic, the site of a student uprising 45 years ago against the countrys then-military dictatorship. In November 1973, police stormed the Polytechnic grounds, killing dozens of students barricaded inside. After the restoration of democracy the following year, Greece passed a law that grants tertiary education campuses asylum from police interventions. Protesters can ultimately retreat onto the Polytechnic grounds to escape arrest. In this already restive neighbourhood, police shot Grigoropoulos in the heart during an altercation in 2008. In court, the accused officer claimed he shot in the air to intimidate Grigoropoulos, but the bullet ricocheted off an overhanging balcony. The forensic analysis backed up this version, but many of Thursdays protesters didnt accept it. The officers gun was magic. When he fired into the air, the bullet found its mark, chanted high school students during the march earlier in the day. Some carried thick dowel rods, others brought Molotov cocktails, and a few came armed with hammers. They smashed traffic lights and shattered marble masonry on the sides of banks to throw at police. Several looked young enough to have been born around the time of the original shooting. Not everyone was sympathetic to the protesters. What they need is a good beating, commented one elderly man as he watched a group smash marble slab. At least 30 protesters have been taken into custody [Costas Baltas/Reuters] Anti-riot police threw tear gas and prevented them from reaching Syntagma Square as they attempted to march on parliament. Coming just after the financial crisis of 2008 that triggered Greeces economic depression, Grigoropoulos death developed into a rallying cry for a disillusioned and angry youth. Even though unemployment has declined since the heart of the crisis in 2013, 37 percent of people between the ages of 15 and 24 remain without work. According to some estimates, as many as 700,000 young people have left Greece to find work. Money to the banks and bullets to the young, read a banner carried by one protest group, chanting anti-capitalist slogans. Much of the daytime rally was organised by groups to the left of the ruling Syriza party, including the Front of the Greek Anticapitalist Left, formed in 2009, and the Socialist Workers Party, a Trotskyist group formed in the late 1960s. Six robbers and five hostages, including a child, killed in a pre-dawn assault on two banks in northeast Brazil. At least a dozen people, including six bank robbers and a child, have been killed during an attempted robbery of two banks in northeast Brazil, authorities have said. The violence erupted on Friday in the city of Milagres in the northeastern state of Ceara with a fierce pre-dawn shoot-out between the armed robbers and the police. Our preliminary information is that 12 people died, including six police officers, a spokeswoman for the governor told Reuters. The mayor of Milagres, Lielson Landin, told Radio Band News that four of the hostages, including the child, were all from the same family. They were grabbed by the fleeing robbers on the highway when they were on the way to the nearby airport to catch a flight, he added. 181002160005039 Landin said that the criminals killed the hostages and the police killed the criminals. Some Brazilian media gave higher death tolls of up to 13 and said the child killed was a 14-year-old boy. The attempted robbery of the two banks occurred around 2:30am (04:30 GMT). When police arrived, a shoot-out lasting 20 minutes ensued, reports said. According to Andre Costa, secretary of security affairs in Caera, two suspects in the attempted robberies were arrested. The robbers could not take any money out of the two banks. The Brazilian daily Globo quoted a farmer who was in close vicinity of the shoot-out. Ive never seen anything like it before, Mendonca de Santa Helena said. I stayed inside the house and was scared. I heard screaming and people crying, he added. It was horrible. Brazil, Latin Americas largest nation, often leads the world in total annual homicides. Ceara is one of the countrys most violent states. Fields slammed his car into a crowd of counterprotesters at a white nationalist rally, killing Heather Heyer in 2017. A Virginia jury has convicted James Alex Fields Jr of first-degree murder in the death of Heather Heyer at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017. The jury deliberated for less than a day before convicting on Friday the 21-year-old of murder and several other charges stemming from the deadly confrontation that occurred after police had declared an unlawful assembly and cleared a park of white supremacists gathered for the Unite the Right rally. During the incident, Fields slammed his car into a crowd of counterprotesters, killing 32-year-old Heyer and injuring dozens more. Earlier in the day, Fields was photographed marching with Vanguard America, a neo-Nazi group, during the rally. Throughout the day, rally participants clashed with community members, anti-racists and anti-fascists across the city. Unite the Right, called to oppose Charlottesvilles decision to remove a Confederate statue, was the largest white nationalist rally in the United States in recent times. The rally brought out thousands of supporters of the alt-right, a loosely-knit coalition of white supremacists, white nationalists and neo-Nazis. A photo of Heather Heyer, who was killed during a white nationalist rally, sits on the ground at a memorial in Charlottesville, Virginia [Evan Vucci/AP Photo] Fieldss defence team did not contest that he was behind the wheel of the grey Dodge Challenger when it struck activists who had descended upon the Virginia city to counter a Unite the Right rally. But they argued their client was scared for his life. The prosecution called multiple witnesses and victims who recounted in some cases what turned out to be life-altering injuries. The witnesses testified the event had become peaceful, joyful and celebratory after city authorities ordered the far right to disperse countering the defences narrative of a hostile, frightening atmosphere at the time of the attack. Earlier in the week, they presented jurors an SMS message Fields sent to his mother before departing for the rally after she had asked him to be careful. Were not the one who need to be careful he replied, alongside a photo of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, whom he has long admired. Federal charges Separately, Fields also faces dozens of federal charges, including hate crimes, which could result in the death penalty. 170814093145904 In the wake of the deadly Charlottesville protest, several articles investigating Fieldss history found a lengthy social media trail of neo-Nazi content and racist posts. Following the rally, far-right participants from across the country faced legal backlash, with a slew of civil suits against the organisers. Heyer was among 18 people killed by white supremacists in the US last year, according to the Anti-Defamation League. White nationalist, neo-Nazi and far-right groups that took to the streets in Charlottesville saw permits for a spate of subsequent public events pulled or denied, while hosting services, social media outlets and tech companies cracked down on far-right individuals and groups. Earlier this month, the FBI released its annual hate crimes report for 2017. It says, hate crimes grew for the third consecutive year, increasing by 17 percent. Fears over future of the UKs gateway to Europe escalate as Brexit uncertainties continue. Dover, United Kingdom The port in Dover, Britains gateway to Europe, is doing a roaring trade as usual. A procession of trucks an estimated 10,000 of them pass through the south-easterly town every day disembark from ferries and move quickly onwards towards their eventual destinations. But this could all be about to change efficiency at Dover, which handles about 17 percent of all UK trade in goods worldwide, threatens to give way to gridlock. The UKs imminent departure from the European Union has prompted both local and national concern for the towns future. In particular, the prospect of a no-deal Brexit is raising alarms. We have to look at the worst-case scenario, says 73-year-old resident and local councillor, Nigel Collor. Dover is very much on a knife-edge. Fears over no-deal disruption A no-deal Brexit would see the United Kingdom go crashing out of the EU on March 29 next year almost three years after it voted to leave the bloc with no agreement on either the terms of its withdrawal or future trading relations. In Dover, which relies on seamless trade arrangements with Britains EU partners, the threat of such a departure is palpable. This town processes around 10,000 trucks a day, in and out of the port, says Collor. If there are any delays whatsoever to that movement, it could be hugely detrimental. The UK voted to leave the EU in a June 2016 referendum, with 52 percent in favour of exiting the bloc [David Child/ Al Jazeera] About 99 percent of the trucks passing through the sprawling Dover port each day originate in the EU, according to government statistics, with the blocs single market rules allowing virtually frictionless trade. It takes roughly two minutes for the authorities to clear trucks carrying goods to and from the EU, for example. But a no-deal Brexit may end such efficiency, forcing instead cumbersome customs checks and time-consuming regulatory barriers. 181202110224674 And that delay could prove to be costly. Our motto: keep Dover moving Government estimates say an additional two-minute hold-up per freight vehicle in Dovers port may cause tailbacks stretching up to 27km. Gridlock on that scale could have dire and wide-ranging consequences. Our motto is to keep Dover moving but you have to look at it sensibly. There could be people stuck while trying to get to shops, schools and hospitals, Collor says. Nigel Collor worked at Dover port for decades prior to becoming a councillor [David Child/ Al Jazeera] His fears dont appear to be without foundation. Kent County Council, the regional authority, has suggested that traffic problems spawned by a no-deal Brexit could create a series of grim knock-on effects, including disruption to waste collection services and the transportation of dead bodies to post-mortem or storage facilities. UK Finance Minister Philip Hammond, meanwhile, has warned it could take at least two years to get Dovers infrastructure ready for a no-deal scenario. A Brexit bellwether 181201182945771 But if Dover is a bellwether case for possible outcomes of a no-deal Brexit, it is certainly not the only part of the UK that is projected to be negatively affected by such a divorce. In fact, according to official estimates, the entire country would be worse off. The Bank of England, the UKs central bank, has warned that leaving the EU without a withdrawal agreement could cause the countrys gross domestic product (GDP) to shrink by up to eight percent. The government, meanwhile, forecasts a potential economic slump of more than nine percent in a no-deal scenario. The International Monetary Fund, for its part, says leaving the EU in a disorderly fashion would have substantial costs for the UK economy. UKs finance minister has warned it could take at least two years to get Dover ready for a no-deal Brexit scenario [David Child/ Al Jazeera] Experts say such bleak predictions are accurate and would play out alongside capital flight, widespread business closures and heightened unemployment. The impact of a no-deal Brexit would be very severe. The EU is the UKs main trading partner, Professor Aditya Goenka, chair in economics at the University of Birmingham, says. If we look at the impact it could have on GDP within the UK this is equivalent to the entire northwest, including the cities of Manchester and Liverpool, just shutting down, he adds. This could be worse economically for the UK than the global financial crisis [of 2008]. Accusations of fearmongering Others, however, argue that the warnings issued about no-deals impact on Dover and other parts of the UK amount to little more than blatant fearmongering designed to derail the entire Brexit process. Debbie Lane, the 59-year-old owner of a local pub, is one. Why would there be backlogs? Before we joined the EU, when we had customs and imports and exports clerks, things worked, Lane says. No-deal is better than a deal where we are held to ransom by the EU again, which I do feel we have been. Locally, we dont benefit from the EU. Everyone just comes and goes straight through this town. Nobody stops here. Since joining the European Economic Community in 1973, Britain has intertwined itself with its European partners into a single market, which allows people, goods, services and money to move freely within the bloc in return for adherence to common rules and regulations. But critics such as Lane argue that has meant ceding too much sovereignty to the EU. Like her, many Dover residents feel aggrieved by Brussels perceived influence and want out of its orbit. During the UKs June 2016 referendum, more than 62 percent of the areas voters opted to get out of the EU, 10 percent higher than the overall leave vote nationwide. Debbie Lane (pictured) says fears over Dovers post-Brexit future are exaggerated [David Child/ Al Jazeera] It isnt just a section of the local community casting aspersions over warnings about Dovers future should the UK fully sever ties with the EU, however. Julian Jessop, chief economist at the UK-based Institute of Economic Affairs think-tank, has suggested that threats of substantial disruption at the towns port in the event of a no-deal Brexit are exaggerated. Jessop says it is unlikely that most trucks arriving from the EU would straightaway be subject to the same checks as those from countries outside of the bloc for three reasons. Firstly, because laws dont necessarily demand so; secondly, UK and European authorities would pursue mutually beneficial economic cooperation; and finally, there would be a lack of manpower to carry out inspections on such a scale. Uneasiness over the unknown Disputes over how Dover would fare in the event of a no-deal departure from the EU form just one part of the wider Brexit discussions dominating public and political life in the UK. British Prime Minister Theresa Mays proposed withdrawal deal, brokered after months of negotiations with EU leaders, has attracted vociferous criticism from across the political spectrum. PM Theresa May faces a parliamentary showdown over her proposed Brexit deal [File: Dylan Martinez/Reuters] If approved by the UK parliament in a crucial vote next week, the withdrawal agreement would end uncertainty over a possible no-deal departure. But the deal is likely to be roundly rejected, thereby continuing the uncertainty of the shape of the UKs future relationship with the EU. In Dover, that unpredictability means more anxiety for Collor. There is an uneasiness over the unknown Dover is going to get hit, somehow, its just a matter of how we control the flow of traffic to keep the town going, he says. We only want to know whats going to happen. You cant plan if you dont know what youre planning against. Four-term Chancellor gets standing ovation as she bids farewell as party chief and urges party to look to the future. Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel has urged Christian Democratic Union (CDU) leaders to look to the future and stay true to their values, as the divided conservative party prepares to pick her successor on Friday. In her final address to the delegates as party chief, Merkel defended the Christian, democratic core values of the CDU, which she led for 18 years. I wish that in difficult times we shouldnt forget our Christian and democratic stance, she said. Her final address was greeted with a nine-minute standing ovation. Merkel, 64, decided not to seek a re-election to the post but wants to stay on as Germanys chancellor until 2021. The frontrunners in the election later on Friday are Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, a Merkel protege seen as the continuity candidate, and Friedrich Merz, a Merkel rival who has questioned the constitutional guarantee of asylum to all politically persecuted and believes Germany, Europes biggest economy, should contribute more to the European Union. Merkel had said in October she would step down as the party chief but remain the chancellor, an effort to manage her exit after a series of setbacks since her divisive decision in 2015 to keep German borders open to refugees fleeing war in the Middle East. The new CDU leader will be chosen by 1,001 delegates who vote in a secret ballot at a party congress in Hamburg. The winner will likely lead the CDU in the next federal election, due by October 2021. A survey by pollster Infratest dimap for broadcaster ARD on Thursday showed 47 percent of CDU members favoured Kramp-Karrenbauer compared with 37 percent for Merz and 12 percent for Health Minister Jens Spahn. Merz, 63, who lost out to Merkel in a power struggle in 2002 and is returning to politics after a decade in business, is backed by CDU members tired of Merkels consensual politics. He won support this week from party veteran Wolfgang Schaeuble. To win, a candidate must secure more than 50 percent of the valid votes cast. If there is no winner after the first round of voting, a runoff is held between the two candidates to win most votes. Deep ideological divides are not normally associated with Merkels CDU. Their leadership battles were all about power and they were always about who is most likely to get us the biggest share of the vote, so the CDU was always very pragmatic about programmes and ideology, political analyst Konstantin Voessing told Al Jazeeras Dominic Kane. Now it seems for the first time we have an ideologically infused debate that is also manifest in different personalities and thats very new for the CDU. Merkel led the CUD party for 18 years and has been the Chancellor since 2005 [Odd Andersen/AFP] Kane added that the outcome of the leadership election is a effectively a referendum of Merkels policy. While Merkels term is set to end in 2021, she could still decide whether or not to stay on as Chancellor depending on the result of the leadership race. Dangerous candidate Economy Minister Peter Altmaier, a Merkel ally, said: I am convinced that with Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer we have the best chance of the CDU winning an election. She would be the most dangerous candidate to face the centre-left Social Democrats and the ecologist Greens, he added. Kramp-Karrenbauers trump card is her record as a former state premier in Saarland, where she led a broad coalition with the Greens and pro-business Free Democrats, alliance-building skills useful in Germanys fractured political landscape. Kramp-Karrenbauer, 56, has differentiated herself from Merkel on social and foreign policy by voting in favour of quotas for women on corporate boards, opposed by Merkel, and by taking a tougher line on Russia. She told Reuters last week Europe and the United States should consider blockading Russian ships over the Ukraine crisis. But on what lies ahead for the CDU, Kramp-Karrenbauer says: I have no particular recipe. By contrast, Merz takes clear positions that appeal to rank-and-file party members hungry for a more clearly defined party after 13 years under Merkel as chancellor. He wants tax cuts, a stronger EU and a more robust approach to challenging the far-right. Merz will benefit from the fact that 296 of the delegates at the congress almost a third will be from his home state, the western region of North Rhine-Westphalia. One senior CDU official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said many delegates were undecided before the congress and could be swayed by how the candidates present themselves on Friday. It could come down to the speeches on the day, he said. Merkel has led Germany since 2005 and has moved the party and the country steadily towards the political centre. Im very grateful that I could be party chairwoman for 18 years it is a very, very long time and the CDU of course had its ups and downs, Merkel said as she arrived at the conference venue in Hamburg. But we won four national elections together and I am happy I can remain chancellor. Canadian court is expected to decide on Monday on Mengs bail plea, opposed by prosecutors over US allegations. A top Chinese telecommunications executive facing possible extradition to the United States has appeared in court as she sought bail in a case that has rattled markets and raised doubts about a fragile trade war truce between Washington and Beijing. A prosecutor for the Canadian government on Friday urged the court not to grant bail, saying the charges against Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer (CFO) of Huawei, involve US allegations that the Chinese telecoms giant used a sham shell company to access the Iran market in dealings that contravene sanctions by Washington. The hours-long hearing was adjourned until Monday, when the court is expected to render a decision on bail. Until then, Meng will remain in custody. Meng was arrested in Vancouver on December 1, while transferring planes on a trip from Hong Kong to Mexico, at the request of US authorities seeking her extradition. The arrest was made public on Wednesday. If convicted, the 46-year-old daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei faces more than 30 years in prison, said the Canadian prosecutor. 181206130850129 The prosecutor said Meng had personally denied to US bankers any direct connections between Huawei and SkyCom, when in fact SkyCom is Huawei. Hong Kong-based SkyComs alleged sanction breaches occurred from 2009 to 2014. The lawyer suggested that Meng has shown a pattern of avoiding the US since becoming aware of the investigation into the matter, has access to vast wealth and connections, and therefore could flee Canada. Mengs lawyer, David Martin, disputed the prosecutors call to deny bail, saying: The fact a person has worked hard and has extraordinary resources cannot be a factor that would exclude them from bail. He said Mengs personal integrity would not allow her to go against a court order, and that she would not embarrass her father and company founder by breaching such an order. US-China trade thaw threatened The arrest roiled global stock markets over fears the move could escalate the US-China trade war despite a truce between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping last week. Canada denied that the arrest, which was made public on Wednesday, was politically motivated, while the US officials on Thursday said Trump did not know about the arrest in advance. Earlier on Friday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said neither Canada nor the US provided China with any evidence that Meng had broken any law in the two countries, and demanded her release. In a statement on Wednesday, Huawei said, The company has been provided very little information regarding the charges and is not aware of any wrongdoing by Ms Meng. Chinese state media slammed Mengs arrest, accusing the US of trying to stifle Huawei and curb its global expansion. Mexico offers a choice of a humanitarian visa or access to a speedy asylum process. By Six years ago, American journalist went missing in Syria, but his parents hope US can secure his return. Beirut, Lebanon It was a Friday when Marc Tice received the call he dreaded. Are you sitting down, the voice on the other end asked. Marcs son Austin, a freelance journalist, had been reporting from Syria and was scheduled to reach neighbouring Lebanon the previous Tuesday, but he had not been in touch. Marc was anxious to hear from Austin, but when the phone finally rang, it was an official from the United States State Department on the line. The official informed Marc that Austin was missing. He had been picked up from a checkpoint near the Syrian capital, Damascus, on August 14, 2012, the day he intended to leave the country. Since that call, made six years, three weeks and a few days ago, says Austins mother Debra, she and her husband have not rested. They are currently on their eighth visit to Beirut, where they are knocking on doors and searching for clues which might lead them to their son. The Lebanese capital is about a two-hour drive from Damascus, and the closest city the Tices can reach while they search for Austin. Debra hopes to obtain a visa from the Syrian authorities to allow her to move the search closer to the location where he was last seen. On this trip, they feel more optimistic. The visit comes soon after a top official for hostage recovery in the Trump administration said the US government believes Austin is alive. Marc and Debra Tice hope the Syrian and the American governments will work together to free Austin [Bilal Hussein/AP Photo] The parents have flown in to put pressure on their government and, hopefully, to be heard by those in Syria they believe are holding Austin captive. No one has come forward to claim responsibility for his abduction. The Tice family doesnt know who exactly was responsible and doesnt care to know either. They are cautious, carefully weighing their words so as not to offend any side of the conflict. To them, it is not who has abducted Austin, but who returns him, that matters. First denial, then a relentless search Given a chance, every parent can expound on the achievements of their child. Marc and Debra Tice are no different. At a restaurant in Beirut, they talk about Austins skills, taking quick turns so that nothing is missed. He was first published when he was nine, says Debra. He has always known what was important in life, adds Marc. He is such a good swing dancer, he makes any woman dancing with him look beautiful, Debra jumps in, gushing with pride. During the first year of Austins absence, until late 2013, the family was in a state of disbelief. Every morning, they thought there would be a knock on the door and Austin would simply walk in. Then, Marc and Debra decided that Austin was coming back. They just needed to play their part and ensure the Syrian and American governments were listening to them. On their journey, they have established connections with hundreds of people in Lebanon, in Deraya the Syrian suburb from which Austin had taken a taxi to cross into Lebanon when he went missing and the US administration. They started keeping piles and piles of notebooks, Debra says, to retrace his steps and understand what might have happened to their son. They connected with the families of other hostages and received sympathetic messages from other Americans freed in the past, including some who languished in the American embassy in Iran during the 1980 hostage crisis. Debra Tice says that Austins proof of life video was a missed opportunity [Mohamed Azakir/Reuters] We had joined the horrible club, which no one must be a part of, says Debra. Being a parent of the missing brings its own changes to social life and routine. The couples friendships went awry because their friends didnt know what to say to them, how to say it or how to help. They didnt know what to offer, while Marc and Debra did not know what to expect. I go to the market and see these faces. I want to say look, I am here just for the tomatoes, Debra says. It has been hard, they admit, but nothing compared with what their son must be enduring. Austins proof of life came from a 40-second video posted online, a fortnight after he went missing. Marc and Debra Tice call it a missed opportunity. Every pixel of that video was seen and analysed. Who are the people? Is it fake or authentic? I know that was my son. I want to thank those who posted it because they were telling us Austin was alive. But why did no one say, contact them and begin a dialogue? Debra says. Can Trump bring back the American journalist? The Tice family, from Houston, Texas, has now pinned their expectations on US President Donald Trump. For them, he is a president who walks the talk, and cares about the end result over protocol. He has built a reputation for rescuing kidnapped Americans, they say, among them, Otto Warmbier, the University of Virginia student detained in North Korea. In that extraordinary case, the Trump administration succeeded in bringing him home, though he was comatose and fatally sick from a never-explained brain trauma, and died shortly afterwards. Following his death, Trump tweeted: Ottos fate deepens my Administrations determination to prevent such tragedies from befalling innocent people at the hands of regimes that do not respect the rule of law or basic human decency. Marc and Debra are buying into the presidents words. They are convinced that Trump can and will strike some sort of a deal or understanding which facilitates Austins return. 180815070928357 They are also, through every press conference and interview, reaching out to the Syrian government. They hope, perhaps naively, that the two governments can forget their disagreements for the sake of an innocent life. Debra visited Syria in 2014 and 2015. She walked through the souks of the capital city with a photograph of Austin, asking if anyone had seen him. She tried her best to seek help from senior figures in the Syrian government at a time when the US was backing the Syrian opposition forces. On the record at least, President Bashar al-Assads government has assured the Tice family that they are doing everything they can to find Austin. Does Debra believe the assurances? I cant not believe, she says. Austin meets us in our dreams Marc, Debra and Austin are caught up between complicated geopolitical calculations. Yet the parents are firm that they will not be defeated. Deep in their minds, they say, their religious faith, as well as their love for their son and each other, sustain them. At the end of the day, when Marc feels down, Debra carries on with a smile. They take turns. Austin is definitely coming home, Marc says. He meets us in our dreams. Debra describes one such meeting. I am standing at the door, as I do, and there he is, Austin. He says, Mom, now dont make a big deal. I am back, shall we go inside?' Resolution of his plunder case allowed Ramon Revilla Jr to post bail and be released from detention. Manila, Philippines An anti-corruption court in the Philippines has acquitted movie star-turned-politician Ramon Revilla Jr of plunder, the first verdict among several high-profile cases in the biggest corruption scandal to hit the country in the last decade. The Sandiganbayan court, however, on Friday convicted Revillas aide Richard Cambe and his alleged co-conspirator Janet Lim-Napoles of the same crime. It said the prosecution failed to prove that the former senator was guilty beyond reasonable doubt of conspiring with Cambe and Napoles to embezzle more than $4m of his pork barrel discretionary funds. The court ordered Revilla to return the equivalent of $2.3m to the national treasury. Revilla also faces corruption charges but with the resolution of his plunder case, he has been allowed to post bail and be released from jail. The pork barrel refers to the practice of appropriating public money for local projects through Congress. A legacy of the late Filipino dictator Ferdinand Marcos, the practice has remained untouched and has become a source of massive corruption. Revillas plunder case was part of a larger pork barrel scam involving another two former senators and several other congressmen who allegedly pocketed a total $189m. It was the first to reach a resolution, and the verdict may foreshadow the way the court will decide on the rest of the pork barrel scam cases. That is, whether any high-ranking politician will be punished for corruption. When Revilla and Senators Juan Ponce Enrile and Jinggoy Estrada were charged and arrested for plunder in 2014, the highly publicised pork barrel scam investigation hit its climax, capping off then-President Benigno Aquinos hallmark campaign against corruption. But as expected, the cases outlasted Aquinos presidency, and now the political climate has changed dramatically under his successor, Rodrigo Duterte, who has been in office since 2016. Grave misconduct Revilla, Enrile and Estrada were in the opposition during Aquinos term. Aquino, in fact, drew criticism for only going after political opponents. Only one Aquino ally was tagged in the scandal, and the charge was a less serious grave misconduct. Now, the three politicians are on the side of the ruling power and are running again for the Senate in Mays midterm polls under parties directly or indirectly allied with Duterte. Sara Duterte-Carpio, the presidents influential daughter, is endorsing Revillas candidacy. Duterte has shown a propensity for doing political favours for his allies while dealing tough blows on his opponents. For instance, he set his cabinet and his allies in Congress against Senator Leila De Lima, who investigated and strongly criticised his war on drugs. In February 2017, after a humiliating public probe into her personal affairs, she was arrested on illegal drug charges based on testimonies from convicted drug traffickers. Meanwhile, in November 2016, he permitted a heros burial for Marcos, who siphoned off at least $5bn in public funds and saw to the killings of more than 3,000 activists and dissidents during his 21-year rule. A month earlier, Duterte let slip in a public address that Marcoss daughter, Imee, donated money to his presidential campaign. Imee Marcos denied it. She is now running for senator, too, under Duterte-Carpios political coalition. No third trial for Border Patrol agent who has been acquitted twice after killing Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez in 2012. Federal prosecutors in the United States have said they will not seek a third trial for a Border Patrol agent who has been acquitted twice after killing a Mexican teenager across a border fence. According to a filing in court on Thursday, prosecutors will no longer pursue the case against Lonnie Swartz, the agent who fatally shot 16-year-old Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez in October 2012. Agent Swartz is relieved and looking forward to moving on with his life without the threat of criminal prosecution hanging over his head, his lawyer, Sean Chapman, said in an email to the Associated Press news agency. In April, Swartz was acquitted of second-degree murder but a jury deadlocked on manslaughter charges. Prosecutors re-tried Swartz on voluntary and involuntary manslaughter charges. They said Swartz lost his cool when he became frustrated at rock-throwers from the Mexican side of the border while on the job. The second trial, which began in October, ended with a not guilty verdict on the involuntary charge, but the jury again deadlocked on voluntary manslaughter. The killing of the 16-year-old sparked outrage on both sides of the border [File: Valeria Fernandez/AP] He just happened to walk by Border Patrol agents are rarely criminally charged for using force. But the killing of Rodriguez sparked outrage on both sides of the border and it came at a time when the agency was increasingly scrutinised for its use of force. Swartzs lawyer said he was acting in self-defence and following border patrol policy when he fired at least 16 shots at Rodriguez through the slats of a border fence dividing Nogales, Arizona and Nogales, Sonora in Mexico. Prosecutors said Rodriguez was throwing rocks at Swartz and other law enforcement officers who were on scene chasing a suspected drug smuggler in an effort to distract them. Members of Rodriguezs family maintain he was not throwing rocks and was killed while walking home. Jose Antonio was on his way home Some other people were throwing rocks and he just happened to walk by, Taide Elena, Rodriguezs grandmother, told Al Jazeera in October. She also questioned how officials would have reacted had it happened the other way around. What if a Mexican official had fired into the US, killing a US citizen? This would have been an international crisis, she said. The announcement on November 21 that the jury had found Swartz not guilty on involuntary manslaughter but had deadlocked on voluntary manslaughter had led to protests in central Tucson from activists. Rescue organisation SOS Mediterranee and MSF say they will end operation after relentless pressure from EU states. Rescue and relief organisations SOS Mediterranee and Doctors Without Borders (MSF) have announced they are ending the Aquarius refugee rescue mission in the Mediterranean Sea after what they call a relentless ongoing political, judicial and administrative campaign backed by several European states. Thursdays decision came after the Aquarius, which has been operating since February 2016, was forced to wait in a port in Marseille for two months following the revocation of its registration. Repeated and targeted attacks against life-saving aid organisations, coupled with the EU states criminal disregard of their maritime and international obligations, lead to mounting life-threatening risks for people, Director of SOS Mediterranee Germany Verena Papke said in a statement. The Aquarius has helped in filling the void in the Mediterranean and now the repeated unacceptable attacks resulted in stopping it, she added. Today, search and rescue at sea is nearly non-existent, portraying the failure of Europe. Breaking newsEnd of Aquarius charter for prompt resumption of search and rescue missions. SOS MEDITERRANEE determined to go back at sea while death toll in #Mediterranean rises https://t.co/ePZ7RrdwsE SOS MEDITERRANEE (@SOSMedIntl) December 6, 2018 More deaths at sea Over the past three years, the ship has assisted nearly 30,000 people in international waters between Libya, Italy and Malta, according to MSF. The route between Libya and Italy is the worlds deadliest sea route for migrants and refugees, according to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR). But the Aquarius ran into a number of issues with European governments in recent months. 181114144641204 In June, Italys new Interior Minister Matteo Salvini blocked the Aquarius, carrying 629 refugees and migrants, from docking at its ports. The move caused a public outcry. Eventually, the ship sailed to Spain where the refugees were allowed to disembark. Last month, 24 people associated with the Aquarius were put under investigation by Italian prosecutors for trafficking and illegal management of waste because the ships crew had labelled migrants clothing as special waste rather than toxic waste. MSF denied any wrongdoing, saying Italy was trying to criminalise its humanitarian work. Salvini, who is also co-deputy prime minister, has accused the Aquarius of being a taxi service for migrants coming from Libya to Europe and said he wanted it permanently blocked from his countrys ports. This is a dark day, said Nelke Manders, MSFs general director, of Thursdays decision. Not only has Europe failed to provide search and rescue capacity, it has also actively sabotaged others attempts to save lives. The end of Aquarius means more deaths at sea and more needless deaths that will go unwitnessed. At least 2,133 people are estimated to have died in the Mediterranean this year, according to figures published by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), while 107,583 migrants and refugees entered Europe by sea. People wont stop going by sea The majority of refugees and migrants who try to cross to Italy are now being intercepted and returned to Libya, where theyre usually held in indefinite detention. Since February 2017, the European Union has been funding the Libyan coastguard to intercept boats, and UNHCR said more than 14,000 people have been returned to Libya by the coastguard this year. 181125235524960 However, many refugees and migrants in Libya say they will attempt to cross the Mediterranean again due to the unsafe conditions in the country and detention centres. People would rather die in the sea than in detention centres, a 28-year-old Eritrean told Al Jazeera. He said without legal routes to Europe from countries with high refugee populations, like Sudan and Ethiopia, refugees will keep trying to find ways to get there. The man, who like other interviewees asked not to be named because hes using a hidden phone and fears retaliation, has been in a detention centre run by Libyas Department for Combatting Illegal Migration (DCIM), since trying to cross to Italy in February this year. He said he was hoping to be evacuated and resettled by UNHCR but now believes this is highly unlikely because he is a single man. I dont have hope to evacuate by UNHCR, he told Al Jazeera through WhatsApp messages. I only know that I will pay money and try again to the sea. Another Eritrean detainee said he doesnt know what to say after being told about MSFs announcement. Even now people still wont stop going to the sea, he told Al Jazeera. A 17-year-old Somali, who escaped a detention centre during the fighting in Tripoli a few months ago, also said he was trying to save up money to pay to try and cross again. He said smugglers regularly hassle migrants and refugees they see in the streets, encouraging them to pay for the trip, which costs $2,000. The weather will improve in around three months, and many people are waiting until then to attempt the journey by boat, according to a detained 20-year-old Eritrean man whos been in Libya for two years now and has also already tried to cross to Italy. 181120172005338 Other refugees and migrants in Libya are now giving up on Europe, and instead are being smuggled to Tunisia, where they say conditions are better. A 19-year-old Eritrean in a detention centre in southwest Tripoli told Al Jazeera that smugglers are now charging $800 to take people to Tunis, up from $400 a month ago. They are making (it) expensive because many people are going there, he said in a Facebook message, adding that this route is dangerous too. Even they have started kidnapping people. First, they will make a deal with you to take you to Tunis. After that, they will sell (you) or another mafia group may kidnap you. Hamas terms the vote against US-sponsored resolution as a slap to Trump administration. The United Nations General Assembly has rejected a United States-sponsored resolution seeking to condemn Hamas, the Palestinian group administering the besieged Gaza Strip. The resolution, which was backed strongly by Israel, needed a two-thirds majority to pass on Thursday following an earlier vote in the assembly. The proposal failed to cross the threshold, with 87 nations voting in favour and 57 voting against, while 33 countries abstained. The earlier vote to require a two-thirds majority, which followed a procedural move requested by Kuwait, was much closer: 75-72, with 26 abstentions. Hamas thanks UN member states The resolution was one of US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haleys final acts in the international body before she leaves her post at the end of the year. The outgoing envoy, a staunch defender of Israel, had written to member states on Monday to urge them to vote for the US-drafted text, warning them: The United States takes the outcome of this vote very seriously. Before the General Assembly can credibly advocate compromise and reconciliation between the Palestinians and Israel, it must on record, unambiguously and unconditionally, condemn Hamas terrorism, Haley told the body before the vote. Al Jazeeras James Bays reporting from the UN said that it was a tense meeting as the General Assembly first had to decide how the resolution would be voted on. It had a vote on whether it will be a simple majority or a two-thirds majority. That result was very narrow but it went in favour of two-thirds, putting a much higher bar for Ambassador Haleys resolution. When it was finally voted on, she got a majority but she didnt get the two-thirds a blow to the US ambassador, Bays said. 87 nations voted in favour, 57 against and 33 countries abstained from voting on the resolution [Al Jazeera] In an official statement, Hamas thanked UN member states that stood by our peoples resistance and the justice of their cause and attacked Haley who, it said, is known for her extremism and her positions that support the Zionist terrorism in Palestine. Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zahri described the vote as a slap to President Donald Trumps administration which has taken a firm pro-Israeli stance in addressing the Middle East peace process. The failure of the American venture at the United Nations represents a slap to the US administration and confirmation of the legitimacy of the resistance, Zahri wrote on Twitter. Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank, also welcomed the resolutions defeat saying: The Palestinian presidency will not allow for the condemnation of the national Palestinian struggle. Israels UN Ambassador Danny Danon said the countries that rejected the draft resolution should be ashamed. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commended those that voted in favour. Ali Abunimah, a cofounder of Electronic Intifada, an independent online news publication, said the failure of the proposal was significant. This resolution was really just an attempt to weaponise the UN against the Palestinian people, against their legitimate rights, he told Al Jazeera. The resolution itself was just transparently Israeli talking points it didnt mention the military occupation, the siege of Gaza, Israels daily attacks against Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. I think the world saw through it and they rightly rejected it. Crippling blockade The Gaza Strip, home to two million Palestinians, has been under a crippling Israeli blockade for more than a decade. In 2006, Hamas beat Fatah in parliamentary elections in the Gaza Strip and, a year later, fighting between the rival factions broke out. When Hamas eventually took control, Israel responded by enforcing a land, sea and air blockade on Gaza and banning its residents from working in Israel. Egypt followed suit, effectively sealing the Strip often described as the worlds largest prison from the outside world. Gazas continued isolation has devastated its economy, impoverished its population and left 60 percent without jobs, adequate electricity and health services. Republican-controlled legislatures in Wisconsin and Michigan this week sought to curb the power of recently-elected Democratic governors and others, eliciting howls of protest from critics who called it a power grab after President Donald Trumps party lost ground in Novembers midterm elections. The Republican efforts, which echoed actions taken by politicians in North Carolina in 2016, threatened to further deepen political rancour in the key Midwestern battleground states. While you can find isolated incidents where legislatures have tried to hamstring governors before, there has been nothing on this scale, Georgetown University public politics professor Donald Moynihan told Al Jazeera, adding that it married a trend that could undermine confidence in the tradition of a peaceful transfer of power. After an all-night debate and jeers from protesters, Wisconsin politicians voted in the early hours of Wednesday on measures that would limit early voting, which has helped Democrats. They also voted to reduce incoming Democratic governor Tony Everss ability to appoint members to a key development board and restricted his power to make changes to state assistance programmes. And they approved a measure that could block incoming attorney general Josh Kaul from withdrawing the state from a lawsuit against the Affordable Care Act. In nearby Michigan, the election of Gretchen Whitmer as governor, along with incoming Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Attorney General Dana Nessel, marked the first time in nearly three decades Democrats will hold all three offices. There, Republican politicians advanced legislation this week that would take over campaign finance oversight authority from the secretary of state. They were also moving a bill allowing the legislature to defend laws challenged in court if Democrat leaders opt against doing so. Nessel has suggested she may not defend a 2015 law allowing faith-based groups to refuse to serve same-sex couples who want to adopt children. Those actions echoed the moves by politicians in North Carolina after the election of Democrat Roy Cooper in 2016, which led to legal battles. Anti-Democratic and anti-democratic Criticism mounted on Thursday, including from former US Secretary of State and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. 181205152905657 Republicans in Michigan and Wisconsin lost elections on November 6. Rather than respect the will of voters, theyre using their last few weeks in office to pass laws limiting the power of new governors and put roadblocks on voting. Its not just anti-Democratic. Its anti-democratic, she tweeted. Robin Vos, the Republican speaker of Wisconsins State Assembly, defended the measures in his state as an attempt to better balance the executive and legislative branches. He said in a statement that with divided government, these bills allow for more discussions and opportunities to find common ground. But Gordon Hintz, the Wisconsin State Assemblys Democratic leader, said it was motivated by power and self-interest, adding, this is exactly what people hate about politics. Nationwide, Republicans have gained control of a majority of state legislatures since 2010, allowing them to approve Republican-backed priorities ranging from abortion restrictions to voter ID requirements. A backlash against Trump helped Democrats gain in 2018, but they still control just 37 percent of statehouses, compared with Republicans 61 percent, according to the National Conference on State Legislatures, a non-partisan research group. Wisconsin Republicans lost a number of statewide races in the midterm election but have kept control of the state legislature. Democratic voters are more heavily clustered in cities, and Democrats say Republicans have gerrymandered election districts that give them an advantage. Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Burlington) addresses the Assembly during a contentious legislative session in Madison, Wisconsin [Andy Manis/Getty Images/AFP] Outgoing Governor Scott Walker has 10 days to sign the bills. Evers has said he would ask Walker to veto the measure and then would consider legal action over measures he said were an effort to override the will of the people of Wisconsin who asked for change on November 6th. While political motives are clearly in play, the Republican-led majority has authority to make such changes and demand more accountability of the executive branch, Matt Kittle of Wisconsins conservative MacIver Institute wrote earlier this week. At the end of the day, citizens are the biggest losers if politicians put their party's interest over the will of the public. Donald Moynihan, Georgetown University The controversial efforts are likely to poison any hopes at bipartisan cooperation in Wisconsin that some held after eight years of polarising, one-party rule, Georgetown Universitys Moynihan said, which included pitched battles over efforts to weaken labour unions. Critics of the votes also saw reflections of Republicans refusal in 2016 to grant a hearing to President Obamas Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland. The GOP is getting a reputation as the party that does not trust voters or believe in democracy. That is not a good brand in the long run. More generally, Democrats have less and less reason to observe democratic norms when they have a chance to gain a political advantage, Moynihan said. At the end of the day, citizens are the biggest losers if politicians put their partys interest over the will of the public. Riyadhs assurances on well-being of activists not good enough following Jamal Khashoggi killing, says rights group. Human Rights Watch (HRW) has urged Saudi Arabia to allow independent observers access to detained womens rights activists, saying Riyadhs assurances of their well-being could not be trusted following the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The kingdom last month denied as false and unfounded reports published by HRW and Amnesty International that three womens rights activists had been tortured and sexually harassed in detention. Saudi Arabias consistent lies about senior officials role in Jamal Khashoggis murder mean that the governments denials that it tortured these women activists are not nearly good enough, HRWs deputy Middle East director, Michael Page said in a statement on Thursday. Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist who lived in self-imposed exile in the United States, was killed inside the kingdoms consulate in Istanbul in early October. His murder has put mounting pressure on Riyadh and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who Turkish and American intelligence agencies have reportedly concluded gave the orders. The New York-based watchdog said it received a new report on November 28 from an informed source, indicating that Saudi authorities had tortured and sexually harassed a fourth womens rights activist. The torture included electric shocks and whippings, the group said in a statement. Torture ongoing Sources told HRW the torture of the Saudi activists may be ongoing. Unless independent monitors are able to confirm the women activists well-being, there is every reason to believe that the Saudi authorities have treated them with unspeakable cruelty, Page said. 181129113259702 Reuters news agency, citing two anonymous sources, reported on Thursday that a top aide to Prince Mohammed, Saud al-Qahtani, who was fired for his role in the killing of Khashoggi, personally oversaw the torture of one of the detained activists earlier this year. The women are among more than a dozen prominent activists arrested in May just before the historic lifting of a decades-long ban on women drivers the following month. Eleven women are still being held, activists say, including the four alleged to have been tortured. Interest in the rights campaigners heightened after Canada called for their immediate release, sparking a diplomatic row that saw Riyadh expel the Canadian ambassador in early August and impose a raft of other sanctions. US President Donald Trump said he will nominate State Department spokeswoman and ex-Fox TV news anchor as UN envoy. President Donald Trump has announced he is nominating State Department spokeswoman and former Fox TV news anchor Heather Nauert to be the United Statess ambassador to the United Nations. Heather Nauert will be nominated, Trump said on Friday, before departing the White House for an event in Kansas City. She is very talented, very smart, very quick and I think that she will be respected by all. Current envoy Nikki Haley announced in October she would be leaving the UN post at the end of the year. The 48-year-old Nauert, whose nomination would require Senate confirmation, became the State Departments spokeswoman in April 2017 and was named earlier this year as the acting undersecretary for public diplomacy and public affairs. She has been touted for the post since November. Trump told reporters last month the former Fox News anchor was under very serious consideration. He added: Shes excellent, shes been with us a long time, shes been a supporter for a long time, really excellent. The State Department declined to comment and Nauert did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Unconventional James Warren, the executive editor of NewsGuard, said Nauert was an unconventional pick. When one looks at the history of UN ambassadors going back to the 1950s, you had people like Adlai Stevenson, who was the Democratic Party nominee for president twice, George HW Bush. You had rather prominent public intellectuals like Daniel Patrick Moynihan, the US Senator for New York, and a small group of women, who include Madeline Albright and Nikki Haley So on that level, Nauerts pick is notable, he told Al Jazeera. On another level, its easily explained by Trumps fascination with American cable news, and in particular with Fox Cable News Network, the former Washington bureau chief for the Chicago Tribune said. And one of his favourite shows is the popular morning show, Fox and Friends, and Nauert was associated with this show for several years, and that surely had something to do with her selection. The New York Times said Nauert is just the latest Fox News personality to be recruited or elevated by Trump. 181207030621455 He had previously named John Bolton, a former UN ambassador who was a Fox contributor, as his national security adviser and Bill Shine, a former Fox co-president as his deputy White House chief of staff in charge of communications, the newspaper reported. Nauert will face a variety of challenges if confirmed for the job, including championing the US efforts to contain Irans influence in the Middle East and ensuring the global body maintains tough sanctions on North Korea, as Washington tries to negotiate an end to Pyongyangs nuclear and missile programs. Trump has been critical of the UN, complaining about its cost to Washington and criticising it for focusing on bureaucracy and process rather than results. He pulled the US out of the UN human rights body in September, citing bias against Israel. His administration has also cut funding to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, while last year it proposed to cut US funds for aid and diplomacy, which could curb the work of the global body. But Trump has also used the UN to try to advance his foreign policy agenda on Iran and North Korea. The Trump administration has also worked through the UN to try to find a political solution to the wars in Syria and Yemen, two issues that will confront Nauert if she is confirmed. President Donald Trump said on Friday he had chosen former US Attorney General William Barr to once again lead the Justice Department, a role that would put him in charge of the federal probe into Russian election interference. He was my first choice since day one, Trump told reporters outside the White House. If confirmed by the Senate, Barr would succeed Jeff Sessions, who was forced out by Trump last month. Sessionss chief of staff, Matthew Whitaker, is currently serving as acting attorney general. Barr would also oversee Special Counsel Robert Muellers investigation into Russias role in the 2016 presidential election. Barr, a lawyer who was previously attorney general from 1991 to 1993 under the late President George HW Bush, has defended Trumps controversial decision to fire then-FBI Director James Comey in May 2017 when Comey was leading the Russia probe. After Comeys firing, Mueller took over that investigation, which includes probing any possible collusion between Moscow and Trumps 2016 election campaign and any potential obstruction of justice. The Russia probe has long infuriated Trump, who calls it a witch-hunt and who has denied any collusion or any obstruction of justice. Comey is set to testify in front of House Republicans on Friday on the decisions made by the Department of Justice during the 2016 presidential election. 181107195400589 Barr has said there is more reason to investigate potential wrongdoing by Trumps campaign opponent, Democrat Hillary Clinton, than there is to probe any potential collusion. Mueller was appointed by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. Barr has said political donations show Muellers team of professional prosecutors tilt uncomfortably to the left. On Twitter, Trump calls them 17 Angry Dems. I would have liked to see him have more balance on this group, Barr told the Washington Post in July 2017. As attorney general, Barr would have ultimate responsibility for the Russia probe, unless he recuses himself. Sessions recused himself from overseeing the investigation. US intelligence agencies have concluded Moscow worked to influence the election and tip it in Trumps favour. Russia has denied any interference. Barrs comments on Mueller and Clinton could stir opposition from Senate Democrats, but the nomination will almost certainly not come up for a vote until next year. Republicans will control the chamber with a 53-47 majority in the new Congress convening in January. 181116192121758 I do think hes worthy of consideration. I am concerned he has said some negative things about the Special Counsels office and some of the prosecutors he had in place, Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar told MSNBC on Thursday after Barrs name surfaced. Klobuchar is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which has jurisdiction over the nomination. Mueller set to reveal new details The news of Trumps plans to nominate Barr comes on what is expected to be a busy day for the Mueller investigation. Special Counsel Mueller faces court deadlines in two pivotal cases. Mueller and federal prosecutors in New York will have to file memos in court on Friday detailing the cooperation of longtime Trump legal fixer Michael Cohen. And Muellers team will also be disclosing what they say former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort lied about when his plea deal fell apart last month. Cohen and Manafort are among five former Trump associates whom prosecutors have accused of lying either to federal investigators or to Congress. Ahead of the release of new details from Mueller, Trump went on an angry Twitter offensive early on Friday, saying, without evidence, that Mueller has many conflicts of interest. He also said his team plans to release a rebuttal to any report released by the special counsel. Meanwhile, the president also confirmed reports that he plans to nominate State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert to be the next US ambassador to the United Nations, filling the spot to be vacated by Nikki Haley, who will step down at the end of the year. Yemeni delegation says the coalition will continue bombing Houthi areas, irrespective of what takes place in Sweden. Rimbo, Sweden Representatives from Yemens government and Houthi rebels are attending UN-sponsored talks in Sweden for a second day but, back home, a Saudi-UAE coalition has continued its deadly air attacks. The Houthi-affiliated Al-Masirah news outlet reported early on Friday that at least three air strikes targeted Hodeidahs al-Tahita district hours after representatives from the Yemeni government and Houthi rebels met for the first day of talks in Rimbo, a town around 50km north of the Swedish capital Stockholm. According to Al-Masirah, at least 60 air strikes had targeted Houthi-held areas over the past 72 hours, with three women reported killed. Al Jazeera could not independently verify the reports. Aid agencies have long warned that fighting in the port city of Hodeidah, a lifeline for millions of Yemenis, risks escalating the humanitarian crisis in the country where about half the population some 14 million people could soon be on the verge of famine. The UN special envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, has been seeking to introduce a set of confidence-building measures at the talks that will eventually pave the way for future negotiations between officials from President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadis government and representatives from the Houthi movement. 181202101535422 The warring sides are not expected to meet face-to-face, but the expected confidence-building measures will include negotiating a ceasefire in Hodeidah, large-scale prisoner swaps, the reopening of Sanaa international airport and the payment of salaries to civil servants in Houthi-held areas. The Yemeni government proposed re-opening Sanaa airport and on Friday said that one of the conditions was that planes be inspected in Aden or Seiyoun airport. During opening remarks at the talks on Thursday, Yemens government said it signed a large-scale prisoner swap with the Houthis as part of a confidence-building measure. Earlier this week, reports suggested that as many as 2,000 pro-government forces could be exchanged for 1,500 Houthis. The breakthrough came a day after the Saudi-UAE alliance allowed 50 wounded rebels to be evacuated from Sanaa to Oman on a UN-chartered plane for medical treatment. We don't believe in a short-term peace. The Houthis will use a truce or a de-escalation as a tactic. They will use the time that we are here to advance on the ground. Hamza al-Kamali, member of the Yemeni government delegation Air strikes are defensive tactic Hamza al-Kamali, a member of the Yemeni government delegation to the talks, said while the priority for his government was addressing the countrys dire humanitarian situation, the coalition planned to continue targeting Houthi-held areas, irrespective of what developments took place at the talks. We dont believe in a short-term peace. The Houthis will use a truce or a de-escalation as a tactic. They will use the time that we are here to advance on the ground. Thats why were engaging in defensive military actions. The air strikes are defensive tactic the stop the Houthis from transferring weapons from one area to another, he said. Since 2014, Yemen has been wracked by a multi-sided conflict involving local, regional, and international actors. The Houthis, a group of Zaidi Shia Muslims who ruled a kingdom there for nearly 1,000 years, exploited widespread anger against President Hadis decision to postpone long-awaited elections and his stalled negotiations over a new constitution. They toppled his government in 2015, triggering one of the worlds worst humanitarian crises. A coalition led by Saudi Arabia intervened on March 26, 2015, at Hadis request after the Houthis continued to sweep the south and threatened to conquer the last government stronghold of Aden. Since then, the US has been helping the coalition, which now primarily consists of Saudi Arabia and the UAE, with weaponry and logistical support. The coalition has launched more than 18,000 air raids resulting in mass civilian casualties, with weddings, medical facilities and funerals not spared from the bombardment. Our forces are three kilometres from the port. We came here in order not to bring the battle to that area so that they can deliver it to the UN envoy as they promised, Kamali said. Following months of deadly battles in Hodeidah, the Houthis have told Al Jazeera they are willing to hand over the strategic port to the UN. They have, however, not commented on whether they will leave the city, one of the government demands. Red line Asked about a Houthi proposal to form a presidential council without President Hadi, Kamali said the idea crossed a well-established red line. We believe the war will end if we return to three initiatives UN resolution 2216, the outcomes of the National Dialogue and the outcomes of the Gulf Initiative. 181130095711884 We need to go back to the political track we had in 2011 that is the best solution to ending Yemens crisis. President Hadi is off the table. He will be the president until we have elections after finishing steps from the Gulf Initiative. Griffiths, who has engaged in intensive diplomacy between the two sides for months, called Thursdays meeting a milestone and urged the two sides to deliver a message at peace. According to aid groups, the stakes could not be higher. An estimated 56,000 people have been killed in the fighting, while as many as 85,000 children may have already died from hunger. The beginning of the talks coincided with the release of a World Food Programme survey which found 20 million people are going hungry and are in urgent need of food assistance. Well, here we go again, with President Trump giving more evidence of collusion with the Russians by announcing withdrawal from the INF Treaty. I noted in August 2015, President Obamas flexibility was allowing Vladimir Putin to violate it with impunity: Russian officials on Wednesday warned of "retaliation" to the U.S. decision to walk out of a key arms treaty U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced at a NATO meeting Tuesday that Washington will suspend its obligations under the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) in 60 days, citing Russian "cheating." The U.S. has shared intelligence evidence with its NATO allies that it says shows that Russia's new SSC-8 ground-fired cruise missile (also known as the Novator 9M729) could give Moscow the ability to launch a nuclear strike in Europe with little or no notice. The bilateral INF treaty between Washington and Moscow banned all land-based cruise and ballistic missiles with a range between 310 and 3,410 miles. Russia says the range of the new system does not exceed 310 miles. Early in 2017 U.S. officials told CBS News national security correspondent David Martin that they had monitored Russian flight tests in which the SSC-8 flew in excess of 300 miles. Those tests were conducted secretly near the end of the Obama administration, but it was left up to the Trump White House to decide how to respond. U.S. officials told Martin the deployment of the SSC-8 units was such a blatant violation of the INF treaty that it called into question the value of any future arms control treaties with Russia. The INF Treaty violations by Moscow show the ultimate folly of arms control agreements. Peace and deterrence are best provided by American technology, not pieces of parchment. Reagan said trust, but verify. JFK said that only when our arms were sufficient beyond doubt could we be certain beyond doubt that would never be employed. A covertly developed intermediate-range missile force would give Moscow the nuclear cover for a quick strike with conventional forces against NATO. Another major flaw with the INF Treaty between Russia and the United States is that it hampered our ability to deal with other threats like China. As Heritage Foundation Vice President James Jay Carafano writes in the National Interest: there is more at stake than the balance of power between Washington and Moscow. America also has to keep an eye on China. The INF Treaty covers more than nuclear forces. It also prohibits conventional missiles with INF Treaty ranges too. And in the world of today, as China charges hard to expand its military power and reach, the United States is increasingly at a disadvantage. It is constrained by the INF Treaty; China is not. If Russia is not going to adhere to the treaty, then the risk of the United States being the only country in the world self-constraining itself is too significant. Many Chinese ground-based missiles, such as the CJ-10 Chinese land-attack missile, have ranges which are prohibited to the United States due to the treaty. Because of the imbalance imposed on the United States by the treaty, Washington is hamstrung in expanding deterrence in the Indo-Pacific region, while China has no arms-control restrictions in building out its missile force. President Obama willfully let Russia blatantly violate the 1987 Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty signed with the former Soviet Union. The Obama White House deliberately blocked a Pentagon risk-assessment report completed that states that the breach involved a new missile that violates the limits set by the treaty. The treaty bans holding, producing, or flight-testing ground-launched ballistic or cruise missiles with ranges of between 310 miles and 3,418 miles. As Bill Gertz reported in the Washington Examiner: At the Pentagon, spokesman Capt. Greg Hicks said: The Chairmans assessment of Russias Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty violation is classified and not releasable to the public. Hicks said, however, that steps are being taking across the government to address Russias violation of the treaty, including preserving military response options -- but no decision has been made with regard to the type of response, if any. If any meant nothing was done either in terms of sanctions in the development testing of the Russian cruise missile or in the deployment of additional missile defenses in Eastern Europe that might offend President Obamas untrustworthy friend, Russian President Vladimir Putin After all, President Obama has pulled the rug out from under our allies, notably Poland and the Czech Republic, before. When President Obama took office in January 2009, sitting on his desk were President George W. Bushs plans for the deployment of ground-based missile interceptors, such as are deployed at Fort Greely, Alaska, in Poland along with missile defense radars in the Czech Republic. As Investors Business Daily noted, President Obama had other plans and his betrayal of our allies was ironically exquisite: Yet within hours of Medvedev's election as president in 2008, the Russian announced that Moscow would deploy SS-26 missiles in his country's enclave of Kaliningrad situated between our NATO allies Poland and Lithuania. He wanted the U.S. to abandon plans to deploy missile interceptors in Poland and warning radars in the Czech Republic designed to counter a future threat from Iran. What did President Obama do? He caved in and notified the Poles in a midnight phone call on Sept. 17, 2009 -- the 70th anniversary of the Soviet Union's invasion of Poland -- that we were pulling the plug on that system due to Russian objections. Putin then watched in 2012 as Obama promised Medvedev at the Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul, South Korea, that after his re-election he would have more "flexibility" to weaken missile defense, which would help him fulfill his dream of U.S. disarmament. Putin knew full well Obamas weakness in responding to any foreign threat to U.S. interests and security. President Obama is the Neville Chamberlain of our time, promising peace in our time as he invites war with weakness, apologies, and appeasement. Russia is pushing ahead with several missiles in violation of the INF Treaty as part of Putins plan to reassemble the old Soviet Union and dominate Eastern Europe once again. Among those missiles is the R-500 cruise missile and the RS-26 Rubezh ballistic missile: U.S. intelligence officials have told the Washington Free Beacon that the Yars-M missile, also known as the RS-26, is a clear and blatant violation of the INF Treaty. Mark Schneider, a specialist on Russian missiles at the National Institute for Public Policy in Virginia, agrees that the new Yars M appears to be an INF violation. A June 6 test of the Yars M, first disclosed by the Free Beacon, revealed it was launched from a missile base at Russia's Kapustin Yar and landed at an impact range at Sary Shagan, 1,242 miles to the south. That is "clearly INF range," Schneider said. Russia has threatened to retaliate with an arms race and to target NATO members if Trumps threat to withdraw from the INF Treaty is carried out. Putin would do well to remember what happened when the Russians deployed SS-20 missiles targeting NATO and what President Reagans response was. When the Soviet Union targeted Europe with its SS-20s, President Reagan deployed Pershing missiles in West Germany. When Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev met Reagan in Reykjavik, Iceland in October 1986, he hoped Reagan would be willing to trade SDI away in exchange for arms control agreements and vague promises of making nice with America. Reagan said no. As a result of his steadfastness in defending America in the Cold War, we won they lost. Its time to make America safe again. Daniel John Sobieski is a freelance writer whose pieces have appeared in Investors Business Daily, Human Events, Reason Magazine and the Chicago Sun-Times among other publications. On this day 77 years ago, Japan launched a surprise attack against a U.S. naval base in Pearl Harbor in the then-American territory of Hawaii. Over 2,400 Americans were killed, over 1,000 wounded on that day. The countries were not at war at the time. The next day, the U.S. Congress declared war against Japan. Speaking to a joint session of Congress, President Franklin D. Roosevelt (D) called the day of the attack "a date which will live in infamy." Three days later, Germany and Italy declared war against the U.S.; the U.S. then declared war against Germany and Italy. Thus did the U.S. enter into what was later called World War ll, which had been raging in Europe and elsewhere for over two years. The shock of the attack, with not even a trigger warning, to use a modern term, did not send young people then to scurry to safe spaces, as many do today at the first sign of distress, such as, oh, say, their preferred candidate not winning the presidency or hearing ideas that upset them. Enduring hard times during the Depression years preceding that attack, people of all ages rushed to sign up for the military. One of them was George H.W. Bush. Six months after Pearl Harbor, in June 1942, he celebrated graduating high school and his 18th birthday by enlisting in the U.S. Navy. A year later, three days before his 19th birthday, he became an ensign and one of the youngest Naval aviators. Surviving the horrors of years of war no safe spaces for him he married, completed college, and went on to live a life of service to his country, love for his family. It is hauntingly symbolic that Bush passed away just a few days before another Pearl Harbor anniversary was buried the day prior. Another veteran of that terrible war, former senator and presidential candidate Bob Dole (R), now 95, who was severely injured during that same brutal war but also later led a productive life, struggled to stand in respect at Bush's casket. They, and millions like them, rushed to danger to protect us all. Most are gone now; their valor endures. Is 'ballot-harvesting,' finally about to get discredited? Seems the slimey practice of dispatching political operatives to "collect" ballots from voters as a "service" to them, and, umm, turn them in to electoral authorities for them, with no chain of custody, may just be finally exposed as the recipe for fraud that it is. That's because this time, a Democrat's ox was gored, not a Republican's. It certainly seems the case in North Carolina, where a GOP operative in the state's 9th district seems to have gone ballot-harvesting, flipping Democrat Dan McCready's congressional seat red. Republican Mike Harris officially won that election, but in the wake of new ballot-harvesting allegations, McCready has "withdrawn" his concession. Here's what the Associated Press is reporting: An investigation into whether political operatives in North Carolina illegally collected and possibly stole absentee ballots in a still-undecided congressional race has drawn attention to a widespread but little-known political tool called ballot harvesting. It's a practice long used by special-interest groups and both major political parties that is viewed either as a voter service that boosts turnout or a nefarious activity that subjects voters to intimidation and makes elections vulnerable to fraud. The groups rely on data showing which voters requested absentee ballots but have not turned them in. They then go door-to-door and offer to collect and turn in those ballots for the voters often dozens or hundreds at a time. Some place ballot-collection boxes in high-concentration voter areas, such as college campuses, and take the ballots to election offices when the boxes are full. In North Carolina, election officials are investigating whether Republican political operatives in parts of the 9th Congressional District harvested ballots from minority voters and didn't deliver them to the election offices. In some cases they are accused of harvesting ballots that were not sealed and only partially filled out. Ballot harvesting is illegal under state law, which allows only a family member or legal guardian to drop off absentee ballots for a voter. Well gee, harvested the ballots and ... didn't turn them in. That couldn't happen in California, could it? Ballot-harvesting is illegal in North Carolina, as it should be, but someone did it. Good thing he's being busted. But out in California, by contrast, it's openly legal in California and it's being done, too, flipping Reagan Country Orange County a solid monolithic blue as ballots and ballots kept arriving well after the polls closed. Both the San Francisco Chronicle's and the Los Angeles Times' editorial boards have praised this harvest as wonderful stuff, a thing to be emulated, claiming it to be proof that voters don't like President Trump. California's Secretary of State Alex Padilla has praised it as "inclusive and accessible democracy.' And Democrats have made the harvest a slogan of sorts, calling it 'count all the votes.' It's a revolting practice, with amazing doors to corruption as the North Carolina instance seems to show, and it has finally burned the Democrats. That opens the door to getting rid of it, even in California, as public pressure is sure to build. Already there is pressure, with the Los Angeles Times starting to backtrack on its praise of the measure. It qualifies that, by insisting that Democrats would never dream of cheating as the fellow in North Carolina seems to have done, despite the easy incentives it presents, and that harvesting or not, the Orange County results were a fair reflection on the will of the voters, the majority of whom reject Trump as much as they do. But still! They think, maybe just for insurance or something, that the practice be confined to ten harvests per political operative instead of the unlimited stuffing going on now. Lots of operatives, of course, can get around that. It's weasel stuff, but a sign of trouble on the horizon. Word is getting out, and Republicans will be playing the same game as hard and dirty as Democrats in the next election. What a lovely thing elections will soon become, with everyone getting to know their local ballot harvester so very well. I don't know if ending the ballot harvests can ever reverse the hideous results of the Orange County midterm fiasco, but I hope it will give Orange County voters the wherewithal to raise hell with the Democrats who questionably won these races. The pressure should be on, especially for the newly minted Democratic congressmembers never would have won otherwise. Maybe the voters can persuade them or the new Democratic Congress as a whole to vote to outlaw the practice nationally. It's more likely, though, that Democrats will do nothing, and cite the North Carolina case as illegality and evidence of Republican lawlessness. Democrats, however, are doing the same thing legally in California (Joel Pollak has an excellent piece highlighting the hypocrisy) and getting away with it. That's where the trouble is, and a standing opportunity for Republicans to drive home the issue to force the end of the practice once and for all. It's worth losing the North Carolina seat if California can be cleaned up. MeToo loudmouth and Bay Area Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Kamala Harris of California has gotten herself into yet another scrap, this one claiming she knew nothing about a $400,000 payoff for a sexual harassment case brought on by one of her top staffers. How very ironic, given how she stuck it to spotless Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh over sex harassment phony claims during his confirmation hearings and tried to make herself the figurehead for being sterling tough against sex harassment. The hypocrisy is thick. According to Fox News: A senior adviser to U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., resigned Wednesday over inquiries about a $400,000 harassment lawsuit against him while working at the California Department of Justice. Larry Wallace resigned after the Sacramento Bee asked about the 2017 settlement, the paper reported. "We were unaware of this issue and take accusations of harassment extremely seriously," Harris spokeswoman Lily Adams said. "This evening, Mr. Wallace offered his resignation to the senator, and she accepted it." Seriously, she didn't know? And this was her director for the Division of Law Enforcement back when she was California's state attorney general, following her over from her D.A. job in San Francisco? Back when she was penning a vacuous ego-driven screed (note her face on the front cover) called Smart on Crime? And wouldn't the director of law enforcement be a kind of important position, given the crime emphasis she was using to sell herself to the public in order to get a leg up on the next rung of the political ladder? Her conspicuous ambition seems to be making her forgetful. No idea, she says. And all the reported stories of what a pervert this guy was, about him making his female assistant act as a personal servant girl for errands, and worse, crawl under his desk to fix the printer, again and again, so he could get a gander at her butt, ignoring her when she asked to move the thing, and then tossing her to an unimportant division when she complained, Harris knew literally nothing? Despite being the state's top lawwoman with him her deputy? Give us a break. The estimable Philip Wegmann of the San Francisco Examiner points out that this is getting to be a pattern with Harris. Like Hillary Clinton in the midst of her scandals, Harris just doesn't recall. Here are two other examples he cites: When her lawyers argued against releasing nonviolent prisoners from overcrowded prisons in 2014, then-Attorney General Harris said she didn't know. Her team argued in court that prisoners needed to remain in prison because California couldn't spare them. They needed the incarcerated to stay incarcerated lest the state run out of forced labor to fight forest fires. Then the press caught wind and Harris swore she hadn't known what was done in her name. ...and this: When Kevin Cooper, a black man on death row, begged California for a DNA test to exonerate him of hacking a white family to pieces in the 1980s, the state attorney general's office refused. There was evidence of a coverup. There was evidence of white cops framing a black man. There was evidence that could have been tested with advanced DNA testing. Again the press investigated. This time it was the New York Times in 2018 with an in-depth spread that raised the prospect that California might execute an innocent man and that then-Attorney General Harris refused to allow the testing. After publication, Harris was again oblivious, but this time horrified. Wegmann cites two solid examples. And those examples of not recalling and being "shocked" as the news got out are just one small piece of a broader pattern of dishonesty in Willie Brown's former mistress's portfolio. Here's some other stuff, showing how generally deceitful she is, and how willing she is to defend deceit, from Reason: When a judge removed the entire Orange County District Attorney's Office from a death penalty trial in 2015 after it was revealed in a bombshell memo that the sheriff's department had been running an unconstitutional jailhouse informant program Harris' office appealed the removal. "The Attorney General believes the findings of the court regarding the discovery violations in this case are serious and demand further investigation," the California A.G.'s office said in a statement. "But, as the court found, 'there is no direct evidence that the District Attorney actively participated in the concealment of this information from the defense and the court.'" In 2015, the California Attorney General did announce it was conducting an investigation into the affair, but that report has yet to be released. In the meantime, the jailhouse snitch scandal has tainted more than a dozen criminal cases, including several murder trials. Harris' record as San Francisco D.A. has similar instances. In 2010, a California superior court judge excoriated Harris' office for failing to notify defense lawyers of known misconduct by a drug lab technician that later led the San Francisco police to shut down an entire section of the lab. The judge wrote that an internal office memo showed that prosecutors "at the highest levels of the district attorney's office knew that Madden was not a dependable witness at trial and that there were serious concerns regarding the crime lab." The judge wrote that Harris' office had some "duty to implement some type of procedure to secure and produce information relevant to Madden's criminal history." However, the judge's requests that prosecutors explain why nothing happened were met with "a level of indifference." And here's the granddaddy of her instances of dishonesty (Reason mentions it too farther down in its piece), from the New York Observer: The People (of California) v. Efrain Velasco-Palacios. In this unpublished opinion from the Fifth Appellate District, the California Court of Appeal reveals that state prosecutors and California Attorney General Kamala Harris continue to be part of the problem. Kern County prosecutor Robert Murray committed "outrageous government misconduct." Ms. Harris and her staff defended the indefensible California State prosecutor Murray flat out falsified a transcript of a defendant's confession. Kern County prosecutor Robert Murray added two lines of transcript to "evidence" that the defendant confessed to an even more egregious offense than that with which he had been charged the already hideous offense of molesting a child. With the two sentences that state's attorney Murray perjuriously added, Murray was able to threaten charges that carried a term of life in prison. You wouldn't think prosecutors would make things up, given the rich material from defendants in front of them, but Harris's do. And Harris, being a loyal sort of person to people just as dishonest as herself, actually defended this liar. Not surprisingly, she's got quite a few lies of her own, starting with her one about her vast army of fake Twitter followers culled. Harris knows how to do fake. Now she wants us to think she had no idea about that $400,000 pervert at her side. It's not likely that Democrats will give her the hook, but one can hope voters will. Image credit: U.S. DOJ via Wikimedia, public domain. What the hell was Boeing thinking when it agreed to sell a satellite containing top-secret technology to a startup company financed by China? How the hell did this deal pass muster and gain an export license from the Commerce Department? I am not the only one baffled: After reviewing the transaction, Adm. Dennis Blair, a former U.S. director of national intelligence, told the Journal that he was baffled Boeing would proceed with the project. Adm. Blair chairs an advisory committee for Lockheed Martin Space Systems, a Boeing competitor. The Wall Street Journal deserves huge kudos for uncovering a genuine scandal involving national security in a series of two articles, the latter of which (link repaired) was just published, revealing that Boeing has belatedly backed out of handing over the precious secrets, The first article, published December 4, lays out the genesis of the deal: Workers at a Boeing Co. plant in Los Angeles are nearing completion of a new satellite, which uses restricted technology relied on by the U.S. military. It was ordered by a local startup that seeks to improve web access in Africa. In reality, the satellite is being funded by Chinese state money, according to corporate records, court documents and people close to the project. About $200 million flowed to the satellite project from a state-owned Chinese financial firm in a complex deal that used offshore companies to channel China's money to Boeing. It included a discussion with a longtime friend of China's president, said the startup's founders. There's a good reason why China was willing to lay out the big bucks: Such technology would help fill in a missing piece of the puzzle for China as it seeks to secure its status as a superpower alongside the U.S. It would bolster China's burgeoning space program, as well as initiatives to dominate cutting-edge industries and expand its influence in the developing world. But there was no good reason (other than $$$,$$$,$$$) for this deal to be permitted: A web of U.S. laws effectively prohibits exporting satellite technology to China, and its satellites lag far behind those made in America. Current and former U.S. officials, and people close to the startup, called Global IP, fear the satellite could ultimately be used by China's government or military once in space, or its technology reverse-engineered. Boeing claims it followed established procedures: Boeing said in a written statement it "undertakes rigorous measures to comply with U.S. export regulations and protect national interests." The company, the second-largest federal contractor after Lockheed Martin Corp., said it obtained an export license from the Commerce Department for the Global IP satellite "and will continue to work closely with Commerce officials to ensure appropriate protection of satellite technology." But: Boeing declined to say what it told Commerce officials about the deal or its financing when seeking the license, or to answer most other specific questions from The Wall Street Journal. The Commerce Department said it couldn't comment on an individual application. It is disconcerting that this deal came to light thanks only to a spat breaking out between the founders of the startup Global IP and their Chinese financiers. If the Chinese had been willing to spend a bit more, would the deal have been pulled off? In the second article, published today, we learn that Boeing has backed out of the project. But my friend Mike Nadler calls out Boeing for hiding behind an excuse: "Well at least Boeing is stopping this transaction, even if cowardly doing so under the guise of missed payments, probably an excuse to avoid admitting negligence/greed in ignoring previous red flags and also to not offend China." Boeing Co. said Thursday it was canceling a controversial satellite order that was financed by a Chinese government-owned firm, citing default for nonpayment[.] This is a huge scandal. Boeing has a lot to answer for. I trust there will be legislative and possibly criminal investigations. I won't prejudge that level of liability, but I am mad as hell that this contract got anywhere with our second-largest military contractor. Boeing makes a lot of money selling military equipment to the U.S. Government On the other hand, it also makes a ton of money selling commercial airliners to China. I wonder if Boeing's main law firm, Perkins and Coie, will be handling the legal fallout? They have their own questions to answer about serving as cutouts for the Fusion GPS dossier. Hat tip: Bryan Demko The government is reportedly planning to add 14 more universities to the list of Institutes of Eminence. The shortlisted institutes are likely to be announced once voting ends in Rajasthan and Telangana state assembly elections on Friday, a Times of India report said while quoting people in the know. Once announced, the names will be taken up at the University Grants Commission (UGC) meeting scheduled on December 10. Back in July, an Empowered Expert Committee (EEC) had selected six universities to receive the tag of Institute of Eminence, including the controversial case of Jio Institute. The expert panel was originally supposed to list 20 institutes - 10 from the public institutes and 10 private institutes - but only selected six after it found them lacking, especially those from the private space. The EEC is known to have held at least two meetings in November and another two on December 3 and 5 to finalise the list of institutes, the report said. More meeting have been held, panel's chairperson N Gopalaswami told the daily, and the process is underway to enlist more institutes. From the public institutes, IIT-Madras, Delhi University, Jadavapur University, IIT-Kharagpur and Anna University are likely to get the tag. These names were among the eight institutes shortlisted by the panel back in July, out of which only three were selected - IIT-Delhi, IIT-Bombay and IISc-Bengaluru. Among the names up for consideration is KREA University, another greenfield varsity like the Jio Institute. It has former Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan as its advisor, Kiran Mazumdar- Shaw, Anand Mahindra, Sajjan Jindal, Anu Aga, Cyril Shroff and Manjul Bhargava on its governing board, the report said. ALSO READ:How can Jio Institute which does not exist be selected as 'Institution of Eminence'? Govt explains! Other private institutes being scrutinised for the Institute of Eminence tag include Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Vellore Institute of Technology and Kalinga Institute of Technology, the daily said. As many as 114 institutions had applied or the status of Institute of Eminence with applicants including the likes of IITs and NITs, IIMs, IISERs, state and private universities, beside the likes of Indian Statistical Institute, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research and Tata Institute of Social Sciences. The selected Institutes of Eminence have the freedom to determine the fees for domestic students, on the condition that no student who clears the criteria for admission is turned away due to lack of money. These top class institutes can also fix and charge fee from foreign students without restriction. The selected institutes will have freedom to enter into academic collaboration with top 500 global ranking institutions without waiting for approval from the government or UGC. ALSO READ:HRD Ministry was warned against granting 'Institute of Eminence' tag to Jio Institute Here is a Polish joke our conservative Polish-American friends should love. A two week gathering of diplomats and climate 'experts' on man-made global warming started in Katowice, Poland this week. The purpose of the meetings is to strengthen the Paris Climate Accord to stem purported climate damage, which the environmentalists claim, is caused by burning fossil fuel. Note that the greatest bugaboo to the enviros is not oil; it's coal. To them, coal is so evil that President Barack Hussein Obama promised to shut down the entire U.S. coal industry through the heavy hand of government regulations. So how was the Katowice conference kicked off? The Polish Coal Miners band, dressed in smart black uniforms and wearing traditional mines caps, struck up a tune as confused-looking delegates arrived at the convention center in Katowice, a city in the heart of Poland's coal mining country. Coal was proudly displayed in cases around the convention pavilion. Coal, fashioned in jewelry, was for sale. A coal-based cosmetic company even touted products that it claimed would treat 'both body and soul.' In addressing the delegates in his opening remarks, Polish President Andrzej Duba said Poland has no plans to give up coal. And why would it? Poland has the highest coal production in Europe and employs about 100,000 people in its mining industry. And coal supplies Poland with approximately 80% of its energy needs. The New York Times further reported that President Duba reinforced his pro-coal message on the second day of the conference by skipping meetings and instead visited a coal mine in Brzeszcze to join in the celebration of 'Barborka,' the feast day of St. Barbara, the patron saint of miners. You have to love it. Poland, like President Trump, is more direct than others in countering the global environmentalists. China, for example, soft soaps the environmentalists while continuing unabated to build more coal fired plants like there's no tomorrow. And you can bet that the people of France wish they had a leader like Duba who is not willing to sacrifice his country's national interest to the false gods of Global Warming. Yesterday, we covered the news that Hezb'allah had been constructing tunnels from its bases in Lebanon in order to infiltrate terrorists into Israel. There is now a report by i24 News that shows video of the tunnels that have been uncovered so far, as well as exposing the identity of a Hezb'allah terrorist caught on camera fleeing back to Lebanon. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu led ambassadors on a tour of the tunnels: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu led a group of ambassadors on Thursday through a tour of Israel's north, urging them to "condemn the aggression unequivocally and intensify the sanctions" against Hezbollah after Israel revealed this week a tunnel network on the Lebanese border. The cross-border tunnels "are wider and larger, and their goal is to transfer battalions, large forces, into Israeli territory, in order to come in and carry out a killing spree and kidnappings and to capture villages," the Israeli premier stated[.] ... Netanyahu was accompanied by ambassadors from France, Austria, Canada, Ethiopia, Brazil, Russia, EU, Hungary, Ivory Coast, Italy, Great Britain, and Poland. The network identified the terrorist in the video below as Imad Azaladin Fahs: On Thursday, i24NEWS revealed the identity of an Hezbollah operative caught on camera by Israel's Defense Forces (IDF) in a cross border tunnel on the Lebanese border earlier this week. An unnamed security official told i24NEWS that the man who appeared on the video from the tunnel was Dr. Imad "Azaladin" Fahs, a commander of the Hezbollah observation unit on the border with Israel, as well as a commander in the tunnel unit. "Azaladin" who is in his 30's, has a PhD in mechanical engineering from Tehran's University of Technology and is married with two children. According to the security official, "Azaladin" trained with Mexican drug cartels near the United States border. Residents in southern Lebanon received text messages from Hezbollah, presenting two options; either cooperate with Hezbollah or evacuate from the area so as not to get involved in a future war. i24NEWS source thus disputes the claim from Hezbollah which said the two men in the tunnel were drug dealers. The penetration by Hezb'allah into Central and South America has been well established. For more than a decade, the Obama White House looked the other way while the terrorists established a billion-dollar criminal enterprise involving drugs and human-trafficking. Obama was intent on getting the nuclear deal with Iran and didn't want to rock the boat. Additionally, Hezb'allah set up terrorist training camps in Venezuela and Mexico. We aren't told how many active Hezb'allah cells there are in the U.S., but we know they're here. This should give some urgency to the issue of border security. But it won't. That's because Democrats believe that the very idea of border security is racist and "immoral." Hezb'allah and their masters in Tehran are playing the long game, preparing for a war against the U.S. that will utilize all of their assets that have been placed in the region. Joining forces with the drug cartels, who have long histories of infiltrating the U.S. border, is one more indication of how serious the situation is. The Chinese media accused the United States of foul play following a controversial arrest of Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou in Canada. The industry veteran was arrested by Canadian authorities at the request of the Trump administration on Saturday, December 1, with the warrant for her apprehension stemming from a reported investigation into an international banking scheme devised with the goal of violating U.S. trade sanctions imposed on Iran. State-backed Chinese media is presently reporting that no details on the arrest were official and the grounds for the act remain unclear and highly suspicious, speculating that Washington moved to apprehend one of Huaweis top executives in yet another attempt to stifle the Shenzhen-based technology juggernaut. By dealing such a major blow to Huawei, the U.S. administration is hoping to hurt the companys chances of staying competitive in the global tech market, the state-owned China Daily proclaimed in a Friday editorial, mere hours after Ms. Mengs arrest was made public. The Chinese government also called for an immediate release of the 46-year-old executive, with Beijings Foreign Ministry demanding Canada and the U.S. explain the circumstances that led to her arrest. The U.S. and Canadas political leaders already said they werent involved in the episode, stating that the thereof was entirely orchestrated by law enforcement agencies. Following in her fathers footsteps Advertisement Ms. Meng, the daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei who currently also fills the position of the conglomerates vice chairwoman previously held by her father, was detained in Vancouver on Saturday, which plummeted the firms stock and added yet another layer of friction to the already tense relationship between the U.S. and China. The worlds two largest economies are presently amid a full-blown trade war which already prompted heavy tariffs on tens of billions of dollars of various goods and has been suspended only last week after President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping agreed to a 90-day truce during the latest G20 summit in Argentina. Ms. Mengs father is a former engineer and officer of the Peoples Liberation Army, which is one of the many reasons why the West remains distrustful of Huawei, citing its close ties to Beijing. Shes been following in her fathers footsteps from a young age, having joined Huawei when she was in her early 20s and the company itself was just a startup, back in 1993. She started out as a secretary and rose up to the role of the firms chief of international accounting before being appointed as the conglomerates CFO earlier this year. Huawei remains the largest privately held company in China with some 180,000 employees, though Western intelligence agencies remain skeptical about its true ownership. While the firm insists its owned by its employees, its shares arent freely transferable and are only valid for the duration of the owners employment. That opaque structure caused significant concerns in the West, especially given how major corporate decisions arent freely voted on by the entirety of Huaweis official ownership. A mountain of suspicion Advertisement Huaweis issues with the U.S. and its allies date back from the turn of the century and are only becoming more numerous with time. The company has often been accused of posing a national security risk to the American government and its people, with similar allegations also emerging from other parts of the world such as South Korea, Australia, and the United Kingdom. The firm has occasionally been involved in patent disputes as well, facing accusations of corporate espionage. The suspicions leading to the arrest of its CFO and potential heir apparent still arent official but an allegation of a conspiracy to violate trade sanctions would be a relatively new addition to Huaweis lengthy file. In recent times, the most common accusations against Huawei had to do with Beijings legal ability to force the company into spying on its customers, including Americans. The conglomerate often argued its no more prone to being controlled by Beijing than American companies are likely to be influenced by Washington. This April, the Pentagon issued an international ban on Huawei and ZTE devices from stores in and around American military bases, citing security risks. ZTE, another Chinese telecom company, recently found itself under similar duress and was almost put out of business after the Commerce Department hit it with a denial order preventing it from purchasing American tech due to violations of stateside trade sanctions placed on North Korea and Iran. The firm pleaded guilty to that transgression in 2017 but ended up violating its subsequent settlement this year, which was followed by a third agreement that placed a significant strain on its operations. That particular episode was also painted as an attack against Chinas economy by the media in the Far Eastern country, though ZTE is presently trying to put things to rest and move on. An exercise in finger-pointing Advertisement Even as the U.S. and Canada are adamant that the arrest of Ms. Meng wasnt politically motivated, Beijing and its media empire continue pushing that theory into the publics eye, arguing the episode was meant to hurt the countrys largest private company on no reasonable grounds. That exercise in finger-pointing is unlikely to lead to anything substantial in the near future as a lengthy legal battle appears to be on the horizon. Backed by one of the worlds largest corporate legal teams, Ms. Meng is expected to put up a fight against Ottawas attempt to extradite her to the U.S. While the latest development is plummeting Huaweis stock, its also hurting shares of its major domestic suppliers such as BYD Electronic International Co and AAC Technologies, both of whom were down close to ten points this morning. The global technology supply chain is hence threatened by the episode which has the potential to slow down operations and device shipments, consequently lowering the demand for its products. Still, in the long term, Huaweis overall strategy is unlikely to be affected by the arrest of its CFO as the company continues pushing toward the title of the worlds largest smartphone maker after already establishing dominance in the telecom equipment segment. The Samsung Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S10+ have just surfaced yet again, and this time around, all the focus is on the back side of these two smartphones, and we get to see both renders and real-life images. One of the two leaks says that the regular Galaxy S10 variant will sport two cameras on the back, half as much as the rumored premium edition of the device, and one less than the Galaxy S10+. If there is any truth to this, Samsung will actually release three Galaxy S10-branded smartphones all of which will have a different number of cameras on the back, which may seem a bit far-fetched, but thats what leaks and rumors have been reporting for a while now. In any case, If you take a look at the gallery down below, you will be able to see that the cameras on both the Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S10+ are horizontally-aligned, and that an LED flash and a heart-rate sensor are placed right next to those cameras. Both of these phones will be made out of metal and glass, which is something that the leaked images confirm, while both devices will also sport a dedicated Bixby button on the left, which will be placed right below the volume rocker. A power / lock button will be included on the right, while the phones rear-facing cameras will protrude a bit along with the LED flash and a heart-rate sensor. Sides on the back of the Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S10+ will be curved, while Samsungs logo will sit on the back as well. One more thing youll notice is that the fingerprint scanner is not included on the back of either of these two smartphones, thats because rumors are claiming that Samsung will utilize in-display fingerprint scanners in both of these devices, just like a number of other companies have at this point. Along with renders of the two devices, you can also see some seemingly third-party cases leaked as well. Whats The Story Thus Far? The Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S10+ have been leaking out for a while now, while rumors have been popping up as well. These two smartphones are both rumored to arrive in February during the Mobile World Congress (MWC). The two phones may actually not support 5G, as it may be reserved for a premium Galaxy S10 model, which well talk about a bit later. The Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S10+ will be quite similar in many ways, as their design will be identical, save for the number of cameras on the back, and on the front (in the display), as the Galaxy S10 will include one display camera hole, while the Galaxy S10+ will ship with two such holes it seems. Both devices are actually rumored to include a display camera hole, though we still do not know where will that camera hole be located, as weve seen a lot of contradicting leaks, even though most of them seem to suggest that the company will put it in the upper-right corner of the display on these two phones. Both the Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S10+ will ship with Android 9 Pie, and Samsungs all-new One UI skin on top of Googles operating system. Advertisement Premium Galaxy S10 May Be In The Cards As Well Many rumors have actually mentioned the premium Galaxy S10 unit, a unit of the phone that will cost considerably more than the Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S10+, and which will be made out of metal and ceramic, not metal and glass. Thats not all, though, this variant of the phone is rumored to ship with support for 5G connectivity, and to include 12GB of RAM on the inside. That variant of the phone is actually rumored to be the largest one, when the Galaxy S10 smartphones are concerned, as the rumors are claiming it will ship with a 6.7-inch display. On top of all that, the premium Galaxy S10 is said to ship with six cameras overall, which means that it will include four cameras on the back, more than both the Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S10+. This could also mean that the premium Galaxy S10 will include two display camera holes, similar to the Galaxy S10+. Unlike the Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S10+, the premium Galaxy S10 model is not expected to launch in February, rumors are claiming that this variant of the device may arrive a bit later, in March or April, but it remains to be seen how accurate those rumors are. Specifications Advertisement All the Galaxy S10 units will sport similar specs, with the premium Galaxy S10 differentiating the most, due to more RAM, 5G support, more cameras, and a larger display. Chances are that all Galaxy S10 units will ship with QHD+ Super AMOLED panels, though, while all of them will include Android 9 Pie and Samsungs One UI skin. All the Galaxy S10 smartphones will also ship with the same SoCs, as Samsung is expected to sell two different SoC variants once more. One variant will be fueled by the companys Exynos 9820 64-bit octa-core processor, while the other will ship with Qualcomms Snapdragon 855 chip. The Exynos model will ship to Europe and India, while the Snapdragon unit will be available in the US and China. We are only guessing at this point, but judging what the company did in the past, thats exactly what will happen. All the Galaxy S10 units will include wireless charging, and its quite possible that all of them will ship with in-display fingerprint scanners as well. What About The Galaxy S10 Lite? The Galaxy S10 Lite aka budget Galaxy S10 unit has been mentioned in a rumor or two as well, and if theres any truth there, Samsung will actually release a tiny Galaxy S10 model with 4GB of RAM on the inside. The thing is, this will not exactly be a mid-range phone, at least not according to rumors, as it will ship with the Exynos 9820 / Snapdragon 855, and will share most of the specs with the other Galaxy S10 units. It may be a bit unrealistic to expect Samsung will introduce four flagship Galaxy S10 units next year, but well see what will happen, as rumors and leaks have been out of control. HMD Global, the company behind the reincarnated Nokia, just turned two years old this past week. And it also announced that since it started selling Nokia-branded smartphones in early 2017, it has sold 70 million units. That is not too shabby for a company that had only sold smartphones in the hundreds before then. HMD Global officially relaunched the Nokia brand at Mobile World Congress 2017, where it debuted a number of new smartphones, including a throwback to the Nokia 3310. Selling 70 million units in, technically, under two years is not bad. Of course, there are companies out there like Samsung that will pass that number on a single smartphone model itself. But for a new company, thats not bad at all. Especially when you factor in the fact that HMD Global has not released a premium tier smartphone yet. These smartphones have all been under $500 or so, and nothing really above $750 or even close to the $999 that everyone is aiming for right now. HMD Global reaffirming focus on mid-range priced smartphones Despite selling 70 million smartphones, HMD Global is going to continue focusing on the mid-range priced smartphones. This includes those that are priced between $300 and $500. This means that youre going to be able to buy a decent smartphone that does not cost a ton, and offers some great specs and features. HMD Global also noted that smartphones in that price range are among their best selling, since launching last year. HMD Global says that the Nokia 6.1 is its current best-selling new smartphone. It also mentioned that the Nokia 7 Plus and Nokia 3.1 have both sold really well, and have been extremely popular since their respective launches. Whats interesting here is that HMD Globals flagship offerings significantly underperformed compared to its other offerings, and that is likely what is leading to HMD Global focusing more on the mid-range lineup here. Advertisement HMD Global also gave out a rather interesting statistic, and one that most companies dont make public. That is the fact that around 56 million of the Nokia smartphones sold were to men over the age of 35. Basically, those that were previously aware of the Nokia brand and likely bought Nokia smartphones back in the day when Nokia was the largest phone maker. This makes plenty of sense, seeing as many in the younger generation dont have much experience with Nokia smartphones. But that also means that around 15 million smartphones were sold to those that were not previously aware of the Nokia brand, which is not too shabby either. This has been working out well for HMD Global. Instead of competing with the likes of Apple, Samsung, Google and LG in the $800 and up price range, it is looking to compete in the sub-$500 price range. This is good because those companies make their money on those flagships, which have some pretty big profit margins, whereas in the lower price range, it is used as a sales driver for Nokia, and it means there is less competition in that space. Typically, the mid-range smartphones from Samsung and LG are not that great. They are typically either under $300 or over $600, nothing really in that middle, and that is where HMD Global is cleaning up shop with its Nokia brand, and it is working. Some are looking for a high-end smartphone, but dont want to pay nearly a grand for the device, and that is where something like the Nokia 7.1 comes in at $349. It does offer some mid-range specs, at least on paper, but it offers some really good performance and it is nearly a third of the price of something like the Samsung Galaxy Note9. That is where HMD Global is going to find their sales, and why they have been able to sell over 70 million units in less than two years. Android Go & Android One are seemingly selling points Advertisement Of course, a big reason for HMD Global doing so well is the fact that the Nokia name was so popular about a decade ago. But theres another factor here, Android Go and Android One. HMD Global was using stock Android on its smartphones, from the very beginning, but earlier this year it announced that all of its smartphones would be either Android Go or Android One smartphones. Meaning that these are un-bloated, stock Android smartphones, with timely updates. This is something that HMD Global has actually done quite well since launching with the Nokia brand in recent months. It launched the Nokia 7.1 back in October, and it was launched with an older version of Android which surprised many people. But it was upgraded from Android Oreo to Android Pie within a month of its launch, which is much more than what other Android manufacturers can say. One of the main selling points that manufacturers hear from their customers is the fact that they want stock Android and/or they want fast updates. HMD Global is delivering both here with the Nokia lineup, and it starting to prove successful for HMD Global. One of the major issues with Android is the slow update process, but HMD Global has figured out that by using Android Go or Android One (depending on the device), it can get these updates out pretty quickly. The Nokia name is still valuable Advertisement What this number really shows us is just how valuable that Nokia brand is, even in 2018. Nokia, before being bought by HMD Global, hadnt made any phones since around 2013 or so when Microsoft bought the company. So it had been quite a while since Nokia had last made a smartphone and even longer since it was on top of the smartphone (or the general phone) market. But selling 70 million smartphones in basically a year and a half is pretty impressive for HMD Global. A company who was already making smartphones, but not on this scale. In fact, in this same time period, there were about 650 HMD Global smartphones sold. So that just shows you how small HMD Global was when it bought the rights to Nokia. It was a smart move by HMD Global, and its going to help them really grow as a company, not to mention add some competition to the smartphone space that is sorely needed. After HMD Global introduced the Nokia 8.1 earlier this week, the companys Head of Marketing for Germany and Switzerland, Britta Gerbracht, was interviewed by media outlet WinFuture and discussed some of the companys plans for the Nokia brand moving forward, such as having a greater focus on the flagship smartphone market in the coming years. In short, the rumored Nokia 9 PureView was confirmed to skip a launch this year but it will likely hit the shelves in early 2019, along with other flagship phones planned for release over the course of the next year. The OEM will also continue to maintain its focus on the budget-friendly and mid-range market segments where it has enjoyed tremendous success over the past couple of years, and the media also got a bit of a heads-up in regards to the naming philosophy of upcoming smartphone models. Finally, confirmation came that HMD Global has no current plans for releasing additional retro-style phone models like the Nokia 3310 which was originally introduced last February. Background: Before HMD Global came into the picture in 2015 the Nokia brand was starting to fall off the radars. Once a giant in the mobile phone market, Nokia began losing ground with the advent of smartphones, many years ago. Eventually, the Finnish OEM abandoned its proprietary software for smartphones and went on board with Microsoft to create some of the best Windows Phone-powered devices on the market, and the brand continued to live on and enjoy moderate success, particularly in the enterprise segment. But as Microsoft continued to lose the battle for smartphone supremacy, so did Nokia, and for a while, after the brand was acquired by Microsoft, its future looked bleaker than ever. All of this changed when HMD Global acquired the brand in 2015 and steered it into a completely new direction which fully embraced the Android platform. The Android-powered Nokia smartphones followed a fairly simple philosophy: keep the software as close to stock as possible, deliver timely firmware updates, offer good build quality for the mid-range segment, and carry competitive prices. This paid off, and according to one recent report, HMD Global managed to sell over 70 million Nokia-branded smartphones in less than two years since the launch of the first Android-powered device in the OEMs portfolio, i.e., the Nokia 6, released in January 2017. In the following years, HMD Global intends to continue its now-popular series of smartphones, and the naming scheme of future devices will be fairly straightforward: the Nokia 6 was succeeded by the Nokia 6.1 this year, and the upcoming models will be known as the Nokia 6.2, 6.3, and so forth. The same will apply for all of the other lineups, from the low-end segment to flagships. Additionally HMD Global now intends to focus a bit more on the flagship segment, beginning with 2019, despite the fact that the Nokia 8 Sirocco fell below expectations in terms of market performance. New flagship models are planned for release in 2019, 2020, and 2021. These devices will follow the same philosophy and aim to offer great value for money. And while more effort will be put into the flagship segment, HMD Global also confirmed that it has no current plans for developing Nokia gaming smartphones. Although analysts believe mobile gaming will become even more successful in the 5G era, gaming smartphones are niche products at the moment and the segment will remain untapped by the Nokia brand, at least for the time being. Advertisement Impact: With Nokia covering all of the market segments in 2019, from budget to flagship while following a similar strategy as before, the brand is likely to increase its awareness in the coming years, and at the end of the day HMD Global seems to have a winning recipe on its hands. The OEM also did enough with the release of the Nokia 3310 and Nokia 8110 to tap into the nostalgia of smartphone users that fondly remember the brands glory days, and while no new retro-style phones are currently planned, the models launched this year may have contributed enough to rekindle a sense of legacy, thus strengthening the brand even further. New Nokia smartphones are expected to be unveiled during CES and/or MWC early next year and we expect both notched and notch-less designs to appear in the 2019 lineups. The Japanese government is looking to ban Huawei and ZTE from participating in the countrys 5G race, Reuters reports, citing insiders familiar with the plan. The move is said to be part of Tokyos wider effort aimed at bolstering its infrastructure and make it more resilient to cyber attacks, as per the same source. While the measure has yet to be officially confirmed, its publication could happen early next week. Geng Shuang, an official of Chinas Foreign Ministry, said Beijing is deeply concerned about the reports and called for Japan to ensure a fair competition environment for Chinese firms operating in its wireless segment, concluding that mutual trust is at stake. The new report emerged a mere day after Huawei CFO was arrested in Canada on a U.S. request over suspected involvement in a conspiracy to violate stateside trade sanctions against Iran, according to recent reports. The U.S. continues lobbying against Chinese telecom tech The development comes shortly after the United States started global lobbying efforts against Chinese telecom technologies among its allies. In a statement provided to media outlets, Tokyos chief spokesperson Yoshihide Suga acknowledged Japan always has an open line with Washington in regards to various topics cybersecurity included but declined to offer any commentary on the newly reported plan. The U.S. lobbying movement against Huawei and ZTEs technologies continues to this date, with various members of the stateside intelligence community and government officials raising concerns about the national security implications of such solutions. Advertisement A long history of regulatory issues Under Chinas existing laws, Beijing is able to force domestic companies to comply with a wide variety of information requests with little justification and in a highly straightforward manner. While Huawei and ZTE previously argued the American government is able to do the same to its own companies, the stateside legal protections and probable cause requirements are significantly higher than their Chinese counterparts, especially when it comes to broad information requests. While no concrete evidence of government-sponsored spying on ZTE or Huaweis part ever emerged, the Western intelligence community often argued the crux of the issue isnt what happened in the past but what could realistically happen in the future, which is the basis of many problems the two companies encountered in the U.S. and allied countries since the turn of the century. Chinas wireless segment facing many new problems Advertisement Huawei previously said it isnt worried about the recently launched U.S. ban on its technologies prompting more similar moves in other parts of the world but thats precisely what now appears to be happening. South Korea is presently understood to be pondering a similar ban on Chinese telecom tech and Australia already enacted such a measure this summer, causing anger from China. While Huawei remains the worlds largest manufacturer of wireless equipment, an inability to create a global 5G footprint could result in a significant hit to its business thats dependent on remaining at the very edge of technological innovations. Ultimately, Beijings calls for a level playing field in the international wireless segment wont amount to much just based on the fact that China enforces strict regulations on foreign investments in its own backyard and hence isnt in a geopolitical position to argue for an opposite philosophy from other nations. Lenovo has managed to trick us all, the very first smartphone with a punch hole was supposed to arrive yesterday, the Lenovo Z5s, but that did not happen. The companys CEO, Chang Cheng, pretty much announced that the phone will be arriving on December 6 via Weibo (Chinese social network), but it seems like the company has decided to postpone the launch of the device, if it was planned to arrive on December 6 at all, it is possible that the initial date was only supposed to reveal the real date of the announcement, or something of the sort. In any case, the companys CEO has shared a new image on his official Weibo account, this time saying that the phone will arrive on December 18, after both the Galaxy A8s and the Huawei Nova 4. The image that Chang Cheng shared also confirms that the Lenovo Z5s will include three cameras on its back, and those three cameras will be vertically aligned. In addition to Chang Chengs image, Lenovos official Weibo account shared an actual render of the device, confirming some of the phones design, and that design fits in perfectly with the leaked renders. As you can see, the phone will be made out of metal and glass, while two of its rear-facing cameras will be a part of the same module on the back, while the third one will be separated below them. Below that third camera, you will notice an LED flash, while the phones power / lock and volume up and down buttons are also visible in this image, as they are located on the right-hand side of the phone. Lenovos official Weibo account also confirmed that the phone will be arriving on December 18, and that seems to be an actual launch date of the phone. Lenovo, Samsung & Huawei A couple of days ago, we reported that the Lenovo Z5s will trump both the Galaxy A8s and Huawei Nova 4 when it comes to being announced, as the Lenovo Z5s was supposed to arrive on December 6, while the Galaxy A8s and Huawei Nova 4 are scheduled to launch on December 10 and December 17, respectively. It turns out that the Lenovo Z5s will actually be the last one to arrive, and if youre wondering why are these three phones all mentioned here, well, all three of them are expected to include display camera holes, and be the first ones to do that. As things stand right now, the Galaxy A8s will definitely become the very first smartphone to ship with a display camera hole, and the company had already confirmed that its display camera hole will be located in the upper-left portion of the display. The Galaxy A8s and Huawei Nova 4 will both include that display camera hole in the same place, while the Lenovo Z5s is said to differentiate a bit, as its display camera hole will be centered at the top of the display, as it will be placed right below the phones earpiece. Advertisement More Info On The Lenovo Z5s Todays info revealed part of the phones design, but it does not show us the phones front side, nor the whole story of the phones back side. Well, the Lenovo Z5s did leak via a render quite recently, and that render pretty much confirmed that the device will include a rear-facing fingerprint scanner. On top of that, Lenovos logo will be located in the lower-left portion of the phones back, while the phone will include a really thin bezel below the display, and that is the only bezel that you will see on this smartphone, as bezels are basically non-existent on the sides, and above the display. Now, as far as the phones specs are concerned, well, we do not have all that much info, but the phone did get certified in China, and as part of the certification process, we were able to find out that it will ship with a large 6.3-inch display. On top of that, those certification documents revealed that a 3,210mAh battery will be included on the inside, and truth be said, that battery seems to be on the smaller side having the size of this phones display in mind. Lenovo will hopefully include some sort of fast charging in this smartphone, even though nothing of the sort has been confirmed just yet. The phone will measure 156.7 x 74.5 x 7.8mm, and as you can see, it will be quite narrow, which means that its display will be quite tall. That is easy to notice as the phone has a large display included, and it has to ship with a 19:9 or 19.5:9 display aspect ratio in order to be that narrow, despite the fact its bezels on the sides are basically non-existent. As far as the phones SoC is concerned, the Lenovo Z5 comes with the Snapdragon 636, so the Z5s will probably include a mid-range processor as well, and the Snapdragon 710 is the logical choice, as that is the companys most powerful mid-range processor that is currently available in the market. We are only guessing here, though it is possible that Lenovo may opt for a different processor here. It is also worth noting that this smartphone will become available in China first, though it is quite possible that it will ship to other markets in early 2019. Plenty Of Punch Hole Smartphones Are Coming Advertisement 2019 will be a year of smartphones which will have display holes, and most of those holes will be utilized by front-facing cameras, though some OEMs have other ideas. The OPPO R19 will probably ship with a display camera hole at the top of its display, and that camera hole will be centered, at least based on the leak that arrived a while back. Based on that, its safe to say that the OnePlus 7 may ship with such a display camera hole as well. LG had patented a smartphone design with pill-shaped display holes, and those display holes may be reserved for front-facing cameras. ZTE has a slightly different idea, the company actually patented a design with an oval display hole which will be used to accommodate the phones earpiece. Samsungs upcoming Galaxy S10 smartphones will also utilize display camera holes, if leaks are to be believed, the Galaxy S10 is expected to include one such hole, the Galaxy S10+ will ship with two. Those are only some devices will have display holes for components, but we expect a lot more of them to arrive next year. Narendra Modi-led NDA government on Friday appointed Krishnamurthy Subramanian as Chief Economic Advisor for a period of 3 years. A PhD from Chicago-Booth and a top-ranking IIT-IIM alumnus, Krishnamurthy Subramanian is serving as Associate Professor of Finance (with tenure) and Executive Director for the Centre for Analytical Finance at the Indian School of Business, a top business school in India. The government had invited applications for the post of chief economic Advisor to replace Arvind Subramanian who resigned from the post on 20 June this year and returned to the US. The newly appointed CEA has really got his task cut out as his appointment comes barely 50 days before the Economic Survey through which the government would like to present its economic outlook ahead of the 2019 polls in the absence of a full budget. Interestingly, while his predecessor, Arvind Subramanium recently called demonetisation "draconian" in his soon-to-be-released book 'Of Counsel', Subramanian has been a strong supporter of the move. Through several writings and publications, he has praised the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's controversial decision to remove most of its banknotes from circulation. Also Read: Demonetisation was a massive, draconian, monetary shock: Arvind Subramanian As part of his corporate policy work, Subramanian serves on the boards of Bandhan Bank, the National Institute of Bank Management, and the RBI Academy. In previous academic roles, Subramanian served on the finance faculty at Goizueta Business School at Emory University in the United States. He obtained his MBA and PhD in Financial Economics at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business under the advice of Professor Luigi Zingales and Professor Raghuram Rajan. Edited by Chitranjan Kumar Chinese telecommunications regulator TENAA recently released images of Samsungs upcoming mid-range smartphone, the Galaxy A8s. These photographs corroborate the details revealed in a render of the handset leaked last month. While there are few design details observable from the front, the photographs show that the Galaxy A8s will have three vertically aligned rear cameras placed near its upper-left corner. Below the triple-camera setup is the LED flash, as well as an oval-shaped fingerprint scanner. The left side of the device contains a dedicated button for Samsungs virtual assistant, Bixby, the images reveal. TENAA also provided a few details about the specifications of the Galaxy A8s. The regulator states that the device, which has the model number SM-G8870, will have a 6.39-inch display. The smartphone will likely sport a dual-SIM card slot and will support the dual SIM dual standby functionality. The handset will have a 3,300mAh battery, according to recent reports, and supports a wide range of mobile network standards, including TD-LTE, FDD-LTE, GSM, WCDMA, and cdma2000 protocols. Moreover, TENAA notes that the Galaxy A8s will have a length of 158.4 millimeters, a width of 74.9 millimeters, and a thickness of 7.4 millimeters. Background: The Samsung Galaxy A8s will be among the first smartphones that will include a display hole for its front-facing camera and sensors, as opposed to other devices which includes a notch to accommodate imaging modules while pushing for a high screen-to-body ratio. Other handsets with display holes that will reportedly be launched by the end of the year include the Huawei Nova 4 and the Lenovo Z5s. Moreover, Samsung and OPPO will reportedly release additional smartphones with display holes next year. Advertisement According to previously leaked renders, the Galaxy A8s will have very thin bezels and a 6.7mm display hole. A USB Type-C port will be found at the bottom as well. The front-facing camera placed inside the display hole will reportedly have a 24-megapixel sensor, while the triple-lens setup at the back of the device will be equipped with 24-megapixel, 5-megapixel, and 10-megapixel modules, according to recent rumors. The device will feature the Snapdragon 710 chipset from Qualcomm, and will reportedly come with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal flash storage. Newest rumors further indicate that instead of an OLED panel, the Galaxy A8s will utilize a FullHD+ LCD manufactured by Chinese BOE, and several variants of the handset will have color gradients on their rear panels. Impact: Samsung will reportedly launch the Galaxy A8s on December 10 and the device will first become available in China, as suggested by the existence of the newly unveiled certificate. Furthermore, the Galaxy A8s introduces a new smartphone design to the market, which allows for a near bezel-less display at the expense of an unconventional cutout near the top of such panels. More Android devices with the same design language will reportedly appear soon, including Samsungs upcoming flagship offering, the Galaxy S10. Whether the rest of the industry follows suit remains to be seen, though some major names like Huawei are said to already be planning to do so. Posted on: December 7, 2018 12:12 PM The Episcopal News Service has counted at least 35 dioceses, or nearly a third in the US-based Episcopal Church, that have been in some stage of bishop-transition since June 2017. David Paulsen explores what that means for dioceses seeking new bishops. [Episcopal News Service, by David Paulsen] A lot can happen in just one month when Episcopal dioceses are recruiting bishops. The nearly constant state of transition in the churchs episcopacy generates a nearly constant flow of news and updates. November offered a telling snapshot of that process in stages: The flurry of activity has continued into December, with Western Kansas consecrating a new bishop and Northern California releasing its slate of nominees. With dozens of dioceses embarking on or completing bishop transitions over the past 18 months, the frequency of searches has raised concerns that a limited pool of candidates is being depleted. Diocesan search committees tend to dismiss suggestions that they are competing with each other for applicants, though some dioceses have been open in pointing to what they said is a challenging landscape for bishop searches. The Diocese of Nevadas Standing Committee announced in October it was postponing its bishops election, calling the search process challenging in several respects. One is that there were an unprecedented number of bishop searches in process, resulting in a limited applicant pool. The Diocese of San Diego made a similar claim after its search committee returned just one finalist, prompting the diocese to extend the deadline for nominees by petition. After a slate of nominees has been announced, search committees typically allow diocesan members to petition to add other nominees. Those nominees go through the same vetting process as those on the original slate. This is a time in the wider church when more than 20 dioceses are seeking bishops, and that has presented challenges, said Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, the Episcopal Churchs previous presiding bishop who now serves San Diego as assisting bishop. Do such developments point to a moment of crisis for the Episcopal Church? In general, no. Each diocese searching for a new bishop faces a unique set of circumstances, and the pool of candidates really is a function of the vision and mission of that diocese, said Bishop Todd Ousley, who assists dioceses with bishop searches as head of the churchs Office of Pastoral Development. He downplayed the bishop turnover rate as a barrier to successful searches. Theres an ebb and a flow that is really, I think, a factor of the average [bishop] tenure, which is eight and a half years, Ousley said. At that rate, bishop seats would open up in a dozen of the churchs 110 dioceses each year, so he doesnt think the recent trend is unusual. And while some dioceses struggle to find available bishop candidates who are the right fit, the churchwide turnover has boosted the gender and racial diversity in the House of Bishops. Six female bishops have been added to the houses roster or elected by their dioceses since July, including three African-American women. Tracking bishop turnover by several measurements Quantifying the turnover trend can be tricky. By one of the broadest measurements, the volume of leadership changes recently has been staggering, with Episcopal News Service counting at least 35 dioceses, or nearly a third, that have been in some stage of bishop transition since June 2017. That number, however, includes dioceses that for a variety of reasons arent actively searching for new bishops. The dioceses of Los Angeles and Dominican Republic, for example, previously named bishops coadjutor who later took over when their bishops diocesan retired, extending the full transition periods well beyond the end of the bishop searches. The dioceses of Lexington and Eastern Michigan chose to appoint provisional bishops, essentially postponing their searches. And in October, the Diocese of Western New York finalised a plan for retiring Bishop William Franklins role to be filled by Diocese of Northwest Pennsylvania Bishop Sean Rowe as provisional bishop for five years through a unique partnership between the two dioceses. Another way of measuring the churchwide bishop turnover is the number of search processes underway. In mid-October, Ousley provided ENS with a list of 16 dioceses that then were searching for new bishops and looking ahead to elections. Since then, more bishops have announced retirements, and when including those and other elections back to April 2018, the list grows to 24 dioceses. Nevada Bishop Dan Edwards had informed his diocese he intended to retire at the end of this year. A slate of three candidates for bishop was recommended by the dioceses bishop search committee, but the Standing Committee decided to postpone the election of Edwards successor and start next year developing a new crop of nominees. The Standing Committee said a need to reassess its search process was one reason for the postponement, in addition to a sense that the churchwide conditions for recruitment put some dioceses at a disadvantage. We know of multiple really fine candidates who were interested in our diocese but who chose to participate in other bishop elections instead, so they did not apply here in 2018, Edwards told ENS, citing an unprecedented number of bishop elections this past year. In San Diego, the dioceses Standing Committee announced in October it had approved just one candidate, Susan Snook, as nominee to replace Bishop James Mathes, who left the diocese in 2017 for a dean position at Virginia Theological Seminary. Jefferts Schori, in her letter to the diocese, explained the Standing Committees decision to extend the petition period, with hopes that additional viable nominees would be identified. Single-candidate slates are rare, though not unprecedented, she added. While I believe that people called to the ministry of a bishop are called into a particular diocesan context, it has nevertheless been a challenge across the Episcopal Church when 20-plus dioceses are each seeking 20-plus candidates for the episcopate, she said. The petition process generated several more potential candidates for the Diocese of San Diego, Gwynn Lynch, Standing Committee president, told ENS by email last week, and we will be making an announcement of the final slate by the end of December. Edwards acknowledged his diocesan context is unique as well. The pool of candidates interested in serving as bishop of a large diocese like Los Angeles or Massachusetts may be very different from those interested in serving a more sparsely populated diocese like Nevada or Maine. But Edwards still thinks the number of active searches churchwide has an effect locally. I dont think the dioceses are consciously competing with each other, Edwards said. Its just that the openings are there, and the prospective candidates are there, and the ratio of prospective candidates to openings was very different this year. Even so, with most dioceses producing slates of at least three candidates, Delaware Bishop Kevin Brown was elected in July 2017 from a slate of five. East Tennessee Bishop Brian Cole was elected the same month, also one of five nominees. The Diocese of Maine indicated it had no trouble finding bishop candidates in announcing its own five-person slate. The Discernment Committee was pleased with the wide interest expressed from around the country in being the next bishop of Maine, John Balicki, the committee chair and rector of St Marks Church in Waterville, said in a news release. We have significant diversity in age, gender and geography, and we hope that everyone in the state of Maine will enjoy getting to know these candidates as well as we have. Diocesan spokesman John Hennessy called it an amazing turnout in an interview with the Portland Press Herald, which reported 27 people had applied or been nominated. A lot of baby-boomer bishops are retiring, and those positions have typically drawn eight to 10 nominations or applications. The Diocese of Vermont has not yet released its bishop election slate, and Maggie Thompson, chair of the Bishop Discernment and Nominating Committee, declined to say how many applications the diocese received. But she told ENS the committee was very pleased with the response. Thompson attributes much of that positive response to Vermonts well-developed search profile, which welcomed applicants who are interested in pursuing a bishop in partnership model that encourages collaboration with congregations, priests and laypeople at the local level. Vermont isnt for everyone, Thompson said. The largest city, Burlington, has only 42,000 residents. But while the diocese lacks metropolitan vitality, it is an attractive destination because of a distinct personality developed under Bishop Thomas Ely and his predecessors. Weve kind of gotten the reputation of being pretty innovative and progressive, Thompson said. Single-year drop in ordinations, but diversity increases By two narrower measurements, elections and ordinations, this years rate of bishop turnover should hardly seem daunting for diocesan recruiters. Only 10 bishops have been elected in 2018, half in the spring and the other half this fall, putting the year in the average range identified by Ousley. The discrepancy between number of active searches and number of annual elections stems from the great span of time for most bishop transitions. Outgoing bishops often announce retirement plans two years or more in advance, so the number of searches underway doesnt mean that number of seats will be vacated in the same year. The consent process, in which the bishop-elect must gain the approval of a majority of the churchs Standing Committees and its bishops with jurisdiction, also adds 120 days to the time before a bishop-elect is ordained. Bishops also tend to group themselves in classes based on the calendar year in which they became bishops, and class size can fluctuate dramatically year to year. The Class of 2018 is rather small. When Western Kansas Bishop Mark Cowell was consecrated on Saturday (1 December), he became only the fourth new Episcopal bishop of the year, equal to the four new bishops in 2015 but down from the 10 in 2017. Bishops and clergy gathered in Salinas, Kansas, on Saturday (1 December) for the consecration of Western Kansas Bishop Mark Cowell. Photo: Diocese of Western Kansas The Episcopal Church had a particularly active year in 2010, when 15 bishops were consecrated. And with diocesan bishops averaging eight and a half years, the Class of 2010 may be ripe for retirements. Benhase is among them, as is Minnesota Bishop Brian Prior, who announced in September his plan to hand his diocese over to a new bishop by 2020. The relative lull in 2018 likely wont last. Looking ahead to the Class of 2019, at least 10 bishop ordinations are scheduled, according to Ousley, with additional ordinations possible. One of the few certainties in the House of Bishops, then, is an endless stream of new members, and recent additions have shown how turnover can improve diversity. Indianapolis Bishop Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows became the first African-American woman to lead an Episcopal diocese when she was consecrated in 2017. Since then, she has been joined by Newark Bishop Carlye Hughes, consecrated in September. This fall, Colorado and West Tennessee also elected African-American women as bishops. They and other newly elected bishops also are adding to the gender diversity of the House of Bishops. When bishops and deputies gathered in July in Austin, Texas, for the 79th General Convention, advocates for breaking the stained-glass ceiling lamented that only 24 of the bishops were women, or less than 10 per cent of the full house, which includes retired bishops, and they organised a Purple Scarf Day on 9 July to draw attention to the issue. Since then, six more female bishops have joined the House of Bishops or been elected, starting with Cuba Bishop Griselda Delgado Del Carpio when General Convention voted to welcome the Diocese of Cuba back into the Episcopal Church. On 19 October, the Diocese of Kansas became the first diocese to elect its bishop from an all-woman slate, choosing Cathleen Chittenden Bascom. The next day, Arizona elected Jennifer Anne Reddall as bishop. Kym Lucas was elected Oct. 27 in Colorado on a two-woman slate, after the diocese dropped a third male candidate from consideration. And the Diocese of West Tennessee put forth its own three-woman slate for bishop, electing Roaf on 17 November. Casey Rohleder, co-chair of the Kansas search committee, said the committee had no agenda other than finding the best person to lead the diocese. We all believed that God had already called the next bishop of the Diocese of Kansas, she said, so the work of the committee was to identify that person. The committee put forward two qualified candidates, and the Council of Trustees added Bascom as a third after a petition period. Rohleder, rector at St Lukes Episcopal Church in Wamego, expects Bascom to bring energy and perspective to the diocese, and not just because she is a woman. Rohleder also pointed out that 44 percent of priests and 42 percent of deacons in the diocese are women. We tend to elect people, for better or worse, who look like us, she said. So, it doesnt seem unusual to elect a woman. . . It would be my hope that the House of Bishops more broadly reflects the people in the pews and the clergy in our dioceses. The House of Bishops is expected to welcome at least one more new female bishop next year, with the Diocese of Texas announcing last week a three-woman slate of nominees for bishop suffragan. Its actually rare to see a ballot today thats all men, Ousley said. That partly is due to deliberate efforts by diocesan leaders to broaden the pool of candidates, though it also requires diocesan conventions to broaden their views on what a bishop looks like. Looking at the House of Bishops, it may take more than one year to notice the change, but by three to five years, bishop turnover has a remarkable effect, Ousley said. You look, and really this is a very different place than it was five years ago. Posted on: December 7, 2018 5:17 PM The former Dean of St Mary and All Angels Cathedral in Harare, who stepped down in August this year to work in Canada, is to return to Zimbabwe after being elected bishop. Dr Farai Mutamiri had served as Dean from 2008 before moving to Canada. He was elected to succeed Dr Chad Gandiya, who retires on New Years Eve. Dr Mutamiri will be consecrated and enthroned on Epiphany Sunday 2019. When the 50-year-old bishop-elect left secondary school in 1985, he began working in industry as a production line supervisor The Revd Mutamiri was born 8th October 1968. He's 50 years old. He completed secondary school education in 1985 and went on to work as a Production Line Supervisor for materials company Bonar Industries. After training for ordination at Bishop Gaul Theological College in Harare, he was ordained deacon in 1998 and priest in1999. He has since served as rector in various parishes within the diocese before becoming Dean in 2008. In April this year he was awarded a doctorate by the University of Pretoria. Imran Khan interview to Washington Post 07 December, 2018 Related News Imran Khan distributed loan cheques under Kamyab Jawan Programme PTI govt to face all challenges coming its way: Imran khan More on this View All Top 2021 Accessories We Know You Will Love Types of Casino Payment Methods Tips for Taking Incredible iPhone Travel Photos Are Slot Developers Important for players? Best Poker Hands ever played on a Casino Hand Wash and Toiletries in Pakistan And the Role of DUPAS in Reshaping the Industry Woke Bingo Prime Minister Imran Khan, in an interview with The Washington Post, expressed his desire to have "a proper relationship with the US" akin to Islamabad's ties with China rather than the one "where Pakistan is treated like a hired gun". The prime minister, in an exclusive interview with the American newspaper on Thursday, said: "I would never want to have a relationship where Pakistan is treated like a hired gun given money to fight someone elses war. It not only cost us human lives, devastation of our tribal areas, but it also cost us our dignity. When asked to elaborate on the ideal nature of relationship that he would like to have with Washington, PM Khan added: "For instance, our relationship with China is not one-dimensional. Its a trade relationship between two countries. We want a similar relationship with the US." The prime minister rejected the notion that he is "anti-US", saying that disagreeing with Washington's policies did not make him "anti-American". "This is a very imperialistic approach. 'Youre either with me or against me'," he said. When asked if he wanted relations between Pakistan and the US to "warm up", the prime minister responded: "Who would not want to be friends with a superpower?" The premier, however, stuck to his anti-drone attacks stance and wondered why anyone would support it. "Who would allow a drone attack in their country when, with one attack, you kill one terrorist and 10 friends and neighbours?" he questioned. "Has there ever been a case of a country being bombed by its own ally? Of course I objected to it. All it did was create more anti-Americanism." The prime minister also condemned the 2011 US operation in Abbottabad that killed Osama bin Laden, saying that it was "humiliating" that the US did not trust Pakistan to kill the terrorist. "It was humiliating that we were losing our soldiers and civilians and [suffering terrorist] bomb attacks because we were participating in the US war, and then our ally did not trust us to kill bin Laden," he regretted and added that the US "should have tipped off Pakistan". When asked if he, at one time, had condemned bin Laden's killing itself and called it a "cold-blooded murder", the premier said he "didn't know where this came from". "Coldblooded murder!" he repeated in exasperation. The prime minister also dismissed US' allegations that there were safe havens for terrorists in Pakistan, saying that the security forces had briefed him on the matter and told him that they had asked Washington "time and time again" to point out where the sanctuaries are. However, he did not discount the possibility of some Afghan Taliban, "maybe 2,000 to 3,000" crossing the border under the guise of refugees and residing in camps. The prime minister also discussed his recent spat with US President Donald Trump, clarifying that it was not a "Twitter war, it was just setting the record right". He insisted that peace in Afghanistan was in Pakistan's interests, and assured that Islamabad would "try [its] best to put pressure on the [Afghan] Taliban" in order to bring them to the table and hold negotiations. "Putting pressure on the [Afghan] Taliban is easier said than done," he warned. "Bear in mind that about 40 per cent of Afghanistan is now out of the governments hands." The premier reminded the interviewer of his long-held stance that the Afghan conflict did not have a military solution, adding that he was termed "Taliban Khan" for it. "Now Im happy that everyone realises there is only a political solution. From Pakistans point of view, we do not want the Americans to leave Afghanistan in a hurry like they did in 1989." Prime Minister Khan dismissed the accusation that past Pakistani governments had "lied" to the US, adding that the American administration had been "misinformed". "Is it possible that the greatest military machine in the history of mankind 150,000 Nato troops with the best equipment and over $1 trillion are they saying that just a few thousand Pakistani insurgents are the reason they didnt win in Afghanistan?" he asked. "The United States expected Pakistan to take on the Afghan Taliban. But the Afghan Taliban were not hitting Pakistan. Tehreek-i-Taliban and al-Qaeda were hitting us." Hopes for Pak-India talks Prime Minister Khan also regretted that his government's repeated overtures for peaceful negotiations with New Delhi had been turned down. "The ruling party [in India] has an anti-Muslim, anti-Pakistan approach," he pointed out. "Lets hope that after the election is over, we can again resume talks with India." He maintained that he wanted the case of the Mumbai attacks to be resolved, adding that he has "asked our government to find out the status of the case". When asked about the recent arrests of Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan's (TLP) workers and leaders, including its party chief Khadim Hussain Rizvi, Prime Minister Khan said that the matter was "straight forward". "I had gone on television and warned everyone that we will stand by the Supreme Court verdict," he recalled. "If you dont stand by what the Supreme Court says, then theres no state left. The head of the TLP then passed a death sentence on the Supreme Court judges and kept saying that they should be killed." The prime minister reiterated his plan to end poverty from the country, with or without the International Monetary Fund's programme. Newly elected Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has appointed the members of his transition team for education and on it are two people linked to efforts to weaken the teaching of evolution and climate change, among other topics. One of them, Keith Flaugh, is the managing director of the Florida Citizens Alliance, a local advocacy organization which supports individual rights. In Collier County, Flaugh submitted dozens of objections to science textbooks, alongside three other residents also affiliated with the FCA. Man-made global warming [is] presented as fact when it is still very much a theory! he wrote in one of the challenges. In another: Books that treat evolution as a proven science are discriminating and bully children and families against their religious beliefs. The petitions were made under a 2017 law that greatly expanded the ability of Florida residents to challenge and potentially remove textbooks and other teaching materials that districts adopt. Previously, such challenges were limited to parents of school-age children; now, any resident can make them. Whats more, an independent hearing officer has to hear and weigh in on the challenge before school boards make a final call on the materials. Accompanying Flaugh on DeSantis transition team is Erika Donalds, the wife of the lawmaker who sponsored the curriculum-challenge law. Donalds also previously served on the Collier County school board, where she voted in favor of removing the materials Flaugh and others challenged in that county. The First Wave This summer, Education Week sent open-records requests to all 67 Florida counties to determine the scope of challenges in the 2017-18 school year, the first in which the new curriculum-challenge policy went into place. Of the counties that responded, seven had challenges, four of those challenges went to hearing officers, and three of them dealt with evolution and climate change. (Five counties still have not responded to our requests.) The first story I wrote based on these records dealt not with science, but with history textbooks . And its not hard to see why those textbooks can be controversial. History is by its nature an interpretive discipline, one that evolves as scholars discover and contextualize new archival information. And peoples dispositions toward history are intimately shaped by the communities in which theyre raised. (In fact, as I argue in a companion story, how we teach history may be one of the reasons why were so civically divided these days .) In theory, though, climate change, evolutionary science, and indeed all of science content shouldnt face these problems: They are based on empirical study and verification. There is virtually no scientific disagreement that humans evolved and that evolution is responsible for the Earths diverse biology; similarly, few scientists dispute humans contributions to the warming of the earth. Nevertheless, ideological debates on these topics are rife. For nearly 100 years, the debate over evolution has been one of the most contentious in K-12 education. Climate change, though a newer issue, is right behind it. The U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled that creationism cannot be taught in schools because it violates the establishment clause of the 1st Amendment of the Constitution. The most recent ruling was in 2005s Kitzmiller v. Dover, which dismissed intelligent design"the idea that some biological structures are so complex they must have had some kind of creator behind themas warmed-up creationism. More Challenges Ahead? Of course, it is not clear yet what DeSantis, Flaugh, or Donalds have in mind specifically for education. But at the very least, the dots are lining up here for a wave of new challenges. As I reported in my earlier story on the FCA, what separates it from other anti-evolution efforts is that these activists are working through the grassroots and training local activists in many counties. Its not a stretch to assume that, with Flaugh and Donalds in a more powerful state role, people who share their views will feel emboldened to express them locally. Its possible that they will seek changes to the state textbook-adoption process, too; the FCA, in fact, backed a second bill that would have altered it, but that bill got stuck after legislators focused all their attention on school safety following the Parkland tragedy in February. DeSantis has also promised a review of the states curriculum standards, and one of his campaign pitches was to stop [the] common core . The states science standards, last revised in 2008, are also due for a revision. (Elsewhere in the United States, evolution and climate-change battles sprung up over standards revisions in New Mexico , Arizona , and Idaho in just the past two years.) Heres a summary of the evolution and climate challenges in Florida and on the outcome of the challenges: Collier County: Four residents submitted more than 250 individual objections to 18 science textbooks, primarily on how they presented evolution, the weather, and climate change. A hearing officer established the parameters for a special school board meeting and vote but did not issue a recommendation. On a 3-2 vote, the school board upheld the textbooks. Martin County: Five residents challenged two of the districts science textbooks, and requested that the district develop curriculum that presents an objective case both for and against evolution. After the hearing, the hearing officer compared these complaints to the arguments in the 2005 Dover case. He recommended that the county reject the challenges. On a 3-2 vote, the school board voted to retain the books. Nassau County: A single resident challenged three textbooks arguing that bacteria to man evolution is not supported by science and that the material was inflammatory to every Christian. It sought to have the district place disclaimers on the books. A hearing officer oversaw the presentation of evidence at the hearing, but did not issue a recommendation. The districts chief legal officer warned against a potential lawsuit if the books were thrown out, and the board voted to keep the materials in a 5-0 vote. Whats interesting is that in two of these cases, petitioners came within one vote of winning their challenges. (Its not clear what districts would have done if these challenges had succeeded. Floridas science standards currently do require the teaching of evolution.) Science advocates in the state are worried. Brandon Haught, the communication director of Florida Citizens for Science, a group that has closely tracked the local challenges, wrote on the groups blog that hes particularly concerned about what happens if DeSantis prioritizes a review of the states science standards. If it is indeed a complete review then I have no doubt that evolution and climate change will be heavily scrutinized in the science standards, especially if Flaugh and Donalds have any role, he wrote. Strap in. The next few years are going to be a wild ride. EPE Librarian Maya Riser-Kositsky provided research assistance. Image: Getty Related stories: Peace in Afghanistan can only be achieved through politically negotiated process: Imran Khan ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan Thursday expressed satisfaction over the vindication of Pakistans stance that peace in Afghanistan can only be achieved through a politically negotiated process. The United States for the first time recognised what the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) has always been saying that there is no military solution to Afghanistan, Imran Khan said in his remarks at a meeting of the federal cabinet here at the PM Office. Imran Khan recalled his meeting with US Secretary of States Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and said he was pleased to note that PTIs stance has been acknowledged. He said the US recognizes Pakistans abiding interest in achieving peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan through a political settlement. Allah is great instead of the demand for do more, today they are seeking our cooperation in finding a peaceful solution to Afghanistan. Imran Khan said Pakistan has always called for dialogue and a negotiated settlement and said Pakistans role has been acknowledged. He said Pakistan would play its part in a mediated settlement, instead of fighting someones war. Ambassador Khalilzad visited Islamabad as part of efforts by the US to seek its assistance in putting an end to the war in Afghanistan. In his meeting with Prime Minister Imran Khan, the US envoy said the leadership of the United States looked forward to working with Pakistan in furthering the shared goal of peace through a political settlement in Afghanistan. Prime Minister reiterated his long personal commitment to the cause of peace in the region and welcomed President Trumps letter and the USs assurance to work with Pakistan on this shared objective. In his brief remarks aired by the state-run PTV, Imran Khan said his government was also looking forward to play its part in seeking a mediated settlement to the crisis in Yemen. Referring to the reaction in India over the groundbreaking of Kartarpur, Imran Khan regretted that the goodwill gesture by Pakistan was being given a political tinge by India. He said it was Pakistans obligation to allow access to people of all religions to their places of worship, be they the Sikhs, Buddhists or others, and added that it was part of PTIs manifesto. He said the Sikh community has positively responded to access to one of their holiest places in Pakistan. Prime Minister Imran Khan strongly defended his financial team and its role in bolstering the national economy despite serious challenges. He particularly mentioned the role of the ministries of finance, commerce and planning in this regard. He said had the economic situation been that bad, there would have been no foreign investment into the country. He mentioned the investment pledge of $450 million by Suzuki, $200 million by Coca Cola, $400 million by Pepsi, an immediate investment of $200 million by Exxon Mobile and $900 million by JW Forland that would build for the first time a full-fledged car manufacturing plant in Pakistan. He said this company would also set up a tech school to train the workers and termed it a step forward in industrialization in the country. He said the credit goes to the economic team for bringing in foreign investment into the country. On Thursday 29 November the seventh edition of Amsterdam Light Festival officially started. Until 20 January visitors can admire the light artworks, made by artists from all over the world, in the historical city centre of Amsterdam. This year the festival presents one exhibition that visitors can experience by boat, bike or on foot. All artists were inspired by the famous oneliner of media scientist Marshall McLuhan: 'The Medium is the Message'. Guest of honour Jeroen Henneman designed the installation Two Lamps for the exhibition and a smaller version - One Lamp - is available as a limited edition via the festival. For the first time, ever visitors can vote for their favourite artwork, the Public Award will be presented in the last weekend of the festival. Spider on the Bridge by Groupe Laps. Photo: Janus van den Eijnden Smartphones and shadow plays The sculpture Absorbed by Light by the British Gali May Lucas shows three figures sitting next to each other on a bench, their heads bent down and their faces lit up by smartphone screens. The figures are physically present, but their attention is elsewhere. Visitors can experience the effects of these poses on others by taking place in between the figures. Shadows play a leading role in the artwork Shadow Scapes by the South-African Marcus Neustetter on the facade of the Scheepvaartmuseum. He recreated various objects from the museum's collection as a flat silhouette and projects them on two sides of the building. By lighting the silhouettes with multiple lamps the shadows create different patterns and imaginary landscapes. Shadow Scapes by Marcus Neustetter. Photo: Janus van den Eijnden Art and science The German artist Stefan Reiss combines art and physics in his artwork O.T. 976. Reiss was inspired by the famous string theory which states that everything in the universe is connected by small vibrating strings. The artwork is composed of three planes, that each consist of dozens of cables, functioning as a screen for a continuously changing composition; a form that could unfold endlessly. The Hungarian Koros Design also combines art and science. The moving lights in the inflatable installation A.N.N. (Artificial Neural Network) show a process that is similar to our brain activity. These artificial neural networks are one of the most influential media of our times: they are used for speech recognition, self-driving cars and personalised filters on social media. O.T. 976 by Stefan Reiss. Photo: Janus van den Eijnden Special collaborations The seventh edition of Amsterdam Light Festival knows several special collaborations. The festival asked art historian Koen Kleijn to collect ten city stories in which he looks for the connections between Amsterdam and the theme 'The Medium is the Message'. The cultural agency Artifex presents 'De Lichtcode', a mysterious and humorous theatre play on a boat. Various organisations chose to support one of the artworks from the exhibition. The Van Gogh Museum supports the artwork Starry Night - inspired by Van Gogh's famous painting of the same name - by Serbian artists Ivana Jelic and Pavle Petrovic. Starry Night by Ivana Jelic & Pavle Petrovic. Photo: Janus van den Eijnden Canal Tours Amsterdam - part of Stromma Netherlands and founding partner of the festival - supports the work Desire. "This artwork immediately appealed to us: two red lips which together form a mouth and a heartbeat when looked at from the side. A heart that passionately beats for the city, that's what made us feel connected," says Peter Duwel, General Manager of Stromma Netherlands. About Amsterdam Light Festival Every year, innovative and high-end artworks co-created with (inter)national artists, designers and architects light up the city center of Amsterdam during Amsterdam Light Festival. The seventh edition takes place from 29 November 2018 until 20 January 2019. The 29 participating light artworks are on daily between 5pm and 11pm. The exhibition can be experienced by boat, by bike or on foot. For this edition the artists were challenged to work within the theme The Medium is the Message'. www.amsterdamlightfestival.com Wednesday, November 28, 2018, the U.S. Department of Defense has announced that Saudi Arabia will buy the American-made THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) air defense missile systems for an amount of $15 billion. A Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or (THAAD) weapon system assigned to Task Force Talon, 94th Army Air and Missile Defense Command. Task Force Talon is responsible for the U.S. Armys first forward deployed Terminal High Altitude Area Defense unit on Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, Oct. 26, 2017. (Picture source U.S. DoD) In October 2017, the U.S. State Department has released information about a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Government of Saudi Arabia for Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) and related support, equipment and services for an estimated cost of $15 billion. The Government of Saudi Arabia had requested the purchase of forty-four (44) Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) launchers, three hundred sixty (360) THAAD Interceptor Missiles, sixteen (16) THAAD Fire Control and Communications Mobile Tactical Station Group, seven (7) AN/TPY-2 THAAD radars. Also included are THAAD Battery maintenance equipment, forty-three (43) prime movers (trucks), generators, electrical power units, trailers, communications equipment, tools, test and maintenance equipment, repair and return, system integration and checkout, spare/repair parts, publications and technical documentation, personnel training and training equipment, U.S. Government and contractor technical and logistics personnel support services, facilities construction, studies, and other related elements of logistics and program support. Saudi Arabia armed forces would like to increase its capability to defend itself against the growing ballistic missile threat in the region. THAADs exo-atmospheric, hit-to-kill capability will add an upper-tier to Saudi Arabias layered missile defense architecture and will support modernization of the Royal Saudi Air Defense Force (RSADF). The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) is an American anti-ballistic missile defense system designed to destroy short, medium, and intermediate-range ballistic missiles. The THAAD system is being designed, built, and integrated by the American Company Lockheed Martin Space Systems acting as prime contractor. Key subcontractors include Raytheon, Boeing, Aerojet Rocketdyne, Honeywell, BAE Systems, Oshkosh Defense, and MiltonCAT. The missile of the THAAD has an estimated range of 200 km, and can reach an altitude of 150 km. A THAAD battery consists of at least six launcher vehicles, each equipped with eight missiles, with two mobile tactical operations centers (TOCs) and the AN/TPY-2 Ground-Based Radar (GBR). Digital publications are currently taxed at 20% in the UK; printed publications have been exempt from VAT since its introduction in 1973, on the general principle of avoiding a tax on knowledge. Now that new EU legislation allowing member states to cut VAT on digital publications, a cohort of voices is now urging the government to axe the reading tax. The Guardian Tapi pipeline to be completed in two and a half years ISLAMABAD: The construction of Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (Tapi) pipeline will begin in the first quarter of 2019 and the project will be completed in two and a half years. Moreover, Afghanistan and Pakistan have given sovereign guarantees to ensure the pipelines security. This was stated by speakers during a public talk titled Implementation of Tapi pipeline organised by the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI) here on Thursday. The chief executive officer and chairman of the board of Tapi Pipeline Company Ltd, Turkmenistan, Muhammetmyrat Amanov, said that the survey for the project, through which total 33 billion cubic metre gas per annum would be provided by the 1,814-kilometre-long pipeline, had been completed. He said construction work would start in the first quarter of next year. Pipeline would be laid till Pakistan in two years and it would take between six and eight months to lay the pipeline from Pakistan to India, he said, adding that the project would create as many as 10,000 jobs. He said the price of gas provided through this pipeline would significantly be lower as compared to the price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). He said that the project, for which the Asian Development Bank and Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and the Export Credit (ICIEC) had confirmed $500 million and $300m, respectively, would boost industrialisation in the region. Replying to questions, Mr Amanov said that his company had experience of working in Afghanistan and Pakistan, so hopefully there would not be any security issue. Moreover, there was commitment from Afghanistan that it would provide foolproof security to the project. From political point of view I believe that all countries, including the United States and China, are supportive of this project. Moreover, Russian, Japanese and American machinery and support is being used in the project, he said. The Indian High Commissioner in Pakistan, Ajay Bisaria, asked two questions, one was about the price of gas and other was that who would bear the loss in case the pipeline was damaged by blasts and attacks. Mr Amanov said that it was not possible for him to tell the price of gas. Replying to other question, he said there would not be any security issue in Pakistan, adding that Afghanistan had also given assurance to provide security to the pipeline. ISSI Director General and Pakistans former ambassador to the US Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry said that both the governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan had given sovereign guarantees regarding the security of the pipeline. Earlier, Mr Chaudhry said that though the world had been moving towards renewable energy resources, the efficacy of fossil fuel could not be ignored. All stakeholders are on board regarding the project. In the survey, which was completed in one year, as many as 1,600 people participated and not a single human casualty was reported, he said. An increasing amount of work for maritime lawyers in Asia Pacific has helped two of the regions leading specialists ranking in a global top 10. Andrew Lee, one of the founding members of Hill Dickinsons Singapore office; and Gina Lee-Wan, co-head of Singapore firm Allen & Gledhills maritime and aviation practice; have both made the rankings. The list of the worlds best maritime lawyers has been compiled by Lloyds List, the shipping journal which has been in publication since 1734. It has been revealed that a former defence lawyer turned on clients to provide incriminating information at the height of the Melbourne gangland wars between 2005 and 2009. The woman, known as Lawyer X and Informer 3838, is now unable to practice law, but was paid almost $2.9m by Victoria Police. Incursions against privilege have a deleterious impact on the lawyer-client relationship, by impairing the trust and confidence a client would otherwise have. A client should know their legal adviser will not be forced to disclose the information they provide. This confidence is necessary for them to develop a full understanding of their rights and responsibilities under Australias complex and ever-changing system of laws, Bailes said. The rationale for legal professional privilege is to enhance the administration of justice and the proper conduct of litigation by promoting free disclosure between clients and lawyers. It also enables lawyers to give proper advice and representation to their client. The High Court case also highlights the need for strong and properly resourced oversight bodies to supervise the activities of law enforcement. Police also need to be educated to ensure they do not seek to interfere with legal professional privilege, Bailes said. Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has announced a royal commission into the recruitment and management of police informants. The commission is expected to start early next year and conclude by the end of the year. Germany's Angela Merkel is ceding control of her party, the U.K.'s Theresa May is poised for a monumental defeat and France's Emmanuel Macron is staring down the worst riots in a generation. The bottom line: The storm whipping up political chaos across Europe is engulfing the leaders of the continents three powers. No one knows what's coming next. Germanys Christian Democratic Union has convened in Hamburg to select a new party leader for the first time since Merkel claimed the post 18 years ago. Christian Democratic Union has convened in Hamburg to select a new party leader for the first time since Merkel claimed the post 18 years ago. In London, May is feeling the sting of defeats inflicted in the parliamentary debate over a Brexit bill that looks all but certain to fail, and likely to doom her premiership. May is feeling the sting of defeats inflicted in the parliamentary debate over a Brexit bill that looks all but certain to fail, and likely to doom her premiership. In Paris, Macron has given into the "yellow vest" rebellion but not yet managed to end it. The end is near for Merkel ... 1,001 CDU delegates will elect their, and likely Germanys, next leader tomorrow after Merkel who has been chancellor for a remarkable 14 years agreed to step aside following a string of electoral embarrassments. Why it matters: Five of the seven party chairs in the CDU's 73-year history have served as chancellor. And while Merkel says shell stay in office through 2021, Sudha David-Wilp of the German Marshall Fund writes for Axios Expert Voices that may depend on what happens on Friday: "The top two contenders represent two different directions for the party. Known as 'Merkel 2.0,' Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (AKK) has Merkels blessing and would stay the course. Friedrich Merz, the chancellors rival from political contests past, would push the party to the right." represent two different directions for the party. Known as 'Merkel 2.0,' Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (AKK) has Merkels blessing and would stay the course. Friedrich Merz, the chancellors rival from political contests past, would push the party to the right." "If Merz prevails, it would also be harder for Merkel to hang on until the end of her term, because of a potential clash in personalities and Merz's likely eagerness for a snap election while he is still a quasi-fresh face." May on course for an epic defeat ... Downing Street says May is not backing down from the planned vote on her Brexit deal on Tuesday, despite the fact that she appears headed for a defeat so significant that it could bring down her government. There are a number of scenarios for what follows a "no" vote, including fresh negotiations, a second referendum or even a general election. Brexit Day (March 29) is fast approaching. May's case: This argument has gone on long enough. Its corrosive to our politics. Life depends on compromise. At the moment, the argument looks likely to rage on with or without May at its center. An existential challenge to Macron ... Macron's decision to first delay, and now fully abandon, a proposed hike on fuel taxes in an attempt to quell to riots have been too little, too late, Axios' Zach Basu writes: France is planning to deploy 89,000 security personnel across the country and close attractions like the Eiffel Tower and Louvre in anticipation of a fourth straight weekend of massive protests after the first three resulted in hundreds of injuries and arrests. The big picture: Extremist, anti-European forces across the continent in Hungary, Italy, even France's own National Front are celebrating Macron's crisis. What to watch: Merkel, May and Macron are different politicians at different points in their careers in different domestic political atmospheres. But they lead Europe's three most powerful countries. And rather than bringing stability in the face of the political chaos on the continent, they look likely to be consumed by it. Vladimir Putin has threatened to begin developing missiles banned under the landmark 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty if the U.S. withdraws from the pact. According to every NATO country and both the Obama and Trump administrations, he already has. Why it matters: President Trump tweeted this week about meeting with Russia and China to "halt what has become a major and uncontrollable Arms Race." It seems more likely that the arms race is about to heat up. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned at the NATO foreign ministers summit earlier this week that if Russia does not return to compliance within 60 days, the U.S. will begin the withdrawal process. One case for scrapping the treaty is that the U.S. can't afford to be unilaterally constrained by it as it confronts a growing military threat from China. So if we're entering into a new cold war, where does the world stand? According to a new report from Pew ... Of 24 countries polled, only 4 view Russia more favorably than the U.S: (Argentina, Mexico and Germany by a narrow margin; Greece by quite a bit). When it comes to China and the U.S., the world is more divided: 9 countries are more favorable toward China, 13 toward the U.S. and 1 (Spain) split. Worth noting: Much of this is leader-driven. Views of the U.S. have fallen off a cliff in the Trump era, and even most countries that tend to view Russia favorably take a dim view of Vladimir Putin. We will make Pakistan a priority engagement: Lt Gen Kenneth McKenzie WASHINGTON: Two key elements of an Afghan peace deal Pakistans concerns over Indias growing influence in Afghanistan and what the US could do to allay those concerns were both highlighted at a congressional hearing this week. Lt Gen Kenneth McKenzie, the next chief of the US Central Command (Centcom), raised both points in a written response to the US Senate Armed Services Committee after his confirmation hearing the other day. He also said that as Centcom chief, he will make Pakistan a priority engagement. At this time, Pakistan does not appear to be using the full extent of its influence to encourage the Taliban to come to the table, he wrote in a response posted on the committees website on Wednesday. We continue to see the Taliban being utilised as a hedge against India rather than as part of a stable, reconciled Afghanistan, he added. Gen McKenzie acknowledged that Pakistan has national interests it wants addressed in any future political settlement in the region, including a politically stable Afghanistan. He said that under his command, US Centcom would continue to support efforts towards a diplomatic solution to the conflict in Afghanistan which includes ensuring that Islamabads equities are acknowledged in any future agreement. The US general said that stability in South Asia was the most important mutual strategic interest for both the US and Pakistan, and we must continue to engage with Pakistani leadership to realise how we can achieve this mutual interest. Gen McKenzie said Pakistan was an essential element in long-term stability in Afghanistan and could play a key role in facilitating talks between the Taliban and the government of Afghanistan. The general was asked to give his assessment of the strategic relationship between the United States and Pakistan as well as to outline areas of shared strategic interest between the two countries. Gen McKenzie replied: The US and Pakistan military-to-military relationship is strong. We share an important strategic relationship given that Pakistan is a nuclear power that sits at the nexus of Russian, Chinese, Indian and American geopolitical interests. However, Pakistans action or inaction, as it relates to stability in Afghanistan, has often led to frustration between our governments and militaries. In reply to a question about the major challenges in US-Pakistan relationship, he said: Despite Pakistans positive rhetoric in support of the South Asia Strategy, violent extremist organisations (VEOs) operate along its border with Afghanistan. While Pakistan has conducted some operations against VEOs in Pakistan, they must continue to expand these operations and remain aggressively engaged. Taking concrete steps that deny VEO safe havens in Pakistan, as well as VEO freedom of movement from Pakistan to Afghanistan, remains an important task that Pakistan needs to fulfil. Pakistan must leverage their influence over Taliban leadership to help compel them to come to the table for reconciliation negotiations. It is important to remember that we are asking Pakistan to focus a significant fraction of their national power away from what they perceive to be an existential threat. Gen McKenzie was asked what changes he would recommend to improve US relations with Pakistan, particularly in terms of military-to-military relations. The general said Centcom continues to support the US presidents South Asia Strategy and remains committed to holding Pakistan accountable for the commitments they have made to support US efforts in finding a negotiated settlement to the Afghanistan conflict. As for any policy changes, he added, Centcom will continue to provide coordinating support and military advice to the president and the Secretaries of Defence and State for any changes they are considering regarding US-Pakistan military-to-military relations. Since 2001, the United States has provided significant security assistance to Pakistan, including funds for reimbursement for the costs associated with military operations along the Afghan border. The committee sought Gen McKenzies opinion about Pakistans role in helping to reconcile the Taliban and the government of Afghanistan. Bob Murray, a coal executive who has pushed President Trump to financially support economically ailing coal plants, is not so sure its going to happen after more than a year of inaction. Why it matters: One of the cornerstones of Trumps presidential campaign was to revive American coal, which has declined significantly in the last decade due to competing electricity sources of natural gas and renewables along with tougher environmental rules by then-President Obama. Driving the news: Last year Trump ordered Energy Secretary Rick Perry to find policies that can financially boost economically struggling coal and nuclear power plants, although no official strategy has emerged. Murray, who is close to the administration, has pushed for Trump to help plants that use his companys coal. Talking to Axios Thursday, Murray said he was disappointed nothing has happened and that he doesnt know if it ever will. "I dont know if its going to happen. I dont know. Its the government. They are still studying that. Bob Murray, CEO, Murray Energy For the record: An Energy Department spokeswoman declined to comment Thursday evening. One level deeper: No matter what steps the administration might take, its unlikely to substantively and permanently reverse the trends underway in the U.S. coal industry. One bright spot for the coal sector under Trump is an increase in exports. That is due more to increased international demand with a growing global economy and little to do with Trumps actions. Murray said his exports were 6% of his production last year, and this year theyre 30%. Thats the only thing thats saved a lot of us in the coal industry, Murray said. Go deeper: Trumps electricity solution in search of a problem Israeli police landed the most damaging blow yet on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Sunday, after two years of investigations, recommending he and his wife be charged in a third corruption case. Why it matters: These allegations are by far the most serious Netanyahu faces. The man who has dominated Israeli politics for a decade is now waging a battle for political survival. With the investigations now over, there are two clocks ticking ... When will the attorney general make his decision on indicting Netanyahu? It will be close to impossible for him to close down all three cases. When will Netanyahu call for early elections? He wants to keep fighting the legal battle, and to do so from the prime minister's office after being strengthened by another election victory. Catch up quick: The most painful hit yet for Netanyahu and his wife Sara stems from "Case 4000," concerning their relationship with Israel's leading telecommunications tycoon. According to Sunday's police statement, Netanyahu, who at the time was also the telecom minister, allegedly gave Shaul Elovitz regulatory benefits worth hundreds of millions of dollars. In return, Netanyahu and his wife were allegedly allowed to demand positive coverage from one of Israel's major news websites, owned by Elovitz. Flashback: Police recommended charges in two other bribery cases in February. One involves Netanyahu allegedly taking "gifts" worth $200,000 from businessmen in return for promoting their interests (Case 1000). The other is an alleged bribe deal between Netanyahu and Arnon Mozes, the publisher of Israel's largest newspaper (Case 2000). Netanyahu's battle for survival has many similarities to Donald Trump's outrage-fueled fight against special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation: While Trump has Mueller, Netanyahu's nemesis over the last two years was Israeli chief of police Roni Alsheikh. Alsheikh is a former deputy director of the Shin Bet security agency and was picked for the top police job by Netanyahu who, according to his associates, believed Alsheikh would be easier to control. In fact, Alsheikh aggressively pursued the allegations against Netanyahu. Netanyahu's nemesis over the last two years was Israeli chief of police Roni Alsheikh. Alsheikh is a former deputy director of the Shin Bet security agency and was picked for the top police job by Netanyahu who, according to his associates, believed Alsheikh would be easier to control. In fact, Alsheikh aggressively pursued the allegations against Netanyahu. Like Trump, Netanyahu has accused the police and media of carrying out a witch hunt against him. He has aggressively attacked the press and denounced leaks and came up with a slogan to rouse supporters at political rallies and on Twitter: "There will be nothing because there is nothing." Trump has used similar language. Netanyahu has accused the police and media of carrying out a witch hunt against him. He has aggressively attacked the press and denounced leaks and came up with a slogan to rouse supporters at political rallies and on Twitter: "There will be nothing because there is nothing." Trump has used similar language. Like Trump, Netanyahu is counting on his attorney general. He appointed Avichai Mandelblit, a former member of his Cabinet, to the post in 2016. Mandelblit's critics claim hes going soft on Netanyahu and dragging his feet on the corruption cases. What's next: There had been speculation Netanyahu would try to cut a deal with the attorney general: resignation from the prime minister's job in return for the closing of his three legal cases. But a speech last night in which Netanyahu harshly attacked the police indicates he's not going down that road. 1 big thing: The export rule threat to tech Last week, the Trump administration said it is considering new export controls on a broad range of futuristic technologies, a move explained as a way to prevent foreign theft and espionage. Axios' Kaveh Waddell reports: With the announcement, U.S. officials are considering national security mainly keeping China from stealing sensitive technology. The critical objective is to stay ahead in advanced science and technology. But the move triggered a major worry among tech companies and researchers that the new rules could hobble American research in strategically crucial areas like artificial intelligence, robotics and quantum computing. The big picture: The risk is that, by constraining the discussion and export of certain technologies, companies and academic researchers might find it impossible to collaborate with important foreign specialists. That could jeopardize the U.S. lead in strategically vital technologies. Among the new areas that could be subject to export control are genetic engineering tech, AI, quantum computing and molecular robots. Why it matters: At the center of the issue are American universities, which routinely navigate existing export controls that restrict the distribution of sensitive technologies like super-strong materials and certain types of centrifuges. The rules bar Americans from sharing information about such technology with foreign nationals, even inside the U.S. Generally, academic research is exempt, allowing foreign and American students to collaborate freely. Things become trickier when companies get involved which they often do: Industry throws big money at universities, which produce fundamental research that companies can then commercialize. Businesses must get permission from the government to share data on controlled technologies with foreign nationals. That process can take months. But top universities generally refuse to exclude foreign-born students from their research labs. "Stanford, Harvard, MIT and other top research institutions do not take export control work by policy. We need to ensure that all students, regardless of citizenship, can fully participate in research." Steve Eisner, director of export compliance at Stanford University If export controls are expanded to include hot technologies like AI and robotics, some of the fastest-moving research could be off-limits to industry collaboration, potentially drying up an important funding source. And if top universities choose to start accepting work that falls under export controls, they could deter top foreign students from applying, says Steve Eisner, director of export compliance at Stanford University. to start accepting work that falls under export controls, they could deter top foreign students from applying, says Steve Eisner, director of export compliance at Stanford University. Businesses are equally concerned about possibly throttling a vital source of research, says Christian Troncoso, a policy director at BSA, an association of leading tech companies. But some experts say new barriers are needed to preserve the U.S. technological advantage. "China's approach to tech transfer is a multifaceted challenge that leverages licit and illicit techniques, often exploiting some of the gaps in current U.S. laws and policies," says Elsa Kania of the Center for a New American Security. These proposed controls are one tool to plug those gaps. For technologies where the U.S. is already ahead and that are hard to replicate, export controls can help "hold on to that advantage as long as you can," says Paul Scharre, head of CNAS' Technology and National Security Program. Whats next: Three weeks remain for the public to suggest changes to the governments preliminary list. 1 big thing: Europe's leaders caught in a storm The storm whipping up political chaos across Europe is engulfing the leaders of the continents three powers. Germanys Christian Democratic Union has convened in Hamburg to select a new party leader for the first time since Angela Merkel claimed the post 18 years ago. Christian Democratic Union has convened in Hamburg to select a new party leader for the first time since Angela Merkel claimed the post 18 years ago. In London, Theresa May is feeling the sting of defeats inflicted in the parliamentary debate over a Brexit bill that looks all but certain to fail, and likely to doom her premiership. Theresa May is feeling the sting of defeats inflicted in the parliamentary debate over a Brexit bill that looks all but certain to fail, and likely to doom her premiership. In Paris, Emmanuel Macron has given into a violent rebellion but not yet managed to end it. The bottom line: No one knows what's coming next. The end is near for Merkel ... 1,001 CDU delegates will elect their, and likely Germanys, next leader tomorrow after Merkel who has been chancellor for a remarkable 14 years agreed to cede the role following a string of electoral embarrassments. Why it matters: Five of the seven party chairs in the CDU's 73-year history have served as chancellor. And while Merkel says shell stay in office through 2021, Sudha David-Wilp of the German Marshall Fund writes for Axios Expert Voices that may depend on what happens on Friday: "The top two contenders represent two different directions for the party. Known as 'Merkel 2.0,' Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (AKK) has Merkels blessing and would stay the course. Friedrich Merz, the chancellors rival from political contests past, would push the party to the right." represent two different directions for the party. Known as 'Merkel 2.0,' Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (AKK) has Merkels blessing and would stay the course. Friedrich Merz, the chancellors rival from political contests past, would push the party to the right." "If Merz prevails, it would also be harder for Merkel to hang on until the end of her term, because of a potential clash in personalities and Merz's likely eagerness for a snap election while he is still a quasi-fresh face." May on course for an epic defeat ... Downing Street says May is not backing down from the planned vote on her Brexit deal on Tuesday, despite the fact that she appears headed for a defeat so significant that it could bring down her government. There are a number of scenarios for what follows a "no" vote, including fresh negotiations, a second referendum or even a general election. Brexit Day (March 29) is fast approaching. May's case: This argument has gone on long enough. Its corrosive to our politics. Life depends on compromise. At the moment, the argument looks likely to rage on with or without May at its center. An existential challenge to Macron ... Macron's decision to first delay, and now fully abandon, a proposed hike on fuel taxes in an attempt to quell to the worst riots Paris has seen since 1968 appears to have been too little, too late, Axios' Zach Basu writes: France is planning to deploy 89,000 security personnel across the country and close attractions like the Eiffel Tower and Louvre in anticipation of a fourth straight weekend of massive protests after the first three resulted in hundreds of injuries and four deaths. The big picture: Extremist, anti-European forces across the continent in Hungary, Italy, even France's own National Front are celebrating Macron's crisis. What to watch: Merkel, May and Macron are different politicians at different points in their careers in different domestic political atmospheres. But they lead Europe's three most powerful countries. And rather than bringing stability in the face of the political chaos on the continent, they look likely to be consumed by it. Rather than letting tech jobs head overseas, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) thinks he has a better idea: Send them to the Midwest. The Silicon Valley congressman is working with private industry as well as individual figures in tech to build out a job-training program in a small Iowa town. The big picture: Both the public and lawmakers are paying increased attention to the disparities between tech hubs like Silicon Valley and Seattle, which have enjoyed massive economic booms, and the rest of the country. Details: Khanna, whose district includes part of the area south of San Francisco, will travel to Iowa this week to help roll out the initiative, which is an attempt to create a pipeline between talent in Jefferson, Iowa, and an Accenture-owned software company called Pillar Technology (with offices in Michigan, Ohio, and Iowa as well as Palo Alto, Calif.). Khanna said in an interview this week that he connected an executive at Pillar with people in tech, including Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott who is donating some of his personal fortune to fund scholarships for students in Jefferson. In my view, if this works, if this can be seen as a Silicon Valley-rural partnership that creates jobs, economic opportunity, it is a win-win [and can be replicated] you could really start to bring back a lot of the jobs that were outsourced and you can start to empower communities across America, he said. The event will involve representatives from Google as well as smaller firms, according to Khannas office. The effort also includes public funding, according to the Des Moines Register. Khanna has spent some of his first term visiting parts of the country that the tech-driven economic boom has left behind, including parts of West Virginia and Paintsville, Kentucky. Yes, but: Most members of Congress focus on creating jobs in their own districts, not many states over. Khanna defends his work, saying his constituents will welcome it. Trump administration officials are set to tout coal, natural gas and nuclear power at an event during the United Nations' annual conference currently underway in the old coal-mining Polish town of Katowice. Driving the news: The side event, which the administration is holding for the second year in a row, comes as global leaders attempt to make progress on the 2015 Paris Agreement amid dire reports on how difficult that will be. The details: The speakers at the event are likely to be the following, according to several people familiar with the event: Wells Griffith, Trumps adviser on global energy and climate issues. Steve Winberg, assistant secretary for fossil energy at the Energy Department. Rich Powell, executive director of the ClearPath Foundation, a nonprofit working on cleaner energy technologies from a conservative perspective. Asfaha Tesfai, director of commercial development for Sempra LNG [liquefied natural gas] & Midstream. Cheniere Energy, another company exporting natural gas, declined to participate in the event, according to a person familiar with the event. For the record: An Energy Department spokeswoman confirmed Winbergs participation. Powell confirmed his participation and said he would be focusing on advanced nuclear power technologies. A spokesman for Sempra confirmed Tesfai's participation. State Department and White House spokespeople didnt comment on the speakers, and said instead the event, set for Dec. 10, will focus on how job-creating innovations have contributed to reducing U.S. emissions while also growing our economy and providing reliable and affordable access to energy. Flashback, from our on-the-ground coverage at the conference last year: Whats next: I'll be in Katowice beginning Dec. 9. Negotiators are looking to make progress on the technical aspects of the 2015 deal, which goes into effect in 2020. Editor's note: This story has been updated to add a representative from Sempra as a panelist at the event. Republican Rep. David Valadao in California conceded on Thursday to his Democrat opponent TJ Cox, handing the Democrats their 40th seat victory from the midterms, CNN reports. The big picture: In North Carolina's 9th district, Democrat Dan McCready announced on Thursday he was withdrawing his concession to Republican Mark Harris as the race is being investigated for possible fraudulent activity. In Maine's 2nd district, there's a hand recount underway after Democrat Jared Golden beat Republican Bruce Poliquin in a ranked-choice election. Last week, the Trump administration said it is considering new export controls on a broad range of futuristic technologies, a move explained as a way to prevent foreign theft and espionage. Between the lines: With the announcement, U.S. officials are considering national security mainly keeping China from stealing sensitive technology, and the critical objective is to stay ahead in advanced science and technology. But the announcement triggered a major worry among tech companies and researchers that the new rules could hobble American research in strategically crucial areas like artificial intelligence, robotics and quantum computing. The big picture: The risk is that, by constraining the discussion and export of certain technologies, companies and academic researchers might find it impossible to collaborate with important foreign specialists. That could jeopardize the U.S. lead in strategically vital technologies. Among the new areas that could be subject to export control are genetic engineering tech, AI, quantum computing and molecular robots. Why it matters: At the center of the issue are American universities, which routinely navigate existing export controls that restrict the distribution of sensitive technologies like super-strong materials and certain types of centrifuges. The rules bar Americans from sharing information about such technology with foreign nationals, even inside the U.S. Generally, academic research is exempt, allowing foreign and American students to collaborate freely. Things become trickier when companies get involved which they often do: Industry throws big money at universities, which produce fundamental research that companies can then commercialize. Businesses must get permission from the government to share data on controlled technologies with foreign nationals. That process can take months. But top universities generally refuse to exclude foreign-born students from their research labs. "Stanford, Harvard, MIT and other top research institutions do not take export controlled work by policy. We need to ensure that all students, regardless of citizenship, can fully participate in research." Steve Eisner, director of export compliance at Stanford University If export controls are expanded to include hot technologies like AI and robotics, some of the fastest-moving research could be off-limits to industry collaboration, potentially drying up an important funding source. And if top universities choose to start accepting work that falls under export controls, they could deter top foreign students from applying, says Steve Eisner, director of export compliance at Stanford University. to start accepting work that falls under export controls, they could deter top foreign students from applying, says Steve Eisner, director of export compliance at Stanford University. Businesses are equally concerned about possibly throttling a vital source of research, says Christian Troncoso, a policy director at BSA, an association of leading tech companies. But some experts say new barriers are needed to preserve the U.S. technological advantage. "China's approach to tech transfer is a multifaceted challenge that leverages licit and illicit techniques, often exploiting some of the gaps in current U.S. laws and policies," says Elsa Kania of the Center for a New American Security. These proposed controls are one tool to plug those gaps. For technologies where the U.S. is already ahead and that are hard to replicate, export controls can help "hold on to that advantage as long as you can," says Paul Scharre, head of CNAS' Technology and National Security Program. Whats next: Three weeks remain for the public to suggest changes to the governments preliminary list. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian talked to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Thursday at a summit of ex-Soviet states held in the Russian city of Saint Petersburg, it emerged on Friday. Pashinian said that the conversation took place at a dinner hosted by Russian President Vladimir Putin for fellow leaders from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Aliyevs chief foreign policy aide, Hikmet Hajiyev, confirmed that, saying that the two men discussed the continuation of active negotiations on resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. He told the Trend news agency that recent weeks decrease in ceasefire violations in the conflict zone is creating a good background for making major progress towards a peaceful settlement. Aliyev and Pashinian, who came to power in May, spoke with each other for the first time at the previous CIS summit held in Tajikistan in September. Pashinian said he discussed with Aliyev in Saint Petersburg previous episodes of the negotiation process and a possible exchange of prisoners of war and other captives held by the two parties. We did not reach an agreement [on the exchange] but will continue discussions, he told reporters. As you know, they proposed an all-for-all formula but we have a problem with that. We also need to discuss that with the Karabakh authorities. Two Armenian civilians and a Karabakh Armenian soldier are currently held in Azerbaijani captivity. Three Azerbaijani men are held in detention in Karabakh. One of them is a soldier. The two others, Dilgam Askerov and Shahbaz Quliyev, were caught shortly after crossing, together with another Azerbaijani, Hasan Hasanov, into the Kelbajar district sandwiched Armenia and the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast in 2014. Hasanov was gunned down after reportedly killing an Armenian army officer and gravely wounding a civilian woman. The shootings were reported four days before a 17-year-old Karabakh Armenian resident of Kelbajar was found dead near his familys farm. The Karabakh authorities believe that he was kidnapped and killed by the Azerbaijani saboteurs. A Karabakh court subsequently sentenced Askerov and Quliyev to life imprisonment and 22 years in prison respectively. The Azerbaijani government denounced the trial as illegal and demanded the release of both men. Hajiyev confirmed that Baku wants Askerov and Quliyev to be part of the proposed prisoner exchange. The Karabakh Armenian leadership rejected such an option last month, saying that the two jailed men had committed grave crimes. Aliyev and Pashinian spoke the day after their foreign ministers held fresh talks in Milan in the presence of the U.S., Russian and French mediators co-chairing the OSCE Minsk Group. In a joint statement issued after the talks, the co-chairs expressed hope that an intensive results-oriented high-level dialogue between the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia will resume in the near future. They said the two ministers will try to facilitate high-level talks when they meet again early next year. By Narmina Mammadova The custom system in Azerbaijan serves as a shield during import and export of goods to and from the country. Thats why modernizing the customs service and providing more favorable conditions for business and international trade is inevitable part of state policy. Indeed, the expanding responsibilities and challenges faced by modern customs require a more sophisticated approach. As a result, simplified procedures stipulated by the order would have significant short-term positive effects on imports. It will also help to increase the quantity of imports and average unit prices, as well as number of shipments. Simplified customs rules by applying different corridors are implemented in many developing countries of the world. For example, customs operate blue, green, red corridors in the Republic of Ireland, UK, Finland, and so on. Azerbaijan also does not want to lag behind other countries. Azerbaijans State Customs Committee plans to increase the number of companies participating in the green corridor, Safar Mehdiyev, chairman of the committee, told reporters in Baku. He said that thanks to this system, entrepreneurs have the opportunity, without leaving their offices, to provide e-customs declarations to the committee, as well as pay customs duties. Our main goal is to reduce the interaction of citizens with officials, Mehdiyev added. It is also planned to fully transfer the documentation related to exports to electronic mode, he added. Entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to declare export goods at any time of the day, Mehdiyev said. Nine companies were participants of the green corridor in late 2016 and their number reached 28 in 2017. On May 21, 2016 the Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed order on using the Rules of Green Corridor and other release systems for conveyance of the goods and means of transport across the customs border. According to the amendments to the Customs Code of Azerbaijan, introduced in line with President Ilham Aliyevs decree, dated November 30, 2016, in order to simplify the customs registration of goods and vehicles passing through customs border crossing points, green, blue, yellow and red systems can be used on the basis of a short import declaration. Green corridor constitutes immediate release of goods without examination based on the customs control and the risk assessment conducted in accordance with the short import declaration which is submitted in electronic form in advance. -- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz From Greg Swank, 12-4-2 You are about to read a list of 45 goals that found their way down the halls of our great Capitol back in 1963. As... By Leman Mammadova The Baku- Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway does not only strengthen economies of the countries in the region by boosting their transit potential, but also plays a role of a guarantor of stability and security in the region. The time launch of Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway passenger trains has become known. Azerbaijan Railways Closed Joint Stock Company told Trend that the organization of passenger transportation on the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars route is planned for the third quarter of 2019. It was noted that in the first quarter of 2019 the import of new cars produced by the Swiss company Stadler is on the agenda for this purpose. In the second stage, another 10 cars are expected to be delivered. Cars are based on the latest technology. Presentation of the first passenger locomotive (Prima M4) produced by Alstom Transportation S.A. for the Azerbaijan Railways Closed Joint-Stock Company was held in Belfort, France on October 9, 2017. Two passenger locomotives have already been brought to Azerbaijan. The opening ceremony of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway was held on October 30, 2017 at the Baku International Sea Trade Port. According to the State Oil Fund, for the implementation of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway project, $ 640.3 million has been allocated by September 30, 2017. The total length of the BTK railway is 846 km, with 504 km running thtough the territory of Azerbaijan, 263 km - Georgia and 79 km - Turkey. The Istanbul Declaration was signed 29 October 2018 within the 7th trilateral meeting of Azerbaijani, Georgian and Turkish foreign ministers. Declaration stated that commissioning of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway would make a great contribution to the economic development of the three countries and facilitate competitive transportation between Asia and Europe and in Caspian Sea. The parties agreed to all the necessary support for increasing the volume of passenger and cargo transportation from the Trans-Caspian East-West Corridor through the BTK railway. Providing the shortest rail link between Europe and Asia, BTK plays an important role in the implementation of China's "One Belt, One Road" strategy and International North-South Transport Corridor. In fact, the BTK railway route is the shortest way to deliver cargo from the Russian regions located in the Volga, Ural and Siberian Federal Districts to the Mediterranean ports of Turkey, and further to the countries of Africa and the Middle East. At present, the BTK provides transportation from Kazakhstan to Mersin port. Some cargoes are delivered from Russia to Turkey and Europe. The BTK railway has been constructed on the basis a Georgian-Azerbaijani-Turkish intergovernmental agreement. The project implementation began in 2007 and construction began in 2008. The line is intended to transport one million passengers and 6.5 million tons of freight at the first stage. This capacity will then reach 3 million passengers and 17 million tons of cargo. The main purpose of the project was to improve economic relations between the three countries and attract foreign direct investment by connecting Europe and Asia. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Leman Mammadova Azerbaijan and Israel, the two strategic partners, are keen to strengthen and expand their cooperation. High-Tech Park hosted Roundtable on Azerbaijan-Israel Innovation between the Ministry of Transport, Communication and High Technologies and Israel's Innovation Authority, Trend reports. Deputy Minister Elmir Valizade made the opening remarks and emphasized that cooperation with Israel in the field of innovation is a priority for Azerbaijan. At the event, Avi Luvton, General Director of the Asia Pacific Division of the Israeli Innovation Ministry, spoke about the prospects of innovation cooperation between the two countries. At the event, representatives of the High-Tech Park under the Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies of the Republic of Azerbaijan, State Fund for Information Technology Development, High Technology Research Center and Azerbaijani startups which have a potential for global market access, made a presentation. Finally, the sides exchanged views on joint steps to enhance cooperation between the two countries in the field of innovation. Azerbaijan and Israel have reliable military partnerships. Israel plays role of an important ally in supplying Azerbaijani army with modern weapons. Azerbaijan was among the top three countries in the list of Israeli arms importers in 2017. Recently, Azerbaijan has started production of a new unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) - Pegasus 120. The new UAV is produced jointly with the Israeli company Aeronautics at AZAD Systems Co. production branch of Azerbaijans Ministry of Defense Industry. In 2016, Azerbaijan has received $ 5 billion worth defense equipment from Israel. According to the Azerbaijani State Customs Committee, trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Israel amounted to $671.6 million in 2017, of which about $32.7 million accounted for the import of Israeli products. Azerbaijan holds 40-45 percent share in energy imports of Israel. Tourism is one of the areas where Azerbaijan and Israel successfully develop cooperation. The number of tourists coming to Azerbaijan from Israel is growing, and all tourists visiting Azerbaijan return home with excellent impressions. Israir Airlines & Tourism Ltd., an Israeli airline based at Sde Dov Airport (SDV) in Tel Aviv, is carrying out flights to Baku three times a week, as part of tourist packages. The direct flight is of great significance in terms of mutual increase in tourism turnover. Azerbaijan has a huge potential for cooperation with Israel in economic sphere, particularly in such non-oil sectors as agriculture, pharmaceuticals and IT. Agriculture in Israel is a highly developed industry, while the country ranks among world leaders in advanced agricultural technologies, regardless the fact that the geography of the country is not naturally favorable for agriculture. Israel recognized the independence of Azerbaijan very shortly after the official dissolution of the Soviet Union. Diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and Israel were established in 1992. Since gaining independence in 1991, Azerbaijan has established a position of one of Israels closest friends in the Muslim world. The strategic relationship included cooperation in trade and security matters, cultural and educational exchanges. The partnership between the two nations is based not only on political, economic and energy cooperation, but also on shared cultural values, due to a fact that a large Jewish community lives in Azerbaijan. Todays friendly relations between Azerbaijan and Israel are built on centuries of Jewish-Azerbaijani coexistence. Estimated 9,000 Jews in the country are "fully part" of Azerbaijani society. Several synagogues are operating in the capital of Azerbaijan, as well as in Guba and Oguz regions. Synagogue, opened in Baku in 2003 is one of the largest in Europe. In September 2003, the first Jewish school was opened in Baku. In 2016, a branch of Baku International Multiculturalism Centre (BIMC) has been opened in Israel aimed at increase of the international community's awareness of Azerbaijan's and Israel's history and culture. Last month George Deek was appointed as a new Israeli ambassador to Azerbaijan. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Narmina Mammadova The field of space industry has received additional impetus, as Azerbaijan and Iran plan to jointly produce a satellite. This would be a completely new level of cooperation. Azerbaijan and Iran have reached an agreement on the joint production of a satellite probing the Earth, Iranian Minister of Communications and Information Muhammad Javad Azeri Jahromi told Trend. Jahrumi noted that at present close ties are established between the two countries on cooperation in the field of satellite communications. The Minister also mentioned the expansion of cooperation between countries in the field of postal services. "Currently, Iran and Azerbaijan also cooperate in the field of postal communication, and we also intend to develop these relations. In the future, we also envisage expansion of cooperation in the field of postal financial services," said Jahromi. In addition, Jahromi said, prospects for cooperation on the TASIM fiber-optic cable construction project will be discussed as part of the next meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart. Azercosmos Open Joint-Stock Company was established in May 2010 by the presidential decree with the purpose of implementing the launch, operation, and exploitation of telecommunication satellites of Azerbaijan. This is the first Caucasian satellite operator. According to the results of 2017, the company's revenues from commercial use amounted to $ 23 million. In January-June 2018, the satellite services were exported to 19 countries. Azerbaijans Azercosmos OJSC operates satellites and other devices used at different heights in order to support the countrys socio-economic development, commercial, scientific activities and for state purposes. In December 2014, Azercosmos took over the rights to operate and commercialize Azersky, high resolution (1.5 meter imagery products) optical Earth observation satellite, and entered into the commercial business of Earth observation services, including geo-information services. Azerbaijans revenue from the operation of Azersky is expected to exceed $200 million within the next decade. The company also manages two satellites Azerspace-1 and Azerspace-2. Azerspace-1, the nations first satellite, was launched into orbit on February 8, 2013. At present, its service area includes countries of Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa. The Azerbaijani satellite provides a variety of services, such as digital television, data transmission, VSAT multi-service networks, and governmental communications. The total cost of the Azerspace-1 project was $230 million. In addition, Azercosmos launched the new satellite Azerspace-2/Intelsat 38 on September 25, 2018. The satellite has been designed to provide a number of telecommunication services and will serve two operators - Intelsat SA and Azercosmos OJSC. The second telecommunications satellite of Azerbaijan was placed in a geostationary orbit 45 degrees east longitude and its service area covers the countries of Europe, Central and South Asia, the Middle East and Africa. The lifetime of the satellite in orbit will be 15 years. The new satellite worth $190 million is projected to bring $400-million revenue to Azerbaijans economy. Meanwhile, Iran is among the world's top nine cosmic nations today. The Islamic Republic of Iran has already achieved complete turnover of space technology. The full cycle of space technology is based on the use of artificial satellite, ground station, rocket launch system and artificial satellite channel. Iran's first satellite, Omid research satellite, was launched into orbit in 2009. In 2010, Iran also sent its first bio-capsule containing living creatures into space, using the indigenous Kavoshgar-3 carrier. Announced recently, Iran intends to send its first cosmonaut to the open space in 2019. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Leman Mammadova The opening of Trade Houses is one of the important activities carried out within the expansion of the export of Azerbaijani products and promotion of the Made in Azerbaijan brand. Next Azerbaijan Trade House has been opened in Warsaw, the Polish capital, on December 6. Azerbaijan Trade House, established by the Ministry of Economy, promote export of Azerbaijani products, organize sales of local products in Poland, and coordinate these activities with entrepreneurs. An exhibition of various products of Azerbaijani companies, organized at the Trade House covers about 30 Azerbaijani products such as alcoholic drinks, dried fruits, pomegranates, hazelnuts, tea, jam, fruit juices, mineral waters and cosmetics. A delegation led by Economy Minister Shahin Mustafayev, officials and businessmen from Poland took part in the opening of the Trade House. Speaking at the event, the minister said that in 2017, the trade representative of Azerbaijan in Europe was appointed in Poland. He emphasized that in the first nine months of 2018, the trade turnover between the countries increased by 57 percent. So far, Poland has invested over $ 20 million in Azerbaijan, while Azerbaijans investments in the Polish economy amounted to $ 6.5 million. Currently, there are 21 Polish companies operating in services, industry and trade in Azerbaijan. Polish Minister of Entrepreneurship and Technology Jadwiga Emilewicz and Deputy Foreign Minister Maciej Lang noted that the opening of the Azerbaijan Trade House in Warsaw is an important step in the development of bilateral economic relations, highlighting the importance of developing economic cooperation and business relations between the two countries and shared their views on expanding them. Then, the Ambassador of Azerbaijan to Poland, Hasan Hasanov underlined the importance of expanding economic ties and invited businessmen to take advantage of this opportunity. The participants of the event got acquainted with the Trade House and the exhibition of the Azerbaijani products. A Memorandum of Understanding on the sale of hazelnuts and concentrate of pomegranate juice was signed between the Trading House of Azerbaijan and the Polish company STX ONE. In 2017, Poland became the fourth biggest trading partner of Azerbaijan. Trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Poland in 2017 amounted to $77,8 million. Azerbaijan imported goods worth $ 69 million from Poland, while Azerbaijani exports to Poland totaled $ 8.7 million. Azerbaijan was identified by the Polish Ministry of Economic Development in 2017 as one of 22 most promising markets for Polish companies globally. Poland is the sixth largest market in the European Union with rapidly growing economy in 2017 GDP growth was 4.6 percent and forecast for 2018 is 3.8 percent. In addition to Poland, Azerbaijan's Trade Houses are also operating in Belarus, Ukraine and Latvia. It is planned to open up to 10 Commercial Houses in 2019. Several trade houses will be opened in Russia and some in China. The Made in Azerbaijan brand, established in 2016, envisages a large-scale promotion of local non-oil products in foreign markets. Promotion of export-oriented local products under the Made in Azerbaijan brand in a wider geographic area also helps to attract foreign investment and further strengthen the non-oil sector's share in the structure of the GDP. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Laman Ismayilova Swedish artist Simon Arns stunned art enthusiasts during his recent exhibition in Baku. His solo exhibition opened at Art Tower Gallery on December 6, Trend Life reported. The event was organized on the initiative of the Embassy of Sweden in Azerbaijan, Arts Council Azerbaijan, the Office of the Icherisheher State Historical and Architectural Reserve and the Ministry of Culture. At the opening of the exhibition, the Ambassador of Sweden Christian Kamil and the head of the Arts Council Dadash Mammadov stressed that the project was aimed at further building cultural bridges between the countries. For the first time, the 22-year-old Simon Arns arrived in Baku from the city of Sundsvall, located on the country's eastern Swedish coast. Simon Arns describes his style as a dynamic capture of reality through movement and spontaneity. He is not interested in the movement of painting or something beautiful, he thinks that this will always happen when you find something that really works. The central objects of his work are beautiful sculptural masterpieces, many of which are known to the general public. Among them, there is David and Pieta Michelangelo Buonarroti statue, which he created as vigorously and vividly as possible. The sculpture mourning and holding on its knees the crucified Christ, stored in the Vatican transformed into a bright and modern image. The works of Simon Arns aroused great interest of art lovers. The exhibition will last until December 8. Media partners of the event are Azernews.az, Trend.az, Day.az, Milli.az. --- Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Laman Ismayilova Azerbaijan's beauty Rugiya Mustafayeva became the winner of the first Ethnic Cultures in Kamchatka Krai 2018 contest. The competition was attended by 14 residents of the peninsula aged from 16 to 30 years who represented various nationalities. Each of them performed with a national creative number, told about herself and her people, took part in a defile in national costumes. The jury estimated the contestants in each nomination, then summed up the points of the contenders for the title of "Ethno-beauty". The jury evaluated the performances of the participants according to the degree of performance skills, the complexity of the repertoire, the level of language proficiency and other criteria. As a result, the contestants from Yakutia and Azerbaijan scored the same points. This situation was solved by open voting: the jury awarded the victory to Rugiya Mustafayeva, a native of Kamchatka Krai, an ethnic Azerbaijani woman. Chairman of the Council of the Regional Commonwealth Public Organization Ramazan Huseynov crowned the Azerbaijani contestant with a magnificent crown and handed over a certificate for a cash prize. Rugia Mustafayeva was also recognized as the best performer in the nomination "National Folk Song" and got "Audience Award." The title of the First Vice-Miss was awarded to contestant from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky Alexandra Ivanchenko, the title of the second Vice-Miss was conferred to Karina Etaurgina from Vulkanny settlement. In the nomination "National Folk Dance" the jury awarded the victory to Svetlana Kim from the Bystrinsky region. In the nomination "Theatricalization", the Ukrainian Ekaterina Vinnik gained the victory. In the nomination "National Folk Costume" - Yakut Alexandra Ivanchenko was named first. In the nomination "Artistic word" the jury awarded Saran Budayeva from the Buryat community "Baikal". The competition was organized by Sodruzhestvo Youth Committee with the support of the Agency for Domestic Policy and the Ministry of Culture of Kamchatka Krai. --- Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Laman Ismayilova The Embassy of Hungary invites you to join a Charity Concert and holiday fair on December 15. Two world famous Hungarian musicians, Endre Hegedus, pianist, and Felix Lajko, violinist, will perform at the Philharmonic Hall bringing to Baku the feeling of the Central European winter holiday fairs, the spirit of Christmas and New Year through their music. The Charity event will donate funds to the Republican Special Boarding School 5 for blind and partially sighted children. The donation will be used to buy Braille boards that will improve reading and writing skills of the handicapped children. During the evening, the guests will have an opportunity to meet personally the children and their teachers. The Philharmonic Hall will provide a cosy atmosphere for the fair where guests may taste and buy Hungarian specialities, such as the famous Hungarian salami, paprika, chocolates and nicely decorated Christmas gingerbread. The concert will be followed by a reception where guests will have the opportunity to taste premium Hungarian wines. The event starts at 18:00. --- Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Laman Ismayilova A book about famous Azerbaijani poet and playwright of the early 20th century Huseyn Javid was published in Kazakhstan. The presentation took place at Al-Farabi Kazakh National University The poems were translated into Kazakh language by Assistant Professor of Kazakh National University Torali Kydyr, together with undergraduates and representatives of the Azerbaijan Academy of Turkic Peoples. Poems were read by students of the Eastern Faculty of Kazakh National University. Romantic, extraordinary talented poet and playwright Huseyn Javid dedicated immortal works to the Azerbaijani people. The presentation was attended by Ambassador of Azerbaijan to Kazakhstan Rashad Mammadov, academic-secretary of Department of Social Sciences at Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences (ANAS) academician Teymur Karimli, Consul of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Almaty Ramil Rzayev, Dean of the Faculty of Oriental Studies at Kazakh National University Ikhtiyar Paltore and other official guests. The ceremony was held at a high level. This proves once again true friendship and cooperation between Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan and the fruitful work of the Kazakh National University. By the way, the rector of the university Galymkayyr Mutanov translated his poems into the Azerbaijani language. Commemorative medals were also awarded to the participants of the event. Huseyn Javid was one of the founders of the progressive romanticism movement in the contemporary Azerbaijani literature. His works bear the ideas of humanism, love for homeland, philosophical poems, historical drama, opening a new page in Azerbaijan's literature and drama. Javid's first book of lyrical poems, titled "The Past Days" was published in 1913. However Huseyn Javid was known more as a playwright. In his literary tragedy Sheikh Sanan (1914), he philosophized about the idea of a universal religion to lift the inter-religious barrier between human beings. His most famous creation was "The Satan", written in 1918, the work exposing all oppressive forces as the supporters of "humans are wolves to each other" philosophy and "the 20th century cultural savages", and summarized them in the character of Satan. Huseyn Javid wrote a number of historical epics, such as "The Prophet" (1922), "Timur" (1925), "Sayavush" (1933) and "Khayyam " (1935). In his plays "The Prophet" and "The Satan", Huseyn Javid brilliantly used dialogues as a tool to make confrontations between opposing views. Javid was arrested in 1937 on trumped-up charges of being a "founding member of a counter-revolutionary group that was plotting an overthrow of the Soviet power". His arrest was a part of the nationwide campaign of purge against intelligentsia. --- Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend The OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries, Azerbaijan, and Armenia agreed to continue working towards a just and lasting peaceful settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Trend reports citing a joint statement by the heads of delegations of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries, Azerbaijan, and Armenia following a session during the OSCE Ministerial Council Meeting in Milan on Dec. 6. On the occasion of the OSCE Ministerial Council Meeting in Milan, the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries (the Russian Federation, the United States of America, and France) and Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov and Acting Foreign Minister of Armenia Zohrab Mnatsakanyan agreed to continue working towards a just and lasting peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the statement says. According to the statement, the co-chair countries welcomed the significant decrease in ceasefire violations and reported casualties following the conversation of the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia on the margins of the Commonwealth of Independent States summit in Dushanbe in September. They appealed to the sides to continue implementing the understandings reached there and to take concrete measures to prepare their populations for peace, the statement said. The co-chair countries expressed hope that an intensive results-oriented high-level dialogue between the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia to promote a just and lasting settlement of the conflict can resume in the near future. According to the statement, the foreign minister of Azerbaijan and the acting foreign minister of Armenia reaffirmed their commitment to work intensively to promote a peaceful resolution of the conflict and to further reduce tensions. They agreed to meet again in early 2019 under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs for this purpose and in order to facilitate high-level talks, the statement said. They recognized the strong engagement and good-faith mediation efforts rendered by the co-chair countries, as well as the activities of the personal representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend Azerbaijani MP, vice president of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA) Azay Guliyev expressed his gratitude to Chairman of the OSCE PAs Sub-Committee on the Rules and Procedure, Vice-President of the organization Lord Peter Bowness, Trend reports on Dec. 6. In his report Bowness touched upon the importance of resolving the protracted conflicts in the OSCE region. However, Guliyev protested that in the report the conflict existing in Azerbaijans territory is called the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. He added that it is very important to change the name of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. It is wrong to call the conflict that continues between the two countries as the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict from a political, legal or geographical point of view, he said. Nagorno-Karabakh region is an integral part of Azerbaijan. Armenia has been occupying this territory, as well as seven adjacent areas which are not related to Nagorno-Karabakh region. It is more correct to call the conflict the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Guliyev added. For this reason, the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan have been holding the negotiations on the peaceful settlement of the conflict for many years. So, I would like this mistake to be corrected and the conflict to be indicated in the OSCE PAs further documents as the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. This correction is important to curb many abuses and political manipulations. OSCE PA President George Tsereteli, Vice President Lord Peter Bowness and Secretary General Roberto Montella agreed with Guliyevs comment and said that they will take that into account in the future. While speaking at a meeting of the Council of Ministers, Tsereteli used the term "Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh 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. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Iran's Foreign Ministry Defends FM Zarif Comments On Money Laundering 11/15/18 Source: Radio Farda The Islamic Republic Foreign Minister's recent comments on "many individuals" who "benefit from money laundering" in Iran have triggered a wave of enraged responses from the conservative camp controlling most of the state apparatus. Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif (artwork by Bozorgmehr Hosseinpur) Mohammad Javad Zarif had earlier lambasted "many" unnamed individuals of blocking the passage of the bills related to money laundering, to collect more benefits. "The amount spent for creating an atmosphere against these bills is equal to the Foreign Ministry's budget," Zarif was cited as saying November 11 on the local website Khabar Online. The foreign minister went on to accuse state organs, that he refrained from naming, of mounting the campaign against the Palermo Bills. "We cannot challenge the scenes set by these wealthy and mighty state-organs," he said. Following the remarks, some members of the Iranian Parliament (Majles) described his comments as "spiteful" and "unsubstantiated." Commanders of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), Friday Prayer Leaders across Iran, and other figures appointed by the Islamic Republic's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have repeatedly opposed the passage of UN-sponsored conventions against financing international terrorism and money laundering. Code Word: "Money Lanudering" (cartoon of Iranian FM Zarif by Saeid Norouzi) The wave of enraged responses to Zarif's comments prompted the Foreign Ministry spokesman, Bahram Ghasemi (Qasemi) to defend his boss. Lambasting the critics, Ghasemi said on Wednesday, November 14, that Zarif's remarks are neither "new" nor "revealing". According to Ghasemi, "Several officials had already talked about the problem and stated that finding a solution to the issue of money laundering has been emphasized by the Islamic Establishment." Describing Zarif's remarks as a "realistic approach" to the side effects of money laundering, Ghasemi accused the opponents and critics of using financial resources to create psychological pressure against the legal measures by the government...to promote financial transparency. Ghasemi added, "The fact that some Iranian or international criminal gangs are involved in money laundering is an undeniable reality. Meanwhile, Chairman of National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of Iranian Parliament, Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, said the issue will be addressed next Sunday, November 18, with Zarif present. "A number of lawmakers have reacted to the foreign minister's remarks on money laundering and have requested the documents to prove such comments," the state-run Mehr news agency (Mehr News Agency) cited Falahatpisheh as saying. Four Bills proposed by President Hassan Rouhani's government would pave the way for Tehran to meet the requirements of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crimes (UNTOC), Combatting Financing Terrorism (CFT), and the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) -- in the hope of reducing international pressure on Iran's already troubled economy. Originally proposed by President Hassan Rouhani in November last year, the bills have met staunch resistance from hardliners, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who says the agreements have been "cooked up" by foreign enemies. The FATF has given Tehran until February to either endorse the UNTOC or be added to its "blacklist" of countries refusing to cooperate in the fight against money laundering and financing terrorism. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is urging Tehran to adopt the bills before the deadline set by FATF. By Trend Ongoing conflicts in the OSCE area remain the most serious threat to peace and security, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said, Trend reports. Mammadyarov made the remarks at the 25th Ministerial Council of the OSCE in Milan. The principled position of Azerbaijan runs in line with the norms and principles of international law, particularly in respect of states' territorial integrity, sovereignty within their internationally recognized borders, he added. Since our last meeting of the Ministerial Council in Vienna, so far we still have seen no concrete progress towards resolution of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, Mammadyarov said. The fundamental principles of inadmissibility of use of force for the acquisition of territory and ensuing obligation of non-recognition of situation resulting from serious violations of international law and refraining from rendering aid or assistance in maintaining this situation, regretfully, are applied selectively by the mediating countries. In the meantime, we witnessed consistent attempts of Armenia with active support of their Diaspora continued unlawful practice on altering demographic, cultural and physical character of the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, infringing upon the human rights of hundreds of thousands of forcibly displaced Azerbaijanis, including the right to return to their homes of origin, the minister added. In flagrant violation of the 1949 Geneva Conventions and their additional Protocols, Armenia has continued illegal resettlement and other activities in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. Relevant UN Security Council resolutions, principles of the Helsinki Final Act and decisions and documents of the OSCE form the basis for conflict resolution and for mandate of the Co-Chairmen of the Minsk Conference, he said. Azerbaijan believes that there is no alternative to peace, stability and mutually beneficial regional cooperation and is the most interested party in the earliest political settlement of the conflict, Mammadyarov said. The resolution of the conflict is possible only on the basis of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan within its internationally recognized borders, the minister added. The military occupation of the territory of Azerbaijan does not represent a solution and will never produce a political outcome desired by Armenia. For the first time within a year, we managed to agree the Joint Statement by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries and foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan, he said. One of the major points is of course intensified and result-oriented talks, including the talks on the high level. I believe whenever elections will be over in Armenia and new Government will be formed, we must make a breakthrough next year and build up a good opportunity for bringing peace, stability and prosperity to the region. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov met Paolo Grimoldi, head of the Italian Delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, within his visit to Milan, Trend reports. At the meeting, the strategic partnership between Azerbaijan and Italy, the opportunities for developing cooperation in various fields of economy, the inter-parliamentary relations between the two states, and cooperation within the OSCE PA were discussed. The sides exchanged views on the role of Azerbaijan in the region, the globally important projects initiated and realized by Azerbaijan, particularly the Southern Gas Corridor, settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, as well as the other regional issues of mutual interest. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend Azerbaijans Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov met Ambassador Baghdad Amreyev, the Secretary General of the Cooperation Council of Turkic-Speaking States (the Turkic Council) on 6 December in the margins of the 25th OSCE Ministerial Council in Milan, Trend reports citing Azerbaijans Foreign Ministry. Underlining the role of Azerbaijan as one of the founders of the Turkic Council the Minister said that Baku continues to support the expansion of cooperation between this body and other international organizations like UN, OSCE etc. He spoke about the concrete projects and initiatives by Azerbaijan, making a significant contribution to the activities of the Turkic Council. Amreyev highlighted appreciation for Azerbaijans constant support to futher development of the Turkic Council. In this context, he emphasized the historical significance of the establishment of the Turkic Council as an international body at the Nakhchivan Summit in 2009 and expressed the symbolic nature of the Summit to be held in Azerbaijan in 2019. At the meeting, appropriate ways of promoting and supporting the existing common language and culture heritage among the Turkic Councils countries and peoples in line with the requirements of the modern times and reforms to be undertaken for this purpose were discussed. The sides noted a great potential for further development of economic, trade and tourism relations between our countries. -- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend On December 6 in the framework of the 25th session of the OSCE Ministerial Council Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov held a meeting with the OSCE Secretary-General Thomas Greminger, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry told Trend. At the meeting the perspectives of the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict and cooperation opportunities between Azerbaijan and the OSCE were discussed. Minister Elmar Mammadyarov gave information about the recent meetings held with the Armenian Foreign Minister and the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs and reiterated that these meetings were fruitful, and it was agreed to continue in near future intensive and result-oriented negotiations in the existing format. Responding to the question of T.Greminger about the OSCE's role in this regard, Minister Elmar Mammadyarov noted the role of the OSCE in the organization of possible assessment mission to the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. Furthermore, the sides discussed the cooperation opportunities between Azerbaijan and the OSCE. Minister Elmar Mammadyarov underlined that the realization of the OSCE's off-budget project named Promoting Green Ports and Connectivity in the Caspian Sea Region prepared by the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities will contribute to the diversification of energy supply from the ports of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, as well as the accession of the Central Asian states to the European markets via the Caspian Sea. The sides also exchanged their views on the issues of mutual interest. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov met with the EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus, Toivo Klaar within the framework of the OSCE 25th Ministerial Council, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry told Trend. Minister Elmar Mammadyarov informed EU Special Representative on the recent meeting with the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs and acting Foreign Minister of Armenia. He stated that the conflict must be resolved in accordance with the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council and the Helsinki Final Act, on the basis of territorial integrity, sovereignty and internationally recognized borders of Azerbaijan and emphasized that attempts to change the internationally recognized borders of states and acquisition of territory by use of force are unacceptable. Minister Elmar Mammadyarov underlined the importance of the EUs support to the settlement of the conflict, including the withdrawal of the occupying armed forces of Armenia from the Azerbaijani territories and return of the hundreds of thousands of the Azerbaijani internally displaced persons to their places of origin. At the meeting the next visit of the Special Representative to the region was discussed and satisfaction with meeting the EU official in Baku in near future was expressed. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Abdul Kerimkhanov Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov met with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Wess Mitchell on the sidelines of the 25th session of the OSCE Ministerial Council, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry told Trend. During the meeting, the sides expressed satisfaction with the existing partnership relations between Azerbaijan and the United States and exchanged views on a wide range of issues of bilateral cooperation agenda. Mammadyarov briefed Wess Mitchell on the current state of the negotiations on the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and the meeting held in Milan on December 5 with the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs and the Armenian foreign minister. Furthermore, Mammadyarov spoke about important energy and transport projects implemented on the initiative and with the participation of Azerbaijan, in particular, the projects of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway and the Southern Gas Corridor. He hailed the support provided by the U.S. in the implementation of these projects. In turn, Mitchell noted that the bilateral relations between the two states are developing dynamically and commended Azerbaijans contribution to the NATO Resolute Support Mission and the fight against terrorism. The sides also exchanged views on other issues of mutual interest. The United States established diplomatic relations with Azerbaijan in 1992, following its independence from the Soviet Union. Together, the two countries work to promote European energy security, expand bilateral trade and investment, and combat terrorism and transnational threats. The U.S. is committed to strengthening democracy and promoting economic diversification in Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan and the U.S. have a Trade Relations Agreement and a Bilateral Investment Treaty. The governments periodically convene the U.S.-Azerbaijan Economic Partnership Commission to discuss bilateral cooperation to promote trade and investment. The U.S. has long supported Azerbaijans efforts to develop and export its energy resources to Western markets, and crude oil is the single largest import from Azerbaijan. U.S. companies are involved in offshore oil development projects in Azerbaijan, export aircraft and heavy machinery to Azerbaijan, and have been exploring emerging trade and investment opportunities in agriculture, telecommunications, tourism, transportation services, and other fields. Azerbaijan was accepted as an associate member in the NATO Parliamentary Assembly on November 19, 2001. Azerbaijan decided to participate in the international coalition forces in peacekeeping operations in Iraq in May 2003. The U.S. is one of the key trade partners of Azerbaijan. Presently, 240 U.S. companies operate in industry, construction, communications, banking and other spheres in Azerbaijan. The trade turnover between two countries in January-June 2018 amounted to $ 476.1 million. Until now, the U.S. has invested $ 13 billion in the Azerbaijani economy and more than $ 1 billion was invested in the non-oil sector. --- Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94 Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov met Harlem Desir, OSCE representative on freedom of the media, on the sidelines of the 25th OSCE Ministerial Council in Milan, Trend reports citing the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry. The commitments of the OSCE in freedom of media and expression, as well as the issues of common interest were the main subjects of discussion. The perspectives of the existing cooperation relations between Azerbaijan and OSCE representative on freedom of the media and possible steps to be taken in this direction were discussed. The sides also exchanged views on impact of new technologies on developments in freedom of media and expression. Touching upon the developments on freedom of expression and media Mammadyarov emphasized that 80 percent of the countrys population are internet users. -- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Leman Mammadova TAP AG, the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline operator, has signed a contract with Petrofac, which is a London-based service provider for major oil and gas companies in the world, AZERTAC reported. The contract envisages the operations, technical support services, covering 13 months-period. TAP has already signed contracts with a number of companies, contractors, to assist in the development and construction of the pipeline, such as Himachal Futuristic Communications Ltd. (HFCL), ABKons, Corinth Pipeworks S.A., LAW FIRM, E.ON Technologies GmbH (ETG), Honeywell, Industria Meccanica Bassi, INFODIM, JV Bonatti & J&P Avax, JV Enereco & Max Streicher, JV Gener 2 Sicilsaldo, JV Renco Terna, MTC-MAKEDONIKI, Nuova Giungas, PIRAEUS BANK SA, Renco, RMA, Saipem, Salzgitter, Siemens, Spiecapag, Statoil, UTG. Approximately 82 percent of the TAP project, including engineering, procurement and construction, was implemented. Last month, Albania started preparations for drilling and piping sources for the microtunel on the 105-kilometer seabed of TAP. Construction of this part of the pipeline will be carried out in 2019 according to the schedule. TAP, along with TANAP, is a part of Southern Gas Corridor project. The project envisages transportation of gas from Azerbaijani Shah Deniz-2 gas field to Greece and southern Italy across the Adriatic Sea through Greece and Albania, and involves designing, construction and operation of the natural gas pipeline. On May 29, Baku hosted the launch ceremony of the first phase of the Southern Gas Corridor project. The Intergovernmental Agreement on the TAP project was signed by Albania, Italy and Greece in February 2013. The 878-kilometer-long TAP pipeline (Greece 550 kilometers, Albania 215 kilometers, Adriatic Sea 105 kilometers, and Italy 8 kilometers) haing connected to the TANAP on the Turkish-Greek border, will run through Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea, before coming ashore in Italys south. In November, TAP and TANAP successfully completed their connection on the banks of the Merich River on the Turkish-Greek border. The TAP pipeline is expected to be commissioned in 2020. The initial capacity of TAP will be 10 billion cubic meters of gas per year with the possibility of doubling it. The cost of the project is 4.5 billion euros, so far, 3.2 billion euros has been spent. TAP shareholders include BP (20 percent), SOCAR (20 percent), Snam S.p.A. (20 percent), Fluxys (19 percent), Enagas (16 percent) and Axpo (5 percent). As of 14 November 2018, TAP signed a Letter of Intent, marking the final stages of negotiation of the Maintenance Agreement talks between TAP and Albgaz Sh.a and Snam S.p.a. a joint venture that will establish a special purpose entity to act as the maintenance service provider for the Trans Adriatic Pipeline on the territory of Albania. The TAP project is one of the strategic objectives of the EU in the energy security and diversification of energy sources, chosen as the shortest and direct way to export natural gas from Azerbaijan to the European markets. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend In the previous years, India exported goods worth $4.5 billion to Iran, while Iran exported goods worth $2.7 billion to India, Hossein Bamiri, Commercial Counselor of Embassy of Islamic Republic of Iran in India, said. He said that India's big companies supply a small volume of products to Iran because it fears the US. Therefore, the trade balance has dropped, Trend reports citing ILNA. Iran exported goods worth about $1.370 billion, while India exported goods worth $1.470 billion, Bamiri added. In 2011, India's non-oil exports to Iran totalled $5.2 billion, while Iran's non-oil exports to India amounted to $2.4 billion, he said. Presently, trade turnover volume between Iran and India is $5.5 billion, Bamiri said. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend Qatar can get benefit of OPEC without continuing to be its member, Spencer Welch, director of the oil markets and downstream team in the London-based IHS Markit told Trend. Qatars move is interesting but not hugely significant, said the expert, adding that Qatars oil production is a small part of OPEC. "They see little value in continuing to be a part of the organization. Maybe, relations with Saudi Arabia are strained, and they probably dont want to be told when they have to cut oil production. By dropping out they can potentially get the benefit of OPEC without having to cut production," he added. He pointed out that ultimately Qatars focus is gas production, much more than oil. At the same time, he the expert noted that OPEC is stronger now than for a while with the alliance with Russia and other non-OPEC countries, plus other African countries keen to join OPEC. Qatars Energy Minister, Saad al-Kaabi, has announced that the country will leave OPEC with effect from 1st January 2019. Mr. al-Kaabi pinned the decision on the countrys desire to focus on investing in its LNG capacity and that, as a small oil producer, it had little influence over OPEC policy. Saad al-Kaabi said Qatar has decided to withdraw its membership form OPEC effective January 2019 and this decision was communicated to OPEC. The announcement comes ahead of the meeting by OPEC and its allies including Russia on Dec. 6-7 to discuss cutting supply. The minister said the decision was not easy as Qatar has been in OPEC for 57 years, but that the countrys impact on OPEC production decisions was small. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Ghanas emergency medical drone delivery service is to save cost by eliminating expensive emergency trips to pick up product, and avoiding wasteful overstocking of products at health facilities. Dr Anthony Nsiah-Asare, the Director-General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), said the drones to be run by the Ghana Health Services and the Ministry of Health, will give Ghana the most advanced health care supply chain on the planet. Ghana's Ministry of Health is launching the largest and most advanced medical drone delivery network in the world, Dr Nsiah Asare told journalists, at a press briefing at the Parliament House in Accra on Tuesday. The project, under the supervisions of the Office of the Vice President, initially was to take off last April 2018, but has been rescheduled for early 2019. By early 2019, we will be joining Rwanda in using drones to deliver critical medical products. Blood products, medical cargo, emergency vaccines, life-saving and other essential medicines on demand will be sent to every part of the country regardless of the terrain or road infrastructure, Dr Nsiah Asare said. The drones will operate 24 hours a day from four distribution centres. The first distribution centre will be located near Suhum, and the sites for the remaining three will be finalized by the GHS subsequently, but are expected to cover much of the country, the Director General added. He said the distribution centres will stock 184 lifesaving and essential medical supplies, including emergency blood and oxytocin to save women's lives in childbirth and postpartum haemorrhage, the leading cause of maternal death. The Director General said the drone service will also cover emergency medicines for surgeries, severe infections, antivenins and anti-rabies, diabetic emergencies, extremely high blood pressure emergencies and when one of the of the 2,500 health facilities covered by the new service stocks out of a product, it will order an emergency delivery by drone that will arrive in 30-40 minutes. The drones will not replace the existing supply chain. They will specialize in handling emergency stock-out situations, Dr Nsiah-Asare assured, adding that this revolutionary healthcare service will help save lives, decrease waste in the system and increase healthcare access for more than 14 million people nationwide. Zipline, a California-based automated logistics company, which helped launch the worlds first national drone delivery service in Rwanda in October of 2016, will operate the drones, and will employ more than 200 Ghanaians, including pharmacists, engineers, flight operation officers, among others. Zipline would build a training centre in Ghana to support all of Ziplines Anglophone West African operations, and this will make Ghana the hub for drone innovation in both Africa and the world. The contract is a Service Agreement and Zipline with a four year term and MoH will have the option to cancel the service, if it is unsatisfied with the required detailed performance requirements, such as range, payload, and number of flights per day. Each distribution centre will include at least 20 drones, launch and recovery equipment, state-of-the-art medical refrigeration equipment, computerized order management systems. Each will be staffed by up to 50 Ghanaian employees. Zipline must operate drone flights from the distribution centres on a 24/7 basis to deliver medical products on request to health facilities within an 80 km service radius. Zipline would guarantee a capacity of 150 flights per day. This means that the four distribution centers will be able to make up to 600 emergency deliveries per day total and the cost of the service at full operations is $88,000 per distribution centre Source: GNA 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 By Trend Turkmenistan has announced the concept of its presidency in the CIS, Trend reports citing the Turkmen government. The priority objectives in the concept of Turkmenistans presidency in the CIS in 2019 are to strengthen trust among the countries, support stability and security, strengthen political and diplomatic interaction, increase the level of cooperation between the CIS and international organizations, including the UN and the OSCE, create conditions for intensifying trade and economic cooperation and integration into world economic relations. The key areas of partnership among the CIS countries are energy, transport and communications. Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov paid a working visit to St. Petersburg to attend the informal summit of the CIS heads of state. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend Turkish Airlines (THY) plans to increase the number of flights between Istanbul and Tashkent as well as between Istanbul and Samarkand, THY Vice President of Sales Tuncay Eminoglu said, Trend reports referring to Uzbek media. From April 2019, the number of flights between Istanbul and Tashkent are to be increased to twice a day, and between Istanbul and Samarkand to thrice a week. Uzbekistan is a very important and promising market for us. Citizens of Uzbekistan are interested in flying to Turkey, and citizens of Turkey are interested in visiting Uzbekistan. The abolition of visas [for Turkish citizens] has contributed to the growth of air traffic. Relations between our countries have noticeably improved, Eminoglu said. He noted that in addition to Turkish citizens, tourists from other countries, especially from Europe, fly to Uzbekistan as well, therefore, THY is interested in the development of this direction. The airline is interested in opening flights to other cities, in particular, to Bukhara. We have always viewed Bukhara as a potential destination, and would like to fly there. We are negotiating on this issue with our partners Uzbek Airlines, the representative of THY said. Eminoglu also noted that with the increasing number of flights to Uzbekistan in 2019, THYs pricing policy could be revised, and even now, in the winter period, significant discounts are offered for tickets to Istanbul. The vice-president of THY also announced that from Jan. 1, flights to Istanbul will be transferred from Ataturk Airport to the new airport, which will become the largest in the world. The airport was opened on Oct. 29, on the Republic Day of Turkey, and so far three local and two international flights are operated from it. It is expected that after full commissioning, the airport will have six runways (now three) and will be able to serve up to 200 million passengers per year (90 million at the first stage), and its contribution to Turkeys GDP in 2025 will be 4.9 percent. There will also be the world's largest cargo terminal with a handling capacity of 5.5 million tons of cargo and the largest aircraft maintenance center. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend The Iranian minister of roads and urban development criticized the outflow of human capital, in particular from the country's aviation industry, due to US sanctions. Iran should prevent leaving the country's manpower, such as pilots, the Iranian Minister of Roads and Urban Development said on December 7, during the International Civil Aviation Day, Trend reports citing IRNA. "Our graduates are not trained to work for others," he said. Aviation is one of the most important pillars of science and technology. And yet, specialists, who are highly educated, still don't have jobs," Minister of Roads and Urban Development Mohammad Eslami said. Pointing out the importance of human capital in aviation, Eslami said that Iran should not allow its most valuable human resources, such as pilots, leave for various reasons, preferring serve somewhere else. He went on to add that Iran must have a decisive policy on this matter. Eslami also said that it is clear the US is trying to put up various barriers for Iran to prevent it from paths of progress. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Abdul Kerimkhanov Deputies of Parliaments Senate of Kazakhstan ratified the protocol to the agreement with Russia on delimitation of the bottom of the northern part of the Caspian Sea on December 6. As Makhambet Dosmukhambetov, Acting Minister of Energy of the Republic of Kazakhstan, said, the document provides for the extension of the exploration period for 6 years in the entire contract area with the possibility of a further extension for 4 years, as well as the extension of the contract territory. Under the contract area are meant three fields: Kurmangazy (Kulalinskaya), Khvalynskaya and Tsentralnaya. The Khvalynskaya and Tsentralnaya projects are located in the Russian sector of the Caspian Sea. The deputy head of the agency said that within the framework of the feasibility study, the Khvalynskaya project is currently working on options for developing the field, taking into account gas marketing. "There are approved reserves - 322 billion cubic meters of gas, 1.1 million tons of condensate, additional exploration is required to clarify oil reserves. According to the Central project, on September 5, 2016, a license was obtained for a period of 27 years, of which 7 years are devoted to exploration, the deputy concluded. Meanwhile, the Kurmangazy project is being implemented in accordance with the production sharing agreement concluded on July 6, 2005, under the same intergovernmental agreements. The Kurmangazy area of 3,500 square kilometers is located in the Kazakh sector of the Caspian Sea. Since the conclusion of the production sharing agreement at the Kurmangazy site, 2 wells were drilled in the suprasalt sediments: in 2006 the Kurmangazy No. 1 well with a depth of 2002 meters and in 2009 the Kurmangazy No. 2 well with a depth of 1600 meters. The signing of the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea was a truly historic and event, marking the goodwill of the five coastal states. As a result of the summit, the Caspian Sea gained a special, unique status -- it was declared neither lake nor sea. According to the Convention, the surface is to be treated as a sea, with states granted jurisdiction over 15 nautical miles of water from their coasts and fishing rights over an additional ten miles. The convention also permits the construction of pipelines, which only require the approval of the countries whose seabed they pass, subject to environmental provisions, and forbids non-Caspian countries from deploying military vessels in the water. As for the delineation of the Caspian seabed for subsoil use, according to the document, each state enjoys sovereign rights for subsoil use within its bottom sector. By now, the seabed and subsoil of the Caspian Sea in its northern and central parts have been delineated. Kazakhstan signed the corresponding agreement with Russia in 1998, as well as the protocol to it in 2002. The delimitation of the seabed between Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan was fixed in the agreement of 2001 and its protocol in 2003. There is also the Kazakh-Azerbaijani-Russian agreement on the point of junction of the lines of delimitation of adjacent sections of the Caspian Sea bottom, signed in 2003. The agreement of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan on the delimitation of the seabed is secured by the agreement of 2014. The legal status of the Caspian Sea has remained unsolved during more than two decades, preventing development and exploitation of its disputable oil and gas fields and creating obstacles to the realization of major projects. The issue of determining the legal status of the Caspian Sea became relevant after the collapse of the USSR, when the emergence of new subjects of international law - Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan - raised the issue of delimitation of the sea between the five littoral countries. For a long time, the principle of delimitation of the seas water area was the apple of discord among the littoral states. The leaders of the five countries met for the first time in 2002 in Ashgabat. The second Caspian summit was held in Tehran in 2007, the third one in Baku in 2010, the fourth summit in Astrakhan in 2014 and the fifth one - in Aktau in 2018. --- Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94 Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Abdul Kerimkhanov Uzbekistan is in favor of simplifying customs procedures and efficient use of transport corridors in the CIS, the press service of the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev said. Mirziyoyev took part in an informal meeting of the Council of Heads of CIS Member States in St. Petersburg on December 6. "The meeting focused on issues of further development of trade and economic cooperation, increasing mutual trade, effective use of the transport and communication potential of the Commonwealth states, as well as strengthening security, preventing and countering new challenges and threats of our time," the message said. The interaction of Uzbekistan with the member states of the Commonwealth is consistently and comprehensively developing in various directions. In particular, over the recent period, the republic has joined ten bodies of sectoral cooperation in the CIS. The report says, Uzbekistan stands for the formation of mutual markets, the simplification of customs procedures, the effective use of international and regional transport corridors in the CIS space. Uzbekistan next year will be the co-chair in the Commonwealth, and in 2020 it will host a summit of CIS heads of state. Within the framework of participation in the summit, the head of Uzbekistan held bilateral talks with heads of several states, during which they discussed the main results of a fruitful partnership in 2018 and promising areas of cooperation for the upcoming period. The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is free association of sovereign states formed in 1991 by Russia and 11 other republics that were formerly part of the Soviet Union. The CISs functions are to coordinate its members policies regarding their economies, defense, immigration policies, environmental protection, and law enforcement. The CIS united Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine. However, in 2008 Georgia withdrew its membership. --- Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94 Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Abdul Kerimkhanov A meeting of the railway administrations' heads of Uzbekistan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Afghanistan and Pakistan was held in Tashkent on December 3-4, Uzbek media reports. The agenda included a topical issue, the importance and significance of which, without exaggeration, can be called historical - the implementation of the project to build the Mazar-i-Sharif-Kabul-Peshawar railway line. This road can become part of the Eurasian concept of interconnectivity, which is currently supported by the EU. Following the meeting, a Protocol was signed on the establishment of a joint working group and a financial consortium between the railway administrations of Uzbekistan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Afghanistan and Pakistan. The importance of the new railway line is caused by the need to address the issue of finding alternative land routes. By these routes, cargo can be delivered to Europe and in the opposite direction. The solution to the lack of a railway linking India and Pakistan with other countries could be the construction of the Mazar-i-Sharif-Khulm-Puli-Khumri-Doshi-Surabai-Jalalabad-Torkham railway line (Pakistan) through the Afghan capital Kabul. It will become a transport corridor connecting EU, Russia, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and the states of Southeast Asia. Another favorable factor for the implementation of the project is the construction of high-voltage power lines Surkhan - Puli-Khumri - Doshi - Surabai - Djelalalabad - Peshawar (Pakistan) along the proposed railway. It means, there is the possibility of building an electrified railway with the positive sides arising from this. In addition, Uzbekistan is now actively exploring the possibilities of implementing another project - the creation of the Mazar-i-Sharif-Herat railway corridor. The implementation of this project will provide 30,000 Afghans with jobs and will allow Kabul to annually make a profit of $400-500 million from transit. According to preliminary data, the implementation of this project will make it possible to increase the trade turnover of Afghanistan by about 50 percent. Moreover, it provides an opportunity to provide access to promising markets in almost all directions for Afghanistan and the countries of Central and South Asia. As for the loading of this road, in the first years it could be about 5 million tons, and later this figure could increase to 15 million tons. The length of the new line will be about 2,000 kilometers. The total cost of the project, which will allow the creation of a railway analogue of the Trans-Afghan road corridor from Europe with access to India, China, Iran and Pakistan, is about $ 3 billion. --- Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94 Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Our company is looking for a supplier of sunflower husk pellets, d = 6 mm, 8 mm, to Bulgaria. Let us know the price for 1 truck of pellets. Considering all offers. A map on the Bird app shows the locations of dozens of scooters in Bakersfield. HOW IT WORKS The scooters work through an app downloaded onto smartphones. The app will locate available electric scooters nearby and, for a per-minute fee, people ride the electric scooters to their destination, leaving the scooter wherever the trip ends. It costs about a $1 to rent the scooter, plus 15 cents a minute to use. A group of scooter chargers go out at night to pick up the scooters and recharge them, collecting a fee per scooter. Josh Hamilton in the film "Eighth Grade." Photo: A24 / A24 Photo: A24 / A24 Each years slate of outstanding supporting actors generally contains several comical sidekicks and a bunch of worried parents. But this year, a flamboyant childrens movie villain and a masterful self-parody added some variety to the mix. Here are our picks for the top 10 actors who stole scenes in smaller roles, ordered alphabetically. Awkwafina, Crazy Rich Asians Its been a breakout year for Awkwafina, who appeared in two of the summers biggest movies Crazy Rich Asians and Oceans Eight before becoming the second-ever Asian-American woman to host Saturday Night Live. The rapper-actress plays Peik Lin Goh in the record-breaking romantic comedy, the quippy best friend to protagonist Rachel Chu (Constance Wu). But Awkwafina doesnt let her character get sidelined, as the BFFs often are. Peik Lin instead utters many of the movies most uproarious lines some of which Awkwafina improved such as telling Rachel her future mother-in-law thinks of her as an unrefined banana or referring to Rachels boyfriend as the Asian Bachelor. Hugh Grant, Paddington 2 Paddington 2 director Paul King created the part of Phoenix Buchanan an arrogant, washed-up actor who turns to a life of crime with Grant in mind. As if to prevent that perception from taking hold in real life, Grant acts the hell out of the role. Phoenix is a delightful villain who dresses up in nun, knight and businessman costumes to carry out his evil plans against Paddington (voiced by Ben Whishaw). Grant fully commits to the shtick, casting his ego aside in favor of sheer absurdity. He even shimmies his way through a song-and-dance number during the credits, and steals the movie as easily as he steals Paddingtons coveted pop-up book. Josh Hamilton, Eighth Grade Last year gave us Michael Stuhlbargs supportive monologue to heartsick movie son Timothee Chalamet in Call Me By Your Name. This years stellar parenting scene arrived with Eighth Grade, in which Mark (Hamilton) tells the insecure Kayla (Elsie Fisher) how lucky he feels to be her father. Some parents have to love their kids despite who their kids are, he says. Not me. I get to love you because of who you are. Hamilton delivers an honest performance, capturing Marks confusion when Kayla lashes out and his sweetness when he boosts her confidence. Anne Hathaway, Oceans Eight It shouldnt surprise anyone by now that Hathaway can command an audiences full attention. But when the movies ensemble cast also includes Cate Blanchett, Helena Bonham Carter, Sandra Bullock, Sarah Paulson, Mindy Kaling, Awkwafina and Rihanna? Whew. As narcissistic actress Daphne Kluger in Oceans Eight, Hathaway cleverly parodies the affected personality her so-called Hathahaters believe she has. She makes the most out of the flimsy plot, filling out her prima donna character with campy temper tantrums and snappy comebacks. Brian Tyree Henry, If Beale Street Could Talk Henry can convey years of pain with a single facial expression, an ability he exhibits as Paper Boi on FXs Atlanta and, now, in the Barry Jenkins film If Beale Street Could Talk. In a pivotal scene, Henrys character, Daniel Carty, describes to his friend Alonzo Fonny Hunt (Stephan James) what it was like to be incarcerated. Daniels words point to the discrimination that black men like he and Fonny face, his disquieting tone to the anguish it has caused him. He only appears this one time in Beale Street, but his words return to haunt us when Fonny gets put behind bars for a crime he did not commit. Russell Hornsby, The Hate U Give The Hate U Give, adapted from Angie Thomas young-adult novel, kicks into gear when high schooler Starr Carter (Amandla Stenberg) witnesses a white cop kill her friend, who is black. But the films defining scene arrives earlier, when her father, Maverick (Hornsby), gives his children the talk about how to behave in the presence of police officers. Being black is an honor cause you come from greatness, he adds in the first of many scenes to highlight his hard-earned wisdom. Hornsby portrays Mav with tenderness, and the characters refusal to let his children forget their communitys resilience supports Starrs evolution into an activist. Jesse Plemons, Game Night Plemons has come a long way, as the only thing his character in Game Night has in common with his breakout role as Landry Clarke in Friday Night Lights is proximity to Kyle Chandler. As Gary, the lonely cop who lives next door to the main characters, Plemons plays up the creepiness that became his forte through roles in Breaking Bad and Black Mirror. Gary isnt a major player in Game Night hes lonely in part because he never receives an invitation. But when he does appear such as when he suddenly turns up on his driveway, eerily stroking his dogs fur its hard to look away. Maura Tierney, Beautiful Boy There are several emotional driving scenes in Beautiful Boy, but none as effective as the one in which artist Karen (Tierney) chases her drug-addicted stepson, Nic (Chalamet) after he flees their home. We see Karens car follow Nics as he makes sudden turns one after another, a sequence broken up by shots of their expressions his panicked, hers anguished. She eventually gives up, reduced to tears. The movie largely focuses on a fathers relationship with his troubled son, but Tierney an underrated performer who can convey intense emotions in a subdued manner, as seen on ER and The Affair seizes this moment for herself. Michelle Williams, I Feel Pretty Williams has also played her fair share of grief-stricken women, but I Feel Pretty gave her the chance to try her hand at comedy. As cosmetics company chief Avery LeClair, Williams keeps her facial expressions neutral and lets her squeaky voice, which is even higher than her My Week With Marilyn pitch, do the heavy lifting. She makes Averys mannerisms as awkward as her social interactions (she greets someone by saying, I thought I smelled animal products!). Even playing opposite Amy Schumer, a professional comedian, Williams winds up the most hilarious part of the whole thing. Steven Yeun, Burning The unsettling feeling that builds throughout Burning doesnt come from the twisty-turny plot, but from the characters themselves. At first, Ben (Steven Yeun) seems to just be a charming Gangnam resident who swoops in at an inconvenient time for protagonist Jongsu (Ah-in Yoo), who has just fallen for Bens maybe-girlfriend Haemi (Jong-seo Jun). But Jongsus distaste for Ben seems more warranted as the film progresses, especially when the latter reveals that he torches abandoned greenhouses for fun. Yeun skillfully captures the intriguing yet unnerving nature of a professed firebug. Even his yawns are frightening. Honorable mentions: Olivia Colman in The Favourite, Richard E. Grant in Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Thomasin McKenzie in Leave No Trace, Margot Robbie in Mary Queen of Scots and Letitia Wright in Black Panther. One person was flown to a hospital after an industrial accident Friday in Pinehurst, according to information from the Pinehurst Fire Department. The accident happened at Triangle Rotating Equipment Specialists in the 1900 block of Strickland Drive around 10 a.m., according police reports. In the summer of 2014, Kelvin Lee Roy left the Orange County Courthouse to serve 75 years in state prison for the murder of a 16-year-old Vidor girl. The Beaumont mans attempt to secure a lesser punishment failed on Thursday when a new jury sentenced him to 80 years for the same crime. Alexandria Bertrand was killed when a vehicle Roy was driving sheared the right side of the familys Honda minivan the night of Feb. 7, 2014. Roy mashed on the gas and jumped the railroad tracks at Main Street and Old U.S. 90 in Vidor, court testimony showed, crashing into the passenger side where Bertrand had been sitting next to her mother, April. I hope you remember (Lexy) every day as you spend your 80 years, as you live and breathe, which Lexy cant do anymore, April Bertrand said in her victim impact statement. A blood sample taken immediately after the incident showed that Roy had marijuana, PCP and alcohol in his system. April Bertrand said the family was elated with Roys first guilty verdict and 75-year sentence in late August 2014. His case returned to court this week after a higher court overturned the conviction on the grounds that the trial judge should have instructed the jury to consider a lesser charge of intoxication manslaughter in addition to murder. The retrial has put our family through hell, Bertrand said in her statement. Bertrand said she thanked God, the community, Assistant District Attorney Krispen Walker and the court for not once, but twice finding Roy guilty of murder, and, this time, with a harsher sentence that he deserves. How can I ask you to put a number on the life of a 16-year-old who held such promise, such lofty dreams? Walker asked the jury that morning. Im not going to ask you to put a number. Im asking you to give this defendant exactly what he took from Lexy and that was her life. The eight-man, four-woman jury sentenced Roy to 80 years in Texas Department of Criminal Justice. He will be eligible for parole consideration after 30 years. Chase Bertrand, one of Lexys three younger brothers, said in his victim impact statement that he would spend my life in prison to have five minutes with my sister. Walker called the extra five years added to Roys prison time an exclamation mark. She and Bertrand said they believed justice was served. Defense attorney Ryan Gertz said he was disappointed with the outcome but nevertheless respects the jurys decision given the gruesome set of facts. Gertz said he and Roy will discuss appeal options. The Bertrand family will continue to move forward and get the closure we need, April Bertrand said, including connecting with the four individuals who received Lexys organs, including her heart, after she died. Pieces of my daughter are living in them, April Bertrand said. phoebe.suy@beaumontenterprise.com twitter.com/phoebesuy Landowners downstream from the Toledo Bend Reservoir who sued after flooding destroyed their communities in 2016 lost their bid to hold the Sabine River Authority accountable in a Thursday ruling granted in favor of the state agency. Nearly 100 residents from Newton, Orange, Tyler and Jasper counties accused the river authority of the unconstitutional taking of property when they opened nine spillway gates in early March 2016. The lawsuit alleged that homes were destroyed, their personal belongings were lost, their vehicles were disabled, their livestock was killed, and they have now been displaced (some many miles from their work, childrens schools, and residences) while they are rebuilding their homes, which are now uninhabitable. But the residents failed to prove intention and causation, the Ninth Court of Appeals in Beaumont ruled, siding with a state District Court judge in Orange County who dismissed the residents claims in October 2017. Historic rainfall on March 9 and March 10, 2016 brought 20 to 25 inches of rain in 31 hours, according to court documents. The river authority opened its gates per its federal license the morning of March 9, depositing roughly 1.5 million gallons of water per second at its peak. In its 19-page opinion, the appeals court said the facts point to downstream flooding due to a historic weather event, not the river authoritys dam release. Evidence presented in court from the river authority showed that water released from the dam did not flow directly onto the landowners properties, instead flowing into the Sabine River and mixing with water from other tributaries and rainwater, according to the opinion. Austin attorney Donald H. Grissom said on behalf of the residents at a September hearing that the river authority did not open the gates with the intent of harming or taking someones property. But the authority knows what the results will be, he argued. When released, the huge amount of water above the Toledo Bend Reservoir Dam brought record flooding below to the downstream communities of Burkeville, Bon Weir and Deweyville, he said. Grissom did not respond to requests for comment. The Toledo Bend Project, a hydroelectric power plant, is operated according to a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission license that requires the Sabine River Authority to release water from the reservoir once it reaches 172.5 feet. The reservoir is full at 172 feet and will spill over the gates at 173 feet, Ann Galassi, the river authoritys assistant general manager, told the Enterprise in a previous interview. By 7 a.m. on March 9, 2016, reservoir levels had reached 172.27 feet. Downstream residents have repeatedly requested that the river authority lower reservoir levels in anticipation of heavy rainfall. But according to FERCs environmental impact statement, lowering levels would would have adverse effects on water supply, power production, and recreational use and could conceivably exacerbate downstream flooding if rainfall from a predicted storm falls predominantly downstream of the dam. Essentially, Appellants fault SRA-T for acting within its license and operational plan, thereby seeking to impose an overarching duty on SRA-T to pre-release water in face of FERCs decisions declining to authorize such operations, the opinion said. Charles W. Goehringer Jr., an attorney representing the Sabine River Authority of Texas, said at the September hearing that 2016 flooding below the dam wouldve been much worse if not for the dam initially holding some of the water back. Goehringer did not respond to requests for comment Thursday. phoebe.suy@beaumontenterprise.com twitter.com/phoebesuy Courtney Fowler waited eagerly for her 9-year-old daughters arrival at the Walmart on Dowlen Thursday morning so they could shop for Christmas gifts as part of the Christmas Lights Foundation event for special-education students hosted by the Mostyn Moreno Program. It would be the first time for Fowlers daughter, who was adopted from China 2 years ago, to shop for Christmas gifts. Its honestly overwhelming, the generosity this program has for these children, Fowler said. The program started, unofficially, 20 years ago as a brother and sister feel-good holiday movement where they would take special-education students out to shop. The Mostyn Moreno Program was founded in 2006. It relies on donations from businesses including AT&T, Walmart and others. As part of the program, each child is granted a $50 Walmart gift card to shop for themselves, family members or friends. It isnt just a shopping day, the students incorporate curriculum into the shopping, said Tammy Diller senior director of special education for the Beaumont Independent School District. They will have days where they go through the ads and make lists of what they want. Monte Osburn, executive director of the Mostyn Moreno Program, said the holiday shopping spree primarily gives students real-life experiences. Its such a great event for, not only the students, but the parents as well, Osburn said. The students get to go out and put the basic everyday skills they learn to use. They have to budget and know how to behave in a different environment. Then the parents get to get out and see that they are not alone. Oftentimes parents become isolated because most of their time and attention is on the child that they forget they arent alone. Afterward, there is a a catered lunch at the MCM Elegante Hotel. The program is being extended this year to nearly 20 school districts across Southeast Texas and support more than 1,400 students. Hundreds of them will come from Beaumont. My guess is we are going to shop for board games, Fowler said as she prepared to roam the aisles with her daughter. She loves them and she loves to play with her family, so in a sense shes shopping for all of us. Its really a dream come true. erica.apodaca@beaumontenterprise.com twitter.com/erica_a10 Here are the top five most-read articles on Becker's ASC Review for the week of Nov. 30 through Dec. 6: 1. Federal agencies target CON laws in Trump administration plan for healthcare reform 4 insights Click here 2. Physician-owned hospital in El Paso to close, citing financial & operational challenges Click here 3. Trump administration recommends Congress lift physician-owned hospital ban Click here 4. Chicago ASC physician convicted in $3.5M billing fraud scheme: 5 things to know Click here 5. CMS posts payments for ASCs vs. HOPDs Medicare pays ASCs $359 less for colonoscopy, $1,092 less for knee arthroscopy Click here Here are nine statistics to know on controlling interests and ownership in ASCs from HealthCare Appraisers: HealthCare Appraisers surveyed 15 respondents including representatives of Ambulatory Surgery Centers of America, Birmingham, Ala.-based Surgical Care Affiliates and others on selling minority and controlling interests in surgery centers. Over 700 surgery centers were represented in the report. Controlling, minority interests 1. Length of time it takes to sell minority interests Less than three months: 27 percent Three to six months: 33 percent Six months to one year: 40 percent 2. Length of time it took to identify a buyer for a controlling interest Three to six months: 33 percent Six months to a year: 67 percent 3. Who was the buyer of a controlling interest Single outside third party: 57 percent Single existing owner: 7 percent Multiple outside parties: 0 percent Multiple existing owners: 0 percent Hospital or health system: 36 percent ASC ownership: 4. Eighty percent of respondents preferred between six and 15 physician-owners for a single-specialty ASC, while 60 percent preferred between 11 and 20 physician-owners for a multispecialty ASC. 5. Concerning equity in a center they're acquiring, 13 percent of respondents preferred less than 10 percent ownership; 40 percent preferred between 11 percent and 50 percent ownership; and 47 percent preferred between 51 percent and 75 percent ownership. 6. When buying into centers with a minority stake, 53 percent of respondents said they used a formula to come up with a price, while 47 percent said they used an independent appraisal to determine value. 7. When selling a minority stake to physician investors, 33 percent of respondents said it took on average three to six months to make a sale. Forty percent of respondents said it took an average of six months to a year to make a sale. 8. When selling a controlling interest in a center to physician investors, the average selling period was between six months to a year for 67 percent of respondents. 9. Respondents sold controlling interest in an ASC to a single outside third party 57 percent of the time and to a hospital/health system 36 percent of the time. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health failed to inform officials and the public that it issued a staff report recommending the approval of a proposed ASC at the Lawrence Memorial Hospital of Medford, Mass., according to Medford Wicked Local. Here are seven things to know: 1. Despite comments made at a Dec. 4 Medford City Council meeting, DPH has not yet granted final approval of a determination of need application for the proposed ASC. 2. On Nov. 8, DPH issued a "staff report" recommending approval of the DoN application. The DPH took this step without informing elected officials or all parties of interest, as required by state law. 3. Medford Mayor Stephanie M. Burke said the city should have been notified, as the proposed ASC will require approval from city boards. 4. After completing the staff report, DPH is required to hold a public meeting before to issuing a final decision, which was initially scheduled for Dec. 12. DPH pushed the meeting back to Jan. 9, 2019, recognizing the fact that it did not notify all interested parties about the original date of the public meeting or send all relevant parties the staff report. 5. Since the date has been pushed back, parties of record can comment on the report until Dec. 20. All written comments must be submitted to DPH at least 20 days before the meeting. 6. The staff report laid out seven recommended conditions for DoN approval of the $16 million ASC, a $16 million, which would span 17,500 square feet. The ASC would offer endoscopy, orthopedic surgery, ENT and plastic surgery services. 7. The report recommends Medford Surgery, a joint venture between Melrose (Mass.)-Wakefield Healthcare and Boston-based Shields Healthcare, contribute $533,824 to address the DoN Health Priorities social environment, built environment, housing, violence and trauma, employment and education at the local level, with the funds distributed over two to five years. The following hospital and health system credit rating and outlook changes or affirmations occurred in the last week, beginning with the most recent: 1. Fitch upgrades Via Christi Hospital Manhattan's rating to 'AA-' Fitch Ratings upgraded its rating for Via Christi Hospital Manhattan (Kansas) from "A+" to "AA-." 2. Fitch affirms 'BB+' rating for Palomar Health Fitch Ratings affirmed its "BB+" rating for Escondido, Calif.-based Palomar Health. 3. Moody's affirms 'A2' rating for Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters Moody's Investors Service affirmed its "A2" issuer default rating for Norfolk, Va.-based Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters. 4. Moody's affirms 'Aa2' rating for Duke University Health System Moody's Investors Service affirmed its "Aa2" rating for Durham, N.C.-based Duke University Health System, affecting $1.38 billion of rated debt. 5. Moody's affirms 'A3' rating for Tower Health Moody's Investors Service affirmed West Reading, Pa.-based Tower Health's "A3" rating, affecting $946 million of debt outstanding. 6. Moody's affirms 'A1' rating of Arkansas Children's Hospital Moody's Investors Service affirmed its "A1" rating on Little Rock-based Arkansas Children's Hospital, affecting $168 million of outstanding revenue bonds. 7. Moody's assigns 'Baa2' rating to Chelan County Public Hospital District 2 Moody's Investors Service assigned a "Baa2" rating to Chelan County (Wash.) Public Hospital District 2 and downgraded the district's issuer rating from "Baa1" to "Baa2." Pinnacle Specialty Hospital, a surgical hospital in Tulsa, Okla., abruptly shut down in November and owes employees three paychecks for hundreds of hours of work, according to News On 6. When employees didn't receive paychecks on Nov. 1, Pinnacle Specialty Hospital's owners blamed an issue with payroll. Soon after, the owners shut down the facility without paying employees, according to the report. A group of employees have hired an attorney to represent them and sent a letter to the hospital's former owners demanding their unpaid wages. More articles on healthcare finance: Financial troubles force Texas health system to shut down Cleveland Clinic's operating income jumps 76% in Q3 Outlook is negative for nonprofit hospital sector, Moody's says St. Louis-based SSM Health is in talks to sell its Jefferson City, Mo.-based St. Mary's Hospital to a local competitor after deciding that having two separately owned hospitals in town is not sustainable, according to the News Tribune. Philip Gustafson, interim president of St. Mary's, said his system is looking to sell the hospital to Columbia, Mo.-based MU Health Care, which owns Capital Region Medical Center in Jefferson City, because his facility is not able to fulfill its goals under the current conditions. "SSM is trying to figure out, 'How do they provide a mission-based healthcare system for a region?' They came to a decision several months ago that the present model is not sustainable," said Mr. Gustafson. "[Our] purpose is to try to provide really good quality, accessibility to what's happening, as well as keeping the costs under control to the extent that [MU Health Care is] able to do that. We don't do that very well, as you can probably see from some of your bills." While some people worry that MU Health Care's acquisition of St. Mary's could lead to a monopoly of local healthcare, Jonathan Curtright, CEO of MU Health Care, said the move will help lower costs. "Over the long term, the region would be better served, and particularly Jefferson City would be better served, if we could figure out some way that those [facilities] could get consolidated, so that we have services that are big enough that they can support that and spread the cost and be affordable to people," said Mr. Curtright. Here are eight recent news updates on major health IT and technology companies: 1. Six more hospitals and clinics signed on to Apple's health records project. 2. Athenahealth filed a notice with the Securities and Exchange Commission detailing the shareholder vote on its proposed acquisition. 3. HIMSS Analytics named BlackBerry a certified consultant to help address the digital infrastructure needs of healthcare organizations. 4. An informal group at President Donald Trump's private Mar-a-Lago club was reportedly allowed to review the Veterans Affairs Department's $10 billion EHR modernization contract with Cerner. 5. Cerner and Epic offer the most frequently adopted clinical surveillance tools in the provider market, according to a report from KLAS Research. 6. Curvai Health, a UPMC-backed telemedicine company that provides services to nursing homes, acquired one of its competitors, TripleCare. 7. The American University of Beirut Medical Center implemented a new EHR, marking Epic's first go-live in Lebanon. 8. Meditech acquired a long-time international business affiliate as part of the company's plan to launch Meditech UK, an entity focused on supporting customers in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Around this time in 2017, federal funding for home visitinga program that builds long-term connections between trained counselors and at-risk familieshad lapsed, ensnared in disagreements between the House and the Senate over how the program should be funded at the state level . But a February budget deal gave the federal program, known as Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting, or MIECHV, an infusion of $400 million over five years . With the prospect of drastic budget cuts now on the back burner, advocates are taking time to show how effective these early connections can be. Federal support of home visiting began during the George W. Bush administration and was expanded during the Obama administration. Studies have shown strong evidence of effectiveness with a direct connection to later academic achievement. For example, Nobel Prize-winning economist James Heckman found that a home-visiting program produced cognitive benefits that were measurable for years , particularly for boys. And an American Enterprise Institute analysis found that programs that support family, infants and young children show stronger benefits than preschool, which focuses solely on 4-year-olds. A New Snapshot of Home Visiting Nationwide One recent report, the Home Visiting Yearbook for 2018 , offers a look at the little more than 300,000 families who were served last year. The majority of families, 60 percent, were white, with 21 percent black, and 8 percent of multiple races. Thirty percent were Hispanic and Latino, and 72 percent spoke English as their first language. Home-visiting programs were in place in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, and served 53 percent of U.S. counties. In addition to federal money, states supported home visiting through tobacco settlements and taxes, lotteries, and direct allocations from state budgets. The ages of children in the families served was fairly divided: about a third were under 1 year old; a third were 1-to 2- years old; and a third were 3- to 5-years-old. Far more families than 300,000 who received services face the kinds of stressors home visiting was meant to address, the yearbook said. Those factors include having an infant under a year old, an income below the federal poverty threshold ($25,100 for a family of four), being a mother or pregnant woman under the age of 21, being single, and having less than a high school education. In 2017, close to four million pregnant women or families met at least two of those five criteria, the yearbook noted. Even though we know the need is great, there is an incredible amount of work going on, said Allison Meisch, the deputy project director for the National Home Visiting Resource Center, which compiled the report. Digging Into Home Visiting Research A different advocacy group, the Association of State and Tribal Home Visiting Initiatives, has also released a report, Research for Results:The Power of Home Visiting . Instead of offering a picture of home visiting, this document explores results from 33 studies that look at outcomes in several areas, including maternal and infant health, school readiness, and family economic self-sufficiency. Laurel Aparacio, the director of Early Impact Virginia, noted that traditionally home visiting has been aimed at first-time mothers. But that focus has left out many other families who could benefit. Her organization, an umbrella group for home visiting programs in the state, has used research to show that home visiting is effective even for families with more than one child. Thats one of those places where weve been able to work with research to expand our reach, Aparicio said. The report also offers profiles of those who have benefited from the program, such as Danielle, a first-time mother in Iowa who asked that her last name not be used. She connected with a registered nurse, Beth Meyer, through a home-visiting program called the Nurse-Family Partnership. Meyer met with Danielle weekly to talk about developmental stages of pregnancy, infancy, and toddlerhood. The program worked with Danielle until her child was two. The pregnancy help was useful, but it was after her son was born that the home-visiting help really came through for her, Danielle said. I didnt have any idea of what to do with this tiny little person I created, Danielle said. I didnt know anything about being a parent, and instinct only goes so far. Meyer was a constant lifeline, responding to texts and calls. It is very helpful, to just have these first two years of someone helping me and guiding me and telling me its okay, youre going to be okay, Danielle said. 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 About 150 physicians and other employees of Boston-based Brigham Health protested Dec. 4 against a proposed federal policy that would deem immigrants who have used Medicaid within 36 months ineligible for green cards, WBUR reports. "Access to healthcare is a basic human right that goes back to our founding in 1913," said Brigham Health President Betsy Nabel, MD, according to WBUR. "We started as a hospital to serve the immigrant poor of Boston. That continues to be our mission today, and that will be our mission 100 years from now." During the protest, Dr. Nabel encouraged attendees to submit opposing arguments to the rule before the public comment period ends Dec. 10. Physicians leading the rally echoed Dr. Nabel's opposition to the policy and call to action. Read the full story here. More articles on integration and physician issues: Kaiser Permanente School of Medicine adds 11 to executive team More than 25% of US physicians are foreign-born, study finds Medical schools became more diverse in 2018 A registered nurse at Savannah, Ga.-based Memorial Health was arrested after authorities found various controlled substances from the hospital in her possession, according to WTOC. The Chatham-Savannah Narcotics Team arrested Lindsey Burke, RN, Dec. 4 after discovering she unlawfully removed various controlled substances from the hospital. Authorities were first made aware of the situation after narcotics and medical items were reported missing from the hospital. Authorities later recovered all the missing narcotics and medical items from Ms. Burke. Investigators found Ms. Burke likely acted alone. She faces multiple felony drug and theft charges, according to WTOC. More articles on legal and regulatory issues: Florida physicians group fined $500K after patient privacy breach by vendor it hired Hospitals sue HHS over site-neutral payment policy Chicago physician convicted of billing fraud An intervention designed to standardize communication between clinicians and families during patient rounds led to a 38 percent reduction in harmful medical errors, according to a study published in the BMJ. Staff members at Boston Children's Hospital created the intervention, called I-PASS, which dozens of hospitals have adopted nationwide, according to STAT. The intervention outlines a standardized approach to conducting patient rounds that entails standing by a patient's bedside and asking the patient and family if they have any questions or concerns. Clinicians then share any medical updates and outline the patient's treatment plan using plain language. At the end of the interaction, families are asked to repeat the care plan to clinicians. "We often assume understanding without confirming it," lead study author Alisa Khan, MD, a Boston Children's pediatrician and professor at Boston-based Harvard Medical School, told STAT. Under the guidance of Dr. Khan and her team, seven hospitals in North America implemented the I-PASS intervention on pediatric inpatient units between Dec. 17, 2014, and Jan. 3, 2017. The overall rate of medical errors did not change after implementing the intervention. However, preventable adverse events fell 37.9 percent three months post-intervention. "Although overall errors were unchanged, harmful medical errors decreased and family experience and communication processes improved after implementation of a structured communication intervention for family centered rounds coproduced by families, nurses, and physicians," the researchers concluded. "Family-centered care processes may improve safety and quality of care without negatively impacting teaching or duration of rounds." More articles on clinical leadership and infection control: Why this family heirloom could reveal how 1918 flu pandemic spread Seattle woman dies of brain-eating amoeba after using tap water in neti pot Flu activity low, but increasing: 5 things to know Hospitals reported a significant decrease in seven types of healthcare-associated infections in 2016, according to the CDC's 2016 Healthcare-Associated Infection Progress Report; however, 99,000 Americans still die each year from HAIs. Some companies are aiming to limit HAIs by automating how hospital rooms are disinfected, according to The Observer. Here are four things to know: 1. One company, Denmark-based Blue Ocean Robotics, developed its UV Robot alongside Danish healthcare authorities. The giant "Roomba"-like robot vacuum is mobile and uses a UVC light disinfection system to kill pathogens. 2. Blue Ocean Robotics CEO Per Juul Nielsen told The Observer while the robot is not available in North America, executives are mulling a market entry in 2019. The UV Robot is currently used in hospitals in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. 3. Another company, Tru-D Smart UVC in Memphis, Tenn., produces a disinfection robot called Tru-D that uses ultraviolet light to kill infectious microbes in operating rooms. After completing clinical trials at Durham, N.C.-based Duke University Hospital, Tru-D is being used in 300-plus U.S. hospitals. 4. The company's CEO Chuck Dunn told The Observer the robot is not a magic bullet: "Tru-D very significantly reduces the germs and pathogens in any given room, but if doctors and nurses forget to wash their hands, it's all for naught. Health professionals, at the end of the day, are human beings, and not prone to replicating perfectly performed, each and every time, standard disinfection processes. Human error is a major factor in manual room disinfection which is why HAIs have proven to be such a major challenge for hospital administrators." Access the full article from The Observer here. More articles on clinical leadership and infection control: Infections raise risk of mental disorders in kids Michigan reports 1st case of polio-like illness WHO steps up Ebola response in Congo: 4 things to know Human tissue slides passed down to descendants of a British military physician and shared with researchers could help unearth new information about the 1918 Spanish flu, reports STAT. The hunt for the samples started after Michael Worobey, PhD, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at Tucson-based University of Arizona, discovered a report written by World War I British military physician and pathologist William Rolland in 1917 a year before the Spanish flu outbreak occurred. The report detailed a fatal respiratory illness that was infecting soldiers. Dr. Worobey used the internet to hunt down William Rolland's descendants and see if any tissue samples existed from the physician's century-old research. This search led him to Dr. Jim Cox, a retired family medicine physician in England who is married to William Rolland's granddaughter. Dr. Cox had an entire collection of human tissue slides he was willing to lend Dr. Worobey. "I almost fell out of my chair, for real," Dr. Worobey told STAT. "I actually did cry real tears." Dr. Worobey has a theory the pandemic flu was infecting people before the 1918 outbreak. In a quest for answers about the pandemic's origin and how it spread, Dr. Worobey and his team will take partial specimens from the tissue slides for analysis. "It would be really interesting to me if this horrible virus was really circulating under the radar for so long before the fall of 1918 when it really had its peak effects," he told STAT. "It would tell us that there's a whole lot we have to learn about the forces that keep pandemic viruses simmering at a low level before they explode." Spine surgery is very delicate while also intense. Issada Thongtrangan, MD, knows this as a spine surgeon at Minimally Invasive Spine in Phoenix. Dr. Thongtrangan discussed the rise of endoscopic surgery, biologics and what he wants everyone to know about spine surgeons with Becker's Spine Review. Question: What trends do you see in endoscopic spine surgery, minimally invasive spine surgery and robotic spine surgery? Dr. Issada Thongtrangan: Endoscopic spine surgery has been more advanced and popularized in the U.S. in the past five to six years as more evidence has shown excellent outcomes as compared to open surgery. Advanced technologies in endoscopic spine surgery can address disc and bony pathology. Many centers in Asia are far more advanced with endoscopic spinal fusion technology. There is also great advancement in spine navigation, especially robotic spine surgery. There are at least three robotic systems on the market, which ultimately helps with precise hardware placements and more importantly reduction of intraoperative radiation to the patient and operating room staffs especially in minimally invasive spine cases. Q: How have biologics and regenerative medicine changed spine surgery? IT: Surface technology, 3D technology and biologics are hot topic in the past two to three years; however, the mid- and long-term data are still lacking. Regenerative medicine is still early in the spine arena as there is lack of level 1 evidence which in my opinion will be very difficult to gather. Q: What is the biggest misconception spine specialists have? What is the biggest misconception people have about spine specialists? IT: The biggest misconception in regards to endoscopic approach in spine community is that endoscopic spine surgery is a percutaneous surgery without direct visualization. In fact, the endoscopic spine surgery is the least invasive surgery that can treat disc and bone pathologies, such as stenosis using direct visualization under high magnification. Some of the patients still have misconception about spine surgery in modern days. Some of them still think that they will lose lots of blood, they will be down for 12 months and will be in the hospital for a week, among others . In modern days, most spine surgeries can be performed safely in outpatient facilities in appropriate patients especially with endoscopic technology. It is my job to educate my patients at their consultations as the technology has come a long way. Q: How has endoscopic spine surgery advanced in the past five years? What do surgeons/practices need to know about it? IT: With advanced technologies, not only the disc pathology but surgeon can also treat stenosis and facet pain using the endoscopic approach. There are some centers performing fusion surgery using endoscopes with very promising outcomes. In my opinion, this technology will continue to evolve and might be a 'new' standard in the future similar to arthroscopic knee/shoulder surgery. Michael Steinmetz, MD, is chairman of the department of neurosurgery at Cleveland Clinic. He has expertise in minimally invasive surgery, complex spine surgery, trauma and spinal cord injury. Here, Dr. Steinmetz discusses how leading a neurosurgery department has changed over the past few years and the big future opportunities for Cleveland Clinic in spine. Q: How has your role as a spine department leader evolved over the past two to three years? How have your responsibilities changed? Dr. Michael Steinmetz: If you consider the past few years, it was easier to take your practice for granted. You could turn your lights on and patients would show up. Things were easier. Competition has grown substantially. Insurance contracting has narrowed the market, driving patients to one institution over another. Surgeons are doing more complex surgeries and we are seeing much more regulation from the payer end, and even institutional changes with regards to implant use have made it harder to practice the way we did in the past. We're moving rapidly into an idea of outcomes-based clinical care as opposed to outcomes -based research. We've had to evolve and as a leader I had to help lead that change. We have had to be much more creative in the marketing space, which is something that I wasn't involved in until recently. We are now focusing more on customer service than we did a decade ago. Q: How do you differentiate yourself in a competitive market when consumers have so many options? MS: We look at cutting costs, but all systems have done that so we need to do something different to achieve an advantage. We meet regularly with our physician groups and look at opportunities for continuous improvement projects. An example is an operating room block utilization project. We looked three months into the future with the OR and found where we had the opportunity to maximize utilization. That has been an effective way of making sure patients have access to the OR without having to ask for more operating rooms. We don't really need more operating room time, but we do need to use it in a more efficient way. We have also been active in clinical outcomes research, and that is a shift from examining radiographic outcomes to patient outcomes. We are looking at basing our care on that research and using artificial intelligence as well as predictive modeling to make sure we get the right patient to the right surgeon in the right facility as efficiently as possible, at the right cost. Q: When you are adding new surgeons and trainees to your team, and what qualities have changed over the past five years in the applicants? What is most attractive now? MS: When we looked at recruits and trainees five years ago, we looked for people well-versed in basic science and clinical research. Now we look for people with backgrounds in data science and machine learning. Our research is now in big data. We have had a data registry since 2007, and we have to figure out what to do with all that data. We are using AI and machine-based learning to do data analysis of our outcomes and facilities to make that information more predictive. We consider which treatments will be best for each specific patient and whether there are factors that would affect the patient's outcome that we can mitigate. We can also see who the best surgeon would be to operate on each patient to achieve the best outcome. That's the direction we are trying to go, and I think that's the direction of spine surgery. We've gone from a concept to data science, and we can do that because we're a large academic medical center. The data gathering capabilities will be a limiting factor for small groups. Now we are looking at how we can export the data we have at Cleveland Clinic to other practices and facilities; there are many challenges out there. We are just getting our feet wet in the whole arena. Q: What changes are you seeing in the payer landscape? How are the financial challenges of the healthcare system affecting your practice and leadership role? MS: There have been dramatic changes in payer regulation, and a big shift in what we can do. We focus our efforts on understanding the payer changes and being nimble so we stay proactive and document everything we need to document for payer approvals. I wouldn't have thought that would be a big part of my role five years ago, but now we spend time in administrative meetings making sure we stay on top of the care response, understand the payer's rules and make changes as necessary. Other institutional changes we've seen include the drive toward more standardization within the healthcare system. It's a challenge to convince a group of surgeons that it makes sense to use one single implant vendor. As a leader, we have to show how it benefits the healthcare system and us as physicians. We spend time convincing the surgeons that standardization is a good idea and we will see the rewards of that as a department. Surgeons are less likely to go into private practice today and more likely to work for health systems, so if the health system succeeds, we as surgeons succeed. Q: What do you consider your No. 1 priority to ensure departmental success? MS: As a leader, I think the way that I go about this is to have a clear vision in mind. Ambiguity in vision breaks apart a team. We have a clear vision of where we are going and understand why we are going there. It's important to explain the rationale behind the vision and make sure there isn't any confusion. Not everyone will agree with the vision, but as long as we are transparent as leadership to what we want to do and why, people will get behind that idea. The world of healthcare and surgery is evolving. What we try to do is to have a team of teams; it's key to decentralize a lot of what we do and develop strong leaders who have their own smaller teams that understand the vision and mission to make decisions and changes on their own, so it won't be the control and command model from above. It can be hard to have dissension in the ranks. Anyone in leadership positions have a group of people who aren't on the same page, and sometimes they are actively working against the process and that can be hard to deal with. But a good leader is someone who can get others on their side. Q: What is the biggest challenge you are facing as head of the department and how are you overcoming that? MS: Due to the increased competition in the market, in 2019 we are looking at a strategic goal of expanding our business in regions where we do not have the greatest market share. We are focusing our strategy on areas where we haven't traditionally been the strongest. How do we go into those markets, understand the market and build in that market to provide the same care we do at Cleveland Clinic's central location there? Cleveland is a flat market. It's shrinking, and most private practices are aligned with health systems already. If I want to grow market share by 5 percent, I have to get it somewhere else. We have to be strategic with our marketing, interaction with providers and relationships with primary care physicians to grow our business. For us, that's one of the biggest challenges for 2019. We are continuously working to innovate the care we deliver and broaden our outcomes-based care in the real world. That will allow us as a business to flourish to a greater extent because if we can provide the most appropriate care for the patient and get the best outcome, that's not only great for patient care but great for business. Q: Are there any new expansion projects you can discuss at this time? MS: We are continuously expanding [our] spinal oncology and deformity surgery brand; those are two areas where we are expanding clinical research, but what is new is endoscopic minimally invasive spine surgery. We are aggressively moving into the endoscopic space and offering a niche product for patients who want to fly in, stay at a hotel and undergo endoscopic spine surgery at a nice hospital off the main campus. It's near the airport and will offer a concierge-type service. We are trying to develop that as an aspect of our clinical armamentarium. Q: What is one piece of advice you would give emerging spine surgeon leaders who aim to head spine departments or practices in the future? MS: One piece of advice I have is to get involved. We see a lot of surgeons who have been in practice for a while and wonder why they don't have leadership roles. Well, typically it's because every time they are offered a project, they turn it down. Get involved with leading projects and committee work. Leaders are the ones who help develop themselves. The second piece of advice is to get some sort of advanced education in leadership. It's not necessary to get an MBA; you don't need that to be a department chair, but some education with regards to strategy, finance and operation as well as emotional intelligence is helpful. A lot of this can be done online. Finally, mentorship is key. Young surgeons should make sure they get a leadership mentor. It doesn't have to be someone in their service, but someone at their institution who will answer their questions and be someone they can learn from. This should be a seasoned individual who has experience leading teams. That person will seek out opportunities for you, and then you have to take advantage of the opportunities when they are available. You can't turn them down. That's critical. Three spine surgeons discuss how they stay on top of clinical documentation. Ask Spine Surgeons is a weekly series of questions posed to spine surgeons around the country about clinical, business and policy issues affecting spine care. We invite all spine surgeon and specialist responses. Next week's question: What is your best advice for young spine surgeons who are in the process of selecting a practice environment? Please send responses to Anuja Vaidya at avaidya@beckershealthcare.com by Wednesday, Dec. 12, at 5 p.m. CST. Question: What are your best strategies for ensuring comprehensive clinical documentation, especially in the current era of increasing regulatory burdens? Brian R. Gantwerker, MD. Founder of the Craniospinal Center of Los Angeles: I plan on taking a [professional] society-sponsored coding classes every year to stay current. They are really a self-sustaining investment. I cannot say enough about these courses and encourage doctors to take advantage. J. Brian Gill, MD. Spine Surgeon at Nebraska Spine Hospital (Omaha): The EMRs have helped to ease this ongoing and ever-changing burden. The amount of information needed to be imputed can be overwhelming. A good EMR can help this burden. Additionally, hiring personnel to help enter the information can improve the overall patient experience as well as lead to a better quality of life for the provider. Noam Stadlan, MD. Neurosurgeon at NorthShore University HealthSystem's Neurological Institute (Skokie / Evanston, Ill.): The most useful strategy for ensuring comprehensive clinical documentation is having a plan and implementing it. The documentation burdens imposed by regulations and insurance companies are known and publicized, and the care team needs to devise a plan designating who will be responsible for various parts of the documentation. In that way, the documentation will be present for all patients without having to spend time documenting on an ad hoc basis. The EMR is an excellent tool, not only to collate and collect all the documentation, but also the prompts and templates available make it very straightforward to ensure that the needed information is gathered and easily accessible. Hello Oakville, Ontario - CA, Nawabi Hyderabad House Biryani Place is extremely delighted to bring our hospitality to your neighborhood, on popular demand. After the Runaway Success of our first franchise in Brampton, we were convinced of having a new location to cater our services far and wide. To begin with, A very big Thank You from Nawabi Hyderabad House Biryani Place staff and management to our loyal customers for such a warm Welcome to Canada. The response we got was to say - plainly incredible and this had us expedite the process of having a second international location in such a quick turnaround time. So Nawabi Hyderabad House warmly welcomes all to our new franchise conveniently located in Oakville for the grand opening on 5th December 2018 and experience our finest Authentic Indian Recipes which honour the traditional values in flavour and cooking styles. The diversified menu infuses new commendable recipes and authentic flavors that embraces Hyderabad Houses famed Dum Biryanis, Curry Leaf Chicken, Monagadi Kodi Vepudu, Cashew Chicken, Ulavacharu Kodi Vepudu, Palnadu Mamsam vepudu, Avakai Chicken Biryani, Gongura Chicken Biryani, Vijayawada Chicken Biryani, Ulavacharu Biryani and Rajugari Kodi Pulav are few of the many which are easily accessible for Indian diaspora in the vicinity. Special mention of Lunch specials such as Thali to be served both in Veg and Non-Veg offered from Monday to Friday and Lunch Box for takeouts. Gear up for our Weekend specials - Serving signature dishes crafted by our in-house chefs which have been mastered over the years with true customs. While you are there, dont forget to inquire about our catering specials which are tailor-made and on demand. Excited with our new location, Franchisees Prakash Reddy, Ven Prasad and Madhuri said that it gives them immense pleasure to bring the legacy of the famous Biryanis, Pulavs, Signature Appetizers and other exclusive Indian dishes of Nawabi Hyderabad House to Oakville, Canada. In their own words from franchisee owners - Franchisors Siva Yarlagadda, Vamsi Kallepalli and Raja Kalidindi have been of great support and made the progress seamless and dependable for the future. Nawabi Hyderabad House has been and continues to be dedicated to the promotion of our Fine Indian Cuisine Culture to a wider audience. 3rd location in Canada is gearing up and is expected to open in the First Quarter of 2019. Siva Yarlagadda and Vamsi Kallepalli, are delighted to announce their expansion into Indian Market. Opening 1st location in Chennai, India during the Christmas season of 2018. For more details about the location please reach out to Jay Kumar @ 91 98843 94929. OPENING SOON LOCATIONS: - PHOENIX, AZ December 12th 2018 - MADISON, WI 2018 CHRISTMAS - Chennai, India 2018 CHRISTMAS OAKVILLE LOCATION DETAILS: ADDRESS: 1011 Upper Middle Rd East, Unit C22 Oakville, Ontario L6H4L2 Contact: (905) 338-1010 Prakash: (647) 801-4850 Prasad: (416) 419-7155 WWW.HYDERABADHOUSEOAKVILLE.COM Any Individual or Groups interested to know more about our franchise opportunities, please reach out to USA: JP (Jayaprakash Reddy) @ 309-660-2787. CANADA: Raja Kalidindi @ 647-960-4499 WWW.HYDERABADHOUSE.NET Press release by: Indian Clicks, LLC Ireland's Central Bank has refused to comment on speculation it could move almost 200m (178m) of gold bars from the Bank of England because of Brexit, insisting any move would be "commercially sensitive". (stock picture) Ireland's Central Bank has refused to comment on speculation it could move almost 200m (178m) of gold bars from the Bank of England because of Brexit, insisting any move would be "commercially sensitive". The gold reserves have been held by its UK counterpart for a number of years. The Central Bank has traditionally been coy on the precise details of the reserves and the terms of the arrangement it has with the Bank of England. It refused to be drawn yesterday on whether the reserves would be removed from the Bank of England either before or after the Brexit deadline of next March. "It is for the Central Bank to determine how Ireland's gold reserves ought to be managed," a spokeswoman said. "The Central Bank's portfolio is managed in line with approved parameters, which are kept under regular review. "We report on key activities and developments in our annual report. "The Central Bank's transactions in gold are commercially sensitive, and no further comment can be made at this time." The latest Central Bank annual report showed that it had 209.3m worth of gold and gold receivables on its books at the end of 2017. It is believed that included 193.5m worth of fine gold held as bars with the Bank of England, and an additional amount of gold coins held at the Central Bank. Ireland's current gold reserves are amongst of any European country. The Central Bank is believed to have approximately six tonnes, or more than 211,000 ounces. An ounce of gold was selling yesterday for $1,238 (969). It is also not known if the bank has lease arrangements in relation to its reserves. Earlier this week, Sinn Fein finance spokesman Pearse Doherty asked Ireland's Finance Minister, Paschal Donohoe, what the government intended to do with Ireland's gold reserves following Brexit. Mr Donohoe noted the matter was the responsibility of the Central Bank. The Central Bank's gold reserves represented just over 0.2% of the 90.3bn of assets it held at the end of 2017. A number of other countries hold gold reserves with the Bank of England. Medical testing firm Randox is to receive 700,000 of government funding to develop freeze-drying techniques previously carried out in the US. The investment is part of the Industrial Strategy Challenge award, administered by UK Research and Innovation. Randox, which is based in Crumlin, will use the money to develop freeze-drying technology that enables faster manufacture of components of its diagnostic kits. It also means the kits can be stored and transported more effectively, ultimately producing better diagnoses. The process was previously outsourced to the US. The investment was announced during a visit by Secretary of State Karen Bradley. She said: "This funding will bring significant benefits to Randox's vital medical diagnostics and help create well-paid manufacturing jobs in Northern Ireland." With approximately 1,200 staff, the company is one of Northern Ireland's biggest biotech employers. The business was founded and is still led by Dr Peter FitzGerald. PM Theresa May switches on the Christmas tree lights outside No 10 with three school children yesterday Arlene Foster took to Twitter last night to extinguish a glimmer of hope that had been offered to Theresa May for next week's Brexit deal vote. A group of Tory backbenchers tabled an amendment that would give MPs some control over the controversial Northern Ireland border backstop. The alteration to the meaningful vote on the Withdrawal Agreement would mean Parliament would have to approve a decision to trigger the backstop arrangement or extend the transition period beyond December 2020. It was tabled by Northern Ireland minister Hugo Swire, Richard Graham and Bob Neill, hours after the Prime Minister indicated Parliament would choose between the two options after the UK formally quits the EU. The move was seen as a bid to bolster flagging support for Mrs May ahead of a crunch Commons vote on her EU withdrawal deal next Tuesday - a showdown the PM made clear yesterday that she would not postpone. It would add provisions for the Commons to "approve the Government's proposed approach, including whether or not an extension to the implementation period should be pursued; and parliamentary approval of the commencement of the powers implementing the Northern Ireland backstop". Mr Graham, who sits on the Exiting the EU Committee, said it had been clear for some time the backstop "was and remains the thing that gives colleagues the most concern". He said: "What we are trying to achieve is something that gets a lot of support from colleagues and that the Government, we hope, will take forward because it will make a real difference to the vote." But DUP leader Mrs Foster, whose party opposes Mrs May's deal, swiftly warned that the amendment would not be enough, tweeting: "Domestic legislative tinkering won't cut it. "The legally binding international Withdrawal Treaty would remain fundamentally flawed as evidenced by the Attorney General's legal advice." Any "parliamentary lock" to give MPs a vote before the backstop is implemented would not persuade the DUP, party deputy leader Nigel Dodds indicated. "The Prime Minister's plan now appears to be that MPs would get a vote on whether to start the backstop. That does not address the fundamental problem, which is the Withdrawal Agreement and the fact it will commence automatically at the end of the transition period," he said. "This proposal has been viewed by many MPs across the House of Commons as a last-ditch effort to try and give some cover to this deal. "That deal, however, is fundamentally flaw and it is that which needs to be amended." Meanwhile, disgraced DUP MP Ian Paisley has said "nothing concentrates the mind like a hanging", in an apparent reference to Mrs May's Brexit Withdrawal Agreement. Speaking during the Brexit debate in the Commons yesterday, the controversial North Antrim MP warned International Trade Secretary Liam Fox that the "gallows are being built" for the Brexit deal. The North Antrim MP said: "It was Samuel Johnson who observed that nothing so concentrates the mind like a hanging. "And as the gallows are being built next Tuesday for this Withdrawal Agreement, can the Secretary of State confirm if there are any discussions taking place about putting this motion off or about altering it in any way, or is the Government fixed on walking towards those gallows?" Dr Fox replied: "The Government will continue to make the case for what it believes is a balanced and reasonable agreement, but of course the Government will want to talk to members, it will want to look to ways to give a reassurance to the House wherever we're able to do that." The Brexit deal obtained from Brussels by Theresa May is similar to the conditions that might be imposed on the defeated side in a war, Boris Johnson has said. As Mrs May sent senior ministers out around the country to sell her deal, Mr Johnson repeated his call for MPs to throw it out in the crucial House of Commons vote next Tuesday. The Prime Minister was coming under growing pressure to delay the December 11 vote to give herself time to ask for more concessions from the EU at a Brussels summit at the end of next week. With three days of the five-day debate complete, Press Association analysis showed that of 163 MPs who have spoken, just 27 have indicated they will back Mrs Mays deal compared to 122 including 29 Tories who will vote against. Senior Conservative MP Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the backbench 1922 Committee, said he would welcome deferring the vote to allow time to settle the question of how the UK removes itself from the so-called backstop arrangements for Northern Ireland. However, a spokesman for Mrs May insisted the vote would be held on Tuesday. Writing on Facebook, Mr Johnson said that the backstop hands the EU the indefinite power to bully and blackmail this country to get whatever it wants in the future negotiations, because it denies the UK the power to leave without agreement from Brussels. Predicting that France will use this advantage to plunder UK fishing waters, Spain will make another push for Gibraltar and Germany will demand concessions on migration, the former foreign secretary said: It is quite incredible that any government could agree to such terms. They resemble the kind of diktat that might be imposed on a nation that has suffered a military defeat. Latest numbers: - 163 MPs have now spoken in the Brexit debate - 122 indicated they will vote against the deal, including 29 Conservatives - 27 will vote in favour - 14 are undecided Ian Jones (@ian_a_jones) December 7, 2018 Health Secretary Matt Hancock confirmed that planes could be used to fly in drugs, and medicines could be given priority access through gridlocked ports in the event of a no-deal Brexit. If there is serious disruption at the border we will have prioritisation, and prioritisation will include medicines and medical devices, he told BBC Radio 4s Today programme. The Government was also buying a large collection of refrigeration units so that those drugs that can be stockpiled, we will have a stockpile of. There are many exquisite humiliations in the so-called deal with the EU that parliament is being asked to endorse on... Posted by Boris Johnson on Friday, December 7, 2018 The Border Delivery Group, a Whitehall co-ordination group for Government departments that have an interest in border issues, was holding discussions with key stakeholders on Friday, a spokesman for Mrs May said. The discussions centre on the Governments no deal planning assumptions for the border, the spokesman said. Meanwhile, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt warned of real social instability if a second referendum resulted in a victory for Remain. For me as someone who voted Remain, my view is we will not have social stability in this country if we end with a solution that doesnt mean that we have parliamentary control of immigration policy, he told The Times Red Box. If a fresh poll reversed the 52%-48% majority for Leave in 2016, Leave supporters would be incredibly angry and I wouldnt rule out real social instability in this country, he said. Expand Close Boris Johnson lookalike Drew Galdron joined a Bollocks to Brexit battlebus touring the country to campaign for a second referendum (Steve Parsons/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Boris Johnson lookalike Drew Galdron joined a Bollocks to Brexit battlebus touring the country to campaign for a second referendum (Steve Parsons/PA) Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said that all options including a second referendum must be on the table if Mrs May goes down to defeat next week. Writing in The Guardian, Mr Corbyn made clear that his preferred result remains a general election which might allow Labour to try to secure a Brexit involving a customs union which gave the UK a say in future EU trade deals, as well as a new single market deal allowing Britain control over migration and state aid. In the past, a defeat of such seriousness as May now faces would have meant an automatic election, said the Labour leader. But if under the current rules we cannot get an election, all options must be on the table. Those should include Labours alternative and, as our conference decided in September, the option of campaigning for a public vote to break the deadlock. Expand Close (PA Graphics) Press Association Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp (PA Graphics) Conservative chairman Brandon Lewis said it was the strongest signal yet that Labour are considering backing a second referendum, breaking his promise to respect the countrys decision to leave. Mr Lewis said: All Jeremy Corbyn offers is more division and uncertainty. After nearly two years of long and complex negotiations, he would take us back to square one. Senior Cabinet ministers including Mr Hancock and Chancellor Philip Hammond were among those making a late push to garner support for Mrs Mays Withdrawal Agreement in a series of engagements around the UK. Expand Close How MPs could vote on the Withdrawal Agreement. Infographic from PA Graphics Press Association Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp How MPs could vote on the Withdrawal Agreement. Infographic from PA Graphics Visits were being made to schools, hospitals, workplaces and a butchers shop in East Anglia in a bid to build support among regional audiences, with many taking place outside the gaze of the national media. A fresh amendment to the vote on the Withdrawal Agreement also appeared designed to shore up Mrs Mays position. Tabled by Northern Ireland minister Sir Hugo Swire, Richard Graham and Bob Neill, the amendment would give Parliament the power to impose a one-year limit on the backstop. The amendment would impose a duty on the Government to have an agreed future relationship or alternative arrangements one year after the Northern Ireland backstop coming into force so that the Northern Ireland backstop ceases to apply. Domestic legislative tinkering wont cut it. The legally binding international Withdrawal Treaty would remain fundamentally flawed as evidenced by the Attorney Generals legal advice. https://t.co/3AW0D6egHq Arlene Foster #WeWillMeetAgain (@ArleneFosterUK) December 6, 2018 But DUP leader Arlene Foster, whose party opposes Mrs Mays deal, warned it would not be enough, tweeting: Domestic legislative tinkering wont cut it. The legally binding international Withdrawal Treaty would remain fundamentally flawed as evidenced by the Attorney Generals legal advice. The backstop, intended to prevent the return of a hard border in Northern Ireland, is highly controversial as Brexiteer MPs claim it traps the UK into obeying rules set by Brussels without a say over them. Expand Close Prime Minster Theresa May switches on the lights on the Downing Street Christmas tree on Thursday, with the help of children from her constituency (Dominic Lipinski/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Prime Minster Theresa May switches on the lights on the Downing Street Christmas tree on Thursday, with the help of children from her constituency (Dominic Lipinski/PA) Legal advice from Attorney General Geoffrey Cox has shown that the backstop arrangements in the Withdrawal Agreement would potentially last indefinitely. The Prime Minister has already indicated that Parliament would have a say, if a trade deal is not secured by the summer of 2020, on whether to trigger the backstop or to extend the period of transition out of the EU for up to two more years. But the European Commission has firmly set its face against any time limit on the backstop. Leaked Government papers obtained by The Times suggested that Ireland could suffer more from a no-deal Brexit than the UK, with a projected 7% drop in GDP compared to 5% for Britain. A Belfast architect has come to the defence of Belfast City Council after it was lambasted over its planning policies by the man behind the 15m George Best Hotel. Liverpudlian Lawrence Kenwright has written to the city council accusing it of a "system of anti-development" which he claimed was damaging Belfast and Northern Ireland's economy. In his letter, the hotelier said he will cut his investment in the city from 80m to 40m. As well as the George Best Hotel - being built at the historic Scottish Mutual Building at Donegall Place - he had also announced hotels for the War Memorial Building in Waring Street and Crumlin Road Courthouse. However, it's not clear which of Mr Kenwright's projects will be jeopardised by the cut in his planned investment. Over the last year, around 1,200 new hotel rooms have been added in Belfast, following extensions and the construction of hotels including the Maldron, the AC Marriott, The Hampton by Hilton and the Grand Central. Stephen Blaney, a director at Coogan & Co Architects, said it had "nothing but respect" for the council after working on projects including the extension of Ten Square hotel in the city centre. Mr Blaney said: "My company acted for the developer who purchased the Ten Square Hotel. He added over 100 bedrooms in the adjacent two office buildings without even closing the hotel. "We have nothing but the highest respect for our city council and the rate at which they are transforming Belfast. "Generally we find that the higher the quality of the planning submission material, the smoother the developer makes his path through the planning application process. The number of new hotels opened recently and the number of cranes on the skyline tell their own story." The council has said it will not be commenting. Mr Kenwright was not available for further comment yesterday. The letter was issued following the delayed opening of the George Best Hotel. It was to launch at the start of this month, but plans were stalled after architects from the Department for Communities' historic environment division raised concerns over "unauthorised works". After a site visit, they claimed the works taking place "fail to be informed by a conservation-led approach". A spokeswoman for charity Ulster Architectural Heritage said it supported developers "who make a commitment to re-purpose and re-use historic buildings". But she added: "That commitment comes with a responsibility and a statutory requirement to retain and enhance the historic fabric and character of the building. "The Scottish Mutual Building is Grade B1 listed, which includes all the historic fabric, both exterior and interior. "UAH expressed concern, having observed the apparent level of alteration and removal of the interior and, with the issuing of a letter from the Department of Communities historic environment division, detailing extensive unauthorised works to the building's interior, it appears that our concerns were justified." She said it was "perfectly feasible" to alter historic buildings for a profitable use "but all administrations must have planning policy which applies across the board". "Belfast currently has sound historic building policy which mirrors the rest of the UK. No developer or agent acting for a developer will be unaware of the need to adhere to relevant policy and as a consequence there can be no excusing extensive unauthorised works." A civilian detention officer who was on duty at Lisburn custody suite the night a detainee died in his cell was handed a six-month suspended sentence. Alexander McAllister admitted a charge of misconduct in a public office, which arose from the May 2014 death of David McGowan. The 30-year old, from the Lisburn area, choked on his own vomit and was pronounced dead in the early hours of May 30, 2014. His needless death has had a significant impact on his family, especially his mother and sister, the court heard. McAllister, a 62-year old former prison officer whose address was given as the PSNI in Lisburn, was guilty of misconduct over a two-hour period. The six-month prison sentence was suspended for 12 months. Sentencing him at Belfast Crown Court, Judge David McFarland spoke of a series of failures on McAllisters part but said the misconduct was reckless rather than deliberate. One such failure on McAllisters part was not telling the doctor at the station about a claim made by Mr McGowan that he had taken up to 40 tablets. Another failure, the court heard, was McAllister disobeying a specific request by the custody sergeant to check on Mr McGowan again after concerns were raised that the detainee was struggling to breathe. Judge McFarland said that had this check been carried out when requested, evidence of vomiting could have been observed and could have led to intervention. Brian McKenna, the custody sergeant who was on duty on the night in question, was cleared of the manslaughter of Mr McGowan in October of this year. After a four-week trial, a Crown prosecutor said he was taking no further instructions and was offering no further evidence. Sgt McKenna always denied the manslaughter of David McGowan, and of misconduct in a public office, and Judge McFarland directed the jury to return not guilty verdicts. During the trial, CCTV footage from Lisburn custody suite was played to the jury, while McAllister gave evidence and spent several days in the witness box. Prior to sentencing, the court heard that McAllisters plea reflected an acceptance that he wilfully neglected to perform his duties, which amounted to an abuse of public trust. The court heard David McGowan arrived at Lisburn custody suite with his girlfriend just after 11pm on May 29. The couple had consumed both drink and drugs that day, and were arrested following an incident outside a flat in the Beersbridge Road area of Belfast. While he had been aggressive both during his arrest and on the journey to Lisburn, Mr McGowan had calmed down considerably while being processed at Lisburn, the court heard. By 11.15pm, Mr McGowan was in his cell, with custody sergeant Brian McKenna ordering McAllister to check on him every 30 minutes. Mr McGowan told McAllister he had taken up to 40 tablets, and McAllister noticed a white substance around his mouth. He then relayed this information to Sgt McKenna, but failed to enter these details into the custody log computer system, or inform the doctor. During a routine rousing at 12.35am, McAllister noted that Mr McGowan was struggling to breathe in his cell. However, this was not recorded on the log, as the entry read visit asleep rouse all in order. When a further check was carried out just after 1am, it was noted that Mr McGowan had been sick. Efforts were made to revive him, but he was pronounced dead a short time later. Crown prosecutor Richard Weir QC said that after telling Sgt McKenna that Mr McGowan was struggling to breathe, McAllister exhibited no sense of urgency or real concern and at one point stood outside his cell eating a yoghurt. Mr Weir also said that while McAllister had a more subordinate role than that of Sgt McKenna who was in charge on the night in question it was the Crowns view that McAllister tried to shirk his responsibilities. The prosecutor spoke of McAllisters appropriate training and background as a prison officer but said there was a failure to communicate essential information with the proper urgency it commanded. Mr Weir told the court the police were responsible for the welfare of people they arrest, most of whom are vulnerable on a number of different levels. He also spoke of the impact the death in custody has had on Mr McGowans family, saying it was abundantly clear their lives have changed not only by the death of their son/brother but also the manner of it and their justifiable anger and despair at its needlessness. Defence barrister Charles MacCreanor QC said McAllister acknowledged the suffering of the McGowan family, telling the court: He carries the burden that something happened on his watch. He is carrying a psychological wound. Mr MacCreanor spoke of the genuine remorse which he said was exhibited when McAllister broke down several times giving evidence at Sgt McKennas trial. The barrister said this was robust evidence of a man wracked with remorse and guilt ... there is no-one who seeks to criticise him as much as he criticised himself. Mr McGowans family, who were in court, spoke later of their devastation at his loss. A statement issued via their solicitor said: The McGowan family continue to be devastated at the loss of their much loved son and brother David. He is forever in their thoughts and prayers. The family firmly believe, and consider that the evidence at this trial proves, that David would be alive today had he been treated humanely while in police custody. The McGowan family are frustrated at how the trial was prosecuted and have grave concerns as to how the substantive trial of the senior custody sergeant collapsed. The McGowan family consider that the extent of police failures and the gravity of the consequences are not reflected in the conviction and sentence handed down today. David should have been safe in police custody. He was not. Victims of terrorism in Northern Ireland will be "dismayed but not surprised" by Sinn Fein's decision to select former MP Barry McElduff as a candidate for the upcoming council elections, a leading victims campaigner said last night. Mr McElduff was forced to quit as MP for West Tyrone in January after he posted footage on Twitter of himself posing with a Kingsmill-branded loaf on his head on the anniversary of the Kingsmill massacre. The IRA atrocity on January 5, 1976 saw gunmen stop a minibus carrying 11 Protestant workmen, line them up and shoot them. Only one man survived, having been shot 18 times. Despite the controversy surrounding the republican, Sinn Fein announced last night that Mr McElduff will stand in council elections for Omagh Town next May. Kenny Donaldson, spokesman for Innocent Victims United, said: "Innocent victims and survivors of terrorism and many others will be dismayed but in no way surprised by this latest development. "Many will conclude that Sinn Fein took an opportunity earlier this year to demote Barry McElduff - not because of the offence caused to Kingsmills families through his reckless actions but rather because Sinn Fein saw an opportunity to bring through what it wishes to present as a 'new generation of republican'. "Sinn Fein talks the language of equality, the language of respect, the language of peace-building - but talk is all it ever is. "Actions count and the Provisional Movement's track record on matters concerning victims and survivors have been defined by its lust for violence and coercion, dominance and contempt for difference." Mr McElduff at the time of his resignation said he was not aware his Twitter post coincided with the Kingsmill anniversary but said he resigned in order not to impede efforts to forge reconciliation in Northern Ireland. In October the Public Prosecution Service confirmed it would not be prosecuting Mr McElduff for the video. The purpose of its investigation was to determine whether there was sufficient evidence under the Communications Act 2003 and the Public Order Order 1987 to proceed with a prosecution. It found there was not enough evidence. Mr McElduff said: "I am honoured to be selected for Ard Comhairle ratification to contest the upcoming Council election for Sinn Fein in Omagh, a town that I have a great affinity for and have been proud to represent in the past. "We currently have one very hard working representative and community champion in Omagh, Councillor Martin McColgan, and it's our determination to maximise our potential by winning three seats in the next election. "Councillor Anne Marie Fitzgerald will also be making the move from Mid Tyrone into Omagh, and as someone who already represents Killyclogher, has previously lived there and has strong family and professional connections to the town, it will be a natural transition. "For my own part, I have been proud to serve people across West Tyrone over the past 20 years and I look forward to the campaign ahead and to be part of a dynamic team that will return the maximum amount of Sinn Fein Councillors." Mr McElduff had previously served as a West Tyrone MLA between June 1998 and June 2017. He served just 222 days as an abstentionist MP before his resignation. Phones and computers are being examined by investigators in the case of a Co Antrim man - the first person accused of actually handing over money to pay for sex in Northern Ireland. Peter David Clyde (38), of Rocavan Meadow in Broughshane, is accused of committing the offence on January 18 this year. The particulars are that the accused "obtained sexual services from a person in exchange for payment, the payment having been made or promised by you, contrary to Article 64A of the Sexual Offences (Northern Ireland) Order 2008". It's believed to be the first case of its kind in which an alleged payment for sex was actually made. The defendant faces a second charge of attempted sexual communication with a child on January 18 this year. The case was first mentioned at Ballymena Magistrates Court in early November, when the accused had a walking stick with him as he entered the dock. On that date a police officer said he believed he could connect the accused to the charges. A prosecution lawyer told that hearing it was possible the case could proceed to the Crown Court. On November 8, District Judge Nigel Broderick released the defendant on 500 bail, with conditions that he was not to have any contact with anyone under the age of 16 unless approved by social services, apart from unavoidable daily contact. He also had to live at an address approved by police and he was not to access social media or dating websites. The defendant had been excused from attending the latest mention of the case at Ballymena Magistrates Court yesterday because he was working. A prosecution lawyer said they had requested a full file but it had not yet been received from police and was not due until mid-January. She said phones and computers were being examined. No other details were given to the court and the defendant has yet to enter either a guilty or not guilty plea. Judge Broderick adjourned the case until the end of January. While there have been two previous prosecutions in Northern Ireland under legislation introduced in 2015, both involved "attempting" to pay for sexual services. Arlene Foster has admitted she may have been wrong about the timing of when a senior civil servant told her he believed her special adviser had attempted to delay Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) cost controls. Dr Andrew McCormick told the RHI Inquiry that he had raised concerns about special advisers with the DUP leader before her interview with BBC broadcaster Stephen Nolan. He expressed surprise that during that interview in December 2016, she said she had "no idea" about the claims. In her previous evidence to the inquiry, Mrs Foster stated that it was after the Nolan interview that Dr McCormick had "sheepishly" said he believed her special adviser Dr Andrew Crawford had delayed cost controls. The DUP leader was asked to clarify the situation by the inquiry. In her statement published last night, she admitted she may have been wrong in her initial claim. "Given the febrile atmosphere, made worse by the fact that, prior to my interview with Stephen Nolan, I had been given no clear understanding of what Mr (Jonathan) Bell had said in his interview, it is possible that I am wrong about the sequencing of Dr McCormick telling me his view that Dr Crawford delayed the scheme." She continued: "However, regardless of when Dr McCormick's belief was communicated to me, I was already aware of the contents of Dr Crawford's emails and would have taken the view that there was insufficient evidence at that time to draw any conclusions about the reasons for delay in the scheme, hence my reply to Mr Nolan that 'I had no idea'." Mrs Foster said she would not have publicly voiced "an unsubstantiated comment" of that nature anyway. "Indeed, I remain of the view that to repeat this unsubstantiated allegation to Mr Nolan, particularly in the circumstances that prevailed at the time, would have been inappropriate," she said. "I did have no idea as to the facts of what took place and therefore I do not believe that my reply to Mr Nolan was contrary to the principle of openness within the seven principles of public life." Dr Crawford, who was Mrs Foster's right-hand man in three Stormont departments, denies trying to delay cost controls. In her statement to the inquiry, Mrs Foster called for a "fundamental appraisal" of the Northern Ireland Civil Service. She also raised the possibility of extending the home civil service to Northern Ireland. The DUP leader apologised for her party's role in the scandal at its annual conference last month. She told the inquiry: "I believe that there is a strong argument for a fundamental appraisal of the Northern Ireland civil service. "With advances in technology, the increasing complexity of policies, and the emergence of new approaches within the private sector, there is a need for greater specialism and expertise within the civil service. "In my view, there is a case for consideration of extending the home civil service to Northern Ireland." Mrs Foster added that the Department for Energy and Climate Change at Westminster had more than 70 people working on the RHI scheme in England. In Northern Ireland there were just two. "That level of resource is simply not available to a Northern Ireland-specific civil service," she said. "There is therefore merit in giving strong consideration to how the expertise and resource available in Great Britain could be extended to cover Northern Ireland." To applause from delegates at the DUP conference, Mrs Foster said she was "deeply sorry" for her party's handling of RHI. Barry McElduff has said he was strongly encouraged by Sinn Fein party members to re-enter public life following his resignation as MP for west Tyrone. Mr McElduff was forced to quit the role after posting a video with a loaf of Kingsmill-branded bread on his head on the anniversary of the Kingsmill Massacre. The IRA atrocity on January 5, 1976 saw gunmen stop a minibus carrying 11 Protestant workmen, line them up and shoot them. Read More Only one man survived, having been shot 18 times. Mr McElduff announced on Thursday that he will stand in council elections in Omagh in May next year. In October the Public Prosecution Service confirmed it would not be prosecuting Mr McElduff for the video. Speaking on BBC Radio Ulster's Talkback on Friday Mr McElduff reiterated that the incident was a genuine mistake and that Kingsmill had been the only brand of bread available in the shop. "I went to the shop late at night to lift my daughter who was working in the shop. I hadn't intended on going into the shop at all, I had been signalled because the family might want some provisions," he said. "So I quickly ran around the shop and lifted three or four items and jokingly put the bread on my head as I made my way to the counter, as a bit of levity," he told host William Crawley. "A bit like a joiner on a building site with a pencil behind his ear and saying 'did anyone see my pencil?', I said something like 'where does the shop keep the bread?', it's as simple as that, honest to God. "I believe, and this has been confirmed, that it was the only available bread on the night in question, it was early new year, very few orders had come through and I think that can be confirmed." The former West Tyrone MP said that he voluntarily met with police to discuss the incident. "I volunteered to do an interview with the police, I was accompanied by my lawyer, then a file was prepared and sent to the PPS and then the PPS wrote to me on October 31st and said there weren't grounds to prosecute. I'm not asking anyone to believe me, but I'm just asserting the truth that this was coincidence. A very cruel, a very unintentional coincidence," Mr McElduff said. He told Talkback that he didn't know it was the anniversary of the Kingsmill Massacre, and he did not make the association with the bread. "One of the reasons why I wasn't conscious of it was when Kingsmill happened I would have been nine years of age and my political conscience developed later, it may have been late 1970s, 1979. I personally don't remember Bloody Sunday or the killing of the O'Dowd family etc, but I've read about it and come to learn about it, but it wasn't in my consciousness. "This might sound ridiculous, but I didn't make any association, even later between the product and the massacre. Even now I would say everyone associates the name of the bread with the massacre, but I don't believe prior to January that everybody would have made that association. "When I realised that this association was being made by others, I did try my best in a very difficult situation to react with dignity and integrity, I accepted suspension and I even subsequently resigned as an MP, probably because I placed a greater value on other people's feelings than I did on my own position. Mr McElduff said it was his own decision to resign as an MP and Sinn Fein did not put pressure on him. "I reflected on it and I did ask people 'am I in resignation territory?' some said no, and some said yes. Ultimately, I took responsibility for my own actions and I wanted to even challenge myself to be selfless in the matter because I realised that other people were hurting as a consequence of my action, which was purely coincidental, never the less I had to take action," he said. "When I apologised publicly I didn't say 'if I caused hurt' I said 'I have caused hurt'. Even though it was wholly coincidental and unintentional on my behalf I still tried to step up to the mark of those who were hurting. He told the Talkback show that he had encouragement from across Sinn Fein to return to politics. "I was being strongly encouraged by Sinn Fein party members and supporters generally and people within the community, to re-enter public life. I'm pleased to be selected by Sinn Fein party members in Omagh to contest the upcoming council elections," Mr McElduff said. "I have received messages of support from every level of the Sinn Fein party and am confident that the party will ratify my nomination. "If I'm being 100% honest there is a sigh of relief within republicanism and nationalism that someone who has tried their best to act with dignity and integrity in a very difficult situation has done his best." The Governments confidence and supply agreement with the DUP continues, Theresa Mays effective deputy has said. Cabinet Office Minister David Lidington visited North Belfast to sell the Prime Ministers Brexit deal and said he had received assurances of support from a senior member of the Democratic Unionists within the last 24 hours. DUP leader Arlene Foster has said a Commons amendment supported by backbench Tories giving Parliament a say on invoking the Irish border backstop does not go far enough, adding that domestic tinkering to the Withdrawal Agreement would not persuade her partys 10 MPs to back the Government. Great to host a round table discussion this morning with @cabinetofficeuk Minister @DLidington. Future access to skills, trade & export, key issues affecting NI businesses. Crucial message - no deal Brexit must be avoided. pic.twitter.com/pOWTDlo9uH FSB Northern Ireland (@FSB_NI) December 7, 2018 Mr Lidington said: The DUP have made it clear that they see the confidence and supply agreement as continuing. As with any minority Government there are going to be squalls and difficulties in a Parliament where the Government does not have an automatic majority in either House, but that is not something new to British history. The parliamentary arithmetic is against the Government ahead of next weeks withdrawal treaty vote. Following an amendment, Parliament would decide whether to trigger the backstop arrangement or extend the transition period beyond December 2020. Mr Lidington said Members of Parliament have a public duty to act in the national interest. The choices are not going to go away as a consequence of postponing the vote. The European Commission, the President of France, the Chancellor of Germany, other leaders, have all said, very plainly, this is the deal that is available. They on the EU side have made concessions to get here, both sides have moved. By developing technology solutions, @CoreSystemsTech (part of @FSB_NI) help to increase offender compliance with probation. Today in Northern Ireland, @DLidington spoke with Core Systems staff about how the Brexit deal can protect small businesses like theirs. #BacktheBrexitDeal pic.twitter.com/q5VDPz6eh9 Cabinet Office (@cabinetofficeuk) December 7, 2018 And Michel Barnier, the EUs negotiator, has had a lot of flak from Governments in Paris, the Hague and other capitals, for making too many moves to help the UK, as they see it. So they are not going to move, so the choice becomes if not this deal, what else? No other deal is available, therefore it is either crash out, which would do serious damage to businesses large and small, or it is reverse the decision and decide to stay in the European Union after all, which would, I think, come as a heavy blow to very many millions who voted to leave two years ago. He said the challenges of coalition government were not new. We had it in the Seventies, we had it with the coalition government under David Cameron and Nick Clegg, you have it in a great many European democracies; as a matter of routine you have minority governments and you just have to work through, look for compromises, have discussions. I am very confident that we will continue. Expand Close David Lidington with Patricia OHagan, chief executive of Core Systems, during a visit to Belfast (Brian Lawless/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp David Lidington with Patricia OHagan, chief executive of Core Systems, during a visit to Belfast (Brian Lawless/PA) Mr Lidington visited the premises of Core Systems, which makes technology for use in prisons. The Federation of Small Businesses hosted a roundtable discussion about skills, trade and export. A 19-year-old man allegedly raped a woman in Belfast city centre within minutes of meeting her, a court heard on Friday. A 19-year-old man allegedly raped a woman in Belfast city centre within minutes of meeting her, a court heard on Friday. Police claimed Marko Dolhir pulled her into an alleyway at Little May Street after waiting in the area for up to an hour. Dolhir, an Iranian national with an address at Sandringham Drive in Leeds, appeared before Belfast Magistrates' Court charged with rape, attempted rape and sexual assault over the incident on November 25. He denies the allegations, telling police any contact was consensual. Opposing bail, a detective constable claimed there were risks he could leave the jurisdiction or commit further offences. She told the court Dolhir had allegedly been in the area for up to an hour, waiting for a "vulnerable" female. Within two minutes of meeting the woman he pulled her into an alleyway where the alleged offences were committed, according to police. The court was told CCTV footage was used to identify him. Defence solicitor Brendan Blaney disclosed that Dolhir has been living in the UK for two years. Mr Blaney stressed his client had answered all queries during three days of police questioning. "He gave a full account which, in essence, amounted to a consent defence," the lawyer said. But the detective insisted Dolhir only made that case after DNA evidence was put to him. "This incident highlights he has contacts in different areas of the UK," she added. "He was able to stay at an address in Northern Ireland." Bail was refused due to the potential risk of re-offending. District Judge Fiona Bagnall said: "If it's correct that there's an element of predatory waiting for someone vulnerable to come along, I have to say I'm not prepared to grant bail." Dolhir was remanded in custody to appear again by video-link in four weeks time. A 21-year old man suspected of involvement in the murder of Christopher Meli was refused bail on Friday. Lee Smyth - who Belfast Crown Court heard has notched up a "plethora of over a dozen breaches of bail" - made a fresh application to be released from custody, which was refused by Mr Justice Colton. Smyth, with bail address outside Belfast that cannot be published, is one of a number of people charged with murdering 20-year old Christopher Meli, who was beaten to death in the Twinbrook area of west Belfast in December 2015. The accused had been granted bail with a number of strict conditions imposed. Two weeks ago, his legal team made a successful application to have his curfew varied to allow him to take up seasonal employment throughout December. The application was granted on November 22 to allow Smyth to work. However, less than an hour after leaving court, Smyth was arrested in Boots on suspicion of stealing gift sets. He was back in court the following day, when Mr Justice Colton revoked his bail and he was sent to HMP Maghaberry. During today's renewed application for bail - during which Smyth appeared at Belfast Crown Court via video link - Smyth's solicitor Mark Austin said the two weeks his young client has spent in Maghaberry has been a "sobering lesson." Mr Austin noted that as no trial date has yet been fixed, Smyth was now "in limbo", and said: "Because there is no trial in the immediate future, Mr Smyth should be allowed the option to renew a bail application." Opposing Smyth's release, a Crown prosecutor said that the last time he left court, Smyth was arrested shortly after the curfew variation was granted. The prosecutor also told the court there had been "a plethora of over a dozen breaches" of bail. Mr Justice Colton noted that after Smyth's last appearance in court "within half an hour of that he was arrested. In the circumstances, I was satisfied there was a prima facie case and I revoked his bail". Expand Close Christopher Meli / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Christopher Meli "Nothing has changed since I revoked bail two weeks ago. I therefore refuse the application." Ministers will aim to garner support for the PMs Withdrawal Agreement ahead of Tuesdays vote (PA) Theresa May will deploy ministers to sell her Brexit deal around the UK on Friday after Tory backbenchers handed her a possible lifeline to get it through Parliament. Senior Cabinet ministers including Chancellor Philip Hammond and Health Secretary Matt Hancock are among those who will make another late push to garner support for Mrs Mays Withdrawal Agreement ahead of Tuesdays vote. They hit the road after MPs tabled an amendment to the meaningful vote on the Withdrawal Agreement that would give MPs some control over the controversial Northern Ireland border backstop, which has been the main sticking point after two years of negotiations. Today's #MeaningfulVote debate was opened by Chancellor for the Exchequer, @PhilipHammondUK. Watch him tell MPs why he supports the Government's #WithdrawalAgreement: https://t.co/SkgGjKeqzB pic.twitter.com/76ehcSLrnk UK House of Commons (@HouseofCommons) December 6, 2018 The alteration would mean Parliament would have to approve a decision to trigger the backstop arrangement or extend the transition period beyond December 2020. It was tabled by Northern Ireland minister Sir Hugo Swire, Richard Graham and Bob Neill, hours after the Prime Minister indicated Parliament would choose between the two options after the UK formally quits the EU. The move is likely to be seen as a bid to bolster flagging support for Mrs May ahead of a crunch Commons vote on her EU withdrawal deal next Tuesday a showdown the PM made clear on Thursday morning she would not postpone. Expand Close (PA Graphics) Press Association Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp (PA Graphics) But it remains to be seen whether it goes far enough to win over enough Tory Brexiteers to get the deal through the Commons. DUP leader Arlene Foster, whose party opposes Mrs Mays deal, warned that the amendment would not be enough, tweeting: Domestic legislative tinkering wont cut it. The legally binding international Withdrawal Treaty would remain fundamentally flawed as evidenced by the Attorney Generals legal advice. The backstop, intended to prevent the return of a hard border in Northern Ireland, is highly controversial as Brexiteer MPs claim it traps the UK into obeying rules set by Brussels without a say over them. The Government says it aims to conclude a comprehensive trade deal with the EU before a backstop arrangement would be needed. Domestic legislative tinkering wont cut it. The legally binding international Withdrawal Treaty would remain fundamentally flawed as evidenced by the Attorney Generals legal advice. https://t.co/3AW0D6egHq Arlene Foster #WeWillMeetAgain (@ArleneFosterUK) December 6, 2018 Under the Withdrawal Agreement, the backstop would be introduced if a trade deal had not been agreed by both sides by the time the transition period ends in December 2020. However, the transition period could be extended for a maximum of two more years. The amendment would add provisions for the Commons to approve the Governments proposed approach, including whether or not an extension to the implementation period should be pursued; and parliamentary approval of the commencement of the powers implementing the Northern Ireland backstop. Mr Graham, who sits on the Exiting the EU Committee, told the Press Association it had been clear for some time the backstop was and remains the thing that gives colleagues the most concern. He said: What we are trying to achieve is something that gets a lot of support from colleagues and that the Government, we hope, will take forward because it will make a real difference to the vote. Earlier on Thursday, ITV had joined the BBC in cancelling plans to broadcast a televised Brexit debate between the Prime Minister and opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn, after Labour and the Conservatives failed to agree which of the rival offers to accept. Expand Close Prime Minster Theresa May switches on the lights on the Downing Street Christmas tree on Thursday, with the help of children from her constituency (Dominic Lipinski/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Prime Minster Theresa May switches on the lights on the Downing Street Christmas tree on Thursday, with the help of children from her constituency (Dominic Lipinski/PA) Both channels had wanted to host the live programme on Sunday evening, two days before the vote, but it now seems unlikely a head-to-head will go ahead. Mrs May faced calls to postpone Tuesdays vote, with senior Conservative MP Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the backbench 1922 Committee, saying he would welcome the vote being deferred if no solution could be found to differences within the party over the backstop. Sir Graham told BBC Twos Newsnight: I think the most important thing is to have clarity about how we might remove ourselves from a backstop if we were to enter into one in the future. Its having the answer to that question of substance that is most important, not the timing, so if that question can be answered in the course of the next few days then all well and good. If it cant, then I certainly would welcome the vote being deferred until such time as we can answer that question. Expand Close (PA Graphics) Press Association Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp (PA Graphics) Chief whip Julian Smith acknowledged he faces an uphill challenge to persuade MPs to back Mrs Mays deal, but insisted its all to play for. Speaking to ITV News, Mr Smith insisted there was no Plan B ready to be unveiled if the PMs proposals are voted down. And former prime minister Tony Blair, asked at a Westminster lunch if Mrs May should pull the December 11 vote, said: Personally, I dont see what the point is in going down to a huge defeat. Number 10 sought to play down the Prime Ministers meeting with a number of Cabinet ministers on Thursday afternoon. Downing Street said there was not a full Cabinet meeting and nothing to get excited about. James Nesbitt was visibly upset yesterday as he listened to maimed survivors of the Troubles telling harrowing stories of how they were still suffering decades after being caught up in the violence. The Cold Feet star pledged his support to the victims' campaign for the Government to introduce special pensions to help them cope with the legacy of their injuries in the twilight of their lives. Mr Nesbitt was at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast to launch a new exhibition of massive portraits of 10 men and women who were severely injured in atrocities including the bombing of the Abercorn Restaurant and more. The County Antrim man, the patron of the WAVE Trauma Centre, said the victims weren't looking for sympathy or pity despite living through "experiences that almost defied imagination". He also pointed out that upwards of 500 people had been severely injured in the Troubles. "They have moved on, but what they will not do is to move aside," Mr Nesbitt said. "All they want is a pension to give them a degree of financial security. I am fully behind them. "Many people say 'thank God the Troubles are over and we can all get on with our lives.' "But many people like me need to be reminded that what happened to the survivors is not consigned to the past, but is in the here and now. "All their injuries are life-changing and permanent." Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close Human Rights Commission chief commissioner Les Allenby PA Paul Gallagher, who was paralysed in a shooting Margaret Yeaman, who lost her sight in a car bomb in 1982 PA Former taxi driver Alex Bunting, who lost one of his legs in a booby-trap car bomb in 1991 PA Sandra Peake and James Nesbitt at the launch PA James Nesbitt with Robert Barfoot, who was paralysed in an IRA gun attack in 1985, and features in the new photographic exhibition PA Peter Heathwood, who was paralysed in a shooting in 1979. He told James Nesbitt his father dropped dead, mistakenly believing Peter had been killed PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Human Rights Commission chief commissioner Les Allenby For university lecturer Dr Mary Hannon-Fletcher, just going to the RVH for the launch ceremony organised by WAVE re-awakened painful memories. She was seriously injured in a drive-by shooting in 1975, when she was a teenager, and was lucky to survive, though she was left paralysed. "The pain and the suffering and the surgeries and the investigations and the rehabilitation carry on," Mr Hannon-Fletcher told the audience. "Every day, all of us are living in pain and suffering. On top of that, we have been ignored and left to suffer and struggle on by ourselves. We want to be remembered and we are going to keep fighting." In a recorded message, another victim, Peter Heathwood, told how his father dropped dead after he saw what he believed was his dead son being carried away from a 1979 shooting in Belfast in a body bag. What Herbert Heathwood did not realise, however, was that his son had survived the gun attack and that ambulance crews had used a body bag to carry him because they could not fit a trolley through his home's narrow doorway. A doctor told Peter Heathwood he did not know how he was still alive. He also told him, however, he would have to use a wheelchair for the rest of his life. Peter sees his late wife, Anne, as another victim of the Troubles because, blaming herself for opening the door to the gunmen, she turned to drinking. In another video played to the audience, Jennifer McNern, who lost her legs in the Abercorn Restaurant bomb in 1972, told how it was not until she lifted the sheet on her hospital bed that she realised her limbs were missing. "I started to scream and scream," explained Jennifer, whose sister, Rosaleen, also lost her legs in the blast. It wasn't until after her mother died that Jennifer discovered she had to move all her shoes from their home. "It nearly broke my heart and breaks my heart to this day," she said. Margaret Yeaman was blinded outside her estate agent's office in a bomb attack in Banbridge that killed an 11-year-old in 1982. Margaret, who still has glass coming out of her body, said she felt like a disappointment to her grandchildren. "I love them dearly, but I feel as though I have let them down and that I'm a failure because what grannies do is give their grandchildren some money and say, 'We'll go out in the car to the shops and see what you want'. But I can't do that." Mark Kelly lost his legs in a no-warning bomb attack at the Glen Inn in Glengormley in 1982. However, the former DJ and Irish dancer said he felt lucky to have survived at all because lost a 13-year-old Catholic friend and a 16-year-old Protestant pal in terrorist attacks. "I learnt very early that our conflict respected no one, age nor religion," Mr Kelly said. At yesterday's launch, Mark - who was volunteering as a video and sound engineer - stressed that survivors were "entitled to a fair deal from politicians who had failed to deliver for them". He added: "We are saying to the politicians that after RHI and other scandals, they must take care of those people who have been most affected by the Troubles. "At times it feels like we are knocking our heads against a brick wall, but we are survivors and we are persistent. "What we need from the Northern Ireland public is support to embarrass our politicians." Paul Gallagher was left paralysed after a shooting at his home in Lenadoon in 1994, carried out by gunmen who took over his house to wait for neighbours that never arrived. He said he and other WAVE members refused to think of themselves as invisible. "That's the purpose of the exhibition - to make us visible, to remind people that we still exist, that these images cannot be ignored," Mr Gallagher added. "The biographies that accompany the photographs are short and to the point. They only state what happened to us. There's no indication as to who injured us. There's no judgement or blame apportioned because that is not what we are about." Mr Gallagher hopes the portraits will serve as a reminder that something needs to be done to help survivors to get on with their lives. "We were left behind by society," he said. "We were badly treated and left to struggle. (We had to) break through walls of apathy and indifference". The WAVE Trauma Centre plans to take the powerful six foot by six foot images of the 10 survivors to Stormont, to the Dail and to Westminster in a bid to persuade politicians to back the pensions campaign. But Alan McBride, the co-ordinator of the injured group, stressed people felt they had been failed by politicians' stand-off over pensions. He also said the DUP were opposed to Sinn Fein proposals to include injured combatants in the payouts. "What we are looking for is a bit of money so that these people can live out the rest of their days with a bit of dignity," Mr McBride explained. "It cannot be right that because of a few individuals who were injured planting bombs the overwhelming majority of victims are denied pensions that would be around 4,000 to 6,000 a year, which isn't a huge amount of money." Mr McBride, who lost his wife and father-in-law in the Shankill bombing, said WAVE was hoping Westminster would step in to tackle the pensions issue because politicians here were incapable of solving it. Northern Ireland Railways will see an extra 21 carriages into the network by 2022 to match increasing passenger numbers as part of a 50m investment. Translink yesterday announced the new scheme by the Department for Infrastructure, which will add an "essential" 1,400 seats to rail network services across the country. Group chief executive Chris Conway said it was "great news" and "another very exciting step in the development" for Northern Ireland's rail network. "Their introduction will also help deliver the ambitions of the draft Programme for Government to increase the use of public transport and active travel," he explained. The carriages will be almost identical to existing ones in operation in Northern Ireland but the seats will be improved as well as added USB charging points. The news comes after NIR said train passenger numbers rocketed by 130% in the last 12 years, forcing up to two-thirds of commuters to stand during peak travel times. Numbers have grown each year by between 7-8% and the 15 million train users last year was a record in Northern Ireland Railways's 50-year history. Yesterday, representatives from Spanish rail manufacturer CAF - which will build the carriages - were in Belfast to sign the contract. "We are very much looking forward to working with Translink again and are confident our state-of-the-art trains will help meet increasing passenger demand while ensuring exceptionally high levels of comfort, accessibility and safety," said Josu Esnaola, commercial director for CAF. The company provided 20 trains for Translink in 2011 on top of 23 released between 2004 and 2005. Mr Conway said the latest fleet of carriages will "meet the very latest standards in comfort and quality and be compatible with our current fleet". Department for Infrastructure Permanent Secretary, Katrina Godfrey also hailed the 50m investment. She stressed the 21 new carriages will provide "additional capacity, greatly enhance the passenger experience and encourage more commuters to make the switch to public transport". William McConnell who passed away at the age of 94 A Normandy veteran who forged a birth certificate to fight in the Second World War has died peacefully at the age of 94. William Andrew McConnell MBE passed away at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast on Wednesday. The father-of-five, grandfather-of-nine and great-grandfather of 24, was just 17 years old when he volunteered for service with the Royal Ulster Rifles. Mr McConnell travelled to Normandy for the 50th anniversary of the landings, and continued to make the journey every year right up until his death. After realising in 1994 that there was no permanent memorial to his fallen comrades, he raised the funds to establish a tribute that now stands at the Longueval and Swords beaches in honour of the 6th Airborne Division, with which he went on to serve with distinction. After signing up in 1941, he eventually joined a glider assault squadron ahead of Operation Overlord, and crash-landed on D-Day (June 6, 1944) around 35 miles behind enemy lines - directly in the firing line of a SS Panzer unit. His detachment suffered heavy casualties but managed to hold the Panzer unit's advance and eventually forced its withdrawal. Mr McConnell's war was relatively uneventful until D-Day, but he then faced almost constant danger until the war's end. March 1945 was particularly perilous for his unit, with the young corporal suffering shrapnel wounds during the Rhine landings in western Germany. His daughter, Vivien (60), who was at his hospital bedside when he died, said her father was a lone parent to her and her siblings - Keith (67), Pat (65), Mark (63) and Doreen (57) - after their parents divorced. "It's very hard to believe he's dead - I haven't really taken it in yet," said the Belfast woman. "He was both our mother and father for all our lives. We're all just devastated." Vivien shared a home with her dad, who was "everything" to her, while her two sisters and two brothers lived in England. She said her dad had been unwell and had been in bed for a couple of weeks prior to being admitted to hospital on December 4 with a chest infection. "I got to stay with him until the last," Vivien added, "but there's a massive void in my life now." She stressed her father "didn't talk much about the war until he started going to France in the early 1990s, but said they enjoyed "an army life" growing up. "He loved D-Day and he loved us taking him to France every year," Vivien explained "Up to 18 of us go and he took memorials. Even up to last year he took the service. I'll bring his ashes over there next year. "(He was) a quiet man. He was just wonderful and we loved him - every one of us adored him." Mr McConnell's funeral will be held on December 10 - the day he got his MBE from the Queen - at 9.45am at the Wilton Funeral Home in Whitehouse, followed by a service at Roselawn Crematorium. "I'm looking forward to giving him a good send-off," Vivien said. "I'll always remember him as a friend, as well as a dad". Pupils of St Marys Christian Brothers Grammar School in west Belfast return to school yesterday and pass the scene of the fatal shooting of James Donegan on Tuesday Pupils of St Marys Christian Brothers Grammar School in west Belfast return to school yesterday and pass the scene of the fatal shooting of James Donegan on Tuesday Terrified pupils feared they were caught up in an American-style school shooting in the aftermath of Jim Donegan's murder, a principal has said. Bronagh Farrimond described how her students were thrown into a state of panic after the killing just yards from the Christian Brothers' School (CBS) on west Belfast's Glen Road on Tuesday afternoon. Read More "Some children believed there was a shooting in the school," she said. "People started running from the scene and that caused more anxiety. Teachers were comforting distressed pupils and reassuring them that the school was not under attack and neither were they." A passer-by in the area at the time of the shooting said they were greeted by a scene of chaos and confusion. "No one knew what people were running from," they told this newspaper. "Once details started spreading down the road, little children were asking, 'Is it my daddy, is he okay?'" At the same time, teachers from St Mary's Christian Brother's School, which is close to CBS, were putting coats and cardigans over the windows of Mr Donegan's car to prevent children from seeing the father-of-two's lifeless body slumped over the wheel of his vehicle. The 43-year-old died instantly after a lone gunman approached his Porsche Panamera, which was parked outside St Mary's, and fired eight shots. Mr Donegan, who was waiting to collect his son, was hit in the chest and head. The 13-year-old missed the assassination of his father by just a few seconds. He was seen running back towards St Mary's before staff took him inside and attempted to console him. The head of CBS was forced to implemented the school's critical incident plan for the first time to spare her pupils from the traumatising scene. "It's something that we review regularly but hope to never use," Mrs Farrimond said. "We managed to calm the pupils down very quickly and reassure them that they were safe." The school re-opened yesterday, less than 48 hours after the murder took place in broad daylight, in order to reinforce the same message, Mrs Farrimond praised her "amazing" staff for helping to usher distraught students to safety. "I have to commend staff at St Mary's too," she added. "Our emergency plan fell into place perfectly, and how teachers responded across the road was amazing." Life resumed as normal yesterday morning as hundreds of pupils returned to the scene for the first time. Floral tributes served as the only visible reminder of the horror as children hopped off buses and out of cars in the morning rush hour. Inside the school, however, staff were all too aware of the consequences of the shocking murder. "We provided a safe environment for children to reflect on what happened and to talk about it," Mr Farrimond said. "Rather than having a big assembly, we extended form class in the morning. "But then we put our Christmas tree up and carried on as normal." Counselling will be offered to any member of staff or pupil who need it. Parents have also been instructed to take their children to a GP or an accident and emergency department if they have any concerns outside of school hours. Less than half a mile down the road from the scene of the shooting, the sound of children's laughter returned to the playground of St Teresa's Primary School. Many pupils from the school passed the area of the shooting as it happened. The mother of one pupil described how her nine-year-old daughter missed witnessing the it by just a few minutes. "Thankfully, her school finishes a bit earlier, so we managed to get on up the road," the relieved woman said. Many parents expressed similar thanks, including a mum-of-three who described how her 10-year-old son mistook the gunshots for tyres exploding. "I had only just heard about what had happened when he (her son) walked in the door," she explained. "The first thing I asked him was, 'Did you see anything?' "He said he heard tyres exploding. I couldn't bring myself to tell him what he had actually heard." The "disgusted" parent was eventually forced to have the "completely inappropriate" conversation with her son. "I tried to stop him from finding out, but how can you?" she asked. "He was in complete shock, but we were both just so thankful that he didn't see it. "It is absolutely disgusting what happened - nobody wants their child to witness something this horrific." The furious mum said she believed the revulsion felt by so many in the community meant that residents would be very willing to talk to the police. "Nobody wants their child murdered or (for their child) to have to watch someone else get murdered," she added. "We just want our streets to be safe." A local care-worker whose young daughter narrowly avoided witnessing the murder said elderly and vulnerable patients were left abandoned in the subsequent chaos, which brought traffic to a standstill. "Everything about this murder was shocking, but what happened after was awful too," she said. "I care for a lot of people in this area and I was unable to get anywhere near them. "I know that my colleagues experienced the same problem." Former First Minister Peter Robinson last night said that the codes and protocols governing the actions of Special Advisers to NI Executive Ministers had been "stretched to, and beyond, their limits." In a witness statement to the RHI inquiry released last night, Mr Robinson sought to explain how the Stormont Executive had to tread new ground and find its way as it operated a unique political system. "We plied our trade on the front-line of Northern Ireland politics; we functioned in a rough and inauspicious climate and we did not live our lives consulting a rule book at every moment," he said. "We were coping with extreme situations in a governmental system and structure unlike anything experienced elsewhere. "The parties moulded the Code to make it work effectively for them in the peculiar structures we operate," he said. The former DUP leader also called for greater clarity on the boundaries of Special Advisers' roles, and the manner of their appointment, if and when is restored. On the RHI scheme itself, the DUP grandee said there had clearly been failures at every level of the scheme. "In the normal gestation of any government decision it is expected that an error or omission made at one level will be caught and corrected at the next. "In the case of the RHI scheme it appears from the elements of your inquiry I have picked up that weaknesses in the project were missed at every level. "Consultants, civil servants, ministers, special advisors, senior officials and the Department's Assembly scrutiny committee. "In addition the wider Assembly interest seems to have been in favour of prolonging the defective scheme." The RHI team asked Mr Robinson about evidence given to the inquiry by top DUP Spads Timothy Johnston and Richard Bullick that in their view Mr Bell was not suitable to be appointed as a Minister. The former First Minister acknowledged that Mr Johnston had "expressed misgivings" about the potential appointment of Mr Bell, but added that Mr Bell was "not the only Minister or post-holder about whom I have known Mr Johnston to express similar comments - including others I have appointed". Giving his view of Mr Bell, the former First Minister said: "It is true to say Mr Bell was not the most popular member in the DUP's team, and might have been seen as an acquired taste, but that was never the telling factor in making an appointment. "Jonathan Bell has suitable academic qualifications and worthwhile life experience in his professional career. He had valuable know-how of carrying our Ministerial duties as a Junior Minister, and he was practiced at contributing at Executive meetings." Mr Robinson responded to a criticism from Spad Timothy Cairns, who had told the RHI inquiry that his (Cairns') appointment as a Spad to Jonathan Bell "defied logic". "As he was not in a position to know the factors which together provided the logic, as it applied to other Departments, he might have been better not setting himself up as the judge in such matters," Mr Robinson said. He was also asked about a key meeting on June 26, 2015, and the deteriorating working relationship between Mr Bell and Mr Cairns which had culminated in a public row in a restaurant. "It was a clear the air meeting so both Mr Bell and Mr Cairns had the opportunity to raise any matter they wished. Mr Johnston and I were carrying out an unofficial Mr Robinson said. "This is not to conclude that Mr Bell did not have a temper, it is to suggest that Mr Cairns never considered it to be of such a magnitude to merit making a formal complaint." The son of a man shockingly murdered outside a west Belfast school on Tuesday has paid tribute to his late father saying, he would "forever be my hero". Cris Donegan posted the tribute on social media after his dad Jim was gunned down outside St Mary's Grammar School on the Glen Road. Read More He posted a series of pictures of himself with his late father and wrote: "You'll never know just how proud I was to call you my daddy, you'll forever be my hero. Love you". The 43-year-old died instantly after a lone gunman approached his Porsche Panamera, which was parked outside St Mary's, and fired eight shots. Mr Donegan, who was waiting to collect his son, was hit in the chest and head. The 13-year-old missed the assassination of his father by just a few seconds. Also known as Jim and JD, he lived in the Lisburn area with his family. CCTV footage, released by police, shows his killer emerge from Clonelly Drive as he walked towards his target at around 3.10pm. Two men aged 49 and 51 arrested in connection with Mr Donegan's murder have been released unconditionally. A DUP special adviser has rejected an allegation that he said "we could fill our boots" because the Renewable Heat Incentive was funded by the Treasury in London. Civil servant Dr Andrew McCormick alleged the Spad made the remark at a dinner in 2016. DUP 'Spad' Dr Andrew Crawford said he hadn't attended the 2016 NI Food and Drink Association (NIFDA) dinner. But in a witness statement published last night, the RHI Inquiry team said they had found a YouTube video of the 2016 dinner and asked: "Do you still believe you were not at the 2016 NIFDA dinner?" Dr Crawford responded : "It appears I did, in fact, attend the 206 NIFDA dinner. "I did not remember having done so, and I am grateful to the inquiry for giving me the opportunity to correct the evidence in my last statement on the issue." But Dr Crawford maintains he did not say the words attributed to him by Dr McCormick. He said: "My evidence regarding the content of the conversation and in particular that I did not say 'I thought this was AME (annually managed expenditure) and we could fill our boots' remains. I am absolutely clear I did not say this." Sinn Fein has slammed the Conservatives after a former Tory cabinet minister urged the British government to threaten food shortages in a 'no deal' Brexit as leverage to force the Irish government to drops it commitment to a backstop. Conservative MP Priti Patel, a former international development secretary, suggested the move in order to secure a better Brexit deal from the EU. Sinn Fein MP Chris Hazzard said: This proposal from Priti Patel really exposes the Brexiteer attitude to Ireland as nothing more than a colonial irritant whose rights really shouldnt be taken into account. They know the history of the Irish famine and Britains role in it and the very fact that they would seek to inject that into the Brexit debate is crass and offensive. The Tories couldnt care less about the impact of their reckless Brexit agenda on the people and economy of Ireland. We are simply collateral damage. And this is precisely why we need a backstop; it is our only insurance policy against a hard border in Ireland and comments such as Priti Patels will only serve to reinforce the determination of those of us who are saying that the backstop is the bottom line. "It cannot and will not be abandoned or renegotiated. Ms Patel later tweeted her comments had been "taken out of context". It is clear my comments on No Deal have been taken out of context by some. We should go back to Brussels & get a better deal. There is still time. Lets take back control of borders, laws & money. Priti Patel (@pritipatel) December 7, 2018 The current Backstop, agreed by Theresa May's government with the European Union, would see Northern Ireland continue to be governed by EU rules regarding trade in order to prevent a hard border in the island of Ireland. The DUP, which is propping up the Conservative government, are vehemently opposed to the backstop, saying it would carve Northern Ireland out of the United Kingdom. Unionist parties have expressed outrage at the selection of former MP Barry McElduff for council elections. (Niall Carson/PA) Unionist parties in Northern Ireland have expressed outrage at the selection by Sinn Fein as a candidate of a former MP who was accused of mocking Troubles victims. Barry McElduff resigned his Westminster seat in January after it was claimed a video he posted on Twitter derided a 1976 atrocity in which 10 men were killed at Kingsmill. Read More The former West Tyrone representative apologised for causing upset but insisted the video in which he posed with a loaf of Kingsmill bread on his head was not directed at the victims of the atrocity. Expand Close The video posted by Barry McElduff (Barry McElduff/Twitter/PA) Press Association Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The video posted by Barry McElduff (Barry McElduff/Twitter/PA) He claimed he had not made the association with the bread, and had not known it was the anniversary of the shooting when he posted it. Republicans were blamed for the killing of the 10 Protestant men during the incident in Co Armagh, one of the most shocking of Northern Irelands Troubles. Expand Close The bullet-riddled minibus after the Kingsmill massacre (PA) PA Archive/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The bullet-riddled minibus after the Kingsmill massacre (PA) The posting of the video was investigated by the Police Service of Northern Ireland. However last month the Public Prosecution Service said it would not prosecute Mr McElduff over the video. On Thursday it emerged Mr McElduff had been selected by Sinn Fein as a candidate for next years council elections. Proud to be selected alongside Marty and Anne Marie tonight to go forward in Omagh Town for Sinn Fein in Council Elections 2019. pic.twitter.com/3CACFG0hTT Barry McElduff (@BarryMcElduff) December 6, 2018 Democratic Unionist MLA Thomas Buchanan accused Sinn Fein of a lack of respect towards victims. The decision of SF to ask Barry McElduff to stand for election does send a message to innocent victims about how little respect SF has for them, he said. Sinn Fein representatives like to talk about respect but they have failed consistently to show any respect for innocent victims of PIRA terrorism. Ulster Unionist councillor Chris Smyth said he was appalled by the decision to select Mr McElduff. Obviously it is a matter for Sinn Fein who they select as a candidate, but given the enormous hurt caused to victims of terrorism especially those bereaved in the Kingsmill massacre by Mr McElduffs previous antics, Sinn Fein know full well the impact that selecting him will have, he said. Sinn Fein have a large number of potential candidates they could have chosen, so to choose Mr McElduff is a very deliberate act. French police investigating the murder of Irish lecturer John Dowling were last night continuing to quiz a 37-year-old former student over the killing. The English language teacher was attacked and stabbed several times at the Pole Universitaire Leonard de Vinci on Wednesday. He had taught at the Parisian campus for almost 20 years and was due to retire in the coming months. Mr Dowling (66) was killed after allegedly being attacked by a former student at the college who was expelled last year. A 37-year-old Pakistani national was arrested in relation to the murder on Wednesday, and was being questioned by local police. Mr Dowling had worked in the Paris college since 1999, while also lecturing at the Emerald Cultural Institute in Rathgar, Dublin during the summer. He also had strong links to Donegal. A former student in Dublin described Mr Dowling as an "enthusiastic and captivating" teacher and "difficult to forget". In a Facebook post, the Dublin-based language school said: "It is with deep sadness that we have learned of the death of our beloved friend and colleague John Dowling. We will all miss him more than words can say." Students and staff at the Pole Universitaire Leonard de Vinci held a minute's silence while locations around the campus yesterday. O2 has said it is services have been restored (Steve Parsons/PA) Mobile network O2 says its services have been restored after a technical fault left millions of customers unable to get online. The company said it would be closely monitoring data services over the coming days and promised to carry out a review to understand what went wrong. British customers reported not being able to use mobile data to access the internet and the operators network on Thursday after disruption began at about 5am. On Thursday evening, O2 said 3G data service had started returning and was expected to be fully restored by 9.30pm, while the company reported at 3.30am on Friday that the 4G network had been restored. Our technical teams will continue to monitor service performance closely over the next few days to ensure we remain stable, a spokesman said. A review will be carried out with Ericsson to understand fully what happened. Wed like to thank our customers for their patience during the loss of service on Thursday 6 December and were sorry for any impact the issue may have caused. I want to reassure our customers that we are doing everything we can to fix the issue with our network and say how sorry I am to everyone affected. My teams are working really hard with Ericsson to find a swift resolution. Stay updated: https://t.co/TGw5OUurma Mark Evans (@MarkEvansO2) December 6, 2018 The company had earlier issued a joint apology with telecoms company Ericsson. O2 UK chief executive Mark Evans said: I want to let our customers know how sorry I am for the impact our network data issue has had on them. We fully appreciate its been a poor experience and we are really sorry. O2, which has more than 25 million UK customers, saw disruption to its network last for most of the day on Thursday. Other mobile networks, including Sky, Tesco and Giffgaff, were also affected by the problem because their networks use O2 services. Marielle Lindgren, chief executive of Ericsson UK and Ireland, said: The faulty software that has caused these issues is being decommissioned. She added: Ericsson sincerely apologises to customers for the inconvenience caused. The UK Government will not allow the Scottish Government to pay the settled status fee for public sector workers, Nicola Sturgeon said. The UK Government will not allow Holyrood ministers to pay 65 settled status fees for European citizens who are working in Scotlands public services, Nicola Sturgeon has said. The First Minister has already promised her government would pick up the cost for NHS staff and other public-sector workers who have come to live in Scotland from other parts of the European Union. But she told the Health and Social Care Scotland conference in Glasgow the UK Government will not allow third-party payments, thereby forcing EU citizens to pay it upfront. The Scottish Government will seek to reimburse these people afterwards. There are around 13,000 citizens from other EU nations currently working in health and social care in Scotland with this group making up 3.5% of the sectors overall workforce. In social care alone, some 7.3% of all registered nurses and 5.5% of all staff come from other European nations. The UK Gov must halt plans to charge EU citizens a fee for settling in the UK post-Brexit @NicolaSturgeon has said. The FM will raise concerns at todays Health and Social Care Scotland conference - the sector employs 13k EU nationals #hscs18 https://t.co/71RSqNxgmz pic.twitter.com/C0PsRcCnI1 First Minister (@ScotGovFM) December 7, 2018 Ms Sturgeon said the hostile environment the UK Government has created for migrants has already resulted in a drop of nurses from Europe applying to work in Scotland. She challenged politicians in Westminster to ditch the unacceptable settled status fee and instead value the doctors, nurses and carers working day in, day out to provide care in our times of need. The First Minister said: It is unacceptable that the UK Government insists on charging EU citizens, including children, a fee to apply for a status they are already entitled to. The Scottish Government is committed to paying the fee for EU citizens working in our devolved public services. However, the UK Government will not allow third-party payments, thereby forcing EU citizens to pay it up-front. Ms Sturgeon added: EU citizens working in our public services are crucial to their successful delivery. It is of great concern that the more barriers the UK Government places on enabling people to stay in the UK, the more people could be forced to leave. In Scotland we are already seeing a drop in applications from nurses from across the EU and that is hardly surprising given the hostile environment being created by UK Government policy. The UK Government has consistently failed to deliver a suitable migration policy for Scotland. Instead of forcing charges upon EU citizens, the UK Government should value the doctors, nurses and carers working day in, day out to provide care in our times of need, and drop the settled status fee. A Home Office spokesman said: The EU Settlement Scheme will make it simple and straightforward for EU citizens to get the status they need. It is a matter for individual employers to decide whether they wish to pay the EU Settlement Scheme fee on behalf of an applicant. The cost of applying to the scheme is less than the cost of renewing a British passport, and EU citizens have until June 2021 to apply. President Donald Trump has started what is expected to be a busy day for special counsel Robert Muellers Russia investigation by launching a Twitter broadside against the prosecutor and his team. Mr Mueller faces court deadlines in two pivotal cases on Friday, and ex-FBI Director James Comey is set to appear before politicians on Capitol Hill. Mr Trump has made little secret of his frustration with the swirling probe into Russian election interference and potential misdeeds committed by those in his orbit and is seeking to undermine the legitimacy of Mr Muellers investigation. Mr Trump tweeted: Robert Mueller and Leakin Lyin James Comey are Best Friends, just one of many Mueller Conflicts of Interest. Mr Muellers investigation has produced dozens of criminal charges and four guilty pleas from Trump associates. Mr Trump also argues his deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein, is totally conflicted. Mr Rosenstein oversaw the probe until last month. A Ukrainian serviceman stands on board a coast guard ship in the Sea of Azov (Evegeniy Maloletka/AP) Ukraines defence ministry has warned Russia it will soon send navy ships through the Kerch Strait where Russia fired on and seized three Ukrainian vessels two weeks ago. The announcement sets up another possible flashpoint in the long-simmering conflict between Russia and Ukraine that erupted in 2014 with Russias annexation of the Crimean peninsula burst into the open on November 25 when Russian border guards opened fire on three Ukrainian navy vessels that were moving through the Kerch Strait near Crimea and seized the ships and their crews. Ukraine responded by introducing martial law for 30 days, a measure Kiev did not take even after Crimeas annexation and amid large-scale fighting between Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed separatists in 2014-2015. Expand Close A woman with her child walks in the harbour of Mariupol, in the Sea of Azov, eastern Ukraine (Evngeniy Maloletka/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A woman with her child walks in the harbour of Mariupol, in the Sea of Azov, eastern Ukraine (Evngeniy Maloletka/AP) As part of martial law, Ukraine has beefed up its forces on the border with Russia and called up reservists for training. Ukrainian defence minister Stepan Poltorak told reporters on Friday that his country intends to send naval ships through the Kerch Strait soon, saying that otherwise Russia will fully occupy the Sea of Azov. Ukraine has ports both on the Black Sea and on the Sea of Azov which are linked by the Kerch Strait that separates Crimea from Russia. More than 140 ships were stuck on both sides of the strait on Friday due to excessive checks and delays on the Russian side, the Ukrainian Border Guard Service said, accusing Russia of creating a bottleneck for Ukrainian ships and preventing them from passing. Expand Close Harbour cranes are seen in Mariupol trade port in Ukraine (Efrem Lukatsky/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Harbour cranes are seen in Mariupol trade port in Ukraine (Efrem Lukatsky/AP) Speaking in Rome at a ministerial meeting of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov brushed off suggestions Russia could release or exchange the 24 Ukrainian seamen captured in last months maritime confrontation. Mr Lavrov said it was too early to speak about any offers of a prisoner swap until Russias investigation of the incident is completed and the servicemen are put on trial for violating the Russian border. Mr Lavrov also reacted to a suggestion by German foreign minister Heiko Maas to expand the Osce monitoring mission to the Sea of Azov, saying that Russia has no need for any intermediaries or monitors in the area. Expand Close Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov (Martial Trezzini/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov (Martial Trezzini/AP) Russian ombudswoman Tatyana Moskalkova told Russian news agencies that she visited three Ukrainian seamen who were injured in the incident and are being held in a Moscow prison hospital. Ms Moskalkova said she spoke to the men and got the impression that the crew were not aware that they were committing a crime. Meanwhile, a court in Crimea on Friday jailed for five days lawyer Emil Kurbedinov, who represents the commander of one of the Ukrainian ships. The court found Kurbedinov guilty of spreading extremist material in a social media post he made in 2013. The murder at the school gates in west Belfast reveals, yet again, the brutal violence and lawlessness that lies just below the surface in Northern Ireland. This is not a normal place, and we are not a normal people. We live in a society where mothers bring their sons to paramilitaries to be shot in the legs, because the alternative is even more dreadful. We live in a society where a father, sitting in his car waiting to collect his young son from school, can be murdered in front of hundreds of children. A school at picking-up time is meant to be a safe, cheerful place. Instead, people described the frantic efforts of teachers to throw coats over the windscreen of Jim Donegan's car to shield children from the unimaginably appalling sight of his bullet-riddled body. It was still visible to youngsters through the shattered driver's window. In the chaos, many children were left stranded because their parents were not able to get near the school, which must have redoubled their fear and confusion. One autistic child was left literally speechless. Counselling and support will be made available to them, of course, but what will be the long-term effect on the children, their parents, and their teachers, who were forced to bear witness to this horrific act and its aftermath? What will it do to Mr Donegan's son - aged about 13 and just on the cusp of adolescence - who fled screaming into the school after his father was shot? What will it do to his wife, Laura, and his younger son, both of them left clinging to each other and sobbing uncontrollably? We know a great deal more about trauma today than we did during the long years of the Troubles. The enduring pain of victims has always been clear, of course, but now we have learned in precise detail what terrible harm trauma can wreak on a human life. It can even be mapped on brain scans. Dr Bessel Van Der Kolk is one of the world's foremost experts on traumatic stress. In his definitive book, The Body Keeps the Score, Van Der Kolk explains how trauma "changes not only how we think and what we think about, but also our very capacity to think". He says that trauma is "not just an event that took place sometime in the past; it is also the imprint left by that experience on mind, brain and body". Trauma can drain people of joy, purpose and spontaneity. It can make them sick, or dependent on drugs and alcohol. It can leave them feeling radically unsafe, with jittery, hyper-vigilant bodies, unconsciously primed to react to the next catastrophe they feel is always imminent. Such people may know, rationally, that whatever befell them is unlikely to happen again, but the deep part of the brain which governs the survival instinct doesn't know that, and so they get stuck in a state of perpetual underlying fear. Any trigger, however small - even a certain smell or sound - can set them off, like a hyper-sensitive smoke alarm, and catapult them straight back to the source of the original trauma. As Van Der Kolk observes, traumatic experiences leave traces on histories, cultures and families, as the after-effects pass down through the generations. Northern Ireland is surely an obvious case in point. Killing fathers in front of their children is far from unknown here. Only last year, Colin Horner was shot in front of his three-year-old son in Bangor, the victim of a loyalist paramilitary feud. Not even school-age, this boy was exposed to the worst depravity that human beings can wreak on each other, something that nobody - certainly not a tiny child - should ever have to see. Who does that? Who commits murder, let alone murder in full view of children? What kind of diabolical, pitiless psychopath would you have to be? By intervening so viciously and callously not just in the lives of the Donegan family, but in the lives of the children who were innocent witnesses, the gunman is guilty not only of murder, but of mass child abuse. He can walk away and return to his own life until the day, which can't come soon enough, when he is caught, prosecuted and called to account for his abominable actions. Mr Donegan himself is past all help now. The people who will bear the scars of pain, horror and fear, for many years to come, are his family and the scores of youngsters whose childhoods ended on Tuesday, after school. There are three principal things known about Freddie Scappaticci. The first is that he tortured and murdered alleged informers in the name of the Provisional IRA when he was the feared head of its so-called "nutting squad". The second is that he was subsequently outed as the British security services' longest-serving asset inside the IRA, known by the codename "Stakeknife" (though he's always denied that allegation). As of this week, the final thing known about Scappaticci is that he has been convicted in a court in England on two sample counts of accessing what reports describe as "extreme pornography" on his computer. The former west Belfast resident - now 72 - admitted the charges and was sentenced at Westminster Magistrates' Court to three months custody, suspended for 12 months. It says a lot about the movement which gave a prized place to such a disturbed individual for the best part of his life that the last two facts are considered shameful by his erstwhile colleagues, while the first, and most appalling, is shrugged off as a mere detail. What's more remarkable is that anyone is remotely taken aback by this development. Sergey Nechayev, the 19th-century Russian nihilist, wrote a Catechism of the Revolutionary, in which he describes his template for the ideal terrorist: "All the tender and effeminate emotions of kinship, friendship, love, gratitude and even honour must be stilled in him by a cold and single-blooded passion." Freddie Scappaticci was such a man. Nor, terrifyingly, was he unique among his comrades. Not everyone who joined the IRA during the Troubles was a certifiable sociopath. Many, cocooned from the horrors they were committing by revolutionary ardour, genuinely thought of themselves as soldiers doing their duty. How that stupidity survived multiple atrocities is a mystery, but that's how they saw their actions. Only a sub-section of volunteers were actual monsters beyond redemption. It would be naive beyond belief, however, to deny that terrorism has always provided the perfect cover for sociopaths - devoid of guilt and with no empathy for other people's feelings - to perpetrate acts of base savagery. The paranoid secrecy of their world subsequently allowed those perversions to grow and fester, like mushrooms in a dank cellar. Men like Scappaticci ceased, on some profound level, to be human. Killing nameless, faceless representatives of the enemy is one thing, but he deceived and murdered his own friends and neighbours and has been directly linked to at least 18 murders. That's more than the acknowledged crimes of the Yorkshire Ripper. Like the Shankill Butchers, Scappaticci was a textbook serial killer, whose deviance was allowed to continue unabated, because it had the imprimatur of a political ideology. These latest charges relate to at least 329 pornographic images, accessed on 13 separate occasions between late-2015 and January of this year. The pictures included images of bestiality, though he denied to police that he had a sexual interest in animals, saying, with pathetic and almost childish self-justification, that he preferred women with big breasts. It's this bizarre aspect of the case which seems to have provoked most comment, some of it ribald, since news of his conviction broke. But if a man can do what the "nutting squad" allegedly did to victims' bodies, then accessing extreme pornography is not only unsurprising. It might even be considered a predictable piece of the jigsaw puzzle. The blurring of the line between violence and sex is too well-documented to ignore. American poet and feminist Robin Morgan once wrote a book called The Demon Lover, originally subtitled On The Sexuality Of Terrorism. She overstated her case a little by trying to show that terrorism is the logical outcome of a patriarchal society, but her underlying argument remains compelling. In her eyes, terrorism is the "eroticisation of violence" and the terrorist "emanates sexual power, because he represents obliteration, he excites the thrill of fear". Maybe that's just a fancy way of saying that terrorists share with sexual abusers a relish for doing unspeakable things to human flesh. Either way, recent revelations about the IRA's systemic rape of women and sexual abuse of children and teenagers and Sinn Fein's intimate role in covering it up have only confirmed that, where violent men get together and are given permission to indulge their worst instincts, sexual exploitation will inevitably follow. Some of that rot went right to the apex of the movement, not least in the case of Liam, brother of Gerry Adams, whose name was synonymous with republicanism for decades. Morally speaking, pornography is not such a black-and-white issue; no form of it is entirely free of damage, but there are gradations of victimisation involved. In some jurisdictions, Scappaticci's internet searches would not even be illegal. Criminalising people just for looking at pictures can also be problematic. But when it comes to men belonging to organisations which legitimise both violence and sexual deviance, their acts can best be seen as a seamless robe of toxic entitlement. Freddie Scappaticci allegedly told police that his interest in extreme pornography was "not doing anyone any real harm" and that belief is widely held among men who use the power which they have in other parts of their lives to get easy access to women. There were plenty of groupies on the fringes of the republican movement ready and willing to validate that view by offering their sexual services to brutes; some women will always be attracted to what Robin Morgan calls the "outlaw male". Scappaticci is simply doing in retirement, in his later years, what he was assured as a younger, more vigorous man, was his right as an alpha male. If he wanted something, he got it. People never said no to men like him. Not if they knew what was good for them. Women on a laptop screen don't have the right to say no, either. Animals certainly don't. Thinking other bodies are there to serve one's own needs - to abuse, or torture, or kill - is the psychological default setting of the terrorist. His excuse to police was that he only looked up obscene images of bestiality because he was suicidal and depressed, though other sources say his interest in pornography was long-established; fellow inmates in the Maze have also spoken of his overbearing egotism. His behaviour seems consistent with the man, rather than a digression from the norm. Whatever the reality, it's intriguing that his former handlers in British Intelligence have exposed him to public shame in this undoubtedly dramatic way. Is something else going on here that we don't know about yet? Or will it be that, like most elements of our so-called "dirty war", we'll never be told the whole truth? God is still in the miracle working business. Actor Kevin Sorbo and his wife Sam Sorbo are giving all praise to God, thankful that their home remained unharmed during the recent California wildfires. We survived the fires and our house is intact, even though the fire approached and got very close, Sam Sorbo said in a recent PureFlix.com video. Kevin Sorbo shared that the flames came just within three feet of their home but then the blaze mysteriously stopped short of the house. Why it stopped, I dont know, he said. Its a miracle. Unfortunately, the fire destroyed homes on the Sorbos street, including a home that was right next to theirs. Kevin is urging those to continue to pray for those impacted by the wildfires. They are also thankful for all those who have prayed for their safety and protection. Kevin and Sam Sorbo are not the only actors whose house was spared from the fires. Brenda Epperson posted several facebook videos about how the deadly California fire miraculously stopped at the border of her property after praying Psalm 91. I just kept praying Psalms 91 over our home, whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the mighty shadow. I will say of the Lord he is my refuge and my God in whom I trust. Surely, He will save you from the fowlers snare and the deadly pestilence. A thousand may fall at your side, tend thousand at your right hand but it will not come near you. While the actress neighborhood was scorched, her property was unharmed. To God be the glory! Indonesian soldiers and police officers carry the bodies of victims of a massacre by suspected separatist rebels in Papua province, Dec. 7, 2018. President Joko Jokowi Widodos government has often argued that far eastern Papua province was long neglected, while officials pushed for a massive infrastructure strategy to connect the jungle-covered region as a way to winning the hearts and minds of locals. Now, that thinking is being questioned after separatist rebels attacked workers who were building roads and bridges in Nduga regency as part of the Trans-Papua Highway project, killing at least 20 people, including a soldier on Dec. 2. The killings, whose details remain sketchy, represented the single most-serious attack by the separatist rebels in many years. I dont think Jokowi asked the West Papuans what they wanted, which was a mistake, said Damien Kingsbury, a professor at Australias Deakin University who specializes in politics and security in Southeast Asia. Had he done so, they would probably have answered they do not want their environment destroyed by new roads and bridges, or the influx of outsiders that implies, he told BenarNews. Jokowis approach to Papua had failed after the government reneged on its promise to open up Papua to outsiders, including to foreign journalists, according to Kingsbury. The Trans-Papua Highway stretches more than 4,300 km (2,687 miles) from Sorong, the largest city in West Papua province, to Merauke regency, and is scheduled to be completed in 2019, a presidential election year. It is part of the Jokowi administrations drive to improve infrastructure in the Papua region, where road networks are limited. In response to the killings, authorities have sent more about 300 police and soldiers to Nduga to hunt the suspects. A defiant Jokowi has vowed to go ahead with the infrastructure projects in Papua despite the setback. We will never be afraid. This (attack) has only strengthened our resolve to carry on with our great task of developing the land of Papua, he told reporters at the State Palace in Jakarta on Wednesday. Theres no place for armed criminal groups in Papua and throughout the country. Papua is one of the archipelagos poorest regions despite its rich natural resources. The area where the violence took place was at about 1,500 meters (about 5,000 feet) above sea level. Jokowi has visited Papua at least eight times since taking office in 2014, a sign that he is paying close attention to the countrys easternmost region. He has repeatedly emphasized that lower transportation costs due to better infrastructure will make things more affordable in Papua, which makes up the western half of the island of New Guinea. While his attention has been appreciated, Jokowi has also been accused of having a poor attitude to human rights abuses and state violence in the region, Arie Ruhyanto, a doctoral researcher at the University of Birmingham, said in a piece published on Conversation.com on Wednesday. Jokowi has also focused on developing security, deploying thousands of additional soldiers to the region, he said. Although aimed at strengthening national defence, there are ongoing concerns about human rights abuses in the region. Rebels reject infrastructure projects In a phone interview with BenarNews on Wednesday, Sebby Sanbom, a spokesman for the West Papuan National Liberation Army (TPNPB), the military wing of the Free Papua Movement, made it clear that the separatist group rejected the governments infrastructure projects. This attack is a message to the colonial government of Indonesia that we are fighting for the freedom of the West Papua Republic. We are not asking for the Trans-Papua roads or other development, Sebby said. Sebby has said that those killed during what he described as an exchange of fire were not civilian workers, but soldiers from the armys engineering detachment. He said the group that carried out the attack was led by Egianus Kogoya, the local leader of TPNPB. On Thursday, Sebby told the Jawa Pos news website that the insurgent group had 29 regional commands and 2,500 personnel. He described the separatist army as world class. They (the Indonesian military) may have more personnel, but nature is with us. Forests and valleys are with us and we will not surrender, Sebby told Jawa Pos. In a phone interview with the Associated Press on Friday, Sebby demanded that the government hold negotiations on self-determination, and he warned of more conflicts . Trans-Papua road projects are being carried out by Indonesian military and that is a risk they must bear, Sebby said. We want them to know that we dont need development, what we want is independence. Guerrillas from the West Papuan National Liberation Army (TPNPB), the military wing of the Free Papua Movement, stand in formation in Indonesias Papua province, in this photo provided by the groups spokesman, Sebby Sembom, January 2018. A self-motivated faction Kingsbury, the Australian university professor, said attacks such as the one on Dec. 2 were easy to pull off. Its not hard for the rebels to obtain weapons, with even members of the security forces contributing to the black market in their sale. An attack such as this takes minimal planning, he said. Kingsbury said the group responsible for the attack appeared to be a self-motivated faction that supported the TPNPB but was not under its direction or control. Meanwhile, there are fears that the security forces could respond disproportionately to the killings, which could lead to more human rights abuses, analysts said. Any security and law-enforcement operation must be conducted proportionally and must not lead to casualties among civilians, said Al Araf, executive director of Imparsial, a Jakarta-based human rights watchdog. Al Araf said focusing on the economy while neglecting other issues was a mistaken approach. The economic gap is not the only factor, there are also the historical aspects, human rights violations that have never been resolved and the marginalization of the Papuans, he told BenarNews. Development is important, but the government needs to adopt an approach that is more inclusive and give Papuans a leading role to find solutions, Al Araf said. The killings occurred after police arrested more than 500 activists in rallies across Indonesia on Dec. 1, the date regarded by most Papuans as their independence day from the Dutch. Papua declared its independence from rule by the Netherlands on Dec. 1, 1961, but it was rejected by the Dutch and later by Indonesia. In 1963, Indonesian forces invaded the region and annexed it following a contentious referendum in 1969. During the plebiscite, according to rights groups, security forces selected only more than a thousand people to agree to the regions formal absorption into the archipelagic nation. Public Works Minister Basuki Hadimuljono defended the construction work on the Trans-Papua highway, saying ordinary Papuans supported it. The project has been communicated well to the local people, he said. Residents supported it and even told us that they would guarantee the security. Indonesia has proposed a series of new projects for Chinese investment as the sprawling Southeast Asian nation looks to boost its participation in Beijings One Belt, One Road international expansion program, a senior official said Friday. The new projects would include power plants as well as industrial parks with manufacturing facilities on the major islands of Sumatra, Sulawesi and Bali as well as Kalimantan, the Indonesian portion of Borneo. The projects could be valued at as much as U.S. $60 billion (872 trillion rupiah), said Ridwan Djamaluddin, a deputy minister at the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs. This is not only part of One Belt, One Road, but part of Indonesias vision to be the global maritime fulcrum, he told BenarNews without providing details, noting that the new proposals were currently in the discussion stages. Iwan Unsi, deputy director of the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM), said Indonesia welcomed the prospect of increasing the size of Chinese investments in infrastructure projects, which already run in the 11-figure range in dollar terms. The projects are very significant because they concern electricity, energy and infrastructure, especially in four provinces North Sumatra, Kalimantan North, North Sulawesi and Bali, Iwan told BenarNews without elaborating. Previously, Indonesian and Chinese officials agreed to construct a high-speed passenger train and power plants as part of One Belt, One Road (OBOR). President Joko Jokowi Widodo, who is seeking re-election in April 2019, has embraced Chinese investment as he set upgrading his countrys infrastructure as a first-term priority. Prabowo Subianto, Jokowis opponent in the upcoming election, has stated that he would pursue close relationships with both China and the United States, if elected president. However, in October, aides to Prabowo said Indonesia might also reconsider China-backed infrastructure projects should he take over as president next year. Last year, Jokowi attended a two-day One Belt, One Road forum in China where Beijing laid out its plans to invest more than $1 trillion as part of its strategy of building a network of ports, roads and railways stretching through Southeast Asia, South Asia and beyond. A Maritime Silk Road is part of Chinas plan to boost its global trading links by developing overland and maritime routes connecting the worlds most populous nation to markets in Europe. Railway project delayed The railway linking the city of Bandung in West Java and the capital Jakarta, which has seen projected costs rise to $5.9 billion (85.6 trillion rupiah), is being constructed by a consortium led by China Railway International, according to information from the Indonesian governments National Investment Coordination Board. Jokowi launched the project in early 2016 to much fanfare but construction was delayed for about two years. Bank Central Asia economist David Sumual acknowledged that several projects funded by China, including the Jakarta-Bandung high speed train, have faced obstacles and delays, but said Beijing was largely not to blame. The obstacles are not with China but in Indonesia because of land acquisition issues. Speeding up land acquisition remains our homework, he told BenarNews. Previously approved projects involving China include a hydroelectric project in North Kalimantan located in the Indonesian section of Borneo estimated to cost $25 billion (363 trillion rupiah) and a series of coal-fired power plants estimated to cost $12 billion (174 trillion rupiah). In addition to China, Indonesia is seeking investments from European countries and the United States, Sumual said. To make that happen, the government has offered tax-exempt facilities to attract foreign investors. Another economist said Indonesias efforts to attract Chinese investments were to be expected even though she warned against moving forward on the passenger rail project. It is only natural if Indonesia is now oriented toward China because China is one of the worlds largest economies, said Enny Sri Hartati, an economist from the Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (INDEF). China is the number 2 export destination for Indonesia, but most of our exports are limited to commodities, she told BenarNews. Any investment should increase added value for our products. Enny suggested that Indonesia focus on cargo delivery over passengers. What Indonesia needs now is infrastructure to improve the mobility of goods, so as to reduce logistics costs, she said. Trading partners Sino-Indonesian trade grew nearly tenfold from 2003 to 2010 alone, when the volume reached $36.1 billion (524 trillion rupiah), according to the International Institute for Sustainable Development, a Canada-based independent think-tank. Last year, bilateral trade totalled $58.8 billion (853 trillion rupiah), with the balance favoring China. In 2017, Indonesia imported Chinese goods, mostly electronics, valued at about $35.7 billion (518 trillion rupiah), and it exported $23.1 billion (335.5 trillion rupiah) in goods to China, according to official figures. Indonesia sent its trading partner mostly coal briquettes, steel and palm oil. The Chinese-driven OBOR project represents an opportunity for Indonesia, said Lana Soelistyaningsih, an economist at the University of Indonesia. Today there are not many countries that are bilaterally willing to give project loans like China is doing. What we need now is money. China has it and is ready with the capital, Lana told BenarNews. Now the choice is up to the government. If you only see the negatives, the government will not be able to move. But if the negative aspects can be mitigated, its fine, she said. In an interview with Reuters this week, Djamaluddin, the deputy Indonesian minister, conceded that his government needed to watch out for a potential scenario where China could attach strings to loans associated with Indonesian projects. We are fully aware that we must not let this cooperation end badly, Djamaluddin told Reuters. Other countries have been forced to pay back loans and some have let go of their assets. We dont want that. Apollo Hospitals Group honoured for Medical Value Travel in 5 categories across specialties. Apollo Hospitals Group, Indias first multispecialty chain of hospitals was recognized for its outstanding contribution to Medical Value Travel at the recently concluded Medical Value Travel Awards held at the 4th International Summit on Medical Value Travel in Delhi. Four hospitals of the Group won laurels for their excellence in providing Medical Value Travel across specializations. The awards recognizing the units as Medical Value Travel Specialist Hospitals across various specialties were conferred upon the group by Satyajit Rajan, Director General, Ministry of Tourism. While Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals Delhi was recognized for excellence in Liver and Kidney transplants, Apollo Health City, Hyderabad won the award for excellence in Cardiac Surgery. Apollo Cancer Institute, Chennai and Apollo Hospitals, Ahmedabad bagged awards for excellence in Oncology. Dr. Prathap C Reddy, Founder Chairman, Apollo Hospitals Group said, It is a matter of honor that that four of our healthcare units have been recognized for their excellence in Medical Value Travel. India has medical expertise and potential that is at part with standards in developed countries. At Apollo, we have always endeavored to provide world-class care with cutting edge technology to patients, but at a tenth of the cost of the same abroad. This has allowed us to extend the best quality of healthcare to people across the globe and today, we proudly receive patients from over 120 countries. The Advantage Healthcare India Summit is an avenue for healthcare collaborations between participating countries. The conference attracted more than 400 delegates from 50+ countries and witnessed participation from leading healthcare players including hospitals, insurers, healthcare facilitators, medical value travel companies etc. Welcome Guest! You Are Here: Depressed Man Who Shot Himself Gets A Face Transplant Life oi-Syeda Farah Noor Some people are born lucky as they get a second chance to live. This is one such case of a lucky man who had tried killing himself with a gunshot and was left with a disfigured face and with a face transplant he plans on getting back to a normal life. Check out the details of this unique case of a man who was depressed and one silly decision of ending his life that changed his entire life! The story of the man who got a face transplant. The Depressed Man Cameron Underwood woke up with most of his face being destroyed. From nose, jaw, and teeth it was all destroyed by a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He shot himself while he was battling with depression. He Can Smile Again Underwood's struggle with coping up with the deformed face was harder, and the medics had been trying to get the man's face back with multiple surgeries. All thanks to a 25-hour face transplant operation he can once again smile, eat, and speak. Cameron Underwoods Mother Had Registered Him At A Face Transplant Unit When doctors told Cameron Underwood's mother he might not survive, he proved them wrong; his mother knew he was a fighter and to help him in his recovery she got him registered at a Face Transplant Unit at NYU Langone Medical Center. About The Donor After months of wait, they got a call from the hospital and were informed about a donor named Will Fisher. Will Fisher was a registered donor and he was 'a budding New York City writer and a filmmaker' who studied at Johns Hopkins University. He had died after he had a battle with mental illness. The Surgery Was A Success The 25-hour face transplant operation was a great success as Cameron had a mouth and teeth again. However, it had taken some time for him to adjust to the new face and facial motions and expressions. Cameron Is A Happy Man Now Now Cameron is quite happy that he does not have to wear a mask all the time as he can lead a regular life without wearing a mask. He looks forward to leading a new life and also claims that he does not miss his old face. What do you think of this case? Share your thoughts in the comment section below. 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 MIDLAND, Texas, Dec. 6, 2018 MIDLAND, Texas, Dec. 6, 2018 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Designed by Kirksey Architecture and managed by ADAMS, the project consists of approximately 70,000 square feet of office space to accommodate the company's organizational growth, along with other amenities including an early childhood learning center, cafeteria, fitness center, additional meeting space and a health clinic. Larger amenities such as the cafeteria and meeting space will offer staff opportunities to collaborate and hold larger meetings. "At Apache, our employees are our greatest asset," said Senior Region Vice President for Apache, Faron Thibodeaux. "We are excited to open our new Midland building an investment in our employees and their families with benefits such as an early child learning center and health clinic right here on our property." "Working alongside ADAMS to see this project come to life has been a great privilege," said Corbett Nichter, Regional President with AP. "We are pleased about what this new facility means for Apache and the city of Midland. I am proud of the strong commitment from our team to deliver a state-of-the-art facility." Construction has been underway since July 2017. About Adolfson & Peterson Construction Adolfson & Peterson Construction (AP) is a U.S.-based, privately held builder that is consistently ranked among the top 50 construction managers and general contractors in the nation. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the company delivers innovative and collaborative building solutions for clients across the country from its regional offices in Dallas, Denver, Minneapolis and Phoenix. Founded in 1946, AP serves clients in the education, healthcare, commercial, municipal, multifamily, hospitality and senior living market sectors. For more information, visit http://www.a-p.com or follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. About Apache Apache Corporation is an oil and gas exploration and production company with operations in the United States, Egypt and the United Kingdom. Apache posts announcements, operational updates, investor information and press releases on its website, http://www.apachecorp.com, and on its Media and Investor Center mobile application, which is available for free download from the Apple App Store and the Google's Play store. About Adams Established in 1986, ADAMS is an independent, objective consulting and program management firm exclusively focused on capital project planning and delivery. ADAMS has built a reputation on providing the highest quality services, and to date has completed over 500 programs, 18 million square feet and approximately $10 billion in capital programs. For more information, visit http://www.adamspmc.com. Kirksey Architecture Specializing in sustainable architecture, interior design, master planning, and LEED services, Kirksey designs high-performance, healthy buildings for all of our clients. Kirksey is organized into focused practice groupsCommercial, Community, Collegiate, Prek-12, Healthcare, Hospitality, Interior Architecture, Renovation, Brand Integration, and Science & Technology each supported by departments of Design, EcoServices, Information Technology and Marketing. For more information, visit http://www.kirksey.com. SOURCE Adolfson & Peterson, Inc. PR Newswire NASHVILLE, TN, Dec. 6, 2018 NASHVILLE, TN, Dec. 6, 2018 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- There's a reason why Dave Romero and Chad Little of Midwest Meets Manhattan might look a little familiar. The Americana-Rock duo is a reboot of their former group, CO3, which found significant success in the Christian market a decade ago with their remarkably rich harmonies and signature pop-country sound. 2018 found Dave and Chad reunited and creating new music, with producer Sal Oliveri (Parmalee) at the helm. The first two singles, "Restored" and "The Place," are available now at all digital platforms (iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, etc.) from Ethos Music. The duo first teamed up in 2001, when a chance meeting at a small Oklahoma coffee shop found them trading songs on their guitars. Dave was an established worship leader and Chad spent a considerable amount of time as lead guitarist, band leader and songwriter for Carrie Underwood, prior to her worldwide launch on American Idol. "Dave just started playing worship songs that I didn't even know," recalls Chad. "But I picked up the harmonies and by the end of the night, we both knew that something pretty cool was happening." Before long, they were writing and recording, performing wherever they could, and they launched their own recording studio. A chance meeting in Nashville with producer Rick Lloyd (Third Day) led to sessions with some of Nashville's top studio musicians, and CO3 was born. With a worldwide distribution deal in place, the duo's own Flagship Records released their debut album, Determined, which garnered two Top 20 singles. With a promotional team to rival major labels, they embarked on a non-stop promotional tour of North America, filled with in-store appearances, radio visits, and television appearances from coast-to-coast. Even the mainstream media took notice, with CMT's Chet Flippo declaring, "If Tim McGraw or Kenny Chesney were singing Christian music, this is what it might sound like.... Bravo." But the road eventually took a toll, and the guys eventually returned to other passions, and desired more time with their young families. Over the next decade, Dave would build Tru Church in Manhattan, Kansas, while Chad founded Ethos Custom Brands, a high-end leather goods company based in Sallisaw, Oklahoma. But by the fall of 2015, music was calling again. Dave and Chad began to think about a potential reboot and in 2017, they sang together for the first time in nearly a decade. It was like they had never stopped. Dave and Chad are currently in the studio recording new music, with additional singles to be released in early 2019. For more information, visit http://www.midwestmeetsmanhattan.com. SOURCE Midwest Meets Manhattan Canada NewsWire MONTREAL, Dec. 7, 2018 MONTREAL, Dec. 7, 2018 /CNW/ - Canada's First Ministers met today to discuss ways to strengthen economic growth and create jobs for the middle class by diversifying Canada's international trade, promoting clean growth, and strengthening trade between provinces and territories. Following the meeting, First Ministers issued the following joint communique: "Today First Ministers discussed ways to collaborate to help grow the economy and protect the environment, reduce red-tape, create opportunities for small and medium-sized business, and improve the everyday lives of Canadians. First Ministers discussed the need to diversify trade and the importance of working together to strengthen alignment of federal, provincial and territorial measures to create jobs. First Ministers agreed to continue to work together to develop complementary initiatives to strengthen the competitiveness of the Canadian economy and to help businesses grow. First Ministers discussed how the new North American Free Trade Agreement will create jobs, strengthen economic ties, and expand Canada's trade in North America. First Ministers agreed on the need to resolve the question of softwood lumber and steel and aluminum tariffs, and to ensure that the federal government supports and fully compensates the supply managed sector. As First Ministers, we have agreed to collaborate on ways to promote clean growth while growing the economy. As a next step, First Ministers agreed to lead a discussion on the development of a framework for a clean electric future, including hydroelectricity, aimed at using clean, reliable and affordable electricity and to promote access to domestic and international markets. First Ministers also agreed on the necessity to ensure all projects have social responsibility and are supported by a science-based process. First Ministers also agreed on the importance of getting remote communities off diesel. First Ministers agreed that interested jurisdictions could explore opportunities for utility corridors in Canada. First Ministers discussed the challenges facing Canada's energy sector. They noted that the current price discount on energy products costs the Canadian economy tens of billions of dollars and therefore there should be a focus on addressing the problem. All governments support the goal of ensuring that every barrel of Canadian oil gets its full value and that we support jobs and families impacted by the price differential. First Ministers agree that the federal government needs to invest in short-term support for energy sectors impacted by the differential, medium-term efforts to get energy products to market, and long-term efforts to build energy infrastructure that will expand markets and that will reduce the cost of shipping. A clean and healthy environment is an objective shared by all First Ministers. First Ministers expressed a difference of opinion on Canada's approach to putting a price on pollution. First Ministers also agreed to share information and work collaboratively to ensure that the implementation of proposed changes to how major projects are assessed respect provincial, territorial and federal jurisdiction and strive for the goal of "one project, one review." First Ministers also agreed that continued collaboration and meaningful engagement is important, including on supporting regulations and policies, to support business certainty and to ensure that good projects go forward in a clear, timely and transparent process. First Ministers also agreed on the importance of strengthening trade between provinces and territories in order to foster economic growth and improve the everyday lives of Canadians. As First Ministers, we agreed to accelerate work to address domestic barriers to trade that increase business costs and impose needless burden on Canadian firms. The Canadian Free Trade Agreement came into force in July 2017. Since that time, we have taken important steps to ensure that the Agreement reduces barriers to the free movement of persons, goods, services and investments within Canada. Today, we are committing to take bold steps to further strengthen Canada's economic union. Specifically, we have agreed to: Trade within Canada creates jobs, helps Canadian businesses expand, and increases economic growth across the country. We have the opportunity to protect Canada against the uncertainties of the global economy and work together to have a real and positive impact on the competitiveness of Canadian businesses and the everyday lives of Canadians." This document is also available at https://pm.gc.ca/ SOURCE Prime Minister's Office PR Newswire BEIJING, Dec. 6, 2018 BEIJING, Dec. 6, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Forum on China's comprehensive building of a well-off society", sponsored by the China Information Industry Association and hosted by the Credit Committee of China Information Industry Association and Competitiveness Think Tank, was held in Beijing recently. According to the 2018 report of China's comprehensive building of a well-off society ("the report") released during the event, China's index of cities that are well off in all categories stood at 97.06 in 2017, representing an increase for the seventh consecutive year. The report reveals that ten prefecture-level cities in Shandong province were selected among the "top 100 prefecture-level cities", while 14 cities made it into the list of the "top 100 county-level cities". Three cities were chosen as "examples of excellence in terms of building a well-off society in China in the new era". The report examined the quality of life and the level to which the community has constructed a well-off society across a wide range of indicators in 657 cities across 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities (excluding Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan) in 2017. According to the results, the score for 175 cities exceeded 100, the expected threshold for what is considered by the researchers as a "well-off society across all indicators", an increase of 41 from a year earlier. The report shows that the top 100 prefecture-level cities are distributed across 27 provinces across China, with concentrations in Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shandong, Guangdong and Fujian provinces. At the same time, the report included lists of "top 100 prefecture-level cities in the well-off index across all indicators", "top 100 county-level cities in the well-off index across all indicators", and "examples of excellence in terms of building a well-off society in the new era" by type and region. Cities in Shandong made significant gains in all the lists. Ten cities in Shandong ranked among the list of top 100 prefecture-level cities (sub-provincial cities included), among them: Qingdao, Weihai, Dongying, Jinan, Yantai, Zibo, Weifang, Rizhao, Laiwu and Tai'an. 14 cities in Shandong found themselves in the top 100 county-level cities list, among them: Longkou, Rongcheng, Jiaozhou, Zhaoyuan, Laizhou, Shouguang, Zhucheng, Penglai, Rushan, Laixi, Gaomi, Qingzhou, Pingdu and Feicheng. The three cities selected as "examples of excellence" in Shandong province were Weifang, Longkou and Shouguang. Related definitions: "top 100 Chinese cities in the well-off index across all indicators", "top 100 prefecture-level cities in the well-off index across all indicators" (sub-provincial cities included) and "top 100 county-level cities in the well-off index across all indicators". View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/many-cities-in-shandong-make-it-into-the-list-of-the-chinas-top-100-well-off-cities-300761730.html SOURCE Information Office of the People's Government of Shandong Province PR Newswire ORANGE COUNTY, Calif., Dec. 6, 2018 ORANGE COUNTY, Calif., Dec. 6, 2018 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Optima Tax Relief has been honored with a Glassdoor Employees' Choice Award, recognizing the Best Places to Work in 2019. The Employees' Choice Awards program, now in its 11th year, is based solely on the input of employees, who elect to provide feedback on their jobs, work environments and companies on Glassdoor, one of the world's largest job and recruiting sites. At the time of this announcement, Optima's employees have given the company a 4.7/5 overall rating, along with a 96% "Recommend to a friend" rating, and a 98% approval rating for their CEO, David King. "It's a tremendous honor to be ranked amongst the very best companies in the nation," said King, who was recognized with a Glassdoor Top CEO Award earlier this year. To be recognized as a 'Best Workplace' is especially meaningful as it comes from our most cherished asset our people. Since Optima's beginning, we have made a commitment to the employee experience, which has been a critical ingredient to our dramatic growth. This award only motivates us to continue on our mission." On Glassdoor, current and former employees voluntarily and anonymously share insights and opinions about their work environments by sharing a company review, designed to capture a genuine and authentic inside look at what a specific job may be like at a particular company. When sharing a company review on Glassdoor, employees are asked to rate their satisfaction with the company overall, and key workplace factors like career opportunities, compensation and benefits, culture and values, senior management and work/life balance. In addition, employees are asked to describe the best reasons to work at their companies as well as any downsides. "In today's tight labor market, job seekers are in the driver's seat when it comes to deciding where to work and they want to know the inner workings of a company before accepting a new job. To help people find the best jobs and the best companies, the Glassdoor Employees' Choice Awards recognize employers at the top of their game," said Dr. Andrew Chamberlain, Glassdoor Chief Economist. "For employers, we know that a satisfied and engaged workforce helps drive financial performance. Glassdoor Best Places to Work winners are strategically investing in company culture, career growth opportunities and more, which also serves as a major recruiting advantage." Providing employees with more than just the typical basics, such as great training, compensation and benefits, is a key ingredient in Optima's formula. The company has a formal Culture and Fun Committee (CFC), which organizes dozens of activities and initiatives year-round that give the company an unbeatable culture. Comprised of employees covering the departmental and hierarchical spectrum of the company, the CFC is explicitly tasked with being a wellspring of positive, inspiring culture that nurtures staff professionally and personally. "We aim to create a meaningful experience for our staff, where they can develop skills, achieve personal growth and have fun while doing it," says Harry Langenberg, Optima's Managing Partner, and one of the CFC's 18 members. Jesse Stockwell, also a Managing Partner of Optima, cites the company's culture of active participation as another key to employee satisfaction. "We encourage feedback, ideas and innovation from everyone and we don't dismiss or adopt concepts simply based on the title of the person who's submitting it. While many amazing ideas have come from our managers, we've also made incredible leaps forward as a direct result of suggestions from our junior staff." Glassdoor's Best Places to Work were determined using company reviews shared by U.S.-based employees between October 23, 2017 and October 21, 2018. To be considered for the small & medium category, a company must have fewer than 1,000 employees and have received at least 30 ratings across each of the eight workplace attributes from U.S.-based employees during the period of eligibility. The final list is compiled using Glassdoor's proprietary algorithm, led by its Economic Research Team, and takes into account quantity, quality and consistency of reviews. Here are a few samples of Optima's employees' reviews on Glassdoor: For the complete list of the Glassdoor Best Places to Work winners in 2019, please visit: https://www.glassdoor.com/Award/Best-Small-and-Medium-Companies-to-Work-For-LST_KQ0,43.htm. About Optima Tax Relief Optima Tax Relief is the nation's leading tax resolution firm providing assistance to individuals and businesses struggling with unmanageable IRS and state tax debts. Optima's commitment to delivering unparalleled service and results has transformed the tax resolution industry and earned the Company numerous honors, including the Torch Award for Ethics from the Better Business Bureau of San Diego, Orange, and Imperial Counties, and the Orange County Civic 50. Offering full-service tax resolution and employing over 500 professionals, Optima has resolved over a billion dollars in tax debts for their clients, helping their clients achieve a better financial future by making their tax issues a thing of the past. About Glassdoor Glassdoor combines all the latest jobs with millions of reviews and insights to make it easy for people to find a job that is uniquely right for them. As a result, Glassdoor helps employers hire truly informed candidates at scale through effective recruiting solutions like job advertising and employer branding products. Launched in 2008, Glassdoor now has reviews and insights for over 830,000 companies located in more than 190 countries. For more information, visit glassdoor.com. Glassdoor is a registered trademark of Glassdoor, Inc. SOURCE Optima Tax Relief PR Newswire NEW YORK, Dec. 6, 2018 NEW YORK, Dec. 6, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Juan Monteverde, founder and managing partner at Monteverde & Associates PC, a national securities firm headquartered at the Empire State Building in New York City, is investigating the Board of Directors of WildHorse Resource Development Corporation ("WildHorse" or the "Company") (NYSE: WRD) for possible breaches of fiduciary duty related to the sale of the company to Chesapeake Energy Corporation ("Chesapeake"). Under the terms of the proposed transaction, WildHorse shareholders are only anticipated to receive 5.989 shares of Chesapeake common stock or a combination of 5.336 shares of Chesapeake common stock and $3 in cash for each share of WildHorse that they own. Click here for more information: https://www.monteverdelaw.com/case/wildhorse-resource-development-corporation. It is free and there is no cost or obligation to you. The investigation focuses on whether WildHorse and its Board of Directors violated securities laws and/or breached their fiduciary duties to the Company's stockholders by 1) failing to conduct a fair process, 2) whether and by how much this proposed transaction undervalues the Company by and 3) failing to disclose all material financial information in connection with the upcoming shareholder meeting. Monteverde & Associates PC is a national class action securities and consumer litigation law firm that has recovered millions of dollars and is committed to protecting shareholders and consumers from corporate wrongdoing. Monteverde & Associates lawyers have significant experience litigating Mergers & Acquisitions and Securities Class Actions, whereby they protect investors by recovering money and remedying corporate misconduct. Mr. Monteverde, who leads the legal team at the firm, has been recognized by Super Lawyers as a Rising Star in Securities Litigation in 2013, 2017 and 2018 an award given to less than 2.5% of attorneys in a particular field. He has also been selected by Martindale-Hubbell as a 2017 and 2018 Top Rated Lawyer. If you own common stock in WildHorse and wish to obtain additional information and protect your investments free of charge, please visit our website or contact Juan E. Monteverde, Esq. either via e-mail at [email protected] or by telephone at (212) 971-1341. Contact:Juan E. Monteverde, Esq.MONTEVERDE & ASSOCIATES PCThe Empire State Building350 Fifth Ave. Suite 4405New York, NY 10118United States of [email protected]: (212) 971-1341 Attorney Advertising. (C) 2018 Monteverde & Associates PC. The law firm responsible for this advertisement is Monteverde & Associates PC (www.monteverdelaw.com). Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome with respect to any future matter. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/shareholder-alert-monteverde--associates-pc-announces-an-investigation-of-wildhorse-resource-development-corporation--wrd-300761751.html SOURCE Monteverde & Associates PC PR Newswire ARLINGTON, Virginia, Dec. 7, 2018 ARLINGTON, Virginia, Dec. 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Venture Global LNG, Inc. and Kiewit jointly announce that Kiewit has been awarded the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract for the Calcasieu Pass LNG export project under development in Cameron Parish, Louisiana. Under the terms of the turnkey EPC contract, Kiewit Louisiana Co. will design, engineer, construct, commission, test and guarantee the facility, which carries a 10 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) nameplate. Completion is expected in 2022. Co-CEO Bob Pender stated, "We are thrilled to partner with one of North America's leading contractors for our Calcasieu Pass project. The Kiewit team brings decades of construction experience, an unparalleled safety record, and on-time, on-budget execution of major infrastructure projects, including the Cove Point LNG export project in Lusby, Maryland. This partnership supports the continued timely execution of our strategy." Co-CEO Mike Sabel added, "Kiewit is equally committed to our strategy of realizing the highest quality at the lowest achievable cost. They drive not only to execute but to continually improve and optimize their approach. Finalizing this contract, which meets our budget, schedule, and finance requirements, is one of the most important milestones to date for our company and the culmination of our development plans." "We are very pleased to be partnering with Venture Global LNG on this important EPC project. With outstanding commitment and talent, working together, this project will be a model for supplying low-cost, clean and reliable energy to the global market," said Bruce Grewcock, Kiewit chairman and CEO. "It's exciting to be asked to bring our extensive industry experience and capabilities to help Venture Global LNG deliver the Calcasieu Pass LNG export project safely, on-schedule and on budget." The 10 MTPA Calcasieu Pass facility will employ a comprehensive process solution from GE Oil & Gas, LLC, part of Baker Hughes, a GE company (BHGE) that utilizes mid-scale, modular, factory-fabricated liquefaction trains as well as a 5x2 711 MW CCGT to support the trains' electric-drive system. Construction of the facility will commence by early 2019 following the receipt of all required regulatory approvals, including the Final Order from the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), which is currently scheduled to be issued no later than January 22, 2019. The Calcasieu Pass project has signed binding 20-year offtake agreements with Shell, BP, Edison S.p.A., Galp, Repsol and PGNiG. The company is also developing the 20 MTPA Plaquemines LNG export facility in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, which has executed its first binding 20-year offtake agreement with PGNiG. Venture Global LNG expects to take formal final investment decisions (FID) on both its Calcasieu Pass and Plaquemines LNG projects in 2019. About Venture Global LNG Venture Global LNG is a long-term, low-cost provider of LNG to be supplied from resource rich North American natural gas basins. Venture Global LNG's liquefaction process system will employ a highly efficient and reliable suite of products supplied by BHGE. Venture Global LNG is developing both the 10 MTPA Venture Global Calcasieu Pass facility (on an approximately 1,000-acre site located at the intersection of the Calcasieu Ship Channel and the Gulf of Mexico) and the 20 MTPA Venture Global Plaquemines LNG facility (on an approximately 630-acre site in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, 30 miles south of New Orleans on the Mississippi River). Venture Global has raised $855 million of capital to-date to support the development of its projects. More can be found at www.venturegloballng.com. About Kiewit Kiewit is one of North America's largest and most respected construction and engineering organizations. With its roots dating back to 1884, the employee-owned organization operates through a network of subsidiaries in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Kiewit offers construction and engineering services in a variety of markets including transportation; oil, gas and chemical; power; building; water/wastewater; industrial; and mining. Kiewit had 2017 revenues of $8.7 billion and employs 22,000 staff and craft employees. Americas teachers remain committed to their students, but take an increasingly dim view of the future of the profession, according to the 2018 Schooling in America survey. The school choice advocacy group EdChoice and Braun Research, Inc. surveyed a representative sample more than 530 public school parents and more than 1,800 members of the general public. But this year the groups also conducted online interviews with 777 public school teachers. Only a little more than 1 in 4 teachers said they would recommend their profession as a career for a friend or colleague. By contrast, 42 percent of teachers said they would actively try to convince the friend not to become a teacher. To put that in context, active-duty military personnel are more likely to recommend their jobs to others than teachers are. The findings, which were mirrored among both newer and more experienced teachers in many parts of the country, suggest the 2018 protests, walkouts, and general angst may reflect deeper issues and challenges within the professionperhaps beyond teacher pay and school fundingthat frustrate a large swath of public school educators across the country, the report noted. Those responses echo many other recent s urveys. In the PDK-Gallup education survey earlier this year, in which more than 60 percent of Americans said they trusted their childrens teachers and supported paying them more, but a majority also said they wouldnt encourage their own children to become teachers, considering the profession undervalued and underpaid. While the EdChoice survey did not dig into many potential reasons for the discontent, it did find crumbling trust between teachers and other education stakeholders. Some of these findings seem a bit counterintuitiveteachers say they trust their principals more than their union leadership!but it may also be that they trust the people the work more closely with over those that seem further removed, like state and federal bureaucracy. That discontent likely contributes to ongoing struggles in many districts to get and keep educators. While districts are experimenting with everything from on-site childcare to housing support , results like these suggest rebuilding trust between teachers and others in the education community will be a key part of the solution. Upananda Brahmachari How much we have to wait for a Ramjanmabhoomi Temple in Ayodhya and a Hindu Rashtra in Bharat? On December 6th of 1992 in Ayodhya, by demolishing the ILLEGAL and DISPUTED Babri Structure, We, the Karsewaks, liberated and reclaimed our rightful Holy Hindu shrine, Sri Ram Janma Bhoomi, Lord Ramas Holy Birth Place. Since then 6th December is celebrated as Vijay/Shourya Diwas Victory Day or Valour Day by Hindus all over India. But after 26 years that VIJAY is still incomplete and it may termed as an Ardha Vijay Diwas as it is a Victory in a half done condition. Though Hindus won a big litigation in the Mandir-Masjid land dispute and Allahabad High court told that the Babri structure was built after demolishing a prior Hindu temple there; the controversy is still being kept alive by some followers of Babar who destroyed a magnificent Rama Temple by his commander Mir Banki in 1528 to make that disputed structure to humiliate the Hindus in many ways. Through a series of Hindu war over 450 years the followers of Lord Rama clearly knocked down the followers of Babar in 1992. But, the pseudo secular politicians with Islamic, Christian, Congress and Communist views have been putting many hurdles not to build a magnificent Ram Temple at Ayodhya. Not only that, many holy places of Hindu Faith are still waiting for the liberation from the plunderers Jihadi signs amidst its bloody history of Bharat in Islamic or Christian rules. Presently, the Ayodhya case is pending in the Supreme court of India and likely to heard by its very busy judges only in the January 2019. The crisis in the Hindu leadership and treating the Ram Janmabhoomi Temple Movement as a severally used or less important issue, did a great harm to the resurgence of Hindu Rashtra Movement in India. Actually, Ram Janmabhoomi Temple Movement was activated to rise a Hindu Wave for building up a meaningful management of a Hindu Rashtra in Bharat with Hindu Empowerment in all dimension. But that ethos are now somehow skipped by the political power monger Hindu Leadership always searching a short-cut way to reach the goal. Now, some propagators of development in ruling politics (say BJP politics) also think Ram Temple is a less important issue than the Development ranting of Savka Saath Savka Vikash. But, this school of thoughts is missing one thing of the History of India that is called Bharat. Once, there was a huge development of Lahore, Karachi, Kabul, Dhaka and so on made by the diligent Hindus. And they welcomed everybodys participation and development. But, whats the fate now of those developed cities once situated in undivided India. Those developments have no meaning for Hindus these days as those are disconnected from the Hindutva. Similarly, those in BJP and Sangha Parivar leaders thinking Development without Hindutva, will make a big fault line. They must realize that Ram Mandir in Ayodhya is not making a mere temple there, it is the way for connecting the Hindu mass with Hindutva ideology to ensure all developments may retain in a proper path of prosperity. I am not contradicting the idea of Political power to be captured by the Hindus for the next 100 years. But that cannot be first priority before strengthening the foundation work of Hindutva in its core ideology against Jihad, Evangelism, Communism and even against anti-Hindu Secularism. Horses should pull the chariot. Chariot cannot pull the horses. Likely, Hindutva must pull the chariot of Development. Only Development has no power to make any benefits for the Hindus and Hindutva anyway in this land of Dharma. So, the Hindu empowerment in all the social and economical faculty, Hindu empowerment in Judiciary and Administration, Hindu empowerment in Police and Military, Hindu Exploration in Science and Technology are needed to reach the goal of Hindu Rashtra. Building Ram Temple is the basic and symbolic exploration to reach that goal of Ram Rajya, the ever prosperous, ever benevolent and ever equal system for all. But, politics need a Hindutva enforcement here instead of only development, so that the Indian Politics cannot be a subject of any Jihadi, Evangelical, Communist, Communal powers mainly always busy for getting a chance to stab on Indian Independence, Integrity and Sovereignty. If we wish to see our Holy places and the signs of pride to be restored once again to that glory as it were, we have to sacrifice more. Without spontaneous support from every sphere of Hindu Life, we cant be successful to reclaim Ram temple in Ayodhya or for a Hindu Rashtra in Bharat meant for a billion of Hindus in the world. With the spirit of December 6 1992, let us march together for re-establishing of a Hindu Rashtra in Bharat to become a Vishwa Guru and a Real World Power. Building Ram Temple in Ayodhya is synonymous to becoming Global Hindu Power like the Jews in Israel. But, the difference between many schools in Sangha Parivar, the tag of war between BJP and VHP, the ouster of Dr Pravin Togadia from VHP as he was out-rightly criticizing PM Modi for his irresponsibility and incapability to address the Ayodhya issue, all these in the Ram Temple row practically show the way to destroy the Hindu unity for Ram Temple in a very disgusting way. Consequently, the anti-Hindu and anti-Temple force are creating a very dangerous environment in the politics and judiciary against the construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya. 26 years have already gone after hearing the assurance one after another. But now, we cannot wait for an indefinite time to establish a Ramajanmabhoomi Temple at Ayodhya. I think Hindu Groups in many fronts are getting reactive day by day through facing various Political, Islamic and Evangelical hazards. Proactive Hindus have set their alternative ways out of any big banners to run a struggle for Hindu Freedom by make a temple for Ramlala (baby lord Ram) who has been living in a makeshift tent house very miserably for the last 26 years since the disputed Babri structure was destroyed by an agitating Hindu mass in 6th Dec, 1992. As, BJP is now in power in the Center with absolute majority and they run 19 states in India, the party must not talk rubbish showing their inability to make Ram Temple in Ayodhya. If they feel, the majority peoples sentiment for Ayodhya is being ignored by the so secular and so judicious Supreme Court of India, the Narendra Modi Govt must venture for a Central Law or otherwise an Ordinance for Ayodhya Ram Temple through parliament. Recent Hindu Dharma Sansad and Sant Sammelan (Seers Meet) in Delhi and Ayodhya also pressed for for a Central Law or otherwise an Ordinance for a magnificent Ram Temple in Ayodhya. Even, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar of Art of Living is trying hard for a fruitful dialogue between litigant Hindu and Muslim parties to settle the Ayodhya matter out of court; or Dr Subramanian Swamy is fighting for his Right to worship in Ayodhya Ram Temple in Supreme Court; Hindus cant wait for further betrayal through court or any dialogue. Its a matter of fact, BJP gained thousand times for its political prosperity from the issue of Ram Temple. But, it never shared its gain to the prosperity of Ram temple in Ayodhya. Obviously, BJP touched the sky with the blessings of Lord Ram of Ayodhya. Perilously, BJP may shrink again with the curse Lord Ram of Ayodhya. So, BJP must not damage its life line of Ram Mandir anyway. Guwahati: As President of India, Ram Nath Kovind sets to visit Myanmar next week, an Assam based patriotic citizens forum appeals to the Head of the State for pursuing his counterpart in NayPyiTaw to preserve all monuments relating to Indias glorious freedom struggle including the INA (Azad Hind Fauj) headquarter in Yangon (formerly Rangoon) city. It may be noted that President Kovind will arrive in the southeast Asian country on 10 December next with a five-day visit schedule. He is expected to visit NayPyiTaw as well as Yangon and meet with his host President U Win Myint and State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi. Several issues are on card for discussions and bilateral agreements are expected to be signed during the Presidents visit to the neighbouring country. Myanmar (earlier Burma) played an important role in Indias freedom movement where many legendary Indian leaders either took shelter or imprisoned there by the British colonial administration, said Patriotic Peoples Front Assam (PPFA), in a statement adding that Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose later shifted the Indian National Armys head quarter to Rangoon and fought against the imperialist forces with its 40,000 valiant soldiers from the soil of Burma. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump has decided to name State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert as the ambassador to the United Nations, a source familiar with his decision said on Thursday. Trump will send a tweet on Friday morning about choosing Nauert to replace outgoing U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, who announced her resignation in October, Fox News reported, citing multiple sources. Trump's decision was first reported by Bloomberg News. A representative of the State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Haley has held the post since the beginning of Trump's administration and said she would stay in the job through the end of the year. Nauert, whose nomination would require Senate confirmation, is a former Fox News Channel correspondent and anchor. She does not have prior political or policy-making experience. Nauert became the State Department spokeswoman in April 2017 and, earlier this year, was named the acting undersecretary for public diplomacy and public affairs. Kathmandu, Nepal: The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has filed a corruption case against 21 individuals over the Sikta Irrigation project, the national pride project of the Nepal government. The anti graft body filed the case against various government officials including Bikram Pandey, former minister and chairman of Kalika Construction for compromising quality of works of the project. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 7/12/2018 (1086 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Advertisement Advertise With Us Albertas plan to relieve oil backlog by shipping oil by railcar is worrying some Manitoba commodity producers. Ron Krahn, a canola and wheat farmer in Rivers, about 40 kilometres northwest of Brandon, said while he hasnt seen an issue yet, the plan to buy 7,000 new rail cars and 80 locomotives for shipping could mean that crops get stuck in storage after they get harvested. "For us in Western Canada, were very export driven, and most of our grain is exported. Were very reliant on timely rail movement to move our crops in the year after harvest." He said wheat growers experienced a similar issue in the 2013-14 crop year, when shipments were delayed because of a deluge of oil taking up space on rail tracks. If farmers cant move their product, it means they cant get paid, which makes the next year tougher. "If the grain doesnt move, how you contracted it, it might mean you have more bills than you have income for at a certain time," Krahn said. "It means that sometimes plans have to get changed or you might not be able to make decision on purchasing something like fertilizers or seed for the next year." The Alberta governments decision comes after the latest plans for an oil pipeline in Western Canada stalled, meaning oil isnt able to get to buyers. Western Canadian Select oil is also selling for around $10 less per barrel than its American counterpart because of the excess, creating losses in the oil industry. The provinces hope is that new rail capacity will mean more can move to market and the price will go up. But more oil on the rail tracks means less space for commodities that can only be moved by railroad, such as canola or grain. Krahn said he believes oil should be moved through pipelines, which he said is safer and more efficient. "Oil going through a pipeline is just safer than moving it through rail cars and more efficient as well, so its really frustrating from a farmers perspective to know that the rail lines that we use, that we rely on to move our grain, now are going to be plugged up with other products, as well." The type of winter in Western Canada can also have a significant impact on rail shipments in the spring. If the country experiences long stretches of very cold weather, it makes it more difficult to get trains up and running. Krahn said for the moment, though, he has a wait-and-see mentality. Rail shipments of grain were also backlogged last year, creating a significant carry-over of several million tonnes of grain into this shipping year, said Mark Hemmes, an analyst with Quorum. In a normal year, he said, the industry would see seven million to 7.5 million tonnes of leftover grain, but this year there are 9.4 million tonnes. That was caused by delays in railway movements, he said, but is being widdled down by strong grain shipments in October and November. "So far this year, it has been working quite well. Railways are supplying cars in the country and vessels are getting loaded and moved out, and our volumes that are being moved are really quite good," Hemmes said. A press release on CP Rails website states the rail line shipped a record-breaking amount of grain to the Port of Vancouver in November: 1.54 million metric tonnes. Canadian railways had come under fire in the spring for shipping more profitable commodities than grain. CN Rail issued an apology in March 2018 at the height of the backlog for failing to ship grain on time. Cam Dahl, president of Cereals Canada, said he is hopeful that investments by CP and CN in rail capacity and new legislation will help prevent the same commodity backlog in spring 2018, when at one point there was $500 million worth of grain sitting in silos, from happening in spring 2019. He agreed with Crohn that the long-term solution is to increase pipeline capacity to divert rail capacity away from oil. In late May, the federal government passed new legislation in response to the grain backlog, making it easier for agricultural commodities to get shipped via rail. It allows for rail companies to be punished for failing to deliver rail cars as expected. "Things that could move by pipeline should be moving by pipeline, because we do have a finite capacity in our rail system ... If there are more commodities that are trying to move by rail that does squeeze rail-line capacity, and that does impact our ability to meet the demand for other export commodities." dmay@brandonsun.com Twitter: @DrewMay_ GRANDE PRAIRIE, Alta. - A couple facing a second trial in the meningitis death of their son are calling for charges against them to be dropped and an estimated $4 million from Alberta Justice. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 6/12/2018 (1086 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A couple facing a second trial in the meningitis death of their son are calling for charges against them to be dropped and an estimated $4 million from Alberta Justice. David and Collet Stephan leave for a break during their appeals trial in Calgary, Thursday, March 9, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Todd Korol GRANDE PRAIRIE, Alta. - A couple facing a second trial in the meningitis death of their son are calling for charges against them to be dropped and an estimated $4 million from Alberta Justice. David Stephan and his wife, Collet, were found guilty in 2016 of failing to provide the necessaries of life to 19-month-old Ezekiel. Their trial in Lethbridge, Alta., heard evidence that they treated the boy with garlic, onion and horseradish rather than take him to a doctor. The Stephans eventually called 911 but the toddler died in hospital in 2012. Last May, the Supreme Court of Canada ordered a new trial in a ruling that said the original trial judge did not properly instruct jurors. During a Thursday court appearance, the couple filed applications for a stay of the proceedings as well as an order asking Alberta Justice for up to $4 million to cover their court costs. David Stephan told the court that the applications are the result of recently released disclosure evidence that suggests 719 pages of the defence material was released to the Crown by RCMP. The applications are to be heard in Lethbridge court on Jan. 18. The couple now live outside of Grand Prairie, Alta. (CTV Calgary, The Canadian Press) OTTAWA - As details of American allegations against a Chinese executive were revealed Friday in a Vancouver court, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said Canada's ambassador in Beijing had briefed the Chinese foreign ministry on her arrest. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 7/12/2018 (1085 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland takes part in a meeting at the G20 Summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Friday, Nov. 30, 2018. Freeland says Canada's ambassador in Beijing has briefed the Chinese foreign ministry on the arrest of the Chinese telecommunications executive who was arrested in Vancouver. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick OTTAWA - As details of American allegations against a Chinese executive were revealed Friday in a Vancouver court, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said Canada's ambassador in Beijing had briefed the Chinese foreign ministry on her arrest. Freeland said that Ambassador John McCallum has assured the Chinese foreign ministry that due process is being followed in Canada and consular access will be provided to Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies. She was arrested at the Vancouver airport on Saturday after a request by the United States. Freeland refused to discuss details of the case, citing the imperative of keeping politics out of a live court proceeding one that clearly has massive geopolitical ramifications. The case will likely intensify pressure on the Trudeau government, which is being urged to refuse to allow Huawei products in Canada's next-generation 5G telecommunications networks. A Canadian prosecutor told a Vancouver court on Friday that the United States asked Canada to arrest Meng because the U.S. alleges she violated sanctions on Iran. The allegation against Meng came in a packed Vancouver courtroom during a hearing on whether she should be released on bail before an extradition process. The Crown lawyer told the hearing that the U.S. alleges Huawei Technologies used subsidiary Skycom to do business with Iran, violating sanctions against that country. Meng is being accused of fraud by the U.S. government, which wants her extradited from Canada to face the charge. The Crown says Meng is alleged to have said Huawei and Skycom were separate and she allegedly lied to an executive of an unnamed financial institution, which it asserts put the institution at risk. China's foreign ministry has pushed Canada to reveal the reason for the arrest and the Chinese Embassy in Ottawa has branded Meng's arrest a serious violation of human rights. Freeland highlighted McCallum's elevated diplomatic status as a former Liberal cabinet minister, and characterized his conversation with the Chinese as positive. "I have not spoken directly to Chinese officials but John McCallum, our ambassador to China our very senior ambassador to China has spoken with Chinese officials," Freeland said Friday in a teleconference from meetings in Berlin. "And he has assured China that due process is absolutely being followed in Canada and consular access for China to Ms. Meng will be provided, and that we are a rule-of-law country, and we will be following our laws as we have thus far in this matter, and as we will continue to do." Freeland reiterated what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday: that Meng's arrest was part of an independent legal process that is separate from politics. "The Chinese are well aware of John's seniority," she said. "They have had a good conversation with John. John has been very clear with the Chinese authorities as we are with Canadians that this was a matter handled as a part of our rule-of-law process; it was done without any engagement on involvement in the political level because we respect the independence of our judiciary." McCallum was clear that Chinese consular officials will have access to Meng "just as we seek consular access for detained Canadians around the world, including in China." Meng's father, the billionaire Ren Zhengfei, founded Huawei Technologies Ltd. in 1987 and established it in the southern China city of Shenzhen, across the border from Hong Kong. Among other things, it is working with Telus and Bell Canada to develop equipment for fifth-generation wireless networks that are expected to transform telecommunications around the world over the next decade or more. Huawei has become the world's biggest supplier of equipment used by phone and internet companies. But the company has faced widespread allegations that is it is an espionage organ of the Chinese military and security services an accusation the company strongly denies. The U.S. has led a charge to ban the use of Huawei products among its allies, particularly the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing network that also includes Canada, Australia, Britain and New Zealand. So far, New Zealand and Australia have banned the company from their 5G networks; Britain has expressed concerns and is considering measures. Asked this week about a possible Canadian ban on Huawei, Trudeau said he would defer to the advice of his intelligence agencies. The new director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service flagged issues surrounding 5G technology in a major speech this week in which he described the threat to Canada's national security posed by "economic espionage" from "hostile states." David Vigneault did not name China or Huawei in his speech, but he noted that "many of these advanced technologies are dual-use in nature in that they could advance a country's economic, security or military interests." "In particular, CSIS has seen a trend of state-sponsored espionage in fields that are crucial to Canada's ability to build and sustain a prosperous, knowledge-based economy," he added. "I'm talking about areas such as A.I., quantum technology, 5G, biopharma, and clean tech." On Thursday, former prime minister Stephen Harper told Fox Business News that while he was in power he became increasingly concerned about allowing the use of equipment from Huawei and ZTE, another Chinese telecom-equipment manufacturer. "These are organizations, ultimately, tightly tied to the Chinese security apparatus, and we think there are some real, serious issues there," Harper said. "The United States is encouraging western allies to essentially push Huawei out of the emerging 5G network, and my personal view is that is something that western countries should be doing in terms of our own long-term security issues." VANCOUVER - A senior executive of Chinese tech giant Huawei is facing allegations of fraud by using a subsidiary to violate United States and European Union trade sanctions against Iran in a case that shook world stock markets this week. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 7/12/2018 (1086 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A profile of Huawei's chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou is displayed on a Huawei computer at a Huawei store in Beijing, China, Thursday, Dec. 6, 2018. Canadian authorities said Wednesday that they have arrested Meng for possible extradition to the United States. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) VANCOUVER - A senior executive of Chinese tech giant Huawei is facing allegations of fraud by using a subsidiary to violate United States and European Union trade sanctions against Iran in a case that shook world stock markets this week. A federal prosecutor told a bail hearing for Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver on Friday that the chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies is wanted in the United States on criminal allegations that Huawei used its subsidiary Skycom to do business with Iranian telecommunications companies between 2009 and 2014. In this courtroom sketch, Meng Wanzhou, back right, the chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies, sits beside a translator during a bail hearing at B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver, on Friday December 7, 2018. She was arrested Saturday after an extradition request from the United States while in transit at the city's airport. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jane Wolsak John Gibb-Carsley said Meng is alleged to have said Huawei and Skycom were separate companies in a meeting with an executive of a financial institution, misleading the executive and putting the institution at risk of financial harm and criminal liability. "Skycom was Huawei. This is the crux of the alleged misrepresentation. This is the alleged fraud," said Gibb-Carsley, representing the Attorney General of Canada. None of the allegations have been proven in court. Gibb-Carsley told the B.C. Supreme Court hearing that Reuters reported in 2013 that Huawei was operating Skycom and had attempted to import U.S.-manufactured computer equipment into Iran in violation of sanctions. The story caused concern among banks that did international business with Huawei, he said. Executives, including Meng, then made a series of misrepresentations about the relationship between the two companies to the banks, inducing them to carry out transactions linked to Iran they otherwise would not have completed and which violated sanction laws, he told the court. He said Meng met with an executive of a bank and delivered a PowerPoint presentation in which she said Huawei had sold its shares in Skycom in 2009 and she was no longer a member of its board. However, the entity to which Skycom was sold was also controlled by Huawei until at least 2014, Gibb-Carsley alleged. Huawei operated Skycom as an "unofficial subsidiary," he said, adding that Skycom employees had Huawei email addresses and badges and former employees have said there was no distinction between the two companies. "Skycom employees, it's alleged, were Huawei employees," Gibb-Carsley said. The company has said it is not aware of any wrongdoing by Meng and her lawyer, David Martin, said no charge or indictment has been filed against his client, just a warrant. Martin said Meng's 2013 presentation to the executive of the bank, which he identified as HSBC, was prepared by numerous employees at Huawei. The presentation did assert that Huawei operates in Iran in strict compliance with applicable laws and sanctions, he said. It also said that Huawei's engagement with Skycom is a normal business co-operation and it requires Skycom to make commitments on observing applicable laws. "The suggestion that this 2013 PowerPoint induced the Hong Kong bank, the largest financial institution in the world, with vast compliance departments ... to continue to provide financial services is preposterous," said Martin. Huawei sold its shares in Skycom before the sanctions became law in the United States under president Barack Obama in 2010, he added. Martin also argued that the allegations detailed by Canada do not support the case. "The allegations contained in this document do not support a prima facie case of fraud against Ms. Meng, let alone against Huawei," he said. The case was adjourned until Monday by Justice William Ehrcke to allow the defence more time to complete its submissions. Gibb-Carsley said the Attorney General opposes Meng's release on bail. He said there is incentive for Meng to leave Canada, telling the court her father's net worth is $3.2 billion and she has no meaningful connection to Canada, apart from spending two to three weeks on vacation in Vancouver every summer. He also alleged that there is evidence Meng has avoided the U.S. since she became aware of a criminal investigation into her activities. But Martin told the judge Meng is a prominent figure and she would not violate a court order if she were released. "You can rely upon her personal dignity," he said, adding that to breach a court order "would be to humiliate and embarrass her father, who she loves." Huawei is the most prestigious tech company in China and was founded by Meng's father, Ren Zhengfei. Martin said Meng was previously a permanent resident of Vancouver and her children went to school in the city, so her ties are stronger than claimed by the Crown. Martin said two properties in Vancouver worth a total of $14 million could be put up for bail, and electronic monitoring and surveillance-based security could be used, although he said neither would be necessary. Martin added that Meng was willing to surrender her two valid passports to the RCMP. Meng was arrested Saturday while in transit at Vancouver's airport. The court heard she was en route from Hong Kong to Mexico. Her lawyer said she avoided the U.S. not because of any investigation but because the country has been unfriendly toward Huawei. The U.S. sees Huawei and smaller Chinese tech suppliers as possible fronts for Chinese spying and as commercial competitors. The Trump administration says they benefit from improper subsidies and market barriers. "One would have to be tone deaf to not understand that Huawei had become a hostile place to do business," Martin said. In a statement earlier this week, Huawei said the company complies with all laws and regulations in the countries where it operates, including applicable export control, sanction laws and regulations of the United Nations, the United States and the European Union. Huawei is the biggest global supplier of network gear used by phone and internet companies, and has been the target of deepening U.S. security concerns. The United States has pressured European countries and other allies to limit the use of its technology. Meng is a prominent member of Chinese society as deputy chairwoman of the Huawei board. The company is a privately held juggernaut with projected 2018 sales of more than US$102 billion that has already overtaken Apple in smartphone sales. U.S. and Asian stock markets tumbled after news of Meng's arrest as it was seen to cause another flare-up in tensions between Washington and Beijing. Huawei has grown to more than 170,000 employees and does businesses in more than 170 countries since Ren founded the company in 1987. Meng, who also goes by the first name Sabrina, is one of four deputy chairs listed on the Huawei website and one of three women to sit on the Huawei board. Follow @ellekane on Twitter. OTTAWA - Canada is committed to signing onto the United Nations pact on migration, Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen says, despite angry protest from right-wing political activists both here and abroad. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 7/12/2018 (1085 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Ahmed Hussen speaks to reporters outside the House of Commons on Parliament Hill on Thursday, May 31, 2018. Hussen says Canada is committed to signing onto the United Nations pact on migration ??? an international agreement that has sparked angry protest from right-wing political operatives both here and abroad who, experts say, are spreading misinformation and xenophobia.THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Patrick Doyle OTTAWA - Canada is committed to signing onto the United Nations pact on migration, Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen says, despite angry protest from right-wing political activists both here and abroad. Speaking from Marrakech, Morocco on Friday, where a UN summit on migration is to kick off next week, Hussen said the Global Compact on Migration is an important agreement that will set out, for the first time, an official international framework for countries to work together on the causes and impacts of migration. For Canada, one of the key benefits will be an opportunity to work with source countries of irregular asylum seekers, who have been crossing into Canada via non-official entry points by the tens of thousands over the last two years. Canada will have a more official way, through the compact, to address the problems that cause migrants to leave their countries for Canada, Hussen said. "People talk about how we should approach irregular migration one of the ways to do that is to work with other countries," Hussen said. "One of the things that we do is work with partner countries to assist them with job creation and skills-development programs that enables source countries for migrants, like Morocco, to ensure a better future for their people here so that they don't have to take risky journeys for migration and engage in irregular migration." But despite two years of work at the UN level and consensus reached after six rounds of negotiation on the final text, a movement of protest against the agreement has grown in Europe over the last year, leading several European countries to quit the compact. Australia, Israel, Hungary, Austria, Croatia, Italy, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic have said they will not support it. Poland and Estonia also may not sign and Belgium's coalition government is so divided over it, the question of whether to sign the pact is threatening to topple its government. The United States will also not sign the compact. In Canada, opposition to the agreement first appeared on the controversial news website Rebel Media. It called the compact a means to normalize mass migration and silence media critics. Recently, many of these same arguments have been taken up by Conservative Party Leader Andrew Scheer and Conservative immigration critic Michelle Rempel. Scheer held a press conference earlier this week to say he strongly opposes the pact, on the grounds that it would give foreign entities influence over Canada's immigration system. Rempel has argued the agreement would be legally binding on Canada and would therefore pose a threat to Canadian sovereignty. These arguments mirror those being circulated in Europe, and are "completely erroneous and fundamentally misunderstand the nature of international relations and international law," said Craig Damian Smith, associate director of the Global Migration Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto. "What they're doing is they're importing this xenophobic political rhetoric from openly illiberal political parties in Europe, and the reason is, it sells domestically and they think they can hammer the Liberals with it," Smith said. "That's the completely unvarnished truth about what's going on with this discourse in Canada." He stressed there is nothing in the compact that is legally binding, nor would the agreement somehow cause more migrants to cross into Canada or destroy Canada's sovereignty. The Global Compact on Migration was born after the 2015-16 refugee crisis, when UN member states realized that, unlike flows of goods and services or capital across borders, no international regime covers migration. It's an issue that tends to become politically polarizing when large flows of migrants begin to move, which is why a formalized agreement was sought, Smith explained. "The idea is, the international community needs to start building a global governance regime for migration because only through co-operation do you get the positive dividends of well-managed and safe international migration. That's the goal." Hussen did not mince words in his assessment of Conservative opposition to the compact. He pointed to a report released Thursday by the Commons committee on Immigration that studied the agreement, including expert testimony and submissions, and ultimately recommended Canada sign on. "They're peddling in a conspiracy theory that's beneath a mainstream political party that has access to evidence, that has access to testimony from experts who have clearly said this agreement is not a threat to Canadian sovereignty, it will not erase our border," Hussen said. "They've chosen to take this position because they're losing supporters to the People's Party of Canada and they feel this is what they need to do to win support from people who support the People's Party of Canada," he added, referring to the new party created by ex-Conservative MP Maxime Bernier. Bernier has indeed spoken out against the migration compact, and was scheduled to speak at a rally in Ottawa Saturday to protest Canada's signing the agreement. The rally is also scheduled to include a number of far-right, anti-Muslim and neo-Nazi groups, according to an article published by the Canadian Anti-Hate Network. A staffer who works with Bernier told The Canadian Press on Friday that Bernier was aware the Ottawa rally could involve the extremist groups, and was still planning to attend. Later in the day, the staffer said Bernier decided not to attend after "verifying claims about the extent of these groups being present or involved in the demonstration." Follow @ReporterTeresa on Twitter OTTAWA - Canada's justice minister is instructing federal prosecutors in the North that they should no longer prosecute anyone for not disclosing their HIV status to a sex partner where there is no risk of transmitting the virus. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 7/12/2018 (1085 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Jody Wilson-Raybould, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, makes an announcement on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Thursday, Oct. 18, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick OTTAWA - Canada's justice minister is instructing federal prosecutors in the North that they should no longer prosecute anyone for not disclosing their HIV status to a sex partner where there is no risk of transmitting the virus. The new rules coming into effect Saturday won't transfer over to provinces only in the territories where federal prosecutors have jurisdiction. It doesn't appear the federal government plans to push provinces to follow suit, hoping instead that the change in policy will act as an example for them. The new marching order to Crown attorneys is aimed at making sure criminal law keeps up with scientific evidence about the virus and the conditions under which it cannot be spread. The wording of the directive says there is no public interest in pursuing HIV non-disclosure prosecutions "for conduct that medical science shows does not pose a risk of serious harm to others." The human immunodeficiency virus can eventually lead to AIDS, the syndrome that shuts down the immune system and makes a person highly vulnerable to bacteria and viruses. HIV can't be cured but it can often be suppressed to the point where the virus is practically undetectable. The directive made public Friday afternoon notes in its preamble that people from marginalized populations such as Indigenous, gay and black people are more likely to have HIV and are disproportionately affected by non-disclosure laws. The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that consent to sexual activity can be nullified if the accused person failed to disclose, or lied about, his or her HIV status. The Crown must prove the partner would not have consented to sex if he or she had been aware of the person's status. Most often that leads to a charge of aggravated sexual assault, if the sexual contact either transmitted the virus to the complainant or put the alleged victim at significant risk of contracting it. A 2012 ruling from the Supreme Court clarified there was is realistic risk of transmission if the act involved a condom and a the HIV-positive person had a "low viral load." Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould's directive to prosecutors says cases shouldn't proceed where there is a suppressed viral load defined as under 200 copies of the virus per millilitre of blood. Nor generally should a Crown attorney prosecute if a condom was used, or partners only engaged in oral sex. And where Crown attorneys do press ahead with cases, Wilson-Raybould is asking her attorneys to pursue lighter charges where appropriate, particularly if there are "lower levels of blameworthiness." The directive doesn't apply to cases before the courts only to those that land on Crown prosecutors' desks beginning this weekend. TORONTO - Opposition politicians and environmental advocates are raising concerns about new legislation from the Ontario government that they say opens the door to development in a protected green space around Toronto. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 7/12/2018 (1085 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. TORONTO - Opposition politicians and environmental advocates are raising concerns about new legislation from the Ontario government that they say opens the door to development in a protected green space around Toronto. Critics say the omnibus legislation aimed at cutting red tape for businesses contains clauses that could let municipalities override rules that protect the Greenbelt. The 7,200-square-kilometre area that borders the Greater Golden Horseshoe area was established in 2005 to protect environmentally sensitive land from urban development. Premier Doug Ford generated controversy during the spring election campaign when he initially pledged to open parts of the area to build housing a promise he backtracked on after facing intense criticism. Economic Development Minister Todd Smith says the Progressive Conservative government has promised not to allow development in the Greenbelt and will keep that commitment. But NDP legislator Catherine Fife says the legislation contains vague language that could allow for development in the area and Green party Leader Mike Schreiner says the bill puts established protections at risk. "Despite explicitly promising to leave the Greenbelt intact, the Ford government introduced a bill yesterday that opens the Greenbelt to development," said Schreiner. "And not only the Greenbelt, it threatens hard fought for and valued protections for Clean Water, Great Lakes, Lake Simcoe and the Oak Ridges Moraine." Fife said the "opaque" wording of the legislation was concerning. "It leaves questions for people who are trying to maintain the law," she said. "I don't think this premier will be happy until he's paved over paradise and put up a parking lot." The government said, however, that the legislation tabled on Thursday would only apply to municipal development of industrial land. "We've made it very, very clear as the new government of Ontario that we are going to protect the Greenbelt," Smith said on Friday. "What this does though is give us the opportunity, in other areas, to ensure that when business wants to locate in Ontario ... that we have the tools to help them locate here quicker." Under the proposed law, municipalities working on a specific project like attracting a major employer to the region can pass a by-law to request provincial approval to override certain regulations. Municipalities would have to provide a case to the government to warrant the override. "The government would review the proposal and consider, among other things, whether there would be any impacts on public interests such as the environment or public health and safety," said Praveen Senthinathan, a spokesman for the ministry of municipal affairs. "The ministry of municipal affairs and housing would work with partner ministries to consider potential impacts on matters of provincial interest, including protecting the Greenbelt." Advocacy group Environmental Defence said the new legislation meant the current process to identify appropriate places for new development will be sidelined. "The Greenbelt is the anchor of smart land-use in southern Ontario," said Tim Gray. "Opening it to development will set free rampant land speculation by developers, resulting in a loss of farmland and the disruption of farm communities." MONTREAL - Quebec Premier Francois Legault said he made progress during Friday's first ministers' meeting on his demand that the federal government pay $300 million in compensation to cover the cost of refugees arriving in the province. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 7/12/2018 (1085 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Quebec Premier Francois Legault arrives at the the first ministers' meeting in Montreal on Friday, December 7, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson MONTREAL - Quebec Premier Francois Legault said he made progress during Friday's first ministers' meeting on his demand that the federal government pay $300 million in compensation to cover the cost of refugees arriving in the province. Legault said Ottawa had previously offered to cover only the cost of lodging the asylum seekers about half of what Quebec was seeking. "This afternoon they have moved forward a little more to say they are ready to look at other expenses besides lodging," Legault told reporters at the end of the meeting. "We will have discussions with the bills between ministers and bureaucrats to get as close as possible to $300 million. It is a lot of money." Since 2017, there has been an influx of asylum seekers entering Quebec across the United States border. Legault said it takes more than 18 months for would-be refugees to find out if they can remain in the country. In the meantime, Quebec pays for their housing, education and health care costs, which have totalled roughly $300 million over two years, Legault said. He said Ottawa is responsible for the lengthy delays in the system. "I expect Mr. Trudeau to compensate us," he said before meeting the prime minister and his fellow premiers. "It's unacceptable for it to take 18 months before (asylum seekers) get an answer. And in the majority of cases, they are refused, because they cannot prove that their life is in danger." Federal authorities processed 24,745 asylum claims made in Quebec in 2017 five times more than the previous year. The pace has continued this year, with 23,595 claimants in Quebec processed through the end of October. The province receives more than half of all asylum claims in Canada, including the vast majority of those entering through non-official border crossings. Legault said it is Ottawa's responsibility to pay for the direct costs of asylum seekers. In Ottawa, opposition members representing Quebec ridings called on the Trudeau government to agree to Legault's request. "The request is totally appropriate, and I hope that the government is going be attentive to this request," New Democrat MP Matthew Dube said. Conservative MP Pierre Paul-Hus said Quebec should not be left with the bill for what he called "the mistakes and the failures of the prime minister." Gabriel Ste-Marie of the Bloc Quebecois said Ottawa should be compensating Quebec rather than helping Alberta buy rail cars to ship oil, something Trudeau has said he would consider. "The crisis is being badly managed by Ottawa," he said. "It's Quebec that is left with the bill." The issue of compensation for refugee costs is part of larger negotiations between Ottawa and Quebec over immigration. The Legault government this week announced plans to reduce annual immigration to the province by 20 per cent starting next year. The province wants to reduce all three types of immigration: economic, family reunification and refugees. It only controls economic immigration, however, so it needs Ottawas co-operation to curtail immigration in the other two categories. And Trudeau has already raised concerns about Quebecs plan. According to a 1991 agreement between Quebec and the federal government, the province is guaranteed 25 per cent of the total money Ottawa transfers to the provinces for immigration settlement. Despite its planned reductions, Quebec is set to receive about $550 million in 2019 up from about $490 million in 2018. With files from Mylene Crete Irish housebuilding group Abbey has said it will be cautious about making new landbank investments, particularly in its UK operations, in the months ahead, due to Brexit uncertainty. The Meath-based company reported a 2.2% year-on-year increase in first half pre-tax profits, while revenues jumped by over 22% to 110.6m. Pre-tax profit for the six months to the end of October, amounted to 23.93m. Whilst our UK forward sales position gives confidence of a reasonable result for the year, the uncertain external conditions are cause for concern, said chairman Charles Gallagher. The group will continue to progress all its activities but intends to be cautious about new investments. Mr Gallagher said, however, that trading in the UK held up well in the six months, with housing projects aimed at first-time buyers selling particularly well. Abbeys core housebuilding division - it also has a UK plant hire business which generated profits of 1.88m and revenues of nearly 11m in the first half - completed 277 sales; 239 of which were in the UK, with 19 in Ireland and 19 in the Czech Republic. At its AGM in October, Abbey said it was ramping up its Irish-based development activity, with increasing the number of houses it builds here its top priority. Mr Gallagher said that remains the case.Abbey currently has four Irish-based housing projects awaiting planning permission, and will shortly have five projects, here, in production. The company declared an interim dividend of 9c per share, as well as a special dividend of 1 per share. The latter will be paid at the end of January, with the former payable at the end of April. Less than 10% of Abbey shares are in free float. The Gallagher family controls nearly 82% of the company, with global investor Fidelity controlling just shy of 10%. Elsewhere, UK housebuilder Berkeley Group reported a 25.7% fall in first-half profit and warned of an uncertain short-term outlook as British people put off buying houses ahead of Brexit. KATHMANDU, Dec7: The Metropolitan Police Range Kathmandu has rescued 21 people from a rehab home in Kathmandu. They were rescued from the reform home run by Transformation Nepal at Sukedhara, Kathmandu Metropolitan City-4. A team of the Range arrested the reform home proprietor Santosh Ghimire and Samit Malla, an employee there on the charge of inflicting gross torture on the people sheltered there. The police have also initiated an investigation into this connection. Chief of the Range, Basanta Lama, said in a news conference it organized today that the reform homes proprietor has been arrested and the people sheltered at the home rescued after it was found that rather than rehabilitate the drug addicts and alcohol abusers kept there they were tortured. Thirteen out of the 34 people kept at the reform home ran away from there and came to the police to report the problems they had to endure there. Their families also submitted an application to the police urging for taking action against the proprietor and rescuing their relatives at the reform home. So based on this, we rescued the remaining 21 people on Thursday, he said. The rescued people have been handed over to their families, police said. Lama said a preliminary investigation by police showed that the proprietor collected money from the parents of the people sheltered at the Home on lump sum basis for the whole year at the rate of Rs 35 thousand per person per month. The inmates were subjected to various kinds of physical and mental torture and were not allowed to meet with their parents. This kind of incident took place as the parents were not serious, he added. A company has lost its High Court challenge over the HSE's refusal to enter into a community pharmacy contract (CPC) with it for a pharmacy on Dublin's northside. The HSE last April refused the application by Darastream Ltd for a CPC for Smith's Pharmacy at Quarry Road, Cabra, in light of inquiries by it, including whether there was claiming on the double for prescriptions, at two other Smith pharmacies operated by companies with the same beneficial ownership as Darastream. In his judgment today, Mr Justice Garret Simons ruled the HSE has a discretion, not a "duty", under the Health Act, to enter into a CPC with any individual pharmacist and its approach was lawful. The HSE was entitled to have regard to matters including financial probity and professional qualifications of the party seeking to enter a contract with it and to the fact all three pharmacies would have the same superintendent pharmacist, he also held. Without preempting the results of the HSE's inquiries, it was sufficient to note the issues raised, if correct, are "serious matters" and could lawfully ground a decision to refuse to enter into a CPC agreement, he said. Darastream, whose directors are Jack and Mary McPolin, was informed by the HSE last April the contract was not being awarded due to inquiries concerning two other pharmacies operated by different companies beneficially owned by Jack McPolin. Those inquiries were being carried out under both companies CPCs. The other two pharmacies are the Fair Street Pharmacy, trading as Smith's Pharmacy, Main Street, Blanchardstown, and Lynnmoy Ltd, trading as Smith's Pharmacy, North Circular Road, Dublin. The HSE's concerns include alleged failure to maintain records, inducements to order medcines and duplicate cross pharmacy claims where multiple claims were entered for the same people in different pharmacies. The HSE noted Mr McPolin was the superintendent pharmacist for the two pharmacies and was to be the superintendent pharmacist for the Cabra pharmacy. Darastream, among various claims, argued the HSE's refusal was unjust, irrational and lacking in proportionality. The HSE denied the claims. In his judgment, Mr Justice Simons said the HSE has broad discretion, under Section 59 of the Health Act relating to provision of community pharmacy services, to ensure it uses resources available to it in the most beneficial, effective and efficient manner. The HSE's duty is to eligible recipients of the service and is to ensure the supply of drugs, medicines and health appliances, he said. To discharge that duty, the HSE had a corresponding "power" to enter into contractual arrangements with individual pharmacists. That did not give rise to some form of duty in favour of individual pharmacists and "no such duty exists". The HSE must be entitled to have regard to the fact other pharmacies with the same beneficial ownership are under inquiry pursuant to their CPC contracts, he also said. He noted the HSE had proposed to defer its decision whether to issue a CPC for the Cabra pharmacy until its inquiries were concluded and only made the disputed refusal decision after the applicant insisted a decision be made in advance. The HSE had also said, subject to the outcome of its inquiries, it was open to considering any future application by Darastream. The HSE's approach was lawful, he ruled. New digital technologies will result in 46,000 fewer jobs being created here in the next five years. That is the finding of a report that says one in three Irish jobs are at high risk of being affected by high tech developments. This study from the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs looks at the impacts of the adoption of digital technologies between now and 2023. It finds that Digitalisation is a major driver of productivity growth - But points out that it also disrupts traditional roles, with a third of jobs in Ireland at high risk of being affected. The group says most at risk of being replaced by digital technologies are those with lower levels of education. The report finds that all sectors excluding financial services and real estate, will be employing more people in 2023 than they do currently. But technology will slow down this growth the to tune of 46,000 fewer jobs. Despite that, the group thinks Ireland's training and skills systems are well-positioned to respond to the new landscape. It is warning, though, that the economy needs to be able to keep its 'skills architecture' up to date to deal with future challenges. Digital Desk British clothing and accessories retailer Ted Baker has posted a slight decline in group revenue for the 16-week period between August and December as lower wholesale sales overshadowed retail sales growth. The fashion chain also confirmed that it has appointed law firm Herbert Smith Freehills to conduct an independent external investigation regarding claims against its chief executive and founder Ray Kelvin relating to his habit of hugging business colleagues. While recent news flow is unhelpful, we believe the impact on the groups brand strength and longer-term growth prospects is likely to be minimal, Liberum analysts said. The analysts added that the companys marker as a global lifestyle brand leaves it far better placed than most in the more challenging retail space that currently persists. Ted Baker, which operates 544 stores, concessions and outlets worldwide, had been focusing on its fast-growing online and wholesale businesses to counter retail sluggishness as consumers clamp down on spending. Group revenue fell 0.2% for the 16-week period from August 11 to December 1. However, wholesale sales fell by 6.5% due to the earlier timing of deliveries in the first half of the year. Total retail sales including e-commerce rose by 2.3%. In the UK, Europe and the east coast of America, trade was hurt by the unseasonal weather at the start of the period, Ted Baker said. Trading in the UK continues to be impacted by the well-publicised challenges facing some of our trading partners, it added. The worlds fifth-largest economy risks stumbling into a disorderly exit from its biggest trading partner, the EU, if the British parliament votes down Prime Minister Theresa Mays withdrawal agreement next Tuesday. Meanwhile, Ted Baker will report to a committee of the companys non-executive directors that will be chaired by Sharon Baylay, a former Microsoft executive who joined the board in June. The law firm appointment follows reports that Mr Kelvin gave staff members unwanted hugs and asked female employees to sit on his knee. The CEO also pushed an executive against the wall in a glass meeting room in 2016, according to sources. The companys shares rose as much as 4.3% after the its trading update. The shares had slumped by about one-fifth this week since reports appeared. The company said it continues to anticipate mid- to high-single-digit wholesale sales growth in constant-currency terms for the full year. The robust performance shows the resilience of Ted Bakers business model, analysts said. Reuters and Bloomberg A Cork couple took their relationship to new heights last night with a touching engagement in the arrivals hall. Deborah Kirby was waiting for Ken Wills' flight from London Heathrow when The Loungeman band started playing her favourite song, Woman by John Lennon, Ken then came out and dropped to one knee and popped the question to a shocked Deborah. The couple have three children, Aaron (19), Robin (13) and Harry (8), and knew each other when they were younger. Ken revealed he thought Cork Airport would be the perfect proposal location as airports have a special place in the couples hearts. We first saw each other, after 15 years, six years ago in an airport. And have been dating since, he said. Ken added that while he had been thinking about the proposal for some time, he only plucked up the courage on Wednesday night to email Cork Airports Managing Director and see whether they could work together on a Christmas surprise. I just took a chance, he said. The moment of the proposal between the Ballincollig couple was captured by Cork-based media production company, Isla Media, with the help of Cork Aiport. Cork Airports Managing Director Niall MacCarthy said: When Ken reached out and asked for assistance to plan the perfect proposal, we were delighted to help. It was the perfect ruse. "We recruited a camera crew, who pretended to film the live Christmas music being performed at the airport daily throughout December and arranged for The Loungeman to play Deborahs favourite song. It was lovely to help this great couple capture this beautiful moment. The Loungeman, who serenaded the couple on the night, has offered to perform at their wedding for free as a wedding gift. Digital Desk Update 4.28pm: A group of activists have ended their occupation of the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment in Dublin. They voluntarily left the Department's offices after a short non-violent protest demanding greater government action on climate change. The group says it met with the General Secretary of the Department who was presented with a list of 22 demands. Chloe Manahan - one of the activists involved - said she believes young people will be forced to take more responsibility on climate change in future. "We think that the level of political apathy towards climate change is something that's going to force responsibility onto young people in the future," she said. Digital Desk Earlier: Climate change activists are occupying government building Update 2.10pm: A group of activists has occupied the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment in Dublin. They are demanding greater government action to tackle climate change. Activists from the Green Party, Labour Party, People Before Profit and the Dublin Ecofeminist Coven are involved. We're at the Department of Climate (in)Action, where the direct action is ongoing and protesters are demanding government #passthebills and take #climateactionnow pic.twitter.com/hn8FqeoBzd Green Party Ireland (@greenparty_ie) December 7, 2018 It coincides with environmental groups around the world demonstrating at the COP 24 climate change conference in Poland. Chloe Manahan, one of the activists involved, outlines their demands: "We demand the passage of the micro-generation bill, the climate emergency bill, we're calling for the smooth transition over to a green economy among other things. "We have occupied the Department of Climate Action, Communications and the Environment because we are hoping we can meet with the minister or the next-highest official in order to get a guarantee that those bills will not be filibustered." Digital Desk A court crier has brought a High Court challenge over a decision by the Courts Service to terminate his employment. The action has been taken by Martin Walsh, who has been the tipstaff or crier to Circuit Court Judge Doirbhile Flanagan of the Circuit Court since 2012. He also has worked in a similar role with other judges since 2001 after he retired from the Defence Forces. Last August he was informed by the Courts Service that due to the retirement of Judge Flanagan his employment would be terminated in December. Represented by Ken Fogarty SC , Mr Walsh has brought judicial review proceedings against his employer challenging that decision. He claims the decision is unlawful because he has acquired a contract of indefinite duration. He claims the initial terms of his contract were that his appointment was temporary, could be terminated at any time, had a compulsory retirement age of 65 years, and he would have to vacate the position when the judge he worked with leaves office. He claims that in 2005 he was appointed to an established position as a court crier within the court services. Despite holding talks with HR representatives of the Courts Service, he claims the situation has not been resolved. In his judicial review action Mr Walsh, with an address at North King Street, Dublin 7 seeks various orders and declarations. These include an order quashing the decision of the Courts Service to terminate his employment, and an order compelling the Courts Service to maintain Mr Walsh in employment. Mr Walsh also seeks declarations including that in accordance with sections of the 2003 Protection of Employees Work Act he has acquired a contract of indefinite duration by operation of law. Permission to bring the case was granted, on an ex parte basis, by Mr Justice Charles Meenan. The case will come back before the court at a later date. Broadband bidder David McCourt should be made to "suffer the consequences" for breaking procurement rules by repeatedly meeting ex-communications minister Denis Naughten during the crucial tender process, according to Fianna Fail. The party's communications spokesperson Timmy Dooley said Mr McCourt should face the same consequences as Mr Naughten after the author of the Government-backed report into what happened admitted the rules were broken "in the strict sense". Speaking during an emergency Oireachtas communications committee meeting in response to the publication of the report last week, Peter Smyth repeatedly said the broadband plan has not been damaged by what happened. However, under questioning from politicians Mr Smyth said what he agrees there was a "breach of rules in the strict sense" due to the meetings between Mr McCourt and Mr Naughten he does not believe canvassing took place. Asked what action is now needed in light of Mr Smyth's acceptance the rules were broken - a conclusion not made in his official report - Fianna Fail communications spokesperson Mr Dooley said there are clear issues surrounding the broadband plan's future. And, while declining to say if the plan should now be scrapped, Mr Dooley said it is essential Mr McCourt still has to "suffer the consequences" of the breach of strict procurement rules. "I think the rules were broken by [David] McCourt, and by Denis [Naughten] as well. Peter Smyth confirmed that at the committee. Denis has suffered the consequences but McCourt is still in the process, and put simply I think if there was another bidder in the place they could be in the courts. "Breaking of the rules needs to matter, but you just wonder if it does or what the purpose of rules are if they don't seem to matter and nothing happens from this," he said. Noting the fact Mr Smyth admitted in Thursday's communications committee his investigation did not include sworn statements and was based on phone calls and texts with Mr Naughten and Mr McCourt instead of one-to-one meetings, Mr Dooley said there are clear gaps in the inquiry and that it was "unconvincing". However, pressed on whether Fianna Fail will push the Government to open a fresh inquiry into the broadband meetings scandal or will block Mr McCourt receiving the contract, he said it is a matter for Fine Gael. During Thursday's communications committee meeting, Mr Smyth confirmed: A Fianna Fail councillor has announced she is defecting to join up with former Sinn Fein TD Peadar Toibin's new political movement. Cavan County Councillor, Sarah OReilly, announced on Friday that she has resigned her membership of Fianna Fail. She was co-opted onto the local authority in 2016 to fill the seat vacated by the election of Niamh Smith to Dail Eireann. She said: "It's with great sadness that I announce my resignation today. I joined Fianna Fail nearly 10 years ago as I sought to help make a difference for the people of County Cavan. "It has become clear to me that the Fianna Fail that I joined no longer exists. There is a serious disconnect between Fianna Fail members on the ground and the leadership of the party. "Micheal Martin and a number of senior Fianna Fail TDs are now articulating views that are unrecognisable to grass root members. "I will now join forces with the growing All Ireland Movement that is being built around the country by Peadar Toibin TD and others. "I will ask all those in Cavan who seek Irish Unity, Economic Justice and protection of the most vulnerable to join with me in challenging the growing groupthink in our country." Fianna Fail declined to comment on the resignation but removed Cllr O'Reilly from its website. A serving garda has gone on trial accused of dangerous driving causing the death of a woman four years ago. Warren Farrell (35), who is based in Clondalkin, Co Dublin, was the driver of a marked patrol car that was responding to a panic button call at a Topaz garage when the car struck a pedestrian. Elizabeth Core was crossing the road and appeared not to see the patrol car, James Dwyer SC, prosecuting, told the jury in his opening speech for the State. The emergency lights of the patrol car were activated but the siren was de-activated in order to allow the garda passenger to communicate with command and control. Mr Dwyer told the jurors that he expects they will hear evidence that Mr Farrell applied the brakes and entered the bus lane. The patrol car mounted the footpath and the front left tyre burst. The right hand side of the car hit Ms Core and she was pushed onto the car, counsel said. He said onlookers will say they saw Ms Core look left before the collision. She was brought to hospital and received medical attention but was pronounced dead a short time later. A state pathologist concluded that her death was caused by head and chest trauma as a result of vehicular impact. Patrick McGrath SC, defending, said that Gda Farrell accepts he was driving the patrol car. He said there is also no issue as to the cause of Ms Core's death. Gda Farrell had pleaded not guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to dangerous driving causing the death of Ms Core at Fonthill Road South on August 28, 2014. Mr Dwyer said that it is the State's case that the defendant drove in a dangerous manner and this caused Ms Core's death. He said that an accepted definition of dangerous driving is driving in a manner which a reasonably prudent person, having regard to all circumstances, would recognise as involving a direct, immediate and serious risk to the public. He said that there are some road traffic laws which don't apply to gardai acting in the performance of their duty, where such actions don't endanger the safety of road users. Counsel said dangerous driving is not one of these laws. The trial continues next Tuesday before Judge Cormac Quinn and a jury of six men and six women. Gardai seized cannabis worth 44,000 and seized a stun-gun during a raid on a suspected cannabis grow house in north Cork yesterday. The raid was mounted in Kanturk as part of an ongoing operation targetting the sale and supply of drugs in the Mallow District. Gardai from Mallow, backed by members of the armed Regional Support Unit, executed a search warrant at a house in the Kanturk area. During the course of the search, gardai seized cannabis plants, cannabis herb and controlled drugs with an estimated street value of approximately 44,000. A stun gun was also seized. The drugs will now be sent for analysis. A garda spokesman said while no arrests were made, the investigation is ongoing. Digital Desk SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico Coast Guard rescue crews continue searching Dec. 7 for possible survivors of a capsized migrant boat in waters just off Isla Saona, Dominican Republic. So far, 21 people have been rescued, while seven others are reportedly still missing. Coast Guard watchstanders in Sector San Juan overheard a VHF Channel 16 radio transmission at approximately 2 p.m. Dec. 6 from the commercial tanker Sea Board Ranger requesting assistance to find for persons in the water, approximately six nautical miles east of Isla Saona, Dominican Republic. The Sea Board Ranger crew further relayed that they located a capsized vessel at and safely recovered 20 migrants from the water. Survivors reported that there were 28 people aboard the makeshift vessel. Shortly thereafter, Coast Guard Sector San Juan received a request for assistance from Dominican Republic authorities. Coast Guard watchstanders diverted the Coast Guard Cutter Joseph Tezanos and launched an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter and an HC-144 Ocean Sentry aircraft to search for possible survivors. The cutter Tezanos arrived on scene located and rescued a woman from the water on the afternoon of Dec. 6, while the crew of the Coast Guard helicopter also located the capsized vessel. Coast Guard rescue crews participating in the search are the Cutters Joseph Tezanos and Winslow Griesser, MH-65 Dolphin helicopters from Air Station Borinquen, HC-144 Ocean Sentry from Air Station Miami and HH-C-130 Hercules from Air Station Clearwater, Florida. The professional body for obstetricians and gynaecologists is to hold an extraordinary general meeting to discuss the introduction of abortion services. The Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists confirmed it had received a motion seeking an EGM. The national professional and training body has around 200 members who are experienced obstetricians and gynaecologists. Some members of the institute called for the EGM to discuss the planned provision of abortion services. They believe the provision of services should not go ahead next month until the risks are assessed. Responding, the institute stated the meeting would give members the opportunity to express an opinion on the introduction of abortion services, particularly the safety and readiness of such services. It is entirely appropriate for members to convene a meeting of the institute to discuss these matters formally, a statement added. Draft guidelines being developed by the institute in anticipation of the introduction of legislation to allow for abortions are almost completed. It must be emphasised that the institute has no role, authority or responsibility in the actual delivery of obstetric and gynaecological services which is the remit of the HSE, the institute said. An extraordinary meeting can be held 28 days after the motion is received. Meanwhile, a group of nurses and midwives have joined obstetricians and gynaecologists in raising concern about the rush to introduce abortion services. The group, Nurses & Midwives4Life Ireland, say they cannot understand why Health Minister Simon Harris is insisting on a January 1 deadline. More than 500 nurses and midwives have signed a petition urging the minister to consult with their profession. Dr Peter Boylan, clinical adviser to the HSE's National Women and Infants Programme, said nurses and doctors could have a conscientious objection to conducting a termination. But somebody bringing a patient to an operation theatre cannot have a conscientious objection. An institution cannot have a conscientious objection, he said. Dr Boylan said there were enough nurses and doctors in the hospitals and around the country to provide abortion services. There were genuine concerns held by his medical colleagues and he understood them, but they were more around the area of change. The Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy Bill passed all stages in the Dail this week. The Health Minister has confirmed the HPV vaccine will be extended to boys next year. It follows a report from the health watchdog recommending the move which would cost 12 million over five years. HIQA says it would directly protect boys and indirectly protect girls. The watchdog also wants the type of vaccine changed so it is more effective. Every year, 538 people are diagnosed with a HPV-linked cancer in Ireland - a quarter of them are boys. Mairin Ryan from HIQA says extending the programme would have benefits for boys and girls. "Extending the HPV vaccine to boys provides direct protection against HPV-related disease to boys, indirect protection to girls who have not been vaccinated and would reduce HPV-related disease and mortality in Ireland. We have published our final health technology assessment on extending the HPV vaccine to boys. HIQA is advising the Minister for Health to switch to a more effective HPV vaccine and offer the vaccine to boys. https://t.co/tsgCcYAnP7 pic.twitter.com/j9QMyShNXK HIQA (@HIQA) December 7, 2018 "Over 20 years, a gender-neutral 9-valent programme will prevent an estimated 101 additional cases of cervical cancer compared with the current girls-only 4-valent programme." Speaking from Brussels this morning, Minister for Health Simon Harris welcomed the announcement saying that the efficacy of vaccination is well documented. There have been attempts to spread fear and scaremonger. This came to light here in when there was an attempt to link the HPV vaccine with serious side effects. This can have negative, and potentially long-lasting, consequences, particularly when such views are spread through online media. He said that while Ireland is not immune to this issue there are signs that the negative trends are being reversed. Minister Harris noted that anti-vaccination campaigns led to a significant drop in uptake rates of the HPV vaccine. However, he said that the work of the HSE in promoting its HPV Information Campaign has resulted in an increase in uptake rates to 65% in 2018. Digital Desk The HSE says it supports a decision by a centre in Kerry for vulnerable women to shut down. The Tralee Women's Resource Centre, which helped more than 2,500 women in 2017, closed its doors yesterday following a review of the organisation. It had been providing support for those affected by domestic violence and crisis pregnancies since 1986. In a statement, the HSE paid tribute to the work of the centre's volunteers. "In relation to the closure of Tralee Womens Forum CLG, this is a decision solely for the Company Directors," it said. "In this regard, the HSE has been advised by Tralee Womens Forum CLG that they are closing following a review of the organisation. "The HSE would like to acknowledge and pay tribute to the work of Tralee Womens Resource Centre over the years. The HSE acknowledges the decision of the Board of TWRC and is supportive of same. A local campaign group has been set up to protest against the decision. Orla O'Connor, CEO of the National Women's Council, says more of these centres are needed in areas away from cities. "We absolutely need greater supports, both in rural areas as well as urban areas and access to refuge spaces and that is a real issue because many of the support centres are located in the more urban areas and the cities," said Ms O'Connor. Digital Desk Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe has sparked fresh anger among nurses after rejecting demands to increase their salaries, claiming that any raise will have "huge and entirely negative consequences" and is "not affordable". Mr Donohoe insists "a demand like that cannot be met" despite growing pressure from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation to increase income levels for members across the country. Speaking on the Tonight Show with Matt Cooper and Ivan Yates on Virgin Media One, Mr Donohoe said he has the "height of respect" for the work of nurses in hospitals nationwide. WATCH: Finance Minister @Paschald says he cant and wont meet nurse's wage demands. He was speaking on @TonightVMT ahead of possible industrial action at hospitals and schools #TonightVMT pic.twitter.com/j9b1opcOrG Virgin Media News (@VirginMediaNews) December 7, 2018 However, despite the compliment, he said the Government will not allow any increases in pay levels for nurses as it would risk limiting the money available for the health service and other public sector workers pay levels: "That's not a demand I'm going to be able to meet." "I have the height of respect for the work our nurses do and for the huge contributions they make in our wards every hour and every day. But I also have a huge amount of respect for the work other public servants do. "If a demand like that was to be conceded it would have huge and entirely negative consequences for the current wage agreement that we have, and wouldn't be affordable," he said. In a statement to the Irish Examiner the INMO hit out at Mr Donohoe's position, saying the Finance Minister has been "unwilling" to meet with them on the issue on a number of occasions this year. "Nurses and midwives are the lowest-paid graduate profession within the Irish healthcare system and also work the longest hours. "Since Minister Donohoe appeared on the Tonight Show we have received a significant number of comments from our members who felt his comments were patronising towards them as a majority female workforce and had little regard for requests made on their behalf." "Nurses and midwives are extremely exercised about the very dangerous working conditions for themselves and their patients due to a recruitment and retention crisis. We would again appeal to the Minister to meet directly with us to explore realistic proposals to resolve this ongoing and worsening crisis regarding recruitment and retention for nursing and midwifery," a spokesperson said. The comments came as the Oireachtas parliamentary budget office director, Annette Connolly, raised concerns over runaway departmental spending, noting 1bn worth of supplementary budgets occurred this year. The report into the death of an Irish Coast Guard Volunteer off the County Clare Coast two years ago has recommended the Minister for Transport review the Irish National Search and Rescue Framework. The Maritime Casualty Investigation Board (MCIB) conducted the investigation after Catriona Lucas died when her boat capsized while out searching for a missing man. In its final report, the MCIB states the Delta RIB used in the operation was not licensed or certified in accordance with the statutory requirements. There is a recommendation for the Transport, Tourism and Sport Minister to review and clearly document the criteria for tasking and launching Coast Guard Boats. Reacting to the publication of the report, Minister Shane Ross says he will be ensuring all the recommendations are implemented. Shane Ross The Minister outlined the steps that have been taken as an immediate response to the report: I have broadened the national SAR Framework review already underway as a response to the recent AQE Report on SAR aviation. It will now encompass the relevant recommendations arising from the MCIB report. The Review Group itself met formally on Wednesday 5 December under the independent chairmanship of Sir Alan Massey, former CEO of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency in the UK. I have instructed the IRCG to accelerate its work in developing an independently accredited ISO safety management system that will be robust and fit for purpose. This work is already underway and significant effort and investment has taken place over the last two years. That said, I am requiring the IRCG and the Marine Survey Office to take the necessary and pragmatic steps to ensure that any issues which could impact on vessel or crew safety are addressed as a matter of urgency. Minister Ross also paid tribute to Catriona Lucas describing her as "an extraordinary woman - brave, committed, supremely generous". He said that her death was an appalling tragedy adding that the Irish Coast Guard would always honour her memory. "Her life will be remembered by the actions of all those involved in Search and Rescue activities." Digital Desk Health Minister Simon Harris is set to reject amendments to his controversial abortion legislation when it is debated in the Seanad on Monday. Concerns have been expressed by senators on both sides of the debate with pro-life opponents to the bill criticising attempts to rush the legislation through, while pro-choice senators have expressed concern over elements of the bill as currently drafted. Particularly, they have expressed concern at the inclusion of the three-day waiting period before an abortion can be carried out, a provision which was inserted to assuage Tanaiste Simon Coveney earlier this year. Senator Alice Mary Higgins said her key concern is the question of criminalisation. People voted not to police women and their health. They voted to support them. There is no place in this Bill for criminalisation, she said. Trinity Senator Lynne Ruane said Ireland has among the most restrictive abortion laws in Europe and that will continue to be the case after the Bill is passed. However, I want to work with what we have before us. Although it may not be perfect, it is a real sign of progress. However, on the most problematic provision taken from the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act, I do not see how it is justifiable that the broad criminalisation of abortion services has been retained in the Bill, she said. Independent NUI Senator Ronan Mullen, a strong opponent of the bill, said what is at the heart of this Bill is truly frightening, noting it defines "termination of pregnancy" as "a medical procedure which is intended to end the life of a foetus", a position which he said is beyond tears. Speaking to the Irish Examiner, Mr Mullen said he knows he is facing an uphill task but will fight the good fight for the 34% of people who voted against the referendum proposal in May. He criticised the undue haste with which the bill is being shoe-horned through the Oireachtas. Donegal Senator Brian O Domhnaill echoed such concerns calling on his colleagues not to repeat the mistake and seek to rush through legislation for the sake of adhering to some arbitrarily defined and ultimately self-imposed political deadline. This House and its Members must be accorded the space and the respect necessary for sufficient analysis, he said. But senator Ivana Bacik rejected such claims the process was being rushed. In fact, I would argue it is taking too long. The people voted six months ago so we have a duty to give effect to their wishes. Ms Bacik also said she hoped the debate next week will remain respectful and not become like it was in the Dail, which she described as terrible. Mr Harris, meanwhile, said he looks forward to a high rate of participation among general practitioners so that women can access the service at the stage in pregnancy when it is safest to do so. Six people have been arrested by Gardai after almost 4 million worth of cocaine and cannabis was seized in Dublin last night. The arrests were made after three separate operations. A student working in a takeaway suffered devastating burn injuries when he sat on a bucket containing freshly discarded hot cooking oil and the oil splashed on his back and arm, the High Court has heard. Fine Arts student Umesh Maharjan, his counsel Declan Doyle SC told the court, was in excruciating, unbearable pain and has been left with "grossly disfiguring" scars. Mr Maharjan who is originally from Kathmandu in Nepal was working in the takeaway to finance his degree when the accident happened three years ago. Mr Doyle SC told the court the student was taking a break at the back of the Rathnew Chinese Takeaway premises in Rathnew, Co Wicklow where plastic buckets were kept and where staff went for a break. Somebody, counsel said had put hot cooking oil from a deep fat fryer in a bucket and when Mr Maharjan sat on it, the lid gave way and he collapsed back and the oil spilled over his back and left arm. Counsel said the student suffered life-changing and devastating injuries and had very extensive burns. Colleagues, he said helped and put water and some ice on the affected areas and Mr Maharjan was taken to hospital. Umesh Maharjan (29), Windmill House, Dock Road, Limerick had sued Rathnew Restaurant and Takeaway Ltd with offices at Rockville House, Rathnew, Co Wicklow, the operators of the takeaway restaruant, Rathnew Chinese Takeaway in Rathnew, Co Wicklow as a result of the accident on August 21, 2015. He claimed there was a failure to take any or any adequate precautions so as to provide Mr Maharjan with a safe place of work and a safe system of work. He also claimed hot oil had been stored in a manner and in a container that was unfit for purpose and created an obvious hazard and trap for him. Hot oil he claimed was stored in an area of the premises where Mr Maharjan was required to spend his refreshment break during the course of his working day. Mr Justice Michael Hanna was told the issue of liability had been withdrawn in the case and it was before the court for assessment of damages only. Counsel told the court when Mr Maharjan was brought to hospital he was in excruciating pain and he later had unbearable pain when dressings were changed. Counsel said the accident had a devastating effect on Mr Maharjan's life and he has been left with grossly disfiguring scars. In evidence Mr Maharjan said he was scared and his back was really hot. "The pain was really hard for me. I feel bad I will have this for my entire life." he said. When the case resumed before the court this afternoon, Mr Doyle SC said the case had been settled and could be struck out. Mr Justice Michael Hanna wished Mr Maharjan well in the future and the judge said he was a very impressive gentleman. The medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) says it has been forced to terminate its search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean. It says a sustained campaign of obstruction by the Italian government brought about the decision to withdraw its rescue vessel Aquarius. It says Italy has twice stripped the ship of its registration, and falsely accused it of criminal activities. Over 2,000 migrants have died trying to cross the Mediterranean this year. Tom De Kok who is on board the Aquarius says forcing the MSF vessel out of the region will mean more lives are lost. "Our work does save lives so if you ask me 'will our absence result in deaths?' the answer is unequivocally yes," said Mr De Kok. BREAKING: @MSF and SOS Mediterranee have been forced to end operations on search and rescue ship #Aquarius. Sustained attacks on search and rescue by European states will mean more deaths at sea, and more needless deaths that will go unwitnessed. https://t.co/JxX7hiigcm MSF Sea (@MSF_Sea) December 6, 2018 MSF says the European Union is working to force migrants back to Libya - in contravention of international law. "This has become a systematic delegitimisation of search and rescue activities," said Mr De Kok. "The European Union Council agreement in June of this year said it would stand by Italy." Digital Desk ANZ Bank may have to scrap the planned sale of its wealth business to IOOF after the once-friendly society was accused of not acting in the best interests of its superannuation members. The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority on Friday announced it was taking Federal Court action to have IOOF's top brass, including chief executive Chris Kelaher and chairman George Venardos, disqualified from acting as a director of a superannuation trustee for allegedly not being fit and proper people to run a super fund. ANZ's deal to sell its pensions and investments business to IOOF could be in disarray. Credit:Fairfax Media APRA's action came after a long-running dispute with IOOF over its culture, structure and remediation of customers. Along with the Federal Court action, APRA has issued show cause notices to IOOF that it will be placing conditions on a variety of licences owned by the group that will mean it will have to ensure the boards of its superannuation funds are different to its group board. New York: An obscure Hong Kong telecommunications company has emerged as the centrepiece of an explosive bid by United States prosecutors to have a top Chinese telco executive extradited to the US from Canada to face charges. Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer for Chinese telecom giant Huawei, appeared in court in Vancouver on Friday, local time, for bail hearings. The proceedings offered the first detailed look at why the US is trying to have Meng, the daughter of Huawai's founder, brought to America to face charges. The US argues that Huwawei used a shell company based in Hong Kong called Skycom to access the Iranian market and breach US sanctions. Australias debate over energy policy is an ongoing, unedifying spectacle. The National Energy Guarantee (NEG) is dead - despite looking capable of balancing affordability and emissions issues and we now have a discourse focusing on fair dinkum as a brand for energy sources. Meanwhile, Australian businesses struggle with inflated energy bills and the reliability of their power sources. Most also want to implement sustainability goals that lessen greenhouse gas emissions and align with the values of their investors, customers and staff. Energy efficiency should be a priority for our buildings, homes, industries and transport. Credit:Craig Abraham In the absence of national leadership, business and the community needs to stand up and take what action it can to improve energy efficiency, actions that will reduce costs and greenhouse emissions. And our governments, at a minimum, need to step up and get behind the original energy efficiency program they signed onto three years ago. The federal government says the focus of any energy policy should be to lower customer bills. Unfortunately, that discussion has been narrowly linked to the generation source like a coal-fired power station. What we need to refocus on is the impact that volume of energy use has on cost, no matter what the unit cost is. We need to be talking about efficient energy rather than fair dinkum energy whether that is branded coal or renewable. Daniel Jenatsch's The Sheraton Hotel Incident explores an embarrassing chapter in ASIO history. "Increasingly those distinctions are less and less relevant, and we're looking at how they become murky," Kristensen says. "You see it in dance performances and people playing music and artists who build set designs." Delany says theatricality was "once a dirty word in the visual arts. But in the past two decades visual arts has encompassed all kinds of media." Nat Randall, left, with actor and artist Linda Chen in Randall and Anna Breckon's Rear View, 2018. Credit:DAVID R SEUMANUTAFA The gallery, says Kristensen, "has always been seen as the white cube whereas the theatre has been the more immersive black box"? Why not let worlds collide? One much-anticipated work is a new commission from Nat Randall and Anna Breckon. Few artists blur the lines between performance art, filmmaking and dramaturgy as thoroughly as the pair behind the recent astonishing performance work The Second Woman. In this exhausting live event, Randall performed for 24 hours, acting out a short scene with 100 different men, over and over. Consuelo Cavaniglia, Untitled (detail), 2017. The endless loop of film or video art is a clear influence and for the ACCA show Randall and Breckon create a subversive road movie, Rear View, presented as a long single take. A road trip from Broken Hill to Wilcannia is projected as two performers enact their own road movie, with all the expectations of that genre. They deliver a script entirely made up of lines from film scenes featuring women in cars. Says Delany: "It's constructed speech between two women, one of ambiguous gender, and it's queering the roles of the road movie, so it's both familiar and strange." The installations of Venezuelan-born Sol Caleros evoke stage sets. While many of the exhibition's works have the hallmarks we'd expect from five mid-career artists the questioning, the serious sense of purpose, even a political edge what could be the show-stopper is its sense of humour. Some of the "acts" are funny, like spy stuff is funny, like a shoe-phone is funny. Or like tattooing your buttocks is funny. The show's catalogue includes Griffin's hilarious account of his tattooed bum. How, the artist asks, could he get around his mum's opposition to his getting a tattoo? By inking an image of her, of course, on one of his buttocks. When his father got jealous, Griffin suggests, he had him tattooed on the other cheek. Griffin has been called a punk artist, best known for creating savage digital collages on Instagram, mash-ups and videos lampooning American politicians and Australian figures such as columnist Andrew Bolt to whom Griffin attached Monty Python-esque fake arms that wriggle out to cover his eyes. In The Theatre is Lying, Griffin's four new video works explore the real and digital existence that now bedevils us all. It's personal and political and a bit baffling with footage of his root canal operation, together with apparent CNN screen shots of interviewees who all have Griffin's face. Artist and composer Daniel Jenatsch, meanwhile, uses the spy movie genre in a comment on truth being stranger than fiction. His video and sound work, The Sheraton Hotel Incident, references a 1983 mock training exercise that went horribly wrong for a group of ASIO agents. Wearing masks, weapons, and quite possibly shoe-phones, the agents set about "rescuing" a fictional hostage. Problem was, the hotel hadn't been warned. Once staff began seeing sinister figures with weapons, police were called, the agents arrested and a scathing Royal Commission finding followed. Delany suggests this critique of a bungled raid that was more Get Smart than James Bond is relevant to a 2018 audience attuned to surveillance and a "culture of fear" that potentially gives intelligence forces even greater powers. Other works in the exhibition rely less on screen-based worlds, instead creating 3D installations or sculptural forms akin to set designs and props. To Kristensen's mind, compared with visual art, "theatre and the performing arts are much more transparent about the deception inherent to their craft. "Scripts, sets, costumes, props, mise en scene, lighting, sound effects, smoke and mirrors the theatre is lying, shamelessly." Venezuelan-born, Berlin-based artist Sol Calero, visiting Melbourne for the first time following recent major shows in Europe, has created brightly coloured installations that evoke stage sets based around social spaces a pretend day spa or travel agency with a knowing wit behind the cultural cliches. In some works, an audience is essential to fully realise the art. A person passes through a threshold under one of Calero's arches. This architectural feature, associated with the Spanish colonial empire, is pointedly answered by the vibrant colours she uses to play on a stereotypical view of Latin American heritage. With so much deception on the line, a curator is probably wise to allude to the art world's biggest interrogation of all authenticity. In her catalogue essay, Kristensen writes that authenticity is often tied to originality or adherence to cultural or artistic traditions. Authentic might even be "a synonym for real". Yet she knows and we know that all art is in effect artifice; only ever a representation or one version of events but a beautiful lie nonetheless. THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY (96 minutes) PG The trouble with Harry is that he's dead but none of those who survive him, not even his widow (Shirley MacLaine), will let the inconvenient presence of his corpse spoil a beautiful day. This 1955 black comedy is one of Alfred Hitchcock's wittiest films. Screens as part of a Hitchcock retrospective. Digitally projected. Lido, Classic and Cameo, Sunday, December 9, 4pm. Alain Delon is suitably glacial as a gang leader in The Red Circle. THE RED CIRCLE (140 minutes) MA Like most of the crime films of French director Jean-Pierre Melville this 1970 heist thriller is so perversely obedient to genre convention it becomes a kind of abstract ritual. Alain Delon is suitably glacial as a gang leader whose plans are undone by fate. Digitally projected. Astor, Sunday, December 9, 7pm. A fundamental element of the collapse in the electoral standing of the Liberal Party, perhaps even more important than the disunity, disloyalty, and factionalism, certainly of greater longer-term significance, is how it has completely lost sight of what a Liberal stands for, what a Liberal believes in. It is fashionable, of course, in Liberal circles, to attempt to draw some authenticity by reference to Menzies. Let me suggest that Menzies would be turning in his grave with the policy drift of the current lot of politicians presenting under the Liberal banner. An abuse of power ... and an anti-Liberal intervention in the market. Credit:James Davies Liberals have traditionally believed in small government, low regulation, and reliance on markets and market processes. It is therefore most concerning that these defining beliefs have been so easily jettisoned, as a short-term political expedient, in what is just the last manifestation, but just one of many, of what they claim as an energy policy. The true Liberal response to the climate challenge would and should be and has been on a couple of previous, but opportunistic, occasions, under the likes of Howard and Turnbull to put a price on carbon via a pure emissions-trading scheme. This would be the most cost-effective response by charging, in simple terms, polluters for their pollution. Australians will eat outside, no matter what. In spite of the ways in which city planners and architects have traditionally shaped our cities tall city towers of implacable glass, wind tunnels of laneways, hotboxes of tiny unventilated courtyards we will be there, hair blowing every which way, shedding paper serviettes like autumn leaves. We'll go alfresco anywhere in the bush, on the beach, huddled on tiny balconies, on busy footpaths and perilous rooftops. Because let's face it, outdoor dining can't be enjoyed from behind a polite sheet of glass. It's not about controlling your environment, but immersing yourself in it. You have to be out there 100 per cent, under sun and rain, moving chairs to chase the shade, avoiding random sprinklers, fighting off predatory seagulls, saluting flies. Illustration by Simon Letch. So here's to a whole new summer of dining outdoors and a slew of new places for those who want to take it outside. In Sydney, the long promenade of outdoor dining at Barangaroo draws city workers like lemmings to a different view of the working harbour, seen from hot spots such as Cirrus, Anason and all three levels of Barangaroo House. In Melbourne, the beautifully designed wooden boardwalk along the sand on St Kilda Beach is lined with sunny dining terraces from the likes of Republica, Captain Baxter, Stokehouse and Donovans. In Manly, there are mighty new harbour views from the generous open terrace of the 300-seater Sake Restaurant, as it stretches over the rooftop of Manly Wharf. How is that not going to be summer's hot spot for post-ferry sundowners and all-day, every-day sushi? Some truly unique Christmas gifts will be available at the Canberra Potters Christmas Fair from next week. Local potters and ceramicists produce beautiful items perfect for Christmas gift Credit:Tanya McArthur The fair opens at the Watson Arts Centre and Canberra Potters on Thursday and continues until December 23. Director Richard Thomas said Canberra potters and ceramicists all provided work for the fair, with more people applying to be part of the popular event than space could accommodate. "It's gaining in popularity every year,'' Mr Thomas said. An independent review of occupational violence policies in Canberra schools last year called for the ACT government's reporting portal to be scrapped and staffing levels to be reviewed, but neither step has been taken under $8 million school violence reforms. The audit by leading safety expert David Caple uncovered significant under-reporting of violence in schools, often due to the sheer frequency of incidents and the complexity of logging them via the standard ACT public service "Riskman" safety portal. ACT Education Minister Yvette Berry has pledged more than $10 million towards new occupational violence reforms in Canberra schools. Credit:Jamila Toderas While the review found the rate of violence reported by Canberra teachers had remained steady for the past decade, at between 400 and 600 incidents logged each year, consultation with schools revealed they were just the tip of the iceberg. Those cases which made it "above the waterline" were usually the more extreme as many more went undisclosed, the report warned. Canberra's burgeoning entrepreneurial class is fuelling an Italian luxury car brand's expansion into the capital. Backed by ACT car dealership mogul John McGrath, Maserati has opened its first Canberra store, offering the brand's full range of prestige vehicles. Maserati Australia chief operating officer Glen Sealey said the launch of the brand's "most accessible car it has ever had", the $125,000 Levante 350 SUV, had enabled it to move into smaller markets, such as Canberra and the Gold Coast. Maserati Australian/NZ chief operating officer Glen Sealey, pictured, says the market for luxury cars is growing in Canberra. Credit:Jamila Toderas Mr Sealey said about a dozen Maseratis had been sold to Canberrans at interstate dealerships in the the past few years, signalling the potential for a store in the capital. The Liberal Party, at state and federal levels, appears to have lost the ability to connect with constituents, particularly women and young people, and is gripped by fear the looming national election will be a wipe-out of a similar magnitude to that inflicted in recent days by Victorian voters. Michael O'Brien leads his depleted team out of the aftermath. Credit:Paul Jeffers The reeling state party has begun the monumental task of rebuilding, electing as leader Michael OBrien, the treasurer last time the Coalition was in government. We congratulate Mr OBrien and his deputy, Cindy McLeish, and wish them and their depleted ranks well. They have a privileged and exciting opportunity to create modern policies, and it is crucial there is a well-informed political contest over ideas. The minority federal government barely survived the final week of Parliament for the year. It is so enfeebled, so fearful of losing a vote on the floor of Parliament, that it has limited to one week the sitting time for Parliament before the May election. This apparent reluctance and/or inability to actively govern has understandably led to calls for an early election, something The Age advocated at the time Mr Morrison replaced Malcolm Turnbull after he was deposed for no apparent reason. And it has inflated the disdain for the Canberra Liberals who clearly contributed to the electoral ignominy of their Spring Street comrades. Perhaps the costliest casualty was Hawthorn MP John Pesutto, whose shock defeat deprived the parliamentary party of the person widely considered best placed to lead. Whether he would want it is another question; being first to helm an opposition after such a drubbing can be to accept a parliamentary poison chalice. It is considered likely another seat will be found for Mr Pesutto before long. The history of property development scandals in NSW is long, lurid, and, in instances, lascivious. For sordidness, its hard to go past what went on at Wollongong a decade or so ago when a council employee logged into her bosses computer to approve a $100 million apartment tower for her lover. But give Canterbury a chance. An Independent Commission Against Corruption inquiry into the former Sydney council this year has already claimed the political career of the Liberal member for Wagga Wagga. And the inquiry has not yet wrapped. Daryl Maguire, the former member for Wagga Wagga, after giving evidence at ICAC in July. Credit:Janie Barrett But though each scandal invariably contains its own colourful assembly of characters, a survey of recent corruption inquiries in NSW demonstrates how often there is a common thread to instances of council and developer malfeasance. These instances often involve the use or misuse of either the same, or very similar, elements of planning law. And with neither major party proposing at this stage any significant changes to the states planning system, history suggests that while the names might keep changing, the patterns of behaviour are likely to keep cropping up. Decisions for 'mates' From the late 1970s to the mid 1990s, Vincent Messina held huge influence in Sydneys eastern suburbs. During this period Messina was the chief town planner or director of planning at Randwick City Council. And during this period, a 1995 ICAC inquiry found, a culture developed at Randwick in which 'mates' were able to get things done. If you were a 'friend' your development or building application could find a speedy passage, ICAC concluded. Friendships were occasionally forged through payments to Messina. He was a man who held 83 bank accounts either by himself or with family, and who bought and sold 18 properties during his time in the job. A University of Queensland researcher has been awarded a $70,000 grant towards a HIV-test vending machine pilot program to target people who may avoid traditional testing methods in Brisbane. UQ senior research fellow Dr Owain Williams received one of six research project grants, and the largest amount, from the Gilead Australia Fellowship Program's $250,000 pool. Dr Williams' project proposes using technology of a saliva-based HIV testing kit and trialling access to these through two vending machines in two locations in Brisbane. The machines would be stationed near sex-on-premises venues, with the year-long pilot project expected to begin in January. At issue is not the dismantling of off-shore processing as we know it, as Morrison and his media supporters claim. Nor is this a signal to people smugglers to attempt to circumvent the heavily funded boat turnback policies implemented by the Australian navy. The facts are far less heated. A bill was proposed by the Member for Wentworth and former AMA president, Dr Kerryn Phelps. This would allow medical decisions about seriously ill refugees and asylum seekers to be made by medical doctors rather than the public servants who have been using lengthy, sometimes obstructionist processes, often requiring costly legal intervention. Since the Tampa and John Howards governments children overboard fallacies of 2001, Coalition politicians have strenuously delegitimised as well as dehumanised people seeking asylum in Australia. They see this as a vote winner in a time of uncertainty and Thursdays shabby tactics merely confirmed that. That this negatively affects real peoples lives is self-evident. But evidence-denying rhetoric also affects our body politic, eroding trust even further that this government is fit to, well, govern. With at least as much consequence, and in response to an imploding governments fevered need to appear strong on border protection (if nothing else), two vital principles of democracy were jettisoned: majority rule and truth-telling. Closing down the Parliament early to avoid a vote in the House that the now-minority government would have lost, using Cory Bernardi and Pauline Hanson as well as Mathias Cormann to play ugly delaying games in the Senate, using rhetoric that relied on further demonising of the ALP as well as refugees, the Morrison government unhinged itself from the facts, at a canter. Thursday was the final sitting day of the Australian Parliament for this year and one of only 10 sitting days between now and next May when an election is expected. It was a day to get things moving. Yet far more was undone than done, and not just for the asylum seekers and refugees held in indefinite detention off-shore, or the 6000 Australian doctors and the Australian Medical Association speaking up for their care. Phelps bill did not satisfy the security concerns of the ALP. It therefore segued into amendments to a Home Affairs Legislation Amendment Bill (2018) that was passed by the Senate on Thursday evening. These amendments would indeed see medical doctors making vital medical decisions. As crucially, they would allow an independent panel of doctors to review off-shore medical services, something the government has disallowed even to the AMA, despite repeated requests. Anticipating that security is indeed a concern for many Australians, the amendments also include a provision for the minister to refuse or approve a transfer within a 24-hour time-frame. Even this, though, did nothing to silence Morrison who, in a day of accusations, suggested that Bill Shorten was a clear and present threat to Australias safety. With even less dignity or logic, Morrison who earlier in the week had named the ALP as his enemy said, Ill fight them [the ALP] using whatever tool or tactic I have available to me to ensure that we do not undermine our border protection laws. To date, the price of resistance to transfers on medical grounds has been high. Medecin Sans Frontiers report that the despair on Nauru is worse than they have seen with victims of torture. (Hopelessness, homelessness, lack of purpose and future is torture.) Children and some adults are suffering the potentially fatal resignation syndrome. Twelve men have died on Manus. Yet medical transfers are fiercely resisted by Home Affairs and Peter Dutton, the minister who suggested that a single act of compassion could allure people smugglers. The public does care about refugee children and their medicaal care. Since December 2017, court orders or legal intervention have been needed for 84 ill children to come to Australia for care, some so ill they have had to be intubated to survive the transfer. These processes are costly in dollar terms and even worse in delays. Since July, the government has spent $480,000 fighting medical transfers of critically ill children from Nauru. This refutes Morrisons claims that the services on Nauru or Manus are adequate. Or that he has been bringing children to Australia quietly. It is now a matter of public record that the Transitory Persons Complex Case Review Committee which has final say on medical transfers - has discussed eradicating the requirement that offshore facilities must meet Australian standards. They do not. And when it comes to mental health services, they meet no standards at all. Refugees in off-shore centres are subject to daily harassment and humiliations, including being identified not by name but by boat number. Five years into an indefinite sentence for the no-crime of seeking safety, they suffer a potentially fatal loss of hope. Greatly to their credit, its Australian doctors in their many thousands who understand this. With irrefutable evidence on the doctors side, that concern is clearly challenging a rattled government. For what their persistent advocacy demonstrates is how these policies and this medical emergency affect us as a nation, almost as much as the people we are shunning. Warning: This article contains distressing content A man is accused of sexually assaulting a 71-year-old woman at knifepoint before threatening to "chop her up" if she told police, and stalking her after the attack, a court has heard. Richard Bangoura, 35, faced Melbourne Magistrates Court on Friday evening charged with aggravated burglary, false imprisonment, two counts of attempted rape, four counts of stalking, assault with a weapon, two counts of threats to inflict serious injury and unlawful assault. The court heard the 71-year-old woman was returning to her home in Mordialloc just before 3am on November 1, when police allege Mr Bangoura grabbed her from behind as she attempted to unlock the front door. Police allege Mr Bangoura held a butcher's knife to her ribcage and said to her "don't scream or I will stab you", before he forced his way into the house. Clouds of smoke seen billowing from the fire. Credit:Paul Jeffers Victoria Police is investigating the fire, which is being treated as suspicious. Authorities said three ignition points for the fire had been found so far, but could not confirm what had started the blaze. The Little River fire was one of 19 across the state on Friday. Firefighters were concerned about the eastern flank of the fire. A cool change late on Friday night reduced temperatures but also bringing swirling winds that could blow the fire east towards Werribee's outer suburbs. The CFA spent several hours dumping water on the fire's east to try to cut the risk of the fire getting away when the change comes through. They're still working hard on that fire, Emergency Management commissioner Andrew Crisp said on Friday evening. "We know we have a change coming through later so theyve been working to protect the eastern flank when there is a change. The CFA's warning to residents was downgraded from "evacuate now" to a "watch and act warning" shortly before 3pm on Friday. There is no current threat to residents in Cocoroc, Werribee South, Little River and Point Wilson, who have been urged them to monitor conditions. "There is currently no threat to you, but you should stay informed and monitor conditions," it says. CFA deputy incident controller David Bourke said firefighters in dozens of tankers and aircraft had been working hard to stop the blaze from spreading and had contained it. "The spread of fire has been halted just near the train line to the east of Little River," he told ABC radio. "So we've had some success, however, the fire is over 1000 hectares in size currently." V/Line train services on the Geelong line were suspended, with road coaches dispatched. Trains resumed by 5pm, with some cancellations. The grassfire near Little River. Credit:Channel 7 Locals told The Age several structures were lost due to the fire, although there are no reports of injuries. One firefighter has been treated for smoke inhalation. "Two people have lost their houses already within the last 30 minutes," said Madde at the Little River General Store about 1pm. A fire truck on Little River Road. Credit:Paul Jeffers One was located in Edgars Road, and one on Narraburra Road, she said. Emergency Management Victoria commissioner Andrew Crisp confirmed several structures had been destroyed in the fire. Authorities are yet to confirm that houses have been lost, except to say that there are houses in the evacuation zone. We have been advised there were some structural losses sheds, several sheds. But there are probably 130 homes that need to be checked, "We have some vision of some sheds that are impacted, so not knowing exactly the extent, we have vision of sheds but no sign of any houses... some good work has been done to save some houses," he said. 'I have to leave, I cant breathe' Narraburra Road resident Sam Pernice fled his property on Friday afternoon and gathered with other residents at the town's general store. Mr Pernice said he was at home watching TV on Friday afternoon when a thick wall of white smoke started coming towards him. The hobby farmer, who has respiratory problems, walked outside several times to monitor the smoke, choosing to stay in doors with his dog Brutus. It kept getting closer, closer, closer, it was thick and white, said Mr Pernice. Maryanne and Sam Pernice at Little River General Store. Mr Pernice fled their Narraburra Road farm with their dog Brutus as the fire approached. Credit:Paul Jeffers The smoke started travelling up his driveway and he soon couldnt see beyond a metre in front of him. When his dog started barking, fire crews showed up and he grabbed his cars keys, took his dog and fled. Firefighters told him to stay inside the house, but I said I have to leave, I cant breathe. As he drove to safety at the general store, he says he saw his neighbouring paddocks were burnt-out. He and his wife Maryanne have been watching aerial footage of the fire on his mobile phone. Fortunately, the couple can see their house. It looks intact. Maryanne, who left work early to meet Mr Pernice at the store after hearing about the fire, is worried about their horse left on the farm. She wants to go back to check the property, but its not safe. Im worried about the horse, Ms Pernice said. I guess well have to wait and see. CFA volunteers at Little River Reserve, the staging area for the fire. Credit:Paul Jeffers Horse trainer Steven Pateman quickly evacuated his Little River property with his 11 horses, four staff and three dogs. "Weve seen a few floats leaving," Mr Pateman said. "I assume most people have evacuated their horses and animals." He said his fiance thought something could happen on Friday, given the scorching temperatures and dry grass around their property, so they were ready to evacuate. We had the floats ready to go, facing the right way. Within 10 minutes, we were outta there. A relief centre has been set up at Centenary Hall on the corner of Cox Road and the Princes Highway in the Geelong suburb of Norlane. Around 10 residents from Little River attended the relief centre. Police set up a road block at Little River Road. Credit:Paul Jeffers VicRoads were urging motorists not to travel on the Princes Highway unless necessary, with large plumes of smoke reducing visibility. "It's impacted by large plumes of smoke, again we ask people to delay non-essential travel, we have a VicRoads crew there waiting in case the freeway needs to be closed, ready to act if that needs to happen." Guests at the Little River Hotel and Little River Bed and Breakfast have been evacuated by staff. Little River is 50 kilometres south-west of Melbourne on the way to Geelong. Avalon Airport, the closest weather station, is showing a current temperature of 39.8 degrees just after 1pm and winds at 44km/h, with peak gusts of up to 57km/h. A man extradited from Sydney over the suspected murder in Victoria of a woman, whose body was found in a burnt-out tent, previously ran a vigilante crime-fighting group in Geelong. Nick Cross, 31, of no fixed address, was arrested alongside two others during a dramatic police operation late on Thursday over the death of Maddison Parrott in a tent fire at the Geelong showgrounds. Geelong woman Maddison Parrott was killed this week. Acting on information from Victoria Police, NSW Polices homicide squad, assisted by the tactical operations unit, arrested two men and a woman in the western suburb of Greystanes about 3.45pm on Thursday. Mr Cross is charged with one count of murder. One of Australia's most celebrated media victories in a defamation case would have been difficult to achieve under the rules now being imposed in Federal Court defamation actions. In 2009, The Australian newspaper turned the NSW Supreme Court into a de facto war crimes trial of Serbian paramilitary leader Dragan Vasiljkovic, after he sued them for defamation. Dragan Vasiljkovic, better known as Captain Dragan, at a press conference in 2005. Credit:AP The original story said that Captain Dragan had commanded a number of paramilitary units in the conflict in the 1990s in Bosnia, and was now a Perth golfing instructor going as "Daniel Snedden". He sued, asserting that the story had painted him as having committed war crimes. Opposition Leader Bill Shorten and Prime Minister Scott Morrison in Parliament House on the final sitting day of the year. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen The overwhelming impression left by the final week of Parliament for 2018 is that a federal election cannot come soon enough. The week started badly for the Coalition and went downhill. Polls on the weekend showed the Liberal Party's federal unpopularity is affecting NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian's chances of winning the state election in March. Yet Prime Minister Scott Morrison spent the next two days trying to stitch together the party's internal divisions. Mr Morrison intervened in the NSW state branch to save the pre-selection of hard-right MP Craig Kelly, which led to a silly argument with Malcolm Turnbull. Then the Prime Minister began the parliamentary week by calling a surprise meeting to change Liberal Party rules to make it harder to stage a coup against the party leader that is, himself. Both episodes evoked the disastrous leadership coup in August and were yet another example of politicians talking about themselves and not voters. Things became even worse, however, as it became clear that the government had all but lost control of Parliament. Mr Morrison spent the week desperately trying to avoid a vote on a private members' bill which would create a mechanism for transferring sick asylum seekers on Manus and Nauru islands to Australia for treatment. When Donald Trump emerged from his dinner with Xi Jinping last Saturday announcing a 90 day pause in their tit-for-tat tariff war, some fence-mending Chinese imports of American soybeans, cars and petroleum and that their "very strong and personal relationship" remained intact world leaders and financial markets were greatly relieved. It quickly proved a very short Munich moment. On Tuesday, Trump tweeted he remained a tariff man. On Thursday came an even bigger shock. As Trump had sat down with Xi, Canada was arresting Chinese telecom executive, Meng Wanzhou, on an extradition request by the US for allegedly violating its sanctions against Iran. Meng Wanzhou, Huawei's chief financial officer, has been detained in Canada and may be extradited to the US to face charges. It has refocused attention on the main game behind the tariff exchanges: the US battle to retain supremacy in the highest realms of technology, against Chinese technology theft, forced transfers of trade secrets by foreign investors in China, and concerted cyber espionage. The arrest goes right to the centre of this struggle, directly challenging Xi Jinpings orchestration of the Chinese knowledge offensive and implicitly his centralisation of power in his own leadership. His chairmanship-for-life may eventually be at risk. Beijing: The belief is growing in China that the arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, daughter of the founder of China's biggest technology company, was politically motivated. Chinese state media accused Washington of trying to contain Huawei because it is the "point man" for the rise of China's globally competitive technology companies. China considers Huawei the "point man" for its growing technological know-how. Credit:AP News of the arrest of Meng, Huawei's high-profile chief financial officer, in response to a US extradition request while transferring flights in Canada, sent shockwaves through Chinese business circles. Huawei is the world's second biggest selling smartphone maker after overtaking Apple this year, and one of the world's largest telecommunications infrastructure companies, regarded as a frontrunner in 5G technology. Armed troops, such as these around the Eiffel Tower, have become a familiar sight in Europe following a string of deadly terrorist attacks. Credit:Getty Images Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size On a grey London afternoon in 1995, Ed Husain was sitting quietly in the public library opposite Newham College of Further Education, cramming for his upcoming exams, when he heard a commotion in the street below. The 19-year-old glanced out the window to see a small crowd gathered around a young man lying in a large pool of blood. As he was to later discover, a local Muslim youth whom he knew quite well had calmly plunged a knife into the chest of a Nigerian student leader, a Christian, killing him. The incident followed an argument over a pool table, and weeks of escalating tension between gangs of youths. Husain tore down the stairs and helped police disperse onlookers. When he left the bloody scene later that day, he was overwhelmed with guilt, even though it wasn't clear whether religion was the catalyst. As an activist with the radical Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir, he'd encouraged his fellow Muslim students to disengage from kafirs (non-believers), to believe Muslims were superior to others, that democracy and freedom were Western constructs. Husain and his fellow Hizb ut-Tahrir supporters had recruited scores of students on campus to the cause of Islamism, by definition the imposition on others of a political rather than spiritual interpretation of Islam. They'd plastered posters over campus such as "Islam: the Final Solution", organised talks such as "Hijab: Put Up or Shut Up", called for Sharia law to become state law all ideas inspired by Hizb ut-Tahrir, which translates as "party of liberation". The stabbing was the first of several wake-up calls for Husain. Just as it had taken a few years for him to become an Islamist, to adopt Islam as a political ideology rather than a faith, so it would take years to expunge the hard drive of indoctrination. "I didn't realise how deeply Hizb ut-Tahrir had penetrated my teenage mind," recalls the affable 43-year-old Brit, between sips of a flat white at the Good Weekend offices in Sydney. "I'd failed to comprehend the totalitarian nature of what they were promoting. That's what ideology does; it blinds us." The teenage Husain had revelled in how easy it was to manipulate the liberal academics at the college, out of their fear of being labelled racist. His loving parents, with whom he was still living in London, were often brought to tears by their son's radical turn, which he describes movingly in his 2007 debut book, The Islamist. But Hizb ut-Tahrir leaders had drummed into him that the Islamist movement was more important than family. Advertisement In the days following the stabbing, the Hizb ut-Tahrir leadership released a statement condemning the murder, trumpeting that it was a non-violent group. Husain knew this to be a lie, that the modus operandi of Hizb ut-Tahrir, founded in the 1950s by a Palestinian Muslim cleric, was first political subversion and later military jihad in its quest for the establishment of a caliphate. UK investigators, however, accepted Hizb ut-Tahrir's statement on face value. Born in London's East End to Muslim migrants from British India who followed a gentle, spiritual form of Islam based on Sufi traditions, Husain, the eldest of four children, attended Sir William Burrough primary school in Tower Hamlets, East London, a school he describes as a "happy melting pot" of races, religions and tolerance. But at his all-boys high school in Stepney Green, where 90 per cent of students were Asian and Muslim, he found he didn't have a single white friend. The education system seemed to be scared of asserting European values for a fear of appearing racist. It's a fear that has to go. Ed Husain "In the name of multiculturalism, modern Britain created these monocultural ghettos," observes Husain, who now advises political leaders on Islam, and whose 2018 book, The House of Islam, suggests peaceful paths for the future. "Multiculturalism is a noble idea, but there was no 'multi' in the high school I and many other Muslims attended; on the contrary, every provision seemed to be made for our separatism. Ed Husain: Id failed to comprehend the totalitarian nature of what they were promoting. Thats what ideology does; it blinds us. Credit:PAUL STUART/CAMERA PRESS/AUSTRALSCOPE "Our lives revolved around faith schools, mosque and Islamic extracurricular activities. The education system seemed to be scared of asserting European values for a fear of appearing racist. It's a fear that has to go, because this isn't racist at all. If young people aren't exposed to the complexities of life, they can become susceptible to simplistic world views and dogma." At Stepney Green, Husain became involved with a group called Jamaat-e-Islami, whose Pakistani founder, Abul Al'a Maududi, was one of the godfathers of modern Islamism. "We were constantly reminded of Islam's political superiority over the West at Jamaat-e-Islami events," he recalls. Jamaat-e-Islami's testosterone-fuelled young leaders, who showed off their kung fu moves in the mosque hall, defied the police and were all-round "bad" boys, were a strong drawcard for the teenage students. Advertisement Husain gradually abandoned the form of Islam he'd grown up with, embraced by his grandfather and parents, for a political one his family loathed. From this point, it wasn't such a big jump to the radicalism of Hizb ut-Tahrir at college, where he studied history, politics and sociology. But in the months after the stabbing, he distanced himself from the group and spent the next few years trying to reconnect with the deeper roots of his faith. After the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the US, he and his wife, Faye, whom he had met while in college, travelled through the Middle East, where he was taken aback by the level of anti-Semitism in the media, and the way in which conspiracy theories about Jews ruling the world were accepted as fact. Racism, too, was endemic. Working for the British Council in the heartland of Islam, Saudi Arabia, Husain saw how its seven million immigrant workers were treated as third-class citizens. In Jeddah he met black immigrants who'd been living there for decades without passports, eking out squalid lives in cardboard shanties under concrete flyovers. He compared this to the situation in his homeland, Britain, which had given refuge and public housing to thousands of Somalians. "Judge a society by how well it treats its minorities," he says meaningfully. Husain observed Saudi men hissing obscenities at women as they walked past, occasionally accosting them, including Faye, who always wore the long, black abaya in public. He was told of the abduction of women from taxis by sexually frustrated Saudi youths. "Almost every challenge in the house of Islam, sadly, is being fought over the bodies of women: how they should dress, whether they should divorce or not, drive or fly alone, whether they're entitled to a full education," he says. "Fix that inequality and you fix 52 per cent of society." As a teenage Islamist, he'd come to see women wearing short skirts or bikinis as a sign of sexual availability or promiscuity. "It took me a long time to get out of that narrow, petty mindset," he recalls. It was only much later in life that he learnt where the hijab came from. "It was originally worn by Jewish and Christian women in the Levant," he writes in The Islamist. "The Prophet Mohammed had not invented the hijab, merely adhered to the dominant dress code of the time." Husain, who has two daughters, tells me that when his father passed away in 2016, he insisted that part of his inheritance go to his sisters. "I guess it's male guilt," he laughs. "But I thought it was the right thing to do, because Muslim inheritance is part of the problem. Why is it women can only inherit one-third of what a man can? Why is it that a female Muslim's testimony in court is worth only half that of a man? It's not Islamophobic to question these things." The rigidity of life in Saudi Arabia could easily have repelled Husain from Islam, but he remains a devout Muslim. He insists he's much closer to God and a far superior Muslim for having rejected Islamist ideology. But when he returned to Britain in 2005 his youngest sister escaped death by minutes in the London Tube bombings on July 7 that year he was alarmed by the number of organisations dominated by men with Islamist sympathies, including the Islamic Society of Britain and the Muslim Association of Britain. In 2008 Husain, who has a master's degree in Middle Eastern studies from the University of London, launched the world's first counter-extremism think-tank, Quilliam, with his friend from college, Maajid Nawaz, who had also defected from Hizb ut-Tahrir after spending time in an Egyptian prison. "Too often, the spiritually oriented, mainstream Muslims are drowned out by Islamists, who grab the media's attention," says Husain, who is now a senior fellow at Civitas: Institute for the Study of Civil Society in London (he's no longer involved with Quilliam). "You don't fix a problem by being quiet." Advertisement Just as criticising the Chinese Communist Party is not to attack all Chinese, rejecting Islamists is not to attack all Muslims. Ed Husain After November's terrorist attack in Bourke Street, Melbourne, in which 30-year-old Hassan Khalif Shire Ali stabbed three people, killing popular cafe owner Sisto Malaspina, most Islamic leaders, in a now highly familiar pattern, called for it not to be labelled an Islamist attack to protect the Muslim community from being stigmatised. While the jury is still out on whether Ali was mentally ill, police maintain he harboured radical views, had links to Islamic State (IS) and had his passport cancelled in 2015 when ASIO believed he planned to travel to Syria. In an email exchange with me days after the attack, Husain is emphatic: "We must name a problem to confront it: most Muslims know that Islamism is not Islam," he writes. "Just as criticising the Chinese Communist Party is not to attack all Chinese, rejecting Islamists is not to attack all Muslims. Muslim leaders have a responsibility to root out Islamism and its terrorist manifestations, not campaign for using language that gives Islamist terrorists anonymity." Husain blames this refusal to have a frank and difficult conversation about the darker depths of political Islamism for fuelling the rise of the right and the alt-right, which have been able to stoke social frustration over the vacuum of discussion about the ideology underpinning terrorist attacks. "We must name it because if we don't, the far-right make the political centre look weak." It's ordinary Muslims across the globe who've suffered most from extremism, who make up the masses mourning their dead, Husain adds. That's why it's so important for Islamism (the political ideology) and Islam (the faith) to be plainly separated in the public mind. If community leaders had rejected Islamists and articulated this difference years ago, he insists, "we wouldn't be in this mess now". He draws parallels between the values of the Jew-hating, gay-hating, women-subjugating Islamists, and white supremacists, who sing from the same male power song-sheet. After Sadiq Khan, the socially liberal Muslim mayor of London, voted in favour of marriage equality in 2013 when he was still a Labour MP and government minister, he was inundated with death threats from Islamists and also bullying messages from members of the far-right group Britain First. Back in 2007, when Husain warned of the threat of a caliphate metastasising in the Middle East, he was branded alarmist by some media commentators. Six years later at least 10,000 militant volunteers from the West and 25,000 from 85 different countries joined IS. "We still haven't punctured a new generation's confidence in the possibility of a glorious utopian Islamist state," he says gloomily. "In the 20th century we fought the communist and Nazi utopias; in the 21st we're fighting the Islamist one." It's a particularly dangerous moment in history, warns Husain, with terrorism, hate speech, and distrust of the press being manipulated by a new wave of charismatic, authoritarian leaders across the globe, who represent threats to democratic institutions. The second- and third-order consequences of this global turn to the right have only just started, at the very time the gulf between Islam and the West is widening, with countries like Pakistan and Indonesia becoming more fundamentalist, says Husain, who describes himself as a Muslim liberal. "Which means," Husain sums up, "things could get a whole lot worse for both Muslims and non-Muslims." Advertisement Douglas Murray: When you insert a strong religious culture into a weaker, relativistic one, its going to make its presence felt over time. Credit:Getty Images The man Ed Husain calls his "frenemy" is sitting opposite me in the expansive marble lobby of the Sofitel in Sydney's Phillip Street. Douglas Murray is a dapper 39-year-old British writer with a boyish face and floppy light brown hair, whose bestselling 2017 book, The Strange Death of Europe, takes the long view of mass migration and Islam, after he spent a year travelling across the continent to the many points of entry and residence of recent immigrants. While Murray shares some of Husain's views, as a self-described neoconservative he offers a far bleaker future vision of the capacity of Western Europe to successfully absorb its growing Muslim population. "We assume liberal societies move in one direction towards ever greater tolerance, pluralism and maturity but we can't take this for granted," says Murray, only hours before appearing with US philosopher and Black Lives Matter supporter Dr Cornel West at Sydney's Enmore Theatre. "When you insert a strong religious culture into a weaker, relativistic one, it's going to make its presence felt over time." Europe has lost its willingness to stand up for its core values, insists Murray, while the US, by contrast, still has a strong sense of itself. "Amid the endless celebrations of diversity, the greatest irony of all remains that the one thing people cannot bring themselves to celebrate is the culture that encouraged such diversity in the first place," he writes in The Strange Death of Europe. Like Husain, Murray believes the solution isn't to disengage for fear of being labelled Islamophobic, but to challenge in civil conversation the political narrative underpinning Islamist extremism and brittle issues like anti-Semitism, forced marriage, female circumcision, honour killings and unjust pressure to wear the veil. "We have this oddity of liberal societies going quiet on bigotry just because it's coming from certain elements within an immigrant community." By being silent, he warns, we're doing a big disservice to liberal and moderate Muslims, who should be able to speak out without fear of being threatened or physically intimidated. Murray grew up in London, in the middle-class area of Hammersmith, and went to a local state school before later studying English at Oxford University. Well known in the UK through his frequent media appearances, in which he talks about free speech and immigration, Murray is founder of the Centre for Social Cohesion. "I've always been comfortable with diversity," he says. "I went to school with kids from India, black kids, and after I graduated from university, I drifted for years across Europe, experiencing different communities." There's no tippy-toeing around the fact that the vast majority of terrorist attacks across Europe since September 11, 2001 have been Islamist-inspired, says Murray, who is also an associate editor of The Spectator magazine. Although the vast bulk of Muslim Europeans reject extremism and violence, there is a growing pool of hard-core extremists no doubt still inspired by the disaster of the Iraq War. Ten years ago, 3000 potential Muslim jihadists were being monitored by the British security services; this has now ballooned to 25,000, with three attacks on Westminster over the past two years, according to Scotland Yard. Murray asks whether Europeans are willing to accept terrorist attacks as the new normal. If not, are they willing to discuss the political narratives that drive radical Islamists, instead of simply putting them down to disenfranchised youths, mental illness or so-called lone wolves? Advertisement This blog is looking for wisdom, to have and to share. It is also looking for other rare character traits like good humor, courage, and honor. It is not an easy road, because all of us fall short. But God is love, forgiveness and grace. Those who believe in Him and repent of their sins have the promise of His Holy Spirit to guide us and show us the Way. Hamburg: Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats party vote on Friday, Germany time, to decide who replaces her as party leader and moves into pole position to succeed her as Chancellor. The frontrunners are Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, a Merkel protege seen as the continuity candidate, and Friedrich Merz, a Merkel rival who has questioned the constitutional guarantee of asylum to all "politically persecuted" and believes Germany, Europe's biggest economy, should contribute more to the European Union. German Chancellor and CDU chairwoman Angela Merkel, right, and the party's Secretary General, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer attend a board meeting prior to the vote. Credit:AP Merkel said in October she would step down as party chief but remain Chancellor, an effort to manage her exit after a series of setbacks since her divisive decision in 2015 to keep German borders open to refugees fleeing war in the Middle East. The new CDU leader will be chosen by 1001 delegates who vote at a party congress in Hamburg. The winner will likely lead the CDU in the next federal election due by October 2021. Sign up for our PoliticsNY newsletter for the latest coverage and to stay informed about the 2021 elections in your district and across NYC Friday Dec. 7 Ghost town The Bushwick Starr theater celebrates its 10th anniversary this week by revisiting some of its best shows from the last decade. Tonights special: Dave Malloy who went on to write Broadways Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1912 presents his 2014 spectral musical Ghost Quartet. 8 pm at Bushwick Starr (207 Starr St. between Irving and Wykoff avenues in Bushwick, www.thebu shwic kstar r.org ). $75. Saturday Dec. 8 Greek to us Tonight is your next-to-last chance to catch the profane, funny opera Greek, a retelling of the Oedipus story set among cockney-accented punks in 1980s London. The show, which is part of the 2018 Next Wave Festival, comes from composer Mark-Anthony Turnage, who also wrote an opera about Anna Nicole-Smith. 7:30 pm at BAM Howard Gilman Opera House (30 Lafayette Ave. between Ashland Place and St. Felix Street in Fort Greene, www.bam.org). $28$120. Sunday Dec. 9 Souk it up There are plenty of markets popping up all over Brooklyn this holiday, but we advise shopping at Le Souk Market, where you can browse jewelry, clothing, and crafts from local makers, make a wreath, and visit with Santa. Also, the market is in the yard of excellent cocktail bar Extra Fancy, so you can decompress with a Honey, I Spiced the Kids while you shop! Noon8 pm at Extra Fancys outdoor yard (302 Metropolitan Ave. at Roebling Street in Williamsburg, www.su-ju k.com/ lesou kmark et ). Free. MOnday Dec. 10 Homo for the holidays Two stars from Ru Pauls Drag Race join forces to present a traveling holiday show! BenDeLaCreme is all sugar, and Jinkx Monsoon provides some spice in the musical extravaganza To Jesus, Thanks for Everything, Jinkx and Dela running for two nights at the Bell House. 8 pm at the Bell House [149 Seventh St. at Third Avenue in Gowanus, (718) 6436510, www.thebe llhou seny.com ]. $35 ($100 VIP). Tuesday Dec. 11 Laugh lines Learn all about the history of New York City, as reflected in comic strips and comic book, at tonights panel discussion. The chat, between comics historian Karen Green and artists Stan Mack and Peter Kuper, is part of the Transit Museums exhibition Underground Heroes: New York Transit in the Comics. 6:30 pm at the New York Transit Museum [Boerum Place at Schermerhorn Street Downtown, (718) 6941600, www.nytra nsitm useum.org ]. $5. Sign up for our PoliticsNY newsletter for the latest coverage and to stay informed about the 2021 elections in your district and across NYC Many Kings County stoners with misdemeanor pot convictions can clear their criminal records at two free events that Brooklyns top prosecutor is hosting next week in Flatbush and Bedford-Stuyvesant. The Dec. 11 and 15 amnesty sessions will be staffed by defense attorneys available to counsel convicts with low-level pot-possession charges, and fill out legal documents on their behalf, which District Attorney Eric Gonzalezs office will then review, before prosecutors head to court and request the judge vacate their convictions. The events follow a similar September session where Gonzalez used his authority to clear misdemeanor pot charges, and come amid his ongoing effort to overrule state weed laws by refusing to prosecute most marijuana-possession and public-smoking arrests, claiming they disproportionately affect black and Hispanic men. Low-level weed charges can seriously affect a persons life, complicating ones ability to secure loans, obtain work, lease a residence, and even keep custody of their children, according to a top legal eagle at Brooklyn Defender Services, which, along with the Legal Aid Society, partnered with Gonzalez for the amnesty events. Anyone who has a conviction for marijuana should come to one of the clinics and get legal advice about their eligibility to have that conviction removed from their record, said Lisa Schreibersdorf. These convictions have a wide-reaching impact on many people. The consultations at the forthcoming events are relatively quick considering their end result of a clean record, according to Gonzalezs spokesman Oren Yaniv, who said most people wont spend more than 15 minutes with a lawyer before theyre good to go. Participants are also free to waive their right to appear in court, leaving it up to prosecutors to advocate on their behalf, Yaniv said. The record cleaning does not extend to all stoners, however people convicted of smoking while driving, as well as anyone convicted of a sex offense or certain violent felonies can not submit motions under the new policy. Get your record cleared at Assemblywoman Tremaine Wrights office [1360 Fulton St. between New York and Brooklyn avenues in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Room 417, (718) 399-7630] on Dec. 11, from 5:30 to 7:30 pm. Or at SUNY Downstate Medical Center [450 Clarkson Ave. between New York Avenue and E 37th Street in Flatbush, (718) 270-1000] on Dec. 15, from 10 am to 12 pm. Seguin, TX (78155) Today A steady rain this morning. Showers continuing this afternoon. High 52F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch.. Tonight Rain showers this evening with mostly cloudy conditions overnight. Low 44F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%. Dear Reader, Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance. We, however, have a request. As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed. Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard. Digital Editor Bombardier Inc said on Thursday it expects to deliver 150 to 155 business aircraft next year, helping the Canadian maker of planes and trains meet an $18 billion revenue target for 2019. Montreal-based Bombardier is forecasting 15 to 20 deliveries of its flagship Global 7500 jets next year, after the long-range corporate planes enter service "in the coming days," David Coleal, President of Bombardier Business Aircraft, told the company's investor day in New York. The jets, which list for $73 million and are sold out through 2021, will play a key role in ... Tokyo prosecutors plan to indict former Nissan Motor Co Ltd Chairman Carlos Ghosn on Monday for financial misconduct, the Nikkei business daily reported, ratcheting up their case against the auto tycoon. Prosecutors also plan to indict on the same day former representative director Greg Kelly as well as the automaker itself, the Nikkei said on Friday, citing unidentified sources. The Nov. 19 arrest of Ghosn and Kelly shook the foundations of the Renault-Nissan alliance and stunned the auto industry, where Ghosn is renowned for turning around the French and Japanese carmakers. ... Lyft, Ubers fiercest rival on home turf, has filed for an initial public offering of shares with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, becoming the first app-based taxi, and beating Uber, to do so. The said IPO, which may open in the first quarter of 2019, has far reaching consequences for the entire sector. No one is sure of the future of Internet-based taxi services which have guzzled billions over billions of dollars but havent delivered profits. Analysts and observers are skeptical that participants would ever be able to tune the business to a sustainable ... Ride-hailing company Lyft Inc beat bigger rival Uber Technologies Inc in filing for an initial public offering (IPO) on Thursday, defying the recent market jitters and taking the lead on a string of billion-dollar-plus tech companies expected to join Wall Street next year. Lyft's IPO will test investors' appetite for the most highly valued Silicon Valley companies and for the ride-hailing business, which has become a wildly popular service but remains unprofitable and has an uncertain future with the advance of self-driving cars. San Francisco-based Lyft, last valued at ... The on Friday ordered forensic audit of embattled firm Ltd which has failed to deliver flats to thousands of home buyers on time. A bench headed by Justice D Y Chandrachud asked accounting firm to carry out the forensic audit of Ltd and all its subsidiary since January 2006. Advocate Brajesh Kumar, appearing for some of the home buyers, said the court has asked to give its preliminary report by December 14. The apex court has also asked the auditor to place before it the draft terms of audit and timeframe within which it would be completed. On July 5, the top court had asked a panel headed by former Delhi High Court judge S N Dhingra to proceed with auction of Ltd's unencumbered properties at Agra and Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh and Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu to refund money to the home buyers. The court had set up a three-member panel for expeditious auction of over 600 acres of land of the firm for refunding money to home buyers who do not want possession of their homes or flats. Sanjay Chandra, managing director of Unitech Ltd, is seeking interim bail from the apex court after the Delhi High Court on August 11 last year had rejected the plea in a criminal case lodged in 2015 by 158 home buyers of Unitech projects -- 'Wild Flower Country' and 'Anthea Project' -- situated in Gurgaon in Haryana. It is one of Chinas proudest corporate success stories, a colossus in cutting-edge technology that elbowed out Western rivals to become the biggest supplier of the hardware that connects our modern world. Now, all around the globe, the walls are going up for Huawei. The United States, which for years has considered the Chinese telecommunications giant a security threat, aimed a straight shot at the companys leadership when it secured the arrest, in Canada, of Huaweis chief financial officer. But lately, Huaweis setbacks have come on multiple ... Twelve people, including a local DYFI leader, have been arrested in connection with the alleged of a school girl by several men for a number of days at various places in district after enticing her through social media, the police said Friday. The girl's father was also among those arrested, a police official said. The Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) is the youth wing of the CPI(M), the ruling party in Kerala. "Sixteen FIRs have been lodged in five different police stations... we believe there are over 20 accused. We are questioning more people," SP Shiv Vikram told PTI. The incident came to light in the first week of December after one of the accused called the victim's brother and demanded Rs 50,000 threatening that he had some nude shots of the girl and would post it on social media. According to police, the brother was allegedly beaten up by the accused at Palakkad, where he had gone to confront him. The accused had got in touch with the girl, a student of class 10, by creating a fake profile of a woman on social media. On November 19, she was taken to a lodge at Parasinikadavu, a temple town on the banks of Valapattnam river in the district and allegedly sexually assaulted by four people, police said, adding the lodge manager was arrested for failing to inform police about the offence. Based on the girl's statement, the first FIR was lodged and a case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act registered, the police said. In a similar incident, another minor girl, apparently a friend of the victim, was allegedly sexually assaulted by some people, police said, adding two FIRs have been registered in this regard. has abstained from voting on a draft resolution put forward by the US that would have condemned the activities of and other militant groups in Gaza The resolution 'Activities of and other militant groups in Gaza' got 87 votes in favour, 58 against with 32 abstentions. The resolution failed to be adopted Thursday as it could not garner two-thirds support in the General Assembly. was among the 32 countries that abstained from voting on the resolution which would have condemned for "repeatedly firing rockets into and for inciting violence, thereby putting civilians at risk", and for its use of resources in to construct military infrastructure including tunnels to infiltrate and equipment to launch rockets into civilian areas. The resolution had specified that further engagement by the UN Secretary-General, and the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, in efforts to de-escalate the situation in Gaza, was also needed. Through a procedural vote held before the main vote on the resolution, the Assembly had voted to apply the two-thirds majority requirement for the adoption of the draft. Before the voting, US Permanent Representative to the UN Nikki Haley said that despite more than 500 General Assembly resolutions condemning Israel, not one condemning Hamas has ever been adopted. She described the two-thirds decision, which passed by just a handful of votes, as "unfair" adding that the Hamas resolution was an opportunity for States to "do the right thing." "There is nothing more anti-Semitic than saying we cannot condemn terrorism against Israel, while we would not hesitate for one minute to condemn the same acts if they were taken against any other country The people who have suffered by far the most because of Hamas are the Palestinian people. For their sake, the world should speak out against the destruction of Hamas and what it continues to cause," she said. Israeli Danny Danon said that the resolution had been a chance for "UN redemption" and that those who had voted against it "should be ashamed of themselves". He said Hamas exploits the people of Gaza, adding that the organisation is in flagrant violation of international law. There is no difference between Hamas, and Al-Qaida and Boko Haram, he said, adding that as the Jewish people are celebrating Hanukkah, the plurality of Member States of the has chosen to condemn Hamas. A number of States explained their reasons for voting against the resolution. The Saudi Arabian representative stated that, since 1967, has not respected any General Assembly or Security Council resolutions, whilst and Iran's representatives said that the resolution "ignores" and "deflects attention from" the root causes of the conflict. The representative of called for respecting relevant resolutions in efforts to address the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and stressed the importance of a two State solution based on pre-1967 borders. Speaking after action had been taken on the drafts, the Permanent Observer for the State of Palestine said the strong support for draft that was adopted was an unequivocal affirmation, especially significant in view of actions aimed at eroding the global consensus for a just solution for the Palestinian people. The J&K government Friday sought adjournment of the case in Supreme Court challenging the validity of the sensitive Resettlement Act of 1982. The Act envisages grant of permit for resettlement of Pakistani nationals who had migrated to Pakistan from between 1947 and 1954 after India's partition. A bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice S K Kaul was told by advocate Shoeb Alam, appearing for the state government, that permission should be granted for circulation of the letter for adjournment of the case. The bench granted the permission. The petitioner, Panther Party (JKNPP) had yesterday mentioned the matter for urgent hearing saying that it has been pending for long and needs to be decided. The top court had on August 16, 2016 indicated that it may refer the matter to a constitution bench if it finds that some issues needed interpretation of the Constitution. The court had said that it will hear the matter and if during the course of proceedings it is found that no constitutional issue is involved, then it will pass an order. JKNPP had earlier told the court that a division bench in 2008 had issued direction to list the case before a constitution bench but the Chief Justice in the same year had over-ruled the decision and ordered the matter to be listed before a three judge bench. It had said that people of Jammu and Kashmir who migrated to Pakistan from 1947 could be considered for their return but their descendants could not be. The party had said that the law passed by the Assembly was draconian, unconstitutional and improper which threatened the security of the state. JKNPP through Harsh Dev Singh, a then MLA, had challenged the Act passed by the J&K Assembly in 1982. ALSO READ: J&K Assembly polls, Lok Sabha elections may be clubbed together: Report In 1982, the Act was first challenged by Singh before the apex court and then Governor B K Nehru had refused to sign the Bill and sent it back to the Assembly. Later Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the then President of newly constituted BJP, had also filed a petition before the apex court seeking intervention. The matter was considered by the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court in 2001 on a presidential reference. The apex court returned the reference to President with a three-word pronouncement: 'Returned, respectfully, unanswered'. ALSO READ: Can use strike drones in J&K if people accept collateral damage: Army chief JKNPP through its then MLA Harsh Dev Singh in 2001 had filed a writ petition in the apex court seeking quashing of the Resettlement Act. The top court while admitting the plea had ordered for stay of operation of the Act and in 2008, the matter was referred to the constitution bench on the plea that the subject relates to the interpretation of the Constitution of India. Not all castes among the Other Backward Classes (OBCs), entitled to reservations are reaping the same benefits. The Indian Express reported today that 97 per cent of all jobs and admissions, reserved under the OBC category have been claimed by just under 25 per cent of sub-castes. 983 communities --37 per cent of the total -- did not get a single job or admission, the report said. Interestingly, just 10 communities in the OBC category have availed of as much as 24.95 per cent of jobs and admissions. As many as 994 OBC sub-castes have a total representation of only 2.68 per cent in ... Claiming that India has witnessed unprecedented growth and development under his tenure, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday blamed the "lack of intent" of previous governments making the nation lag behind in all aspects until the came to power in 2014. "The fundamental question to be asked is why India, even 67 years of independence, continued to be underdeveloped? "Eminent personalities ruled the country and went away but Indians yearned for even the basic of services. For over six decades, the issues faced by the masses were never resolved, why? "Despite skilled human resources and abundant natural resources the country was far from developed. The reason was not lack of resources but lack of intent, lack of compassion, lack of work culture," said Modi. Modi was addressing the 75th anniversary of Hindi daily "Dainik Jagran" here, during which besides, crediting the media for playing a major role in nation building, the Prime Minister dedicated most of his over 30 minutes speech in emphasising how his government in merely four years has ushered in all-round progress and put India in world reckoning. In an obvious reference to the Congress, which ruled the country for nearly six decades, Modi said the previous governments never intended to work for the masses for the sake of their "politics of vote-bank and appeasement". Enumerating his government's various schemes and projects and informing how the country has seen "unprecedented progress" in all fields, Modi said: "If the previous governments had done all this work, then how would they have pursued the politics of vote-bank, their politics of appeasement". "Can you imagine that Mizoram, and were not on the railways map before we came to power. "If the intention and the that exists now, if it existed earlier, one can only imagine the progress the country could have made," said Modi. Modi praised the media's role in turning his pet schemes 'Swachh Bharat Mission' and 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao' into movements. "To question the system is not only the media's responsibility but also its right and I welcome it," he said praising the media for its role in strengthening the process of nation building. Hitting out at the Congress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said people with "big surnames" ruled the country but India could not prosper despite having the best talent and natural resources. He also alleged that poverty was not alleviated as it could hit the "vote bank" of parties in the past. Addressing the 'Jagran Forum' organised by the Dainik Jagran media group, the prime minister said, "People with big surnames came to power and went but no solution could be found to problems." He was making an oblique reference to the Nehru-Gandhi family. Modi said the country had targets but lacked commitment and passion. "If poverty was alleviated, how would the slogan of 'garabi hatao' be given ... it would hit vote bank politics," the prime minister said. The Friday refused to stay the order for a CBI probe against police officials for firing during the anti- in Tamil Nadu in May this year. A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi issued a notice to the CBI on the petition filed by the challenging the High Court order. "We have to see the other side," the bench, also comprising Justice S K Kaul, said when senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi sought a stay of the high court's order. The had taken place in Tuticorin district during the anti- that claimed 13 lives on May 22, 2018. The high court ordered that FIRs be registered against top police officials and officials of the civil administration. China and India may be talking about improving their trade relationship but there is little action to go with the words. According to Indian government officials and representatives of various Indian trade bodies, progress is very slow - and may even be getting slower after last weekend's truce between the United States and China in their trade war. Both India and China have sought to rebuild trust after a armed standoff over a stretch of the Himalayan border last year. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping have met a number of times ... Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu on Friday was optimistic about the India growth story, saying that "the worst is over and best is yet to come". The minister was addressing the Global Venture Capital Summit in Goa, attended by over 100 investors from across the globe keen on start-ups. "There is no market, which is exciting as India... This is a new phase in India's growth story," Prabhu said inviting investors to participate in this. The minister said phenomenal growth will take place in every sector. Noting the drive of infrastructure creation in the ... Non-banking finance companies (NBFCs), which are facing liquidity challenges, are in need of an asset quality review (AQR) to know the stress level and to work on solutions for them, said former chief economic adviser Arvind Subramanian. Subramanian, now a professor at Harvard University in the US, said the AQR for banks (in 2015-16) had an important positive effect as it brought to light the issues and the lenders couldn't hide the problem. If you hide the problem, you also can't galvanise the political will to address it, he said. An AQR for NBFCs, including housing ... At dinner with Chinas president, Xi Jinping, on Saturday night in Buenos Aires, President Trump celebrated their special relationship and all but predicted they would emerge with a truce in the trade war between the United States and China. Seven thousand miles away, unbeknown to both leaders, Canadian police acting at the request of the United States were in the process of detaining Meng Wanzhou, a top executive of one of Chinas flagship technology firms, as she changed planes in Vancouver. The Justice Department is investigating Ms. Mengs ... What the internet looks like to users in the U. S. can be quite different from the online experience of people in other countries. Some of those variations are due to government censorship of online services, which is a significant threat to internet freedom worldwide. But private companies many based in the U. S. are also building obstacles to users from around the world who want to freely explore the internet. Website operators and internet traffic managers often choose to deny access to users based on their location. Users from certain countries cant visit ... Chinese telecom giant Huawei's chief financial officer faces US fraud charges related to sanctions-breaking dealings with Iran, a Canadian court heard Friday, a week after she was detained on an American request. Meng Wanzhou was arrested in Canada's Pacific coast city of Vancouver on December 1 while changing planes during a trip from Hong Kong to -- ratcheting tensions between the and just as the countries' leaders agreed a truce in their trade war. A Canadian government lawyer asked the court to deny her bail, saying she has been accused of "conspiracy to defraud multiple financial institutions" and if convicted faces more than 30 years in prison. She is specifically accused of lying to US banks about the use of a covert subsidiary to sell to in breach of sanctions. The lawyer said that Meng had personally denied to American bankers any direct connections between and the subsidiary, SkyCom, when in fact "SkyCom is " SkyCom's alleged sanctions breaches occurred from 2009 to 2014. He suggested that Meng has also shown a pattern of avoiding the over the past year since becoming aware of the investigation into the matter, argued that she has no ties to and has access to vast wealth and political connections -- and thus poses a flight risk. Meng's detention in came on the day of a summit at which US and his Chinese counterpart agreed to a truce in the escalating trade dispute opposing the two economic powerhouses. says Meng -- the daughter of founder Ren Zhengfei, a former engineer in China's People's Liberation Army -- has violated no laws in or the and has demanded her release. and have exchanged steep tariffs on more than USD 300 billion in total two-way trade, locking them in a conflict that has begun to eat into profits. Trump tweeted Friday that negotiations to defuse the high stakes dispute were "going very well" but the messages since Meng's arrest have been mixed, roiling global stock markets. Her appearance at the British Columbia Supreme Court in Vancouver is a prelude to an process that could take months. CNN, quoting an unnamed official, said the United States saw the arrest as providing leverage in US- trade talks -- although trade advisor has denied any link to the dialogue. On Friday, nevertheless alleged that Meng, known internally as the "princess" of Huawei and possible heir to the throne, had become a pawn in the dispute. "The Chinese government should seriously mull over the US tendency to abuse legal procedures to suppress China's high-tech enterprises," said the nationalist tabloid in an editorial. "Obviously, is resorting to a despicable rogue's approach as it cannot stop Huawei's 5G advance in the market," it went on. Meng spent most of the past week at a women's detention facility in a suburb of Vancouver. If she is released on bail, she would likely have to surrender her passport and submit to electronic monitoring until she is discharged or surrendered for trial to the United States. All security costs would be borne by her. The process could take months, even years, if appeals are made in the case. The Vancouver Sun reported on Friday that Meng's husband Xiaozong Liu is believed to own at least one luxury home in the city. Canada is one of more than 100 countries that have an extradition treaty with the United States, requiring it to cooperate with requests to hand over suspects. This longstanding treaty requires that the offense for which extradition is being sought is also a crime in Canada. A Canadian court must decide if there is sufficient evidence to support the extradition, but then it is left to Canada's justice minister to sign the order. On Thursday, Prime Minister defended Canada's arrest of Meng, saying politics played no part in the decision. "I can assure everyone that we are a country (with) an independent judiciary," Trudeau told a tech conference in Montreal. Huawei's affordable have made strong inroads in the developing world, but the company has faced repeated setbacks in major Western economies over security concerns. Earlier this week, Canadian officials said Ottawa was continuing to review Huawei's technology for use in upcoming fifth generation networks. The company faces being shut out of Australia, and US 5G rollouts, and British telecom group BT revealed on Wednesday it was removing Huawei equipment from its core cellular network. The five nations together form the "Five Eyes" intelligence alliance. A top executive of China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd who is under arrest in Canada is set to appear in a Vancouver court on Friday for a bail hearing as she awaits possible extradition to the United States. Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou, 46, who is also the daughter of the company founder, was arrested on December 1 at the request of the United States. The arrest, revealed by Canadian authorities late on Wednesday, was part of a US investigation into an alleged scheme to use the global banking system to evade US sanctions against Iran, people familiar with the probe told ... The United Nations General Assembly on Thursday rejected a resolution proposed by the United States to condemn the Islamic militant group Hamas for violence against Israel. The rejection was a blow to the American ambassador, Nikki R. Haley, who had positioned the measure as a capstone of her tenure. In remarks before the vote, Ms. Haley characterized the resolution as an opportunity for the 193 member states of the General Assembly to put themselves on the side of truth and balance. Though the body has voted many times to condemn Israel, never once has it passed a ... Iran gave OPEC the green light on Friday to reduce oil output by around 0.8 million barrels per day from 2019 after finding a compromise with rival Saudi Arabia over a possible exemption from the cuts, an OPEC source said. Tehran has emerged as a key sticking point for a deal but sources said the difficulties were now in the past and OPEC was refocusing on talks with non-member producers led by Russia to reduce supplies and prop up oil prices. "Yes, Iran agreed in principle," the source said. OPEC will propose that non-member producers contribute an additional 0.4 ... Japan plans to ban government purchases of equipment from China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd and ZTE Corp, a person with direct knowledge and a person briefed on the matter told Reuters on Friday. The Yomiuri newspaper, which first reported the news, said the government was expected to revise its internal rules on procurement as early as Monday in a bid to prevent intelligence leaks and cyber attacks. A prediction: laffaire Carlos Ghosn is not going to end well for the Japanese. Yes, thats right: Im convinced that Ghosn, the former chairman of Nissan Motor Co. who was arrested Nov. 19 on suspicion of underreporting his compensation, is going to come out of this looking a lot better than either the Japanese prosecutors who arrested him or the Japanese automaker that so plainly turned on him. Lets start with the prosecutors. Seventeen days after his arrest, Ghosn remains confined to a small cell. Prosecutors interrogate for hours at a time, urging him to ... Five more individuals were on Friday arrested by the Uttar Pradesh police, with an army personnel's name also appearing among the accused in the FIR in connection with the Bulandshahr violence that claimed the life of a police officer. Today's arrests take the total tally up to nine. The five arrested have been identified as Nitin, Rohit, Chandra, Jitendra and Sonu, Inspector General (Crime) Lucknow - S. K. Bhagat confirmed, adding that the arrests were made on the basis of video footages and eyewitnesses. Speaking about the army personnel, identified as Jeetu Fauji, Bhagat confirmed he is a part of the 27 identified accused named in the FIR filed on December 4 and is currently deployed in Jammu and Kashmir. A team has been sent to arrest him, he added. "We are expecting to have him in custody soon," the IG (Crime) Lucknow said. He refused to reveal information about Jeetu's battalion. "He is a named accused, he will be caught, interrogated, his role will be established and accordingly, he will be booked," Bhagat said. A further 50 to 60 unidentified people were also included in the FIR. "Our teams are working continuously to arrest the rest of the named and unnamed accused. All of them have been absconding since the incident, we are trying to ensure that no innocent ends up in jail and none of the accused is spared," Bhagat said while addressing a press conference. Clashes erupted in Bulandshahr on Monday after cattle carcass was found in the region, which led to agitation by locals demanding the closure of all illegal animal slaughterhouses. In the protests that ensued, one policeman, Subodh Singh, and Sumit, a civilian, were killed. However, it was later revealed that Sumit was named in the FIR that was lodged post the incident. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had declared a financial aid of Rs 10 lakh earlier this week to the family of Sumit, while the district administration announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the Agriculture Export Policy, 2018 with an aim to double farmers' income by 2022. Exports of agricultural products would play a pivotal role in achieving this goal. In order to provide an impetus to agricultural exports, the Government has come out with a comprehensive "Agriculture Export Policy" aimed at doubling the agricultural exports and integrating Indian farmers and agricultural products with the global value chains. The Cabinet has also approved the proposal for the establishment of Monitoring Framework at Centre with Commerce as the nodal Department with representation from various line Ministries/Departments and Agencies and representatives of concerned State Governments, to oversee the implementation of Agriculture Export Policy. The Agriculture Export Policy has the vision to harness the export potential of Indian agriculture, through suitable policy instruments, to make India global power in agriculture and raise farmers' income. It aims at doubling the agricultural exports from present USD 30+ Billion to USD 60+ Billion by 2022 and reach USD 100 Billion in the next few years thereafter, with a stable trade policy regime. It also aims to diversify our export basket, destinations and boost high value and value-added agricultural exports including the focus on perishables and to promote novel, indigenous, organic, ethnic, traditional and non-traditional Agri-products exports. It also strives to double India's share in world agricultural exports by integrating with global value chain at the earliest and enable farmers to get the benefit of export opportunities in the overseas market. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given its approval to the revised Model Memorandum of Understanding between the Financial Intelligence Unit(FIU) - India (FIU-Ind) with its counterpart foreign Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) for exchange of information. The revised Model MoU was drafted based on Egmont Group Secretariat revised Model MoU 2014. The core functions of FIU-IND in relation to foreign FIUs include screening and processing requests from foreign Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs), disseminating information to foreign FIUs, establishing and maintaining a relationship with foreign FIUs, and facilitating, administering and negotiating MoUs with foreign FIUs. Most of the foreign FIUs require a MoU to be signed for sharing of information with them. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Germany's centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) is all set to elect Chancellor Angela Merkel's successor as party leader on Friday. According to recent surveys, 48 per cent of CDU voters were in favour of Merkel loyalist Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer for the leadership, while 35 per cent backed Friedrich Merz, a vocal critic of the Chancellor's refugee policy, Anadolu News Agency reported. Various German politicians such as Wolfgang Schaeuble and EU Commissioner Guenther Oettinger have decided to support Merz. Branded by critics as "Trump light," Merz had challenged Merkel for the party leadership in 2002, but lost the challenge and left in 2009. German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said that he would back Kramp-Karrenbauer as she would be the best candidate to lead the CDU. Kramp-Karrenbauer served as the Premier of Saarland state from 2011 to 2018. She was appointed the secretary-general of CDU in February. In October, Merkel, who led the party for 18 years, announced that she would not seek re-election when her term expires in 2021. The 64-year-old leader, who has managed to retain the top spot on Forbes' list of most powerful women for the eighth year in a row, has been the Chancellor of Germany since 2005. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Former PDP leader Haseeb Drabu on Friday asserted that a "change in party's vision" had made him leave it after a long association. Speaking to ANI, Drabu said, "The vision of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has changed specifically after the demise of (former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister) Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. This change came due to the party's new leadership. I still wish well for the party. I do not have any personal problem with the party but its new outlook." Talking about his association with Mufti, he stated, "I came into because of him (Mufti). I worked with him as his economic advisor in 2003. He appreciated my work and brought me into the party. He is my mentor in this sphere. He started a party with different vision and ideology. We got to learn a lot from him. He had a vision and he aligned with BJP. I drafted the agenda of an alliance for the same. He had an agenda on which we were working but it has changed now." On being asked about his political future, he said, "I haven't thought about it. I have also been a writer and would like to write without conflicting with the view of the party." Drabu, who had played a key role in forging an alliance between PDP and BJP three years back, resigned from the party on Thursday. Drabu, a former finance minister of Jammu and Kashmir had then said that his resignation "had been coming for a while now" as he had already "disengaged" himself from the party affairs for "quite some time now". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) New Delhi [India], Dec 7 (ANI): In a bid to increase its influence in South Asia, China is slowly using Buddhism as a soft power. From rewriting sacred texts by introducing Chinese narrative to developing Buddhist pilgrim sites and controlling monasteries in its own way, China is working slowly towards changing the narrative of India-centric Buddhism and emerge as leader of the Buddhist world. While a lot has been written about China's emergence as a global power, its increasing assertiveness in India's neighborhood, attempted military encirclement of India, impact of the Belt Road Initiative (BRI) and acquisition of stakes in Dhaka and Karachi Stock Exchanges; China using Buddhism to augment its influence in south Asia has largely escaped adequate scrutiny. With acknowledged 250 million followers, and informally estimated at 400 million, China is seeking to emerge as a leader of the Buddhist world. It finds Buddhism useful in creating the harmonious society Hu Jintao envisaged and Xi Jinping is promoting. In the last Party Congress, it declared Buddhism as indigenous having been destroyed in India and nurtured in China from where it spread to south East Asia and Japan. China has sought to dominate the narrative by taking control of the Common Text Project (CTP) undertaken by the International Council of Day of Vesak (ICDV) under the stewardship of Maha Chulalongkorn University in Thailand. The mammoth project will create one text of over 250000 words and around 425 pages of selected translations from Tibetan, Pali, Sanskrit and Chinese representing Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions into English. Tibetan scholars associated with the project have been eased out and reports indicate that Tibetan textual sources, which had formed major part of the CTP have been reduced to a few chapters and footnotes. Instead, Chinese texts are credited as the source. The Tibetan texts origins of which are traced to the Nalanda tradition are being relegated to a position secondary to the Chinese texts. Besides, China has gained considerable influence over international Buddhist organisations such as the ICDV, World Fellowship of Buddhists and the World Buddhist Forum, which recently held its 5th session in the city of Putian in the eastern province of Fujian. Apart from other things the session resolved to support the BRI. The Nanhai Buddhist Academy modeled on the ancient Nalanda University has been set up in Hainan province with courses taught in Chinese, Pali and Tibetan. 200 monks have already enrolled while India's own initiative languishes. To add insult to injury, the Academy worksite has been named Brahmlok! Buddhist holy sites in India are being replicated with the Brahma Palace in Wuxi being touted as Rajgir. Abodes of Bodhisattvas, Avalokitesvara, Amitabha and Manjushri are being promoted as religious pilgrimage destinations. China is particularly active in India's neighborhood. It has arm-twisted Nepal Government to curb pro Dalai Lama activities on the Tibet-Nepal border and embarked on a tremendous initiative to extend its influence over followers of Tibetan Buddhism in Nepal. Lucrative offers have been made to develop Lumbini, birthplace of Prince Siddhartha to prop it against Bodhgaya where he attained enlightenment as Gautam Buddha. With a proposed rail link between Lumbini and Kathmandu which will in turn connect to Lhasa and Buddhist sites in China, a new globalised Buddhist network will be created that will be fuelled by well-healed Chinese tourists and pilgrims. And all this while Indian Buddhist pilgrimage initiative has not progressed beyond bold declarations. With the Chinese sitting in the Terai on Indian border one can only imagine the consequences. Noteworthy is China's interest in developing and promoting the Gandhara trail of Buddhism connecting it to South Korea, Japan and Guru Padmasambhava. Pakistan has recently approved establishment of Gandhara University thereby reviving the ancient Taxila University. Buddhist monks from Bhutan are being taken to mythical Odiyana in Swat as the birthplace of Guru Padmasambhava. Under the patronage of ICDV, Pakistan this year celebrated the International Day of Vesak, Buddha's day of birth, enlightenment and parinirvana. In Bangladesh, birthplace of Atisha Dipankar, credited with the second coming of Buddhism, China has extended financial and technical expertise for conserving Buddhist sites in Comilla adjoining Tripura. A joint China-Bangladesh team has excavated the Bikrampur ruins. What is significant about Bangladesh is that Atisha spent last 10 years of his life in Tibet where his foremost disciple was the founder of the Kadam School, progenitor of the Gelug School. Prominent members of the China-backed Shugden faction of the Gelug School, which is at loggerheads with the Dalai Lama, have made frequent trips to Bangladesh to engage with the local clergy. An annual Dipankar Atisha Peace Award has been instituted with financial help from Shugden group based in Switzerland. In Sri Lanka, China has made hefty donations to the various Nikayas to engage and cultivate the influential Buddhist clergy. Such is China's influence that a prominent Sinhalese daily had to suspend publication of Dalai Lama's book My Life and my People. Of particular interest to India should be China's preparations for the post 14th Dalai Lama phase. It has sought to create a loyal cadre of monks; it has downsized number of monks in monasteries, ensured appointment of pliant monastic heads. Through the Order No 5 on Management Measures for Reincarnation of Lamas, it seeks to control identification and recognition of reincarnations. A beginning has been made with the Panchen, Penor, Reting and Adoe Rinpoches asserting right to control reincarnation of the next Dalai Lama. China is trying, though not very successfully, to chip away at Dalai Lama's image by propping up the Shugden group and disgruntled monks. India needs to do more to use its unique position as the birthplace of Buddhism. It does not have to react to China but it would be doing itself disservice if it cedes soft power space in its neighborhood. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) American broadcast network, CNN's New York offices and studio were evacuated on Thursday following a bomb threat. The New York Police Department (NYPD) swiftly responded to the threat and launched an investigation, subsequently issuing an all-clear message after completion of the checks. CNN Communications official Twitter account shared the details of the bomb threat on Thursday night and wrote, "There has been a bomb threat phone into the CNN offices in New York. Employees have been evacuated and the NYPD is investigating." The evacuation also caused an interruption in the live broadcast of the channel and caused a frenzy of reactions on social media after, CNN Anchor Don Lemon took to the micro-blogging website and wrote, "We were evacuated in the middle of my live show. Bomb threat. We're running taped programming. NYPD is investigating. Stay tuned". The same was followed by a statement by the New York Police Department (NYPD), issuing an advisory on social media cautioning people to avoid the area. "Due to a police investigation at Columbus Circle, West 58th Street between 8th and 9th Avenue is closed to vehicle and pedestrian traffic. Please avoid this area. Update to follow," wrote the official Twitter of the Midtown North Precinct. NYPD however, soon completed the investigation and informed about reopening of the building by tweeting, "Out of the abundance of caution, 25 Columbus Circle was evacuated. Members of NYPD ESU & SRG have completed a sweep of the building & deemed it safe. The building has been reopened. The pedestrian freeze has been lifted & traffic on W 58th St. will be opened shortly." Hours later the vehicular traffic on West 58th Street was also restored by the police department. Issuing a detailed statement of the events, CNN president Jeff Zucker appreciated the swift action by the local authorities and the patience and professionalism of all the employees impacted by the same. "Earlier tonight there was a bomb threat called into the CNN officer in New York. The NYPD responded immediately and evacuated the building. As a result, we ran taped programming for about a half hour and then went live from the street outside while the investigation continued. The NYPD has now given us the all clear, and employees have been permitted to return to the building." This is the second such scare for the US cable news channel's New York office in the last few months. In October this year, the New York offices of CNN were evacuated after a suspicious device was discovered in the building's mailroom. The evacuation comes shortly after the Secret Service confirmed that similar devices were sent to former United States President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday conducted raids at the premises of some close associates of Robert Vadra, son-in-law of UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, according to his lawyer Suman Jyoti Khaitan. Vadra, a businessman, is being investigated by the ED in connection with a land deal in Bikaner in Rajasthan. Khaitan claimed that the ED officials raided "close associates" and business partners of Vadra in Delhi without even showing any search warrants. They locked up the premises from inside and are not allowing any access to those inside, even to the lawyers, he alleged. "Is this rule of law?...Evidence has been fabricated," he alleged while speaking to reporters. He said a newspaper had reported that that three summons had been served on Vadra by the ED but "we have received none. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The casket of late former United States President George HW Bush arrived at his presidential library here on Thursday, where he would be laid to rest next to his wife and former First Lady Barbara Bush and their daughter Robin Bush. As a special train arrived at the College Station in Texas, the Bush family stood with their hands over their hearts as the casket, draped in a US flag, was carried past them. The country's national anthem was played out, while 21 fighter jets performed a missing man formation in honour of the 41st US President, CNN reported. Prior to the burial ceremony, close friends and family on Thursday expressed their final, yet tearful, condolences to the deceased president at a funeral service in Houston. James Baker, Bush's Secretary of State, delivered an emotional eulogy, underlining the close bond that he and the 94-year-old leader shared during the latter's four-year-old presidency (1989 to 1993). Comparing his relationship with Bush as a "brother", Baker was quoted by The Hill saying: "He had a very effective way of letting me know when the discussion was over. He would look at me and say, 'Baker if you're so smart, why am I president and you're not?'" "For millions and millions across the globe, the became a better place because George Bush occupied the White House for four years," he told a gathering. Thursday's funeral service at St. Martin's Episcopal Church in Houston was a more intimate and private affair than Wednesday's funeral service at the Washington National Cathedral, which saw thousands of people, including foreign leaders, former US Presidents, and first ladies and current US lawmakers attending the event. Bush's grandson, George P. Bush, who also delivered a eulogy at the memorial service here, described his grandfather as the "most gracious and humble man". He recounted how he used to spend time with the 41st US President during his childhood, playing on an imaginary boat on the coast of Maine, watching his grandfather indulge in barbeque and relish Klondike Bar ice creams. "George HW Bush is the most gracious, most decent, most humble man that I will ever know, and it's the honour of a lifetime to share his name," George P. Bush, who is the son of former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, told the gathering. As the memorial service concluded, Bush's casket was carried out of the church and the train carried it to College Station. The stalwart, who passed away on November 30, is known for his contributions towards the country, including steering the nation's foreign policy in the wake of the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991 while ushering in a new order. He had also ordered the invasion of Kuwait to drive out Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and formed a United Nations-backed 30-nation coalition for the task in 1990. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Friday took on Governor Satya Pal Malik, accusing him "encroaching on the democratic space" and taking decisions against the interest of state at the behest of the Centre. Implicitly targeting the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led central government, Mehbooba said: "The Governor is encroaching on the democratic space and is issuing orders that are not required; there seems to be no emergency for issuing such orders. It seems that some agenda is being run in Jammu and Kashmir and Governor is part of it," said Mufti. "Whether it was about declaring Jammu and Kashmir Bank a Public Sector Unit, or changing the procedure of the state subject or the Juvenile Act, the Governor's decisions have left all the political parties in Jammu and Kashmir worried barring a few," she said. Elaborating on the "worry" people of the state is undergoing, Mehbooba observed that if the Governor makes Ladakh a division then Pir Panjal and Chenab should also be given division status. "We have no objection on Governor giving the division to Ladakh. But I request the Governor that if he is giving the division to Ladakh then Pir-Panjal and Chenab valley should also be given division," said Mufti. "Pir Panjal is a far-off and remote area and is not connected, and it even lacks basic amenities. At least, Ladakh and Kargil have Hill Development Council. But Pir Panjal and Chenab don't even have that," said Mehbooba. She expressed hope that if declared a division both the areas will subsequently have their own Hill Development Council also. She said that all parties including Conference, Congress and Independents, etc are in consonance with the PDP's demand. Political slugfest started in the State after the Governor dissolved the Assembly last month after arch-rivals PDP and NC along with Congress confirmed that they stitched up an alliance to form the government in the state. The state has been under the Governor's rule since June when the BJP ended its ruling alliance with the PDP. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iceland, Gudlaugur Thor Thordarson, arrived in India on an eight-day visit to the country on Friday morning. Thordarson is scheduled to address the Iceland-India Business Seminar at The Oberoi hotel in the city later in the day, according to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). On December 8, the Icelandic Foreign Minister will meet External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj at the Jawaharlal Nehru Bhawan and hold talks over bilateral issues. Thordarson would then depart for Agra on December 9, where he is slated to attend a programme. On December 10, he would pay a visit to Jaipur to attend an event. On the morning of December 14, the Icelandic Foreign Minister would depart for Reykjavik. India and Iceland have despite the distance and contrast in population size, reached out to each other to build a friendship based on shared values and mutuality of interests. A string of high-level visits since 2000 have imparted a new dynamism to the bilateral relations, sustained by the opening of resident missions (in New Delhi in February 2006 and in Reykjavik in August 2008). Iceland was the first Nordic country to publicly extend support to India's candidature for permanent membership of United Nations Security Council (UNSC). Subsequently, Iceland has reiterated its position on many occasions. Iceland was also the first country to co-sponsor the draft G-4 framework resolution on UNSC reforms in 2005. Iceland was one of the countries co-sponsoring India's resolution at the UN to declare June 21 as the "International Day of Yoga". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Experts from India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) jointly discussed ways to counter the growing menace of radicalisation and terrorism during a two-day seminar titled 'Indo-UAE co-operation against Radicalization and Terrorism' here on Friday. "All the civilised nations in the world, the civil societies and the international communities are concerned about its spread and are desperate to find ways to contain this menace because it is causing danger to humanity itself," Anwar Alam, an academic at the conference noted while referring to radicalisation and terrorism. "It is in this background that we have been trying to examine the whole development of radicalisation over the last 30 years. We realise that India and UAE are two of the exceptional countries where the trend of radicalization is almost negligible," he added. Furthermore, experts asserted that the underlying principles of non-violence and tolerance are behind the success stories of both India as well as UAE. "Not only now, but for a long time, the co-operation between the two countries against terrorism and radicalization has been going on because there are many similarities between India and the UAE. Both the nations share the values of tolerance that have been left behind by Sheikh Zayed in UAE and Mahatma Gandhi in India," Ebtesam al-Ketbi, the President of the Emirates Policy Center said at the conference. The experts at the event were of the opinion that to control global terrorism, the state-centric approach alone will not work. They laid emphasis on international pressure and a ban on financial aid, among other top-down measures which are in conjunction with civil-society perspectives to counter radicalisation. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Border Security Force (BSF) personnel was killed and another sustained injuries in yet another incident of unprovoked ceasefire violation by Pakistan along the Line of Control (LoC) in the Sunderbani area of Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district. Captain Prosenjit Biswas and Captain Mansa Ram sustained critical gunshot wounds during the incident on Thursday afternoon, with the former succumbing to his injuries. A wreath-laying ceremony was held on Friday at the BSF Frontier headquarters in Jammu today for the martyr, with officials of all ranks honouring his supreme sacrifice. Ram Awtar, the BSF Inspector General, Dr S D Jamwal, the Inspector General of Police, Jammu, Rahul Sharma, the Assistant Divisional Commander, Ramesh Kumar, Deputy Commissioner Jammu, Dushyant Singh, Senior Superintendent of Police, Rural Jammu were some of the high profile attendees of the ceremony. The BSF IG lauded Ct. Biswas, calling him a "brave and sincere" soldier, adding that the nation will forever remain in his debt for his sacrifice and devotion. He further hailed the BSF for responding with strength on the Pakistan Army posts. Ct. Biswas' remains will be flown to Kolkata, from where it will be transported to his native village Balla Shisha in West Bengal's Nadia district. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno said on Thursday that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange should leave the Ecuadorian Embassy in London only if the United Kingdom guarantees that the 47-year-old Australian will not be extradited to a third country where he could face a death penalty. "If the British government guarantees his life, I think it's in his best interest to hand himself over to the authorities," CNN quoted Moreno as saying. Assange, who has been living in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London since 2012, wanted to escape extradition to Sweden on sexual assault charges, which were later dropped. He has been staying in the embassy amid the fear of being extradited to the United States if he attempted to leave. The Ecuadorian President added that he would prefer if Assange surrendered because of the cost Quito has been paying after granting asylum to him. "We will protect Assange's rights. This is why we are looking for a solution, but this needs to be an agreed solution," he further said. Moreno underlined that Assange should not be scared that he could be transferred to a country where he could face the death penalty. "According to the British government, they would never extradite a person to a country where his life is at risk. He will spend a few months in jail, and after that, it's freedom," he said. An arrest warrant by the UK government has been issued to Assange over violating bail conditions by seeking asylum in the Ecuadorian Embassy. Last month, Assange was charged in the US, as unsealed court documents had inadvertently revealed his name. The New York Times reported that the information was contained in a court filing in an unrelated case. The Justice Department prepared an indictment against the WikiLeaks founder in which prosecutors inadvertently mentioned charges against him. The WikiLeaks founder has been under the scanner for several years due to its publication of thousands of secret government documents. This comes as special counsel Robert Mueller is investigating the alleged links between US President Donald Trump's associates and Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. According to The New York Times, WikiLeaks had published the documents from Democrats during the presidential polls, which were allegedly stolen by Russian intelligence officers. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In a big setback to the makers of 'Kedarnath', the Uttarakhand government has banned the Sushant Singh Rajput and Sara Ali Khan starrer film from being screened in the state. On Wednesday, the Uttarakhand government constituted a four-member committee under state Tourism Minister Satpal Maharaj to probe complaints related to the movie. Following the committee's report, the Uttarakhand government on Thursday decided not to impose any prohibition on the screening of the film. However, the Tourism Minister today morning informed that the film has been banned in Uttarakhand claiming that it "hurts the religious sentiments of many people." "Our committee has forwarded our advice to Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat and decided that law and order should be reviewed. We asked district magistrates to maintain peace and everyone has decided that Kedarnath movie should be banned. The movie is banned everywhere in the state," Maharaj told ANI. Raising objection over the name of the movie, the minister said, "Millions of people have faith in Kedarnath. This is my personal opinion, I don't want anyone to play with our sentiments or hurt the religious sentiments of other people. They could have kept any other name of the movie, but not Kedarnath. Some of the things shown in the film are also fictitious and fabricated," Maharaj added. 'Kedarnath' has been at the center of political controversies since the teaser of the Abhishek Kapoor directorial dropped almost two months back. During the trailer launch of the film in Mumbai last month, Abhishek had addressed the mounting controversy surrounding the movie, saying "When people will watch the movie they will know that there is nothing controversial in it. We have made it with a lot of love and it is about love." The flick, which marks the debut of Sara, is set against the backdrop of a catastrophic deluge that hit the Himalayan shrine in 2013. In the film, Sushant plays the role of a Muslim 'Pithu' named Mansoor, who carries luggage and old people on his back, while Sara plays the role of a Hindu tourist pilgrimage, Mukku. The movie released in the other parts of the country on Friday (December 7). (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) on Friday approved the appointment of Dr. Krishnamurthy Subramanian as the new Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) for a term of three years. "The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the proposal for the appointment of Dr. Krishnamurthy Subramanian, Associate Prof. & ED (CAF), ISB, Hyderabad to the post of Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) in Level 17 of the Pay Matrix as per the r CPC (Rs.2,25,000/- fixed), on contract basis, for a period of 03 years w.e.f. the date of his assumption of charge of the post, or until further orders, whichever is earlier," a statement read. This comes nearly six months after former CEA Arvind Subramanian stepped down from the post at the end of his term owing to "pressing family commitments", Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had confirmed in a Facebook post. While Arvind's term was originally slated to be over in October 2017, he was given a year's extension by the Ministry of Finance. Krishnamurthy currently serves as an associate professor of finance and as the executive director of the Centre for Analytical Finance at the Indian School of Business. A holder of a PhD from the Chicago Booth School of Business, Krishnamurthy has previously served in committees such as the on Corporate Governance in the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and Governance of Banks for the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) On the same day, the Cambodian and Vietnamese prime ministers joined in Vietnam- Cambodia Business Forum with presence of leaders of the two sides ministries, agencies and 400 enterprises.Speaking at the forum, PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc said that this years bilateral trade turnover is expected to gain US$ 5 billion, and it will be able to reach around US$ 7-8 billion by 2020.Vietnamese businesses should continue to focusing on training and technology transfer for Cambodian counterpart, implementing social activities relating to community benefits and environmental protection, added PM Phuc.Besides that, he also asked Vietnams corporations such as Viettel, PetroVietnam, Vietnam Electricity (EVN), Rubber Group, Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV)... continue to promote their business, aiming to become top investors in Cambodia.At the forum, PM Samdech Hun Sen has highly appreciated the trade and investment cooperation between the two countries in recent years, affirming that over the past decade, Cambodia has made positive changes in socio-economy with an average growth of over 7 percent, and is expected to grow by 7.3 percent and continue to maintain its growth rate in the upcoming time.Cambodia plans to become a high level middle-income country by 2030.The Royal Government of Cambodia is also amending its investment-related laws and approving the law of a special economic zone as well as going to modernize its customs system and tax incentives, high quality human resource trainingIn addition to the incentives for foreign investors, Prime Minister Hun Sen said that Cambodia is a country with a young population and growing middle class.The country does not discriminate between domestic and foreign investors as domestic goods has not only distributed to 15 million people in the country but also supplied for 250 million people in Greater Mekong Sub-Region, 3 billion others in Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) market, added PM Samdech Hun Sen.On this occasion, Vietnam and Cambodia also signed an agreement on avoiding double taxation and preventing tax fraud as well as creating favorable conditions for investors of the two countries. BY MINH TAM- Translated by Huyen Huong Hours after the Calcutta High Court on Friday accepted Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) plea for organising Rath Yatras in Cooch Behar and other regions of West Bengal, party president Amit Shah tore into the Trinamool Congress and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for creating obstructions for the party. The court on Thursday had refused to give permission to the BJP to hold the Yatra. The judicature had upheld the concerns cited by the West Bengal government that the programme may stoke communal tensions and cause violence in the region. Shah said at a press conference here today, "We (BJP) will do everything legally and we will conduct three rallies. The rallies have not been cancelled but postponed. Yatra, as scheduled, will go to every part of West Bengal. I will go to West Bengal tomorrow." Venting anger over the state government, Shah alleged complete lawlessness in the state and since the TMC is afraid of the BJP it is not allowing the Yatra. "Mamata Banerjee is scared that if BJP takes out the three rallies in the state of West Bengal and assemble in Kolkata then the foundation of a complete change will be laid down. So she attempted to stop all these yatras," Shah stressed. Slamming the state government and the Chief Minister further, he accused that there has been an attempt to suppress democratic process in the region and the trend being followed Mamata Banerjee is non-democratic in nature. "West Bengal is a hotbed of all the illegal activities. The BJP activists are not afraid of Mamata Banerjee's suppression. We are committed to bring good governance inside Bengal," he said. The BJP had planned to hold three "Rath-Yatras" beginning with Cooch Behar district today, Kakdwip in the South 24 Parganas district on December 9 and Tarapith temple in Birbhum district on December 14. The Yatra was to be flagged off by party president Amit Shah from Cooch Behar. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Facial recognition has become everyday than it was a few years ago. From the first alternative to fingerprint-based authentication system, it is fast getting adopted into various other uses and Microsoft thinks the could be potentially misused. In the company's official blog, Microsoft chief counsel Brad Smith wrote that it's important for governments in 2019 to start adopting laws to regulate facial recognition In the lengthy post, Smith identifies six principles which the company will adopt to manage issues related to facial recognition technology, These principles include, the positive opportunities of using the technology, such as identifying missing people, the concerns about people's privacy, addressing bias and discrimination, and so on. Microsoft says the goal shouldn't only be to await law to regulate the use of technology, and that companies should also take caution and implement the new-age authentication process more responsibly. "We must ensure that the year 2024 doesn't look like a page from the novel "1984," Smith wrote. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Auxilo Finserve Pvt. Ltd. and Nomad Credit comes together to aide aspiring students for their study abroad plans by providing end-to-end guidance on studying abroad and funding options. A webinar on 'USA Fall 19 Admissions Process and Funding Options' will be held on December 13, 2018 from 7 The webinar will be chaired by Head of US Admissions and Loans at Nomad Credit and Mr. Manoj Shetty, Product & Sales Head at Auxilo. While students and parents join forces skimming through a list of colleges, collecting documents and essays, there is always space for errors due to nerves. "The webinar will provide a sorted path navigating through the decision to study abroad or in India and help aspirants to resolve their tough task to choose between destinations and universities. It will be followed by a session on sailing through entrance tests like the GRE and GMAT, among others and preparing the best possible application with noteworthy essays and SOPs," said Mr. Manoj Shetty, Head of Product & Sales at Auxilo. He added, "Finance is one of the most important and at times the deal-breaker aspect of studying abroad and which will be discussed with great attention providing guidelines, processes and best options available." Auxilo, a non-banking financial company, has been a trusted finance bridging option for students looking to study abroad and Educational Institutions who plan to scale-up their infrastructure. Nomad Credit is a renowned and trusted US based consultancy guiding students for studying abroad. These firms, that have been catering to students and working in the field of education, collaborate this December, to put together their knowledge and expertise before students through a guidance and Q&A session. Listen to first-hand student experiences as a bunch of Auxilo Student Ambassadors speak and interact with you about their life as an international student. Lastly, the speakers will offer some career and internship guidelines as per different streams and courses. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A group of women law students have filed a plea at the Delhi High Court seeking directions to the Centre and other authorities to allow the entry of women into the sanctum sanctorum of Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia shrine in New Delhi. The plea is likely to come up for hearing next week. In their Public Interest Litigation, filed on Thursday, the women contended that Nizamuddin Dargah is a public place and prohibiting women from entering into a shrine is gender discrimination and thus highly unconstitutional. The litigants had come from Pune and had gone to the mausoleum of the 13th-century Sufi saint in New Delhi but found out that women were not allowed to enter the complex beyond a point. The petition claims that the law students tried to reach out to authorities over the matter, including the Delhi Police. But on not receiving any response, they decided to move the court. The PIL has been filed at a time when the Sabarimala issue is on the boil over the Supreme Court verdict that allowed women of all ages to enter the Lord Ayyappa shrine in Kerala. The plea further cites the example of two major Muslim shrines - Haji Ali Dargah in Mumbai and Khwaja Moinuddin Dargah in Ajmer - which don't restrict the entry of women. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala on Friday launched a fresh attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, comparing their style of governance to that of Delhi Sultanate ruler Muhammad bin Tughlaq and Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, and accusing them of implementing Taliban-like practices. "Modi ji conducts himself like Mohammad bin Tughlaq and Adityanath ji like Aurangzeb. So will there be a rule of law in this country or blatant hooliganism? A Uttar Pradesh police officer is shot in the head, for which, BJP people are being blamed, but not a single finger is being raised at him (Adityanath). Will there be this Taliban like situation in the country, or democracy?" the Congress spokesperson lashed out. Addressing a press conference here, Surjewala expressed confidence in the Congress' victory in the assembly elections in the five states, results of which will be declared on December 11. While saying that the people of Telangana and Rajasthan, the two states that went to polls today, are eager for a change, he said, "A new dawn will arise when the results of all five elections will be declared on December 11". Surjewala then mounted an assault on the Prime Minister, saying that the latter spared no efforts to "pollute the political discourse" accusing him of using foul and abusive language to demean his opponents. "Prime Minister Modi ji's conduct has been shameful and condemnable. He needs to introspect and think about his behaviour and manners," Surjewala said. Attacking the Prime Minister for attending Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas' reception, Surjewala said, "If you had some time after attending celebrity weddings, you should have consoled Subodh Kumar Singh's (Bundalshahr mob violence victim) wife. You should have spoken to the farmers that marched up to Delhi. You should have at least held a press conference to answer for your failures". The Congress spokesperson said that Prime Minister Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah, who said that the party responds to the public's questions through spokesperson Sambit Patra, have "disgraced the 1.3 billion people of the country". "Is the Prime Minister not accountable, does he not believe in democracy? Is he not bound to answer to the media? Is he Mohammad bin Tughlaq or the Prime Minister of this country? Adityanath ji must respond, his institution is placing a reward on the head of Congress members, is there any democracy in this country, or has he become the biggest Aurangzeb?" Surjewala said. In a reference to Chief Minister Adityanath's 'Dalit' remarks for Lord Hanuman, the Congress spokesperson said that while Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP have always divided the nation with their caste and religion-based politics, they crossed the line when they dragged God into the debate during campaign rallies in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Polling in 119 assembly constituencies in Telangana has begun to elect a new government in the state. While polling in 13 "trouble-prone" constituencies is scheduled to end at 4pm, voting in the rest of the constituencies will end at 5pm this evening. A total of 1,821 candidates are in the fray, along with a few independents. Malkajgiri constituency has the highest number of contestants (42) while Banswada has the least (6). Out of a total 2,80,64,684 voters registered in the state's electoral roll, 1,41,56,182 are males while 1,39,05,811 are females. 44,415 ballot units, 7,557 reserve ballot units, 32,016 control units 4,432 reserve control units, 32,016 voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPATs), and 5,261 reserve VVPATs are being used for the polling. In order to maintain law and order in the state, 32,815 polling stations in the state will be manned by five personnel and one or two constables on an average. About 10,000 polling stations have been identified as critical and extra forces will be deployed in these polling stations. The present elections are the first polls being held exclusively for Telangana after its formation, and marks the first time when VVPATs are being used for all the 119 Constituencies. Telangana Assembly was dissolved in September, more than 10 months before the expiry of its term, thus generating the need for early elections. In the first assembly poll, caretaker chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao-led TelanganaRashtra Samithi (TRS) won 63 seats out of 119 with a vote share of 34 per cent. Legislators from other parties, primarily Congress and Telugu Desam Party (TDP), gradually sided with TRS, after which its share of seats went up to 90. The state is witnessing a three-cornered fight between TRS, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the grand alliance of the Congress, TDP, Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Telangana Jana Samithi, all vying for majority of seats. The All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen (AIMIM) is also contesting polls from several assembly seats. Results of the Assembly polls will be announced on December 11. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Today, the most objective estimate is that autistic people's account for one per cent of the world's population. If this assessment is correct, there are about 1.5 million autism cases in Russia and up to 13 million in India. Experiments with animals have shown that it is possible to repair damaged genes that are associated with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). "This amazing information defies studies of the human body," said Tatyana Stroganova, a researcher at Moscow State University of Psychology and Education. Unfortunately, it is so far impossible to cure autism. The international community has approved just one medication for mitigating its symptoms. The term 'autism' was coined in 1938, with Samuil Mnukhin offering the first scientific description of the disorder's symptoms in 1947. For 60 years, the condition was considered rare and even exceptional, but the situation changed in 2005 when experts estimated that there was one case of autism per 250-300 newborns. Specialists all over the world explain autism and ASD by disrupted communications networks. At the same time, research of the past few years shows that the symptoms of ASD are similar to those of numerous disorders. Another video conference participant, Nidhi Singhal, a researcher, noted that she and her colleagues had been working with patients aged between seven months and 50 years for the past 25 years. "They provide clinical services, conduct research, train personnel and cooperate with the authorities in order to legally formalize the status of people with ASD," she said. Specialists advocate additional opportunities for people with autism, protect their rights, help them find jobs and work with their families and friends. They promote the creation of similar organisations in India and Southeast Asian countries. Arthur Khaustov, a researcher, noted that his centre was the main Russian state autism organisation. The centre aims to help expand systems for assisting autistic children in the regions. The centre actively cooperates with 47 out of the 85 Russian regions and annually trains an estimated 4,200 specialists. "We offer open and closed education formats, including conferences, seminars and webinars," he said and noted the growing demand for evaluation tools that make it possible to draft programs for children with special needs. The elaboration of standard criteria for gauging the efficiency of support measures is a challenging issue facing the international academic community, he noted. Any contacts and mutual education are useful. "This will allow families in India to obtain assistance not only from the Federal Resource Center but from network organisations being established in that country," Khaustov explained. Preschoolers study for 12-24 months, said Maria Bereslavskaya, a head researcher. Each group has a speech therapist, a psychologist and a special education expert. The centre trains specialists and parents of children with ASD (who have a higher education) under a two-year modular program called Psychological-Pedagogical Support for People with ASD, said Lyudmila Tishina, head of the Faculty of Special Education at the Moscow State University of Psychology and Education. Each autistic person is unique; therefore, specialists earning MA degrees must have a diverse education. They develop diagnostic methods and methodological recommendations in the field of alternative communications and behavioural problems (including bad food habits and destructive behaviour) for various specialists. Special children must be heard, and this will make it possible to effectively help them; in turn, society will become more tolerant and better informed, to say the least, experts say. It is necessary to publish books by autistic people and to release films starring persons with disabilities who can be interpreted as having autism. It is also necessary to discuss the lives of people speaking another language and boasting alternative ways of thinking and parallel sensory perception. People in Russia know the story of Indian writer and poet Tito Rajarshi Mukhopadhyay, who published his book 'Beyond the Silence: My Life, the World and Autism' in 2000. Video conference participants noted that articles and television shows involving this person have expanded the perception of an autistic person's inner world. The successful socialisation of autistic superstars and people from their inner circle helps to more actively assist people with ASD and raise public awareness of this acute issue. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Secretary of the Russian Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev, met Prime Minister Narendra Modi here on Friday. The meeting comes shortly after Prime Minister Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin met at the Russia-India-China (RIC) informal summit and a meeting of the BRICS nations on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Argentina. Russia and India have a longstanding relationship, with the Ministry of External Affairs mentioning that the development of India-Russia relations has been a key pillar of India's foreign policy. Trade between both the nations amounted to USD 7.71 billion in 2016, with Indian exports amounting to USD 2.39 billion and imports from Russia amounting to USD 5.32 billion. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Supreme Court on Friday issued a notice to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on a plea filed by Vijay Mallya seeking a stay on the proceedings initiated by the ED to declare him a fugitive economic offender and confiscate his assets. A bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul asked the ED to file a response on Mallya's plea seeking to ward off the "fugitive" tag against his name. The bench, however, refused to stay the proceedings initiated by the ED. The promoter of defunct Kingfisher Airlines today filed an appeal against the Bombay High Court's order of November 22 that rejected his plea. A special court in Mumbai on October 30 refused to stay the proceedings against Mallya under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. Mallya is facing money-laundering charges in the United Kingdom after India initiated extradition proceedings against him. Both ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) have filed several cases for alleged loan default against him. The liquor baron is residing in the UK for the past two years. His extradition case is reportedly in its final stage at London's Westminster Magistrates' Court. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Supreme Court will hear a petition relating to voting rights for the Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) in January 2019. The two judge bench was informed by the Centre that a bill to amend the Representation of the People Act is likely to come up before the Rajya Sabha during the Winter Session of the Parliament. A division bench of Justice Madan B Lokur and Justice Deepak Gupta was hearing a batch of petitions filed by two NRIs - Shamsheer VP, an NRI from Kerala, and Nagender Chindam, Chairman of the UK-based Pravasi Bharat. In July last year, the Centre sought two weeks to submit a reply in the apex court informing that whether it will amend the Representation of People Act to allow NRIs to vote. Earlier, the apex court gave one week time to the central government to take a decision regarding the same. The court said that the government has accepted in principle the Election Commission's October 2014 proposal to give voting rights to the NRIs. The decision to allow over 10 million NRIs, of whom 24,348 are registered with the Election Commission, to vote through a postal ballot will offer expatriates a chance to participate in the country's electoral process without having to be physically present at the polling stations. If it comes to fruition, the NRIs from states such as Kerala, Punjab and Telangana, which have large populations of NRIs, will stand to benefit. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Runway To The World 2018 was officially launched in January 2018 with the first cooperation project between SIHUB and its South Korean partner Shinhan Futures Lab. Three Vietnamese startup groups consisting of EightCups, Victoria Productions, and Myggum visited South Korea in March 2018 to experience the local market and seek collaboration opportunities. In July 2018, SIHUB held DEMO DAY to introduce products of six Malaysian and Singaporean startups, namely Teleme, TagLa, Build Easy, Telepod, 42 Race, and PostCo. In August 2018, in turn, SIHUB sent 3 Vietnamese startups of EyeQ Tech, Gcalls, and Boom Potty to Malaysia. In the following month, it continued to send 3 other startups, namely Ami, Logivan, and Cyfeer to Singapore. In the beginning of this December, the three Vietnamese startups called Remittance Hub, BePOS, and Up Up App will visit South Korea to study the local market there. It is expected that in 2019, SIHUB will form new alliance with partners from Germany and Finland. To take part in the program Runway to the World, Vietnamese startups have to fully prepare their own solutions or innovative products making use of new technologies. These products should possess high potential to succeed in international markets. When joining in this program, Vietnamese startups will be supported by destination nations, have a chance to take part in events as well as activities to connect to local markets, visit successful businesses in partner nations, participate in product introduction sessions to attract prestige investors, and receive financial aid in travelling as well as other related expenses. By BA TAN Translated by Thanh Tam The Blue Circle organized its latest event on 3rd Dec 2018 at The Leela, Gurgaon where noted futurist David Wood spoke on "Predicting 2025". The talk was moderated by public intellectual, Pavan Choudary and was attended by a distinguished audience of 80+ CEOs and Industrialists. The discussion began with David Wood making an eye-opening presentation on what the future of and work would look like in 2025. In summary, David underlined the importance of why leaders need to develop better agility to respond to current challenges as well as hone their foresight by following closely the Technological, Human and Social Trends. "However this (adapting) cannot be done alone. It needs a platform where individuals and businesses can come together and learn. The Blue Circle provides an excellent platform for leaders to handle present disruptions and prepare for the future jointly," added David. David prophesied that the new wave of artificial intelligence and deep learning will take away many a job but also added that if this wave is ridden well, it could lead to greater creativity and fulfillment for the society at large. "As new technologies come in, they will take away backbreaking and soul deadening work and man will be able to explore creativity in different fields like art, music, philosophy or just innovation," he said. Pavan Choudary said, "The manager of the future will need the ability to reorganise, lead people who have more than one employer and work with contrarians." He added, "Our ability to think, learn and adapt have helped humans stay indispensable and ahead of the machines in the march of progress. However now machines are fast becoming capable of thinking, learning and adapting. This will put many people out of work and the society will need to consider social security solutions like a Universal Basic Income. Governments will need to lead the way with alacrity." He also said, "A very reassuring point about the current government and our Prime Minister is that they are well cued in to AI, Block Chain and IoT and this awareness may keep India at the vanguard of this 4thIndustrial revolution." Founder of The Blue Circle, Siddharth Anand said, "The Blue Circle is an exclusive community of like-minded and thinking Business leaders. Our objective is to assist this group of leaders in adapting to the Disruptive Present & getting Future Ready by curating events which provide bursts of new and relevant knowledge. We are attempting thus to nurture a fraternity of Business leaders which learns, evolves and grows together in spirit of true camaraderie." The session ended with questions from the audience which deepened the theme. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The newly-appointed US Central Command (Centcom) Lieutenant General Kenneth McKenzie has said that Pakistan is using Taliban as a "hedge against India". "At this time, Pakistan does not appear to be using the full extent of its influence to encourage the Taliban to come to the table. We continue to see the Taliban being utilised as a hedge against India rather than as part of a stable, reconciled Afghanistan," Dawn quoted Lieutenant General McKenzie as saying during a congressional meeting this week. While noting that Pakistan is an important element in the long-term stability in Afghanistan, he, however, said that Islamabad's policies on Kabul has often led to frustration between the US governments and militaries. Lieutenant General McKenzie, who will replace Army General Joseph Votel in near future as Centcom chief, said that Pakistan will be his priority engagement. Indicating his possible policies towards Islamabad, he said that US Centcom would continue to support efforts "towards a diplomatic solution to the conflict in Afghanistan which includes ensuring that Islamabad's equities are acknowledged in any future agreement." He further recommended strengthening military-to-military relations between the US and Pakistan. Earlier, US President Donald Trump, in a letter to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, asked Islamabad's help with "faltering Afghan peace talks". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Taliban attack in Shindad district here on Thursday night killed at least 14 soldiers of the Afghan National Army and kidnapped 20. On the one hand, provincial governor's spokesman Jailani Farhad told TOLOnews on Friday that the attack was orchestrated by Taliban militants and also confirmed the fatalities. On the other hand, Afghanistan's Ministry of Defence noted that only 10 soldiers had been killed during the assault but did not divulge any more details. The Ministry's spokesman Sayed Javid Ghafor further said that investigations pertaining to the incident were ongoing. Quoting local sources, Pajhwok News Agency also reported that weapons at the outpost were taken by the Taliban militants while adding that help could only reach the region on Friday morning. The attacks come in the wake of calls for the re-initiation of peace talks in Afghanistan, which has seen strife within its borders since the last 17 years. Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani had recently formed a 12-member team for peace talks with the Taliban. Meanwhile, the United States Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Ambassador, Zalmay Khalilzad, is currently on an eight-nation tour from December 2 to December 20 for accelerating the peace process in Afghanistan. He has, until now, met with Ghani in Kabul on Thursday along with the Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, following which he departed for Moscow to hold discussions. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) With polling for assembly elections underway in states of Rajasthan and Telangana, key politicians cutting across party lines on Friday urged people to cast their vote. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah took to micro-blogging site Twitter to urge citizens of both the states to exercise their franchise. "It is the day of polling in Rajasthan today. I request all the voters of the state to take part in this celebration of democracy with full excitement and cast votes in large numbers," Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted. "It is Election Day today and all my brothers and sisters in Telangana should come out in large number to vote. Especially my young allies should use their vote to make democracy more enriching, " he added. BJP President Amit Shah also tweeted and appealed the electorates from Telangana and Rajasthan to come out in large numbers and cast their vote. "I appeal to my sisters and brothers of Telangana to come out and vote in large numbers for an appeasement free and development-oriented government. I especially urge my young friends to participate in this biggest festival of democracy without fail," he tweeted. "Development, progress and prosperity are the rights of the people of the land of warriors, which is possible only with the mantra of 'pure leadership, right development'. I appeal to the people of Rajasthan to vote in greater numbers to maintain the speed at which the state is moving ahead of development," he added. Polling in Telangana and Rajasthan begun today. The results for these elections will be announced on December 11. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Tigress Avni's reaction was mistaken and the trigger was pulled in a hurry by an "inexperienced" shooter, a report tabulated by the Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) to inquire the death of the tigress revealed. As per the report, which was submitted on November 28, drugs used for tranquillising the tigress were handled by non-professionals and unauthorised personnel. "From the reconstruction of movement of T-1 (Tigress Avni) and final position of the body of T-1, it was moving away from the road and vehicle on its traditional walk path while it was shot. Tigress was not aggressive and showed behaviour that was natural after it was hit by a dart, and they were moving towards the direction of the animal. Tiger's reaction was mistaken and the shot was taken in a hurry by inexperienced Asghar Ali Khan. Evidence strongly supports above observation. In view of the facts, the firing in self-defence is doubtful," the report highlighted. Maharashtra Forest Ministry on November 9 formed an inquiry committee to look into the killing of tigress Avni. The panel was headed by Forest department officer SH Patil and comprises Bilal Habib, a member of the Wildlife Institute of India and Anish Andheriya, a member of the Wildlife Promotion Trust. A senior forest department official, Nitin Kakodkar, was appointed coordinator of the panel. On November 2, Tigress Avni, who was believed to have killed 13 people in the last two years, was gunned down by sharp-shooter Azgher Ali Khan in Maharashtra's Yavatmal district as part of a planned operation. The killing invited huge flak from various quarters with Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi lashing out at the Maharashtra government for the move. The BJP leader also lambasted sharp-shooter Azgher Ali, saying he was not authorised to gun down the tigress, and that he carried out the task illegally. "This is patently illegal. Despite the forest officials being committed to tranquilise, capture and quarantine the tigress, the trigger-happy shooter has killed her on his own under direct orders of Mungantiwar. The tigress was a mother. Now her two cubs will also die," she said in a tweet. Earlier, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had expressed his dismay over the decision to kill the man-eater tigress and assured that his government will initiate a probe to check if there were any procedural lapses in the entire operation. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Telangana caretaker Chief Minister and TRS chief K Chandrashekar Rao, who exercised his franchise in the Assembly elections here, on Friday said that his party would retain power in the state with a huge majority. Speaking on the performance of the TRS in this Assembly elections, KCR said, "Pro-government incumbency is there in Telangana. Huge voter turnout will be recorded. Even old people are coming out and voting. You will see our victory in exit polls in the evening." KCR was accompanied by his wife Sobha and TRS candidate from Siddipet seat T Harish Rao. Polling in Telangana is being held across 119 assembly constituencies. While in 13 "trouble-prone" constituencies the polling is scheduled to end at 4 pm, voting in the rest of the constituencies will end at 5 pm this evening. A total of 1,821 candidates are in the fray in the state. Rao-led TRS is contesting in all 119 seats while the Bharatiya Janata Party is battling for 118 seats. The Congress party led by its president Rahul Gandhi is contesting in 99 seats, Telugu Desam Party in 13, Telangana Jana Samithi in eight and Communist Party of India in three seats. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The United States President Donald Trump is expected to nominate the current State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert as the next ambassador to the United Nations. Nauret will replace the current US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley. CNN quoted administration officials stating that the nomination of Nauert by the US President would lead to a less experienced person holding an office at the international organisation and influence less power in comparison to Haley. The national security team of the US President is also expected to witness a reshuffle in the power dynamics. Sources also reported to CNN that the former Fox News host had to struggle a lot during the tenure of former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, so much so that she at one point even considered quitting her office. But during Pompeo's tenure, she availed opportunities to go on official trips, unlike under Tillerson who blocked her from doing so. Earlier in October, Trump had announced that Haley has resigned and will leave her post by the end of the year. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Senators from the United States of America on Friday were briefed by Turkey's head of intelligence Hakan Fidan about investigations into journalist Jamal Khashoggi's death on Friday. Fidan's briefing comes amid calls by six US Senators to hold Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman accountable for Khashoggi's death at Saudi Arabia's consular premises in Istanbul on October 2. Quoting sources, Al Jazeera reported that this could help the Senators in strengthening their case against the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, also known as MBS. Earlier, the United Nations Human Rights chief Michelle Bachelet had pushed for an international inquiry to ascertain who is responsible for Khashoggi's killing. Speaking at a conference in Geneva on December 5, she had said: "I do believe it is really needed in terms of ensuring what really happened and who are the (people) responsible for that awful killing." Investigations into Khashoggi's killing are still going on in both Turkey and Saudi Arabia. US President Donald Trump has refused to sever ties with "key allies" Saudi Arabia over the journalist's death, despite a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) report that concluded MBS to be behind Khashoggi's death. The United States has since mentioned that the report did not have any concluding remarks, leading to a furore by US Senators. Several Senators, after a briefing with CIA chief Gina Haspel on December 4, stated that they were convinced of MBS' role in Khashoggi's death. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said that there is "zero chance" that MBS is not involved in the killing, after the briefing. Saudi Arabia has continuously denied reports of MBS' involvement in Khashoggi's killing, reinforcing that they are taking judicial measures to bring the perpetrators to justice. Several leaders, including British Prime Theresa May and French President Emmanuel Macron, met MBS on the sidelines of the recently held G-20 summit in Argentina and pushed for transparent investigations into the journalist's death which has gripped the (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Peace talks backed by the United Nations aimed at ending the four years of civil war in Yemen kicked off here on Thursday. The crucial meet, which is between the Yemeni government and Houthi rebels, was also attended by Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom and UN special envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths at Johannesburg Castle in the city, Anadolu News Agency reported. During the meeting, Wallstrom urged both parties to bury their differences and reconcile to end the conflict, which has claimed over 10,000 lives, including women and children. Griffiths, on the other hand, underscored that the two sides agreed to exchange prisoners as part of a confidence-building step. The deliberations would continue for the next 10 days. According to a statement released by the UN, Griffiths extended his appreciation to the Swedish government for hosting the "direct consultations" between the Iranian-aligned Houthi rebels and Saudi-led coalition backing the Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi government in Yemen. Earlier in September, the body had taken steps to bring together the Houthis and an official delegation of the Yemeni government in Geneva for consultations, but conditions did not materialise. The armed conflict that has been continuing since the past a few years, has brought more than 22 million people that accounts to over three-quarters of the entire Yemeni population, in dire need of humanitarian assistance or protection, of whom over eight million are severely food insecure and at risk of starvation, the UN has estimated. The Saudi-led military intervention against a Houthi rebel insurgency in early 2015 has also wrecked the country's medical, water and sanitation systems, resulting in the outbreak of cholera and other deadly diseases. Thousands of civilians, especially children, have lost their lives either in airstrikes or fighting hunger. Yemen's capital Sanaa is currently held by the Houthis, who killed then-President Ali Abdullah Saleh in December 2017. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The United Nations on Thursday failed to pass a resolution condemning the activities of the Palestinian group, Hamas, and other militant groups in Gaza, which was presented by the United States. Although a large number of UN member states voted in favour of the resolution, it failed to achieve a two-thirds majority that was required for it to pass. The resolution condemned Hamas for "repeatedly firing rockets into Israel and for inciting violence, thereby putting civilians at risk", and for its use of resources in Gaza to construct military infrastructure, including tunnels, to "infiltrate Israel and equipment to launch rockets into civilian areas," the UN said in a statement. The resolution failed to pass in the UN General Assembly as it required further engagement by the body's Secretary-General and the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process in efforts to de-escalate the situation in Gaza. Before the vote, the US Permanent Representative to the UN, Nikki Haley, underlined that in spite of over 500 resolutions condemning Israel, a resolution condemning Hamas was never adopted. The resolution was met with fierce opposition by Iran, Palestine and a handful of Middle East countries. While Saudi Arabia asserted that Israel has not respected any resolution of the General Assembly or Security Council since 1967, Kuwait and Iran argued that the resolution "ignores" and "deflects attention" from the main causes of the Israel-Palestine conflict. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) She made the statement at the ministrys regular press conference in Hanoi on December 6. We welcome this step from the Republic of Korea and believe it will facilitate the two countries people-to-people exchanges, and promote tourism and cooperation in trade and investment, thus contributing to strengthening the Vietnam-RoK strategic partnership, she said. From December 3, Vietnamese residents living in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Da Nang are eligible for a multiple-entry visa valid for up to five years to the RoK. To apply for this Korean visa, residents have to pay 80 USD and wait for no longer than one week, after which they will not need to apply for a Korean visa for the next five years. Visa holders can visit the RoK at any point and stay for up to one month at a time. Once they have returned to Vietnam, they are able to revisit the RoK as they please. Vietnamnews The United States Congress on Thursday approved a two-week stopgap funding bill to prevent a partial government shutdown. The short-term spending measure, which now requires President Donald Trump's signature, will be in effect till December 21. If the US President signs the bill, lawmakers would secure a major victory of averting the shutdown. However, the potential threat of a full shutdown looms large amid Trump's vocal proposal of beginning the construction of a border wall between the US and Mexico at the earliest, CNN reported. The lawmakers came together and approved the stopgap funding extension, days after former US President George HW Bush passed away. The current funding deadline is in effect for government bodies including the Department of State and Department of Homeland Security. Before the expiry of the short-term funding bill, the Republican-led Congress is mulling to pass a USD 450 billion spending bill to fund the government departments till September 30 next year. Amidst this, Democrats and Republicans have been at loggerheads over Trump's demand for USD 5 billion for his border wall project. It remains to be seen whether the two arch-rival parties would be able to chalk out a deal over it or not. Some Republican leaders have toyed the idea of allocating USD 5 billion for the border wall over the next two years. But again, such a proposal would require some votes from the Democrats in favour of it. In September, lawmakers had approved a government spending package to fund the entities of Trump's administration ahead of the midterm elections, which were held last month. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Headline shares of the Mainland China equity market were edged higher on Friday, 07 December 2018, as investors shifting indications on Sino-American trade talks and prospects for a pause in Federal Reserve tightening. Market gains were, however, limited as amid worries that the trade truce between China and the U. S. won't last after the arrest of Huawei's chief financial officer. In afternoon trade, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index was edge up 0.08%, or 1.96 points, to 2,607.14, meanwhile the Shenzhen Composite Index, which tracks stocks on China's second exchange, added 0.12%, or 1.58 points, to 1,352.33. The blue-chip CSI300 index was up 0.12%, or 3.88 points, to 3,185.55. ECONOMIC NEWS: China's State Council said that the government will offer financial help to struggling firms that keep staff on payrolls in a time of increasing economic headwinds. For firms that choose not to cut staff or reduce the number of job cuts they are planning next year, the government will return half of their unemployment insurance fees, the State Council, or Cabinet, said in a statement on its website Wednesday. The government also said that high attention should be paid to the impact on employment from increasing economic downward pressure. The government will also provide subsidies to out-of-job workers who are undergoing job training, the State Council added. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Shares of Rural Electrification Corporation rose 1.01%, while Power Finance Corporation fell 0.17% at 11:46 IST on BSE after cabinet approved sale of government's stake in Rural Electrification Corporation to Power Finance Corporation. Rural Electrification Corporation was up 1.01% at Rs 105. Power Finance Corporation was down 0.17% at Rs 90.10. Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 122.29 points, or 0.35% to 35,434.42. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given its 'in principle' approval for strategic sale of the Government of India's existing 52.63% of total paid up equity shareholding in Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) to Power Finance Corporation (PFC) along with transfer of management control. The acquisition intends to achieve integration across the power chain, obtain better synergies, create economies of scale and have enhanced capability to support energy access and energy efficiency by improved capability to finance power sector. It may also allow for cheaper fund raising with increase in bargaining power for the combined entity. Both REC and PFC are Central Public Sector Enterprises under the Ministry of Power. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) made after market hours yesterday, 6 December 2018. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) As per the latest data compiled by Solvent Extractors' Association of India (SEA OF India), the export of oilmeals during November 2018, provisionally reported at 311,739 tons compared to 369,522 tons in November 2017 i.e. down by 16%. The overall export during April to November 2018 is reported at 2,043,282 tons compared to 1,855,558 tons during the same period of last year i.e. up by 10%. The export of rapeseed meal sharply increased to 745,901 (392,463) tons in first eight months, almost double mainly due to exports to South Korea, Vietnam and Thailand. The Ministry of Commerce/Export Inspection Council of India stated that China will resume import of Rapeseed Meal from India. Those five units already approved by General Administration of Customs of the People's Republic of China, GACC ( formely AQSIQ) will able to resume the export of Rapeseed Meal to China once their registration with Chinese Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) is done which is cumbersome process and takes a long time. In case of resumption of export of Soybean Meal from India to China, may take some more time as Chinese GACC team likely to visit during current month to inspect/approve the units. Prior to ban in 2012, China used to import nearly half a million tons of oilmeals viz. Rapeseed meal 3.5 to 4.0 lakh tons and 1.0 lakh tons of soybean meal from India. Also, Iranian market has opened up for Indian soybean meal. During current year from April to November 2018, around 2.0 lakh tons of soybean meal shipped against last year just 23,000 tons, supporting export of oilmeals from India. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Subros announced that Allotment Committee of the Board of Directors of the Company at its meeting held on 07 December 2018 has allotted 52,47,150 Equity Shares of Rs. 2/- each, on preferential basis, at a price of Rs. 400/- per Equity Share (including a premium of Rs. 398/- per equity share) to DENSO Corporation, Japan for a total consideration of Rs 209.88 crore. Further, upon allotment, the equity paid-up capital of the Company stands increased to Rs. 13,04,71,500 divided into 6,52,35,750 equity shares of Rs. 2/- each) from Rs. 11,99,77,200 divided into 5,99,88,600 equity shares of Rs. 2/- each. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) At least 14 Afghan soldiers were killed after Taliban militants attacked an Army camp in the country's Herat province overnight, officials said on Friday. "Hundreds of Taliban militants attacked and overran an Army camp in Cheshma area of Shindand district, killing 14 Army soldiers," an official told Xinhua news agency. The militants also captured 20 Army personnel along with weapons and ammunition and took them to an unknown location after the attack in the restive district, the official added. He said the militants also suffered casualties but did not give exact figures. The district has been the scene of heavy clashes as Taliban militants attacked security checkpoints and Army camps from time to time. Early in June, 17 Afghan soldiers were killed after Taliban stormed an Army checkpoint in Shindand. The Afghan security forces' casualties have risen recently as they struggle against a surge in attacks by the Taliban militant group and other anti-government fighters. In Kandahar province, one police officer and two militants were killed after Taliban attacked a police checkpoint in Kandahar earlier on Friday. --IANS soni/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Four children aged between five and eight were killed in Jaunpur district of Uttar Pradesh on Friday when a wall collapsed on them, police said. The incident happened in Rehti village when a JCB machine hit the wall and it collapsed on the four playing on the other side. The children were rushed to a nearby medical facility but could not be saved. The JCB machine was seized but its driver managed to escape. --IANS md/in (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An All India Radio (AIR) official accused of sexual harassment by nine women employees has been demoted from his position and subjected to other salary cuts as he was found guilty, the National Commission for Women (NCW) said on Friday. "The disciplinary authority accepted the recommendations and the authority imposed a major penalty of reduction to a lower pay scale by two stages for one year and no increment during the reduction period," the NCW said in a statement. "After the expiration of one year, the reduction period will have effects on subsequent increments. The accused was also transferred as an administrative measure," the Commission said. The NCW in its letter addressed to the Secretary, Information and Broadcasting, and CEO, Prasar Bharati, last month had directed to conduct an inquiry into the complaints. The Commission's direction came after it received a formal complaint dated November 12 from the office-bearers of the All India Radio Casual Announcer and Comperes Union alleging sexual harassment at workplace of casual announcers and comperes working in different stations of the AIR across the country. The Prasar Bharati, in response to the NCW letter, had also mentioned about certain preventive measures taken by the AIR, like posting of women Programme Executives as station In-Charge, installation of CCTV cameras at vantage points and providing transport facility to women employees during odd hours. According to the NCW, the Prasar Bharati Secretariat has asked its centres to send quarterly progress reports in respect of sexual harassment complaints being inquired into by the respective internal committees. Earlier on November 9, Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi wrote to Information and Broadcasting Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore to ensure that a "sensitive and fair system" is put in place at the state-owned AIR to address the sexual harassment complaints. --IANS som/pgh/nir (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A woman astrologer and tarot card reader on Friday told a Delhi court that she has never heard of any misbehaviour by former Union Minister M.J. Akbar, who has always been a complete professional and a person of high integrity. Veenu Sandal told Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal that Akbar, as a globally-acclaimed scholarly author and as an editor transformed the face of Indian journalism. Testifying as a complainant witness in the Akbar's defamation case against Ramani, Sandal told the court that she wrote columns on astrology and tarot cards reading in "The Asian Age" newspaper from 1994 to 2009. She said that many colleagues used to narrate their professional, personal and career issues and problems and seek astrology and Tarrot card-based guidance from her. "In my association with The Asian Age between 1994 till 2009, no one ever narrated or ever spoke to me against his (Akbar) misbehaviour," she said. The tarot cards reader told the court that few could match Akbar's incisive analysis, particularly of political matters and that she has high respect for former Minister's qualities. "In his dealings with me, he has always been a complete professional and a person of high integrity," the tarot card reader said. "Simply by observing him, in both professional and personal situations, I learned a lot." She said Ramani's allegation against Akbar was a huge jolt, shocking and very disturbing. "After reading everything, my image of Akbar fell and he was tarnished in my eyes," she stated, adding that a lot of talk was going on over this issue. "...it was greatly embarrassing to be asked questions about Akbar as people knew of my association with him and it was very obvious that not only in my eyes but also in others, his reputation has been dragged through the mud and was in tatters," Sandal said. Sunil Gujral, a Delhi-based warehouse businessman, who is associated with Akbar for nearly 40 years, told the court that Akbar was a fine gentleman, hardworking professional and well respected as a journalist and an author all over the country. Deposing as another complainant witness in the case, Gujral said that he has never heard any whisper regarding Akbar's misconduct or misbehaviour. He said that allegation against Akbar has shocked and disturbed him. "I felt that irreparable damage has been done to Akbar's reputation in my estimation as well as in the estimation of my friend circle and acquaintances," Gujral said. After concluding recording of the statement, the court listed the matter for January 11 for further hearing. The court was hearing the defamation case against Ramani filed by the former Minister of State for External Affairs, a journalist-turned-politician, who is now with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Akbar's counsel Sandeep Kapur has alleged that the false and defamatory statements were widely published in the media have caused irreparable loss to his reputation. Ramani was the first in a long list of women journalists to accuse Akbar of sexual harassment. A Rajya Sabha member, Akbar has denied all the charges against him as "false, wild and baseless". He has listed the names of two senior women journalists -- Joyeeta Basu and Veenu Sandal -- besides four others as his witnesses to prove his defamation charges against Ramani. --IANS akk/nir (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Geng Shuang's Regular Press Conference on December 7, 2018 2018/12/07 On December 10, Vice President Wang Qishan will attend upon invitation the opening ceremony of the 2018 Imperial Springs International Forum in Guangzhou. As an important forum to promote friendly exchanges between China and other countries, the Imperial Springs International Forum has been held for four consecutive years since its inception in 2014 by the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC) and the Australia China Friendship and Exchange Association (ACFEA). The 2018 Imperial Springs International Forum will be held from December 9 to 12 under the theme of "Reform, Opening-up and Win-win Cooperation", which will be attended by former foreign dignitaries, former heads of international organizations, prominent experts and scholars and business leaders. At the invitation of State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Foreign Minister of the Republic of Colombia Carlos Holmes Trujillo will pay an official visit to China from December 12 to 15. Foreign Minister Trujillo's visit is scheduled as one of the important exchanges between the Chinese and Colombian governments this year. It will also be the first political contact between the two sides after the new Colombian government came to power. During Foreign Minister Trujillo's visit, Vice President Wang Qishan will have a courtesy meeting with him, and State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi will co-chair with him the ninth political consultation between the two foreign ministries. The two sides will have an in-depth exchange of views on the development of bilateral relations in the new era and other issues of mutual interest. We believe that Foreign Minister Trujillo's visit will help enhance bilateral political mutual trust, chart the course for the next-stage development of bilateral relations, and elevate China-Colombia relations to a higher level. China attaches great importance to developing its relations with Colombia which is an important country in Latin America. Recent years have witnessed the sound development of China-Colombia relations featuring stronger political mutual trust and fruitful practical cooperation outcomes between the two sides. China-Colombia friendship has become a consensus shared by all sectors in the two countries. The new Colombian government also attaches great importance to its relationship with China. The Chinese side commends that and stands ready to work with Colombia to deepen bilateral exchanges and cooperation in various fields, jointly advance the Belt and Road Initiative, enhance China-Colombia relations and China-Latin America cooperation in parallel, and forge a community with a shared future between China and Latin America. Q: According to Japanese media, the Japanese government plans to ban government purchases of Huawei and ZTE products. What is your comment? A: We are gravely concerned about the relevant reports. The Chinese government always encourages Chinese enterprises to observe market principles and international rules as well as local laws in their overseas investment and cooperation activities. The economic and trade cooperation between China and Japan is in its nature for mutual benefit and win-win outcomes. Huawei and ZTE are law-abiding companies that have long been operating in Japan. We hope that Japan could offer a level playing field for Chinese enterprises there and refrain from doing anything that may undermine bilateral mutual trust and cooperation. Q: The Foreign Ministry this morning announced the visit by Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno. Could you offer us more details on his schedule? What is China's expectation for this visit? How do you comment on the current China-Ecuador relations? A: At the invitation of President Xi Jinping, Ecuadorian President Moreno will pay a state visit to China from December 11 to 13. President Xi Jinping will hold a welcoming ceremony and banquet for President Moreno and host formal talks and attend signing ceremony with him. Premier Li Keqiang and Chairman of the NPC Standing Committee Li Zhanshu will meet respectively with President Moreno. The two sides will have an in-depth exchange of views on bilateral relations and issues of mutual interest. President Moreno will also attend other events including the China-Ecuador Economic and Trade Cooperation Forum. Relevant departments and companies on the two sides have held many rounds of discussions on the outcomes of the visit. The final details are yet to be finalized. We will release them in due course. China believes that President Moreno's visit will further enhance bilateral political mutual trust, deepen mutually beneficial and friendly cooperation in various fields, and open up new prospects for and elevate China-Ecuador Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. Ecuador is a comprehensive strategic partner for practical cooperation with China in Latin America. In recent years, China and Ecuador have been developing bilateral ties with a sound momentum, reaping fruitful outcomes from all-around cooperation, and deepening traditional friendship. We are glad to see that more and more Latin American countries including Ecuador have responded positively to China's Belt and Road Initiative. During President Moreno's visit, the two sides will sign a MOU on jointly advancing the Belt and Road Initiative which will offer more opportunities and open up new space for China-Ecuador practical cooperation. China attaches great importance to its relationship with Ecuador. We are willing to work with Ecuador to act on opportunities and tap into potentials and ensure the sustained and steady development of the China-Ecuador Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. Q: Today, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with DPRK Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho. Can you give us more information on that? Will President Xi Jinping meet with Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho? A: This morning, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea and DPRK Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho. The Chinese side will soon issue the readout. Here I can briefly talk about that. During the talks, State Councilor Wang Yi said that this year General Secretary Xi Jinping and Chairman Kim Jong Un held three important meetings and reached a series of important consensus, moving the bilateral ties into a new historical period. The Chinese side is willing to work with the DPRK to promote the greater development of bilateral relations in accordance with the important consensus reached by the two top leaders and the shared aspirations of the two peoples. State Councilor Wang Yi also said that now the situation on the Korean Peninsula generally sustains the momentum for detente. China and the DPRK should continue to promote the positive development of the situation on the Peninsula in the direction of denuclearization. China hopes that the DPRK and the US can maintain dialogue, address each other's concerns in a balanced way and achieve the goals set in the DPRK-US joint statement. China also supports the DPRK and the ROK in enhancing exchanges and interactions and advancing reconciliation and cooperation. Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho said that this year Chairman Kim Jong Un paid three visits to China and reached a high degree of agreement with General Secretary Xi Jinping on developing the relations between the two parties and two states. The foreign ministries of the DPRK and China have made positive progress in implementing the important consensus reached by the two top leaders. Next year we will celebrate the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the DPRK and China. The two sides should make joint efforts to ensure the success of the commemorative activities, deepen traditional friendship, strengthen exchanges and cooperation in various areas and elevate China-DPRK relations to a higher level. Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho also said that the DPRK is committed to realizing the denuclearization of the Peninsula and upholding peace and stability on the Peninsula, and such position remains unchanged. He hopes that the DPRK and the US can establish necessary mutual trust and earnestly meet each other halfway. The DPRK commends the positive efforts made by China to promote the political settlement of the Korean Peninsula issue in light of the changes of the situation and stands ready to maintain communication and coordination with China to jointly uphold the stability and development of the Peninsula and the region. Regarding the Chinese leader's meeting with Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho that you are interested in, according to my information, the meeting is scheduled for this afternoon. The relevant readout will be released soon after the meeting. Q: US National Security Adviser John Bolton said that he was aware of the detention of Meng Wanzhou before President Trump's meeting with President Xi Jinping. Was the Chinese side also aware of that before the meeting? Was this matter discussed during the meeting? A: I have taken similar questions yesterday. I do not want to talk about the specifics of this case here. But I can tell you that after learning about the relevant situation, the Chinese side immediately provided consular assistance to the person concerned and lodged stern representations with and made clear its solemn position to the Canadian side and the US side, demanding them to immediately clarify the reason for the detention and release the detainee, and earnestly protect the legal and legitimate rights and interests of the person involved. Q: Regarding the detention of Meng Wanzhou, can you brief us on the communication between China and Canada? It is conjectured that China may take retaliatory actions. What is your comment? A: Like I said just now, after learning about the relevant situation, the Chinese side immediately provided consular assistance to the person concerned and lodged stern representations with and made clear its solemn position to the Canadian side and the US side, demanding them to immediately clarify the reason for the detention and release the detainee, and earnestly protect the legal and legitimate rights and interests of the person involved. On your second question, the Chinese side always protects the legal rights and interests of the foreign citizens in China according to the law. Of course, they should also abide by the Chinese laws and regulations when they are in China. Q: Have you received any response from the US or Canada to that request for details about the reasons for Meng Wanzhou's detention? Have you been given any details of the specific allegations against her? Some US business executives in China are concerned that they might be targeted for retaliation. Should they be concerned? A: On your first question, like I said just now, the Chinese side immediately lodged stern representations with and made clear its solemn position to the Canadian side and the US side. I will not repeat that. What I can tell you is that neither Canada nor the US has provided any evidence to China to prove that the person involved violated their laws so far. On your second question, in my reply to the previous question, I said that China always protects the legal rights and interests of the foreign citizens in China according to the law. Of course, they should also abide by the Chinese laws and regulations when they are in China. Q: Yesterday, a reporter raised a question on which country's passport Meng Wanzhou held when she entered Canada. Some media conjectured that Meng Wanzhou is not a Chinese citizen. What is the Foreign Ministry's response to that? A: When answering relevant questions yesterday, I said that I cannot talk about the specifics of the case here. But one thing I can assure you is that according to the Nationality Law of the People's Republic of China, Meng Wanzhou is a Chinese citizen. Arab nations have deftly outmanoeuvred the US at the UN to defeat a resolution it sponsored condemning Hamas by requiring a two-thirds majority for it to pass, rather than the simple majority it received. But a counter-motion proposed by Ireland calling for an end to Israeli occupation of lands seized after the 1967 Arab-Israeli Six Day War, passed in the General Assembly with an overwhelming support on Thursday in a setback for Washington, which found itself isolated with only five others joining it to vote against this resolution. India voted for the Irish resolution and abstained on the US resolution on Hamas but voted with Washington against the procedural requirement for a two-thirds majority. US Permanent Representative Nikki Haley pushed hard for the anti-Hamas resolution that was to have capped her two-year campaign in support of Israel and against its foes before she leaves her cabinet-level post at the end of the year. The resolution sought to condemn "Hamas for repeatedly firing rockets into Israel and for inciting violence, thereby putting civilians at risk" and demand that it, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other militant groups end all provocative and violent actions. Its passage would have been a symbolic victory for Haley after Washington's isolation on Israel-related resolutions, especially one last December critical of US decision to move its embassy to Jerusalem when only eight others joined Washington in voting against it. The anti-Hamas resolution received 87 votes in favour and 57 against it, with 33 abstentions. But the US was robbed of its victory by the clever ploy introduced before the vote by Kuwait on behalf of the Arab states to require a two-thirds majority contending it was a matter of international peace and security. That procedural manoeuvre received 75 votes, with 72 against it and 26 abstentions and nullified the US resolution on Hamas that followed it despite the simple majority it received. Hamas, which effectively controls the Gaza Strip that was taken by Israel from Egypt in the 1967 war, has carried out suicide bombings and other terrorist attacks and is designated a terrorist organisation by the European Union and the US. By singling out Hamas for its "ugliest cases of terrorism in the world", Haley had corralled a simple majority for the resolution and this led to the Arab counter-strategy. Because of the terrorist legacy of Hamas, many countries like India did not join the Arabs to vote against the US resolution and abstained, while others like Singapore voted for it. India kept its delicate balance by voting with the US against the two-thirds majority requirement, while abstaining on the resolution itself to avoid confronting the Arabs. The Ireland-sponsored resolution, which passed 156 for to six against with 12 abstentions, also reiterated support for a two-state solution to the Palestinian issue based on the pre-1967 borders and adherence to UN resolutions. (Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in and followed on Twitter @arulouis) --IANS al/ksk (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Australia has passed a controversial law designed to compel technology companies to grant police and security agencies access to encrypted messages on platforms like WhatsApp, prompting warnings from Facebook and other tech companies about the privacy risks involved in the move. Australian lawmakers voted in favour of the Telecommunications Access and Assistance Bill late Thursday. The government said the new measures will help police and security agencies combat terror attacks and child sex crimes, the BBC reported. Tech companies and civil liberties groups said it was a "dangerous overreach" that will affect a wide range of businesses and their customers. The law was passed amid allegations of encrypted platforms facilitating spread of rumours, hate speech and even criminal activities like child trafficking and drugs businesses. The measures were rushed through Parliament on its final day of the year. The Labour opposition said it had reluctantly supported the laws to help protect Australians during the Christmas period, but on Friday it said that "legitimate concerns" about them remained. Facebook spokesman had earlier said that the move will have "far-reaching consequences" for the privacy and security of encrypted platforms like WhatsApp and Google, and device manufacturers like Apple, Microsoft and Samsung. The Digital Industry Group, a tech industry association, said the law raised "the prospect of introducing systemic weaknesses that could put Australians' data security at risk". "It is also deeply concerning that the minimum safeguards Australians should expect under such unprecedented new powers -- judicial oversight and a warrant-based system -- are absent," the group said in a statement. Australia already has laws which require providers to hand over a suspect's communication to the police. Under Australia's legislation, the police can force companies to create a technical function that would give them access to encrypted messages without the user's knowledge. If companies don't comply with the laws, they risk being fined. WhatsApp had earlier said in a statement that it cares deeply about the privacy of its users. "WhatsApp cares deeply about the privacy of our users and we remain committed to providing end-to-end encryption," a company spokesperson said. WhatsApp has challenged government attempts to curtail the use of end-to-end encryption in the past, notably in Brazil. --IANS soni/sed (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Australia on Friday passed controversial laws designed to compel technology companies to grant police and security agencies access to encrypted messages. The government has said that the laws, a world first, are necessary to help combat terrorism and crime, the BBC reported. The laws were rushed through parliament on its final day of the year. The Labor opposition said it had reluctantly supported the laws to help protect Australians during the Christmas period, but on Friday it said that "legitimate concerns" about them remained. Cyber-security experts have warned the laws could now create a "global weak point" for companies such as Facebook and Apple. Australia already has laws which require providers to hand over a suspect's communication to police. Under Australia's legislation, the police can force companies to create a technical function that would give them access to encrypted messages without the user's knowledge. If companies don't comply with the laws, they risk being fined. --IANS ksk (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Hours after the Kolkata High Court declined permission to the BJP from holding a 'Rath Yatra' in West Bengal, party chief Amit Shah on Friday vowed to hold the procession democratically after the court permits it. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president, who will be visiting Kolkata on Saturday, also hit out at Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee saying she was "scared". "Mamata Banerjee is scared of BJP's growth in West Bengal that's why she has denied permission for the Rath Yatra in the state. "I can understand her fear (of declining public support). But I have no solution for it... This is the public's decision... to support the BJP," he said. He clarified that the yatra "has been postponed temporarily and not cancelled". "The yatra will happen ater the court permission and we shall even go to the Supreme Court," he said. "There is no reason to stop the yatra because in all of our yatras there has been no report of communal tensions and violence," he said addressing a press conference at the party headquarters here. Taking a dig at the Trinamool administration in the state for a collapsing law and order situation, Shah said the rate of violence in the state has increased under Banerjee. "Where earlier one used to hear Rabindra Sangeet, now we hear bomb blasts. Toll of violence "has been the highest under the Mamata government. BJP alone has suffered 20 casualties", he said, adding, "Governance has collapsed in West Bengal and people there are looking for change." Despite the situation, the BJP leader said his party has not pressed for President's Rule. Buoyed by the growing support in the state, Shah said: "Those confident of winning does not seek President rule. We are going to win in West Bengal in the Lok Sabha polls." He said BJP had sought permission for three rallies in West Bengal ahead of the general elections. "We have also sent reminders and the processes have been on since October but we have not got any permissions so far," he said. "She knows that these rallies will give BJP a big surge in the state and there is a concerted effort to stifle democratic processes in the West Bengal. Democracy, in fact, is being murdered in West Bengal." --IANS bns-aks/in/sed (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) With a project value of Rs 2,035 crore, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) hospital being set up at AIIMS Jhajjar in Haryana will be functional by next month, Union Health and Family Welfare Minister J.P. Nadda said on Friday. Nadda, who was addressing at the 46th Annual Convocation of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), added that the government had taken various steps to facilitate the setting up of new medical colleges for which norms have been rationalized. "Since 2014-15, the Ministry has granted permission for establishment of 118 new medical colleges including 54 in the government sector. The country has now 502 medical colleges with more than 70,000 MBBS seats. We have been able to add over 18,600 UG seats and 12,000 PG seats. The country has now around 46,000 PG seats," he said. The Minister also said that ensuring the highest standards of medical education was a top priority for the government. "We have now planned for a rapid expansion of medical education in the country. The government has increased the age of retirement of doctors to 65 years and is setting up more medical and nursing schools, multi-skilling of doctors to overcome the shortage of specialists," he added. --IANS som/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a charge sheet against its former Deputy Director Gurnam Singh alleging that he misrepresented the case of investors of Unipay ponzi schemes in collusion with an advocate, and took a bribe of Rs 4.5 crore from the promoters of the firm, the agency said on Friday. The charge sheet, filed in a sessions court on Wednesday under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), also mentions the names of Singh's wife Dalip Kaur and advocate Puneet Sharma, who was counsel of Unipay investors and represented the writ petitions before the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The move came a day after the ED issued orders for attachment of Rs 4.8 crore worth of properties belonging to Singh, his wife and Sharma. The probe agency said that Singh was in the habit of misusing his official position and power for his personal benefits, hence was repatriated back to his parent department on January 20, 2017. "Singh extracted money from the investors through Sharma by misrepresenting and making false claims of his proximity to people in positions of power, authority and at the same time took bribe from the promoters of the ponzi schemes," said the ED. "He had received bribe ranging between Rs 3.5 crore and Rs 4.5 crore from the accused persons with a fraudulent promise to settle the writ petition in the High Court as well as ongoing investigation in the instant case registered by the ED," said the agency. "The bribe illegally obtained by Singh was structured in the form of immovable properties in his name and of his wife and was later on projected as being untainted." The ED said it had conducted searches on March 22 and 23 at the residences of Singh, Sharma and accused persons and recovered documents relating to possession of movable and immovable properties. The FIRs were registered in Haryana, Punjab and Chandigarh against the agents of Unipay2U Marketing Pvt Ltd and Unipaygateway2U Trading Pvt Ltd based in Chennai, and having offices in Bengaluru. The companies had Managing Director Mugundham Gangam, a Malaysian national, besides other Indian directors. The company floated online investment scheme on the basis of various complex marketing level techniques of referral and binary system. The investors were lured with assured return of 21 per cent for 10 months. Initially, the company paid back the money to the investors to gain their confidence but after sometime it fled with the money of the investors. The aggrieved investors approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court in 2011 by filing various writ petitions against the company and its agents through advocate Sharma. The High Court entrusted the investigation with ED Chandigarh in 2012 and the agency filed a case on March 7, 2012. The first charge sheet in the case was filed on September 27, 2017 and the other one on July 17. --IANS rak/in/sed (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Thousands of Myanmarese women who have fled or have been trafficked from the country deep in internal conflict are forced to marry Chinese men and bear their children, according to a study. About 65 per cent of women in forced marriages were trafficked through a broker or recruiter, according to the research by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Kachin Women's Association Thailand. There are more than 7,500 such women in China now, the study said. "This points to problems such as lack of documentation, ongoing conflict in ethnic minority areas (in Myanmar), migration usually without documents into China, work without contracts, marriages without licences and children without proper registration when they are born," Courtland Robinson, an associate professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the study's lead author, was quoted as saying by the South China Morning Post. All of this leads to forced marriage, coercion and various forms of violence and exploitation, he said. China has highly skewed sex ratio due the decades-long one-child policy which was relaxed to two in 2016. There are about 34 million more men than women in the country due to the one-child policy that fuelled bride trafficking from neighbouring countries such as Myanmar, Vietnam, Cambodia and North Korea. Myanmar is an impoverished nation with ethnic conflict and human rights and unemployment plaguing the country. The study, due to be presented in Bangkok on Friday, found that Myanmarese women were increasingly at risk of trafficking and forced marriage because they often lack proper documentation, language skills and education. The findings also highlight the dilemma faced by more than 5,000 mothers forced to bear a child, with many feeling unable to leave their marriage regardless of their treatment by their husband, the Post said. --IANS gsh/soni/sed (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Superstar K. Chiranjeevi and Akkineni Nagarjuna were among top celebrities from the Telugu film industry who cast their votes in the Telangana Assembly elections on Friday. Well-known director Rajamouli and actors Venkatesh, Allu Arjun and Nithin were also among the Tollywood personalities who exercised their franchise at various polling stations in Jubliee Hills here. They appealed to all citizens to come out and to exercise their democratic right. Actor-politician Chiranjeevi along with his wife K. Surekha stood in queue along with commoners and exercised their franchise. Chiranjeevi later told reporters that it is the duty of each and everyone to cast his vote. The former central minister and Congress party leader, however, parried questions about "I came to here to cast my vote as a common citizen," he said when asked about the prospects of Congress-led People's Front. Chiranjeevi, who had been focusing on films last four years, stayed away from campaigning in Telangana. Popular actor Nagarjuna and with his wife Amla Akkineni also cast their votes. "It's your day. Come out and cast your vote instead of just complaining," he said. Polling to elect a new state Assembly was underway in Telangana in all of the 119 constituencies in the first full-fledged elections in the country's youngest state. --IANS ms/ksk (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) More and more people around the world are increasingly challenging governments and companies, largely oil majors, in courts to deliver more on climate-related commitments in order to combat the threat of climate change. A latest UN study finds the US has 654 climate change litigation cases -- almost three times that of the rest of the world combined -- and that countries in which climate change cases have been filed have tripled since 2014. "Legal and institutional transformation is needed to support global and local efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels since climate change is the justice challenge of our century," said Marie-Claire Cordonier, Professor of University of Waterloo and Senior Director of the Centre of International Sustainable Development Law. In October, three German families filed a suit against the German government arguing that the government is violating their constitutional rights to life and health, property and occupational freedom by failing to take measures to meet the national 2020 climate protection target. A group of young Canadians in November initiated an action against their government alleging that it is infringing upon their generation's fundamental rights by failing to enact a more ambitious emissions reduction target, and for failing to even take the steps needed to meet the current weak target. This year as people around the world headed to courts with nations failing to deliver more concrete action on climate change mitigation, courts increasingly ordered governments to deliver the urgent cuts in emissions. Judging by the current rate at which these cases are being filed against governments, this is likely to only be the tip of the (melting) iceberg in 2019, say experts. Wendel Trio, Director of CAN-Europe, which supports the legal action against the European Union, said: "Ordinary families from different EU member states and outside have launched a complaint against failing EU climate legislation because they are already feeling the impact of climate change on their lives today." In the US, which pulled out of the historic Paris Climate Change Agreement last year, 21 young people have filed a landmark case against the US federal government seeking comprehensive measures for 'climate recovery'. They may finally get their day in court in 2019 after multiple delays caused by a series of challenges by the Trump administration. The study by the UN has identified key trends in worldwide climate change litigation, including a rise in cases that seek to hold governments to account for climate-related commitments. The report, "Status of Climate Change Litigation -- A Global Review" by the UN and Columbia Law School's Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, finds a proliferation of climate change cases, many of them filed by citizens and non-government organisations around the world. And it's not just coalitions of non-government organisations and citizens - as seen in recent European cases outlined in the report - that are using the courts in efforts to overturn government decisions seen to exacerbate climate change. The findings make clear that reliance on technology and non-climate policy initiatives are not sufficient to deal with the threat of climate change. Climate laws and policies, it concludes, are a critical part of any strategy to deal with the threat of climate change. --IANS vg/oeb/sed (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Senior Congress leader and Lok Sabha member from Bihar's Kishanganj, Maulana Asrar-ul-Haque Qasmi, passed away early on Friday following a heart attack. He was 76. According to district officials, he died at the Kishanganj Circuit House. He will be buried in his Tarabadi village. Qaxmi, a noted Islamic scholar, was a popular face of the Congress in Bihar, particularly in Seemanchal comprising Kishanganj, Purnea, Araria and Katihar districts. He won the Kishanganj seat in the 2009 general elections after five consecutive defeats. He retained the constituency in 2014 despite the Modi wave, defeating the BJP's Dilip Kumar Jaiswal by over 1 lakh votes. He was a member of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board and a founder member of the All India Milli Council. President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress leaders including its President Rahul Gandhi expressed grief over the demise of Qasmi. Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Ghulam Nabi Azad also condoled his death. --IANS and/mr (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 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. A Delhi court on Friday allowed a joint application of noted advocate Ram Jethmalani and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to withdraw a suit related to expulsion of the senior lawyer from the party. Additional District Judge Sumit Dass disposed of the suit after both sides agreed to end the suit. Jethmalani's advocate Ashish Dixit and BJP counsel Manik Dogra told the court that the senior lawyer and the party had amicably resolved the issue as BJP President Amit Shah had expressed "regret" over the senior lawyer's expulsion. Amit Shah and BJP General Secretary Bhupender Yadav called on Jethmalani and expressed "their sincere regret at the expulsion of the plaintiff", the joint application said. It said Shah and Yadav acknowledged the contribution of Jethmalani to the party. Jethmalani has challenged the party's decision to expel him in May 2013 and asked the court to declare the move null and void and sought damages of Rs 50 lakh from the BJP. --IANS akk/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Had his dreams remained just dreams, Dharmendra could well have been driving a tractor in the verdant fields of Punjab all through the years during which he was, instead, one of the biggest stars of Hindi cinema. Born Dharminder Singh Deol on 8 December 1935 in Nasrali, a peaceful village in Ludhiana district, Punjab, to schoolteacher Kewal Kishan Singh and Satwant Kaur, his family had its roots in the nearby less-than-a-dot-on-the-map village of Dangon, near Pakhowal, Ludhiana. Dharminder Singh spent his early life in the village of Sahnewal and studied at Government Senior Secondary School at Lalton Kalan in Ludhiana district, where his father was the headmaster. He later did his Intermediate from Ramgarhia College, Phagwara, in 1952. This multitude of places associated with him, as he grew into his teenage years, became the raison d'etre for the many differences of views about his roots. Never mind if, today, Dharminder Singh, known to the world as Dharmendra (meaning the God of religion), belongs to not just the entire country, but perhaps, to the globe. Wherever Indian cinema is watched and cherished, he is, simply, one of the biggest and longest-lasting stellar entities, belonging to what is now the biggest film industry in the world... Dharmendra spoke to me about his early ambitions during our first interview meeting in 2011. Since he was a simple boy from Punjab who wanted to set out to enter the big, bad world of films, how had his family reacted? The actor told me, 'My father wasn't happy because he was not too sure of the outcome, and of what would happen if I met with failure. My mother, however, was always supportive.' So the obvious question that comes to mind is: Why did the young Dharam have stardust in his eyes? Candidly, he said, 'I was in awe of the stars like Dilip (Kumar) saab, Raj (Kapoor) saab and even heroines like Nargis, Madhubala and Vyjayanthimala. But my ambitions were quite restricted! My big dream and my simple prayer to God was my pictures being present everywhere, just like those of my idols.' A naive and simple Dharmendra was not at all bothered whether he earned no money, a little money, or a lot! He said: 'My goal was very simple -- one flat and one Fiat (car)! When I came to Bombay -- that's what Mumbai was known as then -- I only had my dreams. I was an untutored villager, with no idea of acting. I wasn't even aware [that] I was good-looking until I began getting movie offers because of my good looks. When I arrived here, I was in fact shocked by the lifestyles of the stars -- it was far different from what I had imagined back in Punjab!' So, what had actually stirred the pot and made the lad wish to get into films? What was, so to speak, the churning point? The answer to this was as simple as the man himself: Years ago, he had gone with his uncle for a relative's wedding to a nearby town. He was about twelve or thirteen years old at the time, studying in Class Eight, when he got to watch (the result of a promise made by the uncle as an incentive to attend the wedding) a film called "Shaheed" at the Minerva cinema in Ludhiana. And that did it! Suddenly, life changed for the young boy. The images from the film began to haunt him. Nothing else was of any interest. His mother continued to tell the boy fairy tales and inspirational stories; the grocer in the village continued his spell of ghost stories, but young Dharam was no longer the avid listener. He believed in the boy Ram from the film, who grew up to be a freedom fighter enacted by the famous Dilip Kumar. He felt Ram and he were brothers. He began to spend a lot of time on his own, with thoughts of the little boy (interestingly played by one Sashi Kapur, who had nothing to do with Shashi Kapoor!) from Shaheed for 'company'. He felt that he knew and understood him, and he certainly wanted to be like him and grow up to be -- in an interesting interplay of reel and real -- Dilip Kumar! Years passed and Dharam grew into a strapping young man. He even joined an American drilling company as what he now calls 'a mechanic'. Around this time, it is said Dharam Singh lost his virginity to an older woman, and also had his first drink in the company of his American colleagues from the drilling company. In 1954, he married Prakash Kaur. But the ambitions of becoming an actor continued to seethe within him like lava waiting to erupt from a dormant volcano. His visits to Ludhiana city to watch films became more and more frequent. Dharam found these to-and-fro journeys tedious, but everything was worth it just to watch the great actors he had come to adore and wanted to emulate... (Extracted from "Dharmendra, Not Just A He-Man: A Biography" by Rajiv Vijayakar, with permission from Rupa Publications) --IANS extract/ss/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The $25,000 DSC Prize for South Asian Literature, now in its eighth year, has announced that it would be felicitating its next winner at a special Award Ceremony at the Tata Steel Kolkata Literary Meet scheduled to take place from January 22 to 27 next year. This partnership, DSC said, is in line with "the peripatetic nature of the prize", where true to its South Asian essence, the winner is announced in different South Asian countries by rotation. The DSC Prize 2016 was awarded to Anuradha Roy at the Galle Literary Festival in Sri Lanka, the 2017 prize was awarded to Anuk Arudpragasam at the Dhaka Lit Fest in Bangladesh, whereas the 2018 winner will be announced at the Kolkata Literary Meet on January 25, 2019. The DSC Prize for South Asian Literature, which was instituted by Surina Narula and Manhad Narula in 2010, is a leading international literary prize specifically focused on South Asian fiction writing. "We see a lot of positive synergies in this partnership as we both share a common vision to promote and highlight South Asian writing to more people across geographies through the forum of literature and the arts. In continuation of our tradition of announcing the winner in different South Asian countries by rotation, we are now happy to announce the DSC Prize 2018 winner at the Tata Steel Kolkata Literary Meet," said Narula. The key vision of the prize is to showcase and reward the best talent writing about the South Asian region and present it to a global audience. --IANS ss/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Friday urged his party workers to be vigilant against "EVM tampering" as voting came to an end in Telangana and Rajasthan, cautioning them that "in Modis India, EVMs have mysterious powers". "Congress party workers, be vigilant after polls close today. In MP, EVM's behaved strangely after polling: Some stole a bus and vanished for two days! Others slipped away and were found drinking in a hotel," tweeted Gandhi. The Congress chief was referring to the incident in Madhya Pradesh's Sagar where electronic voting machines (EVMs) were transported in a vehicle without any registration number and reached the collection centre 48 hours after the voting ended. In another incident, two polling officers were "found drunk" along with EVMs inside a hotel owned by a Bharatiya Janata Party functionary. Reporting the incidents to the Election Commission, the Congress on Tuesday had demanded a probe alleging that the BJP was "in collusion with the local administration" in attempting to tamper with EVMs during the November 28 Madhya Pradesh Assembly polls. --IANS and/in/sed (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The final chapter of "Game of Thrones" will not only come with an epic storyline, but will be packed with lots of surprises, says Vladimir Furdik, who plays the villainous Night King in the globally popular fantasy series. "I can tell you that season eight will be unbelievable, very good. There are some super nice big battle scenes," Furdik told IANS here. "And a lot of surprises. That is all what I can say," he added. "Game of Thrones" brought actors like Emilia Clarke, Sophie Turner, Kit Harington, Lena Headey, Maisie Williams, Peter Dinklage, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Iwan Rheon and Iain Glen into the spiral of fame and made them global stars. The show, which brings the story from George R.R. Martin's novels about the quest to claim the Iron Throne alive, is known for the twists and turns, ruthless killing scenes, unexpected deaths all wrapped up with emotion and drama. While there is a whimsical element with the presence of dragons and White Walkers, the narratives stays close to reality by showing how relationships cannot be trusted when it comes to ruling a kingdom. With no dialogues, a deadly stare and super powers, Night King is the leader of the White Walkers. The anticipation is high as Season 8 -- which sums up the story of "Game of Thrones", which started with the first season back in 2011 -- will arrive in April next year. There are many fan theories about how the story will end and fans are always on a lookout for spoilers. This puts Furdik, who is in the national capital for the 8th edition of Maruti Suzuki Arena Delhi Comic Con, in a strange situation. "It is a very strange situation when people ask you and you can say nothing. You would like to say. But I can't." Talking about how his life changed with the series, he said: "Life changed a lot because before, I was kind of a shadow behind the actors as a stuntman. Nobody knew me. And now here I am. My life completely turned around." As the series nears its end, HBO announced the expansion of the universe with five different spin-offs. So what about a Night King spin-off? He doesn't dismiss the idea. "I don't have any information about it. I just know somebody told me that they were doing (some) preparation. Maybe they start next year in February. Nobody knows exactly the story. It is set 1000 years before the main story. Let's see." "Only one person was alive then and that was the Night King. But nobody gave me any information. One of my friends who is a stunt choreographer called me and said that 'We will have a job in January'. He didn't say about this job and just said 'be ready and we will call in January'," he said. (Sugandha Rawal can be contacted at sugandha.r@ians.in) --IANS sug/nv/sed (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Union Minister for Shipping Nitin Gadkari fainted during a function here on Friday. The incident occurred when he was standing with other dignitaries for the National Anthem at the convocation function of the Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth (MPKV) Agricultural University. Gadkari started feeling uneasy, lost his balance and collapsed on the dais. Maharashtra Governor C.V. Rao and some others rushed to prevent him from falling. He was taken to a local government guest house and examined by a team of emergency medicos. A diabetic patient, Gadkari's condition was stated as "stable" by his Bharatiya Janata Party colleagues. He himself tweeted on his condition after a couple of hours. "Had slight medical condition due to low sugar. I have been attended by doctors and I am doing well now. I thank all of you for all the well wishes," Gadkari said. After a short rest at the guest house, Gadkari took a helicopter ride to Shirdi for a darshan of the world famous Shri Saibaba Samadhi temple and later took a private flight to his hometown Nagpur. Party colleagues said his gruelling daily schedules in public life may have taken a toll on his health which resulted in his collapse. Gadkari, who handles several critical portfolios, is known to maintain a stringent 18-hour schedule starting at 6 a.m. with yoga and his working day continues well past midnight. --IANS qn/ksk/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The German government has offered help in the form of grants, loans at low rates of interest and by participating in specific projects to rebuild Kerala which was devastated after the worst ever floods in August, a diplomat said here on Friday. Addressing the media, Martin Ney, the German Ambassador to India, said Germany was ready to support the state by contributing to the "Rebuild Kerala" initiative. "We have had talks with the Centre and have offered to provide up to Rs 720 crore under low interest loans to promote climate-resilient reconstruction of bridges and roads in Kerala," Ney said. "Along with this, we will extend a Rs 24 crore grant for technical support that will provide international expertise in the field of infrastructure planning. "The support for infrastructure development will be through the German Development Bank KfW, who will ink an agreement with the Kerala government," the diplomat added. He said the talks with the Centre took place in Delhi last week when they decided to include Kerala in discussions about 190 different projects that Germany was supporting in various states. On future projects in Kerala, the German government is also working on a study on floating solar sites at two dams in the state. "That study is in its last stages and in addition to it, they will be offering their support to the state's solar rooftop programme that is currently being prepared. Our support will come in the form of finances at concessional rates," Ney said. "The other programme is a Rs 40 crore grant funded project that will be done at selected 43 places which will help reduce vulnerability to climate change of small farmers through watershed development projects." --IANS sg/ksk/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) New Delhi, Dec 7 (IAN) The government on Friday expressed confidence that whatever decision the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) takes on output cuts to check the fall in crude prices, it would not go against the interests of consuming nations. Speaking to reporters here on the sidelines of the Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) AGM, Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan drew attention to the Saudi Petroleum Minister Khalid Al Falih's observations on Thursday at the OPEC meeting in Vienna, about Prime Minister Narendra Modi's views in this regard. "Yesterday (Thursday) the Saudi Arabian Petroleum Minister mentioned about the view Prime Minister Narendra Modi has articulated before the OPEC meeting...by virtue of our consumer status he has become the leading voice of consuming nations," Pradhan said. "The Prime Minister has said that he is hopeful that OPEC countries take care that whatever they decide will not go against the interests of consuming countries...the Saudi Minister's remarks seem to indicate this," he added. Al Falih told reporters in Vienna that OPEC will seriously consider views of world leaders like Modi, who represent the voice of major consuming nations, before taking a decision on cutting output. "We take the views of Prime Minister Narendra Modi seriously who is equally vocal about the issue. We just met him in Buenos Aires (G20 summit) and privately he made those points very very strongly that he does care for Indian consumers and is very serious about it. "I have also seen him at three times at various energy events in India where he was very vocal," Al Falih said. Consuming nations are part of OPEC deliberations even when they are not physically present in the meeting, he added. OPEC Ministers concluded their meeting on Thursday without deciding on production cuts, and are meeting with non-OPEC producers on Friday in Vienna to take a final decision on output figures. UK Brent crude has fallen sharply and is currently trading at under $60 per barrel, from the levels of $85 in October. --IANS bc/nir (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Congress on Friday lambasted BJP President Amit Shah for parrying a media query over Prime Minister Narendra Modi yet to hold a press conference, and asked if Modi and Shah consider themselves above accountability. Asked to respond on Congress President Rahul Gandhi's charge of Modi not holding a single press conference during his entire tenure, a visibly upset Shah -- addressing a media conference at the party headquarters here -- sought to deflect the question saying "(BJP spokesman) Sambit Patra will respond". With the media person persisting with his question, Shah replied: "Will reply... the reply will be on party's behalf, why are you worried?" Reacting to the development, Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala accused Shah of "insulting Indian democracy and freedom of press". "Does Shah mean democracy is dead in country and the Prime Minister can't be held accountable to the rule of law or to be questioned on failed policies of his government and charges of corruption?" asked Surjewala. The Congress leader said Shah's remarks denigrated the right of media to question and reflected the "autocratic attitude" of the Modi government. "Does Shah think questioning the Prime Minister for not addressing the media is per se defamatory or bad? Arrogance of power has gone so high that they consider themselves above democracy, above accountability and above answering to the people of India," added Surjewala. Taking a jibe at Modi for not holding a press conference ever since he became the Prime Minister in 2014, Gandhi had on Wednesday asked him to hold one, saying "it's fun having questions thrown at you". Modi has been under attack from the opposition for not entertaining media conferences and giving only "scripted interviews to friendly media channels". Incidentally, Modi on the day advocated media's right to question the system. "To question the system is not only media's responsibility but also its right and I welcome it," Modi said while addressing the 75th anniversary of Dainik Jagran. --IANS and/nir (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In a bid to harness methanol as marine fuel, the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) has planned to retrofit its work boats with green fuel and also placed orders with Cochin Shipyard for procuring six new vessels, based on methanol mix, an official said here on Friday. "On an experimental basis, we have given our three work boats to Cochin Shipyard for redesigning and retrofitting the engines, so that they can be sailed on waterways with methanol mixed fuel," IWAI's Vice Chairman Pravir Pandey said. The shipyard has a tie-up with Sweden based company which is a leading entity in the use of methanol for marine fuel, he said, adding that the Cochin Shipyard would retrofit boats at its facility in Kolkata. Incidentally, the shipyard had recently formed a joint venture with city-based Hooghly Dock & Port Engineers Ltd. "The retrofitting job would commence in January, 2019. The cost of redesigning engines for our boats would be Rs 2-3 crore. Apart from this, we have placed an order of six vessels, based on methanol, to Cochin Shipyard. These vessels are ranging from 1,000-2,000 tonnes capacity and designed by Germany's DST," Pandey said. Compared to diesel, methanol mixed fuel is cheap as it costs about Rs 26 per litre. Pandey said the methanol-based vessels would require refuelling on its way as the storage on vessels is limited and cannot be ramped up because it would reduce cargo handling space. "For this, we are working on bunkering strategy for national waterways one (NW-I)," he said on the sidelines of Annual Shipping Conclave, organised by the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Pandey said the IWAI has 10-12 vessels and will procure additional 20-25 vessels of various types. The authority is also acquiring land at the multimodal terminals at Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh and Sahibganj in Jharkhand for setting up fright villages to attract cargo and also to aggregate them. --IANS bdc/nir (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Thomas (Tommy) Roland Langley, 57, of Great Mills, MD passed away on December 3, 2018 at home surrounded by his loving family. He was born on September 7, 1961 in Leonardtown, MD to the late Francis Vernon (Jake) and Dolores Jane (Hutson) Langley. Tommy was employed by BAE Systems for over 32 dedicated years, as an Electronic Mechanical Technician. Prior to BAE, he worked as an electrician and a heavy equipment operator. Tommy loved the outdoors, and was an avid hunter. He spent a lot of his time working on projects around the home and on the farm. Great pride was taken in everything he did, and it showed in the quality of the finished product. Tinkering on old cars and tractors was a hobby he enjoyed. The times Tommy spent with his family and friends, were cherished by many. There was love in his voice and a smile on his face, when he told stories of his adventures as a child growing up on the Langley farm. Family values and hard work stayed strong with him, his entire life. Tommy and Wanda worked side by side, both at home and work. They looked forward to their annual Ocean City get-away, as a special time to enjoy the sun, beach and boardwalk. Thomas is survived by his fiancee, Wanda Mellies of Leonardtown, MD; and his brother, Michael Troy Langley, Sr. and sister-in-law, Faith Wathen, and niece Elizabeth Kandler, all of Great Mills, MD. Family will receive friends for Thomas' Life Celebration on Monday, December 10, 2018 from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m., with Prayers at 7:00 p.m. at Brinsfield Funeral Home, P.A., 22955 Hollywood Road, Leonardtown, MD 20650. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10:00 on Tuesday, December 11, 2018 at Holy Face Catholic Church, 20408 Point Lookout Rd, Great Mills, MD 20634 with Interment immediately following. Pallbearers will be Carl Edwards, Wade Norris, Danny Langley, Lyle Long, Ralph Heard and Elliott Kandler. Honorary Pallbearers are David Tennyson, Troy Norris, Julian Schwab and Timothy Ridgell. Memorial contributions may be made to Holy Face Church, 20408 Point Lookout Rd, Great Mills, MD 20634; or Hospice of St. Mary's, P.O. Box 625, Leonardtown, MD 20650. Arrangements by the Brinsfield Funeral Home, P.A. Covered with blossoming flowers and lush vegetation and blessed with a salubrious climate throughout the year, the city of Kunming, the capital of the southwestern Chinese province of Yunnan, is a tourist's delight. Located at an elevation of 6,200 feet above sea level, Kunming is known as the City of Eternal Spring because of the pleasant climate it enjoys throughout the year -- not too hot during summer and not too cold during winter. Average highs during the height of summer hover around 24-25 degrees Celsius while it is around 15-16 degrees Celsius in deep winter. As in any modern city, Kunming has its share of highrise buildings, but it still retains a quaintness that is charming. From cultural and natural tourist attractions to shopping for traditional Chinese goods and trinkets, the city has a lot to offer to a traveller looking for variety. To the north of the city is the 1,200-year-old Yuantong Temple, one of the grandest and most important Buddhist temples in Yunnan province. Built by King Yimouxun of the Nanzhao Kingdom during the eighth century, the temple is located on a depression on the southern side of the Yuantong Park. Built around the Yuantong Hall or the Mahavira Hall, the temple complex is surrounded by a pond where fish swim around. A stone bridge connects Mahavira Hall with the Yuantong Temple entrance. Epitomising all three branches of Buddhism, the temple houses the statues of Sakyamuni, Amitabha and the Medicine Buddha, all dating to the Yuan dynasty (1271-1368) established by Kublai Khan, the grandson of Chengiz Khan. There are a number of halls surrounding the temple where you will find people, sitting, chatting and praying, classes being held on Buddhist scriptures, a restaurant and a calligraphy studio among others. Above all, what will strike you most is the serene environment in which the temple rests. If you want to enjoy nature in all its glory, head towards the Dianchi Lake, a freshwater lake spread across nearly 300 sq km. Located 6,189 feet above sea level, it is the eighth largest lake in China and the largest in Yunnan province. Over 20 rivers feed the crescent-shaped lake which has a shoreline of over 163 km and which is recognised as an ecoregion . There are a number of attractions along the lake, including the Yunnan Nationalities Village, Grand View Park, White Fish Park, Haigeng Bank, Kwan-yin Hill, and the Western Hills Forest Reserve. In winter, one gets to see migratory Siberian seagulls flying around which can be a photographer's delight. To get a bird's eye view of Dianchi Lake and a panaromic view of Kunming, one needs to get to the top of the Western Hills. Located 12 km west of Kunming city, the Western Hills also have the "Sleeping Beauty" moniker as, when viewed together from afar, the hills look like a young lady lying beside Dianchi Lake with her face looking up and hair falling into the water. A protected area, blooming flowers and lush green forests mark the Western Hills. Scenic spots include a stone-carved edifice called Dragon Gate, Huating Temple, Taihua Temple and the Sanqing Pavilion which is a temple with Taoist influence. To get to the top of the Western Hills, one has to take a cable car from the western gate of the Haigeng Park after getting off a bus plying from the foothills or the Western Hills subway station. From the top one can get down by a series of steps running through some of the largest Taoist grottoes that were built during the Qing dynasty (1644-1912). Time for shopping? Head for downtown Kunming, more specifically the Jinma Archway -- around which the city was built. Near the archway is the Nanping Pedestrian Street, the most popular area of Kunming city. Around 700 metres long, the street is dotted with some public sculptures. Around the street are a number of shops and emporiums selling traditional Chinese textiles, artifacts, items you can buy as souvenirs and quite a few restaurants where you can try authentic Chinese cuisine. And yes, when buying anything, don't forget to bargain. You will be amazed at how low the price can come down if you bargain hard. Kunming is a four-hour flight away from Delhi and two-and-a-half hours from Kolkata. A bit of advice. When travelling in China, language can be a major barrier, so it will be prudent to pre-book a translator who can accompany you during your interactions with local people. (Aroonim Bhuyan visited China at the invitation of the Chinese Embassy in India. He can be contacted at aroonim.b@ians.in) --IANS ab/vm/sac (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Director Aditya Dhar, who is gearing up for the release of his upcoming movie "Uri", feels great that many political leaders have liked the trailer. However, he says that the film is made for the Indian Army and not for any political party. "I never thought about it but it feels great to see such a good response. It is an amazing feeling. It is great that many political leaders have shared and liked the trailer on social media but I have made this film for Indian Army and not for any political party," Dhar said in a statement. He added that this is the least "we could do as filmmakers for Indian Army." On claims of a lot of Indian fans showing support, he added: "I am glad but I want people to come and watch the film and realise that how much our Indian Army sacrifice." With much noise soon after the trailer was released, the tension between two rival nations (India and Pakistan) risen. "People will come to know about the reality once our film will be out on January 11, 2019." The film will see Vicky Kaushal playing the role of an Indian commando who is involved in the 2016 surgical strikes. It also stars Yami Gautam. Based on the surgical strikes of 2016 carried out by the Indian Armed Forces, "Uri" traces the significant event. It also features Kirti Kulhari and Paresh Rawal in lead roles. Produced by RSVP movies, "Uri" will hit the theatres on January 11, 2019. --IANS dc/nv/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Punjab Governor V. P. Singh Badnore on Friday dedicated the Military Literature Festival (MLF) 2018 to the valour of over 74,000 Indians who had laid down their lives in World War I. Inaugurating the MLF at Chandigarh's Lake Club, Badnore said that the event was a befitting tribute to the unknown martyrs, and to mark 100 years since the end of the Great War. Thanking Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh "for educating the younger generation about the sacrifices made by the Indian soldiers through the unique platform of MLF", the governor said that the sacrifices of the soldiers could not be forgotten. Recalling the unparalleled sacrifices made by the Indian soldiers in various battles of WW1 and WWII, the Governor said: "This year also marks the centenary of the Great War of 1914-1918, a time for remembrance of the 74,000 Indians who were killed and 67, 000 others who were severely wounded. Many of their remains were never recovered, and they lie in, or their ashes are interred in foreign fields." The governor said that it was a matter of great pride for the country that sent 1.3 million soldiers. "The Indian soldiers proved their mettle in these missions by winning 11 Victoria Crosses, and significantly six more were won by British officers leading Indian troops," he added. He expressed satisfaction that during the festival many important speakers will also focus on the known and unknown facets of these wars to make the younger generation aware of the unique role of Indian soldiers in these expeditions. The governor appreciated the fact that the MLF was not confined to the world wars alone but will also focus on the heroism and unparalleled courage of warriors like Maharana Pratap, Shivaji and many others who have always been a great source of inspiration. "The MLF is also going to have deliberations on Mahabharata, the world's longest epic, which was set in this very region," he pointed out. Describing Punjab as the Sword Arm of the nation and the tri-city of Chandigarh as the retirement hub of military stalwarts, the governor said that on assuming charge as Administrator of Union territory of Chandigarh, he found that approximately 90 lieutenant generals and 133 major generals were living in the 'City Beautiful' after retirement. "I found that no other city, that I know of, can boast of so many senior and distinguished retired and serving officers as its residents," he said. Going into the origin of MLF, the governor said that he broached the idea of organising a military history based literature festival with Captain Amarinder Singh during the unveiling of the CM's book on the Saragarhi battle. "I congratulate Captain Sahib, who is a veteran and a leading military historian, for staging this amazing festival, which has showcased the indomitable spirit of Punjabis and their unparalleled contribution to India's freedom struggle," the Governor said. The three-day festival is being held from Dec 7 to 9.--IANS jsA/oeb/sed (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday appealed to the people of Rajasthan and Telangana to participate in the Assembly polls, currently underway in both the states. "Today is the polling day in Rajasthan. I urge all voters in the state to take part in the biggest festival of democracy with full enthusiasm and vote in huge numbers," Modi tweeted in Hindi. "Today is election day... I request all brothers and sisters to come in huge number to cast their valuable votes, especially I request youngsters to use their vote to make democracy more enriching," he tweeted in Telugu. Polling for the 199 seat out of 200 seat in Rajasthan and 119-member Telangana Assembly was underway amid tight security. The Bharatiya Janata Party, which has been in power in Rajasthan since 2013, is fighting anti-incumbency to retain power. About 4.74 crore people will decide the fate of 2,274 candidates in the fray for the 200-member Assembly. Meanwhile in Telangana, around 2.8 crore voters will decide the fate of 1,821 candidates in the first election after the state was formed in 2014. The ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) is facing a resurgent Congress-led People's Front in its bid for a second term. The TRS government dissolved the Assembly about eight months ahead of the schedule in the hope of taking the Opposition parties by surprise but the Congress threw a surprise by coming up with an alliance in a bid to oust the ruling party. Votes will be counted on December 11 along with three other states -- Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram. --IANS aks/ksk (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team could reveal new details in its ongoing probe into possible Russian collusion on Friday due to court filing deadlines involving President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and former lawyer Michael Cohen. Mueller's office has a Friday deadline to explain to the court why it accused Manafort of lying to investigators and breaking his cooperation deal, CNN reported. Manafort's plea deal was thrown for a loop last week when Mueller's team accused the former campaign chairman of lying to them after he pleaded guilty to two conspiracy crimes and began cooperating with the Russia probe. The Special Counsel must now explain exactly why it believes Manafort lied and what he lied about. A spokesman for Mueller's office has said at least part of the Manafort memo would be made public. Separately, the Special Counsel's office and federal prosecutors in New York have to provide memos to recommend a sentence for Cohen -- filings that are expected to detail how he has cooperated in multiple investigations. Cohen's case took a twist last week when he pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about the extent of talks with Trump involving Trump Tower Moscow, which he had said ended in January 2016. Discussions about the project went as late as June 2016, his plea revealed and Cohen said in court that he lied "out of loyalty to Individual-1", a reference to Trump. The memos from Mueller come the same week that the Mueller's office said in court on Tuesday that Trump's former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn provided "substantial assistance" to the Special Counsel's office and should not receive jail time, CNN reported. On Friday, former FBI Director James Comey will testify behind closed doors before the House Judiciary and Oversight committees for a Republican-led probe into the origins of the agency's Russia investigation. Also Friday, George Papadopoulos -- the first person to plead guilty in the Mueller probe -- is being released from prison after serving a two-week sentence. --IANS ksk (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Special CBI court will pronounce on December 21 its judgement in the politically sensitive Sohrabuddin Anwar Shaikh and Tulsiram Prajapati twin encounters case and the rape-cum-murder of Kausar Bi of Gujarat. The final arguments in the case, which were taken up on December 3, ended on December 5 before CBI Special Judge S.J. Sharma. The "fake encounters" of alleged gangsters Sohrabuddin and Prajapati and the disappearance of the former's wife Kausar Bi took place in 2005-06, kicking off a major political storm. The prosecution's case was that Sohrabuddin was linked with terror outfits like Lashkar-e-Tayiba and was allegedly conspiring to assassinate "an important political leader", presumably then Gujarat Chief Minister (and now Prime Minister) Narendra Modi. A total of 37 people were named as accused in the case, of which 16 were discharged in 2014, including 15 by the Special CBI Court Mumbai and one by the Bombay High Court. Among those discharged were then Gujarat Home Minister and now BJP President Amit Shah, then Rajasthan Home Minister G.C. Kataria, 'encounter specialist' and former Deputy Inspector-General from Gujarat D.G. Vanzara, who then headed the Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) in Gujarat, IPS officer N.K. Amin and 12 other police officials. The trial had been shifted from Gujarat to Mumbai by a Supreme Court order in September 2012. A total of 210 prosecution witnesses were examined, of which 92 turned hostile. --IANS qn/mr- \\ QN/ /// (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Read a biography charting Mamata Banerjee's rise from a student leader to the first woman Chief Minister of West Bengal and how she could be a possible "kingmaker" after the 2019 general elections; take in a novel set against the backdrop of old Punjab, early California and revolution-torn Mexico; read a fictional tale that pits debt-laden farmers against the political forces at work; and finally, get a peek into the world of start-ups in India. The IANS bookshelf has these paperbacks by debut authors for this weekend. 1. Book: Didi: The Untold Mamata Banerjee; Author: Shutupa Paul; Publisher: Penguin; Price: Rs 299; Pages: 228 Titled "Didi", as West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is often referred to, the book explores her struggles and achievements, and opens a window to the life and times of Banerjee, described by the author as "one of the most dynamic politicians of our country." It looks in detail at "her unique style of politics", which enabled her to defeat the formidable three-decade-old Left Front government in the state in 2011. But that is not all. Charting her upbringing, her college days, and her fight with the CPI(M), it goes on to draw a contemporary analysis of the leader's significance in national politics. But what made Banerjee, the beloved "Didi" to thousands of people? "Her penchant for standing with the people, especially those marginalised by the Left Front's policies, even when she has to go against the law of the land, gave her this title... Her mannerisms are simple, her garb just white cotton saris and rubber flip-flops. Mamata is still the same person she was when she first stepped into politics... Mamata is more than aware that if she gets her electoral mathematics right, she could play a decisive role in the next Lok Sabha polls -- maybe even stand a chance at prime ministership," the book says. 2. Book: The Rainbow Acres; Author: Simrita Dhir; Publisher: Om Books; Price: Rs 295; Pages: 287 Written by an academic brought up in Punjab and now based in California, "The Rainbow Acres" is a novel about migration, selfless love, fortitude, friendship, and the quest for land and identity. It is set against the backdrop of old Punjab, early California and revolution-torn Mexico. In 1916, Kishan Singh's village Noor Mahal in Punjab (then under the British rule) faced heavy rain, destroying the crop, triggering influenza and leaving behind dead villagers. The devastated protagonist sets out on a life-threatening voyage across two oceans for an unknown land. On the other hand, Sophia's idyllic world in Mexico's Guadalajara, falls apart in 1919 when she becomes a hapless victim to the ravages of the Mexican Revolution and battles hunger, poverty and near prostitution before embarking on a perilous night journey across the border. Will their paths cross in the land of opportunities that is overrun with racial and class barriers? 3. Book: The Long March; Author: Namita Waikar; Publisher: Speaking Tiger; Price: Rs 350; Pages: 238 This novel, written by the managing editor of People's Archives of Rural India (PARI), weaves a story around Vidarbha's farmer suicides, where yet another farmer commits suicide, and is survived by his son Vikram Sonare. Vikram is, as he should be, devastated and furious. His work with the Agricultural Technology Centre and new-found knowledge of social media inspires him to build a network with youth across India and start a silent revolt. He is joined by Mallika Joshi, who works with an NGO in Mumbai, and meets farming families neglected by the government and suffering under the weight of increasing debts. The book unfolds the "epic mission" they undertake to draw attention to the plight of farmers and other underprivileged sections of society, and finally mobilise millions of people to march into the major cities of India. After the success of the march, the group transforms into a revolutionary political party. But will the existing political forces allow it to succeed? "This sensitive novel explores the fallout of the agrarian crisis, especially in Maharashtra, where a fifth of the 310,000 farmer suicides recorded across twenty years have occurred. A moving and humane tale of that great catastrophe, it reflects damage and despair, but also a hope for change amidst one of the greatest tragedies of our time," farmer-rights crusader P. Sainath has written in his endorsement of the book. 4. Book: Freedom to Fail: Lessons From my Quest for Start-up Success; Author: Shabnam, Aggarwal; Publisher: HarperCollins; Price: Rs 299; Pages: 195 Raised in an immigrant Indian family in the start-up hub of Silicon Valley, Shabnam Aggarwal believed that every entrepreneur could be successful. So she left her cushy job at Merrill Lynch to take a risk, find her passion and make a difference in the world. She moved to India to start a company. In "Freedom to Fail", she tells the story of her brush with success: Raising her first round of venture capital; hiring a hardworking team of millennials; growing her start-up to multiple cities... and then finding it all come to a bitter end. Weaving each chapter into a lesson in overcoming expectations, fear and self-doubt, she shows why failure is important, even imperative, in order to ultimately succeed. --IANS sj/ss/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) More than 41 per cent of the over four crore electorate cast their votes in the first five hours of the Rajasthan Assembly elections, a poll official said. Till 1 p.m., around 41.37 per cent voter turnout was recorded in the state's 51,687 voting centres in 199 assembly constituencies. The polling percentage that was 6.42 till 9 a.m. and 22.85 till 11 a.m. It picked up rapidly in the next two hours as long queues were seen outside the polling units, Chief Electoral Officer Anand Kumar said. About 4.74 crore people will decide the fate of 2,274 candidates in the fray for the 200-member Assembly. Of them, 189 women are contesting in 199 constituencies. There are also 20,20,156 first time voters in the state. Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje voted at a polling booth in her Jhalrapatan constituency in Jhalawar district, while Union Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and Congress leader Sachin Pilot voted at a polling booth in Jaipur. "I think people have seen the kind of work that has taken place in Rajasthan and I think they will go out and vote for development," Raje said after casting her ballot. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is fighting anti-incumbency is contesting on all seats while the Congress has left six seats for its allies. The Mayawati-led BSP has fielded 190 candidates, the Communist Party of India-Marxist 28 and the Communist Party of India 16 candidates. There are 830 Independent candidates. The election in Alwar district's Ramgarh constituency has been postponed due to the death of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate Laxman Singh. The Congress' key candidate, Pilot, who is fighting an assembly poll for the first time said: "There are people who never visited the state and have come only for campaigning. The state has suffered a lot under Raje." Polling that began at 8 a.m. will continue till 5 p.m. Counting of votes will take place on December 11 along with four other states -- Mizoram, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Telangana. --IANS arc/in/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Philippine communist rebels on Friday declared a unilateral Christmas ceasefire, six months after the collapse of peace talks with the government. In a statement, the central committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines - which will mark its 50th anniversary on December 26 - announced that its armed wing, the outlawed New People's Army (NPA), will not attack government forces from December 24 to 26 and from December 31 to January 1, 2019, reports Efe news. "During the days covered by this temporary ceasefire declaration, all units of the NPA and people's militias shall cease and desist from carrying out offensive military campaigns and operations against uniformed armed personnel," the statement said. The ceasefire can be cancelled in the event of a government offensive, or extended if conditions remained positive, it added. It has been customary for the Philippine government and the communist rebels to declare a Christmas ceasefire since the start of formal talks in the late 1980s. The current peace negotiations began in August 2016 after President Rodrigo Duterte took office and the two sides had declared a ceasefire that lasted until February 2017, when the rebels unilaterally broke the truce due over disagreements with the negotiations that were being carried out in Oslo, before backing out from the talks in June this year. The NPA, founded in 1969 and listed as a terrorist organisation by the US and the European Union, is among the oldest Communist guerrilla groups in Asia. It will turn 50 in 2019, and has some 6,000 regular troops waging a revolutionary armed struggle that has led to more than 40,000 deaths in the last five decades. --IANS ksk (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Is humanity in peril due to climate change? The much-publicised underwater meeting of the Maldavian cabinet 2009, just about two months before the 15th UN Conference on Climate Change (COP 15), was deemed to have already responded to that question, albeit symbolically. Maldavian ministers, led by then President Mohamed Nasheed, literally went down in the shallow waters off the island of Girifushi, one of the nearly 1,000 that make the Maldives most vulnerable to climate change. They then got down to the business of governance by communicating through hand gestures. Some critics dismissed that meeting as a publicity stunt. Many in the diplomatic world, however, judged it a remarkable and bold gesture. It was considered a clarion call to global consciousness on issues that must be hammered out at the COP 15 in Copenhagen. The most intense climate campaigner among the then Heads of State, Nasheed wanted to create awareness about not just the plight of the small-island countries in the wake of the rise in sea levels but also the extinction of life on Earth as hinted in the report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that went on to win the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. Come 2018 -- and three years after Paris Climate Agreement -- COP 24 is now being held, literally, on top of one of Poland's deep coal mines. It is yet not clear if it is another bold experiment by Poland's young President, Andrzej Duda, to draw the attention of the international community to the darker side of the long and fatally flawed international efforts in addressing one of the deadly sources of climate change. The conference is underway (December 2-14) in the region called the Upper Silesian Basin, known for the deep mines of lignite, hard and dirty coal. These are not just Poland's largest operating coal mines, but the mine workers there are the key deciding factors in Polish politics. The conference venue, Katowice, not far from Krakow where President Duda comes from, is in a busy mining area with strong political clout. The region is the home to the European Union's largest coal producers. Needless to emphasise, ownership of these coal mines is not just Polish but other European countries as well. So, the roots of the mining are not only deep but, in a globalised world, have spread far and wide. As if to broadcast the "reality-show" and to make the green movement extremely anxious, many of the events on the margins of COP 24 are financed by the coal-mining companies. Until the affordable access to alternate fuel that provides similar employment and prosperity to Polish workers, sticking with coal is the only option for the Polish government. To hammer home the point, the government recently announced it is planning to invest in the construction of a new coal mine in Silesia. By selecting it as venue for COP 24, Poland is making audacious efforts to raise global consciousness and awareness on the stark ground reality of the global war to tackle one of the greatest challenges of our times. A positive message from Katowice and the Upper Silesian basin is that the world needs to eliminate coal through techno-political-social solutions and not just through "clean coal"-like soft technological options. What is the stark and dark reality? Nearly 80 per cent of the electricity in Poland is derived from coal. Globally, coal is the single-largest contributor to the Green House Gas (GHG) emissions, in this case carbon dioxide. On a weight-by-weight basis, coal produces 30 per cent more GHGs than oil and 50 per cent more than natural gas. It is also the major contributor to air pollution that is now a life-threatening menace in the urbanised world. Coal mining is also a significant source of emission of methane, which has even more global-warming potential than carbon dioxide. Widespread use of lower quality coal to heat homes, especially in the colder months, has led to smog and respiratory illnesses in Poland's southern cities, as in many emerging economies like India and China. So, this black gold is now called dirty and anti-environmental in all its characters. But historically, coal has been serving humanity for ages for heating, cooking, steaming, lighting, manufacturing and electrifying. It was instrumental in triggering and spreading the industrial revolution that started with steam engines in the mid-18th century and has provided direct and indirect employment to billions. To be fair, Poland is not the only country that uses coal to meet a major part of its energy needs. Globally, 40 per cent of the energy is produced by burning coal. China, India, the US are the three largest emitters of GHGs, most of which come from coal. In the US, the fracking revolution has in recent years reduced the use of coal for electricity to 30 per cent. So, will delegates from all over the world to COP 24 get the symbolic message of President Duda in hosting the Climate Conference of world leaders on top of a coal mine? (The author is Chairman TERRE Policy centre and former director UNEP. The views expressed are personal. He can be contacted atshende.rajendra@gmail.com) --IANS rajendra/vm/tb (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Brian McNaught launches new column for SFGN.Two guys and a dog started for us in 1976, when I drove from Detroit, with my Irish Setter, Jeremy, and met my husband, Ray, in Boston. I was 28, he was 25, Jeremy was 2. Im now nearly 71, Ray will be 68 on his next birthday, and our Labradoodle, Lincoln, will be 2 on New Years Day. When we met, Ray and I had no sense of what aging for us might be like. It wasnt even on our radar. Aging is what ones parents and grandparents do, along with old TV and movie stars. We were vigorous, happy dancers and warriors in the gay movement, both poor but ecstatic. We cried 11 years later when we put Jeremy to sleep on Halloween, and buried him in our yard in Gloucester. We had stepped up in life, living in a mini-estate, furnished with some of the same treasures we had found in the rafters of antique shops, but adding to them such things as club chairs upholstered in high end designer fabrics. Ray worked for Lehman Brothers and I was the mayor of Bostons Liaison to the Gay Community. We hosted dinners in our home for people with AIDS in 1983, as well as all of the gay Democratic luminaries in the state, and we purchased a yellow Lab puppy. Young Brit helped us continue to imagine ourselves as youthful, with walks in the woods, and thrown balls on the beach, but we were more preoccupied with the image of living well than we were aware and grateful for what we actually had. It was so painful for us to put Brit down at 15 that Ray swore wed never get another dog. By then, we had two homes, one in Provincetown and the other in New York, San Francisco, Naples, and then Fort Lauderdale. We sold the Provincetown place after 16 years, and bought in the Adirondacks of New York. Thirteen years after Brit was buried in our yard in Provincetown, Ray relented and we brought Lincoln into our lives. We have a lot of nice stuff north and south, and Lincoln is the first dog allowed to sit on it. He actually sits wherever he wants, which is often where I sit. He sees me coming and up on the sofa or bed he leaps, not in defiance but to get my attention and make me laugh. Ray is retired, Im semi-retired, and in our clearly aging bodies, were very aware of how privileged weve been in our lives. For 42 years, as our friends will attest, Ray and I have held hands at dinner, and expressed gratitude for what we had. When we first met, we prayed to God, then to Love, and then to the Universe. Raised Catholic, wed probably be labeled today as Taoist. Ray hopes he dies before Lincoln, not because he hates life but because he loves Lincoln, and cant bear the thought of watching another dog look him in the eyes as hes given an injection, and then buried on a piece of property we keep leaving. In the beginning, as mentioned, in our young bodies, we were grateful for the bounty of our lives, starting with our mutual love, our close friends, the family members we were speaking to, recovery from alcohol addiction, world travel, successful careers, and princely living. Now our gratitude is about becoming aware that nothing that happens outside of the present moment has significance, including all of the aforementioned reasons for gratitude. Ray now is significantly disabled by all the metal, wires, and battery packs in his back, all trying to relieve him of pain, but causing as much as they cured, if not more. We dont travel easily, nor dance, nor make love, the latter more to do with the medicinal drugs we take than the pain were both in. Where did 42 years go? But, here we are, two guys and a dog, now focused on the final years of our lives, and of how possibly they will be our best. I like being my age, despite my awareness that Ill probably grieve the deaths of Lincoln and Ray, before others grieve mine. Brian McNaught has been a leading educator on LGBTQ issues globally since 1974. He has made his many books and DVDs available for free at Brian-McNaught.com. The New York Times named him The Godfather of gay diversity training. Members of a conservative South Korean group held a rally here on Friday to protest against the possible visit of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to the country. The protesters shouted slogans urging the government not to allow the North Korean leader to visit the country, reports Efe news. They tore posters with Kim's picture and the North Korean flag. The protest, organised by the nationalist group called Taegukgi Revolution, was attended by around 50 people and comes amid demands by conservative politicians that Kim should first apologise for an attack in 2010 that killed some 50 people in South Korea. South Korean Unification Ministry spokesperson Baik Tae-hyun on Monday said that it was possible for Kim to travel to Seoul before the end of the year for a fourth summit with President Moon Jae-in. If Kim's visit did come about, he would be the first North Korean leader to set foot on South Korean soil. --IANS ksk/sed (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Under the Punjab government's farmers' debt relief scheme, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Friday gave debt relief against commercial bank loans to the tune of Rs 1,771 crore to 109,730 eligible marginal farmers of four districts. The Chief Minister announced the extension of the waiver scheme to farmers with landholding of 2.5 to 5 acres. "The amount is being transferred directly to the accounts of the marginal farmers of commercial banks directly and the process will be completed by tomorrow," the Chief Minister told a function in Baran village in Patiala district, around 70 km from here. The farmers covered in this phase of debt relief scheme belong to Patiala, Ludhiana, Sangrur and Fatehgarh Sahib districts. Addressing the function, the Chief Minister said that in the next phase, farmers having landholding of 2.5 to 5 acres would get debt waiver for loans of cooperative and commercial banks. Amarinder Singh also reiterated his commitment to waive off the loans of the landless labourers in the subsequent phases of the implementation of the waiver scheme. The Chief Minister said waiver up to Rs 2 lakh had been given to all the marginal farmers and also to the small farmers who had availed loan up to Rs 2 lakh under the scheme. He said a sum of Rs 1,815 crore of 3.18 lakh marginal farmers of Cooperative Banks had been waived off in the first phase, in addition to Rs 1,771 crore of 1.09 lakh marginal farmers of commercial banks in Friday's state-level debt relief function. The Chief Minister announced that 2.15 lakh small farmers of Cooperative Banks would be covered in the third phase and 50,752 small farmers of commercial banks would be covered in the fourth phase. It is estimated that farmers in agrarian Punjab are under a debt of Rs 90,000 crore. --IANS js/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Given the potential for abuse of the fast advancing facial recognition technology, governments across the world need to start adopting laws to regulate this technology in 2019, Microsoft President Brad Smith has said. "Unless we act, we risk waking up five years from now to find that facial recognition services have spread in ways that exacerbate societal issues," warned Smith in a blog post on Thursday. "The time for action has arrived," he said, adding that the industry must also exercise restraint while using this technology. Speaking of the benefits of the technology, the Microsoft President mentioned that police in New Delhi recently trialled facial recognition technology and identified almost 3,000 missing children in four days. Similarly, historians in the US have used the technology to identify the portraits of unknown soldiers in Civil War photographs taken in the 1860s. Researchers successfully used facial recognition software to diagnose a rare, genetic disease in Africans, Asians and Latin Americans. And in October, the National Australia Bank designed a proof of concept to enable customers to withdraw money from an Automatic Teller Machine using facial recognition and a PIN. But at the same time, the potential for abuse of this technology is huge, Smith said, adding that certain uses of this technology could lead to biased decisions and discrimination. Moreover, the widespread use of this technology can lead to new intrusions into people's privacy, he said. "The use of facial recognition technology by a government for mass surveillance can encroach on democratic freedoms," Smith added. "While we believe that new laws and regulations are indispensable, we also recognise that they are not a substitute for the responsibility that needs to be exercised by tech companies," he said. Microsoft is one of several companies playing a leading role in developing facial recognition technology. The company, Smith said, would start adopting new principles to manage the issues surrounding facial recognition technology in the first quarter of 2019. --IANS gb/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Segments of a photographic archive -- the documentation of the volatile Bangladesh of early 1990s by photojournalist Shahidul Alam, now a global figure emerging as a contemporary fierce voice for free speech -- are on view from Friday here, among other exhibits, and provide continuity to narratives of struggle, place and identity. Alam is one of the artists whose works are shown in "(Dis)Place", a group exhibition showcasing works of 10 artists and one research collective from Bangladesh. It opened at the Korean Culture Centre (KCC) here and is co-curated by Tanzim Wahab and Hadrien Diez -- recipients of the FICA South Asia grant for exhibition-making. Shown as a series of contact sheets from 1990-97, Alam's on-view works are a portion of his documentation of various protest movements in Dhaka in the 1980s and 1990s -- "a period during which activists of all stripes were taking to the streets to ask for political reform and democracy". "Bangladesh had a democratic struggle for a long time after its independence in 1971. In early 1990s, when we had this autocratic regime, we had many democratic movements. "Shahidul was one of the activists who documented this in the streets. Then we had our first election and our first voting. There's a feeling of continuance now. Things change, but things never change," curator Tanzim Wahab, who co-curates annual photography festival 'Chobi Mela' with Alam, told IANS. Alam was recently released after spending over 100 days in prison; he was arrested for speaking against the government on television. His arrest triggered strong reactions across the globe. The curatorial note to the show reiterates that the series on display must "not be read as a single, unified narrative: they illustrate a multi-faceted struggle that carries on today, as recent events in Bangladesh remind". "The current times are giving us challenges to find a language about issues. But artists are one of the few communities who are innovative and are finding their own expression. Art itself is changing in the choice of media and themes. The 'criticality' is there but the form is changing," Wahab said. "The art community is always seeing opportunity even in crisis, and how you grow out of it, rather than shrink. It (Shahidul's) was a beautiful and positive example," curator Diez added. Alam's works are curated in line with the larger focus on the exhibition, which touches upon topics "as urgent to Bangladesh as they are to world": shifting environments, borders and migration, economic or cultural appropriation. Through the exhibits, "(Dis)Place" delves further into notions of emotional landscapes, affective histories, and place(s) ownership vis-a-vis utopian sensibilities, and ambitions to speak of a "local" that echoes the world as a whole. On view are works by Tayeba Begum Lipi, Ronni Ahmmed, Najmun Nahar Keya, Afsana Sharmin Zhumpa, Shimul Saha, Zihan Karim, Sarker Protick, Sayed Asif Mahmud, Md Shamsul Arifin and Bengal Institute for Architecture, Landscapes and Settlements. The exhibition is open for public viewing till February 22, 2019. --IANS sj/oeb/sed (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US President Donald Trump has planned to nominate State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert to replace Nikki Haley as his new ambassador to the UN. Trump is expected to make the announcement Friday morning, informed sources told CBS News. Nauert has been on the short list for ambassador to the UN since Haley announced that she was stepping down from her post in October. Formerly a Fox News anchor, she came to the administration in 2017 with no prior government experience. She will have to be confirmed by the Senate to secure her position, where Democrats will likely grill Nauert on her qualifications for the position. In her new role, Nauert would be responsible for maintaining international support for economic sanctions against North Korea and continuing the Trump administration's unflinching support for Israel in the face of mounting scrutiny at the UN, reports The Washington Post. A former news reporter for ABC, Nauert joined Fox in 1996, originally as a correspondent and later as a co-host for "Fox and Friends". Nauert has earned a reputation as a stalwart defender of the President even through the turbulent tenure of Trump's first Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson. A senior administration official told The Washington Post said Nauert would be "an outstanding advocate for the American people at the UN". "She's hard-working, she's smart and she never gives up in advancing an agenda that works for the US," the official said. --IANS ksk (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The UN General Assembly has failed to adopt a US drafted resolution condemning Hamas. Backed by US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, the draft was going to condemn Hamas' rocket attacks against Israel, and it was the first drafted UNGA resolution to condemn the Palestinian resistance. Before the vote on Thursday, a separate vote was held by the General Assembly to decide the majority it would need to pass the resolution, Xinhua reported. The US asked for a simple majority, while Kuwait asked for a two-thirds majority. The Kuwaiti request won as a result. The draft received 87 votes in favour, 58 against, and 32 abstentions, which failed to win the required two-thirds majority in the UN General Assembly. All the Arab countries voted against the resolution. The UN General Assembly also voted on a resolution pushed by the Palestinian Authority. It included condemnation of Israeli settlements and a reference to the parameters of a future peace agreement. The resolution was adopted with only 6 votes against it. --IANS pgh/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Apprehensions of migrant family members who illegally crossed the southern border into the US broke another record in November, according to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) statistics. This is the third month in a row that family apprehensions have set a record, the data issued on Thursday rvealed. Overall arrests, however, remained relatively stagnant from October, ticking slightly up from 51,001 to 51,856, and came nowhere close to setting a record. In the early to mid-2000s, there were months when well over 100,000 migrants were apprehended illegally crossing the southern border. What has changed is the demographics of the undocumented migrants coming over the Mexico-US border. The US is "continuing to see family groups percentage-wise continue to rise", said a CBP official in Texas. The official said the uptick in families has been "really stretching resources", everything from transportation to processing to medical care. The official added that while the families and minors are not necessarily a threat, genuine threats can slip by amid the "humanitarian mission". The number of family members arrested by the US Border Patrol rose around 9 per cent month to month, from 23,115 in October to 25,172 last month. However, the November 2018 figure was up more than 200 per cent from the 7,016 family member apprehensions in November 2017. Katie Waldman, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, called the November numbers "predictable" and blamed a "broken immigration system", CNN reported. Thousands of Central American migrants have been waiting at the Mexican border city of Tijuana as part of the caravan for their turn to enter the US and seek asylum. The issue gained national attention over the Thanksgiving weekend when some migrants attempted to rush the port of entry into California. --IANS ksk (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Icelandic low-cost, long-haul airline WOW air on Friday launched its flight from New Delhi to Reykjavik-Keflavik Airport in Iceland. The inaugural flight was flagged off from the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) earlier in the day. According to the airline, it will operate three weekly flights from New Delhi, connecting passengers to North America and Europe through its hub in Iceland. The ultra-low fares reflect the need for affordable travel from India to transatlantic destinations. It also gives an opportunity for Iceland to open up to the world and as a tourist destination to Indian travellers, said Kiran Jain, Managing Director of WOW air. "Staying true to our mission of enabling everyone to fly by offering reasonably low fares to our destinations, we are hopeful that more people will have an opportunity to fly around the world," Jain said. At present, the airline has four fare options including "WOW basic, WOW plus, WOW comfy and WOW premium". Besides its New Delhi-Reykjavik flight, the airline serves a number of destinations from New Delhi including Chicago, Orlando, New York, Detroit, Baltimore, Boston, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles and Washington DC in the US; Toronto and Montreal in Canada. --IANS rv/in/sed (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Eleven illegal Bangladeshi immigrants, including four minors, and a human trafficker from West Bengal, were arrested from a remote village in Meghalayas South Garo Hills district, officials said. The illegal immigrants took advantage of the absence of a border fence along the Indo-Bangladesh border and entered the country with an aim to settle permanently here, they said. We have arrested seven Bangladeshi nationals who were caught fleeing their country by the BSF," district SP Abraham T Sangma told PTI. He said the arrested were remanded to judicial custody. The four minors, belonging to the age group of 2 and 5 years, who were travelling with the adult immigrants were dealt with as per law, he said. The BSF had apprehended the 11 Bangladesh nationals during a routine check of vehicles on NH-62 which connects the district headquarter and Tura, the division headquarter of Garo Hills division. The Bangladeshi nationals are residents of Netrakona and Sunamganj district of Bangladesh and had crossed the Indo Bangladesh border with an aim to travel up to Coochbehar in West Bengal, a BSF spokesperson said. He said that ahead of the general elections in Bangladesh, the Hindus in that country are feeling insecure and illegally entering India. A resident of Kalarayekuthi village in Coochbehar district of West Bengal, has been approaching the Bangladeshis to cross over, a BSF official said. According to the BSF, the arrested Bangladeshi nationals, said that their family members have already migrated to Coochbehar and have settled there. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The police and BJP workers fought a pitched battle in a forested area of Jalpaguri district on Friday injuring 12 policemen, including an additional SP. The addtional superintendent of police was seriously injured after a stone hit him in the eye, Jalpaiguri SP Amitabha Maiti said. The incident occurred near Dhupjhora under Dhupguri police station when the BJP activists were going to a public meeting of senior party leaders in neighbouring Cooch Behar district. A bus carrying BJP workers was stopped by the police near Dhupjhora, a village in a forested area, and the activists got down from the bus and started hurling stones towards the policemen, Maiti said. The policemen were outnumbered by the BJP workers and 12 police personnel, including additional SP Thendup Sherpa, were injured by the stone pelting, he said. Sherpa suffered serious injury in the eye and was hospitalised, said the SP who has visited the spot. A large contingent of Rapid Action Force (RAF) and police were deployed in the area. Several cars and buses were also damaged in the incident. BJP state president Dilip Ghosh alleged in Cooch Behar that the administration and ruling Trinamool Congress workers were obstructing party workers to come to Cooch Behar. The BJP was supposed to hold a rath yatra from Cooch Behar during the day, which could not be held since it was sub-judice. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In 2001, Randall Gurewitz passed away from AIDS. Sixteen years later, his family gathered to see the personalized quilt for the first time in-person at Compass, the LGBT community center of the Palm Beaches. It was like we were back together as a family, Gurewitzs mom, Anna, said. Compass commemorated the 30th anniversary of World AIDS Day on Saturday and remembered those across the world who have lost their battle to HIV, like Randall. They proudly unveiled panels from the AIDS Memorial Quilt while celebrating the medical breakthroughs over the years. The AIDS Memorial Quilt is a collection of wall-covering quilts that honor those who have lost their battles with HIV. Compass displayed this years knitted tributes while attendees participated in a candlelight vigil. World AIDS Day is a day of education and unity Compass Executive Director Julie Seaver said. As cuts in funding continue to happen and our current administration does not acknowledge us in this fight, we wont stop fighting until the end of HIV/AIDS becomes a reality. Dec. 1 was first declared World AIDS Day by the World Health Organization in 1988. Since then, it has been observed all over the world with a different theme each year. This years theme was Know Your Status. Compass introduced a new addition to the quilt this year that hit close to home for South Florida. It was in honor of a local bar owner and activist, Michael La La Brown. One of Browns close friends, AJ Wasson, boasted to the crowd of Browns compassion and warmth that he spread through the community. Ten and a half years ago, our community lost a piece of our heart and soul, Wasson said. It didnt matter what [anyone] looked like, he would make everyone feel welcomed and loved. Browns quilt panel, like most, was smothered in thoughtful signatures, one being: La la, thank you for always putting a smile on my face. Compass had a full docket of events both solemn and celebratory in honor of the annual event. There was a performance from Voices of Pride, the gay mens chorus of the Palm Beaches, as well as a moment of silence led by local Rev. Taylor Stevens. There was a lot of tears and a lot of joy, Wasson said. We are making a difference. The AIDS Memorial Quilt was created by the NAMES Project Foundation one year before World AIDS Day was established. The foundation is based in Atlanta, but its impact is nationwide. Since then, loved ones and volunteers have assembled over 48,000 panels, according to the foundation. Each year organizations from around the country display panels from the quilt. Weve come a long way in our 30-year journey, said Lorenzo Lowe, the HIV Prevention and Education Director said. It was also noted throughout the day that Compass also started 30 years ago. The organization was originally known as the Stop AIDS Project of South Florida. Funded both federally and locally for all of its education efforts, the grassroots project later evolved into Compass in 1992. Compass now specializes in case management, HIV prevention and community outreach. They also offer youth programs for LGBT members to encourage social support. Their youth program includes a youth group and transgender youth group for ages 12-18 and a mentor program. Although World AIDS Day is over, Compass is still holding HIV-related events throughout the month to spread awareness. Over 36 million people are living with HIV, according to the World Health Organization. Its vital to continue to spread the message that HIV treatment works, that prevention is preventable, that U=U can change lives because undetectable = untransmittable, Seaver said. HIV is a diagnosis a diagnosis that does not define us. On Dec. 5, the center will hold a youth group World AIDS Day talk and another HIV talk the same day for the greater community. The Compass quilt is open to the public through Dec. 12. Panels like Michael Browns that are available at Compass have brought comfort for loved ones, like Wasson. Thanks to Compass, Wasson said, Michael has come home. / -- Reed Huabo Vape Expo, known as RHBVE, has officially announced its fair date in 2019. After 4 years of the expos' successful experience in Shenzhen, RHBVE decided to set its date earlier, from August 29th -31st, 2019, since they received feedback from exhibitors that this will allow them more time to sufficiently produce and transport expo orders. Meanwhile, overseas buyers can bring the next half year's orders to the expo since August is the end of the summer holiday. As the partner of China's only official e-cig association, ECCC, RHBVE has a variety of top brand exhibitors in E-cig, E-liquid, pods, kits, and heat-not-burn device industries. They will have the chance to hold the 2nd China Vape Industry summit during the expo, as the first edition achieved great success by cooperating with APVI (Indonesia vape association), ECTA (Canada vape association), and Intersteam (German expo organizer). International buyers will be the main target visitors of RHBVE 2019, since RHBVE has already made a detailed plan for invited buyers by providing information on visiting overseas expos, media advertisements and collaborations with other countries' vape associations. RHBVE has a specialized exhibit area for different countries' groups. For instance, RHBVE has reached an agreement with Intersteam Vape Expo, bringing a Chinese exhibitors group to Vape Expo Berlin-Germany, organized by Interstream, from June 14th-16th. In return, Intersteam will bring exhibitors and visitors from Europe to Shenzhen for RHBVE from August 29th -31st. Highlights of the 5th RHBVE: 150 Exhibitors and over 30,000 visitors; 10,000sqm exhibition area; Database of over 2,000 vape stores and leading vape distributors across China; Database of 500,000 buyers with 26 years' experience in organizing the leading Gift & Home Show in China; Supported by China Electronics Chamber of Commerce Electronic Cigarette Industry Committee(ECCC). Website: vapexpoen.reedhuabo. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Seventy-six candidates have filed nominations for the post of mayor and 757 for municipal councillors in the elections to be held on December 16 in Haryana, a spokesman said Friday. Of the total 76 candidates who have filed nominations for the post of mayor, 43 are men and 33 women. These candidates included 11 belonging to Scheduled Castes category, 22 candidates of Backward Classes and Other Backward Classes and 43 candidates of general and other categories, the spokesman of State Election Commission said. Giving details of their educational qualification, he said among the candidates who are contesting for the post of mayor from the five MCs, one candidate has studied upto class 8, 28 candidates are matriculates, 10 candidates are just class 12 passed and 12 candidates are graduates and above. The average age of the candidates is 42 years. The spokesman said 757 candidates who filed nominations for municipal councillors included 389 men and 368 women. These candidates included 212 belonging to Scheduled Castes category, 152 candidates of Backward Classes and Other Backward Classes and 393 candidates of general and other categories, he said. Among the 757 candidates, 16 of them have studied till class 5, 68 candidates have studied till class 8, 341 candidates are matriculates, 154 candidates are just class 12 passed and 57 candidates are graduates and above, he said. The average age of the candidates is 38 years. Elections to the municipal corporations of Karnal, Panipat, Yamunanagar, Rohtak and Hisar and municipal committees of Jakhal Mandi in Fatehabad and Pundri in Kaithal will be held on December 16. The last date for withdrawal of candidature is December 8. In a first, the State Election Commission has decided to treat 'none-of-the-above' or NOTA option as a "fictional candidate" in the upcoming municipal polls, making it must for winning candidates to secure more votes than those cast for NOTA. The mayors of the five municipal corporations too will be elected directly for which the electors would cast votes, not only to elect ward councillors but also the mayor, through unique "multi-post electronic voting machines". The ruling BJP and main opposition INLD are contesting the upcoming polls on party symbol. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Eight suspected rebels of Maoist outfit Peoples Liberation Front of India (PLFI) were arrested from Ramgarh district for their alleged crimes including the murder of a CPI leader, police said on Friday. They were also charged with the abduction of an AJSU Party leader. PLFI rebel Bajiram Mahato was allegedly involved in both the incidents and evading arrest, said Superintendent of Police Nidhi Dwivedi. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) arrested the eight followers of Mahato who is still at large, she told a press conference. Arrested miscreants confessed during interrogation that they work for the PLFI, a splinter group of CPI(Maoists) under leadership of Bajiram Mahato, police said. A country made pistol, 8 cartridges and 3 motorcycles were seized from their possession by SIT. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Before the Night King was conspiring to take down Westeros, he was choreographing stunts on the sets of the popular television series "Game of Thrones". And acting was far more difficult than doing stunts, confesses Vladimir Furdik, who essays the role of the menacing leader of the army of the dead. "Yes, my experience as a stuntman helped me with my acting work. But being an actor is harder than being a stuntman," Furdik told PTI. Ask him to choose between the two and he is as diplomatic as he can perhaps get. "I like every job that I'm doing. Both stuntmen and actors are close and need to help each other out," saidFurdik, who is here to participate in the eighth edition of the Delhi Comic Con that opened Friday. Furdik has worked as a stunt double for leading Hollywood actors like Nicolas Cage and Channing Tatum and first appeared in GOT as the Night King in its fourth season. "I was offered to play the role (in GOT) as I had created several stunts for the production in the past," the actor said. Furdik's antagonist is distinctive in its appearance -- he has chilly blue eyes, pale white skin and dons an ice armour with a crown of horns. He is the master and the first of the White Walkers, an ancient race of humanoid ice creatures who threaten the living. But the 48-year old actor is anything but menacing. "I never forget that it is the help of others and especially teachers that helped me to be successful," Furdik said as he talked about his humble beginnings. "I never forget that it is the help of others and especially teachers that helped me to be successful," the actor added modestly. Furdik's tryst with the film world began as a 15-year-old helper with horses on sets. "Horse riding was my hobby at the time. So I trained horses, cleaned horse stables, groomed them and cared for them during shoots," he said. In a career of over two decades, the actor choreographed stunts in big banner films such as "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian", "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows", "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time" and "Thor: The Dark World before landing the role of the Night King. Furdik will be meeting and interacting with fans during the course of the three days of Comic Con here. The three-day event at the NSIC Grounds in Okhla here will celebrate all things geek and pop-culture. This is not the actor's first visit to India. About two decades ago, he spent nearly two months in the country during the filming of "Alisea and the Dream Prince". "I had the opportunity to see the beautiful countryside and to taste traditional Indian food. I am looking forward to a similar experience. I've never met such friendly people as I have in India," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Bollywood actor Zareen Khan has filed a complaint against her former manager for allegedly sending her insulting messages, a police official said here Friday. Anjali Atha, her former manager, allegedly sent Khan several objectionable messages on mobile phone after the two had a dispute, the official said. A case under IPC section 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) was registered against Atha at Khar police station Thursday, Deputy Commissioner of Police Paramjit Singh Dahiya said. "No arrest has been made yet. We are verifying the complaint," he added. Khan (31) made her Bollywood debut in the 2010 film "Veer". She was last seen in Vikram Bhatt's "1921". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The upcoming edition of Aero India, billed as Asia's largest aerospace exhibition, will for the first time see its civil segment integrated with defence one, officials said Friday. The biennial air show and aviation exhibition, slated to be held in its traditional venue of Bengaluru from February 20-24 next year, seeks to project India's potential as a major aerospace hub in Asia. "For the first time, the civil segment of Aero India will be integrated with the defence segment at the mega event. And, this year's edition would be on a much larger scale," a senior official said. Chief executive officers of major aviation companies, including Boeing and Airbus are to attend the grand event in Bengaluru. "The first day will have a round-table discussion exploring potential of India's aerospace sector. A day will be dedicated to start-ups, and another day will be marked for women, and Indian-origin US astronaut Sunita Williams is slated to attend that day," the official said. Aero India Exhibition which is organised every two years has already carved a niche for itself globally as a premier aerospace exhibition, with eleven successful editions organised since 1996. "Exhibitors from 22 countries with 213 companies and 234 domestic companies along with 500 official delegates from 46 countries participated in Aero India 2017," according to Aero India website. More than 60,000 business visitors and 1,00,000 general visitors attended Aero India's last edition. Air Show of latest aircraft of different countries are arranged at the venue during each day of the show for the benefit of visitors, it said. The logo of the mega show has been inspired from the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA). "The Tejas LCA together with its variants, is the smallest and lightest Multi-Role Supersonic Fighter Aircraft of its class. This single engine, Compound-Delta-Wing, Tailless Aircraft is designed and developed to meet diverse needs of the Indian Air Force and Indian Navy," the website said. The tagline for Aero India 2019 -- 'The Runway to a Billion Opportunities' -- was created to communicate India's value proposition in addressing the immense opportunities in the Aerospace and Aviation sectors in India today. The tagline underlines India's status as an emerging hub for the global aerospace industry and draws attention to the investment opportunities under Make in India. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The ailing 111-year old pontiff of theSiddaganga Mutt Sivakumara Swamiji was Friday shifted in an air ambulance to Chennai from here for further treatment. The seer, widely respected for his social service, particularly in the field of education, will be undergoing treatment at the Dr Rela Institute and Medical Centre in Chennai, where he is also expected to undergo liver bypass, mutt officials said. Theswamiji was brought to the HAL Airport here from the Siddaganga Mutt in Tumakuru district by road and shifted to Chennai using an air ambulance. Earlier, he was admitted to the BGS Gleneagles Global Hospitals here on December 1 and underwent certain procedures, including implant of stents in the common bile duct. Subsequently he was discharged, but continued toremain on observation and medication. Mutt authorities along with a team of expert surgeons from Chennai and Bengaluru decided to shift him to Chennaifor further surgical intervention after he seer fell ill. Internationally renowned hepatobiliary (related to liver, gallbladder and bile ducts) surgeon Dr Mohamed Rela of the Rela Institute and Medical Centre will betreating the seer, his personal physician Dr Paramesh said. Dr Rela had treated the swamiji two years ago. Meanwhile, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy said the state government will bear all the expenses of the seer'smedical treatment. "I have ordered that all the facilities beprovided at the government's expense, I have issued directionsto officials in this regard," he told reporters in Sringeri. "I have asked the Chief Secretary to gather minute to minute information about seer's health and make necessary arrangements," he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Italian carrier Air Italy on Friday commenced direct services to Milan from New Delhi and has high expectations from the Indian market, as it expands in Asia, a senior official said. The first flight to Milan took off from here in the morning. The Italian airline would operate three weekly flights from the capital to Milan and starting December 14, there would be thrice-a-week direct services to Milan from Mumbai. "The launch of our India-Italy sector represents another major step forward for Air Italy and reinforces our commitment to our network expansion plans in Asia," Dimitrov said at a press briefing. He noted that India is a great market and there are "very high expectations" as there is an opportunity to grow. Delhi is the fourth intercontinental route for Air Italy this year after flights to New York, Miami and Bangkok. The Amaravati bench of the Railway Claims Tribunal (RCT) was inaugurated at the Guntur Railway station Friday by Justice V Ramasubramanian, Judge, High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad for the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. RCT (Principal Bench) Chairman Justice K Kannan, South Central Railway General Manager Vinod Kumar Yadav, Principal Chief Commercial Manager M G Sekharam, Railway Guntur Division Manager V G Bhooma and other officials were present on the occasion. Justice Kannan said the Railway claims tribunal was an institution established with the aim of quick disposition of justice to the victims. He said there were 33,000 cases in the trial stage at 22 tribunals all over India. Ninety per cent of the cases belong to incidences where human beings were the victims while others related to goods and claims, he added. Justice Ramasubramanian said advocates should constantly follow ethical practices and stand up with values. SCR general manager Yadav said the new RCT bench at Amaravati would serve the needs of the people belonging to Vijayawada, Guntur and Guntakal Railway divisions. Around 1,670 cases pertaining to Amaravati region were being transferred from the Secunderabad bench to the newly formed Amaravati Bench, he said adding it would help in early settlement of claims of both passenger and freight segments. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh Friday paid tributes to the martyrs and soldiers of the nation on the Armed Forces Flag Day. Lauding the contribution of the armed forces, Amarinder, who is an ex-Army officer, called upon the people to re-affirm their solidarity with the soldiers and ex-servicemen on the occasion. He underlined the need to remember and honour their role in safeguarding the country's honour, security and integrity. The chief minister also made a contribution towards the Flag Day fund as a token of respect and honour for the nation's heroic soldiers, an official release said here. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) / -- Harshil Parekh, architect and student of the founding batch of Anant Fellowship, Anant National University's flagship programme, has been awarded the Doshi Fellowship Special Commendation for his tireless contribution towards the cause of environmental improvements in poor communities. Constituted in honour of Padma Shri BV Doshi, the first Indian architect to receive the Pritzker Architecture Prize, the Doshi Fellowship under which Harshil has been recognised is meant to support young scholars and practitioners who wish to study a contemporary situation, involve themselves in ways of responding to its challenges, or carry out innovative experiments to research some aspect of the situation. Harshil's commitment to use his professional knowledge and ability for societal good was recognised by the entire Doshi Fellowship Committee comprising of notable Indian architects. (Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/625509/Anant_National_University_Logo.jpg ) Anant Fellowship was launched in 2017 with the intent to prepare and nurture 'Solutionaries' who design innovative solutions for key issues prevalent in India and across the world. The first batch of Anant Fellows thus comprised of the brightest minds with diverse professional backgrounds, ranging from engineering and architecture to marketing and social sciences. After a year-long, full-time, residential programme wherein students were provided with a comprehensive curriculum and extensively trained by esteemed faculty and practitioners to question, evaluate, invent, and redefine the social landscape, today they are making their mark in sectors of policy development, consulting, architecture, design, heritage conservation, and research and promotion of sustainable practices. About Anant National University Anant National University is committed to nurture solutionaries who design, build and preserve a more equitable and sustainable India. It envisions in becoming India's leading private teaching and research university in the fields of built environment, design, and sustainability. Anant National University, located in the sprawling Sanskardham campus in Ahmedabad, is led by a cadre of eminent people from academia, business, and government, all of whom are leaders in their respective fields. Some members of AnantU's Governing Board: Mr Ajay Piramal, President, Anant National University (Chairman, Piramal Group and Shriram Group); Dr. Pramath Raj Sinha, Provost, Anant National University (Founding Dean, Indian School of Business; Founder & Trustee, Ashoka University); Mr. Abhishek Lodha (Managing Director, Lodha Group); Mr. Adil Zainulbhai (Chairman, Network18; Chairman, Quality Council of India; Former Chairman, McKinsey & Co., India); Ms. Indira Parikh (Founder President, FLAME University); Dr. Sudhir Jain (Director, IIT Gandhinagar) and several others. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Andhra Pradesh government Friday appealed to the Centre to immediately release Rs 1401.54 crore as financial assistance for drought mitigation measures in the state. As many as 347 mandals spread over nine districts have been declared drought-hit because of 34.8 per cent deficit in rainfall during the Kharif season, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu told a central delegation during a meeting at the state Secretariat. The Rabi crop season too experienced a 55 per cent rainfall deficiency even as the state was hit by drought for the seventh year in a row, the chief minister told the inter-ministerial team that came to study the drought situation. The ten-member team, led by Neeraja Adidan, joint secretary in the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperation, toured Sri Potti Sriramulu Nellore, Prakasam, Kadapa, Chittoor, Kurnool and Anantapuramu districts and inspected crops damaged due to drought. A CMO release said the chief minister informed the team that crops in 13.60 lakh acres were damaged due to drought in the Kharif season. Over 16.52 lakh small and marginal farmers were badly affected by this, he added. Of the total Rs 1401.54 crore central assistance sought by the state, Rs 979.83 crore was towards agricultural input subsidy, Rs 124.58 crore for rural water supply and sanitation, Rs 133.21 crore for urban water supply, Rs 162 crore for animal husbandry department and Rs 1.85 crore for horticulture. "Andhra Pradesh needs to be treated as special state because, on the one hand, it faces drought and, on the other, cyclones. No other state in the country is as affected by the vagaries of nature as AP," Naidu told the team. Farmers were getting demoralized as they were suffering heavy losses. The Centre should relax norms and extend financial assistance to mitigate the farmers woes, the release quoted the chief minister as saying He explained the various water management practices, like use of rain guns, farm ponds, drip and micro irrigation and interlinking of rivers, introduced by his government to overcome drought in the state. The team said it would submit its report to the Centre in a week. Earlier, the delegation held discussions with state chief secretary Anil Chandra Punetha on the drought situation. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Army Friday paid tribute to Gunner Rajesh Kumar, who was killed in a ceasefire violation by Pakistani troops in Macchil sector of Jammu and Kashmir. General Officer Commanding of Chinar Corps Lt Gen A K Bhatt led all ranks in paying homage to Kumar on behalf of the nation, an official said. Representatives from other security agencies also joined in to pay their last respects to the martyr. "The Army paid befitting tribute to Gunner Rajesh Kumar who made the supreme sacrifice in the line of duty fighting the enemy at the Line of Control (LoC) in Macchil sector of Kupwara district," the official said. Kumar sustained bullet injuries during the ceasefire violation by Pakistan along the LoC in Macchil sector on Wednesday. He was provided immediate first aid and evacuated to 92 Base Hospital, but succumbed to injuries, the official said. The 25-year-old soldier, hailing from Rejua village in Etah district of Uttar Pradesh, had joined the Army in 2013. He is survived by his parents and wife. "The mortal remains of the martyr were flown for last rites to his native place, where he would be laid to rest with full military honours," the official said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Delhi High Court told the AAP government on Friday to come out with an alternative plan to reduce the increasing monkey population in the national capital if it was not finding any bidders for its tenders to sterilise the simians. A bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V K Rao told the Delhi government if no one bid for its tenders, it "cannot just sit back and do nothing". "Tell us what is the alternative. You have to indicate what steps can be taken to sterilise the monkeys as ordered by the court," the bench said. The observations and direction from the bench came after the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) told the court that it "lacked the expertise" and was ill-equipped to catch monkeys. Advocate Gaurang Kanth, appearing for the SDMC, made the submission before the bench while seeking modification of the court's 2007 direction to it to catch monkeys and relocate them in the Ridge area of the city. The SDMC told the court that according to a central government's advisory, local bodies are advised not to carry out the exercise of catching monkeys and the task has been left to the respective state governments. The Delhi government told the court that it had floated two tenders for catching and sterilising monkeys, but it found no takers. It also said that the local bodies, like SDMC, have the resources to carry out the exercise. The bench, however, asked the Delhi government to inform it about an alternative plan of action and listed the matter for further hearing on January 29 next year. The court was hearing a public interest litigation filed by advocate Meera Bhatia for directions to the authorities to take steps to deal with the menace of monkeys in the city. The court had earlier noted that the problem of increasing monkey population was "aggravating with each passing day" and that the increase in simian numbers would not wait for testing of the oral vaccine for sterilising them. NGO Wildlife SOS had earlier told the court that monkey population is rapidly increasing in urban areas due to the easy access to food, especially in garbage, as compared to forest areas where they have to forage for food. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Assam Governor Jagadish Mukhi on Friday hailed the heroic achievements of the Armed Forces during various wars and while combating cross border terrorism. "Many of our Armed Forces personnel have lost their lives on the line of duty and due recognition should be given to them", Mukhi said on the occasion of Armed Forces Flag Day. The trauma and tragedy that the family suffers on the death of service personnel is heart-rending and "We as a grateful society consider it our duty to take the responsibility of care and rehabilitation of the martyrs, the disabled and their dependants, the Governor said. He also called upon youths to contribute for the flag day and wear the badge as a mark of respect for the armed forces. The flag day plays an important role in collecting donations for Armed Forces Flag Day Fund which is the lifeline for instituting welfare measures and rehabilitation of the ex-servicemen. The day provides an opportunity to connect with Armed Forces personnel, their families and to reciprocate by contributing generously to Armed Forces Flag Day to ensure welfare and rehabilitation of war widows, those wounded in wars and dependants of the ex-servicemen amd dead soldiers, he added. Assam Sainik Welfare Director Brig N D Joshi said the most important gift from the state governor and chief minister to the ex-servicemen has been the war memorial and Sainik Bhawans at Guwahati, Jorhat, Halflong, Mangaldai, Dhubri, Diphu and Silchar. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A cabinet minister of Bihar on Friday made sarcastic comments about Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on his return to the NDA, drawing sharp reaction from the JD(U) which demanded action against the BJP leader. Pramod Kumar, who holds the tourism portfolio, was asked for his reaction to RLSP chief and Union minister Upendra Kushwaha having described the BJP as "Bharatiya Jumla Party" at a rally in East Champaran district on Thursday. The minister retorted "Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad used to describe the BJP in the same way. But where are they now?" He went on to say that it was Nitish Kumar who came back to the BJP. Asked whether the two parties came together for power, he said, "Nitish Kumar came back owing to a problem. Had he remained in the Mahagathbandhan, he would have had to visit jail to meet Lalu Prasad." Kumar had walked out of the Mahagathbandhan, which also comprised the Congress, and returned to the NDA last year following corruption cases lodged against Lalu Prasads son and the then Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav. JD(U) spokesman reacted strongly to the tourism ministers statement, saying "Nitish Kumar is not just our national president, he is also the chief minister and an immensely popular leader. "In politics, one has to be very careful about ones choice of words. We would like our alliance partner, the BJP, to take note of the development and take appropriate action." BJP state spokesman Sanjay Singh Tiger, however, clarified, "The ministers remarks are not being taken in the right spirit. He was not speaking about the chief minister per se. He was expressing anguish over the behavior of Upendra Kushwaha, who is our alliance partner." Meanwhile, the RJD accused Kushwaha of "dilly-dallying" and avoiding exit from the NDA because of "attachment to the ministers chair". "For long the RLSP chief has been sidelined in the NDA while the Grand Alliance has been welcoming him with open arms. Taking a decision should not have been a tough task but it seems he keeps dilly-dallying because of attachment to the ministers chair," RJD national vice president Shivanand Tiwary said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The BJP leadership on Friday convened an emergency meeting in West Bengal's Coochbehar to discuss the future course of action after uncertainty loomed over the party's Rath Yatra programme in Coochbehar. The Calcutta High Court had on Thursday refused permission to the BJP for holding a 'Rath Yatra' in Coochbehar, which was to be flagged off by party president Amit Shah on Friday, after the West Bengal government refused to allow the event saying it may cause communal tension. The BJP had decided to put on hold Shah's proposed rally and the Rath Yatra, saying it will wait for the final order from the high court, which will now hear an appeal by the saffron party at 12.30 pm. The emergency meeting that started at around 10.30 am is being attended by BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, along with other senior party leaders such as Arvind Menon, Shiv Prakash, Dilip Ghosh and Mukul Roy. A section of party leaders, who spoke to PTI on the condition of anonymity, said if the BJP fails to conduct the proposed Rath Yatra, it would send a wrong message to the rank and file of the party. "We are waiting for the court's verdict. We have also called a meeting of party workers at 2 pm," said a senior state BJP leader. Asked to comment on media reports that BJP chief Shah would not be coming for the yatra, the party's state president Dilip Ghosh said he was not aware of it. ALSO READ: West Bengal govt denies persmission to BJP chief Amit Shah's rath yatra Ghosh had earlier in the day said his party has full faith in the judiciary and hoped it would be able to kick-start its Rath Yatra campaign from Friday. "Whenever we have wanted to take out a rally or conduct a political programme, the state government has tried to stop it either by denying us permission or tried to create procedural hurdles," he alleged. Ghosh and other party leaders also offered puja at the Madan Mohan Mandir in Coochbehar. Prime Minister Imran Khan has claimed that the approach of the ruling BJP was "anti-Muslim and anti-Pakistan" and expressed the hope that the stalled bilateral talks could resume after the general elections in India next year. Prime Minister Khan said his government was keen to bring the perpetrators of the 2008 Mumbai attack to book, asserting that it was in the interest of Pakistan. "India has elections coming up. The ruling party [of India] has an anti-Muslim, anti-Pakistan approach. They rebuffed all my overtures....Let's hope that after the election is over, we can again resume talks with India," Khan said in an interview with 'The Washington Post' on Thursday. India has firmly told Pakistan that talks and terrorism cannot go together. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has categorically ruled out the possibility of resumption of bilateral talks with Pakistan unless it stops cross-border terror activities against India. The general elections are due to be held in India in April or May 2019. Speaking about the Mumbai terror attack, Khan said Pakistan wants "something done about the bombers of Mumbai". "I have asked our government to find out the status of the case. Resolving that the case is in our interest because it was an act of terrorism," he said. On November 26, 2008, 10 Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists arrived by sea route and opened fire indiscriminately, killing 166 people. Nine of the attackers were killed by police while lone survivor Ajmal Kasab was captured and hanged after handed down death sentence by an Indian court. Perpetrators of the 26/11 attack, including its mastermind and banned Jamat-ud Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed, continue to roam freely in Pakistan, indicating that Islamabad is not serious in bringing them to justice. The JuD is believed to be the front group for the LeT. The US has offered a USD 10 million bounty for Saeed. After taking charge as prime minister in August this year, Khan said he was ready for peace talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Pakistan sent a proposal in September to hold foreign ministers' level talks in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. India, however, accepted and then rejected the proposal, blaming Pakistan for killing a security personnel in Jammu and Kashmir and accusing it of glorifying terrorism. Both India and Pakistan gave the green signal to the much-awaited Kartarpur Corridor last month. The 4-km-long corridor will connect Dera Baba Nanak in India's Gurdaspur district with Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib Narowal in Pakistan. The corridor will provide visa-free access to the Indian Sikh pilgrims to the gurdwara which is located in Shakargarh in Narowal district of Pakistan's Punjab province. "I have opened a visa-free peace corridor with India called Kartarpur [so that Indian Sikhs can visit a holy shrine in Pakistan]. Let's hope that after the election is over, we can again resume talks with India," Khan said in the interview. It is said that Guru Nanak Dev, the founder of Sikhism, had spent more than 18 years of his life there. The Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara is located on the banks of the Ravi River, about three-four kilometres from the border in Pakistan. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh has said his party has full faith in the judiciary and hoped it would be able to kick-start its Rath Yatra campaign from Friday. The Calcutta High Court had on Thursday refused permission to the BJP for holding the Rath Yatra in Coochbehar, after the West Bengal government refused to allow the event, saying it may cause communal tension. BJP president Amit Shah was scheduled to flag off the yatra, touted as the party's biggest political campaign in West Bengal, from here on Friday. "We have full faith in the judiciary and are hopeful that justice will be delivered. We are hopeful that we would be able to take out the Rath Yatra programme from today (Friday)," Ghosh said. "Whenever we have wanted to take out a rally or conduct a political programme, the state government has tried to stop it either by denying us permission or tried to create procedural hurdles," he alleged. The BJP decided to put on hold Shah's proposed rally and the Rath Yatra, saying it will wait for the final order from the high court, which is scheduled to hear an appeal by the party on Friday. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) On Dec. 3, after traveling billions of kilometers from Earth, NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft reached its target, Bennu, and kicked off a nearly two-year, up-close investigation of the asteroid. It will inspect nearly every square inch of this ancient clump of rubble left over from the formation of our solar system. Ultimately, the spacecraft will pick up a sample of pebbles and dust from Bennu's surface and deliver it to Earth in 2023. Generations of planetary scientists will get to study pieces of the primitive materials that formed our cosmic neighborhood and to better understand the role asteroids may have played in delivering life-forming compounds to planets and moons. But it's not just history that the mission to Bennu will help uncover. Scientists studying the rock through OSIRIS-REx's instruments in space will also shape our future. As they collect the most detailed information yet about the forces that move asteroids, experts from NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Office, who are responsible for detecting potentially hazardous asteroids, will improve their predictions of which ones could be on a crash-course with our planet. Here is how the OSIRIS-REx mission will support this work: How Scientists Predict Bennu's Whereabouts About a third of a mile, or half a kilometer, wide, Bennu is large enough to reach Earth's surface; many smaller space objects, in contrast, burn up in our atmosphere. If it impacted Earth, Bennu would cause widespread damage. Asteroid experts at the Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, project that Bennu will come close enough to Earth over the next century to pose a 1 in 2,700 chance of impacting it between 2175 and 2196. Put another way, those odds mean there is a 99.963 percent chance the asteroid will miss the Earth. Even so, astronomers want to know exactly where Bennu is located at all times. Astronomers have estimated Bennu's future trajectory after observing it several times since it was discovered in 1999. They've turned their optical, infrared and radio telescopes toward the asteroid every time it came close enough to Earth, about every six years, to deduce features such as its shape, rotation rate and trajectory. "We know within a few kilometers where Bennu is right now," said Steven Chesley, senior research scientist at CNEOS and an OSIRIS-REx team member whose job it is to predict Bennu's future trajectory. Why Bennu's Future Trajectory Predictions Get Fuzzy Scientists have estimated Bennu's trajectory around the Sun far into the future. Their predictions are informed by ground observations and mathematical calculations that account for the gravitational nudging of Bennu by the Sun, the Moon, planets and other asteroids, plus non-gravitational factors. Given these parameters, astronomers can predict the next four exact dates (in September of 2054, 2060, 2080 and 2135) that Bennu will come within 5 million miles (7.5 million kilometers or.05 astronomical units) of Earth. That's close enough that Earth's gravity will slightly bend Bennu's orbital path as it passes by. As a result, the uncertainty about where the asteroid will be each time it loops back around the Sun will grow, causing predictions about Bennu's future orbit to become increasingly hazy after 2060. In 2060, Bennu will pass Earth at about twice the distance from here to the Moon. But it could pass at any point in a 19-mile (30-kilometer) window of space. A very small difference in position within that window will get magnified enormously in future orbits and make it increasingly hard to predict Bennu's trajectory. As a result, when this asteroid comes back near Earth in 2080, according to Chesley's calculations, the best window we can get on its whereabouts is nearly 9,000 miles (14,000 kilometers) wide. By 2135, when Bennu's shifted orbit is expected to bring it closer than the Moon, its flyby window grows wider, to nearly 100,000 miles (160,000 kilometers). This will be Bennu's closest approach to Earth over the five centuries for which we have reliable calculations. "Right now, Bennu has the best orbit of any asteroid in our database," Chesley said. "And yet, after that encounter in 2135, we really can't say exactly where it is headed." There's another phenomenon nudging Bennu's orbit and muddying future impact projections. It's called the Yarkovsky effect. Having nothing to do with gravity, the Yarkovsky effect sways Bennu's orbit because of heat from the Sun. "There are a lot of factors that might affect the predictability of Bennu's trajectory in the future, but most of them are relatively small," says William Bottke, an asteroid expert at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado, and a participating scientist on the OSIRIS-REx mission. "The one that's most sizeable is Yarkovsky." This heat nudge was named after the Polish civil engineer who first described it in 1901: Ivan Osipovich Yarkovsky. He suggested that sunlight warms one side of a small, dark asteroid and some hours later radiates that heat away as the asteroid rotates its hot side into cold darkness. This thrusts the rock pile a bit, either toward the Sun or away from it, depending on the direction of its rotation. In Bennu's case, astronomers have calculated that the Yarkovsky effect has shifted its orbit about 0.18 miles (284 meters) per year toward the Sun since 1999. In fact, it helped deliver Bennu to our part of the solar system, in the first place, from the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter over billions of years. Now, Yarkovsky is complicating our efforts to make predictions about Bennu's path relative to Earth. Getting Face-to-Face with the Asteroid Will Help The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will use its suite of instruments to transmit radio tracking signals and capture optical images of Bennu that will help NASA scientists determine its precise position in the solar system and its exact orbital path. Combined with existing, ground-based observations, the space measurements will help clarify how Bennu's orbit is changing over time. Additionally, astronomers will get to test their understanding of the Yarkovsky effect on a real-life asteroid for the first time. They will instruct the spacecraft to follow Bennu in its orbit about the Sun for about two years to see whether it's moving along an expected path based on gravity and Yarkovsky theories. Any differences between the predictions and reality could be used to refine models of the Yarkovsky effect. But even more significant to understanding Yarkovsky better will be the thermal measurements of Bennu. During its mission, OSIRIS-REx will track how much solar heat radiates off the asteroid, and where on the surface it's coming from -- data that will help confirm and refine calculations of the Yarkovsky effect on asteroids. The spacecraft also will address some open questions about the Yarkovsky theory. One of them, said Chesley, is how do boulders and craters on the surface of an asteroid change the way photons scatter off of it as it cools, carrying away momentum from the hotter side and thereby nudging the asteroid in the opposite direction? OSIRIS-REx will help scientists understand by mapping the rockiness of Bennu's surface. "We know surface roughness is going to affect the Yarkovsky effect; we have models" said Chesley. "But the models are speculative. No one has been able to test them." After the OSIRIS-REx mission, Chesley said, NASA's trajectory projections for Bennu will be about 60 times better than they are now. Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook. CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat demanded an apology from former JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav on Friday over his personal comments on Rajasthan Chief Minister and BJP leader Vasundhara Raje's appearance. "A senior leader like Sharad Yadav making such a derogatory comment on a woman leader, who is also a chief minister, is extremely objectionable. He should withdraw his statement and offer an apology," Karat said. She said that despite her party being at odds with the BJP, such comments against any woman is unacceptable. "We have very strong political difference with the BJP and Vasundhara Raje. We have been very critical of her policies. But never such personal comment against a woman can ever be accepted", Karat said. Yadav made the personal comments, calling Raje fat and asking people to give her rest, while addressing a rally in Alwar on the last day of campaigning in Rajasthan on Wednesday. A video of Yadav was circulated on social media, with many labelling his comments crass and misogynistic. Calling Raje a daughter of Madhya Pradesh, he said people need to give her some rest as she was very tired. She was thin earlier, and was now fat, he is heard as saying. The Rajasthan chief minister urged the Election Commission(EC) to take cognisance of Yadav's comment on her physique. "To set an example for future, it's important that the EC takes cognisance of this kind of language. I actually feel insulted and I think even women are insulted," Raje tweeted. Yadav later tendered an apology from Vasundhara Raje. "I said it as a joke. I've old relations with her. It wasn't derogatory in any way. I had no intentions of hurting her.When I met her, I told her then also that you're gaining weight", Yadav tweeted. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The BSF on Friday paid tributes to Constable Prosenjit Biswas, who was killed in Pakistani firing while defending the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district. The Pakistani Army Thursday violated the ceasefire by resorting to unprovoked firing in Sunderbani-Nowshera sector in which Biswas was killed and another BSF man got injured. A wreath-laying ceremony was organised at the Jammu frontier BSF camp at Paloura, where rich tributes were paid to the slain soldier. IG BSF Ram Awtar said Biswas was a brave and sincere borderman, and the nation will always remain indebted to him for his supreme sacrifice. He said after the ceasefire violation from Pakistani side, the BSF retaliated strongly and effectively on Pakistan Army posts. The mortal remains of the martyr will be sent to Kolkata and then to his native place -- Balla Shisha village in Nadia district of West Bengal. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Calcutta High Court's direction to the West Bengal government Friday to take a decision on the schedule of the BJP's 'rath yatras' in the state by December 14 was described Friday as a "big win for democracy" by party's president Amit Shah. "Mamata didi's attempts to deny the BJP its legitimate right to undertake political campaign in the state to expose TMC' misgovernance has been thwarted by Court, which has asked Bengal administration to cooperate. Big win for democracy! BJP will soon set out on its Gantantra Bachao Yatra (save democracy yatra)," Shah tweeted after the court's order. The high court Friday came down heavily on the state government for not responding to letters of the BJP seeking permission for its 'rath yatras' in the state and directed top officials to take a decision on the processions by December 14. Earlier in the day, Shah had launched a scathing attack on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, accusing her of "throttling" democracy in the state by not letting his party undertake its three proposed yatras, first of which was scheduled to be kicked off by Shah Friday. He had asserted that the BJP will certainly undertake these yatras across the state by following the due judicial process. "Mamata Banerjee's govt has failed on all fronts. West Bengal is among the top states in terms of political violence. Due to the of appeasement, law and order in the state has completely collapsed. Even the administration in Bengal is complicit in this vote bank politics," he had said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The raging debate on whether Lord Hanuman was a Dalit Friday took an interesting turn with Shivpal Yadav's Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia) demanding the Hindu deity's 'caste certificate' from the district administration. The PSPL, launched in October after Shivpal Yadav fell out with his nephew and Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav, threatened to launch a sit-in if the district administration did not provide the certificate within a week. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had recently dubbed Lord Hanuman as a Dalit. "We have applied for caste certificate of Lord Hanuman at the office of the Varanasi district magistrate. As the CM has termed him as a Dalit and dragged the deity in petty caste politics, we want his caste certificate," PSPL youth wing district chief Harish Mishra told PTI from Varanasi. In the proforma submitted by the PSPL to the administration, a photograph of Lord Hanuman was pasted with Maharaj Keshari named as his father and Anjana Devi, his mother. The famous Sankat Mochan temple was declared as his residence and Dalit was mentioned in the caste column. His age was mentioned as 'amar' (immortal) by the PSPL worker and the year of birth was "anant" (infinite). Mishra claimed that they have formally submitted the form in due proforma for obtaining the caste certificate. Adityanath's controversial statement at a poll rally in Rajasthan had triggered a debate with the opposition accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of indulging in politics of caste while one of its own Dalit MP's quitting the organisation. Bahraich BJP MP Savitri Bai Phule claimed that Lord Hanuman was "a Dalit and a slave of 'manuwadi' people" and alleged that Dalits and backwards were being called 'bandar' (monkey) and 'rakshas' (demon). The Lok Sabha member quit the BJP on Thursday, charging it with playing politics to divide the society. "Lord Hanuman was a Dalit and a slave of 'manuwadi' people. He was a Dalit and a human. He did all for Lord Ram, but then why was he given a tail and his face blackened? Why was he made a monkey?," Phule had posed. "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 had told PTI. During a poll rally in Malakheda of Alwar district of Rajasthan, 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 this statement, Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar had 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. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The blood pressure of Christian Michel, alleged middleman in the AgustaWestland chopper deal, remains a concern for the CBI which is questioning him in its custody, sources said. The CBI, however, ensured a constant medical supervision so that he remains in good health during its questioning sessions. The sources said there is no serious health condition but the medical team is monitoring essential parameters of Michel, 57, regularly as a precaution. The CBI may seek increasing his custody beyond December 10, they said. Michel, against whom the CBI had filed a charge sheet in September last year, was extradited from Dubai after clearance from the UAE government on December 4. He was sent to the custody of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) by a special court till December 10. Michel is one of the three middlemen being probed in the case, apart from Italian Guido Haschke (US and Italian nationality) and Carlo Gerosa (Swiss and Italian nationality). It was alleged that he had entered into a criminal conspiracy with co-accused persons, which included 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 m to 4,500 m. 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. 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 securing the deal. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In a bid to make retirement income scheme more attractive for central government employees, the government has agreed to chip in a higher 14 per cent of the basic salary of an individual as its contribution to the National Pension System (NPS), a top source said. The move would benefit over 36 lakh central government employees. Also, individual contributions, which will continue to be capped at a maximum of 10 per cent of the basic salary, will be exempt from taxable income. National Pension System (NPS) is a government-sponsored pension scheme that was launched in January 2004 for government employees. However, in 2009, it was opened to all sections. The scheme allows subscribers to contribute regularly in a pension account during their working life. On retirement, subscribers can withdraw a part of the corpus in a lump sum and use the remaining corpus to buy an annuity to secure a regular income after retirement. Currently, the minimum employee contribution in NPS is 10 per cent of basic pay and an equal contribution is made by the government. The Cabinet at its meeting Thursday cleared raising the government's share to NPS to 14 per cent, the source said. It also cleared tax incentives under Section 80C of Income Tax Act for employee contribution of up to 10 per cent towards NPS. The tax measures are likely to come into effect from April 1, 2019. Central government employees had approached the government seeking tweaking of the terms of the current 'contribution' based NPS. Also, the Cabinet has given more flexibility to the government employees to withdraw the amount from NPS corpus at the time of retirement. Once the changes are notified, central government employees can commute up to 60 per cent of the NPS fund accumulated, up from 40 per cent at present. Sources said if an employee decides not to commute any portion of the accumulated fund in NPS at the time of maturity and transfers 100 per cent to annuity scheme, then his pension would be more than 50 per cent of his last drawn pay. Also, employees will have the option to decide on investing their annuity either in fixed income instruments or equities, sources said. While the government is yet to decide on the date of notification of the new scheme, sources said many of the changes require amendment to the Income Tax Act and hence will come into effect from April 1, 2019. This formula for changes in the NPS was worked out by the Finance Ministry based on the recommendation of a government-appointed committee, sources said. The Narendra Modi-led government is planning to work at the micro-level in each district, which will help in boosting the country's overall GDP, Union commerce minister Suresh Prabhu said Thursday. Speaking at an Assocham event here, he said the aim is to increase the gross domestic produce (GDP) of each district in the country, which will cumulatively contribute for the GDP growth of the nation. "We are mapping each and every district to increase GDP of that region by 3-4 per cent," the minister said while addressing the conference on 'Strengthening MSME Ecosystem in Food Processing', adding agencies like Nabard are working with the government on this project very closely. Prabhu said the government has already identified six districts in five different states - Muzaffarpur in Bihar, Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, Vishakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, a district in Himachal Pradesh and two districts of Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg in Maharashtra - to be taken up in the first phase of the project. "The National Council of Applied Economic Research has already done baseline study of both the districts in Maharahstra," he said. The minister said that the government is also working on an initiative to improve the ease of doing business in each district. "Ease of doing business has improved considerably and we will try to improve it further," he said, adding, "We want to work on ease of doing business in every district of India." Prabhu said he has written to all the chief ministers on the same, and most of them have responded positively. The minister said that with the initiatives to increase the GDP and promote ease of doing business, the country will witness economic transformation. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The foreign ministers of and held talks in Beijing Friday amid a lack of progress in efforts to persuade Kim Jong Un's regime to halt its nuclear weapons program. Details of the discussions Ri Yong Ho and his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi were not immediately released. is North Korea's most important ally, but has agreed to increasingly strict United Nations economic sanctions over Pyongyang's drive to develop nuclear weapons and the ballistic missiles to deliver them. Ri is also expected to be briefed on discussions last week between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump, who recently said his next meeting with Kim would likely happen in January or February. Despite initial optimism generated by Kim and Trump's June summit meeting in Singapore, diplomacy has since come to a halt amid disputes over a US demand that first produce a full inventory of its nuclear weapons and take other denuclearisation steps before winning significant outside rewards. China, which fought on North Korea's behalf in the 1950-53 Korean War, has suggested a more staggered approach, including a suspension of large-scale South Korean and US wargames on the peninsula. In addition to sanctions relief, wants a declaration on a formal close to the war, which ended with a cease-fire, not a peace treaty, and other reciprocal measures from the United States. Pyongyang has argued that it has taken some steps, like dismantling its nuclear testing facility and releasing American detainees. While traditionally close ties between Beijing and Pyongyang have frayed somewhat, Xi hosted Kim for three summits in this year, both before and after his Singapore meeting with Trump. However, Xi did not attend celebrations of the 70th anniversary of North Korea's founding in September, seen as a sign that Beijing expected more concrete steps by Kim toward denuclearisation. Ri's visit also comes amid intense speculation over the possibility that Kim will visit South Korea this month, the first such trip by a North Korean leader since the war. The Air Quality Index (AQI) in densely populated north Kolkata was found to be 'severe' on Friday, but the West Bengal Pollution Control Board (WBPCB) said it was due to present weather situations in this time of the year. The AQI at WBPCB's air monitoring station at Rabindra Bharati University, the only computerised monitoring station of north Kolkata, was 434 PM 2.5 at 1 pm, which was 'severe' in air monitoring terms. The AQI is an indicator of air pollution caused by three pollutants - NO2, PM 10 and PM 2.5. The index indicates air quality as 'good' for values of 0-100, 'moderate' for 101-200 and 'poor' for 201-300. Even after Diwali, the PM 2.5 count was 330 at the Rabindra Bharati air monitoring station. The AQI reading at US Consulate's air monitoring station in South Kolkata read 196 PM 2.5 at 5 pm during the day marked as 'unhealthy'. While environmentalists described the situation as alarming, WBPCB Chairman Kalyan Rudra said the reading at Rabindra Bharati cannot be representative of the entire city. "Besides, there are factors like the overcast sky and flow of north-easternly wind from areas like Jharkhand into the city which don't allow suspended particulate matters to move upwards," Rudra said. Environmentalist S M Ghosh said the situation was turning very very serious here. Ghosh demanded the 10-year-old diesel commercial vehicles and 15-year-old private vehicles be banned immediately and food stalls and road side clothes ironing centres using low quality coal be shut down to stop the city from turning into the pollution capital in India. Refusing to comment on the view of the environmentalist, Rudra said the WBPCB has already undertaken a number of measures to curb air pollution in the twin cities of Kolkata and Howrah including vehicular pollution. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Congress MP and Islamic cleric Maulana Asrarul Haq Qasmi died of a heart attack at his village home in Kishanganj district on Friday, family members said. He was 76 and is survived by two sons and three daughters. A former state president of Jamiat Ulema-e-Hindi and member of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, Qasmi had won the Kishanganj seat for the first time in 2009 Lok Sabha polls and went on to retain the seat five years later. In his condolence message, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said "Qasmi was known for probity in politics and his simplicity of heart. He was deeply interested in social work and enjoyed immense popularity in his constituency. "He had also played an important role in establishment of an extension campus of Aligarh Muslim University extension campus in Kishanganj." The chief minister announced that Qasmis last rites will be performed with full state honours. RJD president Lalu Prasad issued a condolence message through his close aide Bhola Yadav, saying with the death of Qasmi, Bihar has lost an able and dedicated MP. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Astronomers have discovered a distant planet with an abundance of helium in its atmosphere, which has swollen to resemble an inflated balloon. An international team of researchers, including Jessica Spake and Dr. David Sing from the University of Exeter, have detected the inert gas escaping from the atmosphere of the exoplanet HAT-P-11b -- found 124 light-years from Earth and in the Cygnus constellation. The remarkable breakthrough was led by researchers from the University of Geneva, who observed the exoplanet using the spectrograph called Carmenes, installed on the 4-meter telescope at Calar Alto, Spain. For the first time, the data revealed the speed of helium atoms in the upper atmosphere of the exoplanet, which is equivalent in size to Neptune. The helium is in an extended cloud that is escaping from the planet, just as a helium balloon might escape from a person's hand. The research team believe that the ground-breaking study could open up new understandings of the extreme atmospheric conditions found around the hottest exoplanets. The research is published in the leading journal, Science, on December 6, 2018. Jessica Spake, part of Exeter's Physics and Astronomy department said: "This is a really exciting discovery, particularly as helium was only detected in exoplanet atmospheres for the first time earlier this year. The observations show helium being blasted away from the planet by radiation from its host star. Hopefully we can use this new study to learn what types of planets have large envelopes of hydrogen and helium, and how long they can hold the gases in their atmospheres." Helium was first detected as an unknown yellow spectral line signature in sunlight in 1868. Devon-based astronomer Norman Lockyer was the first to propose this line was due to a new element, and named it after the Greek Titan of the Sun, Helios. It has since been discovered to be one of the main constituents of the planets Jupiter and Saturn in our solar system. It is also the second most common element in the universe and was long-predicted to be one of the most readily-detectable gases on giant exoplanets. However, it was only successfully found in an exoplanet atmosphere earlier this year, in a pioneering study also led by Jessica Spake. For this new study, the research team used the spectrograph, Carmenes, to pull apart the star's light into its component colors, like a rainbow, to reveal the presence of helium. The 'rainbow' data, called a spectrum, also tells us the position and speed of helium atoms in the upper atmosphere of HAT-P-11b, which is 20 times closer to its star than Earth is from the Sun. Romain Allart, PhD student at the University of Geneva and first author of the study said: "We suspected that this proximity with the star could impact the atmosphere of this exoplanet. The new observations are so precise that the exoplanet atmosphere is undoubtedly inflated by the stellar radiation and escapes to space." These new observations are supported by a state-of-the-art computer simulation, led by Vincent Bourrier, co-author of the study and member of the European project FOUR ACES, used to track the trajectory of helium atoms. Vincent Bourrier explained: "Helium is blown away from the day side of the planet to its night side at over 10,000 km an hour. Because it is such a light gas, it escapes easily from the attraction of the planet and forms an extended cloud all around it." It is this phenomenon that makes HAT-P-11b so inflated, like a helium balloon. The first detection of helium earlier this year, led by University of Exeter researchers, opened a new window to observe the extreme atmospheric conditions reigning in the hottest exoplanets. These new observations from Carmenes demonstrate that such studies, long thought feasible only from space, can be achieved with greater precision from ground-based telescopes equipped with the right kind of instruments. Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook. Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee (RPCC) chief Sachin Pilot said Friday his party will form the next government in the state. He said that exit polls were encouraging and indicating towards the formation of the Congress government in the state with strong majority. Exit polls on Friday predicted a tight finish between the BJP and the Congress in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, and a win for the opposition party in Rajasthan. "Our all leaders and workers toiled for the last five years and the party president Rahul Gandhi launched the election campaign in August. That all will deliver on December 11 when the election results are declared," Pilot told reporters here after the polling was over. "The public welcomed our 'Jan Ghoshna Patra' (Rajasthan Congress' election manifesto) and not only we exposed the Vasundhara Raje government but also held it accountable and presented an alternative to people. The exit polls are indicating towards strong majority of the Congress and the party will form the government," he said. He said the winning party will have a great responsibility and the one that loses the election should introspect. Pilot also thanked the voters and the election machinery for successfully conducting the polls. Polling took place in the state on Friday 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.) A Delhi court Friday allowed a joint application of noted lawyer Ram Jethmalani and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to end a pending suit relating to his expulsion from the party. Jethmalani had filed the suit against the BJP for expelling him in 2013. He had also sought Rs 50 lakh in damages. Additional District Judge Sumit Dass disposed of the suit considering the settlement agreement between BJP and 95-year-old Jethmalani. "Now nothing survives in the suit. The suit is disposed of," the judge said. The BJP and Jethmalani had said in the joint plea, filed on Thursday, that a decree be passed in terms of amicable settlement between them as BJP president Amit Shah has expressed "regret" over the senior lawyer's expulsion from the party. When the matter came up for hearing, the court recorded the statements of advocate Ashish Dixit, representing Jethmalani, and Manik Dogra, appearing for the BJP, that issue has been settled amicably and the suit be decreed. The plea said: "During the pendency of the suit the President of Defendant no.1 party Amit Shah along with the General Secretary of Defendant no.1 party Bhupender Yadav called upon the plaintiff (Jethmalani). "During the said meeting the President and the General Secretary expressed their sincere regret at the expulsion of the plaintiff vide the order dated May 28, 2013 passed by the Parliamentary Board of Defendant no. 1." It said Shah and Yadav acknowledged the contribution of Jethmalani to the party and that he has been the founding vice president of BJP and has worked tirelessly towards its growth. It said pursuant to the meeting, the party through its general secretary has issued a letter on November 3, asserting the facts stated in the application. "The plaintiff acknowledges the gracious conduct of Amit Shah...and Bhupender Yadav... It is submitted that the parties have amicably settled the lis before this court and therefore have filed the present joint application seeking passing of decree in view of the letter dated November 3...," the application said. The BJP had expelled Jethmalani from the primary membership of the party for six years for breach of discipline. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Friday recorded the statements of two witnesses in support of defamation case filed by journalist and politician against his former woman colleague Priya Ramani who had levelled allegations of sexual misconduct against him. Akbar's two former colleagues, Sunil Gujral and Veenu Sandal deposed as witnesses before Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal and said the allegations came as a shock to them and irreparable damage was caused to his reputation. Gujral, a businessman and printer, publisher of the Sunday Guardian, who appeared as a complainant witness to support defamation case filed by Akbar, testified that as a colleague and a friend, he never heard any whisper regarding misconduct or misbehaviour of any kind. Regarding the allegations levelled by scribe Ramani against Akbar, he said this came as a "shock" to him and he was "very disturbed". "I spoke to Akbar thereafter as I felt embarrassed and let down. Besides this, my embarrassment was compounded as friends and acquaintances who knew of all my old association with Akbar of almost 40 years started asking embarrassing questions, which made me feel very bad since I felt that irreparable damage has been done to Akbar's reputation in my estimation as well as in estimation of my friend circle and acquaintances," Gujral, who knows Akbar sinch 1979-80, testified. Akbar, who resigned as Union minister on October 17, had filed a private complaint in the court against Ramani after his name cropped up on the social media when he was in Nigeria, as the #MeToo campaign raged on in India. Ramani has accused Akbar of sexual misconduct around 20 years ago, which was denied by him. ALSO READ: Facing #MeToo allegations, M J Akbar resigns as MoS external affairs The other witness, Sandal said she heard in the news about Ramani's tweets on October 8 and it was a "huge jolt" that she had called Akbar a "predator" and other revelations about him. "It was really distressing that the allegations had been made and that he could do the things that Ramani had alleged... It was very shocking and painful to think that someone you had placed on a pedestal could allegedly fall so low," she deposed. Sandal, a journalist who said she knows Akbar for over 20 years, added that there was a lot of talk about this at that time and during discussions with friends and at other public places, it was embarassing to be asked questions about Akbar as people knew of her association with him. "It was very obvious that not only in my eyes but also in others, his reputation had been dragged through the mud and was in tatters," she said. ALSO READ: From iconic editor to #MeToo accused: M J Akbar's sudden and steep fall The court has posted the matter for further hearing on January 11, when it is likely to record the statement of another witness named by Akbar in his complaint. It had earlier recorded the statements of Akbar and Joyeeta Basu, the editor of Sunday Guardian, in the matter. Akbar had earlier told the court in his statement that an "immediate damage" has been caused to him due to the "scurrilous", concocted and false allegations of sexual misconduct levelled against him. Multiple women have come out with accounts of alleged sexual harassment by him while he was working as a journalist. He had termed the allegations "false, fabricated and deeply distressing" and said he was taking appropriate legal action against them. Expressing her readiness to fight the defamation allegations, Ramani had said, "Rather than engage with the serious allegations that many women have made against him, he seeks to silence them through intimidation and harassment. The Mount Carmel School in Dwarka which has been issued a de-recognition notice by the Delhi government over arbitrary fee hike said Friday that it would come out clean and urged students and their parents to not panic. The school administration, however, maintained that it has not received the notice yet. "Though we have not received the notice yet we have got to know about it from media reports. We urge the students and parents to not panic and assure that we would come out clean," Michael Williams, the director of Mount Carmel School told PTI. "Once we receive the notice, we will take the appropriate legal remedy and we have full faith in the legal system," he added. The order by the Directorate of (DoE) said the department had no option left but to withdraw the recognition given to Mount Carmel School in Dwarka, under the Delhi School Act and Rules, 1973, after issuing notices and holding hearings on the matter since 2016. The school had increased the fee by 25 per cent in 2016-2017. Keeping the students' interest in mind, the withdrawal of recognition would take effect on April 1, 2019, the order said, adding that no new admissions should be made in the meantime. The school had argued that it had not been given land by the Delhi Development Authority on concessional rates, so the Delhi High Court judgment that gives the DoE the power to regulate fees of such schools was not applicable to it, the order said. The DoE, however, said the March 9, 2000 allotment letter for the land given to the school showed it had been given the property at a concessional rate. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The DIPP Friday proposed revision of the Industrial Development Scheme for Jammu and Kashmir by including GST and income tax reimbursement, transport and employment incentive with an additional outlay of around Rs 15.5 crore until March 31, 2020. In a note to the Standing Finance Committee, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) said the scheme is applicable to units registered in the state during June 15, 2017 till March 31, 2020. Extension of the scheme beyond March 31, 2020 will be considered after its evaluation. "Additional provision meeting the committed liabilities up to 2024-25 will be Rs 138.5 crore approximately and project management cost will be Rs 1.54 crore," the DIPP said. Under the existing scheme for Jammu and Kashmir approved in December 2017, Rs 289.87 crore was provided for three components of incentives including the central capital investment incentive for access to credit; central interest subsidy and central comprehensive insurance subsidy. The DIPP said the Jammu and Kashmir government has informed that there is a remarkable decrease in the casualties related to militancy in the state after implementation of the industry incentive in 2002. "From the statistics provided by J&K, the average militancy related casualty, which was average 1,285 per year from 1996-2003, has come down to 88 per year during last five years," the DIPP said in the note to the committee. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A suspected drug peddler was arrested with 19.9 kg of cannabis in Jammu district on Friday, police said. A police party intercepted a vehicle at Ban toll post on the highway and recovered the contraband being smuggled to Mumbai, they said. The accused, identified as Mohmmad Youqoob of Srinagar, was arrested, police said. A case was registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, they said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An alleged drug trafficker has been arrested with three kilograms of narcotics in Uttar Pradesh's Shamli district, police said on Friday. The accused was arrested from Taprana village under Jhinjhana police station on Thursday, they said. He has been booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, Circle Officer Rajesh Tiwari said. During interrogation, the accused told police that he had been smuggling drugs for a long time, he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Equatorial Guinea's army chief-of-staff, who was only appointed to the post in October, has been sacked by the president, state television has reported. President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, who has ruled the oil-rich country with an iron fist for 39 years, fired Colonel Ruslan Hermes Nguema Oyana for "irregularities committed in the exercise of his functions," said a presidential decree issued Thursday evening. Obiang, 76, seized power in the small former Spanish colony in 1979 and has faced a string of coup attempts during nearly four decades in office. In January he fired four senior regime officials, including his grandson, on suspicion of collusion with a foiled December 2017 "coup". Critics accuse him of brutal repression of opponents as well as election fraud and corruption. Oyana's deputy, Division General Lamberto Nguema Micha, has replaced him. He had only been appointed to the post on October 12, on the 50th anniversary of the country's independence from Spain. Several other officers promoted on the same day have now also been demoted, military sources told AFP. Among those promoted in October was the son of the president, Teodorin Nguema Obiang, vice president with responsibility for defence and security, and several other members of the presidential family, said the same sources. He was not among those demoted along with Oyana, said the military sources. Teodorin Nguema Obiang was promoted from colonel directly to division general, without passing through the normal intermediary rank of brigade general. A French court in October 2017 convicted the president's son of looting public funds from his country to fund his playboy lifestyle in Paris and handed down a suspended fine of 30 million euros and a suspended three-year jail term. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Academics from an ethnic minority background tend to earn less than their white colleagues at UK universities, according to a BBC research unveiled Friday. The research involved freedom of information (FOI) requests to all 24 universities in the Russell Group of highly-selective, research-based universities of the country, out of which 22 responded. It found that black and ethnic minority and Arab academics at the UK's top universities earn an average 26 per cent less than their white colleagues. And female academics fare even worse, with an ethnicity pay gap on top of the gender pay gap. "I feel like everyone else is running a 100m sprint and I'm running a steeplechase alongside them. It's not an equal race," Indian-origin teaching Fellow at Leeds University Meenakshi Sarkar told the BBC. She landed the job after a successful business career in India, but the university put her on the lowest possible academic pay band, leaving her struggling financially. Leeds University said it took the issue "very seriously". "This is why we are committed to ensuring that black and minority ethnic staff are employed at all levels and to reducing any pay gap arising from our current representation across the grades," a spokesperson said. There are roughly 3,000 Indian and South Asian-origin academic staff employed across the UK's Russell Group universities, an association of the country's top educational establishments including Oxford and Cambridge. Pay gaps can be caused by unequal pay, which is illegal, or by a group of staff tending to be in lower paid jobs or in part-time work. The new data suggests that ethnic minority academics are less likely than white men or women to be promoted to better paid, senior positions. They also tend to be in lower pay bands, the study notes. The data shows the gender pay gap is more pronounced for ethnic minority women at Russell Group universities where white male staff are on average annual salaries of 55,000 pounds. Former Universities Minister and Labour MP David Lammy said the figures showed universities needed to "take a look in the mirror and realise that more needs to be done to both widen access at undergraduate level and to keep and retain a diverse cohort right through to PhDs, professorships and the very top of these institutions". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) While Emoticon Hanover faced four fierce foes in the 2018 TVG Open Mares Trot last month, that number would have been five had The Meadowlands not refused the entry of Caprice Hill. Trot Insider has confirmed that Caprice Hill was in fact denied entry to the TVG by The Meadowlands. Caprice Hill finished third in the 2018 Breeders Crown for trainer Chris Oakes, who had only trained the mare for her three October starts -- one at The Red Mile and two at Mohegan Sun Pocono. Owner Tom Hill told Trot Insider that the mare was in the care of trainer Marcus Melander at the time of entry to the TVG and Melander confirmed that information. "I picked her up the day after the Breeders Crown, so I had her almost a month," said Melander. "It was too bad they didn't let her race; she felt really great and I was excited to race her. But rules are rules and we had to accept that. "It felt like we found some problem with her that definitely could have helped her," Melander continued. "I had a really good feeling, same feeling I had with Crazy Wow when we were bringing him up to the Maple Leaf Trot...so it's too bad she couldn't be in the race." When asked why the entry was denied, Jeff Gural, the Chairman of New Meadowlands Racetrack LLC, told Trot Insider that "the horse did not meet the trainer eligibility requirements." No further comment was made. Hill has since made the decision to retire and breed Caprice Hill, noting that she was a sound racehorse at the time of his decision. "She's been very good to us, and we've just decided that the time was right to move her along to the next phase of her career." Former FBI director James Comey, sacked by President Donald Trump in 2017, began testifying Friday before US lawmakers for the first time in over a year, but this time out of the camera glare. The closed-door Capitol Hill appearance comes amid turbulence at the White House, and mounting intrigue over Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible contacts between Trump's presidential campaign and Moscow. Comey smiled as he walked past reporters towards a House meeting room, telling them "maybe later" he would answer questions. Trump's bete noire had pleaded for a public hearing after he was subpoenaed by members of the outgoing Congress in November, but House Republicans including some of Trump's allies insisted on a private session before the judiciary and oversight committees. In May 2017 Trump abruptly sacked Comey, who was the senior official leading a criminal investigation into possible collusion with Moscow to influence the US presidential election. Three months earlier the president met privately with Comey and urged him to end the investigation into former national security advisor Michael Flynn. Flynn, who was indicted for lying to investigators, has been cooperating with Mueller's probe. Mueller is expected to provide court filings Friday related to Trump's jailed former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and former lawyer and longtime fixer Michael Cohen. The president has repeatedly blasted Mueller's probe as a "witch hunt," and on Friday unleashed a Twitter tirade against Mueller, Comey and several other current and former officials tied to the Russia probe. "Robert Mueller and Leakin' Lyin' James Comey are Best Friends, just one of many Mueller Conflicts of Interest," Trump tweeted. Comey is expected to be questioned as part of a Republican-led House inquiry into possible Russian interference and email use by Hillary Clinton, the Democrat who lost to Trump in the 2016 election. It will likely be one of the last sessions conducted by the joint judiciary and oversight panel this year. Control of Congress shifts in January to Democrats, who are keen to end or alter the probe. Comey had resisted answering questions privately, filing a legal challenge to force more transparency. This week he said an agreement had been struck. "Will sit in the dark, but Republicans agree I'm free to talk when done and transcript released in 24 hours," he tweeted. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India's proposal to observe an International Year of in 2023 has been approved at the 160th session of the and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Council being held in Rome, said Friday. The minister conveyed his gratitude to the countries who voiced their support to this proposal, an official statement said. Singh said this will enhance global awareness to bring back these nutri-cereals to the plate, for and nutrition security. This international endorsement comes against the backdrop of celebrating 2018 as the National Year of for promoting cultivation and consumption of these nutri-cereals. consists of jowar, bajra, ragi and minor millets together termed as nutri-cereals. To boost production of millets, the minimum support price has been raised. "In addition, the FAO Council also approved India's membership to the Executive Board of the World Program (WFP) for 2020 and 2021," the statement said. (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.) NCP president Sharad Pawar on Friday hit out at Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis over low onion prices in Nashik district, accusing him and his government of not being concerned about farmers' "loot". Those talking about adopting Nashik were not concerned about local farmers' woes, he said. Ahead of Nashik Municipal Corporation polls last year, Fadnavis had said he would "adopt" the city if the voters reposed faith in the BJP. Pawar was speaking at an event in Mumbai Friday where former state legislator from Nashik, Apurva Hiray, returned to the NCP fold after quitting the BJP. Referring to a comment made by senior NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal at the function, Pawar said, "Bhujbal talked about onions being sold at 50 -51 paise per kg. "This is our (farmers') loot. And those who talked about adopting the district (Fadnavis) are not concerned despite this loot," he said. When he read about the chief minister's comment, he was "surprised", Pawar said. "Our forefathers are there to take care of us. We don't need someone from outside to adopt us....The farmer community is our real father," he added. Noting that in the past onions from Nashik were exported to countries such as Sri Lanka, the former union agriculture minister alleged that policies of the BJP-led government were responsible for the present situation. An onion-grower from Nashik who had to sell his produce for as little as Rs 1.5 per kg sent his earnings of Rs 1,064 to the Prime Minister's Office recently. Another farmer from the district said Friday that he sent Rs 216 to chief minister Fadnavis after selling his onions at a rate of Rs 51 paise per kg. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Former Fortis and Ranbaxy promoters Malvinder Singh and Shivinder Mohan reportedly came to blows in the latest turn to their ongoing feud. In a video posted on social media, Malvinder Singh is seen as saying, "Today is December 5, 2018, a little after 6 pm, Shivinder Mohan Singh assaulted me at 55 Hanuman Road. He physically hit me. He hurt me." Showing off a bruise on his forearm, Malvinder said, "He injured me here. He broke this button and he gave me a bruise here, he bruised me here. He kept threatening me and refused to budge until the team here separated him from me." When contacted Malvinder declined to comment, whereas younger brother Shivinder did not respond to messages. The incident reportedly happened on Wednesday as Shivinder was trying to disrupt the board meeting of a group company, Prius Real Estate, which he claimed has lent around Rs 2,000 crore to companies owned by Gurinder Singh Dhillon and his family. Malvinder said the board meeting was held to decide to recover the money from the Dhillon Group. As per media reports, Shivinder on his part denied Malvinder's claims as false and fabricated, and said it was Malvinder who had hit him. The relationship between the Singh brothers, erstwhile promoters of Fortis Healthcare, went sour after allegations of fund diversion from the healthcare chain emerged. It reportedly aggravated further over payment of arbitration award to Daiichi Sankyo. Shivinder had offered to pay his share of the Rs 3,500 crore award to the Japanese drug maker in a dispute related to the acquisition of Ranbaxy Laboratories. Earlier in September this year, Shivinder had filed a petition before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) alleging that collective and ongoing actions of Malvinder and ex-Religare chief Sunil Godhwani led to a systemic undermining of the interests of the companies and their shareholders. He had also alleged his elder brother Malvinder forged his wife's signature, perpetrated illegal financial transactions and led the company into an unsustainable debt trap. Later, on September 14, the petition was withdrawn by Shivinder from NCLT on his mother's advice. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Adding a dash of glamour to the poll process in Telangana, Telugu film bigwigs turned up in good numbers to cast their ballot Friday. Actor-turned-politician Chiranjeevi, popular Telugu hero Nagarjuna and director of 'Baahubali' S S Rajamouli were among the early voters in the election to the 119-member Telangana Assembly. Another leading Telugu film star "Junior" NTR, grandson of TDP founder N T Rama Rao, also queued up to vote. Film personalities cast their votes in polling stations mainly in the posh Jubilee Hills locality of Hyderabad. Junior NTR's sister N Suhasini is the TDP candidate in Kukatpalle Assembly constituency here. Counting of votes would be taken up on December 11. Assembly polls in Telangana were originally scheduled to be held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha polls next year. However, the Legislative Assembly was dissolved prematurely on September six following a recommendation made by the TRS government. The ruling TRS is going alone in the polls and so is the BJP. The Congress, TDP, CPI and Telangana Jana Samiti (TJS) have formed the 'People's Front' for the election. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The union government is expected to come out with final regulations for the companies selling medicines online by the end of this month, Drugs Controller General of India Eswara Reddy said Friday. The aim is to regulate online sale of medicines across the country and provide patients accessibility to genuine drugs from authentic portals only. He said they already have examined the comments of stakeholders on draft regulations, which were released in September. "The biggest hurdle for the growth of online pharmacy is that we do not have any regulations. By the end of this month, the government is going to finalise the regulations," he said here at the Global Venture Summit. Currently, there are no regulations for such entities. Regulations will help investors understand risk and benefits of investing in the sector, he added. Currently, the market size of retail sale of medicines is about Rs 1.2 lakh crore. The market size of online sale of medicines is about Rs 3,500 crore, and is expected to increase to Rs 25,000 crore in the next 3-4 years, he said. The habit-forming drugs (narcotic and psychotropic substances) would not be allowed to sale through this platform, he added. In September, the Union health ministry came out with draft rules on sale of drugs by e-pharmacies. According to the draft rules on 'sale of drugs by e-pharmacy', no person will be allowed to distribute or sell, stock, exhibit or offer for sale of drugs through e-pharmacy portal unless registered. "Any person who intends to conduct business of e-pharmacy shall apply for the grant of registration to the Central Licensing Authority in Form 18AA through the online portal of the Central government," the draft notification had said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) "American Horror Story" star Finn Wittrock and his wife Sarah Roberts are said to be expecting their first child together. Wittrock and Roberts tied the knot in 2014 at the Columbus Park Refectory in Chicago. According to Us Weekly, the twosome was spotted headed to an event in Los Angeles on December 4 and Roberts showed off her growing baby bump in a long white turtleneck dress with a tie around the waist. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Taliban's current negotiations with the US might be a ruse to get the Americans out of Afghanistan, which may lead the country to become a safe haven for international terrorists once again, a former top Pakistani diplomat warned the Trump Administration on Thursday. "If the Americans are seen to abandon Afghanistan in a hurry, jihadists worldwide will tell future recruits how the combination of their religious zeal with terrorism overcame the military prowess of two superpowers," the first having been the Soviet Union, wrote Husain Haqqani, former Pak Ambassador to the US, in an article in the prestigious Foreign Policy magazine "The United States does not lose wars; it only loses interest," he wrote, implying that some Americans seemed to be in a hurry to end their longest war without regard to the consequences. The piece comes days after US President Donald Trump sent a letter to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, seeking help in bringing about peace in Afghanistan. "From America's point of view, Afghanistan is a poor backwater that becomes strategically significant only when a hostile power controls it. The US supported Afghans wage a holy war against the Soviets during the 1980s only to walk away after the Soviet withdrawal and return after the 9/11 terrorist attacks," he wrote. Haqqani noted that the US had never deployed its full force to eliminate the Taliban operating from safe havens across the border in Pakistan. "Reports about corruption and Afghanistan's venal politics contribute to the view that the Afghans contribute less to the war effort than they should and that, after the killing of Osama bin Laden and the degrading of al-Qaida, the US has little reason to continue expending blood and treasure there," he added. Haqqani, who is currently the director for south and central Asia at the Hudson Institute, cited statistics to point out that contrary to perception, America's Afghan allies were bearing "the vast bulk of the human cost of fighting in their country, especially in recent years." At least 28,529 Afghan security personnel have been killed in the fighting since 2015. American fatalities are low in contrast. In 2015, 10 American troops lost their lives, nine were killed in 2016 and 11 in 2017. In 2018 so far, 12 American soldiers have died in combat in Afghanistan along with four other coalition soldiers. According to Haqqani, the Taliban have engaged in talks with Americans several times since the 1990s only to deceive the US. The former ambassador praised President's Trump's Special Representative for Afghan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad as "uniquely qualified to navigate the treacherous politics of Afghanistan" but cautioned that "even Khalilzad may not be able to overcome the difference in outlook and commitment between the United States and the Taliban." According to Haqqani, "military missions must be tied to the attainment of objectives, not to their length of time" and it was a mistake to say that just because the US had been in Afghanistan for 17 years, it was time to leave. "If defeating the Taliban militarily has proved difficult, negotiating with them has not been particularly easy either," he observed. "The Taliban have been playing the long game, hoping to wait the Americans out before defeating the inadequately trained Afghan forces," Haqqani said, citing high profile Taliban attacks in Afghanistan since the recent revival of talks with the group. He said, "While negotiating with the Taliban, Americans must remember that international terrorism is not over and precipitate US withdrawal from terrorist-infested regions like Afghanistan would only recreate ungoverned spaces that could again serve as operational bases for global terrorists." In his view, any Afghan settlement "would have to involve verifiable guarantees that Afghan and Pakistani soil will not be used to harbour or train terrorists responsible for attacks around the world." Haqqani advised the US to heed the "concerns of ordinary Afghans" while talking to the Taliban so that "developments that are anathema to the Taliban" such as a democratic constitution, access to education for women and the desire among Afghans to engage with the rest of the world are not trampled. Husain Haqqani concluded that "While pursuing peace, Americans should not lose sight of the difficulties in securing a deal with the Taliban, a less easily reconcilable enemy, as well as Pakistan, a country with regional ambitions that are not always compatible with American objectives. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Union minister Nitin Gadkari fainted during a public event in Maharashtra's Ahmednagar district Friday. The 61-year-old BJP leader attributed the incident to low sugar in his body. "Had slight medical condition due to low sugar. I have been attended by doctors and I am doing well now. I thank all of you for all the well wishes," Gadkari tweeted. Gadkari fainted at the convocation of the agriculture university at Rahuri while the national anthem was being sung, a official said. A video grab of the event shows Maharashtra Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao, who was standing beside him, supporting him while he fainted. Gadkari was examined by a team of doctors present at the venue. His blood pressure was checked and he remained on his chair for about 10 minutes, after which he walked to his vehicle and proceeded to the nearby helipad. The minister later flew to his home town Nagpur as per schedule, an aide of the minister told PTI. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) : Germany has offered a massive aid package to support climate resilient rebuilding of Kerala's flood-batteredpublic infrastructure, which includes a nominal interest loan of Rs 720 crore (90 million Euros). The package, announced at a press meet here by the German Ambassador to India, Dr Martin Ney, also has a technical grant of three million Euros (Rs 24 crore) to provide international expertise to the Public Works Department in climate resilient infrastructure planning to reconstruct roads and bridges. In addition to this, Germany proposed to finance a 117 million Euros (Rs 940 crore) to provide Kochi with an integrated water transport system called 'Water Metro' within Indo-German Economic Co-operation, a press release said. Earlier,Dr Ney called on the Kerala Governor P Sathasivam and expressed Germany's willingness to provide through the Government of India, Euros 90 million as institutional support to the 'Rebuild Kerala' Initiative. The rains and floods during the South West monsoon this year had claimed 493 lives, besides causing widespread damage, destroying homes, bridges and roads. The costs forreconstructing the destroyed infrastructure has been estimated at Rs 25,000 crore (3.5 billion USD). "Germany is ready to support Kerala during these challenging times and is pleased to contribute to the Rebuild resilient Kerala Initiative. Our common goal will be to build back better and to help restore peoples livelihood as soon as possible," Dr Ney said. The support would be implemented through the German Development Bank KfW. Dr Ney said that according to his information, Germany was the only partner country to come out with bilateral aid (for Keralas rebuilding) "so fast and of such scale". "The aim is not just to reconstruct, but to reconstruct in a much better way so that the roads and bridges in Kerala would be able to withstand the future disasters", the Ambassador was quoted as saying in a release. "The project was worked out bilaterally with the Government of India, as that is the standing procedure in such matters", Dr Ney said, adding that the loan would be provided on a nominal rate and it has very good conditions. The next step was signing of the loan agreement between KfW and the Government of Kerala, he said. The Ambassador said that Germany has an abundance of experience in providing technical expertise on reconstruction of disaster-hit infrastructure since the country had tackled situations of river rising and flooding. On Indo-German development co-operation, Dr Ney said that Germany has always supported India on development and India has responded well to the German initiatives. The'Water Metro' project involves 15 identified routes connecting 41 boat piers/jetties across 10 island communities (about 500,000 inhabitants) with a 76 km route network. The project is proposed to be fully operational by 2020. On projects involving German co-operation with Kerala in the field of energy,he said the study on floating solar sites in Kerala (Karapuzha Reservoir and Malamphuza Dam) was in the final stages and the results would be available soon. "Germany stands ready to support Kerala with financing for the implementation of such floating solar plants, if needed. Germany is also keen to support Kerala's ambitious solar rooftop programme, which is currently under preparation by providing the necessary financing at concessional terms as well as related capacity development," Dr Ney said. In and Natural Resources, KfW would support implementation of a project on 'Watershed Development for Rehabilitation of Degraded Soils and Climate Change Adaption', starting from 2019. This Rs 40 crore (5 million Euro) grant funded project is a part of the German Initiative 'One World, No Hunger'.It will help reduce vulnerability to climate change of small-scale farmers in selected 43 watersheds through stabilisation, enhancement and sustainable use of soil and water resources. During his meeting with the Governor, Dr Ney said that the Euros 90 million aid was to set up a climate and disaster resilience unit within the Public Works (Roads and Bridges) Department, strengthening the GIS, Planning, e-governance cell, the Raj Bhavan release said. The Governor discussed the possibility of improving cooperation in Tourism, to which Ambassador responded very "positively", the release said. Kerala had suffered massive devastation during the deluge that had claimed 493 lives during the South West Monsoon. The Union Government had Thursday decided to give Rs 3,048 crore as additional assistance from the National Disaster Response Fund against the state's plea for Rs 4,700 crore as compensation for the damage caused by the floods. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Hope, Power and Love Comes to Panama Through the Gospel Contact: CfaN, 407-854-4400, srodriguez@cfan.org ORLANDO, Fla., Dec. 7, 2018 /Standard Newswire/ -- Christ for All Nations' (CfaN) Lead Evangelist Daniel Kolenda spent a week ministering in Panama with fellow-Evangelists, Todd White, Tom Ruotolo and the Power & Love Team. The week consisted of multiple street-evangelism outreaches. Each day, hundreds of student-volunteers brought the truth of God's love expressed through Jesus to the people walking by. Many miracles and salvations were reported. Two individuals who attended the first night of the Power and Love Conference testified that after their training, they had a remarkable encounter with a man on the streets. Struck with compassion, they approached him and found he was a homeless man named Andres. They shared the love of Jesus with him, and he accepted Jesus as Lord! He was so moved by the love of God he even attended the next night of the conference, sharing his testimony of salvation from the stage. Testimonies like this, of salvation, healing and deliverance were heard every day not only from those touched inside the meetings, but about people the streets, restaurants, shops and other public places throughout Panama City. They all encountered the power and love of Jesus through ordinary Christians. Watch this video of a powerful worship moment during one of Evangelist Daniel Kolenda's sessions in the conference. The week culminated with a stadium event organized by Panama Para Cristo, at which Evangelists Kolenda and White shared clear, impassioned Gospel messages. A powerful call to salvation was given and hundreds of those in attendance answered with an enthusiastic, yes! At the end of the service the speakers laid hands on, and prayed for, every single person in attendance! On Facebook, Evangelist Kolenda described the time as "a powerful and fruitful week." Evangelist Kolenda went from Panama to Warri, Nigeria where he and the CfaN will hold the last Great Gospel Campaign of 2018 (Dec 7 10). Hundreds of thousands are expected to attend. The team is confident that God will once again validate His Good News with signs, wonders and miracles. To learn more about what God is doing through CfaN and the ministry of Daniel Kolenda, visit www.cfan.org. About Christ For All Nations Founded by Evangelist Reinhard Bonnke in 1974 and now led by Evangelist Daniel Kolenda, Christ for All Nations (CfaN) continues to pioneer mass-evangelism in Africa and beyond and to equip the church to fulfill Christ's Great Commission. To date, more than 78-million people have chosen to follow Jesus at a CfaN Gospel Outreach Campaign - meetings marked by supernatural displays of God's power to heal bodies, restore lives and change communities. With offices in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, Singapore, West Africa, South Africa, United Kingdom and United States. CfaN produces written, musical and video content that can be found online and seen daily on TV stations around the world. To learn more about Christ for all Nations, visit CfaN online at www.cfan.org, email srodriguez@cfan.org or call 407.854.4400. The government Friday appointed a new chief economic adviser in US-trained professor Krishnamurthy Subramanian - a widely known banking expert who had supported November 2016 shock demonetisation. A PhD from University of Chicago's Booth School of Business and currently an associate professor at the Indian School of Business in Hyderabad, Subramanian will replace economist Arvind Subramanian, who resigned from the post in June this year and left the country shortly thereafter. "The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved for the appointment of Dr Krishnamurthy Subramanian, Associate Prof. and ED (CAF), ISB, Hyderabad, to the post of Chief Economic Adviser," said a government notification. His appointment will be for a period of three years, it said. Krishnamurthy Subramanian has been a part of expert committees on corporate governance for market regulator SEBI and on governance of banks for the Reserve Bank of India. He had hailed the BJP-led NDA government's 2016 budget as a budget for rural India, calling it a 'budget for Bharat'. In an article he co-authored for the Mint newspaper on November 23, 2016, he had backed the junking of 86 per cent of currency notes. The article titled 'Demonetisation: Are the poor really suffering?', he argued that "politicians advocating the difficulties faced by the poor are being disingenuous in pushing their claims for political gains." After BJP won the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, he on March 11, 2017, had referred to this article to say: "UP outcome proves my prognosis that reports of poor suffering were either incorrect or politically motivated." Last month Arvind Subramanian in a book called demonetisation a massive, draconian, monetary shock that accelerated economic slid to 6.8 per cent in the seven quarters after it against the 8 per cent recorded prior to the note ban. Krishnamurthy Subramanian had however come against the government decision not to give Raghuram Rajan another term as RBI Governor. Writing an article under the heading 'Attacking our heroes: Raghuram Rajan played a spectacular inning but was phased out nevertheless' for The Times of India on June 23, 2016, he wrote: "In this country, we just don't know how to treat our heroes well. Sometimes we deify them. But, often and in particular when it really matters the most, we trash them by questioning their motives. Because their exemplary accomplishments cannot be disputed, the vested interests hit below the belt by questioning our heroes' motives." Rajan had supervised his doctorate at the University of Chicago. "Critics have questioned RGR's (Raghuram Rajan) "Indianness" and his allegiance to the aspirations of India's middle class much like the critics called SRT (Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar) selfish in his pursuit of batting records. Because you cannot question their accomplishments, hit below the belt by questioning their intentions!" he wrote. "Only those who have worked with RGR know his devotion to his motherland and can appreciate the sacrifices he has made to get an opportunity to contribute to this country." The appointment comes ahead of the BJP-led government presenting its final budget for the term. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will on February 1 present an interim budget for initial months of 2019-20 fiscal and a full budget will be presented after a new government is elected in May. The key responsibilities of the CEA include providing policy inputs on industrial development and foreign trade, conducting an analysis of trends in industrial production and releasing statistical information on key economic indicators. It could not be ascertained immediately when the new CEA would assume office. According to the ISB website, Subramanian is one of the leading experts in banking, corporate governance and economic policy. Besides, he was a member of Sebi's standing committees on Alternative Investment Policy, Primary Markets, Secondary Markets and Research. He is also on the boards of Bandhan Bank, the National Institute of Bank Management, and the RBI Academy. Before beginning his academic career, the website said Subramanian worked as a consultant with JPMorgan Chase in New York. In previous academic roles, he served on the finance faculty at Goizueta Business School at Emory University in the United States. He obtained his MBA and PhD in Financial Economics at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business under the advice of Professor Luigi Zingales and Professor Raghuram Rajan (former CEA and RBI governor). The appointment of an ISB faculty member to a very important office in the Government of India "is very prestigious and something we all should be proud of", ISB dean Rajendra Srivastava said. Subramanian's association with ISB started with a visiting appointment in 2009 and joined ISB in 2010 as Assistant Professor in the Finance area, he added. Srivastava said more recently, in 2017, Subramanian was appointed the Executive Director of the Centre for Analytical Finance. The Economic Survey of India is also compiled and released by the CEA. Arvind Subramanian assumed the role in October 2014 and stayed beyond the usual three-year term at the request of union minister Arun Jaitley. Rajan, who too was a CEA, became the governor of the RBI in 2013. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The government has sold 5.72 crore shares, representing 3.18 per cent stake, in state-owned NBCC Ltd to Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management Ltd, which manages central public sector enterprise exchange traded fund (CPSE-ETF), the construction company said on Friday. In a filing to the BSE, NBCC said the President of India, acting through Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry, has sold these shares in an off market transaction to Reliance Nippon, which is the asset management company of the CPSE-ETF mutual fund scheme. NBCC explained that the CPSE-ETF mutual fund scheme was launched in March 2014. The proceeds of the scheme were utilised for the purchase of CPSE shares as represented in the constituent companies of the Nifty CPSE Index. The President had sold the shares at a discounted rate to the scheme for the benefit of unit holders of the scheme. The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) along with Reliance Nippon has formulated a third 'Further Fund Offer' (FFO3) of the scheme which has been offered to the public for subscription. "In regard to FFO3, we wish to inform that the President of India...has sold 5,72,51,352 equity shares of NBCC to the AMC," the construction company said. Post sale, the government's stake has come down to 70.57 per cent in NBCC. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Haryana police constable driving a highway pilot vehicle was killed and two of his colleagues injured on Friday when their vehicle was hit by a canter truck near Pehowa near here, police said. The accident took place on the Pehowa-Kaithal road when the pilot vehicle collided with the canter coming from the wrong side, police said. Pawan, the driver of the police vehicle, died on the spot while Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Jai Pal and Constable Madan were injured, police said. The two injured were rushed to a nearby hospital from where Madan was referred to Chandigarh for treatment. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Madras High Court Friday issued an interim stay on amendments to state legislations that brought educational institutions in Tamil Nadu's municipal areas under the property tax ambit of local authorities. A division bench comprising Justices S Manikumar and Subramonium Prasad, after hearing a Public Interest Litigation plea from All India Private Educational Institutions Association granted the relief. The AIPEI submitted that a similar petition that challenged levying of property tax on educational institutions in panchayat areas in Tamil Nadu was pending before the Supreme Court. According to the petitioner, relevant provisions under separate municipal corporation Acts for Chennai, Madurai, Coimbatore and the Tamil Nadu District Municipalities Act provided exemption to property tax to educational institutions. Such provisions were amended early this year by the state taking away the exemption allowing only the government, municipal and other local bodies' run schools to get exemption. The AIPEI's petition said that when Tamil Nadu District Panchayats Act was amended-effective August 6, 2009- empowering the panchayats to levy property tax for educational institutions it was challenged in the High Court. However, the court had upheld it saying the government had the power to cancel the exemption granted to educational institutions. Aggrieved, a Special Leave Petition was filed in the Supreme Court and is pending. Therefore, the larger question as to whether the educational institutions were entitled for property tax exemption is before the apex court. When that matter has not reached finality, the authorities were in a hurry to levy property tax on educational institutions in the limits of municipal corporations, which was illegal, the petitioners contended. Many of the members of the petitioner association were issued with the demand notices calling upon them to pay the property tax, the petitioner's counsel said. The court has directed the registry to tag the present plea along with the a batch of similar petitions. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Chinese state-run media on Friday condemned the arrest in Canada of a top executive of telecoms giant Huawei on a US extradition request as a "despicable rogue's approach" to contain Chinese high-tech ambitions. The arrest of Meng Wanzhou, Huawei's chief financial officer, has angered the Chinese government and raised concerns that it could disrupt a trade war truce between the world's two biggest economies. "The Chinese government should seriously mull over the US tendency to abuse legal procedures to suppress China's high-tech enterprises," said the nationalist tabloid Global Times in an editorial. "Obviously, Washington is resorting to a despicable rogue's approach as it cannot stop Huawei's 5G advance in the market," it said. The China Daily warned that "containing Huawei's expansion is detrimental to China-US ties." US authorities have not disclosed the charges she faces following a publication ban sought by Meng, but "one thing that is undoubtedly true and proven is the US is trying to do whatever it can to contain Huawei's expansion in the world simply because the company is the point man for China's competitive technology companies," the daily said. Though China's technology sector is still reliant on certain US exports like microchips, Beijing wants to transform the country into a global tech leader -- with a technological prowess rivalling the United States -- in a plan dubbed "Made in China 2025". Huawei is one of the world's largest telecommunications equipment and services providers. Its products are used by carriers around the world, including in Europe and Africa. But its US business has been tightly constrained by worries it could undermine American competitors and that its cellphones and networking equipment, used widely in other countries, could provide Beijing with avenues for espionage. Australia, New Zealand and Britain have followed suit this year by rejecting some of the company's services over security concerns. Chinese netizens have criticised Meng's arrest on Weibo, China's Twitter-like platform, where online trolls sometimes deliberately incite nationalist fervour or pro-government stances. Some users viewed the incident as part of the trade war -- and a broader conspiracy to keep down China's technological development. "One of the most important reasons why the US started the trade war was to attack China's technology sector and its 'Made in China 2025' plan," wrote one Weibo user. The goal is to keep China stuck in "low-end industries and force China into the middle income trap." The detention of Meng appears to be a "game of politics", wrote another user. The Huawei executive's arrest follows a US probe into the company's alleged violations of Iran sanctions. Earlier this year, another Chinese tech firm ZTE nearly collapsed after Washington banned US companies from selling crucial hardware and software components to it for seven years, though the ban was lifted after it agreed to pay a USD 1 billion fine. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) : After the devastating August deluge, the curtains went up Friday for the 23rd edition of the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK), sending a message of optimism and resilience. Inaugurating the seven-day-long festival, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the country was passing through a time when communalism and narrow-minded nationalism were standing shoulder to shoulder. "In the name of faith and patriotism, efforts are being made to divide the people", he said and stressed the need to "exercise caution as such forces would hamper the unity",seen at the time of calamities like the recent floods in Kerala. This festival would help Kerala show to the world that despite the devastating floods, the worst in a century, it was standing strong in the art and cultural field, he said. "Such festivals help to give hope to the devastated minds of the people and was as important as rebuilding the state," he added. In an apparent reference to the Sabarimala temple entry issue, Vijayan said attempts were being made to bring back the social evils of the 19th century such as anti-women traditions and superstitions to 'pollute' society. When such issues are raising a challenge,society is closely monitoring the stance being taken by the film fraternity, he said. Kerala Cultural Affairs minister A K Balan, who presided, said that theatres were charging half rate for the the IFFK, while cinema houses of Kerala Film Development Corporation would screen movies free of cost. At least 8,000 delegates have registered so far for the festival and the government expects 2000 more in the coming days. Bengali filmmaker Buddhadeb Dasgupta, the chief guest, said that it was a matter of pride to come to the IFFK as it was one of the most important festivals happening in India. "This festival is a matter of pride for all of us", he said. Actress and filmmaker Nandita Das was the guest of honour. Acclaimed Iranian filmmaker and jury chairman Majid Majidi received the 'Lifetime Achievement award' from the Chief Minister. State Minister Kadakampally Surendran launched the Festival Handbook by handing it over to V K Prasanth, Mayor. K Muraleedharan, MLA, inaugurated the Festival Bulletin. Following the ceremony, the opening film, 'Everybody Knows' directed by Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi, was screened. The festival will screen over 160 films from around the world. Over 90 films have been included in the World Cinema package. With the message of optimism to the state in its post-flood recovery, a package of six films has been included, named 'The Human Spirit: Films on Hope and Rebuilding'. Fourteen films, including two Malayalam movies -- 'Ee.Ma.Yau' and 'Sudani From Nigeria' will participate in the International competition. To celebrate the birth centenary of Swedish director Ingmar Bergman, seven of his films, and the documentary 'Searching For Ingmar Bergman', will be screened. In the 'Remembering The Master' package, six films by Czech filmmaker Milas Forman will be featured. Six films by Lenin Rajendran have been included in the 'Lenin Rajendran: Chronicler of Our Times' package. The festival, organised by the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy, will conclude on December 13. With limited funds and lack of government funding, the Academy had decided to raise the delegate fees to Rs 2,000. The festival this year is a low-key event, sans any cultural performances, unlike previous years. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) : Congress leader Sashi Tharoor Friday claimed that there was 'definitely' a perception of regime change at the Centre in view of what he called "incredible disillusionment' against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not delivering on his promises. Tharoor was in the city to read out a few excerpts from his book - 'The Paradoxical Prime Minister.' "There definitely is a perception of regime change at the centre.... There is incredible disillusionment against Modi. Many also have reacted to communal violence and cow vigilantism, saying that this is not we have voted for. They expected Modi to deliver on his promises, which he has failed in almost all of them," the Congress MP told PTI. Asked about the prospects of the Congress in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chattisgarh, which went to the polls Friday, along with Telangana and Mizoram, he said he was quite confident of the party winning at the hustings as people were 'disillusioned' withModi's rule. Tharoor also said he did not agree with the 'violent protests' held by the BJP in Kerala over the Sabarimala issue."We have to respect the Constitution and rule of law," he added. However, questions must be asked about what should be the permissible domain for the judiciary to enter into mattersof religion, he said. "To my mind, those lines can be drawn simply by the judiciary and if it refuses then it can be drawn by the legislature through constitutional amendments," he said. Tharoor had last month asked the BJP and RSS not to "desecrate" the Sabarimala temple and termed as "utterly disgraceful" the violence at the hill shrine. He had also blamed the state government for acting in "haste" and not consulting the stakeholders before implementing the Supreme Court verdict, permitting women of all age groups to offer prayers at the Lord Ayyappa shrine. On the row over Aljo K Joseph appearing for Christian Michel, the alleged middleman in the Augusta Westland chopper scam, he said his expulsion from the youth Congress clearly indicated that the party did not endorse his action. "The immediate decision to expel Joseph from the party is a clear indication that the Congress did not endorse his appearing for Michel," Tharoor said. "It was clearly an individual lawyer's choice to take up an individual brief without consulting the party," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) has strongly criticized the UN for its failure to show resolve in sanctioning new leaders who continue to perpetrate violence and destruction in and aided by those harboured in safe havens in its neighbourhood, a veiled reference to Counsellor in India's Permanent Mission to the UN Eenam Gambhir said at a debate on the situation in it is clear that the terrorists who plan attacks against are not interested in peace. "The goalposts for them have changed. The terrorists and their supporters have now set up industries amongst them of narcotics and in the territories they control stealing the resources of the Afghan people and to fund more violence and terrorism," she said. Gambhir said that while the people of Afghanistan strive for better lives and a peaceful future, the challenges they face have only increased in the recent past. She cited the recently released Global Terrorism Index, which named Afghanistan as the world's deadliest country for terrorism with one-quarter of all worldwide terrorism-related deaths during 2017 occurring in the country. strongly criticized the UN's failure to deal with the source of terrorism wrecking havoc in the war-torn country. "Despite these challenges, the UN has not demonstrated the resolve to deal with the source of the problem. The Security Council sanctions committee, which refuses to designate new leaders of the or to freeze the assets of the slain of Taliban, is falling short of what is expected of it by the Afghans and community," she said. "From the lessons from the past, we who are located in New York, are aware that peace in Afghanistan is tied to the peace and security in the entire world, she added. Gambhir noted that while the community advocates that there is no military solution to the issue, the Taliban, aided by their supporters, continue to pursue military operations perpetrating violence and destruction, like the recent attack in Kabul, over several parts of Afghanistan. In a thinly-veiled reference to Pakistan, Gambhir said "these offensives are planned and launched by those who are harboured in safe havens in the neighbourhood of Afghanistan. These sanctuaries have, for years, provided safety for the dark agendas of ideologically and operationally-fused terror networks like the Taliban, Haqqani network, Daesh, Al- Qaeda and its proscribed affiliates such as the Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed. Gambhir said the reports of the Secretary General repeatedly demonstrate that the violence and terror in Afghanistan was showing no signs of abating. We witnessed an increased frequency of attacks, in places never imagined before; even the sick and wounded in hospitals, young boys and girls in schools, praying devotees in mosques, and even mourners at funerals, were not spared by the forces of terror and violence, she said. The General Assembly held its annual debate on the situation in Afghanistan during which it adopted a resolution by a recorded vote of 124 in favour to none against, with three abstentions (Libya, Russia, Zimbabwe). Through the terms of the draft resolution, the Assembly pledged its continued support to Afghanistan as it rebuilds a stable, secure and economically self-sufficient State, free of terrorism and narcotics. It further encouraged all partners to support constructively the Government of Afghanistan's reform agenda and emphasizes that threats to stability and development in the country and the region require closer and more coordinated cooperation. Gambhir lauded the enthusiastic participation of the people of Afghanistan in the Parliamentary elections held last month despite terrorist violence, saying this reflects their desire and faith in democratic governance and rejection of forces that foment and spread terror and violence. "Democracy in Afghanistan is taking deeper roots," she said. She stressed that supports an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-controlled inclusive peace and reconciliation process which promotes and protects unity, sovereignty, democracy, inclusiveness and prosperity of Afghanistan. Any meaningful progress towards sustainable peace requires cessation of terrorist violence, renunciation of links with terrorism, respect for rights of common Afghan people, especially the women, the children and minorities. She further said that India will continue to stand with Afghanistan, stressing that building reliable connectivity for the land locked country is key component of its regional partnership. In these endeavors we are mindful that all such projects respect state sovereignty and territorial integrity and are based on universally recognized international norms, transparency and principles of financial responsibility, ecological and environmental protection and preservation standards, she said. It is with this spirit that India is engaged in various connectivity projects in the region including the Chabahar Port project and direct India-Afghanistan Air-Freight Corridor, which have been successfully operationalised, she said. Commerce minister Suresh Prabhu Friday was optimistic on the India growth story saying, "the worst is over and best is yet to come." The minister was addressing the Global Venture Capital Summit in Goa, attended by over 100 investors from across the globe keen on start-ups. "There is no market, which is exciting as India...This is a new phase in Indias growth story," Prabhu said inviting investors to participate in this. The minister said phenomenal growth will take place in every sector. Noting the drive of infrastructure creation in the country under the Narendra Modi-led government, Prabhu said this is a dire need for such a large country. "The government has to invest more than 10 per cent on infrastructure year after year. That is because we failed to do it in the past," he said indirectly blaming the former Congress-led governments at the Centre. Prabhu, who was also railway minister, said on that front,the entire investment was running into hundreds of billions of dollars. "We created, for the first time, a five-year plan of USD 144 billion investments. There was phenomenal change in the infrastructure after that," he claimed. Prabhu, who also holds the portfolio of civil aviation minister said, "In the aviation sector, we have created 100 airports and we will add 100 more in the next ten years time with the investment of USD 65 billion. The story is similar in roads," he pointed out. Prabhu said that when he held the responsibility as power minister, the country was facing a deficit and questions were asked on how India will become powerful without power. "We made one law that brought in USD 250 billion in investments in a matter of a decade. Today, India from being power deficient, is a power surplus country," he boasted. Making a case to back entrepreneurship he pointed out while in other markets there is a 2-3 per cent growth for start-ups, India clocks double digit growth, and the possibilities are "unimaginable". The minister especially pointed to opportunities in agricultural start-ups because almost all the land used for agriculture is privately owned. There are small holdings. Therefore we have opportunity to increase the farm yield, he suggested. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Jammu and Kashmir police on Friday arrested a suspected ISI agent who was allegedly planning terror attacks in Kishtwar district, an officer said. Sehran Sheikh alias Abu Zubair, a resident of Malikpeth area in Kishtwar, was arrested during a raid in the district on charges of working as an agent for the Pakistan spy agency, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), a police officer said. Sheikh was gathering information about the establishments of J&K Police, armed forces and army deployment in Kishtwar. He had come in contact with a Pakistan-based militant group, Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM), the officer said. The aim of gathering the information about the security establishments was to plan terrorist attacks, the officer said, adding that there were inputs that the banned organisation was using agents to carry out terror attacks in the district. According to the officer, the accused had confessed to his involvement. The police have found that many videos, including on the paramilitary forces' establishments, have been exchanged on Pakistan numbers. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Reshape ADF for relevance, departing president says Departing Australian Dairy Farmers president Terry Richardson says the peak dairy body needs to be significantly changed to stay relevant and the states will need to help make it happen. Walking through a Beautiful Canyon, the village of Ortahisar and Kzlcukur Valley, Cappadocia, TurkeyOn our last day in Cappadocia, we took it easy.We walked from Goreme to the town of Ortahisar.Along the way, we stopped at a cave church and enjoyed the beautiful landscapes of this area.Ortahisar is a small town with a fair amount of tourist services, like guest houses, cafes and a few shops, but at this time of the year there were very few tourists around.In the center of town, farmers were selling olive oil, cheese, olives, fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, radishes, parsnips, cabbages, onions, honey and pomegranate syrup, as well as sacks of potatoes from the trunks of their cars.Men in heavy coats were enjoying the sunshine, playing board games in an outdoor cafe covered with grape vines that had already shed their leaves for the winter.The dried fruit sellers were happy to hand over plates full of dried fruits and nuts for us to taste, encouraging us to take more.The streets are wide and the road is not asphalt, but cobblestone.All around, the hills are filled with air shafts, venting the vast underground ancient city that lies below the village.The place has the feeling of a relaxed small place where everyone knows one another.A local bakery displayed a selection of great smelling, freshly baked breads.We bought a warm flat bread for a little more than three Turkish lira (about 15 cents), and ate it right there and then.Everywhere we walked, people welcomed us, asking where we were from.As if ignorant to the political tension that our current president is spreading like wildfire all across the world, we answer unashamedly, We are from America.Their response is always positive.Some said, Welcome, American people! Welcome! Why NO American people come? Tell your friends and family they are welcome here!Often the people who have asked us where we were from, told us that they had grown up in Boston or Philly, or lived somewhere else in the USA for years.By the old Ortahisar castle, built into an ancient rock, we sat at an outdoor cafe in the sun.We spread a blanket over our laps and ordered some hot mulberry tea and cay.We ate stuffed peppers and eggplants, which were vegetarian and absolutely delicious, and a big salad.On our walk back to Goreme, I decided to take an alternative path and walk through the valleys, among the many rock tombs.Some of the narrow tubular rocks are actually ancient tombs.They were carved into hollow above ground graves and in them were placed the body of the departed along with the things they loved most.A friendly local dog adopted us and ran ahead of us to show us the way.He had had his ear tagged.I have seen that most of the stray dogs in Turkey have tags on their ears, as a sign that they have been vaccinated for rabies and monitored.All of them had friendly dispositions, and were very loving towards me.It was getting late, and the path, although stunningly beautiful, was meandering up and down the hills, with nobody in sight.I knew we were walking in the direction of Goreme, but the town was not yet in sight.We had only an hour before sunset, and we needed to speed up our pace.Then we reached the opening of a very narrow canyon.The walls of the canyon were tall, towering into the sky on both sides.The dog was barking and unwilling to go farther.We made our way down the small wooden ladder that was placed there, and I turned to help the doggy down to continue walking with us, but he was afraid and refused to continue.We had to let him remain where he was, as we needed to get to the outskirts of town before complete darkness fell over the landscape.I told him to turn around and go back, and we continued through the narrow canyon.The canyon dropped precipitously down, and a much longer wooden ladder had been placed to help hikers get down the sheer rocks.It was sturdy, except for one leg that had been washed out by the recent rains.I went down slowly and when I was down, I placed a rock under the rickety leg before Jules climbed down.A word of advice: If you hike in a remote part of nature, always help maintain the path by removing obstacles, if you can.Now we realized why the dog knew intuitively that he should not go further down the canyon.We would have not been able to carry him down this steep and long vertical ladder.He was a big and heavy dog.It would have been a serious mission, and I was glad he had not agreed to come along.The area was full of ancient caves.There were also arches to direct the ancient river that is now dry, and water reservoirs to collect drinking water.There were caves for living, and tombs carved into the rocks.It was stunning and I felt so blessed to be walking in this canyon, ignoring Jules look of concern that we would not make it out of the valley by darkness and that we would have to sleep here in the freezing cold.I felt exhilaration and a heightened sense of being, as we walked alone through the valley.When we left the canyon, we climbed up into the hills to see if we could spot a path to walk towards Goreme, as the path we were walking on was leading north, towards Rose Valley.On top of the hill, we came upon a cave occupied by local people.I waved at the men playing a knife game in the sand.They had drawn a star in the sand and were throwing a knife into it.If the knife stuck in the ground, it was a winning move.If it fell flat, it was a losing move.They waved back and invited us to play with them.I said that we had no time and that we were trying to get to Goreme before dark.They pointed to our left and said there was a path off the cliffs to our left.We exited the valley right before sunset.In no time, we were laying on the bean bags at One Way cafe in the center of Goreme, lolling away the time until dinner.For dinner, we went to the Pide House restaurant to eat Turkish Pide.Pide is like a small pizza, and at this place, they make it from scratch.They roll the dough to order and bake it in the wood-fired oven.We have tried many of the restaurants in the week we have spent in Goreme, and we enjoyed every meal we had.The food is simple, almost peasant food, but if you eat the food they know how to make, it is bound to be tasty and fresh.Next we fly south, to the Mediterranean coast of Turkey, bordering the Greek islands across the sea.We plan to walk the Lycian Way for ten days.It is an ancient walk through a very historic part of the world.It was once a Lycian Teritorry, and some of their fine architecture is still visible in the landscape.My only concern is with walking through the rocky, mountainous terrain in the rain.The other day while hiking through the beautiful White Valley into Love Valley, we came upon a girl hiking alone, walking in the opposite direction.Since she was the only other hiker we saw all day, we started a conversation.She was from Scotland, traveling alone in Turkey.She told us that she had just spent a month hiking the Lycian Way.We bonded momentarily, talking about our starting point on the trail, and how it was to walk the Lycian Way.She said that she had camped out, and occasionally had stayed in guesthouses, but that she was unsure if we would enjoy the strenuous walk in this season.She said that the rocks would be muddy and possibly slippery....I wish we could have talked more and asked her more questions, but both of us had a long way to go to finish our hikes before sunset.So... I am very excited to be walking the Lycian Way, but also a bit scared about what is coming....Please wish us luck...From Cappadocia, sending you love and blessings for a wonderful day,Tali Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik celebrated the Armed Forces Flag Day at a function held at the Raj Bhavan here Friday. On the occasion, the Governor made a contribution towards the Armed Forces Flag Day Fund and lauded the bravery, devotion and dedication of the security forces, both during war and in peace time. Malik observed that the Armed Forces Flag Day was an important occasion for remembering the valiant soldiers who sacrificed their lives for protecting the territorial integrity of the nation. Brig Harcharan Singh, Director, Rajya Sainik Board (RSB) apprised the Governor about the various initiatives for the welfare of war widows and of the families of ex-servicemen and serving armed forces personnel. Besides various fund raising activities, competitions were organised for school going children including painting, quiz, essay writing among others, Singh told the Governor. Malik advised the RSB director to collect funds from government and private institutions throughout the year so that a large corpus could be generated for carrying out welfare activities for ex-servicemen and their families. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Japan is to ban government use of telecoms products made by Chinese tech giants Huawei and ZTE on concerns about cybersecurity, reports said Friday. The government plans to revise internal procurement rules to exclude products made by Huawei and ZTE as early as Monday, the mass circulation Yomiuri Shimbun reported. Jiji Press agency also reported the expected move. The ban comes after a US request to allies to avoid products made by the two companies over fears they contain viruses used for cyberattacks, the Yomiuri said, citing unnamed government sources. Domestic products that use parts made by the two Chinese firms will also be excluded from government use, it said. The Yomiuri said the government was not expected to name the companies directly, so as to avoid angering China. Asked about the report, top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga declined to comment, adding Japan was "closely cooperating with the United States" on cybersecurity issues. China said it was "seriously concerned" about the reports, adding that Huawei and ZTE have been operating legally in Japan for a long time. "We hope that Japan will provide a level playing field for Chinese companies to operate in Japan," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a regular press briefing. "Do not do anything that would undermine mutual trust and cooperation." The reports come after the arrest of a top Huawei executive in Canada infuriated China, sending global markets wobbling on fears of intensifying tensions between Beijing and Washington. The detention of Meng Wanzhou, Huawei's chief financial officer, comes after US authorities reportedly launched an investigation into suspected Iran sanctions violations by Huawei. The firm was already under scrutiny by US intelligence officials who have deemed the company a national security threat. Huawei's affordable smartphones have made strong inroads in the developing world, but the company has faced repeated setbacks in major Western economies over security concerns. Huawei has been under scrutiny in Washington for more than a decade, and is facing bans for 5G contracts in Australia and New Zealand, both Pacific allies of the US. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu Friday visited the Changlang Battalion of the Assam Rifles on the occasion of Armed Forces Flag Day. State Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein, MLAs Phosum Khimhun (Changlang South) and Tesam Pongte (Changlang North), Chief Secretary Satya Gopal and DGP S B K Singh also accompanied the chief minister to Changlang district. While addressing the troops on the occasion, Khandu said that the historic day gives the people an opportunity to reaffirm their solidarity with the armed forces and to recognise the service of ex-servicemen. Khandu also called upon the people to contribute voluntarily towards the Flag Day fund. The fund would be utilised for the rehabilitation of war widows, disabled soldiers and ex-servicemen, he said. The chief minister, deputy chief minister, MLAs, chief secretary also donated an amount of Rs 2.9 lakh towards the Defence Service Welfare Fund, a defence communique informed. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Sri Lanka's Supreme Court on Friday reserved its verdict on a bunch of petitions against President Maithripala Sirisena's controversial decisions 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 apex court heard 13 petitions for four days continuously and Friday's hearing was one of the longest sittings of the Supreme Court in the recent history, lawyers said. The island nation 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. It also issued an interim order on November 13 annulling the gazette notification which made Sirisena's parliamentary sacking temporary illegal. A total of 13 petitions were filed by political parties and civil society groups who claimed that Sirisena's moves to sack Wickremesinghe and dissolve Parliament are in violation of the Constitution. A seven-member bench presided by Chief Justice Nalin Perera on Tuesday began hearing oral submissions on the fundamental rights petitions filed against Sirisena's gazette notification to dissolve parliament. The court on Friday extended its interim order till it decides on the legality of Sirisena's move and reserved its judgement for an unspecified date. Earlier this week, the Court of Appeal halted Rajapaksa and his Cabinet from functioning in their positions in response to a case filed by 122 legislators against the 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. Speaker Karu Jayasuriya has officially conveyed that the House does not recognise Rajapaksa as the legal prime minister until he proved his majority in the House. The United National Front (UNF) coalition led by Wickeremesinghe has moved three motions of no trust against Rajapaksa. However, he refused to step down. Prior to the crisis, Wickramasinghe's party 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. Sirisena has said due to sharp personal differences with Wickremesinghe, he would not reappoint him as the prime minister. However, the UNP claims that Sirisena will be left with no other choice as Wickremesinghe 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. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) NCP chief Sharad Pawar Friday attacked the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh over the Bulandshahr violence and said the incident underscored a "major problem of extremism", which needed to be faced firmly. Pawar accused the Adityanath government of defending "slaughtering" of minorities, and said other sections of the society need to remain alert now. A mob of around 400 people, including right-wing activists, fought pitched battles with police on December 3 in Siana area of Bulandshahr district, apparently after the activists were angered by the discovery of cow carcasses strewn in a nearby jungle. They set on fire 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. "It is clear that the government under Yogi's leadership, taking law into its hands, is defending slaughtering of minorities. Time has come for other sections of the society to remain alert," he said. Pawar made the remarks while speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an event in which a former MLC Apurva Hiray returned to the NCP from the ruling BJP in his presence. "A major crisis of extremism has emerged through this and hence it is to be condemned. But mere condemnation is not going to suffice, it needs to be faced firmly," he added. The former Union minister also said that the poll promises made by the BJP remain unfulfilled and therefore such situations were "created" to divert the attention of the people. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Declaring that the BJP's growth in West Bengal has scared Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, BJP president Amit Shah Friday accused her of "throttling" democracy in the state by denying permission to three 'yatras' of his party. Shah's scathing attack came after the BJP had to postpone three 'rath yatras' in the state due to the Mamata Banerjee government refusing permission and the party failing to get any relief from the court so far. "We will definitely carry out all 'yatras', nobody can stop us. The BJP is committed to change in West Bengal. The 'yatras' have not been cancelled, just postponed," Shah said at a press conference. His party will follow the judicial process to get permission for them, he said. Shah's comments came a day after the Calcutta High Court refused the BJP permission to hold a 'rath yatra' in Coochbehar, following the state government expressing apprehensions of violence. Shah was scheduled to flag off the 'rath yatra' on Friday. The BJP has moved an appeal before a division bench. There was no immediate reaction from Banerjee or her party to Shah's charges. Training his guns on Banerjee and the Trinamool government, the BJP president said people in the state are ready for change and asserted that the party will win a majority of seats in the Lok Sabha polls. His party's expansion in the state and win in over 7,000 seats in panchayat polls has rattled the Trinamool Congress chief. It is giving her "sleepless nights" and left her "scared", Shah said. "She knows these yatras will lay the foundation for change. That is why she is trying to stop them," he said. According to Shah, the state government often denied permission to his party's programmes. It had kept writing to the home department and the director general of police to seek their nod for the 'yatras' but in vain, Shah alleged. "The way Mamata Banerjee is using her government to trample upon democratic norms is very undemocratic and is throttling democracy," he said. In his view, his party's campaign in the state against the "misgovernance" of the Trinamool has resulted in people rising against it. Announcing that he would visit the state on Saturday, he said he would give the chief minister "unsolicited" advice -- that the more her government tries to suppress the BJP, the more will anger spread among people. The BJP's expansion was a reason behind violence in the panchayat elections, allegedly by Trinamool Congress workers, with more than 20 BJP workers being victims of political killing, he said. Shah cited the murder of three party workers and asked Banerjee what action the police had taken so far. Such massive violence was not seen even during the Left government, he alleged, adding that the police and Trinamool Congress combined to abet political murders. The BJP president cited a study to claim that the state accounts for 26 political murders out of 100 in the country. The mafia, he alleged, was working in sectors like health, education and business, and governance has collapsed. Not just the government, the state administration has also resorted to the " of appeasement" to please a community, Shah said, in an apparent reference to the Muslim community. The state government had neither the capability nor the intention to act against outfits linked to terror, he added. Shah also rejected the state government's claim that his party's events will lead to communal tension, saying he visited the state 23 times as BJP president and there had never been any communal flare-up. The TMC and the state police are often behind communal incidents, he alleged. Asked to comment on the recent violence in Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh, Shah noted that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has already spoken about it and a SIT has been set up to probe the matter. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Declaring that the BJP's growth in West Bengal has scared Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, BJP president Amit Shah Friday accused her of "throttling" democracy in the state by denying permission to three 'yatras' of his party. Shah's scathing attack came after the BJP had to postpone three 'rath yatras' in the state due to the Mamata Banerjee government refusing permission and the party failing to get any relief from the court. "We will definitely carry out all 'yatras', nobody can stop us. The BJP is committed to change in West Bengal. The 'yatras' have not been cancelled, just postponed," Shah said at a press conference. His party will follow the judicial process to get permission for them, he said. Shah's comments came a day after the Calcutta High Court refused the BJP permission to hold a 'rath yatra' in Coochbehar, following the state government expressing apprehensions of violence. Shah was scheduled to flag off the 'rath yatra' on Friday. The BJP also failed to get any immediate relief from the Calcutta High Court division bench, which heard an appeal by the party on Friday. However, the division bench of Justices Biswanath Somadder and A Mukherjee criticised the state government for not responding to BJP's letters for permission to hold the rath yatras. It also modified the single bench order and directed the state chief secretary, home secretary and director general of police to sit with three BJP leaders by December 12 and take a decision on the matter by December 14. There was no immediate reaction from Banerjee or her party to Shah's charges. Reacting to Shah's remarks, Congress' chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said that when the matter is under the purview of the high court, its sanctity and dignity should be maintained. "Why doesn't he go to the high court and say that its directive is wrong, remove it, and go ahead with the yatra. But he is not doing that. He is politicising the high court orders," he said. Training his guns on Banerjee and the Trinamool government, the BJP president said people in the state are ready for a change and asserted that the party will win a majority of seats in the Lok Sabha polls. His party's expansion in the state and win in over 7,000 seats in panchayat polls has rattled the Trinamool Congress chief. It is giving her "sleepless nights" and left her "scared", Shah said. "She knows these yatras will lay the foundation for change. That is why she is trying to stop them," he said. According to Shah, the state government often denied permission to his party's programmes. It had kept writing to the home department and the director general of police to seek their nod for the 'yatras' but in vain, Shah alleged. "The way Mamata Banerjee is using her government to trample upon democratic norms is very undemocratic and is throttling democracy," he said. In his view, his party's campaign in the state against the "misgovernance" of the Trinamool has resulted in people rising against it. Announcing that he would visit the state on Saturday, he said he would give the chief minister "unsolicited" advice -- that the more her government tries to suppress the BJP, the more will anger spread among people. The BJP's expansion was a reason behind violence in the panchayat elections, allegedly by Trinamool Congress workers, with more than 20 BJP workers being victims of political killing, he said. Shah cited the murder of three party workers and asked Banerjee what action the police had taken so far. Such massive violence was not seen even during the Left government, he alleged, adding that the police and Trinamool Congress combined to abet political murders. The BJP president cited a study to claim that the state accounts for 26 political murders out of 100 in the country. The mafia, he alleged, was working in sectors like health, education and business, and governance has collapsed. Not just the government, the state administration has also resorted to the " of appeasement" to please a community, Shah said, in an apparent reference to the Muslim community. The state government had neither the capability nor the intention to act against outfits linked to terror, he added. Shah also rejected the state government's claim that his party's events will lead to communal tension, saying he visited the state 23 times as BJP president and there had never been any communal flare-up. The TMC and the state police are often behind communal incidents, he alleged. Asked to comment on the recent violence in Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh, Shah noted that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has already spoken about it and a SIT has been set up to probe the matter. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) : The Puducherry Assembly has been re-convened to meet on December 14 to discuss the Mekedatu issue. Speaker V Vaithilingam has re-convened the session to meet at 10 AM, according to a communication from the Assembly secretary A Vincent Rayar. Though it did not mention the agenda of the session, the House is likely to adopt a resolution against the Centre's approval to the Karnataka government to prepare a detailed project report for the construction of a dam across the Cauvery river at Mekedatu. DMK and AIADMK legislators had staged protests at the Assembly Speaker's chamber recently to urge the territorial government to convene a special session to discuss the issue. Puducherry is among the riparian states of Cauvery and it is feared that if the dam comes up, availability of water for Karaikal farmers would be curtailed. The announcement comes a day after the Tamil Nadu Assembly adopted a resolution urging the Centre to withdraw permission given to Karnataka to prepare the DPR. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Maharashtra Congress chief Ashok Chavan said Friday that it is the ministers of the BJP-led state government who need the services of psychiatrists and not the debt-ridden farmers. "Maharashtra's ministers need psychiatrists. Farmer suicides are rising because of the drought and debt burden. Stop blaming farmers for the government's mismanagement," he said here, addressing a rally. Chavan was referring to a mental health programme of the state government, started three years ago to prevent suicides, especially among farmers. The former chief minister was in Akola as part of the fourth leg of state Congress' 'Jan Sangharsh Yatra' ahead of the next year's polls. He accused the BJP-Shiv Sena government of failing to provide necessary relief despite a severe water shortage in several parts of the state. "Water tankers have not started supplying water yet, but liquor shops have been allowed to stay open from 8 AM," he quipped. While the government's farm loan waiver scheme has not been implemented properly, even the crop insurance money is being denied to impoverished farmers, Chavan claimed. "They have received no insurance money for the pink bollworm attack on cotton crop," he alleged. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Farms run by Japanese Americans once numbered around 200 on the Peninsula. Now, Rancho Palos Verdes will evict the last such farm next summer. The Madhya Pradesh High Court Friday disposed of a local Congress leader's petition seeking safety of EVMs and a court monitored SIT to probe into their alleged mishandling after the Assembly polls held on November 28. Congress leader Naresh Saraf's petition alleged that, after the polling was over, attempts were made to tamper with the polled EVM-VVPATs in Bhopal, Satna, Shajapur, Sagar and Khandwa. Saraf's petition also contended that no separate arrangements were made for used/unused Electronic Voting Machines (EVM). "The strong rooms for storing polled EVMs-VVPATs and warehouses for unused/reserved EVMs-VVPATs are separate buildings with separate security arrangements," a division bench comprising Chief Justice SK Seth and Justice VK Shukla said quoting Election Commission of India's (EC) submission on the issue. "These strong rooms are under the security of Central armed paramilitary forces with a triple cordon of security," the court said, adding that the EC had informed the Indian National Congress, New Delhi about the remedial measures already taken. Stating that no further action was required from the court, it disposed of Saraf's petition. EC counsel Siddharth Seth told HC that necessary instructions were issued to the authorities well in advance for safe upkeep of used EVMs-VVPATs (voter verifiable paper audit trail) and unused reserved EVMs-VVPATs after polling got over. The counsel informed the court that the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Madhya Pradesh had on December 2, submitted a report to the EC on the representation of MP Congress Committee in this connection. The CEO MP, on December 4, submitted a report to the EC refuting media reports on account of short term failure of CCTV cameras due to power cut in Bhopal, as well as delay in depositing three unused reserved EVMs-VVPATs in Khandwa, the EC counsel said. Results of the Assembly polls for the 230-member House will be declared on December 11. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The minimum support price (MSP) for sugarcane will be hiked this year, the Uttarakhand government announced in the state assembly Friday. Replying to a question on the last day of the winter session, Sugarcane Development Minister Prakash Pant said the MSP for sugarcane will be hiked. "The MSP for sugarcane crop will soon be announced and I want to assure the House it will be higher than last year," Pant said. He also said the dues of sugarcane growers will soon be paid. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday hailed the armed forces and said the nation is indebted to them for their service. Banerjee, in a Twitter post on Armed Forces Flag Day, extended her best wishes to personnel of the three armed forces. "Today is Armed Forces Flag Day. My best wishes to all those who are serving in the Indian Armed Forces. The nation is indebted to them for their service. We must continue to work for the welfare of Indian Armed Forces personnel," the CM tweeted. The Armed Forces Flag Day or the Flag Day of India is observed since December 7, 1949. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Hike in property tax, levying of professional and betterment taxes, and plans for a health scheme on the lines of Ayushman Bharat for class IV employees were proposed by the NDMC in its budget on Friday. North Delhi Municipal Commissioner Madhup Vyas presented the NDMC's revised budget estimates for 2018-19 and budget estimates for 2019-20 at the Civic Centre here. Vyas, later interacting with reporters, said the property tax rates have not been revised since the introduction of the Unit Area Method, several years ago, and we have only proposed a very "nominal hike" seeking to boost the income of the cash-strapped corporation. "We are quite hopeful that the property hike proposal will be approved by the Standing Committee of the NDMC. We need more avenues to augment our income, and besides that, two new taxes -- professional tax and betterment tax -- have also been proposed," he said. Sources said the hike in property tax and levying of new taxes are likely to be rejected by the BJP-led NDMC House during its proceedings, especially with general elections due in a few months. The revised budget estimate for the current financial year stands at Rs 6132.43 crore, while the budget estimate for the next fiscal has been proposed to be Rs 8832.56 crore. In the Budget 2019-20, it has been proposed to levy property tax on residential properties according to various category of colonies. A hike by one per cent has been proposed for residential properties falling under categories A to E; and by two per cent for categories F to H. It is also proposed to charge property tax at the rate of 20 per cent of annual property value instead of 15 per cent for commercial properties, guest houses and other non-residential properties up to 150 sqm. A betterment tax of 15 per cent of annual value of property tax has also been proposed, from which Rs 450 crore is expected annually, the NDMC said. Among other proposals made in the budget include earning revenues through display of advertisements on Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) buses, and Railways properties falling in the jurisdiction of the NDMC. Asked how will the earnings be decided from the DTC since their buses travel across the city, criss-crossing areas falling in jurisdictions of other civic bodies, a senior NDMC official said, "We are already in communication with DTC authorities, and we will work out a measure, be it based on route lengths or depot locations." "But, we have taken a lead in it, among all civic bodies, and if other corporations want to come onboard, they can, but we will have the priority," he said. Vyas said a proposal has also been made in the budget to plan a health scheme on the lines of Ayushman Bharat for all class IV employees, and a provision of Rs 25 lakh has been made. "Earlier, we had introduced a scheme to bear 50 per cent interest on loans taken by sanitation staff and other class IV employees, for their children if they qualify for medical and engineering courses. Now, we have extended it to include students qualifying for BA, BSc and BCom courses too," he said. Vyas said the focus of the budget is to "augment income for the NDMC and ensure no loss of revenues". Besides, a skill development scheme has also been proposed to promote entrepreneurial activities among sanitation staff and their families, and a provision of Rs 50 lakh has been made in the budget, the NDMC said. The civic body has also planned to augment income through redevelopment of Azadpur (25 acres) and Model Town (23 acres) staff quarters. "The proposal is to develop nearly 2,600 residential flats of different categories at each place in 22-storey blocks. A 13-storey commercial block at Azadpur has also been conceptualised," the civic body said. The redevelopment plan was proposed a few years ago but the construction is yet to begin. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Nepal Police has rescued 21 inmates -- suffering from drug and alcohol addiction -- from a rehabilitation centre in Kathmandu after receiving complaints that they were allegedly being ill-treated at the institution. The inmates were rescued from the reform home run by NGO Transformation Nepal at Sukedhara in the outskirts of Kathmandu on Thursday, police said. The proprietor of the reform centre, identified as Santosh Ghimire, and an employee of the NGO were arrested on charges of torturing the people sheltered there, they said, adding that an investigation has been initiated into the matter. "Thirteen out of the 34 inmates housed at the reform home fled recently and approached police to lodge a complaint about the ill-treatment they used to face there. The inmates' families also urged the police to take action against the proprietor and rescue their relatives. Acting on their complaints, we rescued the remaining 21 inmates on Thursday," Basanta Lama, Chief of the Metropolitan Range, told a press conference here Friday. The rescued people have been handed over to their families, he said. Lama said according to a preliminary investigation, the proprietor collected a lump sum amount from the inmates' parents for the whole year at the rate of Rs 35,000 per month for each person. At the centre, the inmates were subjected to various kinds of physical and mental torture. They were also not allowed to meet their family members. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) North East Students' Organisation(NESO) and Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti(KMSS) who are opposing the Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2016 have decided to launch protests against it before and during the coming winter session of the Parliament. The NESO, comprising the leading students organisations of the seven north eastern states, have taken the decision to protest against the Bill before the Parliament when it is in session on December 19, its advisor Samujjal Bhattacharya told reporters here on Friday. "We cannot allow the bill to be passed at any cost and we will continue to protest against it as Northeast is not a dumping ground for illegal Bangladeshis", he said. The bill, he said, violates the historic Assam Accord of 1985 and threatens to nullify the ongoing process of preparing the updated National Register of Citizens in Assam. "The Centre must realise none of the north east states are alone. All the seven states of Assam, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura and Nagaland are united in our fight to protect our identity, language and culture", he asserted. The KMSS along with 69 other indigeneous and supporting organisations will stage indefinite hunger strike in New Delhi from December 9, ahead of the Parliament winter session demanding the scrapping of the Bill. "The BJP government is misleading the people, have gone against the constitution and has threatened the very identity of the indigenous people of the state if it is passed by the Parliament", KMSS chief Akhil Gogoi told reporters here. Two teams have already left for Delhi to take participated in the hunger strike and another team will leave by tomorrow, Gogoi added. The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 was introduced in the Lok Sabha to amend the Citizenship Act, 1955 to grant Indian citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians who fled religious persecution in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan and entered India before December 31, 2014. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) New Zealand has set itself apart from neighboring Australia by declaring climate change a top priority. But despite some lofty goals, greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise in the South Pacific nation and could do so for years to come. And the country faces some unusual challenges with half of those emissions coming from farm animals. New Zealand Climate Change Minister James Shaw, who will travel to Poland on Sunday to attend U.N. climate talks, said in an interview with The Associated Press that he expects emissions to peak by 2025 and only then start to decline. "We have not bent the curve," he said. Under the terms of the Paris climate agreement, New Zealand is supposed to reduce its emissions by 30 percent of 2005 levels by 2030. Is it possible? "Well, we're a long way off to tell you the honest truth," Shaw said. He said the biggest challenge is cars and trucks. "Our transport emissions have gone up 24 percent in the last decade," he said. "For every electric vehicle that we import, we import 24 Ford Rangers." New Zealand's liberal government has promised to plant 1 billion trees over the next 10 years, and intends to pass legislation next year requiring the country to become carbon neutral by 2050. But vital details of the law are still being negotiated, including whether the country will be able to trade carbon credits overseas. "We've got an aversion to using international credits before we've really exhausted all of the domestic options," Shaw said. "But we could see the possibility that a future government might need to have that option open." Shaw said research indicates it is possible for New Zealand to become carbon neutral within its own borders, although it will be challenging. Also at stake is the degree to which farmers will be affected. Agriculture is a vital industry in New Zealand, and the human population of 5 million is dwarfed by the country's 10 million cows and 27 million sheep. The animals add to nitrous oxide emissions and release methane gas. But just how to classify methane remains contentious. It's a far more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, but also disappears from the atmosphere much more quickly. Shaw said New Zealand has taken a more bipartisan approach to climate change than in Australia, where he said successive leaders have failed on the issue. He said part of the problem is that Australia has a long history with industries such as coal mining. "It's deeply rooted in people's sense of self and culture," he said. "So when you talk about the need to make that transition, even over quite long timelines, it meets with resistance." Shaw said New Zealand doesn't face the same existential threat from rising seas as some of its low-lying Pacific neighbors such as the Marshall Islands and Kiribati, although the nation would still be severely affected. "If you look at where New Zealanders live, most of us live very close to the sea," he said. "And our largest cities have significant infrastructure quite close to the shoreline. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) said it is focusing on sustainable, safe and green development of road projects in the country. "Despite pressure of constructing road infrastructure with speed, NHAI is focusing on providing safe, sustainable, accessible, clean and green mobility in the country," NHAI Member (Projects) R K Pandey was quoted as saying in a statement. A sustainable mobility in the country, he said, will address a lot of issues coming in the way of safe system for road users. The safety of road users, workers as well as protection, he said, are a matter of concern during construction activities worldwide. "NHAI is fast changing its contract system and has set up a high powered committee in the MoRTH to clear the projects as per requirements," he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A secretary-level meeting of representatives of the NHRC and state-level rights panels was Friday held during which several suggestions were made for further promoting human rights, including those of under trials, officials said. The meeting was held here to explore how the state-level commissions and the National Human Rights Commission could collaborate and share the best practices. "Several important suggestions were made during the meeting to strengthen cooperation and partnership among various commissions. One suggestion was that all custodial deaths may not be due to police torture or apathy hence these should not be generalised in the data related to custodial deaths in the National Crime Record Bureau," a senior NHRC official said. Secretary General, NHRC, Ambuj Sharma gave an overview of the various functions of the rights panel. Neeta Verma, DG, NIC, spoke about how the concept of 'Digital India' has been put into place with the support of information technology by developing Common Services Centre portal. She also launched Human Rights Commission Network Portal, HRCnet, which aims to connect all the human rights commissions, and developed by the National Informatics Centre (NIC) with the support of the NHRC. The meeting also explored the possibilities of collaboration with the District Legal Services Authority, State Legal Services Authority, as well as National Legal Services Authority for organising awareness workshops on human rights and related redressal mechanism. "Governments should be asked to provide financial resources at the level of police chowki and police stations as lack of resources also become a reason for human rights violations of in custody people, who require to be provided food and other material," was another suggestion made during the meeting. "State police organisations should be requested to replicate the Kerala model of deputing woman police personnel with the victim of sexual assault till the prosecution of the accused, was another suggestion," the official said. The NHRC may support an empirical research to know the actual number of under trial prisoners and particularly those, who, due to mental problems continue to languish in jails without hearing of their matters to find out a way forward in such cases for delivering justice, he said, citing the suggestions made during the meeting. The participants included senior officers from the NHRC, SHRCs and national as well as district and state legal services authorities, representing different states. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) After a farmer sent his meagre earnings from the sale of onions in the wholesale market to the Prime Minister, another farmer in Nashik district of Maharashtra has adopted the same mode of protest. Chandrakant Bhikan Deshmukh, resident of Andarsul in Yeola tehsil, has sent a money order of Rs 216 to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. He got this princely amount after selling 545 kg of onions at the Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) at Yeola in an auction on December 5, Deshmukh said Friday. The rate he got was 51 paise per kg, and was paid Rs 216 after deducting APMC's charges, he said, showing the sale receipt. "There is a drought-like situation in my area. How I am supposed to run my house and repay my loans with these paltry earnings?" he said, speaking to reporters. "I did not get good price though my onions were of good quality. So I sent Rs 216 to Maharashtra chief minister in protest," he said. ALSO READ: Maharashtra farmer gets Rs 1,064 for 750 kg of onion, sends money to PM Nashik district in north Maharashtra accounts for nearly half the onion production in the country. Earlier, another farmer from the district, Sanjay Sathe from Niphad tehsil, had sent his earnings of Rs 1,064 for 750 kg of onions to the Prime Minister's Office by way of protest. Bollywood hairstylist Sheela Kapoor was Friday cremated over three months after she died, a social activist said. Kapoor (75) was found dead in her Versova flat in August this year and her body had to be kept in the Cooper Hospital morgue in Juhu as police and others were unable to find any of her kin. Kapoor had reportedly worked as hairstylist in several Hindi films, including super hits like Amar Prem, Caravan, Victoria No. 203 and Hum Kisise Kum Nahin. "We cremated her at 1pm in Oshiwara crematorium on Friday. For three months, police was looking for her relatives but could not locate anyone. People from film associations were also contacted for this but the search was in vain," social activist Prakash Gidwani told PTI Friday. He said police Friday gave permission to cremate Kapoor. Versova-based Gidwani has been conducting final rites of unclaimed bodies for the past three decades. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Over 4.6 lakh people have availed the benefits of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) in the first 10 weeks of the implementation of the scheme, for which over Rs 600 crore has been authorised so far, Ayushman Bharat Mission CEO Indu Bhushan said on Friday. Addressing the '5th India Health & Wellness Summit, 2018,' here, he said over 10,000 people are getting benefits of the scheme daily and once it is well placed, the number will go up to 30,000. "Out of the 4.6 lakh beneficiaries, over two-third went to private sector hospitals. The amount authorised so far is over Rs 600 crore and this number is going up exponentially," Bhushan said. The PMJAY, touted as the world's largest government-funded healthcare programme, was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Ranchi, Jharkhand, on September 23. Under the scheme, over 10 crore families will be provided health insurance worth Rs five lakh each, every year. Highlighting the "meaningful engagement" of PMJAY with the private sector, Bhushan said out of the 14,000 empanelled hospitals over 8,000 are private ones. "We are providing benefits to more than 10,000 beneficiaries everyday. Once the scheme is well placed and deeply rooted in the system, this number will go up to 30,000 per day," he said. In an outreach initiative to create awareness about the scheme, the prime minister has written letters to all the 10 crore intended beneficiaries, out of which five crore have been dispatched so far, Bhushan said. The Ayushman Bharat Mission CEO said PMJAY will prove to be a giant leap towards universal healthcare in the country because of its scale, demand side financing focusing on poor people, collective bargaining, and the role of the private sector in it. So far, more than 10 lakh calls have been received at the toll free number of the scheme and everyday around 10,000 to 30,000 callers seek information about it, Bhushan said, adding the website of the scheme has got three million unique hits since it was launched. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Pakistan's Khyber Pakthunkhwa province plans to construct a heritage park in Elum Valley, which carries a historical significance to both the Hindus and the Buddhists, to promote religious tourism, officials said. A fund of Rs five million has already been allocated by the government to the authorities concerned as an initial grant for preparation of feasibility report of the project, they said. Located between the Swat and Buner districts in the KP province, Elum Valley has been a site of divinity and pilgrimage for both the Hindu and the Buddhist communities. According to Hindu belief, Lord Ram spent time meditating there during his 14 years of exile, while Buddhists believe it to be the site where a previous incarnation of Lord Buddha gave up his life. "The Elum Valley would be made a safe abode for the followers of Hinduism and Buddhism and as well as for tourists visiting the heritage park," said an official of the KP archaelogical department. Under the project, fencing of the entire Elum Valley would be done and a separate track would be constructed in the heritage park, the official said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Pakistan Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua said Friday that Islamabad is ready to host the 19th SAARC Summit, two years after it was called off when India declined to participate following a deadly terror attack in the country. Janjua addressed a ceremony organised by Ministry of Foreign Affairs to celebrate the 34th SAARC Charter Day in collaboration with the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Arbitration Council and SAARC Energy Center. Janjua said being the founding member, Pakistan stands steadfastly by the principles of the SAARC charter. Janjua emphasised that only through adhering to the principles of sovereign equality and mutual respect among member states, the SAARC grouping can achieve the cherished goal of a prosperous and developed South Asian region. She pointed out that the SAARC countries over the years have focused on poverty alleviation. However, life of a large population remains far from satisfactory. "We have enormous responsibility to deliver on this front," she said. The Foreign Secretary said South Asia being home to 1.7 billion talented, energetic and educated human resource and abundantly blessed with natural resources must not be left behind. She also reiterated that "Pakistan stands ready to host the 19th SAARC Summit." The 2016 SAARC Summit was to be held in November in Islamabad. But after a deadly terrorist attack on an Indian Army camp in Uri in Jammu and Kashmir in September that year, India expressed its inability to participate in the summit due to "prevailing circumstances". The summit was called off after Bangladesh, Bhutan and Afghanistan also declined to participate in the Islamabad meet. Maldives and Sri Lanka are the seventh and eighth members of the grouping. Last month, Pakistan said it would invite Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the SAARC Summit. However, India said that unless and until Pakistan stops terrorist activities in the country, there will be no dialogue and participation in the SAARC. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Hitting out at the Congress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday said people with "big surnames" ruled the country but India could not prosper despite having the best talent and natural resources. He also alleged that poverty was not alleviated as it could hit the "vote bank" of parties in the past. Addressing the 'Jagran Forum' organised by the Dainik Jagran media group, the prime minister said, "People with big surnames came to power and went but no solution could be found to problems." He was making an oblique reference to the Nehru-Gandhi family. Modi said the country had targets but lacked commitment and passion. "If poverty was alleviated, how would the slogan of 'garabi hatao' be given ... it would hit vote bank politics," the prime minister said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday urged people in Rajasthan and Telangana to turn out in large numbers to cast their vote. Assembly elections in the two states are being held on Friday. In separate tweets, the prime minister wrote in Hindi and Telugu asking voters in the two states to come out in large numbers to participate in "festival of democracy". On voting days, the PM usually takes to Twitter urging people to exercise their franchise. The votes will be counted on December 11. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Friday hit back at Prime Minister for his remarks that India could not prosper despite people with "big surnames" ruling the country, saying he could not mislead the people by "lying" as he had been "exposed". Congress' chief spokesperson also listed a string of achievements over the last seven decades to highlight the progress made under governments. Addressing the 'Jagran Forum' organised by the Dainik Jagran media group, Modi had said, "People with big surnames came to power and went but no solution could be found to problems." He was making an oblique reference to the Nehru-Gandhi family. He also alleged that poverty was not alleviated as it could hit the "vote bank" of parties in the past. Surjewala dismissed the prime minister's remarks as "baseless" and listed several achievements of the country. "When he had not been born, India had won a war against Pakistan," the leader said. He cited steps such as building of the Bhakra Nangal Dam, abolition of the Zamidari system, abolition of untouchability, setting up of the Navratnas, the IT boom, liberalisation, to state that there had been a tremendous transformation in the country. "When he was attending an RSS shakha, the country had changed the geography of the Asian sub-continent. When he was running an arrogant rule in Gujarat, the UPA government had lifted 14 crore people above the poverty line," he said. Surjewala said the Congress had not done all this, but it was the result of the hard work of 132 crore Indians in over 70 years. "You dishonour the journey of 70 years that India has undertaken. You cannot mislead the people by lying as you have been exposed," Surjewala claimed. He also claimed that when the results of the assembly polls in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Rajasthan and Telangana come out on December 11, the Congress was confident that it would mark a "new dawn for the country" and the beginning of a "new kind of politics". ALSO READ: People with big surnames ruled India yet it couldn't prosper: PM Modi He claimed that the Congress' campaign throughout the state polls remained positive, while the BJP's campaign was one of "abuses and negativity". Surjewala claimed they had been indulging in divisive of caste and religion, but the extreme was reached when in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan polls they did not even spare the Gods. "Someone says Hanuman ji is from the Dalit community, someone says he is an adivasi, someone says he is from Arya Samaj. From Lord Ram to Hanuman, casteist and varna based divisions were made to divert the country's attention," he alleged. Congress chief Rahul Gandhi took part in 82 public meetings and a dozen road shows. He held press conferences in almost all the poll-bound states, Surjewala said. ALSO READ: Modi can demean Gandhi, Patel, others to prove himself superior, says Rahul The Congress spokesperson alleged that the prime minister and his leaders used abusive language. "I will have to say that the PM's behaviour was shameful and condemnable," he said. The political discourse of the country was lowered by the BJP, he alleged. (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.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday expressed the hope that that India's efforts to ensure that economic offenders who flee the country do not get safe havens abroad will show results. New Delhi has put forth some suggestions before the international community to ensure that people "who commit economic offences, those who are fugitives... should not get any sanctuary anywhere in the world", Modi said while addressing the 'Jagran Forum' organised by the Dainik Jagran media group here. "I am confident that our campaign will show results," he said. The prime minister said he put across New Delhi's stand before the strong economies at the recent G-20 meet in Argentina. The government is working to bring back people, including Vijay Mallya, Mehul Choksi and Nirav Modi, for their alleged involvement in bank scams. India presented a nine-point agenda to G-20 countries, calling for "strong and active cooperation" to comprehensively deal with fugitive economic offenders. Modi presented the agenda in the second session of the G20 Summit on international trade, international financial and tax systems. "Cooperation in legal processes such as effective freezing of the proceeds of crime, early return of the offenders and efficient repatriation of the proceeds of crime should be enhanced and streamlined," the agenda read. India also called for joint efforts by G-20 countries to form a mechanism that denies entry and safe havens to fugitive economic offenders. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Two accomplices of terrorists involved in killing of a police officer in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir in October this year have been arrested, police said Friday. "Police have arrested two accomplices of terrorists involved in the killing of sub-inspector Imtiyaz Ahmad Mir on 28 October," a police spokesman said. The two have been identified as Ansar-ul-Haq, a resident of Tikken Pulwama and Syed Saika Amin, a resident of Pulwama. Mir was abducted and later shot dead by militants. The vehicle used for the commission of the crime has also been seized by the police, the spokesman said. He said the investigation into the case revealed that the accused were in touch with the terror outfit Hizbul Mujahideen and had hatched a conspiracy for the commission of crime. The spokesman said two terrorists - Liyaqat Ahamd Wani and Wajid-ul-Islam Wani - involved in the killing of the police officer were killed recently in an encounter at Pulwama. He said further investigation in the case is going on. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A police team has been sent to Jammu to nab an Army soldier who is one of the accused in the murder of a police inspector during mob violence in Bulandshahr, a senior police officer said Friday. IG Crime S K Bhagat said five more arrests have been made in connection with Inspector Subodh Singh's death, taking the number of those arrested to nine. The inspector and 20-year-old Sumit were killed when a mob attacked policemen after cattle carcasses were found in the fields on December 3. Army soldier Jeetu Fauji is a named accused in Singh's murder, he said at a briefing when asked about his alleged involvement in the case as reported in a section of media. According to preliminary information, the soldier is posted in Jammu and a police team has been sent there, Bhagat said, adding, "We hope that he will be arrested soon". The SIT team will investigate into the actual role of Fauji in the case, he said. Army sources in Delhi said the police have contacted the Northern Command and were being given fullest cooperation. Bhagat said the five people, who were arrested, were identified as Chandra, Rohit, Sonu, Nitin and Jitendra. He said their names were not mentioned in the FIR lodged in connection with the inspector's murder. They were arrested on the basis of video footage and eyewitness accounts, and police teams were conducting raids to make more arrests, the IG said. He said a confidential report of an inquiry conducted by ADG Intelligence S B Shirodkar has been handed over to senior officials. To a question on the inquiry by the SIT, he said it could take some time as they have to go into details of every aspect of the case. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Polling was underway amid elaborate arrangements in all 119 Assembly constituencies in Telangana on Friday. Voting began at 7 am and will conclude at 5 pm, except in 13 constituencies classified as Left Wing Extremist-affected, where the process ends at 4 pm itself. Over 2.80 crore electorate are eligible to exercise their franchise in the state, which has a total of 32,815 polling stations. More than 1.50 lakh polling officials, including reserve staff, are on duty. Campaigning by political parties came to an end at 5 pm Wednesday. Additional DG ( Law and order) Jitender Thursday told PTI that about one lakh security personnel, including 25,000 central paramilitary forces and 20,000 from other states, are engaged in poll duties. A senior police official said security was beefed up at bordering areas which were identified as Left Wing Extremist-affected regions. The Assembly polls in Telangana were originally scheduled to be held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha elections next year, but the House was dissolved prematurely on September 6 as per a recommendation by the state cabinet. The Congress has stitched together the 'Prajakutami' (People's Front) along with the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), the Telangana Jana Samiti (TJS) and the Communist Party of India (CPI), to take on the ruling TRS, which is led by caretaker Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR). The TRS, seeking a second term in office, is going alone, as also the BJP. It is to be seen if TRS president and Caretaker Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao's gamble to opt for early elections pays off. While KCR was without doubt the star campaigner for TRS, the Congress and the BJP fielded their bigwigs for campaigning which turned out to be a shrill one. For the Congress, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and party President Rahul Gandhi addressed election rallies. The BJP relied on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the party president Amit Shah. Rahul Gandhi also addressed joint meetings with TDP chief and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu. "We will win 100 seats," Rao repeatedly said in campaign meetings. Rahul Gandhi said Wednesday the Congress-led alliance is confident of winning the elections "hands-down" and claimed that the KCR was showing "signs of nervousness and insecurity" in recent campaign rallies he addressed. The BJP, which won five seats in alliance with the TDP in the last elections in 2014, said it ensured that there is a triangular fight in Telangana this time. Meanwhile, state Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Rajat Kumar Thursday said as many as 446 flying squads were in operation in the state to swing into action if any irregularity was reported and 448 static surveillance teams would also keep a watch on the situation. They would wait in the wings to take action, he said. Besides, 224 video-surveillance teams and 133 video-viewing teams were pressed into service. There were 126 assistant expenditure observers and 123 accounting teams. For the first time, the Election Commission is using Voters Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) in Telangana. As many as 1821 candidates, including a transgender, are in fray. Counting of votes would be taken up on December 11. Huge sums of unaccounted cash and illegal liquor and other goods were seized since the Model Code of Conduct came into effect on September 27. The total seizures stood at nearly Rs 135 crore, including unaccounted cash, illegal liquor and other goods, Kumar said Thursday, adding that the total seizures were 90 per cent more than that of the 2014 polls. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu Friday stressed the need to promote indigenous manufacturing of medical equipment to overcome a "paradoxical" situation in the health sector where a range of treatments are available for foreigners but are out of reach for many local people. Addressing the 46th annual convocation of AIIMS, Naidu said it is estimated that the out-of-pocket expenditure constitutes more than 60 per cent of all health expenses, a major drawback in a country like India where a large segment of the population is poor. Approximately 63 million people fall into poverty each year due to lack of financial protection for their health-care needs. "We have a paradoxical situation when it comes to health sector. On the one hand, India is making rapid strides in medical tourism with people from other countries coming to our country for a range of treatments -- from liver transplant to knee replacement. However, the same treatment is out of reach for many Indians. "We need to overcome this paradoxical situation by ensuring that treatment is affordable for all Indians," Naidu said. He said an important step in this direction will be to promote manufacturing of state-of-the-art devices and equipment in the country, particularly under the Make in India' programme. "Such a move will not only save precious foreign exchange for us but also bring down the costs of the devices," he said. Naidu also said that with a majority of the population, particularly from poor and low middle classes, meeting most of the health expenditure on their own, the government has launched Ayushman Bharat Yojana' to cover more than 10 crore vulnerable families by providing a coverage of up to Rs 5 lakh per family per year. This will be a game-changer in terms of accessing health-care services in India, he said. Expressing concern over the absence of qualified medical practitioners in rural areas which is making people to go to quacks in rural areas, Naidu said there was a need to increase the number of doctors available at health care centres in rural area and incentivize rural doctors. Naidu pointed out that there was a significant urban-rural divide in the health sector. Citing a report, he said, India has only 1.1 beds per 1000 population compared to the world average of 2.7. Seventy per cent of India's health care infrastructure is in the top 20 cities." "We have to bridge this urban-rural divide in providing state-of-the-art health care services. The highest priority has to be accorded to strengthening primary health care and tertiary care." Naidu said in the present times of specialization and super specialization, greater focus needs to be paid to the disciplines of family and community medicine. A major challenge we have to overcome is the need to provide quality health care at all levels, he said. He said that India is faced currently with double burden of disease. On the one hand, we are still grappling with dengue, swine flu, chikangunya, malaria and HIV. On the other hand, non-communicable diseases are taking a heavy toll. Cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases and diabetes are contributing to substantial chunk of total deaths in India. "Not only in terms of expanded access to medical education but also in terms of quality, much more needs to be done," he said. "Recent studies reveal that India still accounts for 16 pc of the global share of maternal deaths and 27 pc of global newborn deaths. Deaths continue to occur due to communicable diseases, with 22 pc of global TB incidence in India. India's non-communicable disease burden continues to expand and is responsible for around 60 pc of deaths in India," he said. "India has achieved significant economic growth over the past decades, but the progress in health has not been commensurate. Despite notable gains in improving life expectancy, reducing fertility, maternal and child mortality, and addressing other health priorities, the rates of improvement have been insufficient, falling short on several national and global targets," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh Friday gave debt relief against commercial bank loans to the tune of Rs 1,771 crore to 1,09,730 eligible marginal farmers in four districts of the state. The amount is being transferred to the accounts of the marginal farmers directly and the process will be completed by Saturday, the chief minister said at a state-level function, where he handed over debt relief certificates to 25 farmers. The farmers covered in this phase belong to Patiala, Ludhiana, Sangrur and Fatehgarh Sahib districts. Addressing the function, the chief minister said that in the next phase, farmers having landholding of 2.5 to 5 acres would get debt waiver towards both cooperative and commercial bank loans. He said waiver of up to Rs 2 lakh had been given to all the marginal farmers and also the small farmers. He said cooperative bank loans worth Rs 1,815 crore of 3.18 lakh marginal farmers had been waived in the first phase, in addition to the Rs 1,771 crore commercial bank loans of 1.09 lakh marginal farmers in Friday's state-level debt relief function. He announced that as many as 2.15 lakh small farmers of cooperative banks would be covered in the third phase, while 50,752 small farmers of commercial banks would be covered in the fourth phase. Underlining the need to export sugar and potatoes to Central Asian countries, the chief minister said he had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to include these items in the export list, which was cleared on Thursday. If the Government of India allows Punjab to export these products, sugarcane and potato farmers of the state would be immensely benefited, he added. He expressed concern about the problem of spurious seeds, agri-chemicals and other inputs that reach the farmers and said his government was maintaining a strict vigil to check sale of such products. He said that a special campaign to ensure balanced use of fertilisers had led to reduction in urea and DAP consumption by 1 lakh MT and 46,000 tonnes respectively during kharif season this year as compared to the previous year. This, he said, resulted in net saving of about Rs 200 crore. He said that a campaign was launched to educate the farmers about judicious use of agro-chemicals on basmati. As a result, the quality of basmati grain had started meeting international standards and farmers were getting better prices, he said. This year, farmers are getting Rs 3600-4000 per quintal as against Rs 2600-3000 last year, he added. Reiterating his commitment to the seamless procurement of crops, the chief minister said his government had ensured hassle-free procurement of paddy in spite of unprecedented heavy rains at the end of September. Till now, more than 187 lakh tonnes of paddy have been procured, he said. He said the state, in collaboration with experts from Israel and Punjab Agricultural University, would lay special focus on water conservation so that this precious natural resource can be conserved. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Election Commission's move to set up all-woman booths for the assembly polls in Rajasthan received a mixed response with the voters giving it a thumbs up but the polling staff expressing some reservations. In a first-of-its-kind experiment in the state, the polling staff and security personnel at 259 out of the state's total 51,687 polling booths are all women. Fifty of these booths have been set up in Jaipur alone. Both men and women can caste votes at these booths. Women voters lauded the initiative. "The all-woman polling centres is a good initiative towards representation of women in the electoral system," a voter, Preeti Mathur, said. "It was good to see women managing the electoral work. It was a different experience this election," another voter, Urmila Jain, said. The women officials, however, complained that their security and logistics issues have been ignored. "It is indeed a good initiative. We are getting a chance to learn about the electoral system, but it would have been better if there was male support staff to carry and deposit the voting machines," Chandrika Warde, presiding officer of a polling centre set up at Government Girls School in Gandhi Nagar area here, said. Presiding officer of another polling booth, Hemlata Saini, too said support staff should have been provided to deposit the voting machines. Several others expressed similar sentiments. The women officials said commuting late at night after depositing the voting machines can be risky. Additional Chief Election Officer Dr Joga Ram said no complaints had been received from women polling officials. Action will be taken to address their grievances if a complaint is filed, he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Rajasthan recorded a turnout of 74 per cent in polling Friday, sealing the fate of Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje whose Bharatiya Janata Party is hoping to return to power after a tough challenge from the Congress. The Election Commission said 73.85 per cent of voters exercised their franchise, a tally just short of the 75.23 per cent registered in the previous assemble elections. The police reported a few clashes among supporters but said polling across the 51,687 booths was largely peaceful. Special DG (law and order) N R K Reddy said ITBP jawans opened fire in the air to disperse a mob trying to enter a booth at a village in Alwar's Mundawar constituency. There were clashes and arson outside the booths in Bikaner and Sikar but polling remained unaffected, he added. At places in the border districts of Barmer and Jaisalmer, people walked miles through the desert to cast their votes. In Bundi district's Hindoli area, 102-year-old Kisni Bai was among the voters. Also in Bundi, Dhapu Bai, said to be over 100 years old, was brought to the polling station on a cot by her family members. First-timers recorded the significant milestone in their lives with selfies, displaying an inked finger, to be posted on social media. "Have chosen my future, you too show up," one man posted. Jaisalmer's Pokaran recorded the highest turnout of 87.03 per cent. The lowest, 59.97 per cent, was in Pali's Sumerpur, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a public rally on the last day of electioneering. The BJP is trying to retain power in the state it won in 2013, displacing Ashok Gehlot's Congress government. If Congress returns, as exit polls predicted Friday evening, Gehlot is tipped as a possible candidate for the post along with the state party chief Sachin Pilot. Vasundhara Raje contested from her Jhalrapatan constituency, Pilot from Tonk and Gehlot from Sardarpura. Results will be declared on December 11, along with those from four other states that went to the polls during the past weeks. There are 2,274 candidates in the fray for 199 constituencies out of the total 200 in Rajasthan. Polling in Alwar district's Ramgarh constituency will take place later due to the death of Bahujan Samaj Party candidate Laxman Singh. Raje, the BJP's chief ministerial candidate, contested against veteran BJP leader Jaswant Singh's son Manvendra Singh in a constituency she has represented since 2003. Manvendra Singh had switched to the Congress just before the election. In Tonk, Pilot contested against Rajasthan Transport Minister Yoonus Khan, the BJP's only Muslim face in the elections. In the current House, the BJP has 160 seats and the Congress 25. Polling began at 8 am, picking pace over the first few hours. The final turnout figure will be released by Saturday morning, Rajasthan's chief electoral officer Anand Kumar said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Rajasthan recorded a turnout of 74 per cent in polling Friday, sealing the fate of Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje whose BJP is hoping to return to power after a tough challenge from the Congress. The Election Commission said 74.02 per cent of voters exercised their franchise, a tally just short of the 75.23 per cent registered in the previous assembly election. The figure is likely to be revised, an EC official said. The police reported a few clashes among supporters but said polling across the 51,687 booths was largely peaceful. Special DG (law and order) N R K Reddy said ITBP jawans opened fire in the air to disperse a mob trying to enter a booth at a village in Alwar's Mundawar constituency. A jeep was torched outside a booth in Bikaner and a motorcycle set on fire near another in Sikar but polling remained unaffected, police said. At places in the border districts of Barmer and Jaisalmer, people walked miles through the desert to cast their vote. In Bundi district's Hindoli area, 102-year-old Kisni Bai was among the voters. Also in Bundi, Dhapu Bai, said to be over 100 years old, was brought to the polling station on a cot by her family members. First-time voters recorded the significant milestone in their lives with selfies, displaying an inked finger, to be posted on social media. "Have chosen my future, you too show up," one man posted. There are 2,274 candidates in the fray for 199 assembly constituencies out of the total 200 in Rajasthan. Polling in Alwar district's Ramgarh constituency will take place later due to the death of Bahujan Samaj Party candidate Laxman Singh. Results will be declared on December 11, along with those from the four other states that went to the polls during the past weeks. Jaisalmer's Pokaran recorded the highest turnout of 87.03 per cent. The lowest, 59.97 per cent, was in Pali's Sumerpur, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a public rally on the last day of the no-holds-barred electioneering seen in the state. Urban areas in Sriganganagar and Hanumangarh regions reported enthusiastic polling. The BJP is trying to retain power in the state it won in 2013, when it displaced Ashok Gehlot's Congress government in a state which tends to alternate between the two parties. If the Congress returns, as exit polls were predicting on Friday evening, Gehlot is tipped for the chief minister's post. So is state party chief Sachin Pilot. Before the media on Friday, both sidestepped queries on who among them will end up with the responsibility, but predicted a party victory. In her interaction with the media after casting her own vote, Vasundhara Raje slammed JD (U) leader Sharad Yadav for body shaming her during an election rally. She contested from Jhalrapatan constituency as the BJP's chief ministerial candidate, pitted against veteran BJP leader Jaswant Singh's son Manvendra Singh in a constituency she has represented since 2003. Singh switched to the Congress just before the election. In Tonk, Pilot fought against Rajasthan Transport Minister Yoonus Khan, the BJP's only Muslim face in the elections. Gehlot stuck to Sardarpura min Jodhpur. In the current House, the BJP has 160 seats and the Congress 25. Polling began at 8 am, picking pace over the first few hours. The final turnout figure will be released Saturday morning, Rajasthan's chief electoral officer Anand Kumar said. The Election Commission set up 259 booths managed by an all-woman staff, a first for the state. Verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines were also deployed for the first time in Rajasthan. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Selfies of people proudly showing off inked fingers flooded social media as Rajasthan went to polls Friday in 199 out of the 200 Assembly constituencies. Voters, particularly youngsters, took to platforms like WhatsApp, Twitter and Facebook to post their pictures after exercising their franchise. "Having voted is also a source of pride in the democracy. Therefore, I put a status (on social media about having voted) as soon as I came out of the polling station," a voter Girish Sharma said. "Have chosen my future, you too show up," read the status of Deepesh Goyal, who voted in Ajmer. CA students Nikita Sharma and Ankita Sharma also showed excitement after casting their votes in Malvia Nagar constituency in Jaipur. "Yes we are flaunting this mark of using our democratic right and we are happy after voting," they told PTI. Engineering student Avi Srivatava only posted a picture of his finger and said the focus was on the ink mark and it was a sign that he had voted. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Air India subsidiary Alliance Air on Friday started the Ranchi-Raipur flight as part of the Centre's regional connectivity scheme from the Birsa Munda Airport here. The inaugural flight was flagged off by Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das and Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha. Today we flagged off the Ranchi-Raipur flight. The Ranchi-Kolkata flight will leave in the night, Sinha told a press conference after the inaugural flight. On Saturday, Alliance Air will commence flight operations between Ranchi and Bhubaneswar. Around 40 passengers boarded the inaugural Ranchi-Raipur flight while 60 passengers will board the Ranchi-Kolkata flight in the night, Sinha said. "Three important cities are being connected with Ranchi by Raipur, Kolkata and Bhubaneswar. There is a flight to Kolkata earlier too, but this flight will be convenient to the passengers as it will land in Ranchi from Kolkata in the morning and the passengers can return to Kolkata in the evening, Sinha said. He said that the fares for these flights are almost the same as train fares, Sinha said. One way fare from Ranchi to Kolkata and Raipur is Rs 1,999 while it is Rs 1,666 to Bhubaneswar. During the last four years, the number of people travelling to these routes have grown rapidly, he said. The number of passengers have grown from six lakh in 2014 to a projected 27 lakh in 2018. "The passenger growth has increased four times, which is a significant growth. There were only 11 flights in 2014 and the number has increased to 27 flights in 2018, Sinha said. Sinha said that the Deoghar Airport will be ready within the next 2-3 years and also expected Bokaro-Kolkata flight in the next 6-8 months. Sinha said talks are on for a joint venture between the Jharkhand government and the Airports Authority of India for construction and operation of flights at Dalbhumgarh, Hazaribagh, Daltonganj/Palamau, Dhanbad, Bokaro and Dumka. Ranchi MP and Chairman of Airport Advisory Committee sought flights from Ranchi to Ahmedabad and Lucknow. Jharkhand Urban Development and Transport Minister C P Singh said talks were on to acquire 24 acre of land belonging to the Army to construct facilities at the Birsa Munda Airport. Stating that offices and hotels along with parking space can be constructed after the acquisition of the 24-acre land, the Union minister added Ranchi Airport would become a economic engine for the city. Sinha also expected international flights connecting Singapore or Dubai from Ranchi. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Right-wing activist Sambhaji Bhide Friday got bail from a local court in a case filed against him over an alleged remark that mangoes from his farm cured infertility and helped couples have male children. Sambhaji Bhide (87), chief of the Shiv Pratishthan Hindustan, had reportedly made the remark during a public rally in June this year. "I have never shared this with anyone except my mother. I have planted these mango trees in my farms. Till now, 180 childless couples took the fruit from me and 150 of them have had children," Sambhaji Bhide had claimed. "If a couple wants a male child, they will have it after eating these mangoes. This mango is useful for those facing infertility," he had said at the June 10 rally. Sambhaji Bhide Friday appeared before Judicial Magistrate First Class Jaideep Pandey and was granted bail on a personal bond of Rs 15,000, his lawyer Avinash Bhide said. The case was filed by the Nashik Municipal Corporation on the directions of the state additional director (health), Pune after a social activist approached the latter demanding action against Sambhaji Bhide. He had earlier failed to appear before the court three times following which summons were issued against him. Sambhaji Bhide is also an accused in the Bhima Koregaon violence which took place on January 1 this year when Dalit groups had organised a function to mark the bicentenary of Bhima Koregaon battle between the Peshwas and East India Company forces in 1818. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Union Minister Kiren Rijiju on Saturday will interact with a group of 40 Indian-origin youths from eight countries who are touring India to feel a sense of connect with their motherland and get exposure to its art, heritage and culture, officials said Friday. The youths are touring India under the 'Know India Programmes (KIP)' which is a key initiative of the central government. The initiative has been taken with an aim to engage and make students and young professionals of Indian diaspora in the age group of 18 to 30 feel a sense of connect with their motherland and to be motivated and inspired by transformation taking place in India, an official at the Home Ministry said. The Indian-origin youths will be given exposure to various aspects of contemporary India, its varied forms of art, heritage and culture, the official said. Rijiju is expected to give a pep talk to the youths on various aspects of contemporary India. The youths are from Fiji, Suriname, Guyana, Myanmar, the Netherlands, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Trinidad and Tobago. They will be told about the progress made by the country in various fields such as industrial, education, science and technology, information and communication, climate and power and renewable energy etc, another official said. The participants will visit places like Parliament Museum Library, President's House, Red Fort, Raj Ghat and will meet senior functionaries in the central and state governments in order to have the first hand experience of the contemporary development in India. They will also be going to Agra, the official added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Richwood, TX (77531) Today Rain likely. High 56F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch.. Tonight A steady rain this evening. Showers continuing overnight. Low 51F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch. A controversy has erupted over the mid-day meal served to school children in Karnataka by the Akshaya Patra foundation with the state government directing it to include garlic and onion in the food. The foundation, a wing of ISKON, a spiritual organisation, has been feeding 1.6 million children (in the country) 'satvik' food that did not include onion and garlic in line with its principles. Opposing the move, foundation trustee amd former Infosys CFO Mohandas Pai alleged that some government officials under the "influence of vested interests" were playing mischief to include onion and garlic in the menu. He sought the intervention of Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy to resolve the issue. "Akshaya Patra Foundation has been feeding midday meals as per union government's standards. Now it is obvious that some officials under the influence of vested interests are playing mischief for reasons all known," Pai told PTI. A senior government official associated with the midday meal programme said the state food commission officials had visited various schools and suggested addition of onion and garlic for improving the taste of the food served to children. "The commission has made this recommendation to us and hence, we have sent a notice to the foundation. We are awaiting a reply from them," the official said. An associate of Akshaya Patra Foundation Kulshekara Chaitanya Dasa said the foundation had received a notice from the government with a direction to follow the menu prescribed by Karantaka Food Commission. In view of the instruction, the foundation had so far not signed the annual MoU for 2018-19 with the state government for feeding 4.43 lakh children in Karnataka, he said. Foundation's Strategic Communication and Projects Head Naveena Neerada Dasa said it was their constant endeavour to contribute to the government's effort in promoting good health and nutrition amongst children. "Akshaya Patra is committed to serve quality, hygienic and nutritious food to schoolchildren every day and implement Akshara Dasoha, the flagship midday meal programme of government of Karnataka," Dasa said. BJP leader and actress Malavika Avinash slammed the government for issuing the direction to include onion and garlic, saying it was an "uncalled" intervention. After all these years of appreciation for the foundation's food, it was quiet surprising to see the JDS-Congress government getting into the nitty-gritty of the ingredients going into the menu, she said. "Since when did the government start worrying about the ingredients that are used in satvik cooking as long as food is tasty and maintains the standards of nutrition that are prescribed by the Centre. This is completely uncalled for, surprising and quite objectionable," she said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The saga of a Haryana village, which took part in the country's First War of Independence, will be included in the school curriculum from the next academic session, the state government said Friday. State Education Minister Ram Bilas Sharma announced the decision while presiding over a meeting of the school education department at the Civil Secretariat here. The government has decided to include in school syllabus the inspiring saga of Rohnat village in Bhiwani district -- about 233 km from here, Sharma said. Rohnat were branded as a "Village of Rebels" by the Britishers during the revolt of 1857 against the East India Company. For their role in the First War of Independence, the entire village population was stripped off their landholdings and men were crushed under road-rollers, locals have maintained. A film on Rohnat, setting up a 'Rohnat Freedom Trust', providing free-of-cost treatment for the village's people, who are aged 60 or above, are on the anvil, the minister said. A 'shaheed smarak (martyr's memorial)' will be built in Rohnat on four acres of land. The valour and sacrifice of the people of Rohnat during the revolt of 1857 is unforgettable, he said. Even after Independence, the residents had stopped celebrating the Independence Day functions, as they were peeved at not getting justice even after the end of the British regime. In March, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had hoisted the national flag for the first time in Rohnat, where the Tricolour was never hoisted for the past 70 years as a mark of protest, Sharma added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The South Asian University here commemorated the 34th SAARC Charter Day Friday and thanked the partner countries for their contribution to the collaborative effort. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a message that as a founding member of SAARC, India was committed to strengthening regional cooperation and integration. "Our initiatives in recent years, such as the launch of South Asia Satellite, extension of India's National Knowledge Network to South Asian countries and ever continued support to the South Asian University and the SAARC Disaster Management Centre (Interim Unit) are geared towards promoting people-to-people contacts and connectivity in the region," he said. The occasion marks the day the regional body came into being after the member states signed a charter in 1985. "The university has been continuing its efforts to engage in more international collaborations and also with atleast one institution of higher learning in each SAARC country as is evident from the MoUs with 17 universities, institutes till now, including some from beyond the SAARC region," said Kavita Sharma, President , South Asian University. Sharma also said the first phase of construction of the university's permanent campus at Maidangarhi was expected to be completed by early 2019. SAU is an international university established, funded and maintained by the governments of the eight member nations of South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC) viz. Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. SAU started its operations from the academic year 2010. The university now offers masters and M Phil/PhD research programs in seven disciplines -- economics, computer science, biotechnology, applied mathematics, sociology, international relations and legal studies. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Human Rights Watch on Friday urged Saudi Arabia to allow independent observers access to detained women's rights activists, saying Riyadh's assurances of their well-being could not be trusted following the murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The kingdom last month denied as "false" and "unfounded" reports published by HRW and Amnesty International that three women activists had been tortured and sexually harassed in detention. "Saudi Arabia's consistent lies about senior officials' role in Jamal Khashoggi's murder mean that the government's denials that it tortured these women activists are not nearly good enough," said HRW's deputy Middle East director, Michael Page. Khashoggi, a dissident columnist who lived in self-imposed exile in the United States, was killed inside the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul in early October. His murder has put mounting pressure on Riyadh and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who Turkish officials -- and reportedly the CIA -- have concluded gave the orders. The New York-based watchdog said it received a new report on November 28 from an "informed source" indicating that Saudi authorities had tortured and sexually harassed a fourth woman activist. Sources told HRW the torture of Saudi women activists "may be ongoing". "Unless independent monitors are able to confirm the women activists' well-being, there is every reason to believe that the Saudi authorities have treated them with unspeakable cruelty," Page said. More than a dozen activists were arrested in May -- just before the historic lifting of a decades-long ban on women drivers the following month. Interest in the rights campaigners heightened after Canada called for their "immediate release", sparking a diplomatic row that saw Riyadh expel the Canadian ambassador in early August and impose a raft of other sanctions. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Supreme Court Friday sought response from Enforcement Directorate (ED) on a plea filed by beleaguered businessman Vijay Mallya challenging the ongoing proceedings in a Mumbai court to declare him a fugitive economic offender and confiscate his properties. The apex court, while issuing the notice to the probe agency, however, refused to stay the proceedings on ED's plea before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court at Mumbai seeking the 'fugitive' tag for Mallya under the Fugitive Economic Offenders' Act, 2018. Under the provisions of the Act, once a person is declared a fugitive economic offender, the prosecuting agency has the powers to confiscate his property. "Notice. No stay," a bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice S K Kaul ordered after hearing senior advocate Fali S Nariman, appearing for Mallya, for few seconds. Mallya, who fled to the UK in March 2016, is wanted in India over default of Rs 9,000 crore that was loaned to Kingfisher Airlines (KFA) by several banks. In September, a UK court had fixed December 10 as the date to deliver its verdict on whether he can be extradited to India to face charges of fraud and money laundering amounting to around Rs 9,000 crore. Mallya had moved the apex court challenging the Bombay High Court order which dismissed his plea seeking a stay on the proceedings before a special PMLA court in Mumbai on ED's plea to declare him a fugitive economic offender under the new law. He had filed an application in the lower court seeking a stay on the hearing on the ED's plea till November 26 when the appellate tribunal functioning under the PMLA would hear matters filed by a consortium of banks seeking their dues back. The special court had on October 30 rejected Mallya's application, following which the liquor baron had approached the high court. Mallya had then approached the high court saying that his pleas should not be misunderstood as a ploy to run away from the proceedings and had reiterated that he wanted to pay back dues to banks. The high court, however, had dismissed Mallya's plea. "The application has been filed at the threshold and at a very premature stage when the lower court is still hearing the prosecuting agency's request to declare him (Mallya) a fugitive economic offender," the high court had said, making it clear that the special PMLA court would continue with the pending proceedings against Mallya on merits. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Supreme Court Friday refused to stay the Madras High Court order for a CBI probe against police officials for firing at anti-Sterlite protesters in Tamil Nadu in May this year. A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi issued notice to the CBI on the petition filed by the Tamil Nadu government challenging the High Court order. "We have to see the other side," said the bench, also comprising Justice S K Kaul, when senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi sought the stay. The police firing had taken place in Tuticorin district during the anti-Sterlite protests claiming 13 lives on May 22 and 23. The high court ordered that FIRs be registered against top police officials and officials of the civil administration. The High Court on May 14 had transferred to the CBI the probe into the police firing and directed the agency to conclude the investigation in four months. It had also quashed an order detaining six members of the 'Makkal Adhikaram,' a Left outfit accused of inciting violence in the district. On May 22, after the Tuticorin district collectorate was picketed to seek the closure of copper plant of Sterlite, a unit of the Vedanata group over pollution concerns, large-scale violence had followed. The consequent police firing 13 people were killed on May 22 and 23. The High Court had on July 9 directed the state government to furnish a video in its possession, allegedly showing some anti-Sterlite protesters with petrol bombs during the stir, as it observed that a CBI probe into the violent incidents will instill confidence in the minds of the people. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Congress on Friday slammed the ED raids against Robert Vadra's associates and claimed that sensing defeat in state polls, an "unnerved" Modi government was unleashing "vendetta" against party chief Rahul Gandhi's brother-in-law to divert the narrative. Congress' chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi "is acting like a don". There was no immediate reaction from the BJP on Congress's comments. The Congress attack came after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) Friday carried out searches against three people linked to Vadra in connection with its probe into alleged "commissions received by some suspects in defence deals" and illegal assets stashed abroad. This is for the first time that Vadra's associates have been linked to alleged commissions received in defence deals by the ED. "Sure shot defeat in five states has unnerved Prime Minister Modi to again use the same old trick -- unleash revenge and vendetta against Mr. Robert Vadra to divert the narrative," Surjewala alleged at a press conference. Instead of acting as independent investigative agencies, the CBI, the ED and the Income Tax department are acting as "personal slaves and political agents" of Modi, he claimed. of revenge and malicious vendetta have today reached its nadir, he said. Surjewala also alleged that in the past 54 months, the Modi government has let loose a criminal conspiracy to "vilify, denigrate and malign" Vadra to settle political scores. "As all else failed, the Modi government has unleashed all its agencies including ED, CBI and Income Tax to victimise Robert Vadra in an utterly mala fide manner," he alleged. Surjewala claimed that in a "brazen affront" to the rule of law and to Constitution, on the polling day, ED officers from Jaipur and Delhi raided the office of Vadra in Sukhdev Vihar and the residence of his associate, the associate's sister and her in-laws at Noida, without any FIR or search warrant. He also pointed to Vadra's lawyer statement that all this was done without even registration of an offence or an FIR against Vadra and there was an apprehension over planting of false and fabricated material in their office. "Over last four-and-a-half years, this is the consistent vicious design of the Modi government to settle political scores against all opponents including over the dozen senior leaders of the Congress party," he alleged. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A new lift connecting Shimla's Cart Road and the Mall Road was inaugurated Friday. The lift has a carrying capacity of 26 persons and is equipped with facilities including emergency alarm system, music, telephone connectivity and a clock, an official said. It has been constructed at a cost of Rs. 6.20 crore, he added. Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur inaugurated the lift which is adjacent to the old one. The existing lift was opened to the public in 1974. The lift is constructed by the Department of Tourism under Shimla beautification plan with funds from Asian Development Bank. Former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh had laid the foundation stone for the project in November, 2016. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and WhatsApp have changed the manner in which users consume content and communicate with each other, but the firms need to be mindful of "certain dos and don'ts" and guard against any misuse of their platforms, IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said Friday. Speaking at the CII Big Picture Summit, Prasad said that platforms' large focus on India underscored the sheer size and opportunities presented by the market here. "Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and WhatsAap are coming to India not only because they are giving some service. India offers a robust market, by its sheer size. I always say, come do business but remember certain dos and don'ts...you must follow," Prasad said. The minister said that firms should also guard against any potential misuse of their platforms. In particular, these "public platforms" must not be misused by those with wrong intentions for the purpose of exploitation and denigration of others, he said. Outlining India's rising digital clout on the back of its large smartphone user base, strong IT outsourcing industry, electronic manufacturing capabilities and biometric programme Aadhaar, the minister asserted that the country will never barter its digital sovereignty and is, in fact, bringing a strong data protection law to safeguard its digital information. The right of accessing the Internet is "not negotiable" and if the Internet is designed for common good, it should be safe and secure, he added. He also called for a robust mechanism for measuring the ratings of digital platforms. A special CBI court will on December 21 announce its verdict in the case related to the alleged fake encounters of Sohrabuddin Shaikh and Tulsiram Prajapati. At present, 22 accused, mostly police personnel from Gujarat and Rajasthan, are facing trial in the case. Judge S J Sharma said on Friday that he will pronounce the verdict on December 21. "I need about 14 days. I am sure I will finish it by December 21. If I don't complete by December 21, then I will pass the judgement on December 24. But I am very sure that I will be able to complete my work by December 21," the judge said. Of the 38 people charged by the CBI for the alleged fake encounters, 16, including BJP chief Amit Shah (who was minister of state for home in Gujarat then) and all senior police officials, have been discharged in the case. Earlier, while recording their statement under Section 313 of the CrPC, most of the accused had claimed innocence and had said they had been falsely implicated by the investigating agency. Under Section 313, after examination of witnesses, a final chance is given to an accused to record his statement. "The charge sheet against me was prepared (by the CBI) based on false witnesses. I'm innocent. I have not participated in any police encounter," Abdul Rehman, an accused, had earlier told court. According to the CBI, Abdul Rehman, then inspector with the Rajasthan Police, was part of the encounter team and had fired at Shaikh. Rehman had also denied the CBI's claim that he had filed the FIR in Sohrabuddin Shaikh case. Ashish Pandya, who is accused of pulling the trigger on Prajapati, had told court that he fired in self-defence and was discharging his duty. "The encounter was genuine. I fired at Prajapati in self defence," Pandya said, adding that he was discharging his official duty. Pandya, who was then sub-inspector with the Gujarat Police, was part of the Special Task Force (STF) to eliminate Prajapati at Chapri village of Ambaji town in Banaskantha district. Shaikh, a suspected gangster, and his wife Kausar Bi were killed in an alleged fake encounter in 2005 by the Gujarat Police. His aide Prajapati was killed in another alleged fake encounter in 2006 by Gujarat and the Rajasthan Police. The case was initially probed by the CID, Gujarat, before being transferred to the CBI in 2010. During the course of trial, the prosecution examined 210 witnesses, of which 92 turned hostile. At the conclusion of final argument, CBI counsel B P Raju had pointed out that there were "lacunae" in the central agency's investigation as they got the case five years after the alleged incidents. The CBI entered into the frame after five years and examination of witnesses began 12 years after the crime was committed due to which there were some "lacuna" in the probe, he had told court. He added that some star witnesses turned hostile during the trial, hampering the CBI's case. Responding to the same, the judge had said, "I don't blame CID. I don't blame CBI. There are statements and witnesses. If they come here and say something else, it's not your fault. You did your job." The case was transferred to Mumbai in September 2012 on the request of the CBI to ensure a fair trial. The encounter cases of Shaikh, Kausar Bi and Prajapati were clubbed together in 2013 after the Supreme Court directed that the trial be shifted to Mumbai from Gujarat. Security was stepped up outside Sri Lanka's top court on Friday ahead of an expected ruling on whether the president broke the law by sacking parliament last month, a decision that could potentially lead to impeachment proceedings. President Maithripala Sirisena plunged the country into crisis on October 26 when he fired the prime minister and appointed the contentious Mahinda Rajapakse in his place. He then dissolved parliament on November 9. Four days later, the Supreme Court issued an interim ruling suspending Sirisena's decree and restoring parliament, which almost immediately passed a no-confidence motion against Rajapakse. The court's seven-judge bench was likely to deliver a final ruling on the constitutionality of Sirisena's move on Friday. "If the morning session is brief, we can expect a decision later today," a court official said. Sacked premier Ranil Wickremesinghe's party and their allies, who command a majority in the 225-member assembly, have suggested that they could begin impeachment proceedings again Sirisena depending on the ruling. Wickremesinghe's party loyalists believe that the court decision will go in their favour, a view held by many independent lawyers. Problems for Sirisena were compounded on Monday when the Court of Appeal suspended the entire cabinet and asked Rajapakse to explain on what authority he was holding office. With parliamentary proceedings degenerating into brawls, the United States, the European Union and other powers have raised concerns over the crisis in the strategically important island nation of 21 million people. Only China has recognised the appointment of Rajapakse, who during his decade as president until 2015 relied heavily on Beijing for diplomatic and financial support. As president from 2005 until 2015, he ended Sri Lanka's four-decade civil war in 2009 by crushing the rebel Tamil Tigers. But 40,000 ethnic Tamils were allegedly massacred in the process. Rajapakse and his family are also alleged to have profited from his time in power through corrupt deals. During an earlier stint as prime minister from 2001 until 2004, Wickremesinghe is credited with pulling Sri Lanka out of its first ever recession, in part with reforms that have endeared him to the West. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A meditation camp by Sri Sri Ravishankar at the Brihadeeswara shrine, a UNESCO World Heritage temple at Thanjavur, faced opposition from pro-Tamil outfits, as the Madras High Court granted interim stay against the programme prompting the organisers to shift the venue. The two-day event at the ancient shrine, categorised as 'Great Living Chola Temples,' by the UNESCO, faced the ire of pro-Tamil outfits like Tamil Desiya Periyakkam which had support of parties like the CPI(M) and Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi. A division bench on the court's Madurai Bench, comprising Justices K K Sasidharan and Audikesavalu, after hearing a plea, granted interim stay against the event. The court directed the Thanjavur district collector and police Superintendent to ensure that the event did not take place in the temple and instructed them to remove chairs and pandal put up for the programme. The petitioner N Venkatesh, in his plea, argued that if the event was allowed to be held, it would set a wrong precedent and would lead to similar events in future as well. Such events, if held, would affect the temple, he said and cited the National Green Tribunal holding the Art of Living responsible for the damage to the Yamuna floodplains due to an event it held in 2016. Following about the meditation camp, a row erupted as to how permission could be granted for Art of Living, a private body to hold the event at the temple. The shrine is a heritage site that fell under the purview of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and the state government's Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department. After an independent journalist's tweet about "a tent-like structure," near the temple vimana (tower) asking how the heritage temple could be disturbed, pro-Tamil groups and parties started protesting. "There is no scope under the law to hold such events in the Thanjavur temple, which is protected by the ASI and it is a UNESCO Heritage site, if permission was given it is against the law," VCK general secretary D Ravikumar told PTI. The VCK leader said his party had no objection to the event per se but only the location. "It is a 1000 plus year monument which is a treasure of Tamil Nadu, any structure even if it is temporary cannot be put up there," he said. When pro-Tamil outfits attempted to take out a procession at Thanjavur against the event, they were detained by police and additional police pickets were deployed. A spokesperson for Art of Living said they had got approval from the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department and the ASI well in advance. "Since it is normal to have spiritual discourses in temples, the programme was organised here," she said. A statement from Art of Living said its volunteers were engaged in cyclone relief work at Vedaranyam and Pudukottai. While Ravishankar was scheduled to visit such areas to oversee the rehabilitation work, local people wanted him to facilitate a meditation programme. "It is unfortunate that a couple of people with vested interests...are quoting false allegations," it said. The event, christened "Vigyan Bhairav Master class meditations," that encompasses deep meditation techniques to tap super consciouness, has been shifted to a hall near the temple, organisers said. It is being held from Friday evening and would conclude Saturday, they added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Three alleged drug smugglers, including a surrendered militant, were arrested on Friday with heroin worth at least rupees four crore in the international market, police said. The accused were identified as Ali Mohmmad alais Ishaq, a former member of Al-Barq terror outfit, Sohial Ahmed and Pradeep Kumar, they said. Three members of an inter-state narcotic smuggling gang have been arrested. Cash worth rupees 13 lakh and one kilogram of heroin was recovered from their possession, Superintendent of Police (SP) Jammu City (South) Vinay Sharma told reporters here. The value of the heroin in the international market is estimated to be between rupees 4-5 crores, he said. The accused were nabbed by police during routine checking of vehicles at Valmiki Chowk, the SP said. Sharma said Ali, a Pakistan trained terrorist, was running a cable network in Kupwara after surrendering. Later, he came in contact with the Pakistan drug lobby through social media and turned to narcotic smuggling. The drugs had been smuggled in from the Indo-Pak border in north Kashmir's Kupwara district and were being transported to Rajasthan, he said. A case has been registered at Gandhinagar police station, Sharma said. He said the NIA has been informed about the case due to the terror and border smuggling angle involved. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) : Income Tax officials from Tamil Nadu have sought permission of prison authorities here to question V K Sasikala in connection with a tax matter, an official said. Sasikala, an aide of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister late J Jayalalithaa was convicted in a disproportionate asset case and lodged in the Parapana Agrahara central jail here since last February. "We have received a letter from Income Tax Department in Tamil Nadu, seeking permission to question Sasikala in an I-T matter on December 13 and 14," Jail Superintendent Somashekhar told PTI here. Tax sleuths had last year conducted searches at premises linked to Sasikala and her kin over suspected tax evasion in various cities including Chennai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Exit polls Friday predicted a tight finish between the BJP and the Congress in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, and a win for the opposition party in Rajasthan. They also predicted that the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi in Telangana will retain power, but forecast a hung assembly in Mizoram, where Congress is in power. Counting of votes for all five states is scheduled for December 11. Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan are all ruled by the BJP presently. While Republic TV-Jan Ki Baat gave 108-128 seats to the BJP and 95-115 to the Congress in the 230-member Madhya Pradesh, India Today-Axis said the saffron party could win 102-120 seats as against 104-122 for the Congress. However, the Times Now-CNX exit poll predicted a majority for the BJP in MP with 126 seats and gave the Congress a tally of 89 seats. On the other hand, ABP exit poll said the Congress is likely to get a majority by bagging 126 seats. The BJP, it added, would get 94 seats. In the 90-member Chhattisgarh assembly, exit polls broadcast by Republic-C Voter predicted 35-43 seats for the BJP and 40-50 for the Congress while the Nation forecast a close race with 38-42 seats for the BJP and 40-44 for the Congress. Times Now-CNX, however, gave a simple majority to the BJP in Chhattisgarh, saying it may win 46 seats while the opposition Congress may bag 35 seats. ABP said the BJP may get up to 52 seats against 35 of the Congress. However, India Today-Axis predicted the Congress is set to end Chief Minister Raman Singh's 15-year old reign by winning anywhere between 55-65 seats. The BJP, it said, may be reduced to 21-31 seats. All the exit polls said the alliance of former chief minister Ajit Jogi's Janta Congress Chhattisgarh (Jogi) and the BSP may win between three and eight seats, which may help him to emerge as a king-maker in the event of a hung house. BJP leaders said they are confident to retain power in all the three states ruled by them, while Congress leaders maintained that the final results on December 11 would show that they have performed better than what has been predicted in the exit polls. If exit polls differed in their projections for Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, most of them predicted the Congress' return to power in Rajasthan. India Today-Axis said the opposition party may win 119-141 out of 199 seats for which elections were held. The BJP, it added, may win 55-72 seats. Times Now-CNX forecast 105 seats for the Congress and 85 for the BJP. ABP News also predicted a victory for the Congress, saying it may bag 101 seats while the BJP may end up with 83 and others with 15 seats. However, Republic TV-Jan Ki Baat forecast a tighter race between the two parties. It gave the Congress and the BJP 81-101 and 83-103 seats respectively. Exit polls were almost unanimous in predicting that TRS president and Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao's gamble of advancing the assembly polls will pay off and he will retain power. Republic TV and Times Now forecast that his party will 50-65 and 66 seats in the 119-member assembly. TV9 Telugu and India Today forecast a tally between 75-85 and 75-91 for the ruling party respectively. Some exit polls saw a tighter battle between the TRS and the Congress-TDP combine. In Mizoram, where the Congress is in power for two consecutive terms, Times Now-CNX said the ruling party may get 16 seats. It predicted 18 seats for Mizo National Front (MNF) in the 40-member assembly. The counting of votes for five states, including Mizoram besides the four states, will take place on December 11. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) / -- 20 lucky people won a free trip to London Customers also won other exciting prizes like iPad, silver coins and discount on watches Adding more delight to its happy customers, Timex, one of the leading watchmakers in India, announced the lucky winners of the Timex Howzatt offer. Timex is taking 20 lucky winners of Diwali Howzatt offer for a free trip to London in 2019. To top it all, many customers also won other compelling prizes like iPad, silver coins and attractive discount on watches. (Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/680504/Timex_Logo.jpg ) With the onset of festive season, Timex announced the Howzatt offer in India between 10th October 2018 to 15th November 2018 through a massive advertising campaign. The campaign excited Timex customers to not only own a watch from the global brand but also win exciting prizes. Under the offer customers who bought any 'Timex' or 'Helix' brand watch from www.shop.timexindia.com or from any authorized retailer, got a golden opportunity to win an assured prize by scratching a card and win exciting prizes like Trip to London, Ipads, Silver Coins or discount. The company ran the Howzatt offer scratch card promotion PAN India (except the state of Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and wherever prohibited by Law). Announcing the winners of this offer, Manoj Joshi, Head Sales, Timex Group India Limited, said, "At Timex we have always believed in customer loyalty and making our customers feel special. We have always rewarded our loyal customers and have helped them in making some memorable moments which they can always cherish. Therefore, this festive season with our Howzatt offer, we will be sending the lucky winners to London, so that we can give them a beautiful experience for the lifetime." Apart from trip to London, other customers who purchased Timex and Helix watches during the offer period have also won 50 Apple iPads, thousands of silver coins and exciting discount on the watches. About the Timex Group: Timex Group designs, manufactures and markets innovative timepieces around the world. Timex Group is a privately-held company headquartered in Middlebury, Connecticut with multiple operating units and over 5,000 employees worldwide. As one of the largest watch makers in the world, Timex Group companies produce watches under several well-known brands, including Timex, Timex Ironman, Timex Expedition, Nautica, Guess, GC, Salvatore Ferragamo, Versace, Versus and Opex. The Timex brand, launched in 1950, sells millions of watches each year worldwide. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) : Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit Friday called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh in Delhi and held discussions with them on key issues. The Governor met Modi at his residence and discussed issues related to Tamil Nadu for 45 minutes, a press release from the Raj Bhavan said. Purohit held talks also with Rajnath Singh for 30 minutes on the issues, it added. The meeting comes a day after the Tamil Nadu Assembly adopted a unanimous resolution urging the Centre to withdraw permission given to Karnataka for preparing a Detailed Project Report for a dam across Cauvery river at Mekedattu. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Government doctors in Tamil Nadu have put off their proposed strike over pay anomalies following a submission by the state government in the Madras High Court Bench here that it was looking into recommendations by a panel that went into the issue. The government counsel submitted before a bench of Justice K K Sasidharan and Justice P D Audikesavulu that the recommendations of a one-man commission on addressing anomalies were being studied and steps would be taken to ensure pay parity, a key demand of the agitating doctors. The submission was made on a petition by Mohammed Yunis against the proposed strike by the doctors. The strike was scheduled to start on Saturday. Following this, the Tamil Nadu Government Doctors Association informed the court that it would temporarily suspend the proposed strike. The bench then posted the case for hearing to December 17. Doctors affiliated to the association had boycotted outpatient services on December 4, demanding three time-bound promotions in the fourth, ninth and 13th year of service instead of the existing pattern of eight, 15 and 20 years and salaries on par with their counterparts in other states. The doctors had threatened to boycott elective surgeries and classes in medical colleges across the state from Saturday if their demands were not met. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US President Donald Trump unleashed a series of attacks Friday on US Special Counsel Robert Mueller and his team, with the prosecutor expected to release documents that could shed new light in the Russia probe. Repeating his regular dismissal of the probe as a "total witch hunt," Trump accused Mueller of political bias in an early morning tweetstorm alleging that the prosecutor had coerced false testimony from witnesses. He complained that investigators were ignoring Democrats' dealings with Russians and suggested his own deputy attorney general was "totally conflicted." Trump's tweets came with Mueller's team expected to file court documents related to two pivotal figures in their probe into possible collusion between Trump's campaign and Russia to swing the 2016 election: former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and the president's ex-lawyer Michael Cohen. "Robert Mueller and Leakin' Lyin' James Comey are Best Friends, just one of many Mueller Conflicts of Interest," Trump tweeted, referring to the former FBI chief he sacked while Comey was leading the Russia probe. Trump has repeatedly disparaged the 19-month-old investigation but ratcheted up his attacks as the probe in recent weeks appeared to leave him increasingly under pressure. Among five tweets, Trump also attacked Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who was in charge of the probe until Trump in November named Matthew Whitaker, who had criticized Mueller's investigation, as acting attorney general. Trump asked whether Rosenstein isn't "totally conflicted," while also singling out a member of Mueller's team, Andrew Weissmann, who has been involved in the prosecution against Paul Manafort. On Friday, the special counsel's team was expected to provide court with details of Manafort's lying to investigators. Manafort chaired the Trump election campaign from March until August 2016. In September this year he admitted financial crimes related to his work before 2015 for Russia-supported Ukrainian politicians, and agreed to cooperate with Mueller's probe. But last week the special counsel's office said Manafort had violated his plea deal by lying. Also on Friday, prosecutors were expected to file more details about the cooperation which Trump's ex-lawyer Michael Cohen has provided the special counsel. Cohen has admitted lying to Congress about pursuing a real estate deal with Russia on Trump's behalf. Comey is to testify behind closed doors Friday to the House Judiciary Committee, which is conducting a Republican-driven probe into the conduct of law enforcement officials. Mueller has already charged more than 30 individuals, most of them Russians. Among those pleading guilty in the Mueller probe is Michael Flynn, Trump's first national security advisor. Mueller reported this week that Flynn has given "substantial assistance" to the investigation and should serve no jail time. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) UN chief has lauded the "essential" role played by Indian reformer and educator Hansa Jivraj Mehta in shaping the landmark document on Universal Declaration of and ensuring it contains a more gender sensitive language. Guterres, addressing the opening of a special exhibit on the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of at the world body's headquarters Thursday, said pioneering women played essential parts in shaping the document. "Hansa Mehta of India, for example, without whom we would likely be speaking of the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Man rather than of Human Rights," Guterres said. Mehta's contribution, along with that of other inspirational women, although not part of the official drafting committee of the document, is highlighted in the exhibit. Mehta was a reformer, educator and a prolific writer. She served as the Indian delegate to the UN Commission on from 1947 to 1948 and is widely known for ensuring a more gender sensitive language in the landmark Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the UDHR. She is widely credited with making a significant change in the language of Article 1 of the UDHR, by replacing the phrase "All men are born free and equal" to "All human beings are born free and equal." Mehta was also a member of the Constituent Assembly that drafted the Constitution of independent India. The Indian Constitution draws upon several aspects from both the UN Charter and the UDHR. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a milestone document in the history of human rights. Drafted by representatives with different legal and cultural backgrounds from all regions of the world, the Declaration was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in Paris on December 10, 1948 as a common standard of achievements for all peoples and all nations. It sets out, for the first time, fundamental human rights to be universally protected and it has been translated into over 500 languages. Guterres also lauded the contribution of Begum Shaista Ikramullah of Pakistan, who championed Article 16 on equal rights in marriage, to combat child marriage and forced marriage and of Minerva Bernardino of the Dominican Republic, who successfully argued for inclusion of "the equality of men and women" in the preamble of the Universal Declaration. He noted that Bernardino, together with other Latin American women delegates Bertha Lutz of Brazil and Isabel de Vidal of Uruguay also played a crucial role a few years earlier in the drafting of the Charter, which became the first agreement to recognise the equal rights of men and women, paving the way for the Universal Declaration. "At this pivotal moment in our struggle for gender equality and women's empowerment worldwide, we want to pay tribute to those pioneers. They are an inspiration to us all, especially to young women and men today," he said. Guterres said the Universal Declaration of Human Rights has permeated policies and constitutions in all regions and has unleashed the power of women's full participation and spurred the fight against discrimination and racism. "It has given rise to a rich body of legally binding human rights treaties and it continues to be an inspiration to people around the world. However, we still have a long way to go before respect for human rights is truly universal," he said. Guterres however voiced concern that the words of the Declaration are not yet matched by facts on the ground and in practice, people all over the world still endure constraints on or even total denial of their human rights. "Lasting peace and inclusive sustainable development can never be achieved without full respect for human rights. On this anniversary, let us not only reflect on the enduring importance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, let us also speak out and stand up for human rights everywhere," he said. (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 Congress on Friday slammed the ED raids against Robert Vadra's associates, saying an "unnerved" Modi government was unleashing "vendetta" against party chief Rahul Gandhi's brother-in-law to divert the narrative. The Congress' sharp reaction came after the Enforcement Directorate on Friday raided the premises of three people linked to firms of Robert Vadra in a case related to assets held abroad. The searches at the premises of the three people were related to alleged commissions received by some suspects in defence deals, an ED official claimed. "Sure shot defeat in 5 States unnerves Modi Govt to again use the old tools - unleash revenge & vendetta against Mr. Robert Vadra to divert the narrative," Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said on Twitter. "Such cowardice & intimidation will not subjugate either the Congresa Party or the will of people," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A US-sponsored draft resolution that for the first time would have condemned the militant Islamic group Hamas, which controls Gaza, failed to win the required two-thirds majority in the UN General Assembly. Before Thursday's vote, the 193-member world body had narrowly voted to require a two-thirds majority which Arab nations pressed for rather than a simple majority which the United States urged. US Ambassador Nikki Haley told the assembly before the vote that it could make history and unconditionally speak out against Hamas which she called "one of the most obvious and grotesque cases of terrorism in the world." But the vote on the resolution to condemn Hamas was 87-57 with 33 abstentions, a plurality below the two-thirds requirement. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Air strikes by a US-led coalition battling the Islamic State group in east Syria killed nine civilians on Friday, a monitor said. The Kurdish-Arab Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), backed by coalition airpower, has been fighting to oust IS from the pocket in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor since September. "Air raids and artillery fire by the international coalition and the SDF are going on against neighbourhoods of the town of Hajin," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The air strikes "killed nine civilians, including six children, and two IS jihadists", the Britain-based monitor said. The coalition did not immediately comment on the alleged fatalities but has repeatedly said it does its utmost to avoid civilian casualties. The SDF broke into the key IS holdout of Hajin on Thursday after months of fighting that has seen the jihadists launch vicious counter-attacks. "The Syrian Democratic Forces have advanced into more territory once held by ISIS and thwarted their multiple counter offensives," US-led coalition spokesman Sean Ryan said Friday. He said IS losses had been "very high" and that intelligence reported jihadists had tried to flee across the border to Iraq but were prevented by Iraqi forces. In almost three months of battle, more than 820 jihadists and more than 480 US-backed fighters have been killed, the Observatory says. More than 300 civilians have been killed in that period, it says, though the coalition insists it does not target non-combatants. IS overran large parts of Syria and neighbouring Iraq in 2014, declaring a "caliphate" across territories it controlled. But various offensives in both countries have routed the jihadists from most of that land, crushing their dreams of statehood. In Syria, the jihadists retain a presence in the vast Badia desert that stretches to the Iraqi border, as well as the pocket under attack around Hajin. Syria's war has killed 360,000 people and displaced millions since starting in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-regime protests. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Philippine immigration authorities have arrested an American Roman Catholic priest accused of sexually assaulting altar boys in a remote central town in a case one official described as "shocking and appalling." The Rev. Kenneth Bernard Hendricks, who has been indicted in Ohio for alleged illicit sexual conduct in the Philippines, was arrested in a church in Naval town on the island province of Biliran on Wednesday, Bureau of Immigration spokeswoman Dana Sandoval said Thursday. Each count is punishable with up to 30 years in prison, said US Attorney Benjamin Glassman said at a conference in Cincinnati. Federal court records do not show an attorney for Hendricks who could comment on the charges. An Ohio court had issued a warrant for the arrest of 77-year-old Hendricks, who has been living in the Philippines for 37 years, Sandoval said, adding that the US criminal case stemmed from complaints from Filipino minors who were allegedly victimized in the Philippines. There was no immediate reaction from the US Embassy, Philippine Catholic Church officials or Hendricks, who was flown to Manila and detained in an immigration cell. The suspect allegedly abused victims who served mostly as altar boys in Naval, in 50 counts of molestation in his residence in a case that's "both shocking and appalling," Sandoval said. Glassman said they believe Hendricks lived with multiple boys and molested victims both alone and with others. Victims told investigators that Hendricks would kiss them, touch their genitals and initiate oral and anal sex. One reported more than 40 sexual encounters with the local parish priest. "The victims were in his house and the abuses were committed while he was taking a bath with each of them," Sandoval said by telephone. US authorities provided information about the alleged sexual assaults to the Philippine government, she said. The victims were reportedly warned they would be locked up in jail if they told anyone about the abuses, she said. Glassman said 10 victims have come forward with their statements. Of the five interviewed, the youngest was 7 years old at the start of the abuse. The US Embassy may revoke Hendrick's passport to help Philippine authorities immediately deport the priest, the Immigration Bureau said in a statement. Hendricks is "a fugitive from justice that poses a risk to public safety and security," Sandoval said. "We will not allow sexual predators to prey on our children. People like him must be kicked out and banned from the Philippines." Glassman said that he wants to prosecute the case in Ohio, but his office is still coordinating with Philippine officials to determine which jurisdiction will proceed first. He added there's reason to believe others have been abused by Hendricks, whose travel records show he returns to the US for several months each year. Glassman said Hendricks has a residence in the Cincinnati area, but could not comment on whether he served as a local priest there. The Archdiocese of Cincinnati lists Kendricks as a "missionary in Asia" on its website, but later issued a statement saying he "is not, nor has ever been, a priest of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati." Steve Francis, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Michigan and Ohio, pleaded with other victims to come forward. He said the allegations against a man he described as "in one of the highest position of public trust" were very disturbing. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has repeatedly lashed out at the dominant Catholic Church and its priests over such abuses, saying he himself along with other students were sexually molested by an American priest in their high school days. In separate speeches Wednesday, the volatile leader claimed almost 90 per cent of Catholic priests were homosexual and also admonished Catholics to "kill your bishops, they are useless fools. All they do is criticise." "I'm telling you, the most hypocritical institution in the entire Philippines is the Catholic church and the pope knows that," Duterte said. A Catholic priest and Duterte critic, Amado Picardal, said the president's remarks on the church may be aimed at diverting public attention from his widely criticised deadly war on drugs, the government's failure to stop the smuggling of illegal drugs into the country, continuing poverty, corruption and other issues. He said Duterte may also feel threatened by the Catholic church, which played a role in the ouster of two Philippine presidents, including the 1986 overthrow of dictator Ferdinand Marcos. "Many people believe that his controversial statements are simply a way of diverting the people's attention from the real issues raised against him," Picardal said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya said Friday that the party would move the Supreme Court "if needed" to hold the much-touted 'rath yatras' across West Bengal. "If needed, we will move the Supreme Court to get justice," he told the media here after the Calcutta High Court modified the single bench order of Thursday and directed the state chief secretary, home secretary and director general of police to sit with three BJP leaders by December 12 and take a decision on the matter by December 14. The Calcutta High Court also came down heavily on the West Bengal government for not responding to letters of the BJP seeking permission for its processions in the state. Vijayvargiya stood by the BJP state leadership saying, "There was no lapse on their part and the entire party stands united and we are with the state (party) president" as he blamed the state government and its policy to "throttle the opposition" for putting on hold the 'rath yatras', which was scheduled to be flagged off by BJP president Amit Shah. Reacting to the HC division bench ruling, BJP state president Dilip Ghosh said, "We thank the court for its verdict. The state government for so many days didnt have time to discuss the matter with us. Now they will sit for discussion". In Delhi, Shah told a press conference that BJP's growth in West Bengal has "scared" Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. He also accused her of "throttling" democracy in the state by denying permission to the three 'rath yatras' of his party. "We will definitely carry out all yatras, nobody can stop us. The BJP is committed to change in West Bengal. The yatras have not been cancelled, just postponed," he said. A party source, however, said on condition of anonymity that the BJP central leadership is unhappy with the party's state leaders as the rath yatra programme had to be put on hold. A section of the leadership felt that the party had to go back on the programme at "the last moment due to lack of proper strategy and planning" when all preparation for the three 'rath yatras' slated for December 7, 9 and 14 was ready. The division bench of Justices Biswanath Somadder and A Mukherjee during the day criticised the state government for not responding to BJP's letters for permission to hold three rath yatras in the state. It modified the single bench order and directed the state chief secretary, home secretary and director general of police to sit with three BJP leaders by December 12 and take a decision on the matter by December 14. Shah was to kickstart the campaign titled 'Save Democracy Rally' from Coochbehar district in the northern part of the state Friday, from Kakdwip in South 24 Parganas district on December 9, and from Tarapith temple in Birbhum district on December 14. The 'rath yatra' was scheduled to cover all 42 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Madhya Pradesh Lokayukta police have arrested a woman officer on suspicion that she had accepted a bribe. Tribal Works Department's Assistant Commissioner Shakuntala Damor was arrested Thursday night in Kisanganj area of Indore district and Rs 1.60 lakh were allegedly seized from her car. Indore Lokayukta police chief Dilip Soni said that Damor, posted in neighbouring Khargone district, was on her way to Ratlam when she was intercepted. She failed to account for the cash in her possession, he claimed. "We suspect that the cash was bribe money which she had accepted," Soni said, adding that Damor was booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act. "Today we carried out raids at various places connected to Damor in Khargone and Ratlam districts," he said. "We have got hold of documents suggesting that the officer and her relatives own a house, two plots of land, a flat and agricultural land among other assets," another Lokayukta official said, adding that further probe was on. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) United States President Donald Trump has vowed not to allow Iran acquire nuclear weapons. "We cannot let the world's leading sponsor of terror, a regime that chants death to America and threatens Israel all the time with annihilation and constantly screams out death to Israel, to possess the deadliest weapon on earth. We will not allow that to happen," the US President told a select Jewish audience Thursday at the White House reception for Hanukkah. His administration has imposed some of the toughest sanctions on Iran, which among other things ask countries like India and China to cut off import of oil from Iran. Both the countries have significantly reduced their oil intake since then. Trump told the Jewish community that the US now has "left the horrible Iran nuclear" deal. "It was a horrible, horrible deal. Should have never been made and imposed the toughest-ever sanction. We sanctioned Iran like I guess few have ever been sanctioned before. We must never allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon or a nuclear bomb," he said. A year ago, he said, the United States recognised the true capital of Israel. Commemorating the miracle of Hanukkah, Trump said throughout history, Jewish people have suffered unthinkable repression and terrible violence. "Yet in the face of this hardship, the Jewish people have endured, overcome and thrived like few that I can tell you. Thrived," he said. "Five weeks ago, our nation mourned a horrific tragedy. Jewish-Americans were brutally killed in a sinister anti-Semitic attack on the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh and we went to see what had happened and to meet some of the people and they were incredible people," Trump said. "The way they stood up so bravely, so proudly was just something very incredible to see, and the rabbi was just a great person. In the aftermath of that wicked assault, we reaffirmed our solemn duty to confront anti-Semitism everywhere it occurs," the president said amid an applause. "We must stamp out this vile hatred from the world," Trump said as he invited eight survivors of the Nazi Holocaust: Sara Censor, Bertha Einhorn, David Einhorn, Ethel Flam, Gita Landau, Dolly Rabinowitz, Ruth Salamon and Zahava Ungar. Trump told the survivors that they inspired the world with their courage. Trump applauded Jewish people for building Israel into a "mighty and majestic nation". He also pledged his administration's support to Israel. During his speech, the audience started chanting "four more years!" Someone in the crowd noted that once the math is completed from this date, it would be "six more years". Trump expressed his agreement with the 2 + 4 equation. "I've actually never heard 'four more years,'" he said. "That's an interesting one. We'll go for six, and then we'll all be in very good shape." The president claimed he was told that renovating what now is the US embassy in Jerusalem could cost as little as USD 200,000, which he said was "too cheap". So he told his officials to do it for USD 400,000, Trump added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) By Junko FujitaTOKYO (Reuters) - Baring Private Equity Asia will buy cash-strapped Japanese electronics firm Pioneer Corp for $900 million, in a two-stage investment that marks the latest attempt by the country's car navigation system makers to survive.The buyout firm is providing cash that is much needed by Pioneer, which had 50 billion yen ($443 million) of interest-bearing debt as of end-March and which will need further investment to be competitive.Car navigation system makers are trying to keep up with a shift by carmakers into new technologies such as autonomous driving, connected cars ... TOKYO (Reuters) - Tokyo prosecutors plan to indict former Nissan Motor Co Ltd Chairman Carlos Ghosn on Monday for financial misconduct, the Nikkei business daily reported, ratcheting up their case against the auto tycoon.Prosecutors also plan to indict on the same day former representative director Greg Kelly as well as the automaker itself, the Nikkei said on Friday, citing unidentified sources.The Nov. 19 arrest of Ghosn and Kelly shook the foundations of the Renault-Nissan alliance and stunned the auto industry, where Ghosn is renowned for turning around the French and Japanese carmakers. ... (Reuters) - Beijing ByteDance Technology Co, one of the world's most valuable startups, is in talks to raise about $1.45 billion (9.97 billion yuan) to invest in artificial intelligence and media content, The Information website reported on Friday.ByteDance, owner of news aggregator Jinri Toutiao, is in talks with investors including major Chinese government-led funds and state-owned investment banks, the website reported.This comes after ByteDance faced mounting scrutiny from China's internet censors earlier in the year, with Toutiao temporarily taken off app stores for a cleanup in April ... By Chen Aizhu and Florence TanBEIJING/SINGAPORE (Reuters) - China's Iranian oil imports are set to rebound in December after two state-owned refiners in the world's largest oil importer began using the nation's waiver from U.S. sanctions on Iran, according to industry sources and data on Refinitiv Eikon. Sinopec resumed Iran oil imports shortly after Tehran's biggest crude buyer received its waiver in November, while China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) will restart lifting from its own Iranian production in December, three sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. Reuters reported ... By Julia FiorettiHONG KONG (Reuters) - Chinese medical tech platform WuXi AppTec raised $1.01 billion in its Hong Kong listing, sources said, valuing the company at $10.2 billion in a deal that marks one of this year's last big stock offerings in the Asian financial hub.Shanghai-listed WuXi priced its Hong Kong shares at HK$68 ($8.71) apiece, at the middle of an indicated range of HK$64.1-HK$71.5, the sources told Reuters on Friday.It could raise up to $1.16 billion if an over-allotment option is exercised within a month of the start of trading, which would value the company at $10.3 billion, ... By Malcolm FosterTOKYO (Reuters) - Monday is the end of former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn's 22-day detention, having been held without charge since his arrest on suspicion of under-reporting compensation for five years following a whistleblower tip-off.Ghosn and co-accused Greg Kelly, a former Nissan Motor Co Ltd representative director, are likely to be charged the same day, the Nikkei reported on Friday.However, their release is unlikely as prosecutors are expected to re-arrest them for mis-reporting compensation for three additional years, the financial newspaper said, beginning another ... By Ekaterina Kravtsova and Sabina ZawadzkiLONDON (Reuters) - Asian spot prices for liquefied natural gas (LNG) slumped this week to a six-month low, bucking the usual winter trend, as low demand persisted and supplies were boosted by deliveries from tankers that had been floating in north Asian waters for weeks.Spot prices for January delivery dropped a dollar to $8.80 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), the lowest since May and below the levels of a year ago, for the first time in 2018.Prices for February delivery, although also weaker, dropped less and returned to contango with the ... By Alasdair PalNEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's government appointed a new chief economic adviser on Friday, naming a U.S.-trained professor who praised the country's shock decision to remove most of its banknotes from circulation.Krishnamurthy Subramanian, a professor from the Indian School of Business, will serve a three-year term in the country's finance ministry. His predecessor, Arvind Subramanian, abruptly left the post for personal reasons in June.While studying for his doctorate at the University of Chicago, Subramanian was supervised by Raghuram Rajan, a former International Monetary ... By Rajendra Jadhav and Karen Rodrigues(Reuters) - Gold was sold at a discount this week in India for the first time in a month as a rebound in local prices prompted jewellers to postpone purchases, while demand improved in top consumer China due to seasonal buying."Jewellers are delaying purchases expecting a correction in prices. The sudden price rise surprised them," said Harshad Ajmera, the proprietor of JJ Gold House, a wholesaler in the eastern Indian city of Kolkata.Local gold prices have risen nearly 3 percent so far this week following gains in the overseas market and on a ... MUMBAI (Reuters) - India's October tea production fell 3.7 percent from year ago to 176.44 million kg as plucking dropped in top producer north-eastern Assam state, the state-run Tea Board said on Friday.Production in Assam fell 7.6 percent to 96.21 million kg in October, the board said.The country's tea exports in first ten months of 2018 edged up 1.2 percent from a year ago to 200.38 million kg, the board said.India, the world's second-biggest tea producer, exports CTC (crush-tear-curl) grade mainly to Egypt, Pakistan and the United Kingdom, with the orthodox variety exported to Iraq, Iran ... (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp on Thursday announced ethical principles for the use of its facial recognition technology, saying it would bar such technology from being used to engage in unlawful discrimination and would encourage customers to be transparent when deploying such services. In a blog post on Thursday, Microsoft President Brad Smith pushed for urgency in regulating facial-recognition technology, while adding that tech companies should self regulate too."We believe it's important for governments in 2019 to start adopting laws to regulate this technology. The facial recognition genie, ... By Jessica Resnick-AultNEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices jumped more than 4 percent on Friday as Saudi Arabia and other producers in OPEC, as well as allies like Russia agreed to reduce output to drain global fuel inventories and support the market.The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its Russia-led allies, referred to as "OPEC+," agreed to slash production by a combined 1.2 million barrels per day from 2019, larger than the minimum 1 million bpd that the market had expected, despite pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to reduce the price of crude.The producer club ... By Julia PayneLONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices jumped more than 5 percent on Friday as big Middle East producers in OPEC agreed to reduce output to drain global fuel inventories and support the market.Benchmark Brent crude oil rose $3.48 a barrel to a high of $63.54 before easing back to around $63.20 by 1450 GMT. In early trade, Brent had fallen below $60 when it looked as if oil exporters might not agree.U.S. light crude rose $2.69 to a high of $54.18 a barrel before slipping to around $53.80.Prices fell almost 3 percent on Thursday after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries ... By Rania El Gamal, Olesya Astakhova and Shadia NasrallaVIENNA (Reuters) - OPEC and its Russia-led allies agreed on Friday to slash oil production by more than the market had expected despite pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to reduce the price of crude.The producer club will curb output from January by 0.8 million barrels per day versus October levels while non-OPEC allies contribute an additional 0.4 million bpd of cuts, in a move to be reviewed at a meeting in April. Oil prices jumped about 5 percent to more than $63 a barrel as the combined cut of 1.2 million bpd was larger than ... By Rania El Gamal, Olesya Astakhova and Shadia NasrallaVIENNA (Reuters) - OPEC and its Russia-led allies moved closer on Friday to clinching a deal that would cut oil production by more than the market had expected despite pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to reduce the price of crude.The producer club will curb output by 0.8 million barrels per day from January while non-OPEC allies contribute an additional 0.4 million bpd of cuts, Iraqi Oil Minister Thamer Ghadhban said after OPEC concluded two days of talks in Vienna. The OPEC deal has yet to be approved at a meeting with the ... MILAN (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday that the detention of Chinese technology giant Huawei's chief financial officer in Canada was an example of "arrogant" U.S. policy abroad.Speaking at a news conference in Milan, Lavrov said the detention showed how Washington imposes its laws beyond its jurisdiction. Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou, 46, who is also the daughter of the company founder, was arrested on Dec. 1 at the request of the United States. The arrest, revealed by Canadian authorities late on Wednesday, was part of a U.S. investigation into an alleged scheme ... Germany's Thyssenkrupp and India's Tata Steel are close to deciding who will lead their planned European steel joint venture, four people familiar with the matter said on Friday. Settling on the venture's leadership has been delayed by a strategy crisis and change of CEO at the German industrial conglomerate, which has said it would split into two companies. The holdup has riled the Thyssenkrupp workforce. A labour leader on Wednesday said there would be "trouble" if the matter was not resolved soon. Andreas Goss, head of Thyssenkrupp's steel unit, ... The Assembly Elections in five states concluded on Friday with polling in Rajasthan and Telangana. Apart from these two states, the Assembly elections had earlier concluded in Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram and Chhattisgarh. While the results of the Assembly elections will be declared on December 11, the India Today-Axis My India exit poll results are out. What's at stake? Four out of five states, except Telangana, are either governed by the BJP or the Congress. Both these national parties have a lot to gain in these Assembly elections. Top leaders from both these parties have tried everything possible to woo voters, though the real impact could only be seen once the results are out. As per the India Today-Axis My India exit polls, the Congress could get 104-122 seats in Madhya Pradesh, while the BJP is slightly behind, and could get around 102-120 seats. The Congress was wiped out in the state in the last Assembly elections, but this time there could be some good news for the Rahul Gandhi-led party. Here are live updates on the India Today-Axis My India exit polls in the five states. 8.02pm: The ruling Congress is trailing behind the Mizo National Front (MNF) in Mizoram. As per the India Today-Axis My India exit poll, MNF is set to win 16-22 seats, while the Congress will be reduced to 8-12 seats. The Zoram People's Movement is projected to get around 08-12 seats. The MNF will lead with 34 per cent vote share, followed by the Congress party with 29 per cent vote share for the 40-seat Mizoram Assembly. 7.51pm: Most surveys show the Congress and the BJP are in neck to neck contest in Madhya Pradesh. India Today-Axis My India: BJP 102-120; Congress 104-122; BSP 1-3; others 3-8 BJP 102-120; Congress 104-122; BSP 1-3; others 3-8 ABP: BJP 94; Congress 126; BSP 0; and others 10 BJP 94; Congress 126; BSP 0; and others 10 CVoter: BJP 90-106; Congress 110-126; BSP 0; and others 6-22 BJP 90-106; Congress 110-126; BSP 0; and others 6-22 Republic-Jan Ki Baat: BJP 108-128; Congress 95-115; BSP 0; and others 7 BJP 108-128; Congress 95-115; BSP 0; and others 7 Times Now-CNX: BJP 126; Congress 89; BSP 6; and others 9 7.43pm: Congress leader Sachin Pilot has thanked voters for supporting the Congress party. He also thanked the party workers for their hard work in poll campaigning. 7.02pm: Reacting to the exit polls Dr Hitesh Bajpai, BJP spokesman, who was accorded a cabinet rank status in the Shivraj Singh government, says the results are not in sync with the reality on the ground. "We will win a majority and form a government though the number of seats that we win can be a little less than what we won in 2013," he said. 6.31pm: The India Today-Axis My India exit polls show the Pink Party of Telangana -- TRS -- has demolished the much talked about Congress-led grand alliance, and retained power in the state that went to polls for the first time. As per the exit polls, TRS is set to win 79-91 seats, and the Congress party will have to be satisfied with 21-33 seats. The BJP will get 1-3 seats, and AIMIM is projected to get 4-7 seats. Sweep for TRS in Telangana as per #ExitPollIndiaToday https://t.co/fD33NXVf8j - Rajdeep Sardesai (@sardesairajdeep) December 7, 2018 Also read: Telangana Assembly elections 2018: 438 crorepatis, 6 with murder charges fighting polls 6.21pm: Bad news for the BJP in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. The Congress set to win all three seats, says the India Today-Axis My India exit polls. 6.18pm: Chhattisgarh Assembly Elections: The Congress party is projected to win around 55-65 seats in the 90-seat Assembly. The Raman Singh-led BJP is going to lose the polls with a landslide margin after 15 years of rule. The BJP is expected to get around 21-31 seats only. JCC and BSP are projected to get 4-8 seats. 6.13pm: India Today-Axis My India survey says the Congress party set to sweep Rajasthan. #ExitPollIndiaToday Congress is set to sweep Rajasthan. Take a look at the projected vote share. Watch LIVE at https://t.co/4fqxBVUizL pic.twitter.com/4fRDGraM9m - India Today (@IndiaToday) December 7, 2018 6.05pm: Rajasthan Assembly Elections 2018: Another reason to cheer for the Congress party in Rajasthan. As per the India Today-Axis My India exit poll survey, the Congress party, led by Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot, will get around 119-141 seats. The BJP will have to satisfy with around 55-72 seats. The polls have been held for as many as 200 seats. Also read: Rajasthan Assembly Elections 2018: At 81%, BJP tops list of crorepatis; Congress follows with 77% rich candidates 6.00 pm: BSP to get 1-3 seats in Rajasthan, says survey. 5.49 pm: Madhya Pradesh Elections 2018: The Congress party is expected to get 104-122 seats, and while BJP will get 102-120, says the India Today-Axis My India exit poll survey. According to the ABP exit poll for Madhya Pradesh, the Congress is set to win 126 seats, while the BJP will secure 94. Of all the five states that went to Assembly elections, with polls in Rajasthan and Telangana having concluded on Friday, Madhya Pradesh is the state where both the Congress and the BJP are in a neck-and-neck contest. Poll pundits are in a dilemma of giving a clear majority to one particular party, though most of them say the Congress has a marginal edge over the BJP. According to the India Today-Axis My India exit polls released on Friday evening, the BJP is projected to win 102-120 seats in the 230-seat state Legislative Assembly, while the Congress may get 104-122 seats. In terms of vote share, too, the Congress seems to have an advantage over the BJP. The exit poll survey says the Congress may get 41 per cent of the votes polled while the BJP will be slightly behind with 40 per cent votes. A strong anti-incumbency wave in the state against the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government, and the exit polls showing a surge for the Congress, have given some hope of recovery for the Congress party. In the Assembly elections in 2013, the Congress had secured 58 seats only, while the BJP had won with a thumping majority of 165 seats. Also read: BJP set to lose in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh; behind in Madhya Pradesh As per the exit polls survey, the Congress party seems to be making a recovery of as many as 54 seats in this election. The Congress seems to be ahead than the BJP in the three major regions of the state -- Chambal, Bundelkhand and Mahakoshal. Other exit poll surveys also predict a nail-biting situation for both the parties. The exit poll survey conducted by ABP says the Congress will win on 126 seats, while the BJP will be reduced to 94 seats. BSP will not be able to open its account, while others, including independents, could win on 10 seats. The survey conducted by CVoter says the Congress may win on 110-126 seats while the BJP will secure victory on 90-106 seats. Republic-Jan Ki Baat says the BJP is getting anywhere between 108-128 seats; the Congress 95-115; BSP 0; and others 7. The Times Now-CNX survey says the BJP could win in 126 seats, while the Congress will secure victory in 89 seats. BSP and others are expected to win in 6 and 9 seats, respectively. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari fainted during an event in Ahmednagar, Maharashtra, on Friday. He was about to fall down when Maharashtra Governor C Vidyasagar Rao supported him, following which Gadkari was taken to hospital. The incident happened during a convocation ceremony at Mahatma Phule Agricultural University in Rahuri. The Union minister had addressed the gathering before the incident. A few moments later when the national anthem was being played, and he was trying to stand up but was seen fainting. As per India Today, Gadkari is stable now but doctors are keeping a close eye on his condition. Nitin Gadkari is the minister for road transport and highways as well as shipping and water resources, river development and Ganga rejuvenation. ALSO WATCH: Meanwhile, Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje said she prays for his quick recovery. On Wednesday, fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya posted a flurry of tweets reiterating that he has been offering to repay the entire loan since 2016. Mallya who owes money to the tune of Rs 9,000 crore to various banks defended himself by asking why does he not get fair treatment and why doesn't his comprehensive settlement offer hear the same "loud noise". Mallya, who appeared rather on edge, carried on the tirade on Twitter the next day as well. Mallya has been retweeting posts by media houses and has been repeating that he only wants to repay the loan and that he never stole money. Quoting one such tweet, Mallya said, "With respect where have I defrauded Banks? I did not borrow a single rupee. The borrower was Kingfisher Airlines. Money was lost due to a genuine and sad business failure. Being held as guarantor is not fraud (sic)." With respect where have I defrauded Banks ? I did not borrow a single rupee. The borrower was Kingfisher Airlines. Money was lost due to a genuine and sad business failure. Being held as guarantor is not fraud. https://t.co/CygZODV5Xv - Vijay Mallya (@TheVijayMallya) December 6, 2018 Mallya also stressed that his extradition has nothing to do with his loan. "Respectfully to all commentators, I cannot understand how my extradition decision or the recent extradition from Dubai and my settlement offer are linked in any way. Wherever I am physically,my appeal is "Please take the money". I want to stop the narrative that I stole money (sic)," he said. "Sadly the media creates its own narrative. I have been making settlement offers since 2016 which were rejected without any dialogue as requested in mid 2018 I finally made an offer before the Karnataka High Court.Unconnected to extradition," Mallya added. In between his Twitter updates, he also congratulated Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw who made it to Forbes' Most Powerful Women in 2018. "My big sister is the very best," he added. My big sister is the very best @kiranshaw https://t.co/LmpcRT8k7L - Vijay Mallya (@TheVijayMallya) December 7, 2018 He said that for three decades he had been running India's largest alcoholic beverage group and contributed thousands of crores to the state exchequers. Kingfisher Airlines also contributed handsomely to the states, he had said on Wednesday. "Sad loss of the finest Airline but still I offer to pay Banks so no loss. Please take it. (sic)," Vijay Mallya tweeted. The 62-year-old former Kingfisher Airlines boss is fighting extradition to India on charges of fraud and money laundering allegedly amounting to around Rs 9,000 crore. A ruling in the case is expected at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London on December 10. On the international civil aviation day, two European carriers - Air Italy and WOW air - started their inaugural flights to India. Full-service carrier Air Italy started New Delhi-to-Milan and Mumbai-to-Milan non-stop flights on an Airbus 330-200 offering a configuration of 24 business class and 228 economy class seats. Low-cost carrier WOW air, on the other hand, launched Delhi-to-Reykjavik direct flight. Citing the reasons behind the expansion, Air Italy's COO Rossen Dimitrov said that Italy is the second-most visited European destination for Indian tourists, and the airline, which is 49 per cent owned by Qatar Airways, is planning to have code-share agreement with Tata Group-owned Vistara to connect its passengers to more Indian cities. WOW air boasts about launching first-ever direct flight between Iceland and India, and giving one-stop connectivity to its Indian passengers to 13 north American destinations. The launch of these flights is coming at a time when domestic carrier IndiGo is mulling over introducing flights to Western European destinations with Airbus A321LR. Also, Kuwait's budget airline Jazeera Airways has recently announced that it would add Delhi as its fifth destination in India. In a dampened global aviation market, what's prompting foreign airlines to plan their expansions in India. The biggest pull factor remains the high passenger growth that India offers to the international carriers. For instance, in each month, the growth in the international passenger traffic (outbound and inbound combined) for nine months in 2018 exceeded the growth for the corresponding nine months of the last year. In September, the international passenger growth stood at 4.9 per cent, one of the lowest in the current year, as per DGCA. The foreign carriers have a majority share - 59.4 per cent in July-September period - in the international traffic segment, led by Middle-east carriers Emirates and Etihad Airways. For the record, the maximum international passengers were carried on the Dubai-Mumbai sector followed by Dubai-Delhi. Data from the global aviation body IATA shows that Asia Pacific is not only the biggest aviation market in the world - 33.7 per cent share in September - but also the fastest-growing in terms of demand - 6.7 per cent in September - among its peers (Africa, Europe, Latin America, Middle East and North America). The growth in the Indian and Chinese markets contributes the highest to the Asia Pacific region. Read more: These two airlines from India are among the cheapest in the world Meet the Icelander who will make international flights super cheap for Indians Oil cartel OPEC will consider views of world leaders such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who represent the voice of major consuming nations, with seriousness before taking a decision on cutting output to support falling prices, Saudi oil minister Khalid Al Falih said on Thursday. India is the world's third largest oil consuming nation, which is more than 80 per cent dependent on imports to meet its energy needs. Led by Modi, it has been very strongly making a case for oil producers' cartel OPEC to price crude at reasonable and responsible rates. Speaking to reporters at the meeting of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), he said: "We take the views of Prime Minister Narendra Modi seriously who (like US President Donald Trump) is equally vocal about the issue. We just met him in Buenos Aires (during G20 summit) and privately he made those points very very strongly that he does care for Indian consumers and is very serious about it. I have also seen him at three times at various energy events in India where he was very vocal." He was replying to a question on US President's expectations from OPEC meeting. "Well, President Trump is the president of the largest consuming country in the globe -- 21 million (barrels), I believe, or thereabouts. That's 20 per cent of global markets if not more. And the consumer in the US, just like the consumer in France, just like the consumer in India, just like the consumer in Saudi Arabia, wants affordable energy. "So, he (Trump) has every right to wish for affordability of energy for the citizens of the United States and he is very vocal using his favourite communication tool which is Twitter and we hear him and we take his views seriously," he said. Ahead of the meeting, Trump in a tweeted had hoped that OPEC will keep oil flowing and not take decisions that would lead to higher oil prices. "Hopefully OPEC will be keeping oil flows as is, not restricted. The World does not want to see, or need, higher oil prices!," he had said. Consuming nations are part of OPEC deliberations even when they are not physically present in the meeting room, the Saudi oil minister said. "And the fact that President Trump tweets about it and reminds us, I think, is a healthy thing and we take it as one input factor but at the end of the day our most important guiding principle is to bring supply and demand into balance and we don't think the US will benefit from an over-supply market for an extended period of time where investment flows stop and the fantastic growth in US shale is brought to a halt in the way it happened in 2015-2016," he said. OPEC Thursday delayed a decision on production until it meets with other producers on Friday. Following this, crude oil prices traded sharply lower. Growing concerns that oil producers won't reach an agreement to aggressively reduce production has also weighed on prices. West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery lost USD 2.30, or 4.4 per cent, to USD 50.59 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Members of OPEC concluded their meeting in Vienna, without deciding on output-cut figures. It plans to debate output figures with non-OPEC producers during their meeting Friday. The Kotak Mahindra Bank stock rose in trade today amid a report that Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc was planning to buy stake in the bank. The Kotak Mahindra Bank stock rose up to 13.87% or 163.85 points to 1345 level compared to the previous close of 1181.50. It posted its biggest intra day gain since November 2014. The large cap stock has gained after four days of consecutive fall and was the top Sensex and Nifty gainer in trade today. On Nifty, the stock was trading 10.37% or 122 points higher at 1,302.65 level. It closed 8.53% higher at 1282.25 on the BSE. On Nifty, the stock closed 8.84% higher to 1284 level. The stock closed above its 50-day and 200-day moving average of 1,165.91 and 1,247.31, respectively. Also read: Kotak Mahindra Bank surpasses Maruti Suzuki in market cap to enter top 10 club It has gained 28.58% since the beginning of this year and risen 29.61% during the last one year. The stock saw a surge in volumes with 10.62 lakh shares changing hands in 23,721 trades. Total turnover rose to Rs 13,501 lakh, the highest on the BSE. Also read: RBI board's decisions to be positive for economy, says Uday Kotak Berkshire Hathaway Inc was planning to invest about $4 billion to $6 billion in the bank, according to a report by CNBC-TV18. Berkshire Hathaway may invest in the lender by buying promoter stake or through a preferential allotment, the television channel reported. However, Kotak Mahindra Bank in a communication to the bourses said, "We have nothing to report to the exchanges on the said item. The bank is unaware of any plans by Berkshire Hathaway buying stake in the bank as stated in the story." The report comes at the time when the December 2018 deadline given by RBI for Kotak Mahindra Bank's promoters to pare their stake in the lender is about to expire. The bank's promoters need to bring down ownership from 30.02% to just under 20% by December. In case, the deadline is not met, the bank could seek an extension of the deadline to March 31, 2019, to lower promoters' stake. The RBI had asked the bank to lower the promoter holding to less than 20 per cent by December 2018 and 15 per cent by March 2020. In November this year, Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC raised its stake in the lender by purchasing additional 9.56 million shares from ING Mauritius Investments 1 Ltd, a subsidiary of Dutch lender ING Bank NV, for Rs 1,079.99 crore (about $150 million) via a block deal. Scottish investment firm Edinburgh Dragon Trust and TFL Pension Fund, managed by Nomura, also bought Kotak Mahindra Bank shares worth Rs 289.63 crore ($40.2 million) and Rs 70.62 crore ($9.8 million) respectively, according to the deals data on NSE. Edited by Aseem Thapliyal The Sensex and Nifty extended gains in afternoon trade ahead of exit polls for elections results of five states this evening. While the Sensex closed 361 points higher to 35,673 level, Nifty gained 92.55 points to 10,693. Kotak Mahindra Bank (8.53%), Adani Ports (3.02%) and Bajaj Auto (2.06%) were the top Sensex gainers. However, both the indices ended lower for the week. The Sensex fell by 521.05 points, or 1.43 per cent, while the Nifty lost 183.05, or 1.68 per cent, during the week. The Kotak Mahindra Bank stock rose in trade today amid a report that Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc was planning to buy stake in the bank. Berkshire Hathaway Inc was planning to invest about $4 billion to $6 billion in the bank, according to a report by CNBC-TV18. Berkshire Hathaway may invest in the lender by buying promoter stake or through a preferential allotment, the television channel reported. Of 30 Sensex stocks, 21 closed higher. Sun Pharma (2.09%), Coal India (1.62%) and YES Bank (1.31%) were the top Sensex losers. The BSE mid cap index rose 0.23% to 14,717 level. The Small cap index fell 0.27% to 14,104 level. The BSE bankex, (1.66%), auto index (0.79%), and capital goods (0.95%) indices led the gains in trade today. "Indian equity market had turned cautious during the week, profit booking was evident in anticipation of the final outcome of the state elections, a precursor of the general election. Domestic market rebounded today along with global market which has lightened up, hoping for a resolution of US-China trade war. OPEC's decision to delay the final resolution to cut oil output caused prices to fall, boosting sentiments in India," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services. On a net basis, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 72.47 crore on Thursday , and domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net sellers to the tune of Rs 389.78 crore, provisional data available with NSE showed. Market breadth was negative with 1099 stocks closing higher compared to 1468 ending lower on the BSE. Global markets Shares rebounded in Europe and Asia on Friday as worries over U.S.-China trade friction were calmed by conciliatory comments from Beijing. Germany's DAX climbed 0.7 percent to 10,884.39 and the CAC 40 in France advanced 1.3 percent to 4,840.54. Britain's FTSE 100 jumped 1.6 percent to 6,809.58. The Dow future contract fell 0.5 percent to 24,783.00 and the contract for the S&P 500 lost 0.6 percent to 2,676.00, auguring a glum start to trading. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 added 0.8 percent to 21,678.68, and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.4 percent to 5,681.50. South Korea's Kospi rose 0.3 percent to 2,075.76. Hong Kong's Hang Seng gave up 0.3 percent to 26,063.76, while the Shanghai Composite was flat at 2,605.89. Shares rose in India, Taiwan and Southeast Asia. Edited by Aseem Thapliyal The dynamics of the legal market continue to amaze me. India has lakhs of jobless lawyers sitting around exterminating houseflies in district courts around the country. In any random sample, less than 10% make a living wage. As has always been the case, without a daddy or uncle in the profession, few are likely to beat the headwind. At the same time, cost related entry barriers to legal self-employment are rising. There was a time you could put up a wooden table under a tree and "set up" a law practice, which is what I did. Today, membership to an entry level database costs Rs. 47,000/- annually. Then there is a computer and a printer and a roof over it! Yet, year after year, new law colleges continue to sprout unseen in the desert sands. What are we going to do with this new tsunami of hopefuls when they hit Law Street? I am totally clear in my view. In a nutshell, it is a good time to be careful what we pray for because we may just get it. This is why I have stopped telling truly tasteless jokes about killing all the lawyers. Jobs for lawyers around the world are disappearing fast and sooner rather than later, it looks like the lawyers wouldn't need any killing. How did this happen? In two words: Artificial Intelligence! I am not joking. Look at it from the view point of the services lawyers render. Less than 10% of lawyers in India have flourishing litigation practices. More lawyers than we care to admit make a living providing what are in truth bureaucracy facilitation services. You will find them in Tehsil offices, District level offices, Sub Registrar's offices, offices of municipal authorities, electricity 'nigams', water boards and so forth. They help people with compliance rules, especially in processing the plethora of approvals for which our license permit raj is world renowned. Thanks to AI, a lot of these facilitators are having the rug pulled from beneath their revenue models. There are two reasons for this. First, administrations around the country are digitizing their services. This means that if you need to check something or investigate a record or find out about a new policy or notification, it's a web address you need, not a service provider. Second, the bureaucracy is progressively taking its application and approval process on-line which means you don't need a fixer in order to interact with a babu. Even the Reserve Bank of India asks you to approach it digitally for the many approvals it dispenses as part of its regulator function. Gaggles of 'facilitations agents' are losing business. The problem is especially critical in the offices of the Sub Registrars where lawyers wrote up legal documentation and then helped get them registered. Thanks to sophisticated tools now on the web, even property agents have begun to write adequate legal documentation too. Artificial Intelligence is marching resolutely into the very innards of compliance processes in a way that is difficult to resist and as it does, it's running the lawyers out of town! For my money though, this is the peripheral tip of the problem. Artificial Intelligence is taking a quantum leap in capability, threatening lawyers at all levels. It started with Legal Process Outsourcing, when someone realized that a lot of low end legal tasks could usefully be done cheaper, better and faster employing assembly line production processes. Suddenly, law firms woke up to the fact that Customers began to move these processes to LPOs. This was completely understandable. Market capitalism operates on constant market expansion and continual cost reduction to maintain profits. No matter what inviolability they attach to themselves, lawyers are subject to the same market forces as other service providers in the market. Curiously, it seemed at the time that LPOs would continually expand the scope of their operations and progressively cannibalizing law firm revenues. As it turned out, the real threat lay elsewhere. On-line documentation drafting support services showed the way. If a machine can quickly and efficiently deliver a quality contract, it can do the same with a complex court case too. This should surprise no one. Even back in the mid-1980s, I had standardized my Bank recovery suits to a point where I used 'cyclostyled' format petitions with only a dozen blanks or so I needed to fill. In a world before computers, my key witness affidavits were standardized too. Computer allow for far greater complexity and sophistication. It's only a matter of time before we use products which churn out entire case briefs with supporting documents using basic inputs from the machine operator for even the most complex cases. It seems inevitable that a lot of young lawyers are going to be ejected from the justice machine. It's going to be the same in the world of corporate lawyers. To illustrate, in the M&A world, the Due Diligence was a tedious but critical process. If you did not understand the key risks of a business, you could never be certain if it was worth buying at any specified price. In this process, teams of lawyers, engineers, accountants and financial experts troll the target's records, looking for vulnerability. Increasingly, more and more of these processes are being given over to algorithms. This is as it should be. If Google can determine with a high statistical certainty what product I will likely buy next, another algorithm can determine what risk is likely to hit a business in the foreseeable future. I must admit LPOs bothered me not in the least. No matter how abysmal our service standards, I assured myself, LPOs can slice processes all they like but they can't hire smarter people than I can and this is after all a people business. I told myself I don't have to worry till the day someone finds a way to make AI that can 'think', whatever that means. Low and behold, it seems that day is coming our way too. For me it all started with EBay's dispute resolution process. The data required to resolve every dispute is finite [was an order placed/paid for/dispatched and delivered?]. The rules are simple too [payment is buyers responsibility, delivery is sellers responsibility]. Ebay holds on to payments till delivery of the goods is confirmed by the buyer. Dispute resolution is simplicity itself. How long is it before machines will be able to handle more complex disputes? To understand what machines will do in complex disputes, lets break down the process. First there is document discovery, then drafting, then case law research and then filing. What is document discovery but trolling through bundles of electronic documents using key words to determine relevance? What is drafting but the modification of formats using bespoke key inputs? What is case law research but compilation of a legal data base that has been digitized? As for filing, Delhi High Court has turned to E-filing already and doubtless others will follow. The rules that govern the creation of a case are the same as govern the formulation and delivery of a defense of a case. Now, you could argue that we would still need lawyers to define strategy and figure out how to win the case. Do we? What do we mean when we talk about machines that 'think'? If I want to sell you something, I have to think about what I am going to say that will make you buy it. We call it a USP. I need to know you, your desires and aspirations and your goals. That allows me to figure out a pitch. But machines do it another way. They don't try to understand my mind. They focus instead on my behavior. Thus, if I buy 3 white shirts and a black coat from Amazon, Google makes sure to have such products permanently on display in small advertisements as I surf the web. Algorithms are collating and 'interpreting' my behavior all the time, culminating in making reliable prediction on what I will do in what circumstances. How long is it before algorithms will compile every available piece of information about every judge and determine what kind of case presentation has the greatest chance of getting a favorable judgment? When this day comes to pass, exactly what will a lawyer contribute to the proceedings? We seem to be heading to a place where we will only need judges who needs to think through the issues and deliver a judgment. Will this be a world where there will be very few lawyers but very many judges? Let's think this through. Ebay's dispute resolution program does not need a human judge. Paypal's dispute resolution program does not need human intervention. Wouldn't our logistic compulsions drive a radical paradigm shift? Given the growing backlog of cases in our courts, how long is it before cases files will be compiled by machines and fed into justice machines where algorithms will determine what would be just in the circumstances? If this strikes you as outlandish, consider what can possibly be complex about say a medical insurance claim and why you need a human judge to resolve one? The insurance policy is digitized, the insured's medical history is digitized, and the hospital's records are digitized too. How many open issues are there? Someone just needs to write the algorithm. It's a matter of time before the same principle will apply to the most complex of disputes. As the situation stands today, at the highest level, the Constitution of India is the algorithm on the foundation of which a large population of Apps - also called lawyers and judges - deliver justice to citizens. When the whole process has been programmed and automated, how weird will it be for the Chief Justice of India to be a main frame computer with a giant data base and a truly amazing ethical framework programmed into its innards. At that point, the only question we would need to ask ourselves is this: Who controls the program? Will it be a collective of 'right minded people', the software programmers, or, like the Skynet in Terminator movies, the Chief Justice of India program would have achieved self-awareness? The author is Managing Partner of the Gurgaon-based corporate law firm N South. His bestselling expose' of the real world of Indian courts "Legal Confidential", released in November 2015. 30 Apr 2019, 12:59 PM OPEC to consider views of PM Modi, other world leaders before cutting oil production, says Saudi minister Oil cartel OPEC will consider views of world leaders such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who represent the voice of major consuming nations, with seriousness before taking a decision on cutting output to support falling prices, Saudi oil minister Khalid Al Falih said . India is the world's third largest oil consuming nation, which is more than 80 per cent dependent on imports to meet its energy needs. Led by Modi, it has been very strongly making a case for oil producers' cartel OPEC to price crude at reasonable and responsible rates. Vijay Mallya says he didn't borrow single rupee, it was Kingfisher Airlines On Wednesday, fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya posted a flurry of tweets reiterating that he has been offering to repay the entire loan since 2016. Mallya who owes money to the tune of Rs 9,000 crore to various banks defended himself by asking why does he not get fair treatment and why doesn't his comprehensive settlement offer hear the same "loud noise".Mallya, who appeared rather on edge, carried on the tirade on Twitter the next day as well China tells Canada to release Huawei CFO; warns 'correct the mistake' China on Thursday demanded that Canada release an executive of Chinese tech giant Huawei who was arrested in a case that compounds tensions with the U.S. and threatens to complicate trade talks. Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies Ltd., faces possible extradition to the United States, according to Canadian authorities. The Globe and Mail newspaper, citing law enforcement sources, said she is suspected of trying to evade U.S. trade curbs on Iran. Huawei has been the target of deepening U.S. security concerns. Facebook to monitor Indian political ads in run-up to 2019 General Elections Indian advertisers wanting to run political ads on Facebook will have to confirm their identity and location to help prevent abuse of the system in the build-up to national elections, the company said on Thursday.Facebook Inc - under increasing scrutiny following the Cambridge Analytica scandal - said it would start verifying ads from Thursday and, from next year, show a disclaimer on all political ads giving more information on who placed them. IBM to sell some of its software business to HCL International Business Machines Corp on Thursday, said it would sell some of its software products business to Indian software services exporter HCL Technologies for $1.80 billion. The software products in scope represent a total addressable market of more than $50 billion, IBM said in a statement. DGCA advises training for 737 MAX pilots after Lion Air crash Pilots flying Boeing Co's 737 MAX jets in India should be trained on a simulator that replicates the suspected scenario that led to the Lion Air crash, the aviation regulator has said. An Indonesian Lion Air 737 MAX passenger jet flying to Jakarta from Bali crashed on Oct. 29, killing all 189 people on board.While Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) recommended more training, it said Jet Airways Ltd and SpiceJet Ltd, which operate 737 MAX jets in India, have not had problems with the aircraft. WhatsApp yet to give data localisation compliance timeline to NPCI National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) has not been given any timeline by WhatsApp regarding data localisation compliance, indicating that the Facebook owned company would store payments data only in India. Earlier, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) had asked NPCI to check whether WhatsApp's payment service conformed to the RBI rules. On April 5, 2018, RBI had said that all payment system operators will have to ensure that data related to payments is stored only in India and firms would have six months to comply with it. WhatsApp was also asked to not store any mirror copies of the data outside of India. Jet Airways to pay salaries in instalments to senior staff till April Crisis-hit Jet Airways will pay salaries to its senior staff, including pilots, in instalments till April, sources said. The full service carrier, which has been grappling with financial woes, would give this month 75 per cent of the October salary, of which 25 per cent is expected to be credited on Thursday, they added.The sources said the payment schedule was discussed with pilots during their meeting with Jet Airways CEO Vinay Dube. There is nothing new about smartphone apps seeking permissions to access user information to function properly. But, how much information would you be comfortable sharing with the app? According to an annual study by Arrka Consulting, Indian apps require as much as 45 per cent more user permission than their global counterparts. Some of these permissions include calendar, SMS, call logs, and storage. Some apps even want permission to access user location and details of emails and social media accounts. What is bizarre about some of these applications is that the permissions they seek have nothing to do with core functionality. Interestingly enough, the data and permissions that these app seek help companies like Google and even Facebook to serve relevant search results and ads. Both iOS and Android apps are capable of accessing the information residing in our phones. Some of this access is necessary but the ones sought by most Indian app makers aren't. The Arrka Consulting report analysed Indian companies that had over 1 million downloads across several categories like communication, travel, finance, etc. The report found that the communication apps were the biggest offenders. Critical financial apps, like mobile wallets, were also seeking high levels of permissions. "Although the type of top dangerous permissions accessed remains the same across India and the US, the percentage of apps accessing these permissions varies greatly," the report said, adding that Indian apps access dangerous permissions 3.5 times more than US apps. The app ecosystem is run by Apple and Google and it's they who have set the app permissions guidelines. However, both of these companies don't question the app makers once they pass basic guidelines. Indian app makers, on the other hand, don't want to inundate people with too much information; they relying on the consumers to just get it. Or, maybe not! Edited By: Udit Verma China on Thursday demanded that Canada release an executive of Chinese tech giant Huawei who was arrested in a case that compounds tensions with the U.S. and threatens to complicate trade talks. Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies Ltd., faces possible extradition to the United States, according to Canadian authorities. The Globe and Mail newspaper, citing law enforcement sources, said she is suspected of trying to evade U.S. trade curbs on Iran. Huawei, the biggest global supplier of network gear used by phone and internet companies, has been the target of deepening U.S. security concerns. Under Trump and his predecessor, Barack Obama, Washington has pressured European countries and other allies to limit the use of its technology. The U.S. sees Huawei and smaller Chinese tech suppliers as possible fronts for spying and as commercial competitors. The Trump administration says they benefit from improper subsidies and market barriers. The timing of the arrest is awkward following the announcement of a U.S.-Chinese cease-fire in a trade war that has its roots in Beijing's technology policy. Meng was detained in Vancouver on Saturday, the day Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping met in Argentina and announced their deal. Stock markets tumbled on the news, fearing renewed U.S.-Chinese tensions that threaten global economic growth. Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 2.5 per cent, and the DAX in Germany sank 1.8 per cent. A Chinese government statement said Meng broke no U.S. or Canadian laws and demanded Canada "immediately correct the mistake" and release her. Beijing asked Washington and Ottawa to explain the reason for Meng's arrest, said a Foreign Ministry spokesman, Geng Shuang. He said arresting her without that violated her human rights. But the Ministry of Commerce signalled that Beijing wants to avoid disrupting progress toward settling a dispute with Washington over technology policy that has led them to raise tariffs on billions of dollars of each other's goods. China is confident they can reach a trade deal during the 90 days that Trump agreed to suspend U.S. tariff hikes, said a ministry spokesman, Gao Feng. Trump's tariff hikes on Chinese imports stemmed from complaints Beijing steals or pressures foreign companies to hand over technology. But U.S. officials also worry more broadly that Chinese plans for state-led creation of Chinese champions in robotics, artificial intelligence and other fields might erode U.S. industrial leadership. "The United States is stepping up containment of China in all respects," said Zhu Feng, an international relations expert at Nanjing University. He said targeting Huawei, one of its most successful companies, "will trigger anti-U.S. sentiment." "The incident could turn out to be a breaking point," Zhu said. Last month, New Zealand blocked a mobile phone company from using Huawei equipment, saying it posed a "significant network security risk." The company was banned in August from working on Australia's fifth-generation network. On Wednesday, British phone carrier BT said it was removing Huawei equipment from the core of its mobile phone networks. It said Huawei still is a supplier of other equipment and a "valued innovation partner." The Wall Street Journal reported this year U.S. authorities are investigating whether Huawei violated sanctions on Iran. The Chinese government appealed to Washington to avoid any steps that might damage business confidence. Huawei's biggest Chinese rival, ZTE Corp., was nearly driven out of business this year when Washington barred it from buying U.S. technology over exports to North Korea and Iran. Trump restored access after ZTE agreed to pay a 1 billion fine, replace its executive team and embed a U.S.-chosen compliance team in the company. Huawei is regarded as far stronger commercially than ZTE. Based in Shenzhen, near Hong Kong, Huawei has the biggest research and development budget of any Chinese company and a vast portfolio of patents, making it less dependent on American suppliers. Its growing smartphone brand is among the top three global suppliers behind Samsung Electronics and Apple Inc. by the number of handsets sold. Meng was changing flights in Canada when she was detained "on behalf of the United States of America" to face unspecified charges in New York, according to a Huawei statement. "The company has been provided very little information regarding the charges and is not aware of any wrongdoing by Ms Meng," the statement said. A U.S. Justice Department spokesman declined to comment. Huawei said it complies with all laws and rules where it operates, including export controls and sanctions of the U.N., the U.S. and European Union. Meng's arrest also threatened to inflame disagreements over Iran and Trump's decision to break with other governments and re-impose sanctions over the country's nuclear development. Geng, the foreign ministry spokesman, said China objects to unilateral sanctions outside the United Nations. China has said it will continue to do business with Iran despite the possible threat of U.S. penalties. Meng is a prominent member of China's business world as deputy chairman of Huawei's board and the daughter of its founder Ren Zhengfei, a former Chinese military engineer. Employee Provident Fund (EPF) is one of the most popular and widely used investment schemes by the salaried class in India. The benefits of EPF are extended to all establishments with 20 or more employees. A person starts his contribution to the PF fund once he joins a company as an employee. The contributions are made on a monthly basis. Employers and employees both contribute 12% of wages in EPF. The tax free interest and the maturity value ensure safe growth to your hard earned money. Even though it is highly recommended that the PF continued for a long period of time, EPFO members are allowed to withdraw the entire amount if they remain unemployed for more than two months. As per the new rules for withdrawal issued by EPFO, in the event of job loss members are allowed to withdraw 75 per cent of the accumulated corpus after completing one month of termination. If unemployed for two months, the members have the option to withdraw the remaining 25 per cent and opt for full settlement. Besides unemployment, provident fund money can also be withdrawn in case of emergencies and other situations: Marriage - Up to 50 per cent of employee's share of contribution to the EPF can be withdrawn for the marriage of self, son/daughter and brother/sister. But the condition is that the employee must complete 7 years of minimum service. Education - Up to 50 per cent of employee's share of contribution to the EPF can be withdrawn for the education of either self or children after class 10. To be eligible to do so, the employee must complete 7 years of minimum service. House construction or purchase of plot - The land or the house should be in the name of the employee, spouse or jointly owned. In case of land, an amount up to 24 times of the monthly wages with addition of dearness allowance can be withdrawn. Whereas in case of house, up to 36 times of the monthly wage plus dearness allowance can be withdrawn. The employee must complete minimum 5 years of service to be eligible. Home loan repayment - The mortgaged home should be registered in the name of the employee, spouse or jointly held. EPFO allows withdrawal of up to 90 per cent of the employer plus employee's contribution to the EPF. But the employee has to complete minimum 10 years of service and should be ready to furnish all home loan related documents as demanded by the EPFO. Also the balance in the EPF account should be more than Rs 20,000 to avail this benefit. Renovation of House - EPFO allows withdrawal of up to 12 times the monthly wages earned subject to the condition that the house is in the name of the employee or spouse or held jointly and the employee should have completed at least 5 years of service Medical treatment - For employee, employee's spouse, parents or children, EPFO allows withdrawal up to 6 times of the monthly salary. In case of withdrawal due to medical reasons the clause of minimum service is not applicable. In a bonanza for government employees, the Cabinet on Thursday raised the government's contribution to National Pension Scheme (NPS) to 14 per cent of basic salary from the current 10 per cent, sources said. Minimum employee contribution will, however, remain at 10 per cent. The Cabinet also approved tax incentives under 80C of the Income Tax Act for employees' contribution to the extent of 10 per cent, they added. Presently, the government and employees contribute 10 per cent of basic salary each to NPS. While the minimum employee contribution remains at 10 per cent, the government contribution has been increased from 10 per cent to 14 per cent. The Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, also allowed government employees to commute 60 per cent of the fund accumulated at the time of retirement, up from 40 per cent at present. Also, employees will have the option to invest in either fixed income instruments or equities, sources said. As per the Cabinet decision, if the employee decides not to commute any portion of the accumulated fund in NPS at the time of retirement and transfers 100 per cent to annuity scheme, then his pension would be more than 50 per cent of his last drawn pay, sources said. The government did not announce the decision in view of the ensuing polls in Rajasthan Friday. While the government is yet to decide on the date of notification of the new scheme, sources said such changes usually come into effect from the beginning of a financing year, meaning April 1, 2019. This formula for changes in the NPS was worked out by the Finance Ministry based on the recommendation of a government-appointed committee. The New Year will bring a major bonanza for central government employees with the Modi government yesterday deciding to hike pension benefits for all those who joined the services on or after January 1, 2004. In other words, those who have been in service for 14 years at least stand to reap huge benefits. And no one is missing the timing of the move given the upcoming general elections. Top sources in the government told India Today that under the revamped National Pension Scheme (NPS), the government will increase its contribution to employee pension to 14 per cent of basic salary, from 10 per cent currently. The Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Thursday also approved tax incentives under 80C of the Income Tax Act for employees' contribution to the extent of 10 per cent. Under the 2004 scheme, employees' contribution could not be used for tax exemptions. The Centre has reportedly withheld making an announcement on this development keeping in mind the Election Commission of India's Model Code of Conduct since assembly elections are underway in some states. Rajasthan and Telengana go to polls today. At present, employees contribute 10 per cent of their basic salary to the NPS, with the central government contributing a matching amount. Although the revamped scheme keeps the employees' contribution intact, the increased government contribution will significantly raise the corpus built by their retirement at 60 years. The report added that one more significant change has been introduced in the NPS - applying to what employees do with the corpus at the time of retirement. Current rules prevent an employee from withdrawing more than 40 per cent of the accumulated fund. The remaining 60 per cent is converted to annuity, which pays for the employee's monthly pension. But under the revamped scheme, employees will be able to commute 60 per cent of the fund accumulated at the time of retirement while the remaining 40 per cent will be converted to annuity. "This will bring more cash in the hands of the retired employee for him to make an investment in a home or other needs like a child's marriage etc," a senior bureaucrat said. As per the Cabinet decision, if an employee decides not to commute any portion of the accumulated fund in NPS at the time of retirement and transfers 100 per cent to annuity scheme, then his pension would be more than 50 per cent of his last drawn pay, sources told PTI. Furthermore, central government employees will soon enjoy the option to invest in either fixed income instruments or equities. Current rules allow only 15 per cent investment in equity but under the new rules the pension funds can be invested in other options as well with no cap. This formula for changes in the NPS was worked out by the Finance Ministry based on the recommendation of a government-appointed committee. While the government is yet to decide on the date of notification of the new scheme, sources said such changes usually come into effect from the beginning of a financing year, meaning April 1, 2019. Besides, the key benefits will require changes in the finance bill and that will take some time. With PTI inputs (Edited by Sushmita Choudhury Agarwal) Also Read: Good news for govt employees! Centre to hike contribution to National Pension Scheme Also Read: Labour Minister assures help to pensioners demanding pension hike - T. S. Eliot Thoughts After Lambeth "The World is trying the experiment of attempting to form a civilized but non-Christian mentality. The experiment will fail; but we must be very patient in awaiting its collapse; meanwhile redeeming the time: so that the Faith may be preserved alive through the dark ages before us; to renew and rebuild civilization, and save the World from suicide." The impasse between Facebook-owned WhatsApp and the Indian government over traceability of messages on the platform is reportedly showing the first signs of thaw. A team of WhatsApp executives held detailed discussions with officials from the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) on Tuesday on the topic, The Economic Times reported. According to sources in the know, the agenda was "technical issues on traceability" and the videoconference was proposed by WhatsApp director and associate general counsel Brian Henness. In the wake of around 40 incidents of lynching deaths across the country due to mass misinformation spread on WhatsApp, which boasts over 200 million users in India, the Modi government had stepped up demands for a system to trace the origin of fake messages. In addition, the growing misuse of social media for illegal activities such as child pornography and terror, apart from the government's concerns that fake news may be used to influence the upcoming general elections also contributed to making traceability a key demand. But the US company, till now, had been steadfastly defending the end-to-end encryption it offers, claiming that traceability would contradict its privacy and security policies. But it seems to be now showing the first signs of willingness to engage further on the controversial topic. "Officials from WhatsApp were in listening mode [during the videoconference] and did not offer any kind of final response on the issues discussed," a senior official told the daily, adding that the company executives heard out MeitY's demands and did not categorically state a "no" or "yes" to traceability. The company's latest outreach to the Indian government comes weeks before Abhijit Bose takes charge as the head of WhatsApp India. In a statement, the company said that that Bose, who co-founded payment device maker Ezetap, will be joining WhatsApp in early 2019 and will play an instrumental role in building WhatsApp's first full country team outside of California, which will be based in Gurgaon. His appointment comes around two months after the company appointed Komal Lahiri as its first Grievance Officer for India. With these moves the company has complied with the government's demand for it to set up a local corporate presence, and now seeks to address the traceability impasse. "This was the first discussion and things are at a preliminary stage right now," said another source. More such meetings are expected to follow in the coming weeks given that WhatsApp is keen to deepen its business in one of the world's largest open markets. For one, it has been seeking government approval to launch its payment business in India. Earlier this month, WhatsApp's global CEO Chris Daniels had written to the Reserve Bank seeking permission for a full-scale rollout of the feature, but its ambitious plans have been caught in a bind over concerns around authentication and its data storage practices. The latest buzz is that apart from WhatsApp, all other major players in the market leveraging NPCI's UPI network have already shared their timeline on when they will begin to store their data locally in India, as per MeitY's diktat. "[The company] regularly engages with the government of India to discuss our commitment to maintaining a private and safe platform for people to communicate with one another. We look forward to continued discussions on how we can work together towards these common goals," a representative for WhatsApp told the daily when asked to comment on the outcome of Tuesday's meeting. Significantly, India is not the only country cracking down on fake news on social media. On Thursday, the Australian lawmakers passed a bill that mandates companies such as Facebook and WhatsApp to decrypt messages to curb fake news and terrorism. The bill also allows police and intelligence agencies of Australia to access software of such messaging tools for surveillance. With PTI inputs (Edited by Sushmita Choudhury Agarwal) This article contains spoilers for Game of Thrones Season 7 One would not be a Game of Thrones fan if they have not been waiting with bated breath for the new season. As for the fans, the light at the end of the tunnel can finally be seen. HBO released the first teaser for Game of Thrones Season 8. And perhaps this teaser also holds a lot of meaning for the fans as this is the cult show's final season. While the teaser in itself does not show anyone or any footage, what it shows is indication of what is about to come. The teaser plays on the title of George RR Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire. The suspense is palpable as a wave of icy wind clashes with fire. The icy wind engulfs a wolf and a dragon map marker - sigils of the Starks and the Targaryens, while fire engulfs the lion map marker - sigil of the Lannisters. This is also indicative of how Season 7 ended. Not only did the Night King take control of Daenerys' dragon Viserion, he is also moving towards Westeros with his army of White Walkers. As he marches towards Winterfell, the reunited Starks have a lot more to endure in the future. It must also be noted that there are two fire dragons and one ice dragon now. The clash between them is inevitable. The wait till April 2019 suddenly seems very long. It was announced this week that Flipdish, the leading online ordering and loyalty platform for takeaways and restaurants, has closed a 4.8 million Series A round led by Global Founders Capital with participation by existing investor Elkstone. The round will help accelerate Flipdishs growth by building out its product line and delivering greater service to its expanding worldwide customer base. Flipdish currently powers over one thousand restaurants across Europe and has enabled more than 25 million in online orders to date. Founded in 2015, Flipdish enables restaurants to directly accept online orders and manage their online presence and operations, without having to list on aggregator platforms. The company allows individual restaurants and restaurant chains to compete with food aggregators by accepting online orders directly from their customers with lower costs and a higher control over the customer experience. Earlier this year, Flipdish raised 2.7 million from Elkstone, Enterprise Ireland and Growing Capital. Speaking this week, Flipdish CEO, Conor McCarthy said, "It has become imperative for restaurants and takeaways to receive orders online and while the largest food chains have the resources to build software to handle this, it is prohibitively expensive for small and medium sized businesses. Flipdish is now democratising technology for these players." He added, "This round allows us to significantly accelerate the development of our product which plays an essential part in the daily businesses of over a thousand restaurants, takeaways and delis across Europe. We give businesses of all sizes access to a world class online ordering platform ensuring that they can compete with marketplaces. By making this technology available at an affordable price, owner operated takeaways everywhere can not only keep their doors open, but thrive." Source: www.businessworld.ie An image of Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou is displayed at a Huawei store in Beijing on Dec. 6. Photo: IC Meng Wanzhou, a top executive of Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., has had a brush with potentially violating U.S. sanctions before one of the speculated reasons for her arrest Saturday in Canada. Although it remains unclear whether Mengs arrest, done at the request of the U.S., is connected with her position as Huaweis chief financial officer, it bodes poorly for the company as the U.S. has come down hard in the past on Chinese firms that violate its sanctions, particularly against Iran. In April, Washington determined that ZTE Corp., Huaweis smaller hometown rival, had violated an agreement that had punished it for selling American-made products to Iran. Washington then cut off ZTE from U.S. suppliers, forcing the company to suspend most operations for two months before the two sides reached a new deal to lift the ban. From February 2008 to April 2009, Meng served on the board of Skycom Tech Co. Ltd., a Hong Kong-based company with close ties to Huawei, the company founded by her father Ren Zhengfei, according to a Reuters report in 2013. In late 2010, Skycoms office in Tehran offered to sell at least 1.3 million euros ($1.5 million) worth of Hewlett-Packard computer equipment to Mobile Telecommunication Co. of Iran, in violation of U.S. trade sanctions. At least 13 pages of the proposal were marked Huawei confidential and carried Huaweis logo, the report said. The deal didnt go through. There isnt much public information available about the Ren. The 76-year-old is an ex-Peoples Liberation Army officer and an elected member of the 12th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. Born in a rural family in the southern province of Guizhou, Ren founded Huawei in 1987 after retiring from the military. The company is now the worlds largest manufacturer of telecommunications network equipment, but has run into trouble selling its products in parts of Europe and the U.S. due to his ties to the Communist Party and military. Meng, 46, inherited her surname from her mother, Meng Jun Rens first wife who also bore him a second child, a boy named Meng Ping. Both children opted to use their mothers surname to avoid drawing attention to themselves a common practice for the children of tycoon, according to Chinese media. Ren later took a second wife, Yao Ling, who gave birth to a third child, Annabel Yao. The 21-year-old currently studies computer sciences at Harvard. Meng Wanzhou holds a masters degree from Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Central Chinas Hubei province. She joined Huawei in 1993. Since then, she has held positions as director of the international accounting department, chief financial officer of Huawei Hong Kong, and president of the accounting management department, according to Huaweis corporate website. The site lists her English name as Sabrina, though Reuters and the The New York Times have reported her first name is Cathy. Since 2005, Meng has been in charge of the establishment of five shared service centers around the world, and she also advanced the completion of a global payment center in Shenzhen, where Huawei is headquartered. These centers have boosted Huaweis accounting efficiency and monitoring quality, providing accounting services to sustain the companys rapid overseas expansion, according to the website. In March, Meng was made Huaweis deputy chairwoman and chief financial officer, in a move that caused many to speculate that she was being groomed to succeed her father. Local media reports said she also serves on the board of 11 other Huawei affiliates. Ren has said many times that he would not pass the reins of Huawei to his children. In an interview with Caixin in 2015, he said the company has been transitioning to a team of professional managers, and that he wasnt involved in the decision-making process anymore. Contact reporters Mo Yelin (yelinmo@caixin.com) and Jason Tan (jasontan@caixin.com) This is a key former distressed market to follow since Las Vegas saw the largest price decline, following the housing bubble, of any of the Case-Shiller composite 20 cities. The Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors reported Southern Nevada home prices level off heading into holidays; GLVAR housing statistics for November 2018 Southern Nevada home prices leveled off heading into the holidays, with more homes on the market and fewer properties changing hands. So says a report released Thursday by the Greater Las Vegas Association of REALTORS (GLVAR). ... The total number of existing local homes, condos and townhomes sold during November was 2,857. Compared to one year ago, November sales were down 11.6 percent for homes and down 7.1 percent for condos and townhomes. ... As for the number of local homes available for sale, Bishop said its still below what would be considered a balanced market but continued its recent rise to what is now a three-month housing supply. By the end of November, GLVAR reported 7,003 single-family homes listed for sale without any sort of offer. Thats up 54.3 percent from one year ago. For condos and townhomes, the 1,605 properties listed without offers in November represented a 118.4 percent jump from one year ago. ... The number of so-called distressed sales continues to drop each year. GLVAR reported that short sales and foreclosures combined accounted for just 2.6 percent of all existing local property sales in November, down from just under 5 percent of all sales one year ago and 10.5 percent two years ago. emphasis added 1) Overall sales were down 10.8% year-over-year from 3,202 in November 2017 to 3,335 in November 2018.2) Active inventory (single-family and condos) is up sharply from a year ago, from a total of 5,273 in November 2017 to 8,608 in November 2018.3) Fewer distressed sales. news, latest-news When Joy Johnson looks at the paintings she sees the people of the remote community the paintings come from. Ms Johnson helped artists from the remote Northern Territory town of Lajamanu bring their work to Canberra for the weekend art market. "I know the stories of the artists and I know how they live and I know how hard things can be out there," Ms Johnson said. "I see passion and love. I see a bit of [the painter's] soul." Some of the artists have travelled more than 20,000 kilometres from outback Australia to bring their art to the two-day market outside the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies on Friday. She said Lajamanu, nearly 900 kilometres south of Darwin, relied on the art to help prop up the community where meat is an expensive luxury and medical care is limited. Ms Johnson said the drinking water's high iron content means many locals require dialysis at the town's small clinic with only six beds for a population about 600. Ms Johnson said the money made from sales goes back to the community, helping maintain the arts centre and provide income. "[It's about] being able to empathise with the history and being able to understand what selling the art work means to the individual," she said. Lajamanu residents are Warlpiri people and three of them Matrina Nangala Robertson, Ralphie Dixon and Gerald Watson were there to show the works of the communities. Loretta Halloram, a Ngunnawal woman who grew up at an Indigenous mission outside of Yass, was displaying her hand made pottery. "When I started pottery about 15 years ago, I was thinking about my dad; I really adored him," Ms Halloran said. She said when she made the pots she thought about how her father would take her swimming and fishing in a river close to where she grew up. "I started to build those with my hands when I remembered my father," she said. Ms Halloran's arthritis made it difficult to use a pottery wheel. Replicating the lines of the river saw her use a simple garlic crusher, and having no kiln herself, she baked the pots in a communal kiln at a Canberra pottery centre. The Indigenous institute's deputy chief executive Michael Ramalli said it was important for Canberrans to be able to buy directly from the artists. "It's about connecting right across Australia," he said. Mr Ramalli said Indigenous art was unique to Australia and should be enjoyed by all Australians as part of the nation's 65,000-year history. /images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/0f043dcd-31c1-44ad-b971-e695d51ef8e9/r0_279_5407_3334_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg news, act-politics Couples can no longer enter into civil unions in Canberra, after the laws became redundant when same-sex marriage was legalised in Australia one year ago. However an ACT government review has found those yet to convert their civil unions to marriages still have the same rights as those who are wedded under marriage laws. More than 50 couples are still registered in civil unions in Canberra - including ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr and his partner Anthony Toms. However couples can no longer enter into a civil union under the Civil Unions Act 2012, as they were only eligible to do so if they were unable to marry under the Commonwealth's Marriage Act 1961. As same-sex couples are no longer excluded from marrying, they have not been eligible to enter a new civil union since December 9, 2017, when marriage equality began in Australia. Couples in registered civil unions and celebrants will soon receive a letter from the government reassuring them their civil partnerships remain legally valid. "If your civil union ceremony was held prior to 9 December 2017, the ACT government will continue to recognise your union in the same way as a marriage," Justice Minister Shane Rattenbury said. But now that all Australian couples can marry, regardless of gender, no couple meets the eligibility criteria to enter a new civil union." Married couples, civil partnership couples and existing civil union couples automatically share the same rights under ACT law. However, civil unions and civil partnerships are not always automatically recognised for the purposes of some laws made outside the ACT. There are differences between how couples in marriages, civil unions and civil partnerships prove their relationship exists for the purpose of non-ACT laws. Couples who have married do not have to take extra steps to prove their relationship status. A marriage certificate will automatically and conclusively serve as evidence of their relationship. However, civil union and civil partnership couples could be asked to take extra steps to prove the extent of their relationship in certain jurisdictions outside the ACT. The government last year promised to waive the marriage certificate fee for ACT couples in civil unions who chose to marry after same-sex marriage was legalised, as a celebratory measure. Couples who wed under the ACT's short-lived period of marriage equality in 2013 are also able to have this fee waived. There were about 80 couples in registered civil unions this time last year. But Mr Barr, who is also the Minister for Social Inclusion and Equality, said the government acknowledged there were couples in existing civil unions who may not want to take this step. As Australias most inclusive city, the government believes that we shouldnt interfere with the relationship commitment these couples made to each other," Mr Barr said. Couples who do convert their civil unions to marriages have been warned that the transition may affect the validity of legal documents, like wills. The ACT Public Trustee and Guardian has agreed to waive its fee for updating a will or enduring power of attorney that is, or could be, invalidated as a consequence of converting a civil union into a marriage. However couples who have converted their civil union to a marriage, or are considering doing so, should seek legal advice. The government also announced rainbow numberplates as part of its celebrations of marriage equality last year. As of September, there were 132 rainbow number plates in circulation in Canberra. /images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/21ba7a90-54fe-48e5-9582-e44bd80cfa84/r0_131_2000_1261_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg news, latest-news The deal to privatise Australia's visa processing could be worth more than $300 million a year to the winning company, tender documents show. The Department of Home Affairs on Friday released the next steps in its years-long process to privatise Australia's visa processing system, detailing what would be required of the company involved. Just two bidders are in the race for the contract, which is expected to require at least $1 billion in investment one helmed by Scott Briggs, Liberal Party heavyweight and friend to Prime Minister Scott Morrison and former colleague of Immigration Minister David Coleman, and another joint bid from Australia Post and Accenture. Mr Briggs runs Pacific Blue Capital, which holds 19 per cent of the Australian Visa Processing Consortium, along with Qantas Ventures, PwC and Ellerston Capital. The bidders will be required to develop a "global digital platform" to process applications for temporary Australian visas, of which there were 9 million in 2017-18. The contract would cover 10 years, with the number of temporary visas expected to rise to 13 million a year in 2028-29. While the signed contract would be required to protect the $2 billion that pours into government coffers every year from visa application charges, it would allow the company running the system to recoup a service fee on temporary visas of around $35 per visa. Based on last financial year's intake, the $35 fee would bring in $315 million, and under the predicted 13 million visa applications to be made in 2028-29, revenue would increase to $455 million a year. The documents show the government doesn't intend to pay for the new program, and that the only source of revenue for the winning bidder would be from the service fee. The government expects the platform to be operational in the first half of 2021, first to be rolled out with one visa, and extending to other visas progressively. Responses from the bidders for phase one of the project must be received by February 20 next year, before the April budget and predicted announcement of a federal election in May, meaning the decision could be made before the caretaker period begins. At Senate estimates in October, Home Affairs secretary Michael Pezzullo said public service jobs wouldn't be lost under the plan, and the system needed to be overhauled as its legacy computer systems were struggling to keep up with demand. Around 50 different systems are used in visa processing at the moment. The government has said it will maintain responsibility for actually making visa decisions, but it was necessary to outsource the IT system that handles the visa application process. The main public sector union has criticised the plans to privatise the visa system, and the tender process, which began when more than 10 companies were involved in an expressions-of-interest round. This is not an open tender, as only two shortlisted companies are in line to be handed our visa processing system," Community and Public Sector Union national secretary Nadine Flood said. "With phase one of this process closing in just over two months on February 20, it looks like the government is racing to sell out our visa processing system before voters can have a say on their plan. Such an incredibly important decision should not be rushed through in the shadows of an election. The union is concerned for public sector jobs under the plan as well as costs to those seeking visas. "This government seems unmoved by the 3000 jobs that are at risk under its plan, and completely oblivious to the disastrous experience of other countries that have already gone down the visa privatisation path," Ms Flood said. "Ordinary Australians will bear the brunt if its allowed to proceed, particularly those who were born overseas. Visas are already far from cheap here in Australia and costs have risen rapidly in the UK in just a few years since visa processing was privatised there." Correction: An earlier version of this story had incorrect numbers. It has been updated to say the $35 fee would bring in $315 million, and under the predicted 13 million visa applications to be made in 2028-29, revenue would increase to $455 million a year. /images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/471e0d35-8f3d-452e-8ffa-4472f072c3e9/r0_277_5315_3280_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg news, latest-news The Immigration Department risked shaking public faith in its own work by discovering and revealing the identity of an official who tweeted attacks on the federal government, her lawyers say. Bosses wrongly sacked Michaela Banerji in 2013 over her anti-government tweets, gagging her free speech even though her comments were anonymous when posted, the High Court has been told. Ms Banerji's legal clash with the federal government entered another chapter on Wednesday as the High Court was told her former employer discovered she authored the tweets by examining a folder on her desk in 2012. "Where, as here, anonymity is dissolved by the employer examining a folder of personal material on the anonymous speaker's desk, it is that employer, not the employee, who has threatened, or connected the impugned conduct with, the Australian Public Service's apolitical image," the court was told. Lawyers Ron Merkel, Christopher Tran and Celia Winnett wrote in a submission that at the time Ms Banerji tweeted attacks on the government, her audience didn't know she was an Immigration bureaucrat. Twitter users couldn't trace the anonymous comments to a public servant, and the tweets could not have undermined faith in the bureaucracy's impartial role, the lawyers said. "By their nature, anonymous communications are incapable of producing these effects," they said. Rules for public servants protecting faith in the bureaucracy's non-partisan role did not require officials to be politically neutral or impartial in their daily personal lives. Nor did they restrict anonymous criticism of the Australian Public Service, given the importance of free speech about government and politics. "The APS is not so fragile that its integrity and good reputation cannot withstand anonymous criticism." If rules stopped public servants from expressing political views or criticising the government in any situation, including in anonymous comments, they would pose an extraordinary intrusion on free speech that did not protect the bureaucracy's reputation for impartiality. "It would, in practice, prevent APS employees from communicating political views in circumstances with no possible connection to their employment." Immigration officials had failed to consider the burden on free speech in sacking Ms Banerji, and could have considered other, less punishing responses upon outing her as the author of the tweets, her lawyers said. "The termination decision is of a kind that burdened free communication on political matters, by requiring a public servant to pay a serious price for political comment." Ms Banerji's lawyers did not dispute that public servants were restricted from making political comment when it could bear on their role as federal bureaucrats. They said when applied correctly, rules upholding the public service's reputation had a legitimate place. "This is not to accept that the Commonwealth has any legitimate interest in cleansing APS employees of political opinions or of the ability to express them in ways that do not have a bearing upon the APS as an institution." The federal government argued last month political expression for public servants was rightly restricted to protect the bureaucracy's impartial role in the interests of responsible and representative government. In response, Ms Banerji's lawyers asked where the line was drawn when constraining free speech for bureaucrats to protect the public service's non-partisan role, saying not all rules would uphold this reputation. "A law banning public servants from discussing politics with their families around the dinner table is an example," they said. Attorney-General Christian Porter intervened in the case after Ms Banerji won an appeal against the federal workplace insurer's refusal to compensate her for the psychological condition that developed after she was sacked over tweets from her pseudonymous Twitter account with the handle @LaLegale. He removed the government's Federal Court appeal against the finding and sent it to the High Court, flagging the case's potential to undermine the government's policy stopping public servants from expressing their political views on social media. The federal government is expected to reply to arguments from Ms Banerji's lawyers on December 19. news, latest-news A survey on immigration published this week seems to fly in the face of all other indications showing that more Australians are objecting to high immigration. This weeks survey reports that 52 per cent of respondents think Australias immigration intake is about right or too low. That seems to run counter to other polls and broader political concern that immigration is too high, including Prime Minister Scott Morrison saying that he had heard "loud and clear" that "Australians in our biggest cities are concerned about population". "They are saying: enough, enough, enough. The roads are clogged. The buses and trains are full. The schools are taking no more enrolments." The survey result is puzzling until you read that it was done by the Scanlon Foundation which, according to its website, "aspires to see Australia advance as a welcoming, prosperous and cohesive nation particularly related to the transition of migrants into Australian Society". So it is a pro-immigration organisation, unlike the pollsters used by media companies and some other organisations polls, which are independent. The Lowy Institute, founded in 2003 and renowned for its independence, does an annual survey on Australians opinions on many issues. In June this year it found: "There has been a sharp spike in anti-immigration sentiment. For the first time in Lowy Institute polling, a majority (54 per cent, a 14-point rise from 2017) of Australians say the total number of migrants coming to Australia each year is too high." Newspoll reflected the same shift in opinion. Other polls have majorities of up to 74 per cent wanting a cut to immigration, but these are not polls used by media organisations, and a lot depends on how questions are asked. I prefer the pollsters used by media companies because over the years they have been tested by polling on voting intentions which invariably are replicated by the actual vote within a couple of percentage points. There clearly has been a shift in public attitude towards saying that Australias migrant intake is too high. That should not be a surprise. Indeed it should be obvious. The Howard Government (source of so many of our woes) ramped up immigration from a bracket of around 70,000 to 100,000 to a bracket of 150,000 to 200,000. So respondents who thought that 70,000 to 100,000 was "about right" would obviously move into the "too many" group when immigration is ramped up to the 150,000 to 200,000 bracket. There is bound to be a change of opinion as rising immigration catches up with us and overtakes our capacity to build the infrastructure for the extra population and starts to adversely affect the environment. Until quite recently the major parties were happy with high immigration because their donors profited from it. Provided the voters were oblivious to the downside of high immigration, the major parties could get away with it. But the voters are no longer oblivious. They see, as Morrison correctly points out that the roads are clogged; the buses and trains are full; the schools are taking no more enrolments. So a government on a knife edge and needing every vote is forced to give priority to voters over donors. Morrison should have addressed environmental concerns, but a Coalition government will only go so far on that score. Howard in government was for high immigration. He correctly saw the possibility of a voter backlash, but not the reason for it. Howard said that Australia had to be tough on refugees coming by boat because to do otherwise would undermine public support for immigration. Conversely the Greens, the multicultural lobby, SBS, the ABC and others have shown no objection to high immigration because they feared it might reduce support for multiculturalism, refugees and no racial or religious discrimination in the immigration program. However, the more likely trend is that the stresses caused by higher immigration might result in that very reduction in support for multiculturalism, refugees and a non-discriminatory immigration policy. There is a real danger in Australia that some voters fed up with congestion and infrastructure take it out on multiculturalism, refugees and non-Christian, non-white immigrants. Indeed, the sensible position for people who support multiculturalism, refugees and non-discrimination should be to support lower immigration. There will be no public support for a higher refugee intake without a much lower overall intake. Howard got it the wrong way around. Rather than worrying that being soft on refugees might result in people opposing high immigration, it seems that high immigration might result in people wanting fewer refugees, a discriminatory immigration policy and a winding back of multiculturalism. Those on the right of the Liberal Party, including Morrison and Tony Abbott, have been careful to stress infrastructure as the reason for support a cutback. But they never mention environmental reasons for lower immigration. One can only hope that there is no pandering to the One Nation types here. Infrastructure and the environment should be the reasons cutting immigration. Race and religion should have nothing to do with it. That seems to be the position of another politician on a knife edge who is putting the voters before donors. NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian, whose parents were immigrants from Armenia, has called for the states immigration levels to be halved. It was a good call and followed similar calls by former NSW premier Bob Carr in early 2016. Berejiklian and Carr are well placed to know the stresses that high immigration set by the Federal Government put on infrastructure, housing, hospitals and schools at the state level, where people feel it. As politicians respond to calls for lower immigration, several good things might result. First, donations from big business might not be affected (where else can they go), so politicians can in the future ignore their demands for higher immigration. (Of course, it would be better if we had no corporate donations in the first place.) Second, support for multiculturalism; the recognition that migrants have made Australia a much better place; and a non-discriminatory immigration policy will remain as resilient as ever something the Scanlon Foundation has found to date. Indeed, the main thing that threatens them is setting immigration levels too high. www.crispinhull.com.au /images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/d4009268-9d68-419c-891c-7c53469a8c57/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. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has released an employment notification calling out aspirants to apply for the post of Apprentice. Those interested can check out the eligibility, salary scale, how to apply and the complete details of the government job here. Selected candidates can earn up to industry standards. The last date to apply for this government job is Dec 29, 2018. Trades: Fitter Turner Machinist Electrician Welder PASAA Foundryman Sheet Metal Worker Also Read: Apprenticeship Training Offered Through Cochin Shipyard Limited Recruitment 2018 HAL Recruitment 2018 Vacancy Details CRITERIA DETAILS Name Of The Posts Apprentice Organisation Hindustan Aeronautics Limited Educational Qualification Class 10 passout with an ITI certificate in relevant field Experience Freshers can apply Job Responsibilities Adhere to the rules of the organisation and carry out works in the relevant trade Skills Required Technical skills Job Location Bangalore Salary Scale Not mentioned Industry Aeronautics Application Start Date December 3, 2018 Application End Date December 29, 2018 Age Limit: 15 to 24 years Also Read: India Post Recruitment 2018: 15 Skilled Artisans Required At Mumbai How To Apply For HAL Recruitment 2018 In order to apply for HAL Recruitment 2018, follow these steps: Step 1: Log on to the HAL official website. Step 2: Select CAREERS. Step 3: The list of vacancies will open. Step 4: Click the link that reads, ITI RECRUITMENT 2019-20 AT BANGALORE. Step 5: Click on the link for the application form. Step 6: Save it to your computer and take a printout of it. Step 7: Send the applications to HAL. HAL Recruitment 2018 Application Format And Mailing Address Superscribe on the envelope, "Application for the post of Apprentice" and send it to: Hindustan Aeronautics Limited Technical Training Institute Bangalore - 560017. Follow the link - https://hal-india.co.in/Common/Uploads/Resumes/971_CareerPDF1_ITI ONLINE INSTRUCTION.pdf to read the detailed official notification. IRCON International Limited has released an employment notification calling out aspirants to apply for the post of Works Engineer. Those interested can check out the eligibility, salary scale, how to apply and the complete details of the government job here. Selected candidates can earn up to INR 29,000 per month. The engagement of employees is on a contract basis. The last date to apply for this government job is Dec 28, 2018. The selection process will take place through a walk-in interview scheduled on January 2 and 3, 2019. Candidates must report at 9.30 am. The interview will take place between 10 am and 4 pm. West Central Railway Recruitment 2018 For 160 Trade Apprentices IRCON International Limited Recruitment 2018 Vacancy Details CRITERIA DETAILS Name Of The Posts Works Engineer Organisation IRCON International Limited Educational Qualification Graduate degree in ECE Experience 1 year minimum Skills Required Engineering skills Job Location New Delhi Salary Scale INR 29,000 per month Industry Railways Application Start Date December 6, 2018 Application End Date December 28, 2018 Age Limit: Candidates born after Dec 1, 1985 Also Read: RITES Limited Recruitment 2018: Manage Traffic At The Indian Railways How To Apply For IRCON International Limited Recruitment 2018 In order to apply for IRCON International Limited Recruitment 2018, follow these steps: Step 1: Log on to the IRCON International Limited official website. Step 2: Click HR & CAREER. Step 3: Select Career @ IRCON. Step 4: Select the link against Contract Employment. Step 5: The list of notifications will open. Click on the relevant link. Step 6: The detailed advertisement will open. Read the details carefully. Step 7: Scroll down to find the application form. Step 8: Save it to your computer and take a printout of it. Step 9: Send your applications to IRCON. IRCON International Limited Recruitment 2018 Application Format And Mailing Address Superscribe on the envelope, "Application for the post of Works Engineer" and send it to: DGM/HRM, Ircon International Ltd., C-4, District Centre, Saket, New Delhi- 110 017. Attend the walk-in interview at the above mentioned address. Follow the link - https://www.ircon.org/images/S&T (Dec 2018) Advt.pdf to read the detailed official notification. Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) has released an employment notification calling out aspirants to apply for the posts of Insurance Medical Officer, Senior Assistant Director of Horticulture, Assistant Horticulture Officer and Assistant General Manager. Those interested can check out the eligibility, salary scale, how to apply and the complete details of the government job here. Selected candidates can earn up to INR 97,100 per month. The last date to apply for this government job is Jan 16, 2019. 554 Teachers And Head Masters Required In Karnataka Schools: Apply Through KPSC KPSC Recruitment 2018 Vacancy Details CRITERIA DETAILS Name Of The Posts Insurance Medical Officer, Senior Assistant Director of Horticulture, Assistant Horticulture Officer and Assistant General Manager Organisation Karnataka Public Service Commission Educational Qualification UG or PG degree in relevant field Experience Freshers can apply Skills Required Technical skills Job Location Karnataka Salary Scale INR 40,900 to INR 97,100 per month Industry Civil services Application Start Date December 17, 2018 Application End Date January 16, 2019 Age Limit: 18 to 35 years Also Read: RBI Recruitment 2018 For Manager In IT How To Apply For KPSC Recruitment 2018 In order to apply for KPSC Recruitment 2018, follow these steps: Step 1: Log on to the KPSC official website. Step 2: Below the login form click the button to register as a new user. Step 3: Enter your details in the fields provided. Step 4: Enter the OTP. Step 5: Enter the captcha code. Step 6: Click Generate OTP and follow the subsequent pages to complete the registration process. Step 7: Log in using your credentials and complete the application process. Follow the link - http://www.kpsc.kar.nic.in/RPC NOTfN group ab technl.pdf to read the detailed official notification. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has released an employment notification calling out aspirants to apply for the post of Manager - Threat Intelligence. Those interested can check out the eligibility, salary scale, how to apply and the complete details of the government job here. Selected candidates can earn up to industry standards. The last date to apply for this government job is Dec 31, 2018. SBI Recruitment 2018 For Dean Of Studies RBI Recruitment 2018 Vacancy Details CRITERIA DETAILS Name Of The Posts Threat Intelligence Organisation Reserve Bank of India Educational Qualification Degree in IT from a recognised university with CCIP, CCTA and CCTIM certificate Experience 3 to 5 years Job Responsibilities Work closely with SoC team and provide them threat intelligence Skills Required Managerial skills Job Location India Salary Scale Not mentioned Industry Information Techhnology Application Start Date December 6, 2018 Application End Date December 31, 2018 Lakshmi Vilas Bank Recruitment 2018 For Probationary Officers How To Apply For RBI Recruitment 2018 In order to apply for RBI Recruitment 2018, follow these steps: Step 1: Log on to the Reserve Bank of India official website. Step 2: Scroll down to the bottom of the screen to find Opportunities@RBI. Step 3: Hover over Current Vacancies and select Vacancies. Step 4: The list of notifications will be displayed on the screen. Click the link that reads, Recruitment for Various Roles at Reserve Bank Information Technology Private Limited (ReBIT). Step 5: Click on the REBIT link. Step 6: Select Open Positions tab. Step 7: Select the post that reads, Manager - Threat Intelligence. Step 8: The details of the recruitment will open. Read them carefully. Step 9: Scroll down to find the application form. Enter your details in the fields provided. Step 10: Upload your resume. Step 11: Click on the checkbox to assure that you are not a bot. Step 12: Click SUBMIT and complete the application process. Follow the link - https://rebit.org.in/careers/cyber-security/manager-threat-intelligence to read the detailed official notification. A group making a last-ditch attempt to challenge the June 2016 Brexit vote asked a London court to review whether findings that corrupt and illegal practices took place during the campaign were enough to invalidate the referendum. The lawsuit centers on an investigation into Vote Leave by the U.K.s Electoral Commission. The agency said in July that the campaign breached legal spending limits, and said last month that it had referred payments made by Leave.EU and another pro-Brexit group to the National Crime Agency for investigation. The Friday court hearing came as lawmakers were in the middle of a five-day debate on U.K. Prime Minister Theresa Mays plan to leave the EU. In addition, the EUs top court in Luxembourg will rule on Monday whether the country can revoke the Brexit process. May came under fire at the hearing for simply soldiering on with Brexit and ignoring findings that Vote Leave broke election law. May decided to take the U.K. out of the EU on the grounds that leaving was the will of the people, said Jessica Simor, the lawyer for the group U.K. in EU Challenge that filed the lawsuit. Her refusal to act on the findings of the elections watchdog is unlawful, Simor told the court Friday. The group of Brexit opponents is asking for permission to bring a legal challenge that would allow a judge to review its claims. In court filings, May said allegations about possible misconduct during the referendum campaign are under active consideration and investigation on a number of fronts by independent bodies. Itd be rational to conclude that the world and the debate has moved on with all of the ongoing Parliamentary scrutiny of the issues involved, she said in the document. The case is The Queen on the application of Susan Wilson and Others and The Prime Minister and The Electoral Commission, Administrative Court, Case No. CO/3214/2018 Copyright 2021 Bloomberg. Photo: RCMP UPDATED: 4:12 p.m. Kamloops RCMP has completed their search of the commercial unit in the 1400 block of Lorne Street East. "Because this search is part of an on-going investigation, we are not able to comment on what was found or seized from the unit at this time," stated Cpl. Jodie Shelkie. Today's search is part of a larger investigation into two men, Cameron Cole, 35, or Charles Patrick, 62, who are still at large. Neighbours were evacuated today during the search after devices were found that were believed to be explosives. However, the RCMP Explosive Device Unit have determined that the devices were benign and the area was safe. All neighbours were allowed to return to their residences and businesses. If you know of the location of either of these suspects, please contact Kamloops RCMP or Crime Stoppers. ORIGINAL 11:47 a.m. Two suspects are at large and wanted by police following the search of a Kamloops home on Thursday. RCMP and Emergency Response Team members executed a search warrant at the 1485 Lorne St. home. Their investigation began in January, when police responded to a home invasion on Badger Drive in the Dallas area of the city. That incident revealed evidence of criminal activity. Numerous firearms, bomb-making materials, cash and narcotics inside were found in the home. Three days later, another search at a Westsyde home turned up more evidence. Both residences were used by Cameron Cole, 35, whose whereabouts is unknown. Cole has been charged with: Three counts of possession of a loaded prohibited or restricted firearm, contrary to S.95(1) Criminal Code Possession of a prohibited firearm, restricted firearm, or non-restricted firearm without a licence Storing a firearm contrary to regulation S.86(2) Criminal Code Possession of ammunition for the purposes of committing an offence Possession of a prohibited weapon Two counts of possession of an improvised explosive device with intent to endanger life Possession of an improvised explosive device x two Possession of a weapon/device/firearm while prohibited "What originally drew police to the home on Badger Drive was a report of a disturbance from neighbours. That disturbance was in fact an armed robbery.... Participants in the illegal drug and organized crime scene commonly target each other with this type of violence," said Staff Sgt. Simon Pillay. "What is particularly disturbing is that this activity was occurring in an otherwise nice neighbourhood where it would be common to see children playing on the streets." Bomb disposal experts were required to make the property safe. Also charged and currently wanted is Charles Gerald Patrick, 62, of Kamloops. He is wanted for: Possession of a prohibited weapon Possession of ammunition for the purposes of committing an offence Possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000 Cole used an alias of "Jeff Parks" when renting the Badger Drive residence and has also used the alias "Jake." RCMP say it is possible he has rented other locations and that there may be illegal or dangerous items there. Anyone who has seen or had dealings with Cole or Patrick is asked to contact Kamloops RCMP at 250-828-3000. Photo: RCMP Vernon North Okanagan RCMP seized several weapons after a suspicious male found sleeping in a vehicle. UPDATE 2:51 p.m. Vernon North Okanagan RCMP seized several weapons after a suspicious male was found sleeping in a vehicle. Const. Kelly Brett said on Dec. 6, just before 10 a.m., police were called to a suspicious male sleeping in a vehicle located in the parking lot of Okanagan Landing Plaza on 25th Avenue. Upon arrival, officers found a lone male sleeping in the driver seat of a vehicle, who had allegedly been there for over three hours, said Brett. When speaking to the male driver, officers observed what they believed to be a long gun in the rear of the vehicle and placed the driver under arrest for officer safety. Through further investigation and search of the vehicle, officers located numerous weapons including an antique revolver, a .22 calibre rifle, ammunition, numerous knives and imitation weapons. Investigators had the authority to seize the weapons from the vehicle, however, insufficient grounds existed that would permit further contemplation of possible charges against the 26-year-old male driver from Surrey. The diligence exercised by the initiating officers permitted us to remove these weapons from circulation amongst the criminal element," said Brett. UPDATE 1:26 p.m. A witness has told Castanet the 'firearm' people saw on the ground was actually a paintball rifle. I was there when the individual was taken into custody and when the two RCMP searched the vehicle. The imitation rifle (paintball) was removed from a suitcase by the RCMP and placed on the ground, the witness told Castanet. Castanet is waiting for an official response from RCMP Castanet has been contacted by several people about a police action at the Okanagan Landing Plaza Thursday morning. Witnesses have told Castanet police were searching a tan-coloured SUV and there were firearms on the ground beside the vehicle. Castanet has contacted Vernon RCMP who indicated information on the incident is forthcoming. Castanet will have more information as soon as it becomes available. Photo: The Canadian Press The tech executive whose arrest in Vancouver has sparked outrage from China is the well-educated daughter of a wealthy former military man who founded what eventually became one of the world's largest telecom companies. Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer and deputy chairwoman of Huawei Technologies, was arrested at Vancouver's airport while in transit over the weekend and faces extradition to the United States on unspecified charges. Meng is the daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei from his first marriage. Chinese enterprises are often family businesses and family members take the best spots if they are qualified and interested, said Neil Abramson, a retired professor of business strategy at Simon Fraser University's Beedie School of Business. "She's the daughter of the chairman so she would be like Ivanka Trump. She would be the Ivanka Trump of Huawei," said Abramson, adding that Huawei is like the Apple of China and she's an extremely important businessperson. "It would be like apprehending someone like Bill Gates or some very important American businessperson." It's been reported that Ren wasn't that impressed with his daughter, but she rose up in the company through hard work rather than privilege, said Wenran Jiang, a senior fellow at the University of British Columbia's Institute for Asian Research. "She was actually at one point criticized by her father and being suppressed from promotion. That was a well-known story and she eventually proved herself and moved herself up in the ranks," he said. Ren founded Huawei in 1987 and it's grown into a major multinational with more than 170,000 employees doing businesses in more than 170 countries. Meng's bio on the company website says she joined in 1993 and held various positions across the company, including director of international accounting and CFO of Huawei Hong Kong. She holds a master's degree from Huazhong University of Science and Technology. For a period of time she was in charge of Huawei's internationalization efforts, which have been extremely successful, said Jiang. The company has embraced emerging markets in Africa, India and other places, making more than US$100 billion revenue this year and has overtaken Apple as the second-largest smartphone manufacturer without even having access to the U.S. market, he said. Huawei is the most prestigious tech company in China and Meng is a "very high-profile" person in the country, Jiang said. "This is not being taken lightly by both the Chinese government and the public." It is not known what law is alleged to have been breached. Jiang speculated that the investigation might involve Meng's previous role in broadening the company's global reach. The Wall Street Journal reported this year U.S. authorities are investigating whether Huawei violated sanctions placed on Iran. There have been reports that Huawei has intelligence ties with the Chinese government, sometimes citing Ren's previous military service, but there is no proof, Jiang said. The company's Canadian arm said in a statement that Meng's arrest is "in no way" related to Huawei Canada's business or research operations. Photo: The Canadian Press Adrian Pearce and his ex high school girl friend Vicki Allen open the 47 year old gift, a book called Love Is, which she gave him when they broke up in 1971, in St. Albert, Alta., on Thursday, Dec. 6, 2018. A man in Edmonton who made international headlines for holding onto a wrapped Christmas gift from a high-school girlfriend who dumped him nearly 50 years ago finally learned what it was on Thursday when she travelled to the city and opened it for him. Adrian Pearce, now a married father of two, received the small present wrapped in shiny, purple paper shortly before Christmas 1971 from Vicki Allen, who was his very first sweetheart at George S. Henry Secondary School in Toronto. But when she handed it to him, she broke up with him. Dejected, Pearce returned to his family's home, threw it under the Christmas tree and vowed never to open it. The story last December about the unopened gift appeared on TV, newspapers and websites around the world. And as Allen stood on a stage in a packed cafe northwest of the city and peeled away the paper with Pearce standing beside her and his wife, Janet, in the audience, she herself didn't know what she'd see because it was so long ago and she'd forgotten. "Oh no!" Allen exclaimed when she finally saw. "I can't give that to him!" It was a small book called "Love Is: New Ways To Spot That Certain Feeling" with a cartoons and sayings about love. "The irony is extreme," Allen cried. The event was a fundraiser for the Christmas Bureau of Edmonton, a local charity that provides Christmas meals to families in need. "Love is all of us, all of you, here tonight for the Christmas Bureau of Edmonton," Pearce responded. Days after Pearce's story appeared last Christmas, a friend who knew them both in high school sent Allen a link to one of the many articles written about it. Allen responded by clicking "like" on some of Pearce's Facebook posts, and Peace figured out who it was. They got in touch, and eventually Pearce and his wife were invited to meet her where she now lives in British Columbia. They learned that they all got along. They also learned the reason Allen dumped Pearce all those years ago. It turned out that while Allen was shopping for Pearce's gift at the mall, she met another boy and he kissed her on the spot. "It wouldn't have been so bad, but I kissed him back," Allen said. Bamburi Cement issues profit warning for 2018 07 December 2018 Kenyas Bamburi Cement has issued a profit warning for the financial year ended December 2018, with investors expecting the company's lowest earnings in 10 years, according to Business Daily. "The Board of Directors (the "Board") of the Company wishes to inform the shareholders of the Company and potential investors that, based on the preliminary assessment on the unaudited consolidated management accounts, the 2018 full year earnings of the Group are expected to decrease by more than 25 per cent compared with the year ended 31 December 2017," the company announced in a statement. The company also issued a profit warning last year, with the full 2018 results expected in the 1Q19. Published under Oman Cement's Board gives go ahead for Duqum plant 07 December 2018 Oman Cement company has informed Muscat Securities Market on 6 December that its Board of Directors has agreed to go ahead with setting up of a new integrated cement plant in Duqum area, in central-eastern Oman. According to company notification, the plant will have a clinker capacity of 5000tpd and envisages an investment of about US$212m. The project implementation process is being finalised by company and shareholders will be kept informed of the progress of the project in due course. Published under Cement exports from Bangladesh fall in 5MFY18-19 07 December 2018 During the first five months of FY18-19 (July-Nov 2018), Bangladesh's cement industry recorded a -2.8 per cent contraction in export revenue to US$4.92m compared to US$5.06m, earned in the same months last year, according to the Bangladesh Export Promotion Bureau. The export figure also includes a minor amount of salt, stone and related products. Bangladesh's government has set an export target of US$14m for cement industry for the FY18-19 (July 2018-June 2018), against US$12.59m from last fiscal year. The target is anticipated on an expected growth of 11.2 per cent. Presently, cement is reportedly being exported to India, Myanmar, Nepal, Maldives and Sri Lanka. Published under James Howard, cohost of The Sunny 92.3 Morning Show with James and Kim, and host of the Channel 9 WTVC program This N That and his family have authored a new childrens book about a local crow with some unique challenges. The idea for the book, Oli Kai, came when Mr. Howard was approached by staff at Reflection Riding Arboretum & Nature Center, and asked if he would be willing to fly to Missouri to get Oli Kai. Mr. Howard, a pilot, agreed and he and his daughter, Lucy (10) flew together to bring Oli Kai to his new home in Tennessee. Oli Kai is about a real-life crow that lives in Chattanooga," said Mr. Howard. "He has only one eye and one wing, and he shows the main character in the story, Bella, that every living being has a purpose and is beautiful in their own way. In writing this book, my family and I want people to understand, especially kids, that no matter what challenges they face, they are special and have a unique purpose in life. The Howards collaborated with 11-year-old Nashville artist, Shannon Abernathy, who did the illustrations for the book. Shannon has been painting since she was 5-years-old and has won multiple awards for her work including the inaugural 2016 Tennessee State Fairs Youth Artist of the Year award. Through her 14 paintings, she highlights the beauty of Chattanooga and Oli Kais journey to the city. When I read the manuscript, the pictures just started coming to my mind, said Shannon. I felt like the book would really help kids to understand that everyone has a purpose, and that no one is perfect and that no matter what they are good enough. A limited amount of copies are available for purchase at Barnes & Noble at Hamilton Place and at Reflection Riding Arboretum & Nature Center in Chattanooga for $15. All proceeds from the sale of the book Oli Kai benefit Reflection Riding and Arboretum & Nature Center, the home of Oli Kai and an environmental learning hub that reconnects Chattanoogans with nature. For more information about the book, please visit http://www.6qcreative.com/oli-kai. For more information about the illustrator, please visit http://sheheartsart.com. Paris, TX (75460) Today Cloudy early, then off and on rain showers for the afternoon. High 59F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40%.. Tonight Showers early, then cloudy overnight. Low 43F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%. The Scenic Land Company is inviting the community to join them on Tuesday for a presentation about the future of the Village of Oakbrook. The meeting will be held at Westview Elementary located at 9629 East Brainerd Road beginning at 6 p.m. Were excited about the future of this special community, said Duane Horton of Scenic Land Company. As is our practice with all of our developments, having the community involved in the earliest phases of planning to garner their input is always important to us. We look forward to meeting with them on Thursday. Jada Hale, a 2016 graduate of Boyd Buchanan High School in Chattanooga will return to her hometown to compete for the Chattanooga Mocs womens cross country and track and field teams.Jada has a lot of natural talent, Chattanooga head coach Andy Meyer said. We recruited her out of high school but things didnt go our way. She has decided to return home and we are very pleased with her decision. She fits our needs as a middle-distance runner.The distance runner competed for Austin Peay in the 2018 cross country season in three meets, clocking a season-best time 21:55.41 in the UAH Chargers 5-kilometer race.At Boyd Buchanan, she became the first Lady Buc to sign a college scholarship to run cross country and track.She was a four-year member of Boyd Buchanans cross country team and the Region 3-A/AA champion in her last two seasons. She set a school record time 19:53 her senior year in the race.She earned all-state honors her final two years and placed 13th in the state A-AA final at Percey Warner Park in 2016. The Buccaneers do not have a track team, so she competed in distance races for nearby Brainerd High School.We look forward to her coming in and being immediately eligible to run the 800 and 1500 meters in track, Meyer said. More importantly, she fits UTC perfectly with her grades and outstanding personality. She will be a great addition to UTC and our team.The Mocs opened the indoor track and field season on November 30 at the Birmingham Southern Panther Ice Breaker. Up next for UTC will be the Samford Invitational in January. Follow all the action online at GoMocs.com. The Tennessee Supreme Court has declined to review the DUI conviction of former Rhea County legislator Jim Cobb. He apparently will now have to serve time in jail on the charge. In an incident in September 2015, police said he was driving his truck in the wrong lane on Highway 27 at 1 a.m. The report said he went off the roadway and then back on. It said he had slurred speech when he was stopped. Cobb was charged with assault in 2012, but that was later dismissed. He lost a close race to current Rep. Ron Travis. Erlanger Health System and LHC Group invite patients, family members, staff and the public to celebrate the first anniversary of their joint home health venture at Erlanger ContinuCare Home Health and CBS on Monday beginning at 4 p.m.Together, LHC Group and Erlanger Health System are operating a home health agency by offering home and community-based services in the Chattanooga region. Over the past year, Erlanger Health System and LHC Group have helped provide patients throughout Chattanooga and southeast Tennessee with post-acute care services, helping them recover in the comfort and familiarity of home.The two healthcare providers work to enhance home health services, facilitate better coordination of care delivery and seamlessly transition patients from the acute to the post-acute setting."Hospital and home health partnerships are a key component in helping patients manage their conditions, move efficiently and effectively through the healthcare continuum, and achieve an optimum outcome," officials said. "Home health professionals treat a wide range of medical conditions ranging from strokes and other neurological conditions; orthopedic surgical procedures; illnesses requiring intravenous antibiotics and other intravenous or injectable medications; and many other diagnoses that require intermittent observation by nurses and other clinicians including physical therapists, occupational therapists and speech pathologists."Erlanger ContinuCare Home Health and CBS is located at 4289 Bonnie Oaks Drive, Suite 201-B, in Chattanooga. For more information about the event and services, call Erlanger ContinueCare Home Health 423-386-1152. Eight schools in Hamilton County Schools will have Read to Be Ready summer programs in 2019 as the Read to be Ready Summer Grants were announced by Education Commissioner Candice McQueen. Barger Academy of Fine Arts, Bess T. Shepherd Elementary, East Lake Elementary, East Ridge Elementary, Hardy Elementary, Hillcrest Elementary, Lakeside Academy, and Wolftever Creek Elementary School will have the month-long literacy-focused summer camps for children. The state provides $8,900,000 in funding across the state for tuition-free access to the camp for students in need. Reading and literacy is the very foundation of academic success for children and is a major focus for Hamilton County Schools in the Future 2023 Action Plan, said Dr. Bryan Johnson, superintendent of Hamilton County Schools. These important summer opportunities help our youngest learners to love reading which will set them on a path to improved learning and success as they progress toward graduation. The number one item in the Focus 5 of the Future Ready 2023 Action Plan for Hamilton County Schools is the goal that at least half of all third-grade students will be on-track or will have mastered English language arts skills as measured by the TNReady English language arts assessment. The action plan notes that early literacy is critical to ensure students have the academic foundation to put them on a trajectory for success through high school and beyond. Rather than experiencing what some call the summer slide, students in Read to be Ready camps have a chance to keep learning and advance their reading skills through a variety of literacy experiences over the critical summer months. Summer 2019 is the fourth year of the state grant program, and it has been expanded for next summer to provide more student access to the program by changing the student-to-teacher ratio from 1:5 to 1:6. The change allows more students to participate without sacrificing the quality and close-knit nature of camps. Teachers spend time in the summer helping students to build their reading stamina using sight words, familiar poetry and leveled texts, said Stephanie Hinton, executive director of teaching and learning in Hamilton County Schools. In Hamilton County Schools, the state-funded summer reading camps are producing improved student reading skills and overall motivation for children to read books. All Tennessee public schools were eligible to apply for the Read to be Ready Summer Grant program. Prospective applicants were asked to design summer camps that were at least four weeks in length and at least four hours per dayproviding students with access to at least 80 hours of literacy-focused instruction and enrichment during the summer. The summer camps will use high-interest books, authentic literacy experiences, and engaging field trips to help increase students motivation. Read to be Ready is a coordinated campaign launched by Governor Bill Haslam, First Lady Crissy Haslam, and Commissioner Candice McQueen in February 2016 with the goal to increase third-grade reading proficiency in Tennessee to 75 percent by 2025 through a variety of initiatives. The campaign seeks to raise awareness about the importance of reading, unite efforts to address low reading achievement, highlight best practices, and build partnerships. ei incumbit probatio qui dicit, non qui negat In a surprise turn of events last week, Tennessee State Senator Steve Dickerson (R) wrote a guest column for the Tennessean where he outlined his desire for a state level "Red Flag Law." For those who are not aware of this term, a Red Flag Law allows your friends or family to "flag" you a threat to yourself or others and, thus, temporarily remove firearms from your possession until you are cleared. Now, there are numerous other states who have variations of this already in place, with varying degrees of success. Typically, the notification of the threat goes before a judge to determine if the person is a realistic threat prior to authorizing the police to come search your home and confiscate. Fire arms are collected and held for a pre-determined time frame at which time the accused will have had to prove that they are mentally stable and no longer a threat. The downsides to such a law are many. Imagine the father/husband/son wearing body armor and rushing into an apartment to confiscate a gun from a crazy person? There have already been a few citizens killed during one of these confiscations; how long until the casualties turn blue? Also, let's say you are a reasonable person who posses no threat, but an acquaintance turns you in. How much will you be out trying to prove you are not a threat? You'll be stressed and frazzled trying to meet with a psychologist to convince them that you aren't a threat. And I won't even get into how such a system could be used maliciously to cause strife for an adversary. I could get the prime duck blind if Joe didn't have a shotgun this season...and he did say he would hurt someone if they messed with his daughter... This law it violates the presumption of innocence. How does a presumption of guilty until proven innocent hold up when no crime as been committed? The 5th Amendment allows you to not be a witness against yourself; will remaining silent help your case or hurt it? The 6th Amendment guarantees a speedy trial, but for a crime that was never committed. Are we now prosecuting "pre-crime?" These kinds of laws are exactly what the NRA members (who could be deemed crazy by some merely by association) speak about when they say the government/law is "coming to take your guns." Do we want to make them right? Molon Labe Tim Giordano The Duggars, the family well known for its TLC shows 19 Kids and Counting and Counting On, dedicate their lives to the Lord and to helping others. This means they sometimes do missionary work overseas. However, a recent trip to Honduras turned sour for the family when people on social media threw backlash at the familys photo. What were people upset about? The Duggars are most known for their television shows, 19 Kids and Counting and Counting On The Duggar family rose to fame when TLC gave the group a reality show. Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar, the head honchos of the family, had 19 children together, which is almost unheard of in the United States or anywhere else in the world. The number of children caught the attention of producers, and soon, the family was given a show. The family has deep religious roots and lives in Arkansas, and each member dedicates his or her life to the Lord. Along with such a religious lifestyle often comes ministry work, which the family does to help give back to those in need. But a recent ministry trip didnt go over well. The Duggars took a trip to do ministry work in Honduras The Duggars ventured to Honduras to take on some religious ministry work in the lesser developed areas of the country. Theyve been known for helping others in need in the U.S., but their work soon took them overseas. The family, as well as the married couples on their own, began visiting South America more frequently to help out. However, things with the familys ministry work have not always gone over well. Jill and Derick Dillards charitable ministry organization shut down in 2017 after some questioned where the money was going. (Derick Dillard was later allegedly fired from the show due to transphobic slurs hed used against another TLC star.) But the family as a whole always vowed to get involved wherever they were needed. But people on Instagram were quick to attack the familys post While the family was in Honduras, they posted a photo of themselves along with some Hondurans they had met on their trip. The photo got plenty of Instagram likes, but some people were not as loving. One user wrote, Just think about what they could do with the amount of [money] it takes to fly [you] all there [and] back, plus expenses. Aside from the complaints about the cost for the family to visit the country, some complained about the migrant caravan situation currently going on at the U.S. border. One user wrote, I hope you all are just as excited and on fire for the Central Americans seeking asylum in the U.S.? The ones President Trump is tear gassing? You should be publicly condemning Trump for his actions Another comment read, Why dont you go to Mexico and minister to the Hondurans in need there? Other people even condemned the family for offering any help to Hondurans. One user wrote that by doing charity work over there, the Duggars were encouraging and helping Illegals come to America. However, the family still completed their trip despite the backlash Despite the backlash on Instagram, the family still helped out where it was needed in the country. And although there were some negative comments about their work, there was some positivity on the post, too. One user wrote, Im from Honduras hope you guys have a great time and return home safely!!! God bless!!! The family didnt appear to let the negativity affect their work and will likely continue to periodically travel to South America to help others. Check out The Cheat Sheet on Facebook! Nebraska principal bans all things Christmas, says candy canes symbolize Jesus Christian Post Contributor | 07 December, 2018 by Samuel Smith A school district in Nebraska has clarified that a principal's recent directives to teachers effectively banning all Christmas and other religious holiday symbols violate school board policy. A lawyer for Elkhorn Public Schools has criticized the guidance given last week to teachers at Manchester Elementary School by Principal Jennifer Sinclair in a response letter sent Monday to lawyers at Liberty Counsel. Sinclair's guidance warned teachers against things such as having Christmas trees in the classroom, putting Christmas symbols on school worksheets, the singing of Christmas carols and the playing of Christmas music. Sinclair advised teachers against having students make Christmas ornaments as gifts and even advised them not to use the colors red and green because of their connection to the Christmas holiday. Also on Sinclaire's "not acceptable" list was candy canes, cane-shaped sticks of candy that are often peppermint flavored. "That's Christmas-related," she wrote. "Historically, the shape is a 'J' for Jesus. The red is for the blood of Christ, and the white is a symbol of his resurrection. This would also include different colored candy canes." Sinclair based her guidance off of a school district policy that calls for all learning activities, student exhibits and student programs to not endorse or promote any given religion or faith. "I know that you all are very kind and conscientious people," Sinclair told the teachers in her guidance. "I know all of the things that you'd like to do, have done, want to do are coming from such a good place. I come from a place that Christmas and the like are not allowed in schools, as over the years in my educational career, this has evolved into the expectation for all educators." Sinclair suggested that if teachers have any doubt about an activity or decoration they had planned, they should ask themselves "What is the clear instructional purpose of this?" "Does this item or activity promote a certain belief or religious?" Sinclair wrote. Liberty Counsel, a national conservative Christian legal nonprofit, raised concern in a letter sent to Superintendent Bary Habrock last Friday. It argued in its letter to Habrock that Sinclair "appears to have conflated her own values and preferences with the law." "The First Amendment simply does not require the elimination of all Christmas symbols religious and secular in a misguided attempt to be 'inclusive' by eliminating all traditional elements of a federally and state-recognized holiday," the Liberty Counsel letter sent by attorney Richard Mast reads. "The effort to comprehensively eliminate Christmas symbols is Orwellian." In response, Liberty Counsel received a Dec. 3 letter from Justin Knight of the law offices of Perry, Guthery, Haase and Gessford, which represents the school district. "Please be advised that, after the receiving your letter, the Administration investigated this matter and determined that Principal Sinclair's memorandum did not comply with Board Policy," the letter reads. "The Board's applicable policies are lawful on the issue of religion in schools, and all District employees are expected to follow Board Policy at all times." Read more about "Nebraska principal bans all things Christmas, says candy canes symbolize Jesus" on The Christian Post. One of the oldest English copies of the Bible sells at auction for over $47,000 Christian Post Contributor | 06 December, 2018 by Samuel Smith A rare copy of one of the first New Testaments to be published in English has sold to a private collector for the equivalent of nearly $48,000. The 1536 text was translated from Hebrew and Greek by renowned English scholar William Tyndale, one of the most well-known figures of the Protestant Reformation who believed that everyone should be able to read the Bible in their own language. The piece is titled "The Newe Testamente Yet Once Agayne Corrected By William Tyndale" and is only the fourth copy to be sold since the 1970s, Premier reports. The piece of history sold at auction to an unnamed collector on Nov. 28 for 37,500, which is equivalent to $47,908.95. According to Clive Moss, the head of the book department at Chiswick Auctions in West London, the Bible was Tyndale's final revision and "shaped the grammar and vocabulary of the English language" in a period in which it was "crude and unrefined." "The Tyndale Bible has been described as the most important book in the English language," Moss said, according to Premier. "William Tyndale contributed to the rise of the view that the Bible is a historical document and should be read with 'historical faith.'" Moss explained that Tyndale "made political use of his vernacular translations" in order "to win the common people to the Protestant cause." "It is, therefore, unmistakably of huge national and historical importance to Britain," Moss asserted. The 37,500 auction price is higher than what some had anticipated. In October, it was estimated that the text would sell for around 8,000-10,000. David Instone-Brewer, the senior research fellow at Tyndale House in Cambridge, told Premier in October that only a few of the Tyndale Bibles have survived as they were declared heretical in Britain. "Tyndale had to hide in the Netherlands because British authorities didn't want an unauthorized version of the Bible," Instone-Brewer said. According to Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, Tyndale was refused permission to translate the Bible into English from Greek instead of the traditional Latin by the Bishop of London. After that, Tyndale fled to Germany where he published an English New Testament in Cologne in 1525. However, the edition was "thoroughly suppressed." Read more about "One of the oldest English copies of the Bible sells at auction for over $47,000" on The Christian Post. Austin, Texas churches may be required to hire homosexual and transgender employees if a city ordinance is implemented. Under the ordinance, the city would guarantee "the opportunity for each person to obtain employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age or disability." "Nondiscrimination is a core value in Austin and we need to defend it," Austin Mayor Steve Adler told KXAN-TV. In response, the U.S. Pastor Council and the Texas Values organization are suing the city of Austin over the ordinance. The groups are arguing that the city code forces churches to act against their religious beliefs. They are asking the city to apply exceptions to religious groups. The bottom line is that a threat to any of our Constitutional protections is a threat to all of our Constitutional rights, said Texas Pastor Council President Dave Welch. Forcing churches to violate core convictions is not acceptable, he added. Once government does so, all of our Constitutional protections are essentially gone all gone, for all of us, across all America. However, a city of Austin spokesperson said the city would defend the ordinance. The City is proud of our anti-discrimination ordinance and the protections it provides. The ordinance reflects our values and culture respecting the dignity and rights of every individual. We are prepared to vigorously defend the City against this challenge to the Citys civil rights protections." The lawsuit was filed Oct. 6 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, Austin Division. Our major premise is to put an end to this threat against our churches, Welch said. The pendulum has swung too far against our freedoms, so we want to turn the pendulum back to Constitutional protections. Those protections should remain. Photo courtesy: While attempting to help who she thought was a woman and baby in need, a Baltimore Ministers wife was stabbed to death through her car window. Last Saturday, Jacquelyn Smith, 52, was stabbed and killed when she rolled down her car window to offer assistance to a woman holding a baby and sign asking for help. According to CBN News, Smith and her husband noticed the woman holding a sign that said, "Please help me feed my baby" and decided to see if they could help. Smith, who was in the passenger seat, opened her window to give the woman money when a man walked up and reached into the car to tried to steal her wallet. According to the Police report, there was a struggle between Smith and the man, which led him to pull out a knife and stab Smith in the torso. According to the report the man then ran off with the woman who had been holding the sign. "He snatched her necklace and before I knew it, the girl snatched the lil' pocketbook in the seat and they both ran," Smith's husband recalled. "I jumped out the car to run, but I heard my wife screaming. I came back to the car." The minister quickly rushed his wife to the hospital, where she later died. Her husband told The Baltimore Sun, "I need people to know, 'cause I'm a minister, man of God, and I try to help people. He continued, "But we're in our last days and we need to understand there's some desperate people. They don't need help. They're trying to hurt you." "I'm going to make it my life work, my wife didn't die in vain," he added. "I want to try to get a law passed against this epidemic of these people out here begging for money and getting close proximity of your car." "For anybody that's in Baltimore, be careful when we see these panhandlers out and getting close proximity to your car because, like me, I'm from Baltimore, the last thing I thought they were going to take my wife's life," he warned. Smith belonged to Helping Hands Ministry in Churchville, Maryland. Parishioners recall her strong Christian faith and commitment to the Lord. Pastor Miriam Tatuem said of Smith, She was a very strong lady, very strong personality. If she believed in something, she believed in it she was one of those kind of people who was ride-or-die." Police are still looking for the suspects involved in Smith's death. Photo courtesy: Ev/Unsplash A Virginia county school boards push to remove the religious exemption for homeschoolers is alarming many of the states families, who say it could be a new way for the government to control what children are taught. The Loudoun County School Board considered the controversial language at its Nov. 28 meeting but eventually sent it back to a committee for further discussion, according to the Loudoun Times . At issue is a resolution that would ask the Virginia legislature to remove the religious exemption for homeschooling families. If the legislature took such an action, homeschooling would remain legal but would be subject to more government oversight. Dont try to solve a problem that doesnt exist. I ask you not to repeal the religious exemption, Loudoun County citizen Paul Millhouse told the board during the meeting, according to the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA), which reported on the resolution. More than 20 residents spoke out in opposition to the resolution. This action is very disturbing because it means that the school district wants new ways to control religious-exempt families, said HSLDA senior counsel Scott Woodruff. The resolution had passed Nov. 13, but the board voted Nov. 28 to send it back to the Legislative and Policy Committee. School board member Eric Hornberger said the state law needs to change. If youre going to claim a religious exemption, at least confirm or affirm that youre going to educate the child. Thats it. Thats really the core of it, he said during the board meeting, according to the Loudoun Times. The language, which everyone weve heard tonight who came or sent emails, theyre people who are doing that. Theyre already fulfilling that. Opponents of the resolution said the issue was about religious freedom. Parents must be empowered to educate their children according to their faith, said citizen Scott Woodruff. Michael Foust is a freelance writer. Visit his blog, MichaelFoust.com. Photo courtesy: Pixabay/White77 Cross miraculously left standing amid rubble of town destroyed by Calif.'s wildfire: 'God is with us' Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A large wooden cross that was left untouched by the California wildfires is serving as a reminder of Gods faithfulness to a town almost entirely destroyed by the inferno. On Facebook, Our Savior Lutheran Church Pastor Brandon Merrick posted a photo of the cross two days after flames devastated the town of Paradise along with the 54-year-old church building and the parsonage where his wife and two children lived. This picture is not just a heartbreaking reminder of what can happen to the things and people of this world, this is our one true hope in the midst of tragedy that cannot be destroyed by anything, he captioned the photo. God is with us. God is holding you right now as you read this note and He wants nothing more than for you to see Him through the cross where He draws us to the only place His mercy and forgiveness are found. In this picture I understand how in the cross we see both the ultimate consequence of our sin in death and the new life we have with Jesus. The pastor reminded his grieving congregation that the hard work of the people of Our Savior Lutheran over the last 54 years, some who are still with us, was not lost in the fire because the cross still stands. God is still with us and on the foundation of His promise and sure Word, we will continue to stand, he declared. I cannot begin to imagine what will happen in the next few weeks, months or years. The good news is that we dont need to. We have God and His promise that whatever we do, we will not be doing it alone. The cross photo, taken by Tyler Frank and Elizabeth Osborn as they escaped the flames, went viral on social media, with many sharing how the image reminded them of Gods faithfulness amid tragedy. On Nov. 8, Californias massive Camp Fire, named after Camp Creek Road where the blaze began, tore through Paradise, destroying 95 percent of the town. In the town of 27,000, the inferno killed dozens of people and destroyed almost 19,000 buildings, businesses and homes. The towns smaller neighbors, Concow and Magalia, were also all but destroyed, CBS reports. The blaze is the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California's history. Overall, it has killed at least 85 people, left 993 missing, and burned through 10,360 residences and 150,000 acres. Firefighters finally contained the Camp Fire on Nov. 25, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said. Pastor Merrick told Fox News he views the cross photo as a great chance for the gospel to get out," as it demonstrates that God is stronger than even the most devastating of circumstances. Thats why I like that picture. It speaks to more than just those affected in Paradise. It speaks to the country and to the world, he said. I told our church I really hope that that picture can be used as the picture for the fire because as the church, everything that man builds with our hands is perishable, but what God does for us through the cross is imperishable and cannot be taken away or burned up. Our Savior Lutheran Church reportedly plans to rebuild and has set up a site with their sister church where people can help support them. Harvest Bible Chapel to launch Freedom House 90-day residential addiction recovery program Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment The multicampus Harvest Bible Chapel led by Pastor James MacDonald will launch a 90-day residential addiction recovery program for men 18 and older at the churchs retreat property in Michigan next month. The greater Chicago-based Southern Baptist megachurch will host up to eight men struggling with some form or alcohol or drug addiction as part of the inaugural class of its Freedom House Christ-centered residential recovery program beginning on Jan. 13, 2019. The three-month program will be held at a house located at Camp Harvest, the churchs 650-acre lakefront property in Central Michigan. Men participating in the program will have been referred to the program by a sending church and will have to complete detox and drug testing before the program begins. We are blessed and thankful to be able to steward and shepherd our own church family. With that, we anticipate that many people are going to come from their own church family, Dave Learned, Harvests pastor of counseling ministry, told The Christian Post. We have what is called the sending-church model. If you start to read and study and talk to people about retreat or recovery [ministry], [you are told] it needs to be coupled with great support, a lot of community accountability for it to be effective long-term. We want every man to have a sending church. That means a church is sending him and ready to receive him back and ready to have a mentor for him. Because of staffing and housing realities, Learned said that the program will initially only be able to serve eight men in its first wave of residents. One of the things that is unique about this is there are many recovery ministries and programs that are six months long or nine months long or a yearlong. This is really a 90-day ministry, Learned explained. That is a little bit different and we have consulted with others who lead ministries like this. Learned contended that some recovery ministries err in the sense that they further the notion your struggle is your identity now and forever. That is not what we read in the Gospel. When Christ sets you free, you are free indeed, Learned said. A period of 90 days is enough to get you out of your environment, to get you out of your setting, to get your eyes and heart really focused on the Lord. It's also short enough that a return to your normal or regular patterns is more manageable. Learned assured that the program is not a medical treatment or therapy but rather an intensive discipleship retreat that will be structured in a great environment to help get residents eyes back on the Lord. The program will consist of classwork, discussions, activities, individual counseling, projects and team building exercises. Each resident will have responsibilities such as housework, cleaning, cooking and other projects that will allow them to serve others while they are there. The program will be staffed by a full-time ministry director who will be assisted by three-different part-time roles including a ministry assistant and two nighttime and weekend house supervisors. There will be increasing freedoms over time. It will be limited in time flexibility with a long-term goal of establishing trust and taking on more responsibility, Learned detailed. We want them to be contributing to a God-honoring, loving, honest, transparent community where they dont just come to receive, they come to contribute too. Learned said that they also plan to host a family support weekend to allow loved ones to come up for the weekend and see the difference the program is making in the residents lives. According to Learned, the program will cost residents about $2,500 per month. Our desire and heart are always toward generosity but that is the real cost of it, he told CP. We are open to and desire to provide scholarships when we can. At the same time, the necessity of personal ownership toward actual change and actual investment is important. While the church primarily uses Camp Harvest for group retreats, summer camps and other events, Harvest Bible Chapel leaders have dreamed for years about instituting an addiction recovery program to alleviate the tremendous brokenness where addiction has taken hold. We just recently hit our 30th year anniversary as a church and we feel like there is a reality that to who much is given, much is required, Learned explained. This is one of those areas where so many family members, friends, people within the Church congregation [were impacted] by these scenarios, we felt like we needed to try. Learned said that the Freedom House program is slightly modeled off the Redemption House program in Minnesota, a program that Harvest previously sent its members to for addiction recovery. Harvest Bible Chapel also consulted with Mark Shaw, an author who has written several books and helped establish many similar ministries throughout the country. The launch of the Freedom House program comes as Harvest Bible Chapel recently filed a defamation lawsuit against former members and Christian commentator Julie Roys for their alleged role in perpetuating what the church considers to be falsehoods through a blog called The Elephants Debt. The blog alleged that Harvest Bible Chapel was $70 million in debt in 2010 and barely survived a bankruptcy in 2006. The blog also alleged that MacDonald has a gambling problem and leads the church with an authoritarian style. Those claims were disputed by the church, The Christian Post previously reported. MacDonald does not dispute the claim that the church was at one point $70 million in debt. John MacArthur to students questioning accreditation problems: 'Keep your mouth shut' Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Pastor John MacArthur has described the probation of his Master's University and Seminary by an accrediting agency as an "orchestrated" attack, possibly by Satan, and directed students to keep quiet about the controversy. A Nov. 29 report from the Chronicle of Higher Education published an audio recording of an hourlong sermon from August wherein the 79-year-old Reformed pastor told the student body that their accreditor's actions amounted to an effort "orchestrated, if not by humans, by Satan himself." MacArthur also told students not to ask questions about the accreditation issues, they had no right to learn the details, and that it was not their responsibility. "There are things that God hates, right?" he said, referencing Proverbs 6. "One of them is the one who stirs up strife," he said, urging students to keep their complaints within the university and seminary. "Keep your mouth shut," MacArthur told them. "Don't stir up strife. You don't know the whole story." He insisted that Western Association of Schools and Colleges' Senior College and University Commission, the agency that issued the report earlier this year, did not understand places like TMU and TMS. The Chronicle of Higher Education said the accreditation report showed that while the schools were doing some things right, it also accused Master's of being "an insular and oppressive institution where loyalty to the president and his church has sometimes trumped both academic and financial concerns." The reviewers' analyses and criticisms were unusually pointed, describing "a pervasive climate of fear, intimidation, bullying and uncertainty" at TMS and TMU. "The related reports of lack of leadership ethics and accountability that emerged was unmatched for members of this review team," the report said. "It seems this has been part of the operation for so long that it is practiced without question." The accreditation review team also highlighted that the board members were all from MacArthur's inner circle of friends, and suggested some potential conflicts of interest. Several board directors were financially compensated by Master's while overseeing the school and its chief executive. Others received income from groups MacArthur operates, such as Stewardship Services Foundation, a nonprofit business that provides tax and financial advice to other pastors. "Another problem the accreditors identified is the overlap between leadership of the university and that of Grace Community Church. At least three board members have held the title of elder within the church, working under the direction of MacArthur, who has been head pastor since 1969," The Chronicle noted. Board members said they could tell MacArthur "no" but could not recall a time when they had, when asked by accreditors. Accreditors attributed the deference to MacArthur to tight personal and financial relationships. The TMUS board of directors, however, is disputing the report's findings and conclusions. "We do not believe that every assertion in the commissions report will eventually prove to be correct at the level initially assessed," the board said in an open letter. The report also drew attention to potential conflicts of interest related to MacArthur's hiring of family members for positions within Master's, and the narrowness of the academic environment. Documents also show that Master's paid over $500,000 to companies that MacArthur's son-in-law owned for various kinds of public relations marketing, graphic design and post-production work services. His son-in-law had served as the chief operating officer of Master's but is now a "special assistant" to MacArthur. "Of the 20 full-time faculty listed on the seminarys website, not including MacArthur, 13 have received one or more of their degrees from Masters; 11 have received two or more degrees from that institution; and eight have held positions within Grace Church," The Chronicle reported, speaking to the school's insularity. The publication interviewed Sameer Yadav, now a professor at Westmont College in California, who earned an M.Div. from Master's and said he was penalized for not agreeing with the theology of a professor while he was completing the final stages of writing a thesis for another masters degree. "The ideological perspective you are allowed to engage is very curated," Yadav told The Chronicle, "and if you step outside the boundaries, then youre put back in line." In an email to the Chronicle, MacArthur denied that any of his board members are beholden to him for their jobs or positions within the church. He maintained he had their full support regarding the direction of the schools. The Christian Post reached out to the communications department at The Masters University for comment and will update this piece when a response is received. In October it was announced that MacArthur would be stepping down as president, a job he has held since 1985. During the next 18 months the California university will search for a new president and MacArthur will assume the role of university chancellor. He will remain in his role as president of the institution's seminary. New film Breakthrough to highlight the power of the Holy Spirit ft Chrissy Metz from This Is Us Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Devon Franklin, the producer who brought the blockbuster hit "Miracles from Heaven," has released the first trailer for the upcoming film "Breakthrough," which tells the miraculous real-life account of Joyce and John Smith, a mother and son who show the true power of prayer, was released. In the newly released trailer, actress Chrissy Metz (This Is Us) is seen playing the role of Joyce. Please God, send your Holy Spirit to save my son, she emotionally prays as her son, John, played by Marcel Ruiz (One Day at a Time), fights for his life in a hospital bed. "When Joyce Smith's adopted son John falls through an icy Missouri lake, all hope looks lost. Even though John lies lifeless for more than an hour, his mother refuses to lose faith and prays for a miracle. To the astonishment of everyone present, her prayers are answered as John's heart suddenly begins to beat again, defying every expert, every case history, and every scientific prediction. Mere days after the accident, he will walk out of the hospital under his own power, completely healed," the movie's synopsis reads. Another moment in the trailer showcases a conversation between Joyce and her sons doctor where she tells the physician, Be the best for John, let God do the rest. Johns atheist first responder, played by Mike Colter ("Luke Cage), is also seen wrestling with his faith because as he describes it, it was a voice that told him where to find John in the ice cold water after several minutes of no hope. Hillsongs Oceans closes out the trailer, leaving viewers with a sense of hope as the story tells the power of faith. Joining Metz in the cast is Topher Grace, who's mostly known for his role in the comedy series "That '70s Show." He plays Pastor Jason Noble, the man of God who helps the grieving family through the ordeal. The cast also includes Josh Lucas and Hip-hop artist Lecrae. CP attended a set visit in Canada earlier this year, where they shot "Breakthrough" under the direction of veteran TV director Roxann Dawson ("House of Cards," "Scandal," "The Americans," and "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.). Hollywood Christian producer DeVon Franklin ("Miracles from Heaven") produced the film and was sure to tell the Smiths' story as it happened. The 20th Century Fox movie is based on Joyce Smith's book The Impossible and was adapted for the screen by Grant Nieporte ("Seven Pounds"). Smith's story first made national headlines in 2015, shortly after a bidding war began for the book proposal that was eventually won by Hachette books. Franklin was so moved by the story that he connected the family with a literary agent to help develop the book proposal, which was used as the basis for the film. "Breakthrough" will be released in April 2019. Bishop Victor Couzens assures he did not use church money for affairs as some congregants stop giving Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Pastor Victor S. Couzens of Inspirational Baptist Church in Cincinnati, Ohio, urged his congregation to move forward in a recent sermon in which he apologized for having sexual affairs with multiple women and revealed some members had stopped giving to his ministry because they believe he used church funds to support his lifestyle. Any check you have seen belongs to me, it does not belong to the church. Your tithe and your offering goes in the churchs bank account. I dont have access to that account. Im not a signer on that account. My understanding is that some have not been giving because they were concerned about where the money is going. If you need an excuse not to give, any excuse will do, the embattled pastor said in a clip shared on Facebook Sunday by Larry Reid Live. Bishop Paul S. Morton, founding presiding bishop of The Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship International which encompasses some 5,000 churches and 1 million members, confirmed last month that Couzens, whom he described as his "spiritual son," engaged in "multiple" sexual relationships while he ran his 5,000-member church. Mortons apology came after Andrea Garrison, a 30-year-old New York City model, went public about a long-term sexual relationship she had with Couzens after she discovered he was also seeing other women and lied to her about it. Another unidentified woman, who is an educator, shared a story similar to Garrison's experience and alleged that Couzens paid for her education with "church checks" and took her on trips to places like Paris, France, during their time together. A copy of one of those checks was shared with The Christian Post for the amount of $200, written on a church check earmarked as the Pastoral Maintenance Account. The Christian Post reached out to Couzens on Tuesday and asked if he was familiar with the check and if he could disclose the source of the funding. "My congregation is fully aware of where the funds from the Pastoral Maintenance account comes from. And they are fully aware of where their tithes/offerings/donations are deposited, who controls those funds and signs the checks related to the revenue and income of the church," Couzens replied in an email to CP. In his recent message, Couzens further acknowledged his behavior without going into details but insisted he did nothing illegal or unethical with the churchs money. He also noted that the work of his church was too important for it to be derailed by Satan. The work of the church is too significant. The mission that God has called us to is too significant. The calls of Christ is too significant. And I understand why Satan hates this ministry. I understand. I get it. No defense, endeavor to be offered, no deflecting or anything of that nature but we as a church have to settle in our hearts and our minds that were going to go forward, he said. I assure you as I be a man of God staff know, deacons know, elders know that there is nothing illegal or unethical that is happening with the finances of this ministry. And if you are still not sure about that or need proof of that, just call the office. Schedule a time to come in, they will open up the entire cadre of financial statements, records and audits we have gotten done over the last several years, he continued. It is time for us to go forward. I apologize to you, I ask for your forgiveness. I forgive you, I forgive them, I forgive the bloggers, I forgive everybody but we absolutely have to go forward." Last month, the NYPD confirmed that detectives were investigating a complaint of aggravated harassment against Couzens after Garrison alleged that she was threatened with blackmail unless she recants certain claims about her sexual relationship with the preacher. The NYPD said no arrests have yet been made in that case. Christian grandmother homeless after son, his wife, 5-y-o daughter killed by Muslim Fulani Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A Christian grandmother in Nigeria has shared her heartbreaking story of losing much of her family to a Muslim Fulani attack and being made homeless. Talatu Gado told Morning Star News through tears on Wednesday that her 35-year-old son, 21-year-old daughter-in-law and 5-year-old granddaughter were all killed after Fulani herdsmen, which some groups say have been radicalized, attacked their village. The attack on Aug. 3 happened in Angwan Kauna village in Bassa county of Plateau state, part of a series of violent raids this past year which has seen thousands of Christians killed and their villages and homes burned down. Prior to the herdsmen attack on us, they had while grazing their cattle around homes and farms threatened us, said Gado, a member of the Evangelical Church Winning All community. One of them once told me that a day would come that I will weep, that is if Im still alive to cry. I never knew theyll carry out their threat. Now my heart bleeds." A fourth relative, 7-year-old Gado Monday, was injured by a gunshot but survived. Those of us who were able to escape from the house survived the shooting, but we were displaced as we have been forced to flee the village, she said. Many in the community who also survived have fled to other areas. Some are living with relations in Miango town, while others are living in Internally Displaced Peoples camps in the city of Jos. The grandmother revealed that she and other relatives who managed to flee were taken in by another family in Jebbu Miango village, but their room was destroyed by torrential rains. You can see that we now sleep in the open, she pointed to their circumstance. A church leader identified as Pastor Birih shared of another attack on Zanwra and Angwan Kauna in late January, where several members of his church were killed, but he managed to survive. It was during this first attack that my house was burnt down, the pastor revealed. The herdsmen after this attack thought they had killed me and my family as they went round and proudly spread the news that the pastor and his family were burnt alive. But unknown to them, me and my family escaped during the attack before the house was burnt down. The continuous attacks on civilians throughout Nigeria by the Fulani and terror groups like Boko Haram have led to the displacement of millions of people in the past several years. In August, leading persecution watchdog group Open Doors USA told The Christian Post that Christians are losing their families and their homes all over rural towns in Nigeria's Middle Belt. "Just the idea of being trapped with your family in some of these villages and knowing that your village is about to get raided, and essentially having to run, leave everything behind and knowing that you are about to become an internally displaced person, you're not sure what you're going to do because your entire village is forced to leave," Chris Summers, senior writer at the relief group, told CP. "So any kind of community you had is stripped away. Your church is gone, which for many of these Christians in the Middle Belt, their church is the center of their community and the center of their social structure. So the church is gone, it is burned, and they may not ever see it again." Christian teacher fired for not using male pronouns for female student who identifies as trans Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A Christian teacher has been fired from his position at a Virginia public high school because he refused to refer to a trans-identified student by using male pronouns even though the student is female. West Point High School French teacher Peter Vlaming, who said that using the chosen pronouns violated his conscience, was fired in a unanimous decision Thursday by the school board. Superintendent Laura Abel said in a statement released Thursday that Vlaming was engaging in discrimination by not using the pronouns. That discrimination then leads to creating a hostile learning environment. And the student had expressed that. The parent had expressed that, stated Abel, as reported by the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Vlamings attorney, Shawn Voyles, told the Times-Dispatch that the school system was not respecting the constitutional rights of his client. One of those rights that is not curtailed is to be free from being compelled to speak something that violates your conscience, said Voyles. Recently, Vlaming was placed on paid administrative leave for noncompliance. While he agreed to use the student's chosen name, he drew the line at pronouns. I won't use male pronouns with a female student that now identifies as a male though I did agree to use the new masculine name but avoid female pronouns, said Vlaming in response to the suspension. Administration is requiring that I use masculine pronouns in any and every context at school. I was informed that any further instances of using female pronouns would be grounds for termination. The teacher's public supporters are speaking out against the school district's treatment of him, and have signed an online petition calling for him to not be fired. As of Friday morning the petition has garnered over 1,800 signatures. Signatories from across the country expressed their outrage over the school boards decision, with comments being posted denouncing Vlaming's firing. Mr. V took a stand. He is right. If we as Americans don't support him we will all lose our God given rights, posted one signer from North Carolina. This is a clear violation of free speech. Yet another example of the LGBT and the tyrannical left trying to impose their agenda, stated another from Michigan. Global Terrorism Index ranks top 10 countries most affected by terrorism Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment The number of people killed in terror attacks worldwide has decreased by 44 percent since 2014, yet terrorism remains widespread and is even getting worse in some regions, according to The Global Terrorism Index for 2018 released on Wednesday by the Institute for Economics and Peace. The Index ranked 138 countries based on the severity of terror attacks they suffered throughout 2017, and found that despite the trend of overall attacks decreasing, more than 18,000 people were killed in terror attacks last year. The total number of deaths fell by 27 percent between 2016 and 2017, with the largest falls occurring in Iraq and Syria. The overall trend of a decline in the number of deaths caused by acts of terror reflects the increased emphasis placed on countering terrorism around the world since the surge in violence in 2013, read a press release from the think tank earlier this week. The top five countries on the GTI has remained unchanged from the previous edition, with Iraq ranking No. 1, followed by Afghanistan, Nigeria, Syria and Pakistan. The findings noted that the decline of the Islamic State terror group has played a big part in the decline in the number of terror attacks being committed since 2014. Despite the losses sustained by IS, the Index warned that IS-affiliated groups are becoming more active. In the Maghreb and Sahel regions of Northern Africa, there has been a resurgence of terrorist activity in the past two years, most notably of al-Qaida. As of March 2018 there were more than 9,000 members of terrorist groups active in the region, mostly concentrated in Libya and Algeria, it noted. The report also does not include figures for 2018. Nigeria, No. 3 on the Index, in particular has suffered thousands of deaths this year alone, due to attacks on Christians from radicalized elements within the Fulani Muslim group. Rounding out the top 10 were Somalia, India, Yemen, Egypt, and the Philippines. The United States was also ranked highest among western countries on the Index, coming in at No. 20. "In North America, the number of deaths from terrorism increased for the fourth successive year, rising from 65 deaths in 2016, to 85 deaths in 2017. Deaths rose in both the U.S. and Canada, with Canada having its second deadliest year since 1998 with six deaths," the report explained. "In the U.S., total deaths rose from 64 to 86, primarily as the result of the Las Vegas shooting in October 2017 that killed 59 people. The number of incidents per year in North America has tripled in the past five years, with 61 recorded terrorist incidents in 2017, up from just 19 incidents in 2012," it added. Europe, on the other hand, had the biggest percentage improvement, with total deaths from terrorism falling by 75 percent, especially in the nations of France, Germany and Belgium. Overall there were 18,814 deaths due to terrorism recorded worldwide for 2017, which was the lowest level since 2013. Still, the number of deaths remains significantly higher than a decade ago, and nearly three times as high as the number recorded for 2001, the Institute for Economics and Peace said. The Index found that that the total global economic impact of terrorism measured in around $52 billion, though that represented a 42 percent decrease compared to 2016. The reported pointed out that the figures are conservative, however, as they did not account for the indirect impact on business, investment and the costs associated with security agencies. Michigan superintendent defends school's 3 Wise Men display after activist's complaint Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A Michigan school district is being pressured to remove a Three Wise Men display sitting on top of an elementary school but the superintendent is defending it. The Michigan Association of Civil Rights Activists has demanded that Newaygo Public Schools remove a Three Wise Men display located on the roof of Velma Matson Upper Elementary School. The display features the wise men, also sometimes referred to as the "Three Kings, riding their camels while presumably on their way to see the newborn baby Jesus. The display also features the Star of David located on the schools clock tower. The wise men are positioned so that they are facing the star. According to screenshots, the school posted a picture of the display on Nov. 24. That picture has since been taken down. LifeSiteNews reports that wooden wise men figurines have been a part of the towns Christmas decorations since the 1940s and were built by former Newaygo students. Mitch Kahle, the founder of the Michigan Association of Civil Rights Activists, wrote a letter to Superintendent Dr. Peggy Mathis to argue that the display violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Public schools are institutions of knowledge not temples of religious ideology, Kahle wrote, according to Patheos.coms Friendly Atheist. Three Wise Men following a star is clearly designed to convey the Christian nativity story, while the Star of David is the preeminent symbol of Judaism. MACRA hereby requests that all religious symbols be removed from Velma Matson Upper Elementary School. Newaygo Public Schools must not display, own or maintain these or any religious symbols in the future. MACRA also requests the prompt removal of the post promoting the religious display from the Newaygo High School official Facebook page. Mathis reportedly responded by issuing a since-deleted Facebook post in which she claimed that the display has a secular purpose, according to Fox 17. The superintendent also vowed, however, to navigate the activists complaint fairly and legally. "Newaygo Public Schools has a legitimate secular purpose for the display. We are both upholding the community's tradition of celebrating a public holiday and attempting to point towards the importance of wisdom, knowledge, and open-mindedness, she wrote. They've been described as the scientists of their time. The wise men are found in secular and other religious traditions outside of Christianity. Finally, there is no evidence that they were Jewish or Christian before their travels and there is nothing noted in the Christian Bible to indicate anything about any religion they practiced after their travels." Mathis also issued a formal statement on the matter. We have received a complaint from MACRA. We are working with our attorneys to formulate an appropriate response, she stated, according to Fox 17. We are in no way seeking a primary effect of advancing or inhibiting religion. Over 3,400 people have issued their support in an online petition calling for the Three Wise Men display to be left alone. Show the group who are asking for the wise men to be taken down that our community wants them there! the petition states. Resident Debra Webster Hart explained in the comment section of the petition that she wants her granddaughters to have years of memories seeing the same wise men that gave her joy when she was younger. I know one reason I was heart broken when they tore the old school down, how empty it would feel to not see the wise men in December. The new school went up and the other day as we drove into Newaygo, I got the biggest smile on my face when I spotted them all lit up atop that hill, she wrote. The city and people of Newaygo want them to stay. Prominent evangelical conservative leaders, such as the Family Research Councils Tony Perkins and leading evangelist Franklin Graham, the son of Billy Graham, have weighed in on the display. I believe the display of the Three Wise Men over this town should stay up and continue to send a message for years to come, Graham, president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritans Purse, wrote in a Facebook post. Pray for the people of Newaygo as they battle for their religious freedom. Also coming to the defense of the display was Republican state Sen. Jon Bumstead. I stand with Newaygo Public Schools and their decision to uphold the long-standing tradition of placing the Three Wise Men on top of the elementary school, he wrote in his own Facebook post. Minister critical of archbishops support for gay conversion therapy ban says hes now barred from preaching event Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment An evangelical minister in the U.K. says he's been barred from preaching at an Anglican cathedral due to his criticism of an archbishop who's opposed to allowing people with unwanted same-sex attraction to obtain counseling, or as it's derisively called, "gay conversion therapy." Derby Cathedral, the institution in question, has denied that it has barred the Rev. Melvin Tinker, positioning that it has simply chosen not to invite him to preach at the Christian Union carol service. Tinker, who leads St. John Newland Church in Hull, told The Times that he was refused an invitation by Derby Cathedral for his past criticism of Anglican Archbishop John Sentamu. The progressives are continuing to gain ground and the biblical tradition is losing ground, Tinker said. The evangelical minister's church had asked Sentamu to repent for supporting a ban on gay conversion therapy, and for creating church services celebrating the gender transition of those who suffer from gender dysphoria and identify as transgender. The diocese of Derby responded to Tinkers claims by stating: The decision whether to invite someone to preach at the cathedral rests entirely with the dean, who prefers to invite preachers who are known to him. There is no suggestion that anyone in this case has been banned from preaching at Derby Cathedral, nor is there any suggestion that anyone in either the diocese of York or the Archbishop of Yorks office urged the dean not to invite Melvin Tinker. Tinker separately told The Christian Institute that the cathedral is being disingenuous in its denial, however. When they asked if someone else from St. Johns could speak they were told no because what is preached in the cathedral will be taken as being preached by the cathedral its a ban in all but name, he said. I think it was pretty mean of them to do this at such short notice to the 40-odd students who simply wanted the Gospel proclaimed at their carol service. Derby Cathedral meanwhile found itself the subject of criticism by many Christians in August after it decided to screen horror films that showed graphic sex, full female nudity, and human sacrifice. Steve Dunning, a church warden from within the diocese of Derby, spoke out against the screenings at the time. "I just think it isn't appropriate to show these films in a place of worship that is consecrated and hallowed, and therefore it compromises the spiritual integrity of the cathedral," Dunning said. Kristin Simmons, a deputy warden from another church, pointed out: "One film depicts a human sacrifice of a Christian man who recites Psalm 23 and 'curses' people upon his death, and in the other, the protagonist is employed to restore a church building; it involves seances and communication with the dead and a very explicit sex scene." The Very Rev. Stephen Hance, the dean of Derby Cathedral, said that the material in films like "The Wicker Man" and "Don't Look Now" isn't "showing God anything that He hasn't seen before." "They are actually really powerful stories about faith and doubt and some of the things people wrestle with," Hance said of the movies. One of the oldest English copies of the Bible sells at auction for over $47,000 Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A rare copy of one of the first New Testaments to be published in English has sold to a private collector for the equivalent of nearly $48,000. The 1536 text was translated from Hebrew and Greek by renowned English scholar William Tyndale, one of the most well-known figures of the Protestant Reformation who believed that everyone should be able to read the Bible in their own language. The piece is titled The Newe Testamente Yet Once Agayne Corrected By William Tyndale and is only the fourth copy to be sold since the 1970s, Premier reports. The piece of history sold at auction to an unnamed collector on Nov. 28 for 37,500, which is equivalent to $47,908.95. According to Clive Moss, the head of the book department at Chiswick Auctions in West London, the Bible was Tyndales final revision and shaped the grammar and vocabulary of the English language in a period in which it was crude and unrefined. "The Tyndale Bible has been described as the most important book in the English language, Moss said, according to Premier. "William Tyndale contributed to the rise of the view that the Bible is a historical document and should be read with 'historical faith. Moss explained that Tyndale made political use of his vernacular translations in order to win the common people to the Protestant cause. "It is, therefore, unmistakably of huge national and historical importance to Britain, Moss asserted. The 37,500 auction price is higher than what some had anticipated. In October, it was estimated that the text would sell for around 8,000-10,000. David Instone-Brewer, the senior research fellow at Tyndale House in Cambridge, told Premier in October that only a few of the Tyndale Bibles have survived as they were declared heretical in Britain. Tyndale had to hide in the Netherlands because British authorities didn't want an unauthorized version of the Bible, Instone-Brewer said. Robert Jeffress on Trump's Apostles Creed furor: Sometimes I fail to recite in my own services Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Texas megachurch pastor and longtime Donald Trump supporter Robert Jeffress has defended the president amid criticism over his not reciting the Apostles Creed during the funeral of former president George H.W. Bush. During the service when the Christian statement of faith known as the Apostles Creed was being recited, many noted that Trump was not reciting the creed or reading the text from the bulletin, even as the former presidents beside him were doing so. In a statement emailed to The Christian Post on Thursday, the lead pastor at First Baptist Church of Dallas explained that he has personally seen President Trump sing hymns and recite Christian prayers. Ive stood next to President Trump and heard him recite the Lords Prayer, and I sat behind him at Billy Grahams funeral and watched him and the first lady sing All Hail The Power of Jesus Name, said Jeffress. Jeffress labeled the outrage over Trump not reciting the Apostles Creed a manufactured controversy and a nothing burger that was cooked up by the perennial Trump haters. There are times in my own church services when I fail to sing the hymns or recite the Scripture because Im distracted by my own thoughts, continued Jeffress. I imagine the leader of the free world has a few things on his mind, as well. On Wednesday, the Washington National Cathedral presided over the funeral of George H.W. Bush, with Trump and his wife Melania sitting in the front row along side the remaining living former presidents and their wives. Many took to social media when video of the worship services showed Trump not reciting or reading the creed, especially in light of the strong support the president has among white evangelicals. Striking that all the former Presidents and First Ladies recited the Apostles Creed, but Trump and Melania stood silently and did not. The creeds are at the heart of historic orthodox Christianity, tweeted journalist and author Jon Ward. Other Twitter users offered up denunciations, claiming that this showed that Trump was playing like he is a Christian just to get Christians to support him and that they cant believe Evangelicals anointed a man who doesnt recite the Apostles Creed. Liberal comedian and practicing Roman Catholic Stephen Colbert also poked fun at the president for his not reciting the creed during the funeral on a segment of CBS The Late Show on Wednesday evening. Im sorry, I zoned out there for a minute, said Colbert, impersonating Trump. I was thinking about all the evangelicals who voted for me. What are we doing, the Macarena? Im in. S. Korean megachurch pastor loses case in leadership fight; church opposes court involvement Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment The Rev. Oh Jung-hyun, pastor of the 60,000-strong Sarang Church in South Korea, has lost a Supreme Court case against several church members over an internal leadership battle. The more than decade-long battle stems from 2003, when Oh was appointed as head pastor by the Eastern Seoul arm of the General Assembly of Presbyterian Church in Korea, The Korea Herald reported. Plaintiffs against the pastors appointment lost their petition in the lower courts, but the Korean Supreme Court remanded the case in April. The court found on Wednesday that Oh is indeed recognized as a pastor of the Presbyterian Church in America and probationer in the General Assembly of Presbyterian Church in Korea, but failed to pass exams to qualify as a pastor under the general assembly. Chosun.com noted that the 37th Division of the High Court of Civil Rights found that Oh "did not have the ministerial requirement set by the denomination." The nine church members who filed a lawsuit in 2013 against the pastor argued that Oh did not successfully graduate from Chongshin University Graduate School of theology and pass the examination of the presbytery, which is a necessary qualification. Opposing the ruling, Sarang Church argued that the decision breaches the separation of church and state. [The ruling] contradicts the separation of church and state, freedom of religion guaranteed by the Constitution, and the precedent set by the Supreme Court that matters related to religious orders autonomy and internal relations, in principle, are not subject to judicial review, the church contended. The church is considering appealing the case. Christianity Daily reported in March that Oh was a friend of the world famous late evangelist Billy Graham. Oh traveled to meet Graham in North Carolina, where the two discussed the Korean reunification issue. Graham said during the 2008 meeting that he hoped to see the reunification of South and North Korea, noting, "The reunification comes from God. Pray to God. The reunification will be surely actualized if your prayer is suitable for God's will." "I acknowledge that the power of Korean churches dispatching missionaries to countries around the globe. I am also encouraged by the devotion and amazing ministries of Korean churches, he added. "God works now as well. Rely on Him. Pray to God more earnestly. Following the guidance of the Holy Spirit is the best way. On its website, Sarang Church says that it is guided by five ministry visions, namely glorifying God, living as Jesus' disciples, being one in the Holy Spirit, vitalizing the community and evangelizing the world. It adds that Oh's "basic ideas of pastoral work lie in discipleship training through which one man can be a real disciple of Jesus. He focuses on the discipleship training by stressing concentrated life." Tamera Mowry-Housley joins church choir after niece's murder in California mass shooting Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Following weeks of grieving over the murder of her niece who was killed in a mass shooting at a bar in California, "The Real" host Tamera Mowry-Housley has revealed that she's going to start signing worship music. On my vision board I have just decided that Im going to join the worship team at my church, Mowry-Housley said last week on the daytime talk show. The actress said her co-hosts on The Real have always encouraged her to pursue singing worship music and now she finally will. My cousin is a worship leader, my mom was a worship leader, it actually runs in my family so Im going to do that, she said. I would love to do that for my church and then move on to do a Christian album thats something that Ive always wanted to do, Mowry-Housley concluded. A clip of Mowry-Housley singing a gospel song went viral a few years back after she posted a video of herself singing Crystal Lewis' '90s gospel hit "Lord, I Believe in You" to "The Real" Instagram account. Her decision to join her church's worship team comes just weeks after it was announced that her 18-year-old niece, Alaina Housley, was among the dozen people killed at the Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks. After pleading with people on social media for prayers, Mowry-Housley and her husband, former Fox News correspondent Adam Housley, released a statement to USA TODAY confirming that Alaina was one of the people gunned down inside the country music dance bar. "Our hearts are broken. We just learned that our niece Alaina was one of the victims of last night's shooting at Borderline bar in Thousand Oaks," the couple's statement read. "Alaina was an incredible young woman with so much life ahead of her and we are devastated that her life was cut short in this manner. We thank everyone for your prayers and ask for privacy at this time." Mowry-Housley has said that she will fight to keep her niece's memory alive by using her voice to advocate against gun violence. The "Tia & Tamera" actress grew up in a Christian household, and held to her Christian values but has publicly confessed that after dating her then-boyfriend Adam Housley for some time, she broke her vow to God to stay a virgin until marriage. In a previous episode of "The Real," Mowry-Housley said she had struggled to forgive herself for breaking the vow but her faith remains unshakable. "I waited until I was 29. However, I had made that pact with myself and with God, so it really messed me up you guys, when I, you know...," she said as she burst into tears. The audience cheered as Mowry-Housley pulled herself together and then affirmed her Christian faith. "Most importantly, He knows my heart," she declared. "And I think in all of it I had to learn that God, He doesn't see things in a legalistic manner. You don't really have to earn His love, He loves you just as you are." The Housleys have been married for seven years and have two children together. 'With Our Souls, Our Blood, We Will Defend the Cross': Coptic Christians Cry Out at Funerals Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment The Coptic Christian community in Egypt is crying out in grief and anger following the funerals of seven believers who were killed by Islamic militants near a monastery in Minya. The attack on Friday, which left at least another 19 people injured, prompted a swift response from Egyptian police, who say that they killed 19 militants in a shoot-out into the desert area west of Minya province. AFP reported that the first victim, an Anglican, was buried on Friday, while the other six Coptic Christians were carried out in white coffins on Saturday by hundreds of mourners. The crowds reportedly shouted "with our souls, with our blood, we will defend the cross!" Bishop Makarios of Minya said following the funerals that "we will not forget the promises of officials, including the president of the republic, that the criminals will be punished." The Islamic State terror group claimed responsibility for Friday's massacre, which comes a year after 28 believers were killed travelling to the same monastery in May 2017. Egypt's interior ministry said that police pursued the militants and discovered a tent where they had been hiding. Officers found guns, riffles, and IS propaganda. Copts, who make up only around 10 percent of the local population, have called for better protection as radical Islamic danger remains high in Egypt. "What do these terrorists want? Do they want us to hate Muslims?" asked one mourner, identified only as Michael, who lost a neighbor on Friday, when the militants attacked two buses near the Minya monastery. During Saturday's funerals, mourners remembered those they lost. "He was the best child ... I'll never see him again," said an elderly woman, who wasn't named. Rad Noseer Mitri, priest of Mar Girgis Church, suggested that forgiveness is possible even in such a situation. "We would like to tell them (the attackers) that we still love them despite what happened. We have a question though why are you doing this to us? We do not commit malice towards anyone," Mitri said, according to Reuters. "We serve our church and nation in complete honesty. We play no role in terrorism or hate. We only play a role in serving our church and country like any other people all around the world." Much of the Christian world has been mourning along with the Coptic community. Pope Francis also sent his prayers. During Sunday's address from St. Peter's Square, the pontiff said that the seven pilgrims were killed "for the mere fact of being Christians." 5 things to know about the evangelical-based prison reform bill FIRST STEP Act Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Some senators are rushing to get passed, before the end of the current Congress in January, a prison reform bill that advocates say could be the most substantial prison reform the United States has seen at the federal level in decades. The FIRST STEP Act, a bill that primarily creates earned time credit incentives for federal inmates to participate in rehabilitative and vocational training programs that can prepare them for life after prison, has received backing from a number of lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, conservative evangelical leaders, and even President Donald Trump. The 103-page legislation passed in a bipartisan fashion through the House earlier this year. But with less than a month left until the end of the 115th Congress and Democrats set to take control of the House in 2019, there appears to be disagreement over whether the bill has enough support from Republicans in the Senate to pass. An amended Senate version that was released the Friday before Thanksgiving includes mandatory sentencing reform measures and other initiatives that Republican senators with a more hardline tough on crime approach do not favor. Even though the bill is backed by conservative Utah Sen. Mike Lee, some conservative senators like Arkansas Tom Cotton have maintained their stiff opposition to the bill on claims that the bill would lead to the release of thousands of dangerous and violent criminals in federal prison. While Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell doesnt believe that the bill has enough Republican support in the Senate to pass before the end of the current Congress, Iowa Republican Chuck Grassley, chair of the Judiciary committee, disagrees. As much has been written and said about the bill in the last few weeks as the 115th Congress winds down, the following pages include facts everyone should know about the FIRST STEP Act. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Next George HW Bush met the Good Lord with courage and joy, George W Bush says Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment George W. Bush gave a eulogy at his father George H.W. Bushs funeral at the Washington National Cathedral on Wednesday, speaking about the dignity, humor, and kindness he showed his friends and family. Last Friday, George H.W. Bush passed away at age 94, dying months after his wife, Barbara. He served as the 41st president of the United States and oversaw the end of the Cold War and Operation Desert Storm. At the funeral service, Bush described his fathers life as being instructive, showing his children how to grow with dignity, humor, and kindness, and when the Good Lord finally called, how to meet Him with courage and with the joy of the promise of what lies ahead. He was an empathetic man, he valued character over pedigree, and he was no cynic. He looked for the good in each person and he usually found it, said Bush. Dad taught us that public service was noble and necessary. That one can serve with integrity and hold true to the important values like faith and family. Bush said his father had a quiet faith and he was sustained by the love of the Almighty during times of trial, including the death of his three-year-old daughter Robin in 1953. Bush recalled talking with his father over the phone minutes before his death, telling him I love you and have been a wonderful father, to which his father replied I love you, too. Near the end of his remarks, Bush choked up briefly when describing his father as the best father a son or daughter could have, before regaining his composure to continue speaking. And in our grief, I just smile knowing that dad is hugging Robin and holding moms hand again, he concluded. Bush gave one of four eulogies at the service. The other three were given by former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney; former U.S. Senator Alan Simpson of Wyoming, and historian Jon Meacham, who wrote a biography of the late president. George Herbert Walker Bush was Americas last great soldier statesman. A 20th century founding father. He governed with virtues that most closely resemble those of Washington and of Adams, of TR and of FDR, of Truman and of Eisenhower, said Meacham. He believed that to who much was given, much is expected and because life gave him so much, he gave back again and again and again. The cathedral sanctuary was filled with mourners, with the funeral procession featuring several clergy, including The Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop the Rev. Michael Curry, and uniformed military personnel serving as pallbearers. President Donald Trump and his wife Melania were in attendance, as well as Bill and Hillary Clinton, Barack and Michelle Obama, and Jimmy and Rose Carter. Also, former vice presidents Al Gore and Dick Cheney were in attendance. In addition to multiple choral and instrumental musical selections, award-winning contemporary Christian music star Michael W. Smith performed his song Friends. The Rev. Russell J. Levenson Jr., a close friend of the Bush family and the rector at St. Martin's Episcopal Church in Houston, gave the homily for the funeral. During his sermon, Levenson spoke about being with George H.W. Bush in his last moments, with him and others present placing their hands on the former president and praying over him. It was a beautiful end. It was a beautiful beginning, he said. For a moment, but a moment only, that dear point of light we know as George Herbert Walker Bush dimmed. But it now shines brighter than it ever before has. By Azernews By Narmina Mammadova Baku Steel Company has concluded a deal worth $1.17 billion with China CAMC Engineering Co., Ltd., Trend reports citing the website of the Chinese company on December 6. The agreement was signed by Deputy Director General of Baku Steel Company Mardan Aliyev and Deputy Director General of China CAMC Engineering Wang Yuhang. The document envisages the construction of the Azerbaijan Integrated Steel Mill Complex in Ganja. The planned capacity of the plant is 1.25 million tons of metal and 700,000 tons of sheet metal annually. Baku Steel Company (BSC) is the first privately owned heavy industry enterprise in the country and the first modern steelmaking plant in the Caucasus region. Baku Steel Company, the flagship of the modern Azerbaijani metallurgical industry, was established by Great Leader Heydar Aliyev on June 21, 2001. The company, from the very first days of its operation, has focused on innovations and quality, continuous increase in its production capacity and maintaining its competitive capability. The Company has two electric arc furnaces and three rolling lines, with the annual steel production capacity reaching one million tons. In 2010, BSC was completely renovated and now manufactures a wide range of products such as rebars, square billets, round billets, channels, rolled wire, angle bars, I-beams, square and round rods, and various types of castings. Through maximising the automation of its production processes the Company prevents potential accidents resulting from human errors, accelerates the production and ensures high quality products. The Company management also places great value on the environmental protection, which has led to complete renovation of the Gas/Dust Catcher to ensure fully automated removal of dust and polluted air generated from the production process, thus preventing pollution of the environment. The Company exports its products to Russia, Georgia and other countries, and cooperates with world-renowned companies, such as Siemens VAI, Demora, Danieli, Vezzani, Air Liquide, CVS and others in order to improve its production and be abreast of the times. BSC is also a large taxpayer in the country's non-oil sector. 2 Azusa Pacific University trustees resign, cite institution's 'drift' from Christian principles Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Two Azusa Pacific University trustees resigned last week claiming that the Southern California evangelical institution has drifted from its mission and foundation through the promotion of liberal ideology. Raleigh Washington, president of the male evangelical movement Promise Keepers, and Dave Dias, a Sacramento-area business executive, submitted their letters of resignation from APUs board of trustees last Wednesday citing concerns with the promotion of progressive ideology by faculty and administrators. In an interview with WND, Washington explained that he had been an APU trustee for 15 years. But during the last six years, he said, he constantly confronted the board with evidence that many faculty members and the APU administration were promoting a political ideology that he believes contradicted the schools statement of faith and core principles. Washington, who previously pastored at the Rock of Our Salvation Evangelical Free Church in Chicago, accused the board of trustees of being complicit in this disobedient behavior because it has not held the schools leadership accountable. After fervent prayer and with the integrity of heart, I cannot continue to be a part of these violations of Gods word, Washington was quoted as writing. I fear the spiritual consequences of this lack of correction and discipline. The resignations of Washington and Dias comes about two months after APU announced that it would institute a policy permitting same-sex relationships between students after years of LGBT student activists putting pressure on the school to remove its ban on same-sex relationships. After backlash from conservative evangelicals, the school announced days later that trustees reinstated the ban on same-sex relationships and clarified that school officials never received approval from the board to remove the ban from the student handbook. What happened with the student handbook was an indication of a bigger problem that exists, and that problem is theological drift from what is required of an evangelical Christian university, Washington explained. Dias agreed and told WND that he has deep concerns about the long-term viability of APU as a God-first university. David Poole, chair of APU's board of trustees, responded to the former trustees claims in a statement shared with The Christian Post. He stressed that the board is firmly committed to upholding the biblical values that undergird the university. [The board] will not waver in providing leadership toward our Christ-centered mission, Poole stressed. We recognize that disagreements can arise even between people who share the same goals and convictions. Despite the assertions made by those who resigned, the board stands united in our commitment to our evangelical Christian identity. APU was founded in 1899. Although it has students from various Christian denominations, APUs website explains that the schools core identity is built on the Wesleyan Holiness tradition. The two former trustees are not alone in their concern about the direction of APU. As Rod Dreher reports in The American Conservative, APU Honors College professor Barbara Harrington wrote a letter to the board of trustees in September after the college initially moved to allow same-sex relationships and before the ban was reinstated. Her letter explained that she has had various conversations with other faculty members in which they have expressed concern that APU is in danger of losing its essential quality. There is a feeling that there has been a muzzling of the voices in the community that would advocate traditional biblical understanding, she argued. We have been afraid to speak as whistleblowers lest it redound against us personally, or against our departments. I have decided to come out and speak despite this fear, because I perceive the threats to the essence of APU to be so dire. Harrington had also called on APU President Jon Wallace to resign. More and more, it seems clear that various spirits of the age are being raised up at APU, such that the God of traditional biblical understanding, and what He asks of us, is being redefined, she wrote. As Christian scholars historians, theologians, philosophers, scientists we know where this path leads. The loss of God First means APU stops progressing and loses itself and its defining character in a wave of change. It becomes a university indistinguishable from so many others who are sinking in the messy middle of post-modern confusion. After Sunday School teacher is fatally stabbed, Oprah, others thinking twice on helping panhandlers Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment The family of a Sunday School teacher who was fatally stabbed inside her car in front of her husband and daughter after she offered help to a panhandler she thought was a mother in need in Baltimore, was told God bless you during the attack. Now many people like billionaire media mogul Oprah Winfrey who have acted as good samaritans to those in need are thinking twice about giving help to strangers. This story struck my heart. Ive done this a 1k times. But will think twice before ever doing again. To J.S. family I hope her death gets people woke to change! Winfrey tweeted on Wednesday. Ive done this to [sic] and I have gotten out the car to run across the street to help... my prayers for strength for him & her family, rapper and record producer Missy Elliot replied to the tweet. According to ABC News at about 12:30 a.m. on Saturday, Keith Smith, 52, and his wife, Jacquelyn, 54, who both teach adult Christian education classes at Helping Hands Ministries in Churchville, were driving home with their daughter, Shavon Smith, after a celebration of Shavon's 28th birthday on Friday night. While they were at a stop sign in the Johnston Square neighborhood of East Baltimore, Jacquelyn Smith, according to her husband who was driving, saw a woman standing on the side of the road, with what looked like a baby in a blanket and a cardboard sign that said, "Help me feed my baby, God bless." Smith, who was an electrical engineer at Aberdeen Proving Ground at the time of her death, asked her husband to pull over and she rolled down the window and handed the woman $10. It was drizzling, it was cold, wet and my wife, like any normal person, felt sorry for the baby, which turned out not to even be a baby," Keith Smith told ABC News. "It must have been like a stuffed animal or something wrapped in a blanket. From where we were, it looked like a baby and we thought it was a baby." The grieving husband said he had seen a man standing next to the panhandling woman but did not realize they were being set up. "As she was handing her the money, the guy came to say 'Thank you,' and the woman was saying 'God bless you. God bless you,'" Smith recalled. "While we're looking at her saying 'God bless you' and my wife was handing her the money, he came over to the car and said 'Thank you' and then he started stabbing my wife and snatched her necklace off and ran." She was later pronounced dead at a local hospital and now her husband is looking for justice. He described the female suspect as being in her 20s with medium brown skin, a medium build, and about 5 feet tall. She was wearing a long brown coat. The male suspect, he said, is black, about 5 feet 10 inches tall, with a medium build. He was sporting a goatee and wore a black hoodie during the attack. "I don't want to beat myself up, but I feel somewhat responsible for letting that person get that close to my wife," Keith Smith said. "It's just a lot right now going through my mind. That's why it's hard for me to sleep because now I'm trying to see how I could have did things differently, how I could have took another street. I'm just thinking of all kind of ways that my wife would still be here." He warned those who believe in helping strangers to be careful. "You've got to stay vigilant or you're going to be sitting in the same seat I'm sitting in," he warned. Bishop Roger Tatuem and his wife, Pastor Miriam Tatuem, who lead Helping Hands Ministries, told the Baltimore Sun that the couple had been members of their church for about four years and they taught weekly Christian education classes for new members. She was a very strong lady, very strong personality, Miriam Tatuem said. If she believed in something, she believed in it she was one of those kind of people who was ride-or-die. Miriam Tatuem also remembered her as a very giving person who volunteered on the churchs hospitality committee and helped with church functions and lunches after funerals. She was always a good helper. Whatever her little hands found to do, she would do it, Miriam Tateum said. She was a very giving person. Tandra Ridgley, a fellow Helping Hands congregant, remembered Smith as faithful and generous. Im just really sorry to see this because she didnt deserve that, Ridgley said. The church were just really heartbroken about it. She was genuinely a sweet lady, she really was, and very encouraging. When my mother passed, she would always tell me, Hang in there. Jacquelyn Smith's memorial service is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Friday at Helping Hands Ministries. Virginia teacher punished for refusing to use transgender students preferred pronouns Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A teacher in Virginia has been put on administrative leave for using feminine pronouns for a student who, while born female, identifies as male. Peter Vlaming, who teaches French at West Point High School, is presently on paid administrative leave pending a public hearing by the school board later this week. I won't use male pronouns with a female student that now identifies as a male though I did agree to use the new masculine name but avoid female pronouns, stated Vlaming. Administration is requiring that I use masculine pronouns in any and every context at school. I was informed that any further instances of using female pronouns would be grounds for termination. Supporters of Vlaming launched an online petition demanding that the teacher not be fired, which as of Wednesday morning has gotten more than 1,100 signatures. ABC news affiliate WRIC in Richmond reached out to students regarding the controversy, with one telling the news outlet that he was outraged over Vlaming possibly being fired. He's a really nice guy, he wanted to do everything about his students. He really does care about his students, the student declared. The thing he will not do is change his ways of thoughts and believing in things just to conform to someone else's ideologies. Laura Abel, superintendent of West Point Public Schools, said in a statement published by WRIC on Wednesday that because the situation is a personnel issue the school district is unable to provide specific information due to employee and student confidentiality. Mr. Vlaming has requested a public hearing and details regarding our recommendations will become public at that hearing, stated Abel. Until that time, it is important that we not only ensure the integrity of our employment process but also meet our responsibilities regarding safeguarding student confidentiality. Vlaming is not the only teacher having to recently deal with controversy for not using the preferred pronouns of a trans-identified student. Last month, an evangelical professor filed a lawsuit against his employer, Shawnee State University in Ohio, stating that he was being ordered to use feminine pronouns for a trans-identified student. Professor Nicholas Meriwether argued in the lawsuit against Shawnee State University that he offered to use the first or last name of a male-born student who now identifies as female, but the compromise was rejected. Instead, the university charged him following an investigation, saying he "effectively created a hostile environment" for the student. University officials placed a written warning in his personnel file, and warned of "further corrective actions" if he failed to comply. Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Christmas truly is the most wonderful time of the year, because it calls our attention to one of the most beautiful teachings of Scripture the Incarnation of Christ. When you realize the incredible truths behind the reality that God came and dwelt among us, it cant help but impact the way you live. Plus, its an awesome reminder that God kept His promises from the Old Testament to send a Messiah to rescue His people from their sins. However, since that time, many myths have been added to the greatest story ever told. Here are nine common myths Christians believe at Christmas: The Bible Says That Jesus Was Born On December 25th Its the age-old question, Is December 25th Jesus birthday? The answer is that we really dont know when His actual birthday was. The Bible doesnt tell us an exact date. So, it begs the question, How did Christmas land on December 25th? Some historians believe that it was a Christian reaction to a Roman pagan holiday, while others believe the date is a response to the traditional date of Jesus crucifixion in March. Honestly, we dont really know when Jesus was born, however, two things are certain Jesus was born of a virgin, and the Bible doesnt give us an exact date. The Bible Says Mary Rode into Bethlehem on a Donkey An extremely pregnant Mary riding into town on a donkey is definitely a common myth most Christians believe is in the Bible. Now, she very well could have made the 65-mile trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem on a donkey. Nevertheless, the account of this story, in Luke 2:1-6, does not specifically teach this. Nevertheless, we all should consider how tough Mary was to make this trip while being pregnant, because most of us men cant get out of bed if we have the common cold. The Bible Says There Were 3 Wisemen One of the most popular Christmas carols, "We Three Kings," shows the commonality of this particular myth. The Gospel of Matthew describes these men as magi or wise men. People commonly think there were three in number, because the Bible details the fact that they brought three gifts gold, frankincense and myrrh. But, this doesnt mean there were three magi; there could just as easily have been four, eight, or ten. Also, one could ascertain that these guys were the very first Essential Oils dealers. The Bible Says a Star Hovered Over the Manger Youd be hard-pressed to find a nativity scene that doesnt include a bright shining star hovering above it. Its definitely a nice sentiment and symbol. The problem is theres no reference to this in Gospels. The magi were given a star that first led them to Jerusalem (Matthew 2:1 2), then on to Bethlehem (v. 9 -10) where they found the child. In jealousy, King Herod gave a command for all babies in the region younger than 2-years-old to be killed (v. 16). This suggests that Jesus had been in Bethlehem for some time at this point, so neither the wise men nor the star were hovering over the manger the night Jesus was born. The Bible Says Jesus Was Born in a Barn or Stable Just about every nativity set places the baby Jesus in a barn, surrounded by animals. Once again, this is an assumption because the Bible does not specify this. The Scriptures actually say, And she gave birth and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn (Luke 2:7). Its easy to assume that Jesus was born in a barn or stable, because of the manger mention. A manger is a feeding trough for animals. However, these feeding troughs were also commonly used inside homes, because families would sleep upstairs while small animals were kept downstairs on cold nights. The Bible Says There Was A Little Drummer Boy A little drummer boy playing his drum pum pum pum pum. Thats what all first-time parents want, right? Mary and Joseph havent had any sleep. The birthing arrangements and location havent been ideal, but yes, please come play your drum for my newborn baby boy. Just make sure you play it as loud as humanly possible. It doesnt make much sense, and there is no account of this ever happening. The Bible Says Jesus Was Born In 0 A.D. B.C. stands for before Christ, and A.D. stands for a Latin phrase anno domini; which means in the year of the Lord. However, according to Matthew 2:1, Jesus was born during the days of Herod the king. Most historians place Herods death at 4 B. C. With Herod ordering all boys 2-years old and younger in the area to be killed before his on own death. It seems as though a more proper estimate of Jesus birth would have sometime between 4 B. C. and 6 B. C. Saying Merry X-mas Is Taking Christ Out Of Christmas Over the last decade or so, many Christians have felt like there is a War on Christmas. Some believers see the phrase, Merry Xmas, as an attempt to remove Christ from Christmas. Although, some people may be deliberate in their attempts, the statement by itself is not offensive. The first letter in the Greek word for Christ is chi. In the Roman alphabet, chi is represented by the symbol X. Therefore, Xians dont have to be flustered by hearing or seeing, Merry Xmas! Saying Happy Holidays Is Taking Christ Out Of Christmas This statement may be an attempt at being politically correct. However, holiday literally means, holy day. Celebrating the birth of Jesus definitely makes it a holy day. Thankfully, because of the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus; everyday can be a happy holy-day. To the believer, Christmas shouldnt be a one-day celebration, but rather, a lifestyle of celebrating the truth that Jesus is Immanuel God with us. Find out more about my new book, 9 Common Lies Christians Believe: And Why Gods Truth is Infinitely Better at shanepruitt.com/9commonlies First ever baby born from dead woman's transplanted womb Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A baby girl was born in Brazil to a mother whose womb was transplanted from a dead woman, which is believed to be the first case of its kind in the world. The Lancet reported that the birth, which is being revealed now by the Hospital das Clinicas at the University of Sao Paulo School of Medicine in Brazil, was delivered on Dec. 15, 2017. A 10-hour surgery had been required in September 2016 to transplant the deceased woman's womb to the transplant recipient, who was 32 years old at the time. The mother, who wasn't named, suffered from the rare Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser syndrome, a condition that affects one in 4,500 women and causes the vagina and uterus to be either absent or underdeveloped. "The results provide proof-of-concept for a new treatment option for absolute uterine factor infertility," wrote co-authors Dr. Dani Ejzenberg, an ob/gyn at the University of Sao Paulo and Hospital das Clinicas in Brazil, and Dr. Wellington Andraus, a transplant surgeon at the Sao Paulo University School of Medicine in the study. There have been previous successful births from a transplanted uterus, the first such recorded in 2014 in Sweden, though those were from a living womb donor. BBC News noted that all 10 previous transplants from a dead donor had all failed. The donor in this case, who wasnt named, was a mother of three in her mid-40s who died from bleeding on the brain. The baby in Brazil was born weighing 6 pounds, and was delivered by cesarean section. She is said to be healthy. "The first uterus transplants from live donors were a medical milestone, creating the possibility of childbirth for many infertile women with access to suitable donors and the needed medical facilities, Ejzenberg said, according to CNN. "However, the need for a live donor is a major limitation as donors are rare, typically being willing and eligible family members or close friends." Dr. Andrew Shennan, a professor of obstetrics at Kings College London, told the Science Media Centre that what is unique is that the uterus (womb) "was without oxygen for eight hours before transplant." Shennan added that the case "opens the possibility of women donating their womb following death, as with many other organs." He suggested that it gives hope to women who are infertile other than only relying on living donors. In February 2016, the first successful uterine transplant patient in the U.S. said that she "prayed to God" that she would be able to get pregnant. "I have prayed that God would allow me the opportunity to experience pregnancy, and here we are at the beginning of that journey," the Texas woman identified only as "Lindsey" said at the time. "I am so thankful to this amazing team of doctors and all the nurses and staff who have worked around the clock to ensure my safety," the patient said, speaking of the team of medical professionals at Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. Brazil's President-elect names evangelical pastor to head new ministry of Women, Family and Human Rights Brazil's right-wing President-elect Jair Bolsonaro named a pro-life evangelical pastor on Thursday to head a new ministry of Women, Family and Human Rights that will also take over the agency looking after the country's 850,000 indigenous people. Damares Alves, a lawyer, preacher and congressional aide, is a staunch opponent of legalizing abortion, which is allowed only in cases of rape, anencephaly or when the mother's life is in danger. She is the second woman named to the incoming president's 22-member cabinet, future chief of staff Onyx Lorenzoni said. Bolsonaro won the October election on a law-and-order platform, vowing to restore Christian family values in a society where he believes leftist parties went too far in introducing sexual education in schools and advancing LGBT rights. While the appointment of a social conservative was expected in the rights portfolio, placing the indigenous affairs foundation Funai under its guard was a surprise move. Bolsonaro says he will deny new land claims by indigenous tribes and favors opening their land to commercial mining and farming. He argues they have a right to charge royalties to improve their quality of life and to integrate with the rest of Brazil, comparing them to animals trapped in a zoo. He recently considered putting Funai under the agriculture ministry, which would give farmers who backed his election an upper hand in land conflicts, but instead bundled them into the new rights ministry. Earlier on Thursday, as his transition team decided on the new ministry, indigenous leaders in native headdresses delivered a letter asking Bolsonaro to keep Funai as part of the Justice Ministry. Speaking to reporters after she was appointed, Alves said some indigenous land claims were questionable. "Defining land boundaries for indigenous land is a delicate and controversial issue that we will have discuss," she said. 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 people 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 its highest level in a decade, the government said last month. That destruction is primarily caused by illegal logging, ranching and farming, officials say. Anthropologists and rights groups say allowing mining companies into reservations would also destroy native cultures. Christians asked to share their experience of life as a believer in the UK Christians are being invited to share their experience of living out their faith in the UK today. The consultation is being led by by the Christians in Parliament All-Party Parliamentary Group until 16 December. It asks Christians to share how free they feel to live out their faith in the UK today and the extent to which they feel able to share their beliefs with those who are not Christian. They are also asked about how supported they feel by public institutions, such as the government and regulatory bodies, and whether they perceive any barriers to engaging in public life as Christians. Other questions ask about their experience of hate crimes or hostility they might have experienced for being Christian. Christians in Parliament said it was holding the consultation to identify good governmental practices that can help create an 'accommodating' environment for Christians in the UK. It will also use the responses to consider what policies could be developed to further help Christians live out their faith and identify areas where current actions or lack of action is making being a Christian in the UK 'challenging'. 'In particular we are concerned with how living out Christian faith interacts with public institutions such as parliament, central and local government, and other professional and regulatory bodies,' said the organisation. In addition to the consultation, it is holding evidence sessions to hear from experts who have experience in engaging in the UK's public institutions, including church representatives, academics and leaders of Christian organisations. Responses to the consultation can be made anonymously here until 16th December. Matthew's Gospel: Christmas with the whole family This is the second in an Advent series by Dr Andrew Ollerton. One of my favourite comedians, the Northerner Peter Kay, describes what happens when families come together for Christmas. All sorts of eccentric traditions surface and then there's a mad scramble to find enough 'emergency chairs' for Christmas dinner. How many of us have eaten our turkey roast down on a piano stool or up on a bar stool towering over the Brussels sprouts? Half the fun of Christmas is what happens when the whole family comes together. Today we consider Christmas according to Matthew's gospel, which brings the whole Bible family together. Matthew deliberately introduces the famous stories of innkeepers and wise men with a long genealogy Jesus' family tree. These long lists of names can feel hard work like reading the Hebrew telephone directory. But think of genealogies as a shorthand way of summoning up the whole story of the family of God. In other words, Matthew frames the small stories of Christmas in the light of the big picture of the Bible. So let's consider a few family members. First up Matthew highlights two male characters crucial to the Messiah. Jesus is 'son of David, son of Abraham' (1:1). By identifying Jesus with Abraham, Matthew links Christmas back to the beginning of Israel's story. After the goodness of creation turned ugly through sin, God called a Middle Eastern man, Abraham, to leave his family and start a new one God's family. And God promised to so bless Abraham's family that 'all families on earth would be blessed'. Just as the fall of Adam brought curses to this world, the call of Abraham would bring back blessings. So when Matthew identifies the baby born in Bethlehem as 'Son of Abraham' it's his way of saying: 'Ta dah! World meet your long-awaited hope!' Or as the angel of the Lord put it: 'I bring you good news of great joy for all people' Or as the Christmas carol puts it: 'Joy to the world the Lord has come!' Now fast-forward 800 years from Abraham and we meet the other important male character in Jesus' family tree king David. Why David? Well he exemplified Israel's victorious king slaying the mighty Goliath and bringing peace. Towards the end of his life, God promised David a future ancestor who would be the king to end all kings. The ultimate ruler not just of Israel but the world. That's why Matthew identifies Jesus as 'son of David'. It's his way of saying: 'Here he is! Israel meet your king who will rule the world!' Listen to how the angel put it to the teenage virgin Mary: 'the Lord will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign forever!' No wonder Matthew records prestigious Magi from roughly modern day Iran coming to worship Jesus with gold, Frankincense and Myrrh. The nations of the earth are welcoming the king of kings. Oh and by the way, guess where King David was born? Bethlehem. Does that ring any bells? As Joseph and Mary rock up in that little town they are fulfilling ancient prophecies all the way. As the prophet Micah declared hundreds of years before: 'You O Bethlehem in the land of Judah... from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel' (Matthew 2:6) Now back to Peter Kay and those emergency chairs. Matthew has highlighted the birth of Jesus as the fulfilment of an ancient plan stretching back via king David to father Abraham. But the Messiah's family is not quite as simple and respectable as that. Matthew also highlights four women who are part of Jesus' family history Tamar the Canaanite who disguised herself as a roadside prostitute and slept with her father-in-law Judah (you know Judah, as in the Messiah's tribe); then there's Rahab the foreign prostitute from Jericho who escaped to Israel; Ruth the foreigner who staggered destitute into Bethlehem (there's that town again); and Bathsheba with whom the great king David had a scandalous affair. And this is the Messiah's family history ouch! But notice Matthew doesn't airbrush out these awkward realities quite the opposite. Foreign females with chequered stories find an honoured place at the Messiah's table. Jesus didn't come from a nice, sorted, Ned Flanders family (for any Simpsons fans). His family history is more like ours - complicated, messy, painful - and yet deeply loved by God. Matthew's Christmas message is important: God's family is not limited to the good guys. He will pull out 'emergency chairs' and make a place at the table for people like you and me. So on a practical note: this Christmas, let's not hide away from the messiness of family whether our natural family or our church family. Yes it can be complicated but so was Jesus' family tree. Let's embrace the challenge, pray for peace and work for reconciliation. Perhaps there's someone you are at odds with where the relationship has broken down. Why not echo the Christmas story by deliberately seeking them out in love. Wouldn't it be great if, as a result, we had to dig out more 'emergency chairs' for Christmas dinner? Dr Andrew Ollerton is author of The Bible Course and works with Bible Society. Follow him on Twitter @andyollerton Robert Jeffress defends Donald Trump for not reciting the Apostles' Creed at George H W Bush funeral Texas megachurch pastor and longtime Donald Trump supporter Robert Jeffress has defended the president amid criticism over his not reciting the Apostles' Creed during the funeral of former president George H.W. Bush. During the service when the Christian statement of faith known as the "Apostles' Creed" was being recited, many noted that Trump was not reciting the creed or reading the text from the bulletin, even as the former presidents beside him were doing so. In a statement emailed to The Christian Post on Thursday, the lead pastor at First Baptist Church of Dallas explained that he has personally seen President Trump sing hymns and recite Christian prayers. "I've stood next to President Trump and heard him recite the Lord's Prayer, and I sat behind him at Billy Graham's funeral and watched him and the first lady sing 'All Hail The Power of Jesus' Name,'" said Jeffress. Jeffress labeled the outrage over Trump not reciting the Apostles' Creed a "manufactured controversy" and a "nothing burger" that was "cooked up by the perennial Trump haters." "There are times in my own church services when I fail to sing the hymns or recite the Scripture because I'm distracted by my own thoughts," continued Jeffress. "I imagine the leader of the free world has a few things on his mind, as well." On Wednesday, the Washington National Cathedral presided over the funeral of George H.W. Bush, with Trump and his wife Melania sitting in the front row along side the remaining living former presidents and their wives. Many took to social media when video of the worship services showed Trump not reciting or reading the creed, especially in light of the strong support the president has among white evangelicals. "Striking that all the former Presidents and First Ladies recited the Apostles Creed, but Trump and Melania stood silently and did not. The creeds are at the heart of historic orthodox Christianity," tweeted journalist and author Jon Ward. Other Twitter users offered up denunciations, claiming that this showed that Trump was "playing like he is a Christian just to get Christians to support him" and that they "can't believe Evangelicals anointed a man who doesn't recite the Apostles' Creed." Liberal comedian and practicing Roman Catholic Stephen Colbert also poked fun at the president for his not reciting the creed during the funeral on a segment of CBS' "The Late Show" on Wednesday evening. "I'm sorry, I zoned out there for a minute," said Colbert, impersonating Trump. "I was thinking about all the evangelicals who voted for me. What are we doing, the Macarena? I'm in." Courtesy of The Christian Post Transgender woman among the favourites to win Miss Universe Bookmakers are slashing the odds on a transgender contestant to lift the tiara at this year's Miss Universe contest. Angela Ponce, 27, is the current Miss Spain and the first transgender person to compete in the Miss Universe pageant after the ban on trans contestants was lifted six years ago. This year's competition is taking place on December 16 in Bangkok, Thailand, and bookmakers are expecting a flurry of bets on Ponce to win. Bookmaker William Hill said that although its favourite to win was South Africa's Tamaryn Green at 6/1 odds, it had received the most bets from punters so far on Ponce. 'Our Miss Universe betting has tailed off recently, however this year's has seen a massive spike with the majority backing Angela Ponce to win the crown,' William Hill spokesman Joe Crilly told the Daily Star. Ponce told Time magazine in an interview last month that if she won the competition 'it would be a win for human rights'. 'I'm showing that trans women can be whatever they want to be: a teacher, a mother, a doctor, a politician and even Miss Universe,' she said. She added: 'Trans women have been persecuted and erased for so long. If they give me the crown, it would show trans women are just as much women as cis women.' By Azernews By Narmina Mammadova The custom system in Azerbaijan serves as a shield during import and export of goods to and from the country. Thats why modernizing the customs service and providing more favorable conditions for business and international trade is inevitable part of state policy. Indeed, the expanding responsibilities and challenges faced by modern customs require a more sophisticated approach. As a result, simplified procedures stipulated by the order would have significant short-term positive effects on imports. It will also help to increase the quantity of imports and average unit prices, as well as number of shipments. Simplified customs rules by applying different corridors are implemented in many developing countries of the world. For example, customs operate blue, green, red corridors in the Republic of Ireland, UK, Finland, and so on. Azerbaijan also does not want to lag behind other countries. Azerbaijans State Customs Committee plans to increase the number of companies participating in the green corridor, Safar Mehdiyev, chairman of the committee, told reporters in Baku. He said that thanks to this system, entrepreneurs have the opportunity, without leaving their offices, to provide e-customs declarations to the committee, as well as pay customs duties. Our main goal is to reduce the interaction of citizens with officials, Mehdiyev added. It is also planned to fully transfer the documentation related to exports to electronic mode, he added. Entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to declare export goods at any time of the day, Mehdiyev said. Nine companies were participants of the green corridor in late 2016 and their number reached 28 in 2017. On May 21, 2016 the Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed order on using the Rules of Green Corridor and other release systems for conveyance of the goods and means of transport across the customs border. According to the amendments to the Customs Code of Azerbaijan, introduced in line with President Ilham Aliyevs decree, dated November 30, 2016, in order to simplify the customs registration of goods and vehicles passing through customs border crossing points, green, blue, yellow and red systems can be used on the basis of a short import declaration. Green corridor constitutes immediate release of goods without examination based on the customs control and the risk assessment conducted in accordance with the short import declaration which is submitted in electronic form in advance. Russia interfered with the 2016 U.S. elections, former Secretary of State and Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson said during a Thursday evening visit to Houston. Making his first public appearance in nearly nine months, Tillerson spoke at a fundraiser for the MD Anderson Cancer Center, where he participated in a conversation with CBS News veteran Bob Schieffer. When asked if he believes that Russia interfered in the presidential elections, Tillerson replied there's no question and that it was well-documented by intelligence agencies. What Russia wants to do is undermine our confidence and undermine the worlds confidence in us, Tillerson said. Describing Russian President Vladimir Putin as a very calculating and very opportunistic leader, Tillerson said Putins strategy is to undermine the U.S. influence around the globe. NO HAPPY ENDINGS: What's next for Rex Tillerson? Many people talk about playing chess. He plays three-dimensional chess, Tillerson said. More Information Rex Wayne Tillerson Born: March 23, 1952 Education: University of Texas at Austin (Bachelors of Science in Civil Engineering 1975) ExxonMobil CEO January 1, 2006 - December 31, 2016 U.S. Secretary of State February 1, 2017 - March 13, 2018 Source: Houston Chronicle Research See More Collapse A native of Wichita Falls, Tillerson earned a civil engineering degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 1975 just before joining Exxon as a production engineer. Tillerson rose through the ranks and become CEO of Exxon Mobil in January 2006. Tillerson is not likely to return to the oil and gas industry. Under an exit deal with Exxon Mobil to become secretary of state, Tillerson received an estimated $180 million. He would have to forfeit that money, however, if he returns to the industry before January 2027. Shortly after leaving the State Department, the University of Texas Board of Regents approached Tillerson about becoming UT System chancellor. The details of those discussions were not made public, but City University of New York Chancellor James Milliken was appointed to the post in August. When asked about his federal service, Tillerson told the crowd Thursday that he had never actually met Trump until he was invited by Vice President Mike Pence to a meeting that ended with him being asked to become secretary of state. The honeymoon didn't last long, Tillerson said. The relationship between him and Trump became strained after the president grew tired of the former Exxon Mobil CEO telling him that he could not do things the way he wanted. Tillerson said the two had starkly different styles and did not share a common value system. "So often, the president would say here's what I want to do and here's how I want to do it and I would have to say to him, Mr. President I understand what you want to do but you can't do it that way. It violates the law," Tillerson said. Trump would get very frustrated when they would have those conversations, he said. "I'd say here's what we can do," Tillerson said. "We can go back to Congress and get this law changed. And if that's what you want to do, there's nothing wrong with that. I told him I'm ready to go up there and fight the fight, if that's what you want to do." Tillerson said Trump rose to power by tapping into something that the American people felt very strong about and using the tools of the day such as Twitter to do it. "I will be honest with you, it troubles me that the American people seem to want to know so little about issues, that they are satisfied with a 128 characters," Tillerson told Schieffer. Tillerson voiced those concerns even further in his conversation. "I don't want that to come across as a criticism of him," Tillerson said. "It's really a concern that I have about us as Americans and us as a society and us as citizens." The event also included a tribute to late President George H.W. Bush, who was laid to rest in College Station earlier in the day. "George Herbert Walker Bush was in many ways the founder of the 21st century." Tillerson said. "So many of the events that were under his watch, like the peaceful dissolution of the Cold War, really set the stage for this century that we now live in. Some for the good and some issues that are still playing out." sergio.chapa@chron.com OPEC finally broke an impasse over production curbs, agreeing on a larger-than-expected cut with allies after two days of fractious negotiations in Vienna. The cartel and its partners agreed to remove 1.2 million barrels a day from the market, with OPEC itself shouldering 800,000 barrels of the burden. Iran emerged as a winner from the contentious talks, saying it's secured an exemption from cuts as it suffers the effects of U.S. sanctions. Crude surged as much as 5.4 percent in London, raising the risk that the deal could anger U.S. President Donald Trump, who had urged the group to keep the taps open and prices low. The breakthrough at the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' secretariat followed a series of bilateral meetings convened by non-OPEC member Russia, which emerged as the key broker between arch rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran. OPEC has been under increasing pressure from forces re-drawing the global oil map, leaving it ever more dependent on Russia's support while also subject to vehement opposition from Trump. The final deal is a surprise, since discussions had earlier centered on a proposed output reduction from OPEC and its allies of about 1 million barrels a day, with OPEC cutting 650,000 barrels of the total, according to delegates. Producers will use October production levels as a baseline for cuts and the agreement will be reviewed in April. Russia's contribution to the reduction is not yet known. The country had initially pitched for a 100,000 to 150,000-barrel-a-day cut, but subsequently indicated it might agree to a slightly larger reduction, a delegate said earlier. Oil Duopoly Much has changed for OPEC since 2016, when Russia and Saudi Arabia ended their historic animosity and started to manage the market together. The alliance has transformed the cartel into a duopoly in which the Kremlin is asserting its power. "OPEC, or more precisely Saudi Arabia, has been the head honcho of the oil world for nearly six decades; yet these days it seems unable to make a decision without Russia's blessing, let alone without risking the wrath of the U.S. president," said Stephen Brennock, an analyst at PVM Oil Associates in London. OPEC's de facto leader Saudi Arabia, under economic pressure after a collapse in oil prices last month, has sought to walk a fine line between preventing a surplus next year and appeasing Trump. The president has taken to using his Twitter account to berate the group's policies and sees low oil prices as key to sustaining America's economic growth. While ministers met on Wednesday, Trump tweeted that the "world does not want to see, or need, higher oil prices!" OPEC crunch talks were deadlocked on Friday as Iran was said to reject a symbolic oil-output cut as part of a wider deal with the cartel and its allies. An agreement remained elusive as the Persian Gulf state insisted on an exemption from production curbs, one delegate said. It stuck in its heels despite attempts by non-OPEC producer Russia to broker a deal, with Energy Minister Alexander Novak shuttling between meetings with the Iranian and Saudi delegations at the organizations secretariat in Vienna. Discussions in the Austrian capital, now in their second day after talks on Thursday failed to produce an agreement, center on a proposed output reduction from OPEC and its allies of about 1 million barrels a day, with OPEC itself shouldering 650,000 barrels of the burden, delegates said. The size of the overall cut still isnt finalized, one delegate said. The lack of a deal so far shows how the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is under pressure from forces re-drawing the global oil map, leaving it increasingly dependent on the support of non-member Russia while also subject to vociferous opposition from U.S. President Donald Trump. In a striking development, the U.S. revealed that it turned into a net exporter of petroleum for the first time in 75 years last week thanks to the shale boom. PREVIOUSLY: Saudis back modest OPEC+ oil cut, don't want to shock market Brent oil rose as much as 1.7 percent to $61.10 a barrel in London on Friday as Russia attempted to broker a deal. On Thursday, the global benchmark crude slumped 2.4 percent. Iran Refusal Iran, which said earlier it sees no possibility of agreeing to curb its production amid U.S. sanctions, has emerged as a key obstacle to securing a deal among the so-called OPEC+ alliance. And despite Russias efforts to clinch an agreement, its own contribution to cuts has also been a point of contention. Not everybody is ready to cut equally, Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih told reporters in Vienna. Russia is not ready for a substantial cut. Russia, which initially sought a 100,000 to 150,000-barrel-a-day reduction as part of a new deal, may agree to a slightly larger cut depending on OPECs decision on its own output, a delegate said Friday. Moscow insists its cut should be gradual and reconsidered after the first quarter since the market may shift, the delegate said. Russia Sway Russias Novak is due to meet his counterparts in the OPEC+ coalition at a formal meeting later on Friday. If Moscow decides to make a sizable cut, the cartel would follow up. Much has changed for OPEC since 2016, when Russia and Saudi Arabia ended their historic animosity and started to manage the market together. The alliance has transformed the cartel into a duopoly in which the Kremlin is asserting its power. SUPPLY: Crude inventories decline as U.S. becomes net petroleum exporter OPEC, or more precisely Saudi Arabia, has been the head honcho of the oil world for nearly six decades; yet these days it seems unable to make a decision without Russias blessing, let alone without risking the wrath of the U.S. president, said Stephen Brennock, an analyst at PVM Oil Associates in London. Elusive Agreement An OPEC+ cut of about 1 million barrels a day is in line with the Saudi ministers preference for a moderate reduction that wouldnt shock the market. The kingdom is under economic pressure after a collapse in oil prices last month, yet its seeking to walk a fine line between preventing a surplus next year and appeasing President Trump. While Middle Eastern producers need high oil revenues to pay for government spending, sensitivities are different in Russia, which is running a budget surplus and benefits from a weak ruble that mitigates the effect of lower crude prices in dollars. The government is concerned about the impact of higher prices on consumers, stoking discontent with economic policy, according to one Kremlin official. The size of Russias contribution to any OPEC+ curbs has remained undefined through this weeks talks in Vienna. In private conversations earlier in the week, delegates said that Saudi Arabia had favored a Russian cut of about 300,000 barrels a day. OPEC ministers were also discussing whether to exempt Libya and Venezuela from making cuts, another delegate said. Nigeria said that while it hadnt applied for an exemption, it could only manage a small reduction. USGS: Permian's Wolfcamp is largest potential oil and gas resource ever assessed Before Thursdays meeting, Al-Falih said that if everybody is not willing to join and contribute equally, we will wait until they are and he was prepared for the consequences of no deal. Following six hours of talks that day, he said he wasnt confident an agreement could be reached. Beyond its internal disputes, OPEC is also contending with opposition from the U.S. president, whos taken to using his Twitter account to berate the groups policies and sees low oil prices as key to sustaining Americas economic growth. While ministers met on Wednesday, Trump tweeted that the world does not want to see, or need, higher oil prices! Thursdays inconclusive talks could end up giving the president what he wants. The risk of OPEC+ not being able to agree on a deal was always very high and this will now pressurize prices significantly lower, said Amrita Sen, chief oil analyst at consultant Energy Aspects Ltd. There is no anchor for the market. --With assistance from Dina Khrennikova, Annmarie Hordern, Alex Longley, Ilya Arkhipov, Julian Lee, Fred Pals, Nayla Razzouk, Golnar Motevalli, Heesu Lee, Pratish Narayanan and Salma El Wardany. 2018 Bloomberg L.P. The so-called OPEC+ group with Russia and others reached a modest deal to jointly cut oil production by 1.2 million barrels a day and help stabilize collapsing crude oil prices. Crude prices jumped by nearly 5 percent Friday morning on news of a deal being struck as the U.S. benchmark rising to nearly $54 a barrel. As fears of a global glut sunk in, oil prices plunged more than 30 percent from $76 a barrel in early October down to just above $50 in November and early December. The new deal struck Friday involves the Saudi Arabia-led Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries reducing oil outputs by 800,000 barrels a day and non-OPEC partners led by Russia cutting production by 400,000 barrels. At HoustonChronicle.com: Rex Tillerson makes rare public appearance in Houston The deal is a little less than what oil markets hoped for early this week, but better than what was expected Friday morning after OPEC, Russia and others failed to reach any deal on Thursday. The OPEC+ group hasn't yet announced further details that may still come later Friday. Mike Bradley, managing director at the energy investment firm Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. in Houston, described a week of rollercoaster developments while attending the OPEC meetings in Vienna. "We went from optimism to bummed out. The sentiment was kind of fading," Bradley said. "But now it's getting back to what people thought three days ago, and that's kind of a win." The deal may not spike oil prices back to their early October highs, but it does prevent a repeat of late 2014 when OPEC's inaction triggered a deep oil bust that sent prices to a low of $26 a barrel in early 2016. "In 2019, our focus needs to be maintaining the balance we achieved in 2018 and continuing our cooperation," said OPEC President Suhail Al Mazrouei, who is the energy minister for the United Arab Emirates. RELATED: Oil sector hangs in balance as OPEC meets Oil prices also received an extra boost early this week from news that Canada will cut production from Alberta to help undo the deep discounts on its crude. 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. In late 2016, 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 than expected. 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. The world consumes close to 100 million barrels of oil a day. One concern is that the Saudi-Russian alliance has begun to overwhelm OPEC to the point that Qatar, an enemy of Saudi Arabia, opted this week to pull 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. 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. Much to the chagrin of the Houston energy sector, Trump has repeatedly urged the Saudis to increase rather than decrease production. Trump did not immediately weigh in on news of the OPEC+ deal. When John Santasiero, principal of the Houston development company Riverway Homes, visited Italy a few years ago, he was struck by the palazzos, impressive buildings built around open courtyards. Youd have a space thats lit up by the sun, he said. And theyd become very public spaces small and large. For Santasiero, the architectural feature is an elegant solution to the demands for density and open spaces a common courtyard can provide more outdoor space than individual backyards, while also providing a place to socialize. So for his latest project in the Washington Corridor, Thompson Court, he situated 16 townhomes around a shared park. According to Riverway Homes, the Washington Corridor has seen a 63 percent increase in homes sold over the past year. In the hot residential market, Santasiero believes the shared courtyard will differentiate Thompson Court from other new construction. Urban space is at a premium, he said. So creating any space is better than none. Riverway Homes is also bringing shared open space to single family homes for a development in Spring Branch, in which homes will be built around a shared green space. Of course, courtyards have a long history in Texas many of the missions were built around courtyards. Historic Houston buildings, such as Midtowns Isabella Court, feature courtyards as well. But over time, American architecture moved away from the courtyard, building homes with fenced-off private yards instead. You drive in a shared driveway and you pull in the garage. There is no space. Theres no opportunity to meet your neighbors, Santasiero said of a traditional townhome layout. Were bringing old ideas of architecture and community to new homes inside Loop 610. rebecca.schuetz@chron.com twitter.com/raschuetz Rex Tillerson touched on a number of topics during the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center's "A Conversation with a Living Legend" downtown at Hilton Americas-Houston. The former U.S. Secretary of State shared his personal feelings about President Donald Trump without restraint; Americans' troubling affinity for 128-character "tweets" (though he was surely referring to Twitter's 140-character limit); and very briefly, his 11 year career as chairman and CEO of ExxonMobil. The comments came during a half-hour onstage interview moderated by Bob Schieffer, CBS News political contributor and former host of "Face the Nation." The event, chaired by Kathy and Jeff Love, raised a record $1.7 million toward MD Anderson Cancer Center's M.O., "Making Cancer History." Jeff, cleverly playing into a pedantic inside joke, proudly announced that the exact amount was actually $1.782 million, a 37 percent increase from 2017. Dr. Peter WT Pisters, president of MD Anderson, echoed the Love's excitement as he spoke of Dr. James Allison, who receives the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine this month. TILLERSON TALKS TRUMP: Rex Tillerson did not hold back about working with the president. Read his comments at HoustonChronicle.com. Longhorn fans and alumni sprang from their chairs when a local faction of UT's marching band charged up the ballroom's center aisle, instruments in air, before Chancellor James B. Milliken's brief albeit poignant remarks. "I just realized that Love, Schieffer and I were all in the same (college) fraternity," Milliken quipped. He paused by continuing, "Then, I also realized that many of us in this room belong to another fraternity, bound by cancer." Milliken lost his mother to cancer, a younger brother to leukemia and received his own cancer diagnosis shortly after turning 16. "There is no greater cause than eradicating this disease." The evening's tone changed completely once Tillerson and Bob Schieffer took their seats. Tillerson wasted no time getting down to business. "My philosophy is to make money," he said early on in their discussion. "So, if I can drill and make money, that's what I'm gonna do." And then they were off. The two men discussed China's economic growth, North Korea, Russia's involvement with the 2016 U.S. elections, Trump's value system and more. Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect the correct amount raised ($1.7 million) and that Love, Schieffer and Milliken were all members of the same fraternity. Six former Jesuit leaders who once worked in Houston have been credibly accused of sexually abusing minors decades ago, including five who once worked at Strake Jesuit College Preparatory in southwest Houston and one who served within the St. Joseph Church. The six were included in a list of 42 names released by the Jesuits U.S. Central and Southern Province on Friday morning. Their periods of alleged abuse occurred decades ago between the 1960s and 1980s. Therese Meyerhoff, director of communications for the Jesuits' Central and Southern Province, said all those listed Friday are no longer serving in public ministry, although four remain members of the province. She said many were removed after a series of allegations were released in 2002. ONLY FOR SUBSCRIBERS: Cardinal DiNardo, archbishop for Galveston-Houston walks a fine line, on HoustonChronicle.com. "The church and religious communities have really done a lot to make places safer for children," Meyerhoff said. "There are no recent allegations in our province, so hopefully people will feel some assurance from that." The Province noted that the list is not meant to imply those named have been found guilty of a crime or are liable for civil claims. It also said inclusion on the list does not necessarily mean the allegations are true or correct, and that many allegations were made several years or decades after the alleged abuse. Messages left with Strake Jesuit College Preparatory were not immediately returned. Among former Strake Jesuits accused of sexually abusing minors include: Rev. Jody Blanchard Blanchard allegedly abused at least one minor in the 1980s and was ordained in 1983. He was born in 1953 and left the Society of Jesus in 1994. Rev. Thomas J. Naughton Naughton died in 2012 and was removed from the ministry in 2002. He allegedly abused at least one minor in the 1970s. Although he was removed from ministry in 2002, he remained a member of the Society of Jesus until 2009. He was born in 1933 and ordained in 1965. Rev. Vincent A. Orlando Orlando allegedly abused at least one minor victim in the 1980s and was removed from the ministry in 2002. He currently lives under supervision. He was born in 1941 and was ordained in 1974. Rev. Charles G. Coyle Coyle died in 2015 and was removed from the ministry in 2002. He allegedly abused more than one minor in the 1960s and 1970s. He was born in 1932 and ordained in 1965, and he left the Society of Jesus in 2004. Rev. Edward D. DeRussy DeRussy died in 2001 and was restricted from ministry with minors in 1991. He allegedly abused more than one minor in the 1970s and was ordained in 1957. He was born in 1926. He also served a stint at St. Joseph's Hospital in Nassau Bay, Texas. The Jesuit from St. Joseph's Church accused on the list is: Rev. Austin N. Park Park died in 2015 and allegedly abused more than one victim in the 1960s. He was already removed from ministry because of dementia when the allegations were received. He was born in 1918 and ordained in 1955. Meyerhoff said some of the names contained on the list have appeared publicly in the past but she did not know which. She said the church began compiling the names several months ago by reviewing archived records. The Western Province will release a similar list at 10 a.m. Pacific Standard Time. In a statement, Provincial Ronald Mercier said those who were abused by a church they trusted deserve transparency and a response that recognizes past missteps and seeks a new way forward. "The storm that the Church experiences today calls forth from us an unprecedented and yet needed response," Mercier said. "Silence in the face of the events of recent months cannot be an option." The Province encouraged survivors of past and current abuse to report an incident by contacting Carol Zarinelli Brescia, a licensed clinical social worker. She can be reached confidentially by phone at 314-915-7168 or email at ucsoutreach@jesuits.org. For a complete list of accused Jesuits, click here. NEWS WHEN YOU NEED IT: Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text message | Sign up for breaking news alerts delivered to your email here. The U.S. subsidiary of a Mexican oil company is getting ready for a new round of projects in the Marble Falls oil field of North Texas. Petrobal is seeking permission from the Railroad Commission of Texas to recomplete three vertical wells in Jack and Palo Pinto counties. Petrobal, headquarterd in Irving, is targeting the Palo Pinto and Jack County fields down to depths of 5,675 feet. The mining, insurance and finance conglomerate GrupoBal launched Petrobal in March 2015 as part of Mexicos historic energy reforms. The Mexico City company set up its Texas office in early 2017, shortly after buying thousands of acres of leases from Brigadier Oil & Gas of Plano. BIG FIND: USGS: Permian's Wolfcamp is largest potential oil and gas resource ever assessed Petrobal and the Houston offshore oil company Fieldwood Energy won a joint bid for shallow water oil leases in Mexicos Bay of Campeche in September 2015. Here in Texas, Petrobal is focused on gaining experience for onshore operations by targeting Marble Falls play, where it has more than 230 wells. Permian Basin More Information Top 10 Drillers (Nov. 28 through Dec. 4) Occidental Petroleum 28 Sable Permian resources 17 Endeavor Energy Resources 16 Four Corners Petroleum 13 Pioneer Natural Resources 11 Parsley Energy 10 Diamondback Energy 10 EOG Resources 9 Devon Energy 8 Chevron 7 XTO Energy 7 Drilling Permits By Basin (Nov. 28 through Dec. 4) Permian Basin 185 Eagle Ford Shale 57 Barnett Shale 13 Haynesville Shale 7 Other 23 Source: Railroad Commission of Texas See More Collapse The Midland oil explorer Endeavor Energy Resources continues to drill despite reports that at least three major oil companies are in a bidding war to buy it. Owned by wildcatter billionaire Autry Stephens, the company is planning to drill 16 new horizontal wells to depths of up to 12,000 feet in its Black Pearl and Rosalie leases in Howard and Martin counties. . With 436 drilling permits filed so far this year, Endeavor is one of the largest oil companies in the Permian Basin. Eagle Ford Shale Trinity Operating , a Houston exploration and production company, plans to drill a pair of horizontal wells in the Eagle Ford Shale of South Texas. It also is seeking permission to drill one oil well for its Rancho Tres Hijos lease in McMullen County and another on its Whitwell B lease in Frio County. The projects target the Eagleville field of the Eagle Ford geological layer to a depth of 10,000 feet. Founded in late 2016, Trinity began acquiring oil leases in early 2017. Haynesville Shale British-owned BP is preparing to drill four horizontal wells in the Haynesville Shale of East Texas. The company is seeking permission to drill two pairs of gas wells split between its Everest Gas Unit lease in Angelina County and its Walker SU J lease in Nacogdoches County. The four projects target the Carthage field to a depth of 19,500 feet. Barnett Shale Devon Energy of Oklahoma City is preparing to drill three new horizontal wells its McCurdy Floyd lease in Wise County in in North Texas. The three wells target the Newark East field of the Barnett Shale to a depth of 9,500 feet. So far this year, Devon has filed 41 drilling permits for projects in Texas , 29 in Barnett and 12 in the Eagle Ford Shale. Conventionals Merit Energy of Dallas is seeking permission for three directional wells on its Boston Texas Land & Trust lease in Hidalgo County. The three projects target the Javelina field of the Vicksburg sand formation down to a depth of 13,300 feet. sergio.chapa@chron.com By Trend The words said by Azerbaijani Finance Minister Samir Sharifov Dec. 4 during an interview on a state TV channel over the strengthening of the manat are quite clear, and interpreting them as a devaluation announcement is either a conscious provocation or an amateur approach, spokesman for the Azerbaijani Finance Ministry Mais Piriyev told Trend Dec. 7. He noted that some experts and economists, by isolating a certain part of the context, consciously or unconsciously on social networks and on a number of websites tried to distort the essence of what was said by the minister. Piriyev said that however, the controversial and provocative attitude towards the ministers words in connection with the strengthening of the manat several days after the 2019 budget was discussed by an experienced politician and member of the economic policy, industry and entrepreneurship committee of the Azerbaijani parliament Vahid Ahmadov is regrettable. During the speech, the minister noted that a sharp, excessive strengthening of the manat rate affects the activities of domestic producers, creates attractive conditions for imports, which is not in the interests of the Azerbaijani state, Piriyev said. That is why a new fiscal rule has been adopted as part of targeted economic reforms carried out in recent years under the leadership of Azerbaijani president, so that through this rule the state would regulate sales of foreign currency revenues from the oil sector in the domestic currency market within the frames established by the state budget. Thats because even greater use of excess oil revenues creates pressure for strengthening of the manat rate, and this, as the minister noted, negatively affects exports, leads to an increase in imports, which is unprofitable for national production, including those involved in exporting, Piriyev noted. Therefore, to eliminate these negative impacts, state budget expenditures should be kept within the established framework. He stressed that the achieved macroeconomic stability and its preservation in the future are related precisely to the observance of the fiscal rule, state support for the monetary policy pursued by the Central Bank of Azerbaijan. All this currently provides and will ensure stability of the manat rate, he said. In a prekindergarten class at the Goddard School in Cypress, Piper Evans, Kyle Pointon and Evan Edwards sat down at a table and pushed tiny colored light bulbs into the black screen of a Lite-Brite. Once they were done, they had filled in a picture of a unicorn with a rainbow tail. I never played with one of these at home, said Evans, 5. The Lite-Brite is one of dozens of toys the students are trying out as part of a toy test that some Goddard School campuses are undertaking to determine which ones are the most popular for young children. Assistant director Brianna Voyles said students from preschoolers to 11-year-olds play with the toys and teachers ask them open-ended questions to get feedback on why they enjoying with them. Theyre based developmentally for each grade level, so theyre all age-appropriate. Once we have them and theyre in the classrooms, they can go ahead and play with them, she said. Once all of the participating schools have provided students feedback, the Goddard School creates a top ten list of popular toys for different age ranges. Next to Evans, Pointon, 4, said he liked playing with the Imagination Magnets, which are colorful magnets in different shapes that come in a wooden case. Their teacher, Sally Thomas, picked out a card with a drawing on it and the two of them re-created the design with the magnets. I like shapes and I like blue and green, Pointon said. Thomas said that when the new toys arrive, she weaves them into the lessons. I try to incorporate them into the curriculum whether its math or creative art, she said. Down the hall in another classroom, preschool students J.C. Bailey, Isla Hajovsky and McKenzie Mauro put together car, boat and animal toys, mixing and matching the top and bottoms. Hajovsky, 3, put together a car plane while Mauro, 3, put together a boat plane. At another table, Bailey, 2, joined parts together to make horses and trailers. Ana Natal, who teaches the class, said the toys were a good tool to teach students about shapes and colors. They play a lot with colors. They like to kind of mix them up. It gives them coordination (in the) eyes, hands, she said. Voyles said the toys are good ways for the students to learn. A few of students choices this year have surprised her. I think its a really good opportunity for our kids to play with toys that we wouldnt otherwise be able to provide for them. I loved seeing some of the old come back as new, like the Lite-Brite, she said. mayra.cruz@chron.com A Cleveland family is mourning the loss of their loved one after he was killed in a head-on crash Nov. 28. The Cleveland Police Department dispatch received a call around 1 p.m. to alert them of a two-vehicle crash on State Highway 105 bypass in Cleveland. Witnesses said they observed a red Chevrolet pickup truck traveling east on SH 105 bypass that veered into the westbound lane striking an 18-wheeler trucks front left fender and cab. The 18-wheeler was pulling a trailer with a very large load. According to witnesses of the horrific accident, the 18-wheeler immediately burst into flames upon impact of the crash. The driver of the semi was able to immediately escape the burning cab. The force of the collision, said witnesses, sent the pickup trucks engine flying into the air and landing approximately 20-yards away down an embankment. Upon arrival, emergency personnel immediately attempted to extinguish the flames coming from the rig. The lone occupant of the red truck appeared to be entrapped and showed signs of critical injuries but died later as a result of the impact. Liberty County Justice of the Peace Pct. No. 6 Ralph Fuller pronounced the driver of the red truck deceased and ordered an autopsy. The driver of the red Chevrolet truck was identified as John Wesley Pillow, 39, of Cleveland. The Cleveland Police Department was assisted by the Texas Department of Public Safety troopers in the crash investigation. Texas SH 105 bypass was shut down for around eight hours as Hazmat clean-up crews aided by TxDOT finished around 9 p.m. before the bypass was safe to re-open for normal travel. The red 2012 Chevrolet pickup truck driven by the deceased was later confirmed to be stolen out of the State of Florida. For the second time this fall, Pappas Bros. Steakhouse wine director Steven McDonald is officially a Master Sommelier, arguably the most coveted title a person who loves wine and sells it for a living can obtain. And this time it's certain to stick. McDonald was required to return to St. Louis and re-take the tasting portion of the brutally difficult three-part exam Wednesday because the results from early September, when he finally passed tasting after failing six previous sittings, were invalidated by the Court of Master Sommeliers board of directors. The reason: One of the aspiring Master Sommeliers had been tipped off in advance what wines he might be asked to identify blindly. McDonald was among the 22 who thought they had earned the coveted MS lapel pin, only to learn via a letter sent out by the Court on Oct. 9 that they would have to go through the process all over again. At the time, he called the decision "shocking and devastating." However, the story would have the happiest of endings, at least for him and five others. They learned Thursday that they made it through again, increasing the worldwide MS fraternity to 279. On HoustonChronicle.com: Sommelier scandal a setback for Pappas wine director "This feels even better than it did (in September)," McDonald said, admitting the news left him almost "unable to breathe . . . It's the craziest and hardest thing I've ever gone through in my life. But it's also bittersweet. A lot of my friends who passed before didn't made it, and I know how they're feeling right now. I was relieved and happy but sad at the same time for those who didn't pass." Aside from being hugely prestigious, becoming a Master Sommelier also has significant financial ramifications. According to a 2017 GuildSomm survey, a Master earns an average salary of $164,000 per year, while an Advanced Sommelier, one stage below in the Court's four-level hierarchy, earns an average of $87,000. McDonald expressed gratitude for the support the Pappas Bros. management team has given him since the get-go, saying, "They are 100 percent behind me." As it turned out, so have been many of his collector friends and customers, who generously opened expensive library wines to help him further hone his tasting skills. And, of course, Houston's other Master Sommeliers Pappas Bros. colleague Jack Mason, David Keck of the Goodnight Hospitality group, Mastro's wine director Keith Goldston and Southern Glazer's Guy Stout lent major moral support and/or put him through his tasting paces. "So many people have been so supportive," he said. "I'm really grateful for everything everybody has done." McDonald and the others who received their MS pins in September weren't required to physically return them, but they were asked not to display them in public or refer to themselves as Master Sommeliers. McDonald kept his tucked away in a backpack and wore his Advanced Sommelier pin to Wednesday's tasting, in which the candidates were again given 25 minutes to identify six wines by their varietal or blend, region of origin and vintage. Had he failed, a complete re-set would have been required, meaning he would have had to re-take the theory and service segments of the test, too. McDonald said he had "a good night out (on the town Wednesday) with people I love and respect" and admitted he drank enough wine to sleep "pretty well." But the elevator ride and subsequent walk to the conference room where he would be given the thumbs up or thumbs down felt like "walking the green mile." Although he thought he'd done as well as he had previously, he noted, "feeling good about how you performed is never an indication of success." But Master Sommeliers Scott Carney of New York and Larry O'Brien of Las Vegas, who had accompanied him, evaluated his performance positively, then congratulated him. He'd passed. A formal ceremony for the fortunate six followed. McDonald's nightmare was over. He caught a late flight back to Houston Thursday night and he'll be back working the floor at the Galleria area Pappas Bros. Steakhouse Friday evening. Yes, he'll be wearing his MS pin. The Houston Community College System on Thursday signed a contract to purchase a $12.5 million 24-acre plot of land in West Houston intended for a new Katy campus. In a split vote on Wednesday, board of trustees approved the purchase of approximately 24 acres of land and a three-year purchase option on an adjacent 30 acres of land at 228 Colonial Parkway near the intersection of Interstate 10 and the Grand Parkway. The plot, designated for a new 140,000-square foot, multi-floor HCC-Katy facility, is located near Katy Asian Town and adjacent to the University of Houston-Katys facility, which is scheduled to open in the fall of 2019. HCC Chancellor Dr. Cesar Maldonado said Thursday the current timeline has HCC-Katy scheduled to open in summer of 2021 and will tap into the growing demands of the West Houston population and the Katy Independent School District, which this year reached its goal of 80,000 students. A+ COLLEGES: New report ranks Houston area universities as some of the best in the nation Chairwoman Dr. Carolyn Evans-Shabazz and Trustees Dr. Adriana Tamez, Zeph Capo, Eva Loredo and Dr. John Hansen on Wednesday voted for the acquisition, trustees Dave Wilson and Robert Glaser voted against it; and Neeta Sane and Dr. Pretta VanDible Stallworth abstained. The Colonial Parkway plot was just one of five potential locations reviewed by the board. Others included a 159-acre plot of land on Clay Road at Interstate 10, 78-acres on Morton Road at Katy Fort Bend Parkway and 15 acres on University Park immediately northeast of I-10 and the Grand Parkway, according to HCC documents. The Colonial Parkway plot was the least expensive to develop at $62.1 million, while the University Park plot was the most expensive at $78.1 million and required a parking garage, according to HCC documents. Augustus Auggie Campbell, president and CEO of the West Houston Association, was in favor of the land acquisition and said the move would bring in affordable and accessible higher education to an area that has a need for it. (HCC-Katy) is going to be across the street from the UH-Katy campus and that means well have essentially a four-year program in Katy, Campbell said. They dont really have adequate higher educational facilities, so this will solve that problem. CLASS IS IN SESSION: Katy soon to be hub for higher education Wilson has been a vocal opponent of the Katy land acquisition, which is outside the colleges nine taxing districts, since the item went up for a vote in 2017 and failed. He called it a bad real estate deal in which HCC taxpayer dollars were being used to build a campus outside the district and subsidizing people who dont pay taxes instead of using the taxes for facilities that already exist. The state of Texas doesnt collect our taxes for gasoline and go to Arkansas and start building highways, he said. Maldonado said HCC campuses at Spring Branch and the current Katy campus have provided the college with revenue streams, are in robust growth areas and have proven to be a model for future success. The Foxlake campus has provided revenue in excess of debt service and has proven to contribute money to the operation within the taxing district, Maldonado said. Revenue from outside the taxing district has paid for those facilities and so taxpayers own land and buildings have significant value. A LOOK AHEAD: The most exciting developments coming to Houston's suburbs in 2019 HCC plans to sell its current Katy property at Foxlake Drive, which is estimated to be worth $14 million, he added. The college plans to fund the new campus with an initial short-term three-year loan and then by selling revenue bonds, Maldonado said. The plan is to relocate students at the HCC-Foxlake campus to the new Colonial Parkway campus to be nearer to the UH-Katy campus, which opens in 2019, Maldonando said. In the next 90 days, the college will complete its due diligence of the plot by conducting various surveys, including a topographic, wetland and an environmental study before it closes early next year, a college spokeswoman said. michelle.iracheta@chron.com The first memories of school can last a lifetime. The school colors, a giant mascot in the entrance of the campus these things make an impression on young students. Built in 1965, Whitcomb Elementary School, 900 Reseda Drive, Houston, is marking its 50th anniversary, and for alumni, its the people and the traditions they remember most. For Melissa Sherpa, who started first grade at Whitcomb Elementary School in 1971 three years after it opened, it was a custodian named Jesse who left one of the biggest impressions. Jesse, she said, took care of the school while also being a role model to students by his dedication to his work. He was a wonderful man and made it a point to build relationships with all of us, said Sherpa, who didnt know Jesses last name. He loved all the students and we loved him. We respected him and in turn we respected the school. We wanted to take care of it because we knew how hard he worked. Sherpas parents were active members of the PTA and helped build some of the traditions the school still honors. Sherpa began teaching at Whitcomb in 2003 and is now part of those same traditions. I feel so many connections to the school, she said. Whitcomb is very much a community school with a family like atmosphere. I really believe in my heart that the first years of a child's educational path are the most important of all, Sherpa said. In elementary school, we build the foundation for a lifelong learner. The school, which has 654 students, celebrated the anniversary on Dec. 1 with a performance from the Whitcomb fourth-grade choir and the introduction of teachers who were at the campus when it opened in 1968. When voters approved a Clear Creek ISD's $487 million bond in 2017, it included plans for a major renovation of Whitcomb, which is one of seven schools in the district that are at least 50 years old. Set to start in November 2021 and end a year later, this project will renovates the entire campus and brings it up to current learning and safety standards. Chris Cummings has a current attachment to Whitcomb through his two children, who are in kindergarten and first grade, but also through his own memories. Cummings and his twin brother started first grade in 1974. He singles out two teachers who went out of two favorite teachers, Mrs. Newman and Mr. Clark, who went out of their way to work one-on-one with students. Cummings didnt know the teachers first names. But a few of his favorite memories have nothing to do with academics. He has fond memories of the schools track-and-field events has vivid recollections of Whitcomb students gathering outside for flag ceremonies. I dont know if it was an everyday thing, but it seemed like it, he said. Giant Whitney evokes memories And Cummings will never forget Whitney, the seemingly giant giraffe mascot he passed by every day in the schools atrium area. He and his brother were part of the class that helped build Whitney. Cummings said that if his children experience at the school is as positive as his was, they have a good start. I think its vital, he said. Youre establishing the foundation for their education, behavior and emotions to some extent. Over the last 50 years, Whitney, constructed on a wire frame, has had a few makeovers, with several layers of materials like papier mache added for stability and upgrade. Its almost symbolic, the different layers over the years and all the kids that have gone through there, Cummings said. When you walk in, theres that giraffe in the atrium area. So, going in every time there is definitely a sense of nostalgia. yorozco@hcnonline.com It was August 2001 when President George Herbert Walker Bush came to Sugar Land to dedicate a high school named after him in the Fort Bend Independent School District. Steve Smelley, who served as trustee in 2001, remembers, We got to converse with the president, had a little bit to eat and took pictures. He also remembers all of them on the auditorium stage at the same time for the official dedication. It was just a very inspiring moment. I had no idea he was such a big man, continued Smelley referring to Bushs height at 6 feet 2 inches. He was such a nice man. He was touched that we named a school after him. He was extremely touched. When Bush spoke to the students, he inspired them to strive for excellence and to be kind to one another, said Smelley. Serving on a school board can be a difficult experience, said Smelley. Days like the dedication made volunteering very rewarding. That was a very rewarding day. Rita Drabek, who also was a trustee in 2001, added it was an honor to have Bush at the school. He returned a few months later, according to Amanda Bubela, Fort Bend ISD director of external communications and media relations, because of an initiative launched by his son George W. Bush, who was president. The president announced in October 2001 the formation of Americas Fund for Afghan Children and asked every American child to contribute $1 to the new relief effort. George H.W. Bush made a special appearance at the school on Oct. 19, 2001 where high school students had raised $818.65 as part of the initiative. Bush wrote a check that matched that amount, said Bubela. This week as part of the tribute to the former president, George H.W. Bush, the school had a photo display and photo arrangement, she said. I can say for everyone at our school that we are proud to be a Bush Bronco because of our schools namesake and the life he led, said Student Council member Valeria Pineda in a news release from the district. Pineda worked with her fellow Student Council members to coordinate week-long activities and tributes to honor Bush. They began the week with a moment of silence and viewing of a video titled, Remembering our Namesake, George H. W. Bush. Students also wrapped ribbon in patriotic colors around outside columns and placed a floral arrangement donated by Flowers by Adela near the dedication wall at the front of the school. We do have JROTC students whove been asked to be present at the arrival ceremony at Ellington Field, added Bubela. Twenty-two of the schools Navy JROTC cadets were among guests to welcome the presidents family when they returned from Washington, D.C., on Air Force One, said the district news release. Student leaders at Bush High School have organized a number of remembrances, including a sock drive as well, Bubela said. A Dec. 4 orchestra concert previously scheduled added a tribute to the former president. Musicians played Rhosymedre by British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams, and a brief setting of America the Beautiful, arranged by BHS Orchestra director Brian Runnels, according to the news release. Orchestra members also stepped out of their uniform dress code and wore colorful socks in honor of the president, who was a self-proclaimed sock man. karen.zurawski@chron.com Thousands of mourning Texans lined up to see George H.W. Bush's last journey on Thursday. The body of the 41st president traveled by train on a 70-mile trip from Spring to College Station. Houston rapper Paul Wall will help promote advanced tickets to Sony's latest Spider-Man film this Saturday. "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" officially hits theaters next Friday, but eager beavers can nab tickets at a local Walmart to see the flick this Sunday, as well as get a chance to meet and take photographs with one of Houston's most beloved rappers. The latest Spider-Man adaptation is a comic book-style animated adventure featuring the first appearance of Miles Morales, an African American-Puerto Rican American who, at least in the Marvel Universe, takes on the role of being New York's friendly neighborhood Spider-Man after Peter Parker. Fans seeking an advanced ticket and a chance to meet Wall can head to the Walmart at 2391 S. Wayside Dr. on Dec. 8 from 1 p.m.-3 p.m. Those luckily enough can see the film the next day at AMC Houston 8 in downtown Houston. RELATED: Disney dominates Golden Globes animation - again - but 'Spider-Man' lands as a strong wild card Fernando Ramirez is a digital reporter for Chron.com and Houstonchronicle.com. Read him on our breaking news site and on our subscriber site. Follow him on Twitter at @fernramirez93 or email him at Fernando.ramirez@chron.com. Mexican telenovela actress Daniela Castro has sued Saks & Co. and one of its loss prevention officers over what she contends was a wrongful arrest during a shopping trip in San Antonio. Castro, 52, and her lawyers, Mark Fassold and Alfonso Cabanas of San Antonio, announced the lawsuit at a news conference in Mexico City on Wednesday, less than a week after District Attorney Nico LaHood dismissed a misdemeanor theft charge against her that stemmed from her arrest at Saks OFF 5th on Sept. 28. On ExpressNews.com: Appeals court overturns fraud conviction of Mexican official's wife in money laundering case In a motion dismissing the case on Nov. 29, LaHoods office said it found no probable cause for Castros arrest. In an interview after the dismissal, LaHood said that Castro was a frequent shopper at Saks OFF 5th at the Rim Shopping Center who appeared to pay for items she was accused of stealing. Castro, whose real name is Danielle Stefani Arellano Castro, is one of Mexicos most well-known TV 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). Flanked by her lawyers at the news conference, Castro wiped away tears and said the ordeal was the most difficult experience of my life. She chided some media outlets who she said humiliated or crucified her over the false allegations. I am innocent and an injustice was committed, Castro said. I am a mother, who has worked hard 32 years. I have a career that many of you know has been impeccable. I also want to make clear that I am not a kleptomaniac, I am not sick of anything this affected me emotionally more than you can imagine, she said. What hurt me the most was the terrible harm that it caused my family, the harm it did to me, but above all else, the harm it did to my children. On ExpressNews.com: Grand jury indicts San Antonio oil and gas businessman Alfaro, who runs from reporters outside courthouse Castros attorneys also faulted Saks and its loss prevention officer, Dennis Joseph Belmonte, for the way they handled the matter. Saks didnt care, Fassold and Cabanas said. They detained her in an office, handcuffed her...and searched her in front of unknown persons, touching her private parts, under her clothes, and during all this, she cried and said she had paid, but they did not care. The lawyers added that the suit was filed to ensure this does not happen to anyone else. I will take this case in front of jurors and explain to them that no one can take the dignity of a person, Fassold said. You just dont do that. The manager of Saks OFF 5th at The Rim has declined comment. A corporate spokeswoman said the company doesnt comment on pending litigation. Belmonte, who is also named as a defendant, could not be reached for comment. The suit claims Belmonte wrongly accused Castro of stealing clothing items worth up to $700, causing her an unnecessary trip through Bexar Countys criminal justice system. The suit seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages for dinging Castros reputation, causing emotional distress and for her expenses in having to clear her name. 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 UAE-based Kibra Investments, a technology-driven real estate company, has announced the launch of a digital marketplace for buying and selling of commercial property. The marketplace will offer income generating assets such as educational, hospitality, retail, industrial, and residential buildings, said the company, which has its headquarters at Emaar Business Park in Dubai. Kibra is targeting deals in the range of $20 to $50 million, making them accessible to large investors and institutions, said a senior company official on the sidelines of the recent Wealth Arabia Summit held in Dubai. On the new venture, CEO Partho Bhattacharya, said: "Institutional-grade assets are in very high demand, yet many investors are struggling to find deals. Kibra aims to streamline high quality opportunities in one place, to provide greater access and transparency for buyers and sellers of commercial property." An expert team will employ rigorous vetting and due diligence for each opportunity, which ensures unique investment opportunities are always available on its website, he added.-TradeArabia News Service In partnership with Montgomery County Precinct 3 Constable Ryan Gables office, child advocacy group Childrens Safe Harbor kicked off its fifth annual Cowboy Breakfast Fundraiser at LongHorn Steakhouse on Friday. Its part of the passion we have to protect our children, Gable said. To continue to keep the kiddos safe in our community, we partnered up to raise funds. Guests poured into the restaurant not long after the sun rose to feast on bacon, eggs, potatoes and gravy, all while raising money for a good cause. The entirety of the $20 charged for each ticket goes directly back to providing services for child victims of sexual and physical abuse and human trafficking in Montgomery County. The breakfasts timing is perfect, said Childrens Safe Harbor Executive Director Victoria Constance the holiday season only highlights the struggles some families go through. We will turn this money around and through that we lift families in need, Constance said. For LongHorn management, the early wake-up call was not an issue. Safe Harbor and the restaurant have partnered every year since the events inception LongHorn provides the food and venue at no cost. We wanted to to do something in the community to give back, said Manager Billy Banks. Before Childrens Safe Harbor was founded in 1998, there was no group in Montgomery County dedicated to guiding victims through the reporting and court processes dealing with sexual and physical abuse and human trafficking. Today, the groups 37 staff members operate on a $2.4 million grant and funds raised through events like the breakfast. Throughout the year, Safe Harbor partners with law enforcement agencies like Gables office, the Montgomery County Sheriffs Office and Child Protective Services, as well as Texas Childrens Hospital, to aid children. Thats the important side of law enforcement in my eyes, Gable said. Helping kids, theyre going to be our future and we want to take care of them the best we can. In 2017, the group helped 1,750 children navigate the court system after falling victim to an attack. From the beginning of 2018 through November, Childrens Safe Harbor had helped more than 2,000 children. The breakfast also coincided with the beginning of a capital campaign for Safe Harbors upcoming facility in Conroe, Board President John Frere said. Constance had announced the development of a 17-acre, 40,000-square foot building along Loop 336 at the groups 20th anniversary luncheon in September with funding from two different $500,000 donations. In 2017, Childrens Safe Harbor received almost $10,000 through an anonymous donor matching dollar-for-dollar the $4,500 raised by the almost 150 guests. This year, in addition to whatever is raised at the breakfast, an anonymous donor and his employer will be donating $15,000 to the event. Our little breakfast have seemed to be fairly successful, Gable said. In my opinion, it couldnt go to a better cause. mrincon@chron.com The Woodlands Township Board of Directors met for more than four hours on Wednesday, Dec. 5, in their only meeting of the month and the boards final meeting of 2018. On the long agenda were numerous items regarding a wide range of topics, including appointments to various boards and committees, consideration of a new logo for the new high trees, ropes adventure course, and other items. Here is a quick round up. Three new DSC members tabbed The board held a secret balloting process and chose three candidates til fill vacancies on the townships Development Standards Committee, a seven-person committee that hears issues related to the townships complex covenant system pertaining to exterior issues for homes and businesses. The three applicants for the spots set by the township were: incumbent committee chairman Walter Lisiewski, newly appointed member Bala Iyer, and current committee member Arthur Bredehoft, who was appointed in spring of 2018 to fill another vacancy on the committee. The terms for Lisiewski and Iyer are for two years, while Bredehofts term is for only one year. DSC committee members are not paid for their time and generally meet twice a month. In addition to the four members appointed by the township, the Woodlands Development Company places three representatives on the committee. Those members are Robert Heineman, Robert Adams and John Anderson all three were reappointed for new two year terms. Former committee member Brian Boniface had tendered his resignation from the committee, citing the need to spend more time with his family as well as constraints from a new job he recently started. Lisiewski has been a member of the DSC for five years and was previously a member of the Village of Panther Creek Residential Design Review Committee for five years. He is also the secretary for Montgomery County Municipal Utility District No. 1. A U.S. Navy veteran, Lisiewski graduated from the University of South Florida and has more than 37 years experience as an executive in the engineering side of the oil and gas industry. Iyer is the newest member, and admitted when he applied he had very little experience or knowledge of what the DSC does, but was eager to serve the community and would learn quickly. Iyer is a systems manager and project manager for Exxon, a position he has had since 1998. He has degrees in both electrical engineering and computer science. Bredehoft has been on the DSC since spring 2018, when he was tabbed to replace Ron Harris. A resident of Alden Bridge, Bredhoft has an MBA in marketing and a graduate degree in business. He is a member of the Interfaith The Woodlands advisory board as well as the Alden Bridge Village Association board. Two other residents had submitted applications to the township to be considered for a position on the DSC. Rennie Van Wyk, a member of the Village of Panther Creek RDRC, withdrew his application. John Mairena, a resident of The Village of Creekside Park, was not selected to join the committee. Directors choose logo for new adventure park The new high ropes, tree-top adventure course being built inside Rob Fleming Park has an official logo after township directors voted unanimously on a design presented during the Dec. 5 meeting. The park is called Texas TreeVentures, and is currently under construction at a cost of $747,000. The course, which features an obstacle course that rises as high as nearly four stories and includes ropes, netting, kayaks, buckets and ziplines. Customers will receive some minor training before being allowed onto the course, and during their sessions will always be locked into a harness with safety ropes to prevent falls. The new logo chosen is a mix of the parks name with colorful graphics that show a person successfully completing the course, along with several trees, ropes and elements of the park. There were originally six logos proposed, but that list was whittled down to only two for the board to decide between. The new park, which is currently closed and not open to the public, is scheduled to open sometime in spring of 2019. Board sets appointments for committes, groups The township board also made numerous appointments to a variety of committees, commissions and groups during Wednesdays meeting. * Directors Bruce Rieser, Carol Stromatt and Ann Snyder were appointed to the Ad Hoc Economic Development Committee * Carol Stromatt was appointed to the Parks and Recreation Advisory Council * Bruce Rieser was appointed to the Law Enforcement Advisory Council * Jason Garcia, from the Waterway Marriott hotel, was appointed to the Booking and Blocking Committee * Bruce Rieser was re-appointed as chairman of the Drainage Task Force. The task force was also renewed for at least another year by the board. * John Anthony Brown, Bruce Rieser and township President Don Norrell were appointed to The Woodlands Convention and Visitors Bureau, also known as Visit The Woodlands, Texas. * The incorporation planning task force was renewed for a three-month period, with Directors Gordy Bunch, Ann Snyder and Bruce Rieser appointed to sit on the task force. Former member John McMullan was removed from the task force. jeff.forward@chron.com A young Baytown woman is free this week after spending a year in the Harris County jail for fabricating cellphone texts and fraudulent social media accounts that made it appear her ex-boyfriend was trying to kill her and bribe a state district judge. The criminal episode illustrates how easily a vengeful ex-lover, adept in the manipulation of social media, can wreak havoc in the life of a former companion. In this case, the womans former boyfriend was jailed three times, paid thousands in bond fees, and even lost a job. Lisa Marie Garcia, 23, pleaded guilty in exchange for two years of probation and will now have two felony convictions on her record, prosecutors said Thursday. She put one young man through hell and defamed a judge, but after speaking with her victims and their lawyers, we all agree this is the right thing to do, Assistant District Attorney John Wakefield said. She has already spent a year in jail, and for the next two years, will be on a short leash that subjects her to up to 10 years in prison if she violates probation. The prosecutor noted Garcia will have a permanent conviction on her record that cant be erased, so she can never hide from the deeds she has done. Garcia was convicted of retaliation and online harassment for using fake social media accounts and cellphone applications to manufacture false threats and claims that appeared to be from her ex-boyfriend got him jailed at least three times, and cost him his job. Those phony texts, along with Garcias false statements to police at different agencies, resulted in Brandon Berrott arrested for making terroristic threats in September 2017. Berrott was apparently in a relationship with Garcia and another woman and has children with both women, court records show. After he made bail on his first charge, Garcia set up Instagram accounts pretending to be him and sent messages to herself threatening to kill her for calling the cops on him. She took the messages to the Baytown Police Department and the Harris County Sheriffs Office, leading to seven charges being filed between Oct. 21 and Oct. 31, 2017. As the fake threats continued, he was sent back to jail for violating the terms of his bail, which included not contacting her. He continued bailing himself out, costing him thousands of dollars in fees to bondsmen and attorneys. Frustrated with his ability to make bail, Garcia eventually called the mayor of Baytown on Thanksgiving weekend last year to demand an investigation of state District Judge Brad Hart, who was presiding over Berrotts cases. Garcia claimed Berrotts mother, who works for Harris County, had bribed Hart to continue allowing Berrott to make bail. (Garcia) expressed to me her frustration with Judge Hart for continuing to let Berrott out on bond. a Harris County Sheriffs investigator wrote in the criminal charge. As prosecutors and Berrotts attorney continued to investigate, they were able to clear Berrott and Hart of any wrongdoing. Garcia was arrested in December 2017, and remained there since she was unable to post bail. On Monday, she took the plea deal because she has three children, including a newborn, who she hasnt seen since her arrest, her attorney said. She was in custody for almost an entire year, said her lawyer Melissa Dickson. Neither of the complainants, (Barrott and the judge) felt it was appropriate for her to get a deferred adjudication, they wanted to make sure it was a conviction. Everybody seemed to be OK with this result. Carl Moore, Berrotts attorney, confirmed that his client wanted Garcia to have felony convictions on her record. She tormented my client, he said. He was arrested several times, spent time in jail, lost his job and couldnt get a new job. You cant go back and unring a bell. Moore said the case shows what can happen when people use social media and new technology to manipulate the criminal justice system. Hopefully it will serve as a warning to people out there that you cant just do this, he said. It takes away from real victims. brian.rogers@chron.com twitter.com/brianjrogers Tony Buzbee, a Houston lawyer who recently announced his plan to run for mayor next year, has offered to "mediate" a long-running pay dispute between the city and firefighters, one week after a judge blocked implementation of a voter-approved charter amendment that would grant firefighters equal pay to police officers of corresponding status. In a joint statement Friday with the Houston Professional Fire Fighters Association, Buzbee said he believes it is time "we equally value our police and fire first responders in Houston," seeming to indicate that he supports the push for "pay parity." The Houston area has been under a flash flood watch since noon Friday as severe storms threaten to bring up to 10 inches of rainfall in some isolated parts of the region. Forecasters say the worst of the storm will be overnight into Saturday morning. Houston residents have been urged to stay home if possible. At least 2 to 5 inches is expected with 8 to 10 inches in isolated areas. The San Jacinto River is expected to rise to flood threshold levels along the West Fork by Saturday afternoon, reach a peak Monday evening and remain above flood stage into Wednesday, officials said. Structures in Belleau Woods, Forecast Cove, Northshore and Riverside crest will probably be impacted, and residents may not be able to access entering or exiting their homes for up to five days. "If you do not want to be trapped for four or five days, you need to consider moving out while you can still drive out of there tonight or first thing in the morning," County Judge Ed Emmett said at a news conference Friday night. Officials said the East Fork may also see some flooding around FM 1485 near Caney. Commutes from work Friday evening were treacherous due to the weather more so with a car crash on the East Sam Houston Parkway near Wallisville Road that resulted in two fatalities. RELATED: Houstonians warned to stay home Friday night to avoid possible flash floods "Wherever that possibly happens, we're going to see some rises of bayous," Francisco Sanchez, the county's deputy emergency management coordinator, told the Houston Chronicle Thursday. "But the biggest threat we have right now is with lower amounts of rain, we're going to see some high water and dangerous driving conditions." There is also a possibility of isolated tornadoes and damaging winds near the coast, the weather service said. The flood watch will expire at 8 a.m. Saturday, with the sun starting to peek out in the Houston area on Sunday. View the slideshow to see the streets that have historically been the most prone to flooding. Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text message Airbus and the French Civil Aviation University, ENAC, have obtained EASA certification for a co-developed ab initio Pilot Cadet Training Programme that will be used by a worldwide network of partner flight schools. The programme starts with the first customer Escuela de Aviacion Mexico (EAM) in Mexico City early 2019. Pilot Cadets worldwide will now be able to benefit from a complete and fully integrated Airline Transport Pilot Licence programme built upon Airbus high safety and reliability standards and extensive experience in pilot training. The Airbus Pilot Cadet Training Programme aims to equip cadets with the skills and mind-set required to become an operationally-ready pilot focusing on the all-important development of key pilot technical and behavioural competencies. The programme reflects, not only Airbus commitment to supporting the safe operation of all its aircraft, but also supports airline customers in contributing to the long-term availability of qualified pilots, helping to meet the growing demand forecast for more than 500,000 pilots over the next 20 years. The programme will be open to young people over 18 years old who have graduated from high school. Candidates will undergo online and on-site screening tests before being eligible for training, which will include 750 hours of ground school, plus 200 hours of flight training. Airbus has been offering training courses since its creation some 50 years ago and has always taken a comprehensive and innovative approach via its unique cockpit commonality concept and the regular introduction of the latest technologies or learning concepts. Airbus tripled its training locations worldwide in the last few years. With an extensive and growing global network, Airbus has created a complete flight training package, allowing its customers to benefit from its training expertise closer to their home base, ensuring a wider range of competent candidates make it to the cockpit. TradeArabia News Service The defense attorney representing a Houston mother who is accused of drowning and decapitating her 5-year-old son described the woman as a very mentally ill individual after she appeared in court on Friday. His client, Lihui Liu, has been charged with capital murder and held without bond in the death of her son, Jiandong Xu. The boy was found headless and stashed in a trash can at their home on Nov. 30. Attorney George Parnham, who is known for representing Andrea Yates and Clara Harris in their high-profile murder cases, said Liu is receiving mental health help in jail and is taking medication. My observations support a very mentally ill individual, Parnham said. Just a sad situation all the way around. Speaking quietly and through a Mandarin translator, Liu stood before Judge Susan Brown, of the 185th Criminal Court, on Friday to hear her legal warnings. After the procedural court hearing, Harris County prosecutors emphasized the nature of the crime and urged the public to think of the boys family at this time. This is a horrific, tragic, tragic, case, said Michele Oncken, division chief of the Harris County District Attorneys Offices child fatality division. What we want everyone to just have their minds and their hearts just thinking about, the family, this little boy, a 5-year-old child who was murdered and taken from this world much, much too soon. It is really unthinkable. The 43-year-old mother was arrested one week ago after Houston police responded to a stabbing call around 7 p.m. at the family's home in the 13000 block of Holly Lynn. After the father came home to find the bloody scene, officers arrived and saw the slain child on the garage floor, headless and partially covered by a plastic bag. The father told police that hed left his wife home that morning with their 5-year-old son and 13-year-old daughter. His wife was in the garage when he returned, saying shed sent the boy away. While his father was looking for the boy, Liu said the child was in the trash can, police said. The body was wrapped in a black plastic bag, and the severed head was found in the same bin. Police also found a bloody knife in the bathroom and a blood-spattered bathtub. During questioning, Liu allegedly admitted to drowning the boy but wouldnt talk about the decapitation. Liu doesnt appear to have any prior criminal history in Harris County. Her husband, Kai Xu, told the Houston Chronicle that his wife had been experiencing a downward spiral with depression, starting in March. 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. Xu was present at the court hearing Friday but declined to speak with the media. Child Protective Services confirmed they'd interacted with the family back in 2015, though the children were never in state custody. It's not clear why CPS was involved with the west Houston family to begin with, or how that involvement ended. The 13-year-old daughter is staying with the father, CPS confirmed on Friday. Parnham said that Liu, who is from Singapore, is in a state of not being able to communicate. Whether thats from not being able to understand his questions or not being able to process an answer is unclear, he said. Of course, theres a great deal of grief involved, Parnham said. The very facts of the situation speak to an action of irrational mind. Prosecutors have requested that the judge officially approve no bond in Lius case. A judge in Harris County Probable Cause Court set no bond last week. Prosecutors will meet on a committee and determine whether they will pursue that the death penalty, Oncken said. If they dont and Liu is found guilty, she would automatically be sentenced to life without parole. samantha.ketterer@chron.com Twitter.com/sam_kett 3 1 of 3 Metro Video Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Houston Police Department Show More Show Less 3 of 3 A Pasadena man has been arrested in the fatal shooting of a woman whose body was found on a street in a southeast Houston neighborhood Tuesday morning. Guadalupe Toledo Vega, 37, is charged with murder, accused of killing 20-year-old Morgan Sproles, authorities said on Friday. 3 1 of 3 Metro Video Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Metro Video Show More Show Less 3 of 3 A Houston teenager has been charged with capital murder in the robbery and shooting death of a customer at a Harris County gas station in May. Jeremiah Malik Foster-Wilson, 17, was already in custody on an unrelated charge when he was arrested this week in the death of Rafael Hernandez. A traffic stop near the Texas-Mexico border led to a surprise for Customs and Border Protection agents. Severiano Solis, Port Director at the Hidalgo Port of Entry, said agents on May 14 discovered 188 pounds of liquid methamphetamine hidden in the gas tank of a vehicle pulled over for a secondary inspection. BIG BUST: Feds seize $3 million in narcotics at the border Solis said in a statement that the drugs were worth $3.7 million. Story continues below Agents stopped the 2008 Chevy Silverado, which was driven by a woman from the U.S., for a secondary inspection. The vehicle was seized and the driver was arrested and turned over to Homeland Security Investigations agents. Scroll through the above gallery to see the biggest drug busts along the Texas-Mexico border as well as what items smugglers use to hide narcotics tucked away in vehicles NASA astronaut Nick Hague has spent the last two months trying to explain to his two young boys what happened on that fateful day in October when the spacecraft transporting him to the International Space Station was forced to make an emergency landing. And now, he'll spent the next several months explaining why he plans to go back in February. "From the moment I got back and was able to give them that first hug, this has been an ongoing conversation of trying to explain to them what happened and why I was able to survive it," Hague said Friday during an interview with the Houston Chronicle. "But even more, I was trying to explain to them the risks, but why we take these chances: The work we're doing on the space station is for the good of humanity." On Oct. 11, the world watched as Hague and his crewmate Alexey Ovchinin were robbed of their chance to live on the space station after the Russian Soyuz spacecraft transporting them there had to abort its launch when a rocket booster failed. It was unclear for some time when, if ever, Hague would get another chance to fly. But after NASA astronaut Anne McClain and her crew mates made it to the space station safely Monday -- the first crewed mission since the aborted launch -- the space agency announced that Hague and Ovchinin would get another shot Feb. 28. "I'm excited about it. I'm 100 percent ready to go," Hague said. "I'm happy to get to the point where I've fulfilled my mission." The October abort was Russia's first in 35 years and many officials deemed it a success: both Hague and Ovchinin were safe and in good condition. But it made some space experts question whether Russia's space program was up to snuff, especially because it was preceded by the discovery of an air leak-causing hole in a different Soyuz docked to the space station in late August. But Hague said Friday he isn't worried. If anything, he's more confident than ever. "Obviously when you're 30 miles up going 4,000 miles an hour and the rocket comes apart underneath you, that's cutting it as close as you can and we were fortunate to come out of that as well as we did," he said. "But that safety net worked flawlessly and it gives you a sense of confidence in the overall ability of the system." In February, Hague and Ovchinin will be joined by American astronaut Christina Hammock Koch, a member of the 2013 astronaut class who initially was scheduled to fly in April. Hague also is a member of the 2013 class. Russian officials in November announced that the failed launch was the result of a malfunctioning sensor, which caused the first and second stages of the rocket launching the Soyuz to crash into each other, breaking the second stage and forcing an emergency landing. The sensor was damaged, Russian officials said, during the rocket's assembly at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, where the Soyuz is launched. There still is no word on what caused the hole in the space station, but the Russians are conducting a spacewalk Dec. 11 to look at the exterior of the Soyuz. In the meantime, the patch put in place by the crew still is holding. NASA has relied on the Russians to transport its astronauts to the space station since 2011, when the space shuttle program was shuttered. Commercial vehicles being built by SpaceX and Boeing are meant to alleviate that reliance, but those programs are behind schedule. The current crew on the station NASA's Serena Aunon-Chancellor, European Space Agency's Alexander Gerst and Russia's Sergey Prokopyev arrived in June and are scheduled to return to Earth on Dec. 20. Though NASA and Russian officials have not yet determined when Hague will return from the space station, Hague told the Chronicle that his family is ready. "If my family wasn't ready, then I wouldn't be ready," Hague said. His wife, Catie, is in the Air Force and "is not a stranger to risky situations. She knew going into that first launch that every launch has risk." His boys, ages 8 and 11, were in Kazakhstan for the failed launch in October. They won't be making the trip this time, however. "They missed two weeks of school in the fall" by coming to the launch, he said. "Doing it in the spring might have adverse impacts. They'll watch here from Houston." Alex Stuckey writes about NASA and the environment for the Houston Chronicle. You can reach her at alex.stuckey@chron.com or Twitter.com/alexdstuckey. By Najiya O, TwoCircles.net Duping in the name of Halal investments is an issue that has left thousands of Indian Muslims confused, scared and angry. Muslims in two cities -Hyderabad and Bangalore are especially at the receiving end, yet there is every chance that unless you are from that region and following local media, you may have no clue that thousands of Muslims have been duped over just the past year in the name of Halalinvestments. In these Halal offers, even more attractive than the Halal factor was the ridiculously-high returns they promised to their investors. This, coupled with religious scholars who were too happy to promote such companies, meant that Muslim investors came in hundreds. Such smart marketing embedded with lies and deceit meant that these companies were easily able to fool people. Support TwoCircles In this five-part series, TwoCircles.net will look at how companies like Heera Gold, now at the centre of a confirmed Ponzi scheme, used a combination of religious symbolism, Ulemas, fake propaganda and political tools to attract investors in Hyderabad. So far, we have looked at how investors fell for schemes that were too good to be true in Bangalore and Hyderabad. However, in the fourth of the five-part series, Najiya O looks how Muslims of Kerala have largely escaped such fraudulent companies and why they are unlikely to suffer the same in the coming days too. Even as Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka Muslims reel from financial scams of thousands of crore over the past year, Muslims of one southern state seems to have avoided this trend. The Muslims of Kerala have managed to invest in Shariah-compliant companies even as other states Muslims have floundered. To begin with, one reason for this is that unlike, say, Kerala and Telangana, there are just a few halal and/or shariah-compliant investment institutions in Kerala. This is also because Muslims who refrain from investing in mainstream institutions prefer to invest their money in various businesses or in land or gold. Keralas love for gold is well-known, but few are aware as to exactly how much Malayalis love the yellow metal: this 2014 ToI report shows that three Kerala gold companies have more gold than Sweden, Singapore and Australia. This Mint report from 2017 notes that not only does rural Kerala top the rankings for spending on gold ornaments, its per capita spending is six times higher than the state that ranks number 2Goa. Indeed, rural Keralas per capita spending on gold ornaments is far ahead of the total per capita spending of all the other six top states by gold consumption. Add real estate and Indias general love for the land, and the fact that Shariah allows for investment in both gold and land and the truth is that even the Malayali Muslims have little appetite for other investments. However, for Muslims who do wish to invest in Shariah-compliant companies, there are a few options available. The Zirva Business Solutions based in Perinthalmanna in Malappuram was begun in 2011, with stock brokering, a course in Islamic finance and consultation services. Later they stopped the course and began to focus on stock brokering and selective consultation. The company is going well, with around 200 clients in share-trading and assets worth Rs 2.5 crore under our management, said Mr Shameem Sajjad, CEO of the company which has been registered as a limited liability partnership. The returns that clients get depends on the stocks that they have selected, the time they entered the market, the general trend of the market etc. We cannot say that clients get this much returns uniformly. But on an average they get 10-15% returns per annum, Sajjad said in a conversation with TwoCircles.net. An investor at the Alternate Investments and Credits Limited (AICL) opined that companies which are Shariah-compliant cannot make big profits. A well-established businessman who refused to be named said he invested Rs 1 lakh in AICL when it began back in 2001 in Kochi. I invested in it in the name of his close relationship with those running it and support a novel venture, he said while talking to TwoCircles.net. He added that he got only nominal returns annually as he had expected and that the company too never claimed to deliver big returns. AICL registered as a Non-Banking Financial Company in 2002. It was the first interest-free venture of this kind in the country. The company has been working well since the beginning, providing loans for small business ventures etc but has suffered some setbacks after its NBFC license was cancelled by the Reserve Bank of India in 2012. The license was cancelled because it couldnt present its documents related to interest, according to reports. The company then questioned the RBI move in the Bombay High Court and is waiting for the proceedings. The AICL is studying what it can do as a public limited company without the NBFC license, said PM Salih, director-cum-CEO of the company. But more importantly, the company has no investor complaints against it. Apart from these companies, there have been several local ventures, which provide interest-free loans for persons and small start-ups, based on halal and shariah-compliance. They have been started in association with local masjids, various Muslim organisations in the state or interested individuals coming together. Many Muslims in Kerala invest their money in banks, but write to the banks their preference not to receive any interest, informed Dr AI Rahmatullah who is associated with the Indian Centre for Islamic Finance. But that interest amount could be collected and used to help those who have to pay back interest to banks, or can even be used for helping the poor and needy, he added. The Sanghamam Multi-State Cooperative Credit Society Limited is a novel venture working on interest-free microfinance principle. The Society is currently running in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry. It aims to mobilise the savings of its members through Ayalkoottams (grouping of people in neighbourhoods) and the capital is then redistributed among the members as interest-free micro-credits which can be used for self-employment ventures and social enterprises. It works on a participatory profit-loss sharing basis. As of June 30, 2016, it had over 5,100 members with a share capital of Rs 2,23 crore. In 2017, Kerala also the launch of Halal Fayidah, the first of its kind interest-free cooperative bank modelled on the lines of the Islamic banking system. Halal Fayidah hopes to attract investments from Muslims who had kept away from the formal interest-based banking system as it went against their religious laws. The Kerala state government has time and again tried to begin a banking institution based on Islamic banking which could be used for infrastructure development in the state. The plan was to collect capital from the NRIs in the Gulf countries and invest it in the construction of roads, for which toll can be levied. However, the plan did not work as Islamic banking was not approved in the country. Now there is another plan for halal chit funds under the Kerala State Financial Enterprises Limited. This also plans to collect funds from NRIs and use it for infrastructure development and would function based on Shariah-compliance, according to reports. While the above-mentioned ideas are likely to take time, it shows that a sound understanding of investments combined with honest expectations and returns have meant that while Kerala moves forward albeit slowly on the path to Islamic banking, Muslim investors in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh and Telangana remain in lurch over when and if they will get their money. Express Entry candidates included in new Manitoba draw December 5 draw issues total of 530 invitations to apply for a provincial nomination Express Entry candidates included in new Manitoba draw December 5 draw issues total of 530 invitations to apply for a provincial nomination Express Entry candidates included in new Manitoba draw December 5 draw issues total of 530 invitations to apply for a provincial nomination CIC News Aa Accessibility Font Style Serif Sans Font Size A A The province of Manitoba has issued 530 new invitations to apply for a provincial nomination to immigration candidates in its Skilled Workers in Manitoba and Skilled Worker Overseas streams. A total of 317 invitations were issued under the Skilled Workers Overseas Stream in the December 5 draw and another 213 invitations went to Skilled Workers in Manitoba candidates. Both streams are part of the Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program (MPNP), which allows the province to nominate a set number of economic immigration candidates for permanent residence each year. The December 5 draw included an unspecified number of invitations to candidates in the federal Express Entry system, which manages the pool of candidates for Canadas three main federal economic immigration programs the Federal Skilled Worker Class, Federal Skilled Trades Class and the Canadian Experience Class. The MPNP has an Express Entry-linked immigration pathway that is part of its Skilled Workers Overseas Stream and allows it to nominate eligible Express Entry candidates for permanent residence. To find out if you are eligible to enter the Express Entry pool, fill out a free assessment. Express Entry candidates who apply for and receive a provincial nomination from Manitoba are awarded an additional 600 points toward their Express Entry ranking score, which effectively guarantees an invitation to apply for Canadian permanent residence. Among other criteria, Express Entry candidates must have at least six months of recent work experience in an occupation that is considered in-demand in Manitoba. In order to be considered for this pathway, Express Entry candidates must register an Expression of Interest (EOI) profile with the MPNP. Profiles include information on a candidates education, work experience, proficiency in English or French and other factors and are given a score, which determines their rank in the pool of eligible candidates. A set number of the highest-ranked candidates are then invited to apply for a provincial nomination through regular draws from Manitobas EOI pool. The December 5 draw issued invitations to Skilled Workers Overseas candidates with scores as low as 596. The minimum score for foreign workers invited directly by the MPNP through a strategic recruitment initiative was 711. The minimum score for candidates invited through the Skilled Workers in Manitoba Stream in this round was 375. To find out if you are eligible for any Canadian immigration program, fill out a free assessment. 2018 CICNews All Rights Reserved Its the time of year when every journalists and writers inbox is flooded with pitches offering insight into what the next year will hold. In the diversity and inclusion area, a few common themes emerged, but the underlying thread is that most organizations will continue to emphasize greater diversity and inclusion as they engage in further conversations about making sure organizations represent the makeup of society as a whole. Overall, I see a sliver of hope that next year will see increased progress toward equity and equality for all. Workday predicts that next year, companies will make greater investments in initiatives that help recruit, retain, and advance women in the workplace, such as increasing the number of women on executive boards, forming executive cohorts to support underrepresented groups, and developing returnship, mentorship, and sponsorship programs. Heather Ishikawa, senior vice president of marketing and commercialization at Caliper, says talent shortages in the sales arena will push organizations to recruit and hire more women in these roles, and she notes that in California, legislation requires 40 percent of companies board seats to be filled by women and at least one woman to be on every board by the end of next year. Workday also predicts that conversations around diversity and inclusion will mature beyond the focus on demographic reports and gender diversity (which tends to focus only on increasing representation of white women) to explore the definitions of diversity more fully. Elaine Varelas, managing partner at Keystone Partners, takes it a step further and predicts that these conversations will become increasingly critical to recruiting, retention, and the employee experience as organizations recognize and acknowledge the harm unconscious bias causes and work to root it out. Lets hope these conversations further progress toward making the workforce more representative of society as a whole. Finally, Workday notes that changing generational demographics are going to push companies to adapt to the needs of numerous generations at once and to tackle problems such as ageism, disability rights, flexibility, and remote work. This will not be a nice to have; itll be a must have for companies, as younger generations will avoid organizations that dont prioritize diversity and inclusion and are unwilling to make work, well, work around the needs and demands of their lives. Alex Shubat, CEO of Espresa, says this drive will force HR departments to allow greater choice and flexibility in choosing benefits and how employees spend their benefit dollars. I cant wait to see what 2019 brings in these areas, and I hope the future is as bright and diverse as predicted. The solemn services for George Herbert Walker Bush at the National Cathedral on Wednesday were as sincere as the long faces in line earlier at the Capitol. The tributes to the 41st president came from the heart from just about every segment of society: politicianspast and present, domestic and foreignhistorians, the clergy, educators and many, many ordinary citizens. And journalists. He was deemed decent, honorable, humane, moderate, fair; in a word, almost a saint by many. Heaping praise on Bush was a host of well-known personalities, ranging from historians Doris Kerns Goodwin, Michael Beschloss, and Jon Meacham to ex-colleagues in and out of government, along with family members, of course. Four ex-presidents and their spouses, along with President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump, sat in the front row at the service at the cathedral. Speakers included Brian Mulroney, former prime minister of Canada; in the audience were British Prince Charles, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and the former Polish leader Lech Walesa. ICYMI: In defense of documentaries as journalism This mish-mash led to some unexpected friendships. The liberal writer Bryan Behar was excoriated by many of his fans for praising the late president. Coming to his defense was Frank Bruni, New York Times columnist, who said Americans seem to be getting worse at complexity. At nuance. At allowing for the degree to which virtue and vice commingle in most people, including our leaders. Major media outletssome of them, at leastdid remind readers and listeners that Bush was not perfect. A few devoted scant lines to a few faults that others called out a bit more loudly and boldly. Still others engaged in debates over whether its kosher for liberals to confer any praise at all on Daddy Bush, as Bruni stated. Presumably, such jousting is to be expected, thus never-ending. However, as real as such outpouring may be, it did not capture the depth of the public response to the death of the Bush family patrician. Some different, harsh opinions were missed in or omitted from the formal eulogies and obituaries. There was debate about whether this moment of sorrow was the time to deal with the negatives of the man. Sign up for CJR 's daily email But on the other side of the issue, Richard Prince, in his Journal-isms column, decried all the fawning over Bush. The Nation Magazines Steven W. Thrasher said: Its a disgrace to celebrate George Herbert Walker Bush on World AIDs Day. Mehdi Hasan, of The Intercept, objected to ignoring Bushs war crimes, racism and obstruction of justice. Sara Baboltz, of HuffPost, noted that the Bush White House once ordered a drug buy from a teenager for a presidential TV stunt. And former Times Executive Editor Jill Abramson discussed the Clarence Thomas flap on NPR All Things Considered over the weekend. Renee Graham, columnist with the Boston Globe, charged that, Like Nixon and Reagan, Bush fostered the racist Southern Strategy. You can draw a straight line from his Willie Horton campaign ads to Donald Trumps unvarnished vilification of immigrants of color. Graham is referring to a time of historic change in American politics that began in the late 1940s. The Democratic Party had long been dominated by white Southern politicians who kept that wing of the party lily-white until a group or northerners steered it from its Jim Crow policies. Most white Southerners, led by Strom Thurmond, of South Carolina, formed the Dixicrat Party, which largely failed. However, thanks to Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater, the GOP began courting the disaffected white Southerners when he ran for president in 1964. That courtship became full-fledged matrimony with Richard Nixons Southern strategy in 1968, which appealed directly to whites, resulting in the GOPs stranglehold on the South today. During the services for Bush, the media took note of the deep divisions at the Cathedral from the seating arrangementthe Trumps on the aisle of the first row next to the Obamas, separated from the Clintons and the Carters. Even the greetings and salutations exemplified the high drama of the moment and of the times: President Trump shaking hands with the Obamas but ignoring and being ignored by the Clintons, even as Bill Clinton seemed to begin to extend his hands for a shake, but withdrawing it as Trump turned to take his seat. The media noted the extreme tension on the front row. In a headline, The Washington Post said, Bush funeral: Trump sits with fellow presidents but still stands alone and observed that the tension was still blindingly obvious. Post columnist Dana Milbank was more blunt: Bush was everything the current president isnt, the headline read in print. But what they didnt catch was the racial division. In his column, Richard Prince relayed the feeling of many blacks, who remain overwhelmingly anti-Bush. A few could be spotted at the Cathedral and in the lines at the Capitol and in Houston. In a photo feature in Wednesdays newspaper, The New York Times included several non-white people. But overall, African Americans were never in the Bush camp. However, like many white Americans, they did not hold strong feelings against the Bush family as they did against, say, Ronald Reagan, and currently against President Trump. The record of the Reagan-Bush Administration on naming black officials was atrocious compared to even that of the Nixon Administration, and many African Americans never forgave Bush for appointing Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court. As Bruni concludes, allowing for the degree to which virtue and vice commingle in most people, including our leaders, and understanding that its not a sign of softness to summon some respect for someone with a contrary viewpoint and a history of mistakes. . . . might be a path back to a better place. That better place might have been on the mind of many African Americans. Lauren Victoria Burke, a writer for BlackPressUSA, noted that while many black tributes praised Bushs military service, Others focused on the simple fact that, compared to the unprecedented behavior of the current occupant of the White House, Bush represented a more respectful political time. ICYMI: In Bush coverage, the media finds another foil for Trump Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Paul Delaney is an award-winning reporter, editor, and journalism educator. He worked for 23 years at The New York Times, and was a founding member of the National Association of Black Journalists. By Misbahuddin Mirza December 6, 1992, exactly 500 years after Christopher Columbus landed on Santo Domingo island in search of gold, the Kar Sevaks of the various right wing Hindutva parties climbed on the tranquil domes of the graceful Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, India, and tore the marvellous historic monument to rubble all under the impotent eyes of the very police ordered to protect it directly by the Indian Prime minister Narasimha Rao. The genesis was in 1972, when B.B. Lal resigned as the Director General of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), and started working at Gwaliors Jiwaji University. He came up with a project called The archaeology of the Ramayana sites. In October 1990, Lal wrote an article for the ultra-right wing RSS groups magazine Manthan, publishing a photo from the excavations that he had reportedly conducted in Ayodhya between 1975 and 1980. He claimed that this photo which showed several brickbat heaps, were bases of temple pillars that had been destroyed by Emperor Babar. Wouldnt an ex-Director General of the ASI want to publish an article he considers important, published in a respectable archaeological journal that would be subject to peer review? Why did he instead choose to get it published in an ultra-right wing fringe magazine? Later, in 1998, in Croatia, Lal read a paper referring to his Feb 10, 1991 Vijayawada lecture suggesting to dig underneath the Babri Masjid to establish a relationship between the pillar bases excavated by him and the stone pillars that formed part of the Babri Masjid. This story was carried in the Hindustan Times, and was critiqued; Lal issued a rejoinder reiterating the need for the excavations. The courts could not ignore the statements of a former Director General of ASI. The Hindutva groups took over this issue culminating in the destruction of the elegant mosque. Support TwoCircles Archeologists Jaya Menon and Supriya Varma, witnessed a major portion of the excavations carried out by the ASI at the Ram janmabhoomi-Babri masjid site in Ayodhya in 2003. They represented the Sunni Waqf Board, a party to the Babri Majid Title lawsuit. They detail the many irregularities and outdated methods in ASIs work, and published it in their article Was there a temple under the Babri Masjid Reading the archaeological Evidence published in Economic and Political weekly, Vol 45, Issue No 50, 11 Dec, 2010. These respected archaeologists stress that there is little doubt that the kind of archaeology practiced by the statist ASI, where archaeologists see themselves primarily as bureaucrats, suffers from a serious absence of academic engagement and training. Supriya Varma is a professor of archaeology at Jawaharlal Nehru University, and Jaya Menon heads the history department at Shiv Nadar University. Among several things, they also mention how the ASI workers were discarding the excavated animal bones as Vaishnava temples are strictly vegetarian and the discovery of bones would contradict the ASIs pre-conceived notions that the Babri Masjid was built on a Vaishnava temple. They also recorded the ASI workers discarding significant amount of excavated glazed ware (a certain ceramic pottery type associated with Muslim communities) which was evidence of Muslims habitation under the Babri Masjid area. Glazed ware would not be expected in a Vaishnava temple. Some of the conclusions of these esteemed archeologists are that Most archaeologists in India, when it comes to the historical period, see archaeology in the role of affirming what is written in the texts or prevails in oral traditions. This was also the mindset behind the projects on the archaeology of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. Given the above, it is a futile task to literally equate events in the epics with archaeological data. For example, archeological findings of the remains of huts at the site of Bharadvaja Ashram, Allahabad, have been used to suggest that this was where Ram, Lakshman and Sita stayed before crossing the river Yamuna (Lal 2002: 41-42, 45-48). Speaking to Betwa Sharma in December 5, 2018s Huffington Post, Professor Varma stated that there was no archeological evidence suggesting that there was a temple under the Babri Masjid. Further, Varma stated that the evidence actually pointed to older mosques existing underneath the Babri Masjid. Professor Varma explaining the ASI claims to Betwa Sharma, stated There are three things. What the ASI has excavated is not evidence there was a temple underneath the mosque. One is this western wall, the second are these 50 pillar bases and the third are architectural fragments. The western wall is a feature of a mosque. It is a wall in front of which you say namaaz. It is not the feature of a temple. Temple has a very different plan. Underneath the Babri Masjid, there are actually older mosques. Now as far as these pillar bases are concerned, these are completely fabricated and we filed many complaints to the court about it. Our argument is that if you look at what they are claiming to be pillar bases, these are pieces of broken bricks and they have mud inside them. There is no way a pillar can even stand on it, it is so unstable. Its a completely political issue. They wanted that report to say there are pillar bases and it said there are pillar bases. The third piece of evidence is these architectural fragments.. But, this sculptured piece has not even come from a stratified deposit. It could have come from anywhere. There is no way of dating it. In other words, There is no evidence for a temple. Eminent scholar Omar Khalidi had called ASI as the handmaiden of Hindutva. Ashish Chadha submitted a PhD thesis on the ASI to the Department of Cultural and Social Anthropology at Stanford University in 2007 stated. ASI to learn new methods of digging and new techniques of excavation. This makes people in the ASI insecure about new theories in archaeology. They are closed and uninterested in learning (Chadha 2007:90). The ASI is the laughing stock of the world, and has absolutely no credibility among the intelligentsia. It is high time for the Indian justices overseeing this case, to see the clear, unmistakable hand of the nefarious Hindutva brigade behind the ASIs discredited, baseless findings to foist this monstrosity upon Indias minority, and to take immediate steps in rebuilding the Babri Masjid at the earliest. Misbahuddin Mirza, M.S., P.E., is a licensed professional engineer, registered in the States of New York and New Jersey. He served as the Regional Quality Control Engineer for the New York State Department of Transportations New York City Region. He is the author of the iBook Illustrated Muslim Travel Guide to Jerusalem. He has written for major US and Indian publications. When I ran into Alexis Bloom exiting the screening room after seeing her terrific new documentary, Divide and Conquer: The Roger Ailes Story, I joked that the film should come with a trigger warning for anyone who had covered the legendary Fox News supremo. Bloom responded with a knowing laugh. She and I had spoken about the subject once before. Shortly after Roger Ailes died on May 18, 2017, I wrote a piece for Forbes.com about my 20-plus-year history reporting on the man. There was a Committee to Protect Journalists soiree, where Ailes told me that when he was a Republican political operative, and he bought people off, he kept his fucking mouth shut about it. And then there was the time he threatened the well-being of not only myself, but my wife and children as well, if Broadcasting & Cablethe magazine I was editing at the timeran a piece about how much money his new contract would pay him. An hour after my Ailes piece posted, Forbes yanked it downa first for me, after writing a slew of well-received opinion pieces for the site. It was, however, up long enough to find its way to Bloom, who was then in the thick of making Divide and Conquer. Bloom had enjoyed the piece and was mystified to find that it had gone AWOL. I told her with a shrug that, this being the news business, it was less a surprise with the knowledge that Forbes On Fox was then a mainstay of the networks Saturday morning lineup. The Ailes I knew could be an incredibly insightful, charming, and profanely funny man who would easily turn into a vindictive, paranoid, bulging-eyed bully the minute a story was posted he didnt like. Roger Ailes may have been six feet under by then, but he still exercised control over the place like a mafia don serving a life sentence from his cell in Hades. ICYMI: The mystery of Tucker Carlson I was hardly the only person whod come to understand that, no matter how fair and balanced you were in your coverage of Fox News, if Roger Ailes and his cohorts didnt like it, they came after you. There was no organization that was more adversarial or made it tougher to cover them, and that was all Ailes, says NPR media correspondent David Folkenflik, who recently had Bloom as a guest on On Point, the radio show he co-hosts. They liked to let you know they had a dossier on you. Ailes wanted to make it painful to cover Fox. Every call with one of his PR people was a fight, even if it was over a clause in a story they didnt like. Sign up for CJR 's daily email In 2001, when Folkenflik was at the Baltimore Sun, he had taken on Fox News correspondent Geraldo Rivera, an Ailes favorite. Back then, Rivera reported an incident of friendly fire in Afghanistan, claiming he had been on the scene where three Americans had died. Folkenflik found that Rivera was actually 300 miles from the site he described and that no Americans had died there that day. Rivera blamed his mistake on the fog of war and claimed to have conflated it with another incident; it all ended up being just another day at the office for him. (Clearly, the criticism continued to sting the ever-principled Rivera, who went after Folkenflik on Twitter when Folkenfliks book, Murdochs World: The Last of the Old Media Empires, was published by Hachette in 2013.) A half-dozen years after he skewered Rivera, Folkenflik remembers encountering Ailes at a posh party for the 2007 launch of the Fox Business Network at The Metropolitan Museum of Arts Temple of Dendur. Youre the guy who tried to fuck with me, is the first thing Ailes said upon Folkenflik introducing himself. He was all about how much bullying and bluster he could get away with, says the reporter. That was the Ailes way, and so it was the Fox way. David Bauder, who has long covered television for the Associated Press, remembers being banned from Fox for two years. This was in 2000. Id written about the PR campaign Ailes minions waged against Paula Zahn when she left Fox News for CNN and they banned me. Moves of this kind were anything but isolated. In Divide and Conquer, coworkers from Ailess early days at The Mike Douglas Show talk about his ruthlessness and boundless ambition. Associates from his political consultant wizard days speak of his keen grasp of the power of television to take someone as uncharismatic as Richard Nixon, or Mitch McConnell, and make them, astonishingly, electable. In the Ailes playbook, all it took was the right script, lighting, and camera anglesand a vicious attack dog mentality. Theres the notorious Willie Horton spot he masterminded in George H.W. Bushs successful 1988 campaign against Michael Dukakis. The documentary notes how Ailes was a total fanboy when it came to Leni Riefenstahls Nazi propaganda film, Triumph of the Will, admiring how her camera could make the little dictator with the postage-stamp mustache appear omnipotent and heroic. Bob Garfield, co-host of NPRs On the Media, says he found watching Divide and Conquer so unsettling he was unable to watch in a single sitting. It took three days to watch it, says Garfield, who interviewed Bloom for OTM. Id watch for a while and it would make me physically ill and Id have to go back again the next day. Divide and Conquer brought Garfield memories of Ailes primetime attack dog, Bill OReilly, going after him on the OReilly Factor. But thats not what prompted him to become physically ill in his start-and-stop screening. What upset me most watching the film is you see right in front of you how much Ailes in his political career and certainly with Fox News did to undermine our democratic way of life, Garfield says. Part of what is so powerful and stomach churning is that Divide and Conquer does not shy away from the seamiest side of its subject. Gretchen Carlson, the former Fox News anchor, along with several other women, go into explicit detail of allegations of sexual harassment, including charging that this was Ailes modus operandi going back to his days running The Mike Douglas Show. Multiple charges of sexual harassment over decades are intercut with scenes of Fox newswomen in Ailes-mandated short, tight dresses, shot from camera angles that were set to show the women off as explicitly as possible. The women had an audience of one: Roger, Folkenflik says. ICYMI: The story BuzzFeed, The New York Times and more didnt want to publish Folkenflik says the film also sparked recollections of how Ailes directed whisper campaigns against on-air talent, mostly women, regarding things true and false about their personal lives. I remember them spreading stories about [former Fox News anchor] Laurie Dhue being drunk at a public event, says Folkenflik. This was after they knew she had sought treatment for alcoholism. Dhue, who left Fox in 2007, and has spoken publicly about her alcohol addiction, would later accuse both Ailes and Bill OReilly of sexual harassment. Ailes was also the proverbial master of selling on-air conflict. His political consultant days working for Nixon taught him about a so-called silent majority. Feeding on an underserved audiences fear of the otherwhether immigrants with different color skin or a POTUS named Obama who looked like no other before himwould keep them glued to Fox News. That take-no-prisoners method is characteristic of the Roger Ailes portrayed in Divide and Conquer. Divide and Conquer powerfully shows the de-evolution of Ailes from the Mad Men-handsome producer of Mike Douglas to the doddering, obese ogre hed become in his last days at Fox. The message is clear: The more powerful Ailes became by pushing his us v. them agendanormalizing heinous conspiracy theoriesthe more grotesque he became on the outside, as well. As Glenn Beck notes in the film: When you become an expert at portraying people as monsters, Its hard to see youre on that path, too. Leaving the screening, I said to Bloom that Aileshad he livedwould have had his spies looking for dirt to discredit the filmmaker and her fellow travelers on the documentary. He might even have grabbed the phone to threaten the well-being of her and her loved ones, too. This much I assured her was certain: Ailes would have loved a little vignette at the end of the film. In it, the hosts of Fox & Friends note a news report that Donald Trumpthe last man Ailes aided in his ascension to the White Housewatches them faithfully every morning at 7:00am. They ask over the air for the president, if hes watching, to flick the lights on and off in his White House bedroom. Dutifully, Donald Trump does as requested. Divide and Conquer leaves little doubt that even with Roger Ailes dead and buried, the lights remain klieg-bright at the media monster powerhouse he created. RELATED: Ailes legacy: stoking divisions, damaging truth Correction: David Folkenflik hosts On Point, not Talk of the Nation. And the Willie Horton campaign was in 1988, not 1992. Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today J. Max Robins is the executive director of the Center for Communication, which specializes in covering the business of media and entertainment. Shortly before 10pm Eastern last night, a man phoned in a bomb threat to CNN headquarters at the Time Warner Center, in Manhattan. He said that the building was rigged with five explosive devices. At 10:07pm, a 911 call was placed with the New York Police Department. By coincidence, a minute later President Donald Trump tweeted, FAKE NEWS THE ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE! The threat turned out to be a hoax, but it still caused disruption. Citing an abundance of caution, the NYPD evacuated the Time Warner Center. CNN abruptly cut away from Don Lemon to an ad break; when the channel came back on, it was airing a rerun of an Anderson Cooper segment. At 11:18pm, Lemon was back, phoning in from the sidewalk. It is cold outside, he said. Its terrible, because its disrupted the way we conduct business, and its also disrupted the entire neighborhood. Lemon was soon joined on the street by Brian Stelter, whose iPhone was used to film. Shortly before midnight, police sounded the all-clear. Within an hour, Lemon and Stelter were back in the studiobleary-eyed from the tiredness, the cold, or bothwrapping the bomb threat story, then pivoting to the breaking news that Kevin Hart had stepped back from hosting the Oscars after a controversy over past homophobic tweets. ICYMI: ProPublica reporter calls out Washington Post for health story In the grand scheme of things, the episode was relatively mundane and brief. Yet this was the second time in a month and a half that CNN had been forced to evacuate. In October, a pipe bomb was mailed to Time Warner, as part of a wave of attacks that also targeted George Soros and senior Democratic politicians. Journalists and commentators were quick to cite the context of Trumps incendiary rhetorica link that appeared justified when police identified the suspected sender as Cesar Sayoc, a Florida resident who trafficked in pro-Trump online conspiracies and who stuck images of the presidents critics , with red targets overlaid on their faces, to his van, alongside a message that CNN sucks. We dont yet know who made the latest threat, nor his motive for doing so. Trumps tweetneither a trigger, nor a distasteful reactionwas still another depressing opportunity to remember the potential real-world consequences of his attacks on the press, which have continued unabated despite a gunman killing five staffers at a Maryland newspaper in June and last months pipe bombs. On air, Lemon called the evacuation the new normal, and drew an explicit link to the previous pipe bomb threat. These are the times that we are living in, he said. Reaction to the hoax has been muted. As of this morning, it was nowhere to be seen on the homepage of CNNs website, while Stelter noted, in his media newsletter, that he was reluctant to start todays edition with the story because these attempts at intimidation are infuriating and unacceptable and because most bomb threats dont get much if any news coverage. What made the threat newsworthy was its reflection of Trumps dangerous influence. Sign up for CJR 's daily email ICYMI: GQs outgoing editor-in-chief says theres one cover he regrets publishing Below, more on another bomb scare for CNN: Other notable stories: ICYMI: Headlines editors probably wish they could take back Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Jon Allsop is a freelance journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Review of Books, Foreign Policy, and The Nation, among other outlets. He writes CJRs newsletter The Media Today. Find him on Twitter @Jon_Allsop. The rise of social platforms has brought with it a new kind of celebrity: the digital influencer. Its a newish term, used to describe social media users whose online clout enables them to engage with and advertise to their followers in more direct ways than traditional media figures. As influencers build relationships with their audiences through sharing their opinions and personal stories, they establish a sense of credibility and authenticity that differentiates them from most conventional celebrities. This enables them to dominate the social media economy of likes and shares. And as they develop significant online power, the money from advertisers follows: brands pay as much as six figures for a single Instagram post or YouTube video from a big name. Digital influencers dont simply post selfies or pictures of foodsome of them present themselves as reporters or informed pundits and their posts as journalism. Libertarian commentator Dave Rubins YouTube show The Rubin Report, described as the largest talk show about free speech and big ideas on YouTube, has over 800,000 subscribers. On the other end of the political spectrum, 30-year-old Natalie Wynn, who calls herself a leftist propagandist, uses her YouTube channel ContraPoints to share her views on socialism and social justice with her 300,000 subscribers. On November 29, I organized a series of discussions on the role of digital influencers in the online media ecosystem with a group of journalists, industry experts, and academics at the Tow Center for Digital Journalism. We discussed the ways influencers are monetizing their online clout and what their rapid rise to prominence means for news publishers who are competing with them for eyeballs in the social media marketplace. Influencers are often attractive to advertisers because of their perceived authenticity, rather than the size of their audiences, which are far exceeded by media like television and Facebook, panelists noted. Sapna Maheshwari, who covers advertising for The New York Times, described the phenomenon of nano-influencers: people with as few as 1,000 followers who are especially popular among their friends and communities. When working with brands, sponsored posts from nanos look like friendly suggestions (even when they contain hashtags like #sponsored or #ad). The most successful influencer advertising often doesnt look like advertising at all. Sign up for CJR 's daily email READ: Journalists are rightly suspicious of ad tech. They also depend on it. Indeed, one of the biggest challenges proved to be agreeing on what exactly influencers are. Some panelists pointed out that all social media users are to some extent influencers among their followers, while others lamented that the category is broad enough to include traditional celebrities like Kim Kardashian. Shareen Pathak, director of editorial products at Digiday, suggested replacing the catch-all term with social media stars or creators. Taylor Lorenz, a staff writer for The Atlantic covering internet culture, defined influencers as celebrities native to social platforms with social clout who have power and influence over their audiences, drive purchasing decisions, and affect behavior. Mia Shaung Li, a Tow research fellow who studies social media in China, pointed out that the Chinese government defines social media influence as the ability to sway public opinion and mobilize socially. For news publishers, using influencers to promote both editorial and advertising content can broaden audiences, build more personal relationships with audiences, and please advertisers. Digital-first publishers often embed influencer talent among their own staffs: Many BuzzFeed video creators have social media followings robust enough to guarantee view numbers that would be unrealistic for other publishers, while Refinery29 staffers create sponsored posts for advertisers on their personal accounts. Low-end viral news sites pay influencers to promote their articles as a form of syndication. Even at the top of the market, the Times acquired the influencer marketing agency HelloSociety in 2016 as part of its native ad division. The most successful influencer advertising often doesnt look like advertising at all. When it comes to influencerpublisher partnerships, the power of big social platforms cannot be overstated. As Digidays Max Willens recounted during a panel discussion on Thursday, when Facebook found out that celebrities like George Takei were advertising for sites like Mic and Slate on its platform without going through official channels, the social media platform minimized the reach of such sponsored posts to such an extent that the entire business model was choked out of existence on Facebook. The newly launched Facebook Brand Collabs Manager, a search tool connects brands and influencers for the purpose of Facebook sponsored-content ad campaigns, appears to be an attempt to centralize the influencer marketing ecosystem. While some influencers sell products through sponsorships and endorsement deals, others peddle political ideologies. Data & Society researcher Becca Lewis and Wired technology reporter Paris Martineau spoke about the rise of powerful right-wing influencers that came to prominence in the lead-up to the 2016 election, especially on YouTube. Lewis described what she calls the alternative influence network: a group of loosely-related social media personalities including mens rights activists, white nationalists, and more moderate Trump supporters, who appear on each others YouTube channels, collaborate on projects, and engage in public debates. Throughout the last few years, these influencers have created a media ecosystem largely separate from the mainstream media and cable news. Though YouTube occasionally denounces misleading and extremist content on its platform, Lewis argued that these influencers are using its monetary structures the way theyre meant to be used: to build audiences by any means necessary. The sudden growth of influencer content in both advertising and journalism was a major topic of discussion on Thursday. Brooke Erin Duffy, a professor of communication at Cornell who studies digital labor, described the rise of influencers as a phenomenon born out of the convergence of celebrity culture and Silicon Valley entrepreneurship. What sets influencers apart from more traditional celebrities, she suggested, is their focus on self-promotion and self-branding as well as (at least initially) their lack of institutional support. ICYMI: New algorithms might make news discovery easier and more efficient Natalie Silverstein, who runs the New York office of the influencer marketing agency Collectively, sees her role as helping brands connect with digital communities using influencers as vectors. For researchers studying digital influencers, the main challenge lies in the lack of data-gathering tools available from platforms. Lewis described having to manually log collaborations between right-wing influencers because YouTube does not provide sufficient metadata on its video content, while Martineau pointed out that there are still no commonly agreed-upon methods for measuring influence at all. The flattening of definitions on social platformsan individual can be a brand, a brand can be a publisheronly adds further confusion. As the industry wrestles with these issues, digital influencers in business and politics will likely continue to gain power in the online media landscape. Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today George Civeris is a research fellow at the Tow Center. Follow him on Twitter @georgeciveris. Googles self-driving car spinoff is finally ready to try to profit from its nearly decade-old technology. Waymo is introducing a small-scale ride-hailing service in the Phoenix area that will include a human behind the wheel in case the robotic vehicles malfunction. The service debuting Wednesday marks a significant milestone for Waymo, a company that began as a secretive project within Google in 2009. Since then, its cars have robotically logged more 10 million miles on public roads in 25 cities in California, Arizona, Washington, Michigan and Georgia while getting into only a few accidents mostly fender benders. The company is initially operating the new service cautiously, underscoring the challenges still facing its autonomous vehicles as they navigate around vehicles with human drivers that dont always follow the same rules as robots. The service, dubbed Waymo One, at first will only be available to a couple hundred riders, all of whom had already been participating in a free pilot program that began in April 2017. It will be confined to a roughly 100-square-mile area in and around Phoenix, including the neighboring cities of Chandler, Tempe, Mesa, and Gilbert. Although Waymo has been driving passengers without any humans behind the wheel in its free pilot program, it decided to be less daring with the new commercial service. Self-driving technology is new to many, so were proceeding carefully with the comfort and convenience of our riders in mind, Waymo CEO John Krafcik wrote in Wednesday blog post heralding the arrival of the new service. The ride-hailing service is launching in the same area where a car using robotic technology from ride-hailing service Uber hit and killed a pedestrian crossing a darkened street in Tempe, Arizona seven months ago. That fatal collision attracted worldwide attention that cast a pall over the entire self-driving car industry as more people began to publicly question the safety of the vehicles. I suspect the Uber fatality has caused Waymo to slow down its pace a bit and use human safety drivers in its ride-hailing service, said Navigant Research analyst Sam Abuelsamid. If people keep dying, there will be a bigger backlash against these vehicles. The Uber robotic car had a human safety driver behind the wheel, but that wasnt enough to prevent its lethal accident in March. Waymos self-driving vehicles are still susceptible to glitches, as an Associated Press reporter experienced during a mid-October ride in an autonomous minivan alongside Krafcik near companys Mountain View, California, headquarters. The minivan performed smoothly, even stopping for a jaywalker, before abruptly pulling to the right side of the road. Ahead was a left-turning FedEx delivery truck. In a digital message to the two human backup drivers, the van said it detected an issue and it would connect to a rider support agent. Rider support didnt respond, so they switched to manual mode and returned to Waymo headquarters. At that time, Krafcik conceded to the AP that Waymos self-driving vehicles were still encountering occasional problems negotiating left-hand turns at complicated intersections. I think the things that humans have challenges with, were challenged with as well, Krafcik said. So sometimes unprotected lefts are super challenging for a human, sometimes theyre super challenging for us. Waymo eventually plans to open its new ride-hailing app to all comers in the Phoenix area, although it wont say when. It also wants to expand its service to other cities, but isnt saying where. When that happens, it could pose a threat to Uber and the second most popular U.S. ride-hailing service, Lyft, especially since it should be able charge lower prices without the need to share revenue with a human driver in control at all times. General Motors also is gearing up to begin offering a ride-hailing service through its Cruise subsidiary under the management of a new CEO, Dan Ammann, who has been the Detroit automakers No. 2 executive. Cruise plans to start its ride-hailing service at some point next year in at least one U.S. city. Another self-driving car company, Drive.ai, has been giving short-distance rides to all comers within Frisco, Texas and Arlington, Texas since the summer (AP Auto Writer Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to this story.) Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. USA Gymnastics, under threat of being decertified by the U.S. Olympic Committee, filed for bankruptcy after running short of funds to pay victims of Larry Nassars sexual abuse. The organization filed for Chapter 11 status in the Southern District of Indiana on Wednesday with estimated total assets and liabilities of $50 million to $100 million, according to a court filing. USAG aims to continue operating while it settles the victims claims, which it says are covered by insurance previously purchased by the organization, according to a statement. But in court filings, USAG said there may not be enough to go around. It estimated the potential impact of these lawsuits at $75 million and $150 million, while the organization has assets of just $6.5 million in cash and investments, and said that the insurance policy might prove insufficient. We owe it to the survivors to resolve, fully and finally, claims based on the horrific acts of the past and, through this process, seek to expedite resolution and help them move forward, chair Kathryn Carson said in the statement. The bankruptcy extends a tumultuous year for USA Gymnastics, which installed new leadership after the trial of former team doctor Larry Nassar. Nassar was sentenced to 60 years in federal prison on child pornography charges and another 40 to 125 years in prison for a decades-long string of sexual abuse. His victims number more than 150 current and former gymnasts, including several Olympic champions. Raismans Claim The amount of insurance proceeds available isnt affected by the Chapter 11 filing, according to the statement, but it added, USA Gymnastics has no other significant assets that could be used to pay claims. The bankruptcy filing showed the organization has 1,000 to 5,000 creditors. One of the unpaid creditors listed is Olympic gold and silver medalist Aly Raisman, who has spoken out about her abuse by Nassar. The filing didnt specify an amount, and a representative for Raisman didnt immediately respond to a request for comment. One of the largest unsecured claims is a disputed $340,000 in severance for Stephen Penny, the former president of USA Gymnastics, who was indicted in connection with the scandal. The outcome may follow the pattern in the bankruptcy of the Weinstein Co., the film company that went bust after sexual misconduct allegations leveled at Harvey Weinstein, according to Ted Gavin, a turnaround consultant at Gavin/Solmonese and president of the American Bankruptcy Institute. No Shelter The court filing, which normally suspends all claims, might not halt litigation against individuals for their roles in perpetuating or covering up the abuses, Gavin said in an emailed statement. All bets are off here, he said. U.S. Olympic Committee spokesman Patrick Sandusky said in an emailed statement that the organization is reviewing the effects of the bankruptcy filing on the pending proceeding to revoke USA Gymnastics recognition. While USA Gymnastics said the filing should help it move forward with the USOC, the national governing body remains unconvinced that this will solve the problems that spurred the decertification process. Speaking at an event in New York City on Wednesday, Chief Executive Officer Sarah Hirshland said those proceedings will continue as scheduled. It does not change our perspective or our commitment to that process, Hirshland said. The bankruptcy is less about financials and more about an attempt to resolve all the pending litigation, she said. The case is USA Gymnastics, 18-09108-RLM-11, Southern District of Indiana Copyright 2021 Bloomberg. A 9-year-old boy has convinced the leaders of a small northern Colorado town to overturn a nearly century-old ban on snowball fights, and he already knows who his first target will be his little brother. Dane Best, who lives in the often snow-swept town of Severance, presented his arguments at a town board meeting Monday night, and members voted unanimously to lift the ban. I think its an outdated law, Dane said in the lead-up to the meeting. I want to be able to throw a snowball without getting in trouble. Danes mother, Brooke Best, told The Greeley Tribune her son had been talking about snowballs since he found out about a month and a half ago that it was illegal to throw them within town limits. The last time it snowed, Dane said he and his friends looked around for police and joked about breaking the law. Kyle Rietkerk, assistant to the Severance town administrator, said the rule was part of a larger ordinance that made it illegal to throw or shoot stones or missiles at people, animals, buildings, trees, any other public or private property or vehicles. Snowballs fell under the towns definition of missiles. All of the kids always get blown away that its illegal to have snowball fights in Severance, Rietkerk said before the meeting. So, what ends up happening is (town leaders) always encourage the kids with, You have the power you can change the law. No one has. Then Dane took up the cause, writing letters with his classmates in support of overturning the ban. And after Monday nights success, his 4-year-old brother Dax had better watch out. When board members asked Dane during a meeting in November who he wants to hit, he pointed at his little brother. Dane and his family have researched other Severance ordinances, including one that defines pets only as cats and dogs. Dane has a guinea pig, which is illegal in Severance, too. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra was asked by a federal judge to weigh in on whether reckless operation of power lines by PG&E Corp. in connection with deadly Northern California wildfires would constitute a crime. The request by U.S. District Judge William Alsup Wednesday comes on the heels of his order last week demanding assurances from PG&E by Dec. 31 that its electric grid hasnt endangered the public. The company is under the judges supervision after it was convicted of safety violations in the wake of a natural gas pipeline explosion that killed eight people in 2010. PG&E is under intense scrutiny over whether its equipment sparked the Camp Fire, which killed 85 people and leveled the town of Paradise in Northern California. Residents who lost loved ones and homes have filed lawsuits against the utility, blaming the companys power lines for starting the fire. No cause has been determined. The company said in a statement that it was aware of the courts notice and was reviewing it. We continue to focus on assessing infrastructure, safely restoring power where possible, and helping our customers recover and rebuild, the company said. PG&E remains on probation and forbidden from committing new crimes after it was slapped in January 2017 with a maximum fine of $3 million by another San Francisco federal judge, Thelton Henderson, who said its felony crimes related to its gas pipeline operations were very serious and pose great risk to the public safety. Alsup inherited the case when Henderson retired. Alsup has a history of referring matters under his supervision to prosecutors for further investigation. When he was presiding over Waymos lawsuit accusing Uber Technologies Inc. of trade-secret theft, he referred the case to federal prosecutors. 44 People Killed State investigators have blamed PG&Es equipment for causing 17 of last years devastating wine country fires that killed 44 people and have alleged violations of state law in 11 of those incidents. PG&E has lost a chunk of its market value in the past year amid concerns about the ability of the utility to cover mounting liabilities. The judges question about whether the utility faces potential criminal liability for its conduct comes less than two months after PG&E reached a $1.5 million settlement with a local prosecutor, Mike Ramsey, who was investigating the companys role in three wildfires from 2017. Ramsey is the district attorney for Butte County, which was also ground zero for this years Camp Fire. Ramsey and Becerra didnt immediately respond to requests for comment on Alsups latest filing. In a 1997 case, PG&E was convicted of 739 misdemeanor counts of criminal negligence for a pattern of failing to trim trees near its power lines which at the time was the biggest criminal case ever against the states largest utility and carried a maximum fine of $2 million, according to a report in the San Francisco Chronicle. As of June, PG&E was under investigation by elected district attorneys in the counties of Sonoma, Lake, Napa and Humboldt for eight of 2017s Wine Country fires. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. AKRON, Ohio The city of Akron has given homeless advocate Sage Lewis 30 days to comply with the citys zoning code and dismantle a tent encampment on Lewiss property in the Middlebury neighborhood. Failure to comply will result in legal action, the city warned in the notice served Thursday on Lewis. The campground violates the Citys zoning laws, which are in place for the health and safety of all Akron residents, including those currently on site at the campground, the city said in a written statement. The so-called Second Chance Village has provided shelter for some of the citys homeless residents for more than a year at 15 Broad St. Lewis and his nonprofit, the Homeless Charity, have been working with the city and Summit Countys Continuum of Care to move people about 45 people out of the encampment and into permanent housing. The Continuum of Care comprises about 20 agencies that offer housing and other services for the homeless. According to the city, the COC announced Friday it will transition away from relocating residents of the tent encampment and return to its regular services. In September, the city rejected Lewiss request for conditional use to make the encampment a legal campground. Lewis, an auctioneer, wanted to house homeless people as they waited to get into permanent housing elsewhere. In October, working with the Institute for Justice, Lewis filed a lawsuit against the city in Summit County Common Pleas Court, citing property rights, due-process rights and the right to seek and obtain safety. The case remains in the court. Want more Akron news? Sign up for cleveland.coms Rubber City Daily, an email newsletter delivered at 5:30 a.m. Monday through Friday. CLEVELAND, Ohio A Cleveland man was shot in the leg late Thursday in a drive-by in the citys Hough neighborhood, police said. The 23-year-old man suffered minor injuries in the shooting that happened just after 11:45 p.m. on East 93rd Street near Hough Avenue, according to a police report. His mother drove him to University Hospitals for treatment. The man was walking to his mothers apartment when a dark-colored vehicle drove by him. Someone in the car fired a single gunshot that struck him in the right leg, police reports say. The car sped away after shooting. The man ran to his mothers apartment, which was just around the corner from where he was shot. Officers searched the area near East 93rd Street at Hough Avenue and found a small amount of blood on the ground. They did not find any bullet casings, police reports say. No arrests have been made in the shooting, police said. To comment on this story, visit Fridays crime and courts comments page. 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. GARFIELD HEIGHTS, Ohio -- Garfield Heights police are asking for the publics help in locating a missing 15-year-old girl. Jaelyn Jackson left her home about 10 p.m. Thursday and never returned, police said. Her mother thought she might be sleeping at a friends house and would go to school in the morning. Jaelyn was not in school Friday, police said. Jaelyns mother spoke with Jaelyns boyfriend, who said she went to his house in the middle of the night. He gave her $20 and she told him she was going to take the bus somewhere, according to police. Jaelyn posted concerning messages on social media and police believe she may be endangered. Jaelyn stands 5-feet 6-inches tall and weighs about 135 pounds. She has black hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a black jacket with fur around the hood, green pants and green shoes. Anyone with information about Jaelyns whereabouts is asked to call Garfield Heights police at 216-475-6607. To comment on this story, visit Fridays crime and courts comment section. ELYRIA, Ohio -- A man accused of attacking a Lorain police officer was arrested Wednesday after he led police on a chase through Elyria that ended in a crash that injured him and two passengers in his car. Kenandrew Clark, 23, had an active warrant through the Lorain Police Department for a felonious assault on a police officer, according to Elyria police spokesman Capt. Chris Costantino. The charges stem from a Nov. 24 incident, Costantino said, but Lorain police did not respond to a request for more information. Clark also had bench warrants for misdemeanor charges of driving under suspension and obstructing official business, Costantino said. Elyria police received a tip just before 3 p.m. Wednesday that Clark was staying in an apartment on Washington Avenue, Costantino said. Officers and members of the Lorain County division of the U.S. Marshals Northern Ohio Fugitive Task Force staged around the apartment buildings on Washington Avenue, Costantino said. Detectives saw a grey 2005 Honda Civic leave the parking lot of an apartment building and turn northbound onto Washington Avenue. Officers drove behind the car in an attempt to pull it over, but once they turned on the lights and siren of their unmarked car, Clark sped up and tried to flee, Costantino said. Clark turned eastbound onto Harrison Street and continued to speed away from officers, Costantino said. He lost control of the car in the area of Harrison Street and Glenwood Avenue, drove off the road, struck a large tree and landed upside down. Officers approached and ordered Clark to stay in the car, but he refused, Costantino said. Clark walked out of the car and yelled obscenities at police, Costantino said. After a brief struggle, officers took Clark into custody, Costantino said. A man and woman were passengers in his car. Clark and the man were taken to the hospital for injuries they suffered from the crash, Costantino said. The woman complained of an injury but refused medical treatment at the scene, Costantino said. In addition to the charges from his warrants, Clark was charged with aggravated vehicular assault, failure to comply with a police order, obstructing official business, resisting arrest, driving under suspension and operation in willful and wanton disregard for safety. Clark was treated and released from the hospital and brought to the Lorain County Jail. He is being held without bond pending an appearance in Elyria Municipal Court, Costantino said. To comment on this story, visit Thursdays crime and courts comment section. CLEVELAND, Ohio An ExpressJet flight attendant said she was attacked and called the n-word during an altercation with two United Airlines employees in an employee parking lot at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. Darlene Rucker, an ExpressJet flight attendant for 28 years and the wife of former Cleveland Browns player Reggie Rucker, said in an interview with cleveland.com she suffered injuries to her neck after being choked by a man after she and another woman argued after the woman used the racial slur when yelling at her. Rucker, 59, filed a police report with Cleveland police. No arrests have been made in the case. United Airlines spokesman Charlie Hobart said the two United employees are being withheld from flying duties while the airline conducts an internal investigation. He said the airline is cooperating with the Cleveland police investigation. The incident happened about 6 a.m. Wednesday at the Riveredge Municipal Lot on Grayton Road, according to police reports and Rucker. Rucker pulled up and waited behind two cars in line to swipe their cards to gain access to the lot, police reports say. The first car in line had trouble with the swipe card so all three cars needed to back out, according to police reports. Rucker said the second car nearly hit her car while they were backing out and that she yelled at the driver of the car, according to police reports. Rucker said she pulled around the other cars into another lane. She said the driver of the second car, a woman wearing a United flight attendants uniform, called her the N-word. Rucker got out of her car and walked up to the womans car, police reports say. The man in the first car initially walked up but Rucker told him she wasnt upset with him, and he briefly walked away, according to police reports. Rucker turned to the woman, who cursed at her, called her the N-word again, threatened to kick her a-- and spit in her face, police reports say. Rucker spit back at the woman. The man, also a United flight attendant, walked up from behind Rucker and grabbed her around the throat in a choke-hold, she told police and cleveland.com. He punched her in the head, according to police reports. While still a hold of her throat, she walked her back to her car and told her to get back inside, police reports say. I couldnt breath, I couldnt say anything, Rucker said. When he pushed me to my car, I was so discombobulated and very afraid. Rucker said the two walked into the airport together and she called 911. Reggie Rucker said he took his wife to University Hospitals, where they remained for more than eight hours while doctors checked her out. He said doctors found his wife had some abnormalities in a main vein in her throat and was referred to her primary care doctor for follow-ups. Reggie Rucker, who served a federal prison sentence for stealing from anti-violence non-profits, said he was enraged by the attack on his wife and that the other woman used a racial slur against his wife. Everything happens for a reason, Reggie Rucker said. I went to prison for a reason. I want to ensure that theres equal justice under the law. These people need to be punished. To comment on this story, visit Thursdays crime and courts comment section. CLEVELAND, Ohio Not long after Japanese bombers devastated U.S. military forces at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941, Dorothea Warren, like many Americans, heard news of the attack on the radio. However, Warren, 88, of Austinburg, was living in Hawaii at the time, and the attack that launched America into World War II would impact her then, and now, 77 years later. Warren, who winters in Tucson, Arizona, with her husband, E. Terry Warren, recalled that fateful day in a recent phone conversation. My dad was an attorney, but also working for the government, she said. We were at breakfast Sunday morning, and the radio was on, which was unusual. So they must have known something was coming. About 8 oclock the news came on about the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The family lived near the University of Hawaii in Honolulu, and ran to a nearby height called Rocky Hill. From there they could see smoke billowing from Pearl Harbor where burning ships and aircraft bore mute testimony to the attack. The bombs and torpedoes dropped by aircraft from Japanese carriers sunk or damaged 21 U.S. ships, killing some 2,300 military personnel. More than 50 civilians were also killed during the attack. Warren said her father, George Crozier, commented, This is it. The Japanese are here. Pack the car. Everybody kind-of ran home and decided theyd better get ready to head for hills, or get in a boat and head to San Francisco, she said. We did have a sailboat, and there was talk about sailing off, but that wasnt an option. Life immediately changed for the 11-year-old and her family. That first night after the attack Warren said they slept on the main floor of their two-story house. Mother packed the car with groceries in case we had to go to the hills, Warren said. It was completely unsettling, she added. Obviously our parents were agitated. I think my father knew lot more than I ever knew about. Soon, houses and buildings in Hawaii had their windows blacked out to avoid becoming targets in possible night attacks. Warrens mother volunteered for Civil Defense and made the rounds of their neighborhood to assure that the black-out was followed. Warren said her mother, Alice, also was a Red Cross volunteer at local hospitals, aiding those who had been hurt in the attack. She would help write Christmas letters for the injured, and help out, Warren recalled. I remember one case when my mother was asked to buy some pajamas for somebodys sweetheart. Warrens life also changed with the uncertainty of another Japanese attack on the island. School students were taken to Red Cross shelters to help fold surgical dressings. Additionally, we were given gas masks and learned how to do a gas mask test every day before school, she said. There was a lot of preparation, and that came into use. That preparation is a largely untold story about the attack, according to Warren. She referred to a 1992 publication by Hawaiian physician Dr. Rodney West, Honolulu Prepares for Japans Attack Oahu Civilian Disaster Preparedness Programs, May 1, 1940-December 7, 1941, which detailed efforts to plan for a possible attack long before the Japanese struck. This included work by the American Red Cross, Honolulu Medical Society and Chamber of Commerce, and Office of Civilian Defense to prepare clinic locations, volunteer staffing, emergency transportation and other medical services in the eventuality of an attack. I dont think very many people know that the islands were aware something was coming . . . that they tried to get ready and saved a lot of people, Warren said. By March, families with ties to the government were evacuated. They felt the Japanese were coming back, and they wanted anybody with the government not to be there, Warren said. In the middle of night, we got on one of those huge seaplanes, and flew to San Francisco, she added. Not my father. He stayed. My mother, brother and I were away for about a year. They were disturbing times. We didnt know what was going on. My 5-year-old brother and I just knew that day by day, things were of concern, Warren said. And then leaving, and being away from father, was very hard on my mother. After the war, Warren attended Cornell University where she met and married her husband, an Ohio native, and moved to Northeast Ohio. The memories of that day 77 years ago remain vivid. Last year on Pearl Harbor Day she and her husband attended an annual memorial service at the University of Arizona namesake of the battleship sunk at Pearl Harbor, resulting in more than half the deaths from the attack. Nowadays, Warren remembers the attack as a time of stress on her family. Everything was changed, she said. Its just hard to look back on that. But she believes its important to remember, and said, The story should be told, over and over again. NEW YORK CNN was forced to evacuate its offices in New York late Thursday night after a caller claimed there were five explosive devices in the building, according to reports. Police searched the building and gave an all clear just before midnight, NBC News reports. The bomb threat was called in at 10:07 p.m., police say. According to CNN, network employees evacuated the offices in the Time Warner Center building. Don Lemons CNN Tonight was in a commercial break and was replaced with taped programming during the evacuation. In October, CNN and several Democratic politicians were targeted in a wave of pipe bombs sent by mail. The devices did not detonate and there were no injuries. A Florida man, Cesar Sayoc, was arrested in connection with the threats and indicted on more than 30 federal counts. To comment on this story, visit Thursdays crime and courts comment section. CLEVELAND, Ohio The Lake Erie Fall Brawl wrapped up on Sunday morning, and some hardy anglers are not ready to shut down their cold-water walleye fishing season. While the night bite has slowed, boat anglers are still catching a few larger walleye. The winter steelhead trout fishing has been good to very good on the Northeast Ohio rivers and streams. The Cleveland Metroparks rainbow trout stockings in the park lakes will begin late next week. LAKE ERIE Its pretty chilly on Lake Erie right now, but some fishermen are still launching boats from Huron to Cleveland to troll for walleye, with Lorain and Sheffield Lake both hots spots. The Fall Brawl crowds are fading and the after-dark angling has slowed, but the daytime walleye fishing has been good in 32 to 40 feet of water. Bandits are a top lure choice, targeting walleye suspended at 10 feet and 15 to 25 feet. Some trophy walleye are lurking close to the lake bottom, but are feeding on big schools of gizzard shed, making those fish less likely to chase a lure. The night bite has slowed considerably for anglers casting from the shoreline piers and breakwalls. A few boat anglers are chasing yellow perch, and doing well northwest of the Grand River in fairly shallow water, and while casting from the piers in Cleveland Harbor. RIVERS, INLAND LAKES, RESERVOIRS The Rocky and Chagrin rivers are loaded with steelhead trout and the slightly stained waters are in great shape for working jigs tipped with maggots, waxworks, emerald shiner minnows or spawn bags under a float through the deeper pools. With big schools of minnows moving into the Grand River, steelheaders there are doing very well suspended large shiner minnows under a float on a lead-head jig or a No. 6 or No. 8 octopus hook, reports Don Moore at Harbor Bait & Tackle. Some trout are still being caught around the mouths or the rivers and around the harbors while trolling Bandit B-Shad lures, a smaller deep-diving plug. With a slight warming trend on the horizon, the steelhead fishing should sparkle this week if the big snowstorms stay away. The winter rainbow trout stockings will begin late next week, weather permitting, said Aquatic Biologist Mike Durkalec of the Cleveland Metroparks. A load of 1,800 foot-long trout will be released in Wallace, Shadow, Ranger, Ledge and Judges lakes. Wallace Lake, as usual, will get the lions share of the pan-sized trout. FALL BRAWL WINNERS Clarence Mitchell Jr. caught the biggest walleye of the Fall Brawl fishing derby on Lake Erie just before the popular event wrapped up on Sunday, Dec. 2, weighing a 13.745-pound, 30.50-inch trophy on Friday, Nov. 30, just before the closing bell. Mitchell won a $100,000 fully-rigged Warrior Boat. Santiago Navarro took the Kids Division, and a fully-rigged Hewes Craft, with a 11.275-pound, 31-inch walleye. The rest of the top five in the Adult Division were: Jeff Champion (12.090 pounds, 29.75 inches); Mark Duszynski (12.005, 31.25 inches); Erin Kossack (11.975 pounds, 31.25 inches) and Jake Huth (11.805 pounds, 29.25 inches). Second and third in the Kids Division were Sheamus Maston (11.205 pounds, 30 inches) and Wyatt Humbert (10.665 pounds, 29.25 inches). SOLON, Ohio -- Domestic violence, Longview Drive: At 7:10 p.m. Dec. 5, a woman, 46, called police for help with her son, 20, who was out of control. The woman's son threw a tray at her, striking her in the arm. He also damaged items in the house and swore at her. The son was arrested and charged with domestic violence. OVI, Ohio 91: At 11:50 p.m. Nov. 29, an officer saw an occupied car stopped on Ohio 91 and checked on the driver. The driver, a Bensalem, Pa., man, 51, smelled of alcohol. The man went on to fail field sobriety tests. He was charged with OVI and was issued a written warning for impeding traffic. Disorderly conduct, Solon Road: At 1:45 a.m. Nov. 30, police responded to a disturbance at the Solon Motel, 32575 Solon Road. Officers arrived to find a woman, wearing just shorts and a T-shirt despite the cold weather, crying while sitting on the sidewalk in front of the motel. The woman said that she had been involved in an argument with her boyfriend. As police spoke with the woman, her boyfriend walked around the corner. He was intoxicated, swore at officers and acted in an aggressive manner toward police. Police arrested the Bedford Heights man, 27, and charged him with disorderly conduct and criminal damage for a door he broke inside the motel. Theft, Ohio 91: At 5:05 p.m. Nov. 28, a woman, 30, who lives in the Park East Apartments, reported that someone had broken the front, driver's side door of her car as it was parked in the apartment complex's lot. The theft occurred between 9 p.m. Nov. 28 and 5 p.m. Nov. 29. Stolen were clothes and makeup worth an estimated value of $435. Police have no suspects. OVI, Ohio 91: At 2:20 a.m. Dec. 5, police watched as a car exiting U.S. 422 at Ohio 91 failed to signal before exiting, then did not come to a stop at the red light at the end of the exit ramp. During the ensuing traffic stop, police noticed that the driver, a Twinsburg woman, 43, smelled of alcohol, had red, bloodshot eyes and was extremely lethargic. The woman failed field sobriety tests, but refused to take a breath test. She was arrested and charged with OVI, a red light violation and failure to signal. If you would like to discuss the police blotter, please visit our crime and courts comments page. JPMorgan Chase & Co.: "My charitable trust owns it. If I hadn't mentioned it and it was therefore frozen, we would've picked some up today after listening to [CEO Jamie Dimon]. Now, I know that stock isn't going to go up right now, but I've got a feeling. I mean, Warren Buffett's in there buying the bank stocks hand over fist. He's taking a long-term view. You are. I am. That's right." PRA Health Sciences Inc.: "I like the contract research organizations. I like yours. But the one I like is [Charles River Labs]." Funko Inc.: "We talked to them. I thought it was an interesting situation. But, you know what, there's so many great blue-chip stocks that are down that I think we ought to stick with Charles River Labs. Bingo!" Special counsel Robert Mueller is set to file new disclosures on Friday in cases involving two of President Donald Trump's former close associates, both of whom have entered guilty pleas in the probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. Mueller is expected to recommend a sentence for Trump's former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, ahead of a federal judge's final sentencing decision on Tuesday. In addition, federal prosecutors in New York will be filing a sentencing memo detailing Cohen's cooperation after his guilty plea in their separate case against him. U.S. District Court Judge William Pauley ordered Mueller's team and the U.S. attorneys in New York to file their sentencing submissions by 5 p.m. ET. In a separate case Friday, the special counsel's team is expected to explain why it accused former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort of imploding his plea deal by lying to investigators. The filings follow a series of seismic developments in Mueller's probe of Russia's interference in the election, potential obstruction of justice and possible collusion between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin. The new activity also comes as Trump appears to be cranking up the frequency and intensity of his attacks on the investigation, which he has often decried as a "phony witch hunt." Manafort, 69, was convicted in federal court in Virginia in August on eight criminal counts brought by Mueller that were mostly related to his work for a pro-Russia political party in Ukraine. He struck a plea agreement with the special counsel in September, on the eve of a second criminal trial, in Washington. That agreement required Manafort to "cooperate fully, truthfully, completely, and forthrightly" with investigators. But Mueller scrapped the deal in late November, alleging that Manafort lied to federal investigators "on a variety of subject matters" after he signed the deal. Mueller did not elaborate in that court filing about what falsehoods Manafort allegedly told investigators. In D.C. district court last week, prosecutors told Judge Amy Berman Jackson that they had not yet decided whether to lodge more charges against Manafort. At that hearing, Jackson also set a tentative sentencing date for March 5. The ex-campaign chief has been behind bars since June, when Jackson revoked his $10 million bail after Mueller accused him of attempting to tamper with potential witnesses. Meanwhile, the 52-year-old Cohen appeared in Manhattan federal court last week to plead guilty to Mueller's charge that he had lied to Congress about plans to build a Trump Tower development in Moscow. Cohen said he falsely told the Senate Intelligence Committee that the Moscow proposal "ended in January 2016 and was not discussed extensively with others" in the Trump Organization, when Cohen's discussions about the project had actually continued as late as June 2016. A key U.S. construction facilitator is hopeful that President Donald Trump will still make good on his campaign promise of putting more federal dollars towards U.S. infrastructure. Bill Sandbrook, the chairman, president and CEO of mass concrete and aggregates producer U.S. Concrete, told CNBC that the 2018 midterm elections gave him "optimism" that a major infrastructure bill could get passed in the near future. Despite public construction numbers as a percentage of gross domestic product an important metric for industrials like U.S. Concrete being historically low, "states are taking things into their own hands" when it comes to construction, the CEO said on "Mad Money." Not only have 29 states raised their gas taxes since 2013 to fund infrastructure projects, but public builders logged some additional wins in this year's midterms. Sandbrook said SB-1, California's gas tax, survived, and Proposition 6, a plan to cut some infrastructure funding, was voted down. "Where people actually get to vote for higher taxes, if they have a direct line of sight to the use for improved infrastructure, they support that," Sandbrook told CNBC's Jim Cramer. "[That] still gives me optimism that the next Congress may be even a little bit more friendly to spending money, with a Democratic House, [and] that we will have something in the next two years," the CEO continued. Shares of the weather-dependent U.S. Concrete have been under pressure this year as Texas, one of its key markets, saw some of the rainiest months in the state's history. The manufacturer acquired aggregate maker Polaris Industries whose complementary product lines aren't as tied to weather conditions in 2017 to counteract the weakness. The move away from concrete will continue, Sandbrook said. And the construction colossus, which has made strategic acquisitions over the years to cement its place as one of the few companies that can handle large-scale projects in dense urban areas, has a positive outlook on 2019. Sandbrook told Cramer that U.S. Concrete has 70 projects on its backlog for next year commissioned by the likes of Alphabet's Google, Nvidia and Facebook. All 70 projects are larger than 20,000 yards, or roughly 11.3 miles. Also on the horizon are a tunnel under New York's Hudson River, a gateway project linking Newark Airport and New York City, a new terminal at Newark and upgrades at John F. Kennedy Airport, all of which are pending public funding. Shares of U.S. Concrete soared despite broader market weakness on Thursday, settling up 5.07 percent at $38.11. Over her seven seasons on "Saturday Night Live," Vanessa Bayer became a favorite for creating characters like Jacob, the smiley bar mitzvah boy, Laura Parsons, the smiley kid reporter, and Dawn Lazarus, the nervous but still smiley weekend meteorologist. She was also known for impressions, like Jennifer Aniston's character, Rachel, from "Friends," and Miley Cyrus. Her work on the show earned Bayer an Emmy nomination and has since lead to roles in movies like "Trainwreck" and "Ibiza." In November, Showtime announced that Bayer would star in a comedy she co-created about a woman who overcomes childhood leukemia in order to achieve her lifelong goal of becoming a home shopping network star. The show, titled "Big Deal," is reportedly inspired by Bayer's own experience with beating cancer as a freshman at Orange High School in the suburbs of Cleveland, Ohio. "When I was 15, I was diagnosed with leukemia," Bayer tells CNBC Make It. "It was obviously a very difficult part of my life and, you know, I had a lot of support from friends and family." Vanessa Bayer as Jacob the Bar Mitzvah Boy, Seth Meyers, Cecily Strong during 'Weekend Update' on 'Saturday Night Live.' Dana Edelson/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images "I used humor a lot to get through," she says. "It was something that I think made me sort of go into comedy because, you know, my friends and I could laugh about it all so much and so I think it really helped me get through that time." It's something that Bayer shares with many other successful comedians. People like Sarah Silverman and Ellen DeGeneres represent the kind of "survivor comedian" that has become mainstream today. "A lot of times it helps to laugh to get through things, and so I think that that's why a lot of comics have been through some pretty serious stuff because, you know, if you laugh at it, it makes it sort of a little bit easier to get through," she explains. Michael Che and Vanessa Bayer as Laura Parsons during Weekend Update on March 4, 2017 Will Heath/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images This perspective was also helpful for Bayer while navigating high school and college. She wrote about beating cancer in her college application essay. "I think that was maybe the one time that people were kind of jealous of me, because it is a great topic, you know? People try to kind of like you know have dramatic things to write about, and I did fully take advantage of that," she says. (Her 4.2 G.P.A. probably helped.) After high school, Bayer attended the University of Pennsylvania, where she planned to study biology. "I thought that I would be a biology major because I was very into biology, but then I realized, my career goal would be to be like a medical researcher who like have her own show on TV." Instead, Bayer set her sights on comedy. She became involved in a student sketch group called "Bloomers" and was an intern on Late Night With Conan O'Brien. "I definitely think surviving something like leukemia, I really felt like I wanted to do something great with my life because I was lucky enough to survive it," says Bayer. "That motivated me in a lot of ways." Vanessa Bayer as Dawn Lazarus Weekend Meteorologist during 'Weekend Update' in Studio 8H on May 20, 2017 Will Heath/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images After college, Bayer moved to Chicago, where she worked 9-to-5 for a production company and an ad agency. On nights and weekends Bayer would perform improv comedy at the renowned iO Theater and Second City. After her first major comedy gig, performing on a cruise ship for Second City, Bayer took a leap of faith and became a comedian full-time. "It was scary, probably for my parents the most," she says. "But they were very supportive. My parents did a very good job of hiding from me that they were kind of nervous Until I got on SNL, no one had any idea what I was doing, and I think that's how it is for a lot of people." Bayer joined the cast of "Saturday Night Live" as a featured player 2010. "My 10 year high school reunion was the Thanksgiving of my first season on 'SNL,'" she recalls. "It couldn't have been timed better. The only thing was like everyone in high school was really supportive and nice to me and I really loved my high school experience, so it would have been better I guess like if everyone had been so mean and I could have come back and been like 'I'm on 'SNL' now, ha ha!'" Chronicle CEO Stephen Gillett has served in high-ranking security and technology roles at Symantec, Best Buy and Starbucks. Alphabet's cybersecurity company Chronicle is expanding its presence in Europe and building a new facility to house virus hunters in Malaga, the company's CEO told CNBC. Chronicle is one of Alphabet's Other Bets, the group of Google's sister companies that are hoping to stumble on the next big thing in tech, such as self-driving cars (Waymo) or high-speed internet access in remote areas (Loon). Research firm Gartner predicts cybersecurity spending will hit $96 billion in 2018, and only increase from there. The expansion gives a glimpse into Chronicle's strategy, which includes supporting its customers in Europe, building on the talent pool that helped create one of its most valuable sources of data, VirusTotal. VirusTotal started in Malaga in 2004 as a free service for corporations, where they can submit files to be analyzed to see if they hide malicious software. It has been a popular cybersecurity mainstay of many large corporations, and Google bought the company in 2012. It was folded into Chronicle earlie this yeear. Because so many corporations provide their threat data to VirusTotal already, it helps fuel Chronicle's goal of offering data-driven artificial intelligence services that can predict corporate cybersecurity problems ahead of time. "Many of the [VirusTotal] team members are from the region. After VirusTotal became part of Chronicle, we increased our investment in the team and technology, we decided to continue to grow in Malaga," said Gillett. "Having the core team located in Spain, with counterparts here in the U.S., allows us to support global customers more easily." Gillett declined to give specifics about headcount in the region or the square-footage of the facilities, but said the Malaga team was recently moved from a small office to a larger area within the University of Malaga, while a new facility is constructed. Chronicle is currently hiring software engineers in Malaga, who specialize in "information retrieval, distributed computing, large-scale system design, malware analysis and threat hunting." Chronicle is the only Alphabet company with a large presence in Spain, he said. Although Chronicle only moved into their new facility in Mountain View earlier this year, Gillett said the company also has plans to expand there as well: "We are growing quickly and expect to expand our facility once we outgrow our current headquarters in Mountain View." A general view of Nissan Crossing showroom in the Ginza district on November 21, 2018 in Tokyo, Japan. Turmoil at Japan's Nissan Motor surrounding allegations of impropriety by ousted chairman Carlos Ghosn raises questions about the oversight role of the company's board of directors, corporate governance experts said this week. Ghosn, long seen as a superstar of the global auto industry, was arrested last month after allegedly under reporting compensation and misusing assets. He gained renown for reviving Nissan after French automaker Renault took a large stake in the company nearly two decades ago. He later went on to oversee an alliance involving Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors. But Ghosn was dumped by the boards of Nissan and Mitsubishi after his arrest on Nov. 19, though is still chairman and CEO of Renault. He remains in custody in Tokyo and has yet to be charged. Japanese broadcaster NHK, citing unnamed sources, reported last month that Ghosn has denied under reporting his earnings. Jamie Allen, secretary general of the Asian Corporate Governance Association, said that a key concern about the allegations against Ghosn is why Nissan's board of directors was seemingly unaware. "I think there is a clear issue of internal controls in that company that they're not properly addressing," Allen told reporters in Hong Kong on Wednesday. "If the board really didn't know about that, and maybe they really didn't know about that, then that doesn't speak ... very highly of their internal controls, or their governance," Allen said. "My point is boards have collective responsibility ... so I think the board at Nissan really needs to do some soul-searching." Other experts also questioned the role of oversight at Nissan. "I think it is extremely unlikely that the board did not know about this," Jesper Koll, head of Japan at WisdomTree Investments, told CNBC on Friday. "Because the reality is any board, whether it is a purely local Japanese company or whether it is an international, global company, whatever corporation you run, the executive compensation and CEO compensation is an extremely important issue," Koll said. John Buchanan, an expert in Japanese corporate governance at the Centre for Business Research at Cambridge Judge Business School, said that a lack of formal charges against Ghosn makes it difficult to assess the board's role, though he added it was unlikely to have been completely in the dark regarding remuneration. And Nissan's decision to "disgrace the company by calling in public prosecutors" resulted in "effectively advertising the inadequacy of the board and Nissan's internal controls," Buchanan said in an email. "This can be seen as a demonstration that Japanese corporate governance is still largely internally focused," he said. A Long March 3B rocket blasts off from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Xichang, Sichuan Province of China. VCG | Visual China Group | Getty Images China launched the Chang'e 4 spacecraft atop a Long March 3B rocket on Friday in a milestone mission to land a rover on the far side of the moon. While the dark side of the moon has been seen and mapped before, the successful landing of Chang'e 4 would represent the first time any spacecraft has touched down there. The mission is part of China's heavy investment in lunar exploration and growing capabilities in space through the China National Space Administration. Chang'e 4 comes about two years after China made the first soft landing on the moon since 1976. Similar in design to that Chang'e 3 craft and its "Jade Rabbit" rover, the Chang'e 4 spacecraft will carry a bigger payload and more capabilities. The space agency will use the craft to study geological conditions on the far side of the moon. It will take Chang'e 4 about three days to travel to the moon, where it will spend about three weeks in orbit. The lander and rover are expected to touch down on the Von Karman crater sometime around Jan. 1. The crater is a relatively flat spot on the moon's far side, according to a GB Times report, although the landing will present many new challenges for China. The rover will be able to communicate with Earth thanks to a relay satellite China launched into lunar orbit in May. The Chang'e name comes from the Chinese goddess of the moon. In the ancient tale, Chang'e died after taking an elixir. When she flew to the heavens, she landed on the moon as her final resting place. Wu Weiren, chief designer of China's lunar probe program, talks about the Chang'e-4 rover at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse on August 15, 2018 in Beijing, China. China News Service | Visual China Group | Getty Images Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologies appointed Chairman Liang Hua as its acting chief financial officer (CFO) following the arrest in Canada of its CFO, who faces extradition to the U.S., a source close to the matter told CNBC. CFO Meng Wanzhou, who is also the daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, was detained in Canada on Saturday. Canada's Department of Justice said on Wednesday the country arrested Meng in Vancouver, where she is facing extradition to the United States. The arrest is related to violations of U.S. sanctions, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters. U.S. authorities have been probing Huawei, one of the world's largest makers of telecommunications network equipment, since at least 2016 for allegedly shipping U.S.-origin products to Iran and other countries in violation of U.S. export and sanctions laws, sources told Reuters in April. CNBC's Paula Sailes, CNBC's Huileng Tan and Reuters contributed to this report. Coca-Cola's outgoing chairman Muhtar Kent is planning his retirement at a time when he sees running a global business becoming an even more difficult task. "I think running a global business is getting tougher, it's getting harder. Not just the global competition, but also the sociopolitical dynamics around the world are making it harder, with more unknowns, more volatility constant volatility," Kent told CNBC's Sara Eisen in an interview for "Closing Bell." He listed Brexit, the U.S. trade wars and the falling value of emerging market currencies as several examples of political uncertainty. But he does not believe that volatility will disappear once the U.K. leaves the European Union and the U.S. strikes a trade deal with China. "That's the world we live in, and that's going to be here to stay," he said. While he sees more volatility as a challenge for leaders of global businesses, he also named two sources of anxiety for all CEOs. "I think if there's two things that worry a CEO today and give them sleepless nights, one is the global war for talent and the second one is digitization," he said. Coke announced on Thursday that Kent would retire in 2019, ending a 40-year career at the company. Kent served as both chairman and CEO of the beverage company from 2009 to 2017. Current CEO James Quincey replaced him. Kent will formally pass over the reins as chairman to Quincey, his successor, after the company's annual meeting in April next year. The entire interview will air on CNBC's "Closing Bell," beginning at 4 p.m. ET. Federal prosecutors laid out how President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer Michael Cohen worked to illegally help the Trump campaign in 2016. Chunks of the Southern District of New York's sentencing memo for the attorney detail what the government calls efforts to influence his boss's 2016 campaign for president. Another document from special counsel Robert Mueller explains Cohen's efforts to give the impression that a proposal to build a Trump Tower in Moscow fizzled out earlier than it actually did. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement, "The government's filings in Mr. Cohen's case tell us nothing of value that wasn't already known. Mr. Cohen has repeatedly lied and as the prosecution has pointed out to the court, Mr. Cohen is no hero." Trump himself tweeted after memos about Cohen and former campaign chief Paul Manafort was released, claiming he had been cleared. It was not immediately evident which of the filings Trump was referring to. The SDNY's filing on Cohen said the lawyer committed crimes "in coordination with and at the direction of" Trump. Trump tweet Cohen's attempts to affect the campaign came primarily through payments to model Karen McDougal and Stephanie Clifford, a former adult film actress known by her stage name Stormy Daniels, to suppress stories about alleged affairs with Trump, prosecutors say. The document concludes what Cohen has previously said that he acted "in coordination and at the direction" of the president in making the payments. The SDNY asked Friday for a "substantial term of imprisonment" for Cohen, who has pleaded guilty in both cases and has been cooperating with the special counsel. Here are the parts of the memo that mention Cohen's efforts to shape the election (Individual-1 is Trump, while Woman-1 and Woman-2 appear to refer to McDougal and Clifford, respectively): At a recent conference on financial aid, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said that every school should help its students graduate with high-quality career prospects and little debt. Students should be equipped, she added, with information that allows them to be responsible consumers. "They need to have the best possible tools, data, advice and support," DeVos said, at the Georgia World Congress Center in late November. Yet at another session at the same conference, Cynthia Hammond, a top Education Department official, said the agency wouldn't be releasing student debt information on certain programs. "We will not be doing another round of debt-to-earnings rates at this time," Hammond said to the audience. Career education programs, including most for-profit colleges, are required to disclose debt and earnings data to prospective and current students, as part of the so-called gainful employment regulation. Under the rule, poor-performing programs are at risk of losing their federal funding. The regulation is intended to provide students, "with the best information possible when they're making one of the biggest investments they're ever going to make," said Michael Itzkowitz, a senior fellow at Third Way, a think tank in Washington. The Education Department under DeVos has proposed eliminating the rule. Yet the soonest any such change could go into effect is July 2020, and so advocates were alarmed by Hammond's comments at the conference. The department has already pushed back the date that schools need to publicly share their gainful employment information. Critics of DeVos say the delays in data disclosure are another example of her siding with the for-profit industry. European stocks recovered some ground Friday, after slumping to a two-year low in the previous session but significant gains were capped by lack of thrust from Wall Street and Asia. The pan-European Stoxx 600 provisionally closed up over 0.7 percent, with all sectors and major bourses in positive territory. Europe's tech stocks were among the top performers, up around 2 percent as worries of a fresh flare-up in tensions between the world's two largest economies cooled. The arrest of Huawei's global chief financial officer in Vancouver on Wednesday had threatened to derail progress in U.S.-Sino trade talks. However, tech stocks pared losses Friday, with Nokia and Ericsson both trading more than 3 percent higher. Looking at individual stocks, Britain's Tesco surged towards the top of the European benchmark after Exane BNP Paribas raised its stock recommendation to "neutral" from "underperform." Shares of the London-listed stock were up around 4.1 percent on the news. Meanwhile, Germany's Fresenius SE tumbled to the bottom of the index after the healthcare group slashed its medium-term guidance late Thursday. The company cited lower profit expectations at its dialysis arm FMC and clinics chain Helios, Reuters reported. Shares of the group tanked 17.7 percent. Jobs report misses Foreign policy advisor to President Donald Trump's election campaign, George Papadopoulos goes through security at the US District Court for his sentencing in Washington, DC on September 7, 2018. George Papadopoulos, the former Trump campaign aide who admitted lying to federal investigators about his contacts during the 2016 presidential election, left a federal prison Friday after serving a 12-day stint. Papadopoulos was released from an Oxford, Wisconsin, federal prison Friday around 9 a.m. local time. Although he was sentenced to serve 14 days in custody, he was released after a dozen days, having received credit for two days he spent in jail earlier after his arrest in the case. He now will be free on supervised release for one year. His sentence also requires him to pay a $9,500 fine and complete 200 hours of community service. The 31-year-old foreign policy aide pleaded guilty in October 2017 to lying to the FBI as part of special counsel Robert Mueller's ongoing probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election and potential coordination between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin. Papadopoulos had met with professor Joseph Mifsud, who had ties to Russia in early 2016. In late April 2016, Mifsud told Papadopoulos that Russians had "dirt" on Trump's political opponent, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, including "thousands of emails," according to the special counsel's court filings. Papadopoulos' two-week jail time was shaved down because he had already received two days of "jail credit," a spokeswoman for the prison told CNBC, meaning the time he spent in a jail somewhere else before arriving at the Wisconsin prison was applied to that sentence. Global activists of Avaaz, set up cardboard cutouts of Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg, on which is written 'Fix Fakebook', in front of the European Union headquarters in Brussels, on May 22, 2018. John Thys | AFP | Getty Images A European lawmaker has called for updated regulation on Facebook and other social networks after a trove of revelatory emails was released by the British Parliament. Internal documents made public Wednesday by Britain's digital, culture, media and sport committee showed senior executives at Facebook including CEO Mark Zuckerberg discussing the prospect of charging developers for access to user data and shutting off competitor Vine's access to the data. Claude Moraes, a member of the European Parliament representing the U.K.'s Labour party, said in response to the news that the European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, should revamp its competition rules to probe the "possible monopoly" of social media giants and to "audit the advertising industry on social media." "In the European Parliament, we have repeatedly raised concerns about the manipulation of online data and have made clear that competition law is crucial to make sure that the dominant players are accountable and that democracy is protected from excessive market power," Moraes told CNBC in an emailed statement Thursday. He added: "Facebook is now on notice that we cannot continue to undermine the trust citizens place, not only in our online platforms, but our democracy itself. Action must be taken to protect our elections and citizens' right to private life, and if Facebook doesn't like it then they should know that we don't like interference and disruption of our elections either." Pressure has mounted on the tech giant over the way it handles people's data and how it tackles foreign interference in elections. Scandals surrounding the sharing of 87 million Facebook profiles with political consultancy Cambridge Analytica and Facebook's dealings with public relations firm Definers have tainted the company's image of late. Moraes was one of the various EU parliamentarians who grilled Facebook boss Zuckerberg over the platform's handling of user data and market share. The idea that Facebook is a "monopoly" that should potentially be broken up was raised at the May hearing. In one of the emails released by Parliament, Zuckerberg is seen giving an executive the go-ahead to disable now-defunct video sharing app Vine's access to its API, or application program interface, that would let users find their Facebook friends through Vine. Rus Yusupov, Vine's co-founder, made his feelings clear following the release of the internal Facebook documents. "Competition sucks, right?" he said on Twitter. "No. It allows for products to improve, become available to more people, at lower costs. Strive to build new things that people want and influence other creators for the cycle to continue." Tweet The emails published by British Parliament had been under seal in a California court as they were obtained by Ted Kramer, founder of Six4Three, an app maker suing Facebook, as part of the legal discovery process. Six4Three, which shut down its app in 2015 after Facebook changed its policies around the sharing of users' data, alleges the social network drove developers away through anti-competitive measures. Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer of Facebook, Dan Rose, vice president, partnerships at Facebook, and Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer of Facebook, attend the annual Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, July 12, 2018 in Sun Valley, Idaho. Facebook is increasing its buyback program by $9 billion, the company disclosed in a Friday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The social media giant said its board approved the increase on Thursday. In 2017, the board signed off on share repurchases of up to $15 billion of its Class A shares with no expiration date. Shares of Facebook climbed about 1.5 percent in after-hours trade. The stock has fallen 22 percent so far in 2018 after facing a series of scandals and flattening usage in North America. Federal prosecutors in New York have filed their sentencing memo for President Donald Trump's former personal attorney Michael Cohen. Here are the key takeaways from the filing: The Southern District of New York cited sentencing guidelines of 51 to 63 months in prison when referring to the sentence. Those prosecutors also requested that a federal judge impose a $500,000 forfeiture, and an additional fine, on Cohen. Prosecutors asked for a "substantial term of imprisonment" for Cohen, whom they slammed for committing crimes intended to affect the 2016 presidential election: "Cohen sought to influence the election from the shadows ... [he] clouded a process that Congress has painstakingly sought to keep transparent. The sentence imposed should reflect the seriousness of Cohen's brazen violations of the election laws and attempt to counter the public cynicism that may arise when individuals like Cohen act as if the political process belongs to the rich and powerful." But they noted in the memo that their recommendation be modestly lower than the suggested range of prison time suggested in federal guidelines. In its two meetings with Cohen, the prosecutors said he was "forthright and credible" but added that he had decided "not to pursue full cooperation" with their office. Any future contributions to the prosecutors would be of "limited value," they said, because of their "inability to fully vet his criminal history and reliability impact his utility as a witness." Prosecutors said that "while Cohen as his own submission makes clear already enjoyed a privileged life, his desire for even greater wealth and influence precipitated an extensive course of criminal conduct." The U.S. attorney's office noted that Cohen's cooperation with special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe provided information that "was ultimately credible and useful to its ongoing investigation." But, the prosecutors added that "Cohen repeatedly declined to provide full information about the scope of any additional criminal conduct in which he may have engaged or had knowledge." The prosecutors also pushed back on the characterization of Cohen from his lawyers, who presented Cohen's cooperation as an act of principle: "While Cohen's provision of information to the [special counsel] merits credit, his description of his actions as arising solely from some 'personal resolve' ... ignores that Cohen first reached out to meet with the [special counsel] at a time when he knew he was under imminent threat of indictment in this District. As such, any suggestion by Cohen that his meetings with law enforcement reflect a selfless and unprompted about-face are overstated." The prosecutors referenced surreptitious recordings of Trump, referred to in the filing as "Individual-1," that Cohen made: "Cohen publicly and privately took credit for Individual-1's political success, claiming in a conversation that he secretly recorded that he 'started the whole thing . . . started the whole campaign' in 2012 when Individual-1 expressed an interest in running for President." Read the full sentencing memo here. Minutes after the New York prosecutors filed their memo, the special counsel released his own sentencing submission, in which Mueller said he was not taking a position on what sentence Cohen should receive. Click here to read Mueller's sentencing memo. Cohen, 52, last week pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about an aborted proposal to build a Trump Tower development in Moscow. Cohen's admission to that new charge lodged by Mueller was the second time this year he has pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. In August, Cohen appeared there before Judge William Pauley to admit guilt on eight criminal counts including tax fraud, excessive campaign contributions, making false statements to a financial institution and unlawful corporate contributions. That first case was filed by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York. Pauley had ordered both Mueller's team and the Manhattan-based federal prosecutors to file their separate sentencing submissions by 5 p.m. ET on Friday. Cohen's attorneys submitted their own sentencing recommendation the day after Cohen's most recent plea. They asked Pauley to sentence Cohen to no time in prison, citing his ongoing cooperation with Mueller's investigation, and probes by other authorities. Cooperating with the special counsel's probe appears to be paying off for Michael Flynn, Trump's former national security advisor who pleaded guilty in December 2017 to lying to the FBI. Flynn had misled investigators about his conversations with Russia's ambassador to the U.S. during the 2016 presidential transition period. In a heavily redacted court document filed Tuesday night, Mueller recommended a light sentence for Flynn, citing the "substantial assistance" he provided to investigators over 19 interviews. Read the full sentencing memo from New York federal prosecutors below: Companies across the country are seeking workers to bolster their supply chainsand these aren't just temp jobs to feed the holiday rush. Supply chain logistics is more than warehouse roles and last-mile delivery alone, hence the need for talent across the board. And as seen in many sectors of the economy in this tight labor market, some companies are struggling to find workers. "It's all of your processes, your systems, your people and organizations that connect your suppliers to your customers getting all your products from raw material to manufacturing to your distribution all the way through to the end customer," says Rodney Apple, managing partner at SCM Talent Group. "And so the goal is to create, enable and sustain value." Apple has been recruiting talent in the industry for nearly 20 years and says the current shortage of workers to fill certain roles is acute. Some 2,800 people work in supply chain at T. Marzetti Co. and nationwide across its 17 facilities, and including an expanded location opening next year, the company is looking to hire about 300 additional workers. The company owns Marzetti, Sister Schubert's, Texas Toast and more, and supplies dips and sauces to restaurants like Chick-fil-A, Pizza Hut and Buffalo Wild Wings. "We work in tight labor markets, and our challenges are in finding lower-skilled and higher-skilled people," says David Nagle, senior vice president of supply chain at T. Marzetti. The company is undergoing an initiative to digitize work results to increase efficiency, and automating lesser-skilled jobs to move talent up the ranks into more skilled roles, with an emphasis on growth from within. While the market may be challenging, Nagle feels confident the company will be able to fill the roles. "We've found you really have to pay the market price to get good talent, then to keep them you have to have ongoing training we want them to feel important, valued and involved," Nagle says. A 2017 report from logistics giant DHL says the current talent shortage the industry is facing is "escalating from a gap to a potential crisis," citing a global study from 2014 that says demand for supply chain professionals exceeds supply by a ratio of 6 to 1, also pointing to another expert that says the number could hit 9 to 1. The report says the factor with the greatest impact on this shortage is changing job requirements, with 58 percent of companies saying that finding employees with a combination of tactical and operational expertise, as well as professional competencies, is a challenge. What's more, those with entry-level experience are easy to find, but 46 percent of companies surveyed by DHL said finding middle management to hire is a challenge, and executive level is the most difficult with 73 percent ranking this a high-level challenge. Apple also cites retiring baby boomers, along with job complexities and a lack of general awareness that these roles exist and can offer a good living. With that in mind, T. Marzetti has been focusing on company culture beyond just paying a competitive wage and offering benefits that include medical and 401(k) options. "We right-size hired a few years back, so people would have a work-life balance, and that allowed us to retain our skilled workforce, which I think is huge. As companies grow, they kind of put more on their associates, and they don't realize, and then at a point, they're doing too much at that point, and I think you need to right-size your plants so people have a work-life balance," says Steve Blackburn, director of operations at Marzetti, who oversees four plants for the company. Do you tip the garbage collectors at the holidays? How much should you give your doorman as the year comes to a close? Year-end tips have become a common practice. About 60 percent of Americans tipped one or more service providers last year, according to a Consumer Reports survey of 2,013 adults conducted earlier this year. They shelled out an average of $45 in tips, the majority of which were in cash, the survey found. Tipping tallies tended to be higher in larger cities. Yet it's not always clear if you should tip a service provider for the holidays and if so, how much. "The best way to gauge to whom you should give tips is to look at those individuals who have helped you throughout the year," said etiquette expert Elaine Swann. "Individuals who helped to make your life easy, assisted you in some shape or fashion." The first thing is take a look at your budget, which will help determine how many people you can afford to give to, said Lizzie Post, co-president of the Emily Post Institute. (See guidelines below for typical tips by provider.) "It is about prioritizing your list," she said. "You've got to know what you are able to do. This isn't meant to stress you out and make you feel horrible and guilty. It's really meant to be an opportunity." Don't just hand over a few bills. That can make things awkward, Swann said. "Be sure that you present it well, whether it is in an envelope with a thank you and a smile on it, or a card," she said. Chinese tech giant Huawei has pledged $2 billion in an effort to alleviate a British security agency's concerns over its equipment and software, according to media reports. The Financial Times reported Friday that Huawei executives met with senior officials from GCHQ's National Cyber Security Centre this week, where the company agreed to several terms that will overhaul its practices in the U.K. Both the FT and Reuters reported that it had committed $2 billion to address U.K. security demands. Specifics around the terms of the agreement were not revealed in either of the reports. However, Huawei is said to have agreed to write a formal letter to the NCSC outlining its agreement to address the issues raised, according to the FT. Questions have been raised over Huawei's involvement in Britain's future 5G networks. On Wednesday, U.K. telecommunications firm BT said it would exclude the Chinese firm from providing technology for its core 5G network. Huawei has already been banned from providing technology for 5G in the U.S., Australia and New Zealand. A spokesperson for the NCSC told CNBC via email Friday: "As was made clear in July the NCSC has concerns around a range of technical issues and has set out improvements the company must make." "The U.K. government and British telecoms operators work with Huawei to manage cyber security risks while ensuring the U.K. can continue to benefit from new technology," they added. Huawei did not respond to multiple requests for comment. On Wednesday, Canada's Department of Justice said the country arrested Meng Wanzhou, the company's CFO in Vancouver, where she is facing extradition to the United States. The arrest is related to violations of U.S. sanctions against Iran, Canadian officials said during a court hearing Friday. U.S. authorities have been probing Huawei, one of the world's largest makers of telecommunications network equipment, since at least 2016 for allegedly shipping U.S.-origin products to Iran and other countries in violation of U.S. export and sanctions laws, sources told Reuters in April. - CNBC's Ryan Browne and Deirdre Bosa contributed to this report Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan at the ceremony for the Kartarpur Corridor on Nov. 28, 2018. ALI | AFP | Getty Images Historical rivals New Delhi and Islamabad have agreed to build a visa-free corridor that traverses their heavily militarized border and promises to ease bilateral tensions. But political realities may limit any real progress toward reconciliation. Called the Kartarpur Corridor, the five-kilometer passageway connects Sikh shrines from the Indian city of Dera Baba Nanak to the town of Kartarpur in Pakistan, allowing Sikhs in both countries to travel to places of worship across the border without a visa. The confidence-building measure is a milestone for the historically tense relationship Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently compared the corridor with the fall of the Berlin Wall. It's also a huge win for the regional Sikh community, which has long demanded the liberalization of travel to holy places. Sikhism is the fourth-largest religion in India, but in Muslim-majority Pakistan, it's only practiced by a small segment of the population. "Religious diplomacy or using faith to bring people and nations together has been very much part of Modi's foreign policy in his outreach to the neighboring countries in the Subcontinent and beyond," C. Raja Mohan, nonresident senior fellow at Carnegie India and a visiting professor at the National University of Singapore, said in a note. Modi, who leads the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, tends to emphasize Hinduism as a uniting factor when he travels to Asian countries such as Nepal and Indonesia that have been influenced by the ancient religion. At home, however, the BJP's right-wing rhetoric and policies have been linked to religious violence mob killings and Hindu assaults on Muslims. Sikh Pilgrims in front of Kartarpur Gurdwara Sahib, in Kartarpur, Pakistan. Arif Ali | AFP | Getty Images Reasons for hope The Kartarpur Corridor, which has been praised by Beijing and Washington, promises to "give a new fillip to the strained relations between the two neighboring countries," the All Parties Sikh Coordination Committee, a prominent Sikh organization based in India-administered Kashmir, said in a statement. Construction on the corridor began last week, coinciding with India's anniversary of the 2008 Mumbai attacks in which members of a Pakistan-based terror network known as Lashkar-e-Taiba carried out a series of shootings and bombings. "If the Mumbai attacks represent the accumulated negative legacy of the [India-Pakistan] relationship, the surprising breakthrough on Kartarpur points to a potentially positive future," Mohan said. The border where Sikh pilgrims would cross is located at the Indian and Pakistani provinces of Punjab. Both states share the same name and have great demand for cross-border commercial cooperation and people-to-people contact, according to Mohan. "If there is one place ripe for quick advances in bilateral relations it is the Punjab," he said. A lack of formal talks and logistical issues But in the absence of dialogue, it's hard to forecast any normalization of ties. New Delhi currently refuses to participate in any formal discussions with Islamabad amid terror concerns. At last Wednesday's launch of the Kartarpur Corridor, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan called for talks with Modi's administration but, on that same day, India's External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj dismissed the prospect. "Bilateral dialogue and the Kartarpur Corridor are two different things," she said at a press briefing. "Terror and talks can't go together. The moment Pakistan stops terrorist activities in India, a dialogue can start." Religious diplomacy or using faith to bring people and nations together has been very much part of Modi's foreign policy in his outreach to the neighboring countries in the Subcontinent and beyond. C. Raja Mohan Carnegie India In December 2015, Modi became the first Indian prime minister to travel to Pakistan in over a decade as the neighbors launched a comprehensive bilateral dialogue. But that initiative was stalled following a terror attack on an Indian air base in January 2016, which Indian officials blamed on Pakistan-based group Jaish-e-Mohammed. Khan has said his government is against radicals using Pakistani soil for terrorism. Pakistan may be keen to embrace dialogue but "political realities in India are very different," Stuti Bhatnagar, adjunct fellow at the University of Adelaide, wrote in a note published on The Lowy Institute this week. Amid ongoing state elections and ahead of a general election in 2019, "it would not be in Modi's electoral interests to enter serious negotiations with Pakistan," she argued. "The ascendance of the Hindu nationalist narrative, which has become more pronounced since 2014, suggests that the electoral imperative for Modi is Pakistan-bashing rather than dialogue." It's also unclear how the South Asian neighbors will govern the corridor or deal with the thorny issue of Sikh separatism. One major obstacle is the process of visa-free travel. Security officials on both sides are likely to have demands that will make it tough for Sikh pilgrims to cross the border, according to Mohan, who pointed to the conflict-ridden region of Kashmir as an example. Japan plans to ban government purchases of equipment from China's Huawei Technologies and ZTE, a person with direct knowledge and a person briefed on the matter told Reuters on Friday. The Yomiuri newspaper, which first reported the news, said the government was expected to revise its internal rules on procurement as early as Monday in a bid to prevent intelligence leaks and cyber attacks. The report follows a decision by the United States this year to ban government purchases of Huawei gear. U.S. intelligence agencies allege Huawei is linked to China's government and that its equipment could contain "backdoors" for use by spies, although no evidence has been produced publicly and the firm has denied the claims. In addition, Australia and New Zealand have blocked Huawei from building 5G networks, while Britain's BT Group said on Wednesday it was removing Huawei's equipment from the core of its existing 3G and 4G mobile operations and would not use the Chinese company in central parts of the next network. A still image from a video footage shows Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May speaking during Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons, in central London, Britain November 14, 2018. Parbul TV | Reuters TV On Tuesday, U.K. lawmakers will vote on whether to accept Prime Minister Theresa May's plan to leave the European Union (EU). The outcome is uncertain, particularly if May suffers defeat. Some speculate it could lead to a change of prime minister, an attempt to revise the Brexit deal, the complete collapse of government, or even a second vote on whether Britain and Northern Ireland should leave Europe at all. What is the vote? May's proposal is split into a "Withdrawal Agreement," setting out the terms of the divorce and a "Future Relationship" document, which drafts how the U.K. will interact with the EU in the future. The U.K. government and EU heads of state have signed off on the preliminary deal and now the British Parliament will undertake a "meaningful vote" to decide whether it can proceed. Lawmakers will vote in the House of Commons at some point after 7 p.m. local time on Tuesday, December 11. The government's motion to Parliament is being intensely scrutinized before the vote takes place, with at least five full days of parliamentary time allotted to a Brexit debate. Should it pass the House of Commons, the proposal will also need to satisfy Parliament's upper chamber, the House of Lords. What are its chances of success? May faces a tough task. Her deal with Europe is seen by some as a sell-out to the ideals of Brexit, reducing Britain's influence while staying within many of the EU's rules. Many of those who oppose Brexit don't like the deal either. They argue that it will reduce Britain's ease of trade with the world, repel global talent, and increase the cost of living. May has claimed it is the best deal she could get to satisfy a deeply divided country which in June 2016 voted 52 percent to leave and 48 percent to remain in the EU. Both pro-EU Remainers and Brexiteers protest their ideals outside the House of Commons, on 4th December 2018, in London, England. Richard Baker | In Pictures | Getty Images Her proposal now needs the backing of 320 MPs, more than half of the 639 MPs that vote in Parliament, to pass. But the numbers look tricky. After stacking up opposing votes from the main opposition Labour party along with those from the Scottish National Party and Northern Ireland's DUP, May is already under pressure. Add to that the opposition from both the pro and anti-EU wings of her own Conservative Party and her Brexit deal looks in real trouble. One estimate in The Guardian newspaper has the prime minister suffering a huge defeat of almost 200 votes. Others predict that May is still likely to lose but by a much smaller number. Any lawmakers, political analysts or media commentators who do see the deal passing are keeping quiet. What happens if May is defeated? Assuming the deal is voted down, the margin of defeat is important. Should May lose by around 30, 40 or perhaps even 50 votes then it's expected she could stand up in Parliament and say she will return to Brussels and attempt to tweak the deal. If slight concessions were agreed with the EU, that could be enough to persuade some U.K. lawmakers to side with May in a second parliamentary vote. One caveat to that scenario is that the rest of the EU have shown little appetite to reopen talks. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has warned the U.K. that May's Brexit deal "is the only deal possible." Should May lose heavily, then chaos is once again likely to descend upon British politics. The range of outcomes runs from a leadership challenge, a May resignation, a general election in the U.K., a second referendum on EU membership, a temporary stop on Britain's withdrawal, or some sort of combination of all the above. Could Britain still crash out of Europe? May, in a bid to rally support, has warned that if her deal is rejected then the options are either "No Brexit" which would fail to honor the 2016 referendum, or a "No Deal," which would see Britain completely cut ties with Europe and likely default to World Trade Organization rules. Several analyses have warned of the extreme economic damage that leaving Europe without any deal could bring. The Bank of England's recent report said if such a scenario were agreed, then unemployment could rise to 7.5 percent, house prices could fall 30 percent, sterling might crash, and the economy could shrink by around 8 percent over the course of a year. Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England (BOE), gestures while speaking during the bank's quarterly inflation report news conference in the City of London, U.K., on Thursday, Aug. 2, 2018. Simon Dawson | Bloomberg | Getty Images Europe's tech start-up scene has a problem: almost all of its funding is going toward men. A new report from venture capital firm Atomico found 93 percent of the money invested into European tech start-ups in 2018 went to companies with all-male founding teams. The report paints a bleak picture for female entrepreneurs in Europe with no progress in the data over the past five years. "It's clear that the European tech ecosystem has a challenge around diversity and inclusion," Tom Wehmeier, partner and head of research at Atomico who authored the report, told CNBC last week. Atomico's report, which surveyed 5,000 founders, investors and tech sector employees across Europe, showed discrepancies in perception versus reality around gender discrimination. While nearly 90 percent of respondents said having a diverse team benefits company performance, nearly half of the women who responded said they had experienced discrimination while working in the European tech industry. "I don't know, to be honest, any friend of mine who is a founder or entrepreneur who is female who would say I never experienced this," Tugce Bulut, founder and CEO of London-based market research start-up Streetbees, told CNBC on Thursday. Bulut said she has experienced discrimination in a variety of forms, from inappropriate comments to dismissive behavior. She said part of the problem is that women are not encouraged to be as "pushy" as men from an early age, which can result in a lack of confidence and entrepreneurship. "That has a snowball effect over years," Bulut said. Special counsel Robert Mueller has filed a court document on alleged lies told by Paul Manafort to Mueller's team in violation of the plea deal signed by the ex-Trump campaign chairman. Here are the key takeaways: The document laid out five key lies Manafort allegedly told the special counsel and the FBI. Those alleged lies related to suspected Russian spy Konstantin Kilimnik and a wire transfer to a firm working for Manafort, as well as "information pertinent to another Department of Justice investigation" and "Manafort's contact with Administration officials." Large sections of the document detailing the alleged falsehoods are blacked out. The most heavily redacted portions related to Manafort's interactions with Kilimnik. The special counsel said evidence "demonstrates that Manafort lied about his contacts" when he said after signing his plea deal that he had "no direct or indirect communications with anyone" in the Trump administration. Manafort was talking to people in the Trump administration as late as 2018, the document alleges: "In a text message from May 26, 2018, Manafort authorized a person to speak with an Administration official on Manafort's behalf. Separately, according to another Manafort colleague, Manafort said in February 2018 that Manafort had been in communication with a senior Administration official up through February 2018." Mueller said Manafort's lies "were not instances of mere memory lapses," and that the special counsel "is available to prove the false statements at a hearing" if Manafort challenges the most recent allegations against him. In response to the court filing, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders issued the following statement: The government's filing in Mr. Manafort's case says absolutely nothing about the President. It says even less about collusion and is devoted almost entirely to lobbying-related issues. Once again the media is trying to create a story where there isn't one. Read the full filing here. Before the filing was released, a federal judge ordered Mueller to file his full submission about ex-Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort's "crimes and lies" out of public view. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson granted Mueller's request to file under seal the "unredacted version" of the court document, in which the special counsel was expected to defend its determination that Manafort lied to investigators in violation of the terms of his plea deal. But a version of the filing with blacked-out portions would still be released to the public, the judge ordered. Just as the court filing was released, President Donald Trump tweeted: "Totally clears the President. Thank you!" Trump did not specify whether or not he was referring to the submission in Manafort's case. Trump tweet The decision from Jackson in Washington, D.C. federal court came shortly before Mueller's deadline to submit the document. In a prior filing, the special counsel accused Manafort, 69, of lying about a "variety of subject matters" to investigators, without providing details about the allegation. His plea agreement with the special counsel required him to fully and truthfully cooperate with investigators. In a court appearance following that allegation, attorneys for Mueller revealed that they were mulling over whether to file new charges against Manafort. Manafort was already on the hook for a raft of criminal charges lodged by Mueller. In August, Manafort was convicted in Virginia federal court of eight counts related to his past work on behalf of a pro-Russia political party in Ukraine. He is due to be sentenced in that case on Feb. 8. In September, on the eve of a second trial in U.S. District Court in Washington, Manafort struck a deal with Mueller in which he pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy, one of which related to money earned from his work in Ukraine, the other of which was related to his effort to tamper with witnesses against him. His sentencing in that case is tentatively scheduled for March 5. --CNBC's Jacob Pramuk and Tucker Higgins contributed to this report Major oil producers have reached a deal to cut oil production and boost the market, following two days of grueling negotiations and despite opposition from U.S. President Donald Trump. OPEC clinched the deal with allied oil-producing nations including Russia at its headquarters in Vienna, Austria on Friday. The gathering came after deep divisions in the energy alliance were laid bare at a closely-watched meeting on Thursday, with OPEC unable to agree on the terms of crude output cuts. The alliance will take 1.2 million barrels per day off the market for the first six months of 2019. The 15-member OPEC cartel has agreed to reduce its output by 800,000 bpd, while Russia and the allied producers will contribute a 400,000 bpd reduction. The deal is in line with expectations for the allies to throttle back output by 1 million to 1.4 million bpd. Brent crude, the international benchmark for oil prices, was trading at $63 a barrel, up 4.9 percent, at 11:15 a.m. ET (1615 GMT). West Texas Intermediate (WTI) stood at $53.69, around 4.3 percent higher. The meeting between OPEC and non-OPEC members comes at a time when the oil market is near the bottom of its worst price plunge since the 2008 financial crisis. Oil prices have crashed around 30 percent over the last two months, ratcheting up the pressure on budgets in oil-exporting countries. OPEC began capping supply in partnership with Russia and several other nations in January 2017 in order to end a punishing downturn in oil prices. The alliance reversed course and agreed to hike output in June after it removed more barrels from the market than it intended, largely due to the ongoing freefall in Venezuelan output and supply disruptions in Libya. The talks made progress on a critical front on Friday, with Russia agreeing to cut output. The 15-member OPEC group had delayed a decision on how many barrels it would take off the market until Moscow committed to a specific reduction. Russia will reduce production by 2 percent from October's output of 11.4 million bpd, equaling about 228,000-230,000 bpd, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said. However, Novak warned that Russia would reduce supply gradually due to conditions that affect its oil fields during the winter. Discussions hit another impasse earlier on Friday because Saudi Arabia had refused to agree to an exemption for Iran, OPEC sources told Reuters. U.S. sanctions against Iran, OPEC's third-largest producer, have already significantly reduced its exports. Iranian Energy Minister Bijan Zangeneh argued his country should not be forced to cut production in light of the sanctions, which are backed by the Saudis. Ultimately, OPEC agreed to exempt Iran, along with Venezuela and Libya. Nigeria, which was exempt under the previous deal, will participate in this round of cuts. Saudi Arabia's Oil Minister Khalid al-Falih talks to journalists at the beginning of an OPEC meeting in Vienna, Austria December 6, 2018. REUTERS | Leonhard Foeger President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson confer during a working lunch with African leaders during the U.N. General Assembly in New York, Sept. 20, 2017. President Donald Trump called former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson "dumb as a rock" a day after Tillerson said the president encouraged him to break the law while he was in the administration. "Mike Pompeo is doing a great job, I am very proud of him," Trump said on Twitter. "His predecessor, Rex Tillerson, didn't have the mental capacity needed. He was dumb as a rock and I couldn't get rid of him fast enough. He was lazy as hell. Now it is a whole new ballgame, great spirit at State!" Tweet Tillerson commented on his time in the Trump administration during a rare public appearance in Houston Thursday night, according to reports in local media. He said he pushed back on the president's efforts to get him to do things that were against the law. "So often, the president would say here's what I want to do and here's how I want to do it and I would have to say to him, 'Mr. President I understand what you want to do but you can't do it that way. It violates the law,'" Tillerson said. The former Exxon Mobil CEO said that his pushback frustrated the president. Tillerson said he offered to lobby Congress to pass legislation enabling the president to get what he wanted legally. "We can go back to Congress and get this law changed," he said. "And if that's what you want to do, there's nothing wrong with that. I told him I'm ready to go up there and fight the fight, if that's what you want to do." Tillerson apparently did not elaborate on what the president asked him to do that he viewed as illegal. Trump fired Tillerson in March after a rocky stint as America's top diplomat. The two former businessmen battled publicly over the administration's handling of negotiations with North Korea about the country's nuclear weapons program. The two also disagreed about the Iran nuclear deal. Tensions ratcheted up after NBC News reported that Tillerson had publicly referred to Trump as a "moron." The White House did not respond to a request for comment. A State Department spokesperson referred CNBC to Tillerson for an explanation of his comments. Tillerson could not immediately be reached. In May, Tillerson delivered a thinly veiled rebuke to the president during a commencement address at the Virginia Military Institute. "If our leaders seek to conceal the truth or we as people become accepting of alternative realities that are no longer grounded in facts, then we as American citizens are on a pathway to relinquishing our freedom," he said at the time. On Thursday, Tillerson said that the way Americans consumed news concerned him, in an apparent reference to Twitter, the president's favored tool for foreign policy announcements. "I will be honest with you, it troubles me that the American people seem to want to know so little about issues, that they are satisfied with a 128 characters," Tillerson said. He said that the comment was not a criticism of Trump. "It's really a concern that I have about us as Americans and us as a society and us as citizens," he said. WATCH: Here's how Trump's tweets can cost a company billions of dollars Google's creation of a censored search engine for China, known as "Project Dragonfly," is proof China has made "successful efforts to recruit Western companies to their information control efforts," said Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) in Washington D.C. Friday. "It's pretty amazing to me that Google is actually looking to work with China to develop a censored version of its search engine in China," Warner said at the event hosted by the Center for New American Security. "Today China's cyber and censorship infrastructure is the envy of authoritarian regimes around the world. China is now exporting both its technology and its cyber-sovereignty doctrine to countries like Venezuela, Ethiopia, and Pakistan." Project Dragonfly was revealed earlier this year in reports from The Intercept, and has met with protests from employees inside Google, as well as skepticism from lawmakers. Some Google workers had pledged to strike due to the initiative. Google has characterized the project as "exploratory," and "no decision has been made about whether we could or would launch," a spokesperson said November 29. "As we've explored the project, many privacy and security engineers have been consulted, as they always are." Warner's comments were delivered as part of a greater push for a more organized cybersecurity strategy at the federal level. "Our Global Engagement Center at the State Department is not sufficiently equipped to counter propaganda from our adversaries. And the White House has still not clarified roles and responsibilities for cyber across the U.S. government," he said. President Trump has moved more authority to DHS, and recently signed a bill re-naming the agency's cybersecurity arm as the Cybersecurity and Information Security Agency (CISA). In addition to creating international norms for cyber warfare and crime, Warner said other major tech companies including Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, YouTube and Tumblr, "aren't doing nearly enough to prevent their platforms from becoming petri dishes for Russian disinformation and propaganda." He called for more efforts between these companies and government agencies to work together in fighting cybercrime, espionage and disinformation. With the number of people displaced worldwide due to conflict and persecution currently standing at 68.5 million, some start-ups are trying to find innovative ways to help. In Europe in 2015, the continent witnessed an influx of migrants and refugees fleeing conflict in the Middle East, particularly the civil war in Syria. In countries like Finland, technology firms have since formed with the aim of providing services for these refugees. ''There is a labor shortage in Finland, so we knew we had to do something after 32,000 refugees arrived to Finland in 2015, that's when we founded the company," Elisa Vepsalainen, the executive director of Startup Refugees, told CNBC. Alongside digital services firm Futurice, also based in Finland, Startup Refugees created a new match-making tool between newcomers and new companies, called Match Made. "We use it for profiling skills,'' Vepsalainen explained via telephone. The company started by collecting data on refugees in reception centers around Finland to find out background information relating to education and skills, so they could be matched with employers. "Companies in Finland have been increasingly interested in what we are doing and we have achieved some promising results. So far we have supported 65 business teams and offered 554 jobs and more than 5,000 education opportunities,'' Vepsalainen added via email. "It seems that a big part of the solution is that we have been targeting asylum seekers and refugees in the very early stage just after they arrive to the country." She added that Match Made is also scalable and can be used internationally as well. She said they have had a lot of interest from other European countries. Elsewhere, Finnish start-up Funzi has set up a Program for Migrant Integration where projects have been implemented with several partners. These are in the form of mobile services, like courses tailored for asylum seekers in Finland, to help enhance integration. It said its mobile course About Country had more than 20,000 users in the country. The start-up has also helped provide migrants with learning support through its "microMBA" project. It had 70 migrants apply for the program and 40 were selected. The company, which attended the tech event Slush in Helsinki this week, said it was holding a side-event called Splush, to discuss more "Peacetech" solutions. Over in Copenhagen, Denmark, Refunite is a missing persons platform for refugees and displaced populations. It says on its website that it has more than 1 million registered users. It helps displaced people, who have lost contact with family members and friends in their escape from conflicts, to reconnect via a global database. Countries with Refunite mobile projects include Canada, China, France, Austria, Sweden, Australia, and Belgium. Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk stands on the podium as he attends a forum on startups in Hong Kong, China. Tesla announced on Friday that General Counsel Todd Maron is leaving the electric vehicle maker, the second high-ranking attorney to do so this quarter. Last month, Phil Rothenberg left his post as Tesla's Vice President of Legal, to become general counsel at Sonder, a hospitality start-up. The Wall Street Journal reported news of Maron's departure, and Tesla acknowledged the personnel moves in a blog post following the report. The electric car company said it plans to replace Maron with seasoned Beltway trial lawyer Dane Butswinkas, a chairman at Williams & Connolly, who was also a Co-Chair in the firm's Commercial Litigation, Financial Services and Banking Groups. Butswinkas will report directly to CEO Elon Musk, and will oversee Tesla's legal and government relations teams, according to Tesla's statement. Tesla specified, in their announcement, that Maron will stay on through January to ensure a smooth hand-off to his successor. Maron's leaving Tesla comes as a surprise to many due to his longstanding relationship with Musk. He served as the billionaire's divorce attorney via a boutique family law firm, Jaffe and Clemens, prior to joining Tesla in 2013 as deputy counsel. Tesla is currently facing a host of lawsuits and regulatory probes. And the company is working to become compliant with terms of a settlement it struck earlier this year with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, after Musk tweeted that he could take the company private at $420 a share. The settlement requires Tesla to employ an "experienced securities lawyer" to review social media communications by its senior officers, including Musk. WATCH: How taxpayers have boosted Elon Musk and Tesla White House chief of staff John Kelly is expected to leave in the coming days, NBC News reported on Friday. Vice President Mike Pence's chief of staff Nick Ayers is among the candidates who could succeed Kelly. Speculation has swirled about the retired Marine Corps general's exit for months amid disagreements with President Donald Trump. Kelly has increasingly clashed with both national security officials and first lady Melania Trump, NBC reported last month. Trump has reportedly shown frustration with Kelly during the chief of staff's tenure. President Donald Trump answers questions from the press while departing the White House on November 26, 2018 in Washington, DC. Win McNamee | Getty Images President Donald Trump unleashed his rage on Robert Mueller's Russia investigation Friday morning as the special counsel prepared to release new information about close associates of the president who have pleaded guilty to federal crimes. In a series of tweets, Trump aired the many grievances he has repeatedly lodged against the probe. The president tried to paint Mueller and his team as conflicted. He spewed venom at some of his favorite targets, including former FBI Director James Comey and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. U.S. Department of State Spokesperson Heather Nauert speaks during a press conference in Washington, DC. President Donald Trump has decided to name State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert as the ambassador to the United Nations, a source familiar with his decision said on Thursday. Trump will send a tweet on Friday morning about choosing Nauert to replace outgoing U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, who announced her resignation in October, Fox News reported, citing multiple sources. Trump's decision was first reported by Bloomberg News. NBC News confirmed that report with multiple sources. A representative of the State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Haley has held the post since the beginning of Trump's administration and said she would stay in the job through the end of the year. Nauert, whose nomination would require Senate confirmation, is a former Fox News Channel correspondent and anchor. She does not have prior political or policy-making experience. Nauert became the State Department spokeswoman in April 2017 and, earlier this year, was named the acting undersecretary for public diplomacy and public affairs. ABC News reported in November that Nauert had been offered the job, but it was not clear at the time whether she had accepted. CNBC contributed to this report. China, with the aim to fulfill its commitment to the handling of global climate change, will gradually reduce and remove the subsidies to the development of new energy products by 2020 to enhance their competiveness in the market. "In confronting climate change, China, whether domestically or globally, has been playing a leading role. China's efforts have also been recognized and praised by others," said He Jiankun, vice chairman of National Experts Panel on Climate Change of China, on Tuesday at the UN Climate Change Conference in Katowice, Poland. As Global Times writes in an article "Nation leads global climate change efforts to reduce emissions", China has been playing a leading role in reducing carbon dioxide emissions and has achieved much in the past years, showing its determination to contribute to the global ecology, officials said. The international society looks to China's actions on carbon emissions, which are determined by China's status, He told the press at the China Pavilion. "A country's emissions quantity is one thing, but more importantly, more attention should be given to the country's contributions to confronting climate change, as well as its influence in the process," he said. As of 2017, China had cut carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP by 46 percent from the 2005 level, fulfilling its commitment to reduce CO2 emissions by 40 to 45 percent from the 2005 level by 2020, the Xinhua News Agency reported in March. As a rapidly developing country, He noted that while China's overall carbon emissions continue to increase, its emissions per GDP are declining, which means the economic benefits per CO2 unit are rising. Meanwhile, the rate of decline in China is 4 percent, faster than many developed countries. He said that from 2015 to 2030, China will build new energy and renewable energy generators that would provide as much power as all types of US generators. He told the Global Times that China supports and subsidizes new energy products where new technologies are developed. When subsidies are gradually decreased and removed by 2020, the cost of new energy could already be very low and competitive in the market. When asked if China felt more pressure after the US abandoned the Paris Agreement, He told the Global Times that other countries expect China to take a greater leadership role. The principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and capabilities has been recognized, He noted. "We will base our efforts on our development stage and do what we are capable of. While contributing to mankind, China is also promoting domestic sustainable development and will stick to our own principles." Niklas Hagelberg, UN Climate Change Programme coordinator, said he is optimistic about China's work on reducing carbon emissions. "Even though China's emissions are that high, there's a large now interesting progress happening," he told the Global Times on Monday, citing the development of electric vehicles in China. China is at the center of negotiations. China's progress can advance negotiations, he said. In his meeting with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday, Li Ganjie, China's Minister of Ecology and Environment, said that China has actively participated in the multilateral process on climate change and has made the best efforts to deal with global climate change. President Donald Trump gives a thumbs-up as he speaks to the press as he walks to Marine One prior to departing from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, December 7, 2018. President Donald Trump signed a bill to extend government funding for two weeks, putting off a potential government shutdown, the White House said Friday. The legislation to keep the government open through Dec. 21 will delay a politically pitched fight over the president's proposed border wall. Funding for parts of the government was set to expire Friday. Both chambers of Congress passed the measure Thursday by voice vote. Congress still needs to fund seven agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security, which has become the biggest hurdle to a spending agreement. Trump seeks $5 billion for his proposed physical barrier on the U.S.-Mexico border. Democrats, on the other hand, appear willing to give only up to $1.6 billion for border security measures such as fencing. The president will meet with the Democratic congressional leaders, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, on Tuesday to discuss funding. Pelosi said Thursday that she would not exchange wall funding for legal protections for young immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children a major priority for the California Democrat. Avoiding a shutdown could become even more complicated. Trump "indicated he supports" adding a bipartisan criminal justice reform bill, along with wall funding, to the year-end spending bill, Sen. Lindsey Graham tweeted after speaking to the president Friday. "I agree with him on both," the South Carolina Republican wrote. Subscribe to CNBC on YouTube. WATCH: Here are the businesses profiting from immigration enforcement President Donald Trump said Friday will name State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert to succeed Nikki Haley as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Nauert lacks the foreign policy experience typical for the role but is seen as a close ally of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. She is a former journalist who has worked at ABC News and Fox News, including as a presenter on Fox & Friends, a show preferred by the president. The announcement does not come as a surprise. Bloomberg News first reported the president's offer to Nauert on Thursday. Nauert had accepted the offer, according to the outlet. The president confirmed the report on Friday to reporters on the White House South Lawn. In choosing Nauert, Trump passed over other top choices, including Goldman Sachs executive Dina Powell, ambassador to Canada Kelly Craft, failed U.S. Senate candidate John James, and Richard Grenell, the U.S. ambassador to Germany and former U.S. spokesperson at the UN. Nauert was named State Department spokeswoman last year and was promoted to acting undersecretary for public diplomacy and public affairs in March. Her new role will require Senate confirmation. Haley, the former two-term governor of South Carolina, was named U.N. ambassador shortly after Trump's 2016 election. In October, she announced that she would be departing from the role at the end of the year. An aide on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee told NBC News it was "highly unlikely" that any nominee would be able to complete the necessary paperwork and meetings to advance to a hearing before the end of the year. The paperwork required includes financial disclosures and a questionnaire from the committee members. Mall and shopping center owners across the U.S. are starting to talk about change, realizing that if their centers keep the same antiquated models, anchored solely by department stores, they risk them going dark in the coming years. Roaming the halls of the largest retail real estate conference on the East Coast this past week, put on by ICSC, were more digital brands than traditional ones. Companies that started selling goods on the web like Warby Parker, Untuckit, Allbirds, M.Gemi and Winky Lux were taking meetings with landlords about opening stores. Also making a big splash were new concepts like Neighborhood Goods, Fourpost, Brand Box and HiO, which are pushing a new model where a slew of brands come together in one space, on a rotating basis, to sell merchandise targeting younger generations of shoppers. "We are all getting more creative," Michael Glimcher, CEO of Starwood Retail Partners, told CNBC. Starwood is privately held and owns 30 malls and lifestyle centers across the U.S., including Metreon in San Francisco and The Shops at Willow Bend in Plano, Texas. "What you realize as a landlord is that by being more creative it makes every mall different and every [shopping] trip different" for customers, he said. "It historically has been us asking: What is the best retail use for a property? Now it's: What is the highest and best use for this real estate" no matter if it's a Macy's store, an office complex, a medical facility or apartments. As 2018 comes to an end, it's been announced that more than 146 million square feet of retail space will be shut across the U.S. in malls and shopping centers, according to real estate research group CoStar. That's far more than the roughly 105 million square feet of space that was announced for closure in 2017. Sears, typically occupying more than 100,000 square feet for each of its stores, has contributed to a large share of closures this year, in addition to Toys R Us and Bon-Ton. And Sears' future is still uncertain as it's in the midst of bankruptcy court proceedings, with hundreds of stores still open for business. But many real estate owners and investors said this week at ICSC that they've already started to plan for a complete liquidation, should the department store chain be forced to shut all of its remaining locations. "The [mall] anchors going out of business deserve to go out of business," Pyramid CEO Steve Congel told CNBC. Pyramid is a privately held company that runs more than a dozen malls across the country, including Palisades Center in New York. "The consumer changes and preferences change," Congel said. "You have to not only reinvest but you have to provide people with what they want. We're letting the consumer dictate what to put in our mall." An industry that has long been opposed to negotiating short-term deals with tenants because they promise a less stable flow of rent income is now welcoming pop-up marketplaces like Brand Box or The Edit. And that's as digital brands, which were initially not thinking about opening stores, are investing heavily in bricks and mortar. Commercial real estate firm JLL has predicted e-commerce companies including Casper and Adore Me will open at least 850 stores, altogether, in the next five years. According to Glimcher, the retail real estate industry is "turning a corner." And Sears filing for bankruptcy helped with that, he said, even though it meant hundreds of Sears and Kmart stores going dark. "Now it can all wash out." Landlords including Simon and Seritage have already come out and said they see Sears store closures as opportunities to create more profitable centers. Seritage in particular is in a unique position in that its business was created entirely from Sears stores as a spinoff in 2015. But Seritage CEO Ben Schall has told shareholders that the real estate investment trust has the ability to redevelop its assets thanks to a $2 billion loan it received from Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway. "One would like to believe there's a mass answer [to fill closed stores] but there's not," Neill Kelly, head of the retail restructuring practice at commercial real estate services provider CBRE, told CNBC. "But that doesn't mean the better-positioned malls won't use the opportunity to create value, provided the ... store closures don't exceed their ability from a capital standpoint to repurpose those spaces." The Justice Department is prepared to charge hackers who allegedly targeted U.S. technology service providers under the direction of Beijing, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. The sources told the Journal that criminal charges could land as soon as next week. The newspaper reported that the goal was to gain access to the providers' networks and steal intellectual property from American companies and agencies. The Journal reported that the targeted companies provided a broad range of services including technology infrastructure management and cloud storage. It did not specify how many hackers are expected to be charged or how many companies were targeted in this scheme. The report comes amid strained trade tensions between the U.S. and China. On Saturday, U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to a trade cease-fire, pledging to not levy new tariffs as the two countries negotiate. Yet, just days after that agreement, Trump threatened more duties if talks fell through, calling himself "a Tariff Man." Intellectual property theft has been a chief concern for U.S. companies with operations in China. In the White House statement about the Saturday meeting, the Trump administration said negotiations will include discussions about "structural changes" on a number of issues including intellectual property protection and cyber theft. On the same day as the Trump-Xi meeting, Canadian authorities arrested the chief financial officer of China's Huawei, one of the world's largest makers of telecommunications equipment. Canada said it detained Meng Wanzhou at the request of U.S. authorities. Meng is facing extradition to the U.S. amid allegations of violating sanctions on Iran. The U.S. has also previously warned consumers about buying Huawei phones amid concerns about their potential to be used for espionage. Read the full report in The Wall Street Journal. Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou, who was arrested on an extradition warrant, appears at her B.C. Supreme Court bail hearing along with a translator, in a drawing in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada December 7, 2018. Jane Wolsak | Reuters U.S. prosecutors want a top executive of China's Huawei Technologies, the world's largest supplier of telecommunications network equipment, to face charges of fraud linked to the skirting of Iran sanctions, a Vancouver court heard on Friday. Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou, 46, daughter of the founder of the company, which U.S. intelligence agencies allege is linked to China's government, was arrested in Canada on Dec. 1 at the request of the United States. U.S. prosecutors want to extradite Meng to face accusations that she misrepresented Huawei's relationship to a company they said had transacted business in Iran despite U.S. sanctions, according to evidence read in a bail hearing in court on Friday. The news of Meng's arrest has roiled global stock markets on fears it could escalate a trade war between the United States and China after a truce was agreed last week between President Donald Trump and China's leader Xi Jinping. The United States has 60 days to make a formal extradition request, which a Canadian judge will weigh to determine whether there is a strong case against Meng. Then it is up to Canada's justice minister to decide whether to extradite her. If extradited to the United States, Meng would face charges of conspiracy to defraud multiple financial institutions, the court heard, with a maximum sentence of 30 years for each charge. Friday's hearing was to present arguments for and against releasing Meng while her case proceeds. A judge could release Meng on no conditions, on strict conditions, or decide to keep her in custody for the duration. Iran Business From 2009 to 2014, the court heard, Huawei used Hong Kong-base Skycom Tech to carry out business in Iran despite U.S. and European Union bans. In January 2013, Reuters reported that Skycom, which attempted to sell embargoed Hewlett-Packard computer equipment to Iran's largest mobile-phone operator, had much closer ties to Huawei than previously known. Meng, who also has used the English names Cathy and Sabrina, served on the board of Skycom between February 2008 and April 2009, according to Skycom records and several other past and present Skycom directors appear to have connections to Huawei. The United States has been looking since at least 2016 into whether Huawei violated U.S. sanctions against Iran, Reuters reported in April. U.S. intelligence agencies also allege that Huawei is linked to China's government and that its equipment could contain "backdoors" for use by government spies. No evidence has been produced publicly and the firm has repeatedly denied the claims. Bazaar Corporate Radar | Feb 22, 2021, 12:00 AM IST Bazaar Corporate Radar Bazaar Corporate Radar is your window into the minds of top CEOs, Boardrooms, global economists, fund managers and sector analysts. If it?s making news, you?ll find it on Bazaar Corporate Radar. REFINITIV 15 Colorado Politics is published both in print and online. Our website features subscriber-only news stories daily, designed for public policy arena professionals. Member subscribers also receive the weekly print edition of our award-winning newspaper, containing outstanding features and news stories, in their mailboxes every Saturday. OPEC has reportedly agreed to cut oil production, but the cartel ended its closely-watched meeting on Thursday without specifying how many barrels it would aim to remove from the market. As CNBC writes in an article "OPEC meeting ends with no decision on production levels", the influential OPEC oil cartel gathered at its headquarters in Vienna, Austria with the aim of reaching an accord over throttling back output. The 15-member organization will hold talks with allied oil-producing nations including Russia on Friday. The much-anticipated meeting comes at a time when the oil market is near the bottom of its worst price plunge since the 2008 financial crisis. Oil prices have crashed around 30 percent over the last two months, ratcheting up the pressure on budgets in oil-exporting countries. Yet Russia's refusal to commit to a production quota and OPEC's failure to hammer out the details of a deal underscore the divisions within the two-year-old alliance, despite consensus that the group needs to take some form of action to boost the market. OPEC has agreed in principle to reduce its output, two sources told Reuters on Thursday. However, OPEC delayed making a decision on how deeply it would cut production until after it meets with Russia on Friday. With few details to offer journalists, OPEC canceled a scheduled press conference. "The fact that they're saying the debate will continue tomorrow emphasizes the disarray," said John Kilduff, founding partner at energy hedge fund Again Capital. Saudi Arabia, OPEC's largest producer, signaled earlier on Thursday that the group may reduce production less than the market expected. The Saudis have been leading calls for the group to trim output, amid surging supply and fears that an economic slowdown will erode fuel demand. The oil-rich kingdom has previously indicated it wants the group to curb output by at least 1.3 million barrels per day. However, Saudi Arabia's Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih told reporters Thursday morning that an output cut of 1 million bpd would be sufficient for OPEC and its allied producers. That is in part because Alberta, Canada announced this week it would require producers to cut output by about 325,000 bpd to drain the province's brimming crude stockpiles. "The number that we need is going to be less than 1.3 [million]. Is it a million? Is it slightly less, slightly more? We have all day today and some of tomorrow to determine those numbers," Falih said. That prompted international benchmark Brent crude and U.S. West Texas Intermediate to fall more than 4 percent, as energy market participants feared the energy alliance would only manage to impose measures at the bottom end of expectations. Brent was trading at $59.09 a barrel, down 4 percent, at around 11:22 a.m. ET (1522 GMT), while WTI stood at $50.57, down 4.4 percent. Ahead of the meeting, the likely outcome was OPEC and non-OPEC members would agree to a supply cut of around 1 million to 1.4 million bpd. As always though, the hard part for the energy alliance is not figuring out a number, but rather how the group divvies up the cuts. Russia has appeared reluctant to sign off on a reversal in production strategy. The non-OPEC heavyweight has warned the energy alliance must tread carefully this week to ensure it does not change course by 180 degrees whenever it meets. OPEC began capping supply in partnership with Russia and several other nations last year in order to end a punishing downturn in oil prices. The alliance reversed course and agreed to hike output in June after it removed more barrels from the market than it intended, largely due to the ongoing freefall in Venezuelan output and supply disruptions in Libya. Five unnamed delegates told Reuters ahead of the meeting that the group's preferred level of supply cuts would effectively be conditional on Moscow's contribution. Complicating matters further, U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday renewed his call for OPEC to keep production steady and reduce the cost of crude. "Hopefully OPEC will be keeping oil flows as is, not restricted. The world does not want to see, or need, higher oil prices!" Trump said in a tweet on Wednesday. The U.S. president is publicly in favor of low fuel prices and has urged Saudi Arabia to drive crude futures even lower at OPEC's final meeting of the calendar year. Saudi Arabia comes into the meeting badly bruised by revelations that agents of the kingdom murdered Washington Post columnist and U.S. resident Jamal Khashoggi in October. Trump is standing by his allies in Riyadh, but he's made it clear he wants the Saudis to keep a lid on oil prices. Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. Chinese scientists called for controlling global warming to reduce droughts. Xinhua reports with a reference to researchers at the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography at the Academy of Sciences of China, that if the global temperature rises by 1.5-2 degrees Celsius, the intensity and impact of droughts can be very serious. Green and sustainable development may be a suitable choice to mitigate the economic damage caused by extreme weather, according to Chinese scientists. As Global Times writes in the article Nation leads global climate change efforts to reduce emissions, China has been playing a leading role in reducing carbon dioxide emissions and has achieved much in the past years, showing its determination to contribute to the global ecology, officials said. China, with the aim to fulfill its commitment to the handling of global climate change, will gradually reduce and remove the subsidies to the development of new energy products by 2020 to enhance their competiveness in the market. "In confronting climate change, China, whether domestically or globally, has been playing a leading role. China's efforts have also been recognized and praised by others," said He Jiankun, vice chairman of National Experts Panel on Climate Change of China, on Tuesday at the UN Climate Change Conference in Katowice, Poland. The international society looks to China's actions on carbon emissions, which are determined by China's status, He told the press at the China Pavilion. "A country's emissions quantity is one thing, but more importantly, more attention should be given to the country's contributions to confronting climate change, as well as its influence in the process," he said. As of 2017, China had cut carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP by 46 percent from the 2005 level, fulfilling its commitment to reduce CO2 emissions by 40 to 45 percent from the 2005 level by 2020, the Xinhua News Agency reported in March. As a rapidly developing country, He noted that while China's overall carbon emissions continue to increase, its emissions per GDP are declining, which means the economic benefits per CO2 unit are rising. Meanwhile, the rate of decline in China is 4 percent, faster than many developed countries. He said that from 2015 to 2030, China will build new energy and renewable energy generators that would provide as much power as all types of US generators. He told the Global Times that China supports and subsidizes new energy products where new technologies are developed. When subsidies are gradually decreased and removed by 2020, the cost of new energy could already be very low and competitive in the market. When asked if China felt more pressure after the US abandoned the Paris Agreement, He told the Global Times that other countries expect China to take a greater leadership role. The principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and capabilities has been recognized, He noted. "We will base our efforts on our development stage and do what we are capable of. While contributing to mankind, China is also promoting domestic sustainable development and will stick to our own principles." Niklas Hagelberg, UN Climate Change Programme coordinator, said he is optimistic about China's work on reducing carbon emissions. "Even though China's emissions are that high, there's a large now interesting progress happening," he told the Global Times on Monday, citing the development of electric vehicles in China. China is at the center of negotiations. China's progress can advance negotiations, he said. In his meeting with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday, Li Ganjie, China's Minister of Ecology and Environment, said that China has actively participated in the multilateral process on climate change and has made the best efforts to deal with global climate change. The Missourians Opinion section is a public forum for the discussion of ideas. The views presented in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Missourian or the University of Missouri. If you would like to contribute to the Opinion page with a response or an original topic of your own, visit our submission form Can a Government-crafted amendment to next weeks vote save Mays face? However Mrs May would have to ask Parliaments permission to put back the vote, running the risk that she could be humiliated by being forced to go ahead with it against her will. A EU leaders give May the chance to ask for more at summit The Times How May could yet get her plan through Parliament Daily Telegraph Shock poll savages exit plan Daily Express n alternative under discussion is a Government amendment to next weeks vote on the Withdrawal Agreement that would, in theory, give MPs more control over the Northern Ireland backstop arrangement the main stumbling block in the way of the deal. Mrs May could even go to Brussels before the vote and plead with the EU for a last-minute concession on the backstop to ease the logjam. It came as Philip Hammond, the Chancellor, told the Commons it was simply a delusion to think that Brussels would offer Britain a better deal at this late stage, which could undermine any attempt by Mrs May to persuade rebel MPs otherwise. Esther McVey, who resigned as work and pensions secretary last month over Brexit, has told The Daily Telegraph that the Government has lost the publics trust by trying to sell a terrible deal to the public. Daily Telegraph Ministers: McVey: I knew deal was terrible, but colleagues just crumbled Daily Telegraph Hammond insists Withdrawal Agreement is only way to stop chaos The Times Rudd demands 11th-hour solution Daily Mail Ministers and EU turn screws on rebels The Sun Comment: Mays powers of persuasion reach their nadir just when she needs them most Mark Wallace, Daily Telegraph >Today: ToryDiary: Exclusive. Tory Association Chairmen protest against the misuse of Party funds on propaganda campaign backing the deal >Yesterday: Or will the vote be pulled altogether as Brady now urges? The leader of the Tory back benches last night told Theresa May to go back to Brussels for further talks rather than see her Brexit deal defeated heavily next week. Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of the 1922 Committee, who relays backbench opinion to Downing Street, broke cover to appeal for her to consider a delay to the vote on Tuesday. Downing Street remains adamant that Mrs May is pressing ahead with the vote as scheduled despite growing cabinet unease. The prime minister yesterday called a group of supportive senior ministers to a meeting in No 10, including David Lidington; David Gauke; Amber Rudd; Karen Bradley; Philip Hammond; Michael Gove; Julian Smith; Liam Fox and Stephen Barclay. Andrea Leadsom, the Brexiteer leader of the house, was also invited. Although once considered hostile, Ms Leadsom has backed the deal unlike Penny Mordaunt, the international development secretary, a notable absentee. The Times Rivals circle as the Prime Minister refuses to back down Daily Express Mays indecision leaves even loyalists wondering what will happen Daily Telegraph Prime Minister hits back at calls for delay The Sun No Deal: Threat of no deal a political hoax, Labour MPs told The Times Warning that settled status of EU nationals could be in doubt FT Ministers will order pharmacists to ration drugs Daily Telegraph Bodies could be left unburied, council warns The Guardian Editorial: Mays best chance could now be to delay the vote Daily Telegraph Why plough on with a vote she looks sure to lose? The Sun >Today: Tom Tugendhat MP in Comment: Brexit can only work if we invest in it streamlining ports, upgrading customs, readying systems, working with neighbours >Yesterday: Hunt warns that reversing Brexit risks social unrest in Tuesdays vote and warned that any attempt to frustrate or soften Brexit risked a public backlash. For me as someone who voted Remain, my view is we will not have social stability in this country if we end with a solution that doesnt mean that we have parliamentary control of immigration policy, he said. The Times Leave campaign plans quietly for a second referendum FT McCluskey attacked by Labour veterans over opposition to vote The Sun but Corbyn sends strong signal that he will back one Daily Mail Collapse in pound would be no bad thing, claims Davis The Times Any attempt to reverse Brexit or give up control of immigration will lead to social unrest, Jeremy Hunt has said, warning that people would lose faith in democracy if the referendum result were overturned. The foreign secretary said Theresa Mays hawkish approach to curbing migration meant she was more in tune with voters than her four predecessors as prime minister, insisting that Britain could not accept freedom of movement as the price of a deal with the EU. In an interview withRed Box politics podcast about the threats to democracy around the world, Mr Hunt said parliament must be very careful not to get out of step with where the public are on Brexit. He urged MPs to back Mrs Mays deal Comment: May should offer MPs a second referendum, knowing theyll reject it Philip Collins, The Times You want a peoples vote on Brexit? Be careful what you wish for Ellie Mae OHagan, The Guardian >Yesterday: Senior Norwegian politicians reject Norway Plus Norway Plus, the increasingly touted cross-party plan for the UK to leave the EU but join Norway in a free trade trade area inside the EU single market, has been rejected by senior Norwegian politicians and business as neither in Norway nor the UKs interest. The UK would need Norways permission to join its EFTA club. The rejection is a blow to an influential cross-party group led by the Tory MP Nick Boles with private cabinet support that is looking for a Plan B if, as expected, Theresa Mays deal is rejected by MPs next Tuesday. Norway Plus was also condemned on Friday by David Miliband, the former Labour foreign secretary, and Jo Johnson, the former Conservative universities minister, as throwing away a key advantage of current membership in the form of our vote, voice and veto around the table. Their joint assault on Norway Plus, in a pamphlet written by the Peoples Vote campaign, is in some senses confirmation that the Boles plan could become a credible rival to a second referendum as a MPs search for a way out of a potential Commons deadlock. The Guardian Warring MPs should realise all Brexit roads lead to Norway Simon Jenkins, The Guardian >Today: Interviews: As Mays defeat looms, Johnson sketches a manifesto: People want to see a bit of gumption and a bit of leadership Mundell claims Brexit poses a greater threat to the Union than the backstop Northern Irish solution re-opens Scottish question FT A no deal Brexit poses a greater threat to the United Kingdoms survival than the Northern Ireland backstop, the Scottish Secretary has warned wavering Tory MPs ahead of next weeks crucial vote on the agreement. David Mundell, who suggested in October he would quit if the deal introduced a differentiated settlement for the province, said he had since made a different judgment based on what is the greatest threat to the integrity of the UK. While he admitted he is not totally comfortable about the backstop, he said his clear conclusion was that the chaos and division created by a no deal Brexit would be far worse for the Union. In a keynote speech in London, he warned Nicola Sturgeon craves this outcome to propel her obsessive pursuit of independence. He said she was pursuing a threadbare and cynical strategy. The First Minister yesterday told MSPs that the chances of stopping Brexit and remaining in the EU are the highest since the Brexit vote. Daily Telegraph >Yesterday: Henry Hills Red, White, and Blue column: Unionist parties unite against backstop as Varadkar rules out fresh talks Fraser Nelson: Operation Stop Boris is in full swing I have stopped trying to understand why Boris annoys so many Tories, but he currently seems to have more enemies than any other MP has friends. The Stop Boris faction is perhaps the largest leadership group in parliament, and met last week to compare notes. They intend to announce that, if he becomes leader, they would immediately resign the Tory whip in protest. They claim to have about 20 MPs in their political suicide pact, enough to deny their party a majority. So theyd say to their colleagues: back Boris, and lose power. They are now ready to go. One of the Stop Boris group even met his constituency party chairman last week to seek approval for his sitting as an independent MP. Permission was granted, he says, because his local party members hate Boris even more than he does. Such claims puzzle Boris, but they dont deter him. He regrets not pushing ahead with his last leadership bid and wont pass the chance up this time. He is not a schemer, which is precisely his problem. He hasnt bothered to butter anyone up, which is seen by his enemies as arrogance. Daily Telegraph A vote for Mays deal is a vote for mediocrity: Britain can be so much more Ben Bradley MP, Daily Telegraph Ministers outraged by Smiths secret documentary Cabinet colleagues rounded on the Conservative chief whip last night after it emerged that he had invited television cameras to film him for a documentary during the past two weeks. Tory MPs were shocked to discover that Julian Smith, who took his post a little more than a year ago, had invited ITV News to film his meetings and discussions with rebel MPs. Downing Street did not deny that it had been informed of the filming only after it began, in a move likely to strain relations at a critical stage before Tuesdays vote. One cabinet minister called Mr Smiths decision crazy. A backbench MP wrote: OMG. A fly on the wall documentary. Just what you need to be happening when youre focusing on the most important vote of your government!!!!! Footage shows Chief Whip failing to get MP on board Daily Telegraph McVey attacks bully McDonnell Few chief whips are actively popular in the party but Mr Smith has made firm enemies. In the interview he says little of substance, refusing to talk about the discussions over the vote or relationship with the DUP, merely repeating that he wants to stop MPs thwarting the will of the people by voting down the deal. The Times Esther McVey has accused John McDonnell of inciting violence against her, saying his lynching comments made it unsafe for her to walk the streets of her constituency. Labours shadow chancellor was criticised in 2014 for repeating comments calling the former work and pensions a b**** who deserved to be lynched. Describing McDonnell as a bully, the Tatton MP, 51, told the Telegraph: Labour always made it very personal against me because I was a Liverpudlian who dared to become a Conservative. Then I stood and after 10 years I won and they couldnt believe that would happen in a Merseyside area. Then I was put in charge of benefits. When I got the lynching comments I thought you havent thought about the power of your words, John McDonnell, to come into a council estate and say something like that unthinkingly. Maybe youre not going to do anything John, but you dont understand what could happen on social media and you didnt realise what unforeseen consequences and how dangerous then my life was going to become in that area. Daily Telegraph Ministers and NHS chief at loggerheads over targets News in Brief: Brexit is breathing fresh life into the British constitution Andrew Gimson, CapX There can be no Brexit deal as long as delusions of easy alternatives persist Wolfgang Munchau, Reaction The gilets jaunes have become a symbol of resistance worn with pride by the downtrodden Gavin Mortimer, The Spectator The UKs unnoticed export boom underlines why a no-deal Brexit is nothing to fear Marcus Gibson, Brexit Central The head of the NHS and the government are at loggerheads over how much the health service can be improved for the 20.5bn extra Theresa May has pledged to give it, the Guardian can reveal. Simon Stevens, the chief executive of NHS England, has been having major disagreements behind the scenes in recent weeks with Downing Street, the Treasury and Department of Health and Social Care about how much the forthcoming NHS long-term plan can promise to boost care. Tension and difficulties have emerged during detailed horsetrading between the two sides amid sharp differences of opinion over the extent of the documents ambitions, well-placed NHS and Whitehall sources have told the Guardian. Negotiations have left ministers fed up and deeply irritated that Stevens is refusing to include explicit guarantees they believe will reassure voters that the service will improve dramatically over the next five years thanks to the extra money Ministers have told NHS England the plan should include specific annual improvements it will promise to make every year between 2019-20 and 2023-24 in its most challenging areas. The Guardian Interview. As Mays defeat looms, Johnson sketches a manifesto: People want to see a bit of gumption and a bit of leadership Boris Johnson expects Theresa May to be defeated in next Tuesdays vote and in this interview lays out what he thinks should happen next. Although the former Foreign Secretary does not call on her to stand down if she loses, his remarks are bound to be seen as his manifesto for the leadership race which would ensue were she to do so. And the approach he advocates to Brexit is so completely at odds with hers that it is impossible to see how she could follow it. Even if her proposed Withdrawal Deal is rejected by only a single vote, he wants it thrown out. Johnson claims that last December he was misled by the Prime Minister and Gavin Barwell, in total bad faith, that no real concessions were being made on the crucial question of the Northern Ireland backstop. He also rules out throwing his weight behind the Norway option, saying that the EEA just doesnt work for us. The problem with it is that youre even more of a rules taker than you are under this deal. Instead of either it or EEA membership, he wants a generous, optimistic, energetic renegotiation which has a big free trade agreement at the heart of it it and gets rid of the backstop. Until these objectives have been attained, British negotiators must refuse to hand over 39 billion to Brussels, and must show they are not afraid of going to World Trade Organisation rules should that prove necessary: I dont want to pretend to the public there would be no disruption at all. I dont want to pretend there would be no challenges at all. But what people I think want to see is a bit of gumption from this country and a bit of willingness to tackle those problems, and a bit of leadership. And I think people are fed up of being told their country cant do something and were all incapable of sorting out these logistical problems. Johnson accuses May and the Treasury of exploiting the issue of the Northern Ireland border in order to remain closely tied to the EU: The manacles have been co-forged, if you like, by us. We have decided to collaborate in our own incarceration. Its unbelievable. Its a kind of S&M approach to Government. What perversion is it where you want to be locked up in chains? The interview was carried out yesterday afternoon by Paul Goodman and Andrew Gimson, who began by reminding Johnson of a curious piece of unfinished business between himself and Conservative Campaign Headquarters. ConHome: Its four months since CCHQ launched an inquiry into you following your remarks about the burka. Whats going on? Johnson: I have no knowledge whatever of whats going on. ConHome: Have you not heard from them? Johnson: No. ConHome: Theyve not said anything at all? Johnson: No. There was a lot of toing and froing in the initial phases. Theres been nothing for months. ConHome: They accused you of breaking their code of conduct, set up this massive inquiry, then nothing? Johnson: I think my best course on this particular issue, gentlemen, is to say I want to talk about other things. In a nutshell, what needs to happen now is we need to do two things. I think we need to throw out this deal. ConHome: Should Theresa May pull the vote? Johnson: Thats a matter for the Prime Minister. But I think it would be pretty odd to pull the vote now. I think theres been a negotiation, that negotiation has concluded, the 27 plus one have agreed a treaty, we want to sign up to it and to get it through Parliament. I think it would be very, very odd now not to give Parliament its promised say on that treaty. So I hope that it will proceed to a vote. I believe that it will and I think that it will be voted down. Its then that we need to do two things Im assuming that its voted down. I dont want to anticipate the margin. ConHome: Youre not anticipating some trick of the whips light, whereby you dont get to vote on this motion at all theres some cunning amendment by which the Government loses by less, which allows her to come back again? Johnson: People want to be able to express their views and the views of their constituents on the Withdrawal Agreement. Thats the agreement that determines our future negotiations with Brussels and indeed probably determines our future constitution for many, many years to come. And I think for us not now to have a vote on that, the Government and Prime Minister having agreed it, at 27 plus one, would be a very, very serious mistake, and I think people would notice it and I think they would feel cheated. I also think by the way that to withdraw the vote now would be an admission of defeat an admission that it was not something that had found favour with Parliament. I think the vote will go ahead, I think it will be defeated, I cant prophesy the margin. And what needs to happen then is that we need to renegotiate, and renegotiate in a generous, optimistic, energetic way that goes back to some of the principles the Prime Minister outlined at Lancaster House, reinstates the idea of putting a big free trade agreement at the heart of it, gets rid of the Northern Irish backstop, which is a peculiarity and unnecessary it is simply not true to say that you need a backstop in order to have a treaty and remit all discussions about the solution of the Irish border question to the two-year period or the 18-month period at least that follows leaving on 29th March 2019. And on the Irish border question its very important to stress that this is a difficult question and obviously a sensitive question, but it is not an insuperable question. No one should minimise the issues, on the other hand nor should we exaggerate them. ConHome: You didnt say anywhere that there should be a hard border, did you? Johnson: No, no, no. And both Michel Barnier and the Dublin Government and London and the Prime Minister have said there is no need for a hard border. As you know Jon Thompson, head of HMRC, has said the same. So that issue of how to get the maximum facilitation provisions in, so as to deliver frictionless trade and yet for the whole of the UK to come out of the Customs Union and out of the Single Market that solution is eminently deliverable, but the time to deliver it and the time to elaborate those provisions is during the IP [Implementation Period], during the period up to the end of 2020. ConHome: Just on the backstop, what did you agree to last December? Johnson: Well last December what the Joint Report said was that failing all other solutions Northern Ireland should remain in alignment for goods and agrifoods. But it was nothing like as predatory upon Northern Ireland as the backstop, because it certainly didnt say, for instance, that the EU could veto the UKs exit from that arrangement. Indeed that arrangement, the Joint Report of 8th December, was presented to all Government ministers by Number Ten as being a mere form of words, this is just language that we need. ConHome: Do you feel you were misled about that? Johnson: Yes I do, and I think colleagues would say the same. ConHome: The famous Michael Gove article in The Sunday Telegraph, in which its claimed, briefed by Downing Street, that the backstop wouldnt really have any force. Johnson: Thats right. No we were given to understand and I remember going over to Number Ten, because my lawyers in the Foreign Office were extremely agitated about it, because contrary to popular belief, there are plenty of people in the Foreign Office who are very excited by the idea of Brexit and having an independent foreign policy and doing things differently, and they certainly were keen to vindicate the law as they saw it and to make sure we didnt make any mistakes. And that provision in the 8th December Joint Report was something they were very concerned about. And I was very concerned about it and had a lot of argument about it and a lot of toing and froing. I think it was the evening of the 7th, it was right at the last moment, and I was holding out and holding out, and then I was summoned across to see the Prime Minister and her Chief of Staff. And we sat in the little office there, and you know, I made my points. The problem with that original agreement in the Joint Report was that it seemed to me to undermine our ability to go to no deal, or to walk away from the talks, because le cas echeant [if need be] as they say in Brussels, if you cant do this, then you do this. ConHome: Did they tell you nothing is agreed until everything is agreed? Johnson: That is exactly what they said. So we were told this is entirely provisional, its a stop-gap, its a piece of lumber that is being used to prop up the building until a proper pillar could be constructed. ConHome: By the way, no one thought at that point of bringing in the then Attorney General? Johnson: We werent aware of any legal advice at all at that stage. The crucial thing to remember now is that its very convenient for those who are still in Government to say the real mistake was made back then. But actually thats not true. Because it was perfectly open to the Government at that stage and beyond to say No, no, no, we want a different approach, and it was only on that basis that the thing could be changed. And I was told the priority was to go for options A and B. Option C, youll remember from the Joint Report, No, no, no, well never go for that were just going to put that in so we can get on to the next phase so the Prime Minister can get an agreement at the summit. That was what it was. So that was done in total bad faith. The story of the next six months or so, in which I remained in office, is a story of trying to get things back on track.There was a great struggle going on at the centre of government between what I then called the Forces of Remain, and those that thought we really had to deliver on the verdict of the people, but also, and this is the crucial thing for Conservatives, deliver on our manifesto. And if you look at our manifesto in 2017, imperfect document though it is, or was, or turned out to be, insofar as it spoke of our membership of the EU and of Brexit, it was very clear that we were coming out of the Customs Union, we were coming out of the Single Market. It could not have been clearer. And what we were doing, and what I continue to do, by what Im proposing, is to defend what every Tory was actually elected on. ConHome: If she loses this vote, which some are saying she might well do by a very large margin Johnson: Well I wouldnt want to exaggerate that. One would be enough. ConHome: Even if its by one, can she really go off to Brussels as though nothing has happened, and shouldnt she resign? Johnson: No. The issue I want to focus on is what I think the Government should do irrespective of whatever she decides to do. ConHome: Well it cant exactly be irrespective of her. Shes got to agree with what the Government is doing. Youre suggesting she might resign? Johnson: What she needs to do, or what the Government needs to do, is go back to Brussels and make it very clear that Parliament has not accepted the Withdrawal Agreement, and that its time for the backstop to come out, and time to negotiate a free trade agreement, to use the IP to do that. The idea of handing over 39 billion of taxpayers money now, in advance of the final deal, is very, very strange, and I think actually a complete mistake. And so I think what we need to do in the next phase is to say look, this cash could be available at the end of negotiations if you are supportive. Because at the moment they have not been supportive. They have been massively obstructive. This deal is a disaster for our country. It basically means the EU can blackmail us into any terms they like in the course of the negotiations on our future. Unless every single EU member state agrees to the terms of the new relationship, they can keep us in the backstop. And by being in the backstop, we are confined to the Customs Union, so we cant do any free trade deals. Its nonsense to say we can do free trade deals. The Government must stop saying this. You cant set your own tariffs. Secondly, and perhaps even more destructively, we would be locked in regulatory alignment with the whole of the EU goods and agrifoods acquis, and environment, and social policy, unless we were willing to split up the Union, and split Northern Ireland away from Great Britain. ConHome: Do you think we learned anything new from the Attorneys legal advice on that? Johnson: What it made clear is quite how pessimistic he was about our ability to leave unilaterally. People need to understand that theres a reason why this backstop exists. Its not just that its been invented in Brussels or by the Commission. The manacles have been co-forged, if you like, by us. We have decided to collaborate in our own incarceration. Like Charlie Chaplin in Modern Times, I dont know if you remember, he has the chance to leave prison and he decides to stay. The whole Northern Ireland issue has been a very convenient device for the very large numbers of people in the Treasury and BEIS [Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy] and everywhere else who basically believe we should stay in the signature EU institutions. ConHome: Just a moment ago, you veered between saying what she and the Government needs to do next week, which suggests you think she may not be there next week. Johnson: No, Im sure she will be there next week. ConHome: Youve not sent in a letter? Johnson: You can ask me until youre blue in the face but Im not going to comment on epistolary communications of that nature. ConHome: Youre not saying you havent? Johnson: Im not going to comment on my private correspondence, nor would you expect me to. ConHome: Will you stand if theres a vacancy? Johnson: This is a question of changing the policy, and thats what I have been working to do since I resigned in July, and I think, though I may be wrong, were on the verge of success. I really, really think that after months and months and months, people are really starting to get it. Talk to colleagues now, very, very good and reasonable people, Mark Harper, David Evennett, good, good colleagues of mine, Hugo Swire, the centre of gravity of the Conservative Party, can see that this thing doesnt work. ConHome: Jo Johnson. Johnson: Jo Johnson and many others. ConHome: We have to ask you the pining for the fjords question. Because it is being put around that this is a divided country, and what is required is a healer to come forward and march us all into the EEA and solve the problem and bring everyone together. And this person can be Boris Johnson. Johnson: Well I think there are two traps in that brilliant question, which Im going to try to steer round. The first is that the EEA just doesnt work for us. The problem with it is that youre even more of a rules taker than you are under this deal. ConHome: Its worse, in your view. Johnson: Yes. Norway plus the backstop is worse. Why would you do that? It makes no sense at all. You could imagine a different arrangement than the current IP [Implementation Period]. The current IP is extremely humiliating. We are just straight vassals for the two years. You could imagine that we had a limited period of EEA-style existence. ConHome: This is Norway to Canada? Johnson: It doesnt really work. Youd have to negotiate your way in, and then youd have to negotiate your way out. I dont think its really a runner. ConHome: People like Nick Boles have been speaking in favour. Johnson: I know, but they dont really want to go forward to the Canada solution. ConHome: The standard objection to this is that this is all sound and fury from Boris, because theyre not going to give us Canada unless Northern Ireland is severed off. Johnson: Theyre not going to give us anything until we are treated as sovereign and equal partners in this negotiation. And so far weve given no indication that we are willing to do the thing that is necessary for them to take us seriously. The second thing without which no negotiation can be successful is to do what weve totally failed to do over the last two and a half years, and that is to get ready to come out on WTO terms, and genuinely to be able to offer the EU a solution that they might not like, but will make them sit up and take notice. ConHome: Isnt it the fact that the Government has sabotaged its own option in this regard. The saying used to be that no deal is better than a bad deal. But the Chancellor was in front of a committee on Wednesday saying its all very difficult. Theyve had two years to prepare for this. Johnson: Its unbelievable. Its a kind of S&M approach to Government. What perversion is it where you want to be locked up in chains? ConHome: Well look it up. Johnson: There is a general desire to prove that its impossible to get out. Good economic news was always greeted in the Treasury with remarkable distaste. ConHome: Shouldnt there be a Chilcot-type inquiry into the Government sabotaging its own policy and spending a massive amount Johnson: Before we go to inquiries lets get this thing right. Weve got a chance to do much, much better. And being prepared to go to WTO is absolutely crucial. All the anxieties about the insulin and car parts at Dover, that is a problem that is supposed to be occasioned by what the French might do. But you have to ask yourself, looking at what is happening now in France, and looking at the economic state of the Pas de Calais region, and the pressures on Macron, is he really going to tell the burghers of Calais that they are going to be deprived of UK traffic in the future? Because I tell you what we can do. Theres absolutely no reason why we shouldnt start diverting stuff to Zeebrugge and Ostend and the Hook of Holland and indeed other ports. There could be real losers if the French Government decided to be difficult. And in my experience of watching public health scares, public logistical scares, millennium bug type things, is the longer business and people have to think about the implications of something, the more super-masticated the problems become, and magically you find that when you actually reach the great deadline, where the great disaster is supposed to happen, it mysteriously fails to happen. I dont want to pretend to the public there would be no disruption at all. I dont want to pretend there would be no challenges at all. But what people I think want to see is a bit of gumption from this country and a bit of willingness to tackle those problems, and a bit of leadership. And I think people are fed up of being told their country cant do something and were all incapable of sorting out these logistical problems. ConHome: Whats the Johnson family Christmas going to be like, when youre sitting round the table with Jo, and your sister, and Stanley, all these Remainers. Johnson: Glutinous harmony. The feast of reason and the flow of soul. ConHome: Just a last thing. Hasnt a symptom of the problem throughout been as follows: Boris Johnson stands for the leadership Michael Gove withdraws his support; Chequers Michael Gove comes in on the side of the Prime Minister, its apparently quite decisive or influential; Michaels winding up for the Government on Tuesday, we hear. Isnt he somewhere near the heart of this Governments problems? Johnson: That is a question you must really direct at my friend Michael. How can I put it tactfully? I do think that Dominic Raab took the right decision. Ashley Fox is an MEP for South West England, and is the leader of Britains Conservative MEPs. On Sunday morning voters in the Spanish region of Andalucia went to the polls with the words of Pedro Sanchez, the Prime Minister, about Gibraltar fresh in their minds. Sanchez had boasted that the Political Declaration agreed by the EU27 in Brussels a week earlier meant Gibraltars sovereignty was back on the agenda and that he was going to resolve a conflict that has been going on for over 300 years. It was empty rhetoric, but Sanchez clearly hoped that a dose of nationalistic tub thumping would help see off the rising Vox Party. The tactic failed. Twenty four hours later it was clear that support for his Spanish Socialist Workers Party had collapsed in an area it had ruled since 1982, while right-wing Vox took 12 seats in its first success at the ballot box. As an MEP for Gibraltar, I hope the weekends events have convinced Sanchez that making undeliverable promises on Gibraltar is not going to help his struggling government. The territorys sovereignty is not, and never has been, on the agenda, and nothing in the Withdrawal Agreement changes that. As for his claim that the Political Declaration excludes Gibraltar from future UK/EU agreements without Spains express consent, that too is smoke and mirrors. The British Government has been clear throughout the Brexit process that it will negotiate the future relationship on behalf of all territories for which it is responsible. Under EU rules trade deals require the unanimous support of all member states and Spain, like every other country, will have a veto on the eventual UK/EU agreement. But that does not mean, as Sanchez has suggested, that it will be able to cleave Gibraltar way from the UK. Instead of fostering division in the vain hope of electoral gain, the Spanish Prime Minister should resume the co-operation which produced real benefits for both Spaniards and Gibraltarians in the form of memoranda of understanding attached to the Withdrawal Agreement. Covering citizens rights, tobacco, the environment, and police and customs co-operation, the memoranda are time-limited until the end of the implementation period. A further agreement on taxation and the protection of financial interests is expected to be concluded shortly. Amongst other things, they recognise the importance of free movement continuing during the implementation period, which is of particular importance to Spain as thousands of Spaniards cross the border each day to work in Gibraltar. They also crack down on the illicit trade in tobacco, alcohol and petrol. The memoranda were approved by the Government of Gibraltar and have been described by Fabian Picardo, the Chief Minister, as safe, sensible and secure measures that deal with issues we are as concerned about as our neighbours. They state explicitly that nothing in the agreements modifies issues of sovereignty, jurisdiction or control. Before Sanchez changed his approach ahead of the poll in Andalucia Josep Borrell, the Spanish Foreign Minister, also spoke enthusiastically of the memoranda, tweeting: These agreements are a good foundation for the negotiation on the future relationship and their application will generate benefits for citizens and a climate of better understanding. I would now urge Sanchez to return to this spirit of co-operation and explain to voters how he has secured practical gains for Spaniards living in depressed areas close to the Gibraltar border, and how continued closer ties could produce more. I know Gibraltar and its people well and have worked closely with both Picardo and his predecessor Peter Caruana. Gibraltarians may have voted heavily to remain in the EU, but their loyalty to the UK is much stronger. Remember that they endured 13 years of the border being closed under General Franco. The Chief Minister has said they will suffer any hardship rather than compromise on sovereignty. So although Gibraltar does not want to face a no deal situation, it is prepared to do so if it becomes necessary. Spain needs to understand that and choose to build on the progress made in the last 18 months, not continue the fruitless posturing of the past fortnight. There is an urgent need for sources of information which could inform the international community about the truth of Azerbaijani realias, one of the prominent representatives of the Azerbaijani diaspora in the United States, founder of Gunaz TV channel Hussein Ahmad Obali said, speaking with the correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza. GunAz TV covers some part of this plan, but our channel is designed more for our compatriots, Iranians. Today, there is a very big need for an English-language channel about Azerbaijan for Americans, Ahmad Obali stressed. He recalled that the Azerbaijani diaspora in the United States is relatively young compared to others. The first years were tough, our diaspora was inferior to people from other republics of the South Caucasus, but now it seems to be improving, it is becoming more united, stronger, the director of the TV channel said. Great prospects have emerged. Appointment of the new leadership to the Committee on Work with Diaspora contributed to building a positive momentum in this area. Today we have high hopes that the American Diaspora will be more active. Nowadays Azerbaijanis of America try to celebrate significant dates together. For example, we very widely celebrated events dedicated to the Day of the Republic with participation of Azerbaijanis from Iran, political figures from the United States. Traditionally, we celebrate Nowruz holiday, tragic dates, such as the Khojaly tragedy, the 1918 March events," Ahmad Obali said. He also talked about cooperation with other diasporas, noting that they cooperate most closely with the Turkish diaspora in Azerbaijan and, despite the fact that both diasporas have their own priorities, in most cases they act from a common position. Gunaz TV is a TV channel which is broadcasting in the Azerbaijani language. Its headquarters are in the city of Chicago, United States. It first launched its live broadcast in April 2005. Gunaz TV's programs are aired 24 hours a day via the Hotbird Satellite. 100% Website 3alphadataentry.com uses latest and advanced technologies. It supports HTTPS and GZIP compression. The main html page has a size of 60855 bytes (59.43 kb uncompressed) and 10338 bytes (10.10 kb compressed). This CoolSocial report was updated on 2021-10-04, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want. 62% Website oaktonhealthcenter.com uses latest and advanced technologies like: JQuery. It supports HTTPS and GZIP compression. The main html page has a size of 64040 bytes (62.54 kb uncompressed) and 20551 bytes (20.07 kb compressed). This CoolSocial report was updated on 2021-04-08, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want. We are analyzing the site. Please wait a few seconds.. Administrateur Moderateur Il y a en toututilisateurs en ligne : 3 Enregistres, 0 Invisible et 202 Invites sur les forums [] [Le record du nombre d'utilisateurs en ligne est dele Mercredi 10 Nov 2021 a 13:11:17Ces donnees sont basees sur les utilisateurs actifs des cinq dernieres minutes More than forty former Turkish Air Force personnel were arrested this morning in Ankara in a probe into FETO. The 41 were part of a group of 87 former air force sergeants wanted by Ankara prosecutors for their links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), according to the sources, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media. Separately, Istanbul prosecutors issued arrest warrants for 41 active-duty soldiers - including a major, two captains, five first lieutenants, and two lieutenants - at the Istanbul gendarmerie for their alleged FETO links, Anadolu Agency reported. According to the Turkish government, FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016 which left 251 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured. The much-loved classic Funchal is set for a new life as a hotel ship in London. On Wednesday, Dec. 5 the ship was sold at auction for 3.9 million euro to Signature Living, which was represented by John Hanbidge of QPS Marine Ships/Cruise Ventures. Four bidders got things going at the bank auction, with two ultimately dropping out in front of a crowd of around 60 people. "Signature Living and QPS Marine Ships have been negotiating for almost two years with the bankruptcy administrator and the main creditor for the purchase of the vessel," QPS said, in a statement sent to Cruise Industry News. As for the vessel, plans call for it to move from Lisbon to Central London where it will be berthed permanently as a hotel vessel. QPS will act as a consultant in repositioning the ship and management functions as the ship is converted to a hotel. The Port of Bergen has been awarded NOK 50 million in grants to install shorepower dedicated to cruise ships. The grants come from Enova, a Norwegian government agency working to improve energy efficiencies and reduce emissions, which up to this point has funded shorepower for other types vessels, but claimed that shorepower for cruise ships was too expensive and inefficient with only seasonal use. Enova said in a prepared statement that the funding to Bergen is a result of the city and the local power utility joining forces and making a convincing argument that the port should have shorepower for cruise ships. So far Enova has awarded more than half a billion NOK in grants for shorepower installations in Norway, financing up to 75 percent of the cost for ferries, coastal vessel traffic, fishing boats and oil rigs in port. In Bergen, the Skolten and Bontelabo piers will have shorepower and three ships will be able to plug in simultaneously, starting in the 2020 summer season. Costa Cruises announced that the new Costa Venezia will be christened in Trieste on March 1, 2019, before transiting to China. She is one of seven new ships being delivered to Costa Group by 2023, marking a total investment of some 6 billion euro, the company said. The Costa Venezia will be the company's largest ship in China at 135,500 tons, and with capacity for 5,100 guests. While christening details are still being worked out, Costa said there will be a full city-wide fireworks display, and multiple giant screens for spectators to watch the ribbon-cutting ceremony. The event will be attended by around 1,500 guests from China, South Korea, Japan and several European countries, and they will also have the opportunity to discover Trieste and its surrounding area, as the ship will be moored in the city until March 3, when it will depart for its first cruise. "We are very happy to be celebrating the naming of Costa Venezia in such a beautiful Italian city as Trieste. Costa was the first company to operate in China in 2006 and over the years we have established ourselves as a leader, offering a product focused on Italian excellence. Costa Venezia will feature other unprecedented innovations, designed specifically to offer Chinese customers a real Italian experience, marking a new era for both Costa and the whole Chinese market, which is among the most promising in the world in terms of future growth," Mario Zanetti, President of Costa Group Asia. The Mayor of Trieste Roberto Dipiazza stated: "It is a great pleasure for the city of Trieste to host the naming ceremony of this new ship by Costa. With great pride, both from an institutional and personal point of view, I applaud this new jewel, which is the result of the work of the best talents in shipbuilding and Italian design who reside in our region and city. Our expertise, our values are well rooted in the Costa Group. This new ship, along with the other queens that we had the pleasure of admiring in our Gulf, will be another ambassador of Made in Italy in the world. There is a strong bond of mutual respect between Trieste and the Costa Group, that I am sure will continue to strengthen in the future." The first Costa Venezia cruise will depart from Trieste on March 3, 2019 and sail to Greece and Croatia. On March 8, the ship will be back in Trieste for the start of its maiden cruise: a 53-day journey as the ship moves to Asia. The Costa Venezia will be the second Costa ship named in Trieste as in 2011 the Costa Favolosa was named in the port. After the implementation of new national hotel system in Azerbaijan, classification of hotels will be held every four years, chief executive director of the new Azerbaijan Hotels Association Gunay Saglam said. "An anonymous guest will visit a hotel two years after stars are assigned to it, after which it will be defined whether the hotel service corresponds to the assigned stars," Gunay Saglam explained. Saglam also noted that hotel owners will be informed in advance about the classification criteria, and the information will be posted on the corresponding website. It is expected that the application of a new national hotel classification system will start late next year, the chief executive director of the new Azerbaijan Hotels Association added. WASHINGTON (AP) The Latest on the special counsel's Russia investigation and President Donald Trump's views on it (all times local): 7:20 p.m. The White House says new court filings about President Donald Trump's former lawyer and campaign chairman offer nothing new or damaging about Trump. White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders says government filings about former Trump attorney and personal "fixer" Michael Cohen "tell us nothing of value that wasn't already known." That's despite the fact that the federal special counsel said in one of the documents that Cohen was in touch as far back as 2015 with a Russian who offered "political synergy" with the Trump election campaign. Sanders also says the filing pertaining to former campaign chair Paul Manafort "says absolutely nothing about the President" and is blaming the media for "trying to create a story where there isn't one." Prosecutors say Manafort lied to them about his contacts with a Russian associate and Trump administration officials. __ 6:30 p.m. Court documents say former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort testified before a grand jury on two occasions as part of his plea deal. Prosecutors from special counsel Robert Mueller's office have accused Manafort of violating the agreement by lying to investigators. They say Manafort was called to testify before a grand jury on Oct. 26 and Nov. 2. The documents do not provide any additional details about the grand jury, or what it is probing. Manafort cut the deal in September and agreed to plead guilty to two felonies. It headed off a second trial for Manafort related to his Ukrainian political consulting and unregistered foreign lobbying. Prosecutors say Manafort met with investigators from Mueller's office and the FBI on 12 separate occasions. They allege he told "multiple discernible lies." __ 6:10 p.m. Prosecutors say former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort lied about his contacts with a Russian associate and Trump administration officials. The disclosures were made in a court filing Friday evening. Prosecutors say Manafort violated his plea deal by telling "multiple discernible lies." They say Manafort told investigators that he spoke with officials before and after they left the Trump administration. But they say a review of his electronic documents shows he had "additional contacts" with the officials. __ 6 p.m. President Donald Trump's former legal fixer was fielding outreach from Russians seeking to reach the Trump campaign as far back as 2015. That's according to a new court filing from special counsel Robert Mueller's office in the case of Michael Cohen. __ 5:45 p.m. An attorney for Michael Cohen is declining to comment on the recommendation by federal prosecutors that Cohen serve a "significant" prison term. Attorney Lanny Davis declined to comment Friday after prosecutors said in court filings that Cohen has overstated his assistance to law enforcement. Cohen is scheduled to be sentenced next week for tax evasion, orchestrating hush-money payments and lying to Congress. Special counsel Robert Mueller credited Cohen for meeting seven times with his prosecutors investigating Russian interference in the 2016 elections. Federal prosecutors in New York say sentencing guidelines call for Cohen to serve about four years behind bars. They say Cohen declined to cooperate in all aspects of their investigation and shouldn't receive full credit for cooperating because he wasn't forthcoming. __ 5:35 p.m. President Donald Trump's longtime legal fixer has been providing "relevant and useful" information to the special counsel in the Russia probe about his recent contacts with people in the White House. That's according to a new court filing from special counsel Robert Mueller's office in Michael Cohen's case. Mueller's prosecutors say the information from Cohen pertained to his contacts with people "connected" to the Trump White House during 2017 and 2018. The contacts are being disclosed as Mueller investigates not only Russian election interference but whether Trump tried to obstruct the investigation. The filing comes about a week before Cohen is scheduled to be sentenced after he pleaded guilty to a raft of felonies, including lying to Congress about a proposed Trump business deal in Russia during the 2016 presidential campaign. __ 5:20 p.m. Prosecutors say President Donald Trump's former lawyer gave investigators information about attempts by Russians to reach Trump's campaign. The information was disclosed in a sentencing memo filed Friday by special counsel Robert Mueller in Michael Cohen's case. Court papers say Cohen described speaking to a Russian national who claimed to be a "trusted person" in the Russian Federation and proposed a meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The person offered Trump's campaign "political synergy" and "synergy on a government level." The person wasn't identified by name in the court documents. Cohen has pleaded guilty to federal charges, including lying to Congress about negotiations he had on Trump's behalf for a real estate deal in Moscow. Mueller's prosecutors say Cohen went to "significant lengths" to assist their investigation. __ 5:12 p.m. Special counsel Robert Mueller says President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer went to "significant lengths" to assist Mueller's probe, though he initially lied. Mueller and his team filed papers Friday with a judge scheduled to sentence attorney Michael Cohen next week in New York. Cohen has pleaded guilty to federal charges and cooperated in multiple probes over several months, including having seven meetings with Mueller's team. Mueller says Cohen lied when he first met his team in August. Prosecutors say that after Cohen pleaded guilty to campaign finance fraud and bank fraud in August, he met again with Mueller's team in September and admitted his comments about a real estate venture in Moscow were deliberately false and misleading. Cohen's lawyers did not immediately comment Friday __ 4:49 p.m. Prosecutors say Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer, should serve a substantial prison term with a modest amount of credit for his cooperation. Cohen is scheduled to be sentenced next Wednesday in New York federal court. He pleaded guilty to federal charges and cooperated in multiple state and federal probes over several months, including having seven meetings with special counsel Robert Mueller's team. Cohen's lawyers, in their own filing last week, said he should be spared any prison time. Last week, Cohen pleaded guilty to lying to Congress. In August, he admitted to campaign finance fraud and bank frauds, among other charges. __ 12:40 p.m. George Papadopoulos, the first person sent to prison in the Russia investigation, has been released. That's according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. The former Trump campaign foreign policy adviser was sentenced to 14 days in prison this year after he pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russian intermediaries. Special counsel Robert Mueller's team recommended incarceration for Papadopoulos because they said he begrudged his cooperation and his lies harmed the probe. Papadopoulos took a remorseful tone during his sentencing hearing, but he has since attacked Mueller's investigation as corrupt. Declassified documents show that Papadopoulos' foreign contacts during the presidential campaign prompted the FBI in July 2016 to open a counterintelligence investigation. That investigation was later taken over by Mueller. ___ 10 p.m. Former FBI Director James Comey has arrived on Capitol Hill for a closed-door interview with two House committees. House Republicans are questioning Comey on decisions made by the Justice Department during the 2016 presidential election. Democrats will also attend the interview. Republicans argue that department officials were biased against President Donald Trump as they started an investigation into his campaign's ties with Russia and cleared Democrat Hillary Clinton in a separate probe into her email use. Comey was asked on his way into the meeting room about Trump's assertion that he is best friends with special counsel Robert Mueller, who is overseeing the Russia probe. Comey said: "Note that I smiled." Comey said he might answer questions after the interview, which is expected to last much of the day. ___ 9:25 a.m. President Donald Trump says his legal team has already drafted a rebuttal to any report issued by the special counsel in the Russia investigation. Trump took to Twitter on Friday to say his legal team is preparing to counter special counsel Robert Mueller's (MUHL'-urz) findings on whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russian election interference. The Republican president says his team's report is 87 pages so far. But he says it won't be complete until Mueller issues his report. Trump's comments come as Mueller is facing court deadlines to detail the cooperation of Trump's longtime legal fixer Michael Cohen. The special counsel also will detail the lies prosecutors say former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort told that led to his plea deal falling apart. Manafort has said he believes he provided "truthful information." ___ 7:45 a.m. President Donald Trump is marking what's expected to be a busy day for special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation by launching a Twitter broadside against the prosecutor and his team. Mueller faces court deadlines in two pivotal cases Friday, and ex-FBI Director James Comey is set to appear before lawmakers on Capitol Hill. Trump has made little secret of his frustration with the swirling probe into Russian election interference and potential misdeeds committed by those in his orbit and is seeking to undermine the legitimacy of Mueller's investigation. Trump tweets: "Robert Mueller and Leakin' Lyin' James Comey are Best Friends, just one of many Mueller Conflicts of Interest." Mueller's investigation has produced dozens of criminal charges and four guilty pleas from Trump associates. Trump also argues his deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein (ROH'-zen-styn), is "totally conflicted." Rosenstein oversaw the probe until last month. ___ 1:10 a.m. Robert Mueller is set to reveal more details about his Russia investigation as he faces court deadlines in the cases of two men who worked closely with President Donald Trump. The special counsel and federal prosecutors in New York will have to file memos in court on Friday detailing the cooperation of longtime Trump legal fixer Michael Cohen. And Mueller's team will also be disclosing what they say former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort lied about when his plea deal fell apart last month. Cohen and Manafort are among five former Trump associates who prosecutors have accused of lying either to federal investigators or to Congress. The court filings will close out a busy week for Mueller as the president has heightened his attacks on the investigation. Although millennials are continually classified as being between the ages of 18-34, the reality is, they are likely older than that. Millennials are more accurately those between the ages of 26-42, making them the largest percentage of working age adults. In the United States, 2010/16 statistics counted the number of millennials as being well over 70 million people, preparing to surpass the total number of the baby boomers. If the majority of working adults can be classified as millennials -- and they are often described as being able to think outside of the box -- how are they marketing their businesses to the next generation? Those born after 1995, known as Gen Z, have grown up completely surrounded by technology, making traditional marketing efforts relatively useless. In order to capture the attention of the next generation, you have to be creative. Related: 4 Unconventional Ways to Better Market to Generation Z Here are a few examples of the ways millennial business owners are capturing the attention of todays young adults: 1. Building cult brands. One similarity between millennials and Gen Z is that they believe in brand loyalty. If a company is able to push beyond brand loyalty into cult brand territory, theres no stopping them. Apple is an example of a brand that has managed to do this. They have gained the ability to create a need for whats coming next. The Apple Watch, for example, is very popular with Gen Z, and has not once been truly marketed as a timepiece. It is obvious that you can check time on your phone, so Apple had to find a way to appeal to trendy and tech savvy individuals by creating a convenient smart watch. Creating cult loyalty to a brand means your customers will care more about your brand than they do about most other things. To get there, you must build a solid relationship with your audience, paired with excellent tracking, to meet and anticipate the needs of your buyers. If you are able to give them what they want, you can bet they will return to you in the future. 2. Social media ads and influencer marketing. If you are trying to get the attention of Gen Z, stop focusing your efforts on television and magazine ads. This generation does not consume media in this way. They live online, and that's exactly how we grew a 7-figure business. If you can build a creative ad that pops up in their social media feeds and captures their attention in a split second, you might secure a few purchases. If you can have an influencer prove your products worth to thousands of followers, you might just find yourself a goldmine. Related: 4 Young Marketing Influencers You Can Learn From Influencer marketing involves using an individual who has gained a cult following due to their job, posts and infectious personality. These individuals share content, potentially including your product, service or business, with their thousands -- sometimes millions -- of followers, influencing the purchases these followers make. Because influencers are not necessarily Hollywood celebrities with millions of followers and dollars, Gen Z feels they can relate with these real people and aspire to be them. The easiest way to accomplish this is to use the products they use. A good influencer will not make it feel like an advertisement, instead, they will create something more like a sneak peek. 3. If its not fast, its broken. Ask a Gen Z what DSL is and you might get a blank stare in return. Devices continue to evolve into faster machines and the minds of Gen Zers are moving just as fast. If a page takes more than a few second to load, chances are that the young viewer has moved on to something else. Millennial business owners are creating new products and adapting old ones to make them faster and more attractive to younger audiences. It's not just about how you are marketing to the younger generation, it is about creating a product and brand that they can love and grow with. Many businesses are still targeting youth by promoting their products on mediums that dont even reach this audience. Marketers who treat their audience like they still have the values they did in the 90s and early 2000s, will do little more than waste money and ideas. Related: The Next Generation of Entrepreneurs Are Amazing. Let's Support Them! Millennials grew up when the internet and its related technologies were beginning to boom, so they have a profound understanding of it. They know the appeal of the digital age to Gen Z, and they know how to quickly adapt their efforts to reach this growing generation. In order to reach a younger generation, you need to think like one. One of the best ways to do this is to employ some of these methods that have been successfully adopted by millennial marketers. Related: 5 lecciones de manejo de crisis de Boca Juniors vs. River Plate How Millennials are Marketing to Gen Z How This Brand Is Making Cannabis Feel Like a Luxury Copyright 2018 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved Courtesy of Jessica Abo Joe Meyer, who sold his last company to Apple, is on a mission to help more professionals access the hidden job market and to make the executive ranks of corporate America more inclusive. As the founder and CEO of ExecThread, Meyer runs the largest global aggregator of unpublished executive-level job opportunities. The NYC-based, venture capital backed startup is a premium job-sharing network that leverages a unique, crowdsourced approach to provide far more access for all professionals, most notably underrepresented candidates who to date have been most disadvantaged by the traditional executive recruiting model -- including women, people of color, veterans, the LGBTQ+ community, AARP members, permanent residents, and the disabled, under-educated and underprivileged. ExecThread is a curated community with more than 30,000 members around the world, and is growing at a fast pace. Meyer sat down with Entrepreneur Network Jessica Abo to discuss how ExecThread has grown, and why he's so passionate about changing how the executive recruiting industry works and making it far more inclusive. Ecommerce sales in the United States are projected to surpass $504 billion by the end of this year -- and millennials are historically a driving force in the ever-increasing growth of online shopping. Related: 10 Laws of Social Media Marketing What's better, they are currently the most valuable target demographic for modern businesses. But, with a plethora of digital marketing tactics, remarketing campaigns, email campaigns and more inundating consumers, how can brands capitalize on this digitally inclined demographic to boost their own bottom line? Target them on social media, of course! Young target audiences flock to social media in droves. A study from the Pew Research Center examined U.S. adults' use of social media. All in all, the overwhelming majority of Americans regularly use social media. In fact, a whopping 68 percent alone frequent Facebook. However, it seems that the younger the user, the more prominent the social media use. The research found that 88 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds and 78 percent of 30- to 49-year-olds use at least one social media channel -- which almost perfectly aligns with millennials' age group of 22 to 37. Related: 5 Social Media Rules Every Entrepreneur Should Know Studies show that social media platforms influence ecommerce shopping experiences with millennials. My company DesignRush.com conducted a study that analyzed 219 millennials' ecommerce behaviors on social media platforms. We found: Thirty percent of millennials purchase products directly on Facebook. Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest foster the most brand trust and help young adults find discover products they would actually use. Snapchat is irrelevant for ecommerce and branding -- only 5 percent of millennials believe it creates the most trustworthy relationship. Sixty-one percent of millennials trust a friend's endorsement the most, followed by their own experience with a brand (51 percent) and website reviews (48 percent). Thirty-one percent of respondents said social media influences their purchases. However, they complete the transaction elsewhere. The survey's key findings show that social media marketing has a direct effect on brand visibility, awareness and conversion rates. These results also reinforce the ideas that the best platforms are those that are robust, ever-evolving and user-centric -- such as Facebook. Here's how to integrate your ecommerce and social media marketing strategy. The findings of millennials' social media shopping habits can be used to improve your own brand's strategy. After all, if brands were left to guess which platforms would appeal to a younger demographic, they might find themselves going all-in on Snapchat. However, despite boasting a hefty 300 million active users, Snapchat lacks the finesse, brand discoverability factor and website traffic capabilities to truly inspire meaningful purchases or build long-term brand growth. Therefore, businesses shouldn't leave themselves to guess which social media channels will inspire a millennial audience, but instead look at more specific insights when formulating a strategy. Related: 10 Proven Ways to Make Millions on Social Media Luckily, the survey's findings outline a few simple fixes that can drastically improve ecommerce conversions through social media, including: Invest in Facebook initiatives. Millennials audiences (and, frankly, all demographics) overwhelmingly rely on Facebook for their social media needs. Luckily, there are plenty of tactics that can improve your brand identity, customer services and even direct purchases right on the platform. Try strategies such as: Organic and sponsored posts Retargeting advertisements Advertisements targeting a custom audience A fully functional ecommerce store, embedded directly into the social platform There are several programs to help you achieve the latter. These include WooCommerce, WP-eCommerce and Ecwid. By creating a separate Facebook shop, you can target potential consumers with ads and products that might love and make it easier for them to complete a purchase, which increases conversion rates. Utilize user-generated content. A younger target audience trusts real people as opposed to influencers and celebrities (although influencers do historically perform better than traditional famous people). Therefore, whenever possible, humanize your brand by including user-generated content. Repost real people's photos on Instagram, ask for personal testimonials or even try a social media video featuring real consumers. This will foster an honest brand-to-consumer relationship that is proven to grow brands and increase revenue. Warby Parker, SoulCycle and Aerie, respectively, are all great examples of these user-generated content tactics in action. Plus, don't forget website reviews! Make it easy for customers to leave reviews on your website -- and give them a few options for rating the product, such as star ratings, images, recommendations and paragraph descriptions. Not only will this build credibility with new customers, but it will make your returning consumers feel as though their voice is welcome and will be heard by your brand. Related: 12 Social Media Mistakes That Entrepreneurs Make Build an authentic, well-branded online community. Although integrated ecommerce shops and targeted advertisements are crucial for reaching millennials on social media platforms and transforming them into regular customers, taking the time to create a community that represents your brand will result in longevity. To achieve this: Ensure you also publish non-paid social media posts. Respond to comments and customer service requests. Create campaigns that engage consumers. Ensure your imagery and messaging. Don't just promote your products -- add some informative posts and information to your social channels, too. These strategies can still add business value by driving traffic to your website, showcasing your area of expertise or promoting your brand's core values. However, going the extra mile and incorporating these tactics will cultivate a well-rounded and comprehensive social media presence that will appear genuine to consumers and add validity to those oh-so-important ads and ecommerce promotions. Social media and ecommerce strategies can work together to grow your business. It's undeniable that social media marketing strategies directly influence conversions and revenue. However, it can be difficult to understand how to leverage social media platforms to ensure success. By following the tips above, you'll be sure to create a digital presence that captivates millennial consumers. This will empower you to transforms them into life-long users of your brand for decades to come, ensuring a long line of success for your business. Related: How You Should Be Rethinking Social to Minimize Your Next Brand Crisis How to Use Social Media to Get Millennials to Buy From You The Advantages YouTube Ads Have Over Facebook Ads Copyright 2018 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved Democrat Dan McCready withdrew his concession Thursday in a North Carolina congressional race that has been roiled by accusations of fraud. In an interview with Charlotte-area TV station WSOC, McCready also called on Republican rival Mark Harris "to tell the American people exactly what he knew and when he knew it." "Over the last week, we have seen the criminal activity come to light, and we have seen that my opponent, Mark Harris, has bankrolled this criminal activity," McCready said. "And so, as of today, I am withdrawing my concession to Mark Harris." McCready followed up with a tweet announcing the news and calling on Harris "to end his silence and tell us exactly what he knew, and when." North Carolina election officials are investigating whether an operative working on behalf of Harris illegally collected incomplete ballots from voters in the state's 9th District. The state probe has delayed the certification of Harris' race, and state officials could decide to call for a new election. Harris and McCready are separated by 905 votes, according to unofficial returns. McCready had conceded defeat Nov. 7, about 24 hours after the polls had closed and long after Harris had declared victory. "For me now, country over party means offering my help to Mark, which I did by phone, as he takes over his new job representing us," McCready said at the time. "I believe when our leaders succeed, all of us succeed." The allegations are largely concentrated in two North Carolina counties where Republican operative Leslie McCrae Dowless allegedly oversaw a crew of workers who collected absentee ballots from voters. Some of those ballots, according to affidavits filed with state authorities, were incomplete when they were gathered. Dowless ran a get-out-the-vote effort for the Harris campaign during the primary and general elections. Dowless, who has worked on political campaigns in Bladen for at least a decade, touts his ability to mobilize voters to cast ballots by mail. He has been under scrutiny by state officials since 2016, when allegations surfaced about illegal ballot harvesting in that year's campaigns. The North Carolina Board of Elections has indicated that it will hold a hearing on the latest allegations by Dec. 21 and could decide afterward whether to certify the election, call a new election or take some other course of action. Earlier this week, Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., the incoming majority leader, said the House might refuse to seat Harris in January if "substantial" questions remain about the integrity of the election. Asked about that prospect Thursday, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who has been nominated by her party to serve as speaker next year, said she is watching to see what the state board decides. She noted that "the House still retains the right to determine who is seated" and said that if members object to Harris being seated, "we'll see how that goes." Under the Constitution, the House has the express authority to judge the "elections, returns and qualifications" of its members. Hoyer said this week that he intended to discuss the matter with Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., who is expected to chair the Committee on House Administration next year. Under federal law, that panel is empowered to independently investigate the election and make recommendations about how the dispute should be resolved - including calling for a new election. "This is bigger than one seat," Pelosi said at her weekly news conference Thursday. "This is about undermining the integrity of our elections, and what was done there was so remarkable and that those entities got away with it, even to the detriment of Republicans in the primary." Separately, a group of Republican state senators Thursday asked Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper to create a bipartisan task force to examine election fraud. - - - The Washington Post's Felicia Sonmez contributed to this report. The next summit of the Cooperation Council of Turkic-Speaking States (Turkic Council) will be held in Azerbaijan in 2019. It was agreed at the meeting of Azerbaijans Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov and the Secretary General of the Turkic Council, Ambassador Baghdad Amreyev on 6 December on the sidelines of the 25th OSCE Ministerial Council in Milan. Amreyev highlighted appreciation for Azerbaijans constant support to futher development of the Turkic Council. The Secretary Generalstressed the historical significance of the establishment of the Turkic Council as an international body at the Nakhchivan Summit in 2009 and expressed the symbolic nature of the Summit to be held in Azerbaijan in 2019, Trend reported. The following editorial appears on Bloomberg Opinion: Britain's Prime Minister, Theresa May, is no longer in control of events. The Brexit withdrawal agreement she's currently defending in Parliament has, with reason, been savaged by all sides and seems likely to be rejected in the vote planned for next week. Already, thoughts are turning to Plan B. The best course is evident: a second referendum, one that would let Britain choose more wisely now that the costs of Brexit are better understood. But the path back to sanity is by no means straightforward, and one obstacle in particular needs to be removed. The European Union should make clear that the decision to quit the EU can be reversed. There was never a good way for May to deliver the Brexit that the country voted for in 2016. Still, the deal she concluded with the EU was worse than almost anybody - Leavers and Remainers alike - had expected. It threatens to leave Britain with most of the obligations of EU membership and few of its privileges; it separates Northern Ireland from the rest of the U.K. in a kind of economic annexation; and it fails to provide an exit clause, a future Article 50, by which Britain might end these arrangements. Mervyn King, former governor of the Bank of England, is not exaggerating when he calls these terms a betrayal of Britain. The EU's leaders charged their negotiators to drive a hard bargain, which they did, and then some. So hard, in fact, that Britain's voters seem unlikely to swallow it. Therein lies the opportunity to salvage something from this wreckage. A "people's vote" to reverse the Brexit decision looks increasingly possible - but it requires three main things. First, the U.K. government must either advocate it or let it happen. May and her perpetually divided Cabinet may be unable to reverse themselves on this, as she's repeatedly said there'll be no second vote. Thankfully, this might not matter. In one of several humiliating defeats the prime minister suffered this week, the House of Commons asserted the right to vote on alternative proposals if MPs vote down her plan. Second, the EU needs to remove several procedural obstacles. In particular, its leaders need to say that if Britain revokes its Article 50 notification of withdrawal - as it would have to, to give time for a second referendum - the EU will not object. Up to now, the European Commission and Council have argued before the European Court of Justice that the revocation would require the unanimous assent of the other EU members. This week, in a boost to Remainers, the advocate general of the ECJ said this was not so, though the guidance is not binding on the court. Regardless of the ECJ's ruling, Europe's leaders should affirm that they'll let Britain revoke its notice to quit. Third, the EU's leaders should resist the understandable temptation to drive another hard bargain, this time over getting Brexit reversed. They should say that Europe wants the U.K. to remain, and that it can do so following a second referendum on the same terms as before - with no obligation to join the single currency, with its other opt-outs preserved, and with no change to the prevailing financial terms. There are those in Europe who would like to see the back of Britain, perpetual objector to the union's grander ambitions. Even its friends might wish to see those annoying concessions eliminated as the price of readmission. However, this would risk turning voters back in favor of Leave, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Forgive and forget would be the wiser course. After all, Europe will have made its point. Thinking of quitting the EU? Britain tried, and see what happened? If Brexit goes ahead, especially in its most damaging no-deal form, Britain and the EU both lose. If it can be reversed, which is looking more possible by the day, both gain. A smart and timely intervention by Europe's leaders could make the difference. No collusion; shut down investigation Fourteen State Attorneys General requested U.S. Acting Attorney General Mathew Whitaker to recuse himself from overseeing Special Counsel Robert Muellers investigation, according to the Connecticut Post (Nov. 11). Recusal shouldnt and most likely will not happen for good and proper reasons. Muellers investigation has gone nowhere. It has produced zero evidence after more than 18 months and millions of taxpayers dollars. There is no evident collusion shown between the Trump campaign and Russias Vladimir Putin to influence the 2016 election. According to the Post, the AGs letter to Whitaker stated, Your recusal is necessary to maintain public trust in the integrity of the investigation ... Wasnt the publics trust in the investigations integrity destroyed by Mueller himself, a long time ago, when at the outset, he appointed a biased team of nothing but partisan anti-Trump investigators? With not one iota of evidence uncovered after all of this time and waste of tax dollars, the investigation is seen as having gone nowhere, with no prospects for the future. Consider that Muellers appointment was based on false and probably illegal documentation, namely the scurrilous Steele affidavit. Now is the time the investigation needs to be shut down, having failed to produce any credible evidence. It is obvious that there was no collusion. However, there is clear and credible evidence of wrong doing and collusion between the Justice Department, the FBI, the Clinton campaign and the Clinton Foundation in the 2016 campaign. Paul G. Littlefield Shelton Nick Balletto is making calls seeking support for his re-election as Democratic state chairman next month, despite the pointed absence of an endorsement from Gov.-elect Ned Lamont, whose viability as a candidate was sharply questioned by Balletto in the early months of the 2018 campaign. In an interview Thursday, Balletto said he told Lamont he would like another term, but the conversation was brief and inconclusive. I had a cursory conversation and expressed my interest about a month ago, and thats it, Balletto said. I havent had any other conversations. Lamonts silence has created a vacuum, opening the door for Balletto to make calls in an attempt to thwart a soft bid for the job by Justin Kronholm, a Democratic State Central Committee member, long-time political operative, and former executive director of the party. Kronholm, who serves as a senior counselor to Attorney General George Jepsen, said Thursday he is interested in assuming the chairmanship once held by his grandfather, the legendary state and national party boss, John Bailey, but he views the decision as belonging to the governor-elect. Im not actively campaigning for it, Kronholm said. Rep. Sean Scanlon, D-Guilford, a member of U.S. Sen. Chris Murphys staff in Connecticut, has been asked to consider seeking the chairmanship with Lamonts blessing, but sources close to Lamont and Murphy say Scanlon has concerns about performing the dual role of party chairman and state lawmaker. Scanlon declined to comment. Governors in Connecticut typically control the choice of state party chairs, though not always: the Democratic State Central Committee elected a future governor, William A. ONeill, as chairman in 1976, ignoring Gov. Ella T. Grassos support for Peter Kelly. Lamont is unlikely to make a definitive public statement on Balletto before Monday night, when the chairman is to host a victory celebration in Hartford featuring speeches from Lamont and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, the first Connecticut Democratic governor in more than a century to be succeeded by a member of his own party in an election. The Governor-elect is looking forward to joining CT Dems on Monday night to celebrate their collaborative work over the 2018 cycle and their successes across the state, Lacey Rose, a Lamont spokeswoman, said in an email. Certainly he looks forward to continuing to build a strong and inclusive state party, but his focus right now is on standing up a government that will be ready to lead on January 9 on behalf of all Connecticut citizens. Balletto was among the Democrats who questioned the ability of Lamont, a Greenwich businessman and unsuccessful candidate for U.S. Senate in 2006 and governor in 2010, to win in 2018. But with the tacit backing of Murphy, who was up for re-election and working on his own get-out-the-vote effort, the party largely coalesced behind Lamont before the state convention in May. Balletto said he has not spoken about his re-election to Murphy, whose roles influencing the nominations for governor and the open 5th Congressional District seat have been the source of much public praise and some private resentment among Democrats. The fate of the state chairs of both parties are uncertain for far different reasons in the aftermath of the 2018 elections that produced a Democratic sweep of congressional and statewide offices and their first state legislative gains in 10 years. J.R. Romano, the GOP chair whose term expires in June, is trying to convince his demoralized party that he can lead a constructive evaluation of a disastrous election and help devise a strategy to grow a party losing ground to Democrats by nearly ever metric, including voter registration. Ballettos prospects turn more on the personal relationships with Lamont, Murphy and other leaders as well as perennial question about the appropriate role and skillsets of a state party chairman in an era of open primaries. There has not been a true party boss in Connecticut since the death 44 years ago of Bailey, a master of ticket balancing. Balletto is close to neither Lamont nor Murphy, and his disapproval of Murphy promoting the congressional candidacy of the inexperienced Jahana Hayes, a charismatic Waterbury educator who quickly became a political sensation, is widely known in Democratic circles. Certainly Im talking to people about where the future of the party should be and where the future of the party should go, Balletto said. Im having those conversations as we go along with state central committee people and other elected officials. We have a lot to build on. We had some great, tremendous victories. Weve got to make sure we protect those victories, which is going to be a difficult job in itself. Balletto preferred to talk about his relationship with Lamont as the campaign ended, not how it began. Democrats say Balletto was initially derisive when Lamont informed him he was about to announce his candidacy, then openly pessimistic about the partys chances of holding the governors office with Lamont leading the ticket. But once the gubernatorial field shrank to Lamont and Bridgeport Mayor Joseph P. Ganim, Lamont and Balletto met one morning at Portofinos, a New Haven restaurant, to clear the air. The chairman and the partys presumptive nominee had a productive working relationship for the remainder of the campaign, according to Democrats active in Lamonts campaign and friendly with Balletto. The inability to quickly resolve the question of Ballettos status is evidence of growing pains by an incoming administration as well as an understandable focus on first rounding out the selections of the governors top aides. Lamont announced his first appointments Tuesday, naming Ryan Drajewicz, who also is his transition director, as his chief of staff, and Melissa McCaw as his secretary of policy and management, overseeing the office responsible for state budgeting and labor negotiations. Other appointments are expected next week. Armenias Court of Appeals has upheld the judgment of a lower court on remanding Armenias former president Robert Kocharyan, his attorney Hayk Alumyan said. Alumyan said that he and other defense layers had filed a number of petitions, including one requesting to replace the presiding judge Ruben Mkhitaryan, which were denied. He said the defense layers will appeal the latest ruling at the Constitutional Court to verify the compliance of articles 300 and 300.1 of Penal Code (cited to remand Kocharyan) with the basic law of the country, ARKA reported. Kocharyan, who served two terms as president in 1998-2008, is charged with toppling constitutional order in collusion with other persons in 2008 March. A Yerevan district court allowed this past summer the Special Investigative Service to detain Kocharyan for two months in pre-trial detention pending investigation. However, he was released from custody on June 13 after the Court of Appeals ruled that he could not be prosecuted for the 2008 March 1 post-election violence. The court based its decision on Article 140 of the Armenian Constitution, which says that during the term of his or her powers and thereafter, the President of the Republic may not be prosecuted and subjected to liability for actions deriving from his or her status. That ruling was denounced by the Special Investigative Service, which described it as illegal, saying that the Court of Appeals overstepped the bounds of its authority. While nearly all companies know they need a social media presence, many banks and credit unions have not embraced social media enthusiastically. Consider, as a benchmark, that Twitter launched in mid-2006, over a decade ago. Yet, on average, community financial institutions have been active on social media for just under three years, according to research by Kasasa. Many have reluctantly set up social profiles because they dont want to appear to lag behind their competitors or because consumers expect to find them on social channels. Yet many of these same institutions dont feel they are leveraging social media channels effectively, nor are they sure about the ROI of social, period. When they become at all active, many banks and credit unions merely use social media to push promotions, which tends to result in very little consumer engagement. Thats because social media is all about connection. When used effectively, social media channels offer banks and credit unions opportunities to foster, strengthen, and celebrate the communities at the heart of their business. An intentional, dedicated, and evolving social strategy has the potential to powerfully engage consumers and differentiate an institutions brand. Who doesnt love a good puppy photo in their news feed? Right? While occasional novelty or humorous posts may have some merit in your content plan, it is important to realize the value social media plays in your overall marketing strategy. My dog agrees. Until more recently, credit unions were cautious about joining social media. Much of that delay can be attributed to compliance concerns. There also has been hesitance on how to use or manage the channel effectively. Those fears are no longer slowing FIs down though, as their presence on social networks is growing. That growth is thanks, in part, to more regulatory guideline clarity, as well as improved delivery and compliance solutions. Still not sure about your approach? Lets look at some reasons why a social media strategy is important for CUs: Staying in the discussion. CUs need to monitor and respond to issues that impact their reputation and brand. The conversations are happening whether your CU is there or not. Dont miss the opportunity to manage your message. Member service. The interactive nature of social media provides CUs another way to manage member service issues. In fact, some financial institutions are already integrating it with their own online service portals. Gaining insights. CUs can learn from the qualitative feedback, crowd sourcing and other hard metrics to make improvements in their processes, products and member engagement. Promotional and sales activities. Whether it is promoting products and services, community outreach or thought leadership, CUs can leverage social media for deeper marketing reach and social selling activities. Expectations. Consumers are on social media and look to interact with companies there (including your competitors). Furthermore, expectations will continue to rise as the industry integrates business practices such as lending, transactions and incentives into the channel. In our recent Instagram content analysis of over 100 FIs, we found a few notable trends: CUs posted more than community banks with an average of 12.8 posts versus 11.7 during the month studied. The leading category of CU posts were community-related at 24%, which was 11% less than the community banks. CUs posted about products 15% of the time, which was slightly greater than their bank counterparts. Overall, there appeared to be a general lack of strategy such as posting regularity, content standards or consistent consumer service interactions. Yes, there were some Fidos too. What should CUs do? CUs need to create more engagement with the community and key market segments through strategic social communication. They also need to go beyond the basics and integrate social media with other business areas such as operations, product integration and sales conversion. Now, I wonder where I can find a company t-shirt and hat for my dog? I have some photos to take. No, its not the answer to the question, Whats my routing number? In fact, its not a frequently asked question at all. Its a question people ask silently and youve probably never received an inquiry about it. When it comes to financial products and services, consumers have lots of options. Personally, I use at least 12 different companies for my financial needs. Some I use for convenience, others for a great rate, and still others for specific functionality. Here they are: Evansville Teachers FCU (ETFCU) I became a member of ETFCU because their Vertical Checking account offers 3% APY on balances up to $20,000, which is one of the best savings rates I could find anywhere. Sadly, its been really hard to transfer money into the checking account, so I havent got much use out of it yet. Venmo Venmo is one of the easiest ways to transfer money to peers. I use it occasionally. PayPal PayPal is one of the easiest ways to pay for things online and I use it frequently. Wells Fargo Ive had accounts with Wells Fargo since I was 18 years old. When I left home for college, I asked my dad where I should open a bank account and he told me to go to Wells Fargo. So I did, and Ive had accounts there ever since. Their rates are terrible, but they have pretty good digital services, especially with their recent design upgrades. Also, I appreciate that they call me if a suspicious transaction shows up on my account and I usually get good service when I call in for help. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) I opened a savings account with CIBC because they offer the best rate I could find for a standard savings account. Sadly, Ive run into the same issue with CIBC as I have with ETFCU: its been really hard to transfer funds into the account, so I havent got much use out of it yet. Vanguard I opened a Roth IRA with Vanguard because a college professor recommended Vanguard years ago. I actually dont like Vanguard very much because their online money management software isnt intuitive and its hard to use, but my money is already there and I havent wanted to deal with moving it. Geico My wife and I buy car insurance from Geico because 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. (Oh, and because they have cavemen and a talking gecko.) Albert Albert is an app that helps me track my income and expenses. Its like Mint, but I find Albert more useful because its simpler. I dont use this app as often as I should, but even without active use it automatically saves money for me, which is cool. It takes small amounts of money from my checking account here and there and stashes it away into an Albert Savings account that pays a 1% bonus on my balance. Chase Initially, my wife and I used a credit card from Chase for most purchases because we got 1% cash back. Then, cards with 1.5% cash back started coming out, so we got one of those from Wells Fargo. But we still use our Chase card on Amazon because we get 5% back on all Amazon purchases. TurboTax I hate taxes, but love TurboTax. Filling out tax forms is daunting, but TurboTax makes it easy because they baby-step me through the whole process. Coinbase I own a modest amount of Bitcoin, which I bought through and store on Coinbase. Apple Pay I love Apple Pay and use it whenever I can. There is nothing easier than using my thumbprint to pay for a Jimmy Johns sandwich. With so many options, the question is, Why should I bank with you? I talk with a lot of credit unions about website design and this is one of the first questions I ask. Unfortunately, many credit unions dont have a compelling answer. Yet, the answer to this question is the most important thing to emphasize in a credit union website design. How to Develop an Answer In his bestseller The Innovators Dilemma, renowned Harvard professor Clayton Christensen postulates that people buy products based on the criteria of functionality, reliability, convenience, and price. (Note: He also says that buyers care most about functionality, more about reliability than convenience, and more about convenience than price.) If you look again at the products and services Im using, youll see that each one satisfies at least one of Christensens four criteria. Examples: Im using Coinbase for its functionality because they deal in Bitcoin, unlike most financial institutions. Im using Wells Fargo because Ive found them to be reliable . Im using Venmo because its very convenient . Im using ETFCU because their rate is awesome ( price ). Clayton Christensen at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland in 2013 When thinking about the competitive advantage of your credit union, Christensens theory can be a helpful model. Consider the following questions in terms of functionality, reliability, convenience, and price. What are you the best in the world at? Why should I bank with you as opposed to any other financial institution? How would I benefit from banking with you? These are tough questions, but if you can develop sound answers then youll have a powerful message and brand strategy. But then comes an even harder part: actually executing on that strategy. Aligning an entire organization behind a single vision might feel like passing an act of congress, but the results will be worth it. A Word of Caution Some organizations are built around a single product or service (e.g., Venmo), but credit unions are built to be full-service financial institutions, not one-hit wonders. That means success wont come from just one compelling productsuch as one great rate on one product. Rather, your entire brand and all your products and services need to revolve around your competitive advantages. Great Examples of Brand Focus A great example of brand focus is NW Preferred FCU. Their entire organization revolves around helping insurance agents grow their businesses, and that message is front-and-center on their credit union website design. They offer a functional advantage because their loan products are specific to insurance agencies. The homepage of NW Preferreds credit union website design Another great example is Stephen Hawking, which is why hes on the cover of this article. ALS ravaged his body, but he focused on his strengths, and despite his physical handicap he excelled at physics and received world renown. Similarly, your credit union doesnt have to be great at everything, just something. Get Started So, why should I bank with you? Answer the questions above and youll be on your way to a captivating brand message. And if youre thinking about getting a new website, answer the questions in this Strategy Guide and apply what you learn to your new credit union website design. As I said above, these are tough questions to answer, but they can transform your credit union and how you communicate with consumers. Germany Detects New Russian Cyber-Attack German security officials have detected a fresh cyber-attack on the email accounts of German lawmakers, the military and several German embassies by the Russian hacker group Snake belived to be affilited with the FSB intelligence agancy. The news magazine Der Spiegel, citing security sources, said the latest cyber-attack was detected on Nov. 14 but it was not yet clear if any data had been stolen. It quoted the BfV domestic intelligence agency as saying: "The BfV, in the framework of investigating the cyber campaign 'Snake', has detected new attacks. The victims are primarily in the government and political realm." In April, BfV said there was a "high likelihood" that the Russian government was behind a cyber-attack on German computer networks that was discovered in December 2017 that was also linked to the hacker group Snake. German officials have also said Russia was behind an earlier cyber-attack on the German lower house of parliament in 2015. Russia has repeatedly denied that it is involved in cyber-attacks on German institutions. Trusted.org: You Might Also Read: China Is Spying On Germany: Further Cyberattacks On German Government Networks: Surveillance Spyware Targeted At Journalists In Mexico The messages arrived at a familiar moment of crisis for Mexicos fragile journalist community, another reporter killed in the line of duty. Javier Valdez, a prominent investigative reporter, had been shot dead only a day earlier. Then came a sudden breakthrough: According to a text message received by his colleagues, his killers had been detained. Despite the tragedy, his co-workers were suspicious. More than 90 percent of murders go unsolved in Mexico. How did the authorities solve the case so soon? More likely, they worried, the text messages were an attempt to infiltrate their smartphones, part of a pattern of hacking attempts involving sophisticated spying technology bought by the Mexican government. They were Right The messages were infected with a spyware known as Pegasus, which the Mexican government purchased from an Israeli cyber arms dealer called the NSO Group, according to a forensic analysis by the Citizen Lab at the Munk School at the University of Toronto. A simple click on the links embedded in the messages would have infected the cellphones with spyware powerful enough to break through encrypted messaging, monitor emails and remotely activate the camera and microphone. Someone was trying to spy on Mr. Valdezs closest friends and colleagues the day after he was killed last year, most likely the Mexican government, according to those targeted. I believe they wanted to search our conversations and messages for clues to the murder of Javier, but we are absolutely against this, said Ismael Bojorquez, the co-founder and news director of Rio Doce, the news organization where Mr. Valdez worked. Nothing obtained illegally should be used in an investigation, and especially not from those who are involved professionally and emotionally to the victim. The illegal use of the surveillance technology in Mexico first emerged during the administration of Mr. Pena Nieto, which bought the spyware on the condition that it be used only to target terrorists and criminals. But in the last year and a half, the Citizen Lab has confirmed nearly two dozen highly questionable targets, including some of Mexicos most prominent journalists, human rights lawyers and anticorruption activists. When news of the surveillance erupted last year, the Mexican government denounced the spying and opened a federal investigation into any misuse of the technology. But the federal investigation has gone nowhere. Not a single individual has been punished for abusing the system. Well aware of the scandal, Mr. Bojorquez said he had little faith in the messages he was receiving. He and another target, the news director, Andres Villareal, refused to click on the links. They had reason to be suspicious. The men were running one of the few independent news groups in the nation, dedicated to covering organized crime and exposing the underbelly of Mexicos vast nexus of crime and corruption. Their work made them few friends. Threats came with the territory, and not just from organised crime. Government data show that public officials are responsible for the greatest number of assaults and attacks on journalists. But Mr. Valdezs work and international profile, they figured, protected him. He was known and beloved by local and foreign journalists alike, and was the recipient of awards and recognition globally. His death and the subsequent targeting of newsroom leaders exposed two of the most devastating risks to the freedom of expression in Mexico today. One is the physical threats to journalists and, by extension, freedom of speech in Mexico. More than 47 journalists have been killed since Mr. Pena Nieto took office in late 2012, 15 of them after Mr. Valdezs death in May of last year, according to Article 19, a journalist protection group. We believed that a journalist as prestigious as Javier was untouchable, Mr. Bojorquez said. When they killed Javier, we understood from that point on that they could kill anyone, he added. We understood that the paradigm had been broken. The second risk is a separate but connected facet of the rule of law in Mexico: There is essentially near total impunity when it comes to how it is broken or applied, a dynamic underscored by the use of illegal spyware to intimidate and spy on pro-democracy voices. Dating back to 2016, the target list has been a whos who of Mexicos most prominent voices aiming to bring accountability to the nation, including the directors at Rio Doce. Mr. Bojorquez said he and others had become aware of the governments potent spyware in February 2017, when the Citizen Lab and The New York Times published articles outlining its illicit use against backers of a nationwide soda tax. The investigations detailed the purchase of the spyware by the Mexican government, and included details about its proper use. The Israeli company claimed it had sold the software only to governments, and said it had measures in place to ensure that its clients followed the ethical guidelines stipulated in purchasing agreements. Mexicos government was deeply embarrassed by the scandal. And yet months after the attempted hacking of doctors and activists promoting a tax on sugary drinks in Mexico, which is suffering a diabetes crisis, the targeting did not stop. Mexico has become an emblem of problematic use of spyware. In a series of articles in 2017, The Times and the Citizen Lab detailed the extensive use of the malware against journalists, minors, human rights lawyers, politicians and anticorruption activists. It also included critics of the president. The NSO Group claimed that it monitored abuses of its software and intervened to stop clients from targeting people who did not fall within the permitted categories. But even after suspicious targeting was unveiled in February 2017, operators in Mexico continued their illicit spying. A new government comes into office in the next week, arriving on a wave of popular support. But whether the status of journalists will change in the country, and whether their targeting and abuse, and state overreach will subside, is an open question. A change in government does not mean there will be a change in the context of impunity or aggressions against journalists, Mr. Bojorquez said. If there is no change to the impunity, the murder of journalists will continue. New York Times: You Might Also Read: Spyware Proliferates To 45 Countries The Russian government wants "normal relations" with the Georgian government, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said. He recalled that recently Moscow and Tbilisi made a number of steps to normalize relations, including the restoration of air traffic. "We hope that we will continue to search for ways to develop constructive cooperation under the elected Georgian president," TASS cited Lavrov as saying. Lavrov reiterated that Zurabishvili used to head the Georgian Foreign Ministry. "Then we managed to reach a number of agreements, which, unfortunately, were broken by Tbilisi later," he added. Somerset area merchants expect good things on Small Business Saturday Small businesses across Somerset County are hosting events and specials for the annual crowds of Christmas shoppers. Azerbaijans Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov held a meeting with the OSCE Secretary-General Thomas Greminger in the framework of the 25th session of the OSCE Ministerial Council on December 6, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry reported. At the meeting the perspectives of the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict and cooperation opportunities between Azerbaijan and the OSCE were discussed. Elmar Mammadyarov notified Thomas Greminger about the recent meetings held with the Armenian Foreign Minister and the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs and reiterated that these meetings were fruitful, and it was agreed to continue in near future intensive and result-oriented negotiations in the existing format. Responding to the question of Thomas Greminger about the OSCE's role in this regard, Mammadyarov noted the role of the OSCE in the organization of possible assessment mission to the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani Foreign Minister stressed that the realization of the OSCE's off-budget project 'Promoting Green Ports and Connectivity in the Caspian Sea Region' prepared by the Office of the Coordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities will contribute to the diversification of energy supply from the ports of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, as well as the accession of the Central Asian states to the European markets via the Caspian Sea. Mammadyarov and Greminger also exchanged their views on the issues of mutual interest. German Chancellor Angela Merkels Christian Democrats vote today to decide who replaces her as party leader and moves into pole position to succeed her as German chancellor. The frontrunners are Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, a Merkel protege seen as the continuity candidate, and Friedrich Merz, a Merkel rival who has questioned the constitutional guarantee of asylum to all politically persecuted and believes Germany, Europes biggest economy, should contribute more to the European Union. The new CDU leader will be chosen by 1001 delegates who vote at a party congress in Hamburg. The winner will likely lead the CDU in the next federal election due by October 2021. Merz, 63, is backed by CDU members tired of Merkels consensual politics. He takes clear positions that appeal to rank-and-file party members hungry for a more clearly defined party after 13 years under Merkel as chancellor. Merz wants tax cuts, a stronger EU and a more robust approach to challenging the far-right. Kramp-Karrenbauer, 56, has differentiated herself from Merkel on social and foreign policy by voting in favor of quotas for women on corporate boards, opposed by Merkel, and by taking a tougher line on Russia. A survey by pollster Infratest dimap for broadcaster ARD on Thursday showed 47% of CDU members favored Kramp-Karrenbauer compared with 37% for Merz and 12% for Health Minister Jens Spahn, Reuters reported. Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak intends to hold separate bilateral meetings with the oil ministers of Saudi Arabia and Iran, Khalid Al-Falih and Bijan Namdar Zangeneh, ahead of a main meeting of oil producers in Vienna on Friday on output cuts, according to sources. OPEC countries reached a preliminary agreement after talks in Vienna to reduce oil production but specific volumes to be cut are still to be agreed. According to TASS sources, oil production will be reduced from the October 2018 level. Lord Baker: 'A defeat would set us on a path to a Labour government' Michael Gove, a passionate Brexiteer, was absolutely right when he said that if the Commons defeat Theresa Mays package next Tuesday, Brexit will be lost. In fact, it will go further than that because a defeat would set us on a path to a Labour government. As a former Chairman of the Conservative Party and as a strong supporter of Leave, I urge all Tory MPs to support Theresa May on December 11. If she is defeated, Parliament will use the Grieve Amendment passed this week to stop the UK exiting with no deal on March 29 because the threat of chaos for parts of British industry and agriculture is too great. This ironically is just what the Prime Minister wants, but it is bad news for the Brexiteers because this was their fall-back position. So, what could happen? We know what the EU will do if the Prime Minister loses: Donald Tusk has said there will be no further concessions or negotiations, they would just extend the leaving date from March 29 to the end of July to give time to Theresa May to gather more support. March 29 is the day when we gain our constitutional freedom. From that date there will be no more European Commission or European Parliament or majority voting (which we usually lose) or EU ministers meetings telling us what to do. March 29 is the day when constitutionally we become an independent nation state again. Theresa May attends the switch on of the Christmas tree lights outside 10 Downing Street on Thursday Moving from that date would end Brexit, as in those extra four months, the campaign for a referendum would go into overdrive. John McDonnell initially opposed a referendum, but now he sees it as a way for Labour to gain power. He will be helped by several Tory MPs supporting a Peoples Vote. If this second referendum resulted in a Remain victory it would create a generation of bitterness. In our society there would be deep division arising from a sense of betrayal from which populism will gain ground here in the UK, just as it has done in America, Germany, Italy, Spain and now France. All those who voted Leave in June 2016 will feel that they have been cheated by the liberal elite in London, as all the Anywheres re-assert their power over the Somewheres. A Remain victory would be a humiliating blow to the Government as the Mother of Parliaments has not been able to deliver the wish of the largest democratic vote that we have ever had. The public would lose trust in a government that cannot deliver its policy. The consequence of a Remain victory for the Tory party would be devastating. The Remainers would consider the matter settled for ever, but the Brexiteers, now better organised and forming a considerable wedge of MPs, would go on campaigning to leave. Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn speaks during Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons on Wednesday The Conservative Party would be torn apart and even in safe seats there would be fights between Tories pro-Brexit and Tories pro-Remain. In the ensuing General Election, the Tory Party would be split with a loss of many of the marginals. A Labour government would be the likely outcome of a referendum followed by a general election and the Conservative Party could be out of office for 13 years thats what happened in 1997. Those Tory MPs who are now supporting a second referendum should remember 1997, when we lost safe seats to candidates demanding a referendum to leave. In Putney, Justine Greening, a passionate second referendum supporter, knows that James Goldsmith campaigned for Leave and that cost David Mellor his seat. As Justines majority has fallen from over 10,000 in 2015 to just over 1,500 in 2017, the same could happen to her as to David Mellor and to many other MPs. Jacob Rees-Mogg and Boris Johnson have a sense of history and they should reflect upon the consequences of voting down the Prime Ministers deal. Like them I wanted Leave, and there are aspects of this deal that I dont like, but I do want to regain our control over fishing, agriculture, and freedom of movement, and I believe that the deal over the trading of goods can be resolved over time. Jacob and Boris will also know that the basic freedoms of our country, which we all cherish so deeply, were not won in one day, one week, or even a decade. Sometimes we waited for quite a time. March 29 is the day when we gain our constitutional independence that is the KEY victory. Although we do not get everything we want, we do get most of it. Jacob and Boris should bear in mind Oliver Goldsmiths comment on Edmund Burke: He was too fond of the right to pursue the expedient. Gwyneth Paltrow, the controversial poster girl for 'vaginal steaming', has been interviewed at length in the latest Wall Street Journal magazine about her lifestyle website Goop. Posing in a selection of expensive swimsuits, at 46, she looks fantastic, a great advertisement for the brand. According to Gwynnie, Goop is hugely successful - although the company does not disclose revenue or profits. We know she has raised over $50million from investors, and claims to personally road-test every product on offer. Gwyneth Paltrow has been interviewed at length in the latest Wall Street Journal magazine It must be very exhausting popping those rose quartz eggs up your front bottom and measuring if they have improved your sex life. By the way, don't you wonder how their efficiency is measured? Goop isn't like any other website, it flogs a wonderful world where vitamins and supplement (at $90 a month) promise Goop devotees loads more energy and a better menopause. Along with lotions, potions, incense burners and candles, joining Goop world means buying expensive sofas in tasteful pastels, ethically sourced clothes for the perfect beach-ready body, and cooking utensils for those vegan-friendly simple meals involving whacky ingredients from remote rainforests you'll never source at Tesco. On the surface, Gwyneth and I have nothing in common. I chucked all my supplements down the toilet, after a super-powerful probiotic totally disrupted my digestion. I'm 71 and-three-quarters - and without the benefit of over priced Goop products I am fit, positive thinking, and perky. I don't need a stone egg or a vaginal steamer to get through my busy day. Nevertheless, the business is expanding, shops have opened in London, New York and Los Angeles and more are planned. Since 2014, Gwynnie has been dating Brad Falchuk, and they married last September. They are pictured on Tuesday in Hollywood Gwyneth seeks world domination for her combination of mumbo jumbo pseudo-science, spiritual claptrap and focus on the 'inner being'. Thousands of fans seem ready and willing to believe her claims, even though the company recently had to pay hefty fines following a court case in which the benefits of three products (including the crystal yoni eggs - which Goop billed as an aid to sexual health) were judged to have been falsely promoted. The interview with Gwyneth has caused outrage in some quarters, mainly because (as a result of her cripplingly large ego, which makes Madonna look positively chilled and normal) she couldn't resist claiming all the credit for popularising yoga. According to Paltrow, when a young woman at a yoga studio asked her recently if it was her first time, the lifestyle guru grumpily replied 'you have this job because I've done yoga before' and tells the interviewer 'when I started doing yoga, people were like 'what is yoga? She's a witch. She's a freak.' On social media, critics have pointed out that 'yoga was dreamt up by brown people thousands of years ago', calling her remarks 'Peak White Nonsense'. Someone even posted a picture of the musician and composer Quincy Jones at a yoga class in Los Angeles in the 1970's - observing that 'a five year old Gwyneth was probably his instructor'. Critics have described Goop as 'marketing for suckers''the personification of the self-absorbed empty-headed glitterati'. Gwyneth says she's a 'trail-blazer' promoting 'contextual commerce'. For all her ludicrous claims, I'll grudgingly admit Gwyneth wins my admiration in one department - relationships. We mocked when Gwyneth told the world that her first marriage to Coldplay star Chris Martin (above, in 2014 in Beverly Hills) was ending, describing the process as 'conscious uncoupling' We mocked when she told the world that her first marriage to Coldplay star Chris Martin was ending, describing the process as 'conscious uncoupling'. Now, she says she was trying to come up with a way of describing remaining friends for the sake of the children. In this respect she has been extraordinarily successful. She lives with her two children (Apple, 14, and Moses, 12) in Los Angeles and drives them to school every day, but their father collects them afterwards. They frequently go on family holidays and eat Sunday lunch together. When she has to go away on tour to promote Goop, Martin stays in her house, where he has his own room. You can sneer, or you can say well done. This isn't creepy or weird, but worthy of praise. Being a full-on couple but living apart is a recipe for success Since 2014, Gwynnie has been dating writer Brad Falchuk, and they finally married last September, after a huge number of expensive parties - one for the engagement last April, a star-studded hen do in Mexico and then a glamorous rehearsal dinner just before the wedding hosted by Jerry Seinfeld. After all that, the couple took just two days off on honeymoon, and then went back to work. Gwyneth has revealed they don't live together, because Falchuk has two teenage children and, according to Gwyneth 'it's pretty intense, the teenage thing. I've never been a stepmother before. I don't know how to do it'. Being a full-on couple but living apart is a recipe for success. Gwyneth says she is better equipped to choose a life partner half way through her life - and she's right. I know from personal experience (and four divorces) that you make a lot of mistakes through selfishness early on. I also had to manage two stepchildren, a nightmare. Finally, after a relationship that lasted 18 years (no wedding), my partner and I split up, neither of us able to tolerate the other. But now, I've found the perfect solution. I only see him at the weekends. He lives in his house and I live in mine. I don't have to listen to his awful choice in music, deal with his whining dog, or eat at 9pm when I want to dine at 7. When we meet on a Friday evening, there's stuff to discuss, and a weekend of relaxation and cooking to plan. And the very moment I start to get fed up of the dog, the background radio noise and the battle over the heating thermostat, he's packed up his car and gone back to his man cave. Bliss! Gwyneth is right - for a relationship to last, it's best to ration your time together. RIP the Tory party? 'The only beneficiary, of course, would be Jeremy Corbyn' When David Cameron announced the Brexit referendum almost six years ago, his main objective was to end, once and for all, Conservative Party divisions over Europe. Im afraid we never needed hindsight to tell us that it was a catastrophic misjudgement. For Tory divisions over Europe seem insoluble. It has now fallen to the embattled Theresa May to stop the Tories falling apart. Even if and against all odds the Commons votes in favour of her EU withdrawal deal on Tuesday, Tory wounds will continue to fester. But, much worse, if the PM is defeated, the Conservative Party faces imminent civil war. An organisation which has been the most successful political party in the world since its foundation in 1834, may formally split into a hardline anti-EU group and a more pro-EU side. Of course, history tells us that there have been occasional schisms in the past, most notoriously when Prime Minister Robert Peel attempted to abolish the Corn Laws, which protected British farmers from overseas competition. Peter Oborne: 'It has now fallen to the embattled Theresa May to stop the Tories falling apart' That debacle meant the Tories were out of power for a generation with the great Victorian Liberal, William Gladstone, the beneficiary. It is no exaggeration to say the current crisis is so grave we could soon be witnessing the death of the Conservative Party. Let me explain the sequence of events that could lead to this. Although I wrote in Wednesdays Mail that Mrs May and her deal mustnt be written off, it is important to consider the dire consequences of a defeat on Tuesday. Inevitably, the first challenge to her authority would come from Jeremy Corbyn, who as leader of the Opposition would be entitled to put down an instant vote of no confidence in Mrs Mays Government. If she lost that vote, she would be out of Downing Street within hours, and Britain would face a third General Election in as many years. After the shambolic way the Tory Government failed to deliver Brexit, as demanded by the British people, the most likely result would be a Labour victory, as voters punished the Tories. However, my guess is that Mrs May would win a vote of confidence in the Commons. Her backbenchers would finally come to their senses and support her mostly out of fear of losing their jobs in a general election rout. Having seen off Corbyn, the next move for Houdini May would be to go to Brussels to explain to the leaders of the other 27 countries that they must offer concessions in order to get her deal approved in Westminster. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn speaks at the annual meeting of the Party of European Socialists in Lisbon, Portugal on Friday But Brussels feels it has done its bit. Many European leaders believe they have made too many concessions to the UK already. And they have their own problems such as the riots in Paris to deal with. However, any concessions would most likely concern the so-called Northern Ireland backstop, which guarantees friction-less trade between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic. Of course, Mrs May would hope she could winkle out enough agreements to allow her to win the Commons vote on her exit deal a second time around. In which case, her leadership would survive and Britain would break relatively smoothly from the EU in March. But lets suppose her deal gets struck down for a second time by MPs. Mrs Mays authority would be shattered. Her flagship policy would be sunk and Britain would be rudderless. It would be at this point that a Conservative Party split would be most likely. 'Even if a Brussels-baiter such as Boris Johnson (pictured) or Jacob Rees-Mogg were reluctantly made second choice by Tory MPs, either man would be the darling among Conservative Party members' With her deal rejected by politicians (never forget, over the heads of the British public), Mrs May could try to appeal directly to voters in defiance of MPs and call a General Election. In effect, this would be a single-issue vote of confidence in her own personal leadership and her EU withdrawal deal. I have no doubt that millions of Britons who admire Mrs May for her fighting qualities would back her. But such a course would cause utter havoc in the Conservative Party. The fact is that more than 100 Tory MPs have already indicated they regard Mrs Mays deal as a sell-out to Brussels. Some of those might quit the party and fight the election as independents. Probably some Tory Remainers would resign, too, feeling that the PMs deal betrays their Europhile values. Others, showing shameless personal vanity, would abandon a weakened Mrs May and exploit the opportunity to promote their own leadership ambitions. In sum, the Tory Party would be split asunder. The only beneficiary, of course, would be Jeremy Corbyn. Fully aware herself of this scenario, I am convinced that Mrs May would eschew calling a General Election. Michael Gove and Amber Rudd leave crucial Brexit talks at 10 Downing Street on Thursday Another option, facing this mess, would be a second referendum. Pressure is mounting, and I can understand why. But if Mrs May agreed to hold one, there would definitely be a Tory mutiny. Whatever happens in the coming days and weeks, Britain is about to plunge into the most scary week in its post-war history. Unless Mrs May wins on Tuesday, we are faced with stark choices: a lame duck prime minister; months of political paralysis; a challenger to Mrs May as Tory leader; or a Corbyn government. Lets consider that there is a move to oust Mrs May before Christmas. Certainly, Tory infighting would escalate into civil war. When Mrs May became PM in the summer of 2016, she was appointed unopposed. All mooted rival candidates such as Boris Johnson, Andrea Leadsom and Michael Gove dropped out. This time, I predict there would be plenty of challengers representing all shades of opinion and the Tory Party would quickly self-destruct. Jacob Rees-Mogg sips from a cup of tea at a meeting of the pro-Brexit European Research Group last month Crucially, hardline Brexiteers know the partys leadership election rules work in their favour. A series of hustings between rival candidates would see Tory MPs reducing the number to two, and then a winner would be chosen based on a vote of all members. The fact is that any hardline Brexiteer would be the favourite, simply because the Tory grassroots are overwhelmingly Eurosceptic. Even if a Brussels-baiter such as Boris Johnson or Jacob Rees-Mogg were reluctantly made second choice by Tory MPs, either man would be the darling among Conservative Party members. But a hardline Brexiteer Tory Party led by Johnson or Rees-Mogg would see dozens of MPs quitting. There would be mass defections, too, if, on the other hand, a Remainer won the contest. The brutal truth is that there is no common ground any more between Europhile and Eurosceptic Tory MPs. And so the moment looms when the two factions will find themselves incapable of living alongside each other in the same political party. Thus the choice faced by Conservative MPs on Tuesday is not simply whether to accept Mrs Mays deal. It is about the survival or destruction of the Conservative Party. A symbol of how far some areas of modern politics have degraded can be seen in the behaviour of the government whips. Instead of working overtime to help Mrs May win Tuesdays Commons vote, they have been revelling in their starring role in this weeks fly-on-the wall ITV programme about their work. Whips ought to maintain a discreet dignity rather than parade themselves in front of TV cameras. This isn't pretty, Priti! Hardline Brexiteer Priti Patel MP wants the Cabinet to blackmail the Irish Government into backing down over its intransigence towards Mrs May, using the threat of food shortages. For Ireland is heavily dependent on trade with the UK, with Britain accounting for 29 per cent of its imports. Ms Patels suggestion is not just stupid politics but most inappropriate. Using food shortages as a bargaining chip is morally obscene considering that one million Irish died in the Great Famine between 1845 and 1849. Three cheers for Lib Dem MP Stephen Lloyd for showing admirable integrity by quitting his partys parliamentary group in order to support Mrs Mays Brexit proposals. Unlike his Lib Dem colleagues, hes honouring the promise they made during the 2017 election campaign. People from all over the world have started to share what they class as the strangest foods available in their country on Twitter. Twitter @porkironandwine user took to the social media platform on Wednesday to, asking people what weird, random foods are available in their country, and the responses flooded in. 'What country are you from? What's the weirdest food you have there,' wrote the Twitter user. Question of the day: Twitter user @porkironandwine asked his Twitter followers to reveal the strangest food available in their country Bizarre! The tweet received more than 500 responses from different people from all around the globe, some of who shared different vegetable-based dishes from their native country The Tweet saw more than 500 responses from people in different countries around the world. Raw horse meat, haggis, jellied eels and cow hooves were just some of the many meat-related foods revealed by Twitter users. But it wasn't just weird variations of meat that were revealed, some users shared some bizarre vegetable dishes including Baby Ruth deep-fried stuffed jalapenos, lettuce with cream and sugar, and sandwiches filled with mayonnaise and bananas. One user from Columbia revealed that it isn't uncommon for cheese to be added into hot chocolate. She wrote: 'Columbia - where we put pieces of cheese in our hot chocolate.' A Polish user wrote: 'Poland. The weirdest is lettuce with cream and sugar as a dinner side.' Another Twitter user, who is from Alaska, said: 'The weirdest thing I can think of is some Native people have a delicacy where they bury fishheads for a couple weeks, dig them back up, and then eat them.' 'I'm from Zimbabwe, Caterpillar worms, wild rodent, cow and goat intestines(so good), ants and ishwa- those flying insects that come right after the rain etc,' wrote another user. A South African user listed not one, but eight different traditional South African foods that ranged from boiled lamb head to mince meat topped off with an egg. A Bangladesh-based user wrote: 'Hutki' in Bangladesh. Extremely dry fish which absolutely stinks, but when prepared blended with chilli or cooked as a curry it tastes amazing with rice.Definitely an acquired taste though.' In another bizarre revelation, a user from Ukraine wrote: 'We have this cold soup called okroshka which in my family typically consists of chopped cucumber, radishes, diced egg, parsley, boiled potato, & ham. thats not the weird part tho - the broth is kefir/buttermilk mixed w seltzer water & garnished w horseradish...' Gross! Different meat-based foods included sago worms, guinea pig, buried fish heads and ant-based cornmeal Too far? Raw meat, boiled lamb head and milk pie were also among the list of weird dishes OPEC ministers discussed the oil production cut by 0.9-1.0 mln barrels per day within the Organizations framework and believe that ten non-OPEC countries should assume a half more of this portion, two sources in OPEC said. "If OPEC cuts by 1 mln barrels, and this is what we discussed, then non-OPEC should reduce by 0.5 mln. If OPEC slashes by 900,000 barrels, then non-OPEC should reduce by 450,000," one of sources said, recalling that the overall quota was broken down under the same principle last year. OPEC countries reached a preliminary agreement after talks in Vienna to reduce oil production but specific volumes to be cut are still to be agreed. According to TASS sources, oil production will be reduced from the October 2018 level. The OPEC+ ministers meeting, where specific decisions can be made, will take place tomorrow in Vienna. An incredible surprise proposal was captured on video with 16 dogs jumping for joy around the couple as the woman said yes to her fiance. Freelance journalist and author Laura Stampler, 30, from New York City had no idea her then-boyfriend, Maurice Goldstein, was planning to propose on their trip to Los Angeles, California, for Thanksgiving. Laura got the surprise of her life after her boyfriend, 31, of four years dropped down on one knee at the top of Runyon Canyon in the Hollywood Hills. Surprise! Freelance journalist Laura Stampler, 30, from New York City was surprised with a proposal on top of Runyon Canyon in Hollywood Hills, California Happy couple: Her boyfriend of four years, Maurice Goldstein, got down on one knee with rose petals scattered across the canyon Incredible: After Laura said yes, 16 dogs were released to come running towards the happy couple In love: 'All a sudden these dogs come out...because releasing dogs is so much better than releasing doves,' Laura said In an interview with DailyMail.com, Laura admitted she had been preparing for the possibility of a proposal but didn't know exactly when it would happen. 'I thought maybe it could be happening for the last six months for every day,' Laura said. 'It always was crossing my mind, but he did such a good job at throwing me off,' she continued. 'On my hike I was like "No, this is a hike. I could be watching Netflix right now."' Both of the couple's families live in Los Angeles, and it was their last day in town before heading back to New York City. Laura admitted she knew he was proposing once she saw rose petals scattered across the top of the canyon. 'I just started weeping uncontrollably,' she said. 'The roses were the first tip off. I was very surprised.' Included in the surprise was an a capella group entitled The Other Reindeer Carolers who were singing Kiss The Girl from Disney's The Little Mermaid. 'I watched Little Mermaid basically every day growing up when I was like five,' Laura said. 'That was really sweet and meaningful.' But when asked what Maurice said when he dropped down on one knee, Laura admitted that she and her fiance both blacked the moment out due to all the excitement during the proposal. 'He said "From the first day I met you," and then I completely blacked out,' Laura said laughing. 'He kind of blacked out, too. Its like all a sudden this was happening, and I was kissing him.' Amazing: Laura explained how the couple both love dogs despite not owning any of their own currently Best moment: The incredible proposal was captured by Laura's friend and photographer, Rebecca Yale Big smiles: The couple is from Los Angeles, California, but they met in New York City Good boys: Since the proposal, they have applied to be foster parents for dogs in the city The real surprise happened after Laura said yes, because 16 dogs were released to head straight towards the happy couple. 'All a sudden these dogs come out...because releasing dogs is so much better than releasing doves,' Laura said. The 16 dogs featured in the engagement were courtesy of Tony Vercillo, a friend of Maurice's family, who manages a group of therapy dogs called Pack of Hearts. Both Laura and Maurice grew up with dogs so the addition of the animals in their proposal made the moment all the more special, but the couple has yet to own one of their own. Laura's passion for dogs runs so deep that she even recently wrote a young adult book entitled Little Black Dress, Little White Lies, which features a dog walker in the story. Since the proposal, Laura revealed the couple has applied to be foster parents for dogs before making the leap towards adopting one of their own. Thoughtful: Maurice also surprised Laura with a ring that had the stone from her grandmother's engagement ring Magical: Included in the proposal was an a capella group who sang Kiss The Girl from Disney's The Little Mermaid while the couple walked up the canyon The entire proposal was captured on video by Maurice's friend Liel Shemtov, so the couple could share the moment with loved ones. For pictures, Maurice enlisted Laura's best friend, Rebecca Yale, who owns her own photography business. 'It was just so special,' Laura said when speaking about the proposal. 'It was incorporating different things into our relationship together.' The couple hopes to get married in the fall of 2019 in Los Angeles since it is where both their families reside. Laura also wants to make sure her grandmothers are able to attend. One final surprise with the proposal was that Maurice used the stone from Laura's grandmother's engagement ring for her own ring. 'Its gorgeous and it's also incredibly, incredibly meaningful,' Laura said. 'It is just really nice to have this piece of [my grandparents] that will be with me forever.' Ivanka Trump bared her legs in a tan leather pencil skirt while speaking at the Business Roundtable CEO Innovation Summit in Washington, D.C. on Thursday. The 37-year-old first daughter joined Ginni Rometty, chairman, president, and CEO of IBM Corporation, and Doug McMillon, president and CEO of Walmart Inc., on stage for the panel discussion, 'Future of Work in an Era of Automation and Artificial Intelligence.' Ivanka opted for a trendy yet ladylike look, wearing a black mock-turtleneck top tucked into a Bottega Veneta skirt featuring black laser-cut flowers across the waist. Taking the stage: Ivanka Trump spoke at the Business Roundtable CEO Innovation Summit in Washington, D.C. on Thursday Outfit of the day: The 37-year-old donned a black mock-turtleneck top tucked into a stylish tan leather skirt with black laser-cut flowers by Bottega Veneta The White House senior adviser accessorized her stylish outfit with a pair of dangly black leather earrings that peeked out from underneath her blonde hair, which was styled straight and loose around her shoulders. She wore the 5.22-carat engagement ring her husband, Jared Kushner, designed for her on her left hand and a simple yet elegant band on her right. Ivanka also donned a red string bracelet, which she has been wearing on her left wrist off and on for more than a year. Though she hasn't spoken about the purpose of the bracelet, it does bear a resemblance to the type of red string that Kabbalah practitioners wear to ward off the 'evil eye.' The former businesswoman topped off her outfit with a pair of classic black slingback heels. All smiles: At the event, Ivanka discussed education and training Americans for jobs of the future Panel: The first daughter was joined by Ginni Rometty, chairman, president and CEO of IBM Corporation (left), and Doug McMillon, president and CEO of Walmart Inc. (right) During the event, Ivanka and the other panelists discussed how they can work together to prepare American students and adults for the jobs of the future. 'We are at this moment, this turning point where there is so much change, and it is happening so rapidly that you can't rely on just the federal government or state and local governments or the private sector alone,' she said. 'We fundamentally have to rethink human potential, and rethink it not just K through 12.' Ivanka stressed that they have to ensure that college students will graduate with a marketable skill because they will likely be graduating with student loan debt. She also noted that college isn't for everyone. 'These alternatives that used to be prioritized in this country now have somehow been delegitimized in favor of college,' she said. 'Now, college is amazing, very important. Jewelry: Ivanka wore the 5.22-carat engagement ring her husband, Jared Kushner, designed for her on her left hand and a simple yet elegant band on her right Trendy: The White House senior adviser accessorized her stylish outfit with a pair of dangly black leather earrings Future of Work: Ivanka took to social media after the discussion to share a photo of herself on stage 'We wouldn't want to discourage people from doing that when it's right for them, but there are also apprenticeships, there are credentials, there are badges, there are so many opportunities today that are vacant that don't require a college education, and we need to make people aware of the array of options.' After the event, Ivanka took to social media to share a photo of herself on stage with the other panelists. 'The #FutureOfWork is at the top of our Admins priorities,' she wrote. 'Recognizing the importance of public-private collaboration, today I joined @IBM CEO Ginni Rometty & @Walmart CEO Doug McMillon at @BizRoundtable to discuss how we can prepare Americans for the jobs of today + tomorrow.' Earlier in the day, Ivanka was seen leaving her Washington, D.C. home straight from her garage at about 9:15 in the morning. On Wednesday, Ivanka and her husband, Jared, attended former President George H.W. Bush's state funeral at Washington National Cathedral. On the go: Earlier in the day, Ivanka was seen leaving her Washington, D.C. home straight from her garage at about 9:15 in the morning Somber: Ivanka attended the state funeral of President George H.W. Bush with her husband, Jared Kushner Catching up? Former friends and fellow first daughters Ivanka (right) and Chelsea Clinton (left) were seen chatting at the funeral of George H.W. Bush Good mood? Despite the somber mood of the day, Ivanka and Jared both flashed grins at the photographer when they left their Washington, D.C. home on Wednesday morning They each wore head-to-toe black for the occasion and looked somber as they waited inside the cathedral and socialized with other invited mourners. Ivanka and Chelsea Clinton came face-to-face for the first time in public since the latter vehemently bashed her former friend over her decision to support her father President Donald Trump. The fellow first daughters, who were once believed to enjoy a close relationship, were seen having what appeared to be a cordial conversation as they were seated alongside one another at the funeral. Their reunion, which took place under very somber circumstances, came just a few months after Chelsea, 38, slammed Ivanka for choosing to stand by her father and his policies, insisting that the mother-of-three must be 'held responsible' for her choices. Though Ivanka and Chelsea had grown to be friends over the years they'd reportedly been on double-dates with their husbands while living in Manhattan, and were seen palling around at the Glamour Women of the Year awards in November of 2014 things became icy during the 2016 election, in which their parents faced off. Despite their differences, they seemed to have been able to push the tension to the side for the sake of the funeral. A cash-strapped mother-of-three who was struggling to make ends meet after her divorce has told how she turned a 10 investment into a thriving 1million business. Just six years ago Kat Spencer, 46, from Aghalee, Northern Ireland was a single mother, struggling to provide for her three sons. But everything changed when she spotted a job advert to become a consultant for The Body Shop At Home (TBSAH) - which involved selling products from her house - on Gumtree. Incredibly, since parting with the 10 needed for a starter kit in 2012, Kat says she is on track to rake in 1m a year. Kat Spencer, 46, from Aghalee, Northern Ireland was a single mother, struggling to provide for her three sons, but she now rakes in a fortune selling Body Shop beauty products (pictured with a red lip gloss) Kat on a recent 'incentive trip, paid for by her employer. Incredibly, since parting with the 10 needed for a starter kit in 2012, Kat says she is on track to rake in 1m a year Today, Kate is engaged to haulage worker Michael Knox, 48, and regularly enjoys exotic holidays. Recalling her rags-to-riches tale, Kat said: 'Back then, 10 was a lot to me. I didn't have much at all, I was a single mum, starting from scratch with my three boys. 'Still, I decided to go for it and haven't looked back since. It's amazing to be able to support my sons and show them the stronger side of me.' Kat first trained as a beauty therapist at 17 and opened her own salon two years later, before taking a career break in her twenties to raise Ethan, now 21, Harrison, 18 and Luke, 16. But when she was 27, she heard about direct selling a method of marketing that targets customers directly in their homes - through a mother and baby group. Kat's Body Shop kit, including her uniform. She makes a living by selling beauty products to women at home and now manages 400 people in Northern Ireland Kat's itinerary for a trip to Thailand in 2013. The mother-of-three says she is set to make 1m a year after signing up to work with The Body Shop six years ago 'I was more or less a full-time mum, but I started doing that on the side for a bit of extra money,' she said. 'My boys were brought up on direct selling.' But it was not until March 2012, when The Body Shop launched in Northern Ireland, that Kat's sales career really took off. After divorcing her children's father she was struggling financially when, completely by chance, she spotted a post on Gumtree asking people to sign up as Body Shop consultants. Kat shelled out 10 for a starter kit - normally 45 and on special offer, it contained around 200 worth of products, brochures and order forms - and set to work. The mother-of-three began to organise parties, visiting customers' homes and demonstrating products, before taking orders. Mother-of-three Kat. The cash-strapped mother-of-three who was struggling to make ends meet after her divorce has told how she turned a 10 investment into a 1million business Kat's life changed when she spotted a job advert to become a consultant for The Body Shop At Home (TBSAH) - which involved selling products from her house - on Gumtree Kat is now a successful businesswoman raking in up to a 1m a year. But it was not until 2012, when The Body Shop launched in Northern Ireland, that Kat's sales career really took off Today, Kate is engaged to haulage worker Michael Knox, 48 (pictured) and regularly enjoys exotic holidays. The mother-of-three has this week revealed her rags-to-riches tale She added: 'Once I'd gathered feedback from my friends and family about the products, showcasing them from my kitchen table, I started organising parties. 'I'd do themed ones things like skincare parties, spa parties, even Christmas parties. I'd lay on fizz and nibbles, too. It's such a fun girly night in.' After gaining a steady income through selling, Kat began ordering extra products before turning her attention to recruiting consultants of her own. Within just four months, she had built up a team of seven, which allowed her to qualify as an area manager for The Body Shop. 'The beginning was all a bit of a rollercoaster, learning the ropes and how it all worked,' she said. 'But, as I started that second year with The Body Shop, it was amazing to look back on how far I'd come. Kat on a holiday to Thailand with her sister Rosie. Her lavish lifestyle began six years ago when she shelled out 10 for a starter kit - normally 45 and on special offer, it contained around 200 worth of products, brochures and order forms - and set to work Successful: After gaining a steady income through selling, Kat began ordering extra products before turning her attention to recruiting consultants of her own - enjoying holidays to far-flung destinations (pictured in Thailand with her sister Rosie) 'I'd gone from worrying about how to provide for my boys and having to start all over again from scratch, to suddenly having this money coming in. 'I could finally treat my family and do things like decorate my house - whereas before, I'd barely even had any furniture.' Despite being frantically busy with raising her three boys and caring for her elderly father, Kat's calm demeanour under pressure caught the attention of The Body Shop bosses. 'They told me that if I could handle all that, I could handle anything,' she said. 'They'd been looking for someone at the time to look after the whole of Northern Ireland and ended up choosing me.' Kat doing a product demo. Today, she looks after a team of almost 400 consultants, and has just received the news that the she will be worth around 1million through retail sales by the end of the year Kat's itinerary for a recent trip to Mauritius. Kat says her life is now unrecognisable from her early days post-divorce and, as well as bonuses, she has also enjoyed 'incentive holidays' Kat and some of her team. She got the high-flying job when her calm demeanour under pressure caught the attention of The Body Shop bosses Today, Kat looks after a team of almost 400 consultants, and has just received the news that the business will be worth around 1million through retail sales by the end of the year. Kat says her life is now unrecognisable from her early days post-divorce and, as well as cash bonuses, she has also enjoyed lavish 'incentive holidays' to places like Thailand and Mauritius. 'I want to keep building and make even more next year,' said Kat, who hopes to use the money she has earned to get back on the property ladder in 2019 and start planning her 2020 wedding. 'It's amazing to be able to bring other people into this, too, and give them a shot at a better quality of life for their families. 'I literally started from scratch and now here I am, able to see all these amazing businesswomen.' For information, visit thebodyshop.com/en-gb/landing-at-home A British couple desperate to avoid the '9-5 grind' now live off-grid in the Australian outback. Johnny Clapham, 27, of London, and Victoria Bowness, 35, of Manchester, both moved out to Sydney independently six years ago. After meeting at a meditation retreat, the pair bonded over their shared love of nature and adventure and soon fell in love. Last year Victoria fell pregnant with their daughter Anaya, now 10 months, and the couple began searching for a family home on Sydney's North Shore, but were faced with the reality of paying 'close to a million dollars' for even a small apartment. Instead of crippling themselves financially - and tying themselves to demanding jobs that would keep them away from their young daughter - Johnny and Victoria began searching for land where they could build their own dream home. They eventually settled on a 125-acre plot three-and-a-half hours outside of Brisbane, Queensland - and 40 minutes' drive from the nearest shop - where they built a 'geodesic dome' that serves as their main living space. Johnny Clapham, 27, of London, and Victoria Bowness, 35, of Manchester, both moved out to Sydney independently six years ago. They now live off-grid in the Australian outback with their 10-month-old daughter Anaya, pictured Instead of crippling themselves financially to buy a flat in Sydney - and tying themselves to demanding jobs that would keep them away from their young daughter - Johnny and Victoria decided to buy a plot of land where they have built an eco-friendly dome. Pictured, Johnny hiking through the outback with Anaya The family, who document their journey on Instagram and YouTube, live between the dome and their vintage 1984 Toyota Coaster, pictured, which they are in the process of converting The couple settled 25-acre plot three-and-a-half hours outside of Brisbane, Queensland - and 40 minutes' drive from the nearest shop - where they built a 'geodesic dome' that serves as their main living space, pictured Now the family, who document their journey on Instagram and YouTube, live between the dome and their vintage 1984 Toyota Coaster. The couple collect rain water using rain tanks and use LPG gas to heat their water and cook their food, as well as using a wood burner for heating in the winter months and internet via 4G. Their electrical devices are solar-powered, meaning Johnny and Victoria live free from debt and bills. Victoria said: 'We believe these are the years we should be living life to the full, we know there is no guarantee of a long healthy life. 'Everything gears you up to relax during retirement years, but we want to experience the world and enjoy every day, not be stuck in the grind of nine to five.' The dome, pictured above, sits atop an elevated platform built by Johnny by hand The couple grow crops (seen) to help support they self-sufficient lifestyle as the nearest shop is 40 minutes away Victoria, who lost both her parents in her 20s, explained she and Johnny had resigned themselves to taking out a huge mortgage before they decided to live off grid. Pictured, on their plot of land in the outback, three-and-a-half hours outside of Brisbane Victoria, who lost both her parents in her 20s, explained she and Johnny had resigned themselves to taking out a huge mortgage before they decided to live off grid. She said: 'One day we said to each other, "what are we doing? We are going to have a million-dollar mortgage that will pretty much cripple us financially for years". 'To pay for the mortgage we would both have to be working full time and that would mean I would have to return 12 months after Anaya's birth and she would have to go to child care.' She continued: 'We think it's okay to step outside the norm and do things that excite you, like building our geodesic dome, which is now our bedroom. Why just do what everyone else is doing? When you do something different, that's when you feel really alive.' It has also forced the couple to live a healthier lifestyle. Johnny and Victoria, seen with Anaya, collect rain water using rain tanks and use LPG gas to heat their water and cook their food, as well as using a wood burner for heating in the winter months and internet via 4G Johnny, Anaya and Victoria are pictured in front of their very own estate of land, called 'Hinterland Hideaway' Pictured: Anaya and Johnny relaxing in their hammock. The couple are self sufficient and have no bills 'We stopped getting the occasional takeaway and have stopped drinking alcohol, so our health has improved, these were things we would abuse so-to-speak as they were an easy option because there are takeaways and bottle shops everywhere,' Victoria said. 'There is also a real sense of community with our neighbours.' Johnny explained how the shape of the dome made it perfect for coping with the extremes of weather. He said: 'We love the fact it seems like you're sleeping out in nature, it's kind of like sleeping in a really huge. 'A geometric dome supports itself without needing internal columns or interior load-bearing walls, making domes the most efficient structures known to man. 'They use less material and are lighter and stronger than any type or building because domes have at least thirty per cent less surface area than other shaped buildings it takes thirty per cent less energy to heat and cool them. Victoria, Anaya and Johnny are seen together. The family are self-sufficient and live entirely off their own energy and land Johnny Clapham and Victoria Bowness, seen with Anaya, are now debt-free thanks to having no bills and living off the land 'Domes are naturally hurricane resistant, high winds can pass smoothly over a dome because it has no corners and flat surfaces to cause turbulence, high pressure air presses the dome down towards the ground. 'These facts made us fall in love with them even more. Simply their beauty, we love how beautiful and magnificent they look.' However the parents warned the lifestyle is not for anyone and urged anyone considering the same upheaval to do their research. 'Make sure it is what you want because it is a big change, there are plenty of communities to help you along the way, connect with likeminded people, don't let fear hold you back. 'We really can do anything we set our minds to, whether it's building a house, sewing some jeans or writing a book, trust in yourself and you will go far.' A mother was shocked to discover her daughter had coloured in their pet dog. Johnna Pennington, 27, of Edmonton, Kentucky, left three-year-old Alivia alone with their Boxer named Cupcake while she went to the bathroom. She returned to find the dog's white fur covered in multi-coloured scribbles after Alivia had used him as a canvas. Johnna Pennington, 27, left three-year-old Alivia alone with their Boxer named Cupcake while she went to the bathroom. She returned to find the dog covered in scribbles, pictured Creative Alivia had been given a new art set and used Cupcake the Boxer as her canvas The patient pooch, one of five Boxers owned by the family, had to be thoroughly scrubbed to get clean. Johnna said: 'I quickly went to the bathroom and left my daughter playing with her art set - but when I came out I saw the mess my daughter had made. 'She had coloured our white Boxer in and made her a rainbow - she was pink, purple, blue, green and black. Cupcake the Boxer before his arts and crafts session with three-year-old Alivia Pennington The patient pooch didn't seem to mind having a new multi-coloured coat after being drawn on 'She did lines of every colour that she had and just mixed them around to cover the dog. 'At first I was really shocked, but then I realised I had to laugh it off - and just get our dog back to her normal colour. 'So I quickly rushed Cupcake into the bathroom and ran a bath, and kept on scrubbing her until the paint washed away.' Johnna and Brent Pennington with their three-year-old daughter Alivia. Johnna, a dog breeder, said she had to scrub Cupcake in order to get him clean The Pennington family on a pack of Boxer dogs who enjoy playing with little Alivia Dog breeder Johnna said she thought Cupcake had enjoyed the arts and crafts session this week. She said: 'When I asked Cupcake what was going on, she was just jumping with excitement. 'Cupcake must have wanted more because she went and sat by Alivia whilst she was painting in the living room. 'A dog is a child's best friend - and you can tell that Cupcake just loved spending time with Alivia.' Harrods has been ridiculed for selling a designer label fridge for 36,000. The ultra-luxe kitchen appliance is a collaboration between design house Dolce & Gabbana and Italian manufacturer Smeg. Other products include a 500 kettle and a 700 blender. Even a small citrus juicer is staggeringly pricey, setting shoppers back 499.95. The upmarket range was unveiled earlier this year but has drawn fresh attention this week after a Facebook user shared a snap of the fridge online. Social media users were left shocked at the eye-watering price tag with one declaring: 'My first house barely cost that!' Harrods is selling a designer label fridge for 36,000, pictured. The ultra-luxe kitchen appliance is a collaboration between Dolce & Gabbana and Italian manufacturer Smeg The products were unveiled earlier this year but have drawn fresh attention this week after a Facebook user shared a snap of the extravagant fridge online, pictured Social media users were left shocked at the eye-watering price tag with one declaring: 'My first house barely cost that! Sarah Arnold posted the picture of the pricey appliance - a collaboration between kitchenware brand Smeg and clothing designer D&G - to a group on Facebook. She wrote: 'My mother-in-law visited London town and this delightful refrigerator was only 36,000 in Harrods.' Dozens of people commented on the snap, which racked up more than 70 likes, with one man pointing out it cost more than his first house. Samuel Levesque wrote: 'Hmmm, only 2.5 times my yearly salary (before taxes) and 15,000 more than my parents paid for the house I grew up in.' Others joked that the fridge would make the perfect Christmas present with Claire Joanne Chedham writing: 'Claire Shackleton - found my xmas present from you..thanks.' The upmarket homeware range, released earlier this year, also includes a 500 kettle, pictured The D&G citrus juicer on sale at Harrods for 499.95 (left) and a designer blender from the range costing an eye-watering 699.95 (right) A two-slot toaster from the range costing 499.95. Designer kitchenware has become a recent fad with brands such as Versace designing tea cups and saucers for as much as 180 Polo Matthew joked: 'Santa's gonna struggle to get that down my chimney,' while Rachel Beck said: 'I bought one for the spare Christmas food!' Dolce & Gabbana collaborated with high-end appliance company Smeg to provide luxury kitchenware for sale in high-end stores such as Harrods. Fortunately for interested parties, the fancy fridge is not a standalone piece; Dolce and Gabbana have collaborated with Smeg on a number of retro styled pieces including a toaster and kettle on sale for 500 and a blender worth 700. Designer kitchenware has become popular in recent years with brands such as Versace designing tea cups and saucers for 180. Going viral: Dozens of people commented on the snap of the designer fridge after it was shared on Facebook Tommy Hilfiger has also been putting his famous red, blue and white label on bath towels at the asking price of 69. Dolce and Gabbana have found themselves in hot water recently after their campaign for a Shanghai runway collection was deemed racist by social media users. The campaign was removed online, the runway show cancelled and many Chinese people began publicly burning their Dolce and Gabbana clothing. Harrods has been contacted for comment. A US author has claimed husbands should give their wives a 'hall pass' this Christmas, suggesting women are more likely to become bored of having sex with the same partner. Dr Wednesday Martin, who is based in New York, suggested on ITV's This Morning that couples should consider 'consensual non-monogamy', adding that a lot of women are 'interested in it'. However, presenter Vanessa Feltz described it as an 'atrocious' and 'irresponsible' idea, commenting that giving your other half a hall pass could 'potentially be very damaging'. Many viewers appeared to agree with Vanessa, taking to social media to brand the idea 'ridiculous'. Dr Wednesday Martin, who is based in New York, suggested on ITV's This Morning that husbands should consider giving their wives a 'hall pass' this Christmas Speaking on This Morning, Dr Martin said: 'Not everyone will want a hall pass, and to step out, but the idea of being consensually non-monogamous is on the table now in ways it hasn't been before. Surprisingly, a lot of women seem to be interested it.' Explaining the concept of a hall pass further, she continued: 'You agree with your partner: I love you, I love this relationship, but I'm also missing some thrill and adventure. 'Should we have thrill and adventure together, some way in our marriage, or should we give each other permission to go off and do it? Dr Martin said the research showed that long-term relationships have more impact on female desire than male desire. Viewers were quick to take to social media, branding it as a 'ridiculous' idea. Other suggested people were in the wrong relationship if they wanted a hall pass 'We've been told our libidos are lower than men's, although new research shows if you measure at the right time of the month, it's just as strong, if not stronger,' she said. 'What we've learned is that long-term relationships tend to be harder on female desire than on men - we've been told the exact opposite. 'Long-term studies show that male desire ebbs slowly over the course of many years, but female desire plunges in the first four years of a relationship. 'We used to think it was just women going off sex, but now what we know is women go off sex with the same partner.' Presenter Vanessa Feltz (above) described it as an 'atrocious' and 'irresponsible' idea, commenting that giving your other half a hall pass could 'potentially be very damaging' Dr Martin and Feltz (above) were discussing the subject with hosts Ruth Langsford and Eamonn Holmes (right) However, Dr Martin's suggestion that men consider giving their other halves a hall pass was dismissed by Vanessa as being a 'catastrophically, bad idea'. 'I think it's hugely irresponsible and potentially very damaging,' she said. 'It's an atrocious idea. First of all, why are you in a relationship>? It's exclusive, it's supposed to be intimate, something that's precious. If it's sexually boring, rev it up at home. There are plenty of ways to do it'. She added: 'You'd be passing face and loos to whoever you're having sex with, you can't just treat them as a sex toy. What if it blossoms into something else?' Many viewers were skeptical about the idea, with one commenting: 'My boyfriend would leave me rather than give me a Hall Pass' One Twitter user said he would give a potential girlfriend a hall pass if she asked for one, but admitted they wouldn't necessarily stay together afterwards Many viewers agreed with Vanessa, with one many dismissing the idea of a hall pass as 'ridiculous'. One wrote: 'If your (sic) not getting everything you need in a relationship then your (sic) clearly in the wrong one! #ThisMorning #ThankYouNext'. Another added: '#thismorning seriously what am I watching, 'hall pass' worlds (sic) gone nuts man'. Meanwhile, one viewer posted: '"A 'hall pass' might help us stay in a relationship".. ridiculous! My man and granddad didn't last 50 years together by swinging about with the couple down the road'. However, one Twitter user said he would give a potential girlfriend a hall pass if she asked for one, but admitted they wouldn't necessarily stay together afterwards. This Morning airs on ITV on weekdays from 10.30am. A plastic surgery addict who has had over 200 procedures in order to transform her into a 'living cartoon' has been refused further surgery by Botched doctors. Pixee Fox, 28, from North Carolina, appeared on the first episode of the new series of the show to persuade the doctors to lower her hair-line. In recent months, she's had her jaw fractured to give her a smaller face, her ears made elf-shaped and even had her vagina redesigned. Surgeons Terry Dubrow and Paul Nassif had previously refused to operate on her because they believe she is a plastic surgery addict suffering from body dysmorphia. Pixee Fox, 28, who has had over 200 cosmetic procedures in order to turn herself into a 'living cartoon' has been refused further procedures by the Botched doctors Explaining the procedures she has had since her last visit Pixee says that she has had an eyelash transplant, using her pubic hair and is the first person in the world to have had it done. Dr Dubrow said: 'Pubic hair eyelash transplant? That's a new one.' Detailing another procedure the former electrician says: 'A doll p**** they make it (the vagina) look like a baby flower.' Dr Dubrow said: 'I cannot believe how many operations Pixee has had in the last year. I have never seen anything like this in my entire career.' She had appeared on the E! show to persuade the doctors to lower her hair-line but doctors said there was nothing wrong with it. Pictured: A recent snap of Pixiee Formerly an electrician Pixee swapped her natural appearance (seen before surgery here) for her new look, having had six ribs removed Pixee (pictured after one of her many surgeries) shocked doctors Terry Dubrow and Paul Nassif when she explained that she had recently had an eyelash transplant using her own pubic hair The doctors told Pixee her hair-line was in the right place and she needed to stop having plastic surgery. Despite the doctors' criticism, Pixiee says that she is 'proud' of the way she looks. She said: 'I never really felt human, I always felt more like a pixie, like a fantasy creature. 'I am proud over what I have achieved I think it's amazing. I have a new face, a new body it's a lot.' In September last year Pixee underwent a painful jaw operation to give her a pointed chin just like a comic book character. The surgeons told her that there was nothing wrong with her hairline and she didn't need to have it realigned Pixee has had several breast augmentations (pictured after one here) and has travelled worldwide for her procedures Pixee travelled to Seoul, South Korea, for the dangerous procedure, which saw doctors break, shave and reset her jaw bone in order to transform the shape of her face. The 28-year-old is creating a series of books around her own superhero character that she hopes will one day take on the multi-million dollar Wonder Woman franchise. She said: 'I wanted to do the V-line and bone surgery to achieve a more symmetric and have a jawline that looked more like a super-hero. The jaw surgery will make my face look smaller which will make my eyes appear bigger. 'Now I am turning my life into a story where I am the superhero, it is fantasy and fiction but based on me as a person.' Cartoon dream: Pixee Fox underwent a painful jaw operation in a bid to look more like a real-life superhero. Pictured, the 27-year-old before, left, and after the procedure, right Dangerous: Pixee risked paralysing her face as there are so many nerves around the jaw Pixee, who has undergone extensive plastic surgery over the last six years, will now have to spend the next 12 months recovering from the most recent operation. She said: 'I had my cheek bones reduced, the chin re-centred, the shaving down of my jaw then moved back into place so it was a complete face and bone reconstruction. 'It was a risky surgery so surgeons had to be especially careful with that as there were a lot of muscles and nerves in the face. Consultation: Pixee travelled to the ID hospital in Seoul, South Korea, for the complex surgery Under the knife: The comic book fan had her jaw broken, shaved and reset by surgeons Recovery: Pixee received treatment to help reduce the swelling following the operation She continued: 'All the other surgeries have been easy in comparison since they are performed more frequently, this one required a lot of research.' Pixee went under the knife for the first time in 2011 and since then has undergone a surgeries including four breast augmentations, two liposuction surgeries, brow and butt lifts and an implant to change her eye colour. Pixee said: 'After doing my first surgery I got hooked. For me it was like going on an adventure and creating my body with my own imagination. Agonising: Pixee was left in excruciating pain and it will take a year for her to fully heal Closer to her goal: Pixee hopes her more pointed jaw will make her eyes look bigger 'It was so exciting and I just continued because I knew this was my way and what I was supposed to do. The surgeries have helped me over the years to love myself for the person I really am.' The most recent surgery was conducted by specialist Dr Park of ID Hospital in Korea. Later this year, Pixee will star as the lead for a comic book series, which she hopes will grow into a lucrative film franchise. She added: 'I would not be a superhero like all the others, I will be one showing real world struggles and you will see me in many different characters in the future.' She is part of the Plastics of Hollywood talent agency, which hosts the real life dolls, cartoons and some of the 'most plastic people on the planet'. Commuters were left doing double takes today when the Prince of Wales arrived at Cardiff Central station in the royal train - pulled by a steam locomotive. As locals hurried to work on Friday morning, Charles began his tour of the Welsh capital in style, before strolling down Platform 3 to meet the driver. The heir to the throne climbed into the cab of Clan Line, which was built the same year he was born - 1948. Driver Vince Henderson, 58, chatted to the prince and said afterwards: 'He was asking odds and sods about the engine and about the coal, and he wished us all merry Christmas. 'The train is 70 years old, it was made the same year he was born and he knew that, he said so.' Travelling in style: The Prince of Wales arrived at Cardiff Central station on Friday morning in the royal train - pulled by a steam locomotive which was built in the year he was born All aboard! The heir to the throne climbs into the cab of Clan Line, which was built the same year he was born - 1948. It was pulling along the royal train transporting the prince to Cardiff The heir to the throne travelled in the royal train which was pulled along by the Clan Line locomotive (pictured) which was built the same year he was born - 1948 On the platform, Charles met a group of young people who have taken part in a Prince's Trust Cymru programme to equip them with skills for the rail industry. Phil Jones, director of the Prince's Trust Cymru, introduced Charles to the group who had completed the Get Into Rail project. He said after the visit: 'Employers can teach them the specific skills needed to do the job but Get Into Rail helps them develop what we call soft skills, motivation, self-confidence, teamwork.' A right royal surprise! Commuters were left doing double takes today when the Prince of Wales arrived at Cardiff Central station in the royal train - pulled by a steam locomotive (pictured) Meeting the locals: On the platform, Charles met a group of young people who have taken part in a Prince's Trust Cymru programme to equip them with skills for the rail industry The Prince of Wales arriving in Cardiff this morning. Charles will later attend a special celebration performance staged by the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, which the prince supports as patron Charles arrived in Carfiff in style before climbing into the locomotive cab (pictured). During his day in Cardiff, the prince will visit the City Hospice to meet patients and families as well as staff and volunteers VIP visitor: Driver Vince Henderson, 58, chatted to the prince in the cab (pictured) and said afterwards: 'He was asking odds and sods about the engine and about the coal, and he wished us all merry Christmas' Charles is greeted by young people from The Prince's Trust at Cardiff Central Rail Station this morning. The Prince is set for a busy few weeks before heading to Sandringham for a traditional Christmas with the Queen later this month During his day in Cardiff, the prince visited the City Hospice to meet patients and families as well as staff and volunteers. Located in Whitchurch Hospital Grounds, City Hospice is a registered charity, providing specialist medical, nursing and end of life care to patients in their own homes. Formerly George Thomas Hospice Care, the charity offers counselling (to adults and children), welfare benefits advice and day centres offering a range of activities. City Hospice is the only at-home palliative care provider for the city of Cardiff and needs to raise more than 1million every year to keep providing these specialist services. Charles arrives for an official visit to City Hospice Cardiff on Friday. The Prince of Wales opened the new hospice in 2005 and has been the patron since 1998 Charles was in high spirits as he arrived at City Hospice this morning. Formerly George Thomas Hospice Care, the charity offers counselling (to adults and children), welfare benefits advice and day centres offering a range of activities The Prince of Wales has been Patron of City Hospice since 1998 and during his visit today he met with volunteers including gardeners, the counselling team and those who provide complementary therapies such as reflexology. The Prince also met Luan and her children Lara and Connor. Luan lost her husband to cancer earlier this year and the counselling and bereavement team has supported the family ever since. Charles will later attend a special celebration performance staged by the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, which the prince supports as patron. The college is hosting a special show to celebrate Charles 70th birthday.; Charles has been patron since 1999, prior to the granting of their Royal status in 2002. Charles speaks to gardener Jim Goodwin during an official visit to City Hospice Cardiff on Friday, after arriving in the Welsh capital on the royal train pulled by a steam locomotive Charles watches a reflexology treatment given by Susan Davies to Ceris Cooper during an official visit to City Hospice Cardiff on Friday 7 December The prince chats to a reflexology patient at City Hospice, a registered charity, providing specialist medical, nursing and end of life care to patients in their own homes Charles at City Hospice Cardiff this morning. The Prince of Wales has been Patron of City Hospice since 1998 and during his visit today he met with volunteers including gardeners, the counselling team and those who provide complementary therapies such as reflexology The Prince of Wales at City Hospice today. Charles will later attend a special celebration performance staged by the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, which the prince supports as patron Charles was in good spirits during his visit to City Hospice Cardiff today. The Prince is set for a busy few weeks before heading to Sandringham for a traditional Christmas with the Queen later this month Charles during his Cardiff City Hospice tour of the facilities including the therapy rooms, sensory room, conservatory and garden and to meet patients, families and volunteer Time for tea: The Prince of Wales stops for a cuppa during his visit to City Hospice Cardiff today. He looked to be in high spirits as he chatted to staff including nurses A gift fit fir a prince! Charles receives a painting from painter Jayne Blenkin during an official visit to City Hospice Cardiff on Friday The performance will see students and graduates of the college performing a selection of music and drama pieces. Emmy-award winner Matthew Rhys, International Chair of Drama at the College, will be introducing the event. The prince will also meet harpist Catrin Finch, as the World Harp Congress will take place in Cardiff in July 2020. This will be in front of 13 harps, and current Royal Harpist Anne Denholm. Guests at the performance and reception will include actors Owen Teale and Hugo Blick. The Prince of Wales talks with patients and their Occupational Therapist Rachel Roberts (left) during his visit to the City Hospice, located in Whitchurch Hospital Grounds Charles, in his role as Patron, presents a certificate to Occupational Therapist Rachel Roberts during his visit to the City Hospice on Thursday, the first pit stop of his Cardiff visit today The Prince of Wales chats with families who have been helped by staff during his visit to the City Hospice, located in Whitchurch Hospital Grounds on Friday 7 December Prince Charles is shown the grounds and gardens during his visit to the City Hospice in Cardiff, the first of a series of engagements during his visit to the Welsh capital today Charles personally recreated the tradition of harpists being appointed to the Royal Court, and in 2000 appointed Catrin Finch as the Official Harpist to The Prince of Wales. The appointment of Catrin, a Welsh-born student at the Royal Academy of Music, recognised the importance of the harp to the culture and music of Wales, and of supporting young Welsh talent. The fifth and current holder of the role is Anne Denholm. The Prince is set for a busy few weeks before heading to Sandringham for a traditional Christmas with the Queen later this month. With three grandchildren, and a fourth on the way, Charles is expected to stay just a stone's throw from his two sons, and their respective families, who are expected to stay at Anmer Hall in Norfolk. Denmark's Crown Princess Mary didn't let a light snowfall faze her on day two of her state visit to Latvia with her husband Prince Frederik. The Danish royal, 46, appeared delighted by the festive scene in Latvia, beaming for the camera as she stepped out in teetering stilettos, despite the conditions. Mary has been dazzling the Eastern European country in a series of impeccably polished ensembles, and didn't disappoint today in a powder blue woollen coat, matching pencil skirt, and perfectly co-ordinated heels. She and Crown Prince Frederik touched down in Riga on Thursday at the start of their two-day tour of the country. Denmark's Crown Princess Mary has been dazzling onlookers with her impeccably polished style on a two day state visit to Latvia with her husband Crown Prince Frederik The royal chose a powder blue woollen coat with a coordinating pencil skirt and perfectly matched blue heels - apparently unfazed by the snow Mary and Frederik were welcomed on Thursday by Latvia's President Raimonds Vejonis and Latvia's First Lady Iveta Vejone. The Princess wore a pale pink coat dress and coordinating pillbox hat that drew comparisons to Jackie Kennedy. Beneath her coat on Friday, the Princess wore a flower-embellished blouse, and accessorised with navy leather gloves and a co-ordinating clutch. Accentuating her stature, Mary completed the look with a pair of blue heels, and accessorised with pearl earrings. Wearing her chestnut-hued hair in a sleek centre parting, she enjoyed the wintry weather before continuing her tour. Mary braved the chilly weather with bare legs, continuing her chic display which kicked off on Thursday Power wardrobe: The Danish Princess touched down in Riga on Thursday in a pale pink coat dress, teamed with matching leather gloves and a Bottega Veneta clutch bag Australian-born Mary arrived with husband Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark, 50, in Riga, Latvia on Thursday for their two-day tour of the country, and were welcomed by Latvia's President Raimonds Vejonis and Latvia's First Lady Iveta Vejone (seen right) Mary appeared in an upbeat mood as she kicked off her second day with a wander around a picturesque snowy courtyard Accentuating her stature, Mary completed the look with a pair of blue heels, and accessorised with pearl earrings Mary has had a busy few days, arriving on Thursday in a stylish all-pink ensemble. Along with her husband, she was met by Latvia's President Raimonds Vejonis and Latvia's First Lady Iveta Vejone as they participated in a wreath laying ceremony at the Monument of Freedom. After proceedings finished, the royal couple then accompanied the president and the first lady to Riga's National Library to attend a book donation for the People's Bookshelf. The royal couple are visiting Latvia to participate in celebrating the country's 100th year anniversary of independence. The whirl-wind two-day tour is focusing on art, design and history of the country. Mary married Prince Frederik in 2004, and the couple share four children Prince Christian, 12, Princess Josephine, 10, and twins Princess Isabella and Prince Vincent, seven. The Pentagon has asked the State Department to begin the process of requesting permission from Turkey to sail vessels into the Black Sea, which borders both Ukraine and Russia and serves as the sole maritime access to the Sea of Azov, CNN reported citing three anonymous officials. The maneuver, known in military parlance as a "freedom of navigation" exercise, would risk drastically escalating the possibility of conflict between the Russia, the U.S. and Ukraine. Access to the sea through the Bosporus Straits is governed by the 1936 Montreux Convention Regarding the Regime of the Straits, requiring governments to secure permission from Turkey 15 days before passage. "The U.S. files Montreux Convention requests regularly but doesn't always follow through by sending a ship," Pentagon spokesman Eric Pahon said. Princess Charlotte may have starred in her first ever nativity play - after her nursery put on their annual performance for parents this week. Willcocks Nursery School in Kensington - where the royal has been enrolled since January - put on their traditional festive play on Thursday, according to its website. It is not clear if Charlotte, three, had a part in the play, or if the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge attended. Prince William previously revealed that Prince George, five, played a sheep in his school nativity play last year. Princess Charlotte may have starred in her first ever nativity play, after her nursery put on their annual performance for parents this week Speaking about George's role in the play last December, William revealed during an engagement: 'I went to my boy's nativity play. It was funny. He was a sheep.' Charlotte is known to be more confident than her older brother, regularly stealing the show with her waving while at public engagements. The young royal is also understood to be fond of dancing, taking after her late grandmother Princess Diana. Charlotte was spotted attending a rehearsal of the Royal Ballet's production of The Nutcracker at the Royal Opera House, in London, with her mother last week ahead of its opening night on Monday. It is not clear if Charlotte, three, (above, with Kate at Prince Harry and Meghan's wedding in May) had a part in the play at Willcocks Nursery School, or if the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge attended the performance Kensington Palace revealed that Charlotte had been enrolled at Willcocks Nursery School (above) in January Social media photos emerged showing Kate and Charlotte, who wore a pretty white dress with puffed sleeves, in the auditorium following the performance. The Duchess is known to be a fan of the show and last year made a surprise appearance at an evening performance. Kate, who was pregnant with Prince Louis at the time, was seen chatting to dancers following the show. Kensington Palace revealed that Charlotte had started at Willcocks Nursery School in January, sharing sweet photographs of the youngster on her first day, taken by the Duchess. Charlotte will have enjoyed pottery and poetry classes at the sought-after nursery, which is rated 'outstanding' by Ofsted and located next to the Royal Albert Hall. Fees for the nursery are 9,150 a year for morning sessions and 5,400 for afternoons. Prince William previously revealed that Prince George (pictured with Charlotte at Princess Eugenie's wedding in October) played a sheep in his school nativity play last year Prince Charles has a framed photo of him walking Meghan down the aisle on display at his London home, it has been revealed. The Duke of Cornwall, 70, has the black and white photograph from the royal wedding proudly displayed in the Morning Room of Clarence House. The image shows Charles smiling at his future daughter-in-law as they made their way towards Prince Harry at the altar of St George's Chapel, Windsor. Touching tribute: Prince Charles has a photo of him walking future daughter-in-law Meghan down the aisle on display at Clarence House, it has been revealed Details of the photo were shared by Daily Mail Royal Correspondent Rebecca English on Twitter after she spotted it during a visit yesterday. She wrote: 'At Clarence House today I spotted a framed black and white photograph (in the public area) of the Prince of Wales walking his soon to be daughter-in-law, Meghan Markle, towards the altar at St Georges Chapel. 'It was very touching - and shows how much the moment meant to him.' The photo is displayed alongside a formal family portrait from the wedding on a table in the corner of the Morning Room, which is used by Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall receive guests and undertake official engagements. Moving: Prince Charles stepped in to walk Meghan down the aisle after her own father pulled out at the last minute. Pictured, Charles and Meghan approach Harry at the royal wedding Also on show is a photo of Charles' beloved grandmother, the late Queen Mother. Millions of viewers were left deeply moved as they watched Prince Charles accompany Meghan down the aisle after her own father Thomas Markle pulled out at the last minute. When it became clear that Meghan wouldnt have her reclusive father to support her, Harry went to his. Proud: Charles has the photo of himself and Meghan on display alongside a family portrait Speaking in a documentary to mark Charles' 70th birthday last month, Harry said: 'I asked him to and I think he knew it was coming and he immediately said "Yes, of course, Ill do whatever Meghan needs, and Im here to support you". 'For him thats a fantastic opportunity to step up and be that support, and you know hes our father so of course hes going to be there for us. I was very grateful for him to be able to do that.' Prince Charles recently opened the doors of Clarence House for a virtual tour, allowing royal fans to explore the public rooms from the comfort of their homes. The Duchess of York certainly appears to be enjoying her getaway in Dubai - partying with the likes of Susan Sarandon. Fergie, 59, looked stylish in a yellow shirt and black skirt as she joined the veteran actress and other stars at a glitzy gala event held for Artists for Peace and Justice and Dubai Cares in the United Arab Emirates. Other famous faces in attendance included actor Ben Stiller, former Ladies Of London star Caroline Stanbury and actress Madeleine Stowe. Fergie shared a snap of herself posing with camels in the desert on Instagram, posting: 'Thank you for having me in Dubai @artistsforpeace and @dubaicares' The Duchess of York has been enjoying a getaway in Dubai, posting a snap of herself with camels in the desert (above) Fergie, 59, looked stylish in a yellow shirt and black skirt as she posed with actress Susan Sarandon, former Ladies Of London star Caroline Stanbury (second from right) and actress Madeleine Stowe (far right) She added: 'Wonderful charities supporting important causes #uae #Dubai #brilliantisbeautiful @carolinestansbury @susansarandon @benstiller.' Sarandon, 72, also wore a yellow blouse, featuring a pussy bow neckline, for the night out in the desert. She finished off the look with orange cord trousers, a co-ordinating printed coat and black boots. The actress posted a snap of herself in Dubai in Instagram, with a bird on her arm, which she captioned: 'New friend'. Fergie was attending a glitzy gala event held for Artists for Peace and Justice and Dubai Cares, along with Susan Sarandon (far right) and Madeleine Stowe (second from right) Other famous faces in attendance included actor Ben Stiller and former Ladies Of London star Caroline Stanbury (above) It is not the first time that Fergie and Sarandon have been out partying together, with the pair previously enjoying a charity bash in Rome last year. Fergie shared a photograph of herself arriving in Abu Dhabi on Thursday, wearing a green shawl. She wore a pink jumper underneath and a black skirt, finishing off her look with a pair of eye-catching navy loafers featuring gold crowns. The Duchess posted a picture of herself with staff from Etihad Airways following the flight to Dubai, thanking the airline. Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell have opened up about why they refuse to lie to their two daughters about Santa as Christmas approaches. The couple, who have been married for five years, share two daughters together: Lincoln, five, and Delta, three. In an interview with Us Weekly Monday, the 43-year-old actor explained why he and his wife chose to explain to their children about Santa Claus ahead of the holiday season instead of lying to them. Interesting: Dax Shepard, 43, and Kristen Bell, revealed why they don't lie to their two daughters about Santa Claus Truthful: In an interview, Dax revealed he promised to never lie to daughters Lincoln, five, and Delta, three, so he is honest about the myth of Santa Cute: Dax, pictured with Delta, said his girls still like movies about Santa but know he will not be delivering presents on Christmas Eve 'This is going to be very controversial,' Shepard told the publication at Children's Hospital Los Angeles in California. 'I have a fundamental rule that I will never lie to them, which is challenging at times.' He continued: 'Our five-year-old started asking questions like, 'Well, this doesn't make sense, and that doesn't make sense.' I'm like, 'You know what? This is just a fun thing we pretend while it's Christmas.'' Dax chose to explain the purpose of Santa Claus instead of breaking his lie rule to uphold a tale often told by other families who celebrate Christmas. During the interview, the dad of two revealed that his daughters still enjoy the idea of Santa even though they know he won't be sliding down the chimney to deliver presents on Dec. 24. 'They love watching movies about Santa, they love talking about Santa,' Dax said. 'They don't think he exists, but they're super happy and everything's fine.' This hasn't been the first time the parents have controversy spoken out against the tradition of lying to children ahead of Christmas. Controversial? The couple, pictured in January, has been open about their decision to never lie about Santa in recent years Festive: Kirsten revealed last year that she thought the story of Santa was 'crazy' to tell kids, so they opted to not divulge in the tale Priorities: Instead, the couple is focusing on teaching their daughters about the spirit of giving all year long Last year, Kristen made headlines for speaking about why she thought the Santa myth was a 'crazy' story to tell your kids. 'We have to tell our kid that one night a year, breaking and entering is OK and that a dude in a jumpsuit is going to come down the chimney and is going to rifle through our stuff but it's OK because he's going to leave us gifts?' the 38-year-old The Good Place actress told Today at the time. 'That's a crazy story to tell your child.' Instead of learning about Santa, the parents are teaching their daughters that the spirit of giving should last all year long. 'We encourage them to give something of theirs to whatever friend comes over,' Dax told US Weekly. 'We're trying to show that an object can give you some joy when you get it, but then seeing how it can make someone else happy is sometimes even more fun then the thing was itself.' But this hasn't stopped Lincoln and Delta from becoming infatuated with Barbie dolls, Dax revealed. The couple has also been incredibly open with their children about sex, revealing in September that they had a very frank conversation with their girls about intercourse and babies. 'We said, 'Well, mom has a vagina, and dad has a penis and there's sperm, and an ovum and then they connect and it makes a baby,'' Kristen told US Weekly, before adding: 'Truly, by the second sentence, they had walked outside.' A bridezilla who went viral earlier this week for her incredibly demanding and bizarre guest dress code has become the subject of mockery yet again for her outrageous response to internet fame. Gearing up for a destination wedding in Hawaii, the unidentified bride-to-be posted in a Facebook group to notify her guests of the outfits they were required to wear to the wedding, which were broken down by gender and weight. After one of the guests shared a screenshot of the dress code on line, it earned derision from people around the world and now the bride is taking her guests to task for the lack of discretion, demanding they attend a polygraph party to suss out the leaker. Shamed, part two! A bridezilla who went viral for her incredibly demanding and bizarre guest dress code is now angry that one of her guests shared it with the internet The bride went viral for the first time earlier this week after a screenshot of her dress code from Facebook was posted on Reddit and social media platforms. The post seems to have been shared several months ago, a year and a half before her 2019 wedding in Hawaii. In the post, she admits the wedding is still 'a longgg way away,' but says she still wants to announce the 'dress code' for the event, giving everyone ample time to 'pick out something nice'. 'The dress code is very specific because it will be used to create an incredible visual effect,' the woman wrote. If done right, it will make our synchronized dancing along the beach really pop.' She went on to go into great detail breaking down the dress code, which requires different outfits for women between 100 and 160lbs., men between 100 and 200lbs., women over 160lbs., men over 200lbs., and children. How dare you? She raged at her guests online and invited them to a mandatory Polygraph Party to prove their innocence She then concluded by telling everyone to bring formalwear to change into for the 24k gold-themed reception, adding that she expected everyone to spend at least $1,000. Though some time has passed, this week, one of the guests scrolled back through the group history to screenshot the outrageous post and share it online, making it quickly go viral. The bride was not pleased. Taking to the Facebook group again, she scolded her friends and family and then invited them to a mandatory polygraph party so she could figure out who to cut from her life. 'Hello invitees!' she wrote. 'It has come to my attention that someone went all the way down in this groups [sic] creation to screenshot the dress code requirements. 'The screenshot was taken wildly out of context and has gone semi viral on Facebook and Reddit. I have seen MY POST twice on my regular Facebook account. 'I could not be more crushed, betrayed, or saddened. I trust each and every one of you so intimately. Knowing someone went behind my back and made fun of me is one of the worst feelings everywhere. And boy, will you be paying. Rude! She also ranted against 'trolls' and gave more detail about herself and her future husband, 'certified spiritual healers' who met at a 'psychic's desensitization chamber' 'Therefore, I am announcing one of the most unique parties you will ever be invited to in your life (besides my actual wedding.) In honor of the snitch who sold me out, I will be hosting the first ever Polygraph Party at my house, this Saturday at 8:00PM. 'Bring your inner Sherlock Holmes because we will be hunting out the snitch who put me on blast. You think I'm kidding? I'm not. We just bought a real polygraph test for $99 on Amazon. 'After the testing is over and we find the rat who did this, we will all celebrate with drinks and appetizers. If you can't make it to the Polygraph Party, you will be presumed guilty unless you can provide a valid excuse. 'I promise as long as you're innocent, you have nothing to worry about. 'I highly suggest whoever did this just tell me. I won't retaliate, I will simply cut all ties and communication with you (and talk s*** about you for a long, long, time.) [sic] If you have any information about who violated my trust and my wedding planning, I will give you $100.' She went on to attempt to present a reasonable front, telling anyone who has a problem with the dress code to come talk to her. Rather than participating in the dance, she said, they can help the crew clean after dinner, take videos of the dance, or contribute to the honeymoon. A guest shared a screenshot of the woman's demands in an Australian Facebook group which included a variety of items she expects guests to buy for a choreographed group dance Finally, she wrote, she is 'outraged' by 'internet trolls' who criticized her. 'DO YOU F***ING KNOW ME?' she wrote. 'DO YOU KNOW WHY WE ARE DOING THINGS THIS WAY? No??? Then shut up! Go back down to your scum basement and play video games and never f***ing make comments about people you don't know. 'My husband and I are certified spiritual healers with over ten years of experience,' she added, noting that they met at a psychic's desensitization chamber in Italy. 'Our wedding colors, fabrics, and intimate synchronized dance are something we hold very dear to ours hearts.' She went on to explain the significance of each, saying that the black and camo outfits represent 'the aura of the devil that we must shoo away' and that the soda hats represent 'our wishes for an abundance of life saving liquid.' 'Would you show up at an Indian persons [sic] wedding and make fun of their culture and their tradition?' she asked. 'If not, don't judge ours.' While many commenters on Reddit are simply blown away by the bride's demands and sense of entitlement, a few have questioned whether the sheer absurdity could point to the posts being fake. What an outfit! Women under 160lbs. are required to wear a green velvet sweater and orange suede pants Cool look: Men weighing 100-200lbs. must wear a purple fuzzy jacket, a 'soda hat,' all-white trainers, and plain glow sticks 'Okay so this HAS to be a joke. There's just no way someone could be this moronic,' wrote one. 'This whole thing is unbelievable. Someone is trolling and then they went too far,' said another. In the original dress code post, the bridezilla outlined very specific clothing and accessory requirements for attendees. Women weighing 100-160lbs. expected to wear a green velvet sweater, orange suede pants, and a Burberry scarf, and Louboutin heels. Men weighing 100-200lbs. must wear a purple fuzzy jacket, a 'soda hat,' all-white trainers, and plain glow sticks. Women over 160lbs. must wear an all-black sweater and pants with black heels, men over 200lbs. must wear all camouflage with black sneakers, and children have to wear red. 'It needs to be true red, not blood orange or some bulls***!' she said. She also explained that the venue is 'extremely upscale' so she wants everyone to look their best and change into something glamorous for the reception. 'Please, if you look like trash, so will we. All jokes aside, we want you to invest in an outfit valued at at least $1,000,' she explained. 'This includes jewellery, accessories, makeup and hair. Remember ladies and gents, this wedding is 24k themed for a reason.' McDonald's may be a US-based company, but the burger chain isn't above giving other countries a taste of sought-after dishes before Americans get to try them. While the fast food giant has been selling bacon cheese fries in Canada, Spain, and Australia among other places for some time, they are now finally adding the side to US menus. According to leaked photos obtained by Business Insider, McDonald's will roll out the cheesy, bacon-topped French fries nationwide early next year. Yummy news! McDonald's is reportedly rolling out bacon cheese fries across the US next year Long wait! It's already being tested in some stores in Hawaii and California, and versions of it have been tested for years Business Insider reported photos that show the new item, and spoke to an employee who confirmed the roll-out. Some stores in both Hawaii and Northern California are already selling them as part of a test, but performance indicates they'll be coming to all stores in the country soon. Unfortunately, a McDonald's spokesperson wouldn't explicitly confirm the news but certainly hinted at it. 'I'm afraid I'll have to provide a cheesy no comment,' the representative said. 'At this moment, our kitchens are bacon-ing something together. But we're not yet ready to share the gouda news.' Success story: Bacon cheese fries are already available in Australia An unidentified McDonald's employee also said the fries would use a new type of bacon not already found in the kitchens. The chain has tested different versions of cheese fries in the US for years, including a limited-time offer of a loaded bacon and cheese basket of fries across four states in 2017. There may be some pressure to add the side to the menu, as a similar French fry dish has been popular at Wendy's. While this is the first time that the bacon cheese fries will be available across the US, the side has already been on menus in select places. McDonald's has been testing different iterations for years, and tested a Loaded Bacon and Cheese Basket of Fries in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, central West Virginia, southeast Ohio, and eastern Kentucky last year. More! McDonald's may have been feeling the heat from Wendy's, which also sells popular bacon cheese fries Worldwide: In October, 50 McDonald's in Florida began selling four international food items from Malaysia, the Netherlands, Spain, and Hong Kong Chain restaurants will often test new items in select locations, and if they perform well, they may be rolled out across the rest of the country. There are still quite a few menu items that McDonald's sells internationally that aren't available in every country. But in September, the chain started testing some of those dishes at 50 South Florida locations. Those included the Grand McExtreme Bacon Burger from Spain, which is topped with Gouda cheese, applewood smoked bacon, onions, and 'McBacon sauce,' which Miami.com says is 'a sort of mix of bacon jam and mayo'. There are also BBQ McShaker Fries from Malaysia, which come with a packet of BBQ seasoning, the McSpicy Chicken sandwich from Hong Kong, and the Stroopwafel McFlurry from the Netherlands. We all experience grief at various points in our life. But dealing with a loss can be particularly difficult during the holiday season. It's a time when days are colder, darker and bleaker - and we're meant to be cheering ourselves up with festive, family rituals. You can never predict your reaction to losing a loved-one, even when you knew it was coming. Your fluctuating emotions can seem nonsensical, and that in itself can feel unnerving. But there are ways to feel grounded and secure, and to find some solace during this period. Speaking to DailyMail.com, two grief therapists offer some techniques to get through the next few weeks. Holidays can be even more painful when you're grieving 1. GIVE YOURSELF SOME SLACK 'The nature of human existence is that people get attached and when our attachments are severed, we hurt, we grieve,' R Benyamin Cirlan, a grief psychotherapist at New York City's Center for Loss and Renewal, told DailyMail.com. 'It's true in the animal world as well. To be grieving is a natural response.' You can't put a time limit on it, but Cirlan says in general up to six months of intense grief would not be unsurprising. Claire Bidwell Smith, a grief counselor who authored the book Anxiety: The Missing Stage Of Grief, agrees. 'One of the first things to think about is to recognize that it's difficult,' she told DailyMail.com. 'Some people resist, they think that they should be getting through it easily and it's going to be ok, but that's not always the case. 'Holidays bring up so many memories, all the movies and commercials and this sense of it all make you feel like we're meant to be having this perfect family experience. But something's missing. You feel like everyone around you is having this perfect experience and you're not. That's ok.' 2. IT MAY NOT GO AS YOU EXPECTED 'There's a wide range of responses,' Cirlan explains. 'There's not one single path of grief, and in fact in our society there's an idea that the grieving process is a stage-specific process. 'It's not, and you can't expect that of yourself.' This stage-specific idea came from Dr Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, a Swiss-American psychiatrist, who published her theory of 'the stages of grief' in 1969 in her seminal book On Death & Dying. It was a groundbreaking book, mainly because it suggested that we should be open about grief, rather than sweeping it under the carpet. She said we should recognize each moment of grief, and dedicate time to dealing with that pain. According to Kubler-Ross, after we lose a loved-one, we experience (in order): denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. It was controversial then, and is controversial now, but for different reasons. These days, the biggest gripe is that it is so rigid. Most disagree with the idea that grief could be at all logical. 'Kubler-Ross was a very important figure in helping people to discuss death and dying,' Cirlan said. 'But no one grieves in an orderly manner. That just doesn't happen, there's a wide range of grieving responses.' Instead, Cirlan points to Thomas Attig, an American philosopher, counselor and author, who challenged this rigid format with his 1996 book How We Grieve: Relearning The World. 'Thomas Attig talks about the process of relearning, and I found that a likely issue for most of the people who come to see me,' Cirlan said. Grieving, Attig said, is an active process. Some may not display obvious symptoms of grief. Some may feel immediate depression, thereby jumping straight to stage four of Kubler-Ross's playbook. Some may start with acceptance (stage five) before later anger (stage two). Some may experience layers of different sensations that could not be condensed into one diagnosis. 'It's about renegotiating your relationship with yourself without that person,' Cirlan said. 3. YOU COULD HONOR THE TRADITIONS OF THE PERSON YOU LOST 'Some people feel like they need to embrace it more than ever, to recreate their loved-one's traditions and talk about them,' Bidwell Smith said. She's speaking from experience. Bidwell Smith had already been counseling patients through grief for years when her own mother died, and she had to work out how to apply her own advice to herself. 'After my mother died, I found I had to embrace the holidays. She loved the holidays, she loved Christmas. So every year, coping with it for me, looked like embracing it more, getting out the things she loved.' 4. YOU COULD SKIP THE HOLIDAYS THIS YEAR 'For some people it's too painful so they skip it,' Bidwell Smith said. You could go to the Caribbean, or a yoga retreat, or drive across the country. You could even stay at home, but skip the rituals. 'You could just decide you're not going to try to make it this big perfect thing, you're not going to put up all the decorations this year, it's too much and too painful.' 5. DO SOMETHING CHARITABLE Wherever you're spending the holidays, doing something charitable can help you feel a sense of meaning. 'Loss is, for many people, a crisis of meaning,' Cirlan explains. 'The people we attach to give our lives meaning. Nobody has a 100 percent positive relationship but those relationships give us a sense of meaning.' It takes time to reconstruct that sense of meaning, to reflect on who you are now, and how the person you lost gave you meaning. Bidwell Smith says taking action in a roundabout way can give you a feeling of agency and goodwill that helps you on that journey. 'I think one thing that's really great to do is do something meaningful, like donate or volunteer, or collect presents for under-served families, or make a cash donation in the name of your loved-one,' she suggests. 'It can make you feel better about your meaningfulness in the world.' 6. DECIDE WHETHER YOU WANT TO DISCUSS YOUR LOVED-ONE OR NOT Make a decision about how to talk about them, Bidwell Smith says. 'Some people aren't ready to go there, so prep your family. Just tell them: "I don't want to talk about it this year, I just want to get through the holidays". 'On the flip side, if you really want to talk about them, there are ways to do that.' You could share pictures of them, get close friends to share stories about them, make a meal that they loved, and memorialize them in that way. 7. DON'T CLOSE YOURSELF OFF Loss feels lonely, but even moreso if you shut off contact with everyone. Both Cirlan and Bidwell Smith say contact with other relatives, close friends, colleagues, or even new acquaintances can help more than you realize. For those who don't feel they have anyone to turn to, Bidwell Smith recommends looking for a support group - of which there are plenty, particularly at this time of year. 'There are more support groups now than ever before, and they are particularly prevalent during the holiday season,' Bidwell Smith, who also runs an online grief course, says. 'There are one-day workshops for people who are grieving, or even online communities.' 8. REMEMBER THAT THIS IS NOT FOREVER AND YOU ARE NOT ALONE Grief is like a bruise, Cirlan says. 'Imagine that you receive a blow. A board falls onto your arm. Initially black and blue mark. That's the acute symptoms of grief, perhaps with pain, perhaps anger,' he says. 'In time, that may slowly disappear. For some time there might be soreness. 'Acute symptoms slowly morph from acute towards melancholy, accepting that their loved-one died and their life has changed.' Some things can exacerbate the soreness, but it does fade over time. Bidwell Smith said: 'Remember that you're not alone. There are so many people who are grieving. It can feel very lonely but there are always people around you who have been through that.' The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has spread to a second major city and 13 more people have died in three days. Butembo, a city of one million people 35 miles (56km) away from the city of Beni where most of the outbreak has been raging, is now reporting cases of the deadly fever. Experts warn the quick spread makes tackling the virus more complicated because containing it has been challenging enough in the one city. The outbreak, which has killed 273 people already, began in August and has become the second worst Ebola outbreak in history. Experts now fear experimental vaccines which have been doled out to thousands of people, and have reportedly prevented the death toll rising into the thousands, will run out. A total of 273 people are believed to have died of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in what has become the second worst outbreak in world history A caretaker in Butembo is seen carrying a four day old baby suspected of having Ebola into a Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) supported Ebola treatment centre So far 18 people in Butembo have had an Ebola diagnosis confirmed and all 18 of them have died. This is a small proportion of the total 471 suspected cases of the fast-spreading virus, but it is difficult to contain and could quickly spiral out of control in the city. 'We are very concerned by the epidemiological situation in the Butembo area,' said John Johnson, project coordinator with Doctors Without Borders in the city. New cases are increasing quickly in the eastern suburbs and outlying, isolated districts, the medical charity said. The outbreak declared on August 1 is now second only to the devastating West Africa outbreak that killed more than 11,300 people a few years ago. Without the teams vaccinating more than 41,000 people already, this outbreak could have already seen more than 10,000 Ebola cases, the health ministry said. This is by far the largest deployment of the promising but still experimental Ebola vaccine, which is the first drug of its kind to be publicly rolled out. The manufacturer, Merck, keeps a stockpile of 300,000 doses and preparing them takes months. A health worker collects a bible to give to one of the confirmed Ebola patients in a Doctors Without Borders supported Ebola treatment centre in Butembo, Congo 'We are extremely concerned about the size of the vaccine stockpile,' WHO's emergencies director, Dr Peter Salama, told the STAT media outlet. He said 300,000 doses will not be enough as urban Ebola outbreaks become more common. Health workers, contacts of Ebola victims and their contacts have received the vaccine in a 'ring' approach around victims. And in some cases, all residents of hard-to-reach communities have been offered it. The prospect of a mass vaccination in a major city like Butembo has raised concerns and Dr Salama called the approach 'extremely impractical.' A WHO spokesman said shipments of doses arrive almost every week to ensure a sufficient supply for the ring vaccination. 'No interruptions of vaccine supply have occurred to date,' the WHO's Tarik Jasarevic told Associated Press. 'Merck is actively working to ensure sufficient number of doses continue to be available to meet the potential demand.' 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 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 This Ebola outbreak is like no other, with deadly attacks by rebel groups forcing containment work to pause for days at a time. Yesterday in Beni, 18 civilians were killed in two separate attacks by militants, who kidnapped groups of people, dragged them out of the city into the suburbs, burned down a house and executed some of the hostages. Some locals are wary of health workers and resist vaccinations or safe burials of Ebola victims because people there have never encountered the virus before. A 'fringe population' has regularly destroyed medical equipment and attacked workers, Health Minister Dr Oly Ilunga Kalenga told reporters on Wednesday. The Ebola virus is spread via bodily fluids of those infected, including the dead. The outbreak 'remains serious and unpredictable,' the World Health Organization said in an assessment released Wednesday. Nine health zones have reported new cases in the last week, and some have been unrelated to known victims, meaning there are still gaps in tracking the virus. This is an issue because the North Kivu region, where the outbreak is raging, has dense, highly mobile population. Thousands of people have been organised by Red Cross societies and others to go house-to-house dispelling rumors and checking on possible contacts of victims. Dr Fatoumata Nafo-Traore, Africa's regional director for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, joined one awareness campaign in the outbreak's epicenter, Beni, this week. 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 The head of one family thanked her for the face-to-face contact, saying he didn't even have a radio and didn't understand what was happening. 'Ignorance is the enemy,' another resident said. Given the years of conflict in eastern Congo, it's essential for households to understand and trust why the health workers are there, Dr Nafo-Traore said. While she called the insecurity 'very worrying,' she said that with new tools at hand, including vaccines, 'there is great hope.' Another obstacle facing health workers in the region recently was a spike in malaria cases which are driving people to health centres where they're catching Ebola. Half of people suspected of having Ebola in medical centres in Beni actually just had malaria, health workers said recently. HAS THE DRC HAD AN EBOLA OUTBREAK BEFORE? DRC escaped the brutal Ebola pandemic that began in 2014, which was finally declared over in January 2016 - but it was struck by a smaller outbreak last year. Four DRC residents died from the virus in 2017. The outbreak lasted just 42 days and international aid teams were praised for their prompt responses. The new outbreak is the DRCs tenth since the discovery of Ebola in the country in 1976, named after the river. The outbreak earlier this summer was its ninth. Health experts credit an awareness of the disease among the population and local medical staff's experience treating for past successes containing its spread. DRCs vast, remote geography also gives it an advantage, as outbreaks are often localised and relatively easy to isolate. Advertisement 'It will make things a lot easier if malaria is taken out of the equation,' said Stefan Hoyer of the World Health Organization (WHO). Workers in the city of Beni launched a four-day door-to-door blitz last week 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. 'We can assume that the suspected Ebola cases to be triaged would at least go down by half,' Mr Hoyer added. This is what happened in Sierra Leone's capital, Freetown, when people with malaria were filling Ebola treatment centres during the West African outbreak in 2014, he said. The treatment of Ebola itself has taken an experimental turn in DRC, where scientists are now conducting a real-time study of how well pioneering drugs work. More than 160 people there have already been treated with the drugs, and the way people are treated won't change, but scientists will now be able to compare them. The announcement came after two devastating weeks in which the death rate has been high and officials confirmed even newborn babies are catching the virus. Four experimental drugs are being used to try and combat the disease mAb 114, ZMapp, Remdesivir and Regeneron. Patients will get one of the four, but researchers won't know which they were given until after the study. By comparing how well these work, scientists will be moving towards curing the disease and slashing the death tolls in future outbreaks. 'While our focus remains on bringing this outbreak to an end, the launch of the randomised control trial is an important step toward finally finding an Ebola treatment that will save lives,' said WHO director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Because the data collected in the North Kivu epidemic is unlikely to be sufficient for a complete study, the country's health ministry said the clinical trial may extend over a five-year period to cover Ebola outbreaks in other countries. 'Our country is struck with Ebola outbreaks too often, which also means we have unique expertise in combatting it,' said DRC's minister of health Dr Oly Ilunga Kalenga. 'These trials will contribute to building that knowledge, while we continue to respond on every front to bring the current outbreak to an end.' The outbreak has been plagued by security problems, with health workers attacked by rebels in districts where the virus has been spreading. Ms Smith is now raising money for private healthcare and treatment in Spain Her symptoms resemble a stroke and mean she cannot care for her children She is bed-bound because she suffers excruciating headaches when upright Leah Smith, from Prestatyn in North Wales, has conditions damaging her nerves A woman left bed-bound by crippling conditions affecting the nerves in her spine is desperate for a cure so she can be more than 'a mother who's just about existing'. Leah Smith, 37, from Prestatyn on the north coast of Wales, has a handful of serious conditions which have left her almost completely unable to move. Ms Smith suffers from crippling headaches, numbness in her face, and spinal conditions which mean moving one part of her body paralyses another part. The mother-of-five says her symptoms resemble those of a stroke and she is having to pay private doctors to try and get to the bottom of her illness. And even more concerning is that medics have told Ms Smith her heart is struggling to function and her breathing is deteriorating because she is so weak. Leah Smith, 37, now struggles to get out of bed because a handful of conditions mean she experiences excruciating headaches when she's not laid down, and she has numbness and muscle weakness across her body because of illnesses affecting the nerves in her spine Ms Smith first noticed something was wrong in February last year when she felt symptoms similar to having a stroke after spending the night in hospital and having a brain scan she was discharged, but the problems kept returning and have got gradually worse 'Most days I am now fearing for my life,' Ms Smith told WalesOnline. 'To fear for your life on a daily basis rocks you to your core, it strips your security, your mental health, your personality, your relationships and so much more. 'I don't know who I am anymore. I'm in a big and scary mess.' Ms Smith first noticed something was wrong in February 2017 when she felt like she was having a stroke, so she phoned her mother who rang an ambulance. Doctors at Glan Clwyd hospital in Denbighshire, North Wales, kept her in overnight and did an MRI scan on her brain but she was soon discharged. The symptoms had faded away while Ms Smith was in hospital but she felt ill again on multiple occasions over the coming weeks. 'My legs would go from underneath me and I would get numbness in my ribs,' she said. 'Then one day I ended up being admitted because I lost the ability to swallow. That was incredibly scary.' Ms Smith now has numbness in her mouth and nose and is unable to support her head or turn it to the side without losing movement in another part of her body. Ms Smith, from Prestatyn in North Wales, said she has been left to be her own doctor and is now raising money on GoFundMe to pay for private doctors' consultations and hopes to travel to Barcelona for treatment And she said she has to lie down all day every day because of the excruciating headaches if she sits upright. Doctors have diagnosed her with spinal cord compression, cerebrospinal fluid leak and atlantoaxial instability (AAI), which is a spinal weakness. WHAT IS ATLANTOAXIAL INSTABILITY? Atlantoaxial instability (AAI) is also known as neck instability and is caused by an excess of movement in vertebrae bones in the spine. As the discs which make up the spinal cord move they put pressure on nerves inside the spine, which can cause numbness, muscle weakness and tingling. Nerves are responsible for all movement and feeling in the body and when they are damaged, compressed or broken it can cause serious damage and pain. AAI can be caused by genetic conditions from birth people with Down's Syndrome are susceptible or, in adults, it can be caused by injury, infection or a chronic illness such as arthritis which damages the tissue surround the bones. It is not known how many people have AAI but it is 'very rare' among people who don't have a pre-existing condition which could have caused it. Around 20 per cent of people with rheumatoid arthritis may develop it to some degree, along with 13 per cent of people with Down's Syndrome. AAI does not cause symptoms in everyone, and can be unnoticed. Surgery can be used to fuse or stabilise the spinal bones to reduce pain and instability. Source: MedScape Advertisement Spinal cord compression is a condition in which something puts pressure on the nerves in someone's spine, which can cause numbness and weakness. A cerebrospinal fluid leak happens when the membrane surrounding the brain or spine is punctured, and can cause headaches, vomiting and balance problems. Both of the above can be caused by an injury to the spine or a tumour. AAI is caused by too much movement between vertebrae in the spine, which also causes symptoms by pressing on nerves. Ms Smith was given steroids but said she suffered from terrifying hallucinations and regularly saw 'evil zombie faces'. She also had a lumbar puncture a spinal tap used to release fluid but this worsened her condition and may have been the trigger for the spinal fluid leak. 'AAI can't be dealt with in Wales and potentially not the UK at all,' Ms Smith said. 'It requires dangerous surgery that takes an experienced and probably crazy surgeon to undertake. 'I've come so far on this journey already and there's no way I'm giving up now. My children deserve more than a mummy who's just about existing.' Ms Smith's children are now being looked after by her family and her ex-husband. She struggles to carry out daily tasks because she experiences so much pain when gets out of bed. 'You can't even call it a headache,' Ms Smith said. 'It's the worst head pain you can imagine. 'It feels like my brain is being pulled every time I'm not lying down.' Ms Smith, a mother of five (pictured with her children), said her children deserve more than a mother who is 'just about existing' her family and her ex-husband now look after the children She has now set up a GoFundMe page in a bid to get more private appointments and find out more about her debilitating conditions. She believes a specialist team in Barcelona may be able to help with her AAI. Generous donors have already helped her to raise 2,461 of her 2,900 target, and she says she is now doing her own research into the treatment she needs. 'I'm 37 years old with no medical training, yet I find myself having to be my own doctor,' Ms Smith said. 'Even though I'm in bed 24-7 I've been left completely alone to figure all of this out by myself. 'I have to work out what scans, what specialists, who might be able to help, what move to make next and in what order while being as accurate with funds as possible so as not to waste any money that will hold up the next needed appointment.' To donate to Ms Smith's campaign visit her fundraising page. A woman was forced to have her fourth chest reconstruction operation in just two years after she lost her left breast to sepsis. Nikki Belza, 35, who lives in Las Vegas, woke up with tenderness in her breast in 2016, which she initially dismissed as just a pulled muscle. The cocktail waitress was later rushed to hospital after she collapsed at work - but doctors said it was likely mastitis from her breast implant and sent her home with painkillers. But when Mrs Belza's fever rose to more than 40C (104F), blood tests revealed she was in septic shock as a result of a Strep infection in her breast pocket that spread into her blood. Faced with a 50 per cent risk of dying, Mrs Belza was forced to have her entire left breast removed and spent four months with a lopsided chest. She underwent her fourth, and hopefully last, reconstruction surgery on December 5 to repair nerve damage, remove scar tissue and finally make her breasts symmetrical again. Scroll down for video Nikki Belza was forced to have four chest reconstructions after she lost her left breast to sepsis. Pictured left before the ordeal, the cocktail waitress woke with tenderness in her chest in 2016. She is seen right after what will hopefully be her last surgery on December 5 Faced with a 50 per cent chance of dying, Mrs Belza was forced to have her entire left breast removed after doctors revealed her sepsis arose from a Step infection in her breast pocked that spread to her blood. She then lived with just one breast for four months (pictured) Mrs Belza is pictured 12 days after one of her surgeries to rebuild her breast earlier this year When Mrs Belza, who is originally from New York, woke with tenderness in her chest she thought she had just slept awkwardly or pulled a muscle while lifting something at the bar. Unconcerned, she set off for work only for her health to deteriorate throughout the day. 'My minor pain started to escalate,' she said. 'I still wasn't too worried because I only felt like I'd sprained a muscle. 'Within an hour of my shift starting, it quickly became unbearable. My husband CJ works at the same club and started later than me, so he was going to bring me an anti-inflammatory pill. But my pain skyrocketed for what seemed like no reason. 'I basically collapsed in the corner in pain because I could no longer stand.' Mr Belza phoned his wife's cosmetic surgeon who told them to go to hospital immediately. 'When we arrived at hospital, I was still in my revealing cocktail waitress uniform of a corset and fishnet stockings because I was in too much pain to change clothing,' Mrs Belza said. 'The initial visit wasn't helpful because they gave me painkillers and told me it seemed like a plastic surgery problem which they wrote off as inflammation and sent me home. That move almost took my life. 'With sepsis being a medical emergency, every second counts. But there was no sepsis protocol, so they didn't assume I had an infection despite my husband and I trying to refuse painkillers and suggesting I might need antibiotics instead. 'After being sent home my health quickly declined. My fever was rising above 40 degrees, I had unbearable pain like I was going to die, pale and sweaty skin, extreme thirst, I was shivering and confused.' Mrs Belza is pictured left recovering after her fourth reconstructive surgery in just two years. Pictured right after overcoming sepsis, Mrs Belza struggled to live with just one breast in Las Vegas, which is 'is all about glam and appearance', and lost her confidence Mrs Belza had surgery to enhance her breasts, which are pictured before. She insists her implants did not cause her sepsis. Nevertheless, her left implant still had to be removed Mrs Belza is pictured left and right in hospital in 2016. She spent five days in intensive care after having emergency surgery to remove her left breast. Surgeons told her taking out the implant would be the quickest way of stemming her sepsis, which was at risk of spreading At 4am, a panicked Mr Belza called his wife's cosmetic surgeon once again, who was appalled to discover she had been discharged without any tests. The medic was flying back to Las Vegas at the time and told Mrs Belza to meet him in his office. The surgeon then carried out blood tests, which revealed Mrs Belza's white blood cell count was a staggering 44,000 - 11 times higher than the normal 4,000. 'After the blood tests, he said my white blood cell results were astronomical and I needed to get to hospital straight away,' Mrs Belza said. 'I was in septic shock, so the infection was taking over my body and killing me. 'My surgeon and an infectious disease specialist gave me two choices: have surgery to remove the breast or wait it out on an IV with antibiotics. 'With my symptoms, there was a higher than 50 per cent chance that I would have died so surgery was my only option. 'We all decided that removing one implant with all the breast tissue would be the safest and quickest option, and it would keep the infection from infecting my other side as well.' Mrs Belza went under the knife on August 7. She added: 'My infection wasn't from having breast implants, my sepsis originated from a strep infection which was in my entire breast pocket and spread into my blood. 'Losing my breast may have saved me because sepsis is known to spread so rampantly in your blood. It could have infected nearby organs like my heart and my lungs.' While living without a breast, Mrs Belza wore a prosthetic (seen left) to boost her confidence. Pictured right after the most recent surgery, she hopes her chest will be its former 32F or G She now lives with post-sepsis syndrome, which has turned her hair grey (pictured) WHAT IS SEPSIS? Sepsis occurs when the body reacts to an infection by attacking its own organs and tissues. Some 44,000 people die from sepsis every year in the UK. Worldwide, someone dies from the condition every 3.5 seconds. Sepsis has similar symptoms to flu, gastroenteritis and a chest infection. These include: S lurred speech or confusion lurred speech or confusion E xtreme shivering or muscle pain xtreme shivering or muscle pain P assing no urine in a day assing no urine in a day S evere breathlessness evere breathlessness I t feels like you are dying t feels like you are dying S kin mottled or discoloured Symptoms in children are: Fast breathing Fits or convulsions Mottled, bluish or pale skin Rashes that do not fade when pressed Lethargy Feeling abnormally cold Under fives may be vomiting repeatedly, not feeding or not urinating for 12 hours. Anyone can develop sepsis but it is most common in people who have recently had surgery, have a urinary catheter or have stayed in hospital for a long time. Other at-risk people include those with weak immune systems, chemotherapy patients, pregnant women, the elderly and the very young. Treatment varies depending on the site of the infection but involves antibiotics, IV fluids and oxygen, if necessary. Source: UK Sepsis Trust and NHS Choices Advertisement After the surgery, Mrs Belza spent five days in intensive care and four months with just one breast. 'Sepsis has physically impacted me in the sense that I spent four months with one breast, which is very hard in the city I live in,' she said. 'Vegas is all about glam and appearance. I was very weak and had to stop working for a long time.' Mrs Belza had an implant put back in on December 7 2016, she then endured two reconstructive surgeries on April 3 2017 and April 18 2018. On December 5 this year she had surgery to remove her scar tissue, known as a capsulectomy. Due to swelling it is unclear what her bra size is but she hopes it will be close to her former 32F or G. But, she added: 'Surviving sepsis made me mentally stronger than I ever thought I was.' 'I still have many lasting effects from the whole experience, including post-sepsis syndrome, which made my hair turn almost completely grey, shakiness, a low immune system and an inability to regulate temperature. I'm always freezing or uncomfortably hot.' Mrs Belza is speaking out to raise awareness of sepsis, which often does not cause symptoms until severe. 'I wish I'd have had earlier symptoms to avoid what I went through, but hopefully my story will help people become aware that although my situation was unusual, sepsis is very common, and it can arise from any infection,' she said. 'My message would be to always be aware of your body and health. If something hurts, then pay attention because your body is telling you something.' Russian President Vladimir Putin and the country's Energy Minister Alexander Novak held discussions prior to a meeting with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries in Vienna, a Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. Peskov declined to comment on whether Russia was ready to contribute to global oil production cuts, Reuters reported. OPEC resumes discussions in Vienna today before heading into a meeting with non-OPEC oil producers led by Russia later in the day. Incredible before and after pictures show a woman's remarkable transformation after surgeons removed a mammoth tumour on her chin. The unnamed 47-year-old told doctors the unusual-looking mass had been growing for nearly two decades before she had it chopped off. Medics in Uttar Pradesh, India, where the woman is from, described the 9lbs 9oz (4.35kg) growth as 'astonishing'. In comparison, newborn babies weigh around 7lbs. The unnamed 47-year-old told doctors the unusual-looking mass had been growing for nearly two decades before she had it chopped off Surgeons did not reveal specific details of the life-changing operation to remove the woman's mass, which was around 12inches-long (30cm) They were so intrigued by the tale they decided to publish it in the prestigious publication, the British Medical Journal of Case Reports. The team at Moti Lal Nehru Medical College in Allahabad claimed that such giant pleomorphic adenomas are 'very rare' in medical literature. In the woman's case report, surgeons led by Dr Ashutosh Rai wrote: '[To] find such large tumours even in modern times is astonishing.' They revealed how the woman put off seeing doctors for around 18 years because she was too scared to undergo the drastic surgery. The woman, from Allahabad, sought treatment at the hospital in her town - 124miles (200km) south east of Lucknow. She explained how the mass had grown slowly over the years but dramatically sped up in the past 24 months. Medics in Uttar Pradesh, India, where the woman is from, described the 9lbs 9oz (4.35kg) growth as 'astonishing' Stunning MRI scans published in the British Medical Journal of Case Reports show the huge tumour growing from her chin The woman, from Allahabad, sought treatment at the hospital in her town - 124miles (200km) south east of Lucknow (MRI scans show prat of the growth) Surgeons revealed the patient recovered well and had no medical complications five months after the procedure The tumour even had discharge, however, it is unknown if the oozing liquid produced an aroma or what colour it was. Surgeons did not reveal specific details of the life-changing operation to remove the woman's mass, which was around 12inches-long (30cm). However, they revealed the patient recovered well and had no medical complications five months after the procedure. Pleomorphic adenomas, also called mixed-tumours, are benign tumors that develop from the salivary glands. They are the most common salivary gland tumour, figures show - making up around 70 per cent of all cases. However, it is unclear how common benign salivary gland tumours are. A Seattle woman has died after contracting a a rare brain-eating amoeba from using tap water in a neti pot - which turned her brain into 'bloody mush'. Doctors had prescribed the woman, 69, to use the pot to flush out her nasal cavity after she'd been suffering from a persistent sinus infection. But she used Brita-filtered water instead of sterile water and soon developed a strange rash on the bridge of her nose. Unbeknownst to her, over the course of the next year, an amoeba was gnawing away at the woman's brain tissue. By the time she was seen at a hospital, the woman's left arm was seizing, she couldn't think straight and the amoeba had devoured a section of her brain and turned it to amoebic 'mush,' one of her physicians, Dr Charles Cobbs, told the Seattle Times. A 69-year-old woman in Seattle died after a rare, Balamuthia amoeba (pictured) from the unsterilized water she used in a neti pot attacked her brain, turning sections to 'mush' Brain-eating amoebas are extremely rare, but they lurk nearby in water and soil. There are only a few forms that infect humans, most commonly the Naegleria species, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Naegleri is the notorious brain-eating amoeba, and it has infected 34 people in the US since 2008. Yet, this woman's infection was negative for Naegleri. The amoeba that infected her, Balamuthia was only discovered in 1986 and has struck at least 200 people worldwide and 70 in the US since. Balamuthia is almost always fatal - 89 percent of the time - and is difficult to diagnose in part because it may take weeks or even months for symptoms sto develop. The unidentified woman whose illness was reported in an International Journal of Infectious Diseases simply wanted to rid herself of a pernicious sinus infection. When other treatments didn't seem to bring her relief, a Seattle doctor told her try a neti pot to irrigate her nose. But she skipped one crucial step of the doctor's instructions: she didn't use properly sterilized water. Bottled or boiled water is considered sterile. The woman in stead put tap water through a Brita filter, which is comprised of carbon and ion-exchange resin materials. The woman's first symptom was a strange, persistent rash on the side of her nose (pictured) It's an effective way to rid water of some larger microorganisms and impurities that might affect taste and smell, but the mesh was not enough to stop the amoeba. She used the neti pot for a month, then suddenly developed a strange, red, raised rash on one side of the bridge of her nose. Several trips to the dermatologist and three biopsies over the course of a year still didn't reveal a diagnosis. Her tissue was clearly inflamed and there were strange cells in the biopsy, but whatever was blighting her nose wasn't actually killing skin cells. Dermatologists' best guess was that she had a form of rosacea, and perhaps some complicating infections. The next time the woman came onto doctors' radar she was at a hospital, conscious, but suffering from a focal seizure that was making her arm shake uncontrollably and she was completely incoherent, and did not seem to understand anything going on around her. It was clear that something was wrong with her brain and, in a CT scan, doctors saw a fairly large part of her brain that had become softer than the rest of the neural tissue. The contrast dye circled it like a bullseye. She had a history of breast cancer, so the doctors' first guess was that it had returned and metastasized in her brain, or that she had developed another cancer, a glioma. Even with cancer, brain abscesses like the woman's are rare, the case study authors write. 'Even more rarely, spontaneous fungal or amoebic infections are identified as the cause of the brain abscess,' they wrote, so these causes were low on their list of possibilities. Scans of her brain revealed soft spots (A and C) where the amoeba had devoured neural tissue She was treated with anti-seizure medications, and sent home two days after her biopsy. Six days later she was back with numbness in her left arm and leg. She returned again after 15 days. She couldn't think straight and brain scans revealed that the soft spots in her brain were growing - and multiplying. At last a consulting doctor from Johns Hopkins University suggested that an amoeba might be preying on her brain. The medical team quickly contacted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevetion (CDC) which rushed a novel drug to treat amoebic infections to the hospital. But it was too late. Despite aggressive treatment, the woman was soon barely able to stay awake. Within a week, she slipped into a coma. The infection sites were bleeding out into her brain. The woman's family decided to let her go, and took her off life support. More common naegleri infections have been known to strike people who have done nasal irrigation - three in the US, to be exact - but this was a new point of entry for Balamuthia, a 'comparably insidious amoeba,' the doctors wrote. Balamuthia also doesn't have as many known, distinct characteristics as its more common waterborne cousin, so the doctors worry that 'it is possible that many more cases of Balamuthia have been missed.' 'Clinicians should be aware that patients who develop a nasal rash after sinus irrigation with non-sterile saline washes might be at high risk of amoeba skin infections,' they cautioned. A 14-year-old boy who suffered a shock stroke was told he would never be able to walk, talk or eat again - but he has proved doctors wrong by doing all three. Joseph Long, of Phoenix, Arizona, was at home with his four sisters and aunt, while his mother was out picking them up a takeout dinner on September 28. But shortly before she got back, Joseph came downstairs from his room, said he wasn't feeling well, then immediately passed out. He came to, then vomited and passed out again. They called 911, and he was rushed to hospital. The staff stabilized Joseph's condition and he was airlifted to their local children's hospital where the on-call doctor suspected he'd had a stroke triggered by a brain aneurysm. Despite six hours of surgery, doctors said the damage was so great that Joseph would be disabled for life. But against the odds, the spritely teen is now walking, talking and eating. Fighting fit! Joseph pictured (left) with his mom before his stroke and (right) with his step-father, Ray, after his stroke Joseph was a spritely little boy with no previous medical issues when he collapsed and had a stroke aged just 14 at the end of September. Doctors said he would never walk again. Less than two months later (right), he defied the odds - and is expected to fully recover 'I felt numb, like the entire universe was closing around me,' Joseph's mother, Kc Nicole Long, 35, said. 'My children and I have experienced a lot of death over the last few years and I just remember begging that they would save my son. 'Prior to this incident, I was a self-proclaimed atheist, however, the second I sat down for that ambulance ride, the first thing I did was ask God to please not take him from me.' While in the ambulance, Joseph started to crash and the paramedics began performing CPR. They took him to the closest hospital they could find only to get there and be told that they were not equipped to treat a child. The staff stabilized Joseph and said he would be airlifted to the local children's hospital. The doctor on-call said she suspected a brain bleed and asked Nicole to hug her son prior to departure in case he didn't make the helicopter ride. 'I kindly declined and told her that I would not submit to defeat and that I knew my son was going to make it there,' Kc said. 'My fiance drove so fast, we beat the helicopter to the children's hospital. We waited there for what seemed an eternity but in reality, it was about fifteen minutes. Loving family: Joseph's mother Kc (far right) and his four sisters The tight-knit family were settling down for dinner in September when Joseph had a stroke The director of neurosurgery came into the room and confirmed everyone's suspicions. Not only did Joseph suffer a brain bleed, but it was both inter-cranial, inter-ventricular and it was so 'massive', the bleed caused his brain to swell and was putting a tremendous amount of pressure on his spinal cord. Once consents were signed, Joseph was taken back for a six-hour surgery to evacuate the bleed and clip the aneurysm. 'It was the longest six hours of my life,' Kc said. 'I think I was in shock because my brain could not fully process what was happening.' Surgeons discovered Joseph had an arteriovenous malformation (AVM) - a clump of arteries and veins - lodged in his brain, which they suspect he was born with. It hadn't caused any issues until that point. But it seems the blood vessel walls weakened, triggering a stroke. Blood is a toxin to the brain. As it seeped through the weak blood vessel walls it damaged parts of his cerebellum (the brain region that coordinates movement and muscles). 'I didn't find out about his stroke until the next day,' Kc said. 'At the time I was being told, I was having an extremely hard time understanding all of the medical jargon. 'I really was just relieved that my son had survived his surgery and that we were focused on his survival while in pediatric ICU.' Aneurysms can grow in any blood vessel in the body, however, the two most common places are: the abdominal aorta (the artery that transports blood away from the heart to the rest of the body) and the brain. If the brain aneurysm bursts, it can cause obvious symptoms such as; a sudden agonising, or 'thunderclap' headache, a stiff neck, sickness and vomiting, and pain when looking at light. Surgeons discovered Joseph had an arteriovenous malformation (AVM) - a clump of arteries and veins - lodged in his brain, which they suspect he was born with Around three in five people who have a subarachnoid haemorrhage die within two weeks. Half of those people who survive are left with severe brain damage and disability. Joseph defied the odds when he bounced back quickly after suffering the stroke. 'The expectation was that Joseph would survive but none of his doctors thought he'd be able to walk, talk, eat on his own,' Kc said. 'He is now able to do all of these things and every person that has seen his recovery has said that it has been miraculous. 'He is doing everything we were told he wouldn't, and he is doing it in a very short period of time. The comment that stands out the most to me is that Joseph was determined he was going to survive, and not only did he survive, he proved everyone wrong. 'Everyone has just been in awe at his recovery. We plan to travel and see things he hasn't had the opportunity to see and to live life to the fullest. 'My advice to anyone going through this is to breathe and trust their medical team. I feel like I held my breath this entire ordeal and I questioned every single thing with little trust and faith but the fact of the matter is that he was in good hands the entire time.' More than 12,000 people in Britain are needlessly suffering heart attacks every year because they aren't taking their statins, a study suggests. The daily pills, which slash bad cholesterol levels, are proven to save thousands of lives each year and are doled out to millions of patients worldwide. But researchers warn many patients prescribed the drugs aren't sticking to their doctors' advice to ensure they take them each day. Scientists now say patients should be given stronger doses of statins to ensure that they receive the full benefit of the cheap pills. Statins could prevent thousands of heart attacks and strokes if people regularly took higher doses, a study led by Imperial College and the University of Leicester found The suggestion comes from researchers based at Imperial College London and the University of Leicester, who conducted the trial. They looked at the use of the drugs in around 16,700 people who had already suffered cardiovascular events, such as a heart attack or stroke. An analysis of the data found just 48 out of 1,000 patients suffer a heart attack if they take stronger statins once a day. In comparison, the real figure is around 72 out of 1,000 patients taking statins - thought to cost the NHS around 2 a month per patient. The experts therefore concluded that taking more powerful drugs, and sticking to them, could cut a patient's risk of a heart attack. Lead author Professor Kausik Ray said: 'The basic message here is that long-term adherence achieves better long-term cholesterol reductions. 'In terms of risk reduction, we can see the people who do the best are those who are adhering to the recommended dosage and are on more potent drug regimens. WHY ARE STATINS CONTROVERSIAL? Statins are the most commonly prescribed drug in the world and an estimated 30 per cent of all adults over the age of 40 are eligible to take them. The cholesterol-lowering drugs are given to people believed to have a 10 per cent or higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease or having a heart attack or stroke within the next 10 years. They are proven to help people who have suffered heart problems in the past, but experts say the thresholds may be too high, meaning benefits are outweighed by side effects for many people. Nearly all men exceed the 10 per cent threshold by age 65, and all women do so by age 70 regardless of their health. Commonly reported side effects include headache, muscle pain and nausea, and statins can also increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, hepatitis, pancreatitis and vision problems or memory loss. Research published in the Pharmaceutical Journal last year found taking a daily statin for five years after a heart attack extends your life by just four days, new research reveals. And Dr Rita Redberg, professor at the University of California, San Francisco told CNN in January that of 100 people taking statins for five years without having had a heart attack or stroke, 'the best estimates are that one or two people will avoid a heart attack, and none will live longer, by taking statins.' Advertisement 'But if someone is not going to take a treatment as recommended, they may actually be better off on higher doses of statins.' Professor Ray explained this would allow patients to achieve greater cholesterol reductions when they are taking the medication. Doctors are cautiously prescribing doses which are too weak, or that people are forgetting or stopping their tablets due to side effects, the researchers said. Statins are taken by six million people in Britain to reduce their cholesterol and are proven lifesavers for those with heart problems. Up to 30million in the US meet the medical threshold to take the drugs. But an Australian study revealed last month that 45 per cent of pensioners had stopped taking them. The authors said side effects including muscle pain, sleep problems and impotence put some people off taking the drugs. The latest study gave people an overall score for whether they had missed or stopped either statins or a drug called ezetimibe, and how strong their drugs were. Then they were tracked for an average of three years to see if they suffered another heart attack, stroke or other cardiovascular event. The most powerful drugs cut cholesterol by 50 per cent, with the least intense statins reducing it by only 30 per cent. Professor Ray, of Imperial, added: With LDL cholesterol, also known as bad cholesterol, the lower it is the better. We know once you have one heart attack or other cardiovascular event, you are at much higher risk of more events in future and that lowering your LDL cholesterol levels is key to improving outcomes. For these patients, taking the right medication, at the right dose, at the right time - and sticking to this regimen - is critical in lowering their risk of future cardiovascular events. The researchers said low adherence could be curtailed through slow release drugs which patients are required to take less frequently. Leading heart experts have today welcomed the results of the study, published in the journal JAMA Network Open. Professor Sir Nilesh Samani, medical director at the British Heart Foundation, said: 'This is real-world evidence that taking your medicine as prescribed really can make all the difference. 'If you're taking statins, it's essential that you continue to take them regularly, as advised by your doctor.' Professor Liam Smeeth, at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said: 'These results are entirely in agreement with the evidence from previous clinical trials.' He added the findings highlight the importance of people taking their statins reliably over the long-term. Guidelines in the UK and US both recommend prescribing a patient statins if they have a 10 per cent risk of heart disease within the next 10 years. And, though the drugs are proven to lower this risk, statins are controversial among the medical community because of their potential side effects. Supporters of statins, including the UK health watchdog Nice, say the pills should be prescribed more widely to prevent thousands of early deaths. But many medics are uneasy with the 'overmedicalisation' of the middle-aged, which sees statins doled out 'just in case' patients have heart problems in later life. Yet they do agree that for high risk patients, such as heart attack victims, statins are proven lifesavers, slashing the chance of a second attack. High levels of bad cholesterol can lead to a hardening and narrowing of the arteries and cardiovascular disease (CVD), which kills 150,000 people each year in the UK and 610,000 in the US. Exposure to polluted air can dramatically increase the risks that a woman will have a miscarriage within a week of a bad air day, a worrying new report reveals. Air quality in the US has improved dramatically since 1990, when climate change and pollution really began to be part of the public conversation. But more than four out of every 10 people in the US still live in areas where the air outside their homes is often too polluted to breath. And even a brief period of pollution exposure can have dramatic effects on the body, including raising the risks pregnant woman will have a miscarriage by 16 percent, University of Utah scientists report. Even a brief spike in air pollution raises the risks that a pregnant woman will have a miscarriage within the week by 16 percent, a new University of Utah report reveals Industrial processes, cars and other fossil fuels have wreaked havoc on our air - and now our air is hurting our health too. On average, everyone on Earth loses about 2.6 years of life due to the damage air pollution does to us. In some place, it's as many as eight years. Pollution is bad for just about every part of the body. It makes the lungs work harder and damages their cells. It makes the heart work harder, increases the risks of birth defects and that women will have premature babies. And now, the new University of Utah study has found that living in polluted areas raises the risks that women will lose their pregnancies altogether. Before he even conducted his research, lead study author Dr Matthew Fuller noticed a worrying, anecdotal trend when he moved to Utah. 'Not being from Salt Lake originally, I noticed a pattern in the relation to air quality and pregnancy loss,' said Dr Fuller, an assistant professor of surgery. 'I knew this was an understudied question so we decided to dig deeper.' He and his team reviewed data on 1,300 women that came to the emergency room at the University of Utah, seeking care after miscarrying between 2007 and 2015. They compared the incidence of miscarriages to the levels of ozone, nitrogen and fine particulate matter (PM2 2.5) in the air on the preceding days. After carefully controlling for all other miscarriage risk factors, there were 16 percent more miscarriages in the three to seven days when air quality was particularly poor in Salt Lake City, Utah - which, at the time of publication had the worst air in all of North America. 'This is the first time that that we've shown that such short term exposures have such lasting consequences,' Dr Fuller told Daily Mail Online. There are some measures women who are pregnant or want to conceive can take to protect themselves and their developing babies - but they are minimal, Dr Fuller says. Though indoor air can be as bad as or worse than outdoor air, installing a HEPPA air filtration system can reduce exposure - but comes with an average price tag of $2,507. Aside from that, women who are not yet pregnant can try to plan to conceive in during a season when air quality is better, so they are at less risk of losing the pregnancy in the vulnerable first trimester. But in Salt Lake City, for example, that's a short window in the spring time, since some pollution is worst there in the summer, and other kinds are at their highest levels in the winter. 'It's a really scary thing,' said Dr Fuller. 'If we reduced poor air quality, we would at least remove that one independent factor for miscarriage.' Cliff edge Brexit: Japanese bank Nomura envisions a bus rolling towards disaster Japanese bank Nomura offers its clients the following cheer-filled guide to our Brexit predicament: 'Imagine the bus, with 650 passengers on board. 'The bus is gently rolling down a hill towards a cliff...' Well, I think you can probably guess the rest. US charity website Charitybuzz is offering deep-pocketed members of the American public a chance to bid for lunch with 'King of Bitcoin' Michael Novogratz, which is expected to fetch as much as 12,000. Previous auctions have included meetings with hedge fund star Bill Ackman and Warren Buffett, who someone paid 3million to meet and talk investments with this year. Why hasn't someone introduced such a wheeze here? Of course it's possible that the chance to break bread with our own leading tycoons Messrs Sugar, Green and Ashley doesn't hold quite the same allure. Re charity auctions, city spinners Finsbury generously offered the chance for someone to shadow its staff at an auction this week in aid of the Royal College of Music. It may not be as appealing as the safari holiday also on offer, but just imagine: the opportunity to learn the dark arts at the knee of the City's Prince of Darkness, aka Finsbury boss Roland Rudd. McDonald's has been named by Management Today as the UK's second-most admired company, behind drinks giant Diageo. Once seen as the corporate devil by anti-globalists, not to mention nutritionists, the burger chain is now garlanded by the environmentalists for sustainability efforts. Quite a feat after it was named the most hated company in America in 2014. Perhaps Watford-born chief executive Steve Easterbrook could offer Ryanair's incorrigible Michael O'Leary a few pointers. Annabel's manager Paul Murashe, keeper of nocturnal secrets for the numerous industrialists and chief executives who regularly frequent the lavish Mayfair boite, says of his sartorial preferences: 'I wear suits by Lanvin, Tom Ford, Thom Browne and Ermenegildo Zegna Couture.' Quite the natty devil, isn't he? Nightclub staff salaries have clearly swollen somewhat since my busboy days. The Blue Planet effect, which has seen companies and consumers ditch plastics after Sir David Attenboroughs shocking BBC documentary, is rippling into the FTSE 250. Packaging company DS Smith fell 5.8 per cent, or 19p, to 307.3p as it said it was looking to sell its own plastics division. Since Blue Planet II drew consumers attention to plastic pollution and its effect on the sea, plastic-making companies have stepped up their efforts to make new biodegradable materials. But DS Smith has decided to wash its hands of the responsibility, by exploring opportunities to sell the plastics business. Since BBC's Blue Planet II drew consumers' attention to plastic pollution and its effect on the sea, companies have stepped up their efforts to make new biodegradable materials Investors were unsure what to make of the sale prospect, as analysts suggested that suitors could place low bids. The division has been struggling with higher prices for raw materials, which have knocked profits. But DS Smith said plastics revenues were up 2 per cent in the six months to October, with good growth prospects. AJ Bells investment director Russ Mould said: On paper, it is hard to find any major faults with DS Smiths results. However, a slowdown in consumer spending could lead to reduced packaging demand, while recent growth in the number of corrugated boxes it produces has already fallen. Insurer Beazley dipped 4.6 per cent, or 25p, to 517.5p as it estimated the cost of claims arising from California wild fires would be 31million. It said volatile markets had also squeezed its investment returns. Stockbroker AJ Bell, set to float on the stock market on December 12, has set its initial public offering price at 160p per share. Stock Watch - Gresham Technologies Contract delays forced Gresham Technologies, a data software company, to warn that profits will be significantly below expectations. Its software helps businesses keep an eye on data, and make sure it is correct. Revenues should be in line with expectations but some deals have been put off into 2019. Since regulation is increasing, Greshams board said it was confident there would be continued demand. Shares yesterday fell 40.9 per cent, or 62p, to 89.5p. This is in the middle of the 154p to 166p range which it guided towards last month, valuing it at 651million. Selling shareholders, such as founder Andy Bell and fund house Invesco, will together pocket 169.3million. In a dire day for the FTSE 100, which fell 217.79 points to 6704.05, only three blue-chip companies saw their shares rise. The best was gold miner Randgold Resources, considered a defensive stock as investors rush to gold when other assets fall. Shares rose 2.7 per cent, or 174p, to 6556p. Snakebite drug company BTG climbed 3.2 per cent, or 26.5p, to 853p. It received a 3.3billion takeover offer from Boston Scientific last month, so while its peers are sliding in the market turmoil, its value has effectively been locked in. Unfortunately for takeaway firm Just Eat, investors were selling shares rather than gobbling them up. In an unexpected move, the FTSE Russell Group revealed that Just Eat had been booted out of the FTSE 100 index to make way for engineer Spirax Sarco. Companies are added to or removed from indices depending on whether their value has changed significantly. Since some investment funds can only invest in firms listed on an index, slipping out can cause a fire sale of shares. Analysts estimated that these funds would have to sell around 8.6m Just Eat shares, 1.3 per cent of the company, and they fell 5.3 per cent, or 30p, to 535p. Drugs company Indivior, which makes treatments for heroin addiction, suffered a similar fate. It was removed from the European Stoxx 600 index, which includes the 600 biggest listed companies in Europe, and shares dipped 11.4 per cent, or 10.7p, to 82.96p. Barclays was elbowed out of the Stoxx 50 to make way for German gases group Linde. Shares plunged 3.2 per cent, or 5.14p, to 153.32p. Slovenia-focused gas business Ascent Resources cancelled its sale after individuals claiming to be shareholders sent threats to the countrys government which was reviewing the firms permits. The shares dropped 12.5 per cent, or 0.05p, to 0.35p. One that got away: Fishing Republic last night filed for administration Fishing Republic last night filed for administration after failing to drum up enough cash from investors to stave off collapse. The angling company said it was likely that rescue specialist Leonard Curtis would be appointed next week. It also said it had received offers from buyers willing to snap up some or all of its assets. Fishing Republic, which has 14 stores, was plunged into turmoil in October when investors who had been propping it up suddenly withdrew their support. It was struggling with crippling loans as well as widening losses, which are thought to have given lenders cold feet. In a statement, the retailer said: Further to the recent updates, it has not been possible to raise sufficient equity or other funding for immediate and future working capital requirements. 'As a consequence, the directors have today filed an application to appoint administrators. Its shares hit a high of 48.7p last year, but have since crashed nearly 90 per cent to 5.25p. The Serious Fraud Office was facing questions over its future last night after two former Tesco executives were cleared of a 250million fraud and false accounting. The investigator was accused of wasting millions of pounds of taxpayers money and criticised over its handling of the high-profile case. It comes after former SFO boss David Green QC, who stepped down in April, was awarded a knighthood for services to the criminal justice system. Relieved: The case against John Scouler, left, and Chris Bush has been thrown out In September 2014, Tescos shares plunged 12 per cent after it admitted it had overstated profits by 250million, wiping 2billion off its market value. Former UK managing director Chris Bush, 52, and ex-food commercial director John Scouler, 50, were accused of hiding incorrectly recorded income in a bid to meet targets and make Tesco look financially healthier than it was. But in a major humiliation for the SFO, the charges have now been thrown out and the men acquitted. Judge Sir John Royce dismissed the case after it was presented by the prosecution, saying it was so weak it was not fit to be considered by a jury. The SFO is now considering whether to pursue a retrial of a third defendant, Carl Rogberg, 51, who was too unwell to stand after suffering a heart attack earlier this year. Bushs solicitor Ross Dixon, a partner at Hickman And Rose, said: Given its status as the UKs leading investigator of serious and complex fraud, the SFO made many basic mistakes. The SFOs failings have resulted in a four-year ordeal for Mr Bush, and the waste of millions of pounds of taxpayers money. Speaking after he was cleared, Bush said: While I am delighted that my innocence has finally been established, it is troubling that Mr Scouler and I were ever charged. He added: I am now looking forward to getting home and spending Christmas with my family. The acquittal of the two former Tesco directors means not a single individual has been convicted in one of the biggest corporate scandals in recent history. It comes at a perilous time for the SFO, which has suffered a string of failures in recent years, which include the recent dropping of charges against Barclays relating to its emergency fundraising from Qatar at the height of the financial crisis. Sarah Wallace, a partner at law firm Irwin Mitchell, said: When a high-profile case takes a dramatic nosedive it will be a blow. It exposes the difficulties in trying to prosecute household names and their senior executives. They need to apply more rigour and scrutiny in gathering and assessing evidence, and more realism as to which people, if any, should be in the dock. Theresa May had been planning to axe the organisation and absorb its duties into the National Crime Agency under manifesto plans ahead of the last election. This proposal was ditched when she lost her majority, but the Prime Minister is thought to still have doubts about the organisation. The SFO was founded in 1987 to investigate and prosecute serious or complex fraud and corruption. It was led by Green, a QC, from 2012 until earlier this year. He has now taken a lucrative private sector job at law firm Slaughter And May, and was replaced by former FBI lawyer Lisa Osofsky. Last year she spoke out in favour of Mays plans to axe the SFO. She said the SFO had been on a knife-edge for years and argued against its heavy focus on tackling blockbuster corruption cases against firms such as Barclays and engineering firm Rolls-Royce, adding: Mrs May has made a calculation here on how to spend limited resources, and get the biggest bang for her buck. However, in a U-turn when she got the job, she said she believed in the SFOs independence. Osofsky said: My comments about the National Crime Agency and SFO were in relation to my assessment on an announced policy at that time. They did not represent my own view of the preferred future direction of the SFO. Last year, Tesco agreed to pay a fine of 129million to the SFO as part of a deferred prosecution agreement. Tesco shares last night fell 2.6 per cent, or 5.25p, to 193.75p. Primark owner Associated British Foods (ABF) struck fear into the retail industry today with an admission that trading is 'challenging' in the run-up to Christmas. The strong performing budget fashion chain, which has until now been broadly resilient to the wider retail slowdown, said its sales suffered in November as it too was stung by the 'tough retail market'. Primark's owner said it found the retail market to be tough in November The firm said it still expects full-year profits to increase, as a result of 'careful inventory management and improved margins', and is holding firm on its forecasts. The warning of a slow November is bad news for the beleaguered retail industry, which would have been hoping for some festive cheer over the critical Christmas trading period after what has been a catastrophic 2018. Several big names including Toys R Us and Maplin have gone bust, with scores of other retailers urgently closing stores to stay afloat. Today's update from Primark 'will strike fear into fashion retailers', said retail analyst Nick Bubb in his daily note. 'If even Primark found November 'challenging' it would be interesting to know how hard it was for Debenhams and Marks & Spencer etc,' he said. ABF chairman Michael McLintock said Primark's expansion will continue, with its 364th store opening in Belfast on Saturday. It follows the destruction of its existing site in a fire in August. The firm also said the first eight weeks of its financial year, spanning September and October, 'were in line with expectations'. Analysts fear the warning from Primark means fashion firms could be in for a poor Christmas Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com said the Primark warning 'is a worry', as it could mean retailers are in for a 'rough ride' over the key Christmas period. 'We know it's tough out there. But Primark has done better than most and the fact that it too is facing severe headwinds is a concern for the sector as a whole. 'If Primark is struggling, what chance does the rest of the high street have?' he said. ABF shares fell 2.5 per cent in early trading today, and the news is having a knock-on effect on other retail stocks too. Marks and Spencer is down 0.5 per cent and Debenhams, which needs a big uplift from this festive season, is down 2 per cent. Last month, ABF said full-year sales at Primark fell 2.1 per cent as bad weather knocked trading in Europe. Russia is ready to cut oil output by 200,000 barrels per day. Russia is ready to cut oil output by 200,000 bpd if OPEC offers to cut more than 1 million bpd, Reuters reported. On December 6, OPEC ministers discussed the oil production cut by 0.9-1.0 mln barrels per day within the Organizations framework and believe that ten non-OPEC countries should assume a half more of this portion, two sources in OPEC said. A leading analyst of the National Energy Security Fund, a lecturer at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, Igor Yushkov, speaking to Vestnik Kavkaza, noted that Russia's agreement to cut oil output by 200 thousand barrels is a compromise. They wanted us to cut our output by 300 thousand barrels per day, while we offered 150 thousand barrels per day. This is quite a normal decision, since its important for Russia to agree on something, because if the parties come to nothing, the next wave of panic would have started on the market, prices would have dropped. Both Saudi Arabia and Russia agree that no one needs this panic, as well as a further decline in oil prices, which means that it is necessary to negotiate," he said. "I think both sides have taken a constructive position. Now they will begin the process of tightening the rebalancing of the agreement, the goal is to delay it until March, when sanctions against Iran come into force and Iranian oil will leave the market. When the situation becomes clear, they can weaken efforts to cut output and even increase oil production again. I think now we may return to the level of $70 per barrel, but they will try to avoid a level of $80 per barrel to avoid reviving the American shale projects," Igor Yushkov noted. The advisor on macroeconomics to the CEO of the 'Opening-Broker' brokerage house, economist Sergey Hestanov, said that a possible reduction in oil production of 200 thousand barrels per day is quite acceptable for Russia. "It is fundamentally important to conclude the agreement. Last time, our quota was 300 thousand barrels per day. It is always very difficult to agree such deals due to the fact that there are endless disputes about how much to reduce. Therefore, it can only be welcomed," the expert noted. In addition, he recalled that in the early 1980s and 1985, there were similar disputes within OPEC. Then, everyone promised to cut oil output, but in reality, almost everyone except Saudi Arabia violated the agreement, which caused a decline in prices. In the end, Saudi Arabia lost patience. In September 1985, Sheikh Yamani, who served more than 24 years as oil minister of Saudi Arabia, came out to journalists and announced the start of the struggle for oil on the market. The Kingdom increased oil production and next year prices dropped fourfold. Strictly speaking, it was the start of the collapse of the Soviet Union," Sergey Hestanov said. House prices inched up by their lowest annual rate in six years in the three months to November, growing just 0.3 per cent compared to the same period last year, new figures show. The average house price is now 224,578, according to Halifax's index, after prices fell by a 1.4 per cent in November over October, making it three months of falls out of the last four. Compared to the preceding three months of June to August, prices dropped by 1.1 per cent. But the three months to October saw home sales jump 2.4 per cent on the previous quarter, with September and October both seeing more than 101,000 homes sold. November's figures showed mixed results in Britain's housing market, with the lowest growth in house prices in six years accompanied by a 2.4% jump in home sales on the previous quarter Meanwhile, for only the third time in the last 18 months more than 67,000 mortgages were approved in October to finance house purchases, up 2 per cent on September's numbers. Russell Galley, the Managing Director of Halifax, said: 'House price growth has slowed as we approach the end of the year, falling from 1.5% in October to 0.3% in November. Halifax's House Price Index showed that house prices have fallen in three of the last four months, and are down 1.1% on the previous quarter of 2018 'While this is the lowest rate of growth in six years, it remains within our forecast range of 0% to 3% for 2018. 'High employment, wage growth and historically low mortgage rates continue to make home ownership more affordable for many, though the need to raise a significant deposit still acts as something of a restraint on the market. 'This is largely offset by relatively limited supply of new and existing properties for sale, which continues to sustain house prices nationally.' Since a high ten years ago just before the financial crisis, the average number of homes for sale has more than halved, which Halifax's Russell Galley blamed for high house prices Experts were divided in their response to the figures, with some quick to blame uncertainty over Brexit. Jonathan Samuels, CEO of the property lender Octane Capital said: 'The lowest rate of growth for six years is a reflection of how Brexit uncertainty has hit the property market for six. 'Without wanting to appear overly pessimistic, theres every chance 2019 could be 2009 all over again. 'All the ingredients for extreme uncertainty, both political and economic, are in the mix. 'As we approach the finish line tape of 2018, theres a sense that next year could deliver no end of curveballs at best and a black swan at worst.' Others said it came down to affordability, not politics. Lucy Pendleton, co-founder director of estate agents James Pendleton, said: 'The market has buckled but dont blame Brexit, blame the piggy bank mentality. 'Most UK homeowners, if theyre being honest with themselves, will say theyve had a great run over the past five years. 'This period began after the market pulled its face out of the mud of a horrible 2012, when plenty of property just would not budge and prices fell throughout the year. 'The problem is that a long bull run like this encourages people to see their home more as an investment, and we all begin to wonder how long it will last. 'A desire to stay put is borne of a fear of missing out and this all helps to weigh on transactions, which ultimately brings things to a head sooner.' One estate agent urged calm. Sam Mitchell, the CEO of Housesimple.com, said: 'On first glance, these figures might set alarm bells ringing, but we need to put them into context before manning the panic stations. 'There's an unprecedented level of political turbulence battering the country at the moment and that is inevitably feeding through to house prices. 'We didn't see the traditional Autumn bounce in transaction levels this year, but after a subdued summer and three months of Brexit wranglings, it was probably more hope than expectation that the housing market would just power through. 'All things considered, the property market is actually holding up incredibly well in extremely testing times. And there are areas of the country, such as the North West and Yorkshire, which seemed to have brushed off Brexit fears.' Former Hells Angels bikie Wayne Schneider was bound to a steel chair and bashed to death in Thailand by five men recovering a debt, a NSW inquest has heard. Security guards at his Pattaya villa, south of Bangkok, saw the masked men forcing Schneider into the back seat of a ute in the early hours of November 30, 2015. Schneider's naked body, covered in bruises, lacerations and ligature marks, was found in buried a shallow grave by the side of a road the next day. At Glebe Coroner's Court on Thursday acting state coroner Teresa O'Sullivan formally found Schneider died from blunt force injury to the head and the manner of his death was homicide. Former Hells Angels bikie Wayne Schneider was bound to a steel chair and bashed to death in Thailand by five men recovering a debt. Sydney kickboxer Antonio Bagnato (pictured) was sentenced to death after being found guilty of his murder The inquest heard Bagnato (left) asked four men to help him assault Schneider (right) Sydney kickboxer Antonio Bagnato was in February sentenced in a Thai court to death after being found guilty of murdering Schneider. The inquest heard Bagnato asked four men to help him assault Schneider over a debt and gave each of them a balaclava, a SIM card and money, Mr Welsh said. At Schneider's house, Bagnato put him in a neck hold while another man hit him with a baton and the others assaulted him with knuckle dusters. Detective Sergeant Paul Roe told the court Schneider was driven to another flat, which was rented by Bagnato through a friend, where he was likely restrained in a stainless steel hospital chair and further assaulted. 'He may still have been alive when he arrived at that address,' Det Sgt Roe said. Schneider's naked body, covered in bruises, lacerations and ligature marks, was found in buried a shallow grave near his Pattaya villa, south of Bangkok At Schneider's house, Bagnato (pictured) put him in a neck hold while another man hit him with a baton and the others assaulted him with knuckle dusters The men allegedly left Schneider alone in the room and returned to find him dead. They stripped Schneider, dumped his clothes and buried his body in a roadside grave, Det Sgt Roe said. To identify the body, Thai police took a photo on a mobile phone of the body being exhumed and showed the photo to one of Schneider's associates. 'It wasn't a method that we would normally practise here,' Det Sgt Roe said. Although NSW police weren't told Schneider's body had been repatriated they got wind of a funeral taking place in Sydney on December 11. Before the funeral police took the embalmed body to the Glebe morgue where it was formally identified as Schneider using a palm print. The inquest heard Schneider left Australia in 2012 after police allegedly linked him to two clandestine drug laboratories in southwest Sydney. Bagnato also fled the country after the 2014 murder, for which he is a suspect, of Sydney man Bradley Dillon. His cousin Diego Carbone was in October found guilty of Dillon's murder. This is the heart-stopping moment a thrill-seeker scales the 500ft-high Humber Bridge and does a handstand on the top of it. The Polish daredevil filmed himself performing the death-defying stunt before uploading the shocking footage to YouTube. The video, which captures his entire journey to the summit of the bridge's south tower, has been viewed over 75,000 times. The 15-minute-long edited clip begins with the stuntman travelling by car over the Humber Bridge, near Kingston upon Hull, in the dead of night. The man, wearing a black hooded coat to hide his identity, is seen taking a swig of herbal tea before starting his summit. He then attaches himself to a cord and begins the vertical climb using just his hands and feet to hang on. The Polish daredevil filmed himself performing the death-defying handstand on top of the Humber Bridge He follows it up with a series of nerve-shredding acrobatics while balancing on two wires With cars passing by below him, the thrill-seeker then stops on a ledge and watches the sun rise while pouring a second drink before uttering the words 'beautiful English morning'. He goes on to say: 'Hello viewers. I'm sure if you know, but I do know now what is cool in UK. In UK, among other nice bridges, and I'm just standing on top of one of them. 'It is not a skimpy bridge. It's the tallest bridge in this country. The show off stops mid-climb to pour a cup of herbal tea and watch the sun rise The video was uploaded to his Youtube channel and has more than 75,000 views The masked climber started his ascension in the dead of night to avoid being seen 'Seriously, I shouldn't be here. First of all, climb up here is forbidden and also I don't have a time. I ain't got time for being here.' After apologising to his friends for his absence while making the film, he then plays down the feat. 'To be honest to get on top of this bridge, it wasn't hardcore, to get here I walked up lightly on that long thick wire but I think it could be done harder and climb on that longer vertical wire. The 500ft-high bridge, near Kingston upon Hull, 'was easy' according to the thrill-seeker Not for the faint hearted! He grabs hold of two wires before showing off his gymnastic skills 'Someone may think it is impossible, but it is possible, maybe not on a single one,' he said. After his piece-to-camera the climber performs a series of death-defying acrobatics on wires at the very top of the bridge. He then packs up and begins his descent saying: 'All good things come to an end, let's go down then. One of the Arab world's top spies and a shadowy conduit to Vladimir Putin's Kremlin were present at a meeting in the Seychelles being probed by Robert Mueller's Russia investigation, DailyMail.com can disclose. The meeting between Erik Prince, the Trump donor and billionaire Blackwater founder whose sister is education secretary Betsy DeVos, and Kirill Dmitriev, a Russian banker close to the Kremlin, was convened by the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, Mohamed bin Zayed, who is the de factor joint ruler of the United Arab Emirates. But DailyMail.com can disclose that also present were bin Zayed's spy chief and a Palestinian seen as the crown prince's personal conduit to Putin's Kremlin. The two men - Hamad al Mazroie, the de facto head of the UAE intelligence service, and Mohammed Dahlan, a bin Zayed adviser who is fluent in Russian - were never named by Prince when he testified to the House intelligence committee about the meeting. It emerged last month that George Nader, a Lebanese-American businessman and Middle East expert with ties to the Trump administration was present. Strange meeting: Billionaire Blackwater founder Erik Prince (left) - whose sister is Education Secretary Betsy DeVos - has testified that he met a Russian oligarch in the Seychelles. Now DailyMail.com discloses that he did not tell Congress that also present were the United Arab Emirates' top spy Hamad al Mazroie (right) Details: Erik Prince has already said that he went to the Seychelles to meet Mohamed bin Zayed, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, then had an encounter with Kirill Dmitriev, an oligarch close to Vladimir Putin New details: DailyMail.com can reveal that also present was Mohammed Dahlan (left), a bin Zayed adviser who is fluent in Russian who is known as the UAE's conduit to Putin. And it can also be revealed that George Nader, who is co-operating with the Robert Mueller probe, was involved in a massive arms deal between Russia and Iraq Venue: Despite Erik Prince having a home in the UAE, he was invited to meet the crown prince of Abu Dhabi at the Four Seasons in the Seychelles. The Abu Dhabi crown prince is seen as the de facto joint ruler of the United Arab Emirates Nader is now co-operating with Mueller after being stopped as he entered the U.S. in January and being served with a subpoena. The identities of the two newly-named attendees at the meeting were confirmed to DailyMail.com by a source close to bin Zayed, and a Kuwaiti lawmaker with access to intelligence on the UAE. The source close to bin Zayed said: 'Hamad supervises all these things. Those guys supervise major secret operations.' Their presence adds a new dimension to the now notorious meeting in the Seychelles. The meeting, which took place in January 2017, was disclosed in April last year in a Washington Post report. It was said to be an attempt by the UAE to create a back channel of communication between the incoming Trump administration and the Kremlin. Prince donated $250,000 to the Trump campaign and was known to be close to Steve Bannon, who become Trump's senior adviser in the White House. Prince testified that he first met the crown prince - known by his initials MBZ - at the Four Seasons resort on the tropical islands, and was then introduced to Dmitriev, a Russian oligarch and friend of Putin. The Blackwater founder told the House Intelligence Committee under oath that the prince had invited him to discuss 'business opportunities' and that 'some of his brothers' were present as well as an 'entourage'. The prince is one of 19 sons born through his late father's seven marriages. Prince told the intelligence committee that he met with Dmitriev only because the Emiratis said that they should and that the two discussed US-Russia relations, including trade but did not even exchange business cards after the discussion over a beer. Prince has denied representing the Trump transition during the meeting, which he characterized as a chance encounter in the hotel bar over a beer that lasted no more than 30 minutes. However Prince never mentioned the presence of al Mazroie or Dahlan. According to sources close to the UAE leadership, al Mazroie acts as bin Zayed's right hand man and informal head of intelligence, giving him access to the country's advanced surveillance technology. The sources say he is at the center of an Emirati plan to exert influence on both western democracies and its neighboring Gulf states. Focus: George Nader has co-operated with special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation Spy: Hamad al Mazroie, the de facto head of the UAE intelligence service - see outside London department store Harrods - can be revealed to have been at Erik Prince's meeting with a Russian oligarch in the Seychelles Leaked text messages have claimed to show the spymaster threatening to release naked photos of Kuwaiti politicians in an attempt to influence the country's parliamentary elections. Abdullah al Saleh, a Kuwaiti activist in London who is opposed to the Saudi regime, tweeted a copy of the texts, claiming: 'Hamad al Mazroie leaked this picture to social media outlets to blackmail and influence the Kuwaiti elections.' A Qatari news anchor for state broadcaster al Jazeera also launched a lawsuit against al Mazroie claiming that the spymaster threatened to release fabricated sex tapes of the anchor. On Twitter, anchor Jamal Rayyan wrote: 'I am amazed how Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, and Sheiks of the #UAE would accept such acts done by Hamad al Mazroie and his partners. They used Emirati cell phones and sent photoshoped/fake sexual photos along with video and audio insults to my WhatsApp.' Dahlan is a former leader of the Fatah party in the Gaza Strip and was exiled in 2011 and fled to the UAE amid allegations he may have murdered Yasser Arafat. There he became a security adviser to bin Zayed, according to the Emirati source, and began working as an informal UAE emissary to the Kremlin, helping coordinate the UAE's military action to cooperate with Russian interests. 'Were entering Dahlan's ninth year there now. He became closer and closer to MBZ and more powerful in the UAE. 'His assignments changed from just giving advice to going on secret missions, meeting at the Kremlin on behalf of MBZ,' said the source. The source added that Dahlan worked closely with both Prince and Nader. The sources claimed that the Seychelles meeting, which is being investigated by special counsel Robert Mueller as part of his probe into Russian meddling in the US election, is the tip of the iceberg. Family: Erik Prince is the brother of Betsy DeVos, Trump's education secretary The source close to bin Zayed claims that 'Dahlan met with Erik Prince and the Russians several times' in the Maldives - a second island archipelago. Prince has never disclosed further meetings and told the House intel committee that he had not met Russians in any form after the Seychelles encounter. He also never told members of Congress that Nader was present. A spokesman for Prince declined to comment. DailyMail.com has reached out to the UAE's embassy in Washington for comment but has yet to receive any. DailyMail.com can disclose that Nader is not just a Lebanese-American businessman but has played a part in brokering a multi-billion dollar arms deal with Russia. Former Iraqi officials told Arab news site Al-Monitor that Nader helped broker a controversial $4.2bn arms deal between Russia and Iraq in 2012. One official told the site that Nader travelled to Moscow and met with Russian officials, saying he represented Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Another who was involved in the deal said he saw Nader discuss the deal with Maliki in a Moscow hotel at the time. Nader is cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller for his investigation into the Trump campaign, according to the New York Times. Nader gave testimony to a grand jury convened in Mueller's investigation of the Trump campaign last week, two sources told The Times last Tuesday. DailyMail.com understands Nader spoke to the Trump administration on Middle East strategy, while being paid by the UAE as an adviser to its leadership. He is a well-connected expert on the Middle East who is rumored to have links with intelligence agencies. White House sources say that Nader became a friend of former chief Trump strategist Steve Bannon while he was still working for the president. It is understood that Nader met several times with Bannon and at least once with Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner. A source close to MBZ said of Nader: 'The world doesn't hear a lot about George Nader, but he is a key player. 'This guy flies under the radar but he has the strongest ties with Trump and his team. 'He worked with Kushner and Steve Bannon, they are friends. 'But Nader goes to Abu Dhabi more than he goes to his [own] house. MBZ [Mohammed bin Zayed] runs his show. And he sends him on secret missions. Friends: George Nader represented himself as a friend of both Steve Bannon and Jared Kushner 'He went to Abu Dhabi last month. He goes to Abu Dhabi a lot. Nader's testimony to Mueller was reported by the Wall Street Journal to have contradicted Prince's evidence to the House intel committee. In particular, the Journal reported, Nader had said that the Emiratis did not introduce Prince and Dmitriev, and that they were under the impression that Prince was attending as a surrogate for the Trump transition - while the Russian was representing Putin. The Washington Post reported last week that Mueller had gathered evidence that the meeting was an attempt to establish a back channel between the Kremlin and the Trump transition. Nader's role in both the meeting and the wider Trump administration has come under growing scrutiny. Earlier this month emails leaked to the New York Times showed Nader was fed a detailed memo of a private meeting in the Oval Office by a top Trump donor. Elliott Broidy, who was a major financial backer to the president's electoral campaign, sent Nader the memo after meeting Trump in the White House, according to the report. Broidy, whose private security company Circinus has contracts with the UAE worth hundreds of millions of dollars, lobbied Trump to back the UAE's military action in the Gulf during the meeting, according to the memo. Despite humble beginnings, Nader has been close to leaders across the Gulf region for decades, as well as other US presidents. He moved from Lebanon to the US with scant English aged just 15 and five years later while studying at Cleveland State University Nader founded a magazine called Middle East Insight in 1980. Though his magazine was put together in his basement and had a small circulation of a few thousand, Nader had a surprising level of access to leaders in the US and the Middle East, even interviewing Presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush while they were in office. Mueller is investigating whether the Trump campaign colluded with Moscow's interference in the 2016 election. In February the special counsel indicted 13 Russians for operating a campaign of 'information warfare' against the US stretching back to 2014. A billboard showing the huge image of a sniper rifle located next to a childcare centre is causing an uproar among residents in a Queensland suburb. The sign advertising Gunworld has been place on intersection in Rothwell, just north of Brisbane, with a Goodstart Childcare Centre located on the same intersection. The Brisbane Times reports that complaints have been made by members of the community to the Advertising Standards Bureau. A billboard (pictured) showing the huge image of a sniper rifle located next to a childcare centre is causing an uproar among residents in a Queensland suburb The Bureau, however, advised that while advertisements depicting weaponry are not permitted to show violence unless justifiable in the context of the product or service, the billboard only shows the product image. 'The complaints received were about the type of product being advertised, not about the content of the advertisement,' a spokesperson said. 'While members of the community may not want guns advertised, it is not illegal to do so.' Complainant Robyn Collett told the Brisbane Times that her and others complaints revolved around the location of the advertisement particularly being in a suburban area near a childcare centre. 'In this day and age and everything happening around the world with gun violence, I thought it was highlighting that kind of culture,' she said. A representative of Gunworld Australia, Jason Muller, said the billboard was not targeted at children but at adult traffic in the area, saying that he doubted young children would be aware of what is on the billboard. Britain last night backed a decision by the Netherlands and Australia to hold Russia legally responsible for its role in the downing of passenger jet MH17. The move comes almost four years after a missile strike blew the Malaysia Airlines flight out of the sky above Ukraine, killing all 298 on board. A total of 196 of the victims were Dutch and 27 Australian, while ten were Britons. Dutch prosecutor Fred Westerbeke, pictured, provided evidence of the BUK missile used to shoot down MH17 on July 17, 2014 over eastern Ukraine Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said yesterday: State responsibility comes into play when states fail to uphold provisions of international law and thats clearly the case. Australia and the Netherlands quickly gained support from the US, UK and the EU, putting further strain on tense relations between Moscow and the West. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson called on Russia to co-operate fully with the investigation, adding: The Kremlin believes it can act with impunity. The Russian government must answer for its actions in relation to the downing of MH17. This is an egregious example of the Kremlins disregard for innocent life. Russia denies involvement in the downing of the Boeing 777 on July 17, 2014. The plane was flying 33,000ft above war-ravaged eastern Ukraine when it was torn apart by a missile fired from territory controlled by pro-Russian rebels. The Boeing 777 passenger jet was shot down 100 miles east of Donetsk, Ukraine in July 2014 A Dutch-led team of investigators said on Thursday they had strong evidence that the Buk missile system that brought down the Amsterdam-Kuala Lumpur flight came from a Russia-based military unit, the 53rd anti-aircraft missile brigade based in the city of Kursk. It was the most explicit link yet published by the investigators between Moscow and the downing of Flight MH17. Australian foreign minister Julie Bishop called for international support for the legal initiative by her country and the Netherlands. If military weapons can be deployed and then used to bring down civilian aircraft in what was essentially a war zone, then international security is at risk and we call on all countries to inform the Russian Federation that its conduct is unacceptable, she added. Russian President Vladimir Putin last night again denied his countrys involvement. Asked at an economic forum in Saint Petersburg whether a Russian army missile was used, he said: Of course not. Mr Putin added Moscow could not fully trust Dutch findings about the incident because Moscow had not been involved in the investigation. Advertisement Anthony Bourdain's mother said on Friday she had no idea her son was suicidal. The TV chef is pictured in France on Monday in one of the last photographs taken before he hanged himself Anthony Bourdain's grief-stricken mother has told of her shock after the 61-year-old chef's suicide. Speaking to The New York Times on Friday, Gladys Bourdain, 83, said: 'He is absolutely the last person in the world I would have ever dreamed would do something like this.' Ms. Bourdain, who works as a copy editor for the newspaper, said that she had spoken to her son in the days before his death. He was in a 'dark mood', she said, but gave no indication of what he was potentially planning. 'Tony had been in a dark mood these past couple of days,' she said. She is at a loss over why he took his life when he was living so successfully and, seemingly, happily. 'He had everything. Success beyond his wildest dreams. Money beyond his wildest dreams,' she added. French prosecutors said late on Friday that there was no foul play involved in his death. Bourdain was found unresponsive on Friday morning in the bathroom of his room at Le Chambard hotel in Kayserberg by his close friend Eric Ripert. It emerged he had used the belt from his hotel bathrobe to take his own life. On Friday, Ripert paid tribute to him in a statement. He said: 'He was an exceptional human being, so inspiring and generous. 'One of the great storytellers of our time who connected with so many. I wish him peace. My love and prayers are with his family, friends and loved ones.' A toxicology exam is underway to determine if he had any traces of alcohol or other substances in his system at the time. Bourdain had been open about his past struggles with drugs and was a recovered heroin addict. Bourdain shared this picture of him with his brother Christopher and mother Gladys on Instagram last year. Gladys has said she has 'no idea' why her son, who had 'success and money beyond his wildest dreams' took his own life French authorities say they are confident his death was a suicide and that 'there is no element that makes us suspect that someone came into the room at any moment.' Gladys Bourdain, mother of Anthony Bourdain, is seen in a 2009 photo from the Metropolitan Opera Guild Awards There were no signs of violence on his body, Prosecutor Christian de Rocquigny said. On Friday, the TV star's girlfriend Asia Argento said she was 'devastated' by his unexpected death. In a statement posted to Twitter, the actress, 42, remembered the 61-year-old celebrity chef as 'brilliant' and her 'protector'. 'Anthony gave all of himself in everything that he did. His brilliant, fearless spirit touched and inspired so many, and his generosity knew no bounds. He was my love, my rock, my protector. I am beyond devastated. My thoughts are with his family. I would ask that you respect their privacy and mine,' Argento wrote. The statement came hours after Argento posted an image to her Instagram story that seemed to allude to Bourdain. In it, she wore a shirt with an image of Sid Vicious on it, one of Bourdain's idols, and the wording 'f*** everyone'. She then wrote over the image: 'You know who you are'. That picture, which was posted just two hours before the public announcement of Bourdain's death, was later deleted by Argento. Twice-divorced Bourdain met Argento when they shot an episode of Parts Unknown in December of 2016, shortly after he broke up with his second wife, MMA fighter Ottavia Busia - the mother of his only child. But lately, there had been speculation about whether the couple were still together. On Monday, Argento was pictured walking around Rome with journalist Hugo Clement. The two were photographed laughing and hugging. This was also just days after Bourdain bought a moody painting with the ominous title 'The world is falling down, I am learning to live with it'. Where it happened: The chef committed suicide while visiting Kaysersberg, France, for an episode of his CNN show. The hotel where he was staying, Le Chambard, is pictured above on Friday 'He was my love': Asia Argento, Bourdain's girlfriend, issued the above statement on Friday afternoon after news of his death emerged Dark discovery: Argento posted an image to Instagram stories just two hours before Bourdain's death was announced on CNN, showing her wearing a 'f*** everyone' shirt and writing: 'You know who you are' (left). Bourdain's friend Eric Ripert, pictured together on the right in April 2017, found him dead Friday morning Bourdain and Argento's social media accounts, however, paint a picture of a couple still very much in love. Just two weeks ago, they posted the same loved of picture of them together in Firenze, Italy, shooting another Parts Unknown episode together. And in a February interview with People, Bourdain gushed about being 'happy in ways I didn't think I ever would be' thanks to being with 'somebody really strong' - an apparent reference to Argento. But it was also during the same interview in which he said his daughter was his main reason to live. After Ariana was born in 2007, Bourdain said he felt 'some responsibility' to 'at least try to live'. 'There have been times, honestly, in my life that I figured, "Ive had a good run - why not just do this stupid thing, this selfish thing jump off a cliff into water of indeterminate depth,"' he said, referencing a thrill-seeking act he did for his former Travel Channel show, No Reservations. In New York City, mourners left tributes to the star at the Brasserie Les Halles restaurant where he once worked. Restaurants and bars all over the city put signs on the streets mourning his death overnight This photograph shows the inside of the hotel where Bourdain took his life on Friday morning 'In retrospect, I dont know that I would do that today - now that Im a dad or reasonably happy,' he said. Bourdain also said he knew he was 'going to pretty much die in the saddle' because he wouldn't ever retire. 'I gave up on that. Ive tried. I just think Im just too nervous, neurotic, driven,' he said. Argento was one of the many women who came forward to accuse Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault last year. When she told her story to the New Yorker in October, Bourdain praised her on Twitter, writing: 'I am proud and honored to know you. You just did the hardest thing in the world.' He continued to be one of the most outspoken male supporters of the #MeToo movement. A seemingly happy Bourdain poses with crew from Parts Unknown and with French chefs they were working with. The picture was taken on Monday, four days before he killed himself His close friend Eric Ripert, owner of New York City's famed Le Bernardin restaurant, found him dead Friday morning. Paramedics made efforts for revive Bourdin, before he was pronounced dead. 'Anthony was a dear friend,' Ripert later told the New York Times. 'He was an exceptional human being so inspiring and generous. One of the great storytellers of our time who connected with so many. I wish him peace. My love and prayers are with his family, friends and loved ones.' Christian De Rocquigny du Fayel, a prosecutor in the town of Colmar, confirmed Bourdain's death and said local law enforcement is investigating. 'At this stage nothing suggests the involvement of a third party,' the prosecutor said, adding that 'a doctor at the scene' had confirmed Bourdins death by hanging. 'It is with extraordinary sadness we can confirm the death of our friend and colleague, Anthony Bourdain,' CNN said in a statement Friday morning. 'His love of great adventure, new friends, fine food and drink and the remarkable stories of the world made him a unique storyteller. His talents never ceased to amaze us and we will miss him very much. Our thoughts and prayers are with his daughter and family at this incredibly difficult time.' CNN President Jeff Zucker added in a company-wide email: 'Tony was an exceptional talent. Tony will be greatly missed not only for his work but also for the passion with which he did it. Celebrities and average Americans alike mourned Bourdain's loss on Twitter on Friday, including Chrissy Teigen and Gordon Ramsay. Even President Trump commented on his passing, telling reporters Bourdain's death was 'very sad' as he departed the White House for the G-7 summit. His pride and joy: Bourdain is pictured left and right with his only child, 11-year-old daughter Ariane. A late in life father, Bourdain spoke adoringly of Ariane in interviews Last year, Bourdain said in an interview with the New Yorker that he had blacked out in a restaurant in France and would happily return to abusing heroin if he ever had 'a bad chest X-ray'. The interview will be among evidence read by Mr De Rocquigny du Fayel and judicial police as they investigate his sudden demise. Argento and Bourdain were seen soaking up the son in Rome back in September The New Yorker interview describes how Bourdain had improved his health after relying on heroin for many years, but collapsed in France soon after making an episode of 'Parts Unknown' in Vietnam. He was in the southwest seaside resort of Arachon in around 2014 or 2015, and had taken a 'battery of painkillers and anti-inflammatories'. The article by Patrick Radden Keefe reads: 'After impulsively swallowing a weeks supply, Bourdain realized that he had not eaten in thirty-six hours. 'He drove to a cafe in a nearby town, Arcachon, and ordered spaghetti and a bottle of Chianti. He was halfway through the wine when he realized that he was sweating through his clothes. Then he blacked out.' Bourdain survived the incident, but the article recalls how his father, music producer father Pierre Bourdain, died of a stroke in 1987, aged just 57. The article reads: 'Bourdain often thinks about dying; more than once, he told me that, if he got a bad chest X-ray, he would happily renew his acquaintance with heroin. 'Taking meds and booze on an empty stomach was just a foolish mistake, but it left him shaken.' After Bourdain's death on Friday, Keefe recalled his time interviewing Bourdain for the profile, and said he remembers 'dark threads running through our conversations'. 'Bourdain freely acknowledged that part of the reason he continued to work at such a frantic pace might have been a fear about where his mind might go if he ever sat still. 'Any facile notion I might have entertained about writing a light-hearted portrait of a man with a dream job was, upon meeting Tony, quickly overtaken by a sense that he wasnt content - that, in all that globe-trotting, he was chasing something that would forever elude him,' Keefe wrote. Bourdain's contemporary, fellow food personality Andrew Zimmern, also sensed a dark side in Bourdain. He told the New York Times that he last spoke to Bourdain about a month ago and he seemed to be doing well. 'He told me he'd never been happier. He felt that he had finally found his true soul mate in Asia,' Zimmern said. But Zimmern 'had some indication that perhaps there was more going on,' the story says. 'Things on the surface never seemed to add up or make sense,' he told the paper. CELEBRITIES PAY TRIBUTE TO ANTHONY BOURDAIN Advertisement Bourdain was born in New York City in 1956, and was raised in New Jersey by French music executive Pierre Bourdain and his wife Gladys, a copy editor at the New York Times. He credited summers spent in France as a child with his obsession with food. Bourdain attended Vassar College but dropped out after two years. He started working in restaurants on Cape Cod, and decided to hone his craft further by studying at the Culinary Institute of America. After graduating from the Institute in 1978, Bourdain moved to New York City and worked in some of Manhattan's most famous restaurants such as the Supper Club, One Fifth Avenue and Sullivan's - before becoming the executive chef at Brasserie Les Halles. It was during his grueling days as a chef that Bourdain got into drugs, mostly cocaine and heroin. In a 2013 interview with the Guardian, he said he got into using cocaine and heroin because of the normalcy of his suburban upbringing. 'I deeply resented the relative stability at my house. I started taking drugs as soon as I encountered them,' Bourdain said. Famous friends: Bourdain's show regularly attracted big guests such as when then-President Obama appeared on an episode on Vietnam in 2016 Early days: Bourdain is pictured above in 2000, when he was executive chef of Les Halles in New York City. During his years working in New York City kitchens, Bourdain battled addictions to heroin and cocaine Former flames: Bourdain was twice married - first to Nancy Putkoski, together on the left, and then to MMA fighter Ottavia Busia, together on the right in 2015. Bourdain ended things with Busia in 2016. They share one child together Former neighbor Ted Scofield told DailyMail.com on Friday that Bourdain was a 'super nice guy and very encouraging'. 'I wouldn't say we were friends, but I knew him well enough to call him Tony. One Sunday a few years back I ran into him on a Sunday morning dropping off a bag of baby clothes that needed to be laundered at a place across the street from our building. 'When I remarked that a big TV star like him shouldn't have to do that, he reminded me that he worked for a cable station. Then, a while after that I saw him again, this time under different circumstances. He pulled up to our building in a shiny new BMW. With a wink and a smile, he said "new contract baby!"' he recalled. Doorman Jose Hernandez, said that 'Mr. B, as we called him, was a nice, sweet man. He came out every morning and me and the other doormen would ask him questions about his travels. He always took the time to answer and smiled while doing so.' Jose added: 'But he never talked much about his family. He was private in that regard.' Bourdain's profile began to soar in 1999, when the New Yorker published his article 'Don't Eat Before Reading This,' which he developed into the 2000 book, 'Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly'. The memoir also detailed his struggles with drug abuse, which led many to describe him as a 'rockstar chef' and a 'culinary bad boy'. He became a household name by hosting such shows as A Cook's Tour and No Reservations, which blended his love of food and travel. No Reservations was his break-out hit, catapulting him to national fame and earning him two Emmy Awards. The show ran from 2005 to 2012, when he let the Travel Channel for CNN. At CNN, Bourdain traveled to lesser-known places for Parts Unknown, a show that was acclaimed for its cinematography and earned him a Peabody Award. 'He's irreverent, honest, curious, never condescending, never obsequious,' the judges said of Bourdain at the time. 'People open up to him and, in doing so, often reveal more about their hometowns or homelands than a traditional reporter could hope to document.' While accepting the award in 2014, Bourdain explained the ethos of the show. 'We ask very simple questions: What makes you happy? What do you eat? What do you like to cook? And everywhere in the world we go and ask these very simple questions, we tend to get some really astonishing answers,' he said. Season 11 of the show premiered last month, and has featured episodes on West Virginia, Uruguay, Newfoundland, Armenia and Hong Kong. The Hong Kong episode was directed by Argento. A recent purchase and a final meal: Last week, Bourdain bought a painting by artist John Lurie with the ominous title 'The sky is falling, I am learning to live with it' (left). On the right is a meal Bourdain had four days ago in France, his last post to Instagram While Bourdain's TV career seemed to be better than ever, he had suffered one business failure recently. For the past two years, the chef had been working on 'Bourdain Market' - a Singapore-style food hall planned for New York City's Pier 57 development. But in December, he told Eater that the market had been cancelled. 'Launching what is admittedly a very ambitious venture has proven to be challenging at every turn,' he said. 'It seems increasingly clear that in spite of my best efforts, the stars may not align at Pier 57 which is an especially complicated site for which we still do not have a lease.' Bourdain's death comes three days after American designer Kate Spade, who built a fashion empire on her signature handbags, was found dead in her New York apartment of suicide on Tuesday. She also hanged herself. Suicide rates rose in nearly every U.S. state from 1999 to 2016, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday. Nearly 45,000 people committed suicide in 2016, making it one of three leading causes of death in the United States, along with Alzheimer's disease and drug overdoses. CNN has planned a special weekend of programming to remember Bourdain. On Friday night, they will be airing 'Remembering Anthony Bourdain' at 10pm ET, the company said in a statement, without further details. On Saturday at 8pm, they will also air Bourdain's favorite episodes of Parts Unknown, following Sunday by a new episode which will include a special introduction by Anderson Cooper. 'Remember Anthony Bourdain' will follow that episode as well. For confidential help, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or click here For confidential support on suicide matters in the UK, call the Samaritans on 116 123, visit a local Samaritans branch or click here A married teenager accused of plotting a terror attack with her husband told her 'Boo Boo' she would never give evidence against him and that Allah was her legislator, a Sydney jury has heard. Alo-Bridget Namoa and husband Sameh Bayda, both now aged 21, are accused of preparing a terrorist attack and possessing multiple documents connected with terrorism. Both were aged 18 when arrested in early 2016. Alo-Bridget Namoa (right) and husband Sameh Bayda, both now aged 21, are accused of preparing a terrorist attack and possessing multiple documents connected with terrorism On the first day of their trial in the NSW Supreme Court, crown prosecutor Nicholas Robinson said the pair had a large volume of extremist material including Islamic State and al-Qaeda magazines. 'They considered Islam under attack around the world and they had an obligation to respond,' the prosecutor told the jury on Monday. Mr Robinson said a 'goodbye note' Namoa had written to her husband was found on one of the couple's phones, while Namoa authored a neatly handwritten and unsigned note found at Bayda's home. Addressed to 'my Boo Boo', the handwritten note in effect told Bayda she'd never give evidence against him. 'Allah is my legislator, I don't follow their corrupt laws,' the note stated, according to the prosecutor. Mr Robinson said the evidence included thousands of images, numerous graphic videos of executions and other deaths, and social media profiles that showed the pair had adopted alternate names or kunya. Namoa also linked Bayda, whom she married in a 2015 Islamic ceremony, to a group on messaging platform Telegram that gave 'advice to those who cannot come to Sham' - the Syrian area of the Levant. On the first day of their trial in the NSW Supreme Court, crown prosecutor Nicholas Robinson said the pair had a large volume of extremist material including Islamic State and al-Qaeda magazines. Pictured: Bayda (left), Namoa (right) Mr Robinson said, when confronted by police at his home, Bayda told his wife to delete messages between the pair that were contained on her phone. Police later retrieved more than 5,000 deleted messages from Namoa's phone. The prosecutor said Bayda's phone contained several selfies with 'IS salutes' and extremist documents including one that advised the 'perfect place to kill' by stabbing. The jury heard when police raided a home in early 2016, Namoa started trying to dress herself and asked the whereabouts of her skirt and gloves. The prosecutor said Bayda's phone contained several selfies with 'IS salutes' and extremist documents including one that advised the 'perfect place to kill' by stabbing (Pictured: court sketch of Namoa) She then attempted to get her handbag in which police later found a hunting knife and a folded black Shahada flag. Namoa's lawyer, Christopher O'Donnell, told the jury it was important to note the gloves were found in the handbag. 'Context is very important,' Mr O'Donnell said. Bayda's counsel said the intention of the young man was very much in dispute and asked the jury to consider the role the couple's age may have had in their conduct. Bayda and Namoa, dressed in a red hijab, made handwritten notes while seated beside each other in court. A circus instructor accused of brutal rapes against his students has been acquitted after a jury accepted the girls were 'wicked liars'. Dylan Ehrenburg, 44, walked free from the County Court of Victoria this week after a jury found him not guilty of 23 child sex offences. He had endured a week-long trial in which he was accused of shocking brutality against the young girls eight years ago. The jury took just two-and-a-half hours to come to their decision. In releasing Mr Ehrenburg, the jury concluded his supposed victims were deceitful liars who colluded to destroy the performer over petty revenge and money. In a scathing closing address to the jury by Mr Ehrenburg's barrister Sharon Lacy, the girls were accused of completely making up their alleged ordeals. Mr Ehrenburg had been accused of carrying out a sexual affair with his 15 and 17-year old students. Trapeze artist Dylan Ehrenburg (left) was accused of multiple counts of rape against students Trapeze artist Dylan Ehrenburg about to take a bow after a day on the wire Barrister Sharon Lacy branded Dylan Ehrenburg's alleged victims liars during the trial The jury had heard that Mr Ehrenburg met each of the girls while acting as head instructor of Flying Trapeze Australia - a circus school for aspiring young performers. But police claimed the talented performer got a little too close to his impressionable young students and went on to commit acts of depravity too obscene to be fully reported. Ms Lacy attacked one of the girls for muddling up the dates she claimed Mr Ehrenburg had molested her as a teenager in 2010. 'She lied and she got caught out,' she said to the jury. Ms Lacy said Mr Ehrenburg had gone to extreme lengths to ascertain where he was at the time of the 2010 allegations, with three out of five people on a camping trip confirming his version of events. The jury had heard Mr Ehrenburg had allegedly embarked on a threesome with the girls while on a rock climbing trip to the Grampians. The court was told Mr Ehrenburg got the girls wine and insisted they all slept in the same tent. According to police, he allegedly encouraged the girls to have sex together and then got involved himself. The elder girl was allegedly so drunk she later vomited in the tent. Dylan Ehrenburg leaves the County Court of Victoria with his wife Dylan Ehrenburg hides his face as he leaves the County Court of Victoria with his wife Ms Lacy said one of the girls was not even at the trip and the other in fact slept in another tent. 'These two women have told lies,' Ms Lacy told the jury. 'These lies must infect every other charge that you deliberate over, not in a small way.' Mr Ehrenburg took the stand for more than three hours to protest his innocence. Ms Lacy said his evidence was convincing, describing her client as an 'open, honest man'. 'He's just not like that and you know that,' she said. The jury heard one of the alleged victim's was driven by a desire for retribution after being dumped as a volunteer as a child. It was further claimed the girl was trying to get back at Ehrenburg for refusing the teen's advances and may have been after victim's compensation. Crown prosecutor Carlin Grant labelled Mr Ehrenburg's defence as 'nonsense'. 'They're clutching at straws,' he told the jury. Mr Grant described the claims as a 'desperate attempt to discredit the complainants'. He ridiculed Mr Ehrenburg's record of interview to police, in which he claimed the performer appeared 'arrogant and confident in his own capacity to handle (the situation) and toughen it out'. 'In my submission, he failed miserably in this attempt,' he said. 'It was not a very impressive performance. It was not good.' Dylan Ehrenburg is accused of using his position as an instructor to take advantage of girls The court heard Mr Ehrenburg had four days to think about his story before the police interview and he'd had legal advice before it. Mr Grant said Mr Ehrenburg gave different answers under cross examination and had attempted to tailor his account to fit in with the allegations. The prosecutor asked the jury to dismiss any notion a victim had made up the story, and continued with it years later through a preliminary hearing and again at the County Court, in an act of vengeance. He further refuted the woman's friend - also an alleged victim - had backed the rape claims out of sheer loyalty. 'So she's made up a false and wicked allegation ... to support her friend?' Mr Grant said. The jury had a reasonable doubt such was true. This is the disturbing moment a corrections officer in Kentucky punched a handcuffed inmate in the face after he tried to use the restroom in privacy. Terry Whitehead was 19 years old when David Schwartz, 47, brutally attacked him while he was helpless with his hands bound in April. For the first time video footage has become available showing the man who was immediately fired from the Louisville Metro Department of Corrections after incident. Terry Whitehead was 19 years old when officer David Schwartz, 47, attacked him in April Former LMDC officer Devan Edwards, 21, was also fired for failure to report the incident and previously displaying 'unprofessional actions' on social media. In the clip a cop's bodycam records him asking why he was spat at. He wears a pair of blue plastic gloves. He says: 'Whitehead, what are you doing, man? I ain't never had a problem out of you. Why you gotta spit on us? Sergeants come around. You know how this is.' Whitehead responds that he needed to use the lavatory and before they continue to press him about why toilet paper was placed as a streamer in his cell. Then Schwartz is seen hitting the inmate with a closed fist. Before the portion of the video begins pepper spray had been used on the inmate and he claims he was punched after he was ordered to remove the tissue but could not reach it due to using the bathroom. A shirtless Whitehead is seen flinching and cowering away from the large-built officer who goes ahead and hit him anyway. During the upsetting footage the teenage can be heard trying to reason with the pair, telling them they know he's not trying to cause trouble. The inmate was helpless with his hands bound as other officers watched the assualt 'I do not give you problems like that, Schwartz bro,' he says. 'I tried my hardest,' he tells them, as he begins a lecture about being treated correctly. 'This ain't right. On my mama.' After the camera pans to show a third officer in the room, the man with bodycam point of few tells the inmate, 'You need medical.' The young man insists he does not need medical attention but they then agree his eyes need special attention. As Schwarz walks into the corridor, it's clear he's very angry and shows his hot temper by slamming the door against the wall several times as others watch on. Whitehead did need medical attention after all. He was taken to the University of Louisville Hospital on April 25, more than a week later, after he lost consciousness in custody, legal papers state. The teenage can be seen trying to reason with the corrections officers in the video Before the portion of the video begins pepper spray had been used on the inmate and he claims he was punched Whitehead claims Edwards said he could place toilet paper up to conceal areas while he relieved himself, according to a lawsuit filed by attorney Sam Aguiar. He is pursuing legal action for excessive force, battery and assault and wants a trial. The complainant is asking for compensation for medical bills, pain, suffering and punitive damages. Whitehead's mother was heartbroken after viewing the footage Monday. 'If don't nobody believe he deserves justice, I do,' Janelle Stark said according to Wave3.com. 'And I'm going to make sure he gets it. Whitehead was taken to the University of Louisville Hospital on April 25, more than a week later, after he lost consciousness in custody 'I'm hurt, my heart is broken.' She explained that although the men have been fired there's a chance they could simply go to another prison and repeat the behavior. 'My son is helpless and this is somebody that was in a position of power he had a uniform on,' Stark added. 'I want criminal charges placed against them,' Stark said. 'We are fighting, like Terry said, this is the fight of our lives.' Director Mark Bolton said at the time: 'What I saw on that video is disturbing and is not reflective of what we expect from our staff.' Steve Durham, assistant director of Metro Corrections, suggested there isn't a problem with corrections officers in general but individuals. 'This case is not about a defect in policy,' he said. 'This case is about a defect in personality.' A criminal court in Ankara accepted an indictment stressing the FETO terror group's involvement in the December 2016 assassination of Russias ambassador to Turkey Andrey Karlov. The indictment recommended various jail terms - including aggravated life sentences - for 28 suspects on charges such as violating the constitutional order, armed terror group membership, and murder with terrorist intent. The trial is set to begin on January 8, Anadolu Agency reported. While not disclosing the direct involvement of 12 of the suspects, the indictment recommended their trial on charges of armed terrorist group membership. Andrey Karlov was assassinated at an Ankara art gallery opening on December 19, 2016 by Mevlut Mert Altintas, an off-duty police officer linked to FETO. During a standoff, Altintas was shot dead by police. A Tennessee inmate has become the second person to choose to be executed by the electric chair after being on death row for 36 years. David Earl Miller, 61, had a choice between death by lethal injection or the chair. His final words before he was executed were 'It beats being on death row!' before he was pronounced dead at 7:25pm on Thursday at a Nashville maximum-security prison, corrections officials said. Both Miller and inmate Edmund Zagorski before him in November, chose the electric chair over lethal injection, a process proponents said would be painless and humane. Miller's death was only the third time Tennessee had put an inmate to death in the electric chair since 1960. David Earl Miller, 61, was executed by the electric chair on Thursday evening. He had been on death row for 36 years for the 1981 murder of 23-year-old Lee Standifer in Knoxville Standifer was kiled on the night of May 20, 1981, continually thrashing her with the poker and driving the implement so deep into her in some places, officials said Miller would have needed to use a hammer But the inmates argued in court that Tennessee's current midazolam-based method causes a prolonged and torturous death. The state adopted lethal injection as its preferred method of execution almost 20 years ago but both inmates point to the August execution of Billy Ray Irick, which took around 20 minutes and during which he coughed and huffed before turning a dark purple. Their case was thrown out, largely because a judge said they failed to prove a more humane alternative was available. Zagorski was executed November 1 and Governor Bill Haslam declined Thursday to intervene in Miller's execution. Moments before the execution, Miller was asked if he wanted to say anything, but his reply was not understandable. He was asked again and his attorney clarified that he was saying, 'Beats being on death row.' Some inmates have argued death by electric chair rather than lethal injection is 'the lesser of two evils.' In August, an execution by injection took 20 minutes and the inmate turned purple Protesters against the death penalty gather for song and prayer in a field outside Riverbend Maximum Security Institution before the execution of Tennessee death row inmate David Earl Tennessee has executed David Earl Miller, its longest-serving death row inmate, who became the second person to be killed in the state's electric chair in just over a month A protest took place before Miller was put to death in the hope of staying his execution Wearing a cream-colored jumpsuit, Miller was dripping with water from the sponges that were applied to his head. Before the shroud was placed over Miller's head, he faced the media witnesses and looked down. Two jolts of electricity were administered, causing his muscles to clench. Blinds were lowered and he was pronounced dead minutes later. In recent decades, states have moved away from the electric chair, and no state now uses electrocution as its main execution method, said Robert Dunham. Dunham is the executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, which doesn't take a stand on the death penalty but is critical of its application. Lee Standifer was a mentally handicapped woman who had been on a date with Miller the night she was repeatedly beaten, stabbed and dragged into some woods Georgia and Nebraska courts both have ruled the electric chair unconstitutional, and about two decades ago it looked as though the U.S. Supreme Court would weigh in on the issue. It agreed to hear a case out of Florida after a series of botched executions there. But Florida adopted lethal injection, and the case was dropped. Dunham said he wasn't aware of any state other than Tennessee where inmates were choosing electrocution over lethal injection. In Tennessee, inmates whose crimes were committed before 1999 can chose electrocution over lethal injection. Prior to Zagorski's execution, the builder of Tennessee's electric chair had warned that it could malfunction, but Zagorski's and Miller's executions appeared to be carried out without incident. The courts said Miller couldn't challenge the constitutionality of the electric chair because he chose it, even though his attorneys argued the choice was coerced by the threat of something even worse. Miller was convicted of killing 23-year-old Lee Standifer in 1981 in Knoxville. Standifer was a mentally handicapped woman who had been on a date with Miller the night she was repeatedly beaten, stabbed and dragged into some woods. Miller used a fire poker to repeatedly bludgeon and stab Standifer, who was born with mild brain damage and with whom he was on a first date, when he suddenly decided she had to die. Miller spent 36 years on Tennessee's death row, the longest of any inmate. Mel B's former friend and nanny has told DailyMailTV he's worried she'll suffer the same fate as Whitney Houston after learning of the former Spice Girl's drug use in her new book. Rusty Updegraff said he fears for Mel's health and future after she admitted in her new memoir, Brutally Honest, to snorting cocaine to overcome stress. Rusty claims he watched the America's Got Talent judge's life spin out of control as she turned heavily to alcohol and drugs to deal with her divorce and custody battle with ex-husband Stephen Belafonte. The mother of three wrote in her memoir that she has overcome her drug addiction after moving on from her split, but Rusty - who served as her 'manny' - claims she did not seek professional help to become sober. He compared her to Houston, whose death in 2012 came after she hid the extent of her drink and drug dependencies. Mel B's former friend and nanny Rusty Updegraff says he fears for her health and future after reading about the extent of her drug use. Above he is pictured with Mel and her daughters, Madison, seven (far left) by Stephen Belafonte, and 11-year-old Angel (second from right) by Eddie Murphy The America's Got Talent judge recently released her new memoir in which she spoke of her divorce and her alcohol and drug addiction - which she says she has since overcome Tragic: Whitney Houston and her daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown both died from drugs. Now Mel B's former 'manny' says he fears she could suffer the same fate 'The thing is that you don't just give up drugs. The drugs are in charge, that's the thing,' he told DailyMailTV. 'Look at Whitney Houston. She talked about it and she just kept going and then she was sober and she did good. That's all image, that's all show and then she was still doing it. And this is what I'm afraid of. 'This is going to go on and no one is going to say anything. They all want to stay on the money train and that glamour lifestyle with them. 'Go do it yourself, but they want to be there and I'm afraid that's what's going to happen to Melanie if they're all going to be around until something bad happens.' Mel, 43, has spelled out aspects of her troubling life since getting together with Belafonte in her explosive book, set to become a Christmas best seller. Brutally Honest details her failed suicide attempt, drug dependency and PTSD from her divorce. The mother of three wrote that Belafonte physically and emotionally abused her, all but emptied her bank account and claimed ex Eddie Murphy wanted to marry her. Belafonte has strongly denied the claims, breaking his silence in a DailyMailTV interview last week to say that none of them were true. Rusty, 60, says he believes Mel lives in a 'cuckoo' world, needs professional help to be sober, and fears a return to her partying ways. 'What I would say? I would tell Melanie, I would say, "Cut the c**p. Don't try to tell me this. I know. You know that I know and you need to stop." 'You need to get help, you need to do something not just for you, for your kids. That's the most important thing. And you have so much potential. You have so much potential to be even bigger. This is just getting along. This is just going on the ride.' Rusty, 60, who cared for Mel's children for nine months, alleges Mel never sought professional help for her troubles and continues to surround herself with enablers His relationship with the America's Got Talent judge remains strained after he claimed her drug, alcohol and sex addiction was taking a toll on her kids (pictured) in a bombshell court declaration 'She has so much potential to do so much, but she needs to clear her head. She needs to stop partying.' Rusty said that the way she addressed her drug use in the book caused him grave concern. 'She's in her book saying, "I did six lines before I went to BGT. [Britain's Got Talent]"' he said. 'You don't do six lines and go, "Oh, it's like a cup of coffee. I finished it." No, you're going to do the whole bag.' Between a lack of professional help and those who now surround Mel B, he said, he fears the future has a menacing potential. 'It's going to carry on and I worry, because the people around her, they're not saying anything and she's going to end up like Whitney Houston and that really scares me, because it's possible,' he said. 'All it takes is one stupid little mistake one night, or take a pill with it or some interaction and it's over. And then where are they? On to the next celebrity that they can cling on and that's what makes me mad, because I've always told Melanie, "I'm not a fan, I'm a friend." 'When she would get uppity and do things once in awhile, or treat me poorly, I'd always say, "Girl, I ain't a fan. I'm a friend. Don't talk to me like that."' Rusty understands from friends that Mel remains furious with him after he filed a deposition in her custody case describing her out-of-control lifestyle. In September, Rusty told how he was compelled to tell a judge about the star's alcohol and drugs demons after allegedly witnessing her bully her 11-year-old daughter and flaunt a string of strange men in front of her two young children. He claimed the America's Got Talent judge would leave town for ten days at a time and not once call her children while she was away. Rusty says: 'I am not mad at her she was mad at me. I want the best for her' Rusty - who cared for Mel's children for nine months - says witnessing the obvious emotional impact her behavior was having on Angel, 11, Madison, seven, and even Phoenix, 19, was difficult and ultimately spurred him to act. His declaration ultimately prompted Judge Mark Juhas to order she undergo alcohol and drug tests to make sure she was sober around her children. Months later Judge Juhas was satisfied that Mel was living clean and waved more tests and granted joint custody of daughter Madison with her ex Belafonte. But Rusty said that the need for help had not been met: 'In my opinion Mel B needs to be checked and get some help.' He also took aim at the claims in the book saying many were 'simply untrue', echoing Belafonte's description of them. 'From what I have seen in the book she lives in a delusional world. It is just not true a lot of these things. What I have read and see on both sides nothing matches up. I only want the best for her. I am not mad at her, she was mad at me. I want the best for her.' Reacting to chapters on how 'monster' Belafonte destroyed her life, Rusty feels that Mel still loves her ex husband. 'Why don't you just move on. When you have a bad relationship - just move on. Could she still be in love with him subconsciously? 'She is still attracted to him and is still into him or something. Mel has spelled out aspects of her troubling life with ex Stephen Belafonte in her explosive book, Brutally Honest. Belafonte and Rusty have denied her allegations 'Her lifestyle and the way she wants to live is not conducive for a couple. There is nothing wrong with that - you can party like a rock star but sort out your life so you can. 'It is not like kids and partying go together. You need to lead by example.' Rusty said Belafonte, 43, was 'devastated' over Mel's memoir as he claims all her allegations against him are false. 'He is pretty devastated over this, because there are so many false accusations what he says. I have seen stuff to see what he is saying is true. He has never beat her,' he said. 'I have never heard her ever make an accusation. You know when a woman or anybody has been hit, the first thing they say is "you hit me." She never says that....it doesn't make sense.' He added: 'There has never been proof of beatings. People need to look at this. There are no medical records. She will not release the medical records.' According to Rusty, at the start of the year, she came close to losing her $2.7m gig at AGT as she battled with producers. Rusty claims she 'pushed it' with executives over her clothing and importance on the show. At one stage her behavior looked likely to put her job in jeopardy. However, supportive executive producer and AGT judge Simon Cowell has protected her during troubled times, he claims. 'Simon is like a big brother to her. There is something there that he understands her. He looked out for her and saved her. 'But I worry there comes a point where he goes I cannot do this anymore - all this drama in her life is a lot.' 'I felt Simon did care and worried about her.' Rudy Giuliani's personal assistant has dodged two felony charges of insurance fraud thanks to Trump's lawyer, DailyMail.com has learned. Giuliani, 74, took time out of his job as the president's personal attorney to defend Vanessa Ryan, 34, the daughter of his alleged lover, in Broward County, Florida on Monday. Ryan saw her two charges thrown out after state prosecutors agreed to drop the case and she was let off with a slap on the wrist. She escaped a possible maximum sentence of two years in prison, a job-busting convicted felon label, and high fines and penalties. Rudy Giuliani's assistant, Vanessa Ryan (pictured together in court in May) was let off the hook for two felony charges of insurance fraud in Broward County, Florida on Monday Ryan was accused of fraud last year after she called Progressive to renew her insurance from the scene of a car crash but failed to report the accident during the call. She filed a claim a day later Circuit Criminal Court Judge Barbara McCarthy instead ordered Ryan to pay $1,641 in investigative costs. Soon, Ryan will be able to have the case sealed, and records that it ever existed will be wiped completely clean. Ryan, her other lawyer Steve Rossi, or Giuliani returned calls for comment. Former Broward County Circuit Court Judge John Contini said cases involving celebrities like Giuliani do command more attention from the justice system. 'Unfortunately, when you deal with human nature, it defies logic to say that this case was treated like any other,' Contini said. 'As soon as a celebrity walks into the courtroom, everybody's attention, from the judge to the prosecutor, is hyper-focused. There's heightened scrutiny. Suddenly, the outcome will be analyzed. It could be good for the defendant, but it's a double-edged sword.' However, Michael Gottlieb, a prominent Broward County attorney who watched Giuliani at work in a hearing for Ryan, said the case was straight-forward, no matter who the lawyers were. 'I don't believe the system showed any favoritism because it involved the president's lawyer,' Gottlieb said. 'This young lady appeared to qualify for the treatment she received.' Giuliani allegedly had an affair with Vanessa's mother, hospital CEO and doctor Maria Ryan (pictured together) according to filings in Giuliani's ongoing divorce from third wife Judith In a court hearing in Manhattan last month, Judith's lawyer claimed Giuliani recently spent $286,532 on Dr Ryan on things like jewelry and private jets Judith Giuliani (pictured left) filed for divorce in April 2018 Gottlieb referred to the fact Ryan, who works as an assistant to Giuliani, didn't have a criminal record at the time she was arrested in 2017. When he flanked Ryan before the judge in a court appearance in May, Giuliani said in an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com that his appearance was as much as a character witness as her representative. 'I came to show the court she is just a young woman who made a mistake,' Giuliani said. 'She works for me and I'm in the best position to show she should be given a break in this instance.' According to court records, Ryan turned herself in to authorities in December 2017 after she found out a warrant had been issued for her arrest. The warrant was the result of an investigation by Florida state insurance fraud department acting on a complaint from Progressive Insurance. According to the arrest affidavit, Ryan's car insurance lapsed in May 2016 and she failed to renew it. Eight days later, she was involved in a minor car accident near Fort Lauderdale and called Progressive from the scene of the crash to renew her insurance. She didn't tell the company about accident. She filed an accident claim on the day after the renewal, triggering a fraud alert at Progressive and a full investigation. Ryan pleaded not guilty at first. Later in the case, according to the Broward County State Attorney's Office, she tried to change her plea to no contest. Giuliani became Trump's personal attorney earlier this year Judge McCarthy, however, refused to accept it. 'The judge was not satisfied with the plea and request for two months' probation,' said Meredith Bush, a communications specialist who returned calls to McCarthy. 'The judge knew the defendant was up on two felonies and she didn't think that plea was enough.' When the state attorney decided not to prosecute, however, the judge had no choice in dropping the case. Assistant State Attorney John Paul said: 'The defendant's insurance had lapsed for only a week and in re-applying the defendant made no affirmative false statement,' the economic crimes unit prosecutor wrote in his memo closing the case. 'She also accurately reported the details of the crash, including date and approximate time.' Earlier this year, Giuliani filed for permission to represent Ryan since he is not a member of the Florida Bar. 'Vanessa has been working for me as an assistant for several months and she's terrific,' Giuliani told DailyMail.com then. 'I've also known her whole family. Her mother is a doctor I've known for years and her dad was a great Marine. This is the least I can do.' What Giuliani didn't say at the time was that he was allegedly having an affair with Vanessa's mother, hospital CEO and doctor Maria Ryan, according to filings in Giuliani's on-going divorce from third wife Judith. In a court hearing in Manhattan last month, Judith's lawyer claimed Giuliani recently spent $286,532 on Dr Ryan on things like jewelry and private jets. A woman will drive 1500 kilometres to ensure her grandchildren get their Christmas presents because she no longer trusts Australia Post. Mandy Hickman and her husband will make the drive from Queensland to Melbourne to personally deliver the gifts later this month. The strict boycott follows a postal bungle where $650 worth of supplements and vitamins Mrs Hickman ordered from the US was sent to the wrong address. 'I couldn't bear the thought of one of them ringing up saying "Nanna and Pa, you've forgot us at Christmas",' Mrs Hickman told A Current Affair. 'I'm afraid there's some grandchildren and children out there who may miss out if they put their trust and and faith in Australia Post.' 'It's just a cop out - they can take your money when you're posting things, but not much comes back,' Mandy Hickman (pictured) said Mrs Hickman's package was accidentally sent to another house a few streets away in a mix-up by Australia Post. Numerous attempts by her and Australia Post to retrieve the parcel from the wrong address were unsuccessful. Australia Post originally offered Mrs Hickman just $50 in compensation but has since compensated her the full $650. 'It's just a cop out - they can take your money when you're posting things, but not much comes back,' Mrs Hickman said 'You don't get any compensation for what the goods are worth, what they actually cost and that's not fair.' Mrs Hickman is just one of many Australians fed up with what they say is an unreliable postal service. Another angry customer, known only as Kay, claimed to A Current Affair that despite being home, Australia Post threw her parcels over her fence. She says they shoved oversized and fragile packages into her letterbox and left others that required signatures. These Christmas presents will be driven 1500 kilometres from Queensland to Melbourne to ensure they don't get lost in the post When she confronted a delivery driver, she was told the parcel didn't need a signature and that driver's delivery point was the letterbox. It comes after it was revealed on Thursday that Christmas presents are sitting undelivered in a warehouse in Wollongong, south of Sydney after Australia Post replaced the delivery contractor for the region. It has sparked outrage from hundreds of angry customers, who have complained they have multiple packages missing and that Australia Post are failing to tell them where they are. Just three weeks out from Christmas, the government-owned postal corporation have said they're unsure when deliveries will be back on track. Australia Post is expected to deliver more than three million parcels on its busiest day in the lead up to Christmas. When another fed up customer recently confronted a delivery driver (pictured) caught of stuffing fragile packages in the letterbox, she claims she was told the parcel didn't need a signature The service said they have apologised to Mrs Hickman and Kay and added that they are working with customers to resolve their complaints. 'It is always disappointing in any instance when we fail to deliver for a customer. This year our hardworking posties and delivery drivers will deliver more than three billion parcels and letters effectively and on time, including millions of items in time for Christmas,' a spokesman told Daily Mail Australia. 'Weve spoken to both customers to express our disappointment in the way their complaints were handled and apologised. Were working with them on prompt resolutions, with full compensation being organised for the lost international parcel.' Customers with any inquiries about their mail delivery to contact Australia Post on 13 POST or online. Retail expert Gary Mortimer urged consumers to order early and consider getting insurance to avoid disappointment this Christmas. A rogue snake has slithered into a woman's bed and bit her on the arm in the middle of the night as animal experts warn the reptiles are increasingly invading houses to escape the summer heat. Janice Terrill, from the central Queensland town of Grasstree Beach, south of Mackay, felt a 'prick' on her arm about 11.20pm. 'I thought it was odd, so I reached to my bedside table to turn the light on and I felt what I was sure was a snake bite my thumb,' she told Brisbane Times. 'I let out this primal scream and my husband woke up terrified.' The spotted python (pictured) that bit Queensland woman, Janice Terrill, after she rolled onto it in her bed Mrs Terrill and her husband bounded out of bed to track down their unwanted guest. 'My husband got a torch and looked under the bed and there was the snake,' she said. The couple called triple zero and paramedics took Mrs Terrill to hospital for a 12-hour stay for observation and routine blood tests. The reptile was later discovered, fortunately, to be a non-venomous spotted python, about a metre long, and known in the local area as a pygmy python. Two of the snake bites (pictured) Janice Terrell received after rolling on top of the snake in her Grasstree Beach home Snake catcher Heather Lampe, from Sarina Snake Removal, extracted the snake from the house and released it in nearby bush. Ms Lampe said hot weather was causing reptiles to seek shelter in cooler spots and homes were prime real estate. 'We had extreme temperatures last week, so the snake was basically looking for somewhere to cool down ... because they can't regulate their body temperature like humans can,' she said. Snake catcher Stuart McKenzie told Daily Mail Australia just two days ago that the hot weather would bring out the snakes. 'Snakes will try to find shelter if it gets too hot and if they're entering a house then they're looking for shelter or food,' he said. Mr McKenzie warned that now the breeding season was over, Australians can expect a large influx of smaller snakes attempting to shelter in their homes. As well as looking for a respite from the heat, snakes are on the look-out for food. 'Home owners need to watch their garages because they are nice sheltered areas with rats and mice running around,' Mr McKenzie said. Snake catchers are warning people to be on the lookout as visits from the reptiles are on the increase due to the hot weather 'If they're entering a house, they are usually looking for shelter or food usually rats and geckos.' To keep snakes out, he recommended keeping garages neat and tidy, making sure every door has a screen, and keeping windows and doors closed. Mr McKenzie said if you see a snake, leave it alone and walk away. 'Snakes aren't aggressive, they are defensive,' he said. 'The only reason a snake will get angry at you is if they feel threatened.' This is the jet-setting landlord accused of hiding secret cameras to film tenants while they showered. James Maxwell, 49, allegedly installed tiny cameras in the bedrooms and bathrooms of two apartments he managed in Pyrmont, in Sydney. Police arrested Maxwell after being tipped off by a resident who decided to check a clock in his bathroom after writing an article about surveillance devices. On searching Maxwell's phone, officers found an app which allowed him to access the explicit recordings anywhere in the world. James Maxwell, 49, allegedly installed tiny cameras in the bedrooms and bathrooms of two apartments he managed in Pyrmont, in Sydney A former friend said Maxwell lived a jet-set lifestyle and continually posted pictures of exotic locations to social media. Maxwell, who was born in Barbados, and bizarrely referred to himself as 'Tiger', has been living in Australia for a decade. Detectives charged Maxwell with 11 counts of intentionally recording intimate images without consent, news.com.au reported. Police will allege that Maxwell also had had more than 50 saved videos depicting indecent images of the tenants. Maxwell was granted bail and ordered to appear in court on December 19. Students in Australia are falling so far behind in education compared to higher performing nations that it is the equivalent of them missing an entire year of school. Australia's global rankings dropped from 4th to 16th in literacy, 7th to 25th in math and 4th to 14th in science, a national literacy report found. Asian countries dominated the education leader board with Singapore placing first in all three categories, and Hong Kong and Japan a close second. The results were published in Through Growth to Achievement: Report of the Review to Achieve Educational Excellence in Australian Schools. 'As a nation, we need to act now to raise our aspirations and make a renewed effort to improve school education outcomes', the report said. Literacy and numeracy skills among Australian students are declining so rapidly, the learning loss is equivalent to spending one year less at school compared to higher ranking countries Dr Bella d'Abrera, the director of Foundations of Western Civilisation Program at the Institute of Public Affairs said 'other countries are focusing on the fundamentals of literacy and numeracy'. 'Education in Australia has become about creating a social identity, while education in other countries is about teaching children fundamental skills such as learning how to read, write and add up,' she said. 'Australian children are being deprived of a proper education because of ideology. We need to go back to what education is all about.' But others argue this Asian academic supremacy may come as a cost. Some kids in primary schools have less time to do outdoor activities than prisoners and about 50 percent of secondary school children even show signs of depression, a Business Times article critiquing Asia's 'pressure cooker' school system said. In contrast, other academics have argued that while they might rank poorly in the Three Rs Aussie kids are still achieving the key goals of our education system through social activism Academic pressure often starts as early as year nine when students begin to worry about standardised tests This pressure was also often exasperated by parents who hired tutors and pushed their children to excel academically, said the article. But it's not all bad news for Aussie kids. While the report's statistics might disappoint academics hoping for better performances, others argue not all hope is lost for future generations. Charles Sturt University lecturers Kellie Bousfield and Jacquie Tinkler said the social activism may help students meet many of the key goals of our current education system, according to an article published on The Conversation. Pointing to students involved in recent climate change protests, the lecturers claim that 'rather than proof of a flawed education system, politically active and engaged students are evidence many aspects of our education system are working well'. It is important to give 'recognition that education is more than a classroom test and more than measurable results, ' said the article. 'This is not to suggest the 3Rs (reading, writing and arithmetic) are not important in education - they are. Rather, its an understanding that education and learning is also, and importantly, social, and sometimes immeasurable in nature and practice.' A billboard encouraging people to buy guns as Christmas presents has sparked outrage in Queensland. The offending billboard, in Logan, south of Brisbane, displays a wrapped firearm with the caption: 'What's under your tree this year?'. Following uproar from residents, Queensland's Police Commissioner Ian Stewart has joined calls for the advert to be taken down. Commissioner Stewart told ABC Radio Brisbane that the billboard sends the wrong message to the local community. A billboard encouraging people to buy guns as Christmas presents has sparked outrage in Queensland 'People who use firearms for their sport or work know where to go to purchase guns and I don't think we need that type of advertising,' Commissioner Stewart said. 'I respect those who own guns and use guns for their hobby or sport, I understand that, but there is a balance and I think we have the balance pretty right.' Commissioner Stewart added that Australia was lucky to have successful gun laws which were 'the envy of countries around the world'. The billboard has sparked a lively discussion online, with some locals arguing that a business is entitled to advertise their products. 'The commissioner should be more worried about the illegal guns out in the community, not a legal advertising billboard,' one user said. Another user added: 'Maybe a car advertisement would be better - more Australians are killed on our roads each year than by firearm related incidents.' The billboard sits in Logan, south of Brisbane, displaying a firearm wrapped up as a Christmas present with the question: 'What's under your tree this year?' Others were outraged by the idea, with one woman writing: 'I thought guns were banned in 1996 this is NOT America.' Firearm Owners United penned a response to Commissioner Stewart, saying it was a non-issue as the business is selling legal products. 'How is advertising a legal product to customers abhorrent? What about people who dont know where to purchase firearms and are just getting into the sport?' the response said. Daily Mail Australia has contacted Gunworld Australia for comment. A man and woman have admitted in court that they drove from Arizona to Wyoming with two children in the trunk of their car and two dogs in the back seat. Sixty-three-year-old Michael J. Fee and 31-year-old Amber L. Freudenstein each pleaded guilty Thursday at Natrona County Circuit Court to two misdemeanor counts of child endangerment. The Casper Star-Tribune reports Circuit Judge Steven Brown sentenced each to 30 days in jail. Arizona defendants Michael J. Fee, 63 from Peoria (left) and 31-year-old Amber L. Freudenstein from Tempe pleaded guilty Thursday to two misdemeanor counts of child endangerment Fee is from Peoria, Arizona, and Freudenstein is from Tempe, Arizona. Sheriff's officials say a third party told them the children reported riding in the trunk for much of the 900-mile drive while two German shepherds sat in the back seat. The Tribute reported that Freudenstein told a sheriffs investigator spoke the children were in the trunk so the dogs could ride in the back seat. A member of the public alerted authorities after spotting two German Shepherds in the back seat with a child on the floor of the car (file image) One of the children is said to have got out of the trunk in Utah and then rode on the front passenger floorboards. The other is said to have remained in the trunk the rest of the way to Casper in central Wyoming. Freudenstein was planning to drive the return journey to Arizona with three different children and the two dogs, according to court documents. Neither Fee nor Freudenstein mentioned the dogs in court today, the Tribute reported. Fee said in court there was not enough room for everyone so the children were relegated to the trunk. 'I tried to make things as safe as I could for them,' he is quoted in the Tribute as saying. 'It wasn't anything malicious.' Court documents show the children are about 6 and 10 years old. A man convicted of killing a Hells Angels bikie is set to be released from a Thai prison, despite being sentenced to death. Sydney kickboxer Antonio Bagnato, 28, was convicted of murdering Hells Angels boss Wayne Schneider in 2015 and was sentenced to death in a Thai court in February 2017. Schneider was kidnapped by a group of men hired by Bagnato and bludgeoned to death near the seedy town of Pattaya, south of Bangkok, on November 30, 2015. Sydney kickboxer Antonio Bagnato convicted of killing a Hells Angel bikie is set to be released from a Thai prison despite being sentenced to death Bagnato (left), 28, was convicted of murdering Hells Angels boss Wayne Schneider (right) in 2015 and was sentenced to death in a Thai court in February 2017 A prison official told the ABC Bagnato would be released from Bangkwang Prison on Friday. 'Yes, there is (a) court order to release him,' said the staff member, who did not provide a name. Thai police planned to re-arrest Bagnato on separate charges, according to the prison official. 'He has a pending charge and will not walk out police will come to take him from prison to police station,' he said. Schneider's naked body, covered in bruises and lacerations, was found in buried by in a shallow grave the side of a road the day after he was beaten to death. The brutal death of the boss has been linked to a wider network of criminal activity in Thailand. Thai police planned to re-arrest Bagnato (pictured) n separate charges, according to a prison official Perth man Luke Cook, 34, was convicted of helping Bagnato, 28, escape to Cambodia in 2015. Last month Cook and his wife Kanyarat Wechapitak, 40, were sentenced to death in Thailand. The couple were arrested at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi airport in December 2017 and charged with attempting to to smuggle half a tonne of crystal methamphetamine into Thailand and on to Australia in 2015. Cook is accused of taking a yacht into international waters off the Thailand coast to collect drugs from a Chinese trawler. After spotting a patrol boat, he reportedly threw a large amount of the drug overboard, according to local media. Later, police reportedly found 50 kilograms of the drug - in four yellow sacks marked with red Chinese characters - washed ashore in Rayong in June 2015. Thai authorities allege Cook is a member of notorious Hells Angels bikie gang and was paid $US10 million by Schneider to receive and store the drugs before smuggling them to Australia. The fat cat boss of Motability finally quit last night after a damning official inquiry into the firm which supplies taxpayer-funded cars for the disabled. Mike Betts decision came after the investigation revealed his company had been overcharging customers while hoarding billions of pounds. Motability Operations confirmed he would be standing down after 16 years as chief executive. The fat cat boss of Motability finally quit last night. Mike Betts (left) decision came after the investigation revealed his company had been overcharging customers But there was anger when it emerged Mr Betts who also faced claims he was given a secret 2million bonus on top of his 1.7million pay package could cling to his post for another 17 months while a successor is found. Labour MP John Mann said: If this man had a shred of decency, he would walk away in shame now. Clinging on another few months is a slap in the face for disabled people whose benefits line his pocket. But there was anger when it emerged Mr Betts (pictured with his wife) could cling to his post for another 17 months Yesterdays National Audit Office report follows a long-running Mail investigation into a string of scandals at Motability, which has led senior politicians from all parties to call for his head. The report, which is formally published today, found that: Disabled customers had been overcharged by 390million due to blunders by managers; The firm had racked up a whopping 1.05billion in unplanned profits despite being a publicly-funded service for the needy; It had hushed up a 2million bonus to its chief executive Mr Betts on top of his 1.7million pay package; It had amassed a spare 2.62billion, with the enormous reserves having built up because an average of about 200million goes unspent every year. Motability was set up in 1977 to help the disabled get around by leasing a car, scooter or powered wheelchair in return for part of their disability allowance. The Motability shambles laid bare The Daily Mails investigation into Motability triggered an inquiry by the National Audit Office, whose forensic accountants have spent six months going through the books. Here are their key findings: 1BILLION UNPLANNED PROFITS: Motability amassed 1.05billion since 2008. This mountain of spare money all from the public purse could pay for 48,000 nurses or 55,000 police officers a year. OVERCHARGING DISABLED PEOPLE: The NAO said 390million of its unplanned profits came from charging customers too much for their cars. SECRET MILLIONS FOR BANKS: High street banks are creaming off millions a year in charges. Motability Operations is owned by Lloyds, Barclays, HSBC and RBS. They are not allowed to take dividends but the reports reveal fixed-interest payments on loans of 696,500, management fees of 750,000 and a previously undisclosed 17million in transaction fees on average each year. NEARLY 3BILLION IN RESERVES: Despite being a charity scheme for the disabled, Motability has amassed a spare 2.62billion because an average of about 200million goes unspent every year. CHARITY CANT COPE WITH SO MUCH CASH: The Motability charity is struggling to cope with a 500million donation from Motability Operations. TIME TO REVIEW 888MILLION TAX BREAK: Ministers should review generous tax breaks, the report recommends. The VAT break was introduced to help Motability to help disabled people but gives Motability such a competitive advantage that its profits have soared. SECRET BONUS: A scheme for Mike Betts to pocket a 2million bonus was exposed by the watchdog. The NAO added it may be of interest to MPs who grilled Mr Betts about his pay back in March. FAT CAT DIRECTORS: Those who run Motability Operations earn vast sums dwarfing the salaries of top charity bosses who are on an average of 255,000. CHARITY CHIEFS LOST CONTROL OF EXECUTIVE PAY: The charity responsible for oversight of the Motability scheme lost control of the money, the Audit Office report suggests. Advertisement Around 2billion a year is paid directly from the Department for Work and Pensions to Motability Operations Ltd, the public limited company which runs the charity. In February the Mail exposed how the firm was amassing the enormous reserves in unspent money from taxpayers while paying its chief 1.7million. That triggered the NAO probe. Investigators said Motability bosses had miscalculated how much they could get from selling customers cars at the end of their lease, resulting in customers being charged 390million more than was required. They concluded Motability was a taxpayer-funded monopoly enjoying 888million a year in tax breaks and run by executives paid more than bosses of some of the UKs top firms. Five executive directors received 15.3million in total. After the Mail exposed Motabilitys riches, the firm scrambled to offload spare cash by announcing a 500million donation to the Motability charity. But farcically, the NAO report suggested that because the sum was so enormous, the charity which awards grants to help disabled drivers did not know what to do with it all. The report recommended that ministers should review the tax breaks given to Motability. In a statement yesterday, Motability said Mr Betts, 56, was quitting the business in the wake of the report, but could stay in post until May 2020 to lend his experience and skills to whoever takes over. A spokesman said he would continue to get his existing bonuses but would not get a golden goodbye payment. MPs condemned the obscene boardroom pay at Motability and demanded the firm pay back its pile of spare money. Mr Mann said: Motability continues to display breathtaking arrogance. It should now be writing a cheque to the Treasury for billions of pounds of public money it is sitting on. Frank Field, chairman of the work and pensions committee, branded Mr Bettss pay an obscene amount. He added: It is beyond appalling that could have been used to improve the lives of disabled people will be lining his pockets. Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd Rudd praised the Mails investigation and vowed to personally confront Lord Sterling, the chairman of the Motability charity which oversees the company. In a statement, Lord Sterling said: We have accepted all of the NAOs recommendations but have told them there are areas still open to further debate. Neil Johnson, chairman of Motability Operations, said: We will continue to work with the charity Motability to invest to improve our service and value for money. Michael Douglas is addressing the sexual harassment allegations made against him earlier this year. 'I was extremely, extremely disappointed in The Hollywood Reporter which has been having a crusade in this area,' in an interview on the TBD with Tina Brown podcast, airing on December 11. Douglas was accused of masturbating in front of author and journalist Susan Braudy in 1989, when she worked as Douglas's assistant. 'Now, the way this generally works is, somebody makes a charge and then they if they are responsible reach out as they did to every person I worked with over 25 years and they did, because everybody got back to me and there was nobody that ever complemented that accusation,' the actor said during the podcast. 'So I thought it was really a misuse of power. Very disappointed.' Michael Douglas opened up about sexual harassment allegations against him. The 74-year-old said he was 'extremely disappointed' in the 'false' reporting Douglas says he's now moving on from the situation, saying it's 'all in the past', but adding 'it's the way it goes.' Douglas was accused of masturbating in front of author and journalist Susan Braudy in 1989, when she worked as Douglas's assistant At the time Braudy first went public in the Hollywood Reporter, Douglas told the publication: 'I'd confess to anything I thought I was responsible for. 'And it was most certainly not masturbating in front of this woman. This reeks. I would have respected if she had reached out to me any time over these years, to share her pain or concerns, and I would have been the first one to respond. But this, going directly to the newspapers or whatever you want to call them, it just reeks of something else.' Braudy claimed that during a one-on-one script meeting at Douglas' New York apartment to discuss a character similar to ET, Braudy said the actor slid off the chair he was sitting in onto the floor, unzipped his pants and began masturbating. In January, Michael decided to come forward himself with the allegations, after being approached by the Hollywood Reporter. The Wall Street star revealed he was approached about the allegations just before Christmas - and on the same day his son Dylan, 18, was accepted to college. He has expressed how the allegations have impacted family - wife Catherine Zeta-Jones and their two teenage children. Catherine Zeta-Jones explained how she had confronted Michael about the allegations while their children Dylan, 18, and Carys, 15, (above with their parents in 2015) were in the room His wife has stood by his side, and says she believes her husbands innocence Speaking about the allegations, Catherine told the Sunday Times Magazine last month: 'My children and I were profoundly devastated by those allegations. And I was torn about where my absolute morals lie. 'This woman came out of nowhere and accused my husband. I had a very big conversation with him, with the kids in the room, and said, 'Do you understand if more comes out' Explaining how Michael had reassured the family about the claims, she said: 'By telling us that there is no story here and that time will tell. And, of course, it did. There was nothing to back it up at all. For any accusation that comes out that isn't backed up, that knocks the movement back 20 years.' A grandfather has been jailed for six months after drunkenly bashing a man who called his great niece attractive. Robert Pettigrew, 70, was hauled before Melbourne Magistrates Court on Thursday over the brawl which took place after a boozy AFL game. The retired butcher was out drinking with friends at a Medallion Club bar at Marvel Stadium formerly known as Etihad Stadium, Melbourne, on March 25. AFL teams Collingwood Magpies had just defeated the Western Bulldogs with a 35-point win, The Age reported. Scroll down for video Robert Pettigrew, 70 (pictured) has been jailed after drunkenly bashing a man who said his great niece looked 'all right' following an AFL match on March 25 A wild brawl broke out at Marvel Stadium formerly named Etihad Stadium, following an AFL match between Collingwood Magpies and Western Bulldogs on March 25 (Pettigrew left) Soon after the final siren sounded, the victim walked past a group of three men and Pettigrew's 30-year-old great niece. He said, 'Hey, she's all right.' The court heard the comment sparked an argument between the men, and security ushered the victim away from the group. Moments later Pettigrew, and another man, approached the victim and assaulted him. The court heard how the two men knocked the victim to the ground and continued to punch and kick him. Pettigrew stood over the victim and laid a punch into the back of his head. The victim did not fight back, the court heard. He was left with lacerations to the head and bruised and swollen parts of the face. The court heard Pettigrew had a long list of prior assaults dating back to the 1980s and 1990s. On one occasion, he was forced to serve six months' jail time for intentionally causing serious injury. Pettigrew's Lawyer Michael Kuzilny said his client was a changed man, that he had shaken off his tough upbringing and criminal past and started successful butchers in South Melbourne, Preston and Footscray. He also regularly donated to charity and volunteered at Salvation Army. Mr Kuzilny said the Bob Pettigrew Meats owner was 'one of the hardest working butchers in Victoria.' He noted his client was remorseful over his alcohol-fueled actions on the night. He argued time in jail would not be beneficial to Pettigrew and suggested a fine would be an adequate sentence. Michael Kuzilny said the Bob Pettigrew Meats owner was 'one of the hardest working butchers in Victoria' and said his client had turned his life around Magistrate Timothy Hoare dismissed the proposal. 'This was gratuitous violence on a licensed premises and the community is sick of it,' he said. 'It can lead to people being maimed ... it is very dangerous behaviour that you have engaged in.' While he acknowledged the defendant had made a new life for himself, he said he could not treat the incident lightly. Pettigrew pleaded guilty to one charge of intentionally causing injury and was given a six-month jail term. Mr Kuzilny lodged a last minute appeal to prevent his client serving the night in jail. Pettigrew was granted bail and urged to steer clear of alcohol until his appeal is heard. The appeal is set at the County Court on March 6. Less than ten children remain on Nauru, which will decrease further before the end of the year, according to Prime Minister Scott Morrison. It comes after a push to urgently transfer sick asylum seekers on Manus Island and Nauru to Australia was put off until next year during federal parliament's final sitting day for the year on Thursday. Parliament will not resume until February next year. Mr Morrison denied it was to save the federal government from a humiliating parliamentary defeat - the first of its kind since 1929. Prime Morrison Scott Morrison (pictured) accused Labor and the Greens of playing political games when he appeared on Channel Nine's Today Show on Friday 'Labor and a lot of people down here (in Canberra) were saying that,' the prime minister told Channel Nine's Today Show on Friday. 'The government confidently maintained its position in the House of Representatives, as we did for the last three months. All the Doomsday scenarios put about by the Labor Party to undermine confidence, they were all proven to be false and Labor failed on every occasion. The government prevailed and we have got on with the job of running a strong economy and keeping Australia safe. That's what we will do next year.' Mr Morrison said there would be 'about six' children left on Nauru in coming weeks and that people have been removed from detention when they needed medical attention. He denied claims sick children remain on Nauru and Manus Island. 'That is simply not true. All the children that have had medical-related issues for transfers have been transferred,' he said. 'A hundred children have come off Nauru in the last three months. When it comes to the others on Manus or Nauru, we have doctors and medical staff in place. Where these issues are raised, transfers take place. In some places people are transferred to Taiwan or Port Moresby for medical treatment and they receive it.' On Thursday, Mr Morrison vowed to use any tactic necessary to stop the legislation to allow critically ill refugees to be flown to Australia for medical treatment on the advice of two doctors. Mr Morrison says only six children will still be on Nauru by the end of the year He defended his tactics on Friday while accusing Labor and the Greens of playing political games. He went as far as describing federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten as a threat to national security. 'I was very determined that I wasn't going to let the Labor undermine our border protection laws and play politics with national security,' Mr Morrison told the Today Show. You don't try and play politics with these things. That's what they were doing yesterday. I'm pleased we were able to stare them down and ensure the passage of the bill was achieved.' 'All the children that have had medical-related issues for transfers have been transferred,' Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Friday Manager of Opposition Business Tony Burke said the bill did nothing to compromise national security and accused Mr Morrison of playing political games. 'We're not afraid of making sure that people in Australia's care are in a situation where the government has to listen to medical advice,' he told ABC Radio on Friday. Independent Sydney MP Kerryn Phelps - who has been driving the new laws - is determined for them to be dealt with when parliament resumes next year. 'If we have to wait until February at least there is, I believe, a light at the end of the tunnel,' Dr Phelps told Sky News on Thursday. Newly elected Wentworth MP Kerryn Phelps (pictured) will have to wait until parliament resumes next year for the new laws she's been driving to be dealt with Dr Phelps said the coalition had been spreading misinformation about her bill. Australia's border protection policies will not be affected by the changes, because a minister will still able to stop the temporary transfers on national security or character grounds, she said. A young mother who gouged her eyes out while high on meth has claimed she 'won't give up' as she learns to rebuild her life again. Kaylee Muthart, 20, has stayed off the drug ever since her drug-induced rage that scarred her for life on February 6 last year. On that fateful day she blinded herself outside her home in Anderson, South Carolina during a psychotic episode sparked by the powerful drug. But she has somehow managed to stay positive and is making the best of her new circumstances. She told People: 'The drugs took something from me, and when you get burned by the fire you learn not to go back. Kaylee Muthart, 20, was sent home in March and has stayed off meth ever since the February 6 incident in Anderson, South Carolina. She is seen walking around Times Square on a New York vacation with sunglasses and a cane The woman gouged out her eyes in front of a church during a meth-induced psychotic break last year. She has been clean ever since. She is pictured before the attack 'Im adventurous and I cant just give up. Go big or go home'. Muthart had been awake for almost 48 hours, snorting and injecting a concoction of tainted methamphetamine. ' 'The drugs take your fears and beliefs and amplify them I thought I had to take my eyes out to survive and save the world'. 'Im adventurous and I cant just give up. Go big or go home'. Muthart underwent emergency surgery to clean out her orbital sockets and spent weeks in Greenville Memorial Hospital before going to a psychiatric facility. She recently underwent mobility and orientation training to help readjust to life but was honest that all the positive thinking does yield to dark moments of sadness and frustration. Muthart had been awake for almost 48 hours, snorting and injecting a concoction of tainted methamphetamine. 'The drugs take your fears and beliefs and amplify them. I thought I had to take my eyes out to survive and save the world'. Mutharts mother, Katy Tompkins, said: 'She has been given a second chance. Mentally and physically Kaylee has come so far. We take one day at a time, but each of her days gets better. 'Her thoughts are very goal-oriented, and now she completely understands her path. Part of that path is to help people with her story'. 'I actually feel like a person. I feel like myself, and I don't feel like I'm chasing something,' she said. She is pictured here after the attac She now uses audio descriptors to watch shows on Netflix. Muthart has also spent time practicing the piano and guitar, learning how to play songs 'Clocks' and 'The Scientist' from Coldplay. But she does sleep most of the day away, waking in the late afternoon. 'My dreams are colorful, and it's like being able to see again,' she said. 'They can be strange, and switch scenes really quickly. 'But it's comforting because it's colorful. I like sleeping a lot because it's like I can see.' Muthart shared that most have been sympathetic when encountering her and have shared their own stories with battling drug addiction with the woman. Back at home now with her family, Muthart is 'relearning everything, really,' she added. 'I try to do everything on my own. If I get hurt in the process its just learning'. Her daily routine is mostly 'homebody-type things at the moment', she said. She chats with her mom and, using a red-tipped cane, attends church most Sundays. Muthart has spent time practicing the piano and guitar, learning how to play songs 'Clocks' and 'The Scientist' from Coldplay Her family launched a GoFundMe to help offset the financial burden of some of the cost, raking in more than $50k of the $75k goal Muthart has a daughter who she gave birth to when she was 18. The child lives with a family friend, but she said they talk daily and visit when Muthart can get a ride to the childs home. 'Shes my sunshine'. Tompkins praised her daughter and told how she was big-hearted, responsible and determined. 'When she sets her mind to something, she does it. This is a girl who bought her own car with money she earned from working before she even got her license'. Muthart underwent a three-week rehabilitation course with the South Carolina Commission of the Blind in hopes of improving her orientation and mobility. She also had the first of surgeries in the summer that will work to prepare her orbital cavities to receive prosthetic eyes. Muthart will undergo a three-week rehabilitation course with the South Carolina Commission of the Blind in hopes of improving her orientation and mobility Muthart said that she has learned to embrace her blindness. 'If you dont, you can never be happy. 'Accept it, analyze it and let yourself feel what you feel. I cry. Not a lot, but I bottle it up and then let it out'. Her family launched a GoFundMe to help offset the financial burden of some of the cost, raking in more than $50k of the $75k goal. She hopes to eventually go to college, however, and study marine biology. 'The part I wouldve enjoyed most about that watching orcas and dolphins slice through the water is gone now', she added. While families across Sydney have been saving up for a mortgage, one family has poured everything they have into the city's biggest Christmas celebration. The Evans family loves Christmas so much they have spent around $20 million all up transforming Rosehill Racecourse into Santa's wonderland. John and Jade Evans have spent millions of dollars on restoring a double decker carousel, state of the art toboggans and $300,000 on Christmas lights. They even imported an ice rink from Italy and flew a team of Italians out so they could set it up. The Evans family loves Christmas so much they have spent around $20 million all up transforming Rosehill Racecourse into Santa's wonderland The Santa Spectacular will also be donating up to 5,000 gifts left under the 15 metre charity tree (pictured) to the Westmead and Randwick children's hospital The couple have long been obsessed with Christmas, visiting famous overseas festivals in London and Miami to draw inspiration. 'We live and breathe Christmas year-round, so it's exciting to see other people embracing our event and getting into the Christmas spirit,' Mrs Evans said. The foreign festivals inspired the couple to put everything on the line and create the biggest Christmas festival Australia has ever seen. 'Even in the years prior to founding the Sydney Santa Spectacular, my husband Josh and I were obsessed with Christmas. We have six young kids, so we know how expensive it can be to take a big family to a special event,' Mrs Evans added. Christmas spirit is alive in the Evans family 365 days a year as they work hard on hand-making thousands of wreaths and hundreds of decorations for the event. Mr and Mrs Evans have six children, Austin, 13, Ava, 12, twins Faith and Willow, six, and Sparrow, one, and new baby River, born in November, who all have a hand in the event. Their $20million investment includes painstakingly restoring the country's only double decker carousel by hand (pictured) Doing it all themselves without any corporate sponsorship, the operation is entirely family run by founders Josh and Jade Evans This year, Faith will be running a lemonade stall at the event, and the other children make up the research team, suggesting new activities to their parents. The children work a few hours each day in stalls with their parents, grandparents and other staff to earn pocket money. Not only do the Evans hold an event for thousands of Sydneysiders to enjoy, they will also be spreading the Christmas cheer by donating thousands of gifts to drought-affected families in Narromine. The Santa Spectacular will be donating up to 5,000 gifts left under the 15 metre charity tree to the Westmead and Randwick children's hospital for Christmas. 'Last year was our biggest year of gift giving we gave out close to 5,000 gifts from that one year alone. And we'd like to see that grow even more this year,' Mrs Evans said. 'Being able to play Mr & Mrs Claus loading up the Team Santa van and delivering the gifts to the sick kids is the highlight of the event for our team and family.' The Sydney Santa Spectacular opens on December 7 and will be running until December at Rosehill Race Course. Tickets range from $35 - $50 per person and can be found on the Sydney Santa Spectacular website. Eight elite schools sent as many pupils to Oxbridge over the last three years as three-quarters of all the schools in the country, figures show. Analysis by educational charity The Sutton Trust found that despite efforts to widen access at the universities, admissions are still dominated by a tiny number of schools. One was Eton, which charges 40,000 a year and lists David Cameron, Boris Johnson and Jacob Rees-Mogg as former pupils. Every year, Eton sends between 60 and 100 pupils to either Oxford or Cambridge. Eton College in Berkshire lists David Cameron, Boris Johnson and Jacob Rees-Mogg among its alumni and charges pupils 40,000 in fees St Paul's for Boys also ranked in the top eight, sending 53 to Oxbridge last year; they charge fees of 37,000 Also included was 39,000-a-year Westminster, which sends 70 to 80 to Oxbridge, and 37,000-a-year St Paul's for Boys in London, which last year sent 53. The Sutton Trust said it could not disclose the other five schools due to data permission issues. The Trust's Access to Advantage report analysed UCAS data for university acceptance rates by school type. It found that the eight schools and colleges with the highest number of Oxbridge acceptances had 1,310 between them over a three-year period. In contrast, 2,894 schools across the country with two or fewer acceptances sent just 1,220 pupils to Oxford or Cambridge in the same time period. The famous Quad and clock tower at Eton, where 60 to 100 students are sent to Oxford or Cambridge every year The report found that pupils from independent schools are seven times more likely to attend Oxbridge than their peers at comprehensives. Sir Peter Lampl, Sutton Trust founder, said: 'If we are to ensure that all young people, regardless of their background, have a fair chance of getting in to our top universities, we need to address the patchwork of higher education guidance and support. 'All young people, regardless of what area they grow up in, or what school they go to, should have access to high-quality personal guidance that allows them to make the best informed choices about their future.' The figures also show that private school pupils have a better success rate when compared with other applications. More than a third of applications to Oxbridge 34 per cent come from pupils at independent schools but 42 per cent of places go to those students. Only two state schools are in the top eight institutions with the highest number of Oxbridge admissions between 2015 and 2017. These are Peter Symonds College in Winchester, Hampshire, and Hills Road Sixth Form College, Cambridge. Peter Symonds principal Sara Russell said: 'We pride ourselves on the opportunities available to all our students'. House leadership has established Dec. 13 as the date for a briefing on the death of Saudi-born journalist Jamal Khashoggi. House leadership has established Dec. 13 as the date for a briefing on the death of Saudi-born journalist Jamal Khashoggi Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary James Mattis were scheduled to debrief top-ranking Members of Congress next Thursday amid mounting pressure on Saudi Arabia. Lawmakers are considering several measures to punish the Saudis for the murder, including a resolution that would cast the crown prince as 'complicit' in the assassination he claims he had no advance knowledge of. The Senate has taken steps to cut off U.S. military assistance to Saudi Arabia in Yemen and could deliver the final blow in a vote this month before the end of the legislative session. In the House the bill faces an uncertain fate, but could gain new life when Democrats are in the majority in January. House Republicans have been more wary than their Senate counterparts of taking action that looks like a slap at the Oval Office. Trump has made himself clear on numerous occasions that he does not want Congress to take action against the kingdom or the Saudi crown prince. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary James Mattis were scheduled to debrief top-ranking Members of Congress next Thursday amid mounting pressure on Saudi Arabia The Senate resolution calling out Mohammad bin Salman would be non-binding but it could have broad-reaching consequences within the authoritarian nation that is considered a top ally to the United States in the Middle East. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the prospective speaker of the House, said Thursday that she would wait for the intelligence briefing to say more but indicated her support for the proposal to stop financing the war in Yemen at her weekly news conference. She noted that a push to cut off arms sales to Saudi Arabia altogether is also gaining support with her caucus. 'So there are pieces of that that exist in different legislation, but see after the briefing where we go,' she stated. Pelosi told reporters she wasn't sure who would be conducting next week's briefing for congressional leaders but hopes they will be joined by the head of the CIA. Senators left a briefing by CIA Director Gina Haspel on Tuesday convinced that the Saudi crown prince was involved in Khashoggi's murder, in spite of the president's claims that the evidence does not implicate 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.' 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. An Australian father who was attacked by a rogue kangaroo was knocked flat onto his back, but still managed to hold onto his beer. Bree Tuohey shared the footage of her father on social media as he rushed down an embankment on the family property in Bendigo, Victoria, to defend his two dogs. With a beer in one hand, Mr Tuohey successfully landed a hit on the animal before it kicked him square in the chest, sending him flying backwards. Mr Tuohey (pictured) has been branded an 'Aussie legend' by dozens of people online, with some saying he typifies Australian culture With a beer in one hand, Mr Tuohey successfully landed a hit on the animal before it kicked him square in the torso, sending him flying backwards Bree Tuohey (pictured) shared the footage of her father on social media as he rushed down an embankment on the family property in Bendigo, Victoria, to defend his two dogs But even as he fell to the floor, he managed to avoid any spillages and propped himself upright with the beer still in hand. Immediately after knocking Mr Tuohey to the ground, the kangaroo set its sights back on the two dogs, which by this point were circling the wild animal. His daughter filmed the ordeal from a safer distance, laughing hysterically as she warned him that the kangaroo was approaching. The footage has since been viewed over 100,000 times online. The father has been branded an 'Aussie legend' by dozens of people online, with some saying he typifies Australian culture. 'This is so Australian it's ridiculous,' one person wrote, while another tagged her international friends in the post and said 'this is just in case you need an update on Australia.' Bree Tuohey (pictured) filmed the ordeal from a safer distance, laughing hysterically as she warned him that the kangaroo was approaching Immediately after knocking Mr Tuohey to the ground the kangaroo set its sights back on the two dogs, which by this point were circling the wild animal in a frenzy But even as he fell to the floor, he managed to avoid any spillages and propped himself upright with the beer still in hand The footage comes two years after video surfaced of a man fighting a large kangaroo in the Australian Outback in an effort to protect his dog from animal. The moment the man stood toe-to-toe and traded punches with the marsupial to save his dog 'Max' was captured on camera by a friend, who videoed the fight from the safety of his vehicle. Greig Tonkins, 34, found himself at the centre of international attention in 2016 after the footage went viral. Daily Mail Australia later exclusively revealed that Mr Tonkins was a zookeeper and an avid animal lover. Greig Tonkins, 34, found himself at the centre of international attention in 2016 after the footage went viral Simon Stevens, the chief executive of NHS England The government has been forced to deny reports of an ongoing battle with the boss of the NHS over plans to improve the health service. Simon Stevens, the chief executive of NHS England, is said to have 'deeply irritated' ministers by saying their ambitions for boosting the NHS using just the 20.5 billion promised by the Prime Minister were unrealistic. He is said to have rowed with Downing Street, the Treasury and the Department of Health and Social Care over how much the upcoming NHS long-term plan will actually improve care. He also refused to guarantee specific improvements that would be seen across the health service over the next five or six years, according to NHS and Whitehall sources reported in The Guardian. The Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England have both strongly denied a rift, claiming all parties were 'working closely' to finalise the plans. The NHS tsar is alleged to have said the cash injection is not sufficient to improve hospital waiting times after years of struggling to meet them as well as covering the attractive promises made by Theresa May and Philip Hammond on improving cancer and mental health care and expand out-of-hospital services. Ministers have demanded the long-term plan includes the specific annu-al improvements NHS England will pledge to make every year from 2019-20 to 2023-24 to its most difficult areas, with percentages showing how close they are to achieving their targets. But they have apparently been left 'fed up' with Stevens as he refuses to guarantee the specific improvements that could be made. He is alleged to have warned ministers that the NHS's crippling staff shortages will prove another stumbling block to the measurable progress they are demanding. Britain's Health Secretary, Matt Hancock arrives for a cabinet meeting in Downing Street on Monday One well-placed source revealed: 'Simon wants one thing and the politi-cians want another. The Treasury want to pin him to the floor over the action he will take to get all the waiting time targets back on track over the next few years, and he is resisting that. He wants flexibility.' An ally of Stevens said: 'The Treasury are the ones who are especially looking for high-profile and concrete improvements in care that the gov-ernment can sell to the public in return for the 20bn. 'There is a lot of anxiety [among NHS leaders] because everyone knows the extra money is barely enough to maintain current standards, let alone transform services.' Stevens is thought to feel powerless to publicly criticise the govern-ment's plans because of the warm welcome he gave the 20.5 billion cash boost which was announced by Mrs May to the mark the NHS's 70th birthday in July after eight years of measly 1% annual increases. The NHS budget will rise from the 115 billion now to 135 billion by April 2023. The long term plan was due to be released earlier this week but was de-layed, with its publication expected in two weeks' time. NHS Improvement, the service's financial regulator helping to draw up the plan, warned that it may take five years to restore waiting time per-formance after it emerged last week that hospitals had overspent by 1.23 billion by the end of September only halfway through the ser-vice's financial year. Theresa May sings carols at the Downing Street Christmas tree lights switch on Niall Dickson, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, which repre-sents organisations across the healthcare sector, urged against setting 'local services up to fail' by trying to deliver unrealistic improvements for the promised sum. 'The NHS long-term plan is a vital opportunity to improve patient care and change the way we deliver services to the public. But we should not underestimate how difficult it will be to recover performance on waiting times and to move NHS trusts and other organisations back into the black. 'We must be realistic about what is possible within the extra 20bn the last thing we need is to set local services up to fail. And, above all, we will need a plan for securing the staff we need to respond to changing healthcare needs.' An NHS England spokesperson said: 'This story is wrong. The NHS, pa-tient groups, clinicians and government are working closely together to finalise the NHS long term plan ready for publication before Christmas.' A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson denied there had been rows. They said: 'This is not true. We are working closely with NHS England and NHS Improvement to develop an ambitious long term plan for our health service that will transform care for patients and put the NHS on a sustainable footing, backed by our historic investment of an extra 20.5 billion a year by 2023/24.' A restaurant hostess in New Jersey shared a shocking text exchange with her boss who told her not to return to work if she attended a friend's funeral instead of making it in for her shift. The unidentified hostess at Cafe Seventy-Two in Ewing Township texted her manager, Katie Sanford, in hopes to arrange for her shift to be covered so she may attend the funeral service scheduled for this weekend. The employee explained in the thread: 'Someone close to me just passed away, and Im trying to find a cover for my shifts so I can attend the funeral service rather than call out and leave you guys hanging.' Outraged, her boss replied to the request: 'Oh wow thanks. Just don't come back to work. 'I like you but I'm sick of all staff not taking their job seriously and just f****** expecting me to cover all of your shifts. I have a business to run at the end of the day. And a family.' A restaurant hostess in New Jersey shared a shocking text thread between herself and her boss. The employee tried to arrange for her shift to be covered so she could attend her late friend's funeral Outraged, her boss, Katie Sanford, replied to the message: 'Oh wow thanks. Just don't come back to work' The heartless texts from the young woman's boss have gone viral and the owners have received hate mail and poor business reviews The employee wrote back: 'I'm not expecting you to cover my shift, I simply asked if someone was allowed to host. I am a college student that shows up on time for my shifts, so taking this job seriously isn't questionable. 'I'm looking for a cover before calling out. It doesn't get more responsible than that. Letting someone go because of a death is unethical.' Sanford added: 'I'm not playing this game. If you can't work and there is no one to cover the shift in order for the restaurant to operate I have to let you go. Sorry. I don't feel bad for you so don't pull the college student unethical card. It's not the first time. 'Go to the viewing. Let me know your decision so I know what my plans are for this weekend.' Cafe Seventy-Two has since deleted their social media pages after they received an overwhelming amount of hate mail and poor business reviews as a result. Cafe Seventy-Two (pictured in a Google Maps image) is located in Ewing Township, New Jersey Katie Sanford's husband, Ben Sanford, (pictured) released an apology statement to their business website this week The manager's husband, Ben Sanford, released an apology statement to their website on his wife's behalf. Ben confirmed the employee was not terminated and the conversation 'displayed was completely taken out of context.' The apology said in part: 'The employee was not fired. Her last shifts were this weekend before leaving for holiday break to be with her family and friends until January 28th. This private conversation was not related in any way to the mourning of Michael. 'Although this interaction was displayed completely out of context by a friend of the employee and drastically misrepresents Katie and our establishment, we recognize that there is NOTHING that excuses it. 'We carelessly let the stresses of family and business replace the professionalism, respect and empathy that every employee and person deserves.' The couple also contributed a $1,000 donation to the family of the late Michael Sot. 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 The 20-year-old college student was killed by an impaired driver who smashed into his vehicle near a New Jersey college on Sunday. According to the GoFundMe account, Sot 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. 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. Danielle DeFlores, 21, Matthew DeGenova, 21, Anthony Galante, 19, and Ryan Moore (pictured right), 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 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'. '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. A prison worker has been taken to hospital after a suspicious package was found onsite. Melbourne Fire Service and South Australia Police were called to investigate the HAZMAT incident at Yatala Labour Prison in Adelaide at about 9am on Friday. A spokesman from the Department of Correctional Services said the staff member is in a stable condition with an unidentified illness. More to come Melbourne Fire Service and South Australia Police were called to investigate the package at Yatala Labour Prison in Adelaide (pictured) at about 9am on Friday Dr Noah Carl has been accused of 'ethically suspect and methodologically flawed work' More than 200 academics have signed a letter accusing a controversial Cambridge academic of publishing 'racist pseudoscience'. Dr Noah Carl has previously spoken at a conference about eugenics and claimed that opposition to immigration can be based on 'rational beliefs'. The University of Cambridge research fellow has now been accused of publishing 'ethically suspect and methodologically flawed work' by academics, the Times reported. Professors at top universities in the UK and abroad including Oxford, Cambridge and Princeton published the open letter demanding Cambridge carry out an investigation into its appointment process. Dr Carol's previous controversial writings have included: linking an increased population to rising terrorism levels; claims that 'consensual stereotypes' about nationalities or race 'are generally found to be accurate'; how Remain voters do not understand why Leave voters wanted to quit the EU; and the impact of immigration on arrest rates. Among these writings was one paper in 2016, in which he claimed that 'the higher the percentage of Muslims in the population, the greater the share of citizens susceptible to Islamist radicalisation'. Dr Carl has claimed that opposition to immigration can be based on 'rational beliefs' In the open letter written by professors today, they say: 'A careful consideration of Carl's published work and public stance on various issues, particularly on the claimed relationship between 'race', 'criminality' and 'genetic intelligence', leads us to conclude that his work is ethically suspect and methodologically flawed. They said that they are 'deeply concerned that racist pseudoscience is being legitimised through association with the University of Cambridge.' They added: 'This fellowship was awarded to Carl despite his attendance at, and public defence of, the discredited 'London Conference on Intelligence', where racist and pseudoscientific work has been regularly presented. How Dr Noah Carl, 28, has been criticised for 'racist' views - but is a big free speech backer Dr Noah Gilpin Carl was born in 1990 in Cambridge and is a research fellow at St Edumund's College in the city. The 28-year-old has a BA in human sciences, an MSc in sociology and a DPhil in sociology from Oxford. For his doctorate, he looked at how cognitive ability and socio-political beliefs can be related. He also focuses on social identity and immigration. But he has faced criticism for his views on how opposition to immigration can be based on 'rational beliefs'. Critics say his work has been used by far-Right outlets to aid xenophobic and anti-immigrant rhetoric. His research has been backed by various far right US media groups, including Info Wars, which is headed by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. However, Dr Carl is a passionate free speech advocate and has previously stated that 'stifling of debate around taboo topics can itself do active harm'. He also writes for The UK in a Changing Europe, a Brexit research website funded by the Economic and Social Research Council. In pictures on his Facebook profile, Dr Carl is seen practising yoga in stone circles with a young boy. Advertisement 'Carl's work has already been used by extremist and far-right media outlets with the aim of stoking xenophobic and anti-immigrant rhetoricthis kind of pseudoscientific racism runs the serious risk of being used to justify policies that directly harm vulnerable populations.' The public condemnation comes amid increasing concerns about free speech on campuses. University College London launched an investigation earlier this year into how a secret conferences on eugenics and intelligence took place on campus. The London Conference on Intelligence which academics have criticised Dr Carl for attending is said to have been run secretly for at least three years by James Thompson, an honorary senior lecturer at the university. Toby Young sparked controversy after it was revealed he attended the conference. He later resigned from his position as director of the Office for Students amid the public outcry. In response, Mr Young said: 'Attendees were only told the venue at the last minute, an anonymous ante-chamber at the end of a long corridor, called 'lecture room 22', and asked not to share this infor-mation with anyone else.' He added: 'One of the attendees, on discovering I was a journalist, pleaded with me not to write about the fact he was there he didn't want his colleagues to find out. 'But these precautions were not unreasonable, considering the reaction that any reference to between-group differences in IQ generally provoke.' What has Noah Carl written about Brexit, immigration and Muslims in recent years? 'It cannot simply be taken for granted that, when in doubt, stifling debate around taboo topics is the ethical thing to do. (This study) makes three main claims: first, that equating particular scientific statements with racism effectively holds our morals hostage to the facts; second, that the 'blank slate' view of human nature also has pernicious moral implications; and third, that there are clear examples of where stifling debate has done material harm to both individuals and societal institutions.' Evolutionary Psychological Science, December 2018 'Examining the relationship between the presence of Muslims and the incidence of Islamist terrorism is now a lively area of scholarly research... Of course, it goes without saying that only a small minority of Muslims are terrorists, and not all terrorist are Muslims.' Medium, September 2018 'Remain voters overestimate the importance that Leave voters attach to both regaining control over EU immigration and teaching British politicians a lesson. 52 per cent of Remain voters rank 'Leavers wanted the UK to regain control over EU immigration' first, whereas only 39 per cent of Leave voters rank 'to regain control over EU immigration' first. And 12 per cent of Remain voters rank 'Leavers wanted to teach British politicians a lesson' first, whereas only 3 per cent of Leave voters rank 'to teach British politicians a lesson' first.' London School of Economics blog, May 2018 'Britain's vote to leave the EU is decidedly not without precedent. The country has left the mainland of Europe on precisely three prior occasions, each time carefully weighing up the costs and benefits before doing so. In the Brexit of spring 1940, Britain politely declined to participate in a German-led effort toward European political union. In King Henry's Brexit of 1534, the country sought to regain competitiveness by unshackling itself from the yoke of papal regulation. And in the original Brexit of 10,0006,500 BC, the country prudently chose to increase border security, while at the same time putting its long-suffering fishermen back to work.' Medium, March 2018 'The magnitude of inward migratory flows increased during the 20th century, and did so dramatically from the 1990s onwards. Between 1900 and 1950, the foreign-born fraction of the population rose, but never exceeded 5%. By the early 1990s, it was well above 5%. In 2011, it was around 13%. And today, it is probably above 15%. Thus, contemporary levels of immigration into Britain are historically unprecedented. Britain had arguably assumed its nationhood by at least the late 19th century. At this point in time, the make up of the British population was largely as it had been more than 1000 years earlier. There is therefore little justification for saying that Britain is an 'immigrant nation'.' Medium, March 2017 'The present study shows that, in the UK, net opposition to immigrants of different nationalities correlates strongly with the log of immigrant arrests rates and with the log of their arrest rates for violent crime. This is particularly noteworthy given that Britons reportedly think that an immigrant's criminal history should be one of the most important characteristics when considering whether he or she should be allowed into the country.' Open Quantitative Sociology & Political Science, November 2016 'It seems plausible that the higher the percentage of Muslims in the population, the greater the share of citizens susceptible to Islamist radicalisation, and therefore the larger the fraction of the population that the security services should need to monitor. For example, ISIS has been actively attempting to radicalise young Muslims living in Western countries by disseminating Jihadist propaganda through social media. Regarding the latter, it stands to reason that Islamist terrorist organisations such as Al Qaeda and ISIS might selectively target countries that have intervened militarily in Muslim countries particularly those in the Middle East, where the most sacred Islamic holy sites are located.' Open Quantitative Sociology & Political Science, June 2016 'The fact that the correlation between verbal intelligence and economically liberal beliefs persists after controlling for characteristics like race, education and income suggests it cannot simply be attributed to selfishness on the parts of people with higher verbal intelligence. In particular, it contradicts the hypothesis that such people only have economically liberal beliefs because they believe they have personally benefitted from economically liberal policies. On the other hand, if conditional on current income, verbal intelligence is correlated with a tendency to believe one's future income will be higher under economically liberal policies, the correlation between verbal intelligence and economically liberal beliefs could be explained by selfishness, at least in part.' Intelligence, March 2014 There's good news on the way for Victorian motorists fed up with their commutes being interrupted by roadworks. Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has announced a tough new crackdown against roadwork operators. He said those who fail to adjust speed limits at construction sites when work is completed for the day will face hefty fines. It means that if operators adjust speed limits they will be forced to shell out if they forget to remove adjusted speed signs after work finishes. Re-elected for a second term a fortnight ago, Mr Andrews is already acting on his election night promise of delivering for all Victorians. Scroll down for video Roadwork operators in Victoria will face hefty fines if they don't adjust speed signs when construction work is completed for the day It's hoped the new laws will be implemented early next year. 'I know how frustrating it is to slow right down for roadworks only to drive past an empty work site. So we're making a new rule,' Mr Andrews recently posted on his Facebook page. 'When tools go down, speeds come back up when it's safe to do so. It'll be safer for workers, too. No more chancing it because a site 'looks quiet'. He vowed to write it in to every contract with roadwork operators, 'with penalties to make sure it happens.' But the changes won't happen overnight as the sitting of Victorian parliament doesn't resume until next February. Mr Andrews thanked Victorians for their patience while his government improves the state's infrastructure. 'We're upgrading road and rail across the state, so there will be disruption I won't pretend otherwise. But hopefully this will help a little bit,' the Premier posted. The announcement was welcomed by Victorian motorists as the Premier's Facebook post sparked more than 18,000 reactions and 3,300 comments. 'Is a good Idea, and it has to be implemented. Nothing more frustrating than having to slow to 40km/h in a 110 zone for several kilometre stretches only to not see any person or construction activity,' one person commented. Another added: 'Thank you for taking action, we understand work needs to be done.' The tough new crackdown on roadwork operators was announced by recently re-elected Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews (pictured) Others had some advice for Mr Andrews. 'Can you please also write into your roads contracts that any new roadwork also needs to be maintained by the same contractor for a period of say three years? Bet theyll do a better job in the first place. Im sick of seeing new sections of road developing potholes within months,' one woman posted. The inaugural Urban Mobility Index released this week ranked the traffic congestion in Melbourne worse than New York and Rome. Out of 38 major cities around the world, Melbourne was ranked 25th, where motorists are delayed on average by more than 30 minutes for every 100km they travel. This photo of Flemington Road in Canberra baffled motorists earlier this week and sparked debate on social media platform Reddit Social media went into meltdown earlier this week over a baffling Canberra roadside construction site which displayed three different speed limits of 40, 60 and 70 km/hr within a 100 metre stretch of Flemington Road. The start of light rail construction on Flemington Road was given as the reason the different speed limits. Police have arrested Heather Langdon in central California after her twin 10-month-old sons were found drowned in a motel Police arrested a mother on suspicion of drowning her twin 10-month-old sons whose bodies were found Thursday in a motel in central California. Heather Langdon was taken into custody a day after police officers helped arrange for her and her children to spend the night in the motel after she was told she could no longer remain at a women's shelter in Tulare because she was causing a disturbance. Tulare police Sgt. Jon Hamlin said officers had no previous contact with the 37-year-old Langdon and would have called for mental health assistance if they believed she was a danger to herself or the children. Police were called to the motel on Thursday morning. The babies were rushed to the hospital but soon pronounced dead. After questioning Langdon, police placed her under arrest First responders arrived at the Virginia Motor Lodge Motel, where the family had been staying, and immediately began efforts to revive the babies angdon and her two sons had been staying at a woman's shelter. But the family was forced to leave. Langdon had reportely been part of some sort of disturbance and was kicked out He said the officers didn't want to leave without finding shelter for them on the cold, rainy night, so they found a nonprofit agency willing to pay for the motel room. Sergeant Jon Hamlin of the Tulare Police Department said dispatch then received a 911 call around 7:45am. The caller said that two infants had drowned. First responders arrived at the Virginia Motor Lodge Motel, where the family had been staying, and immediately began efforts to revive the babies. They were then rushed to the hospital but soon pronounced dead. After questioning Langdon and obtaining a search warrant for the motel room, police placed her under arrest. Investigators haven't yet identified the victims' father. The boys were not breathing when officers arrived at the motel early Thursday. They were pronounced dead at a hospital. Langdon was being held in jail without bail. Jail records don't indicate if she is represented by an attorney. The owner of the motel, Jay Bhakta, told the Visalia Times Delta that police officers had dropped off Langdon and the boys there during the evening of December 5. He said he did not charge Langdon for the room because he felt he wanted to help her. Bhakta said he was shocked when he saw the babies being taken away in two ambulances. 'In 26 years, this is the first time I've seen this.' A millionaire Sydney pub baron is set to avoid jail time for the 'cowardly' campaign of domestic violence he carried out on his socialite ex-girlfriend. Phillip Jonathon DeAngelis, 37, is likely to spend part of an 18-month sentence in home detention despite a Magistrate slamming him for a spate of attacks on Janelle 'Nellie' Tilley, 52. DeAngelis was initially charged with more than 20 offences from his violent romance with the mother-of-two, but pleaded guilty to just five after agreeing to a plea deal. While the youngest member of the wealthy hotel family appears likely to avoid jail he will have to wait until next year to learn if his $4 million beachside pad at Bondi - or his parents' home in the exclusive suburb of Hunters Hill - are deemed appropriate to house him, once an assessment is carried out. Magistrate Phillip Stewart initially told the court he believed 'nothing other than jail' was appropriate - and if neither residence is considered suitable for home detention, De Angelis 'will be going to prison'. But in sentencing DeAngelis on Friday, Magistrate Phillip Stewart took aim at both he and his wealthy family - claiming their main concern was damaging the family name. Scroll down for video Millionaire Sydney pub baron Phillip Jonathon DeAngelis (pictured) appears set to avoid jail for a 'cowardly' domestic violence campaign he carried out on his older socialite ex-girlfriend DeAngelis, 37, faced Central Local Court on Friday to be sentenced over a series of assault charges from his romance with socialite ex-girlfriend Janelle 'Nellie' Tilley (pictured), 53 If home detention is approved, one option for DeAngelis' residence is his $4 million apartment overlooking Bondi beach (pictured) Magistrate Stewart told the court that in a series of close to a dozen reference letters from family and friends, there were few comments about DeAngelis feeling regret for the impact his behaviour had on his ex-girlfriend. 'The offender expresses he is not proud, is upset, regretful and embarrassed about his actions,' the court heard. '(But) there's very little corroboration of this in the accompanying reference material. 'The reference from his parents indicates "he is very ashamed of what he's put our family through" and "media articles have caused him much stress".' DeAngelis' family own hotels across Sydney, while their relatives the Laundy family - who include Bachelorette winner Stu Laundy - are among the countries richest pub barons. With Magistrate Stewart handing down his sentence via video link from the court at Parkes, in western NSW, DeAngelis was forced to sit forward on a single seat in the court so he could be seen on the screen. Sitting a few metres behind him were his parents Arch and Robyn, brother Peter and his sister Nicky. As the court heard how in one incident her son had struck Ms Tilley in the face with his left hand, Mrs DeAngelis shook her head and sighed. The agreed facts of the case, which were debated at length by the prosecution and defence, have revealed how during one argument Ms Tilley uncovered a sex tape of DeAngelis and another woman. In that incident, after dinner at a restaurant in the exclusive suburb of Double Bay, De Angelis accused Ms Tilley of being unfaithful before asking to see her text messages. De Angelis (left) and Ms Tilley (right) were involved in a relationship from late-2015 through to early-2017. One argument came after Ms Tilley found a sex tape of her boyfriend with another woman DeAngelis was initially charged with more than 20 offences from his violent romance with Ms Tilley, but pleaded guilty to just five after agreeing to a plea deal At one point, as the court heard how De Angelis had struck Ms Tilley in the mouth with his left hand, his mother Robyn (pictured with husband Arch) shook her head and sighed A TIMELINE OF THEIR VOLATILE ROMANCE: - February 2015: The couple meet and soon begin dating. - October 9, 2015: During a birthday party for DeAngelis, Ms Tilley asks if he wants to meet friends afterwards. As they leave he pushes her head into the seat of a taxi and calls her a 'f**king rude b**ch'. - February 26, 2016: After dinner at a restaurant, DeAngelis accuses Ms Tilley of being 'unfaithful' and asks to see her phone. In response she takes away his phone and while scrolling through finds a sex tape of him with another woman - March 11, 2016: DeAngelis arrives at Ms Tilley's apartment at 4am, knocking on her door. Ms Tilley is not home and sends DeAngelis a photo of herself at the flower markets. He refuses to believe her and after breaking into her home falls asleep in her bed. When she arrives home she tells him their relationship is over. - August 23, 2016: Ms Tilley goes to DeAngelis' unit and says to him: 'How can you do this to me? Texting me, begging me, telling me how much you love me... then emotionally torture me.' The couple have a wrestling match during which DeAngelis strikes MsTilley in the mouth - leaving her bleeding, swollen and bruised. - Later that day: Back at MsTilley's unit in Bellevue Hill, after another argument about their relationship DeAngelis pushes her and twists her right arm behind her with force. - September 14, 2016: After drinks and dinner at DeAngelis' Bondi apartment the pair get into an argument, during which he throws a cigarette lighter at Ms Tilley hitting her on the forehead. She is knocked to the ground and lies crying in a pool of blood. DeAngelis says to Ms Tilley: 'Oh my god bubby what have I done? You dont deserve this. I am so sorry. I am such a d***head.' - The next day: DeAngelis drives Ms Tilley to hospital where she has surgery. - December 23, 2016: DeAngelis attends Ms Tilley's home while intoxicated and they argue about money, including him not wanting his family to know of his poor financial situation. During their argument DeAngelis grabs Ms Tilley by the wrist and shakes her, telling her to 'shut up'. - April 12, 2017: DeAngelis attends Waverley Police Station with his lawyer and is charged with more than 20 matters. He eventually pleaded guilty to five. Source: Court documents Advertisement After denying her boyfriend's request the socialite 'became suspicious' and in return took his phone, before locking herself in the bathroom and scanning through it. According to the court documents, while looking through De Angelis' phone she saw a homemade sex tape showing him having sex with a different woman. Hearing the sound of the video playing from the bathroom, De Angelis pleaded with Ms Tilley to stop watching - before smashing down the door, entering the room and grabbing the phone out of her hand, forcefully pushing her in the process. That incident in February 2016 was followed just a month later by a drunk De Angelis breaking into Ms Tilley's home at Bellevue Hill. At 4am on March 11 2016, a drunk De Angelis knocked on the front door of Ms Tilley's apartment, but received no answer. When he sent his girlfriend a text message accusing her of infidelity, she replied with a photo of herself at the flower markets - it was the day before her 50th birthday party. In happier times, De Angelis and Tilley pose for a photo together while on holiday in Positano 'Seeing his (De Angelis') enraged face is one thing I'll never forget. I don't even remember seeing the lighter come flying at me,' Ms Tilley (right) said of the night he threw the lighter The pair were in an 18-month relationship before De Angelis was charged with assaulting Ms Tilley and an AVO was taken out against him De Angelis responded saying he did not believe Ms Tilley wasnt home and began to break into her apartment, climbing across In September that year, again after dinner at a restaurant, the pair were involved in a heated argument about their relationship. As the pair stood arguing at opposite sides of the dinner table in De Angelis' unit, the pub baron threw a Bic cigarette lighter at Ms Tilley. The lighter hit Ms Tilley in the forehead, causing a large laceration and leaving her on the floor of the apartment lying in a pool of blood. As Ms Tilley cried on the floor, De Angelis said to her: : 'Oh my god bubby what have I done? You dont deserve this. I am so sorry. I am such a d***head.' The next morning De Angelis drove Ms Tilley to hospital and waited throughout the day as she was treated for the cut to her forehead. However he referenced a stint DeAngelis put it in at $10,000-a-week Thailand rehab clinic 'The Cabin' and admitted the offender's chances of rehabilitation were 'good'. Phillip Boulten SC (right), who was representing De Angelis (left), told the court last week how his client had attended a $10,000-a-week rehab clinic in Thailand 'to address his problems' Mr Stewart said the time spent at The Cabin meant DeAngelis' prospects of rehabilitation were 'good' 'One would have to live in a vacuum not to see the changes in societal attitudes to domestic violence,' Magistrate Stewart said. 'Domestic violence is a scourge upon society, having devastating impact on families, children, victims and it can even result in death. 'His actions were cowardly, disgraceful, belittling and controlling, there is no place in society for it.' Magistrate Stewart said the common assault charges were worth a nine-month sentence and the reckless wounding charges 15 months, with an aggregate of 18 months. In opting against handing down an Intensive Corrections Order (ICO), the magistrate adjourned the court so a home detention assessment could be done. DeAngelis will reappear in court on January 29 so the findings of the assessment and a sentence can be handed down. Mr Corbyn said that should there be no general election, all options should be open - including a second referendum [File photo] Jeremy Corbyn has given his clearest indication yet that Labour is moving towards backing a second referendum. Writing for the Guardian, the Labour leader said all options should be on the table in the event Theresa Mays Brexit deal is voted down next week. He said that if the deal was defeated, the Government will have lost its majority in Parliament and its ability to govern. Labours line until now has been to call for a general election to break the deadlock so they could try to negotiate Brexit. But Mr Corbyn said that should there be no general election, all options should be open - including a second referendum. In the past, a defeat of such seriousness as May now faces would have meant an automatic election. But if under the current rules we cannot get an election, all options must be on the table, he said. Those should include Labours alternative and, as our conference decided in September, the option of campaigning for a public vote to break the deadlock. Theresa May's deal could be voted down in the Commons on December 11. Corbyn said that if the deal was defeated, the Government will have lost its majority in Parliament and its ability to govern His words echo those of shadow chancellor John McDonnell who has suggested it is inevitable another EU referendum will be called if Labour are not able to force a general election. An election remains Labours preferred option if - as is widely expected - MPs vote down Theresa Mays Brexit deal on 11 December, he said. But he acknowledged that forcing an election would be very difficult and, if it was not possible, he said the party would push for another referendum. Asked by political editor Laura Kuenssberg if a vote of no confidence did not bring down the government and lead to a general election, a second referendum was inevitable, Mr McDonnell replied: Thats right. Labour's Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell suggested it is inevitable another EU referendum will be called if Labour are not able to force a general election [File photo] Labour has also faced crippling divisions on Brexit as its leaderships Eurosceptic outlook differs from that of its young, city-dwelling members. Momentum, the group that propelled Mr Corbyn to power, backs a second referendum and remaining in the EU. But the Labour union old guard, which provides most of the partys funding, back Brexit, with many of its members from working class northern towns. Earlier this week it emerged that Unite boss Len McCluskey has been warning Labour MPs that their voters would see another referendum as a betrayal. The general secretary of the countrys biggest union, a close ally of Mr Corbyn, has urged against asking the country again. To suggest it represents a betrayal grossly distorts Labours position and is deeply unhelpful to those seeking a solution to an issue that is reaching crisis proportions, he told the Guardian. Meanwhile, Tony Blair yesterday predicted again that if Mrs Mays deal is voted down next week, there will be no majority of MPs backing any option. This, he said, would mean that the decision would have to be put back in the hands of the public in a second referendum. Tony Blair said Mrs May faced the prospect of hitting a brick wall at speed in her vote on December 11. He claimed if the deal is voted down, there will be no majority of MPs backing any option [File photo] On the ballot paper for a re-run poll should be the choice of remaining in the EU, possibly with concessions on immigration and free movement if these could be obtained from Brussels, and the kind of hard Brexit favoured by those he termed proper Brexiteers. Speaking at a Westminster lunch, the former Labour leader said Mrs May faced the prospect of hitting a brick wall at speed in the December 11 meaningful vote. Rebel Tories' seats at risk Dozens of Tory MPs are being warned they could lose their seats if they oppose Theresa Mays Brexit deal, it emerged yesterday. They are being issued with private polling, commissioned by the party, which suggests Conservatives could lose 7 per cent of their support if they help block the deal. A Tory research note about the polling, and obtained by the Daily Mail, concludes: Current research shows our vote is holding (up). But the implied impact of this research on seats suggests that MPs voting against the deal could lead to significantly reduced or lost majorities in Conservative seats. The research is now being used to put pressure on mutinous MPs threatening to vote down the deal next week. At the last election 70 Conservative MPs won their seats with majorities of less than 7 per cent. Those on the danger list include prominent MPs who have vowed to vote against the deal such as Zac Goldsmith, Theresa Villiers, Anna Soubry, Justine Greening and Iain Duncan Smith. The poll, conducted this month, found Tory voters back Mrs Mays deal by 9 per cent. Advertisement Asked if she should call the vote off, Mr Blair said: Personally, I dont see what the point is in going down to a huge defeat. But I think thats a second-order question. The real issue is, is she prepared to work to see what is a compromise that has parliamentary approval? My belief is that when that process goes through, she will find that there isnt one. And if there isnt one, thats when my solution becomes more acceptable. Although a second referendum with Remain on the ballot paper seemed improbable, it provides the only solution if all Brexit options prove impossible in a deeply-divided Parliament, he said. Unite boss Len McCluskey has been warning Labour MPs that their voters would see another referendum as a betrayal. The general secretary of the countrys biggest union, a close ally of Mr Corbyn, has urged against asking the country again [File photo] At the Labour party conference in Liverpool in September, delegates have approved a motion that would keep all options - including a fresh referendum - on the table if MPs are deadlocked over Brexit. It was passed by a show of hands at the party conference. The vast majority were in favour of the motion, with only a small number against. Leader Jeremy Corbyn - who has previously ruled out another EU referendum - has said he will respect the result of the vote. But he has never expressly said it is an option that should be on the table. However, Labour insisted his quotes did not signal a change in position. A leading Tory backbencher has called for Theresa May to delay Tuesday's vote on her Brexit deal to avoid a humiliating defeat. Sir Graham Brady said the Prime Minister should go back to Brussels and re-negotiate the terms of the backstop arrangement. He wants to make sure the UK is not bound to EU rules forever, a prospect that troubles Brexiteer rebels likely to vote against Mrs May's deal in large numbers. A leading Tory backbencher has called for Theresa May to delay Tuesday's vote on the Brexit deal to avoid a humiliating defeat Sir Graham, the chairman of the influential 1922 committee, said yesterday: 'I can't see why there should be an objection to providing either an end date - three years' time, whatever it might be - when we would automatically leave that arrangement or some other mechanism just to make sure we could leave. 'I don't think there is any point in ploughing ahead and losing the vote heavily,' Sir Graham told Sky News. He added: 'What I would like is to have the reassurance that's necessary that will answer the concerns that colleagues have but if that reassurance isn't available by Tuesday then I think it is perfectly sensible to delay for a few days.' Delaying the vote would be complicated because the pre-vote debate has already started. This means Mrs would need to win another vote on an amendment to delay it. Downing Street has dismissed the idea. A Number 10 spokesman said: 'The vote will take place on Tuesday as planned.' Hugo Swire (pictured), a former Northern Ireland minister, tabled an amendment on the backstop along with Bob Neill and Richard Graham Meanwhile, Tory loyalists last night tabled a backbench amendment to the vote designed to effectively limit the UK's stay in the backstop to just one year. The proposal would give MPs a vote in 2020 over whether to enter the backstop or extend the Brexit transition period an idea similar to the 'parliamentary lock' being discussed by Mrs May. But it would also place a 'duty' on the Government to have a workable alternative in place within a year of the backstop being entered. And it would require Mrs May to seek 'further assurances from the EU that the backstop would only be a temporary arrangement'. The amendment was tabled by loyalist MPs Sir Hugo Swire and Richard Graham. But Nikki da Costa, former director of legislative affairs at No 10, suggested it was inspired by ministers, saying: 'I know a government amendment when I see one.' One government source last night suggested that ministers would back the amendment. Some senior Tories believe it is still possible for the PM to obtain a 'clarification' from Brussels about how long any backstop period could last. The backstop is designed to prevent a hard border on the island of Ireland. The development came as MPs and businesses were urged by the boss of one of Britain's biggest pension and investment firms to put the national interest first and get behind the PM's Brexit deal. Theresa May said this morning that killing off her plan could result in no-deal, or no Brexit at all Writing in the Mail, Legal & General chief executive Nigel Wilson said an agreement with the EU was 'always going to be a compromise' and argues that Mrs May's opponents are being 'self-indulgent'. He also warned that re-running the referendum, trying another model of membership, or leaving the bloc with no deal will cause more uncertainty for business. His comments came after a day of turmoil on global stock markets with traders rattled by fresh US-China trade tensions and predictions of another economic slowdown. More than 56billion was wiped off the FTSE 100, the index of Britain's biggest companies, which closed 217.79 points, or 3.2 per cent, lower at 6,704.05. President Donald Trump said without evidence on Thursday that Arizona 'is bracing for a massive surge' of immigrants along a portion of the US southern border that does not have a protective fence. Trump reiterated his call for Democrats to back funding for his proposed border wall with a tweet Thursday night. 'Arizona, together with our Military and Border Patrol, is bracing for a massive surge at a NON-WALLED area. WE WILL NOT LET THEM THROUGH,' Trump wrote in a post on Twitter, appearing to maintain pressure on lawmakers seeking to approve legislation to keep the government open through to September 30 next year. Donald Trump said without evidence on Thursday that Arizona 'is bracing for a massive surge' of immigrants along a portion of the US southern border that does not have a protective fence Trump reiterated his call for Democrats to back funding for his proposed border wall with a tweet Thursday night Representatives for the White House, the Department of Homeland Security and the Pentagon did not respond immediately to requests for comments. The US Congress approved a stopgap two-week spending bill on Thursday but lawmakers still need to agree on a longer-term funding measure to fund government agencies until the end of the fiscal year in September. Trump, who has made the construction of the wall a foundation of his presidency, has demanded $5billion this year from Congress for the boundary and has threatened to shut down the government if lawmakers do not accede. Democrats have argued the wall would be ineffective at ending illegal migration and stemming the flow of illicit drugs across the border. US Border Patrol arrests on the Mexican border jumped 78 per cent in November from a year earlier to the highest level in Trump's presidency, with families and children accounting for a majority for a third straight month. The numbers are the latest sign that people who cross the border illegally are increasingly families and children traveling alone, a trend that began several years ago but has accelerated since summer. The Border Patrol made 25,172 arrests of people who came as families in November, nearly four times the same period last year, parent agency Customs and Border Protection said. There were 5,283 arrests of unaccompanied children, up 33 per cent from a year earlier. The Border Patrol made 25,172 arrests of people who came as families in November, nearly four times the same period last year, parent agency Customs and Border Protection said Central American migrants (pictured in October) bound for the US border wade together across the Suchiate River, which connects Guatemala and Mexico, in Tecun Uman, Guatemala Overall, the Border Patrol made 51,856 arrests on the Mexican border last month, up from 51,001, or 1 percent, in October and up from 29,085 in the same period of 2017. It was the fourth straight month-to-month increase. Many families and children, predominantly from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, turn themselves in to agents and seek asylum or some other form of protection, a dramatic change from several years ago when people who crossed illegally were largely Mexican men who tried to elude capture. Central American asylum seekers have low approval rates. But many stay in the US while their cases wind through backlogged immigration courts, which can take several years. Katie Waldman, a Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman, said the November arrests 'are the predictable result of a broken immigration system - including flawed judicial rulings - that usurps the will of the American people who have repeatedly demanded secure borders'. She singled out a November 19 ruling by a federal judge in San Francisco to halt a new policy to deny asylum to people who enter the country illegally. Overall, the Border Patrol made 51,856 arrests on the Mexican border last month, up from 51,001, or 1 percent, in October and up from 29,085 in the same period of 2017. It was the fourth straight month-to-month increase. The US-Mexico border fence in Nogales, Arizona There were 5,283 arrests of unaccompanied children, up 33 per cent from a year earlier. The US-Mexico border is seen near Lukeville, Pima County, Arizona The ruling infuriated Trump, who made illegal immigration a top priority during his 2016 campaign and in the White House. 'Our country cannot afford unchecked, undemocratic mass migration policies written by activist judges,' Waldman said. 'We will continue to push Congress to step up and address these legal failures.' The Border Patrol operates between ports of entry. When adding 10,600 who were stopped at official crossings in November, there were 62,456 detained for entering the country without authorization. That's the highest level since June 2014, during the middle of President Barack Obama's second term and at the peak of an earlier influx of Central Americans families and children. Trump, who has made border wall construction a top funding priority, dispatched 5,600 active-duty troops to the Mexican border in November as a large caravan of Central American migrants moved through Mexico to the northern border city of Tijuana, across from San Diego. A Danish engineering professor claims to have calculated the location of the doomed Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 with 'above 90 per cent' accuracy - and it is far away from the current search zone. Professor Martin Kristensen, an engineer at Aarhaus University in Denmark, has published a mathematical analysis of the flight data, and says the plane went down near Australia's Christmas Island. MH370 disappeared with 239 people on board during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in March 2014, sparking one of the greatest mysteries in aviation history. Prof. Kristensen said investigators' calculated flight path for the plane was incorrect, and its probable crash site was actually off Christmas Island, an Australian territory south of Java, Indonesia. In his paper, entitled 'How to find MH370?', Prof Kristensen claims: That the search zone where authorities and experts have spent the past four years combing for the wreckage is completely off. That the disappearance of MH370 was deliberate and its flight path indicates 'intelligent planning'. That the perpetrator(s) parachuted out of the plane before it crashed into the sea. That it is above 90 per cent certain that the wreckage will be found in his proposed search zone . Having calculated four possible flight paths, Prof Kristensen was able to eliminate three due to two of them being over India and China respectively - where the plane would have pinged off mobile phone networks and radar and then crashed on land - and a third in an area already searched. He writes in his paper that there is an eyewitness account from a woman on a fishing boat who spotted a plane in the air which fits with his theory. Mr Kristensen also claimed that the course of MH370 shows 'intelligent planning' to deliberately conceal the aircraft's path - and that whoever did it was planning to vacate the plane using a parachute. An engineer has claimed that the fruitless search for doomed Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 is focusing on the wrong place. Pictured: A similar plane to the one that disappeared Mr Kristensen also claimed that the course of MH370 shows a deliberate plan to conceal the aircraft's path. Pictured: Police and gendarmes carry a piece of debris from an unidentified aircraft found in the coastal area of Saint-Andre de la Reunion, in the east of the French Indian Ocean island of La Reunion All 249 people on board are missing and presumed dead after the flight disappeared. Pictured: Sarah Nor, the mother of Norliakmar Hamid, a passenger on missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, cries as she arrives for the final investigation report He says satellite detection and longrange radar are hampered by tropical thunderstorms on the way to Christmas Island, indicating that the 'perpetrator(s)' knew what they were doing. 'The only plausible explanations are that they wanted to land in Banda Aceh or abort the flight by parachute,' Kristensen wrote. 'Since the aeroplane did not land, the only option is parachuting. 'In order to do this they had to fly low and slow to open a hatch and get out. 'They programmed a return to normal flying-height into the autopilot before jumping. 'Therefore the plane returned to 11km height after Bandar Aceh without a pressurized cabin (due to the leak through the open hatch) causing death for everybody on board who might still have been alive.' Following a series of advanced mathematical calculations, Prof Kristiansen proposes 'a new, focused search zone of 3500 km2 centred at (13.279 South, 106.964 East) with slightly elliptical shape along the 7th arc and a total length of 140 km and width of 30 km. 'The probability of finding the plane there is above 90 per cent.' He said the flight most likely came down near Christmas Island (pictured), south of Jakarta, Indonesia MH370 passed out of range as it travelled towards India and above the Andaman Sea. Pictured: Searchers test similar wreckage to MH370 during research 'Handshake' calls to an Inmarsat satellite above the Indian Ocean reveal the Boeing aircraft was still in the air. Pictured: Relatives of passengers on missing Malaysia Airlines MH370 cry in front of media outside the Malaysian embassy in Beijing MH370 passed out of range as it travelled towards India and above the Andaman Sea. 'Handshake' calls - automated communications - to an Inmarsat satellite above the Indian Ocean reveal the Boeing aircraft was still in the air at this point. The time difference between when the 'handshake' calls were sent from the plane and when they were received show how far the aircraft was from the satellite at that time, Prof. Kristensen writes in his paper. Each of the hourly 'handshakes' allowed the plotting of a circle with the satellite in the middle. The plane was somewhere on those circles each time it sent out a call. Using these circles and eliminating areas where it was impossible for the aircraft to be, the flight's probable flight path could be roughly mapped by Prof Kristensen. The 'handshake' calls also offered one further clue due to 'doppler shift' - the 'stretching' of a signal as the sender moves in relation to the receiver - which shows the relative speed of MH370 and the satellite at the time the 'handshake' calls were made. The range of relative speeds produced by the aircraft provide another set of boundaries which MH370 must have followed, further narrowing the potential flight path. Prof. Kristensen developed a mathematical model which takes into account all of the limits, and he argues the plane could only have gone down where the limits of speed, fuel, 'handshake' signals and doppler shift all fit in the same place. WarbirdsNews has just received the November, 2018 report from Chuck Cravens concerning the restoration of the Dakota Territory Air Museums P-47D Thunderbolt 42-27609 at AirCorps Aviation in Bemidji, Minnesota. We thought our readers would be very interested to see how the project has progressed since our last article on this important project. So without further ado, here it goes! Parts and Subassemblies The reassembly process requires that parts are prepared, inspected, and restored as necessary, and ready when the time comes for their installation. Because of that, parts preparation is a continual process that ensures smooth progress on the restoration. Paint The internal fuselage structure needs to be protected with zinc chromate, as was done at the Evansville factory. Cockpit Enclosure The frame and window panels of the Razorback model are a complex assembly. George and Ryan have been working at getting the parts ready for when that assembly becomes needed. Putting it all Back Together Many of the bolts are stained and at this time we havent found a definitive consistent pattern to the colors. Dye marking meant that the bolts were magnetically inspected. The colors probably varied by manufacturer. With modern bolts, the heads of magnetically inspected bolts are dyed green or blue. Early Development of the P-47 The Republic P-47 was the heaviest single engine fighter to see combat in WWII. The sheer bulk of a P-47 dwarfed any other Allied single engine fighter. It was also the most produced American fighter of the war with 15,683 built, slightly edging out the P-51 with 15,586 produced by North American Aviation. The Thunderbolt story began with a bit of commercial diplomacy. Ref.1 Alexander de Seversky, a Russian WWI combat ace, visited the American aircraft industry as a representative of the Czarist Russian government during the closing months of WWI. During his visit, the success of the Bolshevik revolution made a return to his homeland extremely hazardous. In fact, news of mass executions of former Czarist officers by the Bolsheviks made the decision to apply for American citizenship a logical and clear choice for de Seversky. He became a naturalized citizen by 1927. During the citizenship process, de Seversky worked as a test pilot for the United States Army Air Service, and an assistant to General Billy Mitchell. In 1922 he established the Seversky Aero Corporation to manufacture aircraft parts, notably a successful bomb sight of his own invention. The company did not make complete aircraft, and went out of business following the 1929 stock market crash. However, the financial crash did not stop Seversky, and in 1931 he secured financial backing and founded the Seversky Aircraft Company to build aircraft for the military market. Major de Seversky brought in fellow Russian emigre Alexander Kartveli as chief engineer in 1934. The companys first entry in a US fighter design competition was a landplane fighter development of their SEV-3 floatplane. It wasnt successful in winning the contract. Kartveli went back to the drawing board and designed the SEV-1XP, which won the 1936 fighter design competition. The U.S. Army Air Corps (USAAC) designated the fighter P-35, and it was the first USAAC production, single-seat, all-metal pursuit plane with retractable landing gear and an enclosed cockpit. Ref.2 The P-35 was the progenitor of a line of fighters that led to the P-47, notably including the P-43 Lancer, a fighter that incorporated a turbo-supercharger. By 1939, de Seversky had lost his company because of financial mismanagement. The company was reorganized and renamed the Republic Aviation Corporation. Alexander Kartveli stayed on as vice president of engineering, but Seversky was out. At the time, Republic was working on the designs of two lightweight fighters: the XP-44 Rocket, similar to the P-43, but re-engined with a Pratt and Whitney R2180-1 of 1400 horsepower, and the little known XP-47A, powered by a 1150 hp Allison V-1710-39 liquid-cooled in-line engine. The XP-47A was originally conceived with only two .50 caliber guns and would have weighed 4900 pounds at gross weight. Feedback from combat areas made it clear that heavier armament, armor protection for the pilot, and self sealing fuel tanks were a necessity in the existing combat conditions. These new requirements prompted the USAAC to hold another fighter design competition. The requirements specified that the fighter must have a ceiling of 40,000 feet, a speed at 25,000 feet of 400 mph, at least six (and preferably 8) .50 caliber machine guns, protective armor plate for the pilot, and self sealing fuel tanks with a minimum capacity of 315 gallons. Ref.3 Kartveli realized that the designs he was working on had no chance of attaining those requirements, and again went back to the drawing board. The result was a new and completely different design incorporating the 2000 hp Pratt and Whitney R-2800, the most powerful aircraft engine yet developed in the US. Also part of Kartvelis brainchild was a turbo-supercharger system that made meeting the high altitude specifications possible. The Army Air Corps was impressed enough to order a prototype on September 6, 1940 and designated the type with the same P number as the XP-47A, a highly unusual event for an entirely new design. Accordingly, the XP-47B prototype, became the first in the long line of WWII Thunderbolts. The XP-47B first flew on May 6, 1941 and met all the requirements issued by the USAAC except it held 300 instead of 315 gallons of fuel. It was more than double the gross weight of the abandoned XP-47A design at over 12,000 pounds. Ref.4 More history of the Thunderbolt next month. Restoration Shop Employee Profile: Sam Walsh Our restoration parts coordinator, Sam Walsh, came to us from Solvang, California on the central coast near Santa Barbara. There arent many who would commit to such a long distance relocation. Sam joined the AirCorps team in 2014. Since then, he has been a restoration technician, parts team member, parts sales coordinator, and restoration parts manager. Sam has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Marketing Management and Industrial Technology from Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo. He is also an instrument rated commercial pilot license, and is the president of the Bemidji Flying Club. Sam is very active in the Civil Air Patrol and EAA Young Eagles program. It is clear that Sam believes in giving back to aviation. His expertise at finding rare parts, like the gun heaters unique to the P-51C, is one of the many elements that makes Sam an indispensable asset to AirCorps Aviation. Sams favorite warbird is the F8F Bearcat and his favorite memory from AirCorps is his first ride in a warbird he helped restore, the Bush Stearman. Working with folks who are passionate about warbird projects is a high point in Sams experience here at AirCorps Aviation. Seeing the P-47 fly and trips to Oshkosh every year are what Sam is looking forward to. LATEST WARBIRDS NEWS ADVERTORIAL SPONSORED ARTICLE Pacific Trailways New Zealand Scenic Air Tours Aboard a C-47 We would like to welcome aboard Pacific Trailways as a new sponsor. As you will see from their article below, the company is heavily invested in the promotion and safe operation of a vintage warbird, [] AVIATION MUSEUM NEWS AVIATION MUSEUM NEWS New England Air Museum Announces National Aviation Hall of Fame Award Press Release: The New England Air Museum in Windsor Locks, Connecticut is happy to announce that the creator of New England Women Take Flight recently earned the 16th Annual Combs Gates Award from the National [] Grenades, ammunition, five rifles, cannabis plants and a mine have been found during a raid by police. The items allegedly belonged to Anthony Raymond Edwards, 49, and were seized by police in his Charlestown home, northern New South Wales, on Wednesday. The weapons and illicit substances were found after border operation intelligence officers identified a number of online purchases of firearms addressed to a Charlestown address. Scroll down for video A mass of grenades, ammunition, five rifles, cannabis plants and a mine have been found during a raid by police The items allegedly belonged to Anthony Raymond Edwards, 49, and were seized by police in his Charlestown home A total of five long-arm firearms, two sound-and-flash grenades, one gas propelled anti-personal mine, seven gas-propelled grenade-type canisters, various calibres of ammunition, body armour, camouflage gear, and hydroponic set-up with five cannabis plants were found during the search. The 49-year-old was arrested and taken to Belmont Police Station. He now faces 32 charges. Edwards appeared at Newcastle Local Court on Thursday and was refused bail. He is due to front court again later this month. The 49-year-old was arrested and taken to Belmont Police Station with 32 charges in total Edwards appeared at Newcastle Local Court on Thursday and was refused bail Australian Border Force (ABF) Investigations Superintendent Gary Low urged people to be aware of the regulations around importing these items into Australia. 'ABF will investigate and take action against anyone found to be illicitly bringing them into the country,' said Superintendent Low. NSW Police Drug and Firearms Squad Commander Detective Superintdent Martin Fileman has warned there is an illegal market sourcing firearms, replicas, and related paraphernalia and being manufactured locally. Australian Border Force (ABF) Investigations Superintendent Gary Low urged everyone to be aware of the regulations around importing these items into Australia A British photographer who went missing in Jamaica has been found dead by police, a week after she was last seen. Barbara Findley, from west London disappeared on November 30 after she had travelled to the island to spend time with her family at her home in Santa Cruz in St Elizabeth. The body of the 58-year-old was allegedly discovered after residents detected a foul smell in the bushes close to the entrance of a housing scheme at around 1pm on Wednesday 7 December, and subsequently called the police. Barbara Findley (pictured above) had disappeared on November 30 A Police spokesman in St Elizabeth said: 'We suspect that the decomposing body of a female found close to Providence Housing Scheme in Santa Cruz this afternoon may be that of 58-year-old Barbara Findley of nearby Beadles Boulevard who went missing last week. She was visiting the island from Kensington, England.' According to The Times, Ms Findley had relatives in Jamaica and was said to have moved to the island five years ago after spending most of her life in the UK. Police in the area stated that Ms Findley had reported a threat to her life around three months ago. Ms Findley had described herself as a photographer, designer and stylist. At her mother's home in south London a man who identified himself as Ms Findley's brother said that she had one adult daughter, who lives in Britain, The Times also reported. Norma Edwards, a cousin of Ms Findley, said that her body had been identified by a friend and said that she had been living in Jamaica for the last five years. 'She was very bright, very caring, very respectful.' Beadle Boulevard (pictured above) in Santa Cruz, where Ms Findley had been staying Constable Kevon Hanson, of Santa Cruz police, had previously commented that detectives believed the body to be Ms Findley's, however, he refused to disclose the identity of the person Ms Findley said had threatened her life but added: 'That person is now a suspect. It's a sensitive matter.' This comes as news of other cases of women being found dead on the island have emerged. Earlier this week the body of 44-year-old British woman Karen Cleary was found on the northern coast of Jamaica. The week before, the body of Nancy Hardy, 72, was reported to have been found in a shallow grave on the western coast. Care UK runs 114 homes but is accused of providing 'no services or products in return' for the 3,000 'administration fees' A major care home operator yesterday refused to pay 3million in compensation to residents it i8s accused of ripping off. Care UK, one of the countrys largest providers, said the administration fees of up to 3,000 it demands from families before an elderly relative is allowed to go into a home are fair and keep costs down for other residents. The Competition and Markets Authority had accused the firm, which runs 114 homes, of providing no services or products in return for the money and ordered it to pay compensation. The dispute now looks set for the courts. It follows a CMA investigation of heavy fringe charges faced by home residents and their families. The home which provides 8,000 beds and supports thousands more elderly with visits to their homes. A large minority of their residents are self-funded. The brother of a tourist murdered in Costa Rica claimed he shook hands with her killer who concocted a 'fake story' about her disappearance. Security guard Bismark Espinosa Martinez, 32, is accused of murdering a Miami woman at her Airbnb in Costa Rica some time after she boarded a flight there on November 28. The body of Carla Stefaniak, 36, was discovered with multiple stab wounds on Monday in San Jose. Police in Costa Rica said the murder was sexually motivated. Her brother Carlos Caicedo claimed that when he traveled to Costa Rica to search for his sister, he shook hands with Martinez, a Nicaraguan national, and listened to what he knew. Authorities say Martinez (right) is behind the murder of Carla Stefaniak (left), whose body was found Monday behind the Airbnb she rented out to celebrate her 36th birthday Carlos Caicedo (seen on the left with family friend Greg Zwolinsky) said he shook hands with his sister's alleged killer Bismark Espinosa Martinez as he was searching for his sister Bismark Espinosa Martinez, a 32-year-old security guard accused of killing a Miami woman at her Airbnb in Costa Rica, caught on video as local authorities took him into custody Tuesday Martinez was placed in handcuffs before police in San Jose loaded him into a police van Stefaniak's father Carlos Caicedo, who identified her body on Tuesday evening, is pictured during a tearful press conference on Wednesday, during which he called her death 'tragic' He told WPNG: 'We went to the villa. This guy shook our hands, looks us in the eyes, he tells his fake story. And we couldn't feel anything from this guy. Like, I just can't believe it. 'How coldhearted can you be? And such a monster, because you have to be something else, man, to do something like this. On Monday, a partially decomposed body was found about 300 yards from the apartment complex, according to Walter Espinoza, a spokesman for Costa Rica's Judicial Investigation Department. The body showed signs of a violent death, according to her father, who is also named Carlos Caicedo. 'It was a death that was absolutely violent,' he said in an interview with CNN. "And we ask ourselves why. We have no explanation'. Her family confirmed in a Facebook post early Wednesday morning her father had seen the body and it belonged to Stefaniak. An autopsy showed multiple stab wounds to the 'neck and upper extremities,' as well as blunt force trauma to the head, Espinoza, the government spokesman, said. There were also stains inside the apartment where she stayed 'which are compatible with blood and which will be submitted to further investigation and comparison,' he said. Espinoza Martinez had been staying in the apartment next to Stefaniak's rental, said Espinoza, the government spokesman. 'The person linked to this homicide (Espinoza Martinez) was close to her and had the time and place to commit the crime,' he said. Detectives who interviewed people who had contact with Espinoza Martinez grew suspicious when they noticed his statements were contradictory, Espinoza said. Stefaniak's father Carlos Caicedo identified her body, which was found half naked and covered in plastic bags, on Tuesday evening, one week after she vanished while celebrating her 36th birthday. In a tearful press conference on Wednesday, the father described Stefaniak's death as 'tragic'. Video was released of Martinez being taken into custody by local authorities earlier this week Just before she vanished last week, Stefaniak told a friend in a FaceTime call that she was planning to meet up with the guard to ask him to purchase water because of a storm The listing for the Airbnb, which has since been removed from the site, is seen above A posting on the 'Finding Carla' Facebook page set up by her family said Costa Rican authorities had finally allowed her father to view her body. 'Words cannot express the devastation within her family and friends. We want the world to know that we will never forget Carla,' the tribute post read. '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. May god bless her soul.' An autopsy found stab wounds on her arms and neck, while the cause of death was determined to be a blow to the head. Investigators found blood inside the Airbnb where she was staying. Blood is also believed to have been found in his nearby apartment. Authorities said Martinez had been staying next door to Stefaniak and that he gave contradictory statements during questioning. Her family have been on the ground in Costa Rica since she vanished and have been helping local authorities. Stefaniak's father Carlos (above with family friend Greg Zwolinsky) confirmed late Tuesday that the body was that of his daughter. He cried when discussing her killing on GMA alongside family friend Greg Zwolinksy Investigators said blood was found in the Airbnb where Stefaniak had been staying when she vanished last week. Photo courtesy of GMA Authorities said Espinoza Martinez had been staying next door to Stefaniak. Pictured above is another photo of the Airbnb rental. She sent her sister-in-law a text message describing it as 'pretty sketchy' Martinez told Stefaniak's family that he saw her leaving the Airbnb with her luggage at about 5am on November 28 and getting into an unknown car. Her family said it didn't make sense because her flight wasn't until the afternoon and the airport was only 30 minutes away from where she was staying. Espinoza said officials had analyzed surveillance video from the apartment complex. Espinoza said the images in the video also did not align with statements made by the security guard. Stefaniak (right) had been on vacation in Costa Rica with her sister-in-law April Burton (left) to celebrate her 36th birthday. They are pictured together last week Stefaniak had been on vacation in Costa Rica with her sister-in-law April Burton to celebrate her 36th birthday. She was scheduled to fly home alone Wednesday - a day after Burton left Costa Rica. Stefaniak had dropped Burton at the airport and returned their rental car before taking a 30-minute Uber to an Airbnb that she had checked in to for her final night. She had checked into her 1pm flight but never made it to the airport - and never responded to a number of birthday messages from worried family and friends. A new report shows Layla Shwekani, 28, was killed in Syria in 2016 A Chicago woman has been killed in Syrian custody after being held in detention by the Bashar al Assad regime for three years. Layla Shwekani, 28, was a 'humanitarian activist, who was born in Damascus but lived in Chicago until returning to Syria in 2015, according to the Syrian Network for Human Rights. The group says it believes Skwekani, who was engaged to be married, was 'executed' in a military prison in 2016 after being detained in February of that year. 'She was registered in civil registry department as dead in December 28, 2016, we believe she was executed in Saydnaya military prison in Damascus Suburbs governate,' the group wrote in report released Sunday. The report also details 15 people killed due to torture in Syria in November. Shwekani, who was engaged, was detained in February 2016 and her family just learned her fate after a report was released Sunday She was killed in Syrian custody after being held in detention by the Bashar al Assad (pictured) regime for three years Shwekani had a degree in information architecture from Arab International University in Daraa, Syria. She provided humanitarian relief to Syrians displaced from their homes due to the war when . Her mosque in Willowbrook, Illinois, held a funeral for her Friday after her family finally learned the fate of their daughter. CBS 2 revealed she was in solitary confinement during her imprisonment. While there is no evidence that she was physically tortured, 'testimonies of women who have gone through detention indicate that women undergo severe torture, rape and not being given enough food or water,' Elizabeth Tsurkov told the outlet. Residents have been told to evacuate as an out-of-control bushfire ravages a number of small communities in Victoria's south-west. The grassfire is burning at Little River, about 50 kilometres south-west of Melbourne, and is not yet under-control. Emergency services have urged residents located in Cocoroc, Mambourin and Manor to evacuate immediately. Residents have been told to evacuate as out-of-control bushfire ravages a number of small communities in Victoria's south-west The grassfire is burning at Little River, about 50 kilometres south-west of the Melbourne, and is not yet under-control 'If you choose to stay, emergency services may not be able to help you,' Vic Emergency said in a statement. Those who are away from their homes have been told not to return. Vic Emergency warns that evacuation after 4pm on Friday would be 'life threatening'. 'After 4pm it may be too late to leave, take shelter when the fire arrives - protect yourself from the radiant heat.' At least one shed has been destroyed by the blaze, Seven News reported. Fire-fighting planes and helicopters are helping to fight the fire. 'If you choose to stay, emergency services may not be able to help you,' Vic Emergency said in a statement Smoke from the grassfire is visible at Avalon Airport, about 25 kilometres away. The fire has had an impact on V/Line services as the 1.30pm Southern Cross to Geelong train was cancelled. Vic Emergency has also released a 'watch and act' message Durham Lead, Grenville, Scotsburn, south of Ballarat in Victoria's west. Victoria is battling sweltering conditions and there is a total fire ban in place in the Mallee, Wimmera and Northern Country districts. One of Australia's leading civil liberties experts has slammed security laws passed in Canberra allowing the government to snoop on people's private messages. The unprecedented laws will bring an end to encrypted messages used in apps such as WhatsApp, which has around six million active Australian users every month. Labor initially condemned the legislation as 'confusing' before backing down, and the President of the Queensland Council for Civil Liberties Terry O'Gorman has argued Australians' privacy will suffer as a result of the law's passing. Australia has passed unprecedented laws to scrap end-to-end WhatsApp encryption (stock image) He told Daily Mail Australia: 'It would be like phoning the police to tap a hospital's entire switchboard when they are simply after one doctor. 'By targeting a particular individual in relation to encryption - they are jeopardising everyone.' He also criticised Labor's decision to eventually support the law change. He said: 'It just shows Labor has given in to the law and order witch hunt politics in relation to terrorism - and all of our civil liberties have suffered as a result.' But the President of the Queensland Council for Civil Liberties Terry O'Gorman (pictured) has argued Australian's civil liberties will suffer as a result of the law's passing The opposition gave in over fears of terrorism threats to Australia over the Christmas period. The highly-regarded lawyer said the laws set a dangerous precedent for future legislation. Mr O'Gorman added: Its a slippery slope (John) Howard said back in 2001 the legislation was just for encryption but since then they have leached into mainstream criminal law. The civil liberties advocate's warning comes as Australian Information Security Association chairman Damien Manuel said the new laws couldn't even be implemented by Christmas. He said: 'It's a ludicrous law. It's going to drive foreign workers from coming to Australia to work in the cyber security industry. 'It's also not implementable by Christmas. A lot of the companies affected by this law are international organisations - they wont change their systems just to cater for Australia.' Australian Information Security Association chairman Damien Manuel said the new encryption laws couldn't even be implemented by Christmas, despite the laws being put in place to counter the terror threat during the holiday period (stock image of end-to-end notification on WhatsApp) WhatsApp has up until this point been secured with end-to-end encryption meaning the app and third parties could not read or listen to the content. Backers of the bill claim terrorists have been taking advantage of this to communicate privately. Australia has become the first country in the world to ditch the messaging app's encryption. The new spying powers are limited to only 'serious offences' such as preventing terrorism and tackling organised crime in Australia, according to Attorney-General Christian Porter. Australia's national security was at the forefront of the debate, with Mr Porter telling the lower house the new laws are necessary to prevent terror events. Mr Porter also said police and national security agencies will still require a warrant to access the encrypted messages. After initially rejecting the proposed laws, Labor gave in over fears of terrorism threats to Australia over the Christmas period Under the new powers, companies will 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. 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 The powers will extend beyond terrorism, to state and territory police forces who cover a broad range of serious offenses. Labor condemned the 200-page bill as being too broad and confusing. 'What does that mean? No ordinary person can understand it, and no lawyer can understand it,' shadow attorney-general Mark Dreyfus said. The laws were the subject of fiery debate in Parliament earlier in the week, with Energy Minister Angus Taylor accusing Labor of 'running a protection racket for terrorists' by refusing to rush through the laws. Prime Minister Scott Morrison insisted on Thursday the move was in the best interest of Australia's national security and denied he was playing political games to distract from a different vote of removing asylum-seeking children from Nauru. 'Let the scale fall from your eyes. This is not about politics, this is about Australia's national security,' he told reporters. WhatsApp is used in an estimated 95 per cent of serious criminal activity. A spokesman from the Australian Security Information Association (AISA) said they are 'deeply disappointed' with the proposed legislation. In a statement, the AISA board said: 'The AISA Board is deeply disappointed and remains concerned that the additional safeguards proposed by Labor do little to address the fundamental flaws in the proposed legislation, which represents a direct threat to Australias national security on a number of levels.' The AISA claims the legislation would 'destroy global trust in the Australian technology sector, and create new avenues for cyber criminals and state sponsored actors to attack Australian businesses and critical infrastructure.' 'What does that mean? No ordinary person can understand it, and no lawyer can understand it,' shadow attorney-general Mark Dreyfus said A one-year-old boy's body was cradled by his devastated aunt after he was fatally struck by a taxi on Queensland's Gold Coast. Emergency services were called to Sovereign Islands, at Paradise Point, just after 10:30 on Friday morning. It is understood the child was in the care of an aunt, who, like the driver of the taxi is being treated for shock. Emergency services were called to Sovereign Islands, at Paradise Point, (pictured) just after 10:30 on Friday morning The child was on his way home to Excalibur Court at Sovereign Island when he was hit by the taxi which had just dropped him off. The boy had been out with his three siblings, who were all aged below the age of 12, The Townsville Bulletin reported. Police are investigating how the boy died instantly. His parents, who were overseas at the time of his death, are expected to come back to Australia. The child was on his way home to Excalibur Court at Sovereign Island (stock image) when he was hit by the taxi which had just dropped him off Inspector Jim Plowman told the newspaper there were communication issues with the aunt, who held the young boy in her hands for a while after he was hit. Inspector Plowman said: 'The taxi driver is beside himself. 'Shes paid the taxi, is driving away and were still trying to establish how the boy has somehow managed to become under the wheel.' There is no suggestion by police the infant's death was anything but a tragic accident. The driver, 32, had 'no problems' during alcohol and drug tests after the accident, police said. More to come Donald Trump and Melania put on an unusually loved up display Thursday while attending Hanukkah ceremonies at the White House. The president and first lady held hands and smiled at one another throughout the evening, and she placed her hand over his arm while he stood at the podium for a speech in front of Holocaust survivors. Melania's affectionate behavior was rather unusual, as she has been seen on several occasions appearing less than tactile toward her husband at formal and casual functions. In April, Melania appeared to wriggle her fingers away from his as he tried gingerly to grasp her hand during an awkward photocall with the French President Emmanuel Macron and First Lady Brigitte Macron. During an official visit to Israel earlier this year, she swatted Trump's hand away as he tried to hold it while they walked across the tarmac after touching down in Air Force One. On other occasions, she has shunned his advances while walking down the aircraft's steps and as they made their way towards Marine One. Melania places her hand on her husband's arm while the pair attend Hanukkah ceremonies at the White House Thursday The president and first lady hold hands as they arrive to host a Hanukkah reception at the White House in Washington on December 6, 2018 Trump playfully shook her hand while giving a speech at the podium in front of Holocaust survivors The Trumps stand together as they attend the ceremony in front of Holocaust survivors in the White House Trump speaks during a Hanukkah reception in the East Room of the White House on December 6, 2018 Trump's daughter Ivanka, formerly a member of the Presbyterian church, converted to Judaism in 2009, the year she married Jared Kushner. On Wednesday evening, the audience cheered when Trump spoke about his decision last December to formally recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital city and also move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem. He welcomed eight Holocaust survivors to the White House in his address, playfully saying of one of the women, 'She looks so young.' She told him off mic that 'she's not' as he teased that she is 'young at heart.' He promised to protect the Jewish nation from the threat posed by Iran and reminded them that he had followed through on a promise to move the American embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. 'It was a horrible, horrible deal. It should have never been made,' he said of the Iran nuclear deal that he abandoned this year. 'And imposed the toughest ever sanctions. We sanctioned Iran, I guess, like no one has ever been sanctioned before.' Trump asserted, 'We must never allow Iran to acquire a nuclear bomb. We cannot let the worlds leading sponsor of terror, a country that chants "death to America" and threatens Israel all of the time with annihilation and constantly screams out death to Israel to possess the deadliest weapon on Earth. We will not allow that to happen.' The kept promise led to chants of 'Four More Years!' even though Trump has a potential six years in office before him. 'That is actually six more,' he said, echoing an audience member who made the point. 'I've actually never heard four more years that's an interesting one. We'll go for six, and then well all be in very good shape.' The president's address was enthusiastically received, especially by one attendee standing near Trump who shrieked throughout the president's remarks. The president acknowledged the 'horrific tragedy' at a synagogue as he led the celebration, five weeks after a deadly attack on Jewish Americans. Trump acknowledged the 'horrific tragedy' at a synagogue on Thursday as he led a Hanukkah celebration at the White House five weeks after a deadly attack on Jewish Americans Melania Trump and Donald Trump enter the East Room of the White House for the celebration SHOUT OUT FOR JARED: Trump mentioned Kushner and told attendees, 'I'm sure none of you have ever heard that name before' Melania Trump greets guests as she appears with President Trump at the Hanukkah reception Trump's kept promises to Israel led to chants of 'Four More Years!' even though Trump has a potential six years in office before him 'Fourteen 11 Jewish Americans were brutally murdered in a sinister anti-Semitic attack on the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh,' the president said, stopping to correct himself after an attendee made him aware that he'd incorrectly stated the death toll. The president noted that he and Melania visited Pittsburgh to pay their respects. Trump said congregants 'were incredible people, the way they stood up so bravely, so proudly' and defended their faith. 'In the aftermath of that wicked assault, we reaffirmed our solemn duty to confront anti-Semitism everywhere it occurs,' Trump declared. 'We must stamp out this vile hatred from the world.' Trump said that the Jewish people have suffered 'unthinkable repression' and endured 'horrific violence' and yet they continue to thrive. 'Thrived like few, that I can tell you,' the president stated. 'Thrived.' Although it was a celebration of the Jewish faith, it was also a solemn occasion at times as Trump remembered the fallen, including the 11 Jewish Americans who were massacred at their Pennsylvania synagogue. Tree of Life hosted a public lighting of its Hanukkah menorah in Pittsburgh on Sunday evening that doubled as a memorial service. 'To me, it's a simple message: The light is the message,' Rabbi Jeffrey Myers said as he stood in front of a makeshift memorial for the 11 victims of the October massacre. Myers was leading the Shabbat ceremony at Tree of Life when the Oct. 27 shooting occurred. Tree of Life hosted a public lighting of its Hanukkah menorah in Pittsburgh on Sunday evening Nearly 500 people gathered outside the house of worship to honor the dead and celebrate the beginning of Hanukkah on Sunday evening. 'We are practicing our Jewish faith publicly and proudly,' Stephen Cohen, co-president of New Light synagogue, said at the menorah lighting ceremony. The White House's annual celebration was delayed as the nation grieved former President George H.W. Bush, who was on his way by locomotive to his final resting place on Thursday night. Trump paid tribute to Bush at the Hanukkah celebration at the White House, calling him a 'wonderful man' and an 'American patriot.' He said the state funeral he attended for Bush on Wednesday at the National Cathedral was a 'beautiful tribute' to the ex-president who died at the age of 94 on Friday. 'We will always remember this great statesman,' the sitting president said. 'He really was very special.' A Sydney woman found guilty of plotting a terrorist attack with her husband says she has abandoned extremist Islamic views and is following him into Christianity. Psychiatrist Richard Furth testified on Friday that Alo-Bridget Namoa, who converted to Islam in about 2012, has told him she no longer has any interest in that 'b******t'. The psychiatrist was giving evidence at the Supreme Court sentence hearing of Namoa and Sameh Bayda, both 21, who were found guilty in October of conspiring between early December 2015 and late January 2016 to prepare for a terrorist act in Sydney. A court has heard that Alo-Bridget Namoa (left) has ditched her extremist Islamic views and has followed her husband Sameh Bayda (right) into Christianity The couple self-described as an Australian 'Islamic Bonnie and Clyde' found guilty of planning a New Year's Eve terror attack in October. Sameh Bayda and Namoa, both now 21, were charged last year with the offences, which prosecutors said they had plotted in late 2015 to early 2016. They had already been in custody accused of collecting documents likely to facilitate terrorist acts. Bayda was allegedly found with Arabic documents on how to carry out a stabbing and how to make an improvised explosive device (IED). Namoa allegedly had an Islamic flag and hunting knife, as well as instructions in Arabic on making a IED detonator. The couple (pictured) were found guilty in October of conspiring between early December 2015 and late January 2016 to prepare for a terrorist act in Sydney She reportedly wrote in a text message conversation with Bayda that they were the 'Islamic Bonnie and Clyde'. Prosecutors told the NSW Supreme Court Bayda had given Namoa the knife and said each believed they had a 'religious obligation to attack non-believers.' Authorities say more than a dozen terrorist attacks have been prevented in the past few years, but several have taken place, including a cafe siege in Sydney in 2014 where two hostages were killed. Police investigating reports of a man peeping through a 13-year-old girl's bedroom window have made an arrest. The young girl noticed a man looking through the window of her Collaroy Plateau home on Sydney's northern beaches about 10.45pm on Friday, November 30. She alerted her parents who searched the property but called police after they couldn't find the suspect. Scroll down for video. A man (pictured) was caught peeping through the window of a Collaroy Plateau home on Friday night to watch a 13-year-old girl They watched back CCTV of the incident which revealed a man walking back and forth around the house. The chilling footage shows the man pacing before peering inside a ground-floor window and walking off. Police canvassed the area on the night, without success. Officers appealed for public assistance after failing to find the man and multiple members of the community called Crime Stoppers. Detectives from the Northern Beaches Police Area Command arrested a 30-year-old man in Dee Why on Friday. Detectives from the Northern Beaches Police Area Command arrested a 30-year-old man in Dee Why on Friday Following the arrest he was taken to Dee Why Police where he is continuing to assist police with their inquiries. Northern Beaches Crime Manager, Detective Inspector Michael Boutouridis, said police take reports such as these seriously. 'Families have the right to feel safe in their own homes but incidents such as these can be extremely distressing, especially when children are involved,' Det Insp Boutouridis said. CBS paid more than $5million in hush money to an employee who accused late 60 Minutes creator Don Hewitt of repeated sexual assault and destroying her career, a bombshell new report has revealed. The New York Times reported Thursday that the settlement was reached between CBS and the unidentified woman in the 1990s after the network deemed her claims to be credible. The revelation comes after CEO Les Moonves made his exit in September after being accused of sexual misconduct. This week has been especially tumultuous for Moonves, as a new report alleges he received oral sex from multiple employees and even had one of them 'on-call' to perform whenever he demanded. He has denied the claims. CBS hired two law firms to investigate Moonves following the allegations from a total of 12 women who claimed he either forced himself on them or was sexually inappropriate. 60 Minutes producer Jeff Fager was also terminated in September for inappropriate conduct. Late 60 Minutes creator Don Hewitt paid more than $5million to an employee who accused him of repeated sexual assault, a new report has revealed Hewitt, who created the 60 Minutes program in 1968, produced the first televised presidential debate between Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy in 1960 Fager sent a text message to reporter Jericka Duncan, warning her about the coverage of the sexual misconduct allegations against him, just three days before his ousting. The draft report by the CBS board said: 'We note that the misconduct of individual "60 Minutes" employees, including Mr. Fager and Mr. Rosen, should not have been tolerated, but we find that it was not as severe as the media accounts or as severe as the sexual misconduct that occurred during the Don Hewitt era at 60 Minutes,'" according to the Times. The Times reported that the Hewitt settlement was first set at $450,000 but was changed numerous times. Hewitt, who created the 60 Minutes program in 1968, died in August 2009 after losing his battle to cancer. Hewitt had produced the first televised presidential debate between Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy in 1960. President Donald Trump began what could be the most significant day so far in Robert Mueller's Russia probe pre-emptively lashing out at the special counsel's office in a tweetstorm, and denying reports that his social media will be the administration's only response to coming Mueller bombshells. 'We will be doing a major Counter Report to the Mueller Report. This should never again be allowed to happen to a future President of the United States!' Trump tweeted Releasing a week's worth of pent-up bile following an extended state funeral that had forced him to moderate his public statements, the president let it all hang out in the morning hours, framing a series of expected court documents as the product of corruption and political bias. Prosecutors in New York and Washington have until 5:00 p.m. Friday to file sentencing memos explaining former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen's cooperation in their respective investigations. The Mueller team is also expected, but not required, to describe in writing why they want to cancel a cooperation agreement with Paul Manafort who they have said is guilty of 'crimes and lies' that should invalidate the plea deal they struck with the former Trump campaign chairman. Trump said his lawyers are deep into a written response already to whatever Mueller may file in federal court, tweeting: 'It has been incorrectly reported that Rudy Giuliani and others will not be doing a counter to the Mueller Report. That is Fake News. Already 87 pages done, but obviously cannot complete until we see the final Witch Hunt Report.' 'Robert Mueller and Leakin Lyin James Comey are Best Friends, just one of many Mueller Conflicts of Interest. And bye [sic] the way, wasnt the woman in charge of prosecuting Jerome Corsi (who I do not know) in charge of legal at the corrupt Clinton Foundation? A total Witch Hunt,' he tweeted at 6:18 a.m. President Donald Trump's Twitter meltdown on Friday followed an online explosion last night, all designed to tarnish Robert Mueller's halo in advance of a pair of expected bombshells Trump says his lawyer Rudy Giuliani and other attorneys are busy at work writing a rebuttal report to whatever Mueller produces, and they're 87 pages into it already The president's tweets were serve as a pre-emptive recap of his arguments against Mueller an attempt to tarnish his halo in advance of a big day in court Four more tweets in 57 minutes, 320 characters at a time, provided the world with a Trumpian stream-of-consciousness recap of anti-Mueller themes. 'He must sense something truly awful coming,' an aide to a Republican senator told DailyMail.com minutes later. 'Will Robert Muellers big time conflicts of interest be listed at the top of his Republicans only Report. Will Andrew Weissmans [sic] horrible and vicious prosecutorial past be listed in the Report,' Trump continued, frantically skipping questions marks and misspelling the name of Mueller's chief legal pitbull Andrew Weissmann. 'He wrongly destroyed peoples lives, took down great companies, only to be overturned, 9-0, in the United States Supreme Court. Doing same thing to people now. Will all of the substantial & many contributions made by the 17 Angry Democrats to the Campaign of Crooked Hillary be listed in top of Report. Will the people that worked for the Clinton Foundation be listed at the top of the Report? Will the scathing document written about Lyin James Comey, by the man in charge of the case, Rod Rosenstein (who also signed the FISA Warrant), be a big part of the Report? 'Isnt Rod therefore totally conflicted? Will all of the lying and leaking by the people doing the Report, & also Bruce Ohr (and his lovely wife Molly), Comey, Brennan, Clapper, & all of the many fired people of the FBI, be listed in the Report? Will the corruption within the DNC & Clinton Campaign be exposed?..And so much more!' James Comey was the director of the FBI until Trump dismissed him on May 9, 2017. Weeks later, Comey arranged for a memo on a private meeting with the president to be leaked to the press, claiming Trump asked him to curtail the FBI investigation into former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. President Donald Trump had a public meltdown on Twitter before special counsel Robert Mueller is expected to file documents in the cases against Paul Manafort and Michael Cohen On Tuesday, a filing by Mueller (pictured) provided the first details of Michael Flynns assistance in the probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and possible contacts with the Trump campaign The president tweeted Friday that his legal team will be issuing a lengthy rebuttal to whatever Mueller publishes Comey's dismissal and the contents of his memo have been interpreted by some as evidence of an obstruction of justice by Trump and have become part of Mueller's probe Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Trump has shown no love for Cohen, his former longtime personal lawyer and fixer, saying on Twitter that he should draw a long prison term. Cohen pleaded guilty to financial crimes in a New York court in August, and last week admitted lying to Congress in a Mueller case. Sentencing for both of those cases will be handled by one judge. Attention will focus Friday on whether Mueller discloses new information to supplement Cohens admission last week that he sought help from the Kremlin for a Trump skyscraper in Moscow late into the 2016 campaign. Muellers probe has infuriated Trump. He denies any collusion between his team and Russia, and accuses Muellers prosecutors of pressuring his former aides to lie about him, his election campaign and his business dealings. The president has called Cohen a liar and weak person. In back-to-back tweets on Thursday night, the president quoted conspiracy theorist Jerome Corsi before lashing out at the 'fake news' media. 'Jerome Corsi: "This is not justice, this is not America. This is a political prosecution. The Special Prosecutor (Counsel), to get this plea deal, demanded I lie and violate the law. Theyre the criminals." He is not alone. 17 Angry Dems. People forced to lie. Sad!' Trump tweeted at Fox News host Trish Regan. He then followed that tweet up with a quote from Regan, who interviewed Corsi on Trish Regan Primetime. In back-to-back tweets Thursday night, the president quoted conspiracy theorist Jerome Corsi and a Fox News host who gave him a softball interview The president lashed out at the 'fake news' media in allcaps before dinnertime 'Trish_Regan: "Did the FBI follow protocol to obtain the FISA warrant? I dont think so. The Dossier was opposition research funded by opponents. Dont use Government resources to take down political foes. Weaponizing Government for gain." Is this really America? Witch Hunt!' Trump tweeted. That tweet was then followed by a swipe at the media in all caps: 'FAKE NEWS - THE ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE!' During Regan's segment, Corsi told the host that his only crime was that he 'supported Donald Trump.' 'I did my best to help get Donald Trump elected. And now, Im a criminal for having done that. Its a political prosecution and I filed a complaint with the DOJ against Mueller,' Corsi said. On Tuesday, a filing by Mueller provided the first details of Michael Flynns assistance in the probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and possible contacts with the Trump campaign. Flynn participated in 19 interviews with prosecutors and cooperated extensively in a separate and undisclosed criminal probe, according to the filing. But the documents lengthy redactions also underscore how much Mueller has yet to reveal. The next highly anticipated filing is expected on Friday from Muellers office, detailing the lies that prosecutors say Paul Manafort (left) told them after his guilty plea. Information will also be provided in the filing as it relates to Michael Cohen (right) Mueller believes Michael Flynn (pictured) shouldn't get prison time because of the 'substantial assistance' he has given in the Russia probe Mueller believes Flynn shouldn't get prison time because of the 'substantial assistance' he has given in the Russia probe. It was filed two weeks ahead of Flynns 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 US before Trump took office. Though prosecutors withheld specific details of Flynns 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, Cohen, of making up 'stories' to get a reduced prison sentence after pleading guilty to lying to Congress and also praised longtime confidante Roger Stone for saying he wouldnt testify against Trump. The next highly anticipated filing is expected on Friday from Muellers office, detailing the lies that prosecutors say Manafort told them after his guilty plea. In Tuesdays 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. Flynns false statements stemmed from a January 24, 2017, interview with the FBI about his interactions with Sergey Kislyak, Russias then-ambassador to the US, as the Obama administration was levying sanctions on the Kremlin in response to election interference. Tens of thousands of airline passengers could be left grounded at Christmas if an airline union goes ahead with a strike in late December. Air New Zealand was informed on Friday that the Aviation and Marine Engineers Association and E tu', which represent nearly 1000 aircraft maintenance engineers and logistics staff, were planning a strike for December 21, Brisbane Times reported. Figures showed that 42,000 people had flights booked for December 21, which is the busiest travel day of the year as it is last Friday before Christmas. Air New Zealand's general manager of aircraft maintenance Viv de Beus told the publication the company was aware of how important the holidays were for families. Tens of thousands of airline passengers could be left grounded at Christmas if an airline union goes ahead with a strike in late December 'It would be devastating to see the holiday plans of more than 40,000 hard-working Kiwis and international visitors ruined,' he said. 'We remain committed to working closely with the engineers' unions to reach a reasonable agreement and avoid strike action if at all possible.' The airline has 10 flights scheduled out of Sydney on December 21 and nine from Melbourne. Any passengers booked for flights on that day have been assured they will be notified if their travel plans are impacted by the strike. The strike is being launched because of a pay dispute between the airline and the union. Air New Zealand presented an offer to union members earlier in the year proposing a two per cent pay rise in the first year of the agreement before a three per cent rise over the following 18 months., But the deal was 'resoundingly rejected'. Trade union group E tu's Head of Aviation, Savage, released a statement after the strike was announced. Air New Zealand was informed on Friday that the Aviation and Marine Engineers Association and E tu', which represent nearly 1000 aircraft maintenance engineers and logistics staff, were planning a strike for December 21 'No one wants to disrupt people's Christmas plans, but Air New Zealand has taken an unnecessarily aggressive approach,' the statement said. 'This is not just about pay. It's about repeated proposals by the airline weeks out from Christmas to pay them less than colleagues who have already settled, and to cut into key conditions, including overtime rates.' Many of the workers were struggling to get ahead with the current system in place. 'Our members feel under-appreciated and under attack. The ballot results show an overwhelming resolve to take action to defend themselves,' the statement read. Both unions have agreed to mediation on Monday with hopes they can reach an agreement with the airline and avoid the proposed strike. More than 970 engineering members of E tu' and the Aviation and Marine Engineers Association voted 95 percent to strike, at meetings this week in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. Air New Zealand also released salary figures for staff positions set to strike, revealing they earn $NZ115,000 (AUS$109,500) more than double the average New Zealand wage Air New Zealand has accused the unions of using traveling customers as a 'bargaining chip' to affect their demands. However Savage said strikes of this kind were rare within the New Zealand airline industry. 'Aviation workers don't make these decisions without good cause. In aviation, there is a constant downward pressure on costs driven by airlines. The result is a race to the bottom on wages and conditions. 'New Zealand needs to remain a high-wage high-skilled economy. Aviation is a life blood industry.' Air New Zealand also released salary figures for staff positions set to strike, revealing they earn $NZ115,000 (AUS$109,500) more than double the average New Zealand wage. Police are investigating a fake bomb threat at the building housing CNN's New York City offices. The anonymous phone call was received by a member of staff at the Time Warner building at 25 Columbus Circle, in Manhattan, Thursday night. CNN said several fire alarm bells signaling an evacuation rang inside its newsroom shortly after 10:30pm. The bomb threat was made just 20 minutes after President Trump tweeted that fake news was 'the enemy of the people' - the latest in many of his attacks on the media. Scroll down for video Police are investigating a fake bomb threat at the building housing CNN's New York offices in Manhattan. Pictured: NYPD officers stand near the Time Warner Center Building after the building was evacuated due to a bomb threat The threat came less than an hour after President Trump tweeted 'FAKE NEWS,' which he has often labeled CNN In a tweet, CNN's Brian Stelter said the office had been evacuated and that CNN was airing taped programming. Don Lemon, who was on the air at the time of the bomb threat was forced to abandon his show. 'We were told to evacuate the building and to do it as soon as possible. We grabbed what we could and got out of the building and now, we are standing outside of the building,' Lemon said on CNN. 'All of the employees, all the people who were in the building as we were doing our live broadcast are out of the Time Warner Center now,' he added. CNN ended up broadcasting from the street outside their building with Don Lemon on air Streets around the Time Warner Center were closed off as the bomb squad investigated An armed NYPD police officer stands near the Time Warner building after the building was evacuated due to a bomb threat at the offices of CNN Chris Cuomo also tweeted about the incident, but said employees expected to be allowed back into the building 'ASAP.' According to police, someone phoned in a threat stating there were five bombs placed throughout Time Warner Center. After a sweep of the building, police did not find any explosives and employees were allowed back inside the building just after 11pm. Within the same hour as the bomb threat, President Donald Trump, who has made a political career of attacking CNN, had just tweeted about 'fake news'. 'FAKE NEWS - THE ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE,' Trump tweeted just after 10pm. No evidence of any device was found, but the building was evacuated as a precaution Security officers evacuated the building as a precaution and called police. A preliminary search by in-house security did not turn up anything, and the NYPD also found nothing CNN said several fire alarm bells signaling an evacuation rang inside its newsroom shortly after 10:30pm NYPD police officers investigate the Time Warner building after the building was evacuated due to a bomb threat, in the Manhattan borough of New York City In October, the building was partially evacuated after a suspicious package containing a crude pipe bomb was delivered to the company. That package was addressed to former CIA Director John Brennan, who was a contributor to the network for a time. Cesar Sayoc, a Florida resident, was arrested for allegedly sending that bomb, as well as a number of others, to prominent Democrats, including Hillary Clinton, Cory Booker and Maxine Waters. Sayoc was indicted last month. Police released this CCTV image of Grace Millane, 22, leaving Sky City, in Auckland's CBD, at around 7.15pm on December 1 Mystery surrounds the movements of a British backpacker during the two hours before her last sighting at a luxury hotel in New Zealand. Grace Millane, 22, from Essex, was last seen with a man at the City Life hotel in Auckland at about 9.40pm on December 1. A CCTV image shows she was at Sky City, a hotel a short distance away, at 7.15pm on the same night - but her whereabouts between those two sightings is unknown. Today, her millionaire father David Millane broke down in tears as he begged for help finding the university graduate. Miss Millane has not been heard from since December 1 after arriving in Auckland less than two weeks earlier as part of a round-the-world trip. Police have now revealed she was last seen with a man at a four-star hotel before she disappeared. Detectives say they have 'grave fears' over Miss Millane's safety. Her father, a 60-year-old property developer, fought back tears as he urged anyone who has any information about his 'outgoing, fun-loving' daughter to come forward. 'We last had contact with her on Saturday the 1st of December and as a family we've been extremely concerned for her welfare,' said Mr Millane, who arrived in New Zealand on Friday morning. 'Grace is a lovely, outgoing, fun-loving and family orientated daughter.' He tearfully explained that his daughter has never been out of contact with her family for such a long period of time, usually contacting them on social media. David Millane, Grace's property developer father, broke down in tears as he begged for help finding his backpacker daughter after she vanished in New Zealand Her father David Millane, a 60-year-old property developer, wept as he made an emotional statement urging anyone who has any information about his 'outgoing, fun-loving' daughter to come forward Grace was said to have been in regular contact with her family until she went missing on Saturday night Police have revealed Grace was last seen with a man at the City Life hotel on December 1 before she disappeared. CCTV also showed her at Sky City earlier in the day 'She arrived here on the 20th of November and has been bombarding us with numerous photographs and messages of her adventures,' Mr Millane said. 'We're all extremely upset and it's very difficult at this time to describe the range of emotions we are going through.' 'Finally I would like to take this opportunity to appeal to anybody who has seen, spoken to or come into contact with Grace over the last few days to come forward with any detail no matter how small and contact the investigation team.' Detective Inspector Scott Beard said the last known sighting of Grace was at 9.41pm on Saturday December 1 at the City Life Hotel with a male companion. The apartment in the City Life hotel in Queen Street, pictured, has been named by police as a location of interest 'Police have identified this man and he has been spoken to,' Mr Beard told reporters. 'Through our investigations we have also identified a location of interest, an apartment in the City Life hotel in Queen Street.' In the six days since Grace's disappearance officers have conducted multiple inquiries and are now conducting a scene examination at the apartment. Grace was said to have been in regular contact with her family and friends until Saturday night - the day before her birthday. 'At this point we hold grave fears for her safety,' Mr Beard said. Grace's brother also made an emotional appeal for help find her in a video widely shared on social media. Declan Millane spoke to New Zealand TV station The Project NZ in an emotional appearance during which he urged authorities to do everything in their power to 'bring her home'. 'We raised our concerns on Monday 3rd December with local police and the embassy in New Zealand,' he said in an interview. Mr Millane tearfully explained that his daughter has never been out of contact with her family for such a long period of time, usually contacting them on social media The tearful father revealed Grace has been 'bombarding us with numerous photographs and messages of her adventures' since arriving in New Zealand Declan Millane made an emotional plea to find his sister in a video widely shared on social media The 22-year-old, originally from Essex in south-east England, travelled to Auckland two weeks ago 'They've been nothing but helpful recently. 'But we just urge you to please bring my sister home.' A CCTV image released by police on Thursday shows her dressed in a casual black dress and trainers, and is the last known sighting of Grace. After a missing persons report was filed, New Zealand police released the image of Ms Millane at a late night casino in Auckland. She appears to be alone and is wearing a pink wristband - possibly from a club night - and flat trainers, thought to be Converse. Police say they are starting to piece together Ms Millane's last known movements. On Thursday, they released a CCTV image of the backpacker at Sky City, in Auckland's CBD, at around 7.15pm. Detective Inspector Scott Beard said: 'Clearly this is a very stressful time for Grace's family and the longer she remains missing the more our concern grows for her safety and wellbeing. The family said it was 'completely out of character' for Ms Millane to go silent as they would speak with her most days The 22-year-old tourist had reportedly been staying at Base Backpackers on Queen Street in the heart of Auckland 'It's important that anyone who recognises Grace from this photo or saw her on Saturday night contacts Police immediately.' Ms Millane's roommates at Base Backpackers Hostel, on Queen Street, in the heart of Auckland, said they last saw her on Saturday. Her belongings remain at the hostel. The family said it was 'completely out of character' for Ms Millane to go silent as they would speak with her most days, BBC reported. Ms Millane's brother, Michael, said she had travelled to Peru as part of an organised group for six weeks but had not travelled on her own - until she arrived in New Zealand two weeks ago. 'It was what she wanted - she wanted to see the world,' Mr Millane said. 'We are really, really worried and concerned about Grace. We just want her to get in contact,' he said. Mr Millane said she had two mobile phones with her but they both go straight to voicemail. A missing persons report was filed on Wednesday morning and police are investigating 'She spoke to someone in the family every day on WhatsApp, Facebook or FaceTime. The contact with us stopped on Thursday. The last contact she had was with her roommate on Saturday morning,' he said. The distressed family released a plea on social media after Ms Millane had been missing for five days. 'Grace has been missing for five days. She has not returned to her hostel room in Auckland New Zealand,' her older brother Michael Millane wrote on Facebook. Another brother urged people to share the post, adding: 'We haven't heard from my sister since Saturday'. Ms Millane (pictured with her brothers) graduated from the University of Lincoln with a Bachelor of Advertising and Marketing in September Tony McLeod, British High Commission Wellington consular manager, said the commission was aware of the missing person report. 'We are working with the family in the UK and New Zealand Police in relation to reports of a missing British national in New Zealand,' he said. 'We are unable to make further comment while police are investigating the matter.' Ms Millane had previously written on social media. On November 19 she wrote: 'Of course it's raining when I arrive to New Zealand.' In another tweet the day before she went missing she said: 'I think travelling has changed me I just bought some blue jeans.' Ms Millane, who graduated from the University of Lincoln with a Bachelor of Advertising and Marketing in September, saved for her holiday by doing office work at her fathers property development company. She also made money selling paintings which she exhibits on her own website. A spokesman for the Foreign Office said: 'We are providing consular support to the family in the UK, and working with the New Zealand Police in relation to reports of a missing British national in New Zealand.' A generous customer has spread Christmas cheer by dropping off a mysterious envelope of $2,000 at a struggling local fruit shop. Judy Jiang, 50, has owned Fruit Bowl in Kirrawee, Sydney's south, for seven years but business has recently struggled due to increased competition in the area. Ms Jiang said a 'very pretty and very young' lady came to her shop about 9am on Thursday. The inquisitive customer asked Ms Jiang about business, noticing the store was quiet. Ms Jiang told the visitor the store was facing difficulties with Aldi and Coles opening nearby. A generous customer has spread Christmas cheer by dropping a mysterious envelope of $2,000 at a struggling local fruit shop (pictured: shop owner Judy Jiang) She bought a number of products from the store including bananas, mangoes, corn chips and avocados, spending about $60. A couple of minutes later the young woman returned and dropped a envelope on the front counter. 'I thought maybe there was a Christmas card inside,' Ms Jiang told Daily Mail Australia. Ms Jiang opened the envelope and found it was packed with $50 notes tallying to a whopping $2,000. She said she ran from the store to chase after the woman but she drove away before Ms Jiang could reach her. 'I remember her face, she's a beautiful lady,' she said. Ms Jiang could barely contain her excitement when relaying the incident to Daily Mail Australia. 'This has never never happened in this street,' she said. 'I can't believe this, it's a miracle.' Judy Jiang, 50, has owned Fruit Bowl in Kirrawee (pictured), Sydney's south, for seven years but business has recently struggled due to increased competition in the local area Ms Jiang said the woman, who she believed was a local, wouldn't have been much older than 20-years-old. 'Nice people, the young girl has such a good heart,' she said. 'I was in shock. I cried, I couldn't move, another half-an-hour and my legs were still shaking.' Ms Jiang's story was shared to Facebook by local store Rudi's Continental Butchery as the Fruit Bowl does not have their own Facebook. The butcher said all local stores in the area were suffering. 'Please spare a thought to all the shops in our village as we are all going through this,' they wrote. 'The businesses that have over the years supported your schools, sporting clubs and fundraisers. Don't assume that everyone will be ok, and everyone will benefit from the eventual increase in population. 'If you want to see us and all the other business to survive it will depend on your continuing support.' A Melbourne man, who drowned his ex-lover in her bathtub in what he long claimed was a death pact, has pleaded guilty to her murder. Murat Davsanoglu was on trial for murder, but the Supreme Court jury was discharged this morning, a day after the 43-year-old confessed in the witness box he had 'snapped' and murdered Ozlem 'Ozzie' Karakoc, 34. The confession came two weeks into the trial and after 18 months of him claiming her death in Dandenong last July was the result of a suicide pact they were discussing for months previously. Murat Davsanoglu (pictured) has confessed in the witness box to drowning his ex-lover in her bathtub. He'll return to court for a plea hearing and sentencing next year Prosecutor Diana Piekusis SC had been questioning Davsanoglu about whether he had considered his actions would leave Ms Karakoc's daughter without a mother. 'You weren't thinking of (the girl) at all, were you?' she asked. 'No. Miss, you don't need to go any further. I just snapped that night, okay, that's it.' He maintained there was a suicide pact, but not on the night he drowned her. Davsanoglu and Ms Karakoc had been in an open relationship over an 18-year period before her death. He admitted he was angry she had started a new relationship and at the thought of losing her. 'That's the reason you killed her,' Ms Piekusis said. 'That is correct, miss, yes,' Davsanoglu said. Justice Lex Lasry sought clarification. 'So there was no suicide pact on that night?' he asked. 'Not on that night, no,' Davsanoglu replied. Melbourne mother Ozlem 'Ozzie' Karakoc, 34, (pictured) drowned in a bathtub in July last year Only an hour before confessing, he claimed the suicide pact was developed over the five months before the July 14 murder. He said they discussed plans face to face for several months, as well as over WhatsApp messages that he later deleted and could not be retrieved by police. The trial previously heard Ms Karakoc had a major depressive disorder with psychotic episodes, but her psychologist Semra Durmaz said she never expressed suicidal thoughts to her. For the last 18 months, Davsanoglu had claimed a suicide pact was developed over the five months before the July 2017 murder. Pictured is the scene in Dandenong She spoke to Ms Karakoc on the phone days before her death. 'It was the first time I heard her sound so happy,' she told the jury last week. Witness box confessions are highly unusual and after the admission, Davsanoglu's lawyer John Desmond revealed after the jury was sent home that 'family members were very concerned he is just now going to say anything because he is worn down'. Ms Karakoc's family, in court for the guilty plea, hugged prosecutors after the hearing, relieved at getting justice for the young mum. Members of Davsanoglu's family were also present. He gave them a grimacing smile as he was taken from court. He'll return for a plea hearing and sentence next year. An ice-addicted vigilante is accused of allegedly shooting a woman in the head before dumping her in a tent and burning it down. The body of Maddison Parrott, 29, was found severely burned inside the charred remains of the tent at the Geelong Showgrounds about 2am on Tuesday. Two days later Nick Cross and two alleged accomplices were arrested by heavily-armed tactical police at a home in Sydney about 3.45pm on Thursday. Scroll down for video The body of Maddison Parrott, 29, was found severely burned inside the charred remains of the tent at the Geelong Showgrounds about 2am on Tuesday Cross, 31, with no fixed address will be extradited to Victoria and charged with murder after facing Fairfield Local Court on Friday morning. Todd Sell, 34, from Colac, west of Geelong and Tracy Menzies, 31, from Bell Park in Geelong's north, were charged with accessory after the fact. Where Ms Parrott was allegedly shot and then moved to the showgrounds from, or any motive, is still unclear. A man who was also camping at the site said he saw two men setting up the tent which he said was a 'glamping-style set up'. Ice-addicted vigilante Nick Cross, 31, is accused of her murder. He started a vigilante group in Geelong after he and his daughter, 10, (left) endured an attempted home invasion Cross formed a vigilante group in 2016 after a group of teenagers tried to break into his home as he hid inside with his 10-year-old daughter. 'Here I have my daughter who still believes in Santa Claus and 2km down the road there is a 12-year-old armed with a knife trying to steal someone's car,' he said at the time. 'The kids are led by a few guys who are about 30. They are always armed with knives or poles and they are becoming more brazen.' Cross claimed at the time to have 260 citizens patrolling the streets at night with him, and to have grabbed a young offender and made him sit in his shed for two hours until police arrived. Ms Parrott was working as a store manager at Platypus Shoes until almost a year ago and was a 'much-loved' member of the community, the Geelong Advertiser reported. The 29-year-old had an 'acrimonious' split with her husband whom she married about three years ago, and a source said she had struggled since the break-up. Her ex-husband was not among those accused of participating in her death. Ms Parrott was working as a store manager at Platypus Shoes until almost a year ago and was a 'much-loved' member of the community Emergency services were called to the fire at the Breakwater Road camping grounds near Geelong Racecourse shortly before 2am on Tuesday Former work colleagues of Ms Parrott were also spoken to by Victoria Police. Cross and the other two were arrested at gunpoint at a home on Gipps Street in Greystanes, in Sydney's west. Officers surrounded the house and dragged the trio out in handcuffs after reports they could be armed. Paramedics treated them at the scene as they were injured during the arrests. Neighbours said they had been in the house for less than 24 hours. A neighbour told 7 News that the arrests were 'a bit scary'. 'We got the guns over the fence and stuff like that. They were being pretty serious,' the neighbour said. A man has been charged with sexually assaulting two teenage girls on two separate occasions. The 67-year-old man allegedly sexually assaulted a girl, 16, as she alighted from a train at Katoomba train station in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, about 11.35am on December 2. Police will allege the Blackheath man sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl as she was waiting for a friend at a business near Bowling Green Avenue and Civic Place off the Great Western Highway in Katoomba about 1.35pm on Thursday. The 16-year-old girl was allegedly assaulted as she alighted from a train at Katoomba train station (pictured), while the 14-year-old girl was allegedly assaulted as she was waiting for her friend outside a business on the Great Western Highway in Katoomba The 16-year-old girl reported the incident immediately to police, while the 14-year-old reported the matter to the business, who then notified police. Following inquiries, officers from Blue Mountains Police District arrested the 67-year-old man. He was taken to Katoomba Police Station where he was charged with four counts of sexually touch another person without consent. The man was refused bail and faced Penrith Local Court on Friday. A surf school owner in California has been criticized after aggressively pulling a female surfers leash and causing her to fall at at the Venice Pier. Surfer Danielle Lyons was riding a two foot wave and clearly had right of way when a surfing instructor dropped in behind her, grabbed her leg leash and tugged hard enough to cause her to fall. The incident occurred Tuesday morning alongside the Venice Pier in Southern California and it was recorded on video. Surfer Danielle Lyons clearly had right of way when a surfing instructor dropped in behind her, grabbed her leg leash and tugged hard enough to cause her to fall Wagner Lima, owner and operator of the Brazilian Surf Club, has been criticized over the incident which could have ended a lot worse. 'I was up and riding on the peak and [Wagner] decides to try to block me, so I turned around him, then he drops in behind me and pulls my leash causing me to fall, ' explained Lyons in Yelp review for Limas business. 'Not only is what he did super dangerous, its assault'. 'In all my years of surfing Ive never been attacked unprovoked like this. 'I gave this guy every opportunity not to be a [jerk]I even gave him room to share if he was that hard up for a two-foot wave. 'Im not sure if this was localism, racism or sexism. There were two black women in the lineup and he targeted me for whatever reason'. Surfing instructor Wagner Lima approaches Lyons from behind and tugs her leg leash Lyons looks behind her as she realises the surfer is pulling her leesh which later causes her to fall Rhonda Harper, owner of Black Girls Surf, told The Inertia she and Lyons were hosting Senegalese surfer and Olympic hopeful Khadjou Sambe while NBC was shooting a profile on her. Harper shot photos of the incident from the pier and NBC captured video and allowed her to use it. Harper told Inertia: '[Lima] was acting aggressively the minute the girls started to paddle out in the water'. Lyons later branded what Lima did 'not only dangerous, but assault' 'Even before he went out, he came on the pier and asked the camera crew from NBC who they were filming'. Lyons also wrote in her review that once Lima was aware of the tapes he tried telling people 'he accidentally pulled my leash, that his arm got caught'. However video and a photo shows him grabbing the leash with his hand. Harper told The Inertia the women intended to file a police report because they felt specifically targeted. Five Guys has apologised to two of the seven pantomime dwarves in Snow White after staff at a branch allegedly mocked them about their height. Ben Goffe and Craig Garner had gone into a branch of the burger chain in London's West End in between rehearsals for the show at the Palladium. But they were left upset on Wednesday by staff at the outlet who apparently started laughing at them, and disability campaigners have since blasted the chain. Ben Goffe and Craig Garner, who are pictured backstage during rehearsals for Snow White at the London Palladium this Christmas, were upset by their treatment at a Five Guys branch Goffe and Garner are appearing alongside Dawn French and Julian Clary in this year's show The incident happened at the Five Guys branch next to the London Palladium in the West End Goffe, 28, who played a moving portrait in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, tweeted: Absolutely disgusted with treatment I received from Five Guys. 'Staff were laughing at myself and my colleagues because we're short. Do they always laugh at their customers if they have a disability?' Craig, 33, who was in two Potter films as Daniel Radcliffe's double, added: 'Very disappointed to walk into Five Guys, only to be laughed at by some of the staff. 'I was with cast members as we're appearing at the London Palladium in Snow White. Is this normal protocol when greeting customers?' A friend told the Sun: 'They were so upset they left. They won't go there again. Unfortunately this sort of thing happens a lot.' Goffe and Garner both tweeted their frustration after having a bad experience at Five Guys Five Guys has apologised to the duo and insisted that is is carrying out a 'full investigation' It came ahead of the stage production, which stars Dawn French as The Wicked Queen and Julian Clary as The Man in The Mirror, opening tomorrow night. Phil Talbot, from disability equality charity Scope, told MailOnline: 'Fast food should never come with a side order of bad and outdated attitudes towards disabled people. 'The terrible treatment of these actors is proof that we quickly need to step up efforts to combat bad attitudes. Negative attitudes and misperceptions can hold disabled people back in life, everywhere from work to shopping on the high street. 'Businesses need to make sure staff treat everyone with equal respect when they come through their doors.' And Sue Bott, deputy chief executive of Disability Rights UK, told the Sun: 'If this is confirmed, we hope Five Guys takes appropriate disciplinary action.' Social media users also hit out at their treatment, including theatrical agent James Williams, who tweeted: 'This is appalling, Five Guys. 'How unfortunate to have ridiculed some of the most talented people starring in the UK's largest panto at the London Palladium - in the midst of their publicity campaign #OhYesYouHave #DisabilityIsNotAWeakness.' Father-of-two Neil McManus added: 'This is disgusting. I hope there is a prompt & effective investigation in to this despicable behaviour. I trust the company has CCTV. People like that should not work in retail. Absolutely disgusting.' A Five Guys spokesman tweeted yesterday: 'We'd like to apologise to Ben,Craig and their colleagues following (Wednesday's) incident at Argyll Street. 'We're taking this incident extremely seriously and undertaking a full investigation. Five Guys is an inclusive company and any incidences of discrimination will not be tolerated.' Chinese state media has condemned the arrest of an heiress to the Huawei empire as a 'despicable rogue's approach' designed to suppress China's technology sector. Meng Wanzhou was arrested at Vancouver airport as she changed planes on December 1, accused of violating American sanctions against Iran. Chinese media accused America of 'abusing' international law because Huawei is out-competing American firms in the technology market. Meng Wanzhou, heiress to the Huawei technology giant, was arrested in Canada on December 1 and accused of violating American sanctions against Iran Chinese state media accused America of 'abusing' international law to curtail Huawei's business because its own companies are failing to compete In an editorial, the state-run Global Times wrote: 'The Chinese government should seriously mull over the US tendency to abuse legal procedures to suppress China's high-tech enterprises 'Obviously, Washington is resorting to a despicable rogue's approach as it cannot stop Huawei's 5G advance in the market.' The China Daily warned that 'containing Huawei's expansion is detrimental to China-US ties'. US authorities have not disclosed the charges she faces following a publication ban sought by Meng But 'one thing that is undoubtedly true and proven is the US is trying to do whatever it can to contain Huawei's expansion in the world simply because the company is the point man for China's competitive technology companies,' the daily said. Donald Trump has denied having any knowledge of the arrest, while Canada's Justin Trudeau said he was informed a couple of days ahead of time, but had nothing to do with planning the operation. China has lodged diplomatic protests over the arrest and has repeatedly asked the US and Canada to 'clarify' reasons for the arrest. 'In the past seven days, be it Canada or the US, neither have provided any evidence of the involved party breaking the law in either country,' Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a regular press briefing in Beijing. Meng's arrest follows a US probe into the company's alleged violations of Iran sanctions. She faces a bail hearing in Canada on Friday. Though China's technology sector is still reliant on certain US exports like microchips, Beijing wants to transform the country into a global tech leader rivalling the United States in a plan dubbed 'Made in China 2025'. Donald Trump and Justin Trudeau claimed they were unaware of plans to arrest a top executive at Chinese telecoms giant Huawei in Canada President Trump (far right) and President XI (far left) agreed to call a truce in their long-running trade dispute at the G20 on Saturday, the same day that Meng was arrested Huawei is one of the world's largest telecommunications equipment and services providers. Its products are used by carriers around the world, including in Europe and Africa. But its US business has been tightly constrained by worries it could undermine American competitors and that its cellphones and networking equipment, used widely in other countries, could provide Beijing with avenues for espionage. Australia, New Zealand and Britain have followed suit this year by rejecting some of the company's services over security concerns. Japan too plans to ban government use of telecom products made by Huawei and Chinese tech firm ZTE, reported Japanese media Yomiuri Shimbun on Friday. Chinese netizens have criticised Meng's arrest on Weibo, China's Twitter-like platform, where online trolls sometimes deliberately incite nationalist fervour or pro-government stances. Some users viewed the incident as part of the trade war -- and a broader conspiracy to keep down China's technological development. 'One of the most important reasons why the US started the trade war was to attack China's technology sector and its 'Made in China 2025' plan,' wrote one Weibo user. The goal is to keep China stuck in 'low-end industries and force China into the middle income trap.' The detention of Meng appears to be a 'game of politics', wrote another user. Earlier this year, ZTE nearly collapsed after Washington banned US companies from selling crucial hardware and software components to it for seven years, though the ban was lifted after it agreed to pay a $1 billion fine. Some analysts say Meng's arrest could be used as a bargaining chip, but White House trade advisor Peter Navarro denied it was linked the US-China trade negotiations. 'The two issues are totally separate,' Navarro told CNN. But CNN, quoting an unnamed official, said that the United States saw the arrest as providing leverage in trade talks. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also denied 'any political involvement or interference' in Meng's arrest. 'I can assure everyone that we are a country (with) an independent judiciary,' Trudeau told a tech conference in Montreal. Trump's national security advisor, John Bolton, said he knew that Canada was planning to arrest Meng, but he declined to discuss specifics of the case. But, he added, the United States has had 'enormous concerns for years' about the practice of Chinese firms to 'use stolen American intellectual property' and being used as 'arms of the Chinese government's objectives in terms of information technology in particular.' 'So not respecting this particular arrest, but Huawei is one company we've been concerned about,' he added. Dozens of patients have launched multiple lawsuits in Brazil against a doctor alleging he botched their cosmetic treatments leaving their faces disfigured for life. Dr Wesley Murakami, who performs the aesthetic treatments at his clinic in Goiania, west central Brazil, is accused of injecting excessive and illegal amounts of Metacryl filler, the synthetic resin PMMA, in bioplasty procedures. Victims claim they were persuaded to do the treatment to improve their looks after Dr Murakami promised the results would enhance their appearance and correct defects such as acne scars. However, the reverse was true with some 40 patients alleging the procedure left them with long term swelling that severely damaged their faces. Deformed: This woman is one of 40 patients suing plastic surgeon Wesley Murakami in Brazil The victims suing, including this woman who is pictured left before and right after, were told their abnormal swelling would subside but they say it did not Changed: Alexandre Garzon, pictured left before and right after, visited Dr Murakami to treat acne scars with facial bioplasty and said he was promised amazing results. And with no recourse to correction, because it is impossible to completely reverse the procedure, many spiralled into depression and some suffered suicidal thoughts. According to Brazil's Medical Council, the use of the product, known in the industry as PMMA (polymethyl-methacrylate) should only be injected by doctors within prescribed limits of five millilitres. It is considered a highly dangerous substance and cosmetic clinics in the UK and the United States refuse to offer the procedure, warning that it is a risky and ill-advised treatment. This week, some of the victims bravely revealed photographs of the horrendous consequences of their beauty procedures showing their disfigured faces. All vowed to ensure the physician is banned permanently from practicing in the field. Dr Wesley Murakami, from Goiania, west central Brazil, is accused of injecting excessive and illegal amounts of Metacryl filler, the synthetic resin PMMA, in his patients' faces Allegations: Some patients say they were pressured into the procedure by Dr Murakami Mr Garzon has sued Dr Murakami for 1,500 and won, but has yet to receive compensation Their cosmetic treatments cost thousands of dollars but many had to pay double or triple the amount to other doctors to reduce the damage. Businessman Alexandre Garzon has already sued Murakami for the 7000 reais (1,500) the equivalent paid for his surgery. But he is yet to receive the compensation. The 35-year-old is only now able to look in the mirror after years of hiding from his reflection. In 2014, he decided to treat acne scars with facial bioplasty and said he was promised amazing results. Mr Garzon recalled: 'Dr Wesley told me I was going to look really good and all the pimple marks on my face would disappear.' He admitted failing to investigate the procedure thoroughly before undergoing the operation but said: 'At no point did he explain to me that it was irreversible. I thought it was like Botox and would gradually come out over time. 'When I saw the result in the mirror I was horrified. My face was gigantic and you can see this in the photos. 'He said the swelling would go down quickly, but it stayed like this for months.' He was given a mask to cover his inflamed face so he could leave the clinic. After four years of Corticosteroid treatment to repair the mistake, he has finally accepted his face will never be the same again. Suing: This woman is among the 40 people who are taking action against the plastic surgeon Before and after: One woman who claims to be one of Dr Murakami's patients shows off a photo of her after surgery and now with her face deformed Another victim, a teacher, who chose not to identify herself, claimed she also sought the help of the doctor to reduce blemishes. She paid 5,000 reais (1,000) for the same day procedure and said the injected substance radically changed the shape of her face. She came close to taking her own life from the trauma of losing her looks. 'My face was distorted. I was ashamed to go to into school and the stress of teaching caused my face to swell even more,' the 28 year old revealed. 'I would cover my face with my hair and people looked at me strangely because I would always be looking down when I had to speak.' Those suing the plastic surgeon has vowed to fight to have him banned Another patient, who also didn't want to be named, said she hated the shape of her 'weak' chin and believed she could make it stronger with filler. But during her consultation she was persuaded by Murakami to treat her whole face. 'I went in to fill my chin and left with a face full of PMMA,' she said. 'By the time he finished my face was bleeding, it was painful all over and badly swollen.' Dr Sergio Conceicao, of the Brazilian Society of Plastic Surgery (SBCP) in Goias, revealed that Murakami does not appear to have the specialist qualifications to practice and does not belong to the professional body. He said: 'Although it seems like a simple, risk-free procedure, what we have seen in our clinics is patients coming to us with complications resulting from practitioners who are not specialists. 'This product is not an absorbable substance and causes an inflammatory reaction. It is imperative to stress that people should never do these procedures with those who are not specialists.' According to plastic surgeon Alan Bernacchi of SBCP the substance should only be used in reconstructions, such as for casting fractured bones. He said: 'Methacrylate can cause obstructions, necrosis, pulmonary embolism and death. 'When it is injected it is a fluid, it then turns into a silicon plastic without any malleability. 'If this acrylic embraces a nerve in the leg and symbioses with the muscles, it can cause chronic inflammation (then we) must remove and cut everything, including muscle and nerves, for the patient to survive.' A regretful Mr Garzon said: 'The plastic will stay in my face for the rest of my life. 'This guy has to be stopped because he continues to spoil the lives of many people,' Lawyers for the doctor were approached for a response but failed to reply or provide a statement. Police are investigating the potential deliberate ignition of a fire which sparked an emergency evacuation alert in Victoria, where the threat remains amid changing winds. The grass fire near Little River, 50km south-west of Melbourne, started from three separate points just before midday on Friday and quickly burned southwards. 'Victoria Police are looking into it but it's very, very early days in relation to the investigation,' Emergency Management Commissioner Andrew Crisp told reporters when asked of the fire's cause. Police are investigating the potential deliberate ignition of a fire (pictured) near Little River, south-west of Melbourne, which sparked an emergency evacuation alert in Victoria The inferno crossed a rail line, halting train services bound for Geelong. Nearby residents were ordered to evacuate, with a respite centre set up nearby. As the threat eased, residents of Brophys Crossing, Cocoroc, Point Wilson, Werribee South, Little River, Mambourin, Tarneit and Wyndham Vale remained on high alert pending changing conditions. The Little River fire was contained but not under control, with firefighters expected to work through the night. The Country Fire Authority said it was concerned about a forecast wind change forecast for about 10pm, which could exacerbate the fire front facing Werribee. The Little River inferno was among 19 fires started in the state on Friday mid-morning as temperatures soared to 40C. Nearby residents were ordered to evacuate, with a respite centre set up nearby Horsham and Hopetoun in the northwest reached 42C and Melbourne hovered between maximums of 37C and 39C. Avalon and Geelong nudged just over 40C breaking records for those towns for early December. 'It is evident that summer has really hit the state of Victoria,' Mr Crisp said. 'We have had the heat, we have had the wind and in total about 19 fires across the state up to this particular point in time.' One firefighter was taken to hospital suffering smoke inhalation but there were no reported injuries. A wildlife sanctuary west of Melbourne rushed to evacuate up to 30 animals as the Little River fire closed in. The Little River fire was contained but not under control, with firefighters expected to work through the night Mt Rothwell Biodiversity Interpretation Centre was not in the direct path of the fire, but staff worked to evacuate dingoes, bandicoots and quolls in case of a wind change. Staff acted to get the animals off the property, but there was nothing to be done for about 1000 animals that freely roam the 420ha private sanctuary. Near Ballarat, crews continued to battle high winds as they fought a bushfire that started on Thursday. The blaze destroyed a shed after it spread south from Nash's Road at Buninyong and scorched more than 40 hectares, sparking an emergency warning. As of Friday afternoon it remained under control but authorities warned residents from Durham Lead, Grenville and Scotsburn to stay alert. A total fire ban is in place for the Wimmera, Mallee and Northern Country. A British man was left fighting for his life after the 'holiday from hell' in Turkey left him in intensive care. Eddie Lund, 52, went on a Thomas Cook holiday in a resort in Bodrum before he was taken seriously ill and left in a critical condition. Eddie's sons and daughter paid 1000 to fly him and his wife Tracey to celebrate her 50th birthday, but he ended up 'at death's door' with Thomas Cook now apologising for 'not being there for Mr Lund' during his illness. The HGV driver from Strood in Kent, who now can't work, ended up with heart failure and was hospitalised in intensive care for two and a half weeks. He may also have permanent brain damage, pending a CT scan. Eddie Lund, 52, was left in intensive care back in England for two-and-a-half weeks His daughter said his dilemma started when he 'fell ill from the hotel food' and culminated in him falling several times due to being 'delirious' - including one fall where he smashed his head on a marble floor. His distraught daughter Charley, a staff nurse, blamed a catalogue of failings by Thomas Cook, their rep and Jasmin Beach Hotel - where her parents were trapped for two weeks. The 24-year-old said it was the hotel food that sparked her father's illness and also made her mother ill later in the holiday. She said the diarrhoea and sickness her father suffered left him devoid of vital electrolytes. Charley told Mail Online: 'What's made this the holiday from hell is my dad coming back a totally different man to what he was before, not able to work from all this. It's completely changed their lives. Financially and health wise.' Eddie and his wife Tracey (pictured) travelled to the resort in Turkey for her 50th birthday She added that upon his return to England, a health professional was surprised to see him alive adding that if he arrived at hospital six hours later he would have died. 'The intensive care consultant was aghast as to how my dad was still alive due to him being so poorly abroad!' she said. Her parents flew out to the popular resort on September 28th for their two-week holiday but Charley said they pleaded with a Thomas Cook rep for an earlier flight home after her father started suffering with vomiting and diarrhoea. Eddie's daughter Tracey said her father returned from his trip 'a different man' from before After a short time in Turkey Eddie became very ill and was rushed to intensive care in England upon returning home after receiving inadequate care from abroad, according to his daughter Charley, 24, said her father is now waiting on a CT scan on his brain and lungs, as well as a heart scan (pictured in hospital in England) She added that her mother soon became sick 'like many other guests' but 'the rep did not seem bothered and completely disregarded any concerns.' Mrs Lund allegedly complained about her husband's dire state a few days later, saying he couldn't walk down the stairs and even collapsed, hitting his head on the marble floor. According to Charley, management at the hotel wouldn't fix the lift because holiday season was coming to and end. She added that when her mother told the rep of her father's deteriorating state, she said the pair should get a taxi to hospital in nearby Gumbet - but Tracey didn't have the strength to carry him down from their third floor room and into the car. Her father's state worsened and the 24-year-old said her father had the bad fall because of his delirious state. She said: 'My dad fell down a set of marble stairs smashed his head multiple times and once again, no help offered. 'After several falls and deteriorating in condition with an impaired cognitive state, my mum had to seek help from British holiday makers at the resort to help escort my dad from the hotel (on the last day) onto the minibus and from the minibus into the airport.' Jasmin Beach Hotel in Bodrum, Turkey where Eddie and Tracey Lund stayed for two weeks Charely said that her mother had been in touch with Thomas Cook ahead of their flight home to Gatwick to request assistance at the airport because of her father's 'completely delirious' and 'extremely poorly' state. She said despite an air stewardess being made aware of her father's condition, he was the last of around 300 people off the plane. 'I was waiting at Gatwick arrivals when my dad was wheeled through completely swollen and basically on deaths door,' said Charely. Eddie pictured left in hospital, and right before his holiday, now needs scans on his heart, brain and lungs 'We managed to get him to the hospital where he was rushed straight through to RESUS with a critically low sodium level as result from the sickness and diarrhoea he had suffered. 'From there he was admitted to intensive care unit where he remained for two-and-a half weeks in an unstable condition.' Charely added that her father is now suffering from heart failure because 'of the strain on his heart' and he is unable to work his HGV driver job. 'We have contacted Thomas Cook on many occasions however they will not give us any answer or any update on how they are dealing with the situation. Charley Lund, daughter of Eddie, alleged that the hotel staff and Thomas Cook rep were unhelpful when her father fell critically ill 'I'm sickened that such a large company can treat their paying customers like this. If my dad never went on the Thomas cook holiday then he would never have this outcome! 'No one spends money to end up in intensive care fighting for their life!!' she said. Charley said her father is now waiting on a CT scan on his brain and lungs, as well as a heart scan. 'My parents don't even have any pictures or videos because they didn't have a holiday. 'Since uploading my post online, we've had a phone call from Thomas Cook saying they've passed our case onto the legal team due to the severity of this,' she added. A Thomas Cook spokeswoman said: 'We are very sorry that we weren't there for Mr Lund when he became unwell on holiday. Our team is in touch with Mr Lund's family. 'The safety and well-being of our customers is always our first priority and we will be looking into what happened.' This is the adorable moment two baffled cheetah cubs don't know what to make of a giant tortoise when they meet the creature for the first time in South Africa. Footage captures the young cheetahs, Skyler and Zahra, as they approach the mystery creature at the Running Wild Conservation centre. The pair are on an outing as part of their reintroduction to the wild when they stumble across the reptile. A young cheetah approaches a giant tortoise at the Running Wild Conservation centre in South Africa The tortoise, which remains safely inside its shell throughout the clip, is sat by a small track road when Skyler and Zahra approach. One of the pair quickly trots over to the reptile, cautiously circling the tortoise. But the curious animal stays away for a moment longer before bravely stepping towards the mystery creature. It then bends down to give the tortoise a good sniff before jumping back in fear. A second cheetah soon joins the first - and the pair spend the next few moments investigating the newfound animal. Elizke Gouws, founder and director at Running Wild Conservation, said the reaction was expected as this was the pair's first encounter with such a strange animal. The cheetah, who is on an outing as part of its reintroduction to the wild, sniffs at the creature after circling it for a moment Ms Gouws said: 'Cheetahs are usually shy animals and don't interact with other species. 'They are flight not fight animals and mostly avoid contact with any potentially dangerous animals such as lions or hyenas. 'This trait needs to be learned from the mother, so the cubs tend to be more curious.' She added: 'Like most cubs, cheetah cubs are very playful. 'Later as they mature female cheetahs become solitary cats, but the males tend to form coalitions of up to six cheetahs.' It is then joined by another cheetah cub - and the pair investigate the tortoise further as the reptile hides inside its shell Ms Gouws said Running Wild Conservation is the only cheetah breeding facility in the world that breeds the animals for the sole purpose of reintroducing them into protected wild areas. She said: 'Our goal is to ensure the survival of the Southern African cheetah for future generations. 'We are a nonprofit organisation and depend strongly on donations to continue our ground-breaking conservation efforts. 'We are not open for public tours or interactions, we do not remove cubs from their mothers and we also do not sell any animals, they are all meant to return to the protected wild where possible.' The project currently takes care of nine cheetahs, three rescue lion cubs, African wildcats, caracals, servals, an albino porcupine, and meerkats. Religious exorcisms are being carried out in an Indonesian town in a drive to 'cleanse' LGBT people of what clerics call 'their sickness', as homophobic sentiment continues to rise in the Muslim-majority nation. There has been a sharp escalation in homophobic rhetoric and a spike in the number of arrests of members of Indonesia's LGBT community recently. Police in Padang have arrested 18 couples - 10 lesbian women and eight individuals who identify as transgender - in an effort to get them 'psychological support and rehabilitation', ABC News reported. In Indonesia, the general consensus is that mental health problems caused by demonic spirits called 'dijinn' are to blame for homosexuality and transgenderism, and that some sort of exorcism or ruqyah is needed to 'cure them'. Shocking and homophobic video footage from a television show in Indonesia shows gay men being exorcised in front of a camera by what appear to a Muslim cleric in an effort to 'cleanse' or 'cure' them There has been a sharp escalation in homophobic rhetoric and a spike in the number of arrests of members of Indonesia's LGBT community recently, with some officials even going as far as calling for LGBT people to be 'rehabilitated' Shocking and homophobic video footage from a television show in Indonesia shows gay men being exorcised in front of a camera by what appear to be some sort of Muslim cleric in an effort to 'cleanse' or 'cure' them. The footage shows the men lying on the floor, clearly in a distressed state, being told by a man standing over them to 'Take it seriously' and 'To repent' so that 'God can forgive them'. Thousands of anti-LGBT demonstrators have been taking to the streets, with the latest protests in Bogor, just outside the Indonesian capital Jakarta, on November 9 heightening fears that this may encourage the authorities to step-up their crackdown. The footage shows the men lying on the floor, clearly in a distressed state, being told by a man standing over them to 'Take it seriously' and 'To repent' so that 'God can forgive them' A man cries out as he takes part in an exorcism in the shocking footage aired on Indonesian TV This picture taken on November 9, 2018 shows thousands of anti-LGBT demonstrators marching in Bogor, outside the capital Jakarta, fanning fears that authorities will beef up their crackdown in response Indonesia's LGBT community has always been vilified as immoral. But the recent police crackdown - including authorities hosing down a group of transgender women in what they called a 'mandatory bath' - comes against the backdrop of a recent lurch toward religious conservatism. The shift, led by increasingly powerful hardliners, has dented Indonesia's reputation for moderate Islam. Several mosques in West Java were recently urged by the local government to conduct sermons on the dangers of homosexuality. And Indonesia's biggest Muslim organisation - the 80-million-member Nahdlatul Ulama - has called for a clampdown on same-sex relations. Thousands of anti-LGBT protestors took to the streets outside Jakarta on November 9, whilst a television station has even started airing shocking 'exorcism' shows claiming to 'cleanse' homosexuals Concerns have been aggravated by president Joko Widodo selecting a conservative cleric, known for his disparaging views of the gay community and other minorities, as his running mate for next year's elections. A poll this year showed nearly 90 percent of Indonesians felt 'threatened' by the LGBT community, while a 2013 Pew survey said 72 percent of Indonesian Muslims supported replacing the secular code with Islamic law, which bans gay sex. '(The elections) could mean an uptick in politicians scapegoating... people for cynical political gain,' said Human Rights Watch researcher Kyle Knight. 'The verbal threats politicians issue can quickly metastasise into physical attacks.' Indonesia's small LGBT community is under attack as a spike in hateful rhetoric and record number of arrests raise fears that the vulnerable group could be targeted for violence, critics say. Police arrested at least 300 suspected LGBT people last year - a record - mostly under an anti-pornography law as homosexuality and gay sex are legal in Indonesia. This month, 10 people described as 'suspected lesbians' were arrested in West Sumatra, following the detention of another eight lesbians and transgender people in October. 'This situation is alarming as the hateful abuses by law enforcement bodies... are seen as a normal practice by many people,' said Usman Hamid, Amnesty International Indonesia's Executive Director. However, officials are unfazed by the criticism. 'We're being consistent in our efforts to eradicate LGBT (behaviour) because it's very destructive,' said West Sumatra deputy governor Nasrul Abit, adding that thousands of people were having 'deviant sex' in the region. Parliament is considering a move to criminalise sex outside marriage - including gay couples - while the health ministry previously announced plans to release a medical guide classifying homosexuality as a mental disorder. The UN human rights chief and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have criticised the proposed legal overhaul. Thousands of anti-LGBT demonstrators marching in Bogor, outside the capital Jakarta, on November 9 Authorities have also taken aim at social media, arresting two men for links to a LGBT community Facebook page. Google in January pulled one of the world's largest gay dating apps from the Indonesian version of its online store in response to government demands. The latest crackdown can be traced back to 2016 when Indonesia's higher education minister Mohamad Nasir called for LGBT student groups to be banned from universities, and the defence minister criticised gay and trans rights activism, Human Rights Watch said. Since then, police have raided nightclubs, saunas, hair salons, hotels and even private homes in pursuit of LGBT people. Gay people have been publicly flogged in Aceh under the province's Islamic legal code. Local police there made global headlines when they arrested a dozen transgender people and publicly humiliated them by chopping off their long hair and forcing them to wear men's clothes. But there are few hopes that Widodo or other senior officials vying for re-election will protect a widely hated minority, said HRW researcher Andreas Harsono. 'We need leaders who have the courage to say this is wrong.' A young couple were punched, kicked and burned in a terrifying revenge attack by a family armed with a knuckleduster, and a knife hidden in a tube of Smarties. Zoe Maitland, 21, is to be sentenced for the assault on her cheating ex and his new lover - in which her stepmother, her father and a friend all took part. Zoe repeatedly kicked and punched the woman - while her father Barry Maitland, 52, used a knuckleduster on his daughter's former partner and also placed a lit cigar on his face, at a house in Kirkwall, Orkney, a court heard. Both victims said their mobile phones were taken from them and they were told their fingers would be broken if they tried to get them back. They were also warned they couldn't leave - which legally constitutes abduction. Three of the four - Zoe, her stepmother Charmaine Sylvia Jane Maitland, 42, and Christopher Baird, 25 - admitted assault and abduction charges at an earlier hearing. Zoe Maitland (above), 21, burst into a house in Kirkwall, Orkney - with members of her family - and kicked and punched the woman living with her ex in a terrifying revenge attack, a court heard. She is due to be sentenced for the assault Barry Maitland was later unanimously convicted of the same charges after a five-day trial at Kirkwall Sheriff Court, Orkney. They will all be sentenced at Wick Sheriff Court next month. Charmaine was also involved in the 'petrifying' assault, as well as her stepdaughter's friend Christopher Baird. All four arrived at the home which Zoe had shared on Orkney, north of mainland Scotland, with her ex until he ended their three-year relationship. During the night-time attack, Zoe's father Barry Maitland (left), 52, used a knuckleduster on his daughter's former partner and also placed a lit cigar on his face, a court heard. Zoe's friend Christoper Baird (right), 25, admitted forcing his way into the house and holding her ex against his will, forcing him to the ground and punching him on the head and body Mr Maitland, from Aberdeen, placed a lit cigar on the face of his daughter's ex, and produced a long-bladed knife from a large Smarties tube, the court heard in evidence. The victims, a couple from Kirkwall, said Maitland had arrived unexpectedly at the house on the night of April 21. Both told of their alarm when Maitland had produced a long-bladed knife from a large Smarties tube. Baird admitted forcing his way into the same address on the same date, and holding the man against his will, forcing him to the ground and repeatedly punching him on the head and body while wearing a knuckleduster. His plea of not guilty to a second charge of abduction and assault against the woman was accepted by the procurator fiscal. The sheriff said abduction could be constituted as an act of taking a person by force into another room within a home, and holding them there against their will. According to Maitland, his daughter Zoe had recently ended a three-year relationship. She had returned to the family home in Aberdeen for a few days, before returning to Orkney to begin 'a new life'. The court heard that Maitland, his wife and daughter had arrived off the ferry in Kirkwall at around 11pm on April 21, and headed straight to his daughter's fomer home to collect her belongings. Zoe, her stepmother Charmaine Sylvia Jane Maitland (pictured), 42, and Baird, 25 - admitted assault and abduction charges at an earlier hearing Mr Maitland claimed the family were distressed to find that his daughter's former partner was in the house packing up her things, having been asked not to do so. He claimed he arrived at the house to find the man shouting at his wife and daughter while brandishing a Hoover pole - accusations which the victims adamantly deny. Mr Maitland admitted slapping the man and pushing him against the wall in order to 'calm the situation down,' and later attempting to punch him, but he denied that the couple had been held against their will. Mr Maitland also denied accusations by procurator fiscal Sue Foard that an attack had been fuelled by a perceived mistreatment of his daughter, who he claimed had been in 15,000 worth of debt, because of her former partner. Zoe Maitland told the court that she had been made to sleep on a mattress in a damaged house and that her former partner had been claiming benefits in her name. 'I was angry, but I never wanted to see him again,' she said. 'But with getting her sorted with her medication and a place to live and all that, it calmed down a lot.' But testimony from the victims and other witnesses who were with them following the incident painted a very different picture. The plan, they explained, had been for the Maitlands to collect Zoe's belongings on Sunday, April 22, when neither victim would be at the property. Both victims said they had been shocked when the Maitlands had instead burst through the door on the Saturday night and attacked them. The man, who denied accusations by Maitland's solicitor Michael Burnett that he had been making phone calls to Zoe's doctor without her permission, said he had been 'petrified,' as he was dragged from the hallway into the bedroom. He said he had then been punched about the head and body with a knuckleduster by both Barry Maitland (also known as Baz) and Christopher Baird, who had arrived separately through the back door. The female victim, who recalled her terror as she was kicked and punched through the living room doorway by Zoe and Charmaine Maitland, broke down in tears, as she remembered hearing her partner screaming in pain from the bedroom. 'Baz said that he would deal with [my partner], and that Zoe and Charmaine would deal with me, because he didn't hit women,' she explained. She said that her partner had then been brought into the living room, battered and bruised, where Barry Maitland placed duct tape over the man's mouth and burnt his face with a lit cigar. According to the victims, Mr Maitland had then produced a knife from a tube of Smarties and proceeded to walk about the room. She was allowed to go, but had been too scared to contact police. 'Baz said we could tell who we liked, but if he served time for it then they would come back and finish the job,' she recalled. When released by the Maitlands, the couple said they had been too terrified to even go to hospital, and had to be persuaded by the sister of the male victim. There, a nurse had encouraged them to contact police, but they refused to provide a statement when they couldn't be assured of their continued safety. After being discharged from hospital with minor injuries, they said they were too scared to return to the property and instead checked into a West Mainland hotel to 'hide out.' Backing their story up was evidence found on a mobile phone taken from Charmaine Maitland by police, when she and her husband were seized from their Aberdeen home in June. A photograph on the phone, taken in the living room of the property where the incident occurred, was presented to the court. It showed the female victim sporting substantial bruising to her right eye. Although Mr Burnett highlighted a discrepancy in the date the photo had been 'created', according to its file date, Zoe Maitland gave testimony that she herself had punched the victim in the head on the date of the incident. Zoe denied that her father had beaten up her former partner, despite messages sent by her to the male victim's sister indicating that he had been 'punched about a bit' and that her father 'went too far'. 'My dad's in his 50s with a heart condition,' she said on the stand last Tuesday, November 27. 'He's not fit to be rolling about the floor with a guy in his 20s.' In her closing statement to the jury, Ms Foard reaffirmed her belief that the male victim was a reliable witness to the incident on April 21, despite his past indiscretions. 'I think it is only fair to say that not a very pretty picture has been painted of the way [the male victim] treated women, and we have all given this some thought,' she said. 'But this is not a place for thinking about whether he was as good or bad as Mr Maitland. I think there are always two sides to a story. 'In fairness to Mr Maitland, if that was his belief, then we know how you feel when somebody you care about is badly treated. If my daughter was being treated like that, I would behave badly too. But I wouldn't go to a house and do what has been alleged. '[The male victim] held his hands up to the fact that his relationship with [the female victim] had started while he was still in a relationship with Zoe Maitland. 'I'm going to suggest that in giving his evidence he was truthful. Nobody is disputing the fact that Zoe Maitland had the right to go there. She was still a legal tenant, but it's the manner, it's the time, and it's what happened there thereafter.' Mr Burnett followed with his own closing speech to the jury. He proposed that the Maitland family had arrived early at the house because Zoe Maitland had feared that her animals were being mistreated, and that [the male victim] had shouted at and behaved aggressively to her and her stepmother before being subdued by a slap from Barry Maitland. He went on to dispute the reliability of both the victims' testimonies, which he said were 'difficult to square' with the rest of the case. 'I would suggest to you that [the female victim] has not been truthful,' he said. 'All this time, Mr and Mrs Maitland are going to appointments in Orkney. They are not hightailing it back to Aberdeen. 'When the police come to their house in June, Mr Maitland lets them in. He doesn't speak to a lawyer before his interview, he answers all the questions put to him. 'You can take part of a witness' evidence and accept it and reject another part of of a witness' evidence. You are about to go to the jury room and you will be deciding what is going to happen. 'Say I gave you a cake to help you in your deliberations - it's 15 pieces, but some of the pieces are poisoned, I tell you. Do you take a chance with some of the pieces, or do you chuck the whole lot out? 'This is what I would like to suggest you do with [the male victim's] and the [female victim's] evidence.' Zoe Maitland, of Kirkwall, and Charmaine Sylvia Jane Maitland, of Aberdeen, pleaded guilty to holding a woman against her will, after forcing their way into the property on the night of April 21. They admitted forcing the woman to the ground, repeatedly punching her on the head and kicking her, as well as throwing a number of items, including a toothbrush and medication bottles, at her. Their pleas of not guilty to a further charge of assault and abduction against a man were accepted by the procurator fiscal. Charmaine Sylvia Jane Maitland and Zoe Maitland have been released on bail. Christopher Baird, who is currently being held at HM Prison Grampian, admitted forcing his way into the same address on the same date, and holding a man against his will, forcing him to the ground and repeatedly punching him on the head and body while wearing a knuckleduster, presenting a knife at the man, placing duct tape over his mouth and burning him with a lit cigar. His plea of not guilty to a second charge of abduction and assault against a woman was accepted by the procurator fiscal. In their unanimous verdict at the conclusion of Barry Maitland's trial last Friday, November 30, the jury chose to delete sections of the first charge, detailing the use of a knuckleduster and duct tape, as well as the presentation of a knife in the bedroom and the theft of around 30. In the second charge, they deleted a section alleging that the female victim was forced to the floor, punched and kicked on the head and body and had objects thrown at her. The section alleging how the group had forced their way into the house was also deleted from both Maitland's charges. They are all due to be sentenced at Wick Sheriff Court on January 9. A man and a woman known to each other have barricaded themselves inside a home in Launceston in Tasmania, firing shots at police from inside. A stand-off between police and the pair began at 4:30pm on Friday when several shots were fired from the home. Special Operations Group negotiators have tried to convince the couple to surrender and have evacuated homes in Reatta Road, Trevallyn, 'as a precaution'. Several shots have been fired since the stand-off began at 4:30pm on Friday when police (above) arrived at the property as part of an ongoing investigation A man with a gun has fired shots from a house in Launceston in Tasmania on Reatta Road in Trevallyn (pictured) as police remain on the scene and attempt to negotiate with the man to surrender A witness told the ABC he was driving when he saw police officers 'taking cover behind cars holding guns' and was told by one officer that a siege was underway. 'Then we drove up to our home where we heard multiple gunshots over the course of an hour,' he said. Police said no-one has been injured and they hope to safely resolve the matter as soon as possible. Residents are being advised to avoid the Reatta Road area until further notice. On Wednesday night, a woman was shot in the leg at a nearby Trevallyn house in New World Avenue and sustained a bullet wound to her leg. About 6pm police located a 47-year-old Newnham woman at the address who had sustained a single bullet wound to the leg. The woman was transported to the Launceston General Hospital where she has undergone surgery and is in a stable condition. But it is unclear whether the two incidents are related. Advertisement By The Associated Press Dec. 07, 2018 | WASHINGTON By The Associated Press Dec. 07, 2018 | 09:50 AM | WASHINGTON President Donald Trump announced Friday he's nominating State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert to be the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. "Heather Nauert will be nominated," Trump said Friday before departing the White House on Marine One for an event in Kansas City. "She's very talented, very smart, very quick, and I think she's going to be respected by all." If she is confirmed by the Senate, Nauert, a former Fox News Channel reporter who had little foreign policy experience before becoming State Department spokeswoman, will replace Nikki Haley. Haley, a former South Carolina governor, announced in October that she would step down at the end of this year. Nauert would be a leading administration voice on Trump's foreign policy. Trump told reporters last month that Nauert was "excellent," adding, "She's been a supporter for a long time." Plucked from Fox by the White House to serve as State Department spokeswoman, Nauert catapulted into the upper echelons of the agency's hierarchy when Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was fired in March and replaced with Mike Pompeo. Nauert was then appointed acting undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs and was for a time the highest-ranking woman and fourth highest-ranking official in the building. Nauert, who did not have a good relationship with Tillerson and had considered leaving the department, told associates at the time she was taken aback by the promotion offer and recommended a colleague for the job. But when White House officials told her they wanted her, she accepted. That role gave her responsibilities far beyond the news conferences she held in the State Department briefing room. She oversaw public diplomacy in Washington and all of the roughly 275 overseas U.S. embassies, consulates and other posts. She was in charge of the Global Engagement Center that fights extremist messaging from the Islamic State group and others, and she has a seat on the U.S. Agency for Global Media that oversees government broadcast networks such as Voice of America. Just 18 months ago, she wasn't even in government. Nauert was a breaking news anchor on Trump's favorite television show, "Fox & Friends," when she was tapped to be the face and voice of the administration's foreign policy. With a master's degree from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism, she had moved to Fox from ABC News, where she was a general assignment reporter. She hadn't specialized in foreign policy or international relations. Shut out from the top by Tillerson and his inner circle, Nauert developed relationships with career diplomats. Barred from traveling with Tillerson, she embarked on her own overseas trips, visiting Bangladesh and Myanmar last year to see the plight of Rohingya Muslims, and then Israel after a planned stop in Syria was scrapped. All the while, she stayed in the good graces of the White House, even as Tillerson was increasingly on the outs. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders described Nauert in March as "a team player" and "a strong asset for the administration." Del Banks, pictured yesterday outside Perth Sheriff Court, was yesterday for the 25th time after being arrested two days after being released early from prison for assault. A notorious thug with dozens of convictions has been jailed for the 25th time after re-offending two days after his early release from prison. Career criminal Del Banks was dubbed the poster boy for soft-touch justice in 2004 when, aged 15, he was taken by social workers to Manchester to see pop group The Black Eyed Peas. At the time Perth and Kinross Council claimed the outing had helped slow down his offending. But since then he has committed 68 offences, including ten assaults, and been sent to prison 25 times in a criminal career estimated to have cost taxpayers 500,000 in court, social work and policing costs. And he was jailed for a second time this year after he stole DVDs from a super- market and sold them to a pawn shop. Banks, from Perth, committed the offence days after being released on bail from a nine-month prison sentence for assault. As the 30-year-old was locked up yesterday, critics described Banks as the epitome of the SNPs soft-touch justice system. Perth Sheriff Court was told Banks, 30, and co-accused James Stuart, 32, stole 17 DVDs from Morrisons in Perth on October 26. Fiscal depute Robbie Brown said they were caught when a staff member saw Banks leaving a pawn shop where he had sold on the stolen goods. Bankss defence solicitor Billy Somerville said: Around this period he was having difficulty as he was consuming drugs. Stuart and Banks, who both pleaded guilty, were each jailed for three months. In February, Sheriff Gillian Wade ignored a social work plea to let Banks walk free despite racking up his 11th assault conviction. At the time, she said: I find that view hard to understand given that he was on supervised release when this took place, and only just out on supervised release. Social workers took Banks to see the Black Eyed Peas when he was 15 in order to stop his criminality, however the controversial intervention has not been successful Banks was jailed yesterday for the 25th time following a hearing at Perth Sheriff's Court He stole 17 DVDs from a Morrison's supermarket before trying to sell them to a pawn shop She warned that social workers had failed to take into account the serious nature of the assault to injury Banks had committed within weeks of being released from his previous prison term. Banks was previously spared jail in 2005 and was instead ordered to carry out 100 hours of community service after breaching a court curfew four times. But despite only carrying out 57 hours of unpaid work in the 18 months that followed, he was given yet another chance to finish his punishment during a hearing at Perth Sheriff Court. After the hearing yesterday, Tory justice spokesman Liam Kerr said: This ridiculous saga is beyond a joke. This criminal has no respect for the justice system, no respect for other peoples property and no intention of changing. Mr Kerr added: This is the epitome of the SNPs soft touch justice and demonstrates exactly why it doesnt work. Since his concert trip to Manchester, assaults by Banks have left three victims scarred for life. Three whistleblowers have come forward with hundreds of pages of evidence suggesting wrongdoing at the Clinton Foundation, a Republican congressman says. Mark Meadows, head of the House Oversight Subcommittee, said the documents suggest misappropriation of funds and quid-pro-quo promises made to donors during Hillary's time as secretary of state. Meadows spoke to Fox News about the documents ahead of an investigative hearing on the Clinton Foundation which is due to take place next week. Three whistleblowers have handed over hundreds of pages of documents which could indicate misuse of funds and promises made to donors while Hillary was Secretary of State (file image) The hearing will review evidence collected by U.S. Attorney John Huber, who was tasked with investigating the Foundation by ex-Attorney General Jeff Sessions. It comes after The Hill reported that 6,000 pages of evidence on the Clinton Foundation was secretly handed to the FBI and IRS last year. The papers allege that the Foundation engaged in illegal activities and may be liable for millions of dollars in delinquent taxes and penalties. The documents also showed commingling of personal and Foundation affairs, especially by former President Bill Clinton, according to The Hill. The evidence was compiled by a firm called MDA Analytics LLC and included a submission by another whistleblower. A spokesman for the Clinton Foundation said at the time: 'The Clinton Foundation has been one of the most heavily scrutinized charitable organizations in the world, and subjected to outrageous, politically motivated allegations that have been proven false time and time again. 'Critics continue to resurrect these false claims to try to damage the reputation of the Clintons and the Clinton Foundation. Mark Meadows, head of the House Oversight Subcommittee, spoke out about the documents ahead of a hearing into the Foundation which is due to take place next week 'The fact is, the Clinton Foundation has demonstrably improved the lives of millions of people across America and around the world, while earning top ratings from charity watchdog groups in the process.' Meadows has previously raised questions about a large drop in funds donated to the Foundation after Hillary lost her 2016 presidential race to Donald Trump. Donations fell from $63 million in 2016 to $27 million in 2017. He said: 'The remarkable significance of the drop in Clinton foundation donations raises grave concerns their operations were not above board as the American people have been led to believe. 'Whenever we look at the possibility of 'pay to play' by government officials, current or former, it demands answers--and anyone who uses public office to sell access for their own financial benefit must be held accountable.' Meadows is a close ally of Donald Trump who has called for investigations into his former Democrat opponent. The Clinton Foundation defended itself against the allegations, saying the fall in donations was due to the Clinton Global Initiative shutting down. of African appearance, aged in their 20s and both over 180cm tall A man looking to sell his smartphone has been savagely bashed by two men posing as potential buyers. Akhal Allamkonda had listed his iPhone XS Max for sale on popular buy, swap and sell website Gumtree. He spoke with the men, who he says are of African appearance, for a few days before they arrived at his home on Norman Street in Findon, north-west Adelaide, on Thursday night. Akhal Allamkonda listed his iPhone for sale online, only to be bashed by potential buyers at his Adelaide home (pictured) on Thursday night 'They wanted to buy the phone, they said to me. I said, "without giving the money I don't give the phone to you",' Allamkonda told Nine News. He said he gave them the phone and they handed him a wallet but things quickly escalated. 'The next moment the guys start beating me,' Allamkonda said. He said he was also viciously attacked with a metal pole and brick. Allamkonda was unable to stop the men from taking his iPhone, which retails for roughly $1600. The pair, believed to be in their early 20s and more than 180cm tall, fled the scene on foot. Police later canvased the area but were unable to locate the two men. Officers said the incident should be a reminder about exercising caution when using buy, swap and sell websites. A severely autistic boy died in hospital after he was restrained by staff for allegedly being violent at his special needs school. The 13-year-old, who has not been identified, became unresponsive while being restrained at Guiding Hands School in El Dorado Hills, California, on November 28. A teacher began CPR until help arrived and the boy was taken to Mercy Hospital in Folsom in a critical condition, the Eld Dorado Sheriff's Office said in a statement. The boy was then transported to UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, where he died two days later. The sheriff's office which reported the boy was 6ft tall and weighed 280lbs said the boy 'became violent and needed to be restrained by school staff, to prevent the injury of staff and students.' A severely autistic boy died in hospital after he was restrained by staff for allegedly being violent at Guiding Hands School (pictured) in El Dorado Hills, California However, the statement did not elaborate on what prompted the teenager being restrained or how it was done. The sheriff's office said it has interviewed those involved and is completing a full investigation. 'At this time, there appears to be no evidence of foul play or criminal intent,' it said. But the California Department of Education announced this week that they have suspended the school after the student's death. A teacher is also under investigation for subduing the student using a 'prone restraint' which involves being held in a face-down position for around an hour, a source told the Sacramento Bee. Prone restraints are legal in certain circumstances in California but is banned in schools in several other states. El Dorado County District Attorney Vern Pierson confirmed his office is investigating the death, according to the newspaper. The school said staff used a 'nationally recognized behavioral management protocol,' a source told the Bee. In a statement issued on Thursday, the school said: 'It is with heavy hearts that we share the very difficult news that a beloved member of our school community has passed away. 'Out of respect for the family and the ongoing investigation, we are unable to share full details at this time.' The school, which provides special education and services to students with special needs, has been sued for restraining a student before. Staff forcibly restrained Tracee Lamerson, who has Williams Syndrome, multiple times in 2002 and 2003, the Bee reports. In 2004, Lamerson's mother sued Guiding Hands, but the outcome of that lawsuit was unclear. Lamerson, now 29, detailed one incident where she vomited after being placed in a four-point restraint and held down by four staff members when she was 13. She had arrived at school with a broken arm sustained in an accident on the bus to school - and asked to call her mother. She became agitated when they wouldn't allow her to do so and she was placed in a restraint. When she vomited, staff made her clean it up, according to court records. 'I was so afraid to go back,' Lamerson told the Bee on Thursday. 'I don't like that they are still open and that they can restrain anyone.' President Trump was himself the subject rather than the instigator of an inappropriate joke this week. ABC News correspondents Terry Moran and Devin Dwyer came under fire for their remarks about how Trump's funeral might compare to that of former President George H.W Bush. Chief foreign correspondent Moran and contributing correspondent Dwyer were covering the live stream of the 41st President's funeral on Wednesday when they began to imagine how differently Trump would want his own service. Moran mused that there would 'Probably a different tone in that funeral first he's going to choreograph it, so there might be more trumpets and fanfare.' Dwyer agreed: 'Yes, he would do it bigger, one would imagine.' Moran went on to say that Trump would declare the occasion, in his now-familiar style of rhetoric, the 'best presidential funeral ever.' 'No one will ever have seen anything like that funeral,' he continued. Plenty of the pundits covering Wednesday's ceremony commented on the stark disparities between the 41st and 45th presidents, but conservative figures were quick to condemn the ABC incident as 'bad taste'. ABC's chief foreign correspondent Terry Moran (left) and contributing correspondent Devin Dwyer (right) were covering the live stream of the 41st President's funeral on Wednesday when they began to imagine how Trump would want his funeral President Donald J. Trump and First Lady Melania Trump attend the state funeral service of former President George W. Bush Political comedian Tim Young told Fox News that the reaction would be much different had the remarks been about Obama's passing. 'There would have been full blocks of TV dedicated to "how disgusting they were" on CNN and forced apologies from their own network,' Young said. 'It's in bad taste to joke about any of our current leader's future passing.' 'But what this highlights again is the media outrage double standard where you can say basically anything you want about a Republican and get away with it.' Dan Gainor, vice president of Media Research Center - a conservative organisation with a mission to 'expose and neutralize the propaganda arm of the Left: the national news media' - agreed. He told Fox News: 'To mock [Trump] during the coverage of the president's funeral is just despicable garbage.' 'I would say ABC News should apologize, but it wouldn't be sincere if it did. This is about the billionth example of unprofessional journalism in their attacks on Trump. 'It's only more outrageous because of the solemn occasion,' Gainor said. Former President George W. Bush walks past President Donald Trump to speak at the State Funeral for his father, former President George H.W. Bush on Wednesday The awkward exchange began in the moments before the plane carrying George H.W Bush departed for the funeral at Washington National Cathedral. To fill the gap while waiting for take off, Moran noted that Trump's election was a 'repudiation of much of what George Herbert Walker Bush and George Walker Bush stood for because the people who voted him wanted that repudiation.' Moran added that Trump's presidency 'is an expression of the will of the people,' and is 'vastly different than any of the Bushes.' However it is not unusual for the President himself to be under fire for uncomfortable remarks. He was widely criticized for his mockery of a journalist's physical disability in 2015 and for his attack on the 1996 Miss Universe winner Alicia Machado, who says he called her 'Miss Piggy' and 'Miss Housekeeping'. In 2016 Trump appeared to hint at rival Hillary Clinton's assasination, when he said that 'second amendment people' could stop her from making judicial nominations. George H.W. Bush, 41st President of the United States, was given a public funeral in the Washington National Cathedral in the nation's capital on Wednesday.The list of funeral service speakers marked the first time since Lyndon Johnson's death in 1973 that a sitting president was not tapped to eulogize a late president 'By the way, and if she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks. Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is, I don't know,' he said. 'It sounds like just a joke gone bad. I hope he clears it up very quickly,' Republican House Speaker Rep. Paul Ryan said at the time. Bush, who died late Friday at his home in Houston at age 94, was memorialized Wednesday during an emotional funeral service at the Washington National Cathedral. As well as current President Trump and first lady Melania, all four living former occupants of the White House were in attendance. The ceremony brought together world envoys, Americans of high office and a man from Maine who used to fix things in Bush's house on the water. The list of funeral service speakers marked the first time since Lyndon Johnson's death in 1973 that a sitting president was not tapped to eulogize a late president. Clinton did so for Richard Nixon, and George W. Bush eulogized Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford. A British family's sunset holiday cruise turned into a nightmare when their catamaran capsized in Cape Town harbour. The family of five, a couple, their son and daughter and the son's partner, were returning to the harbour after a 'champagne pleasure cruise' on a catamaran yacht staffed by a crew of three when a gust of wind overturned the boat. While the others found their bearings in the cold water, the crew realised the mother was missing - and remained inside the hull of the 50ft catamaran. Holiday horror: The British woman ended up trapped inside the catamaran as she had gone down into the galley as it was overturned The yacht skipper bravely took off his life jacket and free-dived under the water and through the rigging to try and save her. He surfaced inside an air pocket in the galley and found the terrified woman and calmed her down and told her she would have to swim back out the catamaran. He instructed her to dive down through the freezing water and guided her out through the galley doors and back up to the surface to his two waiting crew members. The terrified mother was in agony with a broken shoulder and had to be helped and guided to safety through the choppy seas. The NSRI lifeboats based inside Cape Town harbour had been alerted and they launched two sea rescue craft Spirit of Day and Spirit of Vodacom who raced to the scene. Bravery: The hero yacht skipper took off his life jacket and free dived underneath the 50ft catamaran, to find the mother terrified and with a broken shoulder in an air pocket in the hull Rescue: Images taken by the local National Sea Rescue Institute's crew shows the Brits and the yacht crew being rescued from the catamaran They were backed up by the Cape Town Fire and Rescue Dive Unit and a Police Dive Unit and they found the five UK tourists and three crew safe on the upturned hull. The mother had suffered a fractured shoulder and two of the crewmen had suffered non-life threatening injuries and waiting paramedics rushed them quickly to hospital. National Sea Rescue Institute spokesperson Craig Labinon said all eight of those on board suffered mild hypothermia as well so all were taken to hospital for checks. Mr Labinon told how the catamaran skipper rescued the British mother-of-two. He told News24: 'She was trapped in the galley where water was rising as the cabin filled with water causing a fast diminishing air pocket that had provided some relief. 'From what we understand we believe the skipper of the catamaran free dived under the catamaran after she capsized and he was able to bring the mum up from below deck. 'Eight persons three local male crew members and five tourist passengers from the United Kingdom were found on the upturned hull of the boats when we arrived. 'All were wearing life jackets and they were rescued off the upturned hull and brought by the NSRI sea rescue craft to their base at the V & Waterfront for treatment'. Safely out: The skipper was able to guide the British woman out of the overturned boat despite her broken shoulder The South African Maritime Safety Authority has been alerted and is investigating the cause of the accident to ensure that tourists using the sunset catamarans are safe. The daily trips and 20-a-head sunset cruises are popular with British tourists and whales and dolphins are often seen on the trip that heads out towards Robben Island. It capsized at 6.49pm on Monday near the breakwater and was due to dock at 7pm as darkness fell fellow sailors said they thought sailing in such strong winds was unwise. Tourism officials are assisting the UK family and the British Consulate was alerted to render assistance to their traumatised countrymen, the NSRI said. The catamaran was towed to nearby Granger Bay just outside the Port of Table Bay in the capsized position and it was anchored to await later recovery, It is hoped that salvage experts will be able to right the catamaran. Kevin Knight, who owns the catamaran, told News24 that he was awaiting the outcome of the investigation and that their focus now was getting the boat out of the water. The boat operators did not comment and said they would release a statement at a later stage. NSRI Table Bay station commander Quentin Botha told News24: 'One female suffered a fractured shoulder in the ordeal and she is being treated for that in hospital. 'They were bruised and shaken up by the catamaran ordeal but full of praise for the NSRI and the emergency services rapid response and subsequent after care' he said. The UK family were picked up from hospital by the owner of the guest house where they are staying. They have declined through official channels to be identified. A disabled woman has released a horrifying image of rats 'the size of dogs' she claims are infesting her council house. Asia White, 37, claims she has been bitten by the 20-inch rodents, ingested their urine and found droppings in her food during the six month 'living nightmare' at her home in Lambeth, London. The former high-end retail manager, who suffers with mental and physical disabilities, claims the conditions have seen her health rapidly deteriorate to the point she has even been hospitalised last month. Scroll down for video Asia White, 37, claims she has been bitten by the rodents, ingested their urine and found rat droppings in her food during the six month 'living nightmare' at her home in Lambeth, London She alleges housing association Peabody has put down poison to kill the rats but then not returned to remove it - leaving the animals' decomposing corpses in her basement. Ms White said: 'The rats are disgusting, I would say they're the size of a dog, or a large cat. 'We caught a 20-inch rodent, only because an even bigger one was too fast for us and escaped. It's got me to a point where I'm going crazy. 'I have found rat droppings in food I was about to eat before, and I have accidentally ingested rat urine on one occasion. I've even been bitten, it's been hell.' Ms White, who lives alone, claims the torment has left her feeling suicidal and exacerbated her existing health issues. She has lived in the council house since April 2018, and alleges she first saw droppings and urine around the house when she moved in. The former high-end retail manager, who suffers with mental and physical disabilities, claims the conditions have seen her health rapidly deteriorate to the point she has even been hospitalised last month After a month of living there she claims she heard loud squeaks and witnessed rats running around her bedroom and attempting to bite her. Ms White said while Peabody have laid down poison they have not permanently close the entry point for the rodents, which is located through the basement. The registered charity have sent contractors out to fix the issue but Ms White claims their contractors were forced to leave because the working conditions in her home were too poor. Ms White said: 'I'm constantly being sick, the smell of the rats is unavoidable. She has lived in the council house since April 2018, and alleges she first saw droppings and urine around the house when she moved in. After a month of living there she claims she heard loud squeaks and witnessed rats running around her bedroom and attempting to bite her 'One night I woke up so stressed that I couldn't feel half of my body. My stools have been green, I've been having breakdowns. 'The impact this house and the fear of living here has left me suicidal at times. 'Peabody has sent contractors out to fix the entry points, but they have swiftly been told to leave because of poor working conditions. But I still have to live there. ' Tina Valcarcel, Lambeth's Larkhall ward councillor, got involved after Ms White was rushed to hospital in November. She said: 'I have been helping the resident of my ward with her housing issues for a number of months, in my role as a local councillor. 'We have made progress, but there's still a long way to go. I'm determined to continue working on her behalf until these issues are resolved. A Peabody spokesperson said: 'We're really sorry about the distress this has caused Ms White. Our contractors have been back again and again to try and get rid of the pests, which are an increasing problem in London. 'Unfortunately, because of drainage issues, the problem was worse than we originally thought. We have helped Ms White to move out, and are keeping in touch with her and the council to continue to support her. 'Our top priority is to find her a new permanent home that meets her needs. Separately, we will be completely repairing and refurbishing the empty property.' Qantas has been slammed for asking employees to volunteer over Christmas by handing bottles of water and chocolate to passengers. In an email circulated with Qantas staff, the Australian airline called for employees to 'lend a hand' during the peak travel period at Sydney airport. 'We're trialling a new volunteer program for our Campus [Mascot] based people who want to lend a hand to the front line,' the email read. Scroll down for video Qantas has asked staff to take part in a volunteer program over the Christmas period (stock image) Qantas is under fire after sending an email out calling for employees to volunteer over Christmas (pictured) 'We require volunteers to assist the self-service check in and auto bag drop area, bussing gates, concourse arrivals hall and at the transfer desk.' The volunteer roles will depend on the employee's skill set, security requirements and preferences, according to the email. The email, titled Christmas peak Sydney International volunteer initiative 2018, has since gone viral after being posted by an Australian trade union on social media. A Qantas spokesman said the volunteer initiative aimed to 'spread a bit of Christmas cheer during a really busy period'. The spokesman confirmed the airline was not cutting costs and said they 'also ask head office employees if they'd like to lend a hand, which is a mix of their own time and company time'. 'Volunteer tasks include handing out bottles of water and Christmas chocolates to passengers at airports and helping people find their way around the terminal,' the spokesman told The Australian. The Australian airline has been slammed over the initiative. 'They can afford to pay people for this work. Not a good look, Qantas,' one man said The airline has been lashed on social media over the employee volunteer initiative. 'They can afford to pay people for this work. Not a good look, Qantas,' one man said. 'Umm... those look like jobs, not volunteer positions. WTF Qantas?' another said, while one woman joked: 'Why don't trial something innovative and employ workers to do the job?'. The Australian Services Union New South Wales branch secretary Natalie Lang told The Australian 'the jobs they want volunteers to do is skilled work'. The Qantas Group posted a record profit of $1.6billion for the 2017/18 financial year. Tons of fun: Mr Rhino humps his missus in front of a skyscraper Talk about sex and the city! These hilarious snaps show rhinos mating in front of skyscrapers. Highway maintenance worker Lamak Sheikh, 56, was in for a surprise when he decided to take some city shots at the Nairobi National Park in Kenya. Two rhinos, along with a rhino calf, had already made themselves at home in his picture perfect scene. Yet as he shot the images, the cheeky rhinos decided to get up to something a bit less PG. Lamak, from Kenya, said: 'It was another lucky day in my time at the Nairobi National Park.' Getting down to business: The two heavyweights form a new partnership in full view of Nairobi's central business district Julian Assange has rejected a 'deal' to leave Ecuador's London embassy after the country said Britain had guaranteed not to extradite him to 'any country where he'd face the death penalty'. The 47-year-old WikiLeaks founder has been holed up under asylum inside the embassy since 2012 when he was accused of sexual assault by two women in Sweden. The Australian denied their claims but refused to travel to Sweden to face them, saying it was part of a ruse to extradite him to the US. Yesterday, Ecuador's president Lenin Moreno said conditions had been met for Assange to leave the embassy 'in near-liberty' and that Britain had guaranteed the whistleblower would not be extradited to any country where his life would be in danger. But a lawyer for Assange, who was behind a massive dump of classified US documents in 2010, has since said the deal is not acceptable. Ecuador's president says the UK has provided sufficient guarantees for Julian Assange (pictured) to leave his government's embassy in London Barry Pollack told the Daily Telegraph: 'The suggestion that as long as the death penalty is off the table, Mr Assange need not fear persecution is obviously wrong. 'No one should have to face criminal charges for publishing truthful information. 'Since such charges appear to have been brought against Mr Assange in the United States, Ecuador should continue to provide him asylum.' On Thursday, President Moreno told reporters: 'The way has been cleared for Mr Assange to take the decision to leave in near-liberty.' It was not immediately clear what Mr Moreno meant by 'near-liberty.' He did say that Britain had guaranteed that the Australian would not be extradited to any country where his life is in danger. Mr Moreno said his government had received written assurances from the UK government that they not to extradite Mr Assange to any country where he would face the death penalty. He did not say he would force Mr Assange out, but said Mr Assange's legal team is considering its next steps. MailOnline has contacted the Home Office for comment. Mr Assange has long maintained the he faces charges under seal in the US for revealing highly sensitive government information on his website. While the exact charges against Assange remain unclear, WikiLeaks has served as a vehicle for release of thousands of classified US military and diplomatic cables. President Lenin Moreno (pictured in May) said the UK has provided sufficient guarantees for Julian Assange to leave his government's embassy in London WikiLeaks' role in releasing emails hacked from the Democratic National Committee in 2016 has also been under scrutiny as special counsel Robert Mueller has investigated Russian interference in the 2016 election and whether the campaign of then-presidential candidate Donald Trump was involved. And while Mr Assange remains protected in the Ecuadorian embassy, there have been indications that officials in that country are losing patience with him. They recently placed restrictions on his use of the embassy, including a requirement that he clean up after his cat. CBC said Meng Wanzhou arrested on suspicion of violating trade sanctions against Iran. Therefore that means we can arrest anyone due to suspicions and to hell with rule of law BEIJING (AP) China on Thursday demanded that Canada release an executive of Chinese tech giant Huawei who was arrested in a case that compounds tensions with the U.S. and threatens to complicate trade talks. Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies Ltd., faces possible extradition to the United States, according to Canadian authorities. The Globe and Mail newspaper, citing law enforcement sources, said she is suspected of trying to evade U.S. trade curbs on Iran. Huawei, the biggest Source: China demands Canada release executive of tech giant Huawei Ignorance of our actions does not make it right. But I promise that soon reciprocal actions are going to start happening. I guess we are just going to rant and rave at the whole world, because we are falling farther and farther behind in almost literally everything First: Iran sanctions are illegal.periodillegal Second: We just put CEOs of America in the bullseye as they travel the world to do business Can you say, USA Isolation! and or maybe worse yet, We Want War! WtR PS: Bad China, Bad Russia, Bad Venezuela, Bad North Korea, Bad Brazil, Bad Iraq, Bad Syria, Bad Iran, Bad Qatar, Bad Yemen, Bad Gaza, Bad Balkans, Bad France, Bad Mexico, Bad Cuba, Bad Belarus, Bad Democratic Republic of Congo, Bad Zimbabwe, Bad Sudan, Bad Cote DIvoire (Ivory Coast), Bad Burma, Bad Libya, Bad Lebanon, Bad bad bad bad and more and more bad countries I know you can name a few morethere is dozens more Its really amazing that the government would go out of its way to have Ms.Meng Wanzhou, Huaweis chief financial officer, and a non-U.S. citizen, arrested in Canada,for supposedly violating U.S. sanctions, yet cant come to grips with arresting the Clintons, who are far more flagrantly egregious. Says a lot about how poor our justice system really is Experts have revealed the giveaway moment a man pinched his eyes to cry crocodile tears after killing his wife at a Florida beauty spot and shooting himself four times to cover up her murder. Justin Barber, then 30, claimed he and his wife April had snuck into the Guana River State Park outside Jacksonville for a walk along the beach after celebrating their third wedding anniversary on August 17, 2002. Barber said things turned deadly when a man in a baggy shirt demanded their money and car keys before shooting his 27-year-old wife in the face. Justin Barber (above) cried crocodile tears as he lied about what happened the night his wife April was killed in 2002 Murderer: Barber fatally shot his wife in the face and then himself four times in a bid to stage a fake robbery gone wrong. His lies were exposed at his trial and he was sentenced to life without parole in 2006 St. Johns County sheriffs detectives Timothy Burres and Skip Cole take Justin Mertis Barber, 32, (center), to county jail after his arrest on Friday, July 9, 2004 He claimed he had stepped in front of his wife and was shot four times twice in the shoulders, under the right nipple and through his left hand. But it later emerged that he had killed his wife who was found in the ocean with a gunshot wound in her left cheek and wounded himself to cover up the murder. Now, body language experts on Faking It: Tears Of A Crime have outlined the tell-tale signs that gave away Barber's guilt when he spoke about the night he killed his wife. Barber was filmed as he took police back to the scene of the crime and appeared on TV appealing for help in catching her killer. But body language expert Cliff Lansley revealed the moment Barber's body let the truth slip, as he faked sadness. Barber pinched his eyes to cry crocodile tears after killing his wife at a Florida beauty spot Experts revealed the signs that gave away Barber's guilt as he was filmed returning to the scene of the crime 'He's not feeling sad here, he's faking it he's squeezing the eyeballs with his thumb and his forefinger,' he says. 'We see this so often, when people want to create some tears on their cheeks'. The experts also say Barber was feigning shock and surprise by putting on a 'quivering' voice. He also gave away the truth with his contorted facial expressions, over-emphasized speech and the over-extended head shakes that negate the words he says. Experts on Faking It: Tears of a Crime highlighted the signs that Barber was faking his sadness Despite his act, Barber's lies soon unraveled as police discovered chilling files and Google searches on his computer. He had downloaded 'I Used To Love Her But I Had To Kill Her' by Guns N Roses the day before the murder. And he had Googled phrases including 'medical trauma right chest' as he plotted how to get away with murder. Barber was sentenced to life in prison without parole in 2006. A jury had recommended he be handed the death penalty after voting 8-4 in favor of it. Faking It: Tears of a Crime airs Friday at 10pm on Investigation Discovery. A no deal Brexit would be worse for Ireland than the UK, Government papers claim fuelling demands for Theresa May to tell Dublin to drop the border backstop. Leaked papers suggest Ireland would face foot shortages and a 7 per cent plunge in GDP if there was a sudden no deal in March. It compares to a 5 per cent drop in the UK - with the gap fuelled by Ireland being a more open economy than Britain. The bleak picture has prompted Cabinet ministers and leading Brexiteers to plead with Mrs May to exploit Dublin's position before Tuesday's vote, The Times reported. Remainers said it was 'morally reprehensible' to threaten Ireland given the bloody history of the Troubles. A no deal Brexit would be worse for Ireland than the UK, Government papers claim fuelling demands for Theresa May to tell Dublin to drop the border backstop (file image) The bleak picture has prompted Cabinet ministers and leading Brexiteers to plead with Mrs May (pictured in Downing Street last night) to exploit Dublin's position before Tuesday's vote The Prime Minister is facing a catastrophic defeat of her deal on Tuesday night as more than 100 Tory MPs say they will not support the backstop. The backstop effectively keeps the UK in a customs union with Europe if there is no trade deal with the EU after transition - meaning no trade deals and the imposition of EU rules in Britain. Priti Patel, the former cabinet minister, told the Times: 'This paper appears to show the government were well aware Ireland will face significant issues in a no-deal scenario. 'Why hasn't this point been pressed home during the negotiations? There is still time to go back to Brussels and get a better deal.' Almost 80 per cent of Ireland's exports travel through the UK before heading into Europe - meaning the UK-Ireland border is crucial. Brexiteers insist this is why the EU could have been forced to backdown on the backstop with a tougher negotiating strategy. But Labour's Lisa Nandy said: 'Threatening Ireland in this way is as morally reprehensible as it is futile. 'Britain should be showing itself to be a dependable neighbour and friend in the future, and it is frightening that Brexiteers are even contemplating a move which could see stopping trade, including food supplies, being weaponised in this way, particularly given the uncomfortable historical echoes.' Brexiteer Priti Patel (left) said the report should be used to pressure Ireland but Lisa Nandy (right) said it was 'morally reprehensible' to threaten Dublin Irish Government sources said the deal including the backstop was between the entire EU and the UK and would not be reopened. The source said: 'That will not be changing, under any circumstances.' Another Irish government source said that contingency planning for a hard Brexit had been under way for most of this year. They said: 'We are prepared if there is a no-deal scenario next March. We also have a commitment from the European Commission to support Ireland against the fallout from a hard Brexit.' Former GCHQ director Robert Hannigan (pictured in February 2017) is sceptical about whether tech giants can reform themselves Facebook could be a threat to democracy unless it is properly regulated, a former head of GCHQ warned today. Robert Hannigan said Facebook was not a 'fluffy charity' providing free services to users, but rather social media firms were trying to 'squeeze every drop of profit' out of personal data. The former intelligence chief was sceptical about whether tech giants could reform themselves and suggested new laws may be required. Asked if Facebook was a threat to democracy, Mr Hannigan told BBC Radio 4's Today: 'Potentially yes, I think it is, if it isn't controlled and regulated. 'Frankly, some Facebook executives have conceded that it needs regulation. 'But these big companies, particularly where they are monopolies, can't frankly reform themselves. It will have to come from outside. 'The EU is already talking about doing it and I'm sure others will follow.' Mr Hannigan is the former director of GCHQ, which is based in Cheltenham On Wednesday, a House of Commons select committee published more than 200 pages of Facebook internal documents, including emails between key staff members, which had been seized as part of its inquiry into fake news. The documents had been gathered by software firm Six4Three as part of its legal battle with the platform. This isn't a kind of fluffy charity providing free services Robert Hannigan, former GCHQ chief The Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Committee said the files appear to show Facebook offering special deals to some developers including Netflix and Airbnb to gain special access to the data on a user's friends, even after platform changes introduced in 2015 restricted such practices. Facebook said the cache of documents published about its business tells 'only one side of the story'. Facebook said the cache of documents about its business tells 'only one side of the story' But Mr Hannigan told BBC Radio 4's Today: 'This isn't a kind of fluffy charity providing free services. 'It is a very hard-headed international business and these big tech companies are essentially the world's biggest global advertisers, that's where they make their billions. 'So in return for the service that you find useful they take your data and as these emails show they squeeze every drop of profit out of it. 'And the incentives to make profit out of your data are far greater than the incentives to protect your privacy.' An unknown culprit soiling parliament toilets has been warned to clean up their act after a spate of mysterious messes. Politicians and staff working in South Australia's Parliament were told men's toilets across a number of floors of the North Terrace building had been left 'significantly soiled', via an email this week. 'The hard-working staff, they've got enough crap that they hear in the actual chamber, let alone getting bogged down in this kind of rubbish,' Labor MP Nat Cook told the ABC. Ms Cook - who worked as a nurse for three decades before entering Parliament - said she had never sent or received such an email before and was in favour for launching an investigation into the matter. An unknown culprit soiling parliament toilets has been warned to clean up their act after a spate of mysterious messes (stock image) Politicians and staff working in South Australia's Parliament (pictured) were told men's toilets across a number of floors of the North Terrace building had been left 'significantly soiled' The Labor MP suggested passing a motion in the house to establish a committee. Joint Parliamentary Service Committee secretary Rick Crump issued the email and noted the messes have only been appearing during sitting weeks. 'The blatant disregard for and lack of respect shown to the other occupants of the building, especially the hard-working building services staff, is very concerning,' he said, adding the toilets were also used by members of the public and guests. 'To encounter an environment like that surely leaves a very distasteful and lasting impression of the institution,' he said. Primary Industries Minister Tim Whetstone warned: 'We will find them and they will be dealt with accordingly'. 'Staff have taken it upon themselves to monitor the state of the toilets and while they may be willing to confront the culprit the best possible outcome would be simply for the practice to cease,' Mr Crump said. Criminals targetting cash machines last year increasingly used explosives and diggers in a 50 million crime spree, a damning report can reveal. Gangs struck almost twice a day and hit rural areas to loot eye-watering sums of cash with brazen tactics including using stolen diggers to tear ATMS from the wall. In other instances the thieves pumped ATMs full of explosive gas and used industrial tools to rip them apart as part of the 46.8 million spree across 722 attacks in 2017. Criminals targetting cash machines last year increasingly used explosives and diggers in a 50 million crime spree, a damning report can reveal. Gangs struck almost twice a day and hit rural areas to loot eye-watering sums of cash (picture shows attempted robbery in Fairley in 2018) Police say the hole-in-the-wall gangs have injected sophisticated and highly organised methods into their smash and grab tactics, plundering millions in the process. While the gangs inflict additional costs of some 100 million in damages and lost trade, according to the report compiled by ATM operator Cardtronics. As recently as July this year, a branch of Barclays in Milton Keynes was targetted by raiders who smashed a cashpoint from the wall with a JCB digger. Pictures showed the aftermath of the attack looking more like a bombing than a bank robbery, with rubble strewn across the ground and half a wall missing from the building. Police say the hole-in-the-wall gangs have injected sophisticated and highly organised methods into their smash and grab tactics, plundering millions in the process It was not revealed how much money was stolen, but the average cash machine holds around 5,000 to 10,000. However, they can contain as much as 120,000. In another instance, in Surrey last year, thieves used a stolen digger to rip a cashpoint from a wall in Haslemere Train Station in Surrey, leaving the building severely damaged. In January 2015 robbers used a JCB digger to force an ATM from the wall of a Co-op story in Haxby, York before making an escape in a pick-up truck, leaving the JCB for police to find. In other instances, such as this attack pictured in Liverpool on December 1, the thieves pumped ATMs full of explosive gas and used industrial tools to rip them apart - making off with nearly 46.8 million from 722 attacks in 2017 Some of the gangs have been linked to firearms offences and high level drug dealing, report The Times, who accessed the Cardtronics report first. The hole-in-the-wall smash and grab style attack has risen so rapidly that now one in every five attacks in Europe takes place in the UK. The report states that since 2013 the number of thefts classified as dangerous has doubled, with ram raids, gas attacks and stolen diggers used to tear out the ATMs. Nearly half of the 722 attacks last year were classified as 'dangerous' in the report, meaning that there was risk to life. Of the attacks, around 100 were gas explosions, and there are fears that number will double by 2020 unless action is taken to counter the problem. Detective Chief Inspector Chris Mossop, of the north-west regional organised crime group, told The Times: 'From a policing perspective, ATM crime is highly organised and sophisticated. Pictures showed the aftermath of the attack looking more like a bombing than a bank robbery, with rubble strewn across the ground and half a wall missing from the building 'Offences require a degree of criminal operational planning and the methods of attack from gas explosion to "drag out" have the potential to put the public and offenders at risk.' In another brazen attack, this October, dramatic footage was released showing the masked raiders using a stolen farm digger to hit a newsagent and make off with the ATM. The gang used a JCB to rip the cash machine from the wall, leaving a gaping hole in the front of the listed building in Long Melford, Suffolk. A JCB was used to to force entry into a bank early this morning and rip an ATM machine out of a wall. Officers were called at around 3.05am in late August 2018 The early-morning robbery, which lasted only a few minutes, ended when the gang lifted the automated teller on to a Nissan pick-up truck and sped off. In September, nine members of a traveller family in Doncaster were jailed following an investigation into the raids in the area. Police raided two traveller sites in Bentley and Armthorpe finding a sub-machine gun, two semi-automatic guns, two pistols and around 115,000 in cash, along with several kilos of uncut heroin. The thieves used a JCB to inflict thousands of pounds of damage to a Co-op supermarket in a listed Tudor building in Dedham, Essex. Shocking new figures revealed half of burgalries in Britain take place while householders are inside their properties. Brazen criminals seem to be emboldened by police cuts and failures to act, as figures show 58 per cent of burglaries happened at occupied properties. Campaigners have claimed criminals do not fear being caught by authorities and are calling for harsher penalties to deter criminals. Police forensics officers searching around the home of 77-year-old Maureen Whale who died in hospital after burglars broke in to her home It comes as Maureen Whale, 77, was alone at her home in Barnet, north London when the thugs broke into her property. Fearing for her safety, she desperately called the police but collapsed and died. Officers said two men forced their way into Mrs Whale's home while a third kept watch. The gang stole property from her home including her bag. Maureen Whale, 77, was alone at her home in Barnet, north London when the thugs broke into her property Three other burglaries took place in the area on the same day. Authorities across the country are struggling to deal with a rise in violent crime - highlighted by figures which showed two-thirds of reported burglaries were not being pursued by police. Last night, a charity supporting the victims of burglary said offenders were taking more risks as they knew police were less likely to respond. Analysis of recent Office for National Statistics crime figures showed the proportion of burglaries targeting homes when someone was in has soared. In 2004-05, the figure was 44 per cent, but that has now risen to 58 per cent. Barbara Oakley, an operations manager at Victim Support, told The Daily Telegraph: 'There is a lot of spot burglaries now where they just go along and try the handles. 'The [door handles] don't even necessarily get fingerprinted or anything like that because police just don't have the resources to do it.' Over three in ten victims said they longer felt safe at their home following the incident. The survey, carried out by Verisure, questioned 1,000 burglary victims. This brave disabled boy has won praise after this footage showed him walking on all fours with flip flops on his hands on his two-mile daily trek to school. Eight-year-old boy Mukhlis Abdul Kholik, known as Adul, lives in a rural area in the city of Sukabumi in the province of West Java in Indonesia. He was born with a physical disability that requires him to use his hands to help himself walk, because the condition he suffers from has affected his legs. Eight-year-old Adul's daily walk to school takes him through the Indonesian forest and up steep slops He is forced to travel almost two miles to school each day and without a school bus - the only way he can do so is on all fours. The video shows the boy wearing shoes on his feet and flip flops on his hands while walking through a rough terrain to reach school. He is seen accompanied with another schoolboy and a woman. Motivated: Adul's teachers say he works hard at school to be top of the class, but loves playing with his classmates too Adul's teachers say he enjoys studying and playing with his classmates at the school in rural West Java province His teachers say that Adul is one of their most motivated students who studies hard to compete with his classmates and enjoys playing with them too. The school's principal, Epi Mulyadi, added: 'He is very active every day, besides being physically limited.' One of the boy's wishes was to meet the President, Joko Widodo, known as Jokowi, and his dream finally came true on the International Day of People with Disabilities on Monday December 3. One of Adul's dreams came true when he met Indonesian President Joko Widodo, known as Jokowi (left, carrying Adul), on the International Day of People with Disabilities on Monday December 3 Adul crawls two miles to school every day along country roads and forest paths on all fours, wearing sandals on his hands British stock markets sunk to their worst day in two years yesterday amid fears of a trade war between the US and China. Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Chinese tech giant Huawei, was detained in Canada this week at the request of US authorities. Her arrest - in response to suspicions that Huawei violated trade sanctions in place against Iran - sparked fears in markets of tensions between the world's two biggest economies, the US and China. In the UK, more than 56bn was wiped off Britain's biggest listed companies as the FTSE 100 sank to a two-year low, sinking by 3.2 per cent during yesterday. The arrest of Meng Wanzhou spooked world markets yesterday, wiping 56bn off the FTSE The FTSE plummeted yesterday, before bouncing back slightly this morning The index recovered some of those losses this morning. After dropping 217 points yesterday, it had risen by 101 by 9.45am this morning. Connor Campbell, of Spreadex, commented this morning: 'The European markets were granted a reprieve on Friday. 'Though Beijing are very much displeased with the arrest of Huawei exec Meng Wanzhou China's media labelled her detention as 'despicable' the fact the country nevertheless announced it was 'immediately' applying the trade truce measures agreed with the US appears to have helped reassure the markets that the relationship between the two superpowers hasn't yet reverted back to its warmongering worst. 'Granted, that announcement came on Thursday morning, so it perhaps isn't directly linked to the rebound. However, now that the dust has settled somewhat on Wanzhou's arrest, investors may be taking a slightly more measured approach to the whole issue.' Telecoms firm Huawei is also battling accusation that its kit could allow China to spy on other countries. It comes days after US President Donald Trump reached a truce over trade tariffs with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. The arrest - and resulting fears of a trade war - sent stock markets into panic yesterday The two sides had agreed to meet and resolve their differences within 90 days, but Meng's arrest has thrown this into doubt, bringing back the spectre of huge tariffs and the global economic damage they would cause. The situation in Britain isn't helped by the continued deadlock in Parliament over the future of Brexit. Sterling was trading relatively flat against both the US dollar and euro at 1.277 and 1.123 respectively as Brexit fears kept the British currency shackled. The chief financial officer of telecom giant Huawei who was arrested in Canada last Saturday is one of the most powerful yet mysterious women in China. Meng Wanzhou (), 46, is the daughter and eldest child of Huawei's founder Ren Zhengfei (), 74, by his first wife Meng Jun. Billed as a 'Red Princess', she is widely assumed to be the heiress of her former Communist soldier father, who founded the world's current second largest smartphone seller at the age of 43 with just 21,000 yuan (2,388). Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou (left), 46, who was arrested in Canada last Saturday, is the daughter of Chinese telecom tycoon Ren Zhengfei (right), 74, by his first wife Meng Jun Sisters: Compared to her sibling Annabel Yao (left), 20, who is a glamorous ballerina and debutante, Ms Meng is notoriously publicity-shy and only accepted her first interview in 2013 A picture on Annabel Yao's Instagram account shows the Harvard student striking a ballet pose Some three decades later, her father has become one of China's richest men, who is worth 2.6 billion according to Forbes. He is the CEO and Chairman of Huawei. Meanwhile, Ms Meng, who is also the Vice-Chairman of Huawei, is ranked No. 12 by Forbes on the list of China's most outstanding businesswomen this year. Huawei, which in August beat Apple to become the world's second largest smartphone maker after South Korea's Samsung, raked in 603.6 billion yuan (68.7 billion) revenue last year. Compared to her glamorous 20-year-old half-sister, a ballerina who performed the opening waltz at this year's debutante in Paris, Ms Meng is notoriously publicity-shy. In fact, Ms Meng, whose given name means 'late boat' in Chinese, gave her first ever public interview aged 41 in 2013 - two decades after she started working for her father. She had been appointed as the company's CFO two years earlier. Ms Meng worked her way up in her billionaire father's company from a front desk operator The firstborn of Mr Ren, Ms Meng has previously been known as Cathy Meng or Sabrina Meng. She graduated from Huazhong University of Science and Technology in central China's Wuhan city. She has been billed as a 'Red Princess' due to the alleged strong connection between her grandfather and the officials of the Communist party. Ms Meng's career at Huawei wasn't smooth sailing. She took a position at Huawei's front desk in 1993 to answer phone calls after having worked in the China Construction Bank for a year, according to Chinese media. It is said that when she first joined the company, few of her colleagues knew she was the Chairman's daughter. Furthermore, she allegedly described her job as 'trivial' and 'exhausting' in an internal publication. In the same article, Ms Meng said she left Huawei temporarily in 1997 and spent the next year and a half getting a Master's degree in accounting. And afterwards she returned to Huawei's financial department, she wrote her career at the company officially began, a Chinese article said. Russia's President Vladimir Putin (left) and Meng Wanzhou (right) attend a session of the VTB Capital Investment Forum 'Russia Calling!' in Moscow, Russia, on October 2 in 2014 Putin greets Ms Meng who was the Executive Board Director of Huawei at the time 'She was actually at one point criticised by her father and being suppressed from promotion,' Wenran Jiang, a senior fellow at the University of British Columbia's Institute for Asian Research, told Vancouver Sun. 'That was a well-known story and she eventually proved herself and moved herself up in the ranks,' he added. Over the years, Ms Meng worked as the director of the international accounting department, CFO of Huawei's Hong Kong branch office, president of the accounts management department and brought Huawei to its current success. She is said to be known within her company as the 'Huawei Princess' Mr Ren (pictured), who was born in rural China to teacher parents, founded the world's current second largest smartphone seller with 21,000 yuan (2,388) raised funds in 1987. He is seen speaking during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on January 22, 2015 Ms Meng has a different surname to her father, a practice rarely seen in China where families put great importance in their name and bloodline. There are various rumours as to why Ms Meng didn't take the surname Ren. One version says Ms Meng changed her own surname at the age of 16. Another version claims Mr Ren named his two eldest children - Ms Meng and her younger brother - after his first wife's family out of respect for his wife's father, Meng Dongbo, who was a deputy provincial governor with impressive political connections. Rumour has it that Mr Ren's business took off in China because of the powerful family background of his first wife. Mr Ren (left) and his staff pose for a picture with Chinese President Xi Jinping (centre) at Huawei's office in London during Xi's state visit to the United Kingdom on October 21, 2015 Born in rural Guizhou to parents who were teachers, Mr Ren's path to great fortune remains largely unclear in his homeland. He studied in an architectural and engineering colleague in the city of Chongqing in 1963 and joined the Chinese Liberation Army in 1974 as a combat engineer in order to built a fiber factory in north-east using French technologies. He retired from the army in 1983 after the central government decided to restructure its industries. After four unhappy years at a petroleum company, Mr Ren founded Huawei. Mr Ren's military background has led many to speculate that Huawei gained business success through its connection with Chinese army and government, but the company has firmly denied the allegations. The tycoon has had three wives. He and his second wife, Yao Ling, have a daughter named Annabel Yao. Annabel Yao (pictured), Mr Ren's youngest daughter, is a ballerina and Harvard student The 20-year-old was presented at the 25th annual Bal des Debutantes in Paris on November 24 According to South China Morning Post, Annabel who also took her mother's family name is a ballerina and Harvard computer science student. She is extremely international and is said to have lived in Britain, Hong Kong and Shanghai. She was one of the 19 young women to be presented at the 25th annual Bal des Debutantes held at the Shangri-La Hotel in Paris on November 24. Annabel wore a cream-coloured J Mendel dress and was escorted by a Belgian prince. She was also chosen to perform the opening waltz alongside two other debutantes. Mr Ren's current and third wife, Su Wei, is less than half his age, according to Chinese media. A frustrated pedestrian in Vietnam's capital Hanoi took an unorthodox approach to crossing a busy road. Fed up with the rush-hour traffic, the man decided to take measures into his own hands in the middle of the congested road and started climbing along a bunch of power cables in an effort to cross the road. The man, who must have been in a hurry, decided to try out a Spiderman-like manoeuvre in mid-air and traverse the busy thoroughfare in what looked like heavy traffic. The pedestrian was seen inching his way along the telephone and electricity lines above a jam-packed road in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Wednesday morning. The man's acrobatics left at least one passing motorist bewildered, questioning why he would risk his life just to cross the road, while others understood how frustrating it is at times to wait for an eternity to cross the busy street Locals believe he had become so fed up of waiting for a break in the traffic to walk across the road, that he clambered up a pole and walked across on the power lines Locals believe he had become so fed up of waiting for a break in the traffic to walk across the road, that he had simply clambered up a pole and walked across on the power lines. The man's acrobatics left at least one passing motorist bewildered. 'I still can't understand it. They're power lines,' said Tu Thanh Bui, who recorded the scene. 'Was he so desperate to cross the road that he risked his life?' Others also suggested that that man had taken the extreme measure in a bid to overcome Vietnam's notoriously choc-a-bloc traffic congestion. 'I know this part of the road. It's very busy and difficult to cross. I think this is smart idea, as long as the electricity is not on,' added Minh Chen, another passerby. Meanwhile, some social media users branded the man 'spider man' and praised his agility. 'He has very good balance. It looks like spider man has come to Vietnam. I hope he made it across the road safely,' said Nguyen Trang. 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. Members of a brazen traveller gang which carried out a 2million crime spree targeting people's homes and businesses have been jailed for a total of 71 years. The gang committed more than 200 burglaries between February and December last year across Suffolk, Essex and Bedfordshire. They would don forensic suits in a bid to outwit police and were so prolific that in one day in July last year they committed seven burglaries, eight the next, and a total of 50 for the whole month. After one spree, police found seven stolen Labrador puppies and an arsenal of deadly weapons on their traveller site. Joe John Spencer Loveridge (left) was jailed for four years while John Eli Loveridge, 42, (right) was jailed for seven-and-a-half years In one attempted robbery at a Co-op in Burwell, Cambridgeshire, last year, a gang member drove a stolen red Audi TTRS through a railway crossing to escape police When the car was later recovered at a nearby travellers' site, officers found items from eight separate burglaries and a firearm Officers also discovered seven stolen puppies in the Audi TTRS along with the firearm and tools The criminals, all from the traveller community, would smash or force open doors and windows of businesses and homes in broad daylight to commit their robberies. They would steal high-powered BMWs and Audis, firearms, cash and jewellery, all of which they could dispose of through contacts. In one attempted robbery at a Co-op in Burwell, Cambridgeshire, last year, a gang member drove a stolen red Audi TTRS through a railway crossing at Lakenheath, Suffolk in a bid to get away from police. When the car was later recovered at a nearby travellers' site, officers found items from eight separate burglaries, a firearm and seven stolen puppies. The gang put false plates on stolen vehicles and left them in residential parking areas before using them to commit further crimes. The damage at a BP garage in Littleport in December 2017 after a raid from the gang The gang also targeted ATMs as well as home and businesses all over Cambridgeshire and the surrounding areas - using a digger to carry out one raid Yesterday they were sentenced at Norwich Crown Court by Judge Stephen Holt, who described the conspiracy as 'the most serious he had ever encountered'. Nine of the gang had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit burglary. Charlie Albert Webb, 20, from Newton Flotman, Norfolk was jailed for five years. John Eli Loveridge, 42, of Carleton Rode, Norfolk was jailed for seven-and-a-half years. John Stanley Loveridge, 23, of Carleton Rode, Norfolk was jailed for six-and-a-half years. Joseph Holmes, 21, of Willingham, Cambs, was jailed for four years. Danny Stone-Parker, 28, of Great Dunmow, Essex was jailed for six-and-a-half years. Timothy Stone-Parker, 24, of Ely, Cambridgeshire, was jailed for six-and-a-half years. Joe John Spencer Loveridge, 19, of Sandy, Bedfordshire, was jailed for four years. Richard Oakley, 27, of Beck Row, Suffolk was jailed for five years. Johnny Oakley, 25, of Beck Row, Suffolk was jailed for five-and-a-half years. Simon Oakley, 45, of Hempnall, Norfolk was found guilty of conspiracy to burgle in October and was jailed for nine years. Two other men - James Pateman, 55, of no fixed abode, and his brother, Thomas Brown, 54, of Cambridge - were also found guilty of handling stolen goods in October following a trial at Norwich Crown Court. Pateman was jailed for three-and-a-half years, and Brown for eight years. From left: Johnny Oakley, Danny Stone-Parker and Richard Oakley Timothy Stone-Parker (left) was jailed for six-and-a-half years while Stanley Loveridge (right) was jailed for six-and-a-half years Some vehicles were never found and were disposed of through 'chop shop' premises where they were dismantled for sale or export. Most of the raids were on homes but commercial premises and ATMs were also targeted. The court heard the men were also involved in the disposal of jewellery between March and November last year. Norfolk suffered almost 100 of the raids, with Cambridgeshire seeing a similar number. Other offences took place in Suffolk, Essex and Bedfordshire. Joseph Holmes, left, was jailed for four years and Charlie Albert Webb was jailed for five years Another dog stolen by the gang was recovered by the Cambridgeshire police Detective Inspector Craig Harrison, who led the investigation, said: 'These sentences reflect the scale and impact of this gang's offending. 'Every one of their crimes had a victim so the trauma and devastation caused in quite a short space of time was immense. 'They clearly had no care at all for the impact their offending was having on communities, particularly in south and east Cambridgeshire, which were particularly badly hit, and, indeed, across the region.' On Saturday, November 24 a woman told security she was assaulted in Coogee A footy star is one of two men accused of indecently assaulting a woman in a pub. Zane Musgrove, 22, a recent recruit with the Wests Tigers in the NRL, and a man the same age were charged following a night out in Sydney's east on November 24. A 22-year-old woman has alleged she was indecently assaulted by the two men at the Coogee Bay Hotel. Footy star Zane Musgrove (pictured) has been charged with offences including assault with an act of indecency and aggravated indecent assault following a night out in Sydney's east Musgrove (pictured) was charged after a woman alleged she was indecently assaulted by two men at the Coogee Bay Hotel The woman reported the alleged incident to security at the venue before speaking to police. Musgrove was arrested and charged with multiple offences including include assault with act of indecency and aggravated indecent assault at Maroubra Police Station on Wednesday. A second man, 22, was arrested and charged on Thursday in relation to the alleged assault. Both men were granted conditional bail and will face Waverley Local Court on January 23. A 22-year-old woman has alleged she was indecently assaulted by two men at the Coogee Bay Hotel (pictured) The Tigers released a statement on Friday, saying the NRL's integrity unit were informed of the matter. 'Wests Tigers takes its position in the community very seriously and will work with the NRL Integrity Unit and NSW Police on the allegations,' the statement said. The charges come after Manly Sea Eagles player Dylan Walker allegedly assaulted his girlfriend on Thursday. Walker has been charged with domestic-related common assault and assault occasioning actual bodily harm. An Irish university lecturer stabbed to death by one of his former students had allegedly insulted the Prophet Mohammed', his killer has told French police. The 66-year-old academic, named locally as John Dowling, was attacked and stabbed 13 times outside the Paris university where he worked on Wednesday. Ali R., a 37-year-old Pakistani national, has confessed to the killing and told police he held a personal grudge against the teacher after failing his exams last year. Arrested: Ali R. was arrested at the scene after stabbing Irish university lecturer John Dowling, 66, to death outside the Leonardo de Vinci university in Paris Ali whose surname has not been disclosed by the French authorities is due to be indicted for murder in Paris today for the attack outside the Leonardo de Vinci private university in La Defense business district. Catherine Denis, the Nanterre prosecutor involved in the case, said Ali harboured an obsessive resentment against the university for kicking him out in September 2017. He came to France two years ago to join the management school, but did not pass his first year, she said. Since then he had been returning to the college, and had become unwanted to the point that he was not allowed in any more. CCTV footage shows Mr Dowling chatting calmly with Ali at around midday, before the attacker took out a steak knife and plunged it into the Irishmans throat, and then into his chest. Ali R claimed that Mr Dowling, who had taught English and international relations at the university for two decades, had insulted Islam. Ali has told police that the teacher had made fun of his Muslim religion during English classes at the university. He produced a drawing, which he showed off in class, insulting the Prophet Mohammed, Ali said, according to Ms Denis. Despite this claim, Ms Denis said nobody remembers such an incident. We dont have proof of radicalization, but rather a feeling that were dealing with someone who is very religious, very pious, very practicing. Insulting the Prophet Mohammed is one of the gravest insults to Islam, and has directly led to terrorist atrocities in France. In January 2015, two gunmen linked to Al-Qaeda murdered 12 people at the Paris offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, after it published insulting cartoons of the Prophet. Ms Denis said Ali R. was not known to the intelligence services, but was an obsessive patriot from the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. This Twitter picture appears to show the aftermath of the fatal stabbing outside the Leonardo De Vinci private university on Wednesday afternoon He had just renewed his residency permit to stay in France, and had bought the steak knife from a supermarket close to the university. There are indications that he may have arranged to meet his victim, and police are combing through telephone and email records to try and establish a link. He has confirmed that he enrolled in a bachelors management course for foreigners at De Vinci in September 2016, but was forced to leave in August 2017 after failing his exams. Mr Dowling had taught English and international relations at the university for two decades, and had made numerous friends there, including plenty of overseas students. La Defense a concrete and glass suburb which contains the head offices of some of the biggest banks and businesses in France has been a target for Islamic State terrorists since at least 2014. Despite this, detectives have so far ruled out any links between the attacker and jihadi groups. On Friday, tributes continued to pour in for Mr Dowling, who had been due to retire at the end of this academic year. There was a minutes silence outside the university on Thursday, before the Irish national anthem was played and a crowd gathered around a green-white-and-orange Tricolour. Pascal Brouaye, head of the college, said: Since yesterday, messages of friendship have overwhelmed us like a tsunami. It shows how much John was appreciated by students and graduates. The minutes silence was intense and it was followed by beautiful music, played on the piano by a student of the school. Esther McVey said Brexiteer resistance in Cabinet 'crumbled' when Theresa May presented her deal at the crunch meeting last month. The former work and pensions secretary resigned over the deal after demanding a vote in Cabinet only to be shouted down by officials. She said instead of focusing minds her call for a vote led colleagues to 'chose to say nothing'. Ms McVey and Dominic Raab resigned over the deal - leaving five Brexiteers including Michael Gove and Andrea Leadsom in their posts. Ms McVey has since become one of the most ferocious critics of the deal - warning it was a breach of trust with voters. The deal appears to be doomed in Parliament next week despite desperate efforts by the Government to shore up support ahead of a showdown vote on Tuesday night. Esther McVey (pictured attacking the deal in the Commons) said Brexiteer resistance in Cabinet 'crumbled' when Theresa May presented her deal at the crunch meeting last month Ms McVey recalled her final Cabinet meeting in an interview with today's Telegraph. Of her call for a vote of senior ministers, she said: 'I thought we needed to focus our minds because this was a huge change for the country. 'But when the moment came, my Cabinet colleagues chose not to say anything. 'People talk about accountability, people talk about transparency, people talk about politicians with integrity but when it came to the crunch the other people around the room crumbled. I said, I hope they weren't like that in their EU negotiations.' Ms McVey denied she had 'cried' or had a 'meltdown' in the Downing Street Cabinet room. She said: 'I was accused of having a meltdown but actually it was the opposite way round because people were so adamant not to have a vote that various people, the Chief Whip, Sedwill, yes, they did all (shout me down).' Ms McVey said her assessment on reading the deal and the legal advice from Attorney General Geoffrey Cox was it was a 'bad deal for the country'. She said: 'When there were so many interpretations, it added to its vagueness. It struck me the deal was a lawyer's dream and a citizen's nightmare.' Ms McVey has since become one of the most ferocious critics of Theresa May's deal - warning it was a breach of trust with voters The MP added: 'Politics is all about trust. Trust is like the soul, once gone, it never returns. We've got to be as good as our word. 'My whole premise was - you must go back and get a better deal for the UK because this is not going to be good enough.' Heavily criticising the lack of no-deal preparations, she added: 'It took me eight months at work and pensions to get 4.5billion and another 1.5billion for our country's most vulnerable people and yet we have given over 39billion, as far as I can see it, for nothing. We must use that money as leverage. 'And we need to be properly prepared for every eventuality. No-deal planning has been done in the departments but it's never been put into law. We need to prioritise that.' Insisting that losing Tuesday's meaningful vote would strengthen Mrs May's negotiation position, she said: 'I still believe with four months left that the Prime Minister can get a better deal. 'She should go back to Brussels and say this isn't going through the House, it has split my Cabinet, people have resigned and it isn't what the country voted for. 'Only two or three things need to be changed, not the whole document. First of all there shouldn't be a backstop - neither the EU and [nor] our country want it, [so] why is it there? 'The 39billion is her trump card - she should offer half now and half when a trade deal has been signed.' Vladimir Putin's 'rock'n'roll' daughter has made a rare television appearance days after 'confirmation' of her divorce from a man described as Russia's youngest billionaire. Katerina Tikhonova, famous for her spectacular 'boogie woogie' Acrobatic dance performances, gave a brief interview during an evening news bulletin on state network Rossiya 1. It comes after her ex-husband tycoon Kirill Shamalov, 36, was reported in Moscow to have wed his glamorous ex-London-based lover Zhanna Volkova. Shamalov - hit by Western sanctions because he was the Kremlin leader's son in law - has refused to comment on his new life. Vladimir Putin's 'rock'n'roll' daughter Katerina Tikhonova (right) has made a rare television appearance days after her divorce from Russia's youngest billionaire was 'confirmed' Kirill Shamalov, 36, the ex-husband of Katerina Tikhonova (left) was reported in Moscow to have wed his glamorous ex- London -based lover Zhanna Volkova. Shamalov and Volkova are pictured, right Zhanna Volkova (pictured) is said to have married the ex-husband of Russian President Vladimir Putin's alleged daughter Russian President Vladimir Putin with his ex-wife Lyudmila and daughters Katerina (left) and Maria (right) But it is now clear he swapped Putin's daughter for the socialite just five years after he wed into Russia's most powerful family. It is not known why his marriage to Katerina Tikhonova failed. She is widely seen in Russia as Putin's younger daughter, although this has never been officially confirmed. In a rare television appearance, Tikhonova spoke about scientific research and was captioned as being the deputy director of the institute for mathematical research of complex systems at Moscow's State University and the head of the Innopraktika research company. According to the BBC, she spoke about advancements in technology aimed at controlling electrical impulses in the brain. The divorce is confirmed because Volkova - in her 30s - has been referred to in a legal document by her new married name, Shamalova, say Russian news source Open Media. Huge secrecy surrounds Putin's two daughters - now in their 30s - from his marriage to ex-wife Lyudmila. Tikhonova, who uses her mother's maiden name, has a burgeoning business career in charge of key investments for Moscow State University. The 31-year-old was named as the strongman's child in 2015 by a senior Russian businessman and then in November by a dance colleague - but both later changed their stories. While her identity has been widely assumed, it has never been confirmed by Tikhonova herself, her representatives or the Kremlin, which says it does not comment on the private lives of Putin's close relatives. She and Kirill Shamalov wed in a sumptuous ceremony at Igora ski resort near St Petersburg and rode in a traditional sleigh pulled by three white horses. Secretive: Miss Volkova with a mystery man said to be Putin's alleged son-in-law Shamalov Glamorous: Zhanna Volkova, who once lived in London, was first seen dancing with a mystery man, now believed to be Shamalov, in February 2017 How Katerina Tikhonova is widely reported to be Putin's daughter but neither the president nor the Kremlin will comment about her She is the boogie-woogie dancing daughter of Vladimir Putin who some say could one day take over from the Russian President. Mystery has long surrounded Katerina Tikhonova with the Kremlin having attempted to keep her out of the public eye. The 32-year-old was named as the strongman's child in 2015 by a senior Russian businessman and then in November by a dance colleague - but both later changed their stories. Putin and her mother, Lyudmila Putina, divorced in 2013 and Katerina uses a surname inherited from her grandmother. Mystery has long surrounded Katerina Tikhonova (pictured), the rumoured daughter of Vladimir Putin, with the Kremlin having attempted to keep her out of the public eye While her identity has been widely assumed, it has never been confirmed by Tikhonova herself, her representatives or the Kremlin, which says it does not comment on the private lives of Putin's close relatives. Tikhonova runs publicly-funded projects at Moscow State University and serves as the WRRC's vice president for expansion and marketing. She is a major player in acrobatic rock'n'roll, a niche dance discipline she has competed in and helps manage through senior positions at the WRRC and the Russian national federation. She and Kirill Shamalov wed in a sumptuous ceremony at Igora ski resort near St Petersburg and rode in a traditional sleigh pulled by three white horses. Tikhonova is a major player in acrobatic rock'n'roll, a niche dance discipline she has competed in and helps manage through senior positions at the WRRC and the Russian national federation Katerina Tikhonova, 31, is pictured, second from right, at a dancing conference All guests were sworn to secrecy, and no official announcements were made. However, reports in Russia suggest the couple have since split with Shamalov linked to a Moscow socialite. Tikhonova may be best known for her dancing, but there have been claims in Moscow that Putin is gradually grooming her as his eventual successor in 2024. Reports last year suggested Putin is quietly grooming Katerina - also known as Ekaterina - for possible 'tsardom' to takeover. 'Trying to run a woman through an election campaign in Russia is quite an interesting and modern political experiment,' wrote Natalia Gevorkyan, a Putin biographer. Tikhonova (pictured in a dance performance) runs publicly-funded projects at Moscow State University and serves as the WRRC's vice president for expansion and marketing 'Putin does not have a (male) heir - at least officially - but he has two daughters, and one of them, Ekaterina, has already entered the public space with several huge and costly projects,' she wrote for Radio Svoboda website. 'In 2024, Ekaterina will be 38. In theory, she can take part in the presidential elections and provide a calm time in old age for her father and his closest friends.' Putin has said previously of his daughters from his marriage to ex-wife Lyudmila: 'They are taking the first steps in their careers, but are making good progress. They are not involved in business or politics. 'They have never been "star" children, they have never got pleasure from the spotlight being directed on them. They just live their own lives. 'They live in Russia ... They have never been educated anywhere except Russia. 'I am proud of them, they continue to study and are working. My daughters speak three European languages fluently.' Advertisement All guests were sworn to secrecy, and no official announcements were issued. Putin has said previously of his daughters: 'They are taking the first steps in their careers, but are making good progress. They are not involved in business or politics. 'They have never been "star" children, they have never got pleasure from the spotlight being directed on them. They just live their own lives. 'They live in Russia ... They have never been educated anywhere except Russia. 'I am proud of them, they continue to study and are working. My daughters speak three European languages fluently.' The Kremlin also never comments on Putin's other daughter Maria, 33, who is married to a Dutch businessman. It is unclear if Shamalov - son of a longtime Putin crony - will now be removed from US sanctions since he is no longer linked by marriage to Putin. Katerina Tikhonova, who has never been officially confirmed as Putin's daughter, is in charge of key investments at Moscow State University Proud Father? Russian President Vladimir Putin has never officially acknowledged that Katerina Tikhonova is his daughter When rumours of a split first emerged in January, stripped of almost half his wealth as alleged punishment for ditching Tikhonova. However while he has slipped from 64th to 75th on the Forbes Russia rankings of wealth, his fortune has increased from $1.2 billion to $1.4 billion. In April he was still listed by the US Treasury as the 'husband of Putin's daughter'. Volkova, who once lived in London, was first seen dancing with a mystery man, now believed to be Shamalov, in February 2017. Her suitor's face was deliberately hidden in Valentine's Day images. There was surprise when rumours started circulating that he had a new lover. 'Shamalov must have balls of steel,' said one comment. 'He must be thanking God and all his saints, that he is alive and free,' wrote another. Jamie Acourt, one of the men suspected of killing Stephen Lawrence, has been jailed for his part in a 4million drugs plot A suspect in the Stephen Lawrence murder is finally behind bars after he was prosecuted and jailed over a drug smuggling plot. Jamie Acourt, 42, was at the centre of a 4million cannabis trafficking operation, but fled to Spain before police could corner him. After he was tracked down living under the name of 'Simon Alfonzo' in Barcelona, he was jailed for nine years at London's Kingston Crown Court this morning. Both Acourt and his brother, Neil, were arrested after the stabbing of Stephen Lawrence by a gang of white men in Eltham, south-east London, in 1993, but were never convicted. Jamie Acourt's lawyer cited the notorious killing as he pleaded with a judge to take pity on his client today. Michael Holland QC said: 'This is an instance of a man who was overwhelmed by events, events that have followed him since he was 16. 'He could not face the idea of coming into court again and face the amount of press coverage he would face.' He told the court that Acourt had sought legitimate work as a tradesman over the years but had struggled due to his name. Jamie Acourt, left, in custody in Barcelona after his arrest and, right, fighting with crowds after a public inquiry into Stephen's death in 1998 Acourt's brother Neil has already been jailed for more than six years over the plot. The pair were described as ringleaders of a gang that couriered up to four tons of cannabis from London to the North East. Acourt's guilty plea means four of the five suspects in Britain's most notorious racist killing are now behind bars. Jailing Jamie today, Judge Peter Lodder QC told him: 'Over a period of just over two years there were at least 34 instances - generally a round trip of 600 miles or so in the same day. 'Whenever any money was collected on returning to south-east London the delivery men would hand the money over to either you or your brother Neil. 'That you played a leading role is beyond doubt. The delivery men took most of the risks, you and your brother remained in the background receiving the money. From this alone it is clear you were a ringleader. 'You now accept that over a eight month period 25 return journeys took place and 500kg of cannabis resin was supplied.' The judge said he thought the sentence given to Acourt's brother was lenient and he could not grant the same leniency to the defendant, who had run off to Spain rather than face justice. Jamie's brother Neil (pictured, left, after his arrest in 2016 and, right, after the 1998 public inquiry) also ran the drugs gang and was jailed last year The racist murder that shocked the nation Stephen Lawrence's murder in Eltham sparked outrage in 1993 Acourt and his brother were teenagers when Stephen Lawrence was stabbed to death at a bus stop in Eltham, south-east London, in April 1993. Two of the other suspects, Gary Dobson and David Norris, were convicted of murder in 2012 and jailed for life following a DNA breakthrough. But the Acourt brothers have never been convicted. At the time of Stephen's death, the Acourts described themselves as the Krays, modelling themselves on the brothers who dominated London's criminal underworld in the 1960s. The gang they were in is believed to have been responsible for a string of violent attacks, invariably featuring knives. Advertisement The Acourt brothers were arrested after the stabbing of Stephen by a gang of white men in Eltham, south-east London, in 1993 but were never convicted. Two others accused of murder, Gary Dobson and David Norris, were convicted of the murder and jailed for life in 2012 - nearly two decades after the 18-year-old was killed as he waited at a bus stop. Luke Knight, who has denied involvement in Stephen's killing, is the only suspect still walking the streets. Yesterday Jamie Acourt's partner Terri-Anne Dean, the mother of his two children, appeared shocked as she had the news of his guilty plea broken to her. Speaking at the baby clothes business she runs in south-east London, she said: 'Really? I don't want to say anything.' The couple lived in a smart terraced house in Bexley until detectives raided the property in February 2016 and busted the gang's cannabis plot. Jamie fled to Spain in 2016 after police arrested several suspects, including Neil's father-in-law Jack Vose, 65, in South Shields, jurors heard. When officers went to Jamie's home in Bexley, southeast London he had already vanished. Officers broke down the door to get in and while they were there his partner Terri-Ann Dean arrived at the flat. She was told to get Acourt on the phone and he was told by the officers he should either come to the flat or turn himself in at a police station. But Acourt disappeared and went on the run in Spain. A five-year-old boy who was badly burned in a house fire has written to Santa Claus asking for a new face for Christmas. Bakhtiyer Sindrov suffered serious injuries when his family's home in a village in Uzbekistan burned down when he was a baby. This Christmas he wrote a letter to Santa, asking him to give him a new face so that he can be like other children and go to school. Heartbreaking: Bakhtiyer Sindrov, five, suffered life-altering and disfiguring injuries when his family's home in a village in Uzbekistan burned down when he was a baby Yet unable to write, little Bakhtiyer, now living in Talgar in south-eastern Kazakhstan's Almaty Region, dictated the Father Christmas letter to his father. The boy wrote: 'Hello Father Christmas! I was burned when I was a little boy. I lost my face in the fire and since then I have to hide from people because they are scared of me. 'I am scared of myself when I am looking in the mirror. I do not have a nose, ears or hair. 'My mum says that I will not go to school. 'I am often in pain, but I do not cry. My mother does. The five-year-old, now living in Kazakhstan, promised Santa Claus he would 'never cry' if he got a new face The five-year-old wrote a letter to Santa Claus, asking for a new face for Christmas so he could go to school and be like a normal child Bakhtiyer, pictured last year aged four, has been unable to go to start school like other children his age as a result of his injuries Bakhtiyer Sindrov, pictured with a female relative, says his injuries makes his mother cry 'Father Christmas, give me a new face, please, I will never cry in my life then. I just want to be like other children.' The letter was sent to 'Ya ryadom' ('I Am Beside You'), a charity in the city of Almaty. In the last year, Bakhtiyer has received medical treatment at the MedIndia clinic in India, with help from the charity and family and friends who have raised money. Reconstructive surgery has given the boy new lips, teeth and eyelids. In July this year, doctors inserted implants into the boy's neck to stretch his skin. Later this month, his stretched skin will be used to replace parts of his face which were completely 'melted' in the fire. Treatment: Bakhtiyer is pictured at an clinic in India, having his skin stretched for further plastic surgery which is taking place later this month Bakhtiyer was a baby sleeping in his cot beside the fireplace when a blaze broke out and caused the terrible injuries. For several years he could not open his mouth and he was fed through a tube that caused his teeth to rot. Family friend Olga Ryabeva, who helps to raise funds for the boy's treatment in India, said: 'He was very little when his face, head, neck and shoulders got burned. He was basically melting alive.' The boy's face is so badly disfigured that his parents cover him with a blanket when they go out with him. Britains biggest family have welcomed their 21st child after a lightning-quick labour - but the Radfords have claimed they are 'definitely not' having another. Sue and Noel Radford announced the birth of Bonnie Raye Radford to social media fans after she was born on November 7 but revealed on television today the labour was only 12-minutes long. Bonnie Raye was born at the Royal Lancaster Infirmary where midwives had previously delivered 14 of the family's children. The littlest Radford - now thirty years younger than the eldest Christopher - made her first television appearance on This Morning, on Friday, alongside her now nationally famous family. 'Super mum' Mrs Radford from Morecombe in Lancashire said her youngest made a speedy entrance. She said: 'She was very quick she was not hanging around I think theyve got my labour down to about 12 minutes. 'I said definitely no more last time. 'I think we just love having a big family. Welcoming a new born into our life. If its an addiction were giving it up. 'Well always have lots of grandchildren.' Mrs Radford last gave birth in September 2017 and she promised at the time that it would be her last. Doubtful daughter Sophie, who has three children of her own, gave her mother 'until April' to be pregnant again. The Radfords are preparing for Christmas when there will be around 30 people enjoying the day in their home, including grandchildren A whole lot of mouths to feed! The Radford family's budget The couple receive 170 per week in Child Benefit and survive on Noel's just under 50,000 salary. They spend around 300 a week on food shopping and carefully plan their batch-cook to make sure it feeds everyone. The shopping list includes: 18 pints of milk Three litres of juice Three boxes of cereal being consumed every day They have a budget of 100 for their children's presents at birthdays, while at Christmas they set aside between 100 to 250. Advertisement However, she announced in a YouTube video from May that she was pregnant again. Mrs Radford has now spent a total of 811 weeks pregnant and insists that she is now ready to just enjoy her children and grandchildren. Their new arrival joins Chris, Sophie, Chloe, Jack, Daniel, Luke, Millie, Katie, James, Ellie, Aimee, Josh, Max, Tillie, Oscar, Casper, Hallie, Phoebe, and Archie. Another child named Alfie was stillborn in 2014. They had their first child, Chris, 28 years ago, when Sue was aged only 14. The couple decided to keep the baby as they were both given up for adoption at birth. They became grandparents when their daughter Sophie gave birth and she has gone on to have three children. The family now live in a large 240,000 Victorian house, a former care home, that they bought 11 years ago and they pride themselves on having no credit cards or finance agreements and do not claim benefits but are awarded child benefit. They also enjoy a holiday abroad every year. They spend 300 a week on food shopping, with 18 pints of milk, three litres of juice and three boxes of cereal being consumed every day. Supermum Sue has given birth to her 21st child - although her and husband Noel from Lancashire said they are having 'no more' When it comes to celebrating their children's birthdays they have a budget of 100 for presents, while at Christmas they set aside between 100 to 250. But Mrs Radford, called 'supermum' said she is planning now on enjoying her grandchildren. She added: 'The sleepless nights are taking their toll.' This Christmas up to 30 people will be around the table at their home in Lancashire. Noel, 47, said: 'All the grandkids come down. IT can be up to nearly 30 'Thats down to me. We prep the night before. Weve got a table we can get 16 round and another in the table another 6. Some double up. Sue does help but its mainly me.' The children told presenters on This Morning they help around the house and enjoy having many siblings because 'silence wouldn't feel right'. The New York Stock Exchange has been accused of allowing Morgan Stanley to make trades after the closing bell. The NYSE gave special treatment to a Morgan Stanley broker who asked to trade large amounts of stocks for several minutes after the markets closed last week, the New York Post reports. The trader needed to make orders on at last four stocks after trading hours on Friday, two people familiar with the trades told the newspaper. It was the last trading day before President Donald Trump and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping's meeting on trade in Argentina. The New York Stock Exchange has been accused of allowing Morgan Stanley to make trades after the closing bell. Pictured, the NYSE building The leniency meant clients possibly saved money as stock prices rose on Monday after Trump's tweet about a thaw in the trade war with China. Instead of being cut off at the usual deadline (10 seconds before 4pm), the sources said the trader was allowed to complete transactions until 4.08pm. The orders were in Yum! Brands, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway B shares, Vici Properties and Pebblebrook Hotel Trust, according to the Post. The sources claim the NYSE would usually have not allowed one trader to gain an unfair advantage and inappropriately influence stock prices. Disgruntled brokers claim it shows the NYSE is willing to bend the rules if the client is a powerful one. A Morgan Stanley broker was reportedly allowed to trade large amounts of stocks for several minutes after the markets closed last week. File photo shows the trading floor 'It's a no-bend rule. If a small firm had asked for that same consideration, they would have been told no,' one told the Post. An NYSE spokesman and a Morgan Stanley spokesman declined to comment to the Post. However, one Morgan Stanley executive, speaking under the condition of anonymity, claimed to the Post that trading was still open when the orders were filled. Other sources said the broker was definitely operating after trading closed. Although there is no indication that there was anything unlawful or unethical in the trader asking for extra time, brokers say he shouldn't have been allowed. The NYSE usually trades from 9.30am until 4pm with rules that prohibit regular trading before or after these hours of operation. Boris Johnson today branded the PM's Brexit plan an 'S&M approach' which keeps the UK 'in chains' - as he set out his alternative vision for the crunch talks. The ex minister said Theresa May must head back to Brussels straight away to renegotiate if her deal is voted down by MPs next Tuesday night. He demanded a radical change in policy - saying the UK should scrap the hated backstop, negotiate a free trade deal and refuse to pay the 39billion divorce bill until the end of talks. His fiery intervention comes just four days until the crunch Brexit vote, which the PM is expected to lose by a massive and humiliating majority. It will fuel speculation he is lining himself up for a run at the Tory leadership if Mrs May is ousted. Boris Johnson (pictured at the Tory party conference last month) branded the PM's Brexit plan an 'S&M approach' which keeps the UK 'in chains' - as he set out his alternative vision for the crunch talks Mrs May has sent some 30 ministers to all four corners of the UK today as she tries to appeal over the heads of her warring MPs and drum up support among the country. But she is facing a fresh crisis today after the DUP and Tory rebels rejected an attempted compromise on the Irish backstop. New Brexit crisis for May as DUP and Tory rebels reject 'risible' backstop compromise Theresa May faced a new Brexit crisis today as the DUP and Tory rebels rejected an attempted compromise on the backstop out of hand. Senior ministers have demanded Mrs May come up with an 11th hour escape as she fights to avoid a catastrophic defeat of her deal on Tuesday night. No 10 said today it was 'considering' a proposal by Tory loyalists to create a 'parliamentary lock' on the backstop, which keeps Britain in a customs union with the EU if there is no final trade deal. But the idea of creating Commons votes around entering the backstop of the summer of 2020, with commitments to strike agreements to escape it within a year, were rejected within hours today. DUP leader Arlene Foster said the plan was 'tinkering' around a divorce deal that was fundamentally broken. Sources at the European Research Group backed by Boris Johnson said the ploy was a 'transparent' attempt by No 10 to plant a 'risible' compromise that answered none of the criticism of the backstop. Pressure is mounting rapidly on Mrs May ahead of Tuesday's showdown, amid claims she should try and call off the vote or go back to Brussels before it happens. Graham Brady, the chairman of the powerful backbench 1922 Committee, has led calls for a delay. Brexiteers have said Mrs May needs to tell Brussels to remove the backstop from the deal or face a landslide loss on Tuesday night. Advertisement Mr Johnson accused the PM of lying to him over the backstop - which keeps the UK tied to the customs union and imposes extra single market checks on Northern Ireland if no trade deal can be done in time. He told the ConHome website: 'The manacles have been co-forged, if you like, by us. We have decided to collaborate in our own incarceration. 'It's unbelievable. It's a kind of S&M approach to Government. What perversion is it where you want to be locked up in chains?' And he refused to say whether or not he has sent a letter of no confidence in Mrs May into party bosses. Mrs May is staring down the barrel of a catastrophic defeat in the crunch vote next week after a staggering 104 Tories indicated they will not back her. She has come under growing pressure from many in her cabinet to pull the vote rather than hurtling head on into a massive defeat. But Mr Johnson said Mrs May should not pull the vote next week. He said: 'People want to be able to express their views and the views of their constituents on the Withdrawal Agreement. 'That's the agreement that determines our future negotiations with Brussels and indeed probably determines our future constitution for many, many years to come. 'And I think for us not now to have a vote on that, the Government and Prime Minister having agreed it, at 27 plus one, would be a very, very serious mistake, and I think people would notice it and I think they would feel cheated. 'I also think by the way that to withdraw the vote now would be an admission of defeat an admission that it was not something that had found favour with Parliament. 'I think the vote will go ahead, I think it will be defeated, I can't prophesy the margin.' He added: 'This deal is a disaster for our country. It basically means the EU can blackmail us into any terms they like in the course of the negotiations on our future. Theresa May (pictured last night outside No10) is facing a fresh crisis today after the DUP and Tory rebels rejected an attempted compromise on the Irish backstop 'Unless every single EU member state agrees to the terms of the new relationship, they can keep us in the backstop.' His intervention comes as Mrs May was facing a fresh Brexit crisis today as a last ditch compromise to buy off her Tory and DUP critics on the Irish backstop flopped. No 10 said today it was 'considering' a proposal by Tory loyalists to create a 'parliamentary lock' on the backstop, which keeps Britain in a customs union with the EU if there is no final trade deal. But the idea of creating Commons votes around entering the backstop of the summer of 2020, with commitments to strike agreements to escape it within a year, were rejected within hours today. DUP leader Arlene Foster said the plan was 'tinkering' around a divorce deal that was fundamentally broken. Sources at the European Research Group backed by Boris Johnson said the ploy was a 'transparent' attempt by No 10 to plant a 'risible' compromise that answered none of the criticism of the backstop. A telegram has come to light that hints that Scout founder and war hero Lord Baden-Powell (above) had a homosexual relationship with a fellow army officer A fascinating telegram that hints that Scout founder and war hero Lord Baden-Powell had a homosexual relationship with a fellow army officer has come to light. Colonel Robert Baden-Powell became a national hero after leading a defiant seven-month rearguard during the Siege of Mafeking in the Second Boer War. However, intrigue surrounded his friendship with Major Kenneth McLaren who was part of the relieving force - and later helped him form the Scouting movement. Their closeness has led some historians to speculate they were romantically involved, which would have provoked a scandal in the socially conservative Edwardian age. Now a telegram sent by Baden-Powell to Maj McLaren has emerged which seems to lend credence to the theory that there was more to their friendship than met the eye - reinforcing the notion held by some that Baden-Powell was a repressed homosexual. The short note, penned on July 23, 1901, simply reads: 'Could you put me up Friday night incognito?' He signed it 'Bloater', which was Maj McLaren's nickname for Baden-Powell. According to auctioneers selling the telegram, the message suggests a 'lover's tryst' between the men. The telegram (above) sent by Baden-Powell to Major Kenneth McLaren on July 23, 1901, reads: 'Could you put me up Friday night incognito?' He signed it 'Bloater', which was Maj McLaren's nickname for Baden-Powell Baden-Powell became a national hero after leading a defiant seven-month rearguard during the Siege of Mafeking in the Second Boer War. However, intrigue surrounded his friendship with Maj McLaren (above), who was part of the relieving force - and later helped him form the Scouting movement It is part of an archive of letters, telegrams and newspaper cuttings documenting Maj McLaren's service which were collated by his first wife, Leila Evelyn Landon, in three scrapbooks. Chris Albury, a specialist at auctioneers Dominic Winter of Cirencester, Gloucestershire, said: 'Baden-Powell's close relationship with McLaren is well documented and there has been much speculation as to whether it went beyond the platonic into a sexual relationship. 'There is a lot of evidence to suggest that Baden-Powell was a repressed homosexual, but in the telegram here, which is written as if suggesting a lover's tryst, there is a big hint that the relationship between the two men may have been physical after all. 'Of course, nothing is proven for certain and for me the most intriguing thing is that McLaren's wife who compiled the scrap albums must have known what the telegram really meant when she chose to preserve it in the albums. 'At the very least it shows she accepted the relationship of her husband and Baden-Powell.' Siege of Mafeking: A glorious British triumph against the odds The Siege of Mafeking was a battle for the British-occupied military outpost of Mafeking in South Africa during the Second Boer War. The British stood firm against a much larger Boer force for 217 days, from October 1899 to May 1900, which was long enough to allow reinforcements to arrive. Among those liberated was Lord Edward Cecil, the son of the Prime Minister, while the siege also cemented Col Baden-Powell's status as a national hero. He deployed cunning strategies like planting fake minefields and getting his soldiers to pretend to avoid non-existent barbed wire while moving between trenches. On one occasion, he loaded an armoured locomotive with sharpshooters and sent it down the rails into the heart of the Boer encampment and back again in a successful attack. The relief of Mafeking was a morale boost for the struggling British, and the rejoicing in cities back home produced the word mafficking, meaning wild celebrating. Advertisement Maj McLaren was a callow 20-year-old officer in the 13th Hussars Regiment when he first met Baden-Powell in India in 1881. They acted together in an Army performance of a farce called 'The Area Belle' in which Baden-Powell played a male part and Maj McLaren a female role. Baden-Powell affectionately nicknamed his co-star 'The Boy' on account of his young appearance. Eighteen years later, Maj McLaren led a force of 200 men to liberate Mafeking, where Baden-Powell was leading the British rearguard, when en route they were confronted by a large Boer force. Despite their best efforts, they succumbed to the greater numbers of the enemy, with 40 of Maj McLaren's men killed or injured. Maj McLaren was seriously injured and left lying in the same spot for 16 hours before he was taken to a Boer hospital. During the Siege of Mafeking, which lasted from October 1899 to May 1900, Baden-Powell deployed cunning strategies like planting fake minefields and getting his soldiers to pretend to avoid non-existent barbed wire while moving between trenches. On one occasion, he loaded an armoured locomotive with sharpshooters and sent it down the rails into the heart of the Boer encampment and back again in a successful attack. Breaking the siege was a huge morale boost for the British, cementing Baden-Powell's hero status back home. Baden-Powell and Maj McLaren remained close friends after their military service ended. Maj McLaren was one of the staff at Baden-Powell's first scout camp on Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour in 1907. Chris Albury, a specialist at auctioneers Dominic Winter of Cirencester, Gloucestershire, said: 'Baden-Powell's close relationship with McLaren is well documented and there has been much speculation as to whether it went beyond the platonic into a sexual relationship. (Above, Baden-Powell with a group of boy scouts) The Scout movement founder convinced him to be his first manager at the C. Arthur Pearson Ltd office of The Scout magazine. But the pair fell out when Maj McLaren married his second wife, his nurse Ethyl Mary Wilson, in 1910. Baden-Powell considered Wilson below Maj McLaren's station and advised against the marriage - which soured their friendship. However, 55-year-old Baden-Powell soon followed his former friend down the aisle when he married 23-year-old Olave St Clair Soames in 1913, with the couple having three children. Historian Tim Jeal, who wrote the biography Baden-Powell in 1989, surmised that he was a 'repressed homosexual', a view which has been echoed by other prominent historians. The archive is being sold with an estimate of 1,200 on December 12. It was an extraordinary event which brought together hostile political adversaries and forced them into some very awkward interactions. But as the world watched eagerly as rivals and friends like the Obamas, the Clintons, the Trumps and the Pences greeted one another at George H.W. Bush's state funeral on Wednesday, it was near impossible to tell what they were saying through their forced smiles and pursed lips. Now, a lip reader has dissected some of their conversations. According to Larry Wenig, Inside Edition's resident lip reader, the exchanges were all friendly. When former vice president Dick Cheney greeted Barack Obama, he welcomed him with a smiley: 'Good to see you Mr. President.' Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama spoke comfortably to one another before taking their pews. Scroll down for video 'I love it... I am so proud of you' was what Hillary Clinton told Michelle Obama before they took their seats. It is likely they were discussing Michelle's recently released and heavily publicized book, Becoming Hillary also spoke about 'family' while chatting with former first lady Michelle Obama According to Wenig, Hillary told Michelle 'I love it' and 'I am so proud of you.' It is not clear what she was referring to but she also mentioned 'family'. It is likely they were talking about Michelle's recently released book, Becoming. Hillary had a slightly more frosty exchange was had between Vice President Mike Pence and his wife Karen. Karen seemed to have invited Hillary to something and she acknowledged the invitation when they came face to face, saying: 'You invited me to an event.' It is not clear what else was said between them. Unfortunately, Ivanka Trump and Chelsea Clinton, former friends turned political foes, were sitting too far back in the pews to be understood. Body language expert Dr. Lillian Glass also picked apart how the mood changed when President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump took their seats next to the Obamas and the Clintons. Hillary seemed to thank Karen Pence for 'inviting' her 'to an event', according to the lip reader. She was polite but reserved as she spoke with the Pences. When the Trumps arrived, Hillary nodded to welcome Melania but she turned her gaze away before it reached the president No one knows what Chelsea Clinton and Ivanka Trump discussed. The former friends turned first daughter foes were shocked viewers when they took their seats next to one another Former vice president Dick Cheney greeted former president Barack Obama by saying 'good to see you Mr. President' 'Phony smiles': A body language expert said the Obamas were 'trying to be cordial' to the Trumps but could not help 'showing their true feelings'. Michelle said: 'Good morning' to President Trump as she shook his hand Barack Obama appeared to say 'welcome' to the Trumps but it is unclear what else he muttered when they took their seats. Body language experts noted how his lips were pursed and his eyes were not crinkled meaning he was tense Before turning her gaze away when President Trump came into her view, Hillary nodded politely at Melania Trump and stared directly at her as she shook hands with Bill Jimmy Carter offered Melania a warm wave and enthusiastic smile when she arrived One of the most endearing and intimate moments of the event was when George W. Bush slipped Michelle Obama a piece of candy on his way into the church. He did this at Senator John McCain's funeral in September. Michelle, speaking after that event, said George W. was her 'partner in crime' at major events 'You see Obama is very tense around Trump. He has a very phony smile where his lips are pursed. 'His eyes are not crinkling. Michelle has a phony smile, her eyes are not crinkling either. 'They're trying to be cordial but their true feelings are coming out.' She also spoke of the touching moment Jeb Bush reached out for his brother George W. once he had sat back down, still crying, having just delivered a tear-jerking eulogy to their father. 'Jeb touches his knee and comforts him and that speaks to the emotion and the closeness of their relationship,' she said. A young attractive woman who was seen skilfully handling live fish at a wet market stall in Taiwan has become an internet celebrity. Dubbed 'Taiwan's hottest fishmonger', 26-year-old Liu Pengpeng said she was 'just helping her mother out' during her spare time at the family seafood shop in Changhua county. Videos and images widely shared on social media show the model wearing an apron and rubber gloves working behind the counter, swiftly gutting, boning and scaling fish for a long line of customers. A young attractive woman who was seen skilfully handling live fish at a wet market stall in Taiwan's Changhua county has become the latest internet celebrity Videos and images widely shared on social media shows the model wearing an apron and rubber gloves working behind the counter, gutting, boning and scaling fish for customers Photos of the woman hard at work at the market were first shared by a user in a Facebook group on Wednesday. 'Mum, I'll buy the fish for you from now on,' the now-viral post read. 'This is the most beautiful fish dealer ever!' one comment read. 'Where is this wet market? Someone please tell me!' another desperate user said. 'I am just overwhelmed by the reaction. This is unbelievable and totally unexpected,' the young model and YouTuber told MailOnline. She said she was 'just helping out' at the fish stall Photos of the Liu Pengpeng working at the market were shared in a Facebook group on Wednesday. Liu is actually a model and YouTuber who has made various appearances at events 'I am just overwhelmed by the reaction. This is unbelievable and totally unexpected,' the young model and YouTuber told MailOnline. In a Facebook post, she thanked people for their support and announced that she would be be working at the fish stall the following morning. Surely enough, crowds were seen on Thursday morning, and Liu said at one point there was a TV crew and as many as 30 people visiting the stall. In a Facebook post, Liu thanked people for their support and announced that she would be be working at the fish stall the following morning 'My family has been running this stall for four generations and business has always been good,' she said, refuting claims that her appearance at the stall was for publicity Liu, who has made appearances at various promotional events as a model, said she has been helping out her mother at the seafood shop around three times a week since she was 13. 'My family has been running this stall for four generations and business has always been good,' she said, refuting claims that her appearance at the stall was for publicity. 'To be honest, a lot of people who are here now are just busy filming me on their phones, I'd rather they buy more fish from my mom!' she said. New York police forced a pregnant woman to give birth with her right wrist handcuffed to the hospital bed in February, according to a lawsuit filed on Thursday. The woman, then 27, was shackled at the ankles for at least the first hour of labor on February 8, despite doctors telling NYPD officers that the restraints were illegal and needed to be removed, the complaint filed in Federal District Court in Manhattan said. The use physical restraints on pregnant women during labor and delivery was banned by the state of New York in 2009. The woman was finally freed from all restraints after nine hours, only after a judge came to Montefiore Medical Center to arraign her in her hospital bed on a charge of violating a protective order, her lawyer, Katherine Rosenfeld, told the New York Times. The woman, identified only as Jane Doe after asking the court to remain anonymous due to the humiliation she suffered from the experience, was in custody for a total of 30 hours. 'I havent made sense of it myself and Im not ready to explain it to my child,' she said in a sworn statement. The NYPD is 'examining these allegations very carefully,' department spokesperson Nicholas Paolucci said. New York police officers are accused of forcing a pregnant Bronx woman who was under arrest for violating a protective order to give birth with her right wrist handcuffed to the hospital bed in February. A file photo shows a person in custody, shackled at the ankles 'The fact that pregnant women and women in labor would be subject to the most draconian treatment imaginable, particularly when they stand accused of a misdemeanor, speaks volumes about the macho culture of police departments and corrections,' Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said. Officers allegedly consulted with a sergeant when a doctor told them the restraints were illegal, posed health risks and needed to be removed. The officers ultimately said 'the NYPD Patrol Guide supersedes this law and that patient would need to remain restrained during remainder of hospitalization,' according to doctor's notes following the 6.14am delivery. The guide does require officers to handcuff and shackle those in custody who require medical or psychiatric attention, but it also allows the discretion to remove cuffs when requested by doctors or after consulting with a superior officer. In this case, officers said the supervisor they consulted with told them the restraints must remain, the lawsuit states. 'The fact that they disregarded the medical advice of doctors suggests that they didnt use any humanity and sort of blindly followed what they perceived to be the policy in the Patrol Guide,' Rosenfeld said. Officers allegedly consulted with a sergeant when a doctor told them the restraints were illegal, posed health risks and needed to be removed, and said the sergeant said they had to stay. A file photo shows an NYPD patrol car in Manhattan with the motto 'Courtesy Professionalism Respect' displayed on the side New York banned the use of physical restraints on pregnant women during labor and delivery in 2009, and the law was expanded in 2015 to include in-custody transportation and the eight-week postpartum recovery period But it still happens, according to the New York Correctional Association. 'Shackling is a dehumanizing, cruel and pointless practice that has no place in New York City in 2018,' the lawsuit said. The law making it illegal to physically restrain pregnant women specifically during labor and delivery was expanded in 2015 to include in-custody transportation and the eight-week postpartum recovery period. NYPD settled a similar lawsuit eight months ago stemming from an incident in July of 2015, according to the woman's complaint. In that case, another Bronx woman who was eight months pregnant was shackled to a bed at Montefiore under the charge of officers from the 43rd Precinct for three days after an arrest on charges that were ultimately dismissed. A total of 26 states, including New York, ban shackling women in custody who are in labor, with some banning all restraints for all pregnant women, Dr. Carolyn Sufrin, an assistant professor in gynecology and obstetrics at Johns Hopkins Medicine, said. No state or federal laws limit the practice in the other 24 states, according to Sufrin. Policies in place by the Federal Bureau of Prisons and the United States Marshals Service limit the use of restraints on pregnant women. The First Step Act, a bipartisan piece of legislation currently sitting in the Senate, would ban handcuffing pregnant women in federal prison, among other things. This is the moment an autistic teenager who bombarded more than 1,700 schools with hoax bomb threats was arrested by National Crime Agency officers. George Duke-Cohan, who was today jailed for three years, twice targeted schools in the UK and US, and caused havoc when he posed as a worried father claiming his daughter was on United Airlines flight with four gunmen armed with a bomb. The 19-year-old, from Watford, who is the son of a leading personal claims solicitor, pleaded guilty in September to three counts of making hoax bomb threat and was sentenced today at Luton Crown Court. George Duke-Cohan, 19, has been jailed for three years at Luton Crown Court after making bogus bomb threats to hundreds of UK schools and sparking an airport security scare. The teen, pictured during his arrest this year, forced the evacuation of 400 schools through hoaxes Duke-Cohan, who the court heard was on the autistic spectrum and was inspired by the Columbine massacre, rang San Francisco airport police and told the bureau his daughter had rung him crying claiming the the men were carrying guns and a bomb. Jailing Duke-Cohan for three years, Judge Richard Foster said: 'You knew exactly what you were doing and why you were doing it, and you knew full well the havoc that would follow. 'You were playing a cat-and-mouse game with the authorities. You were playing a game for your own perverted sense of fun in full knowledge of the consequences.' Duke-Cohan stood nervously and fumbled with his pullover sleeves as he was sentenced to three years imprisonment. Judge Foster continued: What you did was far removed from anything that could be described as naivety or a cry for help from a sick person. 'The scale of what you did was enormous. Schools were evacuated and were they not those in charge had to make agonising decision. 'The passengers and crew on that flight must have been terrified when their plane was taken to a quarantined area and apart from the financial cost the onward travelling plans and connecting flights would have been in disarray. The 19-year-old, from Watford, pictured during his arrest by National Crime Agency officers, pleaded guilty in September to three counts of making hoax bomb threat and was sentenced today at Luton Crown Court 'Your principal mitigation is your early guilty pleas. Other mitigating factors are your age and lack of maturity, the fact that you have no previous criminal convictions and, to a limited extent, your functioning deficiencies which have contributed to a diagnosis of autism. 'You need help whilst in custody and thereafter while on licence, to channel your skills for a lawful and useful purpose.' The teenager first created panic in March 2018 when he emailed thousands of schools in the UK warning about an explosive. More than 400 schools were evacuated as a result, according to the National Crime Agency. One email sent to Marlborough College in Wiltshire said: 'We follow in the footsteps of our two heroes who died in the Columbine High School shooting.' Police arrested him days later, but he was able to send another batch of emails to schools in the US and UK while under investigation in April. His messages claimed a pipe bomb had been planted on the premises. Duke-Cohan was arrested for a second time and released on pre-charge bail with conditions that he did not use electronic devices. The 19-year-old, from Watford, pictured in a police mugshot, pleaded guilty in September to three counts of making hoax bomb threats. He was sentenced at Luton Crown Court Before long his name was in the frame for a third hoax, regarding a bogus tip-off that hijackers had taken over a United Airlines flight between UK and San Francisco. Detectives found that Duke-Cohan had made the calls to San Francisco Airport and their police force while he was on pre-charge bail for the two previous offences. He was arrested for a third time at his home in Watford, Hertfordshire, on August 31 this year. NCA senior investigating officer Marc Horsfall said Duke-Cohan's actions caused 'serious worry and inconvenience to thousands of people' and he had carried them out 'hidden behind a computer screen for his own enjoyment'. In mitigation, Anya Lewis told the court how Duke-Cohan was a lonely boy who was friendless at school and frequently bullied by peers. She told Judge Foster this streak of lonlieness continued in custody, where she said he was goaded by prisoners and prison officers alike. She also told the court that his parents separated when he was six years old and he lived with a physologically abusive father until he was 13 - and from whom he is now estranged. Ms Lewis claimed he was manipulated and groomed in the online community from whom he desperately sought the validation and acceptance lacking from his real life. George Duke-Cohan's family leaving Luton Crown Court today. His father Gary Duke-Cohan, sister Amber Duke-Cohan and Mireya Duke-Cohan, his mother (right) watched as the teen was sentenced to three years imprisonment She also cited a suspected diagnosis of autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) for both his troubled personal life and later offending, which Judge Foster referenced while sentencing - citing a report from consultant forensic psychiatrist Dr. Tim Rogers. 'He is of the view that there is a range of evidence in support of a diagnosis, but accepts that other medical professionals may take a different view. For the purposes of sentencing, I accept that you do suffer from that disorder,' Judge Foster told Duke-Cohan. 'However, to say this is an excuse for what you have done is an insult to the many thousands of suffers who lead law-abiding lives. Importantly, Dr. Rogers expresses this as a result of his consultation with you: 'Mr Duke-Cohan alluded to ordinarily hidden feelings of shame, insecurity, vulnerability, and humiliation that had given rise to fantasies of, and a search for, success, power, acclaim from prominent hackers and the achievement of wider online notoriety'.' An FBI sex sting has netted a lieutenant colonel in the US Air Force, who is now accused of trying to meet a 14-year-old girl at a Georgia hotel after the two talked online. Air Force Lt. Col. Willie Newson, 47, was arrested on Tuesday at the Radisson at 1775 Parkway Place in Marietta on charges of child exploitation. According to authorities, the high-ranking serviceman had gone to the hotel seeking to meet up with a teen he met on a dating app. But the teen was really an undercover officer with the FBI Metro Atlanta Child Exploitation Task Force. Air Force Lt. Col. Willie Newson, 47 (pictured left in mugshot and right) has been busted in an FBI raid in Georgia, accused of trying to meet a 14-year-old girl for sex The FBI sting took place Tuesday night at the Radisson on Parkway Place in Marietta, Georgia According to arrest warrants cited by Atlanta Journal Constitution, the undercover officer gave Newson multiple chances to stop the communication, but he chose to proceed with the rendezvous. Newson was among eight people arrested at the hotel in three hours that night, including three pimps and four prostitutes. The other suspects snared in the sting have been identified as Jonathan Young; Dick Myers; Clifton Smith; Amanda Waddell; Bianca Fraser and Brittany Barnes, reported WSB-TV. Newson was booked into the Cobb County Jail on charges of child exploitation. He was released the next day after posting $22,220 bond. Newson was among eight people arrested at the hotel Tuesday night. The other seven were pimps and prostitutes (pictured in mugshots) Georgia Department of Defense spokeswoman Desiree Bamba said Newson is on the command staff of the state Air National Guard. Bamba stated that Newson has now been placed on leave pending the investigation's outcome. 'Lt. Col. Newsons alleged actions do not reflect the values we uphold in the Georgia National Guard,' she told Atlanta Journal Constitution. Jennifer Sinclair (pictured) has been placed on leave after she banned candy canes because the shape is a 'J' for Jesus An elementary school principal has been placed on administrative leave after she banned candy canes because the shape is a 'J' for Jesus. Jennifer Sinclair sent a memo to teachers at Manchester Elementary School in Omaha, Nebraska, last week with instructions about decorations in their classrooms. Sinclair wrote that generic winter decorations of snowflakes, polar bears, snowmen and penguins were acceptable as well as Olaf from the movie Frozen. But Christmas-themed decorations were banned so as not to offend anyone who doesn't celebrate the holiday. These included Santa, Christmas trees, Elf on the Shelf, reindeer, any red and green items and candy canes. 'Historically, the shape is a 'J' for Jesus,' she wrote in the missive, according to KETV. She sent a memo to teachers at Manchester Elementary School (above) in Omaha, Nebraska, last week with instructions about decorations in their classrooms 'The red is for the blood of Christ, and the white is a symbol of his resurrection.' But she also banned different colored candy canes. She also instructed that Christmas ornaments couldn't be made as gifts. 'This assumes that the family has a Christmas tree which assumes they celebrate Christmas. I challenge the thought of, 'Well they can just hang it somewhere else',' she wrote. 'We are not to be doing any Christmas or holiday-specific themed activities with students,' Sinclair also wrote in the memo. In the memo, Sinclair said candy canes were shaped like a J for Jesus 'We have varied religious beliefs in our school, and it is our job to be inclusive.' She also wrote: 'Please reflect on what you've already copied, prepped and posted,' she wrote. 'I'm hopeful we can avoid the discomfort of me directly questioning something you've copied, posted and had your kids do. 'That makes me uncomfortable, and I know it doesn't feel good. Signed, The (Unintentional) Grinch who stole Christmas (from Manchester).' Christian organization Liberty Counsel got a hold of the memo and sent a letter to Elkhorn Public Schools District demanding the ban be lifted. Officials said the memo doesn't reflect the district's policy on holiday symbols in schools. A district spokesman said Sinclair was placed on leave on Thursday morning. Sinclair, who is a new principal, didn't consult with administrators about the policy about handling religious holiday themes, the spokesman told KETV. The district's policy says Christmas trees, Santa, Easter eggs and bunnies are considered 'secular, seasonal symbols.' ACCEPTABLE Gifts to students Snowmen, snow women, snow people Snowflakes Gingerbread people Holidays Around the World Sledding Hot chocolate Polar Bears Penguins Scarves, boots, earmuffs, and hats 'Yetis' and 'Olaf' (the snowman from the movie Frozen Advertisement Bodies could pile up in parts of Britain if the country crashes out of the EU with no Brexit deal, officials have warned grimly. A series of dire warnings released today say the key ports of Dover and Folkestone could be plunged into six months of chaos unless a deal is done. A report by Kent Council said the county could end up turning into a massive lorry park with up to 10,000 trucks stuck in gridlock if there is no agreement. The congestion could mean schoolchildren miss crucial exams, rubbish is not collected from the streets, and vital services like hospitals are hit by staff shortages. And there could be 'prolonged disruption' to the transport of goods - raising the spectre that Britain will be hit by food and medicines shortages. While coroners 'could face difficulties with the transport of the deceased to post mortem or body storage facilities', the report found. Meanwhile, Health Secretary Matt Hancock wrote to pharmaceutical companies urging them to prepare for chaos at the Kent ports. He urged them to stockpile drugs to prepare for the possible fall-out of crashing out with no deal. Bodies could pile up in parts of Britain if the country crashes out of the EU with no Brexit deal, officials have warned grimly. A damning report by Kent Council has warned the county will end up turning into a massive lorry park with up to 10,000 trucks stuck in gridlock (pictured in Kent) if there is no deal His letter states: 'The revised cross-Government planning assumptions show that there will be significantly reduced access across the short straits, for up to six months.' The 17-page report by Kent Council warned the whole region could be hit by many months of chaos unless Theresa May is able to get a deal. And Paul Carter, the council's leader, demanded No10 dramatically increase their no deal planning. The dire warnings pile more pressure on Theresa May (pictured at church in Maidenhead today) whose Brexit plans are in chaos and expected to be voted down next week He said: 'We now need far more input and information from national government in how they are going to work with us.' The council said it has serious concerns about how children will get to and from school if the country is hit by the gridlock. The report adds: 'Administration of GCSEs and SATs through schools could be compromised if staff and pupils cannot effectively travel to exams.' Meanwhile, Mr Hancock said planes could be used to fly in drugs, and medicines could be given priority access through gridlocked ports if there is a no-deal Brexit. The Cabinet minister also said the Government was consulting on plans for chemists to ration drugs to ensure patients can retain access to vital medicines in the event of shortages. The Times reported that a consultation launched by the Department for Health and Social Care called for rapid changes to medicine rules to 'support the continuity of supply of medicines in a 'no-deal' scenario'. The Government wants to enable ministers to issue a 'serious shortage protocol' for pharmacies to follow, the newspaper said. It 'could be issued in case of a serious national shortage and would enable community pharmacists and other dispensers to dispense in accordance with the protocol rather than the prescription without contacting the GP'. Ministers would order pharmacists to dispense a 'reduced quantity' of the medicine, an 'alternative dosage form', a 'therapeutic equivalent' or a 'generic equivalent'. Mr Hancock told BBC Radio 4's Today that 'this is something we are consulting on' and 'it's about having the appropriate clinical flexibility'. He said it was about 'making sure that the rules are aligned to what is best practice, to make sure that if there is, on any individual area - whether it is to do with Brexit or not - if there is a shortage of an individual drug, that pharmacists can make their clinical and professional judgments'. In a letter to pharmaceutical firms, Mr Hancock warned them to prepare for six months of chaos. The dire warning comes as Health Secretary Matt Hancock (pictured outside NO10 earlier this week) wrote to pharmaceutical companies urging them to stockpile drugs for six months as the key ports of Dover and Folkestone could be plunged into chaos He said: Although we cannot know exactly what each member state will do with respect to checks on the EU border, the cross-Government planning assumptions have been revised so we can prepare for the potential impacts that the imposition of third country controls by member states could have. 'These impacts are likely to be felt mostly on the short straits crossings into Dover and Folkestone, where the frequent and closed loop nature of these mean that both exports and imports would be affected. 'The revised cross-Government planning assumptions show that there will be significantly reduced access across the short straits, for up to six months.' In another letter, he has told hospitals, care homes, GP practices and community pharmacies should not stockpile more drugs than usual. Mrs May has been repeatedly criticised for failing to do enough to prepare for a no deal Brexit. Brexiteers said this has harmed the UK's hand in talks and left Britain woefully under prepared for crashing out. Meanwhile, her divorce deal looks almost certain to be defeated when it is voted on by MPs next Tuesday night. Michael Smith, 32, is in a critical condition after shooting himself in the face while he killed a black unarmed suspect at a dentist's office in Georgia on Thursday morning A white police officer shot himself in the face and killed an unarmed black suspect during a struggle at a Georgia dentist's office on Thursday. Michael Smith, 32, is in critical condition in the hospital after shooting dead 53-year-old Dimaggio Demetris McNelly at Smile Creators in McDonough, Georgia, on Thursday at 8am. Staff had called police claiming McNelly was causing a disturbance in the lobby. They said they did not know him and that he did not have an appointment but it remains unclear why he was there. When Smith arrived, witnesses said McNelly 'lunged' at him. The 32-year-old cop tried to use his taser but it reached for his gun when it did not work and fired one shot which both killed McNelly and somehow hit him in the face. Someone in the dentist's office recorded the incident on their cell phone, according to police officers. The footage they took has not been made public yet. The shooting happened at Smile Creators in McDonough, Georgia, on Thursday at 8am It is not known what McNelly, who is yet to be pictured, was doing to provoke staff calling police Smith was taken to the hospital, where he remains, but McNelly, a father-of-two, died. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation confirmed on Thursday that McNelly was not armed. The bureau did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com's inquiries on Friday morning, nor did members of the McNelly family. On Facebook, they shared their grief and disbelief along with local media stories about the shooting. 'I know my uncle didn't even have a gun,' said the man's niece, Shandrise McNelly. Revered historian Professor Mary Beard once said the Duchess of Cambridge had become a 'maternal, doll-like, precious vessel' but today accepted a damehood from her husband, Prince William. She seemed to put her 2014 words behind her as she offered to become the personal Latin tutor to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's three children as she collected her award from Buckingham Palace. The broadcaster, well-known for her documentaries and appearances on the BBC, said she would do 'anything' to ensure princes George and Louis, and Princess Charlotte, grew up with an understanding of the ancient Roman language. Professor Mary Beard is made a Dame Commander of the British Empire by the Duke of Cambridge Speaking moments after she received the honour for services to the study of classical civilisation from William at Buckingham Palace, Dame Mary told the Press Association: 'Well, I hope he was listening. Of course he was very polite and said: 'I'll have to get you to teach them', and I said: 'Anything!' She joked: 'I didn't quite say: 'You get the little squits to learn Latin...' but I did say you get them to learn because it is very important. 'It's important to learn where we've been and where we've come from, and for people to have access to some of the most extraordinary and influential literature in world culture. Dame Mary Beard, Professor of Classics, University of Cambridge displays her award For services to the Study of Classical Civilisation 'That kind of direct connection with something so influential written so long ago is, I think, terribly important. 'Of course, because it was a very happy and joyous occasion in which we were being friends, he left me with the strong impression that his children would be learning Latin. 'But he was bound to. It would be rude for him - and I'm sure he wouldn't - to say: 'Well we looked at that and we really think it's a waste of time'. The 63-year-old said today: 'Had somebody said to me at 23 that I would accept a damehood of the British empire, I would have said: 'Sorry, sunshine, that's not what my politics is all about' 'Gratified as I was to feel his general warmth over this, I think I'd be foolish to think I single-handedly convinced him to teach them Latin.' Dame Mary was at the palace five years on from receiving her OBE for services to classical scholarship. It was in 2014 she made the remarks on the Duchess's image. '[Kate] has been constructed as this admirable, maternal, doll-like, precious vessel,' Professor Beard told The Times. '[Kate] has been constructed as this admirable, maternal, doll-like, precious vessel,' Professor Beard told The Times in 2014 'Who has done it? In part, she has constructed herself. In part, she has taken on a job, which has its up sides and its down sides.' Her comments followed Hilary Mantel's controversial likening of Kate to a 'shop-window mannequin'. The Booker-Prize-winning novelist sparked outrage when she described the future Queen as 'gloss-varnished' with a perfect plastic smile during a lecture at the British Museum last year. Professor Mary Beard is made a Dame Commander of the British Empire by the Duke of Cambridge during an investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace Who is Mary Beard? Dame Winifred Mary Beard, DBE, FSA, FBA is an English scholar and classicist from Much Wenlock in Shropshire. She is Professor of Classics at the University of Cambridge, a fellow of Newnham College, and Royal Academy of Arts Professor of Ancient Literature. Her works include Pompeii, winner of the 2008 Wolfson History Prize, and SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome, a non-fiction best seller from 2015. Beard was also made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours. She married Robin Cormack, a classicist and art historian, in 1985. Their daughter Zoe is a historian of South Sudan and their son Raphael is a scholar of Egyptian literature. In 2000, Beard revealed in an essay reviewing a book on rape that she too had been raped, in 1978. Her blog, A Don's Life, gets about 40,000 hits a day, according to The Independent (2013). Advertisement The Cambridge University professor has also previously said she herself had 'a 'touch of republican' about her, but felt much more comfortable accepting the honour now she was 'older and wiser'. The 63-year-old said today: 'Had somebody said to me at 23 that I would accept a damehood of the British empire, I would have said: 'Sorry, sunshine, that's not what my politics is all about'. 'But I've grown older and wiser, and I think that it does seem an odd title - a mixture of pantomime, because dames cart around the stage, don't they? - and we don't have an empire any longer. 'That makes it quaint, charming, and doesn't have those bits of politics attached to it.' The academic married art historian Robin Cormack in 1985. They have a daughter, Zoe and son, Raphael. She was joined at the palace by engineer Roma Agrawal, who worked on the Shard landmark in central London, and milliner Rose Cory, who was appointed to the Queen Mother. Both received MBEs. One of the world's biggest tobacco companies is investing $3.8 billion into the cannabis market. Marlboro maker Altria Group Inc. is paying $2.4 billion for a 45 percent stake in Cronos Group, the Canadian medical and recreational marijuana provider said on Friday. Altria will also pay another $1.4 billion for warrants that if exercised, would give the Altria a 55 percent ownership stake in the Toronto company. 'Investing in Cronos Group as our exclusive partner in the emerging global cannabis category represents an exciting new growth opportunity for Altria,' said Howard Willard, Altria's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, in a statement. A pack of Marlboro cigarettes, an Altria brand, are seen in a file photo. Altria has announced plans to invest 'We believe that Cronos Group's excellent management team has built capabilities necessary to compete globally, and we look forward to helping Cronos Group realize its significant growth potential,' Willard said. Altria's total investment will be in the same league as the $4 billion spent earlier this year by Constellation Brands to acquire shares of Canopy Growth Corp., another Canadian pot producer. The August investment by Constellation, which makes Corona and other beverages, was the largest to date by a major U.S. corporation in the cannabis market. Whatever hesitation larger corporations in the U.S. had about entering the cannabis market appears to be fading if there is a financial justification. Altria's huge investment lit up shares of cannabis companies that have begun to set up shop in Canada, where recreational use was legalized nationwide this year. Canada legalized recreational marijuana earlier this year. Pictured is a mound of marijuana on a stack of American currency in a stock photo Shares of Cronos Group Inc. jumped 31 per cent and neared an all-time high at the opening bell Friday. Rapid growth in the cannabis market is expected to continue as legalization expands in the U.S. and social norms change. On Tuesday, conservative Utah became the latest state to legalize marijuana use for medical purposes. Consumers are expected to spend $57 billion per year worldwide on legal cannabis by 2027, according to Arcview Market Research, a cannabis-focused investment firm. In North America, that spending is expected to grow from $9.2 billion in 2017 to $47.3 billion in 2027. The 18-year-old student arrested on the same day as the Parkland school shooting for allegedly plotting a similar attack on his own Washington state institution, has changed his plea to guilty. Joshua Alexander O'Connor was arrested by police in Everett, 30 miles north of Seattle, on suspicion of planning to gun down those at ACES High School. He originally pleaded not guilty after his grandmother found a semiautomatic rifle hiding in his guitar case and a detailed journal which contained plans for a pressure cooker bomb, but on Thursday come to another agreement on his charges. Scroll down for video Joshua Alexander O'Connor (pictured right in March) has changed his not guilty plea to guilty in relation to an allegedly plot to stage a shooting at a school in Washington state February O'Connor, 18, was arrested on attempted murder and other charges at ACES High School (pictured) in February after his grandmother alerted them. He will be sentenced February 2019 According to KOMO, the new plea came after authorities agreed to drop a weapons allegation on an attempted murder charge. It could reduce his sentence by five years. Now his charges are first-degree attempted murder, first-degree robbery with a firearm and possession of explosive device. O'Connor faces a 28-year sentence in February 2019 but he will have no trial and a judge will decide. 'We do believe that it was important for Mr. O'Connor to take responsibility for what he did and be held legally accountable for the steps that he took,' Snohomish County deputy prosecutor, Andrew Alsdorf, said. His grandmother Catherine OConnor handed officers his journal which showed plans to shoot and use explosives on students On February 14, the teenager's grandmother called 911 and showed responding officers a journal where he allegedly drew up plans to shoot students and use homemade explosives at the school in Everett, police said. 'What I'm reporting is I'm finding journal entries from my grandson,' Catherine OConnor told the emergency services operator. 'And he's planning on having a mass shooting at one of the high schools.' O'Connor wrote that he wanted the death count to be as high as possible so that the shooting would be infamous, according to court papers. His entries included details about making pressure-cooker bombs, activating inert grenades and deploying explosives for maximum casualties, court papers said. The new plea came after authorities agreed to drop a weapons allegation on an attempted murder charge. It could reduce his sentence by five years. Pictured is the courtroom in March Another journal entry allegedly described an armed robbery of a convenience store that police believe O'Connor participated in that week Cash from the robbery was supposed to help fund the school shooting and when cops searched his room, they found a jacket that reportedly matched the one worn by the gunman He allegedly wrote: 'I'm preparing myself for the school shooting. I can't wait. My aim has gotten much more accurate... I can't wait to walk into that class and blow all those (expletives) away.' 'I need to get the biggest fatality number I possibly can. I need to make this count. ... I'm learning from past shooters/bombers mistakes, so I don't make the same ones,' he reportedly penned in his journal. The alarming journal entries were written over the course of two-and-a-half months Q13 Fox reported. After his grandmother read the entries, she found a semiautomatic rifle hiding in his guitar case. She then called police. Detectives serving a search warrant at the grandmother's house seized the student's journal, the AK-47 rifle and inert grenades. In court February, deputy prosecutor Andrew Alsdorf said that O'Connor bought the rifle because it was the same style used in the Columbine High School massacre in 1999. The incident came just as 17 people were shot dead by former student Nikolas Cruz, 19, at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in Parkland, Florida Before his weapon charge was dropped, public defender Rachel Forde noted the gun and the grenade shells were legal to possess. She said the 'musings and ventings' in O'Connor's journal weren't enough evidence to support a charge of attempted murder. Another entry allegedly described an armed robbery of a convenience store that police believe O'Connor participated in that week. Cash from the robbery was supposed to help fund the school shooting, said deputy prosecutor Andrew Alsdorf in court. When police searched his room, they found a green-and-black jacket that reportedly matched the one worn by the gunman in the robbery. O'Connor's bail was set at $5million. The incident came just as 17 people were shot dead by former student Nikolas Cruz, 19, at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in Parkland, Florida. Residents of a Perth suburb have told how they are living in fear and have no option but to move out of their homes as children as young as five run riot. Children in Ellenbrook, in the city's north-east, have vandalised dozens of homes and vehicles, stole electrical items and made death threats, residents say. As the violence escalated, a nine-year-old boy was taken by police on Thursday and put into an unmarked car by his grandmother before he was driven away. Scroll down for video Residents of Ellenbrook, in Perth's north-east, say young children in the area have vandalised dozens of their homes and vehicles but are too young for police to be able to take action Two youths (pictured) were captured on CCTV carrying a television from a home 'People are ready to take law into their own hands because people are petrified of him, we've gone to police, we're asking police for help but when he gets returned home sometimes three times a night, he goes back out and does it again,' one resident told 9 News. The nine-year-old, who is too young to be charged, is not the only youth alleged to be running amok in the suburb. Residents say up to a dozen children living at two homes are also responsible for vandalism, burglaries and death threats in the area. Other residents have said they plan to move out of the area. One mother, who did not want to be named, said months of threats, break-in attempts and vandalism forced her to move into a rental home while continuing to pay her mortgage. 'I caught them on a fence with knives and as soon as I stopped rolling the camera, they said they were going to kill me,' Amanda told 7 News. 'They're too young. The police won't do anything about it,' Tayla (pictured), a resident of Ellenbrook, said Residents say up to a dozen children living at two homes are also responsible for vandalism and burglaries 'People are ready to take law into their own hands because people are petrified of him, we've gone to police, we're asking police for help,' one resident said. Pictured: a car smashed by one of the youths Tayla, who did not want her last name used, said a gang of teenagers had ransacked her mother's house last month, smashing the front window and making off with electrical items, an iPad and jewellery. 'They have no fear. They're too young, the police won't do anything about it,' she said. 'I'm definitely afraid, afraid to leave the house and afraid to be in the house.' The nine-year-old boy is too young to face charges but Western Australia Police Commissioner Chris Dawson said police were working closely with other agencies and his family to manage the situation. Virginia high school teacher Peter Vlaming, 47 (pictured), has been fired from West Point High School after refusing to use a transgender student's new pronouns, with students staging a walkout in protest over his dismissal A Virginia teacher who refused to use a transgender student's new pronouns was fired on Thursday for insubordination. The West Point School Board voted unanimously to dismiss Peter Vlaming after a four-hour hearing, after he told his superiors at West Point High School that his Christian faith prevented him from using male pronouns for a student who had informed the school of his transition during the summer. The 47-year-old French teacher had offered to use the boy's name and to avoid feminine pronouns, but his attorney Shawn Voyles said the school was unwilling to accept the compromise. In this instance, the school said Vlaming's plan would discriminate against the boy, and Vlaming said the school's decision discriminated against his religious beliefs. Vlaming had been on paid administrative leave since October 31, leading up to Thursday's hearing, WRIC reported. Students at the school walked out in protest of Vlaming's firing on Friday. When the student returned this year after his transition, Vlaming (shown writing French words on a board) refused to refer to the student using masculine pronouns, which the student said made him feel uncomfortable and singled out Vlaming had taught the night grade student the year before, prior to his transition. When the student returned this year after his transition, Vlaming refused to refer to the student using masculine pronouns, which the student said made him feel uncomfortable and singled out. At the hearing, West Point High School principal Jonathan Hochman said that Vlaming told him that he liked and missed 'the female version of the student.' The school system told Vlaming he could not treat this student differently than any other student. At the hearing, West Point High School principal Jonathan Hochman (pictured) said that Vlaming told him that he liked and missed 'the female version of the student' 'That discrimination then leads to creating a hostile learning environment. And the student had expressed that. The parent had expressed that,' West Point schools Superintendent Laura Abel told Richmond.com. 'They felt disrespected.' The school's nondiscrimination policies were updated one year ago, to now include protections for gender identity. But Shawn Voyles, who is Vlaming's lawyer, has argued no specific provisions detail exactly what must be done in terms of use of gender pronouns, calling the policy 'unconstitutionally vague.' Jennifer Haynes, a 52-year-old West Point High parent spoke out in support of Vlaming. 'If theres no policy in place, how can they just let him go?' she asked. Mera Babineaux, a supporter of the student, a West Point resident and founder of the Virginia Anti-Bullying and Discrimination Action Network, wrote in a letter to the board: 'No matter what sense of self or identity a child may have, public schools must remain a bastion of secular education, where children can learn without fear of retribution for who they are, where they worship, who they love, or how they present themselves.' Voyles also said that Vlaming has constitutional rights, even as a government employee. 'One of those rights that is not curtailed is to be free from being compelled to speak something that violates your conscience,' Voyles said. The school's nondiscrimination policies were updated one year ago, to now include protections for gender identity, but Shawn Voyles, who is Vlaming's lawyer, has argued no specific provisions detail exactly what must be done in terms of use of gender pronouns, calling the policy 'unconstitutionally vague.' The sign outside of West Point High School is shown 'We are here today because a specific worldview is being imposed upon me,' Vlaming said at the Thursday hearing, while reading from a prepared opening statement Speaking on his own behalf, Vlaming asked the board to reconsider the 'absurdity' of equating pronoun usage with what he characterized as having no accusation of overtly malicious behavior to discrimination. 'My religious faith dictates that I am to love and respect everyone, whether I agree with them or not. Because we are all made in God's image,' Vlaming said at the hearing, while reading from a prepared opening statement. 'I am also aware of, and agree, with speech limits that are placed on public school teachers, concerning matters of religious faith. I represent the state in my role as a public school teacher and therefore speak with a certain authority. That authority is not to be used to promote any one specific worldview, and I dont. However, we are here today because a specific worldview is being imposed upon me,' he said. In a separate comment, Vlaming added, 'I am being punished for what I havent said.' He added that his job was put in peril for him having views held by 'most of the world for most of human history.' 'That is not tolerance. That is coercion,' Vlamin said, while calling his suggested course of action a display of 'mutual tolerance.' Students staged a walkout at the Virginia high school in protest over Vlaming's firing A small group of students outside of West Point High School chanted, 'Vlaming!' repeatedly on Friday, during their walkout in protest over his firing A small group of students outside of West Point High School chanted, 'Vlaming!' repeatedly on Friday, during their walkout in protest over his firing. The school system shared a statement on Vlaming's firing with Fox 8 News. 'The School Board has policies that prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender identity. As detailed during the course of the public hearing, Mr. Vlaming was recommended for termination due to his insubordination and repeated refusal to comply with directives made to him by multiple WPPS administrators,' Abel said. 'As superintendent, it is my responsibility to enforce board policy, and due to Mr. Vlaming's non-compliance I therefore recommended termination.' Vlaming is considering a legal appeal. 'I have to research how we would do that, what that would entail,' Vlaming said. 'I do think its a serious question of First Amendment rights.' The district wouldn't comment further, citing potential litigation. A former janitor is accused of posing as a Wisconsin doctor and treating patients suffering illnesses as serious as schizophrenia with unknown or over-the-counter medications. Kyle Larsen, 32, of Appleton, Wisconsin, is charged with billing himself as Kyle Ellis, Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, and owner of Medical Psychology of Wisconsin, LLC. Prosecutors outlined some of his specific infractions as a playacting medical professional at his court appearance, according to the Post Crescent. Kyle Larsen, 32, a former janitor, allegedly decided to practice medicine without a license 'He had given... somebody a flu shot. He had given some other medications that people had taken that are unknown at this time, ' said District Attorney Melinda Tempelis. 'Somebody else received a medication with red drops that they were suppose to take. Some of these people took all the medication so there's nothing left,' The criminal complaint alleges that he gave a bottle of Ritalin to a patient already diagnosed with depression and a dose of amoxicillin to a patient with a tick bite. One patient, suffering from schizophrenia from the age of 12, only recently saw Larsen, and was given a flu shot and a container of 'red drops' to take. He reportedly gave her other unknown medications that she did not take. Calli Nonnemacher, a former patient of the ex-janitor, said Larsen would take her already prescribed sleeping pills and would crush them with oil and water In another case, he took pills prescribed to a patient as a sleep aid and allegedly crushed them with oil and water to administer. 'That medication didn't come from the pharmacy it was in house. All of his medications were from in house,' former patient Calli Nonnemacher told WBAY. 'I asked one day, I'm not really sure what's being done to my medication once I give it to you. So he showed me, and he crushed it up, and would just mix it with water. And it would separate, and it just was not consistent. It didn't look safe, so I didn't take it.' In the dozen or so visits she made to his office, Nonnemacher would shell out $1,000 to the fraudulent doctor explaining that Larsen refused to take insurance from his patients and would only take cash. The WSAW reported that he also disclosed medical information to a patient's employer and frequently texting her inappropriate messages. The patient would eventually resign from her position. Kyle Larsen's practice, Medical Psychology of Wisconsin, LLC, was not a real limited liability corporation either 'We focus on treating chronic pain using non-invasive, non-pharmacological approaches,' reads the ironic LinkedIn profile for 'Dr. Ellis' despite the listed charges of pill-pushing. The fake physician reportedly told authorities that he had once been a licensed practical nurse who had been busted for theft leaving him unable to find nursing jobs afterwards, according to WSAW. This led to the then-janitor conceiving of a medical business complete with a licensed doctor at first, but Larsen concluded it was too difficult to start up. Kyle Larsen told police he bought medical equipment off Craigslist and a garage sale. He stole a prescription pad from a dental office located in the same building as his practice He told the police that the paperwork had been too expensive to form a real limited liability corporation as well. To complete the false firm, investigators say Larsen purchased medical equipment at a retired chiropractor's garage sale and off of Craigslist, while stealing a prescription pad from a dentist in his own office building. The Appleton resident is formally charged with six counts of theft through false representation, delivery a prescription drug, distribution of a controlled substance, maintaining a drug trafficking place, four counts of practicing medicine or surgery without a license, three counts of practicing pharmacy without a license, and two counts of unlicensed practice of psychology. A university professor has accused God of sexual misconduct for impregnating Mary, the mother of Jesus, without her 'consent'. Eric Sprankle, an associate professor of clinical psychology and sexuality studies at Minnesota State University-Mankato, criticized the Biblical Christmas story, saying the Christian deity was 'predatory' . 'The virgin birth story is about an all-knowing, all-powerful deity impregnating a human teen,' Sprankle wrote on Twitter. 'There is no definition of consent that would include that scenario. Happy Holidays.' Responding to Sprankle, someone else pointed out that Mary discusses God's plans with the angel Gabriel in the story of the Annunciation and tells him: 'I am the Lord's servant, may your word to me be fulfilled.' Eric Sprankle, an associate professor of clinical psychology and sexuality studies at Minnesota State University-Mankato, accused God of sexual misconduct for impregnating Mary The angel Gabriel (left) is seen visiting the Virgin Mary (right) in this Annunciation scene painted in the 1500s by Scipione Pulzone. God is depicted as looking down while the Holy Spirit, represented by a dove, sends a ray of light that impregnates Mary with Jesus Sprankle, however, remained convinced that Mary could not have consented, given God's vast power over her. 'The biblical god regularly punished disobedience,' Sprankle wrote. 'The power difference (deity vs mortal) and the potential for violence for saying 'no' negates her 'yes.'' 'To put someone in this position is an unethical abuse of power at best and grossly predatory at worst,' the professor wrote. Sprankle is an apparent Satanist, whose Twitter bio includes the phrase 'Hail Satan' in Latin. He has also posted pictures of the Satanic Christmas decorations in his home, and complained about the abundance of Christian student groups and lack of Satanic groups on his university's campus. Sprankle, seen right with Marilyn Manson, is an apparent Satanist who posts pictures of Satanic Christmas decorations on his Twitter page Sprankle posed Jack, the elf on the shelf, with a statue of Baphomet, an occult figure Sprankle boasted of topping his Christmas tree with an inverted pentagram, a Satanic sign Sprankle's accusation brought a rush of skeptical reactions from other users on Twitter. 'Does it make more logical sense to believe what youre saying or to believe that the infinite and all-knowing God of the universe intentionally chose someone who he knew would consider it a blessing and be happy to agree?' one asked. 'Eric, the entire story involves Mary's consent, and would not have happened without it. The amazing part of the story is God's request for her consent (it was required!). Part of the reason Mary is venerated is that her willing 'yes' to God's request results in our salvation,' another wrote. 'So courageous. Now do Mohammed,' requested another. A Georgia teenager has been accused of creating an elaborate scam to defraud people and potentially the state out of tens of million of dollars through the tax system. Charles Turner, 18, was arrested on Thursday at his South Fulton home, where he had set up shop to operate the $28 million scheme, the Georgia Department of Revenue said. Turner allegedly created a business that was supposed to sell Amazon products for a fee, used it to steal bank information, and used that bank information to overpay on tax prepayments to the state of Georgia. Then, he would request refunds from the overpayments for the gaming and electronics business to his personal bank account. Charles Turner, 18, has been arrested for allegedly creating an elaborate scam to defraud people and potentially the state out of tens of million of dollars through the tax system. Turner is pictured in a booking photo provided by the Fulton County Police Department 'He actually set up a business, set up withholding accounts and sales tax accounts, and was overpaying by more than $25 million onto those accounts, and then requesting refunds for those same amounts to be returned back to him in his personal checking account,' Georgia Department of Revenue investigator Josh Waites told WBS-TV. Turner allegedly ran the sham business, Riverdale X, out of the home he shares with his mother and brother, apparently unbeknownst to them. 'I mean, didnt no money come in here, his brother, Terio Williams, said. 'I mean I didnt get none.' But perhaps Williams ignored obvious signs, like the vehicle that was towed away from their house on Thursday, which Turner is believed to have paid for with a bad check. 'He actually set up a business, set up withholding accounts and sales tax accounts, and was overpaying by more than $25 million onto those accounts, and then requesting refunds for those same amounts to be returned back to him in his personal checking account,' Georgia Department of Revenue investigator Josh Waites said. The Georgia Department of Revenue headquarters in Atlanta is pictured Turner's alleged operation started to come tumbling down three weeks ago, when Georgia Department of Revenue (logo shown) investigators became aware of a pattern in Turner's daily payments to the state, coupled with reversals due to insufficient funds and fraudulent accounts Turner's alleged operation started to come tumbling down three weeks ago, when investigators became aware of a pattern in Turner's daily payments to the state, coupled with reversals due to insufficient funds and fraudulent accounts. Then, Turner communicated over email this week with an investigator posing as a state account manager. Turner told the undercover agent that his accountant would sign for his state return at the Riverdale X business address, because Turner said he was away in the United Kingdom. But rather than the state account manager that Turner expected, investigators showed up and he was taken into custody. Leading up to the bust, a warrant was issued for Turner out of Henry County in November for allegedly cashing a fraudulent check for $18,000 at a SunTrust Bank. He was also charged in January with financial fraud in a separate case in Fulton County, records show. 'Unfortunately, in the past weve seen people younger than him, from all walks of life, just not to this extent,' Waites said. 'We did not lose any money in this scheme, which is a testament to the hard work of the people in the department.' The investigation into Turner's actions will take a look at the number of potential victims of his so-called 'business,' and alleged attempts to gain access to state funds, Waites said. More than 30 senior Tory activists have protested to party headquarters about leaflets promoting Theresa May's Brexit deal claiming they are a 'misuse of party funds'. More than 30 senior Tory activists have protested to party headquarters about leaflets promoting Theresa May's Brexit deal claiming they are a 'misuse of party funds'. In the first clear signal of a grassroots revolt against the plans, the 32 chairmen and deputy chairmen say the leaflets are 'propaganda' aimed at MPs not voters. The letter was sent to Andrew Sharpe, the chairman of the National Conservative Convention - the representative body for party volunteers. It was revealed today by the ConservativeHome website as Mrs May sent dozens of her ministers around the country to stump for her deal. The letter says: 'You will be well aware how controversial this proposed agreement is. Polls show Conservative MPs, Party members and the British public strongly opposed. 'Many people are concerned that the UK will pay 39 billion without any legally binding guarantees that a UK/EU trade deal will be secured. Trade deals with global partners will extremely difficult if not impossible to negotiate. 'Under the backstop, the UK will be unable to leave the customs union without EU agreement and will be forced to accept EU laws and regulations over which we will have no say, and which may not be in our best interests.' It adds: 'Whether we voted Leave or Remain, or agree with the Prime Ministers deal or disagree, never should Party funds or Party-funded CCHQ staff be used to lobby against our duly elected Members of Parliament 'We urge you to make representations at the highest level to convey members concern at this misuse of Party funds and to ensure this activity is stopped with immediate effect and that there will be no future repetition.' Among those who have put their names to the letter are the chairman of the Croydon Federation which includes the former constituency of Gavin Barwell, the Prime Ministers Chief of Staff. Associations in crucial marginal seats like Carlisle, Chester, Peterborough, Halifax and Worthington are also on the list. The letter was sent to Andre Sharpe (left with the PM at Tory conference in October), the chairman of the National Conservative Convention - the representative body for party volunteers Among those who have put their names to the letter are the chairman of the Croydon Federation which includes the former constituency of Gavin Barwell (pictured), the Prime Ministers Chief of Staff Aside from the grassroots drama, Mrs May faced a new Brexit crisis today as the DUP and Tory rebels rejected an attempted compromise on the backstop out of hand. Senior ministers have demanded Mrs May come up with an 11th hour escape as she fights to avoid a catastrophic defeat of her deal on Tuesday night. No 10 said today it was 'considering' a proposal by Tory loyalists to create a 'parliamentary lock' on the backstop, which keeps Britain in a customs union with the EU if there is no final trade deal. But the idea of creating Commons votes around entering the backstop of the summer of 2020, with commitments to strike agreements to escape it within a year, were rejected within hours today. DUP leader Arlene Foster said the plan was 'tinkering' around a divorce deal that was fundamentally broken. Sources at the European Research Group backed by Boris Johnson said the ploy was a 'transparent' attempt by No 10 to plant a 'risible' compromise that answered none of the criticism of the backstop. Mr Johnson said the idea was 'simply not possible' because of concessions to Brussels in the divorce treaty. The British yachtswoman who spent two days stranded in the Southern Ocean after her boat was smashed up by a monster storm has been rescued. Susie Goodall, 29, from Falmouth in Cornwall, ended up stuck 2,000 miles west of Cape Horn, deep in the Southern Ocean, after horrendous weather upended her yacht during the solo Golden Globe Race around the world. She was finally rescued on Friday by a 38,000 tonne Hong Kong-registered cargo ship, happily tweeting 'ON THE SHIP!!!' some two hours after it arrived at her position. Susie Goodall is seen being rescued after she spent two days stranded in the Southern Ocean after her boat was smashed up by a monster storm Rescued: Miss Goodall tweeted that she had finally been rescued on Friday afternoon GMT The 'Golden Globe Race' is an ocean race in which sailors compete without high technology aides such as GPS or computers. Pictured, Susie Goodall leaves Les Sables d'Olonne Harbour on July 1 She was rescued after some initial engine trouble hampered efforts, forcing the huge cargo ship to navigate to meet her, a Golden Globe Race spokesperson said this afternoon. In a series of tweets of her own posted earlier, Miss Goodall conveyed an upbeat message: 'It's going quicker than planned the cargo ship has arrived! The waves are still 3-4 metres and there's a glimmer of light on the horizon. A person tweeting on her behalf added: 'Susie has activated her SART (Search And Rescue Transponder) so they can locate her via radio (not so easy from a 190m-long ship!) , dropped her sea anchor and is testing the engine. 'If her engine is working (it was briefly), Susie will motor alongside, put on her lifejacket and climbing harness, and get ready to clip in. There'll also be a bag or 2 she can tie on. 'Now comes the tricky part Because both Susie's boat and the ship are swaying, the crane will be far from steady. She'll have to time it right and prepare to be yanked off the boat. Fingers crossed!' Tweeting to her followers on Thursday Miss Goodall said: 'This motion is just horrible! Clinging on in my bunk.' In another, she wrote that she was 'In need of a good cuppa tea! But sadly no cooker' and this morning she added: 'That was a looong night'. Susie Goodall, 29, was rescued by a 38,000 tonne cargo ship some two hours after it arrived at her position 2,000 miles west of Cape Horn, in the Southern Ocean Susie Goodall, 29, (pictured) was caught in a massive storm off Cape Horn and had been battling with the elements for 24 hours Miss Goodall, from Falmouth in Cornwall has posted a series of tweets describing her situation as she awaits rescue A weather map has shown the storm that lashed the area four hours before Miss Goodhall lost her rig Susie was said to have been launched across the vessel while below deck and 'knocked out for a while' Susie is currently sailing a Rustler 36 class yacht (pictured) in the DHL Golden Globe round the world race Miss Goodall is the youngest competitor and only woman to enter the event, which started in July. It has taken place only once before in 1968 when Sir Robin Knox-Johnston was the sole finisher. She was in 4th place in the non-stop, 30,000-mile race. Falmouth Coastguard picked up a distress signal from her yacht, DHL Starlight, yesterday morning after she was hit by a ferocious storm with 60 knot winds and massive waves. In her last message to race control before her mast was broken, she said: 'Taking a hammering. Wondering what on earth I'm doing out here.' Susie Goodall waves from the helm of her boat 'DHL Starlight' as she leaves Les Sables d'Olonne Harbour on July 1, at the start of the solo around-the-world 'Golden Globe Race' She later told officials: 'I have been dismasted. Thought I had holed the hull because the boat filled with water, but the hull is not holed. The hull is OK. The boat is destroyed. I can't make up a jury rig. The only thing left is the hull and deck which remain intact. 'We were pitchpoled [rolled end over end] and I was thrown across the cabin and knocked out for a while.' A spokesperson for the race said yesterday they had been in contact with Miss Goo who said she received a concussion, cuts on her hands, and bruises in the incident - but is otherwise okay. An update on the DHL Golden Globe website said: '[She is] now talking to MSOS UK the GGR 24hr telemedicine doctor for advice and check up. 'Weather is moderating a little. Boat huge mess down below. Not in danger for now.' The rescue was confirmed by Golden Globe Race HQ and MRCC Chile, and Goodall was reported to be in good spirits and uninjured. Susie waving goodbye to her supporters at the beginning of the race. She had been lying in fourth place when her boat overturned Ian Guy, duty controller for HM Coastguard said: 'This was a very demanding long range rescue which was made even more complex because it was taking place 2,000 nautical miles off Cape Horn. 'Susie was at the mercy of 7-metre seas and severe weather and it's a credit to her she remained in good spirits during this tense wait. 'Whilst this was happening, HM Coastguard remained in continuous contact with MRCC Chile and Golden Globe Race HQ. 'In this weather and at this range, it was vital we provided as much assistance as possible to the lead agency MRCC Chile, and we maintained a watchful eye over the situation for updates via satellite phone. 'Our priority is to protect life at sea and we will always do everything possible to provide assistance for a mariner in need. In the event we can't get there ourselves, we do our best to identify someone who can, which is exactly what we did in this case. 'Only two vessels responded to the Mayday Relay broadcast that was issued - largely as a result of the remote area the incident was in - and in the end Susie was rescued by the MV Tian Fu who had diverted its course to provide assistance.' Miss Goodall and another competitor were said to have been at the centre of a 'large low pressure storm' Another post on the website at 10.48am yesterday read: 'Susie is taking the worst of it being close to the center with wind direction and strength going all over the place, causing real challenges for her.' After activating her emergency signal yesterday morning, Miss Goodall got back in contact with the Chilean coastguard saying she was 'totally and utterly gutted'. 'Interior total wreck, liferaft ok, nasty head bang as boat pitchpoled. Unbelievably roly now. Totally and utterly gutted.' Race Chairman Don McIntyre, said after the rescue: 'While that first phone call from HM Coastguard is always a bit of a shock, it is great to now look back at a very professional operation by an international team. 'It was led by MRCC Chile and the master and crew of the MV Tian Fu ending with a successful outcome, Susie Goodall safely winched aboard ship. 'We will always be grateful for the efforts of all in this challenging situation.' She is relying on doctors advice and is being monitored by the medical teams back in the UK Her boat was in the middle of the Pacific ocean when the incident occurred yesterday morning Susie becomes the fifth Golden Globe Race entrant in this years edition to have abandoned the race due to their boat being dismasted Miss Goodall is the fifth Golden Globe Race entrant this year to have abandoned the race due to their boat being dismasted. She is an ocean sailing instructor who took up the sport at the age of three. In the 1968 race, Sir Robin's rivals either retired or sank. But one, Donald Crowhurst, killed himself. The story of his troubled life was the subject of a film, The Mercy, released this year and starring Colin Firth. The Golden Globe race encompasses the three great capes of the Southern Ocean: Chile's Horn, South Africa's Good Hope and Australia's Leeuwin. A Mexican television host dubbed 'The World's Hottest Weather Girl' has fought back against trolls who have criticized her for showing off her backside in racy pictures. Yanet Garcia, 28, a presenter with Televisa, rose to fame in 2015 when a YouTube channel was created just for her weather forecasts. In July, Doug Martin, a well-known gamer, dumped her because he said he needed more time to focus on his career. But the Monterrey native has drawn ire from some of her 8.3 million Instagram followers for her social media content which has been deemed to be too racy. Most of the critics that have flocked to her Instagram account, iamyanetgarcia, are bothered that a sizable amount of her 1,800 images show her scantily-clad. Mexican TV host Yanet Garcia, who made waves this summer after her boyfriend dumped her because he wanted to dedicate his life to being a video game player, is being criticized for her Instagram pictures that focus on her butt Instagram followers of the famous Mexican meteorologist are against with her decision to post pictures showing off her butt The Mexican model gained gained in 2015 when a YouTube page highlighted all of her weather forecasts The Mexican weather forecaster shared a Spanish written caption that says: 'Use negative criticism as motivation to remain your best version' On Thursday night, the Mexican model wore a tight pair of grey leggings during workout session where she is seen toning her legs and butt. She captioned her short video with a message written in Spanish for each of her detractors. 'Use negative criticism as motivation to remain your best version,' she wrote. A rival weather forecaster even attacked her during a recent interview, claiming Garcia didn't need to show of her backside during her segments. DailyMail reached out to Garcia for comment. The 'Hoy' daily morning show host was blasted by a social media follower who criticized her lack intellect after she posted a selfie video on her Instagram account on November 16 that has attracted more than 3.5 million views and over 14,000 comments. The 'World's Sexiest Weather Girl' snapped back at her naysayers after adding a caption to a recent workout video that says in Spanish that she will use all the negative critiques to be the best person she can be Instagram followers of the Mexican model and weather forecaster are tired of seeing images that focus on her behind Yanet Garcia's male Instagram follower wanted to know why she posted a picture of herself swimming in pool while her butt is above the water A male social media follower criticized of one the many images the Mexican meteorologist has posted Garcia recorded a seconds-long snippet of herself in lingerie laying down on her stomach while showing off her bikini. 'Girl without a brain,' wrote one of her followers. Garcia also shared a picture of her going out for a swim before another male Instagram follower snapped back, 'Why are you posting this?' According to La Patilla, fellow Mexican weather forecaster Pamela Longoria jumped into the fray in November and criticized her colleague's decision to show off the backside of her outfits on live television. 'It's not my style because we always prefer to be somewhere between being pretty and having something in the brain, so I do not show my back,' said Longoria, a meteorologist with TeleDiario. A female Instagram follower showed her support, appreciating her physical condition but dishing out some advice. 'Your buttocks is very toned but your buttocks is not everything. Talent is what makes people grow.' Doug Martin, dubbed FaZe Censor on his wildly popular YouTube channel, dumped his glamorous weather girl girlfriend in the summer Pamela Longoria disagrees with her colleague Yanet Garcia and says that she shouldn't be showing off her backside during weather forecast segments Social media followers and industry colleagues think that Yanet Garcia does not need to show off her backside in order to be successful in her career A female follower posts a message in Spanish admiring physique but says that her intellect is what would make her grow as a person A November selfie video gained Yanet Garcia 3.5 million views and the ire of a male follower on her Instagram who wrote, 'Girl without brain', after the 28-yea-old morning show host showed off her butt Revised-Potential for a Globally Sgfnt Gold Proj at Estelle Melbourne, Dec 6, 2018 AEST (ABN Newswire) - The directors of Nova Minerals Limited (Nova or Company) ( ASX:NVA ) ( FRA:QM3 ) are pleased to announce a significant upward revision to the Estelle Exploration Target Estimate (EETE) to 2.2 to 5.3 Moz gold based on the results of the scout drilling and the utilisation of pathfinder element geochemistry obtained from the chip samples/mapping campaign completed this past summer on the Oxide gold prospect.HIGHLIGHTS- Pathfinder element geochemistry demonstrates major gold system situated in an emerging large scale gold camp- Upward revision to the Estelle Exploration Target estimate that will provide additional potential mineralisation to one of 15 significant targets- Exploration Target* supported by whole rock analysis, chip sample assay assessment, historical drilling, scout drilling, detailed geological modelling and analysis of geophysical data- Further focused geophysics surveys are planned to refine the existing targets and define new targets for the next round of drilling at OxideThe new data from Oxide adds an exciting new dimension to the Company's ongoing search for a world-class gold deposit that shares many similar characteristics with the Pebble Project in Alaska. Analysis of all the data collected during the limited summer field season demonstrates that the Oxide project has the potential to host large scale bulk minable mineralisation and the project remains firmly on track regardless of the minor delays in drilling. The Oxide prospect is one of 15 highly prospective occurrences on the Estelle project and these outside occurrences may also host large-scale gold mineralisation.To view the full release including tables and figures, please visit:About Nova Minerals Limited Nova Minerals Limited (ASX:NVA) (FRA:QM3) (OTCMKTS:NVAAF) is a dynamic explorer and developer of its flagship Estelle Gold district in the Tintina gold belt. Nova's strategy is to substantially increase the current 4.7Moz resource on the Korbel prospect. Subsequently to continue to lock in value through moving Korbel towards production whilst increasing the resource base across the pipeline of targets within the Estelle gold district. Nova Minerals also holds strategic investments in Snow Lake Resources Ltd (Thompson Brothers Lithium Project), Torian Resources Ltd (ASX:TNR) and RotorX Aircraft Manufacturing Co. The Russians have cryogenically frozen a dead scientific 'genius' who created the 'Frankenstein' technology offering humans the chance to 'come back to life' in future. Dr Yuri Pichugin's brain was removed and infused with the chemical cocktail he had invented before being stored for posterity in a deep freeze at minus 196 Celsius - even though he said he did not want to be preserved. The Soviet scientist Dr Pichugin died aged 67 in late November from hypothermia after collapsing outdoors following a heart attack in Ukraine in a temperature of minus 7C, it has been disclosed. His cryogenic method is used by facilities in the US and Russia offering the wealthy the chance to 'come back to life' after scientific advances in future for prices starting at 14,100 (USD17,979) for foreigners. Dr Yuri Pichugin's brain was removed and infused with the chemical cocktail he had invented Relatives are pictured putting flowers into the coffin of Dr Yuri Pichugin's cryonized body before transportation to the storage facility Adding liquid nitrogen to Dewars in KrioRus storage facility. Under the procedure, blood is extracted from the body and a special solution a cryoprotectant, containing glycerine, ethylene glycol, and other substances is injected into the veins and arteries. The remains are cooled to zero then minus 40C. Once the temperature reach minus 80 degrees, the body or brain are placed into the cryoreservoir and frozen to minus 196C KrioRus cryonized body is ready for transportation to the storage facility. Pichugin's brain is now in a giant Dewar flask in a warehouse near Moscow, one of 66 deceased people and 32 pets including cats, dogs and a parrot - waiting to come back to life Typically such operators offer whole body or brain preservation. In the expectation of scientific advances, the Pichugin method of preservation claims to offer the chance to restore life at an unknown time in the future. A brain 'woken' in the decades or centuries to come could be implanted in another human body, it is claimed. For some this is a sci-fi nightmare and a macabre affront to nature, for others a realistic prospect and a tantalising step towards everlasting life. Pichugin's brain is now in a giant Dewar flask in a warehouse near Moscow, one of 66 deceased people and 32 pets including cats, dogs and a parrot - waiting to come back to life. A number of Britons are among those who have signed contracts to be preserved near Moscow in the same facility as Pichugin, a modest unheated warehouse some 47 miles northeast of the Kremlin. One is an eminent professor of medicine, another a scientist. A third is a retired man and another is a student. A worker is pictured adding liquid nitrogen to Dewars in KrioRus storage facility. Russian cryonics company KrioRus today confirmed Dr Pichugin's brain had been preserved even though two years ago he had publicly denied he would undergo such a procedure upon his death A spokeswoman for KrioRus said the brain cryopreservation had gone ahead because he had signed a contract in 2012 - and not rescinded it It is believed the unusual circumstances of Dr Pichugin's death - his body lay outside in the cold all night near his Karkiv home - helped preserve his brain immediately after his fatal heart attack. Yet the fact he had expressed the wish NOT to be cryopreserved is bound to raise ethical issues. Russian cryonics company KrioRus today confirmed Dr Pichugin's brain had been preserved even though two years ago he had said publicly: 'I will not undergo cryo-preservation myself - but not because I don't believe in the success of cryonics as a scientific technology. 'I am deeply disappointed with mankind.' It is believed the unusual circumstances of Dr Pichugin's death - his body lay outside in the cold all night near his Karkiv home - helped preserve his brain immediately after his fatal heart attack Valeria Udalova, spokeswoman for KrioRus said: 'We received news about his death - he had heart attack just metres away from doorstep of his house, and froze to death. 'Neighbours found his lifeless body in the morning. 'Had there been someone to see him collapsing and falling on cold ground and he had been rushed to hospital, he would have lived. 'This was not an ideal situation because normally we would like to perform (the necessary procedures) within first 15 or 16 hours after death.' There was a criminal case into Pichugin's death to ascertain the circumstances were not suspicions - 'so we were delayed', she said. 'Still we managed to preserve the body in deep cold, and did the brain conservation a day after the death. 'Luckily we were understood by authorities who helped us do all procedures in time.' Valeria Udalova, spokeswoman for KrioRus said: 'We received news about his death - he had heart attack just metres away from doorstep of his house, and froze to death' She said the brain cryopreservation had gone ahead because he had signed a contract in 2012 - and not rescinded it. She said: 'Yuri's son (a scientist in Canada) knew about the contract. 'We called him to say that we intended to go ahead and he said: 'Yes absolutely, go ahead as the contract says. 'I am completely with you on that'.' KrioRus was aware of his doubts about going through with the procedure, she admitted. 'Quite often his thoughts about the future were pessimistic, in that he imagined humankind would die after degrading into a crowd of savages that would end up destroying themselves,' she said. 'There isn't much point to wake up to it, is there?' he sometimes said. 'So he did have several major moments of doubt.' She suggested he could cancel the contract but he 'changed the subject.' 'He would say: 'Let me think', and 'Perhaps I might come back to it'. 'Meanwhile the contract stayed signed and paid.' It is believed the unusual circumstances of Dr Pichugin's death - his body lay outside in the cold all night near his Karkiv home - helped preserve his brain immediately after his fatal heart attack In an interview in 2016 he said: 'The Earth has been, is now, and will be, a planet of barbarians and idiots.. 'If mankind destroys itself in - let's say - 27 years, there won't be anybody to add liquid nitrogen and the body will defrost.' But he said is mankind survived 'one day nanotechnologies will be properly developed' allowing for the resuscitation of those who were cryogenically preserved. Under the procedure, blood is extracted from the body and a special solution a cryoprotectant, containing glycerine, ethylene glycol, and other substances is injected into the veins and arteries. The remains are cooled to zero then minus 40C. Once the temperature reach minus 80 degrees, the body or brain are placed into the cryoreservoir and frozen to minus 196C. As a rookie scientist in the Soviet era, Pichugin quit the Young Communists in Siberia because the all-powerful Party 'did not pay attention to the problems of immortality'. He first became interested in cryonics in 1975 when, as a student in Tomsk, his professors showed him a film on the subject. 'They showed everything negatively: 'These American fools are trying to freeze people, which is impossible',' he said. 'But I didn't think it was impossible.' He worked at a Soviet cryonics laboratory in Kharkiv for 20 years developing cryoprotectants. In 1999 he switched to the University of California (Los Angeles) followed by the Cryonics Institute in Detroit. Dr Yuri Pichugin's brain was removed and infused with the chemical cocktail he had invented before being stored for posterity in a deep freeze at minus 196 Celsius - even though he said he did not want to be preserved Neighbours found his lifeless body in the morning, he died of hypothermia just yards from his door From 2011 he worked for KrioRus in Moscow, lately as a consultant. A number of Britons are among those who have signed contracts to be preserved near Moscow in the same facility as Pichugin, a modest unheated warehouse some 47 miles northeast of the Kremlin. One is an eminent professor of medicine, another a scientist. A third is a retired man and another is a student. KrioRus chairman Dr Danila Medvedev has predicted that 'after 2030 there will be technologies letting us to bring people back to life, or at least their brains'. He forecast that 'by 2050 this procedure will be available to the masses.' Currently costs at KrioRus are 28,200 ($36,000) for a whole body. The cost of a brain is 14,100 ($18,000) for foreigners - it is more economical for Russians. A 'small cat' costs 7,850 ($10,000) while a large dog can cost up to the same as a human. KrioRus said: 'Pichugin made a huge contribution to the development of cryonics in the USA and Russia. 'Thanks to the cryopreservation of his brain, there is a chance that later in this century he will be brought back to life.' This is the bizarre moment an Alaska resident was caught on camera playing ding dong ditch. But the family that lived at the property was surprised to find the culprit was in fact a moose pushing the button with its backside. Kyle Stultz described how the rare incident involved the huge animal as he shared the surveillance footage from Wednesday on Facebook. An Alaska moose was caught on camera playing ding dong ditch Wednesday The resident described how the rare rear end incident occurred around 1.30am Describing how the creature showed up in the early hours of the morning, Stultz noted how the moose pressed the buzzer for the home with his rear end. 'So this might be a first.. we got ding dong ditched last night.. by a moose. Used his behind to ring the doorbell and ran off #onlyinalaska #130am #badmoose #vivint,' he captioned the clip. The black-and-white footage filmed in Anchorage shows the moose wandering around before the man and his family were woken by the front door call. His family thought it was someone playing ding dong ditch but when he looked out the window nobody was there The man later checked security footage and was surprised to find it was a moose But after Stultz saw nobody when he looked through the window to see who was visiting, the man simply assumed it was youngsters pranking them at the unsociable hour. However when he later decided to check what the camera had recorded, in case it was a burglar, he was shocked at what he saw. 'The moose had wandered into our carport, backed into our doorbell with his behind, and ran off,' Stultz told Storyful. Facebook users noted how big the animal looked in comparison to the family's vehicles. 'Dude that thing is bigger then the car!' one commented. The large animal rang the doorbell with its rear end and left after wandering around The family was relieved it was nothing else but a moose backing its caboose into the doorbell Another added that the creature could almost pass as a reindeer visiting during the festive season. 'Looks like it could be Rudolph to me!' the social media user said. Still, the family was relieved it was nothing else but a moose backing its caboose into the doorbell. Kyle Stultz only checked the security footage because he wanted to make sure it wasn't a burglar Fiona Bruce will become the first female presenter of the current affairs panel show Fiona Bruce today revealed she was 'thrilled and honoured' after the BBC confirmed she will be the new Question Time presenter. The 54-year-old newsreader, who will start the role on January 10, was offered the job last month and has now ironed out her contract with the Corporation. She will replace veteran presenter David Dimbleby, who announced in June that he would be leaving the role this month, after 25 years in the presenter's chair. Bruce will become the first female host in the current affair show's history after BBC bosses including director general Tony Hall and director of news Fran Unsworth signed off the appointment. The presenter - who will continue to host Antiques Roadshow - was one of six contenders who were put through their paces by a cross-party panel of MPs and journalists in front of an audience at a South London school. She was originally considered a long shot, but after an 'outstanding' audition she beat off competition from the likes of Kirsty Wark and Emily Maitlis. David Dimbleby, who is 80, announced in June that he would be leaving the role this month Bruce's appointment was announced by the BBC and in this tweet shortly after 2pm today The BBC News At Six and News At Ten host said: 'It is an honour to be asked to take on one of the great political programmes of the BBC. Particularly at a time of such historic change for the UK and tumult at Westminster. 'For many years Question Time has been presented by one of my television heroes so I am thrilled and not a little daunted to be stepping into his shoes. David Dimbleby's funniest moments on Question Time When told by John Prescott that he was called Dimblebot on Twitter, Dimbleby replied: 'I do know I'm called Dimblebot and I know there is a Dimbledance and I can do it, too... but this is neither the time or the place.' After committed Remainer Terry Christian repeatedly talked over the host and other panellists, Dimbleby told him: 'OK, let's stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, please. It's getting boring, boring, boring. If we're going to have arguments conducted like this, I can see why people get bored.' Dimbleby first hosted the BBC's flagship politcal programme Question Time in 1994 When an audience member refused to stop talking while guests were trying to speak, Dimbleby said to rapturous applause: 'I think you ought to leave.' During a debate on the EU referendum a year before the vote, he tried to move on from the topic by saying: OK, let's leave the EU for the moment.' After much laughter, he added: 'Only for the moment.' In 2013, when Boris Johnson warned against 'an orgy of banker bashing', comedian Russell Brand joked: 'An orgy of any kind would be great, but one that focuses on banker bashing would be the best kind of orgy I could imagine.' When Dimbleby gently mocked Jacob Rees-Mogg for attending Eton, the Tory MP replied: I was at school with your son.' Speaking of politicians on the show, he said: 'What they most dislike is the question that catches them off guard and the humiliation of being publicly mocked.' Advertisement 'But it is a programme I have watched for as long as I can remember and have long wanted to be part of. I can't wait to get started.' Bruce will take over the flagship show after 80-year-old Dimbleby presents his final episode next Thursday. He has said he wants to return to his 'first love', reporting. Dimbleby first presented Question Time on January 14 1994 and is the longest serving presenter of the show. He beat rival Jeremy Paxman after each had to endure a gruelling audition for the role. The debate programme was previously hosted by Peter Sissons and its first host Sir Robin Day. Unsworth said: 'Question Time is one of our flagship political programmes, giving people across Britain the chance to hold the powerful to account. 'David Dimbleby has done an extraordinary job as chair over the last 25 years. 'David is a tough act to follow, but Fiona impressed us all - with her authority, warmth, and ability to connect with the audience and champion their concerns. We're delighted to have her at the helm.' Director of BBC content Charlotte Moore added: 'The role of Question Time host has a unique place in British political life, bringing together the public and politicians every week in front of millions of viewers on BBC One. 'David has been a wonderful host for many years. Fiona's huge experience and long established relationship with audiences make her the ideal person to follow in his footsteps.' Bruce, who used to present Crimewatch, will continue to present the main news bulletins regularly and will still present Fake Or Fortune?. Names tipped among his possible successors had included Victoria Derbyshire, Nick Robinson, Jeremy Paxman, John Humphrys and Huw Edwards. After the BBC's gender pay row, it was assumed a woman would replace Dimbleby. Robinson, the host of Radio 4's Today programme, was the only male to audition. How David Dimbleby has presided over every election night since 1979 Dimbleby, pictured hosting Panorama in 1974, has been with the BBC for 57 years David Dimbleby, who at 75 had a scorpion tattooed on his back, began at the BBC 57 years ago as a news reporter in Bristol after leaving Oxford with a degree in politics, philosophy and economics. He led the BBC's coverage of the Common Market referendum in 1975, a role he repeated in 2016 when the UK voted for Brexit. Although best known now for election nights and Question Time, he led coverage of the funerals of Diana, Princess of Wales, and the Queen Mother. Dimbleby has presided over every BBC election night broadcast since 1979, as well as Budget Days and local, European and American elections. The 2015 election was set to be his last, with BBC News presenter Huw Edwards due to take over. Dimbleby laughs with the late prime minister Margaret Thatcher in London in 1990 But when Theresa May announced the snap election last year, a behind-the-scenes tussle resulted in a BBC announcement that Dimbleby would present it. The veteran, who is paid about 450,000 to present Question Time, has also presented the BBC's coverage of the annual Remembrance Day service at the Cenotaph and other state occasions. Dimbleby, who took over on Question Time from Peter Sissons in January 1994, will sit in the chair for the final time on December 13. Dimbleby meets former Zimbabwe leader Robert Mugabe for an interview in May 2000 He is the longest serving presenter of the show, and beat rival Jeremy Paxman after each had to endure a gruelling audition for the role. The debate programme was previously hosted by Peter Sissons and its first host Sir Robin Day, who died in 2000. Dimbleby's name has also been mentioned as a possible director-general of the BBC. Dimbleby and Fiona Bruce, with Peter Snow in the background, at TV Centre in 2005 In 2014 he told how hard it would be to hand over the reins of the election coverage, saying: 'I don't have any instinct to make way gracefully. I shall be dragged kicking and screaming from my chair.' As for Question Time, Dimbleby said earlier this year that it had been 'exhilarating following the twists and turns of British politics', and a privilege to bring 'voters face to face with those in power'. BBC bosses described him as a 'titan in British broadcasting' who had been a 'brilliant champion of the public'. Advertisement Fiona Bruce shows off her serious and silly sides during a long BBC career that now sees her earn 350,000 a year Fiona Bruce, pictured in 2000, joined the BBC as a researcher on Panorama in 1989 Fiona Bruce's on-screen work as presenter and host has straddled the hard-hitting as well as the light-hearted. The 54-year-old journalist joined the BBC as a researcher on Panorama in 1989 and over the next 14 years rose to become the first female newsreader on the BBC's flagship News At Ten. Now, 15 years on, she is to replace David Dimbleby as presenter of Question Time. Born to an English mother and Scottish father living as expats in Singapore, Bruce was educated between the UK and Italy, first at Gayton Primary School on the Wirral and then at the International School of Milan. She returned to the UK at 14 to study at Haberdashers' Aske's Hatcham College in New Cross, south-east London, picking up a lucrative sideline modelling for the now defunct girls' magazine Jackie. Studying at the University of Oxford, Bruce went punk, dyeing her hair blue for a week, joining a band and becoming involved in activism. Bruce, who is a mother-of-two, is pictured hosting Crimewatch with Nick Ross in 2004 After a brief stint working as a management consultant, Bruce joined the BBC, eventually becoming secondary presenter on the Six O'Clock News. In 2003, as part of a major BBC reshuffle, Bruce was offered the job of presenting the Ten O'Clock News. She accepted, becoming the first female presenter on the flagship bulletin. Bruce has also presented some of the BBC's best-loved light entertainment programmes, such as Antiques Roadshow and Fake Or Fortune? and has become one of the BBC's best-paid stars, earning more than 350,000 a year. Bruce presents the Antiques Roadshow 40th anniversary special from Castle Howard last year In 1994, she married Nigel Sharrocks, a media chairman, in a ceremony in Islington, north London. They have two children, a 20-year-old son, Sam, and daughter Mia, born in November 2001. Bruce has been vocal in her support for feminism and said in 2014 that she does not use social media because of the abuse and trolling directed at women in the public eye. Her less serious side has been seen during the BBC's Children In Need telethons. Bruce poses with for Sophie Raworth and Natasha Kaplinsky for the BBC's Children In Need telethon in 2004 In 2007 she emerged from behind a news desk for a song and dance segment. Her rendition that night of All That Jazz from the musical Chicago so impressed the team behind its West End revival that they invited her on stage during its 10th anniversary special. Bruce will first be seen on screen in her Question Time role on January 10. A federal police agent is under arrest after he and four of his accomplices - dressed as cops - botched the robbery of a supermarket and drew local police officers into a shootout. Sergeant Nestor Fabian Herbes was found cowering inside a Buenos Aires garage with two other robbers after a third had already been apprehended by the local city cops on Thursday. A fifth and final suspect was still being sought after the failed robbery attempt of a Chinese supermarket in the neighborhood of La Matanza. Herbes, who has been a member of the Argentine law enforcement department since 2001, first starting out his career as a cop in Buenos Aires, has been fired from the Argentine Federal Police. An administrative inquiry has been opened, according to General Nestor Roncaglia. Federal police agent Nestor Fabian Herbes sits in a squad car after was arrested with three other robbers following a failed attempt rob a Chinese supermarket in Argentina on Thursday The police agent (top center) has been fired from the Argentine law enforcement force. He started out in 2001 as a cop in Buenos Aires Police officers in Buenos Aires responded rapidly to a robbery at a supermarket and arrested four suspects, including an agent with the Argentine Federal Police According to Argentine news outlet Clarin, the veteran federal officer and his gang of thieves barged inside the supermarket at about 2pm local time and immediately held two customers and the store owner hostage. Video footage of the chaotic scene shows the moment one of the robbery gang members is trying to tie up a hostage's hands behind his back while another one is sitting down next to a refrigerator. A surveillance camera still image also shows two of the hostages laying face down in the middle of an isle as one the robbers appears to shout orders. Argentine news outlet Cronica reported that the police department was immediately tipped off via a 911 call. The four responding officers were shocked when they arrived and saw that the entrance doors were locked up. One of the five armed robbers stands over two of the three hostages in the middle of an isle Five robbers barged into a supermarket in Buenos Aires and locked it down before cops arrived and got into a shootout with the gang before arrested four. Cops are still looking for a fifth and final suspect Sergeant Herbes was immediately fired from the Argentine Federal Police The cops searched some of the neighboring homes for the delinquents entering a house with a patio that led directly to the supermarket's back entrance. The law enforcement agents were met with fire from the four armed robbers before one managed to flee the crime scene. After the police officers were able to arrest Gabriel Deboto, 44, who was wearing an Argentine Federal Police hat and jacket, before Herbes and his two other cohorts escaped. Deboto was carrying a Glock .40, a set of handcuffs the keys belonging to agent Harbes' car. Another pair of Buenos Aires police officers chased Herbes, cornering the federal agent and two other suspects Eduardo Novak, 35, and Edgardo Mancuso Bay, 26, inside a home's garage. Police are still hunting down the whereabouts of the fifth and final suspect. A family of five and six policemen were among 12 people killed during two botched bank robberies in Brazil. Military police say the attempted heists began around 2.30am Friday in downtown Milagres, in the northeastern state of Ceara. A firefight broke out after police interrupted a gang trying to rob ATMs at two bank branches on the main street in Milagres. Five hostages, including two children, died in the shootout. A family of five and six policemen were among 12 people killed during two botched bank robberies in Brazil. Pictured, one of the scenes Photographs taken by the Civil Police of Ceara show massive explosives seized by cops after a police shoot-out with the bank robbers in Milagres 'Our preliminary information is that 12 people died, including six police officers,' a spokeswoman for the state governor's office said. The gang escaped in two vans without taking any money, G1 said. But two suspects have been arrested by police, broadcaster GloboNews reported. They had reportedly broken into a family home - and one of them hid in a child's bed and covered himself with a sheet - before they were apprehended, local media reported. Milagres Mayor Lielson Landim, told the G1 news website, that the family of five's car had been hijacked on a nearby highway and taken into town by the armed gang. Two suspects were arrested by police after fleeing the scene of the botched robberies They had reportedly broken into a family home before they were apprehended. Pictured, one of the suspects after being caught They had been on their way back from the airport to pick up two of the family members when it happened, according to local media. Landim said two children, between 10 and 13 years old, were killed. The body of one bank robber was found in an abandoned vehicle by police, local media reports said. Police were searching for gang members with the help of a helicopter, the mayor's office said. Various weapons and explosives were seized by the police. Latin America's largest nation routinely is the world leader in total annual homicides. Ceara is one of the country's most violent states. A jealous and controlling man who strangled his estranged wife after she refused to sleep with him 'one last time' for 100 has been found guilty of murder. Martin Cavanagh, 35, attacked 31-year-old Sophie Cavanagh after taking cocaine, then left a message on a board saying she 'deserved it'. The mother-of-two's body was found lying naked in bed at his Bromley flat in May after he tried to disguise the killing then fled. But police found a children's whiteboard at the scene, with the message: 'U no who u r, so 2 u I say Fnk u + I realy do love u. She deserved it. And now me my angel and my princess. Can be 2 geva 4eva and we will Have love and happyness like we deserve.' Sophie and Martin Cavanagh married in 2011 but split in 2017. Martin could not accept the end of their relationship The death was initially treated as unexplained but suspicious. Police then found a children's whiteboard in the corner of the room displaying the message: 'She deserved it' The pair had broken up but still spent family days together. Before her death, Cavanagh manipulated her Sophie into agreeing to spend the day with him at Wingham Wildlife Park in Kent by spinning a fantasy tale about being on the verge of going to jail for a made-up robbery, the Old Bailey heard. But an argument broke out later that same evening when Cavanagh demanded access to Sophies phone to see what other men she was talking to. Cavanagh accused the cleaner of doing live strips on the internet to make ends meet. He was consumed with jealousy and unable to accept the end of their relationship, said prosecutor Alexandra Healy, QC. She described how Sophie had told her half-sister just a few days before the murder that Cavanagh had offered her 100 to sleep with him - a disgusting offer she refused. Text messages recovered from one of the defendants phones show he wrote to her weeks before the murder accusing her of rubbing salt into his wounds by seeing other men. I want to have you one last final time, he said in one pleading text. The court heard after killing the mother Cavanagh went through her handbag to get her bank cards so that he could get cash out for himself in the early hours of the morning. He also stripped his ex and put her into bed to make it look like she died in her sleep, jurors were told. Martin Cavanagh said it was 'self defence' when he strangled his ex in a cocaine fuelled rage Knowing that the police were looking for him, he eventually gave himself up days later on May 24. In his defence, Cavanagh claimed he acted only to protect himself from his wife, who had 'attacked' him after they took cocaine. 'I saw that look in her eye. I knew what was coming,' Cavanagh told jurors. He said she was hitting him so he grabbed her by the neck, and 'had her for 10, 15 or maybe 20 seconds'. 'I just wanted her to stop and in the heat of the moment that's what I did to defend myself,' he said. Prosecutor Alexandra Healy QC was told how the couple married in 2011 but split up before the killing. She said: 'The defendant had a controlling, jealous and possessive nature throughout their relationship. He had a short fuse and would get angry quickly.' Following their separation the couple went on family outings together and planned a holiday to Disneyland Paris but Cavanagh continued to be controlling, the court heard. Sophie Cavanagh was found dead in a Bromley flat just one day after agreeing to go out with her ex When he found out she was using the dating website Match.com, he accessed her account to sabotage her profile, the court heard. If Sophie was out by herself or with others Cavanagh would bombard her with abusive calls and texts accusing her of being with other men and cheating on him. He told her a number of times that if he could not have her nobody else could, the prosecutor said. By late 2016 their relationship was fraught and they separated on 27 December. The following day, Cavanagh logged into Sophies KIK account and discovered she had been messaging another man, prompting him to smash his fist through the bedroom door. When the police were called he told them he had warned the other man to stay away from Sophie and changed her password on the app. During his interview following his arrest for her murder he said: I got jealous, I got possessive, kind of shut her out from the outside world, I see that now. Sophies half-sister, Lucy Larkin, told jurors she started going out with other people, but the relationships would not last because Martin would find out somehow and end up texting them or just making her life hell. Ms Healy described how Cavanagh became particularly overcome with jealousy on 1 July last year. The pair had been out together but Sophie told him she had to go because she had a date. Cavanagh then sent a stream of audio recordings to a mutual friend asking him where she was, as well as a live video clip showing him holding a large curved knife to his neck then collapsing on the floor. The killer, barely able to control himself, threatened in one: If I catch up with her* Police eventually found him unhurt and the video had been a charade. But the prosecutor told jurors: The recordings demonstrate the state the defendant was in when he was obsessing about Sophie being with other men and was consumed with his jealously. It shows the powerfulness of that jealousy and how it impacted on his behaviour. The defendant shook his head as the jury found him guilty of murder as his victim's family wept in court. He was remanded in custody and will be sentenced at the Old Bailey on Monday. President Donald Trump attempted to settle stock market jitters Friday morning after traders nearly wiped out the year's gains following the White House's threat of an all-out trade brawl with China. The Dow was down nearly another 500 points to 24,450 in the mid-afternoon as uncertainty over trade negotiations continued. Before departing the White House for a law enforcement event in Kansas City, the president reassured investors with a tweet that said: 'China talks are going very well!' Trump sent the market into a downward spiral this week as he declared himself a 'tariffs man' and said he'd be just fine doubling or even quadrupling $200 billion in penalties on imports from China at the end of a three-month window for talks. He later insisted that he was sincere in his interest in striking a trade accord with Beijing, just as he believes that China's Xi Jinping genuinely wants to broker one. President Donald Trump insisted on Twitter that talks with Beijing 'are going very well' His reassurances came as the markets were spooked for a second day on reports of the White House intensifying a trade war with China Trump has said he believes assurances President Xi Jinping gave him in Argentina and that the two sides will reach a new trade agreement His muddled message amplified by conflicting claims among his chief economic advisers sent shivers through the business world. The arrest of the heiress to a top Chinese telecommunications firm this week further intensified concerns that the ceasefire would be short-lived. A weaker than expected November jobs report was also a factor in the market's performance. Analysts had hoped for 200,000 or more new jobs heading into the holiday season, but the Labor Department put the monthly number at 155,000. Stocks slid Friday, threatening to wipe out the entire year's gains in just 48 hours The news wasn't entirely bad for Trump, as the Chinese confirmed a trade agreement was in the works. 'The teams of both sides are now having smooth communications and good cooperation with each other. We are full of confidence that an agreement can be reached within the next 90 days,' they said. Authorities arrested Huawei heiress Meng Wanzhou at the Vancouver airport on Dec. 1 on undisclosed charges that are said to relate to a violation of United States sanctions against Iran. Chinese state media characterized the arrest as profit-motivated, and indemnified the move as a 'despicable' abuse of international law. China is expressing confidence that it will strike a trade deal with the U.S. after Xi Jinping (left) and Donald Trump (right) met in Argentina 'Obviously, Washington is resorting to a despicable rogue's approach as it cannot stop Huawei's 5G advance in the market, an editorial in the sate-run Global Times said. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he was informed of the arrest several days ahead of time in advance of the G20 summit in Buenos Aires where Trump and Xi hashed out the broad strokes of a trade deal over a Saturday evening meal. Trump has professed to have no knowledge of the arrest that was not made on U.S. soil. His national security adviser, John Bolton, said he was aware but offered no additional information. Meng has a bail hearing in Canada on Friday. The Chinese government is demanding to know exactly which laws that she broke. The arrest was linked to the negotiations with China to reform intellectual property rules and open up the technology sector in China to American-made goods, however the White House claims they are unrelated. 'The two issues are totally separate,' Peter Navarro, the chairman of the president's trade council, told CNN. Bolton admitted that alleged intellectual property theft is one of the United States' chief complaints about China. 'You should not turn a blind eye when states, as a matter of national policy, are stealing intellectual property from their competitors,' Bolton said. Trump tried to calm markets on Wednesday, saying he believed Xi's reassurances that a trad edeal was coming He admitted during the interview with NPR, 'Huawei is one company we've been concerned about. There are others, as well.' Trump said this week 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 unexpectedly declared himself against free trade. '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. '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. Stocks recovered but dived again on Friday, closing 558.72 points down. More than 230 suspected Chinese telecom fraudsters were repatriated to their homeland from Cambodia yesterday. The suspects, 233 in total, were linked to more than 2,000 international telecom and internet fraud cases, reported Xinhua News Agency. The cases affected more than 20 provincial regions in China and involved more than 63 million yuan (7.1 million), the article said. One of the 233 suspected telecom fraudsters is escorted by policemen in China yesterday The suspects belonged to three Cambodia-based fraud rings and were caught last month They were linked to more than 2,000 international telecom and internet fraud cases The repatriation has seen the largest number of telecom fraud suspects being sent back to China from a south-east Asian country in recent years. It also heralded Beijing's year-long crackdown on telecom and internet fraud amid increasing international scams. All of the 233 suspected landed in Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport at around 4pm in three charter aircraft provided by the Civil Aviation Administration of China. According to Xinhua, the suspects belonged to three fraud rings based in different Cambodian regions, including the capital Phnom Penh and the southern province of Takeo. They were bust last month by the joint effort of the Chinese and Cambodian police. It is said that the suspects had posed as officials from the Chinese police, courthouses and procuratorate authorities while making phone calls to their victims. The suspects arrived in Guangzhou Baiyun Airport at around 4pm in three charter aircraft More than 700 telecom fraud suspects have been caught by Chinese police this year so far They would first make threatening claims to the victims to scare them. For instance, they would pretend to be a policeman and claim that the victims had been suspected of money laundering or drug dealing. They would then tell the victims that they could help safeguard their money before pressing them to transfer their savings from their bank accounts to an so-called 'secured account', which belonged to the gangs. In a recent meeting in Beijing, the Chinese police authority announced that they would launch a year-long campaign from this month to December next year to curb the rising number of telecom and internet scams. Beijing has launched a year-long campaign to curb the increasing number of telecom scams The Chinese police have carried out seven raids into nearby countries to catch suspects Such fraud is often conducted cross the border, with the victim in mainland China and the suspect - who is also Chinese - based in a nearby country. Xinhua reported that the Chinese police had caught more than 700 suspected Chinese fraudsters this year during seven raids into south-east Asian countries, including the Laos, Indonesia and Cambodia. The Chinese police have reportedly investigated more than 31,000 telecom and internet fraud cases this year so far. The leader of a controversial activist group accused of orchestrating the migrant caravan is a naturalized US citizen who crossed the border illegally as a boy by trudging through a sewer, DailyMail.com can exclusively reveal. Irineo Mujica was just 13 years old when he bussed across Mexico alone and paid $150 to a people smuggler who led him through an unguarded tunnel close to Lukesville, Arizona. Mujica went on to graduate high school in Phoenix, attend college and achieve US citizenship through a 1986 amnesty for undocumented rural workers. Three decades later, he is the director of Pueblo Sin Fronteras, the left-leaning migrant advocacy group accused of encouraging impoverished Central Americans to march on the US border in their thousands in the hope of obtaining a similar life. Mujica's 'collective' of unpaid volunteers have shepherded smaller caravans though Mexico for the past decade to highlight the plight of migrants fleeing corruption and gang violence in countries including Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala. But he insists that Pueblo Sin Fronteras played no part in organizing the sprawling 7,000-strong convoy which set off two months ago from the Honduran city of San Pedro Sula and remains camped out in squalid conditions in Tijuana, a stones throw from the San Ysidro crossing into San Diego. Irineo Mujica is the director of Pueblo Sin Fronteras, the left-leaning migrant advocacy group accused of encouraging impoverished Central Americans to march on the US border in their thousands in the hope of obtaining a similar life Mujica was just 13 years old when he bussed across Mexico alone and paid $150 to a smuggler who led him through an unguarded tunnel close to Lukesville, Arizona. Pictured: Mujica in his high school yearbook photo Mujica went on to graduate high school (pictured) in Phoenix, attend college and achieve US citizenship through a 1986 amnesty for undocumented rural workers President Donald Trump had branded the caravan an 'invasion' and deployed 8,000 US troops to the border. But in a defiant interview with DailyMail.com, Mujica scoffed: 'If you want to know who is the guilty one then look no further than Trump himself. 'We organized similar caravans for years with a few hundred people. It's only when he started tweeting about it and advertising it to the world that it grew so large.' The longtime activist, 48, added: 'No organization has the power to make 7,000 people suddenly leave their homes. We were never in Honduras. It's too dangerous to work there. 'We had no involvement with the caravan until it reached Mexico. All we have done is provide support and education so the migrants can organize themselves and avoid violence and problems. 'We don't get paid, we're not standing for office so people can say what they like about us. But it's all propaganda.' Mujica revealed to DailyMail.com he grew up in Michoacan State in central Mexico where he says his family had no electricity and were so poor they couldn't afford the bus fare to send him to school. At age 13 he decided to emigrate to the US to get an education and escape his bleak childhood selling t-shirts, hats and souvenirs in the street. He set off alone, travelling by bus to the Mexican border town of Nogales where he sought the services of a 'coyote' - people smuggler - to help him cross to Arizona, where he had an older brother and sister living in Phoenix. 'There was about 15 to 20 of us. They showed us the tunnel. It was dry, it didn't smell or anything. When we climbed out the other side there was a van waiting for us. We were all told to lie down on the floor,' he recalled. President Trump branded the caravan an 'invasion' and deployed 8,000 US troops to the border. But in a defiant interview with DailyMail.com, Mujica scoffed: 'If you want to know who is the guilty one then look no further than Trump himself' Mujica's 'collective' of unpaid volunteers have shepherded smaller caravans though Mexico for the past decade. Pictured: Migrants receive a free daily breakfast provided by the Mexican Marines, at the Barretal migrant shelter in Tijuana The most recent convoy - and by far the largest - 'spontaneously' formed in Honduras on October 12. Pictured: Migrants camped out at a temporary shelter in Tijuana on Thursday Also waiting for the group, however, was a team of border agents who pulled the vehicle over minutes later and began rounding up the new arrivals. 'I kept running,' Mujica went on. 'There was a lot of noise. They had a helicopter in the sky looking for us. I hid in a bush. I lay there for hours. I was the only one who wasn't caught.' After wandering around disorientated for several days, Mujica stumbled into a gas station where he says kind staff gave him a trailer to sleep in, some food and a two-liter bottle of Coke. They also called his brother who drove south to collect him. Mujica settled into a new life and attended classes at North High School in Phoenix where he says he was treated 'just like a regular kid'. He appears in the school's 1987 yearbook posing for his junior year photo. 'A lot of the kids in the school were undocumented. I liked the food, I had family, I really liked it,' he said. 'Nobody demanded your papers back then. You felt accepted. People didn't have the same hostility towards migrants that they have today.' Mujica obtained US citizenship under the terms of the Immigration Reform and Control Act which was signed into law by President Ronald Reagan in 1986. The act granted amnesty to many of the 3.2 million illegal immigrants working seasonal agricultural jobs. By then Mujica had been joined in the US by the rest of his seven siblings - three brothers and four sisters - as well as his parents, who all became citizens under the amnesty. He went on to study mechanics and mass communications at Phoenix Community College but dropped out to move to Minneapolis where he worked in construction and bought a house. Mujica obtained US citizenship under the terms of the Immigration Reform and Control Act which was signed into law by President Ronald Reagan in 1986. By then Mujica had been joined in the US by the rest of his seven siblings - three brothers and four sisters - as well as his parents, who all became citizens under the amnesty. Pictured: Mujica with family members After leaving Mexico, Mujica settled into a new life and attended classes at North High School in Phoenix where he says he was treated 'just like a regular kid. He appears in the school's 1987 yearbook posing for his junior year photo He went on to study mechanics and mass communications at Phoenix Community College but dropped out to move to Minneapolis where he worked in construction and bought a house In his 30s he gravitated towards working with church groups helping migrants and undocumented workers. He also travelled back to his native Mexico where he began documenting alleged brutality and human right abuses inflicted on migrants by the police. By 2008 Mujica was working with a group of migrant rights advocates from Texas who called themselves Pueblo Sin Fronteras (people without borders). Operating as a 'collective' of unpaid volunteers, members weren't subject to the restrictions and corporate governance demanded of US non-profits and charities. Pueblo Sin Fronteras subsequently turned its focus toward Mexico, according to Mujica, where he says it has official non-profit status and runs several refugee shelters. The group's website says it's aim is to reach out to vulnerable immigrants and refugees 'on the move', providing them with 'humanitarian aid and professional legal advice'. But it makes little secret of its disregard for Trump, his 'cabinet of white supremacists' and the Republican Party, accusing them of demonizing refugees and perpetuating historic policies of 'anti-Indigenous colonial violence and genocide' in a statement posted online a month ago. Mujica and his fellow activists piqued the President in March when they coordinated a caravan that ballooned to 1,500 people as it traveled towards the US from southern Mexico, eventually petering out as it reached Tijuana. The most recent convoy - and by far the largest - 'spontaneously' formed in Honduras on October 12 when it was erroneously reported on local TV that a radio host, Bartolo Fuentes, was willing to pay transportation costs for anyone travelling to the US. That was followed by a Facebook post from an account using Fuentes name and photo claiming that Pueblo Sin Fronteras was organizing the march. However Fuentes has since told Buzzfeed News that the account was a fake and the message a bogus attempt to sow misinformation and give the impression the caravan was better organized than was truly the case. He said he had no idea who was responsible and that Facebook wouldnt tell him. Mujica hands out animal cracker cookies to Central Americans waiting in line to register for work permits under Mexico's National Employment Service at Project Salesian in Tijuana in November US immigration has, in fact, 'metered' asylum applications to as few as 40 a day prompting some migrants to simply pack up and go home despite having traveled nearly 3,000 miles, much of it on foot. Pictured: A low section of the US border wall Around 150 migrants set off from San Pedro Sula and by the time they crossed into Mexico one week later the column had swollen to 7,200 participants. The mass movement inspired several more caravans to form in neighboring El Salvador amid a flurry of angry Tweets from Trump who deployed US troops to the border to repel an 'invasion'. He also accused the caravan of harboring an assortment of criminals, from violent MS-13 gangsters to Middle Eastern terrorists from ISIS. Similar anger has been expressed by the mayor of Tijuana, Juan Manuel Gastelum, who called for the caravan's organizers to face criminal charges as his city faced the soaring cost of looking after the 6,000-plus migrants still camped out there in shelters and churches. Some caravan members themselves are said to have turned on Pueblo Sin Fronteras, several telling the Mexico Daily News they felt misled by promises of easy asylum in the US. US immigration has, in fact, 'metered' asylum applications to as few as 40 a day prompting some migrants to simply pack up and go home despite having travelled nearly 3,000 miles, much of it on foot. Mujicas journey north at the caravans side proved no less arduous. He was arrested by Mexican Federal Police on October 18 when he took part in a march to welcome the migrants as they entered Mexico from Guatemala. Mexican immigration officials claimed he attacked officers after he was asked for his ID and detained him for allegedly resisting arrest and damaging property. Still on the ground in Tijuana, Mujica told DailyMail.com the caravan is slowly dispersing as migrants splinter out to cross the border in smaller numbers or decide instead to seek asylum in Mexico. Pictured: Migrants shower at a shelter in Tijuana on November 22 However Mujica predicts the mass exodus from Central America will continue so long as countries like Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador are plagued by corruption, poverty and gang violence Pueblo Sin Fronteras described it as an illegal arrest and Mujica told DailyMail.com the charges were later dropped, as was an order banning him from leaving the southern state of Chiapas. 'They had a plan to go after me. They thought by stopping me they could control the movement but I had nothing to do with it,' he said. 'When people come to Mexico we are there to make sure they don't get hurt, we make sure they eat, we try to negotiate between the government and the migrants. We help both sides. 'We don't have big donors, we don't take money from governments. These people had plans and dreams of a better life long before they ever heard of Pueblo Sin Fronteras.' Mujica was on the front-line again in Tijuana last week when a group of migrants vowed to stage a hunger strike at the US border. He marched around 200 yards with them before riot cops halted their path then proceeded to challenge officers about the legality of their blockade. The stand-off came days after US security agents fired tear gas on a group of several hundred migrants, including women and children, who 'rushed' the border fence on November 25. Mujica says his volunteers are preaching the exact opposite approach, urging migrants to remain patient and apply formally for asylum. Still on the ground in Tijuana, he told DailyMail.com the caravan is slowly dispersing as migrants splinter out to cross the border in smaller numbers or decide instead to seek asylum in Mexico. However he predicts the mass exodus from Central America will continue so long as countries like Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador are plagued by corruption, poverty and gang violence. If nothing is done about the violence the people will keep coming, he said. 'People have the right to seek asylum when they are being persecuted - that's the law. 'The US needs to stop supporting governments that repress their people. And Donald Trump needs to stop tweeting and using the people of the caravan for his own purposes. 'Hes using them for votes, he's firing up his base - and hes using them to get his wall.' William Barr, former U.S. attorney general President Donald Trump said Friday he will nominate William Barr as the next attorney general putting in place a seasoned Washington veteran who defended his decision to fire former FBI Director James Comey. Barr served alongside special counsel Mueller when he served as President George H.W. Bush's attorney general fro 1991 to 1993. As a commentator he has bolstered some of Trump's positions including saying Hillary Clinton's involvement in a uranium deal was as worthy of investigation as special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe. Trump hailed Barr's credentials before taking off for Kansas City on Friday after Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker has drawn fire for his business practices and for his statements slamming the Russia probe. 'I want to confirm that Bill Barr, one of the most respected jurists in the country, former attorney general under the Bush administration, a terrific man, a terrific person, a brilliant man,' Trump said. President Donald Trump told reporters Friday he was nominating Barr to be the next attorney general, a position that requires Senate confirmation 'I did not know him well until recently when I went through the process of looking at people. And he was my first choice from Day One.' The president added: 'Respected by Republicans and respected by Democrats. He will be nominated for the United States attorney general. And hopefully that process will go very quickly, and I think it will go very quickly.' Trump was appeared in Kansas City along with Whitaker, who the Washington Post reported wanted the job. Whitaker praised the choice in brief remarks. 'The president's selection of Bill Barr as the next attorney general is a continuation of this law-and-order presidency,' he said. He also saluted the boss who appointed him, saying Trump 'ran for office as a law and order candidate.' Trump in his own remarks said Barr would 'take the helm' of the Justice Department. As Bush's AG, 'He demonstrated an unwavering adherence to the rule of law,' Trump said. 'Theres no one more capable or more qualified for this role,' the president added, saying he 'deserves overwhelming bipart support. I suspect hell get it But Whitaker's prospects for confirmation to the post on a permanent basis dimmed even in the GOP-controlled Senate amid a flurry of damaging reports, including his work for an inventions company that paid a $25 million fine, and a series of TV appearances where he tore into the Mueller probe. SECOND TIME AROUND: In this Nov. 26, 1991, file photo, President George H.W Bush, right, and William Barr wave after Barr was sworn in as the new Attorney General of the United States at a Justice Department ceremony in Washington. President Donald Trump said Friday he will nominate William Barr, former President George H.W. Bush's attorney general, to serve in the same role His critics promoted the theory that he put in place Whitaker in order to rein in or even shut down the Russia investigation as it continues to ensnare members of Trump's inner circle. Whitaker had not held senior government position before he was put in place as Sessions' chief of staff before his firing. Trump's announcement comes amid some signs that Mueller is nearing the end of his 19-month investigation. On Friday, prosecutors are expected to turn in a court filing laying out the 'lies' that former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort told in violation of his cooperation agreement following his conviction on corruption charges. Trump launched a Twitter tirade Friday in advance of his announcement. 'Robert Mueller and Leakin Lyin James Comey are Best Friends, just one of many Mueller Conflicts of Interest. And bye [sic] the way, wasnt the woman in charge of prosecuting Jerome Corsi (who I do not know) in charge of legal at the corrupt Clinton Foundation? A total Witch Hunt,' the president tweeted at 6:18 a.m. Barr defended Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker (L) walks with Senior Adviser to the President Jared Kushner as they depart with U.S. President Donald Trump from the White House on December 7, 2018 in Washington, DC In addition to his specific comments on current investigations, Barr has defended the power of the president. In a 1989 memorandum from when he was assistant attorney general, Barr outlined 'Common Legislative Encroachments on Executive Branch Authority.' It states that 'The President, as the head of a unitary executive branch, has a duty to take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, U.S. Const, art. II, 3, to coordinate and supervise his subordinates, and to ensure that the executive branch speaks with one voice.' The Barr memo continues: 'The Presidents power to remove subordinates is essential to carrying out these responsibilities.' Trump tweeted about Barr Friday: 'I am pleased to announce that I will be nominating The Honorable William P. Barr for the position of Attorney General of the United States. As the former AG for George H.W. Bush ... and one of the most highly respected lawyers and legal minds in the Country, he will be a great addition to our team. I look forward to having him join our very successful Administration!' he wrote in a pair of tweets. The administration has refused to say whether or not Whitaker underwent an ethics review to determine whether he should recuse himself from the Russia probe something Trump repeatedly bashed his predecessor Jeff Sessions for doing, following reports of his own Russia contacts during the campaign. Barr, who served as attorney general under President George H.W. Bush, had emerged as a top contender for that job in President Donald Trump's Cabinet. Barr ran the DOJ between 1991 and 1993, serving in the department at the same as Robert Mueller did The appointment of a new attorney general comes at a precarious time as special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation, which the department oversees, is showing signs of entering its final stages. Barr was attorney general between 1991 and 1993, serving in the Justice Department at the same as Mueller did. Barr later worked as a corporate general counsel and is currently at a prominent international law firm, Kirland & Ellis. He was also a top executive at Verizon Communications. If confirmed by the Senate, Barr would succeed Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who was forced out by Trump in November and who infuriated the president by stepping aside from the Russia investigation. Sessions' decision helped set in motion Mueller's appointment. Democrats would presumably want reassurances that Barr, who as attorney general would be in position to oversee Mueller's investigation, would not do anything to interfere with the probe. An attorney general opposed to the investigation could theoretically move to cut funding or block certain investigative steps. But depending on how long the confirmation process takes, it is not clear how much of the investigation would remain by the time a new attorney general takes office. Trump dismissed AG Jeff Sessions 30 days ago, creating a vacuum in the department at a time when Robert Mueller's Russia probe is heating up Sessions's chief of staff, Matt Whitaker, is serving as acting AG but has become a lightning rod because of his business ventures before he joined the Trump administration 'What I have said, without mentioning Mr. Barr I've said, the best thing the administration can do is to get somebody who had majority support from Republicans and Democrats alike for attorney general. Those are the best attorneys general,' said Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which would hold hearings on a nominee. Barr, he said, could fit that bill. Still, while in private practice, Barr has occasionally weighed in on hot-button investigative matters in ways that could prompt concerns among Democrats. He told The New York Times in November 2017, in a story about Sessions directing his prosecutors to look into actions related to Trump rival Hillary Clinton, that 'there is nothing inherently wrong about a president calling for an investigation' though Barr also said one should not be opened just because a president wants it. The late President George H.W. Bush's expansive state funeral ceremonies this week have cast his presidency in a new, more favorable light, opening the door for his former senior aides to share in his image-rehabilitation He said there was more basis to investigate a uranium deal approved while Clinton was secretary of state in the Obama administration than potential collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign. 'To the extent it is not pursuing these matters, the department is abdicating its responsibility,' Barr told the newspaper. He also wrote an op-ed for The Washington Post in May 2017 defending Trump's decision to fire former FBI Director James Comey, one of the actions Mueller has been examining for possible obstruction of justice. The Comey firing is part of a probe of potential obstruction of justice. Barr has been on a White House short list of contenders for several weeks, said a person with knowledge of internal discussions who was not authorized to speak publicly. But some inside the White House were concerned that Barr was too aligned with establishment GOP forces. Although concerns about the reliability of KID performance scenarios have been the most headline-grabbing element of the PRIIPs regime so far, it has many other significant flaws which the ESAs recent consultation fails to mention at all. PIMFAs view is that retail investors should not be provided as a matter of regulatory requirement - with product information that is, at best, unhelpful and, at worst, misleading. Consequently, we are calling for the application of the PRIIPs regime to be suspended until such time as a full and thorough review is completed and a more informative, fit-for-purpose regime that both consumers and industry can have confidence in can take its place. PIMFA considers that Mondays vote by the European Parliaments Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee to extend UCITS exemption from the PRIIPs regime by 2 years to 31 December 2021 and to set a new deadline of 31 December 2019 for the European Commission to complete its review of the PRIIPs Regulation paves the way for such an approach. It also signals a wider recognition that piecemeal amendments of the type proposed by the ESAs are not the way forward. Liz Field, PIMFAs CEO, said We believe that the ESAs consultation exercise is misconceived, a sticking plaster that can neither hide nor address the fundamental flaws of the regime as a whole. Virtually every aspect of the PRIIPs regime scope, risk indicators, cost disclosures, access to third country products is problematic and the ESAs targeted review looking only at performance scenarios fails to acknowledge or address this." "An immediate suspension of the PRIIPs regime would have multiple benefits it would prevent investors from being misinformed by regulatory disclosures, it would save industry from spending time and money on ill-considered quick-fixes that do not work, it would provide time for a thorough-going review of all aspects of the regime and it would enable a fresh start at some future point that regulators, industry and investors alike could support. PIMFAs response to the ESAs Joint Consultation Paper concerning amendments to the PRIIPs KID can be found here. President Donald Trump named State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert as the ambassador to the United Nations on Friday. He told reporters at the White House that she is 'very talented, very smart, very quick. And I think she's going to be respected by all.' The president said Nauert is 'somebody that we know very well' and 'has done a great job' as the State Department's press secretary. Nikki Haley has held the UN post since the beginning of Trump's administration and said she would stay in the job through the end of the year. Nauert will not enjoy nearly as much power as Haley, however, with a source confirming that the position is being downgraded. It will no longer be a Cabinet-level post. State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert (left), pictured on October 18 with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, will be a top diplomat in 2019 as she becomes the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nauert (left) was a Fox News reporter and anchor before entering the Trump administration Trump told reporters on Friday that he had made up his mind about the ''very talented, very smart, very quick' Nauert Nauert must win the approval of the U.S. Senate, even so. The post is still an ambassadorship, and that requires Senate confirmation. Republicans will hold a majority of seats in the upper chamber - 53 - after January all but assuring that Nauert will win the appointment. She said early Friday in a tweet that she is 'humbled' by the promotion to UN ambassador. 'Thank you, Mr. President, for your confidence in me. I am humbled by your intent to nominate me as USUN Ambassador and, if confirmed, look forward to continuing the outstanding job Amb. Haley has done representing your Administration and the American people,' she said in her statement. Nauert is a former Fox News Channel correspondent and anchor who has no prior political or policy-making experience. Before becoming the front-runner for the United Nations post, she had been a rumored contender for White House press secretary. She became the State Department spokeswoman in April 2017, and earlier this year was named the acting undersecretary for public diplomacy and public affairs. Nauert was named acting undersecretary for public diplomacy and public affairs earlier this year Nauert (left) is pictured on the set of 'Fox & Friends' in 2014 along with (L-R) Kellie Pickler, Steve Doocy, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Maria Molina and Brian Kilmeade Plucked from Fox to be the State Department's public face, Nauert catapulted into the upper echelons of the agencys hierarchy when Rex Tillerson was fired in March and replaced with Mike Pompeo. After her appointment as acting undersecretary, she was for a time the highest-ranking woman and fourth highest-ranking official at State. Nauert did not have a good relationship with Tillerson, however, and had considered leaving before her promotion. She told associates in November that she was shocked to be chosen as UN ambassador, and recommended a colleague for the job instead. But when White House officials told her they wanted her, she accepted. Nikki Haley (pictured in New York in November) has held the post since the beginning of Trump's administration and said she would stay in the job through the end of the year Tillerson meanwhile reemerged into the public eye on Thursday evening at an event where he described President Trump as someone almost entirely driven by impulse, who doesn't read, and who would ask him to break the law or breach treaties in his demands for immediate action. The ex-diplomat pushed out nearly 9 months ago called Trump 'undisciplined' and said the two men don't share the same 'value system.' 'It was challenging for me coming from the disciplined, highly process-oriented Exxon Mobile corporation to go to work for a man who's pretty undisciplined, doesn't like to read, doesn't read briefing reports, doesn't like to get into the details of a lot of things but rather just kind of says look this is just what I believe and you can try to convince me otherwise but most of the time you're not going to do that,' Tillerson said. Trump insulted Tillerson as 'dumb' and 'lazy' hours later as he learned of his former Cabinet secretary's comments during a flight on Air Force One. A woman who was murdered at a house in Cambridgeshire on Wednesday has been named by police today. Sally Elizabeth Cavender, 55, from Sawston, was taken to Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge in a critical condition after emergency services were called to a property in nearby Cambourne at 1.35am. She died on Wednesday afternoon after her condition deteriorated. Sally Elizabeth Cavender who was murdered in Cambourne, Cambridgeshire, this week In a statement, her family said today: 'Sally was a much-loved daughter and sister and we are all very shocked and saddened by this turn of events. 'As her family we want to remember her as a bright, bubbly girl, who loved to travel and go to concerts and was full of laughter and fun. 'Sally didn't have any children, but her mum, brother, sister and extended family are all supporting each other. While we understand the media interest, we please ask for privacy so that, as a family, we can grieve at this very difficult time. Police and forensics in overalls in Cambourne near Cambridge on Thursday afternoon 'We would like to thank the paramedics and staff at the intensive care unit for all their attempts to save her life, and we have every confidence in the ongoing police investigation.' Robert Simpson-Scott, 43, of Cambourne, has been charged with Sally's murder and the attempted murder of a man in connection with the same incident. He has been remanded in custody and is due to appear at Cambridge Magistrates' Court this morning. A post mortem examination is due to take place this morning at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge. Ohio State University students are being encouraged to load up on pork in preparation for their finals exams this year. The school has gone as far as inserting a Bacon Vending Machine at the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences until December 13, right before the intense study period comes to a close before the holiday break. The Ohio Pork Council installed the quirky offering in the Animal Science Building's main lobby and shared the news on Facebook Tuesday, and there was a mixed reaction. A bacon vending machine has been installed at the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences Hormel Foods, Sugardale Foods, and Smithfield Foods donated the ready-to-eat bites 'Just one more reason to love THE Ohio State University! We now also have The Best D**n HAM In The Land!!!' one user wrote. The offering includes shelf-stable bacon strips and bits. Another person added that 'chocolate covered bacon nuggets' would be 'a home run'. By contrast, one social media user pointed out that the options cannot be the healthiest choice. 'Processed meats have been labeled as a carcinogen by the WHO..cancer causing. Disappointing,' the post read. When the Ohio Hog Farmers shared the news there was even more debate. One woman wrote: 'High cholesterol, heart attacks and premature death for everyone! The Ohio State University pretends like they care about preventing cancer, then promotes this processed meat garbage. All for the almighty dollar. Disgusting!' While some agreed it was 'gross' it seemed the majority were pleased with the stunt. Communications Coordinator for Ohio Pork Council, Meghann Winters, says it started with a 'crazy idea in the office one day' for how to promote pork Hormel Foods, Sugardale Foods, and Smithfield Foods donated the ready-to-eat bites to the college in Columbus. Students can buy the meat products for the low cost of $1 and proceeds will go toward the Meat Science Club. 'The Bacon Vending Machine is a unique and fun way for the Ohio Pork Council to support Ohio State students and promote the pork industry at the same time,' Fox 28 reports Ohio Pork Council President-Elect Dave Shoup said. Communications Coordinator for Ohio Pork Council, and Agricultural Communications senior, Meghann Winters, says it started with a 'crazy idea in the office one day'. The Council was looking for a new way to promote pork products. She explained that after reaching out to an educator at the university, they worked together to get students to replenish the machine throughout the time it is installed. Senior student Sarah Page said they're using it as a way to connect with others at the college. Jake Parkinson wants to teach others about meat science Senior student Sarah Page said they're using it as a way to connect with others at the college. 'We're kind of using it as a fundraiser and outreach to other students around campus about where pork comes from and then just a nice little snack through finals,' she said in a promotional video. For Jake Parkinson it's about giving other students based outside the Animal Science building a better idea of what they do. 'A lot of students don't know about meat science,' he explained. Police on Friday arrested a Maryland teenager accused of shooting to death a builder's representative working inside a model home during a robbery. The Anne Arundel County Police Department identified the suspect in the slaying of 33-year-old Steven Wilson as Dillon Nicholas Augustyniak, 18, of Jessup. Augustyniak was captured just before 1am on Ramsey Street in Baltimore and charged with first-degree murder, armed robbery, theft and firearm use in a felony crime of violence. Police in Maryland say 18-year-old Dillon Nicholas Augustyniak (left) shot and killed builder's representative Steve Wilson, 33 (right) during a robbery on Wednesday Wilson was working out of this model home in Hanover, Maryland, when police say Augustyniak walked in and shot him Investigators allege he fatally shot Wilson in the model home where he was working shortly after 5pm on Wednesday in the 2100 block of Newmanstown Drive in Hanover. The married father of two young children, who lived in Annapolis with his family and worked as a sales and marketing representative for builder Ryan Homes, was pronounced dead at the scene by responding paramedics. Busted: Augustyniak was arrested 31 hours after Wilson's death thanks to surveillance video and tipsters Police Chief Timothy Altomare said robbery was the motive. In charging documents, police allege Augustyniak stole Wilson's phone and laptop, and investigators believe he tried to sell the gun he used in the killing. Altomare portrayed the robbery and slaying as impulse meeting opportunity on the part of a violent criminal. 'While I won't say that real estate agents shouldn't be vigilant and concerned, as I think everyone should for their safety, we have no indication that there's a particular threat to the industry at this time,' the county police chief told reporters Friday. The Capital Gazette in Annapolis reported that police wrote in charging documents that someone 'was breathing heavily and sounded to be in distress' during the 911 call that alerted them to the model home where Wilson was found. As the dispatcher tried to figure out what was going on, another voice in the background could be heard saying: 'Where is the money' and 'Who are you talking to?' An unnamed source told the station WJZ that Augustyniak had approached the model home from the nearby woods and then fled back into the woods after allegedly killing Wilson and stealing his valuables. Wilson was pronounced dead at the scene. He leaves behind his wife of four years, Jessica, and their two young daughters (right) Wilson's family described him as a loving, husband, father, son, brother and friend. Pictured: Steve poses with his parents and siblings during a Christmas celebration Altomare said investigators were able to make an arrest some 31 hours after Wilson's battered body was found thanks to surveillance video and tips from multiple people in the community. When officers searched Augustyniak's home, they reportedly discovered a gun consistent with the murder weapon. Wilson's family has described him in a GoFundMe campaign as a 'loving husband, father, son, brother, and friend.' The fundraiser has drawn more than $27,000 in donations, which the organizer said would go towards the school expenses of Wilson's two daughters. According to her Facebook page, Wilson's widow works as a fitness instructor. The couple got married in 2014. Following Augustyniak's capture, the victim's family released a statement thanking police for working around the clock to make the arrest. 'The outpouring of love and support from friends and total strangers has been overwhelming,' the statement read. 'Hundreds of people who knew Steve have offered comfort and solace during this difficult time.' For months, 10-year-old Iliana Bellard barely went anywhere except home and the hospital while she received chemotherapy to treat her stage 4 lymphatic cancer. But on Friday last week she finally ventured out in public again to celebrate battling the cancer into remission, and headed to Imperial Salon and Day Spa in Stafford, Virginia, to celebrate with a manicure. However, the visit quickly turned sour as nail technicians mocked Iliana for her short hair and brittle nails - caused by the chemotherapy - leaving the little girl upset and mother Elizabeth furious. Iliana Bellard, 10, spent two years recovering from lymphatic cancer including months of chemotherapy, before heading to a nail salon last week to celebrate going into remission She had just finished chemotherapy, and this was her first outing in public https://t.co/S5BLnoAj28 WFSB Channel 3 (@WFSBnews) December 6, 2018 Speaking to WJLA, Elizabeth said: 'She [the nail technician] says it looks like a boy is getting her nails done, everybody's going to think it's a boy getting his nails done. 'And they started laughing. And she says I just can't get over that she looks like a boy, and they just kept laughing about it.' Iliana's cancer battle dates back to January 2017, when she was diagnosed with Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma, a rare and aggressive form of the disease. At first, medics put Iliana into pallative care because they didn't expect her to survived. She soon developed a total of nine tumors throughout her body. But after two years of treatment including chemotherapy, all the tumors had disappeared and she was finally ready to leave the house and get back to living life. Mother Elizabeth said three salon workers mocked her appearance, laughing about her short hair and brittle nails which were caused by the chemo That's when she walked into the salon. Elizabeth said she complained to the owner at the time and she offered Iliana a free treatment, but after the girl's aunt put up a post on Facebook more action was taken. Brandy, the store manage who suffered from ovarian cancer, said she confronted one of the workers about the incident, and fired her on the spot after she began laughing about it again. Two more staff have been suspended, and Brandy has also ordered sensitivity training for everyone, including the owners. She said: 'It's not okay, whether it was a child with cancer or without cancer. Just bullying, it's not okay.' A Pennsylvania nurse delivered her own baby after her water broke in the car on the way to the hospital. Ashley Fink, 32, from Mount Wolf, used her professional experience on Tuesday when she felt the baby's head as the couple were heading to their delivery suite in York County. Mom Ashley had been feeling contractions that were intensifying with every hour. They were so strong that Fink and her husband Jonathan hopped in their car and tried to get to the Women & Babies Hospital in Lancaster in time. 'I was on my knees, hugging the headrest of the seat of the car, because I couldn't sit,' Fink told Fox 43. As they were traveling along Cool Springs Road, Ashley's water broke in the car. Ashley Fink, (pictured above) who's a nurse, found her professional experience coming in handy when she felt the baby's head as the couple were on the way to the hospital Dad Jonathan (pictured on the left) pulled over and baby Ava came into the world. She was a few days early and weighed in at 7 pounds 12 ounces Mom Ashley made sure baby Ava's (pictured) airway was clear, there was no cord around her neck, and that she was kept warm 'She was like, 'baby, oh my God, I can feel her head,' and she said, 'baby, she's coming now!'' said Jonathan Fink. Dad pulled over and baby Ava Sylar Fink came into the world, a few days early, and weighing in at 7 pounds 12 ounces. Ava is Fink's second daughter Fink said her motherly and nursing instincts kicked right in and she made sure her newborn's airway was clear, there was no cord around her neck, and that she was kept warm. A team of volunteer firefighters from Wrightsville were called to the scene but found mom had the situation under control Shortly after a team of volunteer firefighters from Wrightsville arrived on the scene. They had been called from another emergency to help but were not prepared for helping with a delivery. 'We were in a suppression engine. We were not in a rescue engine. We had first aid bags, that's it. Nothing that would be geared towards a delivery,' said Captain Justin Poole of Wrightsville Fire Department. But mom had everything in control. Ava is Fink's second daughter. Her contractions were so strong she was on her knees in the car on the way to hospital, hugging the headrest of the seat of the car 'Look in the car and sure enough the kid was in the mom's arms, umbilical cord still there, and baby was crying, and I said, 'is it a boy or girl?' And she said, 'it's a girl,' and I said, 'congratulations', Poole added. The firefighters wrapped baby Ava in blankets and one of them cut the cord. It was not only the firefighters who were marveling at mom's expertise. 'I love her dearly, but that was probably the most amazing thing I've seen her do, just took my breath away,' said Jonathan Fink. Amber Rudd has become the first Cabinet minster to suggest that a Norway-style Brexit is a suitable 'Plan B' to the Prime Minister's deal. Under the Norway-plus plan, the UK would remain in the single market and customs union, which would remove the need to use the Irish backstop provision. In an interview with The Times, the Work and Pensions Secretary said a Norway-style arrangement seems plausible not just in terms of the country but in terms of where the MPs are. Amber Rudd (pictured) has said a Norway-style arrangement seems plausible not just in terms of the country but in terms of where the MPs are Senior Norwegian politicians have warned Britain cannot have the same deal enjoyed by their country even if Theresa May's deal is defeated. It was claimed today that at least 10 Cabinet ministers could back a Norway-style Brexit to break the impasse. Under the Norway-plus plan, the UK would remain in the single market and customs union, which would remove the need to use the Irish backstop provision. It would also protect current trade links with the EU - but it would fail to deliver on key Brexiteer promises over free movement and sovereignty. Norwegian MP Heidi Nordby Lunde told The Guardian it was 'not an option'. She said: 'Really, the Norwegian option is not an option. 'We have been telling you this for one and a half years since the referendum and how this works, so I am surprised that after all these years it is still part of the grown-up debate in the UK. 'You just expect us to give you an invitation rather than consider whether Norway would want to give you such an invitation. 'It might be in your interest to use our agreement, but it would not be in our interest.' Norwegian MP Heidi Nordby Lunde (file) Britain cannot have the same deal enjoyed by her country even if Theresa May's deal is defeated Despite the warning Labour MP Stephen Kinnock said the warring Brexit tribes needed to put aside their differences. Backing Norway, he said: 'We understand that there are at least 10 Cabinet ministers who are supporting this arrangement.' He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'What we need the Prime Minister to do, when she loses the vote on Tuesday, is to go on to the steps of Downing Street and make a very clear statement that we must pivot now to Norway-plus.' A Norwegian-style compromise is opposed by many Eurosceptics, who believe it will amount to 'Brexit in name only', and by former Remainers who are pushing for a second referendum. Despite the warning Labour MP Stephen Kinnock (file) said the warring Brexit tribes needed to put aside their differences There is also resistance within Europe about the possibility of an economy the size of the UK joining the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and European Economic Area (EEA) along with Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. The People's Vote campaign, which wants a second referendum, published a dossier condemning the Norway-plus proposal. It was claimed today that at least 10 Cabinet ministers could back a Norway-style Brexit to break the impasse if Theresa May's deal is crushed on Tuesday night In a joint foreword, Labour former foreign secretary David Miliband and Tory ex-minister Jo Johnson - who quit his Government role in November over Brexit - said: 'Norway-plus would represent a long-term commitment to pay to benefit from the European Union's regulatory structures while choosing to be outside it.' They added that while rejoining EFTA may limit the economic damage it would represent a 'significant loss of power' and influence. 'Both sides would be entitled to ask, if the past two and a half years of upheaval and tortuous negotiation culminated in a Norway-plus deal, what was the point of all that?' Mr Johnson said the arrangement would turn the UK into a 'nation of lobbyists' seeking to influence rules set in Brussels over which it had no say. But Tory ex-minister Nick Boles said: 'Norway-plus is a compromise that has broad appeal to the pragmatic middle. 'It delivers a softish Brexit with a deal that preserves membership of the single market and keeps the union of the UK intact.' A bloody double homicide in a trailer park was discovered when a five-year-old boy who saw the bodies of his parents and wandered out of his home getting the attention of a nearby resident. 'Mommy and daddy are asleep,' the little boy said, initially asking if he could go home with the local woman, in court testimony according to AL.com. 'They're covered in blood.' The boy was the son of the victims Shawntia Jackson, 22, and Dajun Hardy, 24, of Huntsville, Alabama, shot dead back in September. Shawntia Jackson, left, and Dajun Hardy, right, were found dead by police in their mobile home after their five-year-old son notified a neighbor they were 'covered in blood' The slain couple were found by police in their mobile home along with a crying one-year-old infant, shortly after the child reached out to the neighbor. Jackson had been shot multiple times including in the leg, stomach, arm and mouth, while Hardy had been shot once in the head, Huntsville police Investigator Julian Johnson told the court. After police investigated the scene at the Merrimac Manor mobile home community, they were quickly able to make three arrests. Tyree Castile, 22, along with two juveniles, were charged with capital murder and had been held in Madison County Jail with no bond, WAFF reported. Tyree Castile, 22, seen here, is charged along with two others in the murders of Shawntia Jackson and Dajun Hardy Caleb Bruce contends that Shawntia Jackson (right) threatened to kill him after he had shot and killed Dajun Hardy (left) prompting him to shoot her as well Murder victims Shawntia Jackson and Dajun Hardy were found after their five-year-old boy wandered out of their Huntsville, Alabama, mobile home and got the attention of a neighbor The two youths charged were identified as Caleb Bruce and Carolyn Phillips, AL.com reported. The Huntsville police believe that Bruce was the shooter in the situation with Castile having provided the gun and Phillips transportation. During interrogation, Bruce reportedly told police that he had shot Dajun Hardy out of fear that he was reaching for a gun during a drug buy at the home. The murder of Shawntia Jackson (left) and Dajun Hardy (right) appears to have stemmed from a drug deal gone awry at their home, according to police Then he alleged Shawntia Jackson threatened him after he killed Hardy leading to him shooting her multiple times. All three suspects face the death penalty or life in prison on the capital murder charge. This is the astonishing moment two tourists free a beached turtle by melting the plastic wrapped around its flipper with a lighter. The clip, filmed in Malta, captures the pair as they spot the creature stuck on rocks by the sea. The turtle is perched with a plastic water bottle underneath it as waves crash behind. This is the astonishing moment a turtle is found with one of its front flippers wrapped in a mound of shredded plastic ribbons and a bottle The turtle is perched with a plastic water bottle underneath it as waves crash behind on a beach in Malta The two tourists lift the turtle from the rocks before attempting to remove the multiple layers of plastic. After multiple attempts at removing the bottle one of the rescuers pulls a lighter from his jeans pocket and burns the plastic After watching the stuck animal for a moment, the pair decide it needs help, and lift the turtle from the rocks. It begins to panic and attempt to move away - kicking out as the pair realise one of its front flippers is wrapped in multiple layers of plastic. One of the two briefly attempts to pull the plastic away before realising the extent of the problem, and moving the creature to the beach. He then begins to unravel a large plastic bottle from the mound of rubbish - twisting the shredded plastic around to release it. The pair spend a few moments longer attempting to untie the ribbons of material from the turtle before resorting to more desperate measures. After melting the plastic from the turtle's flipper the tourists release the creature back into the waters The turtle marches towards the nearby sea and then disappears into the distance - with a bit of help from his rescuers One of the rescuers pulls a lighter from his jeans pocket, very carefully holding the flame against a piece of plastic held away from the turtle. The sea turtle closes its eyes as the tourist continues holding the small flame against the ribbon - struggling for a moment to keep it lit. But before long the plastic melts, and the pair are able to release the turtle from the mound of rubbish. The creature takes a moment to recover from its ordeal before marching towards the nearby sea and disappearing into the distance - with a bit of help from his rescuers. The video then pans the beach to show the amount of plastic hidden in and around the rocks. Shocking statistics revealed by Nature Trust president Vincent Attard has confirmed that 20 turtles have already been killed in Malta's waters this year due to plastic pollution. This supersedes last year's statistics when a total of 15 turtles in the country died from ingesting plastic. President Trump advised Republicans to haul James Comey before Congress a second time on Friday and compel him to answer their questions under oath. He was responding to complaints from GOP lawmakers that a Department of Justice lawyer intervened to keep Comey from responding to many of their inquiries. Coverage of the dramatic confrontation on Capitol Hill that had taken place in private, with a transcript to be published later, had been playing on Fox News as the president flew back to the Washington area from Kansas City on Air Force One. Minutes after arriving at the White House, the president observed, 'It is being reported that Leakin' James Comey was told by Department of Justice attorneys not to answer the most important questions. 'Total bias and corruption at the highest levels of previous Administration,' the president said. 'Force him to answer the questions under oath!' President Trump advised Republicans to haul James Comey before Congress a second time on Friday and compel him to answer their questions under oath He was responding to complaints from GOP lawmakers that a Department of Justice lawyer intervened to keep Comey from responding to many of their inquiries Moments before, Comey had held court on Capitol Hill with reporters anxious for a readout of the closed-door session Moments before, Comey had held court on Capitol Hill with reporters anxious for a readout of the closed-door session. After a full day of questioning, two things are clear to me. One, we could have done this in open setting. And two, when you read the transcript, you will see that we are talking again about Hillary Clinton's e-mails, for heaven's sakes, so I'm not sure we need to do this at all. But I'm trying to respect the institution and answer questions in a respectful way. You'll see I did that in the transcript. You'll see that if you get a transcript of my return visit, which I think will be week after next. And then this will be over. He was much less gracious in a tweet later that accused legislators using him as a pawn in a plot to denigrate government agencies probing President Trump. 'Today wasnt a search for truth, but a desperate attempt to find anything that can be used to attack the institutions of justice investigating this president,' he said. 'They came up empty today but will try again. In the long run, it'll make no difference because facts are stubborn things.' In his conversation with reporters immediately after his appearance before lawmakers, Comey wouldnt say how often he has met with Robert Muellers investigators. He also wouldnt comment on the firing of former Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Asked about any abuses of surveillance laws, he responded: I have total confidence that the FISA process was followed and that the entire case was handled in a thoughtful, responsible way by DOJ and the FBI. I think the notion that FISA was abused here is nonsense. Comey accused legislators using him as a pawn in a plot to denigrate government agencies probing President Trump in a tweet on Friday night BEFORE AND AFTER: On the left, Comey smiles as he walks into his hearing with lawmakers; on the right he frowns after hours of questioning As for old reports that deputy Attorney Generald Rod Rosenstein was willing to wear a wire in the days after Comeys firing to try and trap Trump, he also declined to respond. I can't comment on that. Enjoy your weekend, he told Capitol Hill reporters. Republican lawmakers were fuming on Friday after Comey's appearance. They accused DOJ attorneys of shielding the ex-FBI chief from answering their questions. They want him to come back yet for another interview, one that he indicated was likely to take place next week. 'We will be demanding that he come back and be able to answer,' said GOP Rep. Darrell Issa. Democrats will take charge of the House in January and said Friday that they believed the hearings with Comey are a waste of time. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, the presumptive chair of the Judiciary Committee, said the bipartisan session was a 'fishing expedition,' according to Politico, and he vowed to end when his party takes over. Comey said would be his preference not to come back again, as well. 'I always want to respect the institution of Congress. I would love it if they didn't want me to testify,' he said at the end of his first appearance. 'If they want me to testify, and we can do it in a responsible way, I will abide it. So we'll see what happens. No threat to security: James Comey goes through a metal detector on his way to testify Former FBI Director James Comey, with his attorney, David Kelley, left, arrive to testify under subpoena behind closed doors before the House Judiciary and Oversight Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, Dec. 7, 2018 Comey had delivered some wry pushback against President Trump as he arrived on Capitol Hill for a private grilling by the House Judiciary Committee. As he walked down one of the Capitol corridors, he was asked about Trump's morning Twitter claim that he is 'best friends' with special counsel Robert Mueller part of Trump's attack that Mueller is 'highly conflicted' and he offered a pithy answer. 'Note that I smiled,' the former law enforcement official responded. Then he walked inside a committee room for a grilling that lasted hours. Trump began his morning with a Twitter tirade where he attacked Mueller, using his professional relationship with Comey to kick it off. 'Robert Mueller and Leakin Lyin James Comey are Best Friends, just one of many Mueller Conflicts of Interest,' Trump wrote Friday. 'And bye [sic] the way, wasnt the woman in charge of prosecuting Jerome Corsi (who I do not know) in charge of legal at the corrupt Clinton Foundation? A total Witch Hunt,' the president tweeted at 6:18 a.m. President Trump attacked the former FBI director as 'Leakin' Lyin' James Comey,' saying he was 'Best Friends' with Robert Mueller CLOSED DOOR: The GOP panel held the hearing in private, despite Comey's demand he get the chance to speak publicly. Trey Gowdy, the GOP congressman, was among those who did get in Robert Mueller's investigating whether the firing of Comey played into any obstruction of justice Comey was appearing for the interview after unsuccessfully fighting a subpoena in court. It is the first time he has answered lawmakers' questions since an explosive June 2016 hearing in which he asserted that President Trump fired him to interfere with his investigation of Russia's ties to the Trump campaign. His lawyers had fired off a brief seeking to quash the subpoena, demanding 'transparency' and arguing Republicans would selectively leak information if he were to appear behind closed doors. They argued that a closed hearing was 'abusive to witnesses.' Committee lawyers fought back at Comey's 'grandiose' arguments, saying he wanted to 'dictate the terms of his appearance by demanding a public hearing.' Comey buckled over the weekend, announcing he would appear following assurances that a full transcript would get released and he could speak about what he had testified. The report reveals that a series of major wildfires burned across Northern and Southern California throughout the month; the most catastrophic, the Camp Fire in Butte County, largely destroyed the city of Paradise, killing 88 people with dozens of others unaccounted for. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, CalFire, cited that 19,357 homes and other structures were damaged or destroyed, making the Camp Fire the deadliest and most destructive on record in California. Additionally, three people were killed in the Woolsey Fire as the fire damaged or destroyed nearly 2,000 structures in Ventura and Los Angeles counties. Total aggregated economic losses for the fires were expected to minimally exceed USD10 billion, while insurance claims payouts for wildfires are set to exceed USD10 billion in the United States for the second year running. Steve Bowen, Impact Forecasting Director and Meteorologist, said: With annual wildfire industry payouts expected to exceed USD10 billion for the second consecutive year in the United States, the standard assumption of wildfire being a secondary peril may evolve in the future. While insurers remain firmly in position to handle the volume of claims in the aftermath of recent events, these heightened losses put a further spotlight on the growing risk of the peril around the world. The growth of exposure into known fire locations and the prospect of more weather and climate-driven effects will require continued focus on mitigation initiatives. Meanwhile, Cyclone Gaja made landfall in southern India, causing widespread impacts across the states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The cyclone killed 46 people as damage was incurred to more than 117,500 homes. The overall economic impact was listed in excess of INR54 billion (USD775 million). Two other notable tropical cyclones made landfalls in November, both in Vietnam. Tropical Depression Toraji killed 19 people as damage reached at least VND396 billion (USD17.2 million). A weakened Typhoon Usagi brought record rainfall to the greater Ho Chi Minh metro area. Minimum economic damage was listed at VND347 billion (USD15 million). Further natural hazard events to have occurred worldwide during November include: A major magnitude-7.0 earthquake struck just north of Anchorage, Alaska on November 30, causing widespread damage to residential and commercial property in addition to local transportation and utility infrastructure. Total economic losses were expected to exceed USD100 million. Parts of Italy and Spain dealt with complex storm systems and flooding during the end of October into November. In Italy alone, dozens of fatalities were recorded as the inclement weather killed dozens of people. Economic damage was expected to be more than EUR3.0 billion (USD3.4 billion). In Spain, one person was killed as flooding caused severe damage to infrastructure and agriculture. Crop damage in the Valencian region alone will range from EUR70-120 million (USD80-140 million). Strong thunderstorms impacted central areas of Chile with large hail and intense rainfall, causing notable agricultural damage. Agricultural industry authorities estimated that economic losses were likely to approach USD200 million. Among the worst affected areas were the OHiggins and Maule regions. Severe weather events also occurred in the United States and Australia. Heavy rainfall swept across parts of the Middle East, prompting flash flooding and dozens of casualties. Damage in Kuwait alone was listed at KWD100 million (USD330 million). Winter storm events caused notable damage and disruption in the United States and China. To view the full Impact Forecasting November 2018 Global Catastrophe Recap report, please click here This is the shocking moment a man violently kicks and smashes two bus windows following an argument with the driver. During the clip, filmed on the corner of Holgate Road, Dagenham, East London, the man screams at the driver to move his bus before becoming physically violent. When the driver refuses to move his vehicle, the furious man suddenly kicks the bus' front doors and glass shatters to the ground. The man shouts at the London bus driver on the corner of Holgate Road, Dagenham, East London before kicking the front doors In the video, the man tells the driver to move his bus but when the driver refuses the man suddenly becomes violent The enraged man kicks the front doors and send glass crashing to the pavement as horrified bystanders watch on Bystanders scream as the enraged man swears and then proceeds to kick another one of front doors-sending it crashing to the pavement. The video was originally posted on Snapchat by a user who goes by the username 'Smallz' and the footage has since been shared across social media. The incident, which is believed to have taken place on the 174 bus that drives from Dagenham Park Square to Dagenham, Marsh Way, begins with the angry man shouting at the driver of the London bus. The furious man screams at the driver to 'Move your f**king bus!'. However the driver refuses to do so and the man suddenly kicks one of the bus' glass doors and continues to swear at the driver. He shouts: 'Move your f**king bus! Move your f**king bus! You f**king piece of sh*t!'. The violent man then kicks the bus' second glass door sending pieces of glass crashing to the pavement. The man continues to swear at the bus driver and then kicks a second door sending yet more glass to the ground Following his attack the man walks away from the scene and leaves the front doors damaged Bystanders scream in terror as the man walks away from the scene - leaving the bus' windows damaged. While it is unknown why the fight started, social media users have expressed their bewilderment at the man's behaviour. @-jsav-212 wrote: 'Rah he got some toes of steel.' While @rene.xvii commented:'How heavy is his foot to just* psshh!' A 12-year-old Michigan boy is working odd jobs to raise money for a special Christmas gift: a gravestone for his best friend. Kaleb Klakulak and Kenneth 'K.J.' Gross, both 12, had been friends since second grade before K.J. died in May of congestive heart failure after years of chemotherapy to fight leukemia, The Detroit News reported. K.J. was buried in a family plot at Detroit's Elmwood Cemetery. But K.J.'s mom couldn't afford a grave marker, so Kaleb has been raking leaves, collecting bottles and soliciting PayPal donations on social media to help raise $2,500. The 12-year-old says he hopes to give the headstone to Singleton as a Christmas present. Kaleb Klakulak, 12 (pictured), is doing odd jobs and collecting pop bottles to raise money for a headstone for his friend K.J. Gross, who died at age 12 Sometimes he and Kaleb, pals since second grade, watched TV and played video games in a hospital room instead of at home - but they were together til the end He's raised $900 so far and given the money to K.J.'s mother, LaSondra 'San' Singleton. 'I love Ms. San,' Kaleb said. 'I was sad she couldn't afford it. I wanted people to be able to find (K.J.'s grave) when they went to see him.' Kaleb's mom, Kristy Hall, helped him get started with the fundraising effort. 'If you have bottles or odd jobs that Kaleb can do to earn money he would greatly appreciate that. I really think this is a great thing for Kaleb to focus on and help him with his healing as well as K.J.'s mom, who misses her baby and has to visit an unmarked grave,' Hall wrote in a Facebook post about Kaleb's goal. Kaleb Klakulak rakes leaves in Rochester Hills, Mich., as he raises money for a headstone for his best friend Kenneth 'K.J.' Gross, who died of cancer last year Kaleb wears a dog tag, in memory of his best friend Kenneth 'K.J.' Singleton, The 12-year-old Michigan boy is working odd jobs to raise money for a gravestone for Singleton Singleton said she's overwhelmed by Kaleb's actions and love for her son, even after his death. She said the boys 'were kindred spirits; they were like brothers.' 'It just speaks volumes to the type of people that they are, and it speaks to the type of person that K.J. was - he impacted people to where they want to do this for him,' Singleton said. Donations, deposit bottles and job offers came in, and Kaleb's mom says he's about halfway to his goal of $2,500. If you wish to donate to Kaleb's cause - you can click here to contribute. David Whitfield (pictured above) was charged with engaging with sexual activity with inmates A prison office has denied having sex with 12 female prisoners over a five-year stretch at a womens jail. David Whitfield has denied failing to perform his duties as a prison officer, after he was charged with abusing the public trust. The-34-year old was also charged with engaging in sexual activity with inmates over a five-year period up to 2016 when he was working at HMP Low Newton in Durham. The defendant, who lives in South Tyneside also faces charges of sexually assaulting a woman between 2014 and 2015. Appearing at Durham Crown Court, Whitfield pleaded guilty to misconduct in a public office and to sexual assault. Judge Christopher Prince bailed him to appear for trial at Newcastle Crown Court on July 22. HMP Low Newton is a closed prison for female adults and young offenders. It is a maximum security prison and also holds a number of juveniles and life sentenced prisoners. The prison is home to the Primrose Project, which was designed for women with dangerous and severe personality disorders. It is currently the only prison in the UK housing a unit with such capabilities. Harvey Weinstein's attorney filed a letter with the judge in the disgraced mogul's criminal case on Friday seeking to dismiss three of the charges. Ben Brafman, Weinstein's attorney in the case, claims in his letter to Judge James M Burke that the Manhattan District Attorney's office withheld evidence from the grand jury who indicted his client and provides four emails that show Weinstein and his accuser spent time together after her alleged assault. He also claims that the accuser told a friend that her relationship with Weinstein was consensual. A spokesperson for the district attorney's office declined to comment. Weinstein had previously filed a motion to dismiss the criminal charges against him in August that contained a number of emails sent by the same accuser between 2013 and 2017. That woman, whose allegations against Weinstein resulted in charges of rape in the first degree, rape in the third degree and predatory sexual assault, wrote in the emails that Weinstein 'is the bar' for the movie industry and comments on his 'smile and beautiful eyes. In one of the four new emails submitted by Brafman, she also agrees to attend a screening hosted by Weinstein, just hours after she was allegedly raped by the mogul. New bid: Harvey Weinstein (above) has submitted a letter looking to get three of the charges in his sexual assault case dismissed Evidence: His lawyer provided four emails with his letter to the judge, including one from his accuser accepting an invite hours after her alleged assault (above) on March 18, 2014 An email from October 2013 also shows woman's friend telling Weinstein that the accuser 'adores' him Documents show Weinstein's office sent the woman an invitation to a movie screening the evening of March 18, 2013 - the day of the alleged assault. The accuser replied, 'I'm just going with [redacted]. Thank you [redacted].' The letter states defense lawyers interviewed the friend who confirmed that she had gone to the event with the accuser and the two met Weinstein there that night. During that interview, the friend allegedly confirmed that Weinstein and the accuser were in a 'consensual, sexual relationship' at the time and claimed the accuser tried to enlist her help in going after Weinstein, according Brafman. Brafman argued that the emails, as well as the previous ones he submitted along with an earlier motion, should have been seen by members of the grand jury. 'Had the Grand Jury been aware that [accuser] continued her friendship with Mr Weinstein hours after the alleged rape (not just in the months and years after, as evidenced by her emails), there is little chance that her narrative would have been accepted by the Grand Jury,' Brafman states. 'This new email evidence makes [the accuser's] attempt even more egregious because, as it turns out, the witness was with [the accuser] hours after the alleged rape, yet [the accuser] did not say anything about being raped; instead, she chose to spend the evening with her friend and her alleged rapist!' Brafman also contends that the accuser must have talked about Weinstein in 'glowing terms' after an email from New Year's Day 2014 revealed the friend had thanked the producer for 'the things you did for [accuser] in 2013 and for the things you did for me as well.' Those things included Oscar party invitations, dinners, premieres, and auditions, according to documents. An email from January 1, 2014 revealed the friend had thanked the producer for 'the things you did for [accuser] in 2013 and for the things you did for me as well.' He argues the alleged victim must have talked about Weinstein in 'glowing terms' as a 2013 email reveals her friend told Weinstein, 'she adores you!' An earlier email from October 2013 also shows the same friend telling Weinstein that the accuser 'adores' him. More than a year after the alleged rape, the accuser herself had an email exchange with Weinstein organizing dinner plans. On July 9, 2014, Weinstein emailed the woman asking: 'Are you around on Friday evening? I'm going to be in [redacted].' HARVEY WEINSTEIN FACING LIFE IN PRISON ON CHARGES Predatory Sexual Assault (Class A-II Felony) - 10 years to life in prison A person is guilty of predatory sexual assault when: 1. In the course of the commission of the crime or the immediate flight therefrom, he or she: (a) Causes serious physical injury to the victim of such crime; or (b) Uses or threatens the immediate use of a dangerous instrument; or 2. He or she has engaged in conduct constituting the crime of rape in the first degree, criminal sexual act in the first degree, or aggravated sexual abuse in the first degree. Rape In the First Degree (Class B Felony) - Five to 25 years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000 A person is guilty of rape in the first degree when he or she engages in sexual intercourse with another person: 1. By forcible compulsion; or 2. Who is incapable of consent by reason of being physically helpless; or 3. Who is less than eleven years old; or 4. Who is less than thirteen years old and the actor is eighteen years old or more. Rape In the Third Degree (Class E Felony) - Up to four years in prison and a $5,000 fine A person is guilty of rape in the third degree when: 1. He or she engages in sexual intercourse with another person who is incapable of consent by reason of some factor other than being less than seventeen years old; 2. Being twenty-one years old or more, he or she engages in sexual intercourse with another person less than seventeen years old; or 3. He or she engages in sexual intercourse with another person without such person`s consent where such lack of consent is by reason of some factor other than incapacity to consent. Criminal Sexual Act in the First Degree (Class B Felony) - Up to 25 years in prison A person is guilty of criminal sexual act in the first degree when he or she engages in oral sexual conduct or anal sexual conduct with another person: 1. By forcible compulsion; or 2. Who is incapable of consent by reason of being physically helpless;or 3. Who is less than eleven years old; or 4. Who is less than thirteen years old and the actor is eighteen years old or more. Advertisement The accuser replied: 'There is no one else I would enjoy catching up with that understands me quite like you.' 'I know I will be hungry, what is your timing? Do you have time for dinner?' In a response to the December 7 filing, New York Assistant District Attorney Kevin Wilson said Brafman's letter only repeats previous arguments made in earlier submissions - which have been contested. He argued the findings did not constitute as exculpatory information and claimed the lawyer was using 'one-sided, incomplete, and mischaracterized information.' 'That the defendant has a misguided and antiquated view of how a rape victim should react after having been assaulted does not change this reality,' Wilson wrote in a letter on Friday. In August, Brafman asked for the charge of Criminal Sex Act to be tossed because of inconsistencies. 'Mr. Weinstein was indicted for an alleged act of forcible oral sex by someone who claims she does not remember when it occurred and asserts only that it was purportedly sometime during a three-month period in 2004, nearly fourteen years ago,' read the August motion. 'He was also indicted for the rape of [email accuser], whose extensive communications and contact immediately following the now claimed forcible rape instead reflect a consensual, intimate relationship with Mr. Weinstein in an exchange of more than 400 warm, complimentary and solicitous emails with an alleged rapist for more than four years after the alleged rape, never once in those 9 communications claiming to have ever been harmed by Mr. Weinstein.' The final email, from 2017, was less effusive than the others submitted by Weinstein, reading: 'I love you, always do. But hate feeling like a booty call.' That came in response to an email from Weisntein in which he tried to schedule a meeting with the woman before heading off to a redacted city. He wrote that he could meet in the afternoon, and when the woman responded to ask the address Weinstein replied with the name of a hotel, even though he was in New York at the time. The August filing stated that it was one year after that email, in February 2018 when, 'upon information and belief, [Weinstein's accuser] for the first time ever made any claim of an alleged rape to any law enforcement authority.' Weinstein was married to his now estranged wife Georgina Chapman during the time that all 40 emails were sent. One month after she was allegedly raped by Weinstein in a midtown hotel, the woman closed out a brief message by writing: 'Thanks, and I hope to see you sooner thank [sic] later ...' The next day she said: 'I appreciate all you do for me, it shows.' Three days after that she expressed a desire to see Weinstein and 'catch up,' a desire she again reiterated a few days later in an emails submitted as evidence in the motion. Another email in which the woman is incredibly complimentary to Weinstein read: 'You have mastered storytelling and continually Are outdoing yourself and the competition. You are the bar.' She then signed off with: 'Miss you big guy.' One month prior she had requested a private audience with Weinstein, saying: 'I was hoping for some time privately with you to share the direction I am going in life and catch up because its been awhile.' The woman also gave Weinstein her contact information after changing her phone number. A government report released Friday found that the Air Force failed six times to disclose information that could have prevented Devin Patrick Kelley (pictured), the ex-airman who shot dead 26 people Texas church last year, from purchasing a gun The Air Force failed six times to report information that could have prevented the ex-airman who shot dead 26 people Texas church last year from purchasing a gun, according to a government report released Friday. The Department of Defense inspector general's report details Devin Patrick Kelley's decade-long history of violence, interest in guns and menacing of women. That history culminated in Kelley's November 2017 attack on the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, the church his wife and mother-in-law attended. The dead included several children, a pregnant woman and a 77-year-old grandfather. Kelley served almost five years in the Air Force, during which he was court-martialed and sentenced to one year's confinement for assaulting his wife and stepson. He was able to purchase four firearms after being discharged in 2014, three of which he carried into the church. The Air Force was blamed immediately after the shooting for not reporting the assault to the FBI because the conviction would have been a red flag in the mandatory background check when Kelley tried to purchase a gun. Kelley carried out the deadliest mass shooting in Texas state history at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs (above) on November 5, 2017. Three of the guns he used in the shooting were purchased after Kelley was convicted of assaulting his wife and stepson Friday's report says Air Force investigators who spoke to Kelley failed four separate times to fingerprint him and turn those prints over to the FBI. The report also says the Air Force failed twice to submit its final report of the case to the FBI. Air Force investigators were not trained to submit fingerprints or the final report to the FBI, the inspector general found. The Air Force squadron that investigated the assault 'used on-the-job training as its primary method of instruction for fingerprint collection and submission,' the report says. 'However, this training was insufficient and was not based on any established curriculum or policy requirements.' The Air Force said in a statement Friday that 'corrective action has already been taken.' It has reviewed all case files since 1998, and 'all criminal history reporting requirements that would preclude someone from purchasing a firearm have been updated.' The Department of Defense inspector general's report details Kelley's decade-long history of violence, menacing of women and interest in guns He posted the photo above of an AR-15 assault rifle on Facebook one week before the attack Gunmen in many American mass shootings have repeatedly been able to exploit loopholes or lapses in background checks. Friday's report also details some of the many warning signs against Kelley. His first wife, Tessa Kelley, accused him of choking her multiple times and once holding her head under a showerhead and saying: 'I'm going to waterboard you.' Waterboarding is an interrogation technique that the United Nations says is considered torture. After Air Force authorities opened an assault investigation against him, Kelley was ordered to be detained before trial because his commander believed he was 'dangerous and likely to harm someone if released'. Kelley had searched online for body armor and weapons, according to the report. Kelley was later charged with misdemeanor animal cruelty after someone saw him punch a dog several times. He was also investigated for sexual assault in his hometown of New Braunfels, Texas, but authorities didn't pursue the investigation in what the local sheriff has since called 'an error'. The report also says Kelley was reprimanded in 2012 for using a 'disparaging word' against a female supervisor and then denying it. Four years later, his former supervisor received a Facebook message from Kelley in which he used expletives and said: 'You should have been put in the ground a long time ago. Better hope I don't ever see you.' The introduction section of the 138-page Department of Defense report is shown below: On November 5, 2017, Kelley shot and killed two people outside First Baptist Church before walking inside and killing 24 others, wounding 20 more. While leaving the church Kelley was confronted by two local men who had heard the gunfire. They pursued Kelley in a 95mph car chase until he ran himself off the road and took his own life. The autopsy released by the Travis County Medical Examiner's Office said Kelley was shot in the back and thigh but his cause of death was suicide from a single gunshot wound above his right ear. The autopsy, first reported on by San Antonio TV station KENS in June, also says toxicology tests detected marijuana, a tranquilizer, and prescription drugs usually used to treat anxiety in his system. Investigators have said the attack appeared to stem from a domestic dispute Kelley was having with his mother-in-law, a member of the church who was not present that day. One family that lost nine relatives during the mass shooting has sued the federal government, saying that even though Kelley was criminally convicted the military failed to enter the information into a database used to conduct background checks of gun buyers. Mourners are seen at a memorial just one day after the deadliest shooting in Texas history Jeremy Corbyn today said Labour could delay Brexit - as he repeated his vow to try to oust Theresa May and take over the crunch talks himself. The Labour leader said he would consider extending Article 50 - the mechanism which sets a two-year clock on the talks - if he moves into No10. And he also vowed to tear up the PM's Brexit plan and hated Irish backstop if he takes over the negotiations. But his comments risk infuriating Leave voters who are desperate for Britain to quit the Brussels bloc on March 29 next year. Speaking to Sky News while on a trip to Portugal today, Mr Corbyn was challenged over whether he realistically has the time to go back and start the talks from scratch. But he dismissed suggestions he is running out of time, saying: 'If we go into Government straight away we would start negotiating straight away. 'If it means holding things a bit longer to do it, of course.' The Labour leader (pictured today) said he would consider extending Article 50 - the mechanism which sets a two-year clock on the talks - if he moves into No10 'But the urgency would be to say look this is what we want to achieve - these are our objectives.' Asked directly by presenter Faisal Islam if he can 'see an argument for extending Article 50', Mr Corbyn replied: 'That is an a argument that may come up.' DUP tell ministers to abandon Brexit deal 'roadshow' and go back to Brussels for more talks The DUP warned ministers to abandon their Brexit deal roadshow today instead send Theresa May back to Brussels to renegotiate the deal before disaster in Tuesday's vote. Westminster leader Nigel Dodds said the divorce deal was 'fatally flawed' while it contained the backstop on the Irish border as David Lidington, Mrs May's deputy, visited Belfast to promote it. Around 30 ministers are stumping for the deal around the country today despite expectations it could be defeated by up to to 200 votes in an cataclysmic humiliation for the PM on Tuesday. Boris Johnson renewed his attack on the deal today, saying it was full of 'exquisite humiliations' and branding the backstop a 'diktat that might be imposed on a nation that has suffered a military defeat.' Mr Johnson is leading the revolt against the deal and has already moved to kill off a potential compromise amendment designed to create a series of votes on the backstop option in 2020. Senior ministers have demanded Mrs May come up with an 11th hour escape as she fights to avoid a catastrophic defeat of her deal on Tuesday night. More MPs were threatening to quit the Government over the deal today. Mike Wood was the latest to warn he would resign from his job as aide to Liam Fox without changes. Advertisement He said that Labour is 'ready to step in and negotiate properly', and he lashed the PM's controversial backstop. The PM's plan would keep the UK tied to the EU customs union and extra single market checks imposed on Northern Ireland. It has sparked the fury of Brexiteers, Remainers and the DUP - and looks set to torpedo her deal when it comes to the crunch vote next Tuesday. Mr Corbyn tried to seize on this fury - and insisted that he was on the DUP's side in being dead-set against the backstop. He said: 'They clearly dislike the backstop for a very good reason - yes you have an open border between the Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic. 'But if you then transfer that border to the Irish sea yo have created a border and a problem within the UK.' In a separate interview with Euronews, Mr Corbyn said under his plan 'there certainly wouldn't be a backstop from which you can't escape'. He added: 'We will have to come to an agreement on a customs union, a specific customs union with the European Union that does give us the opportunity to have a say in it all, but also guarantees that level of trade' He also later added: 'I wouldn't be interested in a deal that made the country poorer.' But he exposed deep splits in Labour on Brexit as he downplayed the chances of a second referendum - despite the clamour of many of his backbenchers to throw his full weight behind it immediately. He told Sky: 'I think people feel that if you simply go to everyone who voted in the referendum and say sorry you got it wrong, you have got to take the vote again, that's not reasonable and that is not sensible.' Mr Corbyn tried to swoop in on the chaos tearing the Tories apart ahead of the crunch vote on Mrs may deal on Tuesday. Theresa May (pictured in Maidenhead today) faced a new Brexit crisis today as the DUP and Tory rebels rejected an attempted compromise on the backstop out of hand Liz Truss (pictured trying their hand at making black pudding today) has backed the PM's deal despite a storm of opposition, including from any Tory MPs Tory chairman Brandon Lewis visits food company Heck today as he was dispatched by the PM to try to sell her Brexit deal Mrs May has sent 30 of her ministers to all four corners of the UK to desperately try to drum up support for her deal - even though a staggering 104 Tory MPs have indicated they will not back it. If they stick to this, they will deal her a humiliating and possibly mortal defeat. But in a fresh blow to the PM, the DUP - who are propping her up in No10 - urged her to scrap her Brexit deal roadshow today instead go back to Brussels to renegotiate. Westminster leader Nigel Dodds said the divorce deal was 'fatally flawed' while it contained the backstop on the Irish border as David Lidington, Mrs May's deputy, visited Belfast to promote it. Advertisement From images of war-torn Syria to stampeding wildebeest, the National Geographic Photo Contest winners photos have shown the world in all its incredible glory. While the images are stunning, many of them are sure to make people stand back and assess the damage which is being done upon the planet, whether that be two de-horned rhinos, mutilated in order to protect them from poachers, drinking at a waterhole, or a road running through Syria which show the true devastation of the war. The people category is also home to beautiful images of everyday life, including a picture of a man in his Sunday best and a heart-warming photo of baby enjoying a bath in a rubber duck inflatable. The places category includes great scenic shots, while the wildlife category includes a wonderful shot of oxen running through deep snow. The winning images were selected from nearly 10,000 entries, and winners took home between 580 and 3900 in prize money. This year's winning photo was from pilot Jassen Todorov. Flying high above the dessert he captured breathtaking scale and won the grand prize In the people category Mia Collis won first place for this photo. The photo 'Sunday best' was taken as Mia was looking to do a series of portraits showing people wearing their Sunday, when she made this photo of David Muyochokera on his last day working at his studio in Kibera, Nairobi Wildlife first place went to Pim Volkers for this stunning image. The photo is of of wildebeest crossing the Mara River in Tanzania This year's winning photo was from pilot Jassen Todorov. The pilot was flying over Apple Valley in California on a hot day in May when he snapped the winning image. Todorov is a concert violinist by trade and had decided to fly over the area after he had read news that recalled vehicles were being house at the Southern California Logistics airport. He said he was struck by the scale of the story and therefore had wanted to see the scene for himself. Todd Kennedy won second place in the people category for 'Roadside motel' which was taken on a family holiday driving from Sydney to Uluru Thunderbird in the dust: Nicholas Moir came second in the places category for this photo of a rusting Ford Thunderbird being blanketed by red dust from a supercell thunderstorm in Ralls, Texas Another notable image was 'Sunday best' by Mia Collis. The photo scooped first prize in the people category. Mia said she had been looking to do a series or portraits showing people wearing their Sunday best when she snapped the photo of David Muyochokera on his last Sunday working as a photographer at Weekend Studio in Kenya. Weekend Studio was about to close permanently and Mr Muyochokera had planned to retired and return home to the countryside. Mia said she had been troubled by the closure of the studio and had taken on the rent for the space. A portrait of David now hangs at Weekend Studio in his memory. Deep snow: Jonas Beyer won second place in the wildlife category for this shot of an ox running on a hillside in deep snow in Greenland Avishek Das won third place in the people category for this photo of a Hindu devotee kissing his newborn baby during the Charak Puja festival in West Bengal, India Road to ruin: Christian Werner scooped third place in the places category for this image of his road trip through Syria One of the more sobering photos to have won a prize was Christian Werner's photo of his road trip through Syria. He won third place in the places category for the photo. While on assignment for Der Spiegel, Werner made a road trip through Syria in order to document the situation in major cities across the country. He said he had been shocked when he first entered the Khalidiya district in Homs as he hadn't seen such large-scale destruction before. In order to take the image he had climbed up the ruins of a former house which had been full of improvised explosive devices and took the picture. A new look: Alison Langevard won third place for wildlife with this image of two southern white rhinoceroses drinking from a watering hole in South Africas Zimanga Game Reserve Police in Tennessee say a woman and her baby fell 20 feet (6 meters) into a storm drain and were underground for more than 30 minutes. Clarksville police tell news outlets the two were rescued Thursday night. Police spokesman Jim Knoll says the woman was walking through a parking lot carrying her baby when the storm grate she went across collapsed. Police say a passerby heard the baby crying, but couldn't see them and called 911. Emergency responders rescue a woman and her baby trapped in a storm drain in a parking lot in Clarksville, Tennessee The storm drain that opened up underneath the feet of a woman and her baby, seen here, is 20 feet deep and dry at the bottom First responders entered the drain via a separate entrance at 7:15pm in the evening in order to reach the two falling victims, WKRN reported. A helicopter took the woman to a hospital, but she was conscious and had no visible signs of serious injury. An ambulance took the baby, who had a cut but didn't appear to have life-threatening injuries. The drain's basin was dry, and police aren't sure why the grate gave way. The parking lot drain the woman and baby were extricated from is on the property of Rossview High School in Clarksville, Tennessee According to FOX-17 in Nashville, the incident took place on the grounds of Rossview High School in Clarksville. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the woman and child involved in this accident on the Rossview High campus,' The Clarksville-Montgomery County School System said in a statement to FOX-17. 'We are grateful for the quick actions of the emergency responders and our school administrators and personnel.' 'The district is investigating the cause of the accident,' the statement continues. 'Safety is always our top priority, and while there are things beyond our control, we are committed to doing everything within our power to ensure our campuses are safe.' Police should not take action against crime victims they suspect of being illegal immigrants, according to national guidance for forces. The policy has been agreed by chief officers amid 'heightened interest' after the Windrush scandal. It states that where a person reporting a crime is also identified, potentially, as a person without leave to remain or to enter the UK, the 'fundamental principle' must be to 'first and foremost' treat them as a victim. Police will not take action in relation to any suspected immigration breaches, should someone be a crime victim - according to the new policy 'Where police are investigating a crime, and during that investigation, whether on the initial report or subsequently, it becomes apparent that the victim is also suspected of being an illegal immigrant, it is wholly appropriate that the officer in the case should contact Immigration Enforcement at the appropriate juncture, whilst ensuring they are also treated as a victim,' a paper setting out the approach says. 'The police will share that information with Immigration Enforcement, but will not take any enforcement action in relation to any suspected immigration breaches.' It is accepted that investigators may carry out Police National Computer or other intelligence checks on a victim, according to the document, titled Information Exchange Regarding Victims Of Crime With No Leave To Remain. But it makes clear that a PNC check 'must not be carried out solely to establish if the victim has breached immigration legislation'. The paper adds: 'This issue is of heightened interest post-Windrush, with police forces receiving FOI (Freedom of Information) inquiries regarding their information exchange with Immigration Enforcement which highlight the potentially inconsistent response.' The policy - details of which were reported by the Guardian - has been drawn up after police faced criticism for sharing information about crime victims with immigration authorities. In May, the BBC reported that more than half of forces referred victims and witnesses to the Home Office for immigration enforcement. Amber Rudd (pictured) resigned in the wake of the Windrush scandal, which has now led to a new policy on crime victims suspected of being illegal immigrants Chief Constable Shaun Sawyer, the National Police Chiefs' Council lead for immigration crime, said: 'We have recently set out a clear position on exchanging information about victims of crime with Immigration Enforcement to encourage a consistent approach across the country. 'Chief constables have endorsed this position and are amending local policies accordingly. 'When someone reports a crime, police will always, first and foremost, treat them as a victim.' He said there are occasions when officers will need to carry out police database checks on people involved in reporting a crime, such as to inform decisions on how best to protect a victim or to help progress an investigation. 'Police will never check a database only to establish a victim's immigration status,' Mr Sawyer added. 'If an officer becomes aware that a victim of crime is suspected of being an illegal immigrant, it is right that they should raise this with Immigration Enforcement officers and not take any immigration enforcement action themselves. 'Throughout, the police should treat them as a victim of crime. 'The police priority is to protect victims and investigate crime, and we are extremely careful about doing anything to deter victims from reporting to us.' Corey Stoughton, advocacy director at campaign organisation Liberty, said: 'We have repeatedly raised our concerns about this practice of sharing a victim's data with the Home Office and we are pleased the NPCC is finally addressing it. 'This inherently biased practice actively discourages victims and witnesses of crimes coming forward, leaving criminals to continue committing crimes with near impunity and victims with no recourse to justice.' She said the issue will persist unless there is a 'complete firewall' between police and the Home Office. President Trump claimed Friday that the U.S. could replenish the funds he wants to appropriate to his border wall in a single month, if lawmakers would only give him the money he's demanding. 'We're talking about a wall for 20 billion, 15 billion. I could even do it cheaper if I have to, and it'll be better than anybody's ever seen a wall,' Trump claimed in a Kansas City speech to law enforcement. 'Think of that. You're talking about hundreds of billions of dollars, and you're talking about a fraction. You'd make it up in a month a month! by having a proper wall.' Trump had previously claimed that the wall would pay for itself in two months. He has also said that he can finish the border barrier with a $5 billion allotment, dramatically decreasing earlier estimates of what it would take to complete construction. President Trump claimed Friday that the U.S. could replenish the funds he wants to appropriate to his border wall in a single month, if lawmakers would only give him the money he's demanding In Kansas City, he claimed that border patrol can easily 'handle' illegal immigrant traffic, yet said a wall continues to be necessary. 'You see what's happening. You see where they're surging, and our great people are able to easily handle it. Without the wall it gets tougher, but you know what? They still handle it,' he said. The president declared illegal immigration 'a threat' to every American community that is 'overwhelming public resources and draining the federal treasury. 'Congress must fully fund border security in the year-ending funding bill. We have to get this done. They're playing games. They're playing political games,' he proclaimed. 'I actually think the politics of what they're doing is very bad for them, but we're going to very soon find out.' Mocking the political prognosticators who said he wouldn't win the Oval Office, Trump boasted to his audience: 'Maybe I'm not right. But usually I'm right. Like, I said, "I'm going to win for president." And some people said that won't happen, and guess what? Look who's up here now, folks?' Trump will meet next week with Democratic leaders to hash out a deal that could prevent a partial government shutdown four days before Christmas. The meeting with Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the top Democrats in their respective chambers, was delayed from this week after the passing of George H.W. Bush. It has been rescheduled for 11:30 am on Tuesday, a source familiar with the talks confirmed. Legislators in the House and the Senate passed a short-term bill to keep the engines running beyond Friday, when federal funding for some agencies was scheduled to run out. The Senate approved the delay by a voice vote on Thursday, following in the footsteps of the House, which had passed the measure hours before. Trump signed it before a Friday deadline, avoiding a fiscal plunge. Trump has signaled that he'll go to great lengths to get the funding he desires for his border wall, having repeatedly threatened to close the nation's southern border. He contended Friday that video footage and doesn't show just how dangerous some of the illegal immigrants are who the administration says are storming the border. 'I know every trick. They'll put women and children in the front row, and they'll have those cameras nice and low. So, number one, it doesn't look like a big crowd. And number two, all you see is women and children,' Trump claimed. He said, 'And they say you're such bad people. I'm such a bad person. But behind that front couple of rows, you got some tough, tough people.' Trump also accused 'radical activists' of 'smearing and slandering our police' at the conference. 'We will not tolerate attacks on the heroes who protect our streets and defend our communities. We will not allow it to happen,' he told a cheering crowd. He told attendees of the DOJ-sponsored gathering that he is not afraid to say 'cop killers' deserve the death penalty. 'For me it's not even a little bit controversial,' he said. 'You kill a cop, and it's called the death penalty, OK?' The meeting with Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the top Democrats in their respective chambers, delayed from this week after the passing of George H.W. Bush The White House announced while Trump was in the air on his way to Missouri that he had approved the two-week extension that lawmakers sent him on Thursday to keep the government open until Dec. 21. It effectively moved the border showdown to four days before Christmas, leaving room for the possibility that federal workers could be furloughed over the holiday. Trump has not committed himself to a veto if the final fiscal year row ends without a provision for his border wall. He has merely said that he'd be willing to oversee his second shut down since taking office to get Congress to write him a check. Schumer and Pelosi are refusing to wrangle votes for any agreement that provides funding for Trump's border wall. The best that Trump can hope for, Schumer says, is $1.6 billion in spending that he could put toward fencing and could not be used for any other type of border barrier. He says Trump could otherwise accept a continuing resolution that appropriates $1.3 billion toward border security spending for the current fiscal year. If he doesn't want a shutdown, those are his only options. Trump told Democrats they could fund his wall or grapple with a shut down of the border on Monday morning as he picked a immigration fight, despite the late President Bush's passing. He took another swat at the opposing party on Tuesday in a tweet that claimed $250 billion in border security spending could be erased if they would only spend $25 billion to do it his way, which would include completing his border structure. 'Pays for itself in two months,' he declared in a tweet. Trump pressured Democrats to fund his wall or grapple with a shut down of the border on Monday morning as he revived his immigration demands, despite the former president's passing As Bush's body was headed to Washington to lie in state in the U.S. Capitol, the sitting president whacked Democrats and put new pressure on legislators to give him the $5 billion he needs to complete the structure It's not just Democrats in the Senate who are uncomfortable with satiating Trump's border wall hunger. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican, told CQ this week that she's not convinced Trump's wall is necessary. 'I haven't heard anything other than that's what the president wants,' she stated. GOP leaders were not expected to attend the negotiating session with Trump at the White House next week, leaving the president to do his own bidding. A House Republican source told DailyMail.com that the caucus would support the measure that is already a part of the lower chamber's Homeland Security appropriations bill. 'How members in the Senate vote is entirely up to them,' the person said. Pelosi forcefully slapped down a proposal on Thursday to bring more of her members into the fold by trading the border wall for illegal immigrants who were brought to the United States as children. 'They're two different subjects,' she said. 'I think what we can do, that makes sense, is to pass six bills where the members of the Appropriations Committee have come to terms. You heard me say it over and over, left to their own devices, the appropriators can come to a good conclusion, and then have a [continuing resolution] only for Homeland Security as we go forward. And that's pretty much what our position is now.' A proposal in Washington for a possible 'wall-for-DACA' deal, where the president would agree to package $5 billion in wall funding with a plan to give legal status to more than 1 million people who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children, died on Thursday with Pelosi's firm rejection of the possible package. Trump last year formally invalidated the Obama-era program that spared that large group of non-citizens from deportation, but court rulings have tied his hands and the temporary amnesty has continued. In the Senate, the president needs nine Democrats to cross party lines, assuming every Republican lends their support to his border wall demand, in order to overcome a filibuster. His antics have not spooked Schumer, who last week said that Trump was free to throw a 'temper tantrum' and force a shut down if he wants, although he would advise against it. The president wants $5 billion for border wall construction between the U.S. and Mexico Republicans fear being blamed for a future shutdown, and they are feeling pressure to finalize a budget agreement before Christmas. The next Congress will likely convene at noon on January 3, at which point Democrats will have more negotiating power. The president has said he's more than willing to let funding for his cabinet agencies expire, calling it a political winner for the GOP. 'We need border security in this country, and if that means a shutdown I would totally be willing to shut it down,' he said last Wednesday. 'And I think it's a really bad issue for the Democrats.' The Trump administration has released its formal plan to change the H-1B visa lottery so that the process for granting temporary work permits will favor applicants with advanced degrees from American institutions. The U.S. only grants 85,000 H-1B visas a year to temporarily employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that require specialized knowledge or training. Currently, the process allows applicants with a master's degree or higher from an American university or college to first apply for one of 20,000 advanced-degree H-1B visas. Any applicants who aren't selected then become part of the general pool of applicants vying for a shot at the remaining 65,000 slots each year. Donald Trump, center, displays a signed executive order during an April 2017 event in Kenosha, Wisconsin, where he signed an executive order pushing for the U.S. government to 'Buy American and Hire American' Under the proposed rule change, published this week in the Federal Register, the Trump administration would invert that process to allow all applicants to first compete for 65,000 slots. Then any advanced degree holders who weren't selected would compete for the other 20,000 H-1B visas. Officials from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said the goal is to increase the number of H-1B recipients with a Master's degree or higher from American institutions and that the change is expected to boost those numbers by 16 percent. 'Those seeking to obtain immigration benefits and work in the U.S. should succeed on merits of skill, ability, education, and potential contributions to American society, not a random and uncertain process,' USCIS spokesman Michael J Bars said in a statement. 'These proposed regulatory changes would help ensure more of the best and brightest workers from around the world come to America.' H-1B visas allow people to work in the country for three years and can be renewed for another three years. Leaders in the tech industry have maintained the program is indispensable in getting the right talent into their companies. The Trump administration's proposed change to H-1B visa rules would favor applicants who have a Master's degree or higher from American institutions Trump has sought to reduce the number of low-wage immigrant workers in America, as the administration believes those people cause the most harm to lower-earning U.S. workers by taking their jobs. The rule change would also streamline the registration process for H-1B applicants by moving it online, at a cost of nearly $280,000 in the first year. USCIS officials said modernizing the process will save applicants money and improve government efficiency. The rule change follows Trump's April 2017 executive order known as 'Buy American and Hire American,' which instructed the Department of Homeland Security to 'propose new rules and issue guidance' to protect the interests of U.S. workers. The public may comment on the proposed rule change through January 2, 2019. Advertisement About 20 survivors have gathered at Pearl Harbor to pay tribute to the thousands of men lost in the Japanese attack 77 years ago. The youngest of the veterans to gather for the ceremony on Friday in Hawaii are in their mid-90s. The Navy and National Park Service jointly hosted the remembrance ceremony at a grassy site overlooking the water and the USS Arizona Memorial. Attendees observed a moment of silence at 7.55am, the time the attack began on December 7, 1941. Hawaii Air National Guard F-22 jets flew overhead in 'missing man formation' to break the silence. Slide me The site of the sinking of the USS Arizona is seen left on December 7, 1941, and right on Friday as the USS Michael Murphy passes by the memorial during a ceremony to honor the thousands of lives lost at Pearl Harbor Everett Hyland, seated, who survived the attack on Pearl Harbor as a crew member of the USS Pennsylvania, salutes along with his granddaughter, Navy Cmdr. Anna-Marie Fine on Friday as the USS Michael Murphy passes in Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor survivors salute during the National Anthem at a ceremony in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on Friday Tom Berg, left, of Port Townsend, Wash., Robert Fernandez, center, of Stockton, Calif., and George Keene of Newhall, Calif., all survivors of the 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, take part in the 77th anniversary ceremony on Friday U.S. Indo-Pacific Command Commander Adm. Phil Davidson told those gathered the nation can never forget the heavy price paid with 21 vessels damaged or sunk, 170 planes destroyed and more than 2,400 killed including servicemen and civilians. He says these losses did not break the American spirit but charged it. For the first time, no survivor from the USS Arizona attended the ceremony as none of the five surviving men were able to make the trip to Hawaii. The Arizona sank after two bombs hit the ship, triggering tremendous explosions. The Arizona lost 1,177 sailors and Marines, the greatest number of casualties from any ship. Most remain entombed in the sunken hull of the battleship at the bottom of the harbor. Smoke rises from the battleship USS Arizona as it sinks during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, on December 7, 1941 The destroyer USS Shaw explodes after being hit by bombs during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 Altogether, the Pearl Harbor attack killed nearly 2,400 U.S. servicemen. Survivor John Mathrursse attended the ceremony on Friday from Mountain View, California. He was an 18-year-old seaman second class walking out of the chow hall on Ford Island to see a friend on the USS West Virginia when the bombing began. He says bombs and shells were going off in the water and men were getting hurt. He says he helped the ones who were too injured to swim. He carried them to the mess hall and set them on mattresses that people grabbed from the barracks above. Also attending was Robert Fernandez, now 94-years old. He says he returns to Pearl Harbor for the anniversary because he's now all alone after his wife died four years ago. Sailors stand among wrecked airplanes at Ford Island Naval Air Station as they watch the explosion of the USS Shaw A patrol bomber burns at a military installation on Oahu's Kaneohe Bay during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii Thousands of miles away, in New York City, a memorial ceremony was also held aboard the decommissioned WWII aircraft carrier USS Intrepid, which is now a museum. At 11am, Pearl Harbor survivors participated in a wreath-laying ceremony on the deck of the Intrepid. A bag piper played during the ceremony as a cold December wind blew off the Hudson river. Survivor Armando 'Chick' Galella, 97, then gave remarks to the crowd. 'We had no weapons because they were locked up and my sergeant wouldn't open up the supply room, because he didn't get orders from his captain,' said Galella, CBS New York reported. 'I said, 'Are you off your mind? Don't you see what's happening here?' 'I wish people would understand that, I'm not a hero,' he said. 'I'm a survivor of the war, most veterans will tell you that. I'm a survivor, all your heroes have white crosses, they're your real heroes. Not me.' Rev. James Blakely, another Pearl Harbor survivor who attended the ceremony on the Intrepid, said that younger generations must learn about and honor the sacrifices so many have made. It was the saddest moment of my life, he said of the attack in 1941. A bagpipe player plays at a wreath ceremony Friday on the USS Intrepid in New York to mark the the attack on Pearl Harbor Local Pearl Harbor survivors Armando 'Chick' Galella, 97, (left) and Reverend James Blakely, 99, throw a wreath off of the USS Intrepid at an event marking the 77th Anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor on Friday in New York City Galella speaks at an event on the USS Intrepid in New York to mark the 77th Anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor Dozens of those killed have been recently identified and reburied in cemeteries across the country after the military launched a new effort to analyze bones and DNA of hundreds long classified as 'unknowns.' This led to the 2015 exhumation of 388 sets of remains from the USS Oklahoma buried in a national cemetery in Honolulu. The Oklahoma had the second highest number of dead after the Arizona at 429, though only 35 were identified in the immediate years after the attack. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency has identified 168 sailors and Marines from the Oklahoma since the exhumations three years ago. It has said it expects to identify about 80 percent of the 388 by 2020. Several families were scheduled to rebury their newly identified loved ones on Friday, including Navy Seaman 1st Class William Bruesewitz of Appleton, Wisconsin. He's expected to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C. President Donald Trump insulted his own former secretary of state Rex Tillerson as 'dumb' and 'lazy' hours after the former diplomat revealed he considered Trump an impulsive force with no conception of how he was constrained by law or treaty. Trump weighed in hours after clips circulated of Tillerson sharing his apparent criticisms and reservations about the man he served for a year as secretary of state. Tillerson had called his former boss 'undisciplined' and said he didn't even like to read his briefing books before issuing pronouncements. 'Mike Pompeo is doing a great job, I am very proud of him,' Trump countered on twitter, mentioning Tillerson's successor before tearing into the wealthy former oil CEO. 'His predecessor, Rex Tillerson, didnt have the mental capacity needed. He was dumb as a rock and I couldnt get rid of him fast enough. He was lazy as hell. Now it is a whole new ballgame, great spirit at State!' he concluded. Tillerson had described President Trump in an interview as someone almost entirely driven by impulse, who doesn't read, and who would ask him to break the law or breach treaties in his demands for immediate action. Tillerson, who was pushed out nearly 9 months ago, called Trump 'undisciplined' and said the two men don't share the same 'value system.' The former oil man got an engineering degree at the University of Texas at Austin, joining Exxon in 1975 and rising to run the company and bank millions upon his resignation to join the Trump White House. Scroll Down For Video Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson described President Trump in an interview as someone almost entirely driven by impulse in his first public remarks since being forced out of his post. Tillerson made his comments at a charity interview in Houston with CBS News' Bob Schieffer The way it is" Trump tweeted his scathing assessment of his own hire after addressing a law enforcement conference in Kansas City, Missouri The way it was: Rex Tillerson was sworn in on February 1, 2017, by Mike Pence, with Trump and the new secretary of state's wife Renda St. Clair watching happily When veteran TV host Bob Scheiffer asked him a pair of questions at a fundraiser for the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, he laid into his former boss, who had put Tillerson through the humiliation of an extended departure after he had lost patience with him. He was dumb as a rock and I couldnt get rid of him fast enough. He was lazy as hell. - President Donald Trump 'It was challenging for me coming from the disciplined, highly process-oriented Exxon Mobile corporation to go to work for a man who's pretty undisciplined, doesn't like to read, doesn't read briefing reports, doesn't like to get into the details of a lot of things but rather just kind of says look this is just what I believe and you can try to convince me otherwise but most of the time you're not going to do that. 'I had never met Donald Trump until the day he asked me to be secretary of state. He acts on his instincts. In some respects that looks like impulsiveness. But it's not his intent to at on impulse. I think he really is trying to act on his instincts,' said Tillerson. He continued: 'We are starkly different in our styles. We did not have a common value system. When the president would say, "Well here's what I want to do and here's how I want to do it," Tillerson explained. 'And I'd have to say to him, "Well Mr. President, I understand what you want to do but you can't do it that way. It violates the law. it violates a treaty.' He got really frustrated. I didn't know how to conduct my affairs with him any other way than in a very straightforward fashion.' 'I think he grew tired of me being the guy every day that told him you can't do that and lets talk about what we can do,' he said. After an extended answer, Schieffer responded: 'That's very very interesting,' prompting laughs from the crowd. 'Well it is,' he defended himself. In other remarks, Tillerson said at times, 'If that's what you want to do, there's nothing wrong with that. I told him I'm ready to go up there and fight the fight, if that's what you want to do,' the Houston Chronicle reported. He also revealed he is no fan of the president's favorite social media platform, Twitter, which often threw him to explain new policy ideas on North Korea or other hot topics during his tenure. 'I will be honest with you, it troubles me that the American people seem to want to know so little about issues, that they are satisfied with a 128 characters," he said "I don't want that to come across as a criticism of him," Tillerson added. "It's really a concern that I have about us as Americans and us as a society and us as citizens" Tillerson, who was pushed out after Trump repeatedly goaded him on Twitter, got fired about nine months ago when chief of staff John Kelly to break the news. Kelly told reporters in an off-record event that got leaked that Tillerson was suffering from a stomach bug on a trip to Africa at the time and was on the toilet. The disclosure was taken as yet another slight. 'Dumb as a rock' is one of the president's go-to sleights. He has also applied it on Twitter over time to MSNBC host Joe Scarborough and CNN host Don Lemon. Other media or political figures to earn the swipe include Jay Leno, Jeb Bush, Glenn Beck, Chris Mathews, and Mika Brzezinski. Trump tweeted Feb. 2, 2017: 'Congratulations to Rex Tillerson on being sworn in as our new Secretary of State. He will be a star!' Less than six months later, however, Tillerson was in trouble for calling the president a 'moron' following a meeting with military brass in which he reportedly talked about a desire to dramatically increase the size of America's nuclear arsenal. A later version of events said he had called Trump a 'f***ing moron'. Earlier Friday, Trump made revealing comments about his views of loyalty and performance while praising Missouri Senator-elect Josh Hawley, whom he praised. 'In life you never know. You pick somebody, looks good, sounds good, think he's smart. And then they choke. They choke like dogs. And you say, "What did I do, I picked the wrong person." Well we saw a lot about Josh and we thought he'd be great. And I'll tell you he had a tough race against a very tough competitor,' Trump said. Trump issued several tweets about Tillerson while he was in office, sometimes putting heat on him, other times backing him up. 'The media has been speculating that I fired Rex Tillerson or that he would be leaving soon - FAKE NEWS! Hes not leaving and while we disagree on certain subjects, (I call the final shots) we work well together and America is highly respected again!' Trump wrote last December. In a famous missive from October, he wrote: 'I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man,' a reference to North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. A man accused of strangling a Playboy model in one of Philadelphia's affluent suburbs over the summer has pleaded not guilty to murder charges at his formal arraignment. Jonathan Harris, 31, appeared in a Montgomery County courtroom on Friday over the August killing of Christina Carlin-Kraft. Prosecutors announced that after reviewing the case and the law, and speaking to Carlin-Kraft's family, they have decided to not seek the death penalty at trial, the Pottstown Mercury reported. Scroll down for video Jonathan Harris, 31 (pictured in court Friday) pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder in the August strangulation death of Playboy model Christina Carlin-Kraft Harris (left) is accused of killing Carlin-Kraft (right) after drinking and having sex with her The model's body was found in her bloodstained bedroom inside her apartment in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, in August 2018 Officials have said Carlin-Kraft, 36, took a ride-hailing service to Philadelphia, met 31-year-old Harris and the two later returned to her new Ardmore apartment. Carlin-Kraft's body was found in her bloodstained bedroom that evening after police went to check on her welfare. An autopsy indicated that her nose was fractured and she died of ligature strangulation. A detective testified in October that Harris told him he intended to sell Carlin-Kraft an ounce of cocaine for $1,200, but she refused to pay and a fight ensued. Harris said he and the model had consensual sex and drank several bottles of wine before the altercation, in which Carlin-Kraft hit him with a glass bottle and he slapped her, repeatedly punched her and tied her up when she tried to flee. He gave her a phone when she asked to call her dad, he said, but he started to choke her when she tried to call 911. Harris is thought to be the man who was filmed entering the victim's home hours before she was found dead (left). He told a detective the model refused to pay him for cocaine, which led to a violent fight When she stopped screaming he fled, he said, taking some clothing, taking the cocaine and jumping over the balcony. He told police he thought she was alive. 'I panicked and was scared. I didn't know what to do,' Harris said in a statement that was read in court by Montgomery County Detective Todd Richard, who interviewed the suspect. Authorities said a tipster pointed them to the defendant after surveillance images were released. The tipster said Harris had indicated in text messages that he had just met a woman and was at her Ardmore residence early on August 22. According to police, Harris sent a text to a friend saying: 'I just met this sexy a** white b**** at her house in Ardmore now.' Harris's trial is scheduled for May 6. If convicted of first-degree murder, he would face a life sentence. Carlin-Kraft's modeling profile lists photo shoots for Vanity Fair, Victoria's Secret, Playboy and Maxim. Four people have been arrested after a priceless diamond tiara described as a 'national treasure' was stolen from a historic country estate. Thieves entered the The Welbeck Estate in Sherwood Forest, Worksop, Nottinghamshire between 9.45pm and 10pm on November 20. During the daring heist, the offenders fled with The Portland Tiara, which was commissioned for King Edward VII's coronation. Three men aged 46, 38 and 33 and a 30-year-old woman have now been arrested on suspicion of burglary following police raids in Carlton, Cinderhill and Bulwell. However, the jewels have not yet been found and officers are still trying to recover the Portland Tiara and brooch. Detective Inspector Gayle Hart said: 'This case has involved multiple lines of inquiry and we're continuing to work hard on the case to secure justice for the victims. 'The stolen property hasn't been recovered and we still want to hear from anyone who knows where the items might be.' Police believe a stolen silver Audi RS5 Quattro - registration KY61 USJ - was involved in the burglary. Ms Hart added: 'It was stolen from the Phoenix Park park and ride tram stop, Millennium Way East, Cinderhill, Nottingham, on Friday 2 November 2018. It was found abandoned and burnt out in Cross Lane, Blidworth, about half an hour after the burglary. 'Did you see this car in the area around the time of the burglary or have dashcam footage of it? Did you see anyone in the car? 'We're keen to trace this vehicle's movements before the burglary so encourage anyone who saw it or who has any information to get in touch with us as soon as possible.' Police earlier released dramatic CCTV of the moment a gang of audacious burglars broke into a historic estate before stealing a diamond-encrusted tiara worth millions. This is the dramatic moment thieves wearing boiler suits broke into The Welbeck Estate in Sherwood Forest, Worksop, Nottinghamshire and cut their way into a room containing a priceless collection of jewellery The thieves escaped in this Audi RS5 Quattro with a number plate KY61 USJ Security footage captured the gang -wearing boiler suits and crash helmets - using power tools and metal bars to break their way into the Portland Collection Gallery. Sparks can be seen flying as they cut their way into the premises before fleeing the scene in a silver Audi RS5 Quattro having also snatched a diamond brooch. Nottinghamshire Police today released the footage and an image of the car, with the registration KY61 USJ, in a bid to track down the suspects. Detective Inspector Gayle Hart said: 'Our enquiries are ongoing and we're making a plea to potential witnesses. 'The suspects were wearing white suits and motorcycle helmets but we're still hoping someone may know who they are and we're urging anyone with any information to get in touch with us. Among the items stolen from the Welbeck Estate was this diamond brooch The Portland tiara, pictured, was also taken in the raid. It is considered one of the 'great historic tiaras of Great Britain' 'We're also urging anyone who has any information about the silver Audi RS5 to contact us. 'Did you see this car in the area around the time of the burglary or have dash-cam footage of it? Did you see anyone in the car? 'We're keen to trace this vehicle's movements preceding the burglary so again we're appealing to anyone who saw it or who has any information to get in touch with us as soon as possible. 'We believe the burglars used specialist diamond cutter-type tools to break through the armoured glass display case. 'If anyone has information about people hiring or sourcing such equipment then we'd urge them to get in touch.' The Portland tiara is considered one of the 'great historic tiaras of Great Britain' after the Duke of Portland commissioned jewellers Cartier to make it in 1902. Richard Edgcumbe, Curator of Jewellery at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, said: 'The Portland Tiara is one of the great historic tiaras of Great Britain. The raiders used specialised equipment to break into the collection 'Since its creation by Cartier in 1902, using diamonds from the historic collections of the Dukes of Portland, it has been recognised as a jewel of supreme importance, a superb design magnificently executed.' The 6th Duke of Portland commissioned Cartier to create the Portland Tiara for his wife, Winifred, Duchess of Portland. She wore it to the 1902 coronation of King Edward VII. The Duchess was one of four pall-bearers at Queen Alexandra's anointing. The centre-piece of the tiara is the Portland Diamond, which dates from the 19th century. It is flanked by two diamond drops and other pendant diamonds, all set in gold and silver. The brooch is composed of diamond clusters that previously stood at the apex of the tiara. These gems can be seen on the tiara in a painting of Duchess Winifred at the anointing of Queen Alexandra. James Lewis, of Bamfords auctioneers in Derby, said previously: 'It could be worth millions - but it is such a well-known piece it can't come up for public sale. 'The most horrendous thought is it could be something called a 'breaker', where the diamonds are taken out and sold individually.' An Indiana man has pleaded guilty to raping and killing an eight-year-old girl from Fort Wayne, 30 years ago. John D. Miller of Grabill, Allen County, pleaded guilty on Friday, to murder and child molestation charges in the cold case of April Tinsley who was abducted in 1988. Miller was arrested in July and had been scheduled to stand trial in February, but he's now due to be sentenced December 31 in Allen County Superior Court. A DNA profile that detectives had uploaded to a genealogy website led them to Miller who was living in a trailer park in Grabill, just northeast of Fort Wayne. Investigators also pulled out used condoms containing DNA evidence from Miller's trash in July. Courtesy of WANE John D. Miller of Grabill, Allen County, Indiana pleaded guilty on Friday, to murder and child molestation charges in the cold case of April Tinsley who was abducted in 1988 They were tested and police said showed a match to DNA found on April's body along with evidence recovered in 2004 from notes Miller had left taunting police. April was abducted on April 1, 1988 from her Fort Wayne neighborhood. Her body was found three days later in a ditch about 20 miles away. She had been sexually assaulted and strangled. One of her shoes was found 1,000 feet from her body. April had been playing with friends outside when she told them she'd left her umbrella at one of their houses. She said she would collect it and come back. She never did. A witness at the time told police that a man in his 30s had yelled at April from a blue pickup truck and then pulled her inside. Miller left anonymous messages in 1990 on a barn and in 2004 attached to girl's bikes outside homes in Fort Wayne Police said Miller began taunting them in 1990 when officers were called to a barn where they found a note left by him that read, 'I kill 8 year old April M Tinsley, did you find her other shoe haha I will kill agin (sic),' as reported by NBC. In 2004 more messages, in bags, containing used condoms, subsequently tested for DNA, were left on girls bikes outside homes in Fort Wayne, police said. When Fort Wayne detectives found Miller in July and asked if he knew why they were there, Miller said, 'April Tinsley,' according to the affidavit. Police say Miller admitted to the murder and rape of April, telling them he abducted her from her Fort Wayne neighborhood on April 1, 1988. A plea agreement calls for 59-year-old Miller to serve 80 years in prison. The cold case had received nationwide attention and featured twice on the television program 'America's Most Wanted' A high school senior in Oregon has died after falling out of his wheelchair during a gym class at school. Gabriel Owens, 17, was taken to the hospital on Tuesday following his fall at Century High School in Hillsboro, where he passed away. He was participating in an adaptive physical education class with his peers enrolled in the Life Skills special needs program, the school announced in letter posted to its website. 'Gabe was a very special person who was well-known and liked by our students and staff,' Principal Martha Guise wrote. 'We are all grieving his loss and will need to support one another through this difficult time.' No information is available at this time about a memorial service or the needs of Gabe's family. Oregon high school senior Gabriel Owens, 17, has died after falling out of his wheelchair during a gym class at school. He was alert at first but grew worse, and then passed away at the hospital 'Our thoughts and deepest sympathies go out to Gabes family and friends,' Guise wrote in an email. At first, Gabe was alert and communicating after the fall, but his condition took a turn for the worse while still at the school, before heading to the hospital. The school described what happened as 'a medical incident' after the fall, from which Gabe did not survive. The school district let students know on Wednesday that some information about what happened to Gabe may not be possible to share. 'Any death presents us with questions that we may not be able to answer right away. Rumors may begin to circulate, and we ask that you not spread rumors you may hear,' the district said. 'We'll do our best to give you accurate information as it becomes known to us, but in situations where people's private medical information is involved, we may not be able to provide more details.' The school brought in a specially-trained group of counselors known as the Flight Team to provide additional support as the announcement of Gabe's passing was made in first and second period classes on Wednesday. 'Some of you may not have known Gabe very well and may not be as affected, while others may experience a great deal of shock, sadness, anxiety and anger,' school district officials wrote in a separate email to students. 'Some of you may find youre having difficulty concentrating on your schoolwork, and others may find that diving into your work is a good distraction. We have counselors in our building today to help anyone who needs support.' The counselors had been available for students beginning on Wednesday. 'Our primary concern is the health, well-being and safety of our students,' Guise wrote. The Uranus Examiner, a small Missouri newspaper whose name inspired chuckles and groans when it launched a few months ago, is closing. The paper's editors announced the end of publication Friday, after publishing just five editions since September. In statements posted on Facebook, Managing Editor Natalie Sanders and Louie Keen, the paper's owner and publisher, blamed a judgmental "Fuddy Duddy Squad" for the Examiner's demise. Many have said the name befits the namesake town on Route 66, which consists of just 25 people and a handful of kitschy businesses A small tourist town in Missouri announced its new newspaper on Wednesday, with the proposed name The Uranus Examiner eliciting a range of reactions from giggles to groan They said many people supported the paper but banks declined to loan it money and many businesses wouldn't advertise in it, in part because Keen once owned a strip club. Uranus is an unincorporated tourist spot along historic Route 66 and is known for quirky attractions, including a fudge shop and the world's largest belt buckle. The decision leaves Pulaski County with no newspaper. Sleeping peacefully in her mothers arms, this is the little girl whose birth gives hope to thousands of childless women. Luisa Santoss mother, Fabiana, had no womb until she received one from a dead woman in a pioneering transplant operation in Brazil. In a world exclusive interview, she tells the Mail of the heartache, fear and finally joy when her impossible dream of childbirth came true. Luisa is our little miracle, she says. Spurred on by the breakthrough, UK surgeons are planning the first womb transplants here early next year. Luisas delivery last December weighing 5lb 10oz proved the procedure can be carried out safely using a dead donors womb giving doctors the confidence to replicate the process. At least 15,000 women in Britain of childbearing age were born without a womb or have had it removed due to cancer or other illness. The birth of Luisa (centre) - performed in a Brazilian hospital - paves the way for British surgeons to replicate the pioneering procedure within a matter of weeks. She is pictured here with her parents Fabiana Amorim de Lima and Claudio Santos British surgeons have ethical approval from the NHS for 15 transplants five using wombs from live donors and ten from dead women. Until now they had planned to primarily focus on live donors, because no transplant had ever succeeded using a womb from a dead woman. Richard Smith, consultant gynaecologist at Queen Charlottes and Chelsea Hospital in London, who is leading the British team, said: The UK womb transplant research team is delighted with the news from Brazil. This is another first and further proof that womb transplants using organs from live donors and from donors who have just died are a real option for some of the many, many women who do not have a viable womb. Preparations are in the final stages and we hope we can replicate this latest success in the not too distant future. The first transplant is likely to be done using a live donor, as it will be easier to schedule the timing of the operation. But a transplant from a dead donor will follow when one with a viable womb becomes available. The details of how the Brazilian team carried out the 11-hour operation in 2016 were published in full in The Lancet medical journal this week. Luisas (pictured) delivery last December weighing 5lb 10oz proved the procedure can be carried out safely using a dead donors womb giving doctors the confidence to replicate the process It was a major undertaking, performed against the clock to make sure the womb was implanted before it began to die. While surgeons removed organs from the dead donor, another team started to prepare Luisas mother for her new womb a procedure which itself took two hours dissecting blood vessels and creating space in the tissue of her abdomen. The womb was then lowered into her body and connected to her veins and arteries, ligaments and vaginal canal. Each vessel had to be carefully stitched to the new womb. After surgery, she was in intensive care for two days, then spent six days recovering on a ward. Ten previous attempts, in the US, Czech Republic and Turkey, to transplant a womb from a dead donor ended in failure. Dr Srdjan Saso of Imperial College London, part of the British team, said: For those of us involved in uterine transplantation research, this is extremely exciting. This successful demonstration demonstrates a few advantages over live donation. It enables use of a much wider potential donor population, applies lower costs and avoids live donors surgical risks. Eleven babies have been born using wombs from live donors. From the medical marvel who'll pave way for British women within weeks... Yes, it felt strange - but so wonderful that someone who'd passed away could give me this Every new parent looks in awe at their longed-for baby. In the case of Fabiana Amorim de Lima and Claudio Santos the birth of Luisa was nothing short of a miracle. For we can reveal that Fabiana, 34, is the mother who became the first in the world to give birth using a dead womans womb. To look at baby Luisa today a happy, healthy girl with beautiful features and huge brown eyes there is no clue as to her extraordinary journey into the world. But the implications of her birth using a transplanted womb from a deceased donors body will be profound. In the case of Fabiana Amorim de Lima (right) and Claudio Santos (left) the birth of Luisa (centre) was nothing short of a miracle Performed in a Brazilian hospital, the breakthrough paves the way for British surgeons to replicate the pioneering procedure within a matter of weeks. It will give much-needed hope to women who face the ultimate obstacle to motherhood. Mrs Amorim de Lima, who was born without a womb, had an overwhelming desire to generate a baby herself despite the grave risks of the unproven technique. Her 33-year-old husband desperately tried to dissuade her from going through with it after being told she could die. When my wife discovered that she didnt have a womb, she started to research and find out more about the condition, he said. We heard that a woman in Sweden had had a womb transplant from a live family member, but it never crossed our mind that this could be something available to us. We found a page on Facebook created by women with the same problem. So we began to take part in this same closed group and got to know other women who had the same syndrome. It was great to be able to share our experiences and worries with others going through it. It was through this group that we discovered that the Hospital da Clinicas in Sao Paulo was looking for women without a womb to take part in a medical experiment. They didnt explain much at the beginning, but straight away we volunteered and became one of the couples in the running. Ten couples from this group were selected, then after many tests found out we were one of the three couples who had been chosen. Luisa, a curly-haired bundle of energy now learning to crawl, turns one next Saturday a milestone her parents once only dreamed of. Shes a normal baby who has developed normally, says her mother. She breastfeeds, she plays. Its tiring, its hard work, but none of that comes close to how marvellous it is to have my daughter, and to know that I generated and carried her. There is no other way of describing her, she is our little miracle. Mrs Amorim de Lima, a psychologist who worked in human resources, learned she did not have a womb weeks before she was due to get married. I was 28 and Id never had a period in my whole life, she said. But Id never gone to a doctor to find out why. Mrs Amorim de Lima (pictured) first had IVF treatment, resulting in eight fertilised eggs which were cryopreserved (cooled below freezing point), before undergoing the womb transplant four months later after the donor, who died following a stroke, was identified When I decided to get married I thought it was time to find out what the problem was, and after lots of tests we discovered that, although I had eggs, I had no womb. There was no chance Id ever be able to get pregnant. Back then wed never even heard of womb transplants. Even so, we decided to continue with the wedding and our life together. My husband wanted to adopt, but my heart wasnt open to that. I wanted to generate my own baby, inside of me. It was important to me to have that experience, to get pregnant, to see my child in an ultrasound, to carry her, to feel her inside of me and to give birth. It was everything I wanted and it consumed me. I was prepared to take whatever risks were necessary to make it happen. It was a slightly strange feeling at first, knowing that I was carrying the womb of another person, who had now passed away. But at the same time it was emotional, knowing that someone who had already gone could do something so wonderful for me. Mrs Amorim de Lima was always positive. I was absolutely certain it would work out, she said. I was never worried about anything, and I wasnt for one moment afraid of the surgery. The couple live on a dreary, rundown street in a poor district of Guarulhos, a satellite city of Sao Paulo, in south-eastern Brazil. Their tiny one-bedroom flat is above the home of her parents. On the corner of the street is a makeshift car wash, and a few streets away on the busy main road locals in shorts and flip-flops mingle among market traders selling fresh produce and live pigs and chickens. Their home has a small living room with two sofas, a bedroom and a kitchen. Their sparse living room is adorned with photos of their daughter. Mr Santos, an insurance salesman for the bank Bradesco, said after hearing of the risks of the surgery he tried to convince his wife to adopt instead. He said: They told us they would have to connect veins and arteries, that it was very intricate and there could be many complications, and that included the risk to Fabianas own life. I talked with her about it. My heart was open to adoption, but she was convinced that it was what she wanted. Her dream was to generate her own child, and to achieve it she would do anything. So we entered into an agreement to go through with it, aware of the risks, including to her own life. She managed to convince me to let her go through with it. The couple married in September 2012 after meeting as students at university. Mrs Amorim de Lima said the years after her medical diagnosis were difficult as she tried to come to terms with the devastating news. The first year and a half were the worst, she said. I hit rock bottom, I was really bad. I thought that I was the worst person in the world, that I had been punished by God. How could a woman be born without a womb? But we had two options, to continue to be troubled by the situation, or to look for a solution. And we decided to look for a solution. That was the best decision I ever made, because if not my baby girl wouldnt be here today. They started to read up on her syndrome, Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser, and joined a group of other women in the Sao Paulo region living with the same disorder. The science behind miracle baby Luisa involved five distinct steps, starting with the removal of 16 of Fabiana's eggs in 2016 In 2015, the group was approached by researchers from Sao Paulos Hospital das Clinicas, looking for candidates for the first American surgical trial of uterine transportation. Of ten couples who came forward, three were chosen to take part and Fabiana and Claudio were the first. The hospital paid for their treatment. First, she had IVF treatment, resulting in eight fertilised eggs which were cryopreserved (cooled below freezing point), before undergoing the womb transplant four months later after the donor, who died following a stroke, was identified. One of the fertilised eggs was defrosted and implanted into the donor womb. It sounds crazy, but from the moment they called us to talk it through, I was absolutely certain it would work out, said Mrs Amorim de Lima. I was never worried about anything, and I wasnt for one moment afraid of the surgery. I was so determined. I wanted a baby, come what may. Why was I so sure it would work out, when every other try had failed? Because my faith is very strong. I prayed a lot. I asked God to realise my dream. And because of that I knew nothing would go wrong. But it wasnt easy. Those two years were a rollercoaster with so many ups and downs. The worst was the emotional exhaustion and the waiting six months for a donor. Knowing that a family had lost someone they loved was terrible, but at the same time our prayers of finding a womb had been answered. She spent 11 hours in surgery, where surgeons plumbed in the organ, connecting veins, arteries, ligaments and vaginal canals. We had to a sign a form saying we were aware of the risks. I spent the whole night awake, waiting and praying. I only relaxed when it was over and she was back in her room, said her husband. All the Roman Catholic couple know about the donor is she was 45 and had had children. I really wanted to find out more about her, said Mrs Amorim de Lima. We even tried to find the persons family to know more, to show them what a marvellous thing she had done, but we ended up leaving it. We didnt know if it would make things worse for them or not. The doctors assured us that the baby doesnt take on anything of the donor mother, nothing. Her structure is all mine and her fathers. Pregnancy is a traumatic time for any mother, because there are so many things that can go wrong and everything seems so fragile. And for me it was just like that but a thousand times worse. I thought Id never feel as anxious as during the six months we were waiting for a donor to appear, but being pregnant took it to another level entirely. Although I felt sure that everything would be OK, it didnt stop me worrying when I had a bad turn or when I hadnt felt her move for a while. My husband was constantly checking my belly, he worried much more than I did. Very few people know about this whole experience, or that I dont have a womb. We only told a few members of our family, and one or two close friends. You can count on one hand the number of people who know. We just didnt want people to know and give them reason to talk about me. We baptised her recently, we felt it was important to do that before her first birthday. But we couldnt tell people just how much of a miracle she really is to us. Baby Luisa was born at the Hospital das Clinicas in Sao Paulo (pictured), with thirty people present including researchers and doctors Thirty people, including researchers and doctors, were present at Luisas birth last December at the Hospital das Clinicas. Mr Santos said: The real fear was because this was new, nobody had ever done this before. So my fear was that something went wrong and something worse would happen, and that Fabiana wouldnt leave the surgery room alive. I was really scared during those hours of surgery, I paced up and down outside, every few minutes asking if it was going OK. And in the hours after the surgery too, because her body could have rejected the womb at any moment. I was constantly apprehensive through the whole process. To be honest I only stopped worrying after the baby came out. The whole time we lived under that pressure, is it going to turn out alright? Will the womb punish our baby? Will she be healthy? Each consultation we went to, each biopsy and ultrasound, there was a different fear. After Luisa was born I breathed a sigh of relief for her, but my wife still had to go though a serious operation. She had just had a C-section and now she also had to have a hysterectomy to remove the womb. So I was the first person to hold Luisa, and the first to feed her. We do want to have more children but not in the same way, I cant imagine this being available to us again. So we have decided that the next child we have will be adopted. I had always wanted to adopt, rather than Fabiana have to go through what she did. I want to tell Luisa everything when shes old. Ill tell her about her mums bravery and determination, of everything she went through to bring her into the world. So many trips to hospital, more than 100 times we went there. Every month she had to have a blood test and biopsy, hundreds of conversations with doctors and psychologists. Its such a beautiful story, and we are so grateful for Gods help and all the professionals who made it possible. I dont think there are many couples who would be able to go through all we did. I will tell her like that, in a very positive way, but I wont hide from her any of the details, even the fact that she grew in the womb of another woman who had died. Im keeping all the newspaper stories so she can read them one day. I am sure that, more than anything, she will be really proud of her parents, for them having gone through all this, and especially of her mother who put her life at risk to have her. The birth of the child in Sao Paulo, Brazil (pictured) paves the way for UK surgeons to try their first womb transplants here early next year Mrs Amorim de Lima added: During the first three months I had the same worries as any mother, especially the fear of miscarriage. And I was always worried about whether she would be born with any health problems because of the many medicines I was taking. I was taking 14 different medicines per day, including lots of immunosuppressant drugs. I had this fear that one of the medicines would cause a problem with my baby. There was one time when two hours passed without her moving at all, and I became very scared. I was calmer towards the end than I was at the beginning, and the doctors reassured me that the medicines wouldnt case problems. I also have a strong faith which kept me positive. Thank God my baby was born perfect. The couple want their joy to inspire others. We hope that many other couples who think they will never have children will soon be able to experience this feeling, too, said Mr Santos. Ill never forget the moment she came into the world. The paediatrician showed her to me quickly then rushed her away to do tests. Then she brought her back and said Congratulations, theres nothing wrong with her, shes perfect. Thats when I started crying. I cried for a long time. Prince Charles (pictured above) will become the first member of the royal family to visit Cuba Prince Charles is set to become the first member of the Royal Family to visit Cuba on a historic official tour next year. The ground-breaking visit to the Communist country is still in the early stages of planning and has not been confirmed yet. But government officials from both countries are extremely hopeful it will happen in the next few months, possibly as early as the spring, the Mail can reveal. It is understood that Charles met with the new Cuban president, Miguel Diaz-Canel, at Clarence House last month, which is being viewed by diplomats as an extremely positive sign. The trip, which will be part of a large-scale Caribbean tour, would have been unthinkable just a few years ago, as the country was emerging from six decades of leadership under the dictator Fidel Castro and his family. In 2016 Barack Obama became the first US president to visit in 88 years, but no British Prime Minister has ever set foot on Cuban soil. With the Queen no longer undertaking foreign travel, the princes official trips are akin to a state visit and will be viewed as a significant step forward in Britains relationships with the once Soviet-backed Cuba, particularly in a post-Brexit world. Royal tours are viewed by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office as a significant weapon in their diplomatic armoury, a deployment often referred to by Whitehall as soft power. Many senior royals, especially Charles, are seen to have the ability to open doors in parts of the world where politicians simply cannot, paving the way for high-level negotiations by ministers and diplomats. Fidel Castro (pictured above) was the longest-ruling non-royal national leader since 1900 by term length (52 years, 101 days) Charles, 70, who will be accompanied by his wife, the Duchess of Cornwall, 71, will have to tread carefully, however, as the unprecedented visit is likely to be viewed with caution in the US. In 2014, President Obama announced plans to normalise diplomatic relations with the country after talks with the then president, Raul Castro, Fidels younger brother. Relations had been severed for more than 50 years, since the failed Bay of Pigs invasion and Soviet missile crisis. He also lifted trade sanctions and made it easier for Americans to travel and do business there in the hope of improving living conditions and slowly gaining influence over the future of the Communist nation. But in June last year, President Trump overturned aspects of his predecessors policies, arguing leniency had achieved nothing. He cited a mysterious spate of illnesses among US diplomats in Havana and ordered most employees of his embassy to leave. He also expelled Cuban diplomats from Washington and revoked travel and business freedoms. His decisions have allowed, many officials believe, the likes of China and Russia to gain a foothold on the island just 90 miles off the US coast. The new Cuban president visited Communist-run Russia, China, North Korea, Vietnam and Laos last month. But UK diplomats hope a visit by a senior royal will help to extend Britains global reach in the country, particularly once Britain has left the EU. The Government will be keen to encourage a more modern, open and free Cuba, and push for greater protection for citizens in a country which has a poor human rights record, especially when it comes to arbitrary imprisonment, unfair trials, freedom of expression and the use of digital media. The trip to Cuba (pictured above) will be part of a wider Caribbean tour Charles is likely to highlight local entrepreneurship as well as point to Britain as a potential trade and investment partner. The Cuban government is actively seeking inward foreign investment as it tries to grow its economy, which is struggling with heavy state controls and lower global commodity prices. It is anticipated that climate change and environmental issues will also feature heavily on any future royal itinerary in a region blighted by increasingly unpredictable weather patterns, such as hurricanes, and by plastics. The UK recently told the United Nations it recognises Cubas positive steps in combating human trafficking but remains concerned about restrictions to the freedom of expression and the treatment of prisoners, issues which Charles is expected to raise indirectly. Clarence House last night declined to comment on the prospect of a royal visit. A Utah teenager who filmed a girl kill herself then filmed it was jailed for five years on Friday. Tyerell Pryzbycien, 19, helped Jchandra Brown, 16, take her own life in May 2017 by buying her the rope she used to hang herself, driving her to the remote part of Spanish Fork, Utah, where she did it, tying the noose for her and filming her as placed it around her neck and killed herself. After she took her last breath, he continued filming and then placed the cell phone which contained the footage at her feet, saying: 'I guess I'll leave this here'. She was found the next day by a turkey hunter. In October, he pleaded guilty to child abuse homicide in a plea deal. On Friday, a judge gave him the lowest possible sentence - five years - at an emotional hearing where he pleaded with Jchandra's family for their forgiveness. 'Im also hoping that, although I dont deserve it, the victims family will be able to forgive me for the immature, thoughtless and rash decision,' he told the judge. Scroll down for video Tyerell Przybycien, 19, (seen left in a court appearance last year)was sentenced to five years imprisonment on Friday for helping 16-year-old Jchandra Brown kill herself last May by giving her the rope she used to hang herself and filming it on a cell phone afterwards Jchandra's mother, Sue Brown, spoke through tears. 'I also want Jchandra to come home, just like they want Tyerell to. But the difference is Jchandra can't,' she said. Prosecutors argued that Pryzbycien should be put away for a considerable amount of time, claiming Jchandra would never have killed herself if he had not intervened. I cannot describe to you the pain of losing a child. There are no words. I died when she died Jchandra's mother Sue Brown They also spoke of material they found on his phone of toddlers being sexually abused and messages where he confessed to being attracted to children. They also cited letters he had written from jail where he took credit for recent spikes in suicide rates. 'Thats a trophy for him and what he accomplished in helping Jchandra die,' Deputy Utah County Attorney Chad Grunander said. In spite of their clams that he was a danger to the community, the judge gave him the most lenient sentence possible under the guidelines. 'Im looking at behaviors and Im looking at risk and Im looking at rehabilitation potential,' he said. Sue Brown, Jchandra's mother, spoke after the hearing to say that no justice would ever be sufficient because she could never get her daughter back Tyerell Przybycien was sentenced 5 years to life for helping 16-year-old Jchandra Brown commit suicide. Marcos Ortiz is speaking with her family. https://www.abc4.com/news/local-news/man-to-serve-5-years-to-life-in-prison-after-helping-teen-commit-suicide/1645920319 Posted by ABC4 Utah on Friday, December 7, 2018 After the hearing, Jchandra's mother gave a heartbreaking statement outside court to say that no jail time would ever be enough because she could never get her daughter back. 'I'm still overwhelmed. I am missing my daughter. Like I said, there really is no true justice because the only true justice would be having my daughter back in my arms. 'You can't bring my daughter back so the sentence to me, I would like to see him be there forever, I'm not going to lie. I don't want him out to cause pain or havoc or anyone else's family. 'I cannot describe to you the pain of losing a child. There are no words. 'I died when she died,' she told ABC. She also told how the family had fallen on financial hardship since her daughter's death. 'I don't think the world knows how much it cost and how much you lose when you lose someone like that. Not just financial cost for her burial and medical expense but medical expenses, lost wages. I'm losing wages today. 'I have lost, I have a new job, been there a month, but I've already missed at least six to seven days, just for court stuff. 'Just for this. It's just not right,' she said. Przybycien, who had told friends helping Jchandra commit suicide would be 'like getting away with murder', had been facing charges of murder, witness tampering and failing to report a dead body which would have required to him to spend at least 15 years in prison if convicted. A month before JChandra's death, Przybycien sent a different friend a message asking what they would do if someone told them they wanted to kill themselves. That friend said that they would try to talk the person out of it to which Przybycien replied: 'The thing is ... I wanna help kill them. 'It will be awesome. Seriously I'm going to help her. It's like getting away with murder! I'm seriously not joking.' It is not known how long he and Jchandra had been friends. She moved to Spanish Fork in September 2016, less than a year before she died, after growing up in Idaho. In a message to a different friend a month before the girl's death, Przybycien said he wanted to help her take her own life and that it would be 'awesome' After Jchandra took her last breath, Przybycien put the phone he'd been filming it with at her feet and ran away. She was found the next day by a turkey hunter On May 3, he drove her out to the canyon where she died after buying the rope and looping it on to a tree. As she hanged, he sickeningly asked her for a 'thumbs up' and later remarked as she stopped moving that her it was 'when the brain stops getting oxygen.' He continued filming until she had died and then left the phone at her feet and drove off. After his arrest, he told police that he was 'scared'. He admitted feeling like he had killed her personally, saying: 'I feel like I did murder her. 'I helped her so much,' he said. They met no mention of her suicide in her obituary but described her lovingly, using her nickname 'Jelly'. If you or anyone you know needs support, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 1-800-273-8255 or visit their website here They are the happy pictures that could come from any family album a young boy doted on by his overjoyed parents. But this smiling trio is no more and Princess Beatrice has found herself facing questions over whether she may have been instrumental in their split. At a time when she should be enjoying the excitement of a new relationship with Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, Prince Andrews eldest daughter is the subject of claims that the property developer sacrificed his engagement to the woman in the picture to be with her. Mr Mozzi, 35, is said to have been seeing Beatrice while still sharing his life and London home with Chinese-American Dara Huang and their two-year-old son, Christopher Wolfie Woolf. Day out: Dara Huang and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi with Wolfie The princess and businessman are understood to have started the romance at the Windsor wedding of her sister Eugenie in October. Now, Miss Huangs family has questioned why the 30-year-old royal became involved with Mr Mozzi known as Edo given his family situation. Her father, Po-Tien, a retired scientist with US space agency NASA, said: Why would they want to go and break this up? I cant understand it. Its not fair but the Royal Family are so powerful. What can I do? I cant do anything. Po-Tien, 80, believes his Harvard-educated architect daughter, 37, only found out about Mr Mozzis relationship when it was reported in the Press. Speaking from the family home in Florida, he said: Dara came back here from London for Thanksgiving with Wolfie. She didnt know anything about it and the next day her friend emailed the newspaper report to her. She showed me and her mom and then we knew what was going on. Its a sad time and sad situation. We dont know how Dara is going to take care of it. Im upset but theres nothing I can do about it. He added: Being angry is no solution. These things happen in all the world today it happened in my home. Devastated: Po-Tien with baby Wolfie is upset at the new romance with Princess Beatrice No matter what we say it doesnt help, so let him go. His wife Lily, 69, last month told the Mail on Sunday of her shock at learning that the relationship had broken down, describing it as a terrible situation. The family revealed pictures of their daughter alongside Mr Mozzi and their new-born son, showing them smiling happily together. The couple are understood to have become engaged around a year ago after meeting in 2015 but had no plans to marry in place. In photographs from Christopher Woolfs christening, the baby is seen wearing a white outfit with golden wings given to the couple by Beatrices mother, Sarah Ferguson. Beatrices family has been friends with Mr Mozzis for many years. Po-Tien added: Edo came for Christmas here last year and we have travelled to England to meet Edos family. I asked Edo and Dara when they were going to get married, I even emailed Edo about it, but they said they didnt want to rush. Everything was pretty and so nice until this happened. A palace aide has previously said: She [Beatrice] would never allow herself to break into another couples happiness, especially if there was a small child. Mr Mozzi was educated at the 12,775-per-term Radley College in Oxfordshire before going on to study politics at the University of Edinburgh. He set up the property company Banda in 2004 at the age of 27, which specialises in high-end development projects. Beatrice, 30, has been single since breaking up with her boyfriend of ten years, Dave Clark, in 2016. Reports suggested the pair split after Beatrice gave him an ultimatum to marry her, though friends said they had been drifting apart in the last months of the relationship. Mr Clark, a former executive at taxi firm Uber, married US businesswoman Lynn Anderson in July this year. Asked about her parents remarks, Miss Huang declined to comment last night. A friend of Mr Mozzi said: As always in these cases there are two sides to the story. Buckingham Palace also said it would not be commenting on the claims. Shocked witnesses have recalled the horrifying moment a 13-month-old boy was fatally hit by a taxi on the Gold Coast while being cared for by his aunt. His distraught parents are making the desperate dash home from Papua New Guinea following the tragedy in Sovereign Islands at Paradise Point on Friday morning. His aunt had been looking after the toddler and his three siblings aged under-12 while their parents were overseas working, 9 News reported. The boy's aunt had been paying the taxi driver when the tragedy unfolded on Friday morning The aunt was paying the driver who had just dropped them off when the little boy was hit by the maxi taxi. The toddler had been running towards his aunt and had fallen under the wheels when the taxi rolled over him. The boy suffered critical head injuries and died at the scene as his inconsolable aunt held him in her arms. Witnesses are still trying to comprehend the tragedy, which has devastated neighbours in the quiet cul-de-sac in the exclusive suburb. 'The screaming was relentless, it was extremely horrific,' Dane Axsel told reporters. 'I'm still in shock this is something you can't unsee. The cab was just rolling forward really slowly he wouldn't have seen the child, he couldn't have.' The 13-month-old boy suffered critical head injuries and tragically died at the scene The male taxi driver, 32, and the aunt, 38, were taken to hospital to be treated for shock. 'Understandingly, everyone involved- the driver of the taxi, the aunty, the sisters and brother of the baby boy are obviously distraught,' Police Inspector Jim Plowman told reporters. 'We do not believe there's any criminality or suspicious circumstances.' 'It's one of those unfortunate things where you've got a number of kids running around...it's just one of those unfortunate accidents which realistically shouldn't happen and unfortunately from time-to-time they do.' Police don't believe there's any criminality or suspicious circumstances Queensland Ambulance Service's Luke Wyatt told the Gold Coast Bulletin: 'This an absolute tragedy at any time of the year, let alone just before Christmas. It's the sort of job no-one wants to go to and it has affected all of us,' It's believed the family are ex-pats from Papua New Guinea who had living in the area for less than a year, according to the publication. The Forensic Crash Unit is investigating the accident. Gold Coast Cabs has expressed its condolences to the boy's family, and will continue to work with police in their investigation while supporting the driver involved. The Marine fighter pilot who was confirmed dead in a crash off Japan has been identified, while five others remain missing. Captain Jahmar F. Resilard, 28, of Miramar, Florida, died in the Thursday crash after his F/A-18 collided with a KC-130 aerial refueling plane off the coast of Kochi, Japan, the Marine Corps confirmed. Resilard's co-pilot was recovered alive from the crash and is recovering in fair condition. The KC-130's five crew members are still missing. Resilard served as an F/A-18 pilot with Marine All Weather Fighter Attack Squadron 242, stationed on Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in Yamaguchi, Japan. Captain Jahmar F. Resilard, 28, of Miramar, Florida, died in the Thursday crash after his F/A-18 collided with a KC-130 aerial refueling plane off the coast of Kochi, Japan Resilard's F/A-18 fighter jet (like the ones seen right) crashed with a KC-130 refueling craft (like the one on the left). The KC-130's five crew members remain missing Lieutenant Colonel James Compton, commanding officer of the squadron, which is known as the 'Bats', said the unit is 'deeply saddened' by the loss of Resilard. 'He was an effective and dedicated leader who cared for his Marines and fellow fighter pilots with passion,' Compton said of Resilard in a statement. 'His warm and charismatic nature bound us together and we will miss him terribly. We honor his service and his contribution to the Marine Corps and our great nation. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends,' he continued. Resilard's decorations include the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, and National Defense Service Medal. The crash took place 200 miles off the coast, according to the U.S. military. Japanese officials said it occurred closer to the coast, about 60 miles, and that's where the search and rescue mission found the two crew members. Rescuers found Resilard's co-pilot alive. Searches are continuing for the missing US and Japanese forces are pictured Thursday searching for five missing crew members Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force, which dispatched aircraft and vessels to join in the search operation, said Japanese rescuers found one of the crew from the fighter jet in stable condition. The Marines said the crew member was taken to a hospital on the base in Iwakuni and was in fair condition, but did not provide any other details. Japan's coast guard also joined the search. The crash is the latest in recent series of accidents involving the U.S. military deployed to and near Japan. Last month, a U.S. Navy F/A-18 Hornet from the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan crashed into the sea southwest of Japan's southern island of Okinawa, though its two pilots were rescued safely. In mid-October, a MH-60 Seahawk also belonging to the Ronald Reagan crashed off the Philippine Sea shortly after takeoff, causing non-fatal injuries to a dozen sailors. More than 50,000 U.S. troops are based in Japan under a bilateral security pact. Donald Trumps lawyer Rudy Giuliani says a remark that made it sound like the president had trouble remembering key details about his campaigns contacts with the Russians is being misconstrued. In a tweet, Giuliani said the 72-year-old president took several weeks to respond to the special counsels inquiry because he was incessantly interrupted, not because he had a faulty memory. 'Some in the media are distorting my statement that answering the questions was a nightmare,' he said. 'That is because as President he was interrupted so often with critical and more important matters. It illustrates why Mueller should end this now and media should be fair.' Donald Trumps lawyer Rudy Giuliani says a remark that made it sound like the president had trouble remembering key details about his campaigns contacts with the Russians is being misconstrued Giuliani said the 72-year-old president took several weeks to respond to the special counsels inquiry because he was incessantly interrupted, not because he had a faulty memory Giuliani was cleaning up a claim that he made in an interview that it was a 'real job' to recall what happened and a 'nightmare' filling out the questionnaire. His version of the task directly conflicted with the story that had been told by Trump. 'Answering those questions was a nightmare,' the former New York mayor told the Atlantic. 'It took him about three weeks to do what would normally take two days. Giuliani also indicated it was a challenge for Trump to recall the answers to questions about 2016 a key year for the probe, since it would encompass the time period when any possible collusion between Trump campaign officials and Russians would have occurred. 'He's got a great memory,' Giuliani told the publication. 'However, basically we were answering questions about 2016, the busiest year of his life. It's a real job to remember.' 'Answering those questions was a nightmare,' former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani said of President Donald Trump's responses to special counsel Robert Mueller The comments raised the possibility that Trump in his responses may have on occasion answered that he didn't recall the answers. By one count, Donald Trump Jr. also didn't recall 54 things during his congressional testimony. Trump in the past has said he has 'one of the great memories of all time' and told reporters in November that he answered Mueller's questions 'very easily' and with little legal assistance. Now that the president has submitted his answers to Mueller, he and his attorneys say it is time for the probe to end. 'I think we've wasted enough time on this witch hunt and the answer is probably, we're finished,' he told 'Fox News Sunday' host Chris Wallace. Officials have been grumbling that the White House has yet to develop a detailed plan for how to counter the possible release of a Mueller report, although new acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker, installed by Trump, will have to sign off on its release. 'We would always put together plans with the knowledge that [Trump] wouldn't use them or they'd go off the rails,' a former official told the Atlantic. 'And at this point, with Mueller, they've decided they're not even going to do that.' 'It's like, 'Jesus, take the wheel,' the source said, 'but scarier.' LET'S MEET UP IN PERSON NEXT TIME: Special counsel Robert Mueller could subpoena Trump if he finds his written responses are inadequate but that would provoke a court fight Trump regularly rails against Mueller and has made comments about former lawyer Michael Cohen and longtime advisor Roger Stone that seasoned lawyers have said amount to witness tampering. 'I don't think there's anyone in the world that can stop Donald Trump from tweeting,' Giuliani lamented to The Atlantic this week. 'I've tried.' The president's attorney suggested that he advised his client not to assault Mueller and his prosecutors on Twitter. 'I don't think following his lead is the right thing. He's the client,' Giuliani said. 'The more controlled a person is, the more intelligent they are, the more they can make the decision. But he's just like every other client. He's not more you know, controlled than any other client. In fact, he's a little less.' A mother was stung with a $78 parking fine while breastfeeding her baby in the back of her car. Musician Nicky Convine, 33, was travelling through Burleigh Heads on the Gold Coast when her nine-month-old baby boy River became restless. She pulled over to feed him but had parked in a metered bay. Mother Nicky Convine (left) was stung with a $78 parking fine after breastfeeding her baby (right) in the back of her car Ms Convine has been breastfeeding for about 10 minutes when a parking attendant issued her with the hefty fine. 'I was quite shocked to be sitting there in the back feeding my baby and suddenly the officer was putting a ticket under my wiper blades,' she told Daily Mail Australia. She said: 'It was raining and my baby was distressed so I didn't even think to buy a ticket from the machine.' The mother, who is from Miami, was on her way back from visiting her parents in northern NSW on September 30 when her baby started becoming agitated. Ms Convine said the issuing officer was very apologetic once he realised what he had done but said he did not have the power to overturn it. She said: 'It was quite hard for him to see me in the back so I don't blame him too much.' He told Ms Convine to appeal, but when she did the council refused. The mother said there was also a 'lack of human connection' in the way the council communicated to her at the start of the process. In the initial response, the council said her appeal did not fit within the category of being 'able to comply with the relevant provisions of the law due to a circumstance outside of their control'. The young mother was only able to get the ticket overturned after going to the media, and in the social media post the mother criticised the decision. Ms Convine has been breastfeeding for around 10 minutes when a parking attendant issued her with the hefty fine She said: 'Its not the fact that I need to pay $78, its the principle! I had a screaming baby in the car at the time and no where else to pull over and I was aware that officers are not allowed to issue tickets with people in the vehicle. Ms Convine added the staff member she dealt with at the council was very friendly with her when dealing with her appeal, and harbors no ill will to them at all. The council has now rescinded the fine on 'compassionate grounds', but have defended their original decision to hand it out. The mother, who is from Miami and is active on the Gold Coast music scene with a Spotify channel, was on her way back from Casino in northern NSW on September 30 when the incident happened Dimbleby, pictured hosting Panorama in 1974, has been with the BBC for 57 years David Dimbleby, who at 75 had a scorpion tattooed on his back, began at the BBC 57 years ago as a news reporter in Bristol after leaving Oxford with a degree in politics, philosophy and economics. He led the BBC's coverage of the Common Market referendum in 1975, a role he repeated in 2016 when the UK voted for Brexit. Although best known now for election nights and Question Time, he led coverage of the funerals of Diana, Princess of Wales, and the Queen Mother. Dimbleby has presided over every BBC election night broadcast since 1979, as well as Budget Days and local, European and American elections. The 2015 election was set to be his last, with BBC News presenter Huw Edwards due to take over. Dimbleby laughs with the late prime minister Margaret Thatcher in London in 1990 But when Theresa May announced the snap election last year, a behind-the-scenes tussle resulted in a BBC announcement that Dimbleby would present it. The veteran, who is paid about 450,000 to present Question Time, has also presented the BBC's coverage of the annual Remembrance Day service at the Cenotaph and other state occasions. Dimbleby, who took over on Question Time from Peter Sissons in January 1994, will sit in the chair for the final time on December 13. Dimbleby meets former Zimbabwe leader Robert Mugabe for an interview in May 2000 He is the longest serving presenter of the show, and beat rival Jeremy Paxman after each had to endure a gruelling audition for the role. The debate programme was previously hosted by Peter Sissons and its first host Sir Robin Day, who died in 2000. Dimbleby's name has also been mentioned as a possible director-general of the BBC. Dimbleby and Fiona Bruce, with Peter Snow in the background, at TV Centre in 2005 In 2014 he told how hard it would be to hand over the reins of the election coverage, saying: 'I don't have any instinct to make way gracefully. I shall be dragged kicking and screaming from my chair.' As for Question Time, Dimbleby said earlier this year that it had been 'exhilarating following the twists and turns of British politics', and a privilege to bring 'voters face to face with those in power'. BBC bosses described him as a 'titan in British broadcasting' who had been a 'brilliant champion of the public'. Smart wristbands, wireless sensing systems, and ultra-efficient solar cells a glance through the list of winning projects from this years ExploraVision competition might sound a lot like roll call at the Consumer Electronics Show. But, the concepts that claimed the top prizes arent coming from techs biggest names, or even the latest startups to break out of Silicon Valley. Theyre all, essentially, created by kids. Quite often young kids have these ideas for medical advancements, and its out of empathy or feelings for someone they know a friend of theirs, a family member who has some medical condition that they develop a device or system that would address it, Nye said The Toshiba-backed initiative announced the winners of its annual k-12 science competition earlier this month, revealing the groundbreaking prototypes that seek to bring answers to our everyday problems. With solutions for everything from current medical failings to electrical grid woes, its no wonder the student projects have already begun to capture industry attention. Or, as engineer and TV personality Bill Nye joked: I presume theyll take over the world. While much of the United States grapples with a resurgence of anti-science rhetoric, brainy children and teenagers have been busy chipping away at projects that could become the next big thing, unbothered by the skeptics. And according to Nye, things are going to change very fast as the current generation breaks into the workforce. The people that compete in these competitions have no time for the idea that the world might be flat, Nye told Dailymail.com over the phone. Its hard to find a young person that isnt concerned about climate change. Climate change contrarianism, or denial, or extreme skepticism or whatever they want to call themselves theyre almost exclusively old people. Very few young people are not concerned about climate change. ExploraVision recently wrapped up its 26th annual competition and the 15th in collaboration with Bill Nye (pictured center). Over nearly three decades, students from kindergarten through 12th grade have been churning out devices that seem years ahead of their time ExploraVision recently wrapped up its 26th annual competition and the 15th in collaboration with Bill Nye (best known to some as the Science Guy). Over nearly three decades, students from kindergarten through 12th grade have been churning out devices that seem years ahead of their time. Back in 1993, Nye tells Dailymail.com, one team even produced a wearable that was pretty much an Apple Watch. A group of 10-12th graders from Ward Melville High School in East Setauket, New York, for example, developed a solution to overcome the current limitations of silicon solar cells The newly devised cell uses multiple carbon nanotube chiralities essentially forming what looks like a matryoshka doll of beehive-patterned tubes. Credit: Polychiral Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotube Solar Cells/Ward Melville High School This year, the top projects once again seem remarkably prescient. A group of 10-12th graders from Ward Melville High School in East Setauket, New York, for example, developed a solution to overcome the current limitations of silicon solar cells. With a new type of cell that uses multiple carbon nanotube chiralities essentially forming what looks like a matryoshka doll of beehive-patterned tubes the student researchers say it could be possible to capture and convert far more energy from the sun. Such a system, dubbed Polychiral Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotube Solar Cells, would allow the cell to convert light from every wavelength absorbed by constituent chiralities into energy, the students explain on the project website. You hear all the time the expression kids are the future, but thats true. And I think were gonna see big changes with the seniors who won today for their nantubes, Nye told Dailymail.com. With solutions for everything from current medical failings to electrical grid woes, its no wonder the student projects have already begun to capture industry attention. Or, as engineer and TV personality Bill Nye joked: I presume theyll take over the world When that invention comes into fruition, or something like it, its going to revolutionize the way we get electricity. Theyre going to change our electrical grid from relatively concentrated power production to considerably more spread out power production. Another of the winning concepts aims to use technology to transform autism therapy. The system, called EMREC (Emotion Recognition), was created by students in grades 7-9 at Saint Anthonys High School in South Huntington, NY. One concept, called the CFAST, would use nanosponges to absorb excess mucus from around vital organs It combines wearable technology in this case a smart wristband with gaming and computer analysis to form a personalized treatment for each person. Not only can therapy be boring or even mentally excruciating to some people with autism, the team explains on their website, but it can also be costly, making it inaccessible to many. EMREC would allow children to receive therapy while playing a game, all the while logging daily reports and long-term patterns that could be useful to parents and therapists. Medical solutions have remained a common theme in ExploraVisions decades-long run, Nye explained largely because the students motivation tends to come from a very personal place. Quite often young kids have these ideas for medical advancements, and its out of empathy or feelings for someone they know a friend of theirs, a family member who has some medical condition that they develop a device or system that would address it in the next 20 years, Nye told Dailymail.com. A group of 4th-6th graders, for example, is working to improve cystic fibrosis treatment. Their winning concept, called the CFAST, would use nanosponges to absorb excess mucus from around vital organs, with a goal of creating a healthy balance lining the patients organs, the team explains on their website. The tiny sponges could be inserted using an adhesive patch lined with nanoneedles, and the system pairs up with a smartphone app to monitor and record the activity inside the body. The system, called EMREC (Emotion Recognition), was created by students in grades 7-9 at Saint Anthonys High School in South Huntington, NY. It combines wearable technology with gaming and computer analysis to form a personalized treatment for each person WHO ARE THE WINNERS OF EXPLORAVISION 2018? A group of 10-12th graders from Ward Melville High School in East Setauket, New York, for example, developed a solution to overcome the current limitations of silicon solar cells. Another of the winning concepts aims to use technology to transform autism therapy. The system, called EMREC (Emotion Recognition), was created by students in grades 7-9 at Saint Anthonys High School in South Huntington, NY. A group of 4th-6th graders, for example, are working to improve cystic fibrosis treatment. Their winning concept, called the CFAST, would use nanosponges to absorb excess mucus from around vital organs, with a goal of creating a healthy balance lining the patients organs, the team explains on their website . The fourth winning concept may seem quite the standout in the line-up beside the rest and not just because of the age of its creators. Students in kindergarten through 3rd grade at Batchelder School in North Reading, MA have developed a robotic farming concept that aims to be a farmers eyes and ears on the field. Advertisement It isnt all about medical innovation for ExploraVision, though. The fourth winning concept may seem quite the standout in the line-up beside the rest and not just because of the age of its creators. Students in kindergarten through 3rd grade at Batchelder School in North Reading, MA developed a robotic farming concept that aims to be a farmers eyes and ears on the field. The Integrated Smart Wireless Agriculture Remote Management (iSWARM) relies on a solar-powered ground rover and a drone Wasp (the prototype of which is, notably, built out of Leggos) to monitor soil and crops around the clock. This could make for a more efficient method of identifying patterns that could develop into problems, the team explains on their website. Students in kindergarten through 3rd grade at Batchelder School in North Reading, MA have developed a robotic farming concept that aims to be a farmers eyes and ears on the field The fourth winning concept may seem quite the standout in the line-up beside the rest and not just because of the age of its creators. The wireless agricultural monitoring system could help farmers identify problems more efficiently While the concepts might not yet be in the later stages of development, Nye says the precedent of the winners before them stands as a pretty good sign of whats to come. And as for the future, the Science Guy isnt all that concerned. When these young people start voting things are going to change really fast, Nye told Dailymail.com. The anti-science movement that were experiencing now people say the Earth might be flat, hiring the head of the agency designated to protect the environment that seems to be interested in other things all that will not last, because of the economy. You cant compete successfully on the world economic stage if you run around saying the world is flat. Your ships will get lost, if nothing else. The anti-science movement will get out competed by the real science. Astronomers are drawing up plans for the world's most powerful telescope which will create images three times clearer than those from the famed Hubble telescope. The so-called MAVIS telescope will be completed by 2025 and will be based at the Very Large Telescope facility in Chile. Staff at both Macquarie University and the Australian National University will begin work on the ambitious $32 million (18 million) optics system in February. Scroll down for video New frontiers: Staff at both Macquarie University and the Australian National University will begin work on the ambitious $32 million (18 million) optics system starting in February 2019 Associate Professor Francois Rigaut, the Adaptive Optics Principal Scientist at ANU who is leading the international consortium, said the upgraded telescope would revolutionise ground-based optical astronomy. Currently, bubbles of hot and cold air mixing in the atmosphere distort light waves and blur images captured from telescopes, producing a phenomenon like looking at the horizon through a sandstorm. The new technology will counteract this and produce images over a field of view 20 times larger than regular adaptive-optics systems. They will also be three times more detailed than anything recorded by the Hubble Space Telescope. 'Atmospheric turbulence really limits what we can see through a ground-based telescope its a bit like the phenomenon of objects appearing blurry on the horizon during a hot day. 'MAVIS will remove this blurring and deliver images essentially as crisp as if the telescope were in space, helping us to peer back into the Universe in its infancy,' he said. It will also allow scientists to identify individual stars in faraway galaxies allowing them to tell how old the stars are and to retrace the history of how galaxies form. Advancement: The new technology will produce images 10-20 clearer, plus three times more detailed than anything recorded by the Hubble Space Telescope HOW WILL IT WORK? An adaptive-optics system is made of three parts: a deformable mirror, which corrects the deformed light wave going through the atmosphere; a wavefront sensor, which senses the distortion of the light wave; and a real-time computer, which calculates the corrections. MAVIS will have three deformable mirrors, eight wavefront sensors and five laser guide stars. It will also use a technique called Multi-Conjugate Adaptive Optics to deliver its sharp images over a field of view 20 times larger than regular adaptive-optics systems. Advertisement Similarly, scientists will be able to look for supermassive black holes in the centre of incredibly dense groups of old stars called globular clusters. 'Well for us it is a big honour to have the opportunity to lead (the design study) and also international recognition of our capabilities, our knowledge, our know-how and so it's quite important for us in that aspect,' Prof. Rigaut said. As Australian scientists have been chosen to lead the design study, there is a good chance they will also be granted the ability to build the actual technology, he said. The 15-month design study will begin in February with the upgraded telescope expected to be completed by 2025. As part of the agreement, the Australian astronomy community and project partners will be guaranteed 150 nights of observation access at the Very Large Telescope with MAVIS, equivalent in value to about $20 million (11 million). The two universities, which are part of the international Australian Astronomical Optics consortium, will also work with the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics and the Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille and ONERA in France on the project. Qualcomm , the biggest supplier of chips for mobile phones, on Thursday pushed further into the PC market with a line of chips designed to power business machines. Qualcomm's 'Snapdragon' processor chips historically have been at the heart of mobile phones like Google's Pixel phone and many Samsung devices. Now, it has revealed a new series of chips called the Snapdragon 8cx that will be dedicated to PCs. Qualcomm's 'Snapdragon' processor chips historically have been at the heart of mobile phones like Google's Pixel phone and many Samsung devices. Over the past year, though, Qualcomm adapted its chips to operate PCs running Microsoft Corp's Windows operating system, making those machines start up more quickly and stay connected to the Internet constantly, much like a mobile phone or tablet. But the chips Qualcomm used in those early PCs were essentially modified versions of the chips it sold for mobile phones. At an event in Hawaii on Thursday, Qualcomm officials said they have created a new series of chips called the Snapdragon 8cx that will be dedicated to PCs. The biggest difference is the new Qualcomm chips will support Windows 10 Enterprise, the version of Microsoft's popular operating system that is sold to businesses. Previous Qualcomm chips supported only the consumer versions of Windows, making business customers less likely to purchase computers powered by them. Qualcomm's move puts it in greater competition with chipmaker Intel Corp, which last year still derived more than half of its $62.8 billion in revenue from PC chips and dominates that market. the new Qualcomm chips will support Windows 10 Enterprise, the version of Microsoft's popular operating system that is sold to businesses. Intel's association with Windows PCs was so strong that the computer industry referred to them as 'Wintel' machines for decades. Qualcomm and others are also challenging Intel's supremacy in the data center business. Qualcomm's chips are powered by technology from SoftBank Group Corp-controlled Arm Holdings. Several companies - including Amazon.com's cloud division Amazon Web Services, a major Intel customer - are working to make ARM-based chips suitable for data centers. A brand new species of dinosaur has been discovered in Australia. It comes after a fragment of fossilised jawbone was found in embedded in a glittering piece of opal at the Wee Warra mine in Lightning Ridge, New South Wales. The two-legged reptile, dubbed Weewarrasaurus pobeni after the site where it was discovery, lived in the Cretaceous Period, 100 million years ago. It was part of a group of plant-eating dinosaurs called ornithopods and was no bigger than the size of a large dog. The Weewarrasaurus poben: Experts believe it would've moved on two legs, had beaks with serrated teeth and roamed on the ancient floodplains which covered the region at the time Experts believe it would've moved on two legs, had beaks with serrated teeth and roamed on the ancient floodplains which covered the region at the time. The incredible discovery was made by Mike Poben, an Adelaide-based Opal buyer who spotted the jaw bone while searching through opal fragments. 'I was sorting some rough opal when, astonishingly, I saw two fan-like ridges protruding from the dirt around one oddly-shaped piece,' he said. 'Time froze. If these were teeth, then this was an opalised jawbone fragment.' Mr Poben later donated the fragment to the University of New England in nearby Armidale for research. Palaeontologist Dr Phil Bell, who led the analysis, said: 'I remember Mike showing me the specimen and my jaw dropped. I had to try hard to contain my excitement, it was so beautiful.' Discovery: The incredible discovery was made by Mike Poben, an Adelaide-based Opal buyer who spotted the jaw bone while searching through opal fragments WHAT ARE ORNITHOPODS? Ornithopods were two-legged plant-eating dinosaurs. They were the dinosaur equivalent of today's cattle and deer. Their horny beaks were used to crop vegetation which they then ground using molar-like cheek teeth. Ornithopods flourished around 229 to 65.5 million years ago and were one of the most successful dinosaurs to ever walk the planet. They ranged in sixe from 5 to 23 feet tall (1.5 to 7 metres) and may have subsequently evolved into more advanced iguanodontids and hadrosaurs who walked on all fours. The new find shows there were at least two distinct body-types among closely related ornithopods in this part of Australia. One was lightly built with an extraordinarily long tail, while the other, Diluvicursor, was more solidly built, with a far shorter tail, researchers found. Source: Britannica Advertisement He added that Lightning Ridge is a premium fossil resource because it has preserved a number of unique finds. 'If these fossils were in surface rock, like those found in China and Mongolia, it would be an absolute treasure-trove. 'Unfortunately, the fossil remnants we see are almost always part of mining spoil, because they sit in rock strata that is lies up to 30 metres underground. 'The mining process breaks the fossils into fragments but on the other hand, we would never get to see even those fragments if it wasnt for mining.' The Weewarrasaurus jaw is now part of the Australian Opal Centre collection. Ornithopods were the dinosaur equivalent of today's cattle and deer - their horny beaks were used to crop vegetation which they then ground using molar-like cheek teeth. They flourished around 229 to 65.5 million years ago and were one of the most successful dinosaurs to ever walk the planet. They ranged in side from 5 to 23 feet tall (1.5 to 7 metres) and may have subsequently evolved into more advanced iguanodontids and hadrosaurs who walked on all fours. Place of discovery: The fossilised jawbone was found in embedded within a glittering piece of opal stone at the Wee Warra mine in Lightning Ridge, New South Wales The port of Hamburg is building a magnetic 'hyperloop' test track to deliver parcels at up to 750mph (1,200kmh). Experts believe the technology, which was coined by Elon Musk, could replace the equivalent of 4,100 lorryloads of post every single day. Eventually authorities want to link the busy port to other German cities, transporting freight in robust carbon fibre capsules that are powered by magnets. Hamburg is building a magnetic 'hyperloop' test track (artist's impression) to deliver parcels at up to 750mph (1,200kmh) The Hyperloop idea was unveiled by Elon Musk in 2013, who at the time said it could take passengers the 380 miles (610km) from LA to San Francisco in 30 minutes - half the time it takes a plane. Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HTT) is one of the companies vying to make Elon Musk 's vision of futuristic transport a reality. However, now it seems the company is looking to use its futuristic transport system with freight. HTT is set to be used for seaport and inland shipping container operations as part of a pilot project in Hamburg at a cost of 7 million (6.2m), writes The Times. The test route will run between the container terminal and container yards located 300 feet (100 metres) further inland. The cargo route will come with a special freight capsule and loading dock. Authorities say it will be finished by 2021. The hope is that it will one day whizz across the whole of Germany, at a cost of around 20 million (18m) per km. Experts believe the technology, which was coined by Elon Musk, could replace the equivalent of 4,100 lorryloads of post every single day. Pictured is the port of Hamburg Eventually authorities want to link the busy port to other German cities, transporting freight in carbon fibre capsules that are whipped along using magnets on a track Authorities believe this will expand the port's capacity, while reducing congestion within the port and city area. Hyperloop is essentially a long tube that has had the air removed to create a vacuum. The tube is suspended off the ground to protect against weather and earthquakes. There are now a number of firms competing to bring the technology to life alongside HyperloopTT, including Elon Musk himself, Arrivo and Virgin Hyperloop One. HHLA (Hamburger Hafen und Logistik Aktiengesellschaft) is the container terminal operator that is developing the joint venture with HTT in Hamburg. Angela Titzrath, Chairwoman of HHLA's Executive Board said: 'We want to employ innovative approaches to make a contribution towards relieving the strain on the transport infrastructure in and around the Port of Hamburg.' HTT is set to be used for seaport and inland shipping container operations as part of a pilot project in Hamburg at a cost of 7 million (6.2m) WHAT IS THE HYPERLOOP? Hyperloop is a proposed method of travel that would transport people at roughly 700mph between distant locations. It was unveiled by Elon Musk in 2013, who at the time said it could take passengers the 380 miles (610km) from LA to San Francisco in 30 minutes - half the time it takes a plane. It is essentially a long tube that has had the air removed to create a vacuum. For safety reasons, Hyperloop tunnels need escape hatches in case of fire. The tube is suspended off the ground to protect against weather and earthquakes. There are now a number of firms vying to bring the technology to life, including Elon Musk himself, Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, and Virgin Hyperloop One. As several firms vie to create the first operational Hyperloop, Elon Musks vision of a radical transport system that could ferry passengers above land at 760 miles per hour continues to inch closer to reality Advertisement 'HHLA has a long history of innovation. Years before we were talking about self-driving vehicles, containers moved autonomously in Hamburg,' said Dirk Ahlborn, CEO and co-founder of Hyperloop Transportation Technologies. In October it was announced world's first commercial Hyperloop could be in operation as soon as 2019. HTT unveiled its first full-size, passenger-carrying pod in Puerto de Santa Maria, Spain in October. Dubbed the 'Quintero One,' the massive capsule is more than 100ft long and weighs in at five tons. In a nod to Marvel Comics, HTT says the pod is built out of the firm's special 'Vibranium,' a sensor-embedded carbon fibre material. HTT is one of the companies vying to make Elon Musk's vision of transport a reality. It unveiled its first full-size, passenger-carrying pod (pictured) in Puerto de Santa Maria, Spain in October HTT has also pledged to build a fully operational Hyperloop system in Abu Dhabi by 2020. The track would be around six miles long and be located close to Al Maktoum International Airport on the border of Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Pictured is a rendering Pictured is a rendering of HTT's high-speed Hyperloop system in Dubai. There are now a number of firms competing to bring the technology to life alongside HyperloopTT, including Elon Musk himself, Arrivo and Virgin Hyperloop One The pod is built to scale and, once its interior is completed, will be able to carry between 28 and 40 passengers. HTT has also pledged to build a fully operational Hyperloop system in Abu Dhabi by 2020. The track would be around six miles long and be located close to Al Maktoum International Airport on the border of Abu Dhabi and Dubai. HTT was the first company to responds to Musk's 2013 call for a hyperloop system. The firm now has over 800 engineers on its payroll. For a few years now, HyperloopTT's competitor Virgin Hyperloop One has also suggested making a connection between Abu Dhabi and Dubai. The pod is built to scale and, once its interior is completed, will carry between 28 and 40 passengers. It will now head to HTT's research and development center in Toulouse, France, for additional assembly and to undergo tests on a full-size test track. Scientists have discovered a two foot long mythical beast in Florida with the spots of a leopard and the body of an eel. The creature is a new species of salamander - and has been named the reticulated siren. Native to the swamps of Floridas Panhandle and southern Alabama, the creature looks like its covered in blue and black leopard print, with frilly gills attached to its face. Two researchers spent nearly a decade searching for the creature after one heard the legend of an leopard eel around a campfire in 2001. The living legend: The reticulated siren, native to the swamps of Floridas Panhandle and southern Alabama, looks like its covered in blue and black leopard print, with frilly gills David Steen, a wildlife ecologist at the Georgia Sea Turtle Centre who documented the discovery in the journal PLOS ONE told National Geographic: It was basically this mythical beast. Unlike most salamanders, sirens have lost their hindlimbs through millions of years of evolution. Sirens lack eyelids and sport tiny, horny beaks instead of teeth. The new species is one of the largest creatures to be described in the United States in over 100 years. Dr Steen said it took about five years of searching ponds and waterways in the Florida panhandle before they could come up with enough specimens to describe the species. 'What immediately jumps out about the reticulated siren that makes it so different from currently-recognized species is its dark and reticulated [or net-like] pattern,' says Steen. 'It also seems as though they have a disproportionally-smaller head, as compared to other sirens.' Long time coming: The new species of salamander is one of the largest creatures found in the United States in over 100 years - and was previously considered a mythical legend Evolved: Unlike most salamanders, sirens have lost their hindlimbs through millions of years of evolution. Sirens lack eyelids and sport tiny, horny beaks instead of teeth Conversely, earlier this year, in May, it was reported that demand for exotic food has pushed the Chinese giant salamander, the world's largest amphibian, to the brink of extinction in the wild. The ancient creatures, which date back 170 million years, have all but disappeared from their traditional freshwater habitats, say researchers. Giant salamanders have been depicted in Chinese culture for thousands of years, but in recent times have become a highly coveted delicacy among the super rich. To satisfy growing demand, the amphibians which grow up to six feet (1.8 metres) long are routinely harvested from the wild to stock commercial breeding farms. As a result, scientists have warned the creatures are in 'catastrophic' decline, with possibly only a handful left in the wild. Google's iron grip on the internet is set to tighten with the release of Microsoft's next internet browser, warns rival firm Mozilla. The creator of Firefox has warned that Microsoft's decision to use the search giant's Chromium technology could undermine the independence of the online world. Google's open source software will be used for an updated version of Microsoft's Edge browser, which has 330 million active users worldwide. Critics have warned that it will create a virtual monopoly and make it more difficult for other web browsers like Firefox to compete. It also raises privacy concerns over how Google - which has suffered scandals over data in the past - will handle the additional information it may gain access to. Scroll down for video Mozilla, whose Firefox offering is among the world's top three web browsers, claims that Microsoft is dropping their technology in favour of Google's. The company says that this gives Google even more power and dominance and prevent fair competition (file photo) WHO IS WINNING THE BROWSER WAR? According to the latest figures, currently just 4% of users run Edge, while Google's Chrome is the runaway leader with over 72% of the market Chrome - 72.38% Firefox - 9.1% IE - 5.38% Safari - 5.06% Edge - 4% Opera -2.18% source: StatCounter Advertisement Mozilla, whose Firefox is among the world's top three web browsers, believes that the change could provide Google with even greater power and dominance. 'Microsoft's decision gives Google more ability to single-handedly decide what possibilities are available to each one of us,' a company spokesman said. 'Google's dominance across search, advertising, smartphones, and data capture creates a vastly tilted playing field that works against the rest of us.' Microsoft launched Edge in July 2015 as the default browser for Windows 10 and as a replacement for its outdated Internet Explorer. The browser struggled to gain traction, however, acquiring a relatively small number of users compared with Chrome's reported one billion. The new move means that Microsoft will be giving up on its own infrastructure powering its Edge web browser. MailOnline has approached Microsoft for a comment but had yet to receive a reply at the time of publication. The code for Google Chromium, the platform behind the popular Chrome browser, will be used to make Microsoft's browser more stable and compatible with different operating systems - including Apple's Mac OS - the Seattle firm hopes. Microsoft aims to attract new users on Windows 7, Windows 8 and Mac with a broader rollout of Edge, as well as providing a more stable platform for accessing web pages, as web developers will have one less model to adapt their websites to. Mozilla is worried this could mean web developers will decide not to focus on optimising websites for other web browsers, such as its own. 'Will Microsoft's decision make it harder for Firefox to prosper? It could,' Mozilla continued. 'If one product like Chromium has enough market share, then it becomes easier for web developers and businesses to decide not to worry if their services and sites work with anything other than Chromium.' Though users of Edge will not notice any visual differences on the surface, preview builds of the new software will be available to test in early 2019. Concerns have been raised about the competition of web browsers, after Microsoft announced that its Edge app will adopt Chromium earlier this month. Mozilla is worried that web developers will decide not to focus on optimising websites for other browsers Microsoft announced its decision to use Google's software yesterday. The new browsing app, which will also be called Edge, uses the same open source 'Chromium' code as Google's Chrome browser and its ChromeOS software for netbooks. 'Today we're announcing that we intend to adopt the Chromium open source project in the development of Microsoft Edge on the desktop to create better web compatibility for our customers and less fragmentation of the web for all web developers,' Microsoft said in a statement at the time. Codenamed 'Anaheim,' this new browser for Windows 10 will replace Edge as the default browser on the platform. A preview version will be available early next year, Microsoft said. 'Over the next year or so, we'll be making a technology change that happens "under the hood" for Microsoft Edge, gradually over time, and developed in the open so those of you who are interested can follow along.' Officials have issued a warning after detecting the UK's first outbreak of the eight-toothed spruce bark beetle. The foreign species ravages conifer Christmas trees such as spruce, pine and fur. But the Christmas tree in your home is less likely to be targeted by the bug than the larger outdoor versions that it usually prefers. The insects have been detected at a number of unnamed locations in the Ashford area. Woodland managers, land owners, the forest industry and tree nurseries which supply mature conifer trees are being urged to remain vigilant in light of the outbreak. Scroll down for video The spruce bark beetle (stock image) - which is known for ravaging Christmas Trees - was detected at a number of unnamed locations in the Ashford area The Forestry Commission identified the breeding population during routine checks. While the pest does not affect human health, it can be a serious and destructive pest of the spruce tree species across Europe, although it generally prefers weakened or damaged trees. It has never been discovered in the wider environment in the UK before, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said. Movement restrictions have been served on-site to minimise the risk of onward spread, while further investigations and surveillance of the area is carried out. Adult beetles will be dormant and hibernating at this time of year. Nicola Spence, the UK Chief Plant Health Officer, said: 'An outbreak of the eight-toothed spruce bark beetle in an area of woodland in Kent has been confirmed. 'We are taking swift and robust action to limit the spread of this outbreak as part of our well-established biosecurity protocol used for tree pests and diseases. Woodland managers, land owners, the forest industry and tree nurseries which supply mature conifer trees are being urged to remain vigilant in light of the outbreak (stock image) 'I encourage anyone who suspects a sighting of the bark beetle to report these to the Forestry Commission on the Tree Alert portal.' A Woodland Trust spokesman said: 'The spruce bark beetle is not a threat to human health but is a serious threat to spruce trees and can also affect pines and firs, which is of course worrying. 'At least 19 pests and diseases are now attacking UK trees; six have reached epidemic levels, posing a real threat with the potential to eradicate wildlife habitat, change the landscape significantly and impact on the economy of the UK forest and timber sectors. 'Our changing climate and increasing globalisation all increase the risk and more work needs to be done to improve biosecurity measures to prevent new pests and diseases arriving into the country.' The spokesman said improved biodiversity could include introducing more effective control over movement of all biological materials and well-resourced point of entry detection of threats to plant health. Elon Musk's first high-speed underground tunnel will soon see the light of day. The billionaire tech mogul has revealed that the Boring Company's test tunnel will make its big debut on December 18th. Although that's slightly later than the previously projected launch date of December 10th, Musk said it will involve more than just a tunnel opening. Scroll down for video Elon Musk's first high-speed underground tunnel will soon see the light of day. Musk revealed that the Boring Company's test tunnel will make its big debut on December 18th Calling it a 'product launch,' Musk said the event will include 'modded but fully road legal autonomous transport cars.' The tunneling company will also show off its futuristic 'ground to tunnel car elevators' that will lift the electric buses down to the underground tunnels via an elevator shaft. Boring's test tunnel is located in the suburb of Hawthorne, near Los Angeles. In a separate tweet, the Boring Company said it would open on the 18th because the firm needed 'another few days to finish the snail habitat,' adding it would share more details 'soon.' The nod to a snail habitat presumably refers to Musk's pet snail, Gary, who 'taunts us with his speed' and supposedly outpaces the Boring Company's tunneling machines. Previously, Musk said the Boring Company would offer customers free rides in the test tunnel the day after it launched. Earlier this month, Musk announced that the company had reached a landmark moment when it finished digging out the tunnel. A 10-second video shows the amazing moment a massive boring machine breaks through the other side of the tunnel. The route begins at a SpaceX property near Crenshaw Boulevard and 120th Street in Los Angeles, turns west under 120th Street and extends for up to two miles. The vehicles descend into the tunnel via elevators at both ends of the route, before setting off on a track where they can hit speeds of up to 125 miles per hour (200km/h) Shown is an illustration of the western terminus and 'Loop Lift', or escalator that will ferry the Dugout Loop tunnel's electric skates in and out of use Riders travel through the tunnel on high-speed vehicles that can reach speeds of up to 150 miles per hour. The vehicles descend into the tunnel via elevators at both ends of the route, before setting off on a track where they can hit speeds of up to 125 miles per hour (200km/h). It comes as the Boring Company in November pulled the plug on plans for a tunnel under Los Angeles' Westside neighborhood. The company made the decision following a lawsuit, brought by a group of Westside activists, argued that the city of Los Angeles violated state law when it refused to review the tunnel's environmental impact. The massive tunnel would have stretched more than 2.5 miles underneath LA's 405 freeway and Sepulveda Boulevard. It comes as the Boring Company in November pulled the plug on plans for a tunnel under Los Angeles' Westside neighborhood. The company made the decision following a lawsuit It comes as Elon Musk's Boring Company in November pulled the plug on plans for a tunnel under Los Angeles' Westside neighborhood after it received pushback from local activists In a statement issued Tuesday, the Boring Company said it had settled the lawsuit 'amicably.' The idea for the Sepulveda tunnel was born from a string of Musk's tweets that described his frustration over constant traffic along his 17-mile commute from his home in Bel Air to Hawthorne, where the headquarters for the Boring Company and SpaceX are located. Despite his well-intentioned vision, the move received pushback from local residents. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit described how construction of the Sepulveda tunnel would be disruptive to the local community, among other concerns. Your face is now your passport. American Airlines is joining a growing list of companies that are beginning to offer facial recognition as a means of identification. The world's largest airline will now let some passengers simply scan their face to board their flight at the Los Angeles International Airport. Scroll down for video American Airlines is joining a growing list of companies that are beginning to offer facial recognition as a means of identification. Recently, Delta announced a similar move American Airlines is rolling out facial recognition cameras as part of a 90-day test to identify people before they get on board their flights from LAX's Terminal 4. The pilot program, which launched on Wednesday, came about as a result of partnership with digital security company Gemalto. The technology works by matching users' face scans against a database created by the Department of Homeland Security. The photos are then deleted from the facial recognition system's database after they're matched, according to Fast Company. American Airlines' facial recognition system is opt-in only, however, so for those with privacy fears, they can continue to board and move through the airport using standard verification methods, such as passports. Airport employees will also continue to check passports and other IDs. The 90-day test will only affect flights in LAX's Terminal 4. The pilot program, which launched on Wednesday, came about as a result of partnership with digital security company Gemalto. 'Being able to use your face instead of your boarding pass will not only enhance security but allow passengers to board more easily and quickly,' Neville Pattinson, senior vice president of Government Programs at Gemalto, told the Associated Press. 'The passenger process is changing globally and we are pleased to be on the leading edge of this change enabling our partners to offer improved service and security with our biometric capabilities.' It comes as Delta Air Lines last month launched what it's calling the first 'biometric terminal' in the US at the international terminal in Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson airport. Customers use facial recognition to verify their identity as they check in at self-service kiosks, move through security and board their flight. Getting through airport security is now as simple as scanning your face. Delta Air Lines today launched the first 'biometric terminal' in the US at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson airport HOW DOES DELTA'S BIOMETRIC BOARDING TECH WORK? Users enter their passport information on Delta's website during online check-in. For now, the biometric kiosks are only located in the international terminal. To use it, customers click 'Look' on the screen at the kiosks. They can also approach the camera at the ticket counter, when boarding or going through security. Face scans are matched with passport or visa photos already in a Customs and Border Protection database. Once a green check appears on screen, they're able to proceed. Advertisement The facial recognition system is opt-in only, meaning that passengers aren't required to have their face scanned to verify their identity. To use it, customers click 'Look' on the screen at the kiosks located in the lobby, or approach the camera at the ticket counter, when boarding or going through security. Passengers' face scans are matched to passport or visa photos that are in the U.S. Customs and Border Protection's database. After a green check mark appears, they're able to proceed. So far, Delta says the majority of travelers at the Atlanta airport are taking advantage of the facial recognition features. Of the 25,000 customers who travel through Hartsfield-Jackson's international terminal, only 2 percent have opted out of the technology, according to the airline. Customers click 'Look' at kiosks, or approach the camera at ticket counters, when boarding or going through security. After a green check mark appears, they're able to proceed Not only that, but the airline says the system has helped reduce the long lines and traffic jams that have become customary at many airports. 'Based on initial data, the facial recognition option is saving an average of two seconds for each customer at boarding, or nine minutes when boarding a wide body aircraft,' Delta said. Delta launched the system with the idea that passengers will no longer need to use their passport to get through checkpoints around the airport. However, customers will still need to keep their passport on hand for use in other airports without biometric security systems. Delta launched the system with the idea that passengers will no longer need to use their passport to get through checkpoints around the airport. However, customers will still need to keep their passport on hand for use in other airports without biometric security systems 'Were removing the need for a customer checking a bag to present their passport up to four times per departure which means were giving customers the option of moving through the airport with one less thing to worry about, while empowering our employees with more time for meaningful interactions with customers,' Gil West, Delta's chief operating officer, said in a statement. While it's limited to the international terminal in Atlanta for now, Delta hopes to bring the technology to the Detroit Metropolitan Airport in 2019. Delta has been testing its biometric security technology at several airports over the past several years, including the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the Detroit Metropolitan Airport, and the John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City. The firm has also tested a 'biometric bag drop' system at Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport and biometric boarding at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. Of the 25,000 customers who travel through Hartsfield-Jackson's international terminal, only 2 percent have opted out of the facial recognition technology, according to the airline Unsurprisingly, privacy advocates have raised concerns about how data collected by the biometric security systems could be misused. Jennifer Lynch, a senior staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, told the Atlanta Journal Constitution that the facial recognition systems are a threat to individual privacy. In particular, it threatens 'our constitutional "right to travel" and right to anonymous association,' Lynch said. Importantly, Delta's facial recognition software uses U.S. Customs and Border Protection's traveler verification service. What's more, it relies on software by NEC Corp. Customs, which is required by Congress to collect biometric information from foreign visitors as they leave the U.S., according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution. It comes as the Transportation Security Administration recently published a roadmap for how it plans to integrate new biometric data systems into airports across the country. This includes plans to use fingerprints and facial scans at airport checkpoints, potentially leading to shorter lines. It could also mean travelers may be able to leave their passports at home in the future. Advertisement A photographer has spent 17 years travelling across Mongolia capturing everyday life in the country - and the results are incredible. Frederic Lagrange, who is French but now lives in New York, first visited in 2001 after being mesmerised by stories of Mongolia told by his grandfather. He took hundreds of pictures and whittled the finest shots from his vast collection into a stunning coffee table book simply called - Mongolia. A Kazakh eagle hunter in full attire with fox skins from his past hunts and wearing traditional colourful patterned Kazakh trousers Khovsgol Lake freezes over each winter, and to save time, many people just drive over it. However, on one occasion in February 2005 warmer conditions had made the ice weak and it collapsed when a truck drove over. Pictured is the rescue truck that came to free it. Frederic says it shows the resilience and determination of the Mongol people Two men Frederic discovered lying drunk on Lake Khovsgol in the countrys far north. He said that despite it being early in the morning, they had been drinking cheap vodka. This is his favourite shot A picture of Khurlee, a driver, walking on the thick, solid ice of frozen Tolbo Lake in Western Mongolia. Frederic shot this image one April at the beginning of Spring, one of the deadliest seasons in Mongolia because temperatures can shift from warm to freezing in just a few hours. It's not unknown for herders to perish after leaving in the morning wearing clothing that's too light A driver runs away from his truck after it cracks the ice and begins to submerge on a semi-frozen Lake Khovsgol in northern Mongolia A stunning aerial picture of the city of Khovd, which has been completely covered in snow and ice Frederic's grandfather fought for the French army during the Second World War and was taken prisoner by the Germans - then rescued by Mongolian soldiers. The photographer told MailOnline Travel: 'He spoke of how he had been rescued in late 1944 by a detachment of Mongol soldiers who were fighting under Soviet command. 'I remember the excitement in his voice as he explained how he and other British and American prisoners in the camp had been rescued by these massive men from a foreign land. 'Since then Mongolia has always been on my mind. Those men saved my grandfathers life - and ultimately mine as well. 'Many years later, in 2001, I saved enough money from my job as a photo assistant, took a month off, and traveled to Mongolia. 'I spent the majority of that month shooting in the West, attracted by the unspoiled beauty and endless landscapes. A family in Mongolia with all of their belongings packed on to the back of a truck as they begin the 125-mile journey north to their winter camp. The cattle follow behind, led by elders. It takes this group over a week to walk to their destination A local herder holds up a sheep he is about to shear on the banks of Uureg Nuur Lake, left. Pictured right is a father and his child inside their yurt, which is called a ger in Mongolia When Frederic was stranded in a snow storm in western Mongolia he took refuge inside a yurt. There he was offered tea, cheese and other sweet delicacies Two Mongolian women share a snack inside a cafe. Frederic, who is French but now lives in New York, first visited Mongolia in 2001 after being mesmerised by stories of the country told by his grandfather Wrestlers training for the Nadam festival in Ulaan Baatar (left). Pictured right is one of the first people that Frederic made friends with on his visit. He's smoking a cigarette made from an old newspaper 'When I returned to New York City, I looked at a map of Mongolia and fully grasped just how little ground I had managed to cover during that initial trip. 'I felt a strong urge to see more: the Gobi desert in the South, the eagle hunters in the West, the Tsaatan reindeer herders in the Northern Taiga, and so much more.' Frederic acted on his urge and has now made several trips to Mongolia to document even more of its landscape and people. His pictures are a mixture of portraits and dramatic scenery images. His favourite image is of two men lying on a frozen lake. He said: 'I like the Two Men on Ice picture I shot on the frozen lake Khovsgol. I also like some of the portraits I shot against white-and-black backgrounds. 'Those are very straight-forward portraits, but the process of shooting portraits of people who had never had a camera pointed at them was very interesting and very raw. There was no pretense and that made the whole process very unique.' A Mongol herder drinks a cup of mare milk tea, left. Pictured right is a young boy posing for the camera at a railway station Rural workers in Mongolia get to work building a yurt. Frederic's pictures are a mixture of portraits and dramatic landscapes A woman on horseback brings a horse back to camp in the Orkhon Valley, Central Mongolia, left. Pictured right, another horse herder in one of Frederic's favourite parts of Western Mongolia, Uureg Lake A group of hunters, on horseback, ride across the snowy landscape, hoping to catch eagles, in what is a 5,000-year-old tradition. Most of central Asia freezes over in the winter Two girls play on a motorbike near Ureeg Nuur Lake in western Mongolia. Frederic says the locals here are 'very friendly' Frederic says that most people in the Mongolian countryside live in traditional Mongol yurts. In towns and cities, they live in Soviet-era buildings Frederic said that many of the Mongol people were curious about why he wanted to photograph them. And now he has struck up a special bond with many of them. He added: 'Mongols are very hospitable by nature, as the country is so vast and isolated, people have to take care of each other in order to survive in the countryside during winter especially. Frederic says that one of the most scenic and serene places in Western Mongolia is the beautiful Tolbo Lake, pictured, in the Bayan Olgii Province Another scenic shot of Lake Tolbo. Frederic said: 'I remember just seating down, lost in thoughts, gazing into the landscape, surrounded by complete silence but for the sound of the soft flapping wings of swans in the distance, migrating to warmer lands' Camels graze in the vast landscape near Uureg Lake in western Mongolia A horse stands on the shores of Uureg Nuur Lake in western Mongolia. Frederic's photo series of Mongolia has now been published in a new book, which costs $265 'Their behavior and hospitality is not limited to Mongols only, but also to anyone they cross paths with, including foreigners. 'They are all very proud of their country and to be Mongols, so to see a book of this scale coming out, about Mongolia, they are very happy.' But despite the book of images being completed, Frederic plans to return to Mongolia to snap even more images. We look forward to Mongolia 2. Almost a third of Brits believe Lapland is a fictional place, according to a new study. Researchers who polled 2,000 adults found many are clueless about the region, which stretches across northern Norway, Sweden and Finland and into Russia. One in 10 has even checked online to find out if it is a real location or not. While 78 per cent of those quizzed did not understand that Lapland spans four countries. A new study by travel firm TUI has revealed that almost a third of Brits believe Lapland, pictured, is a fictional place One in 10 adults believe 'Santa's land' covers just Iceland and Greenland, while a fifth think it is a country in its own right. But Lapland isn't the only location to cause confusion, according to the study by travel firm TUI 32 per cent have no idea Transylvania is a real country on the map, while a further 38 per cent don't believe in Christmas Island. Incredibly, seven per cent of adults think Hogwarts the school of wizardry in the famous Harry Potter novels is a real place. And six per cent believe the home of Batman, Gotham City, exists. In contrast, 26 per cent of Brits don't know Easter Island is real, while 57 per cent are baffled about the Mumbles in Swansea Bay. But perhaps unsurprisingly, 38 per cent of adults don't know Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch is a village situated in Anglesey in Wales. More than a third of adults admit their geographical knowledge is so poor they have had to check on a globe or a map to see if a place was real or not but by doing so, one in 10 then went on to book a holiday in that location. And one in 10 Brits were left red-faced after trying to book a holiday to somewhere that turned out to be a fictional destination. Of those who did know that Lapland is a real place - 55 per cent said they would love to visit one day, the OnePoll study found. A fifth of Brits think Lapland is a country in its own right. In fact the Lapland region covers four countries - Norway, Sweden, Finland and parts of Russia A spokesman for TUI, which offers day trips and breaks to Lapland, said: 'While TUI have been sending people to Lapland for a long time you can understand why many Brits believe Lapland is a made up place, as much of the region is magical and if you haven't visited, you might only think of it as the fictional home of Santa. 'In reality, Lapland is a huge place spanning multiple countries, despite being very sparsely populated. 'The study indicates many people are unsure about which places are real and which are not - and we tend to get so absorbed in fantasy worlds such as Harry Potter and Batman, it's no wonder we can get confused about whether they exist in reality. 'The great thing about Lapland is it's absolutely real and the magic is truly spectacular. There is so much to do as well as visiting the main man himself; it is one of the best places to see the Northern Lights and TUI offers many activities including snowmobile rides and the scenery is incredible.' She portrays a younger version of Jacki Weaver's character in their new Stan show, Bloom. And at the world premiere in Sydney on Thursday, Phoebe Tonkin spoke warmly of her experience working alongside the veteran actress, 71. The 29-year-old actress told Daily Mail Australia 'it was a dream', adding that Jackie is 'the sweetest person on the planet'. EXCLUSIVE: 'It was a dream!' The Originals star Phoebe Tonkin has revealed what it was like working with Jacki Weaver on their new Stan show Bloom, which premieres on New Year's Day 'It was amazing, I felt very lucky working with Ryan Corr, Byran Brown and of course with Jacki,' Phoebe said. 'It was a dream and she's the sweetest person on the planet.' Phoebe joked that she should have asked the Oscar nominee for career advice on set, but said they mostly discussed their characters instead. Jacki Weaver (pictured) and Phoebe Tonkin play young and old versions of the same character, an Alzheimer's sufferer named Gwen who gets a second chance at youth from a magical plant Professionals: Phoebe joked that she should have asked the Oscar nominee for career advice on set, but said they mostly discussed their characters instead The Vampire Diaries star added with a laugh: 'I'm sure she would have had some amazing [career] advice, so I should probably have asked her!' Phoebe described Bloom as 'intense, powerful and emotional', and said she had a fantastic time working on the original six-part series. She said: 'It was a really unique experience. It's kind of an actor's dream to portray all those things, and to work with some of the most incredible actors that Australia has. 'I feel incredibly grateful. It was just a great experience.' Gripping mystery: Phoebe described Bloom as 'intense, powerful and emotional', and said she had a fantastic time working on the original six-part series Jacki and Phoebe play young and old versions of the same character, an Alzheimer's sufferer named Gwen Reed who gets a second chance at youth from a magical plant. Acclaimed U.S. film director John Curran was at the helm of the Stan Original Series, which was funded by Screen Australia and Stan. Bloom will premiere on New Year's Day Beau Ryan's family laughed off false rumours he was 'getting close' to his radio colleague Jackie 'O' Henderson following her marriage split. Dismissing the hurtful gossip, the 33-year-old footy star told Daily Mail Australia on Thursday that the team at KIIS FM are like 'family'. Beau added that he and his wife Kara have been 'supportive' of Jackie throughout her separation. Scroll down for video EXCLUSIVE: 'We're like family at KIIS': Beau Ryan (left) has said he and wife Kara laughed off false rumours he was 'getting close' to newly-single colleague Jackie 'O' Henderson (right) 'I wasn't really aware [of her marriage breakdown], kind of like everyone else. I wasn't aware of her situation until recently,' Beau said. 'We've all been supportive. Kara has been supportive of her.' Beau added that he was 'dragged' into the situation by the press, but fortunately 'it has passed for the moment'. 'We've all been supportive. Kara has been supportive of her': Beau added that he and Kara (left) are perfectly happy together and the false rumours had no effect on their marriage Beau added that he and Kara are perfectly happy together and the false rumours had no effect on their marriage. 'We're as happy as ever. Kara and I and everyone at KIIS are a close family. Kara and I are close to Jackie,' he said. Jackie, 43, announced last month that she had split with her husband Lee Henderson after 18 years together. Moving on: Beau added that he was 'dragged' into the situation by the press, but fortunately 'it has passed for the moment'. Pictured with Kara In happier times: Jackie announced last month that she had split with her husband Lee Henderson (left) after 18 years together Beau admitted on air recently that false reports of 'chemistry' between them had made Jackie 'paranoid'. During a conversation with celebrity psychic Georgina Walker, Beau said: 'I used to get good warmth off her, and now she's just paranoid.' The psychic replied, 'She's gone cold because of the magazine articles', which prompted Jackie to say: 'I'm giving him the cold shoulder in life, in general.' Rita Ora threw some serious shade at Aussie radio host Michael 'Wippa' Wipfli during a rap battle on his Fitzy and Wippa breakfast show on Friday. The Anywhere hitmaker took a series of swipes at the 39-year-old father-of-two. Pop star Rita, 28 proved herself more than adept at dishing out some savage rhymes. 'He's the guy where everything flops!' Rita Ora threw some serious shade at Aussie radio host Michael 'Wippa' Wipfli during a rap battle on his Fitzy and Wippa breakfast show on Friday Rapping to the beat of Mase' Feels So Good, she began: 'Well now I'm here with Pink Eye and the Brain/I flushed better things down my toilet drain. 'From mike drops to eye drops/Wippa's the rapper where everything flops. 'Wippa's got no neck and no hope/on the radio show, you're the only joke,' she continued. She's pretty good! Rapping to the beat of Mase' Feels So Good, she began: 'Well now I'm here with Pink Eye and the Brain/I flushed better things down my toilet drain Before Rita's performance, Wippa made a racy reference to the star's performance in Fifty Shades of Grey, before taking a dig at her rumoured ex, Wiz Khalifa. 'Your ex is relieved your album's called Phoenix/ he panicked and thought it was called small p**is.' Rita is currently in Australia to promote her long-awaited Sophomore album. High profile: The rap battle follows Rita's appearance at Wednesday's ARIA Awards. She is pictured with Keith Urban The British songstress appeared at the ARIA Awards on Wednesday night, where she performed her hit song Let You Love Me. Rita admitted ahead of the show she was nervous in an interview with the Daily Telegraph: 'You want to impress, you want to be here and to adapt to the incredible culture and the music that is coming out of Australia so I kind of think it is more pressure.' She also paid tribute to her Australian fans on Instagram after the performance. 'Thank you @ARIA_Official for having me and my crew perform Let You Love Me and it making the top five straight away. It's so amazing to be here in Australia I never want to leave!' she wrote. He's the Gold Coast playboy known for throwing wild parties full of bikini-clad women and powerful men. And Travers Beynon, a.k.a. The Candyman, has hinted at which celebrities will be attending his Helensvale estate this weekend. Speaking to Hit105's Stav, Abby and Matt on Friday, the tobacco mogul said that several reality TV stars are on the guest list. REVEALED: The D-list reality stars who will be attending The Candyman's wild Gold Coast party this weekend 'There's a lot coming from Love Island, Married at First Sight, Bachelor and all that,' Travers said without naming names. But one celebrity who has confirmed his attendance is MAFS star Telv Williams. Earlier this week, the 34 year-old father-of-two boasted about receiving an invitation on Instagram. Familiar faces: 'There's a lot coming from Love Island, Married at First Sight, Bachelor and all that,' Travers told Hit105's Stav, Abby and Matt on Friday He shared a glimpse of the physical invitation: a black box with gold lettering that reads, '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.' While the full guest list hasn't been revealed, Alana Wolfe, makeup artist Kristie Roche and DJ Beyond Tha Noize have all posted photos of their invites to Instagram. 'Best invite ever': Married At First Sight's Telv Williams (left, with Dean Wells) has already confirmed his attendance. He previously shared a video of his invitation (right) to Instagram One reality TV star who won't be attending is Geordie Shore's Dee Nguyen. The 25 year-old, who rose to fame on First Dates last year, admitted recently that she had no interest in spending time with The Candyman. 'I don't like the way that he treats women, so I don't think I'll be partying there anytime soon,' she said. Cassandra Thorburn, ex wife of Today show host Karl Stefanovic, will co-host a mother and baby Q&A event at Sydney's Luna Park on Tuesday. The event, which is hosted by Justice Professional, is being billed as a 'Free Mum's & Bub's Pamper Session'. Journalist Elle Halliwell, 32, who recently recovered from leukaemia, is listed as a special guest alongside Cassandra, 47. Scroll down for video What will she say? Cassandra Thorburn (pictured) will host a Q&A event in Sydney next week, just days before her ex-husband Karl Stefanovic marries Jasmine Yarbrough in Mexico The event will be held at the Luna Park Sunset Room and includes 'free gift packs and goodies, [hair] styling, advice and face-painting for the kids', according to the Eventbrite. Cassandra will be giving away 100 free signed copies of her newly-released children's book, Leo Lion's Big Bed. On Friday, InPress PR's Instagram account posted an invite to the event, which featured photos of Cassandra and Ellie. Pamper session: The event, which is hosted by Justice Professional, is being billed as a 'Free Mum's & Bub's Pamper Session' and also features journalist Elle Halliwell (right) as a speaker According to the caption, attendees can 'meet and listen to Cassandra and Ellie discuss the importance of looking after yourself while being a mum'. The event takes place on December 4, just days before Cassandra's ex-husband Karl, 44, will marry his fiancee Jasmine Yarbrough, 34, in Mexico. The couple will tie the knot at the One&Only Palmilla Resort in the seaside town of San Jose del Cabo on Saturday, December 8. Close call! The event takes place on December 4, just days before Cassandra's ex-husband Karl (left) will marry his fiancee Jasmine Yarbrough (right) in Mexico Their wedding will be a three-day affair, with the newlyweds sparing no expense. They have booked two villas, one which costs approximately $11,600 per night, and another priced at around $15,000 per night. Daily Mail Australia understands that Karl and Jasmine chose the resort due to its exclusivity and rich history. She may no longer be on TV after getting the chop from Married At First Sight spin-off, Talking Married. But Cheryl Maitland was turning heads for other reasons on Thursday. The 26-year-old showed off her phenomenal curves in a tight white bathing suit as she went swimming at the Sheraton Mirage Resort in Port Douglas. Turning up the heat! Former Married at First Sight star Cheryl Maitland flaunts her curves in a tight white bathing suit during Queensland holiday 'I've decided that I want to be on holidays everyday,' she captioned an enviable holiday snap posted to Instagram. There was not an inch to pinch on Cheryl's frame as she flaunted plenty of cleavage and her slender waist in the one-piece. Her brunette tresses were tied up in a bun and she finished her poolside look with a pair of aviators. The glamour model is currently holidaying in Port Douglas with her boyfriend Dean Gibbs to celebrate his birthday. 'Holidays everyday': The glamour model is currently holidaying in Port Douglas with her boyfriend Dean Gibbs Cheryl was the breakout star on Married At First Sight, and had two failed romances with Jonathan and Andrew before leaving the show. After filming the program, Cheryl began dating Dean when he messaged the brunette over Instagram. The pair had originally met in Melbourne through mutual friends, but lost touch until Dean saw her on the show and decided it was worth a shot getting in contact with her. David Campbell celebrated a decade with his wife Lisaon Friday by sharing a heartfelt message on Instagram for their anniversary. Sharing a candid photo from their wedding day, the 45-year-old TV host and performer professed his love for his British-born wife. '10 years of married life with the person who makes me laugh till I cry. Happy Anniversary @lisaluckiest I love you with all I am,' he wrote. 'I love you with all I am': David Campbell shares heartfelt tribute to wife Lisa as they celebrate 10 years of married life together on anniversary this week Lisa also gave her husband a shout out on her respective Instagram, although her post was much more grounded in the everyday realities of married life. 'We've been married 10 years today. To celebrate we had an argument about the batteries for a smoke alarm. That's traditional right? 1 year - paper, 10 years - smoke alarm,' she began. 'I can't wait to be next to you for the rest of my life @davidcampbell73. You're the best thing that ever happened to me. 'Sorry about being a d*ck over the smoke alarm.' Throwback: Sharing a candid photo from their wedding day, the 45-year-old TV host and performer professed his love for his British-born wife Getaway: Ahead of their milestone anniversary, the couple enjoyed a romantic holiday in New Zealand's picturesque Queenstown Ahead of their milestone anniversary, the couple enjoyed a romantic holiday in New Zealand's picturesque Queenstown. 'DC and I have been married 10 years this week (10 years!?!). He asked me what I would like as a present. I said I wanted to read a book by a lake,' Lisa wrote on Instagram, sharing a series of stunning photos from their trip. 'He obliged and we went to @queenstownnz for the weekend. We stayed at @azurlodge which was absolutely perfect. We played Scrabble, read and ate. 'Thank you to @the_bondi_unicorn for holding the fort at home and of course to @davidcampbell73 for putting up with me for a decade.' 'To celebrate that anniversary this week we went to Queenstown which was beyond beautiful. We feel rested and ready for another ten... or twenty... heaps more,' David wrote on Instagram Happy family: David and Lisa are parents to three children together, eight-year-old son Leo, and three-year-old twins Billy and Betty David shared a similar post from their child-free getaway. 'Ten years marriage feels more like ten minutes with @Iisaluckiest,' he began. 'To celebrate that anniversary this week we went to Queenstown which was beyond beautiful. We feel rested and ready for another ten... or twenty... heaps more. 'I am so lucky and so in love.' Making memories: In an interview with 9Honey in July, the star spoke about meeting his wife at a time when he had almost given up on finding love Together forever: 'Ten years marriage feels more like ten minutes with @Iisaluckiest,' he wrote on Instagram David and Lisa are parents to three children together, eight-year-old son Leo, and three-year-old twins Billy and Betty. In an interview with 9Honey in July, the star spoke about meeting his wife at a time when he had almost given up on finding love. 'It's like I knew I couldnt be without her. I knew something had changed in me with her and that Id never felt this way before,' he revealed. 'There was a sense of home I felt with her, a sense of joy.' Her film Black Panther received three Golden Globe nominations on Thursday morning. And hours after the announcement, Lupita Nyong'o was spotted heading inside LAX to catch her flight. The 35-year-old movie star cut a casual figure in a gray coat with white combat AGL Leather biker boot for her travels. Looking good: Lupita Nyong'o was spotted heading inside LAX to catch her flight on Thursday afternoon Lupita donned an ankle-length cover up that gave a glimpse of her legs; she arrived in black and white lace up boots. She carried a large camel colored handbag in one hand as she made her way inside the airport. Lupita added sunglasses and a touch of gloss on her lips, opting to showcase her natural beauty. The stunner starred as Nakia in the 2018 hit Marvel film Black Panther, which earned over $1.3 billion around the world, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Chic: The 35-year-old movie star cut a casual figure in a gray coat with white combat AGL Leather biker boot for her travels. She starred alongside Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Danai Gurira, Letitia Wright and Angela Bassett; the action movie was directed by Ryan Coogler and produced by Kevin Feige. The film's Golden Globe nominations include: Best Motion Picture - Drama; Best Original Song (All The Stars) by Kendrick Lamar, Mark Spears, Anthony Tiffith, Solana Rowe and Al Shuckburgh; and also Best Original Score by Ludwig Goransson. For the Best Motion Picture, Black Panther is up against A Star Is Born, Bohemian Rhapsody, If Beale Street Could Talk and BlacKkKlansman. Ready! Set! Action! The stunner starred as Nakia in the 2018 hit Marvel film Black Panther, which earned over $1.3 billion around the world, according to The Hollywood Reporter; pictured from L to R Danai Gurira, Chadwick Boseman, Lupita,and Florence Kasumba This is the second time a superhero live action film has been nominated for a Golden Globe award for Best Picture; In 2016, Deadpool was nominated for Best Motion Picture - for a musical or comedy although it lost out against La La Land. For animated films, The Incredibles was nominated for Best Motion Picture - Musical Or Comedy in 2005 but lost to Sideways. The Golden Globes is set to air on January 6 with hosts Sandra Oh and Andy Samberg. Jennifer Garner and cookbook author Ina Garten treated themselves to some In-N-Out fast food on Wednesday. Jennifer, 46, was in Costa Mesa, California to catch the last date of Ina's tour for her new cookbook Cook Like a Pro and the pals headed out for some food to celebrate. Ina, 70, was the first to caption a snap of the duo chowing down in the burger restaurant, writing: 'Only the best for my friend @jennifer.garner dinner at @innout after my show in Costa Mesa, CA!! What a fun way to wrap up my fall book tour! #CookLikeaPro' Yum! Jennifer Garner and pal Ina Garten grabbed some In-N-Out on Wednesday The ladies had big smiles on their faces as they sat side-by-side wearing matching black and holding their burgers. Hours later Jennifer shared a similar snap writing: '@inagarten you were amazing in your beyond sold out show in Costa Mesa. We hung on every word! But - celebrating the end of your #CookLikeAPro book tour with @innout.' The duo have been friends for three years and bonded over Jennifer's Barefoot Contessa style 'Pretend Cooking Show' clips she makes for Instagram. Ina told People: 'I love her videos so much. She is adorable and smart and not at all performingthats just who she is, I just think shes really special.' Supportive pal: Jennifer, 46, was in Costa Mesa, California to catch the last date of Ina's tour for her new cookbook Cook Like a Pro and the pals headed out for some food to celebrate The duo have been friends for three years and bonded over Jennifer's Barefoot Contessa style 'Pretend Cooking Show' clips she makes for Instagram Meanwhile, Jennifer and ex-husband Ben Affleck are in a 'good place', after finalizing their divorce in October. The former couple, both 46, had their 13-year marriage officially dissolved, and despite having 'ups and downs' this year - with Ben completing a 40-day stint in rehab for alcohol addiction after Jennifer staged an intervention and drove him to the treatment center - they are said to still be on good terms. A source said: 'They have both had some ups and downs this year, and they seem to be in a good place.' The pair are also determined to keep co-parenting their three children - Violet, 13, Seraphina, nine, and Samuel, six - as 'seamlessly' as possible. Friends: Ina once said of Jennifer 'I love her videos so much. She is adorable and smart and not at all performingthats just who she is, I just think shes really special.' Mom duty: Jennifer, 46, is pictured on Wednesday picking up her son Samuel and daughter Seraphina from school in Santa Monica Speaking to People magazine, the insider added: 'Jen and Ben continue to work together to make their parenting as seamless as possible. They really like to do things as a family, be it outings, church, cooking or watching movies.' The comments come after it was claimed the pair spent Thanksgiving together at the Justice League star's home in Montana. Another source said: 'Jen, Ben and the kids were in Montana for Thanksgiving. This was long planned. They always celebrate big holidays together as a family. The family all spent Thanksgiving together and they all cooked.' The Peppermint actress is now in a relationship with CEO John Miller who also recently finalized his divorce from his estranged wife. 'They're in a good place': Jennifer finalized her divorce from ex-husband Ben Affleck in October and are working together to co-parent their three children together Amanda Seyfried jetted out of town on Thursday with her two babies by her side - her one-year-old daughter and beloved pooch, Finn. The fresh-faced actress, 33, looked relaxed and in high spirits as she arrived at LAX, guiding her fluffy Australian Shepherd by the leash. The Mean Girls star rocked a baby pink beanie, black coat, star print T-shirt and cropped skinny jeans for the flight ahead. So fly! Amanda Seyfried jetted out of town on Thursday with her two babies by her side - her one-year-old daughter and beloved pooch, Finn Adoring mom: Seyfried carefully lifted her daughter out of her stroller just before appearing to head through security She wore her flowing blonde locks down along with a chic pair of sunglasses to protect her vision. Inside the airport, the adoring mother carefully lifted her daughter out of her stroller as they appeared to head through security. The youngster wore a rabbit print jacket, pink shirt, and sporty grey sweatpants. It's been more than a year since Amanda and her husband Thomas Sadoski welcomed their daughter into the world. Bundled up! The Mean Girls star rocked a baby pink beanie, black coat, star print T-shirt and cropped skinny jeans for the flight ahead Jean-ius: The Mamma Mia actress rocked a pair of cropped skinny jeans for the occasion That's her girl: The 33-year-old gently lifted her little girl into her arms The couple started dating in early 2016 and confirmed their engagement of September that same year. In March 2017 the pair eloped in a private ceremony, just two weeks before welcoming their first child, a little girl. Now that the lovebirds are married and parents to their daughter, whose name they're yet to disclose, Amanda is eager to fill their home with more bundles of joy. The screen beauty previously told PorterEdit: 'I definitely want more babies. Maybe three? Or four? Or five?' High spirits! The actress looked cheerful as she prepared to leave town Growing so fast: It's been more than a year since Amanda and her husband Thomas Sadoski welcomed their daughter into the world The eighth and final season of Game Of Thrones is fast approaching. And the HBO hit released the very first teaser for the final season Thursday. The preview, which debuted at the Sao Paulo Expo offshoot of Comic Con in Brazil, begins with ice overtaking the land of Westros, before freezing a wolf representing House Stark solid. Sneak peek: The first teaser trailer for Game Of Throne's final season was released on Thursday The frost, which likely represents the looming threat of Winter and the approaching White Walkers, continues until it reaches a dragon of House Targaryen. Fire begins to blaze forward from the opposite end, overwhelming a lion of House Lannister. Then the elements collide in the center explosively. The final frame teases the April 2019 release. Mother of Dragons: Though the teaser doesn't feature any actual footage from the show, it certainly gives fans and idea of the drama to come. Above, Emilia Clarke is pictured as Daenerys Targaryen Dragon tales: The frost continues until it reaches a dragon of House Targaryen Brand new: The preview debuted at Comic Con Experience in Brazil Howling: The preview begins with ice overtaking the land, before freezing a wolf representing House Stark solid Sign of a King: Fire begins to blaze forward from the opposite end, overwhelming a lion of House Lannister Though the teaser doesn't feature any actual footage from the show, it certainly gives fans and idea of the drama to come. The fire and ice of the trailer are a nod to the George RR Martin book series the show is based on, A Song Of Fire And Ice. GOT stars Maisie Williams (Aria Stark) and John Bradley (Samwell Tarly) joined creators David Benioff and Dan Weiss for the trailer's debut in Brazil. The big chill: The frost likely represents the looming threat of Winter and the approaching White Walkers Coming soon: The final frame teases the April 2019 release There, Benioff and Weiss revealed how they first imagined the series ending at the end of the third season. Earlier in the week Vladimir Furdik, the actor who plays the Night King, dished details about the show's sure-to-be epic final battle to the Hungarian website Sorozat Wiki. 'In the third part of the last season, there is a battle that the creators intend to be the biggest in television history. Almost the full episode will be about the battle, it will take about an hour.' The final season will be just six-episodes long. Kim Kardashian has taught her sisters well in becoming style icons. But the 37-year-old reality star seemed to be taking fashion clues from her younger sister Kylie Jenner as she was spotted in a similar outfit in Los Angeles on Thursday. While promoting her cosmetics line, Kim rocked a bright pink suit at Ulta Beauty akin to the slick ensemble the 21-year-old wore last month while hawking her own makeup products. Twinsies: Kim Kardashian, 38, seemed to be taking fashion clues from her younger sister Kylie Jenner, 21, as she was spotted in a similar outfit in Los Angeles on Thursday As if she raided her youngest siblings wardrobe, the reality star donned an ensemble remarkably similar to Kylie's sartorial choice. Both KUWTK stars swathed their famous figures in oversized pink hued suit jackets that cut just above their knees. While Kylie sported matching shiny pants, Kim wore for a more baggy set with graphics of what appeared to be ancient statue faces. However, Kylie did wear her tresses in Kim's signature platinum color that she often uses instead of her raven hue. Wardrobe raid: As if she raided her youngest siblings wardrobe, the reality star donned an ensemble remarkably similar to Kylie's sartorial choice Swathed: Both KUWTK stars swathed their famous figures in oversized pink hued suit jackets that cut just above their knees Pants mimic: While Kylie sported matching shiny pants, Kim wore for a more baggy set with graphics of what appeared to be ancient statue faces Kim and Kylie's mom Kris Jenner was also at Kim's event dressed in a chic black ensemble with a taupe overcoat. Meanwhile, Kim announced she and husband Kanye West would be hosting the big Kardashian-Jenner Christmas Eve party. 'We do our big Christmas eve party, so this year Kanye and I are throwing it our house. We are definitely going to be here.' she told E! News at her KKW Beauty and KKW Fragrance pop up shop in Costa Mesa, California. Hair care: However, Kylie did wear her tresses in Kim's signature platinum color that she often uses instead of her raven hue Kim, dressed in a suit without a shirt and her hair pulled back, 'We're starting to decorate today actually.' The siren had earlier said that the family would not be doing a Christmas card this year because things turned out so poorly last year with massive in fighting. 'I have to say, thanks to last years Christmas card, that really did just f*** us over,' Kim told E! News. Kim continued, 'That was so dramatic. Kris Jenner has given up. Shes just like, "I dont have the energy to wrangle all my kids anymore and their kids."' Ash London has been officially confirmed as Em Rusciano's permanent replacement on 2DAY FM's breakfast show with Grant Denyer and Ed Kavalee for 2019. The exciting news comes after the radio star, 32, has been filling in temporarily since pregnant Em resigned in September. 'Looking forward to waking you up on a permanent basic, Sydney,' Ash wrote alongside an Instagram picture of her posing with co-hosts Grant and Ed. Scroll down for video 'Fun, fresh and frank - she is the real deal!' 2DAY FM announce Ash London as the permanent breakfast show replacement for Em Rusciano Hit Network head of content Gemma Fordham told RadioToday the station was 'thrilled' by Ash accepting the offer to join the team full-time. 'She is the real deal, connects authentically with audiences and brings a fun, fresh and frank take on the day. The chemistry she has with Grant and Ed will only continue to flourish and we are excited about what is ahead for them!' Gemma said. '2DayFM breakfast is committed to playing more music when you wake up because we know thats what our audience wants and thats the 2DayFM difference.' 'The chemistry she has with Grant and Ed will only continue to flourish and we are excited about what is ahead for them!' Hit Network head of content Gemma Fordham told RadioToday the station was 'thrilled' by Ash accepting the offer to join the team full-time Em Rusciano announced her resignation from 2Day FM in September, telling listeners she would not be returning following the birth of her third child. She said on air: 'I want to make it crystal clear that this is entirely my decision and not one I made lightly. Miss Fordham said in a statement at the time: 'We are so thrilled for Em and her family that after everything they experienced last year [with her miscarriage] they will have a beautiful baby in their world early next year.' Replaced! Em Rusciano announced her resignation from 2Day FM in September, telling listeners she would not be returning following the birth of her third child Ash, who rose to fame hosting Channel Eleven Australian's music show The Loop alongside Scott Tweedie, was long the odd favourite to secure the permanent role. As well as her new permanent gig on breakfast radio, Ash will also continue her role hosting Ash London Live weekdays from 6.30pm to 8pm. 2DAY FM's Grant, Ed and Ash will air in 2019 from 6am weekdays She is a passionate lawyer who just received a prestigious honor from the United Nations Correspondents Association Awards. And Amal Clooney was back on stage delivering another powerful speech at the Massachusetts Conference For Women on Thursday. Not only did Amal, 40, move audience members with remarks on women's rights, but she also enjoyed a chat with her father-in-law Nick Clooney. Taking the stage: Amal Clooney made remarks at the 2018 Massachusetts Conference For Women in Boston on Thursday Amal also ensured she looked her best, as usual. The wife of George Clooney looked incredible in a black floor length skirt and coordinating tank top that put her svelte physique on show. Her brunette tresses cascaded down in loose, flowing waves, and her complexion shined with peach blush and lipstick. On stage, Amal had audience members in the palm of her hand as she gave a speech on women's rights, equality, and the Me Too movement. Having a chat: Amal enjoyed a chat with her father-in-law, Nick Radiant: The star looked polished to perfection as she took the stage 'We are living through a moment of reckoning and a rebalancing of power. But it's a long way from #MeToo to Never Again,' she said, according to the Massachusetts Conference For Women Twitter account. 'For too long, women have suffered abuses without speaking out or without being believed,' she said. Amal also addressed sexual violence against women. Taking the stage: On stage, Clooney had audience members in the palm of her hand as she gave a speech on women's rights, equality, and the Me Too movement 'Rape is part of a plan to systematically control women for the rest of their lives. Rape is an attempt to destroy a woman's spirit and her will to survive,' she said. She also made remarks about equal rights: 'Achieving equality is not just the right thing to do, it is the profitable thing to do. No country can reach its full potential until women have equal rights.' Amal was at one point joined by her father-in-law Nick, who was also a scheduled speaker. Family time: The two looked in high spirits as they enjoyed a lively chat in front of audience members The two looked in high spirits as they enjoyed a lively chat in front of audience members. It has been a busy day for Amal, who was seen emerging from a New York hotel on Thursday with her toddler twins. The human rights lawyer and activist carried one-year-olds Ella and Alexander in her arms while looking ever so chic in a black outfit and long leopard print gilet. Good chat: The two looked in high spirits as they enjoyed a lively chat in front of audience members She finished off her look with five-inch platform boots and a beret. The twins both wore jeans and white sneakers and carried matching teddy bears with festive red ties. Little Ella wore a fluffy white beanie and carried a stylish brown bag decorated with stickers while Alexander wore a black coat. The night before, Amal was a picture of glamour at the 23rd annual United Nations Correspondents Association Awards. She attended with her husband, George Clooney and also brought two extra special guests along: her in-laws Nick Clooney and Nina Bruce Warren. Amal was honoured as 2018's Global Citizen of the Year at the gala. She was appointed to her first UN commission in 2013 and has taken on a number of high profile international cases in her career as a civil rights lawyer. As she took to the stage, she delivered a blistering speech in which she accused President Trump of giving the 'green light' to autocratic regimes who jail and kill journalists after he named the American press the 'enemy of the people'. Passionate: She also made remarks about equal rights: 'Achieving equality is not just the right thing to do, it is the profitable thing to do. No country can reach its full potential until women have equal rights' Her little ones: Clooney was truly a hands-on mom as she carried both of her cherubic children in New York City on Thursday She said reporters around the world are 'under attack' from autocratic regimes including in North Korea, the Philippines, Hungary, Turkey, and Brazil. She added: 'The U.S. President has given such regimes a green light and labeled the press in this country the "enemy of the people". 'And of course two months ago a Washington Post journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, walked into a consulate in Istanbul and was brutally tortured to death.' Saudi Arabia has confessed to killing Khashoggi in a pre-meditated attack, but has denied its Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was involved. She also spoke about the jailing of two Reuters journalists, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, who were imprisoned for seven years in Myanmar after covering the killings of the Rohingya religious minority. They were jailed alongside a policeman, who testified that the men were set up by authorities. Dog the Bounty Hunter has announced he plans to press charges against the father and son, 17, who aggressively hounded him and his cancer-stricken wife Beth at Denver Airport over allegations the reality star had assaulted a teem. The newly released footage showed Dog pushing his wheelchair-bound wife into an elevator, accompanied by an airport handler with their bags, as two men hurl abuse at them. 'You put your hands on my son,' shouted the older man, threatening that he was going to: 'Beat your ass.' 'Dog the Bounty Hunter putting his hands on a f**king juvenile,' he continued. While the aggressor's son chimed in over his father's shoulder, telling Dog to 'S*ck my d*ck.' The newly released footage shows Dog and his wife in the elevator (right) while the teen and his father yelled abuse at them (left) Sources told The Blast, who first obtained the footage of the incident, that Dog was concerned about his sick wife Beth and did not want to respond. Eventually Dog shouted: 'Follow me outside, brah,' though it's not clear if he was talking to the men or security. Dog - real name Duane Chapman - denied laying a finger on the teen and sources say that investigators have already pulled surveillance footage from the airport, which appears to back up Dog's story. He is now planning to file charges against the men for harassment. His attorney, Andrew B. Brettler, told People that his client hadn't assaulted anyone and was simply trying to fly back home to Colorado, with his wife on Friday. Sources told The Blast, who first obtained the footage of the incident, that Dog was concerned about his sick wife Beth (pictured) and did not want to respond A member of airport staff tries to help but simply ends up extending the confrontation when he can't figure out how to get their bags into the elevator with them 'There was no assault. A young man approached Dog at the Denver Airport in a very hostile and aggressive manner, clearly looking to start trouble. He insulted Dog and Beth, hurled racial slurs at Dog, and threatened to 'cut' Beth if she could 'get out of her wheelchair.' The Chapmans attempted to distance themselves from this individual, but he followed them to the elevator where he continued to shout profanities at them,' said Brettler. 'The Chapmans called for airport security. Eventually they were able to get in their vehicle without further incident. According to the Denver P.D., airport surveillance footage show this individual was the aggressor and that Dog did not assault him, as alleged,' Brettler continued. 'The Chapmans intend to press charges against this individual and his father for harassment and for disturbing the peace.' The father of the teen had filed a police report against the reality star after the incident and police launched an investigation. But it appears that surveillance footage does not back up his claims. Investigation: He flew home to Colorado with cancer-stricken wife Beth last Friday. Now Dog The Bounty Hunter faces allegations he assaulted a teen boy after arriving at Denver airport Dog and Beth had flown back to Colorado after the mother-of-four underwent surgery to remove a throat blockage in Los Angeles on November 27. Tests subsequently revealed that Beth's throat cancer has returned. She was in a wheelchair and accompanied by her husband when the TV personality was approached by the 17-year-old. Then teen's father claimed his son was a fan of Dog's and had asked for a photo, but Dog had refused and allegedly pushed him away using a closed fist to his chest. Denial: Dog -real name Duane Chapman - denies the assault claims and plans to file his own police report saying he was harassed by the father and son duo. He's pictured with Beth in LA on November 25, two days before she underwent throat surgery Dog's team, however, tell a different story, explaining to TMZ that the teen walked up to Dog and told him: 'I have a bounty on my head. What are you gonna do about it motherf*****?' When Dog told the 17-year-old to step back, he then allegedly replied: 'Tell that fat b**** to get out of her chair. I'll cut her in half,' referencing Dog's wheelchair-bound wife. The reality star couple went home to Denver against doctor's advice because Beth wanted to be where she feels most comfortable. Explaining her latest diagnosis, Dog told UsWeekly: 'They say the cancer follows the path of least resistance, so it goes downward. Half of her lung was full of water.' Doctors 'told us they didn't want her to leave the hospital, but she was adamant, she just wanted to be home,' he added. Kim Kardashian used her celebrity platform to successfully petition for the release of non-violent drug offender Alice Marie Johnson back in June. And during Sunday's episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians, people will get to see the emotional moment when the reality star tells Alice she's is getting out of prison. In a trailer shared Thursday, the bombshell is in full glam for a photoshoot when she learns the news and immediately calls Johnson to celebrate. Scroll down for video Great news: Kim Kardashian shared the emotional moment when she told Alice Marie Johnson she was being released from prison in a new trailer for KUWTK out Thursday While getting her hair and makeup done for a photoshoot, Kim gets a call from her attorney Shawn Holley. 'I'm at a shoot so I can't cry, but this is so crazy,' she says, holding back tears. 'There's no way this would've happened without you,' Kim's attorney replied. Then the KKW makeup mogul and lawyer loop in Alice's attorneys to the call so they can get her on the phone. It turns out Kim was the first person to deliver the important news. 'Ms. Alice?' she asks. The first to know: Kim was the first person to tell Alice she was getting out. The pair are seen in November together above On the job: In a trailer shared Thursday, the bombshell is in full glam for a photoshoot when she learns the news and immediately calls Alice to celebrate Emotional: The starlet holds back tears, so as not to ruin her hair and makeup 'This is Kim? Kim, how are you doing my angel? My war angel,' replies Johnson. Unable to contain her excitement, Kim tells Alice: 'I cannot believe it. We did it!' 'Huh?' Alice replies somewhat confused. 'You don't know?!' Kim exclaimed back. 'No, she doesn't know! You're telling her the news!' Kardashian's lawyer Holley responded. Straight to the top: Back in June President Donald Trump granted Johnson clemency just a week after Kim visited the Commander In Chief to advocate for her release Then Kim gets emotional as she tells Alice: 'I'm sorry, I thought you knew! Oh, my God. The news just broke. The president called me, and he told me that you are out. He signed the papers, it's been released to the press, everything.' Back in June President Donald Trump granted Johnson clemency just a week after Kim visited the Commander In Chief to advocate for her release. Johnson was serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole for a first-time, non-violent drug offense. She had been incarcerated for 22 years at the time of her release. United: Kim Kardashian and Alice Johnson gave a joint interview on Today shortly after Johnson's release Shortly after Alice's release, she and Kim sat down for an interview on the Today show. 'I love this woman,' she told host Hoda Kotb. 'I mean, I already knew just by talking to you on the phone and just seeing you in videos, but I mean, you are everything and more than I ever thought.' Since, Kim has continued to lobby for prison reform, returning to the White House in September to talk about sentencing and clemency issues with Ivanka Trump, husband Jared Kushner and other members of the president's administration. Game of Thrones starlet Maisie Williams took her seat on the famed Iron Throne while kicking off day one of the Comic Con Experience (CCXP) at Sao Paulo Expo in Brazil on Thursday. The 21-year-old Emmy nominee took the plunge in a $1,055 Ganni beaded cactus dress and red Rupert Sanderson stilettos selected by stylist Harriet Byczok. The Bristol-born Brit let her natural beauty shine through, but she made sure to get her pink fringed hair touched up shortly before the fan convention. Lady of the Seven Kingdoms? Game of Thrones starlet Maisie Williams took her seat on the famed Iron Throne while kicking off day one of the Comic Con Experience (CCXP) at Sao Paulo Expo in Brazil on Thursday 'I'm feeling prickly!' The 21-year-old Emmy nominee took the plunge in a $1,055 Ganni beaded cactus dress and red Rupert Sanderson stilettos selected by stylist Harriet Byczok Maisie (born Margaret) was joined in South American by her gal pal Alexandra, who Insta-storied all of the behind-the-scenes action. CCXP was a chance for Williams to reunite with GOT co-creators and showrunners D.B. Weiss and David Benioff, as well as her castmate John Bradley. Rather than the House of Stark, the 30-year-old Englishman's character Knights Watchman-turned-Maester Samwell Tarly hails from the House of Tarly. The I and You thespian was only 14 when she beat 300 actresses for the part of fearless, swordfighting heroine Arya Stark in the HBO hit series, which wrapped production in July. Dark brows: The Bristol-born Brit let her natural beauty shine through, but she made sure to get her pink fringed hair touched up shortly before the fan convention Globetrotting gal pals: Maisie (born Margaret) was joined in South American by her gal pal Alexandra (L), who Insta-storied all of the behind-the-scenes action Queen! CCXP was a chance for Williams to reunite with GOT co-creators and showrunners D.B. Weiss (L) and David Benioff (R), as well as her castmate John Bradley (2-R) In the hot seat! Rather than the House of Stark, the 30-year-old Englishman's character Knights Watchman-turned-Maester Samwell Tarly hails from the House of Tarly Wrapped production in July! The I and You thespian was only 14 when she beat 300 actresses for the part of fearless, swordfighting heroine Arya Stark in the HBO hit series Maisie said Thursday during a Facebook Live chat with HBO Brasil: 'Some of the most exciting parts of this show are coming in the new series...All good things must come to an end, and it just felt like the right time. It's really sad saying goodbye to Arya. She means so much to all of us, but it's worth it, I think' 'Some of the most exciting parts of this show are coming in the new series!' Maisie said Thursday during a Facebook Live chat with HBO Brasil. 'Doing my last scene was really emotional, but at the beginning of this final season, I said to myself, "I'm really just gonna make the most of every last second," and I really feel like I did. 'And although it's heartbreaking to say goodbye to Arya, it's so much better than to do something to death and do it until we're all sick of it. All good things must come to an end, and it just felt like the right time. It's really sad saying goodbye to Arya. She means so much to all of us, but it's worth it, I think.' Once inside the packed main hall, Williams revealed her character Arya would marry 'Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner) because she's fit and fierce' and she gushed about their real-life, decade-long friendship. She added: 'Doing my last scene was really emotional, but at the beginning of this final season, I said to myself, "I'm really just gonna make the most of every last second," and I really feel like I did' 'Meeting Sophie': Once inside the packed main hall, Williams revealed her character Arya would marry 'Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner) because she's fit and fierce' and she gushed about their real-life, decade-long friendship Sorry! The British 22-year-old was in fact at CCXP, but she was there to promote her 2019 Marvel Comics film Dark Phoenix rather than George R.R. Martin's fantasy adventure drama Cosplayers: CCXP brought out impressive Brazilian fans dressed as Sophie's character Sansa (M), Lady Olenna Tyrell (L), and John's Samwell (R) 'Actually s*** myself': There was a very professional-looking Night King (L) working for HBO as well as a wigged out fan doing her best Queen of Dragons Daenerys Targaryen (R) Ola! If CCXP proved anything, it's that Game of Thrones certainly has universal mass appeal The British 22-year-old was in fact at CCXP, but she was there solely to promote her 2019 Marvel Comics film Dark Phoenix rather than George R.R. Martin's fantasy adventure drama. CCXP brought out impressive Brazilian cosplayers including fans dressed as Sophie's character Sansa, Lady Olenna Tyrell, and John's Samwell. There was a very professional-looking Night King working for HBO as well as a wigged out fan doing her best Queen of Dragons Daenerys Targaryen. Fans can catch more of Maisie and the gang when the final six episodes of the eighth and final season of Game of Thrones air sometime in April on HBO. Peter Stefanovic and Sylvia Jeffreys finally arrived in Cabo San Lucas on Friday after a long trip from Australia. The couple are preparing to attend Karl Stefanovic's wedding to Jasmine Yarbrough, which will be held at a luxury resort in Los Cabos over the weekend. They seemed to be in good spirits, after appearing exhausted while waiting for their flight in Los Angeles. Peter, 37, was hard to miss in a pair of bright red sneakers and matching flannel shirt as he strolled through Cabo airport with his luggage in hand. Almost time! Peter Stefanovic (R) and Sylvia Jeffreys (L) arrived in Cabo San Lucas on Friday for Karl Stefanovic and Jasmine Yarbrough's wedding Sylvia, 32, was more low key in blue jeans and a black blazer, but the blonde did catch the eye while carry Karl's son River's $50 Hogwarts bag. River travelled with his aunt and uncle to join his family in Mexico after finishing school in Sydney this week. Sylvia and Peter seemed to be in a good mood as they made their way from the airport to a waiting car. At one point, Sylvia flashed a warm smile, indicating that she's excited about the wedding. Long queue? Sylvia appeared in a much better mood than she did at Los Angeles Airport several hours earlier (pictured) Roll with it! Peter, 37, was hard to miss in a pair of bright red sneakers and matching flannel shirt as he strolled through Cabo airport with his luggage in hand Why so serious? The Today show journalist furrowed his brow and looked serious The couple are joining the likes of Richard Wilkins, his son Christian Wilkins, Karl's best friend Steve Marshall and his manager Sharon Finnigan at the wedding. Karl, 44, and shoe designer Jasmine, 34, will tie the knot at the luxurious One&Only Palmilla resort this weekend. The wedding will be a three-day affair, with the couple - who are already legally married in Australia - sparing no expense. Guest list: The couple are joining the likes of Richard Wilkins, his son Christian Wilkins, Karl's best friend Steve Marshall and his manager Sharon Finnigan at the wedding Casual: Sylvia, 32, was more low key in blue jeans and a black blazer, but the blonde did catch the eye while carry Karl's son River's $50 Hogwarts bag Family ties: River travelled with his aunt and uncle to join his family in Mexico after finishing school in Sydney this week It is believed they have booked two villas, one which costs approximately $11,600 per night, and another priced at around $15,000 per night. In February this year, Karl confirmed he proposed to Jasmine. He split with ex-wife Cassandra in 2016 after 21 years of marriage. They share custody of three children: Jackson, River and Ava. Going incognito? Sylvia hid her famous face behind a pair of dark sunglasses The Old Man & The Gun (12A) Verdict: Whimsically engaging Rating: Robert Redford gives what he has said will be his valedictory cinematic performance in the Old Man & The Gun, before shuffling, or at least walking with the purposeful but rather stiff gait of the codger he now inescapably is, into retirement. It appears that the great man, now 82, might backtrack on his plans to retire from acting. But this is the perfect movie for his swansong, if swansong it proves to be, not least because 50 years have passed, give or take, since he played his most famous title role. He was a Kid then, albeit a moustachioed one, and hes the titular old man now. But not everything has changed. As in Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid, the tool of his trade is once again a handgun, and hes once again holding up banks. Robert Redford, now 82, gives what he has said will be his valedictory cinematic performance in the Old Man & The Gun Writer-director David Lowerys film rather loosely tells the true story of Forrest Tucker (Redford), a lifelong villain who started robbing banks in his mid-teens and couldnt stop. He kept being caught and convicted, and kept escaping. In total, he escaped 18 times. We see these prison breaks in a fleeting but jolly montage of flashbacks, enabling Lowery to use a clip of the youthful, impossibly gorgeous Redford in The Chase (1966), even before his name was global shorthand for male pulchritude. If youre as old as I am, youll remember those exchanges at bus stops and launderettes in the Seventies and well into the Eighties, before anyone had heard of George Clooney or Brad Pitt. Hey, Sharon, whats Janices new boyfriend like? Well, hes not exactly Robert Redford. This is partly why The Old Man & The Gun, with its mellow jazz soundtrack, is about as sweetly elegiac as a portrait of a hardened criminal could be. It doesnt just remember Forrest (who died, aged 83, in 2004), it remembers Redford, too When Forrest tells his ageing girlfriend, played by Sissy Spacek, that hes never ridden a horse in his life, we know hes fibbing, that here is a man practically born in the saddle. Quite consciously, theres more than a touch of the Sundance Kid in this old rogue, who doesnt need the money from all the banks he keeps (very politely) robbing, he just needs the kicks. Im not talking about making a living, he says. Im just talking about living. Famous for his role in Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid, Redford is the titular old man now. But not everything has changed He doesnt do it all alone. He has a pair of similarly superannuated accomplices, nicely played by Danny Glover and Tom Waits, and a dogged cop (Casey Affleck) on his tail. Again, the parallels with George Roy Hills 1969 classic are barely concealed. The trio of bank robbers are dubbed the over-the-hill gang, almost as if Butchs hole-in-the-wall gang had stuck around until they were old and wrinkled. And what is Forrests disguise, as he saunters up to unsuspecting bank managers and slowly opens his jacket to show them (but, significantly, not us) his pistol? Why, a stick-on Sundance moustache, of course. The Old Man & The Gun isnt a thriller. Its not really a heist movie, either, despite the number of heists. And its not quite a caper movie, even though there is a soft undercurrent of comedy. Its more of a romance, both in the obvious sense as Forrest courteously woos Spaceks character, the elegant Jewel and in a more oblique way, in that it invites us to fall for a career criminal whose gentlemanly style hardly blinds us to the terror he causes in those he charmingly threatens to shoot if they dont hand over the loot. And yet, fall we do. Forrest, played by Redford, courteously woos Sissy Spaceks character in the film, the elegant Jewel The story begins in 1981. During a high-speed chase following his latest stick-up, Forrest pulls over to help a woman standing by a broken-down car. This is Jewel, who inadvertently provides him with cover as the police cars whizz past. They take a shine to one another, and the gentle chemistry that fizzes between Redford and Spacek throughout this movie is one of its chief delights. Lowery knows it, allowing his camera to linger on their twinkly-eyed banter for as long as he dares. However, Forrests congenital dishonesty extends to Jewel, too. He tells her a series of lies, which she believes, and one truth that he robs banks that she dismisses. She is beguiled by him, yet we dont think of her as another of his victims, as Spacek doesnt play her as a dupe, but as a woman of strength and substance. Its a lovely performance. Affleck is wonderful, too, as detective John Hunt, who takes it as a personal affront that one of Forrests understated robberies took place right under his nose, yet comes to admire his quarry for the singular way he goes about his business. Lowery shows us a little of Hunts domestic life as really he crafts three separate stories which occasionally converge that of the obsessed cop, of a twilight romance and of the bank-robbing spree. Its a whimsical film, never likely to become a classic, but written and directed with tremendous lightness of touch, and enough rigour to keep it to 93 minutes. Lowerys most recent picture, last years acclaimed A Ghost Story, was similarly concise. How refreshing to find a film-maker who knows how to tell a story succinctly. Of course, it helps to have a leading man as naturally laconic as Redford has always been. It is no reflection on his acting ability that while Spacek and Affleck are enveloped by their characters, he and Forrest Tucker are somehow always there in tandem. The old man and the icon. If this really is curtains, its a great way to take a bow. THIS SMOOTH OPERATOR WILL BRING A SMILE TO YOUR DIAL Sorry to Bother You (15) Verdict: Zany, energetic, bewildering satire Rating: Boots Riley's feature debut is a wild satire set in Oakland, California, which takes broad aim not so much scattergun as blunderbuss at race, class, capitalism and much besides. It starts promisingly and becomes wackily incoherent, but the very least you can say about it is that its not short of ideas. Boots Riley's feature debut is a wild satire set in Oakland, California with young African-American Cassius Green as the hero Our hero is young African-American Cassius Green (Lakeith Stanfield), known as Cash. He struggles in a new job in tele-sales until the old guy in the booth alongside him (Danny Glover) advises him to talk white. Suddenly, he makes sale after sale, and gets a series of lavish promotions. This brings him to the notice of a slick tycoon called Steve Lift (Armie Hammer), who runs a sinister lifestyle corporation called WorryFree. In fact, Cash has plenty to worry about, since his rise up the corporate ladder has alienated him from his lover (Tessa Thompson) and many friends. Made for a relative pittance, Sorry To Bother You has already been a modest commercial hit in the U.S. and is being hailed by some critics there as a comic masterpiece. Its very far from that, unless you like your comedy bewilderingly zany. At times, it loses the plot both figuratively and literally. Nevertheless, it has heart, and energy, and laughs. HE WALKS THE WALK...BUT RICK STILL MISSES A FEW TRICKS White Boy Rick (15) Verdict: Flawed crime drama Rating: The French director Yann Demange has admitted that in many ways I bit off more than I can chew in making White Boy Rick, the true story of a teenage criminal who became an FBI informant in crime-ridden Eighties Detroit. Unfortunately, it shows. Demange is a talented film-maker whose 2014 nail-biter 71 remains one of the most gripping thrillers ever made about The Troubles in Northern Ireland. But White Boy Rick, relentlessly hard as it tries to tug on our emotions, and despite Matthew McConaughey giving his all as one of those seedy but well-intentioned losers at which he so excels, never quite succeeds. The French director Yann Demange has admitted that in many ways I bit off more than I can chew in making White Boy Rick McConaughey plays Rick Wershe Snr, a gun dealer whose idea of sound parenting is to give his son, also Rick (Richie Merritt), a proper grounding in how to buy and shoot modified AK47 rifles. Young Ricks crack-addict sister, Dawn (the English actress Bel Powley, in a role somewhat removed from her haughty Princess Margaret in 2015s A Royal Night Out), is less enamoured of their father. She hates him. Thats the domestic background, as young Rick gets sucked inexorably into Detroits dangerous gang culture. He walks the walk, talks the talk, and wears the requisite ghastly gold jewellery. But, unusually, hes not an African-American, hence the nickname. Its also why the FBI alight on him as a prospective informant. The story unfolds episodically through the mid- Eighties, and is never less than watchable, thanks largely to a handful of genuinely fine supporting turns, from McConaughey, Powley, Jennifer Jason Leigh as an FBI agent, and the veterans Piper Laurie and Bruce Dern as Ricks bemused grand- parents, with much to be bemused about. Alas, Merritt is strangely stolid in the title role. With a more charismatic lead performance, Demange might have found more joy in getting us to root for a young man who, eventually, predictably comes a huge cropper. As it is, he seems to get pretty much what he deserves. She's playing Fantine in the highly-anticipated BBC adaptation of Les Miserables. And Lily Collins was putting in an appearance on The One Show to discuss the upcoming six-part drama, based on the original Victor Hugo novel rather than the stage adaptation. The actress, 29, was casually clad in a denim skirt with cute ruffle detailing and a matching belt. Putting in an appearance: Lily Collins was putting in an appearance on The One Show on Thursday to discuss the new BBC adaptation of Les Miserables Lily embraced a low-key ensemble, donning a navy and red colour block top. The daughter of music legend Phil Collins wore her brunette locks pulled back in a ponytail. The One Show host Alex Jones was spotted leaving the studios after interviewing Lily alongside her co-star David Oyelowo. Lily and her co-star Ellie Bamber couldn't hide their delight at being reunited on Wednesday, as they attended the show's photocall. TV version: The new adaptation was based on the original Victor Hugo novel rather than the stage adaptation Keeping it simple: Lily embraced a low-key ensemble, donning a navy and red colour block top Denim delight: The actress, 29, was casually clad in a denim skirt with cute ruffle detailing and a matching belt The stunning actresses rocked contrasting looks as they joined much of the show's cast in celebrating the six-part adaptation of Victor Hugo's novel, which is set to air over the festive period. In the series Lily plays the doomed prostitute Fantine who famously sang I Dreamed A Dream in the musical adaptation, while Ellie, 21, plays her daughter Cosette all grown up. Lily was putting on an extremely leggy display for the outing, as she sported a floral printed orange jumper and high-waisted black skirt, teamed with red strapped heels. Stepping out: The One Show host Alex Jones was spotted leaving the studios after interviewing Lily alongside her co-star David Oyelowo Stylish: The Welsh beauty looked lovely in an eye-catching red coat and printed dress Lily added a chic plum lip to the ensemble, along with her brunette tresses in a sleek side ponytail, styled by celebrity hairstylist and Charles Worthington ambassador Ken ORourke. The star will take on the role of Fantine in the drama, where she plays a devastated prostitute who is forced to sell her body for the sake of her young daughter, who is eventually rescued by the series protagonist Jean Valjean, played by Dominic West. Of course the role was famously played by Anne Hathaway in the 2012 film based on the musical, winning her an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. Beaming: Lily and her co-star Ellie Bamber couldn't hide their delight at being reunited on Wednesday, as they attended the show's photocall Worlds away: Lily on a stylish display in a quirky printed jumper and black paperbag skirt, a far cry from her look as doomed prostitute Fantine in the series (right) Best friends: She was seen sweetly hugging actress Ellie, who made a bold statement in a leaf-printed dress Struggling: Ellie plays Lily's grown-up daughter Cosette in the six-part series, who is involved in a dramatic love triangle Stunning: She showed off her quirky sense of style for the press call, rocking a chic midi printed dress with a matching hood and black block heeled boots On point: The girlfriend of Bodyguard's Richard Madden showed off her English rose beauty at the event in London United: The two stars looked thrilled to be back together after playing mother and daughter in the series, though they do not share any scenes together Meanwhile Ellie also showed off her extremely quirky sense of style in a dark leaf-printed dress with a space-age inspired hood, teaming it with black chunky heeled boots. The stunning girlfriend of Bodyguard's Richard Madden had her ice blonde tresses styled into effortless waves as she reunited with her co-stars for the event. Also in attendance were David Oyelowo (Inspector Javert), Josh O' Connor (Marius), Erin Kellyman (Eponine) and Adeel Akhtar (Monsieur Thenardier). However Olivia Colman (Madame Thenardier) and Dominic West (Jean Valjean) were absent for the event, which celebrated the series ahead of its premiere on Sunday 30th December. Star-studded: Also in attendance for the event was David Oyelowo, who plays the villain Inspector Javert in the series Lavish: Also at the launch with Ellie was John O' Connor, who plays Marius, and Erin Kellyman, who plays Eponine Based on the 1862 novel of the same name by Victor Hugo, it tells the tale of Jean Valjean who vows to change his destiny, as he is saved by a random act of kindness after years of imprisonment. Told under the veil of the French Revolution, the series will show how Valjean encounters and adopts a young Cosette, as she falls in love with Marius along with the troubled Eponine. It has been adapted by television heavyweight Andrew Davies, who is also well known for his 1995 version of Pride and Prejudice - which starred Colin Firth is his breakout role - and 2016's War and Peace. Les Miserables begins on Sunday 30th December on BBC One. Escape from Dubai Rating: Secret Life Of Farm Animals Rating: The secret video message that begins, 'If you are watching this, I am either dead or in a very, very bad situation,' is a staple of spy thrillers. To hear the words spoken in earnest by a frightened young woman, whispering to the camera in an anonymous room with the curtains drawn, is distressing. Escape From Dubai (BBC2) told a straightforward and ugly story, without embellishment. The cast of characters included a dodgy French adventurer with his own yacht, a despotic Arab ruler and an imprisoned princess. Sometimes it was difficult to believe this was a true report and not the plot of a Rudolph Valentino silent movie. Escape From Dubai (BBC2) told a straightforward and ugly story, without embellishment Princess Latifa, the 33-year-old daughter of Dubai's ruler Sheikh Mohammed, knew only too well that the outside world found her plight incredible. Even the human rights activists whose help she begged for were suspicious that her pleas were a hoax. Under Dubai law, all women must obey a man, usually a father or a husband. 'There is no justice here, they don't care, especially if you are female,' Latifa told the camera. 'Your life is so disposable.' The princess, one of 30 children, was permitted to study at home, and to indulge in her hobby, skydiving. But she was followed and watched at all times. Foreign travel was unthinkable. Any individual freedom was erased two of her sisters were even named Latifa, too. After a feeble attempt at escape when she was 16, she spent more than three years in jail, often subjected to crippling torture and kept in solitary darkness for days on end. Despite this horror, she was determined to break free and claim political asylum in America. The narrative had a grim inevitability. We knew from the start that nobody has heard from Latifa since February not even Tiina, the skydive buddy who helped plan her escape. The two woman gave watchers the slip and drove across the border into Oman, taking gleeful selfies on the way. What they didn't realise was that the Sheikh's electronic snoopers were almost certainly tracking their smartphones. After a week at sea, heading towards India with their mysterious French accomplice, the women were recaptured. Tiina was lucky to escape with her life. No one has seen or heard from Latifa since. All we have is that final, desperate, recorded message. Perhaps for legal reasons, the film-makers chose to withhold some of Latifa's most incendiary allegations about her father: she called him a 'major criminal . . . responsible for a lot of deaths'. The narrative had a grim inevitability. We knew from the start that nobody has heard from Latifa since February not even Tiina, the skydive buddy who helped plan her escape She ended by declaring: 'He doesn't scare me. He's a pathetic human being.' That wasn't broadcast. It seems wrong that, even now, other people are deciding what Latifa can be heard to say. The full 40-minute version is on YouTube. If all this was too depressing, Secret Life Of Farm Animals (BBC4) had the antidote, with an hour of fluffy chicks, bouncing lambs and heartwarming friendships. Mr Sparkle the piglet decided to self-identify as a cow, and spent his days and nights with Dainty the calf, snuggling down at nights with her in the byre. He even tried to graze in the meadow. Mario the ram befriended a shy four-year-old called Rory, who didn't want to play with other children, but fearlessly paraded round a show ring with the placid beast on a halter. It was ideal viewing for families and if any primary school teachers are wondering what to screen as a Christmas treat for their class, I'd recommend this warmly. Big Brother's Jessica Graf gave fans their first look at her baby bump in an Instagram post on Thursday. Graf, who's expecting her first child with husband Cody Nickson, 33, posed in front of a fireplace in a home decked out for the holidays, including two stocking with the first names of the couple. In the shot, the 23-year-old beauty wore a black turtleneck top and a grey midi skirt with her hand alongside the bump. She held up a small board that read, 'I don't know about you, but I'm feeling 22.' Expecting: Big Brother's Jessica Graf, 23, gave fans their first look at her baby bump in an Instagram post on Thursday The reality star, who is due in April, admitted she was hesitant to share the shot due to all of the online trolls who pepper comments sections with rude and disparaging remarks, and 'to avoid opening the door for body shaming.' The Rhode Island native wrote: 'I've had a lot of people ask me to post photos of my bump, and honestly, I've chosen not to because people online can be TROLLS!' Graf said she's 'very confident' and 'developed thick skin' amid her time in the limelight, adding that 'rude comments don't bother [her] anymore.' She added, 'The few rude comments I do see, Cody and I enjoy laughing at because the effort put in to hurt someone you have never mets feelings, it's pretty pathetic!' Preparing: Graf and husband Cody Nickson, 33, are expecting their first child together; Cody has a daughter named Paisley from previous relationship Glam: The duo was snapped last month at the People's Choice Awards Graf explained the incisive nature of trolls to her followers who are not acquainted with the underbelly of Internet culture. 'If you're sitting there thinking, "Who would body shame someone who's pregnant?" Congratulations. You're a human who has common sense and A SOUL!' she wrote. 'Unfortunately, not everyone does and there will still be hate somewhere on this post!' She said she was inspired by The Good Life podcaster Sazan Hendrix, who she said radiates confidence instead of avoiding the issue altogether. Graf initially revealed to her social media followers that she was expecting on September 24, accompanied by a shot of her ultrasound. She wrote, 'WE'RE PREGNANT! And I'm over the moon! I'm so excited to bring our first child into this life we have created together!' Graf and Cody Nickson first crossed paths filming Big Brother's 19th season, leading to their February engagement. They exchanged vows this past October 14 at Malibu's The Chateau Le Dome at Saddlerock Ranch, which was attended by reality stars such as Big Brother's Mark Jansen and Elena Davies and the Amazing Race's Conor Daly. Sharon Stone and Richard Gere were among those paying tribute to late director Bernardo Bertolucci during a commemorative ceremony in Rome. Stars came together to pay tribute to the Italian screenwriter, whose accolades include controversial 1972 drama Last Tango In Paris and The Conformist, to mark his passing following a battle with cancer. Cutting sombre figures both Stone and Gere took to the stage to honour and celebrate Bertolucci during the ceremony titled, Au revoir BB, held at the Teatro Argentina. Paying their respects: Sharon Stone and Richard Gere were among those paying tribute to late director Bernardo Bertolucci during a commemorative ceremony in Rome Clad in an all-black ensemble Sharon, 60, drew attention to her age-defying physique in a tailored jumpsuit. The actress, best known for her appearance in 1992 classic Basic Instinct, sported a pair of blue-tinted specs and wore her short blonde locks in a slicked back style. She stood with her hands in her pockets as she spoke about the director to the crowd that had gathered in the Italian capital for the memorial. Tragic: Celebrated Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci died aged 77, his publicist confirmed at the end of November Speech: She stood with her hands in her pockets as she spoke about the director to the crowd that had gathered in the Italian capital for the memorial Sophisticated: The actress, best known for her appearance in 1992 classic Basic Instinct, sported a pair of blue-tinted specs and wore her short blonde locks in a slicked back style Smart: Pretty Woman star Richard, meanwhile, was smartly dressed for the occasion in a two-piece charcoal grey suit that paired together fitted trousers and an open blazer Fond memories: Sharon and Richard looked on fondly as tributes were shared about the Oscar-winning film maker Pretty Woman star Richard, meanwhile, was smartly dressed for the occasion in a two-piece charcoal grey suit that paired together fitted trousers and an open blazer. He layered a pinstriped scarf around his neck and, like Stone, graced the stage with words he had prepared. Bertolucci's publicist confirmed his passing in Rome at the end of November. The director was aged 77 and was surrounded by friends and family at the time of his death, following a battle with cancer. Showing his support: He layered a pinstriped scarf around his neck and, like Stone, graced the stage with words he had prepared Poignant gathering: Richard was seen speaking with journalists inside the intricate venue The Oscar-winning film maker had been out of the public eye for several years after unsuccessful surgery on a herniated disc in 2003 left him confined to a wheelchair. His last film, Me and You, premiered at the 65th Cannes Film Festival in 2012. The director enjoyed a hugely successful career, during which he won two Academy Awards for directing and co-writing 1988 biographical drama The Last Emperor. But it was his work with Hollywood star Marlon Brando and Maria Schneider on the provocative Last Tango in Paris that would win Bertolucci notoriety due to its lurid depictions of sex. Rubbing shoulders: Stone was seen speaking with Italian journalist Enzo Cursio as they took their seats in the venue Looking on intently: Sharon wore a smile as she reflected on the life of the legendary director Memorial: Stars came together to pay tribute to the Italian screenwriter, whose accolades include controversial 1972 drama Last Tango In Paris,to mark his passing Moving: Bertolucci's wife Clare Peploe was among the crowd at the ceremonial event Much of the film's controversy centered on the suggestion of anal rape, with Brando's character - expatriate hotel owner Paul - using butter as a lubricant in one of its most notorious scenes. The movie was banned in Italy just after its release in 1972, and was not released again until 1987. The case went back and forth in the courts until the high criminal court banned the film in 1976 and ordered all copies confiscated and destroyed. Bertolucci, Brando and Schneider, as well as the producer Alberto Grimaldi, were sentenced to two months in jail and a fine of $40 each - although the jail terms were suspended. Provocative: The Oscar-winning film-maker's accolades include controversial 1972 drama Last Tango In Paris, starring Marlon Brando and Maria Schneider Surgery: Bertolucci had been out of the public eye for more several years after unsuccessful surgery on a herniated disc in 2003 left him confined to a wheelchair Success: Bertolucci won two Oscars at the 60th Annual Academy Awards for his work on The Last Emperor Bertolucci, a self-professed Marxist, also did not shy away from politics and ideology, as in The Conformist, which some critics consider his masterpiece. Despite working with A-list international stars, the director always defended his own filmmaking style against what he said was the pressure of the US film industry. 'When it comes to commercial cinema, I have the strange pleasure of feeling that I'm from another tribe, an infiltrator,' he told Italian daily Corriere della Sera in 1990. He was honored for lifetime achievement at the Cannes film festival in 2011. Bertolucci's movies also bore the imprint of the director's own experiences in psychoanalysis. He always said that making films was his way of communicating with the audience. Triumph: The 1987 film won all the nine Academy Awards that it had been nominated for - including best movie and best director Outrage: Last Tango In Paris was banned in Italy just after its release in 1972, and was not released again until 1987 Explicit: Much of the film's controversy centered on the suggestion of anal rape, with Brando's character - expatriate hotel owner Paul - using butter as a lubricant in one of its most notorious scenes 'Maybe I'm an idealist, but I still think of the movie theater as a cathedral where we all go together to dream the dream together,' he said upon receiving an award from the Director's Guild of America for The Last Emperor. That movie handed Bertolucci his greatest success. In 1988 it won all the nine Academy Awards that it had been nominated for - including best movie and best director. Bertolucci was married to the English writer and director Clare Peploe. They had no children. Peploe is the sister of Mark Peploe, a screenwriter and close friend of Bertolucci's who worked with the director on a number of projects. His Carpool Karaoke is a smash hit. But on Wednesday night James Corden tried recreating a music video instead with equally hilarious results. The host sang a fantastic parody of Ariana Grande's Thank U Next in a love letter to gest Jeff Goldblum. Funny: James Corden parodied Ariana Grande's Thank U, Next in a hilarious love letter to Jeff Goldblum Dressed in a silk robe and lying in a bed, the Late Late star pored over photos of the hunk in a scrap book 'First saw him in The Fly but his face was grotesque / then he won independence from an alien mess,' he sang. 'In Thor Ragnarok his performance was classic / but who could forget the hot doctor that he played in Jurassic.' Dreamy: He was dressed in a silk robe and lying in a bed, just like Ariana in her video Snap: The Late Late star pored over photos of the hunk in a scrap book Brundlefly: 'First saw him in The Fly but his face was grotesque / then he won independence from an alien mess,' he sang. Resume: 'In Thor Ragnarok his performance was classic / but who could forget the hot doctor that he played in Jurassic' For the chorus, four back-up dancers joined him on stage, each dressed as a classic Goldblum character, as Corden sang: 'Thank U, Jeff. 'He's our silver fox with black thick rim glasses / the way that he talks with charm off your a**es,' the second verse went. 'He's over 6 feet, he's my complete package / look at him here in this leather jacket. Catchy: For the chorus, four back-up dancers joined him on stage, each dressed as a classic Goldblum character, as Corden sang: 'Thank U, Jeff' Lyrics: 'He's over 6 feet, he's my complete package / look at him here in this leather jacket' No doubt: 'I'm so freaking grateful for his pecs / You can bet that he has tonnes of sex,' he sang Hunk: 'He's our silver fox with black thick rim glasses / the way that he talks with charm off your a**es,' the second verse went 'I'm so freaking grateful for his pecs / You can bet that he has tonnes of sex.' Goldblum himself appeared in the video, filming Corden dancing on stage, parodying Kris Jenner in Ariana's video, who herself was parodying Regina George's mom in the film Mean Girls, played by Amy Poehler.' A moved but slightly disturbed Goldblum thanked Corden afterwards for the tribute, but was worried about the stalker-esque scrapbook he'd complied. Mom: Goldblum himself appeared in the video, filming Corden dancing on stage Parody of a parody: He was parodying Kris Jenner (L) in Ariana's video, who herself was parodying Regina George's mom in the film Mean Girls, played by Amy Poehler' Thanks: A moved but slightly disturbed Goldblum thanked Corden afterwards for the tribute, but was worried about the stalker-esque scrapbook he'd complied 'So that journal with all the pictures of me... Is that like you...have you had that for a while? You compiled that?' When Corden sheepishly offered to get rid of it, Jeff told him: 'You don't have to, it's very sweet. One person who wants to get her hands on it is Ariana herself, who tweeted afterwards: 'omg...... may i please..... please for christmas have the thank u, jeff book? its for a friend. promise.' Weirdo: 'So that journal with all the pictures of me... Is that like you...have you had that for a while? You compiled that?' he asked Ali Oetjen has potentially earned thousands of dollars from Instagram advertising since appearing on The Bachelorette earlier this year. Over the past few months, the 32-year-old account manager has potentially made $5,800 just from promoting products on social media. Following her return to television, Ali has partnered with a handful of businesses, including luxury venues and tourism companies. Scroll down for video REVEALED: How Ali Oetjen (pictured) has 'earned thousands from Instagram advertising' since appearing on The Bachelorette... amid rumours she is 'faking' her romance with Taite Radley Social analytics website Influencer Fee - which approximates Instagram users' worth by analysing their level of interaction and follower count - offers a fascinating insight into how much money there is to be made on social media. Ali boasts 181,000 Instagram followers, which means she could be charging up to $530 for each sponsored post, according to the website's estimations. In recent months, the fitness fanatic has shared sponsored posts for everything from food supplements to dental treatments and local holiday destinations. Cha-ching! Over the past few months, the 32-year-old account manager has potentially made $5,800 just from promoting products on social media Entrepreneurial: Following her return to television, Ali has partnered with a handful of businesses, including Bondi Sands Celebrity spruiker! In recent months, Ali has shared sponsored posts for everything from food supplements to dental treatments (pictured) and local holiday destinations Side hustle: Ali boasts 181,000 Instagram fans, which means she could be charging up to $530 for each sponsored post, according to estimations by social analytics website Influencer Fee Meanwhile, Ali has faced public scrutiny recently amid speculation she is 'faking' her romance with winning suitor Taite Radley, 28. A body language expert suggested this week that the Bachelorette couple were simply 'keeping up appearances'. Louise Mahler told New Idea that footage of Ali and Taite arriving at Adelaide Airport earlier this month was evidence they 'have a deal'. Cash is in the air! Meanwhile, Ali has faced public scrutiny recently amid speculation she is 'faking' her romance with her winning suitor Taite Radley. The couple are pictured in a sponsored post for Daintree Eco Lodge and Spa in Queensland What are boyfriends for? Taite has featured in many of Ali's sponsored posts, including this upload for helicopter tour agency Nautilus Aviation Walking all the way to the bank! Taite played a central role in this sponsored post for the Sky High luxury holiday home in Mount Franklin, Victoria 'Overall this behaviour says, "This is a couple that know each other, have a deal, and know they are being watched,"' Louise claimed. 'They do not necessarily look at each other mutually and when they do meet eyes there is no spontaneous reaction - no smile.' Meanwhile, Woman's Day previously claimed that Ali and Taite were only staying together 'for the sake of the [Bachelorette] franchise'. For her part, Ali insists that her relationship is completely authentic. She's a regular fixture on Most Beautiful lists. And on Thursday evening, Olivia Munn showed why, as the 38-year-old head into a Los Angeles charity event in a chic sweater dress. The Office Christmas Party star paired the statement garment with a pair of ruby red, thigh skimming boots. A cut above: On Thursday evening, Olivia Munn showed why she's considered one of the world's most beautiful women, as the 38-year-old head into a Los Angeles charity event in a chic sweater dress The star of recent action film The Predator matched her purse to the deep red boots, as well as her lipstick. The Oklahoma-born beauty wore her raven tresses pulled back in a pony tail. In her ear lobes she wore a pair of modest gold hoop earrings as the animal lover head into the Love Leo Rescue charity event. Thigh's the limit! The Office Christmas Party star paired the statement garment with a pair of ruby red, thigh skimming boots Color co-ordination: The star of recent action film The Predator matched her purse to the deep red boots, as well as her lipstick Munn took to Instagram on Thursday to spruik Celebrate Shelter Pets Day. In the post, the Magic Mike actress revealed she found her beloved dogs Frankie and Chance through Love Leo. 'They are the sweetest, smartest, cutest pets in the world,' gushed the Daily Show alum. 'If you are thinking of adding a pet to your family, please consider rescuing.' Hilary Duff and Olivia Munn raised their glasses for a good cause at the 1st Annual Cocktails for a Cause on Thursday night. Duff co-hosted the event which raised funds and awareness for dogs and puppies in need, held at Rolling Greens in Los Angeles The event also includes a silent auction, which included items such as a Los Angeles Dodgers package, a weekend in Napa and much more. Host with the most: Hilary Duff co-hosted the 1st Annual Cocktails for a Cause on Thursday Stepping out: Munn, 38, wore an oversized turtleneck sweater that fell to her thighs, with knee-length red boots, while carrying a red handbag Duff, 31, wore a brown and grey sweater along with black pants with white stripes down the side, and brown heeled boots. Munn, 38, wore an oversized turtleneck sweater that fell to her thighs, with knee-length red boots, while carrying a red handbag. The Predator star also wore a small pendant around her neck. Duff was also seen arriving to the event with her boyfriend, Matthew Koma, who was wearing a plain white t-shirt, a blue jacket and black pants. Other stars who were in attendance at the fundraising event include Michelle Trachtenberg and Whitney Cummings, who co-hosted the event with Duff. The event was held in conjunction with Love Leo, a non-profit foster-based rescue organization, which rehabilitates abused and rescued dogs. Happy couple: Duff was also seen arriving to the event with her boyfriend, Matthew Koma, who was wearing a plain white t-shirt, a blue jacket and black pants Duff had her first child with Koma, daughter Banks, in October, via a water birth. The actress stars as Kelsey Peters on TV Land's Younger, and she is in post-production on the film The Haunting of Sharon Tate, where she plays the title character. She also appeared on a June episode of Who Do You Think You Are? New mom: Duff had her first child with Koma, daughter Banks, in October, via a water birth. Munn is coming off The Predator, where she made headlines for speaking up about director Shane Black hiring a registered sex offender for a small role. She also has The Buddy Games in post-production, which marks the directorial debut of co-star Josh Duhamel. She also stars in the new series The Rook, alongside Emma Greenwell and Joely Richardson. Good cause: Whitney Cummings, Love Leo president Sasha Abelson, Hilary Duff and Olivia Munn get together at Cocktails for a Cause Stopping by: Michelle Trachtenberg stops by the 1st Annual Cocktails for a Cause, carrying an Aevha London handbag Today show host, Karl Stefanovic and his fiancee, Jasmine Yarbrough are set to wed on December 8 in Mexico. But while they prepare to become one during lavish nuptials in San Jose del Cabo, backgrounds, the high-profile pair have very different backgrounds. The Channel Nine star and his Mara & Mine shoe designer fiancee have had varying upbringings, education, careers, love lives and wealth. Scroll down for video Raised in a multi-million dollar home versus humble beginnings in working-class Brisbane suburb: The very different backgrounds of Today Show host Karl Stefanovic his bride-to-be Jasmine Yarbrough ahead of their Mexican nuptials KARL AND JASMINE: EARLY LIFE AND UPBRINGING Although Karl earns a $2 million-plus salary, 34-year-old Jasmine is a successful businesswoman in her own right and hails from a rather privileged background. Jasmine, who is the co-founder of shoe company Mara & Mine, grew up in Brisbane as the eldest child in a well-to-do, tight-knit family. Jasmine's father, Bob is a businessman and her mother, Cheryl is a private school teacher. Jasmine's siblings, Jade and Joshua also share their older sister's creative flair. Back then: Karl was born on August 12, 1974 in Darlinghurst, New South Wales and was subsequently raised in both Cairns, Tropical North Queensland and the River City Family: The Channel Nine star lived in the working class suburb of Capalaba, alongside his two brothers Peter and Tom Tough: His parents, Jenny and Alex Stefanovic, divorced when he was a teenager, and today Karl remains estranged from his father Comfortable: Jasmine is a successful businesswoman in her own right and hails from a rather privileged background. Pictured: Jasmine's family Those days: She grew up in Brisbane as the eldest child in a well-to-do, tight-knit family. Pictured: Jasmine's family Younger sister Jade is an interior designer, while brother Joshua is based in Los Angeles where he works as an art director and designer. The matriarch of the family is Jasmine's 92-year-old grandmother Isabel Hollingworth, who was front and centre at Jasmine and Karl's commitment ceremony in Palm Beach earlier this year. Isabel is also related to Peter Hollingworth, who served as Australia's Governor-General from 2001 until 2003 and was the Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane from 1989 until 2001. Wealthy tight-knit family: Jasmine (back left) is pictured with Karl, her mother Cheryl (centre back), father Bob (right), sister Jade (front left) and grandmother Isabel (front right) Yarbrough clan: Jasmine is pictured with her family at her commitment ceremony to Karl earlier this year Matriarch: Jasmine with her beloved grandmother, Isabel Hollingworth, a relation of high-powered Brisbane identity Peter Hollingworth Meanwhile, the Yarbrough family owns property in one of Brisbane's wealthiest areas. The family home is located in the leafy riverside suburb of Ascot and is today worth an impressive $2.2 million. Real estate records show the five-bedroom Queenslander was purchased back in 1997, when Jasmine was 13 years old and just entering high school. Jasmine's privileged upbringing is a far cry from that of her fiance, Karl. Home, sweet home! The Yarbrough family owns this property in the leafy riverside suburb of Ascot - one of Brisbane's wealthiest areas Dive on in! The family home is worth an impressive $2.2million, and boasts five bedrooms and a plunge pool Plush: Real estate records show the five-bedroom Queenslander was purchased back in 1997, when Jasmine was 13 years old and just entering high school Alumni: Jasmine and Jade attended Brisbane Girls Grammar (pictured), which is promoted as 'the best girls private school in the city'. While Karl also grew up in Brisbane too, he did so under rather different circumstances. Karl was born on August 12, 1974 in Darlinghurst, New South Wales and was subsequently raised in both Cairns, Tropical North Queensland and the River City. The Channel Nine star lived in the working class suburb of Capalaba, alongside his two brothers Peter and Tom. His parents, Jenny and Alex Stefanovic, divorced when he was a teenager, and today Karl remains estranged from his father. Daddy's girls! Jade (left) and Jasmine (right) with their beloved dad Bob Father-in-law: While Karl is estranged from his own father, Alex, he is quickly bonding with Jasmine's father Bob Alex spoke about their relationship in a tell-all interview with New Idea last year. 'They [Karl and his brother Peter] walked away from me 25 years ago following my divorce from their mother,' he said at the time. 'We've barely spoken since. That's the reality. He's embarrassed about me because I'm fat, I'm bald and I'm poor.' It's unlikely Alex will attend Karl and Jasmine's destination wedding next month. However, Karl is welcomed with open arms by the Yarbroughs, who already consider him to be part of the family. Nice pedigree: Jasmine and her sister, Jade both attended Brisbane Girls Grammar, which is promoted as 'the best girls private school in the city'. Pictured with a friend Educated: Karl studied at the University of Queensland, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Journalism in 1994 KARL AND JASMINE: EDUCATION Jasmine and her sister, Jade both attended Brisbane Girls Grammar, which is promoted as 'the best girls private school in the city'. Presently, tuition at the prestigious institution costs $24,000, making it one of the most expensive schools in the country. Jasmine has made the most of her elite education, using her business acumen to launch shoe label Mara & Mine in 2012. Meanwhile Karl was reportedly educated at Catholic boys' high school, Saint Augustine's College (Cairns) and the Anglican Church Grammar School (ACGS) in East Brisbane. Karl studied at the University of Queensland, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Journalism in 1994. High-profile clan: Karl (left) and Peter (right) pictured alongside their mother, Jenny (centre) KARL AND JASMINE: CAREER Jasmine started shoe company Mara & Mine with her friend Tamie Ingham and it has grown to become a popular cult label. The stylish shoes are stocked in Nordstrom in the U.S. and David Jones in Australia. Last year, the brand opened its first flagship store in the upmarket Sydney suburb of Paddington. Jasmine and Tamie have been profiled in The Hollywood Reporter, Australian Vogue and Hamptons Magazine, no doubt enhancing their fashion credentials. New store: Last year, Mara & Mine opened its first flagship store in the upmarket Sydney suburb of Paddington Chic: In just six years, Mara and Mine has become a cult fashion label, lusted after by members of the international style set. The interior of the brand's Paddington store is pictured Meanwhile, Karl is said to have commenced his media career as a cadet reporter for WIN in Rockhampton and Cairns in 1994. He later took up a position with TVNZ as a reporter for One Network News in New Zealand. In 1998, Karl returned to Australia and worked for Channel 10 in Brisbane. Two years later he moved to the Nine Network and started out as a reporter and back-up presenter for National Nine News. Today show line-up: Karl (left) pictured alongside his current co-host, Georgie Gardner(right) In 2002, Karl relocated to Nine's Sydney newsroom and made his mark reporting on various natural disasters, including the Canberra bushfires in 2003. He went on to replace Today host Steve Liebmann in 2005, and still holds the plum hosting role in 2018. In 2011, Karl won the Most Popular Presenter and the coveted Gold Logie at the Logie awards. Mara & Mine: Jasmine (right) started shoe company Mara & Mine with her friend Tamie Ingham (left) and it has grown to become a popular cult label KARL AND JASMINE: LOVE LIFE Karl reportedly met his now ex-wife, Cassandra Thorburn in 1995 at a party in Rockhampton. Karl and Cassandra later married in an intimate ceremony in Port Douglas, Queensland. The former flames had three children together, Jackson, Ava, and River before separating after 21 years. Their divorce was finalised in October 2017. In December 2016, Karl met Jasmine Yarbrough. After meeting on a Sydney Harbour boat cruise, Karl and Jasmine were seen kissing the following February and their romance was confirmed. Former flames: Karl reportedly met his now ex-wife, Cassandra Thorburn in 1995 at a party in Rockhampton. Pictured Logie Awards in 2011 Spotlight: After Cassandra's marriage to Karl collapsed in September 2016, she (pictured) was thrust into the spotlight In February 2018, the couple confirmed their engagement with New Idea reporting Karl had popped the question to Jasmine during a holiday in Fiji. The couple made their first appearance at the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week and spent time together in Bora Bora and Mexico, where Karl met Jasmines parents for the first time. However, many slammed Karls quick move from Cassandra to Jasmine, including former KIIS FM radio host Meshel Laurie. The radio host blasted their displays of affection as 'insensitive' and 'shameless'. 'It feels a little insensitive, obviously I don't know these people. Is it criminal? No. Is it illegal? No, is it a bit bloody shameless and rotten? Maybe. Countdown is on! Today show host, Karl Stefanovic and his fiancee, Jasmine Yarbrough are set to wed on December 8 in Mexico KARL AND JASMINE: WEALTH While Karl Stefanovics net worth has been rumoured as $10 million, it has not been confirmed, but he is considered to be one of the highest-paid stars on Australian television. The Today show hosts salary garnered a lot of media attention after Lisa Wilkinson quit the program last year following a reported lack of pay parity with Karl. According to news.com.au, Karl earned at least AU$2 million per year with a bonus that could take his salary up to just below AU$3 million if ratings targets were hit. Meanwhile his former co-star Lisa was reported to have been on a contract worth $1.1 million per year before her departure from the show. Jasmine's net worth is unknown however she is a successful designer and the most expensive shoes in her range retail for $435.00 USD. He is set to celebrate 46 years of marriage to his stunning wife Shakira Caine in a matter of weeks, on January 8. And Sir Michael Caine, 85, has revealed that he immediately hatched plans to jet to Brazil and propose to the 71-year-old Guyanese-born beauty just a day after seeing her for the first time in a TV advertisement. Speaking on ITV's The Jonathan Ross Show, which is set to air on Saturday, the Oscar-winning actor recalled: 'My experience was, I saw this lady on the television in a commercial and fell in love instantly. Smitten: Sir Michael Caine has revealed that he hatched plans to jet to Brazil and propose to his wife Shakira just a day after seeing her for the first time in a TV advertisement 'It was a commercial for coffee in Brazil, and I was with one of my best mates and for the first time in years we were watching television. We just had a night from the discos and I just watched her and I thought, "That is the woman for me." I said to my mate, "We are going to Brazil in the morning, we are going to find her." I went down the disco and I was so excited and one of the guys came in and said [to my friends and me] "You three? No girls? Whats going on?" And I said, "I saw a beautiful girl on the television and Im going to Brazil in the morning to find her She wasnt in a show, she was in a commercial." 'And he said, "Whats the commercial for?" And I said, "Maxwell House Coffee" and he said, "We do that." I said, "Well you know the Brazilian girl in it, Im going to Brazil in the morning to find her. Can you help me?" Together forever: The legendary screen star is set to celebrate 46 years of marriage to his stunning wife Shakira Caine in a matter of weeks, on January 8 TV appearance: The two-time Oscar winner gushed about his wife during an appearance on ITV's The Jonathan Ross Show, which is set to air on Saturday 'He said, "Michael, shes not Brazilian, she is Indian. And she lives on the Fulham Road." So, the moral of that tale, be prepared for it to come out of nowhere.' The actor who has one daughter from his first marriage to Patricia Haines, as well another with Shakira is now enjoying spending time with his children's offspring. 'I adore my grandchildren,' he gushed to show host Jonathan Ross. 'Its the most amazing thing. When you get older and older and older and you start thinking about getting old and slowing down and dying and everything. 'And then the grandchildren come and your whole life starts all over again because you start living their life, not yours. Which is so important. Especially to have grandchildren who love you as well and my grandchildren do love me.' Love at first sight: The south London native revealed that he 'fell in love instantly' with his wife Warm welcome: The father of two was welcomed on the popular show by host Jonathan Ross Promotional trail: The star has been busy promoting his new book, Blowing the Bloody Doors Off: And Other Lessons In Life The Cider House Rules star also spoke about retiring at the age of 65, only to go on an enjoy huge success in the film industry, which he continues to be a part of. He said: 'Having retired, I went on to win an Academy Award for The Cider House Rules, and made six fabulous movies for Christopher Nolan, including three Batmans. I suddenly realised what a mistake you can make thinking that your life is over, and youve retired. Sixty-five is a very young age now.' Sir Michael continued: 'I won an Oscar in Cider House Rules and I had this whole fantastic life as an older man. 'Im 85 and Ive just finished a movie in Czechoslovakia so that was part of the thing [of writing my book, Blowing the Bloody Doors Off: And Other Lessons In Life], to say to people "If youre going to retire, think about it because you may be making a mistake like I did." Stand by your man: Sir Michael recently revealed that he takes his wife on all of his film shoots Lead me not into temptation: The 85-year-old actor said that he has enjoyed having his wife by his side on film sets, as he won't be tempted to have flings with his co-stars Continued success: The Cider House Rules star also spoke about retiring at the age of 65, only to go on an enjoy huge success in the film industry, which he continues to be a part of The legendary screen star, who has appeared in three movies this year, insisted he is not slowing down, adding: 'Im not slowing down, but I dont take leading parts in movies anymore. 'I dont want to get up at 6.30 in the morning for three months so I do two weeks and then collapse. Oh yes [I still get offered leading roles], what was the last one I did? I did Youth and King of Thieves. When you get old in movies, they take care of you.' The actor recently revealed that he takes his wife on film shoots so he isn't tempted to have affairs with 'beautiful actresses'. Speaking at an event to promote his new book in London, he said: 'For a start, the obvious thing on location is you're going on location, you're married, with a load of beautiful actresses. You know what's going to happen.' Star-studded night: He appeared on the show alongside (L-R) Sue Perkins and David Walliams Living life like it's golden: The stars were also joined by Olympic gold medallist Sir Mo Farah Keep on moving: The legendary screen star, who has appeared in three movies this year, insisted he is not slowing down No leading roles: Sir Michael did admit that while he continues to act, he avoids leading roles The two-time Oscar winner said his wife comes everywhere with him to ensure their marriage stays strong. He added: 'When you go away for a long time you visit places the other one's never seen, you eat in restaurants the other one's never been, you meet people the other one's never met. 'Both of you have started a separate life and it's very important you don't do that I think. So my wife goes with me everywhere.' The couple married in 1973 and have one daughter, Natasha, 45. He has another daughter, Dominique, 62, with his first wife Patricia Haines. Energy: The star was typically upbeat and energetic during his appearance on the chat show Retirement regrets: Sir Michael has deemed his decision to retire at the age of 65 a 'mistake' Entertainer: Comedian David Walliams kept the studio audience entertained with his antics He is known for his bold, fashion-forward ensembles. And on Thursday, Christian 'Prince' Wilkins showed off his signature style in an transparent two-piece as he arrived at Karl Stefanovic and Jasmine Yarbrough's pre-wedding welcome dinner in Los Cabos. The 23-year-old model is the son of Karl's long-time friend and Today show reporter, Richard Wilkins, who was also in attendance at the luxury dinner at the One&Only Palmilla resort. Scroll down for video Upstaging the bride! Christian Wilkins flaunts his figure in white transparent two-piece at Karl and Jasmine's luxury wedding welcome dinner in Los Cabos Embracing the hot weather and the bridal theme, the socialite arrived at the dinner in an off-white ensemble by Sydney designer YOUKHANA, which retails for $155. Christian paired the two-piece with white underwear that could be seen under the transparent cotton. 'And the bride wore a subtle crop top to the welcome drinks,' he captioned a flawless photo of himself on Instagram. Christian arrived in Mexico ahead of the nuptials with his father Richard and his girlfriend Virginia Burmeister, it appears the model's partner Andrew Kelly didn't accompany the trio to Mexico. Pure joy! As they geared up for their star-studded nuptials in Mexico , Karl and Jasmine were the picture of bliss at a pre-wedding celebration. Jasmine is pictured with her father So happy! Karl was in a rapture of happiness at the welcome dinner, literally sweeping his mother Jenny off her feet, giving her an emotional hug outside the luxurious dinner venue While Richard shares a close relationship with co-host Karl, Christian is also quite close friends with the bride-to-be. As they geared up for their star-studded nuptials in Mexico, Karl and Jasmine were the picture of bliss at the pre-wedding celebration. Joined by their parents, the couple could not hide their jubilation as they embraced their loved ones during the welcome dinner on Thursday night. Lovely venue: The wedding, at the One&Only Palmilla resort, will be a three-day affair, with the couple sparing no expense Karl was in a rapture of happiness, literally sweeping his mother Jenny off her feet, giving her an emotional hug outside the luxurious dinner venue. The Today co-host looked dapper in a tan suit which he paired with a crisp white shirt and black casual shoes. The wedding, at the One&Only Palmilla resort, will be a three-day affair, with the couple sparing no expense. It is believed they have booked two villas, one which costs approximately $11,600 per night, and another priced at around $15,000 per night. Hey big spenders! It is believed they have booked two villas, one which costs approximately $11,600 per night, and another priced at around $15,000 per night She broke down into tears when she walked her last Victoria's Secret show after being with the lingerie brand for 20 years. Yet Adriana Lima stunned on arrival at the No Commission presented by BACARDI x The Dean Collection at Faena Forum, in Miami Beach, Florida on Thursday. The former Victoria's Secret Angel, 37, took the plunge in a perilously low-cut LBD which had a strapless cut to frame her ample cleavage. She's angelic! Adriana Lima looked ravishing in a strapless LBD as former Victoria's Secret Angel strutted her stuff at glitzy event in Miami Beach, Florida on Thursday For a dazzling touch, the underwear model accentuated her hourglass figure with a sequinned silver buckle belt which she matched with a metallic clutch. The lingerie pin-up modeled her toned legs in a thigh-skimming LBD and a pair of feminine pointed heels with bows tying them to her ankle. Courting attention from glamorous guests, the model blew kisses with her bright red lips and she scraped her raven-coloured locks off her face. Social butterfly: Courting attention from glamorous guests, Adriana blew kisses with her bright red lips and she scraped her raven-coloured locks off her face Adriana has been moving on with her life since she bid an emotional goodbye to Victoria's Secret when she was dubbed the 'greatest Angel of all time'. The catwalk stunner walked her first Victoria Secret show in 2000 when she was just the tender age of 19 but she has been with the brand since 1999. Making an impression, the runway star opened five of the shows for the lingerie brands in the following years: 2003, 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2012. Bust-ing out: The former Victoria's Secret Angel, 37, took the plunge in a perilously low-cut LBD which had a strapless cut to frame her ample cleavage Devilishly sexy: For a dazzling touch, the underwear model accentuated her hourglass figure with a sequinned silver buckle belt In 2008, the model wore the coveted $5 million Fantasy Bra encrusted with rubies and diamonds for the first time. The mother-of-two donned the Fantasy Bra again in 2010 and for a final time in 2014. Adriana, who raises eight-year-old Valentina and six-year-old Sienna with her ex-husband Marko Jaric, only missed the 2009 show because she was pregnant. She confirmed the news she was leaving on social media: 'Dear Victoria, Thank you for showing me the world, sharing your secrets, and most importantly not just giving me wings but teaching me to fly.' They've remained firm friends since meeting on hit sitcom Friends way back in 1994. So Courteney Cox of course turned out to support long-time pal Jennifer Aniston at the premiere of her new Netflix film Dumplin', held inside Los Angeles' Sunset Tower, on Thursday. The actresses treated Friends fans to a moment of nostalgia as they cuddled up and posed for photos at the bash and celebrated Jennifer's latest release. Friends reunion: Courteney Cox turned out to support long-time best friend and former Friends co-star Jennifer Aniston at the Los Angeles premiere of her new Netflix movie Dumplin' on Thursday night Courteney, 54, looked typically chic for the event in black peg trousers and a simple knitted sweater, both of which were layered beneath a stylish blazer-style jacket. She finished her monochromatic ensemble with sling-back heels and wore her trademark brunette tresses in preened, glossy waves around her face, which modelled a neutral make-up palette. Meanwhile, the evening's leading lady Jennifer, 49, dazzled onlookers in a black sequined dress that flashed her toned, tanned legs. Sophisticated: Courteney, 54, looked typically chic for the event in black peg trousers and sweater, which was layered beneath a stylish blazer-style jacket The Along Came Polly actress added to her glitzy ensemble with strappy heels and chandelier earrings for some added pizzazz. The Hollywood star looked thrilled to have Courteney's support at the event as the pair laughed and joked incessantly, while also cosying up for snaps at the exclusive after-party. The actresses became real-life best friends after playing roommates Rachel (Aniston) and Monica (Cox) in hit American sitcom Friends from 1994-2004. Glam: The evening's leading lady Jennifer, 49, dazzled onlookers in a black sequined dress that flashed her toned, tanned legs Beaming: The Hollywood star looked thrilled to have Courteney's support at the event as the pair laughed and joked incessantly Where it all began... The actresses became real-life best friends after playing roommates Rachel (Aniston) and Monica (Cox) in hit American sitcom Friends from 1994-2004 Jennifer even made Courteney her Maid of Honour at her 2015 wedding to ex-husband Justin Theroux, while the Cougar Town star is also thought to be returning the favour when she marries fiance and Snow Patrol star Johnny McDaid. Dumplin' follows plus-size teen Willowdean, the daughter of a former beauty queen played by Aniston, as she signs up for the local pageant in protest and accidentally starts her own movement in her small Texas town. The film is set for a dual release on Netflix and in cinemas. Love Island winners Dani Dyer and Jack Fincham's work commitments have been thrown into chaos following the end of their six month romance on Thursday. Dani, 22, announced the end of the couple's relationship in a emotional Instagram post, admitting their romance 'just wasn't meant to be long-term.' And although they have gone their separate ways, their professional lives remain interlinked, with reality shows and presenting stints lined up for the duo as a couple. Split: Love Island winners Dani Dyer and Jack Fincham's work commitments have been thrown into chaos following the end of their six month romance on Thursday (above promoting their NTAs hosting gig this January) Just 11 days ago (November 26) Jack and Dani proudly announced their latest gig as social media hosts for the National Television Awards on January 22. The pair will therefore face an uncomfortable reunion on the red carpet as they interview celebrity attendees. Reflecting on their new role at the time, the pair both enthused that it was an honour to be considered. 'It has already been such an exciting year for us and to top it off, we've been asked to work alongside TV legend Dermot O'Leary at the National Television Awards,' they said. Seen on screen: And although they have gone their separate ways, their professional lives remain interlinked, with reality shows and presenting stints lined up for the duo as a couple (seen in a trailer for Love Island: The Christmas Reunion) 'Last year we were at home on the sofa watching the show so it's an honour to be involved this year, we can't wait! Fingers crossed Love Island is in the running on the night too. Bring on 2019!' A spokesperson for the NTAs said: 'As winners and stand-out stars of one of this year's most talked-about shows, Love Island's Dani Dyer and Jack Fincham will continue in their roles as hosts of the Red Carpet and Backstage and all our social media channels on the night at the 2019 National Television Awards. Despite the recent news about their relationship, we are delighted they remain friends and we look forward to working with them at the upcoming NTAs.' Just around the corner is the Love Island Christas special, where the former castmates of the hit ITV2 reality show will reunite at a festive retreat to socialise and settle old scores. A awkwardly timed Love Island: The Christmas Reunion trailer dropped during I'm A Celebrity's advert break. In the 15-second video it sees Jack and Dani exchanging festive presents, as well as dancing with each other. Awjward: The former lovebirds also spent the last few months filming for their reality show spin-off series, Jack and Dani: Life After Love Island - however, it has been confirmed that the ITV2 series will still be broadcast The duo are joined with their fellow co-stars, but things look like they're going to be just as awkward for some of their contestants who have also split since the summer. So far, there are only three surviving couples from this season - Megan Barton Hanson and Wes Nelson, Kaz Crossley and Josh Denzel, and Adam Collard and Zara McDermott. The former lovebirds also spent the last few months filming for their reality show spin-off series, Jack and Dani: Life After Love Island - however, it has been confirmed that the ITV2 series will still be broadcast. Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, Jack said: 'You can expect some laughs as it's really funny and it's light-hearted. I'm not 100% sure if Danny (Dyer, Dani's father) will appear as we haven't shot any scenes together, but he might have shot some scenes with Dani and her mum (Joanne Mas). Filming: Just around the corner is the Love Island Christas special, where the former castmates of the hit ITV2 reality show will reunite at a festive retreat to socialise and settle old scores 'We go to a couple of different countries and just experience life together. I really enjoyed filming it, it was so much fun', the Essex star added. Their personal lives will also prove difficult to separate. The former couple recently adopted a gorgeous puppy named Sandy, and it remains unknown who will get custody of the dog. Jack and Dani broke fans hearts on Thursday, when the beauty confirmed the news that the couple had gone their separate ways. Danny Dyer's daughter wrote on social media: 'Jack & I have sadly decided to part ways. It's been an incredible six months, and we will always have a place in our hearts for each other, but sadly we've come to the realisation that it's not meant to be long-term.' Dani continued in her statement: 'We both plan to stay friends. I hope you'll all understand. Love Dani x.' Who will get custody? The former couple recently adopted a gorgeous puppy named Sandy, and it remains unknown who will get custody of the dog Jack hinted at strife in his relationship with Dani in an exclusive interview given to MailOnline just one day before the split was announced. He indicated the pair's romance had entered choppy waters when he backtracked on his previous vow to wed the brunette beauty within a year. He told MailOnline: 'Marriage is not something we've thought about yet. Before we can even speak about that, we'd like to buy a house together first. 'We haven't really thought about kids either, but I'd like a boy and a girl, and I'd give them another little Sandy (their new bulldog) too.' This was despite revealing his plans to tie the knot with Dani, days after arriving home from weeks in the Spanish villa. 'It wasn't meant to be long-term': The 22-year-old took to her Instagram platform on Thursday to confirm the news that she had parted ways with Jack, 27 It's OVER! Jack hinted at strife in his relationship with Dani in an exclusive interview given to MailOnline just one day before the split was announced amid claims she dumped him He told The Sun: 'We're getting married next year, 100 per cent. Like my mum said to me so many times, 'When you know about someone, you just know.' And now I know what she's talking about. I just know that that's what we want to do.' According to The Sun, the reality stars, who moved in together following their big television win, have been drawn apart by their hectic schedules. A source told the publication: 'When they left the villa they really thought they would stay together forever, but reality soon set in and things started to get strained.' It was continued: 'They came out to a whirlwind of publicity and after a while, things started to get to them and the cracks appeared. 'They are both incredibly busy and they have decided to call time on their romance.' MailOnline has contacted representatives for Dani and Jack for further comment. This comes amid claims that Dani was the one to pull the plug on the pair's romance. A source told The Sun: 'Dani may have said this was a mutual decision, but that's not the case. She ended it. 'He felt they could have made it work, but she showed a hard side and called time on the relationship.' The pair famously refrained from having sex in the Love Island villa and then went on to win the nation's hearts as Jack sweetly asked her to be his girlfriend. A few months after leaving the villa, Jack admitted that the sexual element of their relationship improved because they lived in their own flat in Canary Wharf, which they moved into in August. She is said to have ruffled the feathers of Sofia Richie after posting a racy co-parenting Instagram snap with Scott Disick. But Kourtney Kardashian showed no signs of family drama as she attended the GQ Men Of The Year Party in Beverly Hills on Thursday night. The television personality, 39, put her best fashion forward, cutting a sleek figure in a strapless silver foil midi-dress from Milly. Stylish display: Kourtney Kardashian put her best fashion forward at the GQ Men Of The Year Party in Beverly Hills on Thursday night, cutting a sleek figure in a strapless silver midi-dress Kourtney highlighted her slender frame in the metallic gown and added a boost to her petite 5ft frame with perspex court shoes. The Keeping Up With The Kardashians star kept accessories to a mininum, adding a touch of sparkle to her eye-catching ensemble with diamond drop earrings and a statement ring. Styling her raven tresses in a slicked back side-parting, the mother-of-three finished off her evening get-up with a grey smokey-eye, bronzed cheeks and a glossy brown lip. Stunning: The television personality, 39, highlighted her slender frame in the metallic Milly gown and added a boost to her petite 5ft frame with perspex court shoes Kourtney's glamorous night out comes after she shared a photo of herself with ex-boyfriend Scott and her daughter Penelope on Instagram. In the shot, the mother of three reclined on a double bed in a racy and revealing black dress, showing off plenty of cleavage and leg, while in the background, Scott, 35, sat in jeans and a grey sweatshirt, apparently oblivious. Completing the odd family pic was the former couple's middle child and only daughter six-year-old Penelope sat in her father's lap while she scrolled through his phone. Causing drama: Kourtney's glamorous night out comes after she shared a photo of herself with ex-boyfriend Scott and her daughter Penelope on Instagram- ruffling Sofia Richie's feathers Their other two children, eight and three-year-old sons Mason and Reign, decided to skip the photo. She captioned it simply: 'coparenting'. However the snap was said to be the final straw for Scott's girlfriend Sofia, 20. A source told Hollywood Life: 'Sofia feels disrespected and uncomfortable with Kourtneys Instagram pics and constant reminders of how close she and Scott remain. 'Sofia does not like it at all when Kourtney posts pics with Scott, she is confused by the unnecessary pictures and feels they are rude, inappropriate and wishes Kourtney would back off from her man. Uncomfortable: After Kourtney Kardashian shared a photo of Scott and their three kids to Instagram, Sofia was 'uncomfortable' Another source added: 'Uncomfortable is definitely the feelings Sofia is feeling but she is learning to expect it from Scott because to him its keeping the peace and he doesnt always take Sofias feelings to heart.' Meanwhile, it was reported that Scott and Kourtney want to do things as a 'family unit' for the sake of their children. The former couple recently went to New York on a mini family vacation, and even though they're not a couple, they're keen to do things as a family for the benefit of their children. A source told E! News: 'When things are going well between Scott and Kourtney, they like to do things together as a family unit for the sake of the kids. 'The kids love when they all get to be together and Kourtney and Scott have been great at co-parenting lately. Everyone is really happy.' She's appeared on innumerable magazine covers in her time as a supermodel. And on Friday, Elle Macpherson, 54, shared to Instagram one of her most iconic ELLE USA covers from June 1986, and a near-identical cover which the ELLE Russia has recreated for their January 2019 issue. In both covers she shows off a bronzed complexion and had bright yellow zinc slicked on her nose and under her eyes. Spot the difference! Supermodel Elle Macpherson recreates one of her most iconic magazine covers from 1986 ...and even 32 years later she's barely changed one bit The original beach-inspired shoot features the Australian beauty sporting a bright yellow swimsuit with a pair of swimming goggles that sit around her neck. It's near-impossible to tell the two covers apart despite the 32 years that have elapsed between them. The model wrote in am Instagram caption beside the cover images: 'Russian ELLE now and then (1986) Thank you Gillies Bensimon and the team at ELLE for gracing me with your cover'. Then and now: It's near-impossible to tell the two covers apart despite the 32 years that have elapsed between them The post comes after the supermodel attended the Mon Cheri Barbara Tag Ball 2018 at the Old Bavarian State Bank in Munich, Germany, on Wednesday. Elle showcased her sensational frame in a form-fitting gown as she arrived at the The wellness entrepreneur oozed glamour in the floor length metallic frock as she strutted down the red carpet. However during the course of the night, the supermodel was nearly the victim of a spectacular fall, this time in a hotel hallway. Hotel hokum! In a clip posted to Elle's Instagram on Wednesday, the model can be seen strutting down the hotel hall a form-fitting gold dress before almost tripping in her high heels In a clip posted to Instagram on Wednesday, the model was seen strutting down the hall her form-fitting gold frock before almost tripping on the train in her high heels. Proving what a good sport she is, Elle laughed at her own clumsiness after regaining her footing. The brunette beauty captioned the clip, 'Oppps! [sic]' The stars of Friends are set to land a colossal payday after Netflix paid a reported $100million to air the classic sitcom for another year with their earnings being boosted to almost $22million per year from the show alone. Thanks to a back-end deal which sees Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer, Matt LeBlanc and Matthew Perry get two per cent of profits their syndication earnings have been padded by a further $1.4million. Netflix had already been paying owners WarnerMedia $30million per year since 2015 to have the beloved series among its colossal catalogue, but fans were recently outraged when the show was set to expire from the streaming service on January 1. Getting paid: Courteney Cox, Jennifer Aniston and their Friends co-stars are set to have their earnings from the show boosted to almost $22million per year, after a new deal with Netflix However, within hours of the news breaking, the New York Times reported that bosses at Netflix had struck a new deal, which has proved to be decidedly lucrative for the already-minted stars. The stars' road to their big pay day has been a heavily documented one, with each of them earning a comparatively modest $22,500 per episode when the show made its debut on NBC back in 1994. With the dawning of season two came a variety of salaries, with the newly-famous actors separately renegotiating their contracts, picking up between $30,000 and $40,000 per episode for their efforts. Raking in the dough: The actresses and their co-stars (L-R) Matt LeBlanc, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer and Matthew Perry have had their earnings boosted by a further $1.4million A new precedent was set by season three, when the stars decided to band together for equal pay on the show. But this meant all were paid the same amount as the lowest earning cast member. And while $75,000 per episode would be a windfall in most circles, it actually proved to be a pay cut for breakout stars Jennifer and David, who had won legions of fans through their respective portrayals of Rachel Green and Ross Geller. The stars of Friends: What's their net worth? Following the end of Friends, the stars have gone to enjoy lucrative careers in showbusiness with varying degrees of success. However, thanks in large part to their roles on the show that made them all household names, each screen star's net worth has remained at impressive levels even by Hollywood's standards. Jennifer Aniston $220million Courteney Cox $120million David Schwimmer $85million Matthew Perry $80million Matt Le Blanc $80million Lisa Kudrow $70million Source: Thisisinsider.com Advertisement A steady rise in salaries continued in seasons four, five and six, with each cast member's earnings rising to $85,000 per episode, then $100,000, followed by $125,000. By season seven, the frequenters of the Central Perk coffee house had become favourites not only in the US but around the world, and a jewel in NBC's crown with the stars' pay packets reflecting that fact. For seasons seven and eight, their earnings jumped dramatically to $750,000, placing them comfortably among Hollywood's top earners. By season nine, the co-stars made international headlines as it was revealed that they'd negotiated fresh contracts for seasons nine and 10 (Friends' final two seasons) worth a jaw-dropping $1million per episode. The heavily reported contract renegotiations afforded Jennifer, Courteney and Lisa the distinction of becoming the highest-paid television actresses to that point. Following panic among Netflix's reported 130million subscribers that Friends would be removed, a message was posted on the streaming service's Twitter account on Monday, assuring that the sitcom would remain in the lineup. 'The Holiday Armadillo has granted your wish: Friends will still be there for you in the US throughout 2019,' read a message on the micro-blogging site. Padded pockets: Thanks to a back-end deal which sees the stars get two per cent of the show's profits their syndication earnings have been padded by a further $1.4million The end was nigh: Fans were recently outraged when the show was set to expire from the streaming service on January 1, but just hours later a new deal was announced Here to stay (for now): On Monday, bosses at Netflix announced via Twitter that the show would remain with the streaming service throughout 2019 Friends, which focused on the daily exploits of six friends living in New York City, came to an end in 2004. And fans will have to satisfy themselves with reruns of the show, as creators David Crane and Marta Kauffman previously insisted that a reunion 'will never happen'. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter in 2016, Crane explained: '[This show is] about a time in your life when your friends are your family. Once you start having a family, that time of your life is over. 'We finished the show exactly the way we wanted to finish it. To revisit those characters just seems like a bad idea you don't want to see them hanging out in the coffeehouse now. And the good news is, you can see them whenever you want to. The show lives on with amazing vitality.' Television favourite: Friends, which focused on the daily exploits of six friends living in New York City, came to an end in 2004 Felicity Jones has cited Reese Witherspoon as her inspiration because she feels her decision to executive produce Big Little Lies 'shifted the cultural landscape'. Speaking to NET-A-PORTERS weekly digital magazine PorterEdit on Friday, the actress, 35, said Reese's role also helped to bolster the #MeToo movement. Felicity explained: 'When you start out, you're just trying to pay the rent, so you're taking whatever comes along. Girl power: Felicity Jones has cited Reese Witherspoon as her inspiration because she feels her decision to executive produce Big Little Lies 'shifted the cultural landscape' 'In the last few years, I've felt particularly inspired by people like Reese Witherspoon producing Big Little Lies, which shifted the cultural landscape. In many ways, I believe it allowed the #MeToo movement to have such a hold. 'We actors are circus performers, we're carnival folk. But we can do it with a sense of what is relevant. Storytelling can shift collective consciousness.' Felicity also insisted she never intended to be famous, and it was thanks to her role as Jyn Erso in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story that people began to notice her. A self-confessed 'shy' kid, Felicity joked that she 'wasn't Judy Garland' whilst growing up, and only began acting as a hobby because her parents believed it would help her 'socialise and come out of [herself] a bit.' Talented: The actress, 35, said Reese's role as star and producer of Big Little Lies also helped to bolster the #MeToo movement (pictured in character as Madeline Martha Mackenzie) Impressed: Felicity spoke to NET-A-PORTERS weekly digital magazine PorterEdit on Friday The Theory Of Everything star said: 'Star Wars definitely shifted things. I never set out to be famous; it's been a by-product of doing something that I love. 'I want to put relevant and entertaining stories out into the world, but this is the other side of it. And I think you just have to enjoy it you can't turn around and start complaining.' Her breakthrough in the sci-fi franchise has led to her being cast in a lot of exciting projects, including her latest film On The Basis Of Sex where she portrays Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Of the film, Felicity revealed: 'We were filming it in the midst of the beginning of the #MeToo movement, and since then, with everything that's happened with the Supreme Court, her story feels even more pertinent.' Candid: A self-confessed 'shy' kid, Felicity joked that she 'wasn't Judy Garland' whilst growing up, and only began acting as a hobby because her parents believed it would help her 'socialise' Big break: Felicity also admitted that she never intended to be famous, but it was thanks to her role as Jyn Erso in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (pictured) that people began to notice her While she was making it, the actress was able to meet her real-life counterpart and said: 'It's incredibly moving when you meet the Justice, because of everything that she's achieved. There was no path set out for her. 'She was doing it all on her own at a time when it was really, really difficult. She was constantly the underdog, and had to not only be good, but even better [than the men].' While she's been busy promoting the legal drama, the actress has reunited with her The Theory Of Everything co-star Eddie Redmayne in the period film The Aeronauts. Discussing what its been like on set, she amusingly admitted: 'I thought it was going to be a very safe period drama, but then it turned into a Victorian version of The Revenant. Opportunities: Her role in the sci-fi film has led to her being cast in a lot of exciting projects, including her latest film On The Basis Of Sex where she portrays Ruth Bader Ginsburg Together again: While she's been busy promoting the legal drama, the actress has reunited with her The Theory Of Everything co-star Eddie Redmayne (pictured) in The Aeronauts 'I loved it. I'd be hanging off the basket and everyone would be asking if I was okay, and I'd be, like, "This is a dream for me. This is what I've wanted to do my entire life a bit of rough and tumble."' She also gushed about meeting her husband Charles Guard, who she married earlier this year, as she revealed: '[We met] in an elevator in LA. A proper Hollywood love story for two Brits. 'I would keep bumping into him at the Sunset Tower Hotel. I'd go away and come back two weeks later and he'd still be there. Eventually, we got chatting.' But, Felicity is keen to focus on her acting career for the time being, as she said: '[Nowadays], you're not just expected to settle down and have children. 'If you want to do that, then that's equally as valid a choice. But if you have ambition, then why not follow it?' To see the full interview, read PorterEdit or download the NET-A-PORTER app for iPhone, iPad and Android. Search for NET-A-PORTER on the App Store and Google Play They've been going strong since they went public with their relationship in early 2017. And Chloe Lewis left her Instagram followers green with envy as she shared a series of snaps from her idyllic holiday with stockbroker boyfriend Danny Flasher at Kandima Maldives on Thursday. The TOWIE star, 27, looked incredible as she slipped into a leopard print bikini while cooling off with a dip in the ocean. Fun in the sun: Chloe Lewis shared a series of snaps from her idyllic holiday with stockbroker boyfriend Danny Flasher at Kandima Maldives on Thursday With her brunette locks wet and slicked back from her face, the TV personality went make-up free to display her naturally beautiful features. Chloe shared numerous Instagram stories as she showed her followers around the stunning resort, declaring she will 'never get bored' of the views offered in the island paradise. Before heading to the Maldives for their relaxing break, Chloe and Danny enjoyed a few days in Dubai. The brunette beauty posted more holiday snaps from Le Royal Meridien Beach Resort and Spa as the couple unwound on the first leg of their winter trip. Taking a dip: The TOWIE star, 27, looked incredible as she slipped into a leopard print bikini while cooling off with a dip in the ocean Heavenly: Chloe shared numerous Instagram stories as she showed her followers around the stunning resort, declaring she will 'never get bored' of the views offered in the island paradise Wild thing: The brunette beauty seemed to have a penchant for animal print during her stay in the Maldives, posing up a storm in a leopard mini-dress and heels before heading out to dinner Wow! The TV personality and her banker boyfriend appeared to be staying in an envy-inducing water villa during their Maldives break Chloe and Danny went public with their romance in early 2017, and moved in together in April. The reality star has previously admitted her boyfriend has turned down a role on the ITVBe show that propelled her to fame. Speaking on This Morning in August, she said: 'The show have asked me about him coming on, it's his choice. He's got a good job.' Chloe told Fabulous Magazine in April: 'I'm gonna keep him separate! I'm going to keep him all to myself! I couldn't do a relationship on the show again. Winter sun: Before heading to the Maldives for their relaxing break, Chloe and Danny enjoyed a few days in Dubai Date night: The brunette beauty posted more holiday snaps from Le Royal Meridien Beach Resort and Spa as the couple unwound on the first leg of their winter trip 'I would never say never, because I don't know what the future holds - but no, for now, definitely not. But, Danny is all for TOWIE for me, he's like "I want you to do well, I want you to stay on it". 'He loves all the goss and everything, but for him he's got a good job up the city and he does really well so it's not something I think is for him!' Chloe dated former TOWIE co-star Jake Hall, 25, for seven years, but their relationship endured a very public breakdown on the show in 2016. Jake is now a father to daughter River, 13 months, with fiancee, Swedish Real Housewives Of Cheshire star Misse Beqiri, 32, who he has been dating since shortly after his split from Chloe. Australian businessman James Packer has shared a touching message to Karl Stefanovic after announcing he would no longer be a groomsman at his star-studded wedding. The billionaire, 51, who is close friends with Karl, 44, had been tipped to stand alongside the Today Show host as he married Jasmine Yarbrough, 34, at the lavish event in Los Cabos this weekend. Speaking to PS Sydney, James said that despite not being able to attend he wished the couple all the best. 'I send them my love': James Packer (left), 51, has shared a touching message after pulling out Karl Stefanovic's star-studded Mexico wedding to Jasmine Yarbrough (both pictured right) 'I wish them the best of luck, hope they have a life full of happiness together, and send them my love,' he said. It was originally speculated that the billionaire would not attend the luxurious wedding after opting instead to help celebrate his mother Ros' 80th birthday. However, according to the Sydney Morning Herald, James is reportedly concerned over the impact the huge amount of media attention surrounding the event could have on his 'sense of calm'. An insider reportedly told the publication: 'He needs to take this time out for himself, to heal and to find a sense of calmness.' Change of plans: According to a report James will not be attending the wedding due to concerns that the large amount of media attention the event is attracting Karl is said to be 'disappointed' but understanding, the publication claims. For the past year the casino mogul has been recovering from depression and anxiety. In March he revealed that he was resigning from the board of the Crown casino company due to mental health issues before checking himself into an exclusive psychiatric hospital in America. Karl and James have known to be close, with snaps first emerging of the pair on the multi-billionaire's super yacht in Bora Bora last year. A happy bride: Karl and Jasmine's lavish wedding nuptials were kicked off on Thursday with a welcome dinner at the luxurious One&Only Palmilla resort in Los Cabos Karl reportedly sat front row at James' wedding to Erica Baxter, 41, on the French Riviera in 2007. And when Karl moved out of his marital home in 2016, he reportedly stayed at James' beachfront 'bachelor pad' in Sydney's Bondi - a sign of how close the two men are. Karl and Jasmine's lavish wedding nuptials will be taking place at the luxurious One&Only Palmilla resort in Los Cabos this weekend. Daily Mail Australia has reached out to James Packer for comment. The first trailer for the fourth Avengers movie was released on Friday. And fans were sure to be exhilarated with their first preview of the film, which follows directly on from Avengers: Infinity War, as the title was finally revealed to be Avengers: Endgame. The intense first clip opened with an emotional monologue from Robert Downey Jr's Iron Man, as he was left to drift in space. Avengers 4 trailer: Iron Man was adrift in space in the first clip for the film which was released on Friday, as title was FINALLY revealed as Avengers: Endgame Speaking to a broken Iron Man helmet, Tony Stark starts to record a message to his fiance Pepper Potts as he says: 'Hey Miss Potts if you find this recording dont feel bad about this, part of the journey is the end.' Seemingly in reference to Doctor Strange, whose plan to defeat Thanos saw 50 percent of the world's population killed, he added: 'Just for the record being adrift in space was your promise of rescue is more fun than it sounds, food and water ran out four days ago.' Speaking again to Miss Potts, he added: 'Oxygen will run out tomorrow morning, thatll be it. When I drift off I will dream about you, its always you.' Going to war: Captain America vowed to defeat villain Thanos in the 'fight of our lives' For her: Speaking to a broken Iron Man helmet, Tony Stark starts to record a message to his fiance Pepper Potts as he says: 'When I drift off I will dream about you, its always you' Stuck: Iron Man was left to drift into space, after he and Nebula managed to survive Thanos' cull of Earth's population and cuts it by half There was also a brief glimpse of the Titan Thanos, as it showed his humble dwellings in a wooden hut surrounded by nature, as his golden armour was left on display on a spike. The villain's hand was visible as he walked through a field of flowers, as Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow narrated: 'Thanos did exactly what he said he was going to do, he wiped out 50 percent of all living creatures.' Heading to the Avengers base, Chris Evans' Captain America was seen crying alone before he spoke with Black Widow, aka Natasha Romanoff, about their next move. Villain: There was also a glimpse of Thanos and his humble dwellings in a wooden hut surrounded by nature, while his golden armour was left on display on a spike Glimpse: The villain's hand was visible as he walked through a field of flowers On my mind: Speaking to his fiance, he added: 'Oxygen will run out tomorrow morning, thatll be it. When I drift off I will dream about you, its always you' Dramatic: Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow narrated: 'Thanos did exactly what he said he was going to do, he wiped out 50% of all living creatures' Mark Ruffalo's Bruce Banner is also shown briefly, as he looked at the files for all of the missing superheroes who died at the end of the last film. It also showed Ant-Man aka Scott Lang's profile, and he is labelled as missing after he travelled into the Quantum Realm in his second solo-film Ant-Man & The Wasp. Cap aka Steve Rodgers' voice then echoes out as Chris Hemsworth's Thor and Karen Gillan's Nebula are seen mourning the loss of Loki and Gamora. The First Avenger says: 'We lost, all of us. We lost friends, we lost family, we lost a part of ourselves. This is the fight of our lives.' Jeremy Renner's Hawkeye is then seen in Japan, with new weapons and a new outfit, it seems that he has now taken on the alias of Ronin from the New Avengers comic book storyline. Damage: Mark Ruffalo's Bruce Banner was shown briefly, as he looked at the files for all of the heroes who died at the end of the last film, as well as Ant-Man aka Scott Lang who is missing Easter egg: Jeremy Renner's Hawkeye is seen in Japan, with new weapons and a new outfit, it seems that he has now taken on the alias of Ronin from the New Avengers comic book storyline Defeated: Cap aka Steve Rodgers' voice then echoes out as Chris Hemsworth's Thor (pictured) was seen mourning the loss of his adopted brother Loki Natasha reassures Steve, as she tells him: 'This is going to work Steve.' To which Cap ominously says: 'I know it is because I dont know what Im going to do if it doesnt.' The title was then revealed for the film, but that wasn't all as an extra clip saw the unexpected return of Ant-Man. Proving the franchise's humorous approach to the script is still around, Scott says to a video: 'Hi is anyone home, this is Scott Lang, we met a few years ago at the airport in Germany, and I got really big.' Cap, not entirely believing his eyes, asks Black Widow: 'Is this an old message?' But she informs him: 'Thats the front door.' As Scott can be heard explaining: 'Ant-man, Ant-man I know you know that. That's me, can you buzz me in?' He's back, but how? But that wasn't all as the end saw the unexpected return of Ant-Man who asked Cap and Black Widow to let him in, despite last being seen in the Quantum Realm Contemplative: Karen Gillan's Nebula was also shown briefly, and she appeared to be at a loss after discovering that her sister Gamora was killed by Thanos Advertisement Love Island's Dani Dyer looked sombre in her first sighting since announcing she has split from Jack Fincham. The show winner, 22, kept under wraps in a pink padded jacket as she stepped out on Friday in London amid claims she was the one who ended the relationship, and dumped her boyfriend of six months. Dani announced the news in an Instagram post on Thursday evening, but hope was sparked in the duo's extensive fan base that they were back on when the post mysteriously disappeared after a matter of hours, with Dani disabling comments on her recent posts. Downcast: Love Island 's Dani Dyer looked sombre in her first sighting since announcing she has split from Jack Fincham as she was spotted on a stroll in East London on Friday afternoon It's OVER! After winning Love Island series four in July, Dani and Jack have decided to call time on their romance, just six months after pocketing 50,000 for winning the popular ITV2 show However, the star - who is the daughter of EastEnders actor Danny Dyer - was not seen with her ex-boyfriend as she went for a stroll around the city, and looked decidedly more downcast than usual. She kept her figure under wraps on the stroll as she bundled up in a pink padded jacket and mom jeans, finishing off the look with a grey T-shirt and chunky white trainers. Dani wore her glossy chestnut locks swept back in a topknot and concealed her eyes beneath a pair of thick glasses. Keeping warm: The show winner, 22, kept under wraps in a pink padded jacket as she stepped out on Friday in London amid claims she was the one who ended the relationship, and dumped her boyfriend of six months Flying solo: The star - who is the daughter of EastEnders actor Danny Dyer - was not seen with her ex-boyfriend as she went for a stroll around the city, and looked decidedly more downcast than usual In her winter warmers: She kept her figure under wraps on the stroll as she bundled up in a pink padded jacket and mom jeans, finishing off the look with a grey T-shirt and chunky white trainers The star's outing marked her first appearance since shocking fans with the announcement that she and Jack had called time on their romance - yet fans are convinced that the deleting the split statement could mean they will reconcile. MailOnline has contacted representatives for Dani and Jack for comment. Flocking to social media with tweets laden with the praying hands emoji, the pair's baffled followers were keeping their fingers crossed that the popular couple were back on. One fan wrote: 'Don't think Jack and Dani splitting up is real cause he hasn't put out any statement and Dani deleted hers after 2 min so like (praying hands emojis.' Back on? The star's outing marked her first appearance since shocking fans with the announcement that she and Jack had called time on their romance - yet fans are convinced that the deleting the split statement could mean they will reconcile 'It wasn't meant to be long-term': The 22-year-old took to her Instagram platform on Thursday to confirm the news that she had parted ways with Jack, 27, but baffled fans by deleting the post the next morning Baffled: Flocking to social media with tweets laden with the praying hands emoji, the pair's baffled followers were keeping their fingers crossed that the popular couple were back on Another wrote: 'Dani's deleted the post from her story?? Maybe it was all a joke!' while another added: 'Why has dani deleted her post saying that she and Jack have broken up?? there's a chance.' One follower was feeling the effects of the pair's split but was holding out hope when they wrote: 'My heart broke and my emotions are confused. 'A big part of me thinks (they) might have had an argument and she put it up on her story in the heat of the moment and they have now resolved hence why she deleted it and they are together (fingers crossed emoji) While the announcement shocked fans, it seemed to come as a great surprise to Dani's grandmother Chris Dyer, who took to Twitter to unleash her vitriol and bizarrely claim the couple were still together - despite the split post. The English teacher wrote: 'Oh do f*** off. They have not split up at all. They are both really busy and don't have to live in each other's pockets.' Meanwhile, as the speculation mounted on social media, Jack also made a brief appearance, showing up in a pre-recorded video message to support fellow Islander Niall Aslam on Loose Women on Friday. Denial: While the announcement shocked fans, it seemed to come as a great surprise to Dani's grandmother Chris Dyer, who took to Twitter to unleash her vitriol and bizarrely claim the couple were still together - despite the split post Praising Niall for speaking out about his autism, Jack said: 'I want to say a massive well done to my friend Niall for speaking out about his Apserger's. 'Me and Niall are obviously really good friends and the fact he's going on TV and speaking openly about Asperger's is wicked. He has been fantastic in using his platform to raise awareness. Well done Niall, fantastic, good work.' Meanwhile, Niall discussed Jack and Dani's split as he said: 'I'm gutted for them. I thought they were a great couple. I just hope they're happy, both of them. I thought they were the real deal.' Appearance: As reconcilation speculation mounted on social media, Jack also made a brief appearance, showing up in a pre-recorded video message to support fellow Islander Niall Aslam on Loose Women on Friday This comes as Jack hinted at strife in his relationship with Dani in an exclusive interview given to MailOnline just one day before the split was announced amid claims she dumped him. And the 27-year-old former stationery salesman hinted the pair's romance had entered choppy waters when he backtracked on his previous vow to wed the brunette beauty within a year. He told MailOnline: 'Marriage is not something we've thought about yet. Before we can even speak about that, we'd like to buy a house together first. 'We haven't really thought about kids either, but I'd like a boy and a girl, and I'd give them another little Sandy (their new bulldog) too.' This was despite revealing his plans to tie the knot with Dani, days after arriving home from weeks in the Spanish villa. He told The Sun: 'We're getting married next year, 100 per cent. Like my mum said to me so many times, 'When you know about someone, you just know.' And now I know what she's talking about. I just know that that's what we want to do.' Hint: This comes as Jack hinted at strife in his relationship with Dani in an exclusive interview given to MailOnline just one day before the split was announced amid claims she dumped him Adding a poignant twist to the interview, the hunk spoke about his future plans, where he hoped to be 'very happy' with Dani. He said: 'I take every day as it comes. I'd like to think I'd be successful, and would love to think Dani and I will be very happy.' This comes amid claims that Dani was the one to pull the plug on the pair's romance. A source told The Sun: 'Dani may have said this was a mutual decision, but that's not the case. She ended it. 'He felt they could have made it work, but she showed a hard side and called time on the relationship.' MailOnline has contacted representatives for the pair for comment. Although they have gone their separate ways, Jack and Dani's professional and personal lives remain closely interlinked. Awkwardly, the exes have wrapped filming on their own reality show, which will focus on their lives post- Love Island. Happier times: He told MailOnline: 'Marriage is not something we've thought about yet. Before we can even speak about that, we'd like to buy a house together first' He said: 'You can expect some laughs as it's really funny and it's light-hearted. I'm not 100% sure if Danny (Dyer, Dani's father) will appear as we haven't shot any scenes together, but he might have shot some scenes with Dani and her mum (Joanne Mas). 'We go to a couple of different countries and just experience life together. I really enjoyed filming it, it was so much fun', the Essex star added. The exes will also reunite on-screen in the upcoming Love Island Christmas special, with Jack admitting it wasn't all 'plain sailing' when the cast members were all in the same room again. He revealed: 'I really enjoyed it. I had such a good time reuniting with everyone and living under the same roof as them again.' Not to be: Adding a poignant twist to the interview, the hunk spoke about his future plans, where he hoped to be 'very happy' with Dani When asked whether the cast will erupt into furious rows, the TV personality hinted: 'You're going to have to wait and see...it is Love Island after all, it can't be all plain sailing.' They are also due to act as social media hosts for the National Television Awards on January 22, and will face an uncomfortable reunion on the red carpet. Dani and Jack recently became a trio with the adoption of their pet pooch Sandy, and it remains unknown who will get custody of the dog. Gushing over their little family with their pet pooch, he continued: 'I love Sandy so much. She's playing with my other dogs at my mum's at the moment. When I'm out doing work, I never leave her at home by herself so she'd stay with my mum. She's like my child she's featured quite a lot on our reality show.' New pictures emerged of Jack on Wednesday just one day before his high-profile break-up. The star appeared in good spirits as he cut a casual figure in light jeans and a dark jumper while walking around London. Before the storm: Jack cut a cheery figure as he stepped out in London on Wednesday, one day before the split was confirmed The star spoke about his desire to kiss Hollywood actress Mila Kunis under the mistletoe just days before the split was announced. Speaking to The Mirror with fellow Love Island alum Chris Hughes and reality star Joey Essex, he said: 'Mila Kunis is nice. 'She's a weapon.' Jack and Dani broke fans hearts on Thursday, when the beauty confirmed the news that the couple had gone their separate ways. Their baby: Dani and Jack recently became a trio with the adoption of their pet pooch Sandy, and it remains unknown who will get custody of the dog Danny Dyer's daughter wrote on social media: 'Jack & I have sadly decided to part ways. It's been an incredible six months, and we will always have a place in our hearts for each other, but sadly we've come to the realisation that it's not meant to be long-term.' Dani continued in her statement: 'We both plan to stay friends. I hope you'll all understand. Love Dani x.' According to The Sun, the reality stars, who moved in together following their big television win, have been drawn apart by their hectic schedules. A source told the publication: 'When they left the villa they really thought they would stay together forever, but reality soon set in and things started to get strained.' It was continued: 'They came out to a whirlwind of publicity and after a while, things started to get to them and the cracks appeared. 'Feeling Christmassy': Just four days ago, Dani and Jack posted their last selfie together as they cosied up for a festive snap 'They are both incredibly busy and they have decided to call time on their romance.' MailOnline has contacted representatives for Dani and Jack for further comment. The couple's split comes after an awkwardly timed Love Island: The Christmas Reunion trailer dropped during I'm A Celebrity's advert break. In the 15-second video it sees Jack and Dani exchanging festive presents, as well as dancing with each other. The duo are joined with their fellow co-stars, but things look like they're going to be just as awkward for some of their contestants who have also split since the summer. So far, there are only three surviving couples from this season - Megan Barton Hanson and Wes Nelson, Kaz Crossley and Josh Denzel, and Adam Collard and Zara McDermott. Awkward!: The couple's split comes after an awkwardly timed Love Island: The Christmas Reunion trailer dropped during I'm A Celebrity's advert break Reunion: The duo are joined with their fellow co-stars, but things look like they're going to be just as awkward for some of their contestants who have also split since the summer Love Island 2017 winner Amber Davies previously predicted that Dani and Jack's relationship wouldn't last, due to the 'exhausting' pressure. Looking back at her own time as a champion, she revealed: 'Kem (Cetinay) and I realised we weren't meant to be after just one week of the series ending. 'But I thought by splitting up I was going to break the nation's hearts and he felt the same. 'Jack and Dani will know right away too. Their relationship will either become exhausting or a success story.' 'Incredibly busy': The reality stars, who moved in together following their big television win, have reportedly been drawn apart by their hectic schedules 'Decided to call time': After Love Island, the pair 'came out to a whirlwind of publicity and after a while cracks started to show' However, Dani and Jack's fanbase did not see their split coming and social media was awash with emotion: 'Jack and Dani from Love Island breaking up? I genuinely was expecting marriage and babies. Questioning whether love even exists.' 'Jack and Dani breaking up is just the PERFECT thing to top off this absolute MONSTROSITY of a year. Love isn't real. Santa doesn't exist. Christmas is cancelled. That is all thank you.' 'I've just lost all faith in humanity after finding out Dani and Jack have split up. Christmas is officially cancelled. 'Dani dyer and jack splitting up is not what I wanted to hear tonight or EVER greetin 'Why would Jack and Dani do this to me just before Christmas 'Jack n Dani splitting up just proves that no matter how happy people look on social media, no one knows what's really going on behind closed doors. Gutted for them.' 'Signal returned only to find Jack and Dani have split!! Can @02 go back off and we pretend it never happened.' 'I realised we weren't meant to be after a week': Love Island 2017 winner Amber Davies predicted that Dani and Jack's relationship wouldn't last, due to the 'exhausting' pressure 'Christmas is officially cancelled': However, Dani and Jack's fanbase did not see their split coming and social media was awash with emotion Their split is even more awkward as they were recently announced as the red carpet presenters for the 24th National Television Awards on January 22. The couple are set to work alongside Dermot O'Leary as backstage correspondents at the star-studded ceremony, held annually at London's O2 Arena. Reflecting on their new role, they pair both enthused that it was an honour to be considered. 'It has already been such an exciting year for us and to top it off, we've been asked to work alongside TV legend Dermot O'Leary at the National Television Awards,' they said. 'Last year we were at home on the sofa watching the show so it's an honour to be involved this year, we can't wait! Fingers crossed Love Island is in the running on the night too. Bring on 2019!' Their split is even more awkward as they were recently announced as the red carpet presenters for the 24th National Television Awards on January 22 The pair famously refrained from having sex in the Love Island villa and then went on to win the nation's hearts as Jack sweetly asked her to be his girlfriend ITV recently confirmed that 19 islanders will be back to get a grilling from host Caroline Flack, as they reunite at a festive retreat to spill all on what's been going on since they left the villa many months ago. An ITV source confirmed to OK! Online: 'Love Island: The Christmas Reunion was recorded last week and still broadcast as planned.' The pair famously refrained from having sex in the Love Island villa and then went on to win the nation's hearts as Jack sweetly asked her to be his girlfriend. A few months after leaving the villa, Jack admitted that the sexual element of their relationship improved because they lived in their own flat in Canary Wharf, which they moved into in August. Ahead of Dani arrival to the Spanish villa, her famous father Danny also voiced his concerns over his daughter taking part in a dating show. Don't mess with him! Ahead of Dani arrival to the Spanish villa, her famous father Danny also voiced his concerns over his daughter taking part in a dating show Hot off the show, Danny did warn Jack that if he breaks her heart, he does get the 'hump' as Dani's previous boyfriends have discovered After the show came to an end, the EastEnders star told Piers Morgan: 'I did struggle at first, it was difficult, but as it's gone on I think what she has done - she has proved actually with this reality TV she can be a decent girl with self-respect, dignity. 'Not rolling around under the bed sheets, in respect of a man but loved and adored by young people. She's completely spun it on its head.' Although he did warn that if Jack breaks her heart, he does get the 'hump' as Dani's previous boyfriends have discovered. He said: 'I'm quite a liberal parent, I have to trust her choices. She's made a few mistakes, I'm not too harsh on them, but if they upset her - I will have the hump, like any father.' Thinking ahead: This comes just a few days after Jack exclusively told MailOnline that the pair are focusing on buying a house together first 'It's funny': Jack previously teased details of their upcoming reality show to MailOnline, which will focus on their lives post-Love Island The three surviving couples from this season are Megan Barton Hanson and Wes Nelson, Kaz Crossley and Josh Denzel, and Adam Collard and Zara McDermott. Still together: Megan Barton Hanson and Wes Nelson ( L) and Kaz Crossley and Josh Denzel (R) are still going strong from this year's season of Love Island Cardi B arrived for her day in court, after failing to attend earlier this week in order to work on a tiger-themed video shoot. The rapper, 26, smiled as she made her way into the courthouse in Queens, New York on Friday wearing a fur coat, floppy beige hat, and a head full of vibrant blue, yellow, and red locks. Cardi was ultimately released after a quick hearing by the judge, who allowed her to go without bail, even though prosecutors had wanted it set at $2,500, according to TMZ. The judge felt the rapper was not a flight risk, and ordered the Bodak Yellow singer not to make any contact with alleged victims Baddie Gi and Jade, who have accused Cardi of ordering an attack on them at the Queens strip club where they work. Day in court: Cardi B stuck out her tongue as she appeared in court in Queens, New York on Friday Making her entrance: The rapper headed to court after failing to arrive earlier this week in order to work on a tiger-themed video shoot The 'no contact' order includes making threats or comments on social media about the two sisters, according to the site. Cardi's appearance means she was able to avoid arrest, after a judge threatened to issue a bench warrant should she not appear in court on Monday. The rapper is scheduled to appear back in court in January 2019. In early October, Cardi - whose real name is Belcalis Almanzar - surrendered to police in New York City and was charged with assault and reckless endangerment over a brawl at the Angels Strip Club in Queens on August 15. Representation: Cardi stood beside her lawyer, Jeff Kern Good morning! The rapper had a smile on her face as she waved in court All ears: The singer gave the hearing her undivided attention Silly: Even in court, Cardi was still a little carefree Here she comes: The rapper made her way into the courthouse in Queens, New York on Friday wearing a fur coat, floppy beige hat, and a head full of vibrant blue, yellow, and red locks Back in court: Cardi is scheduled to appear back in court in January 2019 Meanwhile: The songstress failed to attend a court hearing earlier this week in order to work on a tiger-themed video shoot in Miami According to the New York Times, Cardi B accused one of two sisters who tend bar at the club of having an affair with her husband, Offset, who is part of the rap trio Migos. Citing police, the newspaper said Cardi B's bodyguards and members of her entourage attacked the sisters - Baddie G and Jade - with bottles and chairs. The girls are now preparing to sue Cardi B for allegedly ordering the attack on them. Denied: Sources have since told TMZ Cardi has denied ordering the attack, and accusations Offset had an affair were untrue as well Other commitments: Cardi was scheduled to appear in a criminal court on Monday, but was instead of attending her hearing, was pictured twerking in an animal costume on the beach in Miami Quick hearing: Cardi was ultimately released from Friday's hearing without bail by the judge, though prosecutors had wanted her bail to be set at $2,500, according to TMZ Sources have since told TMZ Cardi has denied ordering the attack, and accusations Offset had an affair were untrue as well. Cardi was scheduled to appear in a criminal court on Monday, but was instead of attending her hearing, was pictured twerking in an animal costume on the beach in Miami. The photographs would not doubt rile the judge, who on Monday warned that she risked arrest if she did not show up again. Signature: The singer signed several documents during the hearing Stepping out: The hit-maker was pictured inside her car as she arrived to the courthouse Making her way: The chart-topper made her way through the courthouse Surrounded: Security surrounded the songstress as she made her appearance Judge Scott Dunn told her lawyer 'to convey to her that its not acceptable that she is not here today.' He also threatened to have Cardi B arrested if she doesn't show up for arraignment on Friday this week. 'You should inform her that if she doesn't show up to the arraignment on December 7, that unless the circumstances change, then it's very likely the court will issue a bench warrant for her arrest,' Dunn told her lawyer, Jeff Kern. High spirits: The singer smiled from ear to ear ahead of her hearing The Ring singer made her way through security Cardi walked beside her lawyer as she headed outside alongside her team Not happy: Judge Scott Dunn told her lawyer on Monday 'to convey to her that its not acceptable that she is not here today' Orders: The judge felt the rapper was not a flight risk, and ordered the Bodak Yellow singer not to make any contact with alleged victims Baddie Gi and Jade Kern told the judge that he rarely communicates directly with his client; instead, he makes contact with her via her business managers. He went on to apologize for her non-appearance, saying it was down to poor communication. 'I can tell you my client knew of the date, but there was a previously standing commitment for today and tomorrow,' he said, assuring the judge that his client was not a flight risk. Kern said Cardi B had asked for an adjournment before Monday but the court had denied it. She was initially due in court on Oct. 29, but the court allowed her to reschedule. It turns out that that 'previously standing commitment' was the Miami photo shoot. Making her way: Security surrounded Cardi as she made her way into the courthouse Winter ready: The Bodak Yellow singer was wrapped up in a black coat and ankle boots Love Island's Zara McDermott has been 'rushed to hospital in the middle of the night with suspected appendicitis'. The reality star, 21, took to her Instagram stories on Friday morning to reveal she had spent the past nine hours in a ward after seeking urgent medical attention. Posting a video from her hospital bed, the former government advisor admitted 'this week is not my week' after injuring her ankle just a few days ago. Tough times: Love Island's Zara McDermott told her Instagram followers on Friday morning she was 'rushed to hospital in the middle of the night with suspected appendicitis' Pulling a sombre facial expression, she wrote: 'How's your Friday I was rushed to hospital in the night with suspected appendicitis... been here for 9 hours now.' Appendicitis is a swelling of the appendix, a two to four-inch-long organ connected to the large intestine. It can cause severe pain and needs to be treated swiftly in case the appendix bursts, which can cause life-threatening illness. Zara's hospital stint comes just weeks after fellow Islander Laura Crane endured a 10-day hospital stint after being diagnosed with sepsis, a potentially deadly disease. Something in the water! Laura Crane recently returned to health after battling a life-threatening case of sepsis last month Oh dear! Zara revealed she had also been visited by her parents while bed-bound and admitted her upset at not being able to gorge on the delicious treats they had brought her She explained that doctors had initially suspected that a kidney infection was the cause of her pain, but later diagnosed her with sepsis - with Laura contracting it through an infected cyst on her ovaries. Revealing she was first treated for a kidney infection, Laura told ITV's Lorraine: 'It was actually a cyst on my ovaries that got infected.' The reality star recounted her confusion and fear as her body began to attack its own organs, continuing: 'I didn't realise how ill I was. 'I had this crazy high temperature and my heart literally felt like it was coming through my t-shirt. Still going strong: Zara found fame after meeting boyfriend Adam Collard during her time in the Love Island villa 'My mum was coming to visit me because I wasn't really replying to her texts, but if my mum didn't come to London I wouldn't have gone to hospital that day,' said Laura. Zara revealed she had also been visited by her parents while bed-bound and admitted her upset at not being able to gorge on the delicious treats they had brought her. 'Mum and dad brought me my favourite chocolates but I can't eat them,' she wrote in another Instagram story. Chloe Sevigny enjoyed some of the Miami sunshine in-between event hopping at Art Basel this week. The 44-year-old actress showed off her incredible beach body in a strappy black bikini with waist tie detail. The Beatriz at Dinner star was spotted reclining on a lounger before enjoying a dip in the ocean to cool off. Miami Heat: Chloe Sevigny looked fabulous in a black tie-detail bikini as she enjoyed some sunshine in Miami Enjoying the winter sun, Chloe stripped off to a skimpy black two-piece and accessorized with a pendant necklace. She wore her blonde locks loose and added a pop of color with red lipstick. Meanwhile, the Bloodline star trying to 'distance herself' from fashion. The model and actress has worked with some of the most celebrated names in the industry but she's worried being regarded as a style icon 'overshadows' some of her other 'cultural contributions'. Beach babe: The 44-year-old American Horror Story actress took a dip and made sure to secure the waist ties of her stylish two-piece In an interview with the Sunday Times' Style magazine, she said: 'I'm trying to distance myself from fashion. It's going to take a lifetime but I feel like it overshadows some of my other cultural contributions and that frustrates me. The American Psycho actress has also confessed that she can no longer look at fashion magazines as the models give her 'anxiety' because of the changes going on in her own body. She said: '[I have] untold anxiety because of what's happening to my body when your hormones and your body change.' Despite her decision to leave the world of fashion, it seems the American Horror Story star is still attached to her clothing and eventually wants to pass her favorite pieces down to her future daughter. Art lover: The blonde beauty is taking time to enjoy some shows at Art Basel this week No tan lines: The Beatriz at Dinner star untied her straps as she reclined in the sun The star said the amount of old wardrobe items she's held on to is 'a little embarrassing' but they all hold treasured memories for her, though she's got no idea what to do with the garments in the future. She previously said: 'I have pieces that I wore over and over again in high school. My collection is vast and exhaustive and a little embarrassing.' 'Just all the pieces that I hold and think about what was happening when I was wearing them. The sense memory of that. 'It's embarrassing. I better have a daughter soon or I don't know what's gonna happen.' Retro chic: Chloe was spotted at Prada Mode Miami with Luka Sabbat on Thursday She's been embarking on a joint tour with her former co-star Darren Criss, delighting Glee fans by taking their LM/DC show to the UK. And Lea Michele made sure she took some time out from her hectic schedule as she joined the American Crime Story actor, 31, at the elusive Soho Farmhouse in Chipping Norton on Friday. The Scream Queens actress took to her Instagram to share several updates of her cosy-looking stay in the English countryside. ... and breathe!: Lea Michele made sure she took some time out from her hectic schedule as she joined Darren Criss at the elusive Soho Farmhouse in Chipping Norton on Friday In one update, Lea looked sensational as she showcased her toned figure in a tiny white swimsuit as she posed in an idyllic wooden hot tub. She captioned the picture with: 'The perfect day off relaxing in the English countryside,' followed by a peace sign emoji. Lea also shared a sultry selfie of herself in her hotel room, as she simply labelled it with 'spa time'. Chill time: The Scream Queens actress took to her Instagram to share several updates of her cosy-looking stay in the English countryside Fun times: Lea and Darren had a fun day playing with baby goats, followed by a walk in the countryside and a cosy-looking drink in the pub The actress appeared to be making the most of our well-deserved break to the English countryside. Lea and Darren had a fun day playing with baby goats, followed by a walk in the countryside and a cosy-looking drink in the pub. The pair have remained firm friends since their Glee days. The show concluded in 2015 after a six year run. Idyllic: The actress appeared to be making the most of our well-deserved break to the English countryside Darren and Lea starred as Blaine and Rachel on Fox's hit musical sitcom, amassing a cult following. During their stop in Vegas, the talents whipped the crowd into a frenzy after they delivered an earth shattering cover of Shallow, the hit duet from A Star Is Born. Lea later wrote on social media: 'Singing Shallow tonight was a dream.' He was catapulted into the spotlight when playing tough-talking bully Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter film franchise. But seven years after putting down the character's wand, Tom Felton, 31, looked worlds away from his alter ego while out and about in Los Angeles, on Friday. The Epsom native - who currently stars in new YouTube Premium show Origin - cut a casually cool figure as he donned a jazzy purple jacket with a white fur lining. Low-key: Seven years after putting down Draco Malfoy's wand, Tom Felton, 31, looked worlds away from his alter ego while out and about in Los Angeles, on Friday Piling on the layers to combat the colder weather, the Rise of the Planet of the Apes actor teamed his coat with a trendy white T-shirt. The bearded actor - who played Draco for 10 years - attempted to remain incognito for the outing as he covered his tousled sandy-coloured hair with a deerstalker-inspired cap. Completing his outfit, The Flash star opted for light cropped jeans which he paired with beige trainers. Wrapped up warm! The Epsom native - who currently stars in new YouTube Premium show Origin - cut a casually cool figure as he donned a jazzy purple jacket with a white fur lining Tom's outing comes as he reunited with co-star Emma Watson, 28, last month, with the brunette beauty taking to Instagram to share a snap of them relaxing together on the golden shores of Los Angeles' hip Venice Beach. As well as sharing a snapshot of the pair posing together as they basked in the glorious Southern California sunshine, Emma also uploaded a brief video of the pair skateboarding along the boardwalk together. In the clip, the stars are shown whizzing along the shoreline on Tom's board as he playfully tells Emma: 'Easy with the wobbling! Keep your feet still!' 'They are!' Emma responded, as she stood on the skateboard closely behind him. Pals: Harry Potter co-stars Emma Watson and Tom enjoyed a reunion on Los Angeles' Venice Beach recently, posing for a selfie which the actress shared on Instagram 'You're not,' Surrey-born Tom jokingly shot back. 'You're dancing around on the board like a clown! Hang on tight!' 'I'm hanging on,' the Beauty And The Beast star quietly replied, as the endearing video came to an end. In the snapshot accompanying the video, the pair wore casual white T-shirts as Emma donned a flipped grey cap while Tom angled the camera for the perfect selfie. Throwing her support behind Tom's new show Origin, which also stars Harry Potter's Natalie Tena, she wrote: 'Toms @origin_series is out on 14th November. Congrats dear friend. #TFToleratingmysubparskatingskillssince1999.' Friendship never ends: The pair, pictured a the New York premiere of Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban in 2004, have been friends for almost 20 years While the pair have remained friends over the almost-20 years since they first started shooting inaugural Harry Potter film, Emma caused quite the stir back in 2011 when she revealed that she once had a crush on Tom. Speaking to Seventeen at the time, the Paris-born beauty disclosed: 'For the first two movies, I had a huge crush on Tom Felton. He was my first crush. 'He totally knows. We talked about it we still laugh about it. We are really good friends now, and that's cool.' Emma is in a relationship with businessman and tech CEO Brendan Wallace, 37, with whom she was seen enjoying a romantic break in Mexico last month. Katie Piper looked effortlessly chic as she led the glamour at the Sky Women in Film and Television UK Awards 2018 at the London Hilton on Friday night. The philanthropist, 35, who recently appeared on Strictly Come Dancing, cut a chic figure in a pair of navy blue wide-leg trousers, with a red trim on the waist, which she teamed with a matching coloured silk shirt. Katie added height to her petite frame with a pair of plum coloured high heels to complete her stylish ensemble. Stunning: Katie Piper looked effortlessly chic as she led the glamour at the Sky Women in Film and Television UK Awards 2018 at the London Hilton on Friday night The mother-of-two looked every inch the yummy mummy as she styled her newly brunette locks into a sleek sweptback hairdo. Katie added a slick of red carpet ready make-up which included a copper eye shadow and a festive plum lipstick. The presenter knew how to work her best angles as she posed up a storm on the star-studded red carpet. Chic: The philanthropist, 35, who recently appeared on Strictly, cut a chic figure in a pair of navy blue wide-leg trousers with a matching coloured silk shirt Details: Katie added height to her petite frame with a pair of plum coloured high heels to complete her stylish ensemble Gorgeous: The mother-of-two looked every inch the yummy mummy as she styled her newly brunette locks into a sleek sweptback hairdo Pals: Katie posed with Carlie Huthart on the red carpet Katie joined the likes of The Great British Bake Off star Sandi Toksvig, Anita Rani and Katherine Ryan at the event. Sky Women in Film and Television UK Awards 2018 celebrates women working in the creative media in the UK, with an array of events and mentoring programmes throughout the year. Katie recently appeared on Strictly Come Dancing but was sadly eliminated from the competition with her dance partner Gorka Marquez just three weeks after her debut. Lady in red: Anita Rani looked stylish in a loose-fitting red dress with leopard print heel boots GBBO: The Great British Bake Off host Sandi Toksvig also attended the event as she posed with Kathy Lette Bold look: Katherine Ryan left little to the imagination with a black bra and a sheer top The star candidly revealed she was nervous and doubted herself during the start of her journey, but branded her short-lived experience on the show a 'mini achievement'. In an exclusive interview with MailOnline, the TV presenter, 35, spoke about coping mechanisms for anxiety as she promoted her new podcast Katie Piper's Extraordinary People, which aims to provide listeners with 'inner resilience'. In September, Katie was announced as the first contestant to join the star-studded Strictly line-up, but her time was cut short during Week Three as she failed to wow the judges with her footwork. Elegant: Hayley Atwell wore a shoulderless black dress with a beige skirt on it Touching on her nerves during her stint, the philanthropist shared she was shocked at her feelings at first, as she describes herself as a 'confident person'. She detailed: 'It was really weird because ahead of Strictly, I did a one-woman show with a bit of ad-libbing. 'When I did Strictly, I thought I wont be nervous because Ive spoken to an audience alone on stage, but during Week One, oh my God, I was so scared to go on that dancefloor. I'm used to working on my own so I kind of doubted myself.' She's delighting fans by embarking on her All I Want For Christmas Is You Tour around Europe once again this year. And Mariah Carey oozed glamour as she left the Plaza Athenee hotel in Paris on Friday, after arriving in the city the day before with her twin children Moroccan and Monroe. The 48-year-old superstar looked incredible in a festive ensemble that paired together dark jeans and a complementing tee underneath a statement furry jacket. All eyes on her! Mariah Carey oozed glamour as she left the Plaza Athenee in Paris on Friday Showcasing her enviable curves, the star's statement outerwear cinched in at the waist with leather strap detailing. Adding a glamorous finishing touch to Mariah's outfit choice, the beauty stood tall in a pair of stiletto leather boots. She wore her lightened locks in a sleek braid styled to one side and accessorised her getup with huge gold hoop earrings and over-sized shades. Wow! The 48-year-old superstar looked incredible in a festive ensemble that paired together dark jeans and a complementing tee underneath a statement furry jacket Beauty: She wore her lightened locks in a sleek braid styled to one side and accessorised her getup with huge gold hoop earrings and over-sized shades All in the details: Showcasing her enviable curves, the star's statement outerwear cinched in at the waist with leather strap detailing The singing sensation is in the midst of a residency at Ceasars Palace in Las Vegas with her The Butterfly Returns show and is currently embarking on her All I Want For Christmas Is You across Europe. Mariah is set to perform in Paris at the AccorHotels Arena on Friday night, before heading to London to bring her festive show to London's 02 on December 11, before performing in Leeds and Nottingham. The diva remains the best-selling female artist of all time with more than 200 million albums sold to date and eighteen US Billboard Hot 100 #1 singles, more than any solo artist in history. Make my wish come true: The superstar is synonymous with Christmas thanks to her #1 timeless classic, All I Want For Christmas Is You Work it! Adding a glamorous finishing touch to Mariah's outfit choice, the beauty stood tall in a pair of stiletto leather boots The superstar is synonymous with Christmas thanks to her #1 timeless classic, All I Want For Christmas Is You. The holiday smash hit, which she wrote and produced early in her career, is the annual bestselling holiday single. It hit the number one spot on the Billboard's Holiday Digital Songs, Holiday Hot 100 and Holiday Streaming Songs charts. Mariah's holiday opus, Merry Christmas is the perennial bestselling global holiday album, having sold over 14 million copies worldwide to date. Amal Clooney opened up about workplace sexual harassment during women's conference on Thursday. Taking to the stage with father-in-law Nick Clooney, the human rights attorney, 40, discussed her experiences at the Massachusetts Conference for Women in Boston. In a Q&A in front of about 12,000 people, Nick, 84, asked Amal if she had ever experienced sexual harassment, to which she replied, 'yes.' Tough subject: Amal Clooney opened up about workplace sexual harassment during women's conference on Thursday with father-in-law Nick 'I would not have felt comfortable speaking out about it because other [women in similar situations] werent, and so I think thats changed now.' said the 40-year-old human rights lawyer She explained: 'In the sense of unwanted advances that were inappropriate and awkward to deal with,' 'Yes. And I think at the time, I would not have felt comfortable speaking out about it because other [women in similar situations] werent, and so I think thats changed now.' Amal continued to say that she thinks that things are moving forward more positively for women now and that her 18-month-old daughter Ella will hopefully have a better experience in the future. 'I think the workplace is safer for my daughter and is more fair than it was,' she said. 'I dont think women of her generation are going to expect that thats just something that we have to put up with and I think now its the men, or the harassers, who have something to fear and not the victim and thats a very good change, so thank you to the women of the Me Too movement.' Taking the stage: Amal made remarks at the 2018 Massachusetts Conference For Women in Boston Radiant: The star looked polished to perfection as she took the stage The wife of George Clooney looked incredible in a black mid-length skirt and coordinating tank top. On stage, Amal - who also has son Alexander - had audience members in the palm of her hand as she gave a speech on women's rights, equality, and the Me Too movement. 'We are living through a moment of reckoning and a rebalancing of power. But it's a long way from #MeToo to Never Again,' she said, according to the Massachusetts Conference For Women Twitter account. 'For too long, women have suffered abuses without speaking out or without being believed,' she said. Amal also addressed sexual violence against women. Taking the stage: On stage, Clooney had audience members in the palm of her hand as she gave a speech on women's rights, equality, and the Me Too movement 'Rape is part of a plan to systematically control women for the rest of their lives. Rape is an attempt to destroy a woman's spirit and her will to survive,' she said. She also made remarks about equal rights: 'Achieving equality is not just the right thing to do, it is the profitable thing to do. No country can reach its full potential until women have equal rights.' Amal was seen emerging from a New York hotel on Thursday with her toddler twins. The activist carried Ella and Alexander in her arms while looking ever so chic in a black outfit and long leopard print gilet. Good chat: The two looked in high spirits as they enjoyed a lively chat in front of audience members The night before, Amal was a picture of glamour at the 23rd annual United Nations Correspondents Association Awards. She attended with her husband, George Clooney and also brought two extra special guests along: her in-laws Nick Clooney and Nina Bruce Warren. Amal was honoured as 2018's Global Citizen of the Year at the gala. She was appointed to her first UN commission in 2013 and has taken on a number of high profile international cases in her career as a civil rights lawyer. As she took to the stage, she delivered a blistering speech in which she accused President Trump of giving the 'green light' to autocratic regimes who jail and kill journalists after he named the American press the 'enemy of the people'. Passionate: She also made remarks about equal rights: 'Achieving equality is not just the right thing to do, it is the profitable thing to do. No country can reach its full potential until women have equal rights' Just two days after being named host of the Academy Awards, Kevin Hart stepped down following an outcry over past homophobic tweets by the comedian. Capping a swift and dramatic fallout, Hart wrote on Twitter just after midnight Friday that he was withdrawing as Oscars host because he didn't want to be a distraction. 'I sincerely apologize to the LGBTQ community for my insensitive words from my past,' wrote Hart. Hart, who is in Australia for a comedy tour, also tweeted Friday morning: 'The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. Martin Luther King, Jr.' Hart seemed over it when he performed at a stand-up gig in Sydney, Australia, just a few hours later on Friday. 'Kevin came on late but kept to his script. He seemed to be touched by the hugely enthusiastic response from the audience,' a source told Us Weekly. Carrying on: Kevin Hart, seen at his show in Melbourne, Australia, on Thursday seemed in a good mood when her performed in Sydney on Friday after pulling out of his Oscars hosting gig 'At one point during his act, when he was discussing his cheating scandal, he said, 'Always embrace your flaws and f*** ups.' He repeated it a couple of times.' The 39-year-old made headlines on Thursday after homophobic tweets from 2009 to 2011 resurfaced. The Academy asked the star to apologize for the tweets but he refused and then quit as host of the Oscars. 'I chose to pass on the apology,' Hart said. 'The reason why I passed is because I've addressed this several times.' Hart posted on Instagram how he was 'truly happy' and encouraged others not search his past and anger themselves with his history On Friday morning, the comedian posted on Instagram declaring himself to be 'truly happy.' 'Stop looking for reasons to be negative...Stop searching for reasons to be angry....I swear I wish you guys could see/feel/understand the mental place that I am in. I am truly happy people....there is nothing that you can do to change that...NOTHING,' he wrote. 'I work hard on a daily basis to spread positivity to all....with that being said. If u want to search my history or past and anger yourselves with what u find that is fine with me. I'm almost 40 years old and I'm in love with the man that I am becoming. You LIVE and YOU LEARN & YOU GROW & YOU MATURE. I live to Love....Please take your negative energy and put it into something constructive. I LOVE EVERYBODY.....ONCE AGAIN EVERYBODY. If you choose to not believe me then that's on you....Have a beautiful day.' Earlier on Thursday evening, the comedian had refused to apologize for tweets that resurfaced after he was announced as Oscars host on Tuesday. In a video on Instagram, Hart said the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences gave him an ultimatum: apologize or 'we're going to have to move on and find another host.' In his own words: The star, 39, posted an Instagram video explaining he wouldn't apologize for 'rascist' comments he made 10 years ago because he had already addressed the matter He took to Instagram to make his case in a video, saying: 'I have made the choice to step down from hosting this year's Oscars. Poll Should Kevin Hart have stood down from hosting the Oscars over his homophobic tweets? Yes No Should Kevin Hart have stood down from hosting the Oscars over his homophobic tweets? Yes 99 votes No 373 votes Now share your opinion 'This is because I do not want to be a distraction on a night that should be celebrated by so many amazing talented artists.' However the Night School star tweeted on Thursday: 'I sincerely apologize to the LGBTQ community for my insensitive words from my past. 'I'm sorry that I hurt people. I am evolving and want to continue to do so. My goal is to bring people together not tear us apart. Much love & appreciation to the Academy. I hope we can meet again. He also said that he had addressed the matter several times, addihg: 'I've done it, I've done it,' saying that he's in a completely 'different place in my life.' Despite the scandal, the source told Us that Kevin was 'very upbeat' during his performance. An old hand: Kevin was one of the presenters at the 88th Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on February 28, 2016 Jetting in: Kevin flew into Sydney on a private plane on December 7, ahead of the row 'He was onstage for about an hour and remained in a good mood throughout, even cracking up laughing at one of his jokes about having his house broken into,' the source explained. 'No one specifically mentioned the Oscars at all.' However, Kevin's opening act Joey Wells did make a passing reference to the controversy during his set, noting that it had been 'a hell of a day.' Now the Academy has just 10 weeks to find a new host ahead of the February 24 broadcast at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. Her sex tape with then-boyfriend Rick Salomon got leak in 2003. And 15 years later, Paris Hilton spoke out the damage the video did to her after it hit the internet in the newly released The American Meme documentary on Netflix. The reality star, 37, broke down in tears as she recalled how she felt after it was released: 'It was like being raped. It felt like I've lost part of my soul and been talked about in such cruel and mean ways,' via The Decider. Scroll down for video Candid: Paris Hilton spoke out the damage the video did to her after it hit the internet in the newly released The American Meme documentary 15 years after its release Paris said during the documentary: 'Literally overnight my entire life changed... everyone was making fun of it. I didn't leave my house for, like months.' Adding: 'I was so embarrassed. I felt like everyone on the street was laughing at me,' she said as she continued to cry. After the sex tape leak, she went on to star alongside pal Nicole Richie in the hit reality show The Simple Life for four years until 2007. The documentary follows Paris as well as Instagram stars Josh Ostrovsky (@TheFatJewish), Brittany Furlan (@BrittanyFurlan) and KirillBichutsky (@thes**twhisperer). The past: The reality star, 37, broke down in tears as she recalled how she felts after it was released: 'It was like being raped. It felt like I've lost part of my soul and been talked about in such cruel and mean ways,' via The Decider Guest appearances include Hailey Baldwin, Emily Ratajkowski and DJ Khaled. The American Meme trailer showed a glimpse of Paris the avatar as she blew a kiss to the camera; she used a 3D scanner to create the avatar. Paris, who has 9.9 million followers on Instagram alone, opens the trailer with: ''I have over 50 million followers on all my social media platforms.' The reality star said during The American Meme: 'I'm a 21-year-old the past few decades. It's all part of an image and a brand and being a product,' via The Decider. What a life: Paris opens the trailer with: ''I have over 50 million followers on all my social media platforms' Smooches: The American Meme trailer showed a glimpse of Paris the avatar as she blew a kiss to the camera Ready! Set! Action! Paris, one of the stars of the documentary, is also seen in a behind the scenes getting filmed with a 3D scanner to create an avatar of herself. Strike a pose: In the behind the scenes snaps, Paris is seen in all white inside a 3D scanner Hailey, 22, says in the brief clip from The American Meme documentary: 'What if you woke up tomorrow and you had no followers. Can you go back to being yourself? The project dropped on the Netflix streaming service Friday. Hailey sported bold red lipstick with her tresses loose, adding a cream colored blouse. In the behind the scenes snaps, Paris is seen in all white before swapping out her look for a plunging black jumpsuit inside a 3D scanner. DJ Khaled then says: 'You can just pick up your phone and you can show your talent to the world.' Hailey is also heard saying in the opening sequence: 'Instantly you can be a recognizable face.' Real talk: Guest appearances include Hailey Baldwin, Emily Ratajkowski and DJ Khaled Making a statement: Guest appearances besides Hailey include Emily Ratajkowski (pictured) and DJ Khaled Wow: DJ Khaled then says: 'You can just pick up your phone and you can show your talent to the world' Emily is seen showing off her bikini body before picturing her at a march with a sign in her hands. She is heard saying: 'Everyone can have a voice on any subject. Everyone can be famous now.' 'You're on a high and the likes are like the audience clapping. That's how lonely we are. That we're going on here and seeking validation from strangers,' Brittany Furlan said. Brittany, who is engaged to rocker Tommy Lee, has 2.4 million followers on Instagram. Star power: Emily is seen showing off her bikini body before picturing her at a march with a sign in her hands Another is heard saying: 'We love seeing the people that we think has everything get destroyed.' Kirill, who has 1.1 million followers on Instagram, made the shocking statement: 'I've never wanted to die more.' 'The age of the digital influencer is going to crash,' John, who has 10.4 million followers on Instagram, says towards the ends of the trailer. The American Meme is written and directed by Bert Marcus, with producers Bert and Cassandra Thornton. It is available on Netflix streaming service beginning on Friday. Candid: 'You're on a high and the likes are like the audience clapping. That's how lonely we are. That we're going on here and seeking validation from strangers,' Brittany Furlan said Australians on Newstart or Youth Allowance payments are not looking forward to Christmas because of financial woes, a survey has found. The Australian Council of Social Service collated responses from 461 people across the country earlier this month with 88 per cent not looking forward to the holiday season because of the cost. The online survey found that 90 per cent were also worried about not having enough money to cover basic expenses such as housing, food and regular bills. Eighty five per cent felt their low incomes would prevent them spending time with family and friends, and 92 per cent said they would not have enough money to buy presents. "While many are counting down to the holiday season, it is filling people on low incomes with dread," ACOSS chief executive Cassandra Goldie said. "With nothing to spare already, it's often impossible to find money for gifts, for food to contribute at social events, or transport to get to them. "Too many people on low incomes, such as Newstart and Youth Allowance recipients, find themselves feeling especially isolated at this time of year." Ms Goldie said ACOSS was calling on the federal government to raise Newstart and Youth Allowance payments. She also urged the Labor opposition to consider the issue at its national convention in Adelaide in December. "Newstart has not been increased in real terms for 24 years and is just $39 a day, which is simply not enough to cover the basics of life," she said. Three supermaxis and record setting award winning handicap star Ichi Ban will contest the last major Sydney Hobart leadup ocean race on Saturday. In-form Comanche will be challenged by fellow supermaxis and Sydney Hobart line honours hopefuls Black Jack and InfoTrack in the 41-boat fleet for the 85-nautical-mile Bird Island Race. InfoTrack returns after months of modification and preparation works. "It's always good to see how we are going against the other 100-footers," said Jim Cooney skipper and co-owner of Comanche, which has taken line honours in most of the races she's contested over the last year. "But more importantly it's about adjusting our mindset to focus on race performance and tactics to make sure we are maximising our trim and making the best sail selection." Heading the race for overall honours on Saturday is the red-hot TP52 Ichi Ban, which in mid-November became the first Australian boat to win Britain's Royal Ocean Racing Club's Yacht of the year award. The boat owned by Australian Sailing president Matt Allen has set records and won overall honours in several races over the past year, including the 2017 Sydney Hobart. "The boat just keeps getting better and better and we're going infinitely better than this time last year," Allen told AAP. "It's been an amazing season and it would be very hard for anyone to ever have a season like that in Australia.' The Bird Island event is the fifth and penultimate race in the Sydney Blue Water Pointscore series. Ichi Ban has won division one in each of the first four and no boat has ever won all six in that division of the series, which concludes with the Sydney Hobart. "We've got two races to go, so no point looking at the record books until we've done the next two races," Allen said. "I think Saturday's race to Bird Island is going to be pretty problematic with the wind and the way it's going, but time will tell." It started out as a Twitter wager between two billionaires, but South Australia's big battery has become a key piece of the state's energy infrastructure, firing up thousands of times to help keep the lights on. One year ago, Tesla owner Elon Musk delivered on his promise to build a functioning battery in 100 days when the world's largest lithium-ion storage system was switched on near Jamestown. The battery and adjoining wind farm were designed to stabilise the grid and produce clean, safe and consistent renewable energy. It's known as the Hornsdale Power Reserve and, according to the managing director of Neoen Australia, it's been a stunning success. "The power reserve has responded thousands of times to frequency outside the normal operating band," Franck Woitiez said. About 100 of those events were serious, for example, due to the trip of a large coal plant. "One event was critical, which saw the loss of two transmission lines due to lightning strikes, and resulted in major load shedding in New South Wales and Victoria," Mr Woitiez said. "The South Australian grid was cut off by the loss from the main grid, however, the state didn't lose power." In the wake of the 2016 statewide blackout, energy policy became a major point of difference between the then Labor government and its opposition. Though the battery was built and switched on before the 2018 election, the new Liberal government admits it has gone some way to addressing the state's energy issues. But Energy Minister Dan van Holst Pellekaan said Labor had failed to sensibly transition to renewable energy, and the new government had broadened its focus. "The Liberal government understands that renewable energy needs to be paired with storage to protect South Australian consumers from blackouts and skyrocketing prices," he said. According to the Smart Energy Council, however, the financial performance of the battery has clearly been a success. Council head John Grimes said, if the battery continued to generate at the level it did in its first six months, it would take taxpayers less than three years to pay it off. Another measure of success, Mr Grimes said, was the battery's boost for public confidence in renewable energy. "I think that it's opened people's eyes," he said. "It's undercut this narrative that when the wind doesn't blow and the sun doesn't shine renewables have no value." In Mr Musk's memorable Twitter exchange with Australian entrepreneur Mike Cannon-Brookes, he promised to "get the system installed and working 100 days from contract signature or it's free". He delivered on that front, and, one year after it was switched on, the big battery has proven its worth in helping solve South Australia's energy woes. A Sydney teenager admits he was a "dumb, immature kid" who sympathised with Islamic State when he bought fixed-blade knives from a gun shop, but denies any plan to use the weapons in a terror attack. The 18-year-old, who can't be named for legal reasons, has told a court he was a "victim of extremism" who held radical views when he bought the knives on two occasions in October 2016. But he still protests his innocence after a jury found him guilty of preparing for a terrorist act - claiming that while he sympathised with ISIS, he didn't support them. "My intention was purely recreational activities ... going hunting, going camping et cetera," the teenager told his NSW Supreme Court sentence hearing on Friday. But prosecutor Ian Bourke SC submitted that an attack was imminent when the then-16-year-old was arrested with another boy at a Bankstown prayer hall shortly after the second knife purchase. Mr Bourke said the judge could conclude an attack was likely "either that day or very shortly afterwards". He previously told jurors the boys were arrested in possession of two bayonets, clothing capable of being used to disguise and a handwritten note which amounted to a pledge of allegiance to ISIS. The 18-year-old on Friday said it was a coincidence he'd downloaded an ISIS magazine which was published days before he bought the first knives in early October. He agreed it included an article titled "Just Terror Tactics", which gave advice about choosing the right knife for slaughter, but he couldn't recall if he'd read that particular piece. The magazine, which in that edition featured the image of a blood-covered knife on its cover, included news on world events and wasn't just about killing, the teenager said. "It's more like journalism where I'm just catching up on what's going on overseas," he said. He told the court he was a "little kid" at the time who was being led "like a sheep", but he's since participated in a deradicalisation program which has taught him the traps of extremism. Asked where he'd planned to go camping in 2016, the teenager said he had some ideas - including Melbourne, where a friend hunted with hippies - but wasn't yet 100 per cent sure. The teenager's father told reporters outside court his son had been brainwashed "day and night" and had just been "a parrot" of others. But he said the teenager wouldn't have gone to a gun shop for knives he could buy anywhere if he wanted to "do something". "Whatever happens, thank God he's in this country and not somewhere else ... Australia's a great country and even in prison someone is treated humanely," he said. Justice Geoffrey Bellew will hand down his sentence in December. Indonesia is the world's second biggest contributor to marine debris after China Residents on a string of coral-fringed islands off Jakarta's coast are battling a tidal wave of trash, with more than 40 tons of rubbish collected daily over the past week, an official said. Indonesian authorities have deployed an army of staff and a fleet of boats to help clear rubbish-infested shorelines and surrounding waters, underscoring the Southeast Asian archipelago's mammoth marine waste problem. It is the world's second biggest contributor to marine debris after China, producing about 1.29 million metric tons annually. This week's clean-up operation is centred on an area known as the Thousand Islands, a popular day trip from the traffic-clogged capital. Residents of one island have reported dead turtles in the area, although Yusen Hardiman, head of the region's environment department, said it was not yet clear if it was a result of ingesting rubbish. A sperm whale was found dead last week in a marine park off Sulawesi island with 115 plastic cups and 25 plastic bags in its stomach. Indonesia's marine waste problem has become so bad that officials last year declared a "garbage emergency" after a stretch of coast in Bali was swamped with rubbish. Some 264 sanitation officers are involved in the ongoing clean-up of the Thousand Islands, while 13 boats regularly patrol trash-choked areas of the archipelago with another 10 set to be added to the fleet next year. Most of the rubbish clogging the chain of islands is from elsewhere, flushed into the ocean by bulging rivers or swirling currents during the monsoon season, Hardiman said in a statement late Thursday. Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, has pledged to reduce marine plastic waste by 70 percent by 2025. But poor waste-processing infrastructure and low awareness among its 260 million inhabitants prove major obstacles. Primary and secondary students rallied in state capitals and rural areas across Australia in defiance of Prime Minister Scott Morrison who earlier said kids should stay in the classroom Thousands of Australian students skipped school Friday to join nationwide protests demanding government action on climate change. The demonstrations were held as more than a hundred bushfires blazed in scorching temperatures in the northeast and a day after Indian mining firm Adani vowed to go ahead with a massive and controversial coal mine. Primary and secondary students rallied in state capitals and rural areas across the country, in defiance of Prime Minister Scott Morrison who earlier said kids should stay in the classroom. "Our prime minister thinks we should be in school right now and maybe you should be," 13-year-old student Siniva Esera told a crowd of more than a thousand in Sydney. "But how can we sit by and not do anything to protect the future of this planet," she added, to a rapturous applause. Morrison told parliament earlier in the week that the government was committed to tackling climate change, "but I'll tell you what we are also committed to: kids should go to school." Students creatively rebuked the prime minister, who goes by the nickname ScoMo, with humorous banners saying, "I hate ScoMo more than I hate school". Students carried placards calling for the government to block the Adani mine project, a day after the Indian mining firm had announced it would go ahead with a scaled-back version of the coal mine in northern Queensland They also carried placards calling for the government to block the Adani mine project, a day after the Indian mining firm had announced it would go ahead with a scaled-back version of the coal mine in northern Queensland. "If we don't stop temperatures going over two degrees we won't have the Great barrier reef, Antarctica will melt and there will be no such thing as polar bears," 11-year-old Lucie Atkin-Bolton told the crowd. "My life will be so much more complicated than my parents' life, because of one simple thing: climate change." The protests capped off a week of brutal weather in Australia. More than a hundred fires continued to blaze Friday across Queensland state amid an unprecedented scorching heatwave. The crisis forced hundreds to flee their homes Wednesday at its peak. On the same day, in the neighbouring state of New South Wales, Sydney was hit by severe thunderstorms and heavy rainfall forcing the cancellation of flights, closure of rail lines and leaving motorists stranded on flooded roads. Scientists this week also launched the largest-ever attempt to regenerate the endangered Great Barrier Reef, where large swathes of coral on the 2,300-kilometre (1,400-mile) reef have been killed by rising sea temperatures linked to climate change. A Russian soldier stands guard in front of an S300 surface-to-air missile battery like those delivered to Syria after a September Israeli strike during which a Russian aircraft was accidentally downed Israeli jets bombed several areas in southern Syria and near Damascus on Thursday drawing retaliatory fire from the ground, a monitoring group said. The Israeli military made no comment on the reported strikes, during which Syrian air defences opened fire for the first time since the deadly downing of a Russian transport plane in September, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. "Israeli forces bombarded for an hour positions in the southern and southwestern suburbs of Damascus as well as in the south of Syria at the border of Quneitra province," Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said. Syrian state media said air defences downed a number of "hostile targets" close to the capital. "Our air defences fired on hostile targets over the Kisweh area and downed them," the official SANA news agency reported, citing a military source. The Israeli military denied that any of its aircraft were hit, while not commenting on the reported strikes. "Reports regarding an IDF (Israeli military) aircraft or an airborne IDF target having been hit are false," it said in an English-language statement. It said a Syrian surface-to-air missile was fired in the direction of an open area of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights but it was unclear if it had hit Israeli-held territory. Israel has carried out hundreds of air strikes in neighbouring Syria against what it says are Iranian targets, many of them in the area south of Damascus. Abdel Rahman said there are "weapons depots belonging to the Lebanese Hezbollah (group) as well as Iranian forces" in Kisweh. Iran and Russia are the government's key allies in the civil war that has raved Syria since 2011, and Moscow's intervention in 2015 dramatically turned the tables against the rebels. The accidental downing of the Russian transport aircraft by Syrian ground batteries during an Israel air strike on September 17 killed 15 service personnel and prompted Moscow to significantly upgrade Syrian air defences. Moscow pinned responsibility for the downing on Israel, saying its fighter jet used the larger Russian one for cover, an allegation Israel disputed. The move raised fears in Israel that its ability to rein in its arch foe Iran's military presence in its northeastern neighbour would be sharply reduced. Abdel Rahman said Thursday was the first time Syria's air defences had been called into action since the September downing and the delivery of advanced new Russian missiles. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had told Moscow his government would continue to hit hostile targets in Syria to prevent Iran from establishing a military presence across the border. He added that Israel would "continue security coordination" with Russia. burs/scw/kir The outgoing head of Facebook's communications team last week took responsibility for the controversial hiring of a conservative consulting firm accused of using "black ops" style techniques Facebook on Thursday said that chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg asked staff to look into whether billionaire critic George Soros had a financial interest in tarnishing the social network. The company was responding to a New York Times report citing sources that maintained the second most powerful executive at Facebook was directly involved in the social network's tactical response to the philanthropist's criticism of the social network. "Mr. Soros is a prominent investor and we looked into his investments and trading activity related to Facebook," a spokeswoman said, queried by AFP. "That research was already underway when Sheryl sent an email asking if Mr. Soros had shorted Facebook's stock." Investors who sell shares short stand to profit if the price of the stock drops. The outgoing head of Facebook's communications team last week took responsibility for the controversial hiring of a conservative consulting firm accused of using "black ops" style techniques, acknowledging that critics including investor Soros were targeted. The announcement by Elliot Schrage, who said in June he was stepping down, came after Sandberg has pledged a review of its use of Definers to deflect criticism from the social networking giant. She and Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg maintained they were surprised by an NYT story earlier this month that said the social network was using Definers to link social network critics to liberal financier Soros. The Hungarian-born US billionaire is a favorite target of nationalists and anti-Semitic conspiracy theorists. Schrage taking the hit for the controversy was seen by some as convenient, since he had said he was leaving the social network after working there for more than a decade. - On her watch - Definers was hired in 2017 as part of an effort to diversify its advisors in Washington, in the face of growing pressure by competitors and media companies for Facebook to be regulated by the government, Schrage said in a message to co-workers posted online. But its role grew to include looking into Facebook competitors and doing research on Soros-funded campaigns. "Responsibility for these decisions rests with leadership of the Communications team," Schrage said. "That's me." Sandberg, who had previously stated that she had no recollection of working with Definers, revealed at the time that a check of what had crossed her desk showed that Definers was mentioned in some material and in a "small number" of emails she received. "As Elliot said last week, we researched potential motivations behind George Soros's criticism of Facebook in January 2018," the spokesperson told AFP. Definers began looking into Soros after the philanthropist labeled Facebook a "menace to society" in a speech at Davos early this year, according to Schrage. "We had not heard such criticism from him before and wanted to determine if he had any financial motivation," Schrage said. When a "Freedom from Facebook" campaign later began portrayed as a grassroots coalition, Definers determined that Soros was funding some coalition members and shared what they learned with the press, according to Schrage. "Sheryl never directed research on Freedom from Facebook," the spokeswoman said. "But, as she said before, she takes full responsibility for any activity that happened on her watch." Schrage joined Zuckerberg and Sandberg in stressing that Definers was not hired to create or spread false stories to help Facebook. Zuckerberg said Facebook stopped using Definers the day the NYT story was published. Zuckerberg has defended Sandberg, saying she "is a really important part of this company and is leading a lot of the efforts for a lot of the biggest issues we have." Facebook has stumbled from one mess to another this year as it grapples with continuing fallout from Russia's use of the platform to interfere in the 2016 US presidential election, the Cambridge Analytica scandal in which user data was harnessed in a bid to help candidate Donald Trump, and a huge security breach involving millions of accounts. Grace Subathirai Nathan, whose mother Anne Daisy was on board Flight MH370, shows a piece of debris believed to be part of the ill-fated plane Relatives of those on board Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 Friday handed over new-found debris believed to be from the ill-fated plane, hoping it could help shed light on the jet's mysterious disappearance four years ago. The Boeing 777 jet with 239 people on board vanished on March 8, 2014 during a routine flight from Kuala Lumpur in the world's greatest aviation mystery. An official report released in July following a lengthy investigation and years of fruitless searching gave no new clues about why the plane disappeared, sparking anger among relatives. V.R. Nathan, whose wife Anne Daisy was on the ill-fated jet, told AFP the debris consisted of five small plane parts found off Madagascar. They were turned over to Malaysian Transport Minister Anthony Loke on Friday at his office in the administrative capital Putrajaya outside Kuala Lumpur. "Five new pieces of debris have been recovered off the coast of Madagascar, including one piece that has part of a label still readable," Nathan told AFP, adding the items were discovered by fishermen. Grace Subathirai Nathan (L), whose mother was on the plane, and Jacquita Gonzales, the wife of MH370 flight steward Patrick Gomes, show pieces of debris found off Madagascar believed to be from the aircraft "We want the government to continue searching for these debris and piece them together like a jigsaw puzzle so that we can get some clue as to what happened to the plane." His daughter Grace told reporters the items were found between December 2016 and August 2018, adding that "this... offers a fresh ray of hope to all the relatives." Only three confirmed fragments of MH370 have been found so far, all of them on western Indian Ocean shores, including a two-metre (six-foot) wing part known as a flaperon. Malaysia's new government, which took power in May, has said the search could be resumed but only if new and compelling evidence comes to light. Loke, the transport minister, said the government will "immediately verify the items" ranging from almost 60 centimetres (two feet) in length to palm-sized. "We will need some credible leads before we reopen the search," he told reporters. Malaysia Transport Minister Anthony Loke (C) says the government will 'immediately verify the items' thought to be from the vanished plane T. Mohan, one of the experts who took part in the investigation, told AFP that one of the items "is a floor panel of a Boeing aircraft." The disappearance of MH370 triggered the largest hunt in aviation history. However searchers scouring a 120,000-square kilometre (46,000-square mile) area of Indian Ocean have failed to locate the missing plane. An Australian-led hunt was suspended in January last year. US exploration firm Ocean Infinity resumed the search in a different location at the start of this year on a "no find, no fee" basis, using high-tech drones to scour the seabed. But that search was also called off within months after failing to find anything. Afghanistan At least 23 civilians, including women and children, were killed by a US air strike in southern Afghanistan earlier this week, according to an UN investigation, as ordinary Afghans continue to bear the brunt of the 17-year conflict. "Initial findings indicate that the vast majority of the victims were women and children," the UN mission in Afghanistan said in a report received by AFP late Thursday, adding that at least three people were also injured in the attack. The strike occurred during a firefight between Afghan special forces working with US advisors and Taliban insurgents late Tuesday in restive Helmand province. NATO said air support was requested by security forces on the ground as the militants deployed heavy weapons and retreated into a nearby compound. Provincial authorities had earlier said several members of a single family appeared to be killed in the strike, with one official saying "at least 18 civilians were killed", which could not be confirmed. NATO has said it was investigating the incident. Haji Mohammad, who lived near where the incident occurred, said the strike came after the Taliban entered a home during a battle with security forces, saying it killed several civilians inside along with nine insurgents. Civilians continue to face "extreme levels of harm", a recent UN report said, with 8,050 people killed or wounded in the January to September period this year. Violence has escalated in the past year as US and Afghan forces press ground and air offensives against Taliban and IS insurgents. The Taliban has also upped assaults on Afghan forces even as the United States increased efforts to engage the militants in peace talks. Washington is trying to find a way out of the conflict more than 17 years since it began. US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad is spearheading efforts to strike a peace deal with the Taliban before Afghanistan's presidential election, scheduled for April next year though officials have said it could be postponed until July. A Taliban delegation met with Khalilzad in Doha in October and November to discuss ending the Afghan conflict. Khalilzad has said he is "cautiously optimistic" for an end to the conflict. Authorities shut the area to the public to let Maya Bay recover Thai conservationists have welcomed footage of reef sharks gliding through the azure waters of Maya Bay as a "positive sign" of recovery six months after the closure of a tourist hot-spot made famous by the movie "The Beach". The bay, circled by dramatic limestone cliffs on Ko Phi Phi Ley island, was made famous by the 2000 film starring Leonardo DiCaprio. But the movie prompted hordes of tourists to sweep in on a daily of flotilla of motor boats, damaging the coral ecosystem and eroding the once pristine white sand beach. Authorities shut the park temporarily to the public in June but later extended the closure indefinitely to let the bay recover. On Friday park officials shared video of dozens of blacktip reef sharks serenely swimming close to the beach -- images unimaginable just weeks ago as tourists jostled for selfies on the white sand. "Come and count sharks!" the National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department said in a Facebook post. "It's a good sign that Maya Bay has changed and that change is positive," the post added. A Thai marine biologist prominent in the campaign to close Maya Bay hailed the shark video as "beyond imagination, unbelievable". The 2000 movie 'The Beach' prompted hordes of tourists to visit, damaging the coral ecosystem and eroding the once pristine white sand beach "How do I feel? Tearful," Thon Thamrongnawasawat said in a Faceboook post. "At the beginning I never thought (the rehabilitation) would be as good as this in only six months." Authorities have not said if, or when, the bay will open. "The reef will take a longer time to recover," an official from the National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department said requesting anonymity. Thailand's idyllic beaches are under increasing strain from huge numbers of tourists and accompanying development in remote and fragile ecosystems. The country drew around 35 million visitors last year. Many flock to the town of Krabi where boat trips carried visitors to nearby islands replete with opportunities for snorkelling and selfies -- among them Maya Bay. Carlos Ghosn could remain in a Tokyo cell for another 10 days while prosecutors investigate allegations he under-reported his salary by millions of dollars over five years A Tokyo court on Friday extended the detention of former Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn, after his arrest on allegations of financial misconduct that have shaken the auto industry. "The period of the detention was extended for 10 days," a court official said in a statement. This means Ghosn could remain in a Tokyo cell until December 10 while prosecutors investigate allegations he under-reported his salary by millions of dollars over five years. The 64-year-old tycoon was arrested on November 19 and prosecutors have already extended his detention once, while two of the companies he led -- Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors -- have voted to remove him. The extension gives prosecutors until early December to decide whether to indict Ghosn on charges of under-reporting his salary. If he is indicted, he could then be released awaiting trial, or held in pre-trial detention. Prosecutors could also choose to file additional charges against him, and with each charge they can seek to hold Ghosn for another 22 days. Ghosn's detention even before charges have been officially filed against him has prompted some criticism abroad, particularly in France, where he holds citizenship. On Thursday, the deputy head of the Tokyo prosecutor's office rejected the criticism, saying: "We do not unnecessarily keep people in custody for a long time." "I do not criticise other countries' systems just because they are different," Shin Kukimoto added. Ghosn, who denies the allegations against him, faces an array of claims involving hiding money and benefits he received while chairman of Nissan and head of an alliance between the Japanese firm, Mitsubishi Motors and France's Renault. - 'Huge sums' - Nissan had been investigating Ghosn and close aide Greg Kelly for months after a whistleblower report, and accused the pair of a scheme to misrepresent the Brazil-born chief's earnings. Sources have since said Ghosn signed secret documents instructing aides to defer part of his salary, without disclosing this to shareholders. The scheme allegedly involved under-reporting Ghosn's income by around $44 million over five fiscal years to March 2015. Carlos Ghosn faces an array of claims involving hiding money and benefits he received while chairman of Nissan and head of an alliance between the Japanese firm, Mitsubishi Motors and France's Renault It allegedly began after new regulations came into force in the fiscal year 2009/2010, including a law requiring any company executives earning 100 million yen ($885,000) or more to declare it. The same source said Nissan funds were secretly used to pay for residences for Ghosn in Rio de Janeiro and Lebanon, homes that local media said cost "huge sums" and had no legitimate business purpose. Those sorts of expenses should have been disclosed as compensation but were arranged without shareholder approval and generally in secret, the source added. Local media also reported that Ghosn used Nissan corporate money to make a donation to his daughter's university and fund a family trip, and paid his sister around $100,000 a year for a fictitious role as an advisor. Ghosn's arrest sent shockwaves throughout the auto industry and beyond, with Japanese and French officials at pains to stress the alliance between the three companies would not collapse. On Thursday, executives from the three firms reaffirmed their commitment to the alliance despite reports of tension in the partnership, particularly on the part of Nissan, which outsells its French counterpart Renault. While Mitsubishi Motors and Nissan have removed Ghosn, he remains chairman and CEO of Renault. French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire on Thursday said there was no question of changing the alliance's balance of power. The rules of the partnership state that Renault chooses the alliance's CEO, who wields a tie-breaking vote in board decisions, while Nissan names the deputy. Japanese media said Friday that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe would meet French President Emmanuel Macron on the sidelines of the G20 summit this weekend to discuss the case. Japan's government declined to confirm the meeting, but a spokesman said it was important to maintain stable relations despite the case against Ghosn. Farmers have flooded into Delhi in a mass protest Tens of thousands of farmers and agricultural workers marched towards the Indian parliament Friday demanding debt waivers and higher crop prices, putting pressure on Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of 2019 elections. More than 300,000 Indian farmers have killed themselves in the last two decades mainly because of poor irrigation, failed crops and being unable to pay back loans. Farmers from across the country have flooded by train and bus into Delhi since Thursday to mass in the capital city's Ramlila Grounds before marching to parliament. Participants marched through central Delhi chanting slogans and holding placards emblazoned with "Down With Modi Government" and "Long Live Farmer Unity" as thousands of riot and armed policemen stood guard. "The farmer crisis has got twice as bad in the last five years," Sadhu Singh, a farmer from northern Punjab state known as India's rice bowl, told AFP. Nearly 55 percent of India's population is directly or indirectly dependent on agriculture "We are losing money on every grain of rice we produce," he said. The mass rally is the latest bid by farmer groups to put pressure on the Modi government ahead of the 2019 national elections. The right-wing nationalist leader has promised to double their income by 2022 but farmers say nothing has changed for them. Nearly 55 percent of India's 1.25 billion population is directly or indirectly dependent on agriculture. The sector accounts for nearly 15 percent of India's economic output. Organisers said some 80,000 farmers and farm labourers were participating in the two-day agitation that will culminate with a petition to the Indian president. "We have three main demands. Debt waiver, maximum price for the produce and a special parliament session to discuss the crisis," Ajit Nawale from Maharastra Kisan Sabha, one of the 200 farmer groups organising the Delhi March, told AFP. Farm distress has been a cause for worry for several decades, but the crisis has come to a head in recent months, with farmers taking to the streets across the country. Thousands of farmers crippled Mumbai -- capital of Maharashtra state -- in March. The western state witnessed some 639 farmer suicides in the first three months of 2018, according to government. Some 50,000 marched in the eastern city of Kolkata on Wednesday. Each year millions of small farmers suffer due to scant irrigation facilities that reduces the yield and leads farmers into a deadly cycle of debt and suicides. India lacks a robust irrigation infrastructure and most of the country's farmland relies on annual monsoon rains. Labo Banigo from eastern Orrisa state said he is under huge debts after his crops failed due to back-to-back bad monsoons. "My farm is a wasteland. There is hardly 10 percent produce," Banigo told AFP. "Modi promised to double our income but we can't even feed ourselves." Tweets, Facebook posts and YouTube videos repeating claims that Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari is actually an imposter called "Jubril" have been shared and viewed over 500,000 times Several high-profile figures in Nigeria, including a former government minister, have claimed that President Muhammadu Buhari has died and been replaced by a lookalike from Sudan. Tweets, Facebook posts and YouTube videos repeating claims that the leader of Africa's most populous nation is an imposter called "Jubril" have been shared and viewed over 500,000 times. But there is no evidence to back up the claim and the government has not commented. - What are we verifying? - Former military ruler Buhari, 75, has made several trips to London for medical treatment since mid-2016. Initially, the presidency claimed he had a "persistent ear infection". But concern mounted from early last year about his prolonged absences, prompting speculation the condition was more serious and might affect his ability to stay in power. A lack of information about the exact nature of his illness, his gaunt features and a reduction in public appearances have fed speculation about his well-being. Claims about Buhari's identity emerged a month after Buhari returned from another lengthy medical trip to the British capital. The earliest online mention of the claim found by AFP was in a video posted by Twitter user @sam_ezeh on September 3, 2017. The video has since been shared more than 5,000 times on Facebook and Twitter. In it, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) movement, Nnamdi Kanu, speaks to his supporters and says Buhari had actually died. "The man you are looking at in the television is not Buhari... His name is Jubril, he's from Sudan. After extensive surgery they brought him back," he says. In separate broadcasts on the outlawed pirate radio station Radio Biafra, Kanu has called Buhari "Jubril Al-Sudani". But on each occasion, he gave no evidence for the claim. The IPOB leader is a fervent critic of Buhari and the Nigerian government. His movement wants a separate independent state for the Igbo people who dominate southeast Nigeria. Despite the lack of evidence, the claim has been picked up by other opponents of Buhari, who in February next year is seeking a second, four-year term of office. On April 5, 2018, Femi Fani-Kayode, a former government special advisor and minister under president Olusegun Obasanjo, repeated the claim on Twitter (1). A similar post on his Facebook page was shared more than 400 times. Press releases and statements by IPOB and its sympathisers have repeated the claim (2). The rumour appears to have been fuelled further by a real-life event in May this year, when a Nigerian diplomat -- Habibu Almu -- was found dead in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum. Nigeria's foreign ministry said on May 14 that Almu had been "stabbed to death" and that a Sudanese woman of Nigerian origin had been arrested. Sudanese police said the killing did not appear to be politically motivated but Kanu and others have claimed the death was linked to an apparent cover-up of Buhari's death (3). Buhari's appearance has come under scrutiny in many posts. One post compares Buhari apparently writing with his right hand in one photograph and his left in another. But analysis indicates the image of the right-handed Buhari had been reversed. One video even speculates on how a dead Buhari could have been operated on to transfer his appearance to "Jubril from Sudan", showing a scene from the 1997 film "Face/Off" (4). - What conclusion can we draw? - The rumour has been stoked by Buhari's illness, which saw him receive treatment abroad for a large part of 2017, and the killing of a Nigerian diplomat in Khartoum earlier this year. Those pushing the claim are known critics of Buhari and his government but have provided no concrete evidence to back up their assertion. (1)https://web.archive.org/web/20181130090829/https://twitter.com/chimbiko_jerome/status/904380366328389632 (2)http://archive.is/rsSUS (3)https://web.archive.org/web/20181130091145/https://twitter.com/MaziNnamdiKanu/status/1064273290422886400 (4)http://archive.is/mfzRp Jacob Zuma and a representative of the French defence firm Thales, seen here in April, are facing charges of corruption linked to a 1990s arms deal Former South African president Jacob Zuma will return to court in May for a hearing on whether corruption charges against him should be dropped, a judge ruled on Friday. Zuma, who served as president from 2009 until February, is battling to quash charges against him linked to a $2.5-billion corruption case linked to a 1990s arms deal. He has been charged with 16 counts of fraud, racketeering and money laundering. "The criminal proceedings... are postponed to 20 May 2019," Judge Mjabuliseni Isaac Madondo said during a brief hearing at Pietermaritzburg High Court at which Zuma was present. The former president is accused of taking around four million rand ($340,000, 280,000 euros) in bribes from French defence company Thales, which is also in the dock. At the time of the deal, Zuma was a provincial economy minister and later deputy president of the ruling ANC party. Both Zuma and the French arms maker deny all charges. The charges were first brought against Zuma in 2005 but dropped by prosecutors in 2009, before being reinstated in 2016. Beset by scandal, Zuma was forced to resign in February after a long stand-off with the ANC. His successor Cyril Ramaphosa has vowed to root out corruption in government and the party. More than 6,000 migrants who travelled to the northern Mexican city of Tijuana by caravan are camped out hoping to apply for asylum or sneak into the United States The United Nations said Friday it had helped hundreds of Central Americans who travelled with migrant caravans towards the United States to return to their home countries. The International Organization for Migration said as of Wednesday, it had helped 453 migrants, including unaccompanied children, who had expressed the desire to return to their countries of origin. In addition, "over 300 Central American migrants have expressed their interest in returning from Tijuana, and IOM is coordinating safe and dignified means of transport for them," the UN agency's spokesman Joel Millman told reporters in Geneva. He said that a full 84 percent of those already returned to their countries were men, and that most had been returned to Honduras (57 percent) and El Salvador (38 percent), while five percent had been sent back to Guatemala. "Twenty-five unaccompanied migrant children returned by plane," he said. More than 300 Central American migrants have also expressed their interest in returning from Tijuana More than 6,000 migrants who travelled to the northern Mexican city by caravan are camped out hoping to apply for asylum or sneak into the United States, fleeing poverty and violence in their home countries. US President Donald Trump, who has called the caravan an "invasion" full of "hardened criminals" and "thugs," is seeking to overhaul asylum policy to keep applicants out pending approval. Facing a hostile welcome and little hope, a growing number of migrants have decided to turn back. Most of the migrants are fleeing poverty and violence in their home countries IOM's return assistance from Mexico is being funded by the US State Department's Bureau for Population, Refugees and Migration, to the tune of $1.2 million. Millman rejected that IOM faced any pressure from US authorities to press migrants to return home. Facing a hostile welcome and little hope, a growing number of migrants have decided to turn back He stressed that migrants who expressed a desire to go back were counselled and screened by IOM to evaluate their options prior to making the final decision. He said many of the migrants interviewed as part of the return process had said they first learned of the caravans through social media and had joined neighbours and friends "almost on impulse" on the trek north, without thinking too much about the challenges of the journey. "I can assume that... there will be more" who will want to return home, Millman said. "How many people have the means or the stomach to spend months in Tijuana?" The Netanyahus have been questioned by Israeli police on a raft of different graft allegations and in October the prime minister's wife Sara went on trial for allegedly using state funds to fraudulently pay for hundreds of meals Police questioned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's wife Sara on Friday, her lawyer said, with media saying it was over new suspicions of fraudulently misusing public funds. Public radio said that Sara Netanyahu arrived at the headquarters of the National Fraud Squad, near Tel Aviv, late in the morning. There was no immediate confirmation from police, who have issued statements on previous interrogations of the Netanyahus on a raft of different graft allegations. But Sara Netanyahu's lawyer said late Friday afternoon, after the last round of questioning was over, that the suspicious, which would amount to nothing were another illustration of the Netanyahus' "persecution" by Israeli law enforcement authorities. "At the end of the investigation it will become evident that this was another case of fabrications and tales of the state witness Nir Hefetz, which are totally false," Yossi Cohen said of the Netanyahu family's former spokesman. "When the other cases crash, new lies are invented," he said. "How much longer will the persecution of the Netanyahu family continue," asked Cohen in a statement issued via the Netanyahu family's spokesman. On Sunday, police recommended charging the premier and his wife for bribery and other offences. It was the third such recommendation against them in recent months. Netanyahu denied the accusations, but the cases against him have led to speculation that they could eventually force the long-serving prime minister to step down. Sara Netanyahu went on trial in October for allegedly using state funds to fraudulently pay for hundreds of meals. Haaretz daily said Friday that the latest allegation against her relates to fraudulent presentation to a government watchdog of receipts for charitable donations. It said that if the suspicions are verified, they would be added to evidence in her existing trial. Police in February recommended indicting Netanyahu in two other corruption investigations. The attorney general must decide whether to file charges. The premier has repeatedly called the allegations against him a plot by his political enemies to force him from office. The recommendations in February involved separate cases of alleged bribery. In one, allegations against Netanyahu include seeking a secret deal with the publisher of Israel's top-selling newspaper Yediot Aharonot to ensure positive coverage in return for pushing forward a law that would have limited the circulation of a rival. The other case involves suspicions the premier and his family received luxury gifts from wealthy individuals in exchange for financial or personal favours. Netanyahu has been prime minister for a total of more than 12 years, from 1996 to 1999 and again since 2009. Polls suggest he would still win if elections were to be held now despite the accusations. WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen, confessed in a surprise guilty plea Thursday that he lied to Congress about a Moscow real estate deal he pursued on Trump's behalf during the heat of the 2016 Republican campaign. He said he lied to be consistent with Trump's "political messaging." The plea agreement made clear that prosecutors believe that while Trump insisted repeatedly throughout the campaign that he had no business dealings in Russia, his lawyer was continuing to pursue the Trump Tower Moscow project weeks after his boss had clinched the Republican nomination for president and well beyond the point that had been previously acknowledged. Cohen said he discussed the proposal with Trump on multiple occasions and with members of the president's family, according to documents filed by special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating Russian interference in the presidential election and possible coordination with the Trump campaign. Cohen acknowledged considering traveling to Moscow to discuss the project. There is no clear link in the court filings between Cohen's lies and Mueller's central question of whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia. And nothing said in court, or in associated court filings, addressed whether Trump or his aides had directed Cohen to mislead Congress. Still, the case underscores how Trump's business entity, the Trump Organization, was negotiating business in Moscow at the same time investigators believe Russians were meddling on his behalf in the 2016 election, and that associates of the president were mining Russian connections during the race. The Cohen revelation comes as Mueller's investigation is showing fresh signs of aggressive activity. Earlier this week, Mueller's team accused Trump's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, of lying after his own guilty plea. The special counsel continues to investigate whether campaign associates had advance knowledge of hacked emails becoming public. Another potential target, Jerome Corsi, has rejected a plea offer and faces a possible indictment. Last week, Trump for the first time provided Mueller with responses to written questions. Michael Cohen walks out of federal court, Thursday, Nov. 29, 2018, in New York. Cohen, President Donald Trump's former lawyer, pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about work he did on an aborted project to build a Trump Tower in Russia. He told the judge he lied about the timing of the negotiations and other details to be consistent with Trump's "political message." (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson) Cohen is the first person charged by Mueller with lying to Congress, an indication the special counsel is prepared to treat that offense as seriously as lying to federal agents and a warning shot to dozens of others who have appeared before lawmakers. Cohen told two congressional committees last year that the talks about the tower project ended in January 2016, a lie he said was an act of loyalty to Trump. In fact, the negotiations continued until June 2016, Cohen acknowledged. His court appearance Thursday marked the latest step in his evolution from trusted Trump consigliere to prime antagonist. Prosecutors say Cohen is cooperating with Mueller and has met with his team at least seven times. It is the second time the lawyer's legal woes have entangled Trump, coming months after Cohen said the president directed him to make hush money payments to two women who said they had sex with Trump. Trump on Thursday called Cohen a "weak person" who was lying to get a lighter sentence and stressed that the real estate deal at issue was never a secret and never executed. His lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, said that Cohen was a "proven liar" and that Trump's business organization had voluntarily given Mueller the documents cited in the guilty plea "because there was nothing to hide." "There would be nothing wrong if I did do it," Trump said of pursuing the project. "I was running my business while I was campaigning. There was a good chance that I wouldn't have won, in which case I would have gone back into the business, and why should I lose lots of opportunities?" He said the primary reason he didn't pursue it was "I was focused on running for president." About an hour later, Trump canceled a planned meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Group of 20 nations. During the campaign, while publicly espousing a conciliatory relationship with Putin, Trump was repeatedly dismissive of claims that he had connections to the Kremlin, an issue that flared as especially sensitive in the summer of 2016 after the Democratic National Committee and a cybersecurity company asserted that Moscow was behind a punishing cyberattack on the party's network. "I have a great company. I built an unbelievable company, but if you look there you'll see there's nothing in Russia," Trump said at a July 2016 news conference. "But zero, I mean I will tell you right now, zero, I have nothing to do with Russia," he said. Mueller's team included a question about Russian real estate deals in a list of queries presented earlier this year to Trump's lawyers, but it was not immediately clear whether it was among the questions Trump answered last week. If he did answer questions on the topic, Trump could have problems if the responses deviate from prosecutors' factual narrative. The Cohen case in New York is the first charge filed by the special counsel since the appointment of Matthew Whitaker, who has spoken critically about the investigation, as acting attorney general with oversight of the probe. Whitaker was advised of the plea ahead of time, according to a person familiar with the investigation. The nine-page charging document traces behind-the-scenes communication about a project that had first been discussed more than 20 years ago. It almost became reality in October 2015 when an obscure Russian real estate developer signed a letter of intent sent by Cohen for a 15-floor hotel, condominium and retail complex in Moscow. Cohen looped in Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump, copying them on emails about it in late 2015, according to a person close to the Trump Organization. In one email, Ivanka Trump even suggested an architect for the building, the person said. The company's email traffic about the project ends in January 2016, said the person, who wasn't authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. On Jan. 14, 2016, just weeks before the Republican party caucuses in Iowa, Cohen emailed the office of Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov asking for help getting the Trump Tower Moscow project off the ground. He later had a 20-minute phone call with one of Peskov's assistants and asked for help "in securing land to build the proposed tower and financing the construction," prosecutors say. The dialogue continued over the next several months with the Republican primaries in full swing. In early May, prosecutors say, Cohen and Felix Sater, an executive who worked on and off for the Trump Organization, discussed having Trump visit Russia after the Republican National Convention. They also discussed the possibility of Cohen meeting in June with Putin and Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. On June 9, 2016, Trump Jr., Manafort and Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, met with a Kremlin-connected lawyer at Trump Tower in New York about getting "dirt" on Democrat Hillary Clinton. Around that time, prosecutors say, Sater sent Cohen several messages about the project and Cohen said he wouldn't be traveling then to Russia. On June 14, the DNC announced that its computer networks were penetrated by Russian hackers. Cohen and prosecutors referred to Trump as "Individual 1" throughout Thursday's proceedings. Cohen said he lied out of loyalty to "Individual 1." Cohen said he also lied about his contacts with Russian officials, and lied when he said he never agreed to travel to Russia in connection with the project and never discussed with Trump plans to travel to Moscow to support the project. Thursday's charges were handled by Mueller, not the federal prosecutors in New York who handled Cohen's previous guilty plea in August to other federal charges involving his taxi businesses, bank fraud and campaign work for Trump. Cohen is to be sentenced Dec. 12. Guidelines call for little to no prison time on the new charge. ___ Neumeister reported from New York. Associated Press writers Jim Mustian in New York and Stephen Braun in Washington contributed to this report. In this courtroom sketch, Michael Cohen, center, reads a statement in federal court in New York, Thursday, Nov. 29, 2018. President Donald Trump's former lawyer made a surprise appearance before a federal judge in New York on Thursday and pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about work he did on an aborted project to build a Trump Tower in Russia. (Elizabeth Williams via AP) Michael Cohen, left, walks out of federal court with his attorney Guy Petrillo, Thursday, Nov. 29, 2018, in New York. Cohen, President Donald Trump's former lawyer, pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about work he did on an aborted project to build a Trump Tower in Russia. He told the judge he lied about the timing of the negotiations and other details to be consistent with Trump's "political message." (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson) Michael Cohen, left, walks out of federal court with his attorney Guy Petrillo, Thursday, Nov. 29, 2018, in New York. Cohen, President Donald Trump's former lawyer, pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about work he did on an aborted project to build a Trump Tower in Russia. He told the judge he lied about the timing of the negotiations and other details to be consistent with Trump's "political message." (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson) Michael Cohen walks out of federal court, Thursday, Nov. 29, 2018, in New York, after pleading guilty to lying to Congress about work he did on an aborted project to build a Trump Tower in Russia. Cohen told the judge he lied about the timing of the negotiations and other details to be consistent with Trump's "political message." (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson) Michael Cohen, left, walks out of federal court with his attorney Guy Petrillo, Thursday, Nov. 29, 2018, in New York, after pleading guilty to lying to Congress about work he did on an aborted project to build a Trump Tower in Russia. Cohen,President Donald Trumps former lawyer, told the judge he lied about the timing of the negotiations and other details to be consistent with Trump's "political message." (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson) Michael Cohen walks out of federal court, Thursday, Nov. 29, 2018, in New York, after pleading guilty to lying to Congress about work he did on an aborted project to build a Trump Tower in Russia. Cohen, President Donald Trumps former lawyer, told the judge he lied about the timing of the negotiations and other details to be consistent with Trump's "political message." (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson) BEIJING (AP) - China's factory activity weakened in November, an industry group reported Friday, adding to pressure on Beijing ahead of talks between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping over an escalating tariff battle. The China Federation of Logistics & Purchasing's monthly purchasing manager's index fell to its lowest level in more than two years. Economic activity is "still on a downward trend," the group said. It blamed "sluggish demand in the domestic market." The world's second-largest economy has cooled since Beijing tightened lending controls in late 2017 to rein in a debt boom. That has added to complications for communist leaders as they try to fend off U.S. pressure to roll back technology policies Washington says violate Beijing's market-opening obligations. More broadly, Chinese economic weakness has fueled concern that global activity might be slowing. Washington and Beijing have raised tariffs on billions of dollars of each other's goods since July. Chinese exports to the United States have held up despite that, due partly to exporters rushing to fill orders before another tariff hike planned for January. Forecasters say exports are likely to weaken early next year. FILE - In this Nov. 22, 2018, file photo, a woman works in a weaving factory in Jinjiang city in southeast China's Fujian province. China's factory activity weakened in November, an industry group reported Friday, Nov. 30, 2018, adding to pressure on Beijing ahead of talks between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping over an escalating tariff battle. (Chinatopix via AP, File) Trump and Xi are due to have a working dinner this weekend during a gathering of the Group of 20 major economies in Argentina. Private sector analysts say significant progress toward settling the dispute is unlikely. Beijing has eased lending controls and injecting money into the economy through higher spending on public works construction. Regulators have moved gradually to avoid reigniting a rise in debt. The logistics federation's PMI declined to 50 from October's 50.2 on a 100-point scale on which numbers above 50 show activity accelerating. That was the lowest level since July 2016. The measure for new orders declined to 50.4 from October's 50.8 while that for exports edged up to 47 from 46.9. The data are "worse than expected," Irene Pang of ING said in a report, but "we believe that stimulus is on the way." WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) - Fifty-one pilot whales died Friday in a mass stranding in New Zealand, less than a week after 145 pilot whales and nine pygmy killer whales perished in two other unrelated strandings. In the latest stranding, up to 90 pilot whales beached themselves late Thursday at Hanson Bay on the remote Chatham Islands, said the Department of Conservation. When staff arrived, they found up to 40 of the whales had refloated themselves but another 50 had died on the beach. The department said one beached whale remained alive, which staff decided to euthanize due to its poor condition. The Chatham Islands are about 800 kilometers (500 miles) east of New Zealand's main islands and are home to about 600 people. Last weekend, 145 pilot whales died on Stewart Island. By the time conservation workers arrived there, about 75 of the whales were already dead and they decided to euthanize the others by shooting them due to their poor condition and the remote location. On Sunday, 10 pygmy killer whales were found stranded at Ninety Mile Beach on the North Island. In this photo released by New Zealand Department of Conservation, the department's workers clear perished pilot whales after a stranding in Owenga, Chatham Islands, New Zealand, Friday, Nov. 30, 2018. Fifty-one pilot whales died Friday in another mass stranding in New Zealand, less than a week after 145 pilot whales and nine pygmy killer whales perished in two other, unrelated stranding. (New Zealand Department of Conservation via AP) Despite the efforts of 200 staff and volunteers, who managed to refloat eight of the whales after transporting them to a beach where conditions were calmer, all but one of the whales ended up stranding themselves again by Wednesday. Those whales were also euthanized. Dr. Dave Lundquist, a technical adviser on marine species, said in a video released by the Conservation Department that there was no evidence to suggest the strandings were linked. "You're talking about strandings across the entire breadth of New Zealand in a very short period of time, which naturally does cause everyone to reflect on whether those might have something to do with one another," he said. Lundquist said that while scientists don't typically know why individual whale strandings occur, they believe there are probably a range of reasons. He said they could be caused by whales navigating incorrectly, trying to escape from predators, or some of them suffering injuries or illness. He said there could also be man-made factors like underwater noise. "In many of those cases, it's probably a combination of those factors," he said. Whale strandings are most common in New Zealand during the Southern Hemisphere spring and summer. In this photo released by New Zealand Department of Conservation, the department's workers clear perished pilot whales after a stranding in Owenga, Chatham Islands, New Zealand, Friday, Nov. 30, 2018. Fifty-one pilot whales died Friday in another mass stranding in New Zealand, less than a week after 145 pilot whales and nine pygmy killer whales perished in two other, unrelated stranding. (New Zealand Department of Conservation via AP) In this photo released by New Zealand Department of Conservation, the department's workers clear perished pilot whales after a stranding in Owenga, Chatham Islands, New Zealand, Friday, Nov. 30, 2018. Fifty-one pilot whales died Friday in another mass stranding in New Zealand, less than a week after 145 pilot whales and nine pygmy killer whales perished in two other, unrelated stranding. (New Zealand Department of Conservation via AP) TOKYO (AP) - A Chinese movie actor has been arrested in Japan on suspicion of assaulting his then-girlfriend, causing injuries that police say required four weeks of treatment. Jiang Jinfu, 27, was detained Wednesday after he turned himself in at a central Tokyo police station, police confirmed Friday. Authorities already had an arrest warrant for him after a 25-year-old woman filed a complaint about the alleged assault, prompting an investigation. Jiang, who is known for his leading role in the 2012 film "Xuan-Yuan Sword: Scar of Sky," apologized to his followers on the Weibo microblogging service, saying in the Nov. 20 post that he had been living in remorse and felt ashamed about his behavior, adding that he would take responsibility and accept the punishment. His arrest has caused a storm on social media in China. Several Chinese celebrities described Jiang as warm and sincere, and some said they would wait for the truth to come out, prompting outrage and discussion of violence against women. According to police, Jiang allegedly beat her on the face, arms and shoulders on Oct. 12. The couple lived together at his Tokyo apartment at the time but then apparently broke up, police said. Japanese media have reported that Jiang has been in Tokyo since April to study Japanese. The South China Morning Post newspaper in Hong Kong identified the woman as Japanese model Haruka Nakaura. She posted her own photos purportedly showing bruised cheeks and upper arms on Instagram. In this Nov. 28, 2018, photo, Chinese actor Jiang Jinfu is transported from a police station in Tokyo. Japanese police said Friday, Nov. 30 they have arrested the Chinese actor on suspicion of assaulting his former girlfriend, causing her injuries. (Kyodo News via AP) Japanese police refused to identify the woman, citing privacy. ___ This story has been corrected to say South China Morning Post is a Hong Kong newspaper. MEXICO CITY (AP) - Mexico's incoming president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, is folksy, plain-spoken, and spontaneous - perhaps too much so for financial markets, which have been roiled in advance of his inauguration Saturday. Lopez Obrador is the first president since the Mexican Revolution to rise to prominence as a protest leader, and he sees his inauguration as a historic "fourth transformation" of Mexico, following independence from Spain, the liberal reforms that broke the church's dominance in the 1850s and the 1910-1917 revolution. His calls for a crusade against corruption and his professed concern for the common people often assume the proportion of a moral mission, with a zeal that carries over to pet projects, such as a costly rural railroad project, that baffle or alarm critics. So, who will he listen to? It's pretty clear he hears the financial markets, at least when they make noise about the prospect of a president who in the past has railed against a "mafia of power" that included major business figures. One ratings agency downgraded Mexico's outlook to "negative" and the peso and stocks have plunged in recent weeks after conflicting signals from Lopez Obrador's team, prompting conciliatory words from the incoming leader. "We are going to give a lot of reassurance to investors, to those who invest in shares, in companies, in financial markets. Their investments will be guaranteed, and they will get good returns, because there will be true rule of law," Lopez Obrador said in a taped message four days before taking office. FILE - In this Sept. 16, 2018 file photo, Mexico's President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador greets supporters as he kicks off a nationwide tour after his election in Mazatlan, Mexico. Lopez Obrador is folksy, plain-spoken, and spontaneous, perhaps too much so for financial markets, which have been roiled in advance of his inauguration on Saturday. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo, File) He boasts of listening to the people, and has submitted his pet projects to a series of unofficial "referendums," winning overwhelming support, though with the participation of only about 1 percent of registered voters. "We will always be looking for more legitimacy, more support from the people," he said. At the same time, the man who built his political career on defending the poor faces a huge immediate challenge: the thousands of impoverished Central American migrants camped out in squalid conditions on the border with the United States and the thousands more on the way. U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to close border crossings to prevent them from entering, and Mexico's new leader - once labeled a hot-head - appears ready to defuse the situation by agreeing to provide better housing for the migrants while they wait for months on Mexican soil for a chance to apply for asylum in the U.S. But Lopez Obrador dismisses his domestic critics as "fifi" - Mexican slang for elitist or frivolous - saying they need to spend more time with the poor and people in small towns. Lopez Obrador, who led protests against oil pollution in his swampy native state of Tabasco, comes across as friendly, if a bit obstinate, and surely has a kind of charisma. Certainly, no politician in Mexican history has shaken more hands or toured more dusty small towns than Lopez Obrador over more than a dozen years of campaigning for the presidency. That hands-on style echoes the folksy autocracy of his hero of the 1930s, Lazaro Cardenas, who nationalized the oil industry as a nearly all-powerful president. But many worry about how well Lopez Obrador will respect the opposition, or the counterbalances put in place in recent decades to limit presidential power. "I think he is resurrecting the imperial presidency of 30 or 40 years ago," said Jose Antonio Crespo, a political analyst at Mexico's Center for Economic Research and Training. "But it is also mixed with Lopez Obrador's personal style, which is disorderly, ambiguous, contradictory and capricious." "He is going to govern by whim, according to his desires, and he's going to ride roughshod over institutions," Crespo said. On the other hand, many of those who contributed to Lopez Obrador's crushing tidal wave of victory in the July 1 elections look forward to his inauguration with enormous hope that he will wrest power from market-oriented technocrats, and produce jobs and better wages. Francisco Javier Martinez Cardenas, a 59-year-old street vendor who uses crutches and has high blood pressure, waited in line to cast his vote in one of Lopez Obrador's "referendums" last week. "This is something innovative," he said of the vote. "Before, the government never consulted us on anything. Before, when the government decided something, we only heard about it, sometimes months, even years later." Gustavo de la Vega, a 30-year-old industrial designer who also voted in the referendum - but against some of the projects - said, "I do have a lot of hope ... but we're not giving him a blank check." One project being put to the vote was Lopez Obrador's plan for a "Maya train" that would link resorts like Cancun and Tulum with colonial Merida and the jungle ruins of Palenque and Calakmul on the Yucatan Peninsula. He announced a start date for the $7.5 billion project, though there has been no environmental impact statement, serious economic feasibility study or consultation with indigenous communities, as required by law. Lopez Obrador brushed off experts who led a petition drive against the plan, accusing them of being out of touch with the people. "Look at what the petition-signers don't know," Lopez Obrador wrote. "I say it with all respect and I recognize the majority are very smart people, but as amazing as it sounds, they need to make contact with the people in the countryside." He has taken a similar broad-brush approach to Mexico's main problems. For example, Lopez Obrador wants to build an expensive new refinery to restore Mexico, which now imports much of its gasoline, to the glory days of big oil in the 1970s, though many analysts say that will only add to the woes of the debt-strapped state oil company. He hasn't outlined any plan to stop gangs that drill illegal taps into government pipelines an average of 40 times every day, looting a major source of government revenues while occasionally sparking explosions and employing entire neighborhoods as protective human shields. He has also been vague about how he will tackle the drug cartels, kidnappers and extortionists who have boosted Mexico's homicide rates to historic levels. Contrary to calls to return soldiers to their barracks and remove them from civilian law enforcement, Lopez Obrador now has proposed creating a National Guard under military control, subsuming the federal police and military police. That plan, too, lacks specifics. "It doesn't have any strategies for action, it doesn't say how they're going to do things," said Raul Benitez, a security expert and professor at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. So far, however, Lopez Obrador has proved surprisingly adept at handling foreign relations despite having almost no experience in the field, and when confronted with Trump and his sometimes threatening language toward Mexico. "He has a good relationship with the United States," Benitez said. "Foreign relations have been the best area I have seen" in the incoming administration. "He got involved in negotiations on the free trade agreement, and that didn't go badly." FILE - In this July 22, 2018 file photo, Mexico's President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador listens to a reporter's question outside his party's headquarters, in Mexico City. Lopez Obrador is the first president since the Mexican Revolution to rise to prominence as a protest leader, and he sees his inauguration as a historic "fourth transformation" of Mexico. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte, File) FILE - In this Sept. 26, 2018 file photo, President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador meets with the relatives of the 43 disappeared college students, during a ceremony at the Memory and Tolerance Museum in Mexico City. His calls for a crusade against corruption and his professed concern for the common people often assume the proportion of a moral mission that baffle or alarm critics. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File) FILE - In this Aug. 8, 2018 file photo, a walking vendor sells figures representing Mexico's President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador outside the electoral court where his victory in the July 1 presidential elections was being officially certified, in Mexico City. Lopez Obrador dismisses his domestic critics as "fifi," Mexican slang for elitist or frivolous, saying they need to spend more time with the poor and people in small towns. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File) BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (AP) - More than 100 inmates escaped from a prison in western Indonesia after overpowering a guard during prayer time, police said Friday. The break occurred late Thursday at the Lambaro penitentiary when all 720 inmates were let out of their cells to take part in evening prayers, said Trisno Riyanto, police chief in Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh province. He said that the inmates, who were mostly convicted of drug charges and apparently had planned their escape in advance, cut through the wire and iron bars using barbells and crowbars in the reception room and made a dash through rice fields in front of the prison. The guard's injuries were not serious, police said. At least 26 prisoners have been recaptured and police set up roadblocks across Banda Aceh to search for the 87 others. Aceh provincial police chief Rio Septianda Djambak called on the escaped prisoners to surrender within three days and urged their relatives to support authorities in bringing them back. In this Thursday, Nov. 29, 2018, photo, a police officer puts up police lines outside Lambaro Prison following a jailbreak in Aceh Besar, Indonesia. More than 100 inmates escaped from the prison in western Indonesia after overpowering a guard during prayer time, police said Friday, Nov. 30, 2018. (AP Photo/Hendri Abik) "We will not hesitate to take firm action to force them to obey the law," Djambak said. Jailbreaks are common in Indonesia, where overcrowding has become a problem in prisons that are struggling to cope with poor funding and an influx of people arrested in a war on drugs. Most prisoners have been convicted of drug charges. Last year, more than 440 prisoners escaped from a penitentiary in neighboring Riau province when they also took advantage of Friday Muslim prayers. In July 2013, about 240 prisoners, including several convicted terrorists, escaped during a deadly riot at a prison in Medan, the capital of North Sumatra province. MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Nearly a year after he resigned his U.S. Senate seat amid sexual misconduct allegations, Al Franken is testing whether he can make a comeback in the #MeToo era. The former "Saturday Night Live" funnyman released a podcast on health care this week, just days after a Thanksgiving Day Facebook post in which he mused how much he missed "being in the fight every day." "When I left the Senate I said I was giving up my seat but not my voice, and after the midterm elections I thought I'd start experimenting with ways to make my voice heard," Franken said as he opened the podcast. He ended by saying: "Maybe I'll do another one, I don't know." Franken was a safe bet for re-election before a radio host last year accused him of forcibly kissing her during a USO tour in the Middle East in 2006, and circulated a photo in which he can be seen pretending to grope her breasts. That was followed by allegations from several women that he groped them while posing for photos. Several female Democratic senators led by New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand responded to the allegations by calling on Franken to step down, and he announced his resignation in December, even as he maintained that some of the accusations were untrue and disputed details in others. Franken, 67, was among the first politicians who fell amid the rise of the #MeToo movement. But others have survived misconduct allegations since then, including U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, who was elected Minnesota's attorney general this month despite an ex-girlfriend's claim of domestic abuse. And Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court despite an allegation of attempted sexual assault. FILE - In this Dec. 28, 2017, file photo, outgoing U.S. Sen. Al Franken speaks about his accomplishments and thanks his team in Minneapolis, as his eight years in the Senate are set to come to an end. The former senator is taking his first tentative steps back into the public arena after resigning under amid a string of sexual misconduct allegations. Franken has kept a low public profile since leaving office last January. But he addressed his supporters in a Facebook message on Thanksgiving Day, saying that while he's not running for anything, he hopes in the coming year for the chance to help make a difference again. (Glen Stubbe/Star Tribune via AP, File) Many liberal activists and donors nationally have argued that Franken was treated too harshly. Comedian Bill Maher recently argued on his HBO show "Real Time" that "We can have #MeToo and Al Franken. They're not mutually exclusive. It's time to get Al off the bench so he could come back to doing what he does better than any other Democrat, taking down right-wing blowhards." Even President Donald Trump ridiculed Franken for quitting too soon. At a rally in Minnesota last month for the Republican running in a special election to complete Franken's term, Trump told the crowd that Franken folded "like a wet rag." "Man. ... He was gone so fast. It was like, 'Oh, he did something, oh, oh, oh, I resign. I quit, I quit.' Wow," Trump said. Franken declined an interview request, and he hasn't made clear yet exactly how he will seek to become more publicly involved. He said in his Facebook post that he is "certainly not running for anything." Even if he was interested, Minnesota's Senate seats and governorship are locked down for the near future by fellow Democrats. And some are warning against rushing to welcome Franken back. "No matter how much you care about him or his voice or his talents as an orator, that does not trump the need to create a more just culture for the survivors of sexual violence," said feminist author Sady Doyle, a regular contributor to Elle and Medium who said she was once a big Franken fan. If he does return, influencing policy would seem a natural path. Franken cultivated an image as a serious policy wonk in the Senate, with a particular interest in technology issues such as net neutrality. He's also seen as having influence with Democratic donors. Norm Ornstein, a close friend of Franken's for 30 years who is also a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative-leaning Washington think tank, said he and Franken have had discussions since the midterm election about how Franken might play a public role again. Ornstein said Franken had "a really important voice in the Senate" before his fall, and his recent steps show "that he's moving cautiously, deliberately and with some humility to find that voice." Health policy, social justice, technology, the environment, agriculture and the future of democracy are some of the issues Franken feels most passionately about, Ornstein said. They're going to be critical issues going into the 2020 election, he said, and they're issues on which Franken could once again be an influential voice. He said the health care podcast showed that Franken knows how to have "informative and entertaining" discussions that can deepen the public's understanding of important issues and potentially tee up issues for candidates in 2020. University of Minnesota political scientist Larry Jacobs said Franken can help set the Democratic agenda. Franken still has "enormous leverage" in the party because of his demonstrated fundraising ability, Jacobs said, adding that he believes Franken could revive his national network of donors on behalf of progressive candidates. "There's a big space here for Al Franken," Jacobs said. "And it may well be the right timing because we're past 2018, moving to 2020. Franken's gifts as a communicator, his ability to counter Trump, plus that extraordinary donor base, are and will be in high demand. Plus there's genuine remorse among progressives (who think) that he was unfairly treated, too harshly treated." But some aren't buying it. "Even after being forced out of the U.S. Senate by his fellow Democrats a year ago, Franken seems to refuse to accept responsibility for his actions," said Brian McClung, a Republican strategist who was spokesman for former GOP Gov. Tim Pawlenty. "Eight women accused him of sexual harassment. While people deserve second chances and the opportunity to redeem themselves, Franken has a long, long way to go." SYDNEY (AP) - Thousands of schoolchildren across Australia skipped classes Friday to attend rallies demanding the government act on climate change. But Resources Minister Matt Canavan said the students should be in school learning about science and mining, rather than discovering how to get on welfare. The coordinated rallies Friday were held in close to 30 cities and towns and were inspired by a 15-year-old Swedish girl's activism. In Sydney, more than 1,000 children, most in school uniforms, chanted slogans, while similar numbers blocked streets outside the Victoria state parliament in Melbourne. The rallies were inspired by Greta Thunberg, who protests every Friday outside Sweden's parliament, demanding leaders do more about climate change. Sydney student Siniva Esera said Australia needs to be the big brother to the low-lying Pacific islands, including her relatives on the Tokelau atolls. Thousands of students gather during a rally demanding the government act on climate change, in Sydney, Friday, Nov. 30, 2018. The coordinated rallies Friday were held in close to 30 cities and towns. (Dan Himbrechts/AAP Image via AP) "Our prime minister thinks we should be in school right now, and maybe we should," the Chifley College Senior Campus student told the Sydney protest. "But how can I just sit by and not do anything to protect the future of this planet, and as my family on the islands worry about the rising sea level?" Forest Lodge Primary school captain Lucie Atkin Bolton said she'd learned in class that leaders need to look after everybody and take responsibility when things go wrong. "I wish I lived in a country where our adults, especially our politicians, actually cared about my future," the 11-year-old said. Canavan, the resources minister, said he's on the side of science and wants Australia to develop all energy sources, including solar and coal. He said he'd rather the kids learn about mining and science. "These are the type of things that excite young children and we should be great at as a nation," he told Sydney radio station 2GB. "The best thing you'll learn about going to a protest is how to join the dole queue." WASHINGTON (AP) - They haven't spoken in days, not since President Donald Trump called to congratulate Nancy Pelosi on Democrats' election night win. But they don't really need to. Trump and Pelosi go way back, from the time she first showed up at Trump Tower fundraising for the Democrats long before he would become president or she the House speaker. Two big-name heirs to big-city honchos - Trump and Pelosi each had fathers who were political power players in their home towns - they've rubbed elbows on the Manhattan social scene for years. And despite daily barbs in Washington, he's always "Mr. President" to her, and she's one prominent politician he has not labeled with a derisive nickname. Not quite friends, nor enemies, theirs is perhaps the most important relationship in Washington. If anything is to come of the new era of divided government, with a Republican president and Democratic control of the House, it will happen in the deal-making space between two of the country's most polarizing politicians. The day after their election night phone call, Trump and Pelosi did speak again, indirectly, across Pennsylvania Avenue. "I really respected what Nancy said last night about bipartisanship and getting together and uniting," Trump said in a press conference at the White House. "That's what we should be doing." In this Nov. 28, 2018, photo, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., arrives to speak to media at Longworth House Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2018, to announce her nomination by House Democrats to lead them in the new Congress. President Donald Trump and Pelosi haven't talked in days, not since he called to congratulate her on Democrats' election night when. But they don't really need to. The two go way back, from before he was president or she was speaker. Not quite friends, nor enemies, theirs is now perhaps the most important relationship in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) Pressed after his unusual public lobbying for Pelosi to become House speaker, Trump insisted he was sincere. "A lot of people thought I was being sarcastic or I was kidding. I wasn't. I think she deserves it," he said. "I also believe that Nancy Pelosi and I could work together and get a lot of things done." Pelosi sent word back a few minutes later from her own press conference at the Capitol, which she delayed for nearly an hour as the president conducted his. "Last night, I had a conversation with President Trump about how we could work together," Pelosi said, noting that "building infrastructure" was one of the items they discussed. "He talked about it during his campaign and really didn't come through with it in his first two years in office," she nudged. "I hope that we can do that because we want to create jobs from sea to shining sea." Despite all the campaign trail trash talk, both Trump and Pelosi have incentive to make some deals. The president could use a domestic policy win heading into his own re-election in 2020, alongside his regular railing against illegal immigration, the "witch hunt" of the Russia investigation or other issues that emerge from his tweets. Democrats, too, need to show Americans they can do more than resist the Trump White House. It's no surprise that two of the top Democratic priorities in the new Congress, infrastructure investment and lowering health care costs, dovetail with promises Trump made to voters, but has not yet fulfilled. "I do think there's opportunities to pass legislation," said former White House legislative director Marc Short. Trump has long viewed Pelosi as both a foil and a possible partner, and she sees in him the one who can sign legislation into law. The president has told confidants that he respects Pelosi's deal-making prowess and her ability to hang on to power in the face of a series of challenges from the left wing of the party, according to four White House officials and Republicans close to the White House. The officials were not authorized to publicly discuss private conversations and requested anonymity. He told one ally this month that he respected Pelosi "as a fighter" and that he viewed her as someone with whom he could negotiate. "The president respects her," said Short. Short described the interaction between Pelosi and Trump during a 2017 meeting with other congressional leaders at the White House to prevent a government shutdown. "They were throwing pros and cons back at each other," he said. "The question I can't answer is to what extent will Democrats give Pelosi political bandwidth" to strike deals, Short said. He pointed to potential areas of agreement like infrastructure, drug prices and prison reform. But part of Trump's push for Pelosi to return to power was more nakedly political. Pelosi has long been a popular Republican target, spurring countless fundraising efforts and attack ads. And Trump has told advisers that, if needed, he would make her the face of the opposition in Democratic party until the 2020 presidential field sorts itself out. Pelosi's name draws some of the biggest jeers at his rallies and he believes that "she could be Hillary" in terms of a Clinton-like figure to rally Republicans against, according to one of the advisers familiar with the president's private conversations. At the same time, Trump has not publicly branded Pelosi with a mocking nickname. She's no "Cryin'" Chuck Schumer, as he calls the top Senate Democrat, or "Little" Adam Schiff at the Intelligence Committee or "Low IQ" Rep. Maxine Waters of California, who will chair the Financial Services Committee. On whether Trump likes Pelosi as ally or adversary, Short said, "I don't think those are mutually exclusive." Pelosi, perhaps more than her Republican counterparts - outgoing Speaker Paul Ryan or Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell - became an early observer, and adapter, to the Trump style of governing. When Trump and Democrats were trying to broker an immigration deal in September 2017, she suggested he could tweet his assurances to the young Dreamers. And he did. Around the same time when Trump and congressional leaders convened at the White House to avoid a federal government shutdown, Republicans and Trump's own Cabinet team pressed for their preferred solution. But Pelosi kept asking a simple question: How many Republican votes could they bring to the table? When it was clear they could not bring enough for passage, Trump intervened and agreed with Democrats "Chuck and Nancy," as he came to call them. Votes, Pelosi explained later, were the "currency of the realm." Trump, as a businessman, she said, got it. Pelosi is poised to become House speaker again if she wins her election in January. Asked this week how Trump might react to having a woman in power, Pelosi recalled the first time she held the office, when George W. Bush was president, in 2007. Bush would call her "No. 3," she said, a reference to the speaker's spot in the presidential succession line, after the president and the vice president. "He treated me and the office I hold with great respect," she said. "I would expect nothing less than that from this President of the United States." ___ Follow on twitter at https://twitter.com/AP_Politics FREEHOLD, N.J. (AP) - A New Jersey man charged with killing his brother and the brother's wife and two children will make a court appearance Friday morning. Paul Caneiro (kah-NEH'-roh) faces four counts of murder, along with arson and weapons charges, in the Nov. 20 deaths of his brother Keith; Keith's wife, Jennifer; their 11-year-old son, Jesse; and their 8-year-old daughter, Sophia. The family members were shot, stabbed or both at their mansion in the wealthy community of Colts Neck. Authorities say Caneiro then set the mansion on fire. Prosecutors say a financial dispute led to the deaths. But Caneiro's lawyer says his client was devoted to his family, adding there "is no reason in the world" why he would kill them and torch their mansion. NEW YORK (AP) - There is no Trump Tower Moscow. But the quest to build one has become a legal flashpoint for the presidency of Donald Trump after his former attorney Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to lying to Congress to cover up his efforts to negotiate a real estate deal in Russia on Trump's behalf. An hour after Cohen's plea on Thursday, Trump denounced his former attorney as "weak" and "a liar" and vehemently denied that he had any inappropriate business dealings with Russia. The president said he was transparent about the possible Moscow project, but there is no record of him having mentioned it in 2015 or 2016. And his denials of business dealings with Moscow during the campaign all were cast in the present tense, gliding over any deals proposed in the past, an omission that left a misimpression. Questions about Trump's relationship with Russia have shadowed his presidency and are part of special counsel Robert Mueller's ongoing investigation into Moscow's interference with the 2016 presidential election. Cohen's guilty plea came as part of his cooperation with Mueller. Here are some of the questions surrounding the closely scrutinized deal: ___ Michael Cohen walks out of federal court, Thursday, Nov. 29, 2018, in New York, after pleading guilty to lying to Congress about work he did on an aborted project to build a Trump Tower in Russia. Cohen told the judge he lied about the timing of the negotiations and other details to be consistent with Trump's "political message." (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson) WHAT DID TRUMP SAY DURING THE CAMPAIGN ABOUT HIS BUSINESS DEALINGS IN RUSSIA? In July 2016, as news reports emerged that Russian government hackers were responsible for breaking into Democratic National Committee servers, Trump began to address his business relationships with Russia. For the record," he tweeted on July 26, "I have ZERO investments in Russia." He repeated variations of that claim throughout the campaign, including during the second general election debate with Hillary Clinton. He said then: "I don't deal there. I have no businesses there. I have no loans from Russia." Trump's denials did not address any previous deals, though his sons who work at the Trump Organization have previously boasted about Russian investments. And without access to Trump's tax returns, verifying his claims proves difficult. The negotiations about building the Moscow tower continued as late as June 2016, even though Cohen told two congressional committees last year that the talks had ended that January. And while Trump asserted that the Moscow project was common knowledge during the campaign, there is no record of him discussing it publicly. He did tweet in November 2013, while thanking his hosts at the Miss Universe pageant in Russia, that "You have done a FANTASTIC job. TRUMP TOWER-MOSCOW is next." ___ WHAT DID TRUMP SAY AFTER COHEN'S GUILTY PLEA? Trump on Thursday acknowledged that there had been talks "to build a building of some kind in Moscow." But he added that "I decided not to do it. The primary reason - there could have been other reasons, but the primary reason, it was very simple: I was focused on running for president." The president dismissed the assertion that dealing with Russia suggested any wrongdoing, stressing that he was still running his business, the Trump Organization, while also seeking office. "I was running my business while I was campaigning," Trump said. "There was a good chance that I wouldn't have won, in which case I would have gone back into the business, and why should I lose lots of opportunities?" Cohen, for his part, said he lied to Congress because "I made these statements to be consistent with (Trump's) political messaging and to be loyal to (Trump)," seeming to suggest that he thought the best thing to do would be to distance his former boss from any talk of Russian deals. ___ IS IT LEGAL OR ADVISABLE TO RUN A BUSINESS WHILE RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT? It is not illegal for a candidate to continue to run a business while running for office. Trump himself made this point on Thursday even as he attacked Cohen's credibility. The president added that "even if he was right, it doesn't matter, because I was allowed to do whatever I wanted during the campaign." Still, most candidates, to avoid appearances of conflicts, distance themselves from their businesses during a race. Trump, a non-politician making his first run for office, took no such steps. And, even after taking office, Trump did not fully divest himself of his company. He turned over day-to-day operations of the Trump Organization to others, including his two adult sons. ___ WHY DOES IT MATTER? Cohen's revelations have broad ramifications for the Mueller probe and the presidency. There is no clear link in the court filings between Cohen's lies and Mueller's central question of whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia. Nothing said in court, or in associated court filings, addressed whether Trump or his aides had directed Cohen to mislead Congress. But for Trump, it could damage his credibility. The business dealings were afoot at the same time he was displaying pro-Moscow campaign policies, meaning he was advocating policies favorable to Russia while Cohen was seeking Russian government help on the project. Trump's frequent proclamations that there was "No collusion!" with Russia may be viewed more skeptically in that light. And he has already delivered shifting accounts of his relationship with Stormy Daniels, the porn star to whom Cohen paid hush money to keep her from talking about her affair with Trump. Cohen is the first person charged by Mueller with lying to Congress, an indication the special counsel is prepared to treat that offense as seriously as lying to federal agents. It was a warning shot to dozens of others who have appeared before Congress. And Cohen, who has met with Mueller at least seven times, may provide more damaging information related to Trump from his decade working as the now-president's so-called "fixer." ___ Follow Lemire on Twitter at http://twitter.com/@JonLemire WASHINGTON (AP) - For two years, the Trump administration has unabashedly slashed U.S. aid to the Palestinians. Now, amid signs it may finally roll out its long-awaited Middle East peace plan, the administration is scrambling to save what little remaining Palestinian assistance it provides. The striking turnabout is the result of the belated realization that an obscure new law will likely force the U.S. to terminate all aid to the Palestinian Authority, including security assistance supported by Israel, by the end of January. Eliminating such aid, which totaled $61 million this year even as other assistance was being cut, would deal a blow to Palestinian-Israeli security cooperation that both sides value. The law would also require the Jerusalem offices of the U.S. Agency for International Development to close. To avert that possibility and remove a potentially lethal complication to the promised peace plan, the administration is rushing to find a solution. It will dispatch Army Lt. Gen. Eric Wendt, who serves as U.S. security coordinator for Israel and the Palestinian Authority, to Congress in the coming days to urge lawmakers to come up with a fix to the law, known as the Anti-Terrorism Clarification Act of 2018, to allow the aid to continue. Congressional aides said they expect Wendt and other officials to start making the case next week in the hope of securing a fix in the short time it has left in session this year. The House and Senate are set to adjourn on Dec. 13 and Dec. 14, respectively. If that fails, officials said they expect to redouble their efforts when the new Congress convenes in January. The State Department, to whom Wendt reports, declined to comment on the effort but acknowledged the problem. "We are studying the potential impact of ATCA," the department said in an emailed response to queries about the matter from The Associated Press. "At this time, no changes have been made to U.S. security assistance to the Palestinian Authority or other ongoing programming." FILE - In this Sept. 9, 2018, file photo, Palestinians leave the Makassed hospital in east Jerusalem. US has cut funding to the six Jerusalem hospitals, including Makaseed, that provide care for Palestinians from the Israeli-occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip. For two years, the Trump administration has unabashedly slashed U.S. aid to the Palestinians. Now, amid signs it may finally roll out its long-awaited Middle East peace plan, the administration is scrambling to save what little remaining Palestinian assistance it provides.(AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean, File) ATCA made its way through Congress and was signed by President Donald Trump in early October with little fanfare. The White House perfunctorily announced the Oct. 3 signing in a two-paragraph statement that said only that the law "allows certain assets that are seized or frozen by the United States to be used to satisfy judgments against a terrorist party for claims based on an act of terrorism." But for the Palestinians and potentially others the law has more severe consequences. Under ATCA, the Palestinian Authority would be disqualified from receiving any U.S. aid unless it agrees to pay court judgments of sometimes up to hundreds of millions of dollars on behalf of American victims of Palestinian attacks. The deadline for accepting that condition is 120 days from Trump's signing, or January 31, 2019. The Palestinians say they will do no such thing and accuse the administration of acting in bad faith. They note that the administration has already cut hundreds of millions of dollars in aid for health, education, development and good governance programs, closed the PLO office in Washington, recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital over their fervent objections and moved the U.S. embassy there from Tel Aviv. In addition, the administration has downgraded its main diplomatic mission to the Palestinians by folding it into the embassy to Israel. "Palestinian-U.S. security cooperation is based on the fact that we are against terrorism and fighting it," said Nabil Shaath, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's adviser for international affairs. "Therefore, nobody can say that such an act can be implemented on us." In this case, however, the administration is siding with the Palestinians in seeking a way around the requirements of the law. So are some pro-Israel members of Congress who have supported the administration's policy toward Israel and the Palestinians in the past, according to aides. Legal experts who have studied ATCA say the easiest fix would be to have Congress amend the law to allow the president or secretary of state to waive the aid cut-off on national security grounds. "A waiver or some sort of work around is going to be very important for this administration or any future administration that wants to pursue Israeli-Palestinian peace," said Scott Anderson, an international lawyer and former American diplomat who is now a fellow at The Brookings Institution in Washington. "Cutting off the ability to supply that kind of security assistance would be short-sighted to say the least." ___ Associated Press writer Joe Federman in Jerusalem contributed to this report. WASHINGTON (AP) - Mitt Romney is a man in-between. He made it to Washington after all - but not as president of the United States, the office he sought twice and other men won. He's not yet a senator from Utah, either, until he's sworn in Jan. 3. Romney, lifelong executive in public and private life, doesn't have a permanent office, a place to live or a solid sense of what it will be like to shift from being the top leader to just one of 100 ambitious personalities. For now, Romney, 71, is acclimating to the rarified Senate, where he's shuttling between his temporary basement office and meetings, little-noticed in the brimming corridors of power where seniority and tradition rule. Behind him is real-world fame as the former standard-bearer of the Republican Party, now commanded by President Donald Trump and his in-your-face style. Ahead of Romney is life as a junior senator in a role Senate leaders are just beginning to sketch out. "It's been a learning experience," Romney said Tuesday as he hurried from a meeting with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, in a suite that overlooks the National Mall. "Hopefully, I have the capacity to take on different roles." Romney is from neither Massachusetts, where he was governor, nor Utah, where he lives and which he will represent in the new, 116th Congress. He's from Michigan, where his father, George W. Romney, was governor in the 1960s. But Romney earned his status as Utah's adopted son when in 1999 he took over the Salt Lake City Olympics and helped steer it through a bribery scandal to successful games three years later. After being governor, the presidency was Romney's goal. But in 2008, he lost the Republican nomination to Sen. John McCain, who then lost the big prize to Democrat Barack Obama. Four years later, it was Romney and then-Rep. Paul Ryan challenging Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. Romney went down in defeat, derided by some in the GOP as too moderate and disconnected from the economic struggles of most Americans. Then Trump won the nation's highest office over Democrat Hillary Clinton. FILE - In this Nov. 14, 2018, file photo, Sen.-elect Mitt Romney, R-Utah, center, walks the hallway on Capitol Hill in Washington. Romney is a man in-between. He made it to Washington after all _ but not as president of the United States, the office he sought twice and other men won. He's not yet a senator from Utah, either, until he's sworn in Jan. 3. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File) All along, Romney's relationship with Trump has veered between bitter rivalry and potential - but unrealized - alliance. That's raised hopes on Capitol Hill that Romney might serve as a truth-teller to a president who routinely replaces fact with fiction. Some are hoping that the mild-mannered Romney bucks his party on policy when he chooses. "I think with John McCain passing, for example, Mitt believes that there's a role for him in our party in being ... a standard-bearer in our party," said Ryan, now the retiring House speaker, told The Washington Post Thursday. Ryan and others said they're looking for Romney to seek a seat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to help build back relationships that Trump's "America first" policy may have eroded. Committee assignments - let alone Romney's role - will in large part be determined by McConnell, other Senate veterans and tradition. As a junior senator, Romney will be seated toward the end of the committee rostrum. He'll be among the last asked to speak, and he'll have to wait awhile to make his maiden floor speech. On the upside, Romney will get a bit of rank among freshmen for having been a governor. "But not much," chortled Sen. Roy Blunt, who's known the Romneys for years. Blunt said he's spoken with Romney several times about the transition from having been an executive to serving in an institution where work and collaboration - and yes, a degree of deference - matter most. "Being a governor where you can say, 'I'd like this to happen today,' and in many instances it actually happens today, is a lot different than being a senator where things take time and things seldom work out exactly the way you want them to," Blunt said. "You have to pivot and move forward. For Gov. Romney, coming to the Senate is one way to pivot and move forward and that's an important trait to have, if you're going to be an effective part of the Senate." "Everybody already knows him," said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. "I don't think he has any sense of regret. I think he's eager to jump right in." Those close to Romney point out that unlike most freshmen, Romney comes to Congress with years-long relationships with many members, including with McConnell. His niece is Republican National Committee Chair Ronna Romney McDaniel. And as a presidential candidate, he helped raise huge sums of money for congressional colleagues over the last decade. There are signs that Romney intends to keep up that role in Washington, where campaign cash-raising prowess can confer influence. On Tuesday night, his recently-formed Believe in America PAC and joint fundraising committee, Team Mitt, held its first fund raiser in Washington. Attendees were asked to contribute $5,000. On the issues, Romney is eager to play a role in foreign policy, fiscal policy and, to a lesser degree, immigration, according to close advisers who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share internal discussions. While his relationship with Trump has improved dramatically, underlying tensions remain. In June, after Romney predicted Trump would win a second term, Trump said: "Mitt's a straight shooter - whether people love him or don't love him." Throughout his Senate campaign, Romney insisted that he would agree with Trump on some issues and not be shy about disagreeing on others. Look for the Republican heavyweights to clash on foreign policy, perhaps above all. Romney continues to believe that Russia remains America's greatest geopolitical foe, a position he first outlined in 2012 that puts him in direct conflict with Trump, who has warmed to Russian President Vladimir Putin. And Romney was quick to condemn Trump's muted response to Saudi Arabia's brutal killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Senate Democrats report cordial welcome-to-Washington conversations with Romney, but they're hesitant to predict that he'll be a bridge between them and empowered Senate Republicans. "I think he brings a lot to the table as a new senator with a national reputation, from a conservative state," said Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois, who said he chatted with Romney at a recent dinner. "We'll see what happens." ___ Associated Press writer Stephen Braun contributed to this report. Peoples worked on this story from New York City. ___ Follow Kellman and Peoples at http://www.twitter.com/APLaurieKellman and http://www.twitter.com/SPPeoples WASHINGTON (AP) - Donald Trump for decades dreamed of building a Trump Tower in the heart of Moscow, a plan that flared and fizzled several times over the years, most recently when his presidential campaign was gaining momentum. That last plan led Trump's longtime lawyer Michael Cohen to plead guilty Thursday to a charge brought by the special prosecutor looking into possible Russian meddling in the 2016 election. Cohen admitted he lied to Congress about key details in the negotiations for the Moscow tower, most notably that those talks stretched much deeper into the presidential campaign than previously thought, to June of 2016. Trump, speaking to reporters Thursday, disputed Cohen's timeline and suggested his former fixer was telling prosecutors what they wanted to hear to save his own skin. As for why the most recent deal failed, Trump said he made the decision because he was focused on on running for president." Trump's plans for a Trump Tower in Moscow went back as far as 1996 when the future president paid a visit to the Russian capital to check out building sites on land being developed by a U.S. company. That idea fell through, along with plans to revamp the dilapidated Hotel Moskva next to the Kremlin, but the real estate mogul raised the prospect of a "super-luxury residential tower" bearing his name on other sites he visited on his three-day stay in the city. "Moscow is going to be huge," Trump told Playboy magazine in a 1997 interview. FILE - In this Nov. 5, 1996 file photo, American real estate mogul Donald Trump, left, checks out sites in Moscow, Russia, for luxury residential towers. Trump's decades-long dream of building a luxury tower in the heart of Moscow flared and fizzled several times over the years, most recently when his presidential campaign was gaining momentum. That latest plan led his former lawyer Michael Cohen to plead guilty to a charge of lying to congressional investigators about key details in the negotiations, most notably that those talks stretched far deeper into the 2016 campaign than previously thought. (AP Photo/Igor Tabakov, File) Trump revived the idea in 2013 during his visit to Moscow as owner of the Miss Universe pageant. Trump later said he had discussed the idea with Aras and Emin Agalarov, a father-and-son Russian development team close to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump reportedly scouted a potential site, but the idea again faded. The tower idea came back yet again in October 2015, when Andrey Rozov, an obscure Russian real estate developer, signed a letter of intent sent by Cohen to advance the construction of a Trump World Tower that would feature 250 luxury condos, no fewer than 15 floors of hotel rooms, commercial and office space, a fitness center and an Ivanka Trump spa. It was a potentially lucrative deal for Trump's company, handing it $4 million in upfront fees plus possibly millions more from a cut on everything from food and banquet fees to spa charges. His share on the first $100 million in condo sales alone would reach another $5 million. Rozov's signed letter was sent back to Cohen by Felix Sater, another Trump world figure who had worked on and off for the Trump Organization and operated as a government informant following a 1998 conviction in a stock fraud case. Sater sent Cohen an email expressing optimism: "Let's make this happen and build a Trump Moscow. And possibly fix relations between the countries by showing everyone that commerce and business are much better and more practical than politics." Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump were copied in on emails about the project in late 2015, according to a person close to the Trump Organization. In one email, Ivanka Trump even suggested an architect for the building, the person said, noting the Trump Organization provided the emails to congressional committees. The company's email traffic about the project ends in January 2016, said the person, who wasn't authorized to speak publicly about the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity. Like the previous failed projects, the Rozov-helmed effort soon ran aground. According to Cohen's testimony in 2017 and his plea agreement, negotiations with Rozov's group stalled, and the two Trump associates turned to aides to Russian President Vladimir Putin to move the project forward. Cohen told congressional investigators last year that he had sent an email in January 2016 to Dmitry Peskov, Putin's spokesman. Cohen told the committee he never heard back from Peskov and the tower deal collapsed by the end of that month. But according to Cohen's new statement to prosecutors, the tower deal remained viable as late as June 2016, after Trump had vanquished his Republican presidential rivals and was mounting his general election campaign against Hillary Clinton. Cohen said he kept Trump, named as "Individual 1" in the plea, updated about the deal's progress, and also "briefed family members of Individual 1 within the company about the project." Cohen said in his plea that he also spoke by phone with an assistant to Peskov - identified in the plea as "Russian Official 1" - in January 2016 and outlined the project and "requested assistance in moving the project forward." According to the plea, Cohen later discussed traveling to Moscow to jump-start the deal. In May 2016, a month after Trump had emerged the winner of the GOP primaries, Sater - identified as "Individual 2" - told Cohen that Peskov wanted to meet him in mid-June at an international business forum in St. Petersburg and "possibly introduce you" to Putin or Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. BuzzFeed News reported Thursday that Trump's company considered giving the Moscow tower's penthouse apartment to Putin. Sater told BuzzFeed: "My idea was to give a $50 million penthouse to Putin and charge $250 million more for the rest of the units. All the oligarchs would line up to live in the same building as Putin." Sater and Cohen continued to email about the foundering project well into June 2016, soon after a much-scrutinized meeting at Trump Tower in New York between Trump's son Don Jr., son-in-law Jared Kushner, campaign chairman Paul Manafort and several Russian attendees, purportedly to discuss the possibility of "dirt" on Hillary Clinton. On June 14, Cohen met Sater in the tower lobby and told him his potential trip to St. Petersburg was off. Thursday, Trump suggested his consideration of a Moscow tower was all part of being a businessman who was also running for president. "I decided ultimately not to do it," he said. "There would be nothing wrong if I did do it." "There was a good chance that I wouldn't have won, in which case I would have gone back into the business, and why should I lose lots of opportunities?" __ Associated Press writer Chad Day in Washington contributed to this report. Michael Cohen, left, walks out of federal court with his attorney Guy Petrillo, Thursday, Nov. 29, 2018, in New York, after pleading guilty to lying to Congress about work he did on an aborted project to build a Trump Tower in Russia. Cohen, President Donald Trumps former lawyer, told the judge he lied about the timing of the negotiations and other details to be consistent with Trump's "political message." (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson) President Donald Trump speaks to reporters on the South Lawn before leaving the White House in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 29, 2018 to attend the G20 Summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) MOSCOW (AP) - The Latest on Russia-Ukraine tensions (all times local): 4:45 p.m. A senior Russian Orthodox Church cleric says the raid at his home was meant to put the "political" pressure on his church. The Ukrainian intelligence agency earlier on Friday raided the home of the father superior of Kiev's biggest and oldest monastery which is part of the Russian Orthodox Church. The Ukrainian church, which has been part of the Russian Orthodox Church for centuries, moved close to forming an independent church - fueled by the conflict with Russia Ukraine's Orthodox communities earlier this year. There are currently three Orthodox communities in Ukraine including two breakaway churches. Ukrainian authorities sought to portray the Russian Orthodox clerics in Ukraine as supporting separatists. FILE - In this Saturday, Nov. 10, 2018 file photo, an aerial photo of the thousand-year-old Monastery of Caves, also known as Kiev Pechersk Lavra, the holiest site of Eastern Orthodox Christians is taken through morning fog during sunrise in Kiev, Ukraine. The Ukrainian intelligence agency is searching the home of the father superior of Kiev's biggest and oldest monastery which is part of the Russian Orthodox Church. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka, File) Father Pavlo, who leads the Pechersk Monastery in Kiev, said in a live broadcast that the raid at his home was ordered personally by the Ukrainian president who has been pushing for a new independent Ukrainian church. Pavlo said he won't recognize any other church in Ukraine. Tensions between Ukraine and Russia have escalated since last weekend, when Russian border guards opened fire on three Ukrainian naval vessels near Crimea and captured their crews. ___ 4:30 p.m. A Russian activist says she has visited Ukrainian seamen who have been transferred to a Moscow jail. Russian border guards in the Black Sea near Crimea fired at three Ukrainian vessels on Sunday, seizing the ships and their crews. Russia says they have violated its border while Ukraine says the vessels were in compliance with international maritime law. Two dozen Ukrainian seamen have been ordered to stay in custody for the next two months. Russian TV station Dozhd on Friday quoted Kogershyn Sagiyeva, a member of the Moscow oversight council which is allowed to inspect prisons, as saying that 21 seamen have been transferred to the Moscow Lefortovo jail while three other seamen are in a hospital in another jail. She said she met with some of the seamen and they appeared to be in good shape. ___ 4:15 p.m. European Council President Donald Tusk says the EU is expected to extend sanctions on Russia over its "totally unacceptable" seizure of Ukrainian ships and their crews near Crimea. Tusk said Friday that "Europe is united in its support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity," calling the standoff "a cause of great concern." Speaking on the sidelines of a G-20 summit in Buenos Aires, he urged the leaders meeting there to discuss points of tension including "Russian aggression in Ukraine." He didn't elaborate on the sanctions or other measures the EU might take. Russian President Vladimir Putin is among the leaders involved at the G-20. Russia and Ukraine have traded blame over the ship incident. ___ 4 p.m. Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban says his country is supporting Ukraine in the latest escalation of tensions with Russia. Speaking through a translator in Prague after meeting his Czech counterpart Andrej Babis on Friday, Orban says: "The Hungarian position is clear. We are a pro-Ukrainian government." But he added that "The peculiarity of the situation is that there is a Ukraine-friendly government in Hungary, while in Ukraine there is an anti-Hungarian government." Orban's statement comes amid a dispute between Ukraine and his country over the rights of the Hungarian minority in Ukraine. But Orban said his support for Ukraine is not going to change. Orban is considered to have one of the best relationships with Russian President Vladimir Putin's among European Union politicians. ___ 12:40 p.m. Russia's foreign ministry says that Moscow is not going to mirror the travel ban that Ukraine has imposed on Russian men. Ukrainian officials announced earlier on Friday that all Russian men aged between 16 and 60 will be barred from entering Ukraine for the 30-day duration of martial law. The statement is the latest step in the escalation of the long-simmering conflict between Russia and Ukraine which began in 2014 with Russia's annexation of Crimea. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters that Russia is not planning to impose similar measures on Ukrainians. Zakharova blamed the Ukrainian government for implementing a policy that hurts ordinary people. ___ 12 p.m. The Ukrainian intelligence agency is searching the home of the father superior of Kiev's biggest and oldest monastery which is part of the Russian Orthodox Church. Ihor Guskov, chief of staff of the SBU intelligence agency, told reporters on Friday that its officers are searching the home of Father Pavlo, who leads the Pechersk Monastery in Kiev. He said the cleric is suspected of "inciting hatred." The Ukrainian church, which has been part of the Russian Orthodox Church for centuries, moved close to forming an independent church - fueled by the conflict with Russia Ukraine's Orthodox communities earlier this year. There are currently three Orthodox communities in Ukraine including two breakaway churches. Ukrainian authorities sought to portray the Russian Orthodox clerics in Ukraine as supporting separatists. Tensions between Ukraine and Russia have escalated since last weekend, when Russian border guards opened fire on three Ukrainian naval vessels near Crimea and captured their crews. ___ 10:50 a.m. Ukraine's president says that the country has barred Russian men between 16 and 60 from traveling to the country. The move comes as the long-simmering conflict between the two nations escalated in the Black Sea on Sunday. Russian border guards opened fire on and captured three Ukrainian vessels and their 24-member crew. President Petro Poroshenko tweeted Friday that the restrictions on Russian travelers have been taken in order to prevent the Russians from forming "private armies" fighting on Ukrainian soil. ___ 10:30 a.m. A Russian government-appointed ombudswoman says the three commanders of the Ukrainian vessels captured near the Russia-annexed Crimean Peninsula last weekend are being transferred to Moscow. The long-simmering conflict between Russia and Ukraine bubbled over Sunday when Russian border guards opened fired on three Ukrainian vessels in the Black Sea. The Russians then captured the 24-member crew. Russia says the Ukrainians had violated its border while Ukraine says its ships were acting in line with international maritime rules. The Tass news agency on Friday quoted Russian government-appointed ombudswoman Lyudmila Lubina as saying that the vessels' commanders are being transferred to Moscow for interrogation. The other 21 have also been transferred away from Crimea, but it wasn't immediately clear to where. A Crimea court earlier this week ruled to keep the Ukrainian seamen behind bars for two months pending the investigation. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, left, leads the National Security and Defence Council meeting in Kiev, Ukraine, Friday, Nov. 30, 2018. Ukraine's president says that the country has barred Russian men between 16 and 60 from traveling to the country. The move comes as the long-simmering conflict between the two nations escalated in the Black Sea on Sunday. President Petro Poroshenko has tweeted that the restrictions on Russian travelers have been taken in order to prevent the Russians from forming "private armies" fighting on Ukrainian soil. (Mykhailo Markiv, Presidential Press Service via AP, Pool) Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko speak to soldiers during a visit to a military base in Chernihiv region, Ukraine, Wednesday, Nov, 28, 2018. Russia and Ukraine traded blame after Russian border guards on Sunday opened fire on three Ukrainian navy vessels and eventually seized them and their crews. The incident put the two countries on war footing and raised international concern. (Mykola Lazarenko, Presidential Press Service via AP) Ukrainian soldiers drive APCs near Urzuf, south coast of Azov sea, eastern Ukraine, Thursday, Nov. 29, 2018. Ukraine put its military forces on high combat alert and announced martial law this week after Russian border guards fired on and seized three Ukrainian ships in the Black Sea. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) Ukrainian fighter jets fly during military exercise near Urzuf, south coast of Azov sea, eastern Ukraine, Thursday, Nov. 29, 2018. Ukraine put its military forces on high combat alert and announced martial law this week after Russian border guards fired on and seized three Ukrainian ships in the Black Sea. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) Ukrainian soldiers drive APCs near Urzuf, south coast of Azov sea, eastern Ukraine, Thursday, Nov. 29, 2018. Ukraine put its military forces on high combat alert and announced martial law this week after Russian border guards fired on and seized three Ukrainian ships in the Black Sea. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) Ukrainian soldiers stand atop an APC near Urzuf, south coast of Azov sea, eastern Ukraine, Thursday, Nov. 29, 2018. Ukraine put its military forces on high combat alert and announced martial law this week after Russian border guards fired on and seized three Ukrainian ships in the Black Sea. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) A man swims in the cold sea water in front of Mariupol trade port in Mariupol, south coast of Azov sea, eastern Ukraine, Thursday, Nov. 29, 2018. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia (AP) - Relatives of people aboard Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 that disappeared four years ago presented five pieces of possible plane debris to the government on Friday and called for a renewed search for the missing jet. The Boeing 777 jet vanished with 239 people aboard while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014. So far only fragments have washed ashore, and two massive ocean searches have been called off. Grace Nathan, whose mother Anne Daisy was on the flight, said the new debris was found by villagers in Madagascar over the past two years as part of a privately funded search. She said one of the pieces has a readable label and is believed to be a floor panel from the plane. She urged the government to find more plane debris that could be either buried in sand or floating in waters off Africa to help shed light on one of aviation's greatest mysteries. She also said many private companies are willing to help find the jet on a "no cure, no fee" basis. "Why should we turn a blind eye to evidence washing up on the shores? It should be looked at as a jigsaw puzzle. The more we have, the more we can learn," she said. "I think the government should be more open to allow (private companies) to continue to search." Nathan and a few other relatives in the Voice 370 group representing families of those on the plane handed over the debris to Transport Minister Anthony Loke. Grace Nathan, whose mother was on the ill-fated Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, shows a serial number on a piece of debris believed to be from the missing plane at Ministry of Transport in Putrajaya, Malaysia, Friday, Nov. 30, 2018. Families of people aboard Flight 370 that disappeared four years ago presented five pieces of possible plane debris to the government and asked it to resume the search for the missing jet. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian) Loke said the debris will be verified by investigators but the government is only open to continuing the search if there is credible evidence of the plane's location. American wreckage hunter Blaine Gibson said the debris has been inspected by independent experts, who believe it is from a Boeing 777 plane. The piece that may be a floor panel indicates the plane may have shattered on impact and that there is no intact fuselage underwater, he said. Malaysia signed a "no cure, no fee" deal with U.S.-based Ocean Infinity in January to resume the hunt for the plane, a year after the official search of the southern Indian Ocean by Australia, Malaysia and China was called off. But the second search was halted at the end of May after it found nothing. A Malaysian-led independent investigation report released in July highlighted shortcomings in the government's response to the plane's disappearance, including lapses by air traffic control and a failure to swiftly initiate an emergency response and monitor radar continuously. It also raised the possibility of "intervention by a third party" and reiterated Malaysia's assertion the plane was deliberately diverted and flown for over seven hours after severing communications. The report said there was insufficient information to determine if the aircraft broke up in the air or during an impact with the ocean. Jacquita Gomes, wife of Patrick Gomes, the in-flight supervisor on the ill-fated Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, shows off a piece of debris believed to be from the missing plane at Ministry of Transport in Putrajaya, Malaysia, Friday, Nov. 30, 2018. Families of people aboard Flight 370 that disappeared four years ago presented five pieces of possible plane debris to the government and asked it to resume the search for the missing jet. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian) Pieces of debris believed to be from the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 are handed to Ministry of Transport in Putrajaya, Malaysia, Friday, Nov. 30, 2018. Families of people aboard Flight 370 that disappeared four years ago presented five pieces of possible plane debris to the government and asked it to resume the search for the missing jet. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian) Grace Nathan, left, whose mother was on Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, and Jacquita Gomes, right, wife of Patrick Gomes, the in-flight supervisor on the ill-fated plane, show pieces of debris believed to be from the missing plane at Ministry of Transport in Putrajaya, Malaysia, Friday, Nov. 30, 2018. Families of people aboard Flight 370 that disappeared four years ago presented five pieces of possible plane debris to the government and asked it to resume the search for the missing jet. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian) Pieces of debris believed to be from the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 are displayed at Ministry of Transport in Putrajaya, Malaysia, Friday, Nov. 30, 2018. Families of people aboard Flight 370 that disappeared four years ago presented five pieces of possible plane debris to the government and asked it to resume the search for the missing jet. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian) Jacquita Gomes, left, wife of Patrick Gomes, the in-flight supervisor on the ill-fated Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, and Blaine Alan Gibson, representative of next of kins show a piece of debris believed to be from the missing plane at Ministry of Transport in Putrajaya, Malaysia, Friday, Nov. 30, 2018. Families of people aboard Flight 370 that disappeared four years ago presented five pieces of possible plane debris to the government and asked it to resume the search for the missing jet. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian) TOKYO (AP) - A Japanese court on Friday approved a 10-day extension of the detention of former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn. The Tokyo District Court said it approved a request from prosecutors to keep Ghosn until Dec. 10 for a further investigation of his suspected financial irregularities. Ghosn, 64, was arrested Nov. 19 by Tokyo prosecutors on suspicion he falsified financial statements and underreported his income and benefits. His first 10 days in custody expires at the end of Friday. The court said it also approved a 10-day detention extension for another former Nissan executive, Greg Kelly. He was arrested with Ghosn on suspicion he collaborated in the alleged underreporting of his boss' income. Prosecutors suspect Ghosn under-reported his income by half, or 5 billion yen ($44 million), over five years. Nissan Motor Co. ousted him as its chairman last week, saying an internal investigation prompted by a whistleblower also found Ghosn misused company money and assets. Ghosn turned around France's Renault SA and then Japan's Nissan, eventually linking them in an alliance with Mitsubishi Motor Corp. in their top-selling venture. The three companies reaffirmed their alliance on Thursday despite the arrests. No charges have been brought yet and Ghosn has made no public comment about the case. The board of Renault voted to keep him as CEO, pending evidence in the case, but appointed a temporary replacement, and Mitsubishi Motors' board dismissed Ghosn as chairman earlier this week. Ghosn, a Lebanese who was born in Brazil and studied in France, has been detained in spartan conditions in the Tokyo Detention House, which also holds death row inmates, including doomsday cult leader Shoko Asahara until he was hanged earlier this year. The arrest and detention of such a prominent businessman is shedding light on Japan's pre-indictment detention of suspects, even those suspected of financial crimes, which has long drawn criticism from human rights activists. France and Lebanon also have expressed concern about Ghosn's prolonged detention and a lack of transparency in the investigation. Shin Kukimoto, deputy chief prosecutor at the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors' Office, brushed off the criticism. He told reporters Thursday that the investigation of the two suspects is being carried out properly under the Japanese criminal justice system, and that the detention of Ghosn and Kelly is to avoid a flight risk. After an initial investigation period, Japanese authorities can detain a suspect up to 20 days per charge, and possibly gain more time by adding more charges. He said Ghosn has been treated like any other suspect or defendant, with three simple meals a day and eight hours of sleep. Ghosn is communicating with prosecutors through an English-speaking translator during his daily interrogation, but without the presence of a lawyer. Ghosn can meet his lawyers and diplomats from France, Brazil and Lebanon, where he has citizenship, Kukimoto said. At the time of his arrest, Ghosn was heading the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance, which says it sold more than 10.6 million vehicles in nearly 200 countries in 2017. ___ Follow Mari Yamaguchi on Twitter at https://www.twitter/com/mariyamaguchi HANOI, Vietnam (AP) - A court in northern Vietnam has sentenced nine people including three women to death after finding them guilty of heroin trading and possession. Three others were given life sentences while the court in Ha Nam province, 60 kilometers (38 miles) south of Hanoi, handed down jail terms between 12 to 20 years to nine others on the same charges at the end of the five-day trial Friday. The official Vietnam News Agency says they were convicted of trading and possessing nearly 19 kilograms (42 pounds) of heroin between June 2016 and March 2017. Vietnam has one of toughest drug laws in the world where trafficking 100 grams of heroin or 600 grams of opium is punishable by death. BERLIN (AP) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel was finally on her way to Argentina Friday for the Group of 20 summit after a technical problem with her plane forced her to change plans and stay overnight in Bonn. Merkel's office said that she and a small delegation, including the finance minister took a different government plane to Madrid on Friday morning, and then boarded a commercial flight to Buenos Aires. Merkel was en route Thursday night on an air force Airbus A340, but turned around over the Netherlands after the captain reported a technical problem. The plane was diverted to the Cologne-Bonn airport and landed without incident. Air force Col. Guido Henrich said the problem was caused by the failure of an electrical distributor box, which affected the radio system and also a fuel system, meaning that the plane couldn't dump fuel. The part was replaced and the plane is now functional again, he said. The plane landed at Cologne-Bonn with most of the fuel for its planned trans-Atlantic flight on board, making it heavier than normal and causing one brake to overheat slightly as it came to a stop on the runway, Henrich said. In this Nov. 29, 2018 photo German chancellor Angela Merkel leaves the government Airbus which was grounded after a technical failure at the airport in Cologne, western Germany, delaying Merkel's arrival at the G20 summit in Buenos Aires. (Joerg Blank/dpa via AP) He stressed, however, that there was no danger to the people on board. The plane was able to communicate by satellite despite the problem with its radio system. The air force was sending a similar plane from Cologne-Bonn, where the government's fleet is based, to Buenos Aires on Friday to pick up Merkel after the G-20 summit. HANOI, Vietnam (AP) - A court in northern Vietnam on Friday jailed two former police generals for protecting a multimillion-dollar online gambling ring as the Communist government steps up its crackdown on graft. Former national police chief Phan Van Vinh and former head of hi-tech crimes police department Nguyen Thanh Hoa were sentenced to nine and 10 years respectively after being convicted of abuse of power at the end of the three-week trial by the People's Court in Phu Tho province. Two gambling ring leaders, Nguyen Van Duong, former chairman of the private company CNC, and Phan San Nam, former chairman of VTC Online joint stock company, were sentenced to 10 and five years respectively for organizing gambling and money laundering. The ring had operated from April 2015 until it was broken up in August last year with some $425 million having been gambled online. The ring made $200 million in illegal profits, according to the government. They were among 92 defendants involved in the case. "Vinh's acts have caused discontent among the public, reduced the reputation of the police force and people's trust," state-run Tuoi Tre newspaper quoted the verdict as saying. "Vinh had intentionally covered up the crimes committed by Duong and his accomplices." Former police generals Nguyen Thanh Hoa, center front row, and Phan Van Vinh, right second row, are escorted by police to a courtroom of People's Court in northern province of Phu Tho, Vietnam, Friday, Nov. 30, 2018. The court jailed the two former police generals for protecting a multimillion-dollar online gambling ring as the Communist government steps up its crackdown on graft. Former national police chief Phan and former head of hi-tech crimes police department Nguyen were sentenced to nine and 10 years respectively after being convicted of abuse of power at the end of the three-week trial. (Nguyen Trung Kien/Vietnam News Agency via AP) Vinh, who was general director of the General Department of Police under the Ministry of Public Security until his retirement two years ago, was arrested in July while Hoa was arrested a month earlier. Following their arrests, the ministry stripped both men of their ranks. The two allowed CNC company to rent an office from the General Department of Police, which indirectly facilitated the crimes and hindered their staff and other agencies in investigating the gambling ring, the verdict said. During the hearing, prosecutors quoted Duong as telling police investigators that he bribed Vinh with $2.8 million, a $7,000 Rolex watch and gave Hoa $936,000, state media reported. The verdict, however, said there has been no evidence to prove the two former police generals were involved in bribery. The foreign media were not allowed to cover the trial. Vietnam's unprecedented crackdown on graft had previously focused on corruption at the state energy giant PetroVietnam and the banking sector but appears to be spreading to the police force. Scores of PetroVietnam senior officials and bankers have been brought to trial, the most high-ranking of them being Dinh La Thang, a former Politburo member who was sentenced to a total of 31 years in prison for mismanagement in two separate cases earlier this year dating to his time leading PetroVietnam. He was the first Politburo member to be jailed in decades. BERLIN (AP) - German authorities are continuing to search offices of Deutsche Bank as part of an investigation into suspicion that some employees helped set up offshore companies that were used to launder hundreds of millions of euros. The Frankfurt prosecutors' office told the dpa news agency Friday that additional materials were being secured in the second day of the raids. On Thursday, about 170 police officers, prosecutors and others searched through the bank's headquarters in Frankfurt and buildings in nearby areas, seizing electronic and paper records. Prosecutors say information from analysis of documents leaked from tax havens in recent years, including the 2016 "Panama Papers," prompted their investigation. Two employees, aged 50 and 46, are currently under investigation for allegedly failing to report suspicious transactions but prosecutors say the investigation could broaden. In a statement issued Thursday, Deutsche Bank confirmed the search and said "the investigation has to do with the Panama Papers case." Police cars stand in the backyard of Deutsche Bank headquarters during a raid in Frankfurt, Germany, Thursday, Nov. 29, 2018. (AP Photo/Michael Probst) "More details will be communicated as soon as these become known. We are cooperating fully with the authorities," the bank said. THESSALONIKI, Greece (AP) - A Greek court on Friday acquitted 21 people accused of raiding prospective gold mining facilities that some see as a welcome foreign investment but many local residents strongly oppose on environmental grounds. About 40 masked people attacked the facilities at Skouries in the Halkidiki peninsula in northern Greece in February 2013. They allegedly assaulted security guards and set fire to machinery and offices. The court in the northern city of Thessaloniki found there wasn't sufficient evidence to convict the defendants, all of whom had denied any wrongdoing. "There are indications of guilt for defendants, but events also came up which refute these indications and create doubts as to the guilt," presiding judge Vassilis Stefos said. "However, full proof of guilt is required" for a conviction. The charges had included attempted murder, possession of explosives, arms offenses and forming a criminal organization. The mining facilities, owned by Canada's Eldorado Gold, have split Halkidiki residents. Many welcome the jobs that the gold and copper mine would bring, while others say it would destroy the environment and pristine forests, harming tourism and other local sources of revenue such as farming, livestock rearing and fishing. Protests broke out in the area, with tear gas and firebombs used and residents trading accusations with the company about heavy-handed reactions and the use of violence. Friday's decision was greeted with cheers in the courthouse, which was packed with friends and supporters of the defendants from the Halkidiki villages of Ierissos and Megali Panagia. A defense lawyer, Giorgos Kyritsis, said the ruling fully justified his clients. "It was clearly proved that the charges were fabricated," he told The Associated Press. Eldorado Gold acquired the Skouries site in 2012 and started construction work a year later with a view to operating it as an open pit and underground mine. But long delays with permits and licenses from Greek authorities led to a temporary suspension in development, and in 2017 Eldorado Gold placed the site in a state of care and maintenance. ___ Follow Kantouris at http://www.twitter.com/CostasKantouris MADRID (AP) - A Spanish humanitarian aid organization says it has put a medical team aboard a fishing vessel stranded at sea for a week after it rescued 12 migrants in the Mediterranean. Open Arms said in a tweet Friday the medics are giving check-ups to the migrants, two of whom it described as minors. The plight of the Nuestra Senora de Loreto trawler has deepened in recent days, with the Spanish government saying it is concerned about the lack of food and fuel on board amid worsening weather. The Spanish government is trying to persuade Italy or Malta to let it dock. Those countries have rejected the appeal because the rescue took place in Libyan waters. European Union countries have been at odds over who should take in migrants from North Africa. WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) - A lawyer suing Delaware prison officials says ongoing abuse and neglect is to blame for the recent deaths of two inmates who witnessed a fatal prison riot last year. The News Journal of Wilmington reports Stephen Hampton says the Delaware Department of Correction's disregard for inmate health issues led to the deaths of two riot-related inmates since October. Hampton recently released a report detailing "ubiquitous torture" of some inmates, especially those housed where the deadly James T. Vaughn Correctional Center happened. Prison officials say foul play was not suspected in the deaths of 30-year-old Kelly Gibbs and 49-year-old Luis Cabrera. Authorities have not said how they died. The DOC declined to comment on Hampton's allegations, citing pending litigation. The prison's health care system also declined to comment. ___ Information from: The News Journal of Wilmington, Del., http://www.delawareonline.com PITTSBURGH (AP) - A veteran Pittsburgh police officer stands accused of lying to the FBI during a bank robbery investigation this year. Antoine Cain was charged Tuesday in U.S. District Court with two counts of making false statements to government agents. The court records were unsealed Thursday. A Pittsburgh police spokesman says Cain has reached a plea deal with prosecutors and has been placed on unpaid suspension. But further details were not disclosed, and a telephone number for Cain could not be located Friday. Cain has served on the force since 1994. Authorities say Cain lied on two occasions to FBI agents investigating the Jan, 8 armed robbery. They say he denied knowing who the robber was when he did know because the robber had confessed to him. HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP) - Marshall University in West Virginia has hosted a meeting to hear opinions on whether to change the name of a building honoring a Confederate Civil War general. The Herald-Dispatch reports faculty, staff and alumni spoke at the meeting hosted by a school committee formed to examine the name of Jenkins Hall. The hall honors Gen. Albert Gallatin Jenkins, who one professor told the committee was even criticized by the Confederate leaders Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson. College Republicans Secretary Trentan Sizemore noted the name change should mean a name change for the college itself, which honors Supreme Court judge and slave owner John Marshall. The committee will collect and consider responses through Dec. 14 and will present a recommendation to the University President Jerome Gilbert in January. ___ Information from: The Register-Herald, http://www.register-herald.com ISTANBUL (AP) - A Turkish court has rejected an appeal to release the former head of Turkey's pro-Kurdish opposition from pre-trial detention, despite a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights. Turkey's official Anadolu news agency said the court on Friday turned down the release application by Selahattin Demirtas' lawyers. The former co-chairman of the Peoples' Democratic Party was arrested more than two years ago on terrorism charges. Last week, the ECHR ordered Turkey to end Demirtas' pre-trial detention, saying his rights to a speedy trial and free elections were violated. It said his continued detention would be a breach of Turkey's obligation to abide by the court's judgment. Demirtas was sentenced to four years in prison for terror propaganda in support of outlawed Kurdish rebels and has several other trials pending. HAVANA (AP) - Cuba's government has modified a series of measures unpopular with the country's private sector, including lifting restrictions on the number of business permits a person can have and the number of chairs there can be in restaurants, a top official said Wednesday. In July, authorities announced tighter controls on self-employment, including that Cubans would no longer be able to run more than a single business and high-earning businesses would pay new taxes, among other measures. The controls were meant to prevent tax evasion, abuses and the accumulation of wealth after openings on the communist-run island had fueled the rise of a prosperous upper-middle class. Labor and Social Security Minister Margarita Gonzalez said authorities decided to modify some of those regulations as a result of months of meetings with representatives of the private sector to hear their complaints. The rules, with the revisions, take effect Friday. Under the initial regulations announced in July, Cubans could have only one business permit - they couldn't be a manicurist, rent a room and sell arts and crafts, for example. They can now have more than one permit as long as they are reasonable, Gonzalez said. Another change removes an unpopular regulation that had limited the number of chairs allowed in privately owned restaurants to 50. Self-employment "is a complement to state activity," Gonzalez said, defending it as a source of employment, taxes and improvements for the population while acknowledging that "irregularities have also been observed." FILE - In this Jan. 31, 2018 file photo, patrons fill the outdoor seating area of a private restaurant in Havana, Cuba. Cuba's government modified in December 2018 a series of measures unpopular with the country's private sector, including lifting restrictions on the number of business permits a person can have and the number of chairs there can be in restaurants. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa, File) One of the world's last communist nations, Cuba has made minimal reforms in comparison with economic high-performers like China and Vietnam. But the changes it has made have allowed the number of licensed "self-employed" workers to rise sharply since 2010, when Cuba began opening to more categories of private business. Thousands more Cubans work full or part-time in private activities without a license, though the large majority or Cubans still work in the state sector. The new prosperity, often funded with capital from Cuban emigres overseas, has prompted resentment and complaints from the hundreds of thousands of Cubans who still live on state salaries averaging $30 a month. ___ Andrea Rodriguez on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ARodriguezAP TOKYO (AP) - One of two crew members recovered after two U.S. warplanes collided and crashed off Japan's coast early Thursday is dead and five others remain missing, the U.S. military said. The Marine Corps said the other recovered crew member was in fair condition. Both were in an F/A-18 Hornet fighter jet that collided with a KC-130 Hercules refueling aircraft collided during training at about 2 a.m. after taking off from their base in Iwakuni, near Hiroshima. The five others were in the KC-130. The Marines said in a statement that the two planes were involved in routine training, including aerial refueling, but that it was still investigating what caused the crash. President Donald Trump tweeted that his thoughts and prayers are with the Marine Corps crew members involved in the collision. He thanked the U.S. Forces in Japan for their "immediate response and rescue efforts" and said "Whatever you need, we are here for you." The crash took place 320 kilometers (200 miles) off the coast, according to the U.S. military. Japanese officials said it occurred closer to the coast, about 100 kilometers (60 miles), and that's where the search and rescue mission found the two crew members. In this Oct. 13, 2016, photo provided by U.S. Marine Corps, two F/A-18D Hornets with Marine All-Weather Fighter Attack Squadron 533 approach a KC-130J with Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 352 during a Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force - Crisis Response - Central Command aerial refueling exercise in undisclosed location. On Thursday, Dec. 6, 2018, two American warplanes crashed into the Pacific Ocean off Japan's southwestern coast after a midair collision, and rescuers found one of the seven crew members in stable condition while searching for the others, officials said. The U.S. Marine Corps said that the crash involved an F/A-18 fighter jet and a KC-130 refueling aircraft during regular training after the planes took off from their base in Iwakuni, near Hiroshima in western Japan. (Cpl. Trever Statz/U.S. Marine Corps via AP) Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force, which dispatched aircraft and vessels to join in the search operation, said Japanese rescuers found one of the crew from the fighter jet in stable condition. The Marines said the crew member was taken to a hospital on the base in Iwakuni and was in fair condition, but did not provide any other details. Japan's coast guard also joined the search. The crash is the latest in recent series of accidents involving the U.S. military deployed to and near Japan. Last month, a U.S. Navy F/A-18 Hornet from the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan crashed into the sea southwest of Japan's southern island of Okinawa, though its two pilots were rescued safely. In mid-October, a MH-60 Seahawk also belonging to the Ronald Reagan crashed off the Philippine Sea shortly after takeoff, causing non-fatal injuries to a dozen sailors. More than 50,000 U.S. troops are based in Japan under a bilateral security pact. ___ Follow Mari Yamaguchi on Twitter at https://www.twitter.com/mariyamaguchi In this aerial photo, Japan's Coast Guard ship is seen at sea during a search operation for U.S. Marine refueling plane and fighter jet off Muroto, Kochi prefecture, southwestern Japan, Thursday, Dec. 6, 2018. A Marine refueling plane and a fighter jet crashed into the Pacific Ocean off Japan's southwestern coast after a midair collision early Thursday, and rescuers found one of the seven crew members in stable condition while searching for the others, officials said. The U.S. Marine Corps said that the 2 a.m. crash involved an F/A-18 fighter jet and a KC-130 refueling aircraft during regular training after the planes took off from their base in Iwakuni, near Hiroshima in western Japan. (Kyodo News via AP) This March, 2018, photo shows a F/A-18 jet at United States Marine Corps air station in Iwakuni, western Japan. Two American warplanes crashed into the Pacific Ocean off Japan's southwestern coast after a midair collision early Thursday, Dec. 6, 2018, and rescuers found one of the seven crew members in stable condition while searching for the others, officials said.(Kyodo News via AP) BERLIN (AP) - Three high-profile contenders are vying to lead Angela Merkel's party as the longtime German chancellor makes way after 18 years for a successor who could shape the European Union's most populous country for the next generation. The center-right Christian Democratic Union will elect on Friday a new chairman or chairwoman, who will be the favorite to run for chancellor in Germany's next election. Merkel has been CDU leader since 2000 and chancellor since 2005. She moved her party relentlessly to the center, dropping military conscription, accelerating Germany's exit from nuclear energy, introducing benefits encouraging fathers to look after their young children and allowing the introduction of gay marriage. Most controversially, she allowed large numbers of asylum-seekers into Germany in 2015. Merkel's popularity lifted her center-right bloc for years, peaking in a 2013 election in which it won 41.5 percent of the vote. But in October, after a troubled start to her fourth-term government and two dismal state election performances, the 64-year-old announced she would step down as CDU leader and wouldn't seek a fifth term as chancellor. Her potential successors need to lift a party polling under 30 percent. They could take the CDU, which together with the Bavaria-only Christian Social Union has been post-war Germany's most consistently successful political force, in different directions. FILE - In this Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2018 file photo Friedrich Merz, former CDU faction leader, left, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, General Secretary of the German Christian Democratic Union, and Germany's Health Minister Jens Spahn, right, all members of the German Christian Democratic Party, attend a CDU regional conference and present their concepts as candidates for the CDU chairmanship in Seebach, central Germany, Wednesday. Three high-profile contenders are vying to lead Angela Merkel's party as the longtime German chancellor makes way after 18 years for a successor who could shape the European Union's most populous country for the next generation. The center-right Christian Democratic Union will elect on Friday a new chairman or chairwoman, who will be the favorite to run for chancellor in Germany's next election. (AP Photo/Jens Meyer, file) ANNEGRET KRAMP-KARRENBAUER, 56 The CDU's general secretary since February, Kramp-Karrenbauer - often called "AKK" - is a Merkel ally and the closest to her centrist stance. She touts her own lengthy experience in regional government, which saw her become the first woman to become a state's interior minister, or top security official, and serve as governor of western Saarland state. Kramp-Karrenbauer says she knows how to win elections, having defied expectations to win re-election in Saarland by a wide margin last year. And she says she put herself "at the service of the CDU" by giving up that job this year. Kramp-Karrenbauer has consistently shown more willingness than the chancellor to cater to conservative rhetoric and more vocally opposed gay marriage. Recently, she has sought to put careful distance between herself and Merkel without disavowing her, saying she has had "very lively discussions" with the chancellor on various subjects. She has talked tough on immigration issues, proposing a lifelong entry ban to Europe for asylum-seekers convicted of serious crimes. But she has warned that endlessly reheating arguments about the 2015 migrant influx is a turn-off for voters. FRIEDRICH MERZ, 63 A one-time Merkel rival, Merz is seeking a spectacular comeback after more than a decade away from front-line politics. He stands for a more conservative and business-friendly approach. Merz led the center-right group in parliament from 2000 until 2002, when Merkel pushed him out of that job. He left parliament in 2009, and in recent years practiced as a lawyer and headed the supervisory board of the German branch of investment manager BlackRock. A snappy speaker, Merz lacks government experience but is well-connected in the party and has presented his time away from politics as a virtue, saying that he has "had the opportunity ... to look from outside at politics and its decisions." In the past, he advocated radical tax reform and argued that foreigners should learn German "Leitkultur," which could be roughly translated as "majority culture." In this campaign, he has criticized the "unregulated influx" of migrants and charged that the CDU accepted the rise of the far-right Alternative for Germany, which entered the national parliament last year, "with a shrug of the shoulders." He appeared briefly to question the right to asylum enshrined in the German constitution, but quickly walked that back. And he has advocated encouraging greater use of private pension plans using shares. JENS SPAHN, 38 A Merkel critic, Spahn became health minister in March as Merkel acknowledged pressure for renewal. He has support on the party's right - but that appears to have been largely swallowed by Merz's reemergence, leaving him as the outsider. Spahn has made migration a focus, calling it the "elephant in the room." He has said that security is a key issue, and argued that "not everything is good again" even though the flow of migrants has slowed. Spahn, who is openly gay, has said that his party doesn't need to "shift to the right," but it does need to start "a real change of generations." He looks highly unlikely to succeed this time, but this contest could position him well for the CDU's next leadership change. AND THEN? The choice will be made by 1,001 delegates at a party congress in Hamburg, many of them professional or part-time politicians at federal, regional or local level. Merkel has signaled that she intends to remain chancellor for the rest of this parliamentary term before retiring from politics. The next election theoretically shouldn't be until 2021, but that is uncertain. Merkel's governing coalition with the center-left Social Democrats, the CDU's traditional rivals, has had an extremely bumpy few months. Another crisis, or an already-agreed midterm review next fall, could bring it down. Whoever becomes CDU leader will want to follow through on promises to sharpen the party's profile. Observers struggle to imagine Merkel working well with Merz, in particular, though both dismiss that concern. "I have no doubt that, if that is the outcome, I can work well together with Friedrich Merz, as with every other candidate," Merkel says. FILE - In this Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2018 file photo Friedrich Merz, former CDU faction leader, left, Germany's Health Minister Jens Spahn, center, and Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, General Secretary of the German Christian Democratic Union, all members of the German Christian Democratic Party, hold numbers for the speech order to present their concepts as candidates for the CDU chairmanship in Seebach, central Germany. Three high-profile contenders are vying to lead Angela Merkel's party as the longtime German chancellor makes way after 18 years for a successor who could shape the European Union's most populous country for the next generation. The center-right Christian Democratic Union will elect on Friday a new chairman or chairwoman, who will be the favorite to run for chancellor in Germany's next election. (AP Photo/Jens Meyer, file) FILE - In this Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2018 file photo German chancellor Angela Merkel waves to supporters at the final election party of her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) prior the EU Parliament elections in Duesseldorf, Germany. Three high-profile contenders are vying to lead Angela Merkel's party as the longtime German chancellor makes way after 18 years for a successor who could shape the European Union's most populous country for the next generation. The center-right Christian Democratic Union will elect on Friday a new chairman or chairwoman, who will be the favorite to run for chancellor in Germany's next election. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, file) FILE - In this Monday, Feb. 19, 2018 file photo German Chancellor Angela Merkel, left, and the governor of German Saarland state and designated Christian Democratic Union party General Secretary, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, right, attend a party leaders' meeting in Berlin, Germany. The CDU's general secretary since February, Kramp-Karrenbauer _ often called 'AKK' _ is a Merkel ally and the closest to her centrist stance. She touts her own lengthy experience in regional government, which saw her become the first woman to become a state's interior minister, or top security official, and serve as governor of western Saarland state. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, file) FILE - In this Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2018 file photo Friedrich Merz, member of the German Christian Democratic Party, addresses the media during a press conference in Berlin, Germany. After longtime German chancellor Angela Merkel makes way for a successor who could shape the European Union's most populous country for the next generation Merz is seeking a spectacular comeback after more than a decade away from front-line politics. He stands for a more conservative and business-friendly approach. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn, file) FILE - In this Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2018 photo German Health Minister Jens Spahn arrives for the weekly cabinet meeting at the chancellery in Berlin. After longtime German chancellor Angela Merkel makes way for a successor who could shape the European Union's most populous country for the next generation Spahn has made migration a focus, calling it the "elephant in the room." He has said that security is a key issue, and argued that "not everything is good again" on migration issues. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, file) FILE - In this Monday, Feb. 26, 2018 file photo German Chancellor and party chairwoman Angela Merkel waves during the party convention of the Christian Democratic Union CDU in Berlin, Germany. Three high-profile contenders are vying to lead Angela Merkel's party as the longtime German chancellor makes way after 18 years for a successor who could shape the European Union's most populous country for the next generation. The center-right Christian Democratic Union will elect on Friday a new chairman or chairwoman, who will be the favorite to run for chancellor in Germany's next election. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, file) Workers walk through the convention venue during preparations for the 31th party convention of German Christian Democrats (CDU) in Hamburg, Germany, Wednesday, Dec 5, 2018. (Christian Charisius/dpa via AP) FILE - In this Thursday, March 23, 2017 file photo Prime Minister of German federal state Saarland and CDU top candidate Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer during an election campaign in St.Wendel, Germany. The CDU's general secretary since February, Kramp-Karrenbauer _ often called 'AKK' _ is a Merkel ally and the closest to her centrist stance. She touts her own lengthy experience in regional government, which saw her become the first woman to become a state's interior minister, or top security official, and serve as governor of western Saarland state. (AP Photo/Michael Probst, file) FILE - In this Monday, Feb. 19, 2018 file photo The governor of German Saarland state and designated CDU Secretary General, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, addresses a news conference after a party's leaders meeting in Berlin, Germany. The CDU's general secretary since February, Kramp-Karrenbauer _ often called 'AKK' _ is a Merkel ally and the closest to her centrist stance. She touts her own lengthy experience in regional government, which saw her become the first woman to become a state's interior minister, or top security official, and serve as governor of western Saarland state. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, file) FILE - In this Friday, Nov. 30, 2018 file photo Friedrich Merz, former German Christian Democratic Union party faction leader, speaks during a CDU regional conference in Berlin, Germany. After longtime German chancellor Angela Merkel makes way for a successor who could shape the European Union's most populous country for the next generation Merz is seeking a spectacular comeback after more than a decade away from front-line politics. He stands for a more conservative and business-friendly approach. (Photo/Markus Schreiber, file) MADRID (AP) - The European police agency says Spanish authorities have arrested 37 people suspected of belonging to a Vietnamese people-smuggling ring that has earned an estimated 13 million euros ($14.8 million). Europol said in a statement Thursday the gang charged each Vietnamese migrant 18,000 euros ($20,500) and smuggled them into the European Union via South America. Each group of up to 12 migrants was guided by an English-speaking smuggler who facilitated their travel. Spanish police conducted searches of 10 houses and more than 100 beauty salons across the country after learning that the smuggling operation was largely based in Barcelona. The gang also furnished the migrants with counterfeit residency documents. Police have released footage of officers being surrounded by up to 100 teenagers in a town centre and appalling scenes as a number of them launched an attack. Durham Police urged parents to take responsibility for their children following the frightening disturbance in Stanley around 8.40pm on Saturday November 3. To prevent further disturbances, they had set up a text message service which will alert parents when there is trouble in the town centre and it will tell them to collect their teenagers and remove them from trouble. The video from body cameras shows uniformed officers responding to a report of a vulnerable female at the bus station, and being quickly surrounded. Officers were heard to say We are asking people nicely to move away before tensions rose and they shouted: Everybody out, move back now. A Police Community Support Officer was punched in the face and a group of around 20 youths in hoodies threw bricks, lit fireworks and attacked the police. A group of around 20 youths in hoodies threw bricks, lit fireworks and attacked the police (Joe Giddens/PA) Sergeant Emma Kay said: Disorder of this kind is totally unacceptable and violence against our officers will not be tolerated. Action will be taken against all the individuals involved that night and Stanley Police will continue to take positive action against anyone involved in this type of behaviour. Parents were asked to come and review the footage from the officers body cams that night and they all agreed the behaviour of the children was appalling. While there is a hardcore group of individuals involved in this incident, there are many more people stood on the sidelines, young people who are going to affect their life chances by continuing to engage in this type of behaviour. We are asking for parents to step up to the plate, take responsibility for your children. Do you know where they are, or are they going to bring trouble to your door? The sergeant asked them to sign up to the Be Informed text service which will alert them to collect their children if there is trouble in Stanley. A group of young students hope to bag a Christmas number one in honour of their classmate who is battling cancer. Transition year students at St Colmans College in Fermoy have recorded a version of Lean On Me, originally a hit for Bill Withers back in 1972. The release will raise money for their friend who is being treated at Crumlin Childrens Hospital in Dublin, as well as a number of charities. The project is being overseen by music teacher Sarah Barry, but she said the idea and the impetus came from the students themselves who were keen to do something for their classmate. The driving force is the boys, Miss Barry, 32, told the Press Association. The students said theyd love to do something to raise money. The project is being overseen by music teacher Sarah Barry, but she said the idea and the impetus came from the students themselves (St Colmans College) Hes such a big heart and hes an incredible student, and his friends have said hes really touched by whats happening. Miss Barry brought in producer Mark Cahill to help record the song and her own vocals also appear on the track alongside the boys, who are 15 and 16-year-old transition year students at the school in County Cork. And while the level of musical aptitude may vary within the group, Miss Barry says the collective sound is something special. Its the energy theyre putting behind it, she said. They sound amazing. Theres so much energy and passion behind it. The project will raise money for the Ronald McDonald House, the national childrens ambulance service Bumbleance and Crumlin Childrens Hospital, as well as the student and his family. And it has really started to gain momentum, with support Gaelic games commentator Micheal O Muircheartaigh, star chef Paul Kelly and Olympian Rob Heffernan among the big names sending messages of support. Olympian athlete Rob Heffernan showing his support for #colmansstandtogether #ronaldmacdonaldhouse #cmrf #bumbleance #christmasno1 Posted by Colmansstandtogether on Monday, November 26, 2018 Now the boys have an unlikely chart success in their sights. We are aiming for Christmas number one in Ireland but as big as we can get, said Miss Barry. Who knows, maybe UK number one? But ultimately (we want) to raise as much money as possible for our worthy, worthy causes. The track will be available to download and stream from next Wednesday, December 5, with hard copies to be sold locally. Liam Fox will take a swipe at Tory opponents of Theresa Mays Brexit deal on Friday, accusing them of not facing up to the fact she has had to make tough choices. The International Trade Secretary will visit the South West as he becomes the latest Cabinet minister to come out to bat for the Prime Minister ahead of the meaningful vote on December 11. His intervention will come as Theresa May urged MPs to back her Brexit plan to avoid division and uncertainty, warning: A divided country is not a country that prospers. The Prime Minister was speaking from almost 7,000 miles away in Buenos Aires at the G20 with Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. Meanwhile, the number of Tory MPs who will not back her Withdrawal Agreement has reportedly reached 100, putting its success in serious jeopardy. It also comes as the Conservatives and Labour, divided over Brexit, also find themselves unable to come to an agreement over the hotly anticipated televised debate on Brexit. Downing Street are said to prefer a proposal put forward by the BBC for a December 9 tete-a-tete between the PM and Jeremy Corbyn, with Labour favouring a rival one-on-one offer from ITV. Meanwhile a multitude of other groups and parties are continuing to sound off they should also be allowed to take part, with campaigners for a second referendum even saying they were complaining to Ofcom. Dr Fox, an ardent Brexiteer, will tell an audience at Portbury Royal Docks near Bristol that while the deal hammered out with Brussels will not please everyone it provides a firm and stable base on which to leave the European Union. He is also due to outline Britains future global trading role, saying it is time to raise our sights, and acknowledge that there is a world beyond Europe, and a time beyond Brexit. Dr Fox is expected to say: The withdrawal agreement and the political declaration will not please everyone, and we have had some tough choices to make. Choices which many in Parliament, on both sides of the House, are yet to face up to. But the deal weve reached will give us a firm and stable base on which to leave the EU and build this countrys global future, a future that still encompasses Europe, of course, but also the wide fast-growing markets beyond, with all the opportunity that entails. Prime Minister Theresa May is in Buenos Aires at the G20 summit (Dominic Lipinski/PA) Dr Fox was reported to be among a group of five Cabinet ministers seeking to tweak Mrs Mays Withdrawal Agreement before MPs vote on December 11. In his speech he is also due to make an appeal for unity and a healing of political divisions over the referendum result, adding: In politics we cannot always have the luxury of doing what we want for ourselves, but we have an abiding duty to do what is right for our country. Meanwhile, speaking to reporters on her flight to the G20 summit, Mrs May said a defeat in the Commons in a fortnight would mean there will be decisions to be taken by Government and by business in relation to the practical preparations they would be looking to make for no-deal. The focus of myself and the Government is on the vote taking place on December 11. We will be telling MPs why we believe this is a good deal for the UK because it is a deal that delivers on the Brexit vote. However, fellow Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg has written in the Daily Telegraph of an effort to frighten and to gull (people) into acquiescing to a non-Brexit Brexit. The Conservative MP for North East Somerset added: (The) Withdrawal Agreement contradicts its previous and clear policies, while its spokesmen insist that the reverse is true. In the 2017 manifesto, the Conservatives said that the country would leave the single market and the customs union. The backstop and the proposed treaty keep the whole of the UK in the customs union, which allows the EU to set tax rates, with Northern Ireland in the single market too. There was no footnote listing these exceptions. The promises were clear and have been broken. Theresa May has vowed to maintain Britains defence of the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands, as she became the first Conservative Prime Minister to visit Argentina since the 1982 war. Mrs May will hold one-on-one talks on Friday with Argentine President Mauricio Macri, who is hosting leaders from around the world at the G20 summit of major economies. The Falklands are expected to feature in their discussions, but are not expected to dominate talks which will focus on trade. The Prime Minister faces potentially more awkward encounters in Buenos Aires with Saudi Arabias Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the wake the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and Russias Vladimir Putin following the poisoning of Sergei Skripal in Salisbury and the seizure of Ukrainian ships. Police outside the home of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal, who was poisoned with Novichok. (Ben Mitchell/PA) Downing Street confirmed the PM will hold face-to-face bilateral talks with the Crown Prince on Friday afternoon, at which she will raise the Khashoggi case as well as the Saudi-backed war on Houthi rebels in Yemen. Mrs May said: The message I give will be very clear. It is the message we have consistently given on this issue of Jamal Khashoggi and the issue of Yemen. In relation to Mr Khashoggi, we want to see a full and transparent investigation of what happened and those responsible being held to account. With the issue of Yemen, we continue to be deeply concerned about the humanitarian situation. The long-term solution for Yemen is a political solution, and we will be encouraging the parties to work for that political solution. President Macri has toned down official rhetoric over the islands which Argentinians know as Las Malvinas since taking over from Cristina Kirchner in 2015. This weeks announcement of a new air link between the Falklands and the South American mainland via Argentina has been greeted in London as an indication that relations are headed in a positive direction. Asked during her flight to Buenos Aires whether the UK remained ready to defend the Islands with military force if necessary, Mrs May said: I am clear that our position on the sovereignty of the Falklands has not changed. What has changed in recent months is we have seen better relations with Argentina. I think the announcement we saw earlier this week of the extra flight from the Falklands through to South America is important. It is important for the Falklands and it is important in showing a different relationship developing. I am talking to President Macri about issues about trade and opportunities for trade, but our position on the sovereignty of the Falklands hasnt changed and will not change. On #RemembranceSunday we remember with gratitude those who made the ultimate sacrifice to liberate the #Falklands in 1982 and the 22 Islanders who died in #WW1, & 24 killed in #WW2, to maintain our freedom. #WeWillRememberThem @PoppyLegion @SAMA82office #LestWeForget pic.twitter.com/i1rzgLlERU Falkland Islands Gov (@FalklandsGov) November 11, 2018 Mrs May is not expected to have bilateral talks with Mr Putin in Buenos Aires, as relations between the UK and Russia remain in the deep-freeze following the Salisbury poisoning and the annexation of Crimea. Britain has been a keen supporter of sanctions against Moscow for its interference in Ukraine and Mrs May made clear she does not rule out their extension following the seizure of three naval ships and their crews in the Black Sea. Our message to Russia is very clear, she said. They should release the ships and sailors and de-escalate the situation. If you look at what we have seen over the last year of so, this is part of a pattern of Russian behaviour. We have always been at the forefront in Europe of asking for sanctions on Russia in relation to its behaviour. We will continue to push for what we consider to be appropriate sanctions on Russia. Mrs May added: Russia could take a different approach. Russia could support the rules-based international system. If it did that, its position would be a different one. It is choosing to continue with this pattern of behaviour. The PM will use the G20 gathering to push her global Britain message, telling fellow leaders that her Brexit deal will be good for the world economy. After resuming its independent seat on the World Trade Organisation in April next year, the UK will become an active and leading voice in seeking reform of the body to increase transparency and modernise its approach to e-commerce, she will say. Former Prime Minister Tony Blair meets then Argentinian President Fernando De la Rua on Argentinian soil in Iguazu. (Chris Ison/PA) Mrs May is the first serving Prime Minister to visit Buenos Aires and the second to come to Argentina, after Tony Blair crossed the border from Brazil in 2001. Her visit marks an effort by the UK to increase trade links with Latin America after Brexit. World leaders are meeting in Buenos Aires for the latest G20 Summit the first time the forum has met in South America. Here, the Press Association answers some questions about the forum. What is the G20? For the first time in its history, Argentina will be hosting the #G20Summit, which brings together over 30 world leaders.#G20 #G20Argentina pic.twitter.com/UIQGfmgelh G20 Italy (@g20org) November 30, 2018 The Group of Twenty is a forum which sees 19 leading countries and the European Union meet annually to discuss policies to address the worlds most pressing challenges. The member countries are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The 19 members and the EU account for around two in three of the global population and nearly 80% of world trade. Who else is invited? Previous summits have seen participants who are not permanent members of the G20 invited, and Spain is a permanent invited guest and will be represented in Argentina. The summits hosts have also invited Chile and the Netherlands, while several partner organisations such as the African Union, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, International Monetary Fund, United Nations, World Bank, World Health Organisation and the World Trade Organisation are typically present. What is the history of the G20? Leaders pose for the family photo at the G7 summit at Teatro Greco in Taormina, Sicily, Italy in 2017 (Stefan Rousseau/PA) The idea for the G20 started within the G7 meeting of finance ministers in 1999 who felt they needed a more broad group to address the worlds financial challenges. After the financial crisis of 2008, the G20 worked on stabilising the worlds economy and also looks at markets, trade and development. What is the difference between the G7 and G20? The G7 is a group of the largest advanced economies in the world and comprises Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States. Russia was previously a member of the then G8 but was ejected over the annexation of Crimea. The G7 has a stronger focus on politics in industrialised countries, including discussions on health, energy, environment and terrorism, while the G20 looks at economic issues facing developed and emerging economies. What will be the focus of the G20 summit in Argentina? Only one week until leading world leaders meet at the #G20Summit, the most important event of the #G20 annual agenda.#G20Argentina pic.twitter.com/egDLew6rcx G20 Italy (@g20org) November 23, 2018 President Mauricio Macri said the slogan of the summit is a fair and sustainable future with a focus on putting people first and building consensus. Discussions at the event take place behind closed doors, but the aim is to create a final document which all members agree on to promote fair and sustainable development. As world leaders congregate for the G20 summit, key topics like Brexit and the stand-off between China and US President Trump will be on the table. All these weighty issues can give you a bit of a headache, so we find ourselves drawn more towards another subject: The food. The politicians in attendance might not have much time to try the local cuisine, but if they do theyre in for a real treat. The country has historically seen a big wave of immigration from European countries like Italy, so youll find Argentine versions of pizza and pasta dishes almost everywhere you turn. But what about the dishes which are much more classically Argentinian? These are the ones political bigwigs should be trying during their trip Empanadas Most South American countries have their own version of an empanada arguably the countrys most popular street food and all will claim theirs is the best. Not to reduce it too much, but its pretty much a Cornish pasty a small pastry parcel stuffed with either meat, veg or a combination of both. The most classic Argentinian empanada filling is beef with seasonings like onion, garlic and cumin, but you can also get specialities from different regions. Take the Jujuy province, which stuffs them with beef, chicken, goat or llama along with chilli, onion and peas. Meanwhile, in Patagonia, they specialise in lamb and even experiment with seafood. (Thinkstock/PA) Bondiola Argentinians love a good meat sandwich. Take the bondiola, another popular street food. Also known as bondipan, its bread (often baguette-style) stuffed with roast pork shoulder and lemon juice. Depending on how much you like to mix up your sandwiches, you can add other things like fried eggs, cheese or salsa. Choripan If you dont know anything about Argentinian cuisine, youll at least know its famous for red meat and wine. Thats why going to an asado is probably the first thing omnivores will do on a trip to Buenos Aires. Asado is basically a barbecue (but it also refers to how beef is grilled) its become an Argentinian ritual which involves many courses, each meatier than the next, cooked on a grill called a parrilla. Choripan is often a starter at a barbecue its a sausage sandwich with various additions like chimichurri (more on that later). Dont worry if you dont quite make it to a local asado, choripan is a popular street food that youll easily find. If you wanted something a bit more hardcore, try morcipan the blood sausage version. Chimichurri Politicians wont have to try too hard to seek out chimichurri chances are itll be in at least one dish they eat during the summit. Its a type of sauce or salsa that goes with literally anything but this is Argentina, so obviously you should be putting it on grilled meat. Its easy to make and involves no cooking. All you need to do is chop up parsley, garlic and oregano and add olive oil and red wine vinegar (and maybe some chilli if you want some heat). Provoleta After just a few days in Buenos Aires youll soon discover that if something can be barbecued, the Argentinians will do it. Its not just meat that gets the grilling treatment, but also cheese: Enter Provoleta. Luckily, you dont need to have gone to culinary school to rustle up this one. Its thick slices of a cheese similar to provolone this one is trademarked and cooked on coals until it starts bubbling. This isnt a fondue (that would get pretty messy on a barbecue), but rather the cheese is charred and gooey and not entirely molten. Its often served as a starter with crusty bread. If you dont have coals to hand, you can either put it under the grill or place the cheese in a frying pan over the barbecue which makes sure none of the goodness drips through. Medialunas This sweet treat has a distinctly French influence essentially smaller and sweeter croissants. In fact, medialuna literally means half moon. The pastry is all butter and often has a simple sugar glaze on top. If you really want to do it like the Argentinians, eat your medialuna with dulche de leche a spread made by slowly heating up sweetened milk. Dulche de leche is so loved in the country its commonly eaten on toast for breakfast or added into coffee. Alfajores Youll find alfajores all across Latin America from Argentina to Ecuador theyre hugely popular, maybe because they include a huge helping of everyones favourite: Dulche de leche. Alfajores are simple but delicious two crumbly cookies making a sandwich with the sweet, caramel-y spread in between. Depending on how you like things, this creation is then dipped in chocolate, sprinkled with icing sugar or rolled in coconut. Britains rail fares will be increased on January 2. Here the Press Association looks at some of the key questions around the complicated and controversial annual rise: When does it come into force? Rail travel will be more expensive from January 2. Why do fares go up? Successive governments have chosen to reduce the funding of the railways by taxpayers and increase the relative contribution of passengers. Are all fares treated the same? The increase in around 40% of fares is regulated by the UK, Scottish and Welsh Governments. Other fares are set by train operators. Which fares are regulated? Regulated fares include season tickets on most commuter routes, some off-peak return tickets on long-distance journeys and flexible tickets for use in major cities. How much will regulated fares increase by? Price rises for these tickets are capped at Julys RPI figure, which was 3.2%. There is an exception in Scotland, as its Government caps regulated off-peak fare increases at RPI minus one percentage point. Campaigners protest against rail fare increases outside Kings Cross station in London (Stefan Rousseau/PA) What do passenger groups say? They claim people are being priced off the railways because wages are not increasing at the same rate as fares. What impact have fare rises had on demand? Passenger numbers have more than doubled since the network was privatised in the mid-1990s. Where does the money go? Industry body the Rail Delivery Group says profit margins for rail firms are around 2%, with the rest going on running the railway. What improvements are being made? The Department for Transport says it is investing in the biggest modernisation of the network since Victorian times, with major projects to provide faster and better trains with more seats. Is there any way of avoiding the fare rise? Many savvy commuters will renew their season tickets in the days before the annual rise is implemented. Passengers can also save money by getting a railcard, travelling off-peak and booking in advance, although these options are not available for many journeys. For many families, Christmas is one of the few times of the year when all loved ones are gathered around the table. But while its great to get everyone together of course, those hosting a big Christmas gathering may be a little worried about the cost of having so many mouths to feed. Around a quarter of households Christmas spending will go on food and drink, research from GoCompare Money suggests. With a few weeks still to go though, its not too late to start planning and thinking ahead about ways to help cut the cost of the festive feast, rather than panic-buying at the last minute and blowing the budget. Here are some tips from MyVoucherCodes.co.uk spokesperson Anders Nilsson, for cutting the cost of Christmas dinner 1. Make the most of bargains and yellow stickers While youve still got some time, have a browse around the supermarkets to buy reduced items, particularly if youre able to make use of items by putting them in the freezer for a few weeks so theyll be readily available when you need them. From rations to banquets - we want to know how much YOU spend on food a month? Which includes both eating out and at home. Let us know in the poll below! Money Saving Expert (@MoneySavingExp) September 21, 2018 2. Plan buying any meat in advance In the run-up to Christmas, many people will be shopping for turkey, chicken, gammon and beef potentially leaving some shoppers struggling to get the bird or joint they want, and finding themselves limited to the stock thats left. But if youre planning to freeze your meat, you could buy it further in advance and potentially have your choice of whats available, and buy in the sizes that you need. Just ensure you have the space in your freezer to store it. Another option could be to find out from your local butcher or supermarket if they will take orders in advance that you can collect closer to Christmas. Trim the trimmings? (Thinkstock/PA) We need your help to brighten 1 million Christmases this season! Find our food bank priority signs in store and donate if you can pic.twitter.com/80UMYltyYE Sainsbury's (@sainsburys) November 26, 2018 3. Consider alternatives to turkey While many people have a big, traditional turkey in mind when picturing their perfect Christmas, if you dont think youre going to eat your way through it all (or, if youre really honest, none of you even like it that much) then an alternative option, such as a chicken, could work out less expensive (and easier to cook!). 4. Get your hands dirty Instead of buying pre-sliced veg and microwave veg packs, get stuck in peel and chop your own potatoes, slice your own veg and only use what you need. If youve got all the family round, there will be more people available to help out! Likewise, dont buy pre-made pigs in blankets, stuffing and all the other extras you like with your Christmas dinner. Buy the ingredients and spend a little time making them from scratch. 5. Only use what you need Its so easy to go overboard and cook enough to feed a small army at Christmas, but by doing this its likely that a lot of food will go to waste. If people are still hungry afterwards, theres likely to be plenty of other snacks and food in the kitchen that they can tuck into. Sometimes you just can't beat opening a nice bottle of wine over the festive period Our wine experts have three tips to help you get the most from your bottle. pic.twitter.com/wDbiJDVSmh Which? (@WhichUK) November 26, 2018 6. Ask guests to bring a dish If youre entertaining others at your home for Christmas, you could ask guests to help out a bit by bringing drinks, crackers, or even preparing a dish or two if they live nearby. This may seem a more agreeable option for some, than asking guests to make contributions to the cost of Christmas dinner in cold, hard cash. Just be sure to decide ahead of time whos preparing what dish, so you dont end up with three bowls of roast potatoes and no veg. 7. And ahead of next Christmas, consider growing your own While its too late in the year to start growing your own veg for the table now, you could always get a head-start on next year and start working on your own small vegetable patch. It doesnt have to take up a lot of space in the garden, and you can grow all sorts of veg, some of which you may be able to freeze to keep for longer. Lawyers for Donald Trumps former campaign chairman Paul Manafort are heading to court at a time of frenetic activity in US special counsel Robert Muellers Russian collusion investigation. Prosecutors this week obtained a guilty plea from Mr Trumps longtime fixer Michael Cohen and appear to be lining up charges against another Trump supporter. Mr Manaforts plea deal fell apart after prosecutors said he lied to investigators. They are expected to provide some detail about those false statements on Friday. The hearing in a federal court in Washington comes as Mr Trump faces questions about whether he will pardon Mr Manafort, and if he is attempting to downplay Michael Cohens guilty plea. Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to lying to US congress about work he did on an aborted project to build a Trump Tower in Russia (AP) None of the recent moves by Mr Mueller have definitively answered the question of whether the US president or his associates co-ordinated with Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign. They do not directly accuse the president of any criminal wrongdoing or indicate that Mr Trump faces legal jeopardy. However, the US president has continually surfaced in Mr Muellers investigation, with references to him in Cohens plea on Thursday and in a draft plea offer made public this week extended to conservative writer and conspiracy theorist Jerome Corsi. On Wednesday, Mr Trump expressed sympathy for Mr Manafort, Mr Corsi and his longtime confidant Roger Stone, telling the New York Post that they are very brave for resisting the Mueller investigation. He also said a pardon for Mr Manafort was not off the table. Mr Trump told reporters on Thursday its very sad what happened to Paul (Manafort), but he stressed that he has not offered him a pardon and was only responding to a question in the Post interview about whether he would. Mr Trump said a pardon for Mr Manafort was `not off the table (AP) Senator Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the US senate intelligence committee, said any pardon of Mr Manafort would be a complete abuse of power and could prompt congressional action against the president. Mr Trump has spent recent weeks casting Robert Muellers team as hell-bent on destroying the lives of those in his orbit. Armed with information passed along by Mr Manaforts attorneys to the presidents legal team, Mr Trump has accused prosecutors of dirty tactics and pressuring witnesses to lie. The arrangement with Mr Manaforts lawyers is unusual because it continued after he pleaded guilty to two felony charges and agreed to co-operate with the government. Mr Trumps legal team also has received help from Mr Corsi. He said that while in contact with Mr Muellers team, he directed his lawyer to informally share information with the presidents attorneys, including Jay Sekulow. Jerome Corsi (AP) Mr Corsi, who rejected the plea deal, has said he expects to be charged by Mr Mueller with lying to investigators as part of the probes scrutiny of WikiLeaks and whether he or Mr Stone had advance knowledge of the groups release of thousands of hacked emails stolen from Hillary Clintons campaign chairman John Podesta. Mr Mueller and US intelligence agencies have said Russia was the source of the material provided to WikiLeaks. Both men have denied having any contact with WikiLeaks or having any foreknowledge of its plans. Mr Corsi also denies making false statements to investigators. The special counsels team raised the prospect of filing additional charges against Mr Manafort for false statements he made after co-operating with the government. Mr Manafort has denied lying. Mr Muellers team also said it will lay out the nature of the statements in a later court filing. Boxer Floyd Mayweather and music producer DJ Khaled are paying a total 750,000 US dollars (586,000) to settle charges they failed to disclose payments they received for promoting investments in digital-currency securities, regulators have said. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said the cases are its first involving charges for violating rules on touting investments in so-called initial coin offerings, or ICOs. An ICO allows a startup to use the technology behind bitcoin, known as blockchain, to fund projects. The SEC said Mayweather failed to disclose promotional payments from three issuers of ICOs, including 100,000 dollars from Centra Tech Inc. Khaled allegedly did not disclose a 50,000 dollar payment from Centra, which he touted on his social media accounts as a game changer. Mayweather and Khaled neither admitted nor denied the allegations in agreeing to the settlements. Mayweathers promotions were said to include a message to his Twitter followers alerting them that Centras ICO starts in a few hours. Get yours before they sell out, I got mine. The boxer has almost eight million followers on Twitter. DJ Khaled has also settled charges he failed to disclose payments received for promoting investments in digital-currency securities (AP) You can call me Floyd Crypto Mayweather from now on, he said in another tweet, according to the SEC. The regulators allege that Mayweather neglected to disclose that he was paid 200,000 dollars to promote the other two ICOs, in addition to Centras. With no disclosure of the payments, Mayweather and Khaleds ICO promotions may have appeared to be unbiased, rather than paid endorsements, Stephanie Avakian, co-director of the SECs enforcement division, said in a statement. Under the settlements, Mayweather agreed to pay a 300,000 dollar penalty, give up another 300,000 dollars and pay 14,775 dollars in interest. Khaled is paying a 100,000 dollar penalty, giving up 50,000 dollars and paying 2,725 dollars in interest. They also agreed not to promote any securities, digital or otherwise, for three years in Mayweathers case and two years for Khaled. Mayweather and Khaled were among a number of celebrities paid by ICOs to endorse them. ICOs have soared in popularity in recent years, raising billions for startups. With an ICO, a startup will issue currency, sometimes called a token, which can be used to buy services from the company. For example, a startup offering online storage could issue tokens that can be used to buy storage. The SEC urges investors to be skeptical of investment advice on social media platforms and to not make decisions based on celebrity endorsements. How the tokens are marketed is a central question for the SEC. When a companys marketing implies that the tokens can appreciate in value, that can raise a red flag. Kelly Swanson, a publicist for Mayweather, said he likely would not comment on the settlement. Representatives for Khaled did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment. Thousands of schoolchildren across Australia have skipped classes to attend rallies demanding government action on climate change. Resources minister Matt Canavan said the pupils should be in school learning about science and mining, rather than discovering how to get on welfare. The co-ordinated rallies were held in close to 30 cities and towns and were inspired by a 15-year-old Swedish girls activism. In Sydney, more than 1,000 children, most in their school uniforms, chanted slogans, while similar numbers blocked streets outside the Victoria state parliament in Melbourne. The rallies were inspired by Greta Thunberg, who protests every Friday outside Swedens parliament, urging leaders to do more about climate change. Thousands of students gather in Sydney (AP) Sydney student Siniva Esera told the Sydney rally that Australia needs to be the big brother to the low-lying Pacific islands, including her relatives on the Tokelau atolls. Our prime minister thinks we should be in school right now, and maybe we should, the Chifley College Senior Campus student told protesters. But how can I just sit by and not do anything to protect the future of this planet, and as my family on the islands worry about the rising sea level? Forest Lodge Primary school captain Lucie Atkin Bolton said shed learned in class that leaders need to look after everybody and take responsibility when things go wrong. I wish I lived in a country where our adults, especially our politicians, actually cared about my future, the 11-year-old said. Mr Canavan, the resources minister, said he is on the side of science and wants Australia to develop all energy sources, including solar and coal. These are the type of things that excite young children and we should be great at as a nation, he told Sydney radio station 2GB. The best thing youll learn about going to a protest is how to join the dole queue. A Chinese movie actor has been arrested in Japan on suspicion of assaulting his then-girlfriend, causing injuries that police say required four weeks of treatment. Jiang Jinfu, 27, was detained after he turned himself in at a central Tokyo police station. Authorities already had an arrest warrant for him after a 25-year-old woman filed a complaint about the alleged assault, prompting an investigation. Jiang, who is known for his leading role in the 2012 film Xuan-Yuan Sword: Scar Of Sky, apologised to his followers on the Weibo microblogging service, saying on a post from November 20 that he had been living in remorse and felt ashamed about his behaviour. He added that he would take responsibility and accept the punishment. His arrest has caused a storm on social media in China. Chinese actor Jiang Jinfu (Kyodo News via AP) Several Chinese celebrities described Jiang as warm and sincere, and some said they would wait for the truth to come out, prompting outrage and discussions over violence against women. According to police, Jiang allegedly beat her on the face, arms and shoulders on October 12. The couple lived together at his Tokyo apartment at the time but then apparently broke up, police said. Japanese media have reported that Jiang has been in Tokyo since April to study Japanese. The South China Morning Post newspaper in Hong Kong identified the woman as Japanese model Haruka Nakaura. She posted her own photos purportedly showing bruised cheeks and upper arms on Instagram. Japanese police refused to identify the woman, citing privacy. From the impenetrable pine forests and rugged highland peaks to the fields of gorse mixing yellow, green and brown Scotland inspires modern tourists just as it did the romantic poets. But wed wager there are few who, on seeing a picture of an azure river, a dramatic waterfall or a pristine beach, would immediately think of Scotland. Such things are more tropical, or at least Mediterranean arent they? Dont be so sure. We teamed up with Premier Inn to find six Scottish landscapes that look very much like other exotic locations from around the world. See if you can guess which is Scottish before reading the caption 1. The Queens Way Waterfall, Galloway Forest Park Picture The Rio Celeste Waterfall is described in Lonely Planet as one of the hidden mysteries of Costa Rica. The Queens Way Waterfall is about an hour and a half drive from Dumfries. Ensconced in an under-visited corner of Galloway Forest Park, this hidden mystery of Scotland boasts atmospheric, moss-covered rock faces, and a picturesque forest glen with plenty of serviceable picnic spots. The Scottish countryside may lack the tree frogs, sloths and Capuchin monkeys that frequent the Costa Rican forests, but you dont have to check your boots for spiders and snakes. 2. The beaches of Iona, the Inner Hebrides Picture Google the worlds best beaches and, regardless of what you click, the same places will crop up time and again. Australia, Florida, Barbados and the Inner Hebrides. Beaches rank just below volcanoes on the list of things Scotland isnt known for, but the island of Iona boasts perhaps the most unexpectedly beautiful coastline in the whole of the British Isles. The water may be cooler, the air a little brisker, but wrap up warm and this western corner of Scotland looks picture perfect: Miles of undisturbed seawater, genuinely pristine sands, and not a sun umbrella in sight. 3. The Falls of Falloch, Trossachs National Park Picture Two waterfalls surrounded by birdsong and foliage, separated only by 4,000 miles of Atlantic Ocean. The Falls of Falloch are not as rugged and wild as they sound they have their own car park off the A82 but are no less dramatic for it. A 10m cascade gives way to a rippling plunge pool, which is quickly contorted into a set of writhing rapids. The Caribbean summer may be scorching but the Scottish Falls of Falloch are accessible by minicab and have much smaller spiders. 4. An Lochan Uaine, Glenmore Forest Park Picture A jewel of the Cairngorms, legend has it that An Lochan Uaine gets its famous green colouring from pixies washing their clothes in its waters (aka: odd mineral content). Set in the basin of a large valley covered with gorse and heather, and for any hardy souls the water is eminently swimmable. On sunny days it bears a passing resemblance to the low-hanging foliage and greeny-blue waters of the Casa Cenote in Mexico. You can guess which one gets more visitors. 5. Mealt Falls, the Isle of Skye Picture Its strange, really, that waterfalls are associated with exotic climates and far off lands, because Scotland is overflowing with them. Mealt Falls gushes 55m down the face of Kilt Rock straight into the Sound of Raasay. Its the sheerness of the rock face that sets this water feature apart the cliff drops away almost at a right angle, leaving the water in free-fall the whole way down. The Duden Waterfall in Turkey is 15m its junior, but has more than twice as many TripAdvisor reviews. Ukraines president has said Russian men between 16 and 60 have been barred from travelling to the country. The move comes as the long-simmering conflict between the two nations escalated in the Black Sea on Sunday. Russian border guards opened fire on and captured three Ukrainian vessels and their 24-member crew. Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko tweeted that the restrictions on Russian travellers have been taken in order to prevent Russians from forming private armies fighting on Ukrainian soil. On Monday, the Ukrainian parliament adopted the presidents motion to impose martial law in the country for 30 days in the wake of the naval stand-off near the Crimean Peninsula, which Moscow annexed in 2014. Mr Poroshenko left, chairs a Ukrainian national security and defence council meeting in Kiev (AP) The Ukrainian vessels had been trying to pass through the Kerch Strait on their way to the Sea of Azov. The announcement follows Thursdays decision by US president Donald Trump to scrap the much-anticipated meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Mr Trump said it was not appropriate for him to meet Mr Putin since Russia has not released the Ukrainian seamen. A Russian government-appointed ombudswoman for Crimea told Russian news agencies that all the seamen have been transported from a detention centre in Crimea. The three commanders have been taken to Moscow, she said. Activists mark the fifth anniversary of the dispersal of the wave of demonstrations and civil unrest known as Euromaidan in Kiev (AP) A Crimea court earlier this week ruled to keep the Ukrainian seamen behind bars for two months pending the investigation. There has been growing hostility between Ukraine and Russia since Moscows annexation of the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine in 2014. Russia has also supported separatists in Ukraines east, with clandestine dispatches of troops and weapons. Fighting there has killed at least 10,000 people since 2014, but eased somewhat after a 2015 truce. Protesters in the streets of Kiev as tensions with Russia rise (AP) Meanwhile, Ukraines intelligence agency is searching the home of the father superior of Kievs biggest and oldest monastery, which is part of the Russian Orthodox Church. Officers are searching the home of Father Pavlo, who leads the Pechersk Monastery in Kiev. Ihor Guskov, chief of staff of the SBU intelligence agency, told reporters that the cleric is suspected of inciting hatred. The Ukrainian church, which has been part of the Russian Orthodox Church for centuries, moved close to forming an independent church fuelled by the conflict with Russia Ukraines Orthodox communities earlier this year. There are currently three Orthodox communities in Ukraine, including two breakaway churches. Ukrainian authorities have sought to portray the Russian Orthodox clerics in Ukraine as supporting separatists. French prime minister Edouard Philippe is due to meet protest leaders in an effort to calm tensions over rising taxes. The governments move comes amid calls for fresh action on Saturday across France, including on the Champs-Elysees in Paris, where a protest last weekend degenerated into violence. The aftermath of protests on the Champs-Elysees last week (AP) Motorists protesting against a fuel tax hike have been joined since by farmers, white-collar workers, retirees and others as part of the yellow jackets movement, which now involves a broad range of demands related to the countrys high cost of living. Their list of demands include tax cuts, the creation of a citizens assembly, state-funded subsidies to help companies increase hiring, higher pensions and a higher national minimum salary. Air, sea and land searches are under way for a couple whose car was found washed up on a beach amid bad weather. James and Susan Kenneavys Ford Kuga, registration SJ15UKX, was found empty on Drummore beach near Stranraer in south-west Scotland at around 7.30am on Thursday. Heavy rain had led to flooding on Drummore coastal road on Wednesday and search teams worked into the night on Thursday looking for the couple. Officers said they have not been seen at home and have not been in touch with family. The land, sea and air search for missing couple Susan and James Kenneavy who are missing from Drummore will continue today. Search teams worked into the night searching the Drummore coast after the couples Grey Ford Kuga was found washed up on Drummore beach yesterday morning. pic.twitter.com/AxvgrAZwDc DumfriesGPolice (@DumfriesGPolice) November 30, 2018 Searches involving coastguard rescue teams, helicopter and police resumed on Friday morning. Inspector Craig Nicolson, of Dumfries and Galloway Police, said: We are very worried about Mr and Mrs Kenneavy. James and Susan Kenneavy (Police Scotland/PA) We know the Drummore coastal road was closed last night due to coastal flooding, but I would ask anyone who saw the vehicle or knows the whereabouts of the couple to contact Police Scotland. Anyone with information is asked to phone 101 quoting incident number 0474 November 29 2018. A Japanese court has approved extending the detention of former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn for 10 more days. The Tokyo District Court has approved prosecutors request to keep Ghosn until December 10, the Kyodo news agency said. Ghosn was arrested on November 19 by Tokyo prosecutors on suspicion of falsifying his financial reports. His first 10 days in custody expires at the end of Friday. Ghosn was arrested over allegedly falsifying financial reports and misusing funds (AP) Kyodo said the court also approved a 10-day detention extension for another former Nissan executive, Greg Kelly, also arrested on suspicion of collaborating in the alleged under-reporting of Ghosns renumerations. Brazilian-born Ghosn, sent in by alliance partner Renault SA of France, has led a dramatic turnaround at Nissan over the last two decades, rescuing Nissan from near-bankruptcy. British entrepreneur Mike Lynch is facing fraud charges in the US over the sale of software company Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard (HP) in 2011. Mr Lynch and former Autonomy finance executive Stephen Chamberlain were indicted by a federal grand jury in California, accused of a scheme to defraud HP and other stakeholders about the true performance of the company. HP acquired Cambridge-based Autonomy for 11 billion US dollars in 2011, but later wrote down its value by 8.8 billion dollars and asked the US Justice Department to investigate fraud. Mr Lynch and Mr Chamberlain stand accused of artificially inflating Autonomys revenues and making false and misleading statements to auditors, analysts and regulators. The indictment alleges that Lynch and Chamberlain caused Autonomy to make materially false and misleading statements directly to HP regarding Autonomys financial condition, performance, and business during the negotiations between HP and Autonomy leading up to the August 18 2011 acquisition announcement, the US Department of Justice said. Lawyers for Mr Lynch described the indictment as a travesty of justice. The US government has charged British entrepreneur Mike Lynch with fraud (Steve Parsons/PA) Earlier this year, Britains accountancy watchdog began disciplinary proceedings against former bosses at Autonomy and auditors at Deloitte linked to the alleged fraud at the software firm. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) pointed the finger at former finance chief Sushovan Hussain and Mr Chamberlain. Mr Hussain, who has been convicted of fraud in the US, is alleged to have acted dishonestly or recklessly when preparing and approving Autonomys annual report and accounts for the years ended December 31 2009 and December 31 2010. A quarter of trainee doctors report feeling burnt out to a high or very high degree, with two in five saying they find their work emotionally exhausting, research by the medical regulator has found. The General Medical Council (GMC) found nearly a third (31.6%) of trainees said they always or often feel exhausted in the morning at the thought of another day at work. It has published a full review of its latest annual national training surveys, which collate the views and experiences of more than 70,000 doctors in training and senior doctors who act as trainers. The 2018 surveys asked doctors about burnout for the first time. Burnout is associated with high workloads, a lack of or disruption of time to train, and feeling unsupported, and can also affects trainees satisfaction with their medical education. Doctors in emergency medicine reported the highest rates of burnout. A medical professional at work at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital, Liverpool, as research by the General Medical Council (GMC) finds many trainee doctors are experiencing high levels of burnout. Nearly 74% of emergency medicine trainees rated the intensity of their workload as either heavy or very heavy, and they reported feeling short of sleep while at work more than any other specialty. Trainees who reported higher than average workloads and tiredness also included those who specialised in surgery, obstetrics and gynaecology, and paediatrics. Other areas of concern from the surveys included that around one in six trainees said handover arrangements did not always ensure continuity of care between different clinical departments, while one in three said handovers were not used as learning opportunities, which GMC standards say they should be. Inductions also varied, with more than 4,000 trainees (8.1%) reporting that they did not get an explanation of their role and responsibilities at the start of their most recent post. And more than half of doctors in training, almost 53%, told the GMC that they received less than the recommended six weeks notice of their rota. Around one in 10 had only a weeks notice, or even less. The GMC said poor handovers and inductions, and gaps in rotas, should be seen by employers as indicators of more significant problems that can affect the quality of trainee doctors education and development. It found that while trainers and training organisations continue to provide high quality medical education, trainees rated their experience as worse when they had poor handovers, inadequate inductions and gaps in rotas. GMC chief executive Charlie Massey said: Handovers, inductions and well-organised rotas are indicators of workplaces where teamwork and positive cultures are fostered, and where trainees feel well supported. But where these aspects run less well doctors more commonly report poor experiences. Proportionally more doctors who feel unsupported at work with high workloads tell us they experience exhaustion and burnout. That can erode the quality of their training as well as potentially putting patients at risk. These warning signs must not be ignored. We know that where these issues exist there are likely to be wider problems as well. An unsupportive environment doesnt just disrupt training, but can be a sign that inexperienced doctors are working beyond their clinical competence. The majority of doctors in training say they are satisfied with the teaching and supervision they receive, and most trainers enjoy their roles. But we cannot take the continued high quality of medical training for granted. All doctors, including those in trainee posts and more senior clinicians who provide their training, need and deserve the necessary support to make sure medical education and training in UK remains first rate. The GMC has commissioned a UK-wide review, led by Dame Denise Coia and Professor Michael West, into the causes of poor wellbeing faced by doctors. The findings will help the regulator to work with others to improve support and working conditions. The GMC is also working with professional bodies across the country to improve the effectiveness of processes for doctors who raise concerns about safe working hours. Commenting on the findings, Professor Russell Viner, president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH), said: It cannot be right that doctors who treat and care for children and young people are experiencing such high levels of stress, exhaustion and burn out. Our members love working in paediatrics and find it a rewarding career, but there are simply not enough doctors to meet demand. This means they are working in challenging environments leading to low morale and exhaustion. This is not good for their health or for the health of their young patients. British Medical Association (BMA) junior doctors committee chairman, Dr Jeeves Wijesuriya, said: To see such a large number of junior doctors burnt out is deeply concerning, but no surprise given the intense workload pressures experienced by trainees, and as reported in this survey. These statistics lay bare the real-terms impact of poor planning; if a doctor is working in an understaffed department, not getting a rota until two weeks before they are due to begin a new role and even when they do start they are receiving no proper induction, this is bound to be detrimental to their wellbeing and affect how they feel about the quality of their training. With a high proportion of junior doctors working beyond their rostered hours and as many as half of trainees in some specialties regularly feeling short of sleep, high quality patient care cannot be guaranteed. That a vast majority of trainees feel forced to work beyond their clinical competence at times makes for stark reading, and the potential risk that this poses should be obvious. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is finally on her way to Argentina for the G20 summit after a technical problem with her plane forced her to change plans and stay overnight in Bonn. Mrs Merkels office said she and a small delegation, including the finance minister, took a different government plane to Madrid on Friday morning, and then boarded a commercial flight to Buenos Aires. The chancellor was en route on Thursday night on an air force Airbus A340, but turned around over the Netherlands after the captain reported a technical problem. Angela Merkel (Michael Sohn/AP) The plane was diverted to the Cologne/Bonn airport and landed without incident. Air force colonel Guido Henrich said the problem was caused by the failure of an electrical distributor box, which affected the radio system and also a fuel system, meaning that the plane could not dump fuel. The part was replaced and the plane is now functional again, he said. The plane landed at Cologne-Bonn with most of the fuel for its planned transatlantic flight on board, making it heavier than normal and causing one brake to overheat slightly as it came to a stop on the runway, Col Henrich said. He stressed, however, that there was no danger to the people on board. The plane was able to communicate by satellite despite the problem with its radio system. The air force was sending a similar plane from Cologne-Bonn, where the governments fleet is based, to Buenos Aires on Friday to pick up Mrs Merkel after the G20 summit. Relatives of people aboard Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, which disappeared four years ago, have presented five pieces of possible plane debris to the government and called for a renewed search. The Boeing 777 jet vanished with 239 people aboard while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8 2014. So far only fragments have washed ashore, and two massive ocean searches have been called off. Grace Nathan, whose mother Anne Daisy was on the flight, said the new debris was found by villagers in Madagascar over the past two years as part of a privately funded search. Grace Nathan, left, and Jacquita Gomes, right, wife of Patrick Gomes, the in-flight supervisor on the ill-fated plane, show pieces of debris believed to be from the missing plane (Vincent Thian/AP) She said one of the pieces has a readable label and is believed to be a floor panel from the plane. Ms Nathan urged the government to find more plane debris that could be either buried in sand or floating in waters off Africa to help shed light on one of aviations greatest mysteries. She also said many private companies are willing to help find the jet on a no cure, no fee basis. Why should we turn a blind eye to evidence washing up on the shores? It should be looked at as a jigsaw puzzle. The more we have, the more we can learn, she said. I think the government should be more open to allow (private companies) to continue to search. Ms Nathan and a few other relatives in the Voice 370 group representing families of those on the plane handed over the debris to transport minister Anthony Loke. Jacquita Gomes, centre, wife of Patrick Gomes, the in-flight supervisor on the ill-fated Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, and Blaine Alan Gibson, right, a representative of the next of kin of MH370, show a piece of debris believed to be from missing plane MH370 at the Ministry of Transport in Putrajaya, Malaysia (Yam G-Jun/AP) Mr Loke said the debris will be verified by investigators but the government is only open to continuing the search if there is credible evidence of the planes location. American wreckage hunter Blaine Gibson said the debris has been inspected by independent experts, who believe it is from a Boeing 777 plane. The piece that may be a floor panel indicates the plane may have shattered on impact and that there is no intact fuselage underwater, he said. Malaysia signed a no cure, no fee deal with US-based Ocean Infinity in January to resume the hunt for the plane, a year after the official search of the southern Indian Ocean by Australia, Malaysia and China was called off. But the second search was halted at the end of May after it found nothing. A Malaysian-led independent investigation report released in July highlighted shortcomings in the governments response to the planes disappearance, including lapses by air traffic control and a failure to swiftly initiate an emergency response and monitor radar continuously. It also raised the possibility of intervention by a third party and reiterated Malaysias assertion the plane was deliberately diverted and flown for over seven hours after severing communications. The report said there was insufficient information to determine if the aircraft broke up in the air or during an impact with the ocean. Shadow chancellor John McDonnell has called for a show of opposition against the poison politics of far-right activist Tommy Robinson. With Mr Robinson expected to feature prominently in a Brexit march in London two days before the Commons votes on the UKs EU withdrawal deal, Mr McDonnell urged Labour supporters to join a counter-demonstration. Mr McDonnell called for a mass protest against Mr Robinson at the December 9 march. The shadow chancellor said: This march isnt about Brexit, its about far-right extremists dressing up in suits and pretending to be respectable. It doesnt matter whether you voted leave or remain, Tommy Robinson doesnt represent you. I call on all Labour members and anyone who cares about the future of our country to join the demonstration on 9 December and stand firm against the poison Robinson is trying to inject into our politics. A newly-energised, well-funded network of hate is emerging, from Steve Bannon in the US to the former EDL leader Tommy Robinson at home, and it threatens the very fabric of our nation. Former English Defence League (EDL) leader Tommy Robinson (David Mirzoeff/PA) The Labour movement must be front and centre in opposing them, and Im glad that Momentum are leading the way. Mr McDonnell added: The working class of Britain have a proud history of beating the far-right. In Lewisham in the 1970s the National Front were outnumbered by nearly 10 to one. At Cable Street, the local Jewish community and socialists from across Britain stood firm against Oswald Mosleys Blackshirts. His comments come after the appointment of Mr Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, as an adviser on rape gangs and prison reform to Ukip leader Gerard Batten caused controversy. Former Ukip leader Nigel Farage, who has denounced Mr Robinson as a thug, has called for Mr Batten to be ousted over the move. Former first minister Jack McConnell has returned to the university where he once studied to serve as its new chancellor. Lord McConnell said the University of Stirling always had a special place in his heart as he was appointed to the role. The politician, who was Scottish Labour leader and first minister of Scotland between 2001 and 2007, succeeds broadcaster James Naughtie, who stood down earlier this year after a decade. The chancellor acts as the ceremonial head of the university. As part of the role they have the formal duty of presiding over graduation ceremonies. Congratulations to @LordMcConnell on his appointment as the next Chancellor of @StirUni As a former Union President, we look forward to working with the Chancellor to ensure we are all working to Make Students' Lives Better. pic.twitter.com/byKKzK9aCT Stirling SU (@stirlingunion) November 30, 2018 Lord McConnell said: I feel deeply honoured to be asked to serve the University of Stirling as their chancellor, following in the footsteps of such distinguished previous chancellors, including of course Lord Robbins, who was the very first in 1967. Former first minister Lord McConnell has been appointed as the new Chancellor of Stirling University (Stirling University/PA) The university has always been innovative, dynamic and ambitious. It has also always held a special place in my heart. I will be determined to do all I can to help the university to continue to grow and develop, while retaining the essential values that have helped build its success over the past 50 years. Lord McConnell studied mathematics and education at Stirling University and also served president of the students association there between 1980 and 1982 before becoming the deputy president of the National Union of Students (NUS) Scotland. Stirling Principal and Vice-Chancellor Professor Gerry McCormac said: Were delighted to welcome Lord McConnell back to Stirling as our new chancellor. Ever since he was a politically engaged student here, Lord McConnell has always remained an active, loyal and much-valued friend to our university and I look forward to working closely with him for the benefit of our students, staff and wider community. Lord McConnell will be formally installed as chancellor of the university in June 2019. A helicopter crew from the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) lifted a man to safety from fast moving waters in the rain swollen Los Angeles River Thursday morning. Preliminary information indicated that around 10am, a man was spotted in the river clinging to a tree, according to a Los Angeles Fire Department alert. A California Highway Patrol officer and an LA park ranger kept their eyes on the man from the shore while LAFD ground and air units responded, including swiftwater rescue teams. Eventually, the rescuer made contact with the man in the river and the two were hoisted up together to the LAFD helicopter. The patient was conscious and alert, but was suffering from hypothermia, according to the fire department. He was taken to a local hospital and was reported to be in fair condition. It was unclear why the man was in or near the river at the time, authorities said. A man is rescued after getting in to trouble in the rain-swollen Los Angeles River (Los Angeles Fire Department) The rescue came as a major storm system brought bands of rain across Southern California. Theres an often quoted rule in America that one should never wear white after Labour Day, which traditionally falls on the first Monday in September. But at the Mary Poppins Returns premiere, which took place last night in Los Angeles, several of the stars chose all-white outfits and they looked amazing. Actors Emily Blunt (who plays Mary Poppins) and Emily Mortimer both wore gowns in the pale hue while Ben Whishaw was dapper in a white suit which looked it had been drawn all over. Ben Whishaw poses at the premiere of Mary Poppins Returns (Chris Pizzello/AP) These stylish stars have got us wondering why we tend to abandon white once summer is over, especially since theyve proved that it works so well for formal occasions. And with party season just around the corner, nows the perfect time to give it a go. Inspired by the Mary Poppins cast and some other recent red carpet appearances, here are five ways to wear white in winter 1. Pick a princess dress Emily Blunt looked sweeter than a spoonful of sugar last night in her stunning Yanina Couture gown, which combined a plunging wrap front and voluminous sleeves. (Chris Pizzello/AP) Holly Willoughby also went for the princess look at the Pride of Britain Awards in a beautiful tulle-skirted gown with a floral silver bodice. But how do you stop your ivory gown looking too much like a wedding dress? Sparkly embellishment helps, or look for unusual details like Blunts puffy sleeves. Holly Willoughby during the Pride Of Britain Awards 2018 (Steve Parsons/PA) 2. Bring some vintage vibes Emily Mortimer, who plays Jane Banks in the film, chose a Jenny Packham look for the premiere, telling the Hollywood Reporter she thought the 1930s-esque dress was appropriate for the red carpet (the movie is set in 1935) and Christmas-y enough for this time of year. Shes right a vintage-style white column dress always looks chic, and when you add a velvet clutch bag its perfect for party season. Emily Mortimer at the premiere of Mary Poppins in Los Angeles. (Chris Pizzello/AP) 3. Mix up the monochrome At the Mortal Engines world premiere earlier this week, actor Leila George chose a stunning gown with a voluminous white floral skirt, the black velvet bandeau top of the dress making sure it still felt modern. If youre unsure about an all-white ensemble, add some black into the mix with accessories or shoes to break up the effect. Leila George attending the Mortal Engines World Premiere (Ian West/PA) 4. Add a pop of red TV and radio presenter Vick Hope chose a softly tailored look for the Fantastic Beasts: Crimes of Grindelwald premiere, posing on the blue carpet in white wide-leg trousers and a diaphanous frilled blouse teamed with a scarlet mini bag. The 29-year-old even matched her lipstick and nails with her bag, proving that a dash of red looks fabulous with head-to-toe white. Vick Hope attending the Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald UK premiere (Ian West/PA) 5. Go for a sleek silhouette At the other end of the spectrum from the princess look, Michelle Rodriguez made the case for minimalist white at the London Film Festival in a cape-sleeved gown with cut-out detailing. Chic and sexy, this kind of dress needs little in the way of accessories just add simple gold or silver jewellery and nude heels. A Labour politician who has been campaigning to try to keep the UK in Europes Single Market is quitting her MEP post early. Catherine Stihler, who has represented Scotland at the European Parliament since 1999, has announced she will stand down at the end of January 2019. All UK MEPs are due to leave their posts by March 29 next year the day the UK formally leaves the European Union. Ms Stihler is leaving eight weeks early to take up a new position as the chief executive of global non-profit organisation Open Knowledge International. Very excited to be starting as CEO @OKFN in February, championing the power of open knowledge to tackle social problems. It has been a privilege to serve the voters of Scotland as an MEP for 20 years. https://t.co/uXm3mlDliO Catherine Stihler (@C_Stihler) November 30, 2018 She said: It has been a privilege to represent the Labour Party and serve as an MEP for Scotland for nearly two decades. I was the youngest British MEP when first elected at 25 in 1999 and I witnessed the EU expand and reform to bring nations closer together in the interests of co-operation and peace. Catherine Stihler with (from left to right) UKIP MEP David Coburn, SNP MEPs Alyn Smith and Ian Hudghton and David Martin Conservative MEP Ian Duncan at the City Chambers in Edinburgh as the European Parliamentary Elections 2014 are announced for Scotland. I have seen first-hand the positive and lasting impact that EU membership has had on our economy, workers rights, and consumer protection. Ms Stihler, together with former Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale and MP Ian Murray, set up the Scottish Labour for the Single Market campaign group, calling for the party to back the UKs continued membership of the trading bloc post-Brexit. Ms Dugdale said on Twitter she was very sorry to see @C_Stihler_MEP leave elected politics. Very sorry to see @C_Stihler_MEP leave elected politics. She has been a phenomenal support to me from the moment I joined the party. A first class parliamentarian and passionate advocate for Labour and for what the EU is and does. I wish her every success in the future. Kezia Dugdale (@kezdugdale) November 30, 2018 The Lothian MSP added: She has been a phenomenal support to me from the moment I joined the party. A first class parliamentarian and passionate advocate for Labour and for what the EU is and does. I wish her every success in the future. Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard said: Catherine has been a long-standing and committed MEP, representing the people of Scotland and working with European socialist parties to improve workers and consumer rights. She is someone of deep conviction and principle. We wish her every success in her new role. Ms Stihler said she was now relishing an exciting new challenge and opportunity with Open Knowledge International. She added: Digital skills and data use have always been a personal passion and I am eager to assist groups across the world to create and share open knowledge and encourage the next generation to understand that information is power which can be used to address poverty and other social challenges. Tim Hubbard, chairman of the Open Knowledge International board, said it was delighted Ms Stihler was joining them. He said: She has years of experience in shaping policy and using evidence and openness to help address global challenges such as climate change, internet freedoms and public health. Catherine has demonstrated an ability to bring people together, building coalitions and trust in a world that really needs it. She has translated complicated and technical knowledge around digital skills, copyright and AI to help shape European policy, making a real and lasting difference for hundreds of millions of people. Welsh politician Carl Sargeant had no idea he was to be sacked over allegations of sexual misconduct, a fellow cabinet minister has told his inquest. Mr Sargeant, 49, was found hanged at his home in Connahs Quay, Deeside, on November 7 last year, four days after he lost his role as cabinet secretary for communities and children following bombshell sex claims he had groped and touched women. On Friday, an inquest into his death had been due to conclude but the court heard a legal challenge by representatives for Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones and a possible need to recall Mr Jones to give additional evidence meant it would not finish until a later date. Lesley Griffiths, Assembly Member for Wrexham and cabinet secretary for energy, planning and rural affairs, told the fifth day of the hearing at Ruthin County Hall she had travelled by train to Cardiff with Mr Sargeant on November 3, ahead of the cabinet reshuffle in which he was sacked. Lesley Griffiths gave evidence to the inquest (Matt Faber/PA) She said: My sincere thought at that time is he had no idea what was going to come. Mrs Griffiths told the court she and Mr Sargeant were both driven to Cathays Park from the train station to see Mr Jones but were separated once they arrived. She said she later spoke to him over the phone. Straight away his voice was completely different, she said. He said hed gone but there was something else as well, that hed been told there were allegations. He didnt know what they were. Mrs Griffiths was asked if she thought more could have been provided for Mr Sargeant in terms of pastoral care. She answered: Yes, I do. Mrs Griffiths described the Alyn and Deeside AM as a larger than life character but said she had seen him break down in tears a number of times and was aware he experienced what has been described in court as a significant life event. She said in the August before he died they had been for a meal together and he told her: The black dog visited and I have been to see my doctor for depression. She told the court Mr Sargeant felt he was treated differently from other ministers and that his job was under threat. She said: I think he felt generally undermined in a way that others werent. Cathryn McGahey QC, representing the First Minister, asked if she had ever heard reports of Mr Sargeant drinking too much and becoming silly with women. Mrs Griffiths said: No. Coroner for North Wales (East and Central) John Gittins apologised to Mr Sargeants family as he told them further evidence would continue on Friday but he would not be concluding the inquest. Ms McGahey has sought to review the coroners rulings on whether to hear evidence relating to the details of allegations made against Mr Sargeant. Mr Gittins has twice refused applications to hear evidence from Aaron Shotton, leader of Flintshire County Council and his deputy, Bernie Attridge. A text exchange between the pair suggested Mr Sargeant would be shitting bricks now revelations about alleged sexual misconduct in politics were growing amid the Me Too movement. A man who pretended to be a victim of the Grenfell Tower disaster, committing a fraud of nearly 90,000, has been jailed. Abdelkarim Rekaya enjoyed 209 nights in a four-star hotel, before being provided with a flat in Chelsea in the year after the fire. The short-haired and bearded 28-year-old kept his head bowed as he was sentenced at Isleworth Crown Court to four years and six months in prison. Rekaya, from Tunisia, pleaded guilty at the same court in September to fraud by false representation and obtaining leave to remain by deception. Rekaya, who came to the UK in 2008, listened to his sentence through an Arabic interpreter during Fridays hearing. Judge Giles Curtis-Raleigh said: You decided to use the situation to your personal advantage, to enrich yourself dishonestly, by plundering the public funds put aside to assist the genuine victims of that disaster in their hour of need. As well as fraudulently claiming accommodation, Rekaya was also granted 12 months leave to remain in the UK in November last year, through the Grenfell Tower survivors policy. Of this the judge told him: You chose to exploit a national tragedy to improve your position. Prosecutor Catherine Farrelly told the court that Rekaya had claimed to be sleeping rough in the tower on the night of the blaze and had said he managed to escape through the front door. Ms Farrelly said: This was a complete and utter lie, but, as a result of attending the Westway (sports centre), he was provided with emergency accommodation in the Park Plaza County Hall Hotel. (PA Graphics) Hotel costs came to more than 60,000, while the cost to cover the studio flat in Lots Road, Chelsea, between January this year and his arrest in June amounted to almost 3,000, she said. Police said the total cost for the flat amounted to 15,895.77 including furniture, electrical goods and bills. After taking into account utilities and other allowances including travel costs, the total cost to the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea amounted to 88,183.70. Ms Farrelly said Rekaya had at one stage requested a transaction history of all his prepaid cards to check if his Netflix subscription was being paid for. He had refused to answer specific questions about the night of the fire, claiming he did not want to relive such a traumatic event. Despite concerns raised by a housing officer of the borough after a meeting with Rekaya in October last year, it was decided that his accommodation and allowances should continue until the fraud investigation had concluded. A forefeiture order was made for 2,000 the sum of cash Rekaya had when he was arrested at the Chelsea flat in June this year. Rekaya was jailed for four years for fraud and a further six months for the second charge relating to his right to remain in the UK. Mitigating, Anthony Metzer QC said his client had had a difficult life and fled Tunisia after being kidnapped and beaten up there. He said Rekaya had had issues with alcohol and drugs and had previously slept rough in the tower block but not in the night of the fire. This is not an easy case in which to offer mitigation, he said. There is anger and there is resentment about persons like this defendant. David Davies, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said: Abdelkarim Rekaya falsely claimed he had been sleeping rough in Grenfell Tower so he could personally benefit from this tragedy. He made up an account of waking up and fleeing the building, but the CPS was able to disprove his lies, leading to this conviction. Rekaya is the latest in a string of fraudsters to be sentenced in relation to the disaster. So far, 13 people have been convicted in separate cases, with a total of more than 630,000 in bogus claims for money that was meant for those whose lives had been devastated. Bellal Elguenuni, who the court heard had lived in Grenfell Tower for around 10 years and whose family suffered physical and mental injuries as a result of the fire, said such crimes had stalled the fight for justice. In a victim impact statement read by the prosecutor to the court on Friday he said: The impact of a crime like this goes beyond financial gain for a fraudster and threatens the search for justice and the reputation of the residents as well as the 72 people who are no longer with us. Edward Daffarn, a Grenfell resident of 17 years whose victim impact statement was also read, said those who have committed such crimes hinder and obstruct the bereaved and ex-Tower residents search for truth and justice. US President Donald Trump has joined the leaders of Canada and Mexico at a global meeting in Argentina to sign a revised North American trade pact that he called groundbreaking and a benefit for working people. The US-Mexico-Canada Agreement is meant to replace the 24-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement, which Mr Trump has long denigrated as a disaster. He appeared with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and outgoing Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto at the G20 summit in Buenos Aires for the formal signing ceremony. President Trump Participates in the USMCA Signing Ceremony https://t.co/ITeDQ39ZrN The White House 45 Archived (@WhiteHouse45) November 30, 2018 Its been long and hard. Weve taken a lot of barbs and a little abuse, but we got there, Mr Trump said of the pact. Each countrys legislature must also approve the agreement but this could prove a difficult task in the US, especially now that Democrats instead of Mr Trumps Republicans will control the House of Representatives come January. Democrats and their allies in the labour movement are already demanding changes to the agreement. While Mr Trump hailed the revised trade pact, Mr Trudeau was more measured, saying there was still work to be done and calling on Mr Trump using his first name to remove steel and aluminium tariffs the US imposed on Canada and Mexico. Mr Trudeau also referenced recent downsizing by General Motors in North America as a heavy blow but Mr Trump did not mention the job losses. Donald Trump looks over at Justin Trudeaus document as they and Mexicos President Enrique Pena Nieto sign a new trade deal (Martin Mejia/AP) The signing came at the front end of two days of tough diplomacy for Mr Trump. On the top of his agenda is a Saturday dinner meeting with Chinese President Xi Jingping, which will determine if the two can ease escalating trade tensions. Before Mr Trump arrived in Argentina he injected additional drama into the proceedings by cancelling another high-stakes meeting, with Russian President Vladimir Putin. On Friday, Mr Trump opened the day with a cordial meeting at the Casa Rosada with Argentine President Mauricio Macri, a longtime business acquaintance. Posing for photos in the gilded Salon Blanco, Mr Trump spoke about their longtime personal relationship and said they would discuss trade, military purchases and other issues. Weve known each other a long while, Mr Trump said, noting he worked with Mr Macris father on real estate developments. The businessman-turned-politician joked that when he and Mr Macri first met they would never have imagined their future roles on the world stage. Mr Macri is hosting the summit as he struggles with problems at home. He is trying to halt economic turmoil that has caused the steep depreciation of the Argentine peso. Mr Trump, who arrived in Buenos Aires late on Thursday, barrelled into the two-day meeting by announcing via Twitter that he was cancelling a planned meeting with Mr Putin over Russias seizure of Ukrainian vessels. His agenda for the weekend includes meetings with world leaders, as well as a number of heavily choreographed group activities for the gathering of leaders of rich and developing nations. The latest in a long line of portraits of the Queen has been given the royal seal of approval by the head of state. At Windsor Castle the Queen saw for the first time the painting by military artist Stuart Brown, showing the monarch in a room of the famous royal fortress. The painting was commissioned by the RAF Regiment to commemorate its 75th anniversary and to honour the Queen who is the regiments Air Commodore in Chief. The portrait by Stuart Brown (Steve Parsons/PA) With the Queen at the official viewing in the castles oak room was Air Commodore Scott Miller and other members of the RAF. The painting shows the head of state sat at a desk in the white drawing room at Windsor Castle. In the image she is wearing a brooch presented to her by the RAF Regiment which shows the Astral Crown and crossed Lee Enfield rifles. After the viewing Mr Brown said: This was the professional and personal opportunity of a lifetime. I had an overwhelming sense of being in the presence of living history. The painting will be displayed at RAF Honington in Suffolk, home to the RAF Police and the RAF Regiment. The Queen recently unveiled another portrait of herself with an RAF association, a painting by award-winning artist Ben Sullivan commissioned by the RAF Club in London to mark its centenary. Police are investigating a fake paramedic who is believed to have had contact with more than 100 patients. The Metropolitan Police said it was contacted in July regarding concerns about the actions of a London Ambulance Service (LAS) member of staff which, the Evening Standard newspaper reported, included responding to 999 calls and discharging patients at the scene. Following inquiries, a man was arrested at an address in Hornchurch, Essex, on September 27, in relation to a period between May and July this year. In a statement, police said: The 21-year-old was arrested on suspicion of fraud, burglary, theft by employee, assault by beating, dangerous driving, driving otherwise in accordance of licence, and driving without insurance. According to the Evening Standard, it is believed the man treated more than 100 patients while working at the LAS. The LAS confirmed on Friday that it immediately ended the mans employment. Met Police officers are investigating the `fake paramedic (Sean Dempsey/PA) We take our responsibilities to patients extremely seriously. As soon as we became aware of the activities of this individual, we initiated a full internal investigation, informed the police and contacted patients affected, it said in a statement. Following our investigation, we have improved, and will continue to improve, our security, systems and processes. The LAS said it would continue to work closely with commissioners, NHS Improvement and the Care Quality Commission (CQC). It added: Changes designed to eliminate the possibility of anyone with internal knowledge of our computerised systems being able to misuse them in this way, have already been implemented. The police said the 21-year-old was taken into custody at a south London police station and later released under investigation. Inquiries are said to be ongoing. A spokesman for the CQC said: I can confirm that CQC is aware of this matter. As a result CQC carried out a two day unannounced focused inspection at the London Ambulance Service NHS Trust on 20 and 21 November 2018. CQC will publish the findings of this inspection in due course. Protests will be held across the country on Saturday in support of Post Offices and against plans to franchise scores of branches to retailer WH Smith. The Communication Workers Union (CWU) said it will stage demonstrations at almost 50 locations, supported by Labour politicians and local campaigners. The union is also gathering names for a petition it hopes will lead to the future of Post Offices being debated in Parliament. The union says that when Crown offices larger branches usually sited on high streets close, many staff leave the service, and jobs advertised by firms such as WH Smith offer lower wages than those paid by the Post Office. CWU general secretary Dave Ward said: The day of action is an ambitious one. We are holding dozens of events from Truro to Aberdeen, in every region of the United Kingdom, to engage with members of the public about this latest shameful round of planned closures. People are sick and tired of the broken privatisation agenda that is behind this latest move. We hope many will join our campaign to save our Post Offices. The CWU says it is campaigning to save Post Offices (Isabel Infantes/PA) Roger Gale, the Post Offices network & sales director, said: The Post Office has over 11,500 branches across the UK. It will be business as usual in all our branches and we hope the CWU will ensure that there is no impact on customer service. The Post Office is committed to keeping its vital services on high streets and at the heart of communities across the UK. However, we are not immune to the challenges facing retailers in local high streets, and we must adapt to changing customer needs by making our services more accessible to customers, for instance through longer opening hours. That is why we are proposing to franchise a further 74 directly managed branches to WH Smith. The plan enables us to maintain branches in town and city centres in a way thats financially sustainable, not just for todays customers but tomorrows too. 98% of the Post Office network is run in this way, on an agency or franchise basis. Its a model that works through delivering the benefits of shared overheads and footfall. Theresa May was joined by schoolchildren as she illuminated Downing Street by switching on the Christmas tree lights. The three children, from her constituency of Maidenhead, won a competition to design the Prime Ministers official Christmas cards. Mrs May sang Christmas carols with Chloe Hathaway, Amelie Beard and Dexter van Elkan, all aged nine, alongside the Military Wives Choir outside Number 10 on Thursday. The 22ft Christmas tree was provided by John Junor from the Farr North Christmas Trees in Inverness, after being chosen by the British Christmas Tree Growers Association, who have provided the tree for 20 years. Military families were also present, with more than a dozen of forces families from the Army, RAF, Royal Marines and veterans joining the festivities. Responding to a reporter who asked if she had a Christmas wish, The Prime Minister said: I wish everybody a very happy, peaceful Christmas. Ahead of the switch on, a number of cabinet members were seen leaving Number 10, including the Home Secretary Sajid Javid. Downing Street said there was not a full Cabinet meeting. Congratulations to nine-year-olds Chloe, Amelie and Dexter from Maidenhead - winners of my annual Christmas card competition! pic.twitter.com/Sd30BiYAmC Theresa May (@theresa_may) December 6, 2018 Prime Minister Theresa May said: I was delighted that so many forces families could join me in Downing Street today for the switching on of the Christmas lights. While Christmas is a time of celebration, it can be a difficult time for our servicemen and women, many of whom will be serving abroad and separated from their loved ones. We are all immensely grateful for their courage and their dedication and I would like to wish them, and their families, a very happy Christmas. The Military Wives Choir sing carols outside Number 10 (Dominic Lipinski/PA) Richard Stringfellow, vice chair of trustees at the charity Military Wives Choirs and musician in The Band of the Household Cavalry, said: The festive period can be a particularly tricky time for military families when loved ones are deployed and cant be home for Christmas. Our 74 choirs based across the UK and overseas provide a safe space for women in the military community to come together and sing, share and support one another, which can often be a real lifeline. It was amazing to celebrate that fact and perform as part of the Downing Street Christmas tree lights switch-on event this year. The Government must pace up animal resource reforms if it wants to double farmers incomes Every year, the country celebrates the birthday of Lord Krishna with great fanfare. But along with his discourse in Bhagwad Gita, Krishna is needed more today than ever before because our food God, the Indian farmer, needs his blessings to sustain his income from farming. This past year, the Union Government announced its decision to double farmers income by 2022. Several steps, too, have been taken to achieve the goal. However, this writers field visits in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Uttarakhand and interactions with farmers and cattle owners over there revealed several missing links apart from a skewed vision, poor planning of schemes and their lopsided implementation. The animal resources planning needs both technical and financial support. Since the Government is undertaking the 20th Animal Census, the issue assumes added importance for the planners. According to the 19th Animal Census of 2013, with the base year of 2012, livestock population stood at 512.05 million and consisted of cattle, buffalo, sheep, goat, horses, ponies, mules, donkeys, camel and yak. The cattle population was around 283 million. The contribution of animal resources in the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is estimated to be 4.11 per cent but the contribution of livestock in agriculture GDP is 25.6 per cent. The net population of animals witnessed a decrease of 3.33 per cent compared to the 2007 Census figures, though it increased in some States like Gujarat (15.3 per cent), Uttar Pradesh (14 per cent), Assam (10 per cent), Punjab (9.5 per cent), Bihar (8.5 per cent). Milch cattle population in the country went up from 111 million to 118 million. The foreign breed cattle also witnessed a whopping increase of 32.7 per cent to 19.42 million, up from 14.4 million. The population of indigenous cows, however, decreased by 8.9 per cent between 2007 and 2012. How then can this livestock population be used to increase the income of farmers? The holy cow is worshipped by one and all but a lot has to be done to enhance the value of our cows wealth. These days a lot of material is flooding in the markets about A2 milk which is fast assuming the status of an industry in New Zealand, Australia, Uruguay and the US among others. Brazil took Indian cows long back in ships and is now a world leader in the production of A2 milk from Indian breed cows. The foreign breed, Holstein Friesian and Jersey, produce A1 milk, which according to scientists, contains Beta casein protein one of the causes of diabetes, blood pressure and heart problems. The A2 milk does not contain Beta casein protein and all hump-bearing Indian cows produce A2 milk. India has 37 pure cattle breeds and all have a hump. The cow varieties like Gir, Red Sindhi, Sahiwal, Tharparkar and Rathi are high milk yielding while others like Nagauri, Kankrej and Ongole are for both milk as well as drought qualities. After four years of extensive research, scientists at the Junagadh Agricultural University (JAU) actually found gold in the urine of Gir cows. The analysis of urine samples of 400 Gir cows at the Food Testing Laboratory of JAU showed traces of gold ranging from three mg to 10 mg from one litre of urine. This lend credence to our ancient literature about the holiness of cows. A single-minded devotion to focus on Indian cows can increase their contribution to agriculture GDP by almost 50 per cent. The Brazil example has shown that Indian breed can yield much higher milk. But the biggest problem is the mindset of veterinary experts who have been concentrating more on quantity under the influence of Western scientists. While Uttam Maheswari is a well-known cow therapy expert in Mumbai and has been treating serious diseases with cow products. This writer too has collaborated with one dedicated person, Vaishnav Charan Das, who treats diseases using cow products, and through the Kalpavriksh Foundation, spreads consciousness about the cow based on scientific facts; unlike the cow vigilantes who take law in their own hands. Indians need a fundamental change in their attitude. They must make cow wealth self-sustainable by implementing the Vedic agriculture production system as well as by using and distributing cow products as a source of income to the farmers. Another small venture was started in Delhi to feed street and abandoned cows by the Survi kamdhenu Trust of BD Tripathi, who collects waste food from houses in Delhi and feeds the cows by spending his own money. This trust is also teaching the school children about the importance of the cow. These are just a few examples of individuals walking the extra mile. Unless the society, social leaders and Government takes it up seriously and considers it as a scientific venture, farmers will continue to suffer and holy cows will continue to languish in roads and slaughtered. (The writer is a Retired Civil Servant) Despite concerted efforts by some of the powerful social groups in Tamil Nadu to stonewall the investigation into the visit to Kanyakumari district of the two French citizens, Arthur Roland Rene and Jules Damien, during November 24 to 26 and their sudden exit from the country, the police and Central agencies are probing all angles associated with the controversial tour by them to prohibited areas. Peer Mohammed, convener of the Alliance for Media Freedom told The Pioneer that the foreigners escaped for fear of their life. Peer Mohammed said the French nationals were accredited as journalists by an organisation in France. The basic lesson taught to investigative journalists like me is to run for our life when there are chances of us falling into the hands of the enemies, said Peer Mohammed who said that journalists in Tamil Nadu were under the threat of the authorities. Rene and Damien, accompanied by a Catholic priest had visited prohibited areas in Kanyakumari district which fall under the jurisdiction of the Department of Atomic Energy and had videographed the entire region. Even Indian journalists are not allowed to carry cameras or mobile phones when they are invited to DAE establishments like Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR), Kalpakkam, and units of the Indian Rare Earth for security reasons. Media persons are provided with pictures filmed by the public relations department of the DAE. When this was pointed out, Peer Mohammed said the touring journalists were not aware of the laws of the land. The security officer at IRE unit got panicky and thats why this became a controversy, he said. Though Kanyakumari district is known as a communally sensitive area, there has been no instance of any journalist being detained or harassed by the police in the recent past. If the French citizens were journalists as claimed by the Alliance for Media Freedom, why did they check into the hotel under fake identities? The rooms were booked in the name of Anand Kumar and Sreeram, said Ramakrishnan Gautaman, head, Vedic Science Research Centre. The claim by Alliance for Media Freedom that the French citizens visited the Chinnavilai village to study about the illegal sand mining itself has created doubts among a section of the local population. The mining area in this village is under the jurisdiction of the IRE which is mining various minerals from the region. The mining licence has been granted by the Governments of India and Tamil Nadu and there is no illegal operation by the IRE, pointed out Gauthaman. He also pointed out that the French citizens could have approached either the Madras High Court or Gagansingh Bedi, the Principal Secretary to the Government of Tamil Nadu for any details about the illegal mining operations in the State. Bedi has held a comprehensive study about all kinds of mining in Tamil Nadu and has prepared voluminous reports, said Gauthaman. The meetings held by the French citizens with members of one particular community and their exclusive interactions with religious leaders has caught the attention of the police. "It is said that they escaped without checking out from the hotel rooms and had left some hard disks in their room. But they had their travel documents and other equipment with them. They left the hard disks in the hotel room to divert the attention of the police," said a police official probing the issue. The BJP and the Mamata Banerjee Government in West Bengal are on the warpath over the saffron partys proposed rath yatra in the State. A day after a single Bench of the Calcutta High Court refused the BJP permission to hold the rath yatra in Cooch Behar, a Division Bench of the court modified its order even as BJP chief Amit shah launched an all-out attack against the State Government and accused it of throttling democracy. The first of the three chariots was scheduled to roll out from Cooch Behar on Friday but was deferred till January 9 by a single-Bench. On Friday, a Division Bench of justices Biswanath Samaddar and Arindam Mukherjee directed Chief Secretary, Home Secretary and DGP to sort out the yatra imbroglio by December 12 and inform the appellant (the BJP) about their decisions. The decision should be reasonable and not arbitrary, the HC said. Wondering as to what made the State administration sit over the bunch of letters sent by the BJP seeking permission for the yatra, the judges remarked the Governments silence was astonishing and astounding. The court modified the single Benchs judgment by taking away the injunctive part of the Wednesdays order. The Judges said, The Government could have chosen to regulate the yatra, truncated it from a 40-day affair to a 20 or seven-day one, decided on its routes or the number of rallyists, anything but the way it chose to ignore it was simply astonishing. Even as an excited BJP leadership pegged on its hope on the court order, lawyers representing the State Government said, The court order would be followed in both letter and spirit. The administration will have no problem in deciding on the safe routes or the number of days. Earlier, the single bench of Justice Tapabrato Chakrabarty on Thursday had denied permission for the yatra wondering why the saffron outfit had approached the court so late and after the State contended that the yatra could create communal tension in the State. The three-legged rath yatra was to start from Coochbehar on December 7. The second yatra was to start from Kakdwip-Ganga Sagar on December 9 and the third one was to start from Birbhum on December 14. All the yatras were to converge on January 23 at a grand rally in KolkatasBrigade Parade Ground where Prime Minister Narendra Modi would address the rally. The yatras were to be inaugurated by BJP president Amit Shah. Shah who postponed his visit to Coochbehar on Friday, declared in Delhi that the BJPs growth in West Bengal has scared Mamata Banerjee and accused her of throttling democracy in the State by denying permission to three yatras of his party. We will definitely carry out all yatras, nobody can stop us. The BJP is committed to change in West Bengal. The yatras have not been cancelled, just postponed, Shah said at a Press conference in the national Capital. His party will follow the judicial process to get permission for them, Shah, who said he would visit the State on Saturday, said. Training his guns on Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the Trinamool Government, the BJP president said people in the State are ready for change and asserted that the party will win a majority of seats in the Lok Sabha polls. His partys expansion in the State and win in over 7,000 seats in panchayat polls has rattled the Trinamool Congress chief. It is giving her sleepless nights and left her scared, Shah said. According to Shah, the State Government often denied permission to his partys programmes. It had kept writing to the home department and the director general of police to seek their nod for the yatras but in vain, Shah alleged. The way Mamata Banerjee is using her Government to trample upon democratic norms is very undemocratic and is throttling democracy, he said. In his view, his partys campaign in the State against the misgovernance of the Trinamool has resulted in people rising against it. He said he would give the Chief Minister unsolicited advice -- that the more her Government tries to suppress the BJP, the more will anger spread among people. Shah cited the murder of three party workers and asked Mamata what action the police had taken so far. Such massive violence was not seen even during the Left Government, he alleged, adding that the police and Trinamool Congress combined to abet political murders. The BJP president cited a study to claim that the State accounts for 26 political murders out of 100 in the country. The entire West Bengal administration is working for the ruling TMC, he added. The mafia, he alleged, was working in sectors like health, education and business, and governance has collapsed. Not just the Government, the State administration has also resorted to the politics of appeasement to please a community, Shah said, in an apparent reference to the Muslim community. Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal on Friday directed the Departments of Information Technology (IT) and Labour and Employment to jointly prepare an online mechanism related to Provident Fund (PF) of employees in the State. The online mechanism should be prepared so as to ensure that the PF of employees working in any establishment having ten or more employees and employees drawing salary less than 21,000 per month in the State is transferred directly into their bank accounts, said Manohar Lal while reviewing the progress of Chief Ministers (CMs) announcement of 13 departments here. He said that complaints have been received that in many cases, the contractors or employer did not deposit the deducted PF of employees. To provide relief to such employees, an online mechanism should be developed so that their PF should be transferred directly into their accounts, he said. While directing the departments concerned to speed up the work on announcements made by him, the Chief Minister directed the Public Works (Building and Roads) Department to provide him a list within three days about those projects, the work on which has been stalled due to non-transfer of budget by other departments. He said that provision of dormitories should be made in all rest houses to be constructed in future so that a common man could avail the facility on nominal rates. Manohar Lal also directed the Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC) to explore the possibility of setting up of industrial sector in Uchana, Jind and Food Park in Dabwali. The Chief Minister further asked the authorities concerned to expedite the setting up of Sainik School at village Matenhail in district Jhajjar. During the meeting, Manohar Lal was apprized that while the gram panchayat Matenhail has provided 300 acres of land for this school, the Finance Department has approved Rs 500 crore for the construction of this school. A draft agreement has been prepared and sent to Ministry of Defence, Government of India for approval. After the approval of the draft, a Memorandum of Agreement would be signed between the State Government and Union Ministry of Defence (MOD) for setting up of this school. It was also informed that an estimate of Rs 10.42 crore has been prepared for the development and up-gradation of Karna Lake and Oasis Tourism Complex in Karnal. Apart from this, a Sikh Museum would also be set up in Kurukshetra. It has also been decided to set up Virat Sawroop of Lord Krishna in Kurukshetra at an estimated cost of Rs 12 crore. The Chief Minister was also informed that a tourism park would be developed at Topra Kalan in Radaur district Yamunanagar at a cost of Rs two crore. Besides, the development of Tourist Place of Pandav Mandir situated at Nalhar in Nuh has been approved under the Krishna Circuit phase-II of Union Ministry of Tourism. The Delhi Police arrested three members of 'Kranti Gang' on Friday. The arrested gangsters are involved in several cases of murder, attempt to murder, robbery and carjacking in National Capital and Haryana. They were arrested after a team of Special Cell intercepted their vehicle near Dhaula Kuan area in South west Delhi. The accused have been identified as Devender resident of Kharkhadi Nahar village near Najafgarh, Shekhar resident of Sultanpur village in Delhi and Ravinder Kumar resident of Bangrola village in Gurugram, Haryana. The Delhi Police has also declared a bounty of Rs one lakh on arrest of Devender while Rs 50 thousand bounty on Shekhar's arrest. Police have recovered two country-made Pistols of .315 bore along with four live cartridges and one i-20 car, which were looted by them from the area of Dwarka, from their possession. According to Sanjeev Kumar Yadav, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Special Cell, on December 4 a shootout took place in the area of Dhaula Kuan, in which carjacker and member of the Rajesh Bharti led 'KRANTI" gang, Jitender arrested while his other associates managed to escape following which a team was constituted to nab these criminals. "While looking for these gangsters a specific input was received regarding one of the gangster who was injured in the shootout took medical aid covertly and was advised for further treatment from specialists," said the DCP. A case has been registered and further investigation is going on. A 16 year-old boy was burnt to death after a fire broke out in an electronic shop at Tughlaqabad area in South east Delhi on Friday, police said. The boy have been identified as Viplove Sarkar alias Sunny who worked at the shop at Bengali colony in Tughlaqabad village. According to sources, the shop owner had allegedly locked him inside the shop before leaving for his home on late Thursday night. Police said the fire incident occurred around 6 am on Friday. Police was informed by the neighbours regarding the fire around 7: 45 am following which team rushed to the spot. Fire tenders doused the fire but Sunny was charred to death. His body was recovered later, a police official said. "The body was handed over to family after autopsy. A case has been registered. Investigation is in progress and the cause of fire is yet to be ascertained. Further investigation is going on," police said. Even as the controversy over the role of several right wing activists in the Bulandshahr violence last Monday refused to die down, the teams of Special Investigation Team (SIT) and Special Task Force (STF) probing the flare-up are now verifying the role of a serving Army personnel who figures in the videos shot during the violence. The violence left Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh and a local youth Sumit dead. The investigators apprehend that the Army man, who was on leave and present in his native village of Mahwa in Bulandshahr on the fateful day, might have shot the cop. The suspect was present in Mahwa village on Monday but returned to Kashmir to join duty the very next morning. His mother, however, denied his involvement. A team of UP police has been despatched to Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir to identify the Army personnel and quiz him for establishing his role in the killing of the inspector. Meanwhile, Defence officials also issued a release confirming that the role of an Army man was under investigation. The police had contacted the Northern Command and fullest co-operation is being extended. Details would be released by the police at an appropriate time after positive identification. Since the matter is under investigation, no other comment can be offered, said a Defence release. Sources claimed that the SIT formed to probe and nab the perpetrators of Mondays violence was making no serious effort to nab prime accused Yogesh Raj or his other right wing cohorts identified as Shikhar Agarwal, Upendra Raghav etc. Senior police officials brushed aside questions on their arrests, saying that arrests would be made only after adequate evidence was gathered about their involvement. Beside the Army man, the SIT, while scanning videos, also identified another youth and prime accused Yogesh Rajs aide standing with a handgun with the mob that attacked the inspector. His identity was established as Hemant of Naya Bans, also in Chingrawati. The police said that Hemant had often been seen brandishing handgun during various agitations in the district. The cops raided his house to pick him up and quiz him but he absconded before the police reached there. Meanwhile, four days after the violence, UP Police finally admitted that a report prepared by ADG (Intelligence) SB Shirodkar was received but no further action had been taken. Briefing media persons in Lucknow on Friday, IG (Crime) SK Bhagat said, Yes, ADG SB Shirodkar submitted a report and the competent officers are going through it. However, Bhagat refused to share details claiming that it was confidential and could not be discussed. The report could not be handed over to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for necessary action as he was away in New Delhi and did not return till late Friday evening. The IG (Crime) further said that the SIT nabbed four more accused, not named in the FIR, and were making efforts to arrest the remaining accused. Electronic goods worth Rs 10 lakh were stolen from a mobile shop near old Sabzi Mandi under Bairagarh police station area in the early morning hours on Friday. Police said the victim Rahul Motwani lodged a complaint regarding of burglary of 50 premium mobile phones from his mobile shop near main road at old Sabzi Mandi. In his complaint the victim stated that he owns Gurukripa shop and in the morning when his employee went to open the shop the shutter was found broken and on entering the mobile phones were found burgled. After the employee found burglary of mobile phones he informed Rahul and later the victim approached police to lodge a complaint. SDOP Bairagarh PP Gautam said that the mobile shop owner has claimed loss of lakhs of rupees which would be investigated. The shop was not having any CCTV camera but the nearby shops have cameras installed which would be investigated in the further investigation. The spot has been visited by FSL team and crime branch would be investigating the case along with the Bairagarh police. The victim claimed of burglary of mid-premium range of Apple mobile phones and other premium mobile phones of different brands. Search has been intensified, he added.Based on the complaint the police have registered a case under sections 457 and 380 of the IPC and have started further investigation. The employee who works for the victim and nearby employees of shopkeepers would be quizzed in the investigation. Governor Anandiben Patel has expressed grief over demise of renowned litterateur, journalist and first Chairman of Chhattisgarh Rajbhasha Commission Padmshri Pt. Shyamlal Chaturvedi. In her message, the Governor said that Late Pt Shyamlal Chaturvedi has made tremendous contribution to literature and culture of Chhatttisgarh. The Governor said that the demise of Pt Shyamlal Chaturvedi is an irreparable loss to the state and he would always be remembered as an inspiration in the world of Journalism. She has empathized with the grief-stricken family of late Pt Shyamlal Chaturvedi and has prayed for the departed soul to rest in peace. Chief Minister Raman Singh expressed his deep condolences on the sad demise of poet, literary giant and journalist Pandit Shyamlal Chaturvedi. Padmasri awardee and First Chairperson of Chhattisgarh Rajya Bhasha Ayog Pt Shyamlal Chaturvedi passed away at a private hospital in his home town Bilaspur today morning. In a condolence message , Singh mentioned that with the demise of Pandit Chaturvedi, golden Era in journalism and literature had come to an end. The Chief Minister said that Pandit Shyamlal Chaturvedi in his seven-decade long career had enriched the Chhattisgarhi and Hindi literature with his brilliant writings and illuminated the folk culture and literature. Singh said that Pandit Chaturvedis contributions to the field of Chhattisgarh literature and cultural history will be remembered forever. The Chief Minister expressed his deep sympathies to the members of the bereaved family and prayed for peace to the departed soul. It may be mentioned here that Pandit Shyamlal Chaturvedi was honoured with Pandit Sundarlal Sharma Rajya Alankaran on the occasion of Rajyotsav in 2004. He was awarded Padmashri by the Union Government on April 2 this year in New Delhi. Pandit Shyamlal Chaturvedi also worked as a journalist in various renowned newspapers at Bilaspur. The State Government had awarded Best Panchayat' award to the gram panchayat in the then undivided Bilaspur district. He had started wearing Khadi under the influence of Mahatma Gandhi. Pt Shyamlal Chaturvedi had passed M.A. privately. His writings Bholwa Bholaram Banis and Parra Bar Lahee are among the most popular. He received many prestigious awards during the course of his illustrious career spanning several decades. All arrangements have been made for the passing-out parade at the prestigious Indian Military Academy (IMA) on Saturday when 347 Indian and 80 Foreign Gentlemen Cadets would pass out from its famed portals to become officers in the Indian Army and the armed forces of friendly nations. The passing out contingent would comprise 306 GCs from 143 regular course and 41 from the Technical Graduate Course (TGC). Among the FGCs, 49 are from Afghanistan, 15 from Bhutan, five from Maldives, five from Tajikistan and two each from Nepal, Srilanka and Vietnam. Among the passing out contingents, smalls States like Haryana and Uttarakhand continue to be on forefront when it comes to send its men to serve in the armed forces of the country. From Haryana, 51 youngsters would become officers on Saturday while 26 from Uttarakhand would be part of passing out contingent. Uttar Pradesh with 53 GCs leads the table while Bihar with 36, Delhi with 25 and Maharashtra with 20 GC are some of other the big contributors. Notably, Madhya Pradesh, the second biggest State of India, would contribute only 10 GCs in the passing out contingent of officers. Another big state Andhra Pradesh (AP) would be sending only four officers. The disinterest of the people of Gujarat in serving in the armed forces is clearly evident as this time too just four GCs are from the State. The States of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand which were created along with Uttarakhand in the year 2000 also have less representation with only two and six GCs this time respectively, despite being much bigger in area and population than Uttarakhand. Multi-Activity Display at IMA Showcasing the high standards of the training and physical excellence achieved by the Gentlemen Cadets of Indian Military Academy, a Multi-Activity Display was conducted at Somnath Stadium on Friday as a prelude to the Passing Out Parade. The Display was witnessed by a large gathering of spectators which included the Passing Out Course, their parents and relatives. The Gentlemen Cadets showed dare devil acts on horseback, which included tent pegging, trick riding and show jumping. Further, a performance was put up by the Gentleman Cadets showcasing their physical prowess through their gymnastic agility and acrobatic skills. It culminated with the performance by Gatka and Bhangra Team. In a major embarrassment for the Government, a visibly disappointed Speaker Prem Chand Agarwal suspended a question on the status of cow in Uttarakhand after the House was left unsatisfied with the answer given by the Minister of State for Animal Husbandry Rekha Arya. In a question, the BJP MLA from Salt, Surendra Singh Jeena said that many cows in the mountainous areas have been left abandoned by their owners due to which they are forced to live in the open, vulnerable to the attack of the wild animals. He demanded that the State Government should firm up a policy for the protection of the stray cows. In her reply, the Minister said that there are 24 cow shelters spread across the State where stray cows are being kept. She further informed that a budget of Rs 2.5 crore has been set aside this year for the upkeep of the shelters. Jeena told the Minister that the High Court has ordered the Government to set up a cow shelter for a cluster of every ten villages and no action has been taken to execute the order, given the paucity of budget. The Minister at the time suggested that the MLAs should set up such shelters in their constituencies from their development fund. Miffed over the suggestion, Jeena retorted that he is ready to set up five shelters in his constituency provided the Government assures financial support to run them. Intervening in the discussion, Vikasnagar MLA Munna Singh Chauhan said that cutting across party lines, the Uttarakhand Assembly had passed a unanimous resolution to declare cow as Rashtra Mata. But the reply of the Minister is far from sensible, he said. He further said that it is common knowledge that the bovines constitute 99 percent population of the stray animals. The BJP member asked the Minister as to whether the Government has empowered some enforcing agencies for cows and its progeny protection act. After a prolonged discussion on the issue, the Speaker ruled that since the Minister has not given a satisfactory answer the question stood suspended. This was the second time in two consecutive days when the Ministers were at the receiving end of the MLAs onslaught. On Thursday, the State Education Minister Arvind Pandey had faced the same in the House as the MLAs tore into him with pointed questions to which the Minister failed to reply satisfactorily. Mystery shrouds the death of a 20-year-old woman whose body was found in a pond in Budha Khera village of Muzaffarnagar on Friday. As per reports, Om Sudha went missing on November 27 after which her family lodged a complaint. On Friday, after her body was fished out from a pond, the police said that circumstantial evidences pointed that Sudha was murdered and her body was dumped there later. The body was sent for autopsy and a probe was underway. Meanwhile, 13 persons were killed in separate incidents in Agra and Jaunpur. In Agra, eight persons were killed in two road accidents. Five persons were killed after an SUV collided head-on with a truck near Khandauli on Agra-Aligarh road on Thursday evening. While three persons died on the spot, one of the injured died on way to SN Medical College hospital in Agra while another succumbed to injuries during treatment. The SUV was going to Agra from Aligarh while a potato laden truck was on its way to Hathras. The victims were returning from a marriage function when tragedy struck. In the second accident, three members of a family were killed when their car hit a road divider and overturned in Agra. The family hailed from Faizabad and was going to Ghaziabad. In Jaunpur, two persons died and as many were injured when a car skidded into a ditch near Kalichabad village near Baksha town on Thursday night. The driver apparently lost control of the vehicle which caused the mishap. The deceased were identified as Guddu (47) and Amarnath (27). Two persons were injured and taken to a hospital. In another mishap in Jaunpur, three children died after a wall collapsed on them in Rehti village in Jalalpur area on Friday morning. Ayush (12), Ashjad (6) and Shivhari (8) died on the spot and their bodies were extricated from the rubble by local villagers. To evade fear of police and develop friendly gesture among children in National Capital, Delhi Police on Friday launched 'Police Uncle', an initiative to reach out to the schoolchildren of Delhi, at Thyagaraj Stadium. The event of city police aimed to connect with schoolchildren and show a friendly face of police among the upcoming generation. More than 5,000 children from different schools in city took part in the one day event On the occasion, a short movie was shown to the children to make them aware about cyber crime and to educate them about the "Do's and Don'ts" while using social networking sites or while browsing on the internet. Chief Guest on the occasion, Amulya Patnaik, Delhi Commissioner of Police (CP) released the 'Police Uncle' book written by Delhi Police staff members. Speaking on the occasion the CP said that the 'Police Uncle' initiative is a historical moment for Delhi Police in its community outreach efforts. "The initiative will not only help us reach out to children across the city but across the country as well in showcasing to them a new friendly face of the police which the majority of our policemen and policewomen actually are. This will also help enhance the confidence and trust of young schoolchildren in police," said the CP. "Basically, this initiative has twin purposes, first to educate children about do's and don'ts in their social conduct and behavior. Secondly they will be taught about how they can prevent themselves from being victims or offenders," said Chinmoy Biswal, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), South-east district. Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Friday gave debt relief against commercial bank loans to the tune of Rs 1771 crore for 1,09,730 eligible marginal farmers of four districts, and also announced the extension of the waiver scheme to farmers with landholding of 2.5 to 5 acres. The amount is being transferred directly to the accounts of the marginal farmers of commercial banks directly and the process will be completed by Saturday, the Chief Minister said at a state-level function, where he symbolically handed over debt relief certificates to 25 farmers. The farmers covered in this phase belong to Patiala, Ludhiana, Sangrur and districts Fatehgarh Sahib. Capt Amarinder said in the next phase, farmers having landholding of 2.5 to 5 acres would get debt waiver towards both cooperative and commercial banks. He also reiterated his commitment to waive off the loans of the landless labourers in the subsequent phases of the implementation of the waiver scheme. He said waiver upto Rs 2 lakh had been given to all the marginal farmers and also to the small farmers who had availed loan upto Rs 2 lakh under the scheme. A sum of Rs 1815 crore of 3.18 lakh marginal farmers of Cooperative Banks had been waived off in the first phase, in addition to Rs 1771 crore of 1.09 lakh marginal farmers of Commercial Banks in today's State Level Debt Relief Function. Capt Amarinder announced that as many as 2.15 lacs small farmers of Cooperative Banks would be covered in the 3rd phase, while 50752 small farmers of Commercial Banks would be covered in the 4th phase. Underlining the need to export sugar and potatoes to Central Asian countries, the Chief Minister said that he had written to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to include these items in the export list, which was cleared just yesterday. If the Government of India allows Punjab to export these products, sugarcane and potato farmers of the state would be immensely benefitted, he added. Captain Amarinder Singh expressed concern about the problem of spurious seeds, agri-chemicals and other inputs that reach the farmers and said his government was maintaining a strict, 24X7 vigil to check sale of such products. He disclosed that a special campaign to ensure balanced use of fertilisers had led to reduction in Urea and DAP consumption by 1 lac MT and 46,000 tons respectively during Kharif-2018 as compared to the previous year. This, he said, resulted in net saving of about Rs 200 crores. He said a campaign was launched to educate the farmers about judicious use of agro-chemicals on Basmati. As a result, the quality of Basmati grain had started meeting international standards and resultantly, farmers were getting better prices of Basmati. This year, farmers are getting Rs 3600-4000 per quintal as against Rs 2600-3000 last year, he added. Capt Amarinder said the state, in collaboration with experts from Israel and PAU, would lay special focus on water conservation so that this precious natural resource could be conserved. In his address, Mandi Board Chairman Lal Singh lashed out at the previous SAD-BJP for devastating the state's economy and bringing Punjab under enormous debt burden. Due to the misdeeds and visionless policies of SAD-BJP government during its decade long rule, the outstanding debt had increased more than fourfold, to Rs 2,08000 crore, by the time their term ended. Former Union Minister Preneet Kaur lauded the Punjab Government for taking its prestigious debt relief programme to next level. She said the state was committed to holistic and all round development of all sections of the society. Punjab Congress President Sunil Jakhar said that the Chief Minister had shown the way to other State Governments and the Centre on how to waive off farmers' debts. He said that the Chief Minister had promoted welfare of the farmers through the debt waiver scheme and fulfilled his poll promise to them. Lambasting Akali leader Sukhbir Singh Badal for ridiculing the debt relief programme of the state government, Jakhar said that they should introspect first on their own deeds of 10 years. He said that Punjab had witnessed a steep decline in the number of farmer suicides, which was nearly 1000 in a year during the SAD-BJP rule but had had now come down to 250-300 due to the pro-farmer initiatives of the Capt Amarinder Singh Government. Cabinet ministers Manpreet Singh Badal, Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Charanjit Singh Channi, Sham Sunder Arora, Vijay Inder Singla, Gurpreet Singh Kangar, Balbir Singh Sidhu, amongst others were present int he function. Sumitranandan Pant, the Bard of Almora who sang of the beauty of nature in his poetry and was one of the shining names of the Chhayavaadi Kavis will always be the pride of Uttarakhand besides being one of the most well-known Hindi poets of our country In December 2015, the then Governor of Uttarakhand Dr.K.K.Paul released a memorial postage stamp on this renowned Hindi litterateur. It was indeed a significant initiative to remember and honour the venerable tradition of literature that Uttarakhand is fortunate to posses. It was for the first time that a memorial stamp was issued in memory of any of the various eminent writers of this region. This great poets death anniversary falls on December 28. He passed away in the year 1977. Kausani and Almora in Kumaon in Uttarakhand are invariably associated with his name. Tourists to the picturesque region love to visit the museum raised in his memory at Kausani. However, if the Government makes more efoorts to project his life and times, it would be a great tribute to this classic poet who has been often compared to William Wordsworth. Students in Uttarakhand must be made aware of this glorious literary heritage, He was born more than a century ago at Kausani. Pant was one of the major romantic Hindi poets and Uttarakhand can never stop priding itself for having been the birthplace of such an accomplished poet. Pant was born on May 20, 1900. His mother died within a few hours of his birth. He was given the name Gosain Dutt. His initial schooling took place in Almora. After completing high school, he moved to Prayag. He did not like his name so he gave himself a new name Sumitranandan Pant. He is considered one of the shining names of the Chhayavaadi School of Hindi literature, the others being Suryakant Tripathi Nirala, Jaishanker Prasad, Mahadevi Verma, Harivansh Rai Bachchan and Ram Dhari Singh Dinkar. Chhayavaad (Shadowism) refers to the era of Neo romanticism in Hindi Literature, particularly Hindi poetry (19171938) and was marked by an upsurge of romantic and humanist content. Chhayavaad was marked by a renewed sense of the self and personal expression, visible in the writings of that time. It is known for its leaning towards themes of love and nature. Sumitranandan Pant took to poetry when he was just seven, and happened to be studying in the 4th grade. Having spent his childhood surrounded by natural beauty of the mountains and flora and fauna; it was only natural that it was from here that he got his inspiration; for his earlier works reflected a sublime touch of the scenic serenity. The period from 1907-1918 has even been admitted by Sumitranandan himself, as the first phase of his notable writing career. The poems that he wrote in this phase have been compiled together and published in "Veena" (1927). Pant authored twenty eight published works including poetry, verse plays and essays. The Sumitranandan Pant Gallery is a museum in Kasauni, set in the house where the poet was born. The beauty of the hills where he was born echoes in Pants poetic works. After his early education in Almora, he went to Queens College in Kashi(Varanasi) and then to to Prayag University. On hearing Mahatama Gandhis call for Satyagraha, he left college. However, he continued his education by reading English, Sanskrit and Bengali Literature. After some time, he went to Sri Aurobindos Ashram at Pondicherry. There was an undeniable influence after the visit to Sri Aurobindo's Ashram and the result was evident in the poems that he was writing then. The museum at Kausani encloses manuscripts of his poems, draft copies of his literary works, articles of his day-to-day use, the awards received and also the letters written by him and received by him. The compact library in this museum is worth visiting. Pant was honoured with the prestigious Padma Bhushan (1961), Jnanpith (1968), Sahitya Akademi and Soviet Land-Nehru Awards for his immense contribution to the Hindi literary scene. His poetry epitomised the Indian thought of Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram (the true, the good, the beautiful). Pant was the poet who effortlessly made the transition from aesthetic mysticism to the temporal. In his later writings, Pant the aesthete emerged as a thinker, philosopher and humanist. His finest work, by far, is Pallav, a collection of 32 poems written between 1918 and 1925. It was Sumitranandan Pant, a close friend of Harivansh Rai Bachchan who happened to suggest the name for the two Bachchan brothers Amitabh and Ajitabh. He was like a godfather figure for the two. Here is an example of a few lines in the Chhayavad style, from Pants poem Almore ka Vasant (Almora Spring): Vidrum ou, markat kee chhaya, Sone chaandee ka sooryatap; Him parisal kee reshmee vaayu, Shat ratnachhay kharg chitrit nabh! (Coral and emerald shadesun's heat first gold then silver;snow mountain scent on silken breezes,a hundred jeweled birds painting the sky) Amira Nature Foods Ltd. engages in processing, sourcing, and selling packaged Indian specialty rice. The company provides various types of basmati rice, other specialty rice and other food products, ready-to-eat snacks, edible oils, and organic products for retailers under the Amira brand; and non-basmati rice. It also sells bulk commodities, including wheat, barley, legume, maize, sugar, soybean meal, onion, potato, and millet products to trading firms, as well as third party branded products. The company sells its products to buyers in the Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, and North America; and distributors and retail chains in India. Amira Nature Foods Ltd. was founded in 1915 and is based in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates. 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] | (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. 10 hours ago Will flight restrictions help as new virus variant emerges? A new coronavirus variant identified in southern Africa is leading to a new round of travel restrictions just as many had finally begun to ease. The risks of the variant, called omicron, are largely unknown. Read Article American Consumer News, LLC dba MarketBeat 2010-2021. All rights reserved. 326 E 8th St #105, Sioux Falls, SD 57103 | U.S. Based Support Team at contact@marketbeat.com | (844) 978-6257 MarketBeat does not provide personalized financial advice and does not issue recommendations or offers to buy stock or sell any security. Our Accessibility Statement | Terms of Service | Do Not Sell My Information 2021 Market data provided is at least 10-minutes delayed and hosted by Barchart Solutions. Information is provided 'as-is' and solely for informational purposes, not for trading purposes or advice, and is delayed. 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Ltd., Occidental Oil Shale Inc., Occidental Oil and Gas (Oman) Ltd., Occidental Oil and Gas Corporation, Occidental Oil and Gas International Inc., Occidental Oil and Gas International LLC, Occidental Oil and Gas Pakistan LLC, Occidental Oil and Gas of Peru LLC, Occidental Oman (Block 27) Holdings Ltd., Occidental Oman Block 51 Holding Ltd., Occidental Oman Block 51 LLC, Occidental Oman Block 65 Holding Ltd., Occidental Oman Block 65 LLC, Occidental Oman Block 72 Holding Ltd., Occidental Oman Block 72 LLC, Occidental Oman Gas Company LLC, Occidental Oman Gas Holdings Ltd., Occidental Oman North Holdings Ltd., Occidental Oriente Exploration and Production Ltd., Occidental Overseas Holdings B.V., Occidental PVC LLC, Occidental Peninsula II Inc., Occidental Peninsula LLC, Occidental Permian Ltd., Occidental Permian Manager LLC, Occidental Permian Services Inc., Occidental Peruana Inc., Occidental Petrolera del Peru (Block 101) Inc., Occidental Petrolera del Peru (Block 103) Inc., Occidental Petroleum (Pakistan) Inc., Occidental Petroleum Corporation, Occidental Petroleum Corporation Political Action Committee, Occidental Petroleum de Venezuela S.A., Occidental Petroleum of Nigeria, Occidental Petroleum of Oman Ltd., Occidental Petroleum of Qatar Ltd., Occidental Power Marketing L.P., Occidental Power Services Inc., Occidental Qatar Energy Company LLC, Occidental Red Sea Development LLC, Occidental Research Corporation, Occidental Resource Recovery Systems Inc., Occidental Resources Company, Occidental Shah Gas Holdings Ltd., Occidental South America Finance LLC, Occidental Specialty Marketing Inc., Occidental Tower Corporation, Occidental Transportation Holding Corporation, Occidental West Texas Overthrust Inc., Occidental Yemen Ltd., Occidental Yemen Sabatain Inc., Occidental del Ecuador Inc., Occidental of Abu Dhabi (Bab) Ltd., Occidental of Abu Dhabi (Shah) Ltd., Occidental of Abu Dhabi Holdings Ltd., Occidental of Abu Dhabi LLC, Occidental of Abu Dhabi Ltd., Occidental of Bahrain Ltd., Occidental of Bangladesh Inc., Occidental of Colombia (Chipiron) Inc., Occidental of Colombia (Cosecha) Inc., Occidental of Colombia (Medina) Inc., Occidental of Colombia (Putumayo) Ltd., Occidental of Colombia (Teca) Ltd., Occidental of Colombia PUT-36 LLC, Occidental of Dubai Inc., Occidental of Iraq Holdings Ltd., Occidental of Iraq LLC, Occidental of Oman Inc., Occidental of Russia Ltd., Occidental of South Africa (Offshore) Inc., Occidental of Yemen (Block 75) LLC, Oceanic Marine Transport Ltd., Opcal Insurance Inc., Oryx Crude Trading & Transportation Inc., Oxy BridgeTex Limited Partnership, Oxy C & I Bulk Sales LLC, Oxy Canada Sales Inc., Oxy Carbon Solutions LLC, Oxy Carbon Storage LLC, Oxy Climate Ventures Inc., Oxy Cogeneration Holding Company LLC, Oxy Colombia Holdings LLC, Oxy Colombia TopCo Ltd., Oxy Delaware Basin LLC, Oxy Delaware Basin Plant LLC, Oxy Dolphin E&P LLC, Oxy Dolphin Pipeline LLC, Oxy Energy Canada Inc., Oxy Energy Services LLC, Oxy Expatriate Services Inc., Oxy FFT Holdings Inc., Oxy Holding Company (Pipeline) Inc., Oxy International Ventures Ltd., Oxy LPG Terminal LLC, Oxy Levelland Pipeline Company LLC, Oxy Levelland Terminal Company LLC, Oxy Low Carbon Ventures LLC, Oxy Midstream Strategic Development LLC, Oxy Oleoducto SOP LLC, Oxy Overseas Services Ltd., Oxy Permian Gathering LLC, Oxy Permian Plaza LLC, Oxy Petroleum de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Oxy Renewable Energy LLC, Oxy Salt Creek Pipeline LLC, Oxy TL LLC, Oxy Taft Hub LLC, Oxy Technology Ventures Inc., Oxy Transport I Company LLC, Oxy Vinyls Canada Co., Oxy Vinyls Export Sales LLC, Oxy Vinyls LP, Oxy Westwood Corporation, Oxy Y-1 Company, OxyChem Ingleside Ethylene Holdings Inc., OxyChem do Brasil Ltda., OxyChile Investments LLC, Oxychem Shipping Ltd., Permian Basin JV Tax Matters Member LLC, Permian Basin Limited Partnership, Permian VPP Holder LP, Permian VPP Manager LLC, Phibro, Placid Oil LLC, Ramlat Oxy Ltd., Rio de Viento Inc., Rodeo Midland Basin LLC, San Patricio Pipeline LLC, Scanports Shipping LLC, SequestCo LLC, Stetson Exploration LLC, Sun Offshore Gathering Company, Swiflite Aircraft Corporation, Transok Properties LLC, Troy Potter Inc., Turavent Oil GmbH [in liquidation], Tuscaloosa Holdings Inc., UP Petroleo III Ltd., Upland Industries Corporation, Venezuela US SRL, Vintage Gas Inc., Vintage Petroleum, Vintage Petroleum Argentina Ltd., Vintage Petroleum Boliviana Ltd., Vintage Petroleum International Finance B.V., Vintage Petroleum International Holdings LLC, Vintage Petroleum International LLC, Vintage Petroleum International Ventures Inc., Vintage Petroleum Italy Inc., Vintage Petroleum South America Holdings Inc., Vintage Petroleum South America LLC, Vintage Petroleum Turkey Inc., WGR Asset Holding Company LLC, WGR Canada Inc., Wardner Ranch Inc., Western Gas Resources Inc., Western Gas Resources-Westana Inc., Western Midstream Holdings LLC, Woodlands International Insurance Ltd., and YT Ranch LLC. 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 Invesco Senior Income Trust. 4.4 Community Rank Outperform Votes Invesco Senior Income Trust has received 144 outperform votes. (Add your outperform vote.) Underperform Votes Invesco Senior Income Trust has received 75 underperform votes. (Add your underperform vote.) Community Sentiment Invesco Senior Income Trust has received 65.75% outperform votes from our community. MarketBeat's community ratings are surveys of what our community members think about Invesco Senior Income Trust and other stocks. Vote Outperform if you believe VVR will outperform the S&P 500 over the long term. Vote Underperform if you believe VVR will underperform the S&P 500 over the long term. You may vote once every thirty days. Previous Next The following companies are subsidiares of Humana: 154th Street Medical Plaza, 516-526 West Main Street Condominium Council of Co-Owners, 54th Street Medical Plaza, American Eldercare, American Eldercare of North Florida, Anvita Health, Arcadian Health Plan, Arcadian Management Services, Atlantis Physician Group, CAC Medical Center Holdings, CAC-Florida Medical Centers, CDO 1, CDO 2, CHA HMO, CHA Service Company, Care Partners Home Care, CareNetwork, CarePlus Health, CarePlus Health Plans, Cariten Health Plan Inc., Certify Data Systems, CompBenefits, CompBenefits Company, CompBenefits Corporation, CompBenefits Dental, CompBenefits Direct, CompBenefits Insurance Company, Complex Clinical Management, Concentra Managed Care, Continucare Corporation, Continucare MDHC, Continucare MSO, Continucare Medical Management, Dental Care Plus Management, DentiCare, Emphesys, Emphesys Insurance Company, Enclara Healthcare, FPG, FPG Acquisition Corp., FPG Acquisition Holdings Corp., FPG Senior Services, Family Physicians of Winter Park, Go365, HUM Provider Holdings, HUM-e-FL, Harris Rothenberg International, Health Value Management, Humana Active Outlook, Humana At Home (Dallas), Humana At Home (Houston), Humana At Home (San Antonio), Humana At Home (TLC), Humana At Home 1, Humana Behavioral Health, Humana Benefit Plan of Illinois, Humana Dental Company, Humana Digital Health and Analytics Platform Services, Humana EAP and Work-Life Services of California, Humana Employers Health Plan of Georgia, Humana Government Business, Humana Health Benefit Plan of Louisiana, Humana Health Company of New York, Humana Health Insurance Company of Florida, Humana Health Plan, Humana Health Plan of California, Humana Health Plan of Ohio, Humana Health Plan of Texas, Humana Health Plans of Puerto Rico, Humana Healthcare Research, Humana Inc., Humana Innovation Enterprises, Humana Insurance Company, Humana Insurance Company of Kentucky, Humana Insurance Company of New York, Humana Insurance of Puerto Rico, Humana Management Services of Puerto Rico, Humana MarketPOINT, Humana MarketPOINT of Puerto Rico, Humana Medical Plan, Humana Medical Plan of Michigan, Humana Medical Plan of Pennsylvania, Humana Medical Plan of Utah, Humana Pharmacy, Humana Pharmacy Solutions, Humana Regional Health Plan, Humana Veterans Healthcare Services, Humana WellWorks LLC, Humana Wisconsin Health Organization Insurance Corporation, Humana at Home, HumanaDental, HumanaDental Insurance Company, Humco, Hummingbird Coaching Systems LLC, Independent Care Health Plan, KMG America, Kindred Healthcare, MCCI Group Holdings, MCCI Holdings, MCCI Medical Group, MCCI Specialty, MCCI/Lifetime of Aventura, MD Care, METCARE of Florida, Managed Care Indemnity, Medical Care Consortium Incorporated of Texas, MetCare, Metropolitan Health Networks, Naples Health Care Specialists, North Region Providers, Nursing Solutions, OSF HealthCare, PHP Companies, Partners in Integrated Care, Preferred Health Partnership, Preservation on Main, Primary Care Holdings, Primary Care Holdings II, Primary Care Specialists of the Palm Beaches, RMA Medical Centers of Florida, RMA Medical Group of Florida, ROHC, SeniorBridge, SeniorBridge Family Companies (CT), SeniorBridge Family Companies (FL), SeniorBridge Family Companies (IN), SeniorBridge Family Companies (MO), SeniorBridge Family Companies (NY), SeniorBridge-Florida, Texas Dental Plans, The Dental Concern, Transcend Population Health Management, and Transcend Population Health Management II. 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. The following companies are subsidiares of POSCO: 2015 POSCO New technology II Fund, BLUE O&M Co. Ltd., Brazil Sao Paulo Steel Processing Center, Busan E&E Co. Ltd., DAESAN (CAMBODIA) Co. Ltd., DAEWOO INTERNATIONAL GUANGZHOU CORP., Daewoo Amara Company Limited, Daewoo Global Development. Pte. Ltd, Daewoo International, Daewoo Power and Infra (PTY) Limited, Daewoo Precious Resources Co. Ltd., Future Creation Fund Postech Early Stage account, GOLDEN LACE POSCO INTERNATIONAL CO. LTD., GRAIN TERMINAL HOLDING PTE. LTD., Growth Ladder POSCO K-Growth Global Fund, HONG KONG POSCO E&C (CHINA) INVESTMENT Co. Ltd., HOTEL LAONZENA, HUME COAL PTY LTD, Hunchun Posco Hyundai Logistics, JB CLARK HILLS(*1), Korea Fuel Cell, LA-SRDC, Mapo Hibroad Parking Co. Ltd., MegaAsset Co. Ltd., Myanmar POSCO C&C Company Limited., Myanmar POSCO Engineering & Construction Company Limited., Myanmar POSCO Steel Co. Ltd, Mykolaiv Milling Works PJSC., PGSF L.P., PNR, POS-CD PTY LTD, POS-GC PTY LTD, POS-LT Pty Ltd, POS-Minerals Corporation, POS-NP PTY LTD, POS-ORE PTY LTD, POSCAN Elkview, POSCO (Thailand) Company Limited, POSCO A&C, POSCO AFRICA (PROPRIETARY) LIMITED, POSCO AMERICA ALABAMA PROCESSING CENTER CO. LTD., POSCO AMERICA COMERCIALIZADORA S DE RL DE CV, POSCO ASSAN TST STEEL INDUSTRY, POSCO AUSTRALIA GP PTY LIMITED, POSCO AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, POSCO America Corporation, POSCO Argentina S.A.U., POSCO Asia Co. Ltd., POSCO CHEMICAL CO. LTD., POSCO COATED STEEL (THAILAND) CO. LTD., POSCO Canada Ltd., POSCO Center Beijing, POSCO ChengDu Processing Center, POSCO China Dalian Plate Processing Center Co. Ltd., POSCO Coated & Color Steel Co. Ltd., POSCO DAEWOO E&P CANADA CORPORATION, POSCO DAEWOO WAIGAOQIAO SHANGHAI CO. LTD, POSCO E&C (THAILAND) CO. Ltd., POSCO E&C CHINA Co. Ltd., POSCO E&C HOLDINGS CO. Ltd., POSCO E&C Mongolia, POSCO E&C SMART S DE RL DE CV, POSCO E&C Vietnam Co. Ltd., POSCO ENERGY CO. LTD., POSCO ENGINEERING & CONSTRUCTION DO BRAZIL LTDA., POSCO ENGINEERING & CONSTRUCTION. CO. LTD., POSCO ENGINEERING (THAILAND) CO. LTD., POSCO ENGINEERING AND CONSTRUCTION AUSTRALIA (POSCO E&C AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, POSCO ES MATERIALS CO. LTD., POSCO Engineering and Construction India Private Limited, POSCO Europe Steel Distribution Center, POSCO Family Strategy Fund, POSCO GEM 1th Fund, POSCO Gulf SFC LLC, POSCO Humans, POSCO ICT, POSCO ICT BRASIL, POSCO ICT VIETNAM, POSCO ICT-China Co. Ltd, POSCO INDIA PROCESSING CENTER PRIVATE LIMITED, POSCO INTERNATIONAL (CHINA) CO. LTD, POSCO INTERNATIONAL AMERICA CORP., POSCO INTERNATIONAL AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS PTY. LTD., POSCO INTERNATIONAL Corporation, POSCO INTERNATIONAL Deutschland GMBH, POSCO INTERNATIONAL INDIA PVT. LTD, POSCO INTERNATIONAL ITALIA S.R.L., POSCO INTERNATIONAL JAPAN CORP., POSCO INTERNATIONAL MALAYSIA SDN BHD, POSCO INTERNATIONAL MEXICO S.A DE C.V., POSCO INTERNATIONAL MYANMAR CORPORATION LIMITED, POSCO INTERNATIONAL POWER (PNGLAE) LTD., POSCO INTERNATIONAL POWER(PNGPOM) LTD., POSCO INTERNATIONAL SHANGHAI CO. LTD., POSCO INTERNATIONAL SINGAPORE PTE. LTD., POSCO INTERNATIONAL TEXTILE LLC., POSCO INTERNATIONAL UKRAINE LLC., POSCO INTERNATIONAL VIETNAM COMPANY LIMITED, POSCO India Steel Distribution Center Private Ltd., POSCO JAPAN Co. Ltd., POSCO Japan PC CO. LTD, POSCO M-TECH, POSCO MAURITIUS LIMITED, POSCO MEXICO S.A. DE C.V., POSCO MPPC S.A. de C.V., POSCO Maharashtra Steel Private Limited, POSCO NCR Coal Ltd., POSCO O&M CO. Ltd. (formerly POSMATE), POSCO Philippine Manila Processing Center Inc., POSCO Processing&Service, POSCO RU Limited Liability Company, POSCO Research & Technology, POSCO Research Institute, POSCO SINGAPORE LNG TRADING PTE. LTD., POSCO SS VINA JOINT STOCK COMPANY (Formerly POSCO SS VISA CO. Ltd.), POSCO SUZHOU PROCESSING CENTER CO. LTD., POSCO TMC INDIA PRIVATE LIMITED, POSCO TNPC Otomotiv Celik San. Ve Tic. A.S, POSCO Thainox Public Company Limited, POSCO VST CO. LTD., POSCO Venture Capital Co. Ltd., POSCO Vietnam Processing Center. Co. Ltd, POSCO WA PTY LTD, POSCO WOMANS FUND, POSCO(Chongqing) Automotive Processing Center Co. Ltd., POSCO(Dalian) IT Center Development Co. Ltd., POSCO(Guangdong) Automotive Steel Co. Ltd., POSCO(Guangdong) Coated Steel Co. Ltd., POSCO(Liaoning) Automotive Processing Center Co. Ltd., POSCO(Suzhou) Automotive Processing Center Co. Ltd., POSCO(Wuhu) Automotive Processing Center Co. Ltd., POSCO(Yantai Automotive Processing Center Co. Ltd., POSCO-CFPC Co. Ltd., POSCO-CTPC Co. Ltd., POSCO-China Holding Corp., POSCO-China Qingdao Processing Center Co. Ltd., POSCO-India Private Limited, POSCO-India Pune Processing Center. Pvt. Ltd., POSCO-Indonesia Jakarta Processing Center, POSCO-Italy Processing Center, POSCO-MKPC SDN BHD, POSCO-Malaysia SDN. BHD., POSCO-Mexico Villagran Wire-rod Processing Center, POSCO-Poland Wroclaw Processing Center Sp. z o. o., POSCO-South Asia Company Limited, POSCO-TISCO (JILIN) PROCESSING CENTER Co. Ltd., POSCO-Terminal Co. Ltd., POSCO-VIETNAM Co. Ltd., POSMATE-CHINA CO. LTD, PSC Energy Global Co. Ltd., PT KRAKATAU BLUE WATER, PT. Bio Inti Agrindo, PT. KRAKATAU POSCO, PT. KRAKATAU POSCO ENERGY, PT. POSCO E&C INDONESIA, PT.Krakatau Posco Chemtech Calcination, PT.Krakatau Posco Social Enterprise, PT.MRI, PT.POSCO ICT INDONESIA, PT.POSCO INDONESIA INTI, Pohang Scrap Recycling Distribution Center Co. Ltd., Pos-Sea Pte Ltd, Posco Group University, Posco e&c Songdo International Building, Qingdao Pohang Stainless Steel Co. Ltd., SANPU TRADING Co. Ltd., SPH Co LTD., SUZHOU POSCO-CORE TECHNOLOGY CO. LTD., Songdo Development PMC (Project Management Company) LLC., Suncheon Eco Trans Co. LTD, TANCHEON E&E (formerly POSCO E&E), Ventanas Philippines Construction Inc, Yuzhnaya Stevedoring Company Limited LLC., ZHEJIANG POSCO-HUAYOU ESM CO. LTD, Zhangjiagang BLZ Pohang International Trading, Zhangjiagang Pohang Refractories Co. Ltd., Zhangjiagang Pohang Stainless Steel Co. Ltd., Zhangjigang Pohang Port Co. Ltd., and eNtoB Corporation. 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 Sealed Air: A.P.S. (Holdings) Limited, AFP Trading (China) Co. Ltd., AFPTOH LTD, APS Automated Packaging Systems GmbH & Co. KG, APS Verwaltungs-GmbH, Air Ride Pallets Hong Kong Limited, Austin Foam Plastics Inc. (dba AFP Inc.), Automated Packaging Systems, Automated Packaging Systems Asia Holding Company Limited, Automated Packaging Systems Comerciale Importacao do Brasil Ltda., Automated Packaging Systems Europe, Automated Packaging Systems LLC, Automated Packaging Systems Limited, Automated Packaging Systems Southeast Asia Co. Ltd., B+ Equipment, B+ Equipment SAS, Beacon Holdings LLC, Biosphere Industries, BluPack (New Zealand), Blue Dot Packaging Pty Ltd., Cactus (Shanghai) Trading Co. Ltd., Cryovac (Malaysia) SDN. BHD, Cryovac Brasil Ltda., Cryovac Holdings II LLC, Cryovac International Holdings Inc., Cryovac LLC*, Cryovac Leasing Corporation, Cryovac Londrina Ltda., Cryovac Packaging Portugal Embalagens Ltda., Cryovac-Sealed Air de Costa Rica S.R.L., DELTAPLAM Embalagens Industria e Comercio, Diversey, Diversey J Trustee Limited, Diversey Trustee Limited, Entapack Pty. Ltd., Fagerdala (Chengdu) Packaging Co. Ltd, Fagerdala (Shanghai) Foams Co. Ltd., Fagerdala (Shanghai) Polymer Co. Ltd., Fagerdala (Suzhou) Packaging Co. Ltd., Fagerdala (Thailand) Limited, Fagerdala (Xiamen) Packaging Co. Ltd., Fagerdala Leamchabung Limited, Fagerdala Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Fagerdala Mexico S.A. de C.V., Fagerdala Mexico Supply Chain S.A. de C.V., Fagerdala Packaging Inc. (Indiana), Fagerdala Singapore Pte Ltd, Fagerdala Singapore Pte. Ltd., Getpacking.com GmbH, Invertol S. de R.L. de C.V., JSC Sealed Air Kaustik, KRIS Automated Packaging Systems Holding Company, Kevothermal LLC, Kevothermal Limited, Nelipak Holdings, Pack-Tiger GmbH, Polyrol Limited, Polyrol Packaging Systems LLC, ProAseptic Technologies S.L., Producembal- Producao de Embalagens LTDA, Reflectix Inc., SLD Air Packaging Paketleme Malzemeleri Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Saddle Brook Insurance Company, Sealed Air (Asia) Holdings BV, Sealed Air (Barbados) S.R.L., Sealed Air (Canada) Co./CIE, Sealed Air (Canada) Holdings B.V., Sealed Air (China) Co. Ltd., Sealed Air (China) Limited, Sealed Air (Israel) Ltd., Sealed Air (Korea) Limited, Sealed Air (Latin America) Holdings II LLC, Sealed Air (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Sealed Air (New Zealand), Sealed Air (Philippines) Inc., Sealed Air (Singapore) Pte. Limited, Sealed Air (Ukraine) Limited, Sealed Air Africa (Pty.) Limited, Sealed Air Americas Manufacturing S. de R.L. de C.V., Sealed Air Argentina S.A., Sealed Air Australia (Holdings) Pty. Limited, Sealed Air Australia Pty. Limited, Sealed Air Australia Real Estate Pty Ltd, Sealed Air B.V., Sealed Air Belgium N.V., Sealed Air Central America S.A., Sealed Air Chile SpA, Sealed Air Colombia Ltda., Sealed Air Corporation (US), Sealed Air Cyprus Ltd., Sealed Air Denmark A/S, Sealed Air Finance B.V., Sealed Air Finance II LLC, Sealed Air Finance Luxembourg S.a.r.l., Sealed Air Funding LLC, Sealed Air General Trading LLC, Sealed Air GmbH (Germany), Sealed Air GmbH (Switzerland), Sealed Air Hellas SA, Sealed Air Holding France SAS, Sealed Air Holdings (New Zealand) Pty. Ltd., Sealed Air Holdings South Africa Proprietary Limited, Sealed Air Holdings UK I Limited, Sealed Air Holdings UK Limited, Sealed Air Hong Kong Limited, Sealed Air Hungary Ltd., Sealed Air Investment and Management (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Sealed Air Japan G.K., Sealed Air LLC, Sealed Air Limited (Ireland), Sealed Air Limited (UK), Sealed Air Luxembourg (I) S.a.r.l., Sealed Air Luxembourg (II) S.a.r.l., Sealed Air Luxembourg S.a.r.l., Sealed Air Management Holding Verwaltungs GmbH, Sealed Air Multiflex GmbH, Sealed Air Netherlands (Holdings) I B.V., Sealed Air Netherlands (Holdings) II B.V., Sealed Air Netherlands Holdings V B.V., Sealed Air Norge AS, Sealed Air OY, Sealed Air Packaging (India) Private Limited, Sealed Air Packaging (Shanghai) Co. Limited, Sealed Air Packaging (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Sealed Air Packaging LLC, Sealed Air Packaging Materials (India) LLP, Sealed Air Packaging S.L.U., Sealed Air Peru S.A.C., Sealed Air Polska Sp. Zoo, Sealed Air Pty Limited, Sealed Air S.A S., Sealed Air S.r.l., Sealed Air South Africa (Pty.) Ltd., Sealed Air Svenska AB, Sealed Air Taiwan Limited, Sealed Air UK Limited Partnership, Sealed Air US Holdings (Thailand) LLC, Sealed Air Uruguay S.A., Sealed Air Verpackungen GmbH, Sealed Air de Mexico Operations S. de RL. de C.V., Sealed Air de Venezuela S.A., Sealed Air s.r.o., Shanklin Corp, Shanklin Corporation, TTS-Ciptec, TXAFP Asia Pacific Ltd., TXAFP GP LLC, and Trigon Industries. SemGroup Corporation provides gathering, transportation, storage, distribution, marketing, and other midstream services for producers, refiners of petroleum products, and other market participants. The company operates in three segments: U.S. Liquids, U.S. Gas, and Canada. The U.S. Liquids segment operates crude oil pipelines, truck transportation, storage, terminals, and marketing businesses; stores, blends, and transports refinery products and refinery feedstock through pipeline, barge, rail, truck, and ship; and operates a residual fuel oil storage terminal in the U.S. Gulf Coast. This segment has 18.2 million barrels of storage capacity on the Houston Ship Channel; and 7.6 million barrels of storage capacity at the Cushing Interchange. It also operates a 460-mile crude oil gathering and transportation pipeline system in Kansas and northern Oklahoma; 75-mile crude oil gathering pipeline system that transports crude oil from production facilities in the DJ Basin to the pipeline owned by White Cliffs Pipeline, L.L.C.; 2 parallel 527-mile pipelines that transports crude oil from Platteville, Colorado to Cushing, Oklahoma; 3 pipelines with an aggregate of 106 miles of pipe; 30-lane crude oil truck unloading facility in Platteville, Colorado; and crude oil trucking fleet of approximately 245 transport trucks and 235 trailers. The U.S. Gas segment provides natural gas gathering, processing, and marketing services. It operates 842 miles of gathering lines in Oklahoma; and a 53-mile high pressure gathering pipeline located in the STACK play. The Canada segment owns and operates natural gas processing and gathering facilities with approximately 530 miles of natural gas gathering and transportation pipelines in Alberta, Canada. SemGroup Corporation was founded in 2000 and is headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Read More Manulife Financial Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides financial products and services in Asia, Canada, the United States, and internationally. The company operates through Wealth and Asset Management Businesses; Insurance and Annuity Products; And Corporate and Other segments. The Wealth and Asset Management Businesses segment provides mutual funds and exchange-traded funds, group retirement and savings products, and institutional asset management services through agents and brokers affiliated with the company, securities brokerage firms, and financial advisors pension plan consultants and banks. The Insurance and Annuity Products segment offers deposit and credit products; individual life, and individual and group long-term care insurance; and guaranteed and partially guaranteed annuity products through insurance agents, brokers, banks, financial planners, and direct marketing. The Corporate and Other segment is involved in property and casualty insurance and reinsurance businesses; and run-off reinsurance operations, including variable annuities, and accident and health. It also manages timberland and agricultural portfolios; and engages in insurance agency, portfolio and mutual fund management, mutual fund dealer, life and financial reinsurance, and fund management businesses. Additionally, the company holds and manages oil and gas properties; holds oil and gas royalties, and foreign bonds and equities; and provides investment management, counseling, advisory, and dealer services. Manulife Financial Corporation was incorporated in 1887 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada. Read More FedEx Corp. is a holding company, which engages in the provision of a portfolio of transportation, e-commerce, and business services. It operates through the following segments: FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, FedEx Freight, FedEx Services, and Corporate, Other & Eliminations. The FedEx Express segment consists of domestic and international shipping services for delivery of packages and freight. The FedEx Ground segment focuses on small-package ground delivery services. The FedEx Freight segment offers less-than-truckload freight services across all lengths of haul. The FedEx Services segment provides sales, marketing, information technology, communications, customer service, technical support, billing and collection services, and certain back-office functions. The Corporate, Other & Eliminations segment includes corporate headquarters costs for executive officers and certain legal and finance functions, as well as certain other costs and credits not attributed to the firm's core business. The company was founded by Frederick Wallace Smith on June 18, 1971 and is headquartered in Memphis, TN. Read More Temple Bar Investment Trust PLC is a closed-ended equity mutual fund launched and managed by Ninety One Fund Managers UK Limited. It is co-managed by Ninety One UK Limited. The fund invests in the public equity markets of the United Kingdom. It seeks to invests in stocks of companies operating across diversified sectors. The fund primarily invests in stocks of companies across all market capitalizations, which are constituents of the FTSE 350 Index. It benchmarks the performance of its portfolio against the FTSE All-Share Index. Temple Bar Investment Trust PLC was formed in 1926 and is domiciled in the United Kingdom. Read More The following companies are subsidiares of Quaker Chemical: AC Products Inc., Applied Surface Concepts Holdings Ltd. , Binol AB, Binol Biosafe OY, Commonwealth Oil Corporation, DA Stuart India Private Limited, DA Stuart Shanghai Co, ECLI Products LLC, EFHCO LLC, Engineered Custom Lubricants, Engineered Custom Lubricants GmbH, Epmar Corporation, G.W. Smith and Sons, GH Holdings Inc., GHG Lubricants Holdings Limited, GHGL London Ltd., GHI Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., Global Houghton Ltd., Houghton (Shanghai) Specialty Industrial Fluids Co. Ltd, Houghton Argentina S.A., Houghton Asia Pacific Co. Limited, Houghton Australia Pty. Ltd., Houghton Benelux BV, Houghton CZ s.r.o, Houghton Canada Inc., Houghton Denmark AS, Houghton Deutschland GmbH, Houghton Europe BV, Houghton Holdings Limited, Houghton Iberica S.A. , Houghton International, Houghton International Inc., Houghton Italia S.p.A., Houghton Japan Co. Ltd., Houghton Kimya Sanayi AS, Houghton Magyarorszag Kft, Houghton Mexico S.A. de C.V., Houghton Oil (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd., Houghton Polska Sp. Zo.o., Houghton Romania S.R.L., Houghton S.A.S., Houghton Sverige AB, Houghton Taiwan Co. Limited, Houghton Technical Corp., Houghton Ukraine ToV, Houghton do Brazil Ltda., Houghton plc, Internationale Metall Impragnier GmbH, Lubricor Inc, Lubricor Inc., Lubricor Mexicana S.A. de C.V., Lubricor USA Inc., MIH Acquisition Company LLC, MX Systems International Ltd, Maldaner GmbH, NP Coil Dexter Industries, New Houghton Brazil Inc., Norman Hay Engineering Ltd., QH Chemical Limited, QH Europe BV, QH Holdings Limited, QH International Limited, Quaker (Thailand) Ltd., Quaker Australia Holdings Pty. Limited, Quaker Chemical (Australasia) Pty. Limited, Quaker Chemical (China) Co. Ltd., Quaker Chemical B.V., Quaker Chemical CV, Quaker Chemical Canada Holdings Inc., Quaker Chemical Canada Limited, Quaker Chemical Europe B.V., Quaker Chemical Holdings South Africa (Pty) Limited, Quaker Chemical India Private Limited, Quaker Chemical Industria e Comercio Ltda., Quaker Chemical Investment Management (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Quaker Chemical Limited, Quaker Chemical MEA FZE, Quaker Chemical Operacoes Ltda., Quaker Chemical Participacoes Ltda., Quaker Chemical S.A., Quaker Chemical S.r.l., Quaker Chemical Services EURL, Quaker Chemical South Africa (Pty.) Limited, Quaker China Holdings B.V., Quaker Denmark ApS, Quaker Houghton (Finco) Ltd., Quaker Houghton Holdings Limited, Quaker Houghton Holdings Ltd., Quaker Houghton International LP, Quaker Houghton Ltd., Quaker International Holdings LLC, Quaker Italia S.r.l., Quaker Russia B.V., Quaker Sales Europe BV, Quaker Shanghai Trading Company Limited, Quaker Spain Holding SLU, Quaker Specialty Chemicals (UK) Limited, SB Decking Inc., SIFCO Applied Surface Concepts (UK) Ltd, SIFCO Applied Surface Concepts LLC, SIFCO Concepts Sarl, SIFCO Concepts Sweden, Sterr & Eder Industrieservice GmbH, Summit Lubricants Inc, Summit Lubricants Inc., Surface Technology (Coventry) Ltd, Surface Technology (Dalian) Co Ltd, Surface Technology (East Kilbride) Ltd., Surface Technology (Leeds) Ltd, Surface Technology Aberdeen Ltd, Surface Technology Australia, Surface Technology Holdings Ltd., TecniQuimia Mexicana, Tecniquimia Mexicana S.A. de C.V., Thai Houghton 1993 Co. Ltd., Ultraseal Asia Limited, Ultraseal Chongqing Limited, Ultraseal Germany GmbH, Ultraseal International Group Ltd, Ultraseal Machinery Dongguan Ltd, Ultraseal Shanghai Limited, Ultraseal USA Inc., Unitek Servicios De Asesoria Especializad S.A de C.V., Verkol S.A.U., Verkol SAU, Wallover Enterprises Inc., Wallover Oil Company Incorporated, Wallover Oil Hamilton Inc., and Wuhan Quaker Technology Co. Ltd. Unum Group is engaged in providing financial protection benefits. It operates through the following segments: Unum US, Unum International, Colonial Life, Closed Block and Corporate. The Unum US segment comprises of group long-term and short-term disability insurance, group life and accidental death and dismemberment products, and supplemental and voluntary lines of business. The Unum International segment engages in the operations of UK business, which includes insurance for group long-term disability, group life, and supplemental lines of business that include dental, individual disability, and critical illness products; Poland business primarily includes insurance for individual and group life with accident and health riders. The Colonial Life segment includes insurance for accident, sickness, disability products, life products, and cancer and critical illness products. The Closed Block segment consists of individual disability, group and individual long-term care, and other insurance products no longer actively marketed. The Corporate segment refers to investment income on corporate assets and other corporate income and expenses not allocated to a line of business; and interest Read More The following companies are subsidiares of American International Group: AGC Life Insurance Company, AIG APAC HOLDINGS PTE. LTD., AIG Advisors S.r.l., AIG Aerospace Insurance Services Inc., AIG Asia Pacific Insurance Pte. Ltd., AIG Asset Management (Europe) Limited, AIG Asset Management (U.S.) LLC, AIG Assurance Company, AIG Australia Limited, AIG Brazil Holding I LLC, AIG CIS Investments LLC, AIG Canada Holdings Inc., AIG Capital Corporation, AIG Capital Services Inc., AIG Claims Inc., AIG Egypt Insurance Company S.A.E., AIG Employee Services Inc., AIG Europe (Services) Limited, AIG Europe Holdings S.a.rl., AIG Europe S.A., AIG Federal Savings Bank, AIG Financial Products Corp., AIG General Insurance Co. Ltd., AIG Global Asset Management Holdings Corp., AIG Global Real Estate Investment Corp., AIG Global Reinsurance Operations, AIG Holdings Europe Limited, AIG Insurance (Thailand) Public Company Limited, AIG Insurance Company China Limited, AIG Insurance Company JSC, AIG Insurance Company of Canada, AIG Insurance Company-Puerto Rico, AIG Insurance Hong Kong Limited, AIG Insurance Limited, AIG Insurance Management Services Inc., AIG Insurance New Zealand Limited, AIG International Holdings GmbH, AIG Investments UK Limited, AIG Israel Insurance Company Ltd, AIG Japan Holdings Kabushiki Kaisha, AIG Kenya Insurance Company Limited, AIG Korea Inc., AIG Latin America I.I., AIG Latin America Investments S.L., AIG Lebanon SAL, AIG Life Holdings Inc., AIG Life Insurance Company (Switzerland) Ltd, AIG Life Limited, AIG Life South Africa Limited, AIG Life of Bermuda Ltd., AIG MEA Holdings Limited, AIG MEA Limited, AIG Malaysia Insurance Berhad, AIG Markets Inc., AIG Matched Funding Corp., AIG PC Global Services Inc., AIG Philippines Insurance Inc., AIG Property Casualty Company, AIG Property Casualty Inc., AIG Property Casualty International LLC, AIG Property Casualty U.S. Inc., AIG Re-Takaful (L) Berhad, AIG Resseguros Brasil S.A., AIG Seguros Brasil S.A., AIG Seguros Mexico S.A. de C.V., AIG Shared Services Corporation, AIG South Africa Limited, AIG Specialty Insurance Company, AIG Technologies Inc., AIG Travel Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., AIG Travel Assist Inc., AIG Travel Assist Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., AIG Travel EMEA Limited, AIG Travel Inc., AIG Uganda Limited, AIG Vietnam Insurance Company Limited, AIG WarrantyGuard Inc., AIG-FP Pinestead Holdings Corp., AIG-Metropolitana Cia. de Seguros y Reaseguros S.A., AIGGRE EOLA LLC, AIGGRE Europe Real Estate Fund I GP S.a r.l., AIGGRE U.S. Real Estate Fund I GP LLC, AIGGRE U.S. Real Estate Fund I LP, AIGGRE U.S. Real Estate Fund II GP LLC, AIU Insurance Company, AM Holdings LLC, Ageas Protect, AlphaCat Managers Ltd., American General Corporation, American General Life Insurance Company, American Home Assurance Co. Ltd., American Home Assurance Company, American Home Assurance Company Escritorio de Representacao no Brasil Ltda., American International Group Inc., American International Group UK Limited, American International Overseas Association, American International Overseas Limited, American International Realty Corp., American International Reinsurance Company Ltd., American International Underwriters del Ecuador-Holding S.A., American Security Life Insurance Company Limited, Arthur J. Glatfelter Agency Inc., Avondhu Limited, Blackboard Customer Care Insurance Services LLC, Blackboard Insurance Company, Blackboard Services LLC, Blackboard Specialty Insurance Company, Blackboard U.S. Holdings Inc., Chartis Takaful Enaya B.S.C. (c), Commerce and Industry Insurance Company, Crop Risk Services Inc., Eaglestone Reinsurance Company, Ellipse, Fortitude Group Holdings LLC, Fortitude Life & Annuity Solutions Inc., Fortitude Reinsurance Company Ltd., Franklin Life Insurance Company, Fuji Fire and Marine, Glatfelter Insurance Group, Globe and Rutgers Insurance Group, Grand Isle SAC Limited, Granite State Insurance Company, Group Risk Services Limited, Group Risk Technologies Limited, Illinois National Insurance Co., Jefferson Eola Venture LLC, Johannesburg Insurance Holdings (Proprietary) Limited, Laya Healthcare Limited, Lexington Insurance Company, MG Reinsurance Limited, Mt. Mansfield Company Inc., National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh Pa., National Union Fire Insurance Company of Vermont, New Hampshire Insurance Company, PT AIG Insurance Indonesia, Pine Street Real Estate Holdings Corp., Private Joint-Stock Company AIG Ukraine Insurance Company, Risk Specialists Companies Insurance Agency Inc., SA Affordable Housing LLC, SAFG Retirement Services Inc., Service Net Warranty LLC, Stratford Insurance Company, SunAmerica Affordable Housing Partners Inc., SunAmerica Asset Management LLC, Talbot Holdings Ltd., Talbot Underwriting Holdings Ltd., Talbot Underwriting Ltd., Thai CIT Holding Company Limited, The Insurance Company of the State of Pennsylvania, The United States Life Insurance Company in the City of New York, The Variable Annuity Life Insurance Company, Travel Guard, Travel Guard Group Canada Inc./Groupe Garde Voyage du Canada Inc., Travel Guard Group Inc., Tudor Insurance Company, VALIC Financial Advisors Inc., Valic Retirement Services Company, Validus Holdings, Validus Holdings (UK) Ltd., Validus Holdings Ltd., Validus Reinsurance (Switzerland) Ltd, Validus Reinsurance Ltd., Validus Ventures Ltd., Volunteer Firemen's Insurance Services Inc., Western World Insurance Company, and Western World Insurance Group Inc.. Ferguson plc distributes plumbing and heating products in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Central Europe. It offers plumbing and heating solutions to customers in the residential, municipal, civil and industrial markets, and commercial sectors for repair, maintenance, and improvement (RMI), as well as new construction markets. The company also distributes pipes, valves, fittings, hydrants, meters, and related water management products, as well as offers related services, such as water line tapping and pipe fusion services. In addition, it distributes heating, ventilation, air conditioning, refrigeration equipment, and parts and supplies to specialist contractors in the residential and commercial markets for repair and replacement; and PVF products to industrial customers. Further, the company fabricates and supplies fire protection systems and bespoke fabrication services to commercial contractors for new construction and renovation projects, as well as offers products, services, and solutions to enable maintenance of facilities across various RMI markets. Additionally, it offers supply chain management solutions for PVF; and industrial maintenance, repair, and operations specializing in delivering automation, instrumentation, engineered products, and turn-key solutions. The company also sells its home improvement products directly to consumers, as well as through a network of online stores. In addition, it operates its B2B business primarily under the Ferguson brand; and B2C business under the Build.com brand. Further, the company provides products and services for maintenance of multi-family properties, government agencies, hospitality, education, healthcare, and other facilities. It operates a network of 2,194 branches and 19 distribution centers. Ferguson plc was founded in 1887 and is headquartered in Wokingham, the United Kingdom. Read More iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor USA Small-Cap ETF's stock was trading at $33.06 on March 11th, 2020 when Coronavirus (COVID-19) reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization. Since then, SMLF shares have increased by 70.9% and is now trading at $56.51. View which stocks have been most impacted by COVID-19. The following companies are subsidiares of Anthem: 1-800 Contacts, AIM Specialty Health, AMERIGROUP Community Care of New Mexico Inc., AMERIGROUP Corporation, AMERIGROUP Maryland Inc., AMERIGROUP New Jersey Inc., AMERIGROUP Ohio Inc., AMERIGROUP Tennessee Inc., AMERIGROUP Texas Inc., AMERIGROUP Washington Inc., AMGP Georgia Managed Care Company Inc., ATH Holding Company LLC, America's 1st Choice of South Carolina Inc., America's Health Management Services Inc., American Imaging Management Inc., Americas 1st Choice, Amerigroup, Amerigroup Delaware Inc., Amerigroup District of Columbia Inc., Amerigroup Health Plan of Louisiana Inc., Amerigroup IPA of New York LLC, Amerigroup Insurance Company, Amerigroup Iowa Inc., Amerigroup Kansas Inc., Amerigroup Mississippi Inc., Amerigroup Oklahoma Inc., Amerigroup Partnership Plan LLC, Amerigroup Pennsylvania Inc., Anthem Blue Cross Life and Health Insurance Company, Anthem Financial Inc., Anthem Health Plans Inc., Anthem Health Plans of Kentucky Inc., Anthem Health Plans of Maine Inc., Anthem Health Plans of New Hampshire Inc., Anthem Health Plans of Virginia Inc., Anthem Holding Corp., Anthem Innovation Israel Ltd., Anthem Insurance Companies Inc., Anthem Kentucky Managed Care Plan Inc., Anthem Life & Disability Insurance Company, Anthem Life Insurance Company, Anthem Partnership Holding Company LLC, Anthem Services Company LLC, Anthem Southeast Inc., Anthem UM Services Inc., Anthem Workers' Compensation LLC, Applied Pathways LLC, Arcus Enterprises Inc., Aspire Health Inc., Aspire Healthcare Corp, Associated Group Inc., Beacon Health Options, Blue Cross Blue Shield Healthcare Plan of Georgia Inc., Blue Cross Blue Shield of Wisconsin, Blue Cross of California, Blue Cross of California Partnership Plan Inc., CareMarket Inc., CareMore Health Plan, CareMore Health Plan of Arizona Inc., CareMore Health Plan of Nevada, CareMore Health Plan of Texas Inc., CareMore Health System, CareMore LLC, Cerulean Companies Inc., Claim Management Services Inc., Community Care Health Plan of Louisiana Inc., Community Care Health Plan of Nevada Inc., Community Insurance Company, Compcare Health Services Insurance Corporation, Crossroads Acquisition Corp., DBG Holdings Inc., DeCare Analytics LLC, DeCare Dental Health International LLC, DeCare Dental Insurance Ireland Ltd., DeCare Dental LLC, DeCare Dental Networks LLC, DeCare Operations Ireland Limited, Delivery Network LLC, Designated Agent Company Inc., EHC Benefits Agency Inc., EasyScripts Cutler Bay LLC, EasyScripts Hialeah LLC, EasyScripts LLC, EasyScripts Westchester LLC, Empire HealthChoice Assurance Inc., Empire HealthChoice HMO Inc., Federal Government Solutions LLC, Freedom Health Inc., Global TPA LLC, Golden West Health Plan Inc., Greater Georgia Life Insurance Company, HEP AP Holdings Inc., HMO Colorado Inc., HMO Missouri Inc., Health Core Inc., Health Management Corporation, Health Ventures Partner L.L.C., HealthKeepers Inc., HealthLink HMO Inc., HealthLink Inc., HealthLink Insurance Company, HealthPlus HP LLC, HealthSun Health Plans, HealthSun Health Plans Inc., HealthSun Holdings LLC, HealthSun Management LLC, HealthSun Physicians Network I LLC, HealthSun Physicians Network LLC, Healthy Alliance Life Insurance Company, Highland Acquisition Holdings LLC, Highland Holdco Inc., Highland Intermediate Holdings LLC, Highland Investor Holdings LLC, Imaging Management Holdings LLC, IngenioRx Inc., Legato Health Technologies LLP, Legato Health Technologies Philippines Inc., Legato Holdings I Inc., Legato Holdings II LLC, Living Complete Technologies Inc., Matthew Thornton Health Plan Inc., Memphis Supportive Care Partnership LLC, Meridian Resource Company LLC, Missouri Care Incorporated, NGS Federal LLC, Nash Holding Company LLC, National Government Services Inc., New England Research Institutes Inc., Optimum Healthcare Inc., Park Square Holdings Inc., Park Square I Inc., Park Square II Inc., Pasteur Medical Bird Road LLC, Pasteur Medical Center LLC, Pasteur Medical Cutler Bay LLC, Pasteur Medical Group LLC, Pasteur Medical Hialeah Gardens LLC, Pasteur Medical Holdings LLC, Pasteur Medical Kendall LLC, Pasteur Medical Management LLC, Pasteur Medical Miami Gardens LLC, Pasteur Medical North Miami Beach LLC, Pasteur Medical Partners LLC, Resolution Health Inc, Resolution Health Inc., RightCHOICE Managed Care Inc., Rocky Mountain Hospital and Medical Service Inc., SellCore Inc., Simply Healthcare Holdings, Simply Healthcare Plans Inc., Southeast Services Inc., State Sponsored DM Services Inc., The Anthem Companies Inc., The Anthem Companies of California Inc., TrustSolutions LLC, UNICARE Health Plan of West Virginia Inc., UNICARE Illinois Services Inc., UNICARE National Services Inc., UniCare Life & Health Insurance Company, UniCare Specialty Services Inc., Valus Inc., WPMI LLC, WellCare of Nebraska Inc., WellPoint Acquisition LLC, WellPoint California Services Inc., WellPoint Dental Services Inc., WellPoint Health Solutions Inc., WellPoint Holding Corp., WellPoint Information Technology Services Inc., WellPoint Insurance Services Inc., WellPoint Military Care Corporation, Wellmax Health Medical Centers LLC, Wellmax Health Physicians Network LLC, and Wisconsin Collaborative Insurance Company. 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 PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (Persero) Tbk is a holding company, which engages in the provision of financial services. It operates through the following segments: Micro Business, Retail Business, Corporate Business, and Subsidiary Business. The Micro Business segment offers banking products and services to individual and micro entrepreneurs. The Retail Business segment provides consumer and commercial banking products and services to small and medium-sized enterprises. The Corporate Business segment caters large corporations and institutions with international banking services, treasury services, and capital market support services. The Subsidiary Business segment includes conventional banking, financing services, remittance services, life insurance, general insurance, venture capital, and securities. The company was founded by Aria Wiriatmaja on December 16, 1895 and is headquartered in Jakarta, Indonesia. Read More Thomson Reuters Corporation provides business information services in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. It operates in five segments: Legal Professionals, Corporates, Tax & Accounting Professionals, Reuters News, and Global Print. The Legal Professionals segment offers research and workflow products focusing on legal research and integrated legal workflow solutions that combine content, tools, and analytics to law firms and governments. The Corporates segment provides a suite of content-enabled technology solutions for legal, tax, regulatory, compliance, and IT professionals. The Tax & Accounting Professionals segment offers research and workflow products focusing on tax offerings and automating tax workflows to tax, accounting, and audit professionals in accounting firms. The Reuters News segment provides business, financial, national, and international news to professionals through desktop terminals, media organizations, and industry events, as well as directly to consumers. The Global Print segment offers legal and tax information primarily in print format to legal and tax professionals, governments, law schools, and corporations. The company was formerly known as The Thomson Corporation and changed its name to Thomson Reuters Corporation in April 2008. The company was founded in 1851 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada. Thomson Reuters Corporation is a subsidiary of The Woodbridge Company Limited. Read More Brenntag SE engages in the production and distribution of chemicals. It operates through the following geographical segments: Brenntag Essentials and Brenntag Specialties. The Brenntag Essentials segment markets a portfolio of process chemicals to the industries and applications. The Brenntag Specialties segment focuses on selling ingredients and value-added services to the selected industries Nutrition, Pharma, Personal Care/HI&I(Home, Industrial & Institutional), Material Science (Coatings & Constructions, Polymers, Rubber), Water Treatment and Lubricants. The firm also manages supply chains for both chemical manufacturers and consumers by simplifying market access to products and services. The company was founded by Philipp Muhsam in 1874 and is headquartered in Essen, Germany. Read More U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha on Thursday, discussing the denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula, said the U.S. State Department. Mike Pompeo, U.S. secretary of state, right, shakes hands with Kang Kyung-wha, South Korea's foreign minister, during a photo opportunity at the State Department in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Thursday, Dec. 6. [Photo: VCG] The two sides agreed to maintain close coordination and insisted on "the final, fully verified denuclearization" of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), said Heather Nauert, spokesperson of the U.S. State Department, in a statement. Negotiations between Pyongyang and Washington saw little progress in the past few months, as differences between the two sides remained over the scale of denuclearization, U.S. sanctions, and whether to issue a war-ending declaration. A planned high-level meeting between Pompeo and a senior DPRK official in New York was cancelled, citing scheduling issue. Meanwhile, the momentum for talks continued. U.S. President Donald Trump revealed earlier this month that his second meeting with DPRK's top leader Kim Jong Un was likely to happen in January or February next year. The first-ever Kim-Trump meeting occurred in Singapore last June, followed by a joint statement in which the United States agreed to provide security guarantee to the DPRK in return for Pyongyang's commitment to denuclearization. Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said earlier this month that China encourages the United States and the DPRK to advance denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula. 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 iShares Latin America 40 ETF's stock was trading at $22.49 on March 11th, 2020 when Coronavirus (COVID-19) reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Since then, ILF stock has increased by 6.4% and is now trading at $23.94. View which stocks have been most impacted by COVID-19. The following companies are subsidiares of CVS Health: @Credentials Inc., ACS ACQCO CORP., ADMINCO Inc., AE Fourteen Incorporated, AHP Holdings Inc., AMC - Tennessee LLC, APS Acquisition LLC, ASCO HealthCare LLC, ASI Wings LLC, AUSHC Holdings Inc., Accendo Insurance Company, Accordant Health Services L.L.C., Active Health Management Inc., Administrative Enterprises Inc., AdvancePCS SpecialtyRx LLC, AdvanceRx.com L.L.C., Advanced Care Scripts Inc., Aetna, Aetna (Beijing) Enterprise Management Services Co. Ltd., Aetna (Shanghai) Enterprise Services Co. Ltd., Aetna ACO Holdings Inc., Aetna Asset Advisors LLC, Aetna Behavioral Health LLC, Aetna Better Health Inc., Aetna Better Health Inc., Aetna Better Health of California Inc., Aetna Better Health of Florida Inc., Aetna Better Health of Kansas Inc., Aetna Better Health of Michigan Inc., Aetna Better Health of Missouri LLC, Aetna Better Health of Nevada Inc., Aetna Better Health of North Carolina Inc., Aetna Better Health of Oklahoma Inc., Aetna Better Health of Texas Inc., Aetna Better Health of Washington Inc., Aetna Capital Management LLC, Aetna Card Solutions LLC, Aetna Corporate Services LLC, Aetna Dental Inc., Aetna Dental of California Inc., Aetna Financial Holdings LLC, Aetna Florida Inc., Aetna Global Benefits (Asia Pacific) Limited, Aetna Global Benefits (Bahamas) Limited, Aetna Global Benefits (Bermuda) Limited, Aetna Global Benefits (Europe) Limited, Aetna Global Benefits (Middle East) LLC, Aetna Global Benefits (Singapore) PTE. LTD., Aetna Global Benefits (UK) Limited, Aetna Global Benefits Limited (DIFC UAE), Aetna Global Holdings Limited, Aetna Health Holdings LLC, Aetna Health Inc., Aetna Health Insurance (Thailand) Public Company Limited, Aetna Health Insurance Company, Aetna Health Insurance Company of Europe DAC, Aetna Health Management LLC, Aetna Health and Life Insurance Company, Aetna Health of California Inc., Aetna Health of Iowa Inc., Aetna Health of Michigan Inc., Aetna Health of Ohio Inc., Aetna Health of Utah Inc., Aetna HealthAssurance Pennsylvania Inc., Aetna Holdco (UK) Limited, Aetna Holdings (Thailand) Limited, Aetna Inc., Aetna Insurance (Hong Kong) Limite, Aetna Insurance (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Aetna Insurance Company Limited, Aetna Integrated Informatics Inc., Aetna International Inc., Aetna Ireland Inc., Aetna Korea Ltd., Aetna Life & Casualty (Bermuda) Ltd., Aetna Life Assignment Company, Aetna Life Insurance Company, Aetna Medicaid Administrators LLC, Aetna Multi-Strategy 1099 Fund LLC, Aetna Network Services LLC, Aetna Partners Diversified Fund LLC, Aetna Pharmacy Management Services LLC, Aetna Resources LLC, Aetna Risk Assurance Company of Connecticut Inc., Aetna Rx Home Delivery LLC, Aetna Services (Thailand) Limited, Aetna Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Aetna Student Health Agency Inc., Aetna Ventures LLC, Aetna Workers Comp Access LLC, Alabama CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Alaska CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Allina Health and Aetna Insurance Company, Allina Health and Aetna Insurance Holding Company LLC, American Continental Insurance Company, American Drug Stores Delaware L.L.C., American Health Holding Inc., Arbor Drugs, Arizona CVS Stores L.L.C., Arkansas CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Badger Acquisition LLC, Badger Acquisition of Kentucky LLC, Badger Acquisition of Minnesota LLC, Badger Acquisition of Ohio LLC, Banner Health and Aetna Health Insurance Company, Banner Health and Aetna Health Insurance Holding Company LLC, Banner Health and Aetna Health Plan Inc., Beauty Holdings L.L.C., Best Care LTC Acquisition Company LLC, Busse CVS L.L.C., CCI Foreign S.a R.L. (R.C.S. Luxembourg), CCRx Holdings LLC, CCRx of North Carolina LLC, CHP Acquisition LLC, CP Acquisition LLC, CVS 2948 Henderson L.L.C., CVS 3268 Gilbert L.L.C., CVS 3745 Peoria L.L.C., CVS AL Distribution L.L.C., CVS AOC Corporation, CVS AOC Services L.L.C., CVS Albany L.L.C., CVS Bellmore Avenue L.L.C., CVS Care Concierge LLC, CVS Caremark Advanced Technology Pharmacy L.L.C., CVS Caremark Indemnity Ltd., CVS Caremark Part D Services L.L.C., CVS Caremark TN SUTA LLC, CVS Foreign Inc., CVS Gilbert 3272 L.L.C., CVS Health Solutions LLC, CVS Indiana L.L.C., CVS International L.L.C., CVS Kidney Care Advanced Technologies LLC, CVS Kidney Care Health Services LLC, CVS Kidney Care Home Dialysis LLC, CVS Kidney Care LLC, CVS Manchester NH L.L.C., CVS Media Exchange LLC, CVS Michigan L.L.C., CVS Orlando FL Distribution L.L.C., CVS PA Distribution L.L.C., CVS PR Center Inc., CVS Pharmacy Inc., CVS RS Arizona L.L.C., CVS Rx Services Inc., CVS SC Distribution L.L.C., CVS State Capital L.L.C., CVS TN Distribution L.L.C., CVS Transportation L.L.C., CVS Vero FL Distribution L.L.C., Campos Medical Pharmacy LLC, Canal Place LLC, Care Pharmaceutical Services LP, CareCenter Pharmacy L.L.C., Carefree Insurance Services Inc., Caremark Arizona Mail Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Arizona Specialty Pharmacy L.L.C., Caremark California Specialty Pharmacy L.L.C., Caremark Florida Mail Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Florida Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Hawaii Mail Pharmacy L.L.C., Caremark Hawaii Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark IPA L.L.C., Caremark Illinois Mail Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Illinois Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Irving Resource Center LLC, Caremark Kansas Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark L.L.C., Caremark Logistics LLC, Caremark Louisiana Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Maryland Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Massachusetts Specialty Pharmacy L.L.C., Caremark Michigan Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Minnesota Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark New Jersey Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark North Carolina Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Ohio Specialty Pharmacy L.L.C., Caremark Pennsylvania Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark PhC L.L.C., Caremark Puerto Rico L.L.C., Caremark Puerto Rico Specialty Pharmacy L.L.C., Caremark Redlands Pharmacy L.L.C., Caremark Repack LLC, Caremark Rx L.L.C., Caremark Tennessee Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Texas Mail Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Texas Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Ulysses Holding Corp., Caremark Washington Specialty Pharmacy LLC, CaremarkPCS Alabama Mail Pharmacy LLC, CaremarkPCS Health L.L.C., CaremarkPCS L.L.C., Central Rx Services LLC, Claims Administration Corp., Cofinity Inc., Compscript LLC, Connecticut CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Continental Life Insurance Company of Brentwood Tennessee, Continuing Care Rx LLC, Coram Alternate Site Services Inc., Coram Clinical Trials Inc., Coram Healthcare Corporation of Alabama, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Florida, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Greater D.C., Coram Healthcare Corporation of Greater New York, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Indiana, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Massachusetts, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Mississippi, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Nevada, Coram Healthcare Corporation of North Texas, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Northern California, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Southern California, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Southern Florida, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Utah, Coram LLC, Coram Rx LLC, Coram Specialty Infusion, Coram Specialty Infusion Services L.L.C., Coventry Consumer Advantage Inc., Coventry Health Care National Accounts Inc., Coventry Health Care National Network Inc., Coventry Health Care Workers Compensation Inc., Coventry Health Care of Illinois Inc., Coventry Health Care of Kansas Inc., Coventry Health Care of Missouri Inc., Coventry Health Care of Nebraska Inc., Coventry Health Care of Virginia Inc., Coventry Health Care of West Virginia Inc., Coventry Health Plan of Florida Inc., Coventry Health and Life Insurance Company, Coventry HealthCare Management Corporation, Coventry Prescription Management Services Inc., Coventry Rehabilitation Services Inc., Coventry Transplant Network Inc., D & R Pharmaceutical Services LLC, D.A.W. LLC, Delaware CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Delaware Physicians Care Incorporated, Digital eHealth LLC, District of Columbia CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., E.T.B. INC., Echo Merger Sub Inc., Eckerd Corporation of Florida Inc., Employee Assistance Services LLC, Enloe Drugs LLC, Enterprise Patient Safety Organization LLC, EntrustRX, Evergreen Pharmaceutical LLC, Evergreen Pharmaceutical of California Inc., Express Pharmacy Services of PA L.L.C., FOCUS HealthCare Management Inc., First Health Group Corp., First Health Life & Health Insurance Company, First Script Network Services Inc., Florida Health Plan Administrators LLC, Garfield Beach CVS L.L.C., Generation Health L.L.C., Geneva Woods Health Services LLC, Geneva Woods LTC Pharmacy LLC, Geneva Woods Management LLC, Geneva Woods Pharmacy Alaska LLC, Geneva Woods Pharmacy LLC, Geneva Woods Pharmacy Washington LLC, Geneva Woods Pharmacy Wyoming LLC, Geneva Woods Retail Pharmacy LLC, Georgia CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., German Dobson CVS L.L.C., Goodhealth Worldwide (Asia) Limited, Goodhealth Worldwide (Global) Limited, Goodyear CVS L.L.C., Grand St. Paul CVS L.L.C., Grandview Pharmacy LLC, Group Dental Service Inc., Group Dental Service of Maryland Inc., Health Care Management Co. Ltd., Health Data & Management Solutions Inc., Health Re Inc., Health and Human Resource Center Inc., HealthAssuance Pennsylvania Inc., Healthagen LLC, Highland Park CVS L.L.C., Holiday CVS L.L.C., Home Care Pharmacy LLC, Home Pharmacy Services LLC, Hook-SupeRx L.L.C., Horizon Behavioral Services LLC, Idaho CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., IlliniCare Health, Indian Health Organisation Private Limited, Innovation Health Holdings LLC, Innovation Health Insurance Company, Innovation Health Plan Inc., Interlock Pharmacy Systems LLC, Iowa CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., JHC Acquisition LLC, Kansas CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Kentucky CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., LCPS Acquisition LLC, Langsam Health Services LLC, Lo-Med Prescription Services LLC, Lobos Acquisition LLC, Longs Drug Stores, Longs Drug Stores California L.L.C., Louisiana CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., MHHP Acquisition Company LLC, MHNet Life and Health Insurance Company, MHNet Specialty Services LLC, MHNet of Florida Inc., Managed Care Coordinators Inc., Managed Healthcare LLC, Martin Health Services LLC, Maryland CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Med World Acquisition Corp., Medical Arts Health Care LLC, Medical Examinations of New York P.C., Melville Realty Company Inc., MemberHealth LLC, Mental Health Associates Inc., Mental Health Network of New York IPA Inc., Meritain Health Inc., Merwin Long Term Care LLC, MetraComp Inc., Minor Health Enterprise Co Ltd., MinuteClinic, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Alabama L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Arizona LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Florida LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Georgia LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Hawaii L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Illinois LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Kentucky L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Louisiana L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Maine L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Maryland LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Massachusetts LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Nebraska L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of New Hampshire L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of New Mexico L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Ohio LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Oklahoma LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Oregon LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Pennsylvania LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Rhode Island LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of South Carolina L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Texas LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Utah L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Virginia LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Washington LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Wisconsin L.L.C., MinuteClinic L.L.C., MinuteClinic Online Diagnostic Services LLC, MinuteClinic Physician Practice of Texas, MinuteClinic Telehealth Services LLC, Mississippi CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Missouri CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Montana CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., NCS Healthcare LLC, NCS Healthcare of Illinois LLC, NCS Healthcare of Iowa LLC, NCS Healthcare of Kansas LLC, NCS Healthcare of Kentucky Inc. (Oh, NCS Healthcare of Montana LLC, NCS Healthcare of New Mexico LLC, NCS Healthcare of Ohio LLC, NCS Healthcare of South Carolina LLC, NCS Healthcare of Tennessee LLC, NCS Healthcare of Wisconsin LLC, NIV Acquisition LLC, Navarro Discount Pharmacy, Nebraska CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., NeighborCare Holdings Inc., NeighborCare Inc., NeighborCare Pharmacy Services Inc., NeighborCare Services Corporation, NeighborCare of Indiana LLC, NeighborCare of Virginia LLC, New Jersey CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Niagara Re Inc., North Carolina CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., North Shore Pharmacy Services LLC, NovoLogix LLC, OCR Services LLC, Ocean Acquisition Sub L.L.C., Ohio CVS Stores L.L.C., Oklahoma CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Omnicare, Omnicare Holding Company, Omnicare Inc., Omnicare Indiana Partnership Holding Company LLC, Omnicare Pharmacies of Pennsylvania East LLC, Omnicare Pharmacies of Pennsylvania West LLC, Omnicare Pharmacies of the Great Plains Holding LLC, Omnicare Pharmacy and Supply Services LLC, Omnicare Pharmacy of Tennessee LLC, Omnicare Pharmacy of the Midwest LLC, Omnicare Property Management LLC, Omnicare of Nebraska LLC, Omnicare of Nevada LLC, Omnicare of New York LLC, Oregon CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., PE Holdings LLC, PHPSNE Parent Corporation, PP Acquisition Company LLC, PRN Pharmaceutical Services LP, PT Aetna Management Consulting, Pamplona Saude e Beleza LTDA, Part D Holding Company L.L.C., PayFlex Holdings Inc., PayFlex Systems USA Inc., Pennsylvania CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Performax Inc., Pharmacy Associates of Glenn Falls LLC, Pharmacy Consultants LLC, Phoenix Data Solutions LLC, Precision Benefit Services Inc., Prime Net Inc., ProCare Pharmacy Direct L.L.C., ProCare Pharmacy L.L.C., Prodigy Health Group Inc., Professional Risk Management Inc., Pt. Aetna Global Benefits Indonesia, Puerto Rico CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Red Oak Sourcing LLC, Resources for Living LLC, Rhode Island CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Roeschens Healthcare LLC, RxAmerica, Schaller Anderson Medical Administrators Incorporated, Scrip World LLC, Sheffield Avenue CVS L.L.C., Shore Pharmaceutical Providers LLC, Silverscript Insurance Company, Soma Intimates, South Carolina CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., South Wabash CVS L.L.C., Specialized Pharmacy Services LLC, Spinnaker Bidco Limited, Spinnaker Topco Limited, Stadtlander Drug Company, Stadtlander Pharmacy, Sterling Healthcare Services LLC, Superior Care Pharmacy LLC, Sutter Health and Aetna Administrative Services LLC, Sutter Health and Aetna Insurance Company, Sutter Health and Aetna Insurance Holding Company LLC, T2 Medical Inc., TCPI Acquisition LLC, TargetPharmacy, Tennessee CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Texas Health + Aetna Health Insurance Company, Texas Health + Aetna Health Insurance Holding Company LLC, Texas Health + Aetna Health Plan Inc., The Vasquez Group Inc., Thomas Phoenix CVS L.L.C., Three Forks Apothecary LLC, U.S Healthcare Holdings LLC, U.S. Healthcare Properties Inc., UAC Holding Inc., UC Acquisition LLC, UNI-Care Health Services of Maine LLC, Universal American - Medicare Part D Business, Utah CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., VAPS Acquisition Company LLC, Value Health Care Services LLC, Vermont CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Virginia CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Virtual Home Healthcare L.L.C., Warm Springs Road CVS L.L.C., Washington CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Washington Lamb CVS L.L.C., Weber Medical Systems LLC, Wellpartner LLC, West Virginia CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Westhaven Services Co LLC, Williamson Drug Company LLC, Wisconsin CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Woodward Detroit CVS L.L.C., Work and Family Benefits Inc., ZS Acquisition Company LLC, Zinc Health Services LLC, Zinc Health Ventures LLC, bSwift LLC, and iTriage LLC. China Mobile Limited provides mobile telecommunications and related services in Mainland China and Hong Kong. The company offers local calls; domestic and international long distance calls and roaming services; and value-added services, such as caller identity display, call waiting, conference calls, and others. It also provides wireless Internet service, as well as digital applications comprising music, video, reading, gaming, and animation; wireline broadband services; and wireline voice services. In addition, it offers dedicated line and IDC services to corporate customers in a range of industry sectors; and basic corporate communication products comprising corporate VPMN and SMS, and tailor made solutions. Further, the company provides international telecommunications services, which includes IDD, roaming, Internet, MNC, and value added business services. Additionally, it offers telecommunications network planning, design, and consulting services; roaming clearance, IT system operation, and technology support services; value-added platform development and maintenance services; mobile data, and system integration and development services; network construction and maintenance, network planning and optimizing, and training services; electronic communication products design and sale of related products; and non-banking financial services. It also provides mobile cloud research and development services; call center services; e-payment, e-commerce, and Internet finance services; and mobile Internet digital content services, as well as operates a network and business coordination center. The company serves 950 million mobile customers and 187 million wireline broadband customers. The company was formerly known as China Mobile (Hong Kong) Limited and changed its name to China Mobile Limited in May 2006. The company was incorporated in 1997 and is based in Central, Hong Kong. China Mobile Limited is a subsidiary of China Mobile Hong Kong (BVI) Limited. Read More Dunelm Group plc engages in the retail of homewares in the United Kingdom. The company offers furniture for bedroom, living room, dining room, and office; sofas and chairs; bean bags; bed frames, mattresses, divan beds and bases, and headboards, as well as kids beds; and bedding products, such as bed linens, duvets, pillows, protectors, and baby and kids beddings. It also provides curtains, and poles and tracks; blinds; rugs, runners, and door mats; mirrors; cushion pads, covers; throws; seat pads; pictures and frames, wallpapers, and accessories; lighting products, including ceiling and wall lights, lamp shades, floor and table lamps, and outdoor lights; kitchen products, such as cooking, dining, utility, and electrical products; and storage products for home, clothes, and kitchen, as well as travel and luggage products. In addition, the company offers towels and bathmats, bathroom accessories, and bathroom furniture; kids accessories and toys, and nursery furniture and products, as well as travel, safety, and wellbeing products; garden furniture and storage, and garden dAcor products; and Christmas trees and lights, wreaths and garlands, baubles and tree decoration, and novelty products. It operates 173 superstores and 2 distribution centers, as well as sells its products through an online store at dunelm.com. Dunelm Group plc was founded in 1979 and is based in Syston, the United Kingdom. Read More iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF's stock was trading at $108.64 on March 11th, 2020 when Coronavirus reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Since then, IWD shares have increased by 49.0% and is now trading at $161.91. View which stocks have been most impacted by COVID-19. The following companies are subsidiares of Travelers Companies: 10762962 Canada Inc., 350 Market Street LLC, 8527512 Canada Inc., Aetna Life and Casualty Co, American Equity Insurance Company, American Equity Specialty Insurance Company, Aprilgrange Limited, Arch Street North LLC, Auto Hartford Investments LLC, Bayhill Restaurant II Associates, Camperdown Corporation, Constitution State Services LLC, Discover Property & Casualty Insurance Company, Discover Specialty Insurance Company, F&G UK Underwriters Limited, Farmington Casualty Company, Fidelity and Guaranty Insurance Company, Fidelity and Guaranty Insurance Underwriters Inc., First Floridian Auto and Home Insurance Company, Gulf Underwriters Insurance Company, IHP Capital Partners Fund VIII L.P., Northbrook Holdings Inc., Northfield Insurance Company, Northland Casualty Company, Northland Insurance Company, Phoenix UK Investments LLC, SPC Insurance Agency Inc., Select Insurance Company, Simply Business Holdings Inc., Simply Business Inc., St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Company, St. Paul Guardian Insurance Company, St. Paul Mercury Insurance Company, St. Paul Protective Insurance Company, St. Paul Surplus Lines Insurance Company, Standard Fire Properties LLC, Standard Fire UK Investments LLC, TCI Global Services Inc., TPC Investments Inc., TPC U.K. Investments LLC, The Automobile Insurance Company of Hartford Connecticut, The Charter Oak Fire Insurance Company, The Dominion of Canada General Insurance Company, The Family Business Institute LLC, The Phoenix Insurance Company, The St. Paul Companies Inc., The Standard Fire Insurance Company, The Travelers Casualty Company, The Travelers Home and Marine Insurance Company, The Travelers Indemnity Company, The Travelers Indemnity Company of America, The Travelers Indemnity Company of Connecticut, The Travelers Lloyds Insurance Company, TravCo Insurance Company, Travelers (Bermuda) Limited, Travelers Brazil Acquisition LLC, Travelers Brazil Holding LLC, Travelers Casualty Company of Connecticut, Travelers Casualty Insurance Company of America, Travelers Casualty UK Investments LLC, Travelers Casualty and Surety Company, Travelers Casualty and Surety Company of America, Travelers Casualty and Surety Company of Europe Limited, Travelers Commercial Casualty Company, Travelers Commercial Insurance Company, Travelers Constitution State Insurance Company, Travelers Distribution Alliance Inc., Travelers Excess and Surplus Lines Company, Travelers Global Inc., Travelers Indemnity U.K. Investments LLC, Travelers Insurance Company Limited, Travelers Insurance Company of Canada, Travelers Insurance Designated Activity Company, Travelers Insurance Group Holdings Inc., Travelers Lloyds of Texas Insurance Company, Travelers London Limited, Travelers MGA Inc., Travelers Management Limited, Travelers Marine LLC, Travelers Participacoes em Seguros Brasil S.A., Travelers Personal Insurance Company, Travelers Personal Security Insurance Company, Travelers Property Casualty Company of America, Travelers Property Casualty Corp., Travelers Property Casualty Insurance Company, Travelers Seguros Brasil S.A., Travelers Syndicate Management Limited, Travelers Texas MGA Inc., Travelers Underwriting Agency Limited, Ultramar Travel Management, United States Fidelity and Guaranty Company, Xbridge Limited, Zensurance Brokers Inc., and Zensurance Inc.. Nabors Industries Ltd. engages in the provision of platform work over and drilling rigs. It operates through the following segments: U.S. Drilling, Canada Drilling, International Drilling, Drilling Solutions, and Rig Technologies. The U.S. Drilling segment includes land drilling activities in the lower 48 states and Alaska, as well as offshore operations in the Gulf of Mexico. The Canada segment consists of land-based drilling rigs in Canada. The International segment focuses in maintaining a footprint in the oil and gas market, most notably in Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Argentina, Colombia, Kazakhstan, and Venezuela. The Drilling Solutions segment offers drilling technologies, such as patented steering systems and rig instrumentation software systems that enhance drilling performance and wellbore placement. The Rig Technologies segment comprises Canrig, which manufactures and sells top drives, catwalks, wrenches, drawworks, and drilling related equipment, such as robotic systems and downhole tools. The company was founded by Clair Nabors in 1952 and is headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda. Read More iShares MSCI France ETF's stock was trading at $25.23 on March 11th, 2020 when COVID-19 reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization. Since then, EWQ stock has increased by 49.5% and is now trading at $37.71. View which stocks have been most impacted by COVID-19. iShares MSCI India Small-Cap ETF's stock was trading at $31.07 on March 11th, 2020 when COVID-19 (Coronavirus) reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization. Since then, SMIN shares have increased by 87.9% and is now trading at $58.38. View which stocks have been most impacted by COVID-19. iShares MSCI Taiwan ETF's stock was trading at $36.70 on March 11th, 2020 when COVID-19 reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Since then, EWT shares have increased by 73.5% and is now trading at $63.67. View which stocks have been most impacted by COVID-19. The following companies are subsidiares of General Motors: 2140879 Ontario Inc., ACAR Leasing, ACAR Leasing Ltd., ACF Investment, ACF Investment Corp., AFS SenSub, APGO Trust, Adam Opel, Adam Opel GmbH, Aftermarket (UK), AmeriCredit, AmeriCredit Consumer Loan, AmeriCredit Consumer Loan Company Inc., AmeriCredit Financial Services, AmeriCredit Financial Services Inc., AmeriCredit Funding, AmeriCredit Syndicated Warehouse Trust, Annunciata Corporation, Argonaut Holdings, Argonaut Holdings LLC, BOCO (Proprietary), BOCO (Proprietary) Limited, Banco GMAC, Banco GMAC S.A., Baylis (Gloucester), Boco Trust, Boden Brussels, CHEVYPLAN, CHEVYPLAN S.A. Sociedad Administradora de Planes de Autofinanciamiento Comercial, Cadillac, Cadillac Europe, Cadillac Europe GmbH, Carve-Out Ownership, Carve-Out Ownership Cooperative LLC, Chevrolet Deutschland GmbH, Chevrolet Sales (Thailand), Chevrolet Sales (Thailand) Limited, Chevrolet Sales India, Chevrolet Sales India Private Ltd., Chevrolet Sociedad Anonima de Ahorro para Fines Determinados, Controladora General Motors, Controladora General Motors S.A. de C.V., Cruise, DCJ1, DCJ1 LLC, DMAX, DMAX Ltd., Dealership Liquidations, Dealership Liquidations Inc., Delphi Energy and Engine Management Systems UK, Delphi Energy and Engine Management Systems UK Overseas Corporation, EDS (Electronic Data Systems), FAW-GM, Fundacion Chevrolet, G.M.A.C., GCAR Titling Ltd., GM (UK) Pension, GM (UK) Pension Trustees Limited, GM APO Holdings, GM Administradora de Bens, GM Administradora de Bens Ltda., GM Asia Pacific Regional Headquarters Ltd., GM Auslandsprojekte, GM Automotive, GM Automotive Services Belgium, GM CME, GM Canada Holdings, GM Canada Limited, GM Components Holdings, GM Components Holdings LLC, GM Cruise, GM Cruise Holdings LLC, GM Cruise LLC, GM Defense, GM Eurometals, GM Eurometals Inc., GM Europe Treasury, GM Finance, GM Finance Co. Holdings LLC, GM Financial, GM Financial AB, GM Financial Canada, GM Financial Canada Leasing, GM Financial Canada Leasing Ltd., GM Financial Colombia Holdings LLC, GM Financial Colombia S.A. Compania de Financiamiento, GM Financial Consumer, GM Financial Consumer Discount, GM Financial Consumer Discount Company, GM Financial Del Peru, GM Financial GmbH, GM Financial Holdings LLC, GM Financial Insurance Services, GM Financial Mexico Holdings, GM Financial Mexico Holdings LLC, GM Financial Real Estate, GM Financial de Mexico, GM Financial de Mexico S.A. de C.V. SOFOM E.R., GM Financial del Peru S.A.C, GM Global Business Services, GM Global Propulsion Systems -Torino S.r.l., GM Global Purchasing and Supply Chain, GM Global Technology Operations, GM Global Technology Operations LLC, GM Global Tooling, GM Global Tooling Company LLC, GM Global Treasury Centre Limited, GM Holden, GM Holden Pty Ltd., GM Holdings U.K. No.1 Limited, GM Inversiones Santiago Limitada, GM Investment Trustees Limited, GM Korea, GM Korea Company, GM LAAM Holdings, GM LAAM Holdings LLC, GM Mexico Holdings, GM Mobility Europe GmbH, GM PSA Purchasing Services, GM Personnel Services, GM Personnel Services Inc., GM Philippines Inc., GM Plats (Proprietary), GM Regional Holdings, GM Regional Holdings LLC, GM Retirees Pension Trustees, GM Retirees Pension Trustees Limited, GM Subsystems Manufacturing, GM Subsystems Manufacturing LLC, GM Technical Center Korea Ltd., GM Viet Nam Motor Company, GM-DI Leasing, GM-DI Leasing LLC, GMAC - Instituicao Financeira de Credito, GMAC Administradora de Consorcios, GMAC Administradora de Consorcios Ltda., GMAC Banque, GMAC Continental, GMAC Espana de Financiacion, GMAC Holdings (U.K.), GMAC Lease B.V. (aka Masterlease Europe), GMAC Nederland N.V., GMAC Prestadora de Servicios de Mao de Obra Ltda., GMAC Servicios, GMAC UK, GMAC de Venezuela, GMAC-Prestadora de Servios de Mo-de-Obra, GMACI Corretora de Seguros, GMACI Corretora de Seguros Ltda, GMAM Real Estate I, GMCH&SP Private Equity II, GMCH&SP Private Equity II L.P., GMF Australia Pty Ltd, GMF Europe, GMF Europe Holdco, GMF Europe LLP, GMF Floorplan Owner Revolving Trust, GMF Funding, GMF Germany Holdings, GMF Global Assignment, GMF Global Assignment LLC, GMF International, GMF International LLC, GMF Leasing LLC, GMF Leasing Warehousing Trust, GMF Wholesale Receivables, GMGP Holdings, General Motors (China) Investment Company, General Motors (China) Investment Company Limited, General Motors (Thailand), General Motors (Thailand) Limited, General Motors - Colmotores, General Motors - Colmotores S.A., General Motors Advisory Services LLC, General Motors Africa and Middle East, General Motors Africa and Middle East FZE, General Motors Asia, General Motors Asia LLC, General Motors Asia Pacific Holdings, General Motors Asia Pacific Holdings LLC, General Motors Asset Management, General Motors Asset Management Corporation, General Motors Australia, General Motors Australia Pty Ltd., General Motors Austria, General Motors Austria, General Motors Auto, General Motors Auto LLC, General Motors Automobiles Philippines, General Motors Automobiles Philippines Inc., General Motors Automotive Holdings, General Motors Automotive Holdings S.L., General Motors Belgique Automobile NV, General Motors Belgium, General Motors Chile, General Motors Chile Industria Automotriz Limitada, General Motors China LLC, General Motors Daewoo Auto and Technology, General Motors Daewoo Auto and Technology CIS LLC, General Motors East Africa, General Motors Egypt, General Motors Egypt S.A.E., General Motors Espana, General Motors Europe Holdings, General Motors Europe Limited, General Motors Financial Chile, General Motors Financial Chile Limitada, General Motors Financial Chile S.A., General Motors Financial Company, General Motors Financial Company Inc., General Motors Financial International, General Motors Financial Italia, General Motors Financial Suisse, General Motors Financial UK, General Motors Financial of Canada, General Motors Financial of Canada Ltd., General Motors Finland, General Motors France, General Motors GBS Hungary, General Motors Global Service Operations, General Motors Global Service Operations Inc., General Motors Hellas, General Motors Holden Australia, General Motors Holden Australia NSC, General Motors Holden Australia NSC Pty Ltd., General Motors Holden Australia Pty Ltd., General Motors Holdings LLC, General Motors IT Services (Ireland) Limited, General Motors India Private, General Motors India Private Limited, General Motors International Holdings, General Motors International Holdings LLC, General Motors International Operations, General Motors International Operations Pte. Ltd., General Motors International Services Company, General Motors International Services Company SAS, General Motors International Services LLC, General Motors Investment Limited, General Motors Investment Management, General Motors Investment Management Corporation, General Motors Investment Participacoes, General Motors Investment Participacoes Ltda., General Motors Investments, General Motors Investments Pty. Ltd., General Motors Ireland, General Motors Israel, General Motors Israel Ltd., General Motors Italia, General Motors Japan, General Motors Japan Limited, General Motors LLC, General Motors Limited, General Motors Manufacturing Poland, General Motors Nederland, General Motors New Zealand Pensions, General Motors New Zealand Pensions Limited, General Motors Overseas, General Motors Overseas Commercial Vehicle, General Motors Overseas Commercial Vehicle Corporation, General Motors Overseas Corporation, General Motors Overseas Distribution, General Motors Overseas Distribution LLC, General Motors Peru, General Motors Peru S.A., General Motors Poland Spolka, General Motors Portugal, General Motors Powertrain (Thailand), General Motors Powertrain (Thailand) Limited, General Motors Research Corporation, General Motors South Africa, General Motors South Africa (Pty) Limited, General Motors Suisse, General Motors Taiwan, General Motors Taiwan Ltd., General Motors Technical Centre India, General Motors Technical Centre India Private Limited, General Motors Treasury Center, General Motors Treasury Center LLC, General Motors Turkiye, General Motors UK, General Motors Uruguay, General Motors Uruguay S.A., General Motors Venezolana, General Motors Ventures, General Motors Ventures LLC, General Motors Warehousing and Trading (Shanghai), General Motors Warehousing and Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., General Motors de Argentina, General Motors de Argentina S.r.l., General Motors de Mexico, General Motors de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., General Motors del Ecuador, General Motors del Ecuador S.A., General Motors do Brasil, General Motors do Brasil Ltda., General Motors of Canada, General Motors of Canada Company, General Motors-Holden's Sales, General Motors-Holden's Sales Pty. Limited, GigaPower LLC, Global Services Detroit, Global Services Detroit LLC, Global Tooling Service Company Europe, Global Tooling Service Company Europe Limited, Go Motor Retailing, Go Trade Parts, Grand Pointe Holdings, Grand Pointe Holdings Inc., Grand Pointe Park Condominium, Grand Pointe Park Condominium Association, H.S.H., Haines & Strange, Holden New Zealand, Holden New Zealand Limited, IBC Pension Trustees, IBC Pension Trustees Limited, IBC Vehicles, Lease Ownership Cooperative, Lease Ownership Cooperative LLC, Lidlington Engineering Company, Lidlington Engineering Company Ltd., Limited Liability Company "General Motors CIS", Master Lease Germany, Maven Drive, Maven Drive LLC, Millbrook Pension Management, Millbrook Pension Management Limited, Monetization of Carve-Out, Monetization of Carve-Out LLC, Motor Repris Automocio, Motors Holding, Motors Holding LLC, Motors Properties, Motors Properties (Trading), Multi-Use Lease Entity Trust, North American New Cars, North American New Cars LLC, Omnibus BB Transportes, Omnibus BB Transportes S. A., OnStar Connected Services Srl, OnStar Egypt Limited LLC, OnStar Europe, OnStar Europe Ltd., OnStar Global Services, OnStar Global Services Corporation, OnStar LLC, OnStar de Mexico, OnStar de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Opel Bank, Opel Danmark, Opel Group, Opel Group Warehousing, Opel Leasing, Opel Norge, Opel Sonderdienste, Opel Southeast Europe, Opel Sverige, Opel Szentgotthard Automotive Manufacturing, Opel Wien, P.T. G M AutoWorld Indonesia, P.T. General Motors Indonesia, PIMS, PIMS Co., PT. General Motors Indonesia Manufacturing, Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center, Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center Company Ltd., Prestadora de Servicios GMF Colombia S.A.S., Rapid Motor Vehicle Company, Reliance Motor Car Company, Riverfront Holdings III Inc., Riverfront Holdings Inc., Riverfront Holdings Phase II Inc., SAIC GM (Shenyang) Norsom Motors Co. Ltd., SAIC GM Dong Yue Motors Company Limited, SAIC GM Dong Yue Powertrain Company Limited, SAIC GM Wuling Automobile Company Limited, SAIC General Motors Corporation Limited, SAIC General Motors Investment Limited, SAIC General Motors Sales Company Limited, SAIC-GMAC Automotive Finance Company Limited, SAIC-GMF Leasing Co. Ltd., Servicios GMAC S.A. de C.V., Shanghai Chengxin Used Car Operation and Management Company Limited, Shanghai OnStar Telematics Co. Ltd., Sherwoods (Darlington) Limited, Sidecar Technologies, Skurrays Limited, Stam-Terberg Autobedrijven B. V., Strobe Inc., VHC Sub-Holdings (UK), Vauxhall Defined Contribution Pension Plan Trustees Limited, Vehicle Asset Universal Leasing Trust, Vickers (Lakeside) Limited, Vision Motors Limited, WRE, WRE Inc., and Zona Franca Industrial Colmotores SAS. The following companies are subsidiares of Bristol-Myers Squibb: 1096271 B.C. ULC, 345 Park LLC, A.G. Medical Services P.A., AHI Investment LLC, AbVitro LLC, Abraxis BioScience Australia Pty Ltd., Abraxis BioScience Inc., Abraxis BioScience International Holding Company Inc., Abraxis BioScience LLC, Abraxis BioScience Puerto Rico LLC, Acetylon Pharmaceuticals Inc., Adnexus, Adnexus a Bristol-Myers Squibb R&D Company, Allard Labs Acquisition G.P., Amira Pharmaceuticals, Amira Pharmaceuticals Inc., Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Apothecon LLC, B-MS Generx Unlimited Company, BMS Benelux Holdings B.V., BMS Bermuda Nominees L.L.C., BMS Data Acquisition Company LLC, BMS Forex Company, BMS Holdings Sarl, BMS Holdings Spain S.L., BMS International Insurance Designated Activity Company, BMS Investco SAS, BMS Korea Holdings L.L.C., BMS Latin American Nominees L.L.C., BMS Luxembourg Partners L.L.C., BMS Omega Bermuda Holdings Finance Ltd., BMS Pharmaceutical Korea Limited, BMS Pharmaceuticals Germany Holdings B.V., BMS Pharmaceuticals International Holdings Netherlands B.V., BMS Pharmaceuticals Korea Holdings B.V., BMS Pharmaceuticals Mexico Holdings B.V., BMS Pharmaceuticals Netherlands Holdings B.V., BMS Real Estate LLC, BMS Spain Investments LLC, BMS Strategic Portfolio Investments Holdings Inc., Blisa Acquisition G.P., Bristol (Iran) S.A., Bristol Iran Private Company Limited, Bristol Laboratories Inc., Bristol Laboratories International S.A., Bristol Laboratories Medical Information Systems Inc., Bristol-Myers (Andes) L.L.C., Bristol-Myers (Private) Limited, Bristol-Myers Middle East S.A.L., Bristol-Myers Overseas Corporation, Bristol-Myers Squibb (China) Investment Co. Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb (China) Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb (Israel) Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb (NZ) Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb (Proprietary) Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb (Shanghai) Trading Co. Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb (Singapore) Pte. Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb (Taiwan) Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb (West Indies) Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb A.E., Bristol-Myers Squibb Aktiebolag, Bristol-Myers Squibb Argentina S. R. L., Bristol-Myers Squibb Australia Pty. Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb Axia Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb B.V., Bristol-Myers Squibb Belgium S.A., Bristol-Myers Squibb Business Services Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb Canada Co., Bristol-Myers Squibb Canada International Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb Delta Company Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb Denmark Filial of Bristol-Myers Squibb AB, Bristol-Myers Squibb EMEA Sarl, Bristol-Myers Squibb Egypt LLC, Bristol-Myers Squibb Epsilon Holdings Unlimited Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb Farmaceutica Ltda., Bristol-Myers Squibb Farmaceutica Portuguesa S.A., Bristol-Myers Squibb GesmbH, Bristol-Myers Squibb GmbH & Co. KGaA, Bristol-Myers Squibb Holding Germany GmbH & Co. KG, Bristol-Myers Squibb Holdings 2002 Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb Holdings Germany Verwaltungs GmbH, Bristol-Myers Squibb Holdings Ireland Unlimited Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb Holdings Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb Holdings Pharma Ltd. Liability Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb Ilaclari Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb India Pvt. Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb International Company Unlimited Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb International Corporation, Bristol-Myers Squibb Investco L.L.C., Bristol-Myers Squibb K.K., Bristol-Myers Squibb Kft., Bristol-Myers Squibb Luxembourg International S.C.A., Bristol-Myers Squibb Luxembourg S.a.r.l., Bristol-Myers Squibb MEA GmbH, Bristol-Myers Squibb Manufacturing Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb Marketing Services S.R.L., Bristol-Myers Squibb Middle East & Africa FZ-LLC, Bristol-Myers Squibb Norway Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb Nutricionales de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Bristol-Myers Squibb Peru S.A., Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharma (HK) Ltd, Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharma (Thailand) Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharma Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharma EEIG, Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharma Holding Company LLC, Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharma Ventures Corporation, Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceuticals Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceuticals Unlimited Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb Polska Sp. z o.o., Bristol-Myers Squibb Products SA, Bristol-Myers Squibb Puerto Rico Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb Puerto Rico/Sanofi Pharmaceutical Partnership Puerto Rico, Bristol-Myers Squibb Romania S.R.L., Bristol-Myers Squibb S.A.U., Bristol-Myers Squibb S.r.l., Bristol-Myers Squibb SA, Bristol-Myers Squibb Sanofi Pharmaceuticals Holding Partnership, Bristol-Myers Squibb Sarl, Bristol-Myers Squibb Service Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb Services Sp. z o.o., Bristol-Myers Squibb Spol. s r.o., Bristol-Myers Squibb Theta Finance Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb Trustees Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb Verwaltungs GmbH, Bristol-Myers Squibb de Colombia S.A., Bristol-Myers Squibb de Costa Rica Sociedad Anonima, Bristol-Myers Squibb de Guatemala S.A., Bristol-Myers Squibb de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Bristol-Myers Squibb/Astrazeneca EEIG, Bristol-Myers Squibb/Pfizer EEIG, Bristol-Myers Squibb/Sanofi Pharmaceuticals Partnership, Bristol-Myers de Venezuela S.C.A., CHT I LLC, CHT II LLC, CHT III LLC, CHT IV LLC, CR Finance Company LLC, Cardioxyl Pharmaceuticals, Cardioxyl Pharmaceuticals Inc., Celem LLC, Celem Ltd., Celgene, Celgene A.B., Celgene AS, Celgene Ab (Finland), Celgene Alpine Investment Co. II LLC, Celgene Alpine Investment Co. III LLC, Celgene Alpine Investment Co. LLC, Celgene ApS, Celgene B.V., Celgene BVBA, Celgene Brasil Produtos Farmaceuticos Ltda., Celgene CAR LLC, Celgene CAR Ltd., Celgene Chemicals Sarl, Celgene China Holdings LLC, Celgene Co., Celgene Corporation, Celgene Distribution B.V., Celgene EngMab GmbH, Celgene Europe B.V., Celgene Europe Limited, Celgene European Investment Company LLC, Celgene Financing Company LLC, Celgene Global Holdings Sarl, Celgene GmbH [Austria], Celgene GmbH [Germany], Celgene GmbH [Switzerland], Celgene Holdings East Corporation, Celgene Holdings II Sarl, Celgene Holdings III Sarl, Celgene Ilac Pazarlama ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Celgene Inc., Celgene International Holdings Corporation, Celgene International II Sarl, Celgene International III Sarl, Celgene International Inc., Celgene International Sarl, Celgene K.K., Celgene Kft., Celgene Limited [Hong Kong], Celgene Limited [Ireland], Celgene Limited [New Zealand], Celgene Limited [Taiwan], Celgene Limited [UK], Celgene Logistics Sarl, Celgene Ltd, Celgene Luxembourg Sarl, Celgene Management Sarl, Celgene NJ Investment Co, Celgene Netherlands B.V., Celgene Netherlands Investment B.V., Celgene Pharmaceutical (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Celgene Pte. Ltd., Celgene Pty Ltd, Celgene Puerto Rico Distribution LLC, Celgene Quanticel Research Inc, Celgene R&D Sarl, Celgene RIVOT LLC, Celgene RIVOT Ltd., Celgene RIVOT SRL, Celgene Receptos Limited, Celgene Receptos Sarl, Celgene Research Incubator At Summit West LLC, Celgene Research S.L.U., Celgene Research and Development Company LLC, Celgene Research and Development I ULC, Celgene Research and Development II LLC, Celgene Research and Investment Company II LLC, Celgene S. de R.L. de C.V., Celgene S.L.U., Celgene S.R.L., Celgene SAS, Celgene Sarl AU, Celgene Sdn Bhd, Celgene Services Sarl, Celgene Sociedade Unipessoal Lda, Celgene Sp. Z.o.o., Celgene Sro [Czech Republic], Celgene Summit Investment Co, Celgene Switzerland Holding Sarl, Celgene Switzerland II LLC, Celgene Switzerland Investment Sarl, Celgene Switzerland LLC, Celgene Switzerland Sarl, Celgene Tri A Holdings Ltd., Celgene Tri Sarl, Celgene UK Distribution Limited, Celgene UK Holdings Limited, Celgene UK Manufacturing II Limited, Celgene UK Manufacturing III Limited, Celgene UK Manufacturing Limited, Celgene d.o.o., Celgene sro [Slovakia], Celmed LLC, Celmed Ltd., ConvaTec Divestiture, Cormorant Pharmaceuticals, Cormorant Pharmaceuticals AB, Crosp Ltd., Delinia Inc., Deuteria Pharmaceuticals Inc., DuPont Pharmaceuticals, E. R. Squibb & Sons Inter-American Corporation, E. R. Squibb & Sons L.L.C., E. R. Squibb & Sons Limited, EWI Corporation, EngMab Sarl, F-star Alpha, FermaVir Pharmaceuticals L.L.C., FermaVir Research L.L.C., Flexus Biosciences, Flexus Biosciences Inc., Forbius, Galecto Biotech, GenPharm International L.L.C., Gloucester Pharmaceuticals LLC, Grove Insurance Company Ltd., Heyden Farmaceutica Portuguesa Limitada, IFM Therapeutics, Impact Biomedicines Inc., Inhibitex, Inhibitex L.L.C., Innate Tumor Immunity Inc., JuMP Holdings LLC, Juno Therapeutics GmbH, Juno Therapeutics Inc., Kosan Biosciences, Kosan Biosciences Incorporated, Linson Investments Limited, Mead Johnson (Manufacturing) Jamaica Limited, Mead Johnson Jamaica Ltd., Medarex, Morris Avenue Investment II LLC, Morris Avenue Investment LLC, MyoKardia, O.o.o. Bristol-Myers Squibb, Oy Bristol-Myers Squibb (Finland) AB, Padlock Therapeutics, Padlock Therapeutics Inc., Pharmion LLC, Princeton Pharmaceutical Products Inc., Receptos LLC, Receptos Services LLC, RedoxTherapies Inc., Route 22 Real Estate Holding Corporation, SPV A Holdings ULC, Seamair Insurance DAC, Signal Pharmaceuticals LLC, Sino-American Shanghai Squibb Pharmaceuticals Limited, Societe Francaise de Complements Alimentaires(S.O.F.C.A.), Squibb Middle East S.A., Summit West Celgene LLC, Swords Laboratories, VentiRx Pharmaceuticals Inc., Westwood-Intrafin SA, Westwood-Squibb Pharmaceuticals Inc., X-Body Inc., ZymoGenetics, ZymoGenetics Inc., ZymoGenetics LLC, ZymoGenetics Paymaster LLC, iPierian, and iPierian Inc.. Koninklijke Philips N.V. is the Netherlands-based health technology company. The Company's segments include Personal Health businesses, Diagnosis & Treatment businesses, Connected Care & Health Informatics businesses, HealthTech Other and Legacy Items. The Personal Health businesses segment is engaged in the health continuum, delivering integrated, connected solutions that support healthier lifestyles and those living with chronic disease. The Diagnosis & Treatment businesses segment delivers precision medicine and treatment, and therapy. The Connected Care & Health Informatics businesses segment provides consumers, care givers and clinicians with digital solutions that facilitate care by enabling precision medicine and population health management. The HealthTech Other segment comprises such items, as innovation, emerging businesses, royalties, among others. The Legacy Items segment consists mainly of separation costs, legacy legal items, legacy pension costs, among others. Read More iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF's stock was trading at $158.09 on March 11th, 2020 when Coronavirus reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Since then, IWF shares have increased by 89.1% and is now trading at $298.91. 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. 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. 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 Nagambie Resources Limited engages in the exploration and development of gold and associated minerals, and construction materials in Australia. The company has a total area of 3,600 square kilometers of exploration licenses in Waranga Province. It is also involved in the investigation and development of waste handling assets, as well as property owning activities. The company was formerly known as Nagambie Mining Limited and changed its name to Nagambie Resources Limited in November 2015. Nagambie Resources Limited was incorporated in 2004 and is headquartered in Nagambie, Australia. Read More The following companies are subsidiares of NRG Energy: 3279405 Nova Scotia Company, 3283764 Nova Scotia Company, 7549709 Canada Inc., 7644868 Canada Inc., 7711565 Canada Inc., AC Solar Holdings LLC, Ace Energy Inc., Agua Caliente Borrower 1 LLC, Agua Caliente Solar Holdings LLC, Agua Caliente Solar LLC, Allied Home Warranty GP LLC, Allied Warranty LLC, Arthur Kill Gas Turbines LLC, Arthur Kill Power LLC, Astoria Gas Turbine Power LLC, Bayou Cove Peaking Power LLC, Beheer-en Beleggingsmaatschappij Plogema B.V., Berrians I Gas Turbine Power LLC, BidURenergy Inc., Big Cajun I Peaking Power LLC, Bluewater Wind Delaware LLC, Bluewater Wind Maryland LLC, Bluewater Wind New Jersey Energy LLC, Boquillas Wind LLC, Cabrillo Power I LLC, Cabrillo Power II LLC, Camino Energy LLC, Carbon Management Solutions LLC, Carlsbad Energy Center LLC, Carlsbad Energy Holdings LLC, Chester Energy LLC, Chickahominy River Energy Corp., Cirro Energy Services Inc., Cirro Group Inc., Citizens Power Holdings One LLC, Commonwealth Atlantic Power LLC, Connecticut Jet Power LLC, Cottonwood Development LLC, Cottonwood Energy Company LP, Cottonwood Generating Partners I LLC, Cottonwood Generating Partners II LLC, Cottonwood Generating Partners III LLC, Cottonwood Technology Partners LP, Delaware Power Development LLC, Devon Power LLC, Doga Enerji Uretim Sanayi ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Doga Isi Satis Hizmetleri Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Doga Isletme ve Bakim Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Dunkirk Gas Corporation, Dunkirk Power LLC, EHI Development Fund LLC, EME Eastern Holdings LLC, EVgo Services LLC, Eastern Sierra Energy Company LLC, Ecokap Power LLC, El Segundo Energy Center II LLC, El Segundo Power II LLC, El Segundo Power LLC, Elkhorn Ridge Wind II LLC, Energy Alternatives Wholesale LLC, Energy Choice Solutions LLC, Energy Curtailment Specialists, Energy Plus Holdings LLC, Energy Plus Natural Gas LLC, Energy Protection Insurance Company, Everything Energy LLC, Forward Home Security LLC, GCP Funding Company LLC, GenOn Energy, Geostellar Inc., Gladstone Power Station Joint Venture, Goal Zero, Goal Zero Europe GmbH, Goal Zero LLC, Granite II Holding LLC, Granite Power Partners II L.P., Green Mountain Energy, Green Mountain Energy Company, Green Mountain Energy Sun Club, Gregory Partners LLC, Gregory Power Partners LLC, Hanover Energy Company, Huntley IGCC LLC, Huntley Power LLC, Independence Energy Alliance LLC, Independence Energy Group LLC, Independence Energy Natural Gas LLC, Indian River Operations Inc., Indian River Power LLC, Intellastar LLC, Ivanpah Master Holdings LLC, Ivanpah Project I Holdings LLC, Ivanpah Project II Holdings LLC, Ivanpah Project III Holdings LLC, James River Power LLC, Kaufman Cogen LP, LSP-Nelson Energy LLC, Long Beach Generation LLC, Long Beach Peakers LLC, Long Beach Power LLC, Louisiana Generating LLC, MEC Esenyurt B.V., MEC San Pascual B.V., Maplekey UK Finance Limited, Maplekey UK Limited, Meriden Gas Turbines LLC, Middletown Power LLC, Midway-Sunset Cogeneration Company, Midwest Finance Company LLC, Midwest Generation EME LLC, Midwest Generation Holdings I LLC, Midwest Generation Holdings II LLC, Midwest Generation LLC, Midwest Generation Procurement Services LLC, Midwest Peaker Holdings LLC, Mission Bingham Lake Wind LLC, Mission Del Cielo LLC, Mission Energy Construction Services LLC, Mission Energy Holdings International LLC, Mission Energy Wales LLC, Mission Funding Zeta LLC, Mission Midway-Sunset Holdings LLC, Mission Midwest Coal LLC, Mission Minnesota Wind LLC, Mission Watson Holdings LLC, Mission Wind Boquillas LLC, Mission Wind New Mexico II LLC, Mission Wind Owaissa LLC, Mission Wind Pinnacle LLC, Mission del Sol LLC, Montville IGCC LLC, Montville Power LLC, NEO Chester-Gen LLC, NEO Corporation, NRG Acquisition Holdings Inc., NRG Advisory Services LLC, NRG Affiliate Services Inc., NRG Alexandria LLC, NRG Arroyo Nogales LLC, NRG Arthur Kill Operations Inc., NRG Asia-Pacific Ltd., NRG Astoria Gas Turbine Operations Inc., NRG Astoria Power LLC, NRG Audrain Generating LLC, NRG Audrain Holding LLC, NRG Bayou Cove LLC, NRG Berrians East Development LLC, NRG Bluewater Holdings LLC, NRG Bluewater Wind Massachusetts LLC, NRG Bourbonnais Equipment LLC, NRG Bourbonnais LLC, NRG Brazoria Energy LLC, NRG Business Services LLC, NRG CTA Holdings LLC, NRG Cabrillo Power Operations Inc., NRG Cadillac Inc., NRG Cadillac Operations Inc., NRG California Peaker Operations LLC, NRG Capital II LLC, NRG Carbon 360 LLC, NRG Cedar Bayou Development Company LLC, NRG Chalk Point CT LLC, NRG CleanTech Investments LLC, NRG Coal Development Company LLC, NRG ComLease LLC, NRG Common Stock Finance I LLC, NRG Common Stock Finance II LLC, NRG Connected Home LLC, NRG Connecticut Affiliate Services Inc., NRG Connecticut Peaking Development LLC, NRG Construction LLC, NRG Cottonwood Tenant LLC, NRG Curtailment Solutions Canada Inc., NRG Curtailment Solutions Inc., NRG DG Development LLC, NRG Development Company Inc., NRG Devon Operations Inc., NRG Dispatch Services LLC, NRG Distributed Energy Resources Holdings LLC, NRG Distributed Generation PR LLC, NRG Dunkirk Operations Inc., NRG ECOKAP Holdings LLC, NRG ESA Joint Development LLC, NRG El Segundo Operations Inc., NRG Energy Center Eagles LLC, NRG Energy Center Oxnard LLC, NRG Energy Fuel LLC, NRG Energy Fuel Services LLC, NRG Energy Gas & Wind Holdings Inc., NRG Energy Holdings II Inc., NRG Energy Holdings Inc., NRG Energy Inc., NRG Energy Labor Services LLC, NRG Energy Petroleum LLC, NRG Energy Services Group LLC, NRG Energy Services International Inc., NRG Energy Services LLC, NRG Equipment Company LLC, NRG Fuel Cell CA1 LLC, NRG Fuel Resources LLC, NRG Fuel Transportation LLC, NRG GTL Holdings LLC, NRG Gas Development Company LLC, NRG Generation Holdings Inc., NRG Gladstone Operating Services Pty Ltd, NRG Granite Acquisition LLC, NRG Greenco LLC, NRG HQ DG LLC, NRG Holding Leasing Vehicle 7 LLC, NRG Home & Business Solutions LLC, NRG Home Services LLC, NRG Home Solutions LLC, NRG Home Solutions Product LLC, NRG Homer City Services LLC, NRG Huntley Operations Inc., NRG Identity Protect LLC, NRG Ilion LP LLC, NRG Ilion Limited Partnership, NRG Independence Solar LLC, NRG International LLC, NRG Kaufman LLC, NRG Latin America Inc., NRG Lease Co LLC, NRG Lease Development LLC, NRG Limestone 3 LLC, NRG Maintenance Services LLC, NRG Mesquite LLC, NRG Mextrans Inc., NRG MidAtlantic Affiliate Services Inc., NRG MidCon Development LLC, NRG Middletown Operations Inc., NRG Middletown Repowering LLC, NRG Midwest Holdings LLC, NRG Midwest II LLC, NRG Montville Operations Inc., NRG NE Development LLC, NRG Nelson Turbines LLC, NRG New Roads Holdings LLC, NRG NewGen LLC, NRG North Central Operations Inc., NRG Northeast Affiliate Services Inc., NRG Norwalk Harbor Operations Inc., NRG Ohio Pipeline Company LLC, NRG Operating Services Inc., NRG Oswego Harbor Power Operations Inc., NRG Oxbow Holdings LLC, NRG PacGen Inc., NRG Peaker Finance Company LLC, NRG Portable Power LLC, NRG Potrero Development LLC, NRG Power Marketing LLC, NRG Procurement Company LLC, NRG Project Company LLC, NRG Reliability Solutions LLC, NRG Renter's Protection LLC, NRG Repowering Holdings LLC, NRG Residential Solar Solutions LLC, NRG Residential Solar Solutions Leasing II LLC, NRG Retail LLC, NRG Retail Northeast LLC, NRG Rockford Acquisition LLC, NRG Rockford Equipment II LLC, NRG Rockford Equipment LLC, NRG Saguaro Operations Inc., NRG Security LLC, NRG Services Corporation, NRG Sherbino LLC, NRG SimplySmart Solutions LLC, NRG Solar Arrowhead LLC, NRG Solar CVSR Holdings 2 LLC, NRG Solar Dandan LLC, NRG Solar Guam LLC, NRG Solar Ivanpah LLC, NRG Solar Ring LLC, NRG Solar SC Stadium LLC, NRG Solar Sunrise LLC, NRG South Central Affiliate Services Inc., NRG South Central Generating LLC, NRG South Central Operations Inc., NRG South Texas LP, NRG Sterlington Power LLC, NRG Storage Fabrication & Delivery LLC, NRG Storage on Demand NY LLC, NRG SunCap Leasing I LLC, NRG Telogia Power LLC, NRG Texas C&I Supply LLC, NRG Texas Gregory LLC, NRG Texas Holding Inc., NRG Texas LLC, NRG Texas Power LLC, NRG Texas Retail LLC, NRG Trading Advisors LLC, NRG Transmission Holdings LLC, NRG ULC Parent Inc., NRG Victoria I Pty Ltd, NRG Warranty Services LLC, NRG West Coast LLC, NRG Western Affiliate Services Inc., NRG Wind Development Company LLC, NRG Wind Force LLC, NRG Wind LLC, NRG dGen Advisory Services LLC, NRGenerating German Holdings GmbH, NRGenerating International B.V., NRGenerating Luxembourg (No. 1) S.a.r.l., NRGenerating Luxembourg (No. 2) S.a.r.l., New Genco GP LLC, New Jersey Power Development LLC, Norwalk Power LLC, O'Brien Cogeneration Inc. II, ONSITE Energy Inc., One Block Off The Grid Inc., Oswego Harbor Power LLC, Pacific Generation Company, Petra Nova CCS I LLC, Petra Nova Holdings LLC, Petra Nova LLC, Petra Nova Parish Holdings LLC, Petra Nova Power I LLC, Pure Energies Group, Pure Energies Group ULC, Pure Energies Installation Inc., Pure Energies Solar Services Inc., Pure Group Inc., RDI Consulting LLC, RERH Holdings LLC, Reliant Charitable Foundation, Reliant Energy, Reliant Energy Northeast LLC, Reliant Energy Power Supply LLC, Reliant Energy Retail Holdings LLC, Reliant Energy Retail Services LLC, Restoration Design LLC, Roof Diagnostics Solar Holdings LLC, Roof Diagnostics Solar and Electric LLC, Roof Diagnostics Solar and Electric of NY LLC, Saguaro Power Company a Limited Partnership, Saguaro Power LLC, San Gabriel Energy LLC, San Joaquin Energy LLC, San Juan Energy LLC, San Pascual Cogeneration Company International B.V., Sherbino I Wind Farm LLC, Solar Partners I LLC, Solar Partners II LLC, Solar Partners VIII LLC, Solar Power Partners, Solar Pure Energies ULC, Somerset Operations Inc., Somerset Power LLC, South Texas Wind LLC, Station A LLC, Sunrise Power Company LLC, Sunshine State Power (No. 2) B.V., Sunshine State Power B.V., TCV Pipeline LLC, Tacoma Energy Recovery Company, Taloga Wind II LLC, Texas Coastal Ventures LLC, Texas Genco GP LLC, Texas Genco Holdings, Texas Genco Holdings Inc., Texas Genco LP LLC, Texas Genco Services LP, US Retailers LLC, Valle Del Sol Energy LLC, Vienna Operations Inc., Vienna Power LLC, WCP (Generation) Holdings LLC, Watson Cogeneration Company, West Coast Power LLC, XOOM Alberta Holdings LLC, XOOM British Columbia Holdings LLC, XOOM Energy BC ULC, XOOM Energy California LLC, XOOM Energy Canada ULC, XOOM Energy Connecticut LLC, XOOM Energy Delaware LLC, XOOM Energy Georgia LLC, XOOM Energy Global Holdings LLC, XOOM Energy Illinois LLC, XOOM Energy Indiana LLC, XOOM Energy Kentucky LLC, XOOM Energy LLC, XOOM Energy Maine LLC, XOOM Energy Maryland LLC, XOOM Energy Massachusetts LLC, XOOM Energy Michigan LLC, XOOM Energy New Hampshire LLC, XOOM Energy New Jersey LLC, XOOM Energy New York LLC, XOOM Energy ONT ULC, XOOM Energy Ohio LLC, XOOM Energy Pennsylvania LLC, XOOM Energy Rhode Island LLC, XOOM Energy Texas LLC, XOOM Energy Virginia LLC, XOOM Energy Washington D.C. LLC, XOOM Ontario Holdings LLC, XOOM Solar LLC, and eV2g LLC. The following companies are subsidiares of Dominion Energy: 96WI 8me LLC, Alamo Solar LLC, Align RNG Arizona LLC, Align RNG Arizona-Snowflake LLC, Align RNG California LLC, Align RNG California-Corcoran LLC, Align RNG Grady Road LLC, Align RNG LLC, Align RNG Magnolia LLC, Align RNG North Carolina LLC, Align RNG North Carolina-Bowdens LLC, Align RNG Utah LLC, Align RNG Utah-Milford LLC, Align RNG Virginia LLC, Align RNG Virginia-Waverly LLC, Atlantic Coast Pipeline LLC, Azalea Solar LLC, BOE Holdings Inc., Blackville Solar Farm LLC, Blue Ocean Energy Marine LLC, BrightSuite Home LLC, BrightSuite Inc., BrightSuite Solar CT Inc., BrightSuite Solar SC Inc., BrightSuite Solar VA Inc., Buckingham Solar I LLC, CEA Americus LLC, CEA CO-Fort Morgan LLC, CEA Clovis LLC, CEA Dairy RNG Colorado LLC, CEA Dairy RNG Georgia LLC, CEA Dairy RNG Idaho LLC, CEA Dairy RNG Nevada LLC, CEA Dairy RNG New Mexico LLC, CEA Dairy RNG Texas LLC, CEA Greely LLC, CEA Mason LLC, CEA TX-Dimmitt LLC, CID Solar LLC, CNG Coal Company, CNG Power Services Corporation, Carolina Gas Transmission Corporation, Catalina Solar 2 LLC, Clean Energy Asset USA LLC, Clean Energy Enterprises Inc., Clipperton Holdings LLC, Consolidated Natural Gas Company, Correctional Solar LLC, Cottonwood Solar LLC, Cove Point LNG LP, Cove Point LNG Limited, DE Arlington Solar LLC, DE Fluvanna Solar LLC, DE Hanover Solar LLC, DE Henrico Solar LLC, DE King William Solar LLC, DE Louisa Solar LLC, DE Newport News Solar LLC, DE Powhatan Solar LLC, DE Virginia Beach Solar LLC, DECP Holdings Inc., Dairy RNG Holdings LLC, Dairy RNG NY LLC, Dairy RNG NY-Curtin LLC, Dairy RNG OH LLC, Denmark Solar LLC, Dominion ACP Holding Inc., Dominion Alternative Energy Holdings Inc., Dominion Atlantic Coast Pipeline LLC, Dominion Capital Inc., Dominion Cogen WV Inc., Dominion Energy Fuel Services Inc., Dominion Energy Gas Distribution LLC, Dominion Energy Generation Marketing Inc., Dominion Energy Inc., Dominion Energy Kewaunee Inc., Dominion Energy Marketplace LLC, Dominion Energy Nuclear Connecticut Inc., Dominion Energy Overthrust Pipeline LLC, Dominion Energy Payroll Company Inc., Dominion Energy Questar Corporation, Dominion Energy Questar Pipeline LLC, Dominion Energy Questar Pipeline Services Inc., Dominion Energy RNG Holdings II Inc., Dominion Energy RNG Holdings Inc., Dominion Energy Services Inc., Dominion Energy Solar CA LLC, Dominion Energy Solutions Inc., Dominion Energy South Carolina Inc., Dominion Energy Southeast Services Inc., Dominion Energy Technical Solutions Inc., Dominion Energy Technologies II Inc., Dominion Energy Technologies Inc., Dominion Energy Terminal Company Inc., Dominion Energy Wexpro Services Company, Dominion Equipment III Inc., Dominion Equipment Inc., Dominion Fairless Hills Inc., Dominion Fowler Ridge Wind LLC, Dominion Gas Projects Company LLC, Dominion Generation Inc., Dominion Greenbrier Inc., Dominion High Voltage Holdings Inc., Dominion High Voltage MidAtlantic Inc., Dominion Investments Inc., Dominion Keystone Pipeline Holdings Inc., Dominion Keystone Pipeline LLC, Dominion MLP Holding Company III Inc., Dominion Mt. Storm Wind LLC, Dominion Nuclear Projects Inc., Dominion Oklahoma Texas Exploration & Production Inc., Dominion Person Inc., Dominion Privatization Florida LLC, Dominion Privatization Georgia LLC, Dominion Privatization Holdings Inc., Dominion Privatization Kentucky LLC, Dominion Privatization Maryland LLC, Dominion Privatization Pennsylvania LLC, Dominion Privatization South Carolina LLC, Dominion Privatization Texas LLC, Dominion Privatization Virginia LLC, Dominion Products and Services Inc., Dominion Projects Services Inc., Dominion Resources Capital Trust III, Dominion Retail Gas Holdings Inc., Dominion Solar Construction and Maintenance LLC, Dominion Solar Gen-Tie LLC, Dominion Solar Holdings I LLC, Dominion Solar Holdings II LLC, Dominion Solar Holdings III LLC, Dominion Solar Holdings IV LLC, Dominion Solar Projects A Inc., Dominion Solar Projects B Inc., Dominion Solar Projects C Inc., Dominion Solar Projects D Inc., Dominion Solar Projects I Inc., Dominion Solar Projects II Inc., Dominion Solar Projects III Inc., Dominion Solar Projects IV Inc., Dominion Solar Projects V Inc., Dominion Solar Projects VI Inc., Dominion Solar Projects VII Inc., Dominion Solar Services Inc., Dominion State Line LLC, Dominion Voltage Inc., Dominion Wholesale Inc., Dominion Wind Development LLC, Dominion Wind Projects Inc., ESCT-SA-Suffield LLC, Eagle Holdco Solar LLC, Eagle Solar LLC, Eastern Shore Solar LLC, Enterprise Solar LLC, Escalante Solar I LLC, Escalante Solar II LLC, Escalante Solar III LLC, Four Brothers Solar LLC, Fremont Farm LLC, Granite Mountain Holdings LLC, Granite Mountain Solar East LLC, Granite Mountain Solar West LLC, Greenbrier Marketing Company LLC, Greenbrier Pipeline Company LLC, Greensville County Solar Project LLC, Hardin Solar Energy LLC, Hecate Energy Cherrydale LLC, Hecate Energy Clarke County LLC, Hope Gas Inc., Imperial Valley Solar Company (IVSC) 2 LLC, Indy Solar Development LLC, Indy Solar I LLC, Indy Solar II LLC, Indy Solar III LLC, Innovative Solar 37 LLC, Iron Springs Holdings LLC, Iron Springs Solar LLC, Louis Dreyfus Natural Gas, Maricopa West Solar PV LLC, Moffett Solar 1 LLC, Moorings Farm 2 LLC, Mulberry Farm LLC, Mustang Solar LLC, PSNC Blue Ridge Corporation, PSNC Cardinal Pipeline Company, Pavant Solar LLC, Phone House, Pikeville Farm LLC, Prairie Fork Wind Farm LLC, Public Service Company of North Carolina Incorporated, QPC Holding Company LLC, Questar Corporation, Questar Energy Services Inc., Questar Field Services LLC, Questar Gas Company, Questar InfoComm Inc., Questar Southern Trails Pipeline Company, Questar White River Hub LLC, RE Adams East LLC, RE Camelot LLC, RE Columbia Two LLC, RE Kansas LLC, RE Kent South LLC, RE Old River One LLC, Richland Solar Center LLC, Ridgeland Solar Farm I LLC, SBL Holdco LLC, SCANA, SCANA Communications Holdings Inc., SCANA Corporate Security Services Inc., SCANA Energy Marketing LLC, SCANA Pharmacy LLC, SRFI LLC, Scana Corporation, Scott-II Solar LLC, Seabrook Solar LLC, Selmer Farm LLC, Siler Solar LLC, Sol Madison Solar LLC, Somers Solar Center LLC, South Carolina Fuel Company Inc., South Carolina Generating Company Inc., Southampton Solar LLC, Summit Farms Solar LLC, Sussex Drive Solar Project LLC, TA - Acacia LLC, TWE Myrtle Solar Project LLC, The East Ohio Gas Company, Trask East Solar LLC, Tredegar Solar Fund I LLC, VP Property Inc., Virginia Electric And Power Company, Virginia Power Fuel Corporation, Virginia Power Nuclear Services Company, Virginia Power Services Energy Corp. Inc., Virginia Power Services LLC, Virginia Solar 201 Projects LLC, Wakefield Solar LLC, Wexpro Company, Wexpro Development Company, Wexpro II Company, Wilkinson Solar LLC, Wrangler Retail Gas Holdings LLC, and Yemassee Solar LLC. The following companies are subsidiares of Prudential Financial: 210-220 E. 22nd Street SSGA Owner LLC, AIG Edison, AIG Star, AREF Cayman Co Ltd., AREF GP II Pte. Ltd., AREF GP Ltd., ASPF II - Feeder Fund GmbH, ASPF II - Verwaltungs - GmbH & Co. KG, ASPF II Management GmbH, ASPF III (Scots) L.P., ASSURANCE, AST Investment Services Inc., Adlerwerke CB Investment LLC, Administradora de Fondos de Pensiones Habitat S.A., Administradora de Inversiones Previsionales SpA, Aoba Life Insurance Company, Asia Property Fund III GP S.a.r.l., Assurance IQ LLC, Assurance Intelligence LLC, BSC CP LP, Braeloch Holdings Inc., Braeloch Successor Corporation, Brazilian Capital Fund GP Limited, Broad Street Global Advisors LLC, Broome Street Holdings LLC, CB German Retail LLC, CLIS Co. Ltd., COLICO INC., Campus Drive LLC, Capital Agricultural Property Services Inc., Chadwick Boulevard Investment Holdings Co. LLC, Cibecue LLC, Coconino LLC, Colico II Inc., Columbus Drive Partners L.P., Commerce Street Holdings LLC, Commerce Street Investments LLC, Coolidge LLC, Coral Reef GP, Coral Reef L.P., Coral Reef Unit Trust, Cottage Street Investments LLC, Cottage Street Orbit Acquisition LLC, DHFL PRAMERICA LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY LIMITED, DICKENS AVENUE HOLDINGS VI LLC, DICKENS AVENUE PARTNERS VI (Ireland) L.P., DICKENS AVENUE PARTNERS VI (US) L.P., Don Cesar Investor LLC, Dryden Arizona Reinsurance Term Company, Dryden Finance II LLC, EVP II GP S.a r.l., EVP II Sweden Resi I GP S.a r.l., Edison Place Senior Note LLC, Essex LLC, EuroCore GP S.a r.l., European Value Partners GP S.a.r.l., Everbright PGIM Fund Management Co. Ltd., Flagstaff LLC, GA 1600 Commons LLC, GA 333 Hennepin Investor LLC, GA BV LLC, GA Bay Area GP LLC, GA Bay Area Investor LLC, GA Belden LLC, GA CLARENDON LLC, GA Cal Crossings LLC, GA Collins LLC, GA E. 22nd Street Apartments Holdings LLC, GA East 86 Street LLC, GA JHCII LLC, GA MENLO PARK INVESTOR LLC, GA Manor at Harbour Island LLC, GA Metro LLC, GA Mission LLC, GA TRITON INVESTOR LLC, GA W Paces LLC, GA/MDI 333 Hennepin Associates LLC, GIBRALTAR BSN HOLDINGS SDN BHD, GIBRALTAR INDIA SOLUTIONS LLP, Gateway Holdings II LLC, Gateway Holdings LLC, German Retail Income CP LP, Gibraltar BSN Life Berhad, Gibraltar International Insurance Services Company Inc., Gibraltar International Service LLC, Gibraltar Reinsurance Company Ltd., Gibraltar Universal Life Reinsurance Company, Glenealy International Limited, Global Portfolio Strategies Inc., Gold GP Limited, Gold II L.P., Gold L.P., Graham Resources Inc., Graham Royalty Ltd., Green Tree GP, Green Tree L.P., Greenlee LLC, Halsey Street Investments LLC, Hirakata LLC, IVP Fund GP LLC, Impact Investments Bridges UK S.a.r.l, Inter-Atlantic G Fund L.P., Inversiones Previsionales Chile SpA, Inversiones Previsionales Dos SpA, Ironbound Fund LLC, Jennison Associates LLC, Kyarra S.a r.l., Kyoei Annuity Home Co. Ltd., LINEUP LLC, Lake Street Partners IV L.P., MC GA COLLINS HOLDINGS LLC, MC GA COLLINS REALTY LLC, MC Insurance Agency Services LLC, Manor at Harbour Island LLC, Marble Canyon LLC, Maricopa LLC, Market Street Holdings IV LLC, Morenci LLC, Mulberry Street Holdings LLC, Mulberry Street Investment L.P., Mulberry Street Partners LLC, Mullin TBG Insurance Agency Services LLC, MullinTBG Insurance Agency Services, National Family Assurance Group LLC, New Savanna, Orchard Street Acres Inc., PAI Bay Farm LLC, PAI Bayrock Groves LLC, PAI Belvidere Farms LLC, PAI Big Cypress Farm LLC, PAI Corcoran 640 Ranch LLC, PAI DeKalb Farm LLC, PAI Delano 1500 Ranches LLC, PAI Flicker Orchard LLC, PAI Good Hope Farm LLC, PAI Hawk Creek Ranch LLC, PAI Hills Valley Ranches LLC, PAI Holly Hill Groves LLC, PAI Hunt Farm LLC, PAI Jackson Bayou Farm LLC, PAI Lake Placid Groves LLC, PAI Wallula Gap Vineyard LLC, PCP V Cayman AIV GP L.P., PEREF II Co-Invest 1 GP S.a r.l., PEREF II GP S.a r.l., PEREF II PV S.r.l, PFI EM-Tech Fund I LLC, PG Business Service Co. Ltd, PG Collection Service Co. Ltd., PGA Asian Retail Limited, PGA European Limited, PGI Co. Ltd, PGIM (Australia) Pty Ltd, PGIM (Hong Kong) Ltd., PGIM (Scots) Limited, PGIM (Shanghai) Company Ltd., PGIM (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., PGIM AVP IV GP S.a r.l., PGIM Advisory (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., PGIM Agricultural Investments GP LLC, PGIM Agricultural Investors LP, PGIM Broad Market High Yield Bond Fund L.P., PGIM Broad Market High Yield Bond Partners LLC, PGIM Capital Partners Management (Feeder) VI LLC, PGIM Capital Partners Management Fund VI L.P., PGIM European Financing Limited, PGIM European Services Limited, PGIM Financial Limited, PGIM Fixed Income Alternatives Fund II L.P., PGIM Fixed Income Alternatives Fund L.P., PGIM Fixed Income Alternatives GP LLC, PGIM Fixed Income Alternatives II GP LLC, PGIM Foreign Investments Inc., PGIM Holding Company LLC, PGIM INDIA ASSET MANAGEMENT PRIVATE LIMITED, PGIM INDIA TRUSTEES PRIVATE LIMITED, PGIM Inc., PGIM International Financing Inc., PGIM Investments LLC, PGIM Japan Co. Ltd., PGIM Korea Inc., PGIM LTIF Berlin GP S.a r.l., PGIM LTIF Berlin MLP S.ar.l., PGIM LTIF GP S.a.r.l., PGIM Limited, PGIM Loan Originator Manager Limited, PGIM M Campus GP S.a r.l., PGIM Management Partner Limited, PGIM MetaProp Investor LP LLC, PGIM Netherlands B.V., PGIM Overseas Investment Fund Management (Shanghai) Company Ltd, PGIM Private Capital (Ireland) Limited, PGIM Private Capital Limited, PGIM Private Placement Investors Inc., PGIM Private Placement Investors L.P., PGIM REF EUROPE SCSp, PGIM REF Europe GP S.a r.l., PGIM REF Europe Member LLC, PGIM REF Intermediary Services Inc., PGIM Real Estate (Japan) Ltd., PGIM Real Estate (UK) Limited, PGIM Real Estate CD S.a.r.l., PGIM Real Estate Capital VII GP S.a r.l., PGIM Real Estate Carry & Co-Invest GP LLC, PGIM Real Estate Carry & Co-Invest GP S.a r.l., PGIM Real Estate Carry & Co-Invest L.P., PGIM Real Estate Carry & Co-Invest SCSp, PGIM Real Estate Co-Invest Holdings LLC, PGIM Real Estate Debt GmbH, PGIM Real Estate Finance Holding Company, PGIM Real Estate Finance LLC, PGIM Real Estate France SAS, PGIM Real Estate Germany AG, PGIM Real Estate Global Debt GP LLC, PGIM Real Estate Inmuebles S. de R.L. de C.V, PGIM Real Estate Italy S.r.l., PGIM Real Estate Loan Services Inc., PGIM Real Estate Luxembourg S.A., PGIM Real Estate MVP Administradora IV S. de R.L. de C.V., PGIM Real Estate MVP Administradora V S. de R.L. de C.V., PGIM Real Estate MVP Inmuebles IV S. de R.L. de C.V., PGIM Real Estate MVP Inmuebles V S. de R.L. de C.V., PGIM Real Estate Management Luxembourg S.a.r.l., PGIM Real Estate Mexico S.C., PGIM Real Estate S. de R.L. de C.V., PGIM Real Estate U.S. Debt Fund GP LLC, PGIM Senior Loan Opportunities Management (Feeder) I LLC, PGIM Senior Loan Opportunities Management Fund I L.P., PGIM Strategic Financing LLC, PGIM Strategic Investments Inc., PGIM USPF VI Manager LLC, PGIM Warehouse Inc., PGLH of Delaware Inc., PIFM Holdco LLC, PIIC Limited, PIISC Holdings (UK) Limited, PIM KF Blocker Holdings LLC, PIM KF Blocker V Holdings LLC, PIM USPF V Manager LLC, PLA Administradora Industrial SRL, PLA Administradora LLC, PLA Administradora S. de R.L. de C.V., PLA Asesoria Profesional II S. de R.L. de C.V., PLA Asesoria Profesional S.de R.L. de C.V., PLA Co-Investor LLC, PLA Mexico Industrial Manager I LLC, PLA Mexico Industrial Manager II LLC, PLA Mexico Residential Manager I LLC, PLA Residential Fund III Aggregating Manager LLC, PLA Residential Fund III Limited Manager LLC, PLA Residential Fund III Manager LLC, PLA Residential Fund IV Aggregating Manager LLC, PLA Residential Fund IV Manager LLC, PLA Retail Fund I Blue LP, PLA Retail Fund I LP, PLA Retail Fund I Manager LLC, PLA Retail Fund I Red LP, PLA Retail Fund II Aggregating Manager LLC, PLA Retail Fund II LLC, PLA Retail Fund II LP, PLA Retail Fund II Manager LLC, PLA Retail Fund II U.S. Carry/Co-Invest LP, PLA Services Manager Mexico LLC, PLAI Limited, PMCF Holdings LLC, PMCF Properties LLC, PPPF General Partner LLP, PR GA SCP Apartments LLC, PRAMERICA PRECAP VI GP (SCOTS FEEDER) LLP, PRAMERICA PRECAP VI GP LLP, PRECO ACCOUNT III LLC, PRECO ACCOUNT PARTNERSHIP III LP, PRECO Account IV LLC, PRECO Account Partnership IV LP, PRECO III GP LLP, PREFG Hanwha Manager LLC, PREI Acquisition I Inc., PREI Acquisition II Inc., PREI Acquisition LLC, PREI HYDG LLC, PREI International Inc., PRIAC Property Acquisitions LLC, PRICOA Management Partner Limited, PRISA Fund Manager LLC, PRISA II Fund Manager LLC, PRISA II Pooled Manager LLC, PRISA III Fund GP LLC, PRISA III Fund PIM LLC, PRREF II Fund Manager LLC, PRU 3XSquare LLC, PRUCO LLC, PRUDENTIAL CAPITAL ENERGY PARTNERS MANAGEMENT (FEEDER) LLC, PRUDENTIAL MORTGAGE SKP MEMBER LLC, PRUDENTIAL MORTGAGE SKP REIT LLC, PRUDENTIAL MORTGAGE SKP VENTURE 2 LLC, PRUDENTIAL MORTGAGE SKP VENTURE LLC, PT PFI Mega Life Insurance, Passaic Fund LLC, Pine Tree GP, Pine Tree L.P., Platinum GP Limited, Platinum II L.P., Platinum L.P., Pramerica (Hong Kong) Holdings Limited, Pramerica (Luxembourg) CP GP S.a.r.l., Pramerica (Scots) CP GP LLP, Pramerica Business Consulting (Shanghai) Company Limited, Pramerica EVP CP LP, Pramerica Financial Asia Headquarters Pte. Ltd., Pramerica Financial Asia Limited, Pramerica Fixed Income Funds Management Limited, Pramerica Fosun Life Insurance Co. Ltd., Pramerica General Partner LLP, Pramerica Holdings Ltd, Pramerica Insurance Agency (China) Company Ltd., Pramerica PRECAP I GP LLP, Pramerica PRECAP II GP LLP, Pramerica PRECAP III GP LLP, Pramerica PRECAP IV GP LLP, Pramerica Pan European Real Estate (Scots) LP, Pramerica Property Partners Fund (Scotland) Limited Partnership, Pramerica Real Estate Capital I (Scotland) Limited Partnership, Pramerica Real Estate Capital I GP (Scots Feeder) LLP, Pramerica Real Estate Capital II (Scots) Limited Partnership, Pramerica Real Estate Capital III (Scots) Limited Partnership, Pramerica Real Estate Capital IV (Scots) Limited Partnership, Pramerica Real Estate Capital IV GP (Scots Feeder) LLP, Pramerica Real Estate Capital IV GP Limited, Pramerica Real Estate Capital V (Netherlands) GP LLP, Pramerica Real Estate Capital V (Scots) Limited Partnership, Pramerica Real Estate Capital VI (Scots) Limited Partnership, Pramerica SGR S.p.A, Pramerica Systems Ireland Limited, Preco III (Scotland) Limited Partnership, Pru 101 Wood LLC, Pru Alpha Partners I LLC, Pru Fixed Income Emerging Markets Partners I LLC, PruVen Capital Partners Fund I L.P., Pruco Assignment Corporation, Pruco Life Insurance Company, Pruco Life Insurance Company of New Jersey, Pruco Securities LLC, Prudential 900 Aviation Boulevard LLC, Prudential Affordable Mortgage Company LLC, Prudential Agricultural Property Holding Company LLC, Prudential Annuities Distributors Inc., Prudential Annuities Holding Company Inc., Prudential Annuities Inc., Prudential Annuities Information Services & Technology Corporation, Prudential Annuities Life Assurance Corporation, Prudential Arizona Reinsurance Captive Company, Prudential Arizona Reinsurance Term Company, Prudential Arizona Reinsurance Universal Company, Prudential Bank & Trust FSB, Prudential Capital Energy Opportunity Fund L.P., Prudential Capital Energy Partners L.P., Prudential Capital Energy Partners Management Fund L.P., Prudential Capital Partners Management Fund IV L.P., Prudential Capital and Investment Services LLC, Prudential Chile II SpA, Prudential Chile SpA, Prudential Commercial Property Holding Company LLC, Prudential Customer Solutions LLC, Prudential Equity Group LLC, Prudential Financial Securities Investment Trust Enterprise, Prudential Fixed Income Global Liquidity Relative Value Partners LLC, Prudential Fixed Income U.S. Relative Value Partners LLC, Prudential Funding LLC, Prudential General Services of Japan Y.K., Prudential Gibraltar Agency Co. Ltd., Prudential Global Funding LLC, Prudential Holdings of Japan Inc., Prudential Huntoon Paige Associates LLC, Prudential IBH Holdco Inc., Prudential Impact Investments Mortgage Loans LLC, Prudential Impact Investments Private Debt LLC, Prudential Impact Investments Private Equity LLC, Prudential Industrial Properties LLC, Prudential Insurance Agency LLC, Prudential International Insurance Holdings Ltd., Prudential International Insurance Service Company L.L.C., Prudential International Investments Advisers LLC, Prudential International Investments Company LLC, Prudential International Investments LLC, Prudential Investment Management Services LLC, Prudential Japan Holdings LLC, Prudential Legacy Insurance Company of New Jersey, Prudential Life Insurance Company of Taiwan Inc., Prudential Mortgage Asset Holdings 1 Japan Investment Business Limited Partnership, Prudential Mortgage Asset Holdings 2 Japan Investment Business Limited Partnership, Prudential Mortgage Capital Asset Holding Company LLC, Prudential Mortgage Capital Funding LLC, Prudential Mortgage Capital Holdings LLC, Prudential Multifamily Mortgage LLC, Prudential Mutual Fund Services LLC, Prudential Newark Realty LLC, Prudential QOZ Investment Fund 1 LLC, Prudential Realty Securities Inc., Prudential Retirement Financial Services Holding LLC, Prudential Retirement Holdings LLC, Prudential Retirement Insurance and Annuity Company, Prudential Securities Secured Financing Corporation, Prudential Securities Structured Assets Inc., Prudential Seguros Mexico S.A. de C.V., Prudential Seguros S.A., Prudential Servicios S. de R.L. de C.V., Prudential Structured Settlement Company, Prudential Systems Japan Limited, Prudential Term Reinsurance Company, Prudential Trust Co. Ltd., Prudential Trust Company, Prudential Universal Reinsurance Company, Prudential Workplace Solutions Group Services LLC, Prudential do Brasil Seguros de Vida S.A., Prudential do Brasil Vida em Grupo S.A., Prudential/TMW Real Estate Group LLC, Pruservicos Participacoes Ltda., QMA JP EM All Cap Equity Partners LLC, QMA LLC, QMA Wadhwani LLP, Quartzsite LLC, Residential Services Corporation of America LLC, Rio CP LP, Rock European Real Estate Holdings S.ar.l., Rock Global Real Estate LLC, Rock Kensington Limited, Rock Marty GP S.a r.l., Rock Oxford S.a r.l., Rock UK Real Estate Holdings S.ar.l., Rock UK Real Estate II S.a.r.l., Rockstone Co. Ltd., Rosado Grande LLC, Ross Avenue Energy Fund Holdings LLC, Ross Avenue Minerals 2012 LLC, SCP Apartments LLC, SENIOR HOUSING PARTNERS VI GP LLC, SENIOR HOUSING PARTNERSHIP FUND VI GP LLC, SHP IV Carried Interest LP, SHP V Carried Interest L.P., SMP Holdings Inc., SVIIT Holdings Inc., Sanei Collection Service Co. Ltd. (Kabushiki Kaisha Sanei Shuuno Service), Senior Housing Partners IV L.L.C., Senior Housing Partners V LLC, Senior Housing Partnership Fund IV L.L.C., Senior Housing Partnership Fund V LLC, Sterling Private Placement Management LLP, Stetson Street Partners L.P., Strand Investments Limited, TBG Insurance Services Corporation, TENSATOR HOLDINGS LTD, TF Proveedora S.C., TMW ASPF I Verwaltungs GmbH & Co. KG, TMW ASPF Management GmbH, TMW Management LLC, TMW Real Estate Group LLC, TMW Realty Advisors LLC, TMW USPF Verwaltungs GmbH, TRGOAG Company Inc., The Gibraltar Life Insurance Co. Ltd., The Keynes Dynamic Beta Strategy (US) Fund GP LLC, The Prudential Assigned Settlement Services Corp., The Prudential Brazilian Capital Fund LP, The Prudential Gibraltar Financial Life Insurance Co. Ltd., The Prudential Home Mortgage Company Inc., The Prudential Insurance Company of America, The Prudential Life Insurance Company Ltd., The Prudential Real Estate Financial Services of America Inc., The WMF Group, Thurloe Commercial Guernsey Limited, Times Square Center Associates, USPF V - Verwaltungs - GmbH & Co. KG, USPF V Carry LLC, USPF V Co-Invest LLC, USPF V Investment LP, United States Property Fund VI GP S.a r.l., Vailsburg Fund LLC, Vantage Casualty Insurance Company, Wabash Avenue Holdings V LLC, Wabash Avenue Partners V L.P., Wadhwani Capital Limited, Waveland Avenue Holdings I LLC, Waveland Avenue Partners I (Ireland) L.P., Waveland Avenue Partners I (US) L.P., Wellness Services Ecossistema De Bem Estar Ltda., Wellness Services SRL, Yamato Life, and Yavapai LLC. There is not enough analysis data for Monash IVF Group. 4.3 Community Rank Outperform Votes Monash IVF Group has received 67 outperform votes. (Add your outperform vote.) Underperform Votes Monash IVF Group has received 39 underperform votes. (Add your underperform vote.) Community Sentiment Monash IVF Group has received 63.21% outperform votes from our community. MarketBeat's community ratings are surveys of what our community members think about Monash IVF Group and other stocks. Vote Outperform if you believe MVF will outperform the S&P 500 over the long term. Vote Underperform if you believe MVF will underperform the S&P 500 over the long term. You may vote once every thirty days. Previous Next The Royal Anguilla Police Force is investigating the circumstances surrounding a shooting incident which occurred in Island Harbour on Thursday 6th December, 2018 around 6:30pm. As a result of the incident the victim 52 year old Alister Rogers of Island Harbour received gunshot wounds about his body and was later pronounced dead on the scene by Medical Doctor. As the Police continues their investigation into this matter they are appealing to members of the public who may have been in Island Harbour at the time of this incident, and may have witnessed this shooting incident or have any information regarding this shooting to contact the Valley Police Station with such information. The telephone number is 497-2333 and asks for the Criminal Investigation Department or to speak to any Police Officer of their choice. Additionally information can be sent via the RAPF Tips Website by logging on to www.gov.ai/911 which is a secured website. The Acting Commissioner of Police and members of the Royal Anguilla Police Force would like to extend sympathy to the grieved family and friends of the deceased. A Family Liaison Officer has been appointed to the family. The following companies are subsidiares of Harsco: 21st Century Environmental Management of NV LLC, 21st Century Environmental Management of RI LLC, AERC Acquisition Corporation, AES Asset Acquisition Corporation, Accelerated Remediation Kinetics LLC, Advanced Remediation & Disposal Technologies of Delaware LLC, Allied Environmental Group LLC, Allworth LLC, Altek, Altek Europe Holdings Ltd., Altek Europe Limited, Altek LLC, Altek Melting Solutions Limited, AluServ Middle East W.L.L., Alusalt Limited, Assessment & Remedial Design Technologies Inc, Ballagio S.a.r.l., Burlington Environmental LLC, CEHI Acquisition LLC, CEI Holding LLC, Calrissian Holdings LLC, Carteret Asphalt Corporation, Chemical Pollution Control of Florida LLC, Chemical Pollution Control of New York LLC, Chemical Reclamation Services LLC, Clean Earth Dredging Technologies LLC, Clean Earth Environmental Services Inc., Clean Earth Environmental Services Inc., Clean Earth Environmental Solutions Inc., Clean Earth Holdings LLC, Clean Earth Inc., Clean Earth LLC, Clean Earth Mobile Services LLC, Clean Earth Specialty Waste Solutions Inc., Clean Earth of Carteret LLC, Clean Earth of Georgia LLC, Clean Earth of Greater Washington LLC, Clean Earth of Maryland LLC, Clean Earth of Michigan LLC, Clean Earth of New Castle LLC, Clean Earth of North Jersey Inc., Clean Earth of Philadelphia LLC, Clean Earth of Puerto Rico LLC, Clean Earth of Southeast Pennsylvania LLC, Clean Earth of Southern Florida LLC, Clean Earth of West Virginia LLC, Clean Earth of Williamsport LLC, Clean Rock Properties Ltd, Czech Slag- Nova Hut s.r.o., ESOL TOPCO LLC, Environmental Soil Management Inc, Environmental Soil Management of New York LLC, Environmental Solutions (ESOL) Business, Excell Africa Holdings Ltd., Excell Americas Holdings Ltd S.a.r.L., Faber Prest Limited, Gardner Road Oil LLC, GasServ (Netherlands) VII B.V., General Environmental Management of Rancho Cordova LLC, HLWKH 517 Limited, Harsco (Australia) Pty. Limited, Harsco (Beijing) Fertiliser Co. Ltd, Harsco (Gibraltar) Holding Limited, Harsco (Mexico) Holdings B.V., Harsco (Peru) Holdings B.V., Harsco (Tangshan) Metallurgical Materials Technology Co. Ltd, Harsco (Tangshan) Metallurgical Materials Technology Co. Ltd. - GuYe Branch, Harsco (Tangshan) Metallurgical Materials Technology Co. Ltd. - Leting Branch, Harsco (Tangshan) Renewable Resources Development Co. Ltd, Harsco (U.K.) Limited, Harsco (UK) Group Ltd, Harsco (York Place) Limited, Harsco APAC Rail Machinery (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Harsco Americas Investments S.a.r.l., Harsco Belgium SRL, Harsco Brazil Investments SRL, Harsco Canada Corporation Societe Harsco Canada, Harsco Canada General Partner Limited, Harsco Canada Limited Partnership, Harsco Chile Investments SRL, Harsco China Holding Company Limited, Harsco Defense Holding LLC, Harsco Environmental S.R.L., Harsco Europa B.V., Harsco Fairways Partnership, Harsco Finance B.V., Harsco Financial Holdings Inc., Harsco France S.A.S., Harsco Holdings Inc., Harsco India Metals Private Limited, Harsco India Private Ltd., Harsco India Services Private Ltd., Harsco Industrial Grating China Holding Co. Ltd., Harsco Infrastructure B.V., Harsco Infrastructure CZ s.r.o, Harsco Infrastructure Construction Services B.V., Harsco Infrastructure Group Ltd., Harsco Infrastructure Holdings Inc., Harsco Infrastructure Hong Kong Ltd, Harsco Infrastructure Industrial Services B.V., Harsco Infrastructure Services Ltd., Harsco Infrastructure South Africa (Pty.) Ltd., Harsco International Finance S.a.r.l., Harsco Investment Ltd., Harsco Investments Europe B.V., Harsco Leatherhead Limited, Harsco Luxembourg S.a.r.l, Harsco Metals (Ningbo) Pty. Ltd., Harsco Metals (Thailand) Company Ltd., Harsco Metals 373 Ltd, Harsco Metals 385 Ltd, Harsco Metals Argentina S.A., Harsco Metals Australia Holding Investment Co. Pty. Ltd., Harsco Metals Australia Pty. Ltd., Harsco Metals Belgium S.A., Harsco Metals CTS Prestacao de Servicos Tecnicos e Aluguer de Equipamentos LDA Unipessoal, Harsco Metals CZ s.r.o, Harsco Metals Chile S.A., Harsco Metals D.O.O. Smederevo, Harsco Metals Egypt L.L.C., Harsco Metals Emirates Partnership, Harsco Metals Germany GmbH, Harsco Metals Gesmafesa S.A., Harsco Metals Group Limited, Harsco Metals Guatemala S.A., Harsco Metals Holding LLC, Harsco Metals Holdings Limited, Harsco Metals Holland B.V., Harsco Metals Ilanga Pty. Ltd., Harsco Metals Intermetal LLC, Harsco Metals Investment LLC, Harsco Metals Limitada, Harsco Metals Luxembourg S.A., Harsco Metals Luxequip S.A., Harsco Metals Lycrete S.A., Harsco Metals Middle East FZE, Harsco Metals Norway A.S., Harsco Metals Oostelijk Staal International B.V., Harsco Metals Operations LLC, Harsco Metals Peru S.A., Harsco Metals Polska SP Z.O.O., Harsco Metals RSA Africa (Pty.) Ltd., Harsco Metals Reclamet S.A., Harsco Metals SRH Mill Services (Pty.) Ltd., Harsco Metals SRI LLC, Harsco Metals Saudi Arabia Ltd., Harsco Metals Slovensko s.r.o., Harsco Metals South Africa (Pty.) Ltd., Harsco Metals SteelServ (Pty.) Ltd., Harsco Metals Sweden A.B., Harsco Metals Transport B.V., Harsco Metals Turkey Celik Limited Sirkety, Harsco Metals VB LLC, Harsco Metals Zhejiang Co. Ltd., Harsco Metals and Minerals France S.A.S., Harsco Metals de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Harsco Metro Rail LLC, Harsco Mexico Holdings S.A. de C.V., Harsco Minerais Limitada, Harsco Minerali d.o.o., Harsco Minerals Arabia LLC (FZC), Harsco Minerals Deutschland GmbH, Harsco Minerals Europe B.V., Harsco Minerals Technologies LLC, Harsco Minnesota Finance Inc., Harsco Minnesota LLC, Harsco Mole Valley Limited, Harsco Nederland Slag B.V., Harsco Nova Scotia Holding Corporation, Harsco Rail Emirates Maatschap/Societe de Droit Commun, Harsco Rail Europe GmbH, Harsco Rail LLC, Harsco Rail Limited, Harsco Rail Ltda, Harsco Rail Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Harsco Rail Pty. Ltd., Harsco Rail Switzerland GMBH, Harsco Steel Mill Trading Arabia LLC, Harsco Sun Demiryolu Ekipmanlari Uretim Ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Harsco Switzerland Holding GmbH, Harsco Technologies LLC, Harsco Technology China Co. Ltd., Harsco Track Machines and Services Private Limited, Heckett Bahna Co. For Industrial Operations S.A.E., Heckett Comercio de Rejeitos Industriais Importacao e Exportacao Ltda, Heckett MultiServ (FS) Pty Ltd, Heckett MultiServ Bahna S.A.E., Heckett MultiServ China B.V., Heckett MultiServ Far East B.V., Heckett Multiserv MV & MS CA, Hunnebeck Group GmbH, Iductelec Limited, Ilserv S.R.L., Luntz Acquisition (Delaware) LLC, MKC Acquisition Corporation, Mastclimbers Ltd, Metal Reclamation SPV (Pty.) Ltd., Minerval Metallurgic Additives B.V., MultiServ (Sweden) AB, MultiServ Finance B.V., MultiServ International B.V., MultiServ Limited, MultiServ Logistics Limited, MultiServ Oy, MultiServ Technologies (South Africa) Pty Ltd, Nortal Limited, Northland Environmental LLC, Nortru LLC, PSC Environmental Services LLC, PSC Recovery Systems LLC, Phillip Reclamation Services Houston LLC, Protran Technology LLC, Real Property Acquisition LLC, Republic Environmental Recycling (New Jersey) LLC, Republic Environmental Systems (PA) LLC, Republic Environmental Systems (Transportation Group) LLC, Rho-Chem LLC, SGB Holdings Limited, SGB Investments Ltd., SGB Scafform Limited, Shanxi TISCO-Harsco Technology Co. Ltd., Short Brothers (Plant) Ltd., Slag Processing Company Egypt (SLAR) S.A.E., Slag Reductie (Pacific) B.V., Slag Reductie Nederland B.V., Solvent Recovery LLC, Tosyali Harsco Geri Kazanim Teknolojileri Anonim Sirketi, and United Retek of Connecticut LLC. 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. Ltd., Edinburgh Partners, FT FinTech Holdings LLC, FT Opportunistic Distressed Fund Ltd., FTC Investor Services Inc., FTCI (Cayman) Ltd., FTPE Advisers LLC, Fiduciary International Holding Inc., Fiduciary Investment Management International Inc., Fiduciary Trust (International) Sarl, Fiduciary Trust Company International, Fiduciary Trust Company International of Pennsylvania, Fiduciary Trust Company of Canada, Fiduciary Trust International LLC, Fiduciary Trust International of California, Fiduciary Trust International of Delaware, Fiduciary Trust International of the South, Franklin Advisers GP LLC, Franklin Advisers Inc., Franklin Advisory Services LLC, Franklin Marketplace Loan GP LLC, Franklin Mutual Advisers LLC, Franklin SystematiQ Advisers LLC, Franklin Templeton Alternative Investments (India) Private Limited, Franklin Templeton Asset Management (India) Private Limited, Franklin Templeton Asset Management (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Franklin Templeton Asset Management Mexico S.A. de C.V. Sociedad Operadora de Fondos de Inversion, Franklin Templeton Austria GmbH, Franklin Templeton Capital Holdings Private Limited, Franklin Templeton Chile SpA. V., Franklin Templeton Companies LLC, Franklin Templeton Digital Advisory Services GmbH, Franklin Templeton Fund Management Limited, Franklin Templeton GSC Asset Management Sdn. Bhd., Franklin Templeton Global Investors Limited, Franklin Templeton Holding Limited, Franklin Templeton International Services (India) Private Limited, Franklin Templeton International Services S.a r.l., Franklin Templeton Investment Management (Shanghai) Limited, Franklin Templeton Investment Management Limited, Franklin Templeton Investment Services GmbH, Franklin Templeton Investment Services Mexico S. de R.L., Franklin Templeton Investment Trust Management Co. Ltd., Franklin Templeton Investments (Asia) Limited, Franklin Templeton Investments (ME) Limited, Franklin Templeton Investments Australia Limited, Franklin Templeton Investments Corp., Franklin Templeton Investments Japan Limited, Franklin Templeton Investments Poland sp. z o.o., Franklin Templeton Investments South Africa (Pty) Ltd, Franklin Templeton Investor Services LLC, Franklin Templeton Investimentos (Brasil) Ltda., Franklin Templeton Luxembourg S.A., Franklin Templeton Magyarorszag Kft., Franklin Templeton Management Luxembourg S.A., Franklin Templeton Overseas Investment Fund Management (Shanghai) Co. Limited, Franklin Templeton Private Equity LLC, Franklin Templeton Services (India) Private Limited, Franklin Templeton Services LLC, Franklin Templeton Servicios de Asesoria Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Franklin Templeton Slovakia s.r.o., Franklin Templeton Social Infrastructure GP S.a r.l., Franklin Templeton Strategic Investments Ltd., Franklin Templeton Switzerland Ltd., Franklin Templeton Trustee Services Private Limited, Franklin Templeton Turkey Advisory Services A.S., Franklin Templeton Uruguay S.A., Franklin Venture Partners (Talos Cayman GP) LLC, Franklin Venture Partners LLC, Franklin/Templeton Distributors Inc., ITI Capital Markets Limited, K2 Advisors, LM (BVI) Limited, LM Holdings 2 Limited, LM Holdings Limited, LM International Holding LP, Legg Mason & Co (UK) Limited, Legg Mason & Co. LLC, Legg Mason (Chile) Inversiones Holdings Limitada, Legg Mason Asset Management Australia Limited, Legg Mason Asset Management Hong Kong Limited, Legg Mason Asset Management Singapore Pte. Limited, Legg Mason Australia Holdings Pty Limited, Legg Mason Holding (Switzerland) GmbH, Legg Mason Inc., Legg Mason Investment Funds Limited, Legg Mason Investments (Europe) Limited, Legg Mason Investments (Switzerland) GmbH, Legg Mason Overseas Investment Fund Management (Shanghai) Co. 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. Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. is an international offshore energy company. It focuses on subsea construction, maintenance and salvage services to the offshore natural gas and oil industry. The firm also provides specialty services to the offshore energy industry, with a focus on well intervention and robotics operations. The company operates through three segments: Well Intervention, Robotics and Production Facilities. The Well Intervention segment offers vessels and related equipment that are used to perform well intervention services primarily in the Gulf of Mexico and North Sea regions. The Robotics segment involves four chartered vessels and also includes ROVs, trenchers and ROVDrills designed to complement offshore construction and well intervention services. The Production Facilities segment includes its investment in the Helix Producer I and Kommandor LLC. Helix Energy Solutions Group was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Houston, TX. Read More Vivint Solar, Inc. provides distributed solar energy primarily to residential customers in the United States. It owns and installs solar energy systems through long-term customer contracts. The company also sells photovoltaic installation products, as well as solar renewable energy certificates. As of December 31, 2019, it had an aggregate capacity of 1,294.0 megawatts covering approximately 188,300 homes. The company was formerly known as V Solar Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to Vivint Solar, Inc. in April 2014. Vivint Solar, Inc. was founded in 2011 and is headquartered in Lehi, Utah. Read More (ANSA) - Roma, December 7 - An Italian who had been prevented from leaving Kuwait because of a dispute involving the company he works for will soon be allowed to go home, the foreign ministry in Rome said on Friday. Andrea Urcioli, a employee of the CMC company, had been prevented from departing along with a Portuguese national, Ricardo Pinela. Both will be returning home shortly. Toyota Motor Corp. engages in the manufacture and sale of motor vehicles and parts. It operates through the following segments: Automotive, Financial Services, and All Other. The Automotive segment designs, manufactures, assembles and sells passenger cars, minivans, trucks, and related vehicle parts and accessories. It is also involved in the development of intelligent transport systems. The Financial Services segment offers purchase or lease financing to Toyota vehicle dealers and customers. It also provides retail leasing through lease contracts purchase by dealers. The All Others segment deals with the design and manufacture and sale of housing, telecommunications and other businesses. The company was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda on August 28, 1937 and is headquartered in Toyota, Japan. Read More Whitbread has been the subject of 7 research reports in the past 90 days, demonstrating strong analyst interest in this stock. According to analysts' consensus price target of GBX 3,715.56, Whitbread has a forecasted upside of 31.0% from its current price of GBX 2,837. Whitbread has received a consensus rating of Buy. The company's average rating score is 2.90, and is based on 9 buy ratings, 1 hold rating, and no sell ratings. 4.7 Community Rank Outperform Votes Whitbread has received 821 outperform votes. (Add your outperform vote.) Underperform Votes Whitbread has received 346 underperform votes. (Add your underperform vote.) Community Sentiment Whitbread has received 70.35% outperform votes from our community. MarketBeat's community ratings are surveys of what our community members think about Whitbread and other stocks. Vote Outperform if you believe WTB will outperform the S&P 500 over the long term. Vote Underperform if you believe WTB will underperform the S&P 500 over the long term. You may vote once every thirty days. Previous Next The following companies are subsidiares of EnerSys: ABSL Power Solutions Inc., ABSL Power Solutions Ltd., Acumuladores Industriales EnerSys SA, Alpha Alternative Energy Inc., Alpha Broadband Services Inc., Alpha Innovations Industria e Comercio de Produtos Eletronicos Ltda., Alpha Innovations Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Alpha Mexico Network Power S.A. de C.V., Alpha Tech Energy Solutions India Private Limited, Alpha Technical Services Ltd., Alpha Technologies Ltd., Alpha Technologies Pty. Ltd., Alpha Technologies Services Inc., Alphatec Technologies (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd., Argus Research Ltd., Batterias Hawker de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Battery Power International Pte Ltd., Coppervale Enterprises Inc., DCPM Engineering Sdn Bhd, EH Batterien AG, EH Europe GmbH, EH Global Holdings GmbH, EH Swiss Holdings GmbH, ENAS Industrial Batteries Morocco Sarl, EnerSys (Chaozhou) Huada Batteries Company Limited, EnerSys (China) Huada Batteries Company Limited, EnerSys (Chongqing) Huada Batteries Company Limited, EnerSys (Jiangsu) Huada Batteries Company Limited (94.7%) *, EnerSys (Luxembourg) Finance Sarl, EnerSys (Yangzhou) Huada Batteries Co. Ltd., EnerSys A/S, EnerSys AB, EnerSys AD, EnerSys AE, EnerSys AS, EnerSys Advanced Systems Inc., EnerSys Argentina S.A., EnerSys Asia Limited, EnerSys Australia Pty Ltd., EnerSys BV, EnerSys BVBA, EnerSys Battery Private Limited, EnerSys Brasil Ltda., EnerSys Bulgaria EOOD, EnerSys Canada Inc., EnerSys Capital Inc., EnerSys Cayman Euro L.P., EnerSys Cayman Holdings L.P., EnerSys Cayman Inc., EnerSys Delaware Inc., EnerSys Delaware LLC I, EnerSys Delaware LLC II, EnerSys Delaware LLC III, EnerSys Delaware LLC IV, EnerSys Delaware LLC V, EnerSys Energy Products Inc., EnerSys Europe Oy, EnerSys European Holding Co., EnerSys GmbH, EnerSys Holdings (Luxembourg) Sarl, EnerSys Holdings UK Ltd., EnerSys Hungaria Kft., EnerSys India Batteries Private Ltd., EnerSys JSC, EnerSys LLC, EnerSys Ltd., EnerSys Malaysia Sdn Bhd, EnerSys Mexico Holdings LLC, EnerSys Mexico Management LLC, EnerSys Participacoes Ltda., EnerSys Reserve Power Pte. Ltd., EnerSys S.r.l., EnerSys SARL, EnerSys SNC, EnerSys South East Asia Pte. Ltd., EnerSys de Mexico II S de R.L. de CV, EnerSys de Mexico S de R.L. de CV, EnerSys s.r.o., EnerSys sp. z o.o., EnerSystem Chile Ltda., Enersys Aku Sanaya Dis Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Esfinco LLC, Hawker GmbH, Hawker Power Systems Inc., Hawker Powersource Inc., Hawker Systems GmbH & Co. KG., ICS Industries Pty Ltd, ICS Industries Pty Ltd., ICS Sheet Metal Pty Ltd., Industrial Battery Holding Ltda., International Communication Shelters Australasia Pty Ltd., Lancord Pty Ltd., Lenmic Pty Ltd., MIB Energy Sdn Bhd, N Holding AB, National Infrastructure Pty Ltd., National Infrastructure Services Pty Ltd., NaviSemi Energy Pte Ltd., NaviSemi Inc., New Pacifico Realty Inc., NorthStar Battery Company LLC, NorthStar Battery Company LLC, NorthStar Battery DMCC, Outback Power Technologies Inc., Powercom (NSW) Pty Ltd., Powersonic S de R.L. de CV, Purcell Systems, Purcell Systems Inc., Purcell Systems International AB, Quallion LLC, Riverfront Holding S. de R.L. de C.V., Shenzhen Huada Power Supply Mechanical & Electrical Co. Ltd. , SiteTel Shanghai Co Ltd., SiteTel Sweden AB, Telecomponents & Supply (Hong Kong) Ltd., The Enser Corporation, UTS Holdings Sdn Bhd, UTS Technology (JB) Sdn Bhd, UTS Technology (PG) Sdn Bhd, YCI Inc., and Yecoltd S. de R.L. de CV. The Porch Pirates are in overdrive. Their crimes are unfolding on doorsteps across the nation as Christmas presents, ordered from online retailers, arrive by the hundred of millions. And plenty of those packages disappear. The thieves are totally legit villains now because they have an official villain name. Search Porch Pirates on Twitter or other social media, and youll see what I mean. But some of the 26 million victims who say theyve had boxes swiped from their porches are heroically fighting back, determined to protect their precious packages. Theyre using booby traps, secret cameras, geo-trackers and bait boxes. The scenes of Good vs. Evil being posted online make for days of great comic-book reading, complete with shaming doorbell video clips of sneaky pirates, clumsy pirates, grandma pirates in flowery tunics, at least one pirate in a bra even regretful pirates whove returned to the scene of the crime to leave an apology note. And paid crimefighters are now in on the action, with police chiefs calling porch pirates the scourge of the holiday season and investigators setting up sting operations like the Fort Worth (Texas) Police Departments Operation Grinch Pinch or the police in Wheeling, West Virginia, leaving snarky notes wishing the duped bad guys Merry Christmas. But the doorstep vigilantes are the most entertaining. Theres even a guy in Tacoma, Washington, who is marketing a device that sets off a 12-gauge blank the moment a pirate lifts the bait package. One D.C. woman, fed up with having nearly $1,000 worth of packages stolen from her Capitol Hill porch, left a pretty awesome present for her pirates a box heavy with her two dogs poop. It didnt stop them, though, Andrea Hutzler reported. What did stop them was a Nancy Drew combination of sleuthing and teamwork after a porch camera spotted a white truck driving away, and a neighborhood email discussion group identified the truck and got the license plate. Police used the license plate to track down the driver, who ultimately turned on the partner, Hutzler said. That didnt stop other Porch Pirates from swooping in. How did she finally stop the thefts? We moved. Were in Northern Virginia now, Hutzler said. Ive lived in Illinois, Houston, New Orleans, overseas. It never happened anywhere but D.C. My husband and I have been fighting this for years. The first time it happened was with an Internet router we ordered online. It was snowing, and the thief left footprints. We followed them, only to find the bubble wrap, the receipt, the empty box, then the road, where the prints ended. The second time we thought we would thwart this by requiring a signature. The person who intercepted the package signed for it as Cathy Lanier, then Washingtons police chief. So we stopped having anything valuable sent to the house. Then the thefts became annoying. When a five-pound tub of purple fondant I ordered to make a princess cake for a daughters friend went missing, I snooped around the neighborhood, found the box, found the tub, found the wad of purple fondant in the bushes. I learned how to make my own fondant that year. Porch Pirating is not an easy crime to track because not everyone reports it. If you just look at the Google search for Amazon package stolen, as the folks at Schorr packaging did, youll see San Francisco at the top of the list, with Seattle, Minneapolis, Boston, Portland and Washington close behind. But another survey suggested that big cities arent the only place where the thieves operate. A survey done last year by video security company Blink found that rural residents in North Dakota, Vermont, Maine, New Mexico, Mississippi and Arkansas reported the highest numbers of folks who have had packages swiped. That map also looks a little like the opioid crisis map from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Packages in less-populated, rural neighborhoods are targets for addicts-turned-thieves. Of course, not all the packages swiped are from Amazon. (Amazon was founded by Jeff Bezos, who owns The Washington Post.) But as consumer habits shift toward e-commerce and Amazon packages are plastered with Amazon logos, Porch Pirates would probably opt for the Amazon package over the one with Santa stickers, a return address starting with Grandma and Fragile! Cookies inside! written all over it. And Amazon is anything but transparent about how many packages are stolen. I parried for a while with one of their PR guys, who said everything is on background, no direct quotes and didnt provide me with a number of packages reported stolen, the monetary damage these thefts do to Amazon or what, exactly, Amazons policy is on replacing anything reported stolen. Its a case-by-case basis, he said, which was my own personal experience. Sometimes they sent me a replacement, no problem. Other times I got stiffed. The Amazon guy pointed to Amazon lockers as a theft-prevention option. (Sure, but they arent always as convenient as they sound.) And he explained the package tracking that Amazon does. They even have new features where you actually let the driver into your home or car to leave the package there. Gee, thanks. Porch Pirates are basically shoplifters. When shoplifters go to bricks-and-mortar shops, they cost retailers about $42 billion annually. Stores have security guards and cameras, and they take the hit when something is stolen. In the e-commerce version of shoplifting, theft prevention is now on us, David, while Goliath just shrugs. And its not vigilante citizens out there its cash-strapped police departments setting up sting operations and following leads from home camera clips, doing the legwork that big box stores used to be responsible for. Pretty slick, eh? Happy shopping. Dont forget the booby trap. Dvorak is a columnist for The Posts local team who writes about homeless shelters, gun control, high heels, high school choirs, the politics of parenting, jails, abortion clinics, mayors, modern families, strip clubs and gas prices, among other things. BEIRUT - Syrian President Bashar al Assad has approved a new budget law worth approximately 9 billion dollars, Syrian government news agency Sana reports. The law gives priority to ''development projects'' in areas conquered over the past few months by loyalist forces from several opposition groups and Qaedist and jihadist militias, according to Sana. Finance Minister Mamun Hamdan was quoted by pro-government daily al Watan as saying that the investments in the new budget law will be funded, for approximately one billion dollars ''in freed areas'', referring to zones that were re-taken by government forces, backed by Iran and Russia, over the last few months. Abortionist Pendergraft's Florida Medical License Has Been Revoked Operation Rescue, info.operationrescue@gmail.com Contact: Troy Newman, President, 316-683-6790 ext. 111; Cheryl Sullenger, Senior Vice President, 316-516-3034; both with Cheryl Sullenger, Senior Vice President of Operation Rescue, filed the complaint that this disciplinary action was based upon, which notified the Board of Medicine that Pendergraft had been arrested for operating an illegal home abortion and drug distribution business out of the back of a van in South Carolina where he holds no license to practice medicine. She attended the Board meeting held in Orlando, Florida, where the disciplinary action was announced and made a brief statement in support of revocation to the Board. Pendergraft was not present at the meeting. Pendergraft was arrested on October 5, 2015, in Spartanburg County by Sheriff's Deputies who were conducting a routine traffic stop. Deputies found illegal drugs, including Fentanyl, LSD, and marijuana in his vehicle along with bloody abortion instruments with tissue still attached used in illicit home abortions. Even though the authorities did not release his name, Sullenger was able to confirm Pendergraft as the one who had been arrested and jailed. Pendergraft was convicted of ten drug offenses and is currently serving a five-year term of probation. At the time, Pendergraft was serving his fifth license suspension in Florida where he operated a chain of abortion facilities. Some of those clinics have permanently closed. Ownership of his other clinics have been transferred to his former wife, while yet others have been converted into medicinal marijuana clinics. Despite the transfer of business ownership on paper, pro-life activists tell Operation Rescue that Pendergraft is still seen regularly entering his so-called "former" abortion facilities during business hours and holds an interest in the medicinal marijuana businesses. "This license revocation was years in the making and was the result of the work and prayers of countless pro-life activists on the ground outside Pendergraft's abortion facilities and in our office," said Troy Newman, President of Operation Rescue. "This is a victory for all of us, especially for women and babies who will no longer be placed at risk by James Pendergraft's dangerous practices." Further information about the hearing will be published soon at About Operation Rescue Operation Rescue is one of the leading pro-life Christian activist organizations in the nation and has become a strong voice for the pro-life movement in America. ORLANDO, Fla., Dec. 7, 2018 / Christian Newswire / -- The Florida Board of Medicine met on Friday, December 7, 2018, and voted to revoke the medical license of notorious late-term abortionist James Scott Pendergraft, IV.Cheryl Sullenger, Senior Vice President of Operation Rescue, filed the complaint that this disciplinary action was based upon, which notified the Board of Medicine that Pendergraft had been arrested for operating an illegal home abortion and drug distribution business out of the back of a van in South Carolina where he holds no license to practice medicine.She attended the Board meeting held in Orlando, Florida, where the disciplinary action was announced and made a brief statement in support of revocation to the Board.Pendergraft was not present at the meeting.Pendergraft was arrested on October 5, 2015, in Spartanburg County by Sheriff's Deputies who were conducting a routine traffic stop. Deputies found illegal drugs, including Fentanyl, LSD, and marijuana in his vehicle along with bloody abortion instruments with tissue still attached used in illicit home abortions. Even though the authorities did not release his name, Sullenger was able to confirm Pendergraft as the one who had been arrested and jailed.Pendergraft was convicted of ten drug offenses and is currently serving a five-year term of probation.At the time, Pendergraft was serving his fifth license suspension in Florida where he operated a chain of abortion facilities. Some of those clinics have permanently closed. Ownership of his other clinics have been transferred to his former wife, while yet others have been converted into medicinal marijuana clinics. Despite the transfer of business ownership on paper, pro-life activists tell Operation Rescue that Pendergraft is still seen regularly entering his so-called "former" abortion facilities during business hours and holds an interest in the medicinal marijuana businesses."This license revocation was years in the making and was the result of the work and prayers of countless pro-life activists on the ground outside Pendergraft's abortion facilities and in our office," said Troy Newman, President of Operation Rescue. "This is a victory for all of us, especially for women and babies who will no longer be placed at risk by James Pendergraft's dangerous practices."Further information about the hearing will be published soon at OperationRescue.org About Operation RescueOperation Rescue is one of the leading pro-life Christian activist organizations in the nation and has become a strong voice for the pro-life movement in America. Click here to support Operation Rescue Share Tweet BEIRUT - Lebanon will present a formal protest to the UN Security Council over Israel's recent activities next to the Blue Line at the border between the two countries, stating that these actions are a ''prelude to an Israeli attack against Lebanon'', Lebanese news agency Nna reports, quoting a Lebanese foreign ministry statement. ''A true diplomatic and political campaign against Lebanon is ongoing in preparation for an attack against the country'', according to the statement. Israeli military authorities over the past few days started excavation work next to the Blue Line, saying they found underground tunnels attributed to Hezbollah, the anti-Israeli Shiite Lebanese movement. The Lebanese government so far has given the impression of not formally knowing about the alleged excavation work by Hezbollah in Lebanese territory to reach Israel. Yesterday, a team of experts with UNIFIL, the UN contingent deployed in southern Lebanon next to the Blue Line, visited the Israeli side headed by blue helmet commander, Italian General Stefano Del Col, to inspect the site where Israel said it found a Hezbollah tunnel. Italy: society can have no castoffs - Mattarella President appeals for verbal, physical violence to be banished (ANSAmed) - ROME, DECEMBER 7 - President Sergio Mattarella said Friday that Italy must not allow people to be excluded from society and called for an end to violence and hate speech. "There can be no castoffs in society, only citizens of identical rank and equal social importance," the head of State said in his address for an event marking the 50th anniversary of the Pope John XXIII Community. "A different vision (to this) would throw into doubt the fundamentals of our republic". The president also called on people to "honour the word equality written in our Constitution" and "banish definitively physical and verbal violence, hatred, intolerance and discrimination". "We must not be afraid or ashamed to show good sentiments". (ANSAmed). Moderate yellow vests in France call for calm, staying home Concern over possible deaths, appeal to not protest in Paris (ANSAmed) - PARIS, DECEMBER 7 - Benjamin Cauchy, a spokesman for the so-called "free" yellow vest protesters in France - those who are open to government negotiations and against all forms of violence - is calling for calm and said the group is "fearful that there will be deaths and injured". He urged protesters not to take to the streets of Paris on Saturday. "We are asking ourselves how many dead and wounded there will have to be before Emmanuel Macron listens to the anger of the people," Cauchy said. "We are calling on the French not to fall into the trap of violence," Cauchy said in a press conference. "The government wants to pass us off as rioters, but that's not the case," Cauchy said. "We have no desire to have dead and injured on our conscience. Maybe the president wants that; we certainly don't. We only want him to listen to the people's anger," he said. He called on the yellow vest protesters to avoid demonstrating in Paris on Saturday, and to respect public property and law enforcement. Speaking before the microphones of the major French broadcasters, Cauchy criticised the "strategy of chaos" of recent days. "We've gone from a social protest to the start of an insurrection," he said. He urged Macron to "listen to the anger that is spread everywhere in France".(ANSAmed). Yellow vests: Castaner vows firmness Saturday Interior minister announces hard line with 'casseurs' (ANSAmed) - PARIS, DECEMBER 7 - Interior Minister Christophe Castaner on Friday announced ''maximum steadfastness against casseurs'', or violent protesters, on the eve of a demonstration by members of the so-called 'yellow vest' movement in Paris. Castaner announced that 89,000 security officers will be deployed tomorrow across France, including 8,000 in Paris. Once again, dividing peaceful demonstrators from radical members of the movement, the minister cited the following metaphor: ''Over the past few weeks - he said - a monster that has fled from its parents has been born in France''. However, now is the ''time for the Republic'', he said. The minister went on to say that the 'yellow vests' are currently estimated to be 10,000 and that ''10,000 are not a population''. He continued saying that he believes that ''only a few thousand people'' will be in Paris on Saturday ''but the fear is that they are the most violent, who want to break everything''. (ANSAmed) General Admission $42 (valid 6PM-9PM) and VIP Admission $52 (valid 5PM-9PM) The 8th Annual Old School Beer Fest to benefit Montessori School of Dayton takes place on Sat Jan 26. Tickets must be purchased online, get yours TODAY! Dayton's Old School Beer Festival This is not your average night out! Enjoy rare brews from nearby states, craft beer you can't find around here and your favorites from local breweries. Come hungry, PA's Pork will be on hand with burgers, pulled pork, chicken, and tofu nachos, soft tacos, mac-n-cheese, and sauerkraut balls. ($5-$9 each) We'll also have a silent auction and games of chance. The Dayton Brew Ha-Ha celebrates the growth and maturity of the craft beer industry in the Midwest. Festival organizers are producing a beer list that is representative of the breadth and depth of the renowned offerings from Ohio and our neighboring states. The event will feature breweries big and small, and will showcase both rare, hard to find beers and accessible beers for those just getting into craft beer appreciation. Dayton's local breweries will be well-represented with offerings that highlight the growth of the industry in the Gem City. An annual fundraiser for the Montessori School of Dayton, the Dayton Brew Ha-Ha started in 2011 and raises funds for the school's capital improvement fund. Although each year has seen tremendous growth, we are committed to maintaining the event as a premier boutique beer tasting, where our friends and neighbors can come to mingle, try regional and local beers, and learn more about the school and about craft beer. Mumbai: Even as the government is yet to take a call on putting the 23-storeyed Air India Building in the Nariman Point business hub of south Mumbai on the block, many PSUs such as LIC and GIC have evinced interest in the prime property, a senior airline official said on Friday. It can be noted that LIC and GIC have their headquarters in the proximity to the Air India building here, which also happens to be the erstwhile headquarters of the national carrier. "No decision has been taken so far on selling the Air India building. But some companies, majorly the public sector undertakings such as LIC and GIC have shown considerable interest in it. This is apart from JNPT," the official said. The national carrier had collected Rs 291 crore as lease rentals from the property between FY13 and January 2018. The government had in June started discussions for sale of the iconic tower to Jawahar Lal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) as part of Air India's asset monetisation plans. It also came after the government's efforts to partially privatise Air India failed to take off. With over Rs 55,000 crore debt its its books, Air India management has been trying to pare burden by monetising non-core real estate properties. "We expect the valuation of the property to go up after many companies showing interest in it. We will assess valuation and accordingly decide when to go for bids," the official said. According to Air India's audited accounts, the airline's total losses stood at Rs 47,145.62 crore in 2016-17. The government had in May said that Air India has mopped up Rs 543.03 crore from monetisation of its assets in prime locations, such as Mumbai and Chennai. Overall, mutual fund schemes witnessed an inflow of Rs 1.42 lakh crore in November. New Delhi: Mutual funds' asset base rose to a little over Rs 24 lakh crore by November-end, an increase of 8 per cent from the preceding month, on strong inflow in liquid schemes. According to Amfi data, the asset under management (AUM) of the industry, comprising 42 players, climbed from Rs 22.23 lakh crore at the end of October, to Rs 24.03 lakh crore in November-end. The total asset base of all the fund houses put together was Rs 22.79 lakh crore in November last year. The latest inflow was mainly driven by contributions from liquid funds, equity and equity-linked saving schemes. Liquid funds attracted Rs 1.36 lakh crore, besides, Rs 8,400 crore was invested in equity as well as equity-linked saving schemes and Rs 215 crore inflow was seen in balanced funds. Interestingly, gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs) saw a net inflow of Rs 10 crore after witnessing pull out in past several months. In contrast, income funds saw a pull out of Rs 6,518 crore. Overall, mutual fund schemes witnessed an inflow of Rs 1.42 lakh crore in November, much higher than Rs 35,500 crore investment seen in the preceding month. Jacqueline Fernandez is going to the suburbs of Kochi and Kerala to help to rebuild the homes of the flood victims. Habitat of humanity is launching the second edition of Jacqueline builds. The actor will be visiting the areas such as Thuruth and Naduvannur. During her visit, Jacqueline plans to interact with the affected families. Meanwhile, she is involved in helping the relief work team mobilize fund of over 50 lakhs by encouraging individual donor. From her end, she is trying to be completely involved in the entire process. The actor says, "Habitat for Humanity helped me put together 'Jacqueline Builds', for Tamil Nadu back in 2016. When we started we did not really expect the amount of help that we received from all over India.hence the second edition of Jacqueline builds for Kerala was but natural. Our small support with only help to not only rebuild their homes, but also their lives, in a way changing bringing some positivity around. The most important thing in this initiative is we start from the bottom, Right from carrying the bricks to putting cement and constructing a whole new place which they can call 'know as Home'. The happiness they get and the relief they get as they again will be having a shelter to live under to be with their family is priceless." Jacqueline Fernandez has been an active voice when it comes to social issues. The actress who has advocated many causes like marine conservation and animal welfare is currently striving to rebuild Kerala after the unfortunate floods hit the state. Jacqueline Fernandez also represented the voice of animal welfare at the UN on the world animal day as she took 8 million petition signatures voicing her opinion against animal testing. Recently, the actress also addressed the One Young World Event in Hague as she expressed her thoughts about sexual harassment. National award winner Bobby Simha will be seen as a drug kingpin Deva from North Chennai in a web series titled Vella Raja in Tamil which is being produced by production house Dream Warrior Pictures. This is the digital platform Amazon Prime Videos first ever Tamil series with Telugu and Hindi dubbed versions also available for the audiences. Parvathy Nair plays a cop who is after Deva. The latter hides in a lodge and wants to escape with his loot of a huge quantity of cocaine. Guhan Seniyappan of Sawaari fame directs the series. He has written the story along with Lokesh who gave the blockbuster hit film Maanagaram. Parvathi Nair The story involves a thrilling trap laid for drug dealer Deva along with some weird and curious characters inside the Bawa Lodge and how they fare in their predicament forms the rest. Asked if he was apprehensive before signing a web series, Bobby replied, Not at all! For me the content matters, irrespective of whether it is cinema or web series. VR had a good story and I play a character with negative shades. I loved it. Bobby Simha and Kaali Venkat Gayathrie and Kaali Venkat portray crucial roles. While there are no censor board restrictions for web series, Guhan tells us as how he has taken it to his advantage although it is not an adult content. Here we have more creative freedom. Being an action thriller, I could show gun trotting and violent scenes, which the story demanded. The series launched today (December 7). Filmmaker/actor/politician Seeman is back to donning grease paint after a long gap. Seeman will be seen playing a straight forward teacher as Natesan who fights for the poor farmers in a film titled Thavam. Directed by Vijay Anand and Suriyan, Thavam has newcomers Vashi and Pooja Steel essaying the lead pair. Seeman The director duo speaks more on the film, The story revolves around three characters. The heroine comes to Karaikudi to attend the wedding of her bosss son, who runs an agency besides being a tourist guide. Then theres Natesans teacher who slogs for the farmers. A certain incident brings these three people together. The film has the right mix of comedy, emotions, romance and action. There are many signs that IFFK, this year, is going to be a gathering of sensitive, caring fellow beings. For one, several filmmakers, not wanting to burden a state recovering from floods, have decided to spend from their own pockets to fly down to the 23rd International Film Festival of Kerala. Many filmmakers whose films are to be showcased in Indian Cinema Today have decided to come to the festival spending their own money, says festival director Kamal. Moreover, around 8,000 delegates have registered by Thursday afternoon, which might look like a small figure when one compares it to the throngs of previous years. However, it is a heart-warming number of people with absolutely no resentment towards the hiked fee. The fee was raised because of the floods. It is justified, said Namitha P. S., a BArch student. It was interesting that many student delegates fiercely defended the fee hike, almost as if they themselves were the organisers. Why complain about the fee hike? The festival almost didnt happen. We are glad they didnt cancel it, said Roshan Mathews, an MTech student. His friend Chandrakanth James chimed in, Despite the increase in fee, look at the number of people who have already registered. There were many students like them waiting for their passes on Thursday at the delegate cell functioning on the premises of Tagore Theatre. Around 1,300 student passes have been issued, which, according to Ajay D., Head of the Department (Product Development), is more than the previous years. He also said that the number of registrations saw a rise this week. Many may have been waiting for IFFI to get over and return from Goa, to register for IFFK. The registration has not closed. Moreover, registration for the three-day pass, which costs Rs 1,000, will be open right through, he said. The delegate cell is a lot quieter than it was in previous years. Last year, there were 14,000 people queuing up at festival venues. Sometimes, the lines would extend to the front gate and beyond. But the registration this year is not that small, according to IFFK artistic director Bina Paul. Registrations are certainly a little less than previous years. But it is more than what we expected after the fee was increased, she said. IFFK will continue to be a festival of the masses, according to the organisers. Some good films have been chosen to be introduced to the audience here. Bina Paul said, A lot of people are going to notice the Japanese film Shoplifters by Hirokazu Koreeda. There is The Gentle Indifference of the World by a filmmaker from Kazakhistan called Adilkhan Yerzhanov. There are several films which have not been part of major film festivals, or went unnoticed in those festivals. We didnt chase the big names, but spent time carefully curating the festival. Roma, which won Golden Lion at the Venice International Film Festival, is another film likely to draw the crowd. For the first time Majid Majidi, a household name for the Malayali movie goer, will be at the IFFK. The Iranian filmmaker is chairing the IFFK jury. Nandita Das and Buddhadeb Dasgupta will be the chief guests on Fridays opening ceremony. In tune with ordinary people of the state rising after the floods, this year, IFFK has a section named The Human Spirit: Films on Hope and Rebuilding. The films are about people and animals, both fictitious and real, overcoming adversities. The stories include that of a six-year-old girl named Hushpuppy having to face the effects of climate change in Beasts of the Southern Wild; Chenna Parayans dog in Vellappokkathil, a film directed by Jayaraj based on Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillais story; and Jaguar Paw, a Mayan hunter trying to escape a ritual sacrifice in Apocalypto, directed by Mel Gibson. This section also features two documentariesPope Francis: A Man of His Word and Before the Flood. There is a biographical feature film called Mandela: A Long Walk to Freedom. One can expect a lot of kind stories this year, on screen and off it. And what better place to host IFFK than Thiruvananthapuram, which around three months ago was parceling out flood relief packets? Megastar Chiranjeevi seems to have put his stint as a politician completely behind him. The actor-turned-politician has in the recent past said in interviews that he prefers to keep away from politics for variety of reasons. Even as several actors, including Nagma, Khushbu from Kollywood and Vijayashanthi and Balakrishna from Telugu films campaigned in Telangana in the run-up to the elections, Chiranjeevi has chosen to stay away from campaigning for anyone. Interestingly, his brother Pawan Kalyan is touring in Andhra Pradesh for the Jana Sena party and Chiru probably chose to keep away from the campaign trail to prevent any clash with his brother. The actor, who is currently shooting for Sye Raa also stayed away from campaigning in Telangana, reportedly because he does not want to go against the TRS in order to avoid any problem with them in future if they win. He is waiting for the results and if the Congress wins, he may warm up to them again, said a source. He is a very sensitive person and he gets emotional when others accuse him. In politics this is common, but Chiru doesnt like it, so he may not join politics again, the source added. Meenakshi Dixit is excited about landing a plum role in the Telugu film, Maharshi, starring Mahesh Babu. The actress will be seen in the role of a glamorous New York girl in the action drama that is being directed by Vamshi Paidipally. So excited was the actress when she was roped in for the role that she was jumping in joy and excitement. Talking about her role, she reveals, I play a new York-born girl and what is interesting about my role is the relationship between me and Mahesh Babu. Since the film is high on the glam quotient, the role required her to completely transform herself into a fashion forward sophisticate. I have gone for a complete makeover in everything beginning with my hair to the way I look, walk, talk and behave. Meenakshi Dixit The Mumbai-based actor featured in the sizzling title track of Dookudu, a few years ago and has done other roles including one in the NTR-starrer, and couple of Hindi films. On sharing screen with Mahesh Babu she says, Hes a professional and his simplicity is what makes him a superstar, she shares. India's emissions look set to continue their strong growth by an average of 6.3 per cent in 2018. (Photo: PTI) New Delhi: A study has said India is the fourth highest emitter of carbon dioxide in the world, accounting for 7 per cent of global emissions in 2017. The top four emitters in 2017, which covered 58 per cent of global emissions, were China (27 per cent), the US (15 per cent), the European Union (10 per cent) and India (7 per cent), according to the projection by the Global Carbon Project. The rest of the world contributed 41 per cent last year, it said. India's emissions look set to continue their strong growth by an average of 6.3 per cent in 2018, with growth across all fuels -- coal (7.1 per cent), oil (2.9 per cent) and gas (6 per cent), the study said Wednesday. The top 10 emitters were China, the US, the EU, India, Russia, Japan, Germany, Iran, Saudi Arabia and South Korea. The study also said the Indian emissions were projected to grow 2 per cent in 2017, compared to 6 per cent per year averaged over the previous decade, due to significant government interventions in the economy. In India, emissions are expected to grow by a solid 6.3 per cent in 2018, pushed by strong economic growth of around 8 per cent per year. "Coal is still the mainstay of the Indian economy, and as in China, it will be a challenge for solar and wind to displace coal, given the strong growth in energy use," it said. It also said that although global coal use is still 3 per cent lower than its historical high, it is expected to grow in 2018, driven by growth in energy consumption in China and India. The emissions in the rest of the world -- remaining 41 per cent of global emissions -- are expected to grow by 1.8 per cent in 2018. This group is of mainly developing countries and the five countries contributing most to the growth in this grouping in the last decade are Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey, Iraq and South Korea, the study said. China, India and the European Union are setting the pace. These regions represent 40 per cent of global carbon emissions. They are set to achieve more than what they agreed to in the first round of Paris Agreement in 2015, it said. Their leaders can step up and announce even bolder programmes at the UN summit in September, 2019, to review the commitments made during Paris Agreement, it said. The study said that while China and India still rely heavily on coal, the US and the EU are slowly decarbonising. India can continue to deploy solar farms, leveraging its leadership of the International Solar Alliance to displace coal and clean up its smog-choked cities. By 2020, India can announce its own fossil-fuel exit strategy and a target date for its peak CO2 emissions, the study said. The study warned that the global emissions of carbon dioxide from fossil fuels and industry are projected to rise for the second consecutive year in 2018, by more than 2 per cent to a new record, mainly due to sustained growth in oil and gas use. Pupils were then asked to smash up chocolate versions of St Nicholas and his reindeer to hammer home the point. (Photo: AP) A Christian charity worker from Lincolnshire left children, as old as four, in tears after telling them that Santa was made up during a Christian assembly. Not only that, pupils were then asked to smash up chocolate versions of St Nicholas and his reindeer to hammer home the point. According to MailOnline, parents said their wards returned home devastated, following the sermon by a children's worker from a Christian charity. The head teacher of Fleet Wood Lane School in Spalding, Lincolnshire, insisted that the children were not told 'Santa does not exist', but has since apologised and said the school would no longer be working with the group. The Mary Bass Charity, which seeks to 'further the religious and other charitable work of the Church Of England' in the Lincolnshire district of South Holland, said it was investigating. According to reports, the woman delivering the assembly on Thursday was trying to explain to children that Jesus was the reason behind Christmas, not Santa, who had been 'made up'. They were asked to demonstrate they understood that there was more to Christmas than sweets and presents by smashing up the chocolate. Parents said many took this to mean Santa did not exist and some parents said they would be refusing to let their children go to any other assemblies delivered by the woman. The row comes after children as young as nine at St Cuthbert's Church of England Primary in Darwen, Lancashire, were asked to research whether Santa Claus exists as part of their homework. Bengaluru: With his health condition fluctuating, the 111-year-old chief pontiff of Siddaganga Matha in Tumakuru, Shri Shivakumara Swamiji is expected to be taken to Chennai for valve replacement on Friday at 10:30 am in an air ambulance. On Thursday, a team of doctors headed by Dr Ravindra B.S. from BGS Global Hospitals visited the Swamiji at the Matha. This was followed by the visit of a team of doctors including Siddaganga Hospital and Research Centre head Dr Parameshwarappa to Chennai for a consultation with liver transplant expert Dr Mohamed Rela. Earlier this week, the swamiji had undergone Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangio Pancreatography (ERCP) with two more stents placed in his bile duct at BGS Gleneagles Hospital, after which he was discharged on Monday. In addition to these two stents, a total 11 stents have been inserted in his body till now. Bengaluru: The announcement by the coalition's co-ordination committee chairman Siddaramaiah that the much- awaited cabinet expansion will happen on December 22 notwithstanding, some Congress MLAs feel it may not happen so early. Hosakote Congress MLA, M.T.B. Nagaraj and Kampli MLA J.N. Ganesh said the exercise would not happen adding that the announcement of the date was merely an attempt to buy time and more so when there are so many contenders for the cabinet berths. Mr Nagaraj said Dhanurmasa would be on by then and the Janata Dal (Secular) would not allow the cabinet expansion in a Hindu month which is considered inauspicious by many. This month will end on January 15 and by then every political party would be involved in preparations for the parliamant polls leaving little scope for the cabinet expansion. A Congress leader who concurred with this view, felt that the announcement of the date by co-ordination committee chairman Siddaramaiah was merely intended to ensure that the winter session of the legislature set to begin in Belagavi on December 10, goes off smoothly without any murmurs of dissent from ministerial aspirants who are unable to make it. Bengaluru: The Rs 100-crore subsidy announced by the state government for the BMTC was released on Wednesday to help the transport undertaking clear its dues to the employees. It also plans to use the money to revamp its ageing fleet. BMTC has been incurring losses as Namma Metro has increased its reach and frequency and ride hailing cabs have become popular among commuters. Its recent proposal to increase fares was rejected by the government. "With an existing ridership of 50 lakh passenger per day, BMTC should meet the projected demand to maintain the current market share. But in the recent days, we had to pay dues to retired employees and to the next of kin of employees who died in service. So finally the amount has been released and this will be utilized in a good manner," a senior official of BMTC told Deccan Chronicle. In the year 2017-18 BMTC witnessed 38 deaths of employees and 127 retirements, and it has to clear Rs 65 lakh as dues to various hospitals. The corporation also has to clear dues related to student bus passes. "The rise in diesel prices amidst falling revenue has been worrying top officials, whose proposal for a fare hike was rejected by the government recently. The amount promised by the government has received so it will be used well," official added. Of the 3,000 new buses announced for BMTC in the previous two budgets, only 1,500 have begun operation. The remaining was to be purchased from the funds the government was expected to release. Thiruvananthapuram: The state, despite two notices from Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (KSCPCR), is yet to furnish a report on why it has allowed a childrens home at Mudavanmugal to function. The Divine Childrens Home was not recommended by the District Child Protection Office (DCPO) to be registered under the Juvenile Justice Act, because of a report about the torture of children. The DCPO took the decision based on a Child Welfare Committee (CWC) report that the institution inflicted torture on its children. Despite this, social justice secretary Biju Prabhakar issued a letter allowing it to function temporarily. The KSCPCR sought the states clarification regarding this. Recently we issued a notice calling for a report the second time. The state needs to reply as to why they decided to allow the institution to function temporarily. Once we get the report, we will compare it with the report submitted by the CWC. According to the CWC, the institution claimed to be a hostel which would not come under the JJ Act. If the reports by the state and the CWC contradict each other, the commission will verify facts on the ground, and then submit recommendations based on that investigation, says KSCPCR member C.J. Antony. He said it was not a lone case, as only 853 out of 1,227 institutions have registered under JJ Act. He said that they have taken note of the report published by DC last week regarding the childrens home. In it, secretary Biju Prabhakar had said that the institution was one of the many allowed to function because of a pending Supreme Court case. Many orphanages had claimed to have converted to hostels, according to Mr Prabhakar. He had said that as some orphanages without registration challenged the HC verdict which directed the state to take over the care of the children, the state was forced to wait for the response. According to the CWC report, the Divine Childrens Home also claimed to be a hostel. But when DC rang up Alice Thomas, director of the Mudavanmugal institution, she y told us that it was no hostel and that they admitted only children with a destitute certificate from the village officer. India has no statistics of death due to Fentanyl, as it has not started to maintain such statistics. (Representational Images) Hyderabad: Fentanyl, an opioid, is sold in the local market on a doctors prescription. Costing Rs 600 per injection, it is a medication for excruciating pain, primarily prescribed for cancer patients. The illicit use of Fentanyl is of growing concern in Asia, Africa and acute in the US as it has killed over 70,000 globally. Labelled as a horror drug, it is being mixed with cocaine and heroin. It comes in the form of an injection and patches and is said to relax the skeleton muscle after intake. The effect lasts for 1 to 2 hours. It gives a rapid kick (psychological relief), so drug addicts use small quantity in the form of injections The Narcotics Control Bureau seized a large quantity of Fentanyl in 2017 in Delhi. India has no statistics of death due to Fentanyl, as it has not started to maintain such statistics. When mixed with other drugs like cocaine, Fentanyl works by blocking pain receptors in the brain and increases production of the happiness-inducing chemical dopamine. The common names in the drug circuit for Fentanyl is Apache, China Girl, China White, Dance Fever and Crush. It is available in brands such as Actiq, Duragesic, Fentora, Onsolis, Sublimaze and Instanyl. China was the first to manufacture and export it to the US, Mexico, Asia and West Asia. Indian pharma labs have also begun to manufacture it. Fentanyl is scheduled under the X category of the Indian Drug Control Act, 1945. This means that the pharmacist should only sell it under a doctors prescription and there should be a drug supervisor during purchase, said Dr Akula Sanjay Reddy, pharmacologist and president of the Telangana Pharmacy Association. However, due to the absence of both, Fentanyl is being misused, he said. He said Fentanyl is used for chronic cancer pain, not any ordinary body aces; it is used by placing the patch on the skin or through an injection. When mixed with heroin and cocaine, Fentanyl works immediately to relax the skeleton muscle and give a rapid kick (psychological relief), so drug addicts use small quantity in the form of injections. India does have addiction problems. Home Minister Rajnath Singh specifically acknowledged that addiction to tramadol and Fentanyl is a growing problem. An overdose of Fentanyl with any other drug can claim a life, said a senior officer with the Narcotic Control Bureau, Bengaluru. The government acknow-ledgement has not been sufficient; the government corruption plays a role with pharmaceutical corporations, wholesale exporters, and internet companies responsible for the illicit flow of opioids out of India, he said. The Centre for Strategic & International Studies carried out research on the opioid crisis. Fentanyl has become the centre of the opioid crisis in the US. Reportedly, 1.25 crore people in the United States have abused opioids. In October, US President Donald Trump declared the opioid crisis a public health emergency. He asked China to crack down using the death penalty. Considered to be the worst, the most dangerous, addictive and deadly substance of them all, Fentanyl caused the death of over 77,000 people last year. If China cracks down on this drug using the death penalty for distributors and pushers, the results will be incredible. Hyderabad: Unidentified persons pelted stones and damaged two cars belonging to All India Forward Bloc leaders including Mr T. Srinivas Reddy, who is contesting on the party ticket the Rajendranagar Assembly constituency. According to Mailardevpally inspector K. Sathaiah Goud, late on Wednesday night, the window panes of two cars belonging to Mr Srinivas Reddy and his supporter were damaged in the stone-throwing. It is suspected that some rival party members were involved in the incident. A case was registered on the complaint of Mr Srinivas Reddy for the probe, he said. Several incidents of clashes between the supporters of TRS and the Mahakutami were reported at several parts in the state. Prompt intervention of the police prevented them from escalating into major incidents. Mild tension prevailed on Wednesday night at Papireddy colony in Serlingampaly, when local TRS supporters staged a protest alleging that the supporters of Mahakutami were distributing money to the voters. Supporters of the Telugu Desam and Congress also gathered there and they all started attacking each other. The Cyberabad police who were alerted to the incident rushed there immediately and dispersed the crowds. Similar incidents were reportd at Bhongir, Atmakur, Kukatpally and Nirmal, where the supporters of TRS and Mahakutami made allegations against each other for distributing money to the voters. Shivakumars letter comes a day after the Tamil Nadu government filed a contempt petition against the Karnataka minister and the Central Water Commission. Chennai: In a statesman-like gesture, upper riparian Karnataka on Thursday offered her Tamil Nadu brothers and sisters to remove some misconceptions about the Mekedatu balancing-reservoir-cum-drinking-water project and cordially resolve the issue. Dashing off a letter to the Chief Minister, Edappadi K Palaniswami, significant in the context of Thursday evening resolution by the Tamil Nadu Assembly, Karnataka Water Resources and Medical Education minister, D.K. Shivakumar has sought an appointment with the former to present the project details and also to have a discussion as this issue pertaining to the Cauvery river could be sorted out amicably. In the letter, which he graciously posted on social network Twitter, Shivakumar said that Cauvery continues to be the lifeline for the people of both Tamil Nadu and Karnataka and sacred to them. People of both states desire to have a permanent solution on the issues pertaining to the Cauvery, he reiterated to Mr. Palaniswami. Stating that Karnataka was for amicably resolving the Mekedatu issue, he said, this project will also help in regulating the releases in such a judicious manner that the excess water during the good monsoon season is not allowed to flow from the Mettur dam into the sea unnecessarily as has happened during the current year. The actual reality of the project is different from the misconceptions in the minds of Government and people of Tamil Nadu, he emphasised. Though Mr. Shivakumars letter comes a day after the Tamil Nadu government filed a contempt petition against the Karnataka minister and the Central Water Commission over the Mekedatu project, he told reporters in Bengaluru on Thursday that the project was being considered only for the power needs of Karnataka and not for irrigation. He also urged Tamil Nadu not to politicize the issue. THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: About 250 computers that were lying unused at the government Secretariat premises is turning out to be valuable assets for the cash-strapped Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) for making baby steps for its major computerisation plans. Considering a request of the KSRTC, the government allotted the 250 old reusable computers and 12 printers to KSRTC. The 250 computers included about 100 computers with central processing units (CPUs), monitors, key board and monitors, and 150 CPUs alone. KSRTC will be using this for making baby steps for its major computerisation plans. KSRTC chairman and managing director Tomin J Thachankary told DC that technical officials from KSRTC had examined the computers that were lying unused and only those which could be reused were being taken by the corporation. The computers will be mainly used for training purposes as the KSRTC is gearing up for computerisation. "KSRTC is now using DOS-based computer applications. Now we are planning a major computerisation, which includes e-ticketing and traffic management. However owing to financial constraint, the project could not be taken forward. Hence, as I came to know that many reusable computers were remaining unused at secretariat, I approached the government IT department," said Mr. Thachankary. Government sources said that with the implementation of e-office in all government departments, many computers used in government Secretariat had to be replaced with new ones owing to compatibility issues. Most of the computers were not damaged, but could not be used by secretariat departments. Hence it would have even gone as e-waste. Reusable computers of Secretariat used to be supplied to institutions like government schools free of cost, but is small numbers only. But it is for the first time that we are supplying reusable computers to a government institution in large numbers, said government sources. Puducherry: Puducherry Lt Governor Kiran Bedi welcomed the Supreme Court judgment upholding the nomination of three BJP members as MLAs in the Assembly of the Union Territory by the Centre . The Supreme Court on Thursday had dismissed the appeal filed against Madras High Court ruling inducting the nomination made by the Centre to the Puducherry Legislative Assembly without taking Chief Minister V. Narayanaswamy into confidence and without consulting his government. Expressing happiness over the judgment Ms Bedi said that "in the end the Law prevailed and upheld. Exceedingly grateful and happy to see the judgement passed by the Supreme Court validating the Nomination Of the Three Nominated MLAs to the Legislative Assembly Of Puducherry, by GOI (Government of India) as per the Law," said Ms Bedi in her whatsapp message. "We thank the three MLAs for their forbearance as they went through many unpleasant situations, sometimes highly disrespectful, to finally achieve this judgement today. In the end the Law prevailed and upheld. They can now serve for the prosperity of Puducherry as a whole," she added. Later in the day, after meeting the three legislators, Ms Bedi said that the Supreme Court order came as a great relief to the legislators. "Everything that happened was strictly following the law. But in these years I have seen the legislators being humiliated, and disrespected. Now the supreme court has upheld the law which came as a great relief for them", said Ms Bedi while talking to media persons. Bengaluru: The National Green Tribunal has asked the Karnataka Government to transfer Rs 500 crore to an escrow account to implement an action plan to rejuvenate Bellandur Lake. The government was also directed to pay Rs 50 crore as environmental compensation/penalty, which shall be deposited with Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) for the restoration of the environment. The NGT has slapped a fine of Rs 25 crore on the BBMP, out of which Rs 10 crore will be transferred to Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB). The order further said that the government should furnish a performance guarantee to execute the action plan in a time-bound manner failing which the state could be asked to pay Rs 100 crore. Accepting the recommendations of the Panjwani Committee Report that says no pollutant should be discharged into the lakes and Storm Water Drains, the Tribunal has constituted a Committee to oversee the implementation of the directions. The Committee will be headed by Justice Santosh Hegde, former Judge, Supreme Court of India, Dr T.V. Ramachandra, lead Scientist, IISc and a nominee of CPCB, KSPCB. The Tribunal noted that the two biggest lakes, Bellandur and Varthur have become the largest septic tanks in the city due to sheer callousness and indifference of the authorities. The lakes are filled up with sewage, effluents, solid municipal waste, construction & demolition waste (debris) and weed, resultantly there is not even one millilitre of clean water in them, the Tribunal observed saying this was nothing short of an environmental emergency. The Namma Bengaluru Foundation has welcomed the verdict and stated that it would not only support the committee in restoring the lakes, but would also on its own rigorously pursue the prosecution of those who have violated norms. Election Commission has made elaborate arrangements for a smooth conduct of the voting process in 32,815 polling stations. (Photo: ANI) Hyderabad: Voting for the 119 seats of Telangana is underway today. Over 2.8 crore voters of Telangana are expected to exercise their franchise to elect the new government in the state. Voting began at 7 am and will conclude at 5 pm, except in 13 constituencies classified as Left Wing Extremist-affected, where the process ends at 4 pm. As many as 1,821 candidates, including a transgender, are in fray in todays assembly election which is the first full-fledged polls in the countrys youngest state. Election Commission has made elaborate arrangements for a smooth conduct of the voting process in 32,815 polling stations. For the first time, the Election Commission is using Voters Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) in Telangana. The Assembly polls in Telangana were originally scheduled to be held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha elections next year, but the House was dissolved prematurely on September 6 as per a recommendation by the state cabinet. Counting of votes would be taken up on December 11. Here are LIVE updates on Telangana Assembly elections 2018 03:50 pm: 56.17 per cent voter turnout recorded till 3 pm. 02:27 pm: I checked my name online 2-3 weeks ago, my mother and my names were there, my father and my sister's names were missing. Today we went to cast vote but my name was also missing. I don't understand how's my name was missing. I've been living here for 12 year, badminton player Jwala Gutta told news agency ANI. (Photo: ANI) 02:20 pm: Challa Vamshi Chand Reddy, Congress candidate from Kalwakurthy, Mahbubnagar was allegedly attacked by unknown miscreants earlier on Friday. He was later shifted to Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) Hospital, Hyderabad and is out of danger now. (Photo: ANI) 02:03 pm: Caretaker Chief Minister of Telangana cast vote at a polling station in Siddipet. (Photo: ANI) 02:02 pm: Caretaker Minister KT Rama Rao cast vote at a polling station in Hyderabad earlier today. (Photo: ANI) 01:38 pm: 49.15 per cent voter turnout recorded till 1 pm. 12:35 pm: BJP MP Bandaru Dattatreya cast vote at booth no. 229 in Ramnagar of Musheerabad constituency in Hyderabad. (Photo: ANI) 12:10 pm: Sania Mirza cast her vote at Film Nagar Cultural Center in Hyderabad. (Photo: ANI) 12:05 pm: 23.4 per cent voter turnout recorded till 11:00 am. 10:02 am: 10.15 per cent voter turnout recorded till 9:30 am 09:57 am: TRS MP K Kavitha stands in a queue to cast vote at polling booth no. 177 in Pothangal, Nizamabad. (Photo: ANI) 09:54 am: Actor Chiranjeevi in a queue to cast his vote at polling booth no. 148 in Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad. (Photo: ANI) 09:48 am: AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi cast vote at polling booth no. 317 at Mailardevpally, Shastripuram. (Photo: ANI) 09:20 am: 8.97 per cent voter turnout recorded till 9 am. 08:49 am: Deputy Chief Minister Kadiyan Srihari cast his vote in Warangal. (Photo: ANI) 08:31 am: BJP's G Kishan Reddy cast his vote at polling booth no.7 in Kachiguda, Hyderabad. (Photo: ANI) 08:20 am: Actor Allu Arjun stood in a queue to cast his vote at booth no. 152 in Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad. (Photo: ANI) 08:18 am: Actor Akkineni Nagarjuna, his wife and actor Amala Akkineni waited in queue to cast their votes at booth no. 151 in Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad. (Photo: ANI) 07:55 am: Voting is yet to begin at the polling station at GHMC Indoor Stadium, Amberpet. The delay is due to a technical problem. Voting in the Telangana began at 7 am on Friday. 07:50 am: Telangana Irrigation Minister T Harish Rao cast his vote in polling booth no. 102 in Siddipet constituency. (Photo: ANI) 07:35 am: People queue outside a polling station in Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad to cast their votes. 07:33 am: Nizamabad: Voters exercise their franchise at a polling station in Pothangal. 07:23 am: BJP President Amit Shah has appealed to voters in Telangana to exercise their franchise. "I appeal to my sisters and brothers of Telangana to come out and vote in large numbers for a appeasement free and development oriented government. I specially urge my young friends to participate in this biggest festival of democracy without fail," Amit Shah tweeted. 06:58 am: Nizamabad: Voters queue outside a polling station in Pothangal where voting will begin shortly. According to the CBI, the accused police officers had abducted Sohrabuddin and Kausar Bi on November 26, 2005 when they were travelling to Sangli in Maharashtra from Hyderabad in a private bus along with Prajapati. (Photo: File) Mumbai: The Special CBI court in Mumbai to pronounce its verdict in Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case on December 21. The court on Wednesday (December 5) wrapped up the trial in the 2005 Sohrabuddin Sheikh and 2006 Tulsiram Prajapati fake encounter case after the defence lawyers concluded their final arguments. On the last day of final arguments CBI counsel B P Raju told the judge that the case was handed over to the CBI five years after the incident and examination of witnesses began 12 years after the crime was committed due to which there were some lacuna in the probe. He also said that some of the star witnesses also turned hostile during the trial that hampered the case of prosecution. Responding to this special judge S J Sharma said, I dont blame CID (which investigated the crime at initial stage). I dont blame the CBI. There are statements of witnesses and if they come here (before the court) and say something else, it is not your fault. You did your job. During the course of trial, the prosecution examined 210 witnesses, of which 92 turned hostile. According to the CBI, the accused police officers had abducted Sohrabuddin and Kausar Bi on November 26, 2005 when they were travelling to Sangli in Maharashtra from Hyderabad in a private bus along with Prajapati. Prajapati, who was a witness to the incident, was allegedly killed by the Rajasthan and Gujarat police. The Election Commission has banned use of mobile phones inside polling stations. (Photo: AP) Hyderabad : A man was taken into custody after he allegedly took a selfie while casting his vote at a polling station at Rajendra Nagar in Hyderabad on Friday, police said. The voter identified as Shiv Shankar, clicked a selfie inside the polling booth on Friday morning, following which a complaint was lodged by an election official and a case was registered, they said. "Use of mobile phone within the polling station is prohibited. He took a selfie inside the polling station and has been taken into custody," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Shamshabad Zone) N Prakash Reddy told PTI. A case under IPC section 188 (Disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) has been registered, the DCP said. The Election Commission has banned use of mobile phones inside polling stations. Thanjavur: A huge tent erected within the Brihadisvara temple compound in Thanjavur district for an upcoming Art of Living event has caused major furore among devotees, historians and residents alike. According to The Art of Living, the event is focused around the conversation of Kashmiri Shaivism and all necessary permissions had been taken for the event from the Archaeological Survey of India, The 11th century Shaivaite temple, also known as the Tanjavur Big Temple, has been declared a World Heritage Site and one of the 'Great Living Chola Temples' by UNESCO and is being taken care of by the ASI since 1922. It is a meditation programme and there will be no noise or music in the premises, to disturb devotees or the sanctity of the temple, said a representative of the Art of Living. "We have received required permission to conduct the event over 15 days ago. ASI and the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department approved our request. The only conditions laid down were to not cause any damage to the temple or set up any permanent structures," he said. Thanjavur is Ravishankar's hometown and he wished to have an event here. This isn't the first occasion when pandals are being put up of such a size. The Collector himself has conducted an event here, other private groups too, come and sing bhajans here often," an ASI official in Tanjavur said, speaking to Deccan Chronicle. he also said that the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department recommended to the ASI to allow the event after a comprehensive letter was submitted to them. "Such an event is absolutely allowed. When the 1000th anniversary of the temple was conducted, a bigger pandal was put. Concerts and dance events have happened too. There is nothing wrong in them doing so provided they do not obstruct the route of the devotees. Near the ASI office outside or away from the main sanctum is fine," said a historian. The matter came to light when an independent journalist, Ar. Meyyammai noticed the construction of the pandal and posted it on social media following a visit to the temple. "The structure is to the left of the main sanctum, obstructing the entrance. No pandal this big has been erected, and definitely not for private persons," she said, speaking to Deccan Chronicle. The issue may have risen due to Sri Sri Ravishankar's association with the BJP, some say. "Godmen like him have close ties with the BJP. This is why ASI, which is a central body, is giving in to their demands. Irrespective of who is asking, a heritage site cannot be used as a venue for private events. The state is already struggling to maintain its temples and idols. If they give permission in such an iconic temple, such events will start mushrooming across the state," warns VCK leader and Tamil writer D Ravikumar."The ASI stopped giving such important landmarks even to film shootings as they would destroy the site. Some idols and structures were whitewashed, plastics thrown everywhere and sometimes even ancient sculptures were moved around. If a genuine discussion or meditation is about to happen outside of the sanctum of the temple, it may. If it disrupts the devotees, it's a problem," the historian adds. This isn't the first time Art of Living, has offended people because of the location chosen. In 2016, the National Green Tribunal slapped a fine of `5 crore on the establishment after an expert committee determined that the pollution caused at the World Culture Festival which was hung on the banks of Yamuna in New Delhi would take at least 10 years to restore. Vijayawada: Members of the Muslim community demanded reconstruction of Babri Masjid on the anniversary of its demolition, on Thursday. Black Day was observed in Vijayawada and Guntur cities and solidarity meetings held in which the speakers alleged that the BJP was trying to sow seeds of discords and create differences among Hindus and Muslims by raising the issue of Ram Mandir construction. They said that this was being done as general elections are around the corner. The Muslim Samkshema Samiti, led by its state president Mukhtar Ali submitted a memorandum to the officials in Vijayawada seeking action against fundamentalist forces and efforts to bridge the gaps between the two communities. The Muslim United Front, led by its president Md. Kaleem, demanded the Union government rebuild Babri Masjid at its original site in Ayodhya. He expressed anguish that the people who demolished Babri masjid are still roaming free. Meanwhile, the Communist parties observed December 6 as Secular and Constitution Protection Day. CPM state secretary P. Madhu, CPI state secretary K. Ramakrishna, Jana Sena state convener Ch. Pardhasarathy, CPM state executive committee member Ch. Babu Rao and Muslim leaders addressed the meeting. They expressed concern over the increased attacks on Muslims and oppressed communities in the society in the NDA rule. Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu tries his hand at the wheel of a Kia Motors eco-friendly vehicle in Vijayawada on Thursday. (Photo: DC) Vijaywada: Kia Motors India, the worlds 8th largest South Korea-based automaker, on Thursday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Andhra Pradesh to collaborate on the Partnership for Future Eco Mobility. Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu who was present at the MoU signing ceremony said the state government has been encouraging electric cars as they are good for the environment. In the coming days, around 7,500 electric vehicles will be deployed in the state for garbage collection. Mr Naidu also travelled in an electric car manufactured by Kia Motors. As part of the agreement, Kia Motors has provided the government with three of its global best-selling eco car a Niro Hybrid, Niro Plug-in Hybrid and a Niro EV. Kia had also installed a vehicle charging station in Vijayawada, for representatives from the regional government to charge their new environmentally-friendly fleet. The Niro EV is a fully electric crossover capable of travelling 455 kilometres on a single charge by Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test procedure (WLTP) combined test cycle. Kia Motors India managing director and CEO Kookhyun Shim was also present. The partnership signifies Kias long-term commitment to build eco-friendly vehicles at its new Anantapur plant, an important step for the future of clean mobility in the rapidly expanding Indian market. The AP government is developing 14 Smart Cities to improve the quality of living and to enable businesses to optimise their resources. The Korean brand is working with the regional government to design a new generation of transportation system that would serve the citizens in each of the Smart Cities. This is part of a wider plan by Kia to offer alternative mobility within the Indian market. Future mobility will be defined by connected and sustainable technologies that play an important role in changing customer lifestyles, said Mr. Kookhyun Shim. Kia is taking a lead in the global eco-friendly vehicle market, and we are confident of achieving the same in India. This new partnership with the AP government highlights how we can support the growth of EV infrastructure, he added. Kias ACE strategy to produce Autonomous, Connected and ECO/Electric cars will see the brand adopt connected car technologies across every vehicle segment by 2030. Further to this, the company plans to offer 16 electrified vehicles by 2025. The company continues to invest in the development and commercialisation of autonomous driving and eco-friendly vehicles. Kia has been developing eco-friendly vehicle technology for over twenty years. In 2009, it launched the sub-brand EcoDynamics in the pursuit of zero emissions vehicles. Since the introduction of Kias first EcoDynamics vehicle, the Forte LPi Hybrid in 2009, Kia has expanded its line-up of eco-friendly vehicles to three hybrids, two plug-in hybrids and two battery electric vehicles across the global markets. It also continues to develop fuel-cell electric vehicle technology. The Niro Hybrid and Niro Plug-in Hybrid are already among the best-selling hybrid vehicles globally, employing parallel hybrid powertrains which switch between petrol and electric power or offer a combination of both, recharging their batteries whenever possible to maximize electric vehicle range. New Delhi: A day after being denied permission to take out three rath yatras in West Bengal, BJP chief Amit Shah said on Friday that the Mamata Banerjee-led ruling Trinamul is scared of the saffron partys growing popularity and accused Didi of throttling democracy in the state by denying permission for its road shows. Declaring that the BJP will definitely carry out yatras, Mr Shah said, We will definitely carry out all yatras, nobody can stop us. The BJP is committed to change in West Bengal. The yatras have not been cancelled, just postponed. Hitting out at the West Bengal Chief Minister, Mr Shah said, She knows these yatras will lay the foundation for change. That is why she is trying to stop them The way Mamata Banerjee is using her government to trample upon democratic norms is very undemocratic and is throttling democracy. Mr Shahs attack on the Trinamul came soon after the Calcutta high court on Friday rapped the state government for not responding to BJP letters seeking permission for its rallies. The division bench of the High Court also directed top state officials to take a decision on the BJPs rath yatras by December 14. Mamata didis attempts to deny the BJP its right to undertake political campaign in the state to expose Trinamuls misgovernance has been thwarted by the court, which has asked Bengal administration to cooperate. Big win for democracy, tweeted Mr Shah. While the Election Commission gave shockers to several voters by deleting their names, a large number of new voters celebrated their first participation in the democratic process as they thronged polling booths across the state on Friday. (DC) Hyderabad: The use of technology, which officials thought would help purify electoral rolls, resulted in several voters being excluded from voting. Those who had their voter ID card assumed that they would find their names in the voter list. They found that they were left out not only on Friday. Chief Electoral Officer Rajat Kumar apologised. Deletion of voters has been a major complaint. It is mistake that has happened and it is a problem which needs to be seriously addressed. Those who have been denied of their vote, I apologise to them. I am responsible for it, he said. The Election Commiss-ion undertook the National Electoral Roll Purification and Authenti-cation Programme (NERPAP) by linking Aadhaar data with voter ID cards. In 2015, the Telangana State Election Commission deleted 27 lakh names, which was put to an end by the Supreme Court. The hashtag #whereismyvote trended all day as thousands failed to find their names in the voters list. Mr Kumar said, We conducted inquiry on (the missing name of) Jwala Gutta and personally apologise to her and every citizen. Her ID was deleted in 2015 under Intensive Revision of Electoral Rolls (IRER). Her mothers name was not deleted. We are asking for a formal report from the ERO who was there during final publication. He added that if the names were deleted in 2015, Form 7 notices should be issued to the persons concerned. If there was no reply to Form 7, the name would be deleted. Mr Kumar said, In 2016, 2017 and 2018 SSR was done. Even from October 25 to November 5, we asked voters to check their names through all possible media. We are apologetic that they couldnt utilize this opportunity. The EC did not release the list of voters whose names had been deleted. Mr Kumar said, On September 10, we published the electoral roll, there were 2.61 crore voters. When we went to this election, there were 2.81 crore voters. In the two-month period 21 lakh additions were done, the names of 3 lakh dead voters and 2 lakh duplicate voters were deleted. Experts said the EC erred in the name of removing duplicates. The details of the algorithm, source-code or the creator of software, were not disclosed. A PIL was filed in the Hyderabad High Court over the deletion of votes stating that using algorithms was illegal, and in violation of fundamental rights. Mr Srinivas Kodali, who filed the PIL, said, People have been complaining to the EC before the elections. It is unfortunate that the EC did not pay heed. It tried to hush up the issue by not disclosing how it had done the deletions. They made the deletions with the help of Aadhaar. The commission acted in a way which undermined democracy. Mr Kodali said the EC disclose all the deletions that were made. They need to disclose where the deletions happened in every constituency at the polling booth level, he said. From December 26, the voter enrollment programme will be launched and will be finalized in February. The EC said it would be more careful and asked voters to take it seriously. Mr Kiran Chandra, general secretary of the Free Software Movement of India, said, Aadhaar was not supposed to be integrated with voting, as any individual who did not link Aadhaar would lose their right to vote. The EC has to explain why it matched the voter list with Aadhaar. Hyderabad: TRS president and caretaker Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and his prime rival Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy expressed the confidence that they would win the Assembly elections that were held on Friday. Mr Rao said that there was a wave in favour of the TRS in the state, while Mr Reddy said that the Congress would bag at least 80 seats out of the 119 in the state Assembly. Addressing mediapersons after voting at Chintamadaka village in Siddipet constituency, Mr Rao said, There is a wave in favour of the TRS in the state. Scores of people have exercised their vote. The aged have also exercised their vote. Mr Reddy said, The voters are leaning towards the Congress. After seeing the voting trend, it is clear that the Prajakutami is going to win the elections. It will end TRS rule. The Prajakutami will get more than 80 seats out of 119. The Prajakutami will form government on December 12. According to him, fearing defeat, TRS leaders had started attacking Congress leaders on and before polling day. They have attacked Pilot Rohith Reddy in Tanduru on Thursday and Madhu Yashki Goud. On polling day, the TRS attacked Vamsichand Reddy and K.S. Ratnam. The police remained spectators when the TRS leaders were attacking Congress leaders. The officials who acted in a biased manner will also be punished. Nizamabad MP Kalvakuntla Kavitha appreciated everyone who voted on the day. She tweeted, Various options explored worldwide. Yet, the traditional method of voting in person is most tamper-proof! Got to go with it until we are sure about other methods! Salute to everyone who has voted today, despite various difficulties! BJP leader Nallu Indrasena Reddy approached the Election Commission complaining that Mr Rao had violated the election code at Chintamadaka by announcing that the TRS would win the elections. He made this statement when the polling was still continuing, he said. In New Delhi, Congress president Rahul Gandhi alerted party workers about EVMs. In a post on his Twitter handle, Mr Gandhi said, Congress party workers, be vigilant after polls close today. In MP, EVMs behaved strangely after polling: Some stole a bus and vanished for 2 days! Others slipped away and were found drinking in a hotel. In Modis India, the EVMs have mysterious powers. Stay alert! (sic) Disappointed voters in Wanaparthy demanded that government remove their names from the census as well. They even confronted officials, demanding the reason for deletion of their names from the electoral rolls. Hyderabad: Voters across constituencies complained that their names were missing from the voters list when they turned up at polling booths on Friday. A large number of people who claimed to be voters staged protests in Shantinagar, Pattarghatti and Bhukthapur. Some people blocked a road in Adilabad, alleging that their names were deleted due to political pressures. They alleged that it was a deliberate attempt in favor of the TRS government and its candidates. Similar scenes were witnessed in Jang-aon wher the agitators staged a protest on the Hyderabad-Hanmakonda highway. Disappointed voters in Wanaparthy demanded that government remove their names from the census as well. They even confronted officials, demanding the reason for deletion of their names from the electoral rolls. Around 60 voters from Arun Colony falling under Uppal constituency were turned away. The number was higher from other neighbouring colonies. The GHMC polling officer said our station was at Gandhinagar. On reaching there, the officer asked us to go to Kapra Zilla Parishad Colony. We were turned away from four polling centres, said Mr Charles Allaby, a resident of Arun Colony. Our family is from Begumpet which is now under Kukatpally constituency. We voted in the GHMC elections in 2016 and have voter IDs. We have been living in the area from 2010. After our names were deleted, we reapplied, but without verification, we were deleted from the voters list, said Ms Tejaswini Pagadala. Mr Suresh Kumar, general secretary, Anand Bagh Resident Welfare Association, alleged that several voters names were missing from the list in Anandbagh,Vishnupuri and other colonies of Malkajgiri constituency. He said senior citizens who had been voting for the 40 years were surprised to see their names missing. Although officers are required to go door to door to update the voters list, this was not done. This was to benefit the ruling party, he alleged. Over 1,000 voters found their names missing from a polling booth in Filmnagar Club in Jubilee Hills. The citizens said that their names were deleted even though they hold voter identity cards. These scenes were reported in at least one polling booth across 119 Assembly constituencies. On the flip-side, citizens in Kukatpally assembly constituency complained that two houses in Bharatnagar had 68 voters and another house had 74. Residents lamented that there were several discrepancies in voter enumeration and alleged that officials had worked at the behest of the TRS government. Just weeks after a toxic Twitter exchange between President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Imran Khan, the former has reportedly sought Islamabads help in the Afghan peace negotiations. While the full text of his letter to PM Khan is not known, Trumps tenor seems to be mellower. One must not be surprised by this blow-hot-blow-cold game that has become the hallmark of the current state of Pakistan-US relations. Ironically, while the Afghan war may be the basic cause of the tension between Pakistan and America, it has also been a reason for the two estranged allies to stay together. More than ever, the US appears serious in finding a political solution to the Afghan crisis. Trumps message has come at a time when Zalmay Khalilzad, the special US envoy, has arrived in the region for his third round of shuttle diplomacy. Although Khalilzads optimism about reaching a peace deal before the presidential elections in Afghanistan is a bit far-fetched, there are some strong indications of a thaw in negotiations with the Afghan Taliban. Being Afghan by origin has certainly given him more confidence. But there is a long way to go before one can hope to see the end to the longest war the United States has ever engaged in. Notwithstanding all diplomatic efforts, the war has intensified, taking a huge toll on both sides. Khalilzad is engaging with the insurgents who appear much stronger with their successes on the battlefield. The increasing diplomatic legitimacy has certainly boosted their confidence. Declared as a terrorist group in the past, the Taliban are now recognised as an important military and political force in Afghanistan. There is no indication yet of the Taliban accepting a ceasefire as being demanded by Washington. Khalilzad has held two preliminary meetings with Taliban representatives in Doha in October and November. The talks were mainly focused on what the Taliban described as part of a trust-building process. There has not been any statement from the US side about the outcome of the two meetings. The Taliban reiterated their demand of official recognition for their office, scrapping the UN black list and release of Taliban prisoners as confidence-building measures. The Doha political office is critical for the insurgents to maintain contact with other countries. The Taliban had made it very clear that formal negotiations could not be started without the US willing to discuss the withdrawal of its military forces from Afghanistan. One major challenge that Khalilzad faces is to get the Kabul government on board the reconciliation process. While giving tacit support to direct US talks with the insurgents, President Ashraf Ghani has expressed some reservations over his government being kept away from the negotiating table. The Afghan President does not share Khalilzads optimism that a peace deal is around the corner. Addressing a conference on Afghanistan in Geneva last month, Ghani stressed the need for an Afghan-owned, Afghan-led peace process as the only viable path to ending the long conflict. Ghani insists that any peace negotiations must include respect for Afghanistans Constitution and its provisions with regard to women, and an end to foreign interference in his countrys affairs. He announced the formation of a 12-member team to negotiate with the Afghan Taliban. The Geneva conference, in which 61 countries and several international organisations participated, has placed a renewed focus on the imperatives of a negotiated peace in Afghanistan. The participants also agreed that the peace process cannot move forward successfully unless the Taliban entered into talks with the Afghan government. But there is no indication of the Taliban moving away from their hard-line position that rejects negotiations with the Kabul government. The insurgents have also rebuffed Ghanis latest peace talks offer. Notwithstanding the Talibans position, there have been some unofficial contacts established between the two sides at international conferences. One such informal interaction took place last month in Moscow, but both downplayed the importance of sharing a platform. The invitation for participation in the Moscow meeting was seen as a big diplomatic triumph for the Afghan Taliban. The insurgent group said in a statement that participation in the Moscow meeting was not about holding negotiations with any side. The Moscow meeting that was attended by representatives of 11 regional countries called for the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan and a political solution to the problem. It will now be difficult for anyone to defend the invasion of Afghanistan under the excuse of terrorism, a Taliban spokesman said. Surely, Pakistans role in Afghan reconciliation is extremely important, but it seems that it is difficult for Islamabad to come up to Washingtons expectations of making the talks work. It will certainly be in Pakistans own interest to help facilitate a negotiated political settlement. But there is a big question mark over its capacity to deliver on its promises. By arrangement with Dawn The Tuesday night extradition of AgustaWestland middleman Christian Michel from the UAE is being seen in the BJP as nothing short of a midnight coup by the Narendra Modi government, given the familiarity the British national has with the inner workings of Indias military-bureaucratic nexus, and the secrets he could spill on who the major beneficiaries could be, in the Rs 3,700 crore VVIP chopper deal case. The purported diary in the CBIs possession the dyslexic Michel claims he did not write but the other middleman Guido Haschke says was dictated to him mention fam and AP as receiving millions in bribes. This is the key piece of evidence that feeds into the BJPs narrative that the payoffs could lead to the very top echelons of the Congress, as well as bureaucrats and defence ministry personnel and the IAF itself. But is the diary admissible evidence, given that both the Jain hawala diaries and the Sahara diaries that implicated Mr Modi himself were dismissed by court? While nailing the culprits may be an imperative, there are key elements here that need to be addressed, the first being the timing of the move itself. It fuels the Congress charge that with ruling partys weakening hold over the BJP-run state of Rajasthan, flying the middleman in, barely 48 hours before campaigning closes in the politically-charged state, raises the fundamental question on whether Mr Michel and Agusta-Westland is to the BJP, what Rafale has become to the Congress a convenient electoral tool to score points against a vulnerable rival rather than get to the bottom of the missing millions. Second, questions are also being raised over the rationale behind involving foreign countries in domestic politics. CBI and ED investigators are, of course, gung-ho about the operation that brought Mr Michel in and stopped him from fleeing his Dubai safe haven. But with the CBI in its current state of disarray, widely seen as highly partisan, and with Mr Michel, seemingly pronounced guilty even before the investigation has begun, the government must guard itself against the Oppositions charge that the body is now a tool that is being used to settle political scores. His lawyers allegation that he was being forced to name UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi as a beneficiary casts further doubt on whether the probe will remain free from manipulation. The Congress claims that in the first place it was the UPA government that had scrapped the deal and instituted an enquiry. With Indias defence deals now par for the course in this season of electioneering, Indias defence needs must remain paramount. The toxic turn the entire Michel extradition has taken only adds to the nations growing disquiet that this is not so. TALLAHASSEE Gov.-elect Ron DeSantis made two major hires to his incoming administration, tapping former House Speaker Richard Corcoran for Education commissioner and Jared Moskowitz, a Democratic state representative from South Florida, as director of the states emergency response agency. Richard is known as a no-nonsense reformer whose sole focus has been how best to support students, parents and teachers, DeSantis said. This issue is very personal to me. (My wife) Casey and I believe that the future of our children and the future of all Floridas children depend on our education system. The Corcoran move is formally a recommendation to the state Board of Education, which will make the final decision on the hire, but it is presumed that the board a seven-member panel appointed by the governor will adopt DeSantis pick. Marva Johnson, chair of the board and a transition team advisor to DeSantis, said Corcoran has the knowledge and experience to ensure continued success at the Department of Education and to protect Floridas legacy as a national leader in education. Corcoran is a Land OLakes attorney who was term-limited this year after serving eight years in the House, the last two as House Speaker and doesnt have a background in education. His wife, Anne, however, is a founder of a Pasco County charter school. He has supported major school choice policies, such as a program allowing charter school companies to compete directly against failing traditional public schools and a new voucher program allowing bullied students to attend a school of their parents choice. Those programs are opposed by teachers unions and some school administrators who argue they deprive traditional school systems of authority and operating funds. (Richard Corcoran) oversaw the passage of some of the most destructive education legislation in recent memory, the Florida Education Association, the states largest teachers union posted on Twitter. We owe it to our students to conduct a national search for a highly qualified education professional as commissioner of education. #StopCorcoran. Besides the policies Corcoran pushed, critics objected to his zeal for expanding voucher programs and making it easier for charter schools to operate. Upon taking over the House in 2016, he called the FEAs lawsuit against a voucher program downright evil. Pam Stewart resigned as education commissioner Tuesday, paving the way for Corcoran. She made $276,000 per year in the role. Moskowitz is a Coral Springs Democrat who works as general counsel to AshBritt Environmental, a disaster management company that contracts for debris cleanup and other emergency response services after disasters. Representative Moskowitz will be a great leader for the future of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, preparing our state for situations that need rapid response and real-time execution in the face of crisis, DeSantis said. The current DEM director, Wes Maul, had already announced his resignation effective next month. Maul earned $141,000 in the position. DeSantis will be sworn in as governor Jan. 8. grohrer@orlandosentinel.com or (850) 222-5564 The 26th anniversary of Babri Masjid demolition on Thursday passed off peacefully in Ayodhya and elsewhere in Uttar Pradesh with no reports of any untoward incident from anywhere in the state. Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), which celebrated the day as 'Shaurya Diwas' (bravery day), organised a programme at its headquarters in the temple town, where seers from Ayodhya vowed to construct Ram temple. Saffron outfits took out processions in other parts of the state in support of their demand for temple construction. Muslim outfits observed a 'black day' to register their protest against the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992, by 'Karsevaks'. Speaking at the VHP programme prominent Hindu seer Mahant Suresh Das said that the date of construction of the Ram temple would be decided at the 'dharm sansad' in the 'Kumbh' in Prayagraj (Allahabad) next month. ''We have been assured that the government will clear all hurdles in the way of the Ram temple construction,'' the Mahant said claiming that he was in ''constant touch'' with the senior leaders of the BJP on the issue of Ram temple. Mosque demand Babri Masjid Action Committee convener Mohammed Afaq said that he would be submitting a memorandum to President Ramnath Kovind seeking construction of the mosque at the disputed site and ensure punishment to those behind its demolition. Security arrangements were tightened in Ayodhya and barricades were put up at all the entry points to the town. The administration had banned processions and meetings as a precautionary measure. The National Green Tribunal on Thursday asked the Karnataka Government to keep Rs 500 crore in the escrow account to implement an action plan to rejuvenate Bellandur lake in Bengaluru. The NGT, which is hearing a case of fire, pollution and encroachment in Bellanduru lake, in its final order also directed the Karnataka Government to pay Rs 50 crore to Central Pollution Control Board (CPWD) and Bhruhat Bengaluru Mahanagar Palike (BBMP) to deposit Rs 25 crore. Expressing unhappiness over the poor restoration of lake and removal of encroachments from stormwater drains in Karnataka, the NGT set up a committee headed by Former Supreme Court Judge Justice Santosh Hegde to oversee restoration work for Bellandur lake. "Recommendations made by the Panjwani committee may be carried out to ensure that no pollutant waste is discharged into the lakes. Encroachments in the catchment areas to be removed," the NGT said. Compliance with the NGT order should be overseen by a committee headed by former Supreme Court Judge Justice Santosh Hegde. IISC professor Prof Ramachandran and a nominee of the CPCB will be panel members. READ MORE Now, Bellandur gets exclusive FB page Residents' fight for a better Bellandur paying off FIR against BWSSB for discharging sewage into drain The committee has to set up a website to receive complaints and suggestions. The committee will oversee timelines and action plans to be prepared by the state of Karnataka, according to Sajan Poovayya, a senior advocate representing Namma Bengaluru Foundation. An action plan is to be prepared by the state of Karnataka within one month specifying the timeline for the various actions to be initiated, the order said. The Karnataka Government should furnish a performance guarantee to execute the action plan in a timebound manner. Karnataka should have to pay another Rs. 100 crores if there is a failure to implement the plan. "CPCB to make guidelines and regulations denoting the penalties and amounts to be recovered from individuals and institutions for failure to comply, " the order said. India on Thursday condemned the terrorist attack in Chabahar in south-eastern coast of Iran. New Delhi said that the terrorist attack at the port city of the Persian Gulf nation was despicable. We express our condolences to the government and the people of Iran and the families of the victims of this attack, Raveesh Kumar, spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, said. At least two policemen were killed and several others injured in a suicide attack in Chabahar early on Thursday. The terrorist, who wanted to drive into the local police headquarters, blew up his vehicle when he was stopped by the security guards. We wish speedy recovery to those injured. The perpetrators behind this dastardly attack should be brought to justice expeditiously. There can be no justification for any act of terror, said Kumar. New Delhi has been involved in development of Chabahar Port, with a commitment to invest $500 million. The Port and Maritime Organisation of Iran earlier this year leased out to India Ports Global Limited a part of the Phase 1 of the port (Shahid Behesti Port) for 18 months. The Chabahar Port, which is located on the South-Eastern Coast of Iran, is expected to open up greater opportunities for promotion of trade and commerce from the ports along the western coast of India to Iran, Afghanistan, Central Asia and beyond, bypassing Pakistan, which has been blocking connectivity initiatives between South and Central Asia. Seeking bail, Christian Michel, a suspected middleman in AgustaWestland scam, has claimed that there was no point in fearing that he will leave the country once freed as all his travel documents have been seized by the CBI. In his application for bail submitted before Special CBI judge Arvind Kumar on Wednesday, Michel has claimed that the allegations levelled by the CBI were "absolutely false and baseless" and nothing incriminating is to be recovered either from his possession or at his instance. Michel's lawyers, however, had urged the court keep this petition pending. The court has not set a date for hearing the bail plea while sending Michel, who was arrested after his extradition from Dubai on Tuesday night, to five days CBI custody. Read also: Investigators to confront Michel with documents His lawyers are preparing a detailed petition to place before the court countering the CBI claims when Michel will be produced before the judge next Monday as the custody ends. In the application, Michel has said that he undertakes to abide by "each and every condition" imposed by the court while granting him bail. "....as such there are no chances of his absconding or tampering with the prosecution evidence...That all the travel documents of the petitioner have been seized by the CBI, so the petitioner cannot leave the country in the absence of his travel documents," it said. However, CBI sources had earlier claimed that Michel had attempted to escape dressed in a skull cap and 'salwar kameez' from Dubai recently to prevent his handing over to Indian authorities. CBI sources said they would oppose the bail plea as his continued interrogation is needed for finding out the money trail and beneficiaries. Read also: Congress-BJP trade charges over Michel Michel also claimed in his application has that there is nothing incriminating to be recovered from his possession or at his instance. He said the CBI or Enforcement Directorate (ED) have not produced any evidence neither before the UAE court, which could connect him to with the alleged offences. He also claimed that he was not needed for further investigation as the probe is almost complete. "However, the petitioner is ready and willing to join and cooperate in the investigation, if any, as and when directed by the investigating agency," the application said. "The CBI will take sufficient long time in filing the chargesheet in the court, so no useful purpose will be served by keeping the petitioner in any custody rather it will adversely affect his effective defence," it said. EDDYSTONE A 38-year-old Chester man was preliminarily arraigned Thursday on felony charges of vehicle homicide while under the influence and multiple related offenses involving the death of a 46-year-old Philadelphia man in October. Ronald Williams Lundys blood-alcohol content was 0.177, more than twice the legal 0.08 legal driving limit, and his blood also contained marijuana, shortly after the crash that claimed the life of Ruet Pen, according to the affidavit of probable cause for Lundys arrest. Lundy, who suffered a broken hip and pelvis in the Oct. 26 crash on the Industrial Highway, was in a wheelchair when he arrived at police headquarters to surrender on the criminal complaint. He was later joined by his defense attorney, Michael Kotik, at district court. In addition to homicide by vehicle while DUI, Lundy, of Chester but who was residing in Folcroft at the time of the crash, is charged with homicide by vehicle, DUI, reckless endangerment, speeding, driving without a license and registration, reckless driving, careless driving, driving over a divider and failing to keep to the right lane. Magisterial District Judge Philip S. Turner set Lundys bail at 10 percent of $250,000 bail, which the defendant failed to post. Lundy was remanded to the county prison. A preliminary hearing is listed for Dec. 17, according to online court records. According to the affidavit, authored by Lt. Joseph Pretti, police were dispatched to the two-vehicle, head-on crash in the area of 1000 Industrial Highway in Eddystone on Oct. 25, shortly before 1 a.m. Both vehicles, a GMC Envoy operated by Lundy and a Toyota Sienna operated by Pen, were in the westbound lanes of the roadway, a four-lane divided highway where there is a raised median, a few inches in height. Pen, who was slumped over the steering wheel, was breathing but unresponsive. He was extricated from the vehicle and transported by ambulance to Crozer-Chester Medical Center, where he died at 2:10 a.m. His death was the result of multiple blunt force injuries, according to the Delaware County Medical Examiners Office. At the scene, Lundy was on the ground about 3 feet from the drivers side of the Envoy, complaining of severe pain on the right side of his body. He told police at the scene that he had just left Harrahs casino but later said he was on his way to work in New Jersey at the time of the accident. Not only did police notice he was slurring his words, but they also detected a strong odor of alcohol coming from his body, the affidavit states. Lundy, too, was taken to Crozer. Police obtained video as well as witness statements that the GMC was traveling eastbound in the westbound lanes prior to the crash. Additionally, based on crash data and post-crash mechanical inspections, one second prior to impact the Envoy was traveling at 57 mph and the Sienna was traveling at 31 mph, according to the affidavit. The Industrial Highway has a 35 mph speed limit in the area of the crash. Neither driver was wearing a seatbelt. At the time of the crash, Lundys drivers license was suspended due to a DUI-related incident, and he had no valid insurance, according to the affidavit. The vehicle he was driving, which was registered to another individual, had the wrong license plate on it. As part of the investigation, a warrant was sought for Lundys medical records, as well as for the blood that was drawn when he first arrived in the emergency room. Police on Nov. 20 received the results of the blood sent to Drug Scan for analysis blood. In addition to his 0.177 blood alcohol content, 6 nanograms of Delta-9-tetrahydrocannibinol or THC, a marijuana component, and 62 nanograms of 9-Carboxy-THC, a marijuana metabolite, were detected in Lundys blood, the affidavit states. An attempt to reach Kotik for comment after business hours Thursday was unsuccessful. Cookie banner We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from. To learn more or opt-out, read our Cookie Policy. Please also read our Privacy Notice and Terms of Use, which became effective December 20, 2019. By choosing I Accept, you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies. SALT LAKE CITY Sixteen years ago, Esty Larsens grandma Irene Hayes was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and was told she only had three months to live. After her passing a year later, Esty Larsen and her mother, Alison Larsen, started brainstorming ways they could honor their late grandmother and mother. They thought about running a 5K in her name or having a bake sale, but that didnt seem like enough. (One night, my mom) had a dream that (we) put on a play about the Nativity, about Christs birth. So the next morning, we started talking about it and decided to put on a live Nativity in a local barn, Esty Larsen told the Deseret News. With that, the Alpine Living Nativity was born. What started out as 15 volunteers, 300 visitors and not even $2,000 raised has evolved into nearly 25,000 annual visitors and last year alone, the Nativity raised $75,000, which was all donated to charity. The Nativity is run almost entirely by the Larsen family, with the help of a family friend, who donates his property in Alpine to host the Nativity every year. Esty Larsen served as the head coordinator this year, organizing the volunteers and ensuring that everything ran smoothly and still found time to enjoy the experience. I think my favorite part is the time of year that we do it its always the first weekend in December, so it sets off the Christmas season with the right spirit in mind, Larsen said. (During) the manger scene, lots of times little children will ask their mom, 'Mommy, why do we go see Santa Claus every year but this is the first year weve come to see Jesus?" she said. "Its such a reminder that the Christmas season really is about the Savior and helping others and the money used to purchase tickets goes to charities all around. Larsen started acting in the Nativity when she was 8-years-old doing everything from making pots to standing by the animals (which include sheep, goats, chickens, camels and alpacas) to being a shepherd's daughter. One of my favorite positions is standing by the donkey and sharing the significance behind it every donkey on its back has a darker patch of fur shaped in a cross going down its spine and over its shoulder blades," Larsen said. "(According to legend, donkeys) have that because Christ rode a donkey his last time into Jerusalem before his crucifixion, so now each donkey has a cross on its back to remind us of Jesus Christ. Due to the thousands of visitors every night, this year, the Alpine Living Nativity offered a private showing for visitors to enjoy a more intimate experience, which Larsen was especially excited about. Theres a few areas to sit at in the manger scene," she said, " where people can reflect on Jesus Christ and all the many things hes done for us and (remember) his humble beginnings and how he came into this world. (It) teaches us such an (important) lesson. A new Nativity Though the Alpine Living Nativity has dominated Utah Country for many years, The Orchard at University Place in Orem decided they wanted to begin another Nativity tradition in Utah Valley. Started in 2016, the University Place Live Nativity has been gaining traction since. We heard a lot of people commenting, Where else is there a live Nativity? So we decided we should have one here at University Place," Cindy Nguyen, Nativity organizer at University Place, told the Deseret News. " Its a different type of Christmas spirit and mood; itll be a tradition during the holidays for sure. While people are still spreading the word about another live Nativity in Utah County, University Place has been able to involve the wider community. Its definitely been really popular, and we have church groups, senior groups, etc. (involved). People are catching on, Nguyen said. Its an opportunity to just put aside all the craziness and a time to really experience and know what the meaning of Christmas is about. This years Nativity is held at The Orchard at University Place (575 E. University Parkway, Orem), an open, green space area on the north side of the mall on Friday, Dec. 7. It will include missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints handing out free hot chocolate to visitors, as well as students from the church's Institute of Religion at Utah Valley University acting out the Nativity. Tyler Harper, president of the UVU Institute, was thrilled when he got the call from University Place asking if they wanted to be involved in the live Nativity. I said, Absolutely! Well be having Mary, Joseph, three Wise Men and three shepherds, Harper told the Deseret News. I (reached out) to Hale Center Theater Orem and they were generous enough to donate the costumes for the Nativity. Ive personally hand-picked people (to play the characters), and we have each of them reading the scene in the Bible so they can get familiar with their characters. Thanks to Harpers devoted and enthusiastic effort, this live Nativity is ready to make its own mark on the Utah Valley community. Its kind of a unique experience where you get to stand almost as proxy as Mary and Joseph," Harper said. " I cant wait for the event. Theres going to be a special spirit there. Theres going to be choirs, missionaries and hot chocolate its going to be awesome. Ive very excited. A storied Salt Lake tradition Whether or not youre a Salt Lake native, theres a high likelihood that youve either been to or heard about the Nativity in the Glen, located in the east-bench area of Salt Lake City. According to Cassia Nielsen, this years co-chair, the Bonneville Glen Nativity, located at 1050 S. 1500 East, had humble beginnings. I think it started (about 15 years ago) where everybody brought their own little Nativities to the LDS church right by the glen. It might have been like a Christmas party and everybody brought their Nativites and they decorated the inside of the church like a Bethlehem, Nielsen told the Deseret News. And then as they cleared the glen across the street to have more access, they decided to take it down there and convert that into a little Bethlehem. The landscape is a big reason why this Nativity is so unique. Upon entering the glen, visitors walk down a dirt path where they land in the center of a bustling village area meant to replicate Bethlehem, filled with tents, chickens, pottery stations, baskets, donkeys, sheep, goats and, of course, a camel. Before Dan Nielsen became the co-chair with his wife Cassia Nielsen, he remembered the feeling of walking through as a patron, something he still gets emotional about. Theres always such a hustle and bustle in the village, (but) then you wind down by a river on a path and suddenly it becomes really quiet," Dan Nielsen told the Deseret News. " When you see the manger scene, its really impactful. There is something different about seeing it live that really changes your attitude about Christmas. You just have to experience it to know how it feels. Cassia Nielsen explained that the way they find Nativity actors is by searching out who in the neighborhood had a baby within the last three months and then those families play Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus for one hour shifts. Although Dan Nielsen has never played Joseph, he got the opportunity a few years ago to play a shepherd, a role that he has come to cherish. At the time, I went back and read the story in Luke and I realized something that I never realized: A lot of the story revolves around the shepherds and their point of view, Dan Nielsen said. It starts with a story of shepherds. They were asked to actually do something: go and find the babe and (serve as a) witness (of Christ.) It just opened my eyes that what the shepherds were experiencing is what we are supposed to be experiencing," he said. "We are asked to come and find him and witness and make those things known. It's my job to act as the shepherds would have. Since become co-chairs, the Nielsens have spent the last six months brainstorming ways to maximize the experience of each individual and simplifying the process. Because the Nativity had almost 8,000 people come last year, the Nielsens wanted to increase the stillness and sacredness of the manger scene and this year, for the one-night only event held on Friday, Dec. 7, one way they thought to increase the focus on Christ was having an angel right by the manger. We came up with the idea that we would have the angel dressed in her white gown, but she would be wearing a cloak," Dan Nielsen said. " When (the story) talks about the angels appearing, she would walk down right next to where the manger is, (drop her cloak) and we have this really bright white light shooting up into the air and then suddenly she just becomes brilliant because the light is shining on her. He acknowledged that just coming up with the idea of a shining angel felt like inspiration from an actual angel. "That's just another small little miracle that happened with this Nativity. It's such a huge undertaking but it always comes together," he said. Cassia Nielsen agreed. "Its just one night to put aside (the commercialism) and focus back on what the real meaning of Christmas is and remember why we celebrate (it)," she said. "Thats what were trying to create for people (with) this little Bethlehem." The book is a valuable addition to the literature on India Pakistan relations. Avtar Singh Bhasin, a former diplomat, has wide authorship and research as senior fellow at the Indian Council of Historical Research and the Institute for Contemporary Studies, Nehru Memorial Museum & Library. He has produced volumes of documentary studies on Indias relations with Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal. The author has produced a 10-volume study on India-Pakistan relations. His latest study in five volumes has been published in January 2018 on India-China relations. In May 2018, his latest study on India-Pakistan, Neighbours at Odds is available on shelves across the country and abroad. This study is in 34 chapters in a more than 500 pages book. It starts with Pakistans insecurity whether Partition solved any problems is not certain; what is clearly spelt out is it created so many. The last chapter details out 26/11 Terrorism and Pakistan. The book ends with a message that both countries must end hostilities and antagonism, and live in peace and enjoy the fruits of the 21st century and that both the countries must make up for the losses that past hostile approaches have inflicted. The initial chapters focus largely on Kashmir and shed light on the progress of military operations as also the accompanying diplomacy both bilaterally and in the United Nations. In this narrative the original reference to the United Nations followed from the uncertain military situation. In India and Pakistan: Neighbours at Odds, the author mentions and records: A summit of the two countries Prime Ministers was held in New Delhi in May 1955. Kashmir was uppermost on Muhammad Ali Jinnahs mind as first item to be discussed, Pandit Nehru started discussing an incident in Nekowal that had happened a week before the scheduled summit, in which five Indian Army personnel and six Indian civilians were killed. It led to very long correspondence between the two Prime Ministers but the diplomatic process was not severed. Kashmir was uppermost on Ayub Khans mind when Nehru came to Karachi in September 1960 to sign the Indus Water Treaty. He stressed to Nehru the need to solve India-Pakistan problems, particularly Kashmir, in their lifetime. Conceding that in the past Pakistan was not justified, particularly in laying claim to Junagadh or Hyderabad, since these could only have acceded to India, he sought to establish Pakistans locus standi in Kashmir. Seeking to disabuse him of any such notion, Nehru repeated his earlier apprehensions once again and warned Ayub Khan that any change in the status quo would not only have an upsetting effect in Kashmir itself, but also in India. We have a large population of Muslims in India and on the whole they had been integrated. But any wrong step taken by us would affect them injuriously and prevent further integration. He was therefore afraid that interfering with the Kashmirs status quo in any direction would make the position of Muslims in India untenable and also lead to a fresh wave of migration, upsetting the peace between the two countries. It is clear that Nehru repeatedly sought to link the fate of Indian Muslims to the Kashmir issue, thereby exhibiting commitment to Indian secularism. In a manner of speaking, the Indian Muslims became a part to the solution of Kashmir. On May 13, foreign secretary Gundevia approached a prominent lawyer V.K.T. Chari (brother-in-law of high commissioner Parthasarathy) to examine the implications of confederation purely on a private and confidential basis. He was told that it was desired by the Prime Minister. He was advised that the examination was to be conducted in the context of the present position of India, Pakistan and Kashmir, but cautioned him that if there is to be a confederation and there can be a confederation, we need not do anything which would look like an annulment of the partition of India. Pakistan and India must remain separate sovereign states and Kashmir must be brought into the confederation. The question is: Must Kashmir by itself be a separate sovereign entity? What happened to this suggestion, however, remained a mystery. Underlying the urgency, the letter requested Chari to give his note by May 18-19. However, with a couple of weeks of the proposal, Nehru died on May 27. Regretfully no more papers could be traced, and one would not know what happened to the note, and if Chari prepared it at all. What was important was the timing of the proposal. It showed Nehrus keenness to resolve the Kashmir issue, given the state of his health. He was prepared to look at all the options if the Kashmir question could be resolved in his lifetime writes the author. The book is valuable also in illustrating the thinking in the ministry of external affairs as it sought to balance relations between the United States and the USSR through the 1950s and the 1960s. Particularly interesting in this regard is the history of the Indo-Soviet Treaty of 1971 from its beginning in 1969 when developments in East Pakistan were not still in the foreground but the China-USSR split was. After the 1971 war, the ramifications of the POW issue and the consequent international pressure on India on this count also clarify that the negotiating space for India was not as much as is assumed in hindsight. On the Shimla negotiations itself sensible suggestion is that Indira Gandhi wanted to bury the past and move towards a new future and also was concerned about the consequences of the meeting terminating without an agreement. Similarly, there is a great deal of fresh detail on the trajectory of bilateral relations through the 1980s, 1990s and later. Shimla Agreement at that point represented the genuine and sincere desire of India and Pakistan to end past era of confrontation and usher in a new chapter of cooperation, friendship and durable peace. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto made a U-turn on his reaching Pakistan on the bilateral understanding reached to resolve the Kashmir issue. While addressing the National Assembly on July 14, he said he has not compromised on the Kashmir issue. The issue of POWs was the major issue and Bhuttos fond love for Kashmir remained subdued in the talks. Bhutto said that despite all cards in favour of India and in its hand was not a generous negotiator. The book is a valuable addition to the literature on India Pakistan relations. The writer is a senior Supreme Court lawyer and chairman Kashmir Policy and Strategy Group. He can be reached at ashokbhan@rediffmail.com PROVO Before she perished in a car wreck in April, 2-year-old Chelsea Parkinson hated when anyone around her was angry, her mother recalled Thursday. So her family has chosen to set aside resentment and forgive the driver of a utility truck who failed to brake, slamming into their station wagon as it waited to turn left in Provo. "Why should we be any different (than Chelsea)? Why is it OK if we are so full of anger and hatred?" Caitlin Parkinson said. "That would just drive us away from her and her memory." The Parkinson family urged a judge not to order jail time for 38-year-old Rick Davis Winder, the Pleasant Grove maintenance worker whose 9,000-pound truck drifted across traffic. The Parkinsons noted Winder has a family of his own. Fourth District Judge James Taylor obliged. He sentenced Winder to two years of probation, along with 400 hours of community service. Winder in October pleaded guilty to negligent homicide, a class A misdemeanor. As part of a plea bargain with prosecutors and in exchange for the guilty plea, three counts of aggravated assault, a second-degree felony, were dismissed. The Parkinsons, who were visiting from Colorado at the time of the crash, previously met with Winder at the Provo Library and forgave him after seeing his remorse firsthand, they said. Winder expressed regret on Thursday, as well. "There's not a day that goes by that I don't wish I could take that little girl's place," he said just before the judge issued the sentence. On April 15, police said, Winder was driving the truck for the city of Pleasant Grove when he veered into the center lane where three cars were stopped at the traffic light waiting to turn left, court documents show. He crashed into the back of a station wagon at approximately 55 miles per hour at the intersection of 3700 North and University Avenue, killing 2-year-old Chelsea Parkinson and injuring her 7-month-old sister, her 31-year-old father and 30-year-old mother. Prosecutors said each suffered "significant head trauma," leading to a temporary medically induced coma for Caitlin Parkinson. Reed Parkinson also had broken ribs and a spinal fracture. Investigators said Winder offered different accounts of why his 9,000-pound truck drifted across traffic. Winder told a doctor "he may have dozed off," but told police "he had been distracted by his fiancee when she placed her hand on his shoulder and he turned to kiss her hand," the charges state. His attorney, Steve Burton, said after the hearing his client doesn't remember making such statements. Winder or the doctor may have speculated to police about what happened, he said. "As far as we can tell, it was simply that Rick briefly took his eyes off the road and drifted over into the next lane," Burton said. And Winder has no memory of the crash. Police initially reported that Winder tested positive for oxycodone shortly after the accident. Burton said he believes the determination was incorrect. Winder had prescriptions for pain medications but tests did not reveal drug levels high enough to indicate impairment, Burton said. His client has no criminal history, Burton added, yet has lost his maintenance job with Pleasant Grove. As the girl's family members hugged each other and cried outside the courtroom on Thursday, Reed Parkinson said the family misses Chelsea very much and continues to grieve. "But we realized that Rick is a real person, he is a human being," he said. "It took a little while to realize that, but once we did, we were able to forgive him." LEHI Weave, a customer experience management platform that specializes in patient interactions for dentists and optometrists, announced $37.5 million in new funding this week. The Series C round, led by growth equity firm Lead Edge Capital, brings Weave's total funding since its launch in 2008 to well over $70 million, according to Crunchbase data. The company said its platform integrates with a practice's existing customer relationship management software and "enables businesses to form stronger relationships with the people they serve." Weave provides tools that include text messaging, email, marketing capabilities and a proprietary VoIP or voice over internet protocol phone service. Weave co-founder and CEO Brandon Rodman said his company's product elevates efficiency while also creating a more personalized experience for users' patients. "We believe that in most service-oriented businesses the key to success isn't measured in dollars," Rodman said in a statement. "Revenue is a byproduct to building real customer relationships." "Weave's platform makes this interaction as seamless and as natural as possible by providing a personal touch that results in increased productivity and profitability, and brings customers and businesses back together." The Weave platform is used by thousands of small- and medium-size businesses across the U.S. and the company is experiencing stellar growth. While Weave saw a growth rate of 55 percent in 2017, the company expects to hit 100 percent growth in 2018. While the new funding effort was headed by New York City-based Lead Edge Capital, Utah venture capital firm Pelion Venture Partners participated and was also involved with Weave's last round of venture investment. Pelion managing partner Blake Modersitzki said Weave's growth is helping drive his firm's continued enthusiasm for backing the platform. "We invested in Weave in the early days and have been thoroughly impressed with their tremendous growth," Modersitzki said. "This new round of funding will allow the company to continue its trajectory and enable it to enter new markets." In a customer testimonial, Dr. Todd Snyder, a dentist, said Weave has helped him manage and improve customer relations at his small California practice. "I have a very lean office and I want to see efficiency," Snyder said. "So, giving my front desk, my one employee I have up there, the power to do everything instantly with this tool is what (Weave) offers my front office." SALT LAKE CITY The State School Board voted Thursday to ask state lawmakers to consider legislation that clarifies that if schools do not comply with Utah laws on school fees, they could lose state education funding. It was one of four recommendations by a board task force that studied school fees for five months, meeting 12 times in four-hour work sessions following two audits that found multiple violations of state law and constitutional concerns about how Utah public schools handle school fees and fee waivers. A 1994 permanent injunction resulting from a lawsuit over school fees gives the State School Board authority to withhold state funding from schools that do not appropriately handle school fees and waivers, but no one has ever leveled those penalties. It remains an option, but the State School Board wants the heft of state law. "We already have a law. We expect compliance," said Mark Huntsman, chairman of the State School Board, who led the schools fees task force. The task force was formed to address issues highlighted in two state audits, one ordered by the Utah Legislature and the other by the board's own auditors. A legislative audit found "widespread violations of state law" by the State School Board and local boards of education, high schools and charter schools in their handling of secondary school fees. The board's audit found that Utah public schools' failure to comply with school fee and fee waiver policies has resulted in an "unreasonable system of fees, which jeopardizes equal opportunity for all students based on their ability to pay." The board's audit estimates that Utah public schools collected $71 million in school fees in 2017 a 29 percent increase in five years, a figure that auditors from both agencies have noted is "materially understated." While the board adopted amended versions of the task force recommendations, work on related state board rules and seeking legislation remain a work in progress. Other task force recommendations approved by the board include asking lawmakers to clarify the definition of textbook in state statute and prohibit schools from charging for textbooks unless they are for concurrent enrollment or Advanced Placement classes. The board will also seek a funding stream or some other mechanism to offset the impacts of fee waivers, which are supposed to be extended to students who come from low-income households for qualifying activities and coursework. Some school districts spread the impacts among all of their high schools but that is not possible in small districts where there is only one high school. Earlier, the board voted to devote resources to hiring more staff to improve monitoring of schools' compliance with state laws. BRIGHAM CITY A judge has dismissed a legal claim against Rocky Mountain Power from the widow of a state trooper killed when he was directing traffic around a sagging power line. Eric Ellsworth, of Brigham City, was hit by a 16-year-old driver on Nov. 18, 2016, in remote Box Elder County. Four days after the crash, the 31-year-old Ellsworth died in the intensive care unit at Intermountain Medical Center. Attorneys for Janica Ellsworth have argued that Rocky Mountain Power took hours to respond to the report of a low power line near Garfield two years ago. They contend the wire was so hazardous that the utility is liable for Ellsworth's death, who was hit while trying to alert drivers about the line. First District Judge Brandon Maynard sided against Janica Ellsworth in a recent order, dismissing the claims. He wrote that while the utility's negligence ultimately led to Ellworth's death, a crash like the one that killed him was an inherent risk of his job as a Utah Highway Patrol trooper. Ellsworth's injuries were not a direct result or a foreseeable risk of the company's activity, the Nov. 30 order states. The decision does not affect another portion of the lawsuit that alleges the driver of the car, now 18, was careless when she struck Ellsworth on the Friday night two years ago. She was not criminally charged in the crash after UHP ruled it an accident. The suit, filed earlier this year, seeks damages for Ellsworth's medical and funeral bills, plus the emotional toll of his death and other costs. Although Buddhists form only a small minority in modern India, the significance of India as the spiritual homeland for both Buddhism and Buddhists cannot be overemphasized. (The Buddha himself, who lived speaking only approximately, since his precise dates cannot be known with certainty from the sixth century before Christ into the fifth, spent his entire lifetime on the Indian subcontinent.) This significance is reflected both in the pilgrimages undertaken by modern Buddhists and in the building of modern Buddhist shrines sponsored by the Buddhist-majority countries of East Asia. In India today, three great primary Buddhist pilgrimage centers commemorate the life, teachings and cosmic significance of the Buddha. These are: Bodhgaya, the site of the Buddhas spiritual enlightenment; Sarnath, where the Buddha taught his most important public sermon, and Kushinagar, where the Buddha died. A fourth, Lumbini the Buddhas birthplace is only a few miles across the border in Nepal. And a fifth, Sanchi, is the major burial place of the Buddhas ashes. These sites were all traditionally founded by Ashoka, the first Buddhist emperor of India, who ruled from around 268-232 B.C. Much like Constantine and his mother Helena founding church and memorials during the early fourth century at the important sites of the life of Jesus in ancient Palestine, Ashoka toured India in an attempt to locate the sites and relics of the Buddha and to commemorate them with monuments. A sense of the original form of Ashokas Buddhist stupas domed burial memorials in which relics of the Buddha are enshrined can be seen at Sanchi, where many of the ashes of the Buddha were buried by Ashoka. Likewise, Ashoka erected numerous tall pillars inscribed with both Buddhist laws and his spiritual biography. The best preserved of these is at the Firuz Shah Kotla Park in New Delhi, where it was carried and re-erected in the 14th century as a victory monument by the Muslim conqueror Firuz Shah. Furthermore, these pillars were once surmounted by huge ornate capitals. The best preserved of these can be found in the Sarnath museum, where four royal lions facing the cardinal directions stand guard over the wheel of dharma resting on a lotus. This statue is now the official emblem of India, and it is found on most of Indias currency. The great Buddhist pilgrimage sites of India were constantly expanded through royal patronage, both from within India and from later Buddhist kings in east Asia, and such patronage continues today from Buddhist-majority countries. At all of these sites, bigger was often thought of as better, as reflected in the Dhamek Stupa at Sarnath, built around A.D. 500 on the site of Ashokas earlier, smaller stupa. As the wealth of Buddhist monasteries and kings grew during the Middle Ages, ornamentation of Buddhist shrines often became more extravagant. Throughout the Middle Ages, famous Buddhist scholars from throughout Asia such as Xuanzang of China (A.D. 602-664) gathered to the Buddhist shrines and monasteries in the heartland of India in order to study the ancient scriptures and translate them into their own mother tongues. Sarnath was the site of the preaching of the Sermon at the Deer Park a kind of Sermon on the Mount for Buddhists. In this sermon, the Buddha taught the Four Noble Truths and Eightfold Path, which provide the essence of Buddhism. The exquisite fifth-century statue of a seated Buddha at Sarnath shows the Buddha preaching this sermon. Modern Buddhist pilgrims from all over east Asia can be found touring the great sites commemorating the Buddha, just as Christians still tour the Holy Land in search of a spiritual connection with the land of the life of Jesus. And just as Christian monks and priests still live, teach at and care for the Christian holy sites in Israel, Buddhist monks still pray and meditate in new temples that surround the ancient pilgrimage monuments. Ancient scriptures are studied, while the Buddha and his teachings are proclaimed in sermon and hymn. Today, pilgrim prayers and chants can be heard in Tibetan, Thai, Chinese, Korean and Japanese throughout Buddhist shrines in India. Busloads of Buddhist tourist-pilgrims from throughout the world can be seen meditating, chanting, praying and scurrying about the monuments taking selfies, proud that their countries continue the tradition of patronage of Buddhist shrines in India that dates back two millennia. Daniel Peterson founded the Middle Eastern Texts Initiative, chairs The Interpreter Foundation and blogs on Patheos. William Hamblin is the author of several books on premodern history. They speak only for themselves. SALT LAKE CITY A man who police said assaulted his girlfriend's 14-year-old son after the boy refused to let him into the house has been charged. Jon Kasai, 40, of Salt Lake City, was charged Thursday in 3rd District Court with child abuse inflicting serious physical injury, a third-degree felony, and child abuse involving physical injury, a class A misdemeanor, according to court documents. On Nov. 15, Kasai went outside the home and the boy locked the door to keep him out "because he was drunk," charges state. The 14-year-old boy told police that his mother and Kasai have a history of domestic violence and that Kasai is a "violent drunk." The boy was in the house at 90 E. 600 South with his younger sister. When the children's mother got home, she let her boyfriend into the house without knowing there had been a confrontation, according to police. Charges state that after the boy locked Kasai out of the house, Kasai "pounded on the door" and shouted a threat, including an expletive, the boy told police. The teen had a knife in each hand when Kasai came into the house, according to the charges, and Kasai tackled him and punched him in the back. During the fight, the boy sustained a cut to his neck and Kasai sustained cuts to his arms and back. Kasai's attorney, Clayton Simms, told the Deseret News Friday that Kasai denies the allegations. Kasai was disciplining the boy at the time of the incident, Simms said, when the boy pulled out a "12-inch butterfly knife" and Kasai tried to disarm him. SALT LAKE CITY Here is a look at the news for Dec. 7. Air quality is in dispute. A look into how Utah residents can find solutions to the air quality problem. Read more. Utah Gov. Gary Herbert proposed the 2019 budget. Both a $200 million tax cut and new taxes will broaden the shrinking Utah tax base part of the plan. Read more. Did world leaders listen to the G20 Interfaith Forum? Read more. Brad Mortensen has been selected as the 13th president of Weber State University. Read more. The Utah Jazz defeated the Houston Rockets Thursday night. Read more. These patient groups ask the court to invalidate Utahs medical marijuana compromise. Read more. A look at our most read stories: A look ahead to your weekend: A look at national headlines: SALT LAKE CITY Two Catholic priests who served in Utah in the 1980s are named in new lists outlining credible abuse allegations against Jesuit leaders. The Diocese of Salt Lake City was already aware of allegations against Father Raymond Devlin and Father Edward J. Konat, and the priests were removed from public ministry soon after victims came forward, according to Jean Hill, government liaison for the diocese. "The Diocese of Salt Lake City is committed to protecting children. Sexual misconduct by church personnel is an affront to human dignity and the mission of the church," reads a press release from the diocese issued Friday. The alleged abuse occurred in the 1980s, but was not reported until years later. Father Devlin was reported in 1990, and he was then barred from performing marriages or baptisms, leading public masses, hearing confessions and performing other priestly duties. He is named on the Jesuits West Province list of credibly accused priests, which was released Friday. Father Devlin died in 2011. Father Konat was not accused and removed from public ministry until 2002. He will be named on the Jesuit Midwest Province list, which is expected to be released on Dec. 17. Father Konat left Utah in 1985. Both priests were Jesuits, which means they were ordained by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic order known for founding schools like Georgetown University and its vow of poverty. Jesuit priests serve at the permission of a local bishop, but they're also under the jurisdiction of Jesuit leaders, Hill said. The Catholic Church has been under scrutiny regarding its treatment of sexual abuse allegations for decades, but a Pennsylvania grand jury report, released in August, brought renewed attention to the problem. The report outlined abuse allegations against more than 300 priests and involving around 1,000 victims. Since August, Catholic groups and dioceses across the country have released lists of priests who were credibly accused of sexual assault in an effort to be more transparent. "The question now, in the wake of the Pennsylvania grand jury report, really is one of trust. Can we trust that the church is actually taking care of this issue and keeping people safe? One sign of trust is asking if leaders can be transparent," said Father Scott Santarosa, head of the West Province of Jesuits, of which Father Devlin was a part, to America magazine in November. The Diocese of Salt Lake City's list, released Sept. 14, outlines credible allegations against 16 priests, one religious brother and one seminary student, which involved around 34 victims, as the Deseret News reported at the time. "In the Diocese of Salt Lake City, we take our sacred responsibility of protecting our children very seriously. We are saddened by and ashamed of the sexual abuse scandal in our church," wrote Bishop Oscar Solis, who leads the diocese, in a message accompanying the list. Bishop Solis held a discussion this fall with Utah Catholic leaders on preventing and responding to sexual abuse and will take part in a summit on the issue hosted by Pope Francis in February. Friday's press release from the diocese encourages victims of clergy sexual abuse to reach out to Sandy Growe, victim assistance coordinator, at (801)328-8641 ext. 344. "Anyone who has been a victim of abuse or exploitation by clergy, religious or lay church personnel and has not yet reported it is encouraged to do so," it reads. Back in August, news came of an indigenously developed humanoid robot called Rashmi, which is made by Ranjit Srivastava, a 38-year-old Ranchi-based software engineer. The robot was called the Indian version of Sophia robot, which is developed by Hanson Robotics, a Hong Kong based company. Rashmi is said to have snagged the title of being the first RJ robot as it started RJing for Red FM from December 3. The robot hosts an Ask Rashmi segment where it listens to the users queries and replies to them. Srivastava says that the robot is Indias first lip-syncing robot that uses Artificial Intelligence (AI), Linguistic Interpretation (LI), visual data and face recognition systems enabling it to act and answer queries like a human being. Hi @akshaykumar sir Congratulations for the grand success of #2Point0 but here is World's First Hindi Speaking Humanoid Robot and @RedFMIndia's newest RJ @RashmiRobot making a request to you. Can the wish be granted @shankarshanmugh @rajinikanth pic.twitter.com/elHiNoNHUI RJ Raunac (@rjraunac) December 5, 2018 Development of the Rashmi robot is said to have taken two years and Rs 50,000 approximately. Alongside English, Rashmi can converse in Hindi, Bhojpuri and Marathi. Hindustan Times reports that Srivastava had the idea to build a robot that can speak natively after watching Sophia. When I saw it and its functions, I thought it could be developed and decided to develop a Hindi speaking robot in July 2016, said Srivastava. It is quite interesting how robots are taking over the world, metaphorically of course. Engineers around the world are developing robots for numerous applications and they come in various shapes and sizes. Many robot designs are inspired by nature and to build biomimetic robots, engineers study animals and understand their skeletal structures and how their muscles work. These movements are then realised when translated into servos and actuators and the end result is a robot inspired by nature's creations. You can read our list of 10 robots that have been inspired by nature here. Creative Disruptor - The Maker of New India is written by former Organiser editor R Balashankar. New Delhi: In 2012, a year before the BJP declared him as the party's Prime Ministerial candidate, the then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi believed only he could bring about a tectonic shift in India's political scenario. While sharing his thoughts with R Balashankar, former editor of RSS mouthpiece Organiser, Mr Modi was not merely aware of his immense popularity but expressed fear that if the Sangh Parivar did not back his candidature, a great opportunity maybe lost. These are a few excerpts from the book on Modi, Creative Disruptor - The Maker of New India by R Balashankar. The book will be released by BJP chief Amit Shah on December 10. While analyising Modi, the politician, Balashankar writes: He was strikingly unlike most of his colleagues in his party and in other parties. He was clearly a man in a hurry. The author once asked the Prime Minister about the secret of his success. His reply was eloquent: Mein swayam ko mitane ki kshamta rakhta hun (I possess the capacity to even destroy myself in pursuit of my aim). What he meant was that he works like a karmayogi without bothering about the outcome, Balashankar writes. Talking about attacks and murders of free thinkers and writes, the author claimed these were nothing new. Murders of writers, the so-called progressive thinkers, robberies in churches, killing of a man from the the minority community and burning of Dalit huts these and much worse have happened during the six decades of Congress rule," he writes and gives examples of the murders of social activists, Narendra Dabholkar and M M Kalburgi. In the chapter 'Anti-Modi Front', the writer claims that with regular frequency Hindu-Muslim riots have happened all over the country, with the majority community taking the brunt of the attack. People have been butchered worse than cattle and yet none had spoken up. He then argued that if one were to go into the details of each of these incidents, it would be clear that stray, concocted events were joined together to create a mirage, whose only purpose was to tarnish the image of the Modi government. Toeing a similar line, he writes: Mob lynching and hate crimes are not new to India. We have been like this for years and lynch mobs are not Modis creation. On the contentious subject of beef ban and cow slaughter, the author writes: There is a lot of misleading propaganda in the name of beef ban. A ban on cow slaughter is not exactly a ban on eating other varieties of beef. Hence the fear that it will affect livelihood of the butchers and meat sellers is wrong. Similarly, it will in no way affect the leather industry. Here is an excerpt from the book: INTOLERANCE DEBATE Consider the facts about the writers murders they were protesting. Narendra Dabholkar was murdered under the Congress regime. So was M.M. Kalburgi. So why the late reaction? In the case of burning of the home of a Dalit in Faridabad, in which two children died, the forensic team visiting the area declared that the house had been burnt from within because the man had wanted to kill his wife and children as he suspected her of infidelity. In the Mohammed Akhlaq case too, there have been varying versions on the killing. We are not going into details. On the ban on beef and the protest and award returning by eminent scientist P.M. Bhargava, a young scientist wrote an open letter to him. He said, Dear Dr Bhargava, with all due respect, I want to point out a few facts. As a scientist, I hope you would value facts. Most of the Indian states have banned cow slaughter for many decades now. The state where you worked and lived, Andhra Pradesh, had banned cow slaughter in 1977 itself. Maharashtra had banned it in 1976. Karnataka banned it in 1964. So, your freedom to eat whatever you want did not exist in India even when you received your Padma Bhushan in 1986. The youngster goes on to quote the several riots that have taken place in the name of beef and cow slaughter and also the various incidents of violence against writers, teachers and activists in the past. Violence associated with cow slaughter is not new in India. There have been many cases where people got killed in violence associated with cow slaughter. Just two examples to demonstrate the point one in 2013, where one person was killed, and one in 2006 where two people were killed. Both led to mini riots. Such riots have been happening almost every year, somewhere or the other. You did not bother. If only a handful of people resigned and protested, what spiralled the intolerance debate into an issue of national and perhaps international ramification? One, the media. A section of the media wittingly and a section unwittingly, in a herd mentality, gave strength to the intolerance campaign. A section of the media had also been opposed to Modi, running a steady, personal vituperative campaign against him since his Gujarat days. His spectacular victory made the media realize that Modi could win despite the media. They clearly had a score to settle. The man who led the protest of returning awards, K. Satchidanandan, an ultra-Left Keralite writer, waited till the end of his term in the Sahitya Akademi to organise the protest. He was the one who organised his fellow companions to make the intolerance debate appear like a national catastrophe. When Modi won his massive mandate, the strongest such endorsement given to any party in 30 years, Satchidanandan wrote in Mathrubhumi weekly that this was no mandate because Modi and his partners got only 38 per cent of votes. According to him, majority of Indians had rejected Modi and he had not got a mandate to rule the country. Incidentally, this ultra-Left fellow traveller has been regularly writing against the Modi government, most of which is utter falsehood, in Malayalam journals. Still, he waited till the end of his term to raise a hullabaloo about intolerance. It is also interesting that while in the Sahitya Akademi, he filled it and its various language academies with people of his ideological orientation. All the awards and benefits, and selection of books by the Akademi were restricted to this club. Similar is the story, be it with Lalit Kala Akademi, NBT or any other academic institution under the UPA. Now, he is a fellow with the Indian Institute of Advanced Study in Shimla, again a government nomination. Also, the handful who were shrill-throated were the ones who had been the guardian angels of intellect, culture and literature under the Congress regime, perched in their safe holes at the India International Centre (IIC), Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and the like. Read what B. Jeyamohan, a writer of great repute in Malayalam and Tamil and a literary critic, said on his first brush with IIC. He was staying there as state guest when he had come to receive the Sanskriti Samman. This is a translation from his article Intolerance in December 2015. I learnt the meaning of power when I visited Delhi in 1994 to receive my Sanskriti Samman... IIC is the place where power is served on a golden plate... That pomp kind of unnerved me. Venkat Swaminathan, who saw me the next day, immediately recognized my sense of discomfort. He said, Hey, three-fourths of this crowd is just a perfect horde of crows (the Tamil equivalent of sycophants). The snobs that make their living draw their power by licking the boots of power centres. Most of them are mere power brokers. Among the names that find mention in his article are Nayantara Sahgal, Pupul Jayakar, U.R. Ananthamurthy, Girish Karnad, Kapila Vatsyayan, Barkha Dutt, Rajdeep Sardesai, and Nandita Das. Jeyamohan goes on: Once given accommodation in a government bungalow, they can never be removed from there. In Delhi alone, this crowd has illegally occupied 5,000 bungalows... It is the same story in JNU too. He says that the Ministry of Culture had served eviction notice on all those occupying government bungalows in prime locations free of cost for long years. Well-known painter Jatin Das, father of actor-director Nandita Das, was one of those who had received notice. This is the real reason for Nandita Das strongly speaking about intolerance in television channels and writing in English newspapers (all diligently carried by the network), Jeyamohan added. So who is being intolerant of whom? In a brilliantly argued article, senior journalist S. Gurumurthy draws attention to the Indian ethos that thrives in plurality. Comparing the Hindu on the one side and the Semitic religions on the other, he urges the reader to delve into the past to understand the strength of Indias capacity to assimilate other beliefs and yet remain faithful to its core. For Christianity and Islam, power came from the conquering state. This unity of the Semitic state and the Semitic society proved to be its strength as a conquering power. But this was also its weakness. The moment the state became weak or collapsed anywhere, the society there also followed the fate of the state. In India, society was supported by institutions other than the state. Not just one, but hundreds and even thousands of institutions flourished within the polity and none of them had or needed to use any coercive power. Indian civilization culture, arts, music, and the collective life of the people, guardianship of the people and of the public mind was not entrusted to the state. In fact, it was the sages, and not the state, who were seen as the guardians of the public mind, says Gurumurthy in the article. It is this lack of understanding of the true Indian ethos that has made the intolerant brigade react the way they did. Blaming the Indian state, on the basis of their political bias, they hurt the sentiment of an average Indian. And this manifested in the social media. Almost every Indian took to the social media recounting the acts of intolerance that had been perpetrated across this land, mainly directed towards the Hindus. And then the question arose, How come you were quiet then. This is one question that the protestors have not been able to answer. In fact, caught in a trap, the government took time to react. But it is the social media, in a sense the conscience of the society, which waged the war for the Indian state and government. Perhaps for the first time, these people who had been pampered by the government largesse, with awards, bungalows, positions and nominations to various national and international bodies, were made to think about their real worth. But then, the damage has been done. They can draw satisfaction from the fact that they have repaid to the Congress, their original benefactors, their gratitude. There have been a lot of rumours regarding Samsungs Galaxy A8s smartphone. Leaks have suggested that it will be the first smartphone to have a punch-hole front facing camera. The latest listing on TENAA, the regulatory body that certifies phones before their release in China, has confirmed the design of the smartphone. The phone, that has a model number SM-G8870, is said to have a curved back panel, which features a gradient colour appeal. The images show a triple camera setup and a fingerprint sensor on the back panel and a punch-hole camera for shooting selfies. It is assumed that the Galaxy A8s will get the same camera configuration as the Galaxy A7 (2018), which is an 8MP 120-degree Ultra Wide Lens, a 5MP depth-sensing camera and a third 24MP camera on the back. The screen of the Galaxy A8s seems to have an aspect ratio of 19.5: 9 as compared to other models like the Galaxy S9 which has an aspect ratio of 18.5:9. Recently, the phone appeared on the US inspection agency FCC website. The FCC documents did not show the Galaxy A8s smartphone itself but a screenshot with the FCC certification. In the screenshot, you can notice that there is a white space in the upper left corner of the display besides the other notifications in the status bar. That is allegedly the place where the 'cut-out' for the camera is placed. The TENAA images are also seen with a selfie camera on the top left corner. The punch hole camera design, called Infinity-O, is one of the four types of displays that the company had introduced at its annual developers conference. First was the Infinity U type notch which looks identical to the one that the Essential Phone had. Its a small half oval that cuts down into the top middle of the display. The second is the Infinity V type notch which is quite similar to Infinity U type but with four edges instead of a curved half-oval. The third is the Infinity O type and the fourth is the New Infinity display which looks to have a completely edge-to-edge design. Alleged Live images of the Samsung Galaxy S10 are making the rounds on the internet, showing a three camera setup on the back panel of the phone. The images have been leaked by Slashleaks claiming that they are the Real Life Images of the smartphone. The device seen in the image above is one of the two leaked images of the Galaxy S10 and you can spot the Samsung branding below the camera setup on it. Also, there is no fingerprint sensor on the back hinting that reports of an in-display fingerprint sensor in the flagship device could be true. A button can be spotted on the right edge and the display is seen curving on the sides. The design is similar to what previous leaks have suggested, but until their is some solid proof, we have to take these leaks with a pinch of salt. The alleged real life images of the Galaxy S10 have emerged just a few days after a fake Galaxy S10 image stirred the internet. Slashleaks first posted the image on Twitter but another user Bogdan Popa, Tech Editor and Reviewer at Softpedia in Romania, posted an image in reply saying that the image was fake and someone had actually done a great job in photoshopping it to make it look like the photo of an original Samsung Galaxy S10 smartphone. Recently, a video leaked by Slashleaks, showed a person mishandling a device that has three rear cameras and Samsung branding on the back. When seen from the front, the smartphone had thick bezels on the top and bottom of the display -- something that does not match the rumoured description of the device. The corners of the device are rounder and the box contains a pair of old fashioned White coloured earphones with a 3.5mm jack, which are not likely to be seen on the upcoming 2019 flagship as Samsung ships AKG earphones with the flagship phones. There was also a leak about the back cover of the S10 a while back. The back shows two cameras and a fingerprint sensor at the same place as it was in the Galaxy S8, Galaxy S8+ and the Galaxy Note 8. Samsung has already changed the position of the fingerprint sensor in the Galaxy S9 as well as the Note 9 devices, so it is highly unlikely that Samsung will go back to the two-year old design. There are reports that Samsung will incorporate an in-display fingerprint sensor in the Galaxy S10 devices and today's leak is by far the closest to the rumoured description and specs of the S10. China is gearing up for its next mission to the Moon, one where the country will launch a probe that will land on the far side of the Moon. The mission is slated to take off on Friday. This is the first-ever mission to the far side of the Moon and could result in a treasure trove of new knowledge about the lunar surface. The mission is to have the lander and rover of the Change 4 land in the Moons South Pole-Aitken basin to study the surface and sub-surface structure within the rovers travel path. Landing in the Von Karman Crater, the Change lander and rover are carrying a plethora of scientific equipment. The primary objective of the mission is to conduct a low-frequency radio-astronomical study of the lunar surface. The far side of the Moon is always facing away from the Earth, meaning it has been shielded from the interference due to Earths Ionosphere and any man-made radio frequency. This means that the nature of the far side of the moon could offer a completely different data set with regards to its composition. This is why the mission also aims to study the mineralogical and topographical composition of the surface. In order to achieve its mission objectives, the Change will utilise a host of scientific equipment. The Chang'e 4 lander is equipped with a Landing Camera (LCAM), a Terrain Camera (TCAM), a Low-Frequency Spectrometer (LFS). It also carries the Lunar Lander Neutrons and Dosimetry (LND) which was provided by Germany. The rover too has a number of instruments on board. It will carry a Panoramic Camera (PCAM), a Lunar Penetrating Radar (LPR), a Visible and Near-Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (VNIS), and an Advanced Small Analyzer for Neutrals (ASAN), which was provided by Sweden. While all equipment has been inherited from previous missions, the Low-Frequency Spectrometer was specially developed indigenously for the Change 4 mission. Lastly, the mission will also carry a biological payload; a 3-kilogram tin made from special aluminium alloy materials that will contain potato seeds and Arabidopsis, a small flowering plant related to cabbage and mustard. It may also tote silkworm eggs. Banks with capital will get going and those without it will be punished by the ecosystem. IBC is unlikely to greatly improve loan recovery rates and there is a need to increase bad asset provisioning to above the present 50 per cent. Mumbai: Reserve Bank executive director Sudarshan Sen has exhorted banks to maintain higher capital levels than the regulatory mandate to see through business cycles and crises, warning those failing to have adequate buffers will get punished by the system itself. There is a need to look beyond numbers like 8 per cent of risk weighted assets or 9 per cent, he said. "When the going gets tough, it is the banks with capital which will get going and those without it will be punished by the ecosystem," Sen told an event organised by the Business Standard newspaper late on Thursday. "Business cycles and financial crisis are old companions and they are here to stay," he added. Terming the regulatory mandate on minimum capital level as the "poverty line", he said there is a need to aspire to be well above that. "We shouldn't really be debating whether the poverty line should be 8 percent or 9 percent because that is not where we want to be," he said. The meaningful debate should be around what is the optimum level of capital given the ground realities in our country, including low recovery and high default rates, and not just expediency, he said. Sen cited studies which have suggested that the minimum capital ratio should be between 9 and 53 per cent and added that banks in jurisdictions that mandate the minimum capital to be at 8 per cent actually operate at a much higher 14 per cent buffer levels. "We need to reflect that banks which choose to operate at this poverty line of minimum capital, would be condemned to stay poor," Sen said. He also said that in our country, banks do not set aside any pillar-2 (tier 2) supervisory capital, and the countercyclical capital buffer is the only cushion which is helpful to absorb shocks. The central banker said studies on the supervisory capital suggest domestic banks will be needing upwards of Rs 2 trillion in capital towards this. "It is possible in times to come that banks will be required to hold supervisory capital," he said. Sen said our banking system follows a standardised approach of computing the capital that needs to be set aside, which depends on external ratings rather than the system of historical losses followed in other jurisdictions and added that a shift in computation can result in a requirement of Rs 2 trillion in capital for the system. He also said the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) is unlikely to greatly improve loan recovery rates and there is a need to increase bad asset provisioning to above the present 50 per cent, he said. "Given the fact that recovery rates are so low I am not sure we are going to see any great improvement in the recovery rates if we continue in the same way as IBC has so far been" Sen said. "I think we have to be cognisant of the fact that the level of provisions that we have for NPAs needs to be much higher than the present level of 50 per cent," he added. As a final suggestion, Sen also laid down what should be guiding the thinking for the bankers from here on. "When we ponder that the worst is behind us, let us spend some time discussing some time what we need to do in terms of capital, competencies and corporate governance to be better prepared for the next crisis when it comes. And come, it will," he said. Subscriber content preview Airbus expects to cut fuel use 20 percent by putting kite sails on ships that ferry fuselages from France to Alabama, starting in 2020. By KELVIN CHAN AP Business Writer LONDON As the shipping industry faces pressure to cut climate-altering greenhouse gases, one answer is blowing in the wind. European and U.S. tech companies, including one backed by airplane maker Airbus, are pitching futuristic sails to help cargo ships harness the free and endless supply of wind power. While they sometimes don't even look like sails some are shaped like spinning columns they represent a cheap and reliable way to reduce CO2 emissions for an industry that depends on a particularly dirty form of fossil fuels. . . . Subscriber content preview By SETH BORENSTEIN and ANGELA CHARLTON Associated Press PARIS The yellow vests in France are worrying greens around the world. The worst riots in Paris in decades were sparked by higher fuel taxes, and French President Emmanuel Macron responded by scrapping them Wednesday. But taxes on fossil fuels are just what international climate negotiators, meeting in Poland this week, say are desperately needed to help wean the world off of fossil fuels and slow climate change. . . . The controversial defence deal was cancelled by the previous UPA-2 government. New Delhi: Britain has sought consular access from India to its national alleged middleman Christian Michel who was extradited on Tuesday by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to India in the Rs 3,546 crore AgustaWestland VVIP copter deal case. We have received a request from the UK high commission for consular access (to Christian Michel). The matter is being examined, MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said on Thursday. The MEA spokesperson added, As you are aware, the ministry of external affairs had received two requests from CBI and ED for the extradition of Christian Michel from the UAE. These requests were forwarded by our Mission to the UAE authorities. After following due process and exhaustion of judicial process, Christian Michel was extradited to India. The matter is being handled by CBI. They have also issued a detailed press note in this regard. Any further queries in the matter may be addressed to the relevant authorities. Meanwhile, a statement by the British high commission went, Our staff continue to support the family of a British man following his detention in the UAE. We are in contact with his family and the Emirati authorities regarding his case, and are urgently seeking information from the Indian authorities on his circumstances. The controversial defence deal was cancelled by the previous UPA-2 government. Subscriber content preview OLYMPIA (AP) The Washington Supreme Court has unanimously upheld a lower court's decision to keep a measure banning safe injection sites in King County off the ballot. The justices said the measure was beyond the scope of local initiative power and would interfere with King County's budgeting authority. . . . Cabinet approves proposal to sell REC to PFC The union cabinet has approved the sale of governments entire 52.63 per cent stake in power sector financier REC Ltd to Power Finance Corporation Ltd, as part of governments efforts to raise funds through divestment. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday gave in principle approval for the strategic sale of the Government of Indias existing 52.63 per cent of total paid up equity shareholding in Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) to Power Finance Corporation (PFC) along with transfer of management control, according to a cabinet note. The transfer of assets is intended to achieve integration across the power chain, obtain better synergies, create economies of scale and enhance capability to support energy access and energy efficiency by improved capability to finance power sector, the release added. Both are listed entities and a combination of the two may also allow for cheaper fund raising with increase in bargaining power for the combined entity, it added. Both REC and PFC are central public sector enterprises under the ministry of power. At current market price, the governments stake in REC is worth around Rs11,000 crore. Finance minister Arun Jaitley had, in his 2017-18 budget, announced plans to merge PSUs with similar operation to achieve scale and efficiency. The finance ministry is reported to have agreed to a power ministry proposal to make PFC the holding company and REC its subsidiary. This may not make much difference as the shareholding of REC will be with PFC even while the former remaining a separate entity. Jaitley said he expected the deal to be completed by the end of the financial year. The modalities will be worked out by a committee comprising him, secretaries of the departments involved and Infrastructure Minister Nitin Gadkari, Jaitley added. Last year, the government had sold its 51.11 per cent stake in oil marketing PSU Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd to Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd for Rs 36,915 crore. That. The government has raised Rs32,737 crore of the Rs80,000-crore divestment target so far this year. RECs Chairman and Managing Director PV Ramesh had earlier told BloombergQuint that a merger with PFC would be beneficial for the shareholders of the company. The government, however, announced a share sale. The transaction, however, is likely to hurt PFCs finances as it may have to raise debt to fund the deal, in which in turn may affect its profitability. Govt contribution in National Pension Scheme raised to14% of employee's basic pay In a bonanza for government employees, the cabinet on Thursday raised the governments contribution to National Pension Scheme (NPS) to 14 per cent of basic salary from the current 10 per cent, but did not announce the decision in view of the ensuing elections in Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh. The minimum employee contribution will, however, remain at 10 per cent. The cabinet also approved tax incentives under 80C of the Income Tax Act for employees contribution to the extent of 10 per cent. At present, the government and employees contribute 10 per cent of basic salary each to NPS. The cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi also allowed government employees to commute 60 per cent of the fund accumulated at the time of retirement, up from 40 per cent at present. Also, employees will have the option to invest in either fixed income instruments or equities. If the employee decides not to commute any portion of the accumulated fund in NPS at the time of retirement and transfers 100 per cent to annuity scheme, then his pension would be more than 50 per cent of his last drawn pay, sources said. The government did not announce the decision in view of the ensuing polls in Rajasthan on Friday. While the government is yet to decide on the date of notification of the new scheme, sources said such changes usually come into effect from the beginning of a financing year, ie, 1 April 2019. The changes in the NPS were worked out by the finance ministry based on the recommendation of a government-appointed committee. India, Russia joint spaceflight programme gets cabinet nod The union cabinet on Thursday approved a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between India and Russia on joint activities under human spaceflight programme India and Russia will strengthen cooperation in space programmes, including manned space missions, under a memorandum of understanding signed between the two countries in October. The MoU will provide an impetus for development of technologies and advanced systems required for the human space flight programmes, such as radiation shielding, life support systems, crew module, rendezvous and docking systems, space suit, training for astronauts etc. The MoU will lead to a joint activity in the field of application of space technologies for the benefit of humanity. It will also help in the setting up of a joint working group, which will further work out the plan of action, including the time-frame and the means of implementing the provisions of the agreement. The cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi also approved an MoU between India and Tajkistan on cooperation in the peaceful uses of space technology for development. The MoU was signed on 8 October 2018 at Dushanbe, Tajkistan. This MoU will provide an impetus for exploration of newer research activities and application possibilities in the field of remote sensing of the earth, satellite navigation, space science and exploration of outer space. It would lead to development of joint activity in the field of application of space technologies for the benefit of humanity. It will lead to setting up of a joint working group, which will further work out the plan of action including the time-frame and the means of implementing the provisions of the agreement. The joint working group, drawing members from DOS/Isro and the State Committee of Land Management and Geodesy of Republic of Tajikistan, will further work out the plan of action, including the time-frame and the means of implementing the MoU. The cabinet also approved an agreement between India and Uzbekistan on cooperation in exploration of outer space for peaceful purposes. The agreement was signed on 1 October 2018 in New Delhi during the state visit of the President of Uzbekistan to India. The agreement will strengthen cooperation between India and Uzbekistan and would provide impetus to explore newer research activities and application possibilities in the field of remote sensing of the earth; satellite communication; satellite navigation; space science and exploration of outer space. The cabinet also approved an MoU between India and Morocco for cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space. The MoU was signed in New Delhi on 25 September 2018. This MoU will enable potential use of space science, technology and applications, including remote sensing of the earth; satellite communication and satellite based navigation; space science and planetary exploration, use of spacecraft and space systems and ground system, and application of space technology. The cabinet also was apprised of an agreement between India and Algeria on cooperation in the field of space sciences, technologies and applications. The agreement, signed at Bengaluru on 19 September, will enable cooperation in areas such as space science, technology and applications, including remote sensing of the earth, satellite communication and satellite based navigation, space science and planetary exploration, GSE of spacecraft and space systems and ground system; and application of space technology. India and Algeria have been pursuing 'commercial' interactions in the field of space. Antrix Corporation Limited has been interacting with Algerian officials towards establishment of ground station, and launch of satellites (3 micro-satellites and one nano-satellite of Algeria were launched by PSLV during 2010-2016). Opec talks deadlock as Saudi refuses to give concessions to Iran Members of the oil cartel Oil Producing and Exporting Countries (Opec) failed to arrive at a decision to cut oil output and boost falling prices after two days of negotiations as rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran remained deadlocked over the terms of a deal. Saudi Arabia refused to give any concessions to sanctions-hit Iran, possibly on pressure by the United States, further complicating any Opec decision. Saudi Arabia is under intense political pressure over the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October. US President Donald Trump has backed Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman despite calls from many US politicians to impose stiff sanctions on Riyadh. In fact, US special representative for Iran Brian Hook met Saudi representative in Vienna this week, ahead of the Opec meeting. Without any consensus among members of the Opec, it looks unlikely that non-Opec oil-producing nations like Russia will fall in line and support moves t boost oil price. It seems political expediency has got the better of economic necessity and the deep divisions in the energy alliance have now been laid bare. The talks made some progress on a critical front, with Russia agreeing to cut output by 200,000 barrels per day, news agencies reported. But the 15-member Opec have delayed a decision on output cuts until Moscow commits to a specific reduction. However, a decision evaded Opec as kingpin Saudi Arabia refused to agree to an exemption for Iran. Iran, Opecs third-largest producer, however, is in no mood to cut production as its exports have fallen to a bare minimum under threat of sanctions by the US. The meeting of Opec and non-Opec oil producers comes at a time when the oil market is near its bottom since the 2008 financial crisis. Brent was trading at $60.85 a barrel, up 1.3 per cent, at around 7:34 a.m. ET (1234 GMT), while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) stood at $51.78, around half a percentage point higher. Gardai are currently investigating an incident of criminal damage which occurred shortly before 8pm on Thursday, December 6, at a premises on Foyle Street, Moville. It is understood that a brick was thrown at a security vehicle in the area beside the Caiseal Mara Hotel. A car was damaged in the incident. There were no injuries and investigations are ongoing. A fire occurred at the Caiseal Mara Hotel on Foyle Street, Moville on November 25 and gardai were called in to investigate the incident. It was revealed earlier in November, by the Donegal Democrat newspaper, that the hotel was earmarked as a new direct provision centre in the town and was to provide accommodation for around 100 people. Senator Padraig Mac Lochlainn said that this latest incident was carried out by a group of people that is not representative of the greater population of Moville. He said: "There is real anger in the area at the way that people were treated by the Department of justice. They just strolled in and announced that one hundred people were coming to a small town like Moville." He said that the model that the Department of Justice has in place is not working adding that Sinn Fein Deputy Eoin O'Broin who has worked with the Irish Refugee Council has established a model that would save money and benefit all concerned. "It's a terrible system having whole families live in one hotel room and some have done this for up to ten years," he said. Speaking on Friday, Fine Gael Councillor, Bernard McGuinness said that the people of Moville should have been consulted before the announcement was made. He added that a small number of people have been housed in the area before and the transition was successful for all those concerned. A marketing manager who caused over 66,000 of damage to a Donegal hotel while in the company of his three-year-old son has been ordered to pay 5,000 compensation to avoid a custodial sentence. Eamon Devlin destroyed his room and adjoined bathroom at the Ballyliffin Lodge Hotel after consuming a large amount of alcohol in September 2016. Flooding damage was caused to his room and adjoining rooms in the incident which Devlin had initially blamed on a group of gypsies. Devlin, with an address at 121 Drumintee Road, Killeavy, Newry, had argued during a two-day trial that his intoxication was involuntary due to his consumption of a flu tablet that caused psychosis. The jury in the trial rejected the defence which had been supported by expert opinion and found him guilty of criminal damage. Insurance covered damage The sentencing hearing at Letterkenny Circuit Criminal Court heard that the cost of the damage to the hotel had been covered by insurance apart from 125. The court heard that Devlin had gone down to reception for a bottle of wine at 11.30pm. At 5am he turned up at reception naked with his son in his arms and said there were gypsies in his room and he wanted them out. When hotel staff went to the room there was no one there and the only damage was that a lamp had been knocked over. At 6am there was a complaint from a neighbouring room that there had been shouting and noise coming from Devlin's room for 30 minutes. Room flooded When staff went to the room again, the door had to be forced open to gain entry. The room was flooded, the bathroom taps were broken, a mirror was smashed and the bath was overflowing. When asked what had happened Devlin said: "They had wrecked it". The hotel manager said Devlin had claimed gypsies had come and "put in the door". Other rooms had been damaged by water coming down from the ceiling. Devlin then told gardai he was responsible. He blamed his behaviour on alcohol, the medication he was taking for an ear infection, and stress. He had drunk a pint of beer, an Irish coffee and two bottles of red wine. Defence counsel Colm Smyth (SC) said Devlin had been a fulltime carer for his father after his mother died. His father had lost his sight after being struck by a British army vehicle at the age of 21 in 1973. His mother died in 2014 and he cared for his father until his death in 2016. Mr Smith said the accused had been involved in a custody battle with his American ex-wife who had been attempting to take their son back to the US. He is very anxious not to be separated from his son, he said. Ashamed Devlin told the court that he was deeply sorry and ashamed for what happened. He said it had meant to be a fun weekend with his son. It should not have happened. The last five years have been a nightmare for me. I want to be a role model to my son and this is a black mark for me and something I have to live with going forward. Devlin had offered to pay compensation to the hotel owners. Judge John Aylmer said Devlin faced a maximum sentence of ten years in prison. He placed the offence in the mid-range of such offences but at the lower end. It merited two years in prison, he said. The mitigating circumstances which reduced the sentence included his forthright admissions and his offer of compensation. Extraordinary aberration The judge said Devlin did suffer an extortionary reaction to the consumption of alcohol, albeit a large quantity. He described the accused's behaviour as "weird" and out of character. This is an extraordinary aberration in the life of an otherwise law-abiding person, he said. Judge Aylmer said the accused deserved a second chance and adjourned the case for a year to allow Devlin to pay 5,000 in compensation to the hotel for the undoubted trauma and inconvenience. If the compensation is paid the judge said he would impose a 20-month sentence to be suspended for one year. Bennetts.UK shares that the Japanese motorcycle brand is ending the production of the iconic superbike, since it does not meet the Euro-IV emission standards which came into effect on 1st January 2016. The Hayabusa also fails to comply with the safety regulations coming under the EU Regulation 168/2013. Then why wasn't it discontinued earlier, you wonder? The reason for this is that the authorities offered a grace period of two years to sell off the existing non-compliant models (among which a good number made their way to India as well). The grace period ends this month and so does the production. This does not mean that you cannot buy the Busa'. The Hayabusa will still remain on sale in various markets including India and even the US. However, it will be illegal in European markets; effective from next year (motorcycle enthusiasts in Europe need to act fast). Initially showcased to the world in October 1998, the Suzuki Hayabusa was the first production bike to break the 200mph (320km/h) speed barrier. The Hayabusa aka GSX1300R is currently in its second generation, after it received some fine-tuning in 2008. Many claim that the new version lacks the raw and mad' character of the original Busa. The outgoing Suzuki Hayabusa is powered by a 1340cc liquid-cooled inline-four engine which makes 197bhp and 155Nm of torque. This is mated to a six-speed gearbox; further assisted by three riding modes. At a starting price of around Rs 13.5 lakh ex-showroom (Delhi), the Suzuki Hayabusa is sold as a CKD (Completely Knocked Down) product. India's BS-VI emission norms (almost on par with Euro-IV) will come into effect only in 2020 and hence, the Busa will available in the country for a brief period of time. Thoughts On Suzuki Hayabusa Being Discontinued The Hayabusa is arguably the most popular motorcycle out there, and even a non-motorcycle enthusiast would have heard its name at some point. It has a huge fan following across the globe and is a usual participant in various motorcycle racing events. Suzuki Motorcycles has not revealed any plans for a new model of the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14R-rival, but we really wish they do. Over 2,000 candidates are in the fray for 199 Assembly seats in Rajasthan. Jaipur/Hyderabad: Rajasthan and Telangana will go to polls on Friday to elect new Assemblies after a high-decibel election campaign that saw war of words among contending parties. Over 2,000 candidates are in the fray for 199 Assembly seats in Rajasthan, where polling Friday will determine whether the BJP bucks anti-incumbency and an increasingly aggressive Opposition to return to power. In Rajasthan, votes will be cast at 51,687 polling booths, 259 of them managed exclusively by women officials and security personnel. It is seen as a straight fight between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress for about 130 seats. In other constituencies, groups like the BSP and rebels who are contesting against official party candidates may queer the pitch. If the Congress wins, it is expected to pick between former chief minister Ashok Gehlot and state party president Sachin Pilot for the top post in the state. In the current House, the BJP has 160 seats and the Congress 25. Ms Raje is contesting from Jhalrapatan constituency, considered her bastion. This time she faces BJP veteran Jaswant Singhs son Manvendra Singh who has defected to the Congress. In Tonk, Sachin Pilot and Rajasthan transport minister and BJP candidate Yoonus Khan are face to face. Mr Khan is the only Muslim candidate fielded by his party. In Telangana, security has been beefed up across the state. Additional DG (law and order) Jitender Thursday said that about one lakh police personnel including 25,000 central paramilitary forces are engaged in poll duties. More than 1.50 lakh polling officials including reserve staff are in the process of giving final touches Thursday to make the election to the 119-member House a smooth affair. The death has occurred of Breige Clarke of St. Nicholas Avenue, Dundalk Peacefully, at home, surrounded by her loving sisters. Predeceased by her parents Louise and Jack, brothers Harry and Sean, sisters Patricia and Olive. Breige will be sadly missed and remembered with love by her dear sisters May, Phyllis and Vera brother-in-law Liam, sister-in-law Breige, nieces, nephews extended family neighbours and her large circle of friends. May She Rest In Peace Reposing at her home on Friday afternoon between 4 oclock and 8 oclock. Removal on Saturday morning at 10.30 oclock, walking to St. Nicholas' Church, arriving for Funeral Mass at 11 oclock, thereafter driving to St. Patrick's Cemetery for burial. The death has occurred of Billy (Willie) Cummins of Artane, Dublin / Clondalkin, Dublin / Annagassan Peacefully in the good care of the staff at Our Lady's Hospital, Drogheda. Beloved husband of Pat and loving dad of Louise, Siobhan, Paul, Liam, Sally and Neil. Sadly missed by his loving wife and family, sons-in-law, daughter-in-law, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, brother, sisters, nieces, nephews, extended family and friends. May he rest in peace Reposing at Stafford's Funeral Home, Maypark, Malahide Road on Friday from 12 noon with family in attendance from 3pm to 5pm. Removal on Saturday morning to Our Lady of Consolation Church, Donnycarney arriving for 10am Mass. Funeral immediately after Mass to Glasnevin Crematorium. Family flowers only please. Donations, if desired, to The Irish Cancer Society. The death has occurred of Johnny McCann of Mucker, Inniskeen and Ardee Reposing at the residence of his sister Melinda Fannins, Balapousta Ardee A92 D3C3 on Friday the 7th from 12 noon until 9pm and on Sunday the 9th at his family home Mucker, Inniskeen from 12 noon until 9pm. Removal on Monday morning to the Church of Mary Mother of Mercy, Inniskeen arriving for 11am Funeral Mass, burial afterwards in St. Marys Cemetery, Inniskeen. House private at all other times please. Johnny, beloved partner of Fiona, much loved father of Liam and Kian. Sadly missed by his parents Bernadette and Kevin, sister Melinda, brothers Peter, Cristopher, Noel, Ciaran and also dearly missed by Cassidy family, Inniskeen, relatives and many friends. May his gentle soul Rest In Peace. With the festive party season now well underway, people in Co Louth are being asked to think ahead as they prepare to go out celebrating. Adrian O'Sullivan, Road Safety Officer with Louth County Council said: "The Christmas party season is getting into full swing and it's a time when many of us will be out and about. It's important to plan how we will travel to and from home, whether by appointing a designated driver, refraining from drinking or making other transport arrangements. "To encourage people to get home safely, Louth County Council have launched the Gift of a Lift road safety Christmas card campaign. The idea behind the initiative is that you commit to give a family member or friend one lift home or organise a taxi for them over the festive season using the specially designed Heres something that will give you a little lift this Christmas cards. Adrian added Road users need to be extra careful at this time of year when roads are at their busiest and conditions can be dangerous. It's not worth taking a chance on driving if you think you are over the legal limit. Research has shown that between 2008 and 2012 alcohol was a factor in 38% of fatal crashes in Ireland. "We have had six deaths on County Louth roads to date in 2018 which means six devastated families who will be spending their first Christmas without their loved ones. I would appeal to everyone to ensure they have a safe and happy festive season and to take extra care when using the roads. "Dont let your actions spoil a good night out and bring tragedy to your family this Christmas." We all know someone for whom it can be difficult to choose a Christmas present, so why not give them The Gift of a Lift card and ensure they arrive home safe over the party season. The card is available to download for free from the road safety section of the County Council website www.Louthcoco.ie. The cards can also be collected from any Louth County Council office, library branch or Motor Tax Office throughout the county (subject to availability). People Before Profit are holding a meeting to launch a new pamphlet, Brexit, The Border and Partition written a UCD academic, Kieran Allen, in the Redeemer Community Family Resources Centre, on Saturday 8th of December at 4pm. The meeting will coincide with debates on the recent withdrawal agreement between Britain and the EU. On their website, People Before Profit said; In the small print of the deal, there are other aspects which are unpalatable. There are the restrictions on state aid and there is even a commitment to support the Eu-Turkey deal designed to stop the movement of refugees. But that was only to be expected from any deal reached between Tories and neoliberals. However, the whole deal is likely to unravel after a vote on December 11th in the British House of Commons. In this scenario, a hard border could still emerge and people power will be necessary to oppose any attempt to erect border posts. In the longer term, however, the issue of the partition of Ireland is likely to forcefully re-emerge. At these meetings, People Before Profit will be outlining its view both on Brexitand on how a united Ireland can be achieved. Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content. Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist. If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider subscribing to our ePaper and/or free daily Newsletter . Support our mission and join our community now. Vadra, a businessman, is being investigated by the ED in connection with a land deal in Bikaner in Rajasthan. Vadra's lawyer Suman Jyoti Khaitan claimed that the ED officials raided 'close associates' and business partners of Vadra in Delhi without even showing any search warrants. (Photo: File) New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday conducted raids at the premises of some close associates of Robert Vadra, son-in-law of UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, according to his lawyer Suman Jyoti Khaitan. Vadra, a businessman, is being investigated by the ED in connection with a land deal in Bikaner in Rajasthan. Khaitan claimed that the ED officials raided "close associates" and business partners of Vadra in Delhi without even showing any search warrants. They locked up the premises from inside and are not allowing any access to those inside, even to the lawyers, he alleged. "Is this the rule of law? Evidence has been fabricated," he alleged while speaking to reporters. The searches, carried out in Delhi-NCR and Bengaluru, were also related to cases of assets held abroad, they said. "The searches at the premises of the three people linked to firms of Vadra were related to alleged commissions received by some suspects in defence deals," an ED official claimed. Meanwhile, the Congress on Friday slammed the ED raids against Robert Vadra's associates, saying an "unnerved" Modi government was unleashing "vendetta" against party chief Rahul Gandhi's brother-in-law to divert the narrative. "Sure shot defeat in 5 States unnerves Modi Govt to again use the old tools - unleash revenge & vendetta against Mr. Robert Vadra to divert the narrative," Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said on Twitter. "Such cowardice & intimidation will not subjugate either the Congress Party or the will of people," he said. New Delhi was upset since Pakistani PM Imran Khan had referred to the Kashmir issue in his speech during the ground-breaking ceremony. New Delhi: India on Thursday said there had been a protocol breach committed by Pak-istan in not allowing an Indian Protocol Officer accompanying Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal to enter the Kartarpur Sahib Gurudwara during the ground-breaking ceremony on November 28. India also reiterated its stand that Pakistan had attempted to politicise a religious issue related to the sentiments of the Sikh community. Pakista-ni Prime Minister Imran Khan had presided over the ground-breaking ceremony on November 28 for creation of a corridor from the border to the Kartarpur Sahib Gurud-wara in Pakistani Punjab. The Kartarpur Sahib Gurudwara is situated at a close distance to the border on the Pakistani side. The MEA confirmed th-at a Protocol Officer (assi-gned from the Indian Hig-h Commission in Islama-bad) was not allowed by Pakistani authorities to accompany Ms Badal into the Gurudwara. A protocol officer was assigned since Ms Badal is a member of the Union Cabinet. A protocol officer who was supposed to be there was not allowed to go inside, MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said at his weekly briefing on Thursday. The MEA Spokesperson added, We see the opening of Kartarpur corridor as a fulfillment of long pending demand of the Sikh community. It was unfortunate that Pakistan has attempted to politicise a religious issue related to the sentiments of the Sikh community. We hope that Pakistan will take all necessary steps to implement their announcements. New Delhi was upset since Pakistani PM Imran Khan had referred to the Kashmir issue in his speech during the ground-breaking ceremony. By Clayton Aldern, Billmoyers.com Courtrooms usually aren't jovial places, but with 21 youth plaintiffs and two busloads of supporting junior high-school students in tow, the air in the U.S. District Courthouse here on Wednesday felt more field trip than federal court. Youth plaintiff Isaac Vergun (13) poses outside the U.S. District Courthouse in Eugene, Oregon. Photo credit: Clayton Aldern / Grist The occasion for the youthful energy was a hearing on a complaint filed on behalf of the plaintiffs, aged 8 - 19, by Oregon nonprofit Our Children's Trust. The kids' lawyers assert that their clients and the younger generation as a whole, have been deprived of key rights by their own government. By failing to act on climate change, they argue, the U.S. governmentincluding President Obama and a baker's dozen federal agencieshas valued its own generation more than future generations, who will bear a greater burden with respect to the climate crisis. The Justice Department filed a motion to dismiss the complaint and Wednesday's hearing had a federal judge considering that motion. The youth plaintiffs' counsel sparred with government lawyers as well as attorneys representing fossil fuel interests. This kind of case might sound, well, juvenile, but trade groups with ties to the oil and gas lobbythe American Petroleum Institute, the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers and the National Association of Manufacturerswere concerned enough about it that they joined as co-defendants in November of last year. Now, the Oregon U.S. District Court will decide whether or not the complaint will proceed to trial. Xiuhtezcatl Tonatiuh Martinez, a 15-year-old indigenous activist and a plaintiff on the case, summed up the kids' perspective at a press conference after the hearing. We are valuing our futures over profits," he said. We are valuing this planet over corporate greed." Xiuhtezcatl Tonatiuh Martinez (15) stands in front of his fellow plaintiffs and addresses the press. Photo credit: Clayton Aldern / Grist This isn't the first time Our Children's Trust has brought forth a youth climate lawsuit. Indeed, the group has at one time or another filed suit in all 50 states and currently has cases pending in five states. Back in November, in a case brought by a coalition of Seattle teenagers, a Washington judge ruled that the state was constitutionally obligated to protect its natural resources for the common benefit of the people of the State"a notable win for the young plaintiffsbut she did not go so far as to rule that the state's carbon emissions-limiting standards in question needed to adhere to the best available science." A 2011 suit, which the youth plaintiffs ended up losing, also targeted the federal government for failing to keep the atmosphere safe for future generations. It perhaps goes without saying that these types of complaints are incredible long shots. Levi Draheim (left, 8), Avery McRae (10) and Hazel Van Ummerson (11) respond to questions at a press conference after their hearing in Eugene, Oregon. Photo credit: Clayton Aldern / Grist Julia Olson, a lawyer with Wild Earth Advocates and Our Children's Trust who argued the plaintiffs' case on Wednesday, is optimistic about the outcome of this complaint, though. I believe in our Constitution and I think it can work to address even the most systemic, intractable problem of our generation," she told me. The complaint alleges violation of the kids' Fifth Amendment rights to due process and equal protection. By failing to act on climate change, it argues, the government discriminates against youth as a class. Without access to a healthy climate, they're deprived of their fundamental rights to life, liberty and property. Read page 1 The complaint is also built on the public trust doctrine, a carryover from English common law that says a government has the duty to protect certain natural resources and systems on behalf of current and future generations. It originated with Emperor Justinian in Rome," Alex Loznak, a 19-year-old plaintiff, explained to the press. It's reflected in the Magna Carta, the writings of Thomas Jefferson and cited in U.S. court decisions dating back to the 1800s." An important question at hand on Wednesday was whether the public trust doctrine applies to the federal government. The U.S. government and its fossil-fuel industry co-defendants argued that legal precedent only considers it to apply to states. That's a crucial distinction, because it will help determine whether or not the plaintiffs even have standing in the federal court system. The defendants also contend that if the federal court took on the case, it would amount to an egregious overstep of authority by the judiciary. This is the type of problem that is designed to be solved by the political branches," argued U.S. counsel Sean C. Duffy at the hearing. He said that denying the U.S. government's motion for dismissal would effectively turn the judicial branch into a de facto super-agency." Another core argument of the defense is that all cases addressing constitutional rights must demonstrate that the government, through its actions, has infringed upon these rights or exceeded its authority. Instead, the defense argued, the kids' case alleges a failure to act and you can't require the government to simply do more." Our Constitution is one that limits the power of government," argued intervenor counsel Quin Sorenson, who represented industry interests at the hearing. That's not how Olson sees it, though. What we have today is not just a failure to act," she told the press after the hearing. The government is not just sitting by and doing nothing. They are doing everything to cause this problem." Indeed, the complaint calls out the government for its continued actions to permit, authorize and subsidize fossil fuel extraction, development, consumption and exportation." Supporters of the youth plaintiffs assemble on the steps of the US District Courthouse in Eugene, OR, after the hearing. The banner reads, Our future is a constitutional right." Photo credit: Clayton Aldern / Grist It's also not unprecedented for a court to demand that the government meet a specific standard to ensure its citizens' safety, she said. In Brown v. Plata, for example, a 2010 Supreme Court case concerning prison reform, the court required a mandatory limit on prison populations for the sake of health and safety. Summarizing the decision, she said that while the Supreme Court had no scientific standards to apply at the time, it ruled that it could rely on expert evidence. The Court selected the numberit set the standardto keep those prisoners safe." And when it comes to determining the safe level of climate pollution in the atmosphere, we have scientific standards," she said. The 21 youth plaintiffs, along with climatologist James Hansen (top, third from left) pose with Our Children's Trust attorneys Phil Gregory (top left) and Julia Olson(bottom left). Photo credit: Clayton Aldern / Grist The way I hope it will go is that the judicial branch will say, 'You've got to do something,'" said Dr. James Hansen, adjunct professor at Columbia University and former director of NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies. Hansen's granddaughter is a plaintiff in the case and he's formally listed in the complaint as the legal guardian of Future Generations." He continued, Hopefully the court will ask for a plan: How are you going to ensure the rights of young people?" In a time of gridlock and sorely needed climate action, the case couldn't come soon enough, Hansen said. It gets harder and harder to stabilize the climate if you go longer and longer without turning the curve." Addressing climate change is perhaps the greatest challenge of our time and it necessarily causes us to ask some big questions. Is there a constitutional right to be free from climate change? Is there a constitutional right to a safe climate? Is youth a class or simply a mutable trait? If the federal government takes actions that worsen the climate crisis, does that amount to an abuse of its power? Said Olson: We are not just in a climate crisis. We will have a significant constitutional crisis and a crisis in our democracy if this doesn't work." YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE Jury Awards Two Dimock Couples $4.2 Million After Finding Cabot Oil & Gas Negligent in Fracking Contamination Case Obama, Trudeau Agree to Safeguarding Arctic, Reducing Methane Emissions Democratic Debate Puts Fossil Fuel Industry on Notice 21 Kids Take on the Feds and Big Oil in Historic Climate Lawsuit The Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management published proposals on Thursday designed to roll back critical measures that protect the imperiled greater sage grouse on public lands in order to boost fossil fuel development and mining in the American West. The spectacular bird once numbered 16 million and roamed across 13 Western U.S. states and three Canadian provinces. But rampant oil and gas development and other factors have cut its habitat in half. Its population has significantly plunged to an estimated 200,000 to 500,000 individuals across 11 western states and southern Alberta. In 2015, the charismatic bird saw a glimmer of hope with the Greater Sage Grouse Conservation Plan, which then-Interior Secretary Sally Jewell called a "truly historic momentone that represents extraordinary collaboration across the American West." A remarkable coalition of scientists, ranchers, environmental groups, extractive industries, federal agencies and state and local governments worked together to create a management plan for the keystone species. As the New York Times explained, that Obama-era effort to protect the sage grouse set out to ban or sharply reduce drilling in 10.7 million acres of its habitat. But the Trump administration's plan would effectively limit the grouse's protected habitat to a mere 1.8 million acres, "essentially opening up nine million acres of land to drilling, mining and other development," the paper said. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke started the process last year when he signed a secretarial order to overhaul the Obama administration plan. Deputy Interior Secretary David Bernhardt defended Thursday's move. "I completely believe that these plans are leaning forward on the conservation of sage grouse," Bernhardt told The Associated Press. "Do they do it in exactly the same way? No. We made some change in the plans and got rid of some things that are simply not necessary," he added. Conservation groups blasted the Trump administration's proposal. The Audubon Society pointed out that more than 40 thousand Americans have urged Secretary Zinke to honor the 2015 Greater Sage-Grouse conservation agreement. "Out West we know a deal is a deal. To have plans that took years of work, backed by good science and strong public support, brought into question is disheartening, a waste of tax-payers money and will threaten our public lands," Brian Rutledge, director of Audubon's Sagebrush Ecosystem Initiative, said in a press release. The Center for Biological Diversity said it's not just the sage grouse at risk, but also hundreds of other sagebrush-dependent wildlife species. "These plans show that Zinke will stop at nothing to make it easier for polluting industries to mine and frack every last acre of the West," Michael Saul, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a press release emailed to EcoWatch. "This is a huge step backward for greater sage grouse and for hundreds of other species that depend on unspoiled public land." Bobby McEnaney, senior director for the Western Renewable Energy Project at the Natural Resources Defense Council had similar sentiments. "It's hard to pretend at this point that Zinke is a steward of America's public lands: he acts more like a pillager," McEnaney said in an online statement. "This rolls back a conservation plan that was carefully crafted by states, ranchers, conservationists and public officials to protect this iconic western bird and the unique sagebrush landscape it inhabits. Zinke's move to unravel it is his single largest land use decision to date. It has no basis in scienceit's a bald-faced giveaway to the oil and gas industry." The Nature Conservancy, a leading not-for-profit organization dedicated to conserving the Earth's lands and waters, has announced the finalization in Seychelles of the first ever debt swap aimed at ocean conservation and climate mitigation programs. The deal increases protection for the country's waters from less than 1 percent to more than 30 percent and supports the creation of the second largest Marine Protected Area in the West Indian Ocean. The Seychelles is an archipelago of 115 islands in the Western Indian Ocean that is vulnerable to sea level rise, as well as changing temperatures and ocean acidification. Seychelles is 99 percent ocean, and its blue economy" is built on a productive tuna fishery and ocean-based tourism. The Seychelles government has committed to protect more than 400,000 square kilometers of ocean through marine resource management over the next five years," Matt Brown, The Nature Conservancy's Africa conservation director, said. This deal is a significant milestone towards that goal and is a model for ocean conservation commitments worldwide." This deal was made possible through a partnership with the Seychelles Ministry of Finance, support of debt-holding nations including France, and grants from private organizations led by the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation. The Nature Conservancy provided a low interest loan of $21.4 million and helped secure an additional $5 million in private grants from the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation with additional support from the Waitt Foundation, Oak Foundation, China Global Conservation Fund, Jeremy and Hannelore Grantham and the Turnbull Burnstein Family Charitable Fund and others. I'm proud my foundation is partnering with Seychelles and The Nature Conservancy on this innovative project that will protect this vital ocean habitat and fragile marine life," Leonardo DiCaprio, chairman of the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, said. "We champion projects like this one across the globe that use cutting edge methods in conservation and environmental protection. This deal will enhance food security for the local people of Seychelles, help mitigate the effects of climate change on their low lying island home, and protect the surrounding rich ocean ecosystems for future generations." Under the leadership of Seychelles President James Michel, the country joins a growing group of countries which have made unprecedented commitments to ocean conservation. Over the past two years, the governments of Palau, New Zealand, Chile, Kiribati, the United Kingdom and the U.S. collectively protected several million square kilometers of the world's oceans. "Our future is only as healthy as the ocean that surrounds us. All nations of the worldwhether large or smallmust take responsibility to better manage our oceans," Michel said. "Through this debt swap we are mobilizing additional resources to both protect the most sensitive and vulnerable marine resources while also embracing the full potential of our blue economy." The transaction restructures approximately $25 million of Seychelles debt, reducing the country's financial burdens and strengthening the integrity of its conservation programs. Under the terms of the deal, debt payments will be redirected to a new independent, locally-led organization called the Seychelles Conservation and Climate Adaptation Trust, which will oversee the marine conservation and climate adaptation efforts. The Seychelles is an archipelago of 115 islands in the Western Indian Ocean that is vulnerable to sea level rise, as well as changing temperatures and ocean acidification. Seychelles is 99 percent ocean, and its blue economy" is built on a productive tuna fishery and ocean-based tourism. YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE Atlantic Salmon Is All But Extinct as a Genetically Eroded Version of Farmed Salmon Has Taken Over 10 Stunning Images Show Human's Huge Impact on the Earth Ocean 'Artivist' Creates Breathtaking Coral Reef Sculptures February Smashes Earth's All-Time Global Heat Record by a Jaw-Dropping Margin (Photo: REUTERS / Finbarr O'Reilly)Israeli Arab Christian boy scouts play bagpipes during an Easter Monday parade in Tel Aviv's Jaffa neighborhood, April 21, 2014. JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel said on Tuesday it was stepping up efforts to encourage military enlistment by Christian Arab citizens, a community long closer to the larger Muslim minority in identifying with the Palestinians. Israel's Christian Arabs number about 160,000, some two percent of the Jewish state's eight million people, and the expected number of conscripts - now about 100 - will rise in coming months, a senior military officer said. "We intend to appeal to the Christian population of conscription age (17 and 18) and will send them call-up notices to volunteer for service," Lieutenant-Colonel Amir Hai told reporters in a telephone briefing on Tuesday. Being mostly Palestinians themselves, Israel's Christian Arabs have traditionally stood alongside the Muslim community on Israeli-Palestinian issues. The Muslim minority comprises about 20 percent of the population and men of conscription age are largely exempted from military service. Hai said that all branches of the military, including elite units, would be open for the volunteers as long as they are suitable for the demands of the task. "No (unit) will be closed to (Christian conscripts) ahead of time, unless there is criteria that limits the recruit's ability to serve," Hai said. Only males will currently be called, although females were welcome to volunteer too, he added. "I welcome this important, historical step ... for the Christian community to be a member of Israeli society, equal in rights and duties," Father Gabriel Nadaf, head of the Israeli Christians Recruitment Forum, told Army Radio. NO LARGE NUMBER EXPECTED Israeli Jews are obliged to serve in the military at age 18, with men serving for three years and women for two. The vast majority of ultra-Orthodox Jews are exempted on religious grounds, a divisive issue in Israeli society. Other minority groups that are called up for service are Israeli Druze Arabs and Bedouin Arabs. Sammy Smooha, professor of anthropology and sociology at Haifa University and a leading expert on Israel's Arabs, doubted the proportion of Christians in the military would not change. "The increase sounds impressive because the numbers are so small so far. I don't anticipate this will rise much further. There are greater numbers of Christians going for civilian national service options," he said. He described those enlisting as a fringe phenomenon driven by concern at the persecution of Christians in the Muslim Middle East and a desire for social advancement in Israel. Nadaf, an outspoken and controversial proponent for greater integration of Israel's Christians into Israeli society, said they wanted to be fully viewed as citizens of the Jewish state. "We are not Arabs. We are not Palestinians. We are Israelis, citizens of this country and we see ourselves as loyal to this country and its institutions as any Christian living in any other place in the world would," he said. (Writing by Ori Lewis; Editing by Tom Heneghan) (Photo: REUTERS / Yorgos Karahalis)Kirill, Russian Orthodox Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, leaves Saint Dionysios Orthodox church in Athens June 1, 2013. Kirill is on a seven-day visit in Greece Pope Francis is urging Arab Christians to 'keep flame of their faith' while Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill says events in Nigeria and Central African Republic linked with massive murder of Christians are particularly "terrible." The Pope told Christians in the Arab-speaking world to "keep the flame of their faith," despite the darkness of the trial" they are facing. Francis was speaking at the Vatican Aug. 31 during a general audience with Arab-speaking pilgrims from Iraq, Jordan, and the Middle East, Vatican Radio reports. "The healing accomplished today by Jesus [of the woman with the hemorrhage Mt 9:20-22] assures us that when human hope disappears and everything seems impossible, the sun of Divine hope rises again for those who, despite the darkness of the trial, keep the flame of their faith!" said the Pope. "The Lord bless you all and protect you from the evil one!" In Moscow, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, on Aug. 29 decried the "shocking" persecution of Christians in some African countries, who are being "simply swept away by radical Islamists." Kirill said that the events in Nigeria and Central African Republic linked with massive murder of Christians are particularly "terrible," Russia's Sputnik news agency reports. "The Russian Church does all she can to make the world community aware of the terrible situation of Christians and their congregations, including those in Congo," Patriarch Kirill said according to the Russian Orthodox Church. "I will not enumerate all the regions where Christians are suffering today, but would like to emphasize that dreadful crimes are often committed in the territory of Nigeria and the Central African Republic, as the result of which great many Christians die," he noted. "We raise this issue at the international level. I had the opportunity to discuss it during the meeting with Pope Francis," said Kirill. JOINT DECLARATION The Patriarch said he and Francis had signed a Joint Declaration Feb. 11 when they met in Cuba, in which they called on the international community to make every effort "in order to stop this atrocious crime of our times the mass killings of Christians." The Russian Patriarch was speaking at a meeting with the Ambassador of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Valentin Matungul, the Patriarch. (Photo: Russian Orthodox Church) Pope Francis (l) and Russian Patriarch Kirill at their historic meeting in Havana, Cuba on Feb. 12, 2016. Kirill noted that Africa is suffering a "monstrous extermination of an immense number of Christians" at the hands of radical Muslims and the Russian church leader said he had spoken of the matter with Pope Francis. "We are particularly concerned about Christians, who are killed by radical Islamists," he said. "The Russian Orthodox Church is doing its utmost to raise this issue so that public community could be aware of it. "We raise it on the international level, I had a chance to discuss it with Pope Francis.....[all international institutes] should take efforts to prevent dreadful crime of our time - massive killings of Christians," said Kirill. Some African countries north of the equators face constant threats of Islamist-inspired terror, notably Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria, with Boko-Haram group, which pledges allegiance to the Daesh jihadist group. In February, on the first anniversary of the Islamic State massacre of 21 Coptic Christians on a beach in Libya, Francis and Kirill issued a joint declaration denouncing the systematic persecution of Christians throughout the world. (Photo: REUTERS / Toby Melville)Britain's Prince Charles (Center R) is accompanied by the Archbishop of the Syrian Church in the United Kingdom, Archbishop Athanasius (Center L), during a visit to a Syriac (Syrian) Orthodox Church in west London December 17, 2013. Prince Charles was accompanied by Prince Ghazi bin Mohammad of Jordan during the visit, celebrating Christian communities from the Middle-East in Britain Prince Charles, the heir to the British throne has delivered a message of hope to Christians facing persecution in the Middle East as he attended a service in London's Westminster Abbey. In a Dec. 5 address at the abbey, the 70-year-old prince condemned a failure to share in the sufferings of the Middle East, urging Christians to "open ourselves afresh to the pain of those caught up in a region of suffering." Persecution isolated people, he said: "Those outside its experience cannot say 'I know how you feel,' because they don't. To live in a country or in a society where a government, or an armed group, or even a minority of people consider that you should be consigned to oblivion because of your faith in Christ is an experience that is without parallel." A nun from Iraq forced to flee from Islamic State fighters overnight was among those who provided testimony at Westminster Abbey in the service celebrating the contribution of Christians in the Middle East, The Church Times reported. Sister Nazek Matty, a Dominican Sister of St Catherine of Siena, in Iraq, described how the Sisters had now returned to the plains of Nineveh. They came back "with all the doubts and fears of our hearts", because of their determination "to live our beliefs in the place where we belong, and where we feel deeply connected to our roots." They were among an estimated 100,000 Christians who fled the area in mid- 2014. Writing in The Sunday Telegraph on the eve of the service, the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby warned that Christians communities in the Middle East faced "the threat of imminent extinction," noting that the Christian population of Iraq is now less than half what it was in 2003. The prince, who also is sometimes known as the Prince of Wales spoke of how Christians, Muslims and Jews in parts of the Middle East are supporting one another and living peacefully together, Christian Today reported. He spoke of a group of Egyptian Copts martyred on a beach in Libya in 2015, and "those countless killed in Iraq and Syria." "Those who remain faithful in suffering are beacons and lights of hope and an inspiration to us all. To you who are from the region, we owe a debt of profound gratitude. For your suffering calls us to faithfulness, and to fellowship." They shone, he said, with "the light of obedience." Charles said, "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," Independent Catholic News reported. Christians outside areas of persecution were called on to ensure "that governments, that households, that societies welcome the afflicted, pray for the suffering, stand with those in torment, rejoice in liberation". The service, which began with singing by the Coptic Diocesan Choir, accompanied by small cymbals, was attended by 13 heads of the Churches of the Middle East and North Africa. The Anglican Archbishop in Jerusalem, Rev. Suheil Dawani, gave a reading from second reading of Luke's gospel, "No one after lighting a lamp hides it under a jar," in Arabic. A pall of gloom descended on the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) campus, where an explosion at the Laboratory for Hypersonic and Shock Wave Research (LHSR) claimed the life of an engineer, and critically injured three others. The blast, which occurred around 2.15pm, could be heard across the campus, according to students who gathered at the lab to find out what had happened. As news of the blast spread through the campus, there was confusion, especially among those who work and study at the department of aerospace engineering. No one seemed to be able to pinpoint what exactly caused the blast, and theories began doing the rounds. The force of the blast was enough to blow away every window of the lab and even affected the roof, which is at least 20 feet high. Such a blast can occur only with the presence of a fuel, said one anxious student from the department. For others, trying to figure out who was injured took priority. We were initially told that the person who died was part of the department, then we found out that it was an M.Tech student. After reaching here, we found out that they are part of a startup, said Rajesh (name changed), an IISc student who didnt want to be identified. The presence of a huge media contingent, as well as bomb squad, forensics team, police and reserve policemen, kept most of the faculty and students away. There definitely need to be stricter safety measures for labs where such work is carried out, another student said. Professor Jagadeesh, one of the founders of Super Wave Technology Private Limited, the startup the engineers were employed with, was seen moving around the accident site and talking to other faculty. After speaking to the family of the deceased, however, the professor seemed to break down and sat on the steps of the laboratory, as the shutters were downed. According to IISc, the exact cause of the blast will be known only on Thursday. Start-up working on use of shockwaves Super Wave Technology Private Limited, a startup founded by Professors G Jagadeesh and KPJ Reddy, from the department of aerospace engineering, was housed at the Laboratory for Hypersonic and Shock Wave Research, and was working in the area of shockwaves and how they could be applied to daily situations as well as industrial ones. They have earlier delivered solutions which allow for drug patches which deliver vaccines, insulin and antibiotics through shockwaves, instead of injections. The company has also worked on solutions for the tea industry. In February this year, the company had signed a deal with ONGC in which the corporation would provide assistance to SWTPL to research the use of shockwaves instead of hydraulic fracturing for shale gas extraction. While hydraulic fracturing would require large amounts of water and energy, shockwaves would be a more efficient method and the possibility of using this as an alternative was being studied. Manoj married 10 months ago Manoj Kumar (32), from Kollegal in Chamarajanagar district, had been employed by Super Wave Technology Private Technology to work on the project signed with Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC). According to emergency services officials at the spot, Manoj was in the immediate vicinity of the blast, which resulted in multiple mutilations on his body. Manoj Kumar had married Anusha, from Mysuru, around 10 months ago, and the couple lived near Manyata Tech Park. Two members of the family initially alleged that institute officials were being high-handed in not allowing them to enter the cordoned area or speak to any of the officials on what caused the blast. Family members, who claimed to be related to Kumars wife, were seen standing outside the cordon, asking to be let in. They just called his wife and told her that he had died in an accident. There was no other information. We want to know what safety precautions were in place in an institution of such eminence, Anushas cousin demanded. Condition of 3 engineers critical All the three engineers injured in the blast are admitted to MS Ramaiah Hospital and are critical. The engineers Athulya Uday Kumar, Naresh Kumar and Karthik Sehnoy are critically injured. Athulya Kumar was in ICU while the other two were being operated upon. Athulya suffered wounds on his face, left shoulder and back. Naresh suffered bilateral puncture wound on his chest, fracture on right arm. Shenoys injuries are deep cuts and a suspected injury to lungs. What the officials say According to the State Fire and Emergency Services, no one from IISc called the 101 helpline, and emergency services reached the spot on their own after seeing media reports. No one called the helpline as there was no fire. We reached the spot after seeing reports in the media, confirmed Sunil Agarwal, ADG (Fire). MR Chandrashekar, senior security officer at IISc, said that he was having lunch at his quarters when he heard the blast, as it reverberated even where he was sitting. I immediately reached the spot and we managed to evacuate one of the engineers to a spot outside the building. The ambulances then took the injured to Ramaiah Hospital, he said. According to G Jagadeesh, professor at the department of aerospace engineering and co-founder of the startup, the lab had all safety protocol in place to carry out experiments. We are unsure how the blast happened. We have been using high-pressure gases for a long time and this is the first time such an incident has occurred. Fire and Emergency Services officials at the spot said that the explosion could have been the result of a mixing of gases. The laboratory stored industrial size cylinders of oxygen, hydrogen, helium and other gases. However, they added the caveat that the exact cause and safety precautions taken would be known only once the forensics team submitted its report. The court wrapped up trial in 2005 Sohrabuddin Sheikh on Wednesday. According to the CBI, the accused police officers had abducted Sohrabuddin and Kausar Bi on November 26, 2005 when they were travelling to Sangli in Maharashtra from Hyderabad in a private bus along with Prajapati. (Photo: File) Mumbai: The Special CBI court in Mumbai to pronounce its verdict in Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case on December 21. The court on Wednesday (December 5) wrapped up the trial in the 2005 Sohrabuddin Sheikh and 2006 Tulsiram Prajapati fake encounter case after the defence lawyers concluded their final arguments. On the last day of final arguments CBI counsel B P Raju told the judge that the case was handed over to the CBI five years after the incident and examination of witnesses began 12 years after the crime was committed due to which there were some lacuna in the probe. He also said that some of the star witnesses also turned hostile during the trial that hampered the case of prosecution. Responding to this special judge S J Sharma said, I dont blame CID (which investigated the crime at initial stage). I dont blame the CBI. There are statements of witnesses and if they come here (before the court) and say something else, it is not your fault. You did your job. During the course of trial, the prosecution examined 210 witnesses, of which 92 turned hostile. According to the CBI, the accused police officers had abducted Sohrabuddin and Kausar Bi on November 26, 2005 when they were travelling to Sangli in Maharashtra from Hyderabad in a private bus along with Prajapati. Prajapati, who was a witness to the incident, was allegedly killed by the Rajasthan and Gujarat police. I remember these words early in my career from a colleague, Everybody else gets to make mistakes; when youre a principal, you have to get it right 100 percent of the time. Sound like your day in a nutshell? If you are a principal, you know there is no way to get it right all the time, but to inspire the confidence and trust of those around you, youve got to get pretty darn close. In many respects, we think we know what were in for when we sign that contract: closing achievement gaps, managing facilities, developing staff, answering student needs and parent requests, following policy developments, even cheerleading from the sidelines. However, what makes the principalship so uniquely challenging is the unimaginable range of skills one must possess or develop really quickly in order to succeed. The principalship will test your sanity. It will test your belief in yourself. There will be many moments when you are convinced that you are failing. Without these moments, however, we can never be grounded in the actual work weve been asked to do. And thats what this job is: actual work. I thought I was ready to be principal on day one, but that was before I discovered what the job actually entailed. Once I understood the challenges my school community faced, the real work began. You have to knock on that door. You have to try for that business partnership. You have to empower your strongest staff members. You have to stay until that last grandmother leaves the concert. Simply put, the breadth and depth of the principalships demands can sweep you off your feetunless you anchor yourself, identify a priority, and go after it. When I assumed my current (and first) principalship six years ago, my anchor became the Oasisthe largest of four densely populated mobile-home communities in our district. Living outside the municipal boundary in the nations second largest countyCook, which encompasses our neighboring city of Chicagonearly 25 percent of our students live in mobile-home parks, lacking many of the services most families take for granted. Overwhelmingly, these children live in homes in which English is not the primary language and where internet access may be inconsistent or nonexistent, potentially rendering their school-issued iPads academically worthless. Their parents have lofty dreams for their children. Many lack a high school diploma and most have not completed a post-secondary degree. About This Package In this special Commentary package , current and former school leaders share insights from how they managed and recovered from some of the most difficultand often unexpectedcircumstances of their careers. This special section is supported by a grant from The Wallace Foundation. Education Week retained sole editorial control over the content of this package; the opinions expressed are the authors own, however. Read more from the package. Do not confuse my characterization with pity. Our families are proud and strong. But when I became principal of Elk Grove High School, I understood quickly that many of our students learn as they go through high school that the economic deck is stacked against them from birth. Many of these students struggle with school attendance and academic performance. Their families are often disconnected from their childrens school. They lack library cards, parks, summer camps, and reliable WiFi. They also face massive economic inequality. The challenges our students and their families encounter reach far beyond the classroom, far beyond the school. It is our charge as public school leaders to address these inequities. And it became my mission to figure out how I could help these students in face of such daunting obstacles. My administrative team and I conducted door-to-door home visits alongside bilingual staff members who could help us monolinguals overcome our Spanish-language limitations. Our student services staff created an annual Cinco de Mayo celebration that welcomed hundreds from the community to our school on a Sunday afternoon. We allocated Title I funds and gave one of our amazing Spanish teachersRicardo Castro, who later became the 2017 Illinois Teacher of the Yearcarte blanche to create a mobile library and a student-led summer camp for K-5 kids. We partnered with a mobile carrier to provide reliable WiFi access to dozens of our students living in poverty, allowing them to complete online work at home for the first time. We diversified curricular offerings, creating career-pathway courses and workplace experiences in areas such as health care, law and equity, and manufacturing to provide every student with a clear road to post-secondary success. Some of our efforts have been huge hits, others not so much. And still, we push every single day to find another possible avenue to confront the enormous range of challenges faced by our students. Ultimately, their challenges are our challenges. Their dreams are our dreams. Their future is our future. This is truly a great job, but carrying the emotional weight of thousands of futures is an exhausting challenge. Even as I worked with the best intentions to prioritize the massive range of challenges during my first year, my superintendent issued the most direct order he has given me before or since: Choose a Friday to take a personal day, report back with the date I selected, and go do something fun with my family. He could see that I was on the path to burnout. He was right. As a principal, you have to remember your own fallibility. If you dont care for yourself, you will not be able to care for your school community. There is so much more to this role than one can possibly know at any given time, and every time I have thought I have it all figured out, the principalship humbled me quickly. The silver lining is that every single challenge is an opportunity to develop a new relationship or skill. Thats extremely fortunate, because the next unpredictable situation is always just around the corner. Lisa Nelson earned a masters degree in middle school education and taught for five years. But she never learned much about dyslexia until her own daughter began struggling in school. Nelson, who researched the condition and ultimately referred her daughter for testing, was frustrated that her daughters teachers didnt identify the signs first. And when she thinks back on the children she used to teach in the late 1990s and early 2000s, she wonders how many had learning disabilities that went unrecognized or unaddressed because she never learned about the signs in her preservice program. Dyslexia is the most common learning disability. ... If teachers are not getting training for the most common reading failure, then what percentage are getting trained in anything else? asked Nelson, who has since co-founded the Massachusetts chapter of the advocacy group Decoding Dyslexia. Students with disabilities make up about 13 percent of the public school student population, according to 2015-16 federal data. Because of the inclusion movement, which says that students with disabilities should be educated alongside their nondisabled peers, 63 percent of those millions of students with disabilities spend the majority of their day in general education classrooms. Source: Education Week Research Center analysis of IDEA and Digest of Education Statistics, 2018. Yet historically, many colleges of education have offered just one or two courses on special education for their general education teacher-candidates. Advocates say thats not enough to know how to teach students with such learning disabilities as dyslexia or other conditions like autism or attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. This is the first time in history where so many kids with disabilities are being taught in general education classrooms, said Michael Gottfried, an associate professor in the Gevirtz Graduate School of Education at the University of California, Santa Barbara. I do think a lot of it is happening without so much preparation on the teacher side. But theres hope the tide is turning, educators say: More colleges of education and state education departments are beginning to put a priority on teaching their general classroom teachers how to work with students with disabilities. After all, those students success in mainstream classes hinges in large part on their teachers, experts say. Even if you have a great special education teacher [in the building], general education teachers need that knowledge, Nelson said. Beyond Special Education 101' A 2009 federal report found that most traditional teacher-preparation programsand about half of alternative programsrequire at least one course on teaching students with disabilities for prospective general classroom teachers. Still, about half the programs reported that they needed more information or assistance on how to revise their curriculum to better prepare teachers. About 60 percent of elementary programs required field experiences with students with disabilities, as did just 28 percent of alternative routes. In fact, the type of field experience most often required was to observe teachers working with students with disabilities. Fewer than one-third of programs required their preservice teachers to work with students with disabilities during their student-teaching experience. Those numbers are dated, but experts arent sure if theyve changed all that much. As the number of students with disabilities who enroll in general education classes continues to grow, however, programs are realizing that this is important, and the techniques you have taught your general education candidates may not be as maximally effective as they need to be for students who are really struggling to learn, said Mary Brownell, the director of the Collaboration for Effective Educator Development, Accountability, and Reform (or the CEEDAR Center). The Florida-based CEEDAR Center has worked with more than 20 states to help them enhance their teacher education programs, among other reforms. A major portion of that work focuses on ensuring that general education teacher-preparation programs are training teachers to serve all learners, especially those with disabilities, she said. The ideal would be that a lot of this information is so well-integrated into your coursework, and you have multiple opportunities to practice what youre learning, said Brownell, who is also a professor of special education at the University of Florida in Gainesville. But more than that, to me, the ideal is that you would then leave your preparation program and then enter into a school system built on [these principles]. ... These are very sophisticated skills were asking teachers to have, and they cant easily learn them in two years. California recently took a step in that direction by revamping its teacher-training standards to better prepare general classroom teachers to work effectively with students with disabilities. All prospective teachers must learn instructional techniques to work with diverse learners. Other states, like Connecticut, Ohio, and Tennessee, are making strides toward better preparing their general classroom teachers, Brownell said. Inclusive Teacher Prep At Syracuse University, any undergraduate student who wants to earn a degree in elementary education has to enroll in an inclusive elementary and special education dual program. Coursework on teaching students with disabilities and related clinical experiences are woven throughout the program, and when students graduate, theyre recommended for certification in both elementary special education and general elementary education. All students are going to leave here with strategies and tools to teach all [learners], said Christine Ashby, an associate professor in the teaching and leadership department at the universitys school of education. Co-teaching is also modeled throughout the program: To prepare teacher-candidates to work alongside a special education teacher, some classes are co-taught by faculty members from different backgrounds, or even a professor and a self-advocate with a disability. We wanted the faculty to be seen as really collaborative. We dont have a separate special education program, said Ashby, noting that even the facultys offices are mixed together. Were constantly modeling that this is in the water of the place, in addition to being something we expect students to do. The universitys programs for prospective secondary teachers also incorporate coursework on students with disabilitiesbut not to the same extent, and Ashby said there could be more work done to prepare those teachers for inclusive classrooms. If we started with the assumption that our classrooms are diverse, ... we wouldnt have so much work to do later to help teachers adjust to that diversity in the classroom, she said. After all, serving diverse learners is a key component of equitable education, Brownell said. Far too often in colleges of education, equity has been about race, language, culture, and poverty, but whats left out of that conversation is disability, she said. Well know weve arrived when our conversations about equity ... [include] disability. Santo Domingo, Dec 6 (epa-efe).- The death toll in the explosion at a plastics factory in the Dominican capital was raised to five on Thursday, when search teams located another body in the rubble of the building. Wednesday's blast at the Polyplas factory in the Villas Agricolas district of Santo Domingo also injured more than 70 people, five of whom are in critical condition. It also caused varying damage to homes - and even destroyed some of them - located near the factory. "We will respond to the 25 families ... who suffered the impact of the shock waves in the explosion," presidential aide Iris Guaba said. Several schools and two hospitals likewise suffered damage. The search for bodies continues and Santo Domingo Mayor David Collado announced on Twitter that an emergency team from San Juan, Puerto Rico, "is on its way" to help local authorities in the aftermath of the blast. Relatives of factory workers say that many of their loved ones remain unaccounted for. Kelvin Garabito, the brother of Polyplas employee Maria Altagracia Garabito, told EFE that family members have gone to several hospitals but have not found her. Maria Garabito appears in a video that circulated Thursday on social media and which she recorded amid the smoke inside the factory shortly before the explosion. Emergency Operations Center official Edwin Olivares told EFE on Thursday that two of the bodies have not yet been identified because of their condition after the blast and fire, so they could be among the people listed as missing. Santo Domingo fire chief Rafael del Rosario said Wednesday night that, according to preliminary information, the explosion occurred when a Polyplas boiler ignited propane gas that was leaking from a truck unloading the fuel inside the factory. Tim Becker, REACHLaw, informiert uber Obsoleszentrisiken aufgrund der Chemikalienverordnung REACH. Yesterday there was a nasty awakening for many visitors of the Component Obsolescence Group (COG) quarterly meeting. The meeting was attended by around 120 representatives of companies who were interested in how to deal with obsolescence risks. In most cases, manufacturers discontinue components due to life cycle or economic considerations. Tim Becker, Legal Advisor of the Finnish law firm ReachLaw, drew attention to the European chemicals regulation REACH, which can also lead to the discontinuation of components if they contain substances that are no longer permitted. Companies that have to keep their products available in the long term protect themselves against early component terminations by stocking and storing critical parts. This storage can last for ten, twenty years or more. Within this time, substances contained in these components may become no longer be permitted. Then,placing the stored components on the market also becomes no longer permitted - and the whole investment in stockpiling and storage was a waste of resources. Growing Requirements The EU REACH Regulation aims to ensure that chemicals manufactured, imported, and used in the EU pose no risk to the environment or health and that the most dangerous substances are progressively replaced by safe alternatives. The focus is on substances of very high concern. The European Chemicals Agency ECHA is responsible for deciding which substances fall into this category. If there is no alternative for a dangerous substance, then companies wishing to use such substances must apply for authorization. If the substance is then used in a product and its content exceeds 0.1% by mass, then the manufacturer must inform potential customers and consumers of this independently of a purchase. Among other things, the REACH Regulation contains two lists: Annex 14 contains the list of substances subject to authorization whose use triggers the aforementioned information obligation. There are currently 43 substances on this list. Annex 17 contains the list of restrictions consisting of 68 substances whose use is either not permitted at all or only permitted under certain conditions. Furthermore, the chemical agency ECHA has a "candidate list" with currently 191 substances that are eligible for authorization or restriction. The lists are updated by ECHA every six months. Companies that stock components now run the risk that the stored parts contain substances that will be included in one of the two lists according to Annex 14 or 17 during the storage period. For this reason, it is advisable to observe ECHA's "candidate list" when designing assemblies and, if possible, to use components without these substances. Information and Support The Component Obsolescence Group (COG) raises awareness of obsolescence problems. To this end, quarterly meetings with informative lectures are held. The COG also defines processes, e.g., to automate the handling of obsolescence reports, and advocates the introduction of these processes among suppliers and customers of electronic components. It was not immediately known if the Pakistani Army also suffered any casualties in the Indian fire. The report said that two forward locations along the LoC manned jointly by the Army and the BSF came under fire from across the de facto border at 3.50 pm on Thursday. (Representational image) Srinagar: One Army and one Border Security Force (BSF) jawan were killed and another Army jawan was injured in Pakistani firing in Machil and Sunderbani sectors of the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday. Defence spokesman Col. Rajesh Kalia said here that the Pakistani troops resorted to unprovoked firing at the Indian forward posts in Machil sector at around 10.45 am on Thursday. Our troops retaliated to the unprovoked Pakistani firing strongly. One soldier was martyred in the enemy fire, he said. Police sources here said that the facing armies exchanged small and medium arms fire in Khan Basti, Ring Payeen and Tantray areas Machil at intervals during the whole day on Thursday. It was not immediately known if the Pakistani Army also suffered any casualties in the Indian fire. The exchange of fire was also reported from Kamalkote area of Uri sector in neighbouring Baramulla without any casualties taking place on either side though. A report from Muzaffarabad said that the Indian firing caused fear and panic among the border-dwellers. A similar situation prevailed on the Indian side of the de facto border, the police sources in Srinagar said. A report from Rajouri in Jammu region said that a BSF jawan Para-njit Biswas was killed and another was critically injured in cross-LoC firing in the districts Sunderbani area. The report said that two forward locations along the LoC manned jointly by the Army and the BSF came under fire from across the de facto border at 3.50 pm on Thursday. The Army and the BSF retaliated to the Pakistani firing effectively. However, two jawans of the BSFs 126 Battalion were critically injured and one of them Constable Biswas succumbed to his injuries later, said a BSF official. On Wednesday, two Indian Army personnel were injured in the Pakistani fire in the Uri area. The Army officials here said that the Indian troops returned the fire by using same calibre weaponry. The police sources said that the two armies traded small arms and mortar fire near Nanak Post in Kamalkote and at nearby Rani Shanker Post around 5.30 pm on Wednesday, injuring two Indian soldiers. A residential house and a tin-shed belonging to one Hakim Ali were damaged in the Pakistani shelling at Batar Kindibarja in Kamalkote area, the police said. The area witnessed exchange of fire again between 9 30 am and 11 am on Thursday, the reports received here said. Defence spokesman alleged that the firing was initiated by the Pakistani troops without any provocation from own side. He added, Our troops gave befitting reply to the ceasefire violation of Pakistan. According to officials, 2018 has witnessed highest number of over 600 ceasefire violations in the last eight years along the LoC and International Border (IB) between India and Kashmir in Jammu and Kashmir, leaving as many as seventy Army and BSF personnel and civilians dead and many more injured. Last year, 15 Army and 4 BSF personnel and 12 civilians had been killed and 72 armed personnel and 79 civilians injured in 503 such violations. In the aftermath of the fresh clashes, the cross-LoC trade was suspended at Uri-Chakothi corridor on Thursday as a precautionary measure, the officials here said. Uris Sub-district Magistrate (SDM), Baseer-ul-Haq said that since the shelling was taking place close to the Kaman Post crossing point it was decided to suspend the movement of trucks carrying merchandise between the two sides. The official said that the trade activities through Uri-Chakothi corridor will be resumed as and when the situation becomes normal and there is no threat to truckers carrying the goods. Truck service between the two parts of Jammu and Kashmir through Uri-Chakothi was rolled out in 2008 after India and Pakistan agreed to allow traders from both the sides to exchange listed goods on barter system. India is world's third largest oil consuming nation, which is more than 80 per cent dependent on imports to meet its energy needs. 'We take the views of Prime Minister Narendra Modi seriously who (like US President Donald Trump) is equally vocal about the issue,' said Saudi oil minister Khalid Al Falih. (Photo: AP) Vienna/New Delhi: Oil cartel OPEC will consider views of world leaders such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who represent the voice of major consuming nations, with seriousness before taking a decision on cutting output to support falling prices, Saudi oil minister Khalid Al Falih said on Thursday. India is the world's third largest oil consuming nation, which is more than 80 per cent dependent on imports to meet its energy needs. Led by PM Modi, it has been very strongly making a case for oil producers' cartel OPEC to price crude at reasonable and responsible rates. Speaking to reporters at the meeting of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Saudi oil minister Khalid Al Falih said: "We take the views of Prime Minister Narendra Modi seriously who (like US President Donald Trump) is equally vocal about the issue. We just met him in Buenos Aires (during G20 summit) and privately he made those points very very strongly that he does care for Indian consumers and is very serious about it. I have also seen him at three times at various energy events in India where he was very vocal." He was replying to a question on US President's expectations from OPEC meeting. "Well, President Trump is the president of the largest consuming country in the globe -- 21 million (barrels), I believe, or thereabouts. That's 20 per cent of global markets if not more. And the consumer in the US, just like the consumer in France, just like the consumer in India, just like the consumer in Saudi Arabia, wants affordable energy. So, he (Trump) has every right to wish for affordability of energy for the citizens of the United States and he is very vocal using his favourite communication tool which is Twitter and we hear him and we take his views seriously," he said. Ahead of the meeting, Trump in a tweet had hoped that OPEC will keep oil flowing and not take decisions that would lead to higher oil prices. "Hopefully OPEC will be keeping oil flows as is, not restricted. The World does not want to see, or need, higher oil prices!," he had said. Consuming nations are part of OPEC deliberations even when they are not physically present in the meeting room, the Saudi oil minister said. "And the fact that President Trump tweets about it and reminds us, I think, is a healthy thing and we take it as one input factor but at the end of the day our most important guiding principle is to bring supply and demand into balance and we don't think the US will benefit from an over-supply market for an extended period of time where investment flows stop and the fantastic growth in US shale is brought to a halt in the way it happened in 2015-2016," he said. OPEC on Thursday delayed a decision on production until it meets with other producers on Friday. Following this, crude oil prices traded sharply lower. Growing concerns that oil producers won't reach an agreement to aggressively reduce production has also weighed on prices. West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery lost USD 2.30, or 4.4 per cent, to USD 50.59 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Members of OPEC concluded their meeting in Vienna, without deciding on output-cut figures. It plans to debate output figures with non-OPEC producers during their meeting Friday. Former President George H.W. Bush laid to rest in Texas Former US President George H.W. Bush was laid to rest at his presidential library in College Station, Texas, on Thursday, following funeral services at his longtime church in Houston. The 41st president of the United States died last week at the age of 94 after years battling Vascular Parkinsonism, a rare disease that affects an individuals ability to walk and talk. George H. W. Bushs casket traveled in a special train car about an hour northwest from Houston to College Station and was then carried to the gravesite behind his library by a military honor guard His remains were flown to Texas on Wednesday following a state funeral at the Washington National Cathedral attended by President Donald Trump, the four living former presidents, and foreign leaders. The memorial was a beautiful tribute to President Bushs extraordinary life and a noble legacy to public service, Trump said at a Hanukkah reception at the White House on Thursday. He was a wonderful man. We will always remember this great statesman and beloved American patriot. He really was very special. Thursdays funeral service in Houston was held at St. Martins Episcopal Church, where Bush and former first lady Barbara Bush worshipped for more than five decades and took on a more personal tone with remarks by family members. George W. Bush, who followed his father to the White House after President Bill Clintons two terms, sat in a front pew near the flag-draped casket and joined in as some 1,000 mourners sang America the Beautiful. French high schools students arrested by armed police The unarmed teens, most with backpacks, standing on their knees created a sharp contrast with armed-to-the-teeth officers. The students were detained Thursday in the Paris suburb of Mantes-la-Jolie, in unrest that has spread to dozens of schools during three weeks of anti-government demonstrations. French high schools students arrested by armed police WATCH EXECUTION OF CHILDREN BY FIRING SQUAD Videos showing rows of French high school students on their knees, with hands on heads, some lined up against a wall with helmeted police officers armed with batons standing over them, have stirred waves of criticism. Released by the Violences Policieres (Police Violence) Twitter group on Thursday evening, the video gathered thousands of retweets and angry comments. The footage captures the moment officers detained education reform protesters in Mantes-la-Jolie in north-central France on Thursday. The majority of them were teens from local high schools. Huawei CFO to appear in Canada court A top executive of Chinas Huawei who is under arrest in Canada is set to appear in a Vancouver court on Friday for a bail hearing as she awaits possible extradition to the US. Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou, 46, who is also the daughter of the company founder, was arrested on Dec. 1 at the request of the United States. The arrest, revealed by Canadian authorities late on Wednesday, was part of a U.S. investigation into an alleged scheme to use the global banking system to evade U.S. sanctions against Iran. The news roiled global stock markets on fears the move could escalate a trade war between the United States and China after a truce was agreed on Saturday between President Donald Trump and Xi Jinping in Argentina. Trump did not know about the arrest in advance, two U.S. officials said on Thursday, in an apparent attempt to stop the incident from impeding talks to resolve the trade dispute. Details of the case against Meng, to be heard in the Supreme Court of British Columbia, remain sparse. Turkey records largest fall in terrorism across Europe The death toll from terrorism in Turkey fell from 659 to 123 in 2017, Global Terrorism Index 2018 says. Turkey recorded the largest fall in terrorism across Europe last year, a global terrorism ranking list said. The Global Terrorism Index 2018 said fatalities from terrorism in the country fell from 659 in 2016 to 123 in 2017. Across Europe deaths from terrorism reduced 75 percent. TERROR ORGANIZATIONS' PRESENCE DECREASED 81 PERCENT The list based on 163 countries was released by Australia-based think tank Institute for Economics and Peace. Turkey also showed a reduction in Daesh and PKK presence by 81 percent. In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US and the EU -- has been responsible for the deaths of some 40,000 people, including women and children. Turkeys presidential aide seeks help for Yemen Religious Affairs Directorate and Turkiye Diyanet Foundation launch aid campaign for the war-torn country. Turkeys presidential spokesman sought support Friday for an aid campaign launched for Yemen. Ibrahim Kaln posted a graphic on his Twitter account on the campaign, which was launched by Turkeys Religious Affairs Directorate (Diyanet) and the Turkey Diyanet Foundation (TDV) with the headline "Do not remain silent over the screams of Yemen, which is facing the world's biggest hunger crisis". "Let's support this campaign to help our Yemeni brothers," Kaln said while using the hashtag #DonotremainsilentaboutYemen. He said people in Anatolia will once again show the world that they stand with oppressed people. The Diyanet, in coordination with the TDV, will collect aid money for Yemeni Muslims, who are struggling against starvation, disease and civil war. The collection of donations will begin after Friday prayers in 90,000 mosques across Turkey. Those wishing to participate in the charity campaign can also send a text message with the word YEMEN to 5601 to donate 10 Turkish liras ($1.87). Yemen has been wracked by violence since 2014, when the Houthi rebels overran much of the country and the crisis escalated in 2015 when a Saudi-led coalition launched a devastating air campaign aimed at rolling back Houthi gains. US conducts 'Open Skies' overflight of Ukraine The US military said it carried out an "extraordinary" flight over Ukraine under the Open Skies Treaty to reaffirm its commitment to the country. The US said Thursday it and unspecified allies have conducted an "extraordinary flight" over Ukraine amid heightened tensions between Russia and Ukraine. "The timing of this flight is intended to reaffirm U.S. commitment to Ukraine and other partner nations," the Pentagon said in a statement. The flight comes under the auspices of the Open Skies Treaty, which allows for unarmed aerial observation flights in signatory countries. "US SEEKS BETTER RELATIONSHIP WITH RUSSIA" The announcement follows Russia's seizure of two Ukrainian naval ships and a navy tugboat along with 24 crew off the Crimea Peninsula in late November. Moscow accuses the vessels of entering its waters and provoking a conflict. In announcing Thursday's flight, the Pentagon pointed to the Russian attack, which it called "unprovoked," and a "dangerous escalation in a pattern of increasingly provocative and threatening activity. "The United States seeks a better relationship with Russia, but this cannot happen while its unlawful and destabilizing actions continue in Ukraine and elsewhere," it said. US STATE DEPARTMENT INFORMED TURKEY FOR A POSSIBLE ACTION On Wednesday, CNN reported the US is preparing to sail a naval warship into the Black Sea. The news network cited three anonymous officials who said the Pentagon has requested the State Department inform Turkey of the possible action. The US is required to notify the country under the terms of the 1936 Montreux Convention, which governs the movement of military ships through the strategic Istanbul and Canakkale waterways which connect the Mediterranean to the Black Sea. The officials said the planned naval movement was in response to Russia's seizure of the Ukrainian ships and personnel. US drops the appeal to extend Turkish bankers sentence The New York prosecutors office has withdrawn an appeal to extend the sentence of a former executive at Turkeys state-owned lender Halkbank. A former Turkish banker serving time in the US will finish out his 32-month sentence, but no longer, said the top US prosecutor in New York late on Thursday. ATILLA IS SET TO RELEASE ON JUNE 25 A bid for a tougher sentence for Hakan Atilla, former deputy CEO of Turkish state lender Halkbank, was rejected by the US attorney for the Southern District of New York. Atilla was sentenced this May to 32 months in prison in the U.S. for violating sanctions on Iran. The Governments Notice of Appeal in the cross-appeal, filed on June 25, 2018, is hereby dismissed with prejudice, said a statement by U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman, according to the report. Atilla, currently serving out his sentence in a federal prison in the state of Pennsylvania, is set for release on July 25, 2019. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has criticized Atillas conviction, calling it politically motivated. Populist arguments that migrants pose a health risk and a burden to health systems are myths used to drive anti-immigrant sentiment. Migrants are, however, more prone to diseases such as hepatitis, HIV and tuberculosis, but tend to spread those infections among immigrant communities. (Photo: AP) Migrants tend to be healthier than the residents of wealthy countries they travel to, such as the United States, and often help fight diseases by becoming healthcare workers in those nations, according to a study published on Wednesday. Populist arguments that migrants pose a health risk and a burden to health systems are myths used to drive anti-immigrant sentiment, the report published by University College London and the Lancet medical journal concluded. The two-year study found that migrants, in general, have greater life expectancy than residents of host countries and are less likely to die of illnesses such as cancer and heart disease. They were, however, more prone to diseases such as hepatitis, HIV and tuberculosis, but tended to spread those infections among immigrant communities rather than the general population, the study found. Our analysis suggests that migrants are healthier, migrants contribute positively to the economies of host countries, and in wealthy countries like the United Kingdom and United States, migrants constitute a large portion of the health workforce, said Ibrahim Abubakar, chair of the UCL-Lancet Commission on Migration and Health that carried out the study. The report, which looked at 96 studies and 5,464 mortality estimates for more than 15 million migrants, found inconsistencies between migrant groups. Mortality was lower, for instance, among migrants from east Asia and Latin America than the general population of six European host countries studied. However, it was higher among migrants from north Africa and eastern Europe. In too many countries, the issue of migration is used to divide societies and advance a populist agenda, Lancet Editor Richard Horton said in a statement. Migrants commonly contribute more to the economy than they cost. The results were based mainly on studies of migrant health in wealthier countries, due to a lack of data on low-income and middle-income countries. As a result, the study may not reflect the health of immigrants in those poorer countries that are the most popular destinations globally for migrants, the report cautioned. US issues travel warning for visiting France Visitors are advised to check public transportation and police websites for updates, and US citizens should consider registering with the State Departments security program. As Yellow Vests protests continue in France, Saturday's planned rally set to go ahead. Recent protests have turned violent, causing millions of euros in damage. Speaking before the French Senate, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said "exceptional resources" would be deployed on Saturday in addition to of 65,000 police officers. DEMONSTRATION ALERT ON LEVEL 2 The United States Embassy in Paris issued its own demonstration alert, warning of several protest locations, and advised avoiding turbulent areas and keeping a low profile. It also included a number of French media sites published in English where travelers can monitor the news. We strongly encourage U.S. citizens who are in, or plan to travel to, France to enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program at step.state.gov to receive important emergency information, and follow us on twitter @travelgov and Facebook for additional updates, wrote a spokeswoman for the State Department, in an email. Demonstrations by the Gilets Jaunes (yellow vests) and other groups are expected again on December 8, 2018, and may continue through the coming weeks. The groups are protesting fuel prices, taxes, and other government policies. Demonstrations may become violent, resulting in damage to property, including overturning vehicles and setting them on fire. Police responses may include water cannons and/or tear gas. IT security news in 2018 was dominated by data breaches and data protection and privacy regulations like Europes General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) designed to limit the damage of such breaches. Massive breaches at the likes of Marriott and Indias Aadhaar national citizens database underscored the need for regulations like GDPR and the California Consumer Privacy Act, which will continue to drive cybersecurity spending in 2019, including for GDPR-related consulting and services. And a growing number of companies are waking up to the fact that data breach prevention is not always possible, and are therefore enhancing their detection and response capabilities. As a result, 2019 is likely to be another record year for IT security spending and a bumper year for IT security vendors. Gartner predicts that, worldwide, the IT security solutions market will increase by almost 9% from 2018s estimated $114 billion to over $124 billion. eSecurity Planets 2019 State of IT Security survey found that security spending by large corporations is strong enough to possibly exceed those expectations. Compliance and data breaches will continue to be big news in 2019. Here are the rest of eSecurity Planets predictions for the top IT security trends in 2019, 10 in all if youre counting, including a few new attack vectors that could make headlines in the year ahead. Jump ahead: Encryption no longer a panacea For years we have all been told to encrypt our data, but in 2019 organizations will start to realize that encryption is not the answer to all their security problems, according to Ramon Krikken, an analyst at Gartner. It didnt help Equifax, as the company learned to its detriment. Many people overestimate the power of data at rest encryption, he said. To provide real protection, you need to encrypt higher up the stack, and the problem is that disk encryption is hard, but application-level encryption is even harder. He said all it takes is someone walking in the front door of an application using compromised database administrator credentials or internal user credentials, or someone leaving an open S3 file share by accident, and data can still be compromised even if it is encrypted at rest. 2019 will be the year that people wake up to the fact that encryption is not as effective as they think, he concluded. Thats unfortunate, because people dont like hearing that the main ingredient of their security strategy actually isnt effective. Cloudjacking will become more prevalent 2018 saw the rise of cryptojacking, which uses malware or other means to infect end-user computers with software that hijacks system resources and sets them to work mining cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. The problem for the perpetrators of cryptojacking is that individual systems lack resources, while far greater computing resources are to be found in public clouds such as Amazon AWS. So in 2019, the bad guys will likely step up their efforts to compromise cloud administrator accounts using new or known vulnerabilities, by phishing for administrator credentials, or perhaps by buying them from disgruntled employees. With a compromised account they can spin up virtual machines running mining software, and in many cases these can go undetected for a considerable amount of time. The first hint that an organization may get that their account has been compromised will be when they receive their monthly bill and discover that it is far higher than they expect. Even then it may not be easy to identify why the bill has gone through the roof, and which unauthorized virtual machines are to blame. Containers a growing security risk Many organizations have allowed their developers to dip their toes in the water when it comes to container technology, and in 2019 these organizations will begin implementing them in production environments in earnest. One key driver for that is that many legacy applications run on Windows Server 2008, and as that operating system is deprecated, an enticing solution to this problem is to containerize those applications and run them on a modern server operating system like Windows Server 2016. The risks that are introduced with container technology are not necessarily new the technology is ultimately just another abstraction layer but the problem is that the technology itself is relatively new. The security and management tools for containers arent all ready while the risks arent fundamentally different, so there is a period where these support tools are still catching up, said Krikken. That is a dangerous place to be. The next wave of Ransomware will hit Ransomware exploded onto the public consciousness in 2017 following the WannaCry outbreak, and a series of follow-up ransomware attacks that saw high-profile victims such as San Francisco Muni. But the latter part of 2018 saw very few high-profile ransomware victims hitting the news. Its all gone quiet on the ransomware front. But the problem of ransomware has not gone away, and in 2019 it is likely to be back with a vengeance. Ransomware attacks come in waves, and I am sure it will make a return in 2019, said Krikken. Many companies have implemented ransomware defenses, but in 2019 it will again hit some companies badly. Software update supply chain attacks will proliferate Software supply chains are a huge potential security risk, and a software vendors software update package could potentially be compromised so that any customers that download and install the update would unwittingly introduce malware into their systems. The compromise itself can happen on the vendors servers, on a third-party distribution system, or even while in transit to the customer using a man-in-the-middle attack. Software update supply chain attacks are becoming increasingly prevalent: In 2016 they were almost unheard of, but in 2017 there was an average of one attack every month, according to Symantec. This trend has continued in 2018, and will likely become a real problem in 2019. This type of attack is particularly dangerous because it is a type of amplification attack: Compromising one software update can result in the infection of a much larger number of customers who apply the update without taking adequate security precautions such as checking checksums or update hashes, and scanning and testing updates in a sandboxed environment. DDoS attacks will get biggerand smaller The scale of DDoS attacks has been ramping up dramatically over the last few years, from a few Gbps, to hundreds of Gbps, to an astonishing 1.7 Tbps in 2018. One reason for this is the trend of so-called botnet herders moving away from compromising PCs to use in distributed attacks to compromising the exploding number of often very insecure IoT devices. Another is the ability of these herders to exploit vulnerabilities in services such as DNS to amplify their attacks. In 2019 there will more exploitable IoT devices connected to the internet than ever before, and hackers will always find more ways to exploit them more effectively using new amplification attacks. That means that DDoS attacks measuring in excess of 2 Tbps are likely to become increasingly commonplace. But a more disturbing trend that is likely to emerge is an increasing number of lower bandwidth DDoS attacks aimed at smaller organisations, according to Krikken. Attackers are going to go downstream, as their attacks can be automated and it costs them very little. It also makes them harder to tackle as you will have to start monitoring network behavior, not just traffic volume. See our articles on preventing and stopping DDoS attacks. Mobile users will cause security nightmares Endpoints will always present a security risk, but BYOD programs mean there are a huge variety of mobile devices, including smartphones and tablets as well as much more homogenous PCs and laptops, and also IoT devices to support. Over the last five years or so, the security of most mobile devices has improved immeasurably, and mobile device management and enterprise mobility management tools have also become increasingly effective. But this can lull security teams into a false sense of security, Krikken believes. The biggest challenge is the fact that there is such a huge variety of devices, and they are used by users. Careless users are often the weakest link in any organizations security, and in 2019 its likely that malicious actors will see increasingly powerful and well-connected smartphones or tablets as easy ways into organizations crown jewels. Cyberattacks will become political Defending an organizations data against determined attackers is hard and perhaps even impossible, but in 2019 we may see attacks against critical infrastructure such as power networks carried out by agents of nation states. A successful attack on this critical infrastructure could have devastating effect on many organizations, no matter how good their own IT security posture might be. The problem is that there is not much that an individual organization can do to prevent such attacks, because they are likely to come from compromised IoT devices, according to Sean McGrath, a privacy expert and cybersecurity advocate at BestVPN.com. While this might sound like a problem for governments and businesses to focus on, the reality is that any major threat to critical infrastructure will be powered by the devices in our homes, he said. Krikken agrees that IOT devices will continue to cause headaches for security professionals. In addition to being used in distributed attacks, he believes that industrial IoT devices will increasingly be seen as a new attack surface ripe for exploitation. We see the IoT area and control systems, and we think we will start to see incidents that compromise industrial control systems to cause environmental hazards. Organizations should prepare for the unknown Predicting what will be prove to be the biggest security threat in 2019 is difficult, and it is always possible that something completely new will appear and catch everyone by surprise. Its possible, but its unlikely. Probably it will be something that, in hindsight at least, was entirely predictable. Major threats dont just fall out of the sky, they emerge over the horizon, Krikken said. The best advice is to take a good look at your security posture and shore up your vulnerabilities in order of risk. Treatment with oxybutynin helped reduce the frequency and intensity of hot flashes for women who could not take hormone replacement, including breast cancer survivors, according to results of a trial presented at the 2018 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held Dec. 4-8. Hot flashes, a common symptom of menopause, can be more severe in breast cancer survivors than in the general public, said the study's lead author, Roberto A. Leon-Ferre, MD, assistant professor of oncology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Several factors contribute to the increased severity in survivors: Chemotherapy may induce early menopause; antiestrogen medications, which are a major component of breast cancer treatment, may exacerbate hot flashes; and hormone replacement therapy, which is sometimes prescribed to treat hot flashes, is generally not recommended for breast cancer survivors. "Hot flashes not only impact quality of life; they can also be associated with premature discontinuation of breast cancer treatment, which may increase the risk of breast cancer recurrence and mortality," Leon-Ferre explained. "Therefore, it's important to find effective options to treat hot flashes." Previous research has indicated that hot flashes may be relieved with oxybutynin, an anticholinergic agent. This type of drug interferes with the activity of a neurotransmitter in the brain and in the peripheral nervous system. It is most commonly used to treat urinary incontinence. In this study, which is part of Academic and Community Cancer Research United (ACCRU), researchers sought to determine whether oxybutynin was more effective than placebo in treating hot flashes and in improving quality of life. The researchers enrolled 150 women who had experienced at least 28 hot flashes per week over more than a month, and who were bothered enough by them to want medication. Sixty-two percent of the women were on tamoxifen or an aromatase inhibitor for the duration of the study. The women were randomly assigned to receive either 2.5 milligrams of oxybutynin twice a day for six weeks (Oxy2.5); 2.5 milligrams twice a day for a week, with a subsequent increase to 5 milligrams twice a day (Oxy5), or placebo. The women completed baseline and monthly questionnaires that tracked the frequency and severity of their hot flashes, resulting in an HF score calculated by the researchers. The study showed that patients on both oxybutynin doses saw decreases in their HF scores compared with the women who took the placebo. Patients in the Oxy2.5 arm had a mean change in HF score of -10.6, compared with -5.7 with placebo. They experienced an average of 4.8 fewer hot flashes per day, compared with 2.6 fewer hot flashes for the women in the placebo arm. Side effects for this group included diarrhea, dry mouth, dry eyes, episodes of confusion, and difficulty urinating, but were all mild in severity. Patients in the Oxy5 arm had a mean change in HF score of -16.9, and they experienced an average of 7.5 fewer hot flashes per day. Side effects for this group included constipation, dry mouth, and difficulty urinating. The rate of discontinuation of oxybutynin due to side effects was low for both arms. The women in both oxybutynin arms also reported improvement in work, social activities, leisure activities, sleep, and overall quality of life. "This study, in addition to previously published work in this area, establishes that oxybutynin is an effective drug for treatment of hot flashes in patients who have relative or absolute contraindications to hormone-based therapy," Leon-Ferre said. "We were surprised by the rapidity of the response and the magnitude of the effect, considering the relatively low dose of the drug. "The fact that oxybutynin does not interfere with the metabolism of tamoxifen is an important consideration for breast cancer survivors, as some of the most effective non-hormonal treatments for hot flashes are thought to potentially decrease the efficacy of tamoxifen," Leon-Ferre added. Leon-Ferre said that since oxybutynin is already available for other indications, physicians could potentially prescribe it now off-label. However, Leon-Ferre said the study's primary limitation is that it did not address long-term toxicities of oxybutynin. Previous research has indicated that long-term use of anticholinergic drugs may be associated with cognitive decline. These possible side effects should be further researched and taken into consideration when counseling patients, Leon-Ferre said. ### This study was funded by the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Leon-Ferre declares no conflicts of interest. ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- An electromagnetic pulse, or EMP, emitted by a nuclear weapon exploded high above the United States could disable the electronic circuits of many devices vital to military defense and modern living. These could include complicated weapon systems as well as phones, laptops, credit cards and car computers. Also in trouble might be home appliances, gas station pumps and bank accounts. Fortunately, military equipment is designed to be immune to various levels of EMP, and the validity of its designs-- and some civilian designs as well -- have been tested and improved by a "friendly" EMP generator installed in a recently renovated facility at Sandia National Laboratories. The ElectroMagnetic Environment Simulator, or EMES, consists of a hippopotamus-sized Marx generator that sits alone in a small laboratory. The large capacitor bank stores electrical energy and releases it upon command. The resulting blast of energy, in the form of an electromagnetic pulse, can be focused on a target every 15 minutes. Absorbers at the far end of the test chamber gobble up the energy not absorbed by the object being tested. "An EMP pulse generated by an adversary would be an attempt to disrupt our communications or other equipment," said Leonard Martinez, the Sandia researcher in charge of the timing and firing control system. "Recent advancements now enable us to provide that pulse within a microsecond of the unit's timing requirement." The idea is to explore the effects of the energy pulse by testing an item at critical times during its processes. Learning when and where a problem may occur in the unit permits engineers to design better EMP shielding to prevent such upsets. Sandia's EMES testing process involves trundling components into the target area, subjecting them to the rapidly peaking EMP and then removing them to make way for the next item to test. Preliminary results are provided immediately, said Martinez, and a longer report with more extensive analysis is issued later. "The builders or owners generally solicit help from my group when it comes to additional shielding designs," Martinez said. The design focus can range from protecting tiny electronic parts to shielding larger subsystems of military equipment. "Our customers may decide to implement additional shielding to their device in between tests, or even take the device back to their lab to design and add additional shielding," said Martinez. "Then they would bring it back for retesting." If the device passes the specification level test at normal energy requirements, its owners may ask the test facility to increase the EMP electric-field amplitude in incremental steps to determine the device's capabilities at higher threat levels. "This gives the customer a better level of confidence about their product," said Martinez. Earlier versions of the pulse-producing machine first operated from 1978 to 1994. The test facility lay fallow until after the 9/11 attacks, when it was resurrected to test communications across the nation in the event that an adversary could generate an EMP pulse in or near the United States. "Could we still communicate? Would our radios, televisions, microwave ovens and refrigerators work after such a pulse arrives, was the question," said Martinez. The renovated facility was intended to support the National Nuclear Security Administration mission but over time came to satisfy military missions and civilian needs. It continues to do so. Sandia researchers are working to integrate EMES into a national EMP testing center focused on increasing the resilience of the nation's electric grid. ### Sandia National Laboratories is a multimission laboratory operated by National Technology and Engineering Solutions of Sandia LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International Inc., for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration. Sandia Labs has major research and development responsibilities in nuclear deterrence, global security, defense, energy technologies and economic competitiveness, with main facilities in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Livermore, California. As on Earth, so in space. A four-satellite mission that is studying magnetic reconnection -- the breaking apart and explosive reconnection of the magnetic field lines in plasma that occurs throughout the universe -- has found key aspects of the process in space to be strikingly similar to those found in experiments at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL). The similarities show how the studies complement each other: The laboratory captures important global features of reconnection and the spacecraft documents local key properties as they occur. The observations made by the Magnetospheric Multiscale Satellite (MMS) mission, which NASA launched in 2015 to study reconnection in the magnetic field that surrounds the Earth, correspond quite well with past and present laboratory findings of the Magnetic Reconnection Experiment (MRX) at PPPL. Previous MRX research uncovered the process by which rapid reconnection occurs and identified the amount of magnetic energy that is converted to particle energy during the process, which gives rise to northern lights, solar flares and geomagnetic storms that can disrupt cell phone service, black out power grids and damage orbiting satellites. Guidelines for MMS measurements The previous MRX findings served as guidelines for measurements taken by the MMS mission, which seeks to understand the region in which the reconnection of field lines in plasma -- the state of matter composed of free electrons and atomic nuclei, or ions -- takes place. The latest PPPL experiments extend the findings to new areas of agreement. "Despite huge differences in the size of the reconnection layers in the MRX and in space, remarkably similar characteristics are observed in both," said Masaaki Yamada, principal investigator on the MRX, and lead author of the recent paper reporting the results in the December 6 edition of Nature Communications. The past laboratory research examined "symmetric" reconnection, in which the density of the plasmas on each side of the reconnection regions are roughly the same. The new paper looks at reconnection in the magnetopause -- the outer region of the magnetosphere -- and in the MRX that is "asymmetric," meaning that the plasma on one side of the region is at least 10 times denser than on the other. The MMS mission has focused its initial research on the asymmetric aspect of reconnection, since the plasma in the solar wind -- the charged particles flowing from the sun -- is vastly denser than the plasma in the magnetosphere. In the new paper, researchers examine what is called the "two-fluid" physics of reconnection that describes each behavior of ions and electrons differently during the process. Such physics dominates magnetic reconnection in both MRX and magnetospheric plasma systems, allowing for an unprecedented level of cross-examination between laboratory measurements and space observations. Key findings Following are key findings of the two-fluid, asymmetric research on MRX that is shown to be in striking agreement with measurements of electron and ion behavior by the space satellites and the conversion of magnetic energy to particle energy. Computer simulations aided these findings: Electrons. The experiments demonstrated that electron current flows perpendicular, and not parallel as once thought, to the magnetic field. This flow is key to the conversion of magnetic energy in electrons that occurs in a narrow boundary layer called the "electron diffusion region" where rapid reconnection takes place. The finding is consistent with the recent MMS space measurements and new in the laboratory for asymmetric reconnection. Ions. The ion current also flows perpendicular to the magnetic field as in the electron case, and likewise is key to the conversion of ion magnetic energy to particle energy. For ions, this conversion occurs in the wider "ion diffusion region" between converging plasmas and is a similarly recent finding about asymmetric reconnection in laboratory plasmas. The MRX experiments further studied different aspects of conversion in the symmetric and asymmetric cases. In symmetric reconnection, 50 percent of magnetic energy was previously found to be converted to ions and electrons, with one-third of the conversion affecting the electrons and two-thirds accelerating the ions. The total conversion rate remains roughly the same in the asymmetric case, as does the ratio of energy conversion for ions and electrons. ### PPPL researchers contributing to this study were Jongsoo Yoo, Will Fox, Jonathan Jara-Almote and Hantao Ji. Also contributing were physicists at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Los Alamos National Laboratory, the Southwest Research Institute, and the universities of New Hampshire and Bergen in Bergen, Norway. Computer simulations were conducted at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Support for this work comes from DOE's Office of Science, NASA, and the National Science Foundation. PPPL, on Princeton University's Forrestal Campus in Plainsboro, N.J., is devoted to creating new knowledge about the physics of plasmas -- ultra-hot, charged gases -- and to developing practical solutions for the creation of fusion energy. The Laboratory is managed by the University for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science, which is the largest single supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit science.energy.gov. Consumption of alcohol or at least one drug was associated with over half the violent deaths that occurred in Sao Paulo City in the period analyzed A group of researchers at the University of Sao Paulo's Medical School (FM-USP) in Brazil recently published the results of a study on the links between alcohol and drug use and the occurrence of violent deaths. The study supported by Sao Paulo Research Foundation - FAPESP quantifies these links for the case of Sao Paulo, Brazil's largest city. It shows that the consumption of alcohol or at least one type of drug correlated with more than half (55%) the violent deaths that occurred in the city between June 2014 and December 2015. The study resulted from the postdoctoral research of epidemiologist Gabriel Andreuccetti, supervised by Heraclito Barbosa de Carvalho, a professor in FM-USP's Department of Preventive Medicine, in collaboration with the same university's Department of Legal Medicine and the University of California Berkeley (USA) and with the support of Sao Paulo's Forensics Institute (IML) and funding from FAPESP. The article was published in the journal Injury. To obtain data for the study, Andreuccetti used a probabilistic sampling method with the city of Sao Paulo as the target population. "We studied fatally injured adult victims who had a sudden, unexpected, violent or otherwise nonnatural cause of death, taking samples from the main forensic medical facilities that serve the city of Sao Paulo and its 96 districts," he told. Under Brazilian law, the body of anyone who dies suddenly, unexpectedly or violently must be autopsied by a medical examiner. Some 7,000 deaths matching this requirement occur annually in Sao Paulo, mostly homicides (26%), traffic-related deaths (20%) and suicides (12%). To obtain a representative sample of violent deaths in Sao Paulo, Andreuccetti collected blood from bodies during autopsies at morgues across the city on different weekdays and at different times of day during a 19-month period in 2014-15. Victims who had received six or more hours of medical treatment for injuries or survived for a similar period before succumbing were excluded from the sample. "Many seriously injured people die in the hospital and are taken to the morgue," Andreuccetti said. "In many cases, the fatal injury occurred suddenly or violently, and the victim may have been under the effect of drugs at the time of the accident, crime or suicide, but if they're hospitalized for more than six hours, the alcohol and drugs in their bloodstream may have been affected since the traumatic event. These cases were therefore excluded from the study." The final sample comprised 365 bodies taken to the morgue after violent, sudden or unexpected death due to homicide (104 or 28.5% of the total), accident (56 or 15.3%), suicide (44 or 12.1%), falling (26 or 7.1%) or poisoning (21 or 5.8%). Violent or sudden death due to other causes accounted for 114 cases (31.2%). "Owing to various government measures implemented at the start of the decade [2010], road traffic mortality in Sao Paulo has fallen considerably, and homicide mortality has fallen since the previous decade. Today, the death rate from homicide is higher than that from traffic mortality. However, Sao Paulo is an exception. In Brazil overall, these fluctuations have been far smaller, and the death rate from these two causes remains high," Andreuccetti said. Male and young Having established the situations in which the deaths occurred, the next step was to identify the victims with alcohol and/or drugs in the bloodstream. This process entailed subjecting blood samples from all victims to comprehensive screening for the use of a range of drugs and alcohol-related compounds. Blood alcohol concentration was measured by headspace gas chromatography. The presence of other drugs, including amphetamines, barbiturates, benzodiazepines, cannabis, cocaine, opioids/opiates (methadone, morphine, and heroin, among others) and phencyclidine (angel dust), was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and quantified by mass spectrometry. Of the 365 victims, 55.3% (202) had consumed alcohol or drugs before dying: 63 had used only alcohol and 92 only drugs, while 47 had used both. "One in two victims had alcohol and/or drugs in their blood. So half used alcohol or drugs, or both, shortly before they died," Andreuccetti said. Alcohol was the most prevalent substance found, followed by cocaine, cannabis, and benzodiazepines. More specifically, among the 202 victims with alcohol and/or drugs in their blood, 30.1% had used alcohol, 21.9% cocaine, 14% cannabis and 11.5% benzodiazepines, while 16.2% had used both alcohol and one of these drugs. "We hadn't expected such a high prevalence of drug use in the sample. For every five victims who used drugs, four used cocaine or cannabis. This is cause for concern," Andreuccetti said. In the case of traffic-related deaths, 42.9% of the victims had used alcohol, while one in five (21.4%) had used two or more drugs. "Interpersonal violence tends to be influenced more by drug use, whereas traffic accidents are influenced more by alcohol use," Andreuccetti said. In the case of homicides, drugs or alcohol were found in no fewer than 59.6% of the blood samples analyzed, with 16.3% containing both alcohol and cocaine. Suicides used alcohol less than all other categories: only 9.1% of the samples from suicides were found to contain alcohol. On the other hand, benzodiazepine use was among the highest in this group, accounting for 18.2%. Men were far and away the majority among victims who were alcohol and drug users, and a significant proportion were young: nine in ten of the 202 victims in question were male, and roughly one in three were under 30. "This is the age group with the largest proportion of homicide victims in Brazil, and in our study, the use of other drugs, alone or with alcohol, was also most prevalent in this group," Andreuccetti said. A breakdown by ethnicity shows that half the victims (50.3%) were white and the rest (49.7%) were brown ("pardo"), black or classed in another ethnic category. The study also found that 60.5% of the deaths examined took place between 6 pm and 6 am. More people die violently at night than during the day in Sao Paulo City. Criminal record A revealing finding is that 15.9% of all the victims sampled had a criminal record. Alcohol and drug use combined was higher among these than it was among victims with no criminal record. Whenever possible, Andreuccetti noted the city district where the victim's fatal injury occurred. As a result, the study inferred that most violent deaths while the victims were under the influence of drugs occurred in the city center or the outlying suburbs, areas where most commerce establishments and most low-income households are located, respectively. "This suggests there's a socioeconomic component, but a specific study would be needed to find out more," he said. "On the other hand, alcohol use associated with these deaths appears to be more disseminated throughout Sao Paulo City. "Knowledge of these statistics is important, he added, to any effort to reduce the number of violent deaths linked to alcohol and drug use in Sao Paulo and other large cities. "All these deaths are extremely harmful to society in terms of the cost of hospital and emergency services, not to mention the suffering they cause families and the significance of losing to violence a person who could have continued working, studying and producing," he said. ### About Sao Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) The Sao Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) is a public institution with the mission of supporting scientific research in all fields of knowledge by awarding scholarships, fellowships, and grants to investigators linked with higher education and research institutions in the State of Sao Paulo, Brazil. FAPESP is aware that the very best research can only be done by working with the best researchers internationally. Therefore, it has established partnerships with funding agencies, higher education, private companies, and research organizations in other countries known for the quality of their research and has been encouraging scientists funded by its grants to further develop their international collaboration. For more information: http://www.fapesp.br/en. WASHINGTON -- The low unemployment rate in the U.S. -- which fell to a 49 year-low in September and October -- is good news to many people, but perhaps not to residents of nursing homes. A Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) study found that quality of care in nursing homes improves during periods of recession and worsens when the economy is good. The reason, according to the investigation, published in The Gerontologist, is likely linked to how the strength of the economy affects the ability of nursing homes to maintain adequate staffing levels and retain employees, researchers say. The study found that when staffing is tight during low unemployment rates, nursing homes are more likely to suffer from symptoms of inadequate care. Nursing home care is highly labor intensive and mainly delivered by nurses and nurse aides. Most nursing home residents have cognitive dysfunction or physical impairment, and require 24/7 care and providing this care can be physically and mentally taxing, making it difficult for nursing homes to hire and retain staff. "During economic downturns, many people are willing to take positions with work environments they may not prefer because there aren't many options. But when the economy is good, there are plenty of employment opportunities and taking a nursing home job may not be that attractive," says the study's principal investigator, Sean Shenghsiu Huang, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Health Systems Administration at GUMC's School of Nursing & Health Studies. This is among the first known studies to examine whether fluctuations in business cycles (economic expansions and recessions) affects quality of nursing home care, nursing staff levels, and turnover/retention of staff. The study examines more than a decade of records. Data from 2001 through 2015 were drawn from multiple data sources, such as state annual recertification of all Medicare and Medicaid certified nursing homes (about 15,000 nursing homes), and county-level unemployment rates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. These data include two economic expansions and contractions. Statistical models were estimated to determine the effect the unemployment rate had on nursing home quality and staffing outcomes. Researchers found that higher unemployment rates are associated with a statistically significant improvement in quality. Nursing homes were found to be more compliant with health regulations during period of higher unemployment. And nursing home residents, on average, were less likely to have pressure ulcers, be physically restrained, or have significant weight loss -- all measures of care quality. "It is clear from our data that as unemployment rates increased, nursing home quality was higher as fewer residents would develop pressure ulcers, be restrained, and experience weight loss," Huang says. "This is likely due to nursing home staff. Higher unemployment rates are linked to higher nursing staff levels. In these recessions, nursing homes were better able to retain their staff and reduce turnover." The study also found that when unemployment rates were low, nursing homes have lower nursing staff levels, higher employee turnover, and lower staff retention rates. Because most care is provided by nurses and nurse aides, maintaining adequate and stable workforce is important for delivering high quality of care, researchers say. For example, high turnover of staff inhibits the ability of nursing homes to consistently assign staff to the same resident, a practice that is associated with quality care. However, nursing homes have high turnover rates. Given today's low unemployment rates, it will be challenging to maintain or even attempt to lower the turnover rates, say the investigators. Any efforts to address this issue need to target helping nursing homes with workforce challenges they face during economic expansions, the authors say. "The solution lies with changes to federal and state policy, such as measures to increase reimbursement for nursing home care with the goal of paying staff enough to make these positions attractive," Huang says. "In general, the work environment offered by nursing homes are not considered desirable -- and this situation, especially in today's economy, needs to be addressed through better compensation and benefits." Any effort to improve the compensation and benefits of nursing home workers would require efforts from federal and state policymakers as almost three quarters of nursing home residents are funded by Medicare and Medicaid, he says. "Policymakers and researchers have long been concerned about nursing home quality, and this study suggests strong action is needed now." Huang says. ### The study is co-authored by John R. Bowblis, PhD, an associate professor of Economics and Endres Fellow with the Farmer School of Business and Research Fellow with Scripps Gerontology Center at Miami University in Ohio. Huang and Bowblis report no potential financial conflicts of interest. This study was partially supported by the internal funding from Georgetown University School of Nursing & Health Studies. Additional support was provided by the University of Michigan Rackham research grant and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation. About Georgetown University Medical Center Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) is an internationally recognized academic medical center with a three-part mission of research, teaching and patient care (through MedStar Health). GUMC's mission is carried out with a strong emphasis on public service and a dedication to the Catholic, Jesuit principle of cura personalis -- or "care of the whole person." The Medical Center includes the School of Medicine and the School of Nursing & Health Studies, both nationally ranked; Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, designated as a comprehensive cancer center by the National Cancer Institute; and the Biomedical Graduate Research Organization, which accounts for the majority of externally funded research at GUMC including a Clinical and Translational Science Award from the National Institutes of Health. Connect with GUMC on Facebook (Facebook.com/GUMCUpdate), Twitter (@gumedcenter) and Instagram (@gumedcenter). WASHINGTON, DC (Dec. 7, 2018) -- According to the latest World Health Organization (WHO) report on road safety, more than 1.3 million people die on the world's roadways each year - and millions more are injured or disabled. Yet despite the huge cost to families from New York to Mumbai, that death toll has not changed much in the last decade. A commentary published today in The Lancet Public Health says that these reports, while extremely valuable, have not brought about the needed change, and it is time to start holding policymakers accountable for making roads safer. "More than a million people are dying from traffic crashes on roadways around the world -- and that death toll has not declined since 2009," said Adnan Hyder, MD, MPH, PhD, senior associate dean for research and professor of global health at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health (Milken Institute SPH), who authored the commentary. "While we see bright spots where road injuries have been reduced, the widespread change needed to prevent these deaths across the world has not happened so far." Hyder goes on to say that the new 2018 Global Status Report on Road Safety serves as a valuable tool for monitoring the risks, outcomes and progress related to road safety but such measurements alone do not bring down the death toll. What needs to happen? First, Hyder says that governments must commit to reducing traffic deaths by delegating both authority and financial resources to make roadways safer. Second, WHO and partners must support a truly multi-sectoral approach to road safety and make it a priority not only for health and transportation officials but also for those in the environment, justice, education and economic sectors. Third, WHO needs to provide support, operational assistance and implementation guidance so that member countries can actually put in place effective interventions on the ground to make roads safer. Fourth, WHO and partners must help develop the relatively weak non-governmental sector around this issue. Expansion of non-governmental organizations that take an interest in road safety will help promote social and political change on a broad scale, he says. Finally, the commentary says WHO and partners must acknowledge threats to road safety, including those posed by industry. For example, Hyder says the alcohol industry "openly engages and promotes action that at best have little or no evidence of impact." He calls on the United Nations to adopt a policy of non-engagement with industries where there is such potential for conflict of interest. "Safe roads are of critical importance for people around the world," Hyder said. "Accepting our lack of progress is the first step to developing a strong and sustainable set of actions for changing the status quo on global road safety." ### The commentary, "Measurement is Not Enough for Global Road Safety: Implementation is the Key," was published Dec. 7 in The Lancet Public Health. Top emitters in 2017, which covered 58 pc of global emissions, were China, US, European Union and India. India's emissions look set to continue their strong growth by an average of 6.3 per cent in 2018. (Photo: PTI) New Delhi: A study has said India is the fourth highest emitter of carbon dioxide in the world, accounting for 7 per cent of global emissions in 2017. The top four emitters in 2017, which covered 58 per cent of global emissions, were China (27 per cent), the US (15 per cent), the European Union (10 per cent) and India (7 per cent), according to the projection by the Global Carbon Project. The rest of the world contributed 41 per cent last year, it said. India's emissions look set to continue their strong growth by an average of 6.3 per cent in 2018, with growth across all fuels -- coal (7.1 per cent), oil (2.9 per cent) and gas (6 per cent), the study said Wednesday. The top 10 emitters were China, the US, the EU, India, Russia, Japan, Germany, Iran, Saudi Arabia and South Korea. The study also said the Indian emissions were projected to grow 2 per cent in 2017, compared to 6 per cent per year averaged over the previous decade, due to significant government interventions in the economy. In India, emissions are expected to grow by a solid 6.3 per cent in 2018, pushed by strong economic growth of around 8 per cent per year. "Coal is still the mainstay of the Indian economy, and as in China, it will be a challenge for solar and wind to displace coal, given the strong growth in energy use," it said. It also said that although global coal use is still 3 per cent lower than its historical high, it is expected to grow in 2018, driven by growth in energy consumption in China and India. The emissions in the rest of the world -- remaining 41 per cent of global emissions -- are expected to grow by 1.8 per cent in 2018. This group is of mainly developing countries and the five countries contributing most to the growth in this grouping in the last decade are Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey, Iraq and South Korea, the study said. China, India and the European Union are setting the pace. These regions represent 40 per cent of global carbon emissions. They are set to achieve more than what they agreed to in the first round of Paris Agreement in 2015, it said. Their leaders can step up and announce even bolder programmes at the UN summit in September, 2019, to review the commitments made during Paris Agreement, it said. The study said that while China and India still rely heavily on coal, the US and the EU are slowly decarbonising. India can continue to deploy solar farms, leveraging its leadership of the International Solar Alliance to displace coal and clean up its smog-choked cities. By 2020, India can announce its own fossil-fuel exit strategy and a target date for its peak CO2 emissions, the study said. The study warned that the global emissions of carbon dioxide from fossil fuels and industry are projected to rise for the second consecutive year in 2018, by more than 2 per cent to a new record, mainly due to sustained growth in oil and gas use. The African Studies Rhine-Main initiative of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) and Goethe University Frankfurt launches its first joint research project on "Africans in the Rhine-Main region: an African linguistic research project on linguistic integration." The project is funded by resources from the RMU Initiative Funding for Research. With the project "Afrikaner*innen im Rhein-Main-Gebiet" (Africans in the Rhine-Main region), the African Studies Rhine-Main alliance, founded in May 2016 by the universities of Frankfurt, Mainz and Darmstadt, wants to make a scientific contribution to the highly topical, politically and socially much discussed subject of language and integration - from the specific perspective of African linguistics. For this purpose, Professor Nico Nassenstein from the Department of Anthropology and African Studies at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz and Professor Axel Fleisch from the Institute of African Studies at Goethe University Frankfurt investigate how migrants from Africa approach new linguistic realities in Germany and which perceptions they have of both their own languages and the target language. "Initially, we will be working with colleagues we already know from research environments in West and Central Africa. We will then broaden the range of the study and approach participants from the entire Rhine-Main region," explained Nassenstein. Interested parties from the Rhine-Main region who would like to participate in the study within the scope of the RMU project can as of now contact littig@uni-mainz.de via email for further information. The RMU cooperation project is outstanding in that Africanists are conducting their research in Germany and not on the African continent. They focus on the mechanisms that are decisive in whether linguistic integration functions or fails. In Europe, linguistic integration is typically understood as being primarily dependent on the successful acquisition of the target language and its structure. However, language acquisition mainly takes place in informal contexts outside the classroom. This spontaneous language learning, which often goes hand in hand with creative learning strategies and can be unexpectedly successful, has hardly ever been the subject of scientific investigation. Over the next two years, Dr. Sabine Littig from JGU and Professor Abdourahmane Diallo from Goethe University will research this linguistic integration. Joint Bachelor's degree program in African Studies The African Studies departments at Mainz and Frankfurt successfully applied for financial support from the 2017 RMU Initiative Funding for Teaching and are now planning a joint Bachelor's degree program in African Studies. It will bundle the courses offered at both universities and will comprise diverse subject areas concerning African linguistics and other research branches of African Studies. "This joint Bachelor's degree program will offer our students a far wider spectrum of languages and topics," said Professor Axel Fleisch. The new program is to combine linguistic expertise with subjects from sociolinguistics and media studies as well as linguistic anthropology and communication studies, which will also play a role in the curriculum. African Studies Rhine-Main Goethe University Frankfurt, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz and TU Darmstadt pool their expertise in the field of African research in the interdisciplinary African Studies Rhine-Main alliance. In addition to the disciplines of Anthropology and African Studies, other areas such as Egyptology, Linguistics and Literature, Geography, Botany, and Economics are also involved. The pivotal entity serving the African Studies Rhine-Main alliance is the Center for Interdisciplinary African Studies (ZIAF) in Frankfurt. The RMU Initiative Funding for Research The Rhine-Main Universities (RMU) are strengthening their mutual networks through the RMU Initiative Funding for Research. From the last call for proposals comprising a total of 49 applicants, six new research projects in African Studies, Educational Research, Computer Science, Meteorology, Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Business Education will be funded over the coming two years, each with up to EUR 100,000 per year. The Rhine-Main Universities (RMU) As outstanding research universities in the Rhine-Main area, Goethe University Frankfurt, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, and Technische Universitat Darmstadt have joined together to form the RHINE-MAIN UNIVERSITIES alliance. The universities have worked in close cooperation with each other for more than ten years, leading to an agreement to form a strategic alliance in 2015. The Rhine-Main universities are situated in close vicinity to one another in the Frankfurt/Rhine-Main metropolitan region and offer a wide range of disciplines from medicine and natural sciences to humanities and social sciences through to engineering. With over 100,000 students and 1,440 professors, they work closely in research and teaching, promote the mentoring of young researchers and participate in an exchange between academics, business and society. The strategic alliance between the three universities increases their collective academic capacity. By joining together, they are able to complement each other's strengths, promote strong research partnerships and expand the course and degree offerings for their students. This alliance not only strengthens the exchange of knowledge in the region, but also forms a strong network, shaping the Rhine-Main region into an academic hub that is globally visible and internationally attractive. ### SAN ANTONIO -- Research led by oncologists Roberto Leon-Ferre, M.D. and Charles Loprinzi, M.D. of Mayo Clinic has found that the drug oxybutynin helps to reduce the frequency and intensity of hot flashes in women who are unable to take hormone replacement therapy, including breast cancer survivors. These findings were presented at the 2018 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. "Hot flashes are a common symptom of menopause and can be even more severe in breast cancer survivors than they are in the general population," says Dr. Leon-Ferre. He says several factors contribute to the increased severity of hot flashes in breast cancer survivors including exposure to chemotherapy, which may bring on early menopause; the use of antiestrogen drugs, such as tamoxifen or aromatase inhibitors; and the use of medications or procedures to suppress the function of the ovaries. Hormone replacement therapy, which is sometimes used to treat hot flashes, is generally not recommended for breast cancer survivors. "Hot flashes not only impact a patient's quality of life, they are associated with patients prematurely discontinuing breast cancer treatment, which may increase the risk of breast cancer recurrence and mortality," says Dr. Leon-Ferre. "It is important for physicians to have effective options to treat hot flashes." Dr. Leon-Ferre says previous research had suggested that hot flashes may be relieved with oxybutynin, an anticholinergic agent which interferes with the activity of a neurotransmitter in the brain and in the peripheral nervous system. The drug is most commonly used to treat urinary incontinence. In this study, researchers sought to determine whether oxybutynin was more effective than placebo in treating hot flashes and in improving patients' quality of life. The researchers enrolled 150 women who had experienced at least 28 hot flashes per week over more than a month, and who were bothered enough by them to want medication. Sixty-two percent of the women were on tamoxifen or an aromatase inhibitor for the duration of the study. There were three arms in the trial with patients in two arms receiving different dosages of oxybutynin and patients in the third arm receiving a placebo. The study found that patients on both oxybutynin doses saw decreases in hot flashes compared to the women who took the placebo. The women in both oxybutynin arms also reported decreased interference of hot flashes in their work, social activities, leisure activities, sleep, and improvement in their overall quality of life. "This study, in addition to previously published work in this area, establishes that oxybutynin is an effective drug for treatment of hot flashes in patients who have relative or absolute contraindications to hormone-based therapy," says Dr. Leon-Ferre. "We were surprised by the rapidity of the response and the magnitude of the effect, considering the relatively low dose of the drug." He says that oxybutynin does not interfere with the metabolism of tamoxifen, which is an important consideration for breast cancer survivors, as some of the most effective non-hormonal treatments for hot flashes (e.g. antidepressants) are thought to potentially decrease the efficacy of tamoxifen. Dr. Leon-Ferre said that since oxybutynin is already available for other indications, physicians could potentially prescribe it off-label. However, he says the study did not address long-term toxicities of oxybutynin. Previous research has indicated that long-term use of this type of drug may be associated with cognitive decline. These possible side effects should be further researched and taken into consideration when physicians counsel patients. ### The study was funded by the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. 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. (New York -- Dec. 6, 2018) - Ivan Marazzi, PhD, Assistant Professor of Microbiology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, was awarded $2.5 million in funding by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) to further the understanding of the underlying causes of neurodegenerative disorders such as Lou Gehrig's, Alzheimer's, and Parkinson's diseases. The award is part of a $64 million commitment by CZI to fund early-career investigators and collaborative science teams to launch the CZI Neurodegeneration Challenge Network. This new network brings together experimental scientists from diverse research fields--neuroscience, cell biology, biochemistry, immunology, and genomics. "I am honored to receive this prestigious award and look forward to working closely with my colleagues in an effort to reach scientific breakthroughs that will help millions of people suffering from these diseases," said Dr. Marazzi. "CZI recognizes the importance of cross-disciplinary approaches to study neurodegenerative disorders and improve health for mankind." "To fill gaps in our understanding of neurodegenerative diseases, we need to support new approaches, explore new ideas, and help experts connect across disciplines," said CZI Head of Science Cori Bargmann. "We're excited to welcome the first group of CZI Neurodegeneration Challenge Network grantees. Together, their work will increase our knowledge of the basic biology of these diseases--and we need that knowledge to develop better treatments." Dr. Marazzi studies epigenetic- and chromatin-mediated mechanisms, the heritable alterations that cause genes to turn on or off, and the cellular response to pathogens or cellular differentiation. The major focus of his research is the unique and shared molecular pathways underlying inflammatory, infectious, and neurodegenerative diseases. His work in neurodegeneration has provided a new paradigm for how mutations can confer both susceptibility to infection and predisposition to neurodegeneration. Building on this groundbreaking discovery, he aims to elucidate the relationship between seemingly unrelated diseases and find effective therapeutic interventions. Neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (also known as ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease), are a class of diseases that affect millions of people worldwide. Alzheimer's disease alone is the fifth most common cause of death for Americans above age 65, and the number of people with Alzheimer's and related dementias is predicted to nearly triple--from 5 million to 14 million people--by 2060. Meanwhile, the causes of most neurodegenerative diseases are only partly understood, and there are still no effective therapies to cure, prevent, or even treat most of these disorders. The CZI Neurodegeneration Challenge Network seeks to address these gaps by launching a collaborative network that will bring together scientists, physicians, and engineers to focus on neurodegenerative diseases as a broad class of disorders, with shared features and potentially shared solutions. Challenge Network researchers will focus on understanding the fundamental biology of what causes these diseases and how they progress, with an aim toward future development of new strategies for treatment and prevention. "Despite tremendous investment and progress in understanding these diseases, there remains a surprising amount of very basic information about their biology that we don't know," said CZI Science Program Officer Katja Brose. "By supporting these interdisciplinary collaborations and generating shared tools, resources, and platforms, we hope to inspire a new approach to tackling neurodegenerative disease--one that leverages the combined power of basic science and technology to accelerate progress towards clinical goals." In February 2018, CZI issued an open request for applications to the Neurodegeneration Challenge Network. CZI's Ben Barres Early Career Acceleration Awards, named for the late Ben Barres, MD, PhD, an American neurobiologist and fierce advocate for young scientists, women, mentorship, and diversity in science, will support early-career academic investigators, especially those who are new to the field of neurodegeneration. CZI is awarding a total of $55.25 million for these awards. Each of the 17 selected investigators will receive $2.5 million, and will benefit from the scientific and professional mentorship and collaborative support of the Challenge Network. CZI's Collaborative Science Awards will support small groups of interdisciplinary collaborations focused on the fundamental biology of neurodegeneration. Each collaborative group includes at least one physician. CZI believes that fostering new models of collaboration between physicians, engineers, computational biologists, and scientists studying basic biology will allow them to reach breakthroughs faster. CZI is providing more than $9 million for these awards. Each of the nine selected groups will receive $1.05 million each. ### 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. About the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative: The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative was launched in December 2015 by Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook, and Priscilla Chan, a pediatrician and founder and CEO of The Primary School in East Palo Alto. The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative is a new kind of philanthropy that seeks to engineer change at scale. By pairing world-class engineering with grant-making, impact investing, policy, and advocacy work, CZI hopes to build a future for everyone. Initial areas of focus include supporting science through basic biomedical research and education through personalized learning. CZI is also exploring ways to address barriers to justice and opportunity--from criminal justice reform, to expanded access, to economic opportunity and affordable housing. CU Anschutz researchers find Catholic health care facilities are less likely to provide comprehensive reproductive care compared to other facilities As Catholic health care systems expand nationwide, little is known about the reproductive outcomes of their patients compared to patients in other settings, according to researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. "What we were essentially looking at is how religious guidelines that restrict reproductive care at Catholic facilities impact patient care," said the study's senior author Maryam Guiahi, MD, associate professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. The study was published today in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology. Researchers identified only 27 studies that described the provision of reproductive health services at Catholic health care facilities and found just one with reported patient outcomes. At the same time, they discovered a number of restrictions to care compared to non-Catholic settings. In 2016, 14.5 percent of U.S. hospitals were Catholic-owned, accounting for one in six acute hospital beds. And 349 of the 654 Catholic hospitals had obstetric services, accounting for more than 529,000 deliveries. Yet providers at these facilities are expected to adhere to the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services. These directives stress the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman, allude to the moral imperative that intercourse involves both `love-giving' and `life-giving' intentions while stating that human life begins at conception, the study said. "So according to these tenets, family planning methods cannot inhibit the `life-giving' aspect and infertility techniques cannot inhibit the `love-giving' aspect of the marriage or sex act," said Guiahi. In analyzing the studies found in the review, Guiahi discovered differences in the way reproductive health services were provided in Catholic health care facilities. Often Catholic facilities limited common women's health services like contraception and sterilization. "Patients may not know that tubal ligations or IUDs (intrauterine devices) are often restricted," she said. "When it comes to birth control, sometimes they are only offered pills, which have a 9 percent typical failure rate over a year and certain facilities may only offer natural family planning as a contraceptive method." She noted that in many of these facilities, reproductive health care is acceptable solely to treat other medical conditions. The review found that in most studies participants were primarily physicians and emergency department staff. Some of them reported that Catholic facilities either don't provide or are less likely to provide family-planning methods than non-Catholic facilities. One survey showed that 54.9 percent of Catholic hospitals do not dispense emergency contraception in any cases compared to 42.2 percent of non-Catholic hospitals. "Some Catholic institution representatives reported there were policies in place that prohibited discussion of emergency contraception with rape victims," the study said. One national survey showed that less than 2 percent of Catholic-affiliated obstetrics and gynecology clinics offered abortion. But some studies revealed that reproductive services were not completely prohibited in these settings. A 1975 study reported 60 percent of Catholic hospitals offered some form of contraception, most commonly instruction in the rhythm method. A study done between 2014-2016, found 95 percent of Catholic hospitals offered appointments for birth control and many were willing to provide IUDs or tubal ligation appointments. "As many facilities do not always adhere to the directives, it is unclear to health care consumers how Catholic affiliation might impact the reproductive services they are offered," said Guiahi. Overall, she said, most studies examined showed limited provision of reproductive health care services, reflecting adherence to the religious directives governing Catholic hospitals. "We need to understand how institutional restrictions affect patient outcomes," Guiahi said. "We need to know that when women are denied tubal ligation, what percent of them get pregnant again. How are minorities and transgender patients affected when religion plays a role in their health care? These are all questions that require further exploration." ### The study's co-authors include: Nichole B. Thorne, BS; Taylor K. Soderborg, BA; Jacqueline J. Glover, PhD and Lilian Hoffecker, PhD, MLS. CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- When nonprofit groups coordinate large green infrastructure projects such as Chicago's 606 Trail, the risks of gentrification multiply significantly due to the fragmentation that occurs among nonprofits, government agencies and housing organizations, according to a new case study of the trail. In a paper published in the journal Cities, Alessandro Rigolon, a professor of recreation, sport and tourism at the University of Illinois, and University of Colorado urban and regional planning professor Jeremy Nemeth examined the planning processes associated with the 606 Trail and conclude that these processes may have made gentrification the most likely outcome. Heralded as a cornerstone of Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel's sustainability plan, the $95 million project converted an abandoned rail line into a multiuse path and series of open green spaces that connect four diverse neighborhoods on Chicago's northwest side: Bucktown, Humboldt Park, Logan Square and Wicker Park. The environmental nonprofit The Trust for Public Land was the lead private partner for the 606 Trail, which opened to the public in June 2015, according to the study. While relying on park nonprofits to coordinate such projects is popular in the U.S. and other countries, offering real benefits in terms of efficiency, fundraising and community engagement, the researchers suggest that delegating management of these projects to these groups increases the likelihood of environmental gentrification by drawing attention away from displacement concerns. Rigolon and Nemeth reviewed planning documents for the 606 Trail and interviewed 16 people who were involved in the planning process, including representatives of nonprofit organizations and city officials. "A key finding from our interviews is that putting a nonprofit agency that is 'not in the business of housing' in charge of a redevelopment project ultimately created a situation wherein connections between park development and affordable housing were further fissured, and park planning and public health concerns took precedence over the gentrification concerns raised by many neighborhood advocates and local residents," Rigolon said. Emmanuel recognized early on that "sustainability sells" and that new parks are revenue generators, attracting investors, increasing property tax revenues and creating jobs, according to the study. "It is important to note that the 606 was intended to address real, documented needs and deficiencies in park access and active transportation routes, and that several community organizers we interviewed felt that the mayor's office co-opted these environmental justice efforts to deliver on his campaign promise to complete this signature project during his first term," the researchers wrote. In the case of the 606 Trail, the green growth machine - which are coalitions of developers and elected officials that use sustainability to drive economic development - used the popularity and the apolitical nature of sustainability and the trail's potential public health benefits to accelerate the planning process and push the project through with little resistance, Rigolon said. Although many residents of the park-poor neighborhoods near the trail supported the project initially, less than a year after it opened hundreds of demonstrators marched along it in protest of rent and property value increases. In analyzing census data for the period 2010-2016, Rigolon and Nemeth found that the median monthly rent on tracts bordering the trail increased by $201, nearly double the average increase of $102 for the city of Chicago. During that time period, tracts bordering the trail also experienced an influx of non-Hispanic whites, with this racial/ethnic group increasing by 4.83 percent on these properties compared with an increase of 0.56 percent citywide. Accordingly, Rigolon and Nemeth found that the median household income of people living on tracts bordering the trail jumped by $14,682, compared with an average citywide increase of $3,557 during the same time period. "These quantitative analyses corroborated claims by several interviewees that although neighborhoods along the 606 had started to see gentrification in the 2000s, the trail's construction served to accelerate these trends, particularly in close proximity to the project itself," Rigolon and Nemeth wrote. However, when affordable housing advocates raised concerns, the Trust for Public Land had neither the expertise or the authority to address them, a representative of the group told the researchers. Likewise, a city official told them that municipal departments - with their disparate mandates, funding sources and expertise - had no centralized mechanism for responding either, which resulted in failure "to connect the dots between critical environmental, health and affordability challenges." The researchers suggest that emerging coalitions of housing and environmental nonprofits such as the Los Angeles Regional Open Space and Affordable Housing Collective provide a promising way forward to address environmental gentrification concerns proactively ### UT Austin bio-engineer Ning "Jenny" Jiang has been awarded a $2.5 million grant from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) to participate in the philanthropic organization's inaugural Neurodegeneration Challenge Network AUSTIN, Texas -- Ning "Jenny" Jiang, an associate professor in the Cockrell School of Engineering's Department of Biomedical Engineering and the Dell Medical School's Department of Oncology, has been awarded a $2.5 million grant from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) to participate in the philanthropic organization's inaugural Neurodegeneration Challenge Network. The CZI, founded by Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg and medical doctor Priscilla Chan, will give $51.95 million in research funding to mark the launch of an ambitious collaborative project aimed at improving our understanding of the underlying causes of neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. Jiang, who is the sole researcher from The University of Texas at Austin to receive a CZI grant, will study the "high-throughput 3D profiling of single T cells in neurodegenerative diseases" -- a novel approach to understanding our immune system response. Although it is understood immune cells play a part in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases, we know relatively little about the specific composition of the so-called T cells involved and how they react to the corresponding antigens specific to neurodegeneration. Jiang's primary goal for the CZI grant will be to advance understanding of the function of infiltrating immune cells, especially T cells, in neurodegenerative diseases. "I am extremely grateful for this opportunity," Jiang said. "It is a true honor for such a forward-thinking organization to recognize the merit in my research, given how many other worthy candidates were also in the running." Jiang has developed systems immunology tools in her lab at UT that profile single T cells known to infiltrate the brain during neurodegeneration. The technology provides greater understanding of the role of the immune system, thereby potentially offering new immune-based diagnostic approaches and more effective treatments. Through the CZI program, top early-career engineers, physicians and scientists with expertise in neuroscience, cell biology, biochemistry, immunology and genomics will use the funding to conduct collaborative research into neurodegeneration in an effort to learn more about diseases where many questions remain unanswered. More than 500 applications were submitted to the CZI to participate in the Neurodegeneration Challenge Network, and Jiang was one of only 17 individuals to receive an award, along with nine collaborative science teams from research institutions nationwide. "To fill gaps in our understanding of neurodegenerative diseases, we need to support new approaches, explore new ideas and help experts connect across disciplines," said Cori Bargmann, the head of science for CZI. "We're excited to welcome the first group of CZI Neurodegeneration Challenge Network grantees. Together, their work will increase our knowledge of the basic biology of these diseases -- and we need that knowledge to develop better treatments." Jiang has devoted her career to learning more about how the human immune system works. Her research has already earned her international recognition as a thought leader in her field, with numerous publications in major academic journals, including related research in a recent issue of the journal Nature Biotechnology. "We are still learning how and why immune cells behave the way they do in the human body," she said. "But my long-term goal is to advance new methods for earlier diagnoses of neurodegenerative diseases and, by extension, the development of more effective treatments." ### this news is not available Vyas said that Rampura Rail Under Bridge (RUB) will be completed in this financial year. New Delhi: In an attempt to make it financially self reliant, the North Delhi Municipal Corporation proposed on Friday to increase property tax and also introduced two new taxes betterment tax and professional tax. Presenting the Budget estimates for the next financial year in the civic bodys standing committee, municipal commissioner (NDMC) Madhup Vyas proposed to increase the residential property tax by maximum 2 per cent and the introduction of betterment tax at the rate of 15 per cent of annual value of property tax and professional tax. He said that the new taxes will help NDMC earn Rs 550 crore annually. Commercial properties, guest houses, and other non residential properties upto 150 square meter will be increased from 15 per cent to 20 per cent of annual value. One per cent of annual value of property tax will be charged as education cess, said Mr Vyas, claiming that rationalisation of property tax rates will add Rs 100 crore in property tax collection. Presenting a total Budget estimate of over Rs 8,832 crore, Mr Vyas suggested several measures to make the North civic body self-reliant. He proposed to work more efficiently to realise due municipal taxes and stop avoidable expenses. Some of the measures are allowing installation of mobile towers on 800 municipal buildings; outsourcing of management of 30 gyms; provision of charging points for e-cars and e-rickshaws; smart poles with Wi-Fi, CCTV, and LED lights; advertisements on vehicles; MOU for 25 cycle stands in lieu of advertisement rights; advertisements in parks, on DTC buses and railway properties. Referring to infrastructure project, Mr Vyas said that Rampura Rail Under Bridge (RUB) will be completed in this financial year and Sultanpuri RUB is likely to be completed in the next financial year. North Corporation sought allocation of Rs 282.7 crore for developing RUB at Kirari, Ghevra, and Narela Mandi under Urban Development Fund, Mr Vyas added. Talking about parking facilities, the commissioner said that NDMC has chalked out a plan to provide parking for 52,910 vehicles by the year 2021 in a phased manner by developing 42 surface parking to accommodate 8,495 vehicles, multi-level parking at 13 Metro plots to accommodate 12,021 vehicles, and 16 stack parking to accommodate 1,361 vehicles. Privacy Settings This site uses functional cookies and external scripts to improve your experience. Which cookies and scripts are used and how they impact your visit is specified on the left. You may change your settings at any time. Your choices will not impact your visit. NOTE: These settings will only apply to the browser and device you are currently using. Consumer inquiries to the Medigap industry association during Medicare's Annual Enrollment Period (AEP) increased by nearly 50 percent according the American Association for Medicare Supplement Insurance. "With this year's Medicare AEP drawing to a close, we can finally breathe a sigh of relief" shared Jesse Slome, director of the American Association for Medicare Supplement Insurance (AAMSI). The organization provides information to consumers and helps individuals connect with local Medicare insurance agents. "Open enrollment that began October 15 concludes today (December 7th) and we have seen a 48 percent increase in website traffic compared to the prior year," Slome announced. "This is the highest website activity we've seen to date and reflects the growing number of senior Americans seeking online information regarding Medicare insurance options." The Association makes available a national directory where consumers can enter their Zip Code and access a listing of Medicare Supplement insurance agents in their immediate area. "Directory access is 100-percent free and 100 percent anonymous, which is a real plus for consumers because we are not seeking to harvest their information for future marketing or sales efforts," Slome explained. "I think that's the reason an increasing number of respected third parties refer individuals to the Association's directory." The American Association for Medicare Supplement Insurance advocates for the importance of educated planning and supports insurance agents who offer Medicare insurance solutions. To find names and contact information for local Medicare insurance agents online access the organization's website at www.medicaresupp.org. The organization hosts the annual National Medicare Supplement Insurance Industry Summit that includes a free day program for insurance agents who market Medicare and other senior insurance products. The 2019 event will take place June 5-7 in Atlanta, Georgia. Recordings of sessions held at prior annual Medicare conventions can be accessed, some for free, on the Association's website. (Bloomberg) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said hell nominate State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert to be his next United Nations ambassador but, a White House official said, the post will be downgraded from its current cabinet-level status. The loss of the cabinet seat suggests Nauert would have less clout than her predecessor, Nikki Haley, who departs at the end of this year. Haley had successfully argued for a cabinet-level post and wielded broad influence, carving out her own authority separate from the secretary of state. Speaking to reporters at the White House on Friday, Trump said Nauert is very talented, very smart, very quick and I think she will be respected by all. While Nauert struggled under former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who kept her blocked out of his inner circle, the former Fox News anchor built a rapport with current Secretary Michael Pompeo, who came to trust her as a reliable voice and advocate for Trumps agenda. White House aides, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they believe Nauerts key assets include strong communications skills and a fluency with the Trump White House, particularly in understanding the thinking of the president and secretary of state. Trump was also impressed with her performance at the Group of 20 summit in Argentina last week, according to two people familiar with the matter. Nauert is a very good public operator, and should do a professional job presenting U.S. policy at the UN, Richard Gowan, a senior fellow at the United Nations Universitys Center for Policy Research, said in an email. It is less clear that she has the experience to hammer out hard deals with China and Russia over problems like Iran and North Korea. Nauert wont face an easy confirmation given her lack of experience and the likelihood that shell be asked to answer for the Trump administrations scorn for international bodies, including the UN. In a speech in Brussels this week, Pompeo made his doubts about the organization clear, asking, Does it continue to serve its mission faithfully? Lowering Expectations Among its flaws, he cited peacekeeping missions that drag on for decades, climate treaties that he said serve only to redistribute wealth and what he called its anti-Israel bias. Pompeos Brussels speech trashing the UN this week lowered our expectations for U.S. policy at the UN, whoever is ambassador, Gowan said. It looks probable that the U.S. will aim to marginalize the UN for the rest of Trumps term, in contrast to the Haley era. At least one UN ambassador said he hopes that wont be the case. Frances UN envoy, Francois Delattre, said that hed like Nauert to be a bridge between Washington and the UN at a time when we more than ever need an America that is engaged with the UN in world affairs and committed to our shared values, beginning with human rights. Haley surprised White House officials in October when she said she would resign by the end of year, citing the need for a break after two terms as governor and two years at the UN. Her trusted relationship with Trump was clear when he hosted an Oval Office farewell for her and she vowed to campaign for him in 2020. The president picked Nauert after considering other potential nominees including former White House aide Dina Powell, ambassador to Canada Kelly Craft, former U.S. Senate candidate John James of Michigan and ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell -- who was a favorite of National Security Adviser John Bolton. North Korea If Nauert wins Senate confirmation, she will face a broad agenda at the UN topped by the need to maintain international sanctions on North Korea. Haley rallied global support for tougher measures in 2017, when Pyongyang ramped up its ballistic missile and weapons testing, but there has been increasing pressure from other countries to ease up on the restrictions since Trumps meeting with Kim Jong Un in June. Hamas Resolution Shell also take up the administrations efforts to defend Israel at the UN and counter what Haley called the organizations bias against the Jewish state. In a sign of the difficulties the administration has had, the UN General Assembly on Thursday rejected a U.S.-sponsored resolution condemning Hamas, the Islamist group that has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007. Ms. Nauert has stood by the State of Israel in her previous positions, and I have no doubt that the cooperation between our two countries will continue to strengthen as ambassador to the UN, Israels UN ambassador, Danny Danon, said in New York. At the State Department, Nauert scaled back what had previously been daily news conferences in previous administrations, sometimes making them just once-a-week events. She was widely criticized when she joined Pompeo on an emergency trip to Saudi Arabia in October following the killing of columnist Jamal Khashoggi. The somber mission appeared to be forgotten as Nauert posted a tourist-style photograph of herself smiling in Riyadh. Nauert has indicated a priority for her is the plight of Myanmars Rohingya minority. She traveled to the region last year, eventually joining Tillerson when he visited the countrys capital for the day. But she was shut out from his entourage, and didnt take part in any of his meetings. (Updates to add French UN envoys comments in 11th paragraph.) To contact the reporters on this story: Nick Wadhams in Washington at nwadhams@bloomberg.net;Jennifer Jacobs in Washington at jjacobs68@bloomberg.net;Shannon Pettypiece in Washington at spettypiece@bloomberg.net;David Wainer in New York at dwainer3@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Bill Faries at wfaries@bloomberg.net, ;Alex Wayne at awayne3@bloomberg.net, Justin Blum 2018 Bloomberg L.P. New figures on San Antonios aerospace industry raise concerns about its health but the news isnt all bad. Officials say aerospace companies recent jobs announcements in San Antonio point to a possible rebound. In 2018, aerospace companies accounted for 10,000 local jobs and an $3.4 billion economic impact to the region, according to a new industry survey released Thursday. Thats a significant drop from 2010 when the companies employed 13,616 workers and delivered a $5.4 billion punch to the regional economy. On the other hand, aerospace workers are getting bigger paychecks than they did eight years ago. The San Antonio Chamber of Commerce commissioned both the new survey and the 2010 report. Economist Alivia Metts, who worked on the new study, cautioned that it wasnt as extensive as the 2010 report, and that the figures couldnt be compared apples to apples. Still, the industry has suffered real job losses. But Jim Perschbach, CEO of Port San Antonio, the Southwest Side home to numerous aerospace companies, was optimistic about the industrys prospects. There have been losses, and there have been gains, Perschbach said, noting recent announcements of expansions by engine-maintenance company StandardAero and Boeing, which said its doubling its workforce in San Antonio. While Lockheed Martin ended its operations at Port San Antonio, StandardAero has taken over its former space. What Im looking at is Boeing announcing that theyre doubling their workforce at this site, and StandardAero (making) announcements because of the contracts coming in, Perschbach said. What were seeing right now is tremendous growth that we continue to be excited about. The ports CEO blamed some job losses on the usual ups and downs of the industry. However, he also said technology that alerts crews to bring in aircraft for maintenance before something goes wrong will help smooth out the traditional cycles of heavy workloads followed by lulls. The opportunity that we should be focused on as a community is all of these folks who are working on data sciences, on integrating those technologies, on upgraded communications, connected devices and the security of those connected systems, Perschbach said. If you can apply that to airplanes, you have a bright future in aerospace. While the jobs numbers were down, workers pay has jumped since 2010. Eight years ago, aerospace workers earned a total of $678 million, half of the $1.35 billion in the 2018 report. Wages increased from an average of $58,729 in 2010 to the $78,850 in 2018. The 2018 employment figures include more than 1,000 mechanics and inspectors employed by ST Engineering at San Antonio International Airport in a complex of hangars thats part of the companys global maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) network. Other major employers in San Antonio are airplane manufacturer Boeing and StandardAero, both based at Port San Antonio, the former Kelly Air Force Base. An estimated 1,000 new aerospace jobs have been announced for Port San Antonio in 2018, with many of the positions to be added over the next two years. On ExpressNews.com: Super Hornet modernization work will come to Boeings San Antonio facility Boeing announced in April that its San Antonio operation would receive some of the modernization work on the U.S. Navys fleet of F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet aircraft. A Boeing facility in St. Louis will handle the rest of the work under the contract. Boeings San Antonio facility is known for its massive Hangar 375 and surrounding facilities, which currently serve as the depot for the Boeing C-17 Globemaster military transport plane, among other aircraft. On ExpressNews.com: Boeing San Antonio gets $3.9 billion contract to make Air Force One planes The San Antonio facility was also chosen in July to modify two Boeing 747-8s that will serve as the new Air Force One aircraft for the fleet that serves the president. The contract is valued at $3.9 billion. 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 The Permian Basin's Wolfcamp and Bone Spring formations in West Texas and New Mexico hold the most potential oil and gas resources ever assessed, the U.S. Interior Department said Thursday. The region in the Permian's western Delaware Basin holds more than twice as much oil as the largest previous assessment - the Wolfcamp shale in the Permian's separate Midland Basin southeast of Midland. That study was completed two years ago. To put the new results into perspective, the Delaware Basin's Wolfcamp and Bone Spring plays would hold almost seven times as much oil as North Dakota's Bakken shale. The Wolfcamp shale and overlying Bone Spring in the Permian's booming Delaware Basin hold an estimate 46.3 billion barrels of oil, 281 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, and 20 billion barrels of natural gas liquids, according to the U.S. Geological Survey's new assessment. OIL AND DRUGS: A special investigation on substance abuse in the Permian Basin only for subscribers at HoustonChronicle.com Interior Secretary and oil and gas advocate Ryan Zinke said the news is an early Christmas present for the energy sector. "American strength flows from American energy, and as it turns out, we have a lot of American energy," Zinke said. "Before this assessment came down, I was bullish on oil and gas production in the United States. Now, I know for a fact that American energy dominance is within our grasp as a nation." Much of the new activity in the Permian is in the Delaware's Wolfcamp in Loving, Winkler, Reeves, Culberson and Ward counties on the Texas side, and primarily Eddy and Lea counties in New Mexico. The U.S. is producing record volumes of oil and gas, and nearly one-third of the nation's total crude oil volumes are coming from the Permian. Those amounts are continuing to grow. An older basin, the Permian has become the center of the oil and gas world in recent years through the combination of horizontal drilling techniques and modern hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, technologies. RELATED: Midland Basin's Wolfcamp shale holds 20 billion undiscovered barrels of oil The study is based on undiscovered oil and gas that's considered technically recoverable based on these modern extraction methods. That's different from the proven reserves that oil companies list on their budgets after they drill exploratory wells and study the reservoirs. NEWS WHEN YOU NEED IT: Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text message | Sign up for breaking news alerts delivered to your email here. Visitors to San Antonio will soon have to pay a new fee if they check into one of the citys larger hotels. City Council on Thursday OKd the fee with the aim of generating more revenue to promote San Antonio and its hotels, restaurants and attractions to out-of-towners. With a 10-1 vote, Council members approved a tourism public improvement district, or TPID a move that included the new fee after pushback from Councilman Rey Saldana, who argued that some of the funding should be set aside for homelessness initiatives. The Texas Organizing Project also sent a letter Wednesday asking the council to postpone or withdraw the decision until an agreement involving homelessness solutions could be reached. Representatives from the grassroots community organization reiterated their request Thursday. OnExpressNews.com: Sculley's retirement alters political calculus for 2019 elections Nonunion tourism workers face countless challenges, including stagnant wages, unaffordable housing, limited economic mobility and lack of adequate health care, TOP Executive Director Michelle Tremillo wrote in the letter. We believe in an equitable community where everyone has opportunity with strong safety nets built for working families when emergencies strike. Industry leaders have said they want to be part of a broader discussion about homelessness in San Antonio, but that its not the focus of the TPID or what hoteliers signed on to. Ahead of the vote, they successfully gathered signatures from more than 60 percent of the citys hoteliers. Some council members agreed that it is not the purpose of the TPID and noted Thursday that supporters have been working on the proposal for about two years. Council members said there need to be more discussions on how to address homelessness in the community and an exploration of options. The tourism industry will be part of the conversation. The TPID covers all of San Antonio. Hotel guests will be charged a fee, calculated at 1.25 percent of their room rate, at hotels and motels with more than 100 rooms. Visitors would pay the fee on top of the 16.75 percent occupancy tax they currently pay at hotels of that size. OnExpressNews.com: A woman has never passed the grueling tests to become a SWAT officer in San Antonio - until now. Casandra Matej, president and CEO of Visit San Antonio, a public-private nonprofit that acts as the citys sales and marketing arm, said the industry is elated. Its a monumental day for the tourism industry, she said. Together, we can do some great things. She also said that Saldanas comments were powerful. The TPID is expected to generate $10.4 million in its first year, which will be used for marketing and promoting the city. Industry leaders say the infusion will help them remain competitive with other destinations and put their budget on par with cities like Dallas and Houston, as San Antonios share of the market has slipped. Convicted felon Carlos Uresti reached a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission this week over allegations that he violated securities laws while involved with a now-defunct San Antonio company. Uresti, the former state senator who this year was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison for defrauding investors in oil field services company FourWinds Logistics, consented to the entry of a final judgment against him in a civil lawsuit brought by the SEC. Under the final judgment, Uresti agreed to not violate securities laws, and he is barred from participating in the purchase, offering or sale of oil- and gas-related securities. He can trade such securities in his own personal account, however. He also agreed not to make any public statement denying the allegations in the SECs suit or create the impression that the complaint is without factual basis. FIND OUT FIRST: Get San Antonio breaking news directly to your inbox In addition, Uresti, 55, must turn over $115,099, plus $16,664 in interest. However, the disgorgement will be deemed satisfied by the $6.3 million in restitution he was ordered to pay as part of his sentence. Uresti, FourWinds lawyer, escrow agent and a 1 percent owner who recruited investors, was found guilty of 11 felonies including securities fraud and money laundering by a federal jury in February. The longtime San Antonio Democrat subsequently resigned from the Senate and surrendered his law license. Uresti has been free on bail pending his Jan. 14 sentencing on an unrelated bribery conspiracy charge that he pleaded guilty to in October rather than stand trial. As part of his plea, Uresti agreed to drop the appeal of his conviction and sentence in the FourWinds case. Prosecutors have said they will recommend that Uresti serve whatever sentence he gets in the bribery case concurrently with his 12-year sentence in the FourWinds case. The bribery conspiracy charge carries a maximum of five years in prison. U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodridguez still must sign off on the final judgment against Uresti in the SECs lawsuit. RELATED: Uresti's estranged wife joins fight for pension Uresti wants to look forward, not backward, said his San Antonio attorney, Mikal Watts. He will not be involved in the selling of securities in the future. Shamoil T. Shipchandler, director of the SECs Fort Worth regional office, declined to comment. Lawyers and public servants have heightened responsibilities when it comes to handling other peoples money, Shipchandler said in a Sept. 28 email after the SEC filed its suit. We take action today to impose an industry bar to protect investors from future fraudulent content. The SEC opened an investigation into FourWinds in August 2016, two days after the San Antonio Express-News first reported on Urestis involvement in the company and allegations by some investors that they had been defrauded. The SEC also named in its lawsuit FourWinds CEO Stan Bates, who pleaded guilty to eight felonies rather than stand trial with Uresti. Bates was sentenced to 15 years in prison and was ordered to pay $6.3 million in restitution. He is incarcerated at the Karnes Correctional Center in Karnes City. Bates, 46, settled the SECs suit simultaneously with the filing of the complaint. As part of the settlement, he is barred from serving as an officer or director of any company that issues securities. Bates also was ordered to turn over $663,256 in ill-gotten gains and pay $110,066 in interest. However, the restitution he owes in the criminal case will satisfy the requirement that he pay back illicit proceeds. The SEC alleged that Uresti and Bates raised $11.2 million purportedly to buy and sell sand used in fracking for oil production. The pair misrepresented the profitability and safety of the investments, the SEC added. Uresti was facing financial difficulties and believed he stood to make millions through his involvement with (FourWinds), the SEC alleged in its complaint. Uresti falsely told some investors that he had invested his own money in the venture and that Bates was a successful businessman, the document added. Patrick Danner is a San Antonio-based staff writer covering banking and civil courts. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | pdanner@express-news.net | Twitter: @AlamoPD Sridevi, who married Anil's elder brother, producer Boney Kapoor, frequently collaborated with her brother-in-law. Mumbai: Anil Kapoor has revealed that he was offered to play one of the male leads opposite Sridevi in the 1989 blockbuster Chaalbaaz, which had the late actor in a double role. The male leads in the film were finally played by Sunny Deol and Rajinikanth. "Srideviji was a complete entertainer, she could fill the screen with her powerful persona. When I was offered 'Chalbaaz', I thought what will I get to do in front of Srideviji, who is doing everything in her double role. As an artist I felt a bit hesitant, so I refused the movie. She created magic on screen the way she portrayed the double role with finesse, which nobody could match," Kapoor said on Star Plus reality show Dance+4 which paid a tribute to Sridevi. Sridevi, who married Anil's elder brother, producer Boney Kapoor, frequently collaborated with her brother-in-law, including the sci-fi cult classic Mr India but Kapoor's favourite Sridevi film is Sadma. He believes she should have won a National film award for her role in the movie. "Her brilliant act in Sadma will always remain unmatched. Some movies and actors live forever and Srideviji unparalleled act in Sadma is one of them," he said. DEVINE Wilbur the hedgehog leads a charmed life: A popular video on the animal lovers website, The Dodo. Custom-made crocheted little hats that rack up the likes on Instagram. Only the best in Target fruit strips for nibbles. And to think just this summer he nearly died by his mothers own teeth. Five months ago, he was an injured newborn, a pink, see-through critter the size of a thumb, whose mother had also devoured two of his fellow litter mates and fatally bit another. Now he nestles in the cupped hands and online posts of Melissa Schreiner, an animal lover in Eagle Pass whos taken all sorts of animals under her wing, with Wilbur poking his spiky little head above the pack. FIND OUT FIRST: Get San Antonio breaking news directly to your inbox Now Playing: As a face for animal rescue, Wilbur who resides in Devine, Texas is stealing the hearts of animal lovers across the nation. Video: San Antonio Express-News I want people to see Wilbur and think about all the animals that need help, that need to be rescued, (and) all the animals that have been in shelters waiting to be rescued that need homes, said Schreiner, whose animal rescue efforts in Eagle Pass include bringing adoptable cats and dogs to San Antonio. Wilbur can get attention that I cant get, Schreiner said. Hes so unique, and his personality is pretty adorable. As you can see, hes rough around the edges, but hes very special. Hes just ... Wilbur. I try to tell her he was a Sonic, said Schreiners close friend Malissa Polen, who recently hosted Wilbur, Schreiner, and Schreiners 4-year-old daughter, Brooke, at her own ranch in Devine. Schreiner said she always knew Wilbur was a Wilbur, more a reference to the pig of Charlottes Web than the zippy hedgehog of the Sega video games (though Wilbur certainly has raced to the forefront of animal advocacy and all around adorableness). RELATED: Giving pets holiday gifts a trend on the rise In addition to scurrying up thousands of likes and followers on his Instagram account, @wilburstale, Wilbur also has starred in his own Dodo video with more than half a million views on the sites YouTube channel. And he has his own dot-com with wilburstale.com. Sandy Tovar, who runs The Buddy Foundation animal rescue group in Eagle Pass, has been following Wilburs tale from the beginning. Wilbur is just an amazing character, Tovar said. Not only because hes cute as a button, but when I found out Melissa rescued him as a tiny hedgehog, the chances of him making it were pretty slim. Its just an amazing rescue story. Wilbur needed help pretty much as soon as he was born in late June. Schreiner had heard of a young woman in Eagle Pass who was breeding hedgehogs for sale and was having trouble with a recent litter. Schreiner offered to help with the surviving two baby hedgehogs and raced to her home. One of the baby hedgehogs died on the way back, right in the hands of Schreiners other daughter, Gabby, 15. As for Wilbur, Schreiner recalled he somehow survived his mothers attack but was still cold as a Popsicle. Bringing Wilbur back from the brink wasnt easy. Schreiner had no previous experience with a hedgehog, and her go-to veterinarian only worked with larger animals, such as her dogs and horses. So Schreiner turned to Google, researching any tips she could find. She even consulted a hedgehog rescue group in the United Kingdom, where hedgehogs roam wild like rabbits. In addition to his bite wound, Schreiner learned Wilbur also was suffering from bloating, a condition hedgehogs are prone to which can be painful and even fatal. It was very touch and go, Schreiner said. Schreiner tried infant gas drops as well chamomile tea and even probiotics in Wilburs milk formula to minimize his bloating. Wilbur would spend his first fateful weeks slumped on a heating pad at Schreiners bedside, where she often woke up to bottle feed him at the first squeak. As for Wilburs injury and general hygiene, Schreiner learned to clean him with coconut oil on a toothbrush. At first, Wilbur weighed only about 8 grams, the equivalent of a quarter and a penny. Schreiner knew he was finally out of the woods when at six weeks old he ate his first solid food, a mash of formula and hedgehog food, right on Polens kitchen counter. That wasnt the only delightful first at Polens home. Wilbur swam in our pool here, Polen said. We had him in a drink cup holder shaped like a flamingo. And he gave my baby alpaca his first kiss. RELATED: This holiday season adopt, don't shop, for a pet In addition to puckering up with Sheldon the alpaca, Wilbur also began cozying up to the various animals on Schreiners own ranch, which in addition to herself, her husband and their two daughters includes five dogs, three cats, three horses, Gabbys ferret, a duck and several chickens. Such moments with Schreiners animals make adorable snapshots. But Wilbur pulls the serious awwws when its just him being, well, Wilbur especially when he models one of Schreiners tiny crocheted hats, which she sells on the Facebook page Wilburs Wardrobe to offset her animal rescue costs and get more animals adopted. They start at $5 and can be custom ordered. Most of the time I rehouse my rescues, Schreiner said. With the exception of my Wilbur. Schreiner has cared for animals pretty much since she was a kid growing up in Germany. It started with a falconlike baby bird named Fluffy, which Schreiner found one day covered in greasy water. Fluffys rescue lead to many more saved animals and insects, be they snails or lizards or just about any other creatures great and small. Schreiner volunteered at a military base veterinary clinic in Germany. Then when she moved to the United States at 14, she volunteered at a zoo and also a pet store in Alamogordo, New Mexico. After she got she married, she moved to Las Vegas and continued working with animals at a vet clinic and then an animal shelter. Since moving to Eagle Pass almost four years ago, Schreiner has focused on animal rescue full-time. Which brings up another reason she loves to share Wilburs tale: to raise awareness of animal care in the Texas town she now calls home. Soon after moving to Eagle Pass, Schreiner became fast friends with Tovar and The Buddy Foundation, which is named after the Golden Retriever the Tovar family lost in 2016. Tovar said its been an uphill struggle to boost animal rescue and animal advocacy in her community, but slowly more people have come to see the value of animal rights and to see their pets more as part of the family. Its just heartwarming to see how the community itself has changed, Tovar said. Especially when a friendly, furry face like Wilburs encourages that change. People that had no interest at all in rescuing animals will come and ask me questions about Wilbur, Schreiner said. And it really opens the conversation for me to tell them about other animals that need help, too. These days, Schreiner said Wilbur plays more to type as the typical shy and nocturnal hedgehog, huffing and puffing whenever hes exposed to strangers or an unfamiliar environment. He now spends more time in his snuggle sack, a bumblebee-covered felt pouch Schreiner sewed that looks like a wine bottle holder. Though he still climbs all over Schreiner and in her hair whenever its just the two of them on the couch watching television. Schreiner couldnt be happier to see Wilbur not only survive but come into his own. Besides, they still have much in common. I just think that me and his personality just click, Schreiner said. Im not as good with people as I wish I was. But with him, I understand him. I can relate to him. Hes afraid of everything, but yet he wants to see whats going on. And as a face for animal rescue, Wilbur should continue to have plenty of appreciative and supportive company. Rene A. Guzman 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. | rguzman@express-news.net | Twitter: @reneguz LAREDO Webb County prosecutors said Wednesday they will seek the death penalty for a U.S. Border Patrol agent accused of killing four women in September. Juan David Ortiz was indicted by a grand jury on one count of capital murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, unlawful restraint and evading arrest, said Isidro Chilo Alaniz, Webb County district attorney, at a news conference. The scheme in this case, from Ortizs own words, was to clean up the streets of Laredo by targeting this community of individuals who he perceived to be disposable, that no one would miss and that he did not give value to, Alaniz said. Ortiz is the second Border Patrol agent to be indicted on capital murder charges this year in Laredo. In June, agent Ronald Anthony Burgos-Aviles was indicted on two counts of capital murder for allegedly killing his 27-year-old lover and their 20-month-old son. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in that case, as well. The 35-year-old graduate of St. Marys University has been behind bars since his arrest on Sept. 15, on a $2.5 million bond. He was initially charged with four counts of murder. He also was charged with aggravated assault and unlawful restraint for allegedly attempting to kill a fifth woman. Ortiz is accused of killing Melissa Ramirez, 29, on Sept. 3; Claudine Ann Luera, 42, on Sept. 13; and Guiselda Alicia Hernandez, 35, and Nikki Enriquez, 28, around Sept. 14. All four were killed in roughly the same area near North U.S. 83 and Interstate 35 in the northwest part of Webb County. According to the indictment, Ramirez, Luera and Enriquez, a transgender woman, were each shot in the head. Hernandez was shot in the neck and struck in the head with an unknown object, the indictment said. He was off-duty when he killed the women, authorities said, but he may have used his service weapon in the homicides. Authorities have said the women killed were sex workers, and that he targeted them because they were vulnerable. According to arrest affidavits, Ortiz would pick them up on San Bernardo Avenue, drive them outside city limits and shoot them. Alaniz said the horrific nature of the killings and Ortizs vigilante mentality were factors in his decision to pursue the death penalty. He said evidence showed that Ortiz killed the women "in a cold, callous and calculating way" and presents a clear danger to society, he said. The Border Patrol intel supervisor and Navy veteran seemed to be living a typical suburban life with his wife and two children when the killings occurred. After the first slaying, Ortiz continued going to work as usual. He was only arrested after one woman was able to escape. On Sept. 14, Ortiz picked up Erika Pena, who told investigators that Ortiz acted oddly when she brought up Ramirezs slaying and later pointed a gun at her in a gas station, according to court documents. Pena said Ortiz grabbed her shirt as she tried to get out of his truck, but she pulled it off and ran, finding a state trooper who was refueling his vehicle. Authorities located Ortiz about four hours after Pena's escape. After his arrest, Ortiz confessed to killing the four women and assaulting Pena, according to arrest affidavits. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Two by two, representatives of San Antonios Catholic and Jewish communities lit candles on a menorah Thursday to mark not only Hanukkah but the longstanding ties between them. The event, held in San Fernando Cathedral Hall, was not only in its 17th year but was the largest ever, said Rabbi Emeritus Samuel Stahl of Temple Beth-El, who noted the shared history that predated it. The story of the Catholic, Jewish relationship dates back to before Vatican II, he said. Temple Beth-El, the oldest synagogue in the city, was founded in 1874, Stahl said, the same year as the Diocese of San Antonio, spanning more than 140 years of co-existence. Sponsored by the cathedral and the Jewish Federation of San Antonio, this years celebration of the Festival of Lights focused on increased solidarity between Christians and Jews against the rise of U.S. hate crimes, white nationalism and anti-Semitism. Several speakers made reference to the Oct. 27 shootings of 11 congregants at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, considered one of the deadliest attacks of its kind in U.S. history. As it has in other years, the Hanukkah luncheon celebration was part master class in Jewish and Catholic history and theology. Keynote speaker Sister Mary C. Boys, an expert in Jewish-Catholic relations from the Union Theological Seminary, drew similarities between the eight days of Hanukkah and the four weeks of Advent, which each require the lighting of candles in tribute to God. Boys called on Catholics to light menorahs in unity with their Jewish brothers and sisters. She drew on the example of another anti-Semitic attack, in 1993, that galvanized the town of Billings, Montana after a brick was thrown through a window of a Jewish home displaying a menorah. She said a newspaper editorial called on Billings residents of every faith to fight back by displaying menorahs in their windows now until Christmas. The Billings Gazette even published a full-page menorah, she said. Let all the world know that the national hatred of a few cannot destroy what all of us in Billings, and in America, have worked together so long to build, Boys said, quoting the editorial. My question today is, what is my personal responsibility? she said. The world has to be different than it is now, and we have to participate. Use the occasions of Hanukkah and Advent to grow closer to each other. For all their differences between those celebrations, Boys said, theres unity in that shared candlelight. In his opening prayer, Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller made a similar reference. Celebrating the Festival of Lights comforts us because light comfort us, he said. Guide our pathways, Garcia-Siller said. Strengthen our relationship, fill these days, our hearts, with joy. Among the duos paired to light a candle on the menorah were Rabbi Jeffrey Abraham of Congregation Agudas Achim and Sister Denise LaRock, a leader in the Interfaith Welcome Coalitions bus station ministry, which assists immigrants released from federal detention centers. Events like this are important because we get a chance to gather together and learn from each others traditions and experiences and value each others beliefs and heritage, said retired teacher Peggy Leff, who was attending her second Hanukkah luncheon. University of Texas at San Antonio senior Noel Montenegro, 22, agreed. Change can arise from the littlest of circumstances such as breaking bread together, he said. When it comes down to it, Montenegro said, were not as different as we think we are. eayala@express-news.net | @ElaineAyala A U.S.-based component of the Jesuit order of Roman Catholic priests on Friday became the newest Catholic institution to identify some of its own as credibly accused in the sexual abuse of minors, listing among them three former San Antonio clergymen, now deceased. The statement came from the U.S. Central and Southern Province one of two provinces of the Jesuits, also known as the Society of Jesus, that made such announcements Friday. It named the three San Antonio priests as Alfonso Madrid, who served at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church on the West Side; Francis M. Landwermeyer, who worked at Central Catholic and Antonian high schools and St. Cecilia Catholic Church; and Austin N. Park, who also worked at Our Lady of Guadalupe. Words cannot possibly suffice to express our sorrow and shame for what occurred, Father Ronald Mercier, provincial leader of the Central and Southern Province, said in the statement. It said the alleged abuse by the three priests happened in the 1960s and 70s, but did not specify where. Each had more that one allegation made against him, the order said. The three men worked in multiple cities. Park, for example, had 17 pastoral assignments altogether. A press release Friday from the Archdiocese of San Antonio said Our Lady of Guadalupes parish had been informed of the allegations against Madrid in 2015. Jesuits have served the parish since 1932 but will be leaving it this month due to a shortage of priests. Madrid, who died in 1982 before the allegations were received, also worked in Jesuit High School in New Orleans, a parish in Albuquerque and two in El Paso, according to Fridays announcement. Landwermeyer, who died this year, was removed from ministry in 2010 and left the order and the priesthood the following year, the Jesuits announcement said. He had worked in Jesuit schools in Dallas, Shreveport, New Orleans and Tampa, and at Marquette and Loyola universities, among other assignments. According to the archdiocese, Landwermeyer worked in San Antonio from 1990 to 2004, serving as pastor at St. Cecilia church, and as a parochial vicar and in residence at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church and St. Brigid Church. The archdiocese does not know of any allegations that Landwermeyer sexually abused children in the archdiocese, its press release said. The archdiocese will verify this with the Jesuit province. Park, who died in 2013, was already out of ministry due to dementia when the allegations were received, the Jesuit province said. It put the time frame for the alleged abuse in the 1960s. The archdiocese said Park served at Guadalupe parish from 1957-1958 and 1961-1963. The archdiocese also said it received allegations against Park in late September. In addition to San Antonio, Park had pastoral assignments at Jesuit High Schools in El Paso, Shreveport and New Orleans, Colegio San Ignacio in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico; and 12 other schools and parishes. Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller did not address the accusations directly Friday, but a press release from the archdiocese said, We pledge to maintain safe environments for everyone, and all policies and procedures regarding training and background check requirements are publicly available. The archdiocese remains strongly committed to restoring trust and healing the wounds of anyone who may have been hurt by sexual abuse. The archdiocese will continue to work toward making every Catholic parish, school and institution a safe harbor for all. The Jesuits online announcements precedes by about a month the scheduled release of a list of credibly accused priests from the archdiocese. An outside commission is auditing archdiocese records of about 150 such cases and its report, expected Jan. 31, is to be made public. The archdiocese said Friday that allegations about Madrid and Park were included in the information provided to the commission, which is led by former Texas Fourth Court of Appeals Judge Catherine Stone. In October, Garcia-Siller promised a full disclosure of accusations of sexual abuse of children by priests and said the commission would review files going back 75 years. Also in October, the archdiocese removed Father Edward Pavlicek from ministry over a child sexual abuse allegation in the 1980s. He was serving as pastor of St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Canyon Lake. A Pennsylvania grand jury report included Father David Connell, who served in San Antonio from 1976 to his death in 1995. In Pennsylvania, Connell was accused of drugging and raping a minor on at least two occasions, sexually abusing the victim's brother and trying to have sex with another victim on a camping trip. The U.S. Central and Southern Province announcement on Friday said its list included Jesuits from other provinces against whom there are credible claims resulting from their work while assigned to this province; (and) Jesuits of this province whose names have been published on diocesan websites or the websites of other Jesuit provinces. The other Jesuit province, Jesuits West, on Friday released a significantly longer list of accused priests and brothers, but it contained no mention of San Antonio ties. Elaine Ayala covers religion and minority affairs in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read her on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | eayala@express-news.net | Twitter: @ElaineAyala They stood in silence at 11:55 a.m. Friday as they have for years, marking the moment Japan launched an attack on Pearl Harbor that forced the United States into World War II. The local veterans of that battle, a group of San Antonians who once boasted dozens of members, number only four now, and only two made it to their annual lunch, but their memories of that day 77 years ago are still strong. One-time Radioman 1st Class William St. John, and retired Tech Sgt. Kenneth Platt, both 97, were surrounded by three dozen or so family and friends at the Barn Door, the North Side steakhouse where the reunion has been held for a number of years. That was an accomplishment. We're hoping for two, but they're not in very good shape, Ernest Hernandez had said earlier in the week. His wife, Irene, is an organizer for the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association's San Antonio chapter, which had a robust roster of 64 members in 1992. Two members have died in the past 13 months: retired Air Force Maj. Richard Anderson and John Buchanan. Gilbert Meyer, who served aboard the USS Utah, was thought by organizers to be observing the anniversary in Hawaii. Another survivor, retired Army Col. Bill Hayes, lives in a local nursing home and didnt make the gathering. He turned 100 last August and is said to have good and bad days. Retired Army Maj. Virgil Lee Ward never belonged to the group when he lived here but attended its 2016 luncheon. He now lives in Duncanville, 13 miles south of Dallas. At 99, hes planning on coming to San Antonio for a 100th birthday bash Feb. 2 and hes amazed about it. I consider myself lucky to get out, said Ward, who served from 1935-65 and had close calls in World War II, the Korean conflict and Vietnam War. I was just lucky all the way through. Nationwide, only a few can speak of being part of a battle that involved around 60,000 sailors, soldiers and pilots. Events across the country Friday saluted them. Commemorations in Texas, one of them at the National Museum of the Pacific War in Fredericksburg, mark the moment the battle began at 11:55 a.m. It was dawn in Hawaii. Waves of Japanese planes came out of the blue at 7:55 a.m., specks at first that grew larger and more menacing to confused and stunned onlookers on the ground. A Japanese strike force of 353 aircraft had launched from the decks of four aircraft carriers. The attack lasted just 75 minutes and left 2,403 Americans dead, including 68 civilians, as the morning sky turned black from acrid smoke rising from Battleship Row. The USS Arizona took nearly half of all the casualties, 1,177 killed. Now a memorial at Pearl Harbor, it was one of 21 U.S. ships damaged or destroyed in one of the wars most lopsided and humiliating American defeats and the Navys worst ever. Day of Infamy A look at Pearl Harbor Ships hit: 21 Battleships sunk or damaged: 8 Complete losses: USS Arizona, USS Oklahoma and USS Utah U.S. aircraft lost: 169 Japanese aircraft lost: 29 U.S. servicemen killed: 2,335 U.S. civilians killed: 68 U.S. wounded: 1,143 SOURCE: U.S. Navy, U.S. Census, National Museum of the Pacific War A timeline of events in the Pacific after Pearl Harbor | http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/pacificwar/timeline.htm See More Collapse The next day, Japanese forces landed near Singapore and invaded Thailand. They seized Guam and invaded the Philippines on Dec. 10 and Burma on Dec. 11. They swept into British Borneo and Hong Kong and took Wake Island just before Christmas. Eight U.S. battleships were sunk or damaged at Pearl Harbor. The Americans lost 169 planes to 29 Japanese. But perhaps the most important targets, three U.S. Pacific Fleet aircraft carriers, were out to sea on the day of the attack. They quickly formed the core of a Navy counterpunch that bloodied Japan in the Coral Sea and won a turning-point victory at the Battle of Midway that June. Ward knew tensions between the U.S. and Japan were high he had read a story about negotiations faltering between Japanese and American emissaries in Washington but there was no hint of war. He had good reason to read: he earned extra money with a paper route, throwing the Honolulu Advertiser. It paid more than the Army, which cut him a $21-a-month check. Ward was at the Post Exchange before dawn to collect his newspapers, but the clock struck 6:30 a.m., and then 7, and they didnt arrive. Shortly after 7:55 a.m., he saw the fighters. They were flying in a formation when they first came in and then they split up, of course, and they were diving in the air where I was at and I was pretty close, Ward recalled this week. He began trying to get back to his post at Diamond Head, a phone exchange he helped run as a Signal Corps soldier. It shook me up, of course, and not having been exposed to any such thing like that, it kind of scared me, Ward said. But the first thing I thought of was go to my duty station. I didnt have any instructions from anybody on anything. I was just by myself. Like many soldiers, sailors and airmen, Platt was asleep in his bunk. A terrible but familiar noise roused him and others at Schofield Barracks as machine gun bullets crashed through a window a few feet away. He dived beneath his bed. Platt said he got to know the Japanese when he was stationed there after the war. Theyre people just like we are, Platt said. I dont blame the Japanese people. The leaders are the ones I blame for it. St. John had just gotten off the job with a fellow sailor, Woodrow Strauss. They worked at a newly established air station that had three 180-foot-tall towers on Kaneohe Bay. Plane after plane dropped bombs in the distance before one enemy pilot flew closer and eyeballed him. But he had to avoid the towers otherwise he would have cut me in two, St. John said. Thats the only thing that saved me. Sig Christenson covers the military and its impact in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | sigc@express-news.net | Twitter: @saddamscribe By the time the two San Antonio firefighters, each wearing bright yellow jackets and red fire helmets, arrived at the house, the man was hacking loudly, seemingly unable to breathe. The firefighters grabbed the man by his arms and helped lead him outside to safety. His picturesque home in a retirement community on the North Side was on fire, albeit an imaginary one. They were taking part in a simulation to prepare for a real wildfire that could happen one day. Obviously, we cant have the realism of a fire, Fire Chief Charles Hood said. But the scenarios that they're going to pull up to they don't know what it will be." The simulation was part of new wildfire suppression training that, once refined early next year, will be available to fire departments nationwide. San Antonio firefighters are among the first in the nation to test the training, which is being developed by the International Association of Fire Fighters. The training comes less than a month after a wildfires destroyed huge swaths of California, killing 97 civilians and six firefighters. Hood said the Camp Fire, which leveled the town of Paradise in Northern California, leading to 85 of the deaths, has been the biggest fire that any of us has ever seen. So the timing of this is perfect, he said. Educating the public and getting our firefighters trained, I think, is critical at this time. Wildfire risk isnt just a West Coast problem anymore. A November report by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, which is publishes a study on the environment every four years, found that the effects of climate change, including a higher risk of wildfires, are starting to be felt across the U.S. Rick Swan, director of Wildland Fire Fighting Safety and Response at IAFF, said San Antonio is not immune. A brush fire at Camp Bullis in 2016 consumed about 30 acres and compelled the fire department to put together an evacuation plan for The Dominion, though it was not used. A matter of time, weather and a moment, Swan said about the prospect of a wildfire. Capt. Brian Stanush, a 25-year veteran of the San Antonio Fire Department, said juniper and cedar on the North Side and mesquite on the South Side could easily ignite. The department has made it a priority in recent years to educate neighborhoods in areas where homes are built on or near fire-prone land. In Roseheart, the retirement community where last weeks training exercises were conducted, the fire department has worked alongside residents to clear nearby vegetation and build a 50-foot-wide firebreak, a gap in the brush to slow or stop the spread of a fire. Tom Jones, who has lived in Roseheart for more than four years, said the risk of a wildfire is a concern among residents, one that was heightened by the recent California fires. Jones, chairman of the Roseheart Firewise Committee, part of a national network that helps residents prepare for a wildfire, still remembers a fire he witnessed years ago while living in California that left ash all over Los Angeles Valley. Theres always going to be a fuel load, said Jones, referring to the presence of flammable material. It makes a lot of sense to be prepared. Battling the blaze For over two years, the International Association of Firefighters, a fire union that, among other goals, aims to improve safety for its members, has worked toward a training course that compiles the best practices for fighting wildfires. Their efforts, funded by a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, focus on smaller departments that might not have the resources to handle a raging wildfire. Thats important because those firefighters are often on the front lines before backup can arrive. Those are the ones that are going to be mostly impacted in the difficulty of getting resources in quickly, Swan said. The association has tested their training in Lewiston, Maine, and Colorado Springs, Colo., prior to their stop in San Antonio. They chose San Antonio after Hood expressed an interest. Hood said the department has a robust amount of resources, including brush trucks and water tankers, to fight wildfires but its important to continually train because the dynamics of fighting a wildfire differ significantly from a structure fire. An urban interface fire is probably a lot more challenging in the big picture than most structure fires we fight on a day-to-day basis, Hood said. Eleven instructors including the incident commander for the Camp Fire in California conducted the training, which included 32 hours of online and classroom instruction followed by hands-on drills and role-playing scenarios. Sixty San Antonio firefighters took part. Residents of Roseheart allowed firefighters to block off streets Thursday to put their skills to the test. The simulations were designed to be as realistic as possible. Instructors were cast as residents, and yellow cue cards were placed throughout residents yards to represent obstacles or emergencies, including kids taking selfies, an elderly man unable to evacuate and power lines in the path of the fire. We try to put a little bit of real life into it, Swan said. Theres a lot of emotion. We want to push some buttons on these guys so they think, Oh, this could be real life. Some of the obstacles were built to test the crews. Swan said many firefighters, when arriving at a place where four houses are burning, would try instinctively to douse the fire, rather than pull back to make a fire wall that could stop it from spreading. As one instructor says: If you save one house, youll lose 10. We want to break that muscle memory, Swan said. We want to show them, You dont necessarily have to do it this way. You can do it this way and be much more efficient and save more homes. Hood said the benefits of the training were threefold. It's about saving lives of the citizens, but its also about saving the lives of my firefighters, to make sure that theyre in the perfect position so that theyre going to be successful and theyre going to go home at the end of the shift, Hood said. It is also about saving the valuable properties that could be lost in this situation. The citizens, the firefighters and then the property. Emilie Eaton is a criminal justice reporter in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read her on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | eeaton@express-news.net | Twitter: @emilieeaton SOLD FOR SEX: In Texas, an estimated 79,000 youth at any one time are being exploited for sex. Many are never rescued because so few cry out to police or other authorities for help. The San Antonio Express-News investigation "Sold for Sex" chronicles the lives of sex-trafficking victims, including a 16-year-old girl who was sold for sex up to 15 times a day, and examines what Texas law enforcement and service providers can do to help them. *** Not all of the young people who get trapped in prostitution were lured or coerced by a pimp. Abigail, 17, began selling her own body at age 15, using social media to find johns, first to pay for food, then for methamphetamine. She had first gotten in trouble with the law at 11, after she kicked a police officer trying to handcuff her for being drunk in a movie theater. She cycled in and out of the juvenile justice system, arrested for running away, using drugs, acting out in school. Her misbehavior stemmed from anger issues related to a father who was often incarcerated and a mother who struggled with her own addiction, she said. "Things happen that lead us to this lifestyle. We don't know how to help ourselves," said Abigail, who asked that her full name not be used. At 15, with her mother in jail, Abigail left home and began staying with friends. Too young to get a real job, she began selling her body. Men were willing to spend $100 or more to be with her. She carried a knife for protection. She switched from taking drugs that put her to sleep to drugs that kept her awake. For six months, Abigail turned tricks and snorted meth, her already-thin frame dwindling to 80 pounds. She was eventually apprehended and put in detention, where counselors helped her see she was a victim. A light bulb went off in my head, Abigail said. I felt disgusted with myself. It was like I was trapped in a nightmare, but it was all real. Abigail, now 16, turned herself in to police last year. SOLD FOR SEX: After Issac Williams convinced a 16-year-old he loved her, he sold her body for sex up to 15 times a day As part of her probation, she received therapy and became part of Ransomed Life, a nonprofit that provides mentors for trafficking survivors. She also took part in Restore Court, an intensive, voluntary program that provides services to survivors and holds them accountable. I realized I dont need to be disgusted with myself any more, Abigail said. I can be proud that I survived and that I still have my entire life ahead of me. Melissa Fletcher Stoeltje is a San Antonio Express-News staff writer. Read more of her stories here. | mstoeltje@express-news.net | Twitter: @mstoeltje Firefighters union President Chris Steele has said repeatedly over the last four years that he would begin contract negotiations within seven days of the city dropping its lawsuit against the union. But more than a week after the city did just that, he hasnt made good on his promise. His failure to do so has raised questions, even from his closest council ally. City attorneys officially dropped the suit on Nov. 29 and sent a letter to the unions lawyer requesting that the two sides begin working on a new contract. It was the same day City Manager Sheryl Sculley announced she plans to retire. But city officials have received no response to the letter, and Councilman Greg Brockhouse said Thursday he was at a loss why they wont return to the table. OnExpressNews.com: Sculley's retirement alters political calculus for 2019 elections Steele and the union did not return phone calls seeking comment. Councilman Manny Pelaez said he wasnt happy with the lack of action. I took the union at its word when they said that theyd be at the table in seven days after the lawsuit was dropped. I hope that Chris Steele says what he means and does what he says, Pelaez said. The ball is in their court, and Im waiting for him to show up and do what he promised to do. Pelaez said he wants to see firefighters receive raises sooner rather than later, voicing a sentiment shared by other City Council members. Its time to do the work that taxpayers expect us to do. No more cute gimmicks. No more games. No more press conferences. No more ad hominem or snarky attacks. No more excuses, he said. Its time for leadership. Lets pray they dont waste this opportunity to do the right thing. Brockhouse, meanwhile, said hes disappointed with the union. I met personally with leadership, and I asked them to return to the table as quickly as possible, Brockhouse said. The deals at the table and youve got to come back. The union has been successful with its political endeavors, he said, and has made its point at the polls, where voters sided with the union on two of the three charter amendments it placed on the Nov. 6 ballot. OnExpressNews.com: Local chambers call for repeal of San Antonio's sick-time ordinance Voters supported an amendment that places salary and term limits on future city managers, and another that gives the union the unilateral ability to declare an impasse on contract negotiations and head to binding arbitration. Brockhouse said he considers union members family but that he doesnt make decisions for them. Sometimes, he noted, family members dont agree. It appears that were coming to a point where were sideways, he said. I cant help them if they dont come to the table. I cant support not negotiating, Brockhouse said. I think theres a willpower on the council to want to help them, to want to get them a deal now. Firefighters havent received pay raises since their contract expired on Sept. 30, 2014. Because of its decade-long evergreen clause, the contract stays largely intact until its replaced by a new one. There are a couple of key areas of conflict, including health care. The city wants firefighters to take on a higher percentage of the cost. Under the old contract, firefighters pay no monthly premiums for themselves, spouses or children and have very low deductibles and annual out-of-pocket maximums. OnExpressNews.com: Ball is back in fire union's court after San Antonio drops 'evergreen' lawsuit The city sued in 2014 over the evergreen clause, claiming it was unconstitutional. The courts disagreed and handed losses to the city at both the district and appeals court levels. This summer, the Texas Supreme Court rejected a request to hear the case the ultimate defeat for the city. Mayor Ron Nirenberg said he hopes the union will start talks with the city. As mayor, I am extending my hand because we need to negotiate a deal. Theres an open seat at the table, he said. The taxpayers and firefighters deserve a fair deal to put this conflict behind us. Our door is still open and I am still ready to negotiate. Nirenberg has long been at odds with the San Antonio Professional Firefighters Association and observers say hes trying mightily not to pick a fight with Steele, hoping that hell work with the city on negotiating a new contract. Steele is the longest-serving fire union president in the country, according to Brockhouse, and has widespread support from his membership. But some firefighters are starting to question their union leader. A member of the San Antonio Fire Department, who asked to remain anonymous so he could speak without fear of retaliation, chastised the union boss for not fighting for members best interests. More and more firefighters are realizing that Chris Steele doesnt represent us, he said. Hes not working toward a contract. Hes not interested in advancing the needs and desires of the membership en masse. Pelaez said Steeles tenure is not an issue for the council, and that its up to the union membership to determine his fate. That said, it wouldnt be unfair for them to ask why nobody is at the table negotiating better salaries when council and the mayor are offering it, he said. If the core function of a union is to collectively bargain, why arent the negotiators showing up to do the job theyre paid to do? Jeff Coyle, the citys director of Government and Public Affairs, said the city has done what Steele demanded to get negotiations started. We are extremely disappointed they have not committed to moving forward, Coyle said. We remain ready to begin negotiations. Rolando Pablos never rests. Serving as Texas secretary of state and overseeing a high-turnout midterm election, while also raising four kids, apparently wasnt taxing enough for the former San Antonio business lawyer. So Pablos, 51, has spent the past four months taking night classes at the University of Texas Law School, seeking a Masters in law, with a concentration in Global Energy. This is the way its always been for Pablos: restlessly jumping from the world of international trade to state commissions to nonprofits, always with one eye on political office. Pabloss schedule, however, is about to become less hectic, at least in the short term. OnExpressNews.com: Texas Secretary of State Rolando Pablos Thursday afternoon, he announced his resignation as secretary of state after nearly two years on the job, citing the need to return to his private law practice. Gov. Greg Abbott, the man who appointed him to the position, lauded what he called Pabloss exceptional job upholding the integrity of our election system and fostering our cultural and economic ties with countries around the world. Pablos said that after Mondays official canvassing of the midterm elections, and with the states next legislative session only a month away, he considered it a good time to pass the baton to whomever is coming next. Although he has never run for elective office, Pablos has occupied an intriguing position on the Texas political scene over the past 15 years. As a Latino Republican who grew up on the border and has undeniable business bona fides, Pablos has been valuable to the GOP when it comes to Latino outreach. He assumed that role for Rick Perry during Perrys gubernatorial tenure, and developed a close personal bond with the former Texas governor. In 2010, with word circulating that then-state Sen. Jeff Wentworth might resign to take a job at Texas A&M University, Pabloss name emerged as a possible contender for Wentworths seat. He subsequently considered running for Congress in U.S. District 23, a sprawling district that stretches from the edge of his childhood home, El Paso, to the city where he has spent most of his adult years, San Antonio. OnExpressNews.com: Arevalo mulls City Council campaign Also, whenever theres talk of the San Antonio business community seeking a mayoral candidate who understands the entrepreneurial mindset, Pabloss name tends to come up. When I asked Pablos on Thursday whether he still thinks about running for office, he said, I always have thoughts about that. A San Antonio mayoral campaign wont happen anytime soon for him, however, at least partly because he and his family plan to stay in Austin for a while. The kids are in school, but Im going to leave it open and see how they feel, Pablos said. My hearts still in San Antonio. Pablos spent his early years in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, the child of two dentists who decided to move their family across the bridge to El Paso, so their kids could have access to U.S. schools. In 1985, he came to San Antonio to enroll at St. Marys University. He ultimately received a Bachelors in Biology from St. Marys, a Masters in Hospitality Management from the University of Houston and a law degree from St. Marys. While building his legal practice, he also took on leadership roles with the San Antonio Free Trade Alliance and the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. He took on the thankless task of rescuing the fiscally flailing Museo Alameda and navigated it to a partnership with Texas A&M University-San Antonio. He also accepted a series of appointments, including stints with the Texas Racing Commission, the Public Utility Commission, the Secretary of States office and as Honorary Consul to Spain. Ever since I started my career, Ive always made public service a priority, even in my private practice, Pablos said. When I was 8, my family moved to Texas, so Ive always felt indebted to Texas. In 2013, he left behind his home in Olmos Park and headed back to his old hometown, El Paso, to serve as the founding CEO of the Borderplex Alliance, an organization devoted to spurring economic development between West Texas, Southern New Mexico and Northern Mexico. He did that job for three years and left in August 2016 with the goal of starting a renewable energy company. Within four months, he got the secretary of state appointment from Abbott. Its kind of tiring even to contemplate all those career moves, all those demanding shifts from the private to the public sector. But for Pablos its just the natural state of being. Thats why hes taking those night law-school classes. He knows where he wants to be in five years and hes forever working to close any gaps between his present reality and the future he envisions for himself. I see the future in energy between Texas and Mexico and I jumped on it, he said of those night classes. My nights and weekends have been filled with studying and energy. If only this guy had a work ethic, he might go places. WASHINGTON As the new head of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Rep. Joaquin Castro said he intends to press for immigration legislation early in the new Congress while paying close attention to President Donald Trumps border policies. Castro, of San Antonio, also intends to be a main participant when the Intelligence Committee, under Democratic control starting next month, reopens an investigation into Russian meddling in U.S. elections with the aim of identifying Americans who may have played a role. Were going to go in there and figure out gaps in information, and from there we should have a much clearer understanding of what happened, who was involved and whether a foreign nation has leverage over the president of the United States or not, he said. For Castro, 44, elected last month to a fourth term, the new duties are part of an expanding profile in both lawmaking and Democratic politics. He is also an adviser likely the main adviser to his twin brother, Julian, who is contemplating a bid to seek the Democratic nomination for president in 2020. Julian Castro, a former San Antonio mayor and Obama administration housing secretary, is expected to announce his intentions soon. Related: Even Beto ORourkes political rivals are convinced he should run for president The Congressional Hispanic Caucus, which elected Castro as chair last week, gained clout after the robust participation of Latinos in many midterm elections. He succeeds outgoing Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham, the governor-elect of New Mexico. Latinos made up an increasing share of the U.S. electorate in the midterms and 7-of-10 voted for Democrats in congressional races, according to exit polls. About a quarter of Hispanics who cast ballots said they were voting for the first time. In Texas, Democrats comprised 30 percent of eligible voters. The Hispanic Caucus, which grew to 39 from 31 members after the midterms, has been quick to make demands, and Castro vows to be aggressive when he takes over in January. Were intent on playing a central role in the major policy issues that go through the House of Representatives, Castro said. They (Democratic leaders) understand that youve got a very energized community out there that is watching what the Congress does. Dreamer legislation a top priority From early indications, Democratic leaders are getting the message. In a letter last week, Castro and other caucus members urged Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who likely will be House Speaker in the new Congress to bring legislation to a vote within the first 100 days giving protection from deportation to young undocumented immigrants and people with Temporary Protected Status. One day later, Pelosi said the House would protect TPS holders and pass the Dream Act with a pathway to citizenship to hundreds of thousands of young immigrants left in limbo when Trump rescinded the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. She didnt say when. On Thursday, Pelosi declared further solidarity with the Hispanics in the simmering dispute over funding the border wall. She once more rejected Trumps demand for $5 billion in border wall funding, coolly dismissing the suggestion of packaging border wall funding in a deal that would protect Dreamers. Theyre two different subjects, she told reporters. But the wall-funding dispute remains unresolved. Pelosi and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, of New York, are scheduled to meet on Tuesday with Trump, who signed a two-week spending measure Friday that averted a partial government shutdown. For subscribers: Trump, GOP press lame-duck Congress for border wall funding Cutting the ICE budget Beyond wall funding Castro and Grisham were among members who signed a letter to Republican leaders pressing for a reduction in funding for Immigrant and Customs Enforcement agents and for fewer detention beds. ICE presently operates 44,000 detention beds, 4,000 more than Congress authorized. Signals from Trump that he may step up his hard-edged immigration plans as he prepares to seek re-election suggest that Castros new chairmanship may keep him busy. For instance, the Trump administration is considering overhauling policy by requiring asylum-seekers to remain in Mexico while their claims are handled in the United States. To succeed, Castro may need to strike a balance between pressing for legislation and criticizing Trump while at the same time satisfying members competing views. On one end of the caucuss political spectrum is Laredo Democrat Henry Cuellar, a moderate, and on the other, first-term Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, of New York, who is decidedly liberal. Castro said he has two main goals: First, pursue policies that create opportunity for all Americans, including the Latino community, and second, do everything we can to hold the White House accountable when they trample on Constitutional rights or pursue outlandish policies, he asserted. A number of attendees said their companies were considering restricting non-essential China travel. Security executives for companies including Walt Disney Co, Alphabet Incs Google, Facebook Inc, and PayPal Holdings Inc attended the meeting, according to the sources and a LinkedIn posting by one of the attendees. At a closed-door security meeting of US companies in Singapore on Thursday, one topic was high on the agenda: the arrest of a top executive at Chinese tech giant Huawei and the potential backlash on American firms operating in China. Officials from major US companies who attended the event, a scheduled meeting of the local chapter of the US Department of States Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC), voiced concerns about retaliation against American firms and their executives, two people with knowledge of the meeting said. A number of attendees said their companies were considering restricting non-essential China travel and looking to move meetings outside the country, one of the people added. Security executives for companies including Walt Disney Co, Alphabet Incs Google, Facebook Inc, and PayPal Holdings Inc attended the meeting, according to the sources and a LinkedIn posting by one of the attendees. The companies all declined to comment or did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The discussions at the meeting underscore concerns rippling through US businesses in the worlds second largest economy, already facing a delicate balancing act amid a tense trade standoff between Washington and Beijing. The formal agenda for the meeting, held at Googles Asia-Pacific headquarters in Singapore, included presentations on economic crime and terrorism in the region. OSAC promotes security cooperation between American private sector interests worldwide and the US Department of State, according to its website. But conversation soon turned to possible risks in China prompted by the arrest of Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer and heiress of Chinese telecom network equipment giant Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, who was detained in Canada on Dec. 1. The news of the arrest was made public on Wednesday. Meng, the daughter of Huaweis founder, was held at Washingtons request as part of a US investigation of an alleged scheme to use the global banking system to evade US sanctions against Iran, people familiar with the probe said. The arrest has roiled global markets amid fears that it could further inflame the Sino-US trade row. Risk consultants and analysts said that the arrest could prompt Beijing to retaliate in some form. This will pressure a lot of Chinese officials to look strong in this dispute, said Nick Marro, Hong Kong-based Asia analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit, who added that technology companies were particularly at risk. This could mean either taking a stronger stance on trade negotiations, or taking a stronger stance on US tech firms in China right now. Asked whether there would be any retaliation against any foreign executives in China, Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said on Friday China has always protected the lawful rights of foreigners in China in accordance with the law. Of course in China they should respect Chinas laws and rules. OSAC says it is made up of 34 private and public sector member organisations. It lists its events on its website, including the Dec. 6 meeting in Singapore. There was also a separate listed meeting held in Shanghai on the same day. Prashant Nayak, Disneys Asia Pacific director of corporate security, posted about the Singapore meeting on LinkedIn, tagging other executives at Google, Facebook, Amazon.com Inc, Marriot International Inc, Microsoft Corp and others. Nayak did not respond to a LinkedIn message seeking further comment. The second person with knowledge of the event said the Huawei arrest and potential fallout was a hot topic at the meeting. A senior diplomat from the US embassy in Singapore gave opening remarks, but an embassy spokesperson said she left before any discussion. Asia-based risk consultants said they had seen a rise in the number of clients asking about the Huawei issue and potential concerns related to the impact on US firms in China. Jakob Korslund, CEO of Singapore-based consultancy Deutsche Risk, said his firm had received a number of enquiries in the last two days asking about the risks of travelling to China. For a few we have advised postponing trips that were not time critical, telling clients to wait for the next few weeks to see the situation, he said. James McGregor, chairman of APCO Worldwides Greater China region, said companies would likely err on the side of not sending executives to China for the time being. Its all about avoiding risk, because what do you do if somebody is arrested? he told Reuters, adding anxiety was also spreading among executives already in China. People are joking about it a little bit and saying maybe I should take an early Christmas trip home. (Source) Texass top elections official, Secretary of State Rolando Pablos, told Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday that he is resigning to return to private law practice. Pablos has been in the position for two years. "With the midterm elections successfully behind us, and the 86th Legislative Session around the corner, I believe this would be a good time to begin the process of transitioning out of my position and passing the baton to the next secretary of state, Pablos said in a statement to the media. Serving Texans as secretary of state has been the opportunity of a lifetime, but I feel the need at this time to turn my attention to my private practice." In addition to overseeing elections, the secretary of state maintains business and commercial records for the state and is a senior adviser and liaison to the governor on Texas border issues and affairs with the Mexican government. Pablos, an attorney who practices business, administrative and international law, previously served as chair of the Texas Racing Commission and had been a Public Utility commissioner. The secretary of state is appointed by the governor but subject to confirmation through the Texas Senate. Pablos received a salary of nearly $133,000 a year. jeremy.wallace@chron.com President George H.W. Bush called on us to be a kinder, gentler nation. Sadly, we are far from that ideal. Our politics has never been that kind and gentle, to be sure, even in Bushs day. Still, it has been unseemly to watch how some on both the right and the left have pounced on Bushs passing as an opportunity to get in a dig at the current occupant of the Oval Office. Bush was not even buried yet, and already he was being used as a political cudgel. No one would be more appalled by this than Bush himself. During the 1992 campaign, he faced personal attacks that he no doubt considered unfair. Yet, on his last day as president, Bush left a note for the man who defeated him that read, You will be our President when you read this note. I wish you well. I wish your family well. Your success now is our countrys success. I am rooting hard for you. It is a sentiment that the 41st president would surely have applied not just to his immediate successor but also to all those who succeeded him as president. Today, many are praising Bush for this gesture, but too few seek to imitate it. This week of mourning should be a time to hit the pause button on the politics of contempt. It should be a time, instead, to celebrate George H.W. Bush and educate a new generation about the world they inherited from Americas last leader from the greatest generation. Like all presidents, Bush had his flaws. He made his share of mistakes. But he was also a consequential president whose single term in office profoundly shaped the world we inhabit today. We take the peaceful collapse of the Soviet Union for granted now, but it didnt have to end that way. The USSR was the most heavily armed empire in human history. Yet it fell without a shot fired. Its bloodless demise was no easy task. The same is true of the unification of Germany, the reality of a Europe whole, free and at peace, and a Pax Americana that has protected the advance of freedom in the post-Cold War world. Yes, Bush set an example of civility in office and we should celebrate that, too. But it is better for us to shine a light on his example than to use it as a tool in our current wars of incivility. Bush was not naive. In his day, he was accused of racism, lying about his role in Iran-Contra, coddling dictators in Beijing and warmongering in the Middle East. And long before there was the fiasco of the Brett Kavanaugh hearings, we had the fiasco of the Clarence Thomas hearings. Bush spent decades in the corridors of power from Capitol Hill to the United Nations, the Republican National Committee, the Central Intelligence Agency and finally the Oval Office so he knew Washington too well to expect us to be kind and gentle. What he asked of us was to strive to be kinder and gentler. We seem to have stopped even trying. Perhaps, for just a few days, we can be the America he wanted us to be. Perhaps we can spend just a few days without the partisan bickering, the personal insults, the nonstop outrage and resistance and celebrate the grace, generosity and gentleness of this good man. In his inaugural address, Bush declared, This is a day when our nation is made whole, when our differences, for a moment, are suspended. The same should be true of the week when we lay him to rest. With his passing, George H.W. Bush has given us an opportunity to put aside our contempt and come together as a nation. That is his parting gift to us. The best way we can honor him is by emulating him, if but for a few brief moments. May he rest in peace. @marcthiessen. Mexico has a huge reservoir of problems demanding President Andres Manuel Lopez Obradors immediate attention. He hit the high points during his inauguration speech Saturday with poverty, corruption, drug cartels (and their influence) and energy reform topping a long list. But there undoubtedly looms another external problem that could impinge on his many internal ones. He goes by the name Donald Trump. And the point we make here is that President Trump and the United States can be part of Mexicos solutions or act as instigator and provocateur. There is much about Mexicos internal problems that only it can fix. But the U.S. president can help Lopez Obrador substantively tackle these, or he can substantively distract him. The good news here is that the new Mexican president avers that his relationship with Trump is good so far and that he feels respected. But looming on the horizon are problems involving the U.S. that will demand a Lopez Obrador response. Given that his predecessor fell quickly from public favor because he suffered from the perception that he did not answer Trumps threats strongly enough, the temptation will be for Lopez Obrador to meet fire with fire to the detriment of both sides. But what if Trump didnt shoot salvos? On that list of problems, of course, are those about which Trump has already fired first shots the border wall and the caravans of Central Americans traversing Mexico en route to the U.S. border. Trump continues to insist on the wall, though it would be an affront to an ally whose people are migrating to the U.S. in fewer numbers now. And solutions would be more at the ready if the president would quit demonizing those in the caravan and beating up Mexico for not turning them away. Indeed, all immigrants, legal and undocumented Mexicans included seem to be in Trumps cross hairs. This is not the stuff that fruitful bilateral relations are built on. And though the new NAFTA now called the United States-Mexico-Canada-Agreement has been signed, Trump is still not relenting on tariffs on aluminum and steel imposed on Mexico and Canada. We suggest that Trump set the tone immediately with our southern neighbor by rescinding those tariffs. It would be a classy gesture. And congressional approval of the new agreement would also help relations. Thats iffier at the moment than it should be. Lopez Obrador or AMLO, as he is commonly known is a leftist who has indicated he will not be as free market-oriented as his predecessors. And this spells trouble if the result is less foreign investment including in the nations energy sector. But Trump and all Americans should be rooting for Lopez Obradors stated goals for relieving Mexicos endemic poverty estimated at 40 percent. If he makes headway here and grows the countrys middle class all the nations other problems will diminish. And the U.S. and its president need to realize that Mexicos drug cartels exist and are fattened mostly because of this countrys huge appetite for their products. Our war on drugs has been an abysmal failure. It has only worsened Mexicos human rights and security problems. Its long past time to try something new. And speaking of something new, Trump should stop using Mexico and Mexicans as pawns in his political posturing. Turning a new page on U.S.-Mexico relations is possible with this new president. Trump should seize the opportunity. If Mexico prospers, the U.S. does as well. Its been described as one of the best development opportunities Texas has seen in decades. Yet the 1,825 acres on which hopes for a planned mixed-used development surrounding Texas A&M University on San Antonios South Side have been pinned has remained relatively undisturbed for years. More than 5,700 residential units and about 3 million square feet of commercial and industrial space have been approved to be built on the land, but all thats there now are acres of trees, brush and cacti, along with roaming cows in the shadows of the college. The lack of activity led the city of San Antonio in August to declare owner Verano Land Group in default under a development agreement. The city said Verano has not kept to a construction timeline spelled out in the agreement. We are unhappy and disappointed that this hasnt followed the timeline, said Veronica Vero Soto, director of the citys Neighborhood and Housing Services Department. We know we need economic development in that area, and we know we need the housing in our city. For its part, Verano is trying to find a buyer for the property. The developer, which has owned the property for about 12 years, put the land up for sale in 2014 before deciding against selling. Its now flipped-flopped again and put it back on the market. We are talking to at least three or four different groups that have, in our judgment, the capability to provide the city with development down there, said Joe DeSimone, a Verano general partner, in Hendersonville, Nev. Were not master-plan developers in Texas, DeSimone said of the owners, who include some investors who made their fortunes in Nevadas gaming industry. We think theres probably better-qualified people who will add more value to the community. Verano is hoping to line up a buyer in the first quarter of next year. An asking price for the land has not yet been determined, DeSimone said. The delays are raising long-term concerns for college officials, who have been anxiously awaiting housing and shops to help attract more students. The school has about 6,700 students. Since the university was built, theres always been the promise that there would be a community built around it, said Bill Spindle, the colleges vice president of business affairs and CFO. That was kind of the whole point, that we were an anchor of a bigger community. Veranos 2,500 acres Verano assembled roughly 2,500 acres between South Loop 410 and Toyotas truck plan for a reported $65 million in 2006. The developer donated 700 acres for the A&M campus, which opened in 2011. Verano planned to capitalize on the fledgling campus to build houses, apartments, restaurants, shops, office buildings and industrial space all in a part of the city that has long been largely ignored by developers. The city created a Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ) to jump-start the project. The Verano TIRZ would make up to $250 million in property tax revenue the cream of increasing property values available to the developer for public improvements to the site, like streets, sidewalks, lighting and drainage. A messy web of litigation in San Antonio and Las Vegas, however, became a distraction for Verano. In a suit filed in 2012 in Nevada, Verano alleged three of its former managing partners created VTLM Texas to become the projects developer without Veranos knowledge or consent. The suit said VTLM and not Verano stood to receive the $250 million in public money for the reimbursement of development costs because VTLM controlled the TIRZ. Verano also accused its law firm, then known as Fulbright & Jaworski, and one-time partner Jane Macon of conspiring to put their interests ahead of Verano and its investors. The law firm filed its own suit seeking more than $500,000 in legal fees from Verano. Things became even more complicated when VTLM sought bankruptcy protection in 2013. The following year, a bankruptcy judge approved a settlement that essentially allowed Verano to shop the property without it being tangled in litigation. VTLM later transferred control of the TIRZ to Verano. Verano hired the national real-estate brokerage Jones Lang LaSalle to market the property. The brokerage called the property one of the best development opportunities in the state and ripe for the picking in a press release. Perhaps, but no buyer emerged. We didnt receive offers that were acceptable to us, Veranos DeSimone said. Councilman Rey Saldana wonders whether Veranos owners may have been holding out for even higher offers. A swath of the project falls in his Southwest Side district. It seems like when you have out-of-town ownership, (the) interest is in a spreadsheet with a number going up as high as possible, rather than (in) economic development or the investment of residential communities, Saldana said. Verano scales back Renewed optimism surfaced at the start of 2016 when Verano was designated as the developer of record by the City Council. Verano, meanwhile, opted to take a more conservative and realistic approach with the project to reflect changed market conditions and development assumptions. It scaled back the development from 6,938 residential units to 5,711. Commercial and industrial space was cut in half from 6 million square feet to 3 million square feet. Verano announced it had lined up two home builders, David Weekley Homes and Scott Felder Homes, to build 100 single-family homes. The homes were never built, however. Gary Runner, David Weekley Homes San Antonio division president, said in an emailed statement that the company had a contract to purchase lots but Verano never prepared the lots for construction. Under the agreement between Verano and the city, 70 single-family homes were supposed to have been built in both 2016 and 2017. Construction requirements stepped up this year, with the schedule calling for 100 single-family homes, 200 multifamily homes, 25 condos/townhomes, 75,000 square feet of offices and 20,000 square feet of shops. Again, none of it has been built. Default letter In an Aug. 30 letter to DeSimone, Soto, the citys director of Neighborhood and Housing Services, wrote Verano to say it was in default of the terms of the development agreement for it not keeping to the construction schedule. The lack of progress on the development is concerning to the City considering the likelihood that a substantial delay will negatively impact the project and all involved, Soto said in the letter. Six days later, DeSimone wrote back to say Verano was focused on finding a buyer for the property. The letters were obtained through an open-records request filed with the city. Property records show Verano gave SALandpartners, a Delaware company, an option to buy the 1,800 acres last December. SALandpartners simultaneously provided Verano a $13 million mortgage loan. According to DeSimones letter, the buyer canceled the deal in May and advised the city it was intending to foreclose on the property. While it may have been (SALandpartners) intention to secure title, Verano retired the debt and we continue to own the property, DeSimone said in the letter. In hindsight, we do not believe this particular buyer acted in good faith and we are moving forward. Verano repaid the loan in early August, property records show. SALandpartners Christopher Kallivokas, of Coral Gables, Fla., said in an email that it had an option to purchase the property at a certain price. We elected not to purchase the property at that price and (Verano) paid us back, on time and in full. In an interview, Soto said the city has been pressuring Verano to get back on track with the project. Soto said the pressure has included discussing the possibility of dissolving the TIRZ. Soto, though, acknowledged dissolving the TIRZ would make it harder for Verano to find a buyer. Were hesitant to take that move forward, she said. Were trying to move it forward by keeping it in place. Dissolving the TIRZ has consequences. A consequence could be that nothing happens (with the land) for a longer term of time. Tim Bartlett, Veranos former president, said terminating the TIRZ would would be a mistake. It is critically important that the city keep the TIRZ in place because that is key and critical to the success of the development in order to get the reimbursement for infrastructure costs, Bartlett said. Bartlett has a stake in seeing that the TIRZ remains in place. Last year, he bought from Verano about 20 acres to build 40 townhomes and 80 single-family homes designed for student rentals. He has no timeline for when construction will start, but it could be as early as next spring. The benefits of the TIRZ would extend to his project as well. I would need the reimbursement for the roads, sewer and water, and all the utilities in order to be able to make any money at all, Bartlett. I really have to have it. Late last month, Verano announced it had resolved the litigation with its former law firm and attorney, resulting in Verano obtaining a significant settlement. DeSimone declined to reveal the settlement amount. The law firm, now known as Norton Rose Fulbright, and attorney Jane Macon, now a partner at Bracewell, did not respond to requests for comment. Verano now has a lot more flexibility financially to make sure we find the proper master-plan developer as a result of the settlement, DeSimone said. For many, construction activity on the Verano land cant happen soon enough. I think this soap opera will go on longer than Days of Our Lives, said Saldana, the city councilman. The rest of us are just left wondering when we can expect to see that development to help balance the growth of the city to the south. Patrick Danner is a San Antonio-based staff writer covering banking and civil courts. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | pdanner@express-news.net | Twitter: @AlamoPD Developers have their sights on a spring debut for a 165,000-square-foot senior and assisted living community that is taking form in Shelton. For the past year, Maryland-based Brightview Senior Living Facility has been building its second Connecticut facility on Beard Sawmill Road, which will add 161 units of senior housing to the city by mid-June. The four-story complex, which is visible from Route 8, is joining Brightviews Norwalk community and several other developments meeting the rising demand for housing for the areas aging population. Everybody is projecting that the senior population is growing exponentially, there is a lot of building in the exact area, said Terry Jackson, executive director of the Brightview Shelton. Our target markets and our demographics of depositors and interest is definitely geographically becoming a smaller circle, but there are more and more people. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 575,000 Connecticut residents were age 65 and older in 2016, making up roughly 16 percent of the population. Thats a three percentage point increase from 2000, when about 13 percent of people in the state were 65 and older. Brightview operates 36 facilities in the Northeast from Virginia to Massachusetts. The privately owned company opened its first Connecticut facility in Norwalk in 2016. The addition of Brightviews new Shelton facility aligns with a growing number of senior and assisted living companies making their way to Fairfield County. Connecticut-based Maplewood Senior Living is also expected to debut its new 93,000-square-foot facility in Fairfield in the spring, making seven locations statewide. The company has locations in Bethel, Darien, East Norwalk, Newtown and Orange while also expanding into Massachusetts, New York and Ohio. Like Brightview, the state also attracted developers from beyond state lines like Benchmark Senior Living of Massachusetts, which just added 88 units of housing in Fairfield this fall. Leasing of Brightview Sheltons units has been ongoing since June and the new facility has already received more than 290 applications, Jackson said. Roughly 90 percent of the applications, according to Jackson, have been from seniors looking for independent housing. That market segment has clearly raised their hand, Jackson said. That independent living marketplace is definitely feeling like theyve been ignored. The facility will have 87 independent living units, 48 assisted living units and 26 memory care apartments for people with dementia such as Alzheimers disease. The building will be three to four stories, have both one- and two-bedroom units, outdoor courtyards, 125 parking spaces and one driveway on Beard Sawmill Road. The buildings farmhouse-type architectural design is intended to reflect the location, formerly part of the neighboring farm. The community also features a dining room, pub and cafe, as well as other leisure and recreation amenities. There is a huge commitment to having our residents lead as vibrant lives as possible and getting them out to activities on the independent living side, Jackson said. Jordan.grice@hearstmediact.com BRIDGEPORT A Black Rock resident unhappy about duck hunting on the waters off the city shoreline would like to see it come to an end, even though its legal. With the amount of gunfire that occurs in Bridgeport already, sometimes its hard to discern between the slaughtering of ducks or ... the slaughtering of people, said Orion Daley, who has lived on Harbor Avenue since 2015. Daley said hes worried about the hunting in Brewster Cove, which is in Burr Creek. He said hearing gunshots ring out, specifically during early morning hours, is unnerving. At night, hundreds of ducks gather in Burr Creek, just outside our bedroom window, Daley said. My wife ... felt intimidated seeing a rifleman on the pier across from our backyard. He said usually theyll hear gunfire, including sometimes rapid fire, between 6 a.m. and before 7 a.m. Sometimes theyll hear it at night, too. Its not a matter of a safety violation, Daley said. Instead, for me, its about the quality of life in Bridgeport and why hunting from boats would be permitted in the first place in a densely populated area. Min Huang, of the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Wildlife Division, said its not unusual that people hearing gunfire, even if its from a hunters rifle, feel as if their safety is at risk. More Information A full list of regulations on waterfowl hunting can be found at https://bit.ly/2AZnkX0. See More Collapse There are a lot of people on the coast who dont appreciate hearing gunfire early in the morning. Huang said. But the hunters, as long as theyre legal, do have every right and privilege to be exercising the recreational activity. He said despite that, not many people file complaints with his office related to waterfowl hunting. On average, there are usually fewer than 10 formal complaints filed about waterfowl hunting per year. Daley said he first started noticing the duck hunting in Brewster Cove last year. But Huang said hunting on the coast happens all the time and has been going on for more than 100 years. Its very highly regulated, Huang said, adding that waterfowl hunting is allowed if the hunter is at least 250 feet away from an occupied dwelling. You must be shooting in a safe direction shooting seaward, not toward buildings or people. Huang said development along the Connecticut coastline in the last 35 to 40 years is probably one reason people like Daley, who have moved to the area fairly recently, are now alerted to local wildfowl hunting. The shoreline now is so much more developed, Huang said. Its more and more difficult to find spots that are safe and legal (for waterfowl hunting). This is also likely a factor in the decline of registered waterfowl hunters, Huang said. In the late 90s, Huang said, there were more than 15,000 registered waterfowl hunters across the state. Today, he said, that number varies between 4,000 and 6,000 hunters on a yearly basis. He said most hunters registered in Connecticut are very safety conscious and follow regulations. Waterfowl hunting seasons are different depending where in the state hunters are shooting north zone refers to any area north of Interstate 95 and south zone is for any part of the state south of the highway. Brewster Cove and Burr Creek fall under the south zone. Ducks, mergansers and coots are hunted in the south zone from Oct. 13 through Oct. 17 and from Nov. 16 to Jan. 19. Sea ducks are hunted from Nov. 12 to Jan. 19. Canada geese are hunted from Sept. 15 through Sept. 29, from Oct. 6 to Oct. 13, from Nov. 10 to Dec. 1 and Dec. 15 through Feb. 15. Shooting hours are anytime between a half hour before sunrise through sunset. The only change is during the September goose season, when shooting hours end half an hour after sunset. Though some might not morally agree with hunting, Huang said, the money hunters spend on licenses goes toward wildlife conservation efforts in Connecticut, something that Huang said needs some serious attention. And, he said, taxes paid on various hunting supplies, including sporting firearms and ammunition, go toward providing revenue for state fish and wildlife departments. But Daley said he wants to see stronger regulations in place for those who hunt or use weapons, including an annual luxury tax and maybe some changes to laws. I am looking to change some laws in general for the city of Bridgeport and for the state of Connecticut, which could possibly also help sustain the innocent lives, like the people of Bridgeport, also the wildlife that we still have here, Daley said. For me, its common sense. WASHINGTON After nearly six years of disappointment following the Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting, Connecticut Democrats in Congress say there is a momentum shift on guns growing out of the 2018 election, and that new laws may pass not only the newly Democratic-controlled House, but the GOP Senate as well. And when they get to Donald Trumps desk, the NRA-backed president might actually sign them, said Sen. Richard Blumenthal. The kindest thing that can be said about Trump is he has no real convictions on this topic, said Blumenthal on Thursday. If enough Republicans join us, hell find a way to sign. Senate Republicans, who almost uniformly have opposed new gun proposals, may now reverse course, he said. I think this latest election has sent a clear message to my Republican colleagues: They cannot simply adhere to the NRA (National Rifle Association) line, Blumenthal said. Speaking at a meeting in Washington sponsored by Newtown Action Alliance, Blumenthal plus Connecticuts Sen. Chris Murphy and Rep. Elizabeth Esty, all acknowledged that their new optimism is a marked contrast to the recent past, when Republicans dominated Capitol Hill. Since the Newtown shooting on Dec. 14, 2012, took the lives of 20 children and six adult staff members, congressional Republicans and some red-state Democrats have effectively blocked the path on measures such as expanded background checks and barring terrorism suspects on the no-fly list from purchasing guns. But those days are over, members of the Connecticut delegation confidently predicted to a crowd of gun-issue activists, many wearing Newtown Action Alliances signature green shirt. The American people voted and they voted strongly for gun sense, said Esty, who did not seek re-election and will not be in office when the new Democratic-controlled 116th Congress is sworn in on Jan. 3. Murphy noted that Democrats supporting new gun laws won House seats not only in the Northeast and the West Coast, but in unlikely places such as Texas, Florida and Georgia. He pointed to Lucy McBath, who won in a suburban Atlanta district once occupied by conservative stalwarts Newt Gingrich and Tom Price. McBath lost her son in 2012 when a gunman shot him and friends as they sat in a gas station over the supposedly loud music they were playing. The case became a test of stand your ground laws in Georgia and other mainly Southern and Western states. This is a winning issue everywhere, said Murphy. What we know is we are winning more and more and more. The high spirits on the gun-control side are in marked contrast to the blues on the gun-rights side. The NRA is going through an uncustomary decline in income and membership. The nations premier gun-rights group even went so far as to take away free coffee from employees at their suburban Washington headquarters. Gun sales, particularly of rifles and shot guns, have plummeted since Trump replaced President Barack Obama. Analysts attributed the drop to easing of tensions over Obama efforts to expand background checks and enact other gun-safety measures. The Thursday morning gathering followed the sixth annual vigil at a church Wednesday night here, just a few blocks from the U.S. Capitol. The events have become something of a ritual in the six years since the Newtown shooting. Family members of gun-violence victims and also a few survivors of gun-shot wounds hold up pictures of lost loved ones, briefly tell their stories, and promise to honor with action. If Congress does indeed pass new gun laws, I would like to say next year, we honored with action, Blumenthal said. He promised to reintroduce a measure that would create a red flag process by which federal judges could issue orders to seize guns temporarily if evidence is presented that gun owners are a danger to themselves or others. The bill is modeled on Connecticuts 19-year-old risk warrant statute, passed by the legislature after a disgruntled accountant, Matthew Beck, killed four co-workers with the Connecticut Lottery Corporation in Newington before shooting himself in the head. dan@hearstdc.com STAMFORD - At certain times in city history, Veterans Park has been about veterans. In the 1940s, when nearly every family was tied to the battlefields of World War II, the park at Atlantic and Bank streets had a triangular service wall made of wood. Every time someone from Stamford went into the service, their name was hand-painted on a wooden slat and put on the wall, said Tony Pavia, author of An American Town Goes to War, a book about city residents who served in that war. If someone was killed, a gold star was put beside their name. The park became a venerated place. When the wall was dedicated in 1943, halfway through the war, there were 5,000 names on it, Pavia said. By the end of the war, the number had doubled, and 233 were marked with stars. But the monument could not withstand the elements, or urban renewal, and in the 1960s it was torn down. After a time, the park languished. Then, in 1977, the city invested $500,000 in the park to make it about veterans again. Four granite monoliths went up, each engraved with the names of all known Stamford residents who died in the nations wars. Eventually a bronze depicting a World War I doughboy was added, along with a sculpture of a seated Abraham Lincoln, who said those who gave their lives that (the) nation might live should always be honored. A statue of Homer Lee Wise, Stamfords Medal of Honor winner from World War II, was installed. But when Patricia Parry visited in the winter of 2011, shortly after her son, Navy SEAL Brian Bill, was killed in Afghanistan, the park was unkempt. It was a depressing place, Parry said. It was in a sad state, said Patrick Sasser, her sons lifelong friend. It was in total disrepair, said Sandy Goldstein, president of the Downtown Special Services District. It exhibited, truthfully, a feeling of disrespect. Parry and Sasser wanted a fitting place to honor the memory of Bill and all veterans of the global war on terror. They began to work with the DSSD and Rick Redniss, head of a Stamford land-use consulting firm, Redniss & Mead, and a longtime community advocate. Now, six years later, the park is in the middle of a renovation that will create a plaza surrounded by an amphitheater, with pathways lined in trees, lampposts and benches that lead to the monoliths, which have been repositioned on a hill. When it opens next November, the park will be a place for quiet reflection and public events, according to the Veterans Park Partnership, led by Redniss. And, as happened during World War II, Stamford residents will have a chance to make it their own. The partnership is selling the red pavers that will form the plaza, which will be set with five stars representing the branches of the military, to raise money to maintain the park and organize events there. Residents may have the pavers engraved with the name of a veteran or a tribute to a loved one. The partnership already has raised about $6 million for the renovation from city and state grants and corporate contributions. Now the group is raising revenue from the sale of pavers as well as donor plaques on flagpoles, benches, trees and lampposts. In the past the park lacked maintenance and supervision. It was unfortunate, but that is why weve taken our time to build a coalition and secure adequate funding to do things toward the long term, Redniss said. This week the Internal Revenue Service recognized the partnership as a 501c3 nonprofit, he said. According to the groups website, donors to date have purchased five flagpoles that will fly the banners of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard, at $15,000 apiece. An elm tree will be planted beside each flagpole. So far someone has purchased a tree for the Marines, also $15,000. Donors have purchased three of the benches, at $2,500 apiece, and plaques for nearly three dozen lampposts are available at $1,000 each. People are most interested in the pavers, said Michael Molgano, manager of sales for the group. At this point, there is room for about 250 8-inch-square concrete pavers at $200 apiece, and about 300 12-inch-square pavers at $500. Pavers made of granite - 12 inches by 18 inches, and the larger 18 inches by 30 inches - are $1,500 and $2,500. They can be ordered at www.vprstamford.org. Anyone who would like their paver to be installed before the park is dedicated on Veterans Day next year has to get their order in by Dec. 21, Molgano said. You can still order after that, but they wont be engraved until after the dedication. The DSSD is getting calls from people seeking to honor their veteran fathers, Goldstein said. Im getting goosebumps from all the people saying, I want a paver for my father, she said. Its such a beautiful thing. But a paver can commemorate anything important to you, Goldstein said. I got one that says how much I love Stamford, she said. Sasser said he will order one for his father, Duffy Sasser II, who served in Vietnam. So many people in Stamford dont even know we have a Veterans Park, because its been tucked away and neglected, Sasser said. Its amazing how far its come. Parry said such places are meaningful to Gold Star parents. Theres a saying that a man dies twice once when he stops breathing, and again when his name is spoken for the last time, Parry said. Everyone who gave of themselves, gave to their country, should be remembered. acarella@stamfordadvocate.com; 203-964-2296. FAIRFIELD Prisila Barroso, 17, first noticed her father working on cars from a young age. My father spent a lot of time with cars but he did other things as well, the Bridgeport native said. I have two sisters and as the middle one I felt that it would be good for my family and my father if he didnt feel alone with all these things, so I became interested in cars. But now, its Barroso whos teaching her father a thing or two about how cars work as she recently graduated from the arduous Jaguar Land Rover Academy in Mahwah, N.J., a program one has to be nominated for. That comes with the added distinction of being the first woman to graduate from the program and also the first to be a technician at Fairfield Jaguar Land Rover. Im used to it. Obviously theres not many women and as the first to graduate it feels pretty awesome, Barroso said when asked about what its like to be a male-dominated field. Graduating from this program is not an everyday thing, its life-changing. Ted Orazietti, who has been in the automotive business for 26 years with two of those at Fairfield Jaguar Land Rover, said that he had known Barroso since her high-school days at Bullard-Havens Technical High School in Bridgeport, where she studied automotive shop. We interviewed her at school. She has a great personality during interviews we watched them work, see what questions they make and I thought she would be a great fit, Orazietti said. Orazietti highlighted the intensity of the program. (Barroso) successfully completed over 50 courses with online tests, hands-on classroom and vehicle training. She also had to complete competency assessments in front of a team of instructors in System Driven Diagnostics, Principles of Electrics, Air Conditioning ... no small feat. During her experience at the nearly seven-month long apprenticeship that is split up into three phases, Barroso, like many times throughout her automotive learning, realized she was the only woman in the course. I felt like I was the first one, they were all surprised in the classroom and thats true, theres not that many women in the workspace, Barroso said. Ryan Ambrifi, owner of Jaguar Land Rover Fairfield, emphasized Barrosos work ethic and cheerful personality. She is a bright spot in the shop and has a phenomenal attitude, Ambrifi said. She has the respect of all the guys in the shop and what she did is a big accomplishment. Barroso is still constantly learning about cars as new updates and technology is advanced. You learn something every day. We all teach each other and Im still learning, Barroso said. The guys are like family. humberto.juarez@ hearstmediact.com Huawei is the worlds largest supplier of telecommunications network equipment. The arrest in Canada of Meng Wanzhou, a top executive at Chinas Huawei Technologies Co Ltd and daughter of the founder and CEO, jolted the global business community on Thursday and raised fears that a truce in the US-China trade war could come to a swift end. Mengs arrest came at the behest of US authorities and is connected to an investigation into alleged violations of US trade sanctions, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters. Chinas foreign ministry said neither the United States nor Canada have explained reasons for the arrest. What is Huawei? Huawei is the worlds largest supplier of telecommunications network equipment and second-biggest maker of smartphones, with revenue of about $92 billion last year. Unlike other big Chinese technology firms, it does much of its business overseas and is a market leader in many countries across Europe, Asia and Africa. The company was founded in 1987 by former military officer Ren Zhengfei. It remains privately held and describes itself as employee-owned, though its ownership structure is unknown. It is based in the southern Chinese tech hub of Shenzhen and employs about 180,000 people. How did the company become so successful? Huawei was a pioneering supplier of telecom gear at a time when China was spending heavily to upgrade its networks, importing much of its equipment. Huawei began competing internationally in the 1990s and was known for drastically undercutting rivals on price. Competitors branded Huawei a cut-rate vendor of copycat equipment, and companies including Cisco Systems and Motorola filed lawsuits over alleged trade secret theft. But Huawei spent heavily on research and development and is now regarded as a global leader in key telecom network technologies and high-end smartphones. In contrast, its major Western rivals, Nokia and Ericsson, have struggled financially in recent years. Huawei today continues to expand into new areas including chip development, artificial intelligence and cloud computing. Why have some governments banned Huawei equipment? US intelligence agencies allege that Huawei is linked to Chinas government and that its equipment could contain backdoors for use by government spies. No evidence has been produced publicly and the firm has repeatedly denied the claims. But suspicions persist. Concern now centers on the deployment of fifth-generation (5G) mobile networks, where Huawei is at the cutting edge. A new law in China requiring any domestic firm to assist the government when asked has also stoked concern. The US government has taken a series of steps to block the firm from US markets, including banning government purchases of Huawei gear and denying government help to any carrier that uses Huawei equipment. Top carriers Verizon Communications and AT&T pulled out of deals to distribute Huawei smartphones earlier this year. Most countries, even close US allies such as Canada, Britain and Germany, have not made any moves against Huawei, arguing they have sufficient procedures to test equipment for security. But Australia and New Zealand recently banned Huawei from building 5G networks, and there are indications that other countries including Germany are revisiting the issue. Is the arrest of Meng Wanzhou related to these security concerns? US authorities have not disclosed circumstances surrounding Meng's arrest, but a person familiar with the matter told Reuters the arrest relates to violations of US trade sanctions. Reuters published an investigation almost six years ago about her and Huawei's ties to a company call Skycom that tried to sell Hewlett-Packard computer equipment to an Iranian mobile-phone operator, in contravention of those sanctions. Wasnt another Chinese company also accused of Iran sanctions violations? Huaweis smaller rival ZTE Corp pleaded guilty last year to conspiring to evade embargoes by selling US equipment to Iran. Earlier this year, the US Commerce Department said ZTE violated the settlement and barred it from buying any US components - a move that all but halted many ZTE operations. A new settlement was reached and the ban lifted at the behest of US President Donald Trump, a perceived concession to Chinese President Xi Jinping that surprised and angered others in the US government. Are these issues related to the US-China trade war? The sanctions investigations long preceded the trade war. But the timing of the arrest tangles the issues as it came just as Presidents Trump and Xi reached a temporary trade war truce. Financial markets turned negative on news of the arrest on fears it could scupper the truce. However, there is no evidence of it being a deliberate provocation by the US rather than just an awkward coincidence. What might happen to Huawei now? A ban on US component purchases, such as the one temporarily imposed on ZTE, would be devastating, but there is no immediate reason to suggest that will happen. If the case prompts major European countries in particular to turn against the firm, that would have a long-term impact on its growth and influence. Still, Huaweis status as a kingpin of Chinas high-tech industry, at a time when the country is racing to catch up with the US in difficult areas such as chip development, means it will almost certainly remain a powerful force for years to come. FAIRFIELD - The Fairfield Health Department will be participating in a statewide effort urging all individuals to get a flu shot, according to a news release. The flu vaccine is recommended for everyone over the age of 6 months. The flu clinic will take place on Dec. 8 from 9 a.m. to noon, while supplies last, at the Public Health Nursing Office at 100 Mona Terrace. The flu vaccine will be available in injection form for people 3 years and older. High-dose injectable vaccines will also be available for those ages 65 and over. Medicare Part B, Connecticare, Aetna, Cigna, Anthem, and United HealthCare are all accepted and there is no copay. If you do not have health insurance or your health insurance is not accepted, you will not be turned away and there will be no cost. For a quicker visit, patients can print out the vaccine consent form at fairfieldct.org/health and bring it completed. Patients should also have their insurance card with them and wear clothes that make it easy to expose the upper arm. For questions about the flu vaccine, call a primary care physician. For questions about the clinic, contact the Public Health Nursing Office at 203-256-3150. Operation Fuel accepting energy assistance applications Operation Fuels winter energy assistance program began Dec. 3, with its statewide network of over 100 fuel banks, also known as intake sites, started accepting energy assistance applications. Connecticut families and individuals who are struggling financially and need emergency energy assistance should call 211 to find their closest fuel bank, according to a news release. According to a recent United Way report, more than 500,000 Connecticut households cannot afford the cost of basic needs; and as home living expenses continue to rise, Operation Fuel expects to see an increased need for energy assistance this winter. Operation Fuel provides year-round emergency energy assistance throughout Connecticut to lower-income working families and individuals, the elderly, and disabled individuals who are in a financial crisis. For information on Operation Fuel, or to make a donation, go to www.operationfuel.org. Donations also can be mailed to Operation Fuel, 75 Charter Oak Avenue, Suite 2-240, Hartford, CT 06106. FAIRFIELD Mike Bertanza and Eric Felitto met in third grade at Stratfield Elementary School when the former sent a ball over the schools roof during a kickball game. Years later, theyre on a different type of team. The two 33-year-olds have opened their third Tasty Yolk food cart on 1916 Post Road their first in their hometown of Fairfield. This location has been great. Weve seen a lot of repeat business from the Fairfield Avenue business and theres also a lot of families in the beach area. Were closer and more convenient for them and word is also getting around, Bertanza said. The food cart hummed and churned steadily on a recent afternoon, the aroma of cheddar, pepper jack and swiss cheese wafting out into the street. A rack of white eggs laid in wait in one corner of the cart. Its location at 1916 Post Road sits right in front of a market that closed some time ago. Though Bertanza and Felitto said the commuting crowd is a hard group to get given their fast and timed routine, people with later commute times and neighbors are passing by the food cart more often. The other two locations at 4700 Park Ave. and 2889 Fairfield Ave. are in Bridgeport. The duos business venture started back in October 2015, though their first trailer didnt launch until May 5, 2016. Bertanza was a local banker and Felitto a chef at The Chelsea, where he still cooks. We had no idea how it would work, Felitto said. Ive been talking about a food truck since I was going to school but (Bertanza) and I got it rolling when we started working together. There were days at the beginning of their business venture, both Bertanza and Felitto admitted, when traffic was slow and they werent sure the food would be popular. Their full-time gigs at the time, however, were a comfortable cushion for them to fall back on. It grew gradually, Felitto said, especially after Tasty Yolk was voted the best food truck in the state by Connecticut Magazine Readers Choice in 2017, and also ranked No. 51 out of the 100 top food trucks in the country by MSN.com. We knew if we made a good sandwich, we would make it. I knew we had to get high-quality ingredients as that would make us different. Bertanza agreed. We were fortunate to have full-time jobs. We had the time to wait it out. If we had just quit our day jobs and invested all of our money on the business, we would have been freaking out, Bertanza said. The Tasty Yolk menu includes items like the Tasty; The Banker, a steak and two-egg sandwich with spicy aioli and swiss cheese; and The Slenderizer, a spinach tortilla wrapped around sauteed spinach, mushrooms, two eggs and swiss cheese. Tasty Yolk gets its bread from Arthur Avenue in the Bronx and their chorizo from Custom Meats, a butchery across the street from their Fairfield food cart. Now with three food carts, there are plans to expand the business. Fairfield is a good market because it can also lead to an expansion of our private event and catering business, Bertanza said. Fairfield is a great food town, there really is so much food around here. This is full time and Im full-steam ahead on this. Were always looking for a fourth location and we want to keep expanding down the coastline. humberto.juarez@hearstmediact.com iShares MSCI South Korea ETF's stock was trading at $52.04 on March 11th, 2020 when COVID-19 reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization. Since then, EWY stock has increased by 45.6% and is now trading at $75.76. View which stocks have been most impacted by COVID-19. iShares MSCI Netherlands ETF's stock was trading at $27.57 on March 11th, 2020 when Coronavirus (COVID-19) reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization. Since then, EWN shares have increased by 79.2% and is now trading at $49.40. View which stocks have been most impacted by COVID-19. 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 The basin is home to half the Egyptian population and the river supplies around 90% of its water needs. Increasing temperatures and drought are drying up the stream. A problem sharpened by sea rise and salinization. Eco-compatible technologies such as solar energy irrigation are being studied. Cairo (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Climate change and rising temperatures endanger the delicate ecosystem of the Nile delta, in the north of Egypt, one of the most fertile areas and of vital importance for the whole country with the its green and lush fields. The arch-shaped basin is home to about half of the total population and the river that feeds it provides about 90% of the national water needs. Local experts, environmentalists and farmers warn that rising temperatures and droughts are drying up the Nile; a problem sharpened by the rise in sea levels and the progressive salinization of the soil. Together, these factors risk jeopardizing the cultures of the most populous country in the Arab world, above all the access to food for an estimated 98 million. The Nile is shrinking. The water doesn't reach us anymore," says Talaat al-Sisi, a farmer who has grown wheat, corn and other crops for 30 years in the southern Delta governorate of Menoufia. "We've been forced to tap into the groundwater and we've stopped growing rice," a cereal known for its greedy water consumption, he adds. According to a study, by 2050 the region could lose up to 15% of its agricultural land due to salinization. The decline in tomato crops could reach 50%, with basic grains such as wheat and rice falling by 18% and 11% respectively. In Kafr al-Dawar, in the north of the delta, the Egyptian Ministry of Irrigation and the United Nations are working on eco-friendly techniques such as solar-powered irrigation; according to the experts it allows to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases and could help to improve the crops. Ibrahim Mahmoud, head of the development projects of the dicastery, announces plans for the development and modernization of the water distribution system throughout the country by 2050. iShares MSCI Austria ETF's stock was trading at $15.26 on March 11th, 2020 when COVID-19 reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Since then, EWO shares have increased by 58.5% and is now trading at $24.18. View which stocks have been most impacted by COVID-19. Nippon Paint Holdings Co., Ltd. engages in the management and strategies of its group companies that is involved in the manufacture and sale of paints and fine chemicals. It offers automotive and industrial-use coatings and trade-use paints. It also provides surface treatments and fine chemical products. It operates through the following geographical segments: Japan, Asia, Americas, and Other. The company was founded by Jujiro Moteki on March 14, 1881 and is headquartered in Osaka, Japan. Read More by Blaine Blontz | Steelers Correspondent | Thu, Dec 6th 4:29pm EST Eric Ebron missed Thursday's practice due to his illness. He's also listed with a back injury. Fantasy Impact: Ebron was apparently pretty sick, and it seemed like he was sent home early to recover. Given it's an illness and still pretty early in the week, Ebron still has a chance to recover in time to play against the Texans. If he does, he'll continue to be a solid TE1 to target. He's begun to deliver a nice floor and ceiling without Jack Doyle. Vacant storefronts and barely-surviving businesses dominated downtown Chillicothe when I moved to Ohio in 2011. Today downtown is home to thirty thriving businesses, offering everything from retail items to food, personal and professional services. The revival of the downtown area and the continued success of its tenants depends on residents support and contribution to the local economy. Shop local, Give local Every dollar you spend in the local economy has a threefold multiplier effect: direct, indirect and induced, according to the American Independent Business Alliance. A direct impact occurs when businesses spend revenue to operate the business itself; purchasing inventory from local vendors, paying utilities, rent, and wages to employees. Indirect impact is the result of recirculating dollars in the local economy. The induced impact is additional consumer spending that happens when employees, business owners and others spend earned income locally. Supporting local businesses has non-economic benefits too. It cultivates hometown character and creates cohesion among community members. Its great to see decorated storefronts downtown instead of boarded-up windows, a longtime resident of Chillicothe said, The new downtown Chillicothe is something the entire community is proud of. Giving local gifts communicates your hometown pride. Givers can share the story behind the gift and what makes it special. For example, give a fruit basket from a local farm and share how your family looks forward to visiting the farms pick-your-own each fall. Give a personal recommendation with a gift card to an independent coffee shop, The jumbo cinnamon rolls are the best! Local food makes great stocking stuffers and party gifts: wine, honey, jerky, candies and other products from area producers. These items are easy to ship and send a piece of your hometown to far-away family and friends. My husband has standing dibs on a turkey leg at holiday meals. One year he was stationed in Korea and missed the holidays with his family. His grandmother mailed the turkey leg across the Pacific Ocean. Although I dont recommend sending perishable items, sending nonperishable local food products are a way to make the world feel a little smaller. Small businesses are a great place to find locally made body products, housewares and jewelry. Small, independently owned businesses often serve as a retail gateway for local producers and artisans, who can work directly with the manager to stock products at a small volume, instead of coordinating a large volume through a regional distributor. Dont forget services- the person who has everything will appreciate the gift of local spa services, classes, or tickets to experience area attractions. Buy local, online No time to go downtown? You can still shop and give local online. Many local businesses have ecommerce websites that allow customers to pick-out, purchase and ship gifts without stepping foot in the store. Looking for local food and products? You can find local produce, beef, dairy, herbs and value-added product at www.localharvest.org. You can find locally made clothing, crafts and retail items from over 300 Ohio small businesses and farmers at Celebrate Local shops in Cincinnati and Columbus, or buy online at www.celebratelocalohio.com. The Multiplier Effect of Local Independent Businesses. American Independent Business Alliance . (n.d.). Retrieved November 28, 2018 from https://www.amiba.net/resources/multiplier-effect/ Farmers are being urged to take to social media today to share messages of why buying local is important during the festive period. To raise the profile of locally produced turkey, and encourage consumers to support their local farmers, the NFU are hosting a dedicated turkey social media day on Friday 7 December. #BuyMyTurkey is the official hashtag. The public, and farmers, are being urged to post pictures of themselves, of their farm and turkeys, and to tell the public why buying British, and local, is a must during the Christmas period. Buying a turkey directly from the farm where it has been produced allows consumers to buy a fresh whole bird and not just a crown. It also supports British farmers high animal welfare standards, and supports local farmers and the local economy. The initiative aims to educate consumers to better understand where their food comes from. The public have been urged by the NFU to look carefully at the country of origin labelling, and keep an eye out for the Red Tractor logo, when shopping this Christmas. The Union Jack flag helps ensure consumers that they are purchasing fully-traceable food produced on British farms. Northern Irish farmers have been encouraged to remain vigilant after Bluetongue was detected in a heifer imported from France. The animal, which was imported last week, tested positive following a stringent post-import testing regime. Northern Ireland's Chief Veterinary Officer, Dr Robert Huey, urged farmers to remain vigilant. Dr Huey said: This detection is an example of our robust disease surveillance procedures in action, however the identification offers another timely reminder to farmers for the need to think carefully before importing susceptible animals from Bluetongue affected areas. It is vitally important that we keep Bluetongue out. The risk is not only to themselves but to the whole industry as the impacts on trade could be catastrophic as a result. If farmers feel they must import from Bluetongue-affected countries they should consider what additional guarantees the seller can provide such as requesting a pre-export test to be carried out to prove effective immunity to the Bluetongue virus. Dr Huey added: Anyone who imports from Bluetongue affected countries or zones risks the possibility that if the imported animals are subsequently found to be infected with Bluetongue that they will be slaughtered and no compensation will be paid. 'Reduce milk yield' Bluetongue does not cause disease in humans or affect food safety. It is a virus transmitted by midge bites and affects cows, goats, sheep and other camelids such as llamas. It can reduce milk yield and cause infertility and in the most severe cases is fatal for infected animals. The midges are most active between May and October and not all susceptible animals show immediate signs of contracting the virus. The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) is taking action to ensure the risk of spread of the disease is reduced, with veterinary investigations under way and movement restrictions in place at the premises. The affected animal has been humanely culled. The Department is also tracing and testing associated herds and an epidemiological investigation has been initiated to assess the situation. Bluetongue virus was detected in a consignment of four sheep imported from France in October, and the disease was picked up in two cattle imported from France in September. Conservative MEPs have condemned EU moves to re-open the decision to licence glyphosate as "politically motivated". The European Parliament's Special Committee on Pesticides wants the issue to be reassessed 12 months after glyphosate was licensed for five years by Member States. The call is amongst a raft of recommendations produced by the temporary committee aimed at overhauling pesticide licensing system. Conservative Agriculture Spokesman Anthea McIntyre said the proposal on glyphosate was "politically motivated" and "flew in the face of scientific evidence and would create further uncertainty for farmers". She said: "The licence was renewed after glyphosate was approved for use by both the European Food Safety Authority and the European Chemical Agency, bodies set up and funded by the EU precisely to provide this kind of expert advice. "Casting doubt on its immediate future once again makes it difficult for farmers to plan ahead and risks calling the EU's regulatory procedures into disrepute." Decreased production It is estimated that banning glyphosate would cut UK production of winter wheat and winter barley by 12% and oil seed rape by 10%, costing the farming industry 940m a year. Its use also lessens the need for mechanical ploughing, reducing pollution and soil erosion. No biological alternatives are expected to be commercially available in the near future. MEPs are proposing to take responsibilities away from EU member states and centralise much of the testing and approval process within the EU institutions and agencies. Miss McIntyre said: "There is absolutely nothing to suggest member states are less good at licensing products than the EU, and they are certainly more knowledgeable about local needs and conditions. "Sadly this report is driven by partisan politics and lobby groups, not the best interests of consumers, the environment or the need to safeguard food production. At the same time it risks needlessly undermining confidence in the current licencing system. "It could have been written the day after the committee was established as it ignores the bulk of expert evidence presented to it." The committee's report has no legal authority but, if approved by the European Parliament in January, would inform future decision making on pesticides. A glyphosate ban would continue to affect British farmers after Brexit as the EU would most likely ban the import of products on which the weed killer had been used. The Indonesian government has been in "structural communication" with China for the past year. Jakarta refuses any government-to-government loan. For Indonesian minister, Chinese investment must include Indonesian workers and the most advanced, environmentally friendly technology. Jakarta (AsiaNews /Agencies) In order to capitalise on Chinas Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Indonesia wants to secure up to US$ 60 billion from Chinese investors to build power plants, factories, ports and infrastructure in the provinces of Central Kalimantan, North Sumatera, North Sulawesi and the island of Bali. Despite growing international concern over Chinas business modus operandi, which lead to so-called "debt trap", Indonesian authorities are for now not too worried about the potential problem. Despite Indonesia's strategic position, Southeasts largest economy is not among the main beneficiaries of the new Silk Road. However, Jakarta has been in structural communication with Beijing since last year on possible infrastructure projects worth a combined US$ 50 billion to US$ 60 billion, said Ridwan Djamaluddin, Indonesias Deputy Minister of Maritime Affairs. So far, its biggest BRI project is a US$ 6 billion railway linking Jakarta to Bandung but the construction has faced problems related to land procurement. But there is more. Indonesia has in fact proposed a number of projects across the country, whilst Chinese officials and experts have toured regional governments in search of projects to fund. We are fully aware that we must not let this cooperation end badly, Djamaluddin said. Other countries have been forced to pay back loans and some have let go of their assets. We dont want that. Getting agreement has taken longer than expected because Indonesia insisted on a business-to-business (B2B) structure for all its deals, refusing to take any government-to-government loans, he added. I understand were not as quick as other countries to tap into the fund because the fund owner will think longer on our offers, Djamaluddin said. The minister expects agreements in the next round of talks in April, after China responds to Indonesias most recent proposal last month. The B2B model would shield Indonesia from any risk of China wielding leverage because of the countrys financial dependence. And, he insisted, Chinese investment must employ Indonesian workers and have the most advanced, environmentally friendly technology and allow for transfer of technology. Projects on offer include four hydropower plants with a combined value of US$ 35 billion in Indonesias province of North Kalimantan on the island of Borneo. A farmer who built a farming inspired festive exhibition featuring more than 11,000 LED lights outside his own home is raising money for charity. East Yorkshire farmer Andrew Wilkinson spent four months last year creating the spectacle. The 33-year-old, from Pocklington, built the life-size replica of a John Deere 6820 in memory of his father David, who was also a farmer. Unfortunately, he died of cancer 11 years ago. The creation of the festive display hopes to attract funds that will go to Cancer Research UK. Andrew said on a Facebook post: "When I under took the Christmas tractor idea last year, in my mind I was thinking this is the last new thing for the house regarding Christmas I am building. "Little did I know the amazing amount attention it grabbed in short space of time and the unbelievable amount of support for raising money for such a worthy cause. "I just want to say many thanks for your support last year helping to raise just over 3200 for Cancer Research UK. I also want to say Merry Christmas to all farmers out there past and present, especially my dad David Wilkinson who sadly passed away 12 years ago now. "The plough I have replicated is modelled on the very plough he taught to me plough with." The Welsh farming industry has congratulated Mark Drakeford for becoming the the next first minister of Wales. A keen supporter of Jeremy Corbyn, Drakeford, 64, will replace Carwyn Jones as the leader of Labour in Wales. Drakeford was the favourite to grab the leadership, winning the contest with 54% of the vote after it went to a second round. In his victory speech, Drakeford said that under his leadership Welsh Labour would follow radical socialist traditions. NFU Cymru has congratulated Drakeford on his appointment, saying the union will soon discuss ambitions for the Welsh agricultural sector with him. NFU Cymru President, John Davies said: I would like to offer my congratulations to Mark Drakeford AM following the culmination of his successful campaign to become the Leader of Welsh Labour in the National Assembly, and he is set to become the next First Minister for Wales. We look forward to meeting with Mr Drakeford at the earliest opportunity to discuss our ambitions for the agricultural sector in Wales. Drakefords appointment comes at an important time as Welsh Government looks to implement a post-Brexit Welsh agricultural policy that will shape the future of agriculture in Wales for generations to come. John Davies added: Wales has a vibrant 7 billion food and drink sector, underpinned by Welsh farmers, and we look forward to working with the incoming First Minister and his government colleagues to ensure that we capitalise on opportunities to further grow this important sector and develop a productive, profitable and progressive agricultural sector that can deliver jobs, growth and investment for every constituent in Wales. Significant new powers granted to the UK and devolved nations post-Brexit could be used to introduce a ban on live exports. As the UK develops its animal welfare standards in preparation for Brexit, significant changes to the law have been agreed this week. The Animal Welfare (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018 formally hands powers over to the UKs devolved authorities which would allow them to set their own regulations on live transport. The amendment relates to the protection of the welfare of animals whilst being transported, kept at control posts or at the time of their killing. This will give the UK new powers to control more of its own animal welfare standards. By setting the country's own regulations, the UK and devolved nations could ensure transport conditions for livestock surpass those required under EU law, including the hours and distance the animals are allowed to travel within the UK and for any animals exported. These changes even give Government the power to ban live exports, something which the RSPCA is urging them to consider, despite the livestock sector's concerns. 'Landmark moment' The RSPCA said it would like to see the Government use these powers to ban live exports for slaughter. RSPCA Head of Public Affairs, David Bowles said: This is a landmark moment, and may be viewed as a significant step in the UKs journey to take back control of its own laws. We would urge the Government to grab this opportunity now and make animals lives better. Among the measures the animal charity would like to see introduced are more transparent pre-journey veterinary checks to avoid transporting animals which are unfit to travel. It would also be possible to set new journey times for animals being transported within the UK and to the continent and will mean that England - and Wales if it chooses - will be able to break away from EU law on these matters. But farmers have criticised proposals to ban live exports, with the Farmers' Union of Wales (FUW) saying such a ban could cut off an essential lifeline for sheep farmers. 'Short sighted' FUW President Glyn Roberts said the FUW's current position is that it would be short sighted to introduce a ban on live exports, as tariffs on meat exports to the EU might be introduced. Mr Roberts said: Given tariffs of around 50% of product value could apply on meat once we leave the EU, this would collapse the trade in sheepmeat exports, which currently represents around a third of Welsh lamb sales. We fully appreciate peoples concerns about live exports, but we must bear in mind that the EU has legal welfare standards which are the highest in the world, and these apply both here and on mainland Europe, he added. 'Disadvantage' Mr Roberts comments echo those of the Scottish Government, who also oppose a live export ban. Responding to a similar proposal earlier this year, Scotland's Rural Economy Secretary Fergus Ewing said: Let me be absolutely clear, this is one UK-wide framework the Scottish government will not be participating in. I will not support anything that creates further challenges or difficulty for our farming sector or puts Scottish agriculture at a disadvantage. The Scottish government will therefore not support the banning of live exports of livestock, but will remain committed to the welfare of all animals during transport adhering to the current rigorous standards which apply - standards and regulations provided by the EU, that are already world class and protect us all through animal, plant and chemical health measures and enabling our produce to be traded around the world. Technology has been developed in Germany to prevent the culling of one-day-old male chicks. The first eggs produced by hens that have been through the new process have appeared on the country's supermarket shelves. Animal welfare campaigners have been increasing pressure on the egg industry to end the practice of culling male chicks, with the potential threat of a ban in some countries. Canada is mulling over the possibility of in-ovo selection technology being brought to market, and attempts are being made elsewhere to develop a solution to what is seen as a growing animal welfare issue. Now, backed by Government funding, German scientists have done so. This is a great day for animal welfare in Germany. In this way we will set the pace in Europe," said the country's Minister of Food and Agriculture, Julia Klockner. My ministry has provided around five million Euros to support research for promising methods of gender identification in hatching eggs. With the market readiness of the process presented today, Germany is a pioneer. Now it is possible to identify the gender of the chicks in the hatching egg through a needle-tip tiny hole. Male hatching eggs no longer need to be incubated and killed immediately after hatching. 'Extra price' The new process has been developed by Seleggt - a joint venture between retail company REWE Group and a Dutch technology company, HatchTech. Eggs produced as a result of the process were going on sale in 223 REWE and PENNY stores in Berlin in November. And REWE Group is planning to sell them in all 5,500 REWE and PENNY stores in Germany this year. Concerned customers can now actively help to put an end to the practice of male chick culling through their shopping behaviour," said Jan Kunath, the deputy chief executive officer of REWE Group. I strongly believe that the extra price of a few cents per egg carton is well invested, he said. Our customers will be able to buy free-range respeggt-eggs gradually throughout Germany. As a company, we are setting an example that sustainability and animal welfare are fundamental principles for us, he said. Opposition Research carried out by Wageningen University in the Netherlands found that 90 per cent of consumers were opposed to the practice of culling day old male chicks. In Austria, producers are charging consumers premium rates for eggs from systems that avoid culling the day-old males. All organic eggs in Austria have to be produced without the culling of day-old chicks. Attempts to create a legislative ban on the practice in Germany have been thwarted so far but pressure is increasing from animal welfare campaigners And in the United States, the egg industry has conceded that it needs to stop the culling. United Egg Producers, which represents the vast majority of American egg farmers, has said it aims to end the practice. Green fluroescent protein Research conducted by geneticists at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Australia are working on producing chickens that have been genetically modified with a green fluroescent protein that will allow the sex of the developing embryo to be determined inside the egg. The protein is originally found in jellyfish and glows green under ultraviolet light. Initial work has proved successful and the scientists are intending to do further research on developing the technique. However, the fact that the protein comes from a jellyfish would mean that the chicken had been genetically modified. The trials in Canada have taken a different approach. The technique involves the traditional candling method to identify male chicks in the egg, although this is carried out automatically by machine. The technique developed in Germany involves the use of a laser to burn a hole of no more than 0.3 millimetres into the hatching egg shell. A small amount of allantois fluid is extracted through a non-invasive procedure, leaving the interior of the hatching egg untouched. The allantois fluid is placed on a patented marker outside the hatching egg. Through a change in colour, this marker will indicate whether the sex-specific hormone estrone sulphate can be detected in the hatching egg. Seleggt says the process is 98 per cent accurate. 'Long way to go' Seleggt says it intends to make the technology available to the industry as a cost-neutral service. It says the patented process will be available to the first hatcheries from 2020. Despite all the euphoria, we still have a long way to go, said Dr. Ludger Breloh, managing director of Seleggt. We will work vigorously from our side to make the Seleggt process available to the hatcheries in a cost-neutral system," said Dr Breloh, who said that in 2019 the intention was to move from market readiness to start of production. At the same time, I believe the development and funding of the dual-use breeds to be equally important. Until then, gender identification in hatching eggs could serve as gap-bridging technology. Julia Klockner said: The scientists did extraordinary work and I am pleased to hear that there are partners in the industry who implement this process and make it generally accessible. For the consumer it is also a significant step towards more animal welfare. It is also an opportunity for the hatcheries in Germany. Furthermore, it is an alternative for hatcheries that enables them to continue producing in Germany, while doing more for animal welfare at the same time. Because once the process is made available to all and the hatcheries have implemented the process, there will be no reason and no justification for chick culling. Regardless, it is important not to lose sight of the dual-use breed and to support it. Seleggt says that the system will provide complete traceability. Every hatchery equipped with the process, rearing farm, laying farm or egg packing centre will enter the relevant information via app. The data is stored, may be viewed by all members of the supply chain and cannot be altered. Sales at a Devon farm shop which was vandalised and received death threats by hardline vegan campaigners have since seen sales double. Greendale Farm Shop in Woodbury Salterton, Devon, experienced vandalism and online abuse last month after posting a "pick your own" Christmas turkey offer on Facebook. On the post, it offered a service where the public can name their own turkey and "help look after it for the next two months". The post triggered vegan campaigners to spray paint the words "Murder" and "Go vegan" on the shop's door. Pheasants were also spray painted. A month on, the farm experiences no more death threats but has reported sales higher than usual. Farm shop spokesman, Mathew Carter told Exmouth Journal: It has been difficult for our staff, a number of them ended up changing their names and details on social media after threatening messages were sent to them. Its not all bad though, weve doubled our turkey sales on the back of the threats. People have wanted to support us and the story has made some people realise we sell turkeys ready for Christmas. Were really proud of our response, it attracted a lot of negative attention but were proud of sticking to our principles. Changing our habits due to the pressure was never on the table. Mr Carter said the vegan anger began "almost immediately" after it was shared on Facebook and Instagram. Last month, Devon and Cornwall Police visited the farm after hearing the complaints and said "enquiries are underway into this matter". Following extensive media publicity on the issue, the farm shop has posted a "thank you" to its customers, saying they are "proud to sell fresh, local produce". The Vegan Society said it "does not support any threats of violence of abusive behaviour or language towards anyone". It follows news of a similar situation affecting a rural Hampshire school which received death threats from activists who were unhappy with its decision to rear pigs on-site for food education, forcing the school to stop the practice. Extensive media exposure of the situation helped the school re-instate the pigs following a positive public, and parent, backing. Meanwhile, a rural Highland school defied death threats from vegan and animal rights campaigners by continuing to post footage online of classroom butchery lessons. Last year, the Countryside Alliance launched a campaign to raise awareness of the extent of online bullying targeting rural-based people and businesses. Whenever you pick up a travel magazine, scroll through a social media site or happen upon a brochure that features pictures of Nantucket, chances are you are seeing images of this island depicted under a bright summer sun. This is a playground for the rich and famous in the summer months, theres no doubt about that. Ferries, planes, yachts and more are full of people making their way to and from this popular destination from May through until September. But heres the real secret to Nantucket happiness visiting in October. Growing up on the East Coast, Nantucket was always a place that was on my radar. Friends from college often summered there in their lush seaside mansions (the average house price on the island is $2.3 million!!!!), as I continued driving north to spend time with my family in Maine. I was always curious about this little island. Such a small place held so many hearts and somehow I never managed to visit. That always bothered me. If you ever speak to anyone thats either visited or has a residence on the island, you find yourself completely seduced by the way they describe life there. Its like a fairytale. And it was very much a fairytale Id always wanted to be a part of. Fast forward a few years (ok, maybe 16 since university), and Im sitting at The White Elephant in Nantucket, enjoying a cup of coffee as I wait for my girlfriends to join me on a walk to explore the area, after a rather eventful trip onto the island the night before. It must be said that Nantucket can be the easiest island to get to, but it can also be the most difficult. Full disclosure we were meant to take a flight onto the island from Boston, that was cancelled last minute because of fog. Hey, fog happens. So, we put peddle to the metal and drove down the coast to meet the last ferry of the night instead. Anyone will tell you that no matter how hard it is to get to Nantucket, its always worth it in the end. Getting off the ferry on the island, I knew it was worth it the moment my feet hit the hard pavement. Looking down just one street in the town I was already in love. While the magic was already taking hold, so was jet lag. I crawled into my suite at The White Elephant and had never looked upon a bed with such thankful eyes. The sheets, that are made specially for The White Elephant in Italy, were like slipping into heaven. The pillows, with embroidered elephants, came complete with a box of chocolate covered cranberries, which were devoured instantly. Dont tell my dentist, as I fell asleep straight after, which meant the brushing of teeth didnt happen. Whoops! I awoke to a soft light peeking through the windows and a view of the water in front of me. I had somehow convinced the other ladies to meet at sunrise to walk out to the famed Brant Point Lighthouse. Just a five minute walk from The White Elephant, we had all agreed to get out there for a pink and orange filled sky, and decided wed spend a few minutes there and then head back towards The White Elephants Brant Point Grille for an early breakfast. After all, we were still on UK time. Pancakes were eaten, coffee was practically on an arm drip and four dehydrated girls made their way through what must have been six litres of water. We were fuelling, caffeinating and hydrating for a day of exploring ahead. Nantucket in the summer can be a madhouse, or so Ive heard. The population increases to 50,000 and queues for things like breakfast or ice cream become common place here. In October, youre lucky to run into ten people in ten minutes as you walk from The White Elephant into town. There are no queues anywhere and a good percentage of the shops are still open and ready for business. The cobblestone streets here are yours for the taking. The promise of Nantucket red trousers lures you in and the idea of a milkshake at The Nantucket Pharmacy, with no wait, seems like a dream. The colours of the trees have all changed from bright green to shocking yellows and deep oranges and the air has a crispness to it that requires just one additional layer of clothing. Why are more people not here in October? This island is magical, right here and right now. For lunch, we were horrible and ate fudge from Aunt Leahs. Shes a local legend and the more people you talk to the more you discover. Our boat captain had her as a teacher in grade school! This seems to be a pattern on the island. Everyone knows each other, well the year rounds residents do at least. Small town perfection is alive and well here in October. While I could have stayed out and about all day simply taking pictures and falling more and more in love with this island, I had an appointment at The White Elephant Spa. My massage therapist had me asleep in a matter of minutes. But, I had to laugh as she came in wearing duck boots and wore them throughout the treatment. Occasionally, I would wake up and look down to see her shoes below the bed. It was clear I could be nowhere else other than New England. For dinner, we returned to the Brant Point Grill and dove head first into a lobster feast, accompanied by truffle fries, oysters and more. Its a true seafood extravaganza and the food is cooked and served to blissful perfection. I will say that it became clear very quickly why The White Elephant is one of Nantuckets most recognised and highly regarded resorts. The service here is impeccable. Staff are enthusiastic about where they live and eager to help recommend or shoot down a location on the island for visiting. The rooms are big, delightfully decorated (they also have a Lilly Pulitzer suite) and full of everything one might need for an island visit. My suite even came complete with a washer and dryer! But for me, it was all about the bed. I know it may sound ridiculous but a bed can make or break any experience. The White Elephants bed, sheets and whole setup made my two nights there a breeze. If it werent for the incredible lure of the local charm around the island, I probably would have stayed in bed forever. Now, there is so much to see and do while in Nantucket, and Ive included a little look herewith at all that we saw and did while staying at The White Elephant. Well start with a room tour, carry through at a look at the food we ate while in residence, and finish with a few choice shots of the town. I really cant recommend October enough as a time to visit. And if you are visiting, make sure you are staying at The White Elephant.unless you have a friend thats just bought one of the $42 million properties for sale near the hotel. Then, yes, maybe stay there. The White Elephant Nantucket Island The Fauquier Times is honored to serve as your community companion. To say thank you, we are excited to offer 4 weeks FREE Digital & Print access to all subscribers new and returning alike. We are dedicated to continuing providing reliable, high quality journalism. This is possible with the trust and support of our subscribers in the community we are proud to serve. Category Select Category Apparel/Garments Textiles Fashion Technical Textiles Information Technology E-commerce Retail Corporate Association Press Release SubCategory Select Sub-Category Uh-oh! It could be you, or it could be us, but there's no page here. The Global Giving association launches a project for the disabled. New Sindh Unit for the protection of women. Save the Children reiterates its complete disassociation with the CIA in the operation that led to the capture of Osama Bin Laden. Islamabad (AsiaNews) - In the last two days in Pakistan a series of projects have been launched in favor of women and children, including disabled people. Despite the recent decision to expel some foreign NGOs from the country, the work of international and local organizations does not stop in support of the weaker sectors of society. Yesterday, the Global Giving association, with projects all over the world to support children, announced the launch of a new plan for disabled women and children. Muhammad Irfan, an NGO official, has specified that the project wants to assist people with physical and mental disabilities. The beneficiaries will be followed by rehabilitation specialists for movement and language as well as psychologists. The objective, explains the manager, is "to favor the inclusion of disabled people in society", eliminating the "stigma" that accompanies people suffering from mental and physical problems in the country and, at the same time, "help needy families" . The group will work with "charitable associations at the local level, academic institutions and government". Today, the Women Protection Unit has been activated in Karachi, in the province of Sindh. The group is an initiative of UN Women Pakistan, in collaboration with the Department of Sindh for women's development and the legal association Lawyers for Human Rights and Legal Aid (Lhrla). The lawyer Zia Ahmed Awan explains that "it will offer 24-hour assistance to women and children who are victims of gender-based violence". Those who suffer violence can call 1098. Even Save the Children has been operating for years in the service of the most destitute sections of the population. The NGO, states an official note, "has already categorically rejected any alleged involvement with the CIA or Dr. Shakeel Afridi in an attempt to locate Osama Bin Laden through a false campaign of vaccinations. These allegations are completely false and there is no supporting evidence ". The note underlines that "Dr. Afridi has never worked for Save the Children and has never received compensation or reimbursement from the Organization. Save the Children has never carried out a vaccination program in Abbottabad ", in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the place where in 2011 the head of al-Qaeda was captured. Lal Bhaisahab Dubey(Sunny Deol), better known as 3D is an eccentric don based out of Varanasi who deeply loves his wife Sapna Dubey (Preity Zinta), as does she but she's temperamental as hell. She leaves him in a fit of jealousy and to woo her back, he hires the services of a cunning, name dropping director Goldie Kapoor and a Bengali writer Tarun Porno Ghosh (Shreyas Talpade) to make a film on his life. Mallika (Ameesha Patel), an actress with the heart of a golddigger is hired to play Sapnas role while a lookalike Funny (Sunny Deol in a double role) is hired to play Bhaiaji. Jaideep Ahlawat plays a rival don called Helicopter Mishra who wants to usurp Bhaiji and take his place. He acts as the fly in the ointment but all ends well as Bhaiaji uses his superhero-like strength to set things right...Bhaiaji Superhit is a Bollywood potboiler which has something for everybody. It has good-old fashioned romance, plenty of fistfights with goons flying around, a skimpily clad leading lady waiting to snare the hero, a conman who feels he can fool everyone and a villain who is all bluster but pales in comparison with the hero when it comes to brawn. And it has random characters, like the one played by Sanjay Mishra, who act as comic fillers. To be more accurate, its a spoof of the regular masala Hindi film where the leading man is in on the joke and takes wholehearted pleasure at poking fun at his image. There is a scene where Bhaiaji instructs Funny to not swing his waist to the tune because tough guys dont dance and he adjusts his stance to that of Sunny Deols non-dancing pose of yore. In another scene, Funny gives his director hell as hes a method actor and wants to get the scene just right. Yes, he can still kick butt but the way Sunny deadpans, especially as the squeaky-voiced Funny, is a revelation. Preity Zinta, who is looking good in the film, too holds her own as the jealous Sapna but has some action scenes as well. Ameesha Patel is all curves and double entendres and has done a competent job. Arshad Warsi, as the director whose forte is to con the producer out of his money acts his heart out and is ably supported by Shreyas Talpade.The film is a leave-your-brains comedy and enjoyable in parts despite all the absurdities associated with it. Its a neo-retro product, a place-marker of sorts for the anything goes school of filmmaking in Bollywood, which still has some dedicated followers despite changing times... Reza Noorani, November 23, 2018, 5:05 PM IST critic's rating: 2.0/5 Bhaiaji Superhit Story: A kind-hearted goon decides to get his wife back by making a film on their love story, while his arch nemesis tries to thwart his plans. Bhaiaji Superhit Review: Lal Bhaisahab Dubey aka 3D (Sunny Deol) is Varanasis most feared crime lord. While he lords over all, his wife Sapna Dubey (Preity Zinta), the daughter of another crime boss, bosses over his heart. Out of a fit of jealousy she leaves him and now he has become a crying wreck, which is bad for his personal and professional life. At the same time, there is the evil Helicopter Mishra (Jaideep Ahlawat) who is looking to win the title of the number one don in the city. With all of this in play, 3D somehow thinks of making a film and becoming popular, which, he thinks, will impress Sapna and have her return to him. For this, he hires a crafty Bollywood director Goldie Kapoor (Arshad Warsi), a meek writer Tarun Porno Ghosh (Shreyas Talpade) and the hot superstar Mallika (Ameesha Patel) to make the film titled Bhaiaji Superhit. To cut a long review short, this is Sunny Deols Dabangg, but not half as entertaining. The first 10 minutes has some genuinely clever lines and funny moments, but after that it gets tiresome and overburdened with too much plot that the filmmakers have tried to pack together. The second half is where you get all the money shots, but thats too late. The film would have been fun had the makers stuck to the interesting plot points and cut down the extra flab, of which there is a lot of, in the film. Sunny Deols dhai kilo ka haath from the 90s has become dhai ton ka haath in 2018, as he knocks down walls, bends thick iron rods as he beats the goons silly. He literally uses his fists like Thor uses his hammer. In fact, this movie should have been listed in the superhero genre, because Sunny paaji is literally cast as hulk. The only superpower he lacks is flight. While Sunny Deol and Arshad Warsi play their roles well, Ameesha Patel and Shreyas Talpade dont quite do justice to theirs. Jaideep Ahlwawat and Sanjay Mishra dont have much to do here either. Preity Zinta, as the feisty wife, too, does justice to her role. If over the top spectacles which defy logic, gravity and other rules are your cup of tea, this ones for you. For the rest, this one is best enjoyed sitting in the barber shop as it plays on the television behind you. Deepika Padukone, who will soon kick-start the shoot of her upcoming film, helmed by Meghna Gulzar has reportedly turned down Aamir Khan's offer to play the character of 'Draupadi' in Mahabharata. However, Deepika hasn't made any comment on Mahabharata yet. On a related note, the scriptwriter Anjum Rajabali, who was looking forward to work with Aamir Khan for his next Salute, had revealed that the superstar was so 'consumed' by his mammoth project 'Mahabharata' that he could not do the film anymore. Salute, which is reportedly now titled Saare Jaha Se Achcha, was earlier offered to Aamir but owing to his involvement in Mahabharata, he backed out! Salute, a biopic on astronaut Rakesh Sharma, will now feature Shahrukh Khan. "I have been very excited about the project. Like Aamir, I have been a big fan of Rakesh and now he is a good friend also. Frankly speaking, I was very keen that Aamir do it and he, at that moment, had liked it," Anjum had told reporters. "We had discussed it a lot. We had a lot of hopes for it but unfortunately (there was) the larger project of 'Mahabharata', which he was consumed by," he added. Aamir, who was sitting right next to the writer was left startled with the revelation and he exclaimed, "Oh my god!" as the actor had previously remained mum about his exit from the project. According to reports, Aamir will soon begin work on Mahabharata, being developed as a seven-part long web series. The actor will be flying to the USA to work on the script and other technicalities of the big budget epic. Opposing Maharashtra Government's tax regulation, Bollywood Celebrity Vanity Van association will go on an indefinite strike from December 10, a move likely to affect shooting of Akshay Kumar's Kesari and Netflix's Sacred Games 2. The Non-cooperation movement against the State government by the All Camper Van Owner's Association which has 250 vans under it will leave around 500 workers with no jobs and hit over 5000 workers who earn on daily wages. Ketan Rawal, President, All Camper Van Owners Association, said their client roaster includes A list stars like Ajay Devgn, Saif Ali Khan, John Abraham, Arjun Rampal, Kangana Ranaut, Sonakshi Sinha, Taapsee Pannu, Disha Patani. "Ajay is shooting for his home production Tanaji, Kangana's shoot is on, Saif is doing Sacred Games 2, John's Batla House Mumbai schedule will begin now. Arjun is doing a web series, Sonakshi and Taapsee are both shooting for a film with Akshay. "So everyone is busy with shoots right now. If the vans aren't available, the shooting will be hampered. Honestly, we are feeling bad. I've been in the industry for 25 years and believe the show must go on but we are being harassed a lot," Rawal told PTI. The association is opposing Maharashtra government's rule which charges tax for each vanity van at Rs 5,000 square meter, amounting to RS 1,25,000 per annum. Rawal said requirement of the vans will be high for films, specially in places where there is no make up room, such as for "Sacred Games". "Sacred Games is being shot in Dharavi. They are shooting at real locations, on the streets. There's no make up room facility there so how will they be able to shoot? Naturally they would require the vans. "Karan Johar's 'Kesari' shoot is on too. They are saying if the vans don't come for five days they'll incur losses of RS 5 crores," he added. The association said they have communicated their decision to the actors and are awaiting a response from the government. "Our intention is not to halt Bollywood shooting, we are feeling bad but we are now helpless. It's our request, with folded hands, to understand and cooperate with us," he added. Sara Ali Khan & Sushant Singh Rajput's Kedarnath Banned in Uttarakhand; Here's why| FilmiBeat Sushant Singh Rajput and Sara Ali Khan starrer Kedarnath continues to find itself in the midst of controversies even as the film hits the big screens together. Earlier on Thursday, the district magistrates of Nainital and Udham Singh Nagar had imposed a ban on the screening of the film, apprehending disruption of law and order. However, as per the latest updates, Uttarakhand tourism minister, Satyapal Maharaj has informed that the film has been banned in the entire state. He was quoted as saying by ANI, "Our committee has forwarded our advice to CM &decided that law & order should be reviewed.We asked District Magistrates to maintain peace & everyone has decided that #Kedarnath movie should be banned. The movie is banned everywhere in state." As per a News18 report, Satyapal further mentioned that many fictitious incidents have been shown in the movie that cannot be believed upon."The movie is not according to our culture and the film can instigate people," he was quoted as saying. Earlier, the Uttarakhand High Court refused to interfere in the matter rejecting a PIL seeking a ban on the film. Dismissing the petition, a division bench of Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan and Justice Ramesh Khulbe had said that a similar controversy surrounding the release of Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Padmavat had made the film a super hit. According to PTI, the state government held a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat late in the evening after submission of a report by the committee headed by Tourism minister Satpal Maharaj to examine the objections to the film and decided not to declare an official ban on it. But the decision was left to the district magistrates whether or not to allow the screening of the movie depending on the situation in their respective areas. Kedarnath Movie Review: Sara Ali Khan Makes A Smashing Debut But The Film Struggles To Stay Afloat Madhuri Dixit to contest Loksabha Election 2019 from BJP | Filmibeat If reports are to be believed, Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) is considering fielding Bollywood actor Madhuri Dixit-Nene from the Pune Lok Sabha constituency in the 2019 general elections, the party sources said. All Is Well Between Sanjay Dutt-Madhuri Dixit, Rumoured Exes Shoot Scenes Together For Kalank! In June this year, BJP chief Amit Shah had met the actor at her residence in Mumbai during his party's 'Sampark for Samarthan' (Contact for Support) programme and briefed her on the achievements of the Narendra Modi government. A senior state BJP leader told PTI that the actress name has been shortlisted for the Pune Lok Sabha seat. He said, "The party is seriously considering giving candidature to Madhuri Dixit in the 2019 general elections. We think the Pune Lok Sabha constituency will be better for her." "The party is in the process of finalising the list of probables for several Lok Sabha seats and Dixit's name has been shortlisted for the Pune Lok Sabha constituency...she is being seriously considered for it," the leader said. Madhuri has featured in many Bollywood films, including Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!, Dil To Pagal Hai, Saajan and Devdas. The actress is yet to comment on these reports. In 2014, the Pune seat was won by BJP candidate Anil Shirole. On the professional front, Madhuri will be next seen in Total Dhamaal and Kalank. She recently dubbed for a key character in Mowgli which will stream on a digital platform. Meanwhile, speculations are rife that the actress has been roped in for Ayushmann Khurrana's wife Tahira Kashyap's directorial debut. (Inputs from PTI) When Everyone Stopped Madhuri Dixit To Work With Rumoured Ex Sanjay Dutt But She Didn't Listen! Priyanka Chopra & Nick Jonas stun in their Party look after wedding | FilmiBeat Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas' lavish Jodhpur wedding has been the talk of the town since the last couple of weeks. The lovebirds tied the knot as per Christian and Hindu traditions honouring both the cultures. Soon, 'NickYanka's dreamy pre-wedding and wedding pictures caught the fancy of the netizens who couldn't stop drooling over this good-looking couple. Well folks, there's more to come. We recently chanced upon some pictures from Priyanka and Nick's wedding after-party where the newlyweds are seen having a blast. Have a look at the pictures here- And Here Comes Mr & Mrs Jonas! Priyanka who is looking stunning in a red Dior dress and her better half, Nick Jonas in a blue blazer pose cutely for the lens at their wedding after-party. Dance Like No One Is Watching Just look at the way these two are ruling over the dance floor with their moves and grooves! Just what you need to give you plenty of weekend vibes! Bride & Beautiful Priyanka Chopra goes pouty in jazzy sunglasses in this unseen picture Priyanka's Most Special Moment From The Wedding "The most special moment was when the curtains opened and I saw him at the altar and life was okay in that moment," the actress was quoted as saying to a channel. Priyanka Chopra- Nick Jonas' Hindu Wedding Ceremony: It Was A Royal Affair & These Pics Are A Proof! MOSCOW, Dec. 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Puppy Appliance Co., Ltd (Puppyoo), China's leading cleaning appliance manufacturer, has debuted its signature product, the new T10 cordless handheld vacuum, in Russia on Bringly.ru, an e-commerce platform created by Yandex Market, the joint venture of Sberbank and Yandex. Bringly.ru is a new online shopping center created by the two Russian giants to enable global buying in Russia, introducing 4 million products from sectors including electronics, cosmetics, household appliances and clothing, and from countries such as the UK, Germany, China and South Korea. Delivery on Bringly.ru is free for products from China. "Puppyoo is eager to share our vision for making cleaning an enjoyable and relaxing experience through our competitive T10 Home cordless vacuum. We are pleased to have our products on Bringly.ru, which will offer us an opportunity to establish stronger connections with customers in Russia," said Julia Wong, International Marketing Manager at Puppyoo. "With 90 percent of online purchase in Russia made for Chinese products, we believe the Russian market holds great potential for us." The new Puppyoo T10 Home collected over 87,500 USD from a U.S. based crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo in the last two months and is designed to offer a comprehensive solution for efficient cleaning. Highlights include: a simple, lightweight design of only 3.3lbs; strong suction capacity with a spin rate of up to 115,000 rpm, a 15% increase in suction performance compared to regular vacuum cleaners; special battery design that allows for 58 minutes of continuous cleaning; multiple modular heads, which making it easy to clean hard-to-reach places. The Puppyoo T10 Home will be available to purchase on Bringly.ru, at a price of 13,389?. About Puppyoo Puppy Appliance Co., Ltd (Puppyoo) develops and sells world class, high-quality household cleaning appliances. For nearly two decades, Puppyoo has been a leader in China's vacuum cleaner sector with more than 200 technical patents. Listed on the OTC Bulletin Board in 2016, the company is the top 2 vacuum manufacturing brand that is based in the China market. Puppyoo's products are now sold to 86 countries worldwide and online including on Amazon, eBay, Aliexpress and Bringly.ru. For more information, please visit https://www.bringly.ru/product/ODAyNjc5MzU1NzcxNjYwMDU2Nw Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/793988/Puppyoo.jpg LONDON, ENGLAND - NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR, CANADA / ACCESSWIRE / December 7, 2018 / Rambler Metals and Mining plc (TSXV: RAB, AIM: RMM) (Rambler or the Company) is pleased to announce that on November 26, 2018 it closed its previously announced financing transaction with CE Mining III Rambler Limited (the Investor) of US$2 million in the form of senior secured convertible loan notes (the Loan Notes). Additional details on the terms on the Loan Notes can be found in the Company's news release dated November 26, 2018. The proceeds received from the issuance of the Loan Notes will be used by the Company to strengthen its working capital position and for general corporate purposes. The ordinary shares issued pursuant to conversion of the Loan Notes will be subject to hold periods imposed in accordance with the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange and applicable securities laws which expire four months from the date of the closing. The Investor will also receive an arrangement fee equal to 2% of the principal value of the Loan Notes, which will be payable in cash to the Investor by December 31, 2018. This announcement has been posted on the Company's website at www.ramblermines.com and will be posted under the Company's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. ABOUT RAMBLER METALS AND MINING Rambler is a mining and development company that in November 2012 brought its first mine into commercial production. Rambler has a 100 per cent ownership in the Ming Copper-Gold Mine, a fully operational base and precious metals processing facility and year round bulk storage and shipping facility; all located on the Baie Verte peninsula, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Following the completion of its recent productivity improvement initiative Rambler's focus is on sustaining mine and mill production at 1,250 metric tonnes per day. With a return to profitability and positive cash flow, Rambler will continue advancing Phase III engineering studies with a view to further increase production to 2,000 mtpd at the Ming Mine. Along with the Ming Mine, Rambler also owns 100 per cent of the former producing Little Deer/ Whales Back copper mines and has strategic investment in the former producing Hammerdown gold mine. Rambler is dual listed in London under AIM:RMM and in Canada under TSX-V:RAB. For further information, please contact: Norman Williams, CPA,CA President and CEO Rambler Metals & Mining Plc Tel No: 709-800-1929 Fax No: 709-800-1921 Peter Mercer Vice President, Corporate Secretary Rambler Metals & Mining Plc Tel No: +44 (0) 20 8652-2700 Fax No: +44 (0) 20 8652-2719 Nominated Adviser (NOMAD) David Porter, Peter Malovany Cantor Fitzgerald Europe Tel No: +44 (0) 20 7894 7000 Website: www.ramblermines.com The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014 ('MAR'). Upon the publication of this announcement via Regulatory Information Service ('RIS'), this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Caution Regarding Forward Looking Statements: Certain information included in this news release, including information relating to future financial or operating performance and other statements that express the expectations of management or estimates of future performance constitute "forward-looking statements". Such forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements regarding the proposed use of proceeds and statements regarding expected mine and mill production. Where the Company expresses or implies an expectation or belief as to future events or results, such expectation or belief is based on assumptions made in good faith and believed to have a reasonable basis. However, forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, which could cause actual results to differ materially from future results expressed, projected or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks include, but are not limited to, interpretation and implications of drilling and geophysical results, estimates regarding timing of future capital expenditures and costs towards profitable commercial operations. Other factors that could cause actual results, developments or events to differ materially from those anticipated include, among others, increases/decreases in production; volatility in metals prices and demand; currency fluctuations; cash operating margins; cash operating cost per pound sold; costs per ton of ore; variances in ore grade or recovery rates from those assumed in mining plans; reserves and/or resources; the ability to successfully integrate acquired assets; operational risks inherent in mining or development activities and legislative factors relating to prices, taxes, royalties, land use, title and permits, importing and exporting of minerals and environmental protection. Accordingly, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements and the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements contained herein are made as at the date hereof and the Company does not undertake any obligation to update publicly or revise any such forward-looking statements or any forward-looking statements contained in any other documents whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required under applicable law. This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com. SOURCE: Rambler Metals and Mining plc View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/529964/Rambler-Metals-Mining-PLC-Announces-Convertible-Loan-Note-Financing-Close LONDON, Dec 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- A naval clash between Ukraine and RussiaNovember 25 has further strained relations between the countries, with fears that trade could be affected should it become a full-blown crisis. Ukraine says Russia is deliberately blockading Mariupol and another Ukrainian port on the Sea of Azov, Berdyansk after Russian border guards fired on three Ukrainian ships and seized their crews off the Crimean Peninsula. Russia and Ukraine share access to the Sea of Azov under a 2003 treaty. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has suggested "sensible dialogue" will solve the crisis but an escalation in tensions between the two nations could have wide-reaching effects, including on fertilizer trade. Nitrogen fertilizers impact Neighbourly disputes over nitrogen fertilizer exports have been around for a decade already with the imposition of duties on Russian ammonium nitrate (AN) by Ukraine on May 21 2008. Ukrainian anti-dumping duties on Russian nitrogen fertilizers, excluding ammonia, prevail and are set at 31.84% through 2018. Russia in turn has placed Ukrainian nitrogen facilities belonging to Dimitry Firtash, Ihor Kolomoisky and state-run Sumykhimprom on its sanctions list from early November 2018. The impact of the Russian sanctions announcement is still unclear, but most believe ammonia trade between Russia and Ukraine will continue in the short term. This is because sanctions do not prevent payment from Ukraine to Russia for ammonia received but will instead block Russian bank accounts and funds owned by Firtash and Kolomoisky. Read the full story: https://www.crugroup.com/knowledge-and-insights/insights/2018/worsening-in-russia-ukraine-relations-could-hit-nitrogen-market/ Read more about CRU: http://bit.ly/About_CRU About CRU CRU offers unrivalled business intelligence on the global metals, mining and fertilizer industries through market analysis, price assessments, consultancy and events. Since our foundation by Robert Perlman in 1969, we have consistently invested in primary research and robust methodologies, and developed expert teams in key locations worldwide, including in hard-to-reach markets such as China. CRU employs over 260 experts and has more than 10 offices around the world, in Europe, the Americas, China, Asia and Australia - our office in Beijing opened in 2004. When facing critical business decisions, you can rely on our first-hand knowledge to give you a complete view of a commodity market. And you can engage with our experts directly, for the full picture and a personalised response. CRU - big enough to deliver a high-quality service, small enough to care about all of our customers. BIELEFELD and ULM, Germany, December 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- "itelligence of Things": prize money for best innovation projects BHS Corrugated Maschinen- und Anlagenbau GmbH and the maintenance service provider XERVON Instandhaltung GmbH are the main winners of the "itelligence of Things" competition organized by itelligence. Each will receive consulting services worth 50,000 euros. And the other finalists will receive support from itelligence in putting together a business case. "In the course of our digitalization, we are becoming a lifecycle service partner for our customers," explains Lars Engels, Executive Director at BHS Corrugated Maschinen- und Anlagenbau GmbH from Upper Palatinate, global market leader in the development and production of machines for manufacturing corrugated cardboard. So-called corrugating rolls form the corrugations in the cardboard and therefore represent the centerpiece of any corrugated cardboard machine. The produced shape is maintained by gluing an additional paper layer onto the corrugated layer. Customers lease the rolls under a pay-per-use model. Maintenance work is carried out on the rolls at irregular intervals, depending on the amount of use. To allow this process to be adequately planned, a tracker allows both users and BHS Corrugated to see the roll's current position in the maintenance cycle at any one time. To increase efficiency further, the on-site data automatically initiate processes, such as restocking, in a second step. The second main winner of the digitalization competition is XERVON Instandhaltung GmbH, headquartered in Munchsmunster in Bavaria. The subsidiary of REMONDIS Maintenance & Services GmbH & Co. KG from Cologne, one of the leading service providers to the manufacturing industry, makes installations intelligent via machine learning. Through the analysis of sensor data, the operation of pumps in the cooling towers of energy suppliers can be optimized so as to minimize wear by reducing the frequency of them starting up. In sewage treatment plants, sensors test the waste water, helping to ensure that the purification is performed in the most ecological and economic manner possible. "Smart control processes allow us to initiate the most appropriate operation for the particular circumstances," explains Volker Osdoba, Managing Director of XERVON Instandhaltung GmbH. Norbert Rotter, CEO of itelligence AG, praises the IoT competence of the competition entrants and welcomes future collaboration with them: "Innovative companies are currently setting the course towards IoT and are networking machines, means of production and logistics systems to create cyber-physical systems. The consultants at itelligence know the effects of these innovations on the process chain and are developing smart IoT solutions through co-innovations." Digitalization pioneers point the way to innovation The digitalization campaign "itelligence of Things" assists companies along their journey into digitalization. Through a competition, itelligence and NTT DATA offered consulting services worth 50,000 euros each to two main winners. "Many companies are still underestimating the dynamics and value of digitalization," reports Hans Rauwolf, Head of Business Area Internet of Things (IoT) / Industry 4.0 at itelligence. "With the awards from this initiative, we seek to foster companies that gain competitive advantages through innovative steps." The award ceremony took place at the "Companies of the Future" conference on December 6, 2018 in Ulm. The award jury comprised Dr. Carsten H. Hahn, a professor in the Faculty of Management Science and Engineering at Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences, as well as digitalization experts Stefan Eller, Hans Rauwolf, Tobias Wahner, and Mark Albrecht (all from itelligence AG). Together with Dr. Rudiger Eichin (Research Director at SAP), Professor Carsten H. Hahn is also a co-initiator of project "Action Learning and Founding (ActiF)" at Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences. The award competition was all about identifying scenarios for the Internet of Things (IoT) that would boost the efficiency of a business process. 25 applications were received by the deadline of October 31, ten of them very concrete ideas for IoT and/or Industry 4.0 projects. "We got to know a great variety of interesting projects in our digitalization competition," reported Dr. Andreas Pauls, Head of SAP Business Unit Germany at itelligence. "We intend to pursue several exciting ideas emerging from the competition." Karlsruhe students become business angels All the finalists can consider themselves winners of this competition. itelligence is offering them individual support in developing their business cases. Professor Carsten Hahn has invited them to an expert panel discussion on the campus of Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences. Students doing an MA in Entrepreneurship have been called upon to contribute their expertise to help the innovations succeed, as the start-up expert announced: "With the IoT initiative, itelligence is enabling the participants to implement digitalization step by step. Following on from the discussion about numerous exciting project applications, I am pleased that both platform ideas and specific IoT digitization cases will receive support. I shall be glad to follow and assist itelligence's further activities in this area with my students." - Cross reference: Picture is available at AP Images (http://www.apimages.com ) About itelligence itelligence is one of the leading international full-service providers of solutions in support of SAP solutions, employing more than 7,500 highly qualified employees in 25 countries. As a frequently awarded SAP partner, itelligence is an SAP Hybris Gold partner and global value-added reseller. itelligence is an SAP-certified provider of cloud services and an SAP platinum partner. itelligence realizes complex projects in the SAP solution-based environment worldwide. The company's services in support of SAP solutions range from consulting and licensing to application management services and hosting services to proprietary industry-specific solutions. In 2017, itelligence generated total sales of EUR 872.2 million. Recommended links: "itelligence of Things Initiative": https://itelligencegroup.com/de/itelligence-of-things-initiative/ Preview video - itelligence World: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fo6UVjcTKGs&feature=youtu.be Public Relations Silvia Dicke Phone: +49-(0)-521-91448-107 Fax: +49-(0)-521-91445-201 Silvia.Dicke@itelligence.de itelligence AG Konigsbreede 1 33605 Bielefeld http://www.itelligencegroup.com by Vladimir Rozanskij Local people protest the annexation of the region to the Federal District of the Far East with means losing the advantages of the Siberian energy tariffs. Fears for the facilities for Chinese refugees who are also assigned a hectare of land and now can also settle on the shores of Lake Baikal, easily acquiring citizenship and property rights. Moscow (AsiaNews) - Some hundreds of inhabitants of Buryatia, an autonomous republic located in the Far East of the Russian Federation, have been protesting for days with spontaneous demonstrations in the building of the regional parliament of the capital Ulan-Ude (pictured). The Buriahs protest against the annexation of the region to the Federal District of the Far East, but also against the decision to clear the shores of Lake Baikal and against the reception in the region of Chinese immigrants. These decisions were made official in early November by President Vladimir Putin, detaching Buryatia from the Siberian District to add it to the more eastern regions. This has sparked the dissatisfaction of many inhabitants of the area, which also includes the other region of the Upper Bajkal (in Russia there are 89 federal subjects, including large cities, regions and republics, divided into some macro-districts). Over 10,000 signatures were collected on the change.org website for the return of the two regions to the Siberian administration. The petition also states that the inhabitants of Buryatia, due to the decision of Moscow, would lose the advantages of the Siberian energy tariffs, going from a price of 2.75 to 3.5 rubles per kWh. In addition, the protesters express their opposition to accepting the simplification of practices to give citizenship to refugees and immigrants from the People's Republic of China, who are also assigned a hectare of land in the Eastern Far East District, and now can also settle on the shores of Lake Baikal, easily acquiring citizenship and property rights. Protest slogans repeat "native Bajkal lands must stay with native citizens not sold off to the Chinese". Aleksej Fishev, a press officer of the president of Buryatia Aleksej Tsydenov, met the crowd, but failed to give satisfactory answers. Tsydenov had previously explained that the union with the Eastern District "gives great impetus to the development of the territory". Buryatia is an ancient region, inhabited by nomadic populations of Protomongolic origin, famous for the culture of "granite tombs" dating back to the Bronze Age. It was part of the medieval Mongol Empire, from which it was separated in 1729 with the definition of the borders between Russia and China. Since then the Buryiati group was formed, about 200 thousand Buddhist people, who under the Soviets constituted the autonomous Burano-Mongolian socialist Republic. The local population has always been very jealous of its historical traditions (in which there are feelings of hostility towards the Chinese) and the integrity of the natural environment, very special and rich in exclusive flora and fauna, especially around the great Lake Baikal, Unesco heritage and one of the "seven wonders" of Russia. LONDON, Dec. 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Intro: The Fertilizer Latino Americano conference will be coming to Mexico City in January 2019 and is celebrating 30 years as the industry's longest established and most influential networking event in Latin America. The conference has an excellent reputation for promoting commerce, investment, partnership and innovation across the Latin American markets. A major networking event for key stakeholders from across the international fertilizer supply chain, the conference regularly attracts 700 attendees from 50 countries; representing the key producers, consumers, traders and distributors who meet to do business at the very start of the year. This year, CRU is proud to have support from Mexico's leading fertilizer association, ANACOFER, who represent and promote the interests of the region's producers and distributors. Quote from Gabriel Duarte President, ANACOFER: "Dear Friends, It is a pleasure to welcome you to this important event for our industry. Mexico is a country full of great opportunities for investment and development, with an enormous cultural wealth; and full of warm and friendly people. As a country, we are facing an historical moment and we are very excited about it. Your presence at this event is particularly important, because with your help, we will define the basis of the role that Mexico will play in the new configuration of this dynamic industry. We hope you enjoy not only the business, but our incredible country, food, people and of course, our tequila. Welcome to Mexico." Dominic Halahan, CRU's Portfolio Director for Fertilizer Events, anticipates a welcome return to Mexico for this essential industry gathering. He adds: "Latin America is an agricultural powerhouse accounting for 12% of total global NPK demand with Mexico positioned as the second largest consumer in the region, accounting for 8% of total consumption. From agricultural land expansions in Brazil to efficiency gains in Mexico, the region's fertilizer industry continues to grow steadily. Next year will mark the 30th anniversary of the Fertilizer Latino Americano conference and since the inaugural event we have visited every key market in the region, supporting the industry through bull and bear markets alike. We are expecting 700 delegates to join us in Mexico in January 2019 to trade and barter fertilizers for the planting seasons, to listen to the informative presentations and to help us celebrate the event's 30th edition." Alongside extensive business opportunities, the three-day agenda will deliver top-tier presentations from Mexico's biggest fertilizer producers as well as a keynote address from the Mexican Ministry of Agriculture. In-depth debates taking place throughout the conference will include a panel discussion on global supply and demand trends with CRU's experts; trade and market updates, the latest technologies; and dedicated sessions on specialty fertilizers. Key speakers confirmed include: Andy Jung , Director, Market and Strategic Analysis, The Mosaic Company , Director, Market and Strategic Analysis, Dr. Cleiton Sequeira , Latin America Manager, Agronomy & Sales, Koch Fertilizer , Manager, Agronomy & Sales, Chris Reynolds , Senior Vice President, Nutrien , Senior Vice President, David Roquetti Filho , Executive Director, ANDA , Executive Director, Dr. Nils Berger , Senior Agronomist Global R&D Premium Products, Eurochem , Senior Agronomist Global R&D Premium Products, Gustavo Branco , General Director, Haifa South America Delegates will leave the event understanding the market factors which will impact their businesses; as well as benefitting from exposure to a large, C-suite audience and enabling multiple business meetings in one location. Running alongside the conference is a large-scale exhibition showcasing the latest technologies, products and solutions. For exhibition enquiries and to book private meeting rooms in advance of the conference, please contact Paul Terry at paul.terry@crugroup.com or +44 (0)20 7903 2131. We are delighted to have OCP, Indorama, Ma'aden, ICL and Koch Agronomic Services as key sponsors; as well as industry support from ANACOFER, International Fertilizer Industry Association, Fertilizar, Abisolo, The Fertilizer Insitute, IZA, ANFFE and ANDA. The Fertilizer Latino Americano conference is produced in collaboration with Argus and will be taking place at the Hilton Reforma, Mexico City on 28-30 January 2019. Please visit http://www.fla-conference.com/ to find out more and to book your place. For press invitations please contact CRU Events. About CRU: CRU offers unrivalled business intelligence on the global metals, mining and fertilizer industries through market analysis, price assessments, consultancy and events. Since our foundation in 1969, we have consistently invested in primary research and robust methodologies, and developed expert teams in key locations worldwide, including in hard-to-reach markets such as China. CRU employs over 250 experts and has more than 10 offices around the world, in Europe, the Americas, China, Asia and Australia - our office in Beijing opened in 2004. CRU events are well respected for attracting the most senior level professionals and providing valuable networking opportunities throughout the year for global audiences. For more information visit www.crugroup.com/events The European Investment Trust Plc - Transaction in Own Shares The European Investment Trust plc ("the Company") The Company announces that on 6 December 2018 it purchased the following number of its ordinary shares of 25 pence each on the main market of the London Stock Exchange. Ordinary Shares: Date of purchase: 6 December 2018 Number of ordinary shares purchased: 10,000 Lowest price per share 802p Highest price per share 802p The Company intends to cancel the purchased shares. Following the above transaction, the Company has 41,116,269 ordinary shares in issue. Each of the Company's shares carries one vote. Accordingly, the total number of voting rights of the Company is 41,116,269. 7 December 2018 LEI: 213800QNN9EHZ4SC1R12 Enquiries: Kenneth J Greig Edinburgh Partners AIFM Limited Tel: 0131 270 3800 The Company's registered office address is: Beaufort House 51 New North Road Exeter EX4 4EP NEW YORK, December 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- GSX Group, tZERO, SharesPost, and Techemy among founding members of the Verified Token Framework to provide interoperable security token guidelines A consortium of some of the most influential blockchain industry leaders have announced the launch of a common framework to facilitate market interoperability of security tokens. The Millbrook Accord, formed at the Blockchain South Leadership Summit 2018 at the Millbrook Resort in Queenstown, New Zealand, includes SharesPost, Techemy, tZERO, Gibraltar Stock Exchange (GSX) Group, Global Advisors, ERCDEX, NEM, HyperLink Capital, Alchemist Ventures, Bankorus, Blockchain Labs, and AnyPay. Governed by the Blockchain Token Association (BTA), the Millbrook Accord is a working group focused on the promotion and representation of Security Token initiatives, and the maturation of new digital asset classes. The accord's new Verified Token Framework (VTF) will provide leading industry guidelines on security token interoperability, and aims to become the foremost reference document, codebase, and community for the security token ecosystem. The core VTF codebase itself is open-source. Security tokens are digital assets representing traditional securities, including physical assets and equities, and are expected to serve as a fundamental pillar of the future of financial products. The addressable market for security tokens is estimated to be around $500 trillion USD, with investments in the new asset class having already exceeded $500 million USD in 2018 alone. The primary purpose of the Millbrook Accord is to put forward practical solutions in order to facilitate a more seamless process for verifying identities, navigating jurisdictions, and ensuring compliance among token holders, exchanges, and platforms. Saum Noursalehi, CEO of tZERO, said: "In order for the security token movement to grow, companies need to agree on an unbiased standard. The Verified Token Framework is a step toward ensuring that digital assets are interoperable and that the unique challenges presented by security tokens are addressed." In order to support continued collaboration and consensus-building in addressing some of the biggest obstacles to the continued expansion of the blockchain industry, the Millbrook Accord will hold quarterly bake-offs in locations all over the world, with the first being held in New York City. As part of these meetings, members will be encouraged to review and contribute to a new GitHub repository, which has been set up to help advance the accord's software goals. Jeff Pulver, Chairman of the Blockchain Token Association, said: "In the Voice over Internet Protocol era, we invited industry leaders to bring their production-ready code to quarterly bake-offs, where developers sought to make their code interoperable. The result was a free and open source set of standards, which ultimately led to interoperability of services. We believe a similar collaborative approach to technological advancement will assist in the acceleration of blockchain adoption and the maturation of the global security tokens ecosystem." Addressing the currently fragmented industry standards which result from differing regulatory requirements in global jurisdictions, the Millbrook Accord VTF aims to accelerate adoption and growth of tokenized securities by supporting industry alignment and collective focus to overcome a common challenge. In addition, the VTF codebase will include various regional compliance and feature requirements for security tokens. NEM, a founding member of the Millbrook Accord, will serve as the first non-Ethereum based blockchain implementation of the VTF through its protocol features, making the VTF the first formalized multi-chain effort for security tokens to date. Fran Strajnar, CEO and Founder of Techemy, said, "The members of the Millbrook Accord and the BTA have come together due to our shared belief that the security token industry is set to experience an interoperability crisis. Tokens issued by various groups will be incompatible between blockchains, within market participants, including the exchanges that will list them, as well as the custodians and broker dealers who will handle them. The Millbrook Accord is an effort to create an interoperable framework for security tokens, which can be adopted on any smart-contract enabled blockchain and in any country." Fran Strajnar, CEO of Techemy and Jeff Pulver, Chairman of the Blockchain Token Association are available for interview. About the Millbrook Accord: The Millbrook Accord is a working group formed by key drivers of the security token movement. Formed at the Blockchain South 2018 Leadership Summit at the Millbrook Resort, Queenstown, New Zealand, the Millbrook Accord sets out to provide solutions and industry guidelines surrounding the current complexities around security token interactions. Focusing on the development of interoperability solutions for the securities token market, the working group aims to provide practical solutions when it comes to navigating jurisdictions and ensuring compliance among token holders, exchanges, and platforms. Spearheaded by Techemy Ltd, the group's founding members include SharesPost, tZERO, GSX Group, Global Advisors, ERCDEX, NEM, HyperLink Capital, Alchemist Ventures, Bankorus, Blockchain Labs, AnyPay, and Wachsman. For more information, visit: VerifiedTokenFramework.com ROCKVILLE, Maryland, December 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The packaging industry is one of the foremost industrial sectors to give birth to the throwaway culture, which is responsible for the damages caused by millions of tons of waste produced each year. As a result, growing concerns about environment have given rise to sustainability trends in the packaging industry, thereby boosting adoption of metal packaging solutions. (Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/713666/FactMR_Logo.jpg ) The metal packaging coatings market banks on the growing shift from plastic to metal in the packaging industry. By 2018, themetal packaging coatings market is likely to envisage 3.8% y-o-y over 2017, according to a recent market study published by Fact.MR. The study remains bullish on positive growth of the metal packaging coatings market, as the use of metal packaging solutions has reached new heights in various industrial applications in the recent years. The Fact.MR study thoroughly assesses macro and microeconomic factors that may redefine growth prospects of the metal packaging coatings market in the foreseeable future. The study also provides a holistic assessment of market dynamics to obtain nearly accurate conclusions about market growth and provides actionable insights to readers. Request For Sample Report-https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=S&rep_id=2433 Sales of Metal Packaging Coatings will Remain Highly Concentrated in Developed Regions According to the Fact.MR study, the metal packaging coatings market in developed regions, such as North America and Europe, is expected to account for more than half the sales of metal packaging coating in 2018. The study opines that the trend will continue to persist throughout the upcoming decade, generating most lucrative opportunities for metal packaging coating manufacturers in North America and European Union. Some of the key findings of the Fact.MR study that elucidate the market scenario and competitive environment in developed metal packaging coatings markets are, Collectively, North America and Europe will account for over 55% volume share of the global market for metal packaging coatings market in 2018 and will account for over 55% volume share of the global market for metal packaging coatings market in 2018 Stringent regulations on the use of plastic in food packaging solutions are bolstering the use of metal packaging, which is mainly boosting the growth of metal packaging coatings market in these regions Increasing use of steel and aluminum containers in packaging for human as well as pet food products in developed countries is triggering adoption of metal packaging coatings Awareness about sustainability of metal food packaging among consumers, which makes a huge impact on consumer behavior, has multiplied the number of metal packaging applications. This, in turn, will accelerate expansion of the metal packaging coatings market in developed countries Leading metal packaging coatings market players in developed regions are adopting advanced technologies to introduce superior performance characteristics of metal packaging coatings. This is expected to complement the metal packaging coatings market growth in upcoming years. Browse Full Report on Metal Packaging Coatings Market with TOC-https://www.factmr.com/report/2433/metal-packaging-coatings-market The Fact.MR study also projects that leading metal packaging coatings market players in developed regions will introduce innovative types of metal packaging coatings, which can improve safety, durability, as well as aesthetics of metal packaging in the foreseeable future. New Trends in Food & Beverage Packaging will Spur Demand for Metal Packaging Coatings Growing needs for sustainable and environment-friendly packaging have exerted immense pressure on stakeholders in the packaged food & beverage industry. The selection of appropriate packaging materials plays a pivotal role in retaining the product quality and conservation throughout the period of consignment and storage. Despite the lower cost and functional benefits of plastic packaging, the F&B industry is shifting towards development of active packaging technologies, which is escalating the use of metal packaging for food & beverages. The Fact.MR study projects that beverage cans will continue to generate maximum demand for metal packaging coatings, dominating the sales of various product types of metal packaging coatings by 2018. Thereby, modern food & beverage manufacturers plumping for metallic food packaging will augur well for the incremental growth of metal packaging coatings market in the foreseeable future. Fact.MR study offers an in-depth explanation of how the metal packaging coatings market will grow during the forecast period 2018-2027. According to conclusions of the Fact.MR study, the metal packaging coatings market will grow at a healthy 4.1% volume CAGR through 2017. To Buy Metal Packaging Coatings Market Report, Check-https://www.factmr.com/checkout/2433/S About Fact.MR Fact.MR is a fast-growing market research firm that offers the most comprehensive suite of syndicated and customized market research reports. We believe transformative intelligence can educate and inspire businesses to make smarter decisions. We know the limitations of the one-size-fits-all approach; that's why we publish multi-industry global, regional, and country-specific research reports. Contact Us Rohit Bhisey Fact.MR 11140 Rockville Pike Suite 400 Rockville, MD 20852 United States Email: sales@factmr.com Web: https://www.factmr.com/ Blog: https://factmrblog.com/ Read Industry News at - https://www.industrynewsanalysis.com/ THE DEDICA ANTHOLOGY COMPLETES ITS PLANNED REFINANCING Milan-based hotel group The Dedica Anthology is pleased to announce that it successfully completed its planned 337 million refinancing. The lender is Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies, and the facilities will refinance legacy loans and provide additional capital for The Dedica Anthology owned by global alternative investment firm VardePartners - to invest significantly in its estate. London-based real estate specialist JLL advised Varde Partners on the transaction. Stephen Alden, CEO of The Dedica Anthology, commented: "We are delighted to have completed this complex refinancing. Our own team, the board, our advisors and the lending group have worked hard in collaboration to achieve this excellent result. Our focus is now fully on building The Dedica Anthology brand, carrying out strategic renovation and restoration work on our distinctive properties, strengthening our team and growing our business." Alessandro Grassivaro, CFO of The Dedica Anthology, added, "Dedica now has a firm financial foundation from which to invest in our real estate and build a successful brand for the future, both as owner as well as operator." Francisco Milone, Partner and Head of European Real Estate at Varde Partners, commented, "Since completing the purchase of Gruppo Boscolo in April 2017 we have put in place a new management team and rebranded the hotels to The Dedica Anthology throughout Italy, France, Hungary and the Czech Republic. Now with that strong management in place, a restructured balance sheet and a supportive and expert lender in Blackstone, the company is well-positioned for growth." Michael Zerda, Managing Director and Head of Europe for Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies, commented: "We are thrilled to have Varde as a valued new client and we're excited to be a part of their repositioning of this iconic portfolio of hotels. We regularly provide speed and certainty for owners of large and complex multi-jurisdictional portfolios across the globe, and are proud to expand our whole loan lending business into Southern Europe in such a meaningful way." Chris Gow, Head of Debt Advisory, EMEA, in JLL's Hotels Hospitality Group which advised Varde Partners, described the deal as a landmark. "The Dedica Anthology now has a supportive, long-term lender, as it invests in its portfolio to unlock significant revenue and value growth for the business." About The Dedica Anthology Launched in 2018, The Dedica Anthology is a new brand in luxury hotellerie based on a portfolio of distinctive hotels in Italy and across Europe. 'Dedica' refers to a dedication to the art of curated hotel-keeping, while 'Anthology' describes the collection of unique stories represented by the hotels and their guests. The Dedica Anthology creates inspiring spaces and engaging rituals in rhythm with its international guests' contemporary lives, pioneering a new vision of curated, contemporary hotellerie. About Varde Partners Varde Partners is a $14 billion global alternative investment firm that employs a value-based approach to investing across a broad array of geographies, segments and asset types, including corporate and traded credit, real estate, mortgages, specialty finance, real assets and infrastructure. The firm sponsors and manages a family of private investment funds with a global investor base that includes foundations and endowments, pension plans, insurance companies, other institutional investors and private clients. Now in its third decade, Varde employs more than 300 people globally with regional headquarters in Minneapolis, London and Singapore. About Blackstone Blackstone is one of the world's leading investment firms. We seek to create positive economic impact and long-term value for our investors, the companies we invest in, and the communities in which we work. We do this by using extraordinary people and flexible capital to help companies solve problems. Our asset management businesses, with $457 billion in assets under management, include investment vehicles focused on private equity, real estate, public debt and equity, non-investment grade credit, real assets and secondary funds, all on a global basis. Further information is available at www.blackstone.com. Follow Blackstone on Twitter @Blackstone. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181207005138/en/ Contacts: Further information: Andrea Raphael e: Communications@varde.com Flaviana Facchini PR e: Press.office@dahotels.com t: +39 339 6401271 www.dahotels.com Xi'an Hosts Kick-off Event for Terracotta Warrior Geocaching in Berlin BERLIN, Dec. 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- On December 6, two well-known artists from the city of Xi'an, China visited Berlin to install more than 100 terracotta warrior replicas on a boat that traveled down the Spree River in the heart of Berlin. The art installation was part of the kick-off event where Mr. Wang Ben, painter and chairman of Xi'an Chinese Art Academy and Mr. Zhang Deyong, calligrapher from Xi'an, demonstrated their traditional Chinese art and announced the beginning of a four-day geocaching game in the city of Berlin. "I am very happy that the 'Xi'an Meets Berlin' event is taking place in Berlin," said Ms. Chu Huizi, representative from the Chinese Embassy to Germany. "This is the first time that the Terracotta Army has been presented in such an interactive form outside of China, such as an art installation or geocaching, and it's great for Berliners to experience the magic of the Terracotta Army in this way." The kick-off event hosted around 100 people on a cruise down the river Spree, with a live painting demonstration from the Xi'an artists. Attendees had the opportunity to capture photos of the art installation against famous Berlin landmarks like the Reichstag and the Paul Lobe-Haus. "I am very excited to be in Berlin sharing Xi'an with the city," said Mr. Wang Ben, a well-known painter from Xi'an. "Art is central to Berlin's culture and we wanted to create a unique way of presenting our city to the Berlin people. We hope that this helps to build bridges between Berlin and Xi'an and allow us to share in each other's culture." Following the event, Berliners were invited to join in a geocaching game over the weekend, ending at 8:00 p.m. on Sunday, December 9. Participants will use the locations hosted on the event website www.XianBerlin.de to find the miniature terracotta warriors hidden around Berlin. Once participants find one of the 25 hidden figures, they can publicly post to Facebook or Instagram with a photo using XianBerlin to be entered to win a trip for two to Xi'an in 2019. A winner will be selected and announced on December 11 following the official end of the competition. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/795144/XIAN_terracotta_warrior.jpg LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / December 7, 2018 / On November 22th, the fifth Food Matters Live (FML) exhibition drew to a successful close at London's ExCeL. As the first cross-sector event in the UK and the leading food event in the world, FML took three days and featured over 550 leading companies excelling in the food, drink, and nutrition sectors with advanced technology, and over 20,000 experts and professionals communicating about the latest research findings and new trends in the food industry. At the exhibition, a Chinese brand caught the attention of the attendees. PRO-KIDO, the master formula brand of Yili Group, was the first Asian formula brand to be invited by FML and was a 'Best Better-for-You Ingredient of the Year' award finalist. 21st, Dr. Adrienne Weiss, the Open Innovation Project Leader from Yili Innovation Center Europe, introduced the international breastfeeding situation and reported the achievements of the Yili Group's research on Chinese breast milk. She also discussed the innovative protein combination of "alpha + beta" from a scientific angle and explained how Yili applies its research results to Yili's PRO-KIDO, a very famous infant formula brand in China. PRO-KIDO's breakthrough could not be possible without Yili's 16-year Chinese breast milk research. It is the R&D platform based on the 'Chinese Breast Milk Research' that made PRO-KIDO become the 'Chinese Legend.' As early as 2003, Yili has taken the lead in breast milk research. In 2007, Yili established China's first enterprise 'breast research database,' which has accumulated more than 1 million in data of breast milk nutrient so far. Yili has successively made breakthroughs in a-lactalbumin, -casein, OPO structural lipids, nucleotides, and breast milk oligosaccharides research. Yili obtained the patent 'Infant formula of a-lactalbumin and -casein and its preparation method,' which won the China Patent Excellence Award and was also applied to PRO-KIDO products. In 2018, through collaboration with the world's top universities and research institutions, it was a new milestone for Yili to upgrade the Yili Maternal and Child Nutrition Research Institute and the European Innovation Center to strengthen their research on breast milk further. As a major player in the global dairy industry, the Chinese dairy market has become the focus of the world dairy industry, which puts higher demands on dairy companies. The Chinese dairy enterprises represented by Yili are winning the recognition and respect of the world with practical actions. Pursuing the world's top quality, Chinese dairy enterprises focuses on breastmilk research, gathering the world's advanced technology, and establishing the 'Chinese Brand Formula.' CONTACT: Chris Chen 937-716-3876 Chris.chen@webridgeus.com SOURCE: Yili Group View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/529927/Yili-Became-the-First-Asian-Formula-Brand-to-Attend-UKs-Food-Matters-Live Bermuda, December 7, 2018 Dear Shareholders, We refer to our message of November 22, 2018, regarding the sales of our two 1999 built tankers, the Nordic Aurora and the Nordic Sprite. The sales are now in the process of being finalized. The ships have been sold at a price of about USD10 million per unit. 30 % of the price was paid by the buyer today. The ships are scheduled to be delivered to the new owners later this month when the balance of the purchase price will be paid. The contracts contain provisions related to the Hong Kong Convention (2009) for ships. Since the summer of 2018, 10 ships have been sold by NAT. The total gross sales proceeds are USD 98.8 million including inventories and before costs of the transactions. The sales are a part of our commercial strategy and represent an important modernization of the fleet, which now stands at 23 units. The NAT fleet has an average age of about 10 years. The tanker market for our suezmaxes is strong. The payment of dividend will continue to remain a key element in NAT. Our fleet is well positioned to benefit from the buoyant conditions. CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS Matters discussed in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides safe harbor protections for forward-looking statements in order to encourage companies to provide prospective information about their business. Forward-looking statements include statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance, and underlying assumptions and other statements, which are other than statements of historical facts. The Company desires to take advantage of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and is including this cautionary statement in connection with this safe harbor legislation. The words "believe," "anticipate," "intend," "estimate," "forecast," "project," "plan," "potential," "will," "may," "should," "expect," "pending" and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this press release are based upon various assumptions, many of which are based, in turn, upon further assumptions, including without limitation, our management's examination of historical operating trends, data contained in our records and other data available from third parties. Although we believe that these assumptions were reasonable when made, because these assumptions are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies which are difficult or impossible to predict and are beyond our control, we cannot assure you that we will achieve or accomplish these expectations, beliefs or projections. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Important factors that, in our view, could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements include the strength of world economies and currencies, general market conditions, including fluctuations in charter rates and vessel values, changes in demand in the tanker market, as a result of changes in OPEC's petroleum production levels and worldwide oil consumption and storage, changes in our operating expenses, including bunker prices, drydocking and insurance costs, the market for our vessels, availability of financing and refinancing, changes in governmental rules and regulations or actions taken by regulatory authorities, potential liability from pending or future litigation, general domestic and international political conditions, potential disruption of shipping routes due to accidents or political events, vessels breakdowns and instances of off-hires and other important factors described from time to time in the reports filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the prospectus and related prospectus supplement, our Annual Report on Form 20-F, and our reports on Form 6-K. Contacts: Gary J. Wolfe Seward & Kissel LLP New York, USA Tel: +1 212 574 1223 Bjrn Giver, CFO Nordic American Tankers Limited Tel: +1 888 755 8391 or +47 91 35 00 91 Herbjrn Hansson, Chairman & CEO Nordic American Tankers Limited Tel: +1 866 805 9504 or +47 90 14 62 91 Web-site: www.nat.bm (http://www.nat.bm) Press release (PDF) (http://hugin.info/201/R/2228282/875030.pdf) This announcement is distributed by West Corporation on behalf of West Corporation clients. The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein. Source: Nordic American Tankers Limited via Globenewswire Results reflect bright outlook for U.S. biotech investment but foresee potential challenges abroad Biotech Showcase, one of the largest biotech investor conferences in the world, today revealed the results of a pre-conference survey of life science executives and investors regarding the 2019 biotech landscape. Several questions asked about how biotech investment may change due to U.S. stock market volatility, the U.S. and China trade war, and/or the U.K. exit from the E.U. Overall, results reflect a bright outlook for U.S. biotech investment but signal potential challenges abroad. Survey results are available for viewing and downloading here. "Each year life science investors and leaders gather in January in San Francisco to set the stage for deals and investments in the coming year. The results of this survey indicate industry is primed to see continued investment in both ongoing therapeutic endeavors as well as novel innovations around the globe," said Sara Demy, founder and CEO, Demy-Colton. "We look forward to seeing how the partnering and discussions that will take place at Biotech Showcase in 2019 will reflect and influence these trends throughout the new year." Key highlights from the 2019 Biotech Showcase survey include: A majority (65 percent) of life science investors and executives expect to see an increase in investment during 2019 Biotech leaders think cell and gene therapy is poised to have biggest breakthrough in 2019 among the major categories China is predicted to see the biggest percentage increase in 2019 biotech investment dollars when compared to other global biotech hot spots Life science leaders do not expect the U.S. and China trade war to have an impact on their regional strategies, but they do expect it will have long-term impact on investments coming from that region 75 percent of investors expect to see a decrease in investments in the U.K. when it exits from the E.U. in March; other markets will see an increase or remain unchanged The survey also contains predictive data around: Which U.S. cities will receive increased investment dollars What major challenges companies will face in securing investment dollars Predictions around 2019 stock market stability Run concurrently with Biotech Showcase, China Showcase and Digital Medicine Medtech Showcase will also entice investors and entrepreneurs to convene and take a look at global biotech advancements. China Showcase provides attendees an opportunity to capitalize on cross-border investment and collaborations while learning about best practices and strategies for deal making in China, while the Digital Medicine Medtech Showcase will feature a series of presentations and thought leaders who can speak to the evolving landscape of digital health technology. For more information or to register for the event, go to BiotechShowcase.com. Credentialed press can apply for free registration online here. About Demy-Colton Since 2008, Demy-Colton has been at the forefront of building networks between leaders from innovative biotech companies and industry stakeholders to examine and address biotech opportunities and challenges and deliver on the promise of transformational science. We do this through facilitating networking and biotech community development on an international scale. Our investor conferences and CEO Summits expand communities that transcend geographical boundaries establishing ongoing, high-value relationships that contributes greatly to the evolution of the biopharmaceutical ecosystems we cultivate. We set a unique stage where biotech leaders, investors, and stakeholders can connect to realize significant opportunities for investment, learning, and growth. Our events spur introductions and thoughtful conversations. In turn, inspiration, ideas, and opportunities for investment flow. Demy-Colton's expanding portfolio of conferences includes: Biotech Showcase a unique forum in San Francisco for presenting to investors and business development executives Digital Medicine Medtech Showcase A two and a half day meeting, coinciding with Biotech Showcase, where key opinion leaders, investors and CEOs in the digital medicine and medtech spaces examine the latest industry advances and trends. China Showcase A one-day meeting, coinciding with Biotech Showcase, that highlights cross-border biotech investment and collaboration opportunities between China and the U.S. Biotech CEO Summit An invitation-only, thought-provoking meeting for biotech industry leaders united by the common goal of driving responsible growth and innovation Biotech CEO Summit Europe An invitation-only, one-of-a-kind event dedicated to helping the leadership of newly public and late stage private biotech companies navigate the constantly evolving biotech landscape About EBD Group EBD Group's overriding mission is to help collaborations get started across the life science value chain. Our range of partnering conferences has grown to become the largest and most productive conference platform in the industry. Each one of our seven landmark events held in key life science markets around the world is powered by our state-of-the-art partnering software, partneringONE, that enables delegates to efficiently identify and engage with new opportunities via one-to-one meetings. Today our events (BIO-Europe, BIO-Europe Spring, BioPharm America, Biotech Showcase, China Showcase, Digital Medicine Medtech Showcase, ChinaBio Partnering Forum, Cell Gene Connect, and BioEquity Europe) annually attract more than 12,000 senior life science executives who engage in over 48,000 one-to-one partnering meetings. These vital one-to-one engagements are the wellspring of deals that drive innovation in our industry. Tune into EBD Group's Partnering Insight for timely coverage of news that influences the business strategies of the life science industry. EBD Group is an Informa company. For more information please visit www.ebdgroup.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181207005048/en/ Contacts: Kari Bennett EBD Group (760) 930-0500 kbennett@ebdgroup.com Peggy Vorwald CG Life for Demy-Colton (858) 457-2436 ext. 2013 pvorwald@cglife.com PALM BEACH, Florida, December 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Financialnewsmedia.com News Commentary Vanadium has been on a run as one of the more valuable metals as evidence of its potency and utility in the energy efficient battery market becomes increasingly more obvious as well as growing demand due to a number of factors currently existing in the global economic climate. What used to be one of the world's least known metals now holds great importance and likely to become more so as renewable energies catch up with and possibly eclipse fossil fuels. One of the key trends is the rising demand for vanadium redox batteries, which are viewed as a replacement to lithium-ion batteries and require no maintenance for up to 25 years. With technological advances in cell phones and smart cars, the demand for energy efficient and reliable fuel sources is quickly rising. Leaders in the vanadium market are taking advantage of the current conditions, through acquisitions and cornering new markets. Active mining companies in the markets this week include Delrey Metals Corp. (CSE:DLRY) (FSE:1OZ), Prophecy Development Corp. (TSX:PCY) (OTC:PRPCF), Largo Resources Ltd. (TSX:LGO) (OTC:LGORF), Vanadium One Energy Corp. (TSX-V:VONE) (OTC:VDMRF), First Vanadium Corp. (TSX-V:FVAN) (OTC:FVANF). Delrey Metals Corp. (CNX:DLRY) (FSE:1OZ) BREAKING NEWS: Delrey Metals is pleased to announce it has entered into and closed a share exchange agreement dated December 6, 2018 (the "Share Exchange Agreement") with BC Vanadium Corp., a private arm's length corporation ("BCVC"), to acquire all the issued and outstanding share capital of BCVC. Pursuant to the terms of the Share Exchange Agreement, the Company issued 5,500,000 common shares of the Company (each, a "Share") and repaid debt of $10,000 owed to a creditor of BCVC. All securities issued pursuant to the Share Exchange Agreement will be subject to a four month statutory hold period. BCVC owns a 100 percent undivided, unencumbered legal and beneficial interest in both the Star and the Porcher Vanadium properties (the "Properties"), located in northwestern British Columbia. The Properties cover a total area of 6,740 hectares and host vanadium mineralization within large bodies of titaniferous magnetite. The Properties are strategically located on tidewater, near to the small logging community of Oona River on Porcher Island. About the Porcher and Star Vanadium Projects: The Properties are comprised of large-scale ultramafic complexes which are intruded by gabbroic bodies hosting iron-titanium-vanadium (Fe-Ti-V) mineralization within massive titaniferous magnetite. Historic samples collected from the gabbro's range from 0.34 to 0.84% V 2 O 5 . Two of the gabbro bodies mapped on surface display lateral extents of 5.3km x 0.8km and 4.0km x 0.6km. Reconnaissance stream sediment surveys conducted on the Properties returned vanadium values in the 99th percentile of all British Columbia's Regional Geochemistry Survey (RGS) databases. Highlights: Strong magnetic high anomalies, up to 7km x 5km, indicate that the historic mapping likely underestimated the size of the Fe-Ti-V bearing magnetite bodies and good upside potential exists for expansion. The Properties are located in a historic mining district. The Surf Point Mine, located on the northwest corner of Porcher Island , operated from 1919 through to 1939, before shutting down at the onset of World War II. , operated from 1919 through to 1939, before shutting down at the onset of World War II. Both Properties are easily accessible by boat or helicopter and workable year round. Active barge-logging is underway within the project areas, which has created a network of logging roads and allows for low cost exploration and development. An initial work program including a high-resolution airborne magnetic survey is planned in the near term on both Properties. Morgan Good, President and CEO of Delrey commented: "We are extremely excited to announce the acquisition of these two vanadium projects into Delrey's growing portfolio. We look forward to completing high resolution magnetic surveys on the projects and continuing to generate news flow for the Company during the winter months. The vanadium redox battery market is still in its infancy and demand is set to grow exponentially over the coming years. With the vanadium price at all-time highs and forecasted to continue rising, Delrey is well positioned to capitalize on this emerging market."Read this and more news for Delrey Metals athttps://www.financialnewsmedia.com/news-dlry Other recent developments in the miningindustry include: Prophecy Development Corp. (TSX:PCY.TO) (OTCQX:PRPCF) recently announced it has closed its previously announced bought deal financing for aggregate gross proceeds of C$5,520,000 (the "Offering"). The net proceeds of the Offering will be used to continue exploration and advance development and permitting of the Company's Gibellini Vanadium Project and for general corporate purposes. The securities offered have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or under any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements thereunder. Prophecy is developing the Gibellini project - the only large-scale, open-pit, heap-leach vanadium project of its kind in North America. Located in Nevada, Gibellini has the largest NI 43-101 compliant measured and indicated primary vanadium resource known in the USA and is currently undergoing EPCM and EIS preparation. Largo Resources Ltd. (TSX:LGO.TO) (OTCQX:LGORF) recently announced record cash provided before non-cash working capital items of $127.5 million and basic earnings per share of $0.14 on record revenues of $149.5 million during the third quarter 2018. Production at the Maracas Menchen Mine for the quarter was 2,563 tonnes of V2O5, representing a new quarterly production record and the Company's strongest quarter of production to date. Mark Smith , Chief Executive Officer for Largo, stated: "Largo delivered robust financial performance as a result of record operational output from the Maracas Menchen Mine in the third quarter. The Company also reported the highest ever revenues and operating cash flows to date of $149.5 million and $113.4 million , respectively, and continues to strengthen its balance sheet every quarter. Production at the Maracas Menchen Mine continued to be strong delivering its best quarter of the year with record production of 2,563 tonnes of V2O5. We continue to advance the expansion project at the Maracas Menchen Mine and the Company remains on track to achieve its increased production guidance for 2018." Vanadium One Energy Corp. (TSX-V:VONE.V) (OTC:VDMRF) recently announced that the expanded Phase 2 drilling program has commenced at its Mont Sorcier Vanadium-Magnetite Project in Chibougamau, Quebec. Logging and core sampling has begun and the Company expects to complete this phase of drilling in November. The Company is also pleased to announce that 792 samples from its Phase 2B drilling program have been shipped to SGS, in Lakefield, Ontario, for assaying. The Company expects to begin receiving initial results from the assays in early December. First Vanadium Corp. (TSX-V:FVAN.V) (OTCQX:FVANF) last week announced it has negotiated the purchase of a 1.5% NSR attached to its Carlin Vanadium property in consideration for which it will issue 1,300,000 common shares of the Company to the owner of the NSR. The shares, when issued, will be subject to a hold period expiring four months plus a day after the date of their issuances in compliance with Canadian securities laws. The completion of this purchase is subject to TSX Venture Exchange acceptance. Paul Cowley, President of the Company, stated: "This is a unique opportunity for us at this time to extinguish a 1.5% NSR on the Carlin Vanadium Property and associated advanced royalty payments, all at a deep discount of roughly 67% to the original US$3 million buy-back price established for this NSR. This preserves and focuses our treasury on advancing the project. Upon completion of this transaction, only a 2% NSR will remain attached to the property, with the Company retaining the rights to purchase the remaining NSR for US$4 million." DISCLAIMER: FN Media Group LLC (FNM), which owns and operates Financialnewsmedia.com and MarketNewsUpdates.com, is a third party publisher and news dissemination service provider, which disseminates electronic information through multiple online media channels. FNM is NOT affiliated in any manner with any company mentioned herein. FNM and its affiliated companies are a news dissemination solutions provider and are NOT a registered broker/dealer/analyst/adviser, holds no investment licenses and may NOT sell, offer to sell or offer to buy any security. FNM's market updates, news alerts and corporate profiles are NOT a solicitation or recommendation to buy, sell or hold securities. The material in this release is intended to be strictly informational and is NEVER to be construed or interpreted as research material. 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Contact Information: Media Contact email: editor@financialnewsmedia.com +1(561)325-8757 According to a Swiss bank, the richest 1 per cent of the population controls 66.9 per cent of nations wealth. The poorest 50 per cent owns 1.7 per cent, whilst the bottom 70 per cent has 5 per cent. Government spokesman says report is based on "outdated information and is incomplete and unreliable. Bangkok (AsiaNews/Agencies) Thailand has overtaken Russia and India as the most unequal country in the world, this according to the Credit Suisse Global Wealth Databook 2018 of 40 countries. Thailands government dismissed the findings, claiming that the gap between rich and poor actually narrowed. Two years ago, Thailand ranked third in the Credit Suisse report. In 2016, 1 per cent (500,000 people) of the population owned 58 per cent of the country's wealth. This year, it controls 66.9 per cent, more than in Russia, where the share of wealth held by the top 1 per cent dropped from 78 per cent to 57.1 per cent. Meanwhile, Meanwhile, 50 per cent of the poorest Thais (25 million people) owned 1.7 per cent of the countrys wealth whilst 70 per cent (35 million) controlled 5 per cent. By comparison, the richest people in Turkey control 54.1 per cent of that nations wealth despite the economic crisis that recently hit the country. India has dropped to fourth place, with its wealthiest share go from 58.4 per cent to 51.5 per cent. In no other nation does the top 1 per cent control more than half of the countrys wealth. Reacting to the Credit Suisse report, the Thai government rejected its findings, claiming that it is based on "outdated information", Government spokesman Buddhipongse Punnakanta said today that the study was based on data from 2006 and had insufficient information about the present situation. Hence, the information was incomplete and unreliable. The report used data from the Bank of Thailand and the International Monetary Fund, but this data did not show any assets possessed by the one-per cent richest Thai people. In fact, inequality in Thailand was gradually being reduced. The income gap between the richest and the poorest groups narrowed from 29.92 times in 2006 to 19.29 in 2017, Mr Buddhipongse said. OSLO, Norway, Dec. 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- DigiPlex, the leading Nordic data centre company, is pleased to announce it has won Renewable Energy Technology of the Year at the prestigious 2018 Energy Awards, held Wednesday night in London. DigiPlex won the award in a highly competitive category in recognition of its work to retrofit its data centre facility in Sweden to recapture waste heat and return it to the community. The judging panel made particular note of the benefits DigiPlex's technology will provide, both in terms of energy efficiency and in aid of corporate citizenship. The Energy Awards Judging Panel 2018 provided the following remarks on DigiPlex's heat reuse solution; "The winner, DigiPlex, showed an innovative set of technologies that will pay real dividends." Working in partnership with Stockholm Exergi, DigiPlex's Swedish data centre is being adapted so that its waste heat can be used to power 10,000 homes in the area. The initiative is also the first time an operational data centre with an indirect evaporative air-to-air cooling solution has undertaken a retrofit on such a large scale. "The entire team at DigiPlex is thrilled to have our work recognised on the international stage, and against competition as strong as that we saw at the Energy Awards in London" says Gisle M. Eckhoff, CEO of DigiPlex. "The data centre operates at the heart of the digital revolution, and applying the highest standards of innovative energy management is integral to our operations and future. As part of this effort, we strongly recognise our responsibility to turn our innovation to the benefit of our communities and reduce energy demand wherever we can." The 2018 Energy Awards were held at the London Hilton on 5 December 2018. The awards recognise excellence from across all arms of the energy industry, and awards are judged by an elite and international panel of experts. This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com http://news.cision.com/digiplex/r/digiplex-innovative-heat-reuse-solution-named-renewable-technology-of-the-year-at-energy-awards,c2695237 The following files are available for download: VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / December 7, 2018 / Ximen Mining Corp. (TSX-V: XIM; OTCQB: XXMMF; FRA: 1XMA) (the "Company" or "Ximen") announces it has signed an agreement with Zimtu Capital Corp. (TSX-V: ZC; FSE: ZCT1) ("Zimtu") whereas Zimtu shall provide its ZimtuADVANTAGE program. ZimtuADVANTAGE is a program designed to provide opportunities, guidance, cost savings and assistance to clients covering multiple aspects of being a public company. The services may include building financial networks, building business networks, shared costs with other public companies, building a social media presence, conference opportunities, media outlets and guidance and special group pricing provided by Zimtu's network of public company professionals. The program provides the flexibility to allow companies to customize the products and services to best support their needs. Under the terms of the agreement, Zimtu shall receive $6,250 per month, payable in advance for a period of twelve months. The contract is conditional upon receipt of the TSX Venture Exchange approval. On behalf of the Board of Directors, "Christopher R. Anderson" Christopher R. Anderson, President, CEO and Director Ximen Mining Corp. 604 488-3900 About Ximen Mining Corp. Ximen Mining Corp. owns 100 percent interest in all three of its precious metal projects located in southern BC. Ximen's two Gold projects are The Gold Drop Project and The Brett Epithermal Gold Project. Ximen also owns the Treasure Mountain Silver Project adjacent to the past-producing Huldra Silver Mine. Currently both the Gold Drop Project and the Treasure Mountain Silver Project are under option agreements. The option partners are making annual staged cash and stocks payments as well as funding the development of these projects. Ximen is a publicly listed company trading on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol XIM, in the USA under the symbol XXMMF, and in Frankfurt, Munich, and Berlin Stock Exchanges in Germany under the symbol 1XMA and WKN with the number as A2JBKL. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any state in the United States in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. The securities referred to herein have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from registration requirements. 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. Ximen Mining Corp 888 Dunsmuir Street - Suite 888, Vancouver, B.C., V6C 3K4 SOURCE: Ximen Mining Corp. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/529941/Ximen-Mining-Corp-Announces-Investor-Relations-Contract-with-Zimtu-Capital-Corp Dan Flanigan and POLSINELLI team to discuss Opportunity Zones NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / December 7, 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, along with other members of POLSINELLI'S Opportunity Zones Practice Group, will lead a roundtable discussion titled, "Opportunity Zones: What's Hype, What's Ripe," at the iGlobal Forum Breakfast with Real Estate Titans Dealmaker meeting to be held December 19th in New York. Date: Wednesday, December 19, 2018 Time: 11:40 AM ET Roundtable Title: Opportunity Zones: What's Hype, What's Ripe Location: Four Seasons Hotel New York Downtown - 27 Barclay St. In addition to Flanigan, other POLSINELLI professionals who will lead the roundtable discussion include: Korb Maxwell, the leader of POLSINELLI'S Opportunity Zones Practice Group; and Jeff Goldman and Pat O'Bryan, members of POLSINELLI'S Tax and Opportunity Zones Practice Groups. POLSINELLI'S 825-plus lawyers practice from 21 offices located throughout the United States and are involved in opportunity zone initiatives in numerous areas of the country. Flanigan said: "The great thing about this Roundtable format is the opportunity to both teach and learn. We are looking forward to exchanging ideas about the New York scene and at the same time bringing our national experience and perspective to the participants. It's proving to be an amazing world out there." The iGlobal Forum Breakfast with Real Estate Titans Dealmaker meeting is a new, one-of-a-kind event, which will feature a unique combination of high-level educational and networking opportunities. 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 relationships 2 among 650 U.S. law firms, POLSINELLI is also named among the top 30 best-known firms in the nation 3 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 For more information, contact: Cathy Loos at cathy@adam-friedman.com, +1-347-334-4135 SOURCE: POLSINELLI'S View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/529972/POLSINELLI-to-Lead-Featured-Roundtable-at-December-19th-iGlobal-Forum-Breakfast-with-Real-Estate-Titans-in-New-York Technavio's global gas detection equipment market research report forecasts the market to grow at a CAGR of nearly 5% during the forecast period. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181207005282/en/ Technavio has released a new market research report on the global gas detection equipment market for the period 2018-2022. (Graphic: Business Wire) The emergence of advanced sensors for gas detection will be one of the major trends in the global gas detection equipment marketduring 2018-2022. The sensor technology is witnessing a rapid change owing to the increasing R&D from vendors and growing demand for sensors that can operate rapidly. The maintenance of advanced sensors is relatively easy with minimum downtime when compared with traditionally used gas sensors. Smart sensors provide information on their real-time status in addition to providing system data. This report is available at a USD 1,000 discount for a limited time only: View market snapshot before purchasing According to Technavio analysts, one of the key drivers for the global gas detection equipment market is the growing production volume of shale gas: Global gas detection equipment market: Growing production volume of shale gas Shale gas has changed the oil and gas energy structure across the globe owing to the excess supply it brought into the market that decreased the price of shale gas. The exploration of shale gas emits large amounts of methane, unlike traditional natural gas, thereby increasing its greenhouse gas footprint. Methane is harmful to the environment and a source of an explosion hazard. According to a seniorresearch analyst at Technavio, "The production of shale gas in the US contributed to the country becoming a net exporter of oil and gas. The production of shale gas in the US is rapidly increasing due to the advances in the extraction and production technologies of shale gas. In addition to the US, China is another major country that produces shale gas and is estimated to have large deposits of shale gas." Global gas detection equipment market: Segmentation analysis This global gas detection equipment market analysis report provides market segmentation by product (fixed gas detector and portable gas detector), by end-user (industrial sector, commercial sector, and residential sector), and by region (the Americas, APAC, and EMEA). This report provides an in-depth analysis of the prominent factors influencing the market, including drivers, opportunities, trends, and industry-specific challenges. Of the three major end-users, the industrial sector held the largest gas detection equipment market share in 2017, contributing to over 53% of the market. This end-user segment will dominate the global market throughout the forecast period. The Americas held the largest share of the market in 2017, accounting for more than 37% share. It was followed by EMEA and APAC respectively. The Americas is expected to dominate the market throughout the period 2018-2022. 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/20181207005282/en/ Contacts: Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media Marketing Executive US: +1 844 364 1100 UK: +44 203 893 3200 www.technavio.com CHARENTON-LE-PONT, France, Dec. 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Essilor commits to further expanding its unique inclusive business and philanthropic programmes to eradicate unprotected and uncorrected poor vision in the Kingdom of Bhutan, where 25% of the population suffer from uncorrected refractive errors and much of the population is at risk of exposure to UVA/UVBrays due to high altitude. The Group has today signed Letters of Intent with the Royal Government of Bhutan and the Central Monastic Body to sustainably strengthen the country's vision care infrastructure. In line with their common ambition to eradicate unprotected and uncorrected poor vision, the partners will address the two biggest barriers to good vision, access and awareness, through training and capacity building, philanthropic support and awareness-raising. Chairman of Essilor, Hubert Sagnieres, commented: "Poor vision affects every aspect of a person's life, impacting their ability to learn, to work, to live independently and to realize their full potential. We are proud to be collaborating with the Bhutanese government to develop a strategy and actions which will see poor vision eradicated from the country. This will bring further prosperity and happiness to its people and Essilor one important step closer to its ambition of eradicating poor vision worldwide within one generation." Speaking about the partnership, Bhutan's Minister of Health, Lyonpo Dechen Wangmo, said: "I am extremely happy to share, under the patronage of Her Majesty the Royal Grandmother Ashi Kesang Choden Wangchuck, that the Ministry of Health is honoured to be a partner in Essilor's vision to eradicate poor vision. I am confident that this partnership is the start of a compassionate friendship with a common goal to render help to the most in need." To address the lack of skilled eye care professionals and access to eyewear, Essilor will bring its most successful inclusive-business, Eye Mitra ("Friend of the eye" in Hindi), from India to Bhutan. By training women and men to become primary vision care providers, Essilor will support them to open up optical stores in their communities. This will not only help to sustainably improve access to affordable quality eyecare, but also to bring socio-economic value to rural communities. To read full text please click here CONTACTS Media relations Mission Communications Mailis Thiercelin Lauren Wyper mailis.thiercelin@essilor.com lauren.wyper@essilor.com Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/795256/Essilor_Hubert_Sagnieres_with_Bhutan_Prime_Minister_Dr_Lotay_Tshering.jpg ATLANTA, GA / ACCESSWIRE / December 7, 2018 / Findit, Inc. a Nevada Corporation that trades in the OTC Pink: FDIT owner of Findit.com, is a Social Networking Content Management Platform. Members can join Findit free and utilize Findit to create their own site within Findit. The tools available in each Findit account provides members with the ability to have the content posted in Findit to be shared to yours or other social networking accounts. By having this option Findit can reduce the amount of time it takes to post the same status update and post it separately to each of your other social accounts. Sharing can also be done by visitors who come across your posts in Findit. Visitors to the site will have access to your content and can also find your posts through Google search and in feeds when they are shared to Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or other social sites. With the variation of content that can be included in one Right Now post on Findit, search engines have more relevant content to crawl and visitors who come across your posts will be provided with as much in-depth information you want them to see in each post. Google Play Findit App Download it Now Apple App Store Findit App Download it Now Findit offers members with a content management dashboard that allows them to create in-depth Right Now posts. Members have the ability to post the Right Now status update instantly, back-date it to fill in their feed, or post-date it to become live in the future. Text: Within the text section, members have the ability to write as much content as they want; Findit does not limit the amount of characters or words that can be used in a post. Photos: Findit also gives members the ability to include as many photos as they want in a single post. Video: Findit provides members with the ability to include a video via a youtube link or a vimeo link. Press Releases: Findit offers members the ability to pull in press releases that they have submitted through Findit. Findit offers press release distribution at various levels from single releases to a yearly package. Only members that have purchased a press release package or single release have the ability to include a release in a right now post. Audio Files/Music: Members on Findit have the ability to post audio files or podcasts as well as songs to their Findit account. Members can also pull these files into a right now post, where the podcast or audio file will play within Findit. Members can then describe that the podcast is about within the right now status update to give more context to the audio file. Scheduling: Members have the ability to schedule posts into the future, post them immediately, or back-date them to fill in their feed. Below are live posts on Findit from various members. You can click on the posts and view them without creating a Findit account and you do have the option to share each of the posts below to the social networking sites you choose to that you have an account on. Top Stories can be posted in Findit and shared quickly to reach more people. The View Whoopi Goldberg going to a commercial break as on-set argument starts over George H W Bush Death Local Businesses can Post to their Right Now and increase their local indexing in Google while sharing the same post to Facebook to reach more people there too. Cbd is becoming more and more popular. As a result of online marketing available through Findit, CBD Unlimited, Inc. (EDXC) is seeing an increase in their traffic ranking and sales to their website. Fitness and Yoga Instructors can utilize Findit to reach more people and get more followers. Calvin Corzine is a Brand Ambassador on Findit. Findit offers a place for everyone to create their content and share their story with others. Findit member Ryan Cassata. https://www.findit.com/ryancassata Business Owners love the ease of posting in Findit and how their posts get indexed in Google, Yahoo and Bing. Findit member Local Buzz Connect. Home owners, property managers and Real Estate Agents can list vacation rentals, homes for sale or rent without having to incur hefty listing fees. Findit member Abodeca. Peter Tosto from Findit stated, "This is an amazing time to provide a platform that provides all of our members with the ability to leverage all of theior friends and followers and give them a central location that is Findit to see all of the content they are posting and also and to me this is really important have the option to select where I share my posts and post I come across to." Findit has an account reserved for President Donald Trump Findit.com/potus Indexing in Search Engines - Every single post in Findit currently can be crawled by any search engine in the world and indexed in Search Results organically. Findit will be adding a setting that will allow members to select who they want to share the posts with and if they want them to be public of private. Public posts will be crawled by search engines while private posts will be just that private. This update is not live yet. Customizing your Findit account with a Findit address in your URL: Findit offers every member the option to have their unique address in Findit. These addresses are available under the Keyword URL tab at the bottom of the Findit site in the footer or from your Dashboard when your signed into your account. A Findit address is exactly that - your unique address on Findit.com. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1edz46pBHA Right Now posts can be done through the Findit website or on your mobile devices or from the Findit App. About Findit, Inc. Findit, Inc., owns Findit.com which is a Social Media Content Management Platform that provides an interactive search engine for all content posted in Findit to appear in Findit search. The site is an open platform that provides access to Google, Yahoo, Bing and other search engines access to its content posted to Findit so it can be indexed in these search engines as well. Findit provides Members the ability to post, share and manage their content. Once they have posted in Findit, we ensure the content gets indexed in Findit Search results. Findit provides an option for anyone to submit URLs that they want indexed in Findit search result, along with posting status updates through Findit Right Now. Status Updates posted in Findit can be crawled by outside search engines which can result in additional organic indexing. All posts on Findit can be shared to other social and bookmarking sites by members and non-members. Findit provides Real Estate Agents the ability to create their own Findit Site where they can pull in their listing and others through their IDX account. Findit offers News and Press Release Distribution. Findit, Inc., is focused on the development of monetized Internet-based web products that can provide an increased brand awareness of our members. Findit, Inc., trades under the stock symbol FDIT on the OTC Pinksheets. Safe Harbor: This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"), including statements regarding potential sales, the success of the company's business, as well as statements that include the word believe or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Findit, Inc. to differ materially from those implied or expressed by such forward-looking statements. This press release speaks as of the date first set forth above, and Findit, Inc. assumes no responsibility to update the information included herein for events occurring after the date hereof. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated due to factors such as the lack of capital, timely development of products, inability to deliver products when ordered, inability of potential customers to pay for ordered products, and political and economic risks inherent in international trade. Contact: Peter Tosto Phone: 404 443 3224 SOURCE: Findit View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/529933/Social-Networking-Site-Provides-Members-and-Visitors-Option-to-Share-Status-Updates-to-Facebook-Twitter-LinkedIn-and-Other-Social-Networking-Sites-from-Findit DENNIS DIJKSTRA PROPOSED FOR REAPPOINTMENT AS SOLE CEO, CFO MARCEL JONGMANS STEPS DOWN Amsterdam, the Netherlands - Flow Traders N.V. (Euronext: FLOW) announces that it will propose to appoint Dennis Dijkstra as its sole CEO at the upcoming May 2019 AGM. Marcel Jongmans resigns as CFO. The Supervisory Board has assessed the Management Board's profile and composition following Sjoerd Rietberg's earlier announcement not to opt for reappointment at the 2019 AGM. In consultation with the Management Board, the Supervisory Board has decided to propose to the upcoming AGM to reappoint Mr. Dijkstra as Flow Traders' sole CEO. Marcel Jongmans has decided to step down to pursue other opportunities. His duties will be assumed by his fellow Management Board members with immediate effect. Eric Drok, Chairman of Flow Traders' Supervisory Board, said: "We assess Flow Traders' governance structure as part of our regular cycle and we want to have the most effective governance structure in place, at any time. We are pleased that Dennis remains available to lead Flow Traders' broad and experienced management team. Flow Traders has all the required talent and skills available to guide the company into the next growth phase. We would like to thank Marcel for his substantial contributions and wish him all the best in his future endeavours." ENDS Contact Flow Traders N.V. Serge Enneman / Investor Relations Officer Telephone: +31 20 7996799 Email: investor.relations@flowtraders.com (mailto:investor.relations@flowtraders.com) About Flow Traders Flow Traders is a leading global technology-enabled liquidity provider specializing in exchange traded products (ETPs). We provide continuous liquidity in ETP markets, while seeking to stay market neutral at all times and without having directional opinions. Investors benefit from our activities due to increased liquidity, higher execution quality and lower overall trading costs. As such, we contribute to more efficient and transparent securities markets. We provide liquidity in over 6,500 ETP listings across the globe, tracking all underlying asset classes, including equities, fixed income, commodities and currencies with access to over 110 trading venues in 40 countries around the world. Flow Traders is headquartered in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, with trading offices in Amsterdam, Hong Kong, London, New York and Singapore, covering all time zones. Flow Traders' shares are listed on Euronext Amsterdam. For more information, please visit: www.flowtraders.com (http://www.flowtraders.com) . Important legal information This press release is prepared by Flow Traders N.V. and is for information purposes only. It is not a recommendation to engage in investment activities and you must not rely on the content of this document when making any investment decisions. The information in this document does not constitute legal, tax, or investment advice and is not to be regarded as investor marketing or marketing of any security or financial instrument, or as an offer to buy or sell, or as a solicitation of any offer to buy or sell, securities or financial instruments. The information and materials contained in this press release are provided 'as is' and Flow Traders N.V. or any of its affiliates ("Flow Traders") do not warrant the accuracy, adequacy or completeness of the information and materials and expressly disclaim liability for any errors or omissions. This press release is not intended to be, and shall not constitute in any way a binding or legal agreement, or impose any legal obligation on Flow Traders. All intellectual property rights, including trademarks, are those of their respective owners. All rights reserved. All proprietary rights and interest in or connected with this publication shall vest in Flow Traders. No part of it may be redistributed or reproduced without the prior written permission of Flow Traders. By accepting this document you agree to the terms set out above. If you do not agree with the terms set out above please notify legal.amsterdam@nl.flowtraders.com (mailto:legal.amsterdam@nl.flowtraders.com) immediately and delete or destroy this document. Market Abuse Regulation This press release may contain information within the meaning of Article 7(1) of the EU Market Abuse Regulation. Flow Traders reappoints CEO Dennis Dijkstra (http://hugin.info/171622/R/2228306/875060.pdf) This announcement is distributed by West Corporation on behalf of West Corporation clients. The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein. Source: Flow Traders NV via Globenewswire Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - December 7, 2018) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced the agenda and panelists for the 2018 Government-Business Forum on Small Business Capital Formation. The December 12 event will begin at 9 a.m. ET with opening remarks from the SEC Chairman and Commissioners followed by two morning panel discussions. The first panel will explore how capital formation options are working for small businesses, such as those in the Midwest. The second panel will focus on diversity and capital formation. Panelists will include Midwest-based representatives of small businesses, investors and advisors to the small business community. Following the morning panel discussions, attendees will work in groups to formulate specific policy recommendations. These breakout groups will develop recommendations on a variety of issues related to small business capital formation, including exempt securities offerings and smaller registered offerings. As the Commission previously announced, this year's annual small business forum is being hosted in partnership with the National Center for the Middle Market at The Ohio State University Max M. Fisher College of Business. It will be held in the Fawcett Center on the campus of The Ohio State University at 2400 Olentangy River Rd. in Columbus. The forum will be open to the public, and the opening remarks and morning panel discussions will be webcast live at www.sec.gov. The webcast will not include the breakout group sessions, but those sessions will be open to the public and accessible by phone to anyone who pre-registers online by December 11, 2018. More information, including forum materials, will be made available on the small business forum webpage. * * * 2018 SEC Government-Business Forum on Small Business Capital Formation The Fawcett Center The Ohio State University 2400 Olentangy River Rd. Columbus, OH 43210 Dec.12, 2018 Agenda VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / December 7, 2018 / Zimtu Capital Corp. (TSX-V: ZC; FSE: ZCT1) (the "Company" or "Zimtu") announces it has signed an agreement with Ximen Mining Corp. (TSX-V: XIM; OTCQB: XXMMF; FSE: 1XMA) to provide its ZimtuADVANTAGE program. ZimtuADVANTAGE is a program designed to provide opportunities, guidance, cost savings and assistance to clients covering multiple aspects of being a public company. The services may include building financial networks, building business networks, shared costs with other public companies, building a social media presence, conference opportunities, media outlets and guidance and special group pricing provided by Zimtu's network of public company professionals. The program provides the flexibility to allow companies to customize the products and services to best support their needs. The contract will be filed by Ximen Mining and is conditional upon receipt of the TSX Venture Exchange approval. About Ximen Mining Corp. Ximen Mining Corp. owns a 100 percent interest in three precious metal projects located in southern British Columbia: The Gold Drop Project, The Brett Epithermal Gold Project and the Treasure Mountain Silver Project. Both the Gold Drop Project and the Treasure Mountain Silver Project are under option agreements. The option partners are making annual staged payments as well as funding the development of these projects. Ximen is a publicly-listed company trading on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol XIM, in the USA under the symbol XXMMF, and in Frankfurt, Munich, and Berlin Stock Exchanges in Germany under the symbol 1XMA (WKN: A2JBKL). For more information, visit the corporate website at http://www.ximenminingcorp.com. About Zimtu Capital Corp. Zimtu Capital Corp. is a public investment issuer that invests in, creates and grows natural resource companies. The Company also provides mineral property project generation and advisory services helping to connect companies to properties of interest. For more information, visit the corporate website at http://www.zimtu.com. On Behalf of the Board of Directors ZIMTU CAPITAL CORP. "David Hodge" David Hodge President & Director Tel: 604.681.1568 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: Zimtu Capital Corp. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/529987/Zimtu-Capital-Corp-Announces-Contract-with-Ximen-Mining-Corp Net Income of $7.5 billion or $3.40 per share FFO of $4.4 billion or $4.36 per share BROOKFIELD, NEWS, Feb. 14, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Brookfield Asset Management Inc. (NYSE: BAM, TSX: BAM.A, Euronext: BAMA), a leading global alternative asset manager, today announced financial results for the year ended December 31, 2018. Bruce Flatt, CEO of Brookfield, stated, "We had a record year, generating $7.5 billion of net income. Fundraising has been strong and included the recent closing of our largest flagship real estate fund to date at $15 billion, as well as a $7 billion first close for our flagship private equity fund. We invested or committed $35 billion into new transactions during the year, and ended the year with $34 billion of capital for deployment globally." Operating Results Unaudited For the periods ended December 31 (US$ millions, except per share amounts) Three Months Ended Years Ended 2018 2017 2018 2017 Net income1 $ 3,028 $ 2,083 $ 7,488 $ 4,551 Per Brookfield share2 1.87 1.02 3.40 1.34 Funds from operations2,3 $ 1,356 $ 1,301 $ 4,401 $ 3,810 Per Brookfield share2,3 1.35 1.28 4.35 3.74 1. Consolidated basis - includes amounts attributable to non-controlling interests. 2. Excludes amounts attributable to non-controlling interests. 3. See Basis of Presentation on page 8 and a reconciliation of net income to FFO on page 5. Net income and funds from operations ("FFO") for 2018 were our largest to date. Net income reached $7.5 billion and FFO exceeded $4.4 billion for the year, a 65% and 16% increase from the prior year, respectively. FFO would have been $4.5 billion or $0.11 per share higher if not for the impact of the year end volatility on our financial assets, much of which has reversed in the first quarter following the market recovery. Fee related earnings (after costs) contributed more than $1.1 billion to FFO in 2018, a 26% increase from the prior period, reflecting growth in our private fund fee bearing capital and increased fees from our listed partnerships. FFO from invested capital increased as a result of acquisitions made across our businesses and a full year of contributions from investments made in the prior year. Organic growth was strong across the portfolio, particularly in our private equity business as a result of improved pricing within our industrial operations. Disposition gains contributed FFO of $1.5 billion for the year. We monetized several investments across our portfolio including an Australian energy company in our private equity business and a North American logistics business in our real estate operations. These sales marked significant milestones for the funds in which the assets were held, as we have now returned 100% of the capital originally invested in the funds, delivered the preferred return to our investors and have now started to recognize carried interest in both funds. Dividend Declaration The Board declared a quarterly dividend of US$0.16 per share (representing US$0.64 per annum), payable on March 29, 2019 to shareholders of record as at the close of business on February 28, 2019. This represents a 7% increase over the prior year. The Board also declared the regular monthly and quarterly dividends on its preferred shares. Operating Highlights Fee bearing capital reached $138 billion, a 10% increase over December 2017, led by fundraising for our latest vintage of flagship funds. We had our most successful fundraising year, closing $26 billion of capital across our various product offerings, including a $7 billion first close of our fifth flagship private equity fund, and $9 billion of capital for our third flagship real estate fund ("BSREP III"). We raised $10 billion of capital across a variety of other strategies, including over $1 billion in our long-life real estate funds, $1 billion in the first close of our long-life infrastructure fund and $6 billion in co-investments. We also launched fundraising for our latest flagship infrastructure fund. BSREP III held its final close in January and reached a total fund size of $15 billion, inclusive of $3.75 billion from BAM and BPY, making it our largest real estate fund to date. Contributing to the success of our fundraising efforts was significant progress made within our private wealth channel. We raised $2 billion during 2018 from multiple channels, including private banks and registered investment advisors. Fee bearing capital growth has led to a record $3 billion run-rate of annualized fees and target carry, up 20% from December 2017. Annualized fee revenues increased to $1.5 billion, or $927 million after costs, attributable to fees from new funds raised. Target carried interest increased 43% to $1.4 billion, or $1.0 billion after costs, as a result of the fundraising activity throughout the year. In 2018, we realized $254 million of carried interest before costs, including $100 million from our first flagship real estate fund and $90 million from our fourth private equity fund. Both of these funds have now returned investors' initial capital plus a preferred return, enabling us to recognize realized carried interest, and if our plans are achieved, we expect to generate significant carry in 2019 with other dispositions. In 2018, we surpassed $2 billion of free cash generated and available for distribution to shareholders and expect this to continue to increase. Our asset management franchise generated over $1.3 billion of cash as recent fundraising and listed partnership fees drove growth in fee related earnings. Our invested capital generated $1.7 billion in distributions as a result of strong growth in FFO per unit. We expect free cash flow to continue increasing along with the growth in fee related earnings and distributions from invested capital and will be further supplemented by carried interest. We invested or committed $35 billion of capital in 2018 and have $34 billion of available liquidity to deploy. Despite our cautious attitude toward investing, we continued to find a number of attractive investments during 2018. Our real estate business completed the $15 billion acquisition of a retail mall portfolio as well as the acquisition of an $11 billion premier portfolio of largely office and residential properties, cementing our position as the dominant owner of mixed-use property in the U.S. Our infrastructure business closed several notable deals, including the acquisition of a leading residential energy infrastructure provider, as well as a group of natural gas midstream transportation assets. Our renewable power business acquired a Spanish portfolio of solar and wind assets, allowing us to further expand our European operations. Finally, our private equity business closed the acquisition of an infrastructure services business servicing the power industry, and most recently announced an agreement to purchase a market-dominant global battery manufacturing business. With $11 billion of core liquidity and $23 billion of uncalled fund commitments, we continue to source investment opportunities to deploy this capital at attractive returns. CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS Unaudited (US$ millions) December 31 December 31 2018 2017 Assets Cash and cash equivalents $ 8,390 $ 5,139 Other financial assets 6,227 4,800 Accounts receivable and other 16,931 11,973 Inventory 6,989 6,311 Assets classified as held for sale 2,185 1,605 Equity accounted investments 33,647 31,994 Investment properties 84,309 56,870 Property, plant and equipment 67,294 53,005 Intangible assets 18,762 14,242 Goodwill 8,815 5,317 Deferred income tax assets 2,732 1,464 Total Assets $ 256,281 $ 192,720 Liabilities and Equity Corporate borrowings $ 6,409 $ 5,659 Accounts payable and other 24,801 19,389 Non-recourse borrowings of managed entities 111,809 72,730 Deferred income tax liabilities 12,236 11,409 Subsidiary equity obligations 3,876 3,661 Equity Preferred equity 4,168 4,192 Non-controlling interests in net assets 67,335 51,628 Common equity 25,647 24,052 Total Equity 97,150 79,872 Total Liabilities and Equity $ 256,281 $ 192,720 CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS Unaudited For the periods ended December 31 (US$ millions, except per share amounts) Three Months Ended Years Ended 2018 2017 2018 2017 Revenues $ 16,006 $ 13,065 $ 56,771 $ 40,786 Direct costs (12,680 ) (10,635 ) (45,519 ) (32,388 ) Other income and gains 585 944 1,166 1,180 Equity accounted income 408 123 1,088 1,213 Expenses Interest (1,477 ) (968 ) (4,854 ) (3,608 ) Corporate costs (28 ) (26 ) (104 ) (95 ) Fair value changes 257 280 1,794 421 Depreciation and amortization (927 ) (590 ) (3,102 ) (2,345 ) Income tax 884 (110 ) 248 (613 ) Net income $ 3,028 $ 2,083 $ 7,488 $ 4,551 Net income attributable to: Brookfield shareholders $ 1,884 $ 1,046 $ 3,584 $ 1,462 Non-controlling interests 1,144 1,037 3,904 3,089 $ 3,028 $ 2,083 $ 7,488 $ 4,551 Net income per share Diluted $ 1.87 $ 1.02 $ 3.40 $ 1.34 Basic 1.91 1.05 3.47 1.37 SUMMARIZED FINANCIAL RESULTS RECONCILIATION OF NET INCOME TO FUNDS FROM OPERATIONS Unaudited For the periods ended December 31 (US$ millions) Three Months Ended Years Ended 2018 2017 2018 2017 Net income $ 3,028 $ 2,083 $ 7,488 $ 4,551 Realized disposition gains in fair value changes or prior periods 543 465 1,445 1,116 Non-controlling interests (1,844 ) (2,091 ) (6,015 ) (4,964 ) Financial statement components not included in FFO Equity accounted fair value changes and other non-FFO items 222 508 1,284 856 Fair value changes (257 ) (280 ) (1,794 ) (421 ) Depreciation and amortization 927 590 3,102 2,345 Deferred income taxes (1,263 ) 26 (1,109 ) 327 Funds from operations1,2 $ 1,356 $ 1,301 $ 4,401 $ 3,810 SEGMENT FUNDS FROM OPERATIONS Unaudited For the periods ended December 31 (US$ millions, except per share amounts) Three Months Ended Years Ended 2018 2017 2018 2017 Asset management $ 393 $ 362 $ 1,317 $ 970 Real estate 677 636 1,786 2,004 Renewable power 114 93 328 270 Infrastructure 95 91 602 345 Private equity 212 32 795 333 Residential 52 96 49 34 Corporate (187 ) (9 ) (476 ) (146 ) Funds from operations1,2 $ 1,356 $ 1,301 $ 4,401 $ 3,810 Per share3 $ 1.35 $ 1.28 $ 4.35 $ 3.74 Non-IFRS measure - see Basis of Presentation on page 8. Excludes amounts attributable to non-controlling interests. Per share amounts are inclusive of dilutive effect of mandatorily redeemable preferred shares held in a consolidated subsidiary. EARNINGS PER SHARE Unaudited For the periods ended December 31 (US$ millions, except per share amounts) Three Months Ended Years Ended 2018 2017 2018 2017 Net income $ 3,028 $ 2,083 $ 7,488 $ 4,551 Non-controlling interests (1,144 ) (1,037 ) (3,904 ) (3,089 ) Net income attributable to shareholders 1,884 1,046 3,584 1,462 Preferred share dividends (37 ) (39 ) (151 ) (145 ) Dilutive effect of conversion of subsidiary preferred shares (18 ) - (105 ) - Net income available to common shareholders $ 1,829 $ 1,007 $ 3,328 $ 1,317 Weighted average shares 957.6 959.2 957.6 958.8 Dilutive effect of the conversion of options and escrowed shares using treasury stock method1 18.2 24.2 19.8 21.2 Shares and share equivalents 975.8 983.4 977.4 980.0 Diluted earnings per share2 $ 1.87 $ 1.02 $ 3.40 $ 1.34 Includes management share option plan and escrowed stock plan. Per share amounts are inclusive of dilutive effect of mandatorily redeemable preferred shares held in a consolidated subsidiary. CASH AVAILABLE FOR DISTRIBUTION Unaudited For the periods ended December 31 (US$ millions) Three Months Ended Years Ended 2018 2017 2018 2017 Fee related earnings3 $ 227 $ 316 $ 1,129 $ 896 Distributions from investments 440 352 1,698 1,351 Other invested capital earnings Corporate interest expense (82 ) (70 ) (323 ) (261 ) Corporate costs and taxes (57 ) (12 ) (163 ) (39 ) Other wholly owned investments 54 148 41 23 (85 ) 66 (445 ) (277 ) Preferred share dividends (37 ) (39 ) (151 ) (145 ) Cash available for distribution before realized carried interest 545 695 2,231 1,825 Realized carried interest, net3 166 46 188 74 Cash available for distribution and reinvestment $ 711 $ 741 $ 2,419 $ 1,899 3. Non-IFRS measure - see Basis of Presentation on page 8. Additional Information The Letter to Shareholders and the company's Supplemental Information for the three months ended December 31, 2018 contain further information on the company's strategy, operations and financial results. Shareholders are encouraged to read these documents, which are available on the company's website. The statements contained herein are based primarily on information that has been extracted from our financial statements for the quarter ended December 31, 2018, which have been prepared using IFRS, as issued by the IASB. The amounts have not been audited by Brookfield's external auditor. Brookfield's Board of Directors have reviewed and approved this document, including the summarized unaudited consolidated financial statements prior to its release. Information on our dividends can be found on our website under Stock & Distributions/Distribution History. Quarterly Earnings Call Details Investors, analysts and other interested parties can access Brookfield Asset Management's 2018 Year End Results as well as the Shareholders' Letter and Supplemental Information on Brookfield's website under the Reports & Filings section at www.brookfield.com (http://www.brookfield.com). To participate in the Conference Call, please dial 1-866-688-9425 toll free in North America, or for overseas calls please dial 1-409-216-0815 (Conference ID: 7174879) at approximately 10:50 a.m. The Conference Call will also be Webcast live at www.brookfield.com (http://www.brookfield.com) under Brookfield Asset Management/Events and Presentations. For those unable to participate in the Conference Call, the telephone replay will be archived and available until midnight March 14, 2019. To access this rebroadcast, please call 1-855-859-2056 or 1-404-537-3406 (Conference ID: 7174879). Brookfield Asset Management Inc. is a leading global alternative asset manager with over $350 billion in assets under management. The company has a 120-year history of owning and operating assets with a focus on real estate, renewable power, infrastructure and private equity. Brookfield offers a range of public and private investment products and services, and is co-listed on the New York, Toronto and Euronext stock exchanges under the symbol BAM, BAM.A and BAMA, respectively. For more information, please visit our website at www.brookfield.com (http://www.brookfield.com). Please note that Brookfield's previous audited annual and unaudited quarterly reports have been filed on EDGAR and SEDAR and can also be found in the investor section of its website at www.brookfield.com (http://www.brookfield.com/). Hard copies of the annual and quarterly reports can be obtained free of charge upon request. For more information, please visit our website at www.brookfield.com (http://www.brookfield.com) or contact: Communications & Media: Claire Holland Vice President, Branding & Communications Tel: (416) 369-8236 Email: claire.holland@brookfield.com (mailto:claire.holland@brookfield.com) Investor Relations Linda Northwood Director, Investor Relations Tel: (416) 359-8647 Email: linda.northwood@brookfield.com (mailto:linda.northwood@brookfield.com) Basis of Presentation This news release and accompanying financial statements are based on International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS"), as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board ("IASB"), unless otherwise noted. We make reference to Funds from Operations ("FFO"). We define FFO as net income attributable to shareholders prior to fair value changes, depreciation and amortization, and deferred income taxes, and include realized disposition gains that are not recorded in net income as determined under IFRS. FFO also includes the company's share of equity accounted investments' FFO on a fully diluted basis. FFO consists of the following components: FFO from Operating Activities represents the company's share of revenues less direct costs and interest expenses; excludes realized carried interest and disposition gains, fair value changes, depreciation and amortization and deferred income taxes; and includes our proportionate share of FFO from operating activities recorded by equity accounted investments on a fully diluted basis. We present this measure as we believe it assists in describing our results and variances within FFO. Realized Carried Interest represents our contractual share of investment gains generated within a private fund after considering our clients minimum return requirements. Realized carried interest is determined on third-party capital that is no longer subject to future investment performance. Realized Disposition Gains are included in FFO because we consider the purchase and sale of assets to be a normal part of the company's business. Realized disposition gains include gains and losses recorded in net income and equity in the current period, and are adjusted to include fair value changes and revaluation surplus balances recorded in prior periods which were not included in prior period FFO. We use FFO to assess our operating results and the value of Brookfield's business and believe that many shareholders and analysts also find this measure of value to them. We note that FFO, its components, and its per share equivalent are non-IFRS measures which do not have any standard meaning prescribed by IFRS and therefore may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers and entities. We make reference to Invested Capital. Invested Capital is defined as the amount of common equity in our segments and underlying businesses within the segments. We make reference to Generated or Unrealized Carried Interest, which represents our share of fund profits if all of our funds were wound up and liquidated at period end values. We use this measure to gain additional insight into how investment performance is impacting our ability to earn carried interest in the future. We make reference to cash flows before common share dividends that is Available for distribution or reinvestment. It is the sum of our Asset Management segment FFO and distributions received from our ownership of investments, net of Corporate activities FFO and preferred share dividends. This provides insight into earnings received by the corporation that are available for distribution to common shareholders or to be reinvested into the business. We provide additional information on key terms and non-IFRS measures in our filings available at www.brookfield.com (http://www.brookfield.com). Notice to Readers This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian provincial securities laws and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, Section 21E of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, "safe harbor" provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and in any applicable Canadian securities regulations. Forward-looking statements include statements that are predictive in nature, depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, include statements regarding the operations, business, financial condition, expected financial results, performance, prospects, opportunities, priorities, targets, goals, ongoing objectives, strategies and outlook of Brookfield and its subsidiaries, as well as the outlook for North American and international economies for the current fiscal year and subsequent periods, and include words such as "expects," "anticipates," "plans," "believes," "estimates," "seeks," "intends," "targets," "projects," "forecasts" or negative versions thereof and other similar expressions, or future or conditional verbs such as "may," "will," "should," "would" and "could." Where this press release refers to "target carried interest" it is based on an assumption that existing funds meet their target gross returns. Target gross returns are typically ~20% for opportunistic funds; 10% to 15% for value add, credit and core funds. Fee terms vary by investment strategy and may change over time. Although we believe that our anticipated future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements and information are based upon reasonable assumptions and expectations, the reader should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and information because they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are beyond our control, which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Brookfield to differ materially from anticipated future results, performance or achievement expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and information. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated or implied by forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: investment returns that are lower than target; the impact or unanticipated impact of general economic, political and market factors in the countries in which we do business; the behavior of financial markets, including fluctuations in interest and foreign exchange rates; global equity and capital markets and the availability of equity and debt financing and refinancing within these markets; strategic actions including dispositions; the ability to complete and effectively integrate acquisitions into existing operations and the ability to attain expected benefits; changes in accounting policies and methods used to report financial condition (including uncertainties associated with critical accounting assumptions and estimates); the ability to appropriately manage human capital; the effect of applying future accounting changes; business competition; operational and reputational risks; technological change; changes in government regulation and legislation within the countries in which we operate; governmental investigations; litigation; changes in tax laws; ability to collect amounts owed; catastrophic events, such as earthquakes and hurricanes; the possible impact of international conflicts and other developments including terrorist acts and cyber terrorism; and other risks and factors detailed from time to time in our documents filed with the securities regulators in Canada and the United States. Due to various risks, uncertainties and changes (including changes in economic, operational, political or other circumstances) beyond Brookfield's control, the actual performance of the funds could differ materially from the target returns set forth herein. In addition, industry experts may disagree with the assumptions used in presenting the target returns. No assurance, representation or warranty is made by any person that the target returns will be achieved, and undue reliance should not be put on them. We caution that the foregoing list of important factors that may affect future results is not exhaustive. When relying on our forward-looking statements, investors and others should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and potential events. Except as required by law, Brookfield undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements or information, whether written or oral, that may be as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. This news release does not constitute an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any Brookfield securities, products, or services. The pontiff will be in the UAE between 3 and 5 February 2019 for the first official papal visit to the Arabian Peninsula. Local Catholics welcome the announcement. The visit will provide an opportunity for an exchange with Islam. For Bishop Hinder, this is an "Important step" on the path of dialogue with the Muslim world. The UAE is stable but with a dark side. Abu Dhabi (AsiaNews) The papal visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in early February next year, the first by a pontiff to the Arabian Peninsula in the footsteps of Saint Francis of Assisi, will be a time of joy for all believers and an opportunity for peace and exchange with Islam, said Mgr Paul Hinder, apostolic vicar of southern Arabia (UAE, Oman and Yemen) in a note sent to AsiaNews commenting yesterday's Holy See announcement of the official visit by the Argentine pontiff. Pope Francis will be in Abu Dhabi from 3 to 5 February 2019. His visit will be a first for the Peninsula, where, with few exceptions, there is little respect for religious freedom and the practice of faiths other than Islam. As part of the preparations, the Vicariate set up a website dedicated to the Papal Visit to provide information and other details about the event. Reacting to the Holy Sees announcement, Mgr Hinder calls on the faithful to welcome the Pope with "open hearts and pray with Saint Francis of Assisi: Make me a channel of your peace!" The prelate hopes the visit will be "an important step in the dialogue between Muslims and Christians and contribute to mutual understanding" as well as stability in the Middle East. To this end, Mgr Hinder said he would like to see a special intercession be inserted in all obligation Masses leading up to the visit for a spiritually successful visit. The programme for the very short and tightly scheduled visit will be published before Christmas". However, the prelate notes that a public Mass will be celebrated by Pope Francis in Abu Dhabi on the morning of Tuesday, 5 February 2019. In the meantime, he thanks the UAE government for their generosity. The UAE is one of the few stable countries in the Middle East. In recent years, its leaders have tried to export their model of society based on moderate Islam open to religious and cultural diversity. However, there is a dark side to the federation, namely its involvement in the war in Yemen and support for Saudi Arabia in its clash with Qatar over the past year; all of which has heightened tensions in the region. Domestically, repression is another issue as evinced by the conviction of dissident Ahmed Mansoor, who was given a ten-year prison sentence earlier this year. Not for Dissemination to United States Newswire Services or for Dissemination in the United States CALGARY, AB / ACCESSWIRE / December 7, 2018 / International Cannabrands Inc. (CSE: JUJU) (the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has closed the first tranche of its previously announced brokered private placement pursuant to an engagement letter with Gravitas Securities Inc. and Canaccord Genuity Corp. (collectively, the "Agents"). The Company sold 7,520,000 units (each, a "Unit") at a price of $0.10 per share. Each Unit consisted of one (1) common share and one (1) warrant. Each Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one additional Common Share at a price of $0.15 per share for a period of 36 months. Steve Gormley commented: "We are very pleased with this first close based on how tough the markets have been of late. We continue to have the support of the sellers of La Vida Verde and are committed to completion of that acquisition and advancing our business plans." The Agents will be paid a cash commission equal to 7% of the gross proceeds of the Offering and will also receive warrants to purchase such number of common shares as is equal to 7% of the Units sold under the Offering (the "Broker Warrants"). The Broker Warrants will be exercisable for a period of 36 months following closing of the Offering at an exercise price of $0.10 per share. All of the securities issued under the private placement are subject to a hold period expiring four months and one day from the date hereof. About International Cannabrands (ICI) The Company's business model is to generate revenue from cannabis cultivation, brands ranging from flower to edibles and from THC to CBD, oil extraction, ancillary products and apparel in the United States. ICI markets products with THC content where that practice has been legalized at the state level through either medicinal or full recreational use. ICI also markets products containing CBD in the US and internationally. ICI's strategy centers on acquiring micro brands, distribution and specific manufacturing/cultivation companies in the cannabis space. ICI has acquired the exclusive rights to Julian Marley's JuJu Royal brand. The Company believes as the legal cannabis market evolves, high-quality, unique products will increasingly capture market share and provide a valuable platform for growth. About JuJu Royal Julian Marley conveys his message of legalization, freedom, and love through the JuJu Royal brand, a line of naturally produced medicinal herbs. Our vision is to realize the opportunity to become one of the largest brands in the Marijuana industry. The synergy between the Rastafarian culture, music, natural products and an "Irie" experience is a powerful foundation for our business. JuJu's strategy is to develop and grow a complete cannabis line based on an international appeal to a millennial lifestyle seeking a luxurious and premium experience. JuJu will capitalize on the unparalleled opportunity to position itself with unique, innovative, high quality brands that meet and exceed our customer's expectations. More information about the brand and various products can be obtained at www.jujuroyal.net. International Cannabrands Contact: Steve Gormley Chief Executive Officer 1045 Lincoln Street, #106 Denver, Colorado 80203 Ph: (323) 828-4321 or steve.gormley@intlcannabrands.com Media Inquiries: media@jujuroyal.net THIS PRESS RELEASE DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER TO SELL SECURITIES OR A SOLICITATION FOR PURCHASERS TO BUY SECURITIES. THIS PRESS RELEASE IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS A PUBLIC OFFERING IN ANY PROVINCE IN CANADA UNLESS A PROSPECTUS RELATING THERETO HAS BEEN ACCEPTED FOR FILING BY A SECURITIES COMMISSION OR SIMILAR AUTHORITY IN SUCH PROVINCE. NEITHER THE CANADIAN SECURITIES EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER HAS REVIEWED OR ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities of International Cannabrands Inc. in the United States, nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. The securities offered have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or any U.S. state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. Persons unless registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and applicable state securities laws or unless an exemption from such registration is available. Disclaimer concerning Forward-looking Statements Certain statements included herein constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Such forward-looking statements include, without limitation, the completion of the acquisition by the Company of La Vida Verde Inc. and regulatory approval of the Offering. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by management at this time, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Investors are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Additional risks and uncertainties regarding the Company are described in its publicly-available disclosure documents filed by the Company on SEDAR (www.sedar.com). The forward-looking statements contained in this news release represent the Company's expectations as of the date of this news release, or as of the date they are otherwise stated to be made, and subsequent events may cause these expectations to change. Except as required by law, the Company does not intend, and undertakes no obligation, to update any forward-looking statements to reflect, in particular, new information or future events. SOURCE: International Cannabrands Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/530009/International-Cannabrands-Announces-First-Closing-of-Brokered-Financing-Co-Led-by-Gravitas-Securities-and-Canaccord-Genuity The United States in early November granted India a six-month waiver from sanctions against Irans oil exports. New Delhi: State-run Indian oil refiner Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) will buy Iranian crude in January after a gap of six months, with the nations overall purchases from Tehran at 9 million barrels in the month, four industry sources said. The United States in early November granted India a six-month waiver from sanctions against Irans oil exports. Under the agreement, New Delhi must restrict its Iran oil purchases to 1.25 million tonnes, or 9 million barrels. As part of the deal, HPCL will lift 1 million barrels of Iranian crude oil in January, one source with knowledge of the matter said, asking not to be named due to the political sensitivity of Iran sanctions. It was unclear whether HPCL would continue to buy Iranian oil on a regular basis during the waiver period. HPCL had halted Iranian oil purchases in July after its insurance company refused to provide coverage for the crude because of U.S. sanctions, although its chairman said last month that HPCL may resume buying Iranian oil under sanctions waivers. Indian Oil Corporation, the countrys top refiner, will lift 5 million barrels of Iranian oil in January compared to 6 million this month, while Mangalore Petrochemicals Ltd will buy 3 million barrels, another source said, also asking not to be identified. Tehran has emerged as a key sticking point for a deal but the difficulties were now in the past and OPEC was refocusing on talks with non-member producers led by Russia to reduce supplies. Vienna: Iran gave the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) green light on Friday to reduce oil output by around 0.8 million barrels per day from 2019 after finding a compromise with rival Saudi Arabia over a possible exemption from the cuts, an OPEC source said. Tehran has emerged as a key sticking point for a deal but sources said the difficulties were now in the past and OPEC was refocusing on talks with non-member producers led by Russia to reduce supplies and prop up oil prices. Yes, Iran agreed in principle, the source said. OPEC will propose that non-member producers contribute an additional 0.4 million bpd to the cuts, the source said. It will be stamped when the non-OPEC meeting is done. The OPEC was meeting in Vienna for a second day running, before discussions with its non-OPEC allies scheduled for 1400 GMT. Saudi Arabia faces pressure from US president Donald Trump to help the global economy by refraining from cutting supplies. An OPEC output reduction also would provide support to Iran by increasing the price of oil. Possibly further 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 US politicians to impose stiff sanctions on Riyadh. US special representative for Iran Brian Hook met Falih in Vienna this week, in an unprecedented development ahead of an OPEC meeting. Saudi Arabia first denied the Hook-Falih discussion took place but later confirmed it. US political pressure is clearly a dominant factor at this OPEC meeting, limiting the scope of Saudi actions to rebalance the market, said Gary Ross, chief executive of Black Gold Investors and a veteran OPEC watcher. Russian dilemma The price of crude has fallen almost a third since October to around $60 a barrel as Saudi Arabia, Russia and the United Arab Emirates raised output to offset lower exports from Iran, OPECs third-largest producer. The price decline prompted OPEC and its allies to discuss output cuts, and Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said on Thursday possible reductions by those involved ranged from 0.5-1.5 million bpd. A reduction of 1 million bpd would be acceptable and so far was the main scenario, Falih said, but he added that Russia needed to commit significant volumes. Russian energy minister Alexander Novak met with president Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg on Thursday and returned to the Austrian capital on Friday morning. A Russian energy ministry source said Moscow was ready to contribute a cut of around 200,000 bpd - more than the initially suggested figure of 150,000 bpd. Berkshire Hathaway may invest between $4 billion and $6 billion in the lender by buying promoter stake or through a preferential allotment. New Delhi: Stocks of Kotak Mahindra Bank Friday surged 14 percent amid media reports that Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc was planning to pick up stake in the private sector lender. According to media reports, Berkshire Hathaway may invest between $4 billion and $6 billion in the lender by buying promoter stake or through a preferential allotment. Following the news, the scrip, which opened on a positive note, further jumped 13.86 percent to the hit an intra-day high of Rs 1,345.35. At 1330 hrs the stock was trading at Rs 1,239, up 4.87 percent from the previous close. On NSE, following a similar trend, the stock soared 14.03 percent to Rs 1,345.95, its highest during the day. It was quoting at Rs 1,238.35, an increase of 4.92 percent from the previous close, at 1330 hrs. The Reserve Bank had earlier asked promoters of the bank to bring down their stake to 20 percent by December 2018 and 15 percent by March 2020. Krishnamurthy Subramanian fills the role vacated by Arvind Subramanian, who abruptly left the finance ministry in June in this year. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) on Friday appointed Krishnamurthy Subramanian, a professor from the Indian School of Business, as its chief economic adviser (CEA). Krishnamurthy Subramanian fills the role vacated by Arvind Subramanian, who abruptly left the finance ministry in June in this year. The government had invited applications for the post CEA in July. "The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved for the appointment of Dr Krishnamurthy Subramanian, Associate Prof. and ED (CAF), ISB, Hyderabad, to the post of Chief Economic Adviser," said a government notification. The key responsibilities of the CEA include providing policy inputs on industrial development and foreign trade, conducting analysis of trends in industrial production and releasing statistical information on key economic indicators. It could not be ascertained immediately when the new CEA would assume office. Arvind Subramanian assumed the role in October 2014 and stayed beyond the usual three-year term at the request of union minister Arun Jaitley. Raghuram Rajan, who too was a CEA, became the governor of the Reserve Bank of India in 2013. Here is all you need to know about the new CEA: Currently, Subramanian serves as Associate Professor of Finance (with tenure) and Executive Director for the Centre for Analytical Finance at the Indian School of Business. He also serves on the boards of Bandhan Bank, the National Institute of Bank Management. Subramanian holds a PhD (Financial Economics) from the Booth School of Business, University of Chicago. He holds a bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur, according to ISB website. An alumnus of IIM Calcutta Subramanian is an expert in banking, corporate governance and economic policy. Subramanian serves as a member of SEBIs Standing Committees on Alternative Investment Policy, Primary Markets, Secondary Markets and Research. Subramanian has earlier worked as a consultant with JPMorgan Chase in New York, according to the website. He also served in a management role at ICICI Ltd. He worked on the finance faculty at Goizueta Business School at Emory University in the United States. Subramanian's services on the expert committees on corporate governance for SEBI and on governance of banks for the Reserve Bank of India have established him as one of the chief architects of corporate governance and banking reforms in India, the website says. After former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan announced in June 2016 that he would leave the central bank when his term ends, Subramanian, in an interview with Rediff, had said that the government was not keen on retaining him. "The other reason could be the government wants to use the large surplus funds the RBI has created under Governor Rajan to recapitalise the banks. Under Raghuram Rajan, I don't think it would have happened," Subramanian was quoted as saying by Rediff while explaining why Rajan decided to go back to academics. With inputs from agencies In a bonanza for government employees, the Cabinet on Thursday raised the government's contribution to National Pension Scheme (NPS) to 14 per cent of basic salary from the current 10 per cent, sources said New Delhi: In a bonanza for government employees, the Cabinet on Thursday raised the government's contribution to National Pension Scheme (NPS) to 14 per cent of basic salary from the current 10 per cent, sources said. Minimum employee contribution will, however, remain at 10 percent. The Cabinet also approved tax incentives under 80C of the Income Tax Act for employees' contribution to the extent of 10 percent, they added. Presently, the government and employees contribute 10 per cent of basic salary each to NPS. While the minimum employee contribution remains at 10 per cent, the government contribution has been increased from 10 percent to 14 percent. The Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, also allowed government employees to commute 60 per cent of the fund accumulated at the time of retirement, up from 40 per cent at present. Also, employees will have the option to invest in either fixed income instruments or equities, sources said. As per the Cabinet decision, if the employee decides not to commute any portion of the accumulated fund in NPS at the time of retirement and transfers 100 per cent to annuity scheme, then his pension would be more than 50 percent of his last drawn pay, sources said. The government did not announce the decision in view of the ensuing polls in Rajasthan on Friday. While the government is yet to decide on the date of notification of the new scheme, sources said such changes usually come into effect from the beginning of a financing year, meaning April 1, 2019. This formula for changes in the NPS was worked out by the Finance Ministry based on the recommendation of a government-appointed committee. Experts say this week's meeting of the OPEC will influence the price of oil over the coming months. Vienna: The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) countries were gathered on Thursday to find a way to support the falling price of oil, with analysts predicting the cartel and key ally Russia would agree to cut production by at least 1 million barrels per day. Crude prices have been falling since October because major producers including the US are pumping oil at high rates and due to fears that weaker economic growth could dampen energy demand. The price of oil fell 22 percent in November and was down again on Thursday amid speculation that OPEC's action might be too timid to support the market. Saudi Arabia, the heavyweight within OPEC, said Thursday it was in favor of a cut. "I think a million (barrels a day) will be adequate personally," Saudi oil minister Khalid Al-Falih said upon arriving to the meeting in Vienna. That, he said, would include production for both OPEC countries as well as non-OPEC countries, like Russia, which have in recent years been coordinating their production limits with the cartel. That view was echoed by others, including the oil ministers of Nigeria and Iraq. "I am optimistic that the agreement will stabilize the market, will stop the slide in the price (of oil)," said Iraq's Thamir Ghadhban. Investors did not seem convinced, however, and were pushing the price of oil down sharply again on Thursday, with some experts saying there is concern about the size of the cut. The international benchmark for crude, Brent, was down $1.52 at $60.04 a barrel. "The cartel has to go above and beyond the 1 million barrels cut, to at least 1.4 million to really steady the ship," said Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com. The fall in the price of oil will be a help to many consumers as well as energy-hungry businesses, particularly at a time when global growth is slowing. And US President Donald Trump has been putting pressure publicly on OPEC to not cut production. He tweeted on Wednesday that, "Hopefully OPEC will be keeping oil flows as is, not restricted. The World does not want to see, or need, higher oil prices!" While Saudi Arabia has indicated it is willing to cut production, its decision may be complicated by Trump's decision to not sanction the country over the killing of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi. US Senators say, after a briefing with intelligence services, that they are convinced that Saudi's de-facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was involved in Khashoggi's death. Some experts say that gives the US some leverage over the Saudis, though Al-Falih denied that on Thursday. When asked if the Saudis had permission from Trump to cut production, Al-Falih replied: "I don't need permission from any foreign governments." Experts say this week's meeting of the OPEC will influence the price of oil over the coming months. How strongly it does so could depend on Russia's contribution, which will be determined in a meeting on Friday. Analysts estimate that if Russia is willing to step up its production cuts, OPEC and non-OPEC countries could trim production by a combined 1.3-1.4 million barrels a day. A cut of 1 million barrels would be the minimum to support the market, and anything less could see the price of oil fall another $10 a barrel, according to Wilson. "The stakes are high now for OPEC," he said. OPEC's reliance on non-members like Russia highlights the cartel's waning influence in oil markets, which it had dominated for decades. The OPEC-Russia alliance was made necessary in 2016 to compete with the United States' vastly increased production of oil in recent years. By some estimates, the US this year became the world's top crude producer. OPEC is also riven by internal conflict, especially between regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran. One of the key questions in Thursday's talks is whether to exempt Iran from having to cut production, as its energy industry is already hobbled by US sanctions on its crude exports. Meanwhile, Qatar, a Saudi rival and Iranian ally, said this week it would leave OPEC in January. While it said it was purely a practical decision because it mainly produces natural gas and little oil, the move was viewed as a symbolic snub to the Saudi-dominated organisation. In October this year, OYO said it had forayed into Indonesia and also confirmed an investment of over $100 million in the country as part of its expansion in Southeast Asia. Gurugram-based hospitality firm OYO raised about $100 million (over Rs 700 crore) from Singapore-based transportation services provider Grab's arm, said media reports OYO raised $100 million from Cayman Islands-based A1 Holding Inc, an entity controlled by Singapore's ride hailing firm Grab, according to data sourced by business intelligence firm Tofler, reported Moneycontrol. Both OYO and Grab have earmarked Indonesia and Southeast Asia as their key markets. In October this year, OYO said it had forayed into Indonesia and also confirmed an investment of over $100 million in the country as part of its expansion in Southeast Asia. "We intend to invest over $100 million in this high growth market and plan to expand to the top 35 cities in Indonesia, including Yogyakarta, Bandung, Bali, over the next 15 months," OYO founder and CEO Ritesh Agarwal said earlier. Indonesia is one of the top choices for both global and Indian travellers and with OYO's market learning and expertise the company is ready to tap this opportunity, he added. OYO also looks forward to create over 60,000 (direct and indirect) livelihood opportunities in Indonesia, Agarwal said. The five-year-old startup for booking hotel rooms was aiming to become the world's largest hotel chain by 2023 as it expands into newer countries in the Middle East, South East Asia and Europe, Agarwal said on Thursday. Oyo, which began with one hotel in Gurgaon in 2013, has grown to over 330,000 rooms in 500 cities globally. While India was its first playground, it now has more rooms in China. In India, it operates in over 180 cities with 143,000 rooms. In China, where it began operations last November, it has expanded to over 265 cities with 180,000 rooms. "Three years back India's standalone growth was 1.6 times, last year the growth was 2.3 times. This year we are trending roughly 3 times and we are going to project a little bit higher than 3 times for the coming fiscal years, so we are growing faster on a bigger base because of the network effect," Agarwal said, adding the occupancy is 65 percent. With PTI inputs In the comments that come amid repeated demands from key finance ministry mandarins to lower the core capital requirements and align it to the global levels, the RBI official suggested that the debate over capital buffers itself is irrelevant, and the numbers 8 or 9% does not matter Mumbai: In a scathing attack on the government demand for liberalising capital norms for banks, a senior Reserve Bank official on Thursday made it clear that lenders aspiring to meet the bare minimum core buffers will be condemned to stay poor and warned that banking regulations should not be based on political expediencies. Executive director Sudarshan Sen said our banking system is short of at least Rs 4 trillion in capital if we were to follow the global best practices even at an 8 percent capital buffer. In a short 12-minute speech, Sen also said the lenders will have to set aside up to Rs 2 trillion more in supervisory capital soon and doubted if the ongoing insolvency resolutions will yield good returns for banks. An additional Rs 2 trillion will be needed to make adequate provisions for dud assets as per global norms. "We need to reflect that banks which choose to operate at this poverty line of minimum capital, would be condemned to stay poor," Sen said, speaking at an event. "Do we really want our banks, particularly those owned by the sovereign, to live hand-to-mouth at the poverty line of minimum capital," Sen wondered aloud. He went to the extent of saying that "when the going gets tough, it is the banks with capital which will get going and those without it will be punished by the ecosystem". In the comments that come amid repeated demands from key finance ministry mandarins to lower the core capital requirements and align it to the global levels, Sen suggested that the debate over capital buffers itself is irrelevant, and the numbers 8 or 9 percent does not matter. The Basel III norms prescribe 8 percent core capital buffer for banks-something the government is basing its arguments on. "The more meaningful debate, which really should be happening is what should be the optimum level of capital for our banks, given the ground realities and not just expediency," Sen argued. It can be noted that the lowering of the capital requirements will release more lendable funds for the banking system, which is very important for government headed to polls in a few months. "We shouldn't really be debating whether the poverty line should be 8 percent or 9 percent because that is not where we want to be," Sen said. The central banker said internationally, banks in jurisdictions that require 8 percent minimum capital effectively operate at around 14 percent or even higher. He also lashed out at the demand for making an exception for the state-run lenders on capital requirements because of the implicit government guarantee that they possess, describing it as "spurious reasoning" which has risks like moral hazard, losing market credibility and not allowing a level playing field. "A downturn in the business cycle is accompanied by not only in the financial sector but also on the fiscal front. In such a situation, a government would also face constraints in generously recapitalising banks leading to a situation where the government-owned banks will get driblets of capital which is just enough to meet the minimum regulatory capital but inadequate for growth," Sen warned. "Business cycles and financial crises are old companions and they are here to stay," Sen added. On the debate over the (CCB), where the RBI board had done some relaxations at its last meeting on 19 November, Sen likened our situation to travelling on a rickety public transport. "For many banks, the CCB is the only capital that lies over the bare bones of minimum capital. That's it and there is nothing more. Either you sit in a nicely cushioned Mercedes or you sit in a state transport bus with a bench seat. And most of us are on a bench seats today," Sen said. In other countries, the CCB sits over tier 1 & 2 capital and therefore, there is not much of a concern when there is a drawdown in cases of stress as the capital is meant to support in that situation. Sen explained the tier 1 comprises supervisory capital, which the RBI team computes, but do not enforce. "If this were to be enforced, it would lead to additional capital requirements north of Rs 2 trillion...it is possible in times to come that banks will be required to hold supervisory capital," Sen said. The official also said we are one of the few countries which has the highest NPAs which are not adequately provided for, which calls for making more provisions beyond the mandated 50 percent for NPAs at present. He said given the progress on the cases under the bankruptcy code, it is unlikely that the ongoing resolutions will yield more than what the banks are getting at present. "Given the fact that recovery rates are so low in our country even under the IBC, I am not sure whether we are going to see any great improvement in the recovery rates if what we see happening today continues," he said. There is a need to recognise the distinction between provisions and capital, even though there is an interplay between the two. While the former is the amount of money set aside for expected losses, the latter is the money set aside for unexpected losses, he explained. Since our system goes by an external credit rating on assets and is not based on past experience with recoveries, Sen said to make a comment on the 8 percent versus 9 percent is out of place. If we were to elevate ourselves to the global standards of setting capital aside as per the past experiences and not as per external credit ratings, getting to the 8 percent mark will require another Rs 2 trillion, he warned. Sen said there is a need to ponder over what we need to do in terms of capital, competencies and corporate governance to be better prepared for the next crisis when it comes. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, it has been very strongly making a case for oil producers' cartel OPEC to price crude at reasonable and responsible rates. Vienna: The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries or OPEC will consider views of world leaders such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who represent the voice of major consuming nations, with seriousness before taking a decision on cutting output to support falling prices, Saudi oil minister Khalid Al Falih said on Thursday. India is the world's third largest oil consuming nation, which is more than 80 percent dependent on imports to meet its energy needs. Led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, it has been very strongly making a case for oil producers' cartel OPEC to price crude at reasonable and responsible rates. Speaking to reporters at the OPEC meet, he said: "We take the views of Prime Minister Narendra Modi seriously who (like US President Donald Trump) is equally vocal about the issue. We just met him in Buenos Aires (during G20 summit) and privately he made those points very very strongly that he does care for Indian consumers and is very serious about it. I have also seen him at three times at various energy events in India where he was very vocal." He was replying to a question on US President's expectations from OPEC meeting. "Well, President Trump is the president of the largest consuming country in the globe -- 21 million (barrels), I believe, or thereabouts. That's 20 percent of global markets if not more. And the consumer in the US, just like the consumer in France, just like the consumer in India, just like the consumer in Saudi Arabia, wants affordable energy. So, he (Donald Trump) has every right to wish for affordability of energy for the citizens of the United States and he is very vocal using his favourite communication tool which is Twitter and we hear him and we take his views seriously," he said. Ahead of the meeting, Donald Trump, in a tweet, hoped that OPEC will keep oil flowing and not take decisions that would lead to higher oil prices. "Hopefully OPEC will be keeping oil flows as is, not restricted. The world does not want to see, or need, higher oil prices!," he had said. Consuming nations are part of OPEC deliberations even when they are not physically present in the meeting room, the Saudi oil minister said. "And the fact that President Trump tweets about it and reminds us, I think, is a healthy thing and we take it as one input factor but at the end of the day our most important guiding principle is to bring supply and demand into balance and we don't think the US will benefit from an over-supply market for an extended period of time where investment flows stop and the fantastic growth in US shale is brought to a halt in the way it happened in 2015-2016," he said. OPEC on Thursday delayed a decision on production until it meets with other producers today. Following this, crude oil prices traded sharply lower. Growing concerns that oil producers won't reach an agreement to aggressively reduce production has also weighed on prices. West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery lost $2.3, or 4.4 percent, to $50.59 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Members of OPEC concluded their meeting in Vienna, without deciding on output-cut figures. It plans to debate output figures with non-OPEC producers during their meeting today. The ED moved the special court seeking to declare Mallya a fugitive economic offender under the Fugitive Economic Offender Act 2018. The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on industrialist Vijay Mallya's plea challenging the ongoing proceedings in a Mumbai court to declare him fugitive economic offender. A bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice S K Kaul sought the probe agency's response on the plea against the ongoing trial before a special court under the money laundering Act. The ED moved the special court seeking to declare the London-based industrialist a fugitive economic offender under the Fugitive Economic Offender Act 2018. The apex court issued notice on Mallya's plea but refused to stay the proceedings before the Mumbai special court. The Bombay high court recently dismissed Mallya's appeal. The industrialist has filed an appeal against the high court order. In September, the liquor baron had told the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court that he was not a fugitive economic offender and not involved in the scheduled offence of money laundering. Mallya on Thursday approached the Supreme Court after the Bombay high court and PMLA court rejected his plea, reported Hindustan Times In a surprise move, Mallya on Wednesday took to social media with an offer to pay back 100 percent of "public money" to various Indian banks and urged the government to accept his offer, days ahead of a UK court's decision on his plea not to extradite him to India The 62-year-old former Kingfisher Airlines boss, who has been on bail in the UK on an extradition warrant since his arrest in April last year, is fighting extradition to India on charges of fraud and money laundering allegedly amounting to around Rs 9,000 crores A ruling in the case is expected at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London on 10 December, but the businessman stressed that the extradition issue was a "separate" matter which will take its "own legal course" "The most important point is public money and I am offering to pay 100 per cent back. I humbly request the banks and government to take it. If payback refused, why," he questioned in one of his posts on Twitter In reference to some Indian media reports claiming that his offer is linked to an expected ruling in the extradition case on December 10, he added: "Usual nonsense! I have made settlement offers since 2016." After weeks of silence, Mallya shot off a series of tweets since the early hours of Wednesday to defend the loans he had acquired from various banks as a means of keeping his now-defunct Kingfisher Airline afloat "Airlines struggling financially partly because of high ATF prices. Kingfisher was a fab airline that faced the highest ever crude prices of USD 140/barrel. Losses mounted and that's where banks money went. I have offered to repay 100 percent of the principal amount to them. Please take it," reads one of his posts Making a reference to his liquor group United Breweries, Mallya said that "India's largest alcoholic beverage group" had contributed "thousands of crores" to the state exchequer over the years "Kingfisher Airlines also contributed handsomely to the states. Sad loss of the finest Airline but still I offer to pay Banks so no loss. Please take it," he said In a further lament against the Indian government and media, he adds: "Politicians and the media are constantly talking loudly about my being a defaulter who has run away with PSU Bank money. All this is false. Why don't I get fair treatment and the same loud noise about my comprehensive settlement offer before the Karnataka High Court. Sad." Mallya's tweets came hours after alleged AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal middleman Christian Michel was brought to India from Dubai, the first successful extradition since India initiated similar proceedings against alleged economic offenders like Mallya, Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi Mallya is fighting his extradition from the UK to India in a trial which opened in London on 4 December last year. The UK's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), arguing on behalf of the Indian government, has attempted to lay out a prima facie case of fraud against Mallya and establish there are no bars to him being extradited to face Indian courts over the allegations relating to loans made out to erstwhile Kingfisher Airlines In separate legal proceedings, the businessman had lost an appeal in the UK's Court of Appeal earlier this year against a UK high court order in favour of 13 Indian banks to recover funds amounting to nearly 1.145 billion pounds. The banks, led by State Bank of India (SBI), have since been pursuing ways of recouping the debt as part of a worldwide freezing order. In one of the most recent orders in the case last week, they had acquired the court's permission to pursue any surplus funds from the sale of a luxury yacht formerly owned by Mallya. With agency inputs The US trade probe, which covered welded carbon and alloy line and structural steel pipe with a diameter larger than 16 inches, began after a petition from a group of privately held US producers. Washington: The US International Trade Commission on Thursday said it had determined that American producers were being harmed by imports of certain large-diameter welded steel pipe from China and India, a finding that locks in duties on those products for five years. Last month, the commerce department said the imports were being unfairly subsidised and dumped in the US market, and it announced duties to protect domestic producers. The ITCs final determination that US producers are being harmed ensure those duties will remain in place. The US trade probe, which covered welded carbon and alloy line and structural steel pipes with a diameter larger than 16 inches, began after a petition from a group of privately held US producers. In 2017, large-diameter welded pipe imported from China and India were valued at an estimated $29.2 million and $294.7 million, respectively. The ITC, in its statement, said it did not find that imports of stainless steel pipes from China and India created the same harm. Kedarnath, set in the backdrop of the June 2013 natural tragedy that killed thousands of pilgrims in the temple town of Kedarnath, was released countrywide on 7 December. Dehradun, Uttarakhand: After the Sara Ali Khan and Sushant Singh Rajput film Kedarnath was banned in several Uttarakhand districts, a state minister said the government would henceforth consider reviewing a movie's script before granting it permission to shoot. Kedarnath is the debut movie of Saif Ali Khan's daughter Sara. It was shot in Kedarnath and shows the love story of a spunky Brahmin girl and an affable Muslim porter. Uttarakhand tourism minister Satpal Maharaj said that while the state government is committed to promoting Uttarakhand as a shooting destination, it also wants to honour the sentiments of people who have faith in Lord Kedarnath. He said the shrine holds great importance for crores of Hindus and added that it is unfortunate that some scenes in the movie "were found to be objectionable". He said that going forward, the state government would consider vetting a movie's script before allowing shooting in Uttarakhand if it pertains to "sensitive issues." The screening of Kedarnath has been banned as a precautionary measure to avoid "disruption of peace". The movie, set in the backdrop of the June 2013 natural tragedy that killed thousands of pilgrims in the temple town of Kedarnath, was released countrywide on 7 December. The trouble began with the launch of the movie trailer on 12 November. Be it priests of the Kedarnath temple, pro-Hindu organisations or BJP leaders, the trailer was met with vehement disapproval and sparked protests across the state. Consequently, the state government set up a four-member committee comprising Tourism Minister Maharaj, home secretary, information secretary and DGP to examine the objections against the film. The committee members watched the movie and met Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat on Thursday evening, a day before its release. In the meeting, it was decided that the state government would not ban the movie and instead leave the decision to district administrations. District magistrates were informed about this by late evening and they promptly passed orders banning the film, citing threat of disruption of peace. Of the hilly state's 13 districts, only seven have movie theatres and Kedarnath has been banned in all of them. These districts are Dehradun, Haridwar, Pauri, Tehri, Nainital, Udhamsingh Nagar and Almora. The movie's detractors have cited the following objections with its content: the female protagonist, a Brahmin, falls for a Muslim youth. Many BJP leaders have claimed the movie is surreptitiously promoting 'love jihad'. Protesters claim the movie's tagline 'Love is a pilgrimage' hurts Hindus' religious sentiments. They also contend that the kissing scene in the movie, the lead couple's romance and "vulgar" dance sequences set in the holy town are unacceptable. The male lead's character is that of a Muslim youth who carries pilgrims on his back to the temple town. Protesters claim no Muslim can be found doing this in Kedarnath. High courts reject bans Nainital High Court told the petitioner's advocate they should not watch the movie and they are actually publicising the very work they want banned by making an issue out of it. This petition was filed by Dehradun-based activist and convener of Uttarakhand Raksha Abhiyan Swami Darshan Bharti. Gujarat High Court called the petition a publicity stunt and imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 on the petitioner Prakash Rajput, president of International Hindu Sena. The petition in Bombay High Court was filed by two local lawyers. Legal representatives of the movie's producers as well as the Censor Board opposed the petition, which contended that Kedarnath's story is imaginary and an "untrustworthy tale of love" between a Muslim youth and a Brahmin girl. State Congress spokesperson Garima Mehra Dasauni said that while the Congress is in favour of promoting shooting in Uttarakhand, it is important to ensure that the said movie does not hurt religious sentiments. She said instead of banning the entire movie, it's advisable to remove the objectionable scenes from it. Also, she contended that the movie's name should be changed from Kedarnath to something else as it's not a religious film but a romantic one. GS Rana, manager of Prabhat cinema, one of the oldest theatres in Uttarakhand's temporary capital Dehradun, said members of a pro-Hindu group paid a visit Thursday before the movie was banned and demanded that Kedarnath's posters be removed. He said the theatre received the district administration's notice regarding the ban in the evening and hence the movie was not screened. He pointed out that theirs is a single-screen theatre and the last-minute ban meant the establishment did not earn a single penny on Friday. Darshan Bharti, whose petition seeking ban on the film was rejected by Nainital High Court, said the movie's makers have tried to play with the sentiments of the Hindus by showing a love story of a Muslim porter and a Brahmin girl. He asserted it was nothing but 'love jihad' and a country-wide conspiracy. On Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the media on a day when the last of five states voted to elect new representatives in their assemblies and sought to highlight his government's achievements. The countdown for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections has well and truly begun: as is evident from the recent speeches of political leaders. On Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the media on a day when the last of five states voted to elect new representatives in their assemblies and sought to highlight his government's achievements. In his address at the national Hindi Daily Dainik Jagrans 75th anniversary function, Modi said his focus was on development. Modi claimed his government made it possible for the last man standing to take a leap into the future, and towards rebuilding a New India. Underlining his governments mantra for development Vikas ki Panchdhara (five tenets of development) the prime minister said his government mustered the "courage to take strong decisions". For bringing further development and to achieve our goal of New India, we have to focus on education for children, income (employment) for youth, medicine (health) for elderly people, irrigation facility for farmers and redressal of public grievances, he asserted, questioning why India "lagged behind" other countries for 67 years. He also wondered how India "made progress" in just four years. Modi said Indians have often wondered why smaller nations made progress while India remained "backwards". Seemingly slamming the Congress party and its leadership, Modi added: Big leaders were in power. People with big surnames, but the common man struggled for decades to resolve small issues. The problem wasn't a lack of goals, but the intent from political leadership was lacking. There was no dearth of resources, solutions and potential, but a lack of passion, sensitivity and work-culture. Despite having large swathes of agricultural land, hardworking youth and rich natural resources, people failed to have access to basic amenities. Modi, turning the spotlight on his government's flagship schemes, said a big change has been brought about these past few years by providing basic facilities such as cooking gas, electricity, rural roads, toilets, health, rail and air connectivity to the common man. He added that these schemes have been turned into a "mass movement." Modi took a dig at former prime minister Indira Gandhi's 'Garibi Hatao' slogan (though he did not name her), saying if they had provided basic facilities to the people, they would not have created narratives for vote bank politics. Modi said the BJP government, to bring a big change, has been following the couplets of Saint Kabir, the 15th Century Indian mystic poet where he said: "What you mean to do tomorrow, do today." Before we came to power, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura had been missing from Indias rail map. Can you imagine?" Modi asked the audience. "In the past 70 years, several regions, including places within distance of dazzling Mumbai, had been living in darkness. We connected Meghalaya with rail and provided electricity to these places, he added. Modi said 95 percent of villages had now been declared open-defecation free, compared to just 38 percent in 2014. Modi said almost 90 percent of households now have cooking gas connection compared to just 55 percent four years ago, 95 percent of villages now have access to electricity compared to 70 percent earlier, and rural road connectivity went up from 55 percent to 90 percent. Refilling of cooking gas cylinders took days, but now its available within a day or two, Modi said. Getting a passport took months, but now its available within a fortnight or month. The same with Income Tax refunds, which has improved from months to weeks. Only four crore people were paying income tax out of a population of 125 crore, but in the past four years, three crore people have been added. Modi said his vision for 'New India' is based on the concept of minimum government and maximum governance and sabka saath, sabka vikaas. The prime minister stated that his emphasis was on the youth: as per the teachings of Swami Vivekananda, who said the youth could bring change and rebuild a new India. Were talking about a system where schemes can be developed and implemented on the basis of public participation, Modi said. We took this concept forward during our tenure. Today, youth consider themselves stakeholders in development and this trust can only be gained through deliverance and bringing transparency in governance. Earlier the apples restricted to Shimla, Kullu, Mandi, Solan and Sirmaur has now shown tremendous expansion to high altitude belts in Kinnaur like Kalpa, Sangla, Pooh and Reckon Peo. Shimla: When noted American missionary Samuel Evans Stokes, who later changed his name to Satyanand Stokes, the man credited with Himachal Pradeshs apple revolution, decided to introduce high-quality apple cultivation in the state, one factor weighed strongly in his mind was the local climatic conditions that was immensely favourable for growing apples. Beginning at Kotgarh-Thanedar area of Shimla district, Stokes initiative to grow delicious American varieties of apples paid off so well that it has impeccably changed the fortunes of the local farmers. Today, the state is the apple bowl of India also exporting delicious apples outside India, is a prospering economy of Rs 3,500 crore -- 85 percent of the states total fruit production. There are more than 1.20 lakh farmers engaged in apple cultivation. Well, thats the brighter side of the apple story in Himachal Pradesh, where the farmers toil of growing fruits and off-seasonal crops under natural (without irrigation) conditions earned them country-wide recognition. But, slowly there are worries growing in the apple-producing belt. The crop is on a gradual decline during the past two decades. The weather conditions namely declining snow (drastically reducing the mandatory chilling hours), high-temperature variations, erratic rains, hail and thunderstorms often turn into major disadvantage for the growers completely upsetting the advantage that the legendary Satyanand Stokes saw 100 years back. Studies done by the scientists of Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry (UoHF), Solan have established, beyond doubt, that climatic conditions and global warming, has left an impact. The apple crop has become more vulnerable to the change, not alone in terms of decline in the produce each year, but also productivity, raising questions on the long-term survival of apples. The gradual shifting of the crop from lower and mid-elevations to higher altitude is a new phenomenon. After 2010, a year which saw a bumper apple crop in Himachal Pradesh, sending highest ever 8.92 lakh MT of apples to the markets, the figures have shown a disturbing trend. It was perhaps the lowest one 3.70 lakh MT during this year, which was barely 1.70 crore boxes (20 kg weight). Since 2010, the produce has not crossed five or six MT. Perhaps 1999 was worst with little over one lakh MT. The states Additional Chief Secretary (horticulture) RD Dhiman, who holds the charge of Environment, Science and Technology, says, While the state is really proud of its apples, the trends during past some years are very disturbing. This is only due to climate change and global warming. Its a wake-up call for the Himachal Pradesh apple economy. Earlier the apples restricted to Shimla, Kullu, Mandi, Solan and Sirmaur has now shown tremendous expansion to high altitude belts in Kinnaur like Kalpa, Sangla, Pooh and Reckon Peo. Some of the best varieties of the apples, earlier grown in Kinnaur, has penetrated into the cold deserts of Tabo (10,760 feet) in Lahaul-Spiti -- an area that remains under heavy snow for almost six to seven months. SK Bhardwaj, head, Department of Environmental Science at UoHF says, The shifting of apples to higher elevations is mainly due to abnormal climatic factors during the winters and loss of chilling hours which is a basic requirement for apples." There is a loss of productivity, frequent hailing of crops and lean crop periods, he explains. For a good crop, the apple trees need a minimum chilling period of 1,600 to 2,000 hours. The temperature should remain below 7 to 9 degree Celsius. Since timely snow has become a rare thing during the winters, especially in the months of November, December and January, chilling requirements are not met. Even the winter rains remain unpredictable. The temperature remains high. In contrast, the higher elevations of Kinnaur and Lahaul-Spiti provides perfect conditions to the apples in terms of chilling hours, soil and air conditions besides maintaining temperature. Thus, the lower hills and mid-altitude areas are already hit hard. Kotkhai Shimlas apple basket known for crunchy delicious super-fine apples, is no exception to the threat of climatic changes. Kotkhai-based leading orchardist, Ram Lal Chauhan, who is a six-time national awardee for best-quality apples and orchard management minces no words. If the conditions remain like this, apples will vanish from the orchard. Since we haven't replaced 100 plus-year-old delicious varieties (which needs longer chilling hours) with low-chilling like Gala and Fugi things look terribly bad. If apples vanish the farmers will become debt-ridden, he warns. Chauhan also questions the state government policy to promote high-density apple plantation under a Rs 1,134 crore World Bank-funded project. "Growing of apples growing is not all size fit formula that Italy, the US or New Zealand have adopted. Their conditions are very different than Himachal Pradesh, which producing apples without irrigation facility and in the logistically tough terrains. The production here is just seven to eight MT (this year it was 4 MT) against 30 to 40 MT tonnes per hectares. Survival is threatened," he says. But, not all hopes are lost as Minakshi Chaudhary, a young writer from Shimla says, "Apples are not going to vanish from Himachal Pradesh. We just have to adapt to the climatic changes and start planting those varieties which adjust to temperature variables. Crop diversification and value addition (adding processing and storage facility) are new options to sustain apples. There is a need to motivate orchardists to grow only climate change resilient varieties, replacing early traditional varieties. The apple is the states identity besides being important to the Himachal Pradesh economy. Since 1949, 7 December is observed as Armed Forces Flag Day to honour soldiers who laid their lives for the country, as well as, men and women in uniform, who are fighting to safeguard India's border. Why India observes Armed Forces Flag Day Since 1949, 7 December is observed as Armed Forces Flag Day to honour soldiers who laid their lives for the country, as well as, men and women in uniform, who are fighting to safeguard India's border. The day is significant as it reminds the nation of its obligation to look after the veterans, disabled soldiers, war widows and dependents of those who have sacrificed their lives for the safety, honour and integrity of the country. For the welfare of veterans, disabled soldiers, war widows and dependents of those who have sacrificed their lives in the line of duty and also for the rehabilitation of the Ex-Servicemen (ESM) community, the Armed forces Flag Day Fund (AFFDF) has been constituted by the government. "There are more than 30 lakh ESM Including 6.5 lakh widows and around 60,000 ESM are added every year due to early superannuation. Contributions received from prospective donors of AFFDF are utilised to provide basic sustenance needs of the ESM community through a medium of welfare schemes," a Ministry of Defence release said. Seeking contributions to the aforesaid mentioned fund, the release said, "The aim of the campaign to generate awareness about the Armed Forces Flag Day Fund and encourage people to contribute generously. Several cashless payment methods have been setup and made available. You can send your contributions via PayTM number 8800462175 and UPI code: armedforcesflagdayfund@sbi To contribute using Credit/Debit Card or Net Banking log on to ksb.gov.in/armed-forces-flag-day-fund.htm." Manohar Lal Khattar extends greetings to people on eve of Armed Forces Flag Day Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar extended greetings to people of the state on the eve of the Armed Forces Flag Day on Thursday. Exhorting people to come out with voluntary donations for the Flag Day Fund to mark the occasion on 7 December, Khattar said the money would be utilised for the rehabilitation of families of soldiers martyred in wars, serving soldiers and ex-servicemen and welfare of their dependents. He said the Armed Forces Flag Day is observed to recall and show respect to the supreme sacrifices made by soldiers for the sake of the country. "It is an important occasion to express our gratitude to the martyrs and show solidarity with the armed forces," he said in a message. "We cannot pay back the kind of sacrifices and services rendered by our soldiers, but by giving them respect and providing them with better facilities, we can do our duty," Khattar said. Tamil Nadu governor, chief minister appeal for liberal contribution to Flag Day fund Tamil Nadu governor Banwarilal Purohit and Chief Minister K Palaniswami Thursday appealed to the people of the state to make 'liberal' contributions to the Armed Forces Flag Day Fund. In a message on the eve of Flag Day being observed Friday, Purohit said it was an occasion for remembering with pride the valiant soldiers in the Army, Navy and Air Force. "This is an occasion to remind ourselves of the selfless services of our Armed Forces personnel in protecting our country's territory from the enemies and intruders," he said. It was also an opportunity to take the history of our great nation to the younger generation in order to nurture patriotism and inspire them to join the armed forces, Purohit said noting that Tamil Nadu had always been a topper in per capita contribution to the Flag Day Fund. Palaniswami, in his message, highlighted the role played by the defence personnel in guarding the country and assistance extended to the civilian population at times of natural disasters. He also appealed for generous contributions by the people of the state to "express their patriotism". UGC asks universities to observe 7 December as Armed Forces Flag Day The University Grants Commission (UGC) has directed varsities across the country to observe 7 December as the Armed Forces Flag Day to commemorate the "supreme sacrifices" made by the country's soldiers during conflicts. In a letter sent to the heads of such institutions, the commission asked them to acknowledge the "supreme sacrifices made by our valiant Armed Forces personnel for protecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our country and securing our lives against the threats of insurgency and terrorism" and against natural calamities. The commission also directed the varsities to organise functions or hold talks in the colleges or institutes to generate awareness on the issue among the students. With inputs from PTI BJP seems to be going through a bad patch: assailed by allies, it is in danger of losing social constituencies and is facing a credibility crisis. In the wake of the Bulandshahr violence, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) seems to be going through a bad patch: assailed by allies, it is in danger of losing social constituencies and is facing a credibility crisis. Lets begin with Uttar Pradesh, where two senior police officers said the priority of the forces is finding out who allegedly killed cows and dumped their carcasses in a village in Bulandshahr district; this after a police officer was killed by a mob, and his service revolver and mobile phone stolen. One of the senior police officers who outlined these priorities is the director-general of police (DGP) and the other is heading the special investigation team investigating the mob violence in Bulandshahr. The latter has actually given a pass to Bajrang Dal leader Yogesh Raj, an accused named in the first information report who is on the run after he uploaded a video claiming innocence. BJP youth wing leader Shikhar Agarwal, another accused, also released a video clip not just proclaiming his innocence, but also levelling serious charges against the murdered officer, including that of being in cahoots with Muslim leaders to orchestrate attacks on cows. It remains to be seen whether he gets a pass as well. It has also been reported that local BJP leaders had written to the partys Bulandshahr MP Bhola Singh three months ago alleging that the lynched officer, inspector Subodh Kumar Singh, the station house officer in charge of Siana police station, had been obstructing Hindu religious events. Are the statements made by the police officers part of a command performance? We dont know. But we do know that they chime with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanaths reported instructions for strict action against those involved in cow slaughter delivered at a meeting with the chief secretary, principal secretary (home), DGP and additional DGP (intelligence). This might succeed in playing to the Hindutva gallery, but it is hardly a great advertisement for good governance. There have already been signs that the events in Bulandshahr have not gone down well with one ally. Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) leader OP Rajbhar issued a statement saying the Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad were responsible for the violence and should be banned. He earlier said the Ram temple issue was being raked up to garner votes and backed Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Akhilesh Yadavs demand for the deployment of the army in Ayodhya. Though the SBSP has no Lok Sabha members, it does have four MLAs and Rajbhar is a minister in the Uttar Pradesh cabinet. The community Rajbhar represents, the Rajbhars, does not have a statewide presence, but it constitutes 18 percent of the population in eastern Uttar Pradesh and can affect the electoral outcome in around 20 districts. Clearly, Rajbhars statements will not be music to the ears of the BJP brass. The same goes for the resignation of Uttar Pradesh Dalit MP Savitri Bai Phule from the BJP. The Lok Sabha member from Bahraich resigned on Thursday, calling the party anti-Dalit and accusing it of orchestrating divisive politics. Whether or not Phule returns to the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) remains to be seen, but given that the BJP and the Union government has been under the cosh so far as its Dalit policies and politics are concerned, from Dalit allies and its own Dalit leaders, this resignation will be yet another alarm bell. The development the BJP most fears is Opposition unity, whether it is nationwide or regional. In Uttar Pradesh, it risks losing a substantial chunk of the 71 seats of 80 it won in 2014 if the BSP and SP contest the 2019 Lok Sabha elections as allies. Other alliances elsewhere will further nibble away at the 282 Lok Sabha seats it won in 2014. The prospect of a one-party majority is anyway dead in the water. In this context, the imminent departure of Upendra Khushwaha and his Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) from the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Bihar will come as a further blow. The RLSP won three seats in the 2014 elections and 3 percent of the vote. But the Koeri community, which the party represents, is concentrated in some areas, which allows it to punch above its weight. If Khushwaha joins the Rashtriya Janata Dal-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) in Bihar, by itself it may not affect the 2019 outcome much, especially since the Janata Dal (United) is now an ally of the BJP. But such a development will have to be viewed in the overall context of NDA and the social engineering project masterminded by BJP president Amit Shah that has gone into its making. Former Bihar chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi has already quit the NDA with his Hindustani Awam Morcha and joined the mahagathbandhan, or grand alliance, forged against the BJP in Bihar. Added to the Hindi belt travails of the BJP, comes the news that the Calcutta High Court has, in an interim order, turned down an appeal against the Bengal governments decision to refuse permission to a rath yatra which was scheduled to start from the north Bengal district of Cooch Behar today. Shah was to have led the yatra, which was one of three planned to criss-cross Bengal, covering all its 42 Lok Sabha and 294 Assembly constituencies, before ending in a meeting in Kolkata in January 2019. On the face of it, this is a setback to the BJPs plans to challenge the ruling Trinamool Congress by experimenting with its brand of polarisation in Bengal. In truth, however, the BJPs prospects in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections continue to be bleak, with practically no sign of a serious breakthrough despite its impressive increase in support fuelled mostly by the migration of the Left Front base to it. Despite that, if one were to add up what has been happening, this seems to be the winter of BJPs discontent. It can be alleviated, though, if it reels in a good performance in the five Assembly elections scheduled to end today. For that it will have to wait till 11 December, when the results will be announced. The Supreme Court on Thursday reserved its order on the pleas filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Director Alok Verma and NGO Common Cause challenging the decision of the Central government to send Verma on leave. The Supreme Court on Thursday reserved its order on the pleas filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Director Alok Verma and NGO Common Cause challenging the decision of the Central government to send Verma on leave. The apex court rapped the Centre over the exigency shown in sending Verma on leave without consulting the Selection Committee. However, Verma's counsel Fali Nariman argued that in this case, the word "transfer" may not necessarily mean a transfer from one place to another but would also include the divestment of powers, as done in the petitioner's case. Meanwhile, State counsel KK Venugopal argued that "if the matter would have been placed before the committee, then the committee would have said that 'this is not a transfer, so why should it be placed before us'," stating that it was a "highly artificial argument" (by Verma) to say that this was a transfer. Meanwhile, senior advocate Dushyant Dave submitted his rejoinder on behalf of Common Cause. Dave cited the Supreme Court order whereby the court had quashed the Kerala Government's order removing DGP TP Senkumar before the expiration of his fixed tenure. "If you have any grievance, rush to the committee. There was no exigency. The government waited for more than two years and acted overnight to prevent something," he remarked. He then mentioned how the CVC has adopted two standards for the two side-stepped CBI top officers. He said that the Section 4B of the DSPE Act overrides all other rules pertaining to service rules of CBI director. CVC cannot have two different approaches to the same issue as the CVC Act doesn't give it the power to override the CBI director. "The CVC rubbished the allegations against Asthana at the time of his appointment and said they can't be acted upon unless proved. But in the case of Verma, they acted promptly, without waiting for allegations to be proved," Dave noted in the court. In Wednesdays hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had commenced his arguments on behalf of the CVC while senior Counsel Dave, Fali Nariman, Kapil Sibal and Rajeev Dhavan had argued against the governments decision to send Verma on leave. Venugopal had also argued to defend the States decision to send Verma on leave in front of a three-judge bench of CJI Ranjan Gogoi, Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice KM Joseph. However, on Thursday after Mehta resumed his submissions in the case, Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi asked the Centre's counsel that what was the difficulty in consulting the Selection Committee and what prompted the overnight decision to send Verma and CBI Special Director Rakesh Asthana on leave after their feud came out in public. Mehta asked in court that whether a person who is a member of the Indian Police Service (IPS) and eligible for being the director of the CBI, ceases to be outside the scope of All India Services Act. "Neither under the Police Act nor under the DSPE Act was a person eligible for being a CBI director conceived to be not governed by rules applicable to the police," Mehta mentioned. "A person continues to be part of IPS despite his or her induction into the CBI," he submitted. However, CJI Gogoi remarked that the idea of the two-year tenure for the CBI director was to "give them some permanence". Gogoi said that the argument by Verma is that any action which would divest him of his powers would need the approval of the Selection Committee. Mehta replied that in this case, an emergent action was necessary. "There are answers and I will provide them," he said in the top court. Here, Gogoi agreed that Verma, of course, continues to be a part of the IPS despite his current role with the CBI. Here, Mehta reiterated that Verma was not transferred but only sent on leave signifying the act to be a temporary arrangement in nature. "Transfer would mean change in place of employment from one place to another and it would be a permanent act," he stated. Gogoi quipped, "Your argument is conditions of service means conditions of service with respect to his retirement." "And transfer and posting," Mehta responded. "Suppose, an officer taking a bribe is caught on camera and needs to be suspended immediately, then that power is retained by the Central government," Mehta submitted. He then made submissions on the superintendence of CVC over CBI. While reading out Section 8 of the CVC Act, Mehta submitted: "Nobody is a sovereign within a sovereign. Situations may arise when Legislature has not provided for a situation. I (CVC) would have been guilty of dereliction of duty if I had not acted." However, reacting to his argument the CJI said, "Even if we are to accept your argument that the government action was necessary in view of an infight, why have you not approached the Selection Committee till date regarding the divestment of Verma's charges. You are saying that the situation was going on since last July. What prompted the overnight decision on 23 October? Why not wait for a few more months? What is the difficulty in consulting the Selection Committee." Pulling up the government for not approaching the committee before deciding to sendin Verma on leave, the CJI asked the government as to why it couldn't be "completely fair". "Better to consult the committee than not consult it at all," the CJI said. Thereafter, senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, stood up to argue for Asthana but the CJI asked him about the requirement of hearing Asthana in the matter. "We are only on the jurisdiction of Centre in divesting the charges of the CBI director", the CJI said. However, Rohatgi insisted on hearing for Asthana and argued that as per his assumption, the report of the CVC is adverse to Alok Verma and thus the central government has all the powers to take action. The suspension, departmental enquiry and dismissal still lie within the sole domain of the Centre, Rohatgi argued. Post this, Verma's counsel Fali S Nariman filed a rejoinder while submitting for the petitioner. Nariman said that in all circumstances the government must consult the Statutory Committee and laid stress on how a transfer, in this case, doesn't mean transfer in service jurisprudence as transfer doesn't only mean from one place to another,... it includes divesting of powers and functions. "The power of superintendent is a general power. Even if it is assumed that the CVC has it, it still overrides with the special provisions regarding the CBI director," Nariman noted. The CJI at this point asked Nariman if the court can appoint an acting director if exigency arises? "Yes. Supreme Court has all the powers," Nariman replied. The responsibility of the CBI director has been transferred to acting director. It is a transfer. The issue is about "continue to hold office", not continue to be on the post. Verma has been divested of charges. He has been replaced by Nageshwar Rao. This amounts to transfer," Nariman submitted. "There can't be an acting CJI, likewise, there can't be an acting CBI director", he remarked. In reference to Mehta's argument that Verma continues to be the CBI director, Nariman raised a strong objection saying, "The officer should have powers of a director. A tenure of two years does not mean that the director can have a visiting card with title, but without powers." Nariman also pointed out in the court that the CBI director registered a FIR against Asthana within his jurisdiction. "Registration of FIR against Asthana was the reason for the DoPT to divest Verma of his powers and functions," he said. Whereas, Additional Solicitor general (ASG) PS Narasimha, who appeared for the CBI, said: "Even if Section 4 (2) of the Act is not there, the Central government will retain the power except on three things - appointment, transfer and a minimum tenure of two years, citing the rules under the All India Services Act relating to posting of officers. "As per Rule 7, an officer may be transferred before the minimum prescribed tenure only on the recommendation of a committee; however it applies only to transfer simpliciter, Narasimha concluded. Thereafter, as the hearing resumed post lunch, senior advocate Rajeev Dhawan who is the counsel for transferred CBI officer AK Bassi addressed the court on the issue of autonomy of CBI in his capacity as the officer of the court. "The whole exercise has turned CBI upside down. No matter what you call it, effectively it is a removal," Dhawan said stating that the autonomy of CBI is at the core of the issue. "Action against Verma violates the principle of proportionality. Power has to be exercised with least possible invasion," he submitted. Representing Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, senior advocate Kapil Sibal began his rejoinder by saying that the CVC Act only deals with cases under the Prevention of Corruption Act. But CBI investigates many more cases like the Aarushi-Hemarj double murder case and cases of terrorism. Here Gogoi quipped to add, "And cases we direct." "The approval of the Selection Committee for transfer is a ring fence to protect the CBI Director from executive influence. Without this, the office will be in jeopardy. Otherwise, it will be like giving unbridled power to the Centre," Sibal said. "Section 4(2) of DSPE Act is not the repository of power to divest CBI Director of his powers," Sibal mentioned. After Sibal, Dave took over and read out the Supreme Court's judgment in the Vineet Narain case. The Parliament went beyond what the Supreme Court had suggested in the Vineet Narain case with regard to the composition of the selection committee and roped in the prime minister, the leader of Opposition and the CJI, Dave cited. Dave also cited the Supreme Court order whereby court had quashed the Kerala Government order removing DGP TP Senkumar before the expiration of his fixed tenure, whose judgement was authored by Justice Madan B Lokur. "My submission is that the government becomes functus officio after appointment under Section 4(B)," Dave told the court. Gogoi held that unlike the chief vigilance commissioner, and vigilance commissioners, the office of the CBI director hasn't been given any special protection except a fixed tenure and transfer with the consent of the appointment committee as the court reserved its orders on petitions of Alok Verma and Common Cause. In October, the Court had ordered that the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) inquiry initiated against Verma be completed within two weeks under the supervision of Justice (Retd.) AK Patnaik, to find out if there is a prima facie case made out against Verma. On 16 November, the Bench of CJI Gogoi and Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and KM Joseph had directed that a copy of the CVC report be served on Alok Verma so that he can respond to it. Alok Verma submitted his response to the CVC report in a sealed cover on 19 November. With inputs from Bar and Bench, Live Law and the Leaflet Shahpurkandi New Delhi: The Centre on Thursday approved the Shahpurkandi dam project on the Ravi river in Punjab, a move that will help arrest India's share of water flowing into Pakistan, a statement said. For this, a central assistance of Rs 485.38 crore for the irrigation component will be provided over five years from 2018-19 to 2022-23. The Indus Waters Treaty was signed between India and Pakistan in 1960 for sharing of Indus waters. According to the Treaty, India got the full rights for utilisation of waters of the three eastern rivers Ravi, Beas and Satluj. "Some of the water of the Ravi river at present is going waste through the Madhopur Headworks downstream to Pakistan. Implementation of the project would minimise such wastage of water," the statement said. In September, the Punjab and the Jammu and Kashmir governments signed an agreement to resume works on the Rs 2,793-crore Shahpurkandi project. Though the work on the project began in 2013, it was halted due to certain issues raised by Jammu and Kashmir government. The Punjab government also submitted a revised cost estimate of Rs 2,793.54 crore and requested the Centre to include the project in the prioritised list of the 'Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana' (PMKSY)/Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP) projects. The project, when implemented, will enable the up-stream Ranjit Sagar Dam project power station to act as a peaking station, besides having its own generation capacity of 206 MW and irrigation benefit of 37,173-hectare to Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir. Daily bulletin: Rajasthan and Telangana are the last states to go to Assembly polls this year, Supreme Court to hear Vijay Mallya's petition against the 'fugitive' tag; Sensex drops 572 points; day's top stories Rajasthan, Telangana to vote for new state assemblies The states of Rajasthan and Telangana will vote to elect new state assemblies today in the final phase of the Assembly elections this year. In both the states, the election will be a ruling for or against the current chief ministers. In Rajasthan, the Congress is expected to give direct competition to the ruling BJP in at least 130 seats. The Vasundhara Raje-led government in the largest state is facing an apparent anti-incumbency sentiment, however, according to reports, the Congress might fall short due to the lack of a clear chief ministerial candidate. In Telangana, KCR-led TRS has been campaigning extensively across the state as the ruling party battles the BJP, and the Prajakutami or 'Peoples' Front' alliance led by Congress and TDP. According to reports, the elections in India's youngest state will be a referendum on Telangana caretaker chief minister KCR whether he has sustained his image as the "statehood superman", and whether his government has done enough to meet the demands and earn the approval of the electorate. Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi campaigned only in Telangana and she was projected as the figure who helped form the state. Vijay Mallya moves Supreme Court against 'fugitive' tag Indian businessman Vijay Mallya has moved the Supreme Court seeking to strike off the 'fugitive' tag against his name by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). According to sources, he has also sought a stay on the ED's plea to declare him a 'fugitive economic offender' and on the confiscation of his assets. The case is expected to be heard in the apex court at 11.30 am. In September, Mallya told the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court that "he was not a fugitive economic offender" under the Act and not involved in the scheduled offence of money laundering. In the last two days, Mallya has made repeated offers to persuade Indian authorities to accept his settlement before the Karnataka High Court, ahead of next week when a judge at Westminster Magistrates Court is due to deliver her verdict on Indias attempt to extradite him from the UK. Calcutta High Court to hear BJP's plea challenging order against Rath Yatra Calcutta High Court on Friday morning will hear an appeal from the BJP challenging the court's refusal to grant permission for the party's Rath Yatra from Coochbehar in West Bengal. On Thursday, the court refused permission to the BJP for holding the 'Rath Yatra' which was to be flagged off by the party president Amit Shah on Friday, after the state government refused to allow the event saying it may cause communal tension. The BJP decided to put on hold Shah's proposed rally and the Rath Yatra, saying it will wait for the final order from the high court. Appearing for the state, Advocate General Kishore Dutta told the court that the rally will create communal disharmony and submitted to the judge a report in a sealed cover, which he said delineates apprehensions of disturbance to peace and communal disharmony by intelligence agencies. India versus Australia, 1st Test, Day 2: Hosts steady at lunch after early loss of wickets India picked two Australia wickets in the morning session of the first Test after getting bowled out at an overnight score of 250. Usman Khawaja (19 not out), Marcus Harris (26) did the repair work for Australia after the hosts lost Aaron Finch early on in the innings. Shaun Marsh (1) is batting with Khawaja in the middle. Ishant Sharma and Ravichandran Ashwin have grabbed a wicket each for India. Follow live updates on Day 1 of the first Test here. OPEC looks to cut oil production to support falling price Analysts predict that oil cartel OPEC and key ally Russia may agree to cut production by at least 1 million barrels per day. Crude prices have been falling since October because major producers including the US are pumping oil at high rates and due to fears that weaker economic growth could dampen energy demand. The price of oil fell 22 percent in November and was down again on Thursday amid speculation that OPEC's action might be too timid to support the market. Saudi Arabia, the heavyweight within OPEC said on Thursday that it was in favour of a cut with its oil minister saying a million barrels a day would be adequate. That, he said would include production for both OPEC countries as well as non-OPEC countries like Russia which have in recent years been coordinating their production limits within the cartel. That view was echoed by others, including the oil ministers of Nigeria and Iraq. Sensex plunges 572 points as Huawei CEO's arrest roils global markets Benchmark equity indices cracked for the third consecutive session on Thursday on negative global cues triggered by the arrest of a top executive of Chinese telecom giant Huawei in Canada. A weak rupee and sustained selling by foreign as well as domestic institutional investors also affected sentiment. The BSE Sensex plunged 572.28 points, or 1.59 percent, to close at 35,312.13 on Thursday. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty fell 181.75 points, or 1.69 percent, to 10,601.15. All sectoral indices on the BSE and NSE ended in the red, led by metal, oil and gas, pharma and financial stocks. Oppo R17 and R17 Pro go on sale today Oppo recently launched its newest flagship smartphone in India, the R17 Pro alongside the regular R17. Both smartphones feature a 6.4-inch waterdrop display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 710 chipset and an in-display fingerprint scanner. The R17 Pro features a triple camera setup and support for super fast charging through SuperVOOC. Both phones go on sale for the first time today and will be available on Flipkart, Amazon India, and Paytm Mall. Berlinale 2019 to open with Lone Scherfig's The Kindness of Strangers Organisers of the Berlin International Film Festival said that the 2019 event will open with a premiere of Danish director Lone Scherfigs new movie, The Kindness of Strangers. The season's 'Berlinale', the first of the years major European film festivals, will be the last under longtime festival director Dieter Kosslick. He said that Scherfigs "feel for characters, strong emotions, and subtle humour promises a wonderful start to the festival". The 69th edition of the event runs through 17 February. With inputs from agencies Khaitan claimed that the ED officials raided 'close associates' and business partners of Vadra in Delhi without even showing any search warrants. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday conducted raids at the premises of some close associates of Robert Vadra, son-in-law of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, according to his lawyer Suman Jyoti Khaitan. Vadra, a businessman, is being investigated by the ED in connection with a land deal in Bikaner in Rajasthan. Khaitan claimed that the ED officials raided "close associates" and business partners of Vadra in Delhi without even showing any search warrants. They locked up the premises from inside and are not allowing any access to those inside, even to the lawyers, he alleged. "Is this rule of law?...Evidence has been fabricated," he alleged while speaking to reporters. He said a newspaper had reported that that three summons had been served on Vadra by the ED but "we have received none." On Wednesday, just days after the ED summoned Vadra in connection with a money-laundering probe in a land scam case, he termed it a "political witch-hunt" and alleged that government departments were operating on an "agenda to besmirch" his reputation. The ED summoned Vadra in connection with its money laundering probe in a land scam case in Rajasthan's border city of Bikaner, officials said last last week. "The political witch-hunt carries on unceasingly with government departments clearly operating on an agenda to besmirch my dignity and reputation," he alleged in a Facebook post. Vadra said he had cooperated fully with the government departments for the last four-and-a-half years and would continue to do so. "On the last occasion, they summoned me for documents, my lawyer sat there for three hours and handed over an exhaustive set of documents, yet again. It is indeed strange that I was asked for the very same documents once again even though they had already been furnished over the last few years," he said. Vadra also alleged that he was sent another summon within 24 hours without the agency even perusing the latest set of 600 documents supplied to it. "My lawyer has been compelled to appear in Jaipur once more today (no surprise that this is just two days before the polling in Rajasthan). The authorities know perfectly well that there is no case to proceed against me," he said. Vadra claimed that the authorities wanted to create another "media circus" to distract the public. "This is nothing but a politically motivated, malicious and baseless prosecution. The truth will prevail some day. It always does," he added. The central probe agency had registered a criminal case in connection with the land deal in 2015, taking cognisance of a clutch of FIRs and chargesheets filed by the Rajasthan Police after the local tehsildar of Bikaner complained about alleged forgery in the allotment of land in the area, considered sensitive due to its proximity to the India-Pakistan border. With inputs from agencies New Delhi considers the port in Chabahar, which lies in Sistan-Baluchistan province of Iran, very crucial for its strategic interest in the region. New Delhi: India on Thursday strongly condemned the "despicable" terrorist attack in the southeastern Iranian port city of Chabahar and said the perpetrators of the crime must be brought to justice expeditiously. India is developing the Chabahar port along with Iran and Afghanistan. New Delhi considers the port in Chabahar, which lies in Sistan-Baluchistan province of Iran, very crucial for its strategic interest in the region. Chabahar city is around 100 kilometres from Iran's border with Pakistan. "India strongly condemns today's despicable terrorist attack in Chabahar, Iran. We express our condolences to the government and the people of Iran and the families of the victims of this attack," the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement. At least two people were killed and many more injured in the terror attack outside police headquarters in Chabahar. "We wish a speedy recovery to those injured. The perpetrators behind this dastardly attack should be brought to justice expeditiously. There can be no justification for any act of terror," the MEA said. The Chabahar port is being considered a gateway to golden opportunities for trade by India, Iran and Afghanistan with central Asian countries. The port is being considered crucial for trade among the three countries in the wake of Pakistan denying transit access to India. As the tiger population grows in our finite wildlife reserves and parks, the scourge of man-eaters returns to reignite the man-animal conflict debate. Asghar Ali Khan was on edge; the adrenalin-fuelled amplification of the senses that happens in the presence of a tiger as described by the famed killer of man-eaters Jim Corbett. On 3 November, Khan was in an open-top Gypsy with staffers of the forest department, including one carrying a tranquiliser gun. He was armed with a .458 Winchester Magnum rifle, the WinMag that is the gold standard for taking down Africas Big Three elephant, rhino and Cape buffalo. Twenty metres away, and blocking their path, stood T1 (popularly known as Avni), the tigress credited with 13 human kills in Maharashtras Yavatmal district. Khan says the tranquiliser expert fired a dart at the tigress. And then she charged. In a blink, T1 had covered over half the distance to the bunch of puny humans in the car that she saw when Khan aimed his heavy rifle and fired, a chunk of lead travelling at well over 2,500 feet per second tearing into the tigress and killing her instantly. But Khan didnt just kill a man-eating tiger. The lethal shot raised the central question about Indias tiger conservation efforts, and whether the country is faltering in the face of a raging man-animal conflict debate. In the past, the criticism was largely targeted at the dwindling tiger population, but the discourse has turned to a problem of plenty since 2014. Has Project Tiger hit a roadblock because of the animals soaring population? Statistics bear out a complex ecological challenge. In 2014, the National Tiger Conservation Authority released its report on Status of Tigers, pegging Indias tiger population at 2,226. The impressive figure called for celebrations as less than 10 years ago, in 2006, the count stood at a precarious 1,411, with tiger population wiped out in established reserves like Sariska in Rajasthan. It was a wake-up call, one which the government more than heeded to, putting in motion a raft of policy decisions that led to the population bulge. Remarkable improvements were achieved because of milestone interventions. From amending the Wildlife Protection Act to making the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) a statutory body to bringing in more scientific methods of tracking the animals population, a lot of planning and execution went into the exercise, says Rajesh Gopal, ex-member secretary, NTCA. Today, India is home to nearly 70 percent of the worlds tiger population. As the numbers go up, so are the challenges. In March, the minister of state for environment, Mahesh Sharma, told Lok Sabha that India lost 122 and 115 tigers in 2016 and 2017, respectively. The death of 23 percent of the animals was due to poaching, 55 percent because of natural causes and another 7 percent died of unnatural causes that cant just be attributed to poaching. The death of T1 would fall in the last category. According to a 2018 report in Mint, 47 percent of the total tiger deaths last year occurred outside of tiger reserves, where almost 40 percent of Indias tiger population is believed to be living. Dispersal is an ecological need of the species. Hence, the challenge is to maintain the population, says K Ramesh, a scientist with the Wildlife Institute of India. Often, tigers move hundreds of kilometres in their bid to mark out territories, leading to an inevitable man-animal conflict as the animals stray into agricultural tracts of land and human habitation. The acute shortage of base prey is a serious cause for concern in Indias forests, which often prompts tigers to prey upon domestic animals. For poor farmers, livestock being the key to their survival, many try to fend off attacks from tigers and sometimes lose their own lives in the process, says Anish Andheria, president, of the Mumbai-based Wildlife Conservation Trust. And in some cases, though rare, attacks on humans can turn fatal, branding a tiger the dreaded man-eater as was with T1. According to an Indian Express report in October, 10 man-eating tigers have been killed in India since 2012, while five were successfully tranquilised and re-located as per NTCA guidelines. We need to work closely with farmers and local population in a bid to ensure that such incidents can be avoided. Villagers support is paramount to save tigers that stray into human habitat, says Andheria. Presently, most tiger corridors can at best be described as functional, or degraded, say wildlife experts. To make matters worse, the shrinking forest cover is devoid of base prey, making it imperative for the animals to stray into human habitat. In the majority of the 50 tiger reserves in India, villages in the buffer zone are the most vulnerable to the increasing man-animal conflict. Though the NTCA has a scheme, which funds the relocation of buffer zone villages, the success rate has been mixed. In Maharashtra, the Shyamaprasad Mukherjee Jan Vikas Scheme is helping relocate villages, situated in tiger corridors, since 2015, says Kishor Rithe of Satpuda Foundation. The scheme aims to reduce the villagers over-dependence on forests for grazing of livestock, collecting firewood and relieving themselves on the lap of nature, which brings them in direct conflict with tigers. So far, the scheme has only covered about 200 of the 1,000 villages located in the tiger corridor, says Rithe, who gave up his cushy job as a lecturer in an engineering college to work full-time on wildlife conservation. Re-location schemes have their fair share of troubles because of the demarcation of tiger reserves that are split into core and buffer zones. Though the core area is meant to be free of any human habitation for easy movement of wild animals, the reality, often, is in stark contrast. In wildlife reserves across India be it Rajaji National Park in Uttarakhand or even Sariska villagers have refused to budge an inch, despite re-location schemes generous incentive of Rs 10 lakh for each displaced family. We shouldnt touch these areas, but aspirations are often at odds with wildlife needs. Villagers want electricity and road connectivity, and poachers are cashing in on the locals demands by electrocuting tigers, says Titu Joseph, programme coordinator, Wildlife Protection Society of India. But, perhaps, the biggest threat to Indias growing tiger population comes from the countrys aggressive economic agenda, where mega infrastructure projects are trumping conservation. Typically, the core inviolate areas in most tiger reserves is 300-400 kilometres at best, and even these reserves are heavily stressed, being fragmented and cleared by infrastructure projects like dams and highways, says Prerna Singh Bindra, wildlife activist and author. Bindra, specifically, refers to the Ken-Betwa river interlinking project, a first-of-its-kind in India, which will submerge a large part of the Panna tiger reserve in northern Madhya Pradesh. Similarly, central India, one of the lushest habitats for tigers, is grappling with wanton highway construction and allied infrastructure push at the expense of further whittling down of the 700,000-odd square kilometres of forest cover. Wildlife must find a pride of place in our development agenda. Tigers will move, and, if confined to a small area, they will go extinct sooner than expected. The biggest challenge to tiger conservation is encroachment upon their habitat, says Bindra. In the past, political will has led to wildlife-friendly policies, including the drafting of a slew of effective laws, but now there appears to be a concerted bid to dilute these stringent norms in the name of economic development. Worse, a face-off between pro-industry and conservationist lobby is being increasingly spun around as a deterrent to economic growth. Gopal puts the raging debate in perspective as he believes the growing tiger population isnt a drag on development. A strategy needs to evolve, which can strike a happy balance, he says. The Centres role, too, has increasingly come under the scanner for largely paying lip-service to conservation. If the 2016 Union Budget earmarked Rs 375 for Project Tiger, it saw a gradual decline to Rs 345 last year. And, this year, it went up incrementally to Rs 350 crore. Fortunately, India is one of the richest countries in the world as far as biodiversity is concerned. Though the country has only 2.4 percent of the worlds geographical area, it is home to 7.5 percent of its animals, who are living cheek-by-jowl with 17 percent of the global population. Minimising man-animal conflict and living up to lofty conservation goals is no easy task for a developing country like India. While the increase in tiger numbers is always a cause to celebrate, it cannot lead to complacency or a partial downgrading of our conservation priorities, otherwise, there will be yet another Khan getting ready to take an aim at another T1. T1s death at the altar of development must herald a new dawn for Indias tiger conservation outreach. Two RPF personnel were injured in the incident which took place near Badnagar, about 50 km from here, said Ujjain Superintendent of Police (SP) Sachin Atulkar. RPF jawans on patrol duty along the railway track in Sundarbad area spotted about ten persons loitering about and asked them to stop, the SP said. Ujjain : A group of miscreants allegedly ran away with an AK-47 rifle of a Railway Protection Force (RPF) jawan in Ujjain district of Madhya Pradesh, a senior police officer said on Thursday. Two RPF personnel were injured in the incident which took place near Badnagar, about 50 km from here, said Ujjain Superintendent of Police (SP) Sachin Atulkar. RPF jawans on patrol duty along the railway track in Sundarbad area spotted about ten persons loitering about and asked them to stop, the SP said. "The miscreants pelted stones at them, in which two jawans sustained minor injuries. The AK-47 rifle of one of them fell down. It had 20 rounds loaded," Atulkar said. The miscreants took the rifle and ran away, he said. Police had cordoned off the area and were searching for the culprits, he added. An army jawan and a BSF soldier were killed in two separate incidents of ceasefire violations in Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara and Rajouri districts on Thursday. An army jawan and a BSF soldier were killed in two separate incidents of ceasefire violations in Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara and Rajouri districts on Thursday. The first incident took place in the Machil sector in Kupwara. In Rajouri's Sunderbani, firing from across the LoC resulted in two BSF jawans being injured, out of whom one succumbed later. The Indian and Pakistani armies traded heavy fire along the Line of Control (LoC) in Uri (Baramulla district) and Machil on Thursday, according to sources. The deceased army soldier has been identified as Gunner Rajesh Kumar, while the BSF jawan has been identified as constable P Biswas. This comes a day after two Indian soldiers were injured during another ceasefire violation in Uri sector. Speaking to Hindustan Times, Colonel Rajesh Kalia, Srinagar-based army spokesperson, said, "Cease Fire Violation (CFV) by Pakistan in Machil sector of Kupwara district at 10.45 am today. Own troops retaliated strongly. One soldier was martyred in enemy fire. The Pakistan Army had used automatics and mortars to target Indian positions on the LoC in Kamalkote area of Uri sector late on Wednesday. Karnataka Congress chief Dinesh Gundu Rao took to Twitter and slammed the Narendra Modi-led NDA government for ceasefire violations in Jammu and Kashmir. Ceasefire violations..gone up. Defence and police personnel deaths..gone up. Civilians death..gone up. @narendramodi your #JammuAndKashmir policy is in shambles and #Pakistan doesnt give a damn about your empty rhetoric. https://t.co/rWvojcRySY Dinesh Gundu Rao (@dineshgrao) December 6, 2018 With inputs from agencies Pakistan continues to use Afghan Taliban as a 'hedge' against India, a top US commander has told lawmakers, as he expressed America's frustration over Islamabad's failure to take concrete steps to deny safe havens to terrorist groups. Pakistan continues to use Afghan Taliban as a "hedge" against India, a top US commander has told lawmakers, as he expressed America's frustration over Islamabad's failure to take concrete steps to deny safe havens to terrorist groups. Marine Corps Lt Genenral Kenneth McKenzie's remarks came days after US President Donald Trump sought Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's help in the Afghan peace process. 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. "Pakistan is an essential element in long-term stability in Afghanistan," McKenzie told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday during his confirmation hearing for commander of the US Central Command (CENTCOM). Pakistan could play a key role in facilitating talks between the Taliban and government of Afghanistan, he said. "Pakistan does not appear to be using the full extent of its influence to encourage the Taliban to come to the table," he said. "We continue to see the Taliban being utilised as a hedge against India rather than as part of a stable, reconciled Afghanistan," McKenzie said. His answers to the Senate Armed Services Committee come after it became public that Trump has written a letter to Imran Khan, seeking his help in the Afghan peace process. "President Trump sent a letter to Prime Minister Khan, requesting Pakistan's full support to 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 National Security Council, White House, told PTI. "In the letter, the President recognises that Pakistan has the ability to deny the Taliban sanctuary on its territory," the spokesperson said. "The letter also makes it clear that Pakistan's assistance with the Afghan peace process is fundamental to building an enduring US-Pakistan partnership," the spokesperson said. McKenzie told lawmakers that he did not see much of a change in Pakistan's behaviour towards Afghanistan or its stand against terrorist groups. Despite Pakistan's positive rhetoric in support of the US' South Asia Strategy, violent extremist organisations (VEOs) operate along its border with Afghanistan, he said. "While Pakistan has conducted some operations against VEOs in the country, they must continue to expand these operations and remain aggressively engaged," McKenzie said. "Taking concrete steps that deny VEO safe havens in Pakistan, as well as VEO freedom of movement from Pakistan to Afghanistan, remains an important task that Pakistan needs to fulfil. Pakistan must leverage their influence over the Taliban leadership to help compel them to come to the table for reconciliation negotiations," he added. McKenzie said the US CENTCOM would continue to support the State Department as it works towards a diplomatic solution to the conflict in Afghanistan which includes ensuring that Islamabad's equities are acknowledged in any future agreement. "Pakistan's action or inaction, as it relates to stability in Afghanistan, has often led to US's frustration," he said, adding that stability in the South Asia region remains the most important mutual strategic interest for both the US and Pakistan. "We must continue to engage with the Pakistani leadership to realise how we can achieve this mutual interest," McKenzie said. "I do believe that any solution in Afghanistan is going to require the assistance of Pakistan. It has to be a regional solution, not just a solution centred in Afghanistan," he said. It is in Pakistan's long-term interest to have a government in Afghanistan that is stable, and that that they can do business with, he said. "So I think Pakistan has not shown indications, by and large over the last few years, of being a serious partner in this regard," McKenzie said. US Special Representative for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad on Tuesday met Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in Islamabad. McKenzie said that the meeting was to see if the US can find some way forward. It will be hard to reach a settlement without some form of assistance or Pakistan. "Probably Pakistan knows very clearly that their assistance will be required to reach an end-state in Afghanistan. I think the task that we have is to make it attractive to them so that they see that it is in their best interest to do that, McKenzie said. The size of the Taliban in Afghanistan is now estimated to be around 60,000 and they control about 44 per cent of the Afghan territory, he said, adding that it is not a good idea to leave this war-torn country at this point of time. "If we left precipitously right now, I do not believe they (Afghan security forces) would be able to successfully defend their country. I think it's a conditions-based approach we're going to go through this winter. We'll see how they do in the first-generation phase of this winter," he said. Responding to questions, McKenzie refused to give a timeline for the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan. The Sanatan Sanstha on Thursday said none of the 12 accused arrested in the Maharashtra arms haul case were the organisation's members as claimed by the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) in its chargesheet filed in a special court. Mumbai: The Sanatan Sanstha on Thursday said none of the 12 accused arrested in the Maharashtra arms haul case were the organisation's members as claimed by the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) in its chargesheet filed in a special court. A spokesman of the Goa-based right-wing outfit refuted all the charges made against the organisation in the ATS document filed on Wednesday in the special NIA court presided over by Additional Sessions Judge Vinod Padalkar. Sanatan Sanstha national spokesman Chetan Rajhans said the outfit had full faith in the Indian judicial system and it will fight the accusations tooth and nail. In its charge-sheet, the ATS had said all the 12 accused were members of organisations such as the Sanathan Sanstha, and its affiliates like 'Hindu Janajagruti Samiti' and similar other smaller outfits, and motivated to establish a 'Hindu Rashtra'. "They had drawn the motivation of making efforts towards the establishment of a so-called Hindu Rashtra as explained in the Marathi book 'Kshatra Dharma Sadhana', published by the Sanathan Sanstha," the ATS had told the court. However, Rajhans countered the charges. "ATS has alleged that members of Sanatan Sanstha, Hindu Janajagruti Samiti and other similar organisations have been arrested (in the arms haul case). We have already clarified that nobody out of the arrested accused is a seeker of Sanatan Sanstha," Rajhans said in a statement. He said the press note issued by the ATS about the chargesheet filed in the case was "extremely ridiculous and defective and deserves to be protested". "If the press note is so defective, one can very well imagine how the actual chargesheet must be full of mistakes," the Sanstha spokesman said. "Vaibhav Raut, Sudhanva Gondhalekar, Shrikant Pangarkar and Avinash Pawar (all accused in the case) have their own independent organisations and they had intermittently participated in the programmes or agitations about unity of Hindus held by Sanstha," he said. He claimed the Sanatan Sanstha's holy text 'Kshatra Dharma Sadhana' does not mention the word 'Hindu Rashtra'. "Therefore, to say that they were inspired with the objective of 'Hindu Rashtra' by reading the book is totally false," Rajhans said. The Sanstha spokesman said they have only seen the ATS press note and not its chargesheet. "However, we have not received the actual chargesheet. We will give a detailed response only after going through the chargesheet," he said. The case relates to the seizure of arms and ammunition in August this year during raids conducted by the ATS at Nallasopara, Pune and some other parts of the state. The seized haul included 23 live country-made bombs, 15 pistols, 10 pistol barrels, six pistol magazines, three partially made pistol magazines and half a dozen pistol slides, the anti-terror agency had said. Even as technical snags continued to plague Delhi Metros Blue Line service on Friday, causing delays in service and major inconvenience for passengers, the DMRC seems to be in denial mode. Even as technical snags continued to plague Delhi Metros Blue Line service on Friday, causing delays in service and major inconvenience for passengers, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) seems to be in denial mode. The technical failures comes a day after the DMRC announced it had fixed the fault in the signalling system temporarily, and it would be running trains in the snag-prone Yamuna Bank-Vaishali arm of the Blue Line at a frequency of 5 minutes 30 seconds instead of two to three minutes. But passengers say the metro failed to meet its commitment, as the interval between trains in the Yamuna Bank-Vaishali route is as high as 20 minutes. I regularly travel from Vaishali to Noida by metro rail, said Yogesh Tripathi, an executive at a private bank in Noida. But today, I had to take out my car to travel to my office, because very few trains have been running on that line for the past few days. Nearly 9 lakh people commute via the Blue Line every day, but repeated technical failures have compelled many to travel by road, adding more pressure on the capital citys already congested road network. In the past two days, the Blue Line has suffered a number of technical failures, which resulted not only in delays in service but also left thousands stranded. The first snag occurred Wednesday afternoon, and the second in the evening. The third glitch took place 9 am Thursday, causing commuters much discomfort. A Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) source said Thursday that a problem in the metro's signalling system caused the inconvenience. The control room was getting the signals of the movement of trains only intermittently. On account of this problem, the trains on the Blue Line had to be stopped, the source said. An official statement released by Delhi Metro on Thursday stated, On 5th December 2018, there was a technical failure resulting in both the systems at interlocking stations behaving erratically (restarting automatically and switch off) resulting in intermittent disruption of communication with the central control room. On the night of 5th/6th December 2018, the Signalling team had been able to completely rectify the signalling issue on the five interlocking sections from Barakhambha to Dwarka Sec 21 section. The statement also said that the signalling issue on the remaining interlocking sections between Yamuna Bank to Noida/Vaishali (Yamuna Bank, Anand Vihar and Noida Sec-16) section of the Blue Line had been also rectified. The source in the Delhi Metro said that in the interim, the software logs of the signalling system was sent to Germany for online review, as it was formulated by the German company Siemens. In the temporary system of signalling which is being used for the Yamuna Bank- Vaishali arm of the Blue Line, the plying trains follow station level signalling and not the central control room. This system is also equally safe for the passenger but a bit slower, and as a result train services on the Blue Line were available at a frequency of five to eight minutes, said the source. In normal conditions trains ply at a frequency rate of two to three minutes on this route. But commuters complain that despite changes made in the signalling system, the problems persist and the frequency of trains remained at 15 to 20 minutes on Friday also. Despite complaints of inconvenience from commuters, the Metro authorities insisted that they had not received any such complaints of irregularities Friday. A new lead on the accused in the Bulandshahr violence case emerged on Friday. Jeetendra Malik, who has been named in one of the FIRs as Jeetu and is reportedly a serving Army personnel, could be responsible for shooting Police Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh. A new lead on the accused in the Bulandshahr violence case emerged on Friday. Jeetendra Malik, who has been named in one of the FIRs as 'Jeetu' and is reportedly a serving member of army personnel, could be responsible for shooting Police Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh in the Uttar Pradesh district, according to sources. However, official confirmation is awaited on Malik's exact role in the incident. While main accused Yogesh Raj is still on the run, Malik reportedly escaped to Jammu and Kashmir. Teams of the Uttar Pradesh Police were sent to Jammu and Kashmir to track down the jawan. NDTV reported that he may be arrested today. Malik has been spotted in various videos taken of the incident, during which Singh and a civillian were murdered by a mob angered over a case of alleged cow slaughter. CNN-News18 reported that army sources have said that Malik's uniform seen in a picture that has surfaced of him is "an authentic combat uniform". However, investigating authorities are still unsure about the jawan's role of in the murders. #NewsAlert Army jawans link emerges in Bulandshahr violence. The FIR names Jeetu alias 'Fauji' as accused. According to sources, it was the jawan that shot at the inspector. 26 people named in the FIR so far. #BulandshahrViolence | @pranshumisraa with more details pic.twitter.com/bIUYTCbq3v News18 (@CNNnews18) December 7, 2018 According to sources, Malik's mother claimed that he was currently in Kargil. She also said that she had not been at home for several months, and hence she had had no contact with Malik. Sources also said that she alleged that the policemen who were conducting a search for Malik ransacked the house and misbehaved with her daughter-in-law and assaulted her husband. Malik's mother also expressed disbelief about her son's role in the violence, but said, "If he is the one who has killed the inspector, then he deserves to be punished." The NDTV report also said that the mob is seen chasing the policemen and shouting: "Maaro, take his gun." On Wednesday, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath ordered strict action against cow slaughter, unlawful trade in cattle, and illegal slaughterhouses. However, Adityanath has kept mum on the murders and on the probe into the circumstances around the killings. The chief minister met Singh's family at his residence on Thursday, and Uttar Pradesh DGP OP Singh said that Adityanath has assured Singh's family that justice will be done. "A high level probe has also been ordered," the top cop told the media. On Monday, a mob of some 400 people, including right-wing activists, violently rampaged through the Chingrawathi village after animal carcasses were found strewn in a jungle nearby. The police has arrested four people in connection with the violence. With inputs from agencies The Supreme Court cirticised the huge wastage of food and water at wedding functions in Delhi even as an 'unconfirmed report' stated that three girls recently starved to death in the national capital and people continue to face water shortage In July earlier this year, three sisters, all aged below 10, died due to starvation in east Delhi's Mandawali area. The death of the three children has resurfaced with the Supreme Court criticising the national capital for wasting food and water in marriages when people are dying of starvation. The apex court, said that there is huge wastage of food and water at wedding functions in Delhi even as an "unconfirmed report" has stated that three girls recently starved to death here and people continue to face water shortage. The apex court also asked the state government's plan to deal with the issue. Commercial interest of owners of motels and farmhouses, where marriage ceremonies take place, was getting far more importance than the public interest, indicating a "very sorry and sad state of affairs", prima facie loaded in favour of the rich and powerful, the top court observed. A bench headed by Justice Madan B Lokur said it was high time that the authorities concerned with the governance of Delhi gave precedence to public interest over commercial interests of owners of motels and farmhouses. The bench, which also comprised Justices Deepak Gupta and Hemant Gupta, asked Delhi's chief secretary to appear before it on December 11 so that appropriate directions could be passed in this regard. The court, which was hearing a matter related to Blue Sapphire motel here, was informed that there were around 300 marriage halls in Delhi but during the wedding season around 30,000 to 50,000 marriages take place on a single day. The counsel appearing for the motel said they had an underground water tank of one lakh litre capacity and the fire department has told them to increase it to 1.27 lakh litre. "Commercial interest of these motel owners is not above public interest of people of Delhi. If every motel will have one lakh litre water stored with them and people of Delhi are not getting water, then what is to be done," the bench said. "Tell us how much food and water is wasted in these 50,000 marriages here," the bench asked, adding, "You have (municipal) corporations which side with these kind of people (motel owners). That is why we are having so many problems. A balance has to be struck in favour of public interest". The bench referred to a news report of July which claimed that three girls had died here due to starvation. When the counsel appearing for municipal corporations said it was "Indian mentality" to have several functions in marriages, the bench said it was much more in northern India, particularly Delhi. "In our view, it is high time that the authorities concerned with governance issues in Delhi give precedence to public interest rather than commercial and financial interest of owners of motels and farmhouses and other similar organisations," it said. The bench said it is a matter of common knowledge that availability of drinking water and availability of food is a "natural human right" and this must be respected by the authorities concerned with governance of Delhi. The court said there were a number of farmhouses and motels in Delhi and one can imagine the amount of water used by them for carrying out their business. "We are mentioning this fact in the context of water shortage in Delhi and an application having been moved in this court today by the NCT of Delhi (in another case) requiring the state of Haryana to release large quantity of water because of shortage of water in Delhi," it said. "That apart, we also find that tons of food is served in these functions including weddings and a large quantity of food goes waste. We are mentioning this in the context of an unconfirmed report that had appeared in one newspaper sometime back that three girls starved to death in Delhi," it said. When the counsel appearing for the motel told the bench about their water storage, the bench asked, "From where are you getting one lakh litre of water? People of Delhi are not getting water due to all this things". "In other words, there is a huge amount of mismanagement of scarce water and wastage of food. Surely, no one can say that this waste is in public interest," the bench said. "The attitude of the state and the authorities under the state including the municipal corporation appears to be in favour of the motels and farmhouse owners much to the detriment of public interest," it said. The court also said that it was talking about the entire motel and farmhouse industries in Delhi which were engaged in hosting functions like marriages. "To further look into the matter and see whether the state is thinking on these lines, we would require the presence of Chief Secretary of Delhi on Tuesday, December 11, so that appropriate directions can be passed. It should be appreciated that money is not everything in life," it said. The bench also observed that since there were hundreds of motels and farmhouses in Delhi, it was virtually impossible for the Delhi Fire Service and other authorities to go on and inspect these premises to see whether laws were being complied with. The issue had cropped up when the court was hearing a matter related to sealing of unauthorised constructions in Delhi. The top court is also seized of the issue related to the validity of the Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Act, 2006 and subsequent legislations which protect illegal construction from being sealed. O'Brien, Trinamool's Parliamentary party leader in the Rajya Sabha will conduct the competition along with Diptangshu Chowdhury, the co-convener of the Trinamool's cyber cell and party member Suparno Maitra. New Delhi: With an eye on the 2019 general elections, the Trinamool Congress will reach out to college and class 12 students with activities like quiz contests across all 42 seats in West Bengal starting January, a party source said. The activities will be of inter-school and inter-college level and will be conducted by party lawmaker and former quiz master Derek O'Brien, the source added. The party, which conducted the competitions last week in Barasat and Jadavpur as a trial, will launch the initiative after 19 January across the state, the source said. O'Brien, Trinamool's Parliamentary party leader in the Rajya Sabha will conduct the competition along with Diptangshu Chowdhury, the co-convener of the Trinamool's cyber cell and party member Suparno Maitra. Giving a sneak peek into the questions that the contestants will face, the source said that the competition named "Digital Challenge" will cover topics like social media, government schemes, current affairs, Parliament and Bengal. "A few questions on Trinamool and Mamata Banerjee's struggles in her political career will also be there," the source said. The first prize would be a trip to Delhi and a chance to visit Parliament, while the runners-up will get to visit the West Bengal Assembly. "Political parties have to find innovative ways to connect. Young people appreciate when you partner them to help them grow. That's the intention of this first-of-its-kind initiative, O'Brien told PTI when asked about the initiative. The Trinamool will also host a series of talks titled 'Idea of Bengal' on topics like health, pluralism and blackmoney. Former BJP leader Yashwant Sinha will address the first session of the series which will be held in Kolkata on 9 December. In a huge setback to the filmmakers of Kedarnath, Uttarakhand government has banned the Sara Ali Khan and Sushant Singh Rajput-starrer from being screened anywhere in the state. 'They claim they want to just show the destruction that happened, they don't tell us about their hidden agenda.' In a huge setback to the filmmakers of Kedarnath, Uttarakhand government has banned the Sara Ali Khan and Sushant Singh Rajput-starrer from being screened anywhere in the state. Addressing the media, tourism minister Satpal Maharaj said that while art should find expression without any barriers, however the state government needs to ensure that this "art" is not disrupting the law and order situation in the state. Satpal further added that when the filmmakers come to ask for permission, they do not come with the script. "They claim they want to just show the destruction that happened, they don't tell us about their hidden agenda." Satpal further added that Kedarnath, which is one of the "highest pilgrimage for Hindus" will be protected no matter what. "Our Prime Minister Narendra Modi prays to Kedarnath. We will not allow anyone to hurt these sentiments." The minister further added that the filmmakers will have to pay fine if the images or visuals shown in the film about Kedarnath are distorted or falsified. The committee is headed by tourism minister Satpal Maharaj and has home secretary Nitish Jha, information secretary Dilip Jawalkar and DGP Anil Raturi as its members. Satpal Maharaj,Uttarakhand Tourism Minister:Our committee has forwarded our advice to CM&decided that law&order should be reviewed.We asked District Magistrates to maintain peace&everyone has decided that #Kedarnath movie should be banned. The movie is banned everywhere in state. pic.twitter.com/f9yWjKVd5l ANI (@ANI) December 7, 2018 As per a tweet by News18, the government has stated that the film has been banned to maintain law and order in the state. #NewsAlert A big setback for the makers of #Kedarnath. Uttarakhand government bans the film Kedarnath in the state. "The movie not according to our culture and it has been banned to maintain law and order", says Uttarakhand government. | Details by @mihirz and @pranshumisraa pic.twitter.com/KZ5RprXzW5 News18 (@CNNnews18) December 7, 2018 Earlier, the Uttarakhand High Court refused to stay the release of forthcoming film on the same day as Bombay High Court dismissed a PIL filed against Kedarnath for allegedly hurting religious sentiments. Set against the backdrop of 2013 Uttarakhand floods, the Abhishek Kapoor directorial shows an upper-class Hindu girl falling in love with a Muslim pitthu (tour guide). Video sourced by: Ashwani Sharma Author-journalist Namita Devidayal's latest book The Sixth String of Vilayat Khan attempts to 'create an impressionistic fluid portrait of a magnificent artiste and a fragmented human being.' It is highly unlikely that a classical music lover in India hasn't heard of the Sitar legend Ustad Vilayat Khan. His musical dexterity and unimaginable command over his instrument are often considered unparalleled. While there were gifted Sitar players before him, as well as after him, but none who could take his place. As much as he was known for his musical prowess, the tales of his mercurial temper, contradictory attitude and irreverence towards tokens of mass accolades and awards are equally popular. Everyone knew Ustad Vilayat Khan, yet no one knew Vilayat Khan. Author-journalist Namita Devidayal's latest book The Sixth String of Vilayat Khan (Westland Books) attempts to "create an impressionistic fluid portrait of a magnificent artiste and a fragmented human being." The book was launched on 28 November at Mumbai's Royal Opera House in the presence of many stalwarts from the field of music and literature. This is Devidayal's second non-fiction offering since her 2007 book The Music Room. Devidayal's 256-page-long portrait of Vilayat Khan covers a gamut of known as well as unknown aspects of the Sitar virtuoso: from his initial days as an enthusiastic artist to growing into a classical music rock star, living in the hills of Shimla and finally flying off to the United States. Devidayal writes in the book: "My journey into his life is also an attempt to understand that abiding paradox: how anarchy can coexist with harmony. How pain can be an underlying constant in life but can also be converted into beauty. What I discovered along the way is that the life of a genius is not easy, nor harmonious." In an email exchange with Firstpost, Devidayal spoke of how she came about writing the book, the people she met, the stories she heard, and lastly, what she will take away from this experience. Below are excerpts from the interview: What was the most interesting part about Ustad Vilayat Khan that drove you into writing an entire book on him? I think the most interesting part about him is that I had always heard these stories about how he was a better musician than Ravi Shankar, and I wanted to find out why. Also, growing up, I had heard really amazing stories about how he loved ballroom dancing and how he used to play pranks so there was always this intrigue surrounding him. Who was this Vilayat Khan? So, when his son Hidayat persuaded me to write, I took it on. And a few months into the research, I was hooked! What were the major challenges that you faced during the research? As I have mentioned in the book, writing about Vilayat Khan is a bit like chasing a hologram. There are always different versions of every story. Even he was known to be a liberal embellisher of tales. As someone once said, woh toh galti se sach bolte the (he spoke the truth by mistake!). So, I had to rely on a lot of anecdotal information and try my best to put the jigsaw pieces together to reach some semblance of truth. What was the entire graph like from a young Vilayat to the legendary Ustad and how did you plan to see and cover that arch in your book? Because there were so many layers and diversions in this story, I decided to stick with a chronology of his life as my narrative arc. This gave me the skeletal structure and within that, I was able to texture in many aspects of the man and the musician and also zoom out into the backdrop and music scene in Calcutta, Bombay and America. I wanted to recreate these eras, like the time when All India Radio was the hub for music. You are both a journalist and a classical vocalist. What was your modus operandi while approaching a subject like Vilayat Khan? When I write about music or a musician, it is the perfect braiding of my journalist skills and my deep understanding of and love for music. You said you had to struggle a lot initially to get in the voices of people who were once close to Vilayat Khan but later distanced themselves from him. How did you succeed into getting them onboard? It took me a while to gain everyones trust, but I think after some time, people could sense my sincerity and love for the subject and knew that I was not interested in just a superficial, nor salacious picture, but had a deep respect for the man. So they opened up, slowly but beautifully, and it took several meetings and cajolings and interviews. While a lot is known about the public image of Vilayat Khan, your book also dwells upon his human side with all the positive and negative points put together. How was it to know about the private, more internal side of that man? I felt great sympathy and compassion for the man when I got to know intimate details about his personal side. I think I have attempted to put context to all his frailties and insecurities and recognise that there is always a back story. Besides, who am I to judge? We all come with many dimensions and the secret is an acceptance of that. Isn't that what love is? Was exploring the initial journey of Vilayat Khan a major revelation for you, especially the way he and Ravi Shankar made the Sitar a popular instrument? Could you share some startling anecdotes that you came across while writing the book? The most startling anecdote was the epic concert in 1952 in which Vilayat Khan stormed the stage which was initially meant to be a performance duet of Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan. This concert happened to be organised by my great grandfather who was then a great patron of music, which makes it even more interesting. Anyway, it was a kind of duel on stage and evidently, Vilayat Khan came out the winner and the two of them promised each other they would never play together again. I remember you discussing somewhere that Madan Mohan (and probably many others?) had stolen a tune of Vilayat Khan Saab and made it into a popular song. You said that such things never mattered to him. Do you mean he wasnt possessive of his own music? There is a story which may be apocryphal as stories can be of how Madan Mohan heard his friend Vilayat Khan play raga Nand at a private concert and from that he was inspired to create the tune of Mera Saya. I dont believe he was possessive about his music because he himself had learned from the music of so many greats. He would make his children and students listen to the music of Abdul Karim Khan, Faiyaz Khan, Zohrabai Agrewali and even Ella Fitzgerald, and tell them to learn from these greats. So he probably believed that music belonged to everyone and no one. What do you think Vilayat Khan introduced into music (not just Sitar) that remains his biggest contribution to date? He coaxed an instrument sound like the human voice with all its variations and emotions. That was his biggest contribution. What is your biggest takeaway after writing the Sixth String of Vilayat Khan? I feel privileged to have entered the life of a genius. These are the stars that we should look up to, cherish, applaud. I hope I have made it accessible to many more. The appointment of a youth Congress office bearer as the advocate for Christian Michel James in the AgustaWestland chopper scam, is curious. Why would the party make the connection obvious by asking a lawyer from its youth wing to argue the fixers case in CBI court? The appointment of a youth Congress office bearer as the advocate for Christian Michel James, the extradited middleman at the centre of Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland chopper scam, is curious. Why would the party which is fighting a perception battle over the accuseds alleged links with the Gandhi family and its trusted aides make the connection obvious by asking a lawyer from its youth wing to argue the fixers case in CBI court? It smacks of political hara-kiri at any point in time, leave alone in the middle of an election season. Has the Congress lost its marbles? Lawyer of #ChristianMichel, Aljo K Joseph when asked what position he holds in the Congress party: I am the National Incharge for Indian Youth Congress legal department. pic.twitter.com/sEFo76pliP ANI (@ANI) December 5, 2018 When the connection came to light on Wednesday, a seemingly embarrassed Congress claimed that it had no prior knowledge that advocate Aljo K Joseph, the national in-charge for Youth Congresss legal department, is appearing as the counsel for Michel. Youth Congress spokespersons hurriedly claimed that Joseph had appeared in his professional capacity and for that sin, he has been expelled from the party with immediate effect. Amrish Ranjan Pandey, IYC, Spox: Aljo K Joseph appeared in his personal capacity. He didn't consult Youth Congress before appearing in the case. IYC does NOT endorse such actions.IYC has removed Aljo Joseph from IYCs Legal Dept&expelled him from the party with immediate effect. pic.twitter.com/Vo5xJ5F8ok ANI (@ANI) December 5, 2018 Aljo K Joseph appeared in his personal capacity. He did not consult the Youth Congress before appearing in the case. IYC does NOT endorse such actions. IYC has removed Aljo Joseph from IYCs Legal Department and expelled him from the party with immediate effect. Krishna Allavaru (@Allavaru) December 5, 2018 The Congress top leadership, too, distanced itself from Joseph with Randeep Surjewala putting the onus on the partys youth wing. We (Congress) have nothing to do with it. I dont know the person and I have no knowledge about it this is for the IYC to say. For his part, Joseph told news agency ANI that he was helping Michel who is at the centre of alleged political payoffs to the tune of 70 million euros that CBI suspects was paid as commission to the Family at the behest of a friend who has some connections in Dubai from where Michel was deported. Lawyer of #ChristianMichel, Aljo K Joseph: My relation with Congress is separate, my profession is separate. One of my friends, who was having some Dubai connections, through him the lawyer in Italy had requested it. So I was just helping in appearing&assisting him in this matter https://t.co/SSLOhQqQxF ANI (@ANI) December 5, 2018 Interestingly, soon after appearing for Michel in CBI court, the youth Congress lawyer was spotted at the Congress headquarters where he met Deepak Babaria, AICC general secretary in charge of Madhya Pradesh. #WATCH: Lawyer of #ChristianMichel, Aljo K Joseph meets Congress General Secretary Deepak Babaria at Congress Headquarters, Delhi. pic.twitter.com/qgCmzTg9ul ANI (@ANI) December 5, 2018 Barbaria was quoted, as saying, by The Indian Express in a report that Joseph was helping us in preparing material for training our workers and candidates on EVMs and other poll-related activities. Incidentally, the BJP has alleged that not just Joseph, two other lawyers who have links with Congress have also defended Michel in the CBI court. At a news conference on Wednesday, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said: Apart from Joseph, Michels lawyers were Vishnu Shankar, who is the son of a Kerala Congress leader and Sriram Parakkat, who has been a member of Congress student wing, the National Students Union of India. All three have worked under top Congress lawyers like Salman Khurshid and Kapil Sibal. The BJP called it extended hand of 10 Janpath. It all sounds extremely daft. The Congress, which is busy attacking Narendra Modi over Rafale, should have been extremely careful in not letting the perception grow that there is some link between the scam accused Michel and partys top leadership, instead it apparently went out of its way to reinforce the opposite impression. The party did expel Joseph and made all the right noises, but that explanation wont find a buyer. Media has been quick to interpret Congresss action as a goof-up and a massive self-goal. It is likely a misinterpretation. A political party as old, entrenched and experienced as the Congress, which held power for six decades since Independence and has a bevy of battle-hardened career politicians, seasoned lawyers, data crunchers, social media team, analysts and the works in its team, cannot make such a childish mistake. The theory is attractive but lazy and implausible. Even if, for arguments sake, we contend that Joseph may have kept Congress in the dark, the timeline of events and the fact that two other lawyers with Congress links were allegedly defending Michel in court points to not a goof-up but a plan. It is too much of a coincidence. Let us now turn the theory on its head and posit that it was a calculated move on the part of the Congress to appoint the lawyers, knowing fully well that such an act wont go unnoticed. The question then is, what would the Congress gain by subjecting itself to public embarrassment and potentially handing a weapon to BJP? To understand the motivation behind Congresss actions, we have to turn our attention to the dynamics between Michel and the so-called Family, a word that appears multiple times in hand-written diaries detailing alleged bribes paid for the choppers. The part-typed and part-handwritten diaries that were recovered during raids at the residence of Guido Haschke's mother in Lugano, Switzerland, in April 2012, apparently refer to a 08.05.2011 agreement between Michel and Haschke (another European middleman), which says that Christian James Michel agreed to reduce the amount (his commission) to 30 million from the originally agreed upon 42 million for the 'team' to honour the commission to the family in full." Journalist for The Pioneer J Gopikrishnan had mentioned in a 2013 report the 64-page chargesheet (that was filed in the Italian court), that details how the document seized from the bedroom of Haschkes mother talks about a dispute between another middleman Christian Michel and Haschke on sharing the commission amount. Michel was forced to accept around 12 million (around 85 crore) to accommodate the family. According to a report in The Times of India, a second note, titled budget expenditure items and dictated to Haschke in 2008, mentioned acronyms of individuals who were to be allegedly paid bribes totalling 30 million euros. The mentions included FAM and AP, both mentioned under a head captioned POL which Italian investigators interpreted as referring politicians. Michel has denied writing these notes and has accused Haschke of framing him. It is plausible that Michel is the fulcrum of the scam and central to the political payoffs. He had undertaken 300 trips to this country between 1997 and 2013 but when the chopper deal came under scrutiny in India, the British national took refuge in the UAE to avoid appearing before Indian courts. He even reportedly tried to flee UAE twice when it became apparent that extradition was imminent. Michel, who is perceived as a Gandhi family loyalist, has so far steadfastly denied having paid any bribes to the Gandhis and has claimed that the CBI had offered him a deal to buy freedom in exchange for implicating the Gandhi family and Congress leaders in the scandal. CBI has refuted the charges. Incidentally, as a report in Firstpost points out, Michel had in a letter dated 15 March, 2008, wrote to Peter Hulet, the then head of India region sales and liaison for AgustaWestland, saying, Dear Peter, since Mrs Gandhi is the driving force behind the VIP, she will no longer fly with MI8. Mrs Gandhi and her closest advisers are the aim of the High Commissioner, senior adviser Prime Minister Manmohan Singh obviously the main figure, then theres Ahmed Patel Secretary. Amid a political firestorm, Congress denied the charges and in July 2018, after he was granted bail in Dubai, Michel retracted his statement against the Congress leader and said that he had named Sonia and senior Congress leaders on the behest of the CBI. It is not difficult to conclude that Michels confession will decide the fate of the case against the Gandhis. If he continues to issue denial and holds on to his retraction, it may be difficult for the CBI to crack the case unless it possesses incriminating evidence. This is where the rubber hits the road. The charade played by the Congress over appointment of lawyers might be seen as a dog whistle aimed at Michel to provide him moral support and a tacit assurance that the party has his back. All that Michel needs to do is to keep his nerve under sustained interrogation. In the bargain a few pawns may have been sacrificed and a temporary embarrassment courted but it is a small price to pay for Michels silence. Else, if the middleman sings, there could be a political tsunami. BJP president Amit Shah on Friday attacked the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal over their refusal to let BJP conduct a Rath Yatra in the state, calling her undemocratic. BJP president Amit Shah on Friday termed the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal undemocratic, criticising it for not allowing the ruling party at the Centre to conduct a rath yatra in the state. Shah said that the West Bengal chief minister is scared of BJPs growth in the state, and thats why she denied permission to the party's Gantantra Bachao Yatra (Save Democracy Yatra)" that was to take place on Friday. "A democratic process has been suppressed in West Bengal, with the misuse of power. The chief minister is following this trend. This is non-democratic," said Shah. After the West Bengal government first denied BJP permission to organise the rath yatra, saying it may cause communal tension, the party had moved the Calcutta High Court for relief. However, the Calcutta High Court upheld the state government's decision. Shah was expected to flag off the rath yatra from Coochbehar on Friday. The BJP had decided to put on hold Shah's proposed rath yatra, saying it will wait for the final order from the high court, which will hear an appeal by the saffron party on Friday. Meanwhile, the state BJP leadership has called an emergency meeting in Coochbehar to discuss the future course of action after uncertainty loomed over the party's rath yatra programme. Addressing a press conference in New Delhi on Friday, Shah assured party workers that the yatra is not cancelled, just postponed. "I will personally lead the rath yatra when it happens. Our party workers in the state will not bow down to tactics of Mamata," said Shah, adding, "BJP workers are not afraid of suppressing Mamata. We are committed to bringing good governance inside Bengal," he added. Shah also offered advice to the West Bengal chief minister, saying that canceling the yatra will not get her the support of the people. "I want to tell Mamata that by not giving permission to BJP programmes, you will only invite the ire of people in your state," he said. Shah also attacked the state government, alleging that the state leads in the number of political killings in the country. "West Bengal is a hotbed of all the illegal activities. Governance has collapsed in West Bengal and people are looking for a change. Twenty-six out of 100 political murders happened in West Bengal, making it number one in political murder in India," he said. A section of party leaders, who spoke to PTI on the condition of anonymity, said if the BJP fails to conduct the proposed rath yatra, it would send a wrong message to the rank and file of the party. "We are waiting for the court's verdict. We have also called a meeting of party workers at 2 pm," said a senior state BJP leader. The party's state president Dilip Ghosh had earlier in the day said his party has full faith in the judiciary and hoped it would be able to kick-start its rath yatra campaign from Friday. "Whenever we have wanted to take out a rally or conduct a political programme, the state government has tried to stop it either by denying us permission or tried to create procedural hurdles," he alleged. Ghosh and other party leaders also offered puja at the Madan Mohan Mandir at Coochbehar. Three air-conditioned buses were to be flagged off from Madan Mohan temple in Cooch Behar on Friday, Kakdwip near the pilgrimage of Ganga Sagar at the confluence of the Hooghly river and the Bay of Bengal on 9 December, as well as the temple town of Tarapith on 14 December. Haseeb Drabu's rise to becoming number two in the PDP was primarily because of the trust imposed in his capabilities by former chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. During an impressive election rally in the run-up to the state Assembly election of 2014, a villager once told Haseeb Drabu that there was a lot of gudil for him. The individual actually meant goodwill but Drabu often invoked this word later to make his election team laugh. However, as time passed by, it turned out that Drabu didnt enjoy the gudil of his colleagues in the PDP. With his exit, the worries of Peoples Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti, who is struggling to keep her flock together, have only grown. The party has lost not only its intellectual capital but also a skilled negotiator who has the demeanour of a diplomat and is a top economist with a pragmatic understanding of the state. To his credit, he was the man behind the first zero deficit budget presented in the history of Jammu and Kashmir during 2002 PDP-Congress government in the state. Inspired by the PDP founder Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, Drabu joined the party and was given the ticket to contest from Rajpora constituency in Pulwama. Sources in the party say Drabu was an outsider in the party of peers, an influential caste equivalent to Brahmin caste among Hindus. Before plunging into politics, he wrote a passionate letter in a leading daily and his rise in the party was abrupt, earning him few friends and many foes. His rise to becoming number two in the PDP was primarily because of the trust imposed in his capabilities by former chief minister Sayeed. After Sayeeds death, the PDP leaders went after him. Ask anyone and they would tell you that he was arrogant. He scolded people for no reason and once even told a worker, who had come from a far-flung area, to apply deodorant before entering his office, said a PDP leader wishing anonymity. The former finance minister of the state was a victim of backroom politics in the PDP. His detractors in the PDP would take turns to project him as an outcast in front of the party leadership. As such, in this brief period, I got a full flavour of politics, in its fascinating range from principles, pledges, to perfidies! he wrote in his resignation letter to Mehbooba. A former minister would often discuss with his favourite set of reporters in Srinagar Drabus rising stature in the party and even encouraged them to write stories that he was overshadowing even PDP president Mehbooba. On a rainy April day in 2015, while addressing his maiden press conference in Jammu, then chief minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed credited the first time legislator and economist for "showing us dreams". After all, among a series of political and economic proposals aimed at changing the destiny of the turmoil-wracked state, the BJP had agreed in the 'Agenda of the Alliance' document with the PDP to pursue a dialogue on Kashmir. Drabu was chosen by Sayeed to negotiate the terms of PDP-BJP alliance but the alliance never worked, earning him the tag of dream merchant among the party leadership. That the Centre didnt respect the alliance agenda became Drabus nemesis. The agenda had talked about talks with stakeholders on Kashmir and getting two power projects back from the Centre, but that never happened. I do want to remember Mufti sahib who sought me out and got me into politics. Working with him made me realise that politics is not the last refuge of scoundrels! Occasionally, people with intellectual integrity, personal honesty and moral courage can also be found here. I was exceptionally lucky to have worked with him. I just hope that when history judges Mufti sahib and his decision to ally with the BJP, it does so in the context and with the complexity that it deserves, Drabu said in his resignation letter. It is a big loss to the PDP. Ignore the fact that he was arrogant, he was one of the few credible faces of the party. His exit has jolted the PDP and it may well be the last nail in the coffin for PDP, Noor Mohammad Baba, a political scientist who teaches at the Central University of Kashmir, said. Drabus political journey has had its fair share of highs and lows, successes and failures, appreciation and condemnation, contentment and frustrations, and agreement and disagreements. There are many things that I am thankful for, many more I am grateful for and yet much more that I am distressed about. A slice of full life in itself as it were! Drabu said in his letter. With Drabu out of PDP, rumour mills are already on fire in the Valley. Some say the former finance minister may join the third front when the state Assembly elections are held. It is believed that Drabu and Peoples Conference chief and the BJP ally Sajad Lone are good friends. Others say the economist, who was unceremoniously dropped from the cabinet by Mehbooba for saying that Kashmir is not a political issue", is eyeing for a promotion to some key position in the Centre, most probably RBI. He will be weighing his options. He wants to serve the people of Jammu and Kashmir but the experience with the PDP has left him bitter. One of his key proposals, the PAO (Pay and Accounts Office) system, that would have hit at the roots of corruption in the state, was not implemented by his own government. It has made him rethink his position, a close aide of Drabu told Firstpost. His career has been punctuated by such developments. When he was the J&K Bank chairman, he was ousted by the Omar Abdullah government. When he became the states finance minister, he was binned by the party. But he has always made a comeback with grace and more responsibility, the aide said. With the resignation of Haseeb Drabu and voices of dissent within the PDP, Mehbooba Mufti's party could face major setbacks in the Assembly elections. Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti may face fresh trouble as ex-MLA and top Shia leader Abid Ansari on Friday said that he will resign from the party. This comes a day after former finance minister and PDP MLA Haseeb Drabu resigned from the party. Drabu took the decision despite recent steps taken by Mufti to rejig the party. Abid said that he will resign from the party shortly. Like Haseeb Drabu, I have also dissociated from the PDP since the death of former chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, he said. Abid's nephew Imran Ansari recently left the PDP and joined the Peoples Conference (PC) led by former minister Sajad Gani Lone. Abid, however, said that he has not decided as yet on whether to join the PC. Sources in the PC, however, said that the party "has been strengthened with the joining of many leaders, including Imran Ansari" and that it would welcome both Drabu and Abid. Sajad considers both Drabu and Abid as close friends, but party sources said that Drabu has not been in touch with the PC leader to join the party. He (Drabu) has not disclosed his intentions to join the PC, and we dont think that he would do so at the moment, sources said. However, with the resignation of Drabu and voices of dissent within the PDP, the party could face major setbacks in the Assembly elections. Lone is trying to cash in on the recent claim for government formation by Mufti, in which arch rivals NC and Congress had come together to keep him out of power. He has been saying that the two parties did so as they wanted to promote the dynastic rule and has claimed that their attempt to form the government "was only a drama. Besides Abid and Drabu, former PDP leader Abbas Wani also has no intention to return to the party. The PDP is already facing trouble in its strongholds, as many civilians were killed in south Kashmir during protests after the killing of Burhan Muzafar Wani. Mufti drew flak when she as the chief minister justified the action by the forces, saying that the protesting youth did not go towards the camps of security forces to buy toffees and milk. The PDP leaders who have rebelled against the party said that they did so as former minister Nayeem Akhtar, Mufti's uncle Sartaj Madni, and senior leader Peerzda Mansoor were calling the shots in the government, although none of them were elected MLAs. While Nayeem was an MLC, both Sartaj and Mansoor had lost the 2014 elections from Devsar and Shangus Assembly constituencies respectively. However, former Noorabad MLA Abdul Majeed Padder said that Mufti listened to his grievances, "following which she brought certain changes in the party structure. He added,Both Madni and Mansoor were removed as vice-president and general secretary of the party respectively, and they dont hold any office as of now. These positions are now held by party leaders Abdul Rehman Veeri and Ghulam Nabi Lone respectively. In August, Mufti, besides nominating the new office-bearers, also reconstituted the Political Affairs Committee (PAC), which has Muzaffar Hussain Baig, senior leader Abdul Rehman Veeri, Mohammad Dilawar Mir, Mehboob Baig and Syed Basharat Bukhari as members. Rajasthan has at least 20.29 lakh first-time voters, approximately 4.18 percent of the total electorate of 4,77,89,815 With the Rajasthan Vidhan Sabha polls underway on Friday, first-time voters stand to make a large difference in the state. Rajasthan has reportedly at least 20.29 lakh first-time voters, approximately 4.18 percent of the total 4.7 crore electorate in the state According to a DNA report, this figure is 21 percent higher than the 2013 polls, where 16.5 lakh people exercised their franchise for the first time. This, in turn, is an increase of 9.8 lakh compared to the 2008 polls, when 6.71 lakh first-timers in the age group of 18-19 exercised their franchise. Many of these young voters have expressed concern about the unemployment that plagues the state: In #Udaipur, met two first time voters two budding Ayurvedic female doctors sitting besides #FatehsagarLake. Express concern over lack of employment in Rajasthan for medicos#RajasthanAssemblyelection2018 #RajasthanElections2018 #RajasthanElection2018 pic.twitter.com/i1y1XaOkPv Rohan Dua (@rohanduaTOI) December 2, 2018 NDTV spoke to some first-time voters, who said they were excited to finally help make a change in the state. They expressed disappointment at the lack of development in the state and said that their votes will be for the party that has brought progress to the state. First-time voters in the state want better education facilities. Speaking with 101Reporters, first-time voters from Sarmathura village in Baseri Assembly constituency in Dholpur district, said that they want the state government to build more government college for girls. They said there aren't enough facilities for women's education in the area. Rajasthan tops the list in terms of women representation in India with 14 percent of all MLAs elected in the previous election being women. Though the number of women candidates (187) contesting in the 2018 polls is highest in the state's history, the state failed to nominate women candidates in at least 83 Assembly constituencies, an analysis of the final list of candidates shows. In a state with 22 million women voters, that translates to an abysmal ratio of one women candidate every 1.16 lakh women voters. Follow LIVE updates on the Rajasthan Vidhan Sabha polls Rajasthan Assembly Elections 2018 LIVE updates: The voter turnout in Rajasthan until 3 pm was recorded at 59.7%. Polling in the state started off slowly, with only 6.11% of the electorate voting until 11 am. Auto refresh feeds Additionally, 134 CRPF companies, 110 BSF companies, 103 CISF companies, 42 ITBP companies, 41 SSB companies and 45 companies of the RPF have been employed to maintain decorum during polling. Elaborate security arrangements have also been made to ensure free and fair polls in the 51,965 polling stations in the state. According to sources, at least 650 companies have been called from outside. According to election officials, polling will take place from 8 am to 5 pm on 7 December in 199 constituencies. The election in Alwar district's Ramgarh constituency has been postponed due to the death of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate Laxman Singh. "The fate of the next five years is in your hands," he said. Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee (RPCC) president Sachin Pilot, who is also contesting the polls from Tonk constituency, took to Twitter to encourage citizens to turn out in large numbers for the polls. There are 4,77,89,815 voters in the state among whom, 2,28,28,018 are female and 2,49,61,560 male voters. There are 1,16,944 service voters whereas 15 NRI electors and 222 third gender electors in the state. Rajasthan's incumbent chief minister Vasundhara Raje took to Twitter to encourage citizens to vote. "Every citizen of the state is a key pillar of democracy, and the Constitution has given you the right to vote to choose your government. Therefore, your moral duty is to exercise franchise and motivate others to do the same. Come celebrate democracy, come vote," she tweeted. "I am insulted," she said about his comment. Speaking to media, she also responded to Sharad Yadav's comment calling her "fat" and said: "I am absolutely shocked that a politician with so much experience, who has been so close to our family, would use such language. You will never hear a BJP leader using such language." Incumbent chief minister Vasundhara Raje cast her vote in Jhalawar district's Jhalrapatan, from where she is contesting the polls. Khan, who is the state transport minister, has been fielded from Tonk constituency, where state Congress president Sachin Pilot is contesting. He replaced the sitting MLA Ajit Singh Mehta, who figured in an earlier list. Muslims constitute 9.07 percent of the population, and hold particular power to alter the vote share in Tonk . It has been suggested that to appease the Muslims in Tonk, the BJP has fielded its only Muslim candidate Yoonus Khan. Pilot also accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of ignoring Rajasthan. "Where was the honourable prime minister for five years?" he asked, adding that "no senior BJP leader came to Rajasthan when there were floods, droughts or suicides." CNN News18 quoted state Congress chief Sachin Pilot as saying that people have been dissatisfied with the state government for five years. "The issue is about the development of Rajasthan," he said. An Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) at a polling station at Jodhpur's Kamla Nagar blind school was found to be defective. A voter turnout of 6.11 percent was recorded across Rajasthan by 9 am, the Election Commission announced. Polling began at 8 am, and will conclude at 5 pm. Faulty EVMs were reported in the polling booth and were subsequently replaced. However, the new ones stopped working as well. Voting in Kishangarhbas' Hanspur Kala only began at 9:40 am, when it was supposed to begin at 8 am. Several EVMs in Jalore reported to be defective, cause a delay in voting at booths 253 and 254. EVMs sangs have also been reported at Chittorgarh, Bengu, Sawai Madhopur, Pushkar, and Haidarshah. He has previously served as chief minister from 1998 to 2003, and again from 2008 to 2013. Former Rajasthan chief minister and senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot cast his vote at booth number 106 in Jodhpur's Vardmam school Mahamandir. Gehlot is contesting the polls from Jodhpur's Sardarpura constituency. Girija Vyas, a Congress candidate from Udaipur, cast her vote for the Rajasthan Assembly Election on Friday. She is fighting against BJP's Gulab Chand Kataria, the incumbent home minister in the Rajasthan government. An EVM defect was reported at booth number 4 of a polling station in Bharatpur's Nadbai. Voting has also been stalled at booths 154, 119, 120, and 240. The police reached the spot and took control of the situation. Two groups got into a fight in Jagaasar village in Bikaner's Kolayat, and also reportedly set a car on fire in the process. However, the incident did not impact polling. Villagers in Bharatpur are boycotting the elections at Weir Vidhan Sabha, citing lack of basic facilities like electricity, water, and road connectivity. People from Ataripura at Baroli Panchayat boycotted the polls as well. Women of Samanpura village complain about lack of water and electricity in their village. Latest reports have put the polling percentage at 20 percent in Bikaner district. The district includes seven Assembly constituencies Bikaner East, Bikaner West, Khajuwala (SC reserved seat), Kolayat, Lunkaransar, Dungargarh and Nokha. Poonam Kanwar Bhati, daughter-in-law of BJP leader and seven-time legislator Devi Singh Bhat is contesting from Kolayat assembly constituency. Sheyphali Sharan, the spokesperson of ECI, said that 22 percent polling percentage has been recorded till 11 am. Alwar district recorded 23.5 percent voting till 11 am. Tijara and Alwar Rural recorded highest in the district at 25 percent each, followed by Kathumar at and Thana Gaji at 24 percent each, Beherod and Mundawar at 23 percent. Bansur and Alwar City both recorded voting at 22 percent. Jhalarapatan is part of the Jhalwar district, which also includes Dag, a SC reserved seat, which saw 15.79 percent turnout, Manohar Thana (14 percent) and Khanpura (21.43 percent). Raje, who is the BJP's chief ministerial candidate, is fighting against veteran BJP leader Jaswant Singh's son Manvendra Singh in Jhalrapatan, the constituency she has represented since 2003. Manvendra Singh had joined Congress just before the election, making the fight tougher for Raje this time. She had won 63 per cent of the votes cast in 2013, winning the seat by a margin of 60,896. Incumbent chief minister Vasundhara Raje's constituency Jhalarapatan saw a dismal 16 percent turnout till 11 am. The numbers arelower than the state average 22 percent till 11 am. Jasana village, which falls under Nohar constituency has boycotted voting. The village has 5,700 voters, but no one has come out to vote. The villagers are displeased over no arrest in the murder of villager Pawan Kumar six months ago. The villagers are determined to not participate in Lok Sabha polls also. Rajasthan has at least 20.29 lakh first-time voters, approximately 4.18 percent of the total 4.7 crore electorate in the state. First-time voters from Sarmathura village in Baseri Assembly constituency in Dholpur district, demand that the state builds a government college for girls. They said there aren't enough facilities for women's education in the area. More than 20 electronic voting machines (EVMs) were reported to be faulty in Rajasthan's Pali district. Pali, which lies in southwestern Rajasthan, is the states largest district, and accounts for 43 Assembly seats and is crucial in the ongoing polls. "Today, I voted in the General Assembly elections. I urge the people of the state to cast their vote and select a government which will contribute to the progress of the state, and also protect the interests of the people," he tweeted. Flashing his freshly inked finger on Twitter, former Union minister Subhash Maharia cast his vote for the Rajasthan Assembly polls. Click here to read more about the Congress 2018 poll promises in Rajasthan. It also announced to expedite work on rail connectivity in Dungarpur, Banswara and Tonk districts by working on Ajmer-Tonk-Sawaimadhopur, Dungarpur-Banswara-Ratlam railway line projects. The party promised quality health services to citizens, availability of wheat to BPL families at Rs 1 per kilogram, easy monetary loans to youths and no fare in state-run buses for candidates travelling to appear in competitive exams. The Congress, in its manifesto released on 19 November, promised to waive Rajasthan farmers' loans within 10 days of coming to power. The Opposition party has also promised pension for farmers in the state, and has announced that a separate board will be set up for administering 'gau char (cow grazing)' land in the state. According to India Today, security forces and the paramilitary immediately arrived at the scene and tamed the situation. They also ordered that everyone, including mediapersons, vacate the area. Clashes broke out between workers of the Congress and Hanuman Beniwal's RLP in Sikar district. The cause of the clashes remains unclear. Click here to read more about the BJP's 2018 poll promises in Rajasthan. The saffron party in the manifesto also promised to spend Rs 6,060 crore to address the problem of water shortage in Jawai dam. The BJP will also try to bring Arabian Sea water to Sanchore and Jalore to create an inland port, Raje said. The party also promised 50 lakh jobs in the private sector in the next five years in Rajasthan, whereas 30,000 jobs will be given in the government sector every year. Raje also said up to Rs 5,000 per month will be given as unemployment allowance to eligible youths above the age of 21 years. Union ministers Arun Jaitley, Prakash Javadekar and Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje revealed the BJP's manifesto for Rajasthan on 27 November. Raje while addressing the media made promises on the education of girls and empowerment of farmers. The news agency even shared visuals of the incident , which showed police lathi charging a group of people responsible for the clash. Some of them were seen bearing injuries on their faces and heads. As per a report from ABP News, the clashes that broke out in Rajasthan's Sikar district between the Congress and the RLP, occurred in Fatehpur town. Sikar district is part of the Shekhawati region. A teacher, Aidaan Chaudhary, suffered a fatal heart attack while standing in the line to cast his vote in Tejpura village in Bikaner'a Kolayat district The voter turnout in Rajasthan until 3 pm was recorded at 59.7%. Polling in the state started off slowly, with only 6.11% of the electorate voting until 11 am. The contest is largely bipolar between the BJP and Congress for the 200-member Rajasthan Assembly. The campaigning process has been bitter with personalised attacks by leaders of various parties. Take this quiz to check how well aware you are with the state and its political history. How much do you know about Rajasthan? Take our quiz and find out! Tijari reported a 49 percent voter turnout until 1 pm, While Amer and Nohar reported 47.61 percent and 46.67 percent voting respectively. Churu recorded 41.01 percent, and Khandela recorded 35.95 percent voter turnout till 1 pm. BJP workers attacked former All India Kishan Sabha president Amra Ram's driver outside a polling booth in Jalore district. Police have been sent to the spot to investigate. Rajasthan: Vehicles were set ablaze&vandalised in a clash which broke out b/w 2 groups at polling booth at Subhash school in Sikar's Fatehpur today. Voting remained affected for 30 minutes. Miscreants were later removed from spot by police&voting resumed. #RajasthanElections pic.twitter.com/x6nQChT0vR The voter turnout in Rajasthan until 3 pm was recorded at 59.7%. Polling in the state started off slowly, with only 6.11% of the electorate voting until 11 am. The contest is largely bipolar between the BJP and Congress for the 200-member Rajasthan Assembly. The campaigning process has been bitter with personalised attacks by leaders of various parties. Take this quiz to check how well aware you are with the state and its political history. How much do you know about Rajasthan? Take our quiz and find out! Tijari reported a 49 percent voter turnout until 1 pm, While Amer and Nohar reported 47.61 percent and 46.67 percent voting respectively. Churu recorded 41.01 percent, and Khandela recorded 35.95 percent voter turnout till 1 pm. As per a tweet from the Rajasthan police, Rajasthan DGP, OP Galhotra, cast his vote at a polling station at the Poddar School for deaf and dumb in Jaipur. The tweet also encourages citizens to go out and vote. Visuals: Voters show their identity cards as they wait to cast their vote for the state Assembly elections in Bikaner BJP workers attacked former All India Kishan Sabha president Amra Ram's driver outside a polling booth in Jalore district. Police have been sent to the spot to investigate. According to the Election Commission, 74 percent voting took place in Tijara and 69.06 percent voting took place in Begun till 3 pm. Congress party workers, be vigilant after polls close today. In MP, EVM's behaved strangely after polling: Some stole a and vanished for 2 days! Others slipped away & were found drinking in a hotel. In Modis India, the EVMs have mysterious powers Stay alert! pic.twitter.com/DViNl8fdPC "In Modis India, the EVMs have mysterious powers," he said sarcastically. People standing in queues for several hours in Bikaner, due to faulty EVMs, are demanding an extension in voting time. People in Sardarpura and Jodhpur have made similar demands. Rajasthan Assembly Elections 2018 LIVE updates: Voting in the Rajasthan Assembly election has now ended. As per a report from ABP News, the clashes that broke out in Rajasthan's Sikar district between the Congress and the RLP, occurred in Fatehpur town. Sikar district is part of the Shekhawati region. The news agency even shared visuals of the incident, which showed police lathi charging a group of people responsible for the clash. Some of them were seen bearing injuries on their faces and heads. Clashes broke out between workers of the Congress and Hanuman Beniwal's RLP in Sikar district. The cause of the clashes remains unclear. According to India Today, security forces and the paramilitary immediately arrived at the scene and tamed the situation. They also ordered that everyone, including mediapersons, vacate the area. The ruling BJP faces a large challenge in Rajasthan: Reviewing the unfulfilled promises made in its 2013 election manifesto which drew the public to vote for the party and grant them 162 out of 200 seats in the 2013 Assembly. One of the major misses of the current state government has been in the area of developing fast track courts for sexual harassment cases. The situation in the health sector is also not promising The voter turnout in Rajasthan till 1 PM was recorded at 41.53 percent. More than 20 electronic voting machines (EVMs) were reported to be faulty in Rajasthan's Pali district. Pali, which lies in southwestern Rajasthan, is the states largest district, and accounts for 43 Assembly seats and is crucial in the upcoming polls. Incumbent chief minister Vasundhara Raje's constituency Jhalarapatan saw a dismal 16 percent turnout till 11 am. The numbers are lower than the state average 22 percent till 11 am. Meanwhile, Jasana village, which falls under Nohar constituency has boycotted voting. The village has 5,700 voters, and are determined to not participate in Lok Sabha polls as well. After EVM malfunctions stalled voting in Jalore district's Ahor constituency, voters created chaos at polling booths 253 and 254. Several EVMs in Jalore reported to be defective, cause a delay in voting at booths 253 and 254. EVMs sangs have also been reported at Chittorgarh, Bengu, Sawai Madhopur, Pushkar, and Haidarshah. Former Rajasthan chief minister and senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot cast his vote at booth number 106 in Jodhpur's Vardmam school Mahamandir. Gehlot is contesting the polls from Jodhpur's Sardarpura constituency. He has previously served as chief minister from 1998 to 2003, and again from 2008 to 2013. Farmers issues are most prominent in the state including loan waivers, crop prices, and cow vigilantism particularly in the arid Shekhawati region. Much like neighbouring Gujarat, farmers' issues may also play a major role in the voting preferences of the rural regions. If agrarian discontent translates to anger against the ruling party, it will hamper the BJP's chances of winning. After farmers launched a protest in Mandsaur in Madhya Pradesh, the agitation spread to Rajasthan as farmers sought, among other things, higher minimum support price and loan waivers. Though the state government in September announced a Rs 60,000 crore farm loan waiver, which may douse some of the anger against the ruling BJP, the agrarian crisis in the state continues. Voting in Kishangarhbas' Hanspur Kala only began at 9:40 am, when it was supposed to begin at 8 am. Faulty EVMs were reported in the polling booth and were subsequently replaced. However, the new ones stopped working as well. A voter turnout of 6.11 percent was recorded across Rajasthan by 9 am, the Election Commission announced. Polling began at 8 am, and will conclude at 5 pm. CNN News18 quoted state Congress chief Sachin Pilot as saying that people have been dissatisfied with the state government for five years. "The issue is about the development of Rajasthan," he said. Pilot also accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of ignoring Rajasthan. "Where was the honourable prime minister for five years?" he asked, adding that "no senior BJP leader came to Rajasthan when there were floods, droughts or suicides." Incumbent chief minister Vasundhara Raje cast her vote in Jhalawar district's Jhalrapatan, from where she is contesting the polls. Speaking to media, she also responded to Sharad Yadav's comment calling her "fat" and said: "I am absolutely shocked that a politician with so much experience, who has been so close to our family, would use such language. You will never hear a BJP leader using such language." "I am insulted," she said about his comment. After a high-decibel campaigning, Rajasthan is all set to elect a new state Assembly, voting which will take place on Friday. As many as 2,274 candidates including 187 women are in the fray for 199 out of the 200 assembly constituencies in the state. According to election officials, polling will take place from 8 am to 5 pm on 7 December in 199 constituencies. The election in Alwar district's Ramgarh constituency has been postponed due to the death of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate Laxman Singh. According to the State Election Commission, there are 4,77,89,815 voters in the state among whom, 2,28,28,018 are female and 2,49,61,560 male voters. There are 1,16,944 service voters whereas 15 NRI electors and 222 third gender electors in the state. Counting will take place on 11 December for Rajasthan and four other states Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, and Mizoram, taking part in this round of Assembly elections. Elaborate security arrangements have also been made to ensure free and fair polls in the 51,965 polling stations in the state. According to sources, at least 650 companies have been called from outside. Additionally, 134 CRPF companies, 110 BSF companies, 103 CISF companies, 42 ITBP companies, 41 SSB companies and 45 companies of the RPF have been employed to maintain decorum during polling. Campaigning in the high-stakes 7 December Assembly elections, dubbed as the semi-final before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, ended in Rajasthan on Wednesday with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress President Rahul Gandhi making a concerted attempt on the last day to win the contest for their parties. The contest is largely bipolar between the BJP and Congress for the 200-member Rajasthan assembly. Campaigning in both the states has been bitter with personalised attacks by leaders of various parties. In Rajasthan, the BJP is fighting anti-incumbency to retain power though no party has been repeated after one term in the last 20 years. With the poll surveys predicting that Congress was ahead, the BJP has made persistent efforts over the last few days to shore up its prospects with Modi, the main vote getter for the BJP, addressing around 12 rallies. On Wednesday, he made a strong attack on Congress over the issue of corruption in the wake of extradition of Christian Michel, a middleman in the controversial AgustaWestland chopper deal, stating that the British national, who has taken UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi's name, will spill the beans on the deal during the UPA government's tenure. Shah has also been holding road shows and addressing press conferences in Rajasthan. The BJP had won 163 seats in Rajasthan in 2013 elections while Congress bagged 21. On the other side, Rahul Gandhi has been on a relentless campaign in both Rajasthan and Telangana. The party has not projected a chief ministerial candidate in both the states. Complaints about faulty Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) were reported from across Rajasthan as India's largest state went to polls on Friday to elect its Assembly. Jaipur: Complaints about faulty Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) were reported from across Rajasthan as India's largest state went to polls on Friday to elect its Assembly. Voting was conducted for 199 out of 200 seats. Polling in Ramgarh constituency in Alwar district had to be postponed owing to the passing away of BSP candidate Lakshman Singh. The Election Commission (EC) reported a voter turnout of 72.7 percent (until 5 pm). The state has 4,74,79,402 registered voters. In a repeat of glitches reported in the recently held Assembly elections in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram, faulty EVMs were reported across districts like Chittorgarh, Pushkar, Bengu, Bikaner, Jodhpur, and Sawai Madhopur, among others. The voting process was delayed as voters waited in line for hours till the EVMs were repaired or replaced. Bikaner MP Arjun Ram Meghwal was one of many waiting in line, with his wife, at booth 172 in Bikaner East. The EVM stopped functioning just 15 minutes after voting began. It was just a technical glitch which was solved. Any machine can experience a technical glitch. All other facilities were in place. VVPAT is a new concept. Some places have more than 15 candidates, so it has two machines. I did not have any issues standing for two hours, the BJP MP said. Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee is reported to have received 460 complaints related to issues regarding polling procedure, based on which, the committee has written a letter to the Election Commission. Out of the 460 complaints, 400 were related to faulty EVMs. As many as 160 places lodged complaints regarding threats from BJP, booth capturing, and violence, the committee said. It takes 42 seconds for a voter to cast their vote using VVPAT. One booth has 1,400 registered voters. People were standing for hours, but still couldnt cast votes. There were no facilities for drinking water. Most EVMs were not working for at least two hours in the morning, which delayed the entire procedure. The operator did not know how to run the machine, said Pratap Singh Khachariyawas, district committee president, Jaipur Congress. The major issues on the basis of which voters cast their ballots included lack of electricity and roads, unemployment, caste and communal violence, fully-functioning government colleges, farmers issues like crop prices, loan waivers, etc. Muslim women in Baseri, Dholpur, narrated problems of unemployment faced by the youth, stating that there are no jobs and that they would like proper development from the future government. Demanding justice, residents of Jasana village in Nohar constituency boycotted the elections. They have accused the government of inaction regarding the murder of Dalit youth Pawan Kumar, who was killed when police opened fire on protesters during the Bharat Bandh held in April. Voters in Wier assembly seat in Bharatpur district have also boycotted elections due to lack of basic facilities like water, electricity, and proper construction of roads. In a strange incident, the Chopra school booth in Bikaner East experienced a boycott, where voters returned without casting their vote, citing that a police official was under the influence of alcohol and behaved inappropriately with them. Stray incidents of violence and unrelated deaths were reported across the state during voting day. A car was set on fire during a fight between two groups in Jagaasar village in Kolayat, Bikaner, and a tussle was also reported between Congress and BJP supporters in Sikar, where a few members of both parties sustained injuries. Moreover, BJP workers reportedly attacked former All India Kisan Sabha president Amra Ram's driver, outside a polling booth in Jalore district. In all situations, security forces arrived immediately. 70-year-old Geeta Devi passed away right after voting at booth 180, in Bhilawara. She was taken to the hospital after her health started deteriorating while waiting in line. Similarly, Aidaan Chaudhary, a teacher in Tejpura village, Bikaner, suffered a heart attack while in queue to cast his vote, and passed away. Voters across all age groups filed into voting booths through the day. First-time voters as young as 18 and elderly individuals above the age of 100 were all seen exercising their franchise across the state. Some of the important candidates for Rajasthans state Assembly election include incumbent Vasundhara Raje, BJPs face for chief minister, who is contesting from Jhalrapatan seat in Jhalawar. Her competition is Manvendra Singh, another Rajput and son of former cabinet minister Jaswant Singh, who was a key player in BJP, and recently joined Congress. Ashok Gehlot, former chief minister of Rajasthan, is one of Congress contenders for the top seat, and is fighting from Sardarpura seat. Another prominent contender is Sachin Pilot, president of Rajasthan Congress, who is fighting from Tonk against BJPs sole Muslim candidate, Yoonus Khan. Outside of the BJP and Congress camps, Amra Ram, a farmer leader from CPM has also gained popularity among certain regions of the state and is fighting from Danta Ramgarh constituency. Other rebel leaders include Ghanshyam Tiwari and Hanuman Beniwal who have formed separate parties Bharat Vahini and Rashtriya Loktantrik Party, respectively against BJP, and are counting on caste-based vote banks of Brahmins and Jats. By the end of the day, people who had been waiting in queues for several hours due to faulty EVMs, in regions like Bikaner, Sardarpura and Jodhpur, demanded an extension in voting time. With inputs from Madhav, Sangeeta Sharma, Ram Gopal Jat and Rajendra Sharma (Rangoli Agrawal is a Jaipur-based freelance writer and a member of 101Reporters.com Senior politician Sharad Yadav sparked a controversy after he said that Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje should take rest as she has gained weight. Later while clarifying his remarks, Yadav said that it was a mere 'joke' and his intentions were not to hurt the Bharatiya Janata Party leader. Alwar: Senior politician Sharad Yadav sparked a controversy after he said that Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje should take rest as she has gained weight. Later while clarifying his remarks, Yadav said that it was a mere 'joke' and his intentions were not to hurt the Bharatiya Janata Party leader. "Give rest to Vasundhara. She looks too tired and has gained too much weight. Earlier she was slim. She is our Madhya Pradesh's daughter (Vasundhara ko aaram do, bahut thak gayi hain, bahut moti ho gayi hain, pehle patli thi. Humare Madhya Pradesh ki beti hai)," Yadav said on Thursday here while addressing a rally. However, Yadav on Thursday clarified while talking to ANI that his comment was meant to be a joke. "It was a joke. I have known her for a long time. It was in no manner a derogatory remark. I didn't say it to hurt her. When I met her then also I told her that she is gaining weight," he said. Meanwhile, Yadav has criticised the BJP for "create tensions between the people." When asked about the Bulandshahr violence, Yadav said, "Bajrang Dal and Vishva Hindu Parishad people are responsible for what happened in Bulandshr. Now the government is trying to save them. They are trying to create tensions between the people. They have lynched the judiciary. First, they do all this and then say that strict actions will be taken. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is saying nothing about the death of the police inspector, he is rather talking about cows." Police inspector Subodh Kumar was killed in mob violence in Bulandshahr on 3 December after carcasses of allegedly 25 cattle were found in the forests close to a police post, with cow vigilantes alleging that those were the remains of cows slaughtered illegally. A local youth was also killed in the violence. There is a strong undercurrent of disquiet and unease as the people of Rajasthan line up to cast their vote. This unease is directed at the political class who have left no stone unturned to woo the electorate. There is a strong undercurrent of disquiet and unease as the people of Rajasthan line up to cast their vote. This unease is directed at the political class who have left no stone unturned to woo the electorate. As Rajasthan goes to polls on Friday, the 4.75 crore voters will go on to decide the fate of 2,274 candidates. But the electioneering has been marked by endless rounds of barbs and counter-barbs from both the BJP and its arch rival the Congress who, the people here believe, have hardly addressed the key issues which are afflicting the common man. The mood is summed up best by one of Jaipurs most-loved women activists, Dr Renuka Pamecha. A political scientist and doyen of the womens movement in Rajasthan, Paemcha has been running the Maheela Salah aur Surakasha Kendra from a woman's police station for several years. She pointed out, "I have been in this field for the last 45 years and I have never felt more disheartened in my life. Women are the last priority in this election. Incidents of violence against women and children have risen sharply as can be seen by stats of the National Crime Records Bureau but the state government under Vasundhara Raje has come up with no comprehensive rehabilitation policy for women who are rape victims or victims of domestic violence. What is the point of announcing scheme after scheme when there is no budgetary allocation for these schemes. They are least concerned about the fate of the women or our children." Pamecha believes caste and vote bank politics are ruling the roost in the current elections. "The fact is that vote bank politics is in the forefront in our state and the women voters are going to be made to vote according to their caste. If the women are Rajputs, they will be told to vote for the Rajput candidate, if they are Jats, they will be told to vote for the Jat candidate. The only focus has been to polarise the voter and in that they are succeeding," said Pamecha. The farmers voices from across the state sound even more embittered. Fateh Singh from the village of Daulatpura near Jaipur is equally disenchanted. "Governments come and go. No one listens to us. Vasundhara has not paid attention to us nor is Modiji listening to us. Where is the water that we had been promised in the last elections? Groundwater has turned salty and is unfit for use. Those who can afford are buying water at Rs 20 per litre from tankers but for the rest of us, our wives and daughters are walking several kilometres per day to fetch water. The key question is how are we expected to grow crops without water? The men from my village and all our surrounding villages are migrating in search of work to Gujarat. The women are working under MNREGA as and when it is available. But today women recipients must have a Bhimasha Yojana card to be able to access these payments. We have ended up feeling destitute in our homes," said Singh. Another farmer Ram Bharose, also from Daulatpura, is equally cynical of politicians and poll promises. "All our representatives, whether it be our MPs and MLAs are all immune to our hardships. Modi had promised to bring water to our khet ( farm) in 2014. But it has not reached us. In his speech on 5 December at Dausa the prime minister promised to link our canal with the Narmada. But I want to ask, if farmers in Gujarat are starved for water, how can he divert water to us." Kavita Srivastava of People's Union for Civil Liberties feels the Congress is no match to Modi in perception management. "He has been saying different things in different places in Rajasthan which no leader in Congress has been able to equal. This high decibel campaign has been entirely emotive . There is a constant process of polarisation with minority issues having been swept under the carpet. In the 200 seats being contested, there are 25 seats in which punters are putting their bets on independent candidates many of whom are being propped by the BJP. No one knows who will sweep this state. There are also serious questions regarding the Mukhya Mantri Jal Swavlamban Scheme (MMJSS) which was launched in the first years of the Raje government. The scheme to provide water for several towns including Jaipur but it has not made the kind of progress that was expected. Last year saw a monsoon deficit in the state of Rajasthan and that has adversely impacted this water harvesting project. But Sriram Vedire, chairman of the Rajasthan River Basin and Water Resources Planning Authority believes this criticism is a little far-fetched especially since the MMJSS is working towards reviving plunging ground water levels as well as providing storage space for water that farmers can access. Farmers also complain that their backbones have been broken by the successive increase in diesel prices given that when Modi came to power on 16.5.2014, the price of diesel was at Rs 55.49 per litre whereas today it is at Rs 75.25 per litre, an exorbitant increase of Rs 19.76 per litre. But the chief minister has made disel cheaper by reducing the price of diesel by rs 5.. The other major problem facing the youth of Rajasthan is employment which again the man-on-the-street believes has not been addressed by any political party. In fact, Association of Democratic Reforms has recently conducted a Survey on the Expectation of Voters of Rajasthan from their government. Rajasthan based Kamal Kak with ADR pointed out that the majority of people interviewed both in rural and urban parts of the state listed better employment opportunities being their number one priority. This has been followed by farmers demanding a more remunerative price for their products while people in cities want better health care and better policing in their cities. Kak pointed out, "Both sides, ( Congress and BJP) have been involved in a blaming game. Emotional issues have come to the forefront with its focus on Hindutva along with its anti-minority slant. Amongst leaders probably Ashok Gehlot enjoys a good rapport largely because he introduced old age pension and also free medicine and diagnostic services in 2012. Both these schemes were put under the scanner by the present dispensation." Congress chief Rahul Gandhi also made a jibe against prime minister Narendra Modi when he addressed a rally in Always on 4 December saying that if the latter had provided the two crore jobs he had promised, four youth would not have committed suicide in Alwar. A problem by the police had revealed the boys allegedly jumped before a moving rain in a suspected suicide pact because they had no jobs. Mewa Bharti who is heading the Mahila Kamgaar Union in Jaipur feels the voter today is not going to reveal what he is thinking. "Vo spasth nahi bol raha (he is not telling us clearly) on whose side he is. He is scared and will cast his vote secretly." But whatever the public may say, there is a feeling on the ground that the chief ministers recent decisions to provide free electricity and give farmers a loan waiver of Rs 50,000 will work in her favour. Farmers believe is she had taken this decision five years ago, when she had won the earlier election, it would have gone a long way in mitigating her reputation for being arrogant and an isolationist If the peaceful polling in hyper-sensitive areas is any indication, the Maoist threat turned out to be a damp squib in Telangana. Hyderabad: Polling day being Friday is attributed as one of the reasons behind decrease in polling in the Old City, since the largely Muslim population there has to spare an hour or two to offer prayers at mosques. If the peaceful polling in hyper-sensitive areas as many as 13 constituencies is any indication, the Maoist threat turned out to be a damp squib. Prior to the election, the rebels had issued warnings advising voters to boycott the polls, pointing out that they had no faith in democracy. They had also threatened to indulge in violence at public meetings organised by political parties. Thankfully, none of the threats materialised. Tension did prevail in Yakutpura constituency of the Old City, when activists of Majlis Bachao Tehreek (BMT) and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) clashed over alleged rigging at the polling booth. BMT leader Amjed Ullah Khan had laid the charge. The police had to rush to the spot and disperse the warring groups to ensure peaceful voting. In another incident, Congress candidate contesting from Kalwakurthy constituency, Ch Vamshichand Reddy, was attacked allegedly by BJP activists in Amangal Mandal of Nagarkurnool district. It is said the attack took place when Reddy visited a polling booth at Jaganreddypalli. He was later admitted to Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences. The BJP spokesperson insisted that his party had nothing to do with the alleged attack on the Congress candidate. Many voters also complained about their names missing from the voters' list. For example, more than 10 voters could not cast their votes in Malkajgiri constituency in Ranga Reddy district. Badminton star Jwala Gutta said her name wasnt there. "I visited the polling station at 7.30 am. Out of four names of our family, three were missing. It is quite surprising,'' Gutta said. The other highlight was the malfunctioning of electronic voting machines (EVMs) at polling stations in around 20 constituencies. Women, especially senior citizens, had to return home without waiting for election officials to replace the defunct EVMs. Though the initial glitches surfaced in the morning, polling gained momentum by Friday afternoon. Long queues were seen at most booths by noon. Prominent Telugu film artistes including Chiranjeevi, Daggubati Rana, Krishna, Vijaya Nirmala, Allu Arjun, Akkineni Nagarjuna, Junior NTR, Manchu Lakshmi, Srikanth, Jagapati Babu, Mahesh Babu, Rajendra Prasad, Kota Srinivasa Rao, and Baahubali director Rajamouli were seen waiting in queues to cast their votes. Most spoke about the need to vote and also appealed to others to go to polling stations and exercise their franchise. Balladeer Gaddar, along with his wife, voted at Bhudevi Nagar polling station near Alwal in Malkajgiri constituency. The 70-year-old former Maoist ideologue exercised his franchise for the first time after enrolling his name in the voters' list. Telanganas caretaker chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao and his wife cast their votes at his native Chintamadaka village. "There is a pro-incumbency among voters. We are expecting to romp home,'' the TRS chief said after voting. Polling was allowed up to 4 pm in the 13 hyper-sensitive constituencies Aswaraopeta, Asifabad, Bellampalli, Bhadrachalam, Bhupalapalli, Chennur, Kothagudem, Mancherial, Manthani, Mulugu, Pinapaka, Sirpur and Yellendu. In Nalgond district, police were seen using breath-analysers to prevent inebriated voters from exercising their franchise. "We made around 500 voters undergo breath-analyser checks at 52 polling booths in the district but found none in an inebriated condition,'' inspector Suresh Kumar said. Awareness programmes organised by the Election Commission are credited with creating enthusiasm among voters. Telangana is witnessing a triangular contest among the Mahakutami (grand alliance between the Congress, Telugu Desam Party, Telangana Jana Samithi and Communist Party of India), the TRS and BJP. The Assembly was dissolved on 6 September this year eight months before the end of its term. Over 1,820 candidates contested in the elections this year against 1,669 candidates in the 2014 election. The total number of voters in the state was 2,80,64,684 1,41,56,182 male, 1,39,05,811 female, 2,691 transgenders and 10,038 service voters. Around 20 lakh new voters enrolled their names this year. In the previous election, the TRS had won 63 seats, the Congress 21, TDP 15, BJP 5 and AIMIM 7. Later, 12 TDP legislators defected to the TRS. With inputs from Mahesh Bacham Maheswara Reddy is a Bangalore-based freelance writer and a member of 101Reporters.com. As elections to 119 Assembly seats of India's youngest state, Telangana, began on Friday, early voters faced malfunctioning electronic voting machines (EVM) Hyderabad: As elections to 119 Assembly seats of India's youngest state, Telangana, began on Friday, early voters faced the same challenge as that faced by the electorate in Chhattisgarh, Mizoram and Madhya Pradesh malfunctioning electronic voting machines (EVM), including the BU, CU and the VVPAT. Many voters who turned up at 7 am to cast their vote were disappointed to have to wait despite being in the queue for hours. A majority of reports of malfunctioning EVMs came from Malakpet, Ibrahimpatnam, Vikarabad, Suryapet, Khairatabad, Gajwel, Nizamabad, Jagtial and Uppal, among 20 constituencies where voting was obstructed and polling hours were lost. While the Election Commission of India, during every poll exhorts senior citizens, the differently-abled and the youths to exercise their right to vote, it has failed to check the repetitive malfunctioning of EVM units election-after-election in the past two decades. At several polling booths in Telangana, voters who had arrived early, particularly the senior citizens, were seen returning home without casting their votes. "The delay in commencing polling is causing lot of inconvenience for diabetics who come here without having breakfast. We can understand if one or two EVMs are dysfunctional, but how can it be tolerated if many EVMs at the same polling station stop functioning?" asks a woman voter in Hyderabad constituency who wanted to cast her vote in the first hour of polling. Reports of malfunctioning EVMs even came from polling booths in the urban areas of Hyderabad, Secunderabad and other cities in the state. Polling could not commence even after an hour of the scheduled time at Chanded polling booth in Vikarabad as there was no light inside the booth in the absence of electricity. "The election officials should have inspected the facilities available at these polling booths. The malfunctioning of the EVMs causes a lowered percentage of voting. The election officials blame the voters for not exercising their right to vote, but they are not creating a conducive atmosphere at the polling stations," a voter, who came to Chanded polling booth in Vikarabad. Expressing a similar opinion, Telugu film actor Posani Krishna Murali, who exercised his franchise at Musarambagh polling booth in Hyderabad, complained about the lighting inside the polling booth. "There is a chance of voters pressing wrong buttons on the EVM while casting their votes due to the lack of proper lighting," Posani says. Voters at one of the polling booths in Kamareddy constituency also complained about the absence of basic amenities at the polling booth, such as drinking water. Women who arrived at 6 am in the morning were angry as they were made to wait for more than two hours. Making it clear that they could not go on waiting for the polling staff to set right the defunct EVMs, the women voters, in a chorus, said, "We have other work to do at home. We have to cook food for our children and fetch drinking water. We came here at 6 am and expected to go home by 7.30 am, but we haven't voted yet even though it's past 8 am." As polling did not start even until 8 am, an hour after the scheduled time of 7 am, around 300 voters waiting at Kamareddy polling booth became restive and had to be pacified by the police to maintain the queue. The two top EC officials in the state, however, have different perspectives about the problems caused by EVMs to voters and the polling process. Joint Chief Electoral Officer, Telangana, Amrapali Kata, was not ready to believe that voters had returned without voting. "Voters are waiting in queue to exercise their votes. I can show you hundreds of photos where voters are standing in the queue. There is no problem, go ahead and vote," he retorted when questioned about the loss of votes due to malfunctioning EVMs. Amrapali also made it clear that there is no plan to extend polling time due to the alleged malfunctioning of the EVMs. Chief Electoral Officer, Telangana, Rajat Kumar, however, said the election officials had expected malfunctioning of the EVMs. "We have directed the election officials to conduct mock polling from 6 to 7 am. Similar problems arose in the Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh Assembly elections. When compared with the malfunctioning of EVMs in Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh, the rate of EVM failure in Telangana is comparatively lower. There are 238 engineers from Bharat Electronics Limited and also master trainers to fix these problems. As of now, there is no problem with the EVMs," he said. With inputs from Mahesh Bacham Authors are freelance writers and members of 101Reporters.com, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters Polling in all constituencies in Telangana has ended. The Election Commission has barred exit polls till 5.30 pm. Auto refresh feeds After a high-voltage campaign that saw war of words among contending parties, Telangana is set for Assembly polls on Friday with the Congress-led alliance challenging the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) seeking to make it a triangular contest. Around 2.8 crore voters will decide the fate of 1,821 candidates in the first election after Telangana was formed. Polling began in Telangana on Thursday amid tight security to elect a new Assembly. The polling will be held from 7 a.m. to 5 pm in 106 constituencies, while in 13 Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected constituencies, the polling will conclude one hour earlier, at 4 pm. The ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) is facing a resurgent Congress-led People's Front in its bid for a second term. However, state chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao appeared confident of a win. ''All our surveys clearly show that no party is close to us, even remotely. We have implemented 100 per cent of the assurances made in our manifesto and in fact, more programmes were launched other than what was mentioned in the manifesto," KCR said. The decision was made strategically to avoid having elections alongside the Lok Sabha polls due in May-June next year. Considering that number 6 is his lucky number, a beaming and confident Chandrasekhar Rao and his cabinet colleagues fast-tracked the entire election process by dissolving the Assembly on 6 September, ensuring that the state can go to polls along with the elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram. Voters were seen queuing up at polling booths even before the voting started at 7 am. The enthusiasm is palpable as India's youngest state is going for elections for the second time since its after its formation. It is to be seen if KCR's gamble to opt for early elections pays off. Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao is facing a direct contest from the Opposition alliance led by the Congress and including his former party the Telegu Desam Party. KCR, the caretaker chief minister had quit TDP to float the TRS and revive the movement for Telangana state in 2001. At that time, KCR was not a very popular leader, but he proved a huge crowd-puller and single-handedly made 'Jai Telangana' a house-hold slogan. Voting is yet to begin at the polling station at GHMC Indoor Stadium, Amberpet due to a technical problem, ANI reported. Voting in the state began at 7 am today. The dance of democracy has only just begun in India's youngest state. However, the state leaders, veterans in politics in the erstwhile undividded Andhra Pradesh sought to continue some traditions even in the newly formed state. As per the last count, the total seizures stood at nearly Rs 135 crore including unaccounted cash, illegal liquor and other goods, Rajat Kumar said adding that the total seizures was 90 per cent more than that of during 2014 polls. Voting is yet to begin at the polling station at GHMC Indoor Stadium, Amberpet due to a technical problem, ANI reported. Moreover, EVM malfunctions were also reported at Kukatpalli in Hyderabad. This is the first time VVPATs (Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail) are being used in the state. EVM snags reported in Hyderabad; state using VVPATs for the first time Firstpost put together a really really hard quiz on the political and cultural history of Telangana and erstwhile undivided Andhra Pradesh. Check out the quiz here to see if you can score ten on ten. How much do you know about India's youngest state and its political history Over 32,574 polling stations, including 241 auxiliary booths, will be functioning across the 119 constituencies. The constituency with the highest number of voters is Serilingampally in Greater Hyderabad with over 5.75 lakh voters while Maoist-hit Bhadrachalam in Khammam district has the least voters at 1.37 lakh. Polling will be held from 7 am to 5 pm in 106 constituencies while in the 13 Left Wing Extremism affected constituencies polling will conclude at 4 pm. Today, Telanganas 2.8 crore voters will choose their next government, for the first time as a separate state. They include 1,41,56,182 men and 1,39,05,811 women. The electorate also includes 10,038 service voters and 249 overseas Indian electors. Recap : Telangana elects a new Assembly today, over 1800 candidates in fray; an overview of election-related stats Telegu film actors Actors Allu Arjun and Akkineni Nagarjuna cast early vote in Friday's polling exercise. While Allu Arjun was spotted standing in a queue outside booth number 152 in Jubilee Hills area of Hyderabad, Nagarjuna cast his vote along with his wife Amala Akkineni at booth number 151 in the same area. The ruling party also assured that financial assistance to farmers as input subsidy under 'Rythu Bandhu' scheme will be increased from Rs 8,000 per acre per year to Rs 10,000. This, however, has not stopped the ruling party Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) from making even grander poll promises than in 2014. For example, the government is spending Rs 130 billion a year on pensions alone but with all the main parties promising to hike the pension amount, it is estimated that the allocation will have to be doubled. India's youngest state is under a huge burden of public debt. Telangana's caretaker chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) told the Assembly in March that the state's debt stood at Rs 1.42 trillion. The Opposition parties, however, claimed during the poll campaign that this was Rs 2.5 trillion. Telangana deputy chief minister Kadiyan Srihari cast his vote in Warangal seat early morning. He arrived with his family at the polling booth. Over 50,000 security personnel including 18,860 drafted from neighbouring states and central forces have been deployed as part of the massive security arrangements, with a particular focus on 4000 vulnerable booths and the 13 Naxal-affected districts. Over 1.50 lakh polling personnel have been deployed to conduct the polling process. Even as the election campaign concluded day before yesterday, and the Model Code of Conduc dictates that there is a ban on any form of election campaign after 5 pm on 5 December, political advertisements were splashed across the front pages of dailies in Telangana. However, according to The News Minute , Telangana Chief Electoral Officer Rajat Kumar clarified that it was not a poll violation. The advertisements are pre-certified, so I do not think they are in violation of the MCC, he said, addressing the media on Thursday. The theme of the election this time, according to the Election Commission is 'accessibility' and special arrangements have been made for Persons with Disabilities (PWDs). Volunteers help person's with disability as EC aims to make polling process more accessible Voting turnout in Telangana Assembly Elections is 8.97 percent till 9 am. Six percent of the voters have exercised their right in Nalgonda district, seven percent in Hyderabad, eight percent in Rangareddy and five percent in Adilabad. Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu urged people to cast their votes. The TDP has aligned with the Prajakutami opposition alliance. BJP state president G Kishan Reddy arrives to cast his vote. He is contesting from Amberpet, a constituency that has elected him thrice before. At the end of each of his five-year terms, he has been presenting a public report about his performance there. MIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi voted in Hyderabad during Telangana assembly elections today. He appealed people to come out in large numbers and vote and "exercise their choice". "We will overcome all political challenges with the support of people of Telangana. I hope people of Hyderabad will utilise their holiday today and strengthen the democracy of the country," he said, requesting residents not to sit back at home. After technical glitches, missing names from voters' list mars Telangana Assembly elections. While the common man is already miffed, known faces of the state have also expressed their dissatisfaction. Badminton player Jwala Gutta took to Twitter to share that her name was missing from the list despite it being available on the online list. "Surprised to see my name disappear from the voting list after checking online. Hows the election fair...when names arr mysteriously disappearing from the list," Jwala tweeted. While KCR's party won 63 seats last time against the 21 seats of Congress and 15 of Chandrababu Naidu's Telugu Desam Party, data from the last election shows a 2 percent vote swing may change the outcome of the election. This is where an alliance can also come into play. While KCR has dubbed Congress the only enemy of Telangana, his criticism of the BJP has not been as pronounced. The caretaker chief minister also shares a good equation with Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM, which he has termed a friendly party. AIMIM had won 7 seats in the last election. At 10 am, the voter turnout stands at 10.15% across Telangana, the Election Commission said. Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao Junior, also known as Jr NTR or Tarak, a well-known Telegu film personality was seen outside the polling booth. Voters at a polling booth at Kukatpally constituency where Suhasini Nandamuri, granddaughter of TDP founder NT Rama Rao and daughter of actor-turned-politician Nandamuri Harikrishna, is contesting her maiden elections as a TDP candidate. Her uncle and TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu campaigned extensively for her here. She is only the second politician from NTR's family to contest from Telangana after NTR himself lost from Kalwakurthy in 1989. Last time, KCR's party won 63 seats against the 21 seats of Congress and 15 of Chandrababu Naidu's Telugu Desam Party. This year data from the last election shows a 2 percent vote swing may change the outcome of the election. Rao had a good equation with Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM, which won 7 seats in the last election. Data from last election shows 2% vote swing in 2018 may change outcome of election Women voters arrive at the polling booth in St Ann's High School in Nampally in Hyderabad, a locality that hosts the party offices of Congress, BJP, MIM, TJS and many others. While women voters across Telangana number around 1.39 crore, only 136 women candidates are participating in these polls. TRS MP K Kavitha stands in a queue to cast her vote at polling booth no. 177 in Pothangal, Nizamabad. The Nizamabad district, considered a stronghold of the TRS is witnessing a triangular contests in majority of the Assembly constituencies. As the CPI, TJS, Congress and TDP have fielded a common candidate, the ruling TRS is facing a tough fight. However, BJP candidates have also emerged strong contenders in Nizamabad urban, Kamareddy, Jukkal, Nizamabad rural and Armoor Assembly constituencies, Deccan Chronicle reported. The youngest state of India, Telangana has lost four precious years due to Corruption, Commission & Coterie Raj'. Let us throw out the arrogance of power and usher in a New era towards a Bangaru Telangana," Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala's appeal today. Surjewala tweeted an audio message from Rahul Gandhi, in which the Congress president is heard reminding voters that it was the Congress party that created Telangana. He also thanked Congress workers for their hard work ahead of the polls. Telangana BJP leader T Raja Singh Lodh, who was an MLA in the dissolved Assembly, had on several occasions earlier said that BJP would aim to rename Hyderabad and other cities in the state after the names of great people, if elected to power. "If Hyderabad has to be transformed into 'Bhagyanagar' then I call upon you to support BJP to form the government (in Telangana)", he had said. BJP's Yogi Adityanath promised to rename the state capital as Bhagyanagar if his party was voted to power. The Uttar Pradesh government, under Adityanath, has renamed some ancient cities to reflect a more Hindu character. "They are analysing the voters and allowing only TRS supporters inside while telling others that they do not have a vote in the booth. We have noticed this in Miyapur and Chandanagar and have informed the Election Commission. Even the police are assisting them with this. As a candidate, when I went inside to question this, the police dragged me out. Are they neutral or not?" Ananda Prasad, the TDP candidate from Serilingampally who is fighting the incumbent TRS MLA, is indignant about voters being "turned away" from his constituency. He claims TRS party workers are sitting (as election agents) on all the polling counters. TDP candidate in Serilingampally accuses TRS workers of turning away his supporters from polling booth Kalwakurthy Congress candidate Vamshi Chand Reddy was attacked earlier in the day. He is now being treated at the Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences. He has alleged that he was attacked by BJP workers. A hearing-impaired voter from Musheerabad, Syed Mahmood, says he has cast his vote based on the best of his understanding. He says that he expects the future government to develop good roads, provide uninterrupted water and electricity, and create employment opportunities in the state. "#BJP4Telangana believes Congress is already conceding defeat. That's the reason for their leaders creating rumours against BJP. @UttamTPCC statements against BJP is highlighting Congress retreat in the elections. Congress is playing victim games sensing disastrous defeat. BJP has nothing to do with attack on Vamshi Chander Reddy. Police should investigate & book those responsible for the attack. Police should also ensure wrong rumours are not spread through media. (sic) Kalwakurthy Congress candidate Vamshi Chand Reddy was attacked earlier in the day. He is now being treated at the Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences. He has alleged that he was attacked by BJP workers. However, BJP has denied the charge stating that the Congress had already conceded defeat and that is why it was spreading lies about the saffron party. Commissioner of Police for Hyderabad City, Anjani Kumar, casts his vote near Charminar. He told the reporters that the polling was being conducted peacefully across all 15 constituencies in Hyderabad and none of the 3,900 polling booths have reported any incidents. He appealed to the first-time voters to participate in democracy and governance. He assured the public that his department was ensuring peaceful elections and is ready to face any situation. "All senior officers are on duty in addition to the central police force, the paramilitary, CRPF, including female battalions and Rapid Action Forces," he said. KCR's son KT Rama Rao, who is number two in both party and government, is aiming for a third term from Sircilla constituency. All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) leader Akbaruddin Owaisi, state Congress working President A. Revanth Reddy and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) founder NT Rama Rao's granddaughter N. Suhasini are among the other key candidates whose political fortunes will be decided in the polling on Friday. Telangana Chief Minister and TRS President K. Chandrashekhar Rao, his 14 cabinet colleagues including a son and a nephew and state presidents of the Congress and the BJP are among 1,821 candidates in the fray for Friday's Assembly elections. A clash occurred near a polling booth in Thimmanagar village of Jukkal constituency between local TRS and Congress leaders. Congress workers allege that drunken TRS workers attacked and abused them without provocation. Reports mount of voters not being able to find their names in the voters' list. In the St Anne's School polling booth in Nampally alone, several voters had the same complaint. Anoop Kumar, who was able to cast his vote, is annoyed that none of his other family members, who had voted last time, were able to do so today and there was no one there who could help them. Earlier, shuttler Jwala Gutta has raised a similar complaint saying she was unable to find her name in the electoral roll. KT Rama Rao, son of Chief minister KCR, has cast his vote. The TRS leader is contesting for the third time from Sircilla constituency, which is about 140 kilometres from the state capital Hyderabad. KT Rama Rao, who is number two in both party and government, is aiming for a third term from Sircilla constituency.He had won with a margin of over 53,000 votes against his Congress rival in the 2014 Assembly elections. Irked by "silly questions" on Twitter about her name missing from the electoral roll, shuttler Jwala Gutta tweeted out a video clarifying that she did finish all the formalities of the registration process, but only her mother could vote from her family of four. Jwala said that she had been living at the same residence for past 12 years and she couldn't understand why some names were deleted from the electoral roll. 'Not doing this to join politics': Jwala Gutta tweets out video after people suggest shuttler didn't register as voter Telangana Chief Minister and TRS President K Chandrashekhar Rao on Friday exuded confidence that his party will retain power in the state after the Assembly polls with a huge majority. The chief minister and his wife Shobha Rao cast their votes in Chintamadaka village, which is part of Siddipet constituency, where his nephew and cabinet minister T Harish Rao is seeking re-election. "He is a traitor who has consistently worked against the interests of Telangana. It is appalling how the Congress, that killed nearly 400 Telugu youth in 1968, and Naidu, who wrote 36 letters to stop the irrigation projects in Telangana, have formed an alliance. How can they have the audacity to even face the state?" KCR said. The TRS, faced with an alliance of all Opposition parties except the BJP, has blamed the TDP of joining hands with the Congress and even called N Chandrababu Naidu Telangana Drohi. KCR said that cheap Congress fellows have betrayed Telangana through and through. The Congress and the BJP are coming up with impractical poll assurances, KCR asserted and asked people to choose his party. The TDP and the Congress are also using brand Hyderabad to remind the city people that it was the TDP and subsequent Congress governments that made Hyderabad a global city under Naidu and YSR. They accuse KCR of ignoring the development of Hyderabad completely. Naidu and Rahul Gandhi made it a point to attack him at every rally over stalled developments in and around Hyderabad under KCRs rule. According to local political analysts , Andhra voters have a huge say in at least seven-eight Assembly seats in Greater Hyderabad area. They say there are about 12 lakh settler voters in the region. Speaking to Firstpost, another irate voter in Pitlam village said: Why am I being denied my right despite having all the right documents. Am I dead? he asks. "I want my vote! That's all!" After badminton player Jwala Gutta claimed that her name 'disappeared' from Telangana voter list, IPS officer T Krishna Prasad also tweeted about his missing name. He hit out at the Election Commission for "denying" him his right to vote. Delhi deputy chief minister too, slammed EC over the issue.Miffed voters created a thread on Twitter, replying to Jwala's tweets. They also used the #WheresMyVote extensively to register their protest. As of 3 pm Telangana has registered 52 percent polling overall. Hyderabad has seen the lowest turnout with 38 percent while Medak district with 55 percent has seen the highest turnout. MD Abbas (right), a voter from Suryapet, is critical of KCR. "He has neither given 12% reservation for minorities nor employment to the educated youth. "Thalli" (mother) Sonia Gandhi has given us Telangana and KCR has cheated the state. First, he promised to provide 3 lakh jobs but all he has given are goats and buffaloes. He did not give double bedroom houses or tap water for every house. We are hoping for change and have decided to vote for Congress." An Election Commission spokesperson has announced the most recent figures for Telangana. Voting has ended in 13 Left-Wing Extremism affected constituencies. Polling in the remaining constituencies in Telangana will end at 5 p.m. The constituencies where voting ended an hour early were Sirpur, Chennur, Bellampally, Mancherial, Asifabad, Manthani, Bhupalpalle, Mulugu, Pinapaka, Yellandu, Kothagudem, Aswaraopeta and Bhadrachalam. Further, under Section 126(1)(b) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, displaying any election matter including results of any opinion poll or any other poll survey, in any electronic media, would be prohibited during the period of 48 hours ending with the hour fixed for conclusion of poll in each of the phase in connection with the aforesaid general elections. The Election Commission of India, in exercise of the powers under sub-section(1) of Section 126A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 notified the period between 7.00 A.M. on 12.11.2018 and 5.30 P.M. on 07.12.2018 as the period during which conducting any exit poll and publishing or publicizing the result of exit poll by means of the print or electronic media or in any other manner shall be prohibited in the ongoing general elections to the Legislative Assemblies of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Mizoram &Telangana, 2018. The Election Commission has barred the airing of exit polls till 5.30 pm. Following is the text of the notification issued by the PIB "Polling commenced at 7 am, though at some polling centres there was a delay of 10 to 15 minutes. In one or two cases EVMs needed to be replaced. We have replaced 22 ballot units, 19 control units and 42 VVPATS," Chief Electoral Officer Rajat Kumar told reporters. The Congress president's message to party workers in poll-bound states today was after a series of controversies over EVMs in Madhya Pradesh. As of 3 pm Telangana has registered 52 percent polling overall. Hyderabad has seen the lowest turnout with 38 percent while Medak district with 55 percent has seen the highest turnout. Meanwhile, with both TDP and Congress making insinuations about the TRS, it remains to be seen how the Telangana Assembly election result affects the BJPs footprint in southern India, and national politics in general. In such a scenario, if an opportunity presents itslef, the parties may not hesitate in realigning as per their political interests. To be sure, his Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) had given hints of this approach earlier. In June, when chief ministers of four states held a joint press conference to express their support to their Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal in his agitation against Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, KCR was absent. The press conference was meant to be a show of Opposition unity, but the Telangana chief minister gave it a miss despite being in Delhi. This was a stark contrast to his approach not long before that, when he made a push for Opposition unity, saying that an alternative to the Congress and BJP would soon emerge to bring about a qualitative change in Indian politics. While in the recent times, KCR has directed more firepower at Telugu Desam Party chief Chandrababu Naidu during the Telangana Assembly election campaign, speculation is rife about a tacit understanding between the TRS and BJP. MD Abbas (right), a voter from Suryapet, is critical of KCR. "He has neither given 12% reservation for minorities nor employment to the educated youth. "Thalli" (mother) Sonia Gandhi has given us Telangana and KCR has cheated the state. First, he promised to provide 3 lakh jobs but all he has given are goats and buffaloes. He did not give double bedroom houses or tap water for every house. We are hoping for change and have decided to vote for Congress." An Election Commission spokesperson has announced the most recent figures for Telangana. Mahmood Quadri, MIM corporator of Pathergatti, Charminar was seen getting into an argument with the police over not letting in voters with approved alternative IDs. He placed a call to the Returning Officer in an attempt to clarify the status. The EC has announced that as long as one is a registered voter and their name is on the list, they can exercise their franchise with the alternative documents like passport, driving license, Aadhaar Card etc in lieu of Voter ID. Voting has ended in 13 Left-Wing Extremism affected constituencies. Polling in the remaining constituencies in Telangana will end at 5 p.m. The constituencies where voting ended an hour early were Sirpur, Chennur, Bellampally, Mancherial, Asifabad, Manthani, Bhupalpalle, Mulugu, Pinapaka, Yellandu, Kothagudem, Aswaraopeta and Bhadrachalam. Further, under Section 126(1)(b) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, displaying any election matter including results of any opinion poll or any other poll survey, in any electronic media, would be prohibited during the period of 48 hours ending with the hour fixed for conclusion of poll in each of the phase in connection with the aforesaid general elections. The Election Commission of India, in exercise of the powers under sub-section(1) of Section 126A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 notified the period between 7.00 A.M. on 12.11.2018 and 5.30 P.M. on 07.12.2018 as the period during which conducting any exit poll and publishing or publicizing the result of exit poll by means of the print or electronic media or in any other manner shall be prohibited in the ongoing general elections to the Legislative Assemblies of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Mizoram &Telangana, 2018. The Election Commission has barred the airing of exit polls till 5.30 pm. Following is the text of the notification issued by the PIB "Polling commenced at 7 am, though at some polling centres there was a delay of 10 to 15 minutes. In one or two cases EVMs needed to be replaced. We have replaced 22 ballot units, 19 control units and 42 VVPATS," Chief Electoral Officer Rajat Kumar told reporters. Congress party workers, be vigilant after polls close today. In MP, EVM's behaved strangely after polling: Some stole a and vanished for 2 days! Others slipped away & were found drinking in a hotel. In Modis India, the EVMs have mysterious powers Stay alert! pic.twitter.com/DViNl8fdPC The Congress president's message to party workers in poll-bound states today was after a series of controversies over EVMs in Madhya Pradesh. Telangana Elections 2018 LATEST updates: Polling in all constituencies in Telangana has ended. The TRS, faced with an alliance of all Opposition parties except the BJP, has blamed the TDP of joining hands with the Congress and even called N Chandrababu Naidu 'Telangana Drohi'. KCR said that "cheap Congress fellows have betrayed Telangana through and through." The voter turnout in Telangana at 1 pm stood at 47.08 percent. However, several people have been complaining that they could not exercise their right because there names were not included in the electoral roll. After badminton star Jwala Gutta, it's Telangana's Road Safety and Railways Director General of Police T. Krishna Prasad, whose name is missing from the voter list. He also took to social media to express his anger. A clash occurred near a polling booth in Thimmanagar village of Jukkal constituency between local TRS and Congress leaders. Congress workers allege that drunken TRS workers attacked and abused them without provocation. Ananda Prasad, the TDP candidate from Serilingampally who is fighting the incumbent TRS MLA, is indignant about voters being "turned away" from his constituency. He claims TRS party workers are sitting (as election agents) on all the polling counters. Kalwakurthy Congress candidate Vamshi Chand Reddy was attacked earlier in the day. He is now being treated at the Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences. He has alleged that he was attacked by BJP workers. However, BJP has denied the charge stating that the Congress had already conceded defeat and that is why it was spreading lies about the saffron party. The Nizamabad district, considered a stronghold of the TRS is witnessing a triangular contests in majority of the Assembly constituencies. As the CPI, TJS, Congress and TDP have fielded a common candidate, the ruling TRS is facing a tough fight. However, BJP candidates have also emerged strong contenders in Nizamabad urban, Kamareddy, Jukkal, Nizamabad rural and Armoor Assembly constituencies. Celebrities like Chiranjeevi, Nagarjuna, Jr NTR and tennis player Sania Mirza came out to cast their vote. They urged the people of Telangana to exercise their franchise. Meanwhile, shuttler JwalaGutta could not cast her vote after her name "magically disappeared" from the voters' roll. The Election Commission has seized nearly Rs 113 crore in cash, liquor and other valuables during the campaign in Telangana as of Wednesday. Nearly five lakh litres of liquor worth about Rs 10 crore was seized since the Model Code of Conduct came into force. EC officials have said the cash seized this time was Rs 28 crore higher than the total amount seized during last elections held in undivided Andhra Pradesh. After technical glitches, missing names from voters' list mars Telangana Assembly elections. While the common man is already miffed, known faces of the state have also expressed their dissatisfaction. Badminton player Jwala Gutta took to Twitter to share that her name was missing from the list despite it being available on the online list. Voting turnout in Telangana Assembly Elections is 8.97 percent till 9 am. Six percent of the voters have exercised their right in Nalgonda district, seven percent in Hyderabad, eight percent in Rangareddy and five percent in Adilabad. Security was beefed up at bordering areas which were identified as Left Wing Extremist-affected regions. As many as 446 flying squads were in operation in the state to swing into action if any irregularity was reported and 448 static surveillance teams would also keep a watch on the situation. They would wait in the wings to take action, he said. Besides, 224 video-surveillance teams and 133 video-viewing teams were pressed into service. There were 126 assistant expenditure observers and 123 accounting teams. Telegu film actors Actors Allu Arjun and Akkineni Nagarjuna cast early vote in Friday's polling exercise. While Allu Arjun was spotted standing in a queue outside booth number 152 in Jubilee Hills area of Hyderabad, Nagarjuna cast his vote along with his wife Amala Akkineni at booth number 151 in the same area. Voting is yet to begin at the polling station at GHMC Indoor Stadium, Amberpet due to a technical problem, ANI reported. Moreover, EVM malfunctions were also reported at Kukatpalli in Hyderabad. This is the first time VVPATs (Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail) are being used in the state. BJP President Amit Shah took to Twitter to urge the voters of Telangana to come out and vote in large numbers. He specially urged the youth to turn out in huge numbers and participate in the elections. Polling began in Telangana on Thursday amid tight security to elect a new Assembly. The polling will be held from 7 am to 5 pm in 106 constituencies, while in 13 Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected constituencies, the polling will conclude one hour earlier, at 4 pm. After a high-voltage campaign that saw war of words among contending parties, Telangana is set for Assembly polls on Friday with the Congress-led alliance challenging the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) seeking to make it a triangular contest. More than 1.50 lakh polling officials including reserve staff were in the process of giving final touches on Thursday to make the election to the 119-member House a smooth affair. Over 2.80 crore electorate are eligible to exercise their franchise in the state, which has a total of 32,815 polling stations across. Campaigning by political parties came to an end at 5 pm on Wednesday. Additional DG ( Law and order) Jitender Thursday told PTI that about one lakh police personnel including 25,000 central paramilitary forces and 20,000 from other states are engaged in poll duties. A senior police official said security was beefed up at bordering areas which were identified as Left Wing Extremist-affected regions. The Assembly polls in Telangana were originally scheduled to be held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha 2019 elections, but the House was dissolved on 6 September as per a recommendation by the state cabinet. It is to be seen if caretaker Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao's (popularly known as KCR) gamble to opt for early elections pays off. The Congress has stitched together Prajakutami (People's Front) along with the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), the Telangana Jana Samiti (TJS) and the Communist Party of India (CPI) to take on the ruling TRS, led by KCR. The TRS, seeking a second term in office, is going alone, as also the BJP. While KCR was without doubt the star campaigner for TRS, the Congress and the BJP fielded their bigwigs for campaigning which turned out to be a shrill one. For the Congress, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and the party president Rahul Gandhi addressed election rallies. The BJP relied on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the party chief Amit Shah. Rahul also addressed a joint meetings with TDP chief and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu. "We will win 100 seats", KCR repeatedly said in campaign meetings. On Wednesday, he said the Congress-led alliance is confident of winning the elections "hands-down" and claimed that KCR was showing "signs of nervousness and insecurity" in recent campaign meetings he addressed. The BJP, which won five seats in alliance with the TDP in the 2014 elections, said it ensured that there is a triangular fight in Telangana this time. "Earlier, when the election season began, it was projected by both the Congress and TRS as if the fight is between them but it was a propaganda," Telangana BJP spokesperson Krishna Saagar Rao told PTI. Vigorous campaign by BJP's national and state leaders ensured that it has become a "triangular contest where nobody can actually say who is winning and how many seats," Rao said. Meanwhile, Chief Electoral Officer Rajat Kumar in a press conference said, "Some political parties expressed apprehensions that there was distribution of liquor and money in some places. We gave strict instructions to police and other officials to deal such incidents sternly." "Distribution of voters' slips was done 100 percent," he said. Polling will start at 7 am and end at 5 pm, while in 13 constituencies which were classified as Left Wing Extremist-affected, polling ends one hour before (4 pm). As many as 446 flying squads are in operation in the state to swing into action if any irregularity is reported during the elections and 448 static surveillance teams would also keep a watch on the situation and would wait in wings to take action, Kumar said. Besides, 224 video-surveillance teams and 133 video-viewing teams have been pressed into service. There are 126 assistant expenditure observers and 123 accounting teams. For the first time, Election Commission is using Voters Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) in Telangana. As many as 1,821 candidates including a transgender person are in fray in the election. Counting of votes would be taken up on 11 December. Huge sums of unaccounted cash and illegal liquor and other goods were seized since the Model Code of Conduct came into effect on 27 September. "As per the last count, the total seizures stood at nearly Rs 135 crore including unaccounted cash, illegal liquor and other goods," Rajat Kumar said adding that the total seizures was 90 percent more than that of during 2014 polls. With inputs from PTI Most exit poll predictions are saying that Congress is likely to win in Rajasthan while BJP has the advantage in Madhya Pradesh. Auto refresh feeds The exit poll further said that the Mahakutami alliance led by Congress will win 37 seats. BJP is expected to win seven seats while others will win 9 seats in 119-seat Assembly. While Congress is likely to win 55-65 seats in Chhattisgarh, BJP is likely to secure 21-31 seats in the state, according to the exit poll. TRS is likely to win 79-91 seats in Telangana, while the Congress-led Mahakutami alliance will win 21-33 seats in India's youngest state. The exit poll also said that Congress would win 32.2 percent of the votes while the MNF would win 31.9 percent of the votes. Exit polls have said that Congress is set to come to power in Rajasthan while TRS will retain power in Telangana. The exit poll also said that Congress would win 32.2 percent of the votes while the MNF would win 31.9 percent of the votes. According to the exit poll, it will be a close contest between TRS and the Congress-led Mahakutami in Telangana. The Mizoram Assembly election exit poll is in and the surveys so far predicts major gains for the Mizo National Front (MNF). If exit polls are to be believed, Vasundhara Raje will face defeat in the Rajasthan polls. Exit polls have said that Congress is set to come to power in Rajasthan while TRS will retain power in Telangana. Exit Poll Results 2018 Live updates: Most exit poll predictions are saying that Congress is likely to win in Rajasthan while BJP has the advantage in Madhya Pradesh. TRS is set to win 66 seats in the 119-seat Assembly in Telangana, according to the Times Now-CNX exit poll. BJP is expected to win 46 seats in Chhattisgarh while BJP is set to win 126 seats in Madhya Pradesh, said the Times Now-CNX exit poll. The exit poll results of the five states Rajasthan, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram and Chhattisgarh that underwent polling in the ongoing election season will be released on Friday at 5.30 pm. While polling in Mizoram, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh concluded in November, voting is underway in Rajasthan and Telangana. In Rajasthan, that saw 2,247 candidates vying for 200 seats, the exit polls may bring clarity on the voter's mood and whether or not the contest is largely bipolar between Congress and BJP. Ahead of the polls, it was reported that rebel candidates from both the parties who are contesting the elections as Independents after being denied a ticket could make the election trilateral in at least 50 seats. The contest in Telangana has largely been a trilateral one between K Chandrashekar Rao's Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS), the BJP, and the Praja Kootami (People's Front) forged by Congress, TDP, CPI and Telangana Jana Samiti (TJS). Assembly polls in Telangana were originally scheduled to be held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha polls next year. However, the Legislative Assembly was dissolved prematurely on September six following a recommendation made by the TRS government. The exit polls may give some idea as to whether or not Rao's gamble will playoff in his favour when the results are announce don 11 December. Meanwhile, Rao on Friday exuded confidence that his party would come back to power in Telangana with a "huge majority". There is a "very, very positive" mood among voters towards the party, KCR, told reporters at his native village Chintamadaka where he cast his vote in the Assembly polls. In Madhya Pradesh, as many as 2,899 candidates, including 1,094 Independents, are in the fray for the 230 seats, polling for which concluded on 28 November. The state witnessed high voter turnout in the Assembly election which was marred by complaints of faulty Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and stray incidents of violence. The main contest in the state is between the Congress and BJP the big two of Madhya Pradesh politics. The state has 5.04 crore, eligible voters. The results will show whether or not Congress was able to use the anti-incumbency against the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government in its favour? Mizoram, which also went to polls on 28 November recorded over 80 percent turnout. With 209 candidates in the fray, Mizoram is likely to witness a closely fought battle. While the Congress and the Mizo National Front (MNF) have 40 candidates each, the BJP has fielded 39, the Zoram Peoples Movement (ZPM) has 36, and Zoram Thar has 22 candidates vying for a win. The Peoples Representation for Identity and Status of Mizoram (PRISM), former Aizawl-based anti-corruption watchdog which launched a political party last year, has fielded 13 candidates. The National Peoples Party, which launched its Mizoram unit in late September this year, has nine candidates while the National Congress Party (NCP) has five candidates. Five independents have also thrown their hats in the ring this time. In Chhattisgarh, polling took place in two phases. The first phase of the polls, which were held on 12 November in 18 seats across eight Naxal-affected districts, had recorded a voter turnout of 76.28 percent. Whereas, the second phase which took place on 20 November, saw a turnout of 71.93 percent amid EVMs malfunctioning and missing names from voters' lists. Polling began on a slow note in several constituencies because of the technical snag, but it picked up pace later. Jashpur saw 51.2 percent polling, Kunkuri recorded 50.1 percent, Pathalgaon 50.8 percent, Kurud 49 percent and Bharatpur-Sonhat, 47.82 percent. Counting of votes will be taken up on 11 December. The West Bengal government has denied permission to BJP president Amit Shah's proposed 'rath yatra' from Cooch Behar on grounds that it might cause communal tension, the state's advocate general informed the Calcutta High Court on Thursday. Kolkata: The West Bengal government has denied permission to BJP president Amit Shah's proposed 'rath yatra' from Cooch Behar on grounds that it might cause communal tension, the state's advocate general informed the Calcutta High Court on Thursday. Kishore Dutta told the court that the Cooch Behar superintendent of police refused permission for the BJP president's rath yatra from Friday. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah is scheduled to kickstart the party's 'Save Democracy Rally', comprising three 'rath yatras', in the state. The state government submitted that it might cause communal tension in the district. Dutta said the district has a history of communal issues and that there was information that some communal provocators and rowdy elements had become active. The SP's refusal letter also noted that several top BJP leaders would come to Cooch Behar, as also people from other states, stating that these may affect the communally sensitive district. Stating that refusal of permission was an administrative decision in view of the ground situation, the AG said that details of apprehension cannot be spelt out in open court due to its sensitive nature and he can submit these to the court in a sealed cover, if directed. The BJP, which moved the court seeking direction to the state government for giving permission for its three rallies, told the bench of Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty that it will hold peaceful yatras. Asked by the judge as to who will take responsibility if anything untoward happens, BJP counsel Anindya Mitra submitted that the party will hold a peaceful rally, but that it was the duty of the state government to maintain law and order. Mitra submitted that the Constitution guarantees the right to hold political programmes. He said that assumption of untoward situation cannot be a ground for refusal. Asked by the judge whether he was agreeable to deferment, the BJP counsel answered in the negative and said that it started preparations for long and had approached the administration for permission in October. He submitted that "it is only now that they have refused permission after sitting on the applications for long." The advocate general also opposed the BJP filing a supplementary affidavit opposing the refusal of permission, saying it can either come with a fresh petition or an amendment to his petition. The BJP campaign is scheduled to begin from Cooch Behar district in the north on 7 December, from Kakdwip in the South 24 Parganas district on December 9, and from the Tarapith temple in Birbhum district on 14 December. The propensity of Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath to play the religious card is known, but this time, it seems to have turned back on him. Talk about getting boomeranged. Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanaths propensity to play the religious card is known, but this time, it seems to have turned back on him. Caste groups from across the spectrumbackwards and Dalits to Brahminshave vehemently rejected the Yogis election rally description of Hindu deity Hanuman as a forest-dweller, from a deprived background and yes, a Dalit. Adityanath may have been drawn into making the comparison based on the commonplace understanding and visualisation of Hanuman as an ardent devotee of Lord Rama, who he faithfully serves during the latters exile. In ascribing a Dalit identity to a prominent deity, the Bharatiya Janata Party leader has tried to extract Hanuman from the sacred sphere by placing him in the worldly realm inhabited by jatis (castes) and janjatis (tribes). He has also ignored an important aspect of the Dalit-Bahujan identity that is structured around a specific and independent form of worship. Dalits see Adityanaths statement as an attempt to assimilate them into the Hindu fold and have straightway expressed their resentment. Sadhvi Savitribai Phule, the young redoubtable Member of Parliament from Bahraich, resigned from the BJP on Thursday, after publicly voicing her objection to Hanuman being called a Dalit. She contended that Hanuman, monkey-faced and long-tailed, is more animal-like than god-like, and argued that this why he is being called a Dalit. "Why can they not consider Dalits as humans?" she said. Phule isnt the only one to have raised this concern. Another BJP ally in Uttar Pradesh, Om Prakash Rajbhar, a minister in Adityanaths cabinet and president of the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SPSP), is a strong critic of BJPs affiliates Hindutva line. He said, Why has the chief minister not said that Rama is Dalit or Shiva and Vishnu are Dalits? Why is only Hanuman being called a Dalit? Rajbhars SBSP counts the backward Rajbhar community as its primary political base. Seen thus, Yogis assertion of Hanuman as a Dalit emphasises the patron-client relationship that exists between Hanuman and Lord Rama in the Ramayana. For example, in the same epic, the devotion of Lakshmana, Ramas brother, is qualitatively different from Hanumans devotion to Rama. Hanuman surrenders before Rama, and is invariably portrayed on a bended knee before the avatar of Vishnu. Lakshmana is Ramas loving younger brother, obedient but not subservient, and is accordingly portrayed as a near-equal. To members of non-elite castes, the difference is significant. It can be argued that Yogi nudged Hanuman into the Dalit fold believing it would assuage the latters angst over being denied access to places of worship by the elite castes. But quite to the contrary, his grant of the Dalit-status to Hanuman has not been read by Dalits as a signal that he is willing to liberalise worship traditions. Dalits have rebelled against the formulation that Hanuman is one of them, says Prof Badri Narayan, social historian and cultural anthropologist at the GB Pant Social Science Institute, Allahabad. Chandrashekhar, a Dalit leader from Uttar Pradesh, has mobilised his Dalit Army to demand the right to conduct prayers in Hanuman temples. Bhim Army leader Bhagat Singh says: People are educated today and seek school and colleges, not new Dalit gods. At a Hanuman temple in Agra, aided by Congress party workers, Dalits took over prayers briefly. In Lucknow, Dalits led a similar agitation. We accompanied Dalit activists to two temples where they insisted on leading prayers, says Agra Congress member Ashwani Jain. There was no restriction on worshippers at these temples but people went there because the priest is inevitably always a Brahmin. Obviously, Jain says: Brahmins are upset by Yogis remark and the reactions to it. By saying they will conduct prayers they are challenging Yogis assertion of Hanuman being a Dalit. Theyre making it clear that they see through his ploy to assimilate them into the Hindutva worldview, says Narayan. The signal has gone out that by giving Hanuman a subaltern identity BJP wants to assimilate or "Hinduise" Dalits but at the same time reinforce their "subordinate" position. This is based on the interpretation that Hanuman was, in the Ramayana, a collaborator of the Kshatriya hero, Lord Rama. Now that the Ram temple issue is heating up again they want the Dalits as foot-soldiers. Thats why Hanuman is being made a Dalit, says Dr Sanjay Nishad, who heads the Nirbal Indian Shoshit Hamara Aam Dal or NISHAD, a party that represents the backward castes. In his book Fascinating Hindutva, Saffron Politics and Dalit Mobilisation, Narayan documents the RSS-BJP efforts to subsume Dalit-Bahujan identity within the Hindu fold by using the symbolic value of Lord Rama. For example, Narayan notes how Savari, a minor character in the Ramayana, was used to rally around the Musahar caste members by declaring her a Musahar. Similarly Guhya, a Nishad king who helped Rama cross a river in Ramayana, was attempted to be projected as an icon for the modern-day Nishad and Mallaha caste members. It can thus be said that the local myths and heroes (of Dalits) are being Rama-ised by the BJP and the nationalist discourse of Hindutva politics is being shifted to the local level. Narayan traces the sharp fall in the BJPs electoral tally (from 88 seats in 1996 to 51 seats in 2002) to their incomplete project of Dalit assimilation using the Lord Rama symbol. In caste-ridden Uttar Pradesh, assimilation poses continuous challenges to all parties. Hanuman can prove to be an outstanding feature for the BJP because of his popularity and because, giving him a Dalit identity accords him a pan-national character. This is because Dalits are not a specific caste group but a varga, or a class, an agglomeration of the downtrodden identities across India. Both BJP and Bahujan Samaj Party, its rival in Uttar Pradesh, mobilise Dalits for politics, using different strategies. While the BJP tries to subsume Dalits within Hinduism, BSP abandoned a pugnacious anti-Brahmin approach to blend the elite and backward castes with the Dalits. In this continuous battle, Hanuman is just another icon. Yogi may have expected his statement to operate at a purely symbolic level. However, the moment he jerry-rigged a god to a modern identity, even the Vishwa Hindu Parishads youth wing "Bajrang Dal", incidentally named after Hanuman, expressed consternation. Dalits didnt go to temples in Agra to replace priests but to resolve a property dispute, argues Pramendra Jain, the Agra VHP spokesperson. Yet, he feels Maharaj-jiYogi Adityanath shouldnt have talked about caste. Peoples faith is being exploited for political gains. Some think Rama is human and Ganga just a river. For such people, Hanuman is a monkey. This is the mindset of people whore calling Hanuman a tribal or Dalit, says Vishambhar Nath Mishra, mahant of Sankat Mochan temple in Varanasi, a prominent temple dedicated to Hanuman. It has nowhere been said (scripturally) that there are upper and lower castes. We have created these distinctions as well, Mishra says. Citing 16th century Bhakti poet Goswami Tulsidas Ramcharitmanas, Mishra says: Hanuman can make the unexpected happen and prevent the seemingly inevitable from occurringaghatit ghatan sughat vighatan aisi birudali nahi aan ki Given how little they know of Hanuman, their tadka (flavour) of caste could make them losers, not winners. Note: A previous version of this article erroneously attributed the quote by Agra VHP spokesperson Pramendra Jain to Vinod Bansal. The mistake his been corrected. tech2 News Staff Apple Watch Series 4 will now help users in the US take an electrocardiogram (ECG) right from their wrist, capturing heart rhythm in a moment when they experience symptoms like a rapid or skipped heartbeat and helping to provide critical data to physicians. "New electrodes in Apple Watch Series 4 now enable customers to take an ECG directly from the wrist," Apple said in a statement on Thursday. "Starting today, the ECG app on Apple Watch Series 4 marks the first direct-to-consumer product that enables customers to take an electrocardiogram right from their wrist," added the Cupertino-based tech giant. The irregular rhythm notification feature on Apple Watch can now occasionally check heart rhythms in the background and send a notification if an irregular heart rhythm that appears to be atrial fibrillation (AFib) is identified. When left untreated, AFib is one of the leading conditions that can result in stroke, the second most common cause of death around the world. "Apple Watch has helped so many people around the world and we are humbled that it has become such an important part of our customers' lives," said Jeff Williams, Apple's chief operating officer. "With the release of these heart features, Apple Watch takes the next step in empowering people with more information about their health," he added. Apple worked with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for several years to receive "De Novo" classification for the ECG app and the irregular heart rhythm notification. Both the features are now available as part of a free update to watchOS 5.1.2. Apple Watch Series 4 ECG app: Here's how it works To take an ECG recording at any time or following an irregular rhythm notification, open the new ECG app and hold your finger on the Digital Crown. As you touch the Digital Crown, the circuit is completed and electrical signals across their heart are measured. "After 30 seconds, the heart rhythm is classified as either AFib, sinus rhythm or inconclusive. All recordings, their associated classifications and any noted symptoms are stored securely in the Health app on iPhone. Users can share a PDF of the results with physicians," Apple informed. Using the optical heart sensor in Apple Watch Series 1 or later, the irregular rhythm notification feature will occasionally check the user's heart rhythm in the background for signs of an irregular heart rhythm that appears to be Fib and alerts the user with a notification if an irregular rhythm is detected on five rhythm checks over a minimum of 65 minutes. "The role that technology plays in allowing patients to capture meaningful data about what's happening with their heart, right when it's happening, like the functionality of an on-demand ECG, could be significant in new clinical care models and shared decision making between people and their healthcare providers," said Nancy Brown, CEO of the American Heart Association. The ECG app's ability to accurately classify an ECG recording into AFib and sinus rhythm was validated in a clinical trial of around 600 participants. The irregular rhythm notification feature was studied in the Apple Heart Study with over 400,000 participants, said Apple. Is Apple Watch Series 4 ECG app certified for Indian use? Not really. So far the ECG app which will help you measure your electrocardiogram from your wrist has only been activated in the US. For activation in India, Apple would need to get the right approval from Indian authorities. Back when the Apple Watch series 4 was first annonuced, we spoke to a leading cardiologist from Mumbai, Dr Ashok Punjabi, who had a few reservations against the ECG data recorded by the app from being used for medical diagnosis in India. tech2: Does the ECG report from the Watch hold any medical value? Dr Ashok Punjabi: Firstly, the report that this Watch gives you isn't an 'ECG' in the traditional sense. Its a rhythm strip a record of the hearts electromagnetic impulses over a period of time. In a wearable device, it is likely recorded with a single lead (electrode), unlike a traditional ECG that has 12 such leads. So, it certainly isnt a replacement for an ECG by any stretch of the imagination. It could be useful as a screening tool for heart disorders, but not much more than that. tech2: Does FDA approval make it any more reliable? Dr Ashok Punjabi: FDA approval is definitely an important thing for a product from a safety and a quality standpoint. If it passes the stringent tests and requirements of the FDA, it is with good reason. But whether its reliable is a different question altogether. tech2: Would you entertain a patient's ECG report from an app? Dr Ashok Punjabi: Sure, I would have a look at it. I view it as a screening tool, but not as a reliable scan for a medical diagnosis of any kind. For more serious illnesses, there are complex heart scans that depend on accurate results from an ECG. I would not make any such decisions using a rhythm strip from a watch. With inputs from IANS Reuters Australias parliament on Thursday passed a bill to force tech firms such as Alphabet Incs Google, Facebook and Apple to give police access to encrypted data, the most far-reaching such requirements imposed by a western country. The bill, staunchly opposed by the tech giants which fear Australia could be an example as other nations explore similar rules, is set to become law before the end of the year. Lets just make Australians safe over Christmas, opposition Labor party leader Bill Shorten told reporters outside parliament in the capital of Canberra. The bill, passed by the lower house of parliament earlier on Thursday, was to be debated in the upper Senate, where Labor said it intended to suggest new amendments, before going back to the lower house. In an eleventh-hour twist, Labor said that despite its reservations, it would pass the bill in the Senate, on the proviso that the coalition agreed to its amendments next year. We will pass the legislation, inadequate as it is, so we can give our security agencies some of the tools they say they need, Shorten said. The bill provides for fines of up to A$10 million ($7.3 million) for institutions and prison terms for individuals for failing to hand over data linked to suspected illegal activities. When it becomes law, Australia will be one of the first nations to impose broad access requirements on technology firms, after many years of lobbying by intelligence and law enforcement agencies in many countries, particularly the so-called Five Eyes nations. The Five Eyes intelligence network, comprised of the United States, Canada, Britain, Australia and New Zealand, have each warned that national security was at risk because authorities were unable to monitor the communications of suspects. Australias government has said the laws are needed to counter militant attacks and organised crime and that security agencies would need to seek warrants to access personal data. Technology companies have opposed efforts to create what they see as a back door to users data, a stand-off that was propelled into the public arena by Apples refusal to unlock an iPhone used by an attacker in a 2015 shooting in California. The companies say creating tools for law enforcement to break encryption will inevitably undermine security for everyone. Representatives of Google, Amazon and Apple were not immediately available for comment after the Senate vote. Earlier on Thursday, a Facebook spokesman directed Reuters to a statement made by the Digital Industry Group Inc (DIGI), of which Facebook as well as Apple, Google, Amazon and Twitter, are members. This legislation is out of step with surveillance and privacy legislation in Europe and other countries that have strong national security concerns, the DIGI statement said. Several critical issues remain unaddressed in this legislation, most significantly the prospect of introducing systemic weaknesses that could put Australians data security at risk, it said. Indo-Asian News Service Google has partnered with some of the top news organisations and publishers to let people listen to curated, customised and long-form news stories via its Google Assistant-enabled smart home speakers. Over the past year, the tech giant worked with publishers including CNBC, Hollywood Reporter, Washington Post and The South China Morning Post, building a prototype that brings the Artificial Intelligence (AI) of Google News to the voice context of the Assistant. "This new experience will bring you an audio news playlist assembled at that moment, for you. It starts with a briefing of top stories and updates on topics you care about, and extends into longer-form content that dives deeper into more stories," Google said in a statement late Thursday. You can ask Google Assistant to skip a story, go back or stop. The prototype is now open for news organisations that would like to participate. It relies on single-topic stories segmented out from newscasts or shows to contribute to the audio news feed. Audio news on Google Assistant will roll out first to a limited number of people in the US in English. The effort is part of the Google News Initiative. "Publishers from around the world who produce English-language content are welcome to submit feeds for inclusion and sign up to try the experience," Google informed. To help with this, the Google News Initiative provided funding to a number of news organisations, such as KQED and McClatchy, to support building out more audio capabilities for the industry as a whole. Reuters Japan plans to ban government purchases of equipment from Chinas Huawei Technologies Co Ltd and ZTE Corp to beef up its defences against intelligence leaks and cyber attacks, sources told Reuters. Chinese tech companies are under intense scrutiny from Washington and some prominent allies over ties to the Chinese government, driven by concerns they could be used by Beijing for spying. A government ban in Japan will come after Huawei has already been locked out of the US market and after Australia and New Zealand have blocked it from building 5G networks. Huawei has repeatedly insisted Beijing has no influence over it. The Yomiuri newspaper, which first reported the news of Japans planned ban earlier on Friday, said the government was expected to revise its internal rules on procurement as early as Monday. The government does not plan to specifically name Huawei and ZTE in the revision, but will put in place measures aimed at strengthening security that apply to the companies, a person with direct knowledge and a person briefed on the matter said. Japans chief government spokesman, Yoshihide Suga, declined to comment. But he noted that the country has been in close communication with the United States on a wide range of areas, including cybersecurity. Cybersecurity is becoming an important issue in Japan, he told a regular news conference. Well take firm measures looking at it from a variety of perspectives. ZTE declined to comment. Huawei did not immediately comment. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang expressed serious concern about the reports. The essence of China-Japan business and economic cooperation is mutual benefit and win-win, and both companies have legally operated in Japan for a long time, he told a daily news briefing in Beijing. We hope the Japanese side can provide a fair competition environment for Chinese companies operating in Japan and not do anything to harm bilateral cooperation and mutual trust. Huawei supplies some network equipment to private Japanese telcos NTT Docomo and KDDI Corp. And SoftBank Group Corp has a long relationship with Huawei - which in 2011 became the first Chinese firm to join Japans conservative Keidanren business lobby - and has partnered with it on 5G trials. The government will not buy where there are security concerns but it is difficult to restrict procurement by private companies, one of the sources said. Docomo and SoftBank did not immediately respond to a request for comment. While closely observing changes we will consider appropriate steps, a KDDI spokeswoman said. Some private companies elsewhere, though, have distanced themselves from the Chinese firms. In the United States, SoftBanks wireless subsidiary Sprint Corp said it no longer sources equipment from Huawei or ZTE. SoftBank is trying to complete the units sale to T-Mobile US Inc. And Britains BT Group said on Wednesday it was removing Huaweis equipment from the core of its existing 3G and 4G mobile operations and would not use the company in central parts of the next network. ZTEs Shenzhen-listed shares rose 0.5 percent on Friday after sliding 5.7 percent the previous day amid a global stocks sell-off sparked by the arrest in Canada of Huaweis top executive at the behest of the United States. Huawei is unlisted. tech2 News Staff The Lenovo Z5s which is the Chinese phone maker's upcoming smartphone is set to launch on 18 December. According to an earlier GSMArena report, the phone was expected to be launched on 6 December, which was confirmed by Lenovo's own teaser. But it looks like the date has now been postponed to 18 December. Lenovo has released a new poster now with a change in the date. The poster released by Lenovo Group VP Chang Cheng according to a report by GizmoChina. The Lenovo Weibo account showcases the poster which has a gradient colour theme hinting at a probable gradient design on the rear of the Z5s. The launch poster teases a triple camera setup on the Lenovo Z5s which looks exactly like the one we had seen on the Huawei P20 Pro when it launched earlier this year. You have a vertically aligned triple camera setup with two cameras in one cluster followed by a third camera. A flash unit is present below the third camera lens. There are no details on the configuration of the camera leaked yet. Towards the end of November, we had seen some leaked images of the front portion of the alleged Lenovo Z5s. The leaked hands-on photos of this new Lenovo device rumoured as the Z5s were spotted on Sparrow News and it showed the device to have a notch, not in the shape of waterdrop like Oppo A7 or a bathtub one seen on the Google Pixel 3 XL, but more of a punched hole. The leaked photos have their displays turned on, making it easier for us to see how the screen might look like. The display seems to have extremely thin bezels with rounded edges. Due to the screen size it seems that it might get a bit difficult to use the phone single-handedly. The notch looks like a bindi that has been put on the screen. The location of the notch doesn't seem to disturb the status bar as such and it might also be better for video-calls. We will wait for 18 December to see if these speculations are indeed true. Agence France-Presse Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg pushed back Wednesday against emails showing the social media giant offering Netflix and other popular apps preferential access to people's data even after it had tightened its privacy rules. A British parliamentary committee investigating whether the social media behemoth was being used to manipulate the results of elections published 250 pages of internal Facebook documents earlier Wednesday. They show executives holding discussions about big companies such as Netflix being granted preferential access to user data even after Facebook had tightened its privacy rules in 2014-15. Zuckerberg featured in one email exchange from 2012 in which he mulled selling the information to developers. The emails feature in a lawsuit filed against Facebook in a California court by the now-defunct US app developer Six4Three. They were sealed by the presiding judge but seized by the British committee under a never-before-used parliamentary enforcement procedure last month. Zuckerberg said he was writing because he did not want the emails to "misrepresent our actions or motives". "Like any organisation, we had a lot of internal discussion and people raised different ideas," Zuckerberg said in a message posted on Facebook. He did not directly address Facebook's apparent decision to give some of the world's most popular apps special access to friends lists and other personal information that many people want to keep private. "Ultimately, we decided on a model where we continued to provide the developer platform for free and developers could choose to buy ads if they wanted," Zuckerberg wrote. But he added: "To be clear, that's different from selling people's data. We've never sold anyone's data." Public interest The UK parliamentary committee headed by Damian Collins - a member of Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservative Party - calls the policy of giving apps privileged information about users "whitelisting". "Facebook have clearly entered into whitelisting agreements with certain companies, which meant that after the platform changes in 2014/15 they maintained full access to friends data," Collins wrote in a note accompanying the emails. "The idea of linking access to friends data to the financial value of the developers relationship with Facebook is a recurring feature of the documents." The emails show Facebook holding "whitelisting" discussions with the Russian-founded dating service Wadoo and US giants such as Netflix and the cab-hailing service Lyft. Most of the emails released by Collins were from years before Facebook had tightened its privacy policy rules. Collins said his decision to ignore the US court gagging order and release the exchanges was based on "considerable public interest" in their content. "We need a more public debate about the rights of social media users and the smaller businesses who are required to work with the tech giants," he wrote in a Twitter post. Zuckerberg did not condemn the emails' publication or threaten any reciprocal measures against Collins. "I understand there is a lot of scrutiny on how we run our systems," Zuckerberg wrote. "That's healthy given the vast number of people who use our services around the world." tech2 News Staff Microsoft has officially confirmed that its struggling Edge web browser will be rebuilt on Google's Chromium rendering engine, which is the same code that Chrome browser uses. Until now, Microsoft had been using its proprietary browser engine, EdgeHTML, which was praised for its performance in some areas, but also brought frustration to web developers due to compatibility issues. With only a select number of users using Edge, developers also often did not bother about making their code compatible with the browser. In a blog post announcing the move, Joe Belfiore, the corporate vice president of Windows, stated, "We intend to adopt the Chromium open source project in the development of Microsoft Edge on the desktop to create better web compatibility for our customers and less fragmentation of the web for all web developers." "Ultimately, we want to make the web experience better for many different audiences," he said. When Belfiore says "audiences", those audiences also include macOS users who despite having Safari, will soon gain access to Microsoft's Edge browser as well. The move definitely appears to be a step in the right direction for Microsoft and Edge users, as it should mean future Chromium-based versions of Edge will have features and plug-ins that are comparable with Chrome and other Chromium web engine-based browsers. But it also means that vulnerabilities in the open source project may affect a broader set of browsers. Firefox-maker Mozilla, meanwhile, isn't very happy about the move. The company's CEO Chris Beard in a blog post wrote, "Microsoft is officially giving up on an independent shared platform for the internet. By adopting Chromium, Microsoft hands over control of even more of online life to Google. Making Google more powerful is risky on many fronts. Reuters The top US general said on Thursday that it was inexplicable that technology giants like Alphabet Incs Google did not want to work with the Pentagon even as they seek out business with China, where companies have less freedom than in the United States. We are the good guys and its inexplicable to me that we would make compromises in order to advance our business interests in China where we know that freedoms are restrained, where we know that China will take intellectual property from companies, Marine General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said during an event. A Google spokeswoman for China issues did not immediately respond to a request to comment. Google Chief Executive Sundar Pichai has previously said the company has invested in China for years and plans to continue to do so, but that the company also was continuing to work with the US government on projects in health care, cybersecurity and other fields. Earlier this year Google said it was no longer vying for a $10 billion cloud computing contract with the US Defense Department, in part because the companys new ethical guidelines do not align with the project. In June, Google said it would not renew a contract to help the US military analyze aerial drone imagery when it expires, as the company sought to defuse internal uproar over the deal. The defense program, called Project Maven, set off a revolt inside Google, as factions of employees opposed Google technology being used in warfare. At the same time, Google is developing a censored search engine for Chinese users, which it says is experimental and not close to launching. Google has long sought to have a bigger presence in China, the worlds largest internet market. It needs government approval to compete with the countrys dominant homegrown internet services. Current and former employees, human rights activists and US lawmakers have criticized Google for not taking a harder line against the Chinese governments policy that politically sensitive results be blocked. Im not sure that people at Google will enjoy a world order that is informed by the norms and standards of Russia or China, Dunford said, without mentioning any other tech companies by name during his remarks. Reuters Chinese telecoms giant Huawei Technologies Co Ltds chief financial officer was arrested as part of a US investigation into an alleged scheme to use the global banking system to evade US sanctions against Iran, according to people familiar with the probe. The United States has been looking since at least 2016 into whether Huawei shipped US-origin products to Iran and other countries in violation of US export and sanctions laws, Reuters reported in April. More recently, the probe has included whether the company used HSBC Holdings Plc to conduct illegal transactions involving Iran, the people said. Companies are barred from using the US financial system to funnel goods and services to sanctioned entities. If the mobile phone and telecoms equipment maker conducted such transactions and then misled HSBC about their true nature, it could be guilty of bank fraud, experts say. Huawei declined to comment but said in a statement after the arrest that it complies with all applicable export control and sanctions laws and other regulations. An HSBC spokesperson declined to comment. HSBC is not under investigation, according to a person familiar with the matter. A spokesman for the US attorneys office in Brooklyn, which Reuters has reported is the office investigating Huawei, also declined to comment. In 2012, HSBC paid $1.92 billion and entered a deferred prosecution agreement with the same US prosecutors office for violating U.S. sanctions and money-laundering laws. As part of that deal, HSBC was required to be monitored for five years to review its efforts to prevent money laundering and sanctions violations. (Also read: White House, Trudeau distance themselves from Huawei move after arresting CFO) HSBCs U.S.-listed shares fell as much as 6 percent on Thursday after Reuters reported the banks link to the Huawei case. They ended down 3.6 percent. Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou, daughter of Huaweis founder, Ren Zhengfei, was arrested in Canada on Dec. 1. She will appear in court on Friday and faces extradition to the United States. The news broke on Wednesday, roiling global stock markets over fears the move could escalate the Sino-US trade dispute. Huawei said it has been provided little information of the charges and that it was not aware of any wrongdoing by Ms Meng. Shades of ZTE The probe of Huawei is similar to one that threatened the survival of Chinas ZTE Corp, which pleaded guilty in 2017 to violating U.S. laws that restrict the sale of American-made technology to Iran. ZTE paid a $892 million penalty. Earlier this year, the United States said ZTE made false statements about disciplining some executives responsible for the violations and banned U.S. firms from selling parts and software to the company. After ceasing major operations as a result, ZTE paid another $1 billion as part of a deal to get the ban lifted. In an incident similar to Mengs case, ZTEs chief financial officer was stopped at Bostons Logan Airport during the US investigation of that company, according to sources familiar with the case. US authorities seized a laptop that contained a treasure trove of evidence of ZTEs illegal business in Iran, one of the sources said. In 2016, the Commerce Department made documents public that showed ZTEs misconduct and also revealed how a second company, identified only as F7, had successfully evaded U.S. export controls. (Also read: Huawei CFO arrested in Canada, suspected of violating US sanction laws) In a 2016 letter to the Commerce Department, 10 US lawmakers said F7 was believed to be Huawei, citing media reports. In April 2017, lawmakers sent another letter to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross asking for F7 to be publicly identified and fully investigated. US authorities also subpoenaed Huawei in 2016 seeking information related to possible export and sanctions violations, sources have said. In January 2013, Reuters reported that Hong Kong-based Skycom Tech Co Ltd, which attempted to sell embargoed Hewlett-Packard computer equipment to Irans largest mobile-phone operator, had much closer ties to Huawei than previously known. Meng, who also has used the English names Cathy and Sabrina, served on the board of Skycom between February 2008 and April 2009, according to Skycom records. Several other past and present Skycom directors also appear to have connections to Huawei. In linguistics and cognitive sciences, Noam Chomsky is routinely named as the greatest mind in the last 2,500 years A woman was once astonished to learn, according to an old news report, that there is only one Noam Chomsky, not two. He has not one but two careers, and in each his contribution is of superhuman scale. In linguistics and cognitive sciences, he is routinely named as the greatest mind in the last 2,500 years (that is, since Indian grammarian Panini). In political activism, there is bit more competition within the last century itself, but his contribution is critical and immense. In short, as the New York Times once put it, Chomsky is the greatest public intellectual of our times. He completes 90 years today, 7 December, and it is an occasion to introduce this unique personality to those who havent heard much about him, and exchange notes with those who have. Lets take politics first. His interventions form a veritable list of excesses of power, atrocities, injustice and plain roguery of not only the states but also the corporates and the media around the globe in the second half the 20th century. His first major public intervention came in the tumultuous decade of the 1960s. After World War II, the US was in expansionist mode, its foreign policy another name for imperialism and interference. Chomsky protested against US armed action in Vietnam, and refused to pay taxes, for which crime he was jailed for a while. Sections of the media were critical of the US administration and there were protest marches in many campuses, and Chomsky was among the most convincing voices of dissent. In particular, his 1967 essay in the New York Review of Books, titled The Responsibility of Intellectuals, became an influential rallying point. This is the crux of the long essay, buttressed by facts, facts and more facts: It is the responsibility of intellectuals to speak the truth and to expose lies. This, at least, may seem enough of a truism to pass over without comment. Not so, however. For the modern intellectual, it is not at all obvious. What started with Vietnam continued with other trouble spots, from Nicaragua to Cambodia. Soon, it went beyond the excesses of the state power to the excesses of other forms of power: how big multinationals are putting profit over people, how the media is at work to promote self-censorship. Unlike in linguistics, Chomsky does not have an overarching theory to offer in politics. He is placed broadly under the label of 'far left' or 'anarchism', but thats merely a label. His attitude in political activism and criticism is that of the child who insists the emperor has no clothes. He has often credited this attitude to his non-formal schooling (he believes the mainstream schooling is designed to make us all conformists and harmless citizens). Encouraged to question authority, he has continued to do so in every domain, be it politics or linguistics or religion, for that matter. One can also summarise his politics by referring to Orwells Problem, named after one of the very few people he says he has learned from (Bertrand Russel figures prominently on this list). George Orwell wondered: How could people know so little when so much information is out in public domain? Look around, question the narrative coming from the establishment or authorities, think for yourself, and if you see something wrong or unjust, raise your voice from whichever lectern or soapbox you can find. This can, obviously, land you in deep trouble, not only from the establishment, but also from people who do not want to know more. (The profile for a Twitter handle in Chomsky's name, not official, quotes him: The general population dosen't [sic] know whats happening and it doesn't even know that it doesn't know.) After the 9/11 terror attacks, Chomsky insisted America had it coming; after all these years of a bloodbath abroad, one at home was waiting to happen. Not many even among the outspoken critics of power Christopher Hitchens being one representative name could agree with him on this. He, however, continued in writings, radio talks, interviews to underground pamphleteers and rarely in the mainstream media to present several uncomfortable facts in support of his position. A curious aspect of his way of doing politics is its rawness. Hitchens, for example, like Arundhati Roy at home, was known for his sharp wit and exceptional writing. So was Orwell. Chomsky, on the other hand, is not bothered about being reader-friendly, as if to say that these are the facts, here are some more, and thats all there is to it for you to get the picture. He is positively suspicious of deploying rhetoric to win the argument. He does not like to argue from the position of authority (Youd better believe this since Chomsky or the Pope or Oprah Winfrey says so). Moreover, he does not want to get into the academic game of building fashionable theories around what is essentially a matter of the naked-emperor quality. On this, a high watermark of academic-politics intersection will remain Chomskys televised debate with French philosopher Michel Foucault in 1971, titled Human Nature: Power vs Justice. The two are just about the most quoted names statistically speaking, in academic journals and research bibliographies, representing two opposite schools. During the debate (also published as book, which makes for fascinating reading), Foucault keeps playing language games, seeking to first define power or deconstruct the notion of justice, whereas Chomsky all along maintains something like: heres a case of injustice, and heres what any citizen must do about it, and that is all. Talking about Chomskys work in linguistics would entail some preliminary explanation, which can get technical and would place demands a common reader cannot be expected to meet. What is notable is that within the same 24 hours of a day that we get, he has not only managed to predict that language is actually (not metaphorically) in your DNA four decades before independent scientists established the fact but also, to get onto a confidential list of the enemies of the nation prepared by president Richard Nixon. (As of this month, he is teaching linguistics at the University of Arizona where he is a laureate professor after half a century at MIT, and also writing against Trump.) He reads and writes prodigiously. (Theres an anecdote of a dinner guest trying small talk with a pre-teen Chomsky, pointing at a set of Encyclopedia Britannica and asking if he has read them. No, only half of them, was the reply.) He seems to have inexhaustible time available for all activists around the world: when he signs a campaign letter demanding the release of Kanhaiya Kumar of JNU or demanding better compensation to the farmers of Singur, rest assured that he knows the situation inside out. During his second visit to India, in late 2001, during a private gathering, a student recollects how seamlessly he inhabited two worlds: responding to questions from budding linguists about finer aspects of his theory of universal grammar and questioning a group of political leaders and activists about, say, pharmaceutical pricing or rehabilitation of the Narmada dam oustees, often knowing the Indian situation better than they did. Not that Chomsky is beyond questioning himself. A student of Gandhis life and works, for example, would find problematic his hedged stance (echoing Orwell) against the Mahatma from whom people like Gene Sharp found much to learn. Also a troublesome equivalence when it comes to the instrumental use of violence. In politics as well in linguistics, Chomsky's career, as one can well guess, is not free of controversies. But his accomplishments have certainly made the world a little less inhuman and a lot more comprehensible. Ashish Mehta is the editor of Governance Now Former US president George W Bush shared a light moment with former First Lady Michelle Obama at the funeral for his father George HW Bush on Wednesday, appearing to slip her a piece of candy before the service began. Washington: Former US president George W Bush shared a light moment with former First Lady Michelle Obama at the funeral for his father George HW Bush on Wednesday, appearing to slip her a piece of candy before the service began. The 43rd US president had also given Michelle Obama a mint during the memorial service in September for Arizona Senator John McCain. As the 72-year-old Bush arrived at the National Cathedral for the state funeral for his father the 41st US president he shook hands with President Donald Trump and his wife, Melania. Bush then shook hands with former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama, causing her to smile when he passed her what appeared to be a piece of candy. Two favorite moments in the VIP seats at #GeorgeHWBushFuneral: 1. @HillaryClinton, pointedly, not noticing Individual 1 had joined her pew; and 2. George W. Bush, at his own father's funeral, having the grace and humor to slip @MichelleObama some candy:pic.twitter.com/0l1UkbAclo Mrs. Betty Bowers (@BettyBowers) December 5, 2018 Bush then continued down the row, shaking hands with former president Bill Clinton, former first lady Hillary Clinton, former president Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn. Michelle Obama later explained the exchange at the McCain memorial during an interview on NBC's Today show. "We are forever seatmates because of protocol," she said of Bush. "That's how we sit at all the official functions so he is my partner in crime at every major thing where all the formers gather. "So we're together all the time, and I love him to death. He's a wonderful man. He's a funny man," she said. George HW Bush died on Friday at the age of 94. Heather Nauert has not been the first person from Fox News to be appointed in the Trump administration. US president Donald Trump on Thursday nominated former Fox News anchor and the spokesperson for the United States Department of State, Heather Nauert, as his new ambassador to the United Nations. Nauert, 48, will replace Indian-American Nikki Haley who had said in October 2018 that she would be leaving the UN post at the end of this year. The announcement was made by a source familiar with Trump's decision, reported Reuters. Nauert's first government position has been as the state department spokesperson, to which she was appointed in April 2017. She was subsequently named as the acting undersecretary for public diplomacy and public affairs in early 2018. Relatively new in the political scene, analysts have now pointed at her lack of political and policy credentials which Haley, a former South Carolina governor, possesses. Who is Heather Nauert? Nauert is a native of Rockford, Illinois. She is a graduate of the Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism and Mount Vernon College in Washington. Prior to working as a journalist, Nauert had served as a health insurance consultant in Washington DC, cites the official website of the US Department of State. Nauert has not been the first person from Fox News to be appointed in the Trump administration. Fox News executive Bill Shine was made a top communications adviser and John Bolton, also a contributor to the channel, is the White House national security adviser. Nauert had worked for Fox News from 1998 to 2005 before joining ABC. She subsequently returned to Fox in 2007 and became a presenter for its 'Fox & Friends'. She had also previously acted in two American television series Brother's Keeper and 24. Is Nauert up for the new role? Trump's decision was first reported by Bloomberg News and if confirmed Nauert is likely face a "tough" Senate confirmation hearing. According to The Guardian, the President has sought someone who will "demonstrate loyalty". So it is hardly surprising that someone from Fox News would be elevated to the top US job since the channel has been known to be Trump's favorite and most supportive news network. Nauert, says The Washington Post, has earned a reputation as a "stalwart defender" of the president even through the turbulent tenure of Trump's first secretary of state, Rex Tillerson. CNN, while citing her "precipitous rise" since arriving at the state department, also speculates how the Democrats are likely to "grill Nauert" on her qualifications for the position. It also talks about how, despite Nauert being "TV savvy", her current and former colleagues have wondered if she will be fit for the top post which will require her to navigate gritty behind-the-scenes work of UN negotiations. She will also have to deal with issues such as North Korea's nuclear program, Yemen's famine as well as back US's effort's to contain Iran's influence over West Asia. Speaking to Hindustan Times, a US diplomat said, "Nauert seems to be a compromise candidate of two powerful foreign policy mavens of the Trump administration Mike Pompeo and Bolton." The Washinton Post also quoted former state department official Brett Bruen as saying, "While Haley didn't bring foreign policy experience, she ran a state. Nauerts performance as acting undersecretary of state was notable for its lack of accomplishments or even attention to the job. It does not present a compelling case, nor engender confidence in the Senate, that she is ready for a such a senior position. Meanwhile, the Indian permanent mission to the UN, which has developed a good relationship with Haley, is also likely to closely watch Nauert. With inputs from agencies By Liz Hampton HOUSTON (Reuters) - The body of U.S. President George H.W. By Liz Hampton HOUSTON (Reuters) - The body of U.S. President George H.W. Bush arrived by train at his presidential library in College Station, Texas, on Thursday to be buried following a funeral at a Houston church where he was remembered by family members who knew him best as "Gampy." Bush's casket was carried to his grave behind his presidential library by a military honour guard, while a squadron of Navy aircraft did a flyover, in a ceremony overseen by his son and former President George W. Bush. Bush, the 41st U.S. president, died last week in Texas at 94. His remains were flown to Texas on Wednesday following a state funeral at the Washington National Cathedral attended by President Donald Trump, the four living former presidents and foreign leaders. Thursday's funeral service was held at St. Martin's Episcopal Church in Houston, where Bush and former first lady Barbara Bush worshipped for more five decades, and took on a more personal tone with remarks by family members. George W. Bush, who followed his father to the White House, sat in a front pew near the flag-draped casket and joined in as some 1,000 mourners sang "America the Beautiful." George P. Bush, son of former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and one of the former president's 17 grandchildren, remembered fly fishing and sharing ice cream with the man he called "Gampy." James Baker, a longtime friend who served as Bush's secretary of state, eulogized the former president as a peacemaker and "a truly beautiful human being." "He was not considered a skilled speaker, but his deeds were quite eloquent and he demonstrated their eloquence by carving them into the hard granite of history," Baker said. Mourners laughed as Baker recalled how Bush would let him know a conversation was over: "'Baker, if you're so smart, why am I president and you're not?'" His voice cracking at moments, Baker said he was at his friend's deathbed last week. Raised in an Episcopalian family in Massachusetts, Bush fused his preppy New England background with the more free-wheeling traits of his adoptive state of Texas, where he moved as a young man to work in the oil industry. That mix was reflected in the music heard at his funeral: the St. Martin's Parish Choir sang "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," country music star Reba McEntire performed "The Lord's Prayer," and the casket was carried out of the church to the thunderous strains of "Onward Christian Soldiers." LOCOMOTIVE 4141 Following the funeral service, Bush's remains were taken by train some 80 miles (130 km) northwest to his presidential library in College Station, Texas, where he will be buried alongside his wife, Barbara, who died in April, and their daughter Robin, who died of leukemia at age 3 in 1953. Residents of small towns along the route gathered to wave at the train, a Union Pacific Corp locomotive numbered 4141 and bearing the name "George Bush 41" on the side, as it passed. Bush, a U.S. Navy aviator who narrowly escaped death when he was shot down by Japanese forces over the Pacific Ocean during World War Two, will be buried with military honours, including a flyover by 21 Navy aircraft. Bush was president from 1989 to 1993, navigating the collapse of the Soviet Union and expelling former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's forces from oil-rich Kuwait. He supported the passage of the American with Disabilities Act, a major civil rights law protecting disabled people from discrimination. A patrician figure who served as vice president to Ronald Reagan, Bush lost re-election to a second term in part for failing to connect with ordinary Americans during an economic recession. He has also been criticized for supporting tough drug laws that led to the disproportionate incarceration of black people, as well as what activists call an insufficient response to the AIDS epidemic. But tributes in recent days have focused on the former Republican president as a man of integrity and kindness who represented an earlier era of civility in American politics. (Reporting by Liz Hampton in Houston; Additional reporting by Gary McWilliams in Houston, Steve Holland in Washington and Jonathan Allen in New York; Writing by Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles and Jonathan Allen in New York; Editing by Frances Kerry and Peter Cooney) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. No group has taken responsibility for the assault, but authorities blame the Taliban, who are active in the area and have been targeting Afghan security forces throughout the country in deadly attacks every day Kabul: An Afghan official says the Taliban have killed 14 Afghan soldiers and taken another 21 captive in an overnight attack in the country's western Herat province. Herat provincial council member Najibullah Mohebi says attackers besieged two army outposts late on Thursday in Herat's Shindand district. He says the fighting lasted for six hours before reinforcements arrived and repulsed the insurgents early on Friday but not before they captured 21 troops. However, the Defence Ministry's spokesman, Ghafor Ahmad Jaweed, put the number of army dead and wounded at 10. The different accounts couldn't immediately be reconciled. No group has taken responsibility for the assault, but authorities blame the Taliban, who are active in the area and have been targeting Afghan security forces throughout the country in deadly attacks every day. Prime Minister Theresa May said on Thursday that British lawmakers faced a choice ahead of a vote on her Brexit deal: approving her deal or facing an exit with no deal or even the reversal of Brexit. London: Prime Minister Theresa May said on Thursday that British lawmakers faced a choice ahead of a vote on her Brexit deal: approving her deal or facing an exit with no deal or even the reversal of Brexit. May said she was speaking to lawmakers about giving parliament a bigger role in whether the Northern Irish backstop arrangement would be triggered, though she gave few details. May said some in parliament were trying to frustrate Brexit and that she did not think another referendum on Brexit was the right course. There are three options: one is to leave the European Union with a deal... the other two are that we leave without a deal or that we have no Brexit at all, May told BBC radio. Its clear that there are those in the House of Commons who want to frustrate Brexit... and overturn the vote of the British people and thats not right. May repeatedly sidestepped questions on whether she would delay the 11 December vote but did hint at possible concessions on the Northern Irish backstop. There are questions about how decisions are taken as to whether we go into the backstop, because that isnt an automatic, she said. The question is: do we go into the backstop? Do we extend what I call the implementation period? When asked repeatedly what her Plan B would be if her deal was rejected, she did not directly answer the questions. By Lawrence Hurley WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Supreme Court justices on Thursday expressed skepticism about putting limits on criminal charges being brought against people for the same offences by both federal and state prosecutors in a case involving an Alabama man charged with illegally possessing a gun. By Lawrence Hurley WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Supreme Court justices on Thursday expressed skepticism about putting limits on criminal charges being brought against people for the same offences by both federal and state prosecutors in a case involving an Alabama man charged with illegally possessing a gun. Depending on how the court rules, the case could have implications for Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election and any coordination between Moscow and Republican Donald Trump's campaign. A ruling against the government could limit the ability of states to bring charges against anyone charged by Mueller whom Trump might pardon. The president has not ruled out pardoning his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, who was convicted on tax and bank fraud charges. The court appeared divided on non-ideological lines, but a majority seemed concerned about the practical implications of overturning longstanding precedent allowing for parallel state and federal prosecutions. A ruling is due by the end of June. Some of the justices, including conservative Trump appointee Neil Gorsuch and liberal Ruth Bader Ginsburg, appeared more worried about vindicating the individual rights of defendants. Gorsuch also noted that in recent years the number of federal crimes has ballooned meaning it is possible for the Justice Department to launch a second prosecution "if it's unhappy with even the most routine state prosecution." Trump's other appointee to the nine-justice court, conservative Brett Kavanaugh, questioned whether there were strong enough arguments to justify ending the practice, saying that the lawyers for defendant Terance Gamble would have to show the precedent is "grievously wrong." "Given ... the uncertainty over the history, can you clear that bar?" he asked Gamble's lawyer, Louis Chaiten. Gamble, 29, was prosecuted in Alabama for possessing marijuana and for being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm after the vehicle he was driving in Mobile was stopped by police in 2015. While those charges were pending, the federal government charged Gamble under a U.S. law that criminalises the possession of a firearm by a felon. Gamble challenged the federal prosecution, saying it violated his rights under the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution to be free of "double jeopardy," which is the legal principle that people cannot be charged twice for the same offence. Under longstanding precedent, separate prosecutions under state and federal law have not been viewed as implicating double jeopardy because the United States and individual states are deemed to be separate sovereign governments. Among the concerns raised by Justice Department lawyer Eric Feigin during the argument is that a ruling against dual state and federal prosecutions would also apply to people who have previously been prosecuted overseas. As examples of people who could potentially avoid prosecution in U.S. courts were the court to rule for Gamble, he cited rebels in Colombia who kidnapped three Americans in 2003 and held them captive for five years. Feigin said a ruling against the government could also hamper federal civil rights prosecutions. He noted that the federal government has brought civil rights-related charges against Robert Bowers, the man charged with killing 11 people in a Pittsburgh synagogue in October. Bowers has also been charged by local prosecutors. Gamble is serving a three year and ten-month prison sentence for the federal charge and is due to be released in February 2020. Gamble would have served a one-year prison sentence for the state charges, to which he had pleaded guilty. (Reporting by Lawrence Hurley; Editing by Tom Brown and Grant McCool) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. As any seasoned investor knows, the market wields a sledgehammer and takes no prisoners. But that doesn't mean it's always right. Take fertilizer producer Intrepid Potash (NYSE:IPI) as an example. Following years of poor decisions from management, mounting debt, and runaway dilution, the company finally appears to be turning things around -- and there's still plenty of room for it to expand if fertilizer selling prices improve. Although the business made undeniable progress this year, the stock has dropped nearly 28% since the beginning of 2018. Investors who carefully pore over the numbers and regulatory filings might conclude that Intrepid Potash stock is being unfairly punished. Here's why it may be worth giving this beaten-up stock a closer look. A lack of respect for a solid turnaround This time last year it wasn't very difficult to write off Intrepid Potash. For starters, the company hasn't been very good at creating shareholder value in recent years. The macro environment made matters even worse, as fertilizer selling prices were reeling from oversupply, brought on by awful decisions made by the handful of companies that control the global market. Peek over the horizon, and risks from lithium production (which creates a lot of potash as a byproduct) and new agricultural biotech products (which may one day reduce or eliminate fertilizer inputs) didn't paint a very optimistic outlook for fertilizer markets. But investors -- including myself -- should give credit where it's due. Intrepid Potash has kept its head down and executed against its stated objectives in 2018. Revenue is up, production costs and interest expense are down, and water sales to oil and gas drillers in the Permian Basin are providing a healthy boost to operating cash flow. That has led to a dramatic improvement in operating performance through the first nine months of 2018, compared to the year-ago period: Metric First Nine Months, 2018 First Nine Months, 2017 Change (YOY) Total revenue $140.7 million $127.7 million 10% Cost of product revenue $84.6 million $85.2 million (0.8%) Operating income $6.6 million ($11.5 million) N/A Interest expense $2.6 million $10.6 million (75.5%) Net income $4.1 million ($21.5 million) N/A Operating cash flow $52.9 million $10.5 million 402% Solar evaporation ponds are continuing to lower potash production costs, which dropped 11% in the first nine months of 2018 compared to the year-ago period. Combine that with a 6% uptick in selling prices, and the company's potash segment saw a year-over-year improvement of 61% in gross profit. Things aren't quite as rosy for the Trio segment (Trio is the company's brand of langbeinite fertilizer), but the outlook is the best it's been in years. The segment cut its gross loss to just $178,000 in the third quarter of 2018, thanks to a 7% jump in selling prices compared to the prior-year period. If prices can hold or improve, then Intrepid Potash would be on good footing to erase the $4.5 million gross loss accrued by the segment in the first nine months of this year. And last but not least, Intrepid Potash is cashing in on its strategy of selling some of its excess water reserves to oil and gas drillers in the Permian Basin. The company reported $12.5 million in water revenue in the first nine months of 2018, up from just $3.4 million in the year-ago period, and generated an impressive $9.6 million in gross profit in that span. When including cash received for water volumes that have yet to be delivered, water transactions in the first three quarters of the 2018 swell to $23.1 million. While that could be viewed as a positive sign for the business, Wall Street balked at the idea that $9.1 million in water sales are pending delivery -- up from $5.4 million at the end of the second quarter. That may not be an overreaction, considering Permian Basin production is being pressured by a lack of infrastructure in the region, which could pose a risk to Intrepid Potash's newest cash cow. Intrepid Potash stock is worth a closer look Investors can't dismiss the inherent risks of the fertilizer industry, especially with new threats on the horizon from lithium production and new biotech products. Intrepid Potash also faces unique risks among its peer group, after hitching its wagon to water sales to oil and gas customers in the Permian Basin. That said, the ongoing turnaround certainly isn't receiving the respect it deserves, as the numbers clearly indicate. And water sales are an obvious net benefit to the business. Those factors make this fertilizer stock worth a closer look, at the very least. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 7) Two Sandiganbayan justices find it hard to believe that former Senator Ramon "Bong" Revilla Jr. is innocent of plunder in the controversial pork barrel scam. Associate Justices Efren Dela Cruz and Maria Theresa Gomez-Estoesta dissented from the anti-graft court's decision that acquitted Revilla on Friday. The court convicted Revilla's co-accused, alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim Napoles and Revilla's staff Richard Cambe. The 186-page decision of Sandiganbayan's first division ruled that there is "not a single direct evidence" that proved that Revilla pocketed millions of pesos from his Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) but said it is "morally certain" that Napoles and Cambe conspired to commit the crime. Dela Cruz, who initially penned a decision convicting all three accused, said this could not be possible, noting that Napoles, a businesswoman, and Cambe, a legislative aid, have no access to Revilla's PDAF. "Revilla is a seasoned senator. He is not naive to allow Napoles and Cambe to solely steer the course of a PDAF," Dela Cruz said. "In the context of the surrounding circumstances, I find it extremely hard to believe that this scam of such magnitude was confined only within the realm of Napoles and Cambe to the exclusion of Revilla," he added. Dela Cruz's original ponencia was dissented to by Associate Justices Geraldine Econg and Edgardo Caldona, resulting in a 2-2 vote. This forced the anti-graft court's first division to create a special division of five justices to break the impasse. Econg penned the final decision. The Sandiganbayan decision gave weight to the testimony of Desiderio Pagui, a handwriting expert, that Revilla's signatures on endorsement letters for the release of his pork funds to fake nongovernment organizations - were forged. It said this destroys any possible paper trail to prove the crime. Gomez-Estoesta admitted that the lone testimonies of whistleblowers Benhur Luy and Merlina Sunas are "concededly not potent to establish the fact that" Revilla authorized Cambe to receive commissions, rebates, and kickbacks and hand the money over to him. She said it's just understandable that the prosecution failed to find documents that would show Revilla authorized Cambe to receive money in his behalf. "Conspiracy only thrives in secrecy," she said. Dela Cruz said the lack of direct evidence "does not altogether disprove of his non-receipt thereof." "The Court may resort to circumstantial evidence," he added. How about Revilla's wealth? The dissenting judges questioned why the Sandiganbayan decision "disparaged as not conclusive" a report by the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) that Revilla and his immediate family members made numerous bank deposits to their bank accounts totaling P87.26 million from 2006 to 2010. Dela Cruz noted that the transactions were made within 30 days form the dates mentioned by Luy when Revilla received rebates through Cambe. "The accused never even attempted to debunk the findings of AMLC in his own defense. He simply wallowed in his own defense of denial and forgery. Why should the majority opinion now take the cudgels for him?" Gomez-Estoesta said. She said the "irrefutable burgeoning wealth" of Revilla is the "end-all" of the PDAF controversy. She also said it was odd for the court to still order Revilla to return P124.5 million to the government as civil liability. "It only goes to say therefore, that since all three accused were made to answer for the same civil liability, the source of the accumulation of wealth as found in the criminal liability should only be the same," she said. Revilla's lawyers, however, said he is now excluded from the requirement because of his acquittal. Econg said she and the other justices only ruled based on the evidence and the lack thereof. "It's an unpopular decision. I would have loved to be a heroine, that I convicted him, but at the end of the day we are bound to rule based on the evidence," Econg said in a statement. Malacanang, meanwhile, said the ruling was a product of an independent judiciary. "Regardless of the sentiments to the contrary, we have to bow down to the judgement of the Sandiganbayan," Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said in a statement. Hyatt Announces Plan For First Hotel In Southeast Asia To Join The Unbound Collection By Hyatt Located in Vietnams emerging resort destination, Nam Nghi Phu Quoc Island set to be refreshed and join The Unbound Collection by Hyatt in early 2019 December 07, 2018 // Franchising.com // CHICAGO - Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE: H) announced that a Hyatt affiliate has entered into an agreement with A&B Group for the Nam Nghi Phu Quoc Island to join The Unbound Collection by Hyatt brand by early 2019. This will be the first hotel in Southeast Asia under The Unbound Collection by Hyatt brand.. Nestled within a secluded oasis featuring pristine beaches and the rich biodiversity of Phu Quoc, the 114-room hotel made for travelers looking to fulfill a sense of discovery will grow Hyatts resort presence in Vietnam. We are pleased to introduce The Unbound Collection by Hyatt brand to Southeast Asia with Nam Nghi Phu Quoc Island, a destination resort where guests will be able to create one-of-a-kind memories and stories amid awe-inspiring, natural surroundings, said David Udell, group president, Asia-Pacific, Hyatt Hotels Corporation. We are grateful to celebrate the continued relationship with A&B Group and excited to expand Hyatts resort offerings in Vietnam together following our collaboration on the Hyatt Regency Nha Trang, which is expected to open in 2019. The resort will be located in Phu Quoc, the largest island in Vietnam circled by pristine white sand beaches spreading across 93 miles (150 kilometers) of coastline. Half the island is within the confines of national park and UNESCO World Heritage-designated, Kien Giang Biosphere Reserve, one of the largest biosphere reserves in Southeast Asia. The reserve features rich marine life, tropical jungles, wetlands and waterfalls. The refreshed Nam Nghi Phu Quoc Island will provide local and international guests with exceptional experiences set amid a pristine ecosystem and private sanctuary, said Ha Van An, chairman, A&B Group. We are delighted to work with Hyatt and are confident that its international hospitality expertise will enable us to elevate the guest experience at our resort. Nam Nghi Phu Quoc Island will feature 51 villas and 63 guestrooms, four dining outlets, meeting spaces, a swimming pool, kids club, and spa and fitness center. With an exceptional location and a picturesque view of the turquoise waters, the resort will be an ideal place for destination weddings and vacation getaways for couples and families. The term Hyatt is used in this release for convenience to refer to Hyatt Hotels Corporation and/or one or more of its affiliates. About The Unbound Collection by Hyatt The Unbound Collection by Hyatt brand is a portfolio of new and existing upper-upscale hotel properties, ranging from historic urban gems to contemporary trend-setters, boutique properties to resorts and private home accommodations. Whether it is a fascinating past, an exclusive location, famous architecture and design, or an award-winning dining experience, the properties in the collection provide guests with social currency and allow them the freedom to be extraordinary. Current hotel properties include Royal Palms Resort and Spa in Phoenix; The Confidante in Miami Beach, Fla.; Ocean Resort Casino in Atlantic City, N.J., The Eliza Jane in New Orleans; The Bellevue Hotel in Philadelphia; Holston House in Nashville, Tenn.; The Driskill in Austin, Texas; Spirit Ridge in Osoyoos, British Columbia; Hotel Martinez in Cannes, France; Hotel du Louvre in Paris (under renovation); Jinmao Hotel Lijiang in Lijiang, China; Nish Palas in Istanbul, and Carmelo Resort & Spa in Uruguay. For more information, please visit unboundcollection.hyatt.com. Follow @UnboundxHyatt on Facebook and Instagram. About Hyatt Hotels Corporation Hyatt Hotels Corporation, headquartered in Chicago, is a leading global hospitality company with a portfolio of 14 premier brands. As of September 30, 2018, the Company's portfolio included more than 750 properties in more than 55 countries across six continents. The Company's purpose to care for people so they can be their best informs its business decisions and growth strategy and is intended to attract and retain top colleagues, build relationships with guests and create value for shareholders. The Company's subsidiaries develop, own, operate, manage, franchise, license or provide services to hotels, resorts, branded residences, vacation ownership properties, and fitness and spa locations, including under the Park Hyatt, Miraval, Grand Hyatt, Hyatt Regency, Hyatt, Andaz, Hyatt Centric, The Unbound Collection by Hyatt, Hyatt Place, Hyatt House, Hyatt Ziva, Hyatt Zilara, Hyatt Residence Club and Exhale brand names. On November 30, 2018, the Company expanded its hotel and resort portfolio with the inclusion of 74 properties operating under the Alila, Destination, Joie de Vivre, Thompson Hotels and tommie brands. For more information, please visit www.hyatt.com Forward-Looking Statement Forward-Looking Statements in this press release, which are not historical facts, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements related to the Companys outlook, estimated Adjusted EBITDA contribution of the transaction, estimated integration-related costs of the transaction, plans, objectives, goals, expectations, beliefs, business strategies, future events, business conditions, business trends and expectations, and involve known and unknown risks that are difficult to predict. As a result, our actual results, performance or achievements may differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the use of words such as may, could, expect, intend, plan, seek, anticipate, believe, estimate, predict, potential, continue, likely, will, would and variations of these terms and similar expressions, or the negative of these terms or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by us and our management, are inherently uncertain. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include, among others, the risks discussed in the Companys filings with the SEC, including our annual report on Form 10-K and subsequent reports, which filings are available from the SEC. We caution you not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which are made only as of the date of this press release. We do not undertake or assume any obligation to update publicly any of these forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, new information or future events, changes in assumptions or changes in other factors affecting forward-looking statements, except to the extent required by applicable law. If we update one or more forward-looking statements, no inference should be drawn that we will make additional updates with respect to those or other forward-looking statements. Media Contacts: Angelina Hue Hyatt - Asia Pacific +852 2678 1323 Angelina.Hue@hyatt.com Gloria Kennett Hyatt +1 312 750 5506 Gloria.Kennett@hyatt.com SOURCE Hyatt ### Comments: Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. Disqus Galveston, TX (77553) Today Showers this morning, becoming a steady rain during the afternoon hours. High 64F. Winds NNE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch.. Tonight Periods of rain. Low 56F. Winds NNE at 10 to 15 mph. 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Up to 70% of those who play there use Bitcoin, which is easy to set up and the fastest method. Payouts are often made in just a few hours . While credit cards are accepted, keep in mind that some credit card issuing banks do not permit their cards to be used for gambling. Americas Cardroom live chat can guide you through the best deposit and withdrawal methods. Any Good Online Poker Tournament Events? Sunday Venom Normally, shots like this come around once in a lifetime but here at ACR, they happen every week. We've rebranded our Million Dollar Encore tournament to The Sunday Venom, and the good news is it's here to stay. 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Instead, the company has shared a new teaser of the upcoming smartphone and has revealed a new release date of the smartphone. The teaser shared by the company confirms that the smartphone will make its way to the market officially on December 18 this year. Lenovo will be launching its next smartphone the Lenovo Z5s at its global headquarters which is situated in its hometown China on December 18. The Lenovo Z5s will be the first smartphone by the company to feature a triple-lens rear camera setup. With this, the device will join the bandwagon of smartphones with triple rear camera module similar to the ones offered by Samsung and Huawei smartphones. Chang Cheng, VP Lenovo Group, had shared a post on Weibo which shows the new poster for the Lenovo Z5s smartphone. The shared post confirms that the device will be launched on December 18. Further, the image shared on Weibo by Lenovo Mobile account highlights the gradient colour pattern of the smartphone and the triple-lens rear camera module. The triple-rear camera setup on the Lenovo Z5s is stacked vertically and resembles the recently launched Huawei Mate 20 Pro's rear camera setup. While the dual-lens setup is placed together, the third lens is placed at a small distance from the rest. The LED flash unit is placed a bit further quite similar to the Huawei's latest release. As of now, the information on the camera specifications is scarce and it still remains to be seen what all sensors the rear camera will pack. Besides, the Lenovo Z5s is speculated to come with an in-display camera up front similar that of Samsung Galaxy A8s and Huawei Nova 4. The in-display camera at the front of the display will allow for a larger screen surface with an edge-to-edge display design. Currently, this is the primary information we have on the upcoming Lenovo Z5s smartphone and as the device is slated to launch only after some time we can expect more details to surface online. To stay updated with more latest technology news, stay tuned with us. Best Mobiles in India OnePlus will not be the first company to launch a 5G smartphone with Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 SoC News oi-Vivek OnePlus will launch a 5G smartphone in 2019 At the Qualcomm Snapdragon summit 2018, OnePlus claimed that the company will launch world's first smartphone with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 SoC with 5G network support by making an exclusive deal with Qualcomm. And now, the company has clarified that OnePlus is not the first company to launch a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 SoC powered smartphone. Just hours after the presentation, Engadget has confirmed that the OnePlus will not be the first brand to launch a smartphone with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855, and the presentation slide was an honest mistake happened due to a translation error from a non-native English speaker. Keeping aside the mistake, OnePlus will "amongst the first" to launch a smartphone with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 SoC with support for 5G and not the first company to launch a smartphone with the Snapdragon 855 Mobile Solution. The company might be the first smartphone brands to launch a 5G phone in Europe and not in North America or China. With this recent development, it seems that Samsung might be the first company to launch a device with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 (at least in North America). A bit more about the OnePlus's first 5G smartphone OnePlus has already confirmed that the first 5G smartphone from the company will not be the successor to the OnePlus 6T, so the device will not be called as the OnePlus 7. Instead, the company will launch a whole new series of smartphones dedicated to 5G support. The company has also confirmed that the first 5G smartphone from OnePlus is expected to cost at least $200-$300 more than the OnePlus 6T, which makes it the most expensive smartphone from OnePlus to date. With the increase in pricing, the upcoming OnePlus 5G smartphone will cost as much as other flagship smartphones. OnePlus's first 5G smartphone is expected to feature Qualcomm's 3D ultrasonic fingerprint sensor with next-generation Dash Charging (derived from the SuperVOOC flash charging). Best Mobiles in India China set to launch the first ever rover to Moon's far side News oi-Vishal Kawadkar China seems set to create history. China seems to be planning to send a spacecraft to the far side of the Moon this month. The Chang'e-4 spacecraft is slated for a December 8 take off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan. The spacecraft will be carrying a lander and a rover, that is said to touch down the surface on the lunar surface. No spacecraft has ever touched down on the surface of the moon's far side. The lander and rover will be exploring and study the crater-marker far side of the Moon. The mission also includes the first radio astronomy experiments, reported Scientific American. Chang'e-4 is the China National Space Administration's (CNSA) new move to fulfill its lunar aspirations. Back in 2013, the Chang'e-3 landed on the surface, which was followed by the announcement of a moon base. If the new Chang'e-4 rover manages to successfully land on the surface, it will map the area around its landing site. The rover will measure the subsurface layer leveraging its ground-penetrating radar. The CNSA hasn't revealed the landing site of the rover, though Zongcheng Ling, a planetary scientist at Shandong University, told Scientific American that the rover is most likely to land in Von Karman, a 115-wide crater. The Chang'e-4 is also assigned to prepare for future crewed missions and the CNAS's desired moon base. The rover will also study the growth of certain seeds sprout in a controlled on the moon's low-gravity surface. "When we take the step towards long-term human habitation on the Moon or Mars, we will need greenhouse facilities to support us, and will need to live in something like a biosphere," Anna-Lisa Paul, a horticultural scientist at the University of Florida, told Scientific American. Besides, the CNAS is also planning to launch the Chang'e-5 next year. The rover will be sent to collect and bring back the samples to Earth. 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 Northern Strike planners ensure readiness of Guard, joint forces, and multinational partners By 1st Lt. Andrew B Layton, 110th Attack Wing December 6, 2018 BATTLE CREEK, Mich. -- With 6,400 participants from 10 countries and 22 states, Northern Strike 18 was the Department of Defense's largest joint, reserve-component exercise of 2018. Hosted annually by the Michigan National Guard at Camp Grayling Joint Maneuver Training Center and Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center, it's no surprise that planning for Northern Strike's massive, joint fires environment is a year-round process. From Dec. 4-6, 2018, more than 275 personnel convened at Fort Custer Training Center, Battle Creek, Mich., for Northern Strike 19's initial planning conference (IPC). The participants represented the Michigan National Guard, as well as both active and reserve components of the U.S. Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Force -- along with coalition partners from the U.K. "This initial planning conference is when we try to identify the capability and needs of the participating units," said Lt. Col. Bart Verbanic, Northern Strike operations group deputy commander. "I've been involved with Northern Strike as a planner for the last three years, and indirectly with the exercise since 2013. In that time, it's grown tremendously -- from just an idea to a massive, complete-integration exercise." According to exercise participants, Northern Strike's unique flavor of joint, multinational, combined-arms training sets it apart as one of the best opportunities for integrated warfighting drills nationwide. Lt. Col. Kenneth Walsh, 2d General Support Aviation Battalion (GSAB), 135th Aviation Regiment, Colorado National Guard, attended Northern Strike for the first time in 2018. He forecasts his unit's perennial involvement in the exercise because of its realistic preparation for conflict with a "near-peer" adversary, as well as overall deployment readiness. "The user-friendliness of this exercise is what drew us in," Walsh said. "We can see this a probably an enduring thing for us because we have to operate internationally, and the opportunity to integrate as a total force package -- active duty, guard, reserve, is really valuable." In opening remarks for the conference, Maj. Gen. Gregory Vadnais, Michigan National Guard adjutant general, highlighted the importance of multinational training to meet contemporary strategic requirements. He cited Camp Grayling's 147,000 acres of training space and Alpena CRTC's massive airspace training box - the largest of its kind east of the Mississippi River - as the ideal venue for such an exercise. "We fight joint, and we fight multinational," said Vadnais. "We aren't going anywhere where we won't have our allies with us, so this is an opportunity to get on the ground and bring the team together." Visiting representatives from the U.K. agree that the significance of joint, multinational training in a realistic setting cannot be underestimated. "It looks like a fantastically well-organized and resourced exercise which will hopefully provide us with the best training opportunities and experience," said Maj. Mark Lewis, executive officer, 3rd Battalion, Royal Welsh infantry regiment. "In terms of interoperability, we're very much looking forward to the training opportunities available at the exercise, working in that defense engagement forum with our NATO partners and allies." Troops from the Netherlands and Latvia are also slated to participate in Northern Strike 19, among other countries. Latvia is partnered with the Michigan National Guard under the Department of Defense's State Partnership Program (SPP). Exercise planners believe that while the total number of participants in 2019 will mirror figures from Northern Strike 18, the upcoming exercise will include several new facets, including the participation of an Infantry Brigade Combat Team at Camp Grayling. According to Lt. Col. Matthew Trumble, Northern Strike exercise director (air), an MQ-9 remotely piloted aircraft launch and recovery element (LRE) could join the exercise at Alpena CRTC, as well as a Distributed Common Ground System (DCGS), which enables processing of Intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance data. Regardless of the exercise's complexity and scope, Verbanic says the top priority is ensuring the training requirements of visit units are met. "Every year, we've essentially tailored this to the training audience, and every year it seems to grow a little bigger based on needs and capability, he said. "We will do what we can to work through the steps and get them the training they need when it comes to the integration of fires." Northern Strike 19 participants will convene again for additional planning conferences in February and May. In between, there are a number of scenario build-out sessions and communications exercises set to fine-tune command and control of the exercise in advance of execution. The projected dates for Northern Strike 19 are July 21 -- Aug. 3, 2019. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address U.S. Department of Defense Press Operations News Release No. NR-340-18 December 06, 2018 DOD Statement on Open Skies Flight Over Ukraine Today, the United States and Allies conducted an extraordinary flight under the Open Skies Treaty. The timing of this flight is intended to reaffirm U.S. commitment to Ukraine and other partner nations. The United States is resolute in our support for the security of European nations. Russia's unprovoked attack on Ukrainian naval vessels in the Black Sea near the Kerch Strait is a dangerous escalation in a pattern of increasingly provocative and threatening activity. The United States seeks a better relationship with Russia, but this cannot happen while its unlawful and destabilizing actions continue in Ukraine and elsewhere. https://dod.defense.gov/News/News-Releases/News-Release-View/Article/1703977/ NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address U.S. Department of Defense Press Operations News Release No. NR-341-18 December 06, 2018 CanadaU.S. Joint Statement Secretary of Defense James N. Mattis and Defence Minister Harjit S. Sajjan co-hosted a meeting of the top 13 nations contributing military support to the Global Coalition to Defeat-ISIS on Dec. 6, in Ottawa. With 79 members, the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS is stronger than ever in its efforts to counter the ISIS threat. Our Coalition has liberated more than 99 percent of the territory it once held, but there is still work to be done. Today, we reaffirmed our focus on the enduring defeat of ISIS and defined our vision moving forward. As the ISIS threat evolves globally, we will adapt. We will leverage and employ our considerable capabilities and the experience gained in our collective fight to ensure the lasting defeat of ISIS. We will continue to adapt and strengthen our global network to counter ISIS's own network of foreign terrorist fighters, financing and propaganda. To do this, we have built a network to defeat a network. Our fight against ISIS will remain challenging, but the Coalition is drawing on all elements of our power -- military, intelligence, diplomacy, economic, law enforcement and the strength of our communities. We are confident that we will prevail in defeating ISIS. We stand with people across the world who seek a better and safer future. https://dod.defense.gov/News/News-Releases/News-Release-View/Article/1706457/ NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Statement by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg following conversations with President Aleksandar Vucic of Serbia, and Mr.Ramush Haradinaj of Kosovo NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation 06 Dec. 2018 Today, I called both President Vucic and Mr Haradinaj to brief them on the outcome of Wednesday's meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers on the Western Balkans. I underlined that both Belgrade and Pristina should show calm and restraint, and avoid any provocative statements or actions. With Mr. Haradinaj, I raised the plan to move ahead with the transformation of the Kosovo Security Force into an army. I stressed that such a move is ill-timed, goes against the advice of many NATO Allies, and can have negative repercussions on Kosovo's prospects for Euro-Atlantic integration. I reiterated that should the mandate of the Kosovo Security Force evolve, NATO will have to examine the level of our engagement with the Kosovo Security Force. I also spoke with President Vucic on the need to de-escalate current tensions. I reminded both that the EU-mediated dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina remains the only way to bring durable peace and stability to the region. NATO remains committed to the security and stability of Kosovo through our UN-mandated KFOR peacekeeping mission. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iwo Jima Returns to Homeport Navy News Service Story Number: NNS181206-06 Release Date: 12/6/2018 9:48:00 AM By Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Apprentice Travis Baley, USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7) Public Affairs MAYPORT, Fla. (NNS) -- Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7), flagship of the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group (ARG), returned to her homeport of Mayport, Florida, Dec. 4, after operating for nine weeks in the northern Atlantic Ocean. Iwo Jima went underway following a six-month deployment to participate in Trident Juncture 2018, a NATO-led exercise designed to certify NATO response forces and develop interoperability among participating NATO allied and partner nations. "This was an outstanding experience for the Navy and Marine Corps team on board," said Capt. Joseph O'Brien, Iwo Jima's commanding officer. "Interacting with our allies in this type of exercise is something that does not occur very often. With all the moving pieces involved, it took the efforts of everyone on board to successfully complete our mission during the exercise and showcase the strength that is the NATO alliance." One of the biggest challenges for the Sailors and Marines aboard Iwo Jima was operating in northern Atlantic waters. "The Iwo Jima had just returned from operating mostly in the Red Sea, and most of the crew never thought they would have to deal with cold weather operations in the northern Atlantic," said Master Sgt. Travis Hamilton, a Marine assigned to combat cargo aboard Iwo Jima. "The Sailors and Marines on the flight deck felt it the most, with the wind chill down to 26 degrees Fahrenheit, as well as those conducting landing craft, air cushion operations in the well deck. However, that didn't fault the Sailors and Marines on board as they took it head-on and with the highest enthusiasm." Another challenge the embarked crew faced was command relationships, processes and procedures, said Hamilton. "On a normal work-up cycle with the Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), you have sea trials to work out all the kinks and how things are going to be run and who is doing what," said Hamilton. "With this exercise, there was no time to do that, no time to build a relationship with the MEU and work out how combat cargo and the MEU works together to accomplish the commander's intent. All things aside, combat cargo and the 24th MEU were able to work fluently together to successfully and safely accomplish Trident Juncture." The ship also conducted port visits to Reykjavik, Iceland, along with Oslo and Trondheim, Norway, where the crew participated in several community service projects and experienced the cities' culture, food and historical sites. The ship also hosted ship tours and a reception totaling more than 1,500 visitors, including the prime minister and crown prince of Norway, the U.S. ambassador to Norway and the commandant of the United States Marine Corps. The Iwo Jima ARG embarks the 24th MEU and is comprised of Iwo Jima, amphibious dock landing ship USS Gunston Hall (LSD 44), amphibious transport dock USS New York (LPD 21), Fleet Surgical Team 6, Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 22, Tactical Air Control Squadron 22, components of Naval Beach Group 2 and the embarked staffs of Expeditionary Strike Group 2 and Amphibious Squadron 8. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address 2 U.S. Marine aircraft crash off western coast of Japan, 6 missing People's Daily Online (Xinhua) 09:33, December 06, 2018 TOKYO, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- An F/A-18 fighter jet and a KC-130 tanker plane belonging to the U.S. Marines collided and crashed off Cape Muroto of Japan's western coast early on Thursday, with six of the seven crew members still missing, the U.S. Marines and Japanese Defense Ministry said. According to officials, there were two crew members aboard the fighter jet and five crew members aboard the tanker plane when the collision occurred at around 1:40 a.m. local time. According to Japan's Defense Ministry, one person has been rescued by the Japanese Self-Defense Forces (JSDF). The rescued crew member was taken to the Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in western Japan, the Marines said, while a Japanese official stated that the person who was rescued by the JSDF, is in a stable condition. The ministry said the planes, based at the Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in western Japan, were conducting a routine training operation when the collision occurred around 100 km south of Cape Muroto in Kochi Prefecture. There is speculation the F/A-18 fighter jet was refueling midair when the collision with the KC-130 tanker took place, although there has been no official confirmation of this as yet. Mid-air refueling can be a tricky process especially at night and in inclement weather, aviation experts said of the matter. A JSDF search and rescue aircraft was quickly deployed to help with rescue efforts, while other SDF aircraft and vessels are also searching the area for survivors, the Marines said. The Japanese Defense Ministry is currently trying to ascertain more details from the U.S. forces in Japan about the accident, which is currently under investigation. The latest U.S. aircraft mishap comes on the heels of another F/A-18 fighter aircraft, this one belonging to the USS Ronald Reagan nuclear carrier, crashing into the Pacific Ocean in waters southwest of Kita Daitojima Island around 290 km from Okinawa, owing to mechanical issues, on Nov. 12. Both pilots in this incident managed to eject to safety and were rescued by a U.S. military chopper. The crash of the F/A-18 aircraft, a multirole combat jet, designed as both a fighter and attack aircraft and known colloquially as the "Hornet," also comes on the heels of a U.S. Navy MH-60 Seahawk helicopter crashing on the deck of the USS Ronald Reagan on Oct. 19 during routine operations. The crashes occurring within a month of each other and related to the same aircraft carrier, sparked a great deal of concern from the Japanese government, who said it will strongly request information about the accident amid safety concerns and local citizens' fears. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said at the time that accidents "involving U.S. military cause immense worry to people in the area and should not occur." Japan's top government spokesperson at the time vowed to "strongly request that the United States provide us with information and ensure absolute safety management." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address U.S. in preparation to send warship into Black Sea People's Daily Online (Xinhua) 08:26, December 06, 2018 WASHINGTON, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. military has started the preparations to dispatch a warship into the Black Sea amid the tension between Russia and Ukraine over the Kerch Strait incident, reported U.S. media on Wednesday. The U.S. military has asked the State Department to notify Turkey about its possible plan to sail a warship into the Black Sea, CNN reported, citing multiple U.S. officials who claimed the move was a response to the recent Russia-Ukraine confrontation. "The United States carries out its activities consistent with the terms of the Montreux Convention. We will not, however, comment on the nature of our diplomatic correspondence with the Government of Turkey," reported the cable network, quoting a State Department spokesman. Under the Montreux Convention signed in 1936, naval vessels of non-riparian countries are required to notify Turkey in advance about their passage through the Bosporus and the Dardanelles straits, which connect the Mediterranean to the Black Sea. Under the rules of the treaty, ships of non-riparian countries cannot remain in the Black Sea for more than 21 days. On Nov. 25, three Ukrainian naval ships and more than 20 sailors attempting to sail through the Kerch Strait from the Black Sea to the Sea of Azov were seized by Russian forces for allegedly violating the Russian border. The Ukrainian Navy called the incident an "act of aggression," saying it had informed Moscow in advance of the passage. Meanwhile, Russia said it had received no such report and the ships ignored multiple warnings by the Russian border guards. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday it has appealed to the Budapest Memorandum guarantor countries the United States, Britain and Russia, for urgent consultations over the tension in the Kerch Strait. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Pakistan army wants US to leave Afghanistan Iran Press TV Thu Dec 6, 2018 07:07PM Pakistan's military says it wants the US to pull out its troops from the neighboring Afghanistan in order to end a 17-year-old war there. "We wish that (the) US leaves Afghanistan as friend of the region, not as a failure," Pakistan army spokesman Major-General Asif Ghafoor said during a news conference in the garrison city of Rawalpindi Thursday. He also said Islamabad supports Washington's outreach to the Taliban which want US troops out of Afghanistan. Asked what Pakistan could do to help the United States negotiate a political settlement with the Taliban, Ghafoor said, "As much as we can, we will facilitate." "What the US is expecting from us, and the foreign office is cooperating with, is that somehow they could have these negotiations with them (Taliban)," he added. The comments came just after US special representative for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad concluded a visit to the Pakistani capital. Prime Minister Imran Khan, who enjoys the support of Pakistan's army which dominates foreign policy, met Khalilzad earlier in the week and pledged to support a peace process with the Taliban. Khalilzad, an Afghan-born veteran US 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. Khalilzad's visit to Pakistan followed a request from Trump to Prime Minister Khan to assist in moving forward the peace talks. Contacts have already started between Khalilzad and Taliban representatives with both sides aiming to build a favorable position in advance of any talks. The Kabul government has already stepped up efforts to convince the Taliban to end the 17-year militancy amid Washington's failures on the battleground. At the request of the US, a Taliban office was established in Doha in 2013 to facilitate peace talks. In recent months, Taliban representatives and Khalilzad have discussed the Taliban's conditions to end the war in Afghanistan. The latest overture came after an exchange of barbed tweets between Trump and Khan last month. Back then, Khan hit back at Trump following his remarks that Islamabad did not do anything for Washington. Khan, in a series of tweets, defended his country's record in Washington's so-called war on terror. He also accused Trump of making Pakistan a scapegoat to cover Washington's failure in Afghanistan. Successive US governments have criticized Pakistan for links with the Taliban and for harboring former al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Afghanistan has been gripped by insecurity since the US and its allies invaded the country as part of Washington's so-called war on terror in 2001. Many parts of the country remain plagued by militancy despite the presence of foreign troops. US forces have been bogged down there through the presidencies of George W. Bush, Barack Obama and now Trump, with militants now launching attacks on both Pakistan and Afghanistan. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Six Yemeni missiles hit gatherings of Saudi-led forces in Jizan Iran Press TV Thu Dec 6, 2018 06:45PM Yemeni army forces, backed by allied fighters from the Houthi Ansarullah movement, have hit gatherings of Saudi soldiers and Saudi-led mercenaries in the kingdom's southwestern Jizan region with six domestically-manufactured missiles in retaliation for the kingdom's campaign of military aggression against the impoverished nation. Yemen's Arabic-language al-Masirah television network, citing unnamed military officials from the missile unit of the Yemeni army, reported on Thursday that six Zelzal-1 (Quake-1) short-range missiles hit the enemy gatherings off Qais Mountain and the village of al-Laj in Jizan province on Thursday. It added that the projectiles had successfully struck the designated targets, killing an unspecified number of enemy forces. The report added that at least three Saudi-led forces had been killed and two others wounded by explosives planted by Yemeni troops in al-Nar Mount area in Jizan. Meanwhile, al-Masirah said in a separate report that the Yemeni army managed to shoot down a spy drone belonging to Saudi-led forces in the coasts of Yemen's western province of Hudaydah. Later on Thursday, the Yemeni army spokesman said that 28 Saudi-led mercenaries were killed and 64 others injured during clashes with Yemeni forces in Damt region in the southern province of Dali'. Leading a coalition of its allies, including the United Arab Emirates and Sudan, Saudi Arabia invaded Yemen in March 2015 in an attempt to reinstall former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, who had resigned amid popular discontent and fled to Riyadh. The imposed war initially consisted of an airstrike campaign but was later coupled with a naval blockade and the deployment of ground mercenaries to Yemen. Since the onset of aggression, the Yemeni army, backed by fighters from the country's popular Houthi Ansarullah movement, has been defending the impoverished nation against the invaders. The coalition is also resolute to crush the movement as another goal in its war on Yemen, which is teetering on the edge of famine. In a statement on Thursday, the World Food Programme (WFP), the world's largest humanitarian organization addressing hunger and promoting food security, said that its survey conducted in October found that more than 15 million Yemenis were in a "crisis" or "emergency" situation and that the number could hit 20 million without sustained food aid. The Saudi-led military aggression is estimated to have left 56,000 Yemenis dead. More than three and a half years into the war, Saudi Arabia has achieved neither of its objectives. Riyadh had declared at the start of the invasion that the war would take no more than a couple of weeks. The situation has worsened in Yemen in recent months due to a broad economic collapse after a full-scale offensive by UAE forces, backed by armed militia loyal to Hadi, was launched against the Houthi-held port city of Hudaydah in June. More than 70 percent of Yemen's imports pass through the docks of Hudaydah, which is currently under a tight siege imposed by the invaders. The so-called liberation operation, however, failed to achieve its objective of overrunning the vital port and defeating Houthi fighters. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Saudi, Russia leave world guessing after OPEC meeting Iran Press TV Thu Dec 6, 2018 05:24PM OPEC has tentatively agreed an oil output reduction but is reportedly waiting for Russia to declare its commitment before deciding the exact volumes for a cut aimed at propping up crude prices. The agreement was reached during the Thursday talks between OPEC members in the Austrian capital of Vienna. Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak flew home from Vienna earlier for talks with President Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg. He is going to return to Vienna on Friday for discussions among OPEC and non-OPEC allies. "We hope to conclude something by the end of the day tomorrow ... We have to get the non-OPEC countries on board," Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih told reporters before the OPEC meeting started. "If everybody is not willing to join and contribute equally, we will wait until they are," he said. Asked whether OPEC could fail to reach a deal, Falih said all options were on the table. His comments came after Iran's Oil Minister Bijan Zangeneh said Tehran will not involve itself in any deal over OPEC production levels as long as it remains under the illegal US sanctions. Saudi Arabia has indicated a need for steep reductions in output from January, but it has come under pressure from US President Donald Trump, who has urged Riyadh to refrain from output cuts in order to keep oil prices low. The price of crude has fallen almost a third since October but Trump has demanded OPEC make oil even cheaper by refraining from output cuts. "Hopefully OPEC will be keeping oil flows as is, not restricted. The world does not want to see, or need, higher oil prices!" Trump wrote in a tweet on Wednesday. The Trump administration has sent the country's special envoy for Iran Brian Hook to Vienna, where he held talks with the Saudi energy minister one day before OPEC's 175th meeting. The talks were harshly criticized by Iran, which called it "meddlesome" and "unprofessional". "If Mr. Hook has come to Vienna to apply for US membership in OPEC, and this is the reason why he meets OPEC members, the request can be reviewed," Zangeneh told Shana news outlet. Otherwise, he added, the US official has adopted an unprofessional, naive, and meddlesome approach. "OPEC is an independent organization, not a part of the US Department of Energy to take orders from Washington," said Zangeneh on Wednesday. Possible output cuts by OPEC and its allies ranged from 0.5-1.5 million bpd, and 1 million bpd was acceptable, the Saudi energy minister said Thursday. Iran has said it is carefully monitoring the next steps by some OPEC members and their allies which have "arbitrarily" ramped up oil production, leading to a crash in prices. Iran's OPEC governor Hossein Kazempour Ardabili said on Tuesday that any meaningful cuts in production must be made by the countries which have pumped above their quotas in breach of a 2007 deal between OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers. According to Ardabili, "the five or six countries which have benefited from the situation should slash their output by 1.4 million to 1.8 million barrels per day at the minimum in order to return prices to an upward trajectory. But to reach such a consensus is highly unlikely." Brent oil futures fell as much as 5 percent to below $59 per barrel on fears that there could be no deal but later recovered somewhat, trading down 2 percent by 1325 GMT. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US conducts 'extraordinary' flight over Ukraine: Pentagon Iran Press TV Thu Dec 6, 2018 04:36PM The US military has announced that it conducted an "extraordinary" observation flight "to reaffirm US commitment to Ukraine" amid Russia-Ukraine tensions. The flight was conducted under the Open Skies treaty on Thursday by a US Air Force OC-135 observation aircraft, the Pentagon said in a statement issued on Thursday. Pentagon spokesman Eric Pahon told CNN that the "timing of this flight is intended to reaffirm US commitment to Ukraine and other partner nations." "Russia's unprovoked attack on Ukrainian naval vessels in the Black Sea near the Kerch Strait is a dangerous escalation in a pattern of increasingly provocative and threatening activity," he added. "The United States seeks a better relationship with Russia, but this cannot happen while its unlawful and destabilizing actions continue in Ukraine and elsewhere," according to the Pentagon statement. The Pentagon spokesman said the last such "extraordinary" observation flight over Ukraine happened in 2014 after the Russian military intervened in Crimea. The Pentagon statement said American, Canadian, German, French, United Kingdom, Romanian and Ukrainian observers were on board the aircraft during the observation flight. Meanwhile, the United States has also sent a guided-missile destroyer near the contested waters of the Sea of Japan, off the Russian coast. The US Navy USS McCampbell on Wednesday sailed in the vicinity of Peter the Great Bay, near the Russian Pacific Fleet base in Vladivostok, in a first such stunt since 1987 the peak of Cold War tensions with the former Soviet Union. The US navy is also preparing to send another warship into the Black Sea in the near future, a move that could worsen the tensions even further. Tensions over Ukraine 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 in the Kerch Strait, which connects the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. The incident took place near Crimea, a former Ukrainian territory on the Black Sea that joined Russia in a referendum in March 2014. The seizure of the Ukrainian ships sparked a fresh row between Moscow and Washington and prompted US President Donald Trump to cancel a planned meeting with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Argentina. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 7) The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) declared a unilateral ceasefire in observance of the holiday season and its 50th anniversary. The truce will take effect 12:01 a.m. of December 24 to 11:59 p.m. of December 26. Another ceasefire is at 12:01 a.m. of December 31 to 11:59 p.m. of January 1, 2019. "During the days covered by this temporary ceasefire declaration, all units of the NPA (new People's Army) and people's militias shall cease and desist from carrying out offensive military campaigns and operations against uniformed armed personnel of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and Philippine National Police (PNP) of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP)," a statement from the CPP Central Committee read. However, the communist group said the unilateral ceasefire can be cut short or called off if the military steps up attacks against activists and communities. For its anniversary on December 26, the CPP called on all "revolutionary forces" to heighten resistance against the Duterte administration and hold meetings, assemblies, and mass rallies. "We must all struggle arduously to frustrate Duterte's scheme of extending martial law in Mindanao, exercising de facto nationwide martial law powers, giving the military full control of various government agencies and programs and employing the military and police to manipulate the results of the 2019 elections to ensure local government control by pro-Duterte and pro-AFP officials and put congress under his majority control in order to push charter change for his federalism project next year so he can impose his dictatorship with the support of allied regional warlords and political dynasties," the statement read. The CPP-NPA had said it plans to topple the Duterte government on its 50th year. Communist and government forces both declared ceasefires during the holidays last year, but the military accused the NPA of breaking the truce. A truce? What for? Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana repeated he is not inclined to recommend a holiday ceasefire. "What for? Para makaluwag sila to regroup and refurbish para after laban na naman? Para maka pagdiwang sila ng bongga sa kanilang 50 years na pagpapahirap sa bayan? We are fooling ourselves about this cease fire. A ceasefire is always in their favor never our troops," Lorenzana said in a message. [Translation: What for? So they can have leeway to regroup and refurbish? So they can celebrate after 50 years of being a burden to the strate? We are fooling ourselves about this cease fire. A ceasefire is always in their favor never our troops.] President Rodrigo Duterte has issued Memorandum Order 32 which orders the deployment of more troops to the Bicol Region, Samar and Negros provinces to quell "sporadic acts of violence." Number of Yemenis in food crisis or emergency could hit 20mn, warns WFP Iran Press TV Thu Dec 6, 2018 03:52PM The UN food agency says more than 15 million people in Yemen are in food "crisis" or "emergency," warning that the number could increase to 20 million without sustained food aid, as the brutal war imposed by Saudi Arabia on the impoverished nation nears its fourth anniversary. The World Food Programme (WFP), the world's largest humanitarian organization addressing hunger and promoting food security, announced the disturbing news in a statement on Thursday, saying it was based on a survey, jointly conducted by Yemeni and international experts in October according to an international system for classifying food crises. The organization also found that some 65,000 Yemenis were in a food "catastrophe" or near famine levels, mostly in conflict zones in the Arab Peninsula country, adding that the number could rise to 237,000 if desperately-needed aid did not get through. Leading a coalition of its allies, including the United Arab Emirates and Sudan, Saudi Arabia invaded Yemen in March 2015 in an attempt to reinstall former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, who had resigned amid popular discontent and fled to Riyadh. The imposed war initially consisted of an airstrike campaign but was later coupled with a naval blockade and the deployment of ground mercenaries to Yemen. Since the onset of aggression, the Yemeni army, backed by fighters from the country's popular Houthi Ansarullah movement, has been defending the impoverished nation against the invaders. The coalition is also resolute to crush the movement as another goal in its war on Yemen, which is teetering on the edge of famine. The aggression is estimated to have left 56,000 Yemenis dead. More than three and a half years into the war, Saudi Arabia has achieved neither of its objectives. Riyadh had declared at the start of the invasion that the war would take no more than a couple of weeks. The situation has worsened in Yemen in recent months due to a broad economic collapse after a full-scale offensive by UAE forces, backed by armed militia loyal to Hadi, was launched against the Houthi-held port city of Hudaydah in June. More than 70 percent of Yemen's imports pass through the docks of Hudaydah, which is currently under a tight siege imposed by the invaders. The so-called liberation operation, however, failed to achieve its objective of overrunning the vital port and defeating Houthi fighters. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Netanyahu overstated anti-tunnel operation on Lebanese border, says Israeli opposition chief Iran Press TV Thu Dec 6, 2018 03:31PM Israeli opposition leader Tzipi Livni has criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for overdramatizing a recent operation by the Israeli military to block what it claims are tunnels the Hezbollah resistance movement has dug from Lebanon into the occupied territories "for political gain." Livni told the Kan public broadcaster that while she and the rest of the opposition welcomed the army's operation to find and destroy the alleged tunnels, it "must be kept in proportion." "We are not now in a situation where our soldiers are behind enemy lines. We are talking about engineering activity ," she said, accusing Netanyahu of "blowing the incident out of proportion." On Tuesday, the Israeli military announced an operation against what it said were Hezbollah infiltration tunnels. Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said on Wednesday that the Israeli regime had failed to provide any evidence for alleged tunnels dug from Lebanon into the occupied territories by Hezbollah fighters. "The Israelis did not present any information" at the meeting with the Lebanese army and UNIFIL [United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon] peacekeeping force, a statement from Berri's office said. Berri further noted that Lebanon had asked for geographic coordinates but received none. "This (Israeli accusation) is not based on any real facts at all," Ali Bazzi, a lawmaker from Berri's Amal Movement, cited him as saying after a meeting. Lebanon's Foreign Ministry is going to submit a complaint to the United Nations about "repeated Israeli violations," according to a report published by Lebanon's official National News Agency (NNA). Meanwhile, Russia has called on Israel to uphold UN Security Council Resolution 1701 in the wake of its recent military activities near the border with Lebanon. Speaking at a press briefing on Wednesday, Russia's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow hoped that no actions would be in conflict with the resolution, which ended the 2006 Israeli aggression against Lebanon and called on the Israeli regime to respect Lebanon's sovereignty and territorial integrity. The Lebanese military has stated that it is prepared for any developments on the border with Israel, making efforts together with UNIFIL to maintain stability in the area. "Everything is calm and peaceful on the Lebanese side [of the border]. The situation is under full control. The army units deployed in the area are fulfilling their tasks in coordination with UNIFIL in order to prevent any provocation and maintain stability in the southern region. The army was ready for any emergency situations," the military announced in a statement. The Lebanese army added that it remained in contact both with Israel and Hezbollah to help de-escalate tensions and prevent any confrontation. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Afghan body invalidates all Kabul votes in October parliamentary election Iran Press TV Thu Dec 6, 2018 03:21PM Afghanistan's Independent Electoral Complaints Commission (IECC) has declared that all votes cast in Kabul Province during the country's October parliamentary election are invalid. IECC spokesman Ali Reza Rohani said during a press briefing in the capital Kabul on Thursday that the decision was made for different reasons, including major fraud and mismanagement by the Afghan Independent Election Commission (IEC). "There were serious outstanding problems in Kabul that could hurt the fairness, transparency and inclusiveness of the election," media outlets quoted the spokesman as saying. He went on to say that hundreds of complaints had been filed about voting irregularities in the Afghan capital and surrounding areas of Kabul Province. Figures show over a million votes were recorded in Kabul, accounting for about a quarter of the roughly 4 million votes cast nationwide. Lawmakers who represent Kabul Province have 33 of the 250 seats in Afghanistan's lower chamber of parliament, the Wolesi Jirga. The ruling must be upheld by the IEC, the body with overall authority over the ballot. If confirmed by the IEC, the decision would call into question the validity of the election. The elections were already marred by allegations of voter fraud, technical problems with biometric voter verification equipment and inaccurate voter lists. Authorities have still not released complete results from the Oct. 20 parliamentary vote, which saw chaotic delays that forced voting to continue into the following day. The election originally was scheduled for October 2016 but was postponed until July 7, 2018 -- and then postponed again until October 20 when voting took place in 32 of Afghanistan's 34 provinces. In southern Kandahar Province, voting was delayed by another week due to a deadly attack on the provincial police chief, General Abdul Raziq, on October 18. Voting in Ghazni Province has still not been completed. The latest recommendation to cancel the vote in Kabul adds to uncertainty over the April 20 presidential election. Election authorities have said they are considering postponing the vote until July due to organizational difficulties. Any delay to the presidential election could affect hoped-for peace talks with the Taliban, which have opened contacts with the United States. The Kabul government has stepped up efforts to convince the Taliban to end the 17-year militancy amid Washington's failures on the battleground. Last month, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani announced the formation of a team for prospective peace talks with the Taliban. At an international conference on Afghanistan in Geneva, Ghani said the 12-person negotiating team includes both men and women and will be led by his chief of staff Abdul Salam Rahimi. Contacts have already started between US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and Taliban representatives with both sides aiming to build a favorable position in advance of any talks. At the request of the US, a Taliban office was established in Doha in 2013 to facilitate peace talks. In recent months, Taliban representatives and Khalilzad have discussed the Taliban's conditions to end the war in Afghanistan. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US sends destroyer to Sea of Japan, near Russia's Far East Iran Press TV Thu Dec 6, 2018 11:05AM The United States has sent a guided-missile destroyer near the contested waters of the Sea of Japan, off the Russian coast. The US Navy USS McCampbell on Wednesday sailed in the vicinity of Peter the Great Bay, near the Russian Pacific Fleet base in Vladivostok, in a first such stunt since 1987 the peak of Cold War tensions with the former Soviet Union. Lieutenant Rachel McMarr, a spokesperson for the US Pacific Fleet, said in a statement that the warship, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, went near the bay to challenge what she called "Russia's excessive maritime claims and uphold the rights, freedoms, and lawful uses of the sea" that she said America was entitled to. Washington calls such stunts Freedom of Navigation Operations (FONOP), saying that they are conducted to challenge nations that claim sovereignty over waters beyond 12 nautical miles of their coasts. Moscow claims the entire Peter the Great Bay as its own. The Bay was named after the first emperor of Russia, and is dotted with bases of the Russian Pacific Fleet. The US navy is also preparing to send another warship into the Black Sea in the near future, a move that could worsen the tensions even further. The CNN reported that the State Department had already notified Turkey of Washington's intent to dispatch the warship through the Bosporus and the Dardanelles. The report, citing three unnamed US officials, added that the move was a response to "Russia's actions" against Ukrainian vessels. Tensions over Ukraine 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 in the Kerch Strait, which connects the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. The incident took place near Crimea, a former Ukrainian territory on the Black Sea that joined Russia in a referendum in March 2014. The seizure of the Ukrainian ships sparked a fresh row between Moscow and Washington and prompted US President Donald Trump to cancel a planned meeting with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Argentina. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address UN-backed peace talks on Yemen kick off in Sweden Iran Press TV Thu Dec 6, 2018 10:37AM A round of talks between delegations from Yemen's Houthi Ansarullah movement and the country's former Saudi-backed government open in Sweden under the auspices of the UN in an effort to find a political solution to the Yemen conflict and end a devastating Riyadh-led war on the country. The negotiations, which kicked off on Thursday in the Swedish town of Rimbo, mark the first attempt since 2016 to end the Saudi-led war, which has killed tens of thousands of Yemenis since its onset in early 2015. Speaking alongside Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom at a presser, UN special envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths described the renewed talks as a "critical opportunity" to restore peace to Yemen as delegates from the Houthi movement and the government of ex-president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi appeared in public together for the first time since 2015. "During the coming days we will have a critical opportunity to give momentum to the peace process," Griffiths told reporters. The UN diplomat also said Yemen's warring parties agreed to a prisoner swap that would allow thousands of families to be reunited. The Saudi regime and its allies launched the bloody war to reinstall Hadi, who had stepped down and fled to the Saudi capital amid a political conflict with the Houthi Ansarullah movement, which is currently Yemen's de facto power. In the absence of an effective government, the Houthi movement has taken state affairs into its own hands. It has also been defending the country against the Saudi aggression. The "coming days are a milestone," Griffiths said. "Don't waver... let us work in good faith ... to deliver a message of peace." The UN envoy further warned that half of the Yemeni population could become vulnerable to famine if no solution is reached to end the war. He also said that as part of confidence building measures, Yemen's warring parties agreed to a prisoner swap that would allow thousands of families to be reunited. Prisoner swap deal reached Griffiths further said sparing the Yemeni port city of Hudaydah from destruction would feature prominently at the peace talks. The strategic Red Sea port city has been the subject of an internationally-criticized military push by the Saudi regime and its allied militants, but they have failed to seize it. Reacting to the news, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Thursday it was ready to play a role in the prisoner swap, expressing hope that the agreement would build confidence for a political solution to end the conflict. "The ICRC has been asked to play its role as a neutral intermediary and provide technical support...it will be of utmost importance to be able to certify the will of each detainee to be part of the process," Fabrizio Carboni, ICRC regional director for the Middle East, said in a statement. Carboni had earlier said that the estimated number of Yemeni detainees "varies from 5,000 to 8,000." The UN stepped up its push for peace in Yemen amid global outrage at the Saudi regime over the gruesome assassination in early October of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, which is being widely blamed on the architect of the Yemen war, Saudi Crown Prince and Defense Minister Mohammed bin Salman. Under growing international pressure, Riyadh and its allies ultimately submitted to Ansarullah's demands and returned to the negotiating table in the hope of finding a way out of the war, which has failed to achieve its objectives. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Saudi friendly fire kills, injures several mercenaries in Yemen Iran Press TV Thu Dec 6, 2018 06:38AM Warplanes of the Saudi-led coalition waging a war on Yemen have mistakenly targeted allied mercenaries in the country's central Bayda Province, leaving several dead or wounded. Yemen's al-Masirah television network reported that the Saudi jets mistook a group of troops loyal to the former Riyadh-backed president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, for members of the country's Houthi Ansarullah movement in Qaniyah in Bayda Province on Wednesday. The Saudi regime and an alliance of its vassal states launched the war in early March with the aim of reinstating Hadi -- a staunch ally of Riyadh -- and undermining the Houthi movement. The campaign has failed to achieve its objectives amid firm resistance by Yemeni armed forces, led by the Houthi movement. The pro-Hadi militants fighting on the ground on behalf of the Saudi-led military alliance have been taking heavy blows from Yemeni forces on several fronts. In another development on Wednesday night, Yemeni soldiers launched a drone strike against a position of Saudi mercenaries in the Nehm district, northeast of the capital, Sana'a, leaving several of them dead or wounded, al-Masirah reported. The Riyadh-led war is estimated to have killed over 56,000 Yemeni people. Coupled with a naval blockade, the campaign has also destroyed Yemen's infrastructure and led to famine in the import-dependent state. About 8.4 million Yemenis are now facing starvation. The number is likely to increase to 14 million. Back in June, the Saudi-led coalition launched an offensive on the port city of Hudaydah despite international warnings that it would compound the war-torn nation's humanitarian crisis. The aggressors have, however, failed to seize the strategic Red Sea port city. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address 2 US military aircraft crash off Japan; 6 Marines missing Iran Press TV Thu Dec 6, 2018 05:19AM Six US military personnel are missing after two American military aircraft crashed in mid-air during a refueling operation off the coast of Japan, according to US and Japanese officials. The US Marine Corps said in a short statement that the incident occurred at 2 am local time on Thursday some 320 kilometers (200 miles) off the coast of Japan. It said a combined total of seven personnel were aboard the two aircraft and only one had been rescued so far. The aircraft had launched from Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni and were conducting regular training when there was a "mishap," the Marine Corps said. A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said one of the aircraft was an F/A 18 fighter jet, while the other was a KC-130 refueling aircraft. Japanese officials said two crew members were in the F/A-18, and five others in the KC-130. Japan's defense ministry said that its maritime forces had rescued one person and search and rescue efforts are ongoing. US officials who spoke on condition of anonymity were unsure how the mishap may have occurred but none suspected foul play. An investigation has begun. The crash is the latest in recent series of accidents involving the US military deployed to and near Japan. Last month, a US Navy F/A-18 Hornet from the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan crashed into the sea southwest of Japan's southern island of Okinawa, though its two pilots were rescued safely. In mid-October, a MH-60 Seahawk also belonging to the same aircraft carrier crashed off the Philippine Sea shortly after takeoff, causing non-fatal injuries to a dozen sailors. More than 50,000 US troops are based in Japan under the bilateral security pact. Pacifist inclinations as well as security and safety concerns have prompted the Japanese to protest against the US military presence in Japan from time to time. Multiple cases of misconduct by US forces have also raised anti-American sentiment among the islanders. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Afghan Commission Invalidates All Kabul Votes In October Parliamentary Election By RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan December 06, 2018 KABUL -- Afghanistan's Independent Electoral Complaints Commission (IECC) has declared that all votes cast in Kabul Province during the country's October parliamentary election are invalid. IECC spokesman Alirez Rohani told reporters in Kabul on December 6 that the decision was made for 25 different reasons -- including major fraud and mismanagement by the Afghan Independent Election Commission (IEC). He said hundreds of complaints were filed about voting irregularities in the Afghan capital and surrounding areas of Kabul Province. A spokesman for the Afghan election commission, Mohammad Haqparast, told RFE/RL on December 6 that the IEC was preparing to issue a statement "soon" in response to the invalidation of the votes. At least 18 people were killed and 67 injured by a series of bomb attacks close to polling stations in Kabul during the October 20 vote. Technical issues that marred the vote and caused some polling stations to be closed included missing biometric systems and the non-arrival of voter registration lists. Lawmakers who represent Kabul Province have 33 of the 250 seats in Afghanistan's lower chamber of parliament the Wolesi Jirga. All of the lawmakers are directly elected. There are 68 seats reserved for woman under Afghanistan's constitution. The election originally was scheduled for October 2016 but was postponed until July 7, 2018 -- and then postponed again until October 20 when voting took place in 32 of Afghanistan's 34 provinces. Even then, security concerns and the organizational difficulties set back voting by another day in 400 constituencies across the country. In Kandahar Province, voting was delayed by another week due to a deadly attack on the provincial police chief, General Abdul Raziq, on October 18. Voting in Ghazni Province has still not been completed. About nine million Afghans were registered to vote at 21,000 polling stations across the country. They included about 3 million women. More than 54,000 security forces were deployed to protect polling stations across the country. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/afghan-commission -invalidates-all-kabul-votes-in-october- parliamentary-election/29640679.html Copyright (c) 2018. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address U.S. Conducts 'Extraordinary' Observation Flight Over Ukraine By RFE/RL December 06, 2018 The United States says it has carried out an "extraordinary" flight over Ukraine under an international military surveillance treaty, amid what it called a pattern of "increasingly provocative and threatening activity" by Russia. The Pentagon said the flight took place on December 6, with tensions soaring between Ukraine and Russia following a naval confrontation last month. CNN has reported that the United States is also making plans to sail a warship into the Black Sea, but that has not been confirmed. Ukrainian government forces have been fighting against Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine since April 2014, shortly after Russia military forces seized Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and illegally annexed the territory. Tensions between Kyiv and Moscow escalated on November 25, when Russia fired on Ukrainian naval vessels that were attempting to pass under a massive bridge that spans the Kerch Strait and links Russia with Crimea. Russia ultimately seized three Ukrainian ships and 24 crewmen, who remain in Russian captivity despite international calls to free them. "Today, the United States and allies conducted an extraordinary flight" under the Open Skies Treaty to "reaffirm U.S. commitment to Ukraine and other partner nations," the Defense Department said in a statement. Since 2002, the Open Skies Treaty has allowed 34 signatory states to send unarmed observation flights over one another's territory. These flights are usually scheduled well in advance, but the treaty allows "extraordinary," or unscheduled flights, if two participating members agree -- in this case Ukraine and the United States. Russia's "unprovoked attack" on Ukrainian vessels in the Black Sea is "a dangerous escalation in a pattern of increasingly provocative and threatening activity," the Pentagon also said. It added that the United States "seeks a better relationship with Russia, but this cannot happen while its unlawful and destabilizing actions continue in Ukraine and elsewhere." U.S. surveillance planes and drones regularly skirt Russia's Black Sea coastline, as well as that of Crimea. Russian jets have been shown regularly confronting, and shadowing, the surveillance planes. CNN reported on December 5 that U.S. military officials have asked the State Department to notify Turkey of possible plans for a Navy ship to pass through the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles, the waterway that connects the Mediterranean to the Black Sea. The channel cited three unnamed U.S. officials as the source for the report, which could not be immediately confirmed. A decades-old treaty requires that all countries that do not have a Black Sea coastline give Turkey 15-days notice when their warships plan to transit the waterway. Two of the unnamed officials told CNN that the plans weren't set in stone, and that the notification was merely to provide the Navy with the option to move a warship into the area. "We routinely conduct operations to advance security and stability throughout the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations to include the international waters and airspace of the Black Sea," said Commander Kyle Raines, a spokesman for the U.S. Sixth Fleet, which oversees naval operations in the region. "We reserve the right to operate freely in accordance with international laws and norms," he added. Konstantin Kosachev, who heads the international affairs committee in Russia's upper house of parliament, the Federation Council, said the U.S. military presence in the Black Sea will only increase tension in the region, according to the TASS news agency. Viktor Bondarev, the chairman of the Federation Council's committee on defense and security, called the possible deployment of U.S. Navy ships in the Black Sea as "yet another episode of saber rattling, yet another ploy to humiliate Russia," TASS reported. NATO, which includes several Black Sea member states, and the United States have routinely sent warships patrolling the Black Sea, despite Russian concerns. After the five-day Russia-Georgia war in 2008, with Russian forces still encamped on shore nearby, Washington anchored the flagship for the U.S. Sixth Fleet -- the USS Mount Whitney -- off Georgia's coast in a sign of support for the country. Under a 2003 treaty, Russia and Ukraine agreed to share access to the Sea of Azov. However, since the 2014 annexation, and the completion of the Kerch bridge earlier this year, Russia has slowly restricted access for Ukrainian ships. According to CNN, the last U.S. ship to enter the Black Sea was the fast transport ship USNS Carson City in October. With reporting by CNN, AP, and TASS Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/report-us-navy- warship-black-sea/29640348.html Copyright (c) 2018. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Romania Blocks Critical EU Text About Moldova By Rikard Jozwiak December 06, 2018 BRUSSELS -- Romania has blocked European Union foreign ministers from adopting recent conclusions by the EU's Foreign Affairs Council that are critical of Moldova, several EU diplomats have told RFE/RL. The conclusions, which have to be unanimously approved by the Foreign Affairs Council, originally were scheduled to be adopted by the EU ministers without discussion when they meet in Brussels on December 10. But diplomatic sources familiar with the matter told RFE/RL that Romania, supported by Hungary, moved against having a vote on the draft text at the December 10 meeting. The sources say Romania made the move earlier this week when EU diplomats met to discuss the draft text. They say Bucharest made its opposition to the text "very clear," and that no attempts to try to put the document on the agenda of the December 10 meeting will be made. The draft text, which has been seen by RFE/RL, says "a commitment to democratic principles, the rule of law, and respect for human rights is at the core" of the EU's Association Agreement with Moldova. But it says developments in Moldova since February, "including the invalidation of the mayoral elections in Chisinau," have "raised significant concerns" about Moldova's commitment. The document says EU foreign ministers expect that parliamentary elections scheduled for February 2019 in Moldova "will be conducted in line with international standards, respecting democratic principles and ensuring a credible, transparent and inclusive process." The draft text also expresses concern about "the growing number of reported cases involving pressure and intimidation" in Moldova It calls on Moldovan authorities to ensure that candidates have access to media and receive equal opportunities to stand in the elections, including those in single mandate districts. It also urges Moldova to ensure there is "an appropriate number of polling stations" both within the country and abroad. The conclusions were meant to be voted upon after the European Commission decided to cut financial assistance to Moldova by about $22.7 million per year for both 2017 and 2018 amid concerns about the rule of law and backsliding on democratic norms. The Commission also has suspended a $113 million macrofinancial assistance (MFA) program for Moldova until further notice. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/romania-blocks-critical -eu-text-about-moldova/29641255.html Copyright (c) 2018. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address 2 US warplanes crash off Japan coast, rescue underway Saudi Press Agency Thursday 1440/3/28 - 2018/12/06 TOKYO, December 06, 2018, SPA -- Two American warplanes crashed into the Pacific Ocean off Japan's southwestern coast after a midair collision early Thursday, and rescuers found one of the seven crew members in stable condition while searching for the others, officials said. The U.S. Marine Corps said the crash involved an F/A-18 fighter jet and a KC-130 tanker aircraft. Japan's Defense Ministry said the two aircraft carrying seven crew members in total collided and crashed into the sea about 100 kilometers (60 miles) south of the Muroto Cape on Shikoku island in southwestern Japan. Officials said the information was provided by the U.S. side. The Maritime Self-Defense Force, which dispatched aircraft and vessels to join the rescue operation, said Japanese rescuers found one of the crew members in stable condition. No other details were provided. Japanese officials said two crew members were in the F/A-18, and five others in the KC-130. The aircraft are based in the U.S. Marine Corps base in Iwakuni, west of Hiroshima. The crash is the latest in recent series of accidents involving the U.S. military deployed to and near Japan. Last month, a U.S. Navy F/A-18 Hornet from the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan crashed into the sea southwest of Japan's southern island of Okinawa, though its two pilots were rescued safely. In mid-October, a MH-60 Seahawk also belonging to the Ronald Reagan crashed off the Philippine Sea shortly after takeoff, causing non-fatal injuries to a dozen sailors. More than 50,000 U.S. troops are based in Japan under the bilateral security pact. --SPA 03:41 LOCAL TIME 00:41 GMT 0024 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address UN Mission Confirms Israeli Report of Tunnels at Lebanon Border Sputnik News 22:35 06.12.2018(updated 22:52 06.12.2018) TEL AVIV (Sputnik) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday downplayed the risk of the military operation to destroy Hezbollah tunnels sliding into a broader conflict. "My goal was first of all to dismantle these terror tunnels without getting into broad escalation I think the risk is much lower," Netanyahu was quoted as saying by his office. "We passed a clear message of what we're doing and so far I can't tell you that the risk of escalation doesn't exist We're all ready to go if we have to, but I'm not sure that Hezbollah will make the terrible mistake of testing our resolve," Netanyahu added. Meanhwhile, UN mission in Lebanon said in a statement on Thursday it has confirmed the existence of a tunnel discovered by the IDF close to the blue line separating the two countries. The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) is "engaged with the parties to pursue urgent follow-up action" and "will communicate its preliminary findings to the appropriate authorities in Lebanon",the mission said. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Thursday that they informed the UNIFIL about the presence of a transboundary attack tunnel and requested its neutralization. UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a statement on Thursday that the UNIFIL found a tunnel hat extends from Lebanese territory into Israel. "Lieutenant-General Stephano Del Col, the Force Commander for the UNIFIL along with the technical team today visited a location near Metula in northern Israel, where the Israeli Defense Forces had discovered a tunnel close to the Blue Line," Dujarric said. "Based on the site inspection, UNIFIL can confirm the existence of a tunnel at the location." Late on Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanded that the UN Security Council convene an urgent meeting to condemn Hezbollah's alleged actions. The Israeli prime minister met Thursday foreign ambassadors near the border with Lebanon where the Israeli military launched an operation on Tuesday to search for tunnels dug into northern Israel. The Lebanese Armed Forces responded to the Israeli operation by saying that they were ready for any developments on the border with Israel and were making efforts together with UN forces to maintain stability in the area. The UNIFIL has increased security patrols at the Lebanese-Israeli border to avoid potential escalation amid Israel's anti-tunnel efforts. Israel traditionally views Hezbollah's presence in Lebanon and Syria as a threat to its national security as the movement is backed by Iran, which is the Jewish state's main rival in the region. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Yemeni Gov't, Houthis Sign Agreement on Exchange of Detainees - UN Envoy Sputnik News 14:27 06.12.2018(updated 14:55 06.12.2018) STOCKHOLM (Sputnik) - The delegations of the Yemeni government and the Houthi militants have signed an agreement on the exchange of detainees and prisoners of war during peace talks in Stockholm, UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths has stated. "Today I am also pleased to announce the signing of an agreement on the exchange of prisoners, detainees, the missing, the forcibly detained, and individuals placed under house arrest. This is a huge tribute to those here present and of enormous importance to many thousands of families who seek [their] return. It will allow thousands of families to be reunited, and it is a product of very effective, active work from both delegations, and I am very grateful. What we will do here and in the coming weeks is [working] on the implementation of that agreement and make it happen," Griffiths said during a press conference. According to the special envoy, the consultations in Sweden may see the sides touch upon general points regarding the settlement of the conflict. "We will be discussing the release of prisoners We will look at if there is an appetite, the opening of Sanaa airport the issue of the economy, and how the two parties can contribute to a coherent economic plan I don't want to be overly optimistic but I want to be over ambitious. We will deal with care, we will deal with respect. We have ambitions to discuss with them the outlines of what might constitute an eventual settlement the framework for negotiations," Griffiths said. The two delegations arrived in Sweden on 5 December. The crisis settlement talks were expected to begin on 7 December and last through 14 December but have already begun earlier on 6 December, in a castle in Rimbo, a town north of Stockholm. Earlier the same day, Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom has said that the country will host a pledging conference on Yemen organized with the support of the United Nations at the beginning of next year. Sweden is currently hosting the intra-Yemeni talks between the governmental delegation and the Houthi rebels. The almost four-year war between Yemen and the Shiite Houthi movement has become the world's worst humanitarian crisis, with half of the Yemeni population assessed by the UN as being on the brink of starvation. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russian Military Tracks US Destroyer in Sea of Japan - MoD Sputnik News 12:49 06.12.2018(updated 13:16 06.12.2018) MOSCOW (Sputnik) The USS McCampbell guided missile destroyer did not come closer than 100 kilometres (62 miles) from Russian territorial waters, Russian Defence Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov stated. The US destroyer was moving under the control of the big anti-submarine ship Admiral Tributs, the aircraft of Russian Pacific fleet aviation, according to the Russian Defence Ministry. "In reality, the USS McCampbell destroyer did not even approach Russian territorial waters closer than by 100 kilometres. What is more, during all its passage through the international waters, the US destroyer was moving under control of the Russian Admiral Tributs large anti-submarine ship, which was in close proximity, as well as of the Pacific Fleet naval aircraft", Konashenkov said. He noted that the Pacific Fleet was taking measures to control the vessel's actions, as well as actions of other warships in this area. "The only thing 'demonstrated' by the crew of the US destroyer was a failed attempt to get away at maximum speed from the Pacific Fleet forces that were escorting it. Currently, the crew of the US McCampbell destroyer 'is demonstrating' its courage at a distance of more than 400 kilometres from the territorial waters of the Russian Federation in the central part of the Sea of Japan", Konashenkov said. The statements come after US Navy spokesperson Rachel McMarr said on 5 December that the McCampbell had entered the Sea of Japan in the vicinity of Peter the Great Bay to "challenge" Russia's maritime claims there. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Next Nagorno-Karabakh Settlement Talks to Be Held in January - Azerbaijani FM Sputnik News 07:29 06.12.2018 BAKU/YEREVAN (Sputnik) Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov told Sputnik on Thursday that his next meeting with his Armenian counterpart Zohrab Mnatsakanyan on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict will likely be held in January. "I believe that the talks, that were ongoing for three hours, were important and useful in terms of better understanding the positions of both parties. We have agreed to continue the talks in this format in the near future. [The next meeting] will highly likely be held the next month," Mammadyarov said. The Armenian Foreign Ministry said, in its turn, that the two ministers had agreed to "continue their meetings and preserve the current dynamics [of the talks]." The ministry added that before his talks with the Azerbaijani foreign minister, Mnatsakanyan met with OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs Igor Popov from Russia, Stephane Visconti from France and Andrew Schofer from the United States, as well as Andrzej Kasprzyk, the personal representative of the OSCE chairperson-in-office on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement. On Wednesday, the two top diplomats held talks on the crisis resolution on the sidelines of the 25th OSCE Ministerial Council in Milan. Their meeting was mediated by the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group. Azerbaijan's Armenian-dominated region of Nagorno-Karabakh region proclaimed its independence in 1991, triggering a military conflict that has never been resolved. The negotiations on the status of the breakaway region have been underway with the mediation from the OSCE since 1992. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Cypriot Authorities Not Aiming for Country's Military Build-Up Sputnik News 03:37 06.12.2018 MOSCOW (Sputnik) The authorities of Cyprus do not seek and have not ever sought to militarize the country, Prodromos Prodromou, the Cypriot government spokesman said. "We would like to clarify that it has never been our aim nor do we now seek the militarization of Cyprus," Prodromou said as quoted by the In-Cyprus news outlet. Cyprus backed only humanitarian operations of a country if this state had requested the support or if Nicosia had concluded a memorandum of understanding with this country, the government spokesman added. On Wednesday, the Russian Foreign Ministry's spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, said Moscow has been receiving information about the US authorities exploring possibilities to boost military build-up in Cyprus. Zakharova has warned that the US military build-up in Cyprus would destabilize the country. The diplomat suggested that Washington sought to counter Moscow's increasing influence in the region in the light of Russia's successful anti-terror operation in Syria. Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when the Turkish troops entered the island. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus was declared in 1983 and is recognized only by Turkey, while the international community considers it to be a part of the Republic of Cyprus. Numerous rounds of talks have been held, with the United Nations and the European Union promoting the negotiations, but no result has been reached. In November, Greece and Cyprus issued statements dedicated to the 35th anniversary of proclamation of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), once again saying that the move was illegal and was condemned by the whole international community. Athens has called on Ankara to comply with resolutions of the UN Security Council that demand to put an end to the "illegal" existence of the TRNC. Greece also called on Turkey to work on a fair and comprehensive solution of the Cypriot conflict that will ensure fundamental rights of all residents of the island. Meanwhile, The United States and Cyprus have agreed to bolster their bilateral security relationship by signing a statement of intent, US Department of State spokesperson Heather Nauert said in a news release in early November. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Yemen war: UN chief urges 'good faith' as 'milestone' talks get underway in Sweden 6 December 2018 - Yemeni Government and the Houthi opposition have gathered at a United Nations-sponsored political talks, close to the Swedish capital, Stockholm, aimed at ending nearly four years of brutal war in the country. Special Envoy Martin Griffiths, the senior UN official facilitating the talks, said that the resumption of the political process, after two-and-a-half years, is an "important milestone" and the presence of the two delegations shows that they are ready to work together. Yemen's future 'in the hands of those of us in this room' "Let us be in no doubt that Yemen's future is in the hands of those of us in this room", he told delegates adding that "the country's institutions are at risk, the fragmentation of the country is an enormous concern and we must act now before we lost control of the future of Yemen." Later, he added that being together in the room demonstrated "to each other, and most importantly to the people of Yemen that you are ready to come together in the name of a peaceful political solution to the conflict," Mr. Griffiths declared, addressing a press conference alongside representatives and the Swedish Foreign Minister, Margot Wallstrom. The UN Special Envoy also highlighted that the calls made by leaders from both parties in recent weeks for reduction of violence and "de-escalation" of military operations, have formed an important backdrop for bringing the two sides together. "Such a reduction of violence and restraint on the battlefield has a significant impact on the lives of Yemenis, but is also a signal to the people that we are here with serious intent to pursue a political solution," he said. UN chief urges 'flexibility' Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed the consultations and urged the parties to make progress "by exercising flexibility and engaging in good faith and without pre-conditions". "The Secretary-General appeals to the warring parties to continue the de-escalation in Hudaydah and explore other measures to mitigate the life threatening economic and humanitarian situation," said a statement issued by his Spokesman a few hours after talks commenced. "He reminds the parties that a negotiated political settlement through inclusive intra-Yemeni dialogue is the only way to end the conflict and address the ongoing crisis." Agreement on exchange of prisoners The day also witnessed the parties signing an agreement on the exchange of prisoners, including some under house arrest, announced Mr. Griffiths, prospectively allowing thousands of families to be reunited. "The bar for success here, however, is higher," continued the Special Envoy, noting the deteriorating situation in Yemen, including the country's economy, health care, education and all aspects of life. The grinding war has left over three-quarters of the country's people reliant on international assistance and protection, and millions "severely" food insecure, marked by rates of very high acute malnutrition and excess mortality. The resumption of the political talks, he continued, "offers an alternative to the narrative of conflict and it begins here." The dialogue will also be a "critical opportunity" to move the peace process towards a comprehensive agreement based on what diplomats refer to as the "three references" the Gulf Cooperation Council initiative to try and create and deliver a peace framework, outcomes of the national talks, and relevant Security Council resolutions, including resolution 2216, stated Mr. Griffiths. "In the coming days," he said, the two sides "will have the opportunity, to discuss and make serious progress, I hope, on a framework for negotiations that sets the parameters for the peace agreement and the resumption of the political transition," he added. Efforts will also focus on Yemen's deteriorating economy, violence in the key port city of Hudaydah - which is the crucial hub for food and aid imports on the Red Sea - and other parts of the country. Access and the resumption of flights in and out of Sana'a airport will also be discussed, as well as improving humanitarian access and making relief programmes more effective. 'Do not waver' in efforts for political solution Mr. Griffiths also told reporters that an advisory group comprising eight leading Yemeni women, as well as other Yemenis with experience in political issues, would be a key part of consultations moving forward, at his invitation. "Already they are telling me how to move forward and what to do and what not to do," he said. Also at the talks will be the Ambassadors, accredited to Yemen, from a number of countries, as well as representatives from the international community. Such wide support from the global community as well as the unity of the Security Council is an indicator of the "full" support for the peace process, added the UN Special Envoy, noting that the call is for an end to war as well as a resolution to the conflict, "a resolution to the issues that led to this war." Concluding his statement, Mr. Griffiths stressed that all those present in Sweden, for the talks, have "all expressed" their commitment to a political solution. "The coming days are a milestone, it is an important event, a significant event, do not waver, let none of us waver in spite of the challenges we may face. Let us work with goodwill, good faith and with energy and conviction and we will deliver a message of peace to the people of Yemen," he told those assembled. Source: UNOCHA - Key figures from Yemen. Source: UNOCHA - Key figures from Yemen. Humanitarian urgency Since the conflict escalated in 2015 with the beginning of an air war backed by a Saudi-led coalition - thousands of civilians, including many hundreds of children, have been killed as a direct consequence. Many more have lost their lives to malnutrition and deadly diseases such as cholera. Across Yemen, more than 24 million people over three-quarters of the population are dependent on humanitarian assistance or protection, of whom over 8 million are severely food insecure and at risk of starvation. Humanitarian aid agencies, which have been providing life-saving assistance to millions across Yemen, have underscored the urgency of talks, warning that the situation on the ground has deteriorated "dramatically" in recent months. Mark Lowcock, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, returning from his latest mission to the war-torn country on 1 December described the situation as being on the "brink of a major catastrophe." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Pakistan Urges US to Leave Afghanistan 'As Friend of the Region' By Ayaz Gul December 06, 2018 Pakistan's military says it is taking "every step" required to help the United States successfully achieve a political reconciliation in Afghanistan and exit the war-shattered country "as friend of the region, not as a failure." The statement comes a day after U.S. special envoy for Afghan reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad, visited Islamabad and sought cooperation from the Pakistani leadership for Washington's renewed push for finding a negotiated end to the 17-year-old war with the Taliban. Army spokesman Major-General Asif Ghafoor told reporters in Rawalpindi, where the military is headquartered, that Pakistan has long called for resolving Afghan conflict through political means and a U.S.-initiated peace process has gained momentum lately. "This political reconciliation must succeed. ... We wish that the U.S. leaves Afghanistan as friend of the region, not as a failure," Ghafoor said, without elaborating further. The army spokesman added that Washington is seeking Islamabad's cooperation to encourage Taliban leaders to engage in Afghan peace negotiations. Ghafoor reiterated Pakistan's influence with the insurgent group has diminished over the years, but said Pakistan will use "whatever contacts we have" to facilitate the Afghan peace effort. "You are aware that Afghan refugees have been living here [in Pakistan] for 40 years. So, they [the Taliban] have families and links here. That is how as much as we can we will facilitate," the spokesman explained when asked what Pakistan could do to nudge the insurgents to engage in peace negotiations. Families of Taliban leaders and fighters are believed to be residing among among nearly three million Afghan refugees Pakistan still hosts. Khililzad's visit to Islamabad followed a request from U.S. President Donald Trump to Prime Minister Imran Khan seeking help in furthering the Afghan peace process. Washington and Afghan officials have long maintained the Taliban leadership is based in Pakistan and is being covertly supported by the country's spy agency. Gen. Ghafoor again rejected allegations his country is allowing the Taliban to plan attacks inside Afghanistan.He said Pakistani security forces have eliminated all terrorist sanctuaries on their side and a military-led massive construction effort is currently underway to fence off the nearly 2,600 kilometer border with Afghanistan. "We have already fenced more than 600-kilometer proton of the border.The construction of forts and new posts has also been completed by 60 percent.God willing when the entire fence would be in place by the end of next year, we assume the cross-border threat facing us will reduce to a large extent." Khalilzad arrived in Islamabad on Tuesday.A U.S. embassy statement issued Thursday said he met with top Pakistani political and military leadership during his two-day stay in the country. "Ambassador Khalilzad stressed the United States' commitment to facilitating a political settlement between the Afghan government and the Taliban that ensures Afghanistan never again serves as a platform for international terrorism and ends the 40-years-long war in the country," noted the embassy statement. After visiting Pakistan, the U.S. special envoy traveled to Kabul where he held meetings Thursday with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah.Khalilzad then left for Moscow for discussions with Russian officials on regional peace efforts, said the U.S. embassy in Afghanistan. The U.S. envoy during his 18-day trip will also travel to several other countries, including Qatar where he has already held two rounds of talks with representatives of the Taliban based in the Gulf nation. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Dispute Between Afghan Election Bodies Over Kabul Results By Ayesha Tanzeem December 06, 2018 A dispute has erupted between two of Afghanistan's top election bodies over the results of October's parliamentary polls in the capital, Kabul, and its suburbs. The body responsible for dealing with irregularities, Afghanistan's Independent Election Complaints Commission, has declared all votes cast in Kabul province invalid based on a determination the elections in the area were marred by massive fraud and violations of election law. Thursday in Kabul, the AIECC also announced the removal of five of the top officials of the Independent Election Commission, which ran the polls. AIECC spokesman Ali Reza Rohani said the officials were fined about $1,333 each and could face further action. The IEC has rejected the move as politically motivated and accused the AIECC of endangering the national electoral process. IEC chief Gulajan Badi Sayaad said his commission will continue counting the votes. IEC secretary Sayed Hafizullah Hashami said Thursday the commission will prepare a legal response to the AIECC decision soon. Elections were held in 33 of Afghanistan's 34 provinces in October. The IEC has announced preliminary results in 20 provinces. Elections were not held in Ghazni due to differences among residents over the make-up of their constituencies. Kabul province has 33 seats, including nine for women, in the 250-member Afghan assembly. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address 2 US Military Planes Collide Off Japan, Killing 1 US Marine By Carla Babb December 06, 2018 The U.S. military said Thursday that one Marine was killed and five others were missing after two military aircraft collided in midair off the Japanese coast and crashed into the Pacific Ocean. The deceased was one of two pilots from an F/A-18 fighter jet that was training with a KC-130 refueling plane, officials said. The other pilot was recovered and was in fair condition, the Marine Corps said. Rescue operations continued for the five crewmen of the KC-130. The accident occurred early Thursday about 320 kilometers off Japan's southwestern coast. The Marines took off from their base in Iwakuni on a routine refueling training mission, according to the Marine Corps. The collision took place near Muroto Cape on Shikoku island, according to a statement from Japan's defense ministry. The ministry said a search-and-rescue operation launched by its maritime forces shortly after the crash found the surviving F/A-18 pilot within several hours. U.S. President Donald Trump said his thoughts and prayers were with those involved involved in the crash: The cause of the collision was under investigation. Thursday's incident was the latest of a string of accidents involving U.S. military aircraft deployed to Japan. Last month, two crew members of a U.S. Navy fighter jet were rescued when their plane crashed into the sea off the southern island of Okinawa. Also, parts from some U.S. military aircraft have fallen into neighborhoods. The American military presence on Okinawa has irritated Japanese civilians on the island and created tension in the otherwise warm relations between the U.S. and Japanese militaries. Crimes have been committed by U.S. servicemen on Okinawa, including rapes and drunken-driving incidents. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address New UN-Backed Yemen Peace Talks Begin in Sweden By VOA News December 06, 2018 Yemen's warring factions are in Sweden to participate in a new round of peace talks aimed at ending the four-year-old war that has pushed the small Arabian Peninsula country on the brink of famine. The U.N.-brokered talks, which began Thursday in the city of Rimbo, are the first negotiations between the Saudi-backed government and the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in two years. These new talks are being held amid growing international outrage over the dire humanitarian crisis, coupled with the recent killing of U.S.-based Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul. Zubair Iqbal, a scholar at the Washington-based Middle East Institute, told VOA that Saudi Arabia has been pushed back to the negotiating table due to a push in the U.S. Senate to cut off aid to Riyadh in response to Khashoggi's murder. Martin Griffiths, the U.N. official negotiating between the two camps, said the main issues on the agenda are control of Sana'a's key international airport and humanitarian access and a possible power-sharing agreement. The two sides have already agreed to a prisoner swap, but observers are playing down hopes for any major breakthroughs. A spokesperson for U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged parties to make progress on the agenda outlined by Griffiths, "by exercising flexibility and engaging in good faith without pre-conditions." "The secretary-general appeals to the warring parties to continue the de-escalation in Hudaydah and explore other measures to mitigate the life-threatening economic and humanitarian situation," the spokesperson said in a statement Thursday. "He reminds the parties that a negotiated political settlement through inclusive intra-Yemeni dialogue is the only way to end the conflict and address the ongoing humanitarian crisis. " Iqbal said the talks in Sweden could serve as a starting point to "build some degree of confidence between the two opposing parties, so they can go back and talk to their supporters and work out something that may allow for some compromise down the road." The war began when the Houthi rebels seized control of the capital, Sana'a, in 2014, and overthrew the Saudi-aligned government. The conflict escalated when a Saudi-led Arab coalition began warring with the Houthis in an attempt to restore the government. At least 10,000 Yemenis have been killed since the fighting began. The head of the U.N.'s World Food Program said about 12 million Yemenis are suffering from "severe hunger." Margaret Besheer at the United Nations contributed to this report. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Few Yemenis Express Optimism About Peace Talks By Edward Yeranian December 06, 2018 Opposing sides in the Yemen conflict are gearing up for talks in Sweden, but few Yemenis appear to be very optimistic that any lasting solution to the nearly 4-year-old war will be reached. Arab media showed Houthi negotiators boarding a Kuwaiti airliner at the main airport in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, as they headed to Sweden in the company of U.N. envoy Martin Griffiths for talks with a delegation from the internationally recognized government of President Abd Rabu Mansour Hadi. Abdel Mejid al Halash, a top negotiator for the Houthi delegation, told journalists before leaving Sanaa that his team hoped to achieve a number of objectives. Ports, prisoners He said humanitarian issues were important, including reopening ports and airports, exchanging prisoners and resolving economic issues. The world community, he said, talks about human rights, so he said blockades and closed airports were clearly in conflict with international resolutions. Foreign Minister Khaled al-Yamani, who will represent the Hadi government at the talks, told Arab media that his side insisted that "the Houthis hand over the port of Hodeida to [the Hadi government] and all revenues from the port be handed over to the central bank branch in Aden," under the control of forces loyal to Hadi. Both the Houthis and the Saudi-led coalition have been fighting for control of the Red Sea port of Hodeida, which is a major source of revenue for whoever controls it and a key entry point for humanitarian aid and food in general to Sanaa. Abdallah al Rabaie, who heads the Saudi-run King Salman Aid and Relief Center, warned that the Houthis should not use humanitarian aid to determine policy. He said Saudi Arabia and its coalition allies oppose the use of the humanitarian situation in the country to score political or military points in the conflict. He also said the Houthis were not allowing aid to enter all areas of the country. Yemen analyst Adam Baron told VOA that while the "scene is now set for [talks in Sweden]," following the transport of wounded Houthi fighters to Oman, he was concerned that the impending negotiations would be a "fraught process." "Getting this to work," he argued, "involves getting a lot of moving parts in order, [and] all it takes is for one of them to go awry for the whole thing to collapse." No real hope Aref Sarmi, a Yemeni analyst in Cairo, was not optimistic about the chances of success at the U.N.-sponsored talks in Sweden. Sarmi said he did not expect anything surprising or earthshaking to come out of the talks. He said he thought the importance of the talks lay in the fact that the opposing parties were attending, as well as in the temporary truce that will allow Yemenis to breathe. Khaled, a businessman in Sanaa, voiced pessimism. He told pro-Yemeni government media that he would love to see a resolution of the conflict but had no real hope this would happen, and he worried that the talks had been cobbled together without any real preparation. Kuwait, which hosted a previous round of Yemen negotiations, is sending a delegation to help facilitate the discussions between the opposing sides in Sweden. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US Fails to Win UN Condemnation of Hamas By Margaret Besheer December 06, 2018 The United States failed Thursday to win condemnation of the Palestinian militant group Hamas in a vote at the U.N. General Assembly. While 87 member states said the group, which fires rockets into Israel and has targeted civilians with suicide bombs, should be condemned, 58 were opposed and 32 abstained. Before considering the U.S. measure, member states voted to require a two-thirds majority to pass it, as opposed to a simple majority. The U.S. fell short of the necessary votes, despite strong support from the European Union all of the bloc's members voted for it. "The question before us now is whether the U.N. thinks terrorism is acceptable if, and only if, it is directed against Israel," U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley said ahead of the vote. Haley, a staunch advocate of Israel, equated rejection of the U.S. proposal with being anti-Semitic. "Because there is nothing more anti-Semitic than saying terrorism is not terrorism when it is used against the Jewish people and the Jewish state," she said. "There is nothing more anti-Semitic than saying we cannot condemn terrorism against Israel, while we would not hesitate for a minute to condemn the same acts if they were taken against any other country. "I want to ask my Arab brothers and sisters is the hatred that strong?" Haley continued. "Is it so strong you will defend a terrorist organization?" Israel's U.N. ambassador praised the "plurality of member states that stood by the truth and condemned Hamas," but he had harsh words for those which rejected the measure. "Your silence in the face of evil reveals your true colors," Danny Danon said. "It tells us what side you are really on: a side that doesn't care about the lives of innocent Israelis and Palestinians who have fallen victim to the terrorists of Hamas." Hamas has ruled over the Gaza Strip since 2007. In 2014, it fell into a deadly conflict with Israel and a fragile cease-fire is in near-constant peril. In recent months, tensions have flared between Hamas and Israel over Palestinian protests at the border fence and a stepped-up barrage of rockets fired into Israel by the militants. Living conditions in Gaza are dire, with huge fuel and electricity shortages. Although the Palestinian Authority and Hamas are locked in a rivalry and power struggle, the Palestinian envoy to the United Nations lobbied hard for the defeat of the U.S. proposal, framing it in the wider context of the Palestinian struggle for independence and statehood. "We reject cynical attempts to reduce the Palestine question to a matter of violence and terror," said Ambassador Riyad Mansour. "This is a political, territorial and human rights issue. It is an issue to end occupation." While the U.S. measure failed to be adopted, a second draft put forward by Ireland, reiterating the call for a "comprehensive, just and lasting peace" based on existing U.N. resolutions, was overwhelmingly adopted. General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding, but are viewed as carrying moral weight with the voice of the international community. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Mueller Memo Adds to Russia Probe Mystery By Masood Farivar December 06, 2018 Feverish media speculation had raged ahead of Robert Mueller's sentencing recommendations for former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, fueled by hopes the court filing would provide fresh insight into the special counsel's probe of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. What emerged instead from the heavily redacted document was a deepening mystery and a few hints that the nearly 18-month-old probe is headed in unknown and previously unexpected directions. In the sentencing memo filed in federal court late Tuesday, Mueller's prosecutors recommended that Flynn, an early cooperating witness in the sweeping Russia probe, receive no prison time for lying to the FBI because he has provided "substantial assistance" to several ongoing investigations since pleading guilty last December. Flynn sat for 19 interviews with lawyers from the special counsel's office, as well as the Justice Department, providing "firsthand information" on interactions between President Donald Trump's transition team and Russian government officials in December 2016, prosecutors wrote. They also praised the "timeliness" of Flynn's cooperation, saying it had persuaded other witnesses to cooperate. But prosecutors disclosed little else, blacking out large portions of the memo due to "sensitive information about ongoing investigations." "While this addendum seeks to provide a comprehensive description of the benefit the government has thus far obtained from the defendant's substantial assistance, some of that benefit may not be fully realized at this time because the investigation in which he has provided assistance is ongoing," the memo said. That left analysts reading tea leaves (trying to predict the future) as they sought to unravel a riddle shrouded in mystery: two separate investigations unrelated to the Russia probe with which Flynn has cooperated. "I don't believe we've learned anything" from the sentencing memo, said Hans von Spakovsky, a legal expert at the Heritage Foundation, a Washington-based conservative think tank. Flynn, a former Army general and head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, served as Trump's national security adviser for less than a month. He was forced to resign after news surfaced that he had lied to administration officials about his talks with Sergey Kislyak, former Russian ambassador to Washington, during the presidential transition. Flynn had drawn investigators' scrutiny before he ran afoul of the FBI in January 2017. While serving as an adviser to the Trump campaign in 2016, he lobbied for a Dutch company linked to the Turkish government without registering as a foreign agent. Flynn began cooperating with the special counsel after pleading guilty to lying to federal agents about his conversations with Kislyak. He became the first of five former Trump associates who have entered guilty pleas with the special counsel's office. The sentencing recommendation by Mueller, if approved by a federal judge later this month, could spell an end to Flynn's legal troubles. Sentencing is set for Dec. 18. But as part of his agreement with the special counsel, Flynn is required to testify "at any and all trials" where his testimony is deemed relevant. Von Spakovsky said that while the Mueller investigation remains cloaked in secrecy, it is unlikely to wrap up by year's end and could well drag on as late as next spring. He said he expects the special counsel to write a report on his findings at some point next year without issuing any major indictments. Trump recently provided the special counsel with written answers about his knowledge of the Russian interference, raising speculation that Mueller's team may have received what they need to complete their report. But recent developments in the probe paint a different picture. Last week, former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about a Trump Tower project in Moscow, and prosecutors revealed that Cohen had spent 70 hours in interviews with investigators. On Friday, Mueller's prosecutors are expected to disclose how former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort "repeatedly lied" to them in recent weeks in breach of a cooperation agreement. "So all of that tells me that this is very complicated, that there is more to come," said Chris Edelson, an assistant professor of government at American University School of Public Affairs. "I would not expect Mueller's investigation or the other investigations that are referred to in the Flynn sentencing memo to end anytime soon. Hopefully, we'll get more information, but I don't see things wrapping up." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Resolution Condemning Hamas for Firing Rockets Into Israel Fails in UN Sputnik News 00:43 07.12.2018(updated 01:03 07.12.2018) The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) voted on Thursday not to support a US-led resolution condemning Hamas in what is suspected to be US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley's final major statement in the international body. The resolution required a two-thirds majority in order to pass. Haley sought to have a simple majority suffice, but a resolution was passed by the body that changed the requirement to a majority of two-thirds. In total, 87 nations voted in favor of the resolution while 57 voted against it and 33 abstained. Haley will step down from her position at the end of the year. Since she began representing the United States at the UN, she has pushed back on countries critical of Israel and explicitly cited "anti-Israel bias" as the reason for the US withdrawal from the UN Human Rights Council earlier this year. The UNGA, comprising 193 nations, has never condemned Hamas, the ruling party in the Gaza strip since 2007. The US-sponsored resolution would condemn the group for firing rockets into Israel, which it did in November after Israel violated a ceasefire agreement by assassinating a commander of the Hamas military wing al-Qassam Brigades, as well as other fighters. The European Union backed the US measure to condemn Hamas, giving Haley a much-needed 28 vote boost for her resolution. Haley sent a letter to every UN mission on Thursday stating that the "United States takes the outcome of this vote very seriously." "Hamas uses torture and arbitrary arrests to punish its political opponents. It has made Gaza a police state, all while Hamas spends its resources including UN resources on rockets and terror tunnels," Haley said during her remarks ahead of the vote. "The question before us now is whether the UN thinks terrorism is acceptable if, and only if, it is directed against Israel." The resolution "condemns Hamas for repeatedly firing rockets into Israel and for inciting violence," demands that "Hamas and other militant actors, including Palestinian Islamic Jihad, cease all provocative actions and violent activity, including by using airborne incendiary devices," and "encourages tangible steps" towards reuniting "the Gaza Strip and the West Bank under the Palestinian Authority." It was widely believed that Haley hoped the passage of the resolution would be her defining moment at the UN. "She would like to go out with something," a diplomat for the UN Security Council told AFP. It was also expected that the resolution would pass. UNGA resolutions are nonbinding but signify the political priorities of UN member states. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Kosovar Army Not Going to Hamper Relations With NATO - Kosovo PM Sputnik News 00:11 07.12.2018 BELGRADE (Sputnik) - The formation of a national army in the self-proclaimed republic of Kosovo will not shadow Pristina's relations with NATO despite opposition by the alliance's Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Kosovar Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj said on Thursday. "On the formation of Kosovo's army, we had intensive conversations with all interested parties. NATO deals with many issues and, naturally, may have doubts. Meanwhile, Kosovo definitely does not create any danger by the transformation of KSF and is not interested in deteriorating relations with NATO, " Haradinaj said in his address to the Kosovar parliament, as quoted by the Kim radio station. In October, the parliament in Kosovo voted to change the mandate of the Kosovo Security Force (KSF). Kosovo's national army will be officially established on December 14. Stoltenberg on Wednesday slammed Pristina's decision as "ill-timed" amid tensions with Belgrade. Pristina currently does not have its own army. Belgrade actively opposes its creation, citing UN Security Council Resolution 1244 on settlement in Kosovo and Metohija. The Kosovar army will reportedly comprise of 5,000 active soldiers and 3,000 reservists, and will receive 300 million euros ($340 million) in funding over three years to equip and train its forces. In November, Minister of Kosovo Security Force Rustem Berisha said that national army would have its own artillery, air defense, as well as biological and chemical defense. Kosovo proclaimed its independence from Serbia in 2008 and was recognized by over 100 nations. Serbia, however, continues to consider Kosovo as its territory. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russian Constitutional Court Says Controversial Chechen-Ingush Border Deal Legal By RFE/RL December 06, 2018 MOSCOW -- Russia's Constitutional Court has upheld the legality of a law designed to support a controversial border agreement between the Russian republics of Ingushetia and Chechnya. The court on December 6 ruled that Ingushetia's Supreme Court had no right to cancel the deal, which concerned land swaps between the two republics and has prompted angry protests in Ingushetia. On October 30, Ingushetia's Constitutional Court ruled that the agreement was illegal because "it changes the territory of Republic of Ingushetia," something it said requires approval by referendum. But the head of Ingushetia, Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, took the issue to the Moscow-based Constitutional Court with a request for support of the agreement. Yevkurov and the leader of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, signed the agreement behind closed doors on September 26. Yevkurov and Kadyrov said the agreement was approved by the parliaments of both republics several days later, despite demonstrations by protesters in Ingushetia who say it unfairly hands parts of the republic to Chechnya, its larger neighbor to the east. The protesters have called for Yevkurov's resignation and a public referendum on the deal. Some Ingush lawmakers said later that the legislature in Magas had not approved the deal. The issue has raised concerns about the possibility of a regional conflict in Russia, which is home to a large number of ethnic groups. It also has amplified concerns about the power and influence of the Kremlin-backed Kadyrov, who was appointed by President Vladimir Putin in 2007 to head Chechnya. Kadyrov has publicly threatened the protesters in Ingushetia. On October 26, Kadyrov visited Ingushetia with a large entourage of armed men to confront a protest leader. The meeting ended without violence. Ingushetia and Chechnya were parts of a single administrative region during the Soviet era, but they split after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. There are strong concerns about the loss of territory in Ingushetia, which lost control of the disputed Prigorodny District to another neighbor, North Ossetia, after a conflict in 1992 that killed some 600 people -- mostly Ingush. Rights activists say Kadyrov rules through repressive measures and has created a climate of impunity for security forces in the North Caucasus. Kremlin critics contend that Putin has given Kadyrov free rein because he relies on him to rein in separatists and militants after two wars in Chechnya. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/russian-constitutional -court-says-controversial-chechen-ingush -border-deal-legal/29640892.html Copyright (c) 2018. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US Official: 60 Days Given to Russia on INF Treaty 'Not Ultimatum' Sputnik News 21:56 06.12.2018(updated 22:38 06.12.2018) When commenting on the ultimatum to Moscow voiced by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that Washington hasn't provided any evidence that Russia allegedly violated the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. US Undersecretary for Arms Control Andrea Thompson has stated that the 60 days given to Russia on the INF Treaty was "not an ultimatum." However, Russia must either end its development of its 9M729 missile system or modify the weapon so it is in compliance with the INF Treaty, Thompson stressed. "The SS-CX-8 (9M729 cruise missile) has a range that is not in compliance," Thompson said. "Either you rid the system, rid the launcher or change the system where it doesn't exceed the range." Separately, the issue has been commented on by US Ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman, who told reporters in a conference call on Thursday that Washington was "not walking away from arms control" despite its plans to suspend adherence to the INF Treaty. "I heard somebody today say that we were somehow giving an ultimatum and I have to say this is exactly the opposite of an ultimatum. This has been very methodically worked now over two administrations by the years, dozens of engagements at very senior level," Huntsman said. "We are doing this to preserve the viability and integrity of arms control agreements more broadly. We remain committed to arms control, but we need a reliable partner and do not have one in Russia on INF or for that matter on other treaties that it's violating," Huntsman claimed, adding that Moscow allegedly "has not shown any indication so far that it seeks to return to full compliance." The statement comes two days after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said during a press conference in Brussels that Washington would suspend its adherence to the INF Treaty in 60 days unless Moscow "returned to full compliance with the agreement." Commenting on the allegations, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that the US side had not provided any evidence of Moscow's "violations" of the treaty, adding that Washington was trying to find pretexts to justify its exit from the historic document. In turn, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow fully complied with the treaty and Washington was aware of this. The two parties have repeatedly accused each other of violating the INF Treaty. Moscow, in particular, has stated that the United States was deploying launchers for Tomahawk missiles in Romania and Poland, something which was prohibited by the agreement. Russia has also pointed to the fact that Washington was developing combat drones and financing research on the development of a ground-launched cruise missile. Meanwhile, the Russian authorities have stressed on numerous occasions that it strictly complied with the obligations outlined in the treaty. The INF treaty was signed between the Soviet Union and the United States in December 1987 and required the parties to destroy their ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges of between 500 and 5,500 kilometers (from 311 to 3,317 miles). Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US Attempt to 'Bury' INF Treaty Creates New Risks for Europe - Lavrov Sputnik News 13:47 06.12.2018(updated 17:58 06.12.2018) The Russian Foreign Ministry's response comes after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that Washington would suspend its participation in the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in 60 days "unless Russia returned to full compliance with the agreement". "The reckless expansion of NATO, the build-up of the alliance's potential on the so-called Eastern flank, the deployment of US missile defence systems in Europe, the illegitimate sanctions under imaginary pretexts all these things have led to a crisis of confidence in the Euro-Atlantic", Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Thursday. According to the diplomat, Washington is also creating new risks for Europe by attempting to "bury the INF Treaty". EU diplomacy chief Federica Mogherini, who met with Lavrov on the sidelines of the 25th OSCE Ministerial Council in Milan, addressed the issue, stating that the INF Treaty must be preserved as it is key to European and global security. "The High Representative stressed that the Treaty is key to European and global security and that it is in all our interests that the Treaty is preserved and fully implemented," the EU External Action Service (EEAS) press service said in a statement. The US threats to suspend its adherence to the INF Treaty came in line with the previous statements made by President Donald Trump, claiming that Russia had violated the agreement and thus forcing Washington to exit it. Russia has denied the accusations, also noting that the United States was deploying launchers for Tomahawk missiles in Romania and Poland, which was prohibited by the treaty. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russia's Immediate Return to INF Compliance Would Be 'Best Outcome' - Mattis Sputnik News 00:31 07.12.2018 WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Thursday that Russia's immediate return to the adherence with the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty would be the best result in the current situation. "Our best outcome would be that Russia returns to compliance immediately. And this is not like springing a trap on them," Mattis said. "Again, for years now two administrations [and] various allies have talked to them about getting back to compliance. So this is not an unrealistic expectation." On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States would suspend its adherence to the INF Treaty in 60 days unless Russia returned to full compliance with the agreement. Russia has repeatedly denied the allegations that it had breached the treaty. "Of course, Russia at times is proving to be a difficult partner in any positive effort. But, but that was the reason for Secretary Pompeo's discussion yesterday and declaration of material breach," Mattis said. On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters the United States has still provided no evidence to support its allegations that Russia is violating the INF Treaty. Putin said if the United States wants to develop weapons banned under the accord, Russia would follow suit. The INF Treaty was signed in 1987 between the Soviet Union and the United States. The agreement obligated the parties to destroy their ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles whose ranges are between 500 and 5,500 kilometers (from 311 to 3,317 miles). The United States and Russia have repeatedly accused each other of violating the INF Treaty. Russia has said the United States was deploying launchers for Tomahawk missiles in Romania and Poland in violation of the agreement. Russia has also pointed to the fact that the United States was developing combat drones and financing research on the development of a ground-launched cruise missile. Meanwhile, Russia has emphasized on numerous occasions that it strictly complied with the obligations outlined in the INF Treaty. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address UK Defense Ministry to Allocate Extra $511Mln for Nuclear Subs Modernization Sputnik News 19:00 06.12.2018 LONDON (Sputnik) - UK Defense Secretary Gavin Williamson on Thursday announced extra 400 million pounds ($511 million) funding for its Dreadnought program that will build four nuclear-powered submarines. "This 400m [$511m] investment will ensure the Dreadnought programme remains on track, so we continue to have a nuclear deterrent at sea," Williamson said in a statement. The project estimated at 31 billion pounds will replace the current nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines of the Vanguard class. The first submarine of the new class has been named HMS Dreadnought. Williamson said the second sub would carry the name of HMS Valiant to honor the vessel that played a role in the Falklands conflict with Argentina. Defense Secretary, while visiting BAE Systems' site (British defence, security, and aerospace company) unveiled that he "have also opened a brand new multi-million-pound facility to train Britain's submarine engineers of the future", which costs around 25 million. In May 2018 Williamson announced that 2.5 billion pounds ($3.4 billion) would be put into the construction of new submarines for the Royal Navy. Since Williamson became a Defense Secretary in November 2017 he has been calling for strengthening the UK submarine fleet, referring to the alleged surge in the Russian submarine activity near UK shores. Moscow has repeatedly denied accusations of posing a threat, calling them unfounded. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Defence Secretary announces 400m investment for nuclear-armed submarines Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson has today announced a 400 million funding boost for the Dreadnought programme, as he opened a new training academy and revealed the name of the second Dreadnought submarine. 6 December 2018 The planned funding release, which supports the building phase of the programme, came as the Defence Secretary unveiled a 25 million BAE Systems academy that will upskill employees to work on Royal Navy submarines for the next two decades. The 400million investment will safeguard more than 8,000 jobs in Barrow and across the UK, which are all supported by the 31billion Dreadnought programme and supply chain. The announcement was made during the Defence Secretary's visit to BAE Systems' site in Barrow-in-Furness, where he also named the second Dreadnought submarine as HMS Valiant. Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said: "Next year marks half-a-century since British nuclear-armed submarines began patrolling the waters in response to the danger posed by the Cold War - and the world is again facing a raft of intensifying threats." "This 400m investment will ensure the Dreadnought programme remains on track, so we continue to have a nuclear deterrent at sea for decades to come. Not only does today's news see us safeguard 8,000 jobs right now, but I have also opened a brand new multi-million-pound facility to train Britain's submarine engineers of the future." The last vessel to carry the name HMS Valiant was the second Royal Navy nuclear-powered submarine. Launched in 1963, she took part in the Navy's first tactical exercise under the Arctic ice and played an important role in the Falklands War, deterring the Argentine surface fleet from closing the islands. The latest investment comes after 960 million worth of contracts were announced in May to ramp up the current phase of construction for the UK's four nuclear-armed Dreadnought submarines. Submarine Delivery Agency Chief Executive Ian Booth said: "The Academy for Skills and Knowledge is essential in developing the vast range of talent in Barrow and ensures that the workforce is equipped with the best possible tools needed to meet the ever-growing demands placed on the UK's submarine construction industry." The Submarine Academy for Skills and Knowledge will provide around 2,500 people a month - including 600 apprentices from across industry and the Ministry of Defence - with invaluable skills and training to benefit the work carried out on the Dreadnought and Astute submarine programmes. Cliff Robson, Managing Director of BAE Systems Submarines, said: "This is a fantastic facility that will provide a unique environment in which to train our growing workforce. Our investment in skills will not only ensure we have a pipeline of world-class talent available to deliver our complex programmes, but will also positively contribute to the economic prosperity of the region and the UK's engineering industry." "The new academy will give our current and future workforce access to the very latest in learning and development, demonstrating our lasting commitment not just to our current employees but to those who will join our company in years to come." Today's funding announcement comes a year after the launch of the Government's Industrial Strategy, which set out a long-term plan to boost the productivity and earning power of people throughout the UK. It demonstrates how defence is building a Britain fit for the future how we will help businesses create better, higher-paying jobs in every part of the UK with investment in skills, industries and infrastructure. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Ukraine's Parliament Approves Bill To Terminate Friendship Treaty With Russia By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service December 06, 2018 KYIV -- Ukraine's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, has approved a move by President Petro Poroshenko to terminate the country's Treaty of Friendship with Russia. On December 6, 277 lawmakers voted to terminate the treaty by allowing it to expire. Passage of the bill required only 226 votes. The treaty is due to expire on March 31, 2019. Under the Ukrainian legislation, it will not be prolonged after that date. Signed in 1997, the treaty obliges Russia and Ukraine to "respect the territorial integrity of each other and confirm inviolability of current mutual borders." It also says that Ukraine and Russia should build bilateral relations "based on principles of mutual respect of sovereign equality, inviolability of borders, peaceful resolution of differences, without use of force or threat to use force." Ukrainian government forces have been fighting against Russia-backed separatists in the eastern Ukraine since April 2014, shortly after Russia military forces seized Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and annexed the territory. Although Moscow denies interfering in Ukraine's domestic affairs, the International Criminal Court (ICC) in November 2016 ruled that the fighting in eastern Ukraine is "an international armed conflict between Ukraine and the Russian Federation." Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-s-parliament -approves-bill-to-terminate-friendship- treaty-with-russia/29641280.html Copyright (c) 2018. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address At OSCE Meeting, Ukraine Pleads For Ramped-Up Russia Sanctions By RFE/RL December 06, 2018 Ukraine has used a gathering of foreign ministers of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to call for increased sanctions against Russia, accusing Moscow of stepping up "aggression" against Kyiv and sowing "instability and insecurity" in the OSCE region. "It is a matter of urgency to provide a prompt and consolidated international response," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin told the OSCE meeting in Milan, Italy, on December 6, amid heightened tensions between Kyiv and Moscow following a naval confrontation in the Black Sea last month. "Declarations are not enough. There must be action," Klimkin also said, while U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Wess Mitchell said Russia's actions in eastern Ukraine and the Crimean Peninsula have caused "Europe's largest humanitarian crisis in a generation." However, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov pinned the blame for years of tensions on Ukraine's "outrageous actions" and its "Western sponsors." The European Union, the United States, and other countries have imposed sanctions on Russia over Moscow's seizure of Ukraine's Crimea region in March 2014 and its support for separatists in a conflict that has killed more than 10,300 people in eastern Ukraine since April 2014. The situation escalated on November 25 when Russia fired on three Ukrainian naval vessels that were attempting to pass through the Kerch Strait between Russia and Crimea, and ultimately seized the ships and 24 crewmen, who remain in Russian captivity. In his speech at the OSCE ministerial meeting, Klimkin said, "This year, Russia did not pull back but extended its aggressive course of action." "The scope of Russia is clear: gross and uncorrected violations of the OSCE principles and commitments. It is massive and continues to grow," he also said. "What does it mean for all of us in the OSCE? It means instability and insecurity." Ukraine and Russia are both member states of the 57-nation OSCE, a security and human rights watchdog. The minister reiterated his country's call for the "immediate release and safe return to Ukraine" of the sailors, a demand voiced by EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, who also urged the "greatest moderation to proceed toward a deescalation" of the conflict. Meanwhile, U.S., Canadian, and a number of European ministers denounced Moscow's actions and voiced support for Kyiv. Mitchell, who headed the U.S. delegation at the meeting, emphasized again that OSCE member states "cannot turn a blind eye when Russia attacks the national sovereignty and borders of its neighbors... undermines basic human freedoms, and weakens our common security." "In the past four years, Russia has precipitated Europe's largest humanitarian crisis in a generation," he said, citing the casualty toll of the war in eastern Ukraine, Ukrainians who have been "imprisoned, tortured, and killed," and the prosecution of "Crimean Tatars and others who resist Russian rule." "Russia's destabilizing actions have prompted NATO allies to enhance their deterrence and defense posture," Mitchell also noted. Canada's Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said that Russia's "illegal annexation of Crimea, its direct involvement in the conflict in [eastern Ukraine], and now its illegal actions targeting Ukrainian sailors and vessels...cannot and must not be accepted by the international community." Moscow has accused Kyiv of orchestrating the clash at sea, saying the Ukrainian boats had entered Russian waters -- something Kyiv denies. Addressing the OSCE gathering, Lavrov asserted that Kyiv is "free from any punishment, shielded by its Western sponsors, who justify all its outrageous actions." "Striving for dominance, a small group of countries uses blackmail, pressure, and threats," the Russian foreign minister also said. Lavrov blasted the "reckless" enlargement of NATO over the past years, the deployment of U.S. antiaircraft defense systems in Europe, and the imposition of "illegitimate sanctions under false pretexts." Ukraine has responded to the November 25 confrontation by introducing martial law in parts of the country for 30 days. On December 6, President Petro Poroshenko visited an air base in the city of Zhytomyr where troops were preparing to leave for the border with Russia in order to "strengthen our defense capabilities and be ready to stop the aggressor without losing a second." In Kyiv, Ukrainian lawmakers voted to terminate the country's Treaty of Friendship with Russia and adopted a bill that officials said will allow the coast guard and the navy to be more efficient in preventing military threats and smuggling along country's territorial waters. The legislation also allows Ukrainian border guards to open fire without warning on potential attackers. With reporting by Reuters, AFP, AP, and dpa Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/at-osce-meeting -ukraine-pleads-for-ramped-up-russia- sanctions/29641731.html Copyright (c) 2018. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US, Allies Conduct Extraordinary Flight Over Ukraine Amid Kerch Row - Pentagon Sputnik News 16:59 06.12.2018(updated 17:50 06.12.2018) Russian President Vladimir Putin, while commenting on the naval incident that led to the detention of Ukrainian ships in the Kerch Strait, noted the attempt to breach the maritime border was a provocation prepared in advance as a pretext to introduce martial law in Ukraine. "Today, the United States and Allies conducted an extraordinary flight under the Open Skies Treaty", the Pentagon release said. "The timing of this flight is intended to reaffirm US commitment to Ukraine and other partner nations". The statement added that Washington can't improve ties with Moscow due to the "destabilising" activity of Russia. "The United States seeks a better relationship with Russia, but this cannot happen while its unlawful and destabilizing actions continue in Ukraine and elsewhere", the Pentagon said. The United States stated earlier that it supports Kiev in the naval incident in the Kerch Strait, when three Ukranian ships ignored Russian Border Guards while trying to enter the region. Following their detention by the Russian authorities, Ukranian President Petro Poroshenko introduced martial law in all regions bordering Russia as well as the coasts of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Ukraine Reinforcing Troops on Russian Border - President Poroshenko Sputnik News 12:06 06.12.2018(updated 13:09 06.12.2018) In November, the Ukrainian president signed a decree to impose martial law in regions bordering Russia, as well as the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, following a clash in the Kerch Strait. Ukranian President Petro Poroshenko stated on Twitter on Thursday that the country is reinforcing its military on the Russian border. "military units from the Ukrainian armed forces have been redeployed to the most dangerous directions along the entire line of our border [with Russia] in order to strengthen defensive capabilities", Poroshenko said. The news comes amid escalating tensions between Moscow and Kiev over the Ukrainian ships that were detained by Russian Border Guards after breaching the country's maritime border near the Kerch Strait. The Russian Foreign Ministry has described the Ukrainian vessels' actions as a provocation committed in violation of international law. According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Kiev's actions were aimed at establishing martial law ahead of presidential elections in Ukraine. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address In Show of Support, US Conducts Ukraine Fly-Over By Carla Babb December 06, 2018 The U.S. and its allies flew a military aircraft over Ukraine Thursday as a show of support after Russia attacked Ukrainian naval vessels in the Black Sea last month. "A U.S. Air Force OC-135 observation plane flew over Ukraine today with U.S., Canadian, German, French, United Kingdom, Romanian and Ukrainian observers aboard," Pentagon spokesman Eric Pahon told VOA. "The timing of this flight is intended to reaffirm U.S. commitment to Ukraine and other partner nations," according to a U.S. military statement. The military added that "Russia's unprovoked attack" on Ukrainian ships near the Kerch Strait on Nov. 25 is "a dangerous escalation in a pattern of increasingly provocative and threatening activity." Pahon said the observation plane left a base near Washington on Nov. 30 and flew in Ukrainian airspace after a stop in Germany. The Arms Control Directorate of the Ukrainian General Staff requested the flight under the Open Skies Treaty, which allows unarmed aerial surveillance flights over the entire territory of participating states. The treaty "promotes openness and transparency in military activities through reciprocal, unarmed observation flights," Pahon said. 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. Thursday's U.S. military flight comes a day after CNN reported the U.S. Navy is also preparing to sail a ship into the Black Sea in response to Russia's actions against Ukraine. The Pentagon has reportedly asked the State Department to inform Turkey that it planned to send a warship to the Black Sea. The United States is required to notify Turkey under a treaty that governs the passage of military vessels from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US Not Mulling Military Response to Kerch Strait Incident - Pentagon Official Sputnik News 00:27 07.12.2018(updated 00:56 07.12.2018) MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Ukrainian consuls on Thursday met with three sailors from the Ukrainian naval ships captured in Russian waters last month, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said. "Right now our consuls are meeting with our three wounded guys," Klimkin said after an OSCE meeting in Milan, Italy. The Ukrainian top diplomat said further meetings with the remaining 21 crew members were planned for this week to check on their health. Russian human rights ombudswoman Tatiana Moskalkova said the three seamen were staying in the medical ward of a Moscow prison, and their health was not in danger. Russian border guards detained three Ukrainian ships on November 25 after they entered a temporarily restricted area and tried to sail through the Kerch Strait. They ignored warnings to stop and maneuvered dangerously. One of the sailors later confessed he had been aware of the provocative nature of their actions. The Pentagon said in a press release on Thursday that the United States and its allies conducted an "extraordinary" flight over Ukraine under the Open Skies Treaty in a show of solidarity following the Kerch Strait incident. CNN reported Thursday, citing three government sources, that the US military has asked the Department of State to notify the Turkish government about its intent to sail a warship in the Black Sea. However, The US government has not discussed any military response to the Sea of Azov incident, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Joseph Dunford said on Thursday. "There is no discussions ongoing right now about a military dimension to our response to the Sea of Azov," Dunford said on Thursday in a public appearance at the Washington Post. In response to the Kerch Strait 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. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that the incident was a provocation prepared in advance as a pretext to introduce martial law in Ukraine. Putin said the provocation could be linked to Poroshenko's low approval rating ahead of the presidential election campaign set to start in late December. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Preparing to Pay Your Puerto Vallarta Property Taxes Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico - Property taxes. Just the words make most Canadian and American homeowners nervous about potential damage to their bank balance, but in Mexico you don't need to worry. Property taxes for homes and condos in the Banderas Bay region and throughout Mexico are exceptionally affordable, with a single-family home in an area like Fluvial Vallarta only owing around 3000 pesos in annual taxes. Additionally, if you pay your property taxes in January or February, you will receive a 15% discount off your bill. If this is your first time paying your property taxes in Puerto Vallarta, here is what you need to know: Property taxes may be paid at either City Hall or at UNIRSE in Fluvial. You will need a copy of the account number from your previous year's property taxes. If you are a new owner, the tax form from the previous year should be included in the documents you were provided by your notary at the closing of your sale. If not, bring the deed to your home with you to City Hall or UNIRSE. Taxes can be paid via cash, credit or debit card; however, you may not pay using a foreign card, only a bank or credit card issued by a Mexican bank. File your receipt safely away, both as proof of payment and to easily access your account number for the following year. You may also pay your property taxes using the online system, which is available in both English and Spanish, at enlinea.puertovallarta.gob.mx, but keep in mind that it will not accept payments made with a foreign credit card. Whichever way you pay, your property taxes in Mexico aren't going to make nearly the dent in your wallet that they would in other parts of North America, so you can enjoy the holiday season without the worry of a large tax bill looming. It's just another great benefit of living in Puerto Vallarta. NAWABI HYDERABAD HOUSE Now in Oakville, Canada Hello Oakville, Ontario - CA: 'Nawabi Hyderabad House Biryani Place' is extremely delighted to bring our hospitality to your neighborhood, on popular demand. After the Runaway Success of our first franchise in Brampton, we were convinced of having a new location to cater our services far and wide. To begin with, A very big Thank You from Nawabi Hyderabad House Biryani Place staff and management to our loyal customers for such a warm Welcome to Canada. The response we got was to say - plainly incredible and this had us expedite the process of having a second international location in such a quick turnaround time. So Nawabi Hyderabad House warmly welcomes all to our new franchise conveniently located in Oakville for the grand opening on 5th December 2018 and experience our finest Authentic Indian Recipes which honour the traditional values in flavour and cooking styles. The diversified menu infuses new commendable recipes and authentic flavors that embraces Hyderabad Houses famed Dum Biryanis, Curry Leaf Chicken, Monagadi Kodi Vepudu, Cashew Chicken, Ulavacharu Kodi Vepudu, Palnadu Mamsam vepudu, Avakai Chicken Biryani, Gongura Chicken Biryani, Vijayawada Chicken Biryani, Ulavacharu Biryani and Rajugari Kodi Pulav are few of the many which are easily accessible for Indian diaspora in the vicinity. Special mention of Lunch specials such as Thali to be served both in Veg and Non-Veg offered from Monday to Friday and Lunch Box for takeouts. Gear up for our Weekend specials - Serving signature dishes crafted by our in-house chefs which have been mastered over the years with true customs. While you are there, dont forget to inquire about our catering specials which are tailor-made and on demand. Excited with our new location, Franchisees Prakash Reddy, Ven Prasad and Madhuri said that it gives them immense pleasure to bring the legacy of the famous Biryanis, Pulavs, Signature Appetizers and other exclusive Indian dishes of Nawabi Hyderabad House to Oakville, Canada. In their own words from franchisee owners - Franchisors Siva Yarlagadda, Vamsi Kallepalli and Raja Kalidindi have been of great support and made the progress seamless and dependable for the future. Nawabi Hyderabad House has been and continues to be dedicated to the promotion of our Fine Indian Cuisine Culture to a wider audience. 3rd location in Canada is gearing up and is expected to open in the First Quarter of 2019. Siva Yarlagadda and Vamsi Kallepalli, are delighted to announce their expansion into Indian Market. Opening 1st location in Chennai, India during the Christmas season of 2018. For more details about the location please reach out to Jay Kumar @ 91 98843 94929. OPENING SOON LOCATIONS: - PHOENIX, AZ December 12th 2018 - MADISON, WI 2018 CHRISTMAS - Chennai, India 2018 CHRISTMAS OAKVILLE LOCATION DETAILS: ADDRESS: 1011 Upper Middle Rd East, Unit C22 Oakville, Ontario L6H4L2 Contact: (905) 338-1010 Prakash: (647) 801-4850 Prasad: (416) 419-7155 WWW.HYDERABADHOUSEOAKVILLE.COM Any Individual or Groups interested to know more about our franchise opportunities, please reach out to USA: JP (Jayaprakash Reddy) @ 309-660-2787. CANADA: Raja Kalidindi @ 647-960-4499 WWW.HYDERABADHOUSE.NET Press release by: Indian Clicks, LLC Click Here for Latest Direct-to-OTT Releases (List Updates Daily) The planned BMW-Daimler joint mobility company (earlier post) will be established at the beginning of next year. Following the approval of the project by the EU Commission, the two partners are continuing talks with the US antitrust authorities. Completion of the transaction, which was originally planned for 2018 and continues to be pursued by both partners, can no longer be achieved in the remaining weeks of this year, the partners said. With their joint venture, Daimler AG and BMW Group plan to combine their mobility services in the fields of car sharing; ride hailing; parking; charging and multimodality; and to create one of the leading providers of innovative mobility services. Both automobile manufacturers want to shape the future of mobility in order to offer their customers unique experiences and to support partners such as cities and municipalities along the way to achieving sustainable urban mobility. A study by a team from the Institute of Atmospheric Physics (IAP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and their collaborator from Purdue University has revealed a widespread decline in wind energy resources over the Northern Hemisphere. Using station observation data, the researchers found that approximately 30%, 50% and 80% of the stations lost over 30% of the wind power potential since 1979 in North America, Europe, and Asia, respectively. Their paper is published in the journal Energy. The study also revealed that global climate models (GCM) cannot replicate long-term changes on wind energy, indicating wind energy projections based on GCM simulations should be used with careful consideration to the model performance. Our study is one of the first comprehensive assessments of the GCM-based winds against surface observations over multiple continents. We found that the decline of wind energy is a widespread and potential global phenomenon. In addition, the finding that the climate models have a notable deficiency in simulating wind energy is an important conclusion that needs further attention. Qun Tian, lead author In 2016, renewable energy contributes more than 19% to the global final energy consumption. Of all the renewable energy sources, wind is one of the key players in terms of installed electricity generating capacity, only exceeded by hydropower. Wind energy is a natural resource characterized by instability. Previous studies mainly focus on the assessment of wind energy reserves, but its not clear how the wind energy evolves over time. Resources Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 7) President Rodrigo Duterte has asked Congress to extend martial law in Mindanao, heeding the recommendation of the military and the police, Malacanang said. This was first confirmed to CNN Philippines by Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo, citing Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea. In a statement, Panelo said Duterte has requested the Congress to approve the extension for one more year starting January 2019. "The Palace confirms that the President has requested Congress to approve the further extension of martial law and the suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus in the whole of Mindanao for another year starting next month," the spokesman said in a statement. Panelo said the further extension will be beneficial in promoting overall security, peace, and order in the area. "A halt may only frustrate the progress we are witnessing in Mindanao and may even strengthen the rebellion and propel it to other parts of the country," he added. The letter requesting for an extension would be sent out on Monday, Senate Majority Leader Migz Zubiri told CNN Philippines. This is the same day when the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) would brief senators, according to Senate President Tito Sotto. Zubiri said senators would also invite economic managers to the security briefing by the AFP as he wants to know how martial law has affected Mindanao's economy. Sotto said Duterte is eyeing to call on Congress to convene in a joint session on Wednesday, December 12, to decide whether or not lawmakers will grant his request for an extension of martial law in the southern Philippines for the third time. House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has said that she would recommend to the lower chamber to grant the request for a third extension of martial law in southern Philippines. The majority leaders of both houses have also said they would back the move. For his part, Senator Dick Gordon said martial law is being implemented well in Mindanao and that he has yet to receive reports of abuse. At least three cases have been filed before the Commission on Human rights alleging abuse by the military during the implementation of martial law. The AFP, the Philippine National Police and the Defense department have all recommended for martial law in Mindanao to be extended for another year to completely eradicate terrorist activity in the region and because of strong clamor from residents and local government officials for its extension. Opposition lawmakers have questioned this, saying there is no more reason for martial law to be extended for another year. 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 in May 2017. Two months later, Congress agreed to extend martial law to until December 31, 2017. Weeks before that extension lapsed, the legislature again granted another extension to until the end of 2018. "Dapat talaga may grand plan ang military matapos ang problema na 'yan. 'Yan ba ang bagong normal? 'Di pwede bagong normal 'yan. Magtatanong ako diyan, 'Kailan ba matatapos problema na 'yan at ano ang problema sa social side para matulungan ang military na 'di na humaba pa 'yan," Gordon said. [Translation: The military should have a grand plan to end that problem. Is that the new normal? That cannot be the new normal. I will ask, 'When would this problem end and what is the problem on the social side so we can help the military and this won't lengthen further.] Both houses would convene in a joint session after Duterte sends letters to their respective leaders requesting for an extension of martial law. There, they would vote jointly to decide whether to grant or reject this bid. The lower house, dominated by Duterte's allies, outnumber the 23-member Senate and has consistently voted in favor of the President's policies. This is a developing story. Refresh this page for updates. CNN Philippines Correspondent Joyce Ilas contributed to this report. Most people's mornings begin with the resounding ring of an alarm to alert them to the start of a new day. What actually wakes many of these early risers, however, is a hot cup of coffee. While distinct and bold flavors of the caffeinated delicacy abound, only one in Connecticut is good enough to be ranked among the best in the U.S. That's because new Forbes holiday gift guide names Willoughby's Coffee & Tea of Branford, Conn. among the 12 best coffee roasters in the U.S., citing the company's "paradox of expertise and innovation" as just one of the reasons for their inclusion in their national gift guide. Offering everything from unblended coffees to french roasts, flavored specialities to decaffeinated blends, Willoughby's delivers a selection of coffees for aficionados and casual drinkers alike. For Forbes, one class of Willoughby's coffee stands out among the rest: their Serious Select coffees. Featuring "rare and highly allocated coffees from all over the world," Willoughby's Serious Select poses a unique and exclusive coffee experience that makes for a perfect gift for the coffee-obsessed person in your life. Willoughby's co-founder Barry Levine explained that these coffees, bought at auctions and through direct trade relationships, are often made from rare beans or unique, flavor-altering processes and are usually only available for sale at Willoughby's for two-week spans, sometimes even less. "We roast these coffees on Tuesdays for our mail order customers, and then roast them a second time during the week for our retail stores," Levine said. "It's available for two weeks, but sometimes, we don't have enough for that time. If we do and it was a good seller, we'll bring it back again. But usually, it's one and done." But buyer beware: Serious Select coffees come with seriously hefty price tags. Willoughby's latest selection their Panama Mama Cata Geisha Washed coffee, which brews into a "sweet and floral" cup with "flavors of apricots and strawberries" sells for $54 per 12 ounces. More Information Willoughby's Coffee & Tea Locations 258 Church Street (Corner Grove) New Haven, CT 194 York Street New Haven, CT 550 E. Main Street Branford, CT 752 Boston Post Road Madison, CT See More Collapse There is, however, good reason for the Mama Cata's otherworldly cost, Levine offered. "The geisha variety is about the most sought after and expensive varietal out there," he said. "With this Mama Cata Geisha, we got two lots of 50 pounds and bought it directly from the farm, even cupped it on site." With its rarity apparent and its distinct flavor to be discovered by coffee lovers in Connecticut and beyond, Levine said its price is worth the number of times it can be enjoyed. "While it's priced higher than other coffees on the main list, it evens out. One pound of coffee makes about 50 cups, so a $50-per-pound coffee will come out to about $1 per cup at home," he said. Whether or not the Serious Select coffees make for your daily cup of joe, you can stop at any of Willoughby's locations on Church Street and York Street in New Haven, on East Main Street in Branford and on the Boston Post Road in Madison to find the perfect everyday coffee (or tea) to suit your tastebuds. As for Levine, to finally be included on Forbes' list is something for him and for Willoughby's at large to be proud of. "I see these lists periodically, and it's really nice to 'get in the group,' as they say," Levine shared. "We've been at this a long time, and we were very early in what is now a big wave in specialty coffee, so we've had many years to refine our sourcing network and roasting skills and all the things that go into producing top-quality coffee." GREENWICH The Board of Selectmen on Thursday approved road closures to facilitate two projects by Eversource Energy repairs to prevent widespread blackouts like those experienced in September; and the start of construction of a controversial new substation on Railroad Avenue. The repair work will cause traffic problems in downtown Greenwich on Monday and Tuesday. Parts of Mason Street and Bruce Park Avenue will be blocked as crews work above and below ground to install new cable and other equipment to forestall significant power outages like those that hit the town over two days of a heat wave in September. The outages were the result of two underground circuits failing within 30 minutes of each other, according to the power company, which affected the utilitys Prospect Street substation and the customers it serves. The work will involve balancing circuits on Greenwich Avenue so too much strain is not placed on one. Were looking to do the majority of the work at night to have the minimal amount of impact, said Tracey Alston, Eversources community relations specialist. First Selectman Peter Tesei questioned why the work was being done now when the downtown area is so busy for the holiday season. Alston said Eversources preference was to do it now before usage spikes later in the winter as people heat their homes. Alston said the repair work likely will be done in three phases, future dates to be determined. Our engineers and (people in) distribution have gone through and assessed the area of that full feed to really look at if there were areas we could improve, upgrade or change out, Alston said. These will be phased approaches because this will be a long time and were trying to have the least impact to the residents and businesses in that area. Traffic next week will be detoured from the intersection of Bruce Park Avenue and Mason Street. As part of the work, Eversource will also have to have crews out between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m. Monday morning at other downtown locations, including Havemeyer Place, Lewis Street and the YMCA. However work there will not require road closures. Substation The selectmen also gave unanimous approval to a series of closures and detours that will be needed for work to commence in January on the substation project. Under the current plan, the new substation will be built at 290 Railroad Avenue and then connected via underground transmission lines to the existing substation in Cos Cob. The Connecticut Siting Council gave its approval to the substation over the towns objection in 2017, prompting local officials to file an appeal last December. Settlement negotiations are ongoing; Tesei said he hopes a resolution comes before the selectmen soon. Its in process and I think there are negotiations that have been ongoing with Public Works and town administration, Tesei said. On Thursday the Board of Selectmen approved a series of 11 road closures and detours that will be needed in the area, affecting Sound Shore Drive, Indian Field Road, Bruce Park Drive, Wood Road, Davis Avenue, Museum Drive, Steamboat Road and Railroad Avenue. Closures will not take place all at once but will be scattered throughout the construction process, which is expected to last through 2019. We will be sharing the detours as they come up on the calendar, Alston said. The selectmen said it is important that as much information as possible be shared with the public. This is an area where we cannot overcommunicate, Selectman Sandy Litvack said. Overcommunicating is really the mantra here, especially this time of year, Tesei said. You need to make all the stakeholders aware. Tesei said residents should get daily updates on the work whenever possible, and added it could be posted on the towns website as well. kborsuk@greenwichtime.com WASHINGTON - Federal prosecutors filed new court papers Friday directly implicating President Donald Trump in plans to buy women's silence as far back as 2014 and offering new evidence of Russian efforts to forge a political alliance with Trump before he became president - disclosures that show the deepening political and legal morass enveloping the administration. The separate filings came from special counsel Robert Mueller III and federal prosecutors in New York ahead of Wednesday's sentencing of Trump's former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen. Taken together, the documents suggest that the president's legal woes are far from over and reveal a previously unreported contact from a Russian to Trump's inner circle during the campaign. But the documents do not answer the central question at the heart of Mueller's work - whether the president or those around him conspired with the Kremlin. The documents offer a scathing portrait of his former lawyer as a criminal who deserves little sympathy or mercy because he held back from telling the FBI everything he knew. For that reason, prosecutors said, he should be sentenced to "substantial" prison time, suggesting possibly 3 1/2 years. Trump immediately declared that he was vindicated. "Totally clears the president. Thank you!" he tweeted. White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said the Cohen filings "tell us nothing of value that wasn't already known." The special counsel's office said Cohen had provided "useful information" about its ongoing probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election, as well as "relevant information" about his contacts with people connected to the White House between 2017 and 2018. Mueller revealed that Cohen told prosecutors about what seemed to be a previously unknown November 2015 contact with a Russian national, who claimed to be a "trusted person" in the Russian Federation offering the campaign "political synergy" and "synergy on a government level." Cohen told investigators that the person, who was not identified, repeatedly proposed a meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying that such a meeting could have a "phenomenal" impact, "not only in political but in a business dimension as well," the special counsel's office wrote. Cohen, though, did not follow up on the invitation, because he was already working on a Trump project in Moscow through a different person he believed to have Russian government connections, the special counsel's office wrote. Prosecutors also singled out Trump as being directly involved in efforts to buy the silence of women who might level public allegations about him. The memo from New York prosecutors identifies three people at an August 2014 meeting: Cohen, "Individual 1" and "Chairman 1." The document elsewhere identifies Individual 1 as Trump, and people familiar with the case said Chairman 1 is David Pecker of the National Enquirer. "In August 2014, Chairman-1 had met with Cohen and Individual-1, and had offered to help deal with negative stories about Individual-1's relationships with women by identifying such stories so that they could be purchased and 'killed,' " the prosecutors' memorandum says. Cohen pleaded guilty in August to violating campaign finance law when he arranged payments to an adult-film star during the 2016 election. At the same time, he pleaded guilty to a handful of other crimes, including making a false statement to a bank. In recent weeks, he pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about efforts during the 2016 presidential campaign to get a Trump-branded tower built in Moscow. Cohen had asked for a sentence of no prison time, citing his cooperation with investigators. Mueller's office gave him some credit for his assistance, saying that while his crime was "serious," he had "taken significant steps to mitigate his criminal conduct." "He chose to accept responsibility for his false statements and admit to his conduct in open court. He also has gone to significant lengths to assist the Special Counsel's investigation," the office wrote. New York prosecutors, however, were far harsher in their assessment of Cohen's character, saying he should get only a modest reduction in an expected prison sentence of about five years. In their 38-page filing, they suggest he should receive about 3 1/2 years in prison. "He seeks extraordinary leniency - a sentence of no jail time - based principally on his rose-colored view of the seriousness of the crimes; his claims to a sympathetic personal history; and his provision of certain information to law enforcement," prosecutors wrote in their filing. "But the crimes committed by Cohen were more serious than his submission allows and were marked by a pattern of deception that permeated his professional life." The filing also suggests that Cohen's cooperation with law enforcement was not so significant to the investigations swirling around the president. "To be clear: Cohen does not have a cooperation agreement and is not . . . properly described as a 'cooperating witness,' as that term is commonly used in this District," the prosecutors wrote. Prosecutors also accused Cohen of holding back some of what he knew. "This Office understands that the information provided by Cohen to [Mueller's office] was ultimately credible and useful to its ongoing investigation," prosecutors wrote, but said they would not give him a legal letter detailing his cooperation because "Cohen repeatedly declined to provide full information about the scope of any additional criminal conduct in which he may have engaged or had knowledge." The two memos were submitted to U.S. District Court Judge William Pauley III, who is scheduled to sentence Cohen. Robert Mintz, a former federal prosecutor now in private practice, said the filings show that Cohen "was trying to have it both ways" and that, instead of succeeding, he became "a textbook example of how not to cooperate with federal prosecutors." Mueller submitted a seven-page memo that doesn't take any firm position on how long Cohen should spend in prison. In their memo, New York federal prosecutors lambasted Cohen, detailing his lies to the IRS and banks and his gaming of the campaign finance system - acts that prosecutors said were driven largely by his "own ambition and greed." Cohen, they claimed, relished the role of being Trump's "fixer," trying to use it to win a role in the administration, and then, when that failed, he set out to swindle companies out of money by tricking them into thinking he could provide access and insight. In reality, though, they said Cohen was not much more than "a man whose outlook on life was often to cheat," and he did not deserve to be spared entirely because he finally decided to plead guilty. "After cheating the IRS for years, lying to banks and to Congress, and seeking to criminally influence the Presidential election, Cohen's decision to plead guilty - rather than seek a pardon for his manifold crimes - does not make him a hero," prosecutors wrote. Prosecutors repeatedly highlighted what they suggested was minimal information provided by Cohen, noting that while he also met with New York state investigators and tax authorities, that cooperation "warrants little to no consideration as a mitigating factor" because Cohen told them nothing of value beyond what they would probably have gotten without his help. The Mueller memo says that Cohen "repeated many of his prior false statements" when he met with the special counsel's office in August, and it was only in a second meeting on Sept. 12 - after he pleaded guilty to the campaign finance charges - that he admitted "his prior statements about the Moscow Project had been deliberately false and misleading." The special counsel's office wrote that Cohen's lies to Congress "obscured the fact that the Moscow Project was a lucrative business opportunity that sought, and likely required, the assistance of the Russian government," and that, if completed, the Trump Organization could have received "hundreds of millions of dollars from Russian sources in licensing fees and other revenues." They noted, as Cohen had already admitted, that Cohen and Trump discussed the project "well into the campaign." The special counsel's office added, though, that Cohen "has gone to significant lengths to assist the Special Counsel's investigation." The office wrote that Cohen had "explained financial aspects of the deal that would have made it highly lucrative," and, without prompting, he had corrected other statements he made about his contacts with Russian officials during the campaign. For example, Cohen said in a radio interview in September 2015 that Trump should meet with the president of Russia during the United Nations General Assembly, and he claimed for a time afterward that the comment had been "spontaneous" and not discussed with members of the campaign. In fact, the special counsel's office said, Cohen later admitted that he had conferred with Trump about contacting the Russian government for the meeting - which ultimately did not take place. In asking for a sentence of no prison time, Cohen stressed his extensive cooperation with Mueller as well as investigators from other agencies. His lawyers linked his wrongdoing directly to Trump, writing that Cohen was motivated to pay the women to keep quiet and lie to Congress out of his "fierce loyalty" to Trump. Trump had publicly denied the affairs and said he "stayed away" from business in Russia. "He could have fought the government and continued to hold to the party line, positioning himself perhaps for a pardon or clemency, but, instead - for himself, his family, and his country - he took personal responsibility for his own wrongdoing and contributed, and is prepared to continue to contribute, to an investigation that he views as thoroughly legitimate and vital," Cohen's lawyers wrote in court papers submitted last week. For his part, Trump ridiculed Cohen's request on Twitter and seemed to contrast him with Roger Stone, a longtime Trump adviser who has suggested publicly that he would be unwilling to cooperate against the president. Of Cohen, Trump said, "He lied for this outcome and should, in my opinion, serve a full and complete sentence." Of Stone, he said, "Nice to know that some people still have 'guts!' " --- Video Embed Code Video: Federal prosecutors filed new court papers on Dec. 7 that revealed a previously unreported contact from a Russian to Trump's inner circle during the campaign.(Melissa Macaya ,Monica Akhtar/The Washington Post) Embed code: WROCLAW, Poland - The police came in the pre-dawn stillness of a freezing February morning in southwestern Poland, knocking at the door of a national hero who had once again become a wanted man. There was a time when Wladyslaw Frasyniuk would have run. As the daring and profane bad boy of Solidarity, Poland's underground pro-democracy movement, he had lived as a fugitive from the smothering grip of the communist state security services, jumping from trains, fleeing along rooftops and speeding away on motorcycles. But that was long ago. Back before the authoritarian regime he was fighting came crashing down, unleashing a new era of freedom in 1989. Before a 2015 election yielded a government determined to use the liberties and powers of a modern democratic state to snuff out independent institutions. Before Frasyniuk came to realize that history doesn't travel in only one direction. "Everything that my generation accomplished," said Frasyniuk, a revolutionary in his 20s who has become a dissident once more in his 60s, "has made it easier and easier for this government to consolidate its control." Autocracy is making a comeback, seeping into parts of the world where it once appeared to have been vanquished. But it is a sleeker, subtler and, ultimately, more sophisticated version than its authoritarian forebears, twisting democratic structures and principles into tools of oppression and state control. It is also, quite possibly, far more potent and enduring than autocracies of old. After decades of steady expansion of rights and liberties, the pro-democracy watchdog Freedom House has recorded sharp reversals, with the share of nations dubbed "free" declining since 2007. Countries in every region of the world have suffered setbacks, in areas such as free and fair elections, the independence of the press, the rights of minorities and the rule of law. As Americans worry about the health of their own democracy, the lesson from abroad is that the decline can come bracingly fast. It has in Central and Eastern Europe, a region that, three decades ago, was at the vanguard of the last great act of the 20th century: the triumph of liberal democracy over dictatorship behind the Iron Curtain. Led by young activists like Frasyniuk, Poland and its neighbors ushered in the supposed end of history. Today, the region is on the front lines of history's march in reverse. The democratic society that Frasyniuk fought for is in retreat, while a new breed of autocrat advances. "It's not autocracy. It's neo-autocracy," said Cristian Parvulescu, dean of the National School of Political Studies and Public Administration in Romania, a country that critics fear is trending away from the rule of law. "It's not democracy. It's post-democracy." Some governments in the region, such as Hungary's, are deep down the road toward indefinite one-party rule. Leaders in other countries, such as the Czech Republic, only seem to aspire to that sort of absolute authority. But wherever signs of autocracy are emerging, this much is true: They bear little resemblance to the obviously repressive methods so familiar from school textbooks chronicling 20th-century despotism. There are no strutting soldiers in the streets or cults of personality around the great leader. Opponents and journalists speak openly and loudly, generally without fear of persecution. Instead of building walls to keep their own people in, governments construct tech-laden fences to keep supposed enemies out. Instead of economic isolation and scarcity, a gusher of foreign investment flows. And yet, ruling politicians and parties have managed to consolidate power to a degree not seen since the communist era. Supposedly independent institutions - including courts and prosecutor's offices - have become instruments of political control. Newspapers and television stations are bought up by friendly business executives and dutifully preach the government's line. Elections still take place, but they are used as justification for the majority to impose its will rather than a chance for the minority to have its say. "In every respect, it looks like Europe. But you don't actually have the freedoms that makes Europe what it is," said Michael Ignatieff, a Canadian human rights scholar and president of the Budapest-based Central European University (CEU). "It's new political technology." His university has been a victim of that innovation. Deemed a political enemy because it was founded by liberal philanthropist George Soros, the highly regarded institution has been a top target of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. He has denounced CEU in speeches, and his government has passed legislation designed to make it difficult, if not impossible, for the American-accredited school to operate. But in keeping with the new style, Orban avoided shutting down the university outright - and the storm of condemnation that would come with such a move. Instead, he left CEU dangling in limbo for nearly two years and gave himself a small measure of deniability when it opted to retreat into exile this month. The U.S. ambassador to Hungary, David Cornstein, used that ambiguity to blame Soros, not Orban, for the exit. Orban, considered the architect of the region's new autocratic model, has boasted of his desire to replace outmoded notions of liberal democracy with "illiberal democracy." Others who stand accused of turning their countries away from basic freedoms deny the charge and insist that, in 21st-century Europe, it can't even be done. "There's a principle of irreversibility. Once you reach a certain standard of democracy and human rights, you can't go back," Romanian Justice Minister Tudorel Toader said. He spoke in an interview in his office across the street from the "People's House," a 1980s-era marble monument to dictatorial megalomania - and now the seat of Romania's parliament. Toader this year forced the firing of a crusading anti-corruption prosecutor who was investigating top government officials. He has also helped push through legislation that independent authorities have said will severely limit the power of other prosecutors to hold the powerful to account. But autocracy? Hardly, he says. "People have the freedom to choose where to travel, where to live, where to work. These are things that people didn't even dare to dream about under communism," said the former law professor who is now seen by critics as an archenemy of the rule of law. "A Romanian can take a plane and go see the Statue of Liberty. You can't turn him backwards." That is what worries Frasyniuk. He served four years in a communist prison - and endured frequent beatings from guards - because he wanted his Polish countrymen to know the freedoms of democracy. But in the past three years, ever since the right-wing Law and Justice party won elections, he has watched the government use the liberties for which he fought to tighten its grip. The election victory became a pretext for the takeover of previously independent institutions. The country's membership in the European Union was transformed into a shield against charges of oppression and a foil in Poland's long-standing quest for sovereignty. Its integration into the global economy - and the fast-paced growth that has come with it - put money in people's pockets, overriding more abstract concerns about the rule of law. Frasyniuk became a successful businessman after communism's fall. But Law and Justice's rise brought him back to the streets. An anti-government protest in June of 2017 led to a brief scuffle with police and an investigation with which he refused to cooperate. That was enough to draw officers to his door in February - though the tactics were less conspicuously brute-force than in the old days. "Authorities used to treat people like me in a serious manner," Frasyniuk said, a note of wistful disgust in his voice, his mischievous blue eyes gleaming. "They broke down doors and threw you to the ground." If the style was new, the outcome that cold day was familiar. Frasyniuk was handcuffed behind his back and led away, a throwback to a time when he had "golden miles membership" at his local police precinct. "I'm proof," he said, "that you can get a complete historical cycle in one lifetime." Still fit but graying at age 64, he is again on the front lines of a freedom struggle. But this time, the blind courage of youth is gone. He knows the advantage lies with the autocrats. - - - Just about every day this year, Malgorzata Gersdorf has put on a power suit and shown up at Poland's Supreme Court, a modern glass building framed by faux-copper columns, etched with the scales of justice, in central Warsaw. Her fellow judges recognize her as the court's leader. She works in the chief justice's chambers. But the government declared her retired in July. "It's a difference of interpretation," Gersdorf said matter-of-factly this fall during an interview in her office, where a fine old grandfather clock ticks away. "Mine is based on the constitution." The Polish word for it - Konstytucja - dangles from her necklace in cubed black and white letters, like a shield. But she doubts its ability to protect her. The right-wing, populist Law and Justice party has followed a determined path to remake the Polish courts, arguing that the last vestiges of the communist era need to be purged - even though holdover judges have already gone through a rigorous screening process. Soon after winning the 2015 elections, the party effectively took over the Constitutional Tribunal, packing the court with friendly judges. Then it moved on to the National Council of the Judiciary, giving itself final say over a body that, as Poland's arbiter of judicial independence, had been relatively free of political influence. Finally, it took aim at the Supreme Court. Constitutionally, Gersdorf's term as chief justice runs until 2020. But the government has tried to force her and dozens of Supreme Court colleagues into early retirement. It has sought to replace them - and to fill dozens of newly created seats - in a process that has been boycotted by nearly all of the nation's judges and denounced by European authorities. "It's all been completely different than what you teach your students about what law is," said Gersdorf, a professor before she became a judge. "At first, we got so dizzy, we all got sick. "Now we're used to it. Now we never say, 'Well, they can't do that,' because, the fact is, they can do anything." To Law and Justice supporters - and others in the region brandishing the will of the people as a weapon - this is how democracy is supposed to work. To the victor go the spoils. And those include control not only of the courts but also the constitution, prosecutor's offices, public media, intelligence services, the civil service and other supposedly independent constraints on executive power. Hungary's government has even cracked down on civil society organizations with the justification that NGOs helping refugees were never elected to anything. In this view, defenders of judges or bureaucrats or nonprofits are blocking the majority's desires and using seemingly principled stands to mask their grievance at having been bested at the polls. "Sometimes you win, and sometimes you lose," said Malgorzata Zuk, a party activist and Warsaw lawmaker. "Sadly, there are some people who will never accept the results." But to Gersdorf, it is a perversion of democracy - a deliberate misinterpretation of the checks on political power and the ultimate authority of the constitution. "It's a very dangerous direction," she said, one that ultimately leads to "the destruction of the Polish justice system." The government didn't try to stop her from showing up to work, knowing, perhaps, that to do so would provoke a clash. But with once-vast protests dwindling and options for halting the government's takeover seemingly at their end, Gersdorf had all but accepted she would soon be ousted. Then, the unexpected: An October ruling by the European Court of Justice temporarily blocked the forced retirements. Local elections, meanwhile, dealt the ruling party a surprise setback. Late last month, the government retreated, introducing and passing legislation in a single day that will allow Gersdorf and her colleagues to keep their jobs. Gersdorf's fleeting hopes have been vindicated - at least for now. "In general, Polish society loves freedom," she said. "It will rebel." - - - When two lead dancers with the fabled Bolshoi Ballet company decided to defect during a U.S. tour in 1979, their escape from Soviet minders at a packed Los Angeles auditorium required daring, luck and precision-timed choreography. When Balazs Kadar, a 26-year-old dancer, decided this summer he had had enough of Hungary's repressive government, he visited an employment office and was told he could have a job in Germany by the following Monday. He canceled his lease. He sold his car. He said a tearful goodbye to his mom and packed two suitcases. Then he and his girlfriend hailed a ride-share service and sped down the highway to a new life. "Some friends said I shouldn't leave Hungary - that I should stay here and fight if I want it to be different," said Kadar, who is tall with Justin Bieber-esque looks. "But this is the easiest way. To leave everything and start again." The EU's free movement rules were intended to maximize flexibility in the labor market, giving workers the chance to move anywhere on the continent in search of a job. But they have also given autocrats like Orban a useful safety valve. Anyone dissatisfied with his government can pick up and go, with not even a passport check standing in the way of self-imposed exile. Since the prime minister came to power in 2010, hundreds of thousands of people have left the country in one of the biggest migrations of Hungary's recent history. And although many have been motivated by higher wages elsewhere on the continent, political factors have loomed large, as well. "The problem is not only the wages," said Agnes Hars, senior researcher at Budapest's Kopint-Tarki Institute for Economic Research. "It's the whole environment that makes people depressed." Those who have left tend to be young, ambitious and educated. That's not a problem for Orban, who pulls his support from the less educated, poorer and older segments of society. But it is a crisis for anyone trying to organize opposition to his rule. "There's no protest in Hungary, because people can emigrate instead," Hars said. It's not only individuals. This summer, the Soros-funded Open Society Foundations - which, among other things, advocates for a free media and the protection of minorities - packed up and moved to Berlin amid an onslaught of government harassment. Central European University is on its way to Vienna. Kadar decided to move after spring elections confirmed Orban's third straight landslide victory had given him a parliamentary supermajority. He didn't feel he could stay in a country where the government was so hostile toward gay rights, so disdainful of the arts or so stacked in favor of one man and his allies. "Now we know things will never change," said Kadar, a classical dancer by training who took a job stocking a warehouse in southwestern Germany. As freedom of movement siphons off would-be dissenters, EU subsidies line the pockets of favored government cronies. And free trade across the bloc gives Hungary the sort of powerful allies that communist governments of old could never have dreamed of. When BMW was searching for a spot to build its first European factory in more than a decade, it chose Debrecen, a tidy city of 200,000 people on the eastern Hungarian plains. Amid corn and wheat fields, a billion-euro factory will rise, further transforming a once-rundown post-communist backwater that has become a hub of German industrial might, with daily nonstop flights to Munich. Continental politicians periodically denounce Orban as a stain on European democracy. And Orban frequently rails against EU meddling. But between Europe's corporate giants and Orban, there's a low-cost love affair. "Business expectations are at record levels," gushed German-Hungarian Chamber of Industry and Commerce spokesman Dirk Wolfer. Under Orban, he said, "the investment climate has been constantly improving" with a corporate tax rate that's "unbeatable." He scoffed at concerns over human rights or the rule of law, and described attempts by the EU to hold Hungary to account as "an irritation for the business community." "At a certain point, the companies can tell the politicians, 'calm down,' " said Laszlo Posan, a member of Orban's party who represents Debrecen in the Hungarian parliament. "Companies feel good in Hungary. They don't let politicians distract from reality." - - - Vladimir Ciobotaru and his wife welcomed a baby boy to the world this week. They had the Romanian government to thank. Ciobotaru is a surgeon, which, until recently, meant a salary that came nowhere near the minimum wage in any Western European nation. Even by Romanian standards, it was paltry, the equivalent of less than $600 per month. He and his wife shared a cramped, single-room apartment, and the idea of starting a family seemed impossible. Then the government doubled Ciobotaru's pay. The couple moved to an airy new apartment. They're thinking of buying a car. "I'm so happy," said the 32-year-old. "This gave me the security to have a child." The pay hike for doctors - the vast majority of whom are public sector workers - has also given a measure of security to Romania's government. Romania is decried by watchdogs as one of the most corrupt countries in Europe and denounced by EU leaders as an autocracy-in-training. But its economy is gaining strength - Romania saw 6.9 percent gross domestic product growth last year - and the government in Bucharest has managed to maintain its popularity in part by spreading a bit of the newfound wealth. Poland and Hungary have also enjoyed rapid growth, low unemployment and - even though pay is still well below continental averages - rising wages. Their treasuries flush, Hungary has mailed cash vouchers to retirees and introduced grants for homeowners; Poland has begun paying people to have more children. Political scientists have long theorized that growth and prosperity help sustain democracies, with the presence of a robust middle class guarding against a slide into authoritarianism. But these European governments are proving that democracy's economic dividends can also be used as a tool to cement power. The money helps leaders keep their populations happy. It also gives them cash to burn on vanity projects, influence operations and, of course, patronage networks populated by favored cronies. In Romania, the leader of the ruling Social Democrats - a wealthy businessman-turned-politician named Liviu Dragnea - has been twice convicted on corruption and vote-rigging charges. It was amid subsequent accusations of even greater graft that his government ousted the nation's top fraud prosecutor and pushed legislation that experts say will keep other investigators off the trail. Muzzling of corruption watchdogs has been a trademark of growing executive authority elsewhere in the region. "There's a contagion effect," said Elena Calistru, who leads the Romanian civic advocacy group Funky Citizens. "Our guys have seen that it's worked for Poland, and it's worked for Hungary. Now they're trying to do the same." And many Romanians don't seem too bothered. Romania is still the EU's second poorest country, with large segments of the population scratching out a meager living in the agrarian countryside. But in Bucharest - a capital city that was leveled and rebuilt in dreary dictator style under the communists - there's now a bit of bling: posh dance clubs, and shopping malls with enough glitz to rival any in the West. Meanwhile, the world's largest Orthodox cathedral is rising near the city's center, with plans to top it with Europe's biggest bell. In a devout nation, the mostly government-funded project has earned the ruling party credibility. Ciobotaru, for one, is a die-hard party supporter, even if few in his social circle share his views. The surgeon and his wife recently had friends over for dinner at their new apartment. Then politics came up, with Ciobotaru arguing that overzealous prosecutors - not ruling party politicians - are the true threat to Romanian democracy. Their guests left before the main course. - - - Prime Minister Andrej Babis was facing a revolt. He had vowed that the Czech Republic would never accept a single refugee, but in September parliamentarians were barraging him with demands to make an exception: Couldn't the country take 50 Syrian orphans? Then came a stirring piece in Lidove Noviny - the country's oldest and long its most distinguished newspaper - that seemed to bail him out. Written by a Czech doctor with long experience on war's front lines, it argued that the orphans would be better off left exactly where they were. The only trouble: The doctor and her supposed humanitarian aid organization appear not to exist. And the piece had come to the paper straight from the office of Andrej Babis, who in addition to being prime minister also happens to be Lidove Noviny's owner. "It became completely clear that Babis feeds the paper stories that are in his interest," said Petra Prochazkova, who covered wars in Chechnya, Afghanistan and beyond for Lidove Noviny during a 26-year career - and who uncovered the deception around the supposed doctor. "The newspaper is complicit." In the days of Soviet client-states, the media were state-run and the Communist Party's control was total. Today, it's the power of capitalism that gives politicians outsize influence over the press. Across Central Europe, newspapers and television stations have been bought up by oligarchs allied with ruling party politicians. In some cases, the oligarch and the politician are one and the same. Babis, the Czech Republic's second-richest man, purchased Lidove Noviny in 2013, just as he was launching a second career in politics. The paper had been the favorite of Vaclav Havel - the playwright, dissident and, ultimately, president - as well as others among the Czech intelligentsia. Babis's purchase, which also included a mass-market daily, a television station and a radio station, instantly made him one of the nation's biggest media barons. Before becoming prime minister last year, he was forced to put all his companies in a trust. He has denied exerting influence over any editorial content, and the papers' editors insist that Babis doesn't meddle. But they also argue that reporters are deluding themselves if they think the media are different from any other business in which the owner has an interest. "If journalists are just realizing the newspaper is owned by [Babis's company] Agrofert, five years after it was bought by Agrofert, they're being naive and stupid," said Jaroslav Plesl, editor of another paper in the Babis empire, the mass-market Mlada Fronta Dnes. Prochazkova said her paper had gradually begun to echo Babis's nationalist and anti-refugee views. But it wasn't until the scandal over the story on Syrian orphans that she admitted it to herself. "I was given freedom to write what I wanted, so I turned a blind eye to what was happening," said Prochazkova, who has since resigned. Jaroslav Kmenta, a former investigative reporter for Mlada Fronta Dnes, didn't wait. He quit the paper on the day it was sold to Babis. He and the paper's former editor now work at a small start-up magazine that produces hard-hitting investigations - including ones focused on the prime minister. In recent months, Kmenta said, he has been repeatedly called in for questioning by security services. They demand to know his sources and threaten him when he refuses. That, he said, is new in the Czech Republic. "There's now constant pressure on us - pressure for every story we write," he said. For now, the Czech media are widely seen as freer than those of other countries in the region. Meanwhile, Babis is considerably weaker than his counterparts in Hungary or Poland, and is engulfed in a corruption scandal that threatens his hold on the government. But with all the models around him for consolidating control, Kmenta is not optimistic. Babis is a smart man, and the path to ever-greater power has become well-traveled. "Just wait a few years," Kmenta said. "This is only the beginning." - - - This article was reported from Wroclaw and Warsaw in Poland; Budapest and Debrecen in Hungary; Bucharest in Romania and Prague in the Czech Republic. The Washington Post's Michael Robinson Chavez, Gergo Saling, Andras Petho, Magdalena Foremska, Ladka Mortkowitz Bauerova and Ioana Burtea contributed to this report. --- Video Embed Code Video: Wadysaw Frasyniuk championed democracy in the face of Communist rule in Poland in the 80s. Now, he warns the freedom he fought for is starting to slip away.(Sarah Parnass,Piotr Malecki/The Washington Post) Embed code: Nokia 8.1 goes on pre-order in Taiwan, comes with a free case The Nokia 8.1, the global version of the Nokia X7 is now available to order in Taiwan after going official yesterday. The phone is priced at NT$ 9,990 (285), which is a significant step down from its projected 400 ($454) price in Europe. Nokia Taiwan even bundles a clear case with the phone and also offer the official flip case at a discounted price of NT$ 22 ($0.71). So far it looks like the only available color is Steel. Pre-orders are live now and shipments are expected to start on December 12. The United Arab Emirates are expected to start Nokia 8.1 pre-orders later today at a price of AED 1,500 ($410). The Nokia 8.1 packs a 6.18-inch IPS LCD of 1080x2280px resolution, a Snapdragon 710 chipset with 6GB of RAM, a 3,500mAh battery and a dual 12MP + 13MP main camera at the back. Source | Via At the Snapdragon Summit in Hawaii, Qualcomm has taken the wraps off its latest chipset intended for Windows 10 computers - the Snapdragon 8cx. This is the successor to the Snapdragon 850, but it's a different beast altogether. Whereas the 850 was just a modified Snapdragon 845, which is intended for mobile devices, the 8cx is the company's first of a kind SoC built specifically for Windows 10 PCs from the ground up. It's made on a 7nm process and should be in shipping products around the third quarter of next year. The company says it will pack twice the performance of the Snapdragon 850, which, to quote Reddit parlance, is big if true. That is because Qualcomm says the 8cx's performance when running native Windows ARM apps should rival that of an Intel Core i5 U-series CPU. The SD850 beat a Core i5-6300U in multi-core benchmark scores and only slightly lagged in single-core scores, so that's certainly believable - obviously the 8cx will need to be compared to a current generation Core i5 8th gen part. The Snapdragon 8cx's Adreno 680 GPU will handle dual 4K HDR displays, and will have hardware acceleration for 4K HDR video playback at 120fps. The chipset's CPU cores will be Kryo 495, and it's also got an integrated X24 Cat.20 LTE modem with a top theoretical download speed of 2Gbps and 316Mbps uploads. Third-gen PCI-E and second-gen USB 3.1 will be supported for "limitless peripherals", and for storage there's support for NVMe SSDs. The built-in Hexagon 685 DSP will enable enhanced voice assistant experiences for Cortana and Alexa, and Qualcomm's fourth-gen AI engine is on board too. Bluetooth 5.0 is supported too, as well as Quick Charge 4+. The 8cx is without a doubt the fastest Snapdragon ever, a feat that is made possible in the laptop/2-in-1 category by the better heat dissipation than what you'd find in any phone. Qualcomm also promises multi-day battery life for the devices that will have the 8cx at the core. Additionally, this is going to be the first Snapdragon to receive a certification for Windows 10 Enterprise, which is critical for adoption by businesses who might be interested in an always-connected PC platform. Finally, let's address the odd name: the "cx" letters apparently stand for "compute" and "extreme", to further drive home the point about this being the most radical iteration of any SoC ever made by Qualcomm. Via Verizon introduces new discounts for those heroes of our local communities. State and city police, Emergency Medical Service (EMS) workers, and Fire department as well will all be eligible for Verizon discounts on their personal service accounts. Volunteers, current employees, and retirees will all be eligible. Those who qualify will get $15 off a single line of service per month, $35 for two lines, and $40 for three or more lines will be discounted per month. If youd like to request the discount, you can log into your My Verizon account and submit the necessary documents to prove eligibility, or you can bring those documents to a Verizon store. Its worth noting that Verizon already has the same discount structure for veterans and active military. Just a few months earlier, Verizon was criticized during some California wildfires by cutting off service to fire emergency responders whose account was over its data limit and was throttled. Communication during emergencies like this is crucial and when data is throttled, it could cost lives. When the fire department requested that Verizon remove the throttle during the time of emergency, the customer representative said the account needed to paid up front before they could remove the cap. Of course, Verizon did eventually apologize for that episode. This discount is a nice gesture to thank first responders who risk their lives to save others. Via We get a great look at the Samsung Galaxy A8s thanks to the TENAA After clearing the FCC in the US, the Galaxy A8s is now through China's TENAA, obtaining the vital certifications en route to its December 10 announcement. As TENAA listings go, this one isn't very revealing. We get a good look at the Galaxy A8s' front and rear but no new specs or any clarification on the specs we are not perfectly certain about. You can see the 24MP selfie camera inside the top left corner of the 6.39-inch Infinity-O screen and you can see the rumored 24MP f/1.7 main, 10MP f/2.4 telephoto and 5MP f/2.2 depth cameras. The rear also has a distinct white and deep blue gradient and a fingerprint scanner. We expect the Galaxy A8s to have a Snapdragon 710 chipset with 6GB of RAM and be powered by a 3,300mAh battery. Source The Bible has been under attack in the western world for over 200 years but never more intensely than today. These attacks have taken different forms and have come from many different corners of the academic world, from philosophers, to scientists, to textual critics. In the specialized world of archaeology the attacks have increased dramatically in the past 50 years. Once a specialization filled with Bible believing individuals, the field of archaeology is now overrun with atheists and skeptics, agnostics and those committed to the destruction of the Bible as a source of true historical information. These attacks on the Bible are a part of a sweeping movement in western culture. Spearheaded by academic elitists in the university and the public educational system, the news and popular media, and the entertainment industry, these revisionists cloak themselves with supposed objectivity, purity of motives, and the superiority of science over the "uninformed", "unscientific", religious community. They regularly mock those who question their world-view and their conclusions by name-calling and the worst forms of anti-Bible and anti-Christian propaganda. They have powerfully infected the church by turning Bible believing Christians against the very Scripture which is the foundation of truth and life in this world. Instead of contending for the Bible, Christian academics, pastors, and lay-persons are making egregious accommodations to these destroyers of faith and truth. In these days of intense spiritual battle, God has called ABR to step into the gap to contend for the truth and to assist the church in this critical hour. ABR is a non-profit ministry dedicated to demonstrating the historical reliability of the Bible and to give answers to questions being asked by believers and non-believers alike. We do this by using original archaeological fieldwork and research along with studies in other apologetic disciplines. We take on the bold claims of skeptics and critics. We challenge the bizarre anti-biblical propaganda that is purveyed upon the public as gospel through television and print media. We uphold the gospel of Jesus Christ, which is God's message for the salvation of all mankind! Haiti - Tourism : The Minister is considering the opening of 2 or 3 new cruise ports Marie-Christine Stephenson the Minister of Tourism plans to join Haiti in the Caribbean cruises sector, as a strategy to reposition the country on the world tourist map. In this perspective, she stated that she was analyzing the possibility of opening 2 or 3 new cruise ports on the North and South coasts which, besides the creation of jobs and the revenues that will be generated in the economy of the region will help decentralize the Capital and reduce insecurity. She also reiterated her commitment to promote ecotourism routes, recalling that there are more than 3,500 historical monuments that are not classified and that are not taken into account in the intangible natural heritage claiming "all these sites are part of ecotourism circuit." On this point, Minister Stephenson explores the possibility of uniting these zones with those of the Dominican Republic in order to constitute a great pole of attractive ecotourism, linking the roads of water and rice. She also said that the strategy to fight against insecurity was based on the construction of tourist centers and coastal cities, as well as the strengthening of existing structures such as the Tourist Police (PoliTour). HL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - Social : $125M from IDB to improve access to drinking water and sanitation Thursday, December 6, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) will deliver a $125 million grant for the water, sanitation and hygiene project in urban, periurban and rural areas in the countrys northernmost region. The projects main goal is to improve living conditions in Haitis Big North through a series of steps. These include strengthening the sectors regulations as well as the technical and commercial management of the so-called technical exploitation centers. In addition, the project will improve drinking water, sanitation and hygiene services for urban and rural homes and promote basic hygienic habits. The program will be implemented by the National Drinking Water and Sanitation Bureau (DIREPA, after its French initials) through the Regional Office of the Northern Water and Sanitation Department (OREPA-North). In particular, it will help strengthen DINEPA structures in northern Haiti. The program will benefit some 205,000 homes in Gonaives, Cap-Haitien and other cities in the northernmost region, providing them with safe drinking water as well as quality sanitation and hygiene services. An additional 45,000 rural households will get drinking water and basic sanitation and hygiene services. HL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - Agriculture : In Rome, the Minister discusses a 50 Million agreement with IFAD On Wednesday, Jobert C. Angrand, the Minister of Agriculture of Natural Resources and Rural Development, on an official visit to Rome to attend the General Assembly of the United Nations Food Fund (FAO), took the opportunity to meet Jose Graziani da Silva, the Director General of this organization. At this meeting it was discussed : programs implemented by FAO in Haiti; Haiti's priorities and the possibility of setting up a program to fight black Sigatoka and diseases affecting coconut palms in Haiti. In addition, Minister Angrand has asked FAO for support in the field of fisheries, in order to find ways to develop and implement projects that could enhance the value of this sub-sector. On Thursday Minister Minister Angrand, accompanied by his Chief of Staff, Calixte Adlin had a working session with Cornelia Richter the Vice President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). IFAD-funded projects were reviewed. Angrand emphasized provisions that could facilitate the disbursement of funds provided by the institution for the benefit of the agricultural sector. IFAD supports Haiti's irrigation programs and has $12 million to support the development of the country's coffee and cocoa value chains. Following this meeting, Minister Angrand informed through official channels that a headquarters agreement will be ratified shortly with IFAD, which will allow Haiti to benefit from an additional $50 million. This agreement must, however, be ratified by Parliament before any disbursement. TB/ HaitiLibre Haiti - Justice : The Government recognizes that the prison situation is chaotic During a hearing in Washigton DC, at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), on the prison situation in Haiti, the National Network for the Defense of Human Rights (RNDDH) represented by Marie Rosy Kesner Auguste Ducena, Program Manager and John Mc Intosh Armand Assistant Program Manager, presented the general conditions of detention in Haiti and the legal status of prisoners, of which 75% are currently awaiting trial. The Haitian Government was represented by, among others, Stephanie Auguste, the Minister in charge of the Prime Minister, Human Rights and Extreme Poverty, Camille Leblanc, Special Adviser to the Prime Minister and former Minister of Justice, Leon Charles, the Minister Counselor to the Organization of American States (OAS) and Jean Fallieres Bazelais, Head of Legal Counsel at the Ministry of Justice. At this hearing, the Haitian Government acknowledged that the prison situation in Haiti was indeed chaotic and that it was necessary to intervene to improve the general conditions of life of persons deprived of their liberty. It also pledged to address the tragedy of illegal and arbitrary pre-trial detention as quickly as possible and pledged to step up its efforts to reduce the rate of 75% pre-trial detention to 20%. In his presentation on the prison situation in Haiti, the RNDDH emphasized: "[...] 37% of prison buildings, some of which have existed since the times of the colony, are old and endanger the life of the detainees. [...] the maximum capacity is 3,000 prisoners. As of October 23, 2018, they hosted 11,839 people, nearly 4 times its capacity. [...] contrary to Article 19 of the Principles and Good Practices for the Protection of Persons Deprived of Liberty in America, of March 13, 2008, drawn up and published by the IACHR, Haitian detainees are not separated on the sex, age, the alleged offense or their legal status. [...] The beds and mattresses are not enough for the prisoners. Thousands of prisoners sleep on the floor, on pieces of cardboard or cloth brought by members of their family. [...] The prison toilets are dirty, smelly and poorly maintained. [...] The food ratio as envisaged by the only nutritionist of the Haitian prison system is rarely respected. This situation exposes the prisoners to a food imbalance, with a predominance of rice offered almost daily and malnutrition. [...] Generally, the Haitian prisons do not have infirmary [...] For a prison population of nearly 12,000 prisoners the prison system has only 23 doctors and 62 nurses. [...] In 90% of the cases, the drugs are administered to the detainees only on diagnosis of auscultation because the medical examinations are only rarely realized. Drug prescriptions must be performed by the inmate's parents. [...] Without a training program, without recreational activities, prisoners are confined to their cells during their detention and leave only for their physiological needs and ablutions. These conditions are the cause of several deaths [...] on average 12 per month. [...] In Haiti arbitrary pre-trial detention is the rule. Anyone arrested, regardless of the alleged offense, is systematically incarcerated. The average time of pretrial detention varies between 3 and 5 years. [...] on a Haitian prison population of 11,839 detainees [...] 75.05% are awaiting a judgment and only 24.93% are sentenced. However, the Haitian law is clear, as of the 4th month, the preventive detention becomes illegal and arbitrary. [...] Some prisoners are still in pre-trial detention while an order has already been issued in their favor for several years. Others, incarcerated for more than 10 years, are still awaiting the results of the judicial investigations opened against them, to be either tried or released." HL/ HaitiLibre 2 Corinthians 12:1-10 Out our way, winter has hit and hit hard. I recall last year, in mid-October, the Alberta Clipper came and buried us and some folks were without power for several days. As I recall, we took first place in the National Weather Service poll of hardest-hit spots in the lower 48. Yea for us. There is a famous pen and ink drawing by Charlie Russell, who used to roam his area from time to time, of a starving cow surrounded by wolves in a blizzard. If I am not mistaken, one version is called Last of the Herd and another called Waiting for a Chinook. It is the latter title I most identified with last year. Folks who are not from Montana and even folks in Montana who have never really lived on the Hi-Line have asked me why I chose to live there over the years. I tell them there are four reasons: Spring, summer, autumn and chinooks. The chinooks dont last very long, it is true, but when they come they give us a hint of spring even in February. More than one rancher has blessed God for that chinook in calving or lambing season and even us townies love that blast of warm air that breaks Old Man Winters hold for a time. Granted, the chinook winds dont last very long, but they do remind me that even the darkest days of winter are temporary. That the cold, snow, and ice as terrible as their grip may be are not everlasting. There is greater power out there than the winter storms. Though the Alberta Clipper may rage across the prairies and seem unstoppable, the chinook that follows is more powerful still. For those old enough to recall Walt Kellys comic strip Pogo, you may recall a favorite saying of his: Any year that ends in Christmas cant be all bad. Like the promise of the chinook, the calendar reminds us that Christmas is coming and for those who remember to keep Christ in Christmas, the promise of the Nativity is far more than colored lights, Santa Claus, and eggnog. Like the chinook winds, the promise of Christmas melts the ice and cold of our darkest hours and reminds us that even the icy fingers of death itself like the Alberta Clipper must yield to a greater power. However, physical death is only one form of darkness that comes into our world, and just as winter storms can take different forms, so does the reality of sorrow and hardship in life. Perfectly healthy and strong men and women also face the death of dreams of marriage, of long-cherished hopes and visions for the future. Here, too, we cry out to the Lord as we wait for a chinook And, again, it may be, if we focus on the Christ in Christmas, we find hope that a warm wind may come our way. Recall that Christ did not come to just save us from physical death, but from spiritual death as well. He Himself said, I have come that you may have life and that in all its fullness (John 10:10 my translation) Not just eternal life in the here after but the abundant full life in the present. As I read of the spiritual giants of the past and meet with the great heroes and heroines of the faith I have met along my trail all of them had had to deal with the winter of their discontent, to quote Shakespeare, and I have found, like Paul in dealing with his personal thorns of the flesh, that indeed Gods grace is sufficient for them. And I observed that though the wolves surrounded them, they never lost hope. Indeed, Gods grace was sufficient for them, and regardless of the winter storms that buffeted them, the chinook of the Holy Spirit proved greater than the icy storms. When Christ is in Christmas, we know the chinook is at hand. We cannot know when it will come, but we know it is coming. And when it does come, we remember that even the hardest winter must give way to spring. Even in the depths of winter, spring will send a chinook wind and the reminder that February must eventually yield to May. Blessings Brother John John Bruington and Doc can be contacted at [email protected] During the recent mid-term elections, I noticed an interesting political tactic: Question your opponents Montanan heritage. Heres how it works: Candidate A was born and raised in Montana. He is a local and by virtue of his growing up in Montana is touted as the candidate most in touch with Montana values. Candidate B, on the other hand, was not born and raised in Montana. He may have lived here many years and have a history of state service, but it was expressed he would not be the best candidate because he did not have the heritage. He was an outsider. Whats that got to do with Christmas, you may ask? The culture Jesus grew up in was much like ours. The Jews of the first century were very much tied together by heritage. Most had lived on the family land for multiple generations. They had grown up together, gone to school together, and married the girl next door. They had shared values, shared history, and shared experiences. They were locals. Those of us who know the Christmas story may think it begins with Caesars edict for a census which caused people to return to their ancestral homes to be counted. Thats what took Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem. Matthew, however, begins with the genealogy of Jesus. He traces Jesus lineage all the way back to Abraham, the father of the Jewish faith. Thats quite a genealogy! These are the begats. In small towns, we know about who begat whom. Small-town folks know whos related to whom, what their family history is, and which side of the tracks they grew up on. Sure, I know Bob. Hes related to my cousin by marriage and was two years ahead of me in school. He was a track star. In small communities we are better known by our heritage than by our accomplishments. Thats why Matthew starts with a genealogy. Our genealogy is our pedigree and often trumps our resume. Its not what you know, but who you know. So, you would think Jesus, the Savior of the world, would have a stellar pedigree. Hes be a first-class local. But not so for Jesus. His family history is filled with all kinds. Women were not usually included in genealogies, but Jesus has five in his background, one was known as a harlot and another got pregnant by her father-in-law! King David is an ancestor of Jesus and that should improve things, but David is recorded as the man who took his friends wife (and had his friend killed. Not Davids finest moment). Several were outsiders to the Jewish faith, which was an issue. Why does Matthew expose all this dirty laundry? To show that God is not as concerned about pedigree when it comes to saving mankind. Through the Christmas story, God opens the door to everyone regardless of class or sex or religious background. The Christmas story spreads the net wide. The shepherds were lower-class Jewish working men. The wisemen were upper-class Gentiles. Mary and Joseph were regular people. Jesus was a baby born in a manger. Jesus redefines what it is to be a local. Everyone is welcome at his table. Anyone who calls Jesus friend becomes part of the family. Can you imagine a Christmas dinner at Jesus house? That would be one wild group of people! Instead of a genealogy, Christians look to their testimonies, How did you come to know Jesus? What has he done in your life? Each Christian has a shared story with Jesus at its center. I have recently become the chaplain at the Northern Montana Care Center, and I have found there is a family here too. This is a family with the shared story of declining health but who make the best of each day. As one volunteer pointed out, There are a lot of smiles here. Everyone here is a local no matter what their background. The Christmas story is this: There is not one person who cannot be touched by the love of God. Theres not one person who is outside the grace of Jesus. Christmas is the invitation to become part of the family. Its a gift available to all who will receive it. Jesus is in the business of taking outsiders and turning them into insiders, and that sounds like good news. Pastor Tim Zerger Chaplain Northern Montana Care Center Janet Cortese of Havre, who won the first-place prize of a half of beef in the North Central Montana Shrine Club drawing, poses with Havre Shriners Terry Grant, Kelly Brandon, and Scott Guptill. The North Central Montana Shrine Club members said they would like to congratulate the club's 2018 beef raffle winners. The Shriners hold the annual raffle as a fundraiser to help pay for their work helping children go to Shriners' Hospitals for Children. This year's winners are Janet Cortese of Havre, first place; Matt Langford of Chinook, second place, and Darrin Kinsella of Havre, third place. "We would also thank everyone who purchased tickets that made this raffle a huge success," the Shriners said in a release, including behind-the-scenes supporters Gary & Leo's Fresh Foods, Rock Lotto held during Festival Days where the drawing was held, and Bear Paw Meats. "Thanks to everyone, because it is all about helping north-central Montana's kids," the release said. An award for Wyatt Antonich sits on a table Thursday, December 6, 2018 in Havre, Mont. Antonich, now in high school, was not available to receive the award, so his brother accepted it on his behalf. St. Jude Thaddeus School honored two of their students Thursday morning for winning divisional and national awards through the American Legion Auxiliary. The ceremony was held in the gym on St. Jude's campus and awards were presented to Trayden Riley and Wyatt Antonich for their essays on how they can promote Americanism. Riley wrote his essay in April 2018 when he was in sixth-grade, and the essay was entered at the Class Two level, which required essays to be between 350 and 400 words. He was surprised when he heard his essay had been chosen as the national winner. "When I figured out that I had won on the national level, I was very surprised that I actually won," he said. "My teacher, she helped go through most of my essay. The process was very difficult ... and it was very hard to believe that I had won. I was very happy about it. What made me even more surprised was that I was the only person in my class - that Class Two - that won a national level for the whole United States." Riley added he had difficulty at first trying to grasp what Americanism meant, but that when his teacher - Carly Brunk - explained it to him, the ideas started coming to him. "I'm extremely proud," Brunk said. "And at such a young age to develop these themes and beliefs into award-winning work is just amazing." Brunk added that she requires all her students to write an essay and submit it for the contest. She said this is her sixth year of participating with the American Legion Auxiliary. The essay advanced through four levels - local, state, Northwest Divisional and National - winning at each level. The Northwest Divisional level included entries from Colorado, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming. Riley was presented with certificates for the various levels of competition he won along with a trophy for winning at the national level. In addition, the ALA competition cover sheet says the winners get $50 and a $50 donation in their name to the Children of Warriors National Presidents' Scholarship. Members of the ALA also were on hand at the school for a flag folding demonstration. During the demonstration, member Marlyn Damson explained the meaning of each fold to the students in attendance. After the demonstration, American Legion member Jed Damson was introduced by St. Jude Principal Mike Haugen. Damson said the American Legion was founded in 1918 and is celebrating 100 years of service this year. He added they are the largest veterans organization in the U.S. Damson explained to the students how they can get involved with the American Legion and the Auxiliary and serve their community. He then presented Haugen with two books for the school: "Liberation Kuwait" and a book on flag etiquette. Wyatt Antonich, who won first at divisional level, wrote his essay in eighth grade and is now a freshman at Havre High. He was unable to attend the ceremony due to a conflict with his class schedule, so his brother, Zeke, accepted the award on his behalf. Marlyn Damson has been involved with the ALA since 2000. She said she got involved after she made a comment to someone that people were not respecting the flag and something should be done. She was told to speak with her local unit, Unit 11, of the American Legion Auxiliary. She now works to promote respect for veterans and for the flag. Riley winning on the national level is the highlight of all her years of service, she said. Even winning at the divisional level, she added, "that in itself is a big accomplishment." "I'm just proud of our essay winner," Marlyn Damson said. "I'm just grateful that St. Jude's is a participant in it." Anyone interested in learning more about the American Legion Auxiliary can contact Damson at 262-4022. -- What I can personally do to promote Americanism in my school or community? The United States of America is one country that stands for freedom. Many thousands of Americans immigrated here from other countries to pursue their dream for a better life such as, freedom of speech, social equality, preserving culture, and protecting people's rights. Americanism represents those dreams. Most people show Americanism by recognizing the needs of other people. Many people can't afford clothing, shelter, and food. I can volunteer for fundraisers that raise money for the poor, which help those that can't afford what I can. Havre Daily News/Ryan Berry Marlyn Damson, left, shakes hands with American Legion National Essay Contest winner Trayden Riley at St. Jude Thaddeus School Thursday in Havre. Riley is the only student to receive a national award for his essay this year. Another concept of Americanism, is the right for education. Some kids in my school can't afford to pay for it, so they are granted a scholarship in order to get a good education. I can get a quality education because my family can afford it, and for that I'm grateful. Mentoring or tutoring kids is something I can do to help them if they have trouble learning; even though I'm a kid, I'm not limited. I can take action to help kids who struggle in school. Everyone has been bullied; it isn't fun. No one should be bullied not for what they are on the outside, like their race or color; it's about the inside. Rights for respect is one of the most important actions of Americanism. Don't discriminate; it is not funny at all. We should think about our actions before we do them. Americanism is about helping others and taking action for those who are less fortunate or are not treated with respect. I can help kids no matter what race they are, if they're poor, or if the don't get an education as good as mine. That's all I have to do. Franklin Pehrson Sr. holds a medal he earned during World War II at his home Wednesday in Chinook. Pehrson has many medals and honors on display in his house. On Nov. 21, 98-year-old Frank Pehrson Sr. of Chinook was presented a plaque and a photo from President Donald Trump recognizing and honoring Pehrson's 61 missions in combat as a top turret gunner and a flight engineer during World War II. "Who knows where we would be today without the greatest generation of military men and women in the world," Bob Brandon said in a letter given to The Havre Daily News. "Frank is one that is still alive today. Let's salute Frank and those that have passed. God bless them all." Throughout his years Pehrson has received numerous recognitions, awards and medals for his time in service and the various other community organizations he has been a part of. Pehrson was presented the plaque and photo from the president during a North Central Montana Shrine Club supper by Shrine Club member Kelly Brandon. Pehrson said in an interview he was unaware of the plaque and photo until it was presented to him at the dinner. Pehrson's youth Pehrson was born in 1920 in Wenatchee, Washington, and was one of four children, with one older brother and two younger sisters. Pehrson said his family was doing well until The Great Depression when "if you wanted to eat you had to work." And people often had to travel to work. During The Great Depression banks were closing, farmers were selling off their land and Pehrson, at the age of 14, and his father headed off to work on the Fort Peck Dam. It took them five days to drive from his home in North Dakota to the dam, he added. Construction was in full force, he said, but a shortage in housing meant some people had no other choice but to sleep in their tents or cars. Pehrson's father saw this and arranged a loan with the federal government to construct a 10-room hotel to house the workers, which filled up with tenants before the building was finished. Pehrson said by Thanksgiving 1934, the hotel was finished, furnished and fully operational. He added that his mother and the rest of his family were still in North Dakota running the family hardware store. Pehrson soon went back to North Dakota and worked selling milk and running a paper route. In 1935 Pehrson came to Glasgow, to help run the hotel with his mother, who was running it at the time. He and a friend also worked a job at the Fort Peck mess hall and cleaned the barracks. He added that to get the job they had to lie on the application, claiming to be 19 when they were only 16 at the time. October of that year, he quit that job to enroll in his senior classes. He added that from selling milk and his paper route and his job at Fort Peck he had saved enough money to enroll and buy his senior clothes. He graduated high school. After that he worked a variety of jobs across the country, including working as a big crane operator in Washington, D.C. It was in Washington where Pehrson met his future wife, Jane Stewart, for the first time. During this time, Pehrson said, the Glasgow Draft Board was looking for him to send him into the war, but his employer at the time liked his work and didn't want to see him go. "They delayed it for a bit," Pehrson said, "but I eventually came back to Glasgow." World War II Pehrson said he remembers Pearl Harbor, adding that it was shocking to him when he heard the news. He joined the United States Army Air Forces in 1941 at the age of 21. He said he was a top turret gunner as well as a flight engineer, flying most of his missions in a B-25 bomber. He said he was assigned to Squad 489, which had already flown in North Africa before he joined them in Italy. He said one of his main duties was, after the aircraft was hit, to put out the fires. "I wasn't use to getting shot at," Pehrson said. Pehrson was originally scheduled for 50 missions but ended up serving 61 while in service. On his first mission, he said, the engine of his aircraft caught fire while 100 feet in the air. Pehrson said he and the crew worked to feather the engine, and the pilot was able to land safely on a single engine. He said his time in the service was tough, with living conditions lacking many of the amenities that are taken for granted in modern times. During his time in the service, he said, he didn't have very much contact with the outside world other than through letters, which, Pehrson said, kept him in contact with friends from North Dakota, Montana and other places. But he also wrote often to Stewart. His brother was also serving in Europe and died in combat. Pehrson left as a Staff Sergeant, coming back to the U.S. from Europe in 1944. He then traveled to California to be with Stewart. Shortly after he finished his last mission, Pehrson said, his crew was shot down by ground fire 40 days before the Free France Forces pushed back enemy lines. He added that one man died, the first death in his squad since the time he had first joined them. "The other men bailed out in time," Pehrson said, adding that the surviving men were hidden by the Free France Forces for a month before returning to camp. Coming home In 1945, Pehrson and Stewart got married in Oklahoma. That same year, he said, they were blessed with their first child John Pehrson. After a few years, Frank Pehrson Jr. was born. Pehrson said that after the wedding he worked a few different jobs in California before he received word from Glasgow that his dad was ill. He said he and his family sat in the airport all night waiting for a plane to arrive to take them to Great Falls. It took them four days to travel from San Francisco to Great Falls and a few additional days to reach Chinook. Pehrson said they arrived a day after his father died. He made arrangements for his father's burial and traveled with his two sisters on a train to bury his father in Minnesota. After he returned to Montana, he said, his family ran the hotel for a time before he began building Pehrson's Service in Chinook. He added that construction of the building was completed on Christmas of 1950. Pehrson's Service originally had gas tanks, he said, and during the '50s there were several gas stations on the Hi-Line that closed early in the day. Pehrson added that his building, in partnership with Texaco, provided gas until 3 a.m. some nights, his station being the only one operational for several hundred miles. The service station is still owned and operated by the Pehrson family. Pehrson's wife, Jane, died in 2017. They had been married for 71 years. Some of Pehrson's other awards and recognitions Pehrson received a personal medal for nine different missions he completed, he said, adding that out of all of his medals that one was the most valuable. Havre Daily News/Ryan Berry Franklin Pehrson Sr. sits in his office Wednesday in Chinook. He added that he also received a personally written and signed recognition from General John Kenneth Cannon for one of his missions he completed. A fire had consumed the inside of the aircraft, he said, but he and another engineer were able to put out the flames and have the plane land successfully. "This one is my favorite," Pehrson said, pointing to the framed document. Pehrson said he doesn't know where he will put the plaque and photo he received from President Trump yet, but was sure he would find a place. Pehrson has also been involved in the community of Chinook, having served as a council chairman for 10 years as well as other forms of community service. He also served as the state Commander of the American Legion for a period of time. "It's a full life," Pehrson said. When life gives you hard news, read here for the soft and fluffy stuff. Things get crazy in the capitol In the nations capitol at the end of November Gavin Clarkson, a New Mexico resident, and his fiancee had their request for a marriage license declined by a clerk in the District of Columbia Courts Marriage Bureau. The Associated Press reports that after Clarkson requested the license and showed the clerk his up-to-date New Mexico drivers license, the clerk informed Clarkson he would need his international passport to receive said license. Apparently the clerk didnt care how much renovation Mexico had completed to earn the title of New Mexico, the clerk was determined to be the human wall shielding America from a foreign national. Because Clarkson insisted that New Mexico is, in fact, one of the 50 states of these United States, the clerk took his request to her supervisor, who immediately acknowledged that, yes, as a foreign national Clarkson was required to provide proof of identity with his passport. Its unclear why no one was able to pull up Google Maps on their smart phone to show the courts clerk cartographical proof that New Mexico is a state. On the other hand, the clerk did listen to Clarksons repeated appeal for recognition of New Mexicos statehood, and she was further swayed by the laughter from the other couples waiting in the office, so Clarkson and his then-fiancee, Marina, finally received their marriage license and an apology from the office. The real irony here is threefold: 1) Clarkson was already stinging from his Nov. 6 loss in his bid for New Mexico secretary of state as the Republican candidate. 2) Hes an enrolled member of the Choctaw Nation, and told reporters that he mightve had better luck had he shown his tribal I.D. And 3) Clarksons newly-wed wife told reporters that the clerk was complimenting Clarkson for his grasp of the English language, but shes the one with the accent. Marina immigrated, legally, to the U.S. from Argentina in the 1990s, before becoming a naturalized citizen. Lutefisk is dead, long live lefse Faith Lutheran Church of Forest Lake, Minnesota, has officially announced the death of their annual Lutefisk Dinner. The churchs pastor, Rev. John Klawiter, wrote an obituary parody to acknowledge the passing of the event that had been dying a slow death. He listed area lutefisk dinners still being held as survivors. I would put forth lefse as the new queen of Norwegian-American foods. Nothing more to add. I just wanted to give everyone hope that our world is headed in the proper direction. If you need more hope Government leader in the making Nine-year-old Dane Best of Severance, Colorado, addressed his local leaders in a town board meeting to strike a law from city ordinance that outlawed snowballs. Kyle Rietkerk, assistant to the Severance town administrator, told The Associated Press that snowballs were classified as missiles in an ordinance that made it illegal to throw or shoot stones or missiles at people, animals, buildings, trees, any other public or private property or vehicles. In his fight against this antiquated and nonsensical law, Dane inspired his classmates to write letters in support of overturning the ban, and he pleaded their case before the town board. The board then voted to exclude snowballs from the list of killer projectiles, honoring their importance in social activities of children and playful adults everywhere. Dane Best for president 2048. He just makes sense. And I like his priorities at http://www.facebook.com/viewfromthenorth40.com/. [This] change will provide a universal safety net entitlement for workers under the Fair Work Act. In March, the Fair Work Commission accorded the five-day unpaid leave benefit to employees covered by modern awards, but the move to amend the FWA this month extends coverage to other workers. The commission is set to review the benefit in 2021. Unions, however, are pushing for 10 days of paid domestic violence leave, claiming the current benefit is not enough. O'Dwyer believes the amendment alone will not be the last step to combatting domestic violence. There is always more that we can do, she told the media last week. In November, the Coalition government unveiled a $109m womens economic security initiative to help women in different circumstances, including those dealing with domestic violence, gain access to assistance funds Vaccinations against opioid abuse are potential new strategies for preventing overdose. The therapeutics would have the advantage of not interfering with existing treatments (methadone, naltrexone, buprenorphine and naloxone) and could be longer lasting. Virginia Commonwealth University researchers are testing a vaccine against opioid abuse developed by the Scripps Research Institute in California. The vaccine is meant to block the effects of heroin and fentanyl in patients with opioid use disorder. Matthew Banks, Pharm.D., Ph.D, associate professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology in the VCU School of Medicine, is leading the testing efforts. Researchers at the Minneapolis Medical Research Foundation and Walter Reed Army Institute of Research are testing other anti-heroin and anti-oxycodone vaccines, Banks said. The Scripps vaccine and other immunotherapies work by prompting the immune system to make antibodies that prevent drug molecules, such as heroin or fentanyl, from crossing the blood brain barrier into the central nervous system, blocking the effects of opioids. In an interview with VCU News, Banks explained the workings of the vaccine and how it could impact substance abuse treatment. How is this particular vaccine different from others being tested or on the market? No vaccine is currently on the market and approved for opioid use disorder treatment. The vaccine being evaluated at VCU and at other institutions is basically the same concept, but with slightly different carrier proteins, opioid haptens, and adjuvants. Preclinical research should screen and select the most clinically viable candidate vaccine. Can a person still overdose when they have had the vaccine? If the person was able to purchase and consume enough of the opioid to saturate all of the antibodies, there would be the potential for overdose. However, this risk of overdose with the vaccine is no different than the risk of overdose for currently used treatments such as naltrexone and buprenorphine. How quickly could this be on the market? Difficult to say. Although the preclinical data look promising, the vaccine needs to be evaluated for treatment efficacy in humans. Once treatment efficacy and safety in humans has been demonstrated, the approval process generally moves quickly. What individuals would most benefit from this vaccine? These vaccines would be most useful for individuals in rehab, or patients who have relapsed more than once, to provide one layer of therapeutics that could potentially be combined with other current treatments (e.g. naltrexone or buprenorphine). What are potential downfalls of the vaccine? Vaccine selectivity can be a good thing or a downside depending on your perspective. High vaccine specificity allows for good antibody-drug binding, but would leave the person vulnerable to switching to another abuse opioid. Do you see a new wave of vaccinations being created for other drugs? What other nonbiological threats can vaccines be engineered to protect against? Vaccinations are being created for other abused drugs, such as cocaine, nicotine and methamphetamine. The focus is on opioids because of the current opioid crisis. Potentially, vaccines could be developed for other small nonbiological compounds such as ricin. However, this is outside my expertise. The vaccine piggybacks off the tetanus shot. Are there any other clinically available vaccines that could also serve as a vehicle? There are carrier proteins other than tetanus toxoid that have been evaluated and are used by other researchers. The Scripps Research Institute discovered that the tetanus toxoid was the best carrier protein in boosting an immune response. What about inoculating people who abuse other substances, as a protective measure? That is controversial and engages a lot of ethics questions about how we would predict a person would develop a substance use disorder. In general, there are more effective strategies (e.g. social support, strong family connections, etc.) that should be considered and utilized as protective measures. Committee announces 2019 Walk of Fame inductees A joint city-county committee announced seven inductees into the Henderson County Walk of Fame on Thursday, including pioneers in the fields of education, transportation, agriculture and the law. Ronnie Pepper, of the Walk of Fame Committee, told the Hendersonville City Council that the visionaries of the past serve as a model that the community could follow today. Daniel Gibson, a banker, was active in the Flat Rock Playhouse, the Lions Club, the American Legion, Blue Ridge Community College Foundation, the Boy Scouts and Daniel Boone Council and the Hendersonville Symphony Orchestra. He served as president of both the Chamber of Commerce and the North Carolina Apple Festival. His lasting contribution was the role he played in the founding of Carolina Village, which today is home to more than 250 residents. High Randall, who served as schools superintendent, served in the Navy in World War II and was a farmer in addition to his work in education. His lasting contributions included overseeing the construction of Bruce Drysdale Elementary School, Hendersonville Middle School, the Jim Pardue gym and vocational-ed building at Hendersonville High School. He instituted fulltime librarians and assistant principals in the schools and started summertime migrant summer schools. W.A. Smith, known as the founder of Laurel Park, started his law practice in Hendersonville in 1876. He constructed Fifth Avenue at his own expense and opened the Laurel Park Railroad Co., which operated the Dummy Line, carrying residents and tourists from downtown Hendersonville to Rhododendron Lake, a swimming resort and dance pavilion in Laurel Park. He was a key figure, too, in the founding of the Toxaway Railway. Architect Erle Stillwell lived in Hendersonville and designed projects all over North Carolina and the South, including more than 70 movie theaters. His many designs include Hendersonville High School, several historic homes in the city as well as churches, manufacturing plants, college buildings and a military hospital. George Wilkins Sr., a veteran of World War II and the Korean War, led the desegregation of city schools during the civil rights movement and worked for laws to accommodate handicapped children in schools. A lasting contributions was his work to established public kindergarten in all the elementary schools. Harley Blackwell, a leader and innovator in agriculture, was superintendent of the Mountain Research Station in Mills River. He helped bring Van Wingerden International, Bolton Greenhouses and Carolina Roses to Henderson County. His lasting contribution was to marshal the expertise of N.C. State University agriculture researchers to modernize farming in Henderson and surrounding counties. Col. Sidney Vance Pickens, an officer in the Confederate Army, became an attorney after the Civil War and pioneer of transportation. He started the Hendersonville Street Car Company and the French Broad Steamboat Company, which operated the Mountain Lily, carrying up to 100 passengers on the river from Brevard to Asheville. He organized the first Bar Association in North Carolina, in 1883, from which the state bar arose. MORE than 30 miniature hippos which formed part of an exhibition in Henley over the summer have found a new permanent home. The papier-mache figures have been installed at Henley Self Storage, off Newtown Road, after owner Darren West paid 320 for them in an online auction. They were among 200 that were decorated by clubs, businesses, schools and community groups across the town to celebrate the bicentenary of Leander Club. After being exhibited at the River & Rowing Museum in May, they were put on show at various places in the town centre, including shops, homes and the library. They were also part of this years regatta shop window display competition. The hippos were then auctioned on Leanders website, raising 8,900 for a charity carrying out clean water and conservation research on the Zambezi river in Zambia. Mr West bid on 50 of the figures and secured 32, which will be placed around his business premises and visitors will be encouraged to try to find them all. They include a hippo perched on a top hat decorated with playing cards in memory of the late magician Paul Daniels, who lived in Wargrave, and another made to look like his widow and former assistant Debbie McGee. There are hippos contributed by the Henley brownies and guides, who celebrated their 100th anniversary this year, and another made by pupils at Rupert House School which shows a hippo in a rowing shell with oars and a lifejacket. One hippo is carrying a birthday cake for the club on its back while another is wearing a technicolor dreamcoat in honour of broadcaster Philip Schofield, who lives in Fawley and played Joseph in the West End musical in the Nineties. Mr West said: We saw about 50 or so that didnt have any bids and thought wed put a minimum bid on each so that none of the creators felt disappointed. We were crossing our fingers that we wouldnt get every single one of them and I think 32 is a pretty good compromise. They dont take up as much room as Id thought they would so well be able to display them all and I think people will want to photograph them for social media. The project was a brilliant idea, especially in somewhere like Henley where you can really capture a lot of peoples imaginations. Leander deputy manager Caroline Mulcahy, who came up with the idea with Shelly Robertson, of Wilson Avenue, Henley, said: Were very grateful for Darrens generosity as it meant nobody was left upset. Its lovely that people will still be able to come and see a little exhibition of them, whether theyre customers or not. I know the hippos were very popular when they first went on display as some children kept coming back to see them at the library and were very disappointed when they were taken away. The 32 hippos were decorated by the following: years 1 to 4 at Trinity Primary School; year 5 at Sacred Heart Primary School; reception and years 1, 2 and 6 at Valley Road Primary School, Jane Norbury, Manouka Vogel and Bella Vanstone, of St Marys School; Isobel Wilson, of Crazies Hill Primary School; the 1st Henley guides; Gillotts School year 8 and art club; the 3rd Henley brownies; Badgemore Primary School; Oliver Dee from Shiplake College, The Henley College student leadership team; and the Warriors on Waste. The Oresteia | Progress Theatre, Reading | Wednesday, December 5 AT first glance, there might appear to be a slight mismatch between a youth theatre and towering Greek tragedy, with its emphasis on murder and revenge. We might not expect to see 21st century kids playing out the treachery, conflicts and sorrows of the ancient world. But Rhys Lawtons adaptation balances tragedy with well-pitched humour, to give wings to this version of Aeschyluss classic. There is plenty that is sonorous in The Oresteia, such as war stories, ritual and divine intervention. The action is dramatic from the first as the watchman (Dylan Collie) sets the scene for the return of Agamemnon (Jack Hygate) from Troy. Agamemnon arrives with Trump-like swagger, but events soon take a turn for the worse, since he is coming back to a broken community and, moreover, the knife-wielding Clytemnestra (Cora Jamieson) has a strong set of grudges against her husband. The roles of Agamemnon, Clytemnestra, Orestes and Electra are big shoes to fill, so well done to Hygate, Jamieson, Max Hijmering and Ellen Blackburn for representing this gruesome, dysfunctional family and investing their fractious exchanges with meaning. It falls to Hijmering and Blackburn to take on the plays prime moral debate about the right course of action in relation to their mother and her new consort Aegisthus (Alex McDonald). Moral uncertainty persists right to the surprise ending of this innovative production, when the audience is invited to make up their own minds about justice and blame. Credit to the entire cast who work effectively as a team, with many of the actors taking multiple roles. Every one of the 10 young players gives this production their all and they have been expertly directed by Rhys Lawton. The chorus, led with gravitas by James Laynesmith, makes a significant and successful contribution to the production. At times the chorus offers the stylised movement and speech you might expect in a traditional production. But at other times they comment passionately on the action, interact in a naturalistic way and even lark around in a very funny manner. Special credit is due to Jude Lancaster and Ciaran McElligott, who both bring wry humour to their several roles, and to Isabella McDonald as the down-to-earth Cilissa. The simple set allows the language and action to dominate, which is as it should be. Costumes are a clever combination of ancient and modern, to remind the audience that, whilst this is ancient Greek drama, the themes and adult emotions continue to be relevant. Evocative sound and lighting make this production an all-round triumph. Congratulations to everyone involved. Until Saturday (December 8). Susan Creed Students at University College Dublin have apologised for making offensive comments during a broadcast on the college radio station Belfield FM. Radio show Keepin' It Country came under fire over alleged sexual comments made about female students in the college after the student publication The College Tribune reported details of the broadcast. Sexual They included comments naming sexual acts being carried out on female students at the university. The podcast was removed and the team behind the show has since apologised. "We are sincerely apologetic to all who have been affected by the use of inappropriate language and disrespectful comments made on the show," they said. "These comments are not reflective of our personal viewpoints or that of the school of Agriculture and Food Science. "We are aware that the comments made are not acceptable in the society in which we want to live. "We've accepted that we were wrong, and that there is a needed change of attitude regarding respectfulness and equality for everyone." Belfield FM station manager Aisling Grennan declined to comment and referred queries to the Societies Council. It is understood the council has been made aware of the comments made on the show but both it and the Students Union refused to comment. Criticism Asked if the dean of undergraduates would investigate, a university spokesperson said: "The dean will attend to anything brought to his attention." They added: "It has not been brought to the attention of the dean". In 2016, students from the School of Agriculture came in for criticism over an alleged Facebook group rating images of other female students. At the time the university said it was investigating. Stephen Somers (60) punched the officer in the face in Lidl A drunken man punched a garda in the face in an unprovoked attack that he put down to a "sugary alcoholic drink" he had downed in a pub. Stephen Somers (60) asked the garda if he was "on strike" and called him an idiot before he struck him at a south Dublin supermarket. The officer had called at the store to view CCTV in enquiries that had nothing to do with Somers. Judge Paula Murphy adjourned the case for a pre-sentence probation report. Somers, a jobless carpenter from Belgrave Road, Rathmines, admitted assaulting the garda, as well as public drunkenness and threatening, abusive and insulting behaviour. Dublin District Court heard that the incident happened at Lidl, in Ranelagh, on December 15, 2017. The garda had gone to the shop to view CCTV of an unrelated incident when the accused asked him if he was on strike. He also called the officer "an idiot and useless". Cautioned When he was cautioned that he was committing public order offences, Somers began to walk away but then turned and struck the garda underneath his left eye. Somers had no previous convictions and had not come to the attention of the gardai since the incident. The occurrence was out of character for the accused, who was unmarried and lived in rented accommodation, his lawyer said. He was a carpenter and had worked all over the world. Somers did not generally have a problem with alcohol, his lawyer said. On the day in question he had been in his local pub and had had a "sugary alcoholic drink" that he did not usually drink. "He drank it very fast," his solicitor said. The accused had very little recollection of the incident owing to his level of intoxication on the day in question. Somers had never engaged in this type of behaviour before and would make a charity donation. Judge Murphy adjourned the case until next March and said the accused should have come up with 500 in compensation by then. A man charged in connection with a 1.4m drugs haul in west Dublin is facing trial after fresh charges were brought against him. James Gannon (31), who was already accused of possessing cocaine and cannabis for sale or supply, now faces nine more charges. Judge David McHugh adjourned his case at Blanchardstown District Court for the preparation of a book of evidence. Mr Gannon, of St Mark's Drive, Clondalkin, was previously charged with possessing cocaine for sale or supply at Lidl, Ballyowen Castle, Lucan, on March 22. He was also charged with having cannabis for sale or supply at Citywest Storage, Tallaght, on the same date. Ketamine Yesterday, the court heard he made no reply when additional charges were put to him by Detective Garda Patrick Hearne. He is charged with possessing more than 13,000 of cocaine, cannabis and ketamine for sale or supply; possessing benzocaine for use in connection with drugs trafficking; permitting land to be used for drug preparation, and allowing a vehicle to be used for a drugs offence. A State solicitor said a co-accused would appear before the court on another date. A homelessness charity volunteer has been found not guilty of verbally abusing gardai after he was told to move his car from in front of Dublin's GPO. Stephen Clifford (50) had been accused of causing a breach of the peace after gardai approached him when he parked his car while doing a "food run". Judge Paula Murphy dismissed the case against him at Dublin District Court. Mr Clifford, of Beau Park Terrace, Clongriffin, Dublin 13, pleaded not guilty to threatening, abusive and insulting behaviour. The prosecuting garda said he was on duty at the GPO at 7.30pm last January 2. He saw a silver Ford Focus parked on the footpath and informed Mr Clifford that it was not a designated parking space. Arrest He alleged Mr Clifford told him to "f**k off" and that he was on a food run. He alleged Mr Clifford continued with this behaviour, got into his vehicle and moved away. Some 20 minutes later, the garda met Mr Clifford again at Prince's Street, just around the corner. He alleged he continued to be abusive and he decided to arrest him. Footage of the encounter on Prince's Street was played to the court, in which the garda was seen arresting Mr Clifford. Mr Clifford's lawyer argued there was no evidence of any breach of the peace in this footage and the charge related to Prince's Street and not the GPO. Judge Murphy dismissed the charge. Lecturer John Dowling was stabbed and killed in Paris French police investigating the murder of Irish lecturer John Dowling were last night continuing to quiz a 37-year-old former student over his killing. The English language teacher was attacked and stabbed several times at the Pole Universitaire Leonard de Vinci on Wednesday. He had taught at the Parisian campus for almost 20 years and was due to retire in the coming months. Mr Dowling (66) was killed after allegedly being attacked by a former student at the university who was expelled last year. The 37-year-old Pakistani national was arrested over the murder on Wednesday, and was still being questioned by local police last night. Captivating Mr Dowling had worked at the Paris college since 1999, while also lecturing at the Emerald Cultural Institute in Rathgar, Dublin, during the summer. He also had strong links to Donegal. A former student of the victim in Dublin described him as an "enthusiastic and captivating" teacher and "difficult to forget". While on a three-week English course in Dublin last summer, Italian student Carmen Colantuono was taught by Mr Dowling. "Last summer I had the lucky chance to know John as my English teacher in the Emerald Cultural Institute," she said. "He was such a great storyteller, whose amount of funny or bizarre anecdotes about every aspect of life was so huge and impressive. "I was really shocked by the tragic and so futile circumstances that caused his death, so contrarily small for a big man like he was." In a Facebook post, the Dublin language school said: "It is with deep sadness that we have learned of the death of our beloved friend and colleague John Dowling. "We will all miss him more than words can say." Students and staff at the Pole Universitaire Leonard de Vinci yesterday held a minute's silence in memory of Mr Dowling. Boards with messages of condolences were displayed at several places around the campus - including the scene of the attack. In a statement, the university said the suspect had been a student there for a number of months last year, but had been expelled in August 2017. "John was a very friendly man, respected and loved by all students and colleagues," a spokesman said. "He was also known for his great availability and kindness. "The community of the Pole Leonard de Vinci is deeply shocked and saddened by this tragedy of extreme violence. "We express our most sincere condolences to the family and friends of John Dowling." Ann Bertrand, a former student of Mr Dowling, said he was "loved by everyone" who knew him. "He was someone who was simply pleasant to be around," she told Sean O'Rourke on RTE Radio 1. "He had an enormous sense of humour. You could say he was a role model." Stricken Ms Bertrand said the tragic lecturer was modest, successful and was loved by everyone he came into contact with, both professionally and personally. The Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed that it was aware of the tragedy and that it was providing consular assistance . Sebastien Tran, a director at the Pole Universitaire Leonard de Vinci, said he believed the student was "dissatisfied" at his exclusion from the college in 2017, but added that he had not been seen as a particular threat in subsequent months. "We are very surprised and upset," he added. The university's director general, Pascal Brouaye, spoke to reporters after the incident. "It's an incident which has stricken our entire community," he said. "This is a language teacher who gave 20 years' service here and who was well-liked by everyone." Did you know that viewers of the American fantasy drama television series, Game of Thrones, are highly likely to be the same people who purchase sex toys online, particularly on a Monday? Would it ever occur to you that online shoppers who buy used car parts are nearly always also interested in used bottles of perfume? What about that, between 8pm and 11pm on Thursdays, Texas residents who are searching for robot pool cleaners will undoubtedly end up purchasing an item of that description, sometimes even more than one? Applying this knowledge to existing strategies AI has the power to find connections These are some of the most out-of-the-box, but incredibly accurate (nearing 100%), insights obtained in the application of an artificial intelligence (AI) consumer behaviour prediction algorithm.While these insights are interesting, embarrassingly relatable or just plain hilarious at first, they are extremely valuable to businesses operating in the relevant industries. These are insights bringing completely unknown demographic connections to light, connections that no human would ever think to look for.How do these more peculiar connections help businesses? This consumer prediction algorithm matches people with products, inventory with opportunity, price with spending propensity and people with usage patterns. These insights shed light on how specific demographics shop, when they shop, what they buy, how they engage and what they will most likely want to buy in future. By applying this knowledge to existing strategies, businesses can set themselves up to out-predict their competition, maximise their efficiency and enhance their customer satisfaction.So, for the over $15bn sex toy industry, theinsight would be really powerful in planning moving forward, from how they engage with customers and the kinds of products they look to stock, to where and how they market these all to ultimately boost their bottom line.The same can be said for those dealing in robot pool cleaners in the Texas region. Increasing marketing efforts during a particular time slot with such a high sales conversion rate would be massively beneficial for business.In the local context, the algorithm has identified a significant, and fast-growing, market segment which has been largely untapped by businesses across industries - African expats living in South Africa.Again, this is a demographic that the algorithm found without anyone thinking to look for it. Whats more, the algorithm picked up a common consumption pattern for people within this demographic - items that are Islam-centric in nature. Since people following Islam are such a small minority in South Africa, businesses do not necessarily have a customised offering for them.Using existing data to make these connections, and have real insights on existing consumers, businesses in entertainment, hospitality and retail - to name just a few - could adapt their offering to better cater to this market which follows a different weekday setup with weekends falling on Friday and Saturday.Media entertainment providers might also want to re-evaluate their programming to offer suitable weekend content on a Friday and restaurants might look to optimise their share of this market by introducing family specials for a Thursday evening. But they could only take these strategic steps if they know that the market exists, which they wouldnt if it wasnt for AI.While conducting focus groups is a traditional method for understanding the market of a particular business, this is a time-consuming exercise with a number of limitations from sample size, to an emphasis naturally being placed on known, existing demographics. The speed at which AI can pick this up far exceeds any other approach, providing accurate predictions within as little as just two weeks of receiving the data.I often share these insights with top business executives looking to embrace the power of AI in consumer prediction, they are evidence that there really is no such thing as useless data.AI has the power to find connections that may not naturally exist but which hold unlimited potential for profit, business growth and customer satisfaction. Scouts and parents from the 3K1C Newcastle Scout Group, who say losing the den will be devastating for the community A south Dublin scout group is praying for a Christmas miracle after its parish ordered the members to leave their den by the end of the year. The 3K1C Newcastle Scouts group has been based in the old St Finian's school building for the past three years. Its members have used their own time and money to upgrade the premises, which is used by up to 100 children from the Newcastle and Celbridge area. However, parents are now in uproar with their local church after they were told their den will be rented out as a commercial property when the lease expires on December 31. Shame Group leader Sandra Phipps told the Herald that they are devastated by the news. "To receive this eviction notice by our own church's solicitors so close to Christmas is nothing but an insult," she said. "Newcastle lacks many amenities for young people so it would be an awful shame if we had to suspend our activities and are forced to close. "We don't have an alternative venue to hold our meetings or even to store our valuable equipment, which we have worked so hard to build up over the years. "Time is running out for our scouts and since the parish isn't communicating with us at all we can only pray for a miracle." Newcastle resident Mairead O'Connor said the local scout group has done wonders for her two children. "My oldest boy, who's not sporty all at all, has benefited so much from the scouts," she said. "His self-confidence has shot up since he first joined and he would be devastated if the facility has to close. "The parish should be thanking us for what we've done for the children of this community. "Our members pay a yearly fee and are more than willing to let other youth groups use the centre as well. "We've been given so little time to prepare for this and the parish's conduct certainly says a lot about them." An online petition to save the scout den has been set up by local councillor Francis Timmons and has amassed nearly 2,000 signatures. "Groups like the scouts keep young people from getting involved in antisocial behaviour and are a huge asset to local communities," he said. "The scouts teach young people a sense of civic pride and responsibility. "It would be devastating for everyone involved and a huge loss to the young people of Newcastle to lose such an invaluable facility for commercial gain." Efforts to contact representatives at St Finian's Church were unsuccessful. However, a spokesperson from the Archdiocese of Dublin said: "I understand discussions on the future use of the former school are ongoing at parish level with a number of parish and community groups involved." We are so proud of the talented navigators and students at Vega, who put in years of work and dedication to produce incredible, industry-worthy work, says Ria van Zyl, National Academic Navigator for the Design portfolio at Vega. These are well-deserved victories for the finalists and winners, who we are sure will continue to make Vega (and themselves) proud in the future.For the third year running, Vega has once again ranked one of the top three educational institutions in South Africa in the Loeries student category, while four Vega navigators Alex Sudheim, Christiaan Graaff, Conrad de Kock and Mathew Mjindi were named in the Loeries top 10 navigators.In the student category of the 2018 Gold Pack Awards, Christin Hart from Vega Cape Town came second in the Water Project category, with help and support from her navigator, Shane de Lange. Hart, a final-year student studying Creative Brand Communication, submitted a brand and packaging concept that communicates water as the essence of life.Final-year Vega Bordeaux student, Hunadi Mashilo, won a Gold Pendoring at this years Pendoring Awards for her Setswana radio advertisement entitled Ancestors for the Tupperware brand. Her navigator, Conrad de Kock, is also recognised for his support.Mpho Moshikaro, a third-year Vega Bordeaux student, won a coveted Gold Muse at the 2018 PromaxBDA Future Awards for his entry, #Beyond76, a campaign that explores the role that the youth has played in the transformation of South Africa. He will attend the PromaxBDA Africa 2018 Conference and will also receive a three-month paid internship with T+W as part of the award.Vega also congratulates Christian Spies, a second-year student at Vega Cape Town, and his navigator Anka Joubert, for winning first place in the #YouthTube2018 Filmmakers category for his entry, Everyones Business .Last but not least, Kayla Vieiraa BA in Interior Design Student, and her navigator Nicole Mason, were awarded second place in the PG Bison 1.618 Education Initiative design competition for her take on this years brief to devise a plan to redevelop the historic Johannesburg Gas Works.Since 1999, Vega has been recognised by some of the most prestigious awards bodies both locally and internationally for the work produced by students and navigators at the school. The most recent of these awards have included the WPO International Packaging Design Student Competition, the D&AD New Blood Awards, and accolades at SA Fashion WeekFor more information on Vega accolades and awards , as well as IIE qualifications and other career-building opportunities available to study at Vega, visit www.vegaschool.com #GlobalCitizenFestival keep us busy all week, both joy and anger surrounded the event. Elated South Africa praised @MotsepeFoundtn for such a monumental undertaking, #SAPS reaction to a poorly planned policing strategy made social media furious, #BhekiCele restored calm; pic.twitter.com/7TsN2e6onF - Tonya Khoury (@ThisIsTonya) December 7, 2018 Acumen Media has released its weekly round-up of the biggest stories making news on social media platforms in South Africa. At the top of everyone's minds was the Global Citizen Festival; while the Motsepe Foundation was praised for its donation, the South African Police Services was criticised for its poorly planned policing strategy.Other stories coming to light include Eskom's dreaded return to regular load shedding; the death anniversary for former President Nelson Mandela; Johann Rupert's contentious appearance on PowerFM; President Cyril Ramaphosa's launch of the Atlantis SEZ; as well as Shamila Batohi's appointment as the new head of the National Prosecuting Authority.That was not all, however, as state capture, land reform, and the EFF remain topical. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 7) Another arrest warrant has been issued against Senator Antonio Trillanes IV by a local court-- this time, for alleged libel. The Davao Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 54 on Friday ordered Trillanes' arrest following the complaint filed by Presidential son and former Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte in September. The local court set Trillanes' bail at P24,000. The presidential son and his brother-in-law Mans Carpio earlier filed separate libel complaints against Trillanes for the senator's allegations of corruption. Duterte and Carpio said Trillanes made "false, baseless, and unfounded" claims when the senator in September 2017 accused the two of extorting money from ride-hailing firms. The former Davao City vice mayor earlier dismissed Trillanes' claims as "black propaganda" which was meant to detract him and his father President Rodrigo Duterte. Under the Revised Penal Code, libel is punishable by up to six months imprisonment. A known staunch critic of the Duterte administration, Trillanes made headlines this year when Duterte's Proclamation No. 572 voided the amnesty given to him in 2011. In September, the Makati Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 150 issued a warrant of arrest for Trillanes for rebellion. The lawmaker is out on bail for that case. Unfair justice? Trillanes meanwhile said he is ready to face the case. The senator revealed he will post bail before the court on Monday, as the service of arrest warrants for "minor cases" like libel-according to his lawyers-is prohibited during Fridays and weekends. "I was informed by my lawyers that the service of warrants of arrests for minor cases like libel on Fridays, weekends and holidays is prohibited per existing DOJ circular and that under Article VI, Section 11 of the Constitution, as a member of Congress, I am privileged from being arrested in cases punishable by less than six (6) years imprisonment while Congress is in session," Trillanes said in a statement. He also slammed the fairness in the country's justice system, insinuating that the said arrest warrant was released the same day former senator Bong Revilla was acquitted of plunder. "Baliktad ang hustisya sa gobyerno ni Duterte. Ang mga mandarambong ay pinalaya na. Ang mga kritiko naman ay gagawan ng kaso para pilit na maikulong," he said. [Translation: Justice under the Duterte government works in reverse. The plunderer is free, while they make up cases against critics just so they can be detained.] 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. The Most Extensive and Reliable Source of Information Related to the Mexican Drugs Cartels. You will not find this level of coverage anywhere else, join us! Send information, pictures or videos, you remain 100% anonymous. Envia fotos, videos, notas, enlaces o informacion todo 100% Anonimo. Want to be a contributor or citizen reporter for Borderland Beat? We love to have you in our team, send Sol Prendido or HEARST an email! WARNING: Posts may contain strong violent material, discretion is advised. COMMENTS: We do not publish all comments, and we do not publish comments immediately. Every Member of Parliament, Member of Legislative Assembly or any other functionary under the Constitution has to swear an oath to bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution. The same Constitution makes Supreme Court decisions binding on all courts and authorities, and judgments of a high court on all courts and authorities within the state. The Constitution requires government authorities to act in aid of the Supreme Court, which means that the government must ensure compliance of court orders and ensure that society functions under the rule of law. While courts have the power to punish for contempt, they rarely use that power. Judges and courts speak only through their judgments (barring rare interactions with the press at public events) In their functioning, they too are required to adhere to the Constitution and do their duties of deciding cases without fear, favour, affection or ill will. But when questions are raised and motives attributed to their decisions on extraneous considerations, it is not the individual judge alone who is targeted but the legal and moral authority of courts is questioned. In fact, its an affront to the Constitution itself. While other Constitutional functionaries can respond to such attacks in the public domain, by the nature of the post they hold, judges must maintain a stoic silence, except when and if contempt power is used. And instituting defamation proceedings criminal or civil is not a remedy judges can practically use. The opposition to the Supreme Courts 2018 Sabarimala decision, and recent tweets by journalist and economic analyst S Gurumurthy about the decisions of the Delhi high court in the Bhima Koregaon violence case (remand of Gautam Navlakha) led the high court to initiate contempt proceedings. As the matter is sub judice, I will not dwell on it, but such examples raise a larger concern. How are those sworn to uphold the Constitution questioning, attacking and denigrating Constitutional institutions such as courts? And to what end? In the 2012 Sahara case, a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court permitted gag orders as a preemptive mechanism in pending proceedings as it was sensitive to reports and comments leading to a real and substantial risk of prejudice to the proper administration of justice and the fairness of trial. Experience has shown that such orders are a rarity. The 3rd Schedule of the Constitution that provides the form of oaths by constitutional functionaries was amended in 1963 to require candidates to Parliament and state legislatures to add the words uphold the sovereignty and integrity of India. Surely this includes respect for the institutions of governance, including the courts. We live in a time in which conflict is common between, and within, institutions. Faced with long administrative delays, people often turn to the courts for relief. In such situations, courts have responded often by directing governments to perform their statutory and constitutional duties. This has led to complaints of judicial overreach and of crossing the Lakshman rekha (sacred line). Courts on occasion give guidelines in situations in which appropriate law doesnt exist and till the time such legislation comes into force. Classic examples are the Vishaka guidelines (1996) by the SC that eventually led to a law being drafted in 2013 to curb sexual harassment of women at the work place, and the PUCL case (1997), which made guidelines for regulating phone tapping, leading to the amendment of Telegraph rules. The growing number of PILs have seen judges extending their jurisdiction into areas of governance. Within the ranks of our elected representatives there is a push back, which is not always through Constitutional methods but in the more convenient domain of prime time television, social or print media the space where judges cant venture. The recent incident involving Delhi MP, Manoj Tiwari, is a case in point, where the Supreme Court did deprecate his conduct but stopped short of indicting him for contempt. For the losing party, adverse court orders are never acceptable. But before castigating the judicial system or casting undue aspersions on judges, it must not be forgotten that the very same courts are the guardians of our fundamental rights and that come to the rescue of the underprivileged, the disenfranchised and those questioning governments actions. We cannot engender either opinions or values which hit at the very heart of what we stand for. The Constitution is not just a book; it is Indias heartbeat and, more than that, our moral compass. Its guardians must therefore be shown due respect because in disrespecting them, we are disrespecting who we the people are. It is time that the holders of public office who swear to uphold the Constitution revisit their commitment and remember their oath is on the Constitution and not to swear oaths at constitutional institutions such as courts. Accountability and public office cannot be bereft of a responsible behaviour. Sidharth Luthra is senior advocate, Supreme Court The views expressed are personal Rajasthan recorded a voter turnout of 59.41% till 3 pm and Telangana 56.17% till the same time in the assembly elections in the two states on Friday, the election commission said. More than 4.74 crore people are eligible to vote in Rajasthan and there are over 2.8 crore voters in Telangana to choose from 2,274 and 1,821 candidates in 199 and 119 constituencies, respectively. The voting started at 7am in Telangana and at 8am in Rajasthan. Assembly elections are being held in Telangana for the first time since its formation in 2014. Click here for Rajasthan election 2018 Live Updates There were reports of electronic voting machines or EVMs malfunctioning in polling booths 253 and 254 in Ahor constituency of Rajasthans Jalore. Voters created a ruckus at the two polling booths after voting was stopped following the malfunction. An EVM was replaced at polling booth 172 in Bikaners Kisamidesar following a technical issue. In Sikars Fatehpur town, vehicles were vandalised and set ablaze after a clash between two groups at a polling booth, reported ANI. Voting was affected for about 30 minutes due to the violence but resumed after police chased away the miscreants. Age was no bar for voters in the state. In Jodhpur, 114-year-old Dakha Devi, along with her 90-year-old daughter, Birmi Devi, arrived at a polling booth in Barkatullah Khan stadium to vote. 101-year-old Pali Devi cast her vote at Baldev Nagar polling station in Barmer city. A 97-year-old man, identified as Nagender Singh Chouhan and his 85-year-old wife Yuvraj Kuwar cast their votes at a polling station in Jhalawar, while in Kota south, a 97-year-old woman, identified as Basanti Bai,reached the poll booth with the help of a volunteer who carried her in his arms. Click here for Telangana assembly election 2018 Live Updates In Telangana, stone pelting allegedly by Bharatiya Janata Party workers on Congress candidate Ch Vamsichand Reddy was reported in Kalwakurthy constituency of Ranga Reddy districts Amangal. Reddy was shifted to Hyderabad for treatment after he was injured. The whos who of Hyderabad turned out to cast their votes. In the Jubilee Hills area of Hyderabad, the Telugu film industrys leading stars such as Chiranjeevi, Nagarjuna, and Junior NTR stepped out early in the morning to exercise their franchise. Tennis star Sania Mirza voted at Film Nagar Cultural Centre but badminton player Jwala Gutta complained that she could not find her name in the voters list. In Telangana, the Congress has formed an alliance, Praja Kutami (Peoples Front), along with the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), the Telangana Jana Samiti (TJS) and the Communist Party of India (CPI) to take on the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) led by caretaker chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, who is popularly known as KCR. The TRS, seeking a second term in office, is going alone, as also the BJP. Counting of votes in both states will be held on December 11, along with Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram. Congress president Rahul Gandhi had a word of caution for his partys worker on Friday as Rajasthan and Telangana voted in the assembly election. Congress party workers, be vigilant after polls close today. In MP, EVMs behaved strangely after polling: Some stole a and vanished for 2 days! Others slipped away & were found drinking in a hotel. In Modis India, the EVMs have mysterious powers Stay alert! (Sic) he tweeted. Congress party workers, be vigilant after polls close today. In MP, EVM's behaved strangely after polling: Some stole a and vanished for 2 days! Others slipped away & were found drinking in a hotel. In Modis India, the EVMs have mysterious powers Stay alert! pic.twitter.com/DViNl8fdPC Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) December 7, 2018 The Congress leaders comment came after some electronic voting machines and paper trail machines in Madhya Pradesh reached the strong room 48 hours after the elections were held on November 28. These machines were meant as reserves and were not used in polling. Click here for Telangana assembly elections Live Updates Congress leader Naresh Saraf filed a petition in the Madhya Pradesh High Court seeking direction to set up a special investigation team (SIT) to probe alleged irregularities in the handling of reserve EVMs in Bhopal, Satna, Sagar, Shahjapur and Khandwa. He said in his plea that no separate facility was created to keep the unused reserve EVMs after polling was held. These were kept within the vicinity of EVMs used in polling in all the assembly seats, he alleged. The petition sought direction to the Election Commission to reveal the number of EVMs under the unused, reserve category. It also sought punishment for authorities for alleged dereliction of election duty. Click here for Rajasthan assembly election 2018 LIVE Updates Senior Congress leaders Ahmed Patel, Kamal Nath and Kapil Sibal had also met Election Commission officials on Tuesday and raised a number of issues, ranging from EVM-related complaints in Madhya Pradesh. Earlier on Tuesday, Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Kamal Nath had also met the Chief Election Officer in New Delhi and demanded that EVMs be protected in a secured place and that counting is done in an impartial and fair manner. Counting of votes will be held on December 11. Follow exit polls live here: Surveys give BJP advantage in tight race in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh Shah Rukh Khans next Zero is releasing on December 21 and the films cast has begun promoting it in a major way. Shah Rukh left for Dubai on Thursday for Zero and while there, spoke about exiting from the Forbes list of the top richest Indian celebrities in 2018. Speaking to Khaleej Times, Shah Rukh was nonchalant about his fall from grace. The paper, quoted him as saying, In the last three-four days I have found out that I have fallen out of a magazines list of rich people. Ive become dearer on Twitter and poorer according to the (Forbes) survey. I just hope with this film (Zero) I become nearer! So dearer, poorer and nearer in one day! Thats the life of a star! As per Forbes list, Shah Rukh fell to 13th spot in the list, down from No 2 spot he occupied in 2017. Also, his Twitter account was judged among the top 10 Most talked about Indian Twitter Accounts on Wednesday, the paper added. Meanwhile, the actor addressed a 100,000 strong crowd at Dubais Global Village as he promoted Zero and took to Instagram to express his feeling. He wrote: This much love for #Zero, only possible in Dubai. Thanks Global Village for the 100,000 hearts beating for Bauua, Aafia and Babita. Will convey ur #Issaqbaazi to them in India. Love u Dubaiwaalon yeh dekho Bauua ki selfie! In the picture, we see Shah Rukh with his back to the camera even as he is facing the crowds. With his hands in the air, Shah Rukh greets the crowds in an arena which is packed to the capacity. At the far end of the photograph, we see iconic buildings from cities around the globe, glowing in neon lights. In another video, shared by the star, we see a panoramic view of the arena as thousands of camera phone lights come on. Many more videos from the promotions are now online. In one such a series of videos, Shah Rukh can be seen dancing to some of his most popular songs such as Tujhe Dekha Toh Yeh Aisa Lagaa (DDLJ), Lungi Dance (Chennai Express) and Chaiyya Chaiyya (Dil Se). Zero tells the story of a dwarf from Meerut, who moves from the bylanes of a small town to the glitzy world of glamour. In the process he falls for two womenAafia, playing by Anushka, who plays the role of a scientist suffering from cerebral palsy and a star Babita, played by Katrina Kaif. Meanwhile, Katrina and Anushka were spotted at Mumbais Mehboob Studio, earlier this week, promoting Zero. The trailer and two songs from the film have been received well. Follow @htshowbiz for more Sonali Bendres Instagram post, through her treatment in New York City, has been an inspiration to many. From laying bare her heart, exposing her weaknesses to diving deep into the recesses of her soul to muster strength to battle her high grade cancer, Sonali has set the bar high for all. However, none of it could have been possible with a support system. And one such a person is her sister, Rupa. Sharing an emotional and sincere post on the occasion of her sisters birthday, Sonali writes how Rupa Tai (thats how an elder sister is addressed in Marathi) has been my rock, my person. She goes on to describe how Rupa has been there with her throughoutfrom the time she was diagnosed with the disease, when she decided on the course of her treatment to actually packing her bags to accompany her to NYC. The actor goes on to add how Rupa has been with her through thick and thin a dictator, when she had to eat right or take medicines or an empathetic counsellor, switching roles of being a listener to leaving Sonali with her throughts, effortlessly. Sonali elaborates how sisters share a special bond; they are pretty much an extension of each other. She concludes by adding that now they have returned home and are back with their respective families, she will always remain indebted to her Rupa Tai. It may be recalled that in early July this year, Sonali first revealed to the world that she had been diagnosed with cancer and that she, with the support of her family and friends, had decided to fight it head-on. In many of her subsequent posts, she had shared how painful the treatment had beenthere were times when she couldnt even lift a finger! Sonalis courage has been exemplary--never shying away from what cancer treatment can do, the glamorous actor had shared pictures of herself without any hair! Her posts have never been morose thougheven in pain, she took time out to enjoy whatever way she could. We have seen her taking part in Priyanka Chopras bachelorette party in September this year and stepping out when friends came visiting. In the five pictures with Rupa in NYC, she showed how every dark cloud can have a silver lining. Read her complete post her. Follow @htshowbiz for more Shah Rukh Khan has often spoken about daughter Suhana Khans acting aspirations and was recently left impressed when he saw her on stage. Now it seems she has been giving SRK some work advice as well. Shah Rukh shared a throwback picture from the sets of his upcoming film Zero on Twitter and captioned it, Of all the things I have done for Mere Naam Tu...this is the sweetest. My daughter teaching me to get the lyrics right on the sets. Hope after she sees the song she approves... Of all the things I have done for Mere Naam Tu...this is the sweetest. My daughter teaching me to get the lyrics right on the sets. Hope after she sees the song she approves... pic.twitter.com/qfQ2hhEF9F Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) December 7, 2018 Mere Naam Tu is a song from Zero and features the actor confessing his love to Anushka Sharma in the most romantic way possible. The song has been picturised with beautiful special effects involving water and colours as Bauaa (Shah Rukhs character in the film) confesses his feelings to Aafia played by Anushka. While Anushka play a NASA scientist with cerebral palsy, SRK plays a dwarf for the first time in his career. The film also stars Katrina Kaif as a glamourous superstar. Shah Rukh , Katrina Kaif and Anushka are collaborating again after they were last seen together in Yash Chopras last film, Jab Tak Hai Jaan in 2012. The film has been directed by Aanand L Rai of Tanu Weds Manu fame and rides high on special effects and VFX. It will hit the theatres on December 21. A few days ago, Suhana had performed on stage in her college play titled Romeo and Juliet with her superstar father among the audience. Shah Rukh had shared a picture with her on the social media while also praising her onstage act. With my Juliet in London. What a wonderful experience and exceptional performances by the whole cast. Congratulations to the whole team. pic.twitter.com/Y4dBdNiiqT Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) November 30, 2018 Follow @htshowbiz for more America turned into a net oil exporter last week, breaking almost 75 years of continued dependence on foreign oil and marking a pivotal -- even if likely brief -- moment toward what US president Donald Trump has branded as energy independence. The shift to net exports is the dramatic result of an unprecedented boom in American oil production, with thousands of wells pumping from the Permian region of Texas and New Mexico to the Bakken in North Dakota to the Marcellus in Pennsylvania. While the country has been heading in that direction for years, this weeks dramatic shift came as data showed a sharp drop in imports and a jump in exports to a record high. Given the volatility in weekly data, the US will likely remain a small net importer most of the time. We are becoming the dominant energy power in the world, said Michael Lynch, president of Strategic Energy & Economic Research. But, because the change is gradual over time, I dont think its going to cause a huge revolution, but you do have to think that OPEC is going to have to take that into account when they think about cutting. The shale revolution has transformed oil wildcatters into billionaires and the US into the worlds largest petroleum producer, surpassing Russia and Saudi Arabia. The power of OPEC has been diminished, undercutting one of the major geopolitical forces of the last half century. The cartel and its allies are meeting in Vienna this week, trying to make a tough choice to cut output and support prices, risking the loss of more market share to the US The US sold overseas last week a net 211,000 barrels a day of crude and refined products such as gasoline and diesel, compared to net imports of about 3 million barrels a day on average so far in 2018, and an annual peak of more than 12 million barrels a day in 2005, according to the US Energy Information Administration. The EIA said the US has been a net oil importer in weekly data going back to 1991 and monthly data starting in 1973. Oil historians that have compiled even older annual data using statistics from the American Petroleum Institute said the country has been a net oil importer since the mid-1940s, when Harry Truman was in the White House. On paper, the shift to net oil exports means that the US is today energy independent, achieving a rhetorical aspiration for generations of American politicians, from Jimmy Carter to George W. Bush. Yet, its a paper tiger achievement: In reality, the US remains exposed to global energy prices, still affected by the old geopolitics of the Middle East. US crude exports are poised to rise even further, with new pipelines from the Permian in the works and at least nine terminals planned that will be capable of loading supertankers. The only facility currently able to load the largest ships, the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, is on pace to load more oil in December than it has in any other month. The massive Permian may be even bigger than previously thought. The Delaware Basin, the less drilled part of the field, holds more than twice the amount of crude as its sister, the Midland Basin, the US Geological Service said Thursday. While the net balance shows the US is selling more petroleum than buying, American refiners continue to buy millions of barrels each day of overseas crude and fuel. The US imports more than 7 million barrels a day of crude from all over the globe to help feed its refineries, which consume more than 17 million barrels each day. In turn, the US has become the worlds top fuel supplier. The US is now a major player in the export market, said Brian Kessens, who helps manage $16 billion at Tortoise in Leawood, Kansas. We continue to re-tool our export infrastructure along the Gulf Coast to expand capacity, and you continue to see strong demand globally for crude oil. Fifteen years ago, a young American lawyer had a MeToo moment, though not quite in the context of that terms current hashtagged connotation. She cold called the organisation Indian-American Leadership Initiative or IALI, which had been formed just three years earlier to build national support within the community for candidates at all levels of American politics. She contacted the group to inform them that she too was running for district attorney in San Francisco and was Indian-American, a fact many were unaware of. As the United States starts its two-year slog of potential nominees for the post of President trying to make their presence felt, that lawyer has attained a profile that will easily ring a bell: Kamala Harris, US senator from California and possible foe to Donald Trump in his 2020 re-election bid. It took five more years for Harris, who was raised by her Tamilian mother, Shyamala, who was separated from her Jamaican-origin father Donald Harris, to get some national face time. That came courtesy her appearance as a surrogate representing a young senator from Illinois attempting to capture the Democratic Partys nomination for the 2008 Presidential run:Barack Obama. Obama achieved that objective, and much more, later, and as the Democratic National Convention was being held in Denver, she attended an IALI event on its margins, a little payback. Obama and Harris obviously have much in common, from their mixed race origin to progressive politics. He once described her as by far the best looking Attorney General in America, a comment that attracted plenty of criticism at that time, but she will certainly look pretty attractive to many voters after four years of Trump. As the Business Standard reported in a profile when she ran for the Senate, after having been elected the attorney-general of Americas largest state, Harris was a frequent flyer to India: from a solemn occasion like taking her mothers ashes for immersion, to merrier ones like haunting Chennais legendary saree emporium, Nalli. Those trips, though, are no longer the norm, since politics doesnt make for getaways. Her visits these days are more targeted to states like Iowa and South Carolina, both of which hold early primaries, and were instrumental in establishing Obamas stature as a candidate in 2008. Harris is no certainty for the nomination. There are many high-voltage contenders eyeing the chance to take on Trump: A dozen-and-a-half names are already being speculated upon. If Harris has to have a chance, she will need a difference maker to back her. And an endorsement from Obama will be just that tonic, one each of the other contenders is also thirsting for. If she does decide to make the dive into the deepest end of US politics, the senator, once described as the female Obama, will check a lot of firsts with her profile, but only the original Obama can raise it above the fray. Anirudh Bhattacharyya is a Toronto-based commentator on American affairs The views expressed are personal The Uttarakhand assembly witnessed noisy scenes on the Lokayukta Bill issue on Thursday with members of the Congress creating bedlam in the House accusing the BJP government of deliberately avoiding to enact the anti-graft law as it is patronising corruption. The Congress also demanded that the BJP government appoint the Lokayukta within the next 30 days. As soon as the House met at 11am, Leader of the Opposition Indira Hridayesh demanded that the Chair permits a debate on the long pending Lokayukta Bill under rule 310. She also reminded the House that the BJP had promised ahead of the 2017 assembly election that it would enact the anti-graft law within 100 days of coming to power. But its been about two years since that party (BJP) formed the government but the latter has kept the Lokayukta Bill in abeyance, Hridayesh said. She demanded that a debate be urgently allowed in the House on the proposed Lokayukta law stating that it was an issue of utmost public importance. Speaker Premchand Aggrawal urged the Opposition members to let the Question Hour continue assuring that a debate on the Lokayukta Law would be allowed. Meanwhile, irate opposition members trooped into the well of the House raising slogans in favour of their demand. Congress president Pritam Singh joined them demanding that the Speaker cancel the Question Hour so that a debate on the proposed anti-graft law was possible. Hridayesh said even the ruling party members are hurt that the BJP government was not enacting a strong Lokayukta Bill that the ruling party had promised before the last state elections. She alleged that the BJP government instead of fulfilling its promise referred the proposed anti-graft law to the select committee for no rhyme or reason just days after it took charge. Its been about two years since then and they have not called a meeting to discuss the Lokayukta Bill, Hridayesh alleged. She alleged that the government instead claims that such a law was not required, falsely claiming that it was vigorously pursuing its policy of zero tolerance for corruption. Hridayesh was referring to the statement frequently repeated by chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat. Instead this (BJP) government jailed those who exposed corruption through a sting operation, Hridayesh said indirectly referring to an editor of a Dehradun-based TV channel. With the pressure mounting, the Speaker relented a bit stating that he would allow a debate under rule 58 after the Question Hour instead of allowing it under rule 310 as demanded by the Opposition. At his request, the Opposition members took their seats. Hridayesh stuck to her guns stating that the Question Hour was an important opportunity for carrying out a debate on the proposed anti-graft law. Reacting to the statement, parliamentary affairs minister Prakash Pant said a debate on the Lokayukta Bill was allowed every time the Opposition raises a debate on the floor of the House. He urged Opposition members to let the Question Hour continue. Ignoring the Question Hour would set a bad precedent, Pant said, adding that after the select committee had returned Lokaykta Bill the latter had become a property of the House. Consequently, whenever the House would wish it the anti-graft law would be passed, he said. The request though had no impact on the irate Opposition members who kept on creating din. Meanwhile, BJP legislator Munna Singh Chauhan asked the Opposition members to cite one House rule that that permits them to decide when a particular Bill would be enacted. The statement ended up adding fuel to fire prompting all the irate Congress members to again troop into the well of the House. It is only after creating the ruckus for about half-an-hour that the irate Congress members agreed to the Speakers request. Later, participating in the debate on the proposed anti-graft law both Hridayesh and Pritam Singh accused the BJP government of patronising corruption. This (BJP) government is not enacting the anti-graft law because it is fully immersed in corruption, Singh said. A fortnight after he got a hair transplant to help him change his appearance, a convicted killer on the run for the last three years was arrested from west Delhis Dwarka on Thursday, police said. Mohit Wadhwa, 30, had also allegedly shaved off his moustache and assumed a fake name Ankit in his effort to conceal his identity. But a tip-off gave away his location to the police on Thursday, nearly three years after he jumped parole in January 2016. Anto Alphonse, deputy commissioner of police (Dwarka), said when Wadhwa was cornered, he tried to shoot at the police but was caught before he could do any damage. Wadhwa had visited Chandigarh on November 20 and got hair transplantation done on his bald head by paying Rs 80,000. Encouraged by the growth of his hair, Wadhwa recently shaved off his moustache in the hope of donning a totally new look, said another investigator. A resident of Hisar in Haryana, Wadhwa had shot and killed a criminal in his native town in August 2006. The criminal had attacked Wadhwas father with a sword during a quarrel. Wadhwa later avenged the attack on his father by shooting the criminal and dumping his body in a canal, said the DCP. Wadhwa was arrested and convicted by a district court in 2008 and his appeal against his conviction was turned down by the Supreme Court. Police said he sought parole in January 2016 but never returned to jail. Wadhwa was living in various parts of Punjab and Delhi during his days on the run. For a while, he sustained himself by working at a call centre that duped people by getting credit and debit card details, said an investigator. But he quit that work and was planning a robbery. He took a flat on rent in Dwarka Morh and procured a pistol when we were tipped off, said the officer. The North Delhi Municipal Corporation has planned an intensive sealing drive against polluting units in outer Delhis Tikri, Mundka and Nangloi on Friday and Saturday. Officials said action will be taken without serving any showcause notice to these units which are running illegally from non-conforming areas. The decision to carry out the sealing drive was taken on the direction of Environment Pollution Control Committee (EPCA) after reports of rising pollution levels in these areas due to open burning of plastic waste. EPCA chairman Bhurelal said, These units are running from every second residential property in the area. The factory owners are burning plastic waste to produce granules and also using rubber as fuel. These are highly toxic to the environment. We had identified such units during our previous visit to these areas. No relaxation would be given to defaulters, he said. He claimed that lot of people living in Prem Nagar and Mundka are suffering from respiratory problems and other ailments due to uncontrolled burning of plastic. In a circular issued by the north corporation commissioner on Thursday, it was clarified that intensive sealing measure will be taken on Friday and the progress on sealing action will be reviewed by the EPCA chairman . In 2017, the EPCA had ordered Delhi government to take action against industrial units running in non-conforming areas. Later, in June 2018, the Delhi State Industrial & Infrastructure Development Corporation (DSIIDC) had shared a list of 51,837 industries with the three municipal corporations, most of which were operating illegally from non-conforming and residential areas, despite having been provided alternate plots. On the basis of this list, the north corporation had sealed over 600 factories and warehouses running illegally in residential areas in Mundka, Kamruddin Nagar, Nilothi, Swarn Park and Tikri Kalan. During a meeting of the north corporation on Thursday, it was clarified that 48 hours notices are served for misusing residential unit for commercial purposes. But in this case, the polluting factories are being run in residential areas, which are illegal, said a senior official. On Thursday, a decision was taken to review the list of 51,000 units again considering some of them have been shut down or shifted to the 22 deemed industrial areas, said an official. The sealing issue was also discussed in the north corporation standing committee meeting on Thursday and councillors asked the commissioner to simplify the process for temporary de-sealing of premises. Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Thursday that he would transform unauthorised colonies in Delhi so that they would resemble neighbourhoods in London and Paris. He was speaking at an event seeking support for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. Kejriwal also alleged the Bhartiya Janata Party, if it comes to power again at Centre, was planning to demolish unauthorised colonies. The BJP wants to demolish unauthorised colonies because they think these colonies are an eyesore and that people living there colonies are criminals. But I ensure you that AAP will continue to work for unauthorised colonies, Kejriwal said while inaugurating the work of laying sewer lines in 33 colonies of Vikaspuri assembly constituency. We will make roads, lay sewer lines and install street lights in all unauthorised colonies in next two years. We will make them look like London and Paris. All you need to do is vote us to power in Lok Sabha elections, Kejriwal said. The AAP convener also slammed the BJP government at the centre for targeting Delhi urban development minister Satyendra Jain for trying to regularise unauthorised colonies. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) last week said it has filed a charge sheet against Jain, his wife Poonam and four other alleged business associates, for allegedly amassing assets disproportionate to their known sources of income. The Modi government filed a case against Satyendra Jain because he was regularising unauthorised colonies. He has told me no matter how many cases are filed against us, we will continue develop these colonies, he said. Kejriwal also said that BJP at the centre had ensured that names of lakhs of voters be struck off the roles. I have the list of the names removed. I will assure the names are added again. But you make sure to vote us, not them (BJP), Kejriwal said. The BJP slammed back at AAP accusing Kejriwal of levelling baseless charges on it. They fear a defeat in 2019 and are levelling baseless charges. They (AAP) spend time spreading hatred and dividing society. They should instead focus on governance and make sure people get what they have been promised, said leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta. The Gujarat government on Thursday decided to conduct the constable recruitment examination on January 6. The Gujarat police recruitment board had on December 2 cancelled the examination hours before its start due to paper leak. The examination was being held to fill over 7,000 vacancy and around 8.75 lakh applicants had applied for it. Chief minister Vijay Rupani on Thursday announced that the applicants will be waived off the Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation bus tickets for reaching their respective examination centres. Rupani also assured the applicants that the recruitment will be done in a fair and transparent manner. Meanwhile, Gujarat police in the wee hours of Thursday arrested Yashpal Solanki, an ad-hoc employee of Vadodara Municipal Corporation in connection with the paper leak. Solanki was arrested from Mahisagar district this morning, said an official. The police said Solanki was in touch with one Nilesh Patel, who is said to be the Gujarat contact for the Delhi based gang. This gang, unidentified so far, was allegedly responsible for getting the paper leaked from printing press possibly located near Bengaluru. Nilesh, who has been absconding, allegedly sent some 30 youths in four SUVs to Delhi from Gandhinagar on November 29. In Delhi, these youths were given exam question paper and answers by the alleged gang members. By the morning of December 2, hours before examination, all the youths arrived in Gujarat. Some arrived by air while others in same SUVs in which they had gone to Delhi. So far the police have arrested 11 persons in the matter. Most of these accused were also applicants and were to appear for the examination and others include three BJP workers and a sub-inspector. Gandhinagar Superintendent of police Mayur Chavda said another applicant and a conspirator Indravadan Parmar have also been arrested. Parmar and Nilesh have been identified as main conspirators in Gujarat. The officer also added that Delhi based gang appears to be highly professional and might have been involved in paper leaks in other states. To ensure timely supply of textbooks to government schools in the city, the Delhi bureau of textbooks has asked all schools to inform them about their requirement for the next academic session by December 15. The move comes in the wake of complaints received by the directorate of education (DoE) of delay in supply of books from several government schools. According to a circular issued by the bureau to all the heads of schools (HoS) on Tuesday, the schools will have to submit the requirements online. It also warned that the date will not be extended. Delhi bureau of text books has to deliver the text books for Class 1 to Class 6 at the door step of each government school of Delhi through its authorised dealers. All HoS shall feed/ input the number (as per their requirement of textbooks, medium wise, keeping in mind the number of admissions for the session 2019-20), the circular stated. The HoS were also told that there can be no correction in the number of required books once the link is closed. Text books will be supplied strictly as per the requirement submitted by HoS. No correction in the data will be made at the later stage, the circular added. Several Heads of Schools (HoS), however, complained that time period given to upload the information was too short. We are already busy with the preparations of pre-board exams for Class 10 and 12. It wont be possible to gather the data and predict the next sessions enrollment and come with an accurate number by December 15. We will definitely need some more time, said the head of a girls school in east Delhi who did not wish to be named. Officials at a co-ed senior secondary school in Karol Bagh cited similar reasons to protest the move. How can we predict the number of admissions? We are bound to take all students come for admission. What if we give smaller figure and more students turn up. How will we provide books to them, said the HoS at the school. A committee of experts headed by former chief election commissioner N Gopalaswami has recommended the coveted Institute of Eminence tag for 12 private institutions and as many government ones as part of an ambitious government plan under which they will be nurtured into world class centres of education. Krea University (Sri City), Shiv Nadar University (Dadri) and Vellore Institute of Technology (Vellore) are among the private institutions chosen by the committee, which also picked Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Madras, Delhi University, Jadavpur University and Banaras Hindu University (BHU) among the publicly funded institutions. The Narendra Modi government tasked the four-member panel headed by Goplaswami to select 20 institutes of eminence as part of the initiative to build world class educational centres. The panel, on whose recommendation three government and three private institutes had been selected, came up with its second list on Friday and suggested a new category of outstanding sectoral institutions. As part of the new special list, it zeroed in on the Indian Institutes of Management (IIM)-Ahmedabad and Kolkata, for outstanding sectoral institutions in management studies. Delhis Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and Punjab Agriculture University (PAU), Ludhiana, were selected in the field of agricultural studies. The Gopalaswami committee suggested that they be given a special tag, say institutions of excellence or a similar tag, in recognition of their stellar performance in these sectors, an official in the ministry of human resource development said on condition of anonymity. The panel also named the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) in Kolkata, the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai, and the Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT), Mumbai, and the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai, as outstanding sectoral institutions in this new list. It was on the basis of this committees recommendations that three public and three private institutions were chosen for the institute of eminence tag earlier. Today, the panel has given a list of an additional 12 names for public and an equal number in the private category to be selected as institutes of eminence, the official cited above said on the condition of anonymity. IIT-Madras, IIT-Kharagpur, Delhi University, Jadavpur University, Anna University, BHU, Tezpur University, Aligarh Muslim University, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Punjab University, Andhra University and the University of Hyderabad were the 12 picked for the Institution of Eminence tag in the public sector. Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru; and the IITs in Mumbai and Delhi had earlier been selected for the tag. Among private institutions, the remaining nine the panel chose were Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Bengaluru; Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi; Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology, Bhubaneswar; Azim Premji University, Bengaluru ; the Indian Institute for Human Settlements, Bengaluru; Indian Institute of Public Health, Gandhinagar; Ashoka University, Sonipat; OP Jindal University, Sonipat; and the Satya Bharati University in Haryana. In the report submitted today, the panel has explained the reasons for choosing the institutions. It has looked at their managements, kind of research undertaken and also the financial resources while making its recommendations. For Greenfield projects, availability of land was a key aspect, a second official said. The panel, apart from Gopalaswami, included management guru Pritam Singh, Renu Khator of the University of Houston and Tarun Khanna of Harvard University. The report of the panel is expected to come up for discussion at a meeting at the University Grants Commission (UGC) on Monday. The UGC will then forward the report to the government. The Telangana State Public Service Commission (TSPSC), Hyderabad has released the result of the written exam to recruit village revenue officer (VRO) in revenue department. The written examination was held on September 16. Candidates can check the result on the official website. The merit list has been prepared for 7,38,885 candidates. However, the admission of candidates, who have been admitted in the merit lists on the basis of court orders, is purely provisional and subject to outcome of the final judgments in the respective case pending before the high court. TSPSC VRO result: Steps to check 1) Visit the official website of TSPSC at tspsc.gov.in 2) Click on the link for VRO Merit List for Notification No.13/2018 3) Enter your hall ticket number 4) Click on get result The individual rank and other details will be displayed on the screen. The entire general ranking list will be displayed from December 8 onwards. TSPSC plans to fill approximately 700 vacancies through this recruitment process. Note: Visit the official website of TSPSC for latest news and updates. Im on another flight. This one is a short haul and following an intensely packed schedule in New York in perfect keeping with the pace of the Big Apple, Im flying further south along the coast. The museum tours, staring at the urban architecture, walking in Central Park, dining at Momofuku Ko, and other delights of the city apart, the one absolute highlight from this trip is the exhibition that is on view at the Asia Society, titled The Progressive Revolution: Modern Art for a New India. This is the second time Im visiting it in two months (and would gladly fly back solely to view some of the works yet again). In fact, I visited the show twice over the past week. It is one of those extremely rare events where a body of such groundbreaking order has come together and such powerful works have been displayed alongside each other. There have been some stellar exhibitions focused on the progressives over the past two decades in India as well as overseas, though this is by far my personal pick for the finest. To offer some context, the exhibition presents significant early works by members of the Progressive Artists Group, a group of young artists who banded together in 1947, shortly after Indias independence. The showcase includes works by the groups six founder-members KH Ara, FN Souza, MF Husain, SK Bakre, and SH Raza, as well as those who came on board later, including Akbar Padamsee, Tyeb Mehta, VS Gaitonde, Ram Kumar, Krishen Khanna, Tyeb Mehta and Mohan Samant. Despite each artist representing an individualistic practice and hailing from diverse backgrounds, they were united in their pursuit of understanding, unraveling and presenting a visual representation of our newly birthed nation. Nearly every work here is a masterpiece and each contributes in a rich manner to the viewers perspective of the time and milieu these works were created in. Time spent at the exhibition reveals, in particular, precious much about the socio-political tenor in India during those early years, which is fascinating, especially more so when read in context to the times we live in. Are we progressing as a people? a question that I tend to ask myself ever so often found a clarified response in very many ways via the works on show. Im keen on discussing some of my favourite works here, but Id be rather tight on space in even attempting a single paintings premise. In this direction, please visit the exhibitions page online to view these masterworks. I do hope this exhibition travels and is presented and widely viewed by an audience within India. It would be genuinely wonderful to have students of art, as well as society at large, attend such a showcase. It is an essential requisite for our cultural sensitisation as a nation to have access to works of such significance and for the common citizen to feel a certain degree of connectedness and, going forward, pride for such creations. The works are on loan from a wide set of collectors and the curators, Boon Hui Tan and Dr Zehra Jumabhoy, have rendered an impeccable achievement. Everyone involved in this effort requires a heavily deserved applause and our deepest appreciation. The person I visited the exhibition on the second occasion with asked me if this would qualify as the perfect collection. It is an absolutely delightful show, and one that, as you can probably tell, I thoroughly hold to be exceptional. If I were tasked with listing the finest representations created by the progressives, there would obviously be a few revisions in terms of selection of some of the works, but by and large, it would hold much of the same order. This is an academically brilliant show particularly for its perspective into a young nations heterogeneous society. I would, however, not consider or recommend the exhibition as the template for the perfect private collection. In that light, this body of work would be far too by-the-textbook. It would be an outstanding achievement for an individual to assemble a collection of this quality, but when viewed beyond the bounds of a museums walls, a collection of this nature resting in an individuals hands would be far too scholastic, lacking somewhat on the grounds of it being personal. A private collection should be far more attuned to an individuals sensibilities and it should be a window into her/his world. Having said that, Id be more than glad to have the ownership of every and any of the masterworks from this exhibition. If this were a text message, I wouldve inserted a Smiley emoji at this point. I should be touching down in Miami shortly, where Im set to view a few thousand works over the following few days. Bracing myself now. (Arvind Vijaymohan is the CEO of Artery India, a financial datacenter focused on Indian art sales globally) Marvel Studios on Friday released the long-awaited first trailer for Avengers 4, whose title has now been revealed to be Avengers: Endgame. The trailer was dropped without any prior announcement, or any sort of confirmation by Disney or Marvel. The trailer picks up the story almost exactly after the end of Avengers: Infinity War, with Tony Stark adrift in space, dictating a message for Pepper Potts, were he not to make it. Hey, Miss Potts. If you find this recording, dont feel bad about this, Tony says, slumped in a space ship. Tony and Nebula had been stranded on the planet Titan at the end of the last film, after Thanos killed half the universes population with a snap of his fingers. The action then cuts to Earth, where Black Widow, Bruce Banner and Steve Rogers are discussing their plans. Thanos did exactly what he said he was going to do, we hear Natasha say. He wiped out 50% of all living creatures. The surviving Avengers are seen contemplating the future, with Bruce looking into Scott Lang - it has been rumoured that Ant-Man will enter the Quantum Realm in an effort to save the dead heroes - and Natasha travelling to Japan to recruit Hawkeye, who has taken on the mantle of Ronin. Avengers Endgame: Hawkeye fans can rest easy. Clint Barton makes a return. We lost all of us, we hear Captain America can be heard saying. We lost friends, we lost family, we lost a part of ourselves. This is the fight of our lives. The trailer then immediately cuts to the title: Avengers: Endgame. This was one of two titles that were being floated around the internet in the months leading up to the trailers release. The other was Avengers: Annihilation. Endgame was mistakenly revealed as a contender by the films cinematographer, Trent Opaloch, who listed it on his resume on his website. Avengers Endgame: Steve Rogers in a still from the trailer. A short stinger at the end shows Scott knocking on the Avengers base, presumably to offer his help in the mission. Hi, he says on the CCTV, We met a few years ago, at the airport in Germany. Marvel president Kevin Feige had previously told IGN that keeping the title a secret had backfired on them. Avengers: Endgame has been scheduled for an April, 2019 release. According to Disney CEO Bob Iger, the film will serve as a conclusion to this phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film will feature Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson and Mark Ruffalo, among others. Follow @htshowbiz for more All cars sold from April, 2019 will need to carry colour-coded stickers on their windscreens to indicate the type of fuel they operate on, according to a government notification issued on Thursday that also makes it mandatory for manufacturers to fix high-security registration plates (HSRP) at point of sale. The order also says that buyers wont have to pay extra the cost of the plates will be included in the vehicles price and that manufacturers will need to replace them free of cost in case they wither within 5 years of sale. Hindustan Times reported on Thursday that the government has made it mandatory for vehicle manufacturers to provide HSRP from April, 2019. It was formalised by the HSRP Order, 2018 that laid down the guidelines for the number-plate rule. As part of guidelines, the transport ministry said stickers on windscreens in the form of the third registration plate will be light blue colour for petrol and CNG vehicles and orange for diesel. This differentiation stems from a plan to fight air pollution, particularly in the national capital region, during which vehicles may be banned or allowed based on their fuel type. Diesel vehicles are regarded to have higher particulate matter emissions, while CNG cars are considered the least polluting among the three. ... We were not expecting the HSRP order to come so quickly but pressure from stakeholders and court added to it. A lot of people were having problems with getting these plates and the industry has agreed to support it, said Vishnu Mathur, director general of Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers . The government has called an all-party meeting on Monday ahead of the winter session of Parliament to build a consensus for smooth functioning of the two Houses. The winter session of Parliament will start from December 11, but the first day will only see obituaries for former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and late Parliamentary affairs minister Ananth Kumar. The new minister for Parliamentary affairs, Narendra Singh Tomar called the customary session-eve meeting where the Opposition is expected to flag issues they would want to be discussed in the two Houses. Rafale deal, CBI feud, India-Pakistan relations, agrarian crisis are likely to be high on the Oppositions agenda. The meeting will be followed by BJPs Parliamentary Party meeting and an internal meeting of the NDA. This would be the last full-fledged Parliament session before the Lok Sabha polls. The results of the assembly elections, in which both the ruling BJP and the Congress have high stakes, are bound to cast a shadow on parliamentary proceedings. The results of polls in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram would be out on December 11, when the session begins. The government would push for the passage of the triple talaq bill pending in the Rajya Sabha. It had promulgated an ordinance to make the practice of instant triple talaq a penal offence. The government also wants the Indian Medical Council amendment ordinance and the companies amendment ordinance to be passed as bills in this session. The Winter Session of Parliament usually starts in November. However, it would be the second year in a row when it would begin in December. The Calcutta high court on Friday ordered the state chief secretary, home secretary and director general of police to meet Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders by December 12 and decide whether the partys proposed yatras in the state should go ahead, as the BJP squared off against the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) well ahead of the battle for Bengal in next years general election. Modifying an order by a single bench that put all three BJP yatras on hold until January 9, a division bench of the court said the three state officials should meet with, at the most, three leaders from the party and reach a decision by December 14. Incidentally, December 12 is the day after the results of elections in five states are to be declared. Justice Biswanath Somadder gave the directive after a hearing that lasted all day. In one of the remarks during the debate, the judge asked the counsel for the BJP whether the party in its several letters to the administration mentioned that the meeting they sought was for the yatra. The judges also pulled up the administration, with Justice Somadder using words like astounding?and astonishing?to describe the attitude of the state government. Also Read: Red flag for Amit Shahs Bengal rath yatra from court, upset BJP to appeal State BJP vice-president Pratap Banerjee said the party will wait for the outcome of the meeting. If, however, the outcome is not to its liking, the party will return to the high court division bench, he said. For now, our focus is on the Prime Ministers rally at Siliguri on December 16. If permission is received before that date, the yatra will begin as well, BJP state president Dilip Ghosh said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to address public meetings at four points along the route of the yatras in Siliguri, Malda, Durgapur and Krishnanagar. The court has disposed of the case. The administration will have to hold the meeting with party leaders by Wednesday and inform the court of its decision by Friday, said Phiroze Edulji, one of the BJPs lawyers. The BJP, which has been trying to make political inroads into the state, approached the court after being denied permission by the West Bengal government, controlled by Mamata Banerjees TMC, to take out the yatras. In New Delhi, a combative BJP president, Amit Shah, said Banerjee was scared of the partys expansion into her home turf and that was the reason why her administration had denied permission to the three so-called rath yatras. These yatras will definitely happen. She can use whatever force she wants. I will personally go to flag off these yatra. We will not surrender, Shah told a news conference. Bengal is a focus state for the saffron camp that has set itself the target of wresting at least 22 out of the 42 Parliamentary seats in the state. Banerjee has vowed to win all 42. In the 2014 elections, the BJP could win just two of the Lok Sabha seats in the state and, two years later, won three of the 294 seats in the assembly polls. Shah was to flag off the BJPs Gantantra Bachao (Save the Republic) yatra from Cooch Behar on Friday, but the administration denied the party permission on grounds that it may disturb law and order in the region. The BJP?had planned the three so-called rath yatras, covering most of the 42 parliamentary seats and 294 assembly constituencies in West Bengal over the next one-and-a-half months. Jurapani area within Dhupguri police station limits in neighbouring Jalpaiguri district turned into a battlefield on Friday afternoon when Cooch Behar-bound BJP supporters clashed with the police. The additional superintendent of police of Jalpaiguri district was also injured. The clash ensued when policemen blocked the way of buses carrying BJP workers and moving towards the spot of a public meeting about 4 km from Cooch Behar town. A total of 20 policemen were injured, said an officer at Dhupguri police station who did not want to be named. I have been to West Bengal 23 times after 2014. Several union ministers and even the prime minister has addressed a public meeting. Let Mamata Banerjee show even one case where the law and order situation was disturbed after our rally, Shah said. Shah claimed the BJP had written to the home secretary and the director general of police on October 29, seeking permission, but they did not act. The party, he said, sent reminders even on November 5, 12 and 20. Separate letters were sent to the police chief on November 14, 20 and 23. Mounting a scathing attack against the Banerjee government, he also alleged that the state led in the number of political killings in the country. She is losing sleep over the BJPs expansion in the state, he said. In a state where one used to hear Rabindra Sangeet earlier, now we hear bomb blasts, he said. Shah also offered Mamata Banerjee some unsolicited advice. She didnt ask for it... yet I will give her some advice... Stopping the BJP yatra will not help her but will only make people more angry, he said. Trinamool Congress leaders refused to comment. The division bench of Justice Somadder and Justice Arindam Mukherjee began hearing the matter at noon. The bench asked the advocate-general why the administration sat tight on the letters written to it by the BJP so many days ago. Lashing out at both the state government and the BJP, Communist Party of India (Marxist), or CPI(M), Lok Sabha MP?and politburo member Mohammed Salim said, One the one hand is the BJP, a party that murdered democracy in Tripura, talking of democracy. On the other, a state government that fails to take strong and timely decisions, paving the way for courts to intervene. We dont support the divisive agenda behind the rath yatra. At the same time, we cannot support the government dragging its feet and taking all political matters to court,?said Pradip Bhattacharya, working president of the state Congress and Rajya Sabha MP. Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh and local youth Sumit Kumar were shot dead with same bore (.32) pistol or pistols, suggest the initial findings of the probe by senior police officials in the Bulandshahr violence. The police were, however, unable to nab the key accused in the violence, Yogesh Raj (a Bajrang Dal leader), even after 72 hours of the violence. The SSP office of Bulandshahar said six teams (of 10-12 cops each) have been formed to arrest all the accused named in the FIR for the Monday violence. Teams are raiding every possible hideout to arrest the accused, the SSP office said. Meanwhile, the slain inspectors wife Rajni met chief minister Yogi Adityanath in Lucknow on Thursday and told him that her husband, who was handling cow slaughter complaints, used to get threat calls. She was accompanied by her two sons during the meeting. Additional director general (ADG), Intelligence, SB Shiroadkar, who was asked by the state government to submit the spot findings about Bulandshahr violence within 48 hours, was yet to submit his report. Also probing the violence, the SIT team led by inspector general (IG) of Meerut range, Ram Kumar, and a team of special task force visited the spot to investigate the matter in past two days but havent submitted their reports. But a senior police officer at state police headquarters in Lucknow said the initial findings of the three probing teams point out that the weapon (weapons) used in the murders of the inspector and the youth were of .32 bore. Who killed the two and under what circumstances is still unclear, the officer, who did not want to be named, said. He said the slain inspectors private licensed pistol, which he was carrying at the time of the violence, was of the same bore and was missing since then. The officer said the pistol was allegedly looted by the unruly mob after killing him during the violence. He, however, added that it is very early to say whether the inspectors pistol was used in the killings. This would be ascertained only after ballistic examination of the missing pistol, he added. He said .32 bore weapons are non-prohibited and are available for common license holders, so it is possible that somebody from the mob may have been carrying the same bore pistol and used it to shoot the inspector and the youth. He said the bullets recovered from the two bodies have been sent for forensic examination but the ballistic examination of the pistol could not be done as it was taken away by the assailants present among the mob. Moreover, the initial investigations suggest unpreparedness of local police officials in handling the violent mob despite being aware about recovery of cow carcasses around four hours before the violence on Monday. The mob turned violent at around 1 pm but by then the local police was not able to assess the situation. Inspector general (crime) S K Bhagat also told reporters in Lucknow that it appears that the police officer and the youth had died of injuries caused by .32 mm bullets, but whether those were fired from the same weapon would be known only after the report from the forensic lab was received. Bhagat also confirmed that the carcasses recovered from Mahav village were nearly two days old during initial examination. This suggested that the cows were slaughtered on the intervening night of December 1 and 2 and the carcasses were recovered on the morning of December 3. The spot report also mentioned that the cow slaughter happened under the Syana police station area but still people behind it was unclear. The ADG intelligence had on Tuesday had visited the two mango orchards and a sugar cane field where cow dung and blood stains were found. The spot findings clearly suggested that the cows were slaughtered in the orchards and the field but it was not clear how carcasses reached near the populated area of Mahav village. Whether the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is eyeing a fourth straight term in Chhattisgarh, or the opposition Congress seeking to return to power after 15 years will make a dent will be the focus of the exit polls on Friday evening in the tribal-dominated state. The assembly election to the assembly was held in two phases: The first in 18 seats spread across eight Maoist-affected districts on November 12 and the then in 72 constituencies spread across 19 districts on November 20. Chief minister Raman Singh, two state cabinet ministers and an incumbent BJP MP were among the 190 candidates contesting in the first phase of election for the 90-member assembly. Click here for Live updates on Eyeing his fourth consecutive term as chief minister, Singh fought from Rajnandgaon seat where his main rival was Congress Karuna Shukla, the niece of former prime minister late Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The final phase was a test for former chief minister Ajit Jogi, whose Janata Congress Chhattisgarh contested the elections in alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party and Communist Party of India (CPI). Click here for Live updates on Election exit polls results 2018 . Jogi contested from Marwahi constituency and Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati also addressed a dozen rallies. Top BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, party president Amit Shah, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath and Union minister Smriti Irani, campaigned for the saffron party and highlighted various achievements of the Raman Singh government. During the campaign for the polls, BJP leaders highlighted how Maoism, which was at its peak during the Congress rule in the state, was contained during the last 15 years and also the development works taken up by the government. Modi attacked the Gandhi family over allegations of dynasty politics and Shah accused the Congress of peddling lies and misleading the people. On the other side, the Congress accused the BJP of failing to control the Maoist menace and referred to the chit fund and civil supply scams. It also targeted the chief ministers son Abhishek Singh over his alleged offshore assets. Congress president Rahul Gandhi had held five rallies and a road show while campaigning for the first phase of the assembly polls. He repeatedly underlined a promise to waive farm loans and reiterated charges of corruption against the central government. The Election Commission had imposed a nearly month-long ban on holding exit or opinion poll, a survey of voters after they exit polling stations but are known to often get it wrong, beginning November 12 in the five poll-bound states. Votes will be counted on December 11. BJPs Dalit MP from Uttar Pradesh, Savitri Bai Phule resigned from the party on Baba Saheb Ambedkars death anniversary on Thursday after accusing the BJP of ignoring Dalit issues. Immediately after sending her resignation to BJP chief Amit Shah, she told HT on phone that several other Dalit and OBC MPs from the BJP were in touch with her and might quit soon. Phules letter questioning BJPs commitment to reservation in April, a charge she repeated on Thursday, had resulted in several other Dalit MPs writing to BJP accusing it of neglecting them and their issues. The youngest Dalit MP in Lok Sabha, 37-year-old Phule is expected to announce her next political move at a rally in Lucknows Ramabai Ambedkar Maidan on December 23. We are expecting two lakh people at the rally, said Phules aide Ranjeet Kumar. A first time lawmaker from Balha in 2012, she had become an MP from Bahraich in 2014 on a BJP ticket. She had previously been in the BSP and some political leaders indicated that she had feelers from the Samajwadi Party. The BJP reacted cautiously to her resignation. We have always been championing cause of the Dalits. Its not for nothing that today we have maximum Dalit MLAs and MPs and our Dalit support is growing, said UP BJP general secretary Vijay Bahadur Pathak. He, however, added, All that I would like to say is several people, including Dalit and OBC leaders from other parties, are also in touch with us. Soon after sending her resignation, Phule also held a press conference in Lucknow where she attacked the BJP. Her resignation came in the middle of BJPs Dalit connect initiatives in UP which have seen the party holding meetings with all Dalit subcastes in the state capital. I have been raising Dalit issues in Lok Sabha since 2014, but since I come from a marginalised community, my voice was always ignored. Thats why I have decided to quit the party. I have raised the same issues in the state capital too, she said. Two days back Phule had taken on chief minister Yogi Adityanath over his alleged Hanuman a Dalit remark saying if Lord Hanuman was indeed a Dalit, then the community should get right over his temples. She had also described Prime Minister Narendra Modis cleanliness campaign or swacchta abhiyaan a sham. Exit polls show a close contest between the ruling BJP and the Congress in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, with the surveys predicting starkly different results. In Rajasthan, the polls predict a Congress win, a return of K Chandrashekhar Raos Telangana Rashtriya Samiti (TRS) in Telangana and in Mizoram, a hung assembly. In other headlines from the exit polls, the ambitious alliance between Mayawatis BSP and the Ajit Jogi in Chhattisgarh may not get many seats, but could be crucial in case of a hung assembly when no party gets a majority. In Madhya Pradesh, where Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan is seeking a fourth term, predictions swing from a clear majority for his party the BJP, to a clear majority for the Congress. But a Times Now- CNX survey gives the BJP 126 seats and the Congress 89, the CSDS - ABP poll gives the Congress 126 seats and the BJP 94. The India TV poll shows the BJP ahead, while the survey by CVoter - Republic TV, News Nation, News 24 - Pace Media say advantage Congress in wide bands. Axis My India - India Today and Aaj Tak predicts a close battle. Follow live updates here: Surveys give BJP advantage in tight race in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh Madhya Pradesh has 230 seats and the majority mark for a party to win is 116. In 2013, the BJP returned to power with a stunning 165 seats while the Congress had won 57. Two exit polls - CNX - Times Now and CSDS - ABP -- give neighbouring Chhattisgarh to the BJP, while Axis My India - India Today predicts a Congress win. A survey by CVoter - Republic TV , News 24-Pace Media, News Nation show an advantage for the Congress in a tight contest, while the Republic Jan Ki Baat and India TV show the BJP stronger. Their bands show the possibility of a hung house. None of the six polls predict a significant number of seats for the Jogi-BSP alliance with the highest at 8, but in a close contest its support could make crucial difference. Chhattisgarh has 90 assembly seats and a party needs 46 to form government. In Rajasthan, six of eight exit polls predict that the Congress will unseat Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje of the BJP. Two predict a close race between the parties. A party needs 100 seats in the 200-member assembly in Rajasthan, where elections were not held on one seat because a candidate died. In 2013, the BJP had swept Rajasthan with a two-third majority, wresting the state from the Congress by winning 163 seats, while the Congress had won only 21. In Telangana, all five surveys show K Chandrashekhar Rao of the TRS ahead, two predicting outright that he will return to power, besting the Congress, which contested along with allies including the Telugu Desam Party led by Chandrababu Naidu, Chief Minister of neighbouring Andhra Pradesh. The BJP is not seen making a dent. Exit polls by CVoter - Republic TV and CNX - Times Now predict a hung house in Mizoram, the last bastion of the Congress in the north east, with an advantage for the opposition Mizo National Front. Mizoram has 40 seats and a simple majority is at 21. Elections were held in five states since last month, votes will be counted on Tuesday, December 11. Exit polls for all states were released today after polling ended in Rajasthan and Telangana. Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram had voted last month. Do remember, exit polls often get it wrong. This round of election is seen as a semi-final before the parliamentary election next summer, when prime minister Narendra Modi will seek re-election. Out of the five states where voting was held since last month, the BJP rules three, all states that contributed immensely to Modis majority in the 2014 Lok Sabha election. The BJP had won 62 out of 65 parliamentary seats spread across Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. For full coverage of assembly elections, click here The electoral race is tantalisingly poised in the politically crucial Hindi heartland states of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, where the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress are locked in a neck-and-neck contest, with the latter having the edge in Rajasthan, according to exit polls published on Friday after the conclusion of voting in the last round of state elections before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Chief minister K Chandrasekhar Raos Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) has an advantage in Telangana in the south, and Zoramthangas opposition Mizo National Front (MNF) may edge past the Congress in Christian-majority Mizoram, showed the polls published after voting drew to a close on Friday in Telangana and Rajasthan. Exist polls are conducted just after a voter walks out of the polling booth after casting his or her vote. They are aimed at predicting the result of an election on the basis of information collected from voters. To be sure, results of elections in India can be extremely hard to predict and there have been instances where pollsters have been spectacularly off the mark in making the treacherous conversion from projected vote share to seat share numbers. Read: Telangana elections exit polls show KCRs early poll gamble may pay off Assembly polls to these five states billed as the semi-finals ahead of next years general elections were held in a nearly month-long cycle beginning on November 12. The results will be announced after the votes are counted on December 11. The BJP, which had Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah at the vanguard of its campaign,is trying to win power for a fourth straight term in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh and trying to retain Rajasthan, which has a tradition of alternating between the ruling party and the main opposition, which this time is the Congress. The Congress, whose campaign was spearheaded in all states by party president Rahul Gandhi, is hoping to benefit from an anti-incumbency vote in Rajasthan against the government of Vasundhara Raje. The anger was very palpable against the BJP in these elections and people were willing and happy to accept the blueprint given by the Congress, senior Congress leader Sachin Pilot, who is also partys contender for the top post in Rajasthan, said. People want answers for questions which they have avoided for the last five years as price rise, farmers are in distress and the economy is collapsing. Also Read: Exit polls show close contest in MP, Chhattisgarh; give Rajasthan to Congress He added: It is very easy to see that the BJP is on the backfoot in all these five state assembly polls and the Congress is giving an alternative which most people are endorsing and that is the take away from these exit polls. A better result for the Congress will be a morale booster for the opposition party and its president, Rahul Gandhi, after series of debacles in state elections since the 2014 general election. Earlier this year, the party formed a post-poll alliance with the Janata Dal (Secular) to retain power in Karnataka, where the BJP emerged as the single largest party. BJP spokesman GVL Narasimha Rao said: The Congress can gloat over exit poll results, but this happy feeling would be shortlived. The TRS, which spearheaded the Telangana statehood campaign that culminated in the creation of Indias youngest state out of Andhra Pradesh in June 2014, took a gamble in September when it opted for early elections and CM Rao, better known as KCR, dissolved the assembly. KCR is facing a united challenge from the Congress, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the Left that have formed a mahakootami (grand alliance) to unseat the TRS. The Congress could win anywhere between 101 and 145 seats in Rajasthan, according to separate exit polls conducted by ABP-CSDS Lokniti, India Today-Axis, Republic C-Voter and Times Now-CNX. They predicted that the BJP might win 52-85 seats in the 200-member assembly; voting took place in 199 constituencies. Also Read: Exit polls leave Ajit Jogi-Mayawati combine with little in Chhattisgarh assembly In Madhya Pradesh, three of these exit polls predicted an advantage for the Congress. Times Now-CNX predicted a BJP majority, and ABP-CSDS Lokniti forecast a Congress win. India Today-Axis and Republic-C Voter suggested the Congress might emerge as the single largest party in the 230-member House but fall short of the majority mark. Projections for Chhattisgarh, where chief minister Raman Singh of the BJP aims to hold on to his bastion, were split. India Today-Axis predicted a comfortable victory for the Congress and ABP-CSDS Lokniti for the BJP in the state with a 90-member assembly. Times Now-CNX and Republic C-Voter forecast a tight race. Todays Chanakya, which predicted Prime Minister Narendra Modis win in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, released its estimates for Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, giving an edge to the Congress in all three states. Madhya Pradesh (29), Rajasthan (25) and Chhattisgarh (11) account for a total 65 Lok Sabha seats. In 2014, the BJP won 60 seats from these three states. Incumbent TRS seemed to have an advantage in Telangana, with India Today-Axis and Times Now-CNX predicting a clear victory for the party. Republic C-Voter forecast a close contest in the state, which has 119 assembly segments. The ministry of rural development has put forward a proposal to use the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) the worlds largest wage-based social protection programme to achieve Indias third climate target under the 2016 Paris climate change agreement. The proposal was submitted on the sidelines of COP 24 in Katowice, Poland. According to a preliminary assessment by the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), drought-proofing activities under MGNREGA can at least achieve removal or sequestration of about 197 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent by 2030, or 8% of Indias target. But if the work focused on climate change, the scheme has a far higher potential, IISc scientists said. India is on track to achieving two of its three key climate targets 40% electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel sources by 2030 and to reduce the emissions intensity of Indias gross domestic product (GDP) by 33% to 35% from the 2005 levels. But India has been lagging on the third target to create carbon sinks of about 2.5 to 3 billion tons. IISc scientists said climate-oriented activities like drought-proofing, which involves afforestation and creation of fruit orchards, can contribute sizeably to meeting the target. Centre is already piloting climate proofing works under the scheme in 103 blocks of three districts of Bihar, Odisha and Chhattisgarh, said Dharamveer Jha, joint director, ministry of rural development. A team of scientists from IISc is conducting a pan-India assessment of potential from MGNREGA by dividing the area into various agro-ecological regions and carrying out field studies in sample villages in each state. In 2017-18, MGNREGA may have helped sequester about 61.96 million tons of CO2 equivalent. Activities with the highest potential was found to be drought-proofing, followed by land development, revival of traditional water bodies and water harvesting, among others. Drought-proofing will increase the resilience of community by helping them to cope with droughts, and with tree planting there will be improvement in soil fertility over time which in turn could help retain more soil moisture and better yields, said Indu K Murthy, IISc scientist who is coordinating the project with Prof NH Ravindranath. Under MGNREGA, at least one member of every rural household is eligible for at least 100 days of employment in the form of unskilled manual work at the statutory minimum wage. There are co-benefits of MGNREGA work. It is a welcome step that the government has proposed it. Planting of trees can benefit communities and local eco-systems. It will be dangerous if the government promotes trees with high carbon sequestration capacity and ignore its contribution to the local economy. For example, corporate afforestation projects are usually mono-cultures to benefit industrial needs while the needs of local communities will have to be prioritised to make progress on the poverty agenda, said Sanjay Vashisht, director, Climate Action Network South Asia. Environment ministry recently said it will focus on agro-forestry with private partnerships to achieve the third target. Meanwhile, scientists from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) have been presenting findings from their report on global warming of 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways. Joyashree Roy, professor of economics at Jadavpur University (on lien) and one of the Indian authors of the IPCC report, said the team has been briefing parties about climate science and about its economic impacts. A 1.5 degree C rise in global warming climate will be a poverty-multiplier: makes poor people poorer, increases poverty head count. Most severe climate change impacts are projected for urban areas, some rural regions in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia. Climate change will negatively affect childhood under-nutrition and stunting through reduced food availability. Yet, current commitments made by 195 nations under the Paris agreement will not be able to meet the 1.5 degree target; the rise in global warming may be as much as 3.5 degrees over pre-industrial levels with the current commitments. After scanning video recordings, the state police are searching for an army man who is reportedly seen firing during the Bulandshahr violence that led to the death of police inspector Subodh Kumar Singh and a local youth Sumit Kumar, said a senior police privy to the investigation. A senior police officer privy to the investigations confirmed that one of the videos shows the army man, a local resident, firing but his involvement in the killings is yet to be ascertained. The jawan is untraceable since the incident and the special task force and the Bulandshahr police team are searching for him, he added. His family members have told the police that her had come to his village on leave but had returned to his posting in Jammu. But army officials of his unit in Jammu have have not confirmed his whereabouts, the officer added. Watch | Bulandshahr violence: UP CM Yogi Adityanath meets family of slain cop DGP headquarters spokesman RK Gautam, however, said search for all people identified in the videos is on. Earlier, the initial findings by senior police officials in the Bulandshahr violence have confirmed that Subodh Kumar Singh, who was posted as Syana police station, and Sumit Kumar were shot dead with same bore (.32) pistol or pistols. Read More: Whose father will it be tomorrow, asks son of cop killed in UP violence The slain inspectors private licensed pistol, which he was carrying at the time of the violence, was of the same bore and was missing since then. The pistol was allegedly looted by the unruly mob after killing him during the violence. Mobs of alleged 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. In the melee, Singh, who was part of the initial investigation into the 2015 murder of Mohammad Akhlaq in Dadri over allegations of cow slaughter, and 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. Three witnesses recorded their statements on Friday in the case of criminal defamation complaint filed by former Union minister MJ Akbar against Priya Ramani, the first woman to accuse him of sexual harassment, in Delhi Patiala House district court. The court fixed January 11 as the next date for recording of statements of rest of the witnesses in the case against Ramani. Akbar stepped down as the minister of state for external affairs in October after Ramani and a number of other women accused him of sexual harassment and inappropriate behaviour at various stages of his journalistic career. The 67-year-old former editor responded by suing Ramani, who sparked off the barrage of allegations, for criminal defamation in a Delhi court. Dismissing all the allegations, the former editor of The Telegraph, Deccan Chronicle and The Asian Age newspapers, had said that these were malicious, fabricated and salacious intended to harm his reputation. Ramani has said she is ready to fight allegations of defamation laid against me, as truth and the absolute truth is my only defence. Akbar has also been accused of rape by Pallavi Gogoi, the chief business editor of National Public Radio (NPR), a Washington-based American media organisation. She detailed the most painful memories of her life in an article in The Washington Post, accusing Akbar, the editor-in-chief of the Asian Age newspaper at that time, of using his position to prey on her 23 years ago. Joyeeta Basu, the editor of Sunday Guardian, was one of the first witnesses to testify in the case on November 12. She had said Ramani posted all her tweets intentionally with a purpose to harm Akbars reputation and goodwill. She said she has worked with Akbar for 20 years and had not heard anything untoward from the staff of the organisation where they worked together. He was a public figure who was held in high esteem, she said. There are six witnesses, including Basu, from Akbars side. Madhya Pradesh high court dismissed on Friday a petition filed by a Congress leader alleging lack of sufficient security arrangements for electronic voting machines (EVMs) and voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines used during the assembly elections on November 28. The petition was filed by former Congress MLA Naresh Saraf. The bench of chief justice SK Seth and justice Vijay Kumar Shukla said in its judgment that a careful reading of reports submitted by the chief electoral officer of Madhya Pradesh to the Election Commission showed the strong rooms for storing polled EVMs, VVPATs and warehouses for unused, reserved EVMs and VVPATs were separate buildings with separate security arrangements. Also Read: Stay alert, EVMs have mysterious powers in Modis India, says Rahul to party men The bench said, The strong room with polled EVMs/VVPATs were sealed immediately after poll to be opened on the day of counting on December 11. These strong rooms are under the security of central armed paramilitary forces with a triple cordon of security. Dismissing the petition the bench said no further action was required. State Congress spokesperson Pankaj Chaturvedi said, We will look into the judgment and file an appeal before the court, if it is required. State BJP spokesperson Rajneesh Agrawal said, The judgment has endorsed our view that the Congress is raising the issue of EVM and its security to have an excuse in face of its defeat in the state assembly elections. The EC has repeatedly denied the charges and asserted there was adequate security outside strong rooms. After a team of French investigators questioned suspected Islamic State (IS) operative Subhani Haja Moideen in Kochi this week, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) may get an opportunity to grill alleged Lashkar-e-Taiba bomb-making expert Mohammad Usman Ghani, jailed in France in connection with the 2015 Paris terror attack. A court in Kochi has issued a so-called letter rogatory for the NIA to interrogate Ghani, officials at the agency said on condition of anonymity. A letter rogatory is a request by a court to a counterpart in a foreign country for judicial assistance. NIA believes that Ghani, who was arrested from Austria after the Paris attack, had been in touch with David Coleman Headley, a Pakistan-origin US terrorist who plotted the 2008 Mumbai terror strike. Besides his suspected Headley nexus, we fear he trained some of the Indians who slipped out to war-torn Iraq and Syria to fight for Islamic State, a senior NIA officer said. Ghani and Algerian IS suspect Adel Hadaddi were arrested from Austria two months after the Paris attack, in which gunmen and suicide bombers hit a concert hall, a stadium, a restaurant and two others places, killing 130 people and maiming hundreds. A multinational investigation team found that Ghani and Haddadi had travelled with a team of refugees to the Greek Island of Leors a month before the attack. Soon after the Paris attack, both resurfaced in Austria and applied for asylum. Both were arrested and handed over to France. Investigator found they had been in touch with two suicide bombers who blew themselves up at a stadium in Paris. NIA officials said Ghani was an expert in making bombs and grenades, and interrogating him could help the agency glean information on LeTs links with other global terror outfits. LeT, based in Pakistan, is blamed for several attacks in India, including the 2008 Mumbai strike. Moideen, an accused in the Kanakamala terror plot that intended to target many leaders of south India, had told the NIA that he had fought for IS in Iraq and Syria in 2015. A Uttar Pradesh police team was sent to Jammu to arrest an Army jawan allegedly involved in the murder of a police inspector during the Bulandshahr violence, and five more people were nabbed in the case, taking the total number of arrests to nine, officials said Friday. Sedition is one of the 17 charges in the FIR in which 27 people have been named besides 50-60 unidentified people. They were allegedly involved in the violence that led to the killing of Inspector Subodh Singh and Sumit Kumar, 20. The violence was triggered after cattle carcasses were found in nearby fields. Jeetu alias Fauji of Mahav village is a named accused in the case, Inspector General (Crime) S K Bhagat told reporters in Lucknow when asked about his alleged involvement in the mob violence. Jeetus actual name is Jeetendra Malik and he is the 11th suspect named in the first information report (FIR) lodged at Siyana police station on December 4. According to preliminary information, he is posted in Jammu and a police team has been sent there, Bhagat said. We hope that he will be arrested soon, the IG said, adding the Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed to probe the case would be able to ascertain his actual role. Army sources in New Delhi confirmed that the police have contacted the Northern Command and they are cooperating in the probe. The five people arrested were identified as Chandra, Rohit, Sonu, Nitin and Jitendra but their names were not mentioned in the FIR lodged for the murder of the Syana SHO, Bhagat said. They were nabbed on the basis of video footage and eyewitness accounts, he said. Police teams were conducting raids to make more arrests, the IG said. The IG said that the confidential report of an inquiry conducted by ADG Intelligence S B Shirodkar has been handed over to senior officials. The cattle carcasses were found outside Mahav village strewn in the fields of former village head Rajpal Chaudhary, who too has been named in the FIR along with five more men from the village. All of them are absconding. Sources that PTI spoke to in the village revealed that Jeetu had come to the village on leave and was present at the site of violence but left soon after the incident on Monday afternoon. His elder brother is also in the Army. Both of my sons are in the Army. They are not here, they on duty, his mother Ratan Kaur told PTI, adding the police had raided her house around 1 am Tuesday, assaulted her daughter-in-law, vandalised the house and picked up her husband, Rajpal Singh. The 60-year-old woman said she was away in Pipala village at the house of her elder daughter-in law as her family had suffered a bereavement recently. She said she returned home only on Wednesday Speaking to a TV news channel, she Friday said, Jeetu is in Kargil and if any evidence like a picture or a video emerges showing he killed the policeman then I will kill him myself. Im not so heartless, Im equally pained by the death of the policeman and the other boy from Chingrawathi and also for what the entire village and its people are going through. Jeetendras wife Priyanka, 24, also supported her mother-in-laws claim of post midnight vandalism and assault by the police. I was at home with my father-in-law and my three- month-old baby when the police came to our house. They assaulted me so badly that my hand got fractured and I suffered an injury in one ear, she told PTI over phone from a hospital in Meerut. Sumit Kumar, from Chingrawathi village, who died in the clash is among those named in the FIR which also accuses Bajrang Dals Bulandshahr unit convenor Yogesh Raj, local BJP worker Shikhar Agarwal among others of instigating violence. According to the FIR, the suspects were booked on the charges of mischief by fire or explosive substance, murder, attempt to murder, sedition, rioting, voluntary assault on public servant to obstruct them from performing their duty and endangering life or personal safety of others. They have also been booked for destroying public property, among others. PTI SAB/KIS SMI AAR People with big surnames came and went, but India could not develop: PM Hitting out at the Congress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday said people with big surnames ruled the country but India could not prosper despite having the best talent and natural resources. He also alleged that poverty was not alleviated as it could hit the vote bank of parties in the past. Addressing the Jagran Forum organised by the Dainik Jagran media group, the prime minister said, People with big surnames came to power and went but no solution could be found to problems. Also read | Congress has conceded defeat, looks for ways to save naamdaar: PM Modi He was making an oblique reference to the Nehru-Gandhi family. Modi said the country had targets but lacked commitment and passion. If poverty was alleviated, how would the slogan of garabi hatao be given ... it would hit vote bank politics, the prime minister said. Read | Yogi calls on PM Modi with invite to event; first meeting after UP violence Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that he has asked his government to ascertain the status of the 2008 Mumbai attacks case as it is in Pakistans interest to resolve the matter. India repeated its calls for the prosecution of the masterminds and facilitators of the attacks on the 10th anniversary of the carnage blamed on the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), saying Pakistan had shown little sincerity in bringing the perpetrators to justice. We also want something done about the bombers of Mumbai. I have asked our government to find out the status of the case. Resolving that case is in our interest because it was an act of terrorism, Khan said in an interview with The Washington Post. The trial in a Pakistani anti-terrorism court of seven suspects, including LeT operations commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, has stalled and Pakistani officials have said more evidence is needed from India to take things forward. India has insisted that there is sufficient proof to prosecute the suspects. Khan, who spoke about Pakistan taking two steps for peace for every step taken by India in his first speech after his party won the general election in July, referred to the reasons why he believes his peace overtures had been rejected by New Delhi. I know, because India has elections coming up. The ruling party has an anti-Muslim, anti-Pakistan approach. They rebuffed all my overtures, he said. I have opened a visa-free peace corridor with India called Kartarpur (so that Indian Sikhs can visit a shrine in Pakistan). Lets hope that after the election is over, we can again resume talks with India, he said, referring to the recent launch of work on a corridor that will link Dera Baba Nanak in India to Kartarpur gurdwara in Pakistan. Khan also dismissed the oft-repeated contention of US officials that the leadership of the Afghan Taliban is based in Pakistan. When I came into power, I got a complete briefing from the security forces. They said that we have time and time again asked the Americans, Can you tell us where the sanctuaries are, and we will go after them? There are no sanctuaries in Pakistan. Referring to camps for Afghan refugees, he added: If there are a few hundred, maybe 2,000 to 3,000 Taliban who move into Pakistan, they could easily move into these Afghan refugee camps. CBI chief Alok Verma has opposed his deputy Rakesh Asthanas plea seeking quashing of the FIR against him for alleged corruption, saying the charges are serious and require a thorough probe, reported ANI. In his reply filed in the Delhi high court, which will take up the plea later Monday, Verma also denied the allegations of corruption made against him by Asthana. On October 23, both of the Central Bureau of Investigations top two officers had been divested of their powers and sent on leave by the Central Vigilance Commission, which has jurisdictional oversight of the agency, after their increasingly public feud reached the courts. Allegations are nothing but imagination of the petitioner, the petition by Asthana is not maintainable and is misconceived. Investigation are at nascent stage. Allegations made in complaint against Asthana and others are very serious and require thorough probe, he said, as per ANI. Verma also said that the allegations against Asthana raise serious concern and required to be thoroughly investigated without any bias, so that public faith in CBI is maintained. In the last hearing of the matter on November 28, the high court had allowed Verma and Joint Director AK Sharma to inspect, in the CVCs office, the case file relating to FIR against Asthana. Justice Najmi Waziri asked Verma to go to Central Vigilance Commissions office after his counsel said that there are allegations of mala fide against him in Asthanas petition. The court had also extended till December 7 its order directing the CBI to maintain status quo regarding proceedings against Asthana. The court is hearing separate pleas of Asthana, CBI deputy superintendent of police Devender Kumar and middleman Manoj Prasad seeking quashing of the FIR against them. Kumar, earlier the investigating officer in a case involving meat exporter Moin Qureshi, was arrested by the CBI on allegations of forgery in recording the statement of businessman Sathish Babu Sana who had alleged to have paid bribe to Asthana, through the Dubai-based Prasad, to get relief in the case. The Special Investigation Team (SIT) looking into the Bulandshahr violence is scanning 203 video clips to piece together the sequence of events that led to the killing of a police inspector and a local man, a senior police officer privy to the probe said on Friday. Twenty-three videos were recorded by police personnel deployed at Mahaw village when the violence broke out on Monday after the recovery of cow carcasses in a field, the officer said on the condition of anonymity. About 180 video clips were recorded by onlookers and the rioters themselves. An SIT member, who did not wish to be named, said that all police personnel present at the spot were being asked to share videos of the flare up. The local people, too, were being urged to share information and videos, if they had recorded or come across any. Read: Nine held for Bulandshahr violence, police rush to Jammu to nab accused Army jawan He said although some videos were not of very good quality, they would help tie up the chain of events and establish how the violence erupted, who instigated the mob and who killed inspector Subodh Kumar Singh and local man Sumit Kumar. On Tuesday, additional director general of police, law and order, Anand Kumar, had said that all Bulandshahr violence videos popping up on social media would be included in the investigation. The violence erupted on Monday after over 2,000 people started protesting against alleged cow slaughter after the recovery of several cow carcasses at Mahaw village Also Read: No mob lynching in Uttar Pradesh, Bulandshahr incident an accident: Yogi Adityanath A special CBI court in Mumbai will pronounce its judgment in Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case on December 21. Shaikh, a gangster with alleged terror links, and his wife Kausar Bi were killed in an alleged fake encounter by the Gujarat Police in November 2005. His aide Tulsiram Prajapati was killed in another fake encounter by the Gujarat and Rajasthan police in December 2006. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had filed a case against 38 people, including then Gujarat home minister (and now BJP chief Amit Shah) and senior police officials from Gujarat and Rajasthan. However, the special court in Mumbai, where the case was shifted from Gujarat following a Supreme Court order, had discharged 15 of them, including Amit Shah and senior police officers like Gujarat anti-terror squad chief DG Vanzara. The Bombay high court had later upheld the discharge of Vanzara and four other police officers, rejecting the plea of Sheikhs brother Rubabuddin. The Supreme Court has asked the Centre to respond to liquor baron Vijay Mallya petition against the move to declare him a fugitive and confiscate his assets but did not stay the proceedings. Mallya approached the top court this week after the Bombay high court rejected his plea to halt proceedings on November 22. In September, Vijay Mallya told the Prevention of Money Laundering Act court that he was not a fugitive economic offender and not involved in the scheduled offence of money laundering. Mallya on Thursday approached the Supreme Court after the Bombay High Court and PMLA court rejected his plea. The central agency, which investigates financial crimes, had initiated the proceedings against Mallya after two separate offences were registered against him in connection with huge loans taken for his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines, from a consortium of 12 banks led by the State Bank of India. It had moved the special PMLA court invoking provisions of recently-enacted Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018, seeking to declare Mallya a fugitive economic offender. Mallya has made repeated offers in the last two day to Indian authorities to accept his settlement before the Karnataka High Court, ahead of Westminster magistrates court Mondays verdict on Indias attempt to extradite him from the UK. The businessman is facing extradition from the United Kingdom to India to face charges of financial irregularities running into thousands of crores. Mallya fled India in March 2016 even as a debt court in Bengaluru was set to act against him for defaulting on loans issued by several banks led by the state-owned State Bank of India. Besides the extradition case, Mallya is also facing recovery action against his assets in the UK brought by 13 Indian banks and another mortgage recovery action by the UBS Bank against his house in central London. The Supreme Court Friday declined urgent hearing on a fresh plea of the Kerala government challenging the high court decision to set up a panel to oversee pilgrimage at Sabarimala, which has witnessed protests after women of all age groups were allowed entry into the temple. The Kerala High Court, on November 28, ordered setting up of a three member committee, comprising retired judges P R Raman, S Sirijagan and senior IPS officer A Hemachandran, and gave them the power to oversee law and order and other problems faced by pilgrims. A bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice S K Kaul refused to accord urgent hearing on the plea of the state government and said that it would come up for hearing in due regular course. Order of constituting a team of observers, particularly when there is already a Special Commissioner (who is a District Judge), a Devaswom ombudsman exercising powers, inter alia, over Sabarimala Temple, and a High Power Committee is unsustainable in law and such constitution of Team of Observers is arbitrary, illegal and violative of the basic constitutional structure of separation of powers, the state government said in its plea. The government has assailed the high court order and submitted that the police has effectively streamlined the protestors and has worked out a security system for the Temple, particularly on the basis of intelligence inputs and the High Court-appointed panel would take over the powers of the duly authorised security agency. There were no materials, whatsoever, before the (High) Court to conclude that there was any excess or, much less, any possibility for excess at the instance of any Government official, whomsoever, or any Government instrumentality, whatsoever, it said, adding that the high court had not pointed out a single instance of police excess on devotees. Earlier, the state government had moved the top court seeking transfer of pending pleas relating to the Sabarimala Temple from the High Court to the apex court, alleging that members of right wing outfits are obstructing the implementation of its verdict allowing all women inside the shrine. On September 28, a five-judge Constitution bench, headed by the then Chief Justice Dipak Misra, in a 4:1 verdict had paved the way for entry of women of all ages into the temple, saying the ban amounted to gender discrimination. The temple has been witnessing violent protests in recent times. The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on January 22 in open court the petitions seeking a review of its judgement allowing all women inside the historic hill-top temple. With over 28 million eligible voters, Telangana will go to the polls on Friday. It has a complex polity the incumbent Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), the Maha Kootami led by the Congress, which includes the Telugu Desam Party, Communist Party of India, and the Telangana Jana Samiti, and two other important forces, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Here are the six variables likely to shape the outcome of the elections . KCR: This election revolves around the personality of caretaker chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR). He led the political movement for Telangana and was rewarded for it in 2014. Since then, two things have happened. One, he has consolidated political power in himself and his family; become distant from the electorate; and is seen to have amassed wealth. Two, he has launched a slew of tremendously popular and innovative welfare schemes, ranging from monetary farm assistance to promises of housing. He is also seen to have provided electricity. Which version of KCR prevails for voters will matter. The electoral arithmetic: The Maha Kootami has an electoral advantage if you go by sheer numbers . If the TRS had 34% vote share in 2014, the Congress and TDP combined vote share is 38%. In many constituencies, the votes of both parties exceed that of the TRS. Will older TDP loyalists vote for Congress and will Congress supporters transfer their votes to TDP or other allies? Will arithmetic prevail or will voter choices change? The Muslim vote: Muslims constitute 12% of the population. They exercise influence in close to two dozen constituencies. In the Muslim-dominated pockets of Hyderabad, the AIMIM, or Majlis as it is called, is popular and it has decided to back the TRS. So any win for the Majlis boosts the TRS, especially if it is a hung assembly. But outside Hyderabad, the mood is mixed. While a section of Muslims cheer KCRs schemes like Shaadi Mubarak (allowances for women for weddings), there is a substantial section that criticises him for not delivering on the promise of 12% reservation for the minority community. They also have loyalties to Congress and believe party president Rahul Gandhis assertion that the TRS has a deal with the BJP. Click here for live updates on Telangana assembly election 2018 Subnationalism: Telangana is Indias newest state. It has come into being after a long struggle against Andhra Pradesh. The emotive factor has now subsided. But the TDPs active participation in the politics of the state changes things. Telangana has a big settler population, those originally from Andhra. Will they back the TDP? Or will they follow the lead of other Andhra parties like the YSR Congress party which have decided to stay neutral and, in effect, back the TRS? More critically, the TRS has now used the TDPs presence to allege outsider interference and claim there is a conspiracy by Andhra Pradesh to regain control of Telangana. Will this put off the locals? Jobs or welfare: The Congress has made a sharp campaign pitch against the TRS for not creating jobs. It has promised over 100,000 jobs in a year; it has also committed to over 3000 as unemployment allowance. The TRS rebuts the claims and points to its governance record on welfare. Across constituencies, among younger people in particular, the desire for jobs, particularly government jobs, and the belief that the government has not delivered on this aspect is deep. How much will it hurt the incumbent? Local anti-incumbency: The biggest challenge for the TRS is the fact that its local legislators appear to be unpopular. It had 63 seats in the 2014 polls but managed to engineer enough defections to increase its strength to 90. Most of the former MLAs are re-contesting. Will this local anti incumbency hurt the TRS or will KCRs personality eventually offset this resentment? In sum, the election is about governance, identities and subnationalism. Its about personalities. Its about local and micro factors. Voters today will determine what matters to them most. The mother of the army soldier, Jeetendra, has said that she would kill him herself if it was proved that he had shot dead police inspector Subodh Kumar during the violence in Bulandshahr, as was claimed through some videos of the incident. Speaking to a TV news channel, Ratan Kaur, the mother of Jeetendra also known as Fauji, said, If any evidence like a picture or a video emerges showing he killed the policeman, then I will kill him myself. Im not so heartless. Im equally pained by the death of the policeman and the other boy from Chingrawathi and also for what the entire village and its people are going through, she said. Jeetendras elder brother Dharmendra was also in the army and currently posted in Pune, she said. Both of my sons are in the Army. They are not here, they are on duty, Ratan Kaur said. She alleged that the police had raided their house at Mahaw village and beat up Faujis wife Priyanka aka Gudia, 24, and damaged household goods and their car late on Monday night. She said her husband Rajpal Singh and Gudia were in the house with Gudias infant son during the raid. She had gone to the village of her elder son Dharemndras wife and returned on December 4 morning. She said that the cops had taken Rajpal Singh, and she did not know where he was now. Gudia was later admitted to a Meerut hospital. Jeetendras wife also supported her mother-in-laws claim of post-midnight vandalism and assault by the police. I was at home with my father-in-law and my three- month-old baby when the police came to our house. They assaulted me so badly that my hand got fractured and I suffered an injury in one ear, she told a news agency over phone from a hospital in Meerut. Village head Peetam Singhs son Krishanpal said he was not aware of Jeetendras arrival in the village. I came to know only through the media that he was also seen in the mob on the day of the violence but dont know about its authenticity, Krishanpal said. Superintendent of police, city (Bulandshahar), Praveen Ranjan Singh said, We are in the process of examining all available videos. (With PTI inputs) The exits poll on Friday evening would predict the outcome of the November 28 assembly election in Mizoram, where Congress, which is in power since 2008 in the northeastern state, faced a stiff battle from the Mizo National Front (MNF) for the 40 seats. Around 770,000 people voted to decide the fate of 209 candidates,18 of whom were women, as the state went to polls for the eighth time since it was declared a state in 1987. Like previous polls, there is a direct contest between the ruling Congress and MNF. But several others including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the National Peoples Party (NPP) and the Zoram Peoples Movement (ZPM) could play crucial roles in the formation of the next government. The Congress and the MNF contested from all 40 seats. The BJP, which is in power or is part of the ruling coalition in six states of the region, fielded 39 candidates this time. Despite contesting the last five elections in the state, the BJP has failed to win a single seat in the state that has 87% Christian population. The ZPM fielded its candidates in 35 seats and NPP, which is in power in Meghalaya and is part of the ruling coalition in Nagaland and Manipur, contested nine seats. Chief minister Lal Thanhawla, seeking a third consecutive term, contested for both the Serchhip and Champhai South seats and was among nine candidates who filed nominations from multiple seats. In the 2013 election, the Congress had won 34 seats, while its main opposition, the MNF got five and the Mizoram Peoples Conference bagged one seat. While Congress president Rahul Gandhi drummed up support for the ruling party, the BJPs campaign witnessed rallies by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, party president Amit Shah and Union home minister Rajnath Singh. Other prominent leaders who campaigned in the state included DoNER minister Jitendra Singh, National Peoples Party (NPP) leader and Meghalaya chief minister Conrad Sangma. The Congress banked heavily for the elections on its flagship New Land Use Policy (NLUP), which brought the party to power for two consecutive terms. Also Read: In a first, all Mizoram polling booths to be covered by wireless technology Experts say Mizoram could have its first hung assembly this time as the BJP is also seeking to make its presence felt. The BJP has made deep inroads in the northeast since the Modi government came to power at the Centre in 2014 and its performance in the Christian-majority state will be keenly watched. The Election Commission had imposed a nearly month-long ban on holding exit or opinion poll, a survey of voters after they exit polling stations but are known to often get it wrong, beginning November 12 in the five poll-bound states. The counting of votes will take place on December 11. For full assembly elections coverage, click here. The exit polls predict that Mizoram may well have its first hung assembly this time . An exit poll by Republic TV- CVoter shows a hung house in Mizoram, the last bastion of the Congress in the north east, with an advantage for the opposition Mizo National Front (MNF) in the 40-member House. The CNX - Times Now poll also predicts a hung House with 18 seats for MNF and 16 for Congress and 6 for others. All eyes will obvioulsy be on the Others category in case of a hung House. Mizoram went to poll on November 28 with three main parties in the fray - the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Congress and the Mizo National Front (MNF). Click here for live updates on election exit polls. So far, of the five states that have gone to elections this November-December, Mizoram is the only Congress-ruled state. It is also the only Congress-ruled state in the northeast, with the BJP neither in power nor in a ruling coalition. Elections in the Christian-majority Mizoram are usually quiet affairs, due to certain guidelines issued by the Mizoram Peoples Forum, a church-sponsored election watchdog. As in the previous elections, the state is likely to witness a direct contest between the ruling Congress (in power since 2008) and the Mizo National Front (MNF). Several others including the BJP, the National Peoples Party (NPP) and the Zoram Peoples Movement (ZPM) could play crucial roles in the formation of the next government. Experts, however, say that Mizoram may well have its first hung assembly this time with the BJP looking to make its presence felt. The saffron party has made deep inroads in the northeast since the Modi government came to power at the Centre in 2014 and its performance in the Christian-majority state will be keenly watched. The Congress and the MNF are contesting for all 40 seats while BJP has put up candidates for 39 and the ZPM is contest 35 seats. Seeking a third term in office, chief minister Lal Thanhawla, among nine candidates who have filed nominations from multiple seats, is contesting for both the Serchhip and Champhai South seats. More than 7.70 lakh voters had cast their vote on November 28. Ever since it became a full-fledged state in 1987, the Congress and the Mizo National Front have ruled Mizoram. However, no party has had a consecutive three-terms at the office. Elections to the 40-member assembly in Mizoram, which has a population of about 10 lakh, is significant for the BJP that considers it to be the final frontier in the region. In 2013, the Congress had won 34 seats, while its main opposition, the Mizo National Front (MNF), had won five and the Mizoram Peoples Conference bagged one seat. The fates of 209 candidates will be decided on December 11, when the votes will be counted. Campaigning in the state saw a paradigm shift in this election with political parties making extensive use of social media platforms like Facebook and Whatsapp to woo young voters. The ruling Congress banked heavily for the elections on its flagship New Land Use Policy (NLUP), which brought the party to power for two consecutive terms. The campaign had reached its peak in the final week with the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president Amit Shah and Congress president Rahul Gandhi. Other prominent leaders who campaigned in the state included Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, DoNER Minister Jitendra Singh, National Peoples Party (NPP) leader and Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma. Bangur Nagar police on Thursday arrested a man and his friend for allegedly molesting a 24-year-old Canadian woman on Wednesday night after befriending her and a friend at a pub. According to the police, the Canadian woman and her friend have been in India for the past one month. She met the accused, Amardeep Singh Chaudhary (29), at a pub in Bandra (West). She was accompanied by a male friend who has been travelling with her in India. The accused met the woman and her friend at a pub in Bandra. They were living in a hostel in Bandra (West) and are tourists in the city. After befriending the duo, Amar invited them to his house in Bangur Nagar to spend some more time together. They accepted the invite and accompanied him from Bandra to his house. They left Bandra at 1am. They met a friend of Amardeep, Sahib Singh, 40, at the flat in Bangur Nagar, said a police officer. The police said the woman and her friend decided to stay over at the Bangur Nagar flat that night. The woman went to one of the rooms to sleep. When the woman was sleeping, she realized that someone was touching her inappropriately, said the officer. The woman raised an alarm after which her friend intervened. The couple first went to Goregaon police station on Thursday morning from where they were accompanied to Bangur Nagar police station by an official. A woman police official took the survivors statement in which she detailed the sequence of events from Wednesday evening onwards. The police said after an initial investigation, they registered a case under section 354 (punishment for molestation) of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and they charged Chaudhary and Singh with molestation. A team of police officials from Bangur Nagar police station went to Chaudharys flat and arrested them. Chaudhary and Singh were later produced in court on Thursday and were sent to judicial custody. Pardeep Narwal produced an outstanding raiding performance as Patna Pirates hammered Puneri Paltan 53-36 in Inter Zone Challenge Week of Pro Kabaddi Season 6. Pardeep Narwal, who reached the 800-point landmark in the history of Pro Kabaddi, scored a whopping 27 points as Puneri Paltans famed defence had no answer to his raiding prowess. For Pune, GB More put in a strong raiding effort and scored 13 points but didnt get support from his defence. Pardeep Narwal got off Patna Pirates to a storming start with a super raid in the 2nd minute. Narwal scored the first six points for Patna in three minutes to give them 6-3 lead. Puneri Paltan suffered an all out in the next minute as they trailed 4-9. Sandeep Narwal scored his third point as Puneri Paltan tried to mount a comeback to trail 6-9 after five minutes. In the 8th minute Patna Pirates led 13-8 and were looking in fine form with Pardeep Narwal leading their charge. At the end of the first half Patna Pirates led 24-19. The second half started in a similar fashion as Pardeep picked up a two-point raid and Patna inflicted an all out to lead 30-21. Puneri Paltan had no answer to Pardeep Narwal and were left floundering. GB More tried his best to keep the margin of defeat respectable for Puneri Paltan. Sandeep Narwal also did put in a performance for Pune but they still couldnt match up to Patna Pirates. With less than 10 minutes to Patna Pirates held a 13-point lead and looked in command. Pardeep continued to torment Puneri Paltans defence and in the process also became the first man to reach the 800 raid point landmark in the history of Pro Kabaddi League. Patna ran out comfortable winners with a 17-point victory margin in the end. Gujarat edge out Telugu Titans Gujarat Fortunegiants showed why they are a team to be feared as they earned a hard-fought 29-27 win over Telugu Titans in Inter Zone Challenge Week of Pro Kabaddi Season 6. The raiding duo of K Prapanjan and Sachin combined to score 19 points to lead their teams charge. Telugu Titans home leg got off to a losing start as they came close to inflict a defeat on Gujarat. Rahul Chaudhari top scored with 8 points for the Titans who remain bottom of the table in Zone B. The number of candidates with criminal cases against them has gone up in the 2018 Rajasthan assembly elections, according to the Rajasthan Election Watch (REW) and the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR). As many as 320 candidates out of the 2,188 affidavits analysed have declared criminal cases while 195 (or 9%) have declared serious criminal cases registered against themselves. The affidavits of 106 candidates were not analysed as they were either badly scanned or incomplete. Follow exit polls live here: Surveys give BJP advantage in tight race in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh In the 2013 assembly elections, 224 (or 11%) of the 2,030 candidates had declared criminal cases and 140 (7%) had declared serious criminal cases. As per the ADR report, the Congress has fielded the most number of candidates with criminal cases (43 of the 193 candidates analysed) as well as those with serious criminal cases (27). The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has fielded 33 (out of 198) candidates with criminal cases and 21 with serious criminal cases, Verma said. Click here for Rajasthan assembly election 2018 LIVE Updates Among the other major parties, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)s 26 of the 141 candidates have criminal cases and 16 serious criminal cases against themselves; the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has 31 of its 178 candidates with criminal cases and 20 with serious criminal cases, Verma said. The ADR official said four candidates have declared cases related to murder, 25 attempt to murder, 11 kidnapping, and 16 with cases related to crime against women against themselves. The ADR report also analysed the candidates wealth to find that there are 597(or 27% of 2,188) crorepati candidates contesting the polls this time as against 508 (or 25% of 2,030) candidates in the previous elections. The top three richest candidates are Kamini Jindal of the National Unionist Zamindara Party (contesting from Ganganagar) with declared assets worth Rs 287 crore, Parasram Mordia of the Congress (from Dhod) with assets worth Rs 172 crore, and Prem Singh Bajore of the BJP (from Neem Ka Thana) with assets worth Rs 142 crore. Turnout in Rajasthan assembly polls 72.62% Turnout in Rajasthan assembly polls was 72.62 per cent, says Election Commission, reports PTI. Visuals from Sardarpura Visuals from Sardarpura constituency as voting concludes at the polling booth at Miranda Public School. Jodhpur: Visuals from Ratanada's Sardarpura constituency as voting concludes at the polling booth at Miranda Public School. #RajasthanElections2018 pic.twitter.com/6RHxjorLco ANI (@ANI) 7 December 2018 Visuals from Jhalawar Visuals from Jhalawar as polling concludes at polling booth number 31(A). Voter turnout recorded at this particular booth is 73.83%. Visuals from Jhalawar as polling concludes at polling booth no. 31(A). Voter turnout recorded at this particular booth is 73.83%. #RajasthanAssemblyElection2018 pic.twitter.com/cKtUw3xdNL ANI (@ANI) 7 December 2018 Three injured in clash in Churu Three people injured in Khudera Chhota village of Churu district after a clash between two groups. The injured have been identified as Virendra Singh, Chatar Singh and Ugaram Jat. The injured have been rushed to the government hospital and are undergoing treatment. Injuries are not grievous, said Narayan Dan, circle officer, Ratangarh. Brawl in Alwar, ITBP personnel fire in air After a brawl broke out in a polling booth in Palava village of Alwar district, security personnel of Indo-Tibetan Border Police fired in the air control the situation. No injury was reported. 72.17% polling till 5pm Voter turnout recorded till 5 pm in Rajasthan is 72.17%. Cong says it received 460 poll-related complaints Congress says it received 460 complaints at its control room in state headquarters. Around 400 of them were related to EVM malfunction and delay in start of polling. At 160 places, there were complaints of attempt to capture booth, intimidate voters and violence by BJP. Rajasthan Congress general secretary Sushil Sharma said the party reported all this to the election commission. Constable dies of heart attack Police constable deputed in election duty in Beawar in Ajmer district dies of heart attack. Voter turnout recorded 59.41% till 3pm in Rajasthan The voter turnout was recorded 59.41% till 3 pm in Rajasthan. Two group clash, set vehicles on fire Vehicles were set on fire and vandalised in a clash which broke out between two groups at a polling booth at Subhash school in Sikars Fatehpur today. Voting remained affected for 30 minutes. Miscreants were later removed from spot by police and voting was resumed, according to a report in ANI. Vehicle set ablaze at a polling booth as two groups clash in Rajasthan. Photo: ANI Women flaunt their inked finger in Amber area of Jaipur Women seated in jeep in traditional Rajput Lahariya show their inked finger after casting vote at a polling booth in Amber area, in Jaipur, India. Women flaunt their inked finger in Amber area, in Jaipur, India, after casting vote. Photo: Himanshu Vyas/ Hindustan Times 114-year-old woman arrived with her 90-year-old daughter to cast vote A 114-year-old woman, Dakha Devi along with her 90-year-old daughter, Birmi Devi, arrived at a polling booth in Barkatullah Khan stadium in Jodhpur to cast vote. A volunteer carries 114-year-old woman, Dakha Devi to the polling booth. HT Photo Dakha Devis 90-year-old daughter, Birmi Devi, being carried inside polling booth. HT Photo Voter turnout recorded 41.53% till 1 pm Voter turnout at 1 pm is recorded 41.53%, according to ANI 97-year-old man along with his 85-year-old wife reaches poll station to vote A 97-year-old man, identified as Nagender Singh Chouhan and his 85-year-old wife Yuvraj Kuwar cast their votes at a polling station in Jhalawar. Rajasthan assembly elections 2018: 97-year-old Nagender Singh Chouhan and his 85-year-old wife Yuvraj Kuwar cast their votes. ANI Photo Erstwhile royals of Jodhpur, Gaj Singh and his wife cast their votes Erstwhile royals of Jodhpur, Gaj Singh and his wife cast their votes at polling booth no. 194 in Sardarpura constituency. Rajasthan assembly elections 2018: Erstwhile royals of Jodhpur, Gaj Singh and his wife. ANI Photo 97-year-old woman reaches poll booth, casts vote A 97-year-old woman, identified as Basanti Bai,reached the poll booth with the help of a volunteer who carried her in his arms in Kota south constituency to cast vote. 101-year-old woman casts her vote 101-year-old Pali Devi cast her vote at Baldev Nagar polling station in Barmer city, Rajasthan. 101-year-old woman casts her vote. HT Photo Rajasthan assembly elections 2018: 101-year-old woman casts her vote. HT Photo Officials take stock of situation from control room DGP OP Galhotra and special DG NRK Reddy taking stock of situation from control room located at police head quarters. Rajasthan assembly elections 2018: DGP OP Galhotra and special DG NRK Reddy taking stock of situation. HT Photo Women queue at Kho-Nagoriyan government school Voters in queue at Kho-Nagoriyan government school in Jaipur to cast their vote. Rajasthan elections 2018: Voters line up. Photo: Hindustan Times/ Jaykishan Sharma First time voters line up at poll booths in Rajasthan First time voters show their inked finger after casting vote at a polling booth in Mohalla Mahaavtaan, in Jaipur, India. Rajasthan assembly elections 2018: First time voters (from left) Andleeb Khan, Suraiya and Sumbul Khan. (Photo: Himanshu Vyas/ Hindustan Times) When asked what Andleeb Khan, first time voter, expects from the next government, she told Hindustan Times, There should be better education and more scholarships. The working of the current government is really lazy. We need a government that works quickly. Former Alwar MP casts his vote Former Alwar MP Jitendra Singh with his wife after casting vote. Rajasthan assembly polls 2018: Former Alwar MP Jitendra Singh with his wife after casting vote. HT Photo BJP minister joins the queue in Bikaner BJP minister Arjun Ram Meghwal stands in a queue to cast his vote at polling booth no. 172 in Bikaner, Rajasthan. Rajasthan assembly elections 2018: BJP minister stands in line as he waits to cast his vote. ANI Photo Voter turnout till 11 am stands to 21.6% The voter turnout till 11 am in Rajasthan assembly elections 2018 is 21.6%. Ashok Gehlots son Vaibhav Gehlot casts his vote Ashok Gehlots son Vaibhav Gehlot casts his vote along with his family. Rajasthan assembly elections 2018: Ashok Gehlots son Vaibhav Gehlot casts his vote along with family. Photo HT Voters create ruckus following EVM malfunction in Rajasthans Ahor At 9:30 am it was reported that the EVM in Rajasthans Ahor malfunctioned due to which the voting was halted. According to ANI report, the voters are creating ruckus at the polling booth no. 253 and 254 in Ahor constituency of Jalore. Rajasthan assembly elections 2018: Voters create rucks at polling booth following EVM glitch. ANI photo EVM replaced in Bikarners Ksamidesar following technical glitch EVM was replaced (at polling booth no. 172) in Bikaners Kisamidesar after a technical glitch was reported, according to ANI. Rajasthan assembly elections 2018: EVM being replaced. ANI Photo Voter turnout 6.3% till 10:30 am The voter turnout in Rajasthan assembly elections 2018 till 10:30 is 6.3%. Congress leader Ashok Gehlot casts his vote in Jodhpur Congress leader Ashok Gehlot cast his vote at polling booth no. 106 in Jodhpur. Rajasthan assembly elections 2018: Ashok Gehlot casts his vote. ANI photo ( ANI photo ) Specially abled people cast their vote in Rajasthan The voting begins in election-bound state, specially abled people come out in numbers to cast their vote. The volunteers at the polling booths helped the people reach the booth. Here are the glimpses: Rajasthan assembly elections 2018: Specially abled man casts his vote. HT Photo ( HT Photo ) Rajasthan assembly elections 2018: Specially abled man casts his vote. HT Photo ( HT Photo ) Rajasthan assembly elections 2018: Specially abled man casts his vote. HT Photo ( HT photo ) Rajasthan assembly elections 2018: Specially abled man casts his vote. HT Photo Voter turnout is 6.11% till now Voter turnout till 9 am in Rajasthan assembly election 2018 is 6.11 per cent, news agency ANI reported. Fresh glimpses from different polling arenas across Rajasthan Here are the fresh glimpses from different polling arenas across Rajasthan that went to assembly polls 2018 today. Rajasthan assembly elections 2018: Ground image from polling booths. Photo: Himanshu Vyas / Hindustan Times ( HT photo ) Rajasthan assembly elections 2018: Ground image from polling booths. Photo: Himanshu Vyas / Hindustan Times ( HT photo ) Rajasthan assembly elections 2018: Ground image from polling booths. Photo: Himanshu Vyas / Hindustan Times ( HT photo ) Rajasthan assembly elections 2018: Ground image from polling booths. Photo: Himanshu Vyas / Hindustan Times ( HT Photo ) Rajasthan assembly elections 2018: Ground image from polling booths. Photo: Himanshu Vyas / Hindustan Times ( HT photo ) Rajasthan assembly elections 2018: Photo: Images from the polling ground. Photo: Himanshu Vyas / Hindustan Times 90-year-old man casts his vote A 90-year-old man arrives at polling booth no. 104 in Jodhpur districts Sardarpura constituency to caste his vote. Rajasthan assembly elections 2018: Elderly man casts his vote. HT Photo ( ANI photo ) Rajasthan assembly elections 2018: Elderly man casts his vote. HT Photo ( ANI photo ) Voting in Ahor yet to being following EVM malfunction Voting at polling booth no. 253 and 254 in Ahor yet to begin following EVM malfunction. Leaders, ministers cast vote, flaunt their inked fingers Here are the visuals of leaders and ministers from different polling booths in Rajasthan. Rajasthan assembly elections 2018: Jodhpur mayor Ghanshyam Ojha casts his vote. HT Photo ( HT photo ) Rajasthan assembly elections 2018: Union agriculture minister Gajendra Shekhawat and his family flaunt their inked fingers in Jodhpur. HT Photo ( HT photo ) Rajasthan assembly elections 2018: Jaipur district election officer Siddharth Mahajan and his wife after casting their vote in Jaipur. HT Photo ( HT photo ) Rajasthan assembly elections 2018: Congress candidate Amin Kagzi from Kishanpole constituency after casting vote. HT Photo ( HT photo ) Rajasthan assembly elections 2018: BJP MLA Vijay Bansal castes his vote. HT Photo ( HT photo ) An elderly man casts his vote A scout helping an elderly person at a polling station. Rajasthan assembly elections 2018: Elderly man reaches polling booth. HT photo I feel insulted: CM Vasundhara Raje on Sharad Yadavs remarks To set an example for future its important that EC takes cognisance of this kind of language. I actually feel insulted and I think even women are insulted, Vasundhara Raje told ANI. We will sit and discuss: Sachin Pilot on chief minister face from Congress We will sit and discuss this after our party gets a majority in the election, Rajasthan Congress chief Sachin Pilot told ANI on chief minister face from Congress. Rajasthan assembly elections 2018: Sachin Gehlot poses after casting his vote. HT Photo ( HT photo ) Rajasthan assembly elections 2018: Sachin Pilot poses after casting his vote. HT Photo ( HT photo ) Congress candidate from Baytoo Harish Choudhary casts his vote The Congress candidate from Baytoo assembly seat Harish Choudhary casts his vote. Rajasthan assembly elections 2018: Harish Choudhary poses after casting his vote. HT Photo MP Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore casts his vote in Vaishali MP Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore casts his votes at polling booth 252 in Vaishali Nagar, Jaipur. Rajasthan assembly elections 2018: Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore (ANI photo) Every single vote counts. We have to cast our vote today by thinking who is actually taking the nation forward, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore told ANI after casting his vote. 80-year-old woman casts her vote in Sardarpura constituency of Jodhpur district. In Sardarpura constituency (at booth no. 103) of Jodhpur district, an 80-year-old woman cast her vote. Rajasthan assembly elections 2018: 80-year-old woman casts her vote (ANI photo) Visual from Gaur Vipra senior secondary school in Jalupura People stand in line to cast their votes. Rajasthan assembly elections 2018: People line up to vote. HT photo Ashok Gehlot casts vote, EVM stops working According to reports, the EVM stopped functioning at Sardarpura constituency after Ashok Gehlot cast his vote. Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje casts her vote Chief minister Vasundhara Raje reached Jhalarapatan booth with her son and daughter-in-law to cast the vote. ANI photo The BJP candidate from Jhalarapatan and Raje cast their vote at pink polling booth. WATCH | Rajasthan polls: Vasundhara Raje casts vote, is confident of BJP victory Voting in Kota halts after EVM malfunctions Polling in Kota (at booth no. 157) was stopped after fault in EVM was reported. Delay in starting of voting in Kota and Bharatpur Complaints are being reported from Kota and Bharatpur of there being a delay in starting of voting. The control room informed the concerned officials about it. Another EVM malfunctions, this time in Jhotwara Another EVM malfunctioned, this time (at booth no. 30) in Jhotwara, a suburban area of Jaipur. Rajasthan Anand Kumar reaches polling booth to cash his vote Rajasthan CEO Anand Kumar reaches Gandhi Nagar polling booth in Jaipur to cast his vote. EVM malfunctions in Fatehpur town in the Sikar district As Rajasthan goes to poll, EVM (at booth no. 134) in Fatehpur town in the Sikar district malfunctioned. EVM was replaced. Voting begins Voting begins in election-bound state. The votes will be cast at 51,687 polling booths in Rajasthan, 259 of them managed exclusively by women officials and security personnel. Rajasthan home minister Gulab Chand Kataria offers prayers before casting his vote As the state preps for the big day, Rajasthan home minister Gulab Chand Kataria offers prayers at Shiv temple in Udaipur before casting his vote. Rajasthan Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria offers prayers at Shiv temple in Udaipur before casting his vote. #RajasthanElections2018 pic.twitter.com/SAxF1UPc8e ANI (@ANI) December 7, 2018 Mock polling conducted in Jodhpurs Sardarpura constituency Mock polling was conducted (at booth no. 106) in Jodhpurs Sardarpura constituency. Rajasthan: Mock polling being conducted at booth no. 106 in Jodhpur's Sardarpura constituency. Voting will begin at 8 am in the state. #RajasthanElections2018 pic.twitter.com/WSRE6AYa6s ANI (@ANI) December 7, 2018 Voting in Jodhpur to begin at 8 am As Rajasthan gets ready to vote today, polling stations in the election-bound state preps for the big day. Voting for the state assembly elections in Jodhpur to big at 8 am. #RajasthanElections2018: #Visuals from a polling station in Jodhpur; voting for the state assembly elections will start at 8 am pic.twitter.com/l4auvINK9H ANI (@ANI) December 7, 2018 A pink polling booth in Rajasthans Jhalawar A Pink polling booth has been set up in Jhalawar. The voting for the state assembly elections 2018 will start at 8 am on Friday. #RajasthanElections2018: #Visuals from a Pink polling booth in Jhalawar; voting for the state assembly elections will start at 8 am pic.twitter.com/NNWn8PSxqF ANI (@ANI) December 7, 2018 Ramgarh assembly constituency postponed after BSP candidate died of cardiac arrest Ramgarh assembly constituency election in Alwar district has been postponed after Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate Laxman Singh died of cardiac arrest on Thursday. Voting will now take place in 199 assembly constituencies in Rajasthan instead of 200 on December 7. Voting to begin in 199 constituencies of Rajasthan The tug of war with a total of 2, 274 candidates in the fray will begin at 8 am and continue till 5 pm. Elections will take place at 51,667 polling stations where 4,74,79,402 people are eligible to cast vote. Rajasthan elections will be held impartially and peacefully: State DGP We had started preparations for the polls from June this year. I can confirm that Rajasthan elections will be held impartially and peacefully. Since June, we have taken into custody 2,11,869 warranties. We registered 3,695 cases under Arms Act and arrested 3,653 criminals and recovered 4,156 arms. In a record, we have taken into custody 10,07,467 litres illicit liquor from across the state. During this exercise, as many as10, 209 criminals were arrested, said Director General of Police OP Gehlotra elaborating the arrangements made for the elections. Top contenders Besides Vasundhara Raje who is contesting from Jhalrapatan, other top contenders include state Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria from Udaipur, another Minister Rajendra Rathore from Churu, state party president Ashok Parnami from Adarsh Nagar and Anita Bhadel from Ajmer South. On the other hand, Congress has former MP Rameshwar Lal Dudi from Nokha, Sachin Pilot from Tonk, Ashok Gehlot from Sardarpur and former Rajasthan minister Hemaram Choudhary from Gudha Malani. Political temple run in Aravallis At a time when entire Rajasthan was abuzz with high-decibel election campaign, a centuries old temple in the Aravallis was witness to footfalls from the whos who of the states political arena. It is believed that goddess Tripura Sundari posses mystic power to fulfil wishes of success in politics, which draws scores of political bigwigs cutting across party lines. Among other high profile devotees, the temple saw visits of Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Congress Digvijay Singh, former Rajasthan Governor SK Singh and former Rajasthan Chief Minister Haridev Joshi. Alwar group makes candidates sign affidavit of promises for votes A group in Alwar has reached out to candidates contesting polls in Rajasthan, asking them to sign an agreement which states that if elected, they would focus on resolving various civic issues including those of cleanliness and stray animals within a year or resign. Rs 15 crore unaccounted cash seized during campaign period Rs 15 crore has been seized as unaccounted cash during the campaign period. Liquor worth Rs 25 crore, drugs worth Rs 7.48 crore, gold and silver worth Rs 6.88 crore and vehicles worth Rs 11.89 crore were also seized. Over 4,000 illegal arms were seized after the model code of conduct came into force last month. 13,182 booths identified as critical, 4,146 villages identified as vulnerable Chief electoral officer Anand Kumar said 13,182 booths are being called critical and as many as 4,146 vulnerable villages have been identified. Central Reserve Police Force personnel will be stationed at 7,791 booths. Micro observers will be deployed at 4,982 booths, videographers at 3,948 and there will be webcasting from 3,138, he said. VVPAT machines being used in Rajasthan for the 1st time: CEC It is for the first time that VVPAT machines are being used in Rajasthan. More than two lakh electronic voting machines (EVMs) and verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines will be used in the elections, chief electoral officer Anand Kumar said. Election in Ramgarh constituency put off due to death of BSP candidate The state assembly has 200 seats, but election in Alwar districts Ramgarh constituency has been put off due to the death of Bahujan Samaj Party candidate Laxman Singh. Heavy security deployment for polling day 2,274 candidates are contesting in Rajasthan which has 4.74 crore registered voters, election officials told news agency PTI. About 1.44 lakh security personnel have been deployed for polling day. Rajasthan Director General of Police O P Galhotra said foolproof security arrangements are in place. Caste equations that once dominated elections in Rajasthan seem to have given ground, at least in the coming elections, to two other factors development, and anti-incumbency against the Vasundhara Raje-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government. The Rajputs have traditionally been BJP supporters and their bete noir, the Jats, have backed the Congress; The tribal community, the Meenas, have been with the BJP and the cattle herders, the Gujjars, with the Congress. The Meghwal community and Muslims have traditionally aligned together, but have swung towards both parties. These castes dominate the electoral landscape of Rajasthan and constitute about 70% of the total 42 million voters in the state. Exit poll live here: Surveys give BJP advantage in tight race in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh Caste plays its part in Rajasthan politics, but its role has diminished in the recent past with more awareness and better education. The younger generation believes less in this caste divide, said political analyst Narayan Bareth, a former faculty member of Rajasthan University. For instance, he said, in 2013, the BJP won from predominantly Jat or Gujjar constituencies once considered Congress bastions. There are over 2 million first time voters who will exercise their franchise on December 7. Click here for Rajasthan assembly election 2018 LIVE Updates Mota Ram Punia, a Jat in Barmers Gagariya, said caste is second to sentiment. Maharani [Raje] has not even visited us once, he said, sitting next to a local Rajput, Ramendra Singh at a tea stall. Singh said that the issues for all are the same jobs, water, roads and good money for farm produce. People voted on caste lines when I was young, about 20 years ago, but now not more than 10-15%of people vote on caste lines, Singh said. In Nathdwara, a town 20 km from Udaipur with a sizeable population of Meenas and Gujjars, the sentiment was no different. We want quota in OBC reservation so that jobs are assured, said Amit Gujjar, who had come from Alwar to campaign for the Congress Brahmin leader CP Joshi. About 320 km away in Pachpadra in Barmer, Bharu Ram Meena said caste pride does not guarantee water and jobs. For me, a government job for my son and assurance of decent price for my farm produce matters, he said. Hanuman Beniwal, who recently floated the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party and has fielded about 60 candidates, has openly spoken about Jat pride in community dominated constituencies like Nagaur, Barmer, Sikar, Jhunjhunu and Churu. Also read | List of Rajasthans crorepati MLAs His rallies have attracted cro- wds in the Jat-dominated constituencies and may well make a difference between the winner and loser there. His supporters admitted that he is more of a spoiler than a serious contender, a claim denied by Beniwal. This election has also witnessed less prominence being given to caste-based leaders such as Rajput leader Lokendra Singh Kalvi, Gujjar leader Kirori Singh Bainsala and Meena leader Kirori Lal Meena. Kalvi, who led protests against release of Bollywood movie Padmaavat, held a show of strength rally in Jaipur in October, but it failed as a launchpad for his political aspirations with fewer than 500 people turning up. Mahendra Singh Ralawata, a Rajput, contesting from Ajmer north on a Congress ticket, said his caste gives him a head start of 10,000 votes but cant ensure win. Read | Urban vs Rural: Voting patterns in Rajasthan Rajasthan saw 74.05% of its 47 million voters turn out for the assembly elections on Friday as sporadic incidents of violence and some incidents of malfunctioning electronic voting machines (EVM) marred polling in some areas. Voting started at 8 am for 199 of 200 seats as election to the Ramgarh assembly seat in Alwar district was countermanded after death of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate Laxman Singh. Votes will be counted on December 11. State chief electoral officer Anand Kumar said the polling percentage recorded till 5 pm was 72.69%, less than the 75.23% percent recorded in 2013. Kumar added that the percentage was likely to increase as people already inside polling stations before 5 pm were allowed to cast their votes. He said postal ballots and service votes would also add to the poll percentage. Stray incidents of violence were reported from Alwar, Bharatpur, Churu, Sikar Bikaner and Jaisalmer districts. Three people were injured in a clash in Churu while five were injured in Bikaner, two in Bharatpur and one in Sikar, said special director general of police (law and order) NRK Reddy. In Sikar and Bikaner, three vehicles were set ablaze while in Shahjahanpur in Alwar district, paramilitary forces had to open fire to bring the situation under control. In Alwar, a brawl broke out in one of the polling booths around 3pm and security personnel had to fire a bullet in the air. No injury was reported. Exit polls live: Surveys say KCR is king in Telangana, Cong snatches Rajasthan Reports of EVM malfunctions came in from areas such as Jaipur Sikar, Kota and Sardarpura. The Congress complained to the Election Commission that they received 460 complaints. Chief minister Vasundhara Raje voted at a so-called pink booth manned by women staff in Jhalawar while former chief minister Ashok Gehlot exercised his franchise in Sardarpura. State Congress president Sachin Pilot cast his vote at a polling booth in Jalupura, Jaipur. Leaders of both the parties claimed victory after the polling got over. Pilot said that the party will sweep the polls and Raje expressed confidence of winning the polls. Public has done their job, now big responsibility to those who win and other have to introspect, Pilot said. There were 51,687 polling centres in 199 assembly constituencies. Webcasting was done from 3,078 critical polling booths in Rajasthan. A total of 2,274 candidates were seeking the votes of 47 million voters, of which 24.5 million were men and 22.5 million women. There were also two million first-time voters. The election in Rajasthan is a primarily bipolar affair between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The Congress contested on 195 seats and gave five seats to its allies --- two each to Sharad Yadavs Loktantrik Janata Dal and Ajit Singhs Rashtriya Lok Dal, and one to Sharad Pawars Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). The BJP is contesting on its own in all seats. Hanuman Beniwals Rashtriya Loktantrik Party and Bharatya Tribal Party have put candidates in several segments and may impact a few seats in their areas of influence. The campaign for 200-member assembly was intense with issues of farm and water crisis, jobs, reservation to certain castes coming under the focus. In 2013, the BJP got 163 seats and vote share of 46.03%, a jump of about eight percentage points since 2008. The Congress bagged 21 seats with vote share of 34.27%, a fall of two percentage points. The state has never returned a party to power in 26 years. For full coverage on Rajasthan elections, click here The campaign for the 200-member Rajasthan assembly saw a confident Congress take on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which appears to be battling a negative perception against chief minister Vasundhara Raje. The 2018 Rajasthan election is all about Raje, who has faced criticism for being inaccessible. On ground, the campaign of both the Congress and BJP has centred around her. The anger is against Raje and not the legislators. No matter what the party did with the tickets, the anger is bound to have a repercussion in the election, said a Rashtriya Swamayamsevak Sangh (RSS) pracharak on condition of anonymity. Whether Rajes campaign blitz -- she addressed 75 meetings in 15 days of campaigning, the maximum by any BJP leader -- will be enough to assuage that anger will be answered on counting day on December 11. The tempo for the campaign was set soon after the BJP lost Lok Sabha bypolls in Alwar and Ajmer and the assembly seat of Mandalgarh in February. The loss was a blessing in disguise, said BJP national vice president Om Prakash Mathur, claiming that it forced the party to work on a course correction. Part of that work included Rajes last budget, in which the state offered close to 100 sops including a farm loan waiver of up to ~50,000 from cooperative banks. She started her Jan Samwad in all the seven divisions of the state, and ministers were instructed to reach out to the people. In August, Raje also set off on a 32-day long Gaurav Yatra that traversed 123 assembly constituencies, covering 4,497-km. The BJP leadership also reached out to party workers, who openly blamed the bypoll loss on the inaccessibility of legislators and the cabinet. On the instructions of party president Amit Shah, booth-level committees were reconstituted keeping in view caste alignments. We ensured that all castes including backward castes got representation in the booth-level committees, said Mathur. The BJP also identified beneficiaries of government schemes, and held a mega event for them on July 7 in Jaipur, in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the chief guest. Shah, who monitored the partys campaign in Rajasthan, said party workers got in touch with 20 million welfare scheme beneficiaries since November 20. For its part, the Congress strengthened its booth committees through the mera booth mera gaurav campaign that it launched in April. Rajasthan Congress president Sachin Pilot also undertook a 100-km march in Rajes home turf of Jhalawar and led several protests across the state against the BJP government. The Congress issued a district-wise report card to build on the perceived anti-incumbency against the Raje government. After November 22, which was the last day of withdrawing nominations, an undercurrent appeared against the ruling dispensation in several parts of the state. The BJP had denied tickets to 51 of its sitting legislators including three ministers. Rajiv Gupta, a professor of sociology at the University of Rajasthan, said, If the Congress wins this election, it will not be because of its policies or popularity but because it is the only alternative available before the people to replace the BJP. In Jaipurs Babu Bazar, trader Amit Megnani said his entire family has been with Jan Sangh, and now BJP, since they moved to India after partition in 1947. We cannot give vote to any party other than the BJP even though they killed our business and its leaders were not accessible at all, he said. A farmer in Sheo assembly constituency in Barmer, Hemraj Punia, said for four years it appeared that bureaucrats were running the government. The CM (Raje) and ministers were not at all visible. They came out of their shells only after the bypoll loss, he said. For him, the Congress promise of waiving up to Rs 2 lakh loan has found resonance. Bharti Devi in Jodhpur city, who claimed to be a BJP worker, underlined that there was resentment against the incumbent BJP legislators on several counts and effort of her party to re-connect with people may not be enough to return to power. We cannot face people anymore, she said. Indian scientists have come up with the first physics-based prediction of the upcoming solar cycle also called sunspot cycle scheduled to start early in 2020. The prediction revealed how the sun will behave and the expected conditions in space over the next decade, which will help in strategically plan missions to space and in the upkeep of space-based technologies. Every 11 years, the suns magnetic field flips because the north and south poles switch places, which marks the beginning of a new solar cycle. The solar cycle affects the activity on the surface of the sun such as sunspots, which are caused by the suns magnetic fields. When the magnetic field lines near sunspots tangle, cross, or reorganize, it can lead to an explosion of energy called a solar flare that can cripple satellites, trip electric power grids and lead to large-scale telecommunication breakdowns. Combining magnetic field evolution models for the suns surface and interior, a two-member team from the Centre of Excellence in Space Sciences India at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Kolkata, performed the first century-scale data-driven simulations of solar activity coupling for the first time two different models of the Sun. The study Prediction of the strength and timing of sunspot cycle 25 reveal decadal-scale space environmental conditions co-authored by PhD student Prantika Bhowmik was published in the journal Nature Communications on Thursday. The research was supported by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India, Indo-French Centre for the Promotion of Advanced Research and NASA. Their forecast reveals that the next solar cycle 25 will be similar to the current cycle 24, which will end in December 2019 The next cycle might be slightly stronger that the previous cycle and will peak around 2024. The current solar cycle 24 is one of the weakest cycles in the century. Predicting the solar cycle is therefore important because the suns activity influences environmental conditions in the space. This adversely affects satellites and space-based technologies such as telecommunications and navigational networks, said professor Dibyendu Nandi, lead investigator. Nandi, also an associate at the Pune-based Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) added, The Sun is also the primary natural source of energy for the earths climate. The suns activity level changes but predicting these changes has been challenging. With India slated to launch its maiden mission to the Sun Aditya L1 in 2020 that will study various aspects of the Sun and space-weather, Somak Raychaudhary, director of IUCAA said, This is a very important paper because it looks like we will now be able to predict fluctuations of solar activity much more reliably. Predicting how the sun will behave will help in the satellite launch. Data from observing the Sun from Aditya L1 will also help the research team to make their models better. Till now, there was five-year window to predict the future occurrence and performance of the next solar cycle before the end of a current cycle based on statistical modelling. However, the margin of error was high. While the peaks of some solar cycles are stronger between 150 and 200 sunspots there are also those weaker than average below 100 sunspots. Researchers said successive solar cycles over the last several decades have significantly weakened in strength leading to a widespread speculation that a significantly weak sunspot cycle 25 or an impending disappearance of sunspots for many decades such as one between 1645 and 1715 would alleviate global warming and bring down the Earths temperature. However, the team said the solar cycle 25 will not be insignificant, and predict that space environmental conditions over the next decade would be similar or slightly harsher compared to the last decade. There is no evidence of an impending disappearance of sunspot cycles. Speculation of an imminent sun-induced cooling of global climate is very unlikely, and therefore countries will have to work towards keeping global temperatures from rising, said Nandi. When Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a mammoth rally in Hyderabad on Monday evening, he claimed there were five main forces in Telangana the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), Congress, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). While the battle is now primarily framed as one between TRS and the Maha Kootami, each of these five actors has a distinct public narrative about what it stands for and its own private motivations. Conversations with political players and informed observers indicate that while this election is a battle for Hyderabad publicly, for each party, the aim is to strengthen its hand in the battle for Delhi. TRS TRS chief and caretaker chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) has said that he called for early elections because he wants to get over with state polls and focus on creating a non-Congress, non-BJP federal front nationally. This may be true. But what is also true is that TRSs primary rival in the state is Congress. And because the Congresss primary rival nationally is BJP, which is a minor player in Telangana, KCR has a shared political interest with the BJP. This perhaps explains why his party has repeatedly supported the Modi government at the Centre; and why the TRS is one of the potential allies of the future post-2019 National Democratic Alliance (NDA) formation. KCRs manoeuvring space is now even more limited because his arch rival, Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, has placed himself firmly as one of the anchors of the anti-BJP alliance nationally. So, the election is a high-stakes one for the TRS. Congress The Congresss main claim is that while the TRS government has been marked by family rule and corruption, its own alliance will offer a new template of clean and progressive governance. Privately, four factors are driving the Congress. One, it has felt that despite taking a major political gamble in creating Telangana and destroying its interests in Andhra Pradesh, it was never rewarded. This election is about winning that prize and putting itself in a better position to win the 17 Lok Sabha seats in the state in 2019. Two, it is motivated by a recognition that if the TRS wins, the BJP can count on it as an ally nationally. Follow exit polls live: Surveys give BJP advantage in tight race in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh Three, the Congress is in power on its own in two states (Punjab and Puducherry) and in an alliance in a third state (Karnataka); its prospects in the fourth state where it was in government, Mizoram, is uncertain. If it wins Telangana, it will mark a degree of political revival and it opens up possibilities of greater resource collection. And finally, Maha Kootami for Congress a grand state specific alliance is also a test of whether the arithmetic of a united opposition can take on an entrenched leader. If it succeeds, expect a similar alliance in Andhra assembly polls next year and more in 2019. TDP For Chandrababu Naidu, whose party is contesting only 13 seats, the Telangana election brings both local and national strands together. The first motivation is political revenge. Naidu has never forgiven his one-time protege KCR for going on his own, and eventually carving out the state which came at great cost to Andhra. A strong KCR in the neighbouring state is anathema to Naidu. Instead, if he can have a friendly government of which the TDP is a part, Naidu will feel a sense of vindication that he still has a say in how Hyderabad is governed. Also, it is not certain that the TDP will remain in power in Andhra next year, given the strong anti-incumbency it confronts. The BJP is also said to be tacitly backing the YSR Congress in Andhra. To ensure that Andhra remains safe for him, Naidu wants to weaken both the TRS and BJP here. Nationally, a win will catapult Naidu an architect of Maha Kootami as a central player in anti-BJP front. AIMIM Asaduddin Owaisi has thrown his lot with the TRS: and this gives KCR an advantage because his AIMIM is expected to win around half-a-dozen seats in Hyderabad. If the TRS falls short of a majority, it can then reliably turn to Owaisis legislators. While his rhetoric is sharply directed at BJP, his main political competition is with Congress for local Muslim support in Hyderabad and Telangana, but also nationally since Owaisi wants to emerge as a Muslim leader across states. The continued national hegemony of BJP, rather than the return of Congress , suits Owaisi because it gives him a stronger case to suggest to Muslims that they need a party of their own. BJP And finally, for the BJP, the Telangana election is important because locally, it offers the party an opportunity to expand its organisation, build a pool of leaders, and eventually become an important force. But as of now, it remains a minor player. The BJPs main objective is to prevent the victory of its arch rivals in the Maha Kootami. Having the TRS in power means that even if BJP doesnt run Telangana, it does not have a hostile force in power. It will also give energy to the opposition nationally and those who wish to have a grand alliance. The BJP is well aware that in its core areas of north, west and central India, there will be a dip in 2019 elections. It will make gains in east. In south, it will rely on post-poll allies. And having it perform well now, and in 2019, at the cost of the Maha Kootami, is the best bet. (CNN) The United Nations has requested direct access to "re-education camps" in China's Xinjiang province, where more than one million Muslim majority Uyghurs have reportedly been imprisoned. UN Human Rights High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet said on Wednesday that she wanted to verify "worrying reports" the organization had received. Former detainees claim they were tortured and forced to learn Chinese Communist Party propaganda at the massive camps. Beijing says the camps are voluntary vocational training centers, designed to stamp out extremist tendencies among the Uyghur population. However Bachelet said the UN had offered technical assistance in dealing with violent extremism, adding: "We wish to engage China in a serious dialogue on this pressing matter." The call came a day after Barbel Kofler, the German Commissioner for Human Rights Policy, said she was refused permission to visit the camps during a trip to China. "I am shocked by reports of the treatment of the Turkic Uyghur minority ... I would have liked to have gained a first-hand impression of the situation there and will continue to push for permission to visit Xinjiang soon," she said in a statement Tuesday. Kofler added that she was "deeply concerned" by human rights in China. "This is particularly affecting the critical voices in civil society -- human rights lawyers, journalists and bloggers," she said. At a UN hearing on China's human rights record in November, more than a dozen countries called on Beijing to end their "arbitrary detention" of Uyghurs in Xinjiang. The Chinese government has repeatedly defended its human rights record, saying quality of life has risen dramatically over the past four decades. But the UN's Bachelet said Wednesday that human rights "are not divisible." "You cannot prioritize, you cannot say these human rights are important and the other ones not ... You cannot invite somebody to your home, feed them, but don't allow them to speak," she said. "You have to ensure that all human rights are protected." This story was first published on CNN.com, "UN wants access to China's Xinjiang 're-education camps'." Report on Jwala Guttas name missing from voter list has been sought Chief Electoral Officer of Telangana, Rajat Kumar says a final report from the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) has been sought on shuttler Jwala Guttas name missing from voter list. Rajasthan records 72.62% voter turnout Rajasthan has recorded an interim voter turnout of 73 % till now. 67% voter turnout recorded in Telangana assembly elections Umesh Sinha, Deputy Election Commissioner says voting is still underway at some polling stations. Final figures are still to come. Interim voter turnout recorded till now in Telangana assembly elections is 67%. Last year, voter turnout recorded was 69.5%, reports news agency ANI. Polling ends in Telangana Polling ends in Telangana. Figures of final poll percentage will be announced shortly 13 constituencies record 65-70 % polling As per the tentative estimates, the 13 constituencies recorded 65-70 % polling till the closing hours. Telangana DGP says polling went on peacefully Polling went on peacefully without any law and order problem. Those who are already in the queue will be allowed to cast their vote, Director General of Police M Mahender Reddy said. Polling ends at 4 pm Polling comes to an end at 4 pm in 13 constituencies which were identified as sensitive in view of their proximity to Maoist-affected areas in the borders of Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh. 56.17% voter turnout at 3 pm The voter turnout in Telangana stood at 56.17% at 3pm. Telangana waives toll tax for voters heading to native places With hundreds of people from Hyderabad heading to their native places to cast their votes in the Telangana Assembly elections on Friday, the state government decided to exempt them from toll tax. Chief Secretary S.K. Joshi issued orders to this effect following a request from Chief Electoral Officer Rajath Kumar. 47.8% voter turnout by 2:30 pm The voter turnout by 2:30 pm stood at 47.8%. Will come back to power with huge majority: KCR TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao Friday exuded confidence that his party would come back to power in Telangana with a huge majority. There is a very, very positive mood among voters towards the party, KCR, as Rao is popularly known as, told reporters at his native village Chintamadaka where he cast his vote in the Assembly polls. 41.96% voter turnout at 1 pm The voter turnout in Telangana at 1 pm stood at 41.96%. Telangana PCC chief N Uttam Kumar casts his vote Telangana PCC chief N Uttam Kumar Reddy and his wife Padmavathi cast their votes in Kodad. Telangana PCC chief N Uttam Kumar Reddy and his wife Padmavathi after casting their votes. ( HT Photo ) TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao casts vote Telangana Rashtra Samithi president and caretaker chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and his wife Shobha exercised their franchise at his native village Chintamadaka in Siddipet district on Friday afternoon. BJP MP Bandaru Dattatreya casts his vote BJP MP Bandaru Dattatreya casts his vote at booth no.229 in Ramnagar of Musheerabad constituency in Hyderabad. Telangana assembly election 2018: BJP MP Bandaru Dattatreya after casting his vote. ( ANI Photo ) KT Rama Rao casts his vote in Hyderabad KCRs son and IT minister KT Rama Rao cast his vote at St Nizamia High School, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad. Telangana assembly election 2018: KT Rama Rao casts his vote in Hyderabad. ( ANI Photo ) Sania Mirza casts her vote Sania Mirza cast her vote at Film Nagar Cultural Center in Hyderabad. Be a part of your democracy .. Right and duty to Vote.. pic.twitter.com/Gix011IVgZ Sania Mirza (@MirzaSania) December 7, 2018 Youngest state of India, Telangana has lost four precious years: Randeep Singh Surjewala The youngest state of India, Telangana has lost four precious years due to Corruption, Commission & Coterie Raj Let us throw out the arrogance of power and usher in a New era towards a Bangaru Telangana#CongressIsWinning CP @RahulGandhi Jis Message:- pic.twitter.com/8v5zFCUctg Randeep Singh Surjewala (@rssurjewala) December 7, 2018 23.17% voter turnout till 11 am The voter turnout in Telangana stood at 23.17% till 11 am. Vote, a weapon to fight against system: Former Maoist ideologue Former Maoist ideologue and balladeer 70-year-old Gaddar cast his vote in Alwal for the first time in his life. He registered himself as voter in April last. He now says that vote is also a weapon to fight against the system. 60-year old man dies of heart attack while in queue to vote A 60-year old man Perumandla Swamy died of heart attack while standing in the queue for casting his vote at a polling station in Paidipalli village of Warangal district. Congress Vijayashanti, Dasoju Sravan cast their votes Actor Vijayashanti and Congress candidate from Khairatabad Dasoju Sravan cast their votes. Actor Junior NTR casts his vote Popular actor Junior NTR cast his vote at Jubilee Hills. Telangana assembly election 2018: Popular actor Junior NTR cast his vote at Jubilee Hills. ( HT Photo ) BJP workers allegedly pelt stones at Congress candidate Ch Vamsichand Reddy Stone pelting allegedly by BJP workers on Congress candidate Ch Vamsichand Reddy at Amangal in Kalwakurthy constituency; Injured Reddy shifted to Hyderabad for treatment 11% voter turnout till 10 am Voter turnout in Telangana till 10 am stood at 11%. Telangana chief secretary SK Joshi casts his vote Telangana chief secretary SK Joshi cast his vote at Prashasan Nagar, Jubilee Hills, whereas Telangana Jana Samithi president M Kodandaram cast his vote at Tarnaka. Telangana chief secretary SK Joshi after casting his vote. ( EC sources ) TRS MP K Kavitha to cast her vote at polling booth in Pothangal TRS MP K Kavitha stood in a queue to cast her vote at polling booth no. 177 in Pothangal, Nizamabad. TRS MP K Kavitha in a queue to cast her vote. ( ANI Photo ) 10.15% voter turnout till 9:30 am 10.15% voter turnout in Telangana till 9:30 am. Actor Chiranjeevi in queue at polling booth in Hyderabad Actor Chiranjeevi stood in a queue to cast his vote at polling booth no. 148 in Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad. AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi casts his vote All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) party president Asaduddin Owaisi casts his vote at polling booth no. 317 at Mailardevpally, Shastripuram. Former home minister Sabita Indra Reddy casts her vote Former home minister Sabita Indra Reddy, Chevella MP K Vishweshwar Reddy cast their votes. My name disappeared from voting list, tweets Jwala Gutta Badminton player Jwala Gutta took to Twitter and said that her name disappeared from the voters list after she had checked it online. I checked my name online 2-3 weeks ago, my mothers and my names were there, my fathers and my sisters were missing. Today we went to cast vote but my name was also missing. I dont understand this happened. Ive been living here for 12 years, said Jwala Gutta, according to ANI. Surprised to see my name disappear from the voting list after checking online!! #whereismyvote Gutta Jwala (@Guttajwala) December 7, 2018 I request all voters cast votes in large numbers: PM Modi It is the day of polling in Rajasthan today. I request all the voters of the state to take part in this celebration of democracy with full excitement and cast votes in large numbers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted. 9.37% voter turnout till 9 am 9.37% polling reported by 9 am, said EC officials. Telugu actor Venkatesh casts his vote Telugu film actor Venkatesh cast his vote in Jubilee Hills polling booth in Hyderabad. Dy CM Kadiyan Srihari casts his vote in Warangal Deputy chief minister Kadiyan Srihari cast his vote in Warangal. Deputy chief minister Kadiyan Srihari after casting his vote ( ANI Photo ) TRS, BJP workers engage in tussle at Indiranagar polling station Former minister and TRS candidate from Khairatabad Danam Nagender came to Indiranagar polling station wearing pink scarf symbolising party. When BJP agent objected to it, TRS workers thrashed him. BJP candidate Ch Ramachandra Reddy has lodged a complaint with EC and the cops. Telangana BJP president casts his vote Telangana BJP president and Musheerabad candidate K Laxman cast his vote at Gandhinagar booth. Hyderabad police commissioner casts his vote Hyderabad police commissioner Anjani Kumar cast his vote at Nampally polling station. Hyderabad police commissioner Anjani Kumar after casting his vote. ( HT Photo ) Cyberabad police commissioner casts vote Cyberabad police commissioner V C Sajjannar cast his vote. Cyberabad police commissioner V C Sajjannar after casting his vote. ( HT Photo ) Tollywood actors cast vote in Hyderabad Tollywood actors Chiranjeevi, Nagarjuna and Allu Arjun cast their votes in Jubilee Hills polling station. EVMs malfunction in Hayathnagar, voters sent back At one of the polling stations at Hayathnagar in Ranga Reddy district, voters were sent back as polling could not be commences due to malfunctioning of EVMs. BJPs G Kishan Reddy casts vote BJPs G Kishan Reddy cast his vote at polling booth no.7 in Kachiguda, Hyderabad. BJPs G Kishan Reddy casts vote in Hyderabad. ( ANI Photo ) Andhra Pradesh govt declares holiday for secretariat employees Andhra Pradesh government declared a holiday for secretariat employees and those attached to heads of departments who shifted from Hyderabad to Amaravati after capital location to participate in Telangana polls. Over 3,000 employees are expected to exercise their franchise. Former minister and Bahujan Left Front candidate Mothkupalli Narsimhulu suffers heart attack Former minister and Bahujan Left Front candidate Mothkupalli Narsimhulu from Alair constituency suffered a heart attack, and has been shifted to Hyderabad after initial treatment at Bhongir government hospital. PCC working president A Revanth Reddy casts vote PCC working president A Revanth Reddy casts his vote at his native village Kondareddipalli. Polling begins at Kodangal late by an hour Due to technical glitch polling in Kodangal booth began an hour late. Actor Allu Arjun outside Hyderabad polling booth Telangana: Actor Allu Arjun stands in a queue to cast his vote at booth no. 152 in Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad. #TelanganaElections2018 pic.twitter.com/5kuui5v5Wy ANI (@ANI) December 7, 2018 Actor Akkineni Nagarjuna, his wife actor Amala Akkineni outside polling booth in Hyderabad Actor Akkineni Nagarjuna and his wife actor Amala Akkineni stand in a queue to cast their votes at booth no. 151 in Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad. Telangana: Actor Akkineni Nagarjuna and his wife & actor Amala Akkineni stand in a queue to cast their votes at booth no. 151 in Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad. #TelanganaElections2018 pic.twitter.com/IZpOhBmyTU ANI (@ANI) December 7, 2018 Over 1.50 lakh polling officials on duty Over 2.80 crore electorate are eligible to exercise their franchise in the state, which has a total of 32,815 polling stations. More than 1.50 lakh polling officials, including reserve staff, are on duty. 1.39 crore female voters registered Out of a total 2,80,64,684 voters registered in the states electoral roll, 1,41,56,182 are males while 1,39,05,811 are females. Read: Urban vs Rural: Voting patterns in Telangana Voters queue outside polling station in Warangal As polling begins, voters have formed queues outside polling station in Warangal. Voters in queue in Warangal ( HT Photo ) Polling yet to commence in Kodangal due to technical problems In Kodangal, from where Telangana PCC chief A Revanth Reddy is contesting, polling is yet to commence due to technical problems. NTRs granddaughter, TDP candidate from Kukatpally casts vote NTRs granddaughter Nandamuri Suhasini, TDP candidate from Kukatpally, cast her vote in Mehdipatnam in Hyderabad. Polling yet to begin at a station in Amberpet due to technical problem Voting is yet to begin at the polling station at GHMC Indoor Stadium, Amberpet due to a technical problem. Voting in the state began at 7 am today. 44,415 ballot units being used In all 44,415 ballot units, 7,557 reserve ballot units, 32,016 control units 4,432 reserve control units and 32,016 VVPATs, and 5,261 reserve VVPATs are being used for the polling. People queue outside polling station in Hyderabad People queue outside a polling station in Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad to cast their votes. People outside a polling station in Hyderabad ( ANI Photo ) Minister G Jagadeesh Reddy casts vote at Suryapet Minister G Jagadeesh Reddy today casted his vote at Suryapet. Roads and buildings minister Tummala Nageswara Rao casts vote Roads and buildings minister Tummala Nageswara Rao and his family members vote at Gollagudem village in Khammam district. TRS president KCRs nephew in Siddipet TRS president K Chandrasekhar Raos nephew and irrigation minister T Harish Rao cast their vote at Siddipet. Irrigation minister T Harish Rao casts his vote at Siddipet. ( ANI Photo ) Highest number of 42 contestants in Malkajgiri constituency In all, 1,821 candidates of different political parties are in fray along with a few independents. Malkajgiri constituency has the highest number of 42 contestants and Banswada the least, 6. Polling to take place in 32,815 polling stations As polling begins in Telangana, 32,815 polling stations have been set up for the people to cast their vote. Polling officers conduct mock polling for agents Polling officers are conducting mock polling for agents of contestants to demonstrate functioning of EVMs. Voters form queues outside a polling station in Pothangal Nizamabad: Voters form queues outside a polling station in Pothangal where voting will begin shortly. #TelanganaElections2018 pic.twitter.com/8FL0hQAqXS ANI (@ANI) December 7, 2018 Voting to begin shortly in Telangana In Telangana, polling will be held from 7 am to 5 pm in 106 constituencies while in 13 Left Wing Extremism affected constituencies polling will conclude at 4 pm. #TelanganaElections2018: #Visuals from a polling booth in Siddipet; voting will start at 7 am pic.twitter.com/HbEzQspQWK ANI (@ANI) December 7, 2018 KCR, son, nephew among 1,821 candidates in fray Telangana Chief Minister and TRS President K. Chandrashekhar Rao, his 14 cabinet colleagues including a son and a nephew and state presidents of the Congress and the BJP are among 1,821 candidates in the fray for Telangana Assembly elections. Huge sums of unaccounted cash, liquor seized since Model Code of Conduct came into effect Huge sums of unaccounted cash and illegal liquor and other goods were seized since the Model Code of Conduct came into effect on September 27. As per the last count, the total seizures stood at nearly Rs 135 crore including unaccounted cash, illegal liquor and other goods, Rajat Kumar said adding that the total seizures was 90 per cent more than that of during 2014 polls. For the first time, VVPAT to be used in Telangana For the first time, Election Commission is using Voters Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) in Telangana. As many as 1,821 candidates including a transgender are in the fray in the election. Tight security in Telangana for a smooth election Additional DG ( Law and order) Jitender told PTI that about one lakh police personnel including 25,000 central paramilitary forces and 20,000 from other states are engaged in poll duties. A senior police official said security was beefed up at bordering areas which were identified as Left Wing Extremist-affected regions. Over 2.80 crore electorate eligible to exercise vote Over 2.80 crore electorate are eligible to exercise their franchise in the State, which has a total of 32,815 polling stations across. With hundreds of people from Hyderabad heading to their native places to cast their votes in the Telangana Assembly elections on Friday, the state government decided to exempt them from toll tax. Chief secretary SK Joshi issued orders to this effect following a request from chief electoral officer Rajath Kumar. The poll official told reporters that in view of the reports of long traffic jams at toll plazas, he requested the Chief Secretary to waive the toll tax to enable people to reach their villages faster. Read: Mysterious, says badminton player Jwala Gutta as name goes missing from voter list A large number of people from Hyderabad have been leaving for various districts across the state since Thursday. The railway stations and bus stations were also crowded with the people leaving for their destinations. Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) was operating additional bus services to clear the rush. Click here for full coverage of Telangana assembly elections 2018 If exit polls are anything to go by, it seems Telangana Rashtriya Samiti (TRS) chief K Chandrasekhar Raos gamble of holding early elections has paid off. The Times Now-CNX poll predicts re-election for the TRS, giving it 66 of the states 119 seats. A party can form government with 60 seats. The Republic Jan Ki Baat too shows a KCR win, with a range of 52 to 65 seats and 38 to 52 to the Congress, which contested along with regional allies including the Telugu Desam Party led by Chandrababu Naidu, Chief Minister of neighbouring Andhra Pradesh. The Axis My India - India Today and Aaj Takpoll puts TRS way ahead with 79-91 seats and the Congress trails at 21-33 seats in the first-ever polls in Indias youngest state Telangana was supposed to hold its assembly elections in May 2019 along with the Lok Sabha elections. However, caretaker chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR), who heads the TRS, dissolved the assembly in September 2018, forcing an early election to be held in the state. Follow live updates here The major political parties that are contesting the elections in the state are the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the KCR-led Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS), the Chandrababu Naidu-led Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Congress, Telangana Jana Samithi (TJS), Communist Praty of India (CPI), and the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) led by Asaduddin Owaisi. The Congress is contesting in a grand alliance called the Praja Kutami along with the TDP, TJS and CPI. The alliance is led by the Congress and was formed primarily to defeat the TRS in the state. The BJP is contesting the election alone. In the 2014 elections, held in an undivided Andhra Pradesh, the TDP had contested the elections in alliance with the BJP. However, this time, the TDP has decided to go with the Congress and be a part of the Congress-led Grand alliance. In what has been a bitter battle of words during the election campaigning leaders from all parties have levelled allegations of corruption against each other and have accused the TRS of not doing anything. KCR, however, is confident of winning the elections, one of the reasons why he called an early election. For the BJP, the state holds importance since it is looking to expand its footstep into the state. However, the Congress-led Grand Alliance appears to have an electoral advantage if one goes by sheer numbers. As against TRSs 34 per cent vote share in 2014, the Congress and the TDP together have 38 per cent vote share in the state. The TJS and CPI votes may also skew the playing field against the TRS. Also Read: Telangana assembly elections 2018: Alliance win will solve Andhra Pradesh-Telangana dispute, says TDP K Chandrashekar Rao has however, criticised the TDP for being a part of the Grand Alliance and had, during an election rally, cautioned the people to be wary of Andhra rulers. We have achieved separate statehood for Telangana and liberated it from Andhra rulers after a prolonged fight for over a decade. Should we hand over our precious Telangana back to the Andhra party? KCR had said at Kosgi town in Kodangal assembly constituency while referring to Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, whose TDP is part of Maha Kootami (grand alliance). For full assembly elections coverage, click here The result of the assembly election in Telangana will be declared on December 11 but ahead of that, exit polls by several news channels will try to project the winner in Indias youngest state on Friday evening. Telanganas 2.8 crore voters cast their ballot on Friday in the advanced assembly elections in the state, where the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government is trying to retain power against a Congress-led four-party alliance with the BJP seeking to make it a triangular contest. Exit polls live: Surveys give BJP advantage in tight race in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh The TRS led by caretaker chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) dissolved the assembly about eight months ahead of schedule in the hope of taking the opposition parties by surprise but the Congress threw its own surprise by coming up with its alliance, in which it also roped in its one-time foe, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP). The other two parties in the grouping are the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Telangana Jana Samithi (TJS) floated by M Kodandaram, who was once KCRs friend in the Telangana movement. Follow live updates here: Will come back to power with huge majority, claims KCR The BJP is fighting alone in the state this year. In 2014, it had contested in alliance with the TDP. Asaduddin Owaisis All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) is contesting eight assembly constituencies in Hyderabad and supporting the TRS elsewhere. Telangana saw a high-volume, often bitter campaign with personal attacks by leaders of various parties. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress president Rahul Gandhi, BJP president Amit Shah, Andhra chief minister and TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath were among those who had addressed multiple rallies and held across the state. UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi had also addressed a public meeting in her first visit to the state since it came into being in 2014 and her only political engagement in the current assembly elections. The Election Commission had imposed a nearly month-long ban on holding exit or opinion poll, a survey of voters after they exit polling stations but are known to often get it wrong, beginning November 12 in the five poll-bound states. For full coverage on Telangana elections, click here. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has claimed that the approach of the ruling BJP was anti-Muslim and anti-Pakistan and expressed the hope that the stalled bilateral talks could resume after the general elections in India next year. Pakistan PM Khan said his government was keen to bring the perpetrators of the 2008 Mumbai attack to book, asserting that it was in the interest of Pakistan. India has elections coming up. The ruling party [of India] has an anti-Muslim, anti-Pakistan approach. They rebuffed all my overtures....Lets hope that after the election is over, we can again resume talks with India, Khan said in an interview with The Washington Post on Thursday. Read: Were not your hired gun anymore, Pakistan PM Imran Khan tells US India has firmly told Pakistan that talks and terrorism cannot go together. External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj has categorically ruled out the possibility of resumption of bilateral talks with Pakistan unless it stops cross-border terror activities against India. The general elections are due to be held in India in April or May 2019. Speaking about the Mumbai terror attack, Khan said Pakistan wants something done about the bombers of Mumbai. I have asked our government to find out the status of the case. Resolving that the case is in our interest because it was an act of terrorism, he said. Also Read: Facing Donald Trump attacks, Pakistan military seeks peace with India On November 26, 2008, 10 Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists arrived by sea route and opened fire indiscriminately, killing 166 people. Nine of the attackers were killed by police while lone survivor Ajmal Kasab was captured and hanged after handed down death sentence by an Indian court. Perpetrators of the 26/11 attack, including its mastermind and banned Jamat-ud Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed, continue to roam freely in Pakistan, indicating that Islamabad is not serious in bringing them to justice. The JuD is believed to be the front group for the LeT. The US has offered a USD 10 million bounty for Saeed. After taking charge as prime minister in August this year, Khan said he was ready for peace talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Pakistan sent a proposal in September to hold foreign ministers level talks in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. Also Read: Pakistan attempted to politicise religious issue, says MEA on Kartarpur India, however, accepted and then rejected the proposal, blaming Pakistan for killing a security personnel in Jammu and Kashmir and accusing it of glorifying terrorism. Both India and Pakistan gave the green signal to the much-awaited Kartarpur Corridor last month. The 4-km-long corridor will connect Dera Baba Nanak in Indias Gurdaspur district with Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib Narowal in Pakistan. The corridor will provide visa-free access to the Indian Sikh pilgrims to the gurdwara which is located in Shakargarh in Narowal district of Pakistans Punjab province. I have opened a visa-free peace corridor with India called Kartarpur [so that Indian Sikhs can visit a holy shrine in Pakistan]. Lets hope that after the election is over, we can again resume talks with India, Khan said in the interview. It is said that Guru Nanak Dev, the founder of Sikhism, had spent more than 18 years of his life there. The Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara is located on the banks of the Ravi River, about three-four kilometres from the border in Pakistan. Britains parliament will, over the course of a series of votes on Tuesday evening, decide whether to approve or reject Prime Minister Theresa Mays Brexit deal - a pivotal decision for the worlds fifth largest economy. The main vote is on a motion stating that lawmakers in the 650-seat house of Commons approve the Brexit deal. The government needs this approval in order to ratify the deal it has agreed with the European Union. But, before the big vote, lawmakers will make attempts to change the wording of the motion through a parliamentary device known as an amendment. These could have the affect of rejecting Mays deal and setting out another path, or adding conditions to the approval. Any amendments will not be legally binding and so cannot automatically change the governments course. But, they will be politically powerful and if parliament approves any of them it will be a significant defeat for May. In some cases defeat on an amendment is so significant that the voting process is halted and the deal is considered to have been rejected. Even minor amendments, could prevent the government from getting the unequivocal approval it needs to ratify the deal. Six amendments will be selected on Tuesday from all those submitted and can then be put to a vote before the government motion. The selection process is at the discretion of speaker John Bercow. Voting is due to start at 1900 GMT on Tuesday. Below is a list of amendments that have been submitted so far: MAJOR AMENDMENTS - Approval of any of these amendment would likely mean instant overall defeat for the government and halt any further votes. Mays deal would have been rejected. Amendment A This has been proposed by the leader of the opposition Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, and would have three effects: 1) Reject Mays deal 2) Attempt to block Britain leaving without a deal 3) Demand the pursuit of every alternative exit strategy The pro-EU liberal Democrat party have put forward an amendment to Corbyns proposal which specifically refers to a second referendum. Amendment I This has been proposed by a group of lawmakers from across the political spectrum, and has received widespread support. It would do three things: 1) Reject Mays deal 2) Attempt to block Britain leaving without a deal 3) Call on the government to set out its next steps to parliament without delay. Amendment K This has been proposed by Scottish and Welsh lawmakers who say the deal damages their nations. It does two main things: 1) Rejects the existing deal 2) Demands an extension to the Article 50 negotiating period NORTHERN IRELAND - these amendments relate to the backstop arrangement - a fallback policy intended to ensure there is no return to a hard border between British-ruled Northern Ireland and EU-member Ireland. Amendment M This has been proposed by lawmakers loyal to Theresa May who, reportedly with the backing of Mays office, want to find a way to get more eurosceptics to vote for the deal. So far it has been dismissed by some of those eurosceptics. It proposes to give parliament a say on whether to enter the backstop arrangement by ordering the government to report on its progress in March 2020 and then consult on its approach. Any decision to enter the backstop would need parliamentary approval, and would require the government to have a plan to exit the backstop within a year. It would also require the government to seek similar assurances from the EU about ending the backstop within one year. Amendment B This has been proposed by members of Mays Conservative Party. It sets out that Britain will tear up the withdrawal agreement if the EU refuses to agree to a way of ending the special backstop arrangements in place for the province. Amendment D This has been proposed by a member of Mays Conservative Party. It sets out to make approval of the exit deal conditional on renegotiating to guarantee that a new trade deal is in place. This would negate the need for the unpopular backstop. Amendment E This has been proposed by a member of the opposition Labour Party. It aims to make approval conditional on Britain renegotiating the deal with the EU to win the right to terminate the backstop without needing EU consent. It also requires the government to seek a different type of future relationship with the EU, modelled on the recently signed trade deal between Canada and the EU. Amendment F This has been proposed by a member of Mays Conservative Party. It sets out to make approval conditional on Britain negotiating the right to terminate the backstop without needing EU consent. OTHERS Amendment G This has been proposed by a member of Mays Conservative Party. It would make approval conditional upon an agreement that the only half of the agreed 39 billion pound exit bill would be paid at first, with the second half of payment made only when a free trade agreement with the EU has been ratified. Amendment H This has been proposed by a member of Mays Conservative Party. It commits the government to vigorously contest any instance where it feels the EU is breaching the requirement to negotiate a future relationship in good faith. Amendment J This has been proposed by opposition lawmakers to add additional reassurances that Britain and the EU will ensure open and fair competition and that standards on environmental protection, workers rights and safety will not be lowered after Brexit. Amendment L This has been proposed by the pro-EU Liberal Democrat party and instructs the government to make all necessary preparations for a referendum on leaving the EU or remaining a member. (Reporting by William James; editing by Guy Faulconbridge) United States president Donald Trump said on Friday he had chosen former U.S. Attorney General William Barr to once again lead the Justice Department, a role that would put him in charge of the federal probe into Russian election interference. If confirmed by the Senate, Barr would take over from Matthew Whitaker, who has been serving in an acting capacity since Trump forced out Jeffrey Sessions a month ago. Whitaker had been Sessions chief of staff. Barr was my first choice from day one, and a terrific man, a terrific person, a brilliant man, Trump said, speaking to reporters outside the White House. Barr, a lawyer who was previously attorney general from 1991 to 1993 under the late President George H.W. Bush, has defended Trumps controversial decision to fire then-FBI Director James Comey in May 2017 when Comey was leading the Russia probe. After Comeys firing, Special Counsel Robert Mueller took over that investigation, which includes any possible collusion between Moscow and Trumps 2016 election campaign, and any potential obstruction of justice. The Russia probe has long infuriated Trump, who calls it a witch hunt and who has denied any collusion or any obstruction of justice. Barr has said there is more reason to investigate potential wrongdoing by Trumps campaign opponent, Democrat Hillary Clinton, than there is to probe any potential collusion. Mueller, a Republican, was appointed by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. Barr has said political donations show Muellers team of professional prosecutors tilt uncomfortably to the left. On Twitter, Trump calls them 17 Angry Dems. I would have liked to see him have more balance on this group, Barr told the Washington Post in July 2017. As attorney general, Barr would have ultimate responsibility for the Russia probe, unless he recuses himself. Sessions recused himself from overseeing the investigation. U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded Moscow worked to influence the election and tip it in Trumps favor. Russia has denied any interference. Barrs comments on Mueller and Clinton could stir opposition from Senate Democrats, but the nomination will almost certainly not come up for a vote until next year. Republicans will control the chamber with a 53-47 majority in the new Congress convening in January. I do think hes worthy of consideration. I am concerned he has said some negative things about the Special Counsels office and some of the prosecutors he had in place, Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar told MSNBC on Thursday after Barrs name surfaced. Klobuchar is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which has jurisdiction over the nomination. Clinton Emails In an opinion piece in the Washington Post last year, Barr argued that Comey usurped the authority of top Justice Department officials when he announced the outcome of an FBI probe into Clintons use of a private email server when she was secretary of state, and that Trump was right in firing him. At the time of Comeys announcement, both Clinton and Trump were candidates for president. When Trump fired Comey, the initial reason given by the White House was his poor handling of the FBI investigation into Clintons emails. Barr, however, did not attack the Russia probe itself, which he said was being conducted with a thoroughness that appeared lacking in the Clinton email investigation. Comeys removal simply has no relevance to the integrity of the Russian investigation as it moves ahead, Barr wrote. Comey said in 2016, after a year-long FBI investigation into the email issue, that while Clinton had been careless in her handling of her emails the agency was not recommending charges. Clinton expressed regret for her decision to use a private server but said she violated no rules. Barr has expressed sympathy for Trumps calls to take a second look at whether Clinton may have broken the law, telling the Washington Post in November 2017: I do think that there are things that should be investigated that havent been investigated. That same month, he told the New York Times he thought there was more reason to investigate Clinton for any role she may have played in approving a uranium deal when she was secretary of state than any potential collusion between the Trump campaign and Moscow. To the extent it is not pursuing these matters, the department is abdicating its responsibility, he said. Rex Tillerson, the former US secretary of state, broke his silence Thursday calling his former boss, President Donald Trump, undisciplined and saying that he was given to violating the law. What was challenging for me coming from the disciplined, highly process-oriented Exxon Mobil corporation, was to go to work for a man who is pretty undisciplined, doesnt like to read, doesnt read briefing reports, doesnt like to get into the details of a lot of things, but rather just kind of says, This is what I believe, Tillerson said at an event in Houston, Texas. Tillerson was a career oilman who became Trumps surprise pick as secretary of state. But things did not work out between them and he had once reportedly called the president a moron and never expressly denied it. He did not repeat that assessment at the Houston event but his remarks were stark. Tillerson was fired in March. So often, the president would say, Heres what I want to do, and heres how I want to do it, Tillerson said, according to the Houston Chronicle, and I would have to say to him, Mr. President, I understand what you want to do, but you cant do it that way. It violates the law. The former secretary of state also said he felt Trump acted on his instincts. He acts on his instincts; in some respects, that looks like impulsiveness. But its not his intent to act on impulse. I think he really is trying to act on his instincts, he said. Pakistans Khyber Pakthunkhwa province plans to construct a heritage park in Elum Valley, which carries a historical significance to both the Hindus and the Buddhists, to promote religious tourism, officials said. A fund of Rs five million has already been allocated by the government to the authorities concerned as an initial grant for preparation of feasibility report of the project, they said. Located between the Swat and Buner districts in the KP province, Elum Valley has been a site of divinity and pilgrimage for both the Hindu and the Buddhist communities. According to Hindu belief, Lord Ram spent time meditating there during his 14 years of exile, while Buddhists believe it to be the site where a previous incarnation of Lord Buddha gave up his life. The Elum Valley would be made a safe abode for the followers of Hinduism and Buddhism and as well as for tourists visiting the heritage park, said an official of the KP archaelogical department. Under the project, fencing of the entire Elum Valley would be done and a separate track would be constructed in the heritage park, the official said. Appointment 7 December 2018 Philipp John Economou is the new area general manager of InterContinental Regency Bahrain. Joining the hotel with over 23 years of industry experience, the German native kicked off his career as a front office clerk at the Athenaeum InterContinental in Greece. He soon fully integrated himself into the InterContinental Group and set off on his next journey in Spain as assistant F&B manager in 2002. Economou went on to hold positions at InterContinental Carlton, France, InterContinental Miami, USA, and InterContinental Fujairah Resort, before joining InterContinental Regency Bahrain. Press Release 7 December 2018 The U.S. hotel industry reported positive year-over-year results in the three key performance metrics during the week of 25 November through 1 December 2018, according to data from STR. Advertisements In comparison with the week of 26 November through 2 December 2017, the industry recorded the following: Occupancy: +1.0% to 57.3% Average daily rate (ADR): +2.2% to US$120.23 Revenue per available room (RevPAR): +3.3% to US$68.93 Among the Top 25 Markets, San Diego, California, registered the largest jump in RevPAR (+45.2% to US$116.29), driven primarily by the only double-digit lift in ADR (+30.3% to US$169.53). The market posted the second-highest rise in occupancy (+11.4% to 68.6%). Boston, Massachusetts, experienced the largest increase in occupancy (+11.8% to 72.2%) and the second-largest rise in RevPAR (+19.1% to US$123.53). San Francisco/San Mateo, California, saw the second-largest increase in ADR (+9.7% to US$204.65). Overall, 16 of the Top 25 Markets reported growth in RevPAR for the week. Houston, Texas, reported the steepest declines in each of the three key performance metrics: occupancy (-17.4% to 56.9%), ADR (-6.8% to US$99.64) and RevPAR (-23.1% to US$56.70). Orlando, Florida, experienced the only other double-digit drop in occupancy (-11.9% to 63.6%) and the second-largest decrease in RevPAR (-13.4% to US$72.04). Press Release 7 December 2018 Jamaica has been selected to host the next Caribbean Hotel Investment Conference and Operations Summit (CHICOS) on November 14-15, 2019. Co-sponsors Apple Leisure Group (ALG) and AMResorts will provide the conference venue, Secrets Wild Orchid Montego Bay and Secrets St. James Montego Bay. The event is expected to attract 300 attendees interested in hospitality development in the Caribbean. CHICOS is the premier industry conference for the region. The event brings together governmental representatives, opinion leaders, developers, bankers and other lenders, tourism officials, investment funds, hotel brand executives, individuals/companies seeking investors for their tourism projects, and public and private institutions to discuss hospitality development possibilities. "We are pleased to bring this important conference to the island nation of Jamaica," shares CHICOS Chairman Parris Jordan. "Jamaica will benefit from serving as host nation, as numerous hotel industry leaders and investors will be in attendance. Additionally, CHICOS will work with the government to showcase Jamaica's development sites for hotel projects." The Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO) is the planning partner for the event and will showcase Jamaica as a viable tourism investment destination, advancing strong potential investment interest from targeted companies, and increasing awareness of various tourism investment opportunities, particularly those under the Shovel Ready Investment Programme (SRIP). In addition, JAMPRO will showcase local properties that are available for joint venture or greenfield projects. ALG is North America's only vertically integrated hospitality group, and the nation's largest provider of charter flights that offers resort owners and tour operators competitive advantages. Through its hospitality brands, ALG has been actively involved in Jamaica's tourism sector for nearly five decades, bringing 163,000 guests to the island in 2017; that number will double in 2019 thanks to the addition of new brands to its Vacations segment. In 2008, through AMResorts, the company opened the AAA Four-Diamond properties, Secrets Wild Orchid Montego Bay and Secrets St. James Montego Bay. Today, AMResorts has six luxury resorts across its award-winning brands in Montego Bay, which employ nearly 2,000 personnel. "Jamaica has been an integral part of our growth strategy for years, and it remains a strong investment opportunity for resort development with its abundance of natural beauty and welcoming culture," said Javier Coll, Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer of Apple Leisure Group. "We are committed to supporting the country's economic growth and anticipate our resorts to offer the perfect location to foster fruitful discussions on the future of Jamaica and the Caribbean's tourism industry." Positioning Jamaica as a leader in the tourism industry: Tourism remains one of Jamaica's key sectors, and investments have increased with the addition of approximately 3,000 rooms in 2016 and 2017. An additional 6,000 rooms are scheduled to be built over the next three to five years. Currently, the thrust toward new investments in Jamaica's hotel industry includes targeting the development of luxury properties, timeshares and attractions. Per JAMPRO President Diane Edwards, "We are pleased to welcome such a prestigious event to Jamaica, as it will serve to further increase Jamaica's profile and visibility as a premier tourist destination and position the country as the most attractive destination for tourism investments in the region." JAMPRO's mission is to drive economic development through growth in investment and export. JAMPRO is an Agency of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries. *** Apple Leisure Group (ALG) is the leading North American travel, hospitality, and leisure management group with the only vertically integrated business model, serving travelers and destinations worldwide. ALG consistently delivers exceptional value to travelers and strong performance to resort owners and partners by strategically leveraging the power of its portfolio of brands across five segments, comprising the largest seller of vacation packages and charter flights in the U.S. for travel to Mexico and the Caribbean, moving approximately 3.2 million passengers annually through the well-established vacation brands Apple Vacations, BeachBound, Funway Holidays, Travel Impressions, CheapCaribbean.com, Blue Sky Tours, Southwest Vacations, Funjet Vacations, and United Vacations; brand management of 5-star and 4-star luxury resorts through AMResorts award-winning brand portfolio, including Zoetry Wellness & Spas Resorts, Secrets Resorts & Spas, Breathless Resorts & Spas, Dreams Resorts & Spas, Now Resorts & Spas, Reflect Resorts & Spas, and Sunscape Resorts & Spas; best-in-class destination management services provided by Amstar DMC and Worldstar, the exclusive loyalty program Unlimited Vacation Club; and the innovative technology solutions provider Trisept Solutions, connecting over 88,000 travel agents with leading travel suppliers. To learn more about the Apple Leisure Group advantage, visit appleleisuregroup.com. AMResorts collectively provide sales, marketing, and brand-management services to seven individually unique resort brands including Zoetry Wellness & Spa Resorts, Secrets, Breathless, Dreams, Now, Reflect and Sunscape Resorts & Spas. The Newtown Square-based company is continuously raising the all-inclusive concept to a new level of luxury with its signature Endless Privileges, Unlimited-Luxury, Defined Delights, and Unlimited-Fun programs. Located throughout Mexico, Jamaica, Curacao, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, and Panama, AMResorts' 55 award-winning properties treat every guest to premium accommodations, desirable locations, and extraordinary inclusions. The brands in the collection include boutique Zoetry Wellness & Spa Resorts (zoetryresorts.com; 1-888-4-ZOETRY); adults-only Secrets Resorts & Spas (secretsresorts.com; 1-866-GO-SECRETS); high-energy Breathless Resorts & Spas (breathlessresorts.com; 1-855-65-BREATHE); family-friendly Dreams Resorts & Spas (dreamsresorts.com; 1-866-2-DREAMS); vibrant Now Resorts & Spas (nowresorts.com; 1-877-NOW-9953); spirited Reflect Resorts & Spas (reflectresorts.com; 1-855-4REFLECT); and fun-filled Sunscape Resorts & Spas (sunscaperesorts.com; 1-866-SUNSCAPE). Images, logos, and informational material about the AMResorts Collection of brands and properties are available at amresorts.com/mediasite/media. Staged by HVS, the Caribbean Hotel Investment Conference & Operations Summit (CHICOS)is the premier industry conference for the region. CHICOS annually welcomes governmental representatives, opinion leaders, developers, bankers and other lenders, tourism officials, investment funds, hotel brand executives, individuals/companies seeking investors for their tourism projects, franchise and operations companies, public and private institutions, consultants, advisors, architects, and designers to discuss the region's markets and possibilities. www.Chicos.hvsconferences.com European Chain Hotels Market Review - October 2018 European hoteliers had cause for celebration in October, as hotels recorded a 6.1-percent year-on-year increase in profit per room. Performance was boosted by a number of major festivals hosted in key cities, according to the latest data tracking full-service hotels from HotStats. Whilst GOPPAR levels actually dipped against Septemberdropping to 79.57 for the month, against 96.80 last monththe considerable year-on-year growth in October was sufficient to continue to drive a strong year-to-date increase in profit per room, which is now 9.8 percent above the same period in 2017. Growth in profit this month was aided by a 6.1-percent increase in RevPAR, fuelled significantly by a 5.2-percent increase in achieved average room rate to 171.79. In addition to year-on-year growth in rooms revenue, hotels in Europe recorded a revenue increase across non-rooms departments, including Food & Beverage (up 0.6 percent) on a per-available-room basis, which contributed to the 3.6 percent uplift in TRevPAR this month to 197.42. Top-line performance was led by demand from the commercial sector, which accounted for almost 40 percent of all accommodated roomnights. And whilst there was a decline in the achieved rate in the individual leisure segment in the month (down 2.4 percent), this was cushioned by year-on-year growth in rate in the residential conference (up 6.8 percent), corporate (up 0.6 percent) and group leisure (up 10.8 percent) segments. Profit & Loss Key Performance Indicators Europe (in EUR) October 2018 v. October 2017 RevPAR: +6.1% to 133.27 TRevPAR: +3.6% to 197.42 Payroll: -0.6 pts. to 29.7% GOPPAR: +6.1% to 79.57 The growth in revenue this month was complemented by cost savings, which included a 0.6-percentage-point reduction in payroll to 29.7 percent of total revenuedespite a 0.1-percentage-point increase in overheads to 20.2 percent of total revenue. As a result of the movement in revenue and costs, profit conversion at hotels in Europe was recorded at 40.3 percent of total revenue in October. Profit performance for hotels in Europe is proving to be very consistent, with just two months of year-on-year GOPPAR decline recorded since October 2016, said Michael Grove, Director of Intelligence and Customer Solutions, EMEA, at HotStats. This is despite slowing economic growth across the Eurozone. Strong performance across the region was led by contribution from a number of key city markets that hosted major festivals and conferences. The greatest margin of year-on-year performance growth was recorded in Munich, which hosts the renowned Oktoberfest. The 16-18 day festival annually attracts more than six million people, significantly driving up demand for hotel accommodations in the city. This year was no different, with hotels in Munich recording a 52.4-percent year-on-year increase in profit per room for the month to 132.38, which is a high for 2018, and was 85.9 percent above the year-to-date GOPPAR of 71.22. The growth in profit was led by an increase across all departments, which included a 33.5-percent increase in RevPAR to 188.30, as room occupancy grew by 5.2 percentage points to 82.2 percent, and achieved average room rate soared by 25.0 percent to 229.11. Profit & Loss Key Performance Indicators Munich (in EUR) October 2018 v. October 2017 RevPAR: +33.5% to 188.30 TRevPAR: +29.4% to 248.99 Payroll: -6.1 pts. to 21.1% GOPPAR: +52.4% to 132.38 The significant increase in revenue enabled huge cost savings to be made, which included a 6.1-percentage-point reduction in payroll to 21.1 percent of total revenue. Beyond Octoberfest, the city was supported by a range of major international conferences hosted at the ICMInternationales Congress Center Munchen, including the 2018 ESMO oncology conference, which attracted more than 24,000 attendees. As a result of the robust top-line performance and reduction in costs, profit conversion at hotels in Munich was recorded at 53.2 percent of total revenue. Outside Munich, hotels in Budapest also performed well in October, due in large part to the Hungarian capital hosting the city-wide CAFe Budapest Contemporary Arts Festival, which helped drive a 15.6-percent increase in RevPAR to 123.26. The growth in rooms revenue in the city was supported by increases in non-rooms revenues, including Food & Beverage (up 14.5 percent) and Conference & Banqueting (up 12.7 percent), which contributed to the 12.2-percent year-on-year increase in TRevPAR to 171.31. Falling costs, which included a 0.5-percentage-point decrease in payroll, to 22.1 percent of total revenue, added to the positive story for hotels in Budapest and equated into profit conversion of 47.7 percent of total revenue. Profit & Loss Key Performance Indicators Budapest (in EUR) October 2018 v. October 2017 RevPAR: +15.6% to 123.26 TrevPAR: +12.2% to 171.31 Payroll: -0.5 pts. to 22.1% GOPPAR: +17.1% to 81.75 HotStats provides two reporting tools to hoteliers: Our unique profit and loss benchmarking service which enables monthly comparison of hotels performance against their competitors. It is distinguished by the fact that it provides in excess of 100 performance metric comparisons covering 70 areas of hotel revenue, cost, profit and statistics providing far deeper insight into the hotel operation than any other tool. Our latest innovation in daily revenue intelligence, MORSE. Amongst its reporting are daily and highly granular market segmentation metrics as well as distribution channel and source of booking analysis. It takes daily market intelligence to a whole new level. For more information contact: Enquiries +44 (0) 20 7892 2241 enquiries@hotstats.com Daily News Delivery Join your colleagues and stay up to date on the latest Hotel industry news and trends. Subscribe 2021 Hotel News Resource This was ROCs fifth global event of the year, other ROC locations include The United States, The Netherlands, Singapore, and Brazil. ROCs hugely successful launch at Madinat Jumeirah brought together Revenue Management, Distribution, Sales and Marketing executives in the hotel industry with a programme compiled of education, collaboration and innovation. For the first time in the associations history, the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI) hosted today its renowned Revenue Optimization Conference (ROC) in Dubai. This was ROCs fifth global event of the year, other ROC locations include The United States, The Netherlands, Singapore, and Brazil. ROCs hugely successful launch at Madinat Jumeirah brought together Revenue Management, Distribution, Sales and Marketing executives in the hotel industry with a programme compiled of education, collaboration and innovation. Each year, ROC delivers the most compelling and comprehensive revenue management event for the hotel industry. The Middle East is one of the most rapidly expanding markets for hospitalitywere pleased to bring timely insights into revenue optimization to the regions hotel professionals, said Robert A. Gilbert, CHME, CHA, president and CEO of HSMAI. The inaugural event attracted 200 hotel commercial executives, travel technology and key partners in the hospitality industry, with professionals travelling from throughout the middle east as well as internationally to attend. The one-day general session strategy conference featured an opening keynote presentation on global consumer trends by Lorraine Sileo, SVP, research and business operations, of PhocusWright, Inc. Additional programming throughout the day included panels on pricing strategy, digital marketing, key revenue management topics, and did not miss on covering MICE and the value proposition of hotel restaurants and bars. HSMAI ROC Middle East also featured an impressive partner showcase; Gold Partners included Almosafer, Cendyn and Duetto; Silver Partner included Illusions, iWTX, Jumeirah and Tajawal; amongst another 19 Bronze and support partners. HSMAI is delighted that ROC has been so well received by both our regional and international attendees, and we are excited to showcase an even more compelling line up of speakers and discussions next year. HSMAI is committed to growing business for hotels and their partners, and we are the industry's leading advocates for intelligent, sustainable hotel revenue growth. We look forward to further engaging with the regional hospitality community and expanding our network of hotel professionals and partners to provide them with tools, insights, and expertise to fuel sales, inspire marketing, and optimize revenue in the Middle East, said Mona Faraj, managing director of the HSMAI Middle East Chapter. To learn more about HSMAI and becoming a member please visit the HSMAI Middle East website Daily News Delivery Join your colleagues and stay up to date on the latest Hotel industry news and trends. Subscribe 2021 Hotel News Resource The black market for counterfeit sneakers has been dealt a big blow Today after Chinese authorities finally acted on twelve months-worth of investigative planning. Mike DeStefano of Sole Collector quoted China.org.cn who first published the story for a domestic audience. The report indicates that local police in the Chinese town of Bengbu were first informed of a counterfeit sneaker operation in their township, but were told to hold back on making any arrests until the cavalry was set up. The conveyor belt of fake Converse footwear in Bengbu was only the first of many discoveries the Chinese authorities have made between now and 2015. From there authorities were able to pinpoint illegal workshops in Guangdong, Fujian, and Zhejiang, resulting in the arrest of four individuals believed to be holding the operation together. From there, authorities ordered nine production lines destroyed, which included an additional pipeline of counterfeit Vans sneakers, made to resemble the American "craftsmanship" down to the last detail. In all, 500,000 pairs of Converse and Vans sneakers were incinerated. But it didn't stop there - the remaining task forces who were instructed to "hold back" were next in line, destroying five more factories, and making the arrest of seven more individuals responsible for their daily operation. Sneakerheads worldwide can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that someone inadvertently has their best interest in mind. Kevin Hart was announced as the host of the 2019 Oscars earlier this week, but he might get pulled from the show. While the heads over at the Academy haven't mentioned canceling Hart yet, we've seen damaging tweets derail celebrities before. Look what happened to James Gunn. Adam B. Vary of BuzzFeed did some digging and unearthed homophobic jokes that Hart made from 2009-2011 online. He uses the forbidden "F" word that disparages men who are homosexual, and he also alludes to homophobia by writing his own fears for his son. https://twitter.com/_/status/1070451517092651008 Hart took to Instagram to address the situation on Thursday night, and his response stops short of an apology. Hart may believe that an apology is unnecessary in this age where everyone demands some kind of repentance. While Hart's words are hurtful and damaging, it's safe to say that comedians cross this line quite often. Dave Chappelle found himself embroiled in negative heat from the LGBT community as well, something he addresses in his Netflix comedy specials. "I swear man, our world is becoming beyond crazy," begins Hart in his response. "Guys, I'm almost 40 years old. If you don't believe that people change, grow, evolve as they get older... I don't know what to tell you." Check out his full response below. https://www.instagram.com/p/BrEFNFalWgw Kim Kardashian has come to the defense of her family in the wake of a public ploy to infiltrate Kylie's kindred relationship with Travis Scott from the inside out. The Kardashian heiress routinely benefits from the media maelstrom at such a high level, that it's easy for her to cut her losses. But when it comes to the potential break up of an upstart family, especially one assigned to her in a figurative "Godmother" role, Kim K draws the line. This is what she had to say in response to YouTuber ChristianAdamG, who admitted overnight to doctoring photos of Travis Scott to make it seem like he was kissing another woman, and thus cheating on Kylie Jenner. https://twitter.com/_/status/1070505376120893440 Although the Kardashians have essentially clinched the monolith lost by the Kennedy clan in America, that doesn't equate to them losing their human touch or vulnerability. In her Twitter diatribe directed at the so-called "social scientists," Kim K touched on a few of the transgressive elements in ChristianAdamG photoshop experiment, namely the damage done to relationships and families through this invasive maneuvers. Kylie stood her ground as well, by posting a fleeting message on her IG storyboard. The text read: "Idk if this is really a social experiment to some people but you're messing with real people, real relationships, real family. I'm happy my relationship is strong because this is getting out of hand. The internet scares me sometimes for real." As he claimed victory over the celebrity fandom, ChristianAdamG showed the World how easy it is to misinform the masses for seconds at a time - which only goes to show how dangerous misinformation can be in the wrong hands. Let that be an eye-opener. While his legal troubles are still fresh in our memories, the exact clarity of them has been somewhat blurred. Ever since his release from prison earlier this year, Kodak Black has been celebrated by his fans as he prepares a new album for release this month. If you're unfamiliar with his shotty past, here's a quick debrief. In 2016, Kodak was charged with sexual assault. The woman accusing him was at one of his performances in February 2016 and after the show, she was accompanied to his hotel room. He allegedly "couldn't help himself" as he tore off her clothes and proceeded to bite and sexually assault her. Of course, until (and if) he's convicted, it's a little tricky to pick sides. According to an NBC affiliate, Kodak was in court yesterday for a short hearing as his defense attorneys requested that all pretrial matters be discussed in the judge's chambers. The request was reportedly made so that conversations could be had without the presence of cameras. https://www.instagram.com/p/Bqf__k1FduC His trial is set to begin in April of next year and if he's convicted, he faces a maximum of 30 years in prison. Kodak Black's new album Dying To Live is expected to release next week. Michael Blackson and Kevin Hart's falling out was widely reported, but when it comes to political correctness, they have always stood on the same side of the debate. TMZ caught up with Michael Blackson to ask him for his outlook on the Kevin Hart - the Twitter saga causing him to step down as host of the 2019 Academy Awards. Although public record makes it seem that stepping down was Hart's sole decision, Michael Blackson thinks that greater powers are involved in his dismissal, and not media pressure per se. Blackson told TMZ that all "Black Comedians" were guilty of offensive jokes in the past "whether it was 10 or 20 years ago." Blackson, who admittedly is back to being on good terms with Hart, says that only comedian that he can think of one comic (Bill Cosby) who managed to keep his mouth clean and look what it did him and his victims after years of repression. But to his earlier point, Blackson believes the Academy was privy to this information (the homophobic Tweets from 2009-2011) when they handed him hosting duties, therefore they should be held accountable too. Mind you, Blackson is not overly concerned for his friend. "Kevin is going to bounce back, he's a super duper star," Blackson said as he walked off into the night. Blackson and Kevin Hart's relationship dates back to the years they spent grinding it out in the Philadelphia stand-up scene. Check out the TMZ video below. By now, most people should understand that President Donald Trumps Twitter account has little real value. He employs social media as a weapon of mass distraction to rally his most fervent supporters and provoke his most ardent detractors. The exception to the rule is: I am a Tariff man. What Trump fails to comprehend is that a tariff is a type of tax, in this case, one imposed on Americans. He reiterated his ignorance when he added: 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. Balderdash. Exporters in foreign countries do not pay tariffs, the importing countrys consumers pay them through higher prices. Trumps tariffs on steel, aluminum and Chinese goods have added $4.4 billion to the coffers of the U.S.A., as he put it in another tweet, but thats our money, not foreigners. Trump is more accurately a Tax man. On HoustonChronicle.com: President Donald Trumps steel tariffs holding back oil and gas Supporters will argue that forcing Americans to pay a little more to protect U.S. businesses and jobs is noble and patriotic. They admire Trumps gumption in violating international norms and rejecting high school-level economics. Using government power to shield companies from competition, though, is socialism. Call it by its name. The conservative Tax Foundation calculates that Trumps tariffs have cost American consumers $42 billion. They also cut U.S. hiring by the equivalent of 94,300 full-time jobs. This is why I am not a Tariff man. Trumps staff argues that tariffs punish China for cheating because when goods cost more, consumers buy less. But there are better ways of wrangling a brutal, Communist power than making Americans pay more for plastic ware. The administrations mistake is believing that because the U.S. economy is the largest in the world, Trump can force other governments to compromise. But that doesnt play in Beijing. China is already the worlds largest trading nation, importing and exporting $4.23 trillion in goods a year, compared to Americas $3.84 trillion. Chinas exports also exceed imports, which is why Chinese incomes are rising. Chinas economy is the worlds second-largest and gaining ground. With 1.38 billion people, compared to only 325 million Americans, Chinas economy will undoubtedly exceed Americas by no later than 2029, based on current growth rates. Past presidents understood they needed allies to force policy changes in such a big and recalcitrant nation. Whether it was President Bill Clinton enlisting World Trade Organization members, or Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama organizing the Trans-Pacific Partnership, they knew a united front could force Beijing to conform. Some of those efforts succeeded better than others. But there is no doubt outside pressure shaped Chinas decision to abandon Maoism and integrate capitalist competition into their communist system. In many ways, China owes its economic success to WTO rules. But as Chinas economy and global integration has grown, so has the Communist Partys global aspirations. Xi has abandoned policies that limited his nations military strength and has developed a more muscular foreign policy that includes projecting military power overseas. Xis nationalism and willingness to cheat the international trading system reflects Chinas long-held resentment of Western imperialist powers plunging the nation into poverty for 200 years. Chinese fentanyl destroying middle America echoes Britain's Opium Wars that crippled China in the 19th century. On HoustonChronicle.com: Trump plays into China's hands on global trade To gain prominence, Xi has positioned himself as the worlds foremost promoter of free trade, a position Trump abdicated. While Trump blasts multilateral trade agreements, Xi is signing them with as many countries as possible. If our president wants to force China to change, he should be building a global coalition committed to zeroing out tariffs and signing historic trade agreements. The Trans-Pacific Partnership with 11 allied nations and the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership with the European Union are excellent examples. If the U.S. joined TPP and completed TTIP, those alliances would control more than 56 percent of the global economy. If Trump can put China on the outside of successful, profitable trade agreements, the world could require Beijing to change its policies in return for inclusion. Levying import taxes that cost American consumers billions and cut tens of thousands of jobs is not the answer. The Tariff man needs to learn that carrots are far more effective than sticks, and a lot less dangerous. Chris Tomlinson writes commentary about business, economics and policy. chris.tomlinson@chron.com twitter.com/cltomlinson Houston-based Tellurian Inc. has struck its first big deal to sell liquefied natural gas from a proposed $15.2 billion export terminal in Louisiana. Tellurian said Thursday its subsidiary has entered a memorandum of understanding with Vitol Inc. to supply 1.5 million tons per year of liquefied gas from its proposed Driftwood LNG export terminal south of Lake Charles, Louisiana. A spokeswoman said the two companies have agreed in principle on the 15-year contract in l but are still ironing out the details of the deal. PREVIOUSLY Charif Souki takes Tellurian LNG company public - HoustonChronicle.com "Tellurian is proud to work with Vitol, who has long been known for its innovation and creativity in the energy commodity markets, to lead LNG market transformation with a long-term LNG sale at the market index," said Tellurian CEO Meg Gentle in a statement. In addition to buying liquefied natural gas through a contract, Vitol also is considering becoming an equity partner in the Tellurian sister company, called Driftwood Holdings. Under the umbrella of Driftwood Holdings, Tellurian and its equity partners are developing the 27.6-million ton terminal as part of an integrated network of upstream and pipeline operations. MEGA PIPELINE NETWORK: LNG firm Tellurian proposes $7 billion in pipelines A company spokesperson said Tellurian is an active talks with 35 other parties to become equity partners in the holding company. If all goes according to plan, Tellurian would complete its permitting and begin construction of the export terminal in the first half of 2019. The terminal would begin operating by 2023. It's one of several LNG export projects popping up along the Gulf Coast as companies look to take advantage of cheap supplies of natural gas. The United States has become a net exporter of petroluem products for the first time in nearly 70 years as the nation shipped record volumes of crude oil to foreign markets and theres lots more where that came from. As OPEC and its allies negotiated production cuts in Vienna, two government reports on Thursday underscored United States emergence as the worlds new energy power, in large part due to the Permian Basin in West Texas. The Energy Department said that oil producers exported a record 3.2 million barrels of crude a day last week more than double the volume a year ago while the nation shipped out 211,000 more barrels a day of petroleum products than it imported. It was the first time petroleum exports exceeded imports since 1949. Related: Crude inventories decline as U.S. becomes net petroleum exporter The Interior Deparment, meanwhile said the Permian Basin's Wolfcamp and Bone Spring formations in West Texas and New Mexico hold the most potential oil and gas resources ever assessed. The two formations hold an estimated 46.3 billion barrels of oil, 281 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, and 20 billion barrels of natural gas liquids. More Information U.S. Becomes Net Exporter of Petroleum U.S. Domestic Crude Oil Production 11.7 million barrels per day U.S. Crude Oil Imports 7.2 million barrels per day U.S. Crude Oil Exports 3.2 million barrels per day U.S. Petroleum Product Exports 4.2 million barrels per day Net U.S. Exports 211,000 barrels per day Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration See More Collapse "It's good news for Texas economically and signals a lot more activity ahead in the Permian," said Brian Youngberg, an energy analyst with Edward Jones in St. Louis. "With the exports, it's growth for the whole Gulf Coast." The Permian Basin has driven the record oil output in the United States, accounting for nearly one-third, or 3.7 million barrels a day, of the estimated 11.7 million barrels a day produced in the nation, according to the Energy Department. The Permian Basin, with an estimated 493 drilling rigs in operation, accounts for more than half the nationss active oil rigs. An older basin, the Permian has become the center of the oil and gas world in recent years through the combination of horizontal drilling techniques and modern hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, technologies. Much of the new activity is in Permians western lobe, known as the Delaware Basin, which encompasses the Wolfcamp and Bone Spring formations Interiors assessment of those formations is based on undiscovered oil and gas that's considered technically recoverable based on these modern extraction methods. Related: USGS ranks Permian Basins Wolfcamp field as largest potential oil & gas resource ever The Permian has attracted billions of dollars in investment, not only in drilling operations, but also pipelines. Several new pipelines are planned or under construction with the aim of carrying more Permian crude to the Gulf Coast. Billions more dollars are expected to be invested in export terminals in the Houston and Corpus Christi areas. About 60 percent of all U.S. petroleum exports are shipped out of Texas ports, according to the Commerce Department. More than $90 billion in petroleum products were exported from Texas through the first 10 months of 2018, up more than 50 percent from the same period in 2017. The increase of exports is attributed in part to widening price differences between U.S. and foreign crude, analysts said. West Texas Intermediate crude is trading at more than an $8 per barrel discount to Brent crude, the international benchmark. Record crude oil exports contributed to a decline in U.S. crude stockpiles, which fell last week for the first time in 11 weeks, although they remain above the five-year average, according to the Energy Department. Crude settled in New York at $51.49 a barrel, down $1.40. Crude prices have plunged by about 30 percent since peaked in early October at more than $76 a barrel. sergio.chapa@chron.com jordan.blum@chron.com Theyve been through multiple booms and busts. Theyve engineered the citys tallest skyscrapers, and developed millions of square feet of offices, apartments, warehouses and shopping centers. Countless individuals built Houston, but these four rank among the most prolific. Now in their 70s, 80s and 90s and still on the job Joe Colaco, Marvy Finger, Ed Wulfe and Welcome Wilson Sr. have spent a collective 230 years in the Houston real estate and development business. During a roundtable discussion with Texas Inc., they shared the high points of their careers and the lessons they learned working in a city whose economic success is inextricably linked to the price of oil. They also debated such topics as mass transit, historic preservation and a lack of zoning. Said Wulfe: Its not perfect, but it certainly has fostered economic growth and economic development and is one of the keys to our success real estate wise. Q: Im interested in hearing how you all ended up in Houston. If you were born here, what was it that made you stay and build your business here? MARVY FINGER: I grew up in a family of furniture merchants, and from an early age I thought I would join the family business. About the time I was finishing high school, my father retired from the retail business, so I was left without a profession. I went to the University of Texas and studied both engineering and business, and when I came out, I worked for a homebuilder for a number of years. Welcome Wilson Sr., 90 A real estate developer with a public service background known for developing Jamaica Beach and Tiki Island in Galveston, apartment projects, office and retail buildings, and industrial properties. Marvy Finger, 82 Apartment developer and founder of Finger Cos. Developed his first large project - a 317-unit complex on Chimney Rock called Colony Oaks - in 1960. He has since developed 22,000 in the Houston area. Ed Wulfe, 84 Studied mechanical engineering at Texas A&M, but quickly moved into the real estate business, first working for Weingarten Realty developing shopping centers. He started his own firm, Wulfe & Co., in 1985. Joe Colaco, 78 Structural engineer and professor in the College of Architecture at the University of Houston. Former president of CBM Engineers. Began working on tall buildings in Houston in 1966 with Gerald Hines. See More Collapse Houston is the only major city in the United States that has no barriers to entry. We have no zoning requirements at all. Literally, you can take your dart and throw it at a map and go to that tract of land, draw the plans and build a warehouse, a hospital, a retail center or an apartment. You must get approval, of course, through the building department for construction, but there is no requirement of what you can and cannot build. We're an open city that attracts developers from all over the United States, and thats really what has made Houston so great. It's just an easy city to develop in, and it didn't hurt that we are the home base for fossil fuel for worldwide management, geophysical and geotechnical. Q: What brought you here, Mr. Colcao? JOE COLACO: After I finished college, I was working in Chicago for an architectural firm that did tall building design, and a young gentleman from Houston named Gerry Hines came up there, and he wanted to build a very tall building in downtown Houston, which is now One Shell Plaza. So I was assigned to that project, and I started commuting from Chicago to Houston. Then, Gerry Hines wanted to do Two Shell Plaza, and then he wanted to do another building which is now called 2000 West Loop, and then he wanted to do One Shell Square in New Orleans. So I started spending two days, three days a week here, and I fell in love with the city. So I got married and moved here in 1969. Q: Mr. Wilson, did you ever think about leaving? WELCOME WILSON SR: Never. I grew up in my early years in Corpus Christi when the Great Depression was going on. It was wonderful for a 6-year-old, terrible for adults. Why? Because all your cousins lived in the same rooming house that you lived in. In World War II we moved to Brownsville, and I went to Brownsville High School and Brownsville Junior College. I missed World War II by a month. Harry Truman dropped two atom bombs on Japan. I had orders to report in September, and he did that in August and the war was canceled, and I was very disappointed as a young guy. My father believed in Houston, so he insisted that we go to this university that nobody from Brownsville had ever heard of called University of Houston. I was 18, and he believed that by being in Houston and graduating in Houston you'd get your feet on the ground and itd give you a real advantage. I came here when the Houston metropolitan population was 550,000 people, and now it's 6.5 million. I'd left when I was in the Navy, and when Eisenhower was president I served in his administration for five years, but other than that I've always been in Houston, and I wouldn't want to be anyplace else. Q: Ed Wulfe? ED WULFE: Probably one of Houstons greatest assets is the welcoming, inviting environment across the board among all businesses and industries. I came here when I graduated from Texas A&M with a mechanical engineering degree. I worked at Texaco as an engineer for five years and then jumped in head over toe into the real estate business. I attended every class they taught in real estate at UH. But not only is the Houston environment welcoming, the city, the administration, the governmental aspects of it also are developer- and business-friendly. Q: Lets talk business. Id like to hear about some of your professional accomplishments as well as the challenges you faced over the years. Mr. Colaco, you were the structural engineer for a lot of skyscrapers in Houston and across the world. What was the tallest building project you ever worked on? COLACO: From a design standpoint, the tallest one was the JPMorgan Chase building downtown. It used to be called Texas Commerce Bank when it was built. It's 75 stories and 1,000 feet tall. But I was also involved in a project in Dubai called the Burj Khalifa. It's a building that's 2,700 feet tall and at the moment the tallest building in the world. It is going to be superseded by one in Saudi Arabia pretty soon. Q: I know very little about engineering, but you're you're a professor so you're able to put things in terms that people can understand. How do you do what you do? COLACO: Obviously, it requires a lot of engineering knowledge and experience. But fundamentally we're dealing with two things: forces of nature, which are the vertical loads the building is subjected to, which is its own weight and the weight of its contents, and secondly, what we call lateral loads. In Houston, its hurricanes. When hurricanes blow on buildings, they tend to push them, and you have to be sure that the building is not only stable but also has no damage in a hurricane. And we have to deal with foundation conditions. So we put all these factors together to make it work. Q: Can you talk about those foundation conditions and some of the subtleties of our soil here? COLACO: Its what we call Beaumont clay. We have dug deep holes to investigate the soil, and we've gone down about 200, 250 feet in downtown Houston, and we just keep hitting clay. Clay is a material that is compressible so that when you put weight on it itll start to settle, and it causes very large settlements of the buildings. So in very simple terms, if a building weighs 100,000 tons, what we try to do is excavate down about 100,000 tons of soil so that when you put the building at the base of the excavation, the soil below it does not know that youve added any weight. That's how we minimize the movements of the soils. This foundation system - the loose term for it is floating foundation - is like a boat. When you put a boat in the water, it goes down till it displaces the same weight of water compared to the weight of the ship. So that's how we build buildings in downtown Houston. Q: Youve worked with Gerald Hines, founder of the Hines real estate firm, a number of times. Whats he like? COLACO: Hes very analytical and very driven by performance. Also, I found him to be fairly innovative in the sense that he is always trying to find a better way to build buildings. We have several unique things about building in Houston. Q: Can you explain? COLACO: For example, the One Shell Plaza building for a very long time was the tallest concrete building in the world. And even today it's the tallest lightweight concrete building the world. Second, when we did the Pennzoil building for Mr. Hines, we did something we called composite design, and just very quickly Ill tell you what it is. When I was starting in the profession, there were only two ways to build a building: build a steel building or built a concrete building. My former boss developed a halfway methodology called a composite building where you build the floors out of steel but the vertical elements, the columns and walls are built out of concrete. So if you look at the Pennzoil building, the walls inside the building are all concrete, whereas the buildings all steel, and that technology was first started on the 2000 West Loop building here in the Galleria. That's the first building in the world using composite design. And then we took it forward all the way to the JPMorgan Chase building, which for many years was the tallest composite building in the world. It stayed that way till about four or five years ago when the Freedom Tower in New York went a little taller. Q: You also worked on Williams Tower, right? COLACO: I was involved with Mr. Hines on the Transco building in the Galleria, which is now called the Williams Tower. Very few people know that for that building, the first occupancy was in 11 months and the building was finished out in 16 months. And that was the all-time record after the Empire State Building in the heart of the Depression in 1932. The next-fastest building ever built was the Transco Tower. All these are what I call the hidden secrets of construction in Houston. Also, there's a little hotel downtown, I call it little but its 32 stories, the former Holiday Inn with 605 rooms. We introduced to Houston something called flying forms, a technology to build concrete buildings fast. We were building a floor every four days. And that became the way to build residential structures all over the world after that. So there's been a lot of firsts here in Houston, which unfortunately very few people know about. Q: Is it the Holiday Inn that became the Days Inn that's now vacant? COLACO: Yes, it is vacant. Q: Mr. Finger, how many apartments have you built in Houston? FINGER: In the greater Houston area? 22,000. Q: Your properties have become known for the high quality of construction and level of service. How did that come about? FINGER: It just came with the territory. I was a struggling developer. I lived off of whatever earnings the apartment building was successful of having cash flow after income and expenses. And I knew to receive it the next month I didn't want to lose any of my tenants. So service became extremely important early on. We took the position that we'll just treat it as if we live there. And we wanted it nice, not some of the time, all the time. The resident here in Houston by and large pays a third of his/her gross income for rent - one-third. And the apartment is his home by choice. Most things happen when people are at the apartments. People start arriving at the end of the workday after 5 o'clock, and that's when theres demand on everything: all the utilities, which run the air conditioning and the power runs all of the appliances, and those things break. And it so happens that there are more problems in the late afternoon and evening than during the day. You have to be prepared to take care of that resident, not some of the time, all the time. You have to design the workforce accordingly. Q: Mr. Wilson, how did you come to develop Jamaica Beach and Tiki Island? WILSON: My partner in the early days was Bill Sherrill. In Jamaica Beach especially, I made every mistake known to man. For example, I sold a 90-foot lot on the Gulf of Mexico for $3,500. Well, I sold out the first week, and I could have gotten $10,000 even 61 years ago. But my mistakes at Jamaica Beach had everything to do with not knowing anything about real estate development. I mean, I knew nothing. I had never worked for anybody but Eisenhower, and he didn't teach me much about real estate. I worked for the University of Houston as the assistant director of the College of Nursing briefly, and I was an assistant to the mayor of Houston for three years, but I knew nothing about real estate. I have a list of 50 things entitled How to Succeed in Business and Life by Avoiding My Mistakes. And one of them is, if in your gut you don't agree with it, never listen to an expert. Your gut feeling is seldom wrong. Q: So along the way, who taught you the most about real estate development? WILSON: Me. My mistakes. I made them in every field of real estate. Q: What about Tiki Island? Did you give it that name? WILSON: I didn't. I wanted to call it Buccaneer Bay. Buccaneer Bay has an association with Galveston, but my partner, Bill Sherrill, noticed that when we drove to Jamaica Beach he would see this land over on the right that was about 6 inches above sea level at the causeway, so he began to wonder, is that privately owned or is it owned by the state? So he checked, and sure enough, it was privately owned. So he came to me and said, You know, this is 25 minutes closer to Houston than Jamaica Beach, and we can build canals that will furnish enough fill to raise the level of the land to 5 feet. So I agreed to let him go ahead and buy the land, which he did, and then just as we got going the president of the United States, Lyndon Johnson, appointed him to the Federal Reserve Board in Washington, and he left town and sold it out to me. But it was Bill's idea, no question about it. It was a huge success. Location, location, location. Q: I was waiting for that phrase to come up. WILSON: By the way, I dispute that being the only factor. It's the economy, the economy, the economy. WULFE: Theres one other reason, though, Welcome. Its perseverance, perseverance, perseverance. Every one of us in the business all these years has persevered though all kinds of challenges, all kinds of obstacles. You can have a great location, but youve got to make it happen. To make it happen, youve got to persevere. FINGER: I might add this as it relates to my industry, the apartment rental business. If it's a secondary location, you may never, ever get success. It has to be a primary location because that is where people will live. Early on, this is prior to the crash of the 80s, I had lots of suburban apartments. When the oil and gas industry failed, we lost the better part of 200,000 jobs in 81 through 86. There were not the bodies to go around, but I had at that time 18 projects. Six of those were Main and Main locations. The balance of those projects were really nice suburban apartments, but there was no real need to live there when there was so much other vacancy. So there were lessons learned. One: Never build unless there's demand. And two: It's got to be the great location. So I like perseverance and I like a big economy, but I'm going to invest more money for Main and Main than a very inexpensive price for a secondary location. Q: Build only when theres demand. Not a lot of developers follow that rule, do they? WILSON: Ive often said if a developers going to get it financed, hes going to build it! WULFE: For retail its a little different. We dont build unless we have tenants, so whether its a supermarket or a Walmart or a restaurant, the tenants drive the project and its success. Its very difficult to build and get financing for a spec retail project. You might spec 25 percent, 30 percent, but you have to have 50, 60, 70 percent pre-leasing to make it a viable project. That kind of controls the overbuilding. Q: Mr. Wulfe, when I think about your projects I think about Meyerland Plaza, Gulfgate and BLVD Place. Did you ever consider building traditional shopping malls? What drew you to those projects? WULFE: First of all, they were all extraordinarily good, strong locations. Meyerland at the intersection of 610 and Beechnut; Gulfgate at the intersection of I-45 and 610 and BLVD at San Felipe and Post Oak. All of them were driven by superior strategic retail locations. They were backed up by the demographics of the market that would support retail. Q: How do you see retail evolving in Houston? Weve seen all of these mixed-use developments pop up with developers buying big tracts of land and creating communities vs. other cities where shopping areas grow more organically. Are we destined to become a city of these manufactured mixed-use developments? WULFE: I think thats the trend now. Today its mixed-use because you have densification of the city. And thats the result of expensive land, which is too expensive for retail, but it can work for a combination of retail, office and residential. The retail market is going through dramatic changes with the influx of the internet and the Amazons of the world. So I think the future is in mixed-use. Q: So the internet and the way people shop is changing retail development, but its also changing the industrial market. Mr. Wilson, can you talk a little bit about how your company found its way to industrial real estate? WILSON: The reason is we'll build something for a 10-year lease, 15-year lease, 20-year lease. The point is, you're not worried about occupancy and you have plenty of time if a tenant is not doing well. You have a year in advance to figure out what you do with that building when he leaves. There are two types of industrial: distribution and manufacturing. We concentrate on manufacturing. For example, a distribution building, you can build for $45 a square foot. A manufacturing building is always over a $100 a foot to build typically because you have lots of cranes and high power and so forth. The tenant who has built the exact building he wants is not going to leave. That type of tenant is more likely to renew. Q: Mr. Calaco, youve worked with some real legends in architecture: Philip Johnson, I.M. Pei, Cesar Pelli. What was it like to be in a room with them? Are they tempestuous artist types or are they more mathematically minded? COLACO: Philip Johnson was more on the artistic side of things. I.M. Pei is not only artistic, but he was very mathematical. Cesar Pelli had a terrific feel for colors and textures. The atmosphere in Houston was very creative. It let you try to do things which were not being done anyplace else. From 1965 to I'd say at least 1985, this was the leading city for tall building design in the world, not just in the United States. Q: Why did that change? COLACO: By that time, other cities began to catch up. The same groups began to move around because we had a terrible real estate market in the 1980s. People were going elsewhere. So this this development that we did in Houston was now being exported to other cities. Q: Has anything surprised you all about the way Houston has grown since you since you came here? FINGER: My biggest disappointment is we failed when we had the opportunity to have hard rail, and that was a great loss. Were confined to the existing freeways. The gridlock continues to become a larger problem, and at this moment in time there is no resolution. The economics are huge and restrictive. WULFE: Marvy, one of the positive resolutions five to 10 years down the road is autonomous driverless transit where you have buses that operate by themselves in particular corridors. Thats the wave of the future. Another thing thats changed in Houston has been the evolution and focus on greenspace. COLACO: When I moved here in the 60s, I just finished doing two rapid transit systems in Chicago, and it was a tremendous amenity for the city. So when I first moved here, transportation was on top of my list. When they decided to build rapid transit in Houston we were teamed up with a group from New York. And we actually were designing an underground system on Main Street. We had started all the design work. We worked for six months on that. Q: A subway? COLACO: A subway. A complete subway system on Main Street. We started doing all the utility surveys and all that work. And then Mayor Brown decided to go for a referendum. That referendum went down by 50.5 to 49.5. It was like one percentage point. And since that time nothing has come back up on the rapid transit system. They built a light rail, as you know, but for a city this big, you need a major transportation network. Q: Id like to talk about historic preservation. How important is it for Houston to keep its old buildings? WULFE: Im working on saving one right now: the Kirby Mansion, which is destined for demolition. Q: That's interesting. That's news right there. How are you going to save it? WULFE: Thats the problem. Thats the job. Thats the assignment. FINGER: Be careful. Do not commit. That's difficult. WULFE: I didnt. Thats the assignment. Weve got to save it. WILSON: I applaud Ed for trying to save the Kirby Mansion. John Henry Kirby was a very important person, a timber man, and Kirby Drive is named after him. When I came to Houston, by the way, Kirby Drive was a gravel road. COLACO: I might just add that I served on the board of the Historical Preservation Association of Houston for two or three years, and it has always been a challenge. Basically it's one of funding. The land values, as these gentlemen know, keep changing. Q: Mr. Finger, do you have anything to add to that? You said earlier, Do not commit. FINGER: As it made reference to the Kirby Mansion. As developers, we have to look at the economics. That would take great public support to keep the mansion. That could be Eds campaign. I don't want to say we're too late for comprehensive preservation in the city, but I think we might be. I think we'll do the best we can when it's appropriate to save a historic structure. But look, we're west of the Mississippi. And were oilmen and cattlemen and real estate developers, and we cant let preservation get in our way. (laughs) Q: Before we wrap up, can you each tell me what worries you about Houston's future and what excites you about it? FINGER: We've gone through the floods and the hurricanes. We've had huge economic swings, and we've continued to recover and go forward. Our core employment base, I'd still say, is fossil fuel, the oil and gas industry, and that is cyclical. When oil diminished rapidly from $100 a barrel down to the $30s, it took three years to have a recovery. Due to the retreat of oil and gas, the big employment base learned how to work with fewer people, and so employment growth in that industry is really weak. That bothers me a lot, but I think it's a cycle. And Im optimistic. Im not a scientist, but I can't imagine there being in my lifetime or my childrens children's lifetime something other than fossil fuel for energy. So long as there's an energy demand, it's really going to emanate I think the technology of it from this city, so Im excited about living here. Q: Mr. Wulfe, what concerns you and excites you about Houston right now? WULFE: What excites me most is the attitudes not only of the Houstonians, but the young people, their attitudes, their approach. Theres no limit to what could come from that young mentality and energy. Concerns are basically the same: mobility. Weve got to master that, however it comes about. Weve got to find a solution and mobility is the issue to be focused on. Q: Mr. Wilson? Excites and concerns? WILSON: What I'm excited about is the business community of Houston has always delivered. And if we can just get the businessmen of Houston to work together like we have done all these years, then Houston will have a very, very bright future, including solving the transportation problem. COLACO: Transportation, as we've all talked about, is still one of the big issues for me. But I would also like to discuss Hurricane Harvey and its aftermath. We at the University of Houston are working on an initiative. We put together a research consortium of several universities in Texas and Louisiana and Florida, and we are trying very hard to figure out how to improve conditions in Houston, how to improve drainage and how to improve construction of homes which have been devastated because of this hurricane. As an engineer, I find it incredible that we build tall buildings and they do very well in a hurricane, but single-family homes suffer enormous amounts of damage. If this research initiative goes forward, we are hoping to develop new standards for developing new construction in Houston for single-family homes but also for the improvement of drainage. Several good ideas have been proposed. Q: Thank you all so much for being here. I would be remiss, though, if I didn't ask you to answer this one very short question that we ask a lot around here. Whats your favorite building in Houston? And not one you built or help build. Joe Colaco? COLACO: Oh my goodness. I've got so many favorites of my own. I think from a revolutionary standpoint, the Astrodome because it was such a cutting-edge project that nobody had ever seen before. Its a Bucky Fuller geodesic dome type design, and Bucky Fuller was one of my heroes, so I will say the Astrodome. Q: Ed Wulfe? WULFE: I have to agree about the Astrodome. My favorite buildings, there are lots of them, but thats its own world. Theres nothing like it. Q: Welcome Wilson? WILSON: I'd like to third the motion. Its the Astrodome. When we built the Astrodome, we had to be economical because 53 percent of Houstonians were convinced that the roof would cave in! We built the Astrodome for $35 million. Five years later they built the Superdome in New Orleans for $250 million. I'll never forget when we removed the superstructure from underneath the roof at the Astrodome. The roof came down with it, 1 foot, 2 feet, 3 feet, 4 feet. It was 11 feet before the roof stopped coming down. We were sweating bullets. Anyway, the Astrodome is it. Q: Marvy Finger, are you going to make it a clean sweep? FINGER: Well, first of all I can acknowledge that the Astrodome is really special. The Astrodome is truly as part of our city and part of the state. I've been involved in development downtown, and I've spent the last 10 years there. I really like the development that Gerald Hines developed, the Pennzoil building. I think it is just really special, and I drive by it all the time and often I'll just circle the block. I think it was brilliant. COLACO: That is my favorite too, but you said don't talk about our buildings. WILSON: Gerald Hines himself is special, and I don't have many elders left. He is one of the great developers of the world, and I don't think anybody can compete with Gerald Hines when it comes to doing things right. Q: Unfortunately, Mr. Hines couldnt be here today. Maybe we can do this again next year and hell join us. For years, when President George H.W. Bush and first lady Barbara Bush showed up to a party, they caused a stir. And an uptick in funds raised. Even the most poised social swans would swivel their necks to catch a peek, and a photo. Such was the power of the Bushes. With last weeks passing of George, only seven months after his beloved wife Barbara died in April, Houstonians are mourning the loss of the Bushes in waves. There has been a ripple effect through the political sphere, the literacy community and cheeky-sock aficionados. But perhaps none will feel their void as deeply as the philanthropic community. The Bushes were wealthy, certainly. But with an estimated net worth in the $25 million range, theyre not ultra-rich, like some of Houstons heavy hitters in the philanthropy scene. Not middle class, but not write-checks-first, ask-questions-later, either. As a result, much of the Bushes contributions to Houstons first-rate charity scene relied on their presence as a magnet to other donors. They knew this. And they made it a key component of their strategy to help advance as many causes as possible. Barbara was a champion of literacy; George believed in the power of public service. As a couple who lost their daughter to leukemia, they threw their tireless support behind the Texas Medical Centers leading childhood cancer treatment programs. Literacy Sue and Lester Smith cant pinpoint when or how they met the Bushes. But like with many close friendships, the genesis doesnt matter as much as being there when it counts. The Smiths, well known for their love of ballroom dancing and record-breaking philanthropy, knew that those moments for Barbara revolved around literacy. As a result, the Smiths have regularly opened the ballroom in their Memorial home to host events benefiting the Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation. When the former first lady couldnt attend last years Celebration of Reading author announcement party at the Smiths home a first for her, amid her declining health she sent gifts in her stead: a triple-strand of pearls from Barbaras personal collection for Sue, and a pair of Bush-worn socks lifted from her husbands dresser drawer for Lester. Heartfelt keepsakes. But nothing compares to the Bushes presence, the promise of which typically attracts a sell-out crowd, hoping for a photo or a handshake. The Bushes gave more than pearls and socks. In 2016, after meeting with the Houstons Public Library Foundations leadership, the Bushes surprised the foundation with a $500,000 commitment. They knew that using Barbaras name was the librarys best chance to secure the full $5.5 million needed to complete the capital campaign for what has become the Barbara Bush Literacy Plaza. Sweet, yes. But also deliberate. Theyd done this before. In 1999, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center approached the Bushes with an idea: a blowout birthday party for the couple, who were turning 74 and 75 within a week of each other. The party would benefit the cancer center on its quest to fund the George and Barbara Bush Endowment for Innovative Cancer Research. It was a cause near to their hearts, after the couple lost their 3-year-old daughter Robin to leukemia in 1953. They accepted with gusto. And what was originally pitched as a $5 million fundraiser blossomed into a $10.1 million birthday extravaganza. Bruce Willis delivered an opening roast. Reba McEntyre sang. The sultan of Oman cut a $100,000 check, and the country of Kuwait gave $1 million. The nightcap? A 100-foot tall fireworks finale that spelled out the evenings theme, Milestones & Miracles. They turned everything up to 1,000, said Pat Mulvey, the hospitals vice president for development. Such was their way. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the Bushes regularly offered up their summer home in Kennebunkport, Maine, to help attract mega-donors to M.D. Andersons cause. These invitation-only weekend summits werent fundraisers, said Mulvey, who instead called them friendraisers. That stamp of approval and validation by individuals such as President and Mrs. Bush, thats the icing on the cake, Mulvey said. And that allows M.D. Anderson to attract individuals who are philanthropically minded in a significant sense, to become closer to the institution. It didnt stop at opening their home. M.D. Anderson planned to host its 60th anniversary celebration in the fall of 2001. But in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, organizers worried the nations somber mood would affect turnout and funds raised. So Bush picked up his pen. We can let nothing stand in our way of continuing the fight to eradicate cancer, he wrote in a letter attached to the hospitals gala invitation. Especially not now. Showing up was important. So was leading by example. Pitching In What literacy was to Barbara, service was to George. When he was sworn in on the steps of the nations capital on Jan. 20, 1989, he spoke of a Thousand Points of Light, all the community organizations that are spread like stars throughout the Nation, doing good. In the speech, he promised the American people he would lead a culture of giving. This was the founding principle for Points of Light, which he launched in 1990, and has since grown to become the worlds largest volunteer organization, engaging 5 million people in 20 million volunteer hours every year. True to Bushs words during the inauguration The old ideas are new again because theyre not old, they are timeless: Duty, sacrifice, commitment, and a patriotism that finds its expression in taking part and pitching in the organizations founding pillars are mobilizing volunteers, recognizing their good deeds through daily awards and providing global training programs. Between 1989 and 2011, Points of Light reports that the percentage of Americans volunteering increased by 60 percent from 38 million to 64 million. And the Bushes were among those numbers. During her husbands first year in office, Barbara caught wind that some of the shopping malls in Washington, D.C., would not allow the Salvation Army to display their kettles or post bell-ringing volunteers outside stores. That just wouldnt do. She volunteered to ring the red kettle, and put in the first donation, said Major Melody Davis, associate area commander of the Salvation Army of Greater Houston. It was only $10. But the message was clear. That changed the minds of several vendors, Davis said. That just kind of spread all over. It helped everybody. Decades later, after the Bushes returned to Houston, history repeated itself. We had a Salvation Army kettle bell out here one day, and they came out and worked it for an hour, Gallery Furniture owner Jim Mattress Mack McIngvale said Tuesday. They congratulated people who came by and gave money as they rang the bells. And they treated everyone the same, whether it was a million-dollar donor, or someone parking cars. The kettle poured over that day, reaching $90,000 in donations, thanks to the Bushes and a $50,000 personal donation from McIngvale in their honor. McIngvale has many stories like this. He was such a gracious man. And he and Mrs. Bush were certainly a team, he said. They never turned down a worthy cause. And they really set the standard for philanthropic activities in Houston, Texas. And theres certainly a hole in the world now that theyre gone. Big socks to fill, if you will. A legacy. But George would hate to think of it that way. He did not like the word legacy. He never liked using that word. It was called the L word, said David Jones, CEO of the George H. W. Bush Presidential Library Foundation. He would say, Dont use the L Word! and among the people who worked for him, it became kind of a joke. Like it or not, his legacy is something that his children and grandchildren take very seriously. His son Neil, who lives in Houston, is the chairman of the Points of Light board of directors, as well as director of the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University, and a member of the Salvation Armys board of directors. Neils wife, Maria Bush, formed the Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundations Ladies for Literacy Guild and actively volunteers with Houston Methodist Hospital. Their son, Pierce Bush, is CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters Lone Star and met his wife, Sarahbeth Bush, at a volunteer gig. And while former president and first lady George W. and Laura Bush live in Crawford, Texas, they have recently begun making more regular appearances in Houston, to fill the philanthropic void. This June, George W. took the stage at the Holocaust Museum Houstons annual Lyndon Baines Johnson Moral Courage Award Dinner, tripling the nights fundraising goal with his presence. And after her mother-in-laws passing, Laura gave a fireside chat this October at the BBHLFs third annual Power of Literacy Luncheon, helping bring in $350,000 that day. Things will be different now, for sure. But there are still so many points of light in Houston. I think there will certainly be a void. And I think people will step up to fill it, McIngvale said Tuesday. But theyre some mighty big shoes. maggie.gordon@chron.com; amber.elliott@chron.com New Orleans early years of French control are still a strong force in the citys arts and culture today. Perhaps nowhere in the South is French style more prevalent than in the Crescent Citys architecture and decor. So its natural that the citys antiques market would feel very European, too. Good thing, because thats the niche of the antiques market still feeding a hungry audience. The city is filled with shops and warehouses carrying architectural antiques that draw interior designers, architects, builders and others who come with shopping time carved into their itineraries. Magazine Street is a long stretch of shops, a mix of well-curated antiques stores, stylish boutiques and popular restaurants. Royal and Chartres streets in the French Quarter have their share of antiques stores, too, each a slice of history with its own story to tell. You could spend days roaming these shops all over New Orleans. If youre a NOLA newbie, heres an interesting mix to get you started. The Bank Architectural Antiques Plenty of Houston interior designers, architects and builders have shopped at this family-run warehouse for unique antique doors, shutters and other decorative elements for new homes and for historic preservation projects. Mike Wilkerson opened the warehouse that now takes up a whole city block in 1972, and it employs three generations of his family. Son Sean Wilkerson said that while they have a few antiques, its the architectural salvage that people come there for. Much of the inventory doors, shutters, mantles and moulding has been salvaged from double shotgun houses built in the city in the 1850s. Theres also some Greek Revival stuff and a gable from New Orleans Mercy Hospital (built in 1792). The 7,800 doors they have on hand is likely the most doors under one roof anywhere in the world, Sean says. His tip for shoppers: pick out your items before you frame in your new home standard building sizes in 1850 are not the same today. Thats a conversation we have once or twice a day, he said. Details: 1824 Felicity; bankarchitecturalnola.com Shopping small in Houston: Staying home? Local businesses offer one of a kind objects Balzac Antiques Sarah Scott Thomas likes to see the hand in her decorative arts and antiques. Brushwork in ceramics or a slight imperfection in a glaze make a piece all the more pleasing to her eye. Thomas has been in business 25 years 15 in her current Magazine Street location and appreciates the Texas market. Houston designers and shoppers have visited her store for years, often looking for chandeliers, mirrors or other items to complement an otherwise traditional or contemporary decor. Very little in her store is less than 200 years old, and everything has a story. Youll find a number of smaller pieces with an Asian flair, including faience ceramics, porcelain, a soapstone lamp and small wood pieces with Asian motifs. Im just gaga over chinoiserie right now, Thomas says. Right now, Balzac Antiques has a variety of smalls plus bigger pieces like dining tables, chairs and an exotic late 18th century gilded, painted and embossed leather screen. (Its likely to remind you of Downton Abbey and the Crawley family.) The inventory here is high quality, and not for those with shallow pockets. Details: 3506 Magazine St., New Orleans; balzacantiques.com Dop Antiques & Architecturals Owner Michiel Dop has done much of the picking work for you, but shopping in his 20,000-square-foot warehouse still feels like an antiques treasure hunt. Every month the Holland-born Dop receives a new shipping container full of furniture, home accessories and architectural antiques from France, England and Italy, most from the 1800s but some dating to the 1700s. He stocks plenty of everything dressers, tables, chairs, lighting, mirrors and piles of antique doors and shutters but hes known for his good prices and fast turnover, so if you see something you like, buy it. A couple of things to know before you go: first, no matter what youre buying try to get them to lower the price (up to 25 percent). Secondly, the place is unairconditioned and fairly dirty giant garage-style doors open up, allowing lots of dust and dirt in so take paper towels or some Wet Wipes to clean up afterward. Details: 300 Jefferson Highway, Building 1, New Orleans; dopantiques.com Meet Renea Abbott: Houston designer blends antiques with modern style Karla Katz Antiques The grand dame of Magazine Street sits in a tiny chair and smiles at Josephine Baker, a vamp of a French bulldog who strikes a sultry pose every time she lays down. Karla Katz is squirming a little in the 18th century chair in the center of her store: People were smaller back then, she jokes. Katz has operated her small antiques store on this prime shopping street for 25 years, since before antiquing was a thing. People come to Katzs store for 19th century and older European chandeliers and mirrors, but she also has a good inventory of dining tables, dressers, chairs and settees. Dont expect to find too many smalls or small items here, shes almost strictly a high-end dealer of furniture, lighting, and mirrors. Katzs has kids and soon will have grandkids in Houston, and theyre encouraging her to open a satellite shop here. Well keep you posted. Details: 4017 Magazine St., New Orleans; karlakatz.com M.S. Rau Antiques This 25,000-square-foot New Orleans destination opened 106 years ago by current owner Bill Raus grandfather. It started a block down the street, and since 1931 has been in the same spot on Royal Street in the heart of the French Quarter. The Rau family decided early on to not be like any other antiques dealer in town. We decided to have the very best of everything. If theres a great example of something, we want the best of it, said Rau, who counts many Houstonians as clients. So this is not a place you go to buy a dresser, dining table or night stand. Its a place you go to find amazing things you cannot find anywhere else. Examples, a papal cross necklace and ring that Pope Paul VI gave to the United Nations in 1965 to contribute to helping the less fortunate. (A Chicago jeweler bought it at auction, then sold it to Evel Knievel, who later sold it to a North Carolina couple. Rau bought it from the North Carolinians.) Rau says its the only papal jewelry outside of the Vatican, and its got a $1.9 million price tag. Hes got an ice bucket ($1,485,000) from the British royal familys Grand Service, made in the 1800s for King George III. Nearly every piece in the museum-like store has a story, so allow plenty of time when you visit. Be sure to ask to see the secret room, where they keep their great art. Right now youll see an original Renoir, Monet and Magritte, among others. Details: 630 Royal St., New Orleans Renaissance Interiors On your way in or out of town, stop by this odd store in an industrial-looking strip mall off of Interstate 10 and the Causeway. Renaissance Interiors is a spot where locals go for great prices on an unusual mix of castoffs from estates of wealthy New Orleanians when they downsize or divorce. In the back of the store youll find a section with 200 or more rugs, from ordinary designs to good quality Persian rugs that likely cost thousands of dollars new. The store is a mix of new, vintage midcentury and antique furnishings and accessories, so if youre not sure what youre buying, ask a sales clerk if its reproduction or the real deal. During my visit I found a vintage black leather Eames chair with ottoman for $1,295 and a Louis Philippe-style buffet for $695. There were lots of charming smaller items, including a vintage ceramic iced tea dispenser Details: 2727 Edenban Ave., Metairie Sotre Mixed in with antiques stores on Magazine Street are an eclectic mix of boutiques, including Sotre, launched in 2014 by business partners Grace Kaynor and Virginia McCollam. The small shop is a collection of unusual things and brands youre not likely to find anywhere nearby. Youll find plush bed linens plus monogrammed hand towels and travel bags. Kaynors background in decorative arts paid off for her own custom bedding, which looks more expensive than it is. For the holidays shes got a new collection of cocktail napkins, placemats and hand towels. Also new in the store are lighting fixtures, leather slippers and hand-woven throws from Morroco, paintings from Bali and ceramics from France. Details: 3933 Magazine St., New Orleans; sotre-design.com Despite the cold and rain, hundreds of mourners huddled under umbrellas converged along the train tracks of Old Town Spring to see the train carrying former President George H.W. Bushs body on the way to College Station, Thursday, Dec. 6. Ofonime Bleess, 32, sat on top of an electric blue Jeep parked on grass behind a metal chain-link fence near Preston Ave. The Jeeps owner, Laura Broiles, 32, had brought Bleess and her daughter, Leah Postell, 7, to see the funeral train. He was a very good man, Postell said. He was kind to everybody. Bleess remembered Bushs role during the fall of the Berlin Wall and his dealings with the Soviet Union. She and Broiles said they wanted to teach Postell about history as they witnessed the train rolling through Spring. Its about respect, Bleess said. A STATESMEN REMEMBERED: George H.W. Bush Postell was not the only young observer for which the occasion would serve as a learning experience. Sisters Myranda, 15, and Charli Uber, 16, left class early from Oak Ridge High School. They said they had live-streamed the funeral in Washington D.C. Its such a big part of history, Charli Uber said. I didnt want to miss my shot. Rachel Vaughn from Spring took her son, Preston, 8 out of school at lunch time to see the train. The trains coming here and its going to be a happy and sad moment, he said as he held a U.S. flag. The train was scheduled to depart from the Union Pacific Railroad Westfield Auto Facility in Spring around 1 p.m., heading northwest to College Station. People had started gathering in Old Town Spring hours before the trains departure, allowing time to reflect on the 41st presidents legacy. Juanita Walker, 54, of Houston, arrived at around 9 a.m. to get a spot near the tracks and brought along a zebra print foldable chair to sit as she waited. EXCLUSIVE: Inside the train carrying George H.W. Bush's casket Walker said what she remembered the most during the Bush presidency was how he dealt with Kuwait. He did what he felt was right at the time, she said. As the funeral train rolled by Old Town Spring, Walker snapped photos and took video. She said she caught a glimpse of the Bush family waving to the crowd from the train. I just wanted to see a part of history, she said. She plans on showing the video and photos to her grandchildren and relatives in Florida. The train reached the Tomball area around 1:40 p.m., but people lined the streets of Stanolind and Hufsmith roads well before it passed through. Older couples held hands in the cold while children waved miniature American flags. Talk of the legacy of a respectable, courteous man traveled through the crowd of poncho-wearing Texans hoping to get a glimpse of the president. Dorothy and Bernard Kaninski laughed while their middle-aged son pushed through the woods to get close to the train tracks, although advised not to by local authorities. The Kaninskis said Bush, along with the kindness and professional quality of his legacy, will be missed. HOUSTON FUNERAL: Sports stars, musicians and celebs bid George H.W. Bush farewell I hate to see him go, Bernard Kaninski said. He was such a strong man. We never know whats waiting up there ahead of us until we find out. Former federal agent Cynthia Parker said she has a personal connection to President Bush due to being active during his presidency. For me, its emotional, Parker said. My husband served both (President) Reagan and Bush so Ive heard stories. Throughout her years of service to the country, Parker said Bush was courteous to everyone he spoke to regardless of position or rank. It didnt matter what color, what creed, what religion, whether you were a waiter or a politician, he respected you, Parker said. For attendee Alex Rodriguez, viewing the train was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. How often do you see a presidents funeral procession go by? Rodriguez said. This is history. In our lifetime, how many times could you see this? With her three children in tow, proud mother and Aggie Deborah Phillips had to call a tow truck after her SUV got stuck in mud near the train tracks. But, Phillips didnt seem to mind, considering she had the opportunity to see off President Bush, who shed actually met once before at a Shell Open. President Bush means a lot to our country and our family, Phillips said. Im proud that hes on his way back to College Station. I wanted my daughters to have a piece of this history since they dont know him. RELATED: Thousands line train tracks to watch Bush funeral train to College Station Phillips said her husband was among those waiting for the train at a stop in Magnolia a few miles up the track. As the expected arrival time of the Bush train through Magnolia neared, a palpable energy began to ripple through the crowd that had, by then, grown to cover a mile on each side of the track. Residents along the tracks edge inched closer to secure a spot, the Magnolia Fire Department unfurled an enormous American flag along the railroad and a slow hush came over when the trains light broke through the trees. A cheer erupted at the first horn. Some who had been laughing and joking moments before were brought to tears by the sight of Locomotive 4141, its blue and white regalia holding the flag-draped coffin of the 41st president as the 43rd waved at the gathered. That was amazing, said Magnolia resident Jane Inman. The entire route passing through Montgomery County fell into Commissioner Charlie Rileys Precinct 2. The planning was a whirlwind, he said, but coordinating efforts between the Montgomery County Sheriffs Office, the Magnolia Police Department, the Commissioners Office and the Secret Service went smoothly as they planned the event, which drew thousands of visitors. He was a great man, Riley said. I am incredibly honored. The train safely reached College Station, where Bush would be buried, joining his wife and daughter. She had been strangled to death with a Tesco Bag for Life. Mitesh Patel told police he had gone out to buy a pizza the night of May 14 when he came home to find his wife, Jessica, lying motionless in the living room. The plastic reusable shopping bag, named for a local grocery store, was deformed and dotted with Jessica's saliva. Duct tape was wrapped around her wrists and ankles and covered her mouth. And at first, Patel told the emergency operator, he didn't know if she was alive or dead. "Oh hiya," he began on the emergency call, obtained by The Washington Post, from their home in Middlesbrough, in northeast England on the River Tees. "I think we've been burgled and my wife's been attacked." The house, he said, had been ransacked. Clothes were thrown all over the floor in the couple's bedroom. The contents of every drawer and every shelf - papers, purses, makeup - appeared strewn haphazardly across the room. But when police and paramedics arrived, the whole scene struck them as bizarre. They found no evidence of forced entry. Patel's home was equipped with a security camera yet, oddly, they found the hard drive tucked into a suitcase underneath the bed and learned later that the tape had been cut just minutes before they arrived. In Patel's bedroom dresser, they found a single overturned photograph underneath the lining. It was of Patel and another man - who police would soon learn was at the center of everything. The man in the photograph was an Australian doctor whom Patel met on Grindr, a dating app for gay men. His extramarital affairs with men he met on the app was perhaps his worst-kept secret. At the neighborhood pharmacy that he and his wife owned, coworkers would often find him scrolling through potential hookups behind the counter when she wasn't there. She would find out eventually herself, finding his "love you x" messages to the Australian doctor on his phone. And police, too, would soon find all of them. "Like you said, she's a leaseholder," Patel told his boyfriend in one message, comparing his wife to a short-term renter in their relationship, according to live coverage of the trial in the local newspaper Teesside Live. "One day that lease will expire." On Tuesday, Patel was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 30 years for killing his wife so he could run off to Australia and start a new life with his Grindr lover. Prosecutors say he planned to cash in on $2.27 million (2 million euros) in life insurance policies taken out on his wife, and that he had been plotting her murder for more than five years. He had waited so long, prosecutors contended, because he was hoping in the meantime she would become pregnant and give birth to a baby - whom Patel planned to raise with his boyfriend. "What are your thoughts if she goes earlier than you think?" Patel asked the boyfriend in text messages cited in court, referring to the hypothetical death of his wife. "Will you love it like your own?" "I can love it," the doctor responded, "as long as there isn't anyone else involved." Jessica never got pregnant, but could have. At the time of her death, she had been undergoing in vitrio fertilization treatment. When Patel took the stand, prosecutors suggested that perhaps Patel had thought, "you have the eggs and the embryos, you don't need Jess anymore." "Did that cross your mind?" one prosecutor asked. "No, it did not," Patel said. Patel and Jessica had known each other since childhood, prosecutors detailed during the trial. The two of them grew up in the same Hindu community in West Yorkshire and later reconnected as adults while they were both studying at a university in Leicester. Patel was Jessica's first boyfriend, prosecutors said, and in 2008, Patel asked her father for his permission to marry her. The father said no, then changed his mind. The couple ran a popular neighborhood pharmacy once profiled in Teesside Live as "giving more than just medication." It was the "heart of the suburb," the paper said. But eventually, Patel's Grindr use, as well as his long evening phone calls with the Australian boyfriend, became a deep source of tension in their marriage, prosecutors said. In one text-message exchange in July 2017, the couple grappled with whether to go through with Jessica's IVF cycles if Patel was going to continue being dishonest about his Grindr relationships. "Those texts and images tell me a different story to what you're saying," Jessica told him. "I did say you'll be forgiven. I want to be a mother and always have felt that since I got married. To have my own little family was my dream. I think it would be right to cancel for now." "I think you're mad," Patel responded. "You can forgive me but I won't forgive you for this." Patel's search history on his computer, prosecutors said, showed what he had in mind when he told Jessica they would be "parting ways" should she decide not to go through with IVF. Among his searches: "I need to kill my wife," "plot to kill wife, why do I need co-conspirators," "does life insurance pay if you are murdered," and "Hindu funeral for a married woman." On YouTube, he watched a video titled, "how long does it take for a person to die from strangulation?" Patel's DNA was found beneath his wife's fingernails. His neck was red with scratches when police arrived on the night of the murder, and no one else's DNA besides hers and her husband's was found on or near her body. Her voicebox had been crushed, her neck bruised just below the ears. Defense counsel suggested that perhaps an intruder was wearing latex gloves, leaving no trace of his attack. But what Patel couldn't explain was the 42 minutes unaccounted for in his alibi. That's where his iPhone Health app came in. Patel claimed he last saw his wife alive before he went for a "long walk," paid a visit to the pharmacy and picked up a pizza. At 7:44 p.m., just before Patel was captured on video leaving his house, Jessica's Health app recorded 14 steps - the last movement it would measure. Once Patel left the home, her iPhone recorded no movement whatsoever. Patel's Health app, meanwhile, recorded him frantically running up and down the stairs during the time his wife's app was motionless - during what prosecutors believe was Patel's attempt to stage a burglary. "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," Senior Investigating Officer Detective Chief Inspector Matt Murphy-King of Cleveland Police said in a statement. "Mitesh went 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 Mitesh spun to conceal his guilt and devious lifestyle." Patel took the stand during the trial, admitting to his relationship with the Australian doctor and his use of Grindr, but telling the jury that everything was one horrible coincidence. Asked to explain why he had watched a video instructing him how to fatally choke a person just before his wife died the same way, Patel said he knew it would look bad. He said he and his wife watched the video together. "I have sat for the last six-and-a-half months in that prison cell," he said, "and one of the many, many things I have thought is, how ironic is this?" Douglas Brinkley called from Washington, D.C., where he was covering memorial services for President George H.W. Bush for CNN. Such is Brinkleys existence as a noted historian, who serves as the Katherine Tsanoff Brown professor in Humanities at Rice University, as well as a frequently called-upon commentator for the cable news network. Though Brinkley hasnt written any books about Bush, his focus on U.S. history and U.S. foreign policy suggests he may get there soon enough. Brinkley served as the editor of The Reagan Diaries in 2007, which gave him a close look at President Ronald Reagans eight years in office, when Bush served as vice president. He fielded a few questions about Bush and his legacy. Q: Can you give an assessment of how you think President Bush will be remembered? A: Hes going to go down as one of the great foreign policy presidents in American history, even as a one-termer. The only other comparison there is James K. Polk, who was the president during the Mexican-American War. But Bush is considered to have won his war. And the Cold War ended on his watch, but I see him more as a Cold War statesperson. Theres a lot of talk about his World War II experience, but by 1946 the Iron Curtain had fallen, and there was a new generation of young service people who had to prepare for this giant fight against the Soviet Union. Bush was constantly on vigil in that anti-Communist crusade. Whether he was working at the CIA, as an envoy to China, an ambassador in the UN, in Congress, hell be remembered as an inside Washington player who thwarted the expansion of socialism. And in that regard, he was better than Reagan. Q: Which is interesting because Reagan remains a deified figure. A: Kennedy, Eisenhower, Reagan every president gets remembered for different things. With Eisenhower, it was the interstate system, economic prosperity, NASA. Kennedy, the Moon. Reagan, though, was more connected to the 60s counterculture division, this fight between the left and the right in California. Bush doesnt have the same big role in any states history, whether its in Maine or Texas. But his is the story of a gentleman Cold Warrior. And he avoided a direct war with the Soviet Union, which is impressive. He fought proxy wars when he had to, and always supported national security structures. Q: Is the one-term presidency a legacy problem? A: When youre a one-term president, it means you werent a defining figure in your political party. Its like Jimmy Carter. You start listing successes: Camp David Accord, China, Panama, Africa, injecting human rights into the State Department, and you see a different picture. Thats what will happen with 41. Some big things happened: The Berlin Wall came down, German unification, the Gulf War. But the 1988 election wasnt one for the record books. It was kind of a yawn. The one in 1992, with Perot getting 19 percent of the votes, that one is interesting. But I think the view of him is better if you look beyond the presidency. Theres a reason the CIA building was named after him. Its not like he served years as director. He spent decades working for American interests abroad in a Cold War context. One hundred years for now, hell be looked at as an essential Beltway diplomat and Cold Warrior. Nixon will be remembered for Watergate, and Reagan as a conservative movement figure. Bush will not be seen as a political figure the same way, but instead as a guy who was dedicated to his duty in the Cold War. Q: How much credit does he deserve for the end of the Cold War? James A. Baker III lauded him for overseeing its end without spasms of violence. A: Hed been gaming the Cold War his whole life. Working on these chess moves that would make us victorious. By the time the Berlin Wall came down, he was deeply studied in what was going on between these countries, China, the USSR, eastern Europe. Q: He did so without a lot of fire and brimstone. A: Talk to people at the CIA. Theyre all soft-spoken. Thats their thing. There are no fire-throwers there. Hes no exception. Q: After he died, the initial response was reverence. Then came a little pushback on social issues. But even some who didnt see eye to eye with him found him more civil than some of our elected officials today. Thoughts? A: He clung to a political space his entire career, and it was center-right. There were things like the Clean Air Act, the Disabilities Act. Some decisions look really bad years later, but he was often willing to pivot to help everyday Americans prosper. People mocked the thousand points of light Trump mocked the thousand points of light. But it was a good reminder to be involved and engaged, whether its in a church or school. He wasnt a great salesman for that slogan, or any others. He wasnt a natural politician. But he was an excellent operator at getting things done, usually with integrity or class. Q: I wont ask you to come up with defining rankings. But where do you think he fits in a group of 45? A: Hes a giant American figure, but not a defining one as a president. When you pull way back and look at Eisenhower, Kennedy, Nixon, Johnson and Reagan, hes not one like Reagan and Kennedy who will get written about for years and years. Hell be in the top half, but in the middle of the pack but not in the Top 10. But again, the CIA building is named after him. The airport in the fourth largest city in the country is named after him. His son became president. Hes going to be remembered. Just not in a cottage-industry way, with books like Kennedy and Reagan. But like I said, his legacy will be much bigger than his presidency. Even as vice president. When I edited Reagans diaries, I was surprised to find how often Reagan mentioned Bush. They dined together and talked together all the time. He was clearly a valued advisor. And thats because he was so involved in larger foreign policy issues. andrew.dansby@chron.com Donald Trump may have stood up Vladimir Putin once too often. After the U.S. president snubbed the Kremlin leader twice in less than a month, Russia is finally losing faith in Trump's promise to improve relations and bracing instead for increased tensions. Feted by Russian lawmakers with applause and champagne after his election in 2016, Trump's mercurial decision-making is increasingly seen as a liability in Moscow. Russian officials were taken aback when Trump tweeted that he was canceling talks with Putin at the Group of 20 summit in Argentina hours before they were due to meet last week, a decision one of them called really bad. Since then, Russian frustration has steadily grown, according to four senior officials, who asked not to be identified discussing internal matters. "This is a signal for us that it's difficult to deal with this person, that he's unreliable and unsuitable as a partner," said Andrey Kortunov, head of the Russian International Affairs Council, a research group set up by the Kremlin. "Russian patience is coming to an end." The failure in Buenos Aires followed canceled talks between Trump and Putin in Paris on Nov. 11. It was the third such disappointment in 12 months, puncturing lingering Russian hopes of a breakthrough in U.S. relations nearly two years after Trump took office. As Putin warns of a new arms race over Trump's threat to abandon a landmark nuclear treaty, the Kremlin's left itself with little alternative than to dig in for confrontation over U.S. demands. While Trump invited Putin to visit Washington at their Helsinki summit, that's now "out of the question," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. They're unlikely to meet again before the next G-20 summit in Japan in June, he said. The disillusionment with Trump may mean Russia takes a harder line in talks with the U.S. on thorny issues including arms control, the conflicts in Ukraine and Syria and the Iranian nuclear accord. It may also retaliate against possible future U.S. sanctions after Putin held back from taking measures in response to earlier rounds of penalties. The U.S. has accused Russia of repeatedly engaging in "malign behavior" since Trump took office, making it politically difficult for him to work to improve relations even if he wanted to. Tensions may spike further in coming months if the U.S. decides to impose fresh sanctions over alleged Russian election meddling. The State Department may add penalties under a law invoked after a nerve-agent attack on a former spy in the U.K. Russia denies involvement in the attack. Even as Congress and the White House ratcheted up sanctions, the Kremlin worked tirelessly to embrace Trump. Putin declared at the Helsinki summit in July that he'd wanted Trump to win the election, while insisting Russia hadn't interfered. He also defended Trump after the U.S. president provoked a backlash at home by siding with Putin against the conclusions of American intelligence agencies that Russia did meddle. While Russian officials previously expressed "understanding" of Trump's political difficulties amid U.S. investigations into meddling, this time, they openly cast doubt on him. The president blamed Russia's naval clash with Ukraine near Crimea for the cancellation. His decision was announced hours after his former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about plans for a Trump real-estate investment in Moscow. Russia took account of Trump's explanation, though "in my opinion, the real reason is in the internal political situation in the U.S.," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters. Russian state television, which formerly lauded Trump, now heaped ridicule on him. "What kind of a man is this? First he says it will happen, then it won't," said Evgeny Popov, host of the prime time 60 Minutes news program. "This is just stupidity, he seems to be an unbalanced individual. Trump was never our friend - never!" Senior members of the ruling United Russia party even regretted Trump's victory, though Putin has dismissed the notion that a presidency of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton would have averted the current frictions. "It's far worse than it would have been under Clinton," said Frants Klintsevich, a senator who sits on United Russia's governing council. "She's an experienced politician and any of her actions would have been based on logic and some kind of discussion. Here we're seeing huge swings in one direction and another." Putin's foreign policy adviser, Yuri Ushakov, insisted there was "no offense taken" after the Kremlin had talked up the Argentina meeting only to be left embarrassed. Still, "We won't beg the American side" for talks, he said. While Trump has continued to signal an interest in better ties, he's done so with less frequency publicly and his top aides have been quick to criticize Russian actions. U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley called the attack on Ukrainian ships a "reckless" and "outlaw" action at an emergency Security Council meeting. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo called it a "dangerous escalation and a violation of international law." Russia's being told to "give something" to improve relations with Washington, said Vladimir Lukin, a former Russian ambassador to the U.S. and deputy head of the upper house of parliament's international affairs committee. "We can do 'give and take' but not 'give and give.' " Russia may try to exploit divisions between the U.S. and the European Union, said Kortunov from the Kremlin-backed research group. EU sanctions, unlike the American ones, may be lifted if Russia took steps to end the separatist conflict in Ukraine, he said. On the military front, Russia is already threatening to target European states if they host U.S. missiles after Trump withdraws from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. "Don't try to talk to Russia from a position of force," said Klintsevich, the lawmaker. "You'll end up with such a headache you won't know what's hit you." WASHINGTON - Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has told allies there is little chance that the Senate will consider a bipartisan criminal justice bill in the waning days of year, even as his own Republicans say there is more than enough support for the legislation favored by President Donald Trump. Despite pressure from the president, McConnell, R-Ky., has told White House officials and others close to him that a vote is unlikely on the Senate floor, according to people familiar with his comments. One McConnell adviser said the senator does not intend to have a vote on the legislation because he does not have enough time and is more focused on other things - like funding the government and confirming judges. "He doesn't like the bill," Republican donor Doug Deason, a key White House ally, said of the measure. Referring to the former Alabama senator and ex-attorney general, Deason added: "He's a Jeff Sessions-style, lock-them-up-and-throw-away-the-key kind of guy." White House officials say McConnell doesn't want to have a vote unless the overwhelming majority of Republicans will vote for it - although Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said this week that 28 or 30 GOP senators support the bill. There are 51 Senate Republicans, and nearly all of the 49 Senate Democrats - if not all - are expected to back it. McConnell said at a Wall Street Journal event this week that more than half of his conference either oppose the bill or are undecided. "It's extremely divisive inside the Senate Republican conference," McConnell, who deplores fights that split his ranks, said Monday evening. Lawmakers have to take up a farm bill extension and legislation to fund parts of the government before the end of the year, and McConnell would also like to confirm as many judges as possible before then, his allies say. When asked about McConnell's private remarks, a spokesman said the legislation was still being drafted and he could not predict the outcome on an unfinished bill. In turn, McConnell's reluctance has frustrated White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, and others in the administration who believe the votes are there but that McConnell is dragging his feet. In recent days, Kushner has ramped up his private push among senators - visiting Republican lunches, strategizing with the bill's key authors and even sending out a thick packet of material promoting the criminal justice bill to Senate Republican offices. The book includes letters from advocacy groups backing the bill, media coverage of it and a summary of the legislation. On Thursday afternoon, Fox News Corp. took a rare step of endorsing the bill, in the first news release issued by former White House aide Hope Hicks. It was an unusual move for the corporation. "Fox supports the bipartisan First Step Act to limit mandatory minimum sentences, prevent recidivism and expand rehabilitation," the statement read. Trump announced his endorsement of the measure last month and has pushed McConnell in private conversations to put the bill up on the Senate floor for a vote. Yet Trump's advocacy has not changed the calculus for McConnell, who faces reelection in 2020, the people familiar with the majority leader's comments said. And some of the bill's supporters say they wish the president would do more - like pressure senators on Twitter or make more frequent and forceful public comments on the legislation. Supporters have rushed to make minor changes to the legislation meant to assuage concerns. Republican opponents have said that the bill would inadvertently allow people convicted of violent crimes to qualify for its benefits. McConnell also met privately with a group of criminal justice reform advocates early last week, and praised the group for their work on the legislation. "I believe there's a majority already available for the Senate majority leader (and that) with the improvements in specificity in the language, that several more Republican senators will join in supporting the First Step Act," said Craig DeRoche, the head of advocacy for Prison Fellowship, which has been lobbying in favor for the bill. "President Trump has been absolutely essential and critical to this bill having the support that it has." But the divisive nature of the bill among Republicans is not the only issue. Earlier this week, McConnell said the Senate is simply running out of time to "shoehorn" such an "extremely controversial" legislation into the Senate schedule that could eat up seven to 10 days of floor time. Several White House aides said the goal now is that it "eventually" happens, in the words of one senior West Wing official. Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, is coming under criticism for falsely claiming in an interview that billionaire philanthropist George Soros, known for his funding of liberal and pro-democracy groups, "helped take the property" owned by fellow Jews. Patrick Gaspard, president of Soros' Open Society Foundations, sent a letter to Gohmert on Thursday afternoon, asking him to apologize for the "disturbing and false anti-Semitic slur." In an interview Thursday morning with Fox Business Network's Stuart Varney, Gohmert spoke about Google's plans to build a censored search engine in China. At one point in the interview, Gohmert pivoted from discussing the tech giant to making accusations against Soros, who is frequently the subject of conspiracy theories and in October was among the prominent critics of President Donald Trump to whom a Florida man allegedly mailed pipe bombs. "You mention Orwell. It also reminds me of another George - George Soros - you know, because Google is born in a free country, and then they go over and oppress others - help oppress - in another country," Gohmert told Varney. "George Soros is supposed to be Jewish, but you wouldn't know it from the damage he's inflicted on Israel, and the fact that he turned on fellow Jews and helped take the property that they owned. It's the same kind of thing." George Orwell was a British author. Varney moved on without addressing Gohmert's statements. He later distanced himself and the network from Gohmert's views, the Daily Beast reported. "Congressman Louie Gohmert for some reason went out of his way to bring up George Soros and made unsubstantiated and false allegations against him. I want to make clear those views are not shared by me, this program or anyone at Fox Business," Varney said. Gohmert on Thursday was referencing a false claim that Soros helped the Nazis confiscate property from Jews during World War II. Soros has said he used false papers to survive the Nazi occupation when he was 13 years old, living in Hungary. The allegation that he is a Nazi who turned in fellow Jews and stole their wealth is "a total fabrication," Soros told The Washington Post earlier this year, saying such charges "annoy me greatly." On Thursday afternoon, Gohmert doubled down on his remarks, which he argued were "not anti-Semitic" but rather "pro-Jewish." "Soros himself admitted in a 60 Minutes interview with Steve Kroft on December 20, 1998, that he had no regrets whatsoever about assisting the Nazis in confiscating property from the Jewish people during the Holocaust," Gohmert said in a statement released by his office. "That is a fact." Yet a transcript of the "60 Minutes" interview published by the fact-checking website Snopes shows that, after initially appearing to agree with Kroft that he "helped in the confiscation of property from the Jews," Soros later clarified that he "was only a spectator." "I had no role in taking away that property," Soros said. "So I had no sense of guilt." Gohmert also on Thursday cited a "statement that the Israeli government made last year that anti-Soros statements are not anti-Semitic." But while the Israeli Foreign Ministry statement was sharply critical of Soros, it did not declare that all criticism of Soros was not anti-Semitic. Gaspard, the president of Soros's Open Society Foundations, said in his letter to Gohmert on Thursday that "this conduct is beneath your office." "Just to reiterate the facts: George Soros escaped the Nazis as a 14-year-old boy, and he has spent most of his life supporting efforts to ensure that such terrifying authoritarianism never takes root again," Gaspard said. "He did not collaborate with the Nazis. He did not help round up people. He did not confiscate anybody's property." He added that it was "the height of irresponsibility" for Gohmert to make such remarks just weeks after the mass shooting at Pittsburgh's Tree of Life synagogue and the pipe bomb targeting Soros. "You are not entitled to misrepresent his and his family's courage during such a terrifying and difficult period in our history," Gaspard said. Soros has been the subject of a range of unfounded conspiracy theories over the years, including one that he recently funded a caravan of Central American migrants making its way through Mexico toward the U.S. southern border. Trump suggested last month that he "wouldn't be surprised" if Soros was funding the group. Some of those conspiracy theories have made their way into U.S. government-funded broadcasts. The head of a U.S. government agency apologized last month for the airing of a program that called Soros a "nonpracticing Jew of flexible morals," claimed that he was involved in "clandestine operations that led to the dismantling of the Soviet Union" and described him as "the architect of the financial collapse of 2008." The Spanish-language report was produced by Radio and Television Marti, which is aimed at audiences in Cuba. Gohmert has previously taken aim at Soros, telling host Fox Business host Lou Dobbs in October that it was "not anti-Semitic" to criticize the liberal megadonor. - - - The Post's Michael Kranish and JM Rieger contributed to this report. Once viewed as inevitable, a long-discussed plan to build a $91 million bridge to replace a drawbridge that connects Pelican Island and Galveston is now in limbo. The Pelican Island Bridge replacement, which has been in the works since 2013, had looked to be on the path toward a funding agreement as recently as spring. Then the city of Galveston walked away from the project, questioning the commitment of the Galveston County Navigation District No. 1, which owns and operates the current bridge, to maintain the new structure. Finger-pointing between city officials and the navigation district ensued, and now the future of the bridge proposal is uncertain roughly $26 million short of the necessary funds to build it. Local officials are hoping for a lifeline in the form of an $18 million funding request placed with the Houston-Galveston Area Council. At the heart of the disagreement is the future of the navigation district itself, a small local tax entity with an annual budget of about $2 million whose sole purpose is owning and operating the current Pelican Island Bridge. A district employee now operates a drawbridge that uses a beam or truss deck that can be raised to an incline or vertical position, allowing vessels to pass underneath. Galveston Mayor Jim Yarbrough said the city understands the navigation districts hesitance to commit to owning and operating the new bridge, given that the local sponsor would be primarily responsible for cost overruns. But he added that unless the Texas Department of Transportation agrees to take ownership unlikely, for now it makes sense for the navigation district to continue in that role. I dont want to put the blame on anybody, Yarbrough said. At issue is, whats the navigation districts role in this? Obviously putting money up is part of it. There are some that say they own the current bridge and they ought to be the fiscal agent and they ought to be the local sponsor for a new bridge. And to me, common sense says thats legitimate. Dennis Byrd, the chairman of the navigation district, disagrees. Byrd has concerns about the district becoming the primary local sponsor of the new bridge, reasoning that the proposal a conventional 75-foot span with four lanes, as well as pedestrian and bicycle crossings would no longer require a human operator. The district has committed $10 million toward demolition of the old bridge, which is included in the $91 million estimate. Galveston County and the city of Galveston each pledged $5 million while the Texas Department of Transportation has committed to spending $45 million. The city and the county, they have a larger tax base, Byrd said. Were the smallest tax base out of all three. Were in favor of building a new bridge, we support it, but we dont have the money to do it. That position has put the district at odds with the city. A May meeting attended by city, Galveston County and navigation district officials devolved into a blame game when, according to Byrd, Yarbrough and Galveston City Manager Brian Maxwell walked out of the meeting in frustration that the navigation district would not commit to more funding. They were trying to work out a deal for funding of the new bridge, Byrd said. At that meeting, my board was meeting the next day, and at the meeting there they wanted me to give them an answer that day. I said, I cant give you an answer today, because our board doesnt meet until tomorrow. Thats when Yarbrough and Maxwell said, Well, the navigation districts out. And they got up and walked out the room. Several months later, in September, Maxwell posted a comment on the Galveston County Daily News website, blaming the navigation district for walking away from the project. The original plan had them as the sponsor with the county and city participating to help pay for it along with Texas A&M. They decided they do not wish to participate in a new bridge and want to now do other things, Maxwell wrote. The back and forth irritated Byrd, who noted that the city and county were each putting up less of the local share than the navigation district was. We didnt walk out of the meeting. The mayor and the city manager walked out of the meeting, Byrd said. And nobody ever said anything about coming up with another $5 million to match our $10 million. It kind of left a bad taste in our mouth, to be honest with you. Yarbrough also maintains that the city of Galveston charter prevents it from taking on additional debt without approval from voters, which could hamstring the city from taking on the liability of being the primary local sponsor of the new bridge. Whether the navigation district wants to continue as currently constituted is an open question. Yarbrough acknowledged that the district may have outlived its usefulness. Theyre not gonna own this new facility, they dont want to own this new facility, the Galveston mayor said. That begs the question, you were established to build and maintain a bridge. Now youre saying you dont want to be in the bridge business and were gonna tear down your existing facility once the new facilitys up and running. What do you exist for? When the navigation district was created, it set its geographic boundaries at the old city limits for Galveston, which only went to 103rd street, where the Galveston seawall ends. As a result, the district cannot collect taxes from the islands affluent West End extending to Jamaica Beach or roughly one-third of Galvestons population. The result is a tax base so small that it makes it difficult for the navigation district to endure. The district has spent up to $2 million recently for electrical work on the current bridge, which is on its last legs. TxDOT is also helping to pay for structural maintenance, and has indicated that these repairs will prop up the bridge for another decade. One of the only bridges of its kind in Texas, the Pelican Bay Bridge was built in 1959 at a time when few bascule bridges were constructed. Today, an average of 9,100 vehicles a day pass over the bridge, most carrying commuters to and from the Texas A&M University at Galveston campus on Pelican Island. But once the current bridge expires, the navigation district effectively becomes a shell entity. Yarbrough floated the idea that the city could absorb the navigation district in order to leverage its ability to float bonds for the Port of Galveston, but Byrd wants that decision to be made by the districts taxpayers. Aside from such questions, the future of the bridge proposal is now contingent largely on whether the Houston-Galveston Area Councils Transportation Policy Council and Texas A&M University can help close the funding shortfall. In October, the city of Galveston and Galveston County wrote the council, a regional organization made up of 13 county governments in southeast Texas, appealing for $18 million in federal funds to help build the bridge. The navigation district co-signed the letter. Galveston County Judge Mark Henry recently told the Houston Chronicle that a memorandum of understanding has been drafted that earmarks $18 million from the HGAC as well as $8 million from Texas A&M, which would effectively bridge the projects funding gap. But Alan Clark, the director of transportation planning for HGAC, said that the $18 million is far from a done deal and that the Transportation Policy Council must go through a lengthy process to advance the money, with a final decision not likely until around next March. Working in the bridge proposals favor: Galveston County Commissioner Ken Clark, a supporter of the project, will chair HGACs Transportation Policy Council in the new year. I cant say today that it is certain because that is a decision of our policy council and we havent developed even a preliminary ranking of all the projects weve received, Clark said. I think everybody is generally aware of the importance of the project. Texas A&M officials say they have also not committed to a dollar amount. Bill McClain, a spokesman for Texas A&M at Galveston, said the universitys financial commitment will be based in part on an agreement that the bridge will still be routed around the campus on Pelican Island, instead of through it. The new four-lane bridge would have a higher volume of traffic including more industrial vehicles and there are concerns that the increase in motorists could affect public safety on the campus. Even if funding for a new bridge comes together, the outstanding question of who would take control of maintenance and operations remains unanswered. Most of the projects stakeholders agree that either the city of Galveston or the county navigation district will need to step up. We know how to maintain roads, but we dont really have any bridge capacity here, Yarbrough said. Thats just not our deal. Said the navigation districts Byrd: We cant worry about a new bridge right now. Weve got a 60-year old bridge that were rehabilitating to the best of our ability right now. nick.powell@chron.com A Pasadena man has been arrested in the fatal shooting of a woman whose body was found on a street in a southeast Houston neighborhood Tuesday morning. Guadalupe Toledo Vega, 37, is charged with murder, accused of killing 20-year-old Morgan Sproles, authorities said on Friday. Now Playing: Man fatally shot at north Houston gas station Video: Metro Video A Houston teenager has been charged with capital murder in the robbery and shooting death of a customer at a Harris County gas station in May. Jeremiah Malik Foster-Wilson, 17, was already in custody on an unrelated charge when he was arrested this week in the death of Rafael Hernandez. The still Hawaiian morning began like any other. Ann Summers McKennis parents had been out late into the night and were still in their pajamas when the first wave of Japanese bombers roared over the Hickam Air Force Bases officers quarters on Dec. 7, 1941. Her father, Army Air Force First Lt. Thomas B. Summers, dressed as he ran out of the bedroom, through the familys kitchen and into World War II. Only 15 months old at the time, McKennis remembers little of that day, save for the deafening and interminable booms that followed the military bases evacuees as they fled into the mountains. The bombers were so low, her mother later told her, she could see the expressions on the pilots faces. After that, every time a plane went over, Id go hide under the bed, said McKennis, now 78. As a child survivor of the attack on Pearl Harbor, The Woodlands woman is a member of a club with a heavy cross to bear. The Houston-based Bluebonnet Chapter 3 of the Sons and Daughters of Pearl Harbor Survivors an offshoot of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association is carrying its work into another generation. But it becomes more difficult as the clock ticks further away from the attack 77 years ago, with just five direct survivors in the Bluebonnet chapter nearing their mid-90s. In each succeeding generation, theres fewer people involved, said Rick Lawrence of League City, who leads the Bluebonnet chapter. Keep them curious For two days, McKennis, her mother and hundreds of evacuees waited quietly in the mountains for orders, fearing for their lives should the Japanese make their way inland. The toddler and her mother were on the first transport ship back to the mainland and spent the war with extended family in Michigan. Most of McKennis knowledge of the attack comes from them save for one brief trip home, her father spent the entire war in the Pacific Theater. Thomas Summers was a dashing man with blue eyes and a kind face, adored by his family and the center of his daughters world. But even when he came home after the end of World War II, he was reluctant to share with his family what he saw in the four years they were apart. He was a good man and a great dad, she said. But men didnt really talk about what they saw in the war. You get busy with life and with family and children and jobs you just don't take the time to ask. I do regret that. Life continued after her father came home. The family made port in Japan on Anns sixth birthday to aid in the post-war rebuilding effort, then lived briefly in Washington, D.C. before being sent to China. The world was changing by the time the family came home to Alabama in the mid-1950s. It was the beginning of the civil rights movement in the state, she said, but her life after Pearl Harbor the years spent living as a guest in countries so different from her own shaped her worldview into a diverse acceptance of every person as an equal. A child's mind doesn't work that way, McKennis said. I was raised where I never knew any hatred or prejudice. In Alabama, she finished high school and attended nursing school in Michigan, where she met Jeffrey McKennis, who became her husband. Her father eventually retired from the military as a colonel in the late 1960s after also serving in Korea, Vietnam and Taiwan. She moved to The Woodlands in 1984 when her husband accepted a job with a large oil and gas company. Her parents died soon after her mother in 1985 and her father in 1990 but she says she works to carry on their legacy of acceptance and respect every day. Keeping memories alive While preparing to attend the 75th anniversary of the attacks in 2016, McKennis joined the Sons and Daughters of Pearl Harbor Survivors. The organization, she said, is crucial in perpetuating the memory of such a crucial event in American history. Hopefully, we can reach young people and keep them curious about the attack, McKennis said. The group is an offshoot of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association, which was formed in 1958 by 11 U.S. Armed Forces veterans who were stationed in Hawaii that day. In 1972, facing dwindling membership as survivors and veterans began to age, the PHSA established the Sons and Daughters of Pearl Harbor Survivors. In 2016, with its members too few and too frail to travel, the PHSA officially disbanded and ceded its efforts to continuing education to the Sons and Daughters organization. The Bluebonnet Chapter 3 is among the most active in the country, encompassing dozens of members from Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana, Lawrence said. The chapter regularly makes presentations at the Brazos Valley Veterans Memorial, Wings Over Houston and several schools in the area to educate the community on the attack, its cause and how it led into the war. Membership in the organization is open not only to the children of veterans and child survivors but to anyone interested in educating children and adults about the attack that launched the nation into World War II. McKennis continues to carry on the mission. Never forget history, McKennis said. That's how this country was made. Good, bad, or indifferent it's our history. mrincon@chron.com By Melissa Fletcher Stoeltje Published 8 a.m. Dec. 7, 2018 When the black Cadillac with chrome wheels pulled into Lion's Gate Park in Killeen, she was waiting. Behind the wheel was Issac Lynn Williams. For months, he and the teenage girl had been trading messages over Facebook, their tone increasingly flirtatious. When she confessed to him one day that she had run away from home, he told her to meet him at the park. Inside the Cadillac, Williams spoke to her in a way she'd never been spoken to before. I can take care of you, he said. Buy you things. Love you. They'd been talking for an hour when he suggested they slide into the back seat and have sex. Afterward, Williams told her she was going to become an "escort" and that they were "going to make a lot of money together." He was 28. She was 16. For the next eight months, Williams controlled everything in her life. He gave her the name Amber and arranged for her to be sold for sex through Backpage.com. He would do the same to his 19-year-old girlfriend, Deborah Ameia Cooper. On Backpage, her name was Kandy. Amber had sex with men 10 to 15 times a day on average. She and Cooper worked six days a week, seven if they hadn't reached the weekly quotas he set. He booked them into mid-priced motels in Killeen, Dallas, Austin and San Antonio, wherever the money and customers were. Each week, they turned over thousands of dollars to him. He kept all of it, except for what he spent on fast food, cigarettes, marijuana, condoms and lubricant, the necessities to keep his business going. On some Sundays, if the two had met their quota, Williams would take them to church in Killeen, where he knew the preachers his father and stepmother. Code words, price lists Sex traffickers like Williams have long preyed on vulnerable girls and women. What's changed in recent times is how the internet has amplified the sex trade. Customers have round-the-clock access to an inexhaustible market of online ads where with a simple click, they can order up young girls delivered to their door. Pimps tap special websites and social networks to find prospects and lure them with promises of love and excitement, only to trap them in a sordid world of drug addiction, shame and sometimes violence or threats of violence. Until fairly recently, underage youth caught up in sex-trafficking were considered prostitutes. Now, laws in Texas cast them in a new light as victims needing help, not prosecution. One study done by the University of Texas estimated that 79,000 young people in Texas are ensnared in sex trafficking. Few go to police or other authorities for help. Amber never reached out for rescue. She spent much of her life in poverty, with a struggling single mother. When she was 13 and living in Maryland, she had sex a few times with strangers, men she met on the streets, to pay for food for herself and her nephew, she later testified. She was arrested for breaking into an abandoned apartment. Removed from her mother's care, she was placed for a short time in a foster home, then sent to Killeen to live with her sister. Her mother followed later. The first time Williams saw Amber, she was walking by his apartment complex in Killeen, on her way to her middle school down the block. Signs a minor may be a victim of sex-trafficking * Lying about age or giving false identification * Unwillingness or inability to give an address * Story inconsistencies * Fear of another person or social interaction with others * History of sexual abuse * History of substance abuse * Previous runaway history * Excessive school absences * Pre-paid or multiple cell phones * Possessing multiple motel room keys * Accompanied by a seemingly controlling friend * Provocative clothing * Signs of physical assault or abuse Source: Bexar County Juvenile Probation Department "You look cute," he told her. The second time he noticed her was in the hair braid aisle at a beauty supply store, where he was shopping with Cooper. The girl and Cooper struck up a friendship. Soon after, Williams began sending her messages on Facebook. He came across as friendly and genuinely interested in her. At the time, Amber was on probation for breaking into a car and her previous attempts to run away. Williams had a rap sheet too, but it was sparse a theft at a Dollar Store when he was 14, for which he received nine months' probation. Born overseas, he moved as a baby to Killeen, where his father was stationed at Fort Hood. After a series of low-level jobs, Williams tried to get into the Air Force, but was rejected. He worked in Afghanistan for KBR, a global engineering and construction firm. He was laid off after six months. After that, he worked for a time at a propane gas company in Pittsburgh, where he met Cooper. She was 18. He was laid off again, and in 2013 they moved to Killeen, living on his unemployment checks. That's when Amber came into the picture. SPEAKING OUT: Maria was trapped in a cycle of heroin addiction, but she found her way back to life through a specialty court program Williams presented Cooper as his girlfriend. But by then, he'd been pimping her on Backpage for months. After seducing Amber in the park, Williams took her and Cooper to a Walmart, where he bought a cache of skimpy lingerie for them to wear in photos posted on Backpage.com. Williams ran his sex-trafficking enterprise with an eye on the bottom line. He assiduously kept track of how many men bought Amber and Kandy's services, recording dates, times and prices in a spiral-bound ledger. While the women did their work, he hung out in his Cadillac, or in a different room of the same hotel, or in the apartment in Killeen the three of them shared. He'd often troll the web in search of other young women. He guarded his anonymity carefully, using gift cards to pay for ads on Backpage.They cost just $12 apiece but had to be reposted over and over to stay at the top of the listings; clients tended to scroll no further than the first three pages. The ads bore labels such as "sexy girl" or "cute girl" or "funny girl" code for underage females. Some ads offered Amber and Cooper alone; others offered them together in special "party girl" deals. Cooper and Amber used cellphones to negotiate times and prices with customers by text. They received as many as 50 calls a day. Williams never took or received calls directly. He taught Amber that clients had to say they were calling about a Backpage ad. Her script was, "How much time would you like to spend with me?" There were two kinds of calls "in-calls," where the buyers came to them, usually a motel room, and "out calls," where Williams drove Cooper and Amber to buyers at their motels or homes. For out-calls, Williams charged customers $20 extra, to cover gas. They used a shorthand. QK meant a quickie, $50. HH a half-hour cost $80, and FH was $100, but prices depended on what city they were in. They'd charge more for clients they knew to be wealthy. The prices listed were for oral or vaginal sex; anal sex cost $200 to $500 extra. Williams told Amber that if a caller took too long to answer questions or wanted to talk about something other than prices and times, she should hang up and put the number on the blocked list it could be "the feds." THE WAY FORWARD: As law enforcement targets pimps, service providers seek to help young victims He was always absent when business was being conducted. He instructed them to tell clients they were their own bosses. He showed up at the end of a shift to collect money and make sure it lined up with what Cooper and Amber had texted about the clients. He kept an eye out to ensure they weren't skimming. Williams had another rule: Cooper and Amber could not allow clients to bite or scratch. He didn't want marks on his property. Sometimes clients would get angry because they didn't get what they wanted or they wanted more time. Williams taught her to "sweet talk" them, to offer to let them pay for extra time. The motels they worked in were nice enough, recognizable to vacation travelers Holiday Inn, Red Roof Inn, Days Inn but that was mostly for the clients' comfort. Sometimes, if they were making money, they'd stay for a week at the same motel. Otherwise, they'd move around. In the eight months Amber toiled for Williams, the three lived like nomads, hopping from hotel to hotel, wherever the johns were, rarely eating a proper meal, riding the libidinal currents of the internet. Williams made the two women work even when they were menstruating. And he maintained sales quotas. Each woman was supposed to bring in about $600 a day. Bigger cities like Dallas and San Antonio delivered bigger hauls, compared to Killeen or Waco. Cooper brought in more money because "she had the better body," Amber said. At the end of busy days, the two women would hand Williams several thousand dollars. Amber soon realized she'd see none of this bounty, though she dreamed of having enough money to move herself and her mother and her nephew to a better neighborhood. That way, she could return to school. Despite Williams' monitoring, she and Cooper would sometimes skim, texting him they had a half-hour client when it was really a full hour. Then they could keep the extra money. They did so at their peril: Williams was hot-tempered and always yelling at them for one reason or another, Amber testified. He sometimes threatened to hurt her if she tried to leave. He belittled and shamed her, common pimp tactics. Amber had virtually no freedom. Cooper was with her everywhere she went. If the three of them were in a restaurant and she happened to get out of her chair, Williams would demand, "Where are you going?" She was dependent on him for everything food, shelter, even cigarettes, which she and Cooper chain-smoked. He wouldn't let her call her mother or friends. Since Amber had stopped checking in with her probation officer, a warrant had been issued for her arrest. Williams told her to "deny everything" if the police ever showed up. "He said I would only be charged with a misdemeanor, for probation violation," she said. "He told me. 'I'll bail you out and we'll just keep going.'" Amber and Cooper were always sick. "Sometimes, it was just exhaustion," she said. "We just wanted to sleep, and we wanted to get a good meal, and it was just really exhausting. And so sometimes we would get really sick, where we couldn't work. But we would still have to work." An undercover sting As Williams kept track of earnings in his ledger, he didn't know two detectives in Victoria, 145 miles from Killeen, were keeping track of him. Special Agent Shawn Hallett of the Texas Department of Public Safety Investigation Division testified later that he first became aware of Amber when he saw her photo on Backpage. She looked underage, so Hallett crosschecked her name with Facebook and Bell County Juvenile Probation records. Sure enough, there she was, along with her probation history and confirmation that she was still a minor. Hallett subpoenaed payment history from Backpage, which had made a practice of complying with such requests, hoping to stay on the law's good side. The records implicated Williams. Hallett and other detectives began amassing Backpage ads and phone and motel records, a trove of documents that eventually grew to more than 3,000 pages. Hallett also started tracking the location of Amber's cellphone. The plan was for Hallett to respond to a Backpage ad for a "two-girl special" with Amber and Kandy at a San Antonio motel. Via text, Cooper and Hallett arranged for a one-hour session, but before he could show up at the motel, Cooper for reasons unknown stopped responding to his texts. The sting was called off. FEELING TRAPPED: Rene was sold for sex to lawyers and police officers, but the young victim helped build a solid case against her former pimp Two days later, on Aug. 19, 2014, Cooper again responded to Hallett's text, setting a date for the two-girl special at a Sleep Inn motel in Killeen. She texted Hallett to meet her at a side door. As Hallett followed Cooper up a stairwell, she was taken into custody by other agents. When Hallett arrived at Room 328 to meet Amber, the door was slightly ajar. Inside the sweltering room, Hallett smelled marijuana. He saw a young woman he recognized as Amber sitting in a chair. He called her name. Amber stood and said yes, it was her. Hallett assured her he was there to "recover" her, not arrest her. Amber went willingly downstairs to meet with a female investigator from the Texas Attorney General's office. For over an hour, Amber divulged all she had gone through during the previous months. As this was happening, Williams eased into the motel's parking lot in his black Cadillac. When he saw four officers approaching with weapons drawn, he threw the car into reverse and gunned the engine. It was too late. He was surrounded. A search revealed Williams was carrying four cellphones, four credit and debit cards, and 10 gift cards of the type used to buy Backpage ads. The car's trunk contained boxes of condoms and lubricants of the same brand found in the motel room. He had a receipt from a Days Inn in San Antonio where the initial sting was supposed to happen. And detectives found the ledger with an entry documenting Hallett's visit to the Sleep Inn in Killeen. As Amber was led out of the motel, she spied William pulling into the parking lot. Later, on the witness stand, Hallett would describe how Amber went into a "complete meltdown" when she saw his car, hyperventilating and scurrying to find a place to hide. "She kept saying, 'That's him! That's him!'" Hallett said. She calmed down only after officers convinced her Williams was in custody. Amber was taken to the Bell County Juvenile Detention Center, where she was held for several weeks and given counseling. Then she was sent back to Killeen to live with her mother. Cooper later cut a deal with prosecutors, pleading guilty to the promotion of prostitution of a minor. She agreed to testify against Williams and was sentenced to five years' probation. Williams was charged with continuous trafficking of a person, a first-degree felony punishable by no less than 25 years to life in prison. He was released on a $75,000 bond to await trial, set for a year later. A pimps day in court In the first few months after Williams made bond in November 2014, Amber and her mother kept running into Williams and his father in Killeen at the Walmart, at fast-food joints, according to court testimony. Once, Williams blocked the mother's car in a McDonald's drive-thru lane and demanded that she persuade Amber to drop the charges against him, the mother testified. A judge barred Williams from having any contact with Amber or her family. Then, on the morning of Aug. 16, 2015, as Amber and her mother prepared to go to San Antonio to testify against Williams the next day, a gunman broke into their apartment. Total number of people convicted of trafficking minors These charts show the total number of people convicted of trafficking minors in Texas that served prison time between 2012 and the present. The first chart shows numbers for the five counties with the most convictions overall. The second chart shows the same numbers for the five counties with the most convictions per capita. The attacker, dressed in black and wearing a ski mask and gloves, sprayed the place with bullets. Amber's mother was struck three times, and her brother-in-law was shot in the chest. A bullet just missed Amber's head. She fell down and played dead. Miraculously, all survived. At the court hearing the next day, prosecutors asked for a continuance. The trial was reset for the fall. Two days later, prosecutors drove to Killeen to meet with Amber and her mother at a battered women's shelter where they had gone to seek safety. Amber was terrified and no longer willing to testify. Before the next court date, Williams absconded. After about a year as a fugitive, Williams was found in the Dominican Republic. He was brought back to San Antonio in January 2017. This time, his bail was set at $450,000 and he had to surrender his passport. Williams The trial was held in San Antonio in November 2017 and lasted a week. David Lunan, the lead prosecutor, had a wealth of evidence against Williams: the Backpage payment records, more than 330 ads, 26,000 cellphone texts, motel receipts. During the trial, it emerged that Williams while pimping Amber and Cooper was flirting online with hundreds of other girls. Defense attorney Paul J. Smith tried to paint a picture of Williams, then 31, as a naive male duped by two conniving women who were in fact masterminds of a prostitution ring. Those credit cards and gift cards and multiple cellphones found on his person? Williams was simply holding them for Cooper, who suspected Amber was stealing from her. The damning evidence on his own cellphone? His phone had been "merged" with Cooper's as part of an upgrade. That online flirting with other girls? He was a man, and "that's what men do," Williams testified. Smith asked Amber on the stand whether Williams had ever twisted her arm or tied her up. She said he hadn't. But under state law, physical force isn't required to prove a defendant sexually exploited a minor. When Williams testified in his own defense, he said Amber had come onto him, not the other way around, and had told him she wasn't a minor. After the jurors found him guilty, Williams appealed to their mercy in the sentencing phase, saying he was a church-going man. He said he hadn't done anything extreme, like "rape or murder." When Lunan asked Williams if he thought arranging for the repeated rape of a child comported with Christian values, Williams said it did not. Lunan asked the jurors to sentence Williams to 40 years. The jury came back with 50. Williams is now a prisoner in Beeville. He is appealing his conviction and declined to be interviewed for this article. Number of people convicted of trafficking minors by year These charts shows the number of people convicted of trafficking minors per year in Texas. The first chart shows totals for Dallas, Harris, Bexar and then all other counties and the second for the whole state combined. Cooper, after entering into a plea bargain and agreeing testify against Williams, disappeared before the trial and is a fugitive. Amber, now in her 20s, lives in another state. She declined to be interviewed, saying she'd wasted enough time on Williams and was trying to move on. During the trial, she told the jury why she'd decided to testify. She was done, she said. Done with having panic attacks every time she saw a black Cadillac. Done with struggling to breathe whenever she saw a man who resembled Williams. She stared down her erstwhile tormenter across the expanse of the courtroom. "I told myself I need to stop running," she said. "I'm just tired of running. I'm tired of living in fear of you." *** About this story: This narrative is based on the court record of Issac Lynn Williams' 2017 criminal trial, including the sworn testimony of Williams; Amber, the young woman he was convicted of trafficking; and the lead detective on the case. Quotes attributed to Williams and Amber are from the trial record. The evidence includes emails and text messages between Williams, Amber and Williams' then-girlfriend, Deborah Ameia Cooper, as well as online ads promoting the women's availability for paid sex and the gift cards Williams used to pay for the ads. Also in the court record are Amber's handwritten notes describing her life under Williams' control, including the prices she was to charge for various sex acts. Amber the name she used while she was being trafficked asked that her identity and current state of residence not be revealed because she fears retaliation. Melissa Fletcher Stoeltje is a San Antonio Express-News staff writer. Read more of her stories here. | mstoeltje@express-news.net | @mstoeltje Animation by Mike Fisher Interactives by Luke Whyte Design by Rachael Gleason Subscribe: Real news. Real trust. Real community. Subscribe to the San Antonio Express-News to support quality local journalism. As newly updated election results showed U.S. Sen. Ted Cruzs victory was even tighter than first realized, Democratic-led voter registration groups are saying theyve never felt closer to turning Texas into a true battleground. Cruzs margin of victory fell to just 214,921 votes, according to official results certified by Gov. Greg Abbott this week. That is about 5,000 votes closer than unofficial results showed last month. Cruz won the race 50.9 to 48.3 percent the closet U.S. Senate race in Texas since 1978. While ORourke lost, groups like Battleground Texas say that margin of defeat is nearly four times closer than they thought was even possible and it has them itching to get to work on 2020. We can register that gap, said Oscar Silva, executive director of Battleground Texas, a group that runs an aggressive registration program targeting potential Democratic voters. The state saw twice that number of voters just registered between March and October, and Silva noted that every year 300,000 more Texas high school students come of age to register. He said while many people suggest that 2018 was a one-year blip because of ORourkes campaign, groups like Battleground Texas have been on the ground building an infrastructure that has lasting implications. That is sustainable, he told the American Association of Political Consultants at a conference in Austin on Wednesday. Battleground Texas said its data shows that, during early voting, nearly one out of every 25 voters under age 35 was registered by the group. Silva added that 69 percent of the people the group registered this year were voters of color, helping the electorate to begin to look more like the states overall minority-majority population. Republicans have noticed their work too. In the summer, Gov. Greg Abbotts campaign team used training sessions for volunteers to warn that Harris County and other big metro areas in Texas have been trending toward Democrats, thanks in part to the work of Battleground Texas volunteers. Battleground Texas was first created in 2013 with the help of former campaign operatives who worked for former President Barack Obama. Their mission was to more aggressively register voters in Texas, a place that has a history of making it difficult to register to vote, Silva said. He said the group made gains in voter registration despite Texas laws that he says criminalizes voter registration. In Texas, groups cannot help voters register unless they go through specific training in counties they want to work in. If someone wants to register voters in another of the 254 counties in the state, they must get retrained in that county. And the training sessions vary from county to county. Silva said his group has more than 22,000 people who are certified to register people to vote in Texas. But Texas law requires all of those certifications to expire at the end of the cycle. All of those people must go through a new round of training to start registering voters again. Texas saw record-shattering voter registration since 2014. Since then, Texas saw its voter rolls grow by almost 1.8 million voters. In the four years prior to 2014, Texas added just 756,000 voters. The close margin of victory between Cruz and ORourke is something Cruzs camp had been bracing for. Cruz chief strategist Jeff Roe told a conference of political consultants in Austin this week that in the closing weeks of the campaign, ORourke was surging. Waking up on Election Day, I knew it was going to be close, Roe said. He said the national environment was filled with stories about the Florida pipe-bomber sending packages to CNN and Democratic leaders. And then there were news accounts of the mass shooting at a synagogue in Pittsburgh. Roe said internal polling showed ORourke getting another half point closer for each of the final 10 days of the race. The last 10 days of the campaign was like nothing Ive ever seen, Roe said. ORourke really surged along the I-35 corridor. In the counties from Laredo to the Oklahoma border, ORourke beat Cruz by more than 440,000 votes. Four years earlier, Republican U.S. Sen. John Cornyn easily carried that corridor by more than 300,000 votes. Over the last 12 days of the campaign, ORourke made at least 25 stops in counties along the corridor, compared to three for Cruz. Whenever dozens of heads of state gather, its a safe bet theyll be photographed at ornate desks where politically valuable deals are signed. Last Sunday framed just such a moment at the G20 Summit in Buenos Aires, as President Donald Trump, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and outgoing Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto sat side by side to sign a new trilateral trade agreement among their countries. But it would be misleading to call this trade deal truly new. The three countries first signed such a deal under former President George H.W. Bush more than 25 years ago. While the latest trade deal makes some valuable improvements to the existing agreement, it is new only in the sense that a longstanding house is new after a kitchen renovation. For Houston, the North American Free Trade Agreement transformed the city into a new U.S. center of global trade. For the three participant countries, it fundamentally changed commerce among their economies. And for Americans now remembering the former president, it was a critical moment when a U.S. leader made a difficult, highly controversial decision for the countrys long-term strategy. In knitting together the economies of North America, Bush culminated an ambitious global vision. Lowering trade barriers among countries would integrate the continent, foster competition and, eventually, build supply chains that could compete with other regions and emerging economic giants around the globe. Then, as now, free trade was a hard sell politically, requiring deep commitment to the principles of openness, competition and economic alliances. For all the economic opportunity it would create, Bush surely knew, NAFTA would also result in job churn, losses and gains unequally and sometimes painfully apportioned across the economy. In standing up for NAFTA in an election year, Bush had to spend precious political capital. It made him vulnerable to many opponents, including the spirited anti-NAFTA Texan H. Ross Perot, and may have drawn enough ire to cost him a second term. Nevertheless, NAFTAs signing was not a first, but a final, act for an era of economic opening. The deal was the natural extension of the Reagan-Bush view on global commerce and the United States role within it. At the height of Japanaphobia in 1986, Reagan opened the Uruguay Trade Round of the GATT (Global Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) negotiations, leading to the creation of the World Trade Organization. Two years later, Reagan signed the US-Canada Free Trade Agreement, the essential precursor to NAFTA and the most significant U.S. step toward open trade in forty years. A year after Bush signed the agreement, and after making alterations that addressed labor and environmental concerns, President Bill Clinton signed NAFTA into law on Dec. 8, 1993. And then: nothing happened. Or rather, nothing much happened quickly because, despite the sometimes-hyperbolic rhetoric of trade, reorganizing industries and economies takes time. Building new plants takes time, moving workers and relocating firms takes time, growing ports, roads and airports takes time. Certainly, dropping tariffs has some notable immediate effects for commodities and some finished goods, but the real impact of a sweeping trilateral trade deal eases in slowly. In the process, new trade hubs and centers are built, and cities are transformed, none more so than post-NAFTA Houston. Houston was a global city before NAFTA owing to its oil, gas and petrochemicals industries, and because of the Port of Houston. But in the 1990s, trade exploded in ways that humbled prior metrics as growth boomed across China, India, and a newly-opened Eastern Europe. Remarkably, Houston kept pace, creating new manufacturing jobs and a mountain of finance and professional services jobs to orchestrate the new trade flowing through North America and across the world. Today, at the onset of a new, more global era, few people could have envisioned the scale of change in this city. When Bush signed the NAFTA agreement in 1992, Houstons economy employed 1.8 million people. Today it employs just over 3 million people. NAFTA and the transformation it stoked supported Houstons growth, perhaps easiest to see at the Port of Houston, which is now the nations second largest exporter after New York City. For the United States, trade with NAFTA partners has grown to more than three times its level in 1993 at over $1 trillion annually, nearly double the level of our trade with China. The North American trading bloc, meanwhile, has new and increased relevance as NAFTA buoys each of its three nations economies in competition with China. In his latest book, The Fifth Risk, author Michael Lewis warns that one of our nations least appreciated challenges is the risk a society runs when it falls into the habit of responding to long-term risks with short-term solutions. Avoiding that risk requires facing tough choices, bold thinking and acting for the future. Whatever history ultimately writes about NAFTA, it is plain that Bush was willing to pay a price for his belief in it and that he was right about the agreements power to grow and transform Houston over the long haul. Rodriguez is dean of the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University. Moreover, two similar incidents had occurred at other PBT Transport sites and WorkSafe said PBT Transport should have used these incidents to significantly improve their processes. WorkSafes investigation into the September 2016 incident found that the freight cage did not comply with industry standards and had not been attached to the forklift correctly. It also found that while PBT Transport had safety systems documented, they were not being implemented in the day to day running of the business and workers were not being appropriately communicated with. WorkSafes head of specialist Interventions, Simon Humphries, said this wasnt the first time PBT Transport had had issues with freight cages falling from forklift tines, with similar incidents occurring in 2009 and just a month earlier. It was reasonably practicable for PBT Transport Ltd to ensure the freight cage they used complied with industry standards and that only trained, competent and authorised workers should be using the freight cage and forklift, said Humphries. Hall of Heavy Metal History Names 2019 Inductees: Lita Ford, David Ellefson, Jon and Marsha Zazula, More Move over today's Grammy nominees, the men and women of metal are march through with their own award announcement. Lita Ford and David Ellefson of Megadeath are among the 2019 The Hall of Heavy Metal History inductees. This years event, which will take place on January 23, 2019, in Anaheim, CA, will be hosted by iconic television, radio personality and heavy metal champion Eddie Trunk, and will feature a performance by Los Angeles heavy rock/metal group Budderside. Commenting on this years festivities, Pat Gesualdo, Hall of Heavy Metal History Founder/CEO, said: We are looking forward to another amazing year at the 2019 Metal Hall of Fame Gala. As with last year, several iconic bands, industry executives and artists will be inducted in 2019. We are grateful for all the hard work theyve done over the years to keep rock and metal relevant. I also want to take this opportunity to praise metal fans all over the world. They are an important part of the Hall of Heavy Metal History. With their support, they are helping us keep rock and metal alive for generations to come. 2019 Hall of Heavy Metal History Inductees Jon and Marsha Zazula (Founders, Megaforce Records) Lita Ford (with 2018 inductee Doro Pesch presenting) Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater, The Winery Dogs) David Ellefson (Megadeth) Blizzard of Ozz (Ozzy Osbourne) band induction: Bob Daisley & Lee Kerslake (accepting via video, John Sykes accepting on their behalf in person) Jeff Scott Soto (Yngwie Malmsteen, Sons of Apollo) KLOS FM 50th Anniversary Saxon (with Nigel Glockler accepting) Previous inductees include Ronnie James Dio, Randy Rhoads, Lemmy Kilmister, Scorpions, Bill Ward, Billy Sheehan, Jordan Rudess, Nick Menza, Munsey Ricci, Exodus, and many more. Judas Preist was also inducted earlier this year in a special live ceremony that took place during the 2018 edition of the Wacken Open Air Festival in Germany. Admission is open to the public. Tickets are available via www.thehallofheavymetalhistory.org. CelebrityAccess Share on: Page Content At the invitation of the Mexican Government, ICAO Council President Dr. Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu attended the inauguration ceremony of Mexico's new President Mr. Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on 1 December 2018. During his visit, in which he was accompanied by Mr. Melvin Cintron, ICAO NACC Regional Director, President Aliu, met with Mexico's new civil aviation leaders Mr. Javier Jimenez Espriu, Secretary of Communications and Transportation, and Mr. Carlos Moran Moguel, Deputy Secretary of Transportation. President Aliu voiced ICAO's continued commitment to helping Mexico assure the safe, secure, efficient and environmentally sound civil aviation system it so relies on in terms of travel, tourism and trade, while highlighting the importance of aviation's socio-economic benefits in terms of Mexico's broader goals for sustainable development and improved national prosperity. He also praised Mexico for the support and resources it provides to its civil aviation sector, reiterating the importance of these commitments and their contributions toward distinguishing the State as an aviation leader in Latin America and the Caribbean. The Mexican aviation leaders present for the discussions also included Mr. Rodrigo Vazquez Colmenares, Director General of Mexico's civil aviation authority, Mr. Victor Hernandez, the new Director General of the Mexican air navigation services provider, SENEAM, and Mr. Roberto Kobeh Gonzalez, former President of the ICAO Council and Lifetime Goodwill Ambassador of ICAO. Together the Mexican aviation leaders agreed with Dr. Aliu on the importance that aviation represents to the country, and indicated the new government's commitment to these endeavours. iciHaiti - Diaspora : Project of construction of a modern city in the Northwest... This week Marnatha Irene Ternier, the Minister of Haitians Living Abroad (MHAVE), met with a group of foreign investors and of the diaspora as part of a major partnership project between the Haitian Society Saint Nicolas Insurance and Development Corporation SA (Societe haitienne Saint Nicolas Assurance et Developpement Corporation S.A - SNADCO) (Official Journal Le Moniteur #63 of April 4, 2016) and the Government of Haiti. The major investment in question should be used for the construction of a modern city in the north-west of Haiti and would be a source of massive job creation and economic development. According to the Minister, the realization of this partnership must be seen as a step further in the economic revolution of Haiti. to be continued... IH/ iciHaiti Their waters wrested away, Colombia's island fishermen lament - and learn December 06,2018 | Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation Casting his nylon fishing line into the waters off the Colombian island of San Andres, like generations before him, fisherman Oreste Howard points to the horizon of the turquoise blue Caribbean Sea and shakes his head. "Over there is a bank rich in fish, red snapper and lobster. The catch is very good." "But we can't fish there. I'm afraid to go there," Howard laments, as his small one-engine motor boat bobs in the breeze. The fear stems from a decades-long maritime dispute between Colombia and Nicaragua involving the archipelago of San Andres, Providencia, and Santa Catalina, and nearby seas. The cluster of small islands in the western Caribbean, surrounded by coral reefs, lie about 775 kilometres from the Colombian mainland and 230 kilometres from the Central American nation of Nicaragua. Colombia has long claimed the waters around the archipelago, as laid out in a treaty with Nicaragua in 1928. But a 2012 ruling by the United Nations highest court - the International Court of Justice (ICJ) - redrew the maritime borders around the archipelago, in favour of Nicaragua. It slashed the expanse of the Caribbean sea belonging to Colombia and granted about 75,000 square kilometres of it to Nicaragua, giving the country access to potential underwater oil and gas deposits as well as fishing rights. Six years on, fishermen in San Andres are still struggling to adapt to the loss of waters - and lower incomes as a result. And the Hague-based court is now considering additional expansion of Nicaragua's claim - as well as Colombia's continuing appeals. Such battles over rights to the world's oceans are a common problem. In recent years, the ICJ has looked at cases from Bolivia's long-standing battle with neighbouring Chile to regain access to the Pacific, to disputes over Antarctic whaling between Japan and Australia. In San Andres, among the most affected by the ICJ ruling are the island's artisanal fishermen, many of whom belong to the Raizal community - a Creole- and English-speaking, Afro-Caribbean people. The court ruling still evokes a deep sense of loss, along with a mixture of dismay, anger and resignation. "You lose the sea, it's like losing your house," said 52-year-old Howard, who began fishing as a teenager. "For Raizals, our territory is not just land but the sea. Colombians forgot and still forget that." 2018 timesofmalta.com Theme(s): Fishing Craft, Gear and Fishing Methods. Frenzy for fish means torturous life at sea for migrant fishermen by Inna Lazareva December 07,2018 | Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation It was after nightfall when the folded sheet of paper was slipped under the door of the Mission to Seafarers building in South Africas Cape Town harbor. We are fishermen workers of the ship Fuh Sheng 11, stated the letter written by the mostly Indonesian crew. We have a problem in our ship. The letter helped to trigger an investigation which saw the Taiwanese trawler held in port in May. Over the following weeks, the crew showed photographs and video of squalid conditions on board - which they described as hell. The multi-billion-dollar seafood industry has come under scrutiny after investigations showed widespread slavery, human trafficking and violence on fishing boats and in onshore processing facilities. Part of the problem stems from a lack of oversight on fishermens working conditions on the high seas, said Brandt Wagner, head of the transport and maritime unit at the International Labour Organization (ILO), a U.N. agency. The fishermen on the Fuh Sheng told of beatings, being forced to work up to 22 hours a day, eating food with cockroaches floating in it, and spending nights itching from insect bites. The ship, they said, was not safe: seawater seeped into the engine room, and the lifebuoys were rotten. The letter ended up in the hands of colleagues of Dane du Plessis, who works for Biblia, a Christian charity that seeks to identify and help exploited fishermen. They were too scared to speak out as the boatswain was present, he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. The U.N.s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates there were 4.6 million fishing vessels worldwide in 2016 - from large industrial ships to small boats without decks or motors. Merchant ships, which carry cargo or commercial passengers, are governed by a range of international conventions that are widely implemented worldwide, said Wagner. But when it comes to fishing vessels, its a different story, he added. The problem with fishing vessels is that theres a great focus on the fish ... But theres been less focus on the people on board the vessels, Wagner said. The main convention regulating crew safety and conditions on fishing vessels - the Cape Town Agreement - was adopted in 2012 by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), a U.N. agency. But it is not yet in force as it needs to be signed by 22 states that have at least 3,600 fishing vessels longer than 24 metres between them. As of October just 10 had signed, said the Pew Charitable Trusts, a non-profit. Thomson Reuters Foundation Theme(s): Communities and Organisations. Quiz Monica Juma on future of 36 fishermen detained in Tanzania - Nyatike MP by PATRICK VIDIJA December 05,2018 | Source: The Star Nyatike MP Tom Odege wants Foreign Affairs CS Monica Juma questioned over the continued detention of 36 Kenyan fishermen by Tanzanian authorities. In an order paper, the MP asked Speaker Justin Muturi to petition the Defence and Foreign Relations Committee to hold the Cabinet Secretary to account over the matter. He cited the continued harassment of Kenyan citizens on Lake Victoria as among the issues the Foreign Affairs CS should respond to. The said fishermen are being held in Tanzania and are set to appear in court amid calls for President Uhuru Kenyatta to intervene. This will be the second time the lot will be appearing in court. They were allegedly arrested for trespass and detained after they failed to raise Sh1.2 million bail demanded by the Tanzanian authorities. "Mr Speaker, I want to know whether the CS is aware that several Kenyans have been arrested on Lake Victoria under unclear circumstances. I also want to know what steps the ministry put in place to end the continued harassment and detention of Kenyan citizens," he said. "Lastly, Mr Speaker, I want to know the Theme(s): Communities and Organisations. (CNN) Rescuers are searching for crew members aboard two U.S. Marine planes that collided mid-air off the coast of Japan in the early hours of Thursday morning, according to Japan's Ministry of Defense and the U.S. Marine Corps. At least one Marine was killed in the crash and the body has been recovered, the Marine Corps said in a statement. A second Marine was rescued and is described to be in fair condition. Five other Marines remain missing. The KC-130 and F/A-18 collided at 1:42 a.m. local time, according to a Japanese Defense Ministry statement. According to a statement from the U.S. Marine Corps, the crash happened during an aerial refueling that was part of a routine training. The primary mission of a KC-130 is airborne refueling. It is believed five crew were on board the KC-130 and two on the F/A-18 at the time of the crash, two US defense officials told CNN. First Lt. Josh Hayes, a public affairs officer with the 3rd Marines Expeditionary Forces based out of Okinawa, told CNN the rescued Marine was in "fair condition." The killed Marine was found by a Japanese military ship at 12:13 p.m. local time and was being transferred to a mainland medical facility, according to Japanese defense spokesperson Norio Harada. Japan has dispatched 10 aircraft and three ships from its Self Defense Force and Coast Guard to help with the search for five people still believed to be missing. The US 7th Fleet said in a statement that it was supporting ongoing search and rescue efforts with a Navy P-8A Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Aircraft flying out of Kadena Air Force Base. Rescue teams are battling bad weather which has passed through the area in the last 24 hours or so, bringing showers, storms and sustained winds of 30 to 40 mph. "The weather is definitely going to play a factor," said Hayes. "It's a full team effort between us and the Japanese defense force. And we're hoping to get our Marines back." The crash happened approximately 200 miles (321 kilometers) off the coast of Iwakuni, Japan, a US Marine Corps official told CNN. The planes "had launched from Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni and were conducting regularly scheduled training when the mishap occurred," according to a statement from the US Marine Corps. Wednesday's incident comes on the same day that the Marines released a report on a crash in July 2017, also involving a KC-130 variant that killed 15 Marines and one sailor. That KC-130T crash took place in Leflore County, Mississippi, and the "investigation determined that the aircraft's propeller did not receive proper depot-level maintenance during its last overhaul ... in September 2011, which missed corrosion that may have contributed to the propeller blade" coming loose during the flight and going into the aircraft's fuselage, according to a Marine Corps statement on the investigation. This story was first published on CNN.com, "US Marine Corps planes involved in deadly midair collision off coast of Japan." Imperial Valley News Center President Trump and Vice President Pence at a Hanukkah Celebration Washington, DC - Remarks by President Trump and Vice President Pence at a Hanukkah Celebration: THE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you very much. How are you? (Applause.) You know our great Vice President and Karen Pence, two spectacular people. And they wanted to be here with us and I wanted to have them. Thank you all for coming to the White House. Melania and I are delighted to welcome you and to wish you a very happy Hanukkah. (Applause.) Happy Hanukkah. This week, America is grieving the loss of President George H.W. Bush, who is being laid to rest today at his library in Texas. Yesterday, Melania and I were honored to attend the state funeral at the National Cathedral and to pay our respects to the entire Bush family. The memorial was a beautiful tribute to President Bushs extraordinary life and a noble legacy to public service. He was a wonderful man. We will always remember this great statesman and beloved American patriot. He really was very special. (Applause.) So thank you very much. This afternoon, we have many wonderful guests in attendance to celebrate Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights. I want to thank the students of the Y-Studs a capella group for their terrific performance. (Applause.) Where are they? Raise your hand. Good job, huh? I heard that beautiful sound without a lot of instruments. You dont need instruments. You have thats your instrument right there. Were glad to be joined by Secretary Betsy DeVos. Wheres Betsy? (Applause.) Where is Betsy? Betsy, thank you. Thank you, Betsy. Senator a very good friend of mine, and a great, great patriot and senator Senator Roy Blunt. Roy? Where is our Roy? (Applause.) Wheres our Roy? Yeah. Thank you, Roy. Great guy. Representatives Ted Deutch, Josh Gottheimer (applause) where are you guys? Put your hands up. I dont know. David Kustoff. Lee Zeldin. (Applause.) Terrific guy. Lee is that Lee back there? Good. Good job, Lee. Congratulations. You had a great electoral victory. Colorado Governor-elect Jared Polis. Where is Jared? (Applause.) Where is he? Thank you. Congratulations. Great job. And thank you as well to Jared Kushner Im sure none of you have ever heard that name for being here. (Applause.) Today, I am thrilled to commemorate the miracle of Hanukkah. More than 2,000 years ago, a band of Jewish patriots, led by Judah Maccabee, reclaimed their freedom from an oppressive dictator who had persecuted the Jewish people and ransacked the Holy Temple. After their victory, they prepared to rededicate the Temple. They found only enough oil to light the lamp for a single night. Youve all heard that before. But, despite this, the lamp burned brightly for eight nights, an everlasting symbol of Jewish perseverance. Incredible. Throughout history, the Jewish people have suffered unthinkable repression and terrible violence. Yet, in the face of this hardship, the Jewish people have endured, overcome, and thrived. Thrived like few, that I can tell you. Thrived. (Applause.) Five weeks ago, our nation mourned a horrific tragedy. Fourteen eleven Jewish-Americans were brutally murdered in a sinister anti-Semitic attack on the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh. And we went to see what had happened and to meet some of the people. And they were incredible people. And the way they stood up so bravely, so proudly, was just something very incredible to see. The rabbi was just a great person. In the aftermath of that wicked assault, we reaffirmed our solemn duty to confront anti-Semitism everywhere it occurs. (Applause.) We must stamp out this vile hatred from the world. We are joined for todays ceremony by those who suffered through historys darkest hour. Here with us this afternoon are eight survivors of the Nazi Holocaust. Sara Censor where is Sara? Where is Sara? Shes here someplace. Hi, Sara. Oh, you look so young. (Laughter.) MS. CENSOR: (Inaudible.) THE PRESIDENT: She said shes not. She is. (Laughter.) Young at heart. Bertha Einhorn Bertha. Where is Bertha? Hi, Bertha. Do you want to come on up here, folks. Come on up here. Can you help them up? (Applause.) Ethel Flam. Gita Landau. Come on up. Come on up. Thats nice. (Applause.) Dolly Rabinowitz, Ruth Salamon, and Zahava Ungar. Come on up. Very nice. Very nice. Thank you all. Thats so good. Great. Thank you very much. Isnt that nice? Beautiful. Beautiful. (Applause.) Wheres David Einhorn? David get up here, David. Come on up here, David. Come on up here, David. Thats great. Thank you very much. Beautiful. Please. You honor us, truly, with your presence, and you inspire us with your courage. Thank you very much for being here. Each of you has endured evil beyond description. Your treasured attendance at this ceremony calls to mind the words of Elie Wiesel: For the dead and the living, we must bear witness. Today and every day, we renew our solemn pledge: Never Again. Right? Never again. (Applause.) From the depths of despair, the Jewish people built a mighty and majestic nation, a thriving democracy in the heart of the Middle East, and a light of hope to all of the world. My administration will always stand with our cherished friend and partner, the state of Israel. (Applause.) AUDIENCE MEMBER: Lets hear it, everybody! Come on! Come on! (Applause.) THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Thank you very much. We have left the horrible Iran nuclear deal and imposed (applause) it was a horrible, horrible deal, should have never been made and imposed the toughest-ever sanctioned we sanctioned Iran like, I guess, few have ever been sanctioned before. We must never allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon or a nuclear bomb. (Applause.) We cannot let the worlds leading sponsor of terror a regime that chants Death to America, and threatens Israel all of the time with annihilation, and constantly screams out Death to Israel to possess the deadliest weapon on Earth. We will not allow that to happen. (Applause.) Exactly one year ago today, at my direction, the United States recognized the true capital of Israel and quickly moved (applause) AUDIENCE MEMBER: Come on, everybody! Come on! THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. AUDIENCE: Four more years! Four more years! Four more years! THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Well, we quickly AUDIENCE MEMBER: Six more years! THE PRESIDENT: That is actually six more, but we wont (inaudible). (Laughter.) Minor detail. Ive actually never heard four more years. Thats an interesting one. Well go for six, and then well all be in very good shape. (Applause.) Were going to all be in very good shape. And we quickly moved the American embassy to Jerusalem and we got it built. You know that story, right? It was going to cost billions of dollars billions. And I said, What do you mean, billions? And David Friedman, who I dont know if David is here your ambassador, who is great. (Applause.) He called me up and he said, I think we can do it for a lot less. I said, We better do it for a lot less. They literally had me signing something over a billion dollars to build the embassy. And David said, You know, we already own a site. Its the best site in all of Jerusalem. The building is set back. We could renovate the building, and we could do it for less than $200,000. (Laughter.) So I said, So you got a billion and it will probably never get built or you got $200,000. Now what I said to David I said first time Ive ever done this in my entire life I said, David, I never said this before, but $200,000 is too cheap. (Laughter.) You got to raise it. How about $400,000? And we did it for right around $400,000, using all Jerusalem stone. You know, Jerusalem stone is a very expensive stone that people bring to this country with almost as a ceremony. Its beautiful. But over there, you have a lot of Jerusalem stone. We use all Jerusalem stone and its so beautiful. And we opened it four months later. Think of that, four months later. And (applause) and its built and its really beautiful. You have to go see it. Its beautiful. Great location. Best location. You couldnt get a better location. And its all opened and its done and its finished. And that doesnt mean we wont build a bigger, better but if you take a look at it not going to get much better. Its a beautiful job. AUDIENCE MEMBER: As promised! THE PRESIDENT: So we did something for $400,000 that AUDIENCE MEMBER: As promised! THE PRESIDENT: was supposed to cost a billion. Say it. What? AUDIENCE MEMBER: As promised! THE PRESIDENT: As promised. I kept my promise. Thats true. (Applause.) Even more than that I said I was going to designate the site; we didnt say we were going to build it so fast. (Laughter.) I didnt know wed build it so fast. But we have it built and its a beautiful, beautiful embassy. And its an honor to do it for all of the people in the room. Its an honor to do it for all of you, I have to say, because thats really who were doing it for. So congratulations. (Applause.) Great honor. Civilization is indebted to the Jewish people for their incredible contributions to art and science, history, culture, and society. Since the founding of America, Jewish communities have uplifted every aspect of our national life. Today, we renew our gratitude for those amazing blessings and we reaffirm our unbreakable solidarity with the Jewish people. (Applause.) I want to thank Vice President Mike Pence. A tremendous supporter (applause) a tremendous supporter of yours. And Karen. And they go there and they love your country. They love your country. And they love this country. Thats a good combination, right? AUDIENCE: Yes! THE PRESIDENT: Thats a good contribution. Thats really hello, David. One of my fabulous lawyers right up here. Hello, David. He is a great lawyer, too. So I want to thank everybody. I want to thank everybody in the room. Happy Hanukkah. (Applause.) And now happy Hanukkah. And now Id like to ask Chaplain Shmuel Felzenberg to come up and say a blessing while we light the menorah. Thank you all. Thank you all. Thank you. (Applause.) Thank you. CHAPLAIN FELZENBERG: Good afternoon, and happy Hanukkah. As we prepare to kindle the Hanukkah lights, we recall the story of the Maccabees, who, more than 2,000 years ago, fought against Hellenist oppression in the ancient land of Israel. They fought to restore the religious identity and dignity of both their land and their people. As Jews around the world light the candles this evening, we pray for the triumph of light over darkness, and good over evil. As we light, it is incumbent upon us to remember those American service members currently deployed in harms way, including my son, as they stand on the front edge of freedom for our stake. (Applause.) There are two blessings we recite in Hebrew prior to the lighting, but allow me first to share with you their contents in English. Blessed are you, Lord our God, King of Universe, who has sanctified us with his commandments and commanded us to kindle the Hanukkah light. And second, Blessed are you, Lord our God, King of the Universe, who performed miracles for our forefathers in those days at this time. (The blessings are recited in Hebrew.) (Applause.) (The chaplain lights the menorah and a song is sung.) THE PRESIDENT: Mike, Id like to ask you to come up and say just a few words, and then were going to shake a few hands. And thank you all very much. Vice President, Mike Pence. Mike. (Applause.) THE VICE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Mr. President. And its such a joy to be able to be here with our First Family. Karen and I are honored to be able to extend to you the warmest wishes to you and your family, people all across this country wishes for a happy Hanukkah. And it is the greatest honor of my life to serve as Vice President to the most pro-Israel President in American history. (Applause.) Happy Hanukkah to you all. Imperial Valley News Center Presidential Proclamation on National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, 2018 Washington, DC - Today, we honor those who perished 77 years ago at Pearl Harbor, and we salute every veteran who served in World War II over the 4 years that followed that horrific attack. On December 7, 1941, America was attacked without warning at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, by the air and naval forces of Imperial Japan. Just before 8:00 a.m., Japanese aircraft ripped through the sky, dropping bombs on ships of the United States Pacific Fleet and on nearby airfields and bases. The attack took the lives of more than 2,400 American service members and wounded another 1,100 American citizens. The brutal surprise attack halted only after nearly two hours of chaos, death, and destruction. Despite the shock and confusion of the moment, American service members and first responders on the island of Oahu mounted an incredibly brave defense against insurmountable odds. American pilots took to the air to engage enemy aircraft, sailors took their battle stations, and medical personnel cared for the wounded. Many witnesses to the events of that day perished in the attacks, leaving countless acts of valor unrecorded. Nevertheless, 15 Medals of Honor were awarded 10 of them posthumously to United States Navy personnel for acts of valor above and beyond the call of duty. Although the United States Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor was badly impaired, America did not falter. One day after the attacks, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt declared to the Congress: No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory. And, in the weeks, months, and years that followed the brutal attack at Pearl Harbor, Americans united with a steadfast resolve to defend the freedoms upon which our great Nation was founded. Millions of brave men and women answered their countrys call to service with unquestionable courage. These incredible patriots fought, bled, sacrificed, and ultimately triumphed for the cause of freedom. We are blessed as a Nation to have as examples the incredible heroes of World War II, who fought so valiantly to preserve all that we hold dear. Earlier this year, I had the tremendous honor of meeting Mr. Ray Chavez, who was the oldest living Pearl Harbor veteran. Ray passed away only a few weeks ago at the incredible age of 106. But his legacy is forever etched into our countrys rich history, along with the legacies of all our brave veterans. They tell of the mettle of the American spirit under fire and of the will of our people to stand up to any threat. The selfless bravery and dedication of these extraordinary Americans will never be forgotten. Today, we remember all those killed on the island of Oahu on that fateful Sunday morning in 1941, and we honor the American patriots of the Greatest Generation who laid down their lives in the battles of World War II. America is forever blessed to have strong men and women with exceptional courage who are willing and able to step forward to defend our homeland and our liberty. The Congress, by Public Law 103-308, as amended, has designated December 7 of each year as National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim December 7, 2018, as National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. I encourage all Americans to observe this solemn day of remembrance and to honor our military, past and present, with appropriate ceremonies and activities. I urge all Federal agencies and interested organizations, groups, and individuals to fly the flag of the United States at half-staff in honor of those American patriots who died as a result of their service at Pearl Harbor. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this sixth day of December, in the year of our Lord two thousand eighteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-third. DONALD J. TRUMP If you thought it was especially difficult to hire good talent in 2018, brace yourself: Next year you can expect more of the same. The historically low unemployment rate--it stood at 3.7 percent in November--made it hard for companies to bring in both permanent and seasonal talent throughout 2018, and experts believe the trend will continue into the new year. To find out what lies ahead for hiring and retaining talent in 2019, Inc. spoke with economists and labor market analysts. Here are their five biggest predictions. 1. The pickings will get even slimmer. Employers will grapple with a talent pool that continues to shrink next year, according to Jed Kolko, the chief economist at Indeed, a career search engine. One reason for this is the number of Americans who are of working age is growing more slowly than it did in the 1980s and 1990s, he says. Recent immigration policies are another factor, Kolko notes, as the Trump administration has been cracking down on H-1B visas, which allow U.S. companies to hire skilled temporary workers from other countries. The U.S. sent back more than one in four applications between January and August 2017, whereas the previous year, the Obama administration sent back fewer than one in five, according to data from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. In 2018, the number of H-1B applications dropped for the second consecutive year, falling to 190,908 from 199,000. "Immigration can be one way that we compensate for a slow-growing working-age population," Kolko added. "But, at the moment, our policies are discouraging rather than encouraging immigration." 2. Employers will consider opening foreign offices. To combat the increasingly challenging hiring market, companies may open international offices and hire local workers who haven't been able to get the required authorization to work in the U.S., according to Kolko. "Today, recent immigrants are more likely to have college degrees than native-born Americans, and many work in specialized fields, often in tech, health care, or other sciences," he says. "Those are some of the industries that might find it harder to get the workers they need as immigration becomes more difficult." 3. Companies will invest more in technology. Rather than investing in human talent, companies might look to technology to help solve their hiring problems. "Some firms will look for ways to produce what they need to produce without having to hire as many workers," Kolko predicted. These methods will vary between industries, but companies that can replace manual labor with automation will consider investing in robots, rather than people. 4. Amazon could force other companies to raise wages. Amazon's new headquarters in Crystal City, Virginia, and Long Island City, New York, will add a total of 50,000 new jobs. This will spark a demand in both areas for skilled workers such as engineers and recent graduates with technical backgrounds, says Jon Barney, a senior partner at the consulting firm Korn Ferry. While New York City has a more established ecosystem for tech jobs, the market for these roles is already tight in the Washington, D.C., area. In the short term, tech, aerospace, and defense companies in the area may raise their salaries and offer more competitive benefits to retain talent, Barney says. In the long term, Amazon could help turn D.C. into a bigger hub for tech. 5. Companies will hire even faster than before. When hiring candidates in the new year, companies will continue to use a major strategy from 2018--hire people quickly. "I do think speed increasingly matters when looking at candidates," Barney says. "The market is getting more competitive, so you have to move faster." Some companies are trying to streamline the hiring process by rolling out automated, one-sided exchanges: Candidates call in and record responses to questions with no one on the other end of the line, according to The Wall Street Journal. Additionally, job seekers increasingly want to work for businesses that have a compelling company story and core values that align with their interests and beliefs. Small businesses have an advantage, because they tend to have more authentic messages and can move faster than larger companies, Barney added. 5. New perks are crucial--and the more personalized, the better. To reduce attrition, companies will need new ways to persuade talent to stick around, predicts Juliana Barela, the vice president and general manager of recruitment process outsourcing at consulting firm Korn Ferry. One of these tactics is what she calls personalized pay, which refers to individualizing perks and benefits to specific workers instead of larger groups. "We are seeing four generations in the workplace, and each one has different expectations when looking at how they are paid and what their reward package consists of," Barela says. Examples include offering more flextime and paid time off, international assignments, or the ability to relocate. This will be especially true of smaller companies or startups that are more agile than larger establishments and can easily tweak their compensation methods, Barela adds. Instead of establishing a rewards program for the whole company or team, firms will survey their employees to figure out what's important to each demographic. At Seraphic Group, the phrase "love and gratitude" is printed in 16 languages on walls and stair risers all over its Charlottesville, Virginia, headquarters. Love and gratitude is a company core value. But the "love" part goes beyond that--romance is part of the culture too. About 20 percent of Seraphic's 52 employees are married or in committed relationships with other Seraphic employees. That number rises to 25 percent if you count marriages among the network of 60 consultants who work closely with the company. "I never set out to say I want a company with a bunch of couples in it," says CEO Zach Bush, who spent 17 years in academic medicine before launching Seraphic in 2010. He attributes the spousal profusion to Seraphic's mission focus: The company identifies and develops products that improve the health of people, animals, or the environment. Employees care, and they communicate that caring to the people in their lives, Bush says. The trend starts with the leadership team. The chief strategy officer is married to the vice president of information. The chief operations officer is married to the creative director. Bush himself is married to one of the company's consultants. Another consultant proposed to his girlfriend at Bush's wedding reception. When that pair married, at an event packed with Seraphic staff, Bush's wife performed the ceremony and the company's resident PhD in atomic physics played the bridal march on the piano. Whether employed at Seraphic or not, spouses spend an unusual amount of time there. The company hosts five or six events a year that whole families attend, such as pool parties, bowling tournaments, and Thanksgiving dinner at an executive's home. Spouses are also invited to participate in monthly social-service events, like building homes for Habitat for Humanity. "It is company culture to spend time with the families," says COO Grant Gamble. "You meet these people at various events and you get to know and like them." Abundant couple-dom provides several advantages. For employees, there's the pleasure of seeing one's partner often during the day. Stress is reduced by the ability to quickly coordinate when, for example, a child gets sick at school. Bush says it creates greater camaraderie: Since everyone has the same friends, they all hang out together. "It always surprises me when we're in a period when we are working our butts off and someone says we're having a social hour during the weekend," Bush says. "And the entire company shows up." Seraphic, meanwhile, benefits from work conversations that extend outside its walls. Even at home, Gamble and his wife, Jana, bounce ideas off each other. That cross-functional perspective companies so desire gets an assist when people in different departments tell each other everything. And employees are more alert to developments outside their own functions when those things may affect a spouse. Couples also tend to be more loyal to the business, Gamble says. "They have more at stake. All their eggs are in one basket." Potential disadvantages--notably the perception of nepotism--are avoidable with good policies and communication, Gamble says. The most basic: Line-of-authority relationships are prohibited. Spouses or partners don't even work in the same departments. Seraphic has 11 units based around different products, so that dispersal is easily achieved. In addition, every candidate is evaluated on the same extensive metrics, which include skills, job fit, references, and a Myers-Briggs-like assessment. We-know-and-like-the-guy is just one criterion, so spouses don't always win the job. Seraphic recently rejected the wife of a team member who applied for a customer-service position because, Gamble says, "While we had a great feeling for her, the position wasn't the best fit." When that occurs, the hiring manager sits down with the employee to explain why their spouse wasn't chosen. "We need to talk to them proactively and not be afraid of those conversations," Gamble says. The company applies that approach to any situation that carries even the whiff of favoritism. Typically, someone from the leadership team will address the matter in a team meeting. For example, both Gambles took substantial leave this year because of deaths in the family. "I'm sure people were like, 'Oh, my goodness. They got so much time off,'" Gamble says. "Well, it is the same time we would give any of our team members under the circumstances. These things being left unsaid fester." Of course, if a relationship goes sour, that could make office life uncomfortable. There have been no divorces among Seraphic's co-working employees. But in the event of one, the separating couple would decide who stays or goes, Gamble says. A parent has shared an important reminder not to parent-shame this winter if you see a young child without a heavy winter jacket - because it may have to do with safety. According to the PSA, shared on Reddit and up-voted more than 2,000 times, the explanation for babies or toddlers who appear inappropriately dressed for cold weather often has to do with maintaining the effectiveness of their car seats. If youre out and about and see a parent with a baby/toddler who isnt wearing a coat, please dont assume that parent is some kind of monster who doesnt care if their kids freeze, the post reads. New car seat guidelines avidly warn against children wearing coats in car seats - and this makes it really challenging for caregivers (particularly those with multiple small children) to get kids out of the house then in the car then out of the car again and into the destination. Recommended Everything you need to know about the new UK child car seat laws The post then describes the various solutions parents employ to deal with the issue - such as blankets or lots of warm layers, gloves and hats. So what Im trying to say is, cut parents some slack, the post concludes. Were trying. And were doing everything we can to make sure our kids are warm while maintaining our sanity. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP): As a general rule, bulky clothing, including winter coats and snowsuits, should not be worn underneath the harness of a car seat. This is because if a car crash were to occur, fluffy padding would flatten out from the force and leave extra space in the harness, which could allow a child to be thrown from the seat. Even if straps appear tight on a winter jacket, there is likely excess room that could endanger a child. The reminder has resonated with many other parents, who have also struggled with the dilemma of properly attiring their children only to have to remove the layers each time they are placed in a car seat. Omg! This! I was totally mum-shamed at Costco. It was warm inside and I carried her in wrapped in my coat and a lady had to comment not just once but THREE times, one mum responded. The ten best children's car seats Show all 10 1 /10 The ten best children's car seats The ten best children's car seats 584790.bin The ten best children's car seats 584791.bin The ten best children's car seats 584792.bin The ten best children's car seats 584793.bin The ten best children's car seats 584794.bin The ten best children's car seats 584795.bin The ten best children's car seats 584796.bin The ten best children's car seats 584797.bin The ten best children's car seats 584798.bin The ten best children's car seats 584799.bin Another said: Thank you for giving me piece of mind. I worried if I was a bad mum by doing this but Id rather them be slightly chilly for 10 seconds than to be severely hurt if we were ever in an accident and they had their bulky coats on. "Thank you. I've been trying to figure this out and getting dirty looks in the mean time. I've tried blanket (what a joke with a squirmy baby), the coat shuffle, and wrapping her in my coat. I've yet to find the perfect solution," someone else commented. Other parents have shared their tips for keeping children warm in the car and outside while also keeping them safe. Child car seat safety video released by ROSPA I ended up taking a fleece blanket and cutting a neck hole for him to wear as a poncho - no sewing involved! one mum wrote. Now the only comments I get are I need one of those from other mums. Another said she made one by sewing together two layers of fleece with a layer of flannel in between - while others suggested brands who make car seat-safe ponchos. In addition to ponchos, the AAP recommends hats, gloves, and blankets to keep a child warm in their car seat - but reminds parents to put any extra layers on top after the children are secured in the car seat. According to the AAP, you can generally tell if your child is safely strapped into a car seat by pinching the harness. If you can pinch the straps between your fingers, it needs to be tightened. Apart from shaming over lack of winter coats, other parents have also added to the PSA, suggesting that parents not be criticised if their children are outside without gloves and hats. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events See also hats and gloves outside. Yes her little hands are cold. Yes I have mittens for her. No she wont keep them on for more than 17 seconds, one parent wrote. A student newspaper editor has called for the word faggot to be censored from The Pogues popular song "Fairytale of New York" over claims it is offensive. Tom Haynes, the assistant editor of The Tab, shared his opinion about the classic Christmas song in an article titled: Dear straight people, stop singing the word faggot in 'Fairytale of New York' - which has since divided people on social media. According to Haynes, the line in question, sung by Kirsty MacColl, you scumbag, you maggot, you cheap lousy faggot, is homophobic - but despite being censored on some stations, including the BBC and MTV channels, continues to be sung by straight people when it comes on. Only when you take a step back does something seem off with that picture in 2018, Haynes wrote. He also points out that, despite being repurposed by the gay community, the slur can evoke very specific memories of being bullied either online or in real life and is comparable to the n-word. Haynes concludes by suggesting that people simply skip the word when singing the 1987 song - which has faced lyrical controversy numerous times in the years since it was released. Thats all - one word, two syllables. Not too much of a stretch, right? he wrote. The response to Haynes critique of the beloved Christmas song has been varied - with some disagreeing and labelling the editor a snowflake millennial, and others recognising that he has a point. Fairytale of New York deemed controversial over lyrics (YouTube) According to some people on social media, who have defended the use of the word in the song, faggot has a different meaning in old Irish slang. I wont be refraining from singing the lyric cheap, lousy faggot in 'Fairytale of New York' because its not in reference to any homophobic intent - in old Irish faggot simply means a lazy person, one person wrote. You scumbag, you maggot: Pogues' 'Fairytale of New York' contender for Christmas number one Show all 10 1 /10 You scumbag, you maggot: Pogues' 'Fairytale of New York' contender for Christmas number one You scumbag, you maggot: Pogues' 'Fairytale of New York' contender for Christmas number one 117007631.jpg Getty Images You scumbag, you maggot: Pogues' 'Fairytale of New York' contender for Christmas number one 3067197.jpg Getty Images You scumbag, you maggot: Pogues' 'Fairytale of New York' contender for Christmas number one Untitled-1.jpg Screengrab You scumbag, you maggot: Pogues' 'Fairytale of New York' contender for Christmas number one 3303217.jpg Getty Images You scumbag, you maggot: Pogues' 'Fairytale of New York' contender for Christmas number one 3280949.jpg Getty Images You scumbag, you maggot: Pogues' 'Fairytale of New York' contender for Christmas number one image1254838383394330318.jpg You scumbag, you maggot: Pogues' 'Fairytale of New York' contender for Christmas number one image7664505357406317080.jpg You scumbag, you maggot: Pogues' 'Fairytale of New York' contender for Christmas number one image4123108824518265116.jpg You scumbag, you maggot: Pogues' 'Fairytale of New York' contender for Christmas number one 2483084.jpg Getty Images You scumbag, you maggot: Pogues' 'Fairytale of New York' contender for Christmas number one image6987695139660220541.jpg Another said: Snowflakes left right and centre saying 'Fairytale of New York' is homophobic when in reality the cheap lousy faggot line is in reference to laziness. However, others agreed with Haynes opinion and the suggestion that the word should be omitted from the song - including RTE DJ Eoghan McDermott, who recently brought up the debate on Twitter after he announced he agreed the song should be censored. According to McDermott, he made the decision after asking two gay members of his team how they feel about the song - with both agreeing the use of the word is inappropriate. "One favours censoring, the other outright not playing it. Neither like it. Simples," McDermott tweeted. "The fact this song is a classic isn't a strong enough defence to not at least censor it. We censor s**t, f***, a**, weed and loads of other comparatively benign words in songs. It's not a big ask." And others pointed out that, despite a different meaning, the word may still be considered offensive. "I honestly cannot see the obsession with straight people needing to be allowed to say faggot in 'Fairytale of New York'? Is it a power thing? If you feel oppressed not being allowed to say it, imagine how it feels being on the receiving end of it," one person said. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events Another tweeted: "As someone who got called a lot of names in the 90's at school, faggot did not mean lazy. And the Pogues were British-Irish, gigging in London. In 'Fairytale of New York,' the idea that faggot wasn't abusive is a transparent attempt to rewrite history." Facebook has been fined almost 9m by Italian authorities for misleading users about how it used their data. Italys competition watchdog handed the social media giant two fines totalling 10m (8.9m), the first for misleadingly encouraging people to sign up without informing them in an immediate and adequate way of how their data would be sold to third parties. The second fine was for aggressively discouraging users from trying to limit how the company shared their personal information, by telling them that doing so risked them experiencing significant limitations. The fine dwarfs the 500,000 fine imposed on the social network by the British Information Commissioners Office earlier this year for breaking data laws. Italys AGCM consumer and market watchdog also said in a statement that Facebook does not make clear to users that the social network makes money from data, simply stressing the fact that its free. It ordered Facebook to publish a corrective statement to all users on the desktop site and mobile apps. The data at the centre of the ruling was harvested from a personality quiz app downloaded by hundreds of thousands of people in Italy. As permitted by Facebooks rules at the time, the app gathered details about users Facebook friends without their knowledge. The data was then allegedly used by British firm Cambridge Analytica, which filed for bankruptcy earlier this year, and is now facing damages claims totalling more than 40bn from Facebook users whose personal information was allegedly misused by the firm. Facebook Hack: 50 million people's acounts exposed by major mistake in social network's code, company admits Professor David Carroll told the High Court in London he was suing the company for up to 20,000 in damages under the Data Protection Act, over what his solicitor described as "Cambridge Analytica's misuse of his data". Prof Carroll's solicitor, Ravi Naik of ITN Solicitors, said in a witness statement he represented "numerous others" bringing similar claims against the company. Prof Carroll "has a claim of between 5,000 and 20,000 in respect of Cambridge Analytica's misuse of his data", Mr Naik said, and referred to Facebook's estimate that Cambridge Analytica had harvested up to 87 million users' data. How to stop Facebook from revealing everything about you Show all 9 1 /9 How to stop Facebook from revealing everything about you How to stop Facebook from revealing everything about you Lock your profile down If you havent done this already, do it now. In Settings, hit the Privacy tab. From here, you can control who gets to see your future posts and friends list. Choose from Public, Friends, Only Me and Custom in the dropdown menu. How to stop Facebook from revealing everything about you Limit old posts Annoyingly, changing this has no effect on whos able to see your past Facebook posts. Instead, on the Privacy page, you have to click on Limit Past Posts, then select Limit Old Posts and finally hit Confirm on the pop-up. How to stop Facebook from revealing everything about you Make yourself harder to find You can stop completely random people from adding you by selecting Friends of Friends from the dropdown menu in the Who can send you friend requests? section of the Privacy page. Its also worth limiting who can find your Facebook profile with your number and email address. At the bottom of the page is the option to prevent search engines outside of Facebook from linking to your profile. How to stop Facebook from revealing everything about you Control access to your Timeline You can limit who gets to post things on your Timeline and who gets to see posts on your Timeline too. In Settings, go to Timeline and Tagging and edit the sections you want to lock down. How to stop Facebook from revealing everything about you Block people When you block someone, they wont be able to see things you post on your Timeline, tag you, invite you to events or groups, start conversations with you or add you as a friend. To do it, go to Settings and Blocking. Annoyingly, you have to block people on Messenger separately. You can also add friends to your Restricted list here, which means theyll still be friends with you but will only be able to see your public posts and things you share on a mutual friend's Timeline. How to stop Facebook from revealing everything about you Review tags One of Facebooks handiest privacy features is the ability to review posts youre tagged in before they appear on your Timeline. Theyll still be visible on the News Feed while theyre fresh, but wont be tied to your profile forever. In Timeline and Tagging, enable Timeline review controls. How to stop Facebook from revealing everything about you Clean up your apps You can view a list of all of the apps youve connected to your Facebook account by going to Settings and Apps. The list might be longer than you expected it to be. Its worth tidying this up to ensure things you no longer use lose access to your personal information. If you dont want to log into websites and apps with your facebook account, scroll down and turn Platform off. How to stop Facebook from revealing everything about you Change your ad preferences You can view a list of everything Facebook thinks youre into and tinker with your ad preferences by going to Settings and Adverts. A lot more information is displayed on the desktop site than the app, so wed recommend doing this on a computer. How to stop Facebook from revealing everything about you Download your data Facebook lets you download all of the data it has on you, including the posts youve shared, your messages and photos, ads youve clicked on and even the IP addresses that are logged when you log in or out of the site. Its a hell of a lot of information, which you should download to ensure you never over-share on the social network again. "Even if one conservatively uses the lowest end of the range, both in number and value of each claim, and calculates on the basis of 10 per cent of the estimated 87 million affected Facebook users only, with claims of 5,000 each against Cambridge Analytica, that still implies a total potential claim value of 43.5bn," he said. Of the Italian fine, a Facebook spokesperson said: We are reviewing the authoritys decision and hope to work with them to resolve their concerns. This year we made our terms and policies clearer to help people understand how we use data and how our business works. We also made our privacy settings easier to find and use, and were continuing to improve them. You own and control your personal information on Facebook. Google is working to reduce gender bias in its Google Translate tool after it was accused of sexism for automatically translating sentences to include masculine pronouns. Translations from English into French, Italian, Portuguese or Spanish will also now provide a feminine alternative as well as a masculine one for gendered words such as strong or beautiful. In the past, Google's algorithm had to choose between masculine or feminine when translating a word - automatically defaulting to masculine in many instances. Additionally, the tool will offer gender-specific translations for phrases and sentences from Turkish to English. Recommended Google removes pronouns from Gmail feature The update comes after two Stanford University professors pointed out that the artificial intelligence used by Google Translate was converting news articles written in Spanish to English by changing phrases referring to women into he said or he wrote. Flawed algorithms can amplify biases through feedback loops, professors James Zou and Londa Schiebinger wrote in a paper titled AI can be sexist and racist - its time to make it fair. Each time a translation program defaults to he said, it increases the relative frequency of the masculine pronoun on the web - potentially reversing hard-won advances toward equality. The issue occurred when translating to languages where words are gendered as well - with words such as doctor changing to masculine and nurse changing to feminine. Google is reducing gender bias in its Translate tool (Google) According to Google, the flaw, which inadvertently replicated gender biases that already existed, was learned from already-translated examples online. Google Assistant tips and tricks Show all 7 1 /7 Google Assistant tips and tricks Google Assistant tips and tricks Delete everything Google knows about you Google Assistant remembers everything youve used it for and stores the information to do things like remember your interests and give more personalized responses. However, if that makes you uncomfortable, you can see and delete the data by visiting https://myactivity.google.com/myactivity. Google Assistant tips and tricks Disable Okay Google Okay Google and Hey Google are Google Assistants hands-free wake phrases, but you can disable them and instead activate the virtual helper by tapping and holding your phones home button. To turn off Okay Google, tap and hold your phones home button, hit the Explore & Your Stuff icon in the top right of the popup window, select More and then Settings. After that, tap the phone section and disable "OK Google" Detection. Google Assistant tips and tricks Unlock your phone with Okay Google You can also go the other way by giving Google Assistant more control over your phone. You can use one of the wake phrases to actually unlock your phone hands-free, but Google warns that doing this can make your phone less secure, as a similar voice or recording of your own voice could be used to access your device. If youre happy to take the risk, touch and hold your phones home button, tap Explore & Your Stuff, More, Settings and the phone section. Once youve enabled OK Google Detection, you can do the same for Access and Unlock, the option immediately below it. Google Assistant tips and tricks Create shortcuts You can set up Google Assistant shortcuts that can let you streamline your commands. Saying something like workout time, for instance, can be used as a way to get the virtual helper to play music, and goodnight can tell it turn off your lights. To set one up, touch and hold your phones home button, tap Explore & Your Stuff, Your Stuff, Shortcuts and Create New Shortcut. After that, enter the phrase youll say to Google Assistant, and what you want your Google Assistant to do when you use the phrase. If youre in need of inspiration, browse through a list of popular shortcuts by going back to the previous page. Google Assistant tips and tricks Use Assistant through Home Google Assistant is arguably most useful when you access it through Google Home, the companys smart speaker. This is because it can be hooked up to multiple Google accounts and is capable of recognising the different users voices. As well as being good for privacy, this means each member of a household gets an experience that has been personalised to their preferences and interests. To add an account to Home, open the Google Home app, make sure your phone is connected to the same Wi-Fi network as the Google Home you want to connect to, tap the Menu icon, Devices and find the device card of the Google Home you'd like to link to your voice. From the device card, tap the blue banner labelled Multi User is Now Available or Link Your Account, hit Continue and follow the prompts to teach Google Home to recognise your voice. To invite other people to link their Google Account & voice for tailored results, tap Invite. Google Assistant tips and tricks Hook up your Spotify and Netflix accounts You can control Spotify through Google Assistant by linking your account to Google Home. Open the Google Home app, hit Menu, Account preferences, Media Accounts and select Spotify. The exact same process applies for your Netflix account. Google Assistant tips and tricks Control what you share Once youve linked your Google Account and voice to a shared Google Home, other people can access your music and video services using Google Assistant voice commands. If youre not comfortable with this, you can ask them to link their own music and video accounts to Google Home. All they need to do is open the Google Home app on their phone, tap Menu and Music and choose their favourite compatible music service, or tap Menu, More Settings, Videos and Photos and choose their favourite compatible video service. People whose Google accounts arent linked to your Google Home will, however, still be able to play content from the default music and video services of the first person that linked their Google account and voice to the device. After acknowledging and remedying the issue, the tech giant announced its plans to extend the gender-specific translations to more languages as well as launch it on its other Translate surfaces such as IOS and Android. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events The company also said it was thinking about how to address non-binary gender in translations - but did not have immediate plans on how to do so. Broadband customers who stay with the same provider and do not haggle for a better deal are being hit with loyalty penalties of up to 220 a year, a consumer group has warned. Which? found that in some cases consumers would be better taking up a new superfast broadband contract rather than staying loyal to their provider without haggling as it would work out cheaper over the course of a year. BT customers are at risk of paying the biggest loyalty premium 220 of the eight major providers, the watchdog said. The average annual broadband bill paid by a loyal BT customer is 540 a year compared to 372 for those customers who haggled 160 more than the providers cheapest fibre deal for a superfast connections, its survey suggests. But new customers who take up a contract for standard broadband with BT now will pay just under 320 a year until their contract is up, usually at least 18 months. Broadband providers advertise cheap introductory deals to entice new customers, who often do not switch away even after seeing a substantial price hike at the end of the contract. Which? found 72 per cent of broadband customers have been with their provider for more than two years. Virgin Media had the second highest loyalty premium, with a 191 difference between its cheapest current deal and the average yearly cost for loyal customers. Long-time customers were paying 540 on average but those who negotiated a better deal saved an average of 156. TalkTalks new customers paid about 85 less than loyal customers, while Plusnet customers who haggled were paying 48 less on average than those who did not at 252. Alex Neill, Which? managing director of home products and services, said: Broadband customers will be appalled that not only could they be paying through the nose simply for being loyal to their provider but that they could, in some cases, also get a much faster internet connection for a fraction of the price that they are currently paying. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events If you are willing to negotiate and happy with your current service, haggling might get you a good discount, but researching the deals available and switching is the best way to ensure youre on a good value tariff. Which? surveyed 3,131 members about their standalone broadband in October 2018. PA Theresa May's plans to curb immigration after Brexit could result in businesses collapsing and jobs being lost, the head of the CBI has warned. Carolyn Fairbairn said measures aimed at restricting low-skilled immigration could be as damaging to the economy as the oil price shock in the 1970s. The CBI director-general also warned about the impact of a no-deal Brexit, claiming it would require dramatic decisions about what urgent supplies were able to arrive through Dover. The prime minister used her speech at the CBI conference in November to claim her new immigration system would stop EU workers being able to jump the queue to get into the UK and would instead be based on skills rather than where migrants come from. She later said: I should not have used that language in that speech. Ms Fairbairn acknowledged there werereal issues of public trust in the immigration system and the need to improve training for British youngsters. But she told The House magazine: We do have real concerns about a rhetoric and a policy from government that appears to be shutting off, or indicating they will shut off, all so-called low skilled people coming into the UK. The impact of doing that would be so damaging for our economy and I think it is underestimated how big a shock that would be. Some have equated it to the oil price shock of the 1970s. If the change happened overnight it would see businesses go under and we would lose jobs rather than create jobs for our population. She added: I do think we need to be incredibly careful about the language we use. The idea that we would be talking about EU workers in our country in derogatory terms I think is something that certainly our business community would really like to see stop. The CBI has repeatedly warned about the prospect of a no-deal Brexit. With the vote on Mrs May's Brexit deal looming on 11 December, Ms Fairbairn said: What business is saying to parliamentarians is this is a moment to make hard choices, to put pragmatism and jobs and employment and growth ahead of ideology and go for a compromise that delivers much of what we need. On the possibility of a no-deal outcome, she said: We know that there would be constraints, particularly on Dover, and there could be up to 80% capacity restriction. What gets through? Is it fresh food, in which case what does that mean for automotive parts? What do we do about pharmaceuticals? We know that the chemicals to purify our water industry only last for six weeks and can't be refrigerated. So, we would have some really quite dramatic decisions to take. PA UK house price growth in November marked the lowest rate recorded in six years, according to the latest Halifax House Price Index. Property prices in the three months from September to November fell 1.1 per cent compared with the preceding quarter, while prices dropped 1.4 per cent between October and November. Meanwhile, the rate of growth dropped to 0.3 per cent, the lowest rate since December 2012. Russell Galley, managing director at Halifax, said: High employment, wage growth and historically low mortgage rates continue to make home ownership more affordable for many, though the need to raise a significant deposit still acts as something of a restraint on the market. This is largely offset by relatively limited supply of new and existing properties for sale, which continues to sustain house prices nationally. A number of property experts said continued uncertainty around Brexit was weighing on the market, with people unwilling to make decisions on property purchases while the future of the countrys economy is still unclear. Mike Scott, chief property analyst at estate agent Yopa, said: The usual Christmas slowdown in the housing market has started early this year, as people wait for the outcome of the current political turmoil before making long-term commitments, such as buying a new home. Jeremy Leaf, a north London estate agent and a former residential chairman of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, said: Looking forward, we dont expect activity to change much, bearing in mind seasonal and political distractions. On the ground, lethargy is replacing energy. Gary Barker, chief executive of proptech company Reapit, also predicted a continuation of the current subdued performance. Transactions have been flat for the past three years, and caution is likely to remain whilst Brexit remains unfinished. Furthermore, if Brexit stalls, or more significant uncertainty over the government develops, it will be a painful road ahead, he said. Mr Barker said that there could be room for optimism: We are seeing house price reduction in some areas, which could make property more affordable and also boost the economy by increasing spending power and buying capacity. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events If the Brexit deal passes through parliament, we could potentially see a much more confident market, resulting in more transactions, fewer withdrawals, and increased prices. However, he added: If the Bank of Englands forecast of a 30 per cent drop in house prices comes to fruition following a no-deal Brexit, the balance of the market will shift dramatically. Although transactions may reduce significantly, with depressed prices discouraging sellers from listing their properties, low prices will put buyers back in control. First-time buyers, in particular, could benefit from slashed prices, giving them a leg-up onto the property ladder. Additional reporting by newswires The price of oil jumped by as much as 5.4 per cent on Friday after it emerged that the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries had agreed to reduce output by 1.2 million barrels per day. The oil producing nations had been expected to agree to a reduction in production on Thursday at its meeting in Vienna. Reaching a deal proved difficult as sanctions-hit Iran refused to comply with the output cuts, despite the input of non-Opec member Russia. The stalemate led the oil price to fall - the commodity had previously dropped by 30 per cent from four-year highs of more than $86 per barrel in October to below $59 at the end of November. However, a second day of talks led to an agreement, providing a boost to the price of Brent crude which rose to $63.25 by mid-afternoon on Friday. Barani Krishnan, senior analyst at Investing.com, said it was natural that oil traders would react as positively to Opecs decision to cut production as they did negatively when the group seemed powerless to reduce even a barrel. He added: However, the market will also be watching for any signs of cheating by OPEC and punish the cartel accordingly. Mr Krishnan said the bigger takeaway is what the Saudi energy minister would possibly have on his mind as he leaves Vienna today; a Russia that has become as powerful to Opec as Riyadh and a US that is now a net exporter of oil. "Furthermore, we've not even gotten to the Khashoggi fallout and likely Trump dismay over these cuts, he added. One can only speculate at this point to how this will play out for the Saudis and their oil business going forward." Donald Trump had called on Opec to leave production unfettered in order to weigh prices down, tweeting ahead of the Vienna meeting: The world does not want to see higher oil prices. Meanwhile, Ashley Kelty, oil & gas research analyst at Cantor Fitzgerald Europe, said that although cutting output by 1.2 million barrels per day was a larger reduction than some had expected, it was still short of what is really required to bring the market back into balance. She said: Our initial snap judgement is that prices will stabilise in the $60-65 per barrel range, as the cuts are likely to be insufficient to stem the near term supply glut, given US output is continuing to rise (albeit at a slower pace due to capacity constraints). Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events It feels like a bit of a fudge, and the absence of the final communique at this late stage suggests that a lot of horse trading has been underway to reach a situation that tries to appeal to all parties, whilst ending up with a situation that will appease no-one. Earlier this week, Qatar quit Opec, however, it still attended the meeting in Vienna. An experimental drug which can help beat cannabis withdrawal symptoms that make it hard for heavy users to quit could be in increasing demand as the legalisation movement gains pace, scientists have said. Yale University researchers have found the treatment helped reduce withdrawal symptoms, like sleep disruption, anxiety, and irritability and reduced their cannabis use more than subjects given a placebo. The treatment works by preventing the breakdown of a chemical called anandamide, one of the cannabis-like endocannabinoids naturally occurring in the body that act on the same brain receptors as cannabis. A much larger clinical trial is now underway to get a better picture of its effectiveness before it can apply to be licensed, but the researchers said the initial signs show it could help users quit. With an increase of marijuana legalisation efforts, it is reasonable to expect an increase in demand for treatment, and right now we dont have any medications to help individuals trying to quit, said Professor Deepak Cyril DSouza, one of the study's authors. Recommended Majority of British public back legalising cannabis A lot of other drugs have been tested for their ability to reduce cannabis use and withdrawal, but until now none have been consistently shown to work against both withdrawal symptoms and relapse, he added. There is debate about how prevalent cannabis addiction is, while it can cause psychological and physical symptoms of withdrawal much of the research is muddied by cannabis being smoked with tobacco in joints. Current estimates are that 9 per cent of users meet the criteria for cannabis dependence disorder which the American Psychiatric Association defines as use leading to risky behaviour, functional or social impairment and withdrawal. Worldwide this is thought to affect 13 million people, but as many as a third of US users by some assessments. More than 250,000 people were admitted for cannabis abuse treatment in 2016 but only a fraction achieve long-term recovery. The Yale researchers findings, published in the journal Lancet Psychiatry, tested their treatment in 70 men, as the toxicity of the drug in women has not been assessed yet, who smoked more than three joints a day on average. It works by inhibiting an enzyme, called fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) and allowing anandamide to build up, which the Yale researchers theorised could offset the cannabis withdrawal. To test this they measured sleep patterns as well as cannabis use, via urine test, and asked users to assess the quality of their sleep, mood and cravings. Currently only substitution therapies have shown much success in tackling withdrawal, but they often involve drugs that can also be abused or increase the risk of relapse. 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 Throughout the trial men receiving reported better sleep and less anxiety and depression. Measurements taken during sleep showed that patients receiving the placebo began to get significantly less deep sleep at night, immediately after the abstinence period began, while the treatment group improved. Professor DSouza and his team suggest that this sleep disruption could be a key factor which undermines patients ability to sleep. While further tests are needed to validate these results, and to test things like memory or functional impairment and how long lasting the effects are, the treatment holds promises and is unlikely to lead to abuse. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events Anandamide is to cannabis as endorphins are to heroin, Prof D'Souza said. "Unlike cannabis or its principal active constituent delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), FAAH inhibitors do not appear to have psychoactive or rewarding effects, and are therefore not likely to be abused." Research News Organizations with broad social ties improve outcomes for communities recovering from natural disasters By BERT GAMBINI Communities come together following a disaster, but its a lot to ask of a small isolated organization, like a local church, when a government already has that megaphone. Communities recovering from natural disasters often see an increase in the number of businesses and non-profits that develop in the wake of the cleanup, but that apparent growth doesnt necessarily counterweigh the accompanying rise in poverty levels in areas transformed by events such as storms, earthquakes and wildfires. These emerging businesses can improve the economic well-being of post-disaster communities, but whats true for businesses is not always the case for other types of community organizations, according to the results of a new study by a UB-led research team. We found that community organizations, like churches, that are focused on their own needs during disasters do not block out the increase in poverty rates, says Kevin Smiley, assistant professor of sociology and the papers lead author. These organizations are an important part of the recovery and are effective on a small scale, but counties with increasing numbers of advocacy organizations, such as local environmental groups, political organizations and human rights groups, tend to have a better recovery in terms of economic inequality. The findings suggest that the most equitable recoveries are in those places where organizations that have a broad, crosscutting presence are located, and Smiley says that in order to encourage a wide economic recovery, communities should think about activating advocacy organizations that reach across diverse populations. In California, after the last of the fires has been put out, and the affected communities come together in their recovery, these broad-based organizations can help in a more equitable disaster recovery its not just the economic; its the social, says Smiley. Governments are uniquely positioned to help accomplish this. These organizations represent the democratic possibility; they are the institutions in which we imbue our collective spirit and they have the best opportunity to reach people. Communities come together following a disaster, but its a lot to ask of a small isolated organization, like a local church, when a government already has that megaphone, he says. One of the curiosities of this research is that every community in the United States can learn from its findings well, almost every community. Natural hazards accompanied by property damage not just headline-grabbers like hurricanes and floods, but events such as hail, winter weather or severe thunderstorms have occurred in all but one of the nations 3,137 counties. Only rural Lyman County in South Dakota was untouched by a damaging event between 1998 and 2015, the timeframe Smiley and colleagues examined for the study, which was published in the journal Population and Environment. These events are happening nearly everywhere in the country, Smiley says. Given that prevalence, its important to understand whats happening long-term and how to help communities recover. The research team, including James Elliott, professor of sociology at Rice University, and Junia Howell, an urban sociologist at the University of Pittsburgh, was motivated by how people come together after disasters to rebuild, and how disasters have uneven impacts, like rising social, income and neighborhood inequalities. In the time span we studied, the average U.S. county experienced a total of $100 million in property damage from natural hazards, says Elliott. This means the growing frequency and severity of natural hazards is an issue that every local community must consider. The analysis relies on data from the Spatial Hazard Events and Losses Database, a county-level collection of information on damages in the U.S. from natural hazards. By looking at all counties in the United States across an 18-year period, this study is able to demonstrate how all places not just those hit by mega disasters are being affected by natural hazards and how organizations respond to them, Smiley says. Swine flu is expected to be the dominant strain of flu this winter, health experts have stated. They warned the spread of swine flu could pose a particular risk to young people and pregnant women. The H1N1 virus, commonly known as swine flu, caused a pandemic across the world between 2009 and 2010. While the World Health Organisation declared the pandemic officially over in 2010, this winter could see a rise in flu cases attributed to the virus. On Thursday, HSE assistant national director of health protection Kevin Kelleher presented the Irish health services winter plan. He explained swine flu will be the dominant strain of flu this winter, and said the HSE was exploring how it would help people affected by the virus. Swine flu does not generally pose a greater threat than other strains of flu. However, it can have a more significant impact on the wellbeing of individuals who are especially vulnerable, such as pregnant women. Its the same strain which caused the pandemic virus 10 years ago, Mr Kelleher said, according to The Times. It impacts younger people and pregnant people and they are more likely to end up [in intensive care] if they present in hospital with the flu. Anne OConnor, deputy director of the HSEs general operations, also explained that the number of people admitted to hospital with cases of swine flu this winter could put a strain on the Irish healthcare system this year. Its important to note that we are already in a very stretched system, she said. So our acute hospitals currently work at an occupancy level of about 96 per cent. We know this year that our attendances have been high, we know we have a high level of delayed charges. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events A vaccine for swine flu is different to a typical flu jab, as the NHS explains. The vaccine is offered first to individuals who are at greater risk of becoming seriously ill if they catch the virus, including anyone who has a long-term health condition and pregnant women. The symptoms of swine flu are similar to those of other forms of the virus. They include having a temperature above 38C, having muscle or joint pain, having a headache, having a runny or blocked nose and feeling tired. The NHS recommends anyone fit and healthy who is experiencing symptoms similar to those mentioned should rest at home and wait for the illness to subside. However, those who fall into one of the vulnerable groups, are advised to visit their doctor for further advice. Scientists have found a strange planet, deep in space, that is like a vast balloon. The bizarre world has a helium-filled atmosphere and has bunched up into the shape of a balloon. It was discovered by researchers who spotted the gas coming out of the world just as a helium balloon might escape from a persons hand. The planet is 124 light years from Earth and was discovered by an international team of researchers led by academics at the University of Geneva in Switzerland. Dr Jessica Spake, from the University of Exeters physics and astronomy department, said: This is a really exciting discovery, particularly as helium was only detected in exoplanet atmospheres for the first time earlier this year. 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 The observations show helium being blasted away from the planet by radiation from its host star. Hopefully we can use this new study to learn what types of planets have large envelopes of hydrogen and helium, and how long they can hold the gases in their atmospheres. Recommended More than 100 new exoplanets found The planet, which is around the same size as Neptune, has been named HAT-P-11b and is in the Cygnus constellation. As part of the study, researchers used a spectrograph in Spain to measure how much light the planet blocked from its host star when it passed in front of it. The instrument then pulled apart the stars light into its component colours, like a rainbow. As helium absorbs light of a specific wavelength, the researchers detected a large cloud of the gas surrounding the planet blocking out much more light than the planet itself. Computer simulations were used to track the trajectory of the helium atoms. Recommended NASA scientist says aliens may have already been to Earth Vincent Bourrier, who led the computer simulation, said: Helium is blown away from the day side of the planet to its night side at over 10,000kph. Because it is such a light gas, it escapes easily from the attraction of the planet and forms an extended cloud all around it. It is this phenomenon that gives it the balloon shape. The planets upper atmosphere is 20 times closer to its star than the Earth is from the Sun. Romain Allart, a University of Geneva PhD student and first author of the study, said: We suspected that this proximity with the star could impact the atmosphere of this exoplanet. The new observations are so precise that the exoplanet atmosphere is undoubtedly inflated by the stellar radiation and escapes to space. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events The research team believe the study could lead to a greater understanding of extreme atmospheric conditions around the hottest exoplanets. Helium was only successfully found in the atmosphere of an exoplanet, which is a planet outside our solar system, earlier this year in a study led by University of Exeter researchers. Additional reporting by agencies Extreme global warming that left ocean animals unable to breathe triggered Earths biggest ever mass extinction, according to new research. Around 95 per cent of marine species and 70 per cent of life on land was wiped out in the event often referred to as The Great Dying, which struck 252 million years ago Previous studies have linked it with a series of massive volcanic eruptions in Siberia that filled the atmosphere with greenhouse gases. But precisely what made the oceans so inhospitable to life has remained an unanswered question until now. The new study, reported in the journal Science, suggests as temperatures soared the warmer water could not hold enough oxygen for most marine creatures to survive. 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 Lessons from the Great Dying have major implications for the fate of todays warming world, say the US scientists. If greenhouse gas emissions continue unchecked, ocean warming could reach 20 per cent of the level experienced in the late Permian by 2100, they point out. By the year 2300 it could reach between 35 and 50 per cent of the Great Dying extreme. This study highlights the potential for a mass extinction arising from a similar mechanism under anthropogenic [human caused] climate change, said lead researcher Justin Penn, a doctoral student at the University of Washington. Before the Siberian eruptions created a greenhouse-gas planet, the Earths oceans had temperatures and oxygen levels similar to those present today. In a series of computer simulations, the scientists raised greenhouse gases to match conditions during the Great Dying, causing surface ocean temperatures to increase by around 10C. The model triggered dramatic changes in the oceans, which lost around 80 per cent of their oxygen. Roughly half the ocean floor, mostly at deeper depths, became completely devoid of the life-sustaining gas. The researchers studied published data on 61 modern marine species including crustaceans, fish, shellfish, corals and sharks, to see how well they could tolerate such conditions. These findings were incorporated into the model to produce an extinction map. Very few marine organisms stayed in the same habitats they were living in it was either flee or perish, said co-author Dr Curtis Deutsch, also from the University of Washington. 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Show all 10 1 /10 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A group of emperor penguins face a crack in the sea ice, near McMurdo Station, Antarctica Kira Morris 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Floods destroyed eight bridges and ruined crops such as wheat, maize and peas in the Karimabad valley in northern Pakistan, a mountainous region with many glaciers. In many parts of the world, glaciers have been in retreat, creating dangerously large lakes that can cause devastating flooding when the banks break. Climate change can also increase rainfall in some areas, while bringing drought to others. Hira Ali 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Smoke filled with the carbon that is driving climate change drifts across a field in Colombia. Sandra Rondon 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Amid a flood in Islampur, Jamalpur, Bangladesh, a woman on a raft searches for somewhere dry to take shelter. Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable places in the world to sea level rise, which is expected to make tens of millions of people homeless by 2050. Probal Rashid 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Sindh province in Pakistan has experienced a grim mix of two consequences of climate change. Because of climate change either we have floods or not enough water to irrigate our crop and feed our animals, says the photographer. Picture clearly indicates that the extreme drought makes wide cracks in clay. Crops are very difficult to grow. Rizwan Dharejo 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Hanna Petursdottir examines a cave inside the Svinafellsjokull glacier in Iceland, which she said had been growing rapidly. Since 2000, the size of glaciers on Iceland has reduced by 12 per cent. Tom Schifanella 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A river once flowed along the depression in the dry earth of this part of Bangladesh, but it has disappeared amid rising temperatures. Abrar Hossain 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A shepherd moves his herd as he looks for green pasture near the village of Sirohi in Rajasthan, northern India. The region has been badly affected by heatwaves and drought, making local people nervous about further predicted increases in temperature. Riddhima Singh Bhati 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A factory in China is shrouded by a haze of air pollution. The World Health Organisation has warned such pollution, much of which is from the fossil fuels that cause climate change, is a public health emergency. Leung Ka Wa 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Water levels in reservoirs, like this one in Gers, France, have been getting perilously low in areas across the world affected by drought, forcing authorities to introduce water restrictions. Mahtuf Ikhsan The simulation showed the hardest hit species were those found far from the tropics and most sensitive to oxygen loss. Data from the fossil record confirmed a similar extinction pattern was seen during The Great Dying. Tropical species already adapted to warm, low-oxygen conditions were better able to find a new home elsewhere. But no such escape route existed for those adapted to cold, oxygen-rich environments. Previously, experts were undecided about whether lack of oxygen, heat stress, high acidity or poisoning chemicals wiped out life in the oceans at the end of the Permian period. This is the first time that we have made a mechanistic prediction about what caused the extinction that can be directly tested with the fossil record, which then allows us to make predictions about the causes of extinction in the future, said Mr Penn. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events Experts think the Earth is currently going through the sixth mass extinction in its history, an event triggered by humans. Over-exploitation of the planets resources, pollution and climate changes as a result of spiking greenhouse gas emissions have all caused an increase in species extinctions in recent years. Additional reporting by Press Association A suspect in the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence has been sentenced to nine years in prison after he admitted heading up a 3m drugs plot. Jamie Acourt, 42, from Eltham in southeast London, admitted the two-year conspiracy to supply cannabis resin and was jailed at Kingston Crown Court on Friday. Acourt had previously denied conspiracy to supply a class B drug between January 2014 and February 2016, but changed his plea on Thursday following the end of the prosecutions case opening. His 43-year-old brother Neil Acourt had already been jailed for more than six years over the hashish scheme. Jamie had fled to Spain, where he was living under the alias Simon Alfonzo until his arrest in May. Prosecutors believe the brothers were ringleaders and enlisted family members to an operation that saw drugs transported in 600-mile round trips between London and South Shields, Tyne and Wear. Both were previously arrested after the fatal stabbing of 18-year-old Stephen Lawrence in Eltham in 1993, but have always denied involvement. Sentencing, the recorder of Richmond-upon-Thames Judge Peter Lodder QC said a sentence of six years and three months passed on Jamie Acourts brother was lenient and he would not be using it as a benchmark. The judge handed Jamie Acourt a longer sentence despite the fact he was involved in the conspiracy for a shorter time than his sibling. The judge allowed a 10 per cent discount off a 10-year sentence because Acourt withdrew from the conspiracy in May 2015. Jamie Acourt appearing at Westminster Magistrates Court, London (Elizabeth Cook/PA) Acourt looked straight ahead and appeared emotionless as he was jailed. Judge Lodder said: Over a period of just over two years there were at least 34 instances generally a round trip of 600 miles or so in the same day. Whenever any money was collected on returning to southeast London the delivery men would hand the money over to either you or your brother Neil. That you played a leading role is beyond doubt. The delivery men took most of the risks, you and your brother remained in the background receiving the money. From this alone it is clear you were a ringleader. You now accept that over an eight-month period, 25 return journeys took place and 500kg of cannabis resin was supplied. National News The governments complacency over a security deal with the EU is putting public safety at risk, MPs have warned. The Home Affairs Committee said that even if Theresa Mays proposals are accepted by MPs next week, it will be near-impossible to reach an agreement allowing Britain continued access to vital databases by the end of the transition period. And a no-deal Brexit would create a security cliff-edge where police and intelligence agencies would be locked out of EU systems overnight, they added. Yvette Cooper, chair of the committee, said the draft withdrawal agreement would cause a security downgrade. It doesnt include the key criminal databases that the police and border force check 500 million times a year to keep us safe, the Labour MP added. Nor is there a security backstop to make sure that the transition arrangements dont run out before a new security treaty can be implemented. The government isnt being open about the implications of this deal. Continued police and security cooperation is in everyones interest, but there is far too much complacency. Britains continued access to databases including the Schengen Information System (SIS II), which is used by British police 539 million times every year, is still being negotiated as part of a separate security treaty. The draft withdrawal agreement that MPs will vote on next week extends the UKs use of databases, the European Arrest Warrant and other tools until the end of a 21-month transition period. But with the deal opposed by both pro-Remain Tories and Brexiteers, its passage through parliament is uncertain and the government has been mounting what critics have dubbed project fear 2.0 to rally support. Ms Cooper pointed out that the agreement could still see the UK eventually kicked out of Europol and other systems without any assurance of replica arrangements. We know that this would mark a significant downgrade of our security and policing capabilities, and the police have made clear we would be less safe as a result, she added. Parliament votes to allow MPs more control of Brexit if Theresa May's deal falls in Commons Weve heard that it would be impossible to negotiate and ratify a new security treaty before December 2020, yet this deal has no security backstop to ensure continued cooperation once the transition period has ended, and the government still hasnt even set out a timetable outlining when it wants to see a treaty agreed. Ministers have celebrated a political declaration on security cooperation that was agreed by all 27 remaining EU states last week, but the Home Affairs Committee pointed out that it does not include any detail on Europol or access to specific databases. Police are continuing to make contingency plans, with a dedicated unit preparing to train officers who may have to dramatically change the way they work. The National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) said the loss of EU systems would force it to revert to slower, more bureaucratic and less effective tools including Interpol, bilateral channels and Council of Europe conventions. Leaders said that the alternatives will reduce their capability to track terrorists and criminals, share alerts for wanted people, access criminal records, deport suspects or catch those hiding abroad. As well as a loss of intelligence and operational capacity, police are also bracing for potential protests, public disorder and border disruption. John Apter, chair of Police Federation of England and Wales, said: Brexit is an unsettling time for policing. It is therefore vitally important that security and law enforcement, both within the UK and internationally, is a priority. The Home Affairs Committee also condemned the governments troubling lack of clarity about future customs and border arrangements. Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal Show all 13 1 /13 Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal Esther McVey Britain's Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey arrives to attend the weekly meeting of the cabinet at 10 Downing Street in London. - Britain's Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey resigned from the cabinet over draft Brexit deal AFP/Getty Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal PA Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal Dominic Raab British Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab give a press conference at the end of the final round of talks in Brexit negotiations at the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium EPA Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal PA Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal Rehman Chrishti Vice Chairman of the Conservative Party Rehman Chrishti tendered his resignation letter this afternoon PA Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal Anne-Marie Trevelyan Parliamentary private secretary in the Department of Education Anne-Marie Trevelyan resigned stating that she cannot support the deal Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal PA Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal Sam Gyimah Universities minister Sam Gyimah resigned on November 30, claiming the government's decision to pull out of the EU's Galileo satellite navigation system as a deciding factor PA Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal Shailesh Vara Shailesh Vara who has quit as Minister of State for Northern Ireland, saying he cannot support Theresa May's Brexit agreement, which he said "leaves the UK in a halfway house with no time limit on when we will finally be a sovereign nation" PA Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal Suella Braverman Brexit minister Suella Braverman has resigned, stating It is not what the British people, or my constituents, voted for in 2016. Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal Ranil Jayawardena Parliamentary private secretary to the ministry of justice Ranil Jayawardena resigned as he could not back the deal "in good conscience" Members raised concern about an own national exemption for extraditions to the EU during the proposed transition period and questioned what it would mean for victims of rape, child sexual abuse and other serious crimes. Ms Cooper said it was ridiculous that MPs were expected to vote on the deal without seeing the governments Immigration White Paper, which was first promised 18 months ago. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events A Home Office spokesperson said: This deal delivers the broadest security partnership in the EUs history and provides a framework for a future security relationship between the UK and the EU to keep people safe. It is in everyones interests to combine efforts on security and, whilst our relationship with the EU will change, we have agreed to share vitally important information, including passenger name records, DNA, fingerprints and vehicle registration. We will also be establishing a streamlined extradition process so that our law enforcement agencies can quickly investigate and prosecute criminals and terrorists. Jeremy Corbyn has suggested that a second referendum could follow the near-certain defeat of Theresa May's "worst-of-all-worlds" Brexit deal in a Commons showdown next week. The Labour leader said "all options must be on the table" if MPs vote down the prime minister's blueprint on Tuesday, a defeat that could be so catastrophic that it threatens Ms May's leadership and her government. Labour's preferred option is a general election but as the Brexit talks enter the chaotic final stages, senior figures such as shadow chancellor John McDonnell and shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer have paved the way for a shift in stance towards a new public vote. The party has been riven with divisions over its approach to Brexit, as it tries to balance the views of pro-European supporters in cities and Leave voters in its traditional heartlands. In an intervention just days before the meaningful vote, Mr Corbyn urged MPs to reject the prime minister's "botched Brexit deal". Recommended Labour to table no confidence motion if Brexit deal falls Writing in The Guardian, Mr Corbyn said: "In the past, a defeat of such seriousness as May now faces would have meant an automatic election. "But if under the current rules we cannot get an election, all options must be on the table. "Those should include Labours alternative and, as our conference decided in September, the option of campaigning for a public vote to break the deadlock." It comes as Mr McDonnell rejected warnings from influential union boss Len McCluskey that supporting a second referendum would be regarded as a betrayal by voters. He argued that, if Labour's attempt to secure a general election fails and they are not able to negotiate a new deal, the public would understand the potential need for a second vote. Speaking on a visit to Scotland, the shadow chancellor said: "I think people will recognise we would have no other option but to consider another public vote. Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal Show all 13 1 /13 Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal Esther McVey Britain's Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey arrives to attend the weekly meeting of the cabinet at 10 Downing Street in London. - Britain's Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey resigned from the cabinet over draft Brexit deal AFP/Getty Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal PA Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal Dominic Raab British Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab give a press conference at the end of the final round of talks in Brexit negotiations at the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium EPA Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal PA Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal Rehman Chrishti Vice Chairman of the Conservative Party Rehman Chrishti tendered his resignation letter this afternoon PA Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal Anne-Marie Trevelyan Parliamentary private secretary in the Department of Education Anne-Marie Trevelyan resigned stating that she cannot support the deal Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal PA Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal Sam Gyimah Universities minister Sam Gyimah resigned on November 30, claiming the government's decision to pull out of the EU's Galileo satellite navigation system as a deciding factor PA Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal Shailesh Vara Shailesh Vara who has quit as Minister of State for Northern Ireland, saying he cannot support Theresa May's Brexit agreement, which he said "leaves the UK in a halfway house with no time limit on when we will finally be a sovereign nation" PA Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal Suella Braverman Brexit minister Suella Braverman has resigned, stating It is not what the British people, or my constituents, voted for in 2016. Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal Ranil Jayawardena Parliamentary private secretary to the ministry of justice Ranil Jayawardena resigned as he could not back the deal "in good conscience" "People respect us for doing our best to implement the spirit of the referendum result." Labour would "rapidly" reopen negotiations with Brussels, as the EU would be open to exploring other options, he said. Mr McDonnell said: "We believe that next week, when Theresa May's deal is voted down, Parliament will have the opportunity to explore other routes. "We've offered a route that could gain sufficient support and that does mean reopening negotiations rapidly. "It happened with regards to the Lisbon Treaty when a couple of countries had a referendum and took a different view." DUP and Tory rebels have poured cold water over a desperate compromise bid to win over MPs to Theresa Mays Brexit deal, ahead of a Commons showdown which threatens her leadership and her government. Backbench Tories tabled an amendment to next weeks meaningful vote that would give MPs some control over the Irish backstop, a controversial insurance policy which aims to prevent a hard border on the island of Ireland. Under the plans which are said to be sanctioned by Downing Street parliament would decide whether to trigger the backstop arrangement or extend the transition period beyond December 2020. However Brexiteers also dismissed the plans as desperate and DUP leader Arlene Foster rejected the proposal outright, saying domestic tinkering to the withdrawal agreement would not persuade her partys 10 MPs back the government casting further doubt on Ms Mays ability to win the vote. The amendment was tabled by former minister Sir Hugo Swire, backbench MPs Richard Graham and Bob Neill on Thursday night, only hours after the prime minister indicated parliament would choose between entering the backstop or prolonging the transition period after exit day. The backstop plan is loathed by Brexiteers, who believe it keeps the UK too closely tied to Brussels, while Ms May insists it is only an insurance policy as the government plans to secure a trade deal before the backstop is needed. Mr Graham, who sits on the Brexit Committee, said the backstop was and remains the thing that gives colleagues the most concern. He said: What we are trying to achieve is something that gets a lot of support from colleagues and that the government, we hope, will take forward because it will make a real difference to the vote. But former Downing Street legislative affairs director Nikki da Costa cast doubt on the provenance of the amendment, tweeting: I know a government amendment when I see one. Ms Foster, whose party props up the government, said: Domestic legislative tinkering wont cut it. The legally binding international withdrawal treaty would remain fundamentally flawed as evidenced by the attorney generals legal advice. Former Brexit minister Steve Baker, the shop steward for backbench Eurosceptics, said: Giving parliament the choice between the devil and the deep blue sea is desperate and will persuade very few. And Nigel Evans, a senior figure in the European Research Group, tweeted: Note to PM entering the backstop amendments are totally irrelevant and misses the point. We need certainty on leaving the unnecessary backstop answering concerns of the Attorney General. Ministers touring U.K. flogging this dead deal are engaged in worst miss selling since PPI. Ms May has faced calls to postpone Tuesdays vote, with senior Conservative MP Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the backbench 1922 Committee, saying he would welcome the vote being deferred if no solution could be found to differences within the party over the backstop. However the prime minister appears to be pressing ahead and has dispatched 30 ministers including Philip Hammond and health secretary Matt Hancock across the UK on Friday in a final push to sell her Brexit deal. Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal Show all 13 1 /13 Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal Esther McVey Britain's Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey arrives to attend the weekly meeting of the cabinet at 10 Downing Street in London. - Britain's Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey resigned from the cabinet over draft Brexit deal AFP/Getty Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal PA Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal Dominic Raab British Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab give a press conference at the end of the final round of talks in Brexit negotiations at the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium EPA Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal PA Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal Rehman Chrishti Vice Chairman of the Conservative Party Rehman Chrishti tendered his resignation letter this afternoon PA Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal Anne-Marie Trevelyan Parliamentary private secretary in the Department of Education Anne-Marie Trevelyan resigned stating that she cannot support the deal Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal PA Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal Sam Gyimah Universities minister Sam Gyimah resigned on November 30, claiming the government's decision to pull out of the EU's Galileo satellite navigation system as a deciding factor PA Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal Shailesh Vara Shailesh Vara who has quit as Minister of State for Northern Ireland, saying he cannot support Theresa May's Brexit agreement, which he said "leaves the UK in a halfway house with no time limit on when we will finally be a sovereign nation" PA Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal Suella Braverman Brexit minister Suella Braverman has resigned, stating It is not what the British people, or my constituents, voted for in 2016. Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal Ranil Jayawardena Parliamentary private secretary to the ministry of justice Ranil Jayawardena resigned as he could not back the deal "in good conscience" She said: We have delivered a deal that honours the vote of the British people. Ive been speaking to factory workers in Scotland, farmers in Wales and people right across the country, answering their questions about the deal and our future. Overwhelmingly, the message Ive heard is that people want us to get on with it. And thats why its important that ministers are out speaking with communities across the UK today about how the deal works for them. Britain should use the potential damage to the Irish economy, including possible food shortages, to secure a better Brexit deal from the EU, a former cabinet minister has suggested. Priti Patel, the former international development secretary, said the negative impact to Irelands economic infrastructure of a no-deal Brexit should have been exploited by the UK government during negotiations with Brussels. The row came after a leaked government analysis reportedly suggested that Ireland would suffer greater economic damage than the UK if there is a no-deal Brexit. Britain leaving the EU without an agreement would see Ireland hit with a 7 per cent drop in GDP, compared with 5 per cent for the UK, according to papers seen by The Times. Trade in perishables, including food, would be particularly affected. Ms Patel's comments sparked a furious backlash, with other MPs claiming that using food shortages as a bargaining chip was deeply inappropriate, especially given Irelands history of famine. One million people died during the countrys Great Famine between 1845 and 1849. The leaked documents reportedly suggest that this is because Ireland is a more open economy than the UK, accounting for 60 per cent of GDP comprised of goods imports and exports, as opposed to 40 per cent for Great Britain. Ireland is also heavily dependent on trade with the UK, with Britain accounting for 29.1 per cent of Irish imports and 13.1 per cent of exports. Some 80 per cent of goods transported from Ireland to the EU via road also pass through the UK, according to the documents, meaning any fresh border checks would cause challenges and political and social damage. Ms Patel said the government should have used the finding as a tactic during negotiations with the EU. She said: This paper appears to show the government were well aware Ireland will face significant issues in a no-deal scenario. Why hasnt this point been pressed home during the negotiations? There is still time to go back to Brussels and get a better deal. 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 Her comments were swiftly condemned by MPs from other parties. Labours Lisa Nandy said: Threatening Ireland in this way is as morally reprehensible as it is futile. Britain should be showing itself to be a dependable neighbour and friend in the future, and it is frightening that Brexiteers are even contemplating a move which could see stopping trade, including food supplies, being weaponised in this way, particularly given the uncomfortable historical echoes. SNP MP Stewart McDonald said: Its a particularly cruel and historically illiterate type that would think to threaten a friendly neighbouring country that saw 1 million of its citizens die as a result of famine and a further 1 million to emigrate with modern day food shortages. A deeply ugly side of Brexit. Ms Patel said her comments had been taken out of context and that she not referred specifically to the risk of food shortages. Rather, she said, she had been arguing that the consequences of not getting a favourable deal for all should help to focus minds. This article was updated on 11/12/18 John McDonnell has hit back at Len McCluskeys suggestion that Labour should not support a fresh Brexit referendum. The shadow chancellor dismissed the Unite general secretarys opposition to another vote, insisting voters would recognise the need for one if other options are exhausted. In a private meeting earlier this week, Mr McCluskey, a key ally of Jeremy Corbyn, reportedly told Labour MPs that a would been seen as a betrayal of voters. But speaking in Glasgow, Mr McDonnell said the party may have no alternative if its attempts to force a general election fall short. Asked if he agreed with Mr McCluskeys opposition to another referendum he said: No. The shadow chancellor said it was crucial that any Brexit deal protects jobs and the economy, adding: If we cant get that, we need a general election because we can then change the team that will then do the negotiations. If we cant do that, well, I think people will recognise we have no other option but to consider another public vote and people will respect us for doing our best to implement the spirit of the referendum. Weve got to resolve this issue. We cant go on like this. He said it was inevitable that such a vote would be between Ms Mays deal and remaining in the EU, adding: And if it was, I would vote remain. The comments will be seen as evidence of growing support among Labours leadership for the idea of a fresh public vote. Last week, Mr McDonnell said the party would inevitably back a second referendum if it is unable to secure a general election. 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 Labours first priority if Ms Mays deal is rejected is to try to bring down the government and trigger an election, but senior party figures have admitted this is unlikely to succeed. The party would then consider other options, including another referendum. Speaking during a two-day visit to Scotland, Mr McDonnell also said he believed the EU would be willing to reopen negotiations if Theresa Mays deal is rejected by MPs next week, and said Labour would rapidly restart talks if it wins power. He said: We believe that next week, when Theresa Mays deal is voted down, Parliament will have the opportunity to explore other routes. Weve offered a route that could gain sufficient support and that does mean reopening negotiations rapidly. It happened with regards to the Lisbon Treaty when a couple of countries had a referendum and took a different view. He added: The consequences of the governments proposal is that it would make every region and every nation of the UK poorer as a result of what we think is a badly negotiated deal. I think the concerns that were expressed yesterday on a number of sides of the House were that the deal itself wont be voted through, it doesnt stack up economically and, as a result of that negotiations, it needs to start very, very quickly. Close Health Secretary Matt Hancock calls on public not to panic and stockpile medicines in fear of a no-deal Brexit A no-deal Brexit could see charter planes used to fly in drugs to prop up the NHS and medicines given priority access through gridlocked ports, health secretary Matt Hancock has said. The minister also revealed the government was consulting on plans for chemists to ration medication so that patients can retain access to vital treatments in the event of shortages caused by the UKs withdrawal. His remarks come as embattled prime minister Theresa May was criticised by backbench Tory rebels and the DUP over her desperate comprise efforts to attract support for her beleaguered deal. Follow the latest on the days Brexit developments below: Please allow a moment for our liveblog to load Stephen Martin, Director General of the Institute of Directors, Britains longest-running organisation for business leaders, is the latest speaker confirmed for the BMF All Industry Conference in Dubrovnik in June 2019. Martin, who took over the top role at the IoD in 2017, is no stranger to the building industry. He began his career as a quantity surveyor and, following senior roles at Westinghouse Security Systems, Kvaerner Metals and Amey Rail. He was appointed Chief Executive of Barhale Construction in 2002. Following this, he served as CEO of the Clugston Group, a construction logistics and property development firm, for ten years, during which time he appeared on the Channel 4 television show Undercover Boss. Martin is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Building, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and the Institute of Directors, a companion of the Chartered Management Institute and a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. BMF CEO John Newcomb said: Like the BMF, the IoD took a neutral stance on Brexit ahead of the referendum. But with the All Industry Conference being the first BMF hosted event after the official date for the UK to exit the EU, Im sure Stephen will have a view on how the government can best support business in the UK through the transition period and beyond. The sold-out BMF All Industry Conference takes place in Dubrovnik from 13-16 June 2019. Further details are available on the Conference website at www.bmfconference.co.uk. Emergency plans to fly in medical supplies have been laid to ensure hospitals remain stocked amid six months of expected chaos at Britains channel ports after a no-deal Brexit. Critical supplies could also be diverted away from channel routes and some drugs may even be rationed to ensure stocks do not run out. The plans were published as a government assessment suggested a no-deal departure from the EU could mean severe disruption until the end of September 2019 to shipping between Dover and Calais and traffic using the Channel Tunnel. Ministers continued to put up a defiant front on Friday, saying they were determined to push ahead with the House of Commons vote on Theresa Mays Brexit deal, though Downing Street insiders indicated it could still be pulled if efforts to turn rebels fall flat at the weekend. While MPs secured measures this week that make a no-deal scenario less likely, it is still possible if Ms Mays deal is rejected and parliament fails to opt for any alternative course before 29 March. Recommended House price growth slows to lowest level in six years Ministers had already told drug manufacturers to build six-week stockpiles in anticipation of Brexit customs disruption, but after the new assessment indicated Brexit disorder could last six months, further measures were deemed necessary. In a letter to pharmaceutical firms, health secretary Matt Hancock said: The revised cross-government planning assumptions show that there will be significantly reduced access across the short straits, for up to six months. This is very much a worst-case scenario; however, as a responsible government, we have a duty to plan for all scenarios. Whilst the six-week medicines stockpiling activities remain a critical part of our UK-wide contingency plan, it is clear that in light of the changed border assumptions described above this will now need to be supplemented with additional action. Planes would be chartered for time-sensitive shipments like radioactive isotopes, used in imaging and diagnostic tests, which could be rendered useless if they get stuck in Brexit gridlock. Vital medicines could be shipped to alternative ports to avoid any chaos on the main cross-Channel routes, while Mr Hancock said the government is also considering plans for chemists to ration drugs to ensure patients can have access to medicines in the event of shortages. Conservative Chief Whip in heated discussion with vocal Brexiteer Philip Davies The Department of Health and Social Care began consulting on proposals to allow pharmacists to overrule GP prescriptions and substitute alternative medicines, doses or amounts in the event of shortages. Some drug companies have already begun stockpiling more than the government recommended levels Britains biggest supplier of insulin, Novo Nordisk, is building up a four-month reserve. The report also confirms that NHS and social care staff from the EU will have advanced access to apply for settled status through the new Home Office process which is liable to be swamped with applications when it opens generally. Mike Thompson, chief executive of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, said: Todays update on potential border delays for six months in a no-deal scenario is stark. Stockpiling more medicines is not the solution to this problem. He added: With just 16 weeks until the UK leaves the EU, we need the government to take immediate action to open up alternative supply routes between the UK and Europe and tell companies so that they can make plans. The Border Delivery Group, a Whitehall coordination group for government departments linked to border issues, held further discussions on Friday, centring on the governments no-deal planning assumptions. Mr Hancock defended the governments preparations for a no-deal Brexit but stressed that the potential problems were a reason to back Theresa Mays plan in the crunch 11 December vote. 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 prime minister was coming under growing pressure to delay Tuesdays vote to give herself time to ask for more concessions from the EU at a Brussels summit at the end of next week. But Downing Street insiders indicated that the a decision on whether to delay the vote could still be taken as late as Monday. The government has been accused of running Project Fear in a bid to scare MPs into voting for Ms Mays deal, particularly following the publication of twin reports from the Treasury and the Bank of England suggesting the UK economy will be badly hit in a no-deal scenario. But Boris Johnson ignored the governments warnings and claimed on Friday that the Brexit deal obtained from Brussels by Ms May is so bad that it is similar to the conditions that might be imposed on the defeated side in a war. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn indicated the party could be willing to delay Brexit in order to secure the right deal for the country. He said: If we go into government straight away, wed start negotiating straight away. If it meant holding things a bit longer to do it, of course. A Labour government would work to build a socialist Europe both inside and outside the EU institutions, Jeremy Corbyn has said. Speaking at a meeting of left-of-centre parties in Lisbon on Friday, the Labour leader promised to emulate the success of Portugals left-wing government, which has reversed austerity policies and seen positive economic results. Mr Corbyn said the continents centre-left parties needed to throw off the failed neoliberal policies of recent decades and find solutions to peoples problems or they would find themselves displaced by the fake populists of the far-right. Almost uniquely among centre-left groups in Europe, the Portuguese Socialist Party is riding high in the polls and winning elections. It is governing on a left-wing platform with ad hoc support from the Left Bloc, the Greens, and Portuguese Communist Party. I want to pay tribute to the Portuguese left as a whole, the Portuguese Socialist Party and the parties supporting it in government, Mr Corbyn told the Party of European Socialists congress. Recommended Jeremy Corbyn suggests new referendum could follow Brexit deal defeat Because it has been that alliance of progressive forces in Portugal that made it possible to start to turn the tide of failed austerity economics. Mr Corbyn added: Inside or outside the European Union we are internationalists to our very core. As socialists and trade unionists, we will work together to help build a real social Europe: a peoples Europe, a socialist Europe, that will strengthen solidarity across borders, resist the race to the bottom in rights and protections and work together to extend them for all workers, consumers and our environment. The Labour leader has been the star attraction at conferences of European centre-left parties in recent years, speaking to packed halls at other international meetings in Belgium and the Netherlands. Labours surprise reversal of fortunes at the 2017 election and its increase in vote share was in sharp contrast to most other centre-left parties across the continent. Parties in Germany, the Netherlands, France, Greece, and Italy have plunged to historic lows, shedding voters often to the far-right or populists. As a result, activists from around the continent looking for answers have been drawn to Labour to see if they can learn lessons. The stakes could not be higher. If we cannot rise to the task, then we will smooth the path to power of the fake populists, Mr Corbyn said. The far-right feeds on fears fuelled by falling living standards, damaged communities, insecure work and underfunded public services. It diverts the blame away from the powerful few responsible for economic and social failure and on to minorities. Should I vote Labour? Corbyn's biggest policies explained Show all 9 1 /9 Should I vote Labour? Corbyn's biggest policies explained Should I vote Labour? Corbyn's biggest policies explained Brexit Labour is committed to leaving the European Union but would have different negotiating priorities to the Conservatives. It has said it would have a strong emphasis on staying in the single market and the customs union. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and leading figures in Brussels have been unambiguous that membership of the single market is impossible without free movement. PA Should I vote Labour? Corbyn's biggest policies explained Immigration The party would drop bogus immigration targets but move to a managed system of migration favoured by many leave voters. It has said this may include employer sponsorship, work permits, visa regulations or a tailored mix of all these. Getty Should I vote Labour? Corbyn's biggest policies explained The Economy Labours manifesto commits to balance government spending with the amount raised by taxation, which can mean little more than significant tax increases. The greatest burden will fall on higher earners but they cannot meet demand on their own. It has also promised to bring rail companies back in to public ownership and cap fares. The party would also renationalise Royal Mail. It also promises a transition to publicly owned energy. Peter Byrne/PA Should I vote Labour? Corbyn's biggest policies explained Tax No one earning under 80,000 would pay any more in national insurance or income tax. It would raise corporation tax, from the current low of 19p to 26p. This higher rate would still be a competitive internationally, but the government is currently fighting hard to attract business in the wake of Brexit and they say a low corporation tax rate is crucial. Labour would also lower the top, 45p income tax threshold to 80,000. In theory, this could raise 7bn, but only if higher earnings did not decide to move abroad. Reuters Should I vote Labour? Corbyn's biggest policies explained NHS Labour has promised more money for GP services, free hospital parking for patients, staff and visitors, and to take a million people off NHS waiting lists by guaranteeing treatment within eighteen weeks. These promises will be expensive to keep, and there is no certainty that the party s commitment to raising taxes on higher earners, increasing capital gains tax and reversing cuts to corporation tax will be enough to meet the need. PA Should I vote Labour? Corbyn's biggest policies explained Education The party has pledged to abolish university tuition fees and reintroduce maintenance grants and give free school meals to all schoolchildren. PA Should I vote Labour? Corbyn's biggest policies explained Housing Labours manifesto commits to building 1m new homes, and would introduce controls on rent rises for private renters. It would also scrap the so-called bedroom tax. Getty Should I vote Labour? Corbyn's biggest policies explained Environment Labour would ban fracking, but, crucially, also supports new nuclear projects. It would also introduce a new Clean Air Act to deal with illegal air quality Getty Should I vote Labour? Corbyn's biggest policies explained Defence Its manifesto says it is committed to the NATO target of 2 per cent spending on defence. It is also committed to the renewal of Trident, even though Jeremy Corbyn has spent a lifetime campaigning against it. AFP/Getty Images The Right will always find a scapegoat; the Left must find solutions that deliver real change. If the European political establishment carries on with business as usual, the fake populists of the far right will fill the vacuum. The intervention in Lisbon comes after Mr Corbyn appeared to edge ever so slightly closer to backing a final say referendum on the Brexit deal. Writing in The Guardian newspaper on Friday he stressed his partys position of keeping open the option of campaigning for a public vote to break the deadlock. Labour says it could negotiate a better future relationship than Theresa May that would scrap restrictions on state aid and give the UK say on trade deals while keeping frictionless trade. But the EU would be unlikely to accept such a plan, having stated that different aspects of the single market cannot be chosen a la carte. Donald Trump launched his latest attack on the media just as the offices of CNN, frequently the target of his anger, were being evacuated following a bomb threat. Police searched the broadcasters New York newsroom after a caller claimed five explosives had been placed inside the building. Officers later gave the all-clear. Moments after the threat, which CNN said came just before 10pm, the president wrote on Twitter: FAKE NEWS - THE ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE! There is no suggestion he had seen reports of the evacuation when he posted the tweet, which followed posts in which accused the FBI of pursuing a "witch hunt" against him. But the apparent coincidence is likely to reignite concerns about Mr Trumps anti-media rhetoric. Earlier this year, CNN and several high-profile critics, including Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, were targeted with mail bombs allegedly sent by a Trump supporter. New York Police Department said the latest threat against the broadcaster on Thursday night proved to be hoax. Recommended Trump lashes out at CNN in 3am tweet amid US bomb scares Police said they received an emergency call about the threat at 10.07pm local time (3.07am GMT), a minute before Mr Trumps tweet. Staff evacuated the Time Warner Centre and Don Lemon's CNN Tonight was taken off the air as officers searched the building with a bomb squad on standby. The network broadcast pre-recorded programming for about 30 minutes before Mr Lemons show resumed live from the street outside. No bombs were found inside the building. White House Chief of Staff John Kelly is expected to resign in the coming daysthe latest shakeup to an administration in which frequent resignations and firings appear to be turning into the new normal. President Donald Trump is reportedly looking for Mr Kelly's replacement, according to CNN. A potential successor is Nick Ayers. He is currently serving as Vice President Mike Pence's chief of staff. Mr Kelly, who is reportedly no longer in speaking terms with the president, is the second chief of staff to serve Mr Trump since his inauguration. Prior to Mr Kelly, former Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus served the role. Who is John Kelly? A retired four-star Marine general, Mr Kelly served in the military for nearly five decades. He ran the militarys operations in Central America, South America and the Caribbean and has worked as a senior assistant to the Secretary of Defence. He also served tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. Recommended Donald Trump replaces Reince Priebus as chief of staff Mr Kelly will be the first current or former general to serve as White House Chief of Staff since Alexander Haig in the final stage of Richard Nixons administration in the 1970s. Mr Kelly had been retired from the military for less than a year when Mr Trump asked him to run his Department of Homeland Security. In an 88-11 vote, the Senate confirmed Mr Kelly as Homeland Security Secretary in January, putting him in charge of the administrations policies on issues including immigration, cyber-security, countering domestic terrorism and aviation security. Where is he from? Mr Kelly was born and raised in Boston and graduated from the University of Massachusetts. His son, Robert Michael Kelly, was killed in combat in Afghanistan in 2010. What does Congress think of him? Mr Kelly cruised through his Senate confirmation hearing in January, receiving praise from both Democrats and Republicans. During the proceeding, he also voiced opinions that appeared to differ from those expressed by Mr Trump, and demonstrated a notable degree of empathy for those who seek refuge in the US. Iran's 'Trumpism' contest Show all 10 1 /10 Iran's 'Trumpism' contest Iran's 'Trumpism' contest AFP/Getty Images Iran's 'Trumpism' contest AFP/Getty Images Iran's 'Trumpism' contest AFP/Getty Images Iran's 'Trumpism' contest AFP/Getty Images Iran's 'Trumpism' contest AFP/Getty Images Iran's 'Trumpism' contest AFP/Getty Images Iran's 'Trumpism' contest AFP/Getty Images Iran's 'Trumpism' contest AFP/Getty Images Iran's 'Trumpism' contest AFP/Getty Images Iran's 'Trumpism' contest AFP/Getty Images They, for the most part, dont want to come up and leave their homes, their families, Mr Kelly said. But there isnt an awful lot of economic opportunity for them there. He has since taken a hard line against illegal immigration and vigorously backed the President on the need for a travel ban on refugees and immigrants from seven Muslim countries. The ban, which was allowed to go into limited effect by the Supreme Court in June, was later reduced to six countries. The President and then Homeland Security Secretary listen to the national anthem in May (AP) What do other people think of him? Initially, several of Mr Trumps advisers reportedly opposed the Presidents choice to appoint Mr Kelly as his new chief of staff, suggesting the former general does not have the political savvy or background needed for the job. Before becoming Homeland Secretary, Mr Kelly got some insight into how the government works when he served as a liaison to former Defence Secretary Leon Panetta. He also worked as a legislative assistant for the marine corps commandant in the mid 2000s. Mr Kelly told CNN in June that what I never saw on the military side was the level of the toxic kind of politics that are associated with what I do now, repeating what he frequently tells members of Congress who criticise his actions: if you dont like the laws, try to change them. John has also done a spectacular job at Homeland Security, Mr Trump wrote on Twitter, calling Mr Kelly a great American and saying he had been a true star of my Administration. However, Mr Kelly has not always appeared to be on the same page as Mr Trump, publicly questioning the need for a full border wall with Mexico and calling Russia a threat to the US as the President has tried to develop friendlier relations with Moscow. Mr Kelly has also belittled the President's intelligence in past meetings, according to CNN. At one point, he was quoted calling Mr Trump an idiot and lamented about his job as chief of staff. "He's an idiot. It's pointless to try to convince him of anything. He's gone off the rails. We're in crazytown," Kelly reportedly said. "I don't even know why any of us are here. This is the worst job I've ever had." Throughout his term as chief of staff, Mr Kelly has reportedly clashed with first lady Melania Trump over "staffing issues and travel requests" on several occasions. "There have been instances where the East Wing staff were not treated as equals to the male-dominated decision makers in Chief Kellys office," a White House official told NBC in November. "Promotions were denied then finally granted after months of requests." John Kelly is expected to resign from his post as White House chief of staff in the coming days, putting an end to his 17-month tenure at Donald Trumps side. Mr Kelly and the president he serves have reportedly stopped talking in recent days, in a further souring of a relationship that had previously been rumoured to have been on the rocks and close to breaking. The latest wave of discontent comes as Mr Trump has become increasingly concerned with a Democratic takeover of the House of Representatives following the 2018 midterm elections, and has reportedly said privately he would like someone else in charge of helping to mould the final two years of his first term, according to CNN. Mr Kelly is the presidents second chief of staff, and was brought in to replace Reince Priebus. At the offset two summers ago, Mr Kelly was strict in his role and cut down on access to the Oval Office while blocking some people from being able to call in to the White House switchboard. But, Mr Kelly has been increasingly marginalised in the White House recently, with the president circumventing his chief of staff when he has felt necessary. Meanwhile, Mr Kelly has reportedly been close to resigning or being fired on numerous occasions. One of the most notable and most obvious incidents that showed Mr Kellys strained relations with others in the White House came in October, when he reportedly got into a shouting match with national security adviser John Bolton after the latter criticised Department of Homeland Security secretary Kirstjen Nielsen during a meeting in the Oval Office about the border. Mr Kelly was also criticised for his handling of allegations against former staff secretary Rob Porter, who was accused by two ex-wives of abuse. Mr Kelly initially defended Mr Porter, but ultimately offered changing accounts of his credibility. President Donald Trump names William Barr as Attorney General nominee While Mr Kelly has yet to resign or be fired, reports indicate a leading contender to replace him is vice president Mike Pences chief of staff, Nick Ayers. The father of a British woman missing in New Zealand has flown across the world to make an emotional appeal for help finding the young backpacker. David Millane said his family was extremely concerned for the welfare of his fun-loving daughter Grace Millane, who has not been seen or heard from since Saturday. The tourist, from Essex, had been bombarding her loved ones with messages and pictures throughout her year-long round-the-world trip. But her family became concerned when contact with Ms Millane, who turned 22 on Sunday, went cold. She was last seen at the Citylife Hotel in Auckland at 9.41pm on 1 December with a male companion. Grace Millane had been in regular contact with her family during the trip until she went missing from her hostel (Michael Millane) During an emotional press conference in Auckland on Friday, Mr Millane said: Grace has been missing for seven days. We last had contact with her on Saturday, 1 December, and as a family we have been extremely concerned for her welfare. Recommended CCTV shows last sighting of British woman who vanished in New Zealand Grace is a lovely, outgoing, fun-loving, family-orientated daughter. Grace has never been out of contact for this amount of time. Shes usually in daily contact with either her mother, myself, her two brothers or members of the family on social media. Detective Inspector Scott Beard, of Auckland City Police, said officers had identified and spoken to the male companion last seen with Ms Millane. DI Beard said officers had also identified an apartment at the city centre hotel as a location of interest. It has now been six days since Grace was last seen, he added. At this point, we hold grave fears for her safety. He added that they still have no evidence of foul play. David Millane, father of missing British backpacker Grace Millane, 22, speaks at a press conference in Auckland, New Zealand, Friday, 7 December 2018. (AP) Mr Millane arrived in New Zealand on Friday morning and told reporters it was unusual for his daughter to be out of contact. He said: She has been bombarding us with numerous photographs and messages of her adventures. We are all extremely upset and its very difficult at this time to fully describe the range of emotions we are going through. Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to appeal to anybody who has seen, spoken to, or come into contact with Grace over the last few days and come forward with any detail, no matter how small. Ms Millane arrived in New Zealand on 20 November, having previously visited Peru. Her last Twitter post appears to have been made on 30 November, the day before she was last seen. Police said more than 25 staff were working on the case and were trawling through hours of CCTV footage to trace her movements. A spokesman for the Foreign Office said: We are providing consular support to the family in the UK, and working with the New Zealand Police in relation to reports of a missing British national in New Zealand. Additional reporting by Press Association Angela Merkel delivered an emotional speech as the Christian Democrats prepare to choose a new leader, bringing her 18-year reign to an end. Ms Merkel, 64, said in October she would leave her post as party chief but remain as chancellor of Germany until the end of the parliamentary term in 2021. The politician gave an emotional speech as her party met to pick her successor in Hamburg on Friday. Fighting back tears as she received a standing ovation, she told those gathered: "It has been a great pleasure for me, it has been an honour." Ms Merkel, who said she would remain neutral on her successor as party chief, added: "In times like these, we will defend our liberal views, our way of life, both at home and abroad. "The CDU in 2018 must not look back but look forward, with new people...but with the same values." Three frontrunners are vying to replace her in a race that will put the winner in pole position to succeed her as the country's leader. Sometimes dubbed mini Merkel or AKK, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, 56, is seen as the continuity candidate and is favoured by the CDU elite for her ability to unite the party and deliver election victories. A former premier in the tiny western state of Saarland, she led a broad coalition there with the Greens and pro-business Free Democrats demonstrating her ability to form alliances across Germanys fractured political landscape. Friedrich Merz, 63, is hoping to make a comeback to frontline politics after losing out to Ms Merkel in a power struggle in 2002 and leaving the Bundestag in 2009. His socially conservative, pro-business message appeals to the CDUs core of western, Catholic men who see Ms Merkel - a Protestant woman from the east - as an anomaly. Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer arrives for the CDU board meeting at the Hotel Atlantic Kempinski in Hamburg (EPA) He is widely known for a proposal to simplify the annual tax return so that it could be written on a beer mat. Jens Spahn, 38, has led criticism within the CDU of Ms Merkels 2015 decision to leave German borders open to more than one million refugees fleeing war in the Middle East. Highly ambitious, he was awarded the Health Ministry portfolio after last years federal election. He appeals to conservatives on the right of the CDU, but his chances appear to have been thwarted by Mr Merzs comeback. The new CDU leader will be chosen by 1,001 delegates who will vote at a party conference in Hamburg today, Friday. To win, a candidate must secure more than 50 per cent of votes. Friedrich Merz, member of the German Christian Democratic Party (AP/Michael Sohn) If there is no winner after a first round of voting, a run-off will be held between the two candidates to win most votes. The winner will likely lead the CDU in the next federal election due by October 2021. A survey for broadcaster ARD on Thursday showed 47 per cent of CDU members favoured Ms Kramp-Karrenbauer compared with 37 per cent for Mr Merz and 12 per cent for Mr Spahn. Economy minister Peter Altmaier, an ally of Ms Merkel, said: I am convinced that with Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer we have the best chance of the CDU winning an election, adding she would be the most dangerous candidate to face the centre-left Social Democrats and the ecologist Greens German Health Minister Jens Spahn arrives for the weekly cabinet meeting at the chancellery in Berlin. He is standing to replace longtime German chancellor Angela Merkel as Christian Democratic Union party leader. (AP/Markus Schreiber) Ms Kramp-Karrenbauer has differentiated herself from Ms Merkel on social and foreign policy by voting in favour of quotas for women on corporate boards, opposed by Ms Merkel, and by taking a tougher line on Russia. She has previously said Europe and the United States should consider blockading Russian ships over the Ukraine crisis. But on what lies ahead for the CDU, Ms Kramp-Karrenbauer says: I have no particular recipe. By contrast, Merz takes clear positions that appeal to rank-and-file party members hungry for a more clearly defined party after 13 years under Ms Merkel as chancellor. He wants tax cuts, a stronger EU and a more robust approach to challenging the far-right. Mr Merz will benefit from the fact that 296 of the delegates at the congress - almost a third - will be from his home state, the western region of North Rhine-Westphalia. One senior CDU official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said many delegates were undecided before the congress and could be swayed by how the candidates present themselves on Friday. It could come down to the speeches on the day, he said. Additional reporting by Reuters Angela Merkel has bid her party farewell in an emotional address at its congress in Hamburg. The German chancellor is staying in her post leading the country, but is standing aside from her role leading her party. She has said she will not stand in elections again. Here is a look at the runners and riders to replace her as CDU leader. Whoever wins will be favourite to replace her as chancellor at the partys next elections. Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (EPA) Known to German political insiders as AKK, Ms Kramp-Karrenbauer is the favourite to replace Merkel as leader of the CDU. Polls suggest she has a commanding lead among party members. A moderate within the Christian Democrats, she broadly shares her bosss moderately liberal politics and is currently the partys general secretary, having previously run the state of Saarland. Ms Merkel has specifically said she wont endorse a candidate in the coming CDU leadership election, but if she had, most observers would have expected it to be AKK. During her farewell speech on Friday ahead of the vote, Ms Merkel hinted as much: praising her electoral performance as chief of Saarland and giving a nod to her liberalism. Friedrich Merz Friedrich Merz (AFP/Getty Images) Mr Merz hasnt been a member of the Bundestag since 2009, but that hasnt stopped him from throwing his hat into the ring to replace his long-term rival. A former leader of the CDUs parliamentary group, Mr Merz was seen as Ms Merkels CDU competitor in the earlier years of her premiership. But he was ruthlessly sidelined after the pair fell out and her power became unassailable. If he does come back he would be expected to stand as an MP again in the 2021 elections. Since leaving politics, he has built a career in the private sector and works for US company Blackrock. He also has the official backing of powerful ex-finance minister Wolfgang Schauble. Jens Spahn Jens Spahn (Reuters) (REUTERS) The third candidate for the job, Jens Spahn, is Germanys health minister in Angela Merkels cabinet. He has publicly spoken out against the chancellor welcoming the refugee policy, arguing that the CDU had perhaps put too much emphasis on the humanitarian approach. An economic liberal who supports tax cuts and a smaller state, the minister, as a gay Roman Catholic, is generally seen as a social conservative. But he has softened his image on some issues, such as same-sex marriage, which he fought for in defiance of his party. An aid organisation has been forced to end its rescue missions of migrants in the Mediterranean Sea. Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) and its partner SOS Mediterranee said the rescue ship Aquarius would no longer be used to save migrants travelling by boat from North Africa to Italy - one of the deadliest migration routes in the world. The vessel had remained in port for the past two months, MSF said, due to a sustained smear campaign headed by the Italian government. Last month, regional prosecutors in Italy baselessly claimed the Aquarius could bring infectious diseases such as HIV, meningitis and tuberculosis into the country on the clothing of migrants. Twenty-four people associated with the Aquarius, including the ships captain, were put under investigation for trafficking and illegal management of waste based on the technicality the clothing was labelled as special waste rather than toxic waste by the ships crew. The orders come despite international health authorities rejecting the idea that any of those diseases can be transmitted through clothing. MSF said it categorically refutes the accusations. It came following far-right interior minister Matteo Salvinis decision to close Italian ports to rescue boats. Coupled with ill-conceived policies aimed at trapping people outside Europes borders, this campaign has undermined international law and humanitarian principles, MSF said in a statement. With no immediate solution to these attacks, MSF and SOS Mediterranee have no option but to end the operations of the Aquarius. A migrant from the rescue vessel Aquarius arrives in Spain (AFP) Vickie Hawkins, MSF UKs executive director, said: This is a dark day. Not only has Europe failed to provide dedicated search and rescue capacity, it has also actively sabotaged others attempts to save lives. The end of Aquarius means more lives lost at sea; more avoidable deaths that will go unwitnessed and unrecorded. It really is a case of out of sight out of mind for UK and European leaders as men, women and children perish. MSF said an estimated 2,133 people have died in the Mediterranean so far this year, with those departing from Libya representing the overwhelming majority of lives lost. The aid organisation accused the UK and European governments of further fuelling the suffering of thousands by enabling the Libyan coastguard to intercept migrants and force them to return to north Africa in what it said was a clear violation of international law. Rescue ship Aquarius waits for port of safety for 141 migrants saved in the Mediterranean Today, the UK and its European counterparts are directly supporting forced returns while claiming successes on migration, Karline Kleijer, MSFs head of emergencies, said. Lets be clear about what that success means: a lack of lifesaving assistance at sea; men, women and children pushed back to arbitrary detention with virtually no hope of escape; and the creation of a climate that discourages all ships at sea from carrying out their obligations to rescue those in distress. Just as we said when we launched our search and rescue operations in 2015 we refuse to remain idle on shore as people continue to die at sea. As long as people are suffering at sea and in Libya, MSF will look for ways to provide them with the vital medical and humanitarian care they desperately need. The Aquarius is currently in port in the French city of Marseilles and beyond the reach of the Italian authorities. But prosecutors from the city of Catania in eastern Sicily said last month: If Aquarius would disembark to Italy, it will be immediately put under seizure. The Foreign Office has been contacted for comment. The problems started about a month ago, says Nikolai Kostylev, one half of the electronic duet IC3PEAK. The group would be headed for a concert, only for venue managers to cancel at last minute, citing threatening phone calls. There would be bomb scares; unannounced fire inspections; unexplained electricity failures; sudden urges to redecorate concert halls. There would even be arrests on arriving into town. Its all very unpleasant and terrorising, Kostylev tells The Independent. Were doing nothing illegal, just singing our harmless, ironic songs. But weve found ourselves subject to a witch-hunt by the security services. The latest gig to be targeted was on Thursday in Voronezh, a grey, concrete city 400 miles south of Moscow. Only a fraction of the groups fans were able to hear the group play a 20-minute concert after plain-clothed officers blocked entry to the club, itself a replacement venue. When tour manager Oleg Mitrofanov tried to accompany more fans into the venue, he was reportedly assaulted and pinned against the wall by police. The men in black claimed to be from health and safety inspectorate, following up reports of food poisoning. Russian musician Nastya Kreslina, member of electronic duo called IC3PEAK (AP) The states interest in post-modern techno culture does not seem to have come by accident. IC3PEAK are, in fact, only one of a number of groups to have come up against the authorities in recent weeks. On the same day that the band was battling food hygiene officers in Voronezh, the teen-band Friendzone saw a gig cancelled in Yaroslav, central Russia. Their repertoire, which includes such dark hits as Maybe, Baby and Cute Boy is, apparently, considered extremist. Meanwhile, the teen rapper GONE.Fludd cancelled a show in the northern city of Petrozavodsk, following an intervention by the local prosecutors office. Earlier, he said he had come under pressure from every police agency imaginable. Last month, another rapper, Husky (Dmitry Kuznetsov), hit the headlines after being imprisoned while on tour in the southern city of Krasnodar. Officials had warned venue owners in the city that the rappers lyrics were under investigation. Kuznetsov responded to a wave of cancellations by staging an impromptu concert on top of a car, after which he was arrested. He was released only after public outcry and the apparent intervention of unnamed Kremlin officials. What was interesting about Kuznetsovs story was that the musician could barely be described as an opposition figure. His breakthrough hit, stray bullet, revealed, if anything, a lust for guns and gangster culture over politics. He has also lent his face to Kremlin-backed separatist fighters in Donetsk, singing, last year, a rap eulogy to Arseny Motorola Pavlov, the notorious separatist warlord assassinated in 2016. Lawyer Pavel Chikov, who represents some of the artists in question, says that the recent crackdown seems to have been calculated to be concentrated and demonstrative. The cancellations and arrests all seem to come from one central command, he says though the exact decisions by local law enforcement differ by region. The logic is the same getting in the way but there is variation from case to case, he tells The Independent. Young Russians have learned to think for themselves. They look for information and they process it critically. That is very scary for the government Nastya Kreslina, member of IC3PEAK According to one local website, which cites two unnamed sources within government, Russias security agency issued a black list of undesirable groups back in October. This was apparently in response to two traumatic episodes for the agency: one, a shooting in Kerch college, Russias Columbine massacre, in which 20 teenagers were killed; the other, a young anarchists suicide bombing attack on an FSB regional headquarters in the northern city of Arkhangelsk. But for Artemy Troitsky, a music critic credited with introducing western music to Soviet audiences, the crackdown brought back more distant memories. If it was rock music in the 1980s, now its rap music, he says. The methods the spooks are using are exactly the same: black lists, cancellations of concerts and arrests. He says he still remembers the secret gigs and no-play lists issued by Soviet authorities. Those lists came in two sections one for underground Russian groups and the other for western pop stars. The second list would always contain helpful annotations: David Bowie, banned for homosexual perversion and drug promotion, for example; AC/DC for alcoholism and violence. The critic describes the moves to ban concerts as a ham-fisted response to the political awakening of Russian youth. Russian teens are different from their passive and cowardly parents and Putin-supporting grandparents, he says. Its a generation that Putin seems to have lost, and which now forms a significant part of the protest movement headed by opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Up until now, the authorities thought the young generation was harmless, interested mainly in money, sex and booze, says Troitsky. They miscalculated, and are fighting back by the only way they know how closing down their communications, the internet, and witch-hunting their heroes. Nastya Kreslina, the other half of the IC3PEAK duo, says the Kremlin did indeed appear to be frightened of people her age. They see unmanageable masses, she says, and dont dont know what to do about them: Young Russians have learned to think for themselves. They look for information and they process it critically. That is very scary for the government. If reports are to be believed, authorities have been particularly vexed by one of IC3PEAK music videos, the outrageously macabre No More Death. Theres no question the video consciously pokes around Russian taboo. It opens at the Russian White House, the seat of the countrys government, with Kreslina singing the lyrics: I flood my eyes with kerosine; let everything burn; let everything burn. The whole of Russia is watching me; let everything burn; let everything burn. It then moves to images of eating flesh in front of Lenins tomb, drinking blood, and riding on riot police in front of the Lubyanka, the infamous headquarters of the Russian security services. The group says that only those without a cultural background would fail to understand the irony of the work. Its all very metaphorical, without any direct appeal or single-layer image, says Kostylev. Its a post-modern take, with multiple layers and vivid images. There is no single meaning, and its very funny when people start to interpret it in a single way. A charity concert in support of Husky [Dmitry Kuznetsov], a hip hop artist (Sergei Petrov/TASS) Troitsky told The Independent that he became a fan of the group after becoming aware of the sensational video, and had successfully lobbied a London-based indie record company to offer the pair a record deal. And, he says, the authorities have shot themselves in the foot by unintentionally promoting the groups work. The only thing their campaign will do is create a wave of solidarity among artists and young people, he says. The Kremlin would be wise to learn from history. Underground rock was a significant force in causing the Soviet regime to fall. If the hawks continue with their aggressive course, the regime will end up in the same place. It is difficult to predict which position will prevail, and already there are signs of major differences of opinion within the walls of the Kremlin. Two fairly prominent government figures, the head of the Foreign Intelligence Service Sergei Naryshkin and former culture minister Mikhail Shvydkoi, have already spoken out against prohibitive measures. There has also been support from the most unlikely of quarters. On Sunday, Russias propagandist-in-chief, Dmitry Kiselyov, surprised viewers of his infamous news review programme by breaking out into rap. He used Vladimir Mayakovskys futurist poetry to prove Russian rappers were patriotic, not American. His message was simple: They shouldnt be harassed. And last month, another propaganda master, RTs Margarita Simonyan, came out in support of the imprisoned Husky/Kuznetsov. Writing on Twitter, she said the musician had been freed from prison thanks to the interventions of two or three people in the Kremlin, and would now hopefully be left alone. It was unclear how this tallied with her own claims of an independent legal system in Russia, but the official endorsement seemed to have immediate effect. On Thursday, the same day that his colleagues were being hounded across Russia, Kuznetsov was in the State Duma, Russias parliament, taking part in a panel about improving relations between musicians and the state. (Kuznetsov declined to comment for this article.) IC3PEAK told The Independent that they had noticed state media had covered their problems on tour fairly objectively. This, they said, was evidence of uncoordinated actions that undermined the authorities overall repressive approach. And on Thursday evening, the liberal internet TV channel Dozhd reported that the presidents own staff had become angry at the heavy-handed actions of local officials. A source close to the Kremlin told the channel that the president would put an end to the idiotism, it said. The test of that promise will come soon enough. The next stops on IC3PEAKs troubled tour are the southern cities of Krasnodar and Rostov at the weekend capitals of Cossack culture, and hardly known for a warm reception of subversive culture. Civilians in Yemen have described torture at the hands of the Houthi rebels including being strung up by their genitals and doused in acid. Their horrific testimonies emerged as tense peace talks in Sweden between the countrys warring factions entered a second day. The gruesome accounts underscore the importance of a massive UN-backed prisoner swap that was signed on Thursday by the Iran-backed rebels and Yemens recognised government, who have been fighting since March 2015. According to the deal, some 5,000 prisoners from both sides will be released as a confidence-building measure to bolster the peace negotiations, which kicked off north of Stockholm this week. Since the start of the three-and-a-half-year civil war, more than 18,000 people are believed to have been locked up by the Houthi fighters and many of them tortured. Torture has also been recorded by rights groups in prisons run by the Yemeni government and its Gulf allies, including the United Arab Emirates. Farouk Baakar, a Yemeni medic at al-Rashid hospital in north Yemen, was arrested by seven militiamen in 2016 after treating a man who had been tortured and shot by the Houthis. Mr Baakar told Associated Press (AP) he was held for 18 months in Houthi-controlled prisons, including in the Pressure Room, the basement of a 500-year-old Ottoman castle in the Red Sea city of Hodeidah. There he said he was stripped, whipped and his nails and hair were pulled out. He was later splashed with melted plastic, beaten and chained to a ceiling by his wrists for 50 days until his captors thought he was dead. It was so painful, especially when they come the next days and press on the bruises with their fingers, he said. Survivor Monir al-Sharqi was dumped in a stream, half-naked, emaciated and bearing horrific marks of torture after imprisoned by Houthis (Photos AP/Nariman El-Mofty) The doctor described trying to treat other prisoners held with him who had been tortured, with makeshift tools such as electrical wire. One man said he had been hung by his penis and testes and was unable to urinate. Anothers buttocks had been sealed after the Houthi guards doused his back with acid, melting his skin. Mr Baakar described using wire to help him make an opening and remove excrement. When I asked Houthi guards for help, saying the man is dying, their only answer was: Let him die, Mr Baakar added. The doctor was released last December after his family paid 5.5 million rials, about $8,000 at the time, and fled to Marib, an anti-Houthi stronghold in central Yemen where he now lives in a tent. He is one of 23 people interviewed by AP who either survived or witnessed torture in Houthi detention centres. The testimonies come just months after both Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International accused the UAE, and its allied Yemeni forces, of torturing detainees in their secret prisons in the south of Yemen. In those prisons, the rights groups said people had been electrocuted, stripped, caned and whipped. The UAE is part of a Saudi Arabia-led alliance that launched a bombing campaign in March 2015 to oust the Houthi rebels, who had swept control of the country, forcing recognised Yemeni president Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi to flee. That triggered a nearly four-year war that has sparked the worlds worst humanitarian crisis in terms of numbers. Yemeni medic Farouk Baakar demonstrates how he was shackled to a wall during his torture in a prison run by Yemens Houthi rebels (AP/Nariman El-Mofty) (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty) The UNs envoy to Yemen, Martin Griffiths, warned this week that half of the countrys 30 million population could be at risk of famine if the conflict does not end immediately. As many as 16,000 civilians have been killed, according to the UN. On Friday it said at least 1,500 civilians were killed or injured between August and October alone: an average of 123 civilian casualties every week. The UN hopes the peace talks in Stockholm will at least lead to a ceasefire to allow humanitarian aid groups to access the most devastated areas. They are the first talks since 2016. The prisoner swap will see the release of detainees, people who have been forcibly disappeared and those under house arrest. The International Red Cross said it would oversee the exchange, which is expected to take weeks. When I asked Houthi guards for help, saying the man is dying, their only answer was: Let him die Farouk Baakar On Friday, Yemens recognised government proposed reopening the Houthi-held airport in the capital Sanaa on the condition that planes are first inspected in the airports of Aden or Sayun which are under its control. This would help alleviate the humanitarian suffering. All sides have repeatedly denied allegations of torture in their detention centres. In July, the UAE said it believed the accusations against it to be politically motivated to undermine its efforts as part of the Arab coalition to support the Yemeni government. The Houthi human rights ministry meanwhile said in a statement in late 2016 that there is no policy or systematic use of torture on prisoners. It added that the ministry and prosecutors are working to ensure the rights of prisoners and provide all legal guarantees to achieve justice and fair trials. But civilians and aid workers tell a different story. The Abductees Mothers Union, an association of female relatives of detainees jailed by the Houthis, said that of the 18,000 prisoners they have documented, at least 1,000 were tortured in a network of secret prisons. Sabah Mohammed, a representative of the group in the city of Marib which is now under government control, said at least 126 prisoners have died from torture since the Houthis took over Sanaa in late 2014. Anas al-Sarrari sits in his wheelchair in his home in Marib, Yemen after he was left paralysed by torture in Houthi prisons. In prison, he was hung from the ceiling by his wrists almost non-stop for 60 days and severely beaten (AP/Nariman El-Mofty) (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty) Anas al-Sarrari, 26, a critic of Houthi brutality, said he is now wheelchair-bound after being paralysed by the torture he suffered in a prison in Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa. He told AP he was strung up for 23 hours a day until the handcuffs sliced his wrists. After being beaten with a stun gun, he could no longer use his legs. No one helped him get to the bathroom, so he was forced to urinate and defecate on himself until he was released. To see people with disabilities, coming out of prison after excessive torture will terrify everyone Look, this will happen to you if you speak up, he said. Another former prisoner, Hussein, a teacher from the northern city of Dhamar, told AP he was held blindfolded in an underground cell for four months and 22 days. Throughout his confinement, he said, his jailers beat him with iron rods and told him he was going to die. Monir al-Sharqi, a lab technician who disappeared for a year, meanwhile was tortured so badly he can no longer speak. His family believe he was tortured by the Houthis for his activism, after he was found dumped by the side of a river with horrific wounds. Nurses change the dressings on the severe burns covering Monir al-Sharqi, at the Marib General Hospital in Yemen. His torture was so extreme he has lost his memory and can barely speak, mumbling unintelligibly when asked questions (AP/Nariman El-Mofty) (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty) Meanwhile in southern Yemen, where the recognised government and its UAE backers are in control, former detainees told of their torture. One prisoner, Adel al-Hassani, was held in Bir Ahmed prison in the southern port city of Aden. He told Channel Four this week that Emirati guards electrocuted him in his genital area while he was hung from the ceiling. When the night comes in the UAE prisons, you hear the screams everywhere, said the former pro-government soldier who was arrested after he became critical of the Emirati intervention in Yemen. He added: Some guys are dangled or suspended. Others are electrocuted, and others stripped or kicked. He said he was also bound by his hands and legs, blindfolded and put in a narrow hole in the desert nicknamed the monster hole, for 48 hours where he nearly died. A report written by a UN panel of experts in August concluded that all sides in the conflict may have committed war crimes. UN experts visited the Bir Ahmed prison, where it said detainees described being sexually assaulted and even raped. Q I have read that should I board a flight bound for Dubai and have a wine or beer, I could be arrested at Dubai airport for drinking alcohol. I wondered if you could confirm such a story? David G A One pleasure for many airline passengers, after all the airport stress has been left behind, is ordering an in-flight beer or gin-and-tonic. And possibly, after that, a glass of wine. But there are strict rules against being drunk on an aircraft, for good safety reasons. As the Civil Aviation Authority says: Drunken and abusive behaviour on an aeroplane is totally unacceptable. Not only does it upset everyone else, but it can also jeopardise flight safety. The UK has long been divided by class, region and race, but these divisions have been masked by political and economic success. This has meant the English, as the dominant nation in the UK, are not good at coping with a sense of failure and a loss of self-confidence. The current focus is on parliamentary turmoil and the acceptance or rejection of Theresa Mays muted version of Brexit but, whatever happens in the coming weeks, there will be no resolution of the overall crisis. On the contrary, the divisions exacerbated by Brexit will only get deeper and more toxic, dominating the national agenda to the exclusion of everything else. The nature of English nationalism deeply ingrained but so self-confident its norms were assumed by most English people to be part of the natural order of things is changing. George Bernard Shaw said a healthy nation is as unconscious of its nationality as a healthy man is of his bones. Smaller nations like the Irish and the Poles, with a history of defeat and occupation, have grim experience of having to nurse back to health the fractured bones of their nation but for the English worrying about their national identity and the future status is a new and unnerving experience. The sense of English superiority was real but relaxed and often expressed in self-mockery. I remember my late brother-in-law Michael Flanders, part of the Flanders and Swann duo in the 1950s and 1960s, singing a song entitled Patriotic Prejudice, one version of which ran: The English, the English, the English are best, I wouldnt give tuppence for all of the rest. The Germans are German, the Russians are red, The French and Italians eat garlic in bed. The English are moral, the English are good, And clever and modest and misunderstood. Many pro-Brexit supporters do not seem to have advanced far beyond this benign picture of the national character. But these days their tone is defensive and self-assertive. Immigrants are to be schooled in British values whatever those may be the very thing Shaw saw as a symptom of unhealthy nationalism. Analysis of the forces that led to Brexit usually looks at issues over too short a time span. The English may once have been confident of their own nationality but this does not mean they were as tolerant of others as they sometimes like to suppose. Punch cartoons in the 19th century showed the Irish as murderous sub-humans. The Aliens Act of 1905, brought in by a Conservative government with an eye to winning votes in a general election the following year, aimed to exclude Jews fleeing Russian pogroms. A century later, the Conservative Party spent years trying to trump Tony Blairs ability to win successive elections by experimenting with different types of dog-whistle anti-immigrant rhetoric, often combined with demonisation of the EU. Conservative politicians such as David Cameron, whose career was to be destroyed by the outcome of the 2016 Brexit referendum, were highlighting the migrant threat a year before the vote, warning of a swarm of people, coming from the Mediterranean, seeking a better life, wanting to come to Britain. This showed real chutzpah, or cheek, since Cameron played a central role in launching the Nato war to overthrow Gaddafi in 2011 that turned Libya into a land of warlords and predatory militias, opening the way for migrants from North Africa to try to reach Europe from Libya in overcrowded boats and dinghies, often dying in the attempt. A further feature of English nationalism will make it difficult to manoeuvre during the coming years of preoccupation with European relations. Small nations get used to inferior status and playing a weaker hand against opponents who hold most of the cards. British diplomats understand this, but a large part of public opinion in Britain, as in other former imperial nations, sees compromise as a sign of inexplicable weakness of will or as a treacherous stab in the back. This lethal inability to calculate the real balance of power in the EU or anywhere else is not confined to an ill-informed public which has been spoon-fed war-time triumphs. Covering wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria over the last 20 years, I noticed again and again how difficult British politicians found it to take on board what was really happening and distinguish winners from losers, obvious though this often was. A further English weakness and the switch from referring to the English rather than the British is deliberate is that neither Leavers nor Remainers have ever thought through what self-determination really means and how it can best be achieved. This is a perfectly legitimate aim that has inspired national movements in much of the world but Remainers tend to deride it as spurious patriotic bombast tinged with racism, and Leavers speak of achieving real independence for Britain almost automatically once the shackles of the EU are removed. This is in keeping with the behaviour of every nationalist or liberation movement in history which has invariably blamed all the woes of its people on foreign rulers or domestic tyrants. This conveniently saves them the trouble of having to explain what they would do themselves. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events Britain could achieve a greater degree of formal self-determination outside the EU, though everybody in the country would be considerably poorer. But it would not be as a free trading entrepot like Singapore or Dubai: political and economic isolation for any country usually leads to the state playing a greater role. This is already happening in a small way in Britain with the Department of Health arranging uninterrupted supplies of medicine in case Britain topples out of the EU next year without an agreement. A contradictory aspect of the Brexiteer project is fanaticism about freeing Britain from EU courts and regulations. At the same time, Leavers are relaxed about British water companies and other essential utilities being owned by financiers in Sydney, Hong Kong and anywhere else in the world. As Shaw pointed out, national self-confidence is not something that you notice until it is gone and it is then difficult to win back. The same is true of national unity: the obvious fallacy that the British as a whole chose to leave the EU, when the vote was so evenly divided, could only end in a self-destructive crisis. To expect such a revolutionary change to be carried out by a minority government was demented. Whatever happens in the coming months and years, the English nationality will have to mend a lot of broken bones. For all of Europes many crises Italian debt, migration, troublesome eastern states, Brexit it seemed until relatively recently that its political leadership was at least strong and stable, to borrow a phrase. As Angela Merkels 18-year reign in Germany drew towards a slightly anti-climactic finale, the emergence of the energetic, charismatic new president of France, Emmanuel Macron, seemed to promise at least another firm hand pointing the way. Now that Ms Merkels Christian Democrats have chosen the favourite to succeed her, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, the French seem equally set on replacing Emmanuel Macron, though in a rather less orderly fashion. Suddenly, Europe is entering a new, more dangerous phase in its development, and with an increasingly weak sense of purpose. Mr Macrons one-man political movement, En Marche! is ironically named indeed. The president can be forgiven for feeling a little bewildered as he sits, effectively besieged in the Elysee palace, caricatured by the increasingly militant Gilets Jaunes protesters as if he were some effete Bourbon. After all, despite his previous adamantine stance, he has caved in to their demands that increases in the duty on diesel and petrol be reversed; he has offered them talks, though with his prime minister Edouard Philippe rather than himself, a move that may presage a certain amount of scapegoating. Mr Macrons reforms of the French economy have barely registered, and yet the reaction against him has been violent, extreme and seems to have developed an ugly momentum of its own. For the Gilets Jaunes are now mutating and dividing into peaceful and violent wings. Inflamed by propaganda and fake news stories about France becoming some sort of internationally designated dumping ground for millions of migrants, some sound as if they want nothing less than the resignation of the president himself and will pursue all means to make it happen. Others simply want Mr Macron to lay off, and, somehow, rearrange Frances economic affairs so that working people can once again enjoy the rising standard of living they have come to expect. The shades of similar political movements in America and elsewhere in Europe are perfectly apparent. Indeed, in much more muted form, the same problems led to the collapse in support for Germanys mainstream parties in recent national and regional elections. For a while, the contrast between a chaotic France and sobersided Germany is enticing. The reality is that both countries suffer from much the same economic and political malaise. Even in Germany, which has enjoyed remarkable export-led success, there is a section of the working class and certain regions that have not fully shared the rising tide of prosperity. In both countries, far-right parties have grown in strength and confidence to a degree that would have been unimaginable even a few years ago, virtually wiping out the socialists and social democrats as a political force. Much the same has happened in Sweden and elsewhere. The prospects for the elections to the European parliament next summer look especially grisly. The EUs legislature which has acquired important powers may soon be transformed into a play pen for fascists, fruitcakes and fantasists, big time. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events And so the new leader of Germany and the embattled leader of France find themselves facing similar forces, albeit expressed and pursued by different means. Indeed it is hard to find a corner of Europe Britain included where vaguely normal politics is proceeding on anything like conventional lines, with Italy the outstanding example of real-world neofascism in power. Italys vaccine-sceptic so-called government of change has sacked the entire board of the countrys most important committee of experts, who advise the government on health policy. Europe is richer, freer, and more open than ever before and yet it is witnessing the recrudescence of political evils not seen since our continent ended its last civil war in 1945. We live in dangerous times, and all the more so as we seem so short of strong and stable leaders. The EU will "do everything" to avoid activating the Irish backstop after the Brexit transition period, negotiator Michel Barnier insisted. Amid calls for British Prime Minister Theresa May to delay her doomed Brexit vote on Tuesday, Mr Barnier sought to reassure MPs who are fearful of being trapped in the EU customs union indefinitely. But he warned: "If there is no withdrawal treaty, there is no transition, no basis of confidence that we need with the British regarding the future relationship." Mr Barnier told a gathering of the European Committee of the Regions that it was key now that the withdrawal treaty agreed between Brussels and London be ratified. "Now is the moment for everyone to bear their responsibilities. You know the British parliament will give its verdict on this text and on the future relationship in the coming days. It is a vote in which the future of their country is at stake." Mrs May's Conservatives are particularly sceptical about the fallback arrangement, or 'backstop', to guarantee that there is no return to the hard Border between Ireland and Northern Ireland, seen as essential to preserving peace. "This backstop," said Mr Barnier. "We will do everything we can to avoid using it." In London, Mrs May is coming under increasing pressure to rethink her strategy ahead of Tuesday's make or break vote. Former prime minister Tony Blair has suggested she should postpone the vote rather than go down to a heavy defeat. Mr Blair said that instead of trying to force her plan through against opposition from both Brexiteers and Remainers, the PM should play the role of "facilitator" to find a compromise which can command a majority in the House of Commons. But he predicted that none of the Brexit options on offer would prove capable of attracting majority support from MPs, and the question would then have to be put back to the public in a second referendum. On the ballot paper for a re-run poll should be the choice of remaining in the EU, possibly with concessions on immigration and free movement if these could be obtained from Brussels, and the kind of hard Brexit favoured by those he termed "proper Brexiteers". The former Labour leader said Mrs May faced the prospect of "hitting a brick wall at speed" in the "meaningful vote". Asked if she should call the vote off, Mr Blair said: "Personally, I don't see what the point is in going down to a huge defeat." However, Downing Street said the vote will go ahead as planned. Mrs May has repeatedly said if MPs reject her deal with Brussels, the only alternatives are leaving without a deal or reversing Brexit. Meanwhile, fears of drugs and food shortages and ports being shut in a no-deal Brexit are mere "hiccups", former Brexit secretary David Davis has told MPs. Admitting that a no-deal Brexit on World Trade Organisation (WTO) terms would mean "practical issues", Mr Davis said the advantages would outweigh the problems. He said he had negotiated the two-year transition period until 2021 to give the UK time to adjust, dismissing concerns including the deaths of patients due to medicine being unavailable. "It was me that actually negotiated the implementation period element of this and for that reason, precisely because it's not without hiccups, it's not without issues. "There will be practical issues in the first year of a WTO outcome. "But that does not overwhelm the big advantages, the massive advantages, that having the freedom to negotiate our trade deals would give us." Irish EU Commissioner Phil Hogan has hit back at suggestions by a leading British Conservative politician that London should use 'starvation threats' against Ireland in last-ditch Brexit talks. Former UK International Development Minister, Priti Patel, was commenting on an official British report which noted Ireland would lose 7pc of its wealth or GDP in a crash-out no-deal. The same report also noted that there would be food shortages in Ireland because about half this countrys food imports are routed via the UK. Ms Patel told the London newspaper, 'The Times', that this harsh fact should be used to leverage support for a better Brexit deal even at this late stage. "This paper appears to show the government were well aware Ireland will face significant issues in a no-deal scenario. Why hasnt this point been pressed home during negotiations? There is still time to go back to Brussels and get a better deal," Ms Patel commented. But in Dublin, EU Agriculture Commissioner, Phil Hogan, utterly condemned the comments. He said the UK imported 60pc of its food needs, and 43pc of these came from Ireland, with products of high quality very popular with British shoppers. "So, if she wants to advocate a policy that brings about the starvation of the British people, this is a good way of going about it," Mr Hogan told the Association of European Journalists. "I think consumers would be horrified that a senior politician, and former minister, would take such a view of being hostile to the food requirements or the food security of the country they are residing in," the Irish Commissioner added. Mr Hogan insisted that, if British Prime Minister Theresa May, loses next weeks vital House of Commons vote on the draft Brexit deal, the EU will "not budge" on the Irish backstop. He said there had never been such unity among the other 27 EU member states as there had been on the issue of Brexit and Brussels support for Ireland will remain constant. REPORTS that Ireland faces food shortages and a drop in GDP of 7pc in the event of a no-deal Brexit have been dismissed as "propaganda". Senior Government sources have roundly rejected leaked UK documents which show Ireland faces the risk of food shortages and a drop in GDP of 7pc in the event of a no deal Brexit. A report in the Times UK has sparked a furious backlash, with critics accusing Brexiteers of using the threat of food shortages as morally repugnant. A senior source described the material, which is described as a government document, as "propaganda" and suggested it emanated from the hardline Brexiteer ERG group. In relation to food shortages there may be some impacts to supply chain movement on the outcome of Brexit but there is contingency planning underway for all eventualities according to the source. Some Brexiteers, including Priti Patel have called for the analysis to be used to pressure Ireland to drop the backstop but this has been rejected in Dublin. Read More Both the Taoiseach and senior EU figures including Jean Claude Juncker and Michel Barnier have been "absolutely clear the deal on the table is the deal and it's not up for renegotiation", the source said. The suggestion has also come under fire in the UK with Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon branding it as morally repugnant. The sheer moral bankruptcy of the Tory Brexiteers is on full display today, she wrote on Twitter. Fine Gael Senator Neale Richmond, the partys European Affairs spokesperson, said the intervention came at a time when there is no scope for renegotiation. This is an extremely tense time in UK politics as the Withdrawal Bill makes its way through Westminster soliciting a wide range of actions, he said. The fact of the matter is that there can be no Withdrawal Agreement without an Irish specific backstop, this is something the British Government has agreed to. There is not scope to renegotiate this. The extreme rhetoric from arch Brexiteers was based on a belief that they alone can deliver something else and they can split European solidarity to achieve this. Neither is achievable, he said. What is on offer is this deal, no deal or indeed no Brexit. The negotiations on the Withdrawal Agreement have ended, he added. A British parliamentary vote on UK Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal will take place as planned on December 11, a government source said on Friday. According to Bloomberg, Mrs May was weighing a plan to postpone the crunch vote on her Brexit deal in an attempt to avoid a landslide defeat that would risk a major UK political crisis. The report stated that she was urged by party allies to delay the parliamentary vote on the divorce agreement with the European Union amid predictions she would lose it badly. According to a person familiar with the matter, May met with her top ministers in London late on Thursday to discuss options, which included offering MPs a bigger say on the Irish border issue. Read More It is understood that options discussed also included asking the EU for a better deal and aiming to reschedule planned December 11 for a later date. However, a government source responded to the reports stating that next Tuesday's crunch vote will, in fact, go ahead. More to follow... Two peat extraction firms have been refused permission to appeal a significant finding their activities are no longer exempt development. The companies had claimed the finding would effectively bring the industry to "a standstill" with implications for some 11,000 jobs while planning applications are put in train. In a ruling on Friday, the High Court's Mr Justice Charles Meenan refused leave to appeal his February judgment upholding An Bord Pleanala's decision the activities are not, after September 2012, exempt development. The Board decision was made in April 2013 after Friends of the Irish Environment (FIE) queried the development status of the operations. Separate proceedings were then brought by the affected companies, Bulrush Horticulture Ltd, and by Westland Horticulture Ltd, Westmeath Peat Ltd and Cavan Peat Ltd. Mr Justice Meenan dismissed both challenges in a judgment which means, from September 2012, all commercial peat harvesting in Ireland is unauthorised unless it has planning permission. He found a "sound legal basis" for the Board's decision the firms required an Environmental Impact Assessment and Appropriate Assessment for the works. Both companies sought permission to appeal but their applications were refused on Friday by the judge. He accepted the outcome of the case has "important and far reaching" implications for the peat harvesting industry. While also accepting his interpretation of the relevant law involves a point of law of exceptional public importance, he said there can be points of law of exceptional public importance which are not so uncertain as to require a ruling from the Court of Appeal (COA). In this matter, he considered the relevant law was not uncertain. Bulrush, of Magherafelt, Co Derry, has since 2003 operated a facility at Camagh Bog near Castlepollard, Westmeath, 80 hectares of which is subject to peat extraction. Extraction of peat from the lands began about 1983. Aer Lingus has apologised to staff following claims they stole millions of euro worth of goods from the airline, customers and colleagues. The airline has agreed to make a donation of 25,000 to charity on behalf of staff after a meeting with its group of unions yesterday. Chief Executive, Stephen Kavanagh, and his senior executive team made a sincere apology and expressed their regret for the hurt and upset caused. The apology comes after a memo from chief operating officer, Mike Rutter, told staff that random security patrols and CCTV monitoring were being rolled out. He said a bigger investment in security was needed following the loss of many millions of euros every year due to stock losses. Guest property and company stock losses remain at levels significantly above the industry norms despite investment in new technologies and inventory management processes, he said. In a statement, the airline said a meeting was called to discuss serious concerns arising from an article that appeared in the Sunday Independent last week. A Siptu spokesperson said the stock losses could have been due to stock being damaged rather than stolen. 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. The CEO acknowledged that Aer Lingus workers had been subject to hurtful and demeaning comments over the course of the last week and they sincerely regretted the upset that had been caused, said the statement. It said Mr Kavanagh appreciated and respected the continued professionalism of colleagues in the delivery of excellent service and their continued hard work and dedication. Aer Lingus further committed to working closely with colleagues and its representative trade unions in line with our policies, procedures and processes to address all issues of concern, said the statement. Aer Lingus at all levels throughout the organisation commits to encouraging the highest workplace standards through its policies, processes and communications. In the spirit of this statement, Aer Lingus will make a donation on behalf of staff of 25,000 split equally between their chosen charities, Pieta House and Focus Ireland. Last week, an Aer Lingus spokesperson said the level of theft at the airline was above the industry norms. 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. 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." Forsa welcomed Aer Lingus' apology to staff. "We welcome and accept managements apology on behalf of the Aer Lingus staff we represent, and we welcome the companys decision to donate 25,000 to Focus Ireland and Pieta House organisations whose work Forsa respects and supports on behalf of staff," said Ashely Connolly. The union said it would not be commenting further on the issue. Georgian wine and its narrative are emerging as a major driver for the global marketing of the country. The evidence of 8,000 year old wines, discovered in Georgia, helped galvanize the promotion of the country as a Cradle of Wine. The story of Georgian wine contributed to reaching record numbers in wine exports, as well as record numbers of visitors to the country, thus contributing to the development and economic growth of Georgia. BACKGROUND: Wine and viniculture have been central elements of Georgian civilization for millennia, contributing to the cultural diversity, spirituality, and prosperity of the small South Caucasus nation. Wine is a part of the Georgian identity and a fundamental element of the social fabric. A November 13, 2017 publication in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science of the U.S.A. confirmed Georgia to be the home of the earliest grape wine and viniculture discovered thus far. This evidence of 8,000 year old wine at least partly explains the depth of the wine culture in Georgia. The central role of wine in Georgian spiritual, societal, and economic life also explains why wines and vineyards were targets for every invader of Georgia. The good news is that the Georgian nation, and with it more than five hundred unique native grape varieties, have survived all those invaders. Today, the story of Georgian wine is one of the major drivers for growing awareness of Georgia around the world. In recent years Georgia has been successful in branding the country as a Cradle of Wine, with UNESCO recognizing the ancient qvevri winemaking method in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2013. In the newly opened wine museum of Bordeaux, La Cite du Vin, Georgia was honored with the first international exhibition with ancient wine-related artifacts attracting thousands of people. Georgian producers of different sizes and philosophies of winemaking are regularly recognized with the highest awards in prestigious international competitions, as well as rankings from publications like Wine Spectator, Decanter, Wine Enthusiast, Wine and Spirit Magazine, Food and Wine Magazine, and the Washington Post. The recent three-day long Ghvino Forum (named for the Georgian word for wine) in Washington, D.C. brought together historians, archeologists, geographers, economists, experts of geopolitics, wine industry representatives, and journalists for discussions on the origin, geography, politics, and economics of wine, centered around Georgia. With wines available in trendy restaurants, boutique wine shops, and the Whole Foods chain, the D.C. regions market was a natural choice of location for this first annual Ghvino Forum. IMPLICATIONS: All these success stories became important elements of the marketing of the country, supporting exports, tourism, and the overall positive image of the country all around the world. Georgian wine, paired with natural beauty, ancient cultural heritage, and diverse and sophisticated cuisine, has become an emerging global attraction. According to the National Wine Agency of Georgia, in January-October 2018, more than 68 million bottles of wine were exported to 53 countries worldwide. This is 12 percent higher than similar data for 2017, which was a record-setting year since the country regained its independence in 1991. Wine export receipts were at $162 million, a 20 percent increase from the previous year. And while Russia still holds by far the dominant share of the Georgian wine export market, the growth rate in recent years in other strategic markets like Ukraine, Poland, China, and Kazakhstan is very significant. There is no doubt that the dependency of Georgias wine exports on the Russian market is a subject of concern, due to the geopolitical realities. Russia occupies 20 percent of Georgian territory, and in the past, Russia banned the import of Georgian wines under the false pretext of quality concerns, in order to impact Western-oriented foreign policy priorities of the country. In April 2006, after a Russian ban on the import of Georgian wines, it was predicted in these pages (See CACI Analyst, April 19, 2006) that the Russian move would only strengthen the Georgian wine industry. That is exactly what happened. And the industry is much more resilient today than it was in 2006. But further efforts for market diversification are essential. In addition to wine, in January-October, the Georgian export of the other products of the wine industry, brandy and Georgian pomace brandy Chacha also increased. The total value of the wine and wine-related alcohol export exceeded $252 million, which makes this industry the fifth largest export generator for the country. Georgias wine industry indirectly contributes to the increase of tourism revenues for the country. In 2017 there were record number of visitors to Georgia at 7.6 million, out of which more than 62 percent spent at least a night in Georgia, which qualifies them as tourists. Tourism-related revenues were at $2.7 billion in 2017, and are expected to be higher this year. While wine-focused tourism may not be dominant in the total spectrum of visitors, almost everyone who comes to Georgia drinks wine and thus contributes to the growth of in-country consumption of wine and wine products. At the same time, the number of tourists coming to Georgia to explore its unique and diverse wine culture is also growing. The Georgian hospitality sector has already responded to the growing demand of visitors and locals alike, and the number of retail and hotel outlets which focus on wine is growing rapidly. Retailers like 8,000 Harvests, hotels like Vinotel, wine bars like Vino Underground, as well as wineries retail outlets in larger cities became major tourist destinations for visitors, as well as Georgians. The growing interest towards Georgian wine also attracts foreign investors in this sector. Some visionary investors successfully invested in the early stages of the revitalization of the Georgian wine industry. Large wineries like Teliani Valley, Schuchmann Wines, and Chateau Mukhrani have sizable Western investments, but there are also a growing number of smaller boutique wineries with foreign direct investments, as well as small and large hotels in wine producing areas. The first Radisson Collection hotel opened recently in Tsinandali, in the heart of Kakheti, the main wine producing area of the country. CONCLUSIONS: Wine culture has gradually emerged as one of the key drivers for the awareness of Georgia on a global scale, helping exports and attracting tourists to the country, thus contributing to development and growth. Obviously, there is still a long way to go for Georgia to become a global destination for wine tourism, but the trend is positive and the trajectory is upward. Being the largest wine market in the world, open to imports of the best of global wine production, the United States is a natural strategic market for Georgian wines. Georgian producers and American importers have an ambitious plan to have American wine drinkers buy at least one bottle of Georgian wine a year. If that were the case, the United States would become the number one destination for Georgian wine exports, even if Georgian wines would make only 1 percent of the total US market for wines. This is an important goal from both political, as well as economic, point of view. Larger sales on the U.S. market would reduce the risks of dependency on the politically volatile Russian market. At the same time, significant presence on the U.S. market with much greater purchasing power of consumers would have a positive long-term impact on the Georgian economy. AUTHORS BIO: Mamuka Tsereteli, Ph.D. is a Senior Fellow at the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute, President of the America-Georgia Business Council, and the founder of the Georgian Wine House. Analog Devices is battling a tax demand from Irish authorities, in a case that the US chip maker says could materially hurt its earnings. Analog is one of the biggest multinational employers in Munster, with about 1,200 staff at its main hub in Limerick, in addition to a design facility in Cork. Irish officials told the company, an Apple supplier, that its Irish tax-resident unit owed about 43m relating to inter-company transfers stretching back to 2013, Analog said in filings last month. This assessment excludes any penalties and interest, it said. The company's shares dropped as much as 3.4pc on Wednesday. Massachusetts-based Analog said it will "vigorously defend" its position and is appealing the decision. It warned that if it were to lose the case "such assessment and any potential impact related to years subsequent to 2013 could have a material unfavourable impact". Revenue here said it would not comment on individual cases. An Analog spokeswoman confirmed the case is ongoing, and said the company wouldn't comment beyond that. Analog is taking the case to the Tax Appeals Commission. International tax authorities are keen to limit transactions among corporate subsidiaries, which are sometimes seen as ways to shift income to low-tax jurisdictions. The Irish corporate tax rate is 12.5pc, while in the US, President Donald Trump's administration has cut the federal rate to 21pc. Meanwhile, Apple is fighting a European Commission order to pay 13bn in tax arrears to Ireland. The Irish Government is also seeking to have that bill cancelled Analog specialises in data converters and chips that translate real world things - such as a button press or sound - into electronic signals. Last month, it said its effective tax rate was below its blended US federal statutory rate of 23.4pc. "This is primarily due to lower statutory tax rates applicable to our operations in the foreign jurisdictions in which we earn income," it said. Analog Devices has been in Ireland since 1977. It recently announced a multi-year multimillion-euro strategic partnership with the Tyndall National Institute at University College Cork, a high tech research laboratory. Bloomberg Predator said the most cost-effective way of evaluating the prospect is to re-enter an old well. Stock Image Predator Oil & Gas has announced plans to try and develop an old gas discovery in the Celtic Sea off the south coast. The company said it had used new technology - not available when the gas was first discovered in 1984 - to analyse the possibility of extracting the gas in a commercial fashion. It said the most cost-effective way of evaluating the prospect is to re-enter an old well. "Results indicate that the re-entry is feasible and very cost-effective compared to drilling a new well," Predator said in a statement to the market. "Planning for a well re-entry will be undertaken in early 2019 with a view to executing the programme in 2020, subject to all fully compliant regulatory consents and approvals." Progressing the plan will be dependent on finding a partner to help Predator finance the project - known as a 'farm-in' deal in the industry. If gas were recovered, the plan would be to bring it ashore using the equipment already in use for the Kinsale field. Predator is also looking to drill at a gas prospect near the Corrib field off the West coast, at which the new operator Vermilion Energy is making expansion plans. John Scouler (pictured) and Chris Bush were each cleared of one count of fraud and another of false accounting (Dominic Lipinski/PA) Former Tesco UK managing director Chris Bush leaves Southwark Crown Court after being acquitted of charges of fraud and false accounting (Dominic Lipinski/PA) Two former Tesco officials have won the dismissal of criminal fraud charges relating to a 2014 accounting scandal that prompted a boardroom reshuffle and an overhaul of supplier relations. A judge dismissed the charges against Chris Bush, Tesco's former UK CEO, and John Scouler, ex-commercial director of the unit, halfway through a retrial in London. The charges were tossed out last week, but couldn't be reported while prosecutors from the Serious Fraud Office unsuccessfully tried to get an appeals court to overturn the decision. The case was triggered by a discovery that the retailer had overstated income by 246m, which wiped 2bn off the company's market value. Tesco agreed to pay 214m last year to resolve regulatory probes into the accounting scandal. Judge John Royce told the London jury that the prosecution failed to prove that the two executives were aware of any fraudulent activity that may have taken place. A Tesco accountant who looked through the numbers testified that he himself didn't know about the fraud, Mr Royce said. "The real weakness was this question of proving knowledge," Mr Royce said. "If he, the gatekeeper, the qualified accountant did not know, how could it be safely asserted that the defendants knew? You would've had to be sure that they knew." The first trial was halted in February days before the jury was scheduled to begin deliberations. A third defendant, former UK chief financial officer Carl Rogberg, was severed from the current case and the SFO could still make a decision to proceed with charges against him. Tesco embarked on a sweeping overhaul after the accounting issues came to light. CEO Dave Lewis, who took over at Tesco in 2014 after the case burst into the open, described a report he was shown after joining as "a way of operating which I had never seen". Tesco declined to comment. Bloomberg The daughter of Huawei's founder, a top executive at the Chinese technology giant, was arrested in Canada and faces extradition to the United States, roiling global stock markets as the move threatened to inflame Sino-US trade tensions afresh. The shock arrest of Meng Wanzhou, 46, who is Huawei's chief financial officer, raises fresh doubts over a 90-day truce on trade struck between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping on Saturday - the day she was detained. Her arrest, revealed late on Wednesday by Canadian authorities, is related to US sanctions, a person familiar with the matter said. Reuters was unable to determine the precise nature of the possible violations. Sources told Reuters in April that US authorities have been investigating Huawei, the world's largest telecoms equipment maker, since at least 2016 for allegedly shipping US-origin products to Iran and other countries in violation of US export and sanctions laws. The arrest and any potential sanctions on the world's second-biggest smartphone maker could have major repercussions on the global technology supply chain. US stock futures and Asian shares tumbled as news of the arrest heightened the sense a major collision was brewing between the world's two largest economic powers, not just over tariffs but also over technological hegemony. Huawei is not listed, but China's second-largest telecom equipment maker, sank nearly 6pc in Hong Kong while most of the nearby national bourses lost at least 2pc Huawei is already under intense scrutiny from US and other western governments about its ties to the Chinese government, driven by concerns it could be used by the state for spying. It has been locked out of the United States and some other markets for telecom gear. Huawei has repeatedly insisted Beijing has no influence over it. Read more: Ms Meng, one of the vice chairs on the company's board and the daughter of company founder Ren Zhengfei, was arrested on December 1 at the request of US authorities and a court hearing has been set for Friday, a Canadian Justice Department spokesman said. Mr Trump and Mr Xi dined on December 1 at the G20 summit. Huawei confirmed the arrest in a statement. "The company has been provided very little information regarding the charges and is not aware of any wrongdoing by Ms Meng," it said. She was detained when she was transferring flights in Canada, it added. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a daily briefing yesterday that China had asked Canada and the United States for an explanation of Ms Meng's arrest, but they have "not provided any clarification". The Chinese consulate in Vancouver has been providing her assistance, he added, declining further comment. On Wednesday, China's embassy in Canada said it resolutely opposed the arrest and called for her immediate release. In April, the sources told Reuters the US Justice Department probe was being handled by the US attorney's office in Brooklyn. Reuters Jennifer Aniston hopes her new film will lead to an acceptance of all shapes and sizes in Hollywood. The US actress stars in Netflixs Dumplin as a former beauty queen whose plus-sized daughter signs up to appear in her pageant. Australian actress Danielle Macdonald appears as Anistons daughter Willowdean, whose nickname gives the film its name, and it is based on the novel by Julie Murphy. Former Friends star Aniston hopes the films message of body positivity sparks a more accepting environment in Hollywood. Expand Close Jennifer Aniston stars in Dumplin as a former beauty queen (Bob Mahoney/Netflix/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Jennifer Aniston stars in Dumplin as a former beauty queen (Bob Mahoney/Netflix/PA) Speaking at the films premiere in Los Angeles on Thursday, she told the Press Association: I think its wonderful, hopefully it wont be a theme anymore and the message will be made and there will be an acceptance of all shapes and sizes. Dumplin has a soundtrack by country music superstar Dolly Parton. On Thursday it was announced one of the tracks from the film, Girl In The Movies, had earned Parton a Golden Globe nomination for best original song. Parton and Aniston have struck up a close friendship while working together on the film, which is directed by Anne Fletcher. Expand Close Dolly Parton has earned a Golden Globe nomination for her work on the Dumplin soundtrack (Matt Crossick/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Dolly Parton has earned a Golden Globe nomination for her work on the Dumplin soundtrack (Matt Crossick/PA) Parton said she loved Aniston after working together. Video of the Day She said: I really liked Jen, Id always loved watching her in the movies. It was only when she took on this show and to produce it that they contacted me to see if Id work on the music and allow them to use a lot of my music and I said sure. Then when I got to know her, I just loved her and we had a great opportunity to work together. Parton worked on the Dumplin soundtrack alongside Linda Perry and said she enjoyed working with talented women. She said: Working with Linda Parry has been a great joy, we wrote a lot of new songs for the movie and she produced the album. Ive had a great time working with all of these talented women. hi my skirt is too short in the back (thank you, luscious butt) go-go gadget press day pic.twitter.com/8i1JjkmUNk Julie Murphy (@andimJULIE) December 4, 2018 Murphy wrote Dumplin in 2015 and said she hopes it can help other women. The Texas-born writer said: This is the body Ive always lived in, Ive always looked like this no matter how hard I tried not to. I just came into a time in my life when I said this is it, I only get one life and Im going to live it. I was so empowered by that thought and that notion I couldnt help but write Dumplin. Growing up I never had the opportunity to see a book like that on the shelves or a movie like that on the screen, save for possibly Hairspray which for me is forever iconic. So its such an important message for me and its something that has radicalised my life and I hope it can help other women, even if its just one iota. Dumplin is out now. Comedian Kevin Hart has stepped down as host of the 2019 Academy Awards amid controversy over alleged homophobic tweets he posted nearly a decade ago. The US comedian and actor was named as the host of the Oscars on Tuesday, describing the role as the opportunity of a lifetime. Shortly after his appointment, tweets resurfaced, originally posted between 2009 and 2011, which contained offensive language towards the LGBT community. Amid a growing controversy and after refusing the Academys request to apologise, Hart announced on Twitter he was stepping aside. I have made the choice to step down from hosting this year's Oscar's....this is because I do not want to be a distraction on a night that should be celebrated by so many amazing talented artists. I sincerely apologize to the LGBTQ community for my insensitive words from my past. Kevin Hart (@KevinHart4real) December 7, 2018 I'm sorry that I hurt people.. I am evolving and want to continue to do so. My goal is to bring people together not tear us apart. Much love & appreciation to the Academy. I hope we can meet again. Kevin Hart (@KevinHart4real) December 7, 2018 He said: I have made the choice to step down from hosting this years Oscars.this is because I do not want to be a distraction on a night that should be celebrated by so many amazing talented artists. I sincerely apologize to the LGBTQ community for my insensitive words from my past. Im sorry that I hurt people.. I am evolving and want to continue to do so. My goal is to bring people together not tear us apart. Much love & appreciation to the Academy. I hope we can meet again. Hours before announcing his decision, Hart, who is on tour in Australia, shared two videos to Instagram. In the first one he was dismissive of the controversy, saying he had had time to grow in the years since sharing the offensive tweets. Video of the Day In another Instagram video several hours later, he revealed the Academy had been in touch asking him to say sorry, but he refused as he has already addressed it. He said: I chose to pass, I passed on the apology. The reason why I passed is because Ive addressed this several times. This is not the first time this has come up. Ive addressed it, Ive spoken on it. Ive said where the rights and wrongs were. Ive said who I am now versus who I was then. Ive done it, Ive done it. Im not going to continue to go back and tap into the days of old. Ive moved on, Im in a completely different space in my life. The same energy that went into finding those old tweets could be the same energy put into finding the response to the questions that have been asked years after years after years. We feed internet trolls and reward them. Im not going to do it, man. Im going to be me, and Im going to stand my ground. Expand Close Kevin Hart has stepped down as host of the Oscars (Isabel Infantes/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Kevin Hart has stepped down as host of the Oscars (Isabel Infantes/PA) Hart added: Regardless, to the Academy, Im thankful and appreciative of the opportunity. If it goes away, no harm, no foul. The Academy did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Harts decision to quit will leave all eyes on who the Academy approach to replace him. Shortly before his doomed unveiling on Tuesday, respected trade publication The Hollywood Reporter called the hosts gig, the worst job in town, after previous appointments experienced difficulties on the night. Jimmy Kimmel was the MC when the best picture gong was wrongly handed to La La Land over Moonlight, though was not responsible for that mistake. Hart would have been just one of a handful of African Americans to host the Oscars, following on from stars including Chris Rock, Whoopi Goldberg and Sammy Davis Jr. The Oscars will take place in Los Angeles on Sunday February 24. Singer Shane MacGowan has stood over the use of the word faggot in his Christmas Fairytale of New York hit. (Niall Carson/PA) Irish broadcaster RTE has said it will not censor the word faggot from the Pogues gritty Christmas hit Fairytale Of New York. It issued a statement following a week of controversy during which a number of people spoke out against the use of the word, a derogatory term for gay people. Irish broadcaster Eoghan McDermott raised concerns about the impact of the word being played as part of the song which was originally released in 1987. The hit, which features Kirsty MacColl, has become one of the most played songs of the festive period across the UK and Ireland. In a Twitter post McDermott said he had asked two gay members of his team how they felt about the use of the word, adding that one favoured censoring the word while the other preferred the song not being played. Neither like it. Simples, he added. However he has denied suggestions that either he or any of his team had asked for the word to be censored. I was in a club the other day and they played that song, I stood in a room as over 200 people screamed a word thats been used to make me feel like an outsider, with such joy and cheer. Stephen Byrne (@stephenbyrne) December 6, 2018 Another presenter, Stephen Byrne, also voiced his discomfort at the use of the word. Video of the Day Posting on Twitter, he described it as a word that can slice open a wound that bleeds memories of real life and online bullying. In a statement MacGowan, who married his long-term partner Victoria Mary Clarke last week, defended the use of the word in the song, saying it suited the character. The word was used by the character because it fitted with the way she would speak and with her character, he wrote. She is not supposed to be a nice person, or even a wholesome person. She is a woman of a certain generation at a certain time in history and she is down on her luck and desperate. Expand Close Kirsty MacColl (James Arnold/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Kirsty MacColl (James Arnold/PA) MacGowan added: If people dont understand that I was trying to accurately portray the character as authentically as possible then I am absolutely fine with them bleeping the word but I dont want to get into an argument. A spokeswoman for RTE said: Fairytale Of New York will be continued to be played without any omissions on RTE radio. Criminal proceedings are being considered after Mark Hennessy, who had abducted and killed a young female student, was shot dead by an armed garda. Hennessy (40) was shot by a garda at Cherrywood Business Park, Co Dublin, on May 20 last. He had previously abducted Jastine Valdez (24) as she walked to her home in Co Wicklow, murdered her and dumped her body. Family members including Mr Hennessy's parents yesterday attended the opening of an inquest into his death at Dublin Coroner's Court. The matter was referred to the Garda Siochana Ombudsman Commission (Gsoc). Yesterday, Senior Investigations Officer Nicholas Harden said he was seeking a six month adjournment to allow investigations to continue. Mr Harden confirmed to coroner Dr Myra Cullinane that criminal proceedings were being contemplated and applied to the court for a copy of the post-mortem report. "The investigation is ongoing, we are a seeking six-month adjournment to allow for further investigations and to meet our obligations under article 2," Mr Harden said. Mark Hennessy's father Michael Hennessy stood in the witness box as evidence of how he had identified the body of his son was read out in court. "On May 21, 2018, at 4.25pm in Dublin City Morgue, I formally identified the body of my son to Sergeant Georgina Reilly," Mr Hennessy said in his deposition. A post-mortem was conducted by Deputy State Pathologist Dr Linda Mulligan on May 21. The cause of death was given as a gunshot wound to the arm and chest. Dr Cullinane adjourned the inquest for further mention on June 6, 2019, and extended condolences to the Hennessy family. "It is never easy for anyone to come to this court and very difficult for you," the coroner told Michael Hennessy. Graham Dwyer was jailed for life for the murder of childcare worker Elaine O'Hara. Photo: Courtpix Convicted murderer Graham Dwyer's bid to overturn his conviction has been boosted after he won a legal action against the Garda Commissioner and the State over the retention and use of mobile phone data. In a significant ruling, the High Court ruled the Irish legislation under which gardai accessed his phone records contravened EU law and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The ruling could potentially have implications not just for Dwyer's appeal, but for other criminal cases. However, the court said it was not an automatic consequence of its decision that any convictions would be quashed. Dwyer (46), the former Foxrock-based architect, was sentenced to life imprisonment in April 2015 after a jury at the Central Criminal Court found him guilty of the murder of Elaine O'Hara. Evidence relating to the use and movement of mobile phones formed a crucial part of the case against him. Dwyer, who denies killing the childcare worker, brought a challenge against provisions of the 2011 Communications Act which allowed gardai investigating Ms O'Hara's death to obtain and use certain data, including phone records, as evidence against him. The 2011 Act, which obliged service providers to keep customer data for two years, gave effect to the EU's 2006 Data Retention Directive. However, the directive was ruled invalid by the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Justice in 2014. Yesterday, the High Court ruled provisions set out in Section 6 of the 2011 Act, which allowed gardai of chief superintendent rank and above to request user data from telecommunications providers, contravened EU law and the ECHR. Mr Justice Tony O'Connor found that the retention of data was general and indiscriminate. He said there was no prior review by a court or an independent administrative authority for access to data and no adequate legislative guarantees against abuse of such data. The judge said the Court of Justice of the European Union had ruled that even where the objective was fighting serious crime, this could not in itself justify national legislation that provided for the general and indiscriminate retention of all traffic and location data. In the proceedings, lawyers for Dwyer also argued sections of the Act were repugnant to the Constitution. However, Mr Justice O'Connor said the court would not be making a declaration on this issue. The exact wording of declarations the judge will make in the case has yet to be decided. Submissions on this are to be taken from counsel for Dwyer, the Garda Commissioner and the State at a later date. Dwyer was not seeking to challenge his conviction in the proceedings. However, the ruling is likely to have a bearing on a challenge to his conviction set to be heard by the Court of Appeal. He was not present in court as the ruling was delivered and is currently incarcerated at the Midlands Prison. Mr Justice O'Connor said it was not an automatic consequence of his decision that trials would collapse or that convictions would be quashed. He said Dwyer would be obliged, in his appeal, to address rules regarding admissibility of evidence. The judge referred to a Supreme Court case known as JC, which related to the admissibility of evidence. In that case, the Supreme Court ruled that evidence obtained in breach of an accused's constitutional rights does not necessarily have to be excluded at trial if the breach involved was not conscious and deliberate. Dwyer's case centred on the European Courts of Justice's decision in 2014 to strike down the EU directive underlying the 2011 Act. Among the flaws that court identified was that the directive interfered more than was strictly necessary with fundamental rights to respect for private life and the protection of personal data. It also found the directive did not provide sufficient safeguards against the risk of abuse or unlawful access of data. Other EU countries have taken steps to amend their national laws, but Ireland has not done so. Dwyer met childcare worker Ms O'Hara online. She disappeared in August 2012 and her remains were not found until 13 months later in a forest at Killakee in the Dublin Mountains. Mobile phone data obtained by gardai had a large bearing on the investigation of her murder. A Cavan resident has been convicted of a 90,000 tiger kidnapping four years ago in which a postmistress, her daughter and an Italian student were abducted from their home. Paschal Kelly (53) with an address at Cootehill, Co. Cavan, had pleaded not guilty to trespass and to false imprisonment of postmistress Susan Lawlor, her daughter Emma Carter and Italian student Gabriella Saisa at Seabury Drive, Malahide, Dublin, on September 25, 2014. Kelly had also pleaded not guilty to robbing Ms Lawlor of cash at Bayside Post Office, Sutton, Dublin, and threatening to kill her, Ms Carter and Ms Saisa at an unknown location in the State. He had also denied unlawful possession of a vehicle, all on the same date. Shortly after midday today the jury of seven men and five women returned unanimous guilty verdicts on all charges after one hour and 40 minutes deliberating. The trial was originally scheduled to last six weeks, but extended into a ninth week due to legal argument in the absence of the jury. Judge Karen O'Connor thanked the jurors for their extraordinary service and your extraordinary commitment to you jury service She excused them from jury service for life. Kelly has been remanded in custody for ahead of sentence in January next year. She directed victim impact statements for the three injured parties. A sex offender has been jailed for six years after he was caught exposing himself to frightened young girls on their way to school. Barry Watters (42) walked past the victims with his genitals exposed as they walked down the street after attending a breakfast club. He was also found with child pornography by gardai who had spotted him entering an internet cafe and were able to remotely monitor what he was viewing. Judge Martina Baxter handed down the sentence at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court today after Watters pleaded guilty to two counts of indecency at a location in the city in December 2014, and a separate count of possession of child pornography in 2016. She noted Watters, who has been repeatedly convicted in the past of having child pornography seems to be taking a step further, coming out from behind the computer screen. He had displayed brazen exhibitionism and was targeting the most vulnerable people in society - children, Judge Baxter said. She sentenced him to seven years, with the final year suspended. Watters, formerly of Infirmary Road, Dublin, and originally from Dundalk, Co Louth, was before the court today for sentencing, having entered his guilty plea earlier. The details of the offences were read out by Judge Baxter. The court heard at 8.45am on December 1, 2014, a youth worker who ran a breakfast club was in the doorway looking out when she noticed a man walking up the street with his penis exposed as he walked. He looked her in the face as he walked by and she was shocked. There were children around and he walked into a group of girls, with his penis still exposed, the court heard. An 11-year-old girl who was walking alone and looking down described looking up and seeing the accused walking with his penis exposed. He was facing her, holding his penis and she got a fright. A nine-year-old victim described walking out of the breakfast club when he walked past with his penis exposed. She ran and told a lollipop lady what happened. The court heard at 8.50am on December 2, 2014, two children were walking to school when they met the accused walking on the footpath with his genitalia exposed. A 10-year-old girl described how his thing rubbed off the top of her arm as he passed her, although she did not know if he meant it or not. When he rubbed off her he kept walking. She got a fright and ran to a nearby shop and then to the school and reported it. She said the accused had been close to her and she started to walk around him but he moved too. The girls friend gave a similar account. The judge said Watters presence in the area on the two occasions wasnt an accident. The girls were nervous and upset as a result of what happened, the court heard. The judge said the accused never spoke to the children and it seemed he was doing this for his own gratuitous interest. He was walking in a very troubling way and the way the incidents were dealt with was testament to how the community responded when they realised the children were in peril. These were unpleasant experiences for everyone involved, the judge said. The victims were innocent children and a tragic and awful effect of the offences was that their normal routine of walking to school unaccompanied had changed. They had been gaining their independence but now that had been cut short by the offending of Barry Watters. In the child pornography case, the court heard he was seen entering an internet cafe. He put on headphones and turned the screen around so nobody else could see what he was viewing. He was seen smiling as he watched the screen for an hour or so. Gardai asked to access a live feed and saw him accessing images of pre-teen children in provocative poses and girls aged between seven and 11 in bikinis. He handed over a USB stick which had been used to store images of child pornography - 23 in total. These showed children involved in sexual activity and with their genitals exposed. Counsel for the accused said pleas in mitigation had been heard previously and probation and psychological reports were available to the court. Watters had first come to the notice of the criminal justice system 10 years ago. His parents had suffered greatly as a result of his activities and adverse publicity, counsel said. Watters had been in custody since July and was doing better there than when he is at liberty, his barrister said. Judge Baxter said Watters had displayed brazen exhibitionism and sinister and disturbing behaviour. After the first incident, he became more emboldened. She took account of a psychological report on him which showed that he had cognitive deficiency and was vulnerable and possibly on the autism spectrum. She also noted a lack of empathy and limited insight into his behaviour. The child pornography offence had happened while he was on bail subject to conditions, she said. Watters had several previous convictions for possession of child pornography over the past 10 years and the judge said he seems to be taking a step further, coming out from behind the computer screen, which raises the bar of offending. The final year of Watters' sentence is suspended for two years subject to conditions, including sex offender treatment and post release supervision. In that time he is to have no contact with any child under 18 or attend any family event where children are likely to be attending. Under the bond, he is also banned from entering any internet cafe or from using any internet enabled device without supervision. Watters, dressed in a light grey sweater and grey tracksuit bottoms spoke only at the conclusion of the case, when the court registrar read out the terms of the peace bond. He laughed, telling her: "I can't hear what you're saying." One of his barristers said the accused was hard of hearing and Judge Baxter told Watters to come forward. When the conditions were read out again and he was asked if he acknowledged them, he said: "I do." Umesh Maharjan, of Windmill House, Dock Road, Limerick pictured leaving the Four Courts yesterday(Fri) after he settled his High Court action.Pic: Collins Courts A student who sued after he was burned when he sat on a bucket which contained freshly discarded hot oil from the Chinese takeaway he worked in has settled his High Court action. Fine Arts student Umesh Maharjan suffered devastating injuries when the oil splashed on his back and arm, the court heard. He was in excruciating unbearable pain and has been left with "grossly disfiguring" scars, the court also heard. Mr Maharjan, who is originally from Kathmandu in Nepal, was working in the Rathnew Chinese Takeaway in Wicklow to finance his degree. His counsel Declan Doyle SC said he was taking a break at the back of the premises where plastic buckets were kept and where staff went for their breaks. Somebody, counsel said, had put hot cooking oil from a deep fat fryer in a bucket and when Mr Maharjan sat on it, the lid gave way and he collapsed backwards. The oil spilled over his back and left arm. Expand Close Umesh Maharjan, of Windmill House, Dock Road, Limerick pictured leaving the Four Courts yesterday(Fri) after he settled his High Court action.Pic: Collins Courts / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Umesh Maharjan, of Windmill House, Dock Road, Limerick pictured leaving the Four Courts yesterday(Fri) after he settled his High Court action.Pic: Collins Courts Counsel said he suffered life changing and devastating injuries and had very extensive burns. Colleagues, he said helped and put water and some ice on the affected areas and Mr Maharjan was taken to hospital. Mr Maharjan (29), Windmill House, Dock Road, Limerick, sued Rathnew Restaurant and Takeaway Ltd with offices at Rockville House, Rathnew, Co Wicklow, as a result of the accident on August 21, 2015. He claimed there was a failure to take any or any adequate precautions so as to provide a safe place and safe system of work. He also claimed hot oil had been stored in a manner and in a container that was unfit for purpose and created an obvious hazard and trap for him. Mr Justice Michael Hanna was told the issue of liability had been withdrawn in the case and it was before the court for assessment of damages only. Counsel told the court when Mr Maharjan was brought to hospital he was in excruciating pain and he later had unbearable pain when dressings were changed. In evidence Mr Maharjan said he was scared and his back was really hot. "The pain was really hard for me. I feel bad I will have this for my entire life." he said. Following talks on Friday, Mr Doyle said the case had been settled and could be struck out. Mr Justice Hanna wished Mr Maharjan well in the future and said he was a very impressive gentleman. THE health minister is set to extend the HPV vaccine to boys after the health watchdog Hiqa today recommended it be rolled out. Simon Harris had previously indicated that he was in favour of giving teenage boys the vaccine, with the Government saying it will provide funding to starting giving the vaccine at the next academic year Hiqa also recommends that both girls and boys get a new form of the vaccine which protects against an additional five types of HPV. The watchdog also said the vaccine is safe. Hiqas Director of Health Technology Assessment and Deputy Chief Executive, Dr Mairin Ryan, said: "The burden of HPV-related disease is substantial, with HPV responsible for approximately 1 in every 20 cases of cancer across the world. "This assessment demonstrates that the HPV vaccine provides effective primary prevention against HPV infection and HPV-related disease, and that the vaccine is safe." Minister Harris said: Funding has already been made available in the budget to facilitate the introduction of this initiative in 2019, subject to a favourable recommendation being made in the assessment report. The content of the assessment report will be reviewed by officials in my Department and I expect to make an announcement on this proposal shortly. The Minister is attending a council meeting of EU Health Ministers today (7 December) where vaccination will be a key focus and Ministers will discuss the challenges presented by an increasingly digitised world. He added:There have been attempts to spread fear and scaremonger. This came to light here in when there was an attempt to link the HPV vaccine with serious side effects. This continues to be a problem for Member States. This can have negative, and potentially long-lasting, consequences, particularly when such views are spread through online media. Girls in their first year of secondary school are currently offered the 4-valent vaccine, which protects against four types of HPV. It advised that the National Immunisation Schedule switches from the 4-valent vaccine to the 9-valent vaccine, which protects against an additional five types of HPV, and that the vaccine is extended to boys of the same age. Dr Ryan said :Vaccinating girls with the 9-valent vaccine is estimated to be cost saving and more effective than the existing girls-only 4-valent programme. "A gender-neutral 9-valent vaccination programme, where both boys and girls are vaccinated, is estimated to be more effective than the girls-only alternative. "It is likely that gender neutral 9-valent vaccination would also be cost-effective in light of the conservative assumptions used with regard to final cost, uptake rate and protection provided against all types of cancers." It also considered the ethical and organisational issues for giving the vaccine to boys. Dr Mairin Ryan said: "Extending the HPV vaccine to boys provides direct protection against HPV-related disease to boys, indirect protection to girls who have not been vaccinated and would reduce HPV-related disease and mortality in Ireland. "Over 20 years, a gender-neutral 9-valent programme will prevent an estimated 101 additional cases of cervical cancer compared with the current girls-only 4-valent programme." The final report and recommendations have been informed by four systematic reviews, an economic evaluation, an ethical and organisational analysis, intensive engagement with an expert advisory group and a six-week public consultation which received 242 submissions. Patients who are suffering long waits on A&E trolleys during the worst weeks of overcrowding may be moved to another hospital which is less busy as part of the HSE's winter plan. The delayed 30m plan, which was finally unveiled yesterday, comes as hospital emergency services are braced for the post-Christmas and new year influx of patients, which caused record trolley gridlock last winter. For the first time, each hospital will have an insider's view of how other hospitals are performing with electronic dashboards giving real-time data on how many patients are on trolleys, waiting times, ambulance activities and bed availability. It means a hospital struggling with dangerous levels of overcrowding may be able to offer a bed to patients. However, the patient will need to be willing to be transported to another hospital. Dr Peadar Gilligan, A&E consultant and president of the Irish Medical Organisation, said the winter plan was "too little, too late". "As usual, the winter plan ignores key issues and offers little in the way of meaningful solutions," he said. Dr Ken Mealy, of the Royal College of Surgeons, warned thousands of patients on waiting lists would lose as scheduled surgeries and diagnostics were cancelled for weeks to make room in hospitals. "It is, however, a sticking plaster of a solution that will discommode thousands of patients and put pressure on waiting lists in the new year." Fianna Fail TD Stephen Donnelly echoed his concerns, saying: "It's simply not good enough." Long-term advanced planning would allow routine medical services to continue, he added. Anne O'Connor, HSE deputy director of general operations, said the live dashboards would operate from mid-December to mid-January. She warned the chaotic "spiking and dipping" in hospital overcrowding was the most difficult to cope with. She rejected accusations the plan was coming too late. "Hospitals and community organisations submitted joint winter-preparedness plans in September. Since then the focus has been on preparing in as far as possible to manage anticipating pressures this winter." Work has started on discharging many of the 545 hospital patients who no longer need acute care. There are 300 extra homecare packages available before the end of the year. There will be more emphasis on at-risk groups being winter-ready to reduce the chances of them ending up in A&E. Older people and those with chronic illnesses are promised extra visits from public health nurses to ensure they are better able to manage their illness and have essentials such as prescription medicines in stock. Nine hospitals that have the highest A&E attendances are earmarked for intense monitoring and oversight. An extra 79 beds are due to open, but most of these will not be ready until early next year. The plan will give more access to private scans for GPs and hospitals. The HSE is hopeful the way Christmas Day falls this year will also help because GP surgeries will be open on the Monday beforehand. Asked about staffing levels in light of Taoiseach Leo Varadkar's insistence that all doctors and nurses be on duty, the officials said each hospital would look after its rosters but not all doctors and nurses would need to work "all the time". Flu remains at low levels for now but it is expected to rise over Christmas and the new year. The swine flu virus is the main form of flu circulating and this mostly affects young patients. It tends to leave more patients admitted to intensive care. More than 1,500 Irish insurance claims are in limbo after Danish insurance company Qudos was placed into liquidation. Patrona, an Irish insurance company providing administration services for Qudos here, said there were 1,570 claims "ongoing" in which Qudos was involved. Whether Qudos will be able to pay claims is in serious doubt after the company's liquidators put payouts on hold, saying they were gathering information on the business. It may turn out that Qudos claims will be paid in full - but they may not. The Central Bank has "strongly" advised Qudos's 50,000 Irish customers to seek alternative cover in case they need to make a claim. Qudos was operating in the motor, commercial motor, logistics and haulage, and household insurance sectors here. It did business via brokers, meaning that some customers may be unaware Qudos is their ultimate underwriter. Patrona said: "In relation to claims, we have not received any formal instructions from the liquidator at this stage, other than public notifications that claims will not be paid for one to two weeks. The liquidator has stated that this is for administrative reasons while they evaluate the Qudos position and put the necessary infrastructure in place." Patrona added it had provided brokers with options to replace policies for Qudos customers. Anyone left on the hook for a claim may be able to claim compensation from the Danish or Irish funds set up to pay claims from liquidated insurers. "At the present time, Qudos has not exposed policyholders to any of the compensation funds and we will have to wait and see if their involvement will be required. Denmark has a guarantee fund that is designed to step in and pay compensation if an insurance company is liquidated. In addition to this there is also the Insurance Compensation Fund in Ireland, we expect the two regulatory bodies will be in discussion," Patrona said. Qudos is not the first insurance company operating in Ireland but regulated elsewhere in Europe to go into liquidation. Setanta Insurance was regulated in Malta, while Enterprise Insurance, whose collapse also affected Irish customers, was regulated in Gibraltar. The situation with Qudos has inevitably raised fears that Irish insurance customers will be hit with the cost of unpaid claims via levies - as seen with the collapses of Setanta Insurance or Quinn Insurance. Fianna Fail finance spokesperson Michael McGrath said Qudos "must not turn into another Setanta". "Clearly, urgent steps need to be taken ... a fully functioning European insurance market is crucial for customers to get affordable and fair insurance cover but the required regulatory mechanisms need to be put in place to protect customers and claimants," Mr McGrath said. "When Qudos or Setanta or any other insurance company goes into liquidation, it is Irish customers who end up footing the bill. One must ask: why there is no such mechanism at a European level? "The immediate concern is outstanding claims and whether they will still be paid out from the liquidation process. At this point, we do not know the exposure to the Irish market and I call on the Minister for Finance, the Central Bank and the liquidator to provide clarity in this respect as soon as possible." More than 2.5bn was wiped off the Irish Stock Exchange yesterday as shares on global stock markets plunged. Heavyweights CRH, Ryanair, Aryzta and Kingspan all saw significant share price drops. Bank of Ireland, AIB and insurer FBD were all weaker as the global slump represented a fall of 3.11pc on the Irish market. The turbulence on global stock markets came as the arrest of a senior Chinese technology executive threatened to cause another flare-up in tensions between Washington and Beijing. Meng Wanzhou, the daughter of the founder of Huawei, was arrested by Canadian authorities in Vancouver, and faces extradition to the US. News of her arrest sparked a slump on markets worldwide as tensions mount between the US and China. Last night, US stocks clawed their way back from a deep slide that had at one point threatened to wipe out the market's gains for the year. Ireland's financial slump yesterday came two days after another difficult day of trading. On Tuesday, more than 2bn was wiped off Irish shares, with the Iseq index hit hard by a double whammy of global jitters over trade and continuing fears of a hard Brexit. On November 15 last, some 3.3bn was wiped off the value of the Iseq index. This was linked to the prospect of a no-deal Brexit, with an embattled British Prime Minister Theresa May trying to get her Brexit deal across the line. Since then, she has received the overall support of her cabinet, with the deal also having been endorsed by the 27 other EU member states. The deal will now go to a vote in the House of Commons next week - so more market disruption is expected. The slump in November represented the worst day for the Irish Stock Exchange in almost two-and-a-half years, with shares down almost 4pc. The Iseq index is now 15pc below its level at the start of this year, and 11pc lower than where shares were a year ago. The FTSE 100 in Britain declined 3.1pc, its biggest drop since the UK held a vote to leave the European Union in June 2016. Other major indexes also fell sharply yesterday. The DAX in Germany dropped 3.5pc, while France's CAC 40 lost 3.3pc. The news also resulted in another down day for markets in Asia. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index tumbled 2.5pc and Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 1.9pc. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.2pc, while South Korea's Kospi sank 1.6pc. Shares also fell in Taiwan and all other regional markets. Students at University College Dublin (UCD) have apologised for making offensive comments during a broadcast on college station Belfield FM. 'Keepin' It Country' features a number of Agricultural Science students who put out a weekly show with agricultural news and commentary. The show came under fire after a number of lewd comments were allegedly made about female students. Well-known UCD student publication 'The College Tribune' first reported details of the broadcast last month, making reference to a number of offensive comments made about female students The podcast has since been removed, and the team behind the show issued a statement on the 'Keepin' It Country' Facebook page on December 3 in which they apologised for the comments. "We at 'Keepin' it Country' wish to apologise for the recent comments made on the student radio show," it said. "We are sincerely apologetic to all who have been affected by the use of inappropriate language and disrespectful comments made on the show. "These comments are not reflective of our personal viewpoints or that of the school of Agriculture and Food Science. "We are aware that the comments made are not acceptable in the society in which we want to live in, that promotes equality and respect for all. "We've accepted that we were wrong, and that there is a needed change of attitude regarding respectfulness and equality for everyone." A spokesperson for Belfield FM declined to comment and said queries should be referred to the Societies Council. The Irish Independent understands the Societies Council has been made aware of the comments made on the show but did not reply to a request for comment last night. The UCD Student Union said there was no one available to comment on the matter. A university spokesman said no concerns had been raised with the Dean of Undergraduates over the broadcast. Asked whether the Dean would now investigate the issue, the spokesperson said: "the Dean will attend to anything that is brought to his attention" but reiterated that "it has not been brought to the attention of the Dean". Criticism In 2016, students from the same UCD School of Agriculture also came in for criticism over an alleged Facebook group involving male students rating images of female students. At the time, a spokesperson for the university said it would investigate the allegations. The Belfield FM broadcast comes just two months after students at DCU's Accounting and Finance Society engaged in "nude acts" at the start of their new term in October DCU suspended the society from social activity for the remainder of the year. The drugs have an estimated street value of 1.36 million Some 68kg of herbal cannabis were seized by Revenue at Dublin Port today. The drugs, with an estimated street value of 1.36 million, were discovered during routine operations with the help of detector dog Meg and Revenue's mobile x-ray scanner. Expand Close Detector dog Meg. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Detector dog Meg. They were found concealed in a consignment of goods which had arrived into Dublin Port originating in Spain. Investigations into the discovery are ongoing. Separately, Revenue officers seized almost 12,000 unstamped cigarettes with the assistance of gardai and detector dog Bill. The illegal tobacco products were uncovered during a search carried out, under warrant, of two residential properties in the Dundalk area. Expand Close Almost 12,000 unstamped cigarettes were seized. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Almost 12,000 unstamped cigarettes were seized. The retail value of the 'Excellence' and 'NZ' branded cigarettes is over 8,000, representing a potential loss to the Exchequer of 6,500. A woman in her twenties and a man in his forties were interviewed and a file is being prepared with a view to prosecution. The European Investment Bank (EIB) is to fund development of social housing, which will be leased to local authorities for up to 30 years. The bank will lend to private companies - including pension funds looking for a steady income stream - that will build homes under what is effectively a public-private partnership (PPP) model. But it is not clear if tenants of these units will be forced to pay market rates in 30 years, or face the prospect of eviction when the PPP arrangement ends and the properties revert to the ownership of the private companies that built the homes. There are also questions over whether it could be cheaper for the State to fund construction of the units from its own resources, and retain the houses and apartments in public ownership. Two housing projects have been identified, one in Dublin and a second in Cork, EIB vice-president Andrew McDowell said. He added that additional projects would be assessed on a case-by-case basis, with the loans repaid over time through the rental income generated. "It's an innovative way of delivering infrastructure sometimes a little bit more rapidly, and obviously at least expense to the State," he said, adding this would be the bank's first social housing PPP project in Europe. "We're excited about that transaction and we hope it's going to lead to further EIB support for social housing in the coming years." It is not clear if the EIB's announcement yesterday is 'new' money, or whether it is part of a 160m funding package announced last June where the bank committed to funding social homes. There are also concerns that PPPs can be an expensive form of finance, but the State is keen to use this model to provide a proportion of new social units. In Budget 2015, it published plans to build almost 1,500 units under the PPP model, but none has yet been built. Experts suggest while there is a need to provide homes to address council waiting lists, there is also the question of delivering affordable units. These are aimed at those on incomes above the threshold allowing them to avail of State housing support, but not sufficient to buy or rent a property on the open market. With property prices approaching boom-time levels, high prices are driving key workers out of the cities in search of cheaper accommodation. One source suggested that not-for-profit Approved Housing Bodies would be in a position to ramp-up delivery of affordable homes which could be offered for rent at below-market rates. The loans would be repaid using the rent roll from tenants, with a margin remaining to maintain the properties. Approved Housing Bodies manage more than 18,000 units across the State, but it is not clear if they will be allowed to avail of the EIB funding. Among the barriers is the fact that its borrowings are counted on the State's balance sheet, unlike a PPP arrangement, meaning it would reduce the amount of leeway for Government in terms of discretionary spending. Separately yesterday, the Government announced that legislation to establish a new body called Home Building Finance Ireland has come into force. The agency is designed to make finance available for housing projects. Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy said the lack of funding had been identified as a "considerable obstacle" for SME builders, and that the new agency would help boost residential construction. Eoghan Murphy TD pictured with resident, Maria Miesczcyk who was handed the keys to her new home today at the official opening of 44 new social houses at Rosemount Court, Dundrum this morning. Photo: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin. Christmas came early for dozens of families today after they received the keys to their brand-new south Dublin homes. A new housing scheme of 44-unit developments at Rosemount Court, Dundrum was jointly opened by Cathaoirleach Ossian Smyth and Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy. Construction of the 34 family homes and 12 apartments began in January at a cost of 11.8m. It was an emotional day for mother-of-three Maria Mieszczyk when she realised that her 13-year wait on the housing list was finally at an end. Expand Close Some of the Units at the official opening of 44 new social houses at Rosemount Court, Dundrum this morning. Photo: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Some of the Units at the official opening of 44 new social houses at Rosemount Court, Dundrum this morning. Photo: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin. Speaking to Independent.ie, Ms Mieszczyk, who is originally from Poland, said until very recently her family were on the brink of homelessness. Its like a dream come true, she said. My children and I lived in a house in Rathfarnham for 14 years, but earlier this year my landlord informed me that his son wanted the house. We were given 221 days to find an alternative home, but I found it extremely difficult. I actually thought I would end up in emergency accommodation with my three children, which greatly worried me. Expand Close It was an emotional day for mother-of-three Maria Mieszczyk / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp It was an emotional day for mother-of-three Maria Mieszczyk When we found out that we would get one of these new homes we were all over the moon and shouting for joy. It's security for life for myself and kids. We will never have to face someone knocking on our door telling us to move out. It is hoped that each family who received a home at the new development will be able to move in by Christmas. Speaking at the launch, An Cathaoirleach, Cllr Smyth said hes "delighted" with the progress of the dlr housing programme. The building of new homes remains a major pillar of our housing delivery programme, with 101 houses completed so far this year and a further 50 to be completed in the coming weeks. Like all homes constructed by Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, these homes have been built to a high quality, and are in residential areas with access to amenities and services, he said. Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy said the delivery of housing schemes like these will make a very big difference to underprivileged families. This year between 18,000 20,000 new homes will be built and will increase again next year. Behind every front door is a person being given a chance to plan their lives and give security to their families. However, the housing scheme did not go unchallenged by local campaigners who believe that 44 homes for Dundrum is far from adequate. "Were in no way objecting to these new homes from being built," said Eileen Kinch. "However, we want to highlight that a whole lot more needs to be done. "There are people here today that were more than 20 years on the housing list. "This is just not acceptable in this day and age since so many hardworking people have fallen into homelessness." Ms Kinch, who is part of Dundrum Housing Action, said that the Rathdown constituency is the most expensive area to live in the country. Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe says he made it "very clear" to his junior colleagues that the State will not be paying for their hotels anytime soon. While Mr Donohoe regularly meets with ministers of State, it appears he was surprised when a delegation arrived at his office last week seeking extra expenses. They complained that backbench TDs get an accommodation allowance for time spent in Dublin while the Dail is sitting but ministers do not. The anomaly has long been a sore point with ministers of State, but none had previously raised it formally with the Finance Minister. Ministers of State are entitled to the basic TD salary of 94,535 plus a ministerial payment of 35,319, bringing their total income to 129,854. While TDs from outside Dublin are entitled to claim between 25,295 and 34,065 in unvouched travel and accommodation expenses annually, ministers are not. Instead they are required to submit mileage claims to their department and must cover their own hotel bills. Asked yesterday whether the eight junior ministers who made their case at a private meeting last week had a point, Mr Donohoe said: "I listened carefully to what they had to say, but made very clear in context of pressures in finances we need to be very careful about changes we make. I don't have any plans to make immediate changes on support available." However, Mr Donohoe appears to be open-minded on proposals for a pay increase for county councillors. A hike to the remuneration for local representatives has cross-party support ahead of the completion of a review of their entitlements by a senior counsel next March. An Oireachtas committee heard this week that parties are struggling to get suitable candidates for next year's local elections because the 'representation payment' of 17,060 is too small. Mr Donohoe said he has received an update on the process put in place to asses the role of councillors. "Before we make any decision on their future compensation, further clarity needs to be brought what their work will be, particularly in the context of reforms to local government that are under way," he said. A meeting between former communications minister Denis Naughten and bidder David McCourt may have breached procurement rules, but only "in the strictest sense". That's according to the author of the report into the National Broadband Plan tender, who stood over his view that the procurement process had not been affected. Peter Smyth told the Dail Communications Committee that while he did not believe the meetings amounted to canvassing on the part of the bidder, they may have technically breached tendering rules. He said he had worked with the facts he had established, and on that basis could not draw conclusions that there was any canvassing. Asked by Fianna Fail's Timmy Dooley if a meeting where broadband was discussed was an "obvious breach" of rules which forbid communications that could have affected the process, Mr Smyth acknowledged they were a "cause for concern". But he added that while they may have been a breach of the rules in the "strict sense", he did not consider them to be canvassing. "I've tried to work with the facts as I've established them. On that basis, I don't have any facts to lead me to a conclusion that there was canvassing. "I have said there was a series of meetings which may have led to cause for concern," he said. This led to an "apparent bias", but this was negated once Mr Naughten resigned from office, he added. Mr Smyth was also asked about how he gathered information about what had happened at meetings between both men. He said he had not asked for written statements from either Mr McCourt or Mr Naughten, nor had he taken statements "under oath". He was not a lawyer, he added. He said where records of meetings were taken, he consulted them but "didn't feel it was appropriate" to ask those present if other matters were discussed. Mr Smyth contacted the former minister eight times by phone, and over two emails and 14 text messages. Mr McCourt, who provided a written statement to the Department of Communications which was passed on to him, was also telephoned eight times, and was sent 15 text messages and two emails. Mr Smyth also said that part of the tendering process involved "ongoing dialogue" between the department and bidders. There was "no basis" to believe that the minister held information which the bidders did not have. He again said that the minister did not, or did not intend to, interfere with the bidding process. "I do believe the process is untainted," he added. Meanwhile, the secretary general of the Department of Communications, Mark Griffin, told another Dail committee rural dwellers may have better quality broadband when the plan is rolled out than people living in urban areas. He also said the roll out of 5G in lieu of fibre had been rejected as it was a complimentary service in addition to fibre to the home, but not an alternative. Well get our way: Fine Gael TD Kate OConnell (right), who with Frances Fitzerald (left) was part of the Together for Yes campaign, became frustrated at the Dail abortion debate on Wednesday. Photo: Gerry Mooney Senators are wont to complain that nobody pays attention to the upper house - they won't have that to say over the coming days, as their handling of the abortion legislation will come under intense scrutiny. The painfully slow passage of the legislation through the Dail - which saw extensive debate, some old-fashioned mudslinging, and no meaningful change to the bill in the end - put the timeline for services at risk. That timeline now depends largely on those in the Seanad. It is expected that substantial amendments will be tabled again, but there is muted hope in some quarters that the debate may be shorter this time around. That idea was put to bed somewhat as senators took to their feet for the first of their eight-minute contributions. It was immediately apparent that serious concerns about the legislation among people who represent both sides of the divisive issue are held among senators too. And they are myriad. For some it was the issue of criminalisation, for others it is the contentious three-day wait period. For Senator David Norris - who noted that he included abortion on his 1977 election literature - he sided with those who believe a doctor with a conscientious objection should not have to refer to a doctor who was willing to provide an abortion. Some may be surprised to know he had that view, he told the house, but it was a point of principle, he said, while also declaring the legislation as "rushed". Independent Senator Lynn Ruane acknowledged the time pressure but argued that the legislation needed to be improved, telling Health Minister Simon Harris there is no Government monopoly on healthcare for women. Similarly, Ivana Bacik - who broke down momentarily reflecting on her activism on the issue of abortion as a student, when floods of women in crisis reached out for information - believes too there could be some changes. But she urged colleagues to be cognisant of the fact that voters had cast their ballot with an outline of the law in mind. Her tales of women calling a group of college students to get access to a number was a reminder of how long this has been a key issue in Ireland. That was pre-internet, Ms Bacik reminded members, as she spoke of the "long road" to the point at which the country now finds itself. It was fitting then that Google had chosen to reveal how much was spent on ads before it suspended advertising during the campaign. Advertisers paid 78,314, which led to more than 15 million views across 817 ads during the lead-up to the referendum. The role the internet and social media played has sparked some reflection on the role those new frontiers will play in the electoral process in future. Ms Bacik was not the only one to note the milestones over the decades leading up to the vote, including the 2013 Protection of Life Bill. That debate turned sour in the Seanad with "disgusting" language used, she recalled, expressing hope that this bill would not face a similar fate. Peppered in the opening statements were pleas for respectful discussion - that's all well and good in the first hours. It was the last days of Dail debate, with late hours and frayed tempers, that saw tensions flare. On several occasions, Leas Cheann Comhairle Pat 'The Cope' Gallagher warned deputies against "inviting interruptions". Fine Gael TD Kate O'Connell appeared frustrated with the way in which things were panning out on Wednesday night, telling anti-abortion TDs that the Yes side had won in May. "Ye lost and it must be hurting but we'll get our way in the end," she warned, suggesting sitting after midnight. In the end, however, it wasn't necessary. The final vote was held just before midnight on Wednesday, moving Ireland a step closer to having abortion. But the relief for Mr Harris was short-lived as he was before the Seanad just over 12 hours later to kick the process off once more. There may be lessons to be drawn from the way the debate was handled in the lower house. TDs were quick to rise to harsh words from across the floor and the sniping was - at many stages - not the most parliamentary of exchanges to say the least. There was also more than a few lengthy interventions by supporters of the bill (often preceded by claims that they did not wish to take up time), that didn't particularly cover any new ground. It led some to question the wisdom of contributing at length when doing so was only adding to the delay. All the while work is still under way to introduce services in the first week of January as planned - whether that was a political or woman-centred move is a moot point now. The expectation has been raised among the public, who will be watching with interest over the coming days. There are two conflicting images of the Defence Forces currently being presented to the Irish public. On the one hand, there are the scenes of joy at Dublin Airport when personnel returning from overseas missions are greeted by their families. Tanned, fit and immaculately turned out, they underline the professionalism of our troops. They remind us that our country continues to play an important role in preserving world peace. The other image is much darker. It is of military families trying to survive on poor pay and conditions, unable to afford rent or pay for a mortgage, struggling desperately to provide for their children. When the Defence Forces Chief of Staff, Vice-Admiral Mark Mellett, publicly admits his number-one priority is the pay and conditions of serving personnel, it is time to pay attention. Some would say it is not his responsibility to comment on pay and conditions, but they would be wrong. The stress and anxiety experienced by military personnel due to poor pay and conditions is a threat to the operational efficiency of the organisation, which happens to be the Chief of Staff's main responsibility. While he denies there is a crisis in the Defence Forces, falling strengths, due to adverse pay and conditions, must be having a negative impact on operational capabilities. The Defence Forces appear to be sliding down into an all-too-familiar vicious circle. The less personnel available for duty, the more duties are piled on those remaining. There are also reported tensions in the Department of Defence (DoD) between the senior military, the secretariat and the Minister of State for Defence on the pay and conditions issue. The recent revelation that there have been "robust" exchanges between the parties comes as no surprise. This commentator is more than bemused at the news, having spent a total of 10 years as a senior staff officer encaged in the corridors of the DoD. Robust exchanges often occurred, but what is new, this time, is that the parties involved are prepared to admit it publicly. Perhaps this is a sign of a new and more open approach. The reality is that since time immemorial, DoD civil servants and military staff officers have often been institutionally pitted against each other. Of course, many issues are resolved amiably and good working relationships abound within the department, but there are also intense 'battles for turf'. However, in the DoD, the pen is always mightier than the sword. Unable to strike or protest in public, the serving military have no leverage on public opinion, and rightly so. However, without the backing of public opinion there is little pressure on the Government to prioritise the Defence Forces. The annual conference of the largest association of serving military personnel, PDForra, is well over, and the one short opportunity to communicate serving personnel's concerns on pay and conditions to the Irish public has passed for another year. Moreover, political criticism has been neatly deflected, with statements of financial improvements already announced or in the pipeline. Unfortunately, the arguments for serious reform in Defence Forces pay and conditions have been weakened by the exaggerated number of personnel reported to be in receipt of family income supplement. Blaming the DoD is not the answer. The buck stops with the Government. The Government must have noted a new and important constituency has decided not to stand idly by. Under the leadership of former regimental sergeant major Noel O'Callaghan, a large parade of veterans took place through Dublin in September backed by many family members of serving personnel. The ex-members were not marching for themselves, but for their serving comrades. The presence of ex-military in such a demonstration is an extraordinary event. Is this the start of a new militancy among the most reluctant militants in our society? Never before, in such a way, did Irish military veterans throw down the gauntlet of protest at the feet of our elected representatives. Even that most discreet veterans' association, Arco (Association of Retired Commissioned Officers), has issued a statement on the issue. There is now an emerging sense of community between the serving military, their families and the veterans. The veterans were also marching to save the Defence Forces from a never-ending decline that ultimately will weaken the security of this State. As the consequences of the crippling 2012 Defence Forces re-organisation have now come home to roost, the Government must act and fulfil the commitments it made in the White Paper on Defence 2015. One signal of good intention by the Government would be to reopen Columb Barracks in Mullingar. Its closure was one barracks too many, and an unnecessary hardship on those personnel uprooted from their homes. The serving Irish military cannot strike. It cannot speak out. It seems the time has come for the old grey heads of the retired military to step up and carry the flag for them. As the old refrain goes: "Old soldiers never die, they only fade away." Dorcha Lee is a retired Army colonel and a commentator on defence issues Since it was founded in 1980, Peta - People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals - has shown an enviable ability to grab headlines. Within months of the US-based animal rights organisation coming in to existence, it played a crucial role in the case of the so-called Silver Springs monkeys. The 17 macaque monkeys had been captured in the Philippines and taken to the Institute for Behavioural Research in Silver Spring, Maryland. The monkeys quickly became known as the most famous lab animals in history as celebrities, politicians and animal rights campaigners fought over their continued captivity. The legal wrangling went on for 10 years and the monkeys were subsequently euthanised. In the process, Peta had been transformed from a little-known advocacy group to a force to be reckoned with. The organisation's founder Ingrid Newkirk is entirely unapologetic about the group's courting of publicity, claiming Peta has a duty to be "press sluts". "It is our obligation. We would be worthless if we were just polite and didn't make any waves," she insists. Almost 40 years on, it has lost none of the ability to generate headlines as an interview on yesterday's 'Morning Ireland' highlighted. A spokesperson was on the radio arguing that well-worn phrases such as 'let sleeping dogs lie' were unethical since they depersonalise animals. Presenter Bryan Dobson deserves a medal for keeping his composure as he admitted he was "nervous as a kitten" about the encounter but was relieved in the end to have had "a whale of a time". Dobson managed to use an animal-themed idiom in every sentence and in fairness the lady from Peta was not in the least bit po-faced and took it all in good jest. Most people roll their eyes when they think of such campaigns and in fairness one would have to hand it to Peta for generating a discussion. But there is a deeper issue the debate points to: to what extent should language be policed or phrases deemed no longer appropriate restricted? Shareena Hamzah, an academic at Swansea University, suggested this week that lawmakers should consider banning phrases like "bringing home the bacon" and "killing two birds with one stone". "Flog a dead horse" would also be out. Such language, Dr Hamzah claimed, not only objectifies animals but it also runs the risk of offending vegans. It's not just animals that are raising hackles. This week, the Dublin-based charity radio station Christmas FM was forced to clarify that it had not, in fact, followed the lead of a US network and banned the song 'Baby, It's Cold Outside'. The song was originally written for the 1949 film 'Neptune's Daughter' and went on to win an Oscar that year for best original song. The US station said it was pulling the number from its playlist over concerns that the lyrics are tacitly about sexual assault. I've never paid much attention to the words up to this point, but listening back it brings creepy to a whole new level. Does the song perpetuate what some feminist activists describe as 'rape culture'? That's debatable. I seriously doubt that listening to the song has given any man licence to sexually assault a woman. And, where do we draw the line? Should there be a full review of all songs before they are played to ensure they don't contain lyrics that are now viewed as inappropriate or offensive? Who would decide? Leonard Cohen's iconic hit 'Hallelujah' contains a line about tying a man to a kitchen chair and cutting his hair. Should this be banned because of the supposed cavalier attitude of the song to male victims of domestic violence? Some commentators have inevitably labelled the storm over the song as 'political correctness gone mad'. The British tabloid press is particularly exercised about the issue of 'Baby It's Cold Outside' and idioms around animals. The only saving grace for Prime Minister Theresa May is that the looney fringe of her Conservative Party has so far not managed to blame the controversy on the European Union. These issues inevitably come and go, and it's important not to blow the actions of one US radio station and a publicity-mad animal welfare charity out of proportion. But both issues point to an important discussion. The deeper question is to when does the desire to remove all possible offence from contemporary culture go too far. Who decides what is offensive and what isn't? Surely, "I'm offended" is too low a bar to set? The popular wedding dance the 'Hokey Pokey' started out life as a puritan parody mocking the Catholic Mass. It doesn't have me running to my room sulking when I see it at a wedding, nor should it. People shouldn't go out of their way to offend others, but people should also lighten up, stop taking themselves too seriously and grow a thicker skin. If we constantly lower the bar on what is deemed offensive, there will be a backlash from sensible people and that will run the risk of genuine concerns being dismissed when they are raised. That would leave everyone worse off. Michael Kelly is editor of 'The Irish Catholic' newspaper | BY Ricki Green | HP and Clemenger BBDO, Sydney have launched a Christmas campaign across Australia and New Zealand, showcasing HPs Sprocket portable printer, one of this Christmas hottest gifts. The campaign encourages Aussies and Kiwis to Say it with Love, Say it with a Sprocket this festive season, with the launch spot opening to a room filled with Christmas trees, and Sprockets nesting in the trees like baubles. Against the soundtrack of renowned Flight Facilities track, All Your Love (covered by Melbourne musician, Owl Eyes), the Sprockets on the trees begin printing out photos of a number of real couples leaning in for a kiss. Says Dan Henry, head of marketing South Pacific, HP: Sprocket is a product that enables people to make moments spent with loved ones even more special and memorable. This was our opportunity to not only inspire people to use their printed photos to enrich holiday experiences, but to celebrate the diverse cultures we enjoy in Australia and New Zealand. Says Darren Wright, creative director, Clemenger BBDO Sydney: The Sprocket is a fantastic product, we loved the way it allows you to celebrate all the fun moments and memories you have with your friends and family. We wanted to take that feeling and bring it to life in a beautiful Christmas feel good way. The campaign launches this week in Australia and New Zealand across TV, radio, outdoor, digital, social and will be in market until Christmas. To find out more about HPs Sprocket Printers here. HP, Client Dan Henry, Head of Marketing SPAC Ruben Ahmed, Head of Print Marketing Erin Breneger, Marketing Manager, Home Printing Systems Olivia West, Marketing Manager Nicola Treanor, Marketing Manager Clemenger BBDO Sydney. Creative Agency Emily Perrett, Manager Director Lilian Sor, Chief Strategy Officer Rob Harding-Smith, Senior Planner Darren Wright, Creative Director Celia Mortlock & Adam Smith, Copywriters Mick Pollard & Elaine Li, Art Directors Katrina Maw, Senior TV Producer Claire Bisset, Senior Digital Producer Sacha Zivanovic, Group Account Director Mahsa Merat, Account Director Katie Ryan, Senior Account Manager Finch, Production Company Toby Pike, Director Corey Esse, Executive Producer Jackie Adler, Producer Dan Freene, DP Nakatomi, Post Production Nylon Studios, Music Production & Mix Karla Henwood, Music Producer Charlie White, Music Arrangement Stuart St Vincent Welch, Mix Engineer Level Two, Music Liscensing Song: All Your Love, Flight Facilities The High Court ruling secured by Graham Dwyer is now set to be relied on by the convicted killer in his appeal against his conviction for the murder of Elaine O'Hara. One of his grounds of appeal is that the trial judge erred by allowing into evidence call data records of Dwyer's own mobile phone and other phones attributed to him. Dwyer claims this occurred in circumstances where the retention and access to such records was in breach of his rights to respect for family and private life and the protection of his personal data under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The mobile phone data was crucial to solving Ms O'Hara's murder. So it was a significant boost for Dwyer's appeal when Mr Justice Tony O'Connor ruled that Irish legislation under which gardai accessed the records, the 2011 Communications Act, contravened EU law and the ECHR. Read More The decision was not entirely unexpected. The EU directive to which the 2011 Act gave effect was ruled invalid by the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Justice in 2014. A report by former Chief Justice John Murray in October 2017 also found current data retention legislation was in breach of EU law. As Mr Justice O'Connor said, the defendants in the case, the Garda Commissioner and State, had long been on notice of the defects of the 2011 legislation. Just how extensive the ramifications of the O'Connor ruling will be remains to be seen. But authorities are worried about the implications, particularly for recent investigations where mobile phone data is a significant factor. There could also be appeals of decided cases where such evidence was used in court. While the ruling is a boost for Dwyer's appeal, it does not necessarily mean the phone data which proved so important in his trial will now end up being ruled inadmissible. Mr Justice O'Connor pointed out that it would not be an automatic consequence of his ruling that trials will collapse or convictions would be quashed. He said Dwyer would be obliged to address the rules regarding admissibility of evidence. The judge referred to the Supreme Court case known as JC, a pivotal case in recent times on admissibility of evidence. In this case, the court examined the exclusionary rule, which prevents evidence collected in violation of a defendant's constitutional rights from being used in court. It found evidence obtained unconstitutionally will be admissible if the prosecution can show the breach was due to inadvertence. This is something the DPP could argue in opposing Dwyer's appeal. The European Court decision to declare the data retention directive invalid came only after gardai began investigating Dwyer and requested his phone data records. It could easily be argued investigating officers had no reason to believe there was a problem with the legislation under which they were operating. For most of us, the sight of tartan is likely to bring back unwelcome memories of secondary-school uniforms - namely, those itchy, heavy pleated skirts that didn't lend themselves to being rolled up and tended to swamp over the legs. But around this time of year, tartan seems exactly right. Few pieces evoke the holiday spirit quite like a jolly crimson checked coat or scarf. Packed with rustic country charm, it's just the thing for cosy winter days. It helps, then, that tartan is making an especially loud, vibrant comeback this season. Irish designer Simone Rocha's red ruffles were particularly festive, complete with glittering trim and oversized bows. Henry Holland took his tartan outdoors, in puffa jackets and suiting belted with climbing rope, all paired with sturdy hiker boots. At Michael Kors, red and yellow plaids were mashed up with leopard print and grungy florals, while Donatella Versace offered a festival of punk tartans: chopped and spliced, in mini kilts, slim trousers and super-sized blazers, and topped off with berets and bags to match. The palette was acid-bright (Topshop's vivid yellow coat should give any outfit a joyful burst of colour), but there are subdued options that will work just as well. Meghan Markle's Burberry coat on a visit to Edinburgh earlier this year (left) was a particular hit, and the Black Watch tartan does all the hard work for her, allowing her to take it easy with all-black in the rest of her outfit. The Kooples' green blazer will amplify a simple t-shirt and dark jeans, or wear it alone with a slim gold pendant and black tailored trousers for elegant eveningwear. Elsewhere, Zara's navy co-ordinating top and trousers set is a stunner, and the hint of peach amidst all that blue really makes it sing. Wear with a pair of strappy sandals and some delicate rings and you'll be set for any festive occasion. If you want to go a little bit more glam, look to the Marc Jacobs autumn collection, where asymmetric shoulder detailing and taffeta blouses elevated a tartan dress and trousers. Video of the Day Contrasting checks, like those on Topshop's midi dress, will ramp up your party season wardrobe, styled with glittering heels and a holographic chain mail clutch. Your school days may have made you swear off kilts for life, but the new iterations are very modern and very stylish, too. Kate Middleton (right) certainly looked the part at a Christmas party for children of military families in Kensington Palace on Tuesday. Her Emilia Wickstead skirt, paired with a cropped cardigan from Scottish cashmere brand Brora and suede boots, was suitably cheerful yet refined. Le Kilt is the cult brand to know, but on the high street, everywhere from M&S to Warehouse can provide affordable options for trialling the trend. The black and white version from Warehouse is a notably straightforward entry route: style with a black crew-neck knit or a slogan t-shirt and boots for an edgy yet accessible off-duty look. If you're not tempted by pleats, try a bell-shaped skirt like H&M's lively red belted midi. The slightly flared cut will flatter the figure as it doesn't cling to the hips, thighs or bum, and if you have a bigger bust or legs, it can help to balance out your curves. A creamy roll-neck and knee boots will add polish, or take your cue from Versace and complement the trad-punk print with coin drop earrings. Arrest: Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou with Russias President Vladimir Putin at an event in Moscow in 2014. Photo: REUTERS/Alexander Bibik China has demanded that Canada releases an executive of Chinese tech giant Huawei who was arrested in a case that compounds tensions with the US and threatens to complicate trade talks. Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies Ltd, faces possible extradition to the US. She is suspected of trying to evade US trade curbs on Iran. Huawei, the biggest global supplier of network gear used by phone and internet companies, has been the target of deepening US security concerns. Under US President Donald Trump and his predecessor, Barack Obama, Washington has pressured European countries and other allies to limit use of its technology. The US sees Huawei and smaller Chinese tech suppliers as possible fronts for spying and as commercial competitors. The Trump administration says they benefit from improper subsidies and market barriers. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau yesterday said his government had no involvement in the arrest of Ms Meng. Mr Trudeau said Ottawa had been given a few days' advance notice about the plan of the apprehension. Expand Close Xi Jinping: The Chinese premier met Donald Trump in Argentina. Photo: REUTERS/Pedro Nunes / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Xi Jinping: The Chinese premier met Donald Trump in Argentina. Photo: REUTERS/Pedro Nunes He declined to give further details, given that Ms Meng faces a bail hearing today. "The appropriate authorities took the decisions in this case without any political involvement or interference...we were advised by them with a few days' notice that this was in the works," Mr Trudeau said. Asked whether he had spoken to the Chinese premier or the ambassador, Mr Trudeau said he had had no conversations with international counterparts about the case. The timing of the arrest is awkward following the announcement of a US-Chinese ceasefire in a trade war that has its roots in Beijing's technology policy. Ms Meng was detained in Vancouver on Saturday, the day presidents Trump and Xi Jinping met in Argentina and announced their deal. Stock markets tumbled on the news, fearing renewed US-Chinese tensions that threaten global economic growth. Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 2.5pc and the Dax in Germany sank 1.8pc. A Chinese government statement said Ms Meng broke no US or Canadian laws and demanded Canada "immediately corrects the mistake" and releases her. Beijing asked Washington and Ottawa to explain the reason for Ms Meng's arrest, said a Foreign Ministry spokesman, Geng Shuang. He said arresting her without that violated her human rights. But China's Ministry of Commerce hinted that Beijing wants to avoid disrupting progress toward settling a dispute with Washington over technology policy that has led them to raise tariffs on billions of dollars of each other's goods. China is confident it can reach a trade deal during the 90 days that Mr Trump agreed to suspend US tariff hikes, said a ministry spokesman, Gao Feng. Mr Trump's tariff hikes on Chinese imports stemmed from complaints Beijing steals or pressures foreign companies to hand over technology. But US officials also worry more broadly that Chinese plans for state-led creation of Chinese champions in robotics, artificial intelligence and other fields might erode US industrial leadership. "The United States is stepping up containment of China in all respects," said Zhu Feng, an international relations expert at Nanjing University. He said targeting Huawei, one of its most successful companies, "will trigger anti-US sentiment". "The incident could turn out to be a breaking point," Mr Zhu said. Last month, New Zealand blocked a mobile phone company from using Huawei equipment, saying it posed a "significant network security risk". On Wednesday, British phone carrier BT said it was removing Huawei equipment from the core of its mobile phone networks. The 'Wall Street Journal' reported earlier this year that US authorities were investigating whether Huawei violated sanctions on Iran. Huawei's biggest Chinese rival, ZTE, was nearly driven out of business this year when Washington barred it from buying US technology over exports to North Korea and Iran. Mr Trump restored access after ZTE agreed to pay a $1bn (879m) fine, replace its executive team and embed a US-chosen compliance team in the company. Huawei is regarded as far stronger commercially than ZTE. Based in Shenzhen, near Hong Kong, Huawei has the biggest research and development budget of any Chinese company and a vast portfolio of patents, making it less dependent on US suppliers. Its growing smartphone brand is among the top three global suppliers. Ms Meng was changing flights in Canada when she was detained "on behalf of the US" to face unspecified charges in New York, according to a Huawei statement. "The company has been provided very little information," the statement said. A US Justice Department spokesman declined to comment. Huawei said it complies with all laws and rules where it operates, including export controls and sanctions of the UN, the US and EU. Ms Meng's arrest also threatened to inflame disagreements over Iran. China has said it will continue to do business with Iran despite the possible threat of US penalties. New satellite images have revealed North Korea has significantly expanded a key long-range missile base in a remote mountainous area, despite ongoing talks this year with the US over the country's nuclear disarmament. The images, obtained by CNN, offer evidence that the Yeongjeo-dong missile base and a nearby, previously unreported site remain active and have been continually upgraded, highlighting the continuing gulf between Pyongyang and Washington's views on denuclearisation. Yeongjeo-dong has long been known to US intelligence agencies but researchers at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey told CNN that the construction on a new facility, at Hoejung-ri, 11km away, had not previously been publicly identified. "Construction on the previously unidentified site has continued even after the Singapore summit" between Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump, the US president, in June, said the institute's Jeffrey Lewis. "Whatever Kim says about his desire for denuclearisation, North Korea continues to produce and deploy nuclear armed missiles," he added. The bases are believed to serve as shelters for mobile missile launchers, and would be able to store the country's newest long-range missiles, including those capable of carrying nuclear warheads. Expand Close John Bolton: Said President Trump wants a second summit with Mr Kim. Photo: AFP/Getty Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp John Bolton: Said President Trump wants a second summit with Mr Kim. Photo: AFP/Getty Images The news comes as North Korea's foreign minister arrived in China yesterday for the start of a hastily-arranged three-day official visit, as all sides gear up for a new round of leaders' summits aimed at solving the nuclear crisis on the Korean peninsula. Ri Yong Ho's trip was only announced on Tuesday, a few days after the Chinese president Xi Jinping held one-on-one talks with Mr Trump at the G20 summit in Argentina. The timing of Mr Ri's visit has led to speculation that North Korea's top diplomat will be briefed on Mr Xi and Mr Trump's discussions. The US president said after the meeting that Mr Xi would work with him "100pc" on North Korea. While officials declined to comment in detail on the purpose of Mr Ri's stay in Beijing, it is also expected to include the subject of a summit between Mr Xi and Mr Kim in Pyongyang. If confirmed, it would be the first visit of a Chinese president to North Korea in more than 13 years. Although Beijing is Pyongyang's single most important ally, China has also taken part in international sanctions aimed to pressure North Korea into abandoning its nuclear and missile programmes. The North officially suspended its nuclear and missile tests ahead of the June summit, and missile production and deployment does not technically violate any agreement between Pyongyang and the US and South Korea. However, the ongoing activity at the sites feeds into US criticisms that North Korea is now dragging its heels over the denuclearisation process. John Bolton, the US national security adviser, told the 'Wall Street Journal' earlier this week that President Trump believes he should hold a second summit with Mr Kim early next year as the North Koreans "have not lived up to the commitments" of their first deal in June. The Singapore summit, while historic in terms of who came to the table, produced a vaguely worded agreement to "build a lasting and stable peace regime" and for North Korea to "work toward complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula". Several analysts expressed little surprise at the new satellite images. "North Korea isn't disarming. It never said it would. Bolton cares that it isn't. But here's the twist: Trump doesn't. He has to be well aware of these developments. He just doesn't care. Kim pretends to disarm and Trump pretends to believe him," tweeted Vipin Narang, an associate professor of political science at MIT. David Millane, father of missing English backpacker Grace Millane speaks at a press conference in Auckland. Photo: Doug Sherring/NZ Herald via AP THE father of a young British backpacker missing in New Zealand has flown to the other side of the world to make a tearful plea for information surrounding her disappearance. David Millane said his family was "extremely concerned" for the welfare of his "fun-loving" daughter Grace Millane, who turned 22 on Sunday, following her disappearance nearly a week ago. The tourist, from Essex, was on a year-long round-the-world trip and had been "bombarding" her loved ones with messages and pictures from her adventure. But they became concerned when contact with Ms Millane went cold. She was last seen in Auckland at 9.41pm at the Citylife Hotel on December 1 with a "male companion". During an emotional press conference in Auckland, Mr Millane said: "Grace has been missing for seven days. "We last had contact with her on Saturday 1 December, and as a family we have been extremely concerned for her welfare. Expand Close Grace Millane, 22, who is missing in New Zealand. Photo: Auckland City Police/PA Wire. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Grace Millane, 22, who is missing in New Zealand. Photo: Auckland City Police/PA Wire. "Grace is a lovely, outgoing, fun-loving, family-orientated daughter. "Grace has never been out of contact for this amount of time. "She's usually in daily contact with either her mother, myself, her two brothers or members of the family on social media." Detective Inspector Scott Beard, of Auckland City Police, said officers had identified and spoken to the "male companion" last seen with Ms Millane. Expand Close CCTV image issued by Auckland City Police of Briton Grace Millane, 22, at the Sky City centre in Auckland on Saturday evening. Photo: Auckland City Police/PA Wire. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp CCTV image issued by Auckland City Police of Briton Grace Millane, 22, at the Sky City centre in Auckland on Saturday evening. Photo: Auckland City Police/PA Wire. Mr Beard said officers had also identified an apartment at the city centre hotel as a location of interest. "It has now been six days since Grace was last seen," he added. "At this point, we hold grave fears for her safety." He added that they "still have no evidence of foul play". Mr Millane arrived in New Zealand on Friday morning and told reporters it was unusual for his daughter to be out of contact. He added: "She has been bombarding us with numerous photographs and messages of her adventures. "We are all extremely upset and it's very difficult at this time to fully describe the range of emotions we are going through. "Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to appeal to anybody who has seen, spoken to, come into contact with Grace over the last few days and come forward with any detail, no matter how small." Ms Millane arrived in New Zealand on November 20, having previously visited Peru. Her last Twitter post appears to be on November 30, the day before she was last seen. Police said more than 25 staff were working on the case and were trawling through hours of CCTV footage to trace her movements. A spokesman for the British Foreign Office said: "We are providing consular support to the family in the UK, and working with the New Zealand Police in relation to reports of a missing British national in New Zealand." Housebuilder Berkeley has reported a sharp fall in profits as Brexit uncertainty and a slow property market continue to drag on the firm. The group which is focused on London and the South East said on Friday that revenue fell 0.7% at 1.65 billion in the six months ended October 31. Pre-tax profit fell more than 25% to 401.2 million and Berkeley sold 2,027 homes at an average selling price of 740,000. Berkeley said the market in London and the South East lacks urgency and underlying demand is constrained by a macro uncertainties and policy interventions, such as high transaction costs and mortgage restrictions. On Brexit, Berkeley said that, while Britains EU divorce is hitting sentiment and confidence, it believes London will remain a vibrant, tolerant and diverse global city which will continue to see demand for housing increase. Boss Rob Perrins told the Press Association that he backs Prime Minister Theresa Mays Withdrawal Agreement because it guarantees frictionless trade. He said: Businesses want certainty but people have to be pragmatic. We need frictionless trade and the agreement gives us that. Berkeley also upgraded its profit guidance by at least 5% following what it called a resilient start to the year. The upgrade comes after the group has repeatedly warned of a profits fall next year, having previously forecast a drop of around 30%. The group said: With the resilient start to the year, Berkeley is increasing its pre-tax profit guidance for the current year by at least 5% and now anticipates a similar split between the first and second half to last year when 55% was earned in the first six months of the year. Shares were up more than 2.5% at 3,410p in morning trade. FILE In this Aug. 9, 2017, file photo, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert speaks during a briefing at the State Department in Washington. President Donald Trump is expected to nominate 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, Dec. 7, 2018. The officials were not authorized to speak publicly. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File) President Donald Trump has said he will nominate State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert to be the next US ambassador to the United Nations. Mr Trump describes Ms Nauert to reporters as very talented and very smart. Ms Nauert is to replace Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor who announced in October that she would step down as ambassador at the end of this year. Ms Nauert is a former Fox News Channel reporter who had little foreign policy experience before becoming State Department spokeswoman. Expand Close Nikki Haley announced in October that she would step down at the end of this year (Seth Wenig/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Nikki Haley announced in October that she would step down at the end of this year (Seth Wenig/AP) If confirmed by the Senate, she would be a leading administration voice on Mr Trumps foreign policy. Mr Trump made the announcement to reporters Friday as he departed the White House for a trip to Kansas City. Plucked from Fox by the White House to serve as State Department spokeswoman, Ms Nauert catapulted into the upper echelons of the agencys hierarchy when Rex Tillerson was fired in March and replaced with Mike Pompeo. Ms Nauert was then appointed acting undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs and was for a time the highest-ranking woman and fourth highest-ranking official in the building. Expand Close Donald Trump called Heather Nauert excellent last month (Jacquelyn Martin/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Donald Trump called Heather Nauert excellent last month (Jacquelyn Martin/AP) Ms Nauert, who did not have a good relationship with Mr Tillerson and had considered leaving the department, told associates at the time she was taken aback by the promotion offer and recommended a colleague for the job. But when White House officials told her they wanted her, she accepted. France will deploy more than 65,000 security forces amid fears of fresh rioting at protests in Paris and around the nation. Police unions and local authorities held emergency meetings on how to handle the weekend protests, while disparate groups of protesters did the same thing, sharing their plans on social networks and chat groups. Prime Minister Edouard Philippe told senators yesterday that the government will deploy "exceptional" security measures for the protests in Paris and elsewhere, with additional new forces on top of the 65,000 security officers already in place. Some "yellow vest" protesters, members of France's leading unions and prominent politicians across the political spectrum called for calm after the worst rioting in Paris in decades last weekend. Museums, theatres and shops in Paris announced they would close tomorrow as a precaution - including the city's famed Eiffel Tower. President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday agreed to abandon the fuel tax hike, part of his plans to combat global warming, but protesters' demands have now expanded to other issues hurting French workers, retirees and students. In a move questioned by both critics and supporters, the president himself has disappeared from public view. Scores of protesting teenagers clashed with police at a high school west of Paris yesterday, according to French news reports, as part of nationwide student protests over new university admissions procedures and rising fees. Drivers wearing their signature yellow safety vests continued to block roads around France, now demanding broader tax cuts and wider government social benefits. A small union representing police administrators called for a strike on Saturday, which could further complicate security measures. French police have come under criticism for failing to prevent damage to the Arc de Triomphe and stores along the famed Champs-Elysees in Paris last weekend - as well as for violence against protesters. Videos on social media of police beating protesters at a Burger King near the Champs-Elysees have stoked the anger. A police spokeswoman said that an investigation is under way into that incident and police are examining other videos online for possible violations. New protest marches were under way in Greece last night on the 10th anniversary of the fatal police shooting of a teenager, hours after violent initial demonstrations where masked youths attacked police with firebombs and stones. Police said about 1,700 people were marching in Athens and the protest was so far peaceful. But other youths set fire to trash in the streets and set up barricades in the capital's central Exarchia district - where Alexis Grigoropoulos was shot dead on December 6, 2008, and which anarchists have adopted as a stronghold. In the earlier protest, police fired tear gas at hooded youths who threw rocks and other objects at riot police. | BY Ricki Green | WARC, the international authority on advertising and media effectiveness, has today announced the shortlists of its Media Awards 2018, a comprehensive global competition rewarding communications planning which has made a positive impact on business results. Mindshare Australia has been shortlisted for Foxtel and Showcases The Wentworth Rat, which was developed by The Works messaging agency OnMsg. A total of 79 campaigns from a wide range of markets, categories and brands have been shortlisted across four categories, each judged by its own high-calibre jury. There are 20 shortlisted entries in each of the Effective Channel Integration, Best Use of Data and Effective Use of Tech categories; and 19 campaigns in the Effective Use of Partnerships & Sponsorships category. As well as regional campaigns for Asia, Europe, Latin America, MENA and North America, there are case studies from 26 different markets shortlisted. A wide range of categories are represented, including automotive, financial services, food, FMCG, health, retail, telecoms and travel. International brands such as Axe, Gillette, KFC, Pepsi and Volvo sit alongside local brands including Age UK, Bank of New Zealand and Saudi Telecom Company. The winners of this years WARC Media Awards, which examines the insight, strategy and analytics that power effective media investment, will be announced from early January 2019. There is a $40,000 prize fund for the top winning papers of the competition, now in its third year. Russia has laughed off a US warship's "challenge" to its territorial claims in the Sea of Japan as "unsuccessful" while reacting angrily to reports that US ships could also enter the Black Sea. The US naval activity comes less than two weeks after Russia seized three Ukrainian ships off the coast of Crimea in the Black Sea last month in an escalation of existing tensions. The guided missile destroyer USS McCampbell "sailed in the vicinity of Peter the Great Bay to challenge Russia's excessive maritime claims" in a demonstrative "freedom of navigation" operation on Wednesday, the navy said. But the Russian defence ministry claimed yesterday that the McCampbell had not come closer than 100km to its territorial waters and was currently "demonstrating its bravery" 400km from Russian shores. A destroyer and several warplanes nonetheless followed the US ship, which tried to "get away at maximum speed", the ministry said in a sarcastic statement carried on state television. Moscow has since Soviet times maintained that the entire Peter the Great Bay, which includes the home base of its Pacific fleet in Vladivostok, is historically Russian territory. Washington argues that Russian waters extend only 12 nautical miles from shore as per international law. In an unrelated incident, five marines were missing after an American fighter jet collided with a tanker plane during refuelling over the Sea of Japan yesterday. The navy's freedom of navigation operation marked a geographical broadening of tensions between Russia and the US, which has previously focused on challenging Chinese claims in the South China Sea, most recently sailing naval ships near contested areas there last week. The two Cold War foes are also at odds over a landmark arms control treaty that US President Donald Trump wants to abandon. Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, said on Wednesday Russia would develop new missiles if the US withdrew. Meanwhile, CNN reported that the US was notifying Turkey of "possible plans" to sail a warship into the Black Sea in response to the capture of three Ukrainian ships there on November 25. The ships were headed for Ukrainian ports in the Sea of Azov through the Kerch Strait, which has been controlled by Russia since the 2014 annexation of Crimea. ( Daily Telegraph, London) Telegraph Media Group Limited [2021] Top-flight stocks in London were boosted by rising oil prices in Friday trading, but observers said a recovery could not make up for the dreadful week on the markets. The FTSE 100 was up 74 points, or 1.1%, at 6,778.11, regaining only some of what it lost on Thursday when 56 billion was wiped amid fears that the arrest of a senior Huawei official in Canada could reignite tension between the US and China. David Madden, market analyst at CMC Markets, said: Volatility is high and investors are twitchy. It has been a dreadful week for European markets, and todays positive move cant mask the previous losses. The French Cac was up 0.68% but the German Dax continued its slump, falling 0.21%. The FTSE 100 was also given a boost by oil prices after a closely watched Opec meeting in Vienna concluded with a plan to cut production by 1.2 million barrels a day. Fiona Cincotta, senior market analyst at City Index, said this number was much closer to what oil investors had hoped for. A barrel of Brent crude oil was trading 4.5% higher at 62.90 US dollars. The fact that the Opec-Russia alliance is still holding matters as much as the details of the deal itselfNeil Wilson, Markets.com Neil Wilson, of Markets.com, said: The cut is a real positive after some fairly tough negotiations. The fact that the Opec-Russia alliance is still holding matters as much as the details of the deal itself. Its probably a little better than the market had been expecting, but not by a lot. Id still say that a deeper cut would be needed to really see oil rally back to 70 US dollars. Meanwhile, Brexit fears continued to weigh on the pound, which was down 0.44% at 1.272 US dollars despite a weaker day for the greenback. Sterling was also 0.51% down versus the euro at 1.176. In corporate news, shares in AJ Bell rocketed on their first day of trading as the investment firm debuted on the stock exchange. The group had initially set a price of 160p per share, but the stock opened at 162p and gained 58p to close at 220p. Berkeley shares were in demand after the group upgraded its profit forecast, rising 35p to 3,356p. The upgrade came after the group has repeatedly warned of a profits fall next year, having previously forecast a drop of around 30%. There was more bad news for the high street as Primark owner Associated British Foods (ABF) warned that trading at the budget retail chain in the run-up to Christmas has been challenging. ABF shares closed 108p down at 2,242p. But Games Workshop brought some positive retail news as it said sales were likely to come in 13% higher in the first half. Shares in the Warhammer maker were 130p higher at 3,125p. The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Wood Group up 26.6p to 628p, Evraz up 17.8p to 481.6p, Smith & Nephew up 54.5p to 1,475p and Anglo American up 51.4p to 1,607.8p. The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Associated British Foods down 108p to 2,242p, GVC Holdings down 13p to 669p, Paddy Power down 115p to 6,455p, and Informa down 11p to 651.8p. Comedian Kevin Hart has stepped down as host of the 2019 Academy Awards amid controversy over alleged homophobic tweets he posted nearly a decade ago. The US comedian and actor was named as the host of the Oscars on Tuesday, describing the role as the opportunity of a lifetime. Shortly after his appointment, tweets resurfaced, originally posted between 2009 and 2011, which contained offensive language towards the LGBT community. Amid a growing controversy and after refusing the Academys request to apologise, Hart announced on Twitter he was stepping aside. I have made the choice to step down from hosting this year's Oscar's....this is because I do not want to be a distraction on a night that should be celebrated by so many amazing talented artists. I sincerely apologize to the LGBTQ community for my insensitive words from my past. Kevin Hart (@KevinHart4real) December 7, 2018 I'm sorry that I hurt people.. I am evolving and want to continue to do so. My goal is to bring people together not tear us apart. Much love & appreciation to the Academy. I hope we can meet again. Kevin Hart (@KevinHart4real) December 7, 2018 He said: I have made the choice to step down from hosting this years Oscars.this is because I do not want to be a distraction on a night that should be celebrated by so many amazing talented artists. I sincerely apologize to the LGBTQ community for my insensitive words from my past. Im sorry that I hurt people.. I am evolving and want to continue to do so. My goal is to bring people together not tear us apart. Much love & appreciation to the Academy. I hope we can meet again. Hours before announcing his decision, Hart, who is on tour in Australia, shared two videos to Instagram. In the first one he was dismissive of the controversy, saying he had had time to grow in the years since sharing the offensive tweets. In another Instagram video several hours later, he revealed the Academy had been in touch asking him to say sorry, but he refused as he has already addressed it. He said: I chose to pass, I passed on the apology. The reason why I passed is because Ive addressed this several times. This is not the first time this has come up. Ive addressed it, Ive spoken on it. Ive said where the rights and wrongs were. Ive said who I am now versus who I was then. Ive done it, Ive done it. Im not going to continue to go back and tap into the days of old. Ive moved on, Im in a completely different space in my life. The same energy that went into finding those old tweets could be the same energy put into finding the response to the questions that have been asked years after years after years. We feed internet trolls and reward them. Im not going to do it, man. Im going to be me, and Im going to stand my ground. Expand Close Kevin Hart has stepped down as host of the Oscars (Isabel Infantes/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Kevin Hart has stepped down as host of the Oscars (Isabel Infantes/PA) Hart added: Regardless, to the Academy, Im thankful and appreciative of the opportunity. If it goes away, no harm, no foul. The Academy did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Harts decision to quit will leave all eyes on who the Academy approach to replace him. Shortly before his doomed unveiling on Tuesday, respected trade publication The Hollywood Reporter called the hosts gig, the worst job in town, after previous appointments experienced difficulties on the night. Jimmy Kimmel was the MC when the best picture gong was wrongly handed to La La Land over Moonlight, though was not responsible for that mistake. Hart would have been just one of a handful of African Americans to host the Oscars, following on from stars including Chris Rock, Whoopi Goldberg and Sammy Davis Jr. The Oscars will take place in Los Angeles on Sunday February 24. The government of Dubai broke its silence on the case of its missing princess yesterday, saying she was safely back home and accusing a former French spy of her kidnap. Sheikha Latifa, the daughter of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, Dubai's ruler, tried to escape the country in March after saying she was effectively being held prisoner by her repressive father. She fled across the border to Oman with the help of a friend, before boarding a boat to meet French national Herve Jaubert, who had himself escaped the Emirates in 2008. The boat set sail for the Indian coast but was intercepted by three Indian and two Emirati warships. Mr Jaubert claimed that he and his crew were beaten by commandos before she was whisked away. "Her Highness Sheikha Latifa is now safe in Dubai," read a statement released yesterday by Dubai's Royal Court. It went on to claim Mr Jaubert had taken her against her will and then demanded a $100m (88m) ransom. Mr Jaubert could not be reached for comment. ( Daily Telegraph, London) Telegraph Media Group Limited [2021] Yemen's warring sides agreed to a broad prisoner swap yesterday, sitting down in the same room together for the first time in years at UN-sponsored peace talks in Sweden aimed at halting a catastrophic war that has brought the country to the brink of famine. Hopes were high that the talks wouldn't deteriorate into further violence as in the past, and that the prisoner exchange would be an important first step toward building confidence between highly distrustful adversaries. The three-year-old conflict pits the internationally recognised government, which is backed by a Saudi-led coalition, against Shiite rebels known as Houthis, who took the capital of Sanaa in 2014. The Saudis intervened the following year. UN envoy Martin Griffiths said the two sides have signalled they are serious about de-escalating the fighting through calls they've made in recent weeks, and urged them to work to further reduce the violence in the Arab world's poorest nation, scene of massive civilian suffering. "I'm also pleased to announce the signing of an agreement on the exchange of prisoners, detainees, the missing, the forcibly detained and individuals placed under house arrest," Mr Griffiths said. Aid groups Doctors Without Borders and SOS Mediterranee have said they have been forced to end the rescue operations of the Aquarius ship in the Mediterranean Sea. The Aquarius has been docked in Marseille since October after Panama revoked its flag. Last month, Italian prosecutors ordered the seizure of the ship and accused Doctors Without Borders, known by its French acronym MSF, of illegally disposing 24 metric tons of medical and contaminated waste accumulated during rescues. TODAY 10h30 PRESS CONFERENCE in Paris by @SOSMedIntl End of #Aquarius charter, for prompt resumption of search & rescue mission https://t.co/cXwnNxZ2G5 Saving lives at sea is and will remain our mission!" Follow our Twitter live#TogetherForRescue #SaveRescueAtSea SOS MEDITERRANEE (@SOSMedIntl) December 7, 2018 In a statement, the aid groups said they made the decision because of a sustained campaign, spearheaded by the Italian government and backed by other European states, to delegitimise, slander and obstruct aid organisations providing assistance to vulnerable people. MSF said the Aquarius has assisted nearly 30,000 people since 2016. A robot in an Amazon warehouse hospitalised 24 of its human colleagues after breaking open a pressurised can of bear repellent. The automated machine accidentally punctured a 255g can containing concentrated capsican, an ingredient used in pepper spray, sending out painful fumes at the US Amazon facility in Robbinsville, New Jersey. Local media reported 24 Amazon workers were hospitalised, including one reportedly in a critical condition, while 30 others were treated at the scene, officials told ABC News. Amazon said: "At our Robbinsville fulfilment centre, a damaged aerosol can dispensed strong fumes in a contained area of the facility. The safety of our employees is our top priority, and as such, all employees in that area were relocated to a safe place. "Employees experiencing symptoms are being treated onsite. As a precaution, some employees have been transported to local hospitals for evaluation and treatment. We appreciate the swift response of our local responders." Amazon fulfilment centres typically employ robots for automating some tasks. The warehouse was around 1.3 million square feet and was ventilated. The local fire department said it was treating multiple patients, with seven ambulances sent to the facility. Amazon's workforce now includes 575,700 employees globally as well as 80,000 robots known as 'Kiva' which operate in warehouses. The orange robots operate at 15 sites in the US, one in Poland and are fully operating in Doncaster in the UK. They weigh 145kg and can carry the weight of a small car. They have a top speed of 4.7kmh and must take a five-minute break every hour to recharge their batteries. Federal prosecutors in Manhattan on Friday asked a judge to sentence Michael Cohen, U.S. President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer, to a "substantial term of imprisonment" for paying an adult film star hush money on Trump's behalf and evading taxes. Cohen, who has been cooperating with U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe into possible collusion between Russia and Trump's 2016 election campaign, pleaded guilty to the charges in August. Cohen pleaded guilty last week to a separate charge by Mueller's office that he lied to Congress about discussions over the construction of a proposed Trump Organization skyscraper in Moscow. In a separate filing on Friday, Mueller's office said Cohen should serve any sentence imposed for that crime concurrently with the sentence imposed for the New York charges, saying he had gone to "significant lengths to assist the Special Counsels investigation." The New York prosecutors said in their filing that Cohen should receive some credit for his cooperation with Mueller, but noted that he had not entered into a cooperation agreement with their office. They said his sentence should reflect a "modest" reduction from the roughly four to five years they said federal guidelines would suggest. Cohen is scheduled to be sentenced next Wednesday by U.S. District Judge William Pauley in Manhattan on all of the charges to which he pleaded guilty. His lawyers have asked that he receive no jail time, saying he has cooperated extensively with Mueller and New York prosecutors and has taken responsibility for his actions. Trump, who has called Mueller's investigation a "witch hunt" and repeatedly denied wrongdoing, said earlier this week that Cohen had lied about Trump's business dealings in Russia to get reduced jail time. Mueller's office has charged or secured convictions against more than two dozen Russian nationals and entities, as well as a number of Trump's associates. The Manhattan prosecutors' charges against Cohen stemmed from a referral from Mueller's team. Russia has denied meddling in the 2016 U.S. election. (Reporting By Brendan Pierson in New York; editing by Jonathan Oatis) Amal Clooney has claimed Donald Trump gives the "green light" to autocratic regimes during a speech in which she warned against the US president's attacks on the press. Speaking at the United Nations Correspondents Association Awards in New York, the human rights barrister criticised the president for labelling American journalists "the enemy of the people" as she drew a line between Mr Trump's rhetoric and the rise of populism around the world. Speaking of a crackdown on dissent, she said: "The chilling effect is real and it has already been felt, not only in Myanmar but farther afield. And sadly similar examples abound in autocratic regimes from North Korea to the Philippines, to Hungary, Turkey and Brazil. "The US president has given such regimes a green light and labelled the press in this country the enemy of the people." She referred to the "brutal torture and death" two months ago of a 'Washington Post' journalist, Jamal Khashoggi. "In many of the cases that I have worked on too, I have seen journalists and opposition figures ruthlessly targeted so that they can no longer criticise leaders," she continued. According to Turkish security sources, Mr Khashoggi was tortured, murdered and dismembered in the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul. Saudi Arabia has admitted its agents killed Mr Khashoggi in a pre-calculated attack, but Riyadh has denied Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman's involvement. The Trump administration sanctioned 17 Saudi nationals over the killing of Mr Khashoggi. Mr Trump himself has been cautious in directly criticising Saudi Arabia and has steered clear of apportioning blame to the crown prince, a key ally in the Middle East and major customer for US arms. In her speech, Ms Clooney, who is married to US actor George Clooney, also spoke up for two Reuters journalists, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, who were jailed for seven years in Myanmar after covering the murders of the Rohingya religious minority. Ms Clooney concluded: "And you, the press, are under attack like never before. You are being jailed at a higher rate than ever. You are dying while covering wars, not just because you walk unarmed on the most dangerous places on earth but because you are being targeted for exposing crimes committed, for speaking the truth that perpetrators find the most difficult to hear." ( Daily Telegraph, London) Telegraph Media Group Limited [2021] In this file photo US State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert arrives for the release of the 2017 Annual Report on International Religious Freedom Photo by Mandel Ngan Getty Images US President Donald Trump will nominate State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert as US ambassador to the United Nations, two White House officials said - appointing someone with no prior policy or political experience to deal with some of the world's thorniest issues. The decision was expected to be announced on Friday morning, the officials said, requesting anonymity. Nauert, whose nomination would require Senate confirmation, is a former Fox News Channel correspondent and anchor. She became the State Department's spokeswoman in April 2017 and was named earlier this year as the acting undersecretary for public diplomacy and public affairs. If confirmed, Nauert, 48, would succeed Nikki Haley, who said in October she would be leaving the U.N. post at the end of the year. A senior White House official said late on Thursday that the U.N. ambassador post would not remain part of the Cabinet, as it has been under Haley. The State Department declined to comment and Nauert did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Nauert, who earlier this year had been considered a possible successor to White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders, gained experience on diplomacy by working at the State Department, but she lacks the political and policy credentials of Haley, a former South Carolina governor. Having the direct support of the president and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo could buttress her image, however, among global diplomats at the United Nations, who have bristled at Trump's "America First" foreign policy. She will face a variety of challenges if confirmed for the job, including championing U.S. efforts to contain Iran's influence in the Middle East and ensuring the global body maintains tough sanctions on North Korea as Washington tries to negotiate an end to Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs. Trump has been critical of the United Nations, complaining about its cost to Washington and criticizing it for focusing on bureaucracy and process rather than results. He pulled the United States out of the U.N. human rights body in September, citing bias toward Israel, and his administration has cut funding for the U.N. refugee agency and last year proposed U.S. funding cuts for aid and diplomacy that could curb the work of the global body. But Trump has also used the United Nations to try to advance his foreign policy agenda on Iran and North Korea. The administration has also worked through the United Nations to try to find a political solution to the wars in Syria and Yemen, two issues that will confront Nauert. The president is weighing a number of other end-of-year staff changes, including replacing Chief of Staff John Kelly, two of Trump's advisers said on Thursday. Harvey Weinstein has said he has endured "the worst nightmare of my life". The film producer is awaiting trial in New York, accused of rape, more than a year since women first came forward with allegations of sexual assault against him. Mr Weinstein denies all allegations of non-consensual sex and his lawyers have urged a judge to dismiss the case. In a leaked email published by US celebrity news website TMZ, Mr Weinstein wrote: "I've had one hell of a year... the worst nightmare of my life." A representative for Mr Weinstein confirmed the email's authenticity. According to the movie mogul's lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, the email was sent to a group of Mr Weinstein's close friends. The email, which links to several articles about the case, goes on to attack the police investigation into his alleged sex crimes. "As you can see from these articles, the police have played a very difficult role in my investigation. "All three police officers have either been retired, or repositioned from the SVU," the email says. "The articles are self-explanatory, but I'd like to speak to you on the phone if you have some time. There is more to this story... I appreciate your confidentiality. Have a read of these articles. I wish I didn't have to ask, but I'd be very appreciative of your time. Best, Harvey." Scores of women have come forward to allege Mr Weinstein sexually assaulted them, with claims ranging from inappropriate touching to rape. The 66 year old is facing five charges in New York. Mr Weinstein is due to appear in court on December 20. A Ukrainian serviceman stands on board a coast guard ship in the Sea of Azov (Evegeniy Maloletka/AP) Ukraines defence ministry has warned Russia it will soon send navy ships through the Kerch Strait where Russia fired on and seized three Ukrainian vessels two weeks ago. The announcement sets up another possible flashpoint in the long-simmering conflict between Russia and Ukraine that erupted in 2014 with Russias annexation of the Crimean peninsula burst into the open on November 25 when Russian border guards opened fire on three Ukrainian navy vessels that were moving through the Kerch Strait near Crimea and seized the ships and their crews. Ukraine responded by introducing martial law for 30 days, a measure Kiev did not take even after Crimeas annexation and amid large-scale fighting between Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed separatists in 2014-2015. Expand Close A woman with her child walks in the harbour of Mariupol, in the Sea of Azov, eastern Ukraine (Evngeniy Maloletka/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A woman with her child walks in the harbour of Mariupol, in the Sea of Azov, eastern Ukraine (Evngeniy Maloletka/AP) As part of martial law, Ukraine has beefed up its forces on the border with Russia and called up reservists for training. Ukrainian defence minister Stepan Poltorak told reporters on Friday that his country intends to send naval ships through the Kerch Strait soon, saying that otherwise Russia will fully occupy the Sea of Azov. Ukraine has ports both on the Black Sea and on the Sea of Azov which are linked by the Kerch Strait that separates Crimea from Russia. More than 140 ships were stuck on both sides of the strait on Friday due to excessive checks and delays on the Russian side, the Ukrainian Border Guard Service said, accusing Russia of creating a bottleneck for Ukrainian ships and preventing them from passing. Expand Close Harbour cranes are seen in Mariupol trade port in Ukraine (Efrem Lukatsky/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Harbour cranes are seen in Mariupol trade port in Ukraine (Efrem Lukatsky/AP) Speaking in Rome at a ministerial meeting of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov brushed off suggestions Russia could release or exchange the 24 Ukrainian seamen captured in last months maritime confrontation. Mr Lavrov said it was too early to speak about any offers of a prisoner swap until Russias investigation of the incident is completed and the servicemen are put on trial for violating the Russian border. Mr Lavrov also reacted to a suggestion by German foreign minister Heiko Maas to expand the Osce monitoring mission to the Sea of Azov, saying that Russia has no need for any intermediaries or monitors in the area. Expand Close Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov (Martial Trezzini/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov (Martial Trezzini/AP) Russian ombudswoman Tatyana Moskalkova told Russian news agencies that she visited three Ukrainian seamen who were injured in the incident and are being held in a Moscow prison hospital. Ms Moskalkova said she spoke to the men and got the impression that the crew were not aware that they were committing a crime. Meanwhile, a court in Crimea on Friday jailed for five days lawyer Emil Kurbedinov, who represents the commander of one of the Ukrainian ships. The court found Kurbedinov guilty of spreading extremist material in a social media post he made in 2013. The Conversation Indigenous women are murdered, go missing or face abuse at much higher rates than non-Indigenous women in Canada. Recent news stories now report that birthing mothers have also been sterilized (given tubal ligations) without their full and informed consent, as recently as 2017. These shocking stories describe women being told that they cannot see their newborn babies until they undergo a sexual sterilization surgery. And they describe situations in which women who are in the midst of delivering a child are asked questions about wanting more children, without realizing the consequences of their answers. And there are stories about surgery and abortion without consent. Unfortunately, these are not isolated cases. I am a historian of medicine, and the author of Facing Eugenics. In this book I traced the history of Albertas eugenics program an official, provincial program that sterilized nearly 3,000 people between 1928 and 1972, largely on the basis of their intelligence scores. Officially this program concentrated on people with diagnoses that today we might call intellectual disabilities, and IQ tests were used to assess whether or not someone was considered fit enough to parent. Doing that research, I learned that Indigenous women were not initially the main targets of the program. In fact, they were often denied health-care services of any kind, and suffered some of the highest rates of maternal and infant mortality as a result. By the end of the 1960s that situation had changed. But as more women gained access to health-care services, they also became the main targets of an official sterilization program. I wanted to know why. Working with my historian colleague Maureen Lux, author of Separate Beds: A History of Indian Hospitals in Canada, we have been tracking this history. We are finding a disturbing legacy of sterilization of Indigenous women. And, although Alberta and British Columbia had provincial eugenics programs, women across Canada also faced illegal sterilizations that were not part of any official program. Experimental birth control for Indigenous women Until 1969 the use of birth control, including sterilizations, was illegal and punishable under the Criminal Code of Canada. Even talking about abortion or birth control could result in fines or jail time. After that time, the laws relaxed, and sexual sterilization surgeries went from a form of punishment or control to procedures that many women (and eventually men) chose as a voluntary method of permanent birth control. Today vasectomies and tubal ligations are very popular, but they are chosen not forced. The case for Indigenous women has not followed the same trend. Historically, Indigenous women in Canada have faced significant differences in health-care options, including reproductive care. Women living in northern Canada, especially, have long demanded better services in their communities, and resented having to travel far south to acquire basic maternal and infant care. In the 1960s and 1970s, the federal government recognized how expensive it was to build comprehensive health services in the north, but recommended using birth control, even though it was still illegal at the time. Some women were given experimental Depo-Provera shots, or long-acting birth control, before it was approved elsewhere in Canada. In other cases, Indigenous women requested access to birth control information as part of their request for better health-care services in general, but were denied these requests. Feminism meant keeping their children Indigenous women living in Canadian provinces confronted different kinds of challenges. The Sixties Scoop the forced removal of Indigenous children from their birth parents and adoption by non-Indigenous families meant that by the 1960s the right to keep children became much more important for Indigenous feminists than the right to use birth control. In the 1970s as women around the world formed a feminist movement, Indigenous women in Canada joined on their own terms. Rather than burning bras and demanding access to abortion, for many Indigenous women, feminism involved lobbying to keep their children and have access to proper health care. This does not seem like something they should have had to fight for, given that other women already had these rights. Indigenous activists in the 1970s began referring to the lack of services and the campaigns to use birth control as part of a wider cultural genocide. Birth control advocates, including federal government employees, defended themselves by claiming that birth control and sterilization were part of a modern womans experience, and they were merely extending these services to Indigenous women. But this logic did not acknowledge the reality that thousands of Indigenous women had already watched their children suffer as a result of a colonial context that created food insecurity, systemic racism and segregation. A full review must happen Indigenous children had been forcibly removed from their homes, and we know that the Indian Residential School system further attempted to break those family bonds. Indigenous women fighting to keep their children was as much an act of feminism as any efforts by non-Indigenous women to use birth control the matter was one of women getting to choose how to make their families. Recent news of coerced sterilizations on unwilling Indigenous mothers reminds us that this is not a matter of the past. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) recommended a full and separate review of sterilization and child welfare programs. This must happen; and we must listen to women and make sure to hear their stories on their terms. Erika Dyck is a Professor and Canada Research Chair in the History of Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan. She receives funding from the Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR). This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Join the Conversation Friday, December 7, 2018 at 12:47PM In case you havent heard yet, Tumblr will be removing all the adult content on its site on December 17th. Any nudity or explicit content not approved by the updated guidelines will be hidden and users wont be able to upload any more adult content. If you want to save your posts before these get hidden, you can export your blog. And if you dont know how to do that, were here to help you out. First thing you need to do is head to your Dashboard and select your account menu. Thats the person icon on the upper right corner of the site. From there click on the Settings gear and select which blog you want to export. Since Tumblr lets you have multiple blogs on one account, youll have to repeat this process for each one if you want to preserve your posts. Once youve selected the blog you want to export, you need to scroll all the way down that blogs settings page to see the export feature. Tumblr will then start processing your backup but this might take a while, especially if you made many posts throughout the years. But once its done, youll see a Download backup option instead of the Backup processing prompt. Youll get a ZIP file you can download that contains, a media folder with photos, GIFs, audio, and more, as well as all your posts and conversations in XML format. Tumblr users have been reporting how the companys algorithm is sometimes flagging non-explicit content (like cute dogs, flowers, and other posts) as explicit so these might be taken down. (Granted you can contest these posts with Tumblr.) So, if you dont want to lose any of your archive, wed suggest you start exporting your blog now. Source: The Verge Bigg Boss 12 has been one of the popular shows, thanks to its controversies and dramas. But one of the episodes on the show is going to be damn entertaining and hilarious. Why you ask? Well, the lawyer Romil Choudhary will show the audience some of his dance moves that will leave them ROFL. Twitter In the below video Romil is dancing with Jasleen on Chadti Jawani song where another contestant Megha too joins them. He tries to do some sexy moves but fails miserably, but his effort on dance will tickle your bones. Romil is disqualified from Jasleens dance class and she calls him a bad student too. Watch the video. Later, Jasleen convinces Deepak to join them and he even manages to impress her. This episode will undoubtedly leave the audience laughing and cheering for Romil and Deepak. Twitter The trailer of Vicky Kaushal's upcoming film Uri was released a few days before. While many praised the action sequences and Vicky Kaushal's stunts, a lot of people weren't too happy with the trailer calling it 'anti national'. But Director Aditya Dhar, who is gearing up for the release of his film feels great that many political leaders have liked the trailer. However, he says that the film is made for the Indian Army and not for any political party. "I never thought about it but it feels great to see such a good response. It is an amazing feeling. It is great that many political leaders have shared and liked the trailer on social media but I have made this film for Indian Army and not for any political party," Dhar said in a statement. He added that this is the least "we could do as filmmakers for Indian Army." On claims of a lot of Indian fans showing support, he added: "I am glad but I want people to come and watch the film and realise that how much our Indian Army sacrifice." With much noise soon after the trailer was released, the tension between two rival nations (India and Pakistan) risen. "People will come to know about the reality once our film will be out on January 11, 2019." screengrab The film will see Vicky Kaushal playing the role of an Indian commando who is involved in the 2016 surgical strikes. It also stars Yami Gautam. Based on the surgical strikes of 2016 carried out by the Indian Armed Forces, "Uri" traces the significant event. It also features Kirti Kulhari and Paresh Rawal in lead roles. Produced by RSVP movies, "Uri" will hit the theatres on January 11, 2019. Watch the trailer of the film here: Satpal Maharaj,Uttarakhand Tourism Minister:Our committee has forwarded our advice to CM&decided that law&order should be reviewed.We asked District Magistrates to maintain peace&everyone has decided that #Kedarnath movie should be banned. The movie is banned everywhere in state. pic.twitter.com/f9yWjKVd5l ANI (@ANI) December 7, 2018 Sara Ali Khan's big dream debut has hit a rocky road as Uttarakhand Tourism Minister Satpal Maharaj on Friday said screening of Hindi film Kedarnath has been stopped across the state.This comes a day after the state High Court dismissed a plea seeking to ban the movie. 2. Sonam Kapoor To Appear On Koffee With Karan With Her Siblings Rhea And Harshvardhan After her marriage with Anand Ahuja, Sonam keeps a perfect work-life balance and keeps flying to Delhi to be with in laws. But the gorgeous actress hasn't forgotten her siblings. Infact, she will be making her appearance in Karan Johars show Koffee With Karan along with siblings Rhea Kapoor and Harshvardhan Kapoor. Well, we would really want Anand to join them for a little at least and surprise us. After PC and Nicks grand wedding, her brother in law welcomed her into the sweetest way possible. Joe Jonas shared a beautiful picture of Priyanka and Nick on Instagram and wrote, Super Married! I Love You Both! Welcome to the Family Pri! Congratulations! My face hurts from all the smiling this week. Twitter Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan might have been in the industry for long and does not think twice before taking a plunge like the one in Sacred Games but when it comes to his daughter, he is nervous. The teaser, titled Dragonstone (which is the ancestral seat of House Targaryen), starts by showing ice apparently taking over Westeros. Some theories say that the clash between fire and the ice is when the Dragonstone forms. The 54 second-long clip promises to show a battle between fire and ice. Manual scavenging and cleaning of drains costs Indian labourers their life since they die from asphyxiation or intoxicants related infections. Just a few days ago, Mumbai police force welcomed robots into their bomb disposal squad that could defuse bombs from a distance. The initiative was aimed at reducing loss of life and also boosting efficiency in the bomb diffusion process. Now, robots will also play an integral role in the cleaning of British-era underground drains where mechanical end to end cleaning has proved inefficient. Photo: AFP/Representational Image The Times of India reported that the civic body will be spending close to Rs 60 crore to enable the use of robot starting January 2019.Due to heavy rainfall and monsoon season, Mumbai takes up pre-monsoon work from January to May every year to ensure smooth flow of rainwater. Officials said they plan to have a remote-controlled robot, mounted with camera, that will remove silt from the drain and put it into a recycler machine. On the monitor the officials will be able to see how much silt has been removed. However, the robot project will be sourced to another contractor who will operate it. The preparations for the work to be undertaken will begin from December 15 while the on ground work will commence from January 1, 2019. According to reports, the British era drains have a carrying-capacity of 25mm per hour. After the 2005 deluge, work on increasing the capacity of most drains was taken up. However, most of the island city area drains are underground and hence it is not possible to widen or deepen all of them. The Indian Railways have made windfall profit of Rs 55 crore after the government launched a 'give up' scheme were senior citizens were urged to sacrifice the fare concessions they are entitled to. Under the scheme, till June this year 32 lakh senior citizens have volunteered to give up the subsidy. REPRESENTATIONAL IMAGE Senior citizens who book tickets online are offered three options: 100 percent concession, 50 per cent concession and no concession.Data provided under RTI by the ministry shows 32.12 lakh senior citizens had given up fare concessions till June 2018, which made the railways richer by Rs 55.12 crore. The railways which provides passenger fare concessions in 53 categories, including to those with disabilities, cancer, thalassemia, heart and kidney patients, war widows students and others was incurring a loss of about Rs 33,000 crore annually. REPRESENTATIONAL IMAGE Earlier this year, Prime Minister Modi, during one of the Mann Ki Baat had lauded the efforts of Senior Citizens of India for giving up subsidy for travel in Indian Railways. Polling for 199 seats in states of Rajasthan and Telangana are taking place today and the voter turnout recorded in both the states stood at 59.43 and 56.17 percent respectively. Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje has been ruling the state for almost two decades but the opposition, Indian National Congress is expecting an anti-incumbency wave this time. After centenarians casted their vote in Chhattisgarh on November 12, more and more elderly are coming forward to put their vote in Rajasthan also. Shajha, a 105-year-old woman casts her vote at a polling booth in Kishanpura, Jaipur. Family says,"There is no facility of wheel chair in this polling booth. We had to carry her inside the polling station so that she could vote." #RajasthanElections2018 pic.twitter.com/WnVkaEfuQB ANI (@ANI) December 7, 2018 A 105 year old woman, Shajha had arrived at the Jaipur's Kishanpura polling station to cast her vote. However, lack of wheelchair annoyed the family members who then lifted the woman in their lap so that she could elect a representative of her choice. One of the family members told news agency ANI, "There is no facility of wheelchair in this polling booth. We had to carry her inside the polling station so that she could vote. Meanwhile another 90 year old casted his vote at the Sardarpura constituency and he was provided a wheelchair for the same. A 90-year-old man arrives at polling booth no. 104 in Sardarpura constituency of Jodhpur district to cast his vote. #RajasthanElections2018 pic.twitter.com/qIu3HDA3YQ ANI (@ANI) December 7, 2018 An 80-year-old woman also participated in the electoral process at booth number 103 in Sardarpura constituency of Jodhpur district. Meanwhile, voters were frustrated as EVMs malfunctioned at various places such as booth number 172 in Bikaner's Kisamidesar and polling booth number 253 and 254 in Ahor constituency of Jalore due to which voting had to be stopped for some time. Rajasthan: An 80-year-old woman cast her vote at booth no. 103 in Sardarpura constituency of Jodhpur district. #RajasthanElections2018 pic.twitter.com/wmTiniu07u ANI (@ANI) December 7, 2018 The voting continued until 5 pm and the counting of votes will be done on December 11 along with Telangana, Mizoram, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Setting an ambitious target, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has said that his government will transform the illegal colonies in the national capital to make them look like neighborhoods in London and Paris. Speaking at an event in Vikaspuri after laying sewer lines in 33 colonies the Delhi CM said in the next two years his government will make roads, lay sewer lines and install street lights in all unauthorized colonies. bccl The sewer lines in Vikaspuri is likely to benefit two lakh residents in 33 unauthorized colonies. Reassuring the regularization of the colonies he said We approved sewer, water, drains and road construction works worth Rs 3,500 crore." Kejriwal's claims come at a time when the CBI has filed a charge sheet against one of his minister, Satyendra Jain, his wife Poonam and four other for allegedly amassing assets disproportionate to their known sources of income. bccl Kejriwal alleged that the case was on the behest of the Centre for carrying out development in unauthorised colonies. There are an estimated 1797 unauthorised colonies in Delhi. War is not ending in Syria. After a few days of peace, there is again fire all over. Either the Assad forces backed by Russia of the rebels reportedly supported by the US begin a fresh round of violence. This time, it's the northwestern city of Idlib that is witnessing the worst round of violence in recent times. Here are some images that show how people are suffering amid the never-ending bombardment. 1. Russian warplanes resumed bombing Idlib province after a 22-day pause. AFP 2. Russian warplanes battered Syria's rebel-controlled Idlib. AFP 3. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has sworn to recapture every inch of Syria and has made big gains against rebels since Russia joined his war effort in 2015. Reuters 4. An estimated three million people half of them displaced from other parts of Syria. Reuters 5. Russian air raids ceased in and around Idlib on August 15. Reuters 6. Syrian kids look into the camera lense with hope. AFP 7. A child tries an improvised gas mask made by his father as part of preparations for any upcoming raids. Reuters 8. Hundreds of civilians have fled villages near the front line in Syria's Idlib province fearing an imminent regime assault. AFP 9. Destroyed Building in the battle for Idlib between Russia and Syrian government. AFP 10. A man tries to protect his child using the self-made gas mask from upcoming air raids. AFP 11. A girl cries at a camp for the displaced from the rebel-held Syrian province of Idlib. AFP 12. A Syrian family rides in a vehicle as they head to safer areas in the northern part of Syria. AFP Wars kill human beings and destroy societies. Despite rampant human exploitation some of the most revolutionary and ground breaking leaders have emerged from such war-stricken areas. Women around the world face the evils of patriarchy and gender divide. But when people decide to bring about a change, they achieve it sooner rather than later. A group of women in Syria vowed that they will not depend on the men in war-torn country. And what they did is something that is being talked about throughout the world. In an isolated village of Jinwar, women can be seen guarding the entrance of the village with a rifle. Photo: Richard Hall/The Independent The women who have decided to build a peaceful area in a war zone might seem unusual in the beginning but the idea is to escape from the chaos of the rest of the world. The Independent reported that the village which has been built over the past two years is a self-sustaining, ecological idyll where women rule and men cannot stay. Theres no need for men here, our lives are good, says Zainab Gavary, a 28-year-old resident. This place is just for women who want to stand on their feet. Jinwar is a women-only commune a few miles from Qamishli, a city in the mainly Kurdish region of northeast Syria. This all-women village was created for women who wanted to live free of the patriarchal and oppressive structures existing in the society. The village was set up with the help of local women and international volunteers. The homes, paintings and statues are all made by Jinwar women. This village which is located in northern Syria lived under the shadow of ISIS caliphate. Thousands of Yazidis were brutally murdered and many captured as sex slaves. Therefore, many Kurdish women took up arms to fight the terrorists. Photo: Richard Hall/ The Independent; Amira Muhammad who lives with his five children in Jinwar The story of these women facing off against a murderous cult that aimed to enslave them captured the attention of the world. Women here who were married off very young and raised children with no fathers have come to live here where they are not bogged down by family-oriented roles. A line written on the walls of Jinwar reflect the ideology of these women, Without women there is no freedom. Until women educate and empower themselves, there wont be freedom. Besides women empowerment, this village also provides for an ecological and communal way of living life. Many of these women who lost their husbands in war come here to provide their children with education and living expenses. A 33 year old widow, Amira Muhammad told The Independent, We do our own farming, we plant trees. Every woman farms her own lot for her kids. We sell the harvest, and use the revenue to support our expenses. Photo: Richard Hall/ The Independent; A painting adorns the wall of Jinwar village The women in this village are kept engaged by the various chores required to self-sustain. The group take turns cooking and eat all their meals together in a large communal kitchen. There are animals to tend to and a school for the children. Jinwar is not only for widows but for divorcees and even girls who want to stay away from men. Though, living a life alone can be difficult for these women, a 17 year old Nisreen Qadir emphasises that it is a life of self-reliance, the life of free women. The Supreme Court has been hearing responses from Internet companies like Google, Facebook, and WhatsApp, after the Centre indicated the onus was on them to eliminate child porn on their platforms. Unfortunately, it may not be as easy as all that. According to a SC statement on Thursday, these Internet giants have agreed that videos surrounding rape, child pornography, and other objectionable content need to be stamped out. The process to do that however is a little complicated. In an earlier circular, the central government had made suggestions like having local officers that could liason with law enforcement, human content monitors on the platforms, and prompt responses to requisition orders. None of the companies involved have raised a problem for any of this yet (though that last one will probably be controversial), but one other suggestion in particular is proving problematic. The Centre had also suggested automated deletion of unlawful content through AI-powered monitoring tools. Something like that is certainly possible for social media platforms, though it could also potentially be abused by the government to censor citizens. Whether it can be applied by Google in any way is questionable, considering it's a search engine, though perhaps its Drive and Photos apps could be tweaked accordingly. For WhatsApp however, it's impossible. The popular messaging app has end-to-end encryption, meaning that no party aside from the sender and receiver can see the contents, not even WhatsApp or its parent company Facebook. To then have an AI monitor in place they say would require compromising that secure encryption, violating users' privacy and putting millions at risk from hackers as well. Each of these companies is now working on a proposal for a standard operating procedure (SoP) draft, which will discuss if and how they can implement the suggestions given by the Centre. These are expected to be filed in the Supreme Court by December 10, so we should be able to see what might be in store for us very soon. Scientists have yet to figure out a surefire way to cure cancer. Until then, the methods currently at our disposal rely on early diagnosis. That's why it's so amazing that researchers in Australia have uncovered a way to test for early stage cancer using only a patient's blood. Scientists at the University of Queensland, have developed a universal cancer test that uses a simple colour-changing fluid to reveal the presence of malignant cells anywhere in the body. The best part? It takes less than 10 minutes. "A major advantage of this technique is that it is very cheap and extremely simple to do, so it could be adopted in the clinic quite easily," Dr Laura Carrascosa, a researcher on the study alongside Professor Matt Trau, Dr Abu Sina, told the Guardian. The test works by manipulating the fact that normal DNA and cancer DNA stick to metal surfaces differently. And if you have cancer cells anywhere in your body, they travel through the bloodstream. This test then checks for even tiny traces of these malignant cells in your blood. The test is still being refined, so it'll be a while before it can be approved and adopted worldwide. However, it promises the ability to detect the oft-fatal medical condition through simple regular screening tests in a doctor's clinic. s University of Queensland Right now, it has a 90 percent sensitivity, meaning it can detect 90 out of a 100 cases of very early stage cancer. The team envisions it as an easily accessible early warning system, where doctors can order more intensive tests on a positive result. Doctors won't anymore have to rely on a patient noticing a lump or reporting symptoms, and then order an invasive biopsy. Instead, routine (and cheap) quarterly tests at the very least would be even more effective at catching any cancer development early. In another horrifying incident of discrimination against the disabled, an Indian tourist and military man looking forward to spending Christmas with his family in Australia was denied visa because he was wheelchair-bound. Reuters Reports state that the authorities called him a 'burden' on the health services and refused to stamp his tourist visa. ALSO READ: A Disabled Couple Wants Compensation From Their Son Who Renounced The World And Became A Sadhu In a viral tweet, a Twitter user with the handle @briannasbell narrated the awful incident about how Shubhajeet, who was planning a visit to Australia for two weeks on a tourist visa, was denied the aforementioned. The user further explained that Shubhajeet, in fact, has travel insurance, has completed his rehab following the injury in military services that caused his paraplegia, and has no intention to use Australia's health care system. He is planning to visit for two weeks, and only requested a tourist visa. He has travel insurance, has completed his rehab following the injury in military service that caused his paraplegia, and has no intention to use Australias health care system. Brianna Bell (@briannasbell) 7 December 2018 Reuters The outright discrimination started a raging debate on Twitter and here's how Netizens reacted: #1 Honestly this country is rotten to the core Amerika ist wunderbar (@InflatablePlant) 7 December 2018 #2 I see more to it than just being against 'wheelchaired'. Indian also. I dont think Australia wud do the same if a disabled veteran from US/UK or any other 'white' nations applied/arrived! Aam Aadmi The Indian (@IndianAamAadmi) 7 December 2018 #3 Thats absolutely ridiculous. Im so sorry. Can you contact @PWDAustralia for help? Camille (@MsCurlyPops) 7 December 2018 #4 This is extremely shocking. We talk about equality and being progressive but surprisingly a country like @9NewsAUS does this. @SushmaSwaraj @AusHCIndia please kindly look into it. Amit K Nanchahal (@thecorpcommguy) 7 December 2018 It seems like the 'tallest structure' fever has swept across the country. While on the one hand, we have Chandrababu Naidu's proposal to make Andhra Pradesh Assembly building at Amaravati taller than the Statue of Unity by 68 metres; on the other, we have the tussle between the proposed Ram statue in UP and the upcoming Shivaji memorial in Mumbai. 5 architect firms have given a presentation before CM Yogi Adityanath for construction of a 151m tall statue of Lord Ram in Ayodhya. In the pedestal under statue,there will be a museum showcasing history of Ram Janmabhoomi&related subjects.Selection of plot for statue is still on pic.twitter.com/kQd4hH80RF ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) 24 November 2018 Yogi Adityanath finalised the details of the bronze sculpture that will include a 20 metres overhead umbrella, a pedestal with a height of 50 metres, the actual statue will stand at a height of 151 metres. ALSO READ: This Is How 221 Metre Tall Statue Of Lord Ram Will Look Like As UP CM Finalises Details Twitter If constructed, the 221m-high statue of Hindu god Ram in the town of Ayodhya could be among the tallest statues, but it's now facing a tough competition. According to an Indian Express report, Vinayak Mete, Chairman of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Memorial Project Implementation, said that the state government may increase the height of the proposed Shivaji memorial statue to beat Lord Ram's structure. PTI The Indian Express quoted Mete saying that the height of the Shivaji statue be increased to 230 m to make it a grand memorial. Designed by Ram V Sutar, who also designed the Statue of Unity, the Shivaji memorial's foundation stone was laid in December 2016 by PM Modi. Reports state that the contract for the Shivaji Memorial project was awarded to Larsen & Tourbo for Rs 2,500 crores in March this year. ALSO READ: Shivaji Memorial Will Now Be 210-Metre-Tall To Become The Tallest Statue In The World Comedian/writer Nimesh Patel was removed from the stage during an act at Columbia University because some students said his jokes were offensive. (Late Night with Seth Meyers/YouTube screenshot) Jumana Nagarwala, who has been absolved of several charges of performing female genital mutilation, still faces conspiracy and obstruction charges, which could send the Indian American physician to federal prison for several decades. (photo via twitter) Indian American physician Ashu Joshi, of the St. Louis University Hospital in Missouri, is on trial for producing child pornography. Joshi, who pleaded not guilty to the charge, allegedly impregnated a 16-year-old girl and told police he had intended to marry her. (St. Louis Police Department photo) A 12-year-old student in Gyan Mandir Public School in Naraina Vihar killed herself. In her suicide note she said she was tormented by her science teacher. (YouTube screen grab) The price of Chinese soda ash moved higher in response to consumers looking to stock up before producers in the country suspend operations for the New Year holiday, a trend that is by exacerbated by robust end-market demand. Fastmarkets IM assessed the price of soda ash, synthetic, dense and light,... Switch the Market flag Open the menu and switch the Market flag for targeted data from your country of choice. for targeted data from your country of choice. Members log in to the app using their member number and alphanumeric Web Access Code (WAC), just as they would when they access CUAs online banking or mobile banking app, said Rob Goudswaard, CUA CEO. We use industry-standard security protocols to encrypt messages that are exchanged between a member and an iM CUA personal banker, so members can have confidence that their information is secure. Goudswaard said unlike other instant messaging apps in the financial industry, iM CUA is the only app in Australia where you know you are chatting to the same personal banker every time you log on they get to know you and you can build a more personal connection. Goudswaard also said the new app was rolled out just in time for Christmas and the summer holiday season. This app is a great option for members wanting to avoid queuing at a branch or waiting on the phone to chat to someone about their banking or insurance in the frantic weeks leading up to the festive season, Goudswaard said. For those members heading away on holidays, whether its within Australia or overseas, they can have peace of mind theyll be able to chat to a CUA personal banker from wherever they are whether theyre lazing on the beach, camping with the kids or jetting off to Hawaii. And once youre set up, iM CUA is a convenient option at any time of the year. The letter, announced at a press conference at COP24, the UN climate talks, asked the insurers to respond by Dec. 14, after which the coalition will make public the commitments it has received. The US$1.5bn project, consisting of a major thermal coal mine and roughly 200km-long rail line, would produce 4.6 billion tonnes of CO2 emissions over the mines approved lifetime. Thats equivalent to more than eight years of Australias annual greenhouse gas emissions. Developing the mine would also open up the huge reserves of Queenslands Galilee Basin to exploitation, expose the Great Barrier Reef to irreversible damage due to dredging and ship traffic, as well as encroach on the lands of the Wangan and Jagalingou Traditional Owners, the coalition said. Insurance companies are facing an existential threat from climate change, so they should be lining up to rule out support for a project that would open up one of the worlds largest untapped coal reserves, said Julien Vincent, executive director of Market Forces. With Adani claiming to fund the Carmichael project itself, it could be the decision of a major insurer that decides whether this climate-wrecking project goes ahead. Adanis plans show contempt for the Paris Agreement and its goal of limiting global warming to 1.5C, but they cannot go ahead without insurance, said Lucie Pinson, European coordinator of the Unfriend Coal campaign. It is time for insurers to put their money where their mouth is and publicly rule out providing any services for the Carmichael carbon bomb. The recipients of the open letter also include Hamilton Insurance Group in Bermuda, AXA and SCOR in France, Allianz, Hannover Re, HDI and Munich Re in Germany, Generali in Italy, Sompo and Tokio Marine in Japan, Mapfre in Spain, Chubb, Swiss Re and Zurich in Switzerland, Beazley, Canopius, Chaucer, CNA Hardy, Lloyd's, and insurance broker Marsh in the United Kingdom, and AIG, Axis Capital, Berkshire Hathaway, FM Global, Great American Insurance Group, Liberty Mutual, the Here's what I wrote back: If I think about why innovation is so elusive -- the things that prevent a company from building deep innovation capability, it would come down to a half-dozen critical things that are interrelated: 1. Innovation identity crisis Many companies struggle to identify what their innovative strength and style is. Are you a needs-based innovator, meaning you take a human-centered approach like good designers and design thinkers do? Or, are you more market-driven, meaning you're an optimizing fast follower that takes a more capitalistic approach, exploiting the philosophy behind Christensen's "innovator's dilemma" by quickly copying and even improving on game-changing innovations as they hit the market? Or is your strength that of a technologist, like an Apple or Google, constantly on the edge of what's achievable given technological advancement, be it yours or that of others? If your organization simply doesn't know or can't easily conceptualize which of these categories it falls into, or should fall into, given its bench strength, you run the very expensive risk of "kitchen-sinking" innovation, scattering and squandering your attention and efforts. 2. Unclear innovation strategy As the previous sentence implies, trying to be all things to all people just doesn't work, and big outfits have a tough time articulating the answers to the essential questions of strategy: where will you play and how will you win? Like any strategy, innovation strategy is a question of focusing resources, which is something different (albeit a nuanced difference) than prioritization. It's the ability to identify what you're going to say NO to. Steve Jobs was great at this. He said he was always proudest of the thousands of things Apple said no to. 3. Inaccessible definition of innovation When I speak to groups I ask them to show their hands if they consider themselves good problem solvers. All hands raise. I ask for a show of hands for the learners. All hands up. Then I ask the true innovators to raise their hands. Less than 5% raise their hands. It's because people hear innovation and think: gizmo. Or app. Or code. Or product. Or service. Or feature. They think of innovation as a noun rather than a verb. The best definition of innovation I've ever heard is by JetBlue's founder David Neeleman: "Innovation is figuring how to do something better than it's ever been done before." Dirt simple, and it doesn't matter if you're a CEO or administrative assistant...you can innovate at some level (and there are a few). Without the clear definition of what's considered innovation, you can't ask people to innovate and expect an intelligent response. 4. No common methodology We're not taught in school to innovate. Just the opposite. The natural curiosity we're born with and utilize during our first 5 years of existence--which is all about observation, experimentation, and play--gets schooled out of us. We're taught to get the right answer for the teacher. Then the right answer for the boss. We lose our natural born capacity to learn and create new knowledge. So you have to unlearn the ways of business execution and reteach what came naturally: define a problem by observing or experiencing it, guessing how to solve it, creating a solution based on that guess, and quickly seeing if what you assumed might work actually does. Without a common methodology, everything is ad hoc, hit or miss. 5. Methodology doesn't feature experimentation Beyond not having a common method, you'll often find the de facto "innovation method" in reality being mostly an idea execution process, rather than a more scientific one. The mindset can't be "I know what will work and I'm going to ensure it does." It has to be "I think this may work so let me try it out." Scientists work on hypotheses, which is a fancy term for guesswork. If people aren't getting their hands dirty out in the field with users and customers, testing early low-fidelity prototypes and adjusting a solution, they won't be able to truly innovate. For some reason, the hardest thing for those charged with innovation is to get out of the office, out of their data reports, and do what all good designers do, and what the Japanese call genchi genbutsu (go look, go see): mingle with customers and users and get real behavioral feedback when learning needs and testing concepts. (I've even heard senior executives go so far as advising employees to "ignore negative feedback from customers.") I learned how important it is to get out more and go face to face with customers while working with Toyota (which to this day stills runs over 1 million experiments a year companywide). Look, innovation is an outside-in contact sport. If you want to grow something alone in a dark room, go farm mushrooms. 6. Mismatching talent to task Companies love to move "high potential managers" into roles related to innovation. Bad move. Those folks are great at plans and budgets, aka convergent thinking. They're great at execution. They're great at growing lines of business. But what do you think they're going to do when you move them into the messy and uncertain world of pursuing mysteries and creating something new which, in all likelihood, will fail? They're going to try to plan, budget, execute, and obsess over revenue realization. Innovation is about divergence, rapid prototyping, testing and failure. Larger, more mature companies have to figure out how to structure ways for innovative thinkers to break away from the main operation and get back to the metaphorical garage, with the charge being to solve a real problem and design a working prototype under a few intelligent constraints. (There are many such structures..check out my recent article on Gremlin Groups). If you don't, can't or won't, you'll end up hiring an outside firm that's set up to innovate for you. All you've done is outsource innovation and allow high potential managers to stay in their power zone of planning, budgeting, and executing. That's not necessarily a bad thing, it just doesn't help your efforts to build innovation capability. Reversing all of these elements is necessary to develop and sustain innovative capability. That's why innovation sounds so simple but is yet so hard! This article originally appeared on LinkedIn Boston Marks Group was founded in 1985 to serve the aviation sector. Today, the broker offers retail P&C brokerage services to government, commercial and private aviation and aerospace clients across BMGs global locations in New Zealand, Australia, and England. A release said that Boston Marks Insurance Brokers New Zealand CEO Pat McLaughlan and his associates will continue to operate from their current location under the direction of New Zealand CEO Carl OShea. BMG Aviation Australia CEO Damian Hooper and his associates will also continue to operate from their current location under the direction of Gallagher managing director of specialisms Paul Harvey. Boston Marks Insurance Brokers London CEO Phil Stafford and colleagues will join Gallaghers London office, to be led by Gallagher executive director of aviation Mark Walters. Boston Marks highly specialized offerings significantly expand our international brokerage capabilities in the aviation sector, in particular in the Australian and New Zealand markets, commented Gallagher chairman, president and CEO J. Patrick Gallagher, Jr. I am very excited to welcome Pat, Damian, Phil and their associates to our growing Gallagher family of professionals. Boston Marks is a great fit for Gallagher; they have fantastic people and are a strong global player in the specialist aviation insurance market. Gallagher has a history of growth in the specialist sectors and Boston Marks will contribute meaningful to our global aviation capabilities, added Gallagher Australia and New Zealand managing director Steve Lockwood. Related stories: Gallagher announces expansion, hiring spree Gallagher acquires broker equity stake in Southeast Asia The new business will use the managing general agency structure, previously Iron-Starr Excess Agency, across its product lines, which will enable each business to provide Liberty capacity as well as access to third-party capacity, LSM said. This move gives us a fantastic opportunity to bring all our Bermuda businesses under the Liberty Specialty Markets brand, acting as one global organization and making a major contribution to our strategic priorities, Wheeler said. Combining these businesses gives us a unified regional approach to Bermuda. This has major advantages for both our clients and Liberty itself. We will be able to offer clients our full suite of products and experience while making it easier to build stronger and deeper long-term client relationships. We will also be able to provide our Bermuda-based clients with new products currently offered from other parts of Liberty, most notably specialty reinsurance from Liberty Mutual Re. Finally, the integration will put us in a stronger position for growth and business development in the region. Im delighted to lead the team, which has an exceptional track record since its formation in 2007, Horton said. Being part of the LSM group can only enhance our reputation and support our continued development. Congresss decision to extend the program comes as President Donald Trump pushes for the construction of his proposed wall along the US-Mexican border. Trump had promised construction of the wall as part of his presidential platform during the 2016 campaign, originally intending for Mexico to pay for the wall now Trump wants Congress to pay billions for the project. With the extension, Congress now has until December 21 to decide on government funding, as well as whether to overhaul or extend the NFIP again. The Advocate reported that Louisiana Sens. Bill Cassidy and John Kennedy had originally pushed for a six-month extension for the NFIP. While Senate passed that extension last week, the House has yet to approve the proposition. Kennedy has revealed that he has discussed with House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin, about bringing the extension up for a vote. Related stories: New technology gets consumers and insurers feet wet on flood risk Consumer Institute calls for more private insurance in flood The cost to the public from the expanded recall has been high, as 246 people in 25 states had been taken ill with salmonella from the tainted meat as of December 04, according to the US Department of Agricultures Food Safety and Inspection Service, making this one of the largest ground beef recalls in history. The cost to JBS will inevitably also be high, considering the agreements that are in place between companies in the chain of distribution. Over time, the relationship between the retailers and the suppliers has been changed in the sense that we now see more and more very tight supply agreements, such that in the event of a recall like this, the retailers will have really tight supply contracts and agreements that allow them to push the financial burden of the recall back to a supplier, explained Oddy, pointing out that there are some big players implicated in the JBS recall. Walmart is involved in this one, and they certainly will be able to turn around and say, were taking the product from the shelf. Whether the mega-chain decides to dispose of the product, the likelier option, or ship it back, the associated costs are very quickly sent back to somebody like JBS or the supplier in the supply chain, added Oddy. With food recalls getting bigger in recent years as well as garnering more attention many serious recalls have taken place in the last decade or so the amount of insurance coverage taken out for these events is likewise shifting. Read more: Deadly romaine lettuce E. coli outbreak causes insurance headache Weve seen the purchased limits on insurance grow, which is a good thing, but equally weve seen the continued stream of losses, where the losses exceed the insurance purchased for these big situations, said Oddy. My sense is that when theyre making those insurance purchasing decisions, theyre based on some budgeting requirements and certainly the supply contracts are mentioned theres that requirement in many of them to have a recall plan and also, insurance to assist in that. However, many food producers might not plan for their worst day ever, and rely on their systems being sanitized and operating suitably to avoid a mega-loss. Producers have gotten smarter to the idea of a possible recall. I think theyve seen the recalls growing in number and magnitude, Oddy told Insurance Business. But, we still see a number of what wed describe as limits losses, where the recall just far exceeds the insurance purchased. Companies that are dealing with recalls can do a few things to mitigate further damage to their sales and reputation, including recognizing that a recall needs to be initiated early on, and tracing where the products have gone as well as who could be impacted with the help of federal resources. Read more: Why firms should care about a bad reputation It gives the consumer some comfort that the problem has been handled. Its a problem, and the problem hasnt gone away in terms of how it happened, but from a consumer standpoint, the quicker I think these companies can figure out where the problem is and do something about it, or initiate their retailers to do something with it and get it out of harms way, theyre in a good place to minimize the damage, said Oddy. An automated machine punctured a can of bear repellent at an Amazon warehouse in New Jersey on Wednesday, releasing fumes that sickened workers and sent two dozen to hospitals, officials said. An Amazon representative said that as of 8 p.m., all of the impacted employees have been or are expected to be released from the hospital within the next 24 hours. At least one of the workers was said to have been in critical condition Wednesday afternoon, but communications representative Rachel Lightly said that worker is among those expected to be released. She said no packages were impacted by the incident. The safety of our employees is always our top priority and a full investigation is already underway, Lightly said in a statement. The injured workers were taken to five hospitals, officials said. About 30 other workers were treated at the warehouse in Robbinsville, authorities said. Most people were reporting difficulty breathing or burning in their throats or eyes. Robbinsville spokesman John Nalbone told NJ.com that an automated machine damaged a 9-ounce can of bear repellent containing a concentrated amount of capsaicin, an active component of chili peppers. He said the fumes were contained in one part of the buildings third floor, which was cleared for a few hours, though the warehouse as a whole was not evacuated. Amazon confirmed that the accident dispersed strong fumes in the area of the facility. Hundreds of workers are normally inside the building during work days. Information from: NJ.com Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics New Jersey Amazon An upstate New York man has been sentenced to three years in prison and ordered to pay back more than $100,000 he bilked out of people in a vacation home rental scam. Federal prosecutors say 58-year-old Henry Dean III, of Beaver Dams in Schuyler County, was sentenced for his conviction on wire fraud charges. Prosecutors say Dean defrauded about 20 people out of nearly $140,000 between 2014 and 2016 by offering vacation properties in the Finger Lakes region for rent. Authorities say he advertised the properties on internet rental websites. One of the rentals he offered was undergoing significant construction, while another was owned by a person who wasnt offering it for rent. After receiving deposits from customers, Dean would cancel the reservations and refuse to refund the payments. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics New York Facebook Inc. wielded user data like a bargaining chip, providing access when that sharing might encourage people to spend more time on the social network and imposing strict limits on partners in cases where it saw a potential competitive threat, emails show. A trove of internal correspondence, published online Wednesday by U.K. lawmakers, provides a look into the ways Facebook bosses, including Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg, treated information posted by users like a commodity that could be harnessed in service of business goals. Apps were invited to use Facebooks network to grow, as long as that increased usage of Facebook. Certain competitors, in a list reviewed by Zuckerberg himself, were not allowed to use Facebooks tools and data without his personal sign-off. In early 2013, Twitter Inc. launched the Vine video-sharing service, which drew on a Facebook tool that let Vine users connect to their Facebook friends. Alerted to the possible competitive threat by an engineer who recommended cutting off Vines access to Facebook data, Zuckerberg replied succinctly: Yup, go for it. A spokeswoman for Twitter declined to comment. In other cases Zuckerberg eloquently espoused the value of giving software developers more access to user data in hopes that it would result in applications that, in turn, would encourage people to do more on Facebook. Were trying to enable people to share everything they want, and to do it on Facebook, Zuckerberg wrote in a November 2012 email. Sometimes the best way to enable people to share something is to have a developer build a special purpose app or network for that type of content and to make that app social by having Facebook plug into it. However, that may be good for the world but its not good for us unless people also share back to Facebook and that content increases the value of our network. The emails were released by a committee of U.K. lawmakers investigating social medias role in the spread of fake news. They provide more insight into how Facebook achieved its dominance of social media, and how it thought about the value of users data, which are provided to the company for free. Facebook, which runs a network of more than 2 billion people globally, has been interrogated by regulators about the reaches of its power, and the effect of that control on user privacy, the spread of misinformation, and global elections. Lawmakers obtained the documents after compelling the founder of U.S. company Six4Three to hand them over during a business trip to London, despite the fact that they were under seal in a California court case. Facebook said Six4Three cherrypicked these documents from years ago as part of a lawsuit to force Facebook to share information on friends of the apps users. The set of documents, by design, tells only one side of the story and omits important context. In a blog post Wednesday, Facebook said it will still stand by the platform changes we made in 2014/2015, which prevented people from sharing their friends information with developers, like those at Six4Three. Facebook said the facts are clear: weve never sold peoples data. Shares of Facebook were down 3.4 percent at 5:46 a.m. in New York during pre-market trading. Damian Collins, head of the committee that released the documents, says the emails show that Facebook shut off access to data required by competing apps and conducted global surveys of the usage of mobile apps by customers possibly without their knowledge. He also said that a change to Facebooks Android app policy that resulted in call and message data being recorded was deliberately made difficult for users to know about. He explained his rationale for releasing the emails in a tweet: The emails could increase scrutiny around whether Facebook is a monopoly one of Facebooks biggest current political risks. Damien Geradin, a Brussels-based lawyer at Euclid Law, said the refusal of access to Vine data could be seen as a potential refusal to deal with rivals, but you would need to show that Facebook is essential to users and it is not clear it is. Still, members of Parliament will not hesitate to wield a big stick to enforce competition rules and taxation, said Claude Moraes, a U.K. lawmaker and member of the European Parliament. In the European Parliament, we have repeatedly raised concerns about the manipulation of online data and have made clear that competition law is crucial, to make sure that the dominant players are accountable and that democracy is protected from excessive market power, Moraes said. According to one of the documents, Zuckerberg personally reviewed a list of apps made by strategic competitors that were not allowed to use Facebooks advertising services or services for applications without Mark level sign-off. In its blog post, Facebook said it had restricted apps built on top of its platform that replicated the companys own core functionality, but that it will now remove this out-of-date policy. Collins said last week that he would release the emails and that he was free under U.K. law to do so. Six4Threes founder, Ted Kramer, had obtained them as part of a legal discovery process in a U.S. lawsuit against Facebook that his company has brought against the social network in California. Facebook touted itself as championing privacy four years ago when it decided to restrict outside developers access to data about its users friends. Zuckerberg in 2012 underestimated how much giving developers access to data could be a risk. I think we leak info to developers, but I just cant think of any instances where that data has leaked from developer to developer and caused a real issue for us, he wrote in one of the emails. This year, he had to testify in front of U.S. Congress on one such instance of a developer sharing user data with Cambridge Analytica, the political consultancy. In one email, dated Feb. 4, 2015, a Facebook engineer displayed some concern about how Facebooks moves would be perceived by the public. He said a feature of the Android Facebook app that would continually upload a users call and SMS history would be a high-risk thing to do from a PR perspective. A subsequent email suggests users wouldnt need to be prompted to give permission for this feature to be activated. That move, combined with one that would track what stores users were entering would lead to a situation where enterprising journalists dig into what exactly the new update is requesting, then write stories about Facebook uses new Android update to pry into your private life in ever more terrifying ways reading your call log, tracking you in businesses with beacons, etc. Kramer was ordered by a judge on Friday to surrender his laptop to a forensic expert after admitting he turned over the documents to the British lawmakers, in violation of a U.S. court order. What has happened here is unconscionable, California Superior Court Judge V. Raymond Swope said to Kramer and his attorneys during the hearing. Facebook wants the laptop to be evaluated to determine what happened in the U.K., to what extent the court order was breached, and how much of its confidential information has been divulged to the committee. Copyright 2021 Bloomberg. Topics California Legislation USA Uk Swiss Re Corporate Solutions has appointed Philippe Aerni as global head of Casualty, Financial & Professional Lines. In this expanded role, Aerni will be responsible for products and global markets for these two lines of business. Based in Zurich, he will assume the Global Casualty role from Daniel Vetter, who has been appointed head of Excess & Surplus North America. Aerni will oversee a team of business leaders, underwriters and product managers around the world. With the merger of Casualty and Financial & Professional Lines units, he will maintain his current responsibilities in addition to overseeing the global Casualty business. Aerni brings 17 years of insurance experience to this role, predominantly within the Financial & Professional Lines. Since joining Swiss Re in 2003, he has held various positions within Executive Risks in underwriting and sales and later as the global head of this unit. Most recently, Aerni headed Financial & Professional Lines, where he was responsible for the global management of this segment, including Executive Risks, Healthcare, Technology/Cyber, Construction, Lawyers, Accountants and Product Management. Topics Swiss Re Casualty Professional Liability The long-futile effort seeking a statewide prescription drug monitoring program in Missouri now has a prominent advocate Gov. Mike Parson. The Republican governor met Wednesday with St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson, doctors and other health leaders to discuss ways to combat the lingering opioid epidemic. Parson made it clear at a news conference that high on his priority list is ending Missouris status as the only state without a prescription drug monitoring program. Parson said he hopes to have a bill on his desk by the end of next years legislative session. Youve got new leadership in the House of Representative, youve got new leadership in the Senate, youve got a different governor thats in place right now so I think theres an opportunity, said Parson, who took office in June following the resignation of Eric Greitens. Prescription drug monitoring programs allow doctors and pharmacists to track a patients prescription history. The goal is to prevent doctor shopping, where opioid abusers go from doctor to doctor to get new drugs to feed their addictions. Krewson, a Democrat, cited the toll of opioid overdoses and deaths across St. Louis, the state and the country. She said she was very, very excited by Parsons support for a monitoring program. I think thats a big announcement today from the governor, Krewson said. State lawmakers have tried unsuccessfully for years to adopt a program. Republican state Sen. Rob Schaaf, a St. Joseph physician, has been the leading critic of drug monitoring programs, mostly over privacy concerns. Schaaf could not seek re-election this year due to term limits. Greitens, in 2017, created a program that allows the state to track physicians and pharmacists prescription habits, but critics said it failed to give doctors the tools needed to prevent over-prescribing. Unlike most states programs, the Missouri plan does not give providers access to data to see if a patient is getting several prescriptions for opioids at the same time. Fed up with the lack of a state program, St. Louis County started its own in April 2017. The city of St. Louis and dozens of counties across Missouri have joined that program. Around 60 percent of the states residents live in areas covered by the program. Overdose deaths in Missouri increased by more than 30 percent between 2015 and 2016, and the states rate of overdose deaths is the 18th worst in the nation, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Republican state Rep. Holly Rehder of Sikeston pre-filed a bill Monday that would create a drug monitoring program. Her bill in this years session passed overwhelmingly in the House but eventually died. A phone message seeking comment from the incoming speaker of the House, Republican Elijah Haahr of Springfield, was not immediately returned. Haahr voted in favor of Rehders legislation earlier this year. AP reporter Summer Ballentine in Jefferson City, Missouri, contributed to this report. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Missouri Drugs After repeated food poisoning outbreaks linked to romaine lettuce, the produce industry is confronting the failure of its own safety measures in preventing contaminations. The E. coli outbreak announced just before Thanksgiving follows one in the spring that sickened more than 200 people and killed five, and another last year that sickened 25 and killed one. No deaths have been reported in the latest outbreak, but the dozens of illnesses highlight the challenge of eliminating risk for vegetables grown in open fields and eaten raw, the role of nearby cattle operations that produce huge volumes of manure and the delay of stricter federal food safety regulations. A contested aspect of the regulation, for example, would require testing irrigation water for E. coli. The Food and Drug Administration put the measure on hold when the produce industry said such tests wouldnt necessarily help prevent outbreaks. Additional regulations on sanitation for workers and equipment other potential sources of contamination only recently started being implemented. FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said he thinks the combination of rules, once fully in place, will make vegetables safer to eat. I dont think any one element of this is going to be the magic bullet, Gottlieb said. Health officials say improved detection may make outbreaks seem more frequent. Still, that is intensifying pressure on growers and regulators to prevent, catch and contain contamination. PREVENTION Its not yet known how romaine got contaminated in the latest outbreak. The spring outbreak was traced to romaine from Yuma, Arizona. Irrigation water tainted with manure was identified as a likely culprit, and investigators noted the presence of a large animal feeding operation nearby. Subsequently, an industry agreement in Arizona and California was adjusted to expand buffer zones between vegetable fields and livestock. The industry says the change was in place for lettuce now being grown in Yuma, which hasnt been implicated in the latest outbreak. But Trevor Suslow of the Produce Marketing Association said there isnt consensus about the exact distances that might effectively prevent contamination. He noted specific buffer zones arent required by the new federal rules on produce safety. They look to the industry to determine what is the appropriate distance, Suslow said. Growers in Yuma also started treating irrigation water that would touch plant leaves with chlorine to kill potential contaminants, Suslow said. But he said such treatment raises concerns about soil and human health. Meanwhile, the proximity of produce fields to cattle operations is likely to continue posing a problem. Travis Forgues of the milk producer Organic Valley noted consolidation in the dairy industry is leading to bigger livestock operations that produce massive volumes of manure. Already, the industry agreement in Arizona and California requires leafy green growers to test water for generic E. coli. But James Rogers, director of food safety research at Consumer Reports, said its important to make water testing a federal requirement. Since romaine is often chopped up and bagged, a single contaminated batch from one farm that skips testing could make a lot of people sick, he said. Teressa Lopez of the Arizona Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement also said federal regulation can ensure greater compliance, even though the industry agreement has stricter measures. Despite industry measures implemented after a spinach outbreak more than a decade ago, health officials noted this month there have been 28 E. coli outbreaks linked to leafy greens since 2009. The produce industry says the failure to prevent the Yuma outbreak could also reflect the limitations of testing water for generic E. coli. Elizabeth Bihn, a food science expert at Cornell University, said the tests look for the amount of fecal matter in water. The problem is, some feces has pathogens in it, some feces doesnt, said Bihn, who is part of a federal program helping farmers comply with the new produce regulations. Testing for specific E. coli strains that are harmful is more difficult, and it doesnt rule out the possibility of other harmful bacteria, Bihn said. CONTAINING Whole-genome sequencing is making it easier to detect outbreaks, which is pressuring the produce industry. The FDA warned against all romaine last week because it said it was able to identify it as a likely source early enough. The agency narrowed its warning to romaine from Californias Central Coast after the produce industry agreed to label romaine with harvest dates and regions, so people know whats OK to eat. The labeling is voluntary, and the industry said it will evaluate whether to extend it to other leafy greens. Gottlieb said improving traceability would allow targeted health alerts that dont hurt the entire industry. The FDA recently hired a former Walmart executive who used blockchain technology to improve traceability in the retailers supply chain. Stephen Basore, director of food safety at a Florida romaine grower, said he expects more regulations and self-imposed industry guidelines. Anytime there is an issue, the immediate response is saying our protocols arent enough, he said. (AP reporter Josh Replogle contributed from Florida.) Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics California Legislation Agribusiness Pollution Arizona Total aggregated economic losses for the wildfires that have burned across Northern and Southern California throughout the month are expected to minimally exceed $10 billion, while insurance claims payouts for wildfires are set to exceed $10 billion in the United States for the second year running. Insurance broker Aons Impact Forecasting team issued its global catastrophe report that evaluates the impact of natural disaster events that occurred worldwide during November 2018. The most catastrophic of the recent California wildfires, the Camp Fire in Butte County, largely destroyed the city of Paradise, killing 88 people with dozens of others unaccounted for. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, CalFire, has reported that 19,357 homes and other structures were damaged or destroyed, making the Camp Fire the deadliest and most destructive on record in California. Additionally, three people were killed in the Woolsey Fire as the fire damaged or destroyed nearly 2,000 structures in Ventura and Los Angeles counties. The U.S. events may cause insurers to rethink wildfire risk. With annual wildfire industry payouts expected to exceed $10 billion for the second consecutive year in the United States, the standard assumption of wildfire being a secondary peril may evolve in the future, said Steve Bowen, Impact Forecasting director and meteorologist. While insurers remain firmly in position to handle the volume of claims in the aftermath of recent events, these heightened losses put a further spotlight on the growing risk of the peril around the world. The growth of exposure into known fire locations and the prospect of more weather and climate-driven effects will require continued focus on mitigation initiatives. In separate reporting, catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide estimates that industry insured losses from the Camp Fire in Northern California will be between $6 billion and $9 billion, and taken together with the Woolsey fire in Southern California AIR estimates industry insured losses at between $9 billion and $13 billion. Modeler RMS said in mid-November that losses from the California wildfires could be between $9 billion and $13 billion. Wildfires caused $14 billion of insurance losses in 2017 the highest on record for the peril at that time, according to Aon. Meanwhile, Cyclone Gaja made landfall in southern India, causing widespread impacts across the states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The cyclone killed 46 people as damage was incurred to more than 117,500 homes. The overall economic impact was listed in excess of INR54 billion (USD775 million). Two other notable tropical cyclones made landfalls in November, both in Vietnam. Tropical Depression Toraji killed 19 people as damage reached at least VND396 billion (USD17.2 million). A weakened Typhoon Usagi brought record rainfall to the greater Ho Chi Minh metro area. Minimum economic damage was listed at VND347 billion (USD15 million). Around the Globe Further natural hazard events to have occurred worldwide during November include: A major magnitude-7.0 earthquake struck just north of Anchorage, Alaska on November 30, causing widespread damage to residential and commercial property in addition to local transportation and utility infrastructure. Total economic losses were expected to exceed USD100 million. Parts of Italy and Spain dealt with complex storm systems and flooding during the end of October into November. In Italy alone, dozens of fatalities were recorded as the inclement weather killed dozens of people. Economic damage was expected to be more than EUR3.0 billion (USD3.4 billion). In Spain, one person was killed as flooding caused severe damage to infrastructure and agriculture. Crop damage in the Valencian region alone will range from EUR70-120 million (USD80-140 million). Strong thunderstorms impacted central areas of Chile with large hail and intense rainfall, causing notable agricultural damage. Agricultural industry authorities estimated that economic losses were likely to approach USD200 million. Among the worst affected areas were the OHiggins and Maule regions. Severe weather events also occurred in the United States and Australia. Heavy rainfall swept across parts of the Middle East, prompting flash flooding and dozens of casualties. Damage in Kuwait alone was listed at KWD100 million (USD330 million). Winter storm events caused notable damage and disruption in the United States and China. Related: Topics California Catastrophe Natural Disasters USA Profit Loss Wildfire Agribusiness Aon Oklahoma and Arkansas continue recovery efforts following a series of tornadoes that ripped through the region last week. An EF2 tornado in Oklahomas Lake Tenkiller area destroyed homes, boat docks and buildings. State officials, local authorities and residents have been assessing the damage in a variety of methods, the Southwest Times Record reported. We had water pouring in these vents and the lights, and the spare bedroom was pouring in water, said Tela Brown, a Blackgum resident affected by Fridays twister. Well just take our time, clean it up and rebuild. Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin declared a state of emergency for 12 of the states counties on Monday. The executive order is in effect for 30 days, allowing state agencies to make emergency purchases to expedite the delivery of resources to local counties. Another EF2 tornado barreled through Crawford County, Arkansas, the same day. That storm missed the threshold requirements to be eligible for federal assistance. Brad Thomas, Crawford County Emergency Management director, said the point total for eligibility wasnt anywhere close to what they needed for state assistance. With a tornado, its going to be hard to do, Thomas said. It would take a massive amount of damage to qualify. Van Buren, Arkansas, officials have announced plans to remove waste and debris in the city. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Catastrophe Natural Disasters Windstorm Oklahoma A former Wynn Resorts shareholder is suing company founder Steve Wynn and former and current executives and board members, saying that his stock fell in value because they concealed information about sexual harassment accusations that led to Wynns resignation. An attorney for Wynn did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment about the lawsuit filed Nov. 27 in Nevada state court in Las Vegas. Wynn Resorts marketing chief Michael Weaver declined to comment on behalf of the company and the board. Plaintiff Robert Bruce Bannister says that Steve Wynn, current chief executive Matt Maddox, former executive Kim Sinatra and nine former and current board members knew for several years about sexual misconduct allegations against Wynn but failed to act. The lawsuit says that Wynn and company officials misled shareholders and the public by concealing information about women who alleged Wynn harassed or assaulted them, including a $7.5 million settlement with a former company manicurist who said that Wynn forced sex on her on company property in 2005. Steve Wynn has denied allegations of wrongdoing. He resigned Feb. 6, days after the Wall Street Journal reported about the allegations. Records show that Wynn Resorts traded at more than $200 per share before the Wall Street Journal report, and closed at about $165 after Wynn resigned. Company stock closed at about $110 Tuesday. Gambling regulators in Nevada and Massachusetts also are investigating the allegations. A judge in Nevada dismissed a defamation lawsuit that Wynn filed against The Associated Press for its reporting on a separate allegation made to Las Vegas police. The new shareholder lawsuit was first reported by the Las Vegas Review-Journal . It names current board members Jay Johnson, Patricia Mulroy, Clark Randt and Alvin Shoemaker and former board members John Hagenbuch, Ray Irani, former Nevada Gov. Bob Miller, Edward Virtue and D. Boone Wayson. It asks a judge to find that the defendants breached fiduciary duties, and it seeks monetary damages from the company and Steve Wynn. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Lawsuits Claims Abuse Molestation A new report shows the average return on net worth for California workers compensation insurers rose to 9.9 percent in 2017, the fourth consecutive increase. The report comes from the National Association of Commissioners and was summarized in an analysis issued on Friday by the California Workers Compensation Institute. The report ranks California in a tie with Arkansas at 18th out of the 45 states for which data were reported, according to CWCI. The rate of return in 2016 was 8.7 percent. It was 7.9 percent in 2015, 5.8 percent in 2014 and it fell in 2013 to 3 percent. The 10-year average return for California workers comp insurers was 6.3 percent, the report shows. Topics Carriers California Workers' Compensation Brand & New is our forward-thinking podcast for brand owners, lawyers, and marketing and finance professionalsor anyone looking to stay agile in the evolving environment of intellectual property. Exploring a compelling topic every two weeks, host Audrey Dauvet interviews an international roster of influential experts and visionaries with original ideas and unexpected perspectives. Now in our third season, Brand & New will converse with prominent lawyers, industry experts, and successful authors on inspiring topics that go beyond the trademark world, from copyright advocacy to the protection of the fringe of pop culture to the role of technology in the luxury sector. December 7, 2018 (Investorideas.com Newswire) A CIBC report notes the move increases this company's financial flexibility. In a Nov. 29 research note, analyst Jamie Kubik reported that Bonterra Energy Corp. (BNE:TSX) will reduce its dividend by about 90% to CA$0.12 per share from CA$1.20 annually, beginning with the November dividend (payable in December). CIBC considers this change "prudent," Kubik noted. "While the stock may not be immediately rewarded for this move, we see it as ultimately being the right choice considering the pressure on realized pricing and producer cash flows in the current environment," he added. He pointed out that this dividend lowering will afford Bonterra improved financial flexibility to weather today's environment and the chance to pay down debt as price levels increase, likely in H2/19. To reflect the new dividend figure, CIBC revised its models on Bonterra. Specifically, Kubik explained, "given the differentials on light oil remain wide in H1/19, we have back end weighted our capital spending expectations for 2019 and moderated our capital efficiency assumptions, given we anticipate management will look to high-grade its capital program." Consequent to the above, the bank reduced its price target on Neutral-rated Bonterra to CA$11 per share from CA$13. The energy company is trading today at around CA$7.11 per share. Disclosure: 1) Doresa Banning compiled this article for Streetwise Reports LLC and provides services to Streetwise reports as an independent contractor. She or members of her household own securities of the following companies mentioned in the article: None. She or members of her household are paid by the following companies mentioned in this article: None. 2) The following companies mentioned in this article are billboard sponsors of Streetwise Reports: None. Click here for important disclosures about sponsor fees. 3) Comments and opinions expressed are those of the specific experts and not of Streetwise Reports or its officers. The information provided above is for informational purposes only and is not a recommendation to buy or sell any security. 4) The article does not constitute investment advice. Each reader is encouraged to consult with his or her individual financial professional and any action a reader takes as a result of information presented here is his or her own responsibility. By opening this page, each reader accepts and agrees to Streetwise Reports' terms of use and full legal disclaimer. This article is not a solicitation for investment. Streetwise Reports does not render general or specific investment advice and the information on Streetwise Reports should not be considered a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Streetwise Reports does not endorse or recommend the business, products, services or securities of any company mentioned on Streetwise Reports. 5) From time to time, Streetwise Reports LLC and its directors, officers, employees or members of their families, as well as persons interviewed for articles and interviews on the site, may have a long or short position in securities mentioned. Directors, officers, employees or members of their immediate families are prohibited from making purchases and/or sales of those securities in the open market or otherwise from the time of the interview or the decision to write an article until three business days after the publication of the interview or article. The foregoing prohibition does not apply to articles that in substance only restate previously published company releases. Disclosures from CIBC, Bonterra Energy Corp., November 29, 2018 Analyst Certification: Each CIBC World Markets Corp./Inc. research analyst named on the front page of this research report, or at the beginning of any subsection hereof, hereby certifies that (i) the recommendations and opinions expressed herein accurately reflect such research analyst's personal views about the company and securities that are the subject of this report and all other companies and securities mentioned in this report that are covered by such research analyst and (ii) no part of the research analyst's compensation was, is, or will be, directly or indirectly, related to the specific recommendations or views expressed by such research analyst in this report. Analysts employed outside the U.S. are not registered as research analysts with FINRA. These analysts may not be associated persons of CIBC World Markets Corp. and therefore may not be subject to FINRA Rule 2241 restrictions on communications with a subject company, public appearances and trading securities held by a research analyst account. Potential Conflicts of Interest: Equity research analysts employed by CIBC World Markets Corp./Inc. are compensated from revenues generated by various CIBC World Markets Corp./Inc. businesses, including the CIBC World Markets Investment Banking Department. Research analysts do not receive compensation based upon revenues from specific investment banking transactions. CIBC World Markets Corp./Inc. generally prohibits any research analyst and any member of his or her household from executing trades in the securities of a company that such research analyst covers. Additionally, CIBC World Markets Corp./Inc. generally prohibits any research analyst from serving as an officer, director or advisory board member of a company that such analyst covers. In addition to 1% ownership positions in covered companies that are required to be specifically disclosed in this report, CIBC World Markets Corp./Inc. may have a long position of less than 1% or a short position or deal as principal in the securities discussed herein, related securities or in options, futures or other derivative instruments based thereon. Recipients of this report are advised that any or all of the foregoing arrangements, as well as more specific disclosures set forth below, may at times give rise to potential conflicts of interest. Important Disclosure Footnotes for SSR Mining Inc. (SSRM) CIBC World Markets Inc. expects to receive or intends to seek compensation for investment banking services from Bonterra Energy Corp. in the next 3 months. More Info: This news is published on the Investorideas.com Newswire - a global digital news source for investors and business leaders Disclaimer/Disclosure: Investorideas.com is a digital publisher of third party sourced news, articles and equity research as well as creates original content, including video, interviews and articles. Original content created by investorideas is protected by copyright laws other than syndication rights. Our site does not make recommendations for purchases or sale of stocks, services or products. Nothing on our sites should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell products or securities. All investing involves risk and possible losses. This site is currently compensated for news publication and distribution, social media and marketing, content creation and more. Disclosure is posted for each compensated news release, content published /created if required but otherwise the news was not compensated for and was published for the sole interest of our readers and followers. Contact management and IR of each company directly regarding specific questions. More disclaimer info: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Disclaimer.asp Learn more about publishing your news release and our other news services on the Investorideas.com newswire https://www.investorideas.com/News-Upload/ and tickertagstocknews.com Global investors must adhere to regulations of each country. Please read Investorideas.com privacy policy: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Private_Policy.asp December 7, 2018 (Investorideas.com Newswire) An Echelon Wealth Partners report reviewed the highlights of this gold company's recent campaign at its Red Lake project. In a Nov. 28 research note, analyst Ryan Walker relayed that Pure Gold Mining Inc.'s (PGM:TSX.V) test mining in the McVeigh zone at Madsen, now fully reported, "encountered excellent ground conditions and visually strong gold mineralization, both boding well for any eventual commercial mining. . .specifically efficient mining of higher-grade mineralization with limited dilution." Walker pointed out mining of the two test slopes generated a 15% and 20% combined higher grade than what was expected based on the resource model and the initial diluted stope designs, respectively, in those areas. Upon drilling drift walls underground, Pure Gold delineated a third stoping area, Walker noted, from which it then produced another 1,575 tons grading 8.7 grams per ton (8.7 g/t). Highlight assays from underground drilling included 20.1 g/t Au over 6 meters (6m), including 38.6 g/t over 2m from hole PGB-0131 and 47.6 g/t over 6m from hole PGB-0134. Next, Pure Gold will update the Madsen resource estimate, encompassing Wedge, Russet South, Fork and Madsen, planned in January 2019. Also next month, the company intends to announce results from the definitive feasibility study (DFS) and preliminary economic assessment that covers Wedge, Russet South and Fork, the analyst noted. Walker concluded, "Our positive view on Pure Gold's shares reflects Madsen's high-grade nature (as again demonstrated by the test mining and underground drilling results), potential for solid near-term, high-margin production and substantial exploration potential, all situated in a prolific Canadian mining camp." Echelon Wealth Partners maintains its Speculative Buy rating and CA$1.20 per share price target on Pure Gold, whose stock is trading at a slight premium to peers, CA$0.55 as of the date of the report, Walker wrote. "We expect this premium to grow with delivery of the updated resource and DFS in early 2019," he added. Pure Gold shares are currently trading at CA$0.59. Disclosure: 1) Doresa Banning compiled this article for Streetwise Reports LLC and provides services to Streetwise reports as an independent contractor. She or members of her household own securities of the following companies mentioned in the article: None. She or members of her household are paid by the following companies mentioned in this article: None. 2) The following companies mentioned in this article are sponsors of Streetwise Reports: None. Streetwise Reports does not accept stock in exchange for its services. Click here for important disclosures about sponsor fees. 3) Comments and opinions expressed are those of the specific experts and not of Streetwise Reports or its officers. The information provided above is for informational purposes only and is not a recommendation to buy or sell any security. As of the date of this article, an affiliate of Streetwise Reports has a consulting relationship with Aztec Minerals. 4) The article does not constitute investment advice. Each reader is encouraged to consult with his or her individual financial professional and any action a reader takes as a result of information presented here is his or her own responsibility. By opening this page, each reader accepts and agrees to Streetwise Reports' terms of use and full legal disclaimer. This article is not a solicitation for investment. Streetwise Reports does not render general or specific investment advice and the information on Streetwise Reports should not be considered a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Streetwise Reports does not endorse or recommend the business, products, services or securities of any company mentioned on Streetwise Reports. 5) From time to time, Streetwise Reports LLC and its directors, officers, employees or members of their families, as well as persons interviewed for articles and interviews on the site, may have a long or short position in securities mentioned. Directors, officers, employees or members of their immediate families are prohibited from making purchases and/or sales of those securities in the open market or otherwise from the time of the interview or the decision to write an article until three business days after the publication of the interview or article. The foregoing prohibition does not apply to articles that in substance only restate previously published company releases. Disclosures from Echelon Wealth Partners, Pure Gold Mining Inc., November 28, 2018 Echelon Wealth Partners compensates its Research Analysts from a variety of sources. The Research Department is a cost centre and is funded by the business activities of Echelon Wealth Partners including, Institutional Equity Sales and Trading, Retail Sales and Corporate and Investment Banking. I, Ryan Walker, hereby certify that the views expressed in this report accurately reflect my personal views about the subject securities or issuers. I also certify that I have not, am not, and will not receive, directly or indirectly, compensation in exchange for expressing the specific recommendations or views in this report. Important Disclosures: Is this an issuer related or industry related publication? Issuer. Does the Analyst or any member of the Analysts household have a financial interest in the securities of the subject issuer? No Does the Analyst or household member serve as a Director or Officer or Advisory Board Member of the issuer? No Does Echelon Wealth Partners Inc. or the Analyst have any actual material conflicts of interest with the issuer? No Does Echelon Wealth Partners Inc. and/or one or more entities affiliated with Echelon Wealth Partners Inc. beneficially own common shares (or any other class of common equity securities) of this issuer which constitutes more than 1% of the presently issued and outstanding shares of the issuer? No During the last 12 months, has Echelon Wealth Partners Inc. provided financial advice to and/or, either on its own or as a syndicate member, participated in a public offering, or private placement of securities of this issuer? Yes During the last 12 months, has Echelon Wealth Partners Inc. received compensation for having provided investment banking or related services to this Issuer? Yes Has the Analyst had an onsite visit with the Issuer within the last 12 months? Yes. July 31, 2018 - Madsen Mine Site Underground and Surface Infrastructure and ancillary buildings. Has the Analyst or any Partner, Director or Officer been compensated for travel expenses incurred as a result of an onsite visit with the Issuer within the last 12 months? No Has the Analyst received any compensation from the subject company in the past 12 months? No Is Echelon Wealth Partners Inc. a market maker in the issuers securities at the date of this report? No More Info: This news is published on the Investorideas.com Newswire - a global digital news source for investors and business leaders Disclaimer/Disclosure: Investorideas.com is a digital publisher of third party sourced news, articles and equity research as well as creates original content, including video, interviews and articles. Original content created by investorideas is protected by copyright laws other than syndication rights. Our site does not make recommendations for purchases or sale of stocks, services or products. Nothing on our sites should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell products or securities. All investing involves risk and possible losses. This site is currently compensated for news publication and distribution, social media and marketing, content creation and more. Disclosure is posted for each compensated news release, content published /created if required but otherwise the news was not compensated for and was published for the sole interest of our readers and followers. Contact management and IR of each company directly regarding specific questions. More disclaimer info: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Disclaimer.asp Learn more about publishing your news release and our other news services on the Investorideas.com newswire https://www.investorideas.com/News-Upload/ and tickertagstocknews.com Global investors must adhere to regulations of each country. Please read Investorideas.com privacy policy: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Private_Policy.asp December 7, 2018 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Federico Gutierrez Zuluaga, mayor of Medellin, accompanied by Manuel Olivera, regional director for Latin America of C40 presented the planning framework to develop the Climate Action Plan of Medellin to the members of the Metropolitan Environmental Council - CAM. This plan will guide the adaptation and mitigation actions against climate change in the city - region until 2020. Medellin was included in a prioritized list of cities to receive technical assistance by C40 for its progress in initiatives related to the protection of the environment such as electric mobility, the air quality pact and green corridors. A Climate Action Plan compatible with the Paris Agreement is expected by the middle of the second semester of 2019. "I am convinced that taking action against climate change is no longer an option, it is imperative. Therefore, Medellin has made great progress in this purpose. The Pact for Air Quality, our electric mobility strategy, the creation of green spaces, among others, are some of the projects that demonstrate our commitment and that of our citizens to the city's environment. Let's continue working together for our cities, proposing great actions aiming to meet the Paris Agreement," said the Mayor of Medellin, Federico Gutierrez Zuluaga Federico Gutierrez Zuluaga, Mayor of Medellin, accompanied by Manuel Olivera, regional director for Latin America of C40 presented the planning framework to develop the Climate Action Plan of Medellin to the members of the Metropolitan Environmental Council - CAM. This plan will guide the adaptation and mitigation actions against climate change in the city - region until 2020. Medellin was included in a prioritized list of cities to receive technical assistance by C40 for its progress in initiatives related to the protection of the environment such as electric mobility, the air quality pact and green corridors. A Climate Action Plan compatible with the Paris Agreement is expected by the middle of the second semester of 2019. "I am convinced that taking action against climate change is no longer an option, it is imperative. Therefore, Medellin has made great progress in this purpose. The Pact for Air Quality, our electric mobility strategy, the creation of green spaces, among others, are some of the projects that demonstrate our commitment and that of our citizens to the city's environment. Let's continue working together for our cities, proposing great actions aiming to meet the Paris Agreement," said the Mayor of Medellin, Federico Gutierrez Zuluaga. Information for journalists Ana Maria Villa Zapata / Communications Senior Professional / avilla@acimedellin.org / 3203430 Ext 103.a Sandra Milena Ospina D'Alleman / Director of Communications / sospina@aciMedellin.org / +57 3185285705. More Info: This news is published on the Investorideas.com Newswire - a global digital news source for investors and business leaders Disclaimer/Disclosure: Investorideas.com is a digital publisher of third party sourced news, articles and equity research as well as creates original content, including video, interviews and articles. Original content created by investorideas is protected by copyright laws other than syndication rights. Our site does not make recommendations for purchases or sale of stocks, services or products. Nothing on our sites should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell products or securities. All investing involves risk and possible losses. This site is currently compensated for news publication and distribution, social media and marketing, content creation and more. Disclosure is posted for each compensated news release, content published /created if required but otherwise the news was not compensated for and was published for the sole interest of our readers and followers. Contact management and IR of each company directly regarding specific questions. More disclaimer info: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Disclaimer.asp Learn more about publishing your news release and our other news services on the Investorideas.com newswire https://www.investorideas.com/News-Upload/ and tickertagstocknews.com Global investors must adhere to regulations of each country. Please read Investorideas.com privacy policy: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Private_Policy.asp A revolutionary 35m floating data centre is set to be moored on the banks of the River Shannon, in a move which could create 124 jobs. Limerick Docks beat a number of locations across Europe to the multi-million euro investment, with minister of state Patrick ODonovan hailing it as yet another element of the city and countys rejuvenation. With centres providing information technology power for businesses being very sought after, the Shannon Foynes Port Company has teamed up with Californian firm Nautilus which plans to moor a floating vessel providing commercial data storage at Ted Russell Dock, just outside Limerick city centre. A new concept, Nautilus Data Technology employs water cooling technology in its data centres, meaning they operate more efficiently and less expensively than traditional land-based facilities. The data centre, it is anticipated, will be able to service a number of companies, or a single firm, with Nautilus president and chief executive Jim Connaughton saying: We will be able to serve a small company, to one of the larger social media operations and everything in between. According to the proposals, the dock off James Casey Walk will be transformed. The former ESB substation will be demolished, and replaced with a new industrial building comprising storage and office space. The existing clock tower, a protected structure, will be retained. Mr Connaughton, speaking from Washington DC, said that the development, if it gets planning permission, will create around 24 permanent positions, as well as 100 roles during construction to be delivered in the skilled trades including design, architecture, and civil construction. In terms of the size of the data centre, Mr Connaughton said it will match that of current vessels at the docks. According to planning documents, the barge will feature four data halls comprised within two floors above the barge deck, with supporting cooling and electrical systems below the waterline. Mr Connaughton hopes in the event of planning permission, the development can be complete by 2020. A decision on the proposals is due on January 26. Gas Networks Ireland has secured funding of 100m from the European Investment Bank (EIB) as part of its investment in the country's energy network. The funding will underpin a total 205m investment which aims to modernise and extend Ireland's gas network, including the completion of the Scotland Ireland interconnector project whereby a 50km parallel connection between Cluden and Brighouse in Scotland will be constructed. It will also facilitate innovation projects such as renewable gas and compressed natural gas, and the project will benefit over 700,000 customers nationwide, Gas Networks Ireland says. Natural gas currently provides over a third of Irelands energy requirement and helps to generate over 50% of the country's electricity. Gas Networks Ireland says it intends to deliver 20% of all gas on the network from renewable sources by 2030. Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Richard Bruton said he was delighted to see today's investment. "Gas has largely displaced higher CO2 emitting fossil fuels in Irelands generation mix and that has played a part in the reduction in emissions from power generation that we announced this week," he said. "We have recently announced funding for a Gas Networks Ireland renewable gas project and it is my belief that these investments will have a lasting economic and environmental benefit for Ireland. With @MurphyEoghan at the @EIB investing for the future forum to discuss how we can finance Climate Action pic.twitter.com/dRIzOv0Z7T Richard Bruton (@RichardbrutonTD) December 6, 2018 Gas Networks Ireland, Managing Director, Denis OSullivan, said: This finance is a further endorsement of our strategy to provide Ireland with a secure and competitive energy supply while also playing a major role in decarbonizing our economy. This investment in Irelands gas network will allow us to ensure that Ireland continues to enjoy a modern and safe energy supply for decades into the future. President of the European Investment Bank, Werner Hoyer, said: The EU Bank has a strong track record of supporting energy investment across Ireland. "New investment by Gas Networks Ireland, supported by the EUR 100 million of new financing from the EU Bank, will strengthen security of energy supply to customers across the country and ensure an alternative to oil and coal. Digital Desk The Irish courts have jurisdiction to decide a dispute over an arrested motor pleasure boat bought for more than 1.2m by a company of an Irish-born tax lawyer, a High Court judge has ruled. The M.V. Connoisseur was arrested last August on foot of a High Court order and remains moored in Dun Laoghaire port. The 17.29-metre vessel was built in 2017 and was bought for commercial purposes for some 1.26m by Conway Club Limited (CCL), incorporated in early 2017, with registered offices in London. CCL is legally and beneficially owned by Kevin Conway, a tax lawyer who is Irish born but an English resident for more than 20 years, Mr Justice Denis McDonald said. Mr Conway was a director of CCL up to November 6, 2017, not long after he was adjudicated a bankrupt in the English courts on the petition of UK Revenue & Customs, he said. CCL had agreed in 2017 to buy the M.V. Connoisseur from MGM Boats of Dun Laoghaire for 1.265m. A French company, S.G.B. Finance S.A, (SGB) part-financed the purchase under a loan agreement under which it agreed to lend 822,250. That agreement is governed by the law of England and Wales and was secured by a deed which created security, among other things, over any earnings of the vessel and by a personal guarantee of Mr Conway's. The agreement was also intended to be secured by a mortgage over the vessel, the judge noted. After CCL fell into arrears from January 2018 on monthly loan instalments, SGB issued demands and warned it would take all necessary action to enforce its mortgage. Mr Conway had sent a draft copy of a proposal for an Individual Voluntary Agreement, similar to a Personal Insolvency Arrangement, to SGB on July 6 last, predating the arrest of the vessel. Mr Conway had said the vessel was with MGM Boats in Dublin for purposes of sale which should enable CCL to repay its debts to him in full after the sale proceeds were used to extinguish the amount due to SGB. In August 2018, SGB issued proceedings against the owners and all persons claiming an interest in the vessel claiming some 797,000 was due and owing to it under the loan agreement with CCL. On August 21, the High Court granted SGB's ex parte (one side only represented) application for arrest of the vessel. CCL later brought this application challenging the Irish court's jurisdiction, arguing it was solely for the courts of England or France to assert jurisdiction. On Friday, Mr Justice McDonald found SGB has a maritime claim which was sufficiently disclosed at the time of the vessel's arrest such as gave SGB a right to arrest it. The arrest of the vessel to enforce that maritime claim gave the Irish court jurisdiction over the substance of the claim against CCL under Article 7.1 of the 1952 Brussels Convention relating to the Arrest of Seagoing Ships, given force of law here by a 1989 Act, he found. He also concluded justice requires the case be heard here, for reasons including the vessel remains under arrest and it is in the interests of all parties to have the matter dealt with, he said. The judge added he will make directions shortly aimed at ensuring a speedy trial. At the end of a week overshadowed by global trade tensions, Irish shares clawed back some of their heavy losses. But the respite is likely to be shattered next week unless Theresa May secures an unlikely Brexit vote in the Commons on Tuesday. The local stock market has suffered in the past week from a barrage of trade and Brexit events that hit both its heavyweight stocks and midling shares hard. CRH and Smurfit Kappa - which had slid in tandem with global construction and packaging stocks - rose 2.6% and 2%, retrieving some of their losses of recent days. And smaller stocks such as the Irish home builder Glenveagh Properties also gained over 3% even as its peer Cairn Homes fell further, by 1%. As relative newcomers to stock markets, Irish homebuilders have along with the Irish banks been the surprising casualties of the global shares rout. The Iseq Overall Index posted a 1.2% increase in the latest session did little to mask the damage visited on Irish shares. The index in the past week has slid over 5.5% and has now lost 18% of its value this year - a performance which puts it among the worst performing stock markets in Europe. The outlook for next week remains troubled. Trade war tensions continue to simmer and fears will increase about the political future of Ms May, if her Brexit interim deal is voted down, that is, if a vote takes place in the first place. And US stocks resumed their decline as the Trump administration pressed its trade war with China and the latest batch of economic data added to concern that growth has peaked. Oil surged after Opec agreed to cut output. The S&P 500 turned lower after White House adviser Peter Navarro said tariffs on Chinese goods would rise if theres no trade deal after a 90-day truce expires. Technology shares bore the brunt of selling, with Apple down by more than 2%. US stocks had initially opened higher after the US November jobs report showed moderation in the labour market, giving succour to proponents for a slower pace of US Federal Reserve interest-rate increases. The debate about the pace of US rate increases has intensified. John Dolan, senior corporate dealer at Fexco Corporate Payments, said that recent events could mean the US central bank slows the pace of future rate increases. Fears over the US economys growth prospects and the impact of the trade war with China have palpably changed the mood music at the Federal Reserve. Unless the US economy recovers its mojo quickly, the pace of the Feds planned interest rate rises could be dialled down," Mr Dolan said. Capital Economics took a different view: "The US employment data published today were a little weaker than expected. But this still supports our view that the Fed is on track for a December rate hike, even though investors are no longer banking on it." Brexit will again loom large for Irish and UK stock market investors next week. And Irish firms will be closely watching for the reaction of sterling. "While there is plenty on the agenda next week, the UKs Brexit vote in parliament will be the only event in town," said Chris Beauchamp at online broker IG. "Reports of a shift towards a softer Brexit or a second referendum should be taken with a pinch of salt, but with the deal still unlikely to pass under any but the most inventive scenarios the weekend will likely see plenty of wargaming of alternative scenarios," he said. But even a lost vote may not spell bad news for sterling. Sterling may more than hold its poise if Ms Mays Brexit deal is rejected by a margin of fewer than 70 to 75 votes, analysts say. A relatively small shortfall for the UK prime minister, who needs 320 votes to push the pact through parliament, may kindle hopes that she could succeed in a second attempt and spur gains in the currency. On the other hand, a large margin of loss - 100 or more - would ignite risks from a no-deal Brexit to an early election or even a second referendum, driving sterling lower, according to strategists and fund managers. The margin of votes is crucial since a change of heart by one MP would widen or narrow the gap between ayes and nays by two. The effects of a hard Brexit and trade wars were high up the list of potential risks for the Irish financial system highlighted by the Central Bank. The Central Bank brings together in its annual Macro-Financial Review all the risks facing Irish banks and, by implication, the wider economy. "There are threats to international trade flows, from the imposition of trade barriers and the possibility of a hard Brexit, and vulnerabilities in EMEs (emerging market economies) owing to high debt and US dollar appreciation. A reversal of investor sentiment in financial markets could have an adverse effect on global growth and financial markets, in particular in the global leveraged loans market," it said. The main issue facing the Irish economy is Brexit and, in particular, the possibility of a disorderly Brexit occurring," according to the report. Officials said that the Central Bank had long tracked the global trade risks because the influence of the many multinationals makes the Irish economy disproportionately vulnerable to geopolitical or trade shocks. And Irish SMEs are also relatively more vulnerable to a hard Brexit and to any further sharp fall in the value of sterling against the euro. Officials wouldn't say whether the Central Bank would have further advice in the specific circumstance of Ms May losing her vote on Tuesday. Banks had already made contingency plans for Brexit and would be expected to continue to do so, officials said. A Brexit that preserves current trading arrangements would still see uncertainty arising owing to the EU-UK negotiations that would remain to be completed after March 2019. "A hard Brexit would cause a substantial reduction in output and employment. Recent years have seen sharp movements in the euro-sterling exchange rate," said the review. "Any further weakening of sterling would make Irish exports to the UK more expensive. "In the event of a hard Brexit, a weaker pound could coincide with an increase on tariffs on those exports. "Sectors such as agri-food and wholesale-and-retail are more exposed to the effects of Brexit than others, while regions with a focus on the UK market, such as the border counties, are more vulnerable," it said. - Additional reporting Bloomberg People in business who have obtained new roles this week. Adrian Varley has been named as the Central Banks director of prudential analysis and inspections, from February 1. Adrian Varley. He has extensive experience in the financial services industry in the private and public sector. He is currently head of banking supervision: analysis division in the Central Bank. He has a PhD in Mathematics from the University of Warwick and has played a lead role in banking supervision in the Central Bank over the last eight years. This new role is part of a restructure of the prudential regulation area of the Central Bank due to the evolution of supervision in the last decade and changes in Irish financial services system. Ethna Gallagher has been named as head of supply chain for Ireland at Edwards Lifesciences Corporation, an innovator in structural heart disease and critical care monitoring based in Limerick. Ethna Gallagher. She brings more than 27 years experience of working with high-tech global companies in Ireland, notably in senior roles with Bio-Medical Research Ltd in Galway. Prior to BMR Ethna achieved significant career progression within Wang, Intel and Dell Computers, having progressed from graduate engineer to supply chain director. Edwards Lifesciences is currently hiring for a number of vacancies in its Irish facilities. Donal Rooney has been named as chief financial officer, company secretary and as a director of Datalex, a provider of digital commerce solutions to global travel retailers. Donal Rooney. He succeeds David Kennedy. He was previously group CFO of Amaris Hospitality (2016-18), playing a lead role in its private equity exit process. He was also previously CFO of Nama (National Asset Management Agency) having previously worked as a senior portfolio manager at Nama from 2010-12. He began his career and qualified as a chartered accountant with Arthur Andersen (1997-2002) and worked with KPMG (2002-2010). Damian Thornton has been named as chief operating officer with Diaceutics, a diagnostic commercialisation company helping to improve patient outcomes via better testing. Damien Thornton. He brings 25 years of global pharma experience, notably in China, Japan, the UK, Spain, Singapore, France and Brazil. His former roles include VP for Asia at CAI International, and global MD at Azbil Telstar. He has a degree in Chemical Engineering from QUB and is a chartered member of Institution of Chemical Engineers. Dundalk-based Diaceutics has helped half a million patients access the right treatment via better diagnostic testing. Richard S Tyler has joined the clinical advisory board of Neuromod Devices, a med tech specialist in non-invasive neuromodulation technology. Richard Tyler. A clinical expert in tinnitus and audiology, he is a renowned pioneer in the advancement of tinnitus research, founding the International Conference on Management of Tinnitus and Hyperacusis 26 years ago. He is also professor in the Department of Otolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery and in the Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology at the University of Iowa. He has published over 270 articles and edited five books, including three books on tinnitus. A major renewable gas project is to be located at Mitchelstown, Co Cork, because of the locations huge potential for gas from Anaerobic Digestion (AD) plants on farms, fed by materials such as grass, food waste, slurry and other farm wastes. Funding for the project has been announced by Gas Networks Ireland (GNI), which owns, operates, builds and maintains the natural gas network in Ireland, supplying 700,000 homes and businesses. GNI confirmed last week that this project, to be implemented between 2019 and 2022, has been shortlisted for 8m funding from the governments Climate Action Fund. Called the Graze Gas project, it will provide Irelands first Central Grid Injection (CGI) facility for delivering renewable gas into the national gas network. Gas from AD plants will be transported in special tankers to the CGI facility. It is intended that the Mitchelstown facility will be the first of 17 CGI facilities, and that Graze Gas will eventually deliver 8% of Irelands residential gas demand, equivalent to demand from 56,000 homes. It is also planned to fund development of over 70 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) stations by Gas Networks Ireland, to allow operators of trucks and buses to switch from diesel to renewable gas. The first two CNG stations built will support 74 CNG vehicles. Renewable gas from anaerobic digestion is a direct substitute for natural gas, and can replace heavily polluting fuels in power generation, heating and transport. Carbon savings from renewable gas from farm waste can be offset against agriculture emissions, which are rising due to expansion of the dairy and beef industries. Eventual Graze Gas project reduction of carbon emissions is estimated at 197,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per annum. Renewable gas is believed to be the most cost-effective way of decarbonising heating of one million homes located near the gas network. The first renewable gas will come on to the Irish gas network at the end of this year, from a facility in Cush, Co. Kildare. It is estimated that full development of the renewable gas network will support the creation of 6,500 jobs, mainly in rural communities. Creating an indigenous, reliable energy source will also reduce Irelands use of imported fuel and significantly enhance our energy security, while helping Ireland attain renewable energy targets. With milk production in New Zealand on course for an all-time high, Tuesdays first gain since last May in the GDT Price Index might be a mixed blessing for EU milk prices. Since the summer, Global Dairy Trade auctions have seen the index drop by more than 20%. But when 36,450 tonnes of product were auctioned on Tuesday, the market delivered a 2.2% average rise. The price for the key product in New Zealand, whole milk powder, advanced 2.5%, having fallen about 19% since May. That is likely to ease the milk price worries of farmers down under, and drive them on to set a new milk production record. With New Zealand the worlds eighth largest dairy producer, and 95% of the products made from New Zealand milk exported, it has a huge bearing on world prices. Milk price forecasts in New Zealand for the current season have recently tended downwards, but the GDT gain may encourage Fonterra, the main buyer of milk in New Zealand, to announce a more favourable than expected milk price forecast today. That would continue the countrys faster than expected milk production growth, already 6% ahead of last year, thanks to generally favourable weather (and rising, with milk production in October 6.5% higher than a year ago). Record New Zealand milk production will keep a lid on a global market boosted this week by an easing of US-Chinese trade tensions, which promises to maintain the Chinese demand on which dairy exporting countries depend. The increased NZ milk production, although now past its annual peak, is cancelling out a shortfall in Australian production compared to a year ago, and the slowing of EU production due to the summer drought. But falling crude oil prices since early October, and global equity market wobbles are unhelpful for dairy prices. On the plus side, the continuing rundown of EU skim milk powder (SMP) stocks can support prices. EU Commissioner Phil Hogan told the ICMSA AGM last week in Limerick the SMP stocks will be eliminated by mid-2019. In the Global Dairy Trade event on Tuesday, a 0.3% rise in the SMP index showed some life left in that market, and the butter index gained 2.7%. The CEO of Aer Lingus has issued an apology to the airline's staff over reports that workers had stolen or damaged millions of euro worth of passenger, staff and company goods. The Sunday Independent had reported that increased surveillance is being carried out on Aer Lingus staff after allegations that millions of euro worth of goods had been damaged or stolen from passengers and airline employees. The article quoted Chief Operating Officer (COO) Mark Rutter who it said had, in a memorandum sent to staff, blamed "a small percentage" of workers for the increased surveillance, and said millions of euro worth of stock had been stolen or damaged, including items from passengers and other staff members. Aer Lingus CEO Stephen Kavanagh CEO Stephen Kavanagh today apologised for the hurt and upset caused by the article acknowledging the workers "had been subject to hurtful and demeaning comments over the course of the last week". Mr Kavanagh said Aer Lingus was not the source for the article, which he claimed was misleading, and added the airline was committed to maintaining the highest workplace standards. It was also announced that the airline would make a donation on behalf of staff of 25,000 to be split equally between their chosen charities, Pieta House and Focus Ireland. Trade union Forsa welcomed the apology to staff which it and other Aer Lingus staff representatives had demanded "on foot of thousands of calls and emails from outraged workers following publication of the article". Forsa official Ashley Connolly said that the staff wanted to move on from the damaging episode. We welcome and accept managements apology on behalf of the Aer Lingus staff we represent, and we welcome the companys decision to donate 25,000 to Focus Ireland and Pieta House organisations whose work Forsa respects and supports on behalf of staff, she said. Digital Desk A couple whose home has been without running water since September after a JCB destroyed a pump house serving the property have brought High Court proceedings against their neighbours and relatives. The action has been brought by Anthony and Kathleen Hogan of Mullica Lower, Donard, Dunlavin, Co Wicklow against Kevin Lawlor Snr and his son Kevin Jnr also of Mullica Lower, Donard, Dunlavin. Mrs Hogan and Mr Lawlor Snr are siblings, the court heard. Ronan Lupton Bl for the Hogans said it is the belief of his clients, but they cannot say for certain, that Mr Lawlor Snr demolished the pump house. Since the incident, Mr Hogan says Mr Lawlor Snr has taken steps to impede anyone trying to restore water to their home and has erected a steel fence effectively blocking access to the site of the pump house. Counsel said the pump house was located on Mr Lawlor's property over which the Hogans say they have a right of way. In a sworn statement Mr Hogan said his brother in law, Mr Lawlor Snr has a "very unpleasant disposition". He said that "all members of the extended Lawlor family- if they were honest live in fear of Kevin Snr" because of his "aggressive and unpredictable nature particularly when he his drunk." On the night the pump house was destroyed Mr Lawlor Snr was found by members of the Gardai driving another vehicle at speed across as self-made pathway at the rear of the Hogan's property, Mr Hogan said. He said Mr Lawlor Snr was very intoxicated at the time. Workers hired by the Hogans were told by Mr Lawlor Snr that "the pump was his", had "nothing to do with the Hogans" and would not allow them to approach the site. He said that prior to the incident Mr Lawlor Snr told him in a threatening manner he would demolish the pump house, without giving a reason. Mr Hogan said Mr Lawlor Snr has been aggressive to the Hogan family and on one occasion while intoxicated kicked in their door and stormed down to the Hogan's bedroom Mr Lawlor Jnr has also been aggressive towards the Hogans including calling to their home and ringing the doorbell of their home in the early hours of the morning, Mr Hogan said. Counsel said that while his clients have done all they can they are unable to resolve matters with the defendants. They have had to rely on "the kindness of others" in regards to the situation with water. They have to shower in their son's house and have had to collect rainwater in drums and from a local stream so they can flush their toilet. In their action, the Hogans seek various injunctions against their neighbours and relatives including orders that the Lawlors cease harassing them, allow them access to their lands and over the right of way. They also seek an order preventing the Lawlors from blocking the Hogan's agents from restoring the well and pump house providing the Hogans home with water. They further seek an injunction directing the Lawlors to provide the Hogans with immediate access together with all reasonable assistance to reconnect the water supply to their home. The incidents had affected the Hogans' health as well as being a serious nuisance. Counsel said that his clients had taken legal steps, but added that a person who attempted to serve a legal letter on the defendants had been allegedly intimidated and threatened by Mr Lawlor Snr. The server's vehicle was also followed by a jeep, containing the Lawlors, driven at speed, counsel said. At the High Court today Mr Justice Tony O Connor granted Mr Lupton permission to serve short notice, on an ex parte basis, of the proceedings on the Lawlors. The Judge adjourned the matter to next week. Boys and girls will be given an equal opportunity to be protected from HPV-caused cancers from September next year. Chief executive of the Children's Rights Alliance, Tanya Ward, said it is critical that planning for the roll-out of the vaccine to boys gets underway immediately. The Children's Rights Alliance is part of the HPV Vaccination Alliance that comprises of 40 organisations including leading health, child welfare and social justice groups. Health Minister, Simon Harris, announced yesterday that the life-saving vaccine will be extended to boys in the next school year. The Health Information and Quality Authority has advised the minister to change to a more effective HPV vaccine and extend the vaccine to boys. Hiqa's director of health technology assessment and deputy chief executive, Dr Mairin Ryan, said HPV-related disease is common. There are about 540 cases of HPV-related cancers diagnosed in men and women every year, with one out of four in men. Cancers caused by the human papillomavirus, the most common viral infection of the reproductive tract, occur in the cervix, anus, penis, neck and throat. HPV infection is also responsible for genital warts in men and women, with 90% of these caused by the types of HPV the vaccine protects against. HPV vaccination is a form of primary prevention to reduce HPV-related disease, including cervical cancer. Cervical screening is a form of secondary prevention. Dr Ryan said girls currently receive a vaccine that protects against four strains of HPV and those strains are associated with 70% of cervical cancer cases. The newer vaccine recommended protects against five additional strains of the HPV. Dr Ryan said there are no indications of serious side-effects associated with HPV vaccine. Hiqa conducted a review of data from more than 70,000 trial participants and more than 20 million individuals in observational studies. It did not identify an increased rate of serious adverse events in those who received the vaccine compared to those given placebos. Dr Ryan said the uptake of the HPV vaccine in 2014 and 2015 was 87% and two years later it had fallen to 51% and that was attributed to safety concerns following high-profile negative publicity. There was a partial recovery last year when the uptake of the vaccine increased to 65%. Dr Ryan said it is important that there is solid, evidence-based information on the scientific data about the safety of the vaccine. Hiqa's health technology assessment found that the cost of switching to the more effective vaccine for girls will be an additional 870,000 over five years. The budget impact of providing the same vaccine to both boys and girls will be an additional 11.7m over five years. The Royal College of Physicians in Ireland welcomed the extension of the HPV vaccine to boys. President of the RCPI and consultant in infectious diseases, Prof Mary Horgan, said there is little awareness of the risk to men from HPV infections: "There is an approximate 20% increase in oropharyngeal (throat) cancers. Nearly 50% of this rise in oropharyngeal disease is directly related to HPV, with almost 80% of those occurring in men, yet there is little awareness of the risks to men." The government has been accused of being too slow when it comes to tackling issues related to violence against women. Umbrella group 'The Irish Observatory on Violence Against Women' says it is time Ireland ratified the Istanbul Convention. The measure commits countries to greater efforts on issues like violence prevention and prostitution. Orla O'Connor from the National Women's Council of Ireland says the government is lacking urgency on this issue. "We have waited a long time for information and data on sexual violence in Ireland and while the government have announced that they are going to do that, they're saying that it is going to take another five years," said Ms O'Connor. The Irish Observatory on Violence Against Women, chaired by NWCI, is holding an important seminar tomorrow on ratifying the Istanbul Convention and making sure it works for women - well be using #16Days - make sure you follow for an important conversation pic.twitter.com/NdIeVZFItT Womenscouncilireland (@NWCI) December 6, 2018 "So while we are doing positive things, the pace at which we are doing them is too slow and it's not meeting the scale of the crisis where at least one-in-four women are experiencing physical and/or sexual violence." Ms O'Connor added: "We have seen a year in Ireland where there have been many women talking about their personal experiences of violence, their experiences of going through the criminal justice system and we know that so much more needs to be done. "By ratifying this Convention, it is a way of the government having a more comprehensive and strategic approach to tackling violence against women." Digital Desk A senior club player on a hurling team bonding trip put a black plastic bag over a bus drivers head as a prank, resulting in another passenger being flung into the windscreen. Scott Callanan, who plays with St Finbarrs in Cork, apologised for the incident, which a judge described as grossly irresponsible. Sgt Paul Kelly told Bandon District Court that, at 11.25pm on July 14, on the Eastern Road in Kinsale, Callanan of 12, Leamlara Close, Togher, Cork, was a passenger on a bus when he put the bag over the drivers head. The incident caused the driver to brake suddenly and one of 20 passengers on board, who had been standing in the aisle, was thrown into the front windscreen. Callanan, a 27-year-old plasterer, pleaded guilty. The court heard he had had six previous convictions for road traffic offences and had been disqualified from driving for two years in July 2017. His solicitor Diarmuid OShea said of the incident in Kinsale: He was lucky it wasnt a lot more serious. Mr OShea told judge James McNulty that his client was a senior hurler and played with St Finbarrs GAA Club. The team had gone to Kinsale on a private hire bus on a team bonding session but Callanan had been injured and couldnt train. Mr OShea said his client had not drunk for the previous nine months due to his training regime but did consume alcohol on the Kinsale trip. It appears to have been a prank, the solicitor said. At the time, it was anything but funny and could have been extremely serious. Mr OShea said Callanans team manager spoke highly of him and that his client was a carer for his father a central part of his life alongside training and hurling. On this particular day, he cut loose and was deeply apologetic, the solicitor added. Judge McNulty said: This was an act which placed other citizens at risk and it was grossly irresponsible for him to have done so. Thankfully, it did not have any more serious consequences for anyone. He said Callanan had responsibilities to his father and would not have time for community service, meaning instead the offence warranted a memorable fine. The judge said he would fine Callanan 1,000, adding that the defendant was a plasterer at a time when the trades were in short supply. He said if the money was paid by December 20, the case would be dealt with on a fine-only basis. An 84-year-old woman whose surprised a burglar in kitchen told gardai: "He was more surprised to see me." The lady was praised by a judge today for demonstrating great resilience in the wake of the burglary of her home two years ago. Wayne Murphy, described by his own counsel as a prolific burglar, pleaded guilty to trespass and theft at Temple Cottages, Broadstone, Dublin 7 on July 10, 2016. The 43-year-old, of North Frederick Street, Dublin, was sentenced at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to four years in prison with the final 12 months suspended. In her ruling, Judge Melanie Greally said that although the elderly lady had been extremely shaken by the burglary, she had shown great resilience. She has subsequently become more security conscious, but she very stoically said she hasn't let it get to her, said the judge. Garda Kathy Byrne told Ger Small BL, prosecuting, that the lady had lived in the house since 1958, and had been living alone since her husband died. On the day in question, she had put some potatoes on to cook and opened the window to let the steam out. She went into her sitting room was saying some prayers when she turned around and saw a man looking at her in surprise. She told gardai that she started screaming and the intruder grabbed her wallet, containing her travel pass and 125 in cash. She tried to grab the man but he got away. The woman's neighbours came to her assistance and the thief was apprehended. In a victim impact statement, the woman said she thinks about the burglary from time to time but has refused to let it affect her as she has no choice but to get on with life. The court heard she no longer opens the kitchen window and has had an extractor fan installed. Murphy has 67 previous convictions of which 35 are for burglary. Derek Cooney BL, defending, described his client as a prolific burglar and an opportunistic thief who took advantage of an open window and got a fright when he found the house occupied. He said Murphy was the youngest of a large family and saw two of his brothers die from drugs and a sister in an advanced stage of addiction. He said Murphy started taking drugs aged 14, including ecstasy, heroin and crack cocaine. Mr Cooney said Murphy burgled to fund his addiction but was now drug-free and on methadone. He said Murphy was putting his time in prison to good use and was attending art classes. The court heard Murphy himself was the victim of an attack when he was shot in the face and body as he walked through a park in October 2016. He told gardai that he had been warned not to commit any further burglaries as there might be people still out there when he was released from jail who would seek to finish him off. Judge Greally set a headline sentence of six years but reduced it on account of Murphy's guilty plea, his cooperation, and the steps he was taking to address his addiction. He is currently serving a four-year sentence and is due for release this time next year, whereupon this latest sentence will be imposed. Legal experts have raised doubts over whether Graham Dwyer will succeed in overturning his murder conviction despite winning a High Court action over the use of mobile phone data as evidence at his trial. Experts said the implications for other convictions were not clear, but believe it could have ramifications for cases currently before the courts and ongoing investigations. They believe it will most clearly impact on future Garda investigations of serious criminal offences and that gardai and agencies will now have to get a court order to access communication data. An appeal by the State is considered likely. The High Court yesterday ruled that Irelands legislation allowing the retention and accessing of mobile phone data, as in Dwyers case, breached EU law on individual rights. Mr Justice Tony OConnor found that the Communication (Retention of Data) Act 2011 was general and indiscriminate and breached the fundamental right to privacy under EU law and the European Convention on Human Rights. The judge declared the act contravened EU law by not requiring judicial approval for accessing communication data (with the legislation only needing internal approval) and that there was no legislative guarantees against abuse. Dwyer will now use the declaration in his bid to overturn his 2015 conviction for the murder of Elaine OHara in 2013, which is currently pending before the Court of Appeal. Elaine OHara: Murdered by Graham Dwyer in 2013. Commenting on the implications of the ruling, legal experts said: The declaration does not automatically mean Dwyer will be successful in his appeal as the court will be informed by a Supreme Court ruling that evidence which was gathered lawfully at the time, but subsequently found to be unlawful, can still be accepted as evidence; The evidence from the phone data could be included based on the argument that it was gathered before the April 2014 ruling of the European Court of Justice (which declared EU data retention laws were invalid) and used as evidence in court before the December 2016 ECJ ruling (which said the 2014 ruling applied to domestic laws); Other convictions, particularly ones after December 2016, could be challenged, but would be considered on a case-by-case basis; Cases that have been finalised and where no appeal is ongoing, and where no objection was made regarding the legality of the power in the trial, may not be able to use the ruling to overturn their cases; Current garda investigations which have gathered this evidence may be challenged in court, if the DPP decides to bring a prosecution; Gardai will not now be able to gather and use evidence under the provisions of the 2011 act, knowing that the legislation is incompatible with EU law, and will now have to get a court warrant. Mr Justice OConnor said his ruling only applied to accessing data for the investigation of serious crime, and not the two other grounds the security of the State and the saving of human life. TJ McIntyre, law lecturer at UCD and chairman of Digital Rights Ireland, said he believed Dwyer would probably not be successful in his conviction appeal. He said there were exceptions for evidence which was gathered lawfully at the time, but subsequently found to be unlawful, and cited the Supreme Court ruling in the JC case. He said more recent convictions could be challenged but said the timing of the case would be critical, particularly if the evidence was gathered and used as evidence after the December 2016 ECJ ruling. Mr McIntyre said gardai would not be able to use the 2011 act to access communication data anymore, and would now need a court warrant. Shane Kilcommins, head of the School of Law at the University of Limerick, said that when the Dwyer murder trial ruled that the mobile phone data was admissible, the 2011 act was good law. He said yesterdays ruling will allow Dwyer to argue that the mobile phone data should be excluded. However, he said: It does not automatically follow that this data which was accessed contrary to EU law and which was used by the prosecution will lead to the quashing of his conviction for murder. Mr Kilcommins said his appeal would be interpreted in light of the Supreme Court JC ruling relating to evidence gathered in breach of individual rights. He said the assessment of whether evidence was taken in deliberate and conscious violation of rights required an analysis of the conduct and state of mind of investigators. He said the ruling could affect other cases where the data was used as evidence, but said this retrospection was generally limited to those cases that had not reached finality. Mr Kilcommins said that where a case had finished and there is no ongoing appeal, and where no challenge was made during the trial on the legality of the evidence, then the final decision in the case must be deemed to be and to remain lawful notwithstanding any subsequent changes in law. He said current investigations which have not yet reached trial were subject to yesterdays ruling. He said the prosecution could argue the data was obtained prior to the ruling and should be admissible as it did not constitute a deliberate and conscious breach of rights. Mr Kilcommins added: It will not be possible to make such an argument for any future evidence gathered under the 2011 act that will now be accessed knowing that the legislation is incompatible with the rights of the individual. He said this would continue until the Government introduced and enacted its long-awaited Communications (Retention of Data) Bill 2017. Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan said the judgment would be considered. The chief executive of University Hospital Limerick, Professor Colette Cowan has admitted that the 25 million emergency department opened just 18 months ago is not able to cope with the numbers coming through its doors. The hospitals emergency department is the second busiest in the country she told RTEs Morning Ireland, and while service has improved since the opening of the new facility there remains an issue with bed capacity. Patients who have been treated in the emergency department frequently then remain on trolleys awaiting beds in the hospital. Professor Cowan pointed out that all beds in the hospital are open. Plans are under way to change methodology to increase bed capacity and at present the plan is to look at other pathways for patients. We are trying to get patients discharged early, this is a system wide problem, she explained. Prof Cowan said that the earliest the bed capacity can improve would be in 12 months with plans for a new 60 bed block. Under the Governments 2040 Programme there are further plans for a 96 bed unit. Winter planning for the hospital began last May, she added. We sit down in early May and write up plans. We dont schedule operations for early January. "We deliberately slow down so we can just focus on emergency services. The extra funding announced this week in the HSEs Winter Plan is very welcome she said and will be used to increase services such as emergency theatre access. Prof Cowan said she was proud of the hospitals staff and their performance which had resulted in low re-admission rates. A 26-year-old man is expected to appear before a sitting of Dublin District Court tomorrow morning charged in connection with a drugs seizure in the city. Cannabis worth an estimated 200,000 was seized during a search of a house in Finglas yesterday. A man bit the ears of another man after catching him trying to perform a sexual act with his sister. Anthony Dempsey, aged 24, appeared at Letterkenny District Court in Co Donegal where he pleaded guilty to a savage assault on John Kelly. Gardai were first alerted to the brutal attack when a woman noticed a man on the upstairs window ledge of a house at St Eunan's Terrace in Letterkenny on November 5 last year. The man had a bloodied face and was in a distressed state as another man tried to pull him back into the house. The man managed to run away and was taken into another house by two women. The women contacted Gardai and they found John Kelly in a distressed and emotional state. He was rocking back and forth and was bleeding heavily, was in a lot of pain and the tops of his two ears were missing. Gardai called to the house where Mr Kelly had first been seen and Dempsey answered the door. Garda Gerry Fee said it was obvious that Dempsey has washed his face and that there had been blood splattered on the walls, but they had been wiped in an attempt to hide it. He said everyone in the house was under the influence of an intoxicant and that Dempsey had become agitated and had punched the wall and the worktop. He was arrested but was initially unfit to be interviewed. He later admitted punching Kelly in the face and in the body but denied biting off his ears. He said the reason for the attack was because he caught Kelly masturbating over his sister when she was asleep in a room. Garda Fee said he did not believe this, saying he did not believe Dempsey's sister was in the room or that Kelly had masturbated over her. Dempsey and Kelly had first met a year earlier when both were undergoing a drug rehabilitation programme in Tullamore. Dempsey suggested that when they completed the course, they should travel to Donegal and stay with his sister. Garda Fee said the victim was due to give evidence of his injuries in court and that he had emailed him and sent him a message on Whatsapp but he received no reply. A medical report showed Kelly suffered numerous injuries including swelling, a laceration to his nasal bridge, swelling to his upper lip and extensive tissue loss to both ears. He had been referred to a plastic surgeon in Northern Ireland but no report was available despite efforts of gardai to get one. Judge John Aylmer was told that Dempsey had 46 previous convictions for a range of offences including dangerous driving, not having insurance, criminal damage, public order, misuse of drugs, possession of a knife and possession of an explosive substance. Barrister for Dempsey, Mr Shane Costelloe, SC, said his client has a very strong bond with his sister and was convinced that something of a sexual nature was going on. He said that both Dempsey's parents had been drug addicts and that he had spent three-quarters of his life in either care or in incarceration. Judge John Aylmer said he needed some time to think about the sentence and adjourned the case until next Wednesday. A man arrested by gardai told officers he was in the Taliban and would have them killed. Ali Faizi was arrested after initially being told to go home by gardai. Bandon District Court was told that when he was subsequently arrested following another disturbance, he tried to headbutt and kick at officers. Ali Faizi, aged 34, of 3 Kinsale Suites, Guardwell, Kinsale, Co Cork, pleaded guilty to three charges, including one of obstructing gardai. Sergeant Paul Kelly told Judge James McNulty that, at 3.30am on December 4 last, gardai came across a man in a verbal altercation with another male. Sgt Kelly said Faizi was acting in an aggressive and hostile matter but when the situation was defused, he was asked to go home. A short time later gardai found him creating a disturbance in a courtyard where he was trying to gain entry. He was handcuffed and when placed in a patrol car, he started to lash out, trying to headbutt a Garda and issuing threats. Sgt Kelly told the court Faizi had claimed he was a member of the Taliban, that he was from Afghanistan, and that he told a garda he would take him out. Solicitor Diarmuid OShea said his client was from Afghanistan and had discovered alcohol during a 10-year stay in the UK. He is an asylum seeker here, having arrived 18 months ago, and, when sober, presents very well. The court heard he normally stays in a direct provision centre but has recently got up to four nights a week of work in Kinsale and so had a temporary address in the town. Mr OShea said Faizi realised he needs to stay away from alcohol, had no recollection of the incident, and wanted to apologise to gardai. Mr OShea said his client realised the consequences it could have on his asylum application, which is pending. Judge McNulty said: I am appalled at his conduct towards police officers. I wonder how he would fare if he conducted himself like that in his home place. Judge McNulty convicted him of being drunk in a public place and fined him 100, convicted him of threatening or insulting words and behaviour and fined him 200, and sentenced him to 30 days in prison for obstructing police officers, suspending it for two years. A man has been given a 30-day prison sentence for "throttling" a woman in a row in the pool room of a bar. Bandon District Court heard that Martin Payne, 66, had gone drinking in Bandon with his former partner when the incident occurred in the Crawford Bar. His solicitor, Eamonn Fleming, said the issue in the bar was in relation to the use of a crutch and the woman who was assaulted and made the subsequent complaint to gardai "might have brushed off Mr Payne with the crutch". It was alleged that she also called him a name. "He did put his hands around her neck," Mr Fleming said. The court also heard that a doctor's report indicated soft tissue damage to the woman's neck. "He reacted very badly to the situation that arose on the day in question," Mr Fleming added. Mr Payne, of 86 North Main St in Bandon, had five previous convictions, including one for theft and another under the misuse of drugs act. Judge James McNulty accepted his guilty plea but referred to how Mr Payne had "throttled" the woman and said his Mr Payne was now 65 and his offending was escalating, having begun 14 years ago with a charge of drunkenness in a public place. "Now he is grappling with a woman in a public place," he said. He sentenced him to 30 days in prison, allowing credit for Mr Payne's guilty plea and his expression of regret. An appeal was later lodged. A man selling his car because he had been disqualified from driving later learned that the man who took it for a test drive hit an off-duty garda. Ryan OGorman, of Brookfield House, the Miles, Clonakilty, Co Cork, faced a charge of not taking due diligence in knowing the identity of the man who took his car for a test drive after Clonakilty District Court heard that the test driver had hit the garda while driving and then provided him with a false name, address, and phone number. Garda Richard Casey told the court he was out walking with his wife, also a garda, while both were off-duty on New Years Day last. They were on the bypass road in Clonakilty, near the entrance to a garage, when a car turned in and struck Garda Casey on the lower left leg. Garda Casey said the Volkswagen Passat then stopped and he spoke with the driver to tell him he had struck him. The driver apologised and said he had not seen them. The man gave Garda Casey a name, address, and phone number but it turned out they were false and the number out of use. Garda Casey said that, apart from his leg being sore for a few days, there were no injuries. His wife, Garda Karen OFlynn, said she had taken the registration of the car and later confirmed OGorman was the owner. All parties agreed OGorman was not driving the car at the time and that the driver was in his late 20s or early 30s, Irish, and with short brown hair. Sergeant Michelle OLeary received a report from Garda Casey on January 10, but due to the false information given by the driver, she came to a dead end. OGorman was contacted on February 23 and came to Clonakilty Garda Station on March 16. He said the only explanation was that he had advertised the car on Facebook and three males came to view the car, one of whom took it for a test drive. OGorman told gardai: When he returned he was only interested in taking the vehicle and was in a rush to get away. Sgt OLeary said she found it difficult to believe OGorman did not know who was driving his car that day. Giving evidence, OGorman said when the men came to view the car, one stayed in their own vehicle, one spoke with him, and another took his car for a drive for five or 10 minutes. They hurried away soon after, he said. The only thing I had for them was a contact number. By the time he was contacted by gardai, his phone no longer had a record of the number. His mobile provider could not supply it as it was a prepaid phone. He said: I tried my best. He said he did not accompany the man driving his car as he had thousands of euro of equipment in his shed and did not want to leave it. It was put to OGorman that his advertisement stressed no time wasters or private numbers and what occurred was at complete variance with that. OGormans car was fully insured and he told the court that the test driver told him he had third party cover. OGormans solicitor, Conrad Murphy, said his client was not the most experienced man in the world but that he did not know there was any issue until seven and a half weeks later. Unfortunately the guard was hit by a vehicle and he was very sorry about that. OGorman was prosecuted under Section 107 (4) (b) of the Road Traffic Act. Judge Mary Dorgan quoted a part of it referring to reasonable diligence by an owner in ascertaining who was driving their vehicle. The man could have been killed and your client doesnt know who was driving the car, she said. The court heard OGorman had four previous convictions and had been disqualified for dangerous driving resulting in the sale of the car. It was sold earlier this year for 4,000. Convicting OGorman, Judge Dorgan fined him 950, and gave him five months to pay. It was very nearly the perfect murder. That was how prosecution counsel Sen Guerin SC described the killing of Elaine OHara on the opening day of the Graham Dwyer murder trial. But Dwyers perfect plan could not have factored in the unusually dry Irish weather, and was trumped by superb policing and investigative work. On the evening of September 10, 2013, three Wicklow friends bumped into each other on a bridge over Vartry Reservoir in Roundwood. They were commenting on how low the water was. A shiny metal object caught their attention, setting off a momentous chain of events. The Garda Water Unit was called in. Among the items recovered included a rusty chain with cuffs on either end; bondage cuffs, comprising long straps with padded restraints and buckles; a ball gag, which comprised a ball, strap, and buckle; a black blindfold with a Velcro strap; a hoodie; and a vest. The water unit found other sex toys and, thanks to a metal detector, Nokia mobile phones. The discovery of these phones and the metadata they provided was to prove crucial in the investigation. A key investigator in the case was Sarah Skedd, a civilian employee of the force, working as a crime and policing analyst. She carried out mammoth work on two sets of relevant phones, one set involving Ms OHaras phone and an 083 number which was registered to Garoon Caisholm with an address similar to Dwyers sister; and a second set of two Nokias found at Vartry Reservoir. The latter were not registered to anyone and were prepaid. There was a total of 2,600 texts from the various devices. One text from the 083 phone (in the name of Garoon Caisholm) to Ms OHara on March 21, 2011 read: My urge to rape, stab, kill is huge. You have to help me control or satisfy it. In the exchange, she asked the man about his wifes pregnancy. Promise I can kill you by stabbing, was the reply. On April 14, in an unknowingly prescient remark, Ms OHara said: You really have to be careful with your phone, referring to Garda use of satellite tracking. He replied: Help me rape and stab a young girl... It will be all worth it when I kill you. On May 24, he said he was lucky with the last victim and said he needed the perfect plan. Ms OHara responded: Yes sir, dont you know, theres no such thing as a perfect plan. He described four ways he could kill her. Ms Skedd used motorway toll booth information to track the user of one of the Nokias. On July 4, 2012, this phone was used in Galway that morning and in the afternoon in Dublin 2. She examined toll booths for cars passing through between 12.30pm and 2.15pm for a vehicle owned by a south Co Dublin owner. She identified a 99G car which, it turned out, was owned by Dwyer. When she examined the Nokias she found that there was only one number in each. The number in one phone was named as MSTR. In the second phone was a number named as SLV. In court, these were referred to as Master and Slave. Ms Skedd said there were 1,369 texts and 11 calls involving them between December 1, 2011, and August 22, 2012. She found that, any time both Dwyers work phone and the Master phone were active in the same time period, they used cell sites in the same area. She said there was nothing to contradict the suggestion that the same person was using Dwyers work phone as was using the Master phone. On December 21, 2011, Dwyers work phone used a cell site at the ESB HQ on Fitzwilliam Square, near where he worked. The Master phone used a cell site known as Fitzwilliam that same morning. She found the Master phone used a cell site at Howth Harbour at 12.50pm that day and that Dwyers work phone used a cell at Howth Yacht Club five minutes later. On August 21, 2012, the day before Ms OHara vanished, Ms Skedd found that the Master phone used a cell called Fitzwilliam, close to Dwyers work, to send a message. She said that, up to 4.52pm on August 22, the Master phone had been using a cell close to a phone mast being used by Dwyers phone at 4.54pm. Detective Sergeant Peter Woods, who led the investigation, gave evidence in the trial about the interviews they had with Dwyer on his arrest in October 2013. He told Dwyer that the Master phone was at Carron, Co Tipperary, when he was there in July 2012. Dwyer said it wasnt his phone. Sgt Woods read Dwyer a text sent to Ms OHara from the 083 phone concerning the birth of a baby girl. He told him the name was the same as his daughter. He further told Dwyer the 083 phone was registered to his sisters address. Dwyer said he couldnt explain that. Dwyer admitted to watching erotic horror or gore movies and accepted it was sick. Sgt Woods put it to him he was on CCTV at Belmarine and that his DNA was in her apartment. Dwyer replied: I can understand how it would be there. Im not an innocent person, but Im innocent of murder. The detective pointed out to him that his work mobile had not been in any contact with Ms OHara in 2011 and 2012, to which Dwyer said: I cant explain it. He showed Dwyer one of the mobile phones found at Vartry and said to him: You thought youd done the perfect crime. Dwyer replied that it wasnt his phone. Sgt Woods said CCTV had captured him carrying a backpack out of Ms OHaras apartment block on August 15, 2012. He said it wasnt returned and ended up in the reservoir, next to Ms OHaras keys and glasses. It was a bit sloppy of you, to which Dwyer replied: I cant explain that. In the prosecution summing-up, Sen Guerin SC said: Remarkably, when Graham Dwyer moves, these phones move with him. Whether hes going to Ballyshannon, Galway, Carron, north of the Liffey... wherever he goes, the phones go. They are stuck to him like a shadow. He said the record of the texts held up a mirror to the life of Graham Dwyer and that it was utterly impossible for it to be anyone else. At the end, the evidence piled high against Dwyer. Chief Supt Diarmuid OSullivan speaking at a press conference after Graham Dwyer was found guilty. Picture: Maxpix Garda and the prosecution linked him to two mobile phones the 083 phone and the Master phone and, in turn, to the contents of those texts. They did this through a detailed tracking of the movement of the phones and Dwyers work phone, as well as indications as to his identity in certain texts, such as the name and gender of his newborn baby. Once the link was established, the texts clearly showed a desire to murder Ms OHara. This desire was again repeated in the testimony of Ms Day. Separately, the prosecution established a relationship a violent sexual relationship between Dwyer and Ms OHara, through computer contact, Dwyers own admissions, CCTV footage of Dwyer at Belmarine, and videos of them engaged in violent sex. The prosecution also clearly established a history of violence by Dwyer against women generally, including against a former partner, and used the testimony of Ms Day, his extensive video collection of gore and his descriptions of him raping and stabbing women, including a woman in Newcastle. In his closing address, Mr Guerin said Dwyer stabbed Ms OHara for his own sexual gratification in what was an abusive, manipulative, and predatory relationship. He said the architect was a sadistic and brutal pervert with nothing on his mind other than murder and that the stabbing of Ms OHara was the implementation of a plan he had set out in the texts. Mr Guerin said Dwyer wanted people to think it was suicide in the circumstances of Ms OHaras disappearance, just out from mental hospital. It very nearly worked out for him, he said. Dwyer thought it was the perfect murder. But, as Ms OHara told him, although tragically for her, theres no such thing. All public radiology departments are under pressure as they are neither staffed nor resourced adequately to meet demand, according to the Faculty of Radiologists. The faculty, the professional and academic body for radiologists, was responding to the publication on Wednesday of a report which found a cancer diagnosis had either been delayed or missed in 14 patients attending University Hospital Kerry (UHK), four of whom have died. The diagnosis of one patient with lung cancer was delayed by 76 weeks. The report, a review of more than 46,000 medical images involving more than 26,700 patients, examined the work of one locum consultant radiologist who no longer works at UHK. The report says concerns had been raised regarding the level of activity the individual was undertaking and a small number of doctors had expressed concerns about the quality of some of the [radiological] reports. Faculty dean Niall Sheehy said yesterday that problems of understaffing and under-resourcing of radiology departments are most acute in small departments such as University Hospital Kerry where burdens such as on-call duty are spread between a small number of consultants. Dr Sheehy said these departments frequently have difficulty in recruiting consultant radiologists and may be over-reliant on locum support and outsourcing. The faculty calls for greater support for these smaller departments and for the HSE to examine how the hospital groups and the National Integrated Imaging System can assist with this, he said. Dr Sheehy said more than 2m radiologic examinations are performed in HSE-run Irish hospitals every year and that the vast majority performed to a high standard and reported promptly and accurately. However, he said no test is 100% accurate and errors may occur both in the technical performance and in the reporting of a radiologic examination. Examinations are reported by humans and humans make errors, said Dr Sheehy. Whilst individual errors are regrettable with potentially profound implications for the patient, errors do not always imply negligence or malpractice. Dr Sheehy said the faculty extends sincere sympathy to all of the patients and their relatives affected by this review. We also acknowledge the distress caused to University Hospital Kerry staff by this review, he said. The review of X-rays by the radiologist who was the subject of the review at UHK was found to be in the upper limits of norms although the report concedes there are no national or international guidelines indicating the volume of work to be performed by individual radiologists. It says there was an element of doctor discretion. The faculty welcomed the reports recommendations which include that the HSE and the faculty need to define acceptable volumes of work for individual radiologists and that the faculty should examine how Quality Improvement Programme guidelines can be modified to support smaller hospitals with a reliance on locum radiologists. Dr Sheehy said the recommendations, if implemented, will lead to more robust internal processes within UHK and other hospitals which it is hoped will obviate the need for extensive reviews in the future. The Pogues frontman Shane McGowan has responded to calls on social media for the lyrics of Christmas classic Fairytale of New York to be censored. With the Christmas season in full swing, the hugely popular song has taken over the airwaves once again and a number of people took to social media to express their upset at the use of a gay slur in the song. RTE presenter Eoghan McDermott said in a tweet that there is "enough vitriol out there without gay people having to feel uncomfortable so people that aren't affected by an insult can tap their toe". As the debate gained momentum this week, McGowan issued a statement to say that the word was included because it was fitting for the character saying that she is not supposed to be a nice person. Her dialogue is as accurate as I could make it but she is not intended to offend!...not all characters in songs and stories are angels or even decent and respectable, sometimes characters in songs have to be evil or nasty in order to tell the story effectively McGowan said that he is "absolutely fine" with the word being 'bleeped' if people "don't understand that I was trying to accurately portray the character". He said that it is not something he wants to get into an argument over. .@fanningrte reacts to the latest controversy surrounding the lyrics of the iconic Christmas classic #FairytaleofNewYork and #TonightVMT gets an exclusive statement from The Pogues frontman Shane McGowan. pic.twitter.com/xwMf1cwHMv TonightVMTV (@TonightVMTV) December 7, 2018 This morning, Eoghan McDermott tweeted in an effort to put the matter to bed. McDermott said that while he understands the dysfunctional characters radio stations censor words "all the time". "My point was we beep out relatively harmless swear words all the time on radio to appease literally everyone." So the idea of beeping one word on daytime radio didn't seem so radical - given this particular word packs a lot of punch for many people and is used as a powerful slur outside the song. The radio present added that RTE would continue to play the song as they always have. The debate continues online with many coming out to say that they agree with Shane McGowan's statement on the controversy. Among those expressing their support was Colm O'Gorman. Gay rights activist Tynan Hooper said that calls to ban the song is a step too far. "Why change something that is a part of history, that has been a part of Christmas culture for the last about 20-something years?" asked Mr Hooper. "I understand we all have to be careful with what we say but it's getting to the stage now where we won't be able to speak." A West Cork solicitor yesterday failed in a High Court challenge to quash a ruling by An Bord Pleanala which refused him planning permission to use, as his home, a building with questionable access to wastewater treatment facilities. Ray Hennessy, who runs a legal practice in Bantry, had sought a judicial review of a Bord Pleanala decision to overturn a ruling by Cork County Council to approve the use of the property in Ballylickey as his main residence. Ms Justice Deirdre Murphy said she was satisfied the planning appeals authority had made a rational decision based on the evidence presented to it. The use of the building was restricted to that of a caretakers lodge to service a hostel built on the same lands. Part of the lands which included the hostel and wastewater treatment plant was sold to CPFM in February 2016 following the appointment of a receiver by AIB. The company successfully appealed the councils decision to grant retention permission to Mr Hennessy for permanent use of the building as a residence. The board found Mr Hennessy did not have sufficient rights to access the treatment system. The judge said it was somewhat bewildering the council had two contradictory reports on file, by the same planner, and both dated February 3, 2017. One recommended granting planning permission on the basis Mr Hennessy had access to the treatment plant but the other recommended deferring a decision as the council had no legal confirmation about his right of way. Ms Justice Murphy said the solicitor had failed to advise the court he had been given a copy of CPFMs appeal and he had failed to make any submissions to An Bord Pleanala. In her judgement, Ms Justice Murphy said the solicitor had been somewhat selective in the facts he had placed before the court. She said Mr Hennessy had submitted the planners report which had been favourable to his position but failed to refer to a second report. The judge said he also failed to reveal he had been given every opportunity to respond to CPFMs appeal. Dismissing his claims, she said: The situation on the ground, in this case, is that the wastewater treatment plant on which the applicant purports to rely is not on his land, is not being maintained, is apparently inoperable, and is not connected to an electricity supply. However, she said a planning application to use the building as a residence was likely to succeed if Mr Hennessy demonstrated he had access to and control over the treatment facility. A terminally ill Irish woman who won the biggest financial settlement for medical negligence ever in the Netherlands after a hospital lost her test results leaving her with incurable cancer is to be conferred with an honorary degree at UCC next Monday. UCC sociology and philosophy graduate Adrienne Cullen said the parallels between her fate and that of Vicky Phelan are striking and deeply disturbing. Ms Cullen, 58, is now due to receive an honorary Doctorate of Laws. In 2011 she had tests in the Netherlands after becoming ill but some of the test results were lost. Unaware of this, her doctor assured her she was healthy. However, in 2013, a review of old pathology results found a test for cancerous tissue which Ms Cullens doctor had conducted two years previously had, in fact, been positive. By 2015, tests showed it had spread and the cancer was terminal due to the delay. An independent medical consultant agreed on by both sides, concluded if the test result had not been lost, she would have had a 95% to 98% chance of being cured. Instead, the diagnosis was terminal, with an 11 to 18 month life expectancy, which she continues to confound. Ms Cullen convinced the hospital they had not abided by any of the international norms for what is known as open disclosure after serious harm. The disclosure protocols since put in place in the University Medical Centre Utrecht have already been adopted by the seven other teaching hospitals in the country. The exact chain of events that led to the failure in communicating Ms Cullens test results to her doctor has never been established. Ms Cullen and her husband settled with the hospital for 545,000. Ms Cullens book about her experiences will be available early next year. People are being urged to claim tax relief on medical expenses. In 2017, Revenue data shows 454,700 people claimed the relief, which amounts to 20% of those currently working in Ireland. Taxback.com say that there are over two million people in this country who would be eligible to claim tax back on medical expenses. They are drawing further attention to the issue, on the back of Revenues current communications campaign, whereby they are writing to over 125,000 taxpayers as a reminder to claim entitlements before the Dec 31 deadline for 2014 claims. The average refund for medical expenses over four years is 494. "Most people have to make at least one trip to the doctor over the year, but even if they manage to avoid it this year surely, they have had to go at some stage in the previous four years?" said Eileen Devereux, Commercial Director at Taxback.com. "Thats how far back you can go when claiming medical expense relief. Analysis of our own customer records indicates the average refund for medical expenses over four years total 494. "But Revenue figures show, in no uncertain terms, that the medical expense relief, which arguably has the most application to households throughout the country, is probably the most underutilised tax relief available. The tax experts say that a year-on-year comparison of Revenue figures reveals that the numbers claiming are growing a trend which they say is encouraging and one they hope to see continue in the future. Ms Devereux continued: "Anything to do with tax and form filling tends to make peoples eyes glaze over, but in reality, this is one of the most straightforward things youll ever do in terms of personal admin easier than shopping online I would say. "Most people incur medical expenses throughout the year particularly parents with young children. Trips to the doctors surgery become commonplace for a lot of families over the years, with a trip costing anywhere from 40 to 70. "So, if a couple with three children takes even just five trips to their GP in a year that bill hits approximately 250 you could get 50 of this back from the Revenue. It makes so much sense to claim." Why would Beijing push a policy that undermines President Xi Jinpings oft-stated ambition to build an ecological civilization, asks Brook Larmer. The cryptic declaration from Beijing alarmed and mystified wildlife conservationists around the world. Reversing a 25-year-old ban on the trade of tiger bones and rhinoceros horns, the Chinese government announced in October that it would foster a controlled legal market in these goods. The move was unexpected, given that less than a year ago China took a major step in the fight against wildlife trafficking by doing precisely the opposite: Banning the domestic sale of elephant ivory. Exotic-animal parts have become status symbols in parts of newly affluent China, but the demand for rhino horns and tiger bones is also driven by an ancient belief in their power to cure everything from fever to impotence. As if to soften potential criticism, the state council noted that the horns and bones would come not from wild rhinos and tigers but from existing stockpiles or animals bred in captivity. The reaction was still swift and harsh. Were urgently calling on China to maintain the 1993 ban on tiger bone and rhino horn trade and to extend it to cover trade in all tiger parts and products. World Wildlife Fund (@World_Wildlife) October 29, 2018 Wildlife advocates pointed out that even a highly regulated trade in endangered-animal products can provide cover for continued trafficking; it can also unleash fresh demand that is satisfied by only the killing of more endangered animals in the wild. This new policy would open the floodgates to the illegal trade, says Leigh Henry, wildlife policy director at the World Wildlife Fund in Washington. Wild rhino and tiger populations are at such low levels that there is no wiggle room. If it goes wrong, thats it. The species are not coming back. In November, unexpectedly, China seemed to back down. A government usually impervious to criticism postponed its plan in the face of the growing uproar from environmental groups, the UN, and signatories to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. For now, the government is keeping in place its three strict bans: On the import and export of rhinos, tigers and their byproducts; on their sale; and on the medical use of rhino horns and tiger bones. The state council order has not been rescinded, however, and wildlife conservationists know that the potent economic forces driving the wildlife trade are not going away anytime soon. Behind Chinas Hamlet moment to ban or not to ban lies a deeper question: Why would Beijing push a policy that undermines President Xi Jinpings oft-stated ambition to build an ecological civilization? Over the past few years, China has tried to refashion itself as a responsible global leader on climate change and environmental issues. It has also become a champion of wildlife conservation. Chinas total ban on the sale of ivory, a widely applauded move designed to help protect elephants, took effect at the end of 2017. This decade, Chinese consumption of shark fins has dropped by 80%. A campaign by the wildlife-advocacy group WildAid ran on Chinese digital media, keying in on the fact that rhino horns provide no more health benefits than other sources of keratin by showing a string of Chinese celebrities all biting their fingernails. All this progress, though, cant offset Chinas central role in stoking the illegal wildlife trade. With estimated total revenues of up to 20bn a year, wildlife trafficking is now considered the worlds fourth-most-profitable criminal trade after drugs, weapons and human trafficking. Even with Chinas ivory ban, at least 20,000 elephants are poached each year for their tusks 55 dead elephants a day. More than 7,000 African rhinos have been slaughtered for their horns in the past decade. The rate of poaching for tigers and rhinos has slowed, and the price of rhino horn not long ago almost twice as expensive as gold has dropped by two-thirds, according to WildAid. But the gains are fragile, the dangers ever-present. In Namibia, investigators told me criminal networks are plundering animals, like colonies of brilliantly hued carmine bee-eaters and families of pangolin, the scaly anteater that is the most trafficked mammal on the planet. Almost all are destined for China. So, then, why the contradiction? The answer may be found in an odd confluence of two forces in 21st-century China: Rising affluence and the resurgence of practices associated with traditional Chinese medicine. Developed more than 2,000 years ago, traditional Chinese medicine centres on the belief in qi, or vital energy, which regulates our bodies through a balance of yin and yang. Ailments, seen as imbalances, are treated with acupuncture, massage, and breathing exercises, along with herbal remedies that sometimes use parts from animals like scorpions and seahorses. Traditional medicines governing bodies have urged practitioners not to use endangered animals, with limited success. For the Chinese government, the obstacle to ending the wild-animal trade isnt just the domestic popularity and profitability of traditional medicine. Its also complicated by the fact traditional medicine, a 130bn industry, has become a valuable form of soft power that China is exporting around the world. Traditional medicine may conjure images of folk healers and spiritual gurus. A rhino at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya is the last male Northern White Rhino in the world. Photo: Brent Stirton/National Geographic. But over the past few decades, it has been mainstreamed as part of the state medical system, sold as a viable alternative for an ageing population. In 2017, it grew by 20%, fuelled by more than 4,000 traditional medicine hospitals across the country. Now China is aggressively promoting the practices overseas. In May, Beijing announced that it is developing 57 traditional medicine centres this year in countries that are part of its globe-spanning Belt and Road Initiative, like Poland and the United Arab Emirates. In 2017, Chinas exports of traditional Chinese medicine reached 3.6bn. This year, for the first time, the World Health Organisation included details of traditional Chinese medicine in its all-important annual compendium of diseases and health problems. That a medical system aimed at achieving balance should be held responsible for a calamitous imbalance in the natural world is one paradox of the wildlife trade. Leaders in traditional medicine understand the bad optics. Rhino horns and tiger bones were removed from its official pharmacopeia 25 years ago. In 2010, the World Federation of Chinese Medicine Societies, hoping to stem their use, dismissed many of the health benefits of tiger bones. But this did little to stop entrepreneurs from selling tiger-bone and rhino-horn health products. And far more species are at stake. Visitors to the market in the town of Mong La on the China-Myanmar border can reportedly find hundreds of endangered animals on sale for supposed medical purposes: Pangolin scales (to stimulate lactation or relieve skin diseases), bear bile (to treat liver or gallbladder conditions), and tiger penises (to cure impotence). If these were normal products, with plentiful supply and steady demand, a well-regulated legal trade might reduce both prices and incentives for poaching. The economics of the wildlife trade are hardly normal; it behaves more like drug trafficking would if opium and coca plants were in danger of going extinct. Conservationists point to the experience with elephants as a tragic and cautionary tale. In 1999 and 2008, tonnes of stockpiled elephant ivory were sold in order to ease rampant poaching. There is evidence that the sale had the opposite effect. It doesnt work like kitchen-table economics, says Alexandra Kennaugh, a wildlife conservation and trade expert at the Oak Foundation who has studied the behavioural economics of the rhino-horn trade. Im not at all opposed to trade of some species under the right circumstances, but the latent demand in China for rhino horn is much higher than what could be produced by farms or other available supply. Over the decade or so, Chinese businessmen have set up dozens of captive-breeding farms for tigers and rhinos in China and neighbouring countries. Debbie Banks, tiger campaign leader at the non-profit Environmental Investigation Agency, estimates that 5,000 to 6,000 tigers live in dismal conditions in these facilities around China, almost double the number in the wild across Asia. Some are raised solely for skins, bones, teeth, claws, and penises that can eventually be funnelled into the wildlife trade, says Banks. About a third of the material in the Asian tiger trade now comes from captive tigers, she says, including the bones that go into tiger-bone wine sold outside a couple of the facilities. The value of a tiger is not simply the sum of its body parts, says Banks. It has value alive in the wild for the ecosystem, tourism, culture, even aesthetics. In China its seen simply as a commodity. Environmentalists suspect that captive-breeding facilities in China have been pressuring Beijing for years to reverse its ban and open a regulated trade in tiger bones and rhino horns. They seemed to have finally succeeded at least for two weeks. The owners of the farms would presumably reap a windfall if their products could be legally traded in the Chinese market with the governments imprimatur. Even greater pressure may have come, conservationists say, from the big pharmaceutical companies that produce traditional medications. And then there are the stockpiles. Most are well-regulated, but in an industry defined by scarcity, the value of a stockpile rises as the number of animals in the wild falls. (In 2012, economists writing in the Oxford Review of Economic Policy even postulated that some stockpilers might be banking on extinction.) What would happen if China changes course again? Making the trade in tiger bones and rhino horns legal, giving it legitimacy, could spark a demand that overwhelms the supply. Extinction would loom. It would be disaster to go down that road, says Peter Knights, WildAids chief executive. There are now tens of thousands of consumers. What if they become millions? c.2018 The New York Times It is barely a week since Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe was forced to defend his budget for 2019 in the face of trenchant criticism from the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council. In its strongest rebuke yet to any finance minister, the council described spending increases announced in the budget as not prudent economic management. It criticised the minister for allocating possible one-off corporation tax receipts to plug a 700m gross spending overrun in healthcare this year. Mr Donohoe insisted his budget was prudent, but, at the same time, he promised to take on board the advice of the council. It looks like this is one political promise that is being kept as Mr Donohoe has said that a surge in corporation tax payments last month will go reducing our national debt. Exchequer returns for November show corporation tax receipts brought in almost 500m more than anticipated. But while the economy is booming, we cannot ignore the fact that we have a national debt in excess of 200bn, which costs in the region of 500m a year to service. It would have been tempting for the minister to use that extra bounty to address ongoing social needs during what many political pundits believe will be an election year. The fact that he has chosen instead to reduce Irelands overall indebtedness is a welcome sign of wise and cautious judgment on his part. In Person Myanmar Has Come a Long Way on Reproductive Rights UNFPA representative Janet Jackson at her office in Yangon in February 2018 / Nyein Nyein / The Irrawaddy CHIANG MAI, ThailandJanet Jackson ended her nearly 20-year career with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) as the agencys representative in Myanmar. She retired last month. During her time in Myanmar, she oversaw international technical, logistical and financial support for the countrys first census in 30 years. She also championed a women and girls first initiative. Ahead of her departure, Jackson discussed her experiences helping to organize Myanmars census, and promoting reproductive health education and youth empowerment, in an email interview with The Irrawaddy. UNFPA played a key role in Myanmars 2014 census and follow-up reports. Would you say it was conducted to international standards? Are there any changes needed in the process and if so, what are they? What were the biggest challenges and successes during your time in Myanmar? Without a doubt, the biggest challenge and the biggest success during my time in Myanmar was the 2014 Myanmar population and housing census, which UNFPA supported the government of Myanmar to conduct. Many countries across different regions have benefited from Myanmars state-of-the-art census. Last week, Nepals Bureau of Statistics and Ministry of Planning undertook a study tour to learn from Myanmars experience. Other countries [to do so] included Cambodia, North Korea, Haiti, Egypt and Pakistan. The census has given a comprehensive picture of Myanmars peoplewhere they are, who they are and how many they areand what their social and economic living conditions are. The results are an essential tool for effective policy development, planning, decision-making, and improvement to public services. The strength of the collected and analyzed data has proven hugely useful to government, civil society, NGOs, the UN and the private sector alike across a range of areas that benefit the population. Hardly a day goes by without a mention of this in some form or other. Census taking is done on the basis that everyone deserves to be counted, irrespective of race, religion, gender, age, citizenship, social status and living conditions. The census is one of Myanmars most inclusive development projects to date, reaching 98 per cent of the population. Regrettably, the Myanmar government at the time did not allow over 1 million people to self-identify as Rohingya as they had wished. As a result, they were not enumerated, despite the UN system putting all its weight behind advocacy efforts for all people in Myanmar to be included in the census. In Kachin and Kayin, sizeable groups in non-government controlled areas were also not enumerated. What changes have you seen since you first came to Myanmar regarding women and young peoples knowledge of reproductive health rights? What would be your advice to the public on this issue? When I first arrived in Myanmar, my colleagues and I couldnt even use the words family planning without causing a stir. We had to call it birth spacing. The inference was that only married women were entitled to access to contraceptives, purely for spacing their pregnancies. This leaves out all those who are sexually active and also do not wish to get pregnant. Myanmar has come a long way since then. The government is increasing its budget allocation for contraceptives. There is also recognition within the Ministry of Health that all women have the right to decide for themselves if and when to become pregnant, and how many children to have. This includes young women and unmarried women too. I see a human rights-based approach to sexual and reproductive health services provision gradually filtering down to local health workers and throughout society. In the area of family planning, Myanmar has made great strides, and it is heading in the right direction. NGOs and INGOs [international NGOs] and government are working in concert to ensure that access is improved and more modern contraceptive choices are available for women. More needs to be done so that women are fully aware of the choices that are available. In Myanmar, womenespecially in rural areastend to lack knowledge about reproductive health rights. What reasons do you see for this? As a country representative for the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, I have traveled extensively in Myanmar, and everywhere I go, I take the time to talk and listen to women from all walks of life. What I hear is that women know what they want. They want to be in control of their own bodies and their own lives. They may not always know how to do this, and this is especially true for women who are geographically, culturally or financially isolated and disadvantaged. All partners need to play a role; the government, the UN, the private health sector and civil society must strive to step up to the challenges of providing all women with the information they need to make informed choices, and the services they require to exercise their right. Many women do not get postnatal care, yet family planning advice is a critical element of postnatal care. Equally important is avoiding early marriage and teenage pregnancy. Young women and men need access to youth-friendly services and information on sexual and reproductive health and rights. Yet few places offer this. And where these do exist, they are often not functioning at optimal level. Access to sexuality information and services enables young people to focus on reaching their full potential and making informed choices about their relationships and future. UNFPA also supports young peoples participation in the peace process through youth camps and empowerment. What can youth contribute to peace building? Why are their voices important? A profound transformation is needed for Myanmar to become a country with a stable peace. Part of the force for positive social change can come from young people. Young people have remarked that in conflict, it is often the youth who are on the frontline. In this case, they also think it is right that they have a voice and can participate in making peace happen. Young people have largely been excluded from efforts to resolve conflicts in the country. The UN has clear recommendations on how young people should be able to engage at all levels of the peace processes. Young peoplefemale and maleneed to be heard and need to be part of this. They can also participate as advocates for peace and agents of change in their own communities. They can also be an asset at the national level. A great deal of UNFPAs work in the area of youth, peace and security focuses on expanding national multi-ethnic youth networks. This is strengthening coordination of the youth peace movement across diverse communities. This needs to be mobilized also at a national level. Young people can be makers as well as guardians of peace in Myanmar. Asia Japan to Ban Huawei, ZTE From Govt Contracts: Sources People walk past an advertisement for Huawei outside an electronic store in Tokyo, Japan, on Aug. 6. / Reuters TOKYO Japan plans to ban government purchases of equipment from Chinas Huawei Technologies Co Ltd and ZTE Corp to beef up its defenses against intelligence leaks and cyber attacks, sources told Reuters. The Yomiuri newspaper, which first reported the news earlier on Friday, said the government was expected to revise its internal rules on procurement as early as Monday. The government does not plan to specifically name Huawei and ZTE in the revision, but will put in place measures aimed at strengthening security that apply to the companies, a person with direct knowledge and a person briefed on the matter said. The move follows a decision by the United States this year to ban government purchases of Huawei gear. U.S. intelligence agencies allege Huawei is linked to Chinas government and that its equipment could contain backdoors for use by spies, although no evidence has been produced publicly and the firm has denied the claims. Australia and New Zealand have already blocked Huawei from building 5G networks. Britains BT Group said on Wednesday it was removing Huaweis equipment from the core of its existing 3G and 4G mobile operations and would not use the company in central parts of the next network. Japans chief government spokesman, Yoshihide Suga, declined to comment. But he noted that the country has been in close communication with the United States on a wide range of areas, including cybersecurity. Cybersecurity is becoming an important issue in Japan, he told a regular news conference. Well take firm measures looking at it from a variety of perspectives. Burma High-Ranking Officers Killed by AA in N. Rakhine: Military Arakan Army chief Tun Myat Naing attends a cadet graduation ceremony in Kachin's Laiza Township where the armed groups headquarters are situated. / Arakan Army Info Desk YANGONThe Office of the Commander in Chief of the Myanmar military officially announced on Thursday night that some high-ranking officers and soldiers have been killed during a series of clashes with the Arakan Army (AA) in northern Rakhines remote Buthidaung and Rathaedaung townships. The Myanmar Army, also called the Tatmadaw, did not state the total number of its own casualties in the statement, but specifically mentioned that army soldiers killed four AA fighters and seized two M-22 assault rifles. According to the statement, the AA ambushed an army column while the latter were conducting clearance operations along the BangladeshMyanmar border on Dec. 3, 4 and 5. About 80 AA fighters planned to cut out the army unit and used landmine attacks during the clashes. More clashes with AA troops in Rathaedaung followed on Dec. 5 and 6. The military announcement avoided mentioning the names of army units which are now at northern Rakhines frontline while repeatedly using the term violent insurgents when referring to the AA. They accused the AA of deliberately disrupting the border fence project which is being implemented along the Bangladeshi and Indian borders with Myanmar. The statement denounced the attacks, saying the AAs intentions are to cause instability in the border region. According to an AA announcement on Dec. 4 however, the militarys Light Infantry No. 564 based in Buthidaung entered AA-controlled areas in northern Buthidaung Townships Aught (Lower) Nahan and War Net Yon villages. The announcement by the AA claimed it killed about seven Tatmadaw soldiers in the resulting battles. The AA said they would release the bodies of the enemies, their firearms and military accessories and battle field records in the coming days. As the government army reinforces its intentions to wipeout AA bases in troubled northern Rakhine, the AA expects that much more fighting could flare up in the region. Following a spate of November clashes, the AA previously announced that more than 20 Tatmadaw soldiers, including a battle commander, were killed in Chin States Paletwa Township and the mountain range in northern Rakhine State. Based on AA press releases, The Irrawaddy has learned that AA has been fighting against the Militarys Light Infantries No. 373, 539, 535, 380, 542 and 289 in Paletwa and northern Rakhines Buthidaung townships since October. Burma New Criminal Case Opened Against Rogue Businessman U Soe Tun Shein at a press conference held by his company in Naypyitaw on February 22, 2018. / Moe Moe / The Irrawaddy YANGONPolice have begun an investigation into the complaint of a private bank against a company for their failure to repay a 1.5 billion kyats ($644,000) loan, said officials of Pabedan Township Police Station in Yangon. The Global Treasure Bank, a public company which was first established as a semi-government bank in 1996 under the name Myanmar Livestock and Fisheries Development, filed a complaint on Monday against U Soe Tun Shein, executive director of Asian Prosperity Export Import Co. Ltd., and its three other directors. We opened a civil case against them regarding the loans some six years ago. We won the lawsuit, and as we were working to sequestrate the factory [owned by U Soe Tun Shein], another person came up with documents and claimed that he is the factory owner, said U Htin Aung, deputy general manager of Global Treasure Bank. [The court] is still investigating. The process took longer [than we expected] and we therefore decided open a criminal case against them, he said. According to the Global Treasure Bank, U Soe Tun Shein applied for loans, submitting a recommendation from the Fisheries Department and a list of the companys assets including its accounts receivable. He received separate loans of 1 billion kyats and 500 million kyats from the bank in 2006. Despite the companys accounts showing marine exports totaling around $3.8 million, U Soe Tun Shein never gave back the borrowed money, according to the bank. For this reason, the bank opened a civil case through Yangon Region High Court against the company in 2013. Police have previously issued a warrant for the arrest of U Soe Tun Shein, who is also chairman of the gold mining company National Prosperity, for allegedly violating mining laws. National Prosperity was granted permission to mine for gold in Moehti Moemi, Mandalay Region in 2011 under the agreement that they would pay 5.57 tons of gold to the government in tax over an initial five-year term. In 2013, the company was allowed to revise the payment period adding a three-year extension and was given permission to continue mining in the area for another 17 years under a production-sharing contract once it paid the full 5.57 tons. According to the No. 2 Mining Enterprise overseen by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation, the company has failed to pay monthly installments totaling 2,032 kilograms of gold since 2013. As a result, the ministry ordered the company to suspend operations at the end of 2017. Despite the order, the company continued mining in the area. The ministry therefore revoked its mining license in February this year and terminated agreements with the company in May. In March, the ministry filed a case against the companys chairman U Soe Tun Shein at the Yamethin Township Police Station in Mandalay Region under the Mines Law for continuing to operate after being ordered to stop and for failing to hand back their mining license. Punishment for these offenses can be up to seven years imprisonment, a 50,000 kyats ($32) fine, or both and the company will never receive permission to mine any minerals in the future. U Soe Tun Shein was last seen in Yangon in July, and has been banned from traveling outside the country. News Govt Departments to Have Their Own Corruption Prevention Units President U Win Myint (center) and Anti-Corruption Commission chairman U Aung Kyi (right) attend a meeting in Naypyitaw on April 11, 2018. / MNA YANGONStepping up his administrations anti-graft efforts, President U Win Myint has approved the creation of corruption-prevention units within government departments. As part of events to mark International Anti-Corruption Day in Yangon, President U Win Myint issued a statement announcing that he had approved the setting up of Corruption Prevention Units (CPUs) by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). Commission chairman U Aung Kyi told local media at a press conference on Friday that forming the CPUs will increase the accountability of government departments and public institutions in fighting against corruption. The CPUs will monitor corruption carefully inside departments, he said. If a unit finds corrupt activity, in smaller cases it can take action under existing laws and regulations, or it can transfer more complex cases to the commission, he said. The ACC will then bring the cases to the court. If there is improvement in fighting against corruption in departments, there should be rewards too, the chairman said. The CPUs are a component of the Public-Private Collaboration against Corruption plan, a key part of the ACCs 2018-2021 strategy. The commission has also urged local businesses to develop a code of ethics and establish appropriate internal control measures to prevent corruption. U Aung Kyi said the CPUs most important task would be to conduct corruption risk assessments in order to find the causes of corruption and devise appropriate control measures. The ACC will also be expanded, adding more than 500 staff as well as opening branches in additional states and divisions. Corruption harms economic development and the living standards of our people, and hinders poverty reduction and foreign investment. That is why we vow to combat corruption with a very strong political will, President U Win Myint said in his message on Friday. He said his administration is working seriously to combat corruption with the aim of establishing clean government and good governance. In the middle of this year, it amended the Anti-Corruption Law to expand the ACCs powers. Under the amendments, the commission can investigate at its own initiative any civil servant who is seen to be unusually wealthy. Previously, it could only probe allegations of corruption in response to formal complaints filed with strong supporting evidence. Yet, the commission remains toothless in the event of a complaint against the military, which holds three key ministries: Home Affairs, Defense and Border Affairs, and runs key businesses under its own companies. U Aung Kyi said the commission had not yet received any complaint against the military, but even if it did, such cases are beyond its mandate. The undemocratic military-drafted 2008 Constitution gives the military immunity from prosecution by the commission. The Constitution grants the military the right to tackle corruption within its ranks using internal mechanisms. News Police in Singapore Find Counterfeit Kyats in Raids on Moneychangers 10,000 kyats notes are pictured in Yangon. / Myo Min Soe / The Irrawaddy YANGON Police in Singapore say the arrest of a Singaporean couple in Yangon last week for using fake kyats led to raids on 18 moneychangers in the island state that came up with more counterfeit cash. Preliminary investigation revealed that the two Singaporeans obtained the counterfeit kyat notes from a moneychanger in Singapore. A raid was conducted at the said moneychanger and counterfeit 10000 kyat notes with same serial numbers starting with AG and AE were found, Singapore police said in a statement on Thursday. The statement said subsequent raids on 17 other moneychangers turned up more of the same counterfeit notes. Last week, police in Yangon arrested a Singaporean couple at Shwedagon Pagoda after they used fake 10,000 kyats notes to pay the admission fee and found them in possession of more counterfeit cash worth about $300. The couple said they received the notes from a moneychanger in Singapore and have had a related lawsuit filed against them by police. The 10,000 kyats note is the highest denomination in Myanmar. On Thursday, a 25-year-old woman was arrested in Bago Region for allegedly using fake 10,000 kyats notes after a recent trip to Singapore. Local police later seized an additional $1,000 worth of counterfeit currency at her home. She worked in Singapore. Before she came back her employer helped exchange all of her salary into kyats in Singapore, an officer with the Daik-U Township police department said. Thursdays statement from the Singapore police said their investigation was ongoing. It said anyone convicted of using counterfeit currency may be sentence to prison for up to 20 years and that anyone convicted of possessing the notes may be sentenced to up to 15 years. The statement advises people to be vigilant and to look out for notes with serial numbers starting with AG or AE. Officials with the Myanmar Central Bank could not immediately be reached for comment and have not issued a statement about the recent spate of fake kyat notes. News Six Months Behind Bars for Kachin Peaceful Protesters Police escort the three Kachin activists to a police vehicle after the court sentenced them to six months in prison with a 500,000-kyat fine on Friday. / Zau Ring Hpra MANDALAYLocals of Myitkyina staged a protest on Friday against the decision of the township court of Myitkyina, which sentenced three Kachin activists to six months imprisonment and a fine of 500,000 kyats ($322), under Article 500 of Myanmars Penal Code. About 60 locals, led by a number of rights activists, gathered outside the court compound shouting slogans and holding placards showing their disagreement with the courts decision, before marching to Manaw Park in Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin State. We are shocked by the decision of the court because we believed the court would release them because what [the Kachin activists] have done is just saving people who are suffering due to armed conflict, said Awang Jar, a member of Kachin Womens Network. The protesters told The Irrawaddy that they see the trial of the three Kachin activists as proof that the rule of law in Myanmar is at risk and that there is a lack of democracy under the government, despite labeling itself democratic. The government says they are a democratic government but we now clearly see that there is no democracy, no freedom of expression and the rule of law is still too weak to protect us, Awang Jar said. The three sentenced protesters, Lum Zawng, Zau Jat and Nang Pu, are accused of defamation of the military for participating in peaceful protests in April which urged the government to help the trapped locals of the Tanai area who fled from fighting between the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the military. The protesters said that Kachin organizations and rights groups are gathering now to issue a statement to condemn the courts decision and to urge the government and responsible individuals to urge for the immediate release of the activists. What we say to and urge the government is that to help the people is not to defame the government or the military, Lum Zawng said to journalists gathered in front of the court before he was transferred to prison. According to the protesters, if the accused cannot pay the 500,000 kyats fine, they will receive an additional six months imprisonment. We feel this is unfair. Our lawsuit shows that the rule of law in our country is at the worse state and we were saddened by the decision of the court, Lum Zawng added. The trio said they submitted evidence from the locals of Tanai, who were suffering due to the conflict, to the court in their defense but the court did not review them and instead sentenced the activists to imprisonment and a fine. The military official who sued us said that we showed fake evidence at the press conference which we held in April so we submitted all the pieces of evidence to the court. We were surprised by the decision of the court, said Nang Pu, director of Htoi Gender and Development Foundation. We have submitted many concrete [pieces of] evidence of women and children suffering and hiding in the forest in Tanai. The decision of the court shows that our country is not a democratic country and the lack of rule of law is threatening the right to information, she added. According to their families, they are going to submit an appeal to a higher court. The three are accused by Lt-Col Myo Min Oo from the militarys Northern Command who filed criminal defamation complaints under Article 500 of the Penal Code on May 8. Shortly after the sentencing, the EU Delegation to Myanmar issued a statement condemning the sentence of the three Kachin Activists. Protests for peace and for saving people trapped by violent conflict should not be criminalized. The EU Delegation to Myanmar deeply regrets the courts decision and calls on the authorities to review the sentence and ensure conditions for activists to make use of their human rights to protest and to freedom of expression without having to fear legal repercussions, said the statement issued on Friday. A Chinese newspaper has accused the US of resorting to a "despicable rogue's approach" in asking Canada to arrest the daughter of the founder of Huawei, and says this is because Washington "cannot stop Huawei's 5G advance in the market". The Global Times said the arrest of Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of the Chinese telecommunications giant in Vancouver on 1 December, went "against the consensus reached between the heads of state of China and the US in Argentina". The reference was to a working dinner between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart, Donald Trump, at which they agreed to tone down the developing bilateral trade war. China has asked the US and Canada to clarify why Meng was detained and to release her immediately, saying the arrest was a violation of her rights. The incident has been described as a dangerous precedent. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hashe was told in advance of the arrest. US National Security Adviser John Boltonhe knew Meng would be arrested before the incident took place. In other developments around the case, Reuters reported that Meng was arrested as part of an US investigation into the use of the global banking system to evade US sanctions against Iran. News of the US Justice Department probe into whether Huawei has violated sanctions on Iran was reported by The Wall Street Journal in April. At that time, it was reported that there was no indication how far along the probe had progressed, nor what specific charges were being investigated. Reuters said the investigation had recently focused on Huawei's use of HSBC to make allegedly illegal transactions involving Iran. The Global Times said the arrest sent a message to the international community that the US was targeting Huawei. "It is clear that Washington is maliciously finding fault with Huawei and trying to put the company in jeopardy with US laws," the newspaper said. "Washington is attempting to damage Huawei's international reputation and taking aim at the tech giant's global market in the name of law." The competition watchdog's inquiry into the wholesale service standards of NBN Co has entered its second phase and will consider whether regulation is needed to improve customer experience. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said in a statement on Friday that it had released a discussion paper which covered issues that had to be considered, informed by feedback received so far. It said NBN wholesale service standards were a key part of commercial arrangements between NBN Co and retail service providers that affected the services to NBN customers. Aspects of the rebate framework that were not addressed as part of the enforceable undertaking; Information regarding speed and performance issues; Wholesale support for retail consumer safeguards and regulatory obligations targeted at the retail level; Information and reporting of operational outcomes; and Matters relating to liability and third party claims against NBN Co. Feedback is being sought on five issues: The ACCC began the inquiry on 2 November 2017. It released a discussion paper on 18 December 2017 seeking feedback from interested stakeholders. On 12 September, the ACCC announced that it had been given a court-enforceable undertaking by NBN Co, that it would improve its wholesale arrangements with retail service providers within three months. The improved NBN wholesale rebates terms will soon be in effect. We will be monitoring the impact of these terms to ensure they give the right incentives for NBN Co to meet its service level commitments and ensure that consumers are better off, ACCC commissioner Roger Featherston said. The enforceable undertaking addressed some of the more pressing issues, affecting customer experience, but there are still several complex issues to consider, which we are looking at in this second part of the inquiry. On Nov. 21, Summerville-based legislators, Sen. Sean Bennett (left) and Rep. Chris Murphy (second from left) present a $100,000 check to Dorchester Childrens Advocacy Center. Left to right: Bennett, Murphy, DCAC Director Kay Phillips, DCAC Board Chair Russ Touchberry. Vancouver, British Columbia (December 6, 2018) - Montan Mining Corp. (TSX-V: MNY, FSE: S5GM, SSE: MNYCL) ("Montan Mining") has agreed to acquire a 44.5 - 100% interest in a portfolio of mineral concessions which collectively constitute the Greater Las Huaquillas (GLH) project; a highly prospective precious and base metal project in northern Peru. The concessions are located to the immediate south of the border with Ecuador, where recent exploration success and corporate activity in the Ecuadorian mining sector, highlights the increasing interest in this historically underexplored region. The GLH project is interpreted by Montan Mining to be located within a key north-south trending mineralised belt that extends through southern Ecuador into northern Peru. Based on historical exploration, 5 mineralised zones, consisting of 4 mineralisation types including epithermal and porphyry style mineralisation types have been identified at the GLH project. The most advanced of these mineralised zones, the Los Socavones Zone, was partially appraised by a previous operator (Sulliden 1996-1999). In 1998, Sulliden (Gariepy & Vachon,1999) estimated that a 500m section of the 2,200m long Los Socavones Zone hosts a geological resource of 6.57 Mt grading 2.12 g/t Au and 25.2 g/t Ag; equivalent to 446,000 ounces of gold and 5.3 million ounces of silver at a 1 g/t Au cut-off. The resource was reported to remain open at depth and along strike. This historic resource, based on 10 drill holes and 20 mineralized intercepts, was estimated by Sulliden to a depth of 200m, and is reported as an historic resource estimate in an NI 43-101 Technical Report prepared for an unrelated party in 2011 (refer below). Montan Mining has not conducted any work to establish the relevance & reliability of the historical estimate. Disclaimer: A qualified person has not done sufficient work to classify the historic estimates as current mineral resources or mineral reserves; and the Issuer (Montan Mining) is not treating the historic estimates as current mineral resources or mineral reserves. Refer to the IMPORTANT INFORMATION section, outlined below. The Los Socavones Zone is open down dip and along strike in both directions (northeast and southwest). The mineralized zone appears to have been offset by faults. Notwithstanding the significant base metal mineralisation identified during historical exploration, the base metal potential within the Los Socavones Zone was not included in the historical resource estimate. Disclaimer & Forward Looking Statements This news release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that relate to future events or future financial performance. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the use of terminology such as "may", "should", "intend", "expect", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "project", "predict", "potential", or "continue" or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. These statements speak only as of the date of this news release. This news release may also contain inferences to future oriented financial information ("FOFI") within the meaning of applicable securities laws. The information in this news release has been prepared by our management to provide a context for the project acquisition and to provide the reader with an outlook for our future activities and anticipated key projects and may not be appropriate for other purposes. Forward-looking statements in this announcement include, (but are not limited to), i) that we will successfully start-up Montan Mining's Cerro Dorado plant, and that ii) we will be able to successfully appraise the Greater Las Huaquillas project. The Cerro Dorado S.A.C. assets have not been the subject of a feasibility study and as such there is no certainty that the mine or the mill will be able to produce a commercially marketable product. There is a significant risk that any production efforts from the project will not be profitable with these risks elevated by the absence of a defined resource and economic study. The Company's reliance on historic production and third party gold recovery statistics is necessary under the circumstances, but is not compliant with NI 43-101 reporting standards. There are increased risks and uncertainty in making a production decision without such a study and an historically higher rate of failure for production decisions not based on a feasibility study. General risks include the reliance on available data and assumptions and judgments used in the interpretation of such data, the speculative and uncertain nature of exploration and development, exploration and development costs, capital requirements and the ability to obtain financing, volatility of global and local economic climates, share price volatility, estimate price and commodity price ,volatility, changes in equity markets, increases in costs, exchange rate fluctuations and other risks involved in the mineral exploration and development industry. There can be no assurance that a forward-looking statement or information referenced herein will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements or information. Also, many factors, though considered, are beyond our control. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information. We undertake no obligation to reissue or update any forward-looking statements or information except as required by law. This announcement is not, and under no circumstances is to be construed as, a solicitation or an offer of any kind. The matters set forth in this announcement does not constitute an agreement or offer that may be accepted. Accordingly, no person may bring a claim or action against another for a failure to negotiate, agree or enter into any agreement with respect to matters contained in the announcement. The technical information in this announcement relating to Cerro Dorado has been prepared in accordance with the Canadian regulatory requirements set out in National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") and has been reviewed and approved on behalf of the Company by Mr. Dean Pekeski, P. Geo., of Kraven Geological Inc., a Qualified Person under NI 43-101. The technical information in this announcement relating to the Greater Las Huaquillas project has been derived from: NI 43-101 Technical Report (the"Technical Report" ) on the Las Huaquillas Au, Ag, Cu Property, Cajamarca, Peru (15 August 2011) prepared by Luc Pigeon, P.Geo., of Gateway Solutions SAC, a Qualified Person under NI 43-101. Montan Mining has not sought any form of consent from either the Qualified Person, or the Issuer which commissioned the Technical Report, but rather references this Technical Report in an historical context as the report was originally submitted for exchange approval on 15 August 2011. It should be noted that there has not been sufficient drilling and/or sufficient previous exploration at Las Huaquillas upon which to base a mineral resource or mineral reserve estimate compliant to the current standards of National Instrument 43-101, and Montan Mining has not undertaken any independent verification of the data contained in that report by a Qualified Peron or Persons acting for the Montan Mining. There has been no additional or independent verification site visits, sampling or analytical work undertaken by Montan Mining with respect to the Las Huaquillas property. Montan Mining has relied entirely upon historic disclosure relating to the Las Huaquillas project in preparing this news release. VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Dec. 06, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cameo Cobalt Corp. (TSX Venture: CRU) (OTC: CRUUF) (FWB: SY7N) (the Company or Cameo Cobalt) is pleased to announce that further to its news release dated October 4, 2018, the Company has received Cu assay and multi-element geochem results from its Carrizal Alto (Carrizal) hard rock sampling program. Cameo Cobalt is extremely encouraged by the initial sample results, which are bolstered by strong support from the Chilean Ministry of Mines pertaining to the development of the company's flagship energy metals assets. The samples were collected during the initial site visit on October 11, 2018 by Cameo Cobalt personnel, and a consulting Chilean geologist (P.Geo) familiar with the area The Company is currently collaborating with Ridgeline Exploration Services Inc., as well as its Chilean geological team, to formulate a detailed year-round exploration program focusing on its Chilean cobalt projects. Cameo Cobalt expects to commence a comprehensive work program on its Carrizal Cobalt project during the second quarter of 2019. All rock samples were transported under strict chain of custody to the MS Analytical Laboratories in Vancouver, B.C. Each sample was crushed to 70 per cent passing two millimetres then a 250-gram split is taken and pulverized to 85 per cent passing 75 microns, subject to a four-acid digestion, and then analyzed by ICP-AES/MS for a 39-element package. Cu was assayed for potential ore grade results. Sample ID ICF-6Cu Cu % 0.01 IMS-117 Au ppm 0.001 IMS-117 Co ppm 0.1 Carrizal 1 - 0.182 391.7 Carrizal 2 2.602 0.108 145.7 Carrizal 3 1.453 0.327 106.8 Carrizal 4 1.793 2.224 310.5 Carrizal 5 11.278 0.734 225.9 Carrizal 6 1.778 0.04 1304.0 Carrizal 7 1.875 0.131 239.7 Carrizal 8 5.77 0.506 583.6 Rock samples are selected surface grab samples and are not necessarily representative of the mineralization hosted on the property. Akash Patel, CEO of Cameo Cobalt stated: The Company is pleased to report its initial Carrizal sample assays to the market. Cameo will continue to advance its Carrizal Cobalt project and hone in on the cobalt mineralization. Carrizal Cobalt Project The area acquired is in Carrizal Alto's historic cobalt-producing region and is located 100 kilometres north of the La Cobaltera district. Project highlights: 456 hectares in Carrizal Alto district, Chile; Adjacent to historic operating site that has Chilean government production data with high-grade cobalt, as reported by Genlith Inc. The Companys Carrizal Cobalt Project is situated in part adjacent to Genlith Inc.'s Carrizal Alto Project (see Genlith's news release dated April 11th). Genlith Inc. is a Pennsylvania-based holding company focused on energy storage and critical battery materials. Genlith has reported that cobalt production occurred on its Carrizal Alto projects from 1844 through 1944, mostly for military applications ceasing at the end of the Second World War. Genliths Carrizal Alto development plans include expedited drilling and dimensioning programs on high-grade past producing mines with the objective of providing a clear path to full-scale production. This information is not necessarily indicative of the mineralization on Cameos property. Cameo personnel have not verified this information from Glenliths Carrizal Alto Project. The Companys Carrizal Cobalt claims map can be found by following the below URL link: Click Here Samples were collected from the La Ganadora II claim adjacent to the south of Glenliths Carrizal Alto Project. Qualified person Dr. Harrison Cookenboo, Ph.D., P.Geo., is a qualified person as defined in National Instrument 43-101. He has reviewed and is responsible for the technical information presented in this news release. CAMEO COBALT CORP. Akash Patel For more information contact: (778) 549-6714 Or Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. www.cameocobalt.com Reader Advisory This news release contains certain forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities law. Forward-looking information is frequently characterized by words such as plan, expect, project, intend, believe, anticipate, estimate and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions may or will occur. In particular, forward-looking information in this press release includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the Companys proposed acquisition, exploration program and the expectations for the cobalt industry. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. We cannot guarantee future results, performance or achievements. Consequently, there is no representation that the actual results achieved will be the same, in whole or in part, as those set out in the forward-looking information. Forward-looking information is 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 anticipated in the forward-looking information. Some of the risks and other factors that could cause the results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking information include, but are not limited to: general economic conditions in Canada and globally; industry conditions, including governmental regulation and environmental regulation; failure to obtain industry partner and other third party consents and approvals, if and when required; the availability of capital on acceptable terms; the need to obtain required approvals from regulatory authorities; stock market volatility; liabilities inherent in water disposal facility operations; competition for, among other things, skilled personnel and supplies; incorrect assessments of the value of acquisitions; geological, technical, processing and transportation problems; changes in tax laws and incentive programs; failure to realize the anticipated benefits of acquisitions and dispositions; and the other factors. Readers are cautioned that this list of risk factors should not be construed as exhaustive. The forward-looking information contained in this news release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. We undertake no duty to update any of the forward-looking information to conform such information to actual results or to changes in our expectations except as otherwise required by applicable securities legislation. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. 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. Condor expands the La India Project land package by 45% to 455.6 km2 with the grant of a significant concession that is potentially the heat engine and metal source that caused gold mineralisation across the entire La India Gold District. LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / December 7, 2018 / Condor Gold (AIM: CNR; TSX: COG; OTCQX: CNDGF), is pleased to announce that the Ministry of Energy and Mines of Nicaragua (''MEM'') has granted the Las Cruces concession, a 25 year exploration and exploitation concession covering an area of 142.6 km2, to the Company's wholly-owned Nicaraguan subsidiary Condor S.A. The concession is adjacent to, and south-east of, the La India Project (Figure 1). The La India Project now comprises 11 adjacent and contiguous exploration and exploitation concessions, acquired by Condor over 12 years. The addition of Las Cruces expands the La India Project package by 45% to 455.6 km2. Mark Child Chairman and CEO comments: ''I am delighted that the Government of Nicaragua has granted Condor a major exploration and exploitation concession adjacent to the La India Project. This confirms that the country is pro-mining and open for business. The 142.6 km2 Las Cruces concession expands the La India Project area by 45%. Las Cruces was available for grant by the government under a 25 year exploration and exploitation concession. We remain convinced that the La India Project is a major Gold District with the potential to host over 5 million ounces (''Moz'') of gold. Condor's geologists have identified a major north-northeast-striking basement feeder zone through the Project (the ''La India Corridor'') which hosts 90% of Condor's 2.4 Moz gold resource. The feeder zone can be projected south-east into Las Cruces. Mapping and early prospecting/sampling show that Las Cruces lies inside a volcanic caldera and has extensive clay alteration and rare vuggy silica. This alteration appears to be a 'lithocap', which raises the possibility of underlying porphyry-style mineralisation (copper and/or gold). This porphyry is potentially the 'heat engine' and metal source that caused gold mineralisation across the entire La India Gold District. We are particularly keen to follow up on anomalous samples of up to 0.1% copper.'' Background The Las Cruces concession is to the south-east of the La India Project, next to Condor's La Mojarra concession (Figure 1). Figure 1 Location of the Las Cruces concession within the La India Project area. The area was visited several times by Condor's geologists after a major colour anomaly was identified in satellite imagery within a major Tertiary volcanic caldera (Guisisil caldera) (Figure 2). This circular caldera is about 9 km wide. There were also rumours of artisanal gold mining. Figure 2 Location of the Guisisil caldera and alteration zones within the Las Cruces concession. The caldera lies directly along strike from the La India Corridor, a proposed basement fracture that controls high grade epithermal veins (Figure 3). Rock sampling of altered rock and reconnaissance mapping were carried out. The area has extensive argillic (clay) alteration and oxides, with discrete patches of vuggy silica and steam-heated alteration on hilltops. At lower elevations, along creeks, strongly altered and sulphide-rich (marcasite + pyrite) lapilli tuffs and andesites are found. Trace element concentrations, including anomalous samples of up to 0.1% copper, seem to favour the following possibilities: 1) an extensive fossil water table alteration related to low sulfidation epithermal veins (similar to La India); 2) a distal part of a high sulfidation gold/copper deposit, hosted by advanced argillic alteration (vuggy silica), or 3) a lithocap above a porphyry (gold, or copper/gold). Figure 3 The location of Las Cruces in respect to the La India Corridor (on a background of antimony anomalies - warm colours indicate anomalous values). Following the grant of the concession, we will apply for environmental authorization to carry out low impact activities such as geological mapping, prospecting and limited trenching and drilling. Meetings with stakeholders are planned to explain our activities and to obtain permission from landowners prior to exploration. Initial exploration will include detailed geological mapping, prospecting, and soil geochemistry surveys to better understand the extent of the alteration zones. Following the identification of mineral prospects of interest, further work such as trenching, geophysical surveys and exploratory drilling may be carried out. Competent Person's Declaration The information in this announcement that relates to the mineral potential, geology, exploration results and database is based on information compiled, reviewed and approved by Dr Warren Pratt, Chartered Geologist (1994), Fellow of the Geological Society of London and Fellow of the Society of Economic Geologists. Dr Pratt is a geologist with over 23 years of experience in the exploration of precious metal mineral resources. Dr Pratt consults to Condor Gold plc on an ad hoc basis and has considerable experience in epithermal mineralization, the type of deposit under consideration, and enough experience in the type of activity that he is undertaking to qualify as a 'Competent Person' as defined in the June 2009 Edition of the AIM Note for Mining and Oil & Gas Companies. Dr Pratt consents to the inclusion in the announcement of the matters based on their information in the form and context in which it appears and confirms that this information is accurate and not false or misleading. Dr Pratt is also a Qualified Person under Canadian National Instrument 43-101. For further information please visit www.condorgold.com or contact: Condor Gold plc Mark Child, Executive Chairman and CEO +44 (0) 20 7493 2734 Beaumont Cornish Limited Roland Cornish and James Biddle +44 (0) 20 7628 3396 Numis Securities Limited John Prior and James Black +44 (0) 20 7260 1000 Blytheweigh Tim Blythe, Camilla Horsfall and Megan Ray +44 (0) 20 7138 3204 About Condor Gold plc: Condor Gold plc was admitted to AIM on 31 May 2006 and dual listed on the TSX in 2018. The Company is a gold exploration and development company with a focus on Nicaragua. In August 2018, the Company announced that the Ministry of the Environment had granted the Company the Environmental Permit (''EP'') for the development, construction and operation of a processing plant with capacity to process up to 2,800 tonnes per day at its wholly-owned La India gold project in Nicaragua (''La India Project''). The EP is considered to be the master permit for mining operations in Nicaragua. Condor published a Pre-Feasibility Study (''PFS'') on La India Project in December 2014, as summarised in the Technical Report (as defined below). The PFS details an open pit gold mineral reserve in the Probable category of 6.9 million tonnes (''Mt'') at 3.0 g/t gold for 675,000 oz gold, producing 80,000 oz gold per annum for seven years. La India Project contains a mineral resource in the indicated category of 9.6 Mt at 3.5 g/t for 1.08 million oz gold and a total mineral resource in the inferred category of 8.5 Mt at 4.5 g/t for 1.23 million oz gold. The indicated mineral resource is inclusive of the mineral reserve. Disclaimer Neither the contents of the Company's website nor the contents of any website accessible from hyperlinks on the Company's website (or any other website) is incorporated into, or forms part of, this announcement. Technical Information Certain disclosure contained in this news release of a scientific or technical nature has been summarised or extracted from the technical report entitled ''Technical Report on the La India Gold Project, Nicaragua, December 2014'', dated November 13, 2017 with an effective date of December 21, 2014 (the ''Technical Report''), prepared in accordance with NI 43-101. The Technical Report was prepared by or under the supervision of Tim Lucks, Principal Consultant (Geology & Project Management), Gabor Bacsfalusi, Principal Consultant (Mining), Benjamin Parsons, Principal Consultant (Resource Geology), each of SRK Consulting (UK) Limited, and Neil Lincoln of Lycopodium Minerals Canada Ltd., each of whom is an independent Qualified Person as such term is defined in NI 43-101. 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: results of exploration activities, the mineral resources, mineral reserves and future production rates and plans at the La India Project. Forward-looking information is often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as: ''seek'', ''anticipate'', ''plan'', ''continue'', ''strategies'', ''estimate'', ''expect'', ''project'', ''predict'', ''potential'', ''targeting'', ''intends'', ''believe'', ''potential'', ''could'', ''might'', ''will'' and similar expressions. Forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future performance and is based upon a number of estimates and assumptions of management at the date the statements are made including, among others, assumptions regarding: future commodity prices and royalty regimes; availability of skilled labour; timing and amount of capital expenditures; future currency exchange and interest rates; the impact of increasing competition; general conditions in economic and financial markets; availability of drilling and related equipment; effects of regulation by governmental agencies; the receipt of required permits; royalty rates; future tax rates; future operating costs; availability of future sources of funding; ability to obtain financing and assumptions underlying estimates related to adjusted funds from operations. Many assumptions are based on factors and events that are not within the control of the Company and there is no assurance they will prove to be correct. Such forward-looking ianformation involves known and unknown risks, which may cause the actual results to be materially different from any future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including, risks related to: mineral exploration, development and operating risks; estimation of mineralisation, resources and reserves; environmental, health and safety regulations of the resource industry; competitive conditions; operational risks; liquidity and financing risks; funding risk; exploration costs; uninsurable risks; conflicts of interest; risks of operating in Nicaragua; government policy changes; ownership risks; permitting and licencing risks; artisanal miners and community relations; difficulty in enforcement of judgments; market conditions; stress in the global economy; current global financial condition; exchange rate and currency risks; commodity prices; reliance on key personnel; dilution risk; payment of dividends; as well as those factors discussed under the heading ''Risk Factors'' in the Company's annual information form for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017 dated March 29, 2018, available under the Company's 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. Four decades ago, the Khmer Rouge killed an estimated 1.7 million people in Cambodia. Late last month two of its highest-ranking leaders, Khieu Samphan and Nuon Chea, were found guilty of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. The following day, Cambodias Deputy Prime Minister, Sar Kheng, declared that the tribunal which oversaw these historic convictions, the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), had completed its work and should abandon its remaining cases. As a victim and now plaintiff before the ECCC who fled Cambodia at age 10, and lawyers who have been presenting cases at the ECCC for eight years, we believe this would be a grave mistake. Recommended reading Is it time to wrap up the Khmer Rouge tribunal? There are currently three final cases still pending before the ECCC, commonly known as Cases 003, 004 and 004/2. These cases target notable former military commanders and zone level leaders charged with implementing Khmer Rouge policies in key provinces where serious crimes occurred. Each case is integral to understanding how the execution of Khmer Rouge policies at the regional and local levels led to the mass atrocities and cultural devastation now synonymous with the regime. These cases also represent a commitment to upholding the rule of law in the face of political pressures. A terrible precedent In a country ranked nearly dead last in the World Justice Projects Rule of Law Index, the ECCC stands as an example of a functioning court able to hold the powerful to account. The ECCC is staffed by both Cambodian and international lawyers and judges, making it a truly hybrid court. Nonetheless, Cambodias Prime Minister Hun Sen, who was himself a mid-level Khmer Rouge commander before fleeing to Vietnam, has repeatedly called for the closing of the Court. The prime minister argues that allowing the ECCC to finish its work would cause civil unrest. There is no evidence to support that claim the Khmer Rouge leadership collapsed over two decades ago and its remnants no longer pose a serious threat of violence. Instead, what history has taught us time and again is that the real threat to lasting peace is the failure to achieve justice. Recommended reading Cambodia: What will be left of the Khmer Rouge Tribunal? We believe the Court has been able to carry out its work in Cases 001 and 002 with a relative degree of independence. The result has been a set of important judgments viewed as fair and legally sound both by Cambodians and the international community. These verdicts create a vital historic record for one of the largest mass murders of the 20th century. Forcing the closure of the ECCC before it has finished its work would undermine its judicial independence and tarnish its legacy and impact. By shutting down the ECCC without permitting its remaining cases to move forward, the government of Prime Minister Hun, who once stated that Khieu Samphan and Nuon Chea should be greeted with bouquets of flowers, not with prisons and handcuffs, will have ended one of the only courts in Cambodia that has functioned with some degree of independence. This sort of political interference would set a terrible precedent both for Cambodia and the international community. A message to victims over the world As a plaintiff, and lawyers representing 145 US-based Khmer Rouge survivors, we urge the Cambodian and international community not to accept the closure of the ECCC as a fait accompli. Thousands of victims have waited decades for their day in court. Closing the ECCC ends any chance they have to see a measure of justice and accountability for the horrors they endured, and for continuing to uncover the truth of what occurred during the four years that the Khmer Rouge ruled Cambodia. The legacy of the ECCC has impact beyond Cambodia. Victims and survivors of todays mass atrocities from the Rohingya to the Yezidi need to know that justice and redress for the crimes they have endured are possible. The success of the ECCC carries the message that justice can prevail no matter how much time has passed, and that even the seemingly most powerful may one day be held to account. As the Universal Declaration of Human Rights turns 70, there are signs that the goals outlined in the text are facing unprecedented threats, from rising nationalism to a worldwide assault on multilateral institutions. This week, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, warned that the global system that gave teeth to the vision of the Universal Declaration is being chipped away by governments and politicians increasingly focused on narrow, nationalist interests. But some experts have argued that as the global rights movement born after World War II comes under attack, the UDHR may have an opportunity to reassert its relevance. The text adopted in Paris by the UN General Assembly on December 10, 1948, aimed to redress the centuries-old notion that rights are granted to citizens by states. According to the UN rights office, this was in response to the argument of Nazi defendants at the Nuremberg trials that the leaders of a sovereign state acting in what they deemed the national interest could not be held guilty of the newly-conceived crimes against humanity. The UDHR was therefore meant to establish the rights that belong to every person, regardless of whether they live in a democratic republic, a monarchy or a military dictatorship. The declaration was written for a precise moment like now when the attractions of nationalism and populism are sweeping through even democratic nations, once more, Francesca Klug, one of Britains leading human rights scholars and the author of A Magna Carta for All Humanity, told AFP. US leadership forsaken One of the main challenges that has always faced the concept of universal human rights is enforcement. A professor of human rights law at the London School of Economics, Conor Gearty, told AFP that even if the UDHR was written to establish the values that should transcend national sovereignty, it was always states that truly mattered, because governments not a global entity like the UN had the power of enforcement. Gearty said the notion of universal human rights saw major progress through the second half of the 20th century, including new multilateral treaties and national legislation embedding the articles of the UDHR. Broadly, he credits the United States with leading this effort, calling human rights the flagship of American global ascendency, in a 2017 article for the European Human Rights Law Review. Gearty concedes that US foreign policy had always been characterised by double standards (and) calculated hypocrisies, but nevertheless described Washington as the patron of the post-war human rights era. However, Gearty argued, that the America First administration of US President Donald Trump who has attacked multilateralism and pulled the US out of the UN Human Rights Council mark the end Washingtons stewardship of the global rights movement. The US has forsaken any role as defender of international human rights, even on a hypocritical basis, he said, describing Trumps rise as the culmination of a US withdrawal that began with the so-called war or terror after September 11, 2001. The Americans have left the building, Gearty said. At the same time he maintained that human rights need a powerful international patron, or they will whither on the vine, and identified the European Union as the only credible candidate to take the mantle from Washington. The future Bachelet, Chiles former president who took over as UN rights chief in September, downplayed the notion that for the Universal Declaration to remain relevant it needed support from a superpower. She said the text would endure because its precepts are so fundamental that they can be applied to every new dilemma, including climate change and artificial intelligence. The 30 articles of the UDHR range from equality rights to guarantees of a fair trial and the right to paid leave. For its time, the text drafted by delegates from across the globe was surprisingly progressive on gender, using male pronouns only twice. It also offers freedom from discrimination on the basis of race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. The phrase other status has been applauded for anticipating the rights of LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex) people, decades before they were recognised anywhere. The UDHR has withstood the tests of the passing years, Bachelet said. It is, I firmly believe, as relevant today as it was when it was adopted 70 years ago. Nadia Murad survived the worst of the cruelties and brutality inflicted on her people, the Yazidis of Iraq, by the Islamic State group before becoming a global champion of their cause and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Murad, who was taken hostage by IS in 2014 but escaped, is the first Iraqi to receive the prestigious award. The 25-year-old won the Nobel in October alongside Congolese doctor Denis Mukwege for their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war. For me, justice doesnt mean killing all of the Daesh members who committed these crimes against us, she said shortly after winning, using an Arabic acronym for IS. 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. The slender, dark-haired woman once lived a quiet life in her village in the mountainous Yazidi stronghold of Sinjar in northern Iraq, close to the border with Syria. But when the jihadists stormed across swathes of the two countries in August 2014, her nightmare began. IS fighters swept into her village, Kojo, killing the men, taking children captive to train them as fighters and condemning thousands of women to a life of forced labour and sexual slavery. Murad was taken by force to Mosul, the Iraqi capital of the ISs self-declared caliphate, where she was held captive and repeatedly gang-raped, tortured and beaten. IS fighters wanted to take our honour, but they lost their honour, said Murad, now a United Nations goodwill ambassador for survivors of human trafficking. Seen as heretics For the jihadists, with their ultra-strict interpretation of Islam, the Yazidis are seen as heretics. The Kurdish-speaking community follows an ancient religion, revering a single God and the leader of the angels, represented by a peacock. Like thousands of Yazidis, Murad was sold and forcibly married to a jihadist, beaten and in contrast to the official wives of IS leaders forced to wear makeup and tight clothes, an experience she later related in front of the United Nations Security Council. The first thing they did was they forced us to convert to Islam, Murad told AFP in 2016. Shocked by the violence, Murad set about trying to escape, and managed to flee with the help of a Muslim family from Mosul. Using false identity papers, she managed to cross the few dozen kilometres (miles) to Iraqi Kurdistan, joining crowds of other displaced Yazidis in camps. There, she learnt that six of her brothers and her mother had been killed. With the help of an organisation that assists Yazidis, she joined her sister in Germany, where she lives today. The Yazidis numbered around 550,000 in Iraq before 2014, but some 100,000 have since left the country. Many others who fled their hometowns to Iraqi Kurdistan remain reluctant to return to their traditional lands. Since fleeing, Murad has dedicated herself to what she calls our peoples fight. She and her friend Lamia Haji Bashar, joint recipients of the EUs 2016 Sakharov human rights prize, have advocated to reveal the fate of 3,000 Yazidis who remain missing, presumed still in captivity. She has also campaigned for displaced Yazidis to be taken in by European countries and for the acts committed by IS to be recognised internationally as genocide. The Yazidi cause has won a high-profile supporter Lebanese-British lawyer and rights activist Amal Clooney, who also penned the foreword to Murads book, The Last Girl, published in 2017. That same year, the UN announced it would begin gathering evidence on IS war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide that would be used to try IS militants in Iraqi courts. Announcing the Nobels recipients in October, committee chairwoman Berit Reiss-Andersen said: A more peaceful world can only be achieved if women and their fundamental rights and security are recognised and protected in war. Yet in contrast to all the tragedies that have befallen her, recent pictures on Murads Twitter feed show happier times. In August, she announced her engagement to fellow Yazidi activist Abid Shamdeen. The struggle of our people brought us together & we will continue this path together, she wrote. Underneath, a photo showed her next to a young man in a bow tie, her face still framed by her long brown hair, but this time, bearing a broad smile. Photo: CTV RCMP are focusing on this vehicle after a paperboy was struck down early Friday morning. Photo: CBC Steve Kania Update 8:05 Dec. 7 - Steve Kania's family says he has been flown to Vancouver General Hospital for an operation. Kania's uncle, Jack Kania, says his nephew has a severe back injury, but he is not paralyzed. Update 1:15 p.m. - The Independent Investigations Office of BC (IIO) has taken over investigation of a crash early this morning in which a newspaper carrier was struck down while delivering newspapers. Contrary to published reports, the carrier was apparently hit by a vehicle being chased by RCMP and not an RCMP cruiser. In a brief statement released by IIO, the incident began, according to Kelowna RCMP, about 12:30 a.m. when a vehicle failed to stop for a road check. "A pursuit reportedly ensued and ended when the subject vehicle struck a pedestrian. The affected person was transported to hospital. The IIO was notified at 12:58 a.m. and deployed investigators, including a Level 4 Traffic Reconstructionist. The IIO and RCMP will work within the terms agreed upon in the Memorandum of Understanding that was signed by the Chief Civilian Director and BC's police services in July, 2012. The Kelowna RCMP remains responsible for any and all parallel investigations." The IIO is required to investigate anytime someone suffers serious harm because of police involvement, however removed that involvement may be. The independent office is canvassing for witnesses to the events. If you have information you are asked to contact the IIO witness information line toll free at 1-855 446-8477. Original Story 11:47 a.m. - A paper carrier is in critical condition in Kelowna General Hospital after he was hit by a vehicle shortly after 12:30 a.m. Friday. The crash occurred near Dundas and Dundee just off Highway 33 in Rutland. The vehicle had apparently blown through a road check prior to the crash. RCMP may have been in pursuit at the time, but this has not been confirmed. Witnesses say the vehicle hit the paperboy and knocked a fire hydrant several metres from its original position. BC Ambulance confirmed they transported one patient to KGH in critical condition. Witnesses at the scene say a man and a woman were arrested, both appeared to be between 40 and 50. A person at the scene told Castanet that a Capital News van was at the scene. RCMP are not commenting on the incident. The Independent Investigations Office (IIO) is investigating. Send photos and video to [email protected] EAGLE POINT, Ore. More than a month after a Jackson County grand jury voted to clear an Eagle Point Police officer of wrongdoing in the shooting death of Matthew Graves during an altercation at Carl's Jr in September, the Graves family has filed a civil lawsuit in reply. "In doing so the family wants to bring accountability and consequences to the Eagle Point Police Department and to all police departments and to all law enforcement agencies here and throughout the nation so that all police officers, local, state and federal wll be better trained in how to deal with innocent citizens, including those who suffer mental impairments," said a statement from Kelly L. Andersen and David Linthorst, who are representing the Graves family in the case. The lawsuit takes aim at both the actions of Officer Cardenas and in the grand jury proceedings alleging that Cardenas created the volatile situation by pursuing Graves when he had not committed anything beyond a minor traffic violation. Oregon law states that an officer "shall not arrest a person for a traffic violation." "Cardenas told the grand jury that he initially wanted to talk to Matthew about jaywalking. When Matthew did not want to talk to him, Cardenas doggedly pursued Matthew into Carl's Jr., never telling Matthew why he wanted to talk to him and never once issuing a command to which Matthew could comply," the lawyers' statement reads. Perhaps most importantly, the lawsuit attacks instructions given to the grand jury by District Attorney Beth Heckert. "Moreover the District Attorney instructed grand jurors only to focus on the 'moment when he [Cardenas] fires.' Oregon law actually requires that determining police misconduct must be based upon a 'totality of the circumstances,'" the statement says. That totality, the lawsuit alleges, includes Cardenas' unjustified attempt to arrest Graves by blockading him in the Carl's Jr. bathroom. The suit also takes issue with apparent inconsistencies between what occurs in Cardenas' body cam footage and statements delivered by both officers Cardenas and Davis during the grand jury testimony. "Cardenas claimed that Matthew began 'posturing' and 'stepping towards me,' outside of Carl's Jr. The body cam footage shows no such posturing or change of direction toward Cardenas," says the statement from Andersen and Linthorst. The lawsuit names the City of Eagle Point, the Eagle Point Police Department, and Officer Cardenas responsible for the deprivation of Matthe Graves' civil rights and his wrongful death. It asks that a federal jury determine the "full and fair value" of those damages, plus fees for experts and attorneys. The full text of the lawsuit may be viewed or downloaded below. Photo: Google Summerland Seniors Village A Summerland seniors care home owned by the Chinese government has been under the close eye of inspectors this year, and they havent liked what theyve been finding. The Summerland Seniors Village has been visited by Interior Health four times this year, according to inspection reports reviewed by Castanet News. During three of those visits, the facility was found to not be staffing to adequate levels, among a variety of other infractions. The facility was thrust under the microscope earlier this year after complaints to local politicians about the facility not meeting staffing obligations. The Summerland Seniors Village was purchased by Chinas Anbang Insurance last year along with 21 other B.C. care homes with the purchase of Retirement Concepts for $1 billion. In February, the Chinese government seized control of the company and jailed its CEO for fraud. While a July 31 inspection was a regularly announced visit, the three other inspections on Sept. 21, Nov. 22 and Nov. 23 were in response to complaints received by IH. In all three cases the allegations were substantiated" or "partially substantiated. The most recent inspection just two weeks ago on Nov. 23 found the facilitys staffing patterns were not meeting the needs of persons in care in a manner consistent with the health, safety and dignity of those in care. MLA Dan Ashton says he's heard a steady stream of complaints about staffing shortages at the care home this year. The staff that are there are incredible, they work hard, they really love the residents. They are so helpful, but there just isnt enough of them and they are challenged, he said. Ive personally seen where people come early in the morning for the morning shift and they are there late at night because there is no help. Ashton points to the pay discrepancy between privately-operated facilities and those run by IH, where staff are compensated by up to $5 per hour more, as a major contributor to the staffing crunch. He says recommendations from the provincial committee on budget consultations, which he sits on, are headed to the Minister of Finances desk that call on government to establish minimum staffing levels and equalized compensation for care workers. Its not the only thing, but it will help, Ashton said. Those inspections are proving what was brought to myself and MP Dan Albas right at the start that there are staffing shortages and they need to be addressed. In some cases, family members have gone as far as hiring outside help to ensure their loved ones are cared for properly at the home. Other violations found during the inspections include failing to report incidents, not meeting individual care plans and not properly monitoring the environment and care of residents. Each inspection report compels the facility operator to present a written plan on how it will come into compliance with regulations. Those plans are not available for viewing online. Interior Health did not make anyone available for comment. 18 Shares Share On Wednesday, I did a gunshot-wound autopsy. On Friday, I was going into the morgue to perform another when I checked Twitter and saw this. Doctors across the U.S. and across medical specialties were already responding and sharing photos: their face shields spattered and scrubs drenched in their patients blood; more blood on the emergency room floor; and the chair in the consult room where a doctor would give the terrible news to another grieving mother, day after day. I was furious. How dare the NRA tell doctors to stay in their lane? The NRA swerved into our lane in 1996 by pushing the Dickey Amendment to limit gun-control research. They lobbied for a Florida physician gag law that restricted doctors from talking to their patients about gun safety. And, this NRA tweet was a response to an American College of Physicians position paper written by doctors to guide others on the best practices of patient care. I couldnt help myself; I shot back. Then, I shut off my phone and went into the autopsy suite. Four hours later, I got out and discovered that my post had gone viral. In my email, there were interview inquiries from CNN, NPR, ABC News, and other media outlets. In the week that followed, the most encouraging responses I received to my mic-drop tweet were from gun owners. Turns out that there is a deep, if underreported current of civil debate between gun owners and gun control advocates in this country. Then, doctors from as far away as India and Australia, sister democracies which have instituted effective restrictions on gun availability, responded with their personal and professional experiences. Most inspiring was that within a week, the American College of Surgeons published recommendations on gun safety and advocacy, written by 22 surgeons eighteen of them passionate firearm owners. The most common critiques lobbed at me focused on how removing bullets doesnt make doctors experts on guns or gun policy, followed by facile arguments that assumed I was advocating for a weapons ban. I am not. I sent out that hot-headed tweet because I fervently believe that physicians have a right and a responsibility to speak out about gun violence, and to address the effects of that violence by doing what we do best comprehensive research and the application of sound science stemming from that research. Gun violence is a public health hazard. When one child in a school commits suicide, and others follow suit, or when a mass shooting instigates others, we call it, accurately, contagion. Epidemiological concepts apply to gun control. Strengthening gun laws in a bounded region does not improve firearm mortality outcomes if guns from a nearby area with weak laws can be brought in. Gun laws have to be geographically broad and universally enforced to be effective, just like with vaccinations. Doctors and scientists have a responsibility to speak out about how to keep our patients safe. We are trained to interpret large-scale studies and apply the findings directly to our individual patients, a mode of practice called evidence-based medicine. In contrast to the NRA, we dont shut down research if we think its limited in scope, flawed, or biased. We fund and carry out a better study. Tens of thousands of us have signed an open letter to the NRA advocating for more research into gun violence. Doctors embrace technology and safety innovation. Furthermore, medical professionals are on the front lines of identifying and reporting dangerously psychotic people who should not own or have access to guns. I urge you to add your name and donate to fund sound and reliable research. I also urge you to sign the Brady campaign petition to demand Congress to enact comprehensive legislation to curb gun violence. We doctors need to put our money where our mouths are and fund coordinated advocacy. We also need to work within our specialty organizations to magnify those lobbying efforts. The majority of Americans support some restrictions on gun access and ownership, especially for those who are mentally ill or violent. We need to advocate for the expansion of Extreme Risk Protection Orders (or ERPOs) which allow family members and law enforcement to remove guns from those who are in imminent danger of harming themselves or others. Doctors have a powerful lobby in Washington, which acted to protect the interests of our patients during the passage of the Affordable Care Act. Its about time we joined those patients, the victims of gun violence, in fighting for effectual changes in our gun laws. Judy Melinek is a forensic pathologist and CEO, PathologyExpert Inc. This article originally appeared in MedPage Today. Image credit: Shutterstock.com PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - The state's highest court has upheld a judge's suppression of an alleged confession made by Homer Lee Jackson III, marking a significant setback to a Portland case that has been pending since his arrest for allegedly killing multiple people. The Oregonian/OregonLive reports the Oregon Supreme Court found Thursday that two Portland police "detectives' methods and inducements may have persuaded defendant to tell the detectives what they wanted to hear, whether or not that was the truth." Police arrested Jackson in October 2015 and accused him of strangling two teenagers and two women in their 20s who worked as prostitutes in the 1980s. He's pleaded not guilty to aggravated murder charges. The state Supreme Court upheld the 2017 ruling by Multnomah County Circuit Judge Michael A. Greenlick, who threw out statements Jackson made during more than seven hours of questioning by detectives. EUGENE, Ore. -- The Oregon Department of Transportation held an open house on Thursday, seeking public feedback on their proposed Amtrak project. RELATED: PROPOSAL WOULD ADD MORE AMTRAK TRAINS Eugene community members were invited to learn more about that proposed plan on Thursday evening. However, not everyone feels that the plan is the right strategy moving forward. Right now, that plan is in the Environmental Impact portion of the planning process. Completing that phase and getting public feedback is necessary to be able to have a chance at getting federal money needed to make the plan happen. ODOT Passenger Rail Program Manager Jennifer Sellers said it's all part of improving Amtrak transit to Portland and back to Eugene. "So, this will allow us to be competitive for funding, and we're looking at ways to improve service, improve reliability, improve speeds, and just improve the service overall in the state of Oregon," Sellers said. ODOT said they have had a lot of positive feedback on the project so far. However, not everyone thinks Amtrak improvements should be the mindset of the future. "I would like more," said Eugene resident Carleen Reilly. "I would like the higher speed rail. But, I'm willing to settle for this as incremental and move forward." If you would like to offer your feedback on this proposed plan, you can do so by following this link. Photo: Penticton councillor Jake Kimberley asked RCMP Supt. Ted De Jager Thursday for more visible police presence downtown to deter vagrancy. Penticton city councillor Jake Kimberley told RCMP Supt. Ted De Jager he frequently hears the question "Where are the police?" from his constituents when it comes to the ongoing issues with crime and drug use downtown. De Jager was at Thursday's Regional District of South Okanagan Similkameen board meeting fielding questions and concerns from regional directors and councillors. Kimberley said the visual he sees when he goes downtown is that a lot of criminal activity is going on, which is "not a good look." "Some people believe if a police cruiser were going down Main Street on a fairly regular basis, it would deter a lot of the activity," Kimberley said, adding that whenever he does see a cop around, the illegal activities "seem to settle down." "Theres been a lot of reporting of alleyway activity, needles etc., drugs, which really should be chased out," he said. De Jager said there frequently is a police car downtown, it's just usually unmarked as part of a targeted enforcement unit, since the RCMP's current priority is prolific offenders, not people committing small infractions. "The majority of the people that I lose sleep about overnight in terms of crime are not homeless, they're not necessarily addicted, they're not the people you see downtown. They're just bad guys," De Jager. "The people that we see downtown, that create that perception of danger, that activity is certainly not condoned and we are trying to reach out to those people to prevent it and stop it but it's a much greater issue than the police." De Jager also said that often, the visible small crimes downtown like drinking in public, using drugs or littering needles end up being ticketable offences rather than something that could warrant an arrest, as often by the time RCMP arrive the activity has ceased. "The use of drugs is not illegal in Canada, the possession of drugs is. If someone doesn't possess drugs then there's no authority to arrest them, and that does frustrate people, we get those calls too, people saying 'We called the police and they didn't do anything,'" he said. Kimberley acknowledged De Jager's point about the powers of police downtown, but stressed that his point was more about the visible issues in the downtown core that affect how both residents and visitors view the city. He suggested those misbehaving might decide not to if they knew police were around. "If they see a marked car, then it's a deterrent to the activities on the street, and I'm talking about loitering and, you know, it's really bad," Kimberley said. "If a marked car were to go by on a regular basis throughout the day, I think that would discourage a lot of that activity." Photo: Contributed The CBSA raided the Singla home offices in June. A Canadian Border Services Agency investigation into the dealings of a prominent Penticton developer and landlord remains active. Border agents have very recently been conducting interviews in Penticton regarding Singla Brothers Holdings Ltd., a source familiar with the matter tells Castanet News. The CBSA raided the Singla family home offices on June 7, but have remained very tight-lipped about the investigation since then. Court records on the search warrant were sealed by a judge. Castanet has learned the probe into the Singlas is linked to the CBSA investigation of Can-Asia immigration consulting in Surrey, which saw border agents raid its offices in October 2017. Neither Singla Brothers Ltd., Can-Asia, or any of their employees, have been publicly accused of or charged with any wrongdoing by the CBSA. The CBSA did not respond to request for comment. Singla Bros. has operated in Penticton since 1973 as a developer and landlord. The companys website boasts 200 rental properties in the area. Today FM duo, Dermot Whelan and Dave Moore, have just announced a 10-date nationwide tour of their brand new hilarious comedy show, Dermot & Dave Live! The tour includes a stop at The Hub, Kilkenny on Monday 18th May 2019. The lads have toured the length and breadth of Ireland with sell-out crowds in venues like Vicar St in Dublin and the INEC in Killarney. Theyre ready for even bigger crowds this time around.When the 2018 Vodafone Comedy Carnival line-up was announced, Dermot and Dave were the first act to sell out their shows, with tickets disappearing in a matter of hours. Now, theyre ready to hit the road again with a brand new show that brings together stand-up comedy, hilarious characters and a whole load of rocking musical performances. When asked what people can expect from their new stand up show, neither of them actually answered the call but their message minder said, Hi, youve reached Dermot and Dave and we cant take your call right now but the show is going to be amazing. We sing, we dance, we take our tops off. And theres even more craic and lunacy than last time. *BEEP* Even though the show is brand new, you neednt fear, all of the lads favourite characters will make a return including internet sensation, Noni, Limericks infamous chocolate seller and Tony Club Classic Cascarino. Audience reviews from the last tour: "I've a pain in my jaw from laughing!" "Definitely one of the best comedy shows I've been at!" "If you do one thing, go see Dermot and Dave!" Tour Dates: 26th April - Arklow Bay Hotel Wicklow 27th April - Glenroyal Hotel and Spa Maynooth 3rd May - UCH Limerick 10th May -Vicar St Dublin 11th May - Royal Theatre Castlebar 17th May - Charleville Park Hotel Cork 18th May The Hub Kilkenny 24th May - Wexford Opera House 25th May - Crescent Concert Hall Drogheda 7th June INEC Killarney The Kilkenny based, breast cancer survivor dragon boat club, Nore Dragon Paddlers- KACC, set up primarily for breast cancer survivors, won a prestigious European award in Spain last Saturday night. And in October they were awarded a Heroes in the Community Award from Keep Kilkenny Beautiful for their continuous environmental contribution on the River Nore along with the Kilkenny Aqua Canoe Club, KACC. This involved regular litter picks on the river while out on the water in their specially adapted boats . As a result of the great achievement, the president of the Irish Dragon Boat Association, Julie Doyle, nominated the Nore Dragon Paddlers for the Environmental Award at the European Dragon Boat Federation Forum which was held in Seville, Spain last weekend. Not only did we make the final, but we actually won the award, PRO of the group, Mary Treacy said. The award ceremony was held Saturday night and was attended by representatives of the dragon boat community from 16 Nations including Ireland. We would like to congratulate all our members for their unwavering community spirit whilst battling their own private journeys, Mary said. Litter picks are not our only achievements this year, in August we won the Tara Sheridan Memorial Trophy at the Cork Rebel Regatta for winning the Breast Cancer Survivor category. We also participated, for its first time, along with our neighbouring club, Suir Dragon Paddlers under the name of Three Sisters in the IBCPC Participatory Dragon Boat Festival in Florence back in July, as well as taking part in the Athy, Dublin and Carlow IDBA regattas, Mary added. If you are a breast cancer survivor and would like any information about joining our club please contact our facebook Nore Dragon Paddlers or call 087 236 3298. The idea was and is to promote and develop physical activity to support recovery from cancer treatment and also to improve the physical and psychological wellbeing of people who have or have had Breast Cancer. Research has shown that repetitive upper body movement can aid those individuals suffering from Lymphedema. ROCHESTER, Minn. The Rochester Salvation Army is taking steps to catch up to its usual donation amount this time of year. According to the non-profit organization, the early December snowstorm set them back about $7,000. It also said only about 1 in 4 Americans carry cash regularly today. To keep donations coming in, people will be able to donate to the kettles via credit card on Saturday, December 8, at the Crossroads Hy-Vee location. CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa A Mason City man is pleading guilty to dealing methamphetamine. Mark Monroe Hoffman, 57, entered a guilty plea Friday in Cedar Rapids Federal Court to one count of possession with intent to distribute meth. When he was arrested on the north side of Mason City on November 22, 2016, law enforcement says Hoffman had four baggies of meth totaling well over five grams, as well as a digital scale and other baggies. State charges against Hoffman were dismissed to allow federal prosecution. No sentencing date has been set. FOREST CITY, Iowa A North Iowa man has been charged in the case of a woman who went missing in early November. Kristofer Warren Voigt, 38 of Mason City is accused of 1st degree burglary, 2nd degree kidnapping, 1st degree harassment, and assault while participating in a felony. Authorities say Voigt broke into a home in the 200 block of Park Street in Lake Mills on November 7. Court documents state Voigt was armed with a knife and a gun, assaulted a woman inside the home, then abducted her. Hes accused of taking the woman to another home in Lake Mills, then to an apartment, and then to Mason City. Investigators say the woman stated Voigt repeatedly threatened to kill her. Winnebago County authorities initially asked for the publics help in locating the woman. For previous coverage of this story, click here and here. Voigt is also accused of helping to steal a jet skit in Clear Lake. More information on that case is available here. MASON CITY, Iowa A Mason City girl missing for nearly two months has been located and an 18-year-old man has been charged with harboring a runaway. Tala Rose Schaal, 15, was found after being reported missing back in October. According to Mason City Police, witnesses reported possibly seeing Schaal go into an apartment building at 324 1st Street SW in Mason City around 7:40 p.m. on Thursday. Officers responded and found Schaal minutes later. Police arrested 18-year-old Devyn Robert Belseth for Harboring a Runaway Against the Wishes of a Parent or Guardian. He is currently in the Cerro Gordo County Jail, held on a $2,000 bond. Police said Belseth knew Schaal was a runaway and that he allowed her to stay at his residence multiple times, according to court documents. Schaal was reported missing on October 10 after last being seen at her home in Mason City. The investigation is ongoing and MCPD asks anyone with additional information to come forward. People can call 641-421-3000. Photo: The Canadian Press The Salvation Army in Calgary says it has had to cancel volunteer shifts and close a warehouse because the agency hasn't received enough Christmas toys for workers to sort. There are 7,000 children under the age of 14 registered for the agency's toy program in the city. Officials say 18,000 toys have been received so far, but about 40,000 are needed. Spokeswoman Karen Livick says that in the past the agency has sometimes seen fewer toys donated in some age groups than in others. But this year donations are down generally. Livick says the organization is aware that buying a toy may not be in everyones budget. I think its a direct result of the economic crisis that were seeing and ... starting to feel again in Calgary," Livick said. "Weve started to feel it for a couple of years, but this year ... people are a little unsure about their job situation and whats going to happen in the new year. "Theyre finding themselves ... not being able to buy that extra toy to donate. There is uncertainty in the oilpatch right now because the price for Alberta oil is low and Premier Rachel Notley is bringing in production cuts in the new year. People can drop off new, unwrapped toys until Dec. 15 at various locations around the city. Livick points out that the Salvation Army also accepts monetary donations. GARNER, Iowa An accused jewelry thief is pleading not guilty. Tiffany Leanne Clayton, 30 of Jacksonville, IL, is now set to stand trial starting January 23, 2019, on 2nd degree theft in Hancock County. Authorities say she stole an estimated $9,450 worth of jewelry while staying at a home in Goodell between December 2017 and February 2018. Law enforcement says the jewelry wound up being pawned by Clayton and some of her friends. The price of palladium just exceeded the price of gold for the first time in 16 years. Thats an epic even. But what does it really mean? And why should gold, silver, and mining stock investors care about the small palladium market? In short, because this development can tell us something about the future performance of the PM sector in general. The last time the gold to palladium ratio was trading below 1, meaning that palladium was worth more than gold, was in late 2002. The ratio stayed there for a few months before finally rallying above it, which suggests that investors may need to see both metals at similar price levels before they accept that palladium can really be worth more than gold. The 2002 example, however, shows that the 1 level works as resistance for the ratio, and in the current case its critical to check if it works as support. And it does. Not with perfect precision, but its definitely useful. Back in 1998, when the ratio was breaking below 1, it moved back and forth around this level for several months, and declined below this important level only after this consolidation was completed. What does it imply for the current situation? It indicates that palladiums march higher may stop for a while. Moreover, if gold declines in the following weeks, it may decline as well in order to keep the ratio close to 1. The key question that you are probably asking yourself is why does this small market (the size of the palladium market is tiny compared to the one of gold) matter for those, who are interested in gold, silver, and mining stocks, not only in palladium. The reply is that, when approached carefully, palladiums link to gold can serve as a technical signal. The gold to palladium ratio by itself is not range-bound. It moves extremes that are not necessarily consistent over time and because of that its not really useful on its own. However, applying an indicator that would transform the ratio movement into something thats more range-bound can provide us with more valuable information. Well use the RSI indicator, which you can see in the upper part of the above chart. Lets start with the limitation of the above approach. Even in case of the RSI indicator, the overbought levels of the gold to palladium ratio are not consistent with each other (the ratio does not reverse after reaching the same level), which makes it a poor signal for detecting extremes. On a side note, the gold and silver CoT reports have the same flaw. Fortunately, there is a way to use the above after all. The oversold levels of the gold to palladium ratio have shown more consistency and serve as a bearish signal for gold. It's not clear enough to rely solely on it while making investment decisions, but it appears very useful as a confirmation tool. In the past decade, the RSI based on the ratio below or very near 30 has been a very reliable indication that a big decline in gold may be just around the corner. The 2009, late-2010, early-2013, late-2016, early 2018 tops were all accompanied by this signal. The mid-2014 was an exception from the rule. Since almost all cases form the past decade when the RSI based on the gold to palladium ratio moved very close to or below 30 meant that huge declines in gold are close, then we can view it as a very bearish signal. This is especially the case that its not a single bearish factor thats currently in place. Conversely, theres been a number of factors pointing to a big decline in the prices of gold, silver and mining stocks in the following weeks. Consequently, the above-mentioned bearish signal serves as their confirmation. From the gold & silver portfolio management point of view, it may be tempting to focus on palladium as its been performing so well lately. However, the long-term outlook is not as rosy as it seems. We explained it in the part 5 of our Preparing for the Bottom series, entitled What to Buy, and it seems that in light of whats happening in palladium prices right now, its worth quoting this analysis: Well, its potential seems more promising than the one of platinum (and the platinum to palladium ratio has been declining accordingly), but its still likely to suffer due to the same fundamental reasons in the coming years. Almost 85% of demand for palladium comes from the automotive industry (its used instead of platinum in the case of the gasoline-powered cars), which makes it effectively an industrial metal, more similar to copper than to gold. So, should it really be a part of a precious metals portfolio? It could, if it had a promising outlook and this also seems to be a problem. While its likely to outperform platinum (just as gasoline cars are taking over diesel cars), it has a major problem in the form of the long-term rise of the electric car market share. These cars will not dominate the market shortly, but the trend is already present and since markets are generally forward-looking, the prices could reflect this trend much sooner, which doesnt bode well for the prices of palladium in the following years (at least compared to gold and silver). Some might say that fuel cells will support the demand for platinum and palladium, but that doesnt seem to be the case. From a technical point of view, we see that palladium has been outperforming the precious metals sector for a few years, but the 2000 2009 performance was very weak. The biggest run-up in addition to the current one was seen right after the 2008 bottom ($160.30) when palladium rallied to $862 in 2011 (rallying by almost 438%). For comparison, silver soared from $8.40 to $49.83 (rallying by over 493%) the latter still outperformed. So, when did palladium exactly outperform? When the precious metals sector in general was declining. Its no wonder that this happened after all, the general stock market has been soaring and the vast majority of demand for palladium is of industrial nature. Since we want to enter the precious metals market and exit it close to the top, then its the performance during upswings that is most important, but one can say that the above is at least interesting about palladium. Whats less interesting is palladiums performance in the previous great bull market that we saw 4 decades ago. Palladium rose from below $40 to about $350, while gold moved from below $40 to about $850 and silver moved from below $1.50 to about $50. Palladium was a clear loser in that race and since history tends to rhyme, it doesnt make us thrilled about palladiums future performance. All in all, even though the price is currently well above the palladium production cost, this precious metals doesnt seem to be a long-term winner. Its fundamental picture and the analogy to the previous great bull market make us reluctant to include it in the long-term investment category of the precious metals portfolio. There are better ways to gain the edge over other investors than through adding palladium to ones investment portfolio. Summing up, the outlook for the precious metals market remains very bearish for the following weeks and. The strongly bearish analogies to 2013 and 1999, miners underperformance, the number of intraday reversals in the GLD ETF, the triangle-based reversals in gold and silver, the outlook for the USD Index as well as the situation in the gold to palladium ratio are only several of multiple reasons pointing to much lower precious metals prices in the near future. Naturally, the above is up-to-date at the moment of publishing it and the situation may and is likely to change in the future. Thank you. Recently, one of my members of Elliottwavetrader was in attendance at the 32nd Economic Outlook Symposium hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. On the first day, he sat in a room with 150 economists. When asked how many see a recession in 2019, all of two hands went up. So, let me ask you a question: When was the last time the majority of economists correctly called for a recession? (I think we all know the answer to this one). In fact, economists are the last people to see recessions coming. And by the time they identify that we are in recession, especially mild ones, they are often just about over by the time they recognize it. I have often quoted Professor Douglas (a former Luksic Scholar at Harvard University, former Deputy Research Administrator at the World Bank, and former Senior Economist at the IMF) many times in the past, but it certainly is worth the repetition: financial markets never collapse when things look bad. In fact, quite the contrary is true. Before contractions begin, macroeconomic flows always look fine. That is why the vast majority of economists always proclaim the economy to be in excellent health just before it swoons. Despite these failures, indeed despite repeating almost precisely those failures, economists have continued to pore over the same macroeconomic fundamentals for clues to the future. If the conventional macroeconomic approach is useless even in retrospect, if it cannot explain or understand an outcome when we know what it is, has it a prayer of doing so when the goal is assessing the future? Why does this happen? Well, I have tried explaining this in detail in a past article, and you can always read it here if you want the further detail. But, in summary, markets are driven by mass sentiment. When mass sentiment changes direction, the most immediate effect is investor buying and selling of stocks. That is why everyone recognizes the stock market as a leading indicator for the economy. But, it is not due to some form of omniscience. Rather, the most immediate manner in which investors can act upon their changing sentiment is by buying and selling stocks. However, the fundamentals will significantly lag this effect. You see, it takes a lot of time between a changing sentiment and the point at which the delayed data begins to filter into the economists reports. In fact, it can be so delayed that by the time they have recognized that we are in a recession, we may be near its completion. This explains why economists are often the last to be able to prognosticate a turn down in the economy well before it happens. This is even more true for their ability to predict a turn down in the stock market. Moreover, as Professor Douglas so aptly put it, they are often most bullish at the highs, and most bearish at the lows. So, when one of my members reports that 2 out of 150 leading economists see any potential for a recession, that is something of which you should take note. Allow me to give you a few more examples of economists who are/were quite certain of their economic perspectives. Recently, Larry Kudlow, the Director of the National Economic Council, boldly exclaimed on television that "recession is so far in the distance, I can't see it. Mind you, Mr. Kudlow made this statement just as the stock market began turning down. Before Janet Yellen stepped down as the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, she said that the banking system is "very much stronger" due to Fed supervision and higher capital levels. She then predicted that because of the measures the Fed has taken, another financial crisis is unlikely "in our lifetime." I see these economists perspective as being akin to the following: "We will not have any more crashes in our time." This was said John Maynard Keynes in 1927, two years before the stock market crash which lead to the Great Depression. "Stock prices have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau. I do not feel there will be soon if ever a 50 or 60 point break from present levels, such as they have predicted. I expect to see the stock market a good deal higher within a few months." This was said on October 17, 1929, a few weeks before the Great Crash, by Dr. Irving Fisher, Professor of Economics at Yale University. Dr. Fisher was one of the leading US economists of his time. "I cannot help but raise a dissenting voice to statements that we are living in a fool's paradise, and that prosperity in this country must necessarily diminish and recede in the near future." - E. H. H. Simmons, President, New York Stock Exchange, January 12, 1928 "There will be no interruption of our permanent prosperity." - Myron E. Forbes, President, Pierce Arrow Motor Car Co., January 12, 1928 And, these are just a few of the popular quotes of their day. And, by the way, has anyone heard of the Pierce Arrow Motor Car Company? You have not? Well, that is because they went bankrupt during the Great Depression. But, I digress. As George Santayana wisely said, those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it. And, as Professor Douglas highlighted, economists have never learned from history. My perspective remains that the market will likely drop down towards the 2100/2200 region in 2019/2020. You see, from an Elliott Wave perspective, that is the standard target for this degree correction that I am expecting to see within that time frame. And by the time we approach those regions, the majority of economists will likely move towards agreement that we are in recession, just about the time when I will likely be viewing us as bottoming out in the stock market, and beginning to look back up to 3200+. So, at the end of the day, if you are using economic indicators to determine your allocation to the stock market, you will most certainly be well behind the curve, and significantly under-performing the stock market based upon history. Will you learn from history, or will you be condemned to repeat it? OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday said his government had no involvement in the arrest of a top executive from Chinese technology giant Huawei, who was detained at Vancouver airport. Trudeau said Ottawa had been given a few days advance notice about the plan to arrest Meng Wanzhou, who faces extradition to the United States. He declined to give further details, given that Meng faces a bail hearing on Friday. The news pummeled stock markets already nervous about increased tension between the United States and China and prompted experts to predict that an angry Beijing would retaliate against Canada. The appropriate authorities took the decisions in this case without any political involvement or interference ... we were advised by them with a few days notice that this was in the works, Trudeau told reporters in Montreal in televised remarks. Asked whether he had spoken to the Chinese premier or the ambassador, Trudeau said he had had no conversations with international counterparts about the case. Chinas embassy said late on Wednesday that it firmly opposed what it called an unjustified arrest. PARIS (Reuters) - French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said 89,000 members of the security forces would be deployed nationwide on Saturday, including 8,000 in Paris, where armored vehicles will also be out on the streets. We are facing people who are not here to protest, but to smash and we want to have the means to not give them a free rein, Philippe told TF1 televisions evening news program on Thursday, revising an earlier figure of 65,000 forces. Philippe said about 10 armored vehicles belonging to the gendarmerie would also be used, the first time since 2005 when riots broke out in Paris suburbs. (Reuters) - The United States last week exported more crude oil and fuel than it imported for the first time on record, according to data released on Thursday, the same day OPEC ended a meeting without a decision to curb global output to balance out the historic surge in U.S. supply. When adding in all imports and exports of crude and refined products, the U.S. exported a net 211,000 barrels per day for the week through Nov. 30 the first time that has happened, according to U.S. Energy Department figures dating to 1973. That was on the back of a jump in crude exports to a weekly record of more than 3.2 million bpd. So when does the U.S. send a delegate to OPEC meetings? said Kyle Cooper, consultant at ION Energy in Houston. Its really quite amazing. I do think that will occur more and more often in coming years. The United States historically has been a heavy importer of crude oil in part due to a four-decade ban on crude exports that was lifted in late 2015 by then-President Barack Obama. Petroleum exports until recently were dominated by products like gasoline and diesel, but that has changed since the U.S. shale revolution that has sped up drilling and extraction of oil, helping boost overall U.S. production to a record 11.7 million bpd. The data comes on the same day that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries adjourned a meeting without announcing a supply-cut agreement as it grapples with sinking prices due in part to the surge in U.S. output that has upended the global supply equation. Crude inventories fell 7.3 million barrels last week, the first drawdown since September, as net crude imports hit a record low of 4 million bpd, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said on Thursday. (Graphic: U.S. turns into net exporter of oil - tmsnrt.rs/2Rz57Xn) U.S. crude prices have sagged almost a third since hitting a four-year high near $76 a barrel in October. That was in part due to concerns about oversupply coming to the fore again as U.S. production rose in tandem with increased output from Saudi Arabia and Russia. The three countries are the worlds largest producers of oil. That has created a dilemma for Saudi-led OPEC, which wants to maintain higher prices but avoid ceding more market share to shale producers. On Thursday, OPEC adjourned its meeting in Vienna, aiming to reach an agreement with Russia on Friday. It seems EIA has a habit of sending bad news to OPEC during its Vienna meetings. In the past, it has been surging U.S. production numbers. But this time was truly remarkable and historic showing data for net crude imports as -211,000 bpd, said Joe McMonigle, analyst at Hedgeye in Washington. U.S. crude production is expected to average more than 12 million bpd in 2019, according to the EIA, an increase of more than 3 million bpd in 2016. Shale production surged in the early part of the decade as companies started to use hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, to extract oil in basins in Texas, North Dakota and other states. U.S. output rose to 9.7 million bpd in mid-2015, just shy of the nations all-time high set in 1970, but fell off when OPEC flooded the world markets with supply to try to hinder the shale industry. But OPEC was forced to curb output in 2016 as oil-producing nations faced budget shortfalls, and as prices recovered, shales output accelerated. Every single month, every single year, were going to become more of a global pie and thats a part of the pie you cant control - its completely different than the OPEC piece, said Bernadette Johnson, vice president in market intelligence at Drillinginfo in Denver. For the week, the United States also posted net exports of 4.2 million bpd of products like gasoline and diesel. The weekly figures are subject to wide fluctuations, however, so the sudden shift may be a temporary occurrence. Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates in Houston, said he was not surprised this happened in the winter, a seasonally slow period for domestic gasoline demand. U.S. oil prices ended Thursday lower, due to concern that planned OPEC production cuts will be smaller than originally anticipated. U.S. crude futures lost 2.7 percent on the day, while Brent crude dropped by 2.4 percent. SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Qualcomm Inc (QCOM.O), the biggest supplier of chips for mobile phones, on Thursday pushed further into the PC market with a line of chips designed to power business machines. Qualcomms Snapdragon processor chips historically have been at the heart of mobile phones like Alphabet Incs (GOOGL.O) Google Pixel phone and many Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930.KS) devices. Over the past year, though, Qualcomm adapted its chips to operate PCs running Microsoft Corps (MSFT.O) Windows operating system, making those machines start up more quickly and stay connected to the Internet constantly, much like a mobile phone or tablet. But the chips Qualcomm used in those early PCs were essentially modified versions of the chips it sold for mobile phones. At an event in Hawaii on Thursday, Qualcomm officials said they have created a new series of chips called the Snapdragon 8cx that will be dedicated to PCs. The biggest difference is the new Qualcomm chips will support Windows 10 Enterprise, the version of Microsofts popular operating system that is sold to businesses. Previous Qualcomm chips supported only the consumer versions of Windows, making business customers less likely to purchase computers powered by them. Qualcomms move puts it in greater competition with chipmaker Intel Corp (INTC.O), which last year still derived more than half of its $62.8 billion in revenue from PC chips and dominates that market. Intels association with Windows PCs was so strong that the computer industry referred to them as Wintel machines for decades. Qualcomm and others are also challenging Intels supremacy in the data center business. Qualcomms chips are powered by technology from SoftBank Group Corp-controlled Arm Holdings. Several companies - including Amazon.coms (AMZN.O) cloud division Amazon Web Services, a major Intel customer - are working to make ARM-based chips suitable for data centers. [nL2N1Y31HG] WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump did not know about a U.S. request for the extradition of Huaweis chief financial officer from Canada before he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping over dinner last weekend, a White House official said on Thursday. Huawei Technologies Ltds CFO Meng Wanzhou, the daughter of the companys founder, was arrested in Canada on Dec. 1 and faces extradition to the United States. The United States has been looking since at least 2016 into whether Huawei violated U.S. sanctions against Iran. Reporting by Roberta Rampton; Writing by Makini Brice 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. (Kitco News) - Gold prices are moderately up and hit a six-week high in early U.S. trading Friday, in the wake of a U.S. jobs report that did not meet market expectations on the key jobs-growth component. February gold futures were last up $5.50 an ounce at $1,249.10. March Comex silver was up $0.096 at $14.605 an ounce. What is arguably the most important U.S. economic report of the month, the Labor Department Employment Situation Report for November, saw the key non-farm jobs number come in at up 155,000, which was well below the consensus forecast of up 198,000. However, the October non-farm jobs number was revised significantly up from its initial reading, to mitigate todays miss on the downside in the November report. Still, this report leans slightly in favor of the U.S. monetary policy doves who would prefer the Federal Reserve tighten money policy at a slower pace. World stock markets were mixed but stable overnight. U.S. stock indexes are pointed toward slightly weaker openings when the New York day session begins. There is still some anxiety in the world marketplace Friday, following the news Thursday that Chinese tech giant Huaweis chief financial officer was arrested in Canada, on behalf of the U.S., and the U.S wants to extradite her. China has called on Canada to release her, ahead of her scheduled hearing on extradition to the U.S. today. This matter has sparked fears U.S.-China trade tensions could rise further despite the recent agreed-upon truce. In overnight news, the Euro zone economy grew at a paltry rate of 1.6% in the third quarter, year-on-year, which was slightly less than forecast. The key outside markets today find the U.S. dollar index weaker following the somewhat downbeat U.S. jobs report. Meantime, Nymex crude oil prices are higher. The OPEC oil cartel is meeting in Vienna, Austria again today. Reports said OPEC heavyweight Saudi Arabia has not agreed to a production cut and is now skeptical an agreement can be reached. This has many crude oil market watchers wondering about any collective production cut being extended, after most reckoned such would be the case before the meeting began. Other U.S. economic data due for release Friday includes the University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey, monthly wholesale trade and consumer credit. There are also a couple of Federal Reserve officials speaking today. 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 $1,252.00 and then at $1,260.00. First support is seen at $1,240.00 and then at $1,235.80. 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 this weeks high of $14.745 and then at $15.00. Next support is seen at this weeks low of $14.28 and then at last weeks low of $14.115. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 3.0. TOKYO, Dec 7 (Reuters) - Pan Pacific Copper (PPC), Japan's top copper smelter, expects the price of the industrial metal to rise toward $7,000 a tonne in 2019, from about $6,168 now, backed by firm global demand and tighter supply, its executive said. PPC, which is also a miner controlled by JXTG Holdings , expects global consumption and supply of refined copper to each increase by 2.2 percent in 2019 from this year, Takeshi Suwabe, Pan Pacific's general manager for marketing, told Reuters this week. "With support from physical buyers, copper prices are likely to try $6,400 level in the short term," he said. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange has fallen 15 percent this year amid worries that the months-long U.S.-Sino trade war may hurt the global economy including China. But Suwabe said global copper sales have been solid despite the trade spat and the price will likely climb toward $7,000 - the level needed for miners to start developing new mines - in the latter part of 2019 to reflect a tighter market. PPC sees the global refined copper market facing a shortage of 236,000 tonnes next year, compared with a deficit of 211,000 tonnes this year. "Demand growth in China and the United States may slow a bit but global demand will stay sound," Suwabe said, pointing to strong infrastructure demand in China and healthy auto sales worldwide. "As for supply, China's new smelting capacity will help bolster global output, but troubles or maintenance at existing smelters to meet stricter environmental rules worldwide are expected to weigh on production," Suwabe said. The closure this year of Vedanta Resources' 400,000-tonne per year Tuticorin plant in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu has flipped India from being a net exporter of refined copper to a net importer, drastically reshaping physical copper flows. Last month, Chinese copper smelter Jiangxi Copper and Chilean miner Antofagasta have agreed 2019 copper treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) at $80.80 a tonne and 8.08 cents a pound, down from the 2018 benchmark of $82.25 and 8.225 cents. The 2019 charges should have been higher or flat from this year, said Shunji Iwanami, general manager for raw materials at PPC. "We were truly disappointed as we had expected higher or at least flat level as the global ore market is expected to see a surplus of 360,000 tonnes next year, just like this year," he said. (Reporting by Yuka Obayashi Editing by Manolo Serapio Jr.) A large group of people braved the cold Thursday night by the Sails in downtown Kelowna to remember the 14 women murdered 29 years ago in Montreal's Ecole Polytechnique massacre, along with dozens of others who've been killed in the Okanagan. The annual vigil to end violence against all women is held in communities across Canada on Dec. 6, the day a man walked into Montreal's Ecole Polytechnique in 1989 and murdered 14 women. He went into the engineering school and separated the men from the women and shot all the women, said Olivia Hofer, one of the organizers of the Kelowna vigil. It was a very clear act of gender-based violence and one of the first ones that our Canadian government recognized as such. The names of the 14 women were read aloud Thursday as roses were laid down in their memory. The names of upwards of 80 local women who have been killed or went missing were also read, and additional roses were laid down. We really want to remember these women, who they were, what their lives were like and to not forget their names because every year we're continuing to add more and we want to make sure that violence against women is ultimately ended, Hofer said. The names of Clara Forman and her two daughters Karina and Yesenia were added to the list of names read out at this year's event, after they were murdered in December of last year. Clara's husband, Jacob Forman, has been charged in their murders. Hofer said it was good to see men out at Thursday's event. Ultimately it's male behaviour and our gender norms and our culture that needs to change so hopefully that's something that's starting to shift with the Me Too Movement and people are starting to be able to speak out and be heard and it's so important that people are believed when they tell these stories, she said. Rania El Gamal, Olesya Astakhova, Shadia Nasralla VIENNA (Reuters) - OPEC and its Russia-led allies agreed on Friday to slash oil production by more than the market had expected despite pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to reduce the price of crude. The producer club will curb output by 0.8 million barrels per day from January while non-OPEC allies contribute an additional 0.4 million bpd of cuts, Iraqi Oil Minister Thamer Ghadhban said after OPEC concluded two days of talks in Vienna. Oil prices jumped about 5 percent to more than $63 a barrel by 1500 GMT as the combined cut of 1.2 million bpd was larger than the minimum 1 million bpd that the market had expected. Saudi Arabia, de facto leader of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, has faced demands from Trump to help the global economy by refraining from cutting supplies. An output reduction also would provide support to Iran by increasing the price of oil amid attempts by Washington to squeeze the economy of OPECs third-largest producer. We will never address geopolitical issues at OPEC, United Arab Emirates Energy Minister Suhail bin Mohammed al-Mazroui told a news conference. Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak praised the ability of his Saudi counterpart Khalid al-Falih to find a solution in the most difficult situation, indicating Russia was on board. The OPEC deal had hung in the balance for two days - first on fears that Russia would cut too little, and later on concerns that Iran, whose crude exports have been depleted by U.S. sanctions, would receive no exemption and block the agreement. But after hours of talks, Iran gave OPEC the green light and Russia indicated it was ready to cut more. A meeting of OPEC and non-OPEC producers quickly approved the deal, according to two OPEC sources. The cut will last for six months from January, Ghadhban said, and take October as the baseline. OPEC and Russian output was lower in October than in November. However, OPEC might not disclose individual output quotas, sources said. The OPEC+ cut is fuzzy on details and will likely result in less reduction than the headline figure of 1.2 million bpd, said Bob McNally, president of U.S.-based Rapidan Energy Group. President Trump will not be happy to see todays headlines, but how strongly he reacts depends mainly on whether crude prices rise strongly as a result in coming days and weeks. Washington added fuel to the fire when U.S. special representative for Iran Brian Hook met Falih in Vienna this week, in an unprecedented development ahead of an OPEC meeting. Saudi Arabia first denied the Hook-Falih discussion took place but later confirmed it. U.S. political pressure is clearly a dominant factor at this OPEC meeting, limiting the scope of Saudi actions to rebalance the market, said Gary Ross, chief executive of Black Gold Investors and a veteran OPEC watcher. The price of crude LCOc1 has fallen almost a third since October as Saudi Arabia, Russia and the United Arab Emirates raised output to offset lower exports from Iran. The price decline prompted OPEC and Russia to start discussing an output cut, but Russia long resisted any deep reduction. Novak met Russian President Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg on Thursday and returned to the Austrian capital on Friday. A Russian Energy Ministry source said Moscow was ready to contribute a cut of around 200,000 bpd - more than the initially suggested figure of 150,000 bpd. An OPEC source later said Russia had agreed to cut by 230,000 bpd. Russia, Saudi Arabia and the United States have been vying for the position of top crude producer in recent years. The United States is not part of any output-limiting initiative due to its anti-trust legislation and fragmented oil industry. On Thursday, U.S. government figures showed the country had become a net exporter of crude oil and refined products for the first time on record, underscoring how the surge in production has altered the supply equation in world markets. Additional reporting by Ahmad Ghaddar and Alex Lawler; Writing by Dmitry Zhdannikov; Editing by Dale Hudson; Graphics by Amanda Cooper NEW DELHI, Dec 7 (Reuters) - India's environmental court said it will resume hearing Vedanta Ltd's case on Monday to decide whether to re-open the company's copper smelter, which was closed earlier this year after 13 people died when police fired on protesters. Last week, a panel of experts set up by India's National Green Tribunal, informally known as the environmental court, said authorities in Tamil Nadu state had failed to comply with procedures before shutting down the smelter. On Friday, C.S. Vaidyanathan, the lawyer for the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board, questioned the power of the expert panel to decide on whether the ban on the smelter in the southern town of Thoothukudi be lifted. State authorities permanently shut down the Tamil Nadu plant after police fired on protesters calling for the closure of the plant in May over concerns it was polluting their air and water. Vedanta's lawyer Aryama Sundaram told the court the company planned to invest 1 billion rupees ($14.15 million) to build hospitals and schools for people living close to the smelter. The Vedanta plant, however, is unlikely to resume production anytime soon because the Tamil Nadu state government will likely appeal to the Supreme Court if it loses the case in the environmental court, sources said. The smelter is one of the two largest in India. Resuming production is crucial to Vedanta as it faces rising costs and the impact of a slowing economy on demand for metals and energy. (Reporting by Mayank Bhardwaj and Sudarshan Varadhan; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani and Tom Hogue) David Seymour released: ACT Leader David Seymour is calling on the Prime Minister to release details of her ministers conflicts of interest. Jacinda Ardern has promised the most open and transparent government in New Zealands history. But more than 13 months into the Labour-NZ First administration we are none the wiser about whether its ministers are conflicted in relation to personal or pecuniary matters. In 2012, the previous Government and the Chief Ombudsman agreed to an annual proactive release of information about the management of ministerial conflicts of interest in order to provide public assurance that they were being managed appropriately. But despite ACTs repeated requests for the information, the Government has refused to release it. Photo: The Canadian Press Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks to the media at a press conference Thursday, December 6, 2018 in Montreal. By the time he wraps up his day-long talk fest with provincial and territorial leaders, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau may well rue the day he promised to hold first ministers' meetings annually. Friday's closed-door gathering is Trudeau's fourth summit with premiers and promises to be the most turbulent and likely the least productive. Gone are the days when he was surrounded by friendly provincial Liberal allies. Now, he's facing a phalanx of conservative premiers who are putting up determined opposition to some of his signature policies, in particular his plan to impose a federal carbon tax next year. And one of them Ontario Premier Doug Ford has vowed to ensure Trudeau's Liberals are defeated in next fall's federal election. Federal officials privately believe that will include efforts to derail Friday's meeting, potentially even staging a dramatic walkout a scenario Ford and his aides did not rule out Thursday. But it's not just conservative premiers who are bound to cause headaches for the prime minister. He's got Liberal and New Democrat premiers who also have bones to pick with the federal government. They are all showing up to Fridays's meeting with a laundry list of issues they want addressed, but no agreement among themselves about which are most pressing or what should be done about them. For instance, New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs wants to revive a proposal for an Energy East pipeline. Quebec's Francois Legault says there's no way Quebecers will ever approve a pipeline through their province. Alberta's NDP premier, Rachel Notley, is furiously demanding federal action to help her province get its oil to tidewater for shipment to overseas markets, rather than being captive to the discount price paid by the United States. She and Saskatchewan's Scott Moe want the oil price crisis to top the agenda for Friday's meeting. They also want Trudeau to scrap Bill C-69, legislation to beef up environmental assessments of energy projects. Their concern that C-69 will scare off investors in things such as pipeline projects is shared by Newfoundland and Labrador's Dwight Ball and Nova Scotia's Stephen McNeil, both Liberals. But then there's British Columbia's NDP Premier, John Horgan, who has gone to court to stop the one pipeline project Trudeau's government has approved the Trans Mountain expansion. Four conservative premiers Ford, Moe, Higgs and Manitoba's Brian Pallister have also gone to court but, in their case, it's to stop what they refer to as Trudeau's "job-killing carbon tax." They want to push the issue to the forefront of the agenda. Photo: The Canadian Press A profile of Huawei's chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou is displayed on a Huawei computer at a Huawei store in Beijing, China, Thursday, Dec. 6, 2018. Canadian authorities said Wednesday that they have arrested Meng for possible extradition to the United States. A Chinese telecommunications executive who was arrested after an extradition request from the United States is scheduled to appear in a Vancouver court for a bail hearing today. Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies, was arrested Saturday while in transit at Vancouver's airport. The company says she faces extradition to the United States on unspecified charges. Chinese officials have expressed concern about the arrest, with the Chinese Embassy in Ottawa calling it as a serious violation of human rights, while Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang has said Canadian officials should reveal their reasoning for the arrest. Canada is not providing further details about the case because of a court-ordered publication ban. Huawei is the most prestigious tech company in China and was founded by Meng's father, Ren Zhengfei. The company has said it is not aware of any wrongdoing by Meng. Photo: The Canadian Press President Donald Trump announces that he is nominating William Barr, attorney general under President George H.W. Bush, as his attorney general, on the South Lawn of the White House, Friday, Dec. 7, 2018, in Washington. President Donald Trump said Friday he will nominate William Barr, the late President George H.W. Bush's attorney general, to serve in the same role. Trump made the announcement while departing the White House for a trip to Missouri. He called Barr "a terrific man" and "one of the most respected jurists in the country." "I think he will serve with great distinction," Trump said. If confirmed by the Senate, Barr would succeed Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who was forced out by Trump in November following an acrimonious tenure. Sessions' chief of staff, Matthew Whitaker, is currently serving as acting attorney general. Trump's fury at Sessions for recusing himself from the Russia investigation which helped set in motion the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller created deep tensions between Trump and his Justice Department. He sometimes puts the word "Justice" in quotes when referring to the department in tweets and has railed against its leaders for failing to investigate his 2016 campaign rival, Hillary Clinton, as extensively as he would like. Democrats will presumably seek reassurances during confirmation proceedings that Barr, who as attorney general would be in a position to oversee Mueller's investigation, would not do anything to interfere with the probe. The investigation appears to be showing signs of entering its final stages, prompting a flurry of tweets from the president Thursday and Friday. But an attorney general opposed to the investigation could theoretically move to cut funding or block certain investigative steps. Barr was attorney general between 1991 and 1993, serving in the Justice Department at the same Mueller oversaw the department's criminal division. Barr later worked as a corporate general counsel and is currently of counsel at a prominent international law firm, Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Still, while in private practice, Barr has occasionally weighed in on hot-button investigative matters in ways that could prompt concerns among Democrats. He told The New York Times in November 2017, in a story about Sessions directing his prosecutors to look into actions related Clinton, that "there is nothing inherently wrong about a president calling for an investigation" though Barr also said one should not be launched just because a president wants it. AH-64 Apache attacker helicopters parked at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, April 1, when South Korea and the U.S. began their annual Foal Eagle joint military exercise. The allies remained low-key for this year's field drills to reflect inter-Korean reconciliation. Yonhap By Lee Min-hyung South Korea and the United States will likely suspend their joint field exercises next year amid the detente reached on the peninsula with North Korea. Both sides are in discussions on whether to postpone their annual large-scale Foal Eagle combined tactical training exercise slated for March, but no official consensus has been reached yet. "The military authorities may suspend major joint military exercises next year, including Foal Eagle, but nothing specific has been decided between the defense chiefs of the two countries," a military official said Thursday without elaborating. However, Seoul and Washington will carry out a series of computer-simulated command post exercises next year, as they do not pose a serious security threat to the North. The two countries are known to be discussing conducting the Key Resolve computerized command post drill in March despite the possible suspension of its real time counterpart, Foal Eagle. The Ministry of National Defense declined to confirm a detailed schedule for joint military exercises slated for next year. "South Korea and the United States are holding a working-level dialogue on the agenda, and the defense ministry will announce the details upon reaching a consensus with our U.S. counterpart," ministry spokeswoman Choi Hyun-soo said Thursday. "We will do our best to notify people of the schedule at the earliest possible date," she said. Starting this year, Seoul and Washington have suspended a series of joint exercises in response to the North's peace gestures. In August, they suspended the Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG) drill, one of the largest annual military command post exercises here, in a bilateral bid to continue the peace momentum across the peninsula. They also did not stage the Vigilant Ace joint air exercise in December, though the South's Air Force will be carrying out small-scale independent aerial drills for five days from Monday. The suspension of joint exercises came as part of the allies' apparent move to bring the North to the dialogue table by not provoking the regime. The Seoul-Washington joint exercises has for decades been a source of anger in Pyongyang. Even since June's summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore, Trump has underscored his unwavering trust in Kim. But with the U.S. and the North failing to make substantial progress in their bilateral talks on the denuclearization of the North, calls have grown for a second summit to be held in the near future to invigorate the deadlocked dialogue. For the U.S., the resumption of the joint exercises with the South is not a good bargaining chip for the North's denuclearization. In recent months, Pyongyang has urged Seoul and Washington to put end their joint drills completely, calling them the biggest stumbling block for ongoing inter-Korean reconciliation. A second summit between Trump and Kim will be held in January or February, according to Cheong Wa Dae officials. Auburn, IN (46706) Today Mainly cloudy with a mixture of rain and snow showers developing during the afternoon. High 38F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precip 50%.. Tonight Mostly cloudy. Low 31F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. New Delhi, December 6: The Indian government on Thursday issued a statement protesting the Pakistan government's decision to declare Gilgit-Baltistan as the fifth province of the nation. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has demanded Islamabad to annul the decision and maintain status quo in the occupied region of Jammu & Kashmir. MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar reiterated that India considers Pakistan's occupation of Gilgit-Baltistan, along with parts of Kashmir "illegal". He appealed Islamabad to cede the territories to India, which their forces had deceitfully taken over in 1947. Protests Break Out in Gilgit Baltistan's Hunza District Against Pakistan; Protesters Demand Fundamental Rights. "We have said that the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir has been and will remain a part of India," Raveesh Kumar said in response to a question at a media briefing here. "Any attempt by Pakistan to change the legal status has no basis whatsoever," Kumar said, further adding, "We call upon Pakistan to vacate all occupied territories." Gilgit-Baltistan is a part of Jammu and Kashmir, but Pakistan illegally occupied it after Partition in 1947. Islamabad later divided the region into two parts - Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan. According to reports, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has approved a proposal to alter the region's status to that of an interim province in principle. (The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 06, 2018 11:23 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com). Sri Lankas President Maithripala Sirisena released a statement on Twitter assuring his countrymen that the ongoing political crisis would not continue beyond a week. But that was the extent of his cryptic message as he did not expand on how he would solve the political gridlock in the country. "The current political crisis will not drag on beyond seven days," he said on Twitter. Meanwhile, his appointee prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa has filed an appeal in Sri Lanka's Supreme Court against a court order that barred him from acting as prime minister. 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. Rajapaksas appeal comes after the same court had in an interim order on Monday temporary halted him and his Cabinet from functioning in their positions in response to a case filed by 122 legislators against his disputed government. Along with these political developments, the other aggrieved party of dismissed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and his supporters will take up a motion in Parliament to express confidence in the ousted prime minister. The motion has been listed for which no dates have been fixed, Sri Lankas parliamentary officials said. Sri Lanka's President Sirisena dismissed Wickremesinghe as the country's prime minister in October saying he did not have confidence in the later's ability to govern the country. This act has since thrown the country into political chaos. Amid these political machinations, Sri Lankas economy has taken a hit as tourists are cancelling their visit to the island-nation in big numbers. The political crisis has hit the tourism industry hard as the period between the months of October-March is peak travel season. According to a Reuters report, hotels in the capital city Colombo are seeing up to 20% of their bookings cancelled at the last minute. The travel and tourism sector contributed a total of 11.6% of GDP in 2017 to Sri Lanka's economy. (The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 07, 2018 05:39 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com). - Mohammed Alfa, the SDP national publicity secretary, says Donald Dukes name has been submitted to INEC as the partys presidential candidate for the 2019 presidential election - Alfa says the SDP national working committee will soon meet to issue an appropriate statement on the alleged report that said it was part of the coalition that endorsed Atiku Abubakar for president - The SDP is one of the 39 opposition parties that formed CUPP in July 2018 with the aim of producing a presidential candidate that can defeat the ruling party APC in the 2019 election The Social Democratic Party (SDP) has distanced itself from the endorsement of former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, by Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) as consensus candidate for 2019 presidential election. The SDP national publicity secretary, Mohammed Alfa, who disclosed this on Thursday, December 6, in Abuja, said the party already has a candidate, Donald Duke, whose name had been submitted to INEC for the 2019 election. Alfa said that the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party would soon meet to take a position on the issue. READ ALSO: Buhari will be retired to his beloved Daura in 2019 - Atiku boasts The SDP publicity secretary said that the attention of the party had been drawn to the statement issued on the endorsement. We want to enjoin the general public, SDP faithful, especially all our candidates to carry on with their campaigns effectively, irrespective of the development. We assure you that the SDP National Working Committee (NWC) will meet and issue appropriate statement on the matter next week." READ ALSO: NAIJ.com upgrades to Legit.ng: a letter from our Editor-in-Chief Bayo Olupohunda The SDP is one of the 39 opposition parties that formed CUPP in July 2018 with the aim of producing a presidential candidate that can defeat the ruling party All Progressive Congress (APC) in the 2019 election with the aim of forming a government of national unity. Legit.ng had reported that the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) adopted the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Atiku Abubakar, as its consensus candidate for the 2019 presidential election. CUPP, the umbrella body of more than 45 major opposition parties, disclosed this in a statement issued by its national spokesperson, Ikenga Ugochinyere, on Wednesday, December 5, in Abuja. Ugochinyere said that the decision was arrived at few hours after a closed door deliberation by members of the CUPP at Shehu Musa YarAdua Centre, Abuja. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We have upgraded to serve you better. We are honestly tired of Buhari and Atiku | Legit TV Source: Legit.ng - The government of Saudi donates 140,468 bags of food items to internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Borno and Yobe states - The donation to Nigeria is made through the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre - The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) makes the confirmation in a statement signed by its spokesperson, Malam Sani Datti The kingdom of Saudi Arabia has reached out to Nigeria through the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre by donating at least 140,468 bags of food items to internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Borno and Yobe states. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) revealed this in a statement signed by its spokesperson, Malam Sani Datti, on Thursday, December 6, and made available in Abuja. READ ALSO: NAIJ.com upgrades to Legit.ng: a letter from our Editor-in-Chief Bayo Olupohunda According to the report, the statement said the director-general of the agency, Mustapha Maihaja, made the disclosure at the launch of the distribution exercise in Teacher Village displaced ersons camp in Maiduguri, Borno state. It was learnt that Maihaja explained that 125, 317 baskets of food items would be distributed by the agency to 33,343 households in designated camps and communities in Borno for the next four months. Datti commended the efforts of the Brig Gen Mansur Dan Ali, the defence minister, who facilitated the food assistance to the north east. The statement said 62,686 cartons of food items containing four kg semovita, two litres of vegetables oil, 29 sachets of tomatoes, one kg salt and two sachets of seasoning would be distributed directly to victims by NEMA and other critical stakeholders. The statement further said the agency would also be distributing a total of 125,372 bags of 25kg rice; and many bags of beans and that each household of six persons will get a food basket of 59.8 kg for a period of one month. PAY ATTENTION: Download our mobile app to enjoy the latest news updates While in Yobe, a total of 15,096 bags of 25kg of rice and beans with 7, 548 packs of food items are to be distributed to 3,774 households who have been identified, the statement read adding that the leader of the team, assistant director of emergency aid in the centre, Nasser Alsubaie, said the donation would benefit more than 840,000 IDPs in the north east. Legit.ng earlier reported that the Nigerian Army, in the evening of December 6, announced a massive re-organisation in its fold in a bid to inject new hands in the fight against terrorism in the north eastern part of the country. Those affected, according to a statement by the spokesperson of the Nigerian Army, Sani Usman, include staff officers and commanders. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng. We have upgraded to serve you better. Can Nigerian Soldiers really not deal with Boko Haram fighters?| Legit TV Source: Legit Nigeria - Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigerian (CBCN) declares it does not have any endorsed candidate ahead of 2019 - The CBNC also warns reverend fathers and members of the church against taking actions that may not emanate from the church - The body further condemns Rev Fr Ejike Mbaka for his comment concerning Atiku and Peter Obi Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigerian (CBCN) on Thursday, December 6, declared that the Christian denomination does not support any candidate or subscribe to ideology of any political party in Nigeria as 2019 general elections approach. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the secretary-general of CBCN, Rev Fr Ralph Madu, made the statement at a news briefing in Abuja. The report quoted Madu as saying the CBCN condemned in totality the declaration made by the founder of Adoration Ministry in Enugu state, Rev Fr Ejike Mbaka. READ ALSO: NAIJ.com upgrades to Legit.ng: a letter from our Editor-in-Chief Bayo Olupohunda Mbaka, had recently declared that the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, would fail in 2019. The controversial reverend father made the declaration following the refusal of the PDP vice-presidential candidate, Peter Obi, to publicly announce a donation to his ministry. In reaction, the CBCN secretary said: The Bishops Conference of Nigeria and the Catholic Church in Nigeria denounced the scenario and also not in support of any priest making political statements. As teachers of the faith and morals, we have the serious obligation to educate the faithful on their roles in the political life of the country. We have observed that the political atmosphere is very tense and also noticed the political realignment that is taking place. We wish to use this opportunity to make it clear again that the Catholic Church remains ever apolitical and does not endorse or subscribe to any political party. No priest is 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 a priest to come out and give an endorsement to a particular candidate. Our concern is for a peaceful election process seen to be free, fair, credible and just; and a democratic governance that guarantees peace, justice, equity, development and religious freedom for the common good. The secretary said the CBCN warned all priests and religious leaders to desist from giving the impression that the church was in favour of one candidate over another or one political party over another. We are aware of the difficult times faced by the nation and as people of faith, we must work hard and also pray hard for the future of the nation, he said. PAY ATTENTION: Download our mobile app to enjoy the latest news updates The body urged all faithful to say the Prayer for Nigeria in Distress composed by CBCN, adding: We consequently, call on Catholics to recite this prayer at all masses and other liturgical celebrations. We entrust Nigeria into the hands of God and implore him to improve the situation in our country. Legit.ng earlier reported that the Catholic church reportedly distanced itself from 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 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 Nigeria - Senate minority leader, Biodun Olujimi, says there is no reason for Nigerians to re-elect President Buhari in 2019 - She said the situation in the country at present requires a leader with vision and ability to put things right, like Atiku - Olujimi said if Nigerians evaluate Buharis performance in various areas over the past four years, they will see that they have no reason to vote for him Senator Biodun Olujimi, the minority leader of the Senate and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)s senatorial candidate for Ekiti South, has stated that Nigerians have no reason to re-elect President Muhammadu Buhari in the 2019 presidential election. She made the comment during the distribution of Mathematics and English language textbooks to public secondary schools in her senatorial district on Thursday, December 6, Punch reports. READ ALSO: Hoodlums allegedly disrupt TraderMoni payments at Kwara market Legit.ng gathers that the senator, who was represented by her campaign director, Sanya Adesua, said in 2019, Nigerians should vote based on past records and ability to deliver. She said: President Buhari does not have anything to campaign with as his achievements in the last four years. Maybe that is why he has been finding it difficult to address Nigerians. The situation in the country at present requires a leader with vision and ability to put things right. That is where the PDP presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, comes in. For now, we have a president who cannot address Nigerians. We have a president with identity crisis. Evaluate the Buhari-led government for the past four years look at the condition of roads across the country, look at electricity supply, consider water situation and the growing insecurity you will discover that there is no reason to vote for Buhari. Olujimi stressed that the distribution of books was borne out of her desire to continue to touch lives, and not because of the coming elections. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that prominent Yoruba elders under the aegis of the Southwest Forum adopted Atiku Abubakar for the 2019 presidency. The group made the declaration at the end of their colloquium tagged 2019: South-West Speaks which took place at Muson Centre, Onikan Lagos. Those present at the event included the Peoples Democratic Party governorship candidate in Lagos, Jimi Agbaje, and his running mate, Haleemat Busari; Advanced Democratic Party (ADP) candidate, Babatunde Gbadamosi; and PDP governorship candidate in Oyo state, Engr Seyi Makinde. Others were the Senate minority leader, Senator Abiodun Olujimi; national vice-chairman, southwest PDP, Dr Eddy Olafeso; former national secretary, Chief Ebenezer Babatope; PDP chairman in Lagos, Dr Adegbola Dominic and the ADP chairman, Barr Adewole Bolaji. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng: Same great journalism, upgraded for better service! 2019 presidency: Nigerians reveal why they prefer Atiku to President Buhari - on Legit TV: Source: Legit - The Second Niger bridge project will be completed on or before the scheduled deadline of February 2022 - The federal government says it is committed to ensuring adequate funding of the project - According to the government, the completion of the bridge is the key to unlock the growth and economic development of the entire southeast region The federal government has assured that the N220 billion Second Niger bridge will be completed on or before the scheduled deadline of February 2022. According to the managing director/chief executive of the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), Uche Orji, the federal government is committed to ensuring adequate funding of the bridge project to its completion, Premium Times reports. Legit.ng gathers that Orji, who visited the Obi of Onitsha Nnaemeka Achebe, at his palace on Wednesday, December 5, said the bridge would operate on a tolling system to enable NSIA repay the money injected by investors in financing its construction. READ ALSO: NAIJ.com upgrades to Legit.ng: a letter from our Editor-in-Chief Bayo Olupohunda He said: We (NSIA) want to assure you, Your Royal Highness, of steady availability of funding for the completion of the 2nd Niger Bridge by February 2022. The federal government sees the completion of this bridge as the key to unlock the growth and economic development of the entire South-East region. That is why we solicit the complete support and cooperation with the government of the host communities on both sides of the bridge to provide a peaceful environment to ensure the completion of the project on schedule." Igwe Achebe commended President Muhammadu Buhari for his commitment towards the project, adding that people of the southeast geopolitical zone believe that when completed, the bridge would positively impact their economic and social life. Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that the federal government set aside 1.3 billion dollars (about N468 billion) from the National Sovereign Investment Fund to finance five critical infrastructure projects. The disclosure was made on Sunday, September 2, by the minister of information and culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed. The minister said the five ongoing projects to benefit from the fund included the Lagos-Ibadan expressway construction, the second Niger bridge and the East-West road construction. The other two were the Abuja Kano expressway construction and the Mambilla power project. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app He said President Buharis administration was committed to infrastructure development across Nigeria and would continue to revive and complete all abandoned projects inherited from previous administration. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We have updated to serve you better A ride on the Abuja-Kaduna railway - on Legit.ng TV Source: Legit - The support by the international community to Nigeria's insurgency challenge has been lauded - Nigeria's ambassador and permanent representative to the UN, said Norway, Germany, United Kingdom, United States, China, Canada and others countries have been helpful - Tijjani Bande pledged Nigerias resolve to continue to support efforts at maintaining peace and security in all regions of the world Nigeria has lauded the international support to the country and neighbouring countries in addressing the challenges caused by the Boko Haram terrorists and the shrinking of the Lake Chad. NAN reports that Nigerias ambassador and permanent representative to the UN, Professor Tijjani Bande, stated this in New York at the Security Council Open Debate on the Role of States, Regional Arrangements and the United Nations in the Prevention and Resolution of Conflict. Legit.ng notes that Bande said: As we all know, the Lake Chad region has been facing its worst crisis ever, primarily because of the impact of climate change. However, the ability of the Lake Chad basin countries to obtain international support and attention is paying off. READ ALSO: NAIJ.com upgrades to Legit.ng: a letter from our Editor-in-Chief Bayo Olupohunda An array of countries Norway, Germany, UK, U. S., China, Canada and others have joined the UN to provide financial and technical support to the on-going efforts to not only conquer Boko Haram, but also work at the same time across the whole pillars, as the only way forward. Indeed, so successful has this been, since the visit by the Security Council in March 2017, and the various pledging conferences Abuja, Oslo and Berlin that we are even talking of recharging of the basin, to restore and or stabilise the livelihood of some 45 million people affected by this unfortunate situation. Through it all, ECOWAS, AU and the UN have been working very well together to galvanise support, towards the same end." Bande pledged Nigerias resolve to continue to support efforts at maintaining peace and security in all regions of the world. According to him, more than ever, there is the need to strengthen collaboration between the UN and the various regional and sub-regional organisations around the world. He said the need to ensure that effective and mutually reinforcing mechanisms (both regional and global) that are flexible and responsive enough to ensure peaceful coexistence among communities are prioritised were critical. Bande said it was imperative to ensure that a means of financing regional bodies-led peace support operations that were authorised by the security council would be predictably and sustainably worked out. He added: We owe this to the millions that suffer and are waiting for our help. In this regard, I wish to commend the Secretary-General on the current AU-UN partnership on peacekeeping, as this is a right step in the right direction." The envoy said in the effort to prevent and resolve conflicts, there is the need to also take due cognisance of the structural challenges to peace and security. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that following the outcome of the conference of international donors against Boko Haram crisis and other insurgencies in Africa, an amount of $2.17 billion was raised and another $467 million concessional loans was earmarked for tackling crisis bedevilling the Lake Chad Basin region. The two-day humanitarian conference which was held in Berlin between September 3 and 4 by the governments of Germany, Norway and Nigeria had in attendance the United Nations. Issues bordering on how peace and development would be ensured in the troubled region were points of concern at the conference. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We have updated to serve you better Can Nigerian Soldiers really not deal with Boko Haram fighters?| Legit TV Source: Legit.ng - A German, Zaid Abu Zalaf, has testified before a special Ikeja court over how he was duped of $1 million by a Nigerian - Zaid Abu Zalaf said he was defrauded by the Nigerian 25 years back when he came to Nigeria to start a business - Testifing before the Justice Mojisola Dada, Zalaf said he was linked with the Nigerian through two Germans, Chehad and Dizenko The fraud trial of a Lagos socialite, Fred Ajudua, continued on Thursday, December 6, in Ikeja with a German, Zaid Abu Zalaf, narrating how the accused allegedly duped him of one million dollars. NAN reports that Zalaf, cross-examined by Ajuduas counsel, Olalekan Ojo (SAN), told an Ikeja special offences court that Ajudua duped him 25 years ago when he came to Nigeria to start a business. Legit.ng gathers that he testified that he was still learning how to do business in 1993 when he spoke to Ajudua on phone through two Germans, whose names he simply gave as Chehad and Dizenko. Ajudua was arraigned alongside one Joseph Ochunor (now at large) by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a 12-count charge bordering on conspiracy, fraud, obtaining money by false pretences, forgery and uttering of forged documents. READ ALSO: NAIJ.com upgrades to Legit.ng: a letter from our Editor-in-Chief Bayo Olupohunda Zalaf said: After Chehad and Dizenko introduced me to an oil contract marked NNPC/AA/80241/79, I had a telephone conversation with the defendant which thereafter propelled my business trip to Nigeria. Zalaf, the first prosecution witness, said that if he did not speak with Ajudua, he would not have come to Nigeria at the time he came in 1993. He testified: I dont know whether Chehad and Dizenko are businessmen when I met them in Germany. It was Chehad and Dizenko that contacted me of the business proposal. They contacted me of the oil contract; I held a meeting with them in the house I used to live in. It was during the meeting that they suggested the contract. They said they didnt have the facility and that I could take advantage of that because I had the facility. They said the money involved was $28 million and the money would be transferred to my company account." If I did not speak to him on the phone how did he know I was coming? I was a young man when I was conned 25 years ago while still learning how to do business. Zalaf claimed that he was not aware of currency regulation law both at the point of departure in Germany and at the point of entry into Nigeria when he came in 1993. Zalaf added that he did not bring any cash to Nigeria when he came for the first time in 1993, but testified that he brought $225,000 to Nigeria on his second trip. He added: I brought only a suitcase when I came to Nigeria for the first time. It was on my second visit that I brought $225, 000. I dont recall having any document to show that I brought cash to Nigeria. In 1993, I was learning in terms of documentation but now I know the importance of documentation. We were expecting to get the contract; after we would get the job done, we would get the balance." He also said he met with Ajudua and his business associate, Joseph Ochunor (now at large), in Ajuduas office, and that Ochunor gave details of an account where the money would be paid into. He also said: In his office, he introduced me to Joseph Ochunor, his business associate, who gave details of the account to be transferred money into." Justice Mojisola Dada adjourned the case until February 11, 2019, for continuation of trial. PAY ATTENTION: Download our mobile app to enjoy the latest news update Earlier, Legit.ng reported that Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had re-arraigned an alleged fraudster, Fred Ajudua, at the special offences court sitting in Ikeja, the Lagos state capital. Ajudua was re-arraigned over a 10-count charge of defrauding a German, Zaid Abu Zalaf, of the $1 million. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We have upgraded to serve you better. The EFCC stage a walk against corruption | Legit TV Source: Legit - Vice president's spokesperson, Laolu Akande, has declared that the President Buhari-led administration has set Nigeria on a path of growth - He said that the president would take Nigerians to the promised land - Akande said that the nation is in good hands and already heading towards a prosperous direction Laolu Akande, the spokesperson for Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, has said that the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration has set the nation on a path of growth. Channels TV reports that Akande stated this Thursday, December 6, while highlighting the gains of the present administration in the economy during an interview on the station. Legit.ng gathered that he said that the Buhari administration brought Nigeria quickly out of recession and set it on a path of growth, adding that, "we are on a path of growth if you look at the figures. The vice presidents spokesperson added: We are doing what has been done in other countries like China and India to deal with the poverty situation. READ ALSO: NAIJ.com upgrades to Legit.ng: a letter from our Editor-in-Chief Bayo Olupohunda He disclosed that there was a time when about $293 million was taken out of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) by a presidential order and there was no foreign exchange in the country for two weeks. Although he did not state if it was during the present administration or the previous ones, Akande explained that situation showed the level of poverty in the country and why Nigeria went into recession. He insisted that the nation was in good hands and already heading towards a prosperous direction. The point is that we are clearly in the right direction. We are taking this country to a time of prosperity. The figures show that there is a growth. We came out very quickly out of recession because of the solid policies of this administration and in terms of where we are investing the resources of this country in, it is very clear that it is going to be better and better, steadily," he added. Akande revealed that the federal government has invested not less than N2.7trillion to develop the nations infrastructure. He said this was the first time a government would spend N2.7trillion in two budget cycles in the history of the country. The chief executive officer of financial derivatives company limited, Bismarck Rewane, also spoke on Politics Today. He said while it cannot be disputed that the economy was improving, the people have yet to feel the impact. Meanwhile, Legit.ng had previously reported that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo described the anti-corruption battle in Nigeria as a war between good and evil, adding that the menace must be combated by both Christians and Muslims to put an end to it. READ ALSO: I am spiritually right on my comments on Peter Obi - Mbaka blasts critics The vice president said this in a public lecture which he delivered on Saturday, November 10, at an event organised by the council of chief of Imams, Ikeja division in Lagos. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We have upgraded to serve you better. Nigeria Latest News: Buhari vs Atiku - 2019 Elections | - on Legit TV Source: Legit There was serious panic among residents in Asaba, the capital of Delta state in the morning of Friday, December 7, following the discovery of an object suspected to be an Improvised Explosive Device (IED). Daily Sun reports that the object was found by workers digging a foundation at a site for the perimeter fencing of the C division of the Delta state police command. It was learnt that the discovery caused confusion with workers and residents scampering to safety. READ ALSO: NAIJ.com upgrades to Legit.ng: a letter from our Editor-in-Chief Bayo Olupohunda The discovered object. Credit: Daily Sun Source: UGC The report said the divisional police officer (DPO) of the police, CSP Anietie Eyoh, refused to speak about the discovery. PAY ATTENTION: Download our mobile app to enjoy the latest news updates He, however, noted that the safety of his men, workers and Nigerian citizens was of paramount interest to him. The report said the commissioner of police in the state, Anthony Ogbizi, confirmed the incident adding that the object had been evacuated by men of the Bomb Disposal Unit of the command for analysis. Legit.ng earlier reported that a former Chief of Army Administration, Major-General Garba Wahab, on Monday, November 26, reacted to the death of 44 soldiers who were recently killed by Boko Haram insurgents at the Nigerian Army base in Borno state. Wahab blamed the attack on a military base in Metele, a remote village near the border with the Niger Republic, on information leakage. The ex-Army chief, who was a guest on Channels Televisions Sunrise Daily, urged the military to be careful in its intelligence gathering approach, in the war against terror. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng. We have upgraded to serve you better. Can Nigerian Soldiers really not deal with Boko Haram fighters?| Legit TV Source: Legit - Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigerian (CBCN) has distanced itself from the political statement of one of its members, Father Mbaka - The conference said, contrary to Father Mbaka's gaffe, Catholic remains apolitical church and does not support any political - The church also noted the challenges being faced by Nigerians and urged them to pray to God for God-fearing leaders Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigerian (CBCN) says the Catholic church does not support any candidate or subscribe to ideology of any political party in Nigeria as 2019 general elections approach. NAN reports that the secretary-general of CBCN, Reverend Ralph Madu, made the statement at a news briefing on Thursday, December 6, in Abuja. Legit.ng gathers that Madu said CBCN condemned in totality the declaration made by the founder of Adoration Ministry in Enugu state, Rev. Fr Ejike Mbaka. Mbaka, at mass on Sunday, December 2, declared that the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar would fail in 2019. The priest made the declaration following the refusal of the PDP's vice presidential candidate, Peter Obi, to publicly announce a donation to his ministry. READ ALSO: NAIJ.com upgrades to Legit.ng: a letter from our Editor-in-Chief Bayo Olupohunda The CBCN secretary said: The Bishops Conference of Nigeria and the Catholic church in Nigeria denounced the scenario and also not in support of any priest making political statements. As teachers of the faith and morals, we have the serious obligation to educate the faithful on their roles in the political life of the country. We have observed that the political atmosphere is very tense and also noticed the political realignment that is taking place. We wish to use this opportunity to make it clear again that the Catholic church remains ever apolitical and does not endorse or subscribe to any political party. No priest is 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 a priest to come out and give an endorsement to a particular candidate. Our concern is for a peaceful election process seen to be free, fair, credible and just; and a democratic governance that guarantees peace, justice, equity, development and religious freedom for the common good. The CBCN warned all priests and religious leaders to desist from giving the impression that the Church was in favour of one candidate over another or one political party over another. He added: We are aware of the difficult times faced by the nation and as people of faith, we must work hard and also pray hard for the future of the nation. We entrust Nigeria into the hands of God and implore him to improve the situation in our country." The CBCN prayed God to intervene in the life of Nigeria once again so that Nigerians would enjoy true peace, justice and prosperity. PAY ATTENTION: Download our mobile app to enjoy the latest news update Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that Ejike Mbaka, Catholic priest and spiritual director of the Adoration Catholic Prayer ministry, Enugu, had predicted that President Muhammadu Buhari and the presidential candidate of the PDP, Alhaji Abubakar Atiku, might 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 prayer on Adoration altar that made Buhari the president in 2015. PAY ATTENTION: NAIJ.com (naija.ng) upgrades to Legit.ng. Journalism at its best! Nigeria Latest News: Father Mbaka On Buhari, Atiku In Nigeria Election 2019 | Legit TV Source: Legit.ng - NEMA has received a fresh batch of 193 stranded Nigerians from Libya - The returnees arrived at the MMIA Cargo Wing by 8.32pm on Friday, December 7 - They were assisted back home by the International Organisation for Migration under its assisted voluntary return programme The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) on Thursday, December 7, received another batch of 193 stranded Nigerians from Libya. News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Segun Afolayan, acting zonal coordinator, NEMA, south west zone, confirmed the development to newsmen. Afolayan said the Nigerians arrived at the Cargo Wing of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos at 8.32pm aboard a chartered Nouvel Air aircraft with registration number UZ 189. READ ALSO: Igbos in north banned from travelling during election He said the returnees were assisted back home by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) under its Assisted Voluntary Return Programme. Afolayan said the returnees comprised 81 female adults, one female child and 14 female infants. He said they also included 87 male adults, five male children and five male infants. He urged Nigerians to stop stigmatising returnees who went outside the country in search of greener pastures. According to him, It is a right for everyone to live free and comfortable lives but the process or the means of seeking the fulfillment of the rights are the ones in contention. Many of these innocent victims are not aware of the dangers on the means and the routes of the journey. They fall easily to the deceitful and deceptive promises of better life outside the country. Nigerians need to accept the challenges of the menace of irregular migration as evil and inhuman and all hands must be on deck to save our innocent youths from embarking on such perilous journeys henceforth. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app He advised the returnees to remain positive and undaunted by their unfortunate experiences in the volatile North African country, adding that they should be focused on how to improve their lives in Nigeria. According to him, the federal government, IOM and the European Union have been providing opportunities for the returnees through various skills acquisition programmes. Afolayan, therefore, appealed to the private sector to assist the government in the reintegration of the returnees to make them more productive. Meanwhile, Legit.ng had reported that the National Emergency Management Agency announced that it has received another batch of 174 stranded Nigerians from Libya. The returnees arrived at the Cargo Wing of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos at 1.10am. They were brought back in an Al Buraq Airlines Boeing 737-8000 aircraft with registration number 5A-DMG by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and the European Union (EU) under the Assisted Voluntary Return Programme. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We have updated to serve you better. Mass deportation: Tales of woes from Libya - on Legit.ng TV: Source: Legit - Abdulsalami Abubakar said he cannot return to power as a civilian president of Nigeria - Abubakar, former head of state general, wondered what an aging man of 77 like him could do if elected into power - He, however, declared support for the young Nigerians to take over the leadership of the nation Former head of state, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, on Thursday, December 6, who declared that he could not return to Aso Rock as a civilian president wondered what an aging man of 77 like him could do if elected into power. Daily Trust reports that Abubakar said it was high time the old generation mentored and encouraged younger Nigerians to take over the leadership of the nation. He made this known at a book launch on former governor of Kaduna state, Patrick Yakowa, when the master of ceremony, Abba Zayyan Abba, prayed that he (Abdulsalam) become a democratically elected president one day. READ ALSO: Southeast APC governorship candidates confident of victory after meeting with Osinbajo Abdulsalami said: In your opening remarks, Abba, you said a prayer, I was shaking my head and rightly too. ''One of the essence of life is to mentor the young ones and see them grow and that is why in the wisdom of the National Assembly and the president a law was passed and signed, Not Too Young to Run to enable the young ones contest because if I come back as the president at 77 what can I do? I cant even walk properly. I thank you for the prayers and I hope the younger ones will continue to serve us. Meanwhile, Legit.ng had reported that a former military head of state, General Abdusalami Abubakar, called on Nigerians to learn to live in peace with one another. Abubakar said this on Thursday, September 28, in Gusau, Zamfara, while responding to questions from journalists. PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 new app He advised those agitating for the restructuring of the country to follow due process and the rule of law. Abubakar said that Nigeria had evolved through a long history which began as a region, expanding to additional regions up to what are now the 36 states and the FCT. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng. We have upgraded to serve you better. We are honestly tired of Buhari and Atiku | Legit TV: Source: Legit - Aisha Buhari has called for efforts towards ensuring that people living with HIV are not faced with challenges in receiving healthcare services - She also called for the removal of user fees by health centres before health services can be accessed by PLWHA - According to the First Lady, funds can be mobilised from government agencies like CBN, NNPC and other agencies Nigeria's First Lady Aisha Buhari has called on the minister of health, Isaac Adewole, to work towards the mobilisation of funds from various government agencies for tackling challenges faced by People Living With HIV/AIDS. Aisha while speaking at the launch of the "Nigeria Free To Shine Campaign" on the elimination of HIV/AIDS in Nigeria in Abuja on Friday, December 7, said Nigeria does not need funding from foreign countries and agencies before dealing with issues of HIV in the country. Reacting to the ordeal faced by women living as narrated by one of the members of the Association of Peoples Living With HIV/AIDS, Aisha said while it is important to note that many people living with the disease in Nigeria are unaware of their status, efforts must be made to ensure the provision of the essential needs of the individuals. READ ALSO: 2019: Igbos in north banned from travelling during election She said that as a UNAIDS ambassador her vision is to end mother-to-child-transmission and eliminate HIV/AIDS from the country. The First Lady said: "This vision will focus on ensuring that the number of HIV pregnant women in Nigeria are identified as well prevent the transmission of HIV to their babies." The First Lady said that funds can be pulled from government agencies to cater for people living with HIV/AIDS Source: Facebook She said a situation where women living with HIV are made to pay user fees before accessing services in health care centres as narrated by the women must end. READ ALSO: NAIJ.com upgrades to Legit.ng: a letter from our Editor-in-Chief Bayo Olupohunda "I therefore invite stakeholders in the HIV response in Nigeria to pay particular attention that are key to the reduction of HIV among mothers and their children," Aisha said. She called for the removal of user fees for people living with HIV/AIDS Source: Facebook "I will also like to call the attention of the honourable minister of health based on the lady that has just spoken on the challenges faced by women living with HIV/AIDS. I feel that she doesn't need to be on the national television before her health challenges can be handled. "Based on the number of agencies that we have in Nigeria that are working on HIV/AIDS and other maternal and child health issues, I feel that a platform can be created to mobilse funds from government agencies like the CBN, NNPC, NIMASA and so on. READ ALSO: Governors shun Oshiomhole, APCs NWC meeting with candidates ahead of 2019 "We don't need to get other foreign agencies to keep doing all these for us in Nigeria. I believe that if the funds can be utilised judiciously we would all be comfortable living in Nigeria," Aisha concluded. Also speaking at the event, the director general of National Agency for Control of Aids (NACA), Sani Aliyu, said the Free to Shine Campaign is a reinforcement of the political commitment to control the HIV/AIDS epidemic. He said Nigeria's HIV indices have continued to improve over the last five years although there is still more to be done. "The goal to end the mother-to-child transmission is attainable. Thailand Belarus and Armenia have achieved it," Aliyu said. He added that in Africa, mother-to-infant transmission rates are now below 5% in several countries including Ethiopia, South Africa and Tanzania. "I strongly believe that our mutual goal of keeping all mothers healthy and offering children a free HIV start is achievable with the collective efforts of stakeholders across all sectors," Aliyu added. He noted that NACA is confident that the campaign will unite people and organisations from communities to local government areas, states and national and collective efforts towards ending the epidemic. He also called on all stakeholders to align their support to end childhood HIV/AIDS in Nigeria. Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that Aisha had on Thursday, December 6, said the society should not criminalise those addicted to hard drugs. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app She made the remark at the official flag-off of Youth Against Drug Abuse (YADA) campaign in Kano state, organized by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) in collaboration with Young Pharmacists Group (YPG) at the Government House Kano. Legit.ng gathers that according to her, rather than isolating and discriminating, the society should look beyond the problem and begin to look at the main cause of the problem and address it for a lasting solution. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We have updated to serve you better Medical Expert Speaks About High Rate of Maternal Death in Nigeria | Legit TV Source: Legit - The federal government is collaborating with Saudi Arabia to eradicate Boko Haram - The government urged Saudi Arabia to promote true Islamic teaching - This will help stop the spread of terrorism in the country The federal government on Thursday, December 6, appealed to Saudi Arabia to assist in promoting true teachings of Islam to fast-track de-radicalization and curtail spread of Boko Haram ideology in the northeast. Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan Ali, made the call in Maiduguri while flagging off the distribution of relief items donated by the Saudi Kingdom, to persons displaced by Boko Haram insurgency in the region. He said that the call was imperative to enhance true teachings of Islam, curtail spread of Boko Haram ideology and end insurgency in the area. READ ALSO: Governors shun Oshiomhole, APCs NWC meeting with candidates ahead of 2019 I request the assistance of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to assist in the promotion and propagation of right Islamic ideology to eradicate Boko Haram ideologies in the country. I also urge the Saudi Arabia Government to extend the military defence platform sharing of information and intelligence to Nigeria. Our country values the cordial relations that exist between Nigeria and Saudi Arabia. The two countries have continued to collaborate in areas of mutual benefits and interest, including military relations, especially with the recent posting of the Nigerian Defence Adviser to Riyadh, he said. The minster lamented that Boko Haram insurgency had caused humanitarian crisis, including loss of lives, high level destruction of economic and social activities as well as displacements in the war-ravaged region. He noted that poverty was one of the remote causes of the insurgency, which needed a holistic social and livelihood programmes to address. He disclosed that the federal government, in collaboration with international community, recorded significant successes in the counter-insurgency campaign in the past three years. Ali added that the government also initiated viable projects to restore peace, build resilience, livelihoods, reconstruction and resettlement of displaced communities to accelerate sustainable social and economic development of the region. He commended the Saudi government for the assistance, adding that it would go a long way to mitigate the sufferings of displaced persons. On his part, director-general, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Alhaji Mustapha Maihaja, said that Saudi Arabia had donated 10 million dollars to support persons affected by Boko Haram attacks in the northeast. Maihaja revealed that 125,372 food baskets would be distributed to 33,323 deserving families at Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps and host communities in Borno and Yobe. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app He explained that each family would receive 59.8 kilogrammes of assorted food items, including rice, beans, vegetable oil, salt and seasoning. According to him, the items were donated by King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center, a Saudi agency. Manager of the centre, Nasir Alshibay, disclosed that 70, 000 food baskets would be distributed to 880, 000 displaced persons in the next four months in the northeast. Alshibay said the gesture was to alleviate the sufferings of persons affected by Boko Haram insurgency. Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that following the outcome of the conference of international donors against Boko Haram crisis and other insurgencies in Africa, an amount of $2.17 billion was raised and another $467 million concessional loans was earmarked for tackling crisis bedevilling the Lake Chad Basin region. The two-day humanitarian conference which was held in Berlin between September 3 and 4 by the governments of Germany, Norway and Nigeria had in attendance the United Nations. Issues bordering on how peace and development would be ensured in the troubled region were points of concern at the conference. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We have updated to serve you better Can Nigerian Soldiers really not deal with Boko Haram fighters?| Legit TV Source: Legit.ng President Muhammadu Buhari has declined assent to the amended electoral bill. The Cable reports that the presidents decision was made known by Ita Enang, senior special assistant to the president on national assembly (senate), on Friday, December 7. READ ALSO: 2019: Igbos in north banned from travelling during election He said the president has communicated his decision to the National Assembly. Enang however said the president assented to the National University Commission Amendment Act. The National Assembly had passed the bill in July and transmitted it to the president on August 3. The bill was rejected by the president and it was resent before being rejected again in September. PAY ATTENTION: Download our mobile app to enjoy the latest news update Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that the commissioner for energy and mineral resources in Lagos state, Olawale Oluwo, on Wednesday, December 5, announced his defection from the All Progressives Congress (APC). In a resignation letter dated Wednesday, December 3, and addressed to the APC chairman in Lagos state, Oluwo claimed that the party's primary election held in October was characterised by voters disenfranchisement, undue influence, violence, and intimidation to members among other activities that violated the electoral law. 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 Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene DePasquale visited Easton on Thursday to announce nearly $300 million to help municipalities statewide pay for the pensions earned by public employees for retirement. He stood beside Mayor Sal Panto Jr., who is president of the Pennsylvania Municipal League, in describing what is basically a Band-Aid on a larger problem. Advocates of pension reform say what is needed is the state Legislature taking action. Panto has pushed for lawmakers to force police and fire into the state-managed plan for future hires, rather than locally managed plans. He also advocates for hybrid pension plans like the one offered to Easton's non-uniform employees, where they can contribute up to 20 percent of their salary toward their benefit. "When I talk about pension reform and when the auditor general talks about pension reform, we're not talking about taking away benefits from any current employee," Panto said during a news conference with DePasquale and city Controller Tony Bassil in City Hall. "What we're talking about is making it sustainable." The $299.1 million in pension aid announced by the auditor general is awarded annually to municipalities to help support retirement plans for police, firefighters and municipal workers. In Easton, city council in September approved spending nearly $5.3 million to cover its 2019 pension obligations. The $1.5 million in state aid announced Wednesday is on top of that and represents about 5 mills of the citys 24.95 mill property tax rate up for city council approval Dec. 12 for 2019, according to Panto. "This aid that we're releasing today is going to help our cities and other municipalities across Pennsylvania meet their obligations, keep taxes down and continue to grow their communities," DePasquale said Wednesday. Easton's firefighter pension has enough to cover about 69 percent of retirees' benefits, and the police and non-uniform pensions are about 50 percent funded, Panto said. Absent a legislative fix, he said municipalities are simply "putting all this debt onto our grandchildren and our great grandchildren." "This money is helpful in the short term, there's no question, but the other things that we're talking about are more structural and would be more longer-term fixes," said DePasquale, who led a state task force on pension reform that failed to generate any legislative moves. The state pension aid comes from a 2 percent state tax on casualty and fire insurance premiums paid to insurance companies based outside Pennsylvania. The same tax supports volunteer firefighters' relief association funding that totaled $55.1 million this year. The Lehigh Valley's share of the pension aid totals $18,217,855. Here's how it breaks down: Northampton County: $9,312,940 Allen Township, $26,264 Bangor, $117,110 Bath, $11,721 Bethlehem (citywide), $3.9 million Bethlehem Township, $571,495 Bushkill Township, $149,900 Colonial Regional Police Department, $238,904 East Allen Township, $42,159 East Bangor, $892 Easton, $1.5 million Forks Township, $346,645 Freemansburg, $33,354 Hanover Township, $112,425 Hellertown, $165,352 Lehigh Township, $149,900 Lower Mount Bethel Township, $10,822 Lower Nazareth Township, $65,581 Lower Saucon Township, $224,851 Moore Township, $140,532 Nazareth, $45,810 North Catasauqua, $64,433 Northampton, $229,535 Palmer Township, $519,967 Pen Argyl, $40,589 Plainfield Township, $28,106 Slate Belt Regional Police Department, $187,376 Upper Nazareth Township, $112,425 Walnutport, $51,528 Washington Township, $70,266 Williams Township, $56,213 Wilson Borough, $88,316 Wind Gap, $4,684 Lehigh County: $8,904,915 Alburtis, $65,581 Allentown, $5.05 million Catasauqua, $154,585 Coopersburg, $79,348 Coplay, $46,942 Emmaus, $356,014 Fountain Hill, $117,110 Hanover Township, $32,791 Heidelberg Township, $22,431 Lower Macungie Township, $201,429 Lower Milford Township, $20,226 Lowhill Township, $13,344 Lynn Township, $28,106 Macungie, $74,950 North Whitehall Township, $74,950 Salisbury Township, $346,645 South Whitehall Township, $552,758 Upper Macungie Township, $487,176 Upper Milford Township, $47,138 Upper Saucon Township, $351,329 Washington Township, $28,106 Weisenberg Township, $32,791 Whitehall Township, $716,711 Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. Attorneys for a construction worker injured in 2014 at Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom won a $2.75 million settlement for him, according to a news release. Anthony Dos Santos had to have his lower right leg amputated, the law firm Stark & Stark based in Yardley, Pennsylvania, said. Dos Santos, then 23, of North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, was helping to build the Snake Pit water-slide ride at the amusement park in South Whitehall Township on April 23, 2014, when the injury occurred, court records show. He was holding a rope used to control movement of a structural column suspended by a forklift, which he was walking in front of and alongside. The forklift was forced to stop suddenly, and Dos Santos was pulled in front of the forklift's wheel by the momentum of the beam, according to the firm. The forklift ran over Dos Santos' foot, crushing it. "Following the accident, the victim had a surgical procedure but, unfortunately, postoperative examinations showed progressive necrosis of the foot and toes," the news release states. "He underwent an amputation of his right leg below the knee, followed by a surgical revision to the amputated limb for the purpose of improving the prosthetic fitting. After returning home, Mr. Dos Santos had several more infections and had to undergo additional procedures, in addition to suffering from severe phantom limb pain. The accident also took an emotional toll, with a psychologist diagnosing post-traumatic stress disorder with depressed mood, and somatic symptoms, including pain. Now 28 years old and married with children, Mr. Dos Santos has been unable to return to work and continues to experience phantom limb pain and chronic back pain. His attorneys Tyler Tomlinson, Joseph Cullen Jr. and Ian Abovitz secured the settlement for lost wages, pain and suffering and medical bills. Dorney Parks parent company Cedar Fair LP was one of several defendants who were dismissed from Dos Santos' injury lawsuit filed in Lehigh County Court, before Judge Edward Reibman, court records show. A spokesman for Dorney Park declined to comment on the settlement but did say, We wish all the best to Mr. Dos Santos and his family. The only defendant against whom claims were not dismissed was Whitewater West Industries Ltd., based in Richmond, British Columbia. Neither the company nor counsel for the company immediately complied with requests for comment Thursday. Tomlinson, the lead plaintiffs attorney from Stark & Stark, said in a statement: There was a much safer way to transport columns through the park, one that would not have presented hazards. Unfortunately, there also was not a supervisor on-site, as required by the contract, and the crew was understaffed. Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. Two people inside a Honda CR-V appeared to escape serious injury in a crash with a tractor-trailer Thursday evening on Main Street in Tatamy. Diesel fuel spilled from the rig branded with the supermarket chain Weis following the collision, which occurred about 6 p.m. in the 500 block of Main Street. A resident said he was inside watching TV when he heard the crash and came outside to see the Honda crossover vehicle on its roof. "They both walked away," he said of the driver and a passenger. "You see every air bag went off." Further information was not immediately available, including on any injuries to the truck driver. Authorities were unavailable for comment as they sought to contain the fuel spill and clean up the scene. Main Street in Tatamy is closed the night of Dec. 6, 2018, following a collision between a Honda CR-V and a Weis tractor-trailer. The CR-V rolled onto its roof, a witness said, and the rig was leaking diesel fuel. Fire police diverted traffic around Main Street, including blocking access to Tatamy at Uhler Road and Bushkill Drive. Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. Prosecutors in the special counsels investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election released heavily redacted documents Tuesday that hinted another investigation is underway into a secret Turkish lobbying effort against Fethullah Gulen, a cleric living in the Poconos whom the Turkish government believes helped instigate a failed 2016 military coup. Gulen, leader of the movement known as Hizmet, denies any involvement in the coup. He has been living at his Golden Generation Worship and Retreat Center, a gated 26-acre compound in Ross Township, Monroe County. Turkey has repeatedly called for his extradition, so he can stand trial. Former National Security Adviser Michael T. Flynns company was paid half-a-million dollars to investigate Gulen and even lobby on Turkeys behalf and push for the clerics return to that country, according to the The New York Times. The Times reports that sentencing documents for Flynn, which were filed by Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller IIIs team, lays out Flynns cooperation in the Russia investigation, but also created an air of mystery about Mr. Flynns substantial help in several unspecified but continuing investigations." Prosecutors point to that cooperation as a reason for leniency, suggesting he serve little to no prison time, when hes sentenced Dec. 18. Mueller initially was handling the probe into Flynns former business partners and clients who financed a campaign against Gulen, but at some point referred it back to prosecutors in Alexandria, Va., who had first opened the investigation, people familiar with the inquiry told the Times. A grand jury has been convened to hear evidence and a veteran national security prosecutor is overseeing the case, according to the Times. It appears the Turkey case fits the parameters laid out in the sentencing paperwork because Flynn has direct knowledge of the probe, the newspaper reports. Flynn, a retired lieutenant general, pleaded guilty last year to lying to FBI agents about his contact with a Russian ambassador. In the early days of his presidency, Donald Trump asked then FBI Director James B. Comey to drop the investigation of Flynn, which helped lead to the appointment of Mueller as special counsel. Flynn attracted the attention of federal prosecutors, who began to look into whether he was working as a paid lobbyist for Turkey, after an election day 2016 op-ed he wrote for the The Hill newspaper that attacked Gulen as a radical Islamist and a shady Islamic mullah. Turns out, Flynns company was paid $530,000 to investigate Gulen; the money came from a company run by Ekim Alptekin, a Turkish businessman with close ties to Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Ergodan. As part of his work for Turkey, Flynn tried to convince members of Congress that Gulen should be extradited and commissioned a lengthy dossier on Gullen, the Times reports. The specifics of the Virginia investigation are unclear at this point, according to the newspaper. It could involve whether any of Flynns associates or his company failed to properly disclose their lobbying on behalf of federal interests in violation of federal law. Flynn has already admitted to repeatedly violating that law. When he wrote the op-ed, he did not disclose he did so at the behest of Turkey. Authorities may also be investigating reports that Flynn discussed kidnapping Gulen to force him to return to Turkey, which Flynn has denied through his attorney. In 2017, Turkey dismissed Wall Street Journal reporting that Mueller was investigating an alleged plot to pay Flynn and his son as much as $15 million to hand over the cleric. Turkey called the story utterly false, ludicrous and groundless. Gulen has been living in the U.S. for nearly two decades. He is a former ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan until their 2013 public falling-out led the government to declare Gulen's network a terror group. Nearly 50,000 people are behind bars in Turkey and more than 100,000 civil servants have been dismissed from their jobs for alleged links to the clerics network in the governments crackdown after the failed coup, the Associated Press reported in 2017. Sara K. Satullo may be reached at ssatullo@lehighvalleylive.com.com. Follow her on Twitter @sarasatullo. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. A traffic stop in November on Interstate 78 near the Lower Saucon Township-Williams Township border yielded dozens of pounds of heroin, 171 pounds of cocaine, 35 pounds of fentanyl, four packages of pills and federal charges for the driver, Pennsylvania State Police report. Miguel Gonzalez Segovia, 33, of Mira Loma, California, was charged charged federally on Thursday with possession with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine and 400 grams or more of the synthetic opioid fentanyl, the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania announced. The figures for charging purposes turned out to be but a fraction of what was actually recovered. A rented blue Ford Expedition registered and rented out of Ohio was pulled over due to several traffic violations about 11:30 a.m. Nov. 13 at mile post 72.2 on I-78 East, state police report. A trooper asked permission to search the vehicle and it was granted, police said. Before the search began, a state police K-9 was deployed and exhibited a positive indication on the vehicle, a summary of the activity provided by police said. There were five suitcases in the rear of the vehicle, police said. One suitcase, weighing about 50 pounds, was found to contain numerous sealed packages believed to be heroin, police said. The SUV was towed to the state police barracks at Belfast in Plainfield Township where the search continued, police said. In the other suitcases, troopers found approximately 16 kilograms -- about 35 pounds -- of fentanyl and 78 kilograms -- more than 171 pounds -- of cocaine, in addition to the pills, police said. The patrol trooper at PSP Belfast deserves all the accolades, a state police official said. Everyone else assisted after the fact. The FBI, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and higher levels of the state police were involved in the subsequent investigation, authorities said. If convicted of all counts, Gonzalez Segovia faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, with a 10-year mandatory minimum, a mandatory minimum of five years of supervised release up to a lifetime of supervised release, a $10,000,000 fine, and a $100 special assessment, the U.S. attorneys office said. U.S. Attorney William M,. McSwain, in announcing the charges in a news release, said the federal government is taking the illegal drug trade very seriously. We at the Department of Justice seek to reduce the supply of illegal drugs in the United States by aggressively investigating and prosecuting national and international drug trafficking organizations, McSwain said. This will continue to be a high priority for our office. Jonathan A. Wilson, special agent in charge of the DEAs Philadelphia Field Division, spoke about mission and the toll fentanyl is taking. Segovia is accused of possessing with the intent to distribute a substantial amount of cocaine and fentanyl, both of which are dangerous drugs, the latter of which is a deadly synthetic opioid that was identified in over 67 percent of the 5,456 overdose deaths in Pennsylvania in 2017, Wilson said in the news release. The primary mission of our office is to target significant drug traffickers that are operating in our area and the nation at large. Tony Rhodin may be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyRhodin. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. The keyboard warriors and twitter trolls are sure to be active on Twitter when RTE broadcasts the latest edition of the Late Late Show this week. A week after more than 1 million people tuned into the Toy Show, Ryan is back with politics, country music and comedy and he's said he is really looking forward to it. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar leads a star-studded line-up that includes crooner Michael Buble, country king Daniel ODonnell and comedian and author David Walliams. The Fine Gael leader will join Ryan Tubridy to talk about the highs and lows of his first 18 months as Irelands youngest ever Taoiseach, navigating Brexit, the stability of the Government as the Supply and Confidence agreement with Fianna Fail comes up for renewal and the chances of an early General Election. After taking time out to look after his family when his son was diagnosed with cancer, Michael Buble is back performing with a new album and a tour on the way. Hell be telling Ryan what the last few years have been like for him and his family, why he describes his new album as baby making music and how rumours of his retirement were greatly exaggerated. He will also be putting his famous vocal chords into action with not one but two songs. Comedian David Walliams found fame with Little Britain and as a judge on Britains Got Talent. But 10 years ago he turned his hand to writing childrens books, going on to sell 26 million books worldwide and be described as a Roald Dahls successor. Hell be chatting about the inspiration for his books and fatherhood - and on his love for Simon Cowell! Donegals most famous son Daniel ODonnell will be in studio to chat about coming home for Christmas to spend time with Majella in the house the country coveted on Room to Improve earlier this year. Hell be telling viewers about singing for the Pope and venturing very far out of his comfort zone as he and Majella travelled across America for their next road trip. Daniel will also be treating viewers to one of his favourite hits. And the final three celebrities who will be tripping the light fantastic across the Dancing With The Stars ballroom floor will be revealed as well. The Late Late Show airs tonight, Friday December 7, RTE One, at 9.35pm. Laois has missed out on funding available through an EU-backed scheme to set up free wifi hotspots. Minister of State at the Department of Rural and Community Development, Sean Canney TD has announced of the first successful applicants of the European WiFi initiative, WiFi4EU. This announcement sees Ireland securing 885,000 to establish a minimum of 59 free, open-access WiFi hot-spots throughout the country. This funding comes in the form of vouchers, worth 15,000 each, distributed to the successful local authorities. A total of 105 vouchers were applied for. "This will bring free WiFi hotspots to many public spaces throughout the country and will vastly improve connectivity in communities. I am also very pleased to confirm that the Department of Rural and Community Development will match all successful vouchers with a further allocation of up to 15,000. "I hope that this contribution will help local authorities in developing an even more substantial network of free public WiFi hotspots, he said. County councils in Carlow, Offaly, Kildare, Tipperary and Longford were among the 21 local authorities who will benefit. The Department of Rural and Community Development will provide match funding of up to 15,000 to each successful vouchers secured by the local authorities. This will enable them to extend the areas where they intend to provide free public WiFi. The WiFi4EU initiative promotes free access to Wi-Fi connectivity for citizens in public spaces including parks, squares, public buildings, libraries, health centres and museums in municipalities throughout Europe. The initiative provides municipalities with the opportunity to apply for up to four vouchers to the value 15,000 each. The vouchers are to be used to install Wi-Fi equipment in public spaces within the municipality that are not already equipped with a free Wi-Fi hotspot. Each successful local authority has 18 months to select locations for the WiFi4EU hotspots and complete their installation to be ready for public use. These locations need to be centres of public life where no other free WiFi service is already available. The service will be free of charge, free of advertising and free from commercial re-use of data. The voucher may serve to purchase new equipment or upgrade old material and replace it with most recent and best available equipment on the market. The budget of the WiFi4EU scheme is EUR 120 million between 2018 and 2020. It will support the installation of state-of-the-art Wi-Fi equipment in the centres of community life. As a result of this first round, with the total budget of 42 million, 2,800 municipalities around the EU will receive vouchers of 15,000 to set up a Wi-Fi hotspot in public spaces. Response from municipalities to the first WiFi4EU Call has been impressive. Over 4,000 municipalities applied within the first 10 seconds of the opening of the call on 7 November. By the closing of the application period on 9 November, the Commission had received over 13,000 applications from all participating countries across Europe. A man driving a van carrying 800,000 worth of cannabis herb on the N7 at Rathcoole was arrested by gardai yesterday as part of a major operation. Read also: More security for trains serving Sallins and Naas Gardai from the Garda National Drugs & Organised Crime Bureau, targeting serious criminal activity in the Dublin and Meath regions, intercepted a vehicle the vehicle at approximately 6.30pm yesterday evening. A large quantity of cannabis herb with an approximate street value of 800,000 was seized. One man in his 40s was arrested for drug trafficking offences. He is currently in custody at Clondalkin Garda station detained under Section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act 1996, and follow up investigations are on-going. Later that evening, the gardai also intercepted two vehicles in a car park at Liffey Valley. A large quantity of suspected cocaine with an approximate street value of 2.8 million was seized and three men and one woman all in their 40s were arrested on suspicion of drug trafficking offences. It's understood gardai made the arrests at 7.10pm. The men are currently detained at Clondalkin, Ballyfermot and Lucan Garda stations under Section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act 1996, and follow up investigations are on-going. Cash totalling approximately 50,000 has also been recovered in a follow up search at a residence in Co. Meath. Meanwhile, Gardai arrested another man yesterday and seized a quantity of drugs in Finglas. At 7pm on December 6, Gardai attached to Finglas Garda Station searched a house in Finglas in Dublin. During the course of the search Gardai seized cannabis with an estimated street value in excess of 200,000. A man in his 20s was arrested and is detained at Finglas Garda Station under Section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act, 1096. Clark Recruitment, Naas was among the top agencies in the Irish recruitment sector that were honoured this week at the 12th Annual National Recruitment Federation (NRF) Awards in Dublin. Read also: More security for trains serving Sallins and Naas The gala ceremony in The Shelbourne Hotel was presented by TV personality Alison Comyn and saw Clark Recruitment presented with the top Award of Agency of the Year in recognition of exceptional standards of professional service. Clark Consultant Katie Sloan, was also recognised as Recruitment Consultant of the Year - Contract, while Clark featured as finalists in three other categories: Edel Smyth, Recruitment Consultant of year - Permanent, Beatrice Travers, Un-sung Hero Award and Best Recruitment Agency Online Service. Accepting the award, Deirdre Coghlan Murray, Managing Director of Clark Recruitment said the team at Clark is delighted that its 20 year track record in recruitment excellence has been recognised by industry peers in an incredibly competitive market. Our focus is on meeting clients recruitment needs and ensuring the candidates we represent are placed in life fulfilling career roles. I am so proud that our team is acknowledged through this award, for the second year in a row, and for our business model to be regarded as the leading example of what great looks like," she said. The annual NRF professional awards scheme is run in association with LinkedIn and the Irish Independent. There were over 200 entries from recruitment companies countrywide evaluated by this years adjudication panel, with seventeen national awards presented. Katie Sloan also won Recruitment Consultant of the Year Designed to identify and reward excellence in recruitment in Ireland, the annual awards programme is open to all NRF members and is judged by an independent panel, including representatives from the international recruitment sector, the National College of Ireland and DCU. Congratulating Clark Recruitment NRF President, Frank Farrelly said that with a record number of entries, and standards in professional recruitment here among the highest in the world, the judging panel had no easy task in selecting winners. With the country at almost full-employment, and indigenous businesses and Irish based multi-nationals relying on top talent to compete, the role of the recruitment specialist is essential to the success of Irelands economy and to the fulfilment of our labour market," he said. Outstanding quality and operational excellence was evident across all of the entries, and Clark Recruitment can be justifiably proud of standing out among such excellent peers." The National Recruitment Federation is a voluntary organisation set up to establish and maintain standards and codes of practice for the recruitment industry. Established in 1998, Clark is a Recruitment; HR Solutions company based in Naas. A North Kildare TD has slammed outpatient delays at Naas Hospital with almost 200 people waiting three to four years for an appointment. Read also: Iarnrod Eireann announces details of late night Kildare Christmas train services Dep Frank ORourke has expressed concern for the 667 people waiting for an outpatient appointment in Naas General Hospital for more than two years. He was commenting as new figures obtained by Fianna Fail show that nationwide there are over 47,000 people waiting for outpatient appointments for more than two years. "Last month we saw outpatient waiting lists break another record with 515,547 waiting to be seen around the country. In Naas General Hospital, 667 people are waiting between two and three years, 196 are waiting greater than three years and six people have been waiting for an appointment for over four years," he said. "For any person to wait greater than two years for treatment is shocking, the level of deterioration that can occur in that time is oftentimes irreversible. For many, their lives are put on hold while waiting, some people cant work due to pain, and others depend on the assistance of kind family members or friends to help them. Its simply unacceptable. "Only last week we saw that Naas General Hospital was one of the worst-hit hospitals on the INMO trolley watch on a given day. The long and the short of it is that patients are being left high and dry by a system that that cannot cope", concluded Deputy ORourke. According to the Irish Nursing Organisation's (INO) trolley watch figures, there are 16 people on trolleys at the hospital today. The Minister of Health has said that Naas General Hospital is a site of 'key concern' regarding the trolley crisis. It has been confirmed in a parliamentary reply to Catherine Murphy, the Social Democrats Co-Leader and TD for North Kildare, that Naas General Hospital is one of nine key sites of concern in relation to the shortage of beds. Dep Murphy asked the Minister if there is a management plan for persons waiting on hospital trolleys at Naas General hospital. She also asked for an update on the current trolley numbers and anticipated numbers in coming months. In his reply the Minster stated the HSE Winter Plan for 2018/19 provides for a 4-week enhanced focus period from 17 December 2018 to 13 January 2019, targeting nine key sites of concern and that Naas General Hospital has been identified as one of these sites, based on performance in previous winters. I am pleased that the Minister has taken notice of just how acute the situation is in Naas General however a four week period of focus is a sticking plaster over a long-term problem. While I welcome the fact that there will be extra measures taken during this one month enhanced focus period I would also urge the Minister to recognise that this is a year round problem and urgent steps are required to ensure that Naas General is equipped to deal with the numbers attending throughout the year and not just for a 4 week period," she said. Evie Sammon (25) has been selected by Fine Gael members in Naas as one their candidates for the forthcoming local elections in the Naas district. The Selection Convention was held recently in Lawlors Hotel. Speaking at the selection convention Evie said: Cllr Billy Hillis has represented the people of Ballymore Eustace and Naas very well over the last two decades and as someone who is new, young and eager I hope to have the opportunity to continue this into the future. I have a deep understanding of the workings of Irish politics; I know my way around both local and national politics, I know the key players involved and I know what it takes to get things done. I have the experience, knowledge, understanding, and skill to deliver for Naas. Youth involvement in Irish politics has moved our country forward. We now are leading the social changes that are making Ireland into a modern, representative, and reflective 21st Century country. I want this to continue. I am committed to being part of this and to ensuring Fine Gael is well represented in this regard." Following her selection as a Fine Gael candidate to contest the local elections next May, Evie stated: I am honoured that Fine Gael members have chosen me to represent the party in the forthcoming local elections. I am passionate about advocating for every person in the Naas Municipal District, and working to deliver the investment and infrastructure our locality needs. Having been born and raised in Ballymore Eustace, and having gone to school in both Ballymore Eustace and Naas, I am committed to ensuring our communities are strengthened into the future, and that they receive the representation on Kildare County Council that they both require and deserve. I look forward to engaging with voters on the doorsteps in the weeks and months ahead, to hearing their concerns, outlining my campaign priorities, listening to their views, and working to assist them in each way possible. As a Fine Gael candidate, I am committed to ensuring no person in our locality is left behind, and next May, I will ask voters to put their trust in me, so that I can work diligently as a Councillor to deliver for our community. Evie is joined on the ticket by sitting Councillors Fintan Brett and Darren Scully. A list of Leitrim's dead from WWI along with a 'capital project' is being tendered to open in June 2019. A tender has been issues by Leitrim County Council on behalf of Leitrim County PEACE IV Partnership to create a form of remembrance to Leitrims World War I dead, in an effort to challenge assumptions about them. The tender follows a period of consultation with interested parties and with due sensitivity as to location, security, [and] content. It is envisioned that this project will include participants from republican groups, historical societies, Protestant church based groups and the Orange Order. According to the tender documents, during initial discussions there were strongly differing opinions around the capital element of the project. There was also a lack of engagement at public workshops by the general public. The remembrance project should raise awareness of WWI, provide an opportunity for young people to become more aware of WWI and its effect on Leitrim, and also would clarify assumptions around who from Leitrim went to the War and why they went. It was recommended that research would be carried out around the people of Leitrim affected by the First World War, and that a central digital resource around new research/ material arising from this project would be created. A list of Leitrim people who died in World War 1 would also be published. There would be a series of community-based programmes that would be linked to the existing and new and historical research. It is envisioned that the List of Dead and capital project would be launched in June 2019. Closing date for receipt of tenders is Monday, December 17. The Leitrim PEACE IV Partnership was established in 2016 as a sub-committee of the Local Community Development Committee and is led by Leitrim County Council. Leitrim was one of the few counties in Ireland to not hold a public event/ commemoration on Armistice Day this year. Irish Cement has been fined 4,000 relating to a dust spillage at its plant in Mungret a year ago. The company was prosecuted by the Environmental Protection Agency in relation to an incident on December 3, 2017 which saw a large number of houses and cars covered in a glue-like limestone dust which emanated from the facility. Its was the fourth time the company had been prosecuted relating to incidents at its Mungret plant. The spill of raw meal happened shortly after 10.15am less than two hours after staff at Irish Cement were alerted to a problem in the Kiln. Limerick District Court was told 21 complaints were received by the EPA and that samples of dust taken from cars at two nearby housing estates matched dust from the Irish Cement plant. During a hearing this Friday, EPA inspector Maria Lenihan said more than 2.5 tonnes of material had fallen nine metres after efforts to clear a blockage in the Kiln intake area were unsuccessful. Solicitor Maeve Larkin, representing the EPA, said a number of those who made complaints expressed health concerns while others said they were considering moving out of the area because of what happened. Ms Lenihan confirmed the dust was considered to be environmental pollution, as defined by the Environmental Protection Agency Act. Solicitor Deborah Spence, for Irish Cement, said what happened was a once off, very unusual occurrence and a a very isolated incident. She said the area of the plant where the incident happened was located in a different area to where other recent incidents happened. Ms Spence said the company had immediatly informed the EPA of the incident and had moved very quickly to deal with the matter. She said a root and branch analysis has been conducted and that substantial measures were put in place earlier this year to prevent any further incidents from happening. While noting the company had pleaded guilty and that action has been taken, Judge Marian OLeary commented it was the third time that people living in the Raheen/Mungret area have suffered in recent years. She imposed the maximum fine of 4,000. FINE Gael has selected three candidates to stand on the party ticket in the Newcastle West Municipal District for next Mays local elections. The three confirmed at the selection convention held last Thursday were sitting councillors John Sheahan, Glin and Liam Galvin, Abbeyfeale and community activist Tom Ruddle, Newcastle West. The recommendation from head office to the convention was to select three candidates. However, Cllr Jerome Scanlan, Feohanagh, is confidently expected to be added to the ticket by the national executive. Cllr Scanlan was nominated to the convention but did not attend. Instead, in his capacity of chairman of the Local Community Development Committee, he attended the celebration held in Knockaderry to mark 25 years of West Limerick Resources. Currently, Fine Gael holds three of the six seats in the Newcastle West Municipal District but received in excess of three quotas at the local elections in 2014. I am delighted with the outcome, Cllr Scanlan told the Limerick Leader this week. He was, he added, very much in favour of standing four candidates, and believes it is a good move to have a candidate who is resident in the town of Newcastle West. I have been told officially I will be added to the list. I was assured of it, he said. Asked why he had not attended the convention, he said it was essential that as chairman of the Local Community Development Committee LCDC he attend the West Limerick Resources event. Given the reaction when the LCDC was first mooted and set it, it was critical he attended the 25th anniversary event, he said. Whether the party can exercise tight vote management in 2019 and have a chance at taking a fourth seat remains to be seen. Fianna Fail has opted to stand just two candidates in 2019, sitting councillors Michael Collins and Francis Foley. Sinn Feins Seamus Browne will also be hoping to hold the seat he first won in 2014. THE chief executive of Limerick Twenty Thirty David Conway says the company is trying to maximise the number of apartments in Project Opera. The Limerick Leader understands that six per cent of the 180m plan will be dedicated to permanent housing, with the other 10% being an apart-hotel serving a transitory population. It comes as plans for the massive development around Patrick Street were put on display one final time before the application is formally submitted to An Bord Pleanala. Its going to be a fantastic facility for employment, and retail, a fantastic library, and a fantastic tenant in terms of Revenue and a fantastic tenant in terms of parcel one, we hope, and the apart-hotel will drive more life into the city. This is what were after, Mr Conway told the Limerick Leader. The residential units proposed for the commercial/office/retail development, which could bring up to 3,000 jobs, are understand to be earmarked for Ellen Street and Patrick Street, and will be mainly apartments. He defended the provision for residential in the development, saying: People want jobs as well. You need to be pragmatic in terms of your approach. Jobs lead to viability, viability leads to housing. So there is a balance. Whats the point in putting up houses if you dont have balance? There is a chicken and egg approach and jobs come before residential. The plans will deliver a signature, new 14-storey new build office building at Bank Place, accommodating the Revenue Commissioners ass anchor tenant. The Granary will be preserved but transformed internally predominantly for office use, but also food and beverage use. Michael Street will get a six-story new build which will accommodate office, innovation, education, retail and food beverage space. Another parcel, at the corner of Patrick Street and Ellen Street, will see the apart hotel on a five-storey development and an existing four-storey structure. On top of this, Project Opera will bring a new world-class city library. At the first night of public consultations on Project Opera this Tuesday, there was a steady turnout. One of those present, Fr Seamus Enright of the Redemptorists said: Id have been happier had there been more people living on the site. Its small enough. One thing which strikes me is that I go to Rome a lot for meetings, and its such a living city. You go downtown at night, and there are restaurants and little shops open. People live upstairs. Weve lost that in Limerick, and Id hope this might have done more to bring this back. Despite this, he welcomed the development, saying it is exciting, and the new library will be amazing. Pat OBrien, whose wife Caroline runs Celtic Bookshop is looking forward to Project Opera. He said: Its such an important development, very badly needed. Its a magnificent urban site one of the very finest in the country. Corbally man Ray OHalloran added: Its probably the best thing that ever has happened to Limerick. I think its fabulous. The presentation is terrific. They have every angle covered down to offices, housing and everything else you can think of. I cannot believe how good it is, and the fact it could be finished within three to four years is super. It could change the whole emphasis of the city in terms of bringing people back in. There was another consultations on Project Opera this Thursday night at the City Library and the final public event takes place this Friday between 5pm and 7pm in the councils offices in Dooradoyle. Submissions from the public are being accepted until Wednesday, December 12, Mr Conway said. It is hoped the final application for Project Opera will be submitted before Christmas. LONG-haul flights from Shannon stopping over in London could be under threat due to Brexit, it has been claimed. Respected journalist Tony Connelly was at the Castletroy Park Hotel last week, where he answered questions from business people and politicians over the local impact of Britains decision to leave the European Union. Introduced by Castletroy Park Hotel owner Pat McDonagh as the foremost expert on Brexit, Mr Connelly addressed almost 250 people at the event. Joe Buckley, business relations manager at Shannon Airport said: As everybody in this room knows, airline connectivity from Shannon is critical for business. In the event of a hard Brexit, is there a provision being made that there is airline connectivity in Shannon to European hubs? Mr Connelly said a gentlemans agreement is likely to be in place between the European Commission and Britain, in a move which should protect flights from Limericks local airport and UK airports. However, long-haul is less clear. He said: You will get flights coming into Heathrow. Under this gentleman's agreement, that should continue. But does the connectivity extend to a passenger buying a ticket from Shannon to Sydney, which has a stopover in Heathrow? That's not clear I'm afraid at this stage. Other questions at the event came from Philip Monks, Pallas Foods, who asked about the landbridge between Britain and Europe, Martin Stapleton of the Irish Farmers Association and Ian Heaton of Northern Trust. Niall Collins asked the likelihood of a second referendum, a so-called Peoples Vote, which has been talked up by many Labour and Conservative MPs. Mr Connelly who was first to break news of British PM Theresa Mays draft deal with the EU said timing is the key. Labour will be key in this. [Leader] Jeremy Corbyn has been ambivalent about a second vote. The whole question of a Peoples Vote will be in timing. If those who support it make their gambit too early, and it is shot down in the House of Commons, it will be dead. I think they have to time it to a point where it seems the country is falling apart and this is one way out of it. I dont think you can have a second vote without a general election, because I cannot see a Conservative leader countenancing another referendum, he predicted. MORE than 15 months after they were advised not to drink the water from their taps, the residents of a County Limerick housing estate are weary of the long-running saga. The resident of OConnor Park, Ardagh are also very tired of having to depend on Irish Water for bottled drinking water. The problem in the estate first emerged in August 2017 when Irish Water told residents they would be taking samples of the water as recent results had shown slightly elevated levels of hydrocarbons. But the levels, although elevated, were within drinking water guidelines. This changed however, about a month later when Irish Water again wrote to residents telling them that the HSE advice was not to drink the water or use it for preparing food, ice making or brushing of teeth. However, unless any petrol type odour is noted, this water can be used for toilet flushing bathing, showering, laundry and dishwashing, the residents were told. In the 14 months since, Irish Water has continued to test the water in OConnor Park but no definitive source for the hydocarbon was found. A full-scale flushing out of the waterpipe system in Ardagh was promised and this was finally undertaken in September, a full year on, using a method known as ice-pigging. Samples were taken but, a spokesman for Irish Water said this week, due to the complex nature of the type of contamination present, specialist testing and analysis is needed. This can only take place in an external laboratory and can take weeks, he said. One set of tests has been completed and a second set has since been carried out and results from these are due sometime next week. A number of clear tests will be required before the Do Not Drink notice will be lifted, the spokesman said. Its ridiculous, resident and grandmother Theresa OBrien said. We cant even wash our teeth. You would know there is something in the water, she continued. Its oily. But she and other residents are particularly annoyed that the supply of bottled water to the estate is so inadequate. What they bring out is gone the next day, she said, adding that Its no good asking for more. Like many of her neighbours, she has to go to houses outside the estate to get additional water. I sometimes have to buy water, she added. . It is an inconvenience, another resident Jack Ahern agreed. The water deliveries vary, from a week to ten days, he said, and then you get only so many bottles. You dont like to go to houses asking for water, he continued. But drinking the water, especially in the early morning, was most definitely ruled out. Another resident, Doreen Cahill, was adamant the supply of bottled water is totally inadequate. There are three of us in the house, she pointed out and 24 bottles of water are gone in a couple of days. She has a supply of five-litre bottles which she tries to fill at a neighbours house or at her sons home. Its scandalous, she said of the situation which has now dragged on for so long. THE owner of a Chinese restaurant is seeking the return of almost 8,000 in cash which was seized by gardai during a drugs raid an apartment in Limerick city. At Limerick Circuit Court Haibin Lin, who is a director of LLK Street Food Limited, opposed an application by the State for the forfeiture of the money which was seized at the home of one of his employees. Jinlong Xue, aged 35, who has an address at Howleys Quay, Limerick has pleaded guilty to possession of cannabis, worth 10,934, for the purpose of sale or supply. During a sentencing hearing, Garda Alan Considine said Mr Xue's apartment was searched at around 6.30pm on July 5, 2016 after confidential information was received by gardai. He said the drugs were found in a number of vacuum-packed bags in a press in the kitchen and that other parafernalia associated with drug dealing was also found in the house. Incriminating texts were found on a mobile phone belonging to Mr Xue and 23,825 in cash was found in a bedroom wardrobe. John OSullivan BL, instructed by state solicitor Padraig Mawe, said there was a dispute regarding the source of the money which gardai believe was the proceeds of drug dealing. Mr Xue, who is known as Pat, told the court around 6,000 of the money was wages while a further 10,000 was money he had brought with him from China to Limerick. He said he was working as a manager at a Chinese restaurant in Ennis at the time and that the remainder of the money was profits from the restaurant which he had brought home as the company did not have a bank account. Mr Lin, who is known as Stephen, told the court Mr Xue was a satisfactory, reliable hard worker and that he trusted him to bring the cash home for convenience over a short period in 2016 while the restaurant was being re-branded. Various documents including delivery dockets and food invoices were produced which, Mr Lin submitted, showed Mr Xue was handling considerable amounts of cash associated with the business. Everything was in cash. He took the money home, he was the manager, he told Pat Whyms BL adding that the restaurant did not have a bank account for a number of months in 2016. Mr Lin, who lives in Limerick, told Judge Tom ODonnell that 7,775 in cash which was seized at Mr Xues apartment belongs to the company. The witness rejected assertions from Mr OSullivan that the documents submitted by him had nothing to do with the cash found or the nice quantity of drugs which was found at Mr Xues apartment. Judge ODonnell reserved judgment until February. Polonium (Po) is a very rare and highly volatile radioactive metal. Before Polish-French physicist Marie Curie's discovery of polonium in 1898, uranium and thorium were the only known radioactive elements. Curie named polonium after her homeland, Poland. Polonium is of little use to humans, with the exception of some menacing applications: It was used as a trigger in the first atomic bomb and is also a suspected poison in a couple of high-profile deaths. In commercial applications, polonium is occasionally used to remove static electricity in machinery or dust from photographic film. It can also be used as a lightweight heat source for thermoelectric power in space satellites. Classification Polonium is located in Group 16 and period 6 in the periodic table of elements. It's classified as a metal because polonium's electrical conductivity decreases as its temperature rises, according to the Royal Society of Chemistry. The element is the heaviest metal of the chalcogens, a group of elements also known as the "oxygen family." All chalcogens are found in copper ores. Other elements in the chalcogen group include oxygen, sulfur, selenium and tellurium. There are 33 known isotopes (atoms of the same element with a different number of neutrons) of polonium, and all are radioactive. This element's radioactive instability is what makes it a fitting candidate for use in atomic bombs. Physical characteristics Atomic number (number of protons in the nucleus): 84 Atomic symbol (on the periodic table of the elements): Po Atomic weight (average mass of the atom): 209 Density: 9.32 grams per cubic centimeter Phase at room temperature: Solid Melting point: 489.2 degrees Fahrenheit (254 degrees Celsius) Boiling point: 1,763.6 degrees F (962 degrees C) Most common isotope: Po-210 which has a half-life of only 138 days Discovery When Curie and her husband, Pierre Curie, discovered polonium, they were searching for the source of radioactivity in a naturally occurring, uranium-rich ore called pitchblende. The two noticed that the unrefined pitchblende was more radioactive than the uranium that had been separated from it. So, they reasoned that the pitchblende must be harboring at least one other radioactive element. The Curies purchased loads of pitchblende so that they could chemically separate the compounds in the minerals. After months of painstaking work, they finally isolated the radioactive element: a substance 400 times more radioactive than uranium, according to the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC). Extracting polonium was challenging because there was such a miniscule amount; 1 ton of uranium ore contains only about 100 micrograms (0.0001 grams) of polonium. Nonetheless, the Curies were able to pull out the isotope we now know as polonium-209, according to the Royal Society of Chemistry. Sources Traces of Po-210 can be found in the soil and air. For example, Po-210 is produced during the decay of radon-222 gas, which a result of decaying radium. In turn, radium is a decay product of uranium, which is present in almost all rocks and soil formed from rocks. Lichens are able to absorb polonium directly from the atmosphere. In northern areas, people who eat reindeer can have higher concentrations of polonium in their blood, because reindeer eat lichens, according to Smithsonian.com. Polonium is considered a rare natural element. Although it is found in uranium ores, it's not economical to extract as there are only around 100 micrograms of polonium in 1 ton (0.9 metric tons) of uranium ore, according to the Jefferson Lab. Instead, polonium is obtained by bombarding bismuth-209 (a stable isotope) with neutrons in a nuclear reactor. This creates radioactive bismuth-210, which then decays into polonium through a process called beta decay, according to the Royal Society of Chemistry. The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission estimates that only around 100 grams (3.5 ounces) of polonium-210 is produced worldwide each year. Commercial uses Because of its high radioactivity, polonium has few commercial applications. Among the element's limited uses are eliminating static electricity in machinery and removing dust from photographic film. In both applications, the polonium must be carefully sealed to protect the user. The element is also used as a lightweight heat source for thermoelectric power in satellites and other spacecraft. That's because polonium decays rapidly, and as it does, it releases a large amount of energy in the form of heat. Just a single gram of polonium will reach a temperature of 500 degrees C (932 degrees F) as it degrades, according to the Royal Society of Chemistry. Atomic bomb During the middle of World War II, the Army Corps of Engineers began to organize the Manhattan Engineer District, a top-secret research and development program that would ultimately produce the world's first nuclear weapons. Before the 1940s, there was no reason to isolate polonium in its pure form or to produce it in any substantial quantity, because there was no known use for it and very little was known about it. But the district's engineers began studying polonium and found the element to be an important ingredient for their nuclear weapon. A combination of polonium and beryllium, another rare element, acted as the bomb's initiator, according to the Atomic Heritage Foundation. After the war, the polonium research project was transferred to Mound Laboratory in Miamisburg, Ohio. Completed in 1949, Mound Lab was the first permanent Atomic Energy Commission facility for nuclear weapons development. Poisoning Polonium is toxic to humans, even in very small amounts. The first person to die of polonium poisoning may have been Marie Curie's daughter Irene Joliot-Curie. In 1946, a polonium capsule exploded on her lab bench which may have been the reason she contracted leukemia and died 10 years later, according to Smithsonian.com. Polonium poisoning was also what killed Alexander Litvinenko, a former Russian spy who had been living in London in 2006 after claiming political asylum. Poisoning was also suspected in the 2004 death of the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, as surprisingly high levels of polonium-210 were detected on his clothes, according to The Wall Street Journal. A 2011 study published in the journal Nicotine & Tobacco Research found that tobacco companies have been aware that cigarettes and other tobacco-containing products contain low levels of polonium. The study's authors calculated that the radioactivity from polonium in cigarettes is responsible for up to 138 deaths for every 1,000 smokers over a period of 25 years. Other research has shown that twice as much polonium is found in the ribs of smokers as in those of nonsmokers, according to the U.S. National Institute of Health's Toxicology Data Network. Further reading: Some have suggested the Ark of the Covenant is inside the Church of Our Lady of Zion in Aksum, Ethiopia. Over the past few days, several media outlets have reported on a centuries-old claim that the Ark of the Covenant which allegedly held tablets recording the Ten Commandments is inside a church in Aksum, Ethiopia, called the Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion, and that only the "guardian" of the ark is allowed to see it. National Geographic even published a story saying that that those who guard the ark in Ethiopia "have been trained to kill with their bare hands" and that "historians and archaeologists would dearly love to examine the treasure, but the chapel [where the ark is kept] is off-limits to all but a few members of the Ethiopian Christian church hierarchy, hindering any independent confirmation of their authenticity." However, Live Science has learned that accounts told by Edward Ullendorff, who saw the supposed ark during World War II, reveal that what is inside the church is a replica of the ark. Ullendorff, who was a professor at the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), died in 2011. [30 of the World's Most Valuable Treasures That Are Still Missing] When he was alive, Ullendorff told Tudor Parfitt, who was also a professor at SOAS, about the alleged "ark" inside the church. He also gave an interview about what he saw to the Los Angeles Times in 1992. A Live Science talked to Parfitt and found a copy of the 1992 Los Angeles Times article the two accounts revealing what is really inside. Religious traditionNobody knows where the actual Ark of the Covenant is hiding, or whether it really exists. According to the Hebrew Bible, when this holy chest was first built, it held tablets engraved with the Ten Commandments, and was housed in Solomon's Temple, also called the First Temple. However, the biblical story suggests that during the sixth century B.C., an army led by Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar II conquered Jerusalem and destroyed the temple. The whereabouts of the sacred chest have since been a source of speculation. [Religious Mysteries: 8 Alleged Relics of Jesus] There is a long-standing religious legend in Ethiopia that describes how the Ark of the Covenant was brought to Ethiopia 3,000 years by a man named Menelik, who, according to legend, was the son of the Queen of Sheba and Israel's King Solomon. The legend states that the Queen of Sheba was from Ethiopia and that she traveled to Jerusalem where she was seduced by King Solomon, giving birth to Menelik when she returned to Ethiopia. Menelik later traveled to Jerusalem and studied with his father before stealing the ark and bringing it to Ethiopia, where, legend has it, the ark still resides in the Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion, where only the guardian of the ark can view it. Historical records indicate that this story started during the late Middle Ages (around A.D. 1400), said Parfitt, now a professor of religion at Florida International University. The man who saw "the ark" Ethiopia was invaded by the Italian troops during a military campaign that lasted from 1935 to 1936. After Italy declared war on the United Kingdom in 1940, British forces invaded and took Ethiopia in 1941. At the time, Ullendorff was a British army officer who was also a young scholar with extensive knowledge of Ethiopian history and languages, Parfitt told Live Science. "He went to the Church of Mary of Zion with a couple of soldiers," Parfitt said. He spoke to the monks in the church in Amharic, a language widely spoken in Ethiopia, asking to see the ark. His requests were refused. "They said, 'You can't go in, this is holy'" said Parfitt, recounting the story. "He said, 'Well, I'm sorry, but I want to go in,'" and "he did go in with his soldiers behind him. They couldn't do anything to stop him," Parfitt said. According to Parfitt, the army officer then walked over to the place where the ark was said to reside. "What he saw was what you find in any Ethiopian church, which is a model of the Ark of the Covenant," Parfitt said. Apparently, Ullendorff said that "it didn't differ in any way from many arks he had seen in other churches in Ethiopia," Parfitt said. "It wasn't ancient and certainly wasn't the original ark." Ullendorff never published an article about his encounter with the ark. He "simply didn't want to hurt the feelings of the Ethiopians," said Parfitt, noting that Ullendorff worked extensively in Ethiopia, even becoming a personal friend of the emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie. "It would have been absolutely impossible for him to function in Ethiopia if he had said that your ark is not the genuine ark," Parfitt explained. In his interview with the Los Angeles Times in 1992, Ullendorff said that the model he saw was of "middle-to late-medieval construction, when these were fabricated ad hoc." Parfitt said that Ullendorff was concerned after he gave the interview and hoped that Ethiopian authorities did not become aware of the Los Angeles Times article. As far as Parfitt knows, Ullendorff never spoke to a reporter again about what he saw. Originally published on Live Science. After a few promising years of minimal carbon-emission growth, the world is on pace to burn a bunch more fossil fuels. According to a new estimate, global carbon emissions will hit a record-breaking 37.1 billion metric tons in 2018. That's a 2.7 percent increase over 2017's global emissions output of 36.2 billion metric tons, researchers with the Global Carbon Project reported Dec. 5. And 2017's numbers represented a 1.6 percent increase over the year before. "For three years, we saw flat greenhouse gas emissions at the same time [that] the world economy grew. That was good news," said Robert Jackson, a professor of Earth system science at Stanford University. "We hoped that represented peak emissions. It didn't." [The Reality of Climate Change: 10 Myths Busted] To turn off the emissions spigot, countries will have to focus on renewable energy, and quickly, Jackson said. Rising emissions Climate change is already underway. A 2010 NASA study found that Earth's average surface temperature rose 1.44 degrees Fahrenheit (0.8 degrees Celsius) over the 20th century. The Arctic, in particular, is responding rapidly to this change, exhibiting record levels of melt. Surface meltwater from Greenland alone now contributes nearly a millimeter of global sea-level rise to the oceans each year. In October, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned that the world will have to slash carbon emissions to 45 percent below 2010 levels by the year 2030 and then halt all emissions by 2050 in order to keep global average temperatures from rising more than 2.7 degrees F (1.5 degrees C). A graph showing carbon emissions from land use and fossil fuel burning (top) and where all that spare carbon has settled (bottom). Carbon in the atmosphere (blue) warms the globe; carbon in the oceans (dark green) causes acidification that can harm marine animals. (Image credit: The Global Carbon Project, Le Quere et al, Earth System Science Data 2018 Currently, emissions are headed in the wrong direction, Jackson and his team found. Between 2017 and 2018, China is estimated to have increased its carbon output by 4.7 percent. The U.S. output has risen about 2.5 percent in the same period. India saw the sharpest increase in carbon output between 2017 and 2018, at an estimated 6.3 percent. The European Union has increased its outputs as well, by 0.7 percent. The drivers of these trends are both meteorological and economic, the researchers reported. An especially cold winter in the eastern United States and a hot summer across the country increased fossil fuel emissions from the heating and cooling of homes and other structures. A decline in the price of oil led to the purchase of larger cars and trucks in the United States. Meanwhile, a sluggish economy in China has leaders there incentivizing heavy industry and instituting coal-power projects that had been on hold, Jackson said. Economic development in India has that nation scrambling to build any energy project it can. "They're building coal, nuclear and renewables at breakneck pace," Jackson said. "Every coal plant they build is likely to be polluting 40 years from now." Turning it around Despite the sobering trends, there are glimmers of hope. The United States and Canada have seen a decrease in coal consumption of about 40 percent since 2005, Jackson said. And despite the vocally pro-coal administration of president Donald Trump, some 15 gigawatts of coal plants are slated to close this year in the U.S., a potential record, Jackson added. "The pricing for wind and solar is now competitive with [that of] fossil fuels in many cases," Jackson added. Although developing countries like India and China are rapidly growing their fossil fuel emissions, developed nations like the United States and the countries of the European Union are still responsible for the majority of emissions. (Image credit: The Global Carbon Project, 2018) The transportation sector is a bigger challenge, Jackson said, as low oil prices lead consumers to drive more frequently and buy larger vehicles. Incentivizing electric vehicles which can be charged with power generated by clean energy would make a big impact in emissions, Jackson said. Globally, the picture is complex. India, for example, is striving to bring any electric power at all to millions of people who have none. "They need financial incentives to reduce reliance on new coal plants" and to build renewable-energy infrastructure instead, Jackson said. Though it's discouraging to see emissions rising so quickly, Jackson said, he's an optimist at heart. "I believe green energy will eventually win," he said. The only question is how much warming will have to occur first and how hard it will be to rein in today's excesses. "The higher we go in emission today," Jackson said, "the faster or the deeper the cuts need to be in a decade or two decades or beyond." Jackson and his colleagues on the Global Carbon Project published their estimates on Dec. 5 in the journals Environmental Research Letters and Earth System Science Data. Originally published on Live Science. Scientists started watching crystals sparkle in the 1990s. Those crystals sparkled more in the summer, which researchers took as evidence of dark matter. But those scientists were probably wrong, new research suggests. Scientists have very good reason to believe that dark matter exists that there's some unseen stuff tugging on everything with its gravity but that's invisible to our telescopes. But they dont know what that dark matter is actually made of. Physicists have some guesses. But researchers have never spotted any direct evidence to suggest that any particular guess is correct, with one possible exception: A single detector in Italy sparkled more in the winter than the summer, hinting that a particular model of dark matter was correct. But now, a new experiment trying to replicate that annual sparkle cycle has failed to turn up significant results, indicating that the Italian detector's dark matter evidence is likely wrong. Here's the deal: One popular theory of dark matter states that the stuff is made up of particles called "weakly interacting massive particles," or "WIMPS." These WIMPs would be heavy particles not described in the Standard Model of physics, though they would likely be supersymmetric partners of Standard Model particles. WIMPs would use their gravity to tug on other particles, rarely interacting with them otherwise. [The 11 Biggest Unanswered Questions About Dark Matter] Based on how dark matter seems to act on the light-emitting matter in the universe, researchers think that the substance tends to cluster in galaxies, holding them together. That means that if dark matter is made of WIMPs, more of them should strike the Earth in June, when our planet rushes toward the Milky Way's dark matter halo, than in December, when our planet rushes away from that region.Fortunately for team WIMP, a single experiment seemed to support that hypothesis. In an underground place in Italy, photon detectors stare at sodium iodide crystals all day and night in the darkness, looking for traces of light. Those crystals sparkle when they interact with other particles, and in that buried place called the DAMA/NaI experiment WIMPs would be among the only other particles around.As early as April 1998, just three years after the DAMA/NaI experiment began, researchers reported in the journal Physics Letters B that the crystals seemed to light up more in the summer than the winter. That was exactly what researchers expected to see if dark matter was really made up of WIMPs. As recently as 2017, researchers looking at data from the 1995-2002 DAMA/NaI experiment and the upgraded DAMA/LIBRA experiment, which began in 2003, reported evidence for an annual shift in the crystals' behavior. But those results haven't stood up very well in replication attempts. The Xenon100 detector, also in Italy, similarly hunted for WIMPs though it did so by staring at xenon, not sodium iodide, in a dark chamber. By 2010, it was clear that XENON100 wasn't going to spot DAMA's annual signal. Another, bigger xenon search, this one in China, reported no results earlier this year. However, still another experiment called CoGeNT, based in Minnesota and relying on a single chunk of germanium did seem to replicate DAMA's annual signal. The latest news, however, is not good for DAMA. On Wednesday (Dec. 5), researchers at the Cosine-100 detector in South Korea published a paper in the journal Nature reporting that they'd seen no yearly shift in their newer, fancier detector. That's a big deal, because Cosine-100's light sensors are watching underground chunks of sodium iodide, just like DAMA's. So if DAMA had found a real result, it should show up in Cosine-100 as well. "The result of this search is significant because, for the first time, we have sizeable sodium-iodide crystal detectors with enough sensitivity [test DAMA's claims]. It has been for 20 years that the potentially significant claim has not been reproduced using the same crystals independently," Hyun Su Lee, Cosine-100 co-spokesperson, said in a statement. Researchers still don't know what caused the annual signal or why it showed up in DAMA but not Cosine-100. But the Korean team said it hopes an upcoming upgrade to its detector will turn up better data to help resolve the mystery of dark matter and the DAMA signal. Originally published on Live Science. A man coughed up a large blood clot that was in the shape of his "bronchial tree," or the lung's branched airway passages. Coughing up blood is an alarming symptom, but it's not particularly rare. Even so, one man in California shocked his doctors when he coughed up an unusual-looking blood clot: It was in the shape of his lung. The 36-year-old man was being treated for a serious heart condition, according to a new report of the case, published Nov. 29 in The New England Journal of Medicine. He had chronic heart failure, which means the heart muscle can't pump enough blood to meet the body's normal demands. His condition was so severe that doctors put him on a machine called a ventricular assist device, which helps the heart pump blood. Because these machines can also increase the risk of blood clots, he was prescribed a blood-thinner medication. However, these medications also increase the risk of bleeding, including coughing up blood. Indeed, the patient had several coughing episodes in which he expelled small amounts of blood, according to the report. But then, during an "extreme bout of coughing," the patient spit out an "intact cast" of the right bronchial tree. In other words, it was a mold (cast) made of clotted blood in the shape of the lung's branched airway passages known as bronchi. "We were astonished," Dr. Georg Wieselthaler, a heart and lung surgeon at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), who treated the patient, told The Atlantic. "It's a curiosity you can't imagine I mean, this is very, very, very rare." It's less rare for patients to cough up bronchial "casts" made of other substances, such as lymph or mucus. But blood is less sticky and sturdy than these other substances, meaning that a cast made of blood is less likely to hold together when coughed up, The Atlantic reported. Wieselthaler told The Atlantic that in this case, the patient had an infection that increased levels of a protein called fibrinogen, which helps blood clots form; and higher levels of fibrinogen could have helped the man's large clot to stay intact when it was coughed up. Even though the man had no further episodes of coughing up blood, he unfortunately died a week later from complications of heart failure. Wieselthaler's colleague, Dr. Gavitt Woodard, a clinical fellow at UCSF, told The Atlantic that one reason they decided to publish the image was to show the "beautiful anatomy of the human body." Originally published on Live Science. Hundreds of millions of years ago, very, very distant ancestors of humans and of all land animals with backbones and four limbs had this water-breathing ability, but it was lost after the first air-breathing creatures began living on land full time. Today, humans can only breathe in water using special equipment or in movies like "Aquaman" (Warner Bros. Pictures), about comic book characters with unique underwater abilities. Comic book lore sort of explains how the film's half-human, half-Atlantean hybrid Aquaman (Jason Momoa) and all his human-looking Atlantean cousins can breathe in the ocean depths "gills" are mentioned, though they aren't visible, and the specifics are left to the viewer's imagination. But how exactly do real-world creatures breathe in their watery environments? [Photos: See the World's Cutest Sea Creatures] As it happens, there's plenty of dissolved oxygen in most of the planet's seas, lakes and rivers, though our air-breathing lungs simply can't process it. But the world's water dwellers have evolved several other methods for accessing oxygen in water, experts told Live Science. An ancient technique Some animals such as jellyfish absorb the oxygen in water directly through their skin. A gastrovascular cavity inside their bodies serves a dual purpose: digesting food, and moving oxygen and carbon dioxide around, Rebecca Helm, an assistant professor at the University of North Carolina, Asheville, told Live Science. In fact, Earth's earliest forms of microbial life that used oxygen obtained it the same way as jellies do through diffusion. This form of respiration likely appeared around 2.8 billion years ago, "sometime after cyanobacteria started pumping oxygen into the atmosphere," according to ocean scientist Juli Berwald, author of "Spineless: The Science of Jellyfish and the Art of Growing a Backbone" (Riverhead Books, 2017). "Because they only have an outer cell layer and an inner cell layer and their insides are jelly and don't have cells, they don't need as much oxygen as animals that have actual tissues on the inside," Berwald told Live Science in an email. However, there are also drawbacks to "breathing" through diffusion. "It's much slower than using a circulatory system to bring oxygen to far reaches of the body. That probably means that there's a limit on how big jellyfish can grow," Berwald added. Back-door method Breathing through oxygen diffusion over the body surface is also found in echinoderms a group of marine animals that includes starfish, sea stars, sea urchins and sea cucumbers. Sea stars absorb oxygen as water flows over bumps on their skin called papulae, and through grooves in other structures called tube feet, invertebrate zoologist Christopher Mah, a researcher with the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., told Live Science. Some types of shallow-water sea cucumbers, however, have a different type of specialized adaptation for breathing: a respiratory "tree" structure located in the body cavity near the anus. As the cucumber's rectal opening sucks water into its body, the respiratory tree extracts oxygen and expels carbon dioxide. "It literally breathes out of its ass," Mah said. [Dangers in the Deep: 10 Scariest Sea Creatures] A "basic blueprint" In fish, gills have proved to be a successful system for respiration, using a network of blood vessels to draw in oxygen from flowing water and diffuse it through gill membranes, according to the Northeast Fisheries Science Center. Across most fish, gills have "the same basic blueprint," Solomon David, an assistant professor with the Department of Biological Sciences at Nicholls State University in Louisiana, told Live Science. "They're made to have this countercurrent exchange of gas pull oxygen out and release waste," David said. When fish gape their mouths, they create a current of water flowing over their gills. Reddish, highly vascularized tissue sucks out oxygen and expels carbon dioxide, "kind of like capillaries in our alveoli," he said. However, gills aren't exactly one-size-fits-all. Their structure can vary between species to suit their oxygen needs, according to David. The gills of a fast-swimming tuna, for example, will vary somewhat from those of a fish that's a lie-and-wait predator, such as an alligator gar. "If you're an active predator that's on the go all the time, you're going to have different gills for higher oxygen demands," David said. Gill shape can even vary between individuals of the same species, depending on oxygen conditions in the water where they live, he added. Studies have shown that fish can adapt their gill morphology when their watery habitat becomes polluted; over time, their gill filaments become more condensed, to resist the contaminants in the water. Some aquatic amphibians also have gills branching structures that extend outward from their heads. This is a larval trait in amphibians that disappears as most species mature, but aquatic salamanders like sirens retain these external gills into adulthood, Kirsten Hecht, an aquatic ecologist with the School of Natural Resources and Environment at the University of Florida, told Live Science in an email. Lungfish a group of fish that breathe air as well as water using a modified swim bladder also have external gills when they're young, "but almost all lungfish species lose them before reaching adulthood," Hecht said. Original article on Live Science. The team of biologists from Macquarie University in Sydney knew from previous research that warming ocean temperatures alter the way fish grow and develop. The researchers wanted to find out whether these changes would also affect fish behavior specifically, whether sharks raised in a tank warmed to projected end-of-century temperatures would show a preference for swimming one direction or another when faced with a Y-shaped pathway. Basically, could global warming make sharks right- or left-handed? Sharks, you may be tempted to point out, don't actually have hands (they have fins, which are genetically not so far off from human arms). So, when scientists talk about the right or left "handedness" of sharks and other marine creatures, they're talking about lateralization: the tendency for one half of an animal's brain to automatically control certain behaviors. With simple, automated behaviors (say, your preference for writing with your right or left hand), this theoretically frees up mental energy for an animal to perform more-complex cognitive functions. In fish, lateralization might mean a default preference for swimming a certain way, which can help those fish forage for food or form schools. [On The Brink: A Gallery of Wild Sharks] "Since behavioral lateralization is an expression of brain function, it can be used as a barometer of normal brain development and function in some contexts," the researchers wrote in a study published this summer in the journal Symmetry. "Namely, exposure or development under climate change conditions." Right shark or left shark? To test whether warmer waters could force a shark to become lateralized, the researchers collected a clutch of Port Jackson shark eggs from the waters off of eastern Australia. The scientists incubated 12 eggs in a tank warmed to the current ambient temperature of the bay (about 70 degrees Fahrenheit, or 20.6 degrees Celsius) and 12 others in a tank that was gradually warmed to 74.5 degrees F (23.6 degrees C) to simulate those predicted end-of-century ocean temperatures. Five sharks incubated in the elevated temperatures died within a month of hatching. To test whether the remaining sharks had developed lateralization, the team placed each of those animals in a long tank with a Y-shaped partition at one end. Behind the partition was a food reward; sharks just had to decide whether to swim to the right or left side of the Y to reach their snack. The authors found that sharks incubated in the elevated temperatures showed a strong preference for turning right. The sharks in the control group showed no preference one way or the other. To the researchers, this sudden-onset "right-handedness" is an indication that the sharks raised in the hotter tank may have developed lateralized brains as a mental shortcut. This would help them compensate for other developmental hurdles posed by their environment. [Images: Sharks and Whales from Above] "Elevated temperature significantly increased developmental rates and metabolism, with associated costs in terms of energy allocation to growth and physiological processes," the researchers wrote. "Therefore, stronger lateralization may arise as an energy-saving mechanism." Sharks born in hotter waters may be forced to develop more quickly and may be left with physically smaller brains than sharks who develop under today's conditions, the team wrote. With less mental energy to spare, sharks might have to automate certain behaviors like always turning right when faced with an obstacle. Understanding the precise consequences of warming oceans on shark behavior will require lots of further study, the researchers said. For its part, the Macquarie University team has donated the brains of the sharks in its study to be examined in further research. Soon, we may have a better idea of what makes a right-handed shark tick. Left Shark could not be reached for comment. Originally published on Live Science. This story originally appeared in Altaonline.com. With coffee shops seemingly on every block, there's little question that California is one of the world's biggest consumers of java. But a collective of 26 coffee growers outside Santa Barbara is hoping to make the state a major coffee producer as well. Frinj Coffee the name is a nod to the idea of growing beans at the far edge of the world's traditional coffee-growing regions is the outgrowth of an experiment in large-scale coffee cultivation that began in 2002. After years of development, proponents began propagating and distributing arabica coffee plants to interested growers in 2014, and Frinj is now bringing its first crops to market and to many of those ubiquitous coffee shops. The new brew is pricey how does $18 a cup sound? but growers hope it's the beginning of a new agricultural success story for the state. "Frinj is the best example we have of New World coffee produced in an economy and in a culture that has previously only identified as a consumer," says Charlie Habegger, coffee buyer for Blue Bottle, the popular Bay Area-based coffee chain. The idea of Frinj will sound familiar to any coffee drinker who prefers to buy single-origin beans sourced from individual farmers and collectives. It's just that this collective is in southern California rather than in Costa Rica. Frinj provides growers with trees, guarantees it will buy the harvest, and then pays farmers when the final product the beans goes to market, subsidizing 60 percent to 70 percent of the final sale price. The group provides training in coffee cultivation and a direct line from grower to roaster. "It is a very artisanal product," says Lindsey Mesta, Frinj's co-founder and chief marketing officer. Considering California's location well outside the tropics, coffee may seem an unusual crop. But it can be grown profitably in the state, according to Mesta, "if you are selective about the microclimate you plant in." The secret is to focus on high-elevation varietals, which are grown at high altitudes in tropical climates. Frinj's growers mimic altitude with latitude. With its long growing season, summer heat and temperate maritime fog, coastal southern California is a good substitute for coffee-growing conditions that might be found at higher elevations in more equatorial regions. In the tropics, a tree can produce multiple crops a year, but California growers must content themselves with a single harvest, spanning May to September. Read the full story at AltaOnline.com. BARTs plan to memorialize a man who was shot dead by one of the transit agencys police officers led to a taut confrontation Thursday, when the mans mother demanded the resignation of a board director who had questioned the project on Facebook. Board Director Debora Allen polled her followers on a mural commission that has caused old wounds to well up at BART: it would honor 22-year-old Oscar Grant at Oaklands Fruitvale Station , below the platform where he was killed 10 years ago. Grant was detained after a fight on a train, and Officer Johannes Mehserle shot him in the back while another officer pinned him down. Should BART ever memorialize or name stations after individuals? Allen asked in the post, published Sunday. Your thoughts? Grants mother, Wanda Johnson, has called the proposed artwork a first step toward atonement she and other family members also want to rename the station and a small bus roadway after Grant. Noting that neither the mural nor the station renaming had appeared on a board meeting agenda, Allen brought them forward and tried to spark a dialogue on public policy, she said later. She was surprised by the stream of racially charged comments that her post incited and deleted it on Tuesday, which wasnt enough for Johnson. I am totally offended, Ms. Allen, the bereaved mother said at Thursdays BART board meeting. I think you did this for your own motive to divide communities further for racial motives. Johnson called for Allen to step down and vowed to show up at every subsequent board meeting until it happened. At the same time, Grants family is ramping up its request for the station renaming. On Thursday the slain mans uncle ,Cephus Johnson ,made it official by submitting an application. He also called for a plaque to be installed on the platform. Oscar Grant has positively impacted the lives of a nation and the world, Johnson wrote in his application cover letter, referring to the immense impact of the shooting. It happened in front of a crowded train where bystanders captured the violence on cell phones and posted it to YouTube a documentary method that witnesses would use over and over again to expose killings by police officers. Yet the debate on Thursday veered away from the artwork and the other efforts to commemorate Grant. Instead, directors focused on the appropriateness of tackling the subject on social media. Several speakers whod come to support Grants family had sharp rebukes for Allen. Theres no need to poll a question on Facebook when theres a family that could have been talked to, said Keith Muhammad, a minister with the Nation of Islam. He called the Facebook post a dog whistle. Allen apologized for the outcome of her query, but not for the post itself. I often ask questions of my followers and of the public, Allen said. My intent was to talk about policy, and there was no hidden motive to divide people. Tension surrounding the mural has created rifts among BART directors, who have not publicly discussed the artwork, nor approved it. The reason is procedural, according to art program manager Jennifer Easton. At $30,000, the artists contract is worth far less than BARTs $150,000 threshold for a board vote. But behind the scenes, board members appear divided. Director Lateefah Simon said she supports both the mural and the station rechristening, or anything else that Johnson wants to do to eulogize her son. This (killing) is a scar on the district forever and ever and ever, Simon said. Weve spent 10 years trying to heal what is unhealable, this malignant wound in BARTs history. Some of her colleagues were more guarded. Director John McPartland agreed the agency should somehow celebrate Grant, but said that any emblem needs to be vetted and made socially acceptable. Several board members distanced themselves from Allens Facebook comments. Simon seemed particularly frustrated, fearing the post would unravel BARTs ongoing dialogue with Grants family which the agencys staff had approached with feather-like grace, she said. Now were seen as a body thats inflicting more pain on this family as they try to deal with the death of their son, she said. That notion seemed to trouble Director Bevan Dufty. He chastened Allen and apologized on behalf of the entire transit agency. To ask this question begged a terrible thing, he said. Other board members sat silently and stiffly in their chairs. Director Thomas Blalock finally softened the atmosphere with another apology that Allens query ended up the way it did. Rachel Swan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rswan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @rachelswan Tonja De Sloovers first courtroom appearance came in 2002 only a month after she graduated from the University of Iowa College of Law, but weeks before she had passed the bar exam. De Sloover and another lawyer at then-Fulbright & Jaworski in Houston represented a couple who had saved $30,000 from his VCR repair business so that they could move their manufactured home to a better school district for their young daughter. But the woman who owned the home-moving business took their money but literally dumped their home on the side of the road and refused to pay them back. The morning of the trial, De Sloover told the lawyers for the other side that she didnt have my law license yet and asked if they minded. They laughed a bit and said they didnt mind, she said. The rookie lawyer proceeded to take their lunch in court, defeating the defenses efforts to exclude all of the plaintiffs witnesses for the plaintiffs. De Sloovers clients won the case and got their $30,000 back. The family was so happy, she said. I realized then that I made the right choice to become a trial lawyer. Sixteen years later, De Sloover is the assistant general counsel and head of litigation at Energy Transfer Partners, one of the largest oil and gas pipeline companies in the U.S. Despite being only 41, she has scored several huge billion-dollar courtroom victories in some of the most complex corporate lawsuits pending in the U.S. court system. Recently the Texas General Counsel Forum, an organization of 650 chief legal officers for Texas businesses, honored De Sloover with its prestigious Magna Stella Award for Major Litigation. I am sure that many opponents including a lot of trial lawyers have misjudged Tonja and they came to regret that mistake, said Paul Yetter, who is the managing partner of Yetter Coleman in Houston. Tonja is tough as nails. She has a maturity and understanding of litigation that is way beyond her years. Legal industry insiders say De Sloover is one of the new faces of high-stakes business litigation tough, aggressive, brilliantly strategic, and more than willing to use the court system to accomplish her companys objectives and enforce its rights. But corporate law analysts also say that De Sloover is the perfect role model for highly successful women in the practice of law today. A mother of three, De Sloovers Facebook pages are filled with adorable family photos she and the children trick-or-treating, the family posing with the Easter Bunny and nights at Minute Maid Park watching the Houston Astros. Tonja is young and attractive and a good, kindhearted person and a doting mother, but do not be deceived, she is a litigation warrior, said Dallas trial lawyer Mike Lynn of Lynn Pinker Cox & Hurst. So many lawyers are so scared of losing in court that it paralyzes them, said Lynn, who represents ETP in various matters. Tonja is absolutely unafraid to take a case to trial. In fact, she loves being in battle and she loves trials. De Sloover, in an exclusive interview with The Texas Lawbook, admits that she is conservatively aggressive and has no fear of going to trial, but she attributes it to her bosses at ETP. I hate losing, but I think there are lawyers at other companies who are afraid of going to trial because they are afraid that they will lose their job if they lose the case. I operate without such fear because I have the full support of Tom Mason and the companys leadership, she said. Mason is ETPs general counsel. During the past two years, De Sloover has guided ETP, a $40 billion company with nearly 30,000 employees and operating 70,000 miles of pipeline, through some treacherous legal waters, including: She led the litigation team that defeated a multibillion-dollar lawsuit brought by competitor Williams over an aborted $33 billion merger deal that was canceled when it was learned that assets would not be tax-free, which was a key condition of the transaction. She is currently guiding ETPs legal battle in Delaware Chancery Court against Williams, which claims that ETP owes it $410 millions in an M&A deal break up fee. The case is in discovery. She oversaw the successful defeat of a major securities class action lawsuit earlier this year brought by ETP unit holders seeking to cancel a private placement, which would have cost the pipeline company an estimated $500 million. She has taken a hands-on role in ETPs $500 million litigation against rival Enterprise Products Partners of Houston, which ETP claims violated their partnership to build a pipeline from Oklahoma to Houston with a competitor. Finally, she has successfully guided ETP through a highly sensitive, high-stakes, high-profile environmental legal battle over the Dakota Access Pipeline, which is still pending. Last year, ETP sued environmental groups for inciting riots and environmental terrorism. Lawyers who work with De Sloover say that she is actively involved in just about every case, despite supervising a staggering volume of lawsuits for the pipeline company. Lynn pointed to a $200 million lawsuit against ETP in South Texas in which De Sloover developed an ingenious tactic designed to create internal divisions between the two plaintiffs in the case. No one on the outside legal team had thought of the idea before, but it worked, ultimately unraveling the other sides case and resulted in a very favorable outcome for the company, Lynn said. De Sloover was born in Norway, Iowa, population 450, which is 17 miles southwest of Cedar Rapids. Her mother and father met in Shanghai, where her dad served in the U.S. Air Force doing airplane maintenance and her mother worked at the U.S. Embassy. They married and moved to Iowa, where he had been raised. De Sloover is the youngest of three daughters each was born about 18 months apart. We are frequently mistaken as triplets all the time, she said. Growing up in Iowa was wonderfully simple, nice and uncomplicated. Iowans are great, hard-working people. I have those values instilled in me. The thought of becoming a lawyer came, she admitted, because she probably watched too many episodes of LA Law, but I thought the idea of being a lawyer seemed fun. Houston-based Fulbright & Jaworski now Norton Rose Fulbright recruited De Sloover to join the firm a job she believed she would have for the rest of her legal career. But then ETP called in 2013, and it was a challenge she couldnt pass up. I was so naive when I took this job, she said. I had no idea what the head of litigation did and no idea the breadth of the work. Beyond the major cases already mentioned, De Sloover also oversees a significant docket of litigation involving vehicle accidents, pipeline ruptures and contract disputes across the country. I like to be actively involved in our cases, and I try to attend most of the important depositions and hearings in person, she said. Im very hands-on. I want to be in the weeds in order to evaluate the risks. I want to see the credibility of the witness. And Im a note-passer. If Im there in court, I believe I should contribute. Michael Holmes, a partner at Houston-based Vinson & Elkins and who works with ETP on the Williams litigation, said De Sloover jumps right in the fray and meaningfully contributes to litigation. Tonja got into the weeds, reviewing key motions, deposition transcripts and expert reports and attending the deposition and trial planning sessions, Holmes said. Tonja is a legitimate trial lawyer who contributes on the front lines. They acted as a computer company operating out of business parks in San Jose and Sunnyvale, authorities said, but instead of selling microprocessors or software, they were shipping drugs across the country to New York, Maryland and Tennessee. Police detectives from San Jose, along with officers from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety, raided the alleged criminal organizations offices last week and seized more than 800 pounds of marijuana, cocaine, Xanax, ecstasy and liquid steroids, as well as handguns, a rocket launcher and $600,000. In the Hurricane's Eye: The Genius of George Washington and the Victory at Yorktown By Nathaniel Philbrick Viking. 366 pp. $30 --- Since 2014, Nathaniel Philbrick has been narrating the story of America's struggle for independence. In"Bunker Hill," he focused on the earliest confrontation between the British and American armies, and in "Valiant Ambition," he reconstructed Benedict Arnold's path to treason. In his latest book, "In the Hurricane's Eye: The Genius of George Washington and the Victory at Yorktown," he picks up this saga in 1780, as Washington and his Continental Army, low on supplies, idle and restless, wait anxiously for the French navy to come to their aid. What follows is a tension-filled and riveting account of the alliance that assured American independence. Philbrick is a master of narrative, and he does not disappoint as he provides a meticulous and often hair-raising account of a naval war between France and England and a land war that pitted American and French troops against British regulars and Loyalist volunteers. The French government, Philbrick reminds us, was driven less by a commitment to American liberty than by a desire for revenge against its imperial rival, England. This explains why its navy expended much of its energy in 1779 and early 1780 on thwarted hopes to invade England and on plans to take back what was lost in the Caribbean in the aftermath of the recent French and Indian War. With no navy of their own, the Americans remained confined to land operations in 1780 and 1781, as they had been throughout the war. By the winter of 1780, Continental Army morale was low - and it would sink even deeper in early 1781 when news reached Washington that Benedict Arnold had escaped capture after pillaging Richmond. Although the British soldiers serving under Arnold viewed him with disdain, their feelings paled before the hatred nurtured in American hearts. As one captured militia officer declared to Arnold, if he had fallen into the hands of the Americans, they "would first cut off that lame leg, which was wounded in the cause of freedom and virtue, and bury it with the honors of the war, and afterwards hang the remainder of your body in gibbets." But the loss of Arnold was far from the only thing troubling Washington. For many months, he had nurtured a fervent wish that the French navy would mount a joint effort with his army to recapture New York City. The French, however, had other plans: an assault on Lord Charles Cornwallis' army at Yorktown. A bitter Washington knew he was in no position to argue. In late July 1781, Washington received word that a French fleet was headed to the Chesapeake; it was now up to the combined American and French ground forces to cover by foot the 550 miles from White Plains, N.Y., to rendezvous with Adm. Comte de Grasse. The Comte de Rochambeau, commander of the French troops traveling with Washington's Continental soldiers, was not optimistic about their success. As Washington's translator, the Marquis de Chastellux, put it, Rochambeau "sees everything darkly ... never (BEGIN ITAL)foreseeing(END ITAL) anything but a total defection on the part of the Americans." Rochambeau would prove wrong. Ragged and driven beyond endurance, Washington's men persevered, and together, the revolution's military and naval forces would bring Cornwallis to his knees. This is the moment Philbrick has been building to, and he re-creates the battle between de Grasse's navy and Adm. Thomas Graves' British warships and the military siege of Yorktown with all the drama they deserve. Not everyone will find Philbrick's detailed coverage of naval and military engagements easy to follow or fully engaging. A landlubber like me felt overwhelmed by some of the nautical language. This should not deter readers, however, for despite the author's obvious relish in recounting the battles on sea and land, those engagements are not the entire focus of the book. Philbrick has a second, perhaps more compelling theme: how the character of men shapes the history they make. Hurricanes may destroy ships as if they were matchsticks; the sea may swallow up men; the topography of the land may defeat armies. Yet how men respond to the man-made hurricanes that whirl around them lies at the heart of the story. In developing this theme, Philbrick offers finely drawn portraits of men whose characters shaped history. These include the self-absorbed Adm. Mariot Arbuthnot, the bloodthirsty cavalry commander Banastre Tarleton, the genial Marquis de Lafayette and the callous Lord Cornwallis, but the central figure - the man who overshadows all others - is Gen. George Washington. As the commander in chief, Washington knew he must live up to the image of a man whose "brow is sometimes marked with thought, but never with inquietude." In the face of mounting frustration with the French, intense disappointment with the American public's response to the Army's needs and a growing fear that the American cause would be lost, Washington struggled to maintain his equanimity. His victory over his temper, Philbrick suggests, was as important as his victory over Cornwallis. To his credit, Philbrick resists the temptation to descend into hagiography. Washington, he admits, defended slavery and was not free of racial bias. But the contrast with Lord Cornwallis on the treatment of black refugees is illuminating. In the final days of the Yorktown siege, Cornwallis summarily exiled the African-American refugees in his encampment, sending them into the woods without weapons or supplies. An American soldier recalled the result of this decision. "We saw in the woods herds of Negroes which Lord Cornwallis ... had turned adrift with no other recompense for their confidence in his humanity than the smallpox for their bounty and starvation and death for their wages. They might be seen scattered about in every direction, dead and dying with pieces of ears of burnt Indian corn in the hands and mouths, even of those that were dead." Washington was willing to let masters reclaim enslaved men and women, but he was never willing to send them directly to their doom. In "In the Hurricane's Eye" Philbrick occasionally succumbs to the lure of historical fortune-telling that marred his previous book. Here he declares that Yorktown "was where the road to the Civil War began." Most historians who have studied and debated the origins of the Civil War have found it far more difficult to define where X marks the spot. But such pronouncements - offered largely, one suspects, for dramatic effect - do not detract from the authentic drama of the story Philbrick has to tell, a drama that ultimately centers not on nature but on Washington. From his anguished question "Whom can we trust now?" after learning of Arnold's treason to his "silent adieu" to his troops at New York's Whitehall, Washington remains the true eye of the hurricane, the calm within the storm. --- Berkin's latest book is "A Sovereign People: The Crises of the 1790s and the Birth of American Nationalism." WASHINGTON - The Smithsonian announced Thursday that it will open its first gallery focused on the U.S. Latino experience, in the National Museum of American History. Opening in 2021 on the museum's first floor, the Molina Family Latino Gallery will feature bilingual exhibits exploring the history and contributions of American Latinos. A $10 million gift from the five children of the late California physician and entrepreneur C. David Molina is funding the 4,500-square-foot space. The permanent gallery has been a long-term goal of the Smithsonian Latino Center, which was founded in 1997 to work with the institution's other museums and research centers to recognize Latino contributions. With nine staff members, the center supports professional development and education programs for Latino youth, scholars and museum professionals; funds exhibitions and education programs; and creates Web-based content. Advocates supporting a stand-alone Latino museum welcomed the announcement, saying it represents significant progress in their effort. "It's wonderful. This is exactly the road the African-American Museum took. They also had a gallery in the American History Museum," said Estuardo Rodriguez, executive director of the advocacy group Friends of the American Latino Museum. "We run on parallel tracks, and we will point to that in our efforts to fundraise and to pass legislation for (a museum)." The Smithsonian does not back the creation of a new museum, but there is growing support in Congress for a Smithsonian Latino museum, and members greeted the news of the new gallery with optimism. "I applaud the Smithsonian's efforts to create a space to honor and display the rich contributions that Latinos and Latinas have made to this country since its very inception," Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., who introduced legislation last year to create a museum, said in an email. "I am convinced now, more than ever, that the Smithsonian Institution has the capacity to fill an entire state-of-the-art museum dedicated to the American Latino in the near future. This is a great first step." Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, said the gallery and the donors behind it prove "there is an appetite to showcase the uniqueness of the American Latino experience and strong funding opportunities to make it a reality." At a ceremonial signing of the donor agreement Thursday, Eduardo Diaz, the director of the Smithsonian Latino Center, said the gallery in the American History Museum would allow the center to connect directly with visitors. "Establishing a dedicated space is no small task, and it isn't inexpensive," Diaz said before thanking the members of the Molina family, many of whom attended the event. The five siblings signed the agreement with Smithsonian Secretary David J. Skorton, who said the gallery would help the Smithsonian "do a better job of telling the complete story of America." The gallery will honor the donors' father, Diaz said, but also propel the center's efforts to educate and inform the world about the Latino experience. "We will recover the past, engage the present and imagine the future," Diaz said of the exhibitions. In addition to the Molina family gift, Target has given $2 million for the space. The gallery will be designed by Museum Environments/Branded Environments and will feature interactive activities, artifacts and first-person narratives. The inaugural exhibit, tentatively titled "Making Home: Latino Stories of Community and Belonging," will focus on the contributions of Latinos by showing how they "are anchored in United States history," said Ranald Woodaman, the center's exhibitions and public programs director. It will begin in Colonial North America and extend to present day, he said. "We want to expand people's notions of what it means to be Latino," he said. "It's not this homogenous experience. It depends on where you're from. We want to show how we came together under this big label." The man involved in a motorcycle crash in the Santa Fe neighborhood in south Laredo has died, authorities said Thursday. Laredo police identified him as Ramiro Rodriguez, 23. He was pronounced dead after being taken to University Hospital in San Antonio. Authorities said the crash was reported at about 2 p.m. Nov. 30 in the 400 block of Musgo Drive. There were reports of a motorcycle rider speeding before he lost control and fell off the bike, said Investigator Alberto Escobedo. He said Rodriguez sustained severe head trauma. READ ALSO: Suspect accused of killing 20-year-old during south Laredo party ID'd as juvenile "We do know, based on the reports, that he was not wearing a helmet when the accident occurred," Escobedo said. A helmet could have saved his life, he added. "We encourage motorcycle riders to always wear a helmet. To the community, look out for motorcycles when they are driving up and down the roads," Escobedo said. Funeral services Rodriguez was born in Laredo and had been a lifelong resident. He is survived by numerous loved ones. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Hernandez-Lopez and Sons Northside Chapels, 800 Boston St. Visitation will be held Saturday from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. A second visitation will be held Sunday with a chapel service slated for 7 p.m. Services will depart the funeral home at 9:15 a.m. on Monday. A religious service will be held at 10 a.m. at Templo Alfa y Omega located at 3101 S. Buena Vista Ave. Concertina wire that had been put up along the border in Laredo three weeks ago was quietly taken down Wednesday night. But the prospect of Congress funding new sections of a permanent wall still looms large here. "After the valley, we're next," Rep. Henry Cuellar told Laredo Morning Times. Eight miles of fencing is in the process of being put up in Starr County. Next on the Department of Homeland Security's list is Zapata County, and they're lined up to get very little, Cuellar said. There are plans for mile or so of fencing to go up in California and Arizona too. "But the big one after Starr is Webb County," Cuellar said. DHS has plans to tackle Webb County in two phases, constructing a total of about 130 miles of fencing along almost its entire border. READ ALSO: Military prepares for caravan, barbed concertina wire placed at Juarez-Lincoln International Bridge None of this is funded yet, but this topic will continue to be a battleground in Congress over the coming weeks. Cuellar, together with 11 colleagues in the House of Representatives, penned a letter to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer last week after he had said that $1.6 billion was the starting point for negotiations on border wall funding. President Donald Trump wanted $5 billion. House Democrats, meanwhile, were starting negotiations at $0, Cuellar said. "As Members of Congress who represent constituents who live and work along the U.S. southern border, we write to express our alarm and opposition to your comments that $1.6 billion for a physical wall along the border is the starting negotiation position for Democrats," the letter to Schumer reads. "Any appropriations for a border wall would have unequivocally deleterious economic, diplomatic, and environment effects on the region. "We believe the Democrats should oppose all funding for a physical wall along the U.S.-Mexico border in a FY 2019 Appropriations package." Schumer called Cuellar demanding that he retract the statement, according to a report by Politico. Cuellar did not do so. Schumer and other Senate Democrats argued that the media was misconstruing this $1.6 billion starting point, that it was meant to fund border security, not a wall. Nevertheless, he seemed to back off the hardline. On Thursday, Congress averted a partial shutdown, funding the federal government until Dec. 21. Trump is expected to sign the measure. The funding for the wall, however, is up in the air for the next two weeks. Cuellar said that Republicans are pushing hard to secure this funding before Democrats take over the House in January. It will be much harder to pass at that point, he said. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, who will likely be the next speaker of the House, said Thursday that she would not negotiate on wall funding, and suggested that Republicans just extend current border security funding. "Hopefully we can reach a compromise that works for everyone," Cuellar said. He believes that if anything, they should be funding increased technology at ports of entry and bonuses for Border Patrol agents, whose numbers are waning across the county. There are only 18,000-19,000 BP agents currently, and the U.S. needs to encourage them to stay, Cuellar said. RELATED: City of Laredo-owned land eyed for border wall When the military came to put up concertina wire in Laredo, officials already knew that the "migrant caravan" the thousands of Central American immigrants traveling north to seek asylum in the U.S. were already headed to California. Cuellar said that it cost millions of dollars to bring the military down here, with their materials, transportation and food. Not to mention, the 180 members of the National Guard that are already stationed in Laredo could have been utilized, Cuellar noted. The military installed the wire during the day, to much fanfare and attention from the press. The president was sending a message down south, Cuellar said. When the military took down the wire, it was in the middle of the night, done very quietly, he said. Julia Wallace may be reached at 956-728-2543 or jwallace@lmtonline.com A man who claimed to be part of Cartel Del Noreste threatened to harm the officers who arrested him in a shoplifting case, according to Laredo police. Luis Antu, 24, was charged with theft and terroristic threat against a peace officer. Nathan Woodside | The Telegraph ALTON After a successful maiden voyage in 2017 in which 69 turkeys were handed out, members of the Alton Firefighters Local 1255 are hoping for another good event this year. Alton firefighters will be giving away free turkeys Saturday, Dec. 15 from 2-4 p.m. at Crisis Food Center, 21 E. 6th St. in Alton. The union gave a donation to Crisis Food Center to buy turkeys, which the pantry matched. Together, they were able to purchase and distribute 69 turkeys for families in need last Christmas. THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. (AP) A sheriff's deputy who died in a mass shooting at a Southern California bar was shot five times by a gunman who massacred 11 others, but the officer was killed by friendly fire, authorities said Friday. Sgt. Ron Helus was fatally shot in the heart by a California highway patrolman who had joined him in a firefight with the gunman at the Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks on Nov. 7, Ventura County Sheriff Bill Ayub said. "It was just a tragic detail that unfolded so rapidly, in my view it was unavoidable," Ayub said. "They were ambushed almost immediately." Ayub said the fatal shot did not diminish the heroism shown by the officers. The CHP officer was not identified, but is a 9-year veteran of the force who is on leave. Investigators did not offer any more insight into what drove Ian David Long, 28, to storm the country and western bar at an event for college students. Long took his own life after the gun battle with the two officers. Long threw smoke grenades into the group of revelers, obstructing what they could see, before he opened fire. Then he used a flashlight with a laser sight attached to his .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol as he fired. Panicked revelers smashed windows to flee, dived under tables and piled on top of each other in an effort to dodge the gunfire. The first two officers to arrive at the scene, Helus and a California Highway Patrol officer, saw at least 100 people fleeing the bar. Long had gotten into a tactical position and fired on them when they entered, killing Helus. The 29-year veteran of the department was close to retirement. This Paris taxi driver says he wants Emmanuel Macron's scalp. And on Saturday, he and his friends plan to go get it. "We're going out there to fight," he said from behind the wheel of his brand new French taxi in an unprompted half-hour monologue. "I want Macron's scalp, I'm not afraid of anything. I have nothing to lose. You have to risk your life or you don't get anything from these people." As French authorities brace for a new day of revolt on Saturday, there's tension in the air. The protests initiated by the grassroots Yellow Vests movement against a fuel-tax hike have morphed into something a lot more intense with other sections of the population -- students, farmers, truck drivers and any angry person -- all joining in. The discontent has found a focal point in Macron and his efforts to reform France. "It's a battle being fought between Macron and public opinion," said Bernard Sananes, head of the Paris-based pollster Elabe. In a survey Thursday showing Macron's popularity tumbling to a record low, those polled said "he doesn't listen to the people, doesn't know the people, doesn't understand them," Sananes said in an interview in Les Echos. The self-employed cab driver in his 40s, who declined to provide his name, was one of the thousands of protesters who fought the police on Paris's landmark Champs-Elysees avenue last weekend. Throwing cobblestones, burning cars, desecrating the Arc de Triomphe monument, breaking store windows and looting, images of the rioters shocked viewers across the globe. The protests forced Macron to suspend the fuel-tax plan, but that hasn't appeased everyone. The cabbie intends to be there again on Saturday and will try to break into to the very tightly guarded Elysee presidential palace, just half a mile away from Paris's best-known avenue. He is one of the people that Macron's office has warned want to "riot and kill." French security forces are on high alert. The government plans to use "exceptional measures" in addition to the 65,000 police deployed across the country to deal with any protests, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said Thursday. "We will fight against hatred and violence." Interior Minister Christophe Castaner has asked Yellow Vests protesters to stay away from the Champs-Elysees. The taxi driver spoke forcefully and with agitation about his plans during a ride across France's capital city in the wee hours of Thursday. He said he was protesting and will continue to do so for as long as it takes to bring "Macron to his knees," and make him renounce most of his policies. Self-proclaimed fighters like him, with diffuse demands, no real organization or visible leader, pose the biggest security and political challenge for Macron: They are the genie he can't put back in the bottle. Among the biggest cries during the weeks of unrest have been for Macron to resign. For people like the taxi driver, there's no limit when it comes to removing the youngest French leader since Napoleon who, as the country's economy minister between 2014 and 2016, deregulated the taxi business and was a strong supporter of car-booking apps. "He ruined us, he broke our business," the taxi driver said. "He wants everything new, digital, the new world, and he did it all without thinking of the cost for us. Replace everyone, have everything young, new? Yeah, well that's not how you do things. Now it's payback time." For the police and intelligence forces, monitoring people like him is close to impossible.The cabbie says he's not one of the Yellow Vests protesters, who he said "are so naive, they ask for something. We fight for it. With us, with our fight they would have gotten something." He and his friends organized through social medial platforms. First in Facebook groups, moving then to an encrypted messaging service. They used WhatsApp and when they realized it allowed "only a few hundred people in a group, we changed to Telegram. In their groups we can be thousands!" Telegram Messenger is a chat software backed by Russian millionaires and offers secure group communications. French intelligence claims to have no access to the data. One of the groups he's in is called "Combat Taxis" or the Taxi Fight. Another was dubbed "Saturday Fight." They won't register their demonstration plans with the police as legally required, nor obey the Interior Ministry's order not to go to the Champs-Elysees avenue. "Are they so dumb?" he asked. "Of course, we'll go to the Champs-Elysees. It's because we went there last Saturday, that we fought there, that they bowed. What does the police think or even the Yellow Vests ? That you get what you want by obeying ? You fight hard for that." PARIS - France prepared Friday for a fourth iteration of violent protests that have rocked the government of President Emmanuel Macron in recent weeks. Authorities announced that nearly 89,000 police officers would be dispatched throughout the country during the weekend, while many popular attractions announced unusual closures. After nearly a month of weekend riots, the so-called "yellow vest" movement - originally launched as a response to a carbon tax designed to curb climate change - has come to represent the gravest political crisis France has seen in years. The anger reached a fever pitch in Paris last weekend, when protesters burned cars, desecrated historic monuments and clashed with police in violent exchanges unseen since the upheavals of 1968. On Wednesday, the government agreed to withdraw the contentious carbon tax, but the yellow vests have vowed to continue the violence regardless. Tensions mounted further Friday after footage of a standoff between French police and a group of arrested high school students who had threatened them went viral on social media. On Friday, the French government sought to diffuse widespread anxieties over another crippling riot. Christophe Castaner, France's interior minister, said that the movement only featured about 10,000 members. "That's not France," he said. But the source of the Interior Ministry's statistics was unclear: As of Friday afternoon, one of the yellow vest movement's Facebook groups had more than 156,000 members, and was active with a seemingly constant stream of new posts, polls and live videos. An affiliated Facebook group had more than 280,000 members. Of the 89,000 officers to be dispatched throughout France, 8,000 will be on patrol in Paris. This weekend's security presence will represent a significant increase from last weekend, when 65,000 officers were on duty. For the moment, Macron, whose approval ratings continue to fall - this week to as low as 23 percent - has not yet weighed in on the coming protests. An Elysee Palace official told The Washington Post that the French leader would speak sometime early next week but could provide no further details. In Paris, locals braced for the worst. A network of 39 municipal hospitals announced a "reinforced vigilance plan" for Saturday that included extra emergency capacities: 162 were injured and treated in local hospitals last weekend. Shopkeepers, meanwhile, boarded up store windows during a weekend that would normally feature prime holiday shopping. Authorities barricaded streets. In a statement Friday morning, France's national monuments association announced that the Arc de Triomphe and many other popular sites would close Saturday. The Louvre Museum, the Orsay Museum and many other sites also announced closures. - - - The Washington Post's Quentin Aries contributed to this report. The business world is struggling to come to terms with the scale of disruption. That is what we have heard from many entrepreneurs and corporate leaders. They have revealed candidly in hundreds of confidential interviews and conversations with us over the past four years that they have not been mentally prepared for the scale and pace of change they face. They use the words "scared," "fear" and "overwhelmed." Our database totals over 2,500 pages of transcripts used as research in our new book, Thinking the Unthinkable: A New Imperative for Leadership in a Disruptive Age. Related: Why Entrepreneurs Today Should Think About Transformation, Not Disruption Our key finding: The conformity that got many leaders to the top often disqualifies them from understanding the enormity of what's now happening. There is a "new normal." The pace of change and disruption is similar to that in wartime, yet we are in peace time. It challenges and overcomes conventional thinking and institutions. Conformity to outmoded systems that has previously guaranteed stability is now a negative asset. Those who understand this have a significantly greater chance of understanding, then handling disruption. It isn't easy to cast off outmoded thinking and "zombie orthodoxies." One top leader compared the enormity of simultaneous challenges to "eating an elephant in one mouthful." Unexpected events are surprising and overwhelming many corporate leaders. But, often the events that undermined them are not "unthinkables," or "black swans," as risk management researcher Nicholas Taleb dubbed them. In reality, the destabilizing events are better termed unpalatable. They were known about, but no one dared talk about them openly to their peers and seniors. But, conformity within C-suites and boards means they often don't want to see the "black elephant" in the room. Consequences can be severe. Conformity can have no place at a time when both technologies and consumer behavior are changing so rapidly. Entrepreneurs have to adapt fast. This requires self-interrogation and a willingness to embrace change. Related: What the World Needs Is More Moonshot Entrepreneurs There are grounds for optimism. Entrepreneurs have an enormous advantage. They can benefit from the agile and maverick thinking that first set them on the path to entrepreneurship. Smart entrepreneurs will realize that the current scale of disruption should not freak or destabilize. In our research we have examined businesses that are adapting positively to disruption or disrupting themselves. As our case studies confirm, this provides new opportunities. It should stimulate digital, social, economic and political transformation so that businesses, can thrive on change. We have distilled our findings into a process to help entrepreneurs to learn to thrive on change. Audit the external reality. The first step is an awareness of the tectonic shifts internationally and their impact on industry sectors and markets. These are the trends that could transform or threaten a business. One leading Dutch company told us they gather behind closed doors annually to figure out what could destroy their business. In many cases, organizations are prompted to grip the external reality after a shock. Safaricom is a case in point. Having provided cutting-edge mobile phone services in Kenya since 1997, the company was suddenly faced with an almost existential crisis in 2016. It came after an unfavorable internal financial audit was leaked. In a social media frenzy, young customers falsely labelled the CEO, Bob Collymore, as a "thief." Collymore realized immediately the company's brand was in jeopardy. Safaricom moved fast. It changed tariffs to make them fairer. It established the BLAZE initiative to engage 18- to 26-year-olds. Safaricom also invited millennials to help develop their products so they are "created for young people, by young people." Smart action has meant that Safaricom retained its market share and improved its brand reputation. Related: Want to Disrupt an Entire Industry? Here Are 3 Tips From the Future. Audit the internal reality. Once a company understands the external threats and opportunities the next step is to discard outmoded orthodoxies that prevent their ability to respond to new disruptions. That is what happened at OCP, the giant phosphate business at the heart of Morocco's economy. In 2016, it too faced a potential existential crisis. The response, orchestrated by CEO Mostafa Terrab, was a complete re-imagining of the internal culture. He engaged his millennials in what he labeled "Le Mouvement." It was a transformation top-down and bottom-up. After initial inevitable skepticism, Le Mouvement is now empowering every employee to think differently and think unthinkables. External consultants have been dispensed with. Instead, OCP is tapping into the knowledge and ideas of the staff, especially millennials. All employees share ideas. One major change has been #switchtodigital: fully embracing cutting-edge technology driven by millennial mid-level employees. OCP has transformed its culture in the age of new disruption. Address your challenges. After re-assessing internal structures and external challenges, it is essential to develop new ways of addressing with them. Faced with consumer moves to healthier products, PepsiCo has had to transform itself. Under former CEO Indra Nooyi, PepsiCo took steps to reduce sugar, salt and saturated fat levels in their products. Under the goals of "Performance with Purpose," the number of nutritious beverages has increased. Nooyi has been at the forefront of CEOs aware of the changes in public mood. She has warned of the dangers of creating angry citizens and angry consumers -- if leaders don't realize the enormity of expectations for change because of disruption. Related: It's Not About Disruption -- Industry Transformation Is About New Markets Thrive on change. In this new environment, flexibility and agility are key. Singapore's DBS bank has focused on harnessing millennial employees and flattening management structures in order to counter intense competition. CEO Piyush Gupta transformed it from a traditional state bank. Then, he realized he must be far more radical to stave off the growing challenge from new Chinese banking competition. So, he has now turned DBS into what he calls "a startup." The DBS culture is now transformed. It is now a tech company that does banking. DBS has a team of 50 people driving transformation. Such is DBS's success that it was recently awarded Global Bank of the Year. The ability, determination and energy to adapt and disrupt shown by entrepreneurs such as Gupta is essential. Embracing change and adapting is key to surviving and thriving in this age of disruption. New technologies coming fast -- such as robotics and automation and artificial intelligence -- make this all the more urgent. Related: How to Thrive on Change Factors Fueling the Growth of Smart Surveillance in India How Entrepreneurs Can Capitalize on 3 Industries Primed for Disruption Copyright 2018 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved Nearly a week after her arrest at a Canadian airport, the U.S. charges against Chinese tech executive Meng Wanzhou finally took shape Friday as a prosecutor outlined alleged efforts to conceal the ownership of a company suspected of trying to skirt U.S. sanctions on Iran. The fraud case disclosed in a court in Vancouver, British Columbia, has relatively narrow lines. At its heart are U.S. claims that the heir apparent to Huawei Technologies - one of China's biggest tech empires - misled banks about Huawei's suspected financial links to a Hong Kong-based company called Skycom. Meng could face up to 30 years in prison if convicted. But the fallout from Meng's arrest and possible extradition spills far beyond the charges at hand. The case has increased uncertainty in global financial markets, bringing another day of sharp losses from Asia to Wall Street before a weekend breather. There also are worries about possible Chinese retaliation for targeting Meng, the daughter of Huawei's founder and a rising star among China's business elite. For the moment, China insists the prosecution will not derail efforts to end the tariff-slinging trade battles with the Trump administration. Yet there is much to still play out. Meng, wearing a green sweater, listened in court as Crown Prosecutor John Gibb-Carsley argued that she poses a flight risk and should be denied bail as the extradition process begins. That will give her attorneys another chance to fight her transfer to the United States. Meng was arrested at Vancouver's airport as she traveled from Hong Kong to Mexico on Dec. 1, the same day that President Donald Trump met Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Argentina. There had been speculation that the charges were, in some way, linked to alleged violations of sanctions on Iran. Then, in a packed Vancouver courtroom, a prosecutor for Canada's Justice Department offered up the first details of the U.S. charges. Meng is accused of committing fraud in 2013 by telling U.S. financial institutions that Huawei had no connection to Skycom, which was reportedly selling goods manufactured in the United States to Iran in violation of American sanctions on Tehran. Meng has contended Huawei sold Skycom in 2009. The United States claims Huawei uses Skycom to do business in Iran to work around U.S. sanctions. "Ms. Meng personally represented to those banks that Skycom and Huawei were separate, when in fact they were not separate," Gibb-Carsley told the court. "Skycom was Huawei." The Justice Department had no immediate comment on Friday's court proceedings. Among the questions is how long U.S. authorities had been tracking Meng's movements, waiting for a chance to take her into custody. The Canadian prosecutor said the U.S. warrant was issued Aug. 22 in the Eastern District of New York. A Canadian justice then issued a warrant when authorities became aware of Meng's travel plans. Friday's hearing suggested that U.S. authorities will allege that Meng played a direct role in a fraud by telling banks that there was no link between Huawei and Skycom. These banks then cleared financial transactions for Huawei, Gibb-Carsley said, inadvertently doing business with Skycom and becoming "victim institutions" of fraud. Meng's attorneys denied the allegation of fraud, telling the court that Huawei had divested of Skycom and left its board. The case marks just the latest high-profile tangle with Huawei - and, by extension, with Beijing. The company is part of the A-list in China's ambitions to expand its global technology reach, including challenging U.S. and South Korean smartphone makers for dominance in the next generation of mobile phones, known as 5G. Huawei's bragging rights already include dethroning Apple as the world's No. 2 smartphone brand, behind Samsung. But the United States, the European Union and allies also look at Huawei as a digital Trojan horse, fearing that phones made by Huawei and Chinese competitor ZTE Corp. could be embedded with spyware that could be tapped by China. Two members of the "Five Eyes" intelligence-sharing network - Australia and New Zealand - have effectively blocked Huawei from their networks on security grounds. Canada and Britain have not completelly banned Huawei, but that may change. (The United States is the other member of the "Five Eyes.") In 2012, the House Intelligence Committee issued a report on Huawai and ZTE that warned the companies "provide a wealth of opportunities for Chinese intelligence agencies" to spy on U.S. companies or agencies that use their equipment. A previous case against ZTE - accused of violating U.S. export sanctions on Iran - brought it to the brink of bankruptcy last year. ZTE was initially blacklisted in the United States, but after Trump's intervention that was downgraded to an $890 million fine. On Friday, Huawei defended its systems. A company statement said it has never been asked by any government to build "back doors" or "interrupt any networks." "The Huawei case will certainly have a negative impact on political trust between the United States and China," said Wang Yong, a professor at Peking University's school of international studies. But analysts do not expect Beijing to let the incident derail attempts to ease the trade disputes. "China has more incentive than the U.S. to stop the escalation," said Yanmei Xie, an analyst at the Gavekal Dragonomics consultancy in Beijing. "The Chinese priority is to stop the U.S. from launching crippling sanctions against Huawei. If the U.S. does what it did to ZTE, there's very little China can do to prevent Huawei from collapsing, and that's not in China's interest." For that reason, China would try not to "provoke" the United States, she said. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Friday that China would not. "China always protects the legitimate rights and interests of foreigners in China in accordance with the law, but I believe certainly they should also abide by Chinese laws and regulations," Geng said. The arrest of Meng feeds into a broader feeling in China that the trade war is not just about imports and exports but is also about the Trump administration's efforts to contain China and stop its rise. "The U.S. is trying to do whatever it can to contain Huawei's expansion in the world simply because the company is the point man for China's competitive technology companies," the state-run China Daily said in an editorial Friday. For the sake of the world - and the American - economy, the United States should "change its mentality toward China," the paper said. The People's Daily, the mouthpiece of the Communist Party, painted the travails of Huawei as part of an epic battle. "All the slings and arrows didn't stop it from growing or hinder it from rising into a global telecoms equipment giant," the paper said, adding that Chinese companies are instead gaining strength. "No one will be able to stop 'Made in China' from bringing benefits to the whole world." - - - Fifield reported from Beijing. The Washington Post's Yang Liu and Lyric Li contributed to this report. A group of Illinois College students has appreciated its access to education this semester enough that its looking to enable similar opportunities for women in Kenya by collecting female sanitary products. As a final project for their Gender and Women Studies course, class members were asked to find something in the community for which they could raise awareness. Weve spent the semester looking at current and historical injustices and things that are faced by different gender minorities, said Caitlin Vasquez-OBrien, a psychology assistant professor at IC who teaches the gender and womens studies class. At the end of the semester I challenged them to think of something in their community and they could define community however they wanted that could benefit, and (then) raise awareness and (d0) something about a problem. The students, who have dubbed themselves the Sisterhood Empowerment Group, chose to define their community as being women and girls pursuing an education. Then they found their cause in an article they stumbled across and the Stay Free Project was born. We wanted to think bigger because there was an article that talked about how these young girls that we had read about in class miss school and get behind and many of them dont get to graduate because they have to stay home during their menstruation, class member and IC junior LaNise Kirk said. I thought that was sad and horrible. We take it for granted that (we) have access to those products. Along with Kirk, the group consists of juniors Jalen Ash and Ariel Motley and sophomores Natalie Pethes and Tia Parker. From there, they did their research and found that about 500,000 girls in Kenya miss at least a week of school each month because they dont have the sanitary products pads or tampons they need to attend classes when theyre menstruating. In Ethiopia I found in high school and junior high (girls) had a 51 percent dropout rate compared to the guys at 30 percent, Parker said. Along with their cause, the IC students found the organization to which they will be shipping the donations they collect, the Rahul Kotak Foundation in Kenya. They accept a lot of things, said Motley, who took on the groups communication. They do clothes drives and other things, but they also accept sanitary pads. The group is looking to finish collecting sanitary products by Monday. Donations can be dropped off at boxes at Bruner Fitness Centers front desk, the Baxter fireside lounge, or the Center for Student Involvement, all on campus. Once the donations are gathered, they plan to ship their collection to Kenya. To help fund that endeavor, they have set up a GoFundMe Page at gofundme.com/the-stay-free-project. Mailing a 10-pound box to Kenya is $105, Kirk said. The (money) could help us ship it. Anyone who would like to make a cash donation but is not comfortable using the GoFundMe page can send donations to the project in care of Vasquez-OBrien, Kirk said. Beyond the project for Kenya, SEG is something the students want to turn into a student organization that focuses a bit closer to home. Its really neat. Thats what we want to do, Vasquez-OBrien said. Its the whole point of education and liberal arts is to get them engaging with their community and thinking about how they can make things better. SPRINGFIELD The Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs (IDVA) hosted a Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day ceremony at the Springfield Elks Lodge #158, Lake Springfield, on Friday. The ceremony honored all Pearl Harbor survivors and paid tribute to the more than 2,400 Americans who lost their lives. Today we come together to honor the brave men and women who gave their all during the attack in Pearl Harbor, said IDVA Director Stephen Curda, Ph.D. Donald Trump Jr. mocked Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., Thursday night with a meme that implied the newly-elected congresswoman's democratic socialist views would lead to Americans eating dogs. The meme is made up of two photos stitched together. The top image is of Ocasio-Cortez along with the text: "Why are you so afraid of a socialist economy?" The second picture, this time showing President Donald Trump, provides a blunt answer: "Because Americans want to walk their dogs, not eat them." The president's eldest child shared the meme to his 1.5 million Instagram followers along with the caption, "It's funny cuz it's true!!!" His post also included several laughing-crying face emojis and American flag icons. As of early Friday morning, the picture had more than 49,000 likes and roughly 1,600 comments. In an email to The Washington Post, Corbin Trent, a spokesman for Ocasio-Cortez, said they had no comment. Ocasio-Cortez, who pulled off one of the biggest upsets during the primaries when she unseated 10-term incumbent Rep. Joseph Crowley, D-N.Y., in June before winning last month's midterm election, is a self-described democratic socialist. Though she has yet to officially take office, the 29-year-old Bronx native has already come under fire for her policy proposals, namely their anticipated costs. As Vox reported in an August story, the cost of a democratic socialist agenda that touts a single-payer health care system, guaranteed jobs and free college "would require astonishingly high expenditures that would cause the federal deficit to skyrocket." Ocasio-Cortez has provided some ideas for how to foot this bill. In July, she told Trevor Noah during an appearance on "The Daily Show with Trevor Noah," that increases in corporate tax and taxes on the wealthy could be one option, HuffPost reported. She also argued on CNN in August that the "Medicare for All" plan could ultimately be cheaper than the country's current healthcare system. The meme's suggestion is likely a reference to the reports of starving people in Venezuela having to eat dogs, cats and zoo animals due to the country's spiraling economic crisis brought on by corruption and failed socialist policies. But, Ocasio-Cortez, as The Post's Paul Waldman wrote in October, advocates for a version of European social democracy, not the Hugo Chavez-style economy in Caracas. Trump Jr.'s post is the latest social media attack that Ocasio-Cortez has faced from prominent Republicans. Over the past several weeks alone, the young Democrat got into heated Twitter battles with former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, Sen. Lindsey Grahamm, R-S.C., and Mike Huckabee. On Instagram, the post garnered many positive comments, as one user wrote, "100000 likes!!! So true! Venezuela is a clear example of how that theory doesn't work. People are starving!" "This is hilarious!," another commenter posted. Others, however, were more critical, slamming the meme as "outright disgusting" and a "juvenile attack." Several people also drew attention to first lady Melania Trump's "Be Best" anti-bullying initiative, which focuses on cyberbullying. One reason I sold was to get out of Cook County, Hunter told Elite Street. The taxes, alone, were killing me, and theyre only going to go up. And frankly, it was too much house for just my son and myself. Mark Harris, the Republican candidate in North Carolina's 9th Congressional District election, issued a video Friday saying he would "wholeheartedly support" a new election if evidence emerges that criminal activity swayed the outcome of the Nov. 6 race. "If this investigation finds proof of illegal activity on either side to such a level that it could have changed the outcome of the election, then I would wholeheartedly support a new election to ensure all voters have confidence in the results" Harris said in the video. Harris has been largely silent over the last week, as investigators have examined allegations that Harris's campaign may have benefited from fraudulent collection of mail-in ballots. In the new video, Harris sounded a different tone than last week, when he demanded that state election officials immediately certify the 9th District results and insisted that there was no evidence of enough ballot irregularities to affect his 905-vote lead over Democrat Dan McCready. Harris said in the video that he and his campaign "are cooperating fully" with investigators. "I trust the process that's underway, just as I've always trusted the decisions of the voters," Harris said. "I trust that this investigation will be full and complete, examining any alleged irregularities that could have benefited either party - in this election or past election cycles." "The integrity of our electoral process is the heart of our democracy, and we must protect it," he added. "And although I was absolutely unaware of any wrongdoing, that will not prevent me from cooperating with the investigation." He also said he remains hopeful that his unofficial lead over McCready will be certified by state election officials. Allegations of fraud in November's general election have put the outcome of the race in limbo as state investigators examine an unusual number of absentee mail-in ballots - many of them in Bladen County, which had the highest share of mail-in votes in the district, state records show. After incumbent Rep. Robert Pittenger lost the GOP primary to Harris in May amid similar irregularities, his aides warned state and national Republican officials that they believed there may have been fraud, The Washington Post reported Thursday. GOP officials did little to scrutinize the results, instead turning their attention to Harris's general-election campaign, according to people familiar with the situation. McCready withdrew his concession Thursday and called on Harris "to tell the American people exactly what he knew and when he knew it." "Over the last week, we have seen the criminal activity come to light, and we have seen that my opponent, Mark Harris, has bankrolled this criminal activity," McCready told Charlotte-area TV station WSOC. Investigators are scrutinizing the activities of a political operative named Leslie McCrae Dowless, who ran a get-out-the-vote effort for the Harris campaign during the primary and general elections, according to people familiar with the probe. Witnesses have linked Dowless to an effort to collect absentee ballots from voters and are examining whether he or his associates filled out ballots or discarded them. It is illegal to collect or tamper with someone else's ballot. Dowless, who told the Charlotte Observer that he did not commit any wrongdoing, declined to comment Thursday. "I'm just not giving any comment at this time," he told reporters and photographers in front of his house in Bladenboro, adding, "No disrespect to anybody." The irregularities may extend to other counties in the 9th District beyond Bladen. Throughout the county, 3,405 absentee ballots were requested but not returned, state records show, including 483 in Bladen, 1,197 in Robeson, 723 in Mecklenburg and 517 in Union. Harris' chief consultant, Andy Yates of the Red Dome Group, said in a statement Monday that Harris, a pastor from the suburbs of Charlotte, "was aware of Red Dome's relationship with Mr. Dowless and believes like I do that Mr. Dowless operated within the bounds of the law." Yates said Dowless assured him he was not illegally collecting ballots. Last week, Harris said in a statement that "to date, there is absolutely no public evidence that there are enough ballots in question to affect the outcome of this race. Accordingly, the Board should act immediately to certify the race while continuing to conduct their investigation. Anything else is a disservice to the people of the Ninth District." The District of Columbia area will see $15 billion in new economic activity and 62,000 new jobs by 2030 with the arrival of Amazon's corporate offices in northern Virginia, according to a new study. The report, released Friday by the Virginia Chamber Foundation, said operations of the Amazon offices alone will produce an estimated annual $6.4 billion from 2019 to 2030, supporting an average 27,928 jobs each year in the region. The total impact, which includes spinoff businesses and those that arise to serve the new employees, will be more than twice that, the report said. Virginia will be the primary beneficiary of the new money, according to Christine Chmura, chief executive and chief economist at Chmura Economics & Analytics, the Richmond-based firm that conducted the study for the business association. The commonwealth will reap $14.2 billion in economic activity over the next 12 years, 59,000 new jobs and $1.83 billion in new state tax revenue, mainly through individual income and sales taxes, the study said. Seattle, Washington-based Amazon announced Nov. 13 that it had chosen Crystal City and Long Island City, New York, to share a new headquarters after a 14-month nationwide hunt for a second corporate home. Virginia promised $573 million in direct incentives for 25,000 jobs, each expected to pay an estimated $150,000 per year. The state and Arlington County also will invest $223 million for transportation improvements that will benefit Amazon as well as the rest of the community, officials said. Although the study did not include it, Virginia plans to spend $1.1 billion to expand technology education throughout the state. Part of that will go toward a new $1 billion graduate school campus for Virginia Tech that will be located two miles from the Amazon offices. (Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.) Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, D, basked in the study's economic predictions, telling the Virginia Chamber Foundation in Williamsburg that Amazon and its ripple effect will help diversify an economy too dependent on federal contracting. But he cautioned that while the state's overall unemployment is at a 10-year low of 2.9 percent, that is not the case everywhere. "If you go to the Eastern Shore, where I'm from . . . or Southside or the southwest of Virginia, we still have a lot of work to do," he said. "We don't want any part of the commonwealth to be left behind." - - - The Washington Post's Laura Vozzella contributed to this report. The veteran police officer shot and killed while rushing to confront a mass shooter in Thousand Oaks, California, last month was fatally struck by friendly fire rather than bullets fired by the gunman, authorities said Friday. The grim revelation, made public exactly a month after the Nov. 7 massacre at the Borderline Bar and Grill, adds yet another tragic element to what witnesses and authorities alike have described as a chaotic, terrifying scene at the country-music venue. When the gunfire ended, a dozen people had been fatally wounded - including Ventura County Sheriff's Sgt. Ron Helus, 54 - and the gunman killed himself with a single shot to his head. Police have identified the attacker as 28-year-old Ian David Long, who has a history of angry behavior, and said they are still investigating what could have motivated the rampage. Helus responded to reports of the shooting by heading with a California Highway Patrol officer into "what can only be described as a combat situation," Ventura County Sheriff Bill Ayub said during a somber briefing Friday. Ayub said after Long shot bar patrons and employees, he waited for law enforcement to respond and then "almost immediately" began shooting at them. "Sgt. Helus was struck five times by gunfire from the suspect," Ayub said. "Today, I'm deeply saddened to inform you that Sgt. Helus was also struck by a sixth bullet, which we now know ... was fired from the CHP officer's rifle." That sixth bullet was fatal, Ayub said. The gunman's bullets hit Helus and "caused serious injuries but potentially survivable injuries," Christopher Young, the Ventura County chief medical examiner, said at the same news briefing. But the highway patrol officer's bullet hit Helus's chest and his heart, Young said. "This is sad news and a tragedy, but ultimately, this was the most severe injury sustained," Young said. The highway patrol officer was not identified; the agency described him as a nine-year veteran of that force who is currently not on duty. "He's devastated," said L.D. Maples, chief of the highway patrol's coastal division. The explanation for Helus's death speaks to the frenzied, dangerous and often unclear situations faced by law enforcement officials who head to active shooting scenes. Officers responding to such attacks across the country have later described the sheer terror and confusion they encountered, in some cases not knowing how many attackers were opening fire or entering rooms without knowing if a shooter was poised behind the door ready to fire. That confusion can also lead to fatal mistakes for law enforcement officers trying to help. Prince George's County police detective Jacai Colson was responding to an attack on a police station in 2016 when another officer, mistaking Colson for a threat, shot and killed him. In Thousand Oaks, Ayub said Helus "was clearly not the intended target" of the shot that killed him. While Ayub said specific facets of that shot were still being investigated, he noted that the scene inside the bar was dark, smoke-filled and unfolding rapidly. "This is a tragic detail that I don't think was avoidable," he said. Police have said Long fired more than 50 rounds from a Glock .45-caliber pistol during his attack inside Borderline. He lobbed smoke grenades that fueled the confusion inside, authorities say, sending people fleeing the carnage leaping through windows or scrambling for shelter in the bar's attic. Young, the medical examiner, has said he has no evidence suggesting any other victims were struck or killed by the responding officers. The sheriff said blame for Helus' death - as well as the other deaths and injuries that resulted from the massacre - rested solely with the attacker, who Ayub did not name during his news briefing. "He alone created the violence and he alone bears the responsibility for his course of action," Ayub said. "He went there with a plan and a purpose and that was to take innocent lives. The burden lies solely with him, not those who tried to save lives, those who tried to escape and certainly not with those who died while simply trying to enjoy an evening with friends." More than three months after Secretary of State Michael Pompeo picked Stephen Biegun to lead negotiations with North Korea, the former Ford executive has barely met officials from Pyongyang face-to-face. The standstill is a sign of how negotiations between the U.S. and North Korea have faltered, forcing a lowering of expectations, since President Donald Trump met with Kim Jong Un in Singapore in June. Biegun was appointed in August to help follow up on the opening created by the summit, but North Korean officials have ignored Pompeo's invitation in September to meet with Biegun "at the earliest opportunity." Kim's regime may feel emboldened to spurn the usual channels of diplomacy because Trump has emphasized his personal rapport with the autocratic leader and his interest in holding a second summit soon, according to current and former administration officials. "The North Koreans are digging in -- they just want to deal with Trump," said Sue Mi Terry, a former CIA analyst who's now at the Center for International and Strategic Studies in Washington. "Are we closer to some sort of agreement? I don't think so -- people that I talk to say that we're just genuinely stuck." Publicly, Pompeo has remained optimistic and positive about the pace toward eventual success in North Korea. Progress "has been good" and substantive talks continue, he told CNN during the Group of 20 summit in Argentina last week. Privately, however, the secretary is more downbeat. Two people familiar with his thinking, who asked not to be identified discussing internal deliberations, said Pompeo is growing exasperated that there's been no progress on the points spelled out at the Singapore summit. That's forced the secretary to scale back his expectations for when the North Korea issue could be resolved, the people said. In June, Pompeo said the bulk of denuclearization could be completed by the end of Trump's first term. Now he -- and the president -- say they won't be forced into "artificial time frames." The State Department declined to make Biegun available for an interview. State Department officials say he and other officials are in "frequent contact" with North Korean leaders. While there are few public signs of progress -- amid reports that North Korea continues to strengthen and expand its nuclear capabilities while stopping short of missile launches and bomb tests -- some analysts say there may be more going on behind the scenes. They point to recent South Korean media reports that Andy Kim, the Central Intelligence Agency's top Korea officer, met this week with North Korean officials in the demilitarized zone between the two Koreas. A CIA spokeswoman declined to comment on Kim's travel or confirm whether he met with North Korean officials. Kim, who has announced plans to retire, was a key interlocutor with North Korean officials when Pompeo visited the country as CIA director and, later, as secretary of state. "The Western media is completely missing the story of U.S.-North Korea contacts other than those at a level of Ambassador Biegun or above," said Joel Wit, a senior fellow at the Stimson Center in Washington who was involved in North Korea talks from 1993 to 1995. "There evidently have been some working-level contacts that undoubtedly are focused on substantive issues." Pompeo met South Korea's Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha on Thursday. The State Department said they reaffirmed their "ironclad alliance" and pledged to maintain coordination but provided few details on what they discussed. South Korea has moved to ease some tensions with its northern neighbor, sending a train across the border and demolishing some military outposts in conjunction with Pyongyang, even as the U.S. calls for a united front on international sanctions. Yet within the Trump administration, there are growing strains over how much patience to show with North Korea's go-slow approach on joint talks. The snubs are hard to ignore: on an October trip to Pyongyang, Biegun's likely counterpart, Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Choe Son Hui, was out of the country meeting officials in Russia and China. National Security Adviser John Bolton signaled growing impatience at a Wall Street Journal conference this week. "They have not lived up to the commitments so far," Bolton said of North Korea. In a second summit, he said Trump and Kim are "going to discuss this and look at the commitments that were made in Singapore and have a discussion about how they're going to accomplish those commitments." The suggestion that a lack of progress was as good a reason as any to hold another summit frustrated North Korea analysts, who said it only makes Biegun's job harder. "It totally cuts Secretary of State Pompeo and the special representative, Steve Biegun, at the knees," Jung Pak, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said at a Korea Society event in New York on Thursday. "What is the incentive for North Korea to actually talk about the meat-and-potatoes of denuclearization with the special representative and with the secretary of state if the national security adviser has said nothing is happening so we have to go straight to the top?" WASHINGTON - The U.S. government has failed for decades to mount a workable defense against foreign cyberattacks and disinformation campaigns and must shift tactics or risk losing this century's major battles, Sen. Mark Warner said in a cyber-policy speech Friday. That shift should include greater investments in military cybertechnology, more funding for cybersecurity research and development and a reinvigorated process of building international cyber norms with allies and punishing nations that violate them, Warner, D-Va., said during a speech at the Center for a New American Security think tank. One new global rule the United States could advocate would be an agreement that nations will not hack one another's private companies, he said. Warner, who is the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, attributed U.S. cyberdefense failures to numerous causes, including underinvestment at the State and Defense departments, convoluted oversight by overlapping congressional committees and market incentives that do not reward companies for investing in cyber protections. He also called out Facebook, Twitter and other social media companies, saying they are not doing enough to secure their platforms against malign influence operations such as the Russian campaign that spread disinformation in advance of the 2016 election. Warner, a former telecommunications investment executive, is leading the Senate's investigation into Russia's influence campaign, along with Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., chairman of the Intelligence Committee. The government's underinvestment in cybersecurity has been partly driven by a naive belief that the U.S. model of a free and open internet would naturally beat out Russian and Chinese models, which view the internet as a place for commerce but also for censorship and disinformation operations, Warner said. "In fact, China has been wildly successful at harnessing the economic benefits of the internet in the absence of political freedom," Warner said, adding that "today, China's cyber and censorship infrastructure is the envy of authoritarian regimes around the world." Warner criticized a lack of "presidential leadership" on cybersecurity and faulted the Trump administration for downsizing cyber offices at the White House and State Department. He also pointed to longer-term lapses, such as a failure to adequately protect major Pentagon weapons systems from cyberattacks. Warner broke from typical government practice by urging the government to outline predetermined responses for nation-backed cyberattacks based on the perpetrator, the target and the severity of the attack. Those responses could range from indictments and economic sanctions to retaliatory cyber-strikes and conventional military operations. U.S. officials have typically argued that it would be counterproductive to predetermine responses to a cyberattack because that would limit the government's flexibility and invite adversaries to walk up to a point that would invite retaliation but not cross it. Warner acknowledged, however, that it will not be easy to halt Russia's digital assaults and that the United States' extreme reliance on internet-connected technology would make it more vulnerable in an escalating tit-for-tat cyber-conflict with its former Cold War adversary. "If a cyberattack shuts down Moscow for 24 hours with no power, that's a problem," he said. "But if someone were to shut down New York for 24 hours with no power - that would be a global crisis." "I said the first thing you can do is you can take away that tax - that provision in his tax bill that gives a company a 50 percent-off coupon in their taxes. If you're producing in Lordstown, you pay a 21 percent tax rate. If you move to Mexico, you pay a 10.5 percent tax rate." - Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, interview on CNN's "New Day," Nov. 29. - - - The announcement by General Motors that it will end production at its auto assembly plant in Lordstown, Ohio, has angered many politicians, including Brown. In an interview on CNN, he recounted a conversation with President Donald Trump in which the senator informed him that there was a "50 percent coupon" embedded in the tax bill signed by the president in 2017. "He wasn't really aware of that," Brown said. Under Brown's reasoning, GM will have to pay only a 10.5 percent corporate tax in Mexico, compared with the 21 percent rate in the United States. But a reader wondered if this was really correct, given the corporate tax rate in Mexico is 30 percent. Let's take a look. There's lots of obtuse and complex provisions in the new tax law, with acronyms like GILTI (Global Intangible Low-Taxed Income) and FDII (Foreign Derived Intangible Income). Congress wanted to find a way to convert to a new tax system, essentially known as a hybrid territorial-worldwide system, but it's literally a full-employment act for tax attorneys. We're going to try to keep this explanation as simple as possible, after consulting with a variety of experts. Before the tax bill, the official U.S. corporate tax rate was 35 percent. It was reduced to 21 percent in the 2017 tax act, with a 10.5 percent minimum U.S. tax rate on global foreign income if a multinational's foreign tax rate is considered too low. That sounds like Brown's 50 percent coupon, but it's not so simple. Brown suggests that the tax bill added an incentive for companies to move overseas, but compared with prior law, it often reduced those incentives. The old rate was 35 percent in the United States, and U.S. taxes on foreign income were, in many cases, close to zero because U.S. multinationals could indefinitely defer U.S. taxes if they kept those profits offshore and because of various ways companies could game the system. So the 10.5 percent tax on overseas income really only comes into play when a foreign country has a low tax rate. That low rate was supposed to be 13.125 percent, as 80 percent of those taxes could be credited against the 10.5 percent rate. (Some companies, however, have complained they could be subject to the minimum tax even when their rate is higher than 13.125 percent. We told you this was complex.) What's Mexico's corporate tax rate? Thirty percent. So in a plain-vanilla case, there would be no U.S. tax due on multinational income earned in Mexico. But there may be profit shifting out of Mexico to a tax haven, in which case there may be no Mexican tax. Meanwhile, the U.S. tax might still kick in depending on the multinational's other investments around the world. In other words, despite the certainty expressed by Brown in the interview, it's unclear whether GM would save taxes by moving a plant to Mexico. (GM may not have been the best example given that it has had large net operating losses and may not pay much tax in any circumstance, experts said.) GM maintains that the law made no difference for the company in terms of where to locate its facilities. "The new tax law creates no tax incentive for GM to shift operations outside the U.S.," GM spokesman David Caldwell said. "GM pays more than the full tax rate of 21 percent on its foreign operations. Mexico's corporate rate is indeed 30 percent as you noted." Brown's staff concedes that his point might have been unclear as he tried to speak in shorthand. While it sounded like he was talking about the taxes paid by GM in Mexico, that was not his intention, his office said in a statement: "Senator Brown is not referring to Mexico's corporate tax rate. He is taking about how the U.S. tax code treats U.S. based multinational corporations and the profits they earn overseas. We are talking only about U.S. taxes, not Mexican taxes." (The staff supplied examples of when Brown has framed this correctly.) "While it's nearly impossible for anyone to fully explain the complex corporate tax code in one TV sound bite, Senator Brown's point is clear: We need a tax code that invests in American jobs and American workers, not corporations sending their jobs overseas," spokeswoman Jenny Donahue said. Martin A. Sullivan, chief economist at Tax Analysts, famously exposed how U.S. companies were squirreling away income overseas. He said he is sympathetic to Brown's argument that income overseas should not be treated differently than income earned in the United States. "We should get rid of the 50 percent coupon, but it's better than the previous law," he said. "Under the previous law, you had a much larger incentive to invest offshore. These are extremely complicated rules that are probably going to raise taxes on foreign investment." As he put it, "the basic framework is tilted against multinational corporations." The Congressional Budget Office, in an April report, noted that the interaction between various provisions in the tax law "may increase corporations' incentive to locate tangible assets abroad." Sullivan, in his own analysis of these provisions, wrote that "in most real-world cases that won't happen." It really depends on whether the foreign country has a low corporate tax rate and the product being made has low margins, such as nuts and bolts, he said. That particular situation might spur a company to place a factory overseas. Other experts say that Congress missed an opportunity by enacting a minimum tax applied on a global tax rather than a per-country minimum tax. Rebecca Kysar, a law professor at Fordham University who has testified before Congress on the effect of the law, said the new law should not be judged against the old law, but on policies that could have been enacted instead. Now "companies can blend their low-taxed and high-taxed foreign income together, reducing or perhaps eliminating their U.S. minimum tax obligations," she said. "If the minimum tax were imposed per country, then the company would pay no minimum tax in Mexico since it would credit the Mexican taxes against its U.S. income, but it would pay U.S. minimum tax on the tax-haven income." In his interview, Brown suggested that there would be a 50 percent discount on GM's taxes if it moved a factory from the United States to Mexico. He has the basic numbers right - the new tax law applies a 21 percent corporate tax on U.S. income and a 10.5 percent tax on foreign income. But he erred in appearing to apply that formula to the specific example of GM moving a factory to Mexico, when the circumstances suggest that probably would not be the case. His staff says he spoke in shorthand that was open to misinterpretation. Certainly his phrasing confused our reader - and the Fact Checker at first. We do not try to play gotcha here at The Fact Checker, so we are not going to award Pinocchios. But Brown should be careful to speak more precisely about what he perceives as flaws in the new tax law. --- Video Embed Code Video: Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, pointed to President Trump's tax reforms as one reason General Motors would move production to Mexico. But his numbers are off when Mexico is in the mix.(Meg Kelly/The Washington Post) Embed code: WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump confirmed Friday he will nominate former attorney general William Barr to lead the Justice Department again - bringing relief to department veterans who had feared a more unconventional pick but generating some concern among lawmakers about the future of the special counsel investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Trump told reporters Friday that Barr had been "my first choice since day one" and praised the man he hopes will be his attorney general as having "demonstrated an unwavering adherence to the rule of law." "There is no one more capable or qualified for this role," the president said at a Justice Department event in Kansas City, Missouri. He predicted that his nominee would "probably get" bipartisan support. Barr, 68, is indeed a well-respected lawyer who is well-known in conservative circles. He served as attorney general from 1991 to 1993 under President George H.W. Bush and before that as deputy attorney general, the No. 2 official. After leaving the department, he spent many years in the corporate world - as general counsel and executive vice president of GTE Corp., and later, after a merger, in the same position at Verizon Communications. He most recently worked in private practice at Kirkland & Ellis, advising corporations on government enforcement matters. Barr's corporate work is likely to draw significant scrutiny as he heads toward a confirmation hearing. Democrats and even some Republicans said they would like assurances that he would let special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation proceed normally before voting to confirm him. Barr has in the past questioned the political makeup of Mueller's team - which has many Democratic donors, though Mueller himself is a Republican - and expressed sympathy toward Trump's firing of former FBI director James Comey. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said she wants assurances that Barr would allow Mueller's probe to continue. "That would be one of the issues that I certainly would want to make sure, and that he recognizes that not only that Mr. Mueller has to be allowed to complete his investigation unimpeded, but also that prosecutorial decisions that are made by the department need to be independent," she said. Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., who chairs the Senate subcommittee that oversees funding for the Justice Department, said he, too, expected Barr to "let the investigation continue unimpeded." Democrats were more forceful. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the ranking minority-party member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said in a statement that Barr "must commit to supporting Special Counsel Mueller's investigation and allowing him to follow the facts." Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a statement that Barr would "have a steep hill to climb in order to be confirmed by the Senate." "Mr. Barr must commit - at a minimum - under oath before the Senate to two important things: First, that the Special Counsel's investigation will proceed unimpeded, and second, that the Special Counsel's final report will be made available to Congress and the public immediately upon completion," Schumer said. In a brief phone conversation Friday, Barr confirmed he had accepted the president's offer but declined to comment further. A spokesman for the Senate Judiciary Committee said his confirmation hearing would not occur before the end of the year, given the limited time left before a new Senate takes over on Jan. 3. People familiar with the process said while Trump had long said he preferred an attorney general he knew, Barr was highly recommended by people in the president's orbit - including acting White House counsel Emmet Flood and Federalist Society Executive Vice President Leonard Leo. Barr did not seek the job, people familiar with the matter said, at first recommending others he thought might be suitable, including former federal judge Michael Luttig. Several others were considered - including former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, a Republican, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, a Republican, and Rep. John Ratcliffe, R-Texas. But Trump himself quickly settled on Barr, and the former attorney general was convinced he should return to government out of a sense of duty, people familiar with the matter said. "His friends were telling him, he's not getting these calls for the good of his ego, he's getting calls because 'they need you,'" one person said. Within the Justice Department, the selection of Barr was received with a degree of relief, as he is viewed as someone who has long-standing ties to the building and knows how its various offices operate, according to several current and former officials. Former New Hampshire governor John Sununu, who was George H.W. Bush's chief of staff when Barr was attorney general, said Barr was "always very precise, very clear in what could and couldn't be done, and what should and shouldn't be done." He said when he learned Barr had been chosen again, he was "happy for America." Even though it has been decades since Barr ran the Justice Department, he has stayed in touch with its leaders and staff. This summer, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein invited Barr to speak to the political appointees, where the former attorney general urged them to ignore the political noise and focus on their work, according to a person familiar with the private event. In recent days, Rosenstein had spoken to the president about the selection process and was "ecstatic" with the choice of Barr, this person said. Barr was also close with Jeff Sessions and the two spoke frequently when Sessions was attorney general, this person said. Trump's relationship with his previous attorney general was severed in large part because Sessions had recused himself from the Russia matter before Mueller's appointment by Rosenstein. Trump launched a new round of attacks on Mueller Friday, tweeting about what he called Mueller's "big time conflicts of interest" and saying he planned to do a "a major Counter Report to the Mueller Report." "This should never again be allowed to happen to a future President of the United States!" Trump wrote. Barr shares at least one of the president's views on Mueller's team. In 2017, when asked by The Washington Post about political donations made by lawyers on the special counsel's team, Barr said that "prosecutors who make political contributions are identifying fairly strongly with a political party," and added: "I would have liked to see [Mueller] have more balance on this group." Three days after Trump fired Comey in May 2017, Barr wrote that it was "quite understandable that the administration would not want an FBI director who did not recognize established limits on his powers." That piece was written before many of the details of Comey's private interactions with Trump became known. "I like and respect Bill Barr. I know he's an institutionalist who cares deeply about the integrity of the Justice Department, so I'm sure he'll use standard career resources he has to judge what he should be involved in and shouldn't be involved in," said Comey, speaking on Capitol Hill. "But Bill Barr is a talented person who was a good attorney general the first time. I liked him very much then. I think he'll serve the Justice Department well." Barr also wrote in an op-ed months earlier that the president was right to fire acting attorney general Sally Yates after she refused to defend a controversial travel ban executive order issued in the first days of the administration. Other skeptics have pointed to Barr's assertion a year ago to the New York Times that he saw more basis to investigate Hillary Clinton over an old corporate acquisition involving a uranium company than possible collusion between Trump and Russia, though he spoke in conditional language. "To the extent it is not pursuing these matters, the department is abdicating its responsibility," Barr said. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who will take over as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee next year, said in a statement that Barr is "highly capable, highly respected and will provide new and much-needed leadership for the Department of Justice." "I will do everything in my power to push him through the Senate Judiciary Committee and onto the floor of the Senate for eventual confirmation as soon as possible," Graham said. In an interview Friday, former attorney general John Ashcroft said it would be difficult to name someone who "would deserve a higher level of bipartisan support" in the Senate than Barr. Asked whether he thinks Barr would be able to withstand any pressure from Trump when it comes to the special counsel investigation, Ashcroft said: "I have every confidence that Bill Barr will do the right thing in any circumstance or situation." Until Barr takes over, the department will continue to be led by acting attorney general Matthew Whitaker, who himself has drawn fierce criticism for his past business dealings and his public criticism of Mueller's investigation. Whitaker, who traveled with Trump on Air Force One to Kansas City, called Barr a "continuation of this law-and-order president." "Bill is supremely qualified, highly respected at the Department of Justice and will continue to support the men and women in blue," Whitaker said in Kansas City as he introduced Trump. "I commend the president for this excellent choice." - - - Seung Min Kim reported from Kansas City, Mo. The Washington Post's Karoun Demirjian, John Wagner and Erica Werner contributed to this report. According to rental site Zumper, median rents for a one bedroom in Downtown are hovering around $1,350, compared to a $1,271 one-bedroom median for Houston as a whole. So how does the low-end pricing on a Downtown rental look these daysand what might you get for the price? We took a look at local listings for studios and one-bedroom apartments to find out what budget-minded apartment seekers can expect to find in the neighborhood, which, according to Walk Score ratings, is quite walkable, has some bike infrastructure and boasts excellent transit options. Take a look at the cheapest listings available right now, below. (Note: prices and availability are subject to change.) Hoodline offers data-driven analysis of local happenings and trends across cities. Links included in this article may earn Hoodline a commission on clicks and transactions. 1401 St. Joseph Parkway This one-bedroom, one-bathroom space, situated at 1401 St. Joseph Parkway, is listed for $1,205/month. In the unit, you'll find air conditioning, hardwood flooring, a balcony, a dishwasher, in-unit laundry, wooden cabinetry and a ceiling fan. The building features assigned parking, a swimming pool, a fitness center, a business center and outdoor space. For those with furry friends in tow, know that cats and dogs are permitted on this property. There's no leasing fee required for this rental (See the listing here.) 307 Travis St., #5 And here's a one-bedroom, one-bathroom condo at 307 Travis St., #5, which is going for $1,276/month. The building offers assigned garage parking, a swimming pool, outdoor space, an elevator and on-site laundry. In the unit, look for both air conditioning and central heating, hardwood flooring, a balcony, a dishwasher, high ceilings, a breakfast bar, wooden cabinetry and stainless steel appliances. Pet lovers are in luck: cats and dogs are welcome. Future tenants needn't worry about a leasing fee. (Check out the listing here.) 419 Travis St., #21 Over at 419 Travis St., #21, there's this one-bedroom, one-bathroom condo, also going for $1,276/month. In the unit, expect both air conditioning and central heating, a balcony, a dishwasher, hardwood flooring, ceiling fans and in-unit laundry. The building features assigned garage parking, a swimming pool, outdoor space, on-site laundry and an elevator. If you've got a pet, you'll be happy to learn that cats and dogs are welcome. Future tenants needn't worry about a leasing fee. (View the listing here.) 1010 Prairie St., #26 To wrap things up, there's this one-bedroom, one-bathroom condo at 1010 Prairie St., #26. It's being listed for $1,321/month. In the unit, you'll find both air conditioning and central heating, a balcony, a dishwasher, stainless steel appliances, wooden cabinetry, hardwood flooring, high ceilings, recessed lighting and a breakfast bar. Amenities offered in the building include assigned garage parking, a swimming pool, outdoor space, on-site laundry and an elevator. Pet lovers are in luck: cats and dogs are allowed. The rental doesn't require a leasing fee. (Here's the full listing.) Since the passing Friday of George H.W. Bush, there have been many recollections of the most famous lines or most memorable speeches by the 41st president. His "thousand points of light" remark from his acceptance and inaugural speeches was used by the current White House to celebrate the former commander in chief just months after President Donald Trump openly ridiculed it. Bush's "read my lips" promise got pulled into round-up after round-up of the former president's most famous sayings. Yet presidential rhetoric scholar Kathleen Hall Jamieson said in an interview Monday that what's even more memorable are the remarks he never made: Any kind of big public speech after the Berlin Wall fell, at a time when many expected one. "He could have said 'we did it. The U.S. is victorious' " said Jamieson, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg School for Communication. "But he did not do that. And as a result he didn't get the kind of credit in that moment that he might have." That measured approach to leadership in a time of tumultuous world events embodies the kind of leader Bush was, said Jamieson and others. Jeffrey Engel, director of the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University and author of the book "When the World Seemed New: George H.W. Bush and the End of the Cold War," said in an interview that despite pressure from lawmakers, the media and others, the 41st president refused to, in Bush's words, "dance on the wall." Then-Democratic House Majority Leader Dick Gephardt lamented that "at the very time freedom and democracy are receiving standing ovations in Europe, our president is sitting politely in the audience with little to say and even less to contribute." The CBS reporter Lesley Stahl said to Bush, during a press gaggle in the Oval Office at the time, "this is sort of a great victory for our side in the East-West battle, but you don't seem elated." Bush spoke to reporters, but "gave a master class in how to speak for half an hour without saying anything," Engel said. There was a reason for that restraint. Bush had been receiving warnings since his first week in office that a conservative communist coup was possible against Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet leader, and fears that violence could erupt and another Tiananmen Square could occur -- indeed, the word "Tiananmen" shows up repeatedly in his notes from calls during those nights, Engel said. Looking too close to the West could have hurt Gorbachev's standing -- though he also could not be dismissed. Bush dialing back the triumphant rhetoric was a way of walking that political tightrope. "Everything he said was cautious and calculated because he realized, frankly, in a way that I wish that subsequent presidents realized -- including the current one -- that everything he said was magnified around the world," Engel said. Timothy McBride, a former George H.W. Bush aide, echoed those thoughts in the transcript for a presidential oral history interview by the University of Virginia's Miller Center, saying it may have affected Bush's legacy. In part because Bush didn't speak out more triumphantly at the time, "most people identify the fall of the wall with Reagan and some of his messages." But, in his view, Germany's reunification, and "the peaceful unwind of the Cold War, is probably the signature, the most important contribution President Bush's presidency has made to history. That could have gone many different ways and I think it was his leadership that led to the unwind of that." It also didn't help Bush politically. Bush could have benefited from the sound bite from a bold speech made in Berlin and an image of him proclaiming victory in the Cold War with the fallen wall in the background during his re-election campaign, amid a poor economy. It also reinforced the negative public image of Bush as an out-of-touch patrician who was a "wimp" with "no political backbone," Engel said. The perception was that Bush had "a lack of interest or laziness -- two things which were the exact opposite in real life. The pressure continued to mount for him to go and do something that would be a fireworks moment and he simply refused," Engel said, in part because he knew a summit with Gorbachev was just weeks away. "When we think about Bush not dancing on the wall, remember he's invited to a bigger dinner dance two weeks later," Engel said. He describes Bush's foreign policy philosophy as "hippocratic": "If things are going well, don't screw it up." Even though Bush knew it might hurt him politically, Engel said, he was a president who "really understood that he was a caretaker of the White House and that his job was to hand the baton to the next guy." He remained quiet because he knew the nation and the office were so much "bigger than one man's political fortunes -- specifically something I do not see today." The lack of a big showy speech was a reminder, Jamieson said, that "sometimes the right thing to do is not celebrate and engage in a rhetoric of triumph." As Jamieson put it: "When you evaluate a presidency, you ask 'did the president, in difficult times, make decisions that were good for the country even if they were not in his political interest?' " EL Ideas has been playing to full houses since it opened in July 2011. That would be a nice achievement for any operation, but given the quirky experience chef and owner Phillip Foss offers, it's positively miraculous. Dinners cost $145, prepaid, tip additional, and you bring your own wine. The menu, about 15 courses, is not revealed beforehand. Reservations are tricky to acquire because EL Ideas has only 24 seats and serves dinner only four nights a week. And the location is so iffy, a decrepit dead-end stretch of West 14th Street where Tri-Taylor, Lawndale and Pilsen meet, that most guests arrange private-car transportation. Foss jokes about it as part of his opening greeting. Advertisement "You could try to flag a cab on the corner," he deadpanned one night, "but you might die." Actually, I parked my car two blocks away one visit, without incident, and Foss acknowledges that there "never have been any problems" in his nearly two years at this location. But Foss' willingness to make sweaty-palm jokes about his own neighborhood tells you that he relishes his role as chef-provocateur, eager to challenge not only your assumptions about food, but also your assumptions about being a restaurant guest. Advertisement Foss doesn't merely dismiss tradition; he virtually scorns it, playing the reverse-snobbery game like a virtuoso. His introductory remarks posit EL Ideas (short, he says, for "elevated ideas in dining") as an alternative to what he calls "pretentious" fine-dining. Granted, this comes from a guy who's charging $145 for dinner, but what I think he means is that EL Ideas seeks to distance itself from the notion of chef-as-unapproachable-genius. It's the reason you'll see Foss and his fellow chefs clad in black T-shirts and striped aprons, with nary a chef's coat in sight. Guests are urged to abandon the sit-back-and-be-wowed convention, to rise up from their tables, crowd into the kitchen area (there are boundaries, for safety reasons), snap a few photos and even engage the chefs in conversation. Although seating is usually divided among tables for two and four, dining at EL Ideas is very much a communal experience. There is one seating per night (7:30 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, 6 p.m. Saturday), and arriving late to dinner is like arriving late to the theater; you'll get in, but you'll have missed part of the show. Courses are presented more or less simultaneously, and after a quick explanation from Foss (or one of his team), everybody digs in at the same time. When, as it so often happens, the first course arrives without utensils and guests are instructed to lick their plates clean, the fact that every diner in the room participates at once serves as a combination icebreaker and bonding experience. "We can get away with stuff other restaurants can't," Foss says. "When the whole room is doing it, it breaks down all the reservations. Nothing says just because you're having great food, you have to keep your noses in the air and not let your guard down." Another course presents a shot glass in which a Kusshi oyster is suspended in smoked-duck consomme with kimchi-spiced vegetables, shiitake matchsticks, sea grapes and borage (a star-shaped blue flower that tastes faintly of cucumber). That's a lot going on in a two-gulp taste, and Foss says not all his guests appreciate it. So he works that polarization into his shtick: "This is probably the course you'll love or hate," he intones as he introduces the dish. "But I don't care, because we love it, and we're going to keep serving it." Daring guests to dislike a dish is pretty nervy, but it's just another envelope for Foss to push. Once you drink the figurative Kool-Aid, surrender to the experience, Foss and his minions make it fun. Foss' dishes are eye-catching and unfailingly delicious, certainly, but Foss lets guests in on the creative process as well. It's not that he presents a dish of bone-marrow-filled potato with cauliflower foam and caviar (think potato skins, the way Scrooge McDuck might order them), but he explains why he thinks bone-marrow and caviar work together. Advertisement Nothing in Foss' maverick approach comes at the expense of creature comforts, mind you. Tables are covered in white linen, and nice stemware awaits your BYO choices. Windows are treated to reflect inward, focusing attention on the food while sparing guests the rather bleak view. The evening progresses with a parade of novel flavor pairings and eye-tricking presentations. A couple of months ago, the menu included baby octopus tentacles wrapped protectively around a square of cod cheek, the plate accented by squirts of inky-black charred eggplant (I dubbed the dish "startled octopus"). Enoki mushrooms swam in a ham-infused broth with golden char roe and pine nuts; an avian charcuterie assortment offered pheasant ballotine, chicken liver mousse and crispy chicken skin; and a virtual salute to Greektown combined lamb tartare with crumbled feta, soft bread and accents of smoked paprika. A more recent visit yielded a study-in-spring composition of cold-poached turbot in a vivid-green dill soup and crisscrossing pieces of leek tuile; sepiolini (baby cuttlefish) with artichoke, powdered espelette and chorizo. A gorgeous salad consisted of three styles of boar (cured, rillettes, smoked neck) and six varieties of kale. Golden fried sweetbreads sat, plump and proud, alongside a sugar pane inlaid with fennel seed, anise cotton candy and molasses-glazed hazelnuts. Foss always includes a bread course, or a course highlighted by bread. One night it might be Parker House rolls stuffed with roasted garlic and smoked raclette cheese. Another time the bread shows up as a rye roll with whipped-lardo spread, a weighty counterpoint to the barely cooked sturgeon and lightly pickled vegetables sharing the plate. Desserts tend to be fun and quite sweet; I'm thinking specifically of the old-fashioned cake doughnut, with applejack caramel and spiced-cider sorbet; and the decidedly more modern deconstructed pecan pie, with candied pecans, brown-butter custard, malted chocolate stout sorbet and a torched squiggle of marshmallow. Service, not surprisingly, is a little different here. Bill Talbot is the genial host who seats guests and oversees the dining area, but dishes are likely to be carried to your table by one of the chefs or Foss himself, and Foss has been known to invite guests to deliver the occasional course, though I gather this happens less and less often. All part of EL Ideas' anything-can-happen experience. Advertisement Watch Phil Vettel's reviews weekends on WGN-Ch. 9's "News at Nine" and on CLTV. EL Ideas 2419 W. 14th St.; 312-226-8144; elideas.com Tribune rating: Three stars Open: Dinner Wednesday-Saturday Prices: 15-course dinner, $145 prepaid Credit cards: A, DS, M, V Reservations: Required Noise: Conversation-friendly Ratings key: Four Stars: Outstanding Three Stars: Excellent Two Stars: Very good One Star: Good No stars: Unsatisfactory Reviews are based on no fewer than two visits. The reviewer makes every effort to remain anonymous. Meals are paid for by the Tribune. philvettel@tribune.com Advertisement Twitter @philvettel A man accused of breaking into a woman's Southwest Side home and demanding her cell phone at knife-point was arrested Thursday. Nelson Eduardo Salazar, 30, is charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. His bail was set at $100,000. The woman, 32, told police she and Salazar had been dating for five months. He had become increasingly jealous and possessive of her during that time, according to his arrest warrant affidavit. FIND OUT FIRST: Get San Antonio breaking news directly to your inbox On Oct. 31, police said he broke into her home at around noon in the 300 block of Kelsey while she was asleep. The woman told police she awoke to find Salazar on top of her, holding a knife to her neck. He was demanding to see her phone, the affidavit states. After Salazar took her phone, the woman told police he began striking her in the head as she walked to the bathroom. RELATED: Prosecutor makes rare move in death, dismemberment case When she ran out of the house through the back door, Salazar fled through the front, the affidavit states. Salazar ran to his vehicle, reversing into a brick pillar as he drove away from the home, investigators said. Jacob Beltran is a reporter covering San Antonio and Bexar County. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | | Twitter: @JBfromSA A Roman Catholic order of priests on Friday became another in a series of Catholic authorities to identify some of its own priests as credibly accused of the sexual abuse of minors including three former San Antonio clergymen, now deceased. FIND OUT FIRST: Get San Antonio breaking news directly to your inbox SOLD FOR SEX: In Texas, an estimated 79,000 youth at any one time are being exploited for sex. Many are never rescued because so few cry out to police or other authorities for help. The San Antonio Express-News investigation "Sold for Sex" chronicles the lives of sex-trafficking victims, including a 16-year-old girl who was sold for sex up to 15 times a day, and examines what Texas law enforcement and service providers can do to help them. *** Rene was 14 when she ran away from her aunt and uncles house. They had adopted her two years earlier, after her mother died. Rene said they were emotionally abusive. While staying at friends houses, she met a 14-year-old boy on Facebook who asked her to send photos and then offered to let her come stay with his family. That family included an older female cousin and her boyfriend, who had two children. Rene became their babysitter. All was well at first, she recalled. Then it was, Oh, we need you to make some money. I thought they were talking about selling drugs. They dressed Rene in skimpy lingerie, posted photos of her on a social networking site and sold her body. I felt trapped, she said. I didnt know what to do, because I had no place else to go. At first, the boyfriend gave her half the money from her "dates," for which he charged $80 to $200, depending on the sex act. Then he started keeping all the money. Rene thought about escaping, but whenever the cousin attempted to leave, the boyfriend would beat her. Rene feared the same treatment. She asked that her full name not be used. For several months, she was sold an average of 10 times a day. She smoked marijuana to numb the despair. She was sold to a businessman, right there in his spacious corporate office. She was sold to a police officer. She was sold repeatedly to a regular, who knew she was underage. SOLD FOR SEX: After Issac Williams convinced a 16-year-old he loved her, he sold her body for sex up to 15 times a day In March 2017, she was apprehended as a runaway and began receiving services to deal with her trauma. She eventually helped detectives build a case against her former pimp by taking them to hotels and homes where shed been sold. He was arrested last January and in June was indicted on a charge of continuous sex-trafficking of a person. A big part of Renes healing has been coming to terms with what happened to her. I know I cant just shut it out, she said. Its not about accepting it, but being open to it. If I dont deal with it now, it will come back and haunt my future relationships. Melissa Fletcher Stoeltje is a San Antonio Express-News staff writer. Read more of her stories here. | mstoeltje@express-news.net | Twitter: @mstoeltje AUSTIN The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles Board rejected the latest iteration of a license plate celebrating Confederate soldiers Thursday, dealing a blow to the Sons of Confederate Veterans which has long fought to sponsor a novelty plate. The board voted 5-3 without comment to reject the plate featuring a rebel soldier clad in a gray Confederate uniform carrying a Texas regiments flag, according to Adam Shaivitz, a department spokesman. The plate design did not include a Confederate flag. The plate was sponsored by the Department of Agricultures commissioner, Sid Miller, who has argued Texans should not hide parts of history now considered offensive. The boards decision marks the second time the Sons of Confederate Veterans have failed to create a plate commemorating Confederate soldiers. The group, which claims to have about 3,200 members in Texas, first sought a novelty plate with a Confederate battle flag in 2007. The board rejected that design in 2011, a decision that was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2015 underscoring that government agencies are not bound to approving messages they dont want to be associated with. Approximately 380 people weighed-in with the department to support the plate through an online portal, with some writing the imagery preserves the memory of soldiers who fought in the Civil War, according to the Department of Motor vehicles, which omitted commenters names. This allows those that want to support and recognize the history of Texas and their ancestors (things Texans are surely proud of) in a unique way, read one comment. Due to the controversy of the Confederate flag, this plate instead represents a flag of one of the many Texas regiments that fought in the Civil War as a way to remember their service and sacrifice. On HoustonChronicle.com: Plan for new Confederate license plate is backed by Texas Agriculture Commissioner Miller Another 88 people disapproved of the sign, arguing the imagery is a reference to slavery. Do we really need an official, state-sanctioned license plate celebrating a group of people that undertook armed rebellion against the United States in order to defend a system of racial slavery? read another comment provided by the agency. I can't imagine what it would feel like to be a black Texan and see this plate in 2018 to know that my state, supported by my tax dollars, is giving its imprimatur to the glorification of people that believed in going to war to keep my ancestors in a state of bondage. The Texas Bicycle Coalition Education Fund, a nonprofit that benefits from the sales of a God Bless Texas novelty plate, was also against the Confederate plate. The group argued the design is too similar to its own because both feature a flag on the left-hand side. Board members in favor of approving the plate were Robert Barney Barnwell III of Magnolia, Luanne Caraway of Kyle and Gary Painter of Midland. Those who voted against the plate were Chairman Raymond Palacios Jr., Brett Graham of Denison, Kate Hardy of Trophy Club, Paul Scott of Lubbock and Guillermo Memo Trevino of Laredo. Board member John M. Prewitt of Cypress was absent. As rainfall rolls into the San Antonio area, city officials have reported power outages and flooded highways on the Northwest Side. According to CPS's power outage map, more than 5,000 customers were without power Friday at 7 a.m. in neighborhoods between Bandera Road and Highway 151. Scholars debate the exact meaning of that message, at least insofar as the symphonys title is concerned, with some believing that the translated title The Inextinguishable doesnt quite capture the nuances of the Danish original. Regardless, no one doubts that Nielsen created a work about the irrepressible nature of life itself, the will to live, as the composer put it. That Nielsen wrote the symphony during World War I gave this theme profound resonance (and made it a natural for Symphony Centers centennial commemoration of the wars end). The beginning of the school year when you got to show off your new duds, new cars, new looks! Sports! Playing, cheering, watching high school athletics. The arts: Dramatic arts, musical groups and shows, graphic arts groups, debate, etc. The prom! No dancing the night away or punch bowl antics. The daily interactions. Just being with the group, hanging with friends and classmates. Access to college recruiters and advisors its harder to line up higher education. Walking onstage to get a diploma while all the family is watching with everyone elses family. Vote View Results This Christmas, aid agency Christian Aid is offering Longford people the chance to add an ethical choice to their festive shopping list. The charity has launched a range of 9 ethical gifts which could provide a lifeline to those living in poorer countries, trying to improve their lives. Christian Aid Irelands new virtual shop, Charity Gifts, is designed to help festive shoppers spend their money on items that make a lasting difference. Rosamond Bennett is Chief Executive of Christian Aid Ireland: Many people in Longford are incredibly supportive of Christian Aid at Christmas. This year, were encouraging people from the county to think of others by choosing ethical alternatives to traditional gifts. For those struggling to find a meaningful present for a loved one, Charity Gifts offer something that will transform peoples lives while also helping the planet. From stocking fillers to the big ticket items, our Charity Gifts store has something to suit everyones tastes. These include: animal-related gifts that nurture change; presents that show love, care and wisdom; green gifts that sustain; and gifts with an entrepreneurial edge which will empower people to grow and prosper. Every purchase acts as a donation to the work of Christian Aid and its local partners. Each present comes with a special card explaining more about the gift and the related project. Christian Aid Charity Gifts will appeal to adults and children alike, with prices to suit all budgets. They are perfect for those Secret Santa gift items or for those looking for a more high-end gift: Just 10 could provide a sheep for a woman living in rural Ethiopia, so she can sell wool at a market and save money through a community savings group, to pay for essential medical care and education for her children. A gift of refuge (22) could help people who have been displaced from their homes to rebuild their lives in the Democratic Republic of Congo. A gift of school books, bags and pens (10) could help a Bangladeshi child to access education by giving them a grant for essential but expensive school supplies. And of course the nanny goat (25) which could help empower households in places like Ethiopia and rural Kenya and provide sustenance for a community to thrive. Those on a bigger budget could gift a mobile health clinic (128). This would give pregnant women in remote areas of Kenya access to antenatal check-ups and other medical care, and mean that babies and young children can get their all-important immunisations. This year, Charity Gifts refreshes Christians Aid previous virtual gifting offer, Present Aid, which launched in 2005, and has raised in excess of 19 million across GB and Ireland for Christian Aids work with poor communities across Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America. Longford people can buy a Charity Gift by visiting charity-gifts.christianaid.ie or by calling their Dublin office on 01 496 7040. Two very special Longford women were honoured during a civic reception at Longford Municipal District offices on Friday night. Marie Hand and Veronica Naughten have been described as two staunch Longford women whose voluntary efforts for the Irish Cancer Society has enabled them to raise over 300,000 during the past 30 years. During the ceremony to mark the womens massive contribution to Longford life, Cllr Peggy Nolan said there was not a family among those gathered that had not been touched by cancer. It is a horrible, horrible disease and you know when times were bad and families needed those women they were the rainbow in a very dark sky, she added. These two wonderful ladies are retiring now and so it falls upon the next generation to pick up from where they have left off. Cllr Nolan went on to say that the event was a night of celebration, not just of community spirit, but of two women who were the gel that kept us all together. Veronica and Marie epitomise what Longford is all about, the local area representative in the county town continued. We know, in this county, how to fundraise and how to look after people in need. That is what these women have done; nobody would pass Veronica or Marie - you would give them your last cent. Meanwhile, Cathaoirleach of Longford Municipal District, Cllr Seamus Butler also paid tribute to the Longford women. Veronica Naughten and Marie Hand have - for over 30 years now - worked tirelessly for the Irish Cancer Society, he added. Over that period they have raised an incredible 333,000. That money has stayed in the county, has been spent within it and has eased the lives of so many people. Cllr Butler continued, There is nobody in Longford who is not touched one way or another by cancer and these two women, after 30 years now, are stepping down and handing over the reigns to the next generation. The local Cathaoirleach also pointed to the fact that the Municipal District felt that Marie and Veronica deserved to be honoured for the wonderful work they have done over the years. Volunteers just like these women are the glue in our society, added Cllr Butler. And if people dont volunteer and do these things our society is much poorer for it. These two women are a shining example to the next generation to get involved in volunteering and with charitable work. Theirs is an exceptional story and we are all very proud of them. What you see on Instagram, that's what people want you to see and thats why I also fight so hard to always be my authentic self because for the little girl who, she is black, she is from the West Side of Chicago, these things are attainable, but don't ever think that having those degrees will get you in the door. They may even get you in the door, so lets say they do get you in the door, but its not going to keep you there. Its going to be your work ethic, your ability to build relationships, your ability to be undeniably creative and to really fight for that seat at the table. More than 90 per cent of motorists travelling along one of the busiest roads in north Longford are breaching its speed limit, sparking fears of a potential fatal accident along its route. The claim has been made by over 40 local residents who live along the main Cavan or Carra road entering Granard town in a petition which has been handed into Superintendent Brian Mohans office in recent days. In a detailed rundown of those concerns, locals have called for council and road authority chiefs to step in and remedy the dilemma as soon as possible. The speed of vehicles both approaching and leaving the town is totally unacceptable, read the petition. The speed limit is being ignored by 95 per cent of vehicles using the road. Whatever about cars, the 14/15 metre artics (trucks) needing to stop in an emergency would not have a hope. By the time vehicles are a kilometre beyond the secondary school leaving the town, most are doing between 100 and 120km/per hour. In calling for the erection of two strategically placed ramps or speed cameras, the residents warned that unless those actions were swift, a serious-perhaps fatal accident would be almost inevitable. The issue was one which was debated at length at a meeting of Granard Municipal District last week. Cathaoirleach Cllr PJ Reilly called for speed driver feedback signs to be installed on the main N55 entering Granard and along the R396 entering Abbeylara from the Coole, Co Westmeath direction. Cllr Reilly said gardai had, in the past, conducted speed checks in the area but the issue was one which was simply refusing to go away. Area engineer David Coppinger said despite acknowledging Cllr Reillys calls the Council was not in a position to carry out any independent ad hoc changes to its traffic calming measures. The N55 is a national route and any proposals in relation to driver feedback signs would have to be approved and funded by TII (Transport Infrastructure Ireland), he said. We (Council) can review and assess what appropriate traffic calming measures can be implemented subject to the provision of funding. An undertaking was also made to carry out speed monitoring in Abbeylara to determine what, if any issues, concerning speeding are identified along the route. We wont ignore the matter but its not something we can do immediately, added Mr Coppinger. You wont forgive yourself, is the honest and heartfelt message from brain injury survivor Derek Crilly to anyone tempted to drink and drive this festive season. After almost 30 years, Derek has bravely decided to share his story as a warning to anyone considering driving after taking alcohol this Christmas. Derek was just 21 years old when he was left fighting for his life after a drunken lorry driver crashed into his car. It happened on a drive home after a hurling match with friends when the car he was in, met a drunken lorry driver on the wrong side of the road. Derek, 50, said: The lorry crashed into the car and my life changed forever. I had head injuries and was put on life support for two weeks. I was even given the last rites because I was so badly injured. A talented hurler and bright college student, Dereks life as he knew it was wiped out in an instant and instead he was left blind and in a coma for two weeks. As well as losing his sight, Derek sustained serious physical and cognitive injuries. Derek continued: I was unconscious for a long while and when I regained consciousness, I couldnt see and I couldnt speak. The accident took everything away from me. Latest figures from the Road Safety Authority confirmed that alcohol is a factor in 39% of fatal crashes in Ireland and last year (2017) almost 9,000 drivers were arrested here on suspicion of drink driving. Acquired Brain Injury Ireland Chief Executive Barbara OConnell expressed concern at the continuing high trend in drink driving and the often invisible, traumatic impact it has on families all around Ireland left to cope with brain injuries. Ms OConnell said: Brain injuries shatter lives and one of the biggest causes we see is road traffic accidents. Most people dont know about brain injury and they dont know the devastation it causes which is why it is extremely brave of Derek to share his story and put a face to the trauma people are living with every day. There are 150,000 people like Derek, living today with a brain injury in Ireland and whats worse, there are 30 new brain injuries happening in this country every day. It is beyond concerning to see that already in the first nine months of this year, the drink driving trend continues with almost 6,600 motorists arrested so far for driving under the influence. We fully support the introduction of new drink driving penalties last month (Oct 2018) including a 3-month mandatory disqualification for anyone with blood alcohol concentration between 50mg-80mg. Please, this Christmas, dont drink alcohol if youre getting behind the wheel. Too many lives are lost and as we know all too well, too many young lives like Dereks are robbed from them. This Christmas, Derek is also the face of Acquired Brain Injury Irelands fundraising appeal urging the public to donate to help more brain injury survivors rebuild their lives. Derek concluded: Acquiring a brain injury at 21 years old means there will be a lot of dreams you may never see through. Life changes but it doesnt end. Acquired Brain Injury Ireland has allowed me to set new goals and see different dreams. Acquired Brain Injury Ireland is the countrys leading provider of community rehabilitation for those of working age (18-65 years) living with and recovering from an acquired brain injury. At any one time, the national not-for-profit organisation delivers dedicated individual rehabilitation and support to 1,100 brain injury survivors and their families, to rebuild their lives. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar leads a Late Late Show line-up including music superstar Michael Buble, country king Daniel ODonnell and comedian and author David Walliams. The Fine Gael leader will join Ryan Tubridy to talk about the highs and lows of his first 18 months as Irelands youngest ever Taoiseach, navigating Brexit, the stability of the Government as the Supply and Confidence agreement with Fianna Fail comes up for renewal, and the chances of an early General Election. We'll also be talking to him about the key issues facing his Government from housing to health. Also read: Gardai in Longford appealing for witnesses to shooting incident After taking time out to look after his family when his son was diagnosed with cancer, Michael Buble is back performing with a new album and a tour on the way. Hell be telling Ryan what the last few years have been like for him and his family, why he describes his new album as baby making music and how rumours of his retirement were greatly exaggerated. He will also be putting his famous vocal chords into action with not one but two songs. Comedian David Walliams found fame with Little Britain and as a judge on Britains Got Talent. But 10 years ago he turned his hand to writing childrens books, going on to sell 26 million books worldwide and be described as a Roald Dahls successor. Hell be chatting about the inspiration for his books and fatherhood. Well also be quizzing him on his love for Simon Cowell. Also read: Longford Voices United spread festive cheer Donegals most famous son Daniel ODonnell will be in studio to chat about coming home for Christmas to spend time with Majella in the house the country coveted on Room to Improve earlier this year. Hell be telling viewers about singing for the Pope and venturing very far out of his comfort zone as he and Majella travelled across America for their next road trip. Daniel will also be treating viewers to one of his favourite hits. And we will be meeting the final three celebrities who will be tripping the light fantastic across the Dancing With The Stars ballroom floor. The Late Late Show airs this Friday, December 7, RTE One, at 9.35pm. Also read: Mullinalaghta on brink of historic Leinster Club title triumph Local News, Crime, Press Releases By Long Island News & PR Published: December 07 2018 Richard Bivona, owner of Southampton Princess Diner, Sentenced to Six Months in Jail for Scheming to Defraud and Failing to Pay Employees. (L to R): Richard Bivona and John Kalogeras were charged with failing to pay restaurant workers and scheming to defraud them. Southampton, NY - December 7, 2018 - Attorney General Barbara D. Underwood announced the sentencing of Suffolk County residents Richard Bivona, the owner of Attorney General Barbara D. Underwood announced the sentencing of Suffolk County residents Richard Bivona, the owner of Southampton Princess Diner (Princess Diner), and John Kalogeras, former manager of Princess Diner, as well as RJT Food & Restaurant, LLC doing business as Princess Diner. Bivona and Kalogeras were charged with failing to pay restaurant workers and scheming to defraud them by falsely promising when workers would receive their wages, including credit card tips that had been illegally withheld. Together, Bivona and Kalogeras misappropriated a total of over $132,000 from 23 low-wage workers. Today, Bivona was sentenced to six months in jail and Kalogeras was sentenced to a conditional discharge by the Honorable Fernando Camacho of Suffolk County Supreme Court. RJT Food & Restaurant, LLC was also sentenced to a conditional discharge. Bivona has been required to pay $88,428 to 15 workers for unpaid wages earned between August and December 2016, and an additional $43,583 to eight other employees for unpaid wages earned between January 2017 and February 2018, for a total of over $132,000. Every worker is entitled to the wages they earn period. When employers skirt the law and steal from their employees, theyll face the consequences, said Attorney General Underwood. Well continue to enforce the law to protect all New York workers. Princess Diner, located at 32 Montauk Highway, had served Southampton for decades. In August 2016, Bivona took over the diner from Kalogeras and his family, but kept Kalogeras on as the manager to run the day-to-day operations. Restaurant employees including cooks, dishwashers, bussers, and servers who had previously worked for the diner for over ten years, continued to work under Bivona. Between August and December 2016, Bivona and Kalogeras failed to pay workers their wages, which often included overtime hours, on a weekly basis, as required by law, or at all. Employees who received cash tips lived off those cash tips exclusively, since Bivona withheld most of their credit card tips from them or paid them only a partial amount several weeks later. Both Bivona and Kalogeras repeatedly promised the workers that payment was imminent, but many workers either never received any payment or only received sporadic payment after waiting for weeks to be paid. Employees continued to work at the diner in the hopes of eventually getting paid as promised, but the workers ultimately quit when they did not receive payment after months of promises. On March 9, 2018, Bivona pled guilty to Scheme to Defraud, a class E felony, and Failure to Pay Wages, an unclassified misdemeanor, while Kalogeras pled guilty to Failure to Pay Wages. RJT Food & Restaurant, LLC pled guilty to Scheme to Defraud and Failure to Secure Workers Compensation Coverage as class E felonies. The investigation was handled for the Attorney Generals Office by Investigator Melissa Kaplan and Supervising Investigator Sylvia Rivera, under the supervision of Deputy Chief Investigator John McManus and Chief Investigator Dominick Zarrella. The prosecution is being handled by Assistant Attorneys General Jennifer S. Michael and Rachael C. Anello, with the assistance of Legal Assistant Yadira Filpo, Tyisha Bedford, and Joan Johnson, and under the supervision of the Labor Bureaus Criminal Section Chief Richard Balletta, Assistant Attorney General in Charge of the Suffolk County Regional Office Kimberly Kinirons, Labor Bureau Chief ReNika Moore, Criminal Enforcement and Financial Crimes Bureau Chief Stephanie Swenton, Acting Executive Deputy Attorney General for Regional Affairs Gary Brown, Executive Deputy Attorney General for Social Justice Matthew Colangelo, and Executive Deputy Attorney General for Criminal Justice Margaret Garnett. Local News, Crime, Business & Finance, Press Releases By Long Island News & PR Published: December 07 2018 Michael Martin, Former President of Eastern Building & Restoration, Inc., Sentenced for Wide-Ranging Scheme to Defraud Minority-Owned Businesses, State and Local Contracting Agencies, and Employees. New York, NY - December 7, 2018 - Attorney General Barbara D. Underwood today announced the sentencing of Michael Martin, 47, of Latham, for his role as the mastermind of a scheme to fraudulently obtain public construction contracts, willfully fail to pay over $400,000 in wages to dozens of employees, and steal over $150,000 from a minority-owned business and over $200,000 from an insurance company by filing a false insurance claim on behalf of the minority-owned business. Martin pleaded guilty to Grand Larceny in the Second Degree (a class C felony) in Schenectady County Court and Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree (a Class E felony) in Albany County Court. Today, Martin was sentenced to 3 to 12 years in state prison, and executed confessions of judgment to pay approximately $800,000 to the victims of his crimes. Those who scheme to defraud minority-owned businesses and their own employees must face the consequences of their actions, said Attorney General Underwood. My office will continue to prosecute scam artists that try to take advantage of New Yorkers. As part of his plea, Martin admitted that he served as President and owner of Eastern Building & Restoration, Inc., a general contractor headquartered in Albany, from 2004 to February 2014. Martin further admitted that co-defendant Dr. Scott Henzel is the former Controller for Eastern Building & Restoration, Inc. (Eastern). Martin further admitted that the scheme was devised to enrich themselves at the expense of laborers, minority-owned businesses, and numerous state, county, and local agencies. The scheme included the identity theft of two minority-owned businesses, Lorice Enterprises, Inc. and Precision Environmental Solutions, Inc., as well as the theft of prevailing wage benefits from over 50 employees of Eastern. According to documents filed by the prosecution and Martins admissions in court, between April 2012 and September 2015, Martin and Henzel allegedly offered two minority business enterprises, Lorice Enterprises, Inc. (Lorice) and Precision Environmental Solutions, Inc. (Precision), the opportunity to partner with Eastern for the purpose of teaching the businesses how to successfully operate and bid on construction projects. In reality, Martin and Henzel allegedly took over the two businesses, managing all day-to-day business activities, including staffing of laborers and bidding decisions, as well as all banking activity and financial decisions. The defendants then used the minority-owned businesses to fraudulently obtain millions of dollars in public works projects awarded to Eastern, which required a portion of funds awarded to be paid to minority contractors pursuant to Article 15-A of the Executive Law. The purpose of Article 15-A of the Executive Law is to promote employment and business opportunities on state contracts for minorities and women, so that when public dollars are spent on construction projects, a portion of those funds are used to promote the growth of minority or women owned businesses. In reality, once Martin and Henzel brought Lorice and Precision into Eastern, those firms allegedly ceased to be minority-owned business enterprises other than on paper, and were instead controlled exclusively by and for the benefit of Martin and Henzel. Additionally, Martin admitted that he and Henzel systematically failed to pay over 50 laborers $6 per hour in pension funds, which Eastern was obligated to pay as part of their prevailing wage. Between March 1, 2012 and February 6, 2014, Martin and Henzel underpaid Easterns laborers over $400,000 in pension benefits, including over $100,000 on a single contract with the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York. To conceal their crime, Martin admitted that he and Henzel issued false paystubs to employees indicating that the payments had been made, and falsely certified on public works projects that the payments had been made when in fact they had not. Martin also admitted in Schenectady Court that beginning in 2014, after Eastern went out of business, he embezzled over $150,000 from Precision by diverting over $9,000 per month pursuant to a phony lease agreement with a company called Delta Land Holdings, LLC, which was controlled exclusively by Martin. In reality, Delta Land Holdings had no ownership or possessory interest in the property Precision was operating in, and Precision was already paying $1,800 in rent for the property to the true landlord. On October 11, 2018, Martin pleaded guilty to Grand Larceny in the Second Degree in Schenectady County before Hon. Matthew J. Sypniewski, in connection with his theft from Precision Environmental Solutions. Martin was sentenced today to 3 to 12 years in state prison and entered a judgment in favor of Precision Environmental Solutions for over $150,000. On October 12, 2018, Martin pleaded guilty to Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree in Albany County before Hon. Peter A. Lynch, in connection with his scheme to defraud employees, contracting agencies, and insurance companies through his operation of Eastern Building & Restoration, Inc. Martin will receive a sentence of 1 to 3 years in state prison to run concurrent with his term on the Schenectady conviction. Martin also agreed to enter nearly $650,000 in judgments in favor of former Eastern Building & Restoration employees, insurance companies, and other victims defrauded. Martin will be sentenced in Albany County on December 10, 2018. On November 13, 2018, Henzel pleaded guilty to the crime of Failure to Pay the Prevailing Rate of Wage or Supplements over $100,000 (a class D felony) before Hon. Peter A. Lynch in Albany County Court. Henzel will be sentenced on January 8, 2019 and has agreed to enter over $70,000 in judgments in favor of the victims of his crimes. The case against Martin arose out of a joint investigation conducted by the Attorney Generals Criminal Enforcement and Financial Crimes Bureau, the New York State Office of the Inspector General, and the New York State Department of Labor. The Office of the Attorney General thanks the following agencies for their assistance on the case: the New York State Office of the Inspector General, the New York State Department of Labor, the New York State Office of the Comptroller, the New York State Office of General Services, the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York, the New York State Division of Minority and Womens Business Development, the New York State Tax Departments Criminal Investigations Division, the New York State Police, the United States Bankruptcy Trustee for the Northern District of New York, and the Schenectady County District Attorneys Office. The criminal cases against Martin and Henzel are being handled by Special Counsel Benjamin S. Clark of the Attorney Generals Criminal Enforcement and Financial Crimes Bureau, with the assistance of Legal Support Analysts Kira Russom and Joseph Conniff. The Criminal Enforcement and Financial Crimes Bureau is led by Bureau Chief Stephanie Swenton and Deputy Bureau Chief Joseph DArrigo. The Division of Criminal Justice is led by Executive Deputy Attorney General Margaret Garnett. Authorities Announce Arrest of Wyandanch Store Worker for Selling E-Liquid Nicotine to Minor Local News, Crime, Press Releases By Long Island News & PR Published: December 07 2018 Dharminder Singh of Staten Island, 37, was placed into custody after selling to an underage police agent, cops say. SCPD have arrested Dharminder Singh of Staten Island, 37, for the sale of e-liquid nicotine to a minor. Wyandanch, NY - December 7, 2018 - Suffolk County Police have arrested a man after conducting an investigation of the sale of e-liquid nicotine at two businesses in Suffolk County Police have arrested a man after conducting an investigation of the sale of e-liquid nicotine at two businesses in Deer Park and Wyandanch on Thursday, December 6. Due to numerous community complaints, First Precinct Crime Section officers conducted investigations into the sale of e-liquid nicotine at two businesses with an underage police agent. An employee from Kristys Smoke Shop, located at 1836 Deer Park Avenue, Deer Park, did not sell e-liquid nicotine to a minor. Dharminder Singh, an employee from Sunoco Gas Station, located at 1580 Straight Path, Wyandanch, sold e-liquid nicotine to an underage police agent at approximately 10 p.m. Singh was arrested and charged with two counts of Endangering the Welfare of a Child, Unlawfully Dealing with a Child 2nd Degree, Sale of E-Liquid Nicotine to a Person Less than 21, and Sale of Tobacco Products to Person Less than 21. Singh, 37, of Staten Island, is scheduled to be arraigned at First District Court on February 19, 2019. Looking to stay up to date about all of the news stories and local headlines that are important to Long Islanders? We've rounded up the top coverage for all of the important topics from multiple sources around Long Island, so you can be sure you've got the most recent update on the top stories for Long Island. Have an idea for a news story? Email us at news@longisland.com Columnists Press Releases When somebody is hiring somebody usually the upper class they dont like to think outside the box. They want that traditional look, that white twinkle-light effect with the white style of lights, he said. Maybe because theyre typically older, and thats what they grew up on and what you see in the movies. SPRINGFIELD -- American Outdoor Brands, the parent company of Springfield gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson, reported year-over-year increases in both sales and profits Thursday. Net sales for the most recent quarter were $161.7 million compared with $148.4 million for the same time last year, according to the company's news release. That's an increase of 8.9 percent. Net profit was $6.7 million, or 12 cents per diluted share, compared with net profit of $3.2 million, or 6 cents per diluted share in the same three months of last year. These numbers are for the second quarter of the company's fiscal year, the three months that ended Oct. 31, 2018. AOBC cited strong sales of firearms and knives. In particular, new gun models introduced within the last year accounted for 26 percent of firearm revenue. "We are pleased with our second quarter operational and financial results, which reflect year-over-year increases in revenue and profitability in both our Outdoor products and accessories segment and our firearms segment," said President and CEO James Debney. "Our outdoor products and accessories segment, a strategically important market that we first entered just four years ago, generated approximately one-third of our revenue in the quarter." Stock analysts had predicted strong sales. AOBC stock traded Thursday afternoon at $12.21 a share, up 39 cents or 3.3 percent on the day. Background checks through the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System are up 3.2 percent from this time last year, and 6 percent higher than the previous quarter, according to stock analysis website Motley Fool. The gun industry uses the checks as an indicator of firearm sales. Smith & Wesson changed its name to American Outdoor Brands in 2016 as it diversified into product lines like camping and hiking gear as well as shooting and gunsmithing tools and accessories. Thursday's announcement follows an announcement of strong earnings for the first quarter of AOBC's current fiscal year. AOBC and Smith & Wesson's gun business remains controversial. Gun control activists demonstrated outside the Smith & Wesson plant on Roosevelt Avenue repeatedly in 2018. And in September, a coalition of activist Roman Catholic nuns won their shareholder vote requiring AOBC management to write a report on what they are doing as a company to fight gun violence and keep firearms away from those who shouldn't own them. The nuns said the report is due in January. AOBC's net sales were $138.8 million in its first quarter of the fiscal year, a period that ended July 31, compared with $129 million for the same quarter last year, an increase of 7.6 percent. The company reported income for that first quarter of $7.6 million, or 14 cents per diluted share, compared with a loss of $2.2 million, or 4 cents per diluted share, for the first quarter last year. In June, American Outdoor Brands reported annual sales were down 33 percent for this past fiscal year compared with the year before. Smith & Wesson traces its roots to 1852, when Horace Smith and Daniel Baird Wesson partnered to manufacture a firearm that used a self-contained cartridge. American Outdoor Brands has 1,600 employees at its Springfield Smith & Wesson plant. It is advertising for production and professional workers in Springfield, at a plastics plant in Deep River, Connecticut, and at a new warehouse in Missouri. A man was rushed to the hospital early Friday morning after authorities said he crashed his car into a building in Brockton, flipping the vehicle onto its roof. WBZ reported that the driver was traveling down Oak St. around 2:30 a.m. when he hit the Webster Bank building. The man was pulled from the wreck with what authorities said was chest trauma. He was brought to a Brockton hospital and then airlifted by medical helicopter to a hospital in Boston, according to the television station. The bank building was left with structural damage and had to be stabilized. PITTSFIELD - An Adams woman accused of fatally hitting a 38-year-old pedestrian while driving while drunk was released on $1,000 bail and banned from driving. Debra Milesi, 57, was arraigned Thursday in Berkshire Superior Court on charges of motor vehicle homicide while under the influence of alcohol, leaving the scene of a personal injury accident resulting in death and negligent operation of a motor vehicle, said Frederick Lantz, spokesman for Berkshire District Attorney Paul Caccaviello. Not guilty pleas were entered on her behalf and Judge Daniel Ford released her on $1,000 bail and ordered her to remain in Massachusetts unless she receives court permission, he said. Milesi is being accused of striking Jerome Berard, 38, of North Adams, in a crash on East Hoosac Road. Berard was struck at about 1:15 a.m. Sept. 29 and a police officer found him lying on the side of the road and initially provided medical care. He was taken to the hospital and died from his injuries on Oct. 7, Lantz said. Adams Police with assistance from Massachusetts State Police detectives assigned to the District Attorney's Office and the Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section and Crime Scene Services Section of the state police investigated the crash. LAWRENCE - Six people accused of stealing identities from citizens of Puerto Rico and using them to obtain benefits or to apply for driver's license or other documentation were charged in federal court on Thursday. At least four of the people charged have a criminal history and at least four are Dominican nationals. Two identities were stolen from people who have died and one was stolen from a Puerto Rican resident who has never been in Massachusetts. "These were targeted investigations, aimed specifically at identifying people who have stolen the identities of others," said United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling. "And the continued emphasis on the City of Lawrence is no coincidence: With the help of state and local partners, we will continue targeting drug, gun, and immigration-related crime in that city until the crime rate there drops substantially. This has been, and will continue to be, a top priority of my office." All six are Lawrence residents and each was charged with one count of misuse of a Social Security number and one count of aggravated identity theft in federal court in Boston, he said. Those arrested include two men whose identities are unknown. One was in jail on drug charges when he requested a replacement Social Security card in the name of a U.S. citizen from Puerto Rico who had died. That man later applied for Medicaid benefits using the identity but was rejected because the system showed him as deceased. The second unknown man was using the identity of a citizen from Puerto Rico when convicted of possession with intent to distribute heroin. A comparison of booking photos with license photos here and in Puerto Rico showed he was using someone else's identification, he said. Also arrested were: Lenin Alfredo Amparo, 44, a Dominican national with Lawful Permanent Residency status. Amparo, who has an extensive criminal history including convictions for drug conspiracies and assault and battery, was discovered when he applied for a Massachusetts driver's license in the name of a citizen from Puerto Rico, he said. Julissa Ranee Acosta Estevez, 45, a Dominican national, is accused of using the identity of a citizen of Puerto Rico who had died to receive $6,500 in unemployment benefits. She also used the identity to apply for a Massachusetts driver's license, Lelling said. Andres Aridio Contrera Diaz, 30, a Dominican national, is accused of using the name, date of birth and Social Security number of a Puerto Rican citizen who had never been in Massachusetts to receive $6,117 in unemployment money, he said. Raul Alexander Guerrero-Sanchez, 35, a Dominican national, gave police the identification of a resident of Puerto Rico as his own when arrested for drug offenses, including distribution of heroin and distribution of cocaine, he said. "Today's arrests demonstrate our commitment to stopping the real threats and devastating financial impacts that American taxpayers and citizens face from the danger of identity theft crimes," said Peter C. Fitzhugh, Special Agent in Charge, Homeland Security Investigations in Boston. "Along with our local and federal partners, we look forward to the successful prosecution of these individuals who have literally robbed the identities and stolen directly out of the pockets of American taxpayers." The investigation was conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigation's Document and Benefit Fraud Task Force, and included various local, state and federal agencies with expertise in detecting, deterring and disrupting those involved with document, identity and benefit fraud schemes. The task force is currently focusing investigations on suspected undocumented immigrants mainly from the Dominican Republic, who are believed to have obtained stolen identities of United States citizens living in Puerto Rico and used them to apply for benefits they would not be eligible to receive including Registry of Motor Vehicles identity documents and public housing subsidies. LONGMEADOW -- The School Committee has started its process of finding the town's next schools superintendent, and if Wednesday night's special meeting to start the search is any indication, it might not be an easy road to navigate. In a meeting that lasted more than three and a half hours and was attended by about 100 people, many holding signs as part of a silent protest of the board's 4-3 vote last month not to renew the contract of Superintendent M. Martin O'Shea, the committee debated how the search would be conducted and who would conduct it. The discussion included a vote that, while procedural, echoed the board's divide. Many in attendance held signs reading "Together We Stand for Marty" for the duration of the meeting. According to a press release, the protest was a show of support for the Longmeadow Education Association, the teachers union that has given the School Committee a vote of no confidence. Some on the committee, like Armand Wray, voiced concerns about finding a new superintendent after the recent divisiveness over extending O'Shea's contract. Glenn Koocher, executive director of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, said he didn't think it would be a problem, and that if expedited, the process might take only three to four months. In the first step of the search, the committee will likely put out a request for proposals to choose a vendor to conduct the search for a new superintendent, but it is also considering the possibility of choosing MASC without considering other vendor proposals because MASC charges less than the $10,000 threshold that would warrant an RFP. Late in the meeting, Wray made a motion to commit to an RFP so that potential vendors could be weighed with input from the public, including school faculty, staff and town personnel, but that motion was tabled in a 4-3 vote. Committee member Stephanie Jasmin said many school districts in the state use MASC. Jasmin, Kerrin Morrin, Melanie Rothstein and chairwoman Beth Baron voted in favor of tabling Wray's motion of committing to an RFP, leaving open the option of choosing MASC without putting out an RFP. In the highly debated decision on the extension of O'Shea's contract, which expires in June, those same four members voted for non-renewal. Two MASC members conducted workshops with the school committee. During the first portion, committee members were asked to come up with procedures and protocols, including on how to communicate with each other, how it will improve, their limits of power, what to do when things go wrong and who they represent. Dorothy Presser from MASC, who led the protocols workshop, asked members to choose one or more "resounding themes" (from notes they placed on each question) then summarize agreed-upon bullets for the protocols. When discussing who they represent (which was met with some murmurs from the audience), the committee agreed they should put the needs of students and their achievements first. There were the fewest notes on the "When things go wrong" prompt (only six, compared with at least 15 on most others), but the committee agreed it would conduct a self-evaluation and check in on its goals and protocols twice per year. During the second part of the meeting, Koocher gave a presentation on how to conduct the search for a new superintendent, adding that the presentation was "not a sales pitch to sell services." Koocher said he anticipated it would "not be a problem" for Longmeadow to find a new superintendent - despite the recent tensions between members of the school committee and the public. "The challenges here are very surmountable, but are not unlike those which others districts face," Koocher said. He noted it's unusual that a committee would require a supermajority (five-member) vote in order to hire the new superintendent, which is the legal requirement in Longmeadow. A possible deterrent for prospective superintendents applying to the district would be if there was already a known internal candidate - Koocher said many districts already have someone who's been "groomed" for the position. When member Bronwyn Monahan asked if he was referring to Longmeadow specifically, Koocher replied that he wasn't, but that it's generally known in each district if that's the case. Committee members made no indication about whether or not Longmeadow has an internal candidate. The school committee also discussed the possibility of putting together a subcommittee of between seven and 13 people who would put together an RFP to select the vendor for the superintendent search. Members of the last vendor subcommittee in 2015 were chosen through a lottery system rather than being appointed by the school committee chair, but Koocher warned that a lottery could be "risky," and that he'd heard horror stories about subcommittees that had been chosen that way and that some people could "make the process hell." School committee members were not entirely sure what their policy was for selecting the vendor subcommittee and if the responsibility falls to the chair to appoint them, but Baron said she'd look into it. The committee agreed on a draft of new protocols, but decided to "gather more information" before deciding on the next step in the search for a new superintendent. WESTFIELD - No decision was made by Westfield City Council Thursday on a proposal to transfer some authority for special permits in business zones to the Planning Board. The public hearing was closed after nearly three hours and the measure was sent to the Zoning, Planning and Development Subcommittee for further vetting. This was the second public hearing on the topic this week. A Planning Board hearing Tuesday also included more than two hours of discussion. City Advancement Officer Joe Mitchell offered the same overview to the Council that he gave to the Planning Board. He said the proposal was the result of a study conducted by the Economic Development Self-Assessment Tool out of the Dukakis Center at Northeastern University. The city's strengths and weaknesses were outlined and the idea for streamlining the special permit process came from a debriefing of the report and follow-up discussions, he said. "In every zone there are a number of uses allowed by right and a number that are prohibited and in the middle are those that can be done by special permit," Mitchell said, noting that the council only votes on a few special permits a year while the Planning Board votes on several at each meeting. On Tuesday, Planning Board member Cheryl Crowe asked why, in 1988, the process changed and some special permits related to business zones were removed from the Planning Board and placed in the City Council. On Thursday, former longtime Councilor William Chiba shed some light on the history of special permits in Westfield. "Years back the state started giving different interpretations of zoning," Chiba said. "So, Jim Boardman, the development director, said we've got to review the whole thing." A committee was formed to revamp zoning and special permits across the city. At that time, Chiba said, there were real estate agents making decisions about what type of business should be located in which communities, and Westfield became a "big box" city. The City Council wanted to take control of the business special permit process, Chiba said, "because the neighbors were getting inundated with truck terminals. The City Council took the responsibility for special permits for these business items." Chiba implored the Council not to transfer authority to the Planning Board. "Don't change things just to change them," he said. "Sit down, study it, understand it and have respect for the people who came before you and did the work. It's not your job to see how fast you permit something, it's your job to see the community is protected. I would hope you would not transfer these things to the Planning Board." Several councilors thanked Chiba for the background information. Councilor Brent B. Bean II, who presented the proposal, said that there were other reasons for the switch in the late 1980s. "I can appreciate the work," said Bean, "but politics, even back then, played into the decision of where it went." Bean asked Chiba if the aquifer was taken into consideration on special permits for businesses on the north side of the city near the water supply. "The aquifer was very important and that's another reason this happened, and it played into what was put there," Chiba said. "Back then it was kinda understood that the north side was going to be the business zone." Bean said the proposal to send business special permits back to the Planning Board should pass. "For us to vote this down is shirking our responsibility," he said. "There are clear redundancies here. One of the ways we can market the city is to clear up these redundancies. It doesn't mean we're going to circumvent protocols." Councilors Andrew K. Surprise and Matt Emmershy said they were happy there would be a review, but wanted to take it a step further. "I think we need to take a wholesale review of our zoning," Emmershy said. "So is this trying to put a Band-Aid on a trauma wound? Would a larger review of this help move the city forward?" "That's a fair question," said Mitchell. "After conversations I've had with Planning Board and the Legal Department, I decided we should walk before we run. I'm taking 13 or 14 land uses and trying to put them into Planning Board. I'd love to give a comprehensive review. With the amount of resistance I'm seeing on this kind of small task, I'd need a larger staff." Mitchell said he would move forward with "the ones I think I can attack with the resources and manpower I have." Emmershy said he would file a motion for the next meeting to "take a wholesale look" at the city's zoning. Councilor Dave Flaherty made a motion to close the hearing and send the proposal to zoning subcommittee. He said it would be on the Dec. 19 agenda. WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen, deserves a substantial prison sentence despite his cooperation in a hush money payment case that implicated the president, federal prosecutors said Friday. Court filings by prosecutors from both New York and the Trump-Russia special counsel's office laid out for the first time details of the cooperation of a vital witness who once said he'd "take a bullet" for the president but who in recent months has become a prime antagonist. He is to be sentenced next week. They filings reveal that Cohen told prosecutors he and Trump discussed a potential meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in 2015, shortly after Trump announced his candidacy for president. In a footnote, special counsel Robert Mueller's team writes that Cohen conferred with Trump "about contacting the Russia government before reaching out to gauge Russia's interest in such a meeting," though it never took place. An additional filing was expected later Friday in the case of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, who prosecutors say lied to them even after agreeing to cooperate. Prosecutors in Cohen's case said that even though he cooperated in their investigation into hush money payments made to two women who said they had sex with Trump, he nonetheless deserves to spend time in prison. "Cohen did provide information to law enforcement, including information that assisted the Special Counsel's Office," they said. "But Cohen's description of those efforts is overstated in some respects and incomplete in others." In meetings with Mueller's team, Cohen "provided information about his own contacts with Russian interests during the campaign and discussions with others in the course of making those contacts," the court documents said. Cohen provided prosecutors with a "detailed account" of his involvement, along with the involvement of others, in efforts during the 2016 presidential campaign to complete a deal to build a Trump Tower Moscow, the documents said. He also provided information about attempts by Russian nationals to reach Trump's campaign, they said. However, in the crimes to which he pleaded guilty in August, he was motivated "by personal greed and repeatedly used his power and influence for deceptive ends." Prosecutors said the court's Probation Department estimated that federal sentencing guidelines call for Cohen to serve at least four years in prison. They said that "reflects Cohen's extensive, deliberate and serious criminal conduct." Prosecutors say Cohen "already enjoyed a privileged life," and that "his desire for even greater wealth and influence precipitated an extensive course of criminal conduct." -- By CHAD DAY, ERIC TUCKER and JIM MUSTIAN HOLYOKE -- Ornate stained glass windows have been removed, a cross that once sat atop the controversial steeple is gone and construction workers are now in the process of removing asbestos from the former Mater Dolorosa Church to prepare for its likely demolition. Church officials have not confirmed that the church will be torn down and have not yet filed for a permit to do so, but former members of the long-closed parish and city officials who fought to save the historic church said they believe the demolition is imminent. "The scope of work which has been underway for many weeks at the former Mater Dolorosa Church has involved preserving significant items so that they might be repurposed, allowing the legacy of the former parish to live on through new use in active worshipping sites," said Mark E. Dupont, spokesman for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield. Dupont also said the diocese has "undertaken asbestos abatement consistent with our obligations and with full consent of city officials." In other cases where churches have been closed and demolished the stained glass windows, religious artifacts and other items of sentimental value have been removed first. The battle began in the spring of 2011 when then Bishop Timothy McDonnell announced the church would close and the parish would merge with Holy Cross on Appleton Street and worship there. Members named the new parish Our Lady of the Cross. But Mater Dolorosa members protested the closing and went to extraordinary lengths to keep it open. They occupied the church around-the-clock for a year, appealed the decision to the Vatican, applied to turn the church and surrounding neighborhood into a historic district and negotiated to buy the building. Several times their battles with the diocese ended in court. "I guess we are holding out on a miracle the Bishop will meet with us," said John Fydenkevez, president of the Mater Dolorosa Preservation Society of Holyoke. "We didn't want to fight the diocese; we wanted to work with the diocese." For several years the preservation society, mostly made up of former parish members, tried to negotiate to save the building, arguing it was valuable to preserve the heritage of the Polish people who built the church 117 years ago. But Springfield Bishop Mitchell T. Rozanski never met with the group. "Every time we tried to negotiate they wanted something else. It was never enough," Fydenkevez said. Now the organ, the altar, crosses that stood on top of the steeples and other art work that was in the church has been removed. Still Fydenkevez said the building has value until it is razed. "This is not the way the church should evangelize. It is drawing people away from the church and it is very disheartening," he said. In October 2017, as the diocese applied to the city for a permit to demolish the church, Mayor Alex B. Morse began to negotiate to save the building. They reached an agreement for the city to buy the building for $50,000, with a preservation society helping to maintain it. But the City Council balked at the agreement, which called for the diocese to retain ownership of the church's stained glass windows, wall paintings, murals and lamps, and did not include the church parking lot. The council rejected the deal in July, with one councilor calling it "the most one-sided, hard-nosed, vicious contract" he had ever seen. While that demolition permit expired in April, Morse said he expects the diocese to submit a new application. This time the city will have no reason to reject it, he said, adding the city has exhausted all options to save the church. "It has been a seven- to eight-year process and unfortunately the building will come down," he said. "It is always unfortunate to lose a piece of history and that is why we fought so hard to keep it." But Morse said he respects the decision of the City Council and members' concerns about the deal, and ultimately the church is owned by Our Lady of the Cross Parish and the diocese. Victor Anop, one of the original leaders of the Friends of Mater Dolorosa who organized the occupation of the church, said he sent a letter to the Vatican asking for an Apostolic Visitation to study the Springfield Diocese and urge Rozanski to preserve the church. In a strongly worded press release he accused the diocese of "plundering, pillaging and intentional destruction of Polish cultural religious heritage" and said he has reported his concerns to the Vatican. He said workers have failed to secure the building properly, leaving windows open, and questioned why the building was never put up for sale on the open market as many closed churches have. The diocese long argued one of the problems with the building is its unstable steeple, which it said could collapse. That has been disputed by other building experts. "What kind of devilish Grinches would cast aside people's heritage by destroying a church piece by piece just before Christmas?" Anop asked in the press release. Educators in Massachusetts' largest school districts are working under a new disciplinary philosophy in recent years, seeking to reach students before punishment is needed as a means to reducing the suspension rate. The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education recently released its 2017-2018 student discipline data report showing the total number of students disciplined, rates of in-school and out-of-school suspensions, expulsions and emergency removals. Springfield, which had 28,167 students enrolled during the 2017-2018 school year, reported 2,485 students disciplined - about 9 percent of the student body. The second-largest district in the state reported a 7 percent out-of-school suspension rate and 2.6 percent in-school suspension rate. In less than 1 percent of instances, an emergency removal - a last-resort step in which a student is deemed a danger or substantially disruptive - was reported by the district. Students faced disciplinary measures for a spectrum of issues, from being out of uniform to assaults on fellow students and educators. Five years earlier, student discipline rates were significantly higher. Springfield reported 3,884 students disciplined during the 2012-2013 school year, an out-of-school suspension rate of 10.5 percent and in-school suspension rate of 7.1 percent. While in previous years, disciplinary measures would escalate to suspension earlier, district officials have shifted to a focus on intervention: reaching students before they've entered a pattern of negative behavior and connected students who have with services both in and out of school, from counseling to fuel or food services for their family. Seeking to encourage positive behavior - especially among their youngest students - the district employs an method known as positive behavior intervention supports (PBIS) - which rewards and encourages actions that previously had gone unrecognized. From a group of students walking quietly and orderly to a cafeteria for lunch to a student deescalating an altercation before a staff member needed to intervene. "We've been working very, very hard on this," Springfield Superintendent of Schools Daniel Warwick, who said the district is seeing positive results. In addition to lower suspension rates, Warwick said reported bullying in city schools is down by half. PBIS was piloted in a few Springfield Public Schools and spread throughout most the district following positive results. Discipline rates varied greatly district-by-district across Massachusetts. Less than 3 percent of students statewide received an out-of-school suspension during the 2017-2018 school year and just under 2 percent received an in-school suspension, according to data from the Massachusetts Department of Early and Secondary Education. The department is working with districts reporting high rates of discipline to find alternatives that keep students in the classroom while limiting disruptions. Charter schools were more likely than traditional public schools to utilize out-of-school suspensions. Of the top 10 schools with the highest out-of-school suspension rate last year, all were charters. Libertas Academy Charter School, a new charter in Springfield, topped the list on suspensions. Of the 95 students in Libertas' class of sixth-grade students, 41.1 percent received an out-of-school suspension. The school welcomed its first class of sixth grade students last year and intends to serve 630 middle and high school students, adding a new grade of students with each year. School founder Modesto Montero said the data "hit home" for educators and led to a series of cultural changes in the school. In Worcester, the second-largest city in Massachusetts with a slightly smaller student body than Springfield, officials are also working to reduce the discipline rate. Of Worcester Public Schools' 27,586 total student body last year, 2,345 were disciplined. The district had an in-school suspension rate of 3.3 percent, out-of-school suspension rate of 5.5 percent and 1.8 percent emergency removal rate. The district's out-of-school suspension rate is down significantly compared to five years ago - 10.5 percent during the 2012-2013 school year - and school officials say they're actively working to reach students before disciplinary measures must be enforced. Worcester Public Schools has formed support teams to including counselors and nurses to identify the cause behind behavioral concerns. Deputy Superintendent Susan O'Neil said the district is focused on reaching their youngest students early. "We've seen an increase in kids experiencing trauma, especially in grades K through 3," O'Neil said. She added that support teams are working to identify such issues early and equip their students with calming strategies. "With a kindergartener, it's very hard for them to self settle, take a time out when they're in such a space." With older students, Worcester officials are focused on providing alternatives to suspension that both limit disruptions during learning and keep students in the classroom. Boston, by far the largest school district in the state, has seen a significant reduction in the number of students disciplined. Between the 2017-2018 school year and five years prior, the number of students disciplined dropped from 3,836 to 1,293. Out-of-school suspensions fell from 6.2 percent to just over 2 percent last year. Boston Public Schools credits the drop to a focus on interventions and "increased documentation of progressive discipline before an out-of-school suspension is implemented," the district said in a statement. The district announced earlier this year it will no longer suspend students in grades kindergarten, first or second. This announcement followed a legal threat from Greater Boston Legal Services, which represented low-income families. In a complaint filed in 2017, Greater Boston Legal Services alleged Boston Public Schools staff would "routinely call parents and instruct them to pick students up early," the complaint states. "If parents refuse, school leaders attempt to persuade, intimidate, or bully parents into compliance." The district said "it is committed to being proactive in preventing disciplinary issues and to provide students with supports that are grounded in positive behavior interventions that address their social-emotional and learning needs. BPS continues to provide support to school staff to ensure full implementation of disciplinary protocols that are consistent with established best practices, legal obligations, and the best interests of all BPS students." Sometimes, this is exactly why these relationships have such great odds: The couple tried dating other people after high school or college and realized that the alternatives werent so great. Theyd really clicked but gave up on each other because they thought they were too young, or because they thought they could find someone better. But its been years, and they still havent found that person whom they had invented in their head, said Randi Gunther, clinical psychologist, marriage counselor and author of When Love Stumbles. Or maybe they married and then divorced, and were trying to figure out what to do next. And they started wondering what ever happened to their first love, who usually was a very pure love, free from the practicalities of financial or other restrictions. SPRINGFIELD -- The School Committee has given Superintendent of Schools Daniel J. Warwick a 2 percent annual pay raise after a committee evaluation rated his performance as "exemplary." The pay raise granted Wednesday increases Warwick's annual salary to $256,631.88, retroactive to July 1, an increase of $5,032. The committee conducts an annual evaluation of the superintendent after getting statewide test results. "The numbers speak for themselves," said School Committee Vice-Chairman Christopher Collins. "Our growth in student achievement exceeds the growth rate in the state. Dan has the strongest effect on day-to-day learning than any superintendent in my recollection." Warwick is the highest paid city or school employee in Springfield. Collins, in comments listed with other committee members in the evaluation report, said that Warwick has created a professional culture in the Springfield public schools "that is the envy of districts throughout the state." Mayor Domenic J. Sarno, who serves as chairman of the School Committee, said that even with the challenges faced by urban schools, Warwick's accomplishments "have been noteworthy and remarkable." "He works well with and motivates the staff, teachers and our School Committee, all for the common good of the children," Sarno said Thursday. The vote was 6-1 in favor of the exemplary rating and pay raise, with Barbara Gresham opposed. In February, the state released statistics on graduation and dropout rates in Massachusetts, including that Springfield's graduation rate rose 8.1 percentage points in one year, going from 68.8 percent to 76.9 percent. The graduation rate increased 20.3 percentage points since 2012, compared with a statewide increase of 3.6 points during that time. The dropout rate in Springfield increased from 4.9 percent in 2016 to 5.1 percent in 2017, but the district's dropout rate has been cut in half since Warwick became superintendent in 2012, according to the state data. Gresham said that more must be done to improve the graduation rates and to improve student attendance. She said the superintendent should focus more on strengthening parent and community involvement. "We still have work to do," Gresham said. "Even though the graduation rate is up, we are still lagging behind that of the state." Both Collins and Sarno said the superintendent knows there is more work to be done. "My feeling is Superintendent Warwick's efforts continue to move our public school system forward," Sarno said. In September, Warwick praised the results of the newly released MCAS scores for students in Springfield that showed slight increases, while citing the need for stronger efforts as the scores remained below state averages. Collins said that while the MCAS results for English Language Learner students were slightly less than hoped, the results are "exceptional" when evaluating the six-year tenure of Warwick as superintendent. Collins, in another evaluation comment, said: "The superintendent's exceptional leadership has resulted in balancing each year's budget while increasing services to the students, staff, parents, and the entire community." In the last evaluation completed in December 2017, Warwick also received a 2 percent raise, and committee members said he met or exceeded goals in every category. In the prior year, he received a 3 percent raise. Evaluation criteria included graduation rates, dropout rates, student performance, management of teachers and management of facilities among others. LAWRENCE -- A man and woman from Lawrence were the victims in a double-fatal, multi-vehicle crash caused when one of the deceased drove the wrong way into traffic on Interstate-495 Wednesday. The crash occurred at 11:52 a.m. when the driver of a 2016 Kia Sportage drove from the southbound lanes, over the median and into northbound lanes heading in the wrong direction. She struck three cars carrying a total of five people, State Police said. The driver of the Kia, Jyllian McGonagle, 38, and a passenger in a Honda Pilot, Nelson Rivera, 56, died at the scene, police said. After crossing over the median McGonagle sideswiped a 2004 Ford F350, struck a 2003 Honda Pilot head-on and then struck a 2016 Toyota RAV 4. The driver of the Honda Pilot, a 55-year-old woman, was seriously injured and the driver and passenger of the Toyota, both Andover women who are 58 and 27, were taken to the hospital with injuries that were not critical, police said. The man driving the Ford F350 was not injured, police said. The family of Rivera has set up a gofundme account to raise money for funeral expenses. One friend on the website called Rivera a generous person who befriended him when he was new to the area and invited him to spend holidays with his family. The crash remains under investigation. State Police Troop A Headquarters, Andover Barracks, Essex County State Police Detective Unit, State Police Collision Analysis Reconstruction Section, State Police Crime Scene Services Section, Andover Fire and Emergency Medical Services, Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation all assisted on scene. The northbound side of Interstate-495 was closed for about three hours due to the crash. PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii (AP) -- About 20 survivors are expected to gather at Pearl Harbor on Friday to pay tribute to the thousands of men lost in the Japanese attack 77 years ago. The youngest of the veterans are in their mid-90s. The Navy and National Park Service will jointly host the remembrance ceremony at a grassy site overlooking the water and the USS Arizona Memorial. Attendees are expected to observe a moment of silence at 7:55 a.m., the time the attack began on Dec. 7, 1941. Hawaii Air National Guard F-22 jets are scheduled to fly overhead in "missing man formation" to break the silence. This year, no survivor from the USS Arizona will be attending the ceremony as none of the men were able to make the trip to Hawaii. The Arizona sank after two bombs hit the ship, triggering tremendous explosions. The Arizona lost 1,177 sailors and Marines, the greatest number of casualties from any ship. Most remain entombed in the sunken hull of the battleship at the bottom of the harbor. Altogether, the Pearl Harbor attack killed nearly 2,400 U.S. servicemen. Dozens of those killed have been recently identified and reburied in cemeteries across the country after the military launched a new effort to analyze bones and DNA of hundreds long classified as "unknowns." This led to the 2015 exhumation of 388 sets of remains from the USS Oklahoma buried in a national cemetery in Honolulu. The Oklahoma had the second highest number of dead after the Arizona at 429, though only 35 were identified in the immediate years after the attack. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency has identified 168 sailors and Marines from the Oklahoma since the exhumations three years ago. It has said it expects to identify about 80 percent of the 388 by 2020. Several families were scheduled to rebury their newly identified loved ones on Friday, including Navy Seaman 1st Class William Bruesewitz of Appleton, Wisconsin. He's expected to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C. AMHERST -- About 25 percent of University of Massachusetts students skip a meal every day, said Anna Drexler, a sophomore who helped create a food pantry on campus last semester. The Student Government Association and the Graduate Student Senate are also involved in the student-run initiative. Last semester it was run out of a the Alpha Phi Omega office, said Drexler, who has a double major in public health and women, gender and sexuality studies. Now in Bartlett Hall, the pantry has become more established, she said. She said graduate students are particularly in need. "We've seen how widespread (the need is)." Grad students "are looking to cut costs." So they skip meals. Things are starting slow as word gets out, she said. About 15 people have stopped in and organizers are trying to collect more food. A campuswide food drive wraps up Friday, with donations accepted at the Whitmore Administration Building second-floor lobby until 3 p.m. and in Bartlett Hall room 317C from 4-7 p.m. Students all over the state are reporting they don't have enough to eat. Researchers from Temple University and the Wisconsin HOPE Lab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison surveyed 15 community colleges and eight state universities in 2017 to learn about a range of needs. UMass campuses in Boston, Dartmouth and Lowell participated. UMass Amherst did not. The survey found that 34 percent of students in four-year programs experienced some kind of food insecurity, while 44 percent of students in two-year schools reported it. Drexler said organizers are collecting signatures to petition the administration to make the UMass Amherst pantry an institutional program not simply run by students. The administration provides a range of support for the pantry, said spokeswoman Mary Dettloff. That includes advertising, assistance with food drives, and logistical and safety support, she wrote in an email. "Currently, our food assistance strategy focuses on both short- and long-term student needs," she said. Students who are out of meal swipes or without a meal plan can get a free meal. "Dining staff connects those students to the meal plan coordinator, who in turn works in partnership with the Dean of Students Office to reach out to the student to come in and discuss the specifics of their circumstances," Detloff said. "UMass sees food insecurity as often a sign of a larger personal economic problem, and this partnership, while it immediately provides students a meal, also goes beyond that to connect students to a Dean of Students caseworker." UMass provides a webpage with resources including a food bank guide and help enrolling in the food stamp program. UMass Lowell also has pantry started by students but now run by the university. UMass Boston and UMass Dartmouth have pantries run by the university as well. Other campuses also provide food. For example, Westfield State University created Common Goods, "where students, faculty and staff have access to food and other basic necessities in a caring and welcoming environment," according to its website. The Franklin County Meals Program provides a pantry at Greenfield Community College. Holyoke Community College also provides a pantry, but students need a referral form. UMass Amherst students do not need to provide documentation. Documentation is required at the UMass Boston pantry. This summer, Libertas Academy Charter School founder Modesto Montero experienced a wake-up call. In the school's first year of operation, the charter had a 41 percent out-of-school suspension rate. The school opened in downtown Springfield the fall of 2017 with its first class of 95 sixth-grade students. The school intends to expand to serve 630 students in grades 6-12, adding a new class each year. A college preparatory academy, the school was founded with a mission to educate students through "an achievement-oriented culture in which expectations are clear and routines are consistent," as stated in the school's application to open submitted to state education officials in 2016. Such expectations were a significant shift for students in their first year, Montero said in an interview this week. "One of the things that was challenging for us is that our students were coming from all over the city," he said. "Our bar for excellence was significantly higher than they were used to." Libertas educators took a strict approach from the start, issuing suspensions for use of profanity and disrespect shown to fellow students and teachers. The charter chose to only issue out-of-school suspensions instead of a mix of in-school and out-of-school disciplinary tools. "If our students are in school, we want them learning," Montero said of the decision. Following the end of the school's first year, officials looked at their behavioral data. Of their 95 sixth-grade students, 39 received out-of-school suspensions. The school had the highest suspension rate in Massachusetts, more than 13 times the state average. Less than 3 percent of students statewide received an out-of-school suspension during the 2017-2018 school year and just under 2 percent received an in-school suspension, according to data from the Massachusetts Department of Early and Secondary Education. Springfield Public Schools - the district from which Libertas students are coming - reported a 7 percent out-of-school suspension rate and 2.6 percent in-school suspension rate. The department is working with districts reporting high rates of discipline to find alternatives that keep students in the classroom while limiting disruptions. Charter schools were more likely than traditional public schools to utilize out-of-school suspensions. Of the top 10 schools with the highest out-of-school suspension rate last year, all were charters. "It hit home for us," Montero said. "We needed to make a shift." School officials recognized the need to expand their focus beyond academics, and engage students on social and behavioral issues. The school added several members to their team to focus on student supports and implemented a new system that looks at suspension as a last resort, an escalation following detentions and calls and letters home to families. In the charter's second year of operation, Montero said the school is seeing positive results. "We're tracking at about 16 percent," he said, of the suspension rate, "and we're trying to be intentional about it." WESTFIELD -- In Friday's blustery cold it, was hard to imagine that beautiful Hawaiian Sunday 77 years ago on Dec. 7, 1941. The cold made it hard for the 40 or so attendees at Friday's annual Pearl Harbor observance. But the weather didn't seem to stop anyone, as Mayor Brian Sullivan noted. "You know we are going to be here," Sullivan said. It's going to fall to the rest of the community to keep the memory of Pearl Harbor alive in the future, he said. On Dec. 7, 1941, "a date which will live in infamy," as President Franklin Roosevelt said in a speech to Congress the following day, Japanese forces launched a surprise attack on the naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. More than 2,400 Americans were killed and 21 ships sunk or damaged. Westfield has carried on its tradition of marking the Pearl Harbor anniversary event despite the passage of time and the passing of most World War II veterans. Westfield resident and Pearl Harbor survivor Robert Greenleaf died in July 2017 at age 94. The spot veterans groups gather every year for Pearl Harbor is Kane & Wojtkiewicz Park, named after city residents Lt. William H. Kane, who died in World War I, and Navy Chief Machinist's Mate Frank P. Wojtkiewicz, who died at Pearl Harbor while serving on the USS Arizona. Wojtkiewicz was a cousin of Steve Wichrowski Jr., of Longmeadow. Born in 1943, Wichrowski has no memory of Wojtkiewicz, but he attends Westfield's Pearl Harbor observance every year. "I remember at Christmas Eve we would go over for a big family gathering," Wichrowski said. "All the family would be there for a big meal. And the scrapbooks would come out. That's when they would talk about him." Col. Peter T. Green III, commander of the Air National Guard's 104th Fighter Wing based at Westfield-Barnes Regional Airport, said he's had the solemn experience of visiting the USS Arizona Memorial. But the real lesson, he said, is what happened after the attack. "It was then that American fighting spirit and grit emerged," he said. And the United States and its Allies went on to defeat the Axis powers less than four years later. Participating Friday were Legion posts 124 and 454, the Marine Corps League, Vietnam Veterans of America and ROTC students from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. By Jay Ash Governor Charlie Baker often says our economy is firing on all cylinders. Massachusetts currently has more people working than at any time in our history. Businesses continue to relocate, expand, and start up in the Commonwealth. And, we've benefitted from sustained job growth by adding more than 200,000 jobs since 2015. Nearly every week, we are approached by an advanced manufacturer, a life sciences company, or tech firm who are eager to make Massachusetts their home, and in need of the space and talent to do it. The latter of which we have in abundance. And it seems just as often, I'm with municipal leaders looking to revitalize former industrial or commercial sites which may require a little more than elbow grease to bring them back to life. We've seen a number of success stories, but for every project generating new energy in cities and towns, such as the Berkshire Innovation Center in Pittsfield and Village Hill in Northampton, there are even more sites that lay fallow. But moving from a good idea to reality, even with motivated partners in the right location, is hard. Many sites face long-standing infrastructure deficiencies, environmental contaminants, and other challenges that must be addressed before a shovel goes into the ground. This conundrum led us to take stock of the opportunities for development across the Commonwealth. Which parcels of land would be ready for a new employer to move in immediately, or where could they invest for long-term growth and future expansion? And, how could we help? Governor Baker created the Site Readiness Program in 2016, when he signed into law a $1 billion economic development package crafted in partnership with our state legislature. This program is the direct result of conversations with municipalities and employers, helps communities develop pad-ready sites to attract businesses and developers to further invest and realize its potential, and fills a crucial gap in our state-administered economic development programs. Administered by MassDevelopment, the Site Readiness Program provides grants to municipalities and other entities to fund strategic land acquisition, feasibility studies, environmental permitting, and other critical steps in any development project. Our goal is to boost the Commonwealth's inventory of large, development-ready sites, accelerate private-sector investment in industrial and commercial projects, and, ultimately, convert abandoned sites into active, tax-generating properties. Through its first two rounds of grants, we've awarded $3.4 million to 26 projects, furthering the development potential for 1,885 acres. We're seeing results at the Turnpike Industrial Park in Westfield. The city acquired 66 acres of land between Turnpike Industrial Road and Cabot Road in 1989, with an initial, but ultimately unsuccessful plan to use it as municipal landfill. Recognizing the site's potential - supported by its proximity to I-90, full complement of utility services, and access to a strong workforce - the city rezoned the property for industrial purposes. While potential developers expressed interest in the site, the site lacked pre-permitting under the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act (MEPA), a long and costly review process that takes a minimum of 18 months to complete. As a result, the site has languished unsold - and undeveloped - for years. With the help of a $300,000 grant from the Site Readiness Program in 2017, Westfield has now taken significant steps toward getting this property ready for development. The city has started the MEPA pre-permitting process for the development of up to one million square feet of industrial uses, and once complete, will allow a potential developer to break ground in a matter of months, rather than years. A follow-up grant of $750,000 from the program has also funded the acquisition of about eight acres of land abutting the 66-acre site to square off irregular corners of the original site and created an even more attractive parcel for development. Along with guidance from MassDevelopment's real estate professionals, the City of Westfield is well on its way to transforming an underutilized plot of land into an economic hub. The Turnpike Industrial Park isn't the only Site Readiness project in the works here in Western Mass. The program is funding pre-development work for the Westover Metropolitan Development Corporation's 88-acre Airpark South site in Chicopee, as well as a market study that aims to reposition the remaining 66 undeveloped acres of the Chicopee River Business Park that are split along the Springfield and Chicopee city lines. And in Holyoke last year, the program funded a due diligence investigation for an eleven-acre site on Whiting Farms Road. The findings from this study will help the City more effectively market this property to users who can bring it into the next stage of development. In Western Massachusetts and across the state, the Site Readiness Program is unlocking key sites to help communities attract private development and make it easier for companies to do business in the Commonwealth. Earlier this month, the Baker-Polito Administration announced the opening of a $2.5 million funding round for the program. With complementary resources available like the Brownfields Redevelopment Fund and MassWorks Infrastructure Grants, I encourage municipalities to partner with the state to layer funding and expertise to spark economic activity in your community. Site Readiness Program applications are available online, massdevelopment.com/sitereadiness and are due December 12, 2018. Jay Ash is the Secretary of Housing and Economic Development for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Former presidential candidate and diplomat John Kerry voiced doubts that he would ever mount another White House run, wistfully remembered searching out Friendly's restaurants while on the Massachusetts campaign trail, and said he still considers himself an "activist." Kerry, who unsuccessfully ran as the Democratic nominee against Republican President George W. Bush in 2004, spoke Thursday night at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute in Dorchester. The talk was moderated by WGBH contributor David Bernstein. Asked by an audience member if he will be involved in 2020, Kerry said, "Well, I'm certainly going to do my part as a citizen." He then added: "Is that a 2020 question that's subtly being put to me?" The crowd, gathered in a replica of the US Senate chamber, laughed. "I think I said very, very clearly, and I mean this, I said a few months ago that I don't have any plans to run for office," said Kerry, who on Dec. 11 turns 75. Kerry's comments came the same day former Gov. Deval Patrick said he would not be among the candidates seeking to take on President Donald Trump. "I doubt I'll run for office again, I said that very clearly," Kerry continued. "I once responded to a question by saying... I haven't taken it off the table which is very, very different from actively working, pursuing, which I am not doing. And I mean that." Likely referring to 2020 contenders, Kerry said, "I think we've got a lot of good people around, personally." Kerry, who has frequently criticized President Trump, also took aim at the lack of bipartisanship within the US Senate. He represented Massachusetts in the upper chamber from 1985 to 2013. "It's not the rules that have changed, it's the people that have changed, it's an attitude that has changed," he said. The author of the new book "Every Day Is Extra," which details his life as a Vietnam veteran, diplomat and lawmaker, Kerry said he is still an "activist" and urged people to get involved in politics. Kerry pointed to the high turnout in the 2018 midterm election. But more young people need to vote, he said, noting 31 percent of people under 30 turned out to vote in that election. "That is not sufficient to win back the future of our country," Kerry said. Kerry also recalled opening a cookie shop in Boston's Faneuil Hall Marketplace. The store, named Kilvert and Forbes, is still there. "I'm still a cookie monster, actually," he said. But he gave up dreams of an empire to become lieutenant governor of Massachusetts, he quipped. Kerry also touched on an early addiction of his: Fribble shakes at Friendly's restaurants. "That was one of my mainstays, campaigning through the state," Kerry said. "We always looked for Friendly's. We found a Friendly and I had a Fribble, a coffee Fribble." President Donald Trump offered Friday that members of his legal team are compiling their own report to counter findings raised through Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Trump argued that it "has been incorrectly reported" that Rudy Giuliani, a former New York City mayor and lawyer representing him in the special counsel's investigation, will not compile a counter to Mueller's expected report. "Already 87 pages done," he tweeted. "But obviously cannot complete until we see the final witch hunt report." It has been incorrectly reported that Rudy Giuliani and others will not be doing a counter to the Mueller Report. That is Fake News. Already 87 pages done, but obviously cannot complete until we see the final Witch Hunt Report. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 7, 2018 Later, the president added that "we will be doing a major Counter Report to the Mueller Report." "This should never again be allowed to happen to a future President of the United States!" he tweeted. We will be doing a major Counter Report to the Mueller Report. This should never again be allowed to happen to a future President of the United States! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 7, 2018 The announcement came as Trump posted a series of tweets Friday criticizing the special counsel's investigation and other Department of Justice figures tied to the probe. The president accused Mueller of having many conflicts on interest, arguing that he's "best friends" with former FBI Director James Comey -- whom Trump fired. He further questioned whether the special counsel's report will, among many things, include: "the lying and leaking by the people doing the report and ... all of the many fired people of the FBI," "the corruption within the (Democratic National Committee) and Clinton campaign," and "all of the substantial and many contributions made by the 17 angry Democrats to the campaign of crooked Hillary." Robert Mueller and Leakin Lyin James Comey are Best Friends, just one of many Mueller Conflicts of Interest. And bye the way, wasnt the woman in charge of prosecuting Jerome Corsi (who I do not know) in charge of legal at the corrupt Clinton Foundation? A total Witch Hunt... Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 7, 2018 ....Will Robert Muellers big time conflicts of interest be listed at the top of his Republicans only Report. Will Andrew Weissmans horrible and vicious prosecutorial past be listed in the Report. He wrongly destroyed peoples lives, took down great companies, only to be........ Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 7, 2018 .....overturned, 9-0, in the United States Supreme Court. Doing same thing to people now. Will all of the substantial & many contributions made by the 17 Angry Democrats to the Campaign of Crooked Hillary be listed in top of Report. Will the people that worked for the Clinton.... Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 7, 2018 ....Foundation be listed at the top of the Report? Will the scathing document written about Lyin James Comey, by the man in charge of the case, Rod Rosenstein (who also signed the FISA Warrant), be a big part of the Report? Isnt Rod therefore totally conflicted? Will all of.... Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 7, 2018 ...the lying and leaking by the people doing the Report, & also Bruce Ohr (and his lovely wife Molly), Comey, Brennan, Clapper, & all of the many fired people of the FBI, be listed in the Report? Will the corruption within the DNC & Clinton Campaign be exposed?..And so much more! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 7, 2018 This will be updated. President Donald Trump announced Friday that he had decided on his picks for the next U.S. attorney general and ambassador to the United Nations. Trump confirmed reports that he intends to nominate William Barr, a Republican lawyer and attorney general under George H.W. Bush, to once again lead the Justice Department. The president further said he will name State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert as his choice for the new U.N. ambassador. Trump, who vocally criticized his former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, told reporters that Barr was his "first choice since day one" for the position. "He will be nominated for the United States Attorney General and hopefully that process will go very quickly," he said, according to White House pool reports. "I've seen very good things about him even over the last day or so when people thought it might be Bill Barr." Barr served as attorney general from 1991 to 1993 after working as a deputy attorney general from 1990 to 1991. He has since held senior executive positions at GTE Corporation and Verizon Communications, according to reports. The president, meanwhile, told reporters that he believes Nauert has worked well with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and others at the State Department. "She'll be ambassador to the United Nations. She's very talented, very smart, very quick and I think that she will be respected by all," he reportedly said. The U.S. Senate must confirm both Nauert and Barr's nominations. Sessions resigned from his post of attorney general one day after the November midterm elections. The outgoing AG offered, in his un-dated resignation letter, that his departure came at the president's request. Trump had repeatedly criticized Sessions' performance as attorney general, particularly his decision to recuse himself from the Department of Justice's investigation into Russian influence in the 2016 campaign. The president announced that Session's chief of staff, Matthew G. Whitaker, would take over as the acting attorney general -- an appointment which drew swift criticism and a legal challenge from Democrats. Weeks earlier, U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley joined Trump at the White House to announce that she would step down from her administration post at the end of the year. Haley said while it "has been an honor of a lifetime" to serve as U.N. ambassador, she believes it's time for someone else to take over the position. The president praised Haley's work as his U.N. envoy, offering that she has "done an incredible job." Selene did a great job, of course. And I really thought I could hold it together. I moved through the rooms with my tripod, focusing on the trees and ornaments. All I could think about was Wendi. I felt like she was with me, that she was actually present. Special Counsel Robert Mueller has reportedly interviewed White House Chief of Staff John Kelly as part of his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, sources told new outlets Friday. CNN reported that three people with knowledge of the matter confirmed that Kelly responded to a "narrow set of questions" from Mueller after the White House initially opposed the special counsel's request for an interview. The White House chief of staff, who is expected to soon leave his position in the administration, reportedly answered questions on issues related to possible obstruction of justice, according to CNN. Such questions, the news outlet reported, included Kelly's recollection of an alleged incident that occurred following reports that President Donald Trump had tried to fire Mueller. In January, The New York Times reported that then-White House counsel Don McGahn had previously threatened to leave if Trump fired the special counsel. McGahn, who has also reportedly cooperated in Mueller's investigation, left the White House in October. Kelly marks the latest high-ranking Trump administration official to provide information to the special counsel. This is a breaking news story and will be updated. Massachusetts environmental officials plan to funnel settlement money from the Volkswagen emissions scandal towards efforts to electrify the transportation sector and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The state is making available up to $23.5 million in one-year spending, part of 15-year timeline for the $75 million total set aside by state prosecutors and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection as part of the national Volkswagen (VW) settlement. In a statement, Gov. Charlie Baker said battling climate change is a "priority" for his administration, which is entering its second term in 2019. A draft spending settlement plan was announced earlier this year. "We held Volkswagen accountable for duping Massachusetts residents into driving dirty cars that illegally polluted our air, and then lying to regulators about its deceit," Attorney General Maura Healey said in her own statement. "This plan will help us invest in future generations by putting clean zero-emission buses on our roads and making electric vehicles more accessible to our residents." The state is spending $11 million on electric transit buses for transit authorities in the Pioneer Valley and Martha's Vineyard and $5 million on purchase and installation electrical vehicle supply equipment. Officials are also making available $7.5 million for eligible proposals that would "reduce emissions from certain types of diesel vehicles, non-road equipment, and marine vessels," according to the Department of Environmental Protection, the lead agency behind the spending. The Pioneer Valley Transit Authority serves 24 communities, including Springfield, West Springfield, Amherst, Easthampton, Granby, Hadley, Longmeadow, Ludlow, Northampton, Palmer, Westfield and Wilbraham, among others. The VW settlement came after the US Department of Justice and a group of states, including Massachusetts, sued the company in 2016 for installing ways for more than 500,000 various models of their VWs, Audis and Porsches to cheat emission tests. Under the settlement, every state is receiving part of a $2.92 billion mitigation trust. The number each state receives is based on how many vehicles are in the state and equipped with the cheating software. Massachusetts has 14,00 vehicles that meet that criteria. The state also reached a separate settlement with VW that included a $20 million-plus environmental penalty for the company. They're pretty rare, and no one can remember anything approaching this volume of filings in past cases, Allen said. For the board, the next step is to begin the hearings on all of the objections that have been filed against any candidates' nominating petitions. We can't speculate, though, on the legitimacy or any other legal questions about any of the objections or the corresponding petitions. The fire started about 6:20 a.m. at a house in the 3000 block of South Keeler Avenue, police said. It started at a 1-story home and spread to a nearby home, according to Chicago police and the Chicago Fire Department. Automated Dispensing Machines Research Report by Product Type (Centralized Automated Dispensing Systems and De-Centralized Automated Dispensing Systems), End User (Hospitals, Pharmacy Stores, Laboratories, and Others), and Region-Global Forecast till 2023 Market Scenario The Global Automated Dispensing Machines Market is expected to grow significantly over the forecast period. It is estimated that the global automated dispensing machines market is expected to register a CAGR of 8.1% with an estimated market value of USD 4,931 million during the forecast period from 2018 to 2023. Key Players Becton, Dickinson and Company, Omnicell, Inc., ScriptPro LLC, Avery Weigh-Tronix, Pearson Medical Technologies, LLC, Accu-Chart Plus Healthcare Systems, Inc., Baxter, Capsa Healthcare, YUYAMA Co., Ltd, Talyst, LLC, and Cerner Corporation are some of the key players in the global automated dispensing machines market. Get Exclusive Report Copy at https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/6631 Automated dispensing machines are designed for centralized filling of individual patient prescriptions and unit-dose medication orders as well as decentralized dispensing. These automated dispensing machines are intended to decrease incidents of patient medication error. Usage of automated dispensing machines enhances the safety of administration of high-alert medications and thus assists hospitals and other users to achieve the safety goal. Several factors such as patient satisfaction, resource management, the rapid development of technology applications in healthcare, including automated dispensing devices fuel the growth of the market. Due to the increased demand, companies are focusing on developing efficient automated dispensing devices. For instance, in January 2016, Omnicell, Inc., a leading provider of medication and supply management solutions to healthcare systems, completed the acquisition of Aesynt Holding Cooperatief U.A. The addition of Aesynt to the Omnicell company will add distinct capabilities in IV robotics, central pharmacy robotics, automated dispensing systems, and analytics. However, legislative and regulatory barriers, medication and implementation errors, may hamper the market growth during the assessment period. Also, malfunctions, power failures, or unplanned maintenance of the machines might also curb the growth of the automated dispensing machines market. Segmentation The Global Automated Dispensing Machines Market has been segmented into product type, and end-user. The market, on the basis of product type, has been segmented into centralized automated dispensing systems and de-centralized automated dispensing systems. The centralized automated dispensing system is estimated to hold the largest share owing to the rise in preference of the system and decrease in costs and errors, whereas the de-centralized automated dispensing systems accounts to be the fastest growing segment due to increased awareness among the hospitals and pharmacies. The market, by centralized automated dispensing systems, has been further segmented into automated robotic systems and manually operated unit-dose system. The market, by end-user, has been segmented into hospitals, pharmacy stores, laboratories, and others. The market has been segmented, by region, into the Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the Middle East & Africa. The automated dispensing machines market in the Americas has further been segmented into North America and South America, with the North American market divided into the US and Canada. The European automated dispensing machines market has been segmented into Western Europe and Eastern Europe. Western Europe has further been classified as Germany, France, the UK, Italy, Spain, and the rest of Western Europe. The automated dispensing machines market in Asia-Pacific has been segmented into Japan, China, India, South Korea, Australia, and the rest of Asia-Pacific. The automated dispensing machines market in the Middle East & Africa has been segmented into the Middle East and Africa. Brows full Detailed Report at https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/automated-dispensing-machines-market-6631 Regional Market Summary Geographically, the Americas is anticipated to dominate the global automated dispensing machines market owing to a well-developed healthcare sector and growing healthcare expenditure. Additionally, favorable reimbursement scenario and increased deaths due to medical errors in this region contribute to the growth of the market. According to the data published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) in the year 2016, there occur more than 250,000 deaths per year due to medical error in the US. Europe is expected to hold the second largest position in the global automated dispensing machines market. The worldwide increase in the geriatric population leads to greater occurrences of chronic and life-threatening diseases and high volume of dispensing medications. Thus, hospitals and pharmacies are starting to adopt new pharmacy automation technologies to reduce their operating costs and improve patient safety. According to World Population Prospects: the 2017 Revision, Europe has the greatest percentage of the population aged 60 or over. Asia-Pacific is anticipated to be the fastest growing region in the market due to the presence of a huge patient population, continuously developing economies and increasing government funding for the healthcare sector. On the other hand, the Middle East & Africa has the least share of the market. Majority of the market of this region is expected to be held by the Middle East region due to growing government initiatives for the healthcare sector. Inquire for discount at https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/check-discount/6631 Intended Audience Pharmaceutical Companies Research and Development (R&D) Companies Diagnostic and Clinical Laboratories Government Research Institute Public and Private Pharmacies 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. Contact: Market Research Future +1 646 845 9312 Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com The Global Dyspepsia Market is expected to witness a positive growth during the forecast period. Dyspepsia is a chronic medical condition, that causes discomfort in the upper abdomen of the patient due to indigestion. The gastrointestinal organs, the stomach and the small intestine (sometimes the esophagus), do not function normally. Gastrointestinal causes of dyspepsia are gastritis, peptic ulcers, gallstones, stomach cancer, constipation, reduced blood flow in the intestine (intestinal ischemia). Nongastrointestinal causes are diabetes, thyroid disease, kidney disease and consumption of drugs like nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs such as ibuprofen), antibiotics and others. Dyspepsia is also caused due to overeating, smoking and extreme consumption of alcohol. Increasing prevalence of digestive diseases is the key factor for the market to grow. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2016, 14.7 million people in the US suffered from digestive ulcers. Such a high prevalence of digestive diseases enhances the market growth during the forecast period. Other factors like growing caffeine intake, increasing alcohol consumption, rising prevalence of diabetes, increasing incidences of thyroid diseases and stomach cancer, robust R&D activities to develop new drugs and advancement in diagnosis and treatment technologies is driving the growth of the market. Get Sample Copy @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/6351 However, factors such as expensive diagnosis test and intense competition among the major market players to gain maximum market share are expected to restrict the market growth during the forecast period. Key players Some of the key players for the Global Dyspepsia Market are AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Takeda Pharmaceutical Company, Johnson & Johnson, Eisai Co., Ltd., Abbott Laboratories, Salix Pharmaceuticals, Bayer AG, Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, Sanofi, Allergan Plc, and others. Segmentation The global dyspepsia market is segmented on the basis of diagnosis, treatment, and end-user. The dyspepsia market, by diagnosis, is sub-segmented into blood tests, breath tests, stool tests, endoscopy, X-ray, CT scan, and others. On the basis of treatment, the market is categorized into antacids, antibiotics, h2 blockers, proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), prokinetics, psychological therapies and others. Antacids are further sub-segmented into calcium carbonate, loperamide, simethicone, sodium bicarbonate and others. Antibiotics further sub-segmented into amoxicillin, clarithromycin, metronidazole, and others. H2 blockers are further categorized into cimetidine, famotidine, nizatidine, ranitidine, and others. Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) is further segmented into esomeprazole, lansoprazole, and omeprazole. Prokinetics are categorized into bethanechol and metoclopramide. On the basis of end-user, the market is segmented into hospitals and clinics, ambulatory surgical centers, pharmacies, diagnostic centers and others. On the basis of region, the global dyspepsia market is segmented into the Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the Middle East and Africa. The Americas is sub-segmented into North America and South America. The North American region is further segmented into the U.S. and Canada. The European region is divided into two, namely, Western Europe and Eastern Europe. Western Europe is further classified into Germany, Italy, France, the U.K., Spain, and the rest of Western Europe. The Asia-Pacific region is sub-segmented into Japan, China, India, Australia, the Republic of Korea, and the rest of Asia-Pacific. The Middle Eastern and African region is sub-segmented into the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar, and the rest of the Middle East and Africa. Regional Analysis The dyspepsia market is dominated by North America owing to rising prevalence of ulcerative colitis. Ulcerative Colitis causes inflammation of the digestive tract which may lead to dyspepsia. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2015, 3 million people suffered from ulcerative colitis. Also, the increased adoption of technologically advanced devices and the high amount of healthcare expenditure drives the market growth in this region. It is estimated that Europe stood second in the global dyspepsia market. Thus, increasing prevalence of chronic digestive disease in Europe contributes to market growth. According to the United European Gastroenterology report published in 2018, 365,000 deaths in Europe were due to digestive cancers. Also, rising healthcare expenditure and R&D activities are driving the growth of this market in Europe. Asia-Pacific was projected to be the fastest growing region for the global dyspepsia market. Key factors such as rising number of patient population, increase in the adoption of minimally invasive surgeries, and rapid rise in endoscopy for the diagnosis and treatment of digestive diseases, influences the market in this region. Also, the rising medical tourism in countries like Malaysia, India, and Thailand drives market growth in this region. The Middle East and Africa holds the least share of the global dyspepsia market due to the presence of stringent government policies and poor economies. However, increasing investment by private market players and growing government initiatives in this region can boost the market growth. Browse Complete 100 Pages Premium Research Report Enabled with 80 Respective Tables and Figures @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/dyspepsia-market-6351 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 4.1 Drivers 4.2 Restrains 4.3 Opportunities 4.4 Challenges 4.5 Macroeconomic Indicators 4.6 Technology Trends & Assessment Chapter 5. Market Factor Analysis 5.1 Porters Five Forces Analysis 5.1.1 Bargaining Power Of Suppliers 5.1.2 Bargaining Power Of Buyers 5.1.3 Threat Of New Entrants 5.1.4 Threat Of Substitutes 5.1.5 Intensity Of Rivalry Continued! Send An Enquiry @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/enquiry/6351 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 Future Office No. 528, Amanora Chambers Magarpatta Road, Hadapsar, Pune 411028 Maharashtra, India Phone: +1 646 845 9312 Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com Retinal implants Market have proven its mettle as a breakthrough therapy in the treatment of visual impairment. The global retinal implants market is perceived to be growing at a recurring rate and is expected to reach high revenue figures in the coming years, as per the analysis of Market Research Future (MRFR). Global Retinal Implants Market key Players are Philips Healthcare, Retina Implant AG, Second Sight Medical Products, Inc. Bionic Eye Technologies, Inc., Bionic Vision Australia, VisionCare Ophthalmic Technologies, Inc, Abbott Vascular. Global Retinal Implants Market Has Been Segmented into device type, disease indication, and end user. By device type, the market has been segmented into retina implant alpha AMS, Argus II, implantable miniature telescope, and others. the market has been segmented into retina implant alpha AMS, Argus II, implantable miniature telescope, and others. By disease indication, the market has been segmented into age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and retinitis pigmentosa. the market has been segmented into age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and retinitis pigmentosa. By end user, the market has been segmented into multi-specialty hospitals, ophthalmic clinics, and research institutes. Get Sample Copy at https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/6580 Competition Tracking The report offers insights into the leading market players and presents an assessment of their current market position. Company information with regards to revenue, segmental share, geographical income, SWOT, growth strategies, new product launch, M&A activities, and the latest R&D initiatives is also available in the report. The global retinal implant market has been flourishing on account of the widespread prevalence of eye disorders across the globe. Growing cases of retinal disorders have induced high demand for retinal implants since they aid in the restoration of vision. Retinal implants have demonstrated significance for application in eye disorders which were once far-off impossible to achieve. The fact that these devices can be implanted with minimally invasive procedures has added to its popularity and driven the market. The rise in geriatric population is a crucial factor driving the growth of the retinal implant market. Owing to various health insufficiencies, the aging population is more susceptible to acquiring visual impairment and require retinal implant. Browse Complete Premium Research Report Enabled with Respective Tables and Figures at: https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/retinal-implants-market-6580 Geographically, the global healthcare cold chain logistics market has been segmented into four major regions such as North America, Asia Pacific, Europe and the rest of the world. North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Rest of the World are the key markets for retinal implants. North America accounts for a substantial share of the global market. Higher availability of the product, improving reimbursement scenario and higher affordability in the region supports the growth of the North America market for retinal implants. Presence of highly skilled surgeons to perform immensely complex surgical procedure also accelerates adoption in the region. In Europe, the market is driven by an increase in R&D activities and the expansion of clinical trials. Presence of developing countries such as India, China, and Japan, who outlay massive amounts on healthcare expenditure, coupled with growing disposable income and affordability supports the growth of the market in Asia Pacific. Rest of the World market is expected to fare well in the coming years since various market players are foraying into the untapped regions to leverage the potential they offer for market expansion. Inquire for Discount at https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/check-discount/6580 About Market Research Future: MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Contact: Office No. 528, Amanora Chambers Magarpatta Road, Hadapsar, Pune +1 646 845 9312 Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com Zika Virus Testing Market had held over the populace in recent past has a far-reaching impact on governments in terms of initiatives undertaken. FDA had recently made it mandatory for zika virus testing of all the blood testing done across the U.S. in hospitals and laboratories just to keep the virus at bay. Borne by Aedes genus of mosquitoes, this disease can be easily transmitted to another person even via sexual intercourse and pregnant women, if affected, can forward that to her newborn child as well. Prominent companies playing a significant role in the zika virus testing market are Luminex Corporation, ARUP Laboratories, Roche Molecular Systems, Hologic, and Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics. The World Health Organization (WHO) is also quite aware of the impacts of the virus and has taken steps accordingly. For instance, in 2016, it had declared a health emergency in the Americas, where the disease was spreading its wings. Subsequently, testing kits for the disease found a significant market and started growing in leaps and bounds. These precautionary decisions can act like a global market booster for the zika virus testing. Get Sample Research Report https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/5662 The market is witnessing constant evolution owing to companies launching innovative technologies to detect the virus and cure the effects. However, collaborations are also abounding such as technology firm Inovatechs collaboration with Sao Paolos Research Foundation. Few among many clinical symptoms of this disease are myalgia, headache, fever, maculopapular rashes, and arthralgia. Only upon further diagnosis and confirmation, are the treatments recommended to patients. Sometimes, similar symptoms can be mistaken for other illnesses. Thus, its best to go to the doctors and have it ruled in/out. These initiatives have resulted in the growth of zika virus testing market, and the market is all set to witness a considerable hike during the forecast period (2017-2023), asserts Market Research Future (MRFR) in an extensively analyzed report. FDA and the U.S. government have taken considerable steps to outclass this disease by having it properly tested and developing drugs that can contain the virus. The outcome is quite overwhelming. The global zika virus testing market can be segmented by tests and end-users. By tests, the market can be further sub-segmented into serological/Zika virus antibody and molecular/nucleic acid amplification. The latter is the most commonly used test for zika virus detection. Based on end-users the market includes diagnostic units, hospitals, pathology labs, and others. Industry Trend: Researchers from Brigham and Womens hospital have recently come out with their discovery where they have used nanotechnology and digital health systems to detect zika virus. In the process. They have involved smartphones as necessary equipment for the testing. The method is known as nanomotor-based bead-motion cellphone (NBC) system, which can have considerable impacts in afflicted regions. Technology firm Inovatech, in collaboration with the Sao Paulo Research Foundation, developed a test at the Butantan Institute that can detect antibodies against zika virus in samples with great precision to declare infection, if any, caused by the virus previously. Browse Complete Premium Research Report Enabled with Respective Tables and Figures at https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/zika-virus-testing-market-5662 Significant investments by the FDA and US government to introduce Zika testing in the hospitals and banks of the United States would also drive market sales in the near future. Moreover, attempts by vendors and producers to come up with Zika virus testing will assist the market in gaining more traction. Most of the demand for these tests are predicted to stem from Florida. The citys burgeoning Zika-affected population will contribute to the same. Wrong results from faulty diagnostic procedures and shortage of awareness across emerging nations can negatively impact the Zika virus testing market. Region-specific analysis of the global market has regions Asia Pacific (APAC), Europe, Americas, and the Middle East and Africa (MEA) under its coverage. The Americas are in-charge of the market and Latin American countries, where the outbreak of the disease hit massively, are contributing more than the regions far in the distance. Projects initiated by Health and Human Services (HHS), and Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to deter the disease from further growth and cure the affected populace can be seen as a market influencer. Brazils National Development Bank (BNDES) has also infused USD 136.6 million for further researches that can help the market grow considerably. Inquire for Discount at https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/check-discount/5662 About Market Research Future: MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, 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. Contact: Office No. 528, Amanora Chambers Magarpatta Road, Hadapsar, Pune +1 646 845 9312 Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com RECRUITMENT OF ONE DRIVER Requisition Number: req1296 Job Title: Driver Organization: World Bank Grade: GA Term Duration: 2 Years Location: Kinshasa, DRC Required Language: French and English Closing date: December 13, 2018 1. Background & General Description: The World Bank, a leading multi-lateral institution in global economic development, is currently searching fora Driver to provide an effective and efficient day to day logistics transport function for the Office in Kinshasa, DRC. S/he will work as part of the office car pool and will drive office vehicles for transport of authorized personnel usually withinKinshasa, DRCbut also in the surrounding countries. S/he will be responsible for the delivery and collection of mail. S/he will report directly to the Administration Unit for day to day assignment. 2. Roles & Responsibility The Incumbents duties include but are not limited to: Transport authorized personnel to/from airports, meetings, appointments, and other official duties, Transport authorized personnel on business travel to/from locations throughout DRC and surrounding countries Ensure the delivery and collection of mail, documents and other items. Meet official personnel at the airport and facilitate immigration and customs formalities Ensure day-to-day maintenance of vehicles, checking oil, water, battery, brakes, tires, etc. Perform minor repairs and arrange for other repairs. Ensure that vehicles are kept clean always Follow all steps required by the World Bank Road Safety Policy in case of travel and accident Log all trips, daily mileage, fuel consumption, oil changes, lubrications, etc. Strict adherence to the World Banks Road Safety Policies and procedures as well as the countrys National High Way Code. Any other duties as may be required for the mission of the World Bank 3. Selection Criteria & Competencies: High School Diploma or Equivalent At least 5 years driving experience, defensive driving skills being an advantage Possess a required valid driving License with experience in driving 4X4 well drive car Excellent knowledge of road safety Good communication skills in English and French (written and spoken). Knowledge of the UN security procedures would be an advantage. Ability to work long hours and weekends Committed team player with demonstrated inter-personal skills and ability to work effectively in a multi-cultural/disciplinary environment and able to produce high quality work under pressure. 4. Method of Applications: For the full job description and selection criteria for this vacancy, qualified candidates are requested to visit and submit an electronic application at the World Bank careers website: www.worldbank.org/careers. Once on the site, Click on > employment opportunities>Administration> job number 1296. or Go to the external Careers Site Type req1296 into the "Keyword or ReqID" search field Click Search The World Bank Group is committed to achieving diversity in terms of gender, nationality, culture and educational background. Individuals with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. Closing date is December 13, 2018. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. While other MediaPost newsletters and articles remain free to all ... our new Research Intelligencer service is reserved for paid subscribers ... Subscribe today to gain access to every Research Intelligencer article we publish as well as the exclusive daily newsletter, full access to The MediaPost Cases, first-look research and daily insights from Joe Mandese, Editor in Chief. by Sarah Mahoney @mahoney_sarah, December 6, 2018 Considering how messy home hair coloring can be, its astonishing it has taken this long: Coty is introducing the Clairol Color Expert for Google Assistant. The hands-free option provides advice on every step of the process. A simple Hey, Google, talk to Clairol activates advice on everything from picking the right shade to the final rinse. Coty claims its the first such innovation for hair color, and says it worked with Google to identify category challenges, then combined them with insights about how and where people use voice assistants. Marketing for the new feature will be rolled out more broadly in January, when you will hear a lot of our creators and influencers talking about it, and more socialization at shelf, says Fred Gerantabee, Cotys vice president of digital innovation. advertisement advertisement He tells Marketing Daily that the beauty company decided to work with Google Assistant on the project because it offered us a unique opportunity to bring a service across several touchpoints of the user journey, from mobile phones at shelf to smart speakers at home, and eventually build on more devices, such as smart TVs, as those continue to proliferate. We have done great work on the Alexa platform as well, but they are distinctively different platforms that suit themselves to different approaches. Coty built the Clairols Color Expert with Beamly, its in-house marketing tech agency, and agency Voxly Digital. It says Google Assistant is available on more than 500 million devices, and is a particular favorite of the 18- to 34-year-old women who color their hair at home. Clairol knows a little about offering a lifeline for hair color it established its 1-800 Clairol helpline back in 1970. By comparison, Butterball, which launched a voice-activation partnership with Amazons Alexa this year, didnt introduce its helpline for turkey cooks until 1981. Marketers like Clairol and Butterball are just beginning to use voice as a content marketing and customer engagement tool. A report from Capgemini, based on a survey of some 5,000 people in the U.S., U.K., France and Germany, estimated that voice assistants are likely to become a dominant mode of consumer interaction within three years. Streaming music and seeking information remain the most popular requests for voice assistants, but 35% of survey respondents say they have used assistants to buy something. Overall, 71% find the experience to be positive. Brands who provide good voice-assistant experiences will generate more business and positive word-of-mouth communication, Capgemini says, with 37% of users saying they would share a positive experience with friends and family. Marketers are still experimenting to find the right mix. The voice assistant is part of a larger ecosystem of Clairol solutions, along with video tutorials, augmented reality and messaging, says Gerantabee. Google Home addressed a very specific real-time need that other channels could not in the same way, he adds. But all the companys tech offerings are designed to accommodate different parts of the consumer journey and collectively address the needs that we know are inherent in the category. Despite Cotys tech innovations -- including ambitious AR experiences with its CoverGirl brand and an AI-driven anti-bullying effort -- the company is currently navigating choppy waters. Moodys recently downgraded Cotys debt rating, citing meaningful operational challenges as it continues to wrestle with supply chain issues and the integration of Clairol, CoverGirl and other brands acquired from Procter & Gamble back in 2016. Considerable executive turnover hasnt helped, either. The company's profitability will also be adversely affected by high promotional activity needed to support sales during the holiday season, Moodys says in its report. Authorities said the two were among four people suspected of stealing the devices Monday. The group first entered a T-Mobile store on York Road in Bensenville shortly before noon and left with multiple devices, prosecutors said. About 10 minutes later and about a mile south on York, the same four men entered a Sprint store and stole additional devices, said authorities, who didnt specify how many were taken. by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, December 6, 2018 Siding with Facebook, a federal appellate court refused to revive claims that the company violated users' privacy by tracking them at health sites. A three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that users who sued consented to Facebook's tracking practices by accepting the company's terms of service. The ruling stems from a 2016 lawsuit filed by three users who alleged in a class-action complaint that Facebook gathered data about their visits to health sites, including ones operated by the American Cancer Society, Melanoma Research Foundation and University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Facebook allegedly collected information via the "Like" button, and then drew on the data to sell targeted ads. The users -- who proceeded under the pseudonyms "Winston Smith," "Jane Doe 1," and "Jane Doe 2" -- alleged they exchanged communications about health conditions that they or a family member suffered from. Smith alleged that he had melanoma, while Jane Doe 1 said she had back pain, and Jane Doe 2 said her husband had an intestine transplant. advertisement advertisement The lawsuit alleged that Facebook violated federal and state privacy laws, including the federal wiretap act, which prohibits companies from intercepting transmissions without at least one party's consent. Last May, U.S. District Court Judge Edward Davila in the Northern District of California dismissed all claims against Facebook. He ruled that the users consented to the data gathering, noting that Facebook discloses online that it collects information via the "Like" button and Facebook log-in button. Smith and the others then asked the 9th Circuit to revive their lawsuit. One of their key arguments is that they didn't consent to share information about their visits to health sites with Facebook. They argued that Facebook's disclosures didn't give people reasonable notice that their activity at health sites was being tracked, and that the disclosures conflicted with the promises made by the health sites themselves. "No reasonable user who viewed Facebooks and the health care entities disclosures would have understood that Facebook was collecting the information at issue," they wrote. Facebook countered that it informs users during the sign-up process about tracking and targeted ads. The appellate judges agreed with Facebook that the company gave users adequate notice about its tracking practices. Plaintiffs claim that -- though they gave general consent to Facebooks data tracking and collection practices -- they did not consent to the collection of health-related data due to its 'qualitatively different' and 'sensitive' nature, the judges wrote. We do not agree that the collected data is so different or sensitive. The panel added that the the plaintiffs only sought out publicly available health information that cannot, in and of itself, reveal details of an individuals health status or medical history. by Larissa Faw , December 6, 2018 While the market was tanking Thursday (before recovering much of the loss), MDC Partners stock spiked 31% to $3.28 on word Accenture Interactive may acquire the company. Adweek published an article reporting that Accenture was the "best bidder" among three finalists. This is the network's second attempt at a sale. This potential deal likely includes the entire network, which encompasses more than 50 individual agencies, including Anomaly, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Assembly and Forsman & Bodenfors. The holding companys debt is steep at more than $1 billion. Multiple agencies including 72andSunny and Doner have recently attempted to buy themselves back, only to have their offers rejected by the MDC board of directors. That supports the theory the company is only seeking an all-or-nothing deal, reports Adweek. The final buyer would then go through a round of pruning to streamline the network, the trade mag suggest. MDC has retained investment bank LionTree Advisors to oversee the process, assisted by JP Morgan Chase. An MDC Partners spokesperson declined to comment at this time. The European Parliaments version of a new copyright directive specifically, Article 11 and its recital 32 will have unintended consequences for smaller news publishers by limiting innovation in journalism and reducing choices for European consumers, according to Google. While copyrights give news publishers rights in how their work gets used, Article 11, as it is written, could require online services to strike licensing deals with publishers to show hyperlinks and short snippets of news. The Mountain View, California search giant will "urgently call on policymakers to fix this in the final text of the directive." This means Google is asking the copyright directive to give all publishers the right to control their own business models by giving them the choice to waive the need for a commercial license for their content. advertisement advertisement This means search engines, news aggregators, apps, and platforms would have to put commercial licenses in place, and make decisions about the types of content to include, or not, based on those licensing agreements, Richard Gingras, VP of news at Google, wrote in a blog post. Companies like Google will be put in the position of picking winners and losers," Gingras wrote. "Online services, some of which generate no revenue (for instance, Google News) would have to make choices about which publishers theyd do deals with." Today, more than 80,000 news publishers worldwide have an option to serve up in Google News -- but Article 11 would reduce that number, although Gingras didn't provide specifics or percentages. He also explained that it's unlikely search engines and news aggregators will be able to license all new publishers. Smaller publishers are debating the issue and urge the EU to focus on protecting small, local and regional publishers. Gingras believes that this move by the EU will harm news publishers and reduce the ability for consumers to access a diverse range of views and opinions, something Google has been working hard to change. If these articles pass, "European citizens may no longer find the most relevant news across the web, but rather the news that online services have been able to commercially license," he wrote, explaining that information should be based on quality and not a payment system. by Alex Weprin , December 7, 2018 While over-the-top video services continue to grow in popularity with advertisers and consumers, the barrier for entry for content providers remains high. Cinedigm, a company that operates more than a half dozen OTT networks, is planning to launch a new product in 2019 meant to lower the cost of entry for publishers, content distributors and others looking to break into OTT. Matchpoint will be a maned-maned-service OTT platform designed to allow companies to rapidly build and deploy customized OTT services. Cinedigm says Matchpoint has been in development for more than four years and currently operating its own OTT services, including Dove Channel, Docurama and CombatGo. The product is modular, with built-in tools for billing, alerts, recommendations and watch lists. It also has a built-in advertising and viewing analytics platform and support for third-party distributors, such as Amazon Channels or virtual MVPDs. advertisement advertisement While video is the heart of OTT functionality today, Matchpoint also supports other content formats, such as streaming music, ebooks, audiobooks, digital comics and magazines. Many newer OTT services, such as WarnerMedias DC Universe, are creating OTT services that blend video content with audio content and digital comics. Cinedigm says Matchpoint will hit the market in Q1 2019, with plans to preview the technology at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next month. Matchpoint is one of only a handful of companies offering full-service OTT technology products. Others, such as Amazon, have their own offerings, but they are more complex to get up and running, and are not managed. Managed OTT services are closer to plug and play, with far less development work necessary. They also allow for continued customer service and tweaking by the company managing the platform. by Melynda Fuller , December 7, 2018 AMG/Parade announced the appointment of Corrine Barcia to vice president of integrated marketing earlier this week. Barcia, who has been with the company for over three years, was most recently its senior marketing director. In her new role, Barcia will work across platforms to build and execute marketing programs that include video and integrated campaigns that connect the company with new business and partnerships. Barcia will also work closely with the digital ad operations team. Prior to working with AMG/Parade, Barcia spent several years at Rodale Inc., where she worked with the team responsible for rebranding and relaunching Prevention and Prevention.com, as well as launching Eatclean.com. Barcia also spent time at American Media, Inc., developing marketing programs for Fit Pregnancy,FitPregnancy.com, Natural Health and NaturalHealthmag.com . advertisement advertisement Barcia will be based in New York. Separately, Dirk Standen, editor-in-chief of Conde Nasts in-house branded content studio 23 Stories, now called CNX, announced this week he is leaving the company, as reported by Business of Fashion. Standen, who was with the company for 15 years, 10 of those as editor of Style.com before it was shuttered in 2015, was the founding editor of 23 Stories. He built the division to become a pivotal part of the company, bringing in a much needed source of revenue. During Standens tenure at CNX, the division expanded from branded content to custom advertising and events. According to the report, CNXs managing director Josh Deschner, who joined the company in November after Chief Experience Officer Josh Stinchcomb departed, will hire a replacement as he restructures the division. Standens departure follows Conde Nasts recent announcement that CEO Bob Sauerberg is leaving the company. The company is also searching for a new CEO. by Kaila Colbin , Featured Contributor, December 7, 2018 In 2007, Hugh MacLeod, aka Gapingvoid, coined Hughs Law: All online social networks eventually turn into a swampy mush of spam. It was 2007, so our reference points for swampy mushes of spam were myspace and Friendster. Early adopters, MacLeod went on to explain, would flee these social networks as soon as a clean, viable, spam-less alternative came along: LinkedIn, say, or Facebook. In fact, MacLeod argued that this was the reason early adopters would join new social networks. It wasnt because people were sitting around going, You know what I need to do? Rebuild my entire social graph somewhere most of the people I know havent even heard of. Convince them to come along. Build my profile all over again. Learn a new interface and new habits. No, MacLeod said, they werent running to the new networks. They were running away from the spam. This explains why its possible for a network like myspace to go from being the most popular website in the United States -- with more visitors than Google -- to being virtually nonexistent in just a few short years. In 2006, the same year myspace hit 100 million members, it was being mocked on Saturday Night Live for being a home for perverts and pedophiles. Its no wonder users eventually abandoned the site. advertisement advertisement Which brings us to Facebook, and its seemingly impenetrable chokehold on the global (bar China) social media experience. Everyone is on Facebook because everyone is on Facebook: the network effect. By that logic, there would be no way to compete. But by Hughs Law, a new network wouldnt have to compete on network effects. An alternative to Facebook will become viable when Facebook becomes non-viable. Earlier this week, Wireds Noam Cohen explored just how much of Facebooks power comes from people believing in the networks good intentions, both within and without the company: [T]ake away a faith in the goodness of Facebook, and whats left is a monolithic entity, designed for relentless tracking and targeting and manic growth Instead of preaching the joys of being part of a connected world, Facebook is now digging trenches. Slowly, the company is giving up its claim to magical powers, which supports the sinking suspicion that before the government breaks up Facebook, it may break up itself. That same day, Azeem Azhar tweeted, Another Monday, another email from a friend disconnecting from all Facebook services. The social utility has been soiled. Of course, its important to remember, as Stratecherys Ben Thompson points out, the difference between Facebook the company and Facebook the product. What Im talking about here is Facebook the company; we can leave the discussions about Instagram and WhatsApp for another day. Azeem is right: The social utility has been soiled. Cohens piece has some particularly devastating quotes, including this one from a member of the Canadian Parliament: While we were playing on our phones and apps, our democratic institutions seem to have been upended by frat-boy billionaires from California. Cohen also references the resignation letter from Facebooks Mark Luckie: [T]o continue to witness and be in the center of the systematic disenfranchisement of underrepresented voices, however unintentional, is more than Im willing to sacrifice personally. Ive lost the will and the desire to advocate on behalf of Facebook. BuzzFeed is blaming riots in Paris on the platform. Can and will people leave when things get too bad? Of course. If its bad enough, people dont even need an alternative. If your current environment is a swampy mush of spam, you might not wait until you have a perfect new environment to go to. You might just get out. Before a blood cholesterol test, doctors typically advise that a person fast for several hours to get the most accurate results. However, a new study shows that in the case of people with diabetes, this approach could do more harm than good. Share on Pinterest New research explains why fasting before a blood test may not be such a good idea for people with diabetes. People with diabetes tend to have higher levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, or bad cholesterol. This can lead to the excessive buildup of fat in the arteries. For this reason, doctors may recommend that these people have regular blood cholesterol tests. Current guidelines recommend that people do not eat or drink anything but water before a blood test, in order to not skew its results. However, increasingly, studies are suggesting that this step may not be necessary, and that it may actually cause harm in some cases. New research led by specialists at Michigan State University in East Lansing reports that fasting before a blood cholesterol test can give rise to low blood sugar, or hypoglycemia, in individuals with diabetes who take insulin or sulfonylurea (a drug to manage type 2 diabetes). These findings, which now appear in the International Journal of Endocrinology, may influence doctors advice to people with diabetes. Feed not FEEHD The team worked with 525 people with diabetes who attended one of two endocrinology clinics in Michigan. The scientists asked them to fill in a two-page survey, and they only considered those that featured all the relevant data. Following an analysis of this information, the researchers found that people with diabetes were more likely to experience fasting-evoked en route hypoglycemia (FEEHD) if they had fasted before having a blood test. In FEEHD, blood sugar levels become abnormally low under 70 milligrams per deciliter which can cause faintness, confusion, and dizziness. This can lead to life-threatening accidents if the person in question is driving (en route) to the clinic where the blood test will take place. 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, explains study author Saleh Aldasouqi. Patients continue taking their diabetes medication but dont 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. Saleh Aldasouqi Our new motto is Feed not FEEHD,' he goes on, to remind patients of this danger and get them to eat. It's sad that history often finds itself buried under layers of dust. Time moves on and people forget. A true example of what I am talking about here is this book called 'Muscle Control And Barbell Exercise'. Before you think it's a western giving, let me tell you that it was written right here in India in 1930. Shocked, right? Yup, so was I. Soon I got hold of it and of course, I went through it. Here's why it's a gem of Indian bodybuilding history. Astounding Facts Muscle control and Barbell Exercise The mere fact that this book was authored by two Indian men Ghosh and Sen Gupta in the pre-independence era is enough to get the surprise going. India has a rich history of wrestling and other martial arts but who knew that we had thriving bodybuilders almost 100 years back?! Yes, this book is proof of the culture that nobody knew about. Indian bodybuilding history usually starts with Manohar Aich, the very first Mr. Universe from India. His bodybuilding legacy still inspires millions. This book was authored a good 25 years before the rise of Aich on the world bodybuilding arena and even served him as a guide. If this doesn't shock you, I don't what will. Bodybuilding Was A Western Giving. Or Was It? Now a lot of people can debate that East India Company officers bought bodybuilding to India. Well, we don't really know anything about it. What we very well know that this book was authored by two very-well-built and highly-educated-science-graduate- muscle heads. That's evident and can't be challenged. There was a small but highly enthusiastic bodybuilding that thrived here even 17 years before the birth of Arnold Schwarzenegger, the God of bodybuilding. This book alone challenges the notion that bodybuilding was a western giving. The Do-It-No-Matter-What Attitude It was 1930. Half the country struggled for Independence while the British were busy looting whatever was left. Safe to say, India was anything but prospering. So it's anybody's guess that what all equipment these bodybuilders would have had access to. No proper gymnasiums, make shift equipment, no books to read and no internet to find gurus. These guys still pushed ahead and built muscle. There's in fact a detailed chapter in the book about 'isolating thoughts from every distraction and focus on lifting'. Hands down, this is as raw as it can get. The Authors And Inspirations For Them This is Mr. K.C. Sen Gupta (B.A). He authored the Barbell training part of the book. Muscle control and Barbell Exercise This is Mr. B.C Ghosh (B.Sc). He authored the muscle control part of the book. Muscle control and Barbell Exercise By the looks of it, both were hardcore muscle-heads and packed on very good mass according to 1930 standards. Both the guys together travelled across Bengal and found that neither was there any awareness about muscle training and nor were any gyms. This is when they took it upon themselves to author this book. They Believed In Systematic And Scientific Approach To Muscle Growth These guys emphasized specially on something that's widely missing even today in the Indian bodybuilding culture: a science-based approach. There are stupid desi gurus everywhere! These guys were straight up scientists with their exercises. Even with food, they recommend eating 3-4 times a day to get bigger and get in more calories. Sleep was highly emphasized on for as they called 'the students of physical culture'. The things I read about posing and muscle control still apply to this day. Yes, everything you will read here is still practiced throughout the world in bits and pieces. With this article, I have put in my share of taking this incredible book to the Indian muscle and fitness heads. Here's the link here for all of you to read it! Share this article and play your part. Pictures of the upcoming Galaxy S10 have been leaked on social media yesterday and it includes some details about its design. These pictures cannot be verified as the final design of the Galaxy S10 but it does give us a closer look at the final product. SlashGear From the pictures it can be assumed we are seeing the larger Galaxy S10+ and from what we can gather it has a triple camera setup. Previous leaks have suggested that the base model i.e. Galaxy S10 will have a dual camera set up while the larger brother is expected to have a triple camera setup. The images leaked show the back of the rumoured Galaxy S10+. Both devices are somewhat unique as there is a noticeable difference in the lens size. This is indicative of the fact that either Samsung is working on multiple variants or the Galaxy S10 or the final design has not been decided yet. Weibo An image from other sources i.e. a certain -Mr from Weibo was sent to website SlashGear. This image may depict the accurate final design of the Galaxy S10 as it is in line with CAD drawings. There have been quite some changes in the design and renderings over the past week based on CAD drawings which makes it harder to pinpoint the leaks accuracy. SlashGear The release date for the next Galaxy device by Samsung is set for March 2018. Samsung is also planning a massive event for Mobile World Congress 2019 and is usually the time when Samsung hosts the big Unpacked event. There's a high chance Samsung will reveal most of their smartphones of the year and Galaxy S10 is expected to be amongst the smartphone revealed. For now, we can only take these leaks with a grain of salt as the final product will only be confirmed closer to the event. Source: SlashGear The officers had just gone through a traumatizing event in which they feared for their lives and filled out their reports to the best of their ability, Breen said. The fact that they might have reached a consensus about what had happened is not proof that they collaborated to get their stories straight, he said. There are some aspects of Marchs paperwork, however, that wont be as easy to dismiss. In ruling it a justified shooting, the detective wrote that the on-scene officers statements were consistent with the dashcam video. His report does not mention several glaring discrepancies, including claims that McDonald moved as if to attack Van Dyke, that McDonald tried to get up after being shot and that Van Dyke backpedaled when the recording clearly shows him stepping forward. JOURNALIST: You are visiting Moscow in order to attend the Russian-Greek Intergovernmental Committee. The agenda mainly consisted of economic issues. What is your assessment of the results of these meetings? G. KATROUGALOS: Our discussion focused not only on the economy but also on other directions of Greek-Russian relations. As a result, we signed agreements concerning not only customs issues but also the sector of sports. We consider Russia a country to which we are linked not just by friendship, but by brotherly relations. We enjoy very close historical and cultural ties which we plan to further develop. More specifically, a considerable part involves relationships between Russian and Greek entrepreneurs - it is necessary for them to pursue joint activities. JOURNALIST: In this sense, I have to ask - what is the effect of EU sanctions, which Greece supported, on these activities and the implementation of bilateral initiatives? G. KATROUGALOS: The sanctions naturally affect our bilateral relations. In general terms, we consider the imposition of economic sanctions counter-productive for the resolution of political differences between Brussels and Moscow. We are members of the European Union and we respect all its decisions. However, we are certain that political dialogue under the rules of international law is the most effective approach to resolving disagreements. JOURNALIST: At this stage, is the EU in general and Greece in particular willing to initiate such a dialogue? G. KATROUGALOS: The European Union is heterogeneous. We are living in a politically turbulent time, when various types of occurrences are taking place throughout the European continent. More specifically, there is increased tension in the Sea of Azov which must be analysed calmly and, as I previously mentioned, resolved in compliance with the rules of international law. That is what were talking about in the European Union: one of our main goals is the reintegration of Russia in the European security system through political dialogue. JOURNALIST: This year, Greek-Russian relations were overshadowed by the expulsion of Russian diplomats and the commensurate response by Moscow. In September, Alexis Tsipras stated that Greece and Russia are working towards restoring relations following the crisis. How is this work progressing, and what is your assessment of Greek-Russian relations in 2018? G. KATROUGALOS: We consider the incident that occurred this summer as an isolated incident that is unrelated to the overall development of relations. We respect the sovereignty of other countries and expect our partners to treat Greece in the same manner. That was the meaning of our message. With Russia having taken this into consideration, we can return to our general interaction and consider how to improve our great relationship. JOURNALIST: On 7 December, Alexis Tsipras and Vladimir Putin are to meet in Moscow. What do you expect from this meeting? G. KATROUGALOS: This visit is an expression of the political will of Athens to continue the dialogue with Moscow and maintain its good level. The starting point is a discussion of economic, more technical issues that may take on a political dimension tomorrow. At this level, leaders touch upon a broad range of topics. This does not just concern bilateral relations, but has an international political dimension. JOURNALIST: Are bilateral events expected to take place next year? G. KATROUGALOS: Of course. During the current meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee, we agreed that the next such event will take place in April 2019 in the city of Thessaloniki. JOURNALIST: Russia covers a considerable part of natural gas needs in Greece. Athens insists on joining the TurkStream project. How will Greece benefit from this project, given that the country is such an active proponent on the margins of the European Union? How does Brussels react to Greeces position? G. KATROUGALOS: Indeed, Russia covers 43% of our country's natural gas needs. At present, Greece is in a process of recovery following a severe economic crisis - we have achieved a growth rate of approximately 2%. One of the comparative advantages of our new economic model is the transformation of Greece into an energy hub. As such, both TurkStream and other energy projects in the Caspian Sea and the Middle East are important to us. Naturally, there are those in Brussels who opposed the Russian plan. Our view is that the standards applicable to Nord Stream must now also apply to TurkStream. We are in active discussions with Brussels on the matter. However, to be fair, I must say that we are not the only ones engaged in such discussions: Germany is also in active discussions with the European Commission. JOURNALIST: In 2014, under pressure from the European Commission, Bulgaria abandoned South Stream and the implementation of the planned project was postponed. Would a similar scenario concerning the construction of TurkStream be likely at present? G. KATROUGALOS: Our argument in favour of the project is that there is no difference between Nord, Turk and South Streams. The uniform law of the European Union should apply equally for all parties. JOURNALIST: In 2017, at the request of the United States, Russian citizen Alexander Vinnik was arrested in Greece. He stands accused of laundering billions of dollars through bitcoins. Apart from Russia, his extradition was requested by both United States and France. The courts issued a ruling ordering his extradition to Russia, yet Alexander Vinnik remains imprisoned in Greece. What is hindering his extradition to his homeland? G. KATROUGALOS: Firstly, I must underline that the Court judgement ordering the extradition of Alexander Vinnik to Russia, the United States and France is not political in nature. Greece respects the principle of rule of law and intends to make a final decision on the basis of that principle. JOURNALIST: Under that principle, doesn't the extradition request of the country of which the defendant is a citizen take priority? G. KATROUGALOS: It depends on each case. At times, extradition takes place as you described; at others, requests submitted by numerous countries may be examined. For the time being, the Court decided to satisfy the requests of three countries - Russia, the USA and France. And the Greek government must respect the Court judgement. JOURNALIST: The referendum on the renaming of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (fYROM) failed due to low voter turnout. The lack of a new name is mainly an obstacle to fYROMs joining NATO. How is Athens currently interacting with Skopje on this matter? G. KATROUGALOS: I wouldnt say the referendum failed. Indeed, fewer than 50% of citizens voted. However, 90% of voters were in favour of changing the name of fYROM, which, in terms of registered voters, is similar to the corresponding percentage of registered voters who voted in favour of Brexit. However, the main point is that the agreement between Greece and fYROM concerning a change to the name of the Republic is beneficial for both countries: it would resolve the issue pending since the 1990s in such a way as not to undermine the interests of either side. Thus, the document is a key diplomatic achievement on both sides. Under this agreement, fYROM would have to amend its Constitution - more specifically, it would have to change the name of the country and renounce any elements that could make Greece doubt its respect for borders. This procedure would likely have to be completed by late January 2019; afterwards, the agreement would have to be ratified by our Parliament. I have no doubt that this will come to pass. JOURNALIST: So, was the referendum pointless? G. KATROUGALOS: I repeat, 90% of voters were in favour of changing the country's name, and their opinion was heard. JOURNALIST: Tourism is a key revenue for Greece. What is your assessment of the percentage of Russians in the overall flow of tourists visiting your country? G. KATROUGALOS: Hundreds of thousands of Russian tourists visit Greece every year, and I believe this is a positive trend. I wish the same number of Greeks could visit Russia, a truly beautiful country. Tourism is an important part of our country's economy. Thanks to tourism, we succeeded in mitigating the effects of the economic crisis. However, it also helps people from different countries better understand one another. We have already had good indicators, but we are trying to improve them. JOURNALIST: What precisely is Greece doing to attract tourists, including Russian tourists? G. KATROUGALOS: Firstly, we facilitated the visa issuance procedure and increased the number of employees at our consulates in order to keep waiting lists short for citizens. Secondly, we are trying to make our country more attractive, so that tourists feel right at home. JOURNALIST: Visa issuance is a truly important issue when it comes to tourist exchanges. Until 2014, Russia and the EU were in discussions concerning the removal of visas between them. Do you believe these negotiations could be repeated? G. KATROUGALOS: This is not within our remit - the issue of the visa regime must be resolved in Brussels, where, at the moment, there is no desire for a liberalisation of the visa regime with Russia. It is my hope that in the future the EU and Russia will be able to initiate a dialogue on the matter - but this greatly depends on the general improvement of their relations. We are working in this direction. As I said, the European Union is our home, but we would like to become a mediator for the resolution of issues between Brussels and Moscow. Troopers were able to find Young near 27th and LaSalle streets, and he was identified by the other two who had been in the car as the person who had the gun just after the shooting took place, prosecutors said. State police located the gun and matched a shell casing in the car to it. The Tribune investigated the case in 2001 as part of its series "Cops and Confessions" and found evidence one of the eight men charged in the shootings was in a police lockup when the murders occurred. The paper continued to investigate the case and found that what at first appeared to be its strength eight confessions in which each suspect implicated each of the others in fact undermined it. He spent two decades in Preckwinkles political orbit, at first volunteering with her campaigns and then for nearly the last eight years working on her executive security detail. But their relationship soured this fall when he was fired amid the fallout of a watchdog report stemming from a bizarre incident the morning after Election Day 2016. A Cook County SUV nearly exclusively driven by Gadlen was found vandalized and abandoned near southwest suburban Lemont. A cache of political materials was found inside. Tensions between Japan and the United States were at the boiling point. The United States suspected that the Japanese were up to something, but it didn't know what or where. It looked as if an attack could come in the area of the Philippines. Faulkner's task was to photograph the Japanese buildup around islands east of there. "His chief promises were that he would build the wall, defund Planned Parenthood and repeal Obamacare, and he hasn't done any of those things," Tucker Carlson said in an interview, adding that those goals were probably lost causes. (Richard Drew / AP) UPPER THUMB The pews of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Cass City were overflowing on Nov. 11, when the congregation hosted an Old Fashioned Mission Rally and Pig Roast. More than 300 people attended the event, where they had the opportunity to meet and talk with a dozen international visitors from places like Ghana, South Sudan, Thailand and Russia. It was simply an incredible day for our Lutheran churches in the Thumb, said Rev. Steve Bagnall, who spearheaded the event, sponsored by the Thumb West and Thumb East circuits of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. When else in our lifetimes will our children be able to meet Lutheran bishops and church leaders from Africa, Europe and Asia, all in one place? As we prayed the Lords Prayer together in 10 different languages, it was like a modern-day Pentecost!" Rev. Slavik Horpynchuk, bishop of the Ukrainian Lutheran Church, was the featured speaker at the rally. Bishop Horpynchuk shared his experiences growing up as a Christian in Soviet-era Ukraine, where pastors were executed and churches forcibly closed. His message of Gods faithfulness to His people during hard times was particularly meaningful to the crowd, where many were concerned about Americas religious freedoms being eroded. The Word will always do and accomplish what God wants, what He desires, Bishop Horpynchuk said. Whatever happens in the world, whatever else Satan and his cronies organize against us, we shall stand! We shall go through them, as long as we are in the Word, as long as we are faithful to the Word of God and to our Confessions. It doesnt matter whether its America or whether its Ukraine Gods blessings will be on us to the very end. The mission rally also featured the work of the Lutheran Heritage Foundation, an LCMS recognized service organization based in Macomb that translates and publishes Lutheran materials for churches around the world. Rev. Dr. Matthew Heise, LHFs executive director, presented copies of two books recently published through mission offerings from Thumb churches: the Korean Small Catechism, provided by Good Shepherd in Cass City, and a devotional booklet written in the Farsi language of the Iranian people, sponsored by the Thumb East and West circuits. A freewill offering at the event resulted in another $1,800 raised for the mission. More than 2 dozen children attended the childrens mission track, where they learned about the country of Ukraine and their Lutheran brothers and sisters who live there. They also created Ukrainian crafts, read folk tales Ukrainian children grow up hearing, and made gifts that they then presented to the international visitors. At the conclusion of the rally, attendees gathered together to enjoy a feast of smoked pork and homemade side dishes, provided by a grant from Thrivent Financial and prepared by volunteers from a dozen Thumb congregations. Sometimes small congregations can feel they are insignificant, but this mission rally is proof that when we work together, God can use us to do great things, said Rev. Bagnall. We look forward to many more joint events in the future. BRIDGEPORT Emily Byrne already made new law in Connecticut regarding a patients right to keep their medical records private. Now a jury has awarded her more than $850,000 in damages. A Superior Court jury deliberated less than two hours Wednesday before finding the Avery Center for Obstetrics and Gynecology of Westport liable for the emotional damage Byrne suffered when they released her records to a former boyfriend who attempted to blackmail her over the information in them. The jury awarded the psychiatric nurse, who now lives in Vermont, $853,000. With interest, the final judgment against Avery could reach $1.6 million. Bruce Elstein, Byrness lawyer, said it has been a long road for his client, who initially filed suit against the Westport doctors office in 2007. Since then, the case has gone up to the state Supreme Court twice. In January, the states highest court ruled for the first time that patients do have a right to sue medical offices for disclosing their medical information without the patients permission. The case created new law, said Elstein. The Supreme Court ruled a patient has a remedy for breaches of medical responsibility and that never occurred before. Byrne claimed her life had been turned upside down when Avery released her medical records to Andro Mendoza, a man who Byrne claimed is bipolar and who she had secured protective orders against in the past. Byrne was involved in a relationship with Mendoza from May 2004 to September 2004 during which she became pregnant, according to the lawsuit. She eventually gave birth to a baby girl but instructed her doctors at Avery not to release her medical records to Mendoza. In 2005, she moved to Vermont. Two months later, Mendoza filed paternity actions against Byrne in Connecticut and Vermont. A lawyer hired by Mendoza got a court order for Byrnes medical records. They (Avery) decided to turn the medical information over to the court and Mendoza went to the court and got a copy of the records, Elstein said. He decided to use it to extort her. He made demands for joint custody of the child and claimed he would go public with the information. Included in the file was information about assaults that had taken place against Byrne when she was young and that she had previously had an abortion, according to trial testimony. She comes from a religious family and had not told her parents about the abortion. They learned about it from Mendoza. When Byrne rebuffed Mendoza, Elstein said, Mendoza demanded she pay him $375,000 and that he have full custody of their daughter. Elstein said Mendoza eventually was allowed supervised visits with the daughter but only saw the girl for a couple of hours in 2010 through 2012 and has not requested to see her since. During the trial before Judge Thomas Welch, Averys lawyer, James Biondo, admitted to the jury that his client had made a mistake in releasing Byrnes medical records. But he claimed the emotional trauma she says she suffered was the responsibility of Mendoza not the medical group. Mendoza did not attend the trial and could not be reached for comment. They point their finger of blame at everyone else but themselves, Elstein told the jury of Avery. Meanwhile, my client will carry the memory for the rest of her life that her records were released. PACFIC OCEAN -- Electrician's Mate Fireman Samuel Guidroz was more than 4,500 miles away from home when he was awakened by a sharp pain in his abdomen on the morning of Nov. 27, 2018. The 20-year-old sailor, assigned to the San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship USS Somerset (LPD 25), tried to treat the day like any other day spent underway in the Pacific Ocean. But the discomfort in his stomach soon drove him to the ship's medical bay. "I had a nauseating feeling in my lower abdomen," said Guidroz, from his bed in the ship's recovery ward. "They ran some x-rays and a few additional tests." "Fireman Guidroz came to us, and we were able to determine he had acute appendicitis," said Cmdr. Jeffery Chao, the surgeon for Littoral Combat Group One (LCG-1). Chao said it was fortunate that the fleet surgical team happened to be there on the Somerset to augment the ship's capabilities. The fleet surgical team is attached to Amphibious Squadron (PHIBRON) 3, which is currently embarked on USS Somerset as part of LCG-1. If they had not been there, surgery aboard USS Somerset would not have been an option. But not everything was working in Guidroz's favor. "The sea state at the time was a bit rough, so it made me nervous," Guidroz said. "The doctors eased my mind though, assuring me it was the right thing to do." The LCG-1 fleet surgical team and the Sailors aboard USS Somerset acted immediately. The officer of the deck turned the ship to the steadiest course available. The maneuver significantly lessened the ship's motion in the water, allowing the medical personnel to do their work with precision. Then they prepared for surgery. When Guidroz awoke, he felt groggy but relieved. "Everything went great. Just like it would have if I had been back at a regular hospital," Guidroz said. Chao says he expects Guidroz to make a full recovery in the next few days. "This was a great learning experience to know the medical capabilities out here are far greater than my initial expectations," Guidroz said. "It feels good knowing and having that assurance that something like this can be taken care of out here at sea. I can't thank the medical team enough for what they did." Since the surgery, Guidroz has been in contact with his family at their home in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. "They were happy this was able to be done here on the ship, and even a bit surprised," Guidroz said. "Being away from them was different at first, but I've made some new friends out here. And it's important, I think, having people close to you when you're away from home." USS Somerset is a San Antonio-class amphibious transport docking ship, based out of San Diego. LCG-1 is deployed to the U.S. 4th Fleet area of operations in support of the Enduring Promise Initiative to reaffirm U.S. Southern Command's longstanding commitment to the nations of the Western Hemisphere. Army Futures Command today took charge of a new forward-looking agency that will be responsible for making sure the service sees the threats it may face on tomorrow's battlefield. Training and Doctrine Command's Army Capabilities Integration Center, or ARCIC, today became the new Army Futures and Concepts Center at a ceremony at Fort Eustis, Virginia. Most recently, ARCIC helped the Army publish the latest version of service's future fighting concept: Multi-Domain Operations 2028. Moving forward, "this organization will set the foundation for everything Army Futures Command does; if we don't have a solid foundation of why we are developing capability, if we don't have a solid foundation of the concepts that we use on a future battlefield --what we really have is solutions in search of a problem," said Gen. John "Mike" Murray, commander of AFC. "So identification of that problem, identification of the concepts identification of the organization structure, will absolutely drive everything Army Futures Command does." In late August, the Army stood up Army Futures Command in Austin, Texas to lead the service's ambitious effort to replace the Army's Cold War combat platforms known as the "Big 5:" -- the M1 tank, Bradley fighting vehicle, AH-64 Apache and UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters and the Patriot surface to air missile system. The Army has pledged to reach this goal over the next 10 years by following six modernization priorities of long-range precision fires, next-generation combat vehicle, future vertical lift, a mobile network, air and missile defense and soldier lethality. Lt. Gen. Eric Wesley will serve as the director of the new Army Futures and Concepts Center. "We will describe the future environment, we will blueprint the future of the Army, we will describe the requirements that enable it and we will provide to our commander, for his signature, the strategy to get there," Wesley said. "We are future's foundry and that strategy will become the hammer of modernization." Part of the role of the Futures and Concepts will be to continue to refine Multi-Domain Operations 2028, which evolved out of the Multi-Domain Battle concept published last year. The new concept will look for possible solutions designed to defeat the enemy's layers of anti-access and area-denial capabilities. "We have still got to evolve this concept to put a finer point on it so we can start to identify capability gaps and seams that we need to address, so we can start to examine -- through experimentation and modeling and simulation -- changes to the organizational structure that have to happen," Murray said at a round-table discussion following the ceremony. Before December's end, Murray said leaders at AFC and the Futures and Concepts Center will "map out the next 18 months," Murray said. During the ceremony, Murray talked about his seven grandchildren. "The youngest one is about two years old now ... 25 years from now when she is a Ranger Tab-wearing, airborne infantry company commander ... that is how I personalize this and that is how I believe you should personalize it," Murray said. "This is not about us, this is not about us wearing the uniform today; this is about those that will follow us. I want them, whether that's my grandchild or your grandchild or your children, to have the concepts, the tools, the kit, the capabilities and the training that they absolutely must have to fight and win on the future battlefield." -- 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 But cold weather doesnt rebut the data that shows the planet is warming over climate time scales. Think of it this way: Weather is like your mood, and climate is like your personality. Weather is what occurs in a certain place at a certain time. Climate is the long-term average of weather over decades. The fact it was cold and snowy one day last week? Thats weather. Global warming or not, cold days still occur, particularly in winter. But since 2000, were seeing far more new hot-temperature records than cold ones. In fact, in 2017, we saw more than 10,000 cold-temperature records broken at weather stations across the United States. And more than 36,000 high-temperature records were broken the same year. The Marine Corps has identified one of the pilots killed following a collision Thursday between an F/A-18 Hornet and a KC-130 Hercules off the coast of Japan. Capt. Jahmar F. Resilard, 28, was pronounced dead after he was found during search and rescue operations off Kochi on Dec. 6, officials said in a release Friday. Resilard, a Miramar, Florida native, served as an F/A-18 pilot with Marine All Weather Fighter Attack Squadron 242 (VMFA(AW)-242), stationed at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni. "The Bats are deeply saddened by the loss of Capt. Jahmar Resilard, said Lt. Col. James Compton, VMFA(AW)-242 commanding officer. He was an effective and dedicated leader who cared for his Marines and fellow fighter pilots with passion. His warm and charismatic nature bound us together and we will miss him terribly. We honor his service and his contribution to the Marine Corps and our great nation. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends." Related content: Officials said Thursday rescuers have recovered two of the seven crew members involved in the crash, which occurred during routine refueling training around 2:00 a.m. local time. Five Marines are still missing. The U.S. 7th Fleet is supporting ongoing search-and-rescue operations with a Navy P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft flying out of Kadena Air Base, Japan. The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and the Japanese Coast Guard are also providing assistance, III Marine Expeditionary Force officials said Thursday. That includes Japanese ships, a submarine and helicopters, according to a report Military Times. Additionally, Air Force pararescue and special tactics airmen with the 353rd Special Operations Group and 320th Special Tactics Squadron out of Kadena are involved in the massive hunt, which includes MC-130 Combat Talons and CV-22 Ospreys, Military Times said. The Marine aircraft launched from Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni early Thursday morning for routine refueling training. The accident occurred about 200 miles off the coast of Japan, officials said. The other Marine, reportedly one of the F/A-18 pilots as well, is in stable condition, according to Military Times. --- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214. A year apart, on the same turnoff from "Route Pluto" in Baghdad, Army Capt. Sean English was killed and Army PFC Robert Bartlett was severely wounded by the high-powered devices known as "Explosively Formed Penetrators (EFPs)" supplied by Iran to terror proxies. Tricia English, the widow of Capt. English, and Bartlett were among more than 100 veterans and Gold Star families who joined in a lawsuit -- Karcher et al v. Islamic Republic of Iran -- that went to trial this week in federal court. Neither English nor Bartlett said Friday that they expected much, if any, compensation to result from the suit -- but that was not the point. "We want to hold people accountable who have done this to our families," Tricia English said Friday at a National Press Club news conference. "This is not about money for me. First and foremost, this is not about compensation," said Bartlett, 45, who has lived in several places in Arizona. He said the suit would be worth the lengthy effort to bring it to trial "if it stops one person from getting killed and highlights what the Iranian regime has done to destabilize the region." Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia this week heard three days of testimony from families, victims and experts, and took into the trial record reams of declassified documents and physical evidence of the EFPs to show Iran's complicity. Kollar-Kotelly had ruled last year that Iran was properly served on the suit, but the Iranian regime, which does not recognize the jurisdiction of the court, was not represented at the trial, which Korral-Kotelly heard without a jury. Gary M. Osen, managing partner of Osen LLC, the Hackensack, New Jersey, law firm for the plaintiffs, said Kollar-Kotelly was expected to issue a verdict, possibly by next summer, which could result in a default judgment against Iran. The next likely step would be to pursue damages under the terrorism exception to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, which has been used previously to sue state sponsors of terrorism, he said. The lawsuit has been described as seeking $10 billion damages, but Osen said Friday that he didn't know where that number came from. At the news conference Friday, Dr. Shean Eric Phelps, a former Army Green Beret combat medic and later an Air Force flight surgeon, spoke to the devastating effects of the EFPs. As opposed to the crude roadside bombs, or Improvised Explosive Devices, that also took a heavy toll on U.S. troops, the EFPs were carefully designed and manufactured for maximum impact, and were set off by PITs, or Passive Infrared Triggers, which served as motion detectors, Phelps said. The U.S. never developed a counter-measure, Phelps said. "It takes a level of sophistication only seen in advanced technology," Phelps said of the EFPs. The devices shredded the U.S. up-armored Humvees and the MRAPs, or Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles, which replaced them. The thickness of the armor offered little defense against them, he said. "It pretty much goes through anything known to man" by sending out penetrator slugs and a copper shaped charge at speeds of more than 4,800 mph, Phelps said. The effect was that "the armor of the Humvee becomes part of the weapon -- it turns the armor into a blender," he said. Osen said the weapons were developed by the "tradecraft" of the Lebanese Hezbollah and manufactured by Iran. He attributed the distribution to terrorists in Iraq directly to Qasem Suleimani, a major general in the Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and commander of the IRGC's Quds Force. In May 2005, Robert Bartlett said he was on a presence and reconnaissance patrol of up-armored Humvees and was making the turn off Route Pluto to a street known as Brewers road when an EFP tore into his vehicle. Staff Sgt. William Brooks was killed and Cpl. Todd Bishop lost his legs. Bartlett would undergo five years of surgeries and rehabilitation at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. "It's actually a miracle I'm at this table with you," he said. Tricia English said her husband's vehicle was making the same turn onto Brewers road in December 2006. "He was in the passenger's seat. They took a direct hit from an EFP. Sean was the only casualty," she said. She noted that he died on Dec. 3, 2006, 12 years to the day that the trial started in Kollar-Kotelly's court. English, of Columbus, Ohio, said she had to go back-and-forth with the Department of Veterans Affairs before she was permitted to have one of his favorite sayings engraved on the headstone: "Do the harder right over the easier wrong." -- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com. "Mission: Impossible - Fallout" (out now on 4K, Blu-ray, DVD and Digital) might be the best in the series, and it certainly features the most exciting action sequences on film in 2018. This time, the crew faces the consequences of decisions made at the end of 2015's "Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation." Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt may have shown more loyalty to his friends than the mission last time, and now the world is in nuclear peril. Director Christopher McQuarrie returns from "Rogue Nation" and becomes the first filmmaker to make two MI movies. That gives the story a bit more continuity than usual for this series and the attention to detail in the action sequences is perhaps its best ever. Army veteran Marc Wolff was the aerial coordinator for the movie and oversaw production of the spectacular helicopter battle that gives the film its climax. Wolff has had a spectacular movie career that spans almost 50 years, with more than 150 movie credits. He's worked on "Black Hawk Down," a dozen James Bond movies, the "Star Wars" series, Harry Potter films, Marvel, the Christopher Reeve "Superman" movies, "Air America," and "Full Metal Jacket." Wolff has a fascinating story and shared some amazing details about what it's like working with Tom Cruise and the mechanics of shooting an unforgettable helicopter scene. (photo courtesy Marc Wolff) Please tell us about your military background. I was drafted in 1966 into the American Army. After I finished my basic training, I was offered a couple of different courses, one of which was Army intelligence. I used to love the old Ian Fleming novels, so I thought, "That sounds interesting." Basically, there's two types of intelligence in the Army, trying to prevent the enemy knowing what you're doing and trying to find out what the enemy is doing. I thought that would be interesting. To do that, I had to become an officer, so I went to Fort Benning in Georgia to Officer Candidate School on a six-month course. A friend of mine was there doing the same thing, we were in the same company, but he was going on to flight school instead of intelligence school. Then we had these maneuvers where you play war games in the Okefenokee Swamp. For two weeks, we moved through this swamp. There's leeches and mosquitoes and snakes, and you're walking into water up to your chest; it wasn't very pleasant. At the end, they picked us up by helicopter and flew us back over what took two weeks to walk across. There's an English saying, the penny dropped in the slot. In the old days, you put the penny in the slot and the telephone worked. So I said to this friend of mine, tell me more about this flight school, because it seems a lot better way to earn a living than walking through the swamps of Georgia, or Vietnam, or whatever. At one point toward the end of our course, we were allowed out on weekend leave and he took me flying in a little Piper Cherokee airplane. And I had a go at it and thought, "Oh, I could do this." This was in the middle of 1967, Vietnam was getting busy and helicopters were the new thing. So I applied to go to flight school instead of intelligence school and the rest is history, really. Tom Cruise hangs from a rope in "Mission: Impossible - Fallout." (Paramount Pictures) How long were you in and where did you serve? I served in Vietnam and West Germany. My basic branch was infantry, so when I finished in Vietnam, I was rotated back to ground duty and given command of a mechanized infantry company. I got promoted to captain quite quickly when I was 21. They gave me a command when I was 22 and I was a bit young, to be honest, for that kind of responsibility. I wanted to fly. I didn't want to do other things and they didn't want me to fly anymore. Having spent all this money training me to fly, they only let me fly for about a year-and-a-half. After three years from the day that I finished flight school, I was allowed to get out. By that time, it was the end of 1971 and the war was winding down a little bit, and they let me go. I liked it in Europe. My family originally came from Germany in the 1890s and 1910, so I stayed in Europe and England. They needed pilots, because they were expanding into the North Sea. So I started flying in England, and then I started doing films. After five years in England, I was allowed to set up my own business and do what I liked. I liked doing the film work, so in 1976, I started full-time flying for films. I was lucky. In '76, I got a Bond film called "The Spy Who Loved Me," and then in '78 I did the first Superman film, and in '79, I did "The Empire Strikes Back." It took me about three years to really get established, and then after that I went on to do half a dozen Star Wars films and 12 James Bond films. So the military connection really got me into my career. Tom Cruise hangs from a helicopter in the big "Mission: Impossible - Fallout" copter chase. (Paramount Pictures) You've been involved with so many great action films over the last 30 years, but "Mission: Impossible - Fallout" has one of the most spectacular aerial sequences I think I've ever seen in a movie. I had worked on three other "Mission: Impossible films" and I had worked on half a dozen films with Tom Cruise. But because the sequence was so important in the script, I had to interview for the job first. I wasn't sure that I wanted to do it because I wasn't sure that I could control Tom enough to keep it safe and still make it spectacular. But I thought that I'd go through the process. Every one of my contemporaries was also up for the job, so I was a little bit competitive in that way and I thought, well, if I get the job, I can always walk away if I don't like it. Tom actually convinced me to do the job. He thought that I knew how he worked more than anybody else, and the film was going to be based in London and I lived in London. I got the job because of that. Tom is a fantastic character who is very well-prepared and who is diligent and conscientious and very skillful. I stayed, and it was a huge pleasure, a big challenge. There were lots of challenges because, although Tom had a professional license, he didn't have a great amount of experience. He had 200 hours in helicopters and a thousand hours of total flying experience. To get a job flying in the winter in the mountains in New Zealand, doing the kind of flying we did, you'd need 5,000 hours or something before anybody would hire you. So I told New Zealand authorities, "Well, I want Tom to fly this helicopter and he's got 200 hundred hours' experience," and they sort of laughed. Tom Cruise actually piloted helicopters in "Mission: Impossible - Fallout." (Paramount Pictures) But I believed in him and he believed in me and we put it together. I taught him how to fly in formation and deal with the turbulence of other aircraft, other helicopters. I put him with a really good instructor pilot from Texas who improved his skill levels and expanded his experience. When we got to New Zealand, I put him with a mountain flying instructor I knew in New Zealand who has a special course with mountain flying. That prepared him for the conditions he was about to fly in, but also rounded out his total flying experience. I suppose the other big challenge we had on the film was marking cameras on the exterior of the helicopters so that you could see that he was flying. There are not many places to attach these kind of things. I had a friend in California who does that for a living, and we designed and built a great, complex set of rigs that allowed us to put the camera wherever the director wanted on the outside of the helicopter. Tom is very good with people, thanking people, and he always says good morning to you and he always says thank you. At the end of our shoot in New Zealand, they showed a short clip of everything we'd done to all the New Zealand crew as part of a thank you. There was a fellow lying underneath the helicopter, taking the rigs off, called Greg. And I said, "Tom, I want you to meet Greg." Greg was one of the unsung heroes on this film. He worked 56 days in a row without a day off to get these helicopter rigs ready for us. Greg crawled out from under his helicopter and Tom did the selfies with Greg and thanked him profusely. To do [all] that in the short amount of time we had was a small miracle, because it would normally take about 18 months to get these rigs designed and built and checked for safety, and we had three months to do it. And a lot of that was because of people like Greg. "Mission: Impossible - Fallout." (Paramount Pictures) We changed the aircraft. We brought aircraft from the US, the two helicopters you see flying in the film were both American registered. The FAA has an aircraft category that allows us to change them to the experimental category, and that allowed us to do these rigs without too much advance paperwork. We designed them properly and built them properly but we didn't have to go off of the long paperwork exercise that the FAA would normally require to put it under the standard category aircraft. Then we had to convince the New Zealand authorities to let us fly in experimental category. And they said, "Well, we'll agree if the Americans agree." And then the Americans said, "Well, we'll agree if the New Zealand authorities agree." Director Christopher McQuarrie and Tom Cruise on the set of "Mission: Impossible - Fallout." (Paramount Pictures) I know that Tom is very insistent on doing as many practical effects in a movie as possible. Compare this film to something else you might have worked on Would other people have just given in and done a lot more CGI? Most studios don't allow an A-list star to do stunts. They pretend they do, the stars pretend they do, but they don't. They all have stunt doubles and they don't take that risk. And Tom does, Tom takes that risk. He believes that's part of his persona, it's part of why people go to see his films. In terms of doing things practically, I think it really shows in this film that the only special effects that are used, really, are special effects that allow us to paint the wires out that are keeping him safe and things like that. Even when they crash together, those are two real life-size helicopter fuselages. We swing them together on a crane and crash them together, but they're real life-size things. They're not something that's made up in a computer. The computer allows us to make it look more real, but we're not creating those effects in the camera, we're shooting real things. Tom really climbed up into the bottom of the helicopter and he really fell back down and bounced on the bag. He did that in the winter when the temperatures were really cold and he's freezing and he's trying to climb up that rope with frozen hands. I think that shows on his face. Henry Cavill aims at Tom Cruise in the helicopter chase scene from "Mission: Impossible - Fallout." (Paramount Pictures) We built the rigs so we could see him doing that really close up on the helicopter. Normally, you'd be far away from that. The producers provided the money and the time to enable us to do that. When I first presented the budget to the producer for the rigs, it worked out to $250,000 and he fell off his chair and said, "You know I just did 'Dunkirk' and we put huge IMAX cameras on the wing of a Spitfire and it cost me $25,000. How could it possibly cost $250K?" We probably spent more like $300K in the end, and it was a huge success and everybody was really pleased. Getting people to sign off on that and believe that you're going to produce it was one of the big challenges, because everyone is worried about it and there's not enough time. In the end, they have to trust you and let you get on with it. But it was a big ask, really. (photo courtesy Marc Wolff) Do you have advice for any veterans who are looking to get into your profession? Do what I did. When they get out of the military, get some civilian flying experience. I had an interest in filming and storytelling and I loved doing that, compared to the other type of helicopter work. There's all types of work you can do, but I think you need an interest in films and you need to be able to travel around a lot, although pilots have to do that anyway. I came into "Black Hawk Down" when I was in my late 50's. All the pilots I was working with, they were really military pilots. You forget how young military pilots are. They were in their 20's and 30's. We had two of the most experienced military pilots still in service and they were in their early 30's. Because I was ex-military, I was like a godfather to them and so they would listen and work with me to do the things we needed them to do, things which were completely outside of the box, that they hadn't done before. We were trying to spin the helicopter and pretend the tail rotor had failed or got blown off by a missile. That was a really interesting experience for me to go back to military life. We had a whole unit of military -- we had 200 soldiers and probably 11 helicopters, military helicopters. I don't think we could do that today, to be honest, because the political environment probably wouldn't allow us. That was a fantastic experience to go back and remember those days of discipline. In the film industry, we work very carefully, and we risk assess everything we do, but we're not bound by the same protocols that the military are and the same standard operating procedures and the discipline of working in a very organized fashion. We work in an organized fashion and we have our own operating manual that tells us how we should be operating, but the military takes that one step further. On "Black Hawk Down," I had to work within those parameters. I had to convince the military to do it my way when they had their own way to do it. Because if I couldn't do it my way, we wouldn't get the shots that Ridley Scott wanted to make the story work. At the same time, I had to satisfy the military that what we wanted to do, what I wanted them to do, was safe and was being controlled and fit within their own disciplines, their own protocols, their own procedures. I also have done directing on the ground, and I do what's called second unit directing. I do action sequences on the ground, which I got into after directing sequences in the air. So I've become more of a filmmaker than a pilot nowadays, but I'm 71 years old and I've been flying for 50 years. So I guess it's not a bad thing to do a little less flying, but I still do it, I still love it, I'm still very busy. It's fantastic, really. BURBANK, CA -- For the second time this week, someone from Michigan will appear and Jeopardy as Nick Wawrykow, a graduate student from Ann Arbor is set to play the hit quiz game on Friday night, Dec. 7. Wawrykow will face a familiar foe to those who followed Pleasant Ridges Elizabeth Goss earlier this week as he will be looking to dethrone four-day champion David Leffler. Goss lost an extremely close game to Leffler on Monday night, ending her run on the show at two games. Leffler has won more than $100,000 in his four-day run and figures to be a difficult player to beat. Tonights episode airs at the following times across the state: HAMTRAMCK, MI -- A two-year-old boy is dead and a pair of firefighters were injured during a house fire in Hamtramck Friday morning according to the Associated Press. The fire appears to have been started accidentally and involved an electrical matter, but no further details were provided. The two-year-old was among several children who were in the house at the time of the fire. Firefighters rescued four other children and two adults from the house who were then taken to a nearby hospital for treatment for burns and smoke inhalation. Firefighters knew there people trapped and immediately went into search mode when they got there, said Deputy Fire Commissioner David Fornell. WDIV Detroit reports two firefighters suffered burns while rescuing the children inside the burning home. They were treated and released from the hospital. FLINT, MI Deaf and hard-of-hearing children gathered at the Flint Childrens Museum on Thursday, Dec. 6, to celebrate Christmas with Deaf Santa. The event, sponsored by Court Street United Methodist Church, gave children the opportunity to communicate with a signing Santa. Additionally, they had their photo taken, a small gift and could play at the museum the whole night for free. I think all children should have an experience thats magical in the holiday season, said the Rev. Christy Miller-Black. When children are used to not being able to communicate with people around them, it becomes a priceless moment when theyre able to talk to Santa, who is the most magical being of all. Deaf Santa reached out to Court Street United Methodist Church and communicated their concerns about the cost of printing pictures. Because of the sponsorship, the night was free. Mary Sporman gets the chance to relive her childhood through her 5-year-old daughter Kaylee. Both are deaf. This isnt the first time for me because Ive gone to this myself as a child growing up, so its nice to be able to have my daughter go through the same experience as I had, said Swartz Creek resident Mary Sporman as she signed through an interpreter. Knowing I can live my life through her, reliving my experiences, being able to experience a deaf Santa Claus. Its been around for many years. The event wasnt just for children and adults who could sign. It was an opportunity for children who can hear to see people communicating in many different ways. Some of the children were fascinated watching the parents and children talk to each other using their hands, said Jen Peters, an employee at Flint Childrens Museum. Its something that they werent familiar with. Deaf Santa will appear next on Sunday, Dec. 9 at Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Dearborn. A symbolic debate is expected to be resurrected on the grounds of the Michigan Capitol again this holiday season. Thats right: Satan is back to spar with Jesus. A new Grand Rapids-based Satanic group has been approved to put up a holiday display to fill the void left by the retirement of the Snaketivity, according to the Michigan State Capitol Commission. A traditional nativity scene has also been approved, according to the commission. Larissa Wolf, a member of the West Michigan Friends of the Satanic Temple, said she wanted to make sure Satan was represented this year. We didnt want to wait another year with people wondering where the Satanic presence was on the Capitol, she said. Wolfs Satanic group is in its infancy just a year old. They want to pick up where the Satanic Temple of Detroit, the creators of the Snaketivity display, left of. We greatly respected and admired the original Snakevity, Wolf said. The Snaketivity featured a red sake coiled around a black cross with a pentagram on it with a sign that read: The Greatest Gift is Knowledge. It was created in 2014 by the Satanic Temples Detroit chapter as a way to start a conversation about the separation of church and state, according to previous MLive stories. Last year, Snaketivity was a no-show, though. It prompted Wolf and her group to go in search of the sculpture, but the Snaketivity has seemingly vanished. Its whereabouts are a complete mystery, Wolf said. The Satanic Temple of Detroit did not respond to inquiries for this story. Wolf and her group decided to create a new Satanic display: The Star of Reconciliation. The statue, which is being created by the New Hampshire art studio Technically Timeless, features a bust of Baphomet, a demonic horned goat commonly seen in Satanic iconography. The display isnt cheap. Wolf started a GoFundMe page trying to raise $2,000 to pay for the display. As of Friday, Dec. 7, the group had raised $95. Wolf said the statue is still in production and being paid for with private funds. Any more money they raise will help offset the price. The display is not finished yet, but Wolf is confident it will be ready to set it up on the grounds of the Capitol later this month. Their permit allows them to display the Star of Reconciliation for seven consecutive days between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m., according to Wolf, which will occur closer to Christmas. Our goal is to promote religious pluralism in the public sphere, Wolf said. We wanted to take up the challenge of making the state of Michigan prove that theyll stand behind their words after creating this open forum. Baphomet wont be alone at the Capitol. The demon goat will be joined by baby Jesus. Once again, state Sen. Rick Jones is making sure theres a traditional nativity to strike a counterbalance with the presence of the prince of darkness. I made a pledge that I would do it every year I was a senator and I will do it again this year, said the outgoing state senator. I have no problem with them coming back, but Im not going to let them go unchallenged," he added about the Satanic display Former Rep. Mike Callton was also approved for a menorah display to represent Hanukkah, which he set up last year. Editors note: This story has been corrected. The organization is the West Michigan Friends of the Satanic Temple. It was originally identified as the West Michigan Friends of the Church of the Satanic Temple. ANN ARBOR, MI - The University of Michigan has received a $33 million gift from Chris and Lisa Jeffries, whose donation will support the UM Law School. The gift from the couple was announced during the Thursday, Dec. 6 Board of Regents meeting by outgoing Director of Development Jerry May. Chris Jeffries is a 1974 graduate of UM Law. The entirety of the gift is dedicated to student support, including scholarships and other forms of financial aid, summer funding programs and debt management. It is the largest gift in the history of the Law School and the largest ever gift to a public law school. Law school is a unique way of disciplining your mind, and my time at Michigan was formative and memorable, Chris Jeffries said in a news release. Im especially interested in paying the way forward for students who lack financial resources, and this gift will allow them to have opportunities and experiences they otherwise wouldnt be able to. The Jeffries' total lifetime giving commitment to UM is $40 million. Chris Jeffries is the co-founder of Millennium Partners, a real estate development company. After obtaining his law degree from UM, he was a partner in the Southfield-based law firm of Keywell & Rosenfield. In recognition of the gift, UMs Board of Regents voted to rename the Law Schools South Hall, which will become known as Jeffries Hall in honor of the couple. The announcement came as May gave a final update on the Victors for Michigan campaign, which has raised more than $5.1 billion. In October 2018, UM became the first public university to raise $5 billion. The monetization of cruelty and of playing to ever smaller but more loyal slices of the nearly 330 million Americans in the potential television viewing audience means that the trend isn't going to be reversed soon. Speaking to me in the 90s about sexuality in the culture generally and pornography specifically, the late Charles Colson, Richard Nixon's political strategist, counseled that, no matter how large a body of water is, enough pollution pumped into it could kill all the life within. What was true of porn is true of the poison of invective. Programmers, hosts, pundits and performers are responsible for this. Every one of us. ANN ARBOR, MI Those with pending marijuana charges in Washtenaw County might be able to breathe a little deeper, in more ways than one, with the legalization of marijuana Thursday, Dec. 6. Prosecutors are working their way through cases to evaluate and possibly dismiss marijuana charges issued prior to the implementation of the Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marihuana Act, said Chief Assistant Washtenaw County Prosecutor Steve Hiller. In instances where the lone charge someone faces such as one for possession or intent to deliver - would now be legal under the new law, Hiller said the office intends to dismiss the case. The office already has drawn up motions to that effect for some cases. The office also declined to authorize charges on now-sanctioned marijuana charges submitted to his office by police between the Nov. 6 passage of Proposal 1 and the Dec. 6 implementation, he said. Pot has been decriminalized in Ann Arbor since the 1970s, with simple a $25 ticket issued for a first offense of possession. But as of Thursday, marijuana is now legal across the county and state for adults 21 and over to possess, use and grow at home. Adults can now have 2.5 ounces of marijuana on their person, have up to 10 ounces at home and grow up to 12 plants. They still cant drive under the influence or smoke in public, however, and it doesnt mean a free pass with employers either. And not all criminally-charged partakers should get excited for the Washtenaw County prosecutors take. Hiller said marijuana charges included in cases with other charges operating while under the influence, for example may not necessarily be dismissed. He noted the charges came at a time when marijuana was still, in fact, illegal. Theres no reason why that specific charge would need to be dismissed, so were going to look at it on a case-by-case basis and determine what the right thing is to do, Hiller said. Those cases will be addressed when they come up in court, Hiller said. For the cases where the marijuana charge is the singular charge, the department is pulling files and going through cases from specific time periods, Hiller said. They wouldnt easily be able to pull all such cases at once. The office authorized about 5,160 new cases of all types in 2017, Hiller said. Asked about the workload going through prior cases, Hiller said its work that we have to do. As with any new law theres an adjustment period, he said. We went through this with medical marijuana and were kind of sorting our way through this new act, as well. He noted the work will continue once regulations for the commercialization of marijuana are put in place. The recently-dubbed Bureau of Marijuana Regulation has a year to develop rules and regulations to govern the adult-use program, and to accept applications for business licenses. ANN ARBOR, MI - Carolyn Herrmann sat before a group at Bookbound on Thursday, Dec. 6, and read a childrens picture book about Jazz, a child who likes mermaids and has a girl brain but a boy body. The story about a transgender child who transitions from presenting as a boy to a girl is based on the life of Jazz Jennings, a Human Rights Commission youth ambassador who co-authored the book - titled I Am Jazz - with Jessica Herthel. The reading and panel discussion at Bookbound bookstore in Ann Arbor was one of several events planned for bookstores, libraries and schools in Washtenaw and Livingston counties this week as part of a campaign to use I Am Jazz to help children understand that being transgender means a persons sense of gender does not match their physical sex. Herrmann has seen in her own family why introducing transgender issues to children is important. Her 15-year-old son Eli found the words to describe his gender identity after watching a YouTube video of another transgender teen. Eli was 12 when he told his family he is transgender. It resonated on a very deep level with him and spoke to his truth, said Hermann, an Ann Arbor native. He had the proverbial light bulb go off over his head and knew thats me. Eli was part of a video published by the Michigan Organization on Adolescent Sexual Health where local families, medical professionals and elected officials read I Am Jazz. Herthel recorded an introduction thanking Washtenaw and Livingston counties for their efforts to spread a message of inclusivity and unconditional love. Video courtesy of Michigan Organization on Adolescent Sexual Health Its so important for young people to see themselves reflected in the curriculum and in the stories that theyre reading. We just hope that this work can really help promote inclusion and affirmation, said Taryn Gal, executive director of MOASH, which coordinates a Transgender Taskforce that organized the local I Am Jazz events. These events have included readings at local schools. And some parents have voiced concerns about the book being read to elementary school children during the school day. An online petition asking Saline Area Schools to abandon the reading planned for Friday, Dec. 7, received 1,625 signatures in five days. Many of the signatures on the petition directed at Saline schools were anonymous, and some people who signed live out-of-county or out-of-state. It is a serious mistake on many levels to introduce this controversial view of transgender on the whole district. It is confusing to children, contradicts our faith communitys beliefs, and oversteps the schools role, the petition states. Saline Schools announced on Facebook Wednesday that parents could have their children opt out of the I Am Jazz reading and instead participate in a 10-minute alternative activity. The County and Districts goal is to support a positive school and community environment that recognizes the differences among all of us, states a message to families from Saline schools administration and school board members regarding the "I Am Jazz reading. In May 2017, Saline parents successfully pressured school administrators to cut ties with Planned Parenthood, which was going to train students as peer educators to lead lessons on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer issues as part of the schools sex education curriculum. Herrmann had to stop reading some of the online comments related to the petition, she said, because she started having chest pains. Theyre talking about my child and children like him as if theyre almost not human, she said. Theyre failing to see that their words can have a harmful impact. Its important for transgender students to see themselves represented in books and movies at school, Herrmann said, and for all students to learn to understand people who are different than them. Preventing kids from listening to this story doesnt change the fact that transgender kids exist and are among their peers, she said. What message does this send to transgender kids that their experience is not important to learn about? ANN ARBOR, MI - The University of Michigan will sell 17.8 acres of land in the Ann Arbor Technology Park to KLA-Tencor for $26.7 million. The sale was approved by UMs Board of Regents on Thursday, Dec. 6. The land is located west of Dixboro Road and south of Goss Road in Ann Arbor Township. KLA-Tencor expressed interest in developing a research and development center near UM that would allow it to strengthen its long-term relationship, including collaborative research, with the university. The purchase agreement will include a right of first opportunity for the university to reacquire the property, should KLA-Tencor decide to sell the property in the future. The university has periodically sold parcels in the tech park to companies with missions consistent with that of the universitys surrounding communities in the state of Michigan, UM Chief Financial Officer Kevin Hegarty said. We believe the price is fair and recognizes both the fair market value of the land as well as KLA-Tencors serious commitment to establishing a strong relationship with the university and surrounding communities. Hegarty noted KLA-Tencors purchase of the property would result in the addition of between 300 to 500 new jobs to the area. I must say that having worked with representatives of KLA-Tencor throughout the process, all of us involved found the executive team and the corporate ethos to be a wonderful fit and a strong addition to our university and the community, Hegarty said. KLA-Tencor announced it was establishing a research and development facility in Ann Arbor in October, which was expected to result in an investment of $70 million. KLA-Tencor is a global capital equipment company based in Milpitas, California, that supplies process control and yield management systems for the semiconductor and related nanoelectronics industries. Support from Ann Arbor SPARK, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and University of Michigan encouraged KLA-Tencor to open its new office in Ann Arbor, said Phil Santer, senior vice president and chief of staff for Ann Arbor SPARK. KLA-Tencor will temporarily occupy existing office space in Ann Arbor while constructing its new research and development facility. ANN ARBOR, MI - A building that once contained thousands of museum artifacts on the University of Michigan campus will soon be filled with classroom space to accommodate 1,400 students. UMs Board of Regents on Thursday, Dec. 6 approved the schematic design for a planned renovation of the Ruthven Museums Building, which will now be known as simply the Ruthven Building. The board approved the $150 million project last December, allowing the building, which previously housed the Museum of Natural History and the universitys three research museums, to be repurposed. Plans for the building include constructing a new 100,000-square-foot building called the Central Campus Classroom 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. UM Vice Provost of Academic and Budgetary Affairs Amy Dittmar said the new Central Campus Classroom Building addresses a university need in providing more opportunities for large-scale, team-based learning. We remain constrained by our facilities and our ability to teach large courses in engaging ways, Dittmar said. Our large classrooms have the largest utilization on campus and only a few of them support team-based and engaged learning. The Central Campus classroom building will provide the campus state-of-the-art classrooms designed to enhance active and team-based learning. Dittmar noted the plans provide a unique, 360-degree learning experience for students in some large classrooms. This is an excellent location for a classroom building because its close to residence halls and food service, its right next to the transit hub and its within a 5-10 minute walk to most buildings on Central Campus, Dittmar said. We expect that the Central Campus classroom building will be vibrant and full of energy throughout the day as well as into the evening, with approximately 10,000 students attending class each day. 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. Space in Ruthven also will be provided in the renovated facility to conduct formal and informal meetings of the Board of Regents. Ruthven was designed by renowned 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 universitys central administration. As part of the renovations, UMs current administrative home, the Fleming Administration Building, will be demolished once the move is complete. FLINT, MI -- Michigans chief medical executive was bound over to circuit court on charges including involuntary manslaughter, obstruction of justice and lying to a peace officer, a Genesee District Court judge ruled Friday, Dec. 7. Judge William Crawford made the decision to bind over Dr. Eden Wells for trial in Genesee Circuit Court, saying special prosecutors showed there was probable cause to believe a homicide occurred during the Flint water crisis and that she committed it. It is not this courts duty to determine guilt or innocence, Crawford said. Crawford said questions about Wells responsibilities during the water crisis must be determined by a jury. Special prosecutors claimed Wells was responsible for the death of John Snyder, who died from Legionnaires' disease after he was a patient at McLaren-Flint hospital. Wells, 55, was also bound over on charges obstruction of justice and lying to a peace officer, becoming the third individual with a case related to Flint water thats now on track for a jury trial. Circuit Judge Joseph Farah is expected to have the Wells case assigned to his court and is also handling the cases of Nick Lyon, director of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, and former Flint emergency manager Gerald Ambrose. 27 Michigan chief medical executive Eden Wells in Flint water crisis preliminary examination Ambrose waived his preliminary examination in Genesee District Court, and his attorneys and special prosecutors have said they are attempting to negotiate a plea agreement in which Ambrose would testify in other prosecutions. Lyon has filed a motion to quash his bind over to Circuit Court and his attorneys have said they also expect to file a motion for a change of venue if the case goes forward. LAPEER, MI The police chief in Lapeer apologized for destroying rape kits before the statute of limitations was up following a report from CNN that unveiled the practice. There were 10 rape kits destroyed by the Lapeer Police Department, including five that involved minors, according to the report. CNNs Nov. 29 report noted there were rape kits in 14 states that were destroyed and involved 400 cases before the statute of limitations was up or where there was no limit to prosecute. Lapeer Chief David W. Frisch said his department has updated its policies on sexual assault kits that aligns with Michigan Public Act 227 of 2014. We acknowledge that in the past, some kits were destroyed before all possible legal steps had been exhausted and we apologize for this, Frisch said in a statement. That will no longer be the case. We view these issues as a high priority for our community and will be following the policies required by state law. MLive-The Flint Journal could not reach Frisch on Friday, Dec. 7 for further comment. The Sexual Assault Kit Evidence Submission Act set new standards for prompt testing across the state when signed by Gov. Rick Snyder. The legislation was inspired by the discovery of some 11,000 untested rape kits in a Detroit police warehouse in 2009. HOLLAND, MI Matthew A. Scogin, chief administrative officer at the global financial advisory firm Perella Weinberg Partners in New York, will be the 14th president of Hope College. Scogin, described as an innovative leader from outside higher education, was unanimously elected by the Board of Trustees for the job Friday, Dec. 7. He has been a member of the board since 2016. It is with great humility and a deep sense of calling that I am so pleased to be returning to Hope College to help steward this great institution through the next chapter of its long, rich history and ensure that Hope continues to do for future generations what it did for my wife and me, said Scogin, a 2002 Hope graduate. He will take the reins of the Christian, liberal arts college founded in partnership with the Reformed Church in America on July 1, 2019. He replaces John C. Knapp, who resigned effective July 2017 to lead Washington & Jefferson College in Pennsylvania. As a strategic thinker who has worked on the most important economic and social issues facing our nation, Matt will bring intellectual depth and visionary leadership to Hope College, said board chair Karly Droppers. Matt personifies the mission of Hope, as he has led a life of leadership and service at the highest levels of business and government.'' Droppers said Scogin is also a passionate follower of Christ and brings a strong commitment to inclusive excellence and diversity and articulates the colleges mission with contagious and inspiring enthusiasm. This makes him the perfect leader for Hopes next chapter, he said. Scogin said becoming president of Hope was not a career goal, but developed out of his love for the college and desire to serve the community. At the end of the day, when I think about who I am as a person, I am a kid from West Michigan who had the extraordinary privilege of going to Hope College, Scogin said. Thats still how I see myself because this place changed my life. His wife, Sarah, is also a 2002 graduate of Hope, where she majored in music and computer science. The couple reside in lower Manhattan with their three children: Sophie (10), Lucy (8) and Oliver (6). Scogin has been with Perella Weinberg Partners since 2014. He has also held senior positions with both the New York Stock Exchange and U.S. Treasury Department. He also has served on nonprofit boards. He said some of his leadership skills will translate to higher education and some of them will not. In government Ive learned to lead when there are lots of constituencies and how to find shared missions among lots of constituencies and that will translate, Scogin said. In business Ive learned how to run large complicated organizations and I think that will translate. Ive learned how to set a strategy and how to set a vision and then drive toward that strategy and I think that will translate. Scogin said through some of his church and nonprofit work, he has also learned about fundraising. I know I have a lot of learning to do and I dont want to presume to have too many answers too soon,'' he said. "Im excited to learn what I dont know.'' Scogin was selected following an international search. Hope had 79 applicants for the job. Three finalists came to campus in November for the final round of interviews. Hope enrolled about 3,150 students this fall. Tuition for the 2018-19 school year is $33,700. The total direct costs including room, board and activity and service fees is $44,320. In 2019-20, tuition will be $34,990 and the total direct costs at $45,960 Scogin has a few priorities, including make the college more accessible. Five years from now, he said he envisions the endowment being bigger than the approximately $75,000 per student it is now. "It is not for the sake of having a big bank account but because of what the endowment allows up to do. It allows us to make a Hope College education more accessible, focus on our programs, focus on our faculty and pay faculty at a more competitive rate,'' Scogin said. He said he also wants to continue the colleges focus on diversity. He said he also sees a more diverse Hope five years from now because diversity makes educational, community, and work environments richer. The three big themes he said he wants the college to focus on are: the future of learning, the future of work, and the future economic model of higher education. Fridays announcement caps what was approaching a two-year search for a successor to Knapp, who announced his departure in April 2017. Dennis Voskuil, director of its A.C. Van Raalte Institute, has served as the interim president since July 2017. Knapp, who had served since July 2013, avoided termination a year before departure when the Executive Committee withdrew its motion to recommend his termination on April 12, 2016. They were influenced by a strong display of support for Knapp from students, faculty and alumni. Hundreds gathered to protest the ouster. While the committee backed off it reiterated that it still had serious concerns about Knapps performance but never elaborated. In the absence of details, there was plenty of speculation, including that Knapps decision to ask Provost Richard Ray to step down to usher in new leadership upset some members. Others said his vision and approach to dealing with issues were simply out of sync with the board majority. On Friday, everyone was focused on the future under Scogins leadership. In a very strong candidate pool, Matts passion, commitment, and preparation to serve as Hopes 14th president were evident to the search committee throughout the selection process, said search-committee chair Suzanne Shier, who is also a member of the Board of Trustees. His background, experience and leadership capacity embody the attributes for leadership identified in the candidate profile: Christ centered, mission oriented, academically minded, student focused, community builder, champion for diversity and inclusion, fundraiser, strategist, experienced executive and exceptional communicator. The college is not releasing his salary or details of his contract. Scogin double majored in political science and economics at Hope, and has a masters degree in public policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Prior to his current position, he was at NYSE Euronext, where from 2009 to 2014 he served as the senior vice president and chief of staff at the 3,000-person company that ran the New York Stock Exchange and five exchanges in Europe. Scogin is active in many community organizations. He serves on the Board of Directors for Restore NYC, a Christian non-profit dedicated to ending sex trafficking in New York City, and on the Board of Directors of the SIFMA Foundation for Financial Education. He also volunteers as the CFO and as a lay pastor at Lower Manhattan Community Church in New York City. As a proud and grateful alumnus, I believe in what Hope stands for and its ability to change a life. It changed mine, he said. BATTLE CREEK, MI -- A Jewish symbol sculpted into the side of a synagogue in Battle Creek was vandalized with a hammer. A concrete menorah sculpted on the side of the building near the entrance was chipped in multiple spots by what appears to be a chisel and hammer, Co-president Larry Kaiser at Temple Beth El, said in an interview with MLive. Its painful to feel unwelcome and hated in your own community, Kaiser said. The damage was found Friday, Nov. 23. Kaiser believes it was done on Thanksgiving Day when no one was at the building, he said. There was no sign that the vandals attempted to come inside the synagogue, Kaiser said. They simply destroyed a Jewish symbol. We feel its a hate crime, he said. The synagogue sits alongside other houses of worship on Capital Avenue in Battle Creek. But it was the only building targeted, he said. We were picked out, Kaiser said. About a year and half ago, vandals drew a backwards swastika on the building, he said. But that was easily washed away. This is permanent damage, he said. Kaiser and other leaders are working to find a craftsman with the skill to duplicate the sculpture, which is part of a limestone panel on the 70-year-old building. Friday night, the congregation will gather for a potluck-style meal to celebrate Hanukkah, which is an annual reminder of the rebuilding of the Jewish temple after it was destroyed by invaders in Biblical times. The themes and messages taught are still with us, Kaiser said. Kaiser was born and raised in Battle Creek and said in general, the Jewish community felt welcome. But a nationwide increase in anti-Semitic attacks arent going unnoticed by the congregation. On the whole, we felt very much a part of the community, Kaiser said. Thats a dream you expect to continue and it hurts when you lose your dream. Battle Creek Police Sgt. Chad Fickle said they are monitoring the situation and have frequented the synagogue to watch for future incidences. Police have been in contact with the Anti-Defamation League in Detroit, but do not feel the damage was based on race or religion. We have nothing to indicate this was a hate crime in any way, Fickle said. Police are monitoring the site and have looked for security camera footage that would have shown the crime. But no suspects have been found, he said. Somebody in the community knows who did this, Fickle said. Police ask that anyone with information call 269-966-3322. MUSKEGON, MI - A woman with a lengthy criminal history has been given the chance to avoid jail for stealing from an elderly man. Susan Louise Adams, 62, pleaded no contest to embezzlement from a vulnerable adult. The victim was a 90-year-old man experiencing the early stages of dementia, according to the Muskegon County Prosecutor's Office. Adams stole at least $2,000 from the victim after befriending him, according to the prosecutor's office. She was sentenced on Nov. 26 to 12 months in jail with credit for 76 days by Muskegon County Circuit Judge Timothy Hicks. However, Hicks suspended the remaining 289 days of her sentence, which means she likely won't have to serve it if she successfully completes 24 months of probation. Hicks also ordered Adams to pay $2,000 in restitution and another $1,098 in court fines and costs. An alert bank teller is credited with notifying a member of the victim's family after she saw the man coming to the bank with Adams and appearing to be giving money to her. That family member contacted police. Adams has a considerable criminal background, including felony convictions for delivery of marijuana in 1999; possession of cocaine in 1999; possession of a controlled substance in 2002, 2010, 2011 and 2013; and uttering and publishing in 2014. She also has a 2013 misdemeanor larceny conviction. She was discharged from prison in September 2016, according to the Michigan Department of Corrections website. MUSKEGON COUNTY, MI - A mistrial has been declared after a Muskegon County jury couldn't reach a verdict in the murder case against a man accused of ordering the killing of an underling in his drug-dealing business. Jeremy Darnell Morton, 31, of Muskegon was charged with open murder for allegedly arranging the murder of Darnell Byrd in 2015. On Friday afternoon, Dec. 7, Muskegon County Circuit Judge Timothy Hicks declared a mistrial after jury members announced they were hopelessly deadlocked. According to testimony of Josiah Fousse, one of two convicted of actually shooting Byrd, Morton ordered Byrd to be killed because he believed Byrd had "snitched' on him about an earlier shootout in which a man died and several, including Byrd, were injured. However, the defense claimed Fousse killed Byrd - not under threat by Morton -- because he believed Byrd snitched about an earlier homicide in Cincinnati at which they both were present. The jury began deliberating late Wednesday afternoon, Dec. 5, and continued through Thursday and much of Friday. During deliberations on Thursday, the jury told Hicks it was deadlocked and it was given instructions about overcoming a deadlock and told to try again to reach a consensus. Jury members then began reviewing videotaped testimony from the trial, but it wasn't enough for the 12 members to reach agreement. Morton has been in jail waiting trial for more than three years in the complicated case that has been the subject of a Michigan Court of Appeals ruling. He likely will remain in jail as long as the prosecutor decides to reissue the murder charge. Attorneys with the prosecution and defense could not immediately be reached for comment. The case was a challenge for the Muskegon County Prosecutor's Office because it had no direct evidence tying Morton to the shooting of Byrd in a Muskegon Heights alley. Instead, the prosecutor's Chief Trial Attorney Matt Roberts relied primarily on the testimony of Fousse, who pleaded no contest to second-degree murder in exchange for his cooperation in the prosecution of Morton. Fousse said he and Byrd, who was his best friend, came to Muskegon from Ohio looking for work, and the two of them ended up selling crack cocaine for Morton. He said in exchange, Morton gave them food and shelter, and that because he and Byrd were strangers in town, they also depended on Morton for protection. He and others testified that Morton's girlfriend and two other women got into a fight at a bar and in retaliation, Morton sent Fousse and Byrd into the East Park Manor housing project to seek revenge. Armed with guns that Morton gave them, they ended up being jumped in the "projects" and a shootout ensued, Fousse said. Byrd was shot and Fousse ran from the scene. Authorities later said they believe Byrd killed Thedrick Bryant and that Fousse shot and wounded another man. While jailed following the shootout, Byrd talked to police and fingered an innocent man he falsely indicated was also with them at the shootout. However, Fousse testified that Morton believed Byrd had implicated Morton and that as a result Byrd "had to go." Fearful that Morton would kill him if he didn't kill Byrd, Fousse said he and Kierelle Burns shot Byrd in the back as they walked down the alley on Sept. 5, 2015. Defense Attorney Kevin Simowski argued that Fousse killed Byrd because he was afraid Byrd had snitched on him about a homicide the two were present at in Cincinnati before they came to Muskegon. Fousse testified he provided a gun to Jaleel Smith-Riley for what he believed was going to be a robbery. He testified that Smith-Riley approached a parked car inside of which a couple was sitting, pulled the gun and tried to rob them. The couple both were shot, and the woman died as a result and Smith-Riley was convicted of murder. Fousse said he and Byrd were present when the crime occurred. However, he said he didn't realize Smith-Riley was going to shoot the couple. He testified that he and Byrd came to Muskegon in August 2015, nearly two years after the Cincinnati homicide. Simowski argued they came because they knew Ohio authorities were closing in on them for their involvement in the homicide. Simowski argued that Fousse killed Byrd because he believed Byrd had told police following the East Park Manor shootout about their involvement in the Cincinnati killing. Public charge is a term used in immigration law to refer to a person who is primarily dependent on the government to meet his or her basic needs. It is applied to people seeking to enter this country or to obtain permanent resident status. Historically, the public charge test focused on whether applicants were receiving cash assistance for income maintenance or would need to be institutionalized for long-term care at government expense. Under the new proposal (public comments are open through midnight Monday), use of programs such as Medicaid, food and housing assistance, and potentially even the Childrens Health Insurance Program will be part of the assessment. Additionally, income counts toward this determination: Applications could be denied if the official does not think the person makes enough money to support himself or herself or their family. SAGINAW, MI -- A tearful caregiver testified about finding the body of her patient during the preliminary examination for a man accused of providing a man with a fatal dose of heroin. Arthur W. Dittmar, 50, is charged with single counts of delivery of heroin causing death and delivery of a narcotic or cocaine less than 50 grams. Prosecutors allege that Dittmar caused 42-year-old Jason E. Dupuis death on Aug. 7 by delivering heroin mixed with fentanyl to Dupuis home on Clayburn Drive in Saginaw Township. During his preliminary hearing on Friday, Dec. 7, in front of Saginaw County District Court Judge Elian E. H. Fichtner, Certified Nurse Assistant Mary Beth Bugenske testified that she found Dupuis unresponsive when she returned from giving Dittmar a ride home. Bugenske said that on Aug. 7 she took Dupuis, for whom she was a caregiver, to an ATM to withdraw some money and when they returned to his home a car was there. Dittmar was a passenger in the car. According to Bugenske, Dupuis talked with Dittmar while Bugenske went inside the home. Dupuis and Dittmar entered the home shortly after and went to Dupuis room. Dupuis had asked if Bugenske would take Dittmar home if he hung out for a little while, to which she agreed. Bugenske said that after about 20-25 minutes, Dittmar emerged from the room and asked for a ride home. Bugenske obliged. Bugenske said she tried to go to Dupuis room to let him know she was taking Dittmar home but Dittmar stopped her and said, Jason fell asleep, and you know how he is when he falls asleep. You cant wake him up. After dropping Dittmar off in Carrollton Township, Bugenske returned to the home on Clayburn and continued doing laundry and paperwork. Bugenske testified that at some point she went to Dupuis room and saw that his skin was white. Bugenske started crying at this point in her testimony and the bailiff handed her a tissue. Bugenske said she called for Dupuis roommate for help. They called 911 and performed CPR, she testified. A detective from Saginaw Township Police Department testified that Dupuis became a suspect when they found text messages from that day between Dupuis and Dittmar discussing a heroin deal. When police questioned Dittmar he said that he had been with Dupuis earlier that day but was unable to find him any heroin and that Dupuis eventually found some laying around in his room. The medical examiner ruled that Dupuis died from a drug overdose. Fichtner ruled that enough evidence was presented to bind Dittmar over for trial. The Young Authors Organization at Sycamore Elementary School recently won a $500 grant from Michigan Youth Arts and the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs to help pay for a school-wide field trip. "We're very excited. It's quite the opportunity," Sycamore Elementary Principal Amy Mielke said. The grant will go towards the estimated $2,800 that will pay for a school-wide trip to see the musical "Madagascar" at the Civic Theatre in Kalamazoo in March. Mielke said she is "thrilled" and proud of her staff. According to Ronda Gilbert, grant writer of the award and a first-grade teacher, funds to help pay for the trip also were raised over the past two years through Sycamore's "Tuesday Treat" day, in which students purchase morning snacks. The field trip was planned to celebrate March reading month. The musical "Madagascar" is expected to provide the 300 students from Sycamore an engaging cultural experience and an opportunity to enjoy, explore and interact with a theatrical musical performance. "I'm honored to work with staff that are so dedicated to finding events that are going to benefit all of our kids," Mielke said. "I am just honored that I work for Hopkins." I parried for a while with one of their PR guys, who said everything is on background, no direct quotes and didn't provide me with a number of packages reported stolen, the monetary damage these thefts do to Amazon or what, exactly, Amazon's policy is on replacing anything reported stolen. It's a case-by-case basis, he said, which was my own personal experience. Sometimes they sent me a replacement, no problem. Other times I got stiffed. In Chinas communist-run political system, lines of control and influence between Beijing and privately operated enterprises are murky when those lines exist at all. Some Chinese companies are owned directly by the government, but all owe a level of fealty to the government. A few weeks ago, the Chinese news media disclosed that Jack Ma, a Chinese internet entrepreneur worth $39 billion, is a Communist Party member. The revelation isnt scandalous because it reflects the reality of the Chinese hybrid system: Theres no place for business owners and executives to hide in an authoritarian state. So they might as well join the party and accrue the benefits. Rather than cleaning up Springfield, Blagojevich further defiled it. Yet running for re-election in 2006, his TV ads slimed incorruptible opponent Judy Baar Topinka as if she were the crook in the race. We were writing that the scent of scandal around him signified more than smoke it was a five-alarm fire. The fatal, lets-never-repeat mistake was that in order to re-elect Blagojevich, Illinoisans had to look past all of this: Granules India Ltd. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Drug firm AstraZeneca Pharma India on December 7 said it has entered into a distribution agreement with Abbott Healthcare for distribution of diabetes medicine Dapagliflozin in India. Dapagliflozin, an innovative Type 2 diabetes medicine, is AstraZeneca Pharma's leading diabetes medicine. "Under the agreement, Abbott will promote and distribute Dapagliflozin under the brand name GLEDEPA. Abbott will also gain the rights to promote and distribute the combination of dapagliflozin with metformin under the brand name GLEDEPA MET," AstraZeneca Pharma said in a regulatory filing. AstraZeneca Pharma, which did not share financial details of the agreement, said it will continue to promote and distribute dapagliflozin under the brand name Forxiga and combination of dapagliflozin with metformin under the brand name Xigduo. Shares of AstraZeneca Pharma were trading 0.54 percent higher at Rs 1,341.35 apiece on BSE. The Union Cabinet on December 6 gave its ex-post facto approval to an agreement between India and Zimbabwe for cooperation in the field of geology, mining and mineral resources. The objectives of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed last month include exchange of information on resources, laws and policy, organisation of seminars, encouragement of transfer of technologies between the parties, promotion of value addition and opportunities for investment in the mining sector. These provisions will enable taking up of activities like documentation, dissemination and would serve the objective of innovation, according to an official statement. "The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given ex-post facto approval to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Zimbabwe for cooperation in the field of geology, mining and mineral resources. The MoU was signed on November 3, 2018 at Harare, Zimbabwe," the statement said. It said the agreement will provide an "institutional mechanism" between India and Zimbabwe for cooperation in the identified fields. On reviewing the proposal for space technology cooperation possibilities with Tajikistan, it said the country has expressed interest in availing customised training programme for its officials on land resources management/agricultural resources management and disaster management support. Accordingly, ISRO's Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (MRS) has offered short-term training courses for 60 officials (three batches) from Tajikistan under MEA's ITEC programme during July -December 2017. In the meantime, Indian Ambassador to Tajikistan and Joint Secretary (Eurasia), MEA suggested formalising a MoU on space cooperation with Tajikistan and a draft MoU on space cooperation was shared with our mission to Tajikistan in November, 2016. After few exchanges, both sides have arrived at a mutually agreed version of Inter-Governmental MoU and the same was signed and exchanged during the state visit of the President of India to Tajikistan. No. 9 | WOW Air | Icelands low-cost carrier WOW Air took the ninth spot. The airline announced its entry earlier this month and it will start operating from December by offering direct flights to Reykjavik from Delhi. Iceland's low-cost long-haul airline WOW air's maiden flight from Delhi to Reykjavik, Iceland takes off on Friday. The airline is not only excited about commencing India operations, it is looking to increase an array of offerings in the country. Since the airline announced its foray into India, it has been aggressively promoting low rates that can get a passenger a flight ticket for the US or Canada for as low as Rs 14,500. Kiran Jain, MD at WOW air India spoke to Moneycontrol to reveal the airline's strategy. Edited excerpts: Q: You have flights starting at Rs 14,500 for Delhi to various locations in the US and Canada, which is the price only for the seat. Given the flight duration, passengers will have to buy food onboard and pay for the luggage, will this push up the price of the journey drastically? A: Firstly you have complete control over what you want to pay for, so add-ons need to be selected smartly. Secondly, given all basic add-ons, we would still be charging passengers 25 percent less as compared to other carriers. There is no cheaper way to get to North America and Canada from India. Additionally, these extremely low price seats are limited (he did not disclose the number of seats), hence those who constantly keep tracking tickets can avail these offers. It's like a fastest finger first arrangement. But like I said, the price will still remain lower as compared to other carriers. Staying true to our mission of enabling everyone to fly, we're offering reasonably low fares to our destinations and are hopeful that more people will have an opportunity to fly around the world. Q: What has been the response so far? Was the maiden flight to Iceland fully booked? A: I cannot reveal numbers, but the response we have received from India has been overwhelming and we hope to continue this trend going forward. Our ultra-low fares reflect the need for affordable travel from India to transatlantic destinations and has also given an opportunity for Iceland to open up to the world as a tourist destination for the Indian travellers. Q: Tell us a little about your India operations. A: WOW air serves a number of destinations from New Delhi including Chicago, Orlando, New York, Detroit, Baltimore, Boston, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, Washington DC in the US, Toronto and Montreal in Canada and Reykjavik in Iceland. We are flying three days a week -- on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. WOW air has four exciting fare options including WOW basic, WOW plus, WOW comfy and WOW premium. The airline gives a cost-effective opportunity to break-up long-haul journeys across the Atlantic and simultaneously enjoy breath-taking scenic destinations or outdoor adventures in Iceland. Q: Do you plan to expand operations from India? A: Expansion totally depends on how customers accept us in the Indian market. For now we will fly out only from Delhi and the frequency of operations will remain the same at least until the end of this fiscal. Later we will evaluate our performance and decide the way ahead. Q: What are the India specific offerings you have? We have recruited a part of our crew from India and we have concentrated on serving food that suits the Indian taste. The Oberoi Group is our food partner and we have meals that would suit Indian taste buds. That apart, we are running special promotions for the wedding season where a couple getting married between November this year and May 2019 get a chance to win a fully paid five-day trip to Iceland. With Air Italy commencing its direct flights from Delhi and Mumbai, travelling between India and Italy will be a lot easier for the 1.12 lakh travellers visiting the European country. The Italian airline launched its India operations on December 6 in New Delhi. "India is a fascinating and dynamic destination and is a significant base for business and tourism..." said Rossen Dimitrov, Chief Operating officer, Air Italy. Air Italy will be competing with Air India and Alitalia that already operate direct flights between India and Italy and is entering the Indian market at a time when the aviation sector is in turmoil due to high aviation fuel prices and a depreciating rupee. "India is a very important market. We can never say it's a good or a bad time to enter... We know how many people travel between India and Italy and that's an opportunity," Dimitrov told Moneycontrol. He said that though the margins are low, an airline operator needs to watch what it is doing and do it smartly. "Profitablity remains in the planning process. So, how you operate and handle your cost has to be seen. You have to look at your fixed costs, at your operating costs and need to be on your toes..." he said adding, "You need to watch the market closely, you need to watch your spending and you need to see what your competitors are doing". Air Italy will provide three flights from Mumbai to Milan, one each on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and three flights from Delhi to Milan (one each) on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. The airline will also provide connecting flights to Rome, Catania, Palermo, Naples and Lamezia. "We will also provide (connecting) flights to New York, Miami and Toronto," the COO said. He said that the duration of these connecting flights will be varying between two to four hours, depending on the destination. The COO also pitched the airline as a way to promote Italy as a tourist hub and said that the airline will provide "premium services" to its customers including in-flight WiFi, customised menu for Indian travelers and fully-flat beds in the business class section. "We promote Italy as a destination... So that's our first priority to provide point to point flights. However, we do provide options to connect, " he said adding that while it is early to say about the" percentage of connecting flights to US or Canada", the operator hopes that "Italy would grow" through these flights and "Indians would explore (European market) through the point to point service". Air Italy is jointly owned by Alisarda (51 percent) and Qatar Airways (49 percent). While sector watchers said this could a way for Qatar Airways to enter the Indian market, Dimitrov refuted the claims. "Qatar Airways is a minority shareholder. We don't quote share in the airline... We are offering services to Milan and not Qatar, " he said. Qatar Airways had first expressed its intentions to operate in India in March 2017. Indian government allows foreign direct investment in airlines only up to 49 percent by foreign airlines. The first Boeing 737 MAX 7 is unveiled in Renton Following the devastating crash of a Lion Air aircraft in October, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued guidelines to SpiceJet and Jet Airways regarding Boeing 737 Max planes. These include issuing directions to crew to divert flight to and landing at the nearest, suitable airport. According to government sources, a meeting was held between DGCA and the two airlines, the only operators of B737 Max in India, on December 3 to decide "interim precautionary safety measures" with their operations and engineering team. The airlines were advised to "train pilots on simulators to an exercise which replicates the Lion air crash scenario to the nearest possible extent". Sources also said that the government-body has asked the airlines to divert the flight to the nearest suitable airport in case of default and to provide "detailed technical information to the crew regarding Maneuvering Characteristics Argumentation System (MCAS)". The Lion Air flight crashed on October 29, soon after taking off from Jakarta, killing all 189 on board. The crash happened due to lack of understanding of MCAS, the software on the aircraft that prevents it from stalling. Government sources have said that B737 Max operators need to conduct "flight verification" before taking off the flight after "rectification of the snag". While India has never faced any such crash, the government believed it was important to issue instructions to the airlines. The guidelines have been made based on the preliminary investigation done by Indonesia's National Transport Safety Committee. SpiceJet and Jet Airways own five B737 Max aircrafts each. Microsoft President Brad Smith has expressed optimism about the potential of facial recognition technology as he cited the example of India, where it helped in identifying almost 3,000 missing children in four days. Smith wants to see tech companies proactively adopting policies that prohibit abuse of the technology and he hopes to hold Microsoft up as an example. "As with all new technology, the uses of facial recognition are multiplying in both predictable and surprising ways. But it's increasingly clear that a great many of these uses have created many new and positive benefits for people around the world, he wrote. In countries like India, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been used for positive benefit, Smith wrote. "It's striking to review the breadth of this innovation. Police in New Delhi recently trialed facial recognition technology and identified almost 3,000 missing children in four days, Smith wrote in his blog which made no reference to the Chinese use of AI. Microsoft is one of several companies playing a leading role in developing facial recognition technology, he said. "We're working with customers around the world, while acting aggressively on industry-leading efforts to improve the capability of this technology to recognise faces with a range of ages and skin toes," he added. Smith argued that one needs to be clear-eyed about the risks and potential for abuse. He was concerned about a future in which facial recognition spreads without strong regulations. There are three problems that governments need to address, he said. "Especially in its current state of development, certain uses of facial recognition technology increase the risk of decisions and, more generally, outcomes that are biased and, in some cases, in violation of laws prohibiting discrimination, he wrote. He said the widespread use of this technology can lead to new intrusions into the people's privacy. The use of facial recognition technology by a government for mass surveillance can encroach on democratic freedoms. We believe all three of these problems should be addressed through legislation, Smith said. "There is one potential use for facial recognition technology that could put our fundamental freedoms at risk," he said. "When combined with ubiquitous cameras and massive computing power and storage in the cloud, a government could use facial recognition technology to enable continuous surveillance of specific individuals, he added. It could follow anyone anywhere, or for that matter, everyone everywhere. It could do this at any time or even all the time. "This use of facial recognition technology could unleash mass surveillance on an unprecedented scale," he warned. business Reporter's Take | Why has the Huawei executive been arrested? Stanford Masters gets in conversation with Moneycontrol's Nazim Khan to discuss the accusations against Huawei, China's reaction and more. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Zydus Wellness has said it will be raising Rs 2,574.99 crore through issue of shares on a preferential basis to fund the Rs 4,595 crore Heinz India acquisition. The issue price of equity shares is fixed at Rs. 1,382/, which is calculated in accordance with the requirements of the SEBI ICDR Zydus Wellness board approved issuing equity shares of face value of Rs 10 each on a preferential basis to the parent Cadila Healthcare, True North (previously known as India Value Fund), Pioneer Investment Fund and Zydus Family Trust, the company said in a filing to stock exchanges. Cadila Healthcare will be pumping Rs 1,175 crore through preferential route to fund the deal. The board has also given its nod to raise debt by issuing listed, secured, redeemable, non-convertible debentures on a private placement basis for an amount up to Rs 1,500 crore anytime within a year from the date of passing the special resolution. Cadila Healthcare holds around 72.08 percent of Zydus Wellness, while the Zydus Family Trust holds about 0.45 percent. Zydus Wellness, a part of the Ahmedabad-based Zydus Group, said on November 2 that it will be funding two-thirds of the Rs 4,595 crore Heinz India acquisition through equity and the remaining via debt. Shares of Zydus Wellness rose 0.95 percent to close at Rs 1249.85. Moneycontrol News The government on December 7 appointed Krishnamurthy Subramanian as the Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) to the finance minister for a period of three years. The main role of a CEA is to advise the government on key economic issues. Besides, the adviser and its team comes out with an annual Economic Survey ahead of Union Budget. Subramanian, who is currently the associate professor of finance (with tenure) and executive director for the Centre for Analytical Finance at country's premier business-school Indian School of Business, is expected to take charge in the next 10 days. The post of CEA was lying vacant for over four months, after Arvind Subramanian earlier this year said that he will return back to the US for personal reasonsto a life of researching, writing, teaching and reflecting. He had joined as the CEA on October 16, 2014, for a period of three years, which was later extended. Although his official contract was till May 2019, he cut short his extended tenure. A PhD from Chicago-Booth and a top-ranking IIT-IIM alumnus, Krishnamurthy Subramanian is one of the worlds leading experts in banking, corporate governance and economic policy. In previous academic roles, Subramanian served on the finance faculty at Goizueta Business School at Emory University in the United States. He is an MBA and PhD in financial economics at Chicagos Booth School of Business under the advice of Professor Luigi Zingales and Professor Raghuram Rajan. Before beginning his academic career, Subramanian worked as a consultant with JPMorgan Chase in New York. He also served in a management role in the elite derivatives research group at ICICI Ltd, which at the time was Indias top project financing institution. At the top end, the perception persists that the Phillies are driving the market, a notion they are not even trying to hide, with owner John Middleton last month telling USA Today he is ready to spend, and may "be a little stupid" in doing so. Having streamlined their roster in recent years in anticipation of this winter, they appear poised to sign either Harper or Machado their preference, though, is a closely guarded secret with some still speculating they could make a play for both. (They also were known to covet Corbin, before the Nationals got him by offering the sixth guaranteed year.) In the next 16 years, India will dominate the list of fastest growing cities in the world, according to a study by Oxford Economics. 17 of the 20 fastest-growing cities in the world between 2019 and 2035 will be Indian, with Bengaluru (Bangalore), Hyderabad, and Chennai among the strongest performers, the report said. Topping the list is Surat which is a major diamond trading and processing centre and also has a strong presence of IT companies. Second on the list is Agra followed by Bengaluru and Hyderabad. Other cities in the top 10 ranks include Nagpur, Tirupur, Rajkot, Tiruchirappalli, Chennai, and Vijayawada. In terms of GDP in 2035, Bengaluru, Mumbai and Delhi figure in the top 10 list with projected GDP growth at 8.5 percent, 6.6 percent, and 6.5 percent respectively. According to the report, Bengaluru which is known as a technology hub will grow rapidly. Hence, it tops the list of worlds top 10 cities in 2035 in terms of GDP growth. By 2035, the combined GDP of Indian cities will still be very small compared with the Chinese (or indeed, North American and European) cities. However, in terms of GDP growth, it is Indian cities that are the star performers in our forecast, said Richard Holt, head of global cities research at Oxford Economics in a report by The Times of India. The report by Richard Holt says that in 2027, the aggregate GDP of all Asian cities in the forecast will for the first time exceed the combined GDP of all North American and European cities. By 2035, the report projects, it will be 17 percent higher, with Chinese cities alone generating more output than all cities in either North America or Europe. However, New York will remain the largest urban economy in the world in 2035 with the largest finance & business services sector. It will be followed by Tokyo and Los Angeles, with Shanghai tied with London for fourth place. Paris will slip in the GDP rankings, the report added. Russia's President Vladimir Putin (C), China's President Xi Jinping (R) and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi attend a meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina November 30, 2018. Picture taken November 30, 2018. Sputnik/Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. - RC1750152830 Despite fears that the depressed oil prices hit remittances to India, the country remained the top recipient of global remittances in 2017. World Bank data shows that Indians remitted $69 billion back to their home country, higher than Chinas $67 billion. Philippines ($33 billion), Mexico ($31 billion) and Nigeria ($22 billion) were the other top recipients. As the chart shows, remittances began surging after 1991. Clearly, liberalisation was good for remittances well. In spite of low oil prices and declining economic growth, global remittances are expected to grow 4.6 percent to $642 billion in 2018. The pick-up in growth of remittances in 2017 and an expectation of further growth in 2018 is good news for India. But there is cause for anxiety as well. Indian remittances have still not reached the peak of $70.3 billion seen in 2015. As oil prices soften, there are fears that job creation in the Middle East will decline, and India could lose some workers there. Today, as much as 82 percent of Indias remittances come from seven countries - UAE, the US, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, the UK, and Oman. Notably, India also accounted for the largest number of international migrants 16.4 million, compared to Mexico (11.9 million), Russia (11 million), and China (10.1). A rough calculation shows that the average earning per Indian is among the lowest compared to the top five recipients of remittances. That in effect meant that some of the lowest skilled workers were also Indians. If jobs in the Middle East decline, India will then have to find employment for the people returning from overseas, in addition to finding jobs for resident Indians. And it could witness a fall in remittances as well. Clearly, Indias economy strategists have to identify new markets for Indian labour. After all, irrespective of whether the overseas worker is an accountant, a lawyer, a plumber or a truck driver, he is still Indian labour. Indias biggest exportable surplus is labour. Manpower exports should be a key priority for the government. That would give Indian three advantages: It would earn more foreign exchange; expand the influence of the Indian diaspora; create job opportunities overseas. India should also create large numbers of workers with verifiable skills. That will allow Indian entrepreneurs to export projects along with qualified labour. But Indian skills are uneven in terms of quality. Moreover, the Indian worker is also not as disciplined as his Chinese or the Filipino counterpart. Hence, project exporters first bag a project and then go around looking for skills. It should be done the other way around. India should also remember that if Indian workers become expensive or remain unskilled, Bangladesh is always around. The reason India should worry about Bangladeshis is evident from Chart 2. Bangladesh has among the highest density of population in the world. That incentivises Bangladeshis to migrate to other countries like India, Nepal, Myanmar, or even the Middle East. India has to learn to create skilled workers in large numbers so that they remain cost-effective in global labour markets. India should also try developing project and labour export markets in war-ravaged regions like Libya, Iraq, and Syria in a much more concerted way than it has till now. Fortunately, the last four years have seen Indian foreign missions learning to be more responsive to Indian needs and export opportunities than ever before (thanks to the commendable efforts of Sushma Swaraj as Indias external affairs minister). But a lot more needs to be done. Finally, India should look at developing project and labour export opportunities in Russia. This is because even though Russia has one of the largest territories in the world, it has very few people. Russia is unlikely to import labour from China for fear of the Chinese becoming squatters on Russian soil. Russia is wary about the spread of workers from Islamic nations too. That leaves an opportunity for India. It has already been consolidating its position with Russia in the oil sector (for example, through OVL, the ONGC subsidiary). Russia has been talking to Tata Power about developing coal mines in Eastern Russia, and even building a railway line and port there. Indian should try to get more such projects in Russia. If India handles the Russian front well, both countries stand to benefit because the future of Asia might depend on Russia, China and India working together. The meeting that happened between the three heads of states in Buenos Aires could thus be a significant move. Japan (Image: Reuters) Japan plans to ban government purchases of equipment from China's Huawei Technologies and ZTE Corp to beef up its defences against intelligence leaks and cyber attacks, sources told Reuters. The Yomiuri newspaper, which first reported the news earlier on December 7, said the government was expected to revise its internal rules on procurement as early as December 10. The government does not plan to specifically name Huawei and ZTE in the revision, but will put in place measures aimed at strengthening security that apply to the companies, a person with direct knowledge and a person briefed on the matter said. The move follows a decision by the United States this year to ban government purchases of Huawei gear. US intelligence agencies allege Huawei is linked to China's government and that its equipment could contain "backdoors" for use by spies, although no evidence has been produced publicly and the firm has denied the claims. Australia and New Zealand have already blocked Huawei from building 5G networks. Britain's BT Group said on Wednesday it was removing Huawei's equipment from the core of its existing 3G and 4G mobile operations and would not use the company in central parts of the next network. Japan's chief government spokesman, Yoshihide Suga, declined to comment. But he noted that the country has been in close communication with the United States on a wide range of areas, including cybersecurity. "Cybersecurity is becoming an important issue in Japan," he told a regular news conference. "We'll take firm measures looking at it from a variety of perspectives." live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Indian markets cracked on Thursday tracking weak trend seen in other Asian markets. The S&P BSE Sensex plunged 572 points while Nifty50 lost 181 points to end at 10,601. The total market capitalisation of BSE listed fell by Rs 2.28 lakh crore. Traders also remained cautious ahead of five states elections exit poll due on Friday evening and result on December 11 as well as OPEC meeting. Both Sensex and Nifty broke below crucial support levels which is a sign of worry for investors in the near-term. If I look at the institutional activity, net buying of FPI was Rs 72 crore while on the other hand, DII net sell figure stood at Rs 389 crore on Thursday. Global cues will be important for charting market direction in the near term along with state election outcome due next week. A defeat of BJP would signal uncertainty about the outcome of the general elections which are around the corner and markets hate uncertainty. Also, the rupee depreciated by 44 paise to close at 70.90 against the US dollar on December 6 amid a strengthening greenback and a sharp decline in equity markets. Big News: OPEC agrees tentative oil cut, waits for Russia to commit In other news, India has signed an agreement with Iran to pay for crude oil it imports from the Persian Gulf nation in rupees, PTI sources in know of the development said. Under the 180-day exemption, India is allowed to import a maximum of 300,000 barrels a day of crude oil. This compares to an average daily import of about 560,000 barrels this year. India, which is the second biggest purchaser of Iranian oil after China, has since then restricted its monthly purchase to 1.25 million tonne or 15 million tonne in a year (300,000 barrels per day), down from 22.6 million tonne (452,000 barrels per day) bought in a 2017-18 financial year, sources said. Technical View: Nifty formed a bearish candle on the daily charts The index decisively breached its 200 DEMA and formed a bearish candle on daily charts. If the index breaks 10,500 then the correction could be sharp in coming sessions, experts said, adding the states elections results due on December 11 would be closely watched by the Street. Three levels: 10500, 10588, 10747 Max Call OI: 11000, 10900 Max Put OI: 10000, 10200 Technical Recommendations: We spoke to Ways2Wealth Brokers Pvt Ltd. and heres what they have to recommend: PVR: Buy above 1531| LTP: Rs 1489| Target 1700| Stop Loss: Rs 1428| Return 14% Voltas: Sell around 537| LTP: Rs 538| Target 480| Stop Loss: Rs 570| Return 11% RIL: Sell around Rs 1,130 - 1,140| LTP: Rs 1123| Target: Rs 1050 - 1016| Stop Loss: Rs 1187| Return 6% : The views and investment tips expressed by investment expert on Moneycontrol.com are his own and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions. Black Rose Industries has gained 677 percent in the last 5 years. As of June 10, 2015, the share price was Rs 16.75 per share and now the current share price is Rs 130.10 with a market cap of Rs 664 crore. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Gujarat Alkalies and Chemicals shares gained 1.6 percent in morning on Friday after the board approved expansion at Dahej unit. The company informed exchanges that the board of directors approved expansion of existing caustic soda plant of Dahej Complex from 785 MTPD to 1200 MTPD and also installation of 65 MW of Coal based power plant at same plant. The estimated aggregate cost for both project stood at Rs 825 crore, it said. The project is planned to go on stream in 36 months from zero date. The company said the projects when implemented, will contribute approximately Rs 480 crore in sales at the prevailing market prices. Gujarat Alkalies will funded the project from internal accruals / surplus generated from internal operations. Need based gap, if any, will be met from external commercial borrowings (ECB) or rupee term loans. At 10:57 hours IST, the stock was quoting at Rs 547.75, up Rs 7.20, or 1.33 percent on the BSE. Uday Kotak; $11.3 billion live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Private sector lender Kotak Mahindra Bank has informed the exchanges that it is unaware of any plans by Warren Buffett-owned Berkshire Hathaway to buy a stake in it. According to a report by CNBC-TV18, Berkshire Hathaway is reportedly in talks to buy a stake in the private sector lender, which is the country's third largest by market capitalisation. The stock, which rose nearly 8 percent on the report, shed its gains after the lender released its clarification to the bourses. Sources told the news channel that Berkshire Hathaway wants to buy at least 10 percent in Kotak Mahindra Bank and is looking to invest $4-6 billion, but that it has not decided to go through with the investment as yet. Uday Kotak owns a 29.73 percent stake in Kotak Mahindra Bank. The total shareholding of the promoter group in the bank stands at 30.02 percent. In accordance with the Reserve Bank of India's norms, Kotak is required to bring down his shareholding in the bank to 20 percent or below before December 31. Kotak Mahindra Bank's market capitalisation currently stands at around Rs 2.4 lakh crore ($34 billion), based on which a 10 percent stake would cost around Rs 24,000 crore ($3.4 billion). ($1 = Rs 70.49) CNBC-TV18 reported that it was still awaiting a response from Berkshire Hathaway and that Kotak Mahindra Bank had not issued any statement or comment on the subject. At 10:40 IST, the stock was trading at Rs 1,259.30, up 6.58 percent on BSE. L&T Technology Q4 | Profit rose to Rs 204.8 cr vs Rs 191.5 cr, revenue rose to Rs 1,446.6 cr versus Rs 1,343.1 cr YoY. (Image: Reuters) live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Larsen & Toubro shares gained nearly a percent intraday Friday after the construction subsidiary bagged orders worth Rs 2,547 crore in its power transmission & distribution segment. On the international front, the segment has won a major order in Tanzania for the construction of a 220kV transmission line between Dar es Salaam and Morogoro, and also received two other orders in northern region of Africa for substations from reputed customers, the company said. It has bagged another breakthrough order in Thailand for the supply and construction of a 230kV gas insulated substation while in India, it has secured EPC orders for building 132kV Substations and associated transmission lines in Jharkhand. Another turnkey order has been secured for the construction of 220kV & 132kV transmission lines in West Bengal, the company said. The Andhra Pradesh State FiberNet has awarded an order to establish optical fiber network infrastructure in 4 districts, under the BharatNet Phase - II works, it added. In current month, L&T Construction also bagged orders worth Rs 3,233 crore, taking total orders to Rs 20,565 crore, so far, for the quarter ended December 2018. The above order intake did not include subsea contract bagged by its subsidiary L&T Hydrocarbon Engineering in consortium with Baker Hughes, a GE company and McDermott International Inc, for India's ONGC' largest deepwater oil & gas project, the development of block DWN-98/2 in the Krishna Godavari basin. At 12:01 hours IST, the stock was quoting at Rs 1,384.45, up Rs 4.85, or 0.35 percent on the BSE. Oil prices fell on Friday, pulled down by OPEC's decision to delay a final decision on output cuts, awaiting support from non-OPEC heavyweight Russia. International Brent crude oil futures fell below $60 per barrel early in the session, trading at $59.50 per barrel at 0144 GMT, down 56 cents, or 0.9 percent from their last close. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $51.24 per barrel, down 25 cents, or 0.5 percent. The declines came after crude slumped by almost 3 percent the previous day, with the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) ending a meeting at its headquarters in Vienna, Austria, on Thursday without announcing a decision to cut crude supply, instead preparing to debate the matter on Friday. "OPEC has decided to meet Friday again...(as) Russia remains the sticking point," said Stephen Innes, head of trading for Asia/Pacific at futures brokerage Oanda in Singapore. Analysts still expect some form of supply reduction to be decided. "We are beginning to witness the outline of the next iteration of production cuts, with OPEC conforming to cut its own production by around 1 million barrels per day, with the cartel lobbying non-OPEC members to contribute more," Japanese bank MUFG said in a note. SUPPLY SURGE, PRICE PLUNGE Oil producers have been hit by a 30-percent plunge in crude prices since October as supply surges just as the demand outlook weakens amid a global economic slowdown. Oil output from the world's biggest producers - OPEC, Russia and the United States - has increased by 3.3 million bpd since the end of 2017, to 56.38 million bpd, meeting almost 60 percent of global consumption. That increase alone is equivalent to the output of major OPEC producer the United Arab Emirates. The surge is largely down to soaring U.S. crude oil production, which has jumped by 2.5 million bpd since early 2016 to a record 11.7 million bpd, making the United States the world's biggest oil producer. As a result, the United States last week exported more crude oil and fuel than it imported for the first time on records going back to 1973, according to data released on Thursday. Manas Chakravarty Markets across the world have suddenly been spooked by fears of a growth slowdown. Heres what the Reserve Bank of India said in its monetary policy statement a few days ago: "global economic activity has shown increasing signs of weakness on rising trade tensions. Among advanced economies, economic activity appears to be slowing in the US in Q42018, after a buoyant Q3. The Euro area growth lost pace in Q3, impacted by weaker trade growth and new vehicle emission standards. The Japanese economy contracted in Q3 on subdued external and domestic demand." The RBI said growth was also slowing in some emerging markets, most importantly China. For India too, there have been warnings of lower growth after the September quarter gross domestic product growth came in lower than anticipated. Fitch Ratings has been the latest to jump aboard the bandwagon, reducing its estimate of India's GDP growth this fiscal from 7.8 percent earlier to 7.2 percent. Is growth really slowing? The November data from the widely cited Purchasing Managers Survey shows the Global Composite Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) to be at a 3-month high. The Composite PMI is a measure of private sector economic activity in both manufacturing and services. A reading above 50 denotes expansion, while one below 50 shows contraction from the previous month. In November, the Global Composite PMI came in at 53.2, compared to 53 in October. In the US, fears of slowing growth are being reflected in an inverted yield curve, with some short-term yields becoming higher than long-term ones. However, the Composite PMI for the US came in at 54.7 in November, showing that expansion continues to be strong, although it was a tad lower than October's 54.9. Economic activity in the Eurozone too continued to expand, with the Composite PMI at 52.7 in November, compared to 53.1 in October. The same was the case with Japan, with the index edging slightly lower in November. Among emerging markets, China's Composite PMI went up from 50.5 in October to 51.9 in November. And in India, growth in November has been robust. Is it just a growth scare then? Perhaps not. While growth is still strong, the momentum has eased in many parts of the world. For example, the Eurozone PMI, although still in expansion mode, was at its lowest level since September 2016. While the PMI picked up in China in November, the fact is that the October reading was a 28-month low. In the US, the PMI survey said, More tentative forecasts for the year ahead were registered by both goods producers and service providers, with the former raising concerns surrounding the sustainability of the current sequence of new order growth. New orders in the US were at their weakest in thirteen months. In India, although business confidence improved in November, it was a bounce from a 20-month low registered in the previous month. Whats the upshot from this rather brief tour of the world economy? The point that comes across is that while growth may still be robust, the loss of momentum is leading to a fall in business confidence. This is reflected in the Future Output sub-index of the Global Composite PMI falling sharply in November to 62.1 from 63.7. Note that the forecast is still for expansion, albeit a relatively muted one. There are many reasons for businesses losing their nerve, ranging from the fading of fiscal stimulus in the US, tighter global liquidity, the trade war, weakness in Chinese growth et al. The Global Composite PMI survey says, Business expectations regarding the outlook for economic activity during the year ahead dropped to the lowest level since September 2016. It is this loss of confidence that is being reflected in the markets. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Here are stocks that are in the news today: NHPC: Company has been declared as the successful resolution applicant by the Committee of Creditors (CoC) of Lanco Teesta Hydro Power Limited subject to the final approval by adjudicating authority. IBM to sell some of its software products to HCL for $1.8 billion Khadim India: The company has issued the commercial paper for an aggregate amount of Rs 30 crore. Cadila Healthcare and Zydus Wellness: Company entered into a share subscription agreement (SSA) with subsidiary Zydus Wellness to subscribe to 85,02,170 equity shares at an issue price of Rs 1,382 amounting to Rs 11,74,99,98,940. Wipro: Company and Alfresco expand partnership to offer open source based digital transformation capabilities. Sagar Cements: Consolidated cement sales increased 36.29 percent to 3,15,106 MT versus 2,31,202 MT YoY. Punjab & Sindh Bank: Bank to consider issue of equity shares via QIP up to amount of Rs 500 crore and issue of Basel III Compliant Tier II bonds up to of Rs 1,500 crore - CNBC-TV18. HUDCO: Board to mull raising up to Rs 1,000 crore via bonds. Coal India: Government cuts stake in company by 2.2 percent to 72.9 percent. IL&FS Financial Services: Company unable to service obligation of interest payment of NCDs worth Rs 52 crore due December 6 - CNBC-TV18. Rural Electrification Corporation: Company approved JV with Maharashtra Power Utility for new projects and to sell transmission unit to Power Grid. IL&FS Engineering and Construction Company: Bhaskar Chatterjee, Non-Executive Independent Director of the company tendered his resignation from the directorship of the company. Nandan Denim: Vedprakash Chiripal, belonging to promoter & promoter group entities, acquired 40,000 equity shares of the company through open market on December 4. Polycon International: Bank loan rating of the company has been revised by the rating agency, Brickwork Ratings from BB to BB- and A4+ to A4. Bulk Deals Kajaria Ceramics: Wasatch Advisors Inc A/C Wasatch International Growth Fund bought 10,37,576 shares of the company at Rs 435.35 per share while Abu Dhabi Investment Authority sold 10,10,000 shares at Rs 435.26 per share on the NSE. Punj Lloyd: IFCI sold 43,97,267 shares of the company at Rs 4.98 per share on the NSE. Shubhlaxmi Jewel Art: Kanadia Fyr Fyter Private Limited sold 80,000 shares of the company at Rs 27.5 per share on the NSE. Vikas EcoTech: Garg Vikas sold 75,00,000 shares of the company at Rs 12 per share on the NSE. (For more bulk deals, click here) Analyst or Board Meet/Briefings Indo Count Industries: Company's officials will be meeting investors and analysts (participants) on December 7. Dolphin Medical Services: 26th Annual General Meeting of the members of the company is scheduled to be held on December 29. VIP Clothing: Company's officials will be attending conference organised by Systematix Shares & Stocks (I) Limited on December 7. Muthoot Finance: Q2FY19 results conference will be hold on December 7. : Company will be participating in Consumer /Investor Conference on December 7 in Mumbai. 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. Representataive Image live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Despite taking a heavy beating this year, telecom stocks have not yet won the favour of all analysts. While they believe ballooning debt and tough competition will continue to weigh on telecom operators, plans to raise funds and a focus on data could offset some of the big negatives. For the uninitiated, the sector has been battling issues of low tariffs, eroding profitability, and rising debt as a result of an aggressive pricing war started by Reliance Jio. This war has also led to the sector consolidating into three names Vodafone Idea, Bharti Airtel and Reliance Industries-owned Reliance Jio. The BSE Telecom index has fallen 41 percent so far this year. Brokerage Motilal Oswal highlighted that valuations of telecom stocks were under check during November. Also, expectations of an increase in average revenue per user (ARPU) because of reports of a price hike by Reliance Jio led to a surge in the valuations of all incumbents. Multiple analysts that Moneycontrol spoke to believe the sector may not have bottomed out just yet, but there are some positive signs. Fund-raising plans Both Airtel's and Vodafone Idea's plans to raise funds are being viewed as positives for the industry. "Both companies are raising cash to plough back into a diminishing balance sheet with Bharti looking to list some African business and sell stake, while Vodafone Idea seeing the Birla Group put in more personal capital," said Sanjiv Bhasin, Executive Vice President - Markets and Corporate Affairs, IIFL. He believes that the worst may be past for the sector in general. Airtel plans to raise Rs 12,000-15,000 crore through issue of fresh shares in the current fiscal year, while Vodafone Idea plans to raise Rs 25,000 crore through issue of shares to expand its 4G network. Data boom Bhasin expects the sector to benefit from the assembly elections in five states and the general elections next year. The period will see humongous appetite for data as social media is the new mantra for elections. We expect huge surge in data consumption along with pricing also returning with Jio already indicating a rise in prices, he said. Rising debt Experts at Angel Broking see ballooning debt and unsustainable ARPUs as major challenges for the telecom sector. They believe that the sector may have consolidated this year, but there are some headwinds to be taken note of. "One, most telecom companies have paid a large sum for spectrum during the auctions and that has led to their debt ballooning. That will continue to pose a financial risk. And, two, the price war triggered by Reliance Jio has pulled ARPUs down to near unsustainable levels," Mayuresh Joshi, Fund Manager at Angel Broking. told Moneycontrol. The telecom sector was estimated to be around Rs 4.2 lakh crore as at the end of March this year, ICRA said in a statement. This is, however, lower than the expected Rs 4.7 lakh crore as monetisation of towers and support from promoters helped bring the number down, it said. Pricing pressure A lot will predicate on how the ARPUs move in the coming year, Joshi of Angel Broking said, adding that immediate risks may be in the price. The sector will require really strong traction to generate superior cash flows. Meanwhile, Emkay expects Jios aggressive pricing to continue, which could keep the industry's revenues and operating profits under pressure. "Further, rising cost pressures and elevated capex spends, along with falling revenues, would continue to push debt levels," analysts at the firm said in their report. What should investors do? Pricing power holds the key for telecom companies going forward, AK Prabhakar, Head of Research at IDBI Capital, told Moneycontrol. "The players are strong in this space. Investors can look to wait and watch for pricing power to return and then look to bet on telecom stocks," said Prabhakar. Bhasin of IIFL has a 'buy' call on Bharti Airtel with a one-year target price of Rs 385. Emkay, meanwhile, believes Airtel is relatively better-placed than Vodafone Idea as it continues to focus on deleveraging its balance sheet. The brokerage has maintained its negative stance on Vodafone Idea, despite the merger, due to the risk of RMS (revenue market share) loss. Moreover, the company is still not fully invested to compete with Airtel and Jio on 4G capacity, Emkay said. Disclaimer: Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd. The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts/broking houses/rating agencies on Moneycontrol are their own, and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions. Rajasthan Congress chief Sachin Pilot shows his ink-marked finger after casting vote for the state Assembly elections, in Jaipur. (Image: PTI) After the building was determined safe, New York City police officers walk from the Time Warner Center in New York. (Image: AP/PTI) The flag-draped casket of former President George HW Bush is carried by a joint services military honor guard into St Martin's Episcopal Church. (Image: Reuters) Hindu Seva Parishad activists stage a protest against the film 'Kedarnath' at a mall, in Jabalpur. (Image: Reuters) View of Pigments de lumiere, an installation by artists Nuno Maya & Carole Purnelle / OCUBO during the festival of lights (Fetes des Lumieres) in Lyon France. (Image: Reuters) US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrive to host a Hanukkah reception at the White House in Washington, US. (Image: Reuters) A man pushes a handcart filled with vegetables on a cold winter morning in Srinagar. (Image: Reuters) Activists of Ukraine's far-right parties attend a rally demanding to terminate diplomatic relations with Russia, at the Independence Square in Kiev, Ukraine. (Image: Reuters) Oil fell nearly 3 percent in choppy trading on December 6 after OPEC and its allies ended a meeting without announcing a decision to cut crude output, and prepared to debate the matter the next day. The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) met in Vienna to decide production policy in coordination with other countries including Russia, Oman and Kazakhstan. OPEC tentatively agreed to cut oil output but was waiting for a commitment from non-OPEC heavyweight Russia before deciding volumes. Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak flew home from Vienna earlier for talks with President Vladimir Putin in Saint Petersburg. Novak returns to Austria's capital on Friday for discussions among Saudi-led OPEC and its allies. Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said OPEC needed Russia to cooperate, and said a decision was likely by Friday evening. "If everybody is not willing to join and contribute equally, we will wait until they are," al-Falih said. Market watchers had expected a joint cut of 1 million to 1.4 million barrels per day (bpd). The OPEC, non-OPEC meeting is set to start on Friday at 1100 GMT. "All eyes are now fixated on tomorrow's OPEC+ joint declaration, and a combined output cut of at least 1 million barrels per day will be required to see a meaningful recovery in oil prices," said Abhishek Kumar, senior energy analyst at Interfax Energy in London. Brent crude futures fell $1.50, or 2.4 percent, to $60.06 a barrel, after dropping to a session low of $58.36. U.S. crude futures fell $1.40, or 2.7 percent, to $51.49, bouncing off a low of $50.08. The benchmarks have slumped more than 25 percent so far this quarter. Prices found some support after data showed U.S. crude stockpiles declined last week, the first drawdown since September. Inventories had climbed for 10 straight weeks as domestic production grew to a weekly record at 11.7 million bpd, data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed. The United States, however, last week became a net exporter of crude and refined products for the first time since at least 1973, exporting a net 211,000 bpd, on the back of a jump in crude exports to a record of 3.2 million bpd, the data showed. Crude prices have sagged almost a third since October, in part due to concerns about oversupply coming to the fore again as U.S. production rose in tandem with increased output from Saudi Arabia and Russia. The three countries are the world's largest producers of oil. OPEC's crude oil production has risen by 4.1 percent since mid-2018, to 33.31 million bpd. European equities hit their lowest in two years. Commodity-sensitive currencies such as the Russian rouble tumbled on sliding oil prices and the arrest of a top executive of Chinese tech giant Huawei in Canada for extradition to the United States, just ahead of crucial trade negotiations between Washington and Beijing. Barclays said in its Global Outlook that "investors need to lower their expectations" and "2019 should be a period of lower returns and higher volatility." It forecast that the global economy would "slow over the next several quarters" although it added that "not one major economy is near recession." Ann-Louise Hittle, vice president, macro oils at Wood Mackenzie, said world oil demand growth is expected to average close to 1.1 million bpd in 2018 and 2019. "This sits against a backdrop of rapid non-OPEC production growth ... the strength in non-OPEC production creates pressure on OPEC to curtail its output for 2019 from recent levels, if oil prices are to remain stable," Hittle said. OPEC Elementary economics tells us that cartels collapse because of recessions, breakdown of co-operation between members, and cheating on output cuts, which is the preferred method of price control. When a cartel has to get into a duopolistic situation with another company, things get messier and the collapse gets hastened. For the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Qatar's exit, and the obduracy of Russia -- a non-member on whom it is heavily reliant to enforce production cuts to prop up prices -- are clear signs of its diminishing importance. Indeed, for OPEC, the world is a different place from the heady days of 1973 when the cartel proclaimed an oil embargo in retaliation to the perceived support of some countries to Israel in the Yom Kippur war. Oil prices had shot up four times within a year as a result. OPEC could get away with it then because it accounted for around half of the world's oil output. Predictably, the rest of the world learnt a lesson and decided to search for new and alternative sources of fuel, and cut down on fuel consumption. Today, OPEC contributes to about a third of the world's oil output. Projections of oil demand reaching 113 million barrels a day by 2025 which OPEC had predicted in 2005 are unlikely to materialise anytime soon. Near-term demand is also not looking good, despite talks of a US-China trade war truce amidst weakening global demand. In its November monthly report, OPEC itself projected world oil demand to grow by 1.29 million barrels a day in 2019, around 70,000 barrels a day lower than its previous forecast. In such a scenario, the cartel has no other option but to cut production in order to support prices. Brent crude currently trades at $59.78 a barrel, about 45 percent lower than two months earlier. Analysts estimate that OPEC would have cut output by around 1.4 million barrels a day to support oil prices. However, reaching an agreement will be a challenge because of numerous factors. For one, the cartel especially Saudi Arabia, its de facto leader has to be careful about not upsetting the US, where President Donald Trump is reportedly ready to support an anti-OPEC legislation. "Hopefully OPEC will be keeping oil flows as is, not restricted. The World does not want to see, or need, higher oil prices!" Trump tweeted on Wednesday. Secondly, within OPEC, there are divisions on how any output cut is shared. A large number of members depend on high oil prices and exports to fuel their economies. According to Bloomberg, about 40 percent of the last round of cuts agreed to in 2016 was shared by only two countries Angola and Venezuela - even though their combined output is only a third of Saudi Arabia's. Venezuela, which is already facing enough problems, wouldn't like to cut production more. The Kingdom's rivalry with Iran doesn't help things. Iran, which is facing US sanctions, is unlikely to agree to production cuts. Similarly, Libya and Nigeria too would be unwilling participants in output curbs. In such a scenario, OPEC would be heavily reliant on Russia to deliver. News reports indicate that it wants Russia to cut output by 300,000 barrels per day, which the European nation is unwilling to consider. Russia is in a comfortable state and wouldn't want higher prices to hurt its consumers, especially considering the rouble's prevalent weakness. Thirdly, OPEC's waning influence can also be seen from the fact that even if it manages to cut production, others like the US might just step up theirs. By some estimates, the US has already emerged as the world's largest crude oil producer. Last month, it became a net exporter for the first time in its history. OPEC itself acknowledged this implicitly in its November report, when it said that demand for crude from OPEC members is forecast to decline by 1.1 million barrels a day in 2019. Thus, even if the cartel is able to hammer out an agreement with Russia later on Friday, the writing on the wall is clear. It can no longer dominate the energy markets as it has done for the last five decades. What does this mean for India? A crack in OPEC could well be a game changer for India. If oil prices are left to free market forces, there is a possibility that they would remain depressed. For a perpetual oil importer like India, this will be a shot in the arm as it will help bring down the country's current account deficit and balance its fiscal arithmetic. Corporates, RWAs, local bodies, private developers can all get public art installed in a locality subject to clearances from the local municipality and the Delhi Urban Arts Commission. In fact, one percent of all public and semi-public buildings construction costs should mandatorily be spent on public art, says the final draft of public art guidelines for the Capital. Under the draft guidelines listed locations where public art can come up include regional, district, neighbourhood parks, junctions, bus stops, flyovers, foot over bridges, entrances to a city, parking stands, local shopping centres, Metro stations, riverfronts, green belt, public toilets, water tanks, communication towers, boundary walls, facades, fences, pavements and even footpaths. The final draft of public art guidelines would be implemented after notification is issued by the government. At the second round table discussion held in the Capital on Public Art Policy, Guidelines and Master Plan for Delhi, union minister for housing and urban affairs emphasised on the need to create an environment where people respect and value public art. Referring to the newly built skywalk at ITO and vandalising of nuts and bolts at Signature Bridge, he said there was a need for a behavioural change with regard to how the public treated public art in a city. When artists have their paintings and sculptures and other forms of art placed in public spaces, there will be a need for all of us to jointly facilitate an environment in which people respect and value the art in public spaces, he said at the round table. He also recommended that a national workshop be held to discuss these guidelines so that other cities too could implement them. Delhi Urban Art Commission (DUAC) chairman P S N Rao said that DUAC is working on similar guidelines for street design guidelines, vehicular parking guidelines, park design guidelines and guidelines on treatment of urban utilities including spaces under flyovers, elevated roads and buildings. Highlighting the features of the final draft of public art guidelines, Rao said that once these guidelines are notified, any person who has the intention of doing public art in the city corporates, RWAs, local bodies, Delhi Metro, DDA, PWD, or even a private developer, can get public art installed after submitting a proposal with the concerned local municipality which would then be sent to DUAC for approval. The draft guidelines lay down that 1 percent of the budget for construction should be spent on public art. The provision for 1 percent has existed for a long time. For all public buildings like schools, hospitals, offices, whoever is the owner or developing or redeveloping that property within their plot, the provision in the building byelaws states that at least 1 per cent needs to be spent on public art, explains Rao. We have of late examined proposals for public art for the ONGC building, some embassies etc. Metro does not have to get our clearance, but they have consulted us informally and we have given them suggestions. A large number of projects have come to us and it is only when they incorporate public art within the buildings or plots that we give them approval, he says. So far there were no formal guidelines for public art in the public realm. All parks, flyovers, playgrounds, river, shopping centres, roundabouts these are in the public realm where the property is owned by civic agencies or by the government. Till date there were no guidelines. We are currently addressing that in this policy. Anybody who wants to put public art there it could be a municipal body, a corporate, even RWAs can install public art, he says. The draft guidelines also define what is excluded from public art. These include objects that are mass produced such as playground sculptures or fountains, walls, pools, lighting or functional elements, Maps, colour coding, signs are not public art unless designed by an artist. Artworks related to overtly religious contexts, artworks that are objectionable, violent are also considered to be excluded by DUAC. In order to ensure a systematic emergence of public art in Delhi, a Public Art Master Plan has also been prepared. It defines the locations where public art can come up in the city. To ensure that public spaces in the Capital city were developed aesthetically, the ministry of housing and urban affairs had asked DUAC to finalise guidelines for public artwork. The first roundtable was held in January. It should be noted that even though the Unified Building Byelaws 2016 mandated public art in new constructions, there was no formal policy in place. NOIDA, INDIA - MAY 21: Unitech homebuyers protest and block the main road for long hours over their demands from builder, on May 21, 2017 in Noida, India. The homebuyers are unhappy as the colonizer and officials are just buying time and not ensuring that if the project finishes on time. Coming down heavily on the promoters of the embattled Amrapali Group, the Supreme Court this week ordered attachment and sale of the realty firm's five-star hotel, cinema hall, malls and factories across India, calling the group "worst kind of cheater" and "a perfect liar" for not complying with the court's direction. The apex court gave a window to the firm's directors and their family members to return homebuyers' money, if they have it, by December 10. It asked the firm to explain by next week the diversion of around Rs 3,000 crore of homebuyers money for other purposes. It also directed the Debt Recovery Tribunal, Delhi to auction all the attached properties including the hotel, malls, corporate offices, movie hall, factories and lands across India. The court also ordered attachment of a fleet of luxury cars which were bought by the company from the homebuyers' money. The apex court is hearing a batch of petitions filed by homebuyers who are seeking possession of around 42,000 flats booked in projects of the Amrapali Group. What signal does the Amrapali order send out to real estate developers? By attaching the properties of the promoters of the Amrapali Group, the Supreme Court has sent out a stern warning to other developers, who in the past were of the view that they were above the law and could escape it by exercising the power of money. Going forward, developers would think twice before indulging in the misadventure of project launches or diverting money collected from homebuyers to buy land banks or for that matter create shell companies or make huge advances to relatives or divert money to buy personal assets or luxury cars. They would be forced to abide by the rules and park buyers advances in an escrow account in accordance with RERA regulations. Every builder would now cut his coat according to his cloth. Are homebuyers relieved? The Supreme Courts increased focus on the completion of pending projects has been seen as a positive move which to some extent has restored faith in the sector. The apex courts focus on addressing the concerns of the aggrieved homebuyers and making it clear that its primary interest is to secure their predominant interest has given them some hope that they would finally get their home albeit after a wait of almost a decade in some cases. Today, most of them only wish that they get their house and are even ready to forego the interest amount, not to mention the opportunity loss. They are relieved that action against errant builders has finally been taken but attaching one builders assets or sending another to jail may not bring back all the money that they had invested in the project and which was allegedly siphoned off by the builders. Will attaching properties worth Rs 50 crore be enough to complete projects that require Rs 2000 crore? They ask, but add, that at least short steps are being taken. Will these orders help build the trust deficit? Post the Jaypee, Amrapali and Unitech case, homebuyers are definitely more informed. The trust deficit is bound to continue as a majority of them are still apprehensive about under construction projects. Most of them would hereon only want to invest in RERA-approved ready-to-move-in apartments. They would surely be more careful about the builder-buyer agreement that they sign hereon. And yes, such directions by the Supreme Court surely give them a signal that they can take their fight right up to the highest courts if they are all in it together as an association or group. There is, surely, might in numbers. Small projects continue to suffer Jaypee, Unitech and Amrapali cases pertain to high-profile projects located in Delhi-NCR. In the Amrapali case, the Supreme Court ordered a forensic audit which led auditors to conclude that huge funds collected by homebuyers had been diverted. In fact, the promoter of the Amrapali Group CMD Anil Sharma, in an affidavit filed before the apex court, himself admitted to the diversion of Rs 2,996 crore to other companies for expanding the business, which resulted in a fund crunch for completing housing projects. In case of Unitech, the Supreme Court has allowed the auction of properties of the Unitech group located in Agra, Varanasi, Virar, Gurugram, Rohini, Noida and unencumbered properties in Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Maharashtra. Its promoter MD Sanjay Chandra is seeking interim bail from the apex court after the Delhi High Court on August 11 last year had rejected the plea in a criminal case lodged in 2015 by 158 homebuyers of Unitech projects, namely, 'Wild Flower Country' and 'Anthea Project' -- situated in Gurgaon in Haryana. In case of Jaypee Infratech which is currently undergoing insolvency proceedings in the NCLT, state-owned NBCC, Kotak Investment, Singapore-based Cube Highways, and Suraksha group have been shortlisted as bidders. L&T Infrastructure, which was among the five companies that had submitted expressions of interest (EOI), was however excluded from the final list, as per the regulatory filing by Jaypee Infratech. But there are thousands of smaller projects across the country that are stuck and buyers who do not have same reach or recourse. More needs to be done The Supreme Court should issue a set of guidelines that can be followed in such cases in other judicial platforms such as the state consumer forums, national consumer forums, high courts and even in other cases pending in the apex court itself. This would benefit homebuyers stuck in medium and small projects across the country. The orders issued with regard to these three cases do not seem to set a precedent. It is still not clear under which circumstances should a forensic audit be ordered, under what circumstances promoters should be sent to jail for siphoning off funds or for that matter under what circumstances can their personal properties be attached. The government has to make gap funding available to complete stuck projects. That continues to remain a challenge. Moreover, the government needs to ensure that Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act is implemented in letter and spirit. Currently, it appears to be a work in progress. What does it portend for the real estate sector Only the fittest and with a track record of timely delivery will survive the storm. Smaller players will be weeded out. Investors would disappear and only end-buyers would have the upper edge in the strengthened regulatory environment. Developers have been made aware that the regulatory environment has put buyers in the driver's seat and customer satisfaction cannot be trifled with as was in the past. The ongoing NBFC crisis will not only freeze funds to the real estate sector but also impact private equity funds flowing into the sector. This is also expected to impact the home loans market and bring more builders into the radar. vandana.ramnani@nw18.com OPEC OPEC members and other oil-producing countries may not be able to agree a reduction in output to help shore up plunging prices, Saudi Arabia said on December 6. "No, I am not confident," Saudi oil minister Khalid Al-Falih told reporters after coming out of a meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC07) in Vienna. "We're still debating the distribution" of any possible cuts, he added. Iraqi minister Thamir Abbas Al Ghadhban said deliberations would continue on December 7. But he said: "We are hopeful that an agreement can reached." Unusually, the oil cartel had scrapped a planned news conference on December 6 at which the members had largely been expected to announce a new reduction in output to stem the recent sharp drop in the price of crude. OPEC's 15 members had been meeting in the Austrian capital on December 6 to decide what action to take, a day after US President Donald Trump took to Twitter to urge them not to cut output. "Hopefully OPEC will be keeping oil flows as is, not restricted. The World does not want to see, or need, higher oil prices!" said Trump, who has repeatedly accused the cartel of keeping prices artificially high. The group is scheduled to meet again on Friday, this time with other oil-producing countries that are outside the cartel -- notably Russia -- to coordinate a joint policy. Earlier, Saudi oil minister al-Falih had said that a cut of a million barrels per day would be ideal. "Ideally, everyone should join equally. I think that's the fair and equitable solution," he said. OPEC daily output stood at 32.99 million barrels in October, according to the International Energy Agency. Nevertheless, the volume and distribution of the cuts will depend on the participation of Russia, whose energy minister Alexander Novak is only expected in Vienna on December 7. Novak, speaking from Saint Petersburg on Thursday, said that his country was watching closely how the situation was developing. But with Russia heading into winter, "climate conditions" made it "much more difficult (to cut output) than for other countries," he said. Analysts took that as a hint that Russia might only sign up to additional cuts at a later date. The price of a barrel of Brent, the European benchmark, fell four percent to below $60 December 6 because the projected reduction of around one million barrels was below what markets had been expecting, said CMC analyst, David Madden. OPEC ministers reacted to Trump's intervention by telling him not to interfere. "We don't need permission from anyone to cut," Saudi minister Al-Falih said. The US "is not in a position to tell us what to do." Nonetheless, Saudi Arabia is in a delicate position, in the wake of the murder of opposition journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Trump has continued to support the kingdom despite worldwide outrage over the murder but he is at the same time keeping up the pressure for lower prices. Iran, OPEC's third-biggest producer, complained that it was the first time a US president was trying to tell OPEC what to do. "They should know that OPEC is not part of their Secretary of Energy," said its minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh. Iran wants to be exempted from any cuts that are agreed. Given the economic sanctions being reimposed by the United States, the Islamic republic "(won't) join any agreement for cutting production because of the special situation Iran faces," Zanganeh said. Zanganeh said the estimated surplus currently on the market amounted to 1.3-2.4 million barrels per day. Ideally, "the price would be better to stand at $60-70. That is acceptable for most OPEC countries." Negotiations between OPEC members are fraught, as some feel that Saudi Arabia wields too much clout in setting policy. Iran has accused Saudi Arabia of being in thrall to the US. In a surprise move on December 3, Qatar -- which has been an OPEC member since 1961 -- said it would quit the cartel next month in order to focus on gas production. Doha accounts for only around two percent of OPEC output but the move caught the headlines given the political overtones. 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. Noida Police has chargesheeted Sonia Dhawan, her husband Rupak Jain and others in the Paytm data theft case. Besides Dhawan and Jain, the chargesheet also names Devender Kumar and Rohit Chomwal. The four were charged under Act - 381, 384, 386, 420, 120B and 66 in the FIR. These include -- theft by clerk or servant of property, extortion, criminal conspiracy, sending offensive messages through communication service. Station House Officer (SHO) of Sector 20, Noida, Manoj Panth, told Moneycontrol that the chargesheet was filed on December 6. He added that the charges levied are the same that were mentioned in the first information report (FIR). He denied to share further details. Lawyers of Dhawan and Chomwal said that they haven't received copies of the chargesheet yet. Currently Dhawan, Jain and Kumar are under judicial custody. Chomwal on the other hand has got a stay order on his arrest by the Allahabad High Court. The court in its order said that the information officer could not arrest Chomwal till credible evidence is found. Dhawan and Jain's family members have been trying to get them out on bail. While Jain's bail was rejected by the Surajpur District Court last month, Dhawan's bail hearing is scheduled to be held on December 11. Her first bail hearing had to happen on December 4. However her lawyer got an extension and took a date of December 11. "It was adjourned due to lack of documents," Satish Kumar, lawyer of Dhawan told Moneycontrol. Filing of chargesheet concludes that the investigation of the police officer has been completed. It can therefore expedite the bail process of the three accused. Dhawan, Jain and Kumar were arrested on September 22 for allegedly trying to extort a sum of Rs 20 crore from Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma. Chomwal who had made extortion calls to Vijay Shekhar Sharma and Ajay Shekhar Sharma and on whose tip, Dhawan and the rest of two accused were arrested has not been arrested so far following the High Court's stay order. Qualcomm Qualcomm Inc, the biggest supplier of chips for mobile phones, on December 6 pushed further into the PC market with a line of chips designed to power business machines. Qualcomm's "Snapdragon" processor chips historically have been at the heart of mobile phones like the Alphabet's Google Pixel phone and many Samsung Electronics devices. Over the past year, though, Qualcomm adapted its chips to operate PCs running Microsoft Corp's Windows operating system, making those machines start up more quickly and stay connected to the Internet constantly, much like a mobile phone or tablet. But the chips Qualcomm used in those early PCs were essentially modified versions of the chips it sold for mobile phones. At an event in Hawaii on December 6, Qualcomm officials said they have created a new series of chips called the Snapdragon 8cx that will be dedicated to PCs. The biggest difference is the new Qualcomm chips will support Windows 10 Enterprise, the version of Microsoft's popular operating system that is sold to businesses. Previous Qualcomm chips supported only the consumer versions of Windows, making business customers less likely to purchase computers powered by them. Qualcomm's move puts it in greater competition with chipmaker Intel Corp, which last year still derived more than half of its $62.8 billion in revenue from PC chips and dominates that market. Intel's association with Windows PCs was so strong that the computer industry referred to them as "Wintel" machines for decades. Qualcomm and others are also challenging Intel's supremacy in the data centre business. Qualcomm's chips are powered by technology from SoftBank Group Corp-controlled Arm Holdings. Several companies - including Amazon.com's cloud division Amazon Web Services, a major Intel customer - are working to make ARM-based chips suitable for data centres. Chinese telecoms giant Huawei Technologies's chief financial officer was arrested as part of a US investigation into an alleged scheme to use the global banking system to evade US sanctions against Iran, according to people familiar with the probe. The United States has been looking since at least 2016 into whether Huawei shipped US-origin products to Iran and other countries in violation of US export and sanctions laws, Reuters reported in April. More recently, the probe has included whether the company used HSBC Holdings Plc to conduct illegal transactions involving Iran, the people said. Companies are barred from using the US financial system to funnel goods and services to sanctioned entities. If the mobile phone and telecoms equipment maker conducted such transactions and then mislead HSBC about their true nature, it could be guilty of bank fraud, experts say. Huawei declined to comment but said in a statement after the arrest that it complies with all applicable export control and sanctions laws and other regulations. An HSBC spokesperson declined to comment. HSBC is not under investigation, according to a person familiar with the matter. A spokesman for the US attorney's office in Brooklyn, which Reuters has reported is the office investigating Huawei, also declined to comment. In 2012, HSBC paid $1.92 billion and entered a deferred prosecution agreement with the same US prosecutor's office for violating US sanctions and money-laundering laws. As part of that deal, HSBC was required to be monitored for five years to review its efforts to prevent money laundering and sanctions violations. HSBC's US-listed shares fell as much as 6 percent on December 6 after Reuters reported the bank's link to the Huawei case. They ended down 3.6 percent. Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou, daughter of Huawei's founder, Ren Zhengfei, was arrested in Canada on December 1. She will appear in court on December 7 and faces extradition to the United States. The news broke on Wednesday, roiling global stock markets over fears the move could escalate the Sino-US trade dispute. Huawei said it has been provided little information of the charges and that it was "not aware of any wrongdoing by Ms. Meng." SHADES OF ZTE The probe of Huawei is similar to one that threatened the survival of China's ZTE Corp, which pleaded guilty in 2017 to violating US laws that restrict the sale of American-made technology to Iran. ZTE paid a $892 million penalty. Earlier this year, the United States said ZTE made false statements about disciplining some executives responsible for the violations and banned U.S. firms from selling parts and software to the company. After ceasing major operations as a result, ZTE paid another $1 billion as part of a deal to get the ban lifted. In an incident similar to Meng's case, ZTE's chief financial officer was stopped at Boston's Logan Airport during the U.S. investigation of that company, according to sources familiar with the case. U.S. authorities seized a laptop that contained a "treasure trove" of evidence of ZTE's illegal business in Iran, one of the sources said. In 2016, the Commerce Department made documents public that showed ZTE's misconduct and also revealed how a second company, identified only as F7, had successfully evaded US export controls. In a 2016 letter to the Commerce Department, 10 US lawmakers said F7 was believed to be Huawei, citing media reports. In April 2017, lawmakers sent another letter to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross asking for F7 to be publicly identified and fully investigated. US authorities also subpoenaed Huawei in 2016 seeking information related to possible export and sanctions violations, sources have said. In January 2013, Reuters reported that Hong Kong-based Skycom Tech Co Ltd, which attempted to sell embargoed Hewlett-Packard computer equipment to Iran's largest mobile-phone operator, had much closer ties to Huawei than previously known. Meng, who also has used the English names Cathy and Sabrina, served on the board of Skycom between February 2008 and April 2009, according to Skycom records. Several other past and present Skycom directors also appear to have connections to Huawei. Lynne Erickson had heard the stories of people killed in disputes over Air Jordan shoes. So when her son was growing up, she said she purposely never bought him those shoes or any other designer item. Exit polls released by various news organisations and survey agencies for the assembly elections in five states on December 7 revealed mixed results for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Indian National Congress. The exit poll results were declared minutes after voting concluded in Rajasthan and Telangana. Chhattisgarh According to the Times Now-CNX exit poll survey, BJP is set to win 46 seats followed by Congress' 35 seats while the Janta Congress Chhattisgarh-Bahujan Samaj Party alliance is set to win seven seats. The survey has predicted that Others will win two seats in the Raman Singh-led state. NewsX has predicted that the BJP will win 43 seats, the Congress will grab 40 seats while Others will win seven. News 24-Pace Media survey has predicted that the Congress would get between 45-51 seats followed by the BJP which would get between 36-42 seats. The survey predicted that the JCC-BSP combo would not get any seats in the state while Others would get between 4-8 seats. The poll of polls prediction is that the BJP is set to win in 40 seats while the Congress will win 43 seats. The India Today-Axis My India survey has predicted that the Congress would win between 55-65 seats while the BJP would win between 21-31 seats. The JCC-BSP alliance, according to the survey, would get between four to eight seats. Chief Minister Raman Singh-led BJP government has governed that state since 2003. In 2013, BJP won 49 seats in a 90-member Assembly. Congress finished second with 39 seats. BSP and an Independent candidate had won each. Also read: Opinion | Chhattisgarh elections: BJP relies on Raman Singh, Congress on anti-incumbency and Ajit Jogi on the third front Madhya Pradesh According to the Times Now-CNX exit poll, BJP would win 126 seats followed by Congress with 89. Others would win nine seats and BSP would win six seats. According to the survey, BJP would get a vote share of 42.5 percent followed by Congress with 38.22 percent. Others and BSP would have a vote share of 11.22 percent and 7.95 percent, respectively. India Today-Axis My India has predicted that the BJP would win between 102-120 seats, the Congress is set to win between 104-122 seats, BSP would win between 1-3 seats while Others would grab between 3-8 seats. The survey has predicted that the BJP would get 40 percent vote share followed by Congress' 41 percent. The BSP, according to the survey, would get 4 percent while Others would get a vote share of 15 percent. The survey adds that Congress would get a 41 percent vote share followed by BJPs 40 percent. Others and the BSP would get a vote share of 15 percent and 4 percent, each. The Lokniti-CSDS survey has predicted that the BJP would get 94 seats with a vote share of 40 percent while the Congress would grab 126 seats with a vote share of 43 percent. Others would win 10 seats in the state with a vote share of 17 percent, according to the survey. Poll of polls prediction is that the BJP would get 110 seats while the Congress would get 108 seats in the state. BJP has been in power in the state for 15 years. Out of these, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has occupied the top office in the state for 13 years. In 2013, the BJP won 165 seats and the Congress bagged 58 in a 230-member Legislative Assembly. BSP won four seats. Independent candidates had clinched three seats. Also read: Opinion | In this election, Madhya Pradesh is ripe for Congress picking Mizoram The Republic CVoter survey has predicted that the Congress would win between 14-18 seats in the state while the MNF would win between 16-20 seats. The survey has predicted that the ZPM would get between 3-7 seats while Others would get between 0-3 seats in the state. The Times Now-CNX survey has predicted that the Congress would win 16 seats while the MNF would win 18. The survey has predicted that the Others would win six seats in the state. Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla has been leading the Congress government in the northeastern state for 10 years. In 2013, Congress had won 34 out of the 40 seats in the Assembly. MNF and the Mizo Peoples Conference (MPC) had won five seats and one seat each. Also read: Opinion | Congress is confident in Mizoram, but MNF and BJP are also upbeat Rajasthan The Republic-CVoter has predicted that the BJP would get between 83-103 seats while Congress would get between 81-101 seats. The India Today-Axis My India survey has predicted between 55-72 seats for the BJP with a vote share of 37 percent while the Congress is set to sweep the state with between 119-141 seats in its kitty with a vote share of 42 percent, according to the survey. The Times Now-CNX survey has predicted that the BJP would win 85 seats while the Congress would win 105 seats in the state. It has given seven seats to the BSP while two seats would be won by Others, according to the survey. The NewsX-Neta survey has predicted that the BJP would win 80 seats while the Congress would win 112 seats in the state. The survey has given seven seats to Others. The Lokniti-CSDS survey has given the BJP 84 seats in the state while he Congress would win 110 seats, according to the survey. It has predicted that the Others would win six seats. In 2013, BJP had won 163 out of the 200 seats. Congress had finished a distant second with just 21 seats. National People's Party (NPP) had won four and BSP had won three each. Also read: Opinion | Rajasthan Assembly Polls 2018: Congress could win its first direct contest against BJP in five years Telangana The Times Now-CNX survey has predicted that the TRS will win 66 seats while the Prajakutami will win 37 seats. The survey has predicted that the AIMIM is set to win nine seats while the BJP would win seven. The India Today-Axis My India has predicted that the TRS would win between 79-91 seats while the Prajakutami would win between 21-33 seats. The survey has given between 4-7 seats to AIMIM and between 1-3 seats to the BJP. The Republic TV-Jan ki Baat survey has given TRS between 50-65 seats while the Prajakutami has been given between 38-52 seats. The survey has predicted that the BJP would win between 4-7 seats while the Others would win between 8-14 seats. The poll of polls prediction is that the TRS would win 69 seats while the Prajakutami would win 37 seats. Other parties could pick up nine seats. This is Telanganas first independent election. In the 2014 assembly election, which was held as part of the Andhra Pradesh Assembly election simultaneous to the Lok Sabha polls, TRS had bagged 63 seats. That was just above the magic number 60. Congress had finished second with 21 seats. TDP and BJP, which had fought in an alliance, bagged 15 and five seats each. AIMIM had won seven seats. Also read: Opinion | Assembly Elections 2018: Why Telangana results matter more Significance The assembly poll results could have a bearing on the Lok Sabha elections expected to take place in April-May 2019. This is the final major block of polls ahead of the general elections. Counting of votes for all five states is scheduled to happen on December 11. The country's foreign exchange reserves increased by $932.8 million to $393.718 billion in the week to November 30, mainly due to a rise in foreign currency assets, according to RBI data. In the previous week, the reserves had dropped by $795 million to $392.785 billion. In the reporting week, foreign currency assets, a major component of the overall reserves, jumped by $787.9 million to $368.487 billion, as per the RBI data. Expressed in US dollars, foreign currency assets include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US currencies such as the euro, pound and yen held in the reserves. Forex reserves had touched a record high of $426.028 billion in the week to April 13, 2018. Since then, the forex kitty has been on a slide and is now down by over $31 billion. Gold reserves rose by $151.8 million to $21.150 billion in the reporting week, the data showed. The special drawing rights with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) dipped by $2.5 million to $1.454 billion. The country's reserve position with the IMF also decline by $4.4 million to $2.625 billion, the apex bank said. Congress leader Shashi Tharoor claimed that there was 'definitely' a perception of regime change at the Centre in view of what he called "incredible disillusionment' against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not delivering on his promises. Tharoor was in Bengaluru to read out a few excerpts from his book - 'The Paradoxical Prime Minister.' "There definitely is a perception of regime change at the centre.... There is incredible disillusionment against Modi. Many also have reacted to communal violence and cow vigilantism, saying that this is not we have voted for. They expected Modi to deliver on his promises, which he has failed in almost all of them," the Congress MP told PTI. Asked about the prospects of the Congress in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chattisgarh, which went to the polls on December 7, along with Telangana and Mizoram, he said he was quite confident of the party winning at the hustings as people were 'disillusioned' with Modi's rule. Tharoor also said he did not agree with the 'violent protests' held by the BJP in Kerala over the Sabarimala issue."We have to respect the Constitution and rule of law," he added. However, questions must be asked about what should be the permissible domain for the judiciary to enter into mattersof religion, he said. "To my mind, those lines can be drawn simply by the judiciary and if it refuses then it can be drawn by the legislature through constitutional amendments," he said. Tharoor had last month asked the BJP and RSS not to "desecrate" the Sabarimala temple and termed as "utterly disgraceful" the violence at the hill shrine. He had also blamed the state government for acting in "haste" and not consulting the stakeholders before implementing the Supreme Court verdict, permitting women of all age groups to offer prayers at the Lord Ayyappa shrine. On the row over Aljo K Joseph appearing for Christian Michel, the alleged middleman in the Augusta Westland chopper scam, he said his expulsion from the youth Congress clearly indicated that the party did not endorse his action. "The immediate decision to expel Joseph from the party is a clear indication that the Congress did not endorse his appearing for Michel," Tharoor said. "It was clearly an individual lawyer's choice to take up an individual brief without consulting the party," he said. December 07, 2018 / 05:01 PM IST The caste dynamics in the state and the race for reservations Rajasthan is a land of myriad colours, and this pluralism extends to the communities and ethnicities that make up the population of the state. The state is made up of 89 percent Hindus, 9 percent Muslims while 2 percent belong to other religions. The Scheduled Caste (SC) population is 18 percent, Scheduled Tribe (ST) 13 percent, Jats 12 percent, Gujjars and Rajputs 9 percent each, Brahmins and Minas 7 percent each. Among these, the Rajputs and the Jats have been at loggerheads ever since the princely states were merged into the Indian Union in 1952. At that time, the princes had fielded a large number of their nominees, and the electorate which was used to being ruled by the kings had voted for them. Click here to read more 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. Imran Khan Prime Minister Imran Khan has claimed that the approach of the ruling BJP was "anti-Muslim and anti-Pakistan" and expressed the hope that the stalled bilateral talks could resume after the general elections in India next year. Prime Minister Khan said his government was keen to bring the perpetrators of the 2008 Mumbai attack to book, asserting that it was in the interest of Pakistan. "India has elections coming up. The ruling party [of India] has an anti-Muslim, anti-Pakistan approach. They rebuffed all my overtures....Let's hope that after the election is over, we can again resume talks with India," Khan said in an interview with 'The Washington Post' on December 6. India has firmly told Pakistan that talks and terrorism cannot go together. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has categorically ruled out the possibility of resumption of bilateral talks with Pakistan unless it stops cross-border terror activities against India. The general elections are due to be held in India in April or May 2019. Speaking about the Mumbai terror attack, Khan said Pakistan wants "something done about the bombers of Mumbai". "I have asked our government to find out the status of the case. Resolving that the case is in our interest because it was an act of terrorism," he said. On November 26, 2008, 10 Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists arrived by sea route and opened fire indiscriminately, killing 166 people. Nine of the attackers were killed by police while lone survivor Ajmal Kasab was captured and hanged after handed down death sentence by an Indian court. Perpetrators of the 26/11 attack, including its mastermind and banned Jamat-ud Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed, continue to roam freely in Pakistan, indicating that Islamabad is not serious in bringing them to justice. The JuD is believed to be the front group for the LeT. The US has offered a USD 10 million bounty for Saeed. After taking charge as prime minister in August this year, Khan said he was ready for peace talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Pakistan sent a proposal in September to hold foreign ministers' level talks in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. India, however, accepted and then rejected the proposal, blaming Pakistan for killing a security personnel in Jammu and Kashmir and accusing it of glorifying terrorism. Both India and Pakistan gave the green signal to the much-awaited Kartarpur Corridor last month. The 4-km-long corridor will connect Dera Baba Nanak in India's Gurdaspur district with Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib Narowal in Pakistan. The corridor will provide visa-free access to the Indian Sikh pilgrims to the gurdwara which is located in Shakargarh in Narowal district of Pakistan's Punjab province. "I have opened a visa-free peace corridor with India called Kartarpur [so that Indian Sikhs can visit a holy shrine in Pakistan]. Let's hope that after the election is over, we can again resume talks with India," Khan said in the interview. It is said that Guru Nanak Dev, the founder of Sikhism, had spent more than 18 years of his life there. The Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara is located on the banks of the Ravi River, about three-four kilometres from the border in Pakistan. China President Xi Jinping Chinese President Xi Jinping on December 7 told North Korea's foreign minister that he hoped North Korea and the United States could meet each other halfway and address each other's reasonable concerns, China's foreign ministry said. China is the North's most important economic and diplomatic backer, despite anger over its neighbour's nuclear and missile programmes. Ties have warmed in the last year as Pyongyang's relations with both Seoul and Washington have also improved. At a landmark June summit in Singapore, the North's leader, Kim Jong Un, and U.S. President Donald Trump pledged to work towards denuclearisation, but the pact was sketchy and talks since have made little headway. Xi "hoped North Korea and the United States meet each other halfway and address each other's reasonable concerns, allowing positive progress on the peninsula's nuclear talks," the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement. In comments made before reporters, Xi added, "The international and regional situation, as well as the situation on the Korean peninsula, remains in flux, so timely exchanges and the coordination of positions between China and North Korea are still extremely essential." Ri said North Korea's commitment to denuclearisation and safeguarding peace and stability on the Korean peninsula were unchanged, the foreign ministry added. Meeting the Chinese government's top diplomat Wang Yi earlier, Ri said North Korea hoped to build "required mutual trust" with the United States and "move in the same direction", it said. Ri, who is due to leave China on Saturday, visited Syria this week. Kim has visited China three times this year to meet Xi. Diplomatic sources say Xi will probably go to North Korea at some point soon. Last month, South Korea said Xi intended to visit North Korea next year at Kim's invitation, which would make Xi the first Chinese leader to do so since 2005. Last weekend, Trump said he was likely to meet Kim again in January or February, with three possible sites being considered for their second meeting. The two countries have held talks over a second meeting after the unprecedented June summit, Reuters reported in October, citing a senior official. eye-on-india Explained | What the election results of the 5 states mean for BJP, Congress In this video, our Opinion Editor Viju Cherian takes a look at all this and more. Raj Thackeray Sujata Anandan The Thackeray cousins are two of a kind who have perfected the art of having their cake and eating it too. Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray finds nothing odd about being part of the government and acting as Opposition at one and the same time and still has Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders running to him for an alliance for the next elections. Now, Uddhavs estranged cousin Raj Thackeray has taken a leaf out of the book and, while wooing north Indians in Mumbai, has scolded them roundly for being who they are. This is exactly what Raj Thackeray was doing on December 2 when he addressed a gathering of North Indian economic migrants in Mumbai building bridges with them, yet letting them know in no uncertain terms that they could not take away jobs from local Maharashtrians. This time, Raj Thackeray was armed with not sticks and stones but had facts, figures and constitutional provisions to bolster his arguments. He spoke in Hindi so that there would be no room for misinterpretation of his arguments and nothing would be lost in translation. Hindi is not the national language of this country. It is just one of the many languages the constitution lists in its schedule and it has the same status as Marathi, Tamil or any other language. But I speak in Hindi now so that your friends and family in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh clearly understand what I am saying without being misled by misinterpreting television channels looking only for TRPS. Raj has always had an issue with Hindi channels, blaming them for twisting his words out of context and giving him the kind of monstrous image he did not deserve. Quoting Abraham Lincoln, he said he was not clarifying his past statements because those who were friends did not seek clarifications and those who opposed did not take heed of any clarification. So why should a North Indian not freely migrate to Mumbai and seek a job? Raj Thackeray said many people did not know about the constitutional provision for inter-state migration which required the person migrating to register with the police station and inform the authorities why he/she migrated and who was his/her employer. He also said anyone not living in his/her home state required a domicile certificate not enforcing this law contributed to criminals roaming freely between states after committing heinous crimes. Did Raj Thackeray label North Indians criminals? One wouldn't have guessed from the applause he received! Much of his angst was on two counts one, on the Centres unfair treatment to Maharashtra, and the second, on the railway recruitment board (RRB) exams being open only to North Indians. On the first grievance, Raj Thackeray laid out numbers: He said for every Rs 100 Maharashtra contributes to the Centre, it gets only Rs 13 in return, while states such as Bihar get in return Rs 148 for being inefficient. This is an old argument voiced by chief ministers who detested the fact that they got less funds for development despite being efficient and capable, while the BIMARU states were rewarded for doing nothing to generate employment. You have to come to Maharashtra to seek jobs because your governments are unable to develop your home states. The kind of ire we have today for North Indians was evident against south Indians in the 1960s and 1970s. But in the past decades, all the south Indian states have set up industries and generated employment and their people dont migrate here anymore. Why cant North Indian states do the same? asked Raj Thackeray. What he forgot to mention was that after the Shiv Sena agitated against south Indians in the 1960s, the Maharashtra government implemented a policy whereby nearly 85 percent of the lower-rung jobs were reserved for Marathis. Raj Thackeray quoted former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on meeting the aspirations of the local people but forgot to mention that she had at the same time called for a justifiable balance between locals and migrating populations without having to resort to a law for the purpose. On the second point, Raj Thackeray accused former railway ministers from Bihar for favouring their home state at the expense of the people of Maharashtra. He said that RRB advertisements used to appear in non-Marathi papers outside Maharashtra thereby keeping the young unemployed Marathi clueless about job openings in the state. At the end of the day, Raj Thackeray gave voice to something Chief Ministers in Maharashtra have been speaking sotto voce. Interestingly there was one fact that Raj Thackeray and other leaders have conveniently sidestepped that more than 75 percent of migrants to Mumbai come from the interiors of Maharashtra and not from other states. Acknowledging this would mean admitting that Maharashtra has not been able to deal with rural distress and generate jobs outside of Mumbai. (Sujata Anandan is a senior journalist and author. Views are personal) Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje and Rajasthan Congress chief Sachin Pilot, in Jaipur Aditya Menon On November 29, when I met Virendra Chaudhary, a voter in the Baytu constituency in Rajasthans Barmer district, he was on his way to Chohtan, which is about 95 kilometres away, near the Pakistan border. He was planning to build a house there and settle. There are over 60 percent Muslims in our area. We don't feel safe there. In Chohtan, we Jats are more in number." Much better to live near Pakistan, than in Pakistan, he joked. On being asked why he dislikes Muslims, Chaudhary said, They are backward and regressive. Why do they insist on slaughtering cows when they know we are against it? Speaking about the cases of Muslims being lynched in Rajasthan, he says, These were unfortunate. But what choice did the people there have? When they see a cow being slaughtered, such an angry reaction is natural. His political views, however, was mixed. He had positive views of the Congress and former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, but did not share the same emotions about Vasundhara Raje. However, Chaudhary dislikes Sachin Pilot. He is scared. Why did he go to a Muslim-dominated seat like Tonk to get elected? Cant he win elsewhere? he asked. In the Ladnun seat in Nagaur district, Jitendra Singh, a Rajput, has a similar opinion about Muslims. We don't see eye-to-eye with Muslims. We have had many disputes with them, he says. Also, his political views align with that of Chaudharys. He has one more reason to dislike Raje Her government got Anandpal Singh killed.Anandpal was a Ravana Rajput gangster from Ladnun who became popular among Rajputs because of his tussle with Jat gangsters in the Shekhawati region. He was killed in an encounter last year. Anandpal was a Ravana Rajput gangster from Ladnun who became popular among Rajputs because of his tussle with Jat gangsters in the Shekhawati region. He was killed in an encounter last year. Pro-Hindutva but with Congress Across Rajasthan, one comes across many voters who dislike Muslims, see themselves as pro-Hindutva but are choosing to vote for the Congress in these elections. This trend was first seen earlier this year in the Congress massive 1.96 lakh vote victory over the BJP in the Lok Sabha by-election in Alwar, where most of the hate crimes against Muslims have taken place. The Congress also won in Ajmer, where Sikhs were attacked by a mob in 2017. In the past few years, Sikhs have also been attacked in Alwar, Hanumangarh and Jaipur in the state. In two of the cases, the police is said to have taken part in the attacks. Of course there are exceptions. In Pokaran, pro-Hindutva voters are firmly behind Pratap Puri Maharaj, whom many call Rajasthans Yogi Adityanath. He is contesting against Congress Saleh Mohammad, son of a local Pir Ghazi Fakir. Anti-Hindu tag removed Even though it is essentially a vote against Raje, especially because of the alienation of farmers and key caste groups in the state, the significance of the Congress popularity in Rajasthan cannot be ignored. It is the first time since 2014 that the Congress is in a position to defeat the BJP in a Hindu-majority, Hindi-speaking state on its own might. Otherwise, the only decisive Congress victory has been in Sikh-majority Punjab in 2017 that too in an election in which its main rivals were the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Aam Aadmi Party. The BJP was there only as a junior partner of the SAD. The desire to shed the anti-Hindu tag could be seen in the Congress manifesto in Rajasthan. It has promised to set up a board for the development of grazing land for cows and said that it will upgrade Gaushalas in the state. It terms of education, it has promised to promote Vedic values and Sanskrit language in schools. Watch | 'BJP Promises Are Like Post-Dated Cheques That Are Bouncing' In contrast, the party remained by and large silent on the hate crimes against Muslims and Sikhs in the state. This seems to be a repeat of the Congress strategy in Gujarat elections last year and Madhya Pradesh last month. In both these states, Congress President Rahul Gandhi went on a temple-visiting spree and made no mention of communal issues in the campaign. However, in terms of ticket distribution, the Congress been more generous in Rajasthan it has fielded 15 Muslim candidates, thrice of what it did in Gujarat and five times the number of Muslim candidates in Madhya Pradesh. The Modi factor However, both anecdotal evidence and survey data indicates that the partys advantage in Rajasthan may not extend to the Lok Sabha elections due to the Modi factor. Chaudhary and Singh had positive views about the Congress in the state but when it came to national politics, they looked up to the BJP in Delhi. The Lokniti-CSDS survey indicates that many voters in Rajasthan are thinking on the same lines. According to the survey, Modi is the most-liked leader in Rajasthan, with 52 percent having a positive opinion of him and Raje is among the least liked at 26 percent. However, his popularity isn't helping the BJP in the assembly elections. The survey said that only 14 percent of those who somewhat like Modi plan to vote for the BJP at the assembly level as opposed to 28 percent in Madhya Pradesh and 30 percent in Chhattisgarh. The C-Voter survey predicted that while the BJP will face a huge defeat in the assembly polls, it will win a majority of seats in Rajasthan in the Lok Sabha polls largely due to Modis popularity. So to extrapolate that the results of the assembly election have a direct correlation to the 2019 general elections would be inaccurate. If the Congress has the upper hand, it is because of its shrewdness in removing the anti-Hindu tag in a state which has been notorious for hate-crimes against Muslims and Sikhs. Aditya Menon is a Delhi-based political journalist and commentator. Views are personal. My takeaway from this after all these years is seeing the grins on seniors faces and this gives us an opportunity to bring some joy to the residents, Lloyd said. Its also important that students connect with the residents as it gives those students in the health field the chance to interact with the population many of them will being working with in the future. A crowd gathered during the roadshow of caretaker Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao's son KT Rama Rao in Vemulawada constituency (Image: Twitter/@KTRTRS) Amar Devulapalli Is there a silent wave being overlooked or underestimated by most analysts and psephologists that can shock everyone on December 11 the day the election results to five states will be announced? As Telangana goes to polls today, the two main political contenders, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and the Prajakutami or Peoples Front [comprising the Congress, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), the Telangana Jana Samithi (TJS) and the Communist Party of India (CPI)] will be keeping a close watch on visible signs of a strong Telangana sentiment. The TRS, which governed Indias newest state till September 6, was voted to power in 2014 on an overwhelming pro-Telangana sentiment. The idea of self-rule and rebuilding Telangana as propagated by K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) struck a chord with the people back then and they decided to give him a chance even though the party had no experience of governing a state on its own. Four-and-a-half years later, the TRS is seeking votes for the development projects and unique schemes introduced by them. However, as the polling date approached, the TRS reverted to its strength invoking the Telangana sentiment; and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu was its prime target. Over the years, the TRS has successfully project the TDP as an Andhra Pradesh party and Naidu as a traitor of the Telangana cause. In the last days of his whirlwind campaign covering 6-9 public meetings a day, Rao branded the Prajakutami as anti-Telangana. Watch | Telangana Polls Explained in 3 Minutes At public meetings, he reminded voters that Naidu as CM of erstwhile Andhra Pradesh had intentionally neglected the Telangana region, and now as Chief Minister Naidu had written 30 letters to the Centre to obstruct irrigation projects in Telangana. To make the voter insecure, Rao also cautioned that if the alliance came to power, Naidu would rule Telangana from Amaravati, Andhra Pradeshs new capital. At his rallies, Rao stressed that Naidu was from the Rayalaseema region (now part of Andhra Pradesh) and said if the TRS lost, Telangana would be dominated by Andhra Pradesh. Lagadapati Rajagopal, two-time Congress MP from Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh, feels that this line will not help the TRS. A keen political observer, Rajagopal has been predicting election results accurately for the last decade. He is of the view that the people of Telangana have no ill-feelings against those from Andhra Pradesh as they achieved a separate state. He says though he was vehemently opposed to the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh in 2014 Rajagopal used pepper spray in Parliament to oppose the AP reorganisation Bill he has received a warm welcome wherever he toured in Telangana. This could be good news for the alliance but it has left no stone unturned. All the four parties tried to capture the sentiments of the voters in their own ways. Rally after rally, it was reiterated that if the alliance won, power would rest in Hyderabad, and not with Rahul Gandhi in Delhi or with Naidu in Amaravati. The Congress reminded voters that the party overcame tremendous opposition both from within the party and from other parties to give Telangana statehood. At a rally which Sonia Gandhi addressed in the outskirts of Hyderabad, she started her speech by addressing the people of Telangana as her children. It is clear that the other allies in the Prajakutami are worried that the TDP could spoil the party, especially after Naidu was on an aggressive tour in and around Hyderabad. Some leaders even did not want Naidu to be a visible presence in the alliance, lest it fanned a strong Telangana sentiment which could work in Raos favour. While the political parties started their campaign in Telangana focusing on development and governance, it soon shifted to fanning regional prejudices. The results will show whether this tactic worked for the TRS. (Amar Devulapalli is a Hyderabad-based senior journalist. Views are personal) Prime Minister Narendra Modi Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 7 expressed the hope that that India's efforts to ensure that economic offenders who flee the country do not get safe havens abroad will show results. New Delhi has put forth some suggestions before the international community to ensure that people "who commit economic offences, those who are fugitives should not get any sanctuary anywhere in the world", Modi said while addressing the 'Jagran Forum' organised by the Dainik Jagran media group here. "I am confident that our campaign will show results," he said. The prime minister said he put across New Delhi's stand before the strong economies at the recent G-20 meet in Argentina. The government is working to bring back people, including Vijay Mallya, Mehul Choksi and Nirav Modi, for their alleged involvement in bank scams. India presented a nine-point agenda to G-20 countries, calling for "strong and active cooperation" to comprehensively deal with fugitive economic offenders. Modi presented the agenda in the second session of the G20 Summit on international trade, international financial and tax systems. "Cooperation in legal processes such as effective freezing of the proceeds of crime, early return of the offenders and efficient repatriation of the proceeds of crime should be enhanced and streamlined," the agenda read. India also called for joint efforts by G-20 countries to form a mechanism that denies entry and safe havens to fugitive economic offenders. Representative image The killing of a policeman and a civilian during mob violence over alleged cow slaughter in Bulandshahr district has brought to the fore the priorities of Uttar Pradesh police. The investigating cops are more concerned about nabbing those accused of alleged cow slaughter than killers of the two people, The Indian Express has reported. Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh and a 20-year-old civilian named Sumit Kumar were murdered in mob violence triggered by alleged killing of cows. As the case is under investigation, Additional Superintendent of Police (Bulandshahr) Rayees Akhtar told the publication that finding the cow-killers is the top priority at this moment, whereas the murder and rioting case is on the backburner for now. In support of his comment, the official said it was the killing of the cows that led to the protest, which resulted in Singhs murder. If the culprits behind the alleged cow slaughter were nabbed, it will throw light on how the murder occurred, said Akhtar. As many as 27 people have been named in the FIR registered by police after the violence. The FIR also mentioned 50-60 unidentified people. Apart from the FIR over the mob violence, they have lodged another on the alleged cow slaughter. The police have reported only four arrests so far, including Chaman, Devendra, Ashish Chauhan and Satish for their alleged involvement in Singhs murder. But they are yet to nab the main accused, Yogeshraj Singh, a Bajrang Dal activist. Yogeshraj Singh, who is on the run, had posted a video on social media claiming innocence. In his video message, he said he was not present at the site of the violence. A local BJP leader, Shikhar Agarwal, wanted by police in Singhs killing, has also released a similar video. In the clip, Agarwal, who is BJP's Syana unit youth wing president, claimed it was the inspector who created tension by stopping him and others from taking some carcasses to the Chingrawathi police post for filing an FIR over the alleged cow slaughter. Agarwal was also heard claiming that Singh threatened to kill him and his aides. (With inputs from PTI) OPEC logo seen at it's headquarters in Vienna, Austria (REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger) Iran gave OPEC the green light on December 7 to reduce oil output by around 0.8 million barrels per day from 2019 after finding a compromise with rival Saudi Arabia over a possible exemption from the cuts, an OPEC source said. Tehran has emerged as a key sticking point for a deal but sources said the difficulties were now in the past and OPEC was refocusing on talks with non-member producers led by Russia to reduce supplies and prop up oil prices. "Yes, Iran agreed in principle," the source said. OPEC will propose that non-member producers contribute an additional 0.4 million bpd to the cuts, the source said. "It will be stamped when the non-OPEC meeting is done." The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries was meeting in Vienna for a second day running, before discussions with its non-OPEC allies scheduled for 1400 GMT. Saudi Arabia faces pressure from US President Donald Trump to help the global economy by refraining from cutting supplies. An OPEC output reduction also would provide support to Iran by increasing the price of oil. Possibly further 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 US politicians to impose stiff sanctions on Riyadh. US special representative for Iran Brian Hook met Falih in Vienna this week, in an unprecedented development ahead of an OPEC meeting. Saudi Arabia first denied the Hook-Falih discussion took place but later confirmed it. "US political pressure is clearly a dominant factor at this OPEC meeting, limiting the scope of Saudi actions to rebalance the market," said Gary Ross, chief executive of Black Gold Investors and a veteran OPEC watcher. RUSSIAN DILEMMA The price of crude has fallen almost a third since October to around $60 a barrel as Saudi Arabia, Russia and the United Arab Emirates raised output to offset lower exports from Iran, OPEC's third-largest producer. [O/R] The price decline prompted OPEC and its allies to discuss output cuts, and Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said on December 6 possible reductions by those involved ranged from 0.5-1.5 million bpd. A reduction of 1 million bpd would be acceptable and so far was the main scenario, Falih said, but he added that Russia needed to commit significant volumes. Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak met with President Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg on December 6 and returned to the Austrian capital on December 7. A Russian Energy Ministry source said Moscow was ready to contribute a cut of around 200,000 bpd - more than the initially suggested figure of 150,000 bpd. Russia, Saudi Arabia and the United States have been vying for the position of top crude producer in recent years. The United States is not part of any output-limiting initiative due to its anti-trust legislation and fragmented oil industry. On December 6, US government figures showed the country had become a net exporter of crude oil and refined products for the first time on record, underscoring how the surge in production has altered the supply equation in world markets. OPEC logo seen at it's headquarters in Vienna, Austria (REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger) OPEC and its Russia-led allies agreed on December 7 to slash oil production by more than the market had expected despite pressure from US President Donald Trump to reduce the price of crude. The producer club will curb output by 0.8 million barrels per day from January while non-OPEC allies contribute an additional 0.4 million bpd of cuts, Iraqi Oil Minister Thamer Ghadhban said after OPEC concluded two days of talks in Vienna. Oil prices jumped about 5 percent to more than $63 a barrel by 1500 GMT as the combined cut of 1.2 million bpd was larger than the minimum 1 million bpd that the market had expected. Saudi Arabia, de facto leader of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, has faced demands from Trump to help the global economy by refraining from cutting supplies. An output reduction also would provide support to Iran by increasing the price of oil amid attempts by Washington to squeeze the economy of OPEC's third-largest producer. "We will never address geopolitical issues at OPEC," United Arab Emirates Energy Minister Suhail bin Mohammed al-Mazroui told a news conference. Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak praised the ability of his Saudi counterpart Khalid al-Falih "to find a solution in the most difficult situation", indicating Russia was on board. The OPEC deal had hung in the balance for two days - first on fears that Russia would cut too little, and later on concerns that Iran, whose crude exports have been depleted by US sanctions, would receive no exemption and block the agreement. But after hours of talks, Iran gave OPEC the green light and Russia indicated it was ready to cut more. A meeting of OPEC and non-OPEC producers quickly approved the deal, according to two OPEC sources. The cut will last for six months from January, Ghadhban said, and take October as the baseline. OPEC and Russian output was lower in October than in November. However, OPEC might not disclose individual output quotas, sources said. "The OPEC+ cut is fuzzy on details and will likely result in less reduction than the headline figure of 1.2 million bpd," said Bob McNally, president of US-based Rapidan Energy Group. "President Trump will not be happy to see today's headlines, but how strongly he reacts depends mainly on whether crude prices rise strongly as a result in coming days and weeks." Washington added fuel to the fire when US special representative for Iran Brian Hook met Falih in Vienna this week, in an unprecedented development ahead of an OPEC meeting. Saudi Arabia first denied the Hook-Falih discussion took place but later confirmed it. "US political pressure is clearly a dominant factor at this OPEC meeting, limiting the scope of Saudi actions to rebalance the market," said Gary Ross, chief executive of Black Gold Investors and a veteran OPEC watcher. The price of crude has fallen almost a third since October as Saudi Arabia, Russia and the United Arab Emirates raised output to offset lower exports from Iran. [O/R] The price decline prompted OPEC and Russia to start discussing an output cut, but Russia long resisted any deep reduction. Novak met Russian President Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg on December 6 and returned to the Austrian capital on December 7. A Russian Energy Ministry source said Moscow was ready to contribute a cut of around 200,000 bpd - more than the initially suggested figure of 150,000 bpd. An OPEC source later said Russia had agreed to cut by 230,000 bpd. Russia, Saudi Arabia and the United States have been vying for the position of top crude producer in recent years. The United States is not part of any output-limiting initiative due to its anti-trust legislation and fragmented oil industry. On December 7, US government figures showed the country had become a net exporter of crude oil and refined products for the first time on record, underscoring how the surge in production has altered the supply equation in world markets. Microsoft's Indian-American CEO Satya Nadella has called for building Artificial Intelligence (AI) responsibly while avoiding the race to the bottom, amid concerns over the use of the cutting-edge technology by the governments to constantly monitor certain populations. Members of the civic society in the US and globally have expressed concern over the use of AI in particular its facial recognition technology by China to repress religious minorities. "Now is the time to examine how we build AI responsibly and avoid a race to the bottom. This requires both the private and public sectors to take action," Nadella said in a tweet, hours after he attended a White House Summit of technology executives. AI is believed to have been discussed at the summit which was also attended by President Donald Trump. "We've seen how AI can be applied for good, but we must also guard against its unintended consequences," Nadella said as he flagged a blog written by Microsoft president Brad Smith. But in countries like India, AI has been used for positive benefit, Smith wrote. "As with all new technology, the uses of facial recognition are multiplying in both predictable and surprising ways. But it's increasingly clear that a great many of these uses have created many new and positive benefits for people around the world, he wrote. "It's striking to review the breadth of this innovation. Police in New Delhi recently trialed facial recognition technology and identified almost 3,000 missing children in four days, Smith wrote in his blog which made no reference to the Chinese use of AI. Microsoft is one of several companies playing a leading role in developing facial recognition technology, he said. "We're working with customers around the world, while acting aggressively on industry-leading efforts to improve the capability of this technology to recognise faces with a range of ages and skin toes," he added. Smith argued that one need to be clear-eyed about the risks and potential for abuse. There are three problems that governments need to address, he said. "Especially in its current state of development, certain uses of facial recognition technology increase the risk of decisions and, more generally, outcomes that are biased and, in some cases, in violation of laws prohibiting discrimination, he wrote. He said the widespread use of this technology can lead to new intrusions into people's privacy. The use of facial recognition technology by a government for mass surveillance can encroach on democratic freedoms. We believe all three of these problems should be addressed through legislation, Smith said. "There is one potential use for facial recognition technology that could put our fundamental freedoms at risk," he said. "When combined with ubiquitous cameras and massive computing power and storage in the cloud, a government could use facial recognition technology to enable continuous surveillance of specific individuals, he added. It could follow anyone anywhere, or for that matter, everyone everywhere. It could do this at any time or even all the time. "This use of facial recognition technology could unleash mass surveillance on an unprecedented scale," he warned. Top executives of Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS), including Ravi Parthasarathy, Hari Sankaran and Arun Kumar Saha, misused Employee Welfare Trust (EWT) and "the trust deed was instituted fraudulently with criminal intention to gain unlawful benefits," reveals the submission before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). The submission also exposes how the EWT was mainly used for enriching few select employees. EWT, with outstanding loans of Rs500 crore, holds a 12% stake in IL&FS. Quoting the interim report of the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), the ministry of corporate affairs (MCA) reveals how the trust deed was amended six times, with the last three supplemental indentures without any board approval. "...it is clear that the last three amendments were carried out without any approval of the board of directors of IL&FS, the settlor of the trust. This indicates that the intention of the trustees of EWT, who happened to be the directors of IL&FS and its group companies, was to fraudulently benefit themselves," the report says. According to SFIO, the fifth indenture was made on 17 April 2006 to include that the trustee should have the powers to sell or any portion or part of the trust investments either by public auction or by private contract, indicating that the trustees started acting in a completely arbitrary manner without being accountable. There was an important provision in the fifth supplemental indenture which stated, "The employees of the IL&FS being the beneficiaries under the said indenture of trust as amended from time to time have given their consent to this fifth supplemental indenture." However, SFIO said, no document pertaining to the employees' consent to change the indenture of the trust is available. "This is (a) fraudulent act on the part of the trustees and directors of IL&FS as criminal intent to defraud is apparent. In addition to this, they also had conflict of interest in discharge of their duties as they happened to be beneficiaries of fraudulently amended indenture deed without disclosure to IL&FS," it added. As per the report, the committee of directors (CoD) of IL&FS consisting Ravi Parthasarathy, Hari Sankaran and Arun K Saha approved the indenture. It says, "All these three persons were also the trustees of the EWT at that point of time. There was conflict of interest on part of the CoD and trustees, as the same persons occupied both offices." After the amendment, the EWT was used to invest in securities of IL&FS and group companies with the loans obtained from IL&FS and its group entities. These shares, however, were distributed at a very nominal price to some select management personnel of the group. After selling the investment to a third party, the sale proceeds were distributed among the same selected management personnel at the cost of EWT objectives and IL&FS group, the SFIO pointed out. From 1 April 2011, Vibhav Kapoor, K Ramchand and Ramesh C Bawa were trustees of EWT. By the sixth supplemental indenture on 31 March 2011, the board of trustees at EWT was reconstituted and Vibhav Kapoor, K Ramchand and Ramesh C Bawa were made permanent trustees till 31 March 2016. However, SFIO found out that these three continued to remain on the board of trustees beyond March 2016. They resigned only on October 2018. While Mr Kapoor was the chief investment officer of IL&FS, Ramchand was the managing director (MD) of IL&FS Transportation Network and Bawa was the MD of IL&FS Financial Services. EWT Was Used To Enrich a Few Select Employees According to SFIO, the IL&FS employees welfare trust- EWT, as used as conduit to give shape to fraudulent motives of the key managerial persons of IL&FS."...the financial statements for the past eight years indicate that less than 1% of the total expenditure was made towards welfare of employees and the remaining was diverted towards enriching few selective employees," it said. (See the table below) The interim report of SFIO also shows creation of another trust, IL&FS Group Employees Trust (IGET), for which Vibhav Kapoor was settlor and Arun K Saha and Hari Sankaran were beneficiaries. IGET's trustee was IL&FS Trust Co Ltd (currently known as Vistra ITCL Co Ltd). While there are no documents to determine the relationship between IGET and EWT, the SFIO found that IGET aggregated all the shares held by employees and sold it to Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) at Rs1,100 per share. The same money was paid to employees. EWT had distributed these shares to employees at Rs84 per share (about 15 lakh shares or warrants) and Rs132 per share (around 15 lakh shares). This deal shows windfall gain and also a violation by EWT for the conditions of warrants. "While distributing the shares, the EWT had violated the conditions of the share warrants issued by IL&FS, with respect of transferability of the warrants, the condition was that the EWT cannot deal in the warrants as long as warrants were not exercised and were converted to equity shares. The trustees were in haste and even before warrants were converted to equity shares, the same were sold to employees," the SFIO report says. The report also exposes how loans were extended to IL&FS employees' welfare trust -EWT to buy shares of IL&FS or a group company and to pay interest on the loans. SFIO says, "The loans extended to EWT were approved by the CoD of the respective IL&FS group companies. The EWT was dependent on interest and dividend income from the group companies, for servicing its debt. From 2006 onwards, as the sale proceeds of shares were distributed among the select few employees rather than being used for repaying the debts." "The trust was continuously suffering funds crunch on account of debt and was forced towards seeking new debts from the IL&FS group companies for service its existing obligations on regular basis, leading it into a debt-trap. These loans have caused further stress to the lending group companies and their extension reveal lack of due diligence and conflict in decision making," the SFIO concluded in its interim report. It is shocking that an employee welfare trust seems to have been converted into a trading vehicle of sorts to enrich a few top executives. You may also want to read Output of the global uranium market has dropped off in 2018 against growing demand in Asia, which is driving prices higher. A low price environment has also caused major uranium producers to suspend production, which has helped lift prices to fix the supply and demand imbalance. This year uranium mines in Canada, United States and Namibia have even halted their production, which saw global production fall by 16%. In the last four months, uranium prices have lifted 30% due to changing fundamentals and new interest in alternative energy, reported The Street. During the last uranium resource rush, we saw some of the most impressive stock runs in history, like Paladin Energys monumental 20,000% boom. This is why Greg Canavan, Money Morning contributor, believes uranium stocks could climb even higher. You can read more about this in his free report, available here. Uranium demand restores supply/demand imbalance As The Street reports, while supply may have fallen, demand for uranium is only increasing. In November this year, there were 54 nuclear reactors under construction in the world, 25% of which were located in China. Because of this fact, we have seen prices begin to recover. Uranium futures finished at $29 a pound on 27 November the most active trading day since December 2015. In response to the deficit, US energy producers have upped purchasing and building stocks in response to possible supply decline. Since then, open contracts in uranium futures have grown by 87% after prices began recovering halfway through this year. This, along with mounting volatility has spiked a massive increase in risk management in uranium, drawing new players into the emerging uranium market. Weve seen more involvement from general investors as well as fund managers who have also noticed recent price hikes. More liquidity is helping electricity producers looking to contain exposure to their fuel price. In 2019, investors can expect a bit of a correction period as prices increase following great production halts, which had previously affected supply. Regards, Ryan Clarkson-Ledward, For Money Morning PS: Discover how you could take advantage of the next big resource rush. Greg Canavan shares how you could capitalise on uraniums next potentially colossal comeback. To find out more read his free report The catalysts set to spark Uraniums next Blockbuster Bounce-Back, available now for download. Reabilitarea si eficientizarea energetica a Gradinitei cu Program Prelungit Motanul Incaltat Unitatea Administrativ Teritoriala Municipiul Galati a semnat cu Ministerul Dezvoltarii, Lucrarilor Publice si Administratiei, in calitate de Autoritate ... Autoritatile din capitala Coreei de Sud au lansat un proiect pilot pentru a testa roboti in miniatura drept instrumente pedagogice in gradinite, avand drept scop pregatirea generatiei urmatoare pentru un viitor high-tech, a anuntat guvernul de la Seu ... NATO va incepe luni cel mai mare exercitiu anual al sau de aparare cibernetica, denumit ''Cyber Coalition 21'', care va testa capacitatile aliatilor de a combate atacurile cibernetice, relateaza agentia EFE. ''Trebuie sa continuam sa ne consolidam ap ... We can defer any expenditures until after we talk to the board, Bragg said. We can talk through the structure and move forward based on your direction. We would not do anything with the program until at least after January. Then, we would come back and talk to you. A: No, as I was really more concerned with theology and church work. But I tried very much to keep up my work as an artist. Many evenings, I would draw at the kitchen table. And there was someone in one of the neighborhoods where we once lived who gave lessons once a week in her home. It was folk art, drawing things like fruit, vegetables and candles, and it was very educational. The Federal Reserve has reportedly nixed a plan by Wells Fargo to prevent further consumer abuses. The central bank told the lending giant that it needs a plan that includes stronger controls on management, according to a Reuters report. The Feds rejection of Wells Fargos plan likely means that the central bank will continue to impose the asset cap it placed on the lender following a parade of scandals, Reuters reported. In order to get the cap lifted, the bank must submit a plan to the Fed improving its governance and controls. In February, Wells Fargo CEO Tim Sloan said that the bank was on the fast track to completing such a plan, Reuters reported. Daniel Acker / Bloomberg Chevron said Thursday it will hike its 2019 capital spending by 9 percent up to $20 billion with major focuses on West Texas' booming Permian Basin and the massive Tengiz oil field in Kazakhstan. The spending increase comes despite oil prices falling by more than 30 percent since early October as the U.S. benchmark hovers just above $50 a barrel. Crude dropped the most in almost two weeks amid signals that OPEC, Russia and other aligned oil producers won't curb output enough to erase a supply overhang. Futures in New York declined 2.7 percent on Thursday. Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Khalid Al-Falih said in Vienna that he was not confident OPEC and allied oil producers will reach an agreement when the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries meets again with allies on Friday. A proposal for a combined 1 million barrel-a-day cut by OPEC and non-OPEC is being discussed. "There continues to be uncertainty with what OPEC will do," said Brian Kessens, who helps manage $16 billion at Tortoise in Leawood, Kansas. "Right now, it's a market that is assuming the worst." RELATED: Saudis back modest OPEC+ cut to avoid market shock Oil's sell-off also gathered steam as equity markets tanked. The S&P 500 Energy Index fell 3 percent as of 3:16 p.m. in New York, with all but one member lower. Traders are waiting for any signs of a formal deal announcement as producers convene in the Austrian capital. OPEC will meet again on Friday at 9 a.m. in Vienna and will then meet with non-OPEC allies, including Russia, at noon local time, according to delegates. Saudi Arabia and Russia "have a lot to lose" if there is no accord, Oman Oil Minister Mohammed Al Rumhy told reporters. "People were really hoping to hear something closer to 1.3 million barrels a day and we haven't gotten an official announcement yet," said Ashley Petersen, an oil analyst at Stratas Advisors LLC in New York. Given Saudi Arabia's "history of over-compliance, markets are a little bit preemptively disappointed." From HoustonChronicle.com: Reporter's notebook: U.S. oil industry still depends on OPEC West Texas Intermediate for January delivery fell $1.40 to settle at $51.49 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Total volume traded was about 46 percent above the 100-day average. Brent for February settlement tumbled $1.50 to end the session at $60.06 a barrel on London's ICE Futures Europe exchange. The global benchmark crude was at an $8.36 premium to WTI for the same month. Amid ongoing talks in Vienna this week, Trump tweeted on Wednesday saying the world "does not want to see, or need, higher oil prices." Saudi Arabia may not be able to defy Trump's demand for lower prices, after the killing of Jamal Khashoggi unleashed a fusillade of criticism from American lawmakers, leaving the president as one of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's few remaining allies in Washington. Meanwhile, U.S. crude stockpiles fell for the first time since mid September, down 7.32 million barrels last week, as exports jumped to a record, according to data from the Energy Information Administration on Thursday. The U.S. has become a net oil exporter for the first time in 75 years. --With assistance from Tsuyoshi Inajima and Alex Longley. 2018 Bloomberg L.P. (Bloomberg) -- Texas is considering new restrictions on how shale explorers dispose of wastewater from oil drilling as earthquakes rattle the largest oil-producing American state. The new rules would target how much and at what pressure briny water that emerges from oil wells is injected back into the ground, Jared Craighead, chief of staff for the Texas Railroad Commission, said by telephone Wednesday. The rules havent been finalized amid ongoing talks that include representatives from academia and the shale industry. The restrictions may be released within weeks, Craighead said. A negative side effect of the shale boom has been a huge increase in volumes of contaminated water that are typically disposed of in so-called injection wells. In cases where those wells touch fault lines, earthquakes have flourished. Neighboring Oklahoma began clamping down on injection wells in recent years after a massive increase in the number and intensity of quakes. Were being very diligent and sensitive to concerns regarding seismicity, Craighead said. We are definitely doing things to provide more scientific basis for our decisions as it relates to permitting saltwater disposal. Oklahoma forced oil explorers to throttle back the speed and volume of their wastewater disposal after earthquakes measuring at least 3.0 surged from two in 2008 to about 900 seven years later. In some cases, state regulators ordered disposal wells there to shut completely. Quakes Triple In the Permian Basin, where Americas busiest oil patch produces enough dirty water in a year to cover Rhode Island nearly a foot deep, the costly treatment and disposal has given rise to a more specialized water-handling industry. At the same time, earthquakes measuring at least 2.5 in the Permian region of West Texas and New Mexico have tripled to more than 60 in a year, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The Permian hosts more than half of all the rigs drilling for crude in the U.S., according to Baker Hughes. The Texas Oil & Gas Association continues to be supportive of research and actions that are rooted in sound methodology, which is essential to understanding natural and induced seismicity and to inform science-based policy," Todd Staples, president of the association, said in an emailed statement. "Use of existing tax revenue for important research on issues such as this is a worthwhile and warranted investment." The commission is particularly interested in Reeves County in the epicenter of Permian shale, Craighead said. The county is home to wells drilled by marquee explorers such as EOG Resources Inc., Concho Resources Inc. and Occidental Petroleum Corp. Representatives of EOG, Concho and Occidental didnt respond to messages seeking comment. The new rules are likely to lead to more special conditions on drilling permits that could limit an operators ability on pressure and volume, but that will be done case-by-case, Craighead said. (Updates with comment from Texas Oil & Gas Association in eighth paragraph.) --With assistance from Kevin Crowley and Rachel Adams-Heard. To contact the reporters on this story: Ryan Collins in Houston at rcollins74@bloomberg.net;David Wethe in Houston at dwethe@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Simon Casey at scasey4@bloomberg.net, Christine Buurma, Joe Carroll 2018 Bloomberg L.P. Three months later, Adams came to the board with concerns about district finances after uncovering $500,000 in annual payments to a contractor for services that were not clearly identified, overpayment of salary to an employee who was terminated by the District, thousands of dollars of improper payments for the Districts summer school program, and many other questionable expenditures, according to her suit. Tenaris' Midland Service Center, which has been open two years, is undergoing expansion as the company works on the second phase of its facility. "We've expanded the size of the yard, adding land to store pipe," said Luca Zanotti, president of the European company's U.S. operations, while visiting the Midland facility. When Tenaris opened in Midland in 2016, it was on land leased from Pioneer Natural Resources, and Zanotti said the company has leased more land from Pioneer. OIL REPORT: CO2 Conference speaker has new way to count DUCs With the additional 30 acres, Tenaris now has total pipe storage capacity of 90 acres. Beyond the additional storage capacity, the $18 million expansion includes enlarging the site's warehouse and truck parking lot. The company also has built a warehouse and maintenance shop and is completing the installation of a buck-on unit to assemble pipe accessories. Three new Hyster fork lifts have been purchased to move and load pipe. Zanotti said the company is also expanding to provide coiled tubing services, with installs and string swaps performed at the center. Additionally, Tenaris is expanding the infrastructure for the company's sucker rods service center. The $6 million project will provide an equivalent storage capacity of 100,000 pieces of sucker rods and accessories, an industrial building housing equipment such as a machine to inject guides of various sizes onto the rods and offering Tenaris' new product lines, TenFlow and Helix guiding solutions. Tenaris will also be adding a buck-on machine to offer its customers in-house rods and coupling make-up services. "We are thinking of expanding even more," said Zanotti, listing plans to construct a new office building for the center's 60 employees. "We believe we can do more. The Permian Basin is the region in which we sell the most. It's the most important place" for Tenaris, he said. OIL REPORT: Carbon management poised to make great strides Even so, he predicts activity will for the next year as Permian Basin operators cope with a pipeline capacity bottleneck that is expected to be eased beginning the end of next year. Then, Zanotti said, activity will ramp back up. The expansion is part of Tenaris' $45 million investment, of which about $22 million already has been spent. "We have different initiatives; the next will be the office building," he said. "We're not only investing in our facilities, but in the community," Zanotti said. "We're active with the school district, we sponsor scholarships, we provide support for after-school programs at DeZavala Elementary." The 16-year veteran of Tenaris, who moved to the United States in 2015, said the company appreciates the welcome it has received from the community. He said he never expected to work in the oilfield pipe industry but "I am enjoying this." Mella McEwen is the Oil Editor and covers the latest business and energy news. You can read more from her here. |mmcewen@mrt.com| A San Antonio woman was arrested Wednesday after she brought a "severely neglected" 6-year-old girl to the hospital, according to court documents. Jennifer Marie Delgado, 31, is charged with causing serious bodily injury to a child, according to jail records. Her bail was set at $75,000. COLLEGE STATION More than 2,000 students in the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets stood at attention along the road as President George H.W. Bushs casket was driven to his presidential library and final resting place. Bush was buried on the grounds Thursday, beside wife Barbara Bush and daughter Robin, who died at age 3 from leukemia. This is a favorite event for many of our team members and this year, we were pleased to be able to increase our budget for this event to over $6,000 to benefit these valued former members of our armed forces and their children, said store director Chris Laflin, in a statement. Ive got two more terms, said Presta, who was first elected mayor in 2013 and was re-elected in 2017. That means if he wanted to run again in 2021 and 2025 and won, he could serve until 2029. His first term wouldnt count toward Crestwoods three-term limit because the village had no term-limit restrictions at the time. For me, 2018 was a year of reading lots and lots about politics - campaign politics, tribal politics, identity politics, border politics, as well as plenty of books on the politics of the Trump presidency. Here are the books of the past year that I suspect I will remember most, for good and for ill: The most helpful book I read in 2018: "The List: A Week-by-Week Reckoning of Trump's First Year" (Bloomsbury Publishing) by Amy Siskind. The Trump administration's whiplash of tweets, firings, shake-ups and investigations can be a lot to take. Amy Siskind makes sure you don't forget any of it, cataloging every norm-busting, institution-degrading, conflict-of-interest-disregarding moment of Trump's Year One. This 500-page book of bullet points manages to sustain interest nearly all the way through, save perhaps when the author's personal politics loom too large. Here's hoping for Volumes II, III and IV. --- The most self-involved book I read in 2018: "Chasing Hillary: Ten Years, Two Presidential Campaigns, and One Intact Glass Ceiling" (Harper) by Amy Chozick. I get it, memoirs are supposed to be self-involved; that's the point. But Amy Chozick's "Chasing Hillary" is also (BEGIN ITAL)about(END ITAL) being self-involved. Chozick was the principal New York Times reporter covering Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential bid, but her sharp insights on the candidate, the campaign coverage and sexism on the trail are overshadowed by the author's constant whining and mind games about bylines, editors and colleagues. And the epic battle between reporter and candidate - "She really, really hates me," Chozick worries about Clinton - seems overdone. --- The most sensitive book I read in 2018: "Unbound: Transgender Men and the Remaking of Identity" (Pantheon) by Arlene Stein. Arlene Stein, a sociologist, immerses herself in the experiences of transgender men in America, focusing on their surgical procedures, family relationships and individual identities - and on the importance and elusiveness of language in shaping those identities. "Trans man, yes, that's typically the box I fit into," Ben, a 29-year-old whom Stein follows through his chest-masculinization surgery, tells her. "But does that really describe who I am? No. I think that it's more complicated than that. I'm sure more words will come out in time." This work moves beyond the popular fixation on bathroom politics to explore individual lives. --- The most self-aggrandizing book I read in 2018: "A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership" (Flatiron Books) by James Comey. Former FBI director James Comey published the Big Washington Book of the Moment in the spring, detailing his personal dealings with President Trump and, of course, his high-profile firing. But he also spends plenty of ink on his principles of "ethical leadership," offering such choice examples as never cutting in line at the FBI cafeteria and solemnly admitting to a friend that Comey's gift of a tie was actually a regift. The self-examination diminishes as the stakes rise, however, particularly surrounding Comey's controversial decisions during the 2016 election. "I can be stubborn, prideful, overconfident, and driven by ego," he writes. "I've struggled with those my whole life." The struggles continue in this book. --- The best death-of-democracy book I read in 2018: "How Democracies Die" (Crown) by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt. The death-of-democracy genre was big in 2018, and I consumed several books on the topic. These two political scientists offer the most comprehensive look, warning of strongmen who "maintain a veneer of democracy while eviscerating its substance." After examining democratic breakdowns from Venezuela to Turkey, they argue that, even if Trump "does not break the hard guardrails of our constitutional democracy, he has increased the likelihood that a future president will." A disquieting book, though I have one quibble: We already know how democracies die. In darkness. (Duh.) --- The best death-of-truth book I read in 2018: "Gaslighting America: Why We Love It When Trump Lies to Us" (Broadside) by Amanda Carpenter. Death-of-truth books were nearly as plentiful as death-of-democracy titles, and Amanda Carpenter's stands out for her personal insights (she worked for Sen. Ted Cruz's 2016 campaign and sparred with Trump supporters on cable TV) and her breakdown of the steps Trump & Co. take to manipulate the truth: Stake a claim on a fringe issue; circulate it without necessarily owning it; create suspense by promising further evidence; discredit opponents by attacking motives or character; then simply declare victory. Carpenter, a CNN commentator, urges readers not to let Trump dominate their lives. "Let go of the outrage already ... be vigilant but don't flip out." --- The angriest book I read in 2018: "The Souls of Yellow Folk" (Norton) by Wesley Yang. This essay collection tackles identity politics with a fierce and refreshing ambivalence. Wesley Yang describes the "peculiar burden of nonrecognition, of invisibility" carried by Asian men in America, and he rejects the stereotypes and internalized conventions of the community. "F--- filial piety. F--- grade-grubbing," he writes, among many other items he wishes to obliterate. And even as he lashes out at identity politics as a "beguiling compound of insight, partial truths, circular reasoning, and dogmatism," he recognizes its power in rejecting "life's quotidian brutalities" - ones to which he had perhaps grown accustomed. These essays, spanning a decade of the author's work, feel not stale but prescient. --- The most sycophantic pro-Trump book I read in 2018: "Liars, Leakers, and Liberals: The Case Against the Anti-Trump Conspiracy" (Center Street) by Judge Jeanine Pirro. The competition here was fierce. Books such as Newt Gingrich's "Trump's America" and Sean Spicer's "The Briefing" had strong showings. But Jeanine Pirro's book wins out because the sycophancy is all there is. Unlike the other volumes, which purportedly double as memoirs or policy books, sucking up to Trump - and his "Kryptonite-proof aura of invincibility" - seems to be the Fox News host's sole purpose. Her analysis boils down to meaningless one-liners such as "give me a break," "drives me nuts" and "not on my watch." --- The most illuminating books I read in 2018: "Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women's Anger" (Simon & Schuster) by Rebecca Traister and "Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women's Anger" (Atria Books) by Soraya Chemaly. These are two urgent and enlightening books that I hope are read together, and not only by women. They complement each other perfectly: Traister's is a political history of female anger, while Chemaly examines its psychology and culture. They stress that righteous anger, lionized when emanating from men, is often dismissed and pathologized when coming from women. Yet from suffrage to #MeToo, anger has proved vital and instrumental - in demanding accountability and asserting worth. As Chemaly puts it, "Anger isn't what gets in our way - it is our way." (They were also especially timely books, coming out just before the explosive second round of the Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court hearings.) --- The most ominous book I read in 2018: "Identity Crisis: The 2016 Presidential Campaign and the Battle for the Meaning of America" (Princeton) by John Sides, Michael Tesler and Lynn Vavreck. Among the countless books explaining what happened in 2016, this book by three political scientists stands out for its data collection, dispassionate analysis and depressing conclusions. Drawing on voluminous surveys, the authors highlight the "spillover of racialization" evident in 2016, when voters' concerns about economics and politics all were channeled through the prism of race - a trend the Trump team both encouraged and capitalized on. Rather than a policy debate, the election became a referendum on whether America's growing diversity was a strength ("Stronger Together") or a threat ("Make America Great Again"). The authors don't see that divide going away. --- And the best book I read in 2018: "The Line Becomes a River: Dispatches From the Border" (Riverhead) by Francisco Cantu. This is the memoir of a young man who studied immigration in college and decided to explore it himself, becoming a Border Patrol agent in the Southwest. "The soul can buckle" in that sort of job, his mother warns him, but he takes it anyway. She was right. Although part of his work involves discouraging border crossers - agents slash water stashes and ransack supplies - Cantu also finds himself trying to help, telling two boys what seasons are better for crossing and offering his own clothes to a migrant who had lost his. Suffering nightmares and misgivings, he leaves the job and later tries to help the family of a deported friend navigate the legal system he knew so well. "If I was seeking redemption," he wondered, "what would redemption look like?" Cantu's dilemmas are the dilemmas of our the nation, captured in one person and one story. This decision was not taken lightly and we understand that this will create hardships for our graduates and their loved ones, the school said in a statement. This decision is consistent with our cancellation or rescheduling of all public events occurring on campus before December 28, 2018, a decision designed to mitigate the further transmission of the mumps. BRUSSELS Intermittent closures of the Brussels Ferry and County Highway 1 near the ferry landing in Calhoun County will be extended into Friday, state transportation officials said. Daytime closures and lane restrictions are necessary for geotechnical investigation of the pavement, according to the Illinois Department of Transportation. Details unclear about shooting in Roodhouse ROODHOUSE Police in Roodhouse have confirmed there was a shooting resulting in an injury Thursday morning, but have yet to release any other information about the circumstances. Some schools in the city were placed on lockdown as a precaution, according to reports, but were not involved in the incident. One person has been taken into custody, authorities said. Jacksonville Police ARRESTS, CITATIONS Ashley M. Kotalik, 32, homeless, was arrested at 4:10 a.m. Thursday on charges of retail theft, possession of methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia after police say she took frozen food from County Market and was found to have suspected methamphetamine, a needle and a glass pipe on her at the time of her arrest. Two twelve-year-old girls were arrested at 3:01 p.m. Thursday at Garrison Alternative School on charges of aggravated battery. Compiled by Samantha McDaniel-Ogletree and Nick Draper Every year around Christmas time, the offended and indignant among us break into rival camps: one holding firm to the inclusive Happy Holidays, and the other clinging to the original, Merry Christmas. Charges of a War Against Christmas and calls for boycotts will fill the air any day now. Ho. Ho. Ho. But if we look past the silliness of the vocal minority who cant help but view everything through partisan glasses, there are some things to learn at this most wonderful time of the year. And some of them actually do have to do with our partisan divide. But first, some heartening news. Last year on Giving Tuesday, the day after Cyber Monday, Americans donated one-quarter of a billion dollars to charities, the lions share of which went to causes assisting the poor. And while we might expect this sort of thing around Christmas, what with the Salvation Army seemingly camped out in every shopping center, it happens that Americans donate a shocking amount of money year-round. In 2017, Americans gave more than $400 billion to U.S. charities. Corporate philanthropy accounted for only 5 percent of that number; most of the money came from individuals. Contrary to the repeated claim that the rich are selfish, more than 90 percent of high-net-worth households gave to charity. The average rich household gave 10 times what the average U.S. household gave. And the giving didnt end with money. More than 60 million Americans volunteered around $200 billion worth of their time. In money and time, Americans voluntarily gave away well over a half-trillion dollars last year. That is more than the federal government spent on all welfare programs combined. Tax deductibility doubtlessly helps, but taxpayers only deduct around half of what they donate. And the thing about tax deductibility is that it doesnt make the taxpayer better off. A person who donates and claims a tax deduction ends up with less money than a person who doesnt donate at all. Tax deductibility doesnt reward selfish people for being generous; it merely makes it less painful for generous people to be generous. Last year, 25 percent of charitable giving went to foundations, and to arts, humanities, cultural, environmental, animal, and public benefit charities. The remaining 75 percent went either directly to the needy through education, human services, and international charities, or indirectly through religious groups. All this giving was not, however, distributed evenly across Americas ideological spectrum. Three times as many Republicans as Democrats gave more than $5,000 last year, while 80 percent more Democrats than Republicans gave less than $100. And while party is not a perfect proxy for ideology, compared to people who self-describe as conservative, self-described liberals have average household incomes that are 6 percent higher, yet they gave 25 percent less. Americans are generous regardless of political orientation, but the differences in voluntary giving point to a difference in how each group views its role in society. Liberals see charity as something to be accomplished through government. Because they broadly view their taxes as charitable giving, liberals give less voluntarily, but call for the government to do more. Because conservatives see charity as a private concern, and government as inherently dangerous and wasteful, they give more voluntarily and call for the government to do less. What we miss, and what is worth remembering during the giving season, is that both the left and the right seek the same ends. The left views government as what we do for each other. The right views government as what we do to each other. When the left calls for more government, and the right calls for less government, they are both calling for the same thing. They are calling for us to help each other. They only disagree on the means. Antony Davies is associate professor of economics at Duquesne University. James R. Harrigan teaches in the department of Political Economy and Moral Science at the University of Arizona. They host the weekly podcast Words & Numbers. They wrote this for InsideSources.com. Controversy surrounding President Trump is so intense that you have to wonder whether hes going to want the job beyond his current four-year term. Surfing the morning news, you get to listen to non-stop attacks from MSNBC on the left, equally hard-hitting defenses from Fox on the right and not all that much in between. Trump himself goes on with barbs at fake news in the middle of a firestorm thats partly of his own making. Sometimes you doubt hes thought through what hes saying as when he criticizes a Navy SEAL team for not having gotten Osama bin Laden long before he was killed in a raid in the compound where he was staying not far from a Pakistan army base. And you find it hard to believe he could have been so hard on the late Senator John McCain, captured and imprisoned for years in North Korea after his plane was shot down during the Vietnam War. Nor, for that matter, can anyone, really, see why Trump, so great at playing to his base among red-blooded Americans who cant stand the media elitists who keep bashing him, would not have visited the Marine cemetery during his recent trip to France or, for that matter, have taken a bow at the Arlington National Cemetery on Veterans Day. Yes, Trump has said he should have visited Arlington, so why doesnt he make the trek right now across the Potomac from the White House? The cemetery is open every day, not just Veterans Day. The daily tirades, the sniping, the words of wisdom from panelists and analysts, capture your attention in a drama that never gets boring, but theyre also a massive distraction. Has Trump considered seriously what hes going to say to Kim Jong-un if they do meet again for that second summit? Vice President Mike Pence, in Singapore at the recent confab of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, spoke highly of Trumps success in getting Kim to stop threatening the United States with nukes and missiles, but he also raised a couple of issues that might not be to Kims liking. For one thing, Pence stuck to the mantra of CVID (complete, verifiable, irreversible denuclearization). While Kim might agree in an abstract sense on denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, as he did at his first summit with Trump in Singapore in June, its inconceivable hes going to throw out all his nukes and missiles and the facilities for making them. In fact, theres little doubt that North Korean engineers right now are making more of them or at least working on the means to do so. For another, the North Koreans are not going to produce a list of everything to do with their nukes and missiles. A report released by the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington on the basis of commercial satellite imagery developed by Joseph Bermudez suggested the scope of the program. No doubt the Pentagon knew about all that from its own spy satellites, but North Korea has a lot of other sites hidden away in nooks and crannies, caves and tunnels all over the country. The show that Kim has made of seeming to destroy a couple of them has fooled no one. Not that those realities would deter Trump from saying, fine, Id be glad to talk to the man. He might even consider signing another joint statement with Kim as they did in Singapore. This time around, it would be a peace declaration committing both countries to formally ending the Korean War. But what if Kim avoided agreeing to a listing of anything or making a commitment, a real promise, of CVID? Trump has a lot of other stuff going on. Rather than answer such questions, he would prefer to leave North Korea to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, still looking for another meeting with his North Korean interlocutor, Kim Yong-chol, to talk about the timing and setting for a summit. No matter, national security adviser John Bolton will have trouble convincing his boss of the need to read up on what North Korea is doing. The president is too busy tweeting about political foes, playing games with the media that he loves to hate, making pronouncements about everyone elses mistakes. You think all thats a sideshow? For Trump, North Korea is the sideshow. Donald Kirk has been a columnist for Korea Times, South China Morning Post many other newspaper and magazines. He wrote this for InsideSources.com. One day the stock market hit an all-time high. The next day it went down 800 points. All of this left the aides in the White House confused because they had trouble explaining exactly what happened. The explanation was simple. President Donald Trump stated that China and the United States had reached a trade deal. But the deal was not completed. Fast forward. People working on Wall Street are some of our brightest people. This should have taught all of them a lesson. Before jumping the gun, make sure all facts are covered. Summerville High School View Photos Tuolumne, CA A Summerville High School student was taken out of class today after threatening to shoot up the school. Calls from several parents to Clarke Broadcasting regarding a voice mail message sent out by the schools Superintendent Michael Merrill alerted parents to the incident and prompted our inquiries. Principal Kellene Ditler detailed what happened, We received information from a teacher that a student had made a comment. Unsure of the reason behind the comment, said, Im gonna shoot up the school. Those were his words. She continued, We immediately began an investigation and contacted law enforcement, which is protocol. He was isolated and searched to assure that there was nothing that would cause our students to be unsafe on his person, and there was not. Ditler adds that Tuolumne County Sheriffs Deputies conducted a threat assessment and the investigation is ongoing. Below is the school message statement sent out by Superintendent Merrill to parents: Good Afternoon Summerville High School Community: This is Michael Merrill with a message about a comment that was made in one of our classrooms today where a student out of frustration at another student said, I am going to shoot up the school. Our safety protocol in this situation dictates that we isolate and search the student, contact law enforcement to question the student in order to conduct a threat assessment to determine whether the student has means or motive to carry out the threat. That process is being done at this time. Although the student understands the mistake that was made and is highly remorseful, the safety of all of our students and campus community is our number one priority. We will always err on the side of caution to make sure our students know our campus is a safe place to be. Our students were never in danger due to this comment but may feel uncomfortable that the comment was made. Thank you for continually talking with your student about the impact that our statements can have on them, the school and our school community. Key stats: One of Southlands most powerful hitters totaled 395 kills and 52 aces. Also had 153 digs. Stock Photo The Salvation Army will open its Ministerial Alliances Cold Weather Shelter tonight for those who need it. The shelter is located at 201 Ash Street and open in the event of bad weather as the availability of volunteer teams allow. It was a warm summer night when Dexter Johnson killed Maria Aparece and Huy Ngo. Along with four friends, the brain-damaged, schizophrenic 18-year-old had carjacked the young couple hours earlier, driving them around town to get money before eventually leading them out into the woods and shooting them both in the head - just one of the many brutal crimes prosecutors say Johnson pulled off during his monthlong spree of violence. That was all 12 years ago. On Thursday, on a cool winter morning - over Johnson's angry protestations of his innocence - the now-30-year-old got a date with death. With one appeal still pending in the courts, Judge Denise Collins signed off on a May 2 execution, while the victims' families - who'd filled the benches in the 208th District Court - sobbed and Johnson's family looked to the heavens. READ MORE: 19-year-old convicted in rape-murder "You changed all of our lives for the worse," said Jose Olivares, whose father Jose was killed in Johnson's string of violence. "I know they say you're supposed to forgive, but I can't forgive till you're dead." Ngo's sister wept as she addressed the court, while one of Aparece's family members raised his voice, almost shouting as he promised no pity. Afterward, Johnson - mumbling over the sobs behind him - apologized to the families, even while denying his own guilt. "I do understand their hate, I do understand," he said. "But I never killed nobody." The emotionally-charged court appearance drew prosecutors from earlier in the case, including attorney Brian Wice who served as an appointed pro tem earlier in the appeals process. "This was my first experience as a special prosecutor," he said. "I'd handled over a dozen death penalty appeals and writs and until today I never really had a sense of what the families of the victims are going through and how they may never obtain closure for a loss that can only be described as unspeakable." In the years since he was sent to death row, Johnson has fought his sentence with appeals based on bad lawyering, racial bias, intellectual disability and his long history of schizophrenia and psychotic breaks. "Mr. Johnson has significant brain damage that is at the root of this tragedy, and that same damage has made him unable to help his defense throughout this process," defense attorney Pat McCann said last year. "He has an actual hole in his brain where functional brain matter ought to exist." Thursday's court setting was significantly calmer than the trial that put him on death row more than 10 years ago. Then, two of his relatives collapsed in the hallway, while the mother of his child lay on the floor moaning and breathless after hearing the verdict. At one point he'd refused to come to his own court dates. Later, he hurled a chair across the courtroom. "My son is no murderer," Renee Johnson told the Chronicle at the time. "He didn't have it in his blood." But it took a Harris County jury only two hours to find him guilty of the carjacking, rape, robbery and murder. The night of the June 2006 crimes, Johnson and four accomplices came across the young couple sitting in Aparece's Toyota, where they were chatting outside Ngo's home. Johnson and two others threatened them with a pistol and a shotgun, according to testimony at trial. Then, three of the attackers drove the young couple around Houston in Aparece's car, stealing her cash and credit cards and trying to get money from her bank accounts. Behind them, two other accomplices followed in their own car. Eventually, the violent crew pulled over and, according to trial testimony, Johnson raped Aparece in the backseat. Her boyfriend was forced to listen to it all on his knees as the other attackers taunted him. READ MORE: Harris County death row inmate convicted in 2006 rape-murder denied federal appeal Then, Johnson shot Ngo in the head before slaughtering Aparece. At trial, Johnson's defense team argued that it was someone else who walked the couple into the woods and fired the fatal shot. It took investigators five days to figure out what happened. After a quick guilty verdict, jurors heard testimony about the monthlong crime spree before and after the double slaying. That May, prosecutors said, Johnson killed a 60-year-old man washing his barbecue pit at a local car wash. A few weeks later - the day before the slayings that put him on death row - Johnson and a partner in crime robbed two men standing at a pay phone, killing one after he offered them only a roll of quarters, prosecutors said. In the days that followed, Johnson and his confederates pulled off a string of other robberies,. Then, according to trial testimony, he was potentially involved in the murder of a man inside his car on Annunciation Street. In his appeals since then, Johnson's attorney has focused on arguments alleging that his client lacked the brain functioning to be held to the same standard as adults. Instead, he drew parallels to past court decisions that ban executing juveniles and the intellectually disabled, saying similar reasoning should be applied to Johnson's brain damage. "If you have an actual hole in your brain that you could basically run water through at that point you have to recognize that this is a person who's not fully responsible for what they're doing," McCann said earlier this year. The Lone Star State has executed 12 men this year, and another is scheduled to die next week. Including Johnson, there are five executions scheduled so far for 2019. NEWS WHEN YOU NEED IT: Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text message | Sign up for breaking news alerts delivered to your email here. As soon as Epstein, a sophomore, learned of the contest in January he said he was inspired to be one of the winners. He was a freshman at the time and had seen last years winner displayed on the building and wanted to be part of the project. Oil in New York jumped after OPEC and allied crude exporters surprised traders with a larger-than-expected output reduction. Futures advanced more than 2 percent in New York and London on Friday. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and aligned nations will collectively curb production by 1.2 million barrels a day, 20 percent more than previously discussed. "It's been a volatile October and November, but this is a nice Christmas present into December," said Chris Kettenmann, chief energy strategist at Macro Risk Advisors LLC. OPEC "stepped up and delivered this year and we should see volatility come in." Crude oil has steadily dropped since early October amid concern over growing supplies and the American government's go-slowly approach by sanctions against Iran. OPEC and allies ended meetings in Vienna on Friday with an agreement for the cartel to reduce output by 800,000 barrels a day and other producers to cut by 400,000 barrels a day. Iran secured an exemption from the deal. PREVIOUSLY: Crude fades amid signals of lackluster OPEC deal to cut output The accord represents "a meaningful cut to to supply," said Ryan Fitzmaurice, an energy strategist at Rabobank. Still, if sanctions against Iran "get more punitive over time, which I do expect, six months from now we could be in a situation where we actually need more production from OPEC." West Texas Intermediate for January delivery climbed $1.12 to settle at $52.61 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Total volume traded was about 54 percent above the 100-day average. A measure of oil market volatility dropped to the lowest since Nov. 19. Brent for February settlement rallied $1.61 to $61.67 on London's ICE Futures Europe exchange. Brent traded at a $8.86 premium to WTI for the same month. RELATED: Saudis back modest OPEC+ oil cut, don't want to shock market Producers will use October production levels as a baseline for cuts and the agreement will be reviewed in April. Kuwait is an exception and will use September output as baseline, according to Iraqi Oil Minister Thamir Ghadhban. Russia has proposed its share of the 1.2 million barrels a day cut agreement to be equivalent to a 2 percent supply reduction from October levels, according to a delegate. Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said cooperation with OPEC is "as strong as ever." Meanwhile, Saudi Arabian Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih said U.S. oil producers are "breathing a sigh of relief" in response to the deal and that low oil prices are "not good for the U.S. economy." --With assistance from Tsuyoshi Inajima and Alex Longley. 2018 Bloomberg L.P. Nitya Capital has made its most expensive acquisition to date with the purchase of the Bayou Park Apartments and plans to carve out a spot for a high-rise condo tower on a portion of the site in the next few years. The Houston-based company purchased the 679-unit complex at 4400 Memorial Drive near Shepherd from Alara Ventures Bayou Park. The 1970s-era complex sits on 15 acres across from Buffalo Bayou Park, just northeast of the River Oaks neighborhood. Putting up a condo tower, which could start as early as fall, would take less than an acre, said Nitya Capital CEO and managing partner Swapnil Agarwal. The company would ideally develop the project in-house with an estimated time frame of two to three years. We have started engaging with consultant and developers, Agarwal said. The land in that kind of location is very hard to come by. Agarwal declined to disclose the purchase price for the property, which is the second-largest in the Nitya portfolio behind the 1,094-unit Village of Piney Point. A condo would appeal to empty nesters in River Oaks and other homeowners looking for lower-maintenance residences, Agarwal said. The complex, now managed by Nityas Karya Property Management affiliate, fits the formula of investing in complexes in regions with strong job growth that offer a good value compared with newer properties. Its a very affordable rental option in a great, great location, David Wylie of Newmark Knight Frank said. Wylie brokered the sale. Rents at Bayou Park average $1,000 a month, or between $1 and $1.05 per square foot, Agarwal said. By comparison, new apartments in the area average about $1,600. As apartments turn over, Nitya plans to upgrade the units with new floors, granite counters, stainless steel appliances, new lighting and fixtures. The tenants will basically get a very comparable product to new apartment complexes at at least $400 to $500 cheaper, Agarwal said. Other updates include fresh landscaping, new signs and changes to the leasing center. Since being founded in 2013, Nitya Capital has acquired nearly 16,000 apartment units in Texas. It has also invested in an office building and next plans to build three-story townhomes in the $600,000 to $650,000 range on Memorial Heights Drive, south of Washington Avenue. Since venturing into the office sector a year ago, Nitya Capital has drawn new tenants to its 11-story building at 2211 Norfolk and renewed tenants at higher rates. Interior renovations are underway, and a new Nitya Tower sign is in the works. The office market is picking up now, Agarwal said. Houston probably will be the No. 1 city in the country for job growth this year. katherine.feser@chron.com twitter.com/kfeser Central Texas will continue serving as the backdrop for AMC's "Fear the Walking Dead" in the show's upcoming season. The New Braunfels Journal reported the zombie series will be filming in the town, about 45 minutes north of San Antonio, during the next "several" months for the fifth season premiering in 2019. Executive producer Andrew Chambliss told the journal he chose the local textile mill as an area to film. FIND OUT FIRST: Get San Antonio breaking news directly to your inbox "This location provides our characters with a place to launch a hopeful mission in an environment that reflects beauty can still be found in the apocalypse," he told the publication. Production has tapped on Texas towns as backdrops before. Central Texas was used throughout the fourth season as well. RELATED: CBS Sunday Morning to film during San Antonio's La Gran Tamalada holiday tradition Chambliss previously told the San Antonio Express-News that Austin and surrounding areas satisfied his vision for places with their "own identity" infused "with a bit of Americana." "When we realized we were filming in Texas, we saw this season aesthetically as a Western and wanted to use the landscape of Texas to reflect that emotional journey," he told the San Antonio Express-News. Check out the gallery above to see which Austin-area spots film crews used for the fourth season. Madalyn Mendoza is a breaking news and general assignment writer. Read her on our breaking news site, mySA.com and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com | mmendoza@mysa.com |@MaddySkye What do you wish someone had told you before you started? Something they did tell me, and I didnt catch it until I was there, was, If you make it three years in the business, youve got it made. When I got to that third year being an entrepreneur, after all of the trials and tribulations, I felt a little more relaxed. It was a lot of work, but I was pushing for that three years. I tell that to a lot of people and pray they take it the way I took it. Editor's Note: This story originally published in 2015. In a city that boasts its swagger in the the bumper-sticker slogan "Keep San Antonio Lame," local dive bars can get more respect than River Walk restaurants and luxury hotels. Where the snarkiest Yelp reviews rip S.A.'s most notable attractions, strip mall watering holes and "River Rat" rundowns get five stars for their laid-back, no frills vibes. At these well-worn San Anto hangouts, like the Mix and Oak Hills Tavern, the rowdy lot stays true and loyal even after they get kicked out or 86'd. As long as the drinks are cheap and the bartenders are speedy, the bathrooms will get a pass. As long as the karaoke is lively and the rock bands are loud, those nasty bathrooms get a pass. If the people are chill and the A.C. is running, you can bet those gross bathrooms will get a pass especially if the drinks are dirt cheap. Check out the variety of rowdy, beer-goggled reviews of San Anto's local dive bar scene in the above gallery. jmscott@mysa.com BERNE - A deer that was shot and loaded into a pickup truck ended up spoiling a prize for two hunters - and led to a heap more unexpected trouble. It happened like this, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation in New York: The two hunters were riding on Bradt Hollow Road in Berne on Thanksgiving Day when they opened fire on the animal that crossed their path. They put the fallen buck a 4-pointer into the truck bed without gutting it and drove off. But about a mile down the road, the animal regained consciousness, jumped out of the pickup and bolted. In the meantime, a witness had called Albany County sheriff's deputies after reporting that the men had shot the deer from the driver's side window of the truck. A DEC environmental conservation officer, Brian Canzeri, also responded. The hunters - both from Fort Ann and identified as Augustus Stevens Jr, 31, and Nathan Arno, 25 - ended up being the quarry themselves: After they'd turned around to look for the runaway animal they were stopped by deputies as they tried to flee. There was blood on the tailgate, rear bumper and floor mats. The wounded buck was eventually found and put down. Two days later, the investigation turned up three deer carcasses in the area linked to the two men. Officers seized two rifles and spotlights from the hunters. Both had suspended driver's licenses. Stevens had a warrant pending from Fort Edwards. Arno had prior hunting violations in Washington County and an order of protection barring him from having firearms. The DEC said they were ticketed for taking big game deer with the aid of a light, shooting within 500 feet of a dwelling, discharging from a public road, having a loaded gun in a motor vehicle and taking a deer from a motor vehicle. Sheriff Craig Apple said reports of illegal hunting in the southern part of the county have subsided. "We don't get too much of it," he said. "Periodically, we'll get people who come up here to jack deer but it really has subsided over the past few years." SOLD FOR SEX: In Texas, an estimated 79,000 youth at any one time are being exploited for sex. Many are never rescued because so few cry out to police or other authorities for help. The San Antonio Express-News investigation "Sold for Sex" chronicles the lives of sex-trafficking victims, including a 16-year-old girl who was sold for sex up to 15 times a day, and examines what Texas law enforcement and service providers can do to help them. *** She had been sent to Bexar County's juvenile correctional treatment facility for running away from home, violating probation and other offenses. Now, the 16-year-old was telling Juvenile Court Judge Lisa K. Jarrett that she wanted a plate of tacos and an Arnold Palmer iced tea mixed with lemonade as a reward for her continued success in a program that seeks to help young survivors of sex-trafficking. Then she started to cry. She'd recently been given a 24-hour pass to attend a cousin's quinceanera, where a male relative tried to talk her into doing drugs. "It hurt me, that he wanted to bring me down like that," she told the judge, who was dressed in street clothes. "But if I can deny him, I can deny anyone. I've learned the skills I need to be able to go home and be safe." Jarrett smiled and gave her a big hug. The young woman was about to graduate from Restore Court, a voluntary program created five years ago to help victims of sex-trafficking ages 16 and younger with counseling, drug treatment and other services. It is one in a constellation of efforts in San Antonio and across Texas aimed at addressing the problem of sex-trafficking and repairing the harm done to victims. Designed to heal, not punish, Restore Court includes regular, one-on-one meetings with the judge in a casual setting designed to instill trust and rapport. "When we get them they have all sorts of issues physical, mental, problems with substance abuse," Jarrett said. "We try to restore their integrity, their sense of self-esteem. They come in feeling like (sex work) is all they can do. They've been brainwashed." Many victims are runaway or homeless teens. Some fled abusive or neglectful foster homes. SOLD FOR SEX: After Issac Williams convinced a 16-year-old he loved her, he sold her body for sex up to 15 times a day. In recent years, attitudes among law enforcement officials have changed. They now view young people who get caught up in sex-trafficking as victims rather than as criminals who should be charged with prostitution. The overarching goal is to keep them out of the juvenile criminal justice system. In the past three years, Texas lawmakers have distributed about $16 million to combat youth sex-trafficking, most of it to fund victims' services. People who help victims and investigate traffickers say the money is a good start, but no more than that. "What do I need? I need 50 more detectives," said Lt. Bill Grayson, head of the San Antonio Police Department unit handling underage sex-trafficking. Grayson added that he was exaggerating but not by much. Treatment, not punishment In addition to Restore Court, initiatives in San Antonio include mentorship programs, a specialized probation unit, targeted law enforcement teams and a 24-hour drop-in center for homeless and runaway youth called Centro Seguro. If an underage youth is arrested in a situation that suggests sex-trafficking, officers can now take her to Centro Seguro, where she can have access to counseling and other services, rather than to juvenile detention. "Minors don't have to be charged now to get them off the street," said Lynne Wilkerson, the county's chief probation officer. Young people who do end up in the juvenile justice system for more serious offenses, like the 16-year-old in Restore Court, have access to specialized services. At the Cyndi Taylor Krier Juvenile Correctional Treatment Center, a cluster of buildings on the southeastern outskirts of San Antonio, about a third of the 24 female residents are confirmed victims of sex-trafficking. The rest are suspected victims or are at-risk of being trafficked in the future. VICTIM SPEAKS OUT: Maria was trapped in a cycle of heroin addiction, but she found her way back to life through a specialty court program Where to get help Centro Seguro, 24-hour drop-in center: 210-340-8090 Ransomed Life, mentorship program: 210-514-4384; info@ransomedlifetexas.org BCFS, Common Threads advocacy program: 1-888-8THREAD; www.commonthread.net Rape Crisis Center: 210-521-7273; 24-hour hotline: 210-349-7273; www.rapecrisis.com Watch the Texas Attorney General's video on underage sex-trafficking: https://vimeo.com/244718411 See More Collapse The young women live in dorms and abide by strict rules. In addition to schooling and drug abuse treatment, they undergo therapy aimed at the root causes of their trauma. "Most of them have never had healthy relationships in their lives," program manager Ashley Powell said. "Many experienced sexual abuse before age 5." In August, a long-term residential facility opened in Bastrop County for victims of sex-trafficking up to age 19. The nonprofit Refuge Ranch provides a protected environment suited to helping survivors overcome their trauma, along with therapies such as yoga. Once under the spell of a pimp, victims can get trapped in a kind of Stockholm syndrome, characterized by feelings of trust or affection for their captor. "We hear these stories all the time," Bexar County Assistant District Attorney David B. Lunan said. "A pimp will really roll out the red carpet, show the girl affection, buy her pretty things. But eventually the payment comes due. One day he breaks it to her: 'These things cost money. And here's what you can do for me.'" Shame keeps victims ensnared, he said. "They think: 'What am I going to tell my grandmother I've been doing? What do I tell kids at school?'" Pimps often use drugs to control their victims. Threats of violence are common. "We don't have the luxury of waiting two or three years to help these kids," said Anthony Smith, head of the specialized county probation unit for trafficked youth. "We have to help them as soon as possible, because they've been harmed greatly." Catching traffickers Last April, Backpage.com essentially an online front for prostitution was shut down, the result of a coordinated effort among the Texas Attorney General's Office and authorities in other states. But other sex-trafficking-related websites have popped up. Pimps can find potential victims on social media platforms like Facebook. Lunan said he investigated one pimp who used apps and social networks to correspond with more than 200 girls a day. The San Antonio police created its own sex-trafficking unit in 2011, when it hired two full-time investigators. "Manpower is easily our biggest issue," said Grayson, adding that sex-trafficking cases are labor-intensive, involving forensic investigations of phone and computer records, stakeouts and managing young victims, who sometimes disappear. "One problem we have is victims are runaways by nature," he said. "So when we get closer to the time of prosecution, they may disappear on us, We have to constantly keep an eye on them." In Texas and Bexar County, convictions of underage sex-trafficker increased between 2012 and 2017, growing from 19 to 40 in the state and three to nine in the county, according to state data. Grayson said he makes sure the TV cameras show up whenever his officers arrest a suspected pimp or conduct a trafficking raid at a motel. His goal is to spread the word to those who would sell young girls: You think this is easy money? Think again. *** Melissa Fletcher Stoeltje is a staff writer in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read her on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | mstoeltje@express-news.net | Twitter: @mstoeltje In November, law enforcement agencies in Bexar County arrested 45 people for felony DWI charges, according to records obtained by mySA.com. The number is a slight drop-off from the previous month, when 49 people were arrested on felony DWI charges in the county. At 1 p.m. Dec. 15, an art workshop for children ages 6 to 12 will be held in advance of the show. Participation is free with a show ticket. To register, email madeline.franklin@fremontstreettheater.com. A recent Bloomberg News headline came as no surprise: Wall Street Rule for the #MeToo Era: Avoid Women at All Cost. In a word, it was inevitable. Some men are so concerned about the possible repercussions of what they might say or do that theyre steering clear of women in the workplace altogether. And as a result, according to Bloomberg, Wall Street risks becoming more of a boys club, rather than less of one. The article focused on the various ways some senior executives in finance have been spooked by #MeToo and are struggling to cope resorting to staying on different hotel floors from women when on business trips, not dining alone with any woman 35 or younger, leaving an office door open when meeting one-on-one with a junior female. Generally speaking, these might not be such bad rules but for the fact that, as Bloomberg pointed out, young women often need mentors to advance and female executives are far scarcer than men on Wall Street. And as one wealth adviser said, simply hiring a woman has become an unknown risk. The story called these collateral adjustments the Pence Effect, referring to Vice President Mike Pences personal rule of not dining alone with a woman who isnt his wife. As a cultural aside, many men, especially the religiously devout, as Pence is, try to avoid potentially compromising situations involving the opposite sex. Perception more than temptation is often the driving force. Further, to be fair, these newly devised workplace protocols are not primarily a function of paranoia but of reality. Everyone has seen or experienced how fraught workplace relationships can be and even casual interactions can seem unnecessarily risky. And this new reality isnt limited to the world of finance. Many men across all industries now fear being alone with a female colleague. This probably goes without saying, but its also true that fewer women of the baby boomer generation were likely to think of themselves as victims in instances of workplace harassment, barring sexual assault as opposed to sophomoric buffoonery, or a misinterpretation of context or intent. Perceptions have changed significantly the past several decades, for the good, but we still have much work to do in defining what is and isnt abuse. In many ways, this is all-new terrain for us societally: How do we balance the right of every individual to be believed innocent until proven otherwise, while also giving accusers a platform to be heard? The recent Supreme Court confirmation hearings for Brett Kavanaugh highlighted the impossible position of being forced to prove ones innocence against accusations backed by no verifiable evidence. We should sleep uneasily in the wake of such an abuse of due process, not as a legal matter but as a time-honored principle of fairness. Weve yet to see the full spectrum of collateral damages to come, but weve gotten a sense of their scope. Already, some men are silencing themselves rather than engaging in a losing battle. Several have told me that, like the wealth adviser Bloomberg interviewed, theyre more hesitant to hire women or even to be alone with them. My orthopedist tells me hes no longer comfortable hugging his patients, as hed always done. Ive had a similar discussion with my dentist. (Apparently, my social life revolves around doctors.) We were chatting about the Kavanaugh hearings and he was visibly tense until I voiced my concerns about the erosion of due process. Relieved to sense a sympathetic point of view, he relaxed and chimed in. Many men are so intimidated by the #MeToo movement and the plausibility that they, too, could be ruined on the basis of a single womans misinterpretation of an innocent gesture that theyre essentially shutting down and stepping away. Suffice it to say, this side effect wont serve women well in the long run. Indeed, it seems obvious that theyll suffer. There surely is a balance to be found lest the sexes further alienate and segregate. We should seek it with a sense of urgency. kathleenparker@washpost.com The passing of our 41st president, George H.W. Bush, a true statesman, gentleman and public servant, should help us to understand the extent to which we have devolved since he held the reins of power. John Olmstead Say hello for me President Bush: You were the first Republican for whom I voted. Daddy was a yellow dog Democrat and expected me to be the same. I met you in Houston in the 1966 primary, when you first ran for Congress. The voting place for both parties was an elementary school on San Felipe Street. Inside, Republicans voted appropriately in a room on the right, and Democrats to the left. I was there working to elect a Democrat to the Texas Legislature. After I met you, I was so impressed I went inside, turned right and voted Republican. Ive never changed my mind. Please say hello to my father. His name is Malcolm. Like you, he was a good, decent man. Ive missed him greatly many years, and now I will miss you both. Before he died, Daddy motioned me to come close to his bed. He took my hand and whispered to me, Before I go there something you need to know. I voted for Bush and Ronald Reagan. Show Daddy your photos of Sully, your yellow Labrador service dog. Daddy will understand instantly, and both of you will double over laughing. Heaven is a lot longer and wider than the light aircraft carrier in World War II from which you flew many combat missions. God is the CO and St. Peter is LSO landing signal officer. When you reach heaven and turn onto final, make certain your gears down, flaps down and hook down. When St. Peter gives you Cut and your wheels kiss the deck, your landing will be soft and gentle. Goodbye, sir. Good landing. Thank you for your service. JT Chapin, Helotes Ignore Trump Re: What if president raged and no one reported it? Another View, by Lynda Byrd, Saturday: She is 100 percent correct. The president craves attention, and the media give him all he wants. He is allowed to insult and belittle the reporters, members of Congress and anyone else he wants to without restriction. No other president in history has been given so much media coverage, or been so outrageous. I agree: The media should stop hanging on to his every word. Audrey Dlugosz The South Africa Police Service (SAPS) yesterday arrested 44 undocumented immigrants just outside Polokwane. The immigrants are all suspected to be Zimbabwean nationals. South Africa recently launched an operation to deal with crime during this festive season. The country experiences a high volume of human traffic during the festive season as it is home to millions of migrants from all over the continent. SAPS Press and liaison officer, Motlafela Mojapelo said. The operation was composed of different law enforcement agencies, along the N1 road, a few kilometres outside Polokwane. Eighteen motorists were given spot fines to the total amount of R18 000 for various traffic violations. The operation commenced at 5 am. This is part of the ongoing festive season operations taking place across the province These kinds of operations and related activities will henceforth be the daily occurrence to ensure travellers, the community and tourists are safe on the roads. Pindula Breaking News via Email Loading... Related Zimbabwe Latest News One of the countrys leading beverage manufacturers has assured the nation they have adequate stocks for the festive season after government availed foreign currency to procure raw materials for the production of alcoholic beverages and soft drinks. Delta Beverages CEO Mr Pearson Govere said they are grateful to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and other commercial banks for availing forex hence the company will show its sincerity by not increasing prices. The government is on record encouraging companies getting assistance from the central bank to reflect on pricing of their goods and services. ZBC Breaking News via Email Loading... Related Zimbabwe Latest News It's estimated there are more than 11,000 homes throughout the city that have lead service lines on their property and another 7,600 homes that could have them given the time they were built or the type of work homeowners may have done, according to Weiss. PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwas global re-engagement drive suffered a major setback yesterday after the United States State Department submitted a damning report for adoption by the countrys Senate, urging Washington to adopt a cautious approach to relations with Harare over its highly militarised state and terrible human rights record. Presenting his report before the US senate foreign relations sub-committee on African affairs, the US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Africa, Matthew Harrington, trashed Mnangagwas reform agenda, saying it was moving at snails pace and had failed to inspire confidence. The committee is chaired by Senator Jeff Flake. Also presenting his testimony before the committee, a senior fellow of the Centre for Global Development, Todd Moss, said Mnangagwas government should be demilitarised. Harrington raised concern over the deadly violence that rocked Harare soon after the general elections on July 30, in which the military shot dead six people. He also warned the White House against offering economic support to the country until Zimbabwe effects tangible reforms. It is clear that Zimbabwe has a long way to go and requires profound political and economic reforms to sustainably change the path on which it has been for nearly four decades. Since taking power last year and since his election, President Mnangagwa has regularly stated his commitment to pursuing political and economic reforms, as well as a better relationship with us. We welcome the change in rhetoric from the Mugabe years. Since the election, we have seen some promising signs from the government, including appointment of a new, more technocratic cabinet, announcement of an economic plan acknowledging the need for significant monetary and fiscal reform, and a budget which, if implemented, would make important strides in that direction. So far, however, the pace and scale of reforms has been too gradual and not nearly ambitious enough. A Zimbabwe that is more capable of providing for the needs of its own citizens and respecting human rights and fundamental freedoms will be a more responsible member of the international community. To reach that end, Zimbabwe will require implementation of fundamental reforms, not merely a commitment to do so. That is a message we have shared consistently with Zimbabwean interlocutors, including President Mnangagwa and senior members of his government. We want Zimbabwe to succeed and would welcome a better bilateral relationship, but the ball is squarely in the governments court to demonstrate it is irrevocably on a different trajectory, Harrington said. He added that Zimbabwe needed to take positive steps towards civil, political and economic reforms if it is to convince the international community about its re-engagement endeavour. There are several steps the government of Zimbabwe could take that would send a strong signal to its own people and to the international community that it is serious about taking the country in a new, more positive direction. First, it should repeal laws such as the Public Order and Security Act and the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act which have long been used to suppress the human rights of people in Zimbabwe and which violate Zimbabwes 2013 constitution. Second, the government should immediately end the harassment of members of the political opposition. It should drop charges against former Finance minister and prominent opposition figure Tendai Biti and all those who have been arbitrarily detained for exercising their human rights and fundamental freedoms. Third, government should allow the Commission of Inquiry to work transparently and independently, and hold perpetrators of the August 1 violence fully accountable. And fourth, the government should move quickly to ensure legislation is consistent with the 2013 constitution, as well as uphold its letter and spirit, he said. Harrington, however, said these proposed steps did by themselves not mean Zimbabwe will automatically be considered as a reformed state, adding that the US State Department would continue monitoring the situation. These four actions wont by themselves transform Zimbabwe, but would constitute significant steps in the right direction. We will continue to consult closely with Congress on our approach toward Zimbabwe. The Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act, recently updated by Congress, has provided a very important tool and clearly identified the reforms we expect: restoration of the rule of law, a commitment to equitable, legal and transparent land reform, and ensuring that military and national police forces are subordinate to the civilian government. Zimbabwe that is genuinely accountable to its citizens and responsive to their needs. Zimbabwe Independent Breaking News via Email Loading... Related Zimbabwe Latest News SHARING is caring? Well, not so for a woman who suspects that her best friend sold her out by giving her husband her phone password. When her South Africa-based husband went through the phone, he got access to all her secrets and promptly dumped her. Jillian Ngwekazi will never trust anyone in her life as her best friend Patros Muzararikwa stabbed her in the back, destroying her marriage. The once close friends no longer see eye to eye and Ngwekazi accuses Muzararikwa of giving her husband the phone password as she is the only one who knew it. In revenge, Ngwekazi is threatening to stab her friend to death because she is the cause of her problems. We have been friends for the past two years and trouble started when she visited her husband in South Africa. I just sent her a message checking on how she had travelled and the following day she was insulting me saying I had destroyed her marriage. She accused me of telling her husband her secrets and giving her the phone password and its not true because I do not have her husbands contacts, said Muzararikwa who was forced to apply for a protection order following death threats from her friend. Upon return from South Africa, Ngwekazi reportedly continued with her accusations and insults. She came at the shop while I was busy serving customers and started shouting at me saying I destroyed her marriage and I just ignored her and she started crying and was taken by her friend. In the evening she started sending messages and made it clear that she wanted to stab and kill me, she said. In response, Ngwekazi confirmed that she had been dumped by her husband after he went through her phone and the only person who knew the phones password was Muzararikwa. She knows a lot about me and what my husband accused me of are things that I told her. She also knows my password and could have sent it to my husband, said Ngwekazi. Presiding magistrate Stephen Ndlovu granted the binding order to the effect that Ngwekazi is ordered to keep peace towards the applicant. She was also barred from insulting, threatening or physically abusing Muzararikwa. The order is binding for a period of 12 months. BMetro Breaking News via Email Loading... Related Zimbabwe Latest News Independent legislator for Norton Constituency, Temba Mliswa has sensationally accused ZANU PF MP of Gokwe Nembudziya, Justice Mayor Wadyajena of having an affair with a married parliament staffer. In a series of Tweets directed at the ZANU PF legislator, Mliswa said: Mayor Justice Wadyajena did you not cause a fight at Amber Mutare? So you were two-timing Hon. Melody Dziva with her friend, married Zenda-Mudzvova (Committee Clerk, Youth)? During a workshop kuMakomo they clashed at your room when they discovered they were sharing a man and a nasty fist fight ensued. Worse is that neither unfortunate lady is your wife! Doesnt dating a Clerk have the propensity to breed collusion and compromise the committee? How do u think her husband felt? Let alone the adulterous behaviour. Wadyajena deny this if you will as this one will stand in court. You were a person I thought highly of and felt had a lot of potential but now I see why even your own Party cant elevate you and you will never be a Minister. If challenged to produce the Reg books of the flashy cars you drive around, what will one see? But that is for another day. Pindula Breaking News via Email Loading... Related Zimbabwe Latest News A TSIKAMUTANDA allegedly tempered with eight graves and stole the coffins for resale. Nolen Noah Makaza, 33, would resell the coffins after his exhumations. His tale included being part of mourners at funerals of rich people some of whom he did not even know. Makaza said he would actively participate at the funerals so as to see how the coffin was placed in the grave for an easy exhumation. I underwent rituals that left me with these scars on my body and these scars gave me powers to heal and see things in the spiritual realm. 1 still had my walking stick with me which I used and it is connected with the scars on my body. My colleague gave me spiritual powers to become his assistant before I became my own man Tsikamutanda, narrated Makaza. He said he would sell the coffins and other accessories to a white man in Karoi. Our buyer (name supplied) would pay us $2000 for bringing best coffins he wanted and pay at least $400 for expensive screws and other items he wanted from the coffins. Most of our targets were places where rich people are buried like graves in various farms and at one time we opened a grave at Unit L Cemetery in Chitungwiza, Makaza said. Makaza, who used to operate in Karoi and its environs, is now serving 16 years at Harare Central Prison after he was convicted of tempering with eight graves and stealing coffins for resale. He still has his walking stick in jail. Ndakasungwa ndine zvinhu zvangu zvekutsikisa mutanda asi hazvishande muno muhusungwa. I had a dream a day before my arrest but I delayed conducting rituals and I want to believe it was high time that God wanted to show me that crime does not pay. I regret engaging in such activities considering the years I am going to spend here in prison. I want to advise my relatives and friends that a living dog is better than a dead lion; crime does not pay, he said. He said his charms never worked for him when he was arrested. I have learnt that crime does not pay even if you have money or charms, said Makaza. I was arrested together with my colleague who once worked for a renowned local funeral parlour for opening graves and stealing coffins for resale. Makaza and his colleagues luck ran out after he had a misunderstanding with his wife and forced her packing only to return home and found one of the coffins in the bedroom. My wife is the one who sold me out after we had a misunderstanding, said Makaza. She was not aware that I was earning money through opening graves to get coffins for sale aingoziva kuti ndinotsvaga mari zvekuti yauyasei izvo akanga asingazvitsvage. She returned home without notice after I had chased her away and discovered the coffin and reported me to the village head leading to my arrest, said Makaza. HMetro Breaking News via Email Loading... Related Zimbabwe Latest News Retired army colonel, Elliot Piki has blamed Commission of Enquiry chairperson Kgalema Motlanthe for his abduction, suggesting that he should help the Zimbabwe Republic Police with information that can lead to the arrest of his abductors. Piki was allegedly abducted at his home on November 25 a day before he was supposed to appear before the Commission of Inquiry giving his testimony on the August 1 killings. His lawyers Mbidzo Muchadehama and Makoni wrote a letter to Motlanthe suggesting that he is key to finding his abductors as he leaked a confidential document containing Pikis testimony. The document reportedly contained information on how the army was responsible for the post-election violence that led to the murder of six civilians. Our client disclosed intimate details outlining how the Zimbabwe National Army was being used as a weapon of violence against any opposing forces to the ruling Zanu PF party and government, as well as the role played by the army in the 1st of August shootings, because of his trust in you he thought you were going to treat the document with the confidentiality that it deserves. Our client advises that you are responsible for his abduction, inhuman and degrading treatment and attempted assassination by his abductors. He reserves his right to take legal action against yourself, the lawyers said. Muchadehama and Makoni said during his horrific experience Piki discovered that his documented testimony was the reason behind the kidnapping. Our client advises that you gave him a slot to testify as a witness on the 26th of November 2018. He in turn gave you the documentary evidence upon which his testimony would be based. The documentary evidence was accompanied with a summary of his testimony. Our client advises that the abductors were continuously referring to the contents of the document which he had submitted to you and which was known by yourself and no one else. He further advises that from this horrific experience, he learnt that the sole reason behind his abduction and attempted assassination was that document which he intended to use during his testimony before the commission, the letter said. Despite confirmation that the letter had been submitted, Commission of Inquiry spokesperson John Masuku said he was yet to verify if the secretariat was in possession of such a memo. Pikis lawyers have advised Motlanthe to reveal the identity of the people whom he shared the document with. They also requested that Motlanthe helps the ZRP with information that could lead to the arrest of his abductors and guarantee his safety before they would hold him responsible for the kidnapping. Meanwhile, our client requests you to assist the police with investigations as he believes you are key to finding his abductors and bring them to justice. You impress it upon the authorities that the safety of our client was compromised and that they should give an undertaking to guarantee his safety, otherwise we would not hesitate to hold you responsible, Muchadehama and Makoni added. However, Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) has dismissed Pikis kidnap story alleging the senior officer was discharged from the army for having an affair with his subordinates wife. ZDF spokesperson Colonel Overson Mugwisi said Piki was working with unscrupulous political opposition voices to denigrate the forces. We are disturbed by false allegations peddled in some sections of the private media insinuating that Piki, a former member of the Zimbabwe National Army, was abducted by masked armed men suspected to be State security agents using a vehicle similar to those allocated for use by senior Zimbabwe National Army officers, said Col Mugwisi. While it is true that Piki once served in the Zimbabwe National Army as a senior officer, he is not a retired colonel. He became an ordinary citizen after losing his commission when he was tried, convicted and cashiered by a General Court Martial for scandalous conduct of an officer on August 8, 2013. Piki had involved himself in an illicit love affair with his subordinates wife who was also his junior serving member of the Zimbabwe National Army. Sadly, Piki was aware of the drastic consequences of such an illicit affair for serving members of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces. This comes as the Commission of Inquiry last week concluded investigations into the August 1 killings after gathering testimonies from different individuals and organizations in Harare, Bulawayo, Gweru and Mutare. The public hearings which were characterized by interesting and dramatic testimonies began in October. The Commission has since submitted it Executive Summary to the presidents and is expected to give him the full report before end of the month. DailyNews Breaking News via Email Loading... Related Zimbabwe Latest News PAUL JAY: Welcome back to The Real News Network. Im Paul Jay. Were in Burlington, Vermont at the Sanders Institute Gathering. And once again, were joined by Senator Bernie Sanders. Thanks for joining us. BERNIE SANDERS: My pleasure. PAUL JAY: In one of the panels yesterday you said its not just about concentration of wealth and how the inequality, how unfair that is, the suffering it causes. But concentration of wealth means concentration of power. How do you challenge that power? BERNIE SANDERS: This is not easy stuff. But we are certainly not going to deal with it if we dont discuss it. And one of the crises that we face right now is that youve got a media that will not talk about this issue. And youve got, essentially, two parties that dont talk about it very much. And I think one of the things that I wanted to do in my presidential campaign is kind of bust this whole thing open. Lets talk about the real issues. You know, whether CBS likes it or not. So what you have here is, first of all, massive income and wealth inequality. And as a nation we have got to think from a moral perspective and an economic perspective whether we think it is appropriate that three people, one, two, three, own more wealth than the bottom half of the American society. You know, thats really quite outrageous, and its appropriate that we take a hard look at that. But it is not just that the one tenth of 1 percent owns more wealth than the bottom 90 percent. They dont put their wealth underneath their mattresses, right. They use that wealth to perpetrate, perpetuate their power. And they do that politically. So you have the Koch brothers and a handful of billionaires who pour hundreds of millions of dollars into elections, because their Supreme Court gutted the campaign finance laws that were in existence, and now allow billionaires quite openly to buy elections. So wealth equals power, politically. Wealth means that if I own a company in the United States, I own a GE plant, where there may be hundreds or thousands of workers, and that plant may be making money, but not as much money as it could make if I took it to China or to Mexico, I have the power to do that. Because politicians are not going to stop me. Because we have disastrous trade laws. If I am a billionaire, it is likely that I will have control over media, as well. So you have a handful of media conglomerates owned by some of the wealthiest people in this country and in the world determining what the news is; what is appropriate for the American people to discuss and not to discuss. Now whatmy wife Jane, she put this thing together, Im a guest here. But what she understood is that when we deal with climate change, when we deal with the economy, when we deal with housing, when we deal with criminal justice or immigration issues, we have got to deal with those in a holistic way, and understand why all of that is happening. Not see them as separate issues. And a lot of that has to do that we live in a nation owned and controlled by a small number of multi-billionaires whose greed, incredible greed, insatiable greed, is having an unbelievably negative impact on the fabric of our entire country. PAUL JAY: The process of financialization thats taken place over the whole 20th century, especially since World War II, where finance, Wall Street is so dominant in the economy. And this concentration of ownership and concentration of power is, nowhere is that more important than in the financial sector, because it permeates everything. BERNIE SANDERS: Yes. PAUL JAY: But every attempt to regulate finance has been without much success at best, and currently whatever there was is being dismantled. Doesnt there needs to also be a building up of the public sector, starting with banking? Some kind of public banking? Because you cant really reform these guys, because they all- BERNIE SANDERS: I dont know that you cant reform them. And I think your point is, though, very well taken. What we needlook, lets be clear. You have I will never forget, Lloyd Blankfein, the head of Goldman Sachs, came to Congress a few years ago. And this is after the taxpayers of this country bailed them out because of their greed and their illegal behavior. This is chutzpah. These guys, after being bailed out by the middle class and working families of this country, after causing incalculable harm, whichthe Wall Street crash cost us millions of jobs, people lost their homes, they lost their life savings. These guys, after getting bailed out, they come to Congress. They say, you know, what we think Congress should do is you gotta cut Social Security, and Medicare, and Medicaid. And by the way, lower corporate tax rates and give more tax breaks to the wealthy. Thats power. Thats chutzpah. We have it all, we can do whatever we want to do. And I think the power of Wall Street.youve got a half a dozen banks that own over 50 percent, equivalent to 50 percent of the assets in our GDP. And we have got to stand up to them. Now, your point is, OK, while we try to do that, are there other alternative models? And right here in the state of Vermont I am a strong advocate of a state bank, for example, where we can use the tax revenue that comes in for the public good, to help us create jobs, deal with agriculture, deal with the environment and climate change, and so forth. PAUL JAY: Because the blackmail that happened in 07-08, too big to fail, and too big to go to jail. And- BERNIE SANDERS: Thats right. And we havebut I dont want to give up that fight. We have legislation in that is socommonsense legislation, that when you have a handful of banks that have such incredible control over our economy that when they agreed destroys the economy they have to be bailed out because theyre too big to fail. But it also gives them unbelievable political power. You gotta break them up. And we have legislation in there that would break up the largest banks and financial institutions in this country. And thats what we should do. PAUL JAY: But arent you concerned that, like when the telecoms were broken up, they reassemble. The capital behind the big banks are still there. And Im not suggesting breaking up the big banks isnt a good thing. But dont you need a public bank at a scale that next time theres, theres this blackmail, you can say, you know, go speculate. If you go down, you go down. BERNIE SANDERS: Im not arguing with you, I agree with you. And I think right here in Vermont right now there are a number of people in our legislature, and I support this effort, that want to see a public bank. Ironically enough, you know what the oldest state public bank in the country is? PAUL JAY: North Dakota. BERNIE SANDERS: North Dakota. Theyve had it, I think, since the 20s. And its worked pretty well for them. You know, were trying to strengthen credit unions, as well. And since the Wall Street crash, by the way, I think credit unions have seen a lot more capital coming in and a lot more growth. PAUL JAY: Just finallyI know you have to run. The primary in 2016 got quite bitter. We know that whoever, whoever released these emails, and all the restwe know the DNC was manipulating things in favor of Hillary Clinton and against you. This fight heading into 2020, whether youre the candidate or there is a candidate thats on the Sanders-esque kind of platform This fight in the Democratic Party is not, in my opinion, just a difference of opinion how to get to the same place, which is sometimes framed that way. Theres a real struggle of interest here. The fight against the oligarchywell, theres an oligarchy in the Democratic Party. And theres a fight there. How do you see this campaign unfolding? BERNIE SANDERS: Im proud that out of our campaign, I think, we have seen a significant increasenot just out of our campaignbut a great deal of grassroots activism all across this country. This new incoming freshman class in the Congress is not only going to be the most progressive freshman class in a very long time, but the most diverse. More women, more people of color, et cetera. Also, I think what is happening in this country is that to a significant degree we are winning the ideological struggle. Three years ago, as you recall, Medicare for All was seen to be a radical, fringe idea. Last polls that I saw, 70 percent of the American people support Medicare for All. And more and more Democrats are coming on board. Raising the minimum wage, 15 bucks an hour. Radical idea a few years ago; kind of mainstream today. Rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure, making public colleges and universities tuition-free, dealing with student debt, dealing in an aggressive way with the unbelievably dangerous challenge of climate change. I think more and more people understand that. Criminal justice reform. Immigration reform. So many of the ideas that we campaigned on have now gotten broad support throughout the country and within the Democratic Party. But as, I think, your point makes, look. There is an establishment within the Democratic Party. There are Wall Street contributors in the Democratic Party, corporate contributors in the Democratic Party. And they have a very different and more conservative vision for the future of the Democratic Party than I do. My vision is pretty simple. My vision is that we have got to have the guts to take on Wall Street, take on the pharmaceutical industry, take on the insurance industry, take on the 1 percent, create an economy that works for all. And while we do that, we bring our people, and that is black, and white, and Latino, and Native American, and Asian American together. I think thats the way you do it. And were beginning, beginning, beginning to see that. Were seeing great young candidates who didnt wait on line for 20 years to get permission to run, but kind of jumped in and beat some long-term incumbents. Theyre saying, hey, I come from the community. I know whats going on in this community, and Im going to fight for working people, and Im not afraid to take on big money. Were seeing that. We got to see more of that. So a two-part approach. Number one, we need to fight for our agenda. We need to elect candidates from the grassroots who are going to, are going to implement that agenda. PAUL JAY: All right, thanks very much for joining us. BERNIE SANDERS: Thank you very much. PAUL JAY: And thank you for joining us on The Real News Network. Due to competing duties, well be brief on Brexit today. The newspapers are consumed with whether Theresa May will be forced to put off the vote on her Brexit deal due to the likely margin of rejection being so high as to make her continuation as Prime Minister untenable. I doubt the mechanism for an exit next week (if her bill is rejected roundly as anticipated) would be a vote of no confidence; the DUP said it would support May if her bill failed and the Tories are highly unlikely to run the risk of a general election, although the no confidence timetable allows 14 calendar days to find a new PM. Even the fabulously stubborn May might accept her ministers telling her she had to resign if she lost by a 100 vote margin. So the odds now seem to favor May putting off the vote, and running to the EU Council meeting of December 13-14. If so, this means her fallback it to try to run out the clock so as to make the no deal risk even more imminent, and perhaps also to get the EU Council to say out loud what if any the terms for an extension might be. If they are as restrictive as the tweetstorm from a BBC reporter we featured indicated, making that official would focus a few minds. Wed really like to be Corbyn enthusiasts, given how mendacious and incompetent the Tories are. But on Brexit, Corbyn alarmingly appears to be giving them a run for incompetence. The Guardian ran an op-ed by Corbyn which is truly disconcerting, particularly when taken in combination with Kier Starmers deluded or disingenuous Well prevent a crash-out scheme. Well turn the mike over to Clive on what vlade had already depicted as Corbyn spots a herd of unicorns and promises a pony to everyone: This really does warrant quoting in full because otherwise the true ridiculousness of it all might escape the casual reader. Not least because you have to wade your way through 7 paragraphs and they are long, long paragraphs which say nothing more than an adult version of May is stinky and her Deal is stinkyer (having said that, I think even children would baulk at the simplistic finger pointing we are subjected to) before you get to the nub of it: A new, comprehensive customs union with the EU, with a British say in future trade deals, would strengthen our manufacturing sector and give us a solid base for industrial renewal under the next Labour government, especially for our held-back communities. It would remove the threat of different parts of the UK being subject to separate regulations. And it would deal with the large majority of problems the backstop is designed to solve. Second, a new and strong relationship with the single market that gives us frictionless trade, and the freedom to rebuild our economy and expand our public services while setting migration policies to meet the needs of the economy Does Corbyn really believe any of this guff? solve a large majority of the problems the backstop is designed to solve ??? Which problems are solved, exactly, and which arent? This isnt even cakeism. Its the napkin which the cake is supposed to be served on then someone has written check back soon for the launch of our wonderful new cake on it, with an artists impression of what the cake might look like. Trust me, this is not the full extent of the lunacy. You need to read the piece in full. But see this snippet: Unlike the Norway-plus option now being canvassed among MPs, our plan would not leave Britain as an across-the-board rule-taker of EU regulations without a say. Its a plan that can be negotiated with the EU, even at this late stage, with most of the building blocks already in place. The EU has shown it is prepared to renegotiate even more complex agreements than this, such as the Lisbon treaty. We are back to the EUs What about no dont you understand? But a big unicorn did die today, although expect the press to keep dragging the corpse around, since some pundits may not get the memo right away. Norway rejected the Norway option. Weve been saying the Efta would not want the big and very very pushy UK as a fellow member. Not only did that turn out to be correct, but it turns out Norway (just like the EU) has been saying no and the UK has been characteristically hard of hearing. From a different Guardian story, Norwegian politicians reject UKs Norway Plus Brexit plan (hat tip PlutoniumKun): The UK would need Norways permission to join its EFTA club.But the plan was rejected by Heidi Nordby Lunde, an MP in Norways governing Conservative party, and leader of the Norways European movement. She said her views reflected those of the governing party Lunde told the Guardian: Really, the Norwegian option is not an option we have been telling you this for one and half years since the referendum and how this works, so I am surprised that after all these years it is still part of the grown up debate in the UK. You just expect us to give you an invitation rather than consider whether Norway would want to give you such an invitation. It might be in your interest to use our agreement, but it would not be in our interest. Explaining Norways fear of the UK joining the Efta club she said: The three countries in Efta have to agree on all the regulations coming from the EU so if one country vetoes something we all have to veto which means that if the UK enters the Efta platform and starts to veto regulations that we want, this will affect not just the UK but also us as well. Part of the success we have had with this EEA agreement is for the last 25 years is that we do accept the rules and regulations that do come out of the EU, mostly because it is in our interest. If as I understand UK politicians do not want to be ruled by regulations coming from other countries, why would they accept a country with 38,000 citizens like Lichtenstein being able to veto regulations that the UK wants. That would be the reality. A member of the parliaments economic affairs committee, she said it is not in my countrys interests to have the UK aboard, and I cannot see how possibly an EEA/Efta agreement could be in the interests of the UK. As part of the agreement with the EU we accept migration and free movement, we have our own body of justice but it is compliant with the European court of justice, we accept the rules and regulations of the single market. She added: It is not an option for the UK to stay inside the customs union as the UK proposes to solve the Northern Ireland border issue if you are part of the Efta platform since Efta is its own free trade bloc. We have 29 trade agreements with 39 countries outside the EU that the UK would need to be able to accept. I do not understand why it would be in the UK interests to enter into trade agreements on the basis of agreements that have been negotiated in our interests and not the UKs. She said the only politicians in Norway that wanted the UK to join Efat were the eurosceptic party that wants to destroy Norways relationship with the EU. Ouch. But better this happen sooner rather than later. Its very hard to kill off the various strains of Brexit denialism. The arrest of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou produced a market meltdown in the morning, with the Dow down over 700 points, with stock retracing to only small losses for the major indices by the end of the session. However, the US extradition request, which presumably will lead to her being prosecuted, will continue to be a flashpoint between the US and China. Some tidbits: US bank sanctions caught Huawei in their dragnet. Even though the Wall Street Journal and other reported that Mengs executive and board roles in 2007 through 2009 with a Huawei operation that did business with Iran was one of the areas the Department of Justice had looked into. But a South China Morning Post was leaked an internal Huawei memo from October 29 where Meng and her father, founder Ren Zhengfei, were discussing costs of compliance and setting limits on them. Key section: Meng spoke of the different types of external regulatory compliance, dividing them into red and yellow lines. She did not specify any markets when describing the different scenarios Of course, beyond the yellow and red lines, there may still be another scenario, and that is where the external rules are clear-cut and theres no contention, but the company is totally unable to comply with in actual operations. In such cases, after a reasonable decision-making process, one may accept the risk of temporary non-compliance, she said. We must not bind ourselves up just because the US is attacking us, Ren said in response to a question. If our hands and feet are bound, then we will not be able to continue producing, then whats the point of compliance? The US has very strict compliance policies, but American companies are used to it, Ren said. Nobody dares to flout the law, it has become a habit, and they can still achieve high speeds. Our company has not yet formed this habit, that is why communication costs are too high. That looks like a smoking gun. And if that is already in the public domain, what else is out there? Now one might ask, how could the US establish that Huawei was violating US sanctions on Iran? It appears that the US has more current evidence that that of the subsidiary mentioned above. From the Financial Times: The US justice department has been conducting an investigation for at least two years into whether Huawei breached sanctions against Iran and has requested information on the company from its bankers, according to people familiar with the investigation. A federally appointed monitor working inside HSBC, the UK-based bank, also flagged concerns that Huawei was breaching US sanctions on Iran, one person said, although the lender was also co-operating with federal prosecutors of its own accord. Between 2012 and 2017, HSBC operated under the supervision of Exiger, a London-based financial risk consultancy, which was appointed by US authorities to monitor the banks financial crime controls. The arrangement was put in place after HSBC was charged with breaching US sanctions on Iran and failing to stop Mexican drug cartels from laundering money, as part of a deal that saw the bank avoid prosecution. The justice department has concluded that HSBCs controls were not at fault, and the lender is being treated as a witness or victim to any offence by Huawei. HSBC is not under investigation and is co-operating with the Department of Justice, said one person familiar with the matter. HSBC declined to comment. The arrest does appear to be opportunistic. The US had a sealed indictment against Meng (and one wonders who else at Huawei), so it is credible, as the press reported today, that her arrest in Canada for extradition was opportunistic. I hope Jerry Denim or other experts on airline operations will pipe up as to how the US would have been able to identify when she might be in countries that had extradition treaties with the US and could be relied on to cooperate (as in its altogether too easy to feign incompetence and let the target get away). Since executives are more likely to be no-shows on flights than mere mortals due to last minute changes in plans, even if the US somehow had a heads up on her travel plans (but how?) they wouldnt know for sure until they had the flight manifest. Moreover, John Bolton is the sort whod love to collect a high profile scalp like the arrest of Meng, so its credible that he would find a way to go ahead whether or not the China trade negotiation team was on board. Meng has her bail hearing in Vancouver today, so we will probably learn more about the expected process and timetable. They were so full of joy: Video of 200 dolphins swimming beside B.C. ferry goes viral CTV News Global Carbon Budget 2018 Earth System Science Data. Important. Texas and New Mexico shale basins hold 49 years worth of oil: USGS Reuters. Lets leave it in the ground, so we always know where to find it. For the first time, a major US utility has committed to 100% clean energy Vox. In 2050 2018 = 32 years. Investors withdraw billions from US equity funds FT Tesla Replaces General Counsel With Seasoned Trial Lawyer WSJ. Hmm. Facebooks 2018 Year In Review Facebook Newsroom [sic]. Not mentioned: Cambridge Analytica, Myanmar genocide, a 30 million user security breach, and some other insignificant things. Worldwide Bureaucracy Indicators (dataset) The World Bank. The Worldwide Bureaucracy Indicators (WWBI) is a dataset on public sector employment and wages that can help researchers and development practitioners gain a better understanding of the personnel dimensions of state capability, the footprint of the public sector on the overall labor market, and the fiscal implications of the government wage bill. A lot to unpack there, but start with the framing of state capability as bureaucracy. What the largest sex-furniture manufacturer in the US can teach America about trade Quartz Brexit Brexit uncertainty makes pound impossible to trade FT Brexit Deal Maze (diagram) Reuters. Beautiful diagrammatic visualization, but some of the end states (new Brexit referendum, new negotiations) are imaginary, unlike others which are real possibilities (crash out, canceling Article 50, Mays deal). Perhaps readers can make other corrections. A second Brexit referendum may push us over the edge The Times. Well worth a log-in. The polling shifts to Remain are still small, still within the margin of error, still dependent on non-voters deciding to vote this time round. Surely the real issue is legitimacy? If Parliament were sovereign, not just in word but in deed, there would be no need for referenda, first or second. How US billionaires are fuelling the hard-right cause in Britain George Monbiot, Guardian High Court agrees to hear full legal challenge of Blightys Snoopers Charter The Register How Frances Yellow Vests Are Plotting Online Bloomberg Frances Gas Tax Disaster Shows We Cant Save Earth by Screwing Over Poor People Gizmodo Merkels party votes for new leader, and new era in Germany Reuters Syraqistan Meet the Senators Who Took Saudi Money The American Conservative China Exploring the Ecosystem of the U.S.Mexico Border Scientific American Mexicos New President Restarts Investigation Into 43 Missing Students NYT Brazil future unclear amid opposing ideologies of ministers AP Why voters should mark ballots by hand Freedom to Tinker. There is no good reason for any election official, of any party, to defend e-voting, let alone purchase electronic voting machines. Exclusive: Emails of top NRCC officials stolen in major 2018 hack Politico. So Crowdstrike works both sides of the street? Democrats in Disarray AOC continues her on-boarding process: Our bipartisan Congressional orientation is cohosted by a corporate lobbyist group. Other members have quietly expressed to me their concern that this wasnt told to us in advance. Lobbyists are here. Goldman Sachs is here. Wheres labor? Activists?Frontline community leaders? Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Ocasio2018) December 6, 2018 I dont see how a good progressive like Nancy Pelosi can permit this. Making Manchin the Ranking Member of Energy Committee Might Be a Compromise Too Far New York Magazine Your Q Anon Exit Briefing Violent Metaphors Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender who is friends with Donald Trump and Bill Clinton, explained Vox USA Gymnastics files for bankruptcy after hefty lawsuits over Larry Nassar CNN A Mysterious Imposter Account Was Used On Facebook To Drum Up Support For The Migrant Caravan Buzzfeed. More at NC here. A Business With No End NYT Health Care Imperial Collapse Watch At the CIA, a fix to communications system that left trail of dead agents remains elusive Yahoo News Class Warfare Damn It All NYRB Antidote du jour (via): See yesterdays Links and Antidote du Jour here. 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. We all want to go back to class, we all want to go see our teachers, see our friends and learn, she said. As much as kids will complain about school, we truly love it. And our teachers allow us to love learning. On Monday 10 December 2018, the NATO Secretary General, Mr. Jens Stoltenberg, will meet the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany, Mr. Heiko Maas at NATO Headquarters. There will be no media opportunity. Still images of the event will be available on the NATO website. Follow us on Twitter (@NATOPress and @jensstoltenberg) (Natural News) Practical fusion power requires an overseer that can keep an unblinking eye on the tokamak reactor and rein in any complication that could interrupt the production of energy. That is why the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) came up with the bright idea of developing an artificial intelligence system to handle the job. Named Accelerated Deep Learning Discovery in Fusion Energy Science, it will anticipate the appearance of disruptions in the fusion process. It will prevent the said event from causing damage to the tokamak reactor. The AI has been chosen as one of the Aurora Early Science projects. It will join nine other data science and machine learning projects that will be run on the upcoming Aurora exascale computer. Aurora is an extremely powerful computing system. It is expected to be 50 to 100 times faster than the best supercomputers of this generation. It is slated for arrival at the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility in 2021. Once it has been set up, Aurora will claim the title of the first exascale computing system found in the U.S. (Related: Sad robot: Expert says that robots could become so life-like that they will develop mental illnesses too.) New AI will keep an electronic eye on the state of tokamak plasma Plasma is the super-heated and electrically charged state of matter. It is made up of atomic nuclei and free electrons. When the plasma of light elements are combined during fusion, the ensuing reaction produces a lot of energy. This is the source of power of the Sun and other stars. It could provide nearly unlimited power on Earth, which is why researchers are looking for ways to replicate this process. Princeton University (Princeton) and its partner Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) are working on a way to predict and control the burning plasma fusion inside tokamak reactors. Burning plasma are reactions that can keep themselves running for very long periods of time. A practical working tokamak for example, the international ITER reactor will rely on burning plasma to produce a steady supply of fusion energy. An AI like the one being designed by PPPL researcher William Tang is reputedly vital. Our research will utilize capabilities to accelerate progress that can only come from the deep learning form of artificial intelligence, Tang said. A deep-learning software so smart, it can predict plasma disruptions Deep-learning AI are capable of performing very complicated calculations involving realistic image resolution. Their many layers of interconnected neural networks work in the same way as neurons in an organic brain. The PPPL-Princeton artificial intelligence is made up of convolutional and recurrent neural sets. It can be taught to look for specific objects or occurrences. Bearing the title of Fusion Recurrent Neural Network (FRNN), the deep-learning software is expected to make very fast predictions about future disruptions in large-scale tokamak plasmas. The AI will also be able to use the right control method to keep the fusion reaction going. In its infancy, the software started training on clusters of small computers. It eventually moved on to supercomputing systems that can provide it with massive influxes of data about potential plasma disruptions. Eventually, it will gain access to the nearly unrivaled processing power of the Aurora exascale computing system. FRNN will pore over the data for important clues that appear shortly before the actual disruptions. Using what it learned from earlier simulations, it can apply its supervised machine learning to warn operators about the impending chaos in the tokamak fusion reactor. Robots.news can tell you all the reasons why it is not wise to hand the reins of fusion power to artificial intelligence. Sources include: NewsWise.com Princeton.edu (Natural News) The integrity and validity of the United Nations is now in question after climate change lunatics took over the 2018 Climate Conference to demand financial servitude and global surrender to authoritarianism. At the opening ceremony of the United Nations Climate Conference, Polands Sir David Attenborough began a ruse about climate change being our greatest threat in thousands of years. Attenborough warned that civilization is about to collapse, that the world is facing a man-made disaster of global scale. Time is running out, he said, calling on global leaders to act now. What kind of action do climate change lunatics want? They want the worlds banks to invest hundreds of billions of dollars into their idea so they can supposedly find ways to reduce Earths temperature. Its an over-hyped, one-sided, and uncanny proposal, but the authoritarians who want to manipulate the world economy and dictate the weather using geo-engineering are the ones hoping they can convince the world of this farce. The World Bank has already pledged to hand out $200 billion over five years to countries that take action on climate change. (Related: How Al Gore became the worlds first carbon billionaire.) Climate change hysteria is about authoritarian control Instead of promoting an abstract concept such as climate change, world leaders should be discussing actual strategies that enhance environmental and human health for adaptation to everything that is uncertain. Instead, climate change lunatics are certain that mans actions are causing a global rise in temperature and propose that population control, taxation, and authoritarian rule is the ultimate solution. Climate change should not be used to beckon financial subservience to some inane goal of removing carbon dioxide from the Earth. Isnt carbon dioxide the very compound that spurs plant growth? Why are climate lunatics striving to control something that will cause climate consequences? Climate change should be observed first as a natural occurrence, not as something that can be controlled through perpetual geoengineering of the atmosphere with experimental particles. The dire problem is that the elite want to reign over the skies and banking system with no regard to human health and environmental consequences imposed by their controlling experiments. In the short and long term, weather, climate, precipitation, and temperature all fluctuate, no matter where people live. Climate data is easily skewed and cherry-picked to prove the need for financing solutions that are just attempts for economic and population control. While there are real environmental crimes occurring throughout the world, the world leaders at the U.N. Climate Conference are more worried about getting billions of dollars in financing for projects that aim to control the weather, block out the suns light, and eliminate the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Even the mainstream media have come clean about chemtrails, how they will be used to fight climate change. If climate alarmists cared about saving the world then they would bring awareness and work toward ending the chemical pollution of the world via agro-chemicals, heavy metals, bio sludge fertilizers (pharmaceutical-infused human waste) radiation, and industrial smog, among other real problems. Ironically, with all the jets carrying world leaders across the globe, the climate summit will be responsible for 55,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions (the very problem U.N. officials are complaining about.) According to EPA figures, this amount of CO2 is equivalent to the amount emitted by 8,243 American homes. Instead of restricting Americas energy consumption and ridding the planet of ordinary people, maybe its more prudent to rid the world of the global elite and restrict their behaviors. They are the ones actually causing excessive CO2 emissions, burning through resources, and ignoring real environmental health threats as they inflate the worlds money supply for authoritarian rule and manipulation of the weather which would inflict even more consequences. Sources include: Dailywire.com BBC.com NaturalNews.com NaturalNews.com Biosludged.com (Natural News) Nikos Kotzias, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece, has just confirmed the existence of a massive child organ harvesting ring. Kotzias stated in a recent interview that Greek diplomats have been issuing visas to unaccompanied children, with the intent of facilitating the illegal removal of their organs. This is not the first time Kotzias has disclosed the presence of such heinous criminal activity. In October 2018, the former official stated, We sent 93 cases to the Prosecutor, highly evaluated ambassadors went to jail, but the press did not write about them. Because the person who gives a visa in Constantinople [Istanbul] to an unaccompanied child is not just a criminal, he is traitor. A visa for a 14-month-old unaccompanied baby and they tried to cover it up for him. The former official says he has filed 93 prosecution cases involving diplomats seeking to exploit children. Fortunately, these people are already in jail. The fact that I saved a few souls will make me sleep quietly when my life is over, Kotzias commented. But the illegal organ trade is far from extinction, and for thousands of children, this nightmare is still far too real. Illegal child organ harvesting on the rise Writing for the Gatestone Institute, Maria Polizoidou reports that there are over 3,000 unaccompanied immigrant children residing in Greece, and some 42 percent of those children are homeless or live in a non-permanent residence. All of them are at risk of being exploited, either through sex trafficking or organ harvesting. The problem of child organ harvesting is not specific to Greece; the black market for organs is an international issue, ignored as it may be. The European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation, or Europol, has estimated that over 10,000 of the 270,000 refugee children who entered Europe in 2015 are missing. Brian Donald, Europols chief of staff, says that many of the children were unaccompanied, so it is possible the number of missing kids is much higher. A 2016 report from Europol indicates that corruption is a primary factor in facilitating people smuggling. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime also reported: In 2011, it was estimated that the illicit organ trade generated illegal profits between USD 600 million and USD 1.2 billion per year. Underground organ markets present a significant threat to the security of national organ donation systems, eroding the image of transplantation and public confidence in organ transplantation worldwide. Trafficking in Persons Protocol states that if the victim is a child, that is a person below the age of 18, consent is irrelevant regardless of whether any improper means (such as deception, force, abuse of a position of vulnerability) have been used. That means, trafficking in children for organ removal only requires that there is an act (recruitment, transport, transfer, harbouring or receipt of a child) for the purpose of exploitation through organ removal. Greece has been identified as a prime source of black market organ harvesting for several years now. In 2012, the New York Times reported on the rise of illegal organ trading in Europe. Greece was named as one of the countries where illegal organ sales were appearing as a result of poor financial status. I will sell my kidney, my liver, or do anything necessary to survive, a Serbian woman told the Times. Much of the organ market also involves migrants and refugees, and as Katzias has revealed, unaccompanied children are especially at risk. Human sacrifices In 2016, the U.K.s Independent reported that refugees who were unable to pay for being smuggled from Africa to Europe were being killed for their organs. As Polizoidou reports: Kotzias, for decades, was a member of the international left and an active globalist. He is considered by many an insider. Now he has taken the mask off of the supposedly humanitarian face of Greek and European hospitality to immigrants and refugees. Under the humanitarian face and the open-border policies there is the face of profit from people-smuggling. Part of the migration effort, evidently, is all about money, not about helping foreigners in need. Across the EU, the plight of human trafficking for organ smuggling can be seen. Katzias revealed that a network of government officials, doctors and organ buyers, all of whom facilitate and profit from illegal organ trafficking, exists. Polizoidou says there is a house of human sacrifices in Greece and the EU, and that even children are being put up for sale on the organ market. Egypt is another hub for black market organs. The black market for organs is booming around the globe. Estimates suggest that for every three people who need a kidney, only one is available and transplants are notoriously precarious endeavors. As the worlds population gets older and sicker, the need for organs is only going to grow. Some wealthy elite are even going so far as to buy blood from young people to preserve their health. See more coverage of the news mainstream media isnt reporting on at Evil.news. Sources for this article include: WND.com GatestoneInstitute.org Independent.co.uk AA.com (Natural News) They say people are known by the company they keep, and if thats true, then Bill and Hillary Clinton should find better people to associate with. In late November, the Justice Department announced it had indicted three senior executives at various U.S. defense contractors in connection with a plan to defraud the military in pursuit of an $8 billion troop supply contract. In addition, the Justice Department charged the three individuals with violating the Iran sanctions regime. In a press release, DoJ identified the suspects and charges: Abul Huda Farouki, 75, of McLean, Virginia; his brother Mazen Farouki, 73, of Boyce, Virginia; and Salah Maarouf, 71, of Fairfax, Virginia, were each charged in an indictment filed in the District of Columbia with two counts of major fraud, one count of conspiracy to violate the restrictions on doing business with Iran, four counts of substantive violations of those restrictions, and one count of conspiracy to commit international money laundering. Turns out that, according to Big League Politics, the three were top donors to former President Bill Clinton and twice-failed presidential contender Hillary Clinton. (Related: Seriously: Why is the DOJ indicting Julian Assange but not Hillary Clinton?) One of the suspects, Abul Huda Farouki, was the CEO of Anham FZCO, which secured the $8 billion contract in 2011 to supply the Pentagon with food and equipment for deployed U.S. troops; Hillary Clinton just happened to still have been serving as Barack Obamas secretary of state at the time. The contract was obtained because the company lied about cost estimates. The indictment alleges that the defendants schemed to defraud the Department of Defense in connection with the SPV-A contract by submitting bids that contained knowingly false estimates of the completion dates for the warehouses and by providing the government with misleading photographs intended to convey that Anhams progress on the warehouses was further along than it actually was, said DoJs statement. The Clintons always associate with these people In addition, Farouki cut down on expenses by shipping U.S. military supplies through Iran instead of via legal, though more costly, routes, in violation of the Iran Sanctions Act. Also, according to the indictment, the defendants and others brought building equipment and other materials to a proposed warehouse complex site to make it seem as though there was active construction taking place when there was no construction underway. Conspirators photographed the site and then provided those pictures to the Defense Department, only to largely deconstruct the staged construction site, the press release notes. At one point The Wall Street Journal was preparing to publish a story exposing Anhams practice of shipping vehicles and supplies through Iran, the DoJ said, citing the indictment. After becoming aware that the story was set to be published, Farouki emailed a senior DoD official to claim, falsely, that senior company executives were not aware that shipments were being sent through Iran, enroute to Afghanistan. Open Secrets which documents campaign contributions among other related expenditures noted that Farouki and his wife have given hundreds of thousands of dollars to Democrats over the years, including the Clintons and Obama. It should also be noted that Hillary Clintons habit of steering lucrative government contracts to major donors was well-documented in the book and movie Clinton Cash, Big League Politics noted. But it gets better or worse, depending on your point of view. As The Gateway Pundit pointed out, longtime Clinton associate and former governor of Virginia Terry McAuliffe was on Anhams board of directors. McAuliffe was also chairman of the Democratic National Committee and chair of Hillarys failed 2008 presidential bid (which she lost to Obama). Its not known whether the Clintons or McAuliffe were aware of the alleged defrauding by Anham, but what is clear is that, yet again, they are all associated with nefarious people who have been accused of shady dealings with the U.S. government. Read more about the various and sundry Clinton scandals at Clinton.news. Sources include: TheNationalSentinel.com BigLeaguePolitics.com TheGatewayPundit.com (Natural News) Feckless feminists have once again destroyed an innocent American pastime and tradition as part of their relentless, malicious, and hate-filled agenda to abolish all semblances of patriarchy (a.k.a. men in any positions of leadership) and so-called toxic masculinity from American society. According to Princeton University student Noa Wollstein, whos also employed by the schools campus paper, The Daily Princetonian, a popular Disney song thats been performed by Princetons all-male a cappella group, the Princeton Tigertones, for many years is no longer acceptable because it promotes men kissing women (gasp!), which Wollstein finds offensive. In a lengthy op-ed she wrote for The Daily Princetonian, Wollstein condemned the Tigertones for performing the song in question, Kiss The Girl, which is from the Disney classic film The Little Mermaid. In Wollsteins view, the songs theme of a man pursuing a woman for a kiss which is completely normal male behavior is misogynistic, offensive, and violating against females. No matter how great the tradition, this canonical Tigertones tune should be struck from their repertoire, this woke feminist chided in her triggered rant. The song launches a heteronormative attack on womens right to oppose the romantic and sexual liberties taken by men, further inundating the listener with themes of toxic masculinity. Whats happened to American men that they no longer have the courage to stand up against toxic feminism? Expressing her deranged opinions about this innocent song in her schools newspaper wasnt Wollsteins ultimate goal, however. She ultimately succeeded in getting Kiss The Girl removed from the Tigertones annual performance lineup, proving once again that men in this country have lost their manhood, and are now completely beholden to the threats of loudmouthed females. Our group is always striving to impart joy and positivity through our music, and we take very seriously any indication that we fall short of this goal, wrote Wesley Brown, president of the Princeton Tigertones, in a statement of total capitulation to Wollsteins snowflake crusade against a longtime Princeton tradition. For that reason, we want to make sure that all audience members feel encouraged to reach out to the group and initiate a dialogue if they ever feel that any aspect of our show is upsetting or offensive. Our repertoire, traditions, and group as a whole are constantly evolving, and thus we value this opportunity to ensure a more comfortable performance environment moving forward. If there were any real men left on Princetons campus, they would likewise initiate a dialogue about how offended they are that one wretched feminist single-handedly took control of an all-male a cappella group and decided what songs that group is allowed to perform on Princetons campus. This is toxic feminism in action, folks the idea that anything with a front hole is automatically afforded a magic trump card to decide what other people, mostly men, are allowed to do or say in American society. This is also known as fascism, and its become the pinnacle of Leftist politics, especially in the era of President Donald Trump. Is there anyone left in this country whos willing to stand up against this continuous onslaught of anti-male misandry disguised as equality and tolerance? Where have all the men gone that this type of sexist tyranny has now gone mainstream, and how much worse do things have to get before a contingent of positive male energy finally stands up and says enough is enough? This male energy clearly doesnt exist within the ranks of the Princeton Tigertones, as its members have demonstrated that theyre fully on board with being completely emasculated by a brain-addled social justice warrior (SJW) with an axe to grind against men actually acting like men. For more insane news like this, be sure to check out ThoughtCrimes.news. Sources for this article include: NaturalNews.com TheGatewayPundit.com (Natural News) Reports on Thursday noted that POTUS Donald Trump is considering nominating an old Washington hand, William Barr, to replace Jeff Sessions as attorney general. Politicos may remember that name: Barr served as AG under President George H. W. Bush, who died earlier this week. If true, and Barr is seriously under consideration, some may view this choice as POTUS Trump giving in to the swamp. But it could be that the president wants Barr because he needs an experienced hand at the helm of a Justice Department that is in serious need of reform. That became apparent again this week following a report from The Hills John Solomon, in which he dropped news bombshells regarding suspicions that James Comeys FBI misrepresented a key document in the bureaus pursuit of a warrant from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court enabling agents to spy on an American citizen tied to the 2016 Trump campaign, Carter Page: Just before Thanksgiving, House Republicans amended the list of documents theyd like President Trump to declassify in the Russia investigation. With little fanfare or explanation, the lawmakers, led by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), added a string of emails between the FBI and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to their wish list. Sources tell me the targeted documents may provide the most damning evidence to date of potential abuses of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), evidence that has been kept from the majority of members of Congress for more than two years. Solomon noted that the emails involve Comey, lawyers from the Justice Departments national security division, and key FBI investigators involved in the Russian collusion probe. The date of the email string is early October 2016 before the FBI managed to secure a spy warrant from the FISA court for Page. (Related: WOW: Nunes says Comeys FBI excluded exculpatory evidence against Carter Page to get FISA warrants.) The emails show that the bureau was well aware that the primary proof agents were using to justify the warrant the so-called Russia dossier compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele was bogus. Serious breach In particular, the emails show concern among intelligence community officials that the contents of the dossier were reliable. Steele was fired by the FBI on Nov. 1, 2016, for having unauthorized contacts with the media. That firing occurred two weeks after the spy warrant was authorized. Theres more. The FBI did not come clean for months with the American people or Congress regarding the fact that Steele was paid to find dirt on then-GOP candidate/nominee Donald Trump by a firm that was doing political opposition research on behalf of the Hillary Clinton campaign Fusion GPS. The bureau also did not reveal the fact that Steele had a great deal of animosity for Trump. If the FBI knew of his media contacts and the concerns about the reliability of his dossier before seeking the warrant, it would constitute a serious breach of FISA regulations and the trust that the FISA court places in the FBI, Solomon writes. The bureau, he notes, is required to certify to the FISA court prior to the approval of surveillance warrants that any evidence presented to justify spying has been verified and fact-checked for accuracy. The FBI also has an obligation to let FISA judges know if there are any flaws in evidence or information presented to the court in the FISA application suggesting the intended target may be innocent. House Republicans are going to question Comey who signed off on the FISA warrant Friday. It should be noted that 10 months after special counsel Robert Muller, a Comey friend and former associate, was appointed, the fired FBI director cast aspersions on the dossier during sworn testimony before Congress, calling it unverified and salacious. Former FBI lawyer Lisa Page corroborated Comeys characterization in recent testimony before the House. If these documents are released, the American public will have clear and convincing evidence to see the FISA warrant that escalated the Russia probe just before Election Day was flawed and the judges [were] misled, one knowledgeable source told Solomon. More than anything, this lays out the case that Comey and anyone associated with the dossier should be charged by a grand jury. Why Mueller hasnt done so already should be obvious, which makes who becomes the next AG extremely vital. Read more about the corruption of James Comey at JamesComey.news. Sources include: TheHill.com TheNationalSentinel.com (Natural News) Google may be the most frequented search engine on the market, but that doesnt make it the most honest. A shocking new report has revealed that Googles autocomplete function is censoring searches for opioid-related statistics, such as deaths from opioids and the like. Google has come under fire for censoring conservatives, but now it looks like the company is using its power to suppress all kinds of information. Big Tech has grown too big for its britches, and we are seeing the result of that now, as behemoth companies try to obtain absolute rule over their domains. Whether its through search result manipulation, news feed algorithms, or blatant oppression of their political adversaries, Silicon Valley is now using its power and position to secretly influence public opinion and silence anyone who stands in their way. Google manipulates autocomplete Writing for UNZ, Steve Sailer reports that a reader put together a series of screenshots showing how the same search terms produce wildly different results depending on what search engine you use. Specifically, Bing and Duck Duck Go show similar autocomplete terms, while Googles autocomplete terms are out in left-field. See below: Chris Menahan, of Information Liberation, reports a similar phenomenon occurs when one searches for deaths from fentanyl, as well. Similarly, the term opioid use disorder has recently been adopted by health agencies and is one of Googles top autocomplete results for the term opioid, appearing before opioid epidemic, opioid addiction or other more common terms. This is a thinly veiled attempt to put the onus on opioid users, rather than the corrupt pharmaceutical industry which created opioids, engaged in a reckless marketing campaigns and bribed physicians into prescribing their products. Big Pharma cannot hide from their role in creating the opioid epidemic, no matter how much the industry would like to do just that. Opioid-related deaths are continuing to rise, with drug overdoses ranked as the leading cause of death in adults under 50. Googles censorship of certain search terms and their manipulation of the autocomplete feature isnt just protecting Big Pharma, its also endangering public health. As Menahan contends, Theres no question it could give the impression to searchers that theyre all alone in their search even though such search traffic has likely never been higher. Writing for UNZ, Sailer notes that Google alters other autocomplete results as well. Searches aimed at ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation do not produce results at Google. This is not surprising, coming from such a liberal company. And its possible that Google is trying to use their power to change the tone of discussion on the opioid epidemic, too. Google abuses its power Experts have begun cautioning that Google, and other tech companies, are becoming a dangerous threat to the free world. Companies like Google and Facebook dominate online conversation; between social media, search results, news feeds and everything in between, Big Tech is at the helm of the way the world communicates. And by gaining control of what information people see, these companies ultimately influence the way people think and feel. Google has already come under fire for censoring conservatives in the past, and there is a trove of evidence to suggest that the company is working to undermine the American electoral system, and much more. Regarding opioids, consider this: By altering autocomplete results, Google can shift the focus of the opioid epidemic away from the pharmaceutical industrys undeniable role, and onto the people struggling with addiction. This shift can inform public attitudes about opioids in general. And with all the money Big Pharma has made on opioids, its no wonder these industries are colluding to paint things in a more positive light. See more coverage of Big Techs latest atrocities at TechGiants.news. Sources for this article include: InformationLiberation.com UNZ.com Vox.com (Natural News) French citizens fed up with their governments elitism and out-of-touch policymaking like allowing millions of West-hating Muslims into the country have taken to the streets in recent weeks following the imposition of a massive new fuel (carbon) tax aimed at fulfilling the countrys climate change obligations via the 2015 Paris Climate Accords. Reports on Thursday even said that Yellow Jacket leaders may be planning armed violence aimed at overthrowing President Emmanuel Macron, whose approval rating is in the basement. Whether the coup happens or not, its pretty evident, judging by the news coming out of France in recent weeks, that a growing number of citizens are unhappy with the way things are going in their country. And theyre not going to take it anymore. Could something like whats taking place in France happen in the United States? Well, it wont be over fuel taxes related to the Paris Climate Accords because POTUS Donald Trump withdrew our country from that massive wealth transfer scheme. But it could be over another issue near and dear to the hearts of tens of millions of Americans: Gun confiscation. Writing in USA Today just a week or so after the midterm elections last month, Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., one of a legion of Democrats said to be considering running against POTUS Donald Trump in 2020, proposed legislation that would authorize the government to implement an Australian-style gun buy-back program specifically for so-called assault rifles, which are not military-grade and only resemble, physically, real assault weapons. (Related: Eric Swalwell just proved why he could be the dumbest Democratic presidential contender EVER.) But it gets worse. Swalwell said his legislation should authorize the federal and state governments to go after any American who becomes a resister that is, send cops and/or federal agents to individual homes. In other words, he is proposing risking the lives of police and federal agents, ordinary Americans, and the civil society over the confiscation of a constitutionally protected instrument. So basically @RepSwalwell wants a war. Because thats what you would get. Youre outta your fg mind if you think Ill give up my rights and give the gov all the power, pro-gun activists Joe Biggs wrote on Twitter to which Swalwell replied, saying the war would be short because Uncle Sam has nukes. Would Leftists fight and die? The lunacy of believing an administration would nuke its own citizens on its own soil aside, Swalwell is channeling a long-held desire among Leftists: To take away guns from otherwise law-abiding Americans simply because they have determined Americans dont need them. Citing Swalwells proposal, conservative columnist, pundit and author Kurt Schlichter called out the California Democrat with a poignant question: How many on the Left are willing to shed blood to disarm American patriots? He writes: Rep. Swalwell, some people are going to fight rather than cave in, so whats the number of bodies you would be willing to pile up to win? Lets put aside the right or wrong of resistance; itll be a thing. Itll happen. Youre from near San Francisco, so you dont know any real Americans, but even though I am from that hellhole too, Ive met a few Americans in my travels. They are an ornery people who dont give in to the kind of bullying you advocate. So, youre going to have to kill some people to do what you want, and I just want to know how many youre prepared to off to achieve your goal. Judging by history, there will be a good number of citizens who would choose security over liberty and turn in whatever guns they are required to turn in. But Schlichter is right in that there will be some resistance, and even if its just a few percent of current American gun-owning, Second Amendment-supporting Americans, they will number in the millions. And when the gun confiscations begin, people will die. How many on the Left would be willing to sacrifice their lives at the same time they are sacrificing the Constitution? Its a good question Swalwell should be made to answer. Read more about the dangers to our Second Amendment right at SecondAmendment.news. Sources include: TheNationalSentinel.com TownHall.com The funds are part of the states new Evidence-Based Funding for Student Success Act, which was approved in August 2017 and is being administered by the Illinois State Board of Education. Additional money is being made available to districts that have under-resourced students in an effort to ensure all schools have the resources they need to provide a safe, rigorous and well-rounded learning environment for all students, according to the state boards website. (Natural News) After weaseling his way through a series of congressional hearings this past spring, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg is back in the news following the revelation that his social media empire committed even more crimes with its mishandling of private user data. A bombshell cache of documents recently handed over to lawmakers in the United Kingdom prove once and for all that Facebook repeatedly disregarded the law to get where it is today as well as show that every single one of its movers and shakers, including Zuckerberg himself, belongs in prison. According to the contents of these internal documents, Facebook used a virtual private network (VPN) from Onavo, a company that it later acquired, to spy on the activities of major competitors like Snapchat and WhatsApp, both of which were also targets of acquisition for Facebook. Facebook also selectively targeted the applications of its competitors, disallowing them from fully functioning as designed. Furthermore, after thoroughly reviewing these same documents, top U.K. lawmakers discovered that secretive whitelisting agreements had been established by Facebook with select companies, giving them preferential access to vast amounts of user data information that had previously been sealed by a California court. A trove of internal correspondence, published online Wednesday by U.K. lawmakers, provides a look into the ways Facebook bosses, including Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg, treated information posted by users like a commodity that could be harnessed in service of business goals, revealed Nate Lanxon and Sarah Frier in a piece for Bloomberg about these revelations. Apps were invited to use Facebooks network to grow, as long as that increased usage of Facebook. Certain competitors, in a list reviewed by Zuckerberg himself, were not allowed to use Facebooks tools and data without his personal sign-off. For more news about the crimes of Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook, be sure to check out Facebook.Fetch.news. Facebook further violated user privacy by conducting secret global surveys of mobile app usage without consent Many of our readers will recall a story we published earlier this year about how Facebook had allegedly breached the private call logs and contacts of Android mobile phone users. Well, we now know that this was, indeed, taking place without users knowledge. So-called global surveys were being conducted by Facebook that allowed the multinational corporation to monitor customer usage habits without their knowledge or consent. It was a secret change that Bloomberg says allowed Facebook to record call and message data without users knowing what was actually happening. Within these now-released documents is an email dated February 4, 2015, from a Facebook engineer who admitted that Facebooks Android app contained the ability to continually upload a users call and SMS (text message) history, which of course wasnt publicly revealed. If it had been, this same engineer explained, it would have been a high-risk thing to do from a PR perspective. For more news on technocracy crimes, check out Technocrats.news. Facebook deliberately blocked Vine video-sharing tool under direction of Zuckerberg While Facebook claims to be committed to fairness and quality, the Silicon Valley giant was also caught targeting a video-sharing tool developed by Vine back in 2013 that would have allowed Vine users to connect to Facebook and search for their friends through the platform. A Facebook engineer, internal emails reveal, had suggested disabling this friend-finding feature in order to enrich the Facebook monopoly. In response, Zuckerberg gave his blessing, having written, Yup, go for it. Facebook had also facilitated the propagation of a data-mining app developed by a company known as Six4Three that pored through peoples Facebook profiles and pulled out all photos of girls in bikinis. The app was made possible through an application programming interface (API) given special privileges by Facebook to access such data freely, and again without users consent. Six4Three founder Ted Kramer obtained a treasure trove of eye-opening documents about this and other malfeasances by Facebook as part of a major lawsuit against the social media monolith. A small number of documents already became public last week, including descriptions of emails suggesting that Facebook executives had discussed giving access to their valuable user data to some companies that bought advertising when it was struggling to launch its mobile-ad business, The Washington Post revealed. The alleged practice started around seven years ago but has become more relevant this year because the practices in question allowing outside developers to gather data on not only app users but their friends are at the heart of Facebooks Cambridge Analytica scandal. Facebook, of course, denies any wrongdoing as it pertains to any of these powerful revelations. The company says the documents are misleading without additional context, and that the various platform changes were made to protect Facebook users from data breaches rather than encourage them. But this hasnt stopped things from boiling over at Facebooks headquarters. With crisis after crisis coming at the tech giant, many within the companys ranks are having a hard time coping. Reports indicate that internal tensions are now so extreme that theyre spilling out into public view. Internally, the conflict seems to have divided Facebook into three camps: those loyal to Zuckerberg and chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg; those who see the current scandals as proof of a larger corporate meltdown; and a group who sees the entire narrative including the portrayal of the companys hiring of communications consulting firm Definers Public Affairs as examples of biased media attacks, Buzzfeed News reported. See MarkZuckerberg.news for more coverage of pure evil in the tech industry. Sources for this article include: ZeroHedge.com Bloomberg.com NaturalNews.com (Natural News) Volatile compounds give lavender its pleasant scent and healing properties. They can also protect the kidneys and liver from being harmed by oxidative stress from toxic chemicals. This led Tunisian researchers to test the essential oil of Spanish lavender (Lavandula stoechas) for its hepaprotective and nephroprotective activity against malathion. Malathion is a synthetic organophosphate. It is one of the most common insecticides, being used in both agricultural areas and homes. Although touted to be the safest among organophosphates, malathion remains a highly potent neurotoxin. Even though it was intended to kill insects, it can still cause significant damage to the liver and kidneys of mammals like humans. When ingested, malathion will be broken down into malaoxon, a metabolite that is even more deadly than the base chemical. If it reaches the liver and kidney, it causes oxidative stress that damages the cells of those vital organs. Antioxidants can prevent oxidative stress. These beneficial substances can naturally be found in the body and increased by consumption of the right foods. (Related: Judge affirms guilty verdict against Monsantos glyphosate herbicide, reduces punitive damages to $39 million.) The antioxidant potential of volatile compounds found in lavender Researchers from the Faculty of Sciences of Tunis (FST) evaluated the hepaprotective and nephroprotective properties of lavender oil. They set up an animal study with 96 young male mice, which they divided into eight groups that received different treatments. The control group served as an untreated baseline. The mice in the malathion group received 200 milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg) of the organophosphate every day. Three more groups were administered 10, 30, and 50 mg/kg of lavender essential oil. The last three groups were given a combination of essential oil and malathion treatment. The trial lasted for 30 days. The animals were observed for signs of body weight gain and tested for any effects. At the end of the experiment, the mice were sacrificed. Their kidneys and liver were harvested for analysis of the chemical and morphological changes induced by the lavender essential oil and malathion. Protect your kidneys and liver by taking lavender essential oils The FST researchers reported that malathion caused adverse effects in the mice. These animals did not gain as much body weight from consuming the same amounts as untreated mice. At the same time, the kidneys and livers of the malathion-exposed mice increased in size. The swelling disrupted the proper flow of blood throughout those organs. Furthermore, these mice also showed significant disruption of their metabolism. The disturbance of the proper hemodynamic and metabolic parameters caused detrimental effects on their health. The administration of malathion to the animals was accompanied by a corresponding rise in their oxidative stress levels. The concentration of malondialdehyde and hydrogen peroxide were noted to have gone up. In contrast, the sulfhydryl group content displayed significant reduction. Likewise, the activity levels of the antioxidant enzymes catalase and glutathione peroxidase went down. The superoxide dismutase (SOD) enzymes were also affected. Copper-SOD, manganese-SOD, and iron-SOD levels in the kidney and liver decreased. The decline of these antioxidant enzymes suggested that malathion caused oxidative stressed against those organs. However, lavender essential oil was able to reverse all of the adverse effects of malathion exposure. Mice treated with essential oil were able to gain weight at a normal rate. The relative weight of their kidneys and liver did not balloon uncontrollably. Their hemodynamics and metabolism remained stable. Finally, their liver and kidneys did not experience oxidative stress. Given these outcomes, the researchers concluded that the antioxidant qualities of lavender oil allowed it to protect the liver and kidneys from harm. Learn more about the healing properties of lavender by visiting NaturalMedicine.news. Sources include: Science.news NCBI.NLM.NIH.gov ScienceDirect.com LiebertPub.com (Natural News) Wheaton College near Chicago, a supposedly Christian institution of higher learning, is quickly going the way of far-left libtardism after a contingent of the schools leadership condemned a conservative black speaker for talking to students about all of the unborn black babies that are being murdered at Planned Parenthood abortion clinics. Ryan Bomberger from the Radiance Foundation was asked by the Wheaton College Republicans to come to the campus to speak about the black genocide thats taking place at abortion clinics all across the country. Bomberger also spoke about how the radical left-wing Black Lives Matter organization has actually partnered up with Planned Parenthood, which we also reported has long had an anti-black eugenics agenda. It was a presentation of truth by Bomberger that one would think the Christian students attending Wheaton would have appreciated, seeing as how the college holds an official pro-life stance. But about a week after Bomberger spoke at the school, student body leadership sent a letter to the entire student body denouncing Bomberger for supposedly making some Wheaton students feel unsafe on our campus. The speaker of this event, Ryan Bomberger, made several comments at the event that deeply troubled members of our community, the letter stated, adding that people of color were apparently offended that they had to hear the facts about the millions of black babies that have been, and continue to be, murdered in their mothers wombs through abortion. Upon hearing about these false accusations, Bomberger was quick to respond about how ridiculous they were especially since hes black himself. But regardless of his skin color, all he did was present the facts in an attempt to raise awareness about black genocide and get students who supposedly claim the name of Jesus Christ, as he does, to think about the evils that are taking place in the world around them. I am a person of color, a clarifying fact which you conveniently left out of your letter of denouncement, Bomberger rebutted. I was primarily presenting a perspective of those who are never heard, always underrepresented, and are actually unsafe the unborn. For anyone student, faculty, or staff to claim that they were unheard or underrepresented obviously didnt stay for the 25 minutes of Q&A that followed or the additional 30 minutes that I stayed and responded to more thoughtful questions as well as some baseless (and even hostile) accusation, he added. For anyone to claim they felt unsafe by anything that I said is unfortunate and simply hyperbole. Bomberger says his organization could sue Lauren Rowley, Tyler Waaler, and Sammie Shields, the three individuals that slandered him in a campus-wide email Bomberger further threatened legal action against the three individuals who sent this letter of lies to the entire campus, which include Wheaton student body president, Lauren Rowley; student body vice president, Tyler Waaler; and executive vice president of community diversity, Sammie Shields. According to Bomberger, the allegations made against him by these three individuals are not only false but also slanderous. Presenting the facts, as controversial and upsetting as they might be to the most sheltered snowflakes on Wheatons campus, in no way justifies making false accusations that Bomberger somehow created an unsafe campus environment simply by his presence. Your campus-wide email defies your schools mission and teeters on the edge of slander and libel, which the Radiance Foundation never takes lightly, Bomberger stated. We will pursue a discussion with your schools administration/leadership and our attorneys at which time we will decide whether or not to take legal action against this defamation. For more related news, be sure to check out CampusInsanity.com. Sources for this article include: PJMedia.com NaturalNewsRadio.com (Natural News) Killer whales, or orcas, are one of the most widespread mammals on our planet, living in oceans from pole to pole. Part of the dolphin family, they are extremely social and smart creatures. Sadly, these enormous predators may one day be wiped off the face of the earth, however, thanks to pollution from polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). According to a new study that was published in Science, half of the worlds killer whales could disappear within the next 30 to 50 years as a result the concentrations of PCBs seen in oceans. The international team of researchers say that 10 out of the 19 populations they studied showed a rapid decline in numbers, and theyve warned that the species could disappear completely from some areas in the next few decades. The problem is that the orcas tend to feed on large fish like sharks and tuna, as well as seals, that accumulate pollutants like PCBs from successive levels of the food chain. As the last link in a very long food chain, killer whales are the mammals that have the highest PCB levels in their tissues. In fact, researchers have found concentrations as high as 1300 mg per kilo within the blubber of killer whales. That is far greater than the 50 mg per kilo threshold at which infertility and serious immune system impacts can be seen. There are some places, however, where they feed mostly on smaller fish like mackerel and herring, and their lower PCB content places the orcas in these areas at a lower risk of disappearing. Why are PCBs so dangerous? After being introduced in the 1930s, more than a million tons of PCBs were created for making goods like plastics and electrical components. Theyve been spreading in oceans across the planet ever since. Several countries banned them in the 1970s and 80s, and 2004 saw more than 90 countries agreeing to phase them out, but their very long half-life means they can stay in the environment for a long time. Making matters worse, the chemicals are passed from mothers to their offspring through milk. The study looked at 350 individual killer whales, which is the biggest number ever studied. After using models to predict the effects PCBs would have on the whales, their immune systems and their offspring, they discovered that more than half of the worlds populations are under threat. Heavily contaminated areas have the greatest risk, including near the Strait of Gibraltar, around the U.K., Brazil and the Northeast Pacific. Populations in these areas have essentially reduced by half since PCBs were introduced, and fewer than 10 of these animals are left around the British Isles. The scientists also say that newborns are rarely seen in such areas. In contrast, some unpolluted areas are actually seeing growing killer whale populations. These include Iceland, Alaska, the Antarctic, Norway and the Faroe Islands. PCBs harm humans, too The European Food Safety Authority recently lowered the tolerable intake level for PCBs after declaring they remain a health concern. The new tolerable weekly intake has been set at 2 picograms, or trillionths of a gram, per kilogram of body weight. That small amount should give you a good indication of just how harmful this group of chemicals is. In humans, PCBs are considered a probable carcinogen. Theyve been linked to melanoma and cancers of the brain, breast, gastrointestinal tract, gall bladder and liver. Exposure has a negative impact on brain function, and they are also hormone disruptors. In addition, PCBs have been linked to developmental, immune system, and thyroid effects. Stories like this show just how devastating the impact of chemicals in our environment can be. Sadly, companies like Monsanto that manufacture PCBs are more concerned about profits than safety. They continued to sell these chemicals for years after knowing about the health risks, and we are seeing the same thing happen now with glyphosate. How many animals and people will have to die before this behavior is stopped? Read Pollution.news for more daily coverage of pollution issues affecting our world. Sources for this article include: Today.UConn.edu FoodNavigator.com California became the first state in the nation to require homes built in 2020 and later be solar powered, following a vote by the Building Standards Commission. The unanimous action on Wednesday finalizes a previous vote by the Energy Commission and fulfills a decade-old goal to make the state reliant on cleaner energy. "These provisions really are historic and will be a beacon of light for the rest of the country," said Kent Sasaki, a structural engineer and one of six building standards commissioners. "(It's) the beginning of substantial improvement in how we produce energy and reduce the consumption of fossil fuels." While nobody spoke Wednesday in opposition, the commission received about 300 letters opposing the mandate because of the added cost, the Orange County Register reported. Energy officials estimated the provisions will add $10,000 to the cost of building a single-family home about $8,400 from adding solar and about $1,500 for making homes more energy-efficient. But those costs would be offset by lower utility bills over the 30-year lifespan of the solar panels, officials said. One commission member worried the mandate would make it harder for California wildfire victims to rebuild. But supporters assured him that won't be a problem, according to the newspaper. Homeowners will have two options that eliminate upfront costs of adding solar: leasing the solar panels or signing a power purchase agreement that pays for the electricity without buying the panels, said Drew Bohan, executive director of the energy commission. One solar-industry representative said the net savings from adding solar power will be around $40 a month or nearly $500 a year. "These standards won't necessarily make homes more expensive to buy. What they will do is save money on utility costs," said Pierre Delforge, a senior scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council. "This is not only the right thing to do for the climate, it is financially smart." Homebuilders have been preparing for years to meet a proposed requirement that all new homes be "net-zero," meaning they would produce enough solar power to offset all electricity and natural gas consumed over the course of a year. Especially with Vietnam veterans, there was so much unrest about the war and when these guys came home it wasnt at all like it is now, where people shake their hands and buy their lunches, Christopherson said. There was none of that. Many were spit on. A group of Korean American senior citizens has accused a Dennys restaurant in Santa Clara of discrimination, claiming they were refused service and kicked out of the restaurant on Easter Sunday. On Thursday, one of the seniors, Andrew Koh, and an attorney with the Asian Law Alliance hand-delivered a letter to the restaurant in the 1700 block of El Camino Real. The letter demands that Dennys management attend a mediation session with state officials. Koh says his group of 10 seniors were waiting at the Denny's for more members of their church when they were kicked out after 10-15 minutes for drinking coffee and not ordering food. Koh believes employees treated them rudely because of their age and possibly their race. Dennys released a statement Thursday in response to the allegations: "Dennys is committed to providing a welcoming environment for all our guests. Dennys has not refused a meeting with Mr. Koh nor is the Dennys franchise in Santa Clara aware of a request by the Department of Fair Employment and Housing to meet with Mr. Koh before today. Dennys previously reached out to Mr. Koh in April and would be happy to meet with him and the DFEH to discuss the matter." Denny's was the subject of a 2014 discrimination lawsuit stemming from a Southern California incident in 2012 in which two black customers were asked to prepay for their meals. A disturbing trend has emerged in the East Bay as a wildlife hospital has reported a sharp rise in animals and birds being shot. The Lindsay Wildlife Rehabilitation Hospital in Walnut Creek says it treated 30 animals for gunshot wounds this year, more than double the total from last year. Veterinarians didn't have a clear explanation for the spike, but a couple of theories are people consider the animals a nuisance or are just plain using them for target practice. The wildlife center has treated crows, ravens and turkey vultures among the wounded birds shot with BBs or pellets. Vet Allison Daugherty treated an injured red-tailed hawk that had been shot in the wing. "Most of the swelling has really improved since she has been here," Daugherty said. "In the month of November, we had seven shot animals, and typically in a year, we get around 10." Hospital Manager Aireo Shipman said most of the shootings appear deliberate, and that angers her. "We immediately report in to the California Fish and Wildlife and the federal officials, and they will contact the appropriate authority," Shipman said. Earlier this year, a bobcat was brought in from the Livermore area. It had been shot and suffered severe injuries. Wildlife center officials said despite their care, most of the animals dont survive. "The ultimate goal is to put them back in the wild," Shipman said. A bevy of road-weary salmon filled the Mokelumne River in the Central Valley town of Clements, having made the long upstream journey from the Pacific Ocean, now doggedly intent on returning to their place of birth to complete their final act of life: spawning. Jose Setka looked down from a metal footbridge as fish swarmed underneath, leaping up a small waterfall and into the Mokelumne River Fish Hatchery. When I first started working in the early 90s, if we had 5,000 fish come back to the river, we were ecstatic, said Setka, the East Bay Municipal Utility Districts Director of Fisheries and Wildlife. Through two decades of research and modifications to the river, the hatchery has become a rare success story in the fight to restore beleaguered salmon populations. The facility is now a destination for salmon, these days averaging 10,000 returning fall run chinook, or king salmon, a year. Joe Rosato Jr./NBC Bay Area Last year the hatchery set its new high point with 20,000 salmon returning to the facility. Setka said this years numbers were slightly below last years somewhere above 15,000 yet the results were still encouraging given the challenges. Another thing to recognize is a lot of these fish were born essentially during the drought years where conditions not only in the Mokelumne but especially in the Delta were not good, Setka said. Over the last 20 years, the hatchery has continually tweaked every aspect of its operation: adding gravel to the river to create better spawning habitat; using pulse releases of water to entice fish to head up river, and focusing on releasing juvenile hatchery fish down river in the Delta to avoid some of the hazards that threaten young fish as they journey to the ocean. One of the great things about fish coming out of this hatchery is they tend to be bigger and stronger, said John McManus, Director of the Golden Gate Salmon Association. When they come out theyre really big and strong and because of that they survive at much higher rates. Joe Rosato Jr./NBC Bay Area Amid four other Central Valley fish hatcheries, Mokelumne has emerged as the biggest success story. During the last salmon fishing season, fish from the hatchery accounted for one-third of all recreational fish caught, and 20 percent of the commercial catch. Some of the other rivers in the area arent doing quite as well, said Jay Rowan of the California Dept. of Fish and Wildlife. So having some fish out in the ocean that people can catching commercially or recreationally has been a huge help. While some of the fish will spawn in the gravel of the river waters just outside the hatchery, most will navigate up into the facility where they become part of an artificial spawning assembly line. The milk and eggs are extracted from the males and females and artificially inseminated. The eggs are stored in the facility until they hatch. Newly hatched fish are raised in long metal channels before theyre released in the Delta in May. The hatchery has also raised fish in net pens in Half Moon Bay to improve their chances of survival even further. Joe Rosato Jr./NBC Bay Area Setka looked like a proud father beaming down from the footbridge as fish clamored below, instinctively pushing on toward the facility where they were conceived three years earlier. Setka watch the scene as drops of rain began to pelt his face. It is an incredible success story, he said. A serial arsonist from Pittsburg has been convicted of 31 arson-related felonies this week, Contra Costa County Fire Protection District officials announced Thursday. James Bishop III, 36, faces up to more than 20 years in prison when he is sentenced on Jan. 25, according to the fire district. Bishop was arrested in May 2017 after authorities noticed an increase in the number of vehicle fires in the area, with many sharing common characteristics such as the use of an accelerant on the cars' exteriors, fire officials said. Using security footage from homes and businesses near the scenes of the fires, investigators identified a Toyota RAV4 associated with Bishop and arrested him on May 12. A Contra Costa County Superior Court jury found him guilty Tuesday in connection with 14 fires among 45 that were examined as part of the investigation. The fires occurred in Pittsburg, Antioch, Martinez, Pleasant Hill, Concord, Walnut Creek, Lafayette, Brentwood and Benicia. "In this county, we take fire investigation very seriously, and I am especially proud of the teamwork of all involved agencies that has resulted in this arsonist who placed our citizens' lives and property in jeopardy being safely behind bars," Fire Chief Jeff Carman said in a news release. The Democrat trailing in a North Carolina congressional race withdrew his concession Thursday as state election officials investigated allegations of absentee ballot fraud. Dan McCready's reversal came as a top leader at the state's Republican Party said it would support a new election in the unresolved 9th Congressional District race if an investigation shows that wrongdoing swayed its outcome. Unofficial totals have Republican Mark Harris leading McCready by 905 votes. But the state elections board refused to certify the results last week because of allegations of "irregularities and concerted fraudulent activities" involving mail-in ballots in the district. The board is meeting later this month to hear evidence, but it's unclear whether the race will be settled then. The board could order a new election. McCready, an Iraq War veteran who outraised Harris in the campaign, initially conceded the day after the election, when Harris' lead was less than 1,900 votes. The margin was cut by half the next week, but he declined to seek a recount. He changed his mind with the arrival of the allegations, some of which have been linked to a man who worked for Harris' chief strategist. "I didn't serve overseas in the Marine Corps just to come back and watch politicians and career criminals attack our democracy," McCready said. "That's why today I withdraw my concession to Mark Harris, who's remained completely silent." At issue is who can handle completed ballots. North Carolina law allows only a family member or legal guardian to drop off absentee ballots for a voter. In affidavits offered by the state Democratic Party, some Bladen County voters have described that people came to their homes to collect their absentee ballots, whether or not they had been fully completed or sealed in an envelope to keep them from being altered. A state election board spokesman confirmed Thursday that subpoenas seeking documents had been sent to the Harris campaign, the Red Dome Group, which worked for Harris, and the campaign committee of the sitting Bladen sheriff. The board released documents showing that McCrae Dowless, the contractor hired by Red Dome, seems to have collected the most absentee ballot request forms in Bladen County this fall. Dowless has a felony criminal record. "I call on Mark Harris to tell us exactly what he knew and when he knew it," McCready said. The Harris campaign and Red Dome founder Andy Yates didn't respond to an email seeking comment. A campaign lawyer said earlier this week that it wasn't aware of any illegal conduct in the 9th District race. Harris said last week that his victory should be finalized while the board investigated. Earlier Thursday, state GOP Executive Director Dallas Woodhouse texted a statement to The Associated Press saying that the GOP would back a new election if the state's elections board were to show that absentee ballot issues changed the outcome. "If they can show a substantial likelihood it could have changed the race then we fully would support a new election," he said. However, he said that if the investigation shows that the outcome would not have been changed, Republican candidate Harris should be certified the winner. Entertaining the idea of a new election represents a significant change from last Thursday, when state GOP Chairman Robin Hayes issued a statement saying: "Democrats are throwing everything, including the kitchen sink, at the wall to try and steal an election." On Sunday, Hayes said there weren't enough questioned ballots to change the race's outcome, and the next day he accused a Democratic member of the state board of "score-settling." Amid the developments, U.S. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said Thursday the House "retains the right to decide who is seated" and could take the "extraordinary step" of calling for a new election if the winner isn't clear. Pelosi, who's nominated to become House speaker when Democrats take control in January, said that "any member-elect can object to the seating and the swearing-in of another member elect." She also noted the investigative power of the House to determine race winners. It's "bigger than that one seat," she said, pointing to the overall "integrity of elections." In North Carolina, several state Senate Republicans whose districts overlap the 9th called for further scrutiny of voting irregularities going back to 2010 and urged Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper to create a bipartisan task force separate from the state elections board to investigate irregularities beyond this year's election. They point to unusual outcomes in the mail-in ballot totals in previous elections that appeared to benefit Democrats or Republicans, depending on the race and the year. They said neither election boards, appointed by governors from both parties, nor prosecutors have adequately addressed recurring issues in Bladen. "What we cannot have going forward from this point is an investigative and enforcement effort or process that has a partisan taint that could dramatically worsen the situation," said Sen. Dan Bishop, a Charlotte Republican. Two men were arrested and a woman nearly died Thursday morning after their car slid into standing water on I-80 in northwest Indiana. At 3:25 a.m., a red sedan driven by 38-year-old Gabriel Salinas of Valparaiso skidded on the I-80 eastbound ramp to Kennedy Avenue near Hammond, according to Indiana State Police. Two other people, 28-year-old Anthony Luis Salinas of Hammond and a 20-year-old woman from East Chicago, were inside the car as it sank. The trio escaped and began running down the ramp toward a hotel on Kennedy Avenue, police said. A passing driver told officers two passengers of the red sedan were hiding in the grass by a barrier wall. Officers located the younger Salinas and the woman, who began convulsing and stopped breathing, police said. She was resuscitated and brought to Munster Community Hospital, while Anthony Salinas was taken into custody by Hammond police for multiple outstanding arrest warrants. Meanwhile, officers caught the older Salinas hiding in the bathroom of the local hotel, police said. He appeared to be intoxicated and told officers he drove over black ice on the ramp, tumbling into the standing water. Gabriel Salinas was charged with driving under the influence, which he has previously been convicted of, endangerment and leaving the scene of the crash. He was being held in Lake County Jail. Anthony Salinas was arrested for an outstanding warrant by Hammond police for allegedly driving under the influence and leaving the scene of an accident, as well as a warrant from the Lake County sheriffs department, also on a DUI charge. What to Know According to NBC4 meteorologist Anthony Yanez, rain amount ranged from .5'' to nearly 4'' with snow at 6'' and counting. Rain caused numerous accidents and backups on freeways, heavy snow forced the closure of Interstate 5. Mandatory evacuations were ordered in Trabuco Canyon in the Santa Ana Mountains south of Los Angeles and Lake Elsinore in Riverside County. Authorities kept a worried eye Friday on fire-scarred Southern California hillsides after a storm brought flooding fears and prompted evacuation orders for hundreds of homes. The second storm in a week dropped record-breaking rainfall on a parched Los Angeles Thursday, jamming traffic on Southern California highways and sending an airliner skidding off a runway, but no major injuries were reported. A mudslide shut down Pacific Coast Highway and surrounding roads in and around Malibu neighborhoods charred by last month's massive fire that destroyed hundreds of homes. Kirby Kotler and his neighbors spent days before the storm stacking 18,000 sandbags behind their homes along the highway. But when heavy rains arrived, mud, water and rocks blasted through the bags and across their properties. Kotler, who wielded water hoses to beat back the flames in November, used a tractor to keep the debris from entering his home. "Saving my house once again," said Kotler, 57, a lifelong Malibu resident. "I'm more than a little concerned. If we get another blast of heavy rain there'll be no stopping the hill from coming down." Malibu officials reported no injuries and no major property damage. At Hollywood Burbank Airport, about 15 miles (33 kilometers) north of downtown Los Angeles, nobody was hurt when a Southwest Airlines plane from Oakland skidded off a wet runway as it landed. The plane came to a stop in a graded area designed to slow aircraft that overshoot the runway, the Federal Aviation Administration said. Palmer said he was prepared to tuck into an emergency posture while his unflappable co-worker continued writing emails during the rough landing. Los Angeles and the rest of Southern California sorely need rainfall. Virtually the entire region is experiencing drought conditions, with portions of Los Angeles and Ventura counties and areas along the Mexican border in extreme drought. The storm provided a big boost in and around Los Angeles. According to NBC4 meteorologist Anthony Yanez, rain amounts ranged from half an inch to nearly 4 inches with snow at 6 inches and counting. Normal monthly rainfall for December is about 2.33 inches. While rain caused numerous accidents and backups on LA-area freeways, heavy snow forced the closure of Interstate 5 in the Grapevine area between Los Angeles and the San Joaquin Valley. The hours-long shutdown along the key north-south route caused backups for miles. Motorists were urged to use caution on mountain passes, where up to 6 feet (1.8 meters) of snow was predicted at higher elevations. Mandatory evacuations were ordered for hundreds of homes in Trabuco Canyon in the Santa Ana Mountains south of Los Angeles and Lake Elsinore neighborhoods in Riverside County. Both were burned in another massive wildfire earlier this year. Video showed a churning, muddy torrent full of downed trees taking down a bridge guardrail. In Orange County, flooding closed several schools. Floodwaters also submerged several cars in Costa Mesa and rain partially collapsed the roof of a commercial building in Irvine but no injuries were reported. Other areas saw foot-deep mud or water. In San Diego County, flooding forced hundreds to evacuate from a temporary homeless shelter in the East Village as rain water inundated tents and swamped dozens of portable outdoor bathrooms. A shelter resident told NBC San Diego that the little he had of personal belongings were lost in the flood. "I served two years in the Army. Im a vet. Im strong. Thats the way I was trained. I will move on from this," he told the station. A portion of southbound State Route 170 in Los Angeles was shut down after mud flowed onto the roadway. Firefighters rescued motorists from cars stuck in a flooded intersection in the city's North Hollywood area. East of Los Angeles, a 13-car crash snarled the morning commute for several hours on a rainy freeway near Moreno Valley but caused only one minor injury, authorities said. Firefighters also rescued a man from the flood-swollen Los Angeles River in suburban La Habra. Storm waters in the concrete flood-control channel have swept away people in previous years. Nearly six years after the Sandy Hook school shooting, gun safety advocates are still looking for ways to prevent gun violence. December 14 will mark six years since 20 first-graders and six adult staff were shot and killed inside Sandy Hook Elementary School. During the last six years there have been more than 600,000 gun deaths and injuries, and more than 1,800 mass shooting incidents. This is just a small fraction of the grief we are seeing across this nation, said Po Murray of the Newtown Action Alliance. On Thursday representatives from the Newtown Action Alliance, lawmakers and victims of gun violence from across the country rallied for stricter national gun laws at the nations capital. If we can put a man on the moon we can darn well figure out how to have our children safe at school, on the playground, at work, at country music concerts, in bars and at home, said Rep. Elizabeth Esty (D-Conn.) Among those present, parents of Ethan Song, the Guilford teen who accidentally shot and killed himself last January. They said they attended to honor their son through action. After the Democrats won the U.S. House of Representatives last month, Democrats and gun control groups now feel they have the momentum to pass changes to the law like universal background checks and bans on 3D-printed guns. We have never been closer to meaningful gun reform in this country, said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) We will get a bill passed through the House of Representatives, said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) The pair promised to push change through come January. Scott Wilson, president of the Connecticut Citizens Defense League, released a statement in response to the renewed push that read, in part: "While everyone wants society to be safe from any type of violent crime, there was virtually nothing in today's press conference that addressed criminals who commit actual crimes with firearms and increasing penalties." Students in Torrington are working together to help those in their community in the greatest need. At The Care Closet in Torrington high school student volunteers are sorting through boxes of clothing and personal items. The doors to the room, located right inside the school, are now always open, in order to help students struggling with homelessness. I think it just makes life easier. They dont have to come to school and worry you know that they dont have certain things, said Jessica Power, a senior. School social worker Claire Pepper says homelessness is a real problem. She estimates that as many as one out of every eight students is suffering. They might be at different friend's houses different nights. Different relatives houses some might be in a hotel situation cut, some might be in a shelter and some are actually on the streets, Pepper said. While The Care Closet has plenty of clothes and toiletries, it is in need of gift cards so students can buy food. They cant prepare food on their own. This way with the grocery gift cards they can go and get food that they can just take and go, Pepper explained. The Care Closet recently received a small grant from the Connecticut Coalition Against Homelessness to purchase some gift cards, and they continue to take donations. The more we can get their basic needs met build relationships with our students, The more are students are going to be vested in their education, and really best in school, and thats what we want, Pepper said. Students can take whatever they need from The Care Closet. Its all confidential. Julia Lempeck is a World War II veteran, and the epitome of a proud American. So much so that the 101-year-old wanted to see the flag waving in the breeze in her front yard when she looked out the window. House of Heroes Connecticut made that happen for her this past spring. Im very happy about it. I see a beautiful flagpole and a nice new flag thats beautiful, Lempeck said. NBC Connecticut caught up with Lempeck again at the Elks Lodge in Manchester Thursday. She was joined by many other veterans representing every war since World War II, all sharing memories, celebrating the holidays together and marking the fact that its been 100 years since women have been allowed to enlist. I signed up because I wanted to serve my country, Lempeck explained. And serve she did, along with some of her siblings. I lost a brother in France, she told NBC Connecticut. Lempecks job was in administration. She prepared men, like her brothers, to go overseas to fight on the front lines. Her husband was also a veteran, though thats not all they shared. They built a family home together. Her daughter Eileen Keefer said theres nothing her mother cant do. She has the strongest will, and is the most independent person out of all of us, Keefer said. Lempeck still lives alone and looks at the flag she loves every single day. Many years have passed and life has certainly changed, but how she feels about her country has not. Its the best one in the world, she said as she laughed. Have you picked up a Christian magazine recently? There are some good ones about. But quite often it seems that these magazines are produced by people who ... 5 years ago The latest allegation involves a regularly scheduled village board meeting on Sept. 4, which Merkel said was canceled due to lack of a quorum. On Sept. 5, Village Clerk Anthony Mills, at the direction of Village President Stephan Pickett, sent emails to the six trustees and Schuster requesting the trustees vote on the three items that had been on the meetings agenda. Police have arrested Benito Gutierrez, 20, in Kansas City Missouri. Gutierrez was wanted after an early morning shooting in Anna. Police say they believe Gutierrez injured one person early Thursday morning. At about 6 a.m., police told Anna residents to remain in their homes, but they are now safe to leave their homes. The victim called 911 after being shot in the abdomen and was in surgery as of 5 a.m., police said. The suspect fled the scene in a red passenger car, police said. The suspect was later found in Missouri and he was arrested by Kansas City Missouri Police. He will be returned to Texas soon to face charges. The shooting happened about 3:30 a.m. in the street of a Avery Pointe subdivision near Chapel Hill Drive and Cedar Canyon Drive, police said. Police believe the suspected shooter and victim knew each other. Police are investigating the circumstances of what led to the shooting, police said. Its unclear if the victim is a resident of Anna. The president of Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas says 11 men with ties to the school have been found to have "credible allegations" of abuse of a minor dating back to the 1950s. The names on Jesuit Dallas' list comes from an internal investigation undertaken by two Roman Catholic Jesuit provinces that cover nearly half of the U.S. Those investigations uncovered "credible allegations" against more than 150 priests and other ministry leaders. Michael Earsing, president of the Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas, sent a letter to members of the Jesuit Dallas Community about the reports, saying, "I write this to you with an overwhelming sense of personal anguish and revulsion ... I am saddened to report that the list contains 11 names with some connection to our school, mostly in the 1960s, 1970s, or 1980s."" It's very alarming. I was not aware of that." Earsing then named four men who were past members of the Jesuit Dallas community, "who were the subject of credible accusations of inappropriate conduct with a minor during their tenure here." Those men named are: Don Dickerson (1980-81), Thomas Naughton (1973-79), Claude Ory (1966-67; 1987-94), Vincent Malatesta (11981-85). Earsing said there were seven others accused of misconduct elsewhere who were assigned to Jesuit Dallas by the New Orleans Province Office. Those men are: Claude Boudreaux (1967-73), Charles Coyle (1959-60), Tom Hidding (1982-83), Francis Landwermeyer (1958-59; 1960-61), Vincent Orlando (1968-71; 1975-79), Norman Rogge (1958-60) and Benjamin Wren (1955-58; 1962-63). In his letter, Earsing said enhanced screening and background checks have been in place at the school for several years and that he knows of no credible report of misconduct with a minor having occurred at the school in more than two decades. Still, it's disturbing news for parents who've watched the Catholic priest abuse scandal unfold across the country, never expecting it to hit home. "That's been discussed but it hasn't been as close as it seems it is right now. But we'll talk about it, that's for sure," said one Jesuit Dallas parent who only gave his first name, David. U.S. Representative Michael McCaul is one prominent Jesuit Dallas graduate who was a student there during the timing of some of the allegations. Earsing is also urging anyone else who was a victim of abuse to report it, adding: "We pledge to continue providing a safe environment for every student. That includes consistent and constant vigilance, prompt investigation and reporting." Rep. McCaul released a statement on Friday saying, "These credible allegations against individuals associated with Jesuit Dallas are abhorrent and deeply disturbing. I was never aware of any such activity and I am heartbroken for those who had to suffer this betrayal of trust." After learning Jesuit Dallas released a list of names Friday, Dallas Bishop Edward J. Burns said the Dallas Diocese would join other dioceses around Texas and release a comprehensive list of all accused priests on Jan. 31, 2019. "I commend the Jesuits and other religious orders who, together with bishops in the United States, are working for truth and transparency in order to keep children and youth safe. As announced and reported in October, the Diocese of Dallas will join the other Catholic dioceses around the state of Texas in releasing a list on January 31, 2019, of all priests credibly accused of the sexual abuse of a minor since 1950. I continue to pray for all victims and their loved ones in the Diocese of Dallas and around the world." Jesuits U.S. Central and Southern Province, which covers 13 states, including Texas, Puerto Rico and the Central American country of Belize, released Friday the names of 42 men. It said four of the men are still members of the province but are not active in ministry and live in supervised housing. Jesuits West, which covers 10 western states, said its internal investigation found credible allegations against 111 priests, brothers or priests in training who were connected to it dating back to 1950. No one on the list is involved in public ministry any longer, it said. Many of the men on the two lists have died, and others have been dismissed of ordination, officials said. Most of the men on the lists were priests. A third province that covers several Midwestern states, the Midwest Province, is due to announce its own findings on Dec. 17. The Jesuits are a Catholic order that includes more than 16,000 men worldwide. Jesuits also operate several high schools and universities, including St. Louis University and Marquette University. Jesuits take vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, and many also take a vow of allegiance to the Pope. The Jesuits have previously settled lawsuits across the country, including a $166 million settlement involving about 500 abuse claims in Oregon in 2011, which was one of the largest settlements involving clergy abuse allegations. U.S. Central and Southern Provincial Ronald Mercier, who heads the U.S. Central and Southern Province, said the "storm" facing the Catholic church must be confronted with transparency. "Words cannot possibly suffice to express our sorrow and shame for what occurred, our promise of prayers for healing, and our commitment to work with them," Mercier said in a statement. "Caring for these survivors -- and preventing any such future events -- must be our focus as we move forward." Jesuits West Provincial Scott Santarosa apologized on behalf of the province. "It is inconceivable that someone entrusted with the pastoral care of a child could be capable of something so harmful," Santarosa said in a news release. "Yet, tragically, this is a part of our Jesuit history, a legacy we cannot ignore." Jeff Anderson, a St. Paul, Minnesota-based attorney who specializes in clergy abuse lawsuits, said publishing the lists was the "right thing to do," and it empowers victims to both come forward and move ahead in their lives. "To a survivor who has been abused by one of these people, it helps them realize, `I'm not the only one, I'm not alone,"' Anderson said. "It can inspire them to get help, to share the secret, and to find a better way of life." David Clohessy of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, urged the Jesuits to "explain exactly when each of these allegations was deemed credible. That way Catholics will know just how many months, years or decades church officials have kept these men and their crimes hidden." Cases of sexual abuse by priests and other religious leaders have come under increased scrutiny since August, when a grand jury report in Pennsylvania detailed decades of abuse and cover-up in six dioceses. The report alleged that more than 1,000 children were abused over several years by about 300 priests. The report led to new examinations in several dioceses, and some renewed law enforcement scrutiny. Pope Francis has convened a summit for Feb. 21-24 at the Vatican to address ways to prevent sexual abuse. The lists of names in both provinces were compiled internally, but both say they have hired a consulting firm to perform an independent review in the spring. The Jesuits U.S. Central and Southern Province covers Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, southern Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, Texas, Tennessee and Oklahoma, along with Puerto Rico and Belize. Jesuits West includes Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Washington. The nation's other two Jesuit provinces, Maryland and Northeast provinces, are in the process of merging and "agree that accountability and transparency are of the utmost importance," Maryland Province spokesman Michael Gabriele said. NBC5's Alice Barr contributed to this report. Southern California Gas Co. invited the utility's customers and employees to help their neighbors this season by donating to the company's Gas Assistance Fund on Thursday. The fund helps income-qualified customers pay their natural gas bills with a one-time grant of up to $100 per household. Contributions to the fund will be matched by SoCalGas. The Gas Assistance Fund helps veterans, seniors, people with disabilities and families in need pay their natural gas bills. The fund is administered by United Way of Greater Los Angeles, which partners with nearly 90 nonprofit organizations throughout SoCalGas' service territory, to manage and distribute the grants. "We are continually amazed at the generosity of our customers and employees, who donate to help others," said Sharon Tomkins, the utility's vice president of customer solutions. SoCalGas is grateful to everyone who has supported the Gas Assistance Fund over the last 35 years." Elise Buik, president and CEO of United Way of Greater Los Angeles, called SoCalGas "an important partner in ending poverty in Los Angeles County." She said for families struggling with financial hardship, the one- time gas assistance grant can keep them warm during the cold winter months. Contributions can be made online, or by mailing a check to: Gas Assistance Fund, File 56826, United Way Inc., P.O. Box 746826, Los Angeles, CA 90074-6826. Donations are tax-deductible, and accepted year-round. Grant applications can be filled out at participating United Way of Greater Los Angeles partner agencies, between Feb. 12 and May 31, or until the fund is depleted. Last year, the SoCalGas Assistance Fund received $238,000 in donations and benefited nearly 2,600 households in Central and Southern California. Since 1983, the company and its customers and employees have contributed nearly $19 million to the Gas Assistance Fund, helping more than 226,000 individuals and families. SoCalGas delivers renewable natural gas service to almost 22 millio ustomers across Central and Southern California. A search was on Thursday for a 33-year-old man wanted in connection with the killings of a woman and her teenage daughter found dead in a Monrovia apartment. The victims, 41-year-old Cecilia Meza and 17-year-old Kelsey Meza, were found dead about 1:30 p.m. in the 800 block of West Colorado Boulevard, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. The wanted man has been identified as Nimrod Perez Guerrero, 33, who investigators said had an on-again, off-again relationship with the woman. Guerrero, who is Hispanic, 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighs 200 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes, should be considered armed and dangerous. He was possibly driving a gray 2014 Toyota Rav4 with California license plate 7FPB132, according to the sheriff's department. Investigators have not said how the victims died. They were found after someone asked police to conduct a welfare check, according to the sheriff's department. Officers entered the apartment through an open window when they were unable to contact anyone inside and found the bodies, the sheriff's department reported. Monrovia Unified School District Superintendent Kathy Thorossian issued a statement saying that the school community was mourning the deaths. "There is no question that a tragedy of this nature affects our entire community. It is difficult to process the death of anyone, much less someone so young and so promising," Thorossian said. The district had grief counselors available on campus to support students and staff. Detectives from the Sheriff's Homicide Bureau were assisting Monrovia police in the homicide investigation. Anyone with information about the killings or the whereabouts of Guerrero was asked to call sheriff's Homicide Bureau Detectives Eddie Aguirre or Tony Guillen at (323) 890-5500. Anonymous tips can be submitted through Crime Stoppers by calling (800) 222-TIPS or at lacrimestoppers.org. Prosecutors charged a central Minnesota man with a gross misdemeanor Wednesday but not a hate crime for allegedly having his teenage son dump bloody deer carcasses on the hoods of two cars owned by Somali-American men. The Stearns County Attorney's office charged 62-year-old Daniel Dorian Knowlen of St. Cloud with contributing to the delinquency of a child. The charge carries a maximum sentence of a year in jail and a $3,000 fine. The complaint alleges that Knowlen watched as his 14-year-old dumped the skinned carcasses from their pickup on the cars parked outside a YMCA in St. Cloud, a city of about 65,000 people about 65 miles (104 kilometers) northwest of Minneapolis, on the night of Nov. 14. Surveillance video tracked down the pair. Knowlen initially denied being at the YMCA the previous evening, but when told there was surveillance video he acknowledged being there with his son, the complaint said. According to the complaint, Knowlen told police it was "just being funny" but acknowledged he "probably could have" stopped his son. Knowlen said he did not know who owned the cars and was not trying to target the drivers. Knowlen also acknowledged that he and his son had permits for the deer. The boy was asked if he had any explanation for the actions but said no, according to the complaint. One of the Somali men told authorities he feared the deer was a message that he was not wanted in the community, and noted that the deer carcass was likely placed by a hunter and that hunters carry guns. The two Somali men said they had not experienced any harassment or other altercations while they were at the YMCA. Police said there were no identifying markings revealing who owned the cars, which were both parked legally and not encroaching on any other parking spaces. "Yeah, I would definitely think that we were targeted for who we are," Ali Abdullahi told NBC affiliate KARE-TV after the incident. "I did feel threatened." Authorities noted that placing deer carcasses on strangers' cars parked at the YMCA to be found by others constitutes disorderly conduct, and that the act also was motor vehicle tampering. Those actions contributed to the delinquency of Knowlen's son, the complaint said. Executive director Jaylani Hussein of the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization, said Wednesday his group welcomed the gross misdemeanor charge against the father but was disappointed that a hate crime was not added to the charges. "I just think that this was not a simple practical joke. It appears to be something where they ... were trying to send some form of intimidation," Jaylani told The Associated Press. "A carcass is not something that is taken lightly. It's a symbol of death, violence." Messages left with the prosecutor's office were not immediately returned Wednesday night. Court records do no list an attorney for Knowlen. Minnesota has the nation's largest Somali population at an estimated 57,000. As many as 10,000 of them settled in and around St. Cloud. Former FBI Director James Comey spoke to House investigators behind closed doors for almost seven hours Friday, begrudgingly answering questions about the Justice Department's decisions during the 2016 presidential election. Comey, who appeared under subpoena, announced after the meeting that he would return for more questioning Dec. 17. Appearing annoyed, he said "we're talking about Hillary Clinton's emails, for heaven's sake, so I'm not sure we needed to do this at all." A transcript of the interview, expected to be released shortly, "will bore you," Comey said. Two GOP-led committees brought Comey in as they sought to wrap up a yearlong investigation into the department's decisions in 2016. Republicans argue that department officials were biased against Donald Trump as they started an investigation into his campaign's ties to Russia and cleared Democrat Hillary Clinton in the probe into her email use. Comey was in charge of both investigations. Democrats have said the investigations by the House Judiciary and Oversight and Government Reform committees are merely a way to distract from and undermine special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe. Mueller took over the department's investigation when he was appointed in May 2017. After the questioning was underway, some Republicans signaled they were unhappy with Comey's level of cooperation. California Rep. Darrell Issa said Comey had two lawyers in the room, his personal lawyer and a lawyer from the Justice Department. He said the department lawyer repeatedly instructed Comey not to answer "a great many questions that are clearly items at the core of our investigation." Democrats disagreed that Comey wasn't cooperative. "He answered the questions he had to answer," said Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois. But he added that he was left with the impression that "we got nowhere today." Florida Rep. Ted Deutsch said the Republican majority "wishes to only ask questions still about Hillary Clinton's emails, all to distract from the big news today, which is what's happening in court." As the interview with Comey ended, Mueller revealed new details about his Russia investigation in court on Friday in the cases of Trump's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, and former personal lawyer Michael Cohen. It was unclear if Comey is returning the week after next because Republicans felt he was being uncooperative, or if it was an issue with timing. While such closed-door interviews often extend late into the night, lawmakers said Friday that the interview would end in the afternoon because of scheduling issues. Just as the meeting ended, President Trump tweeted that "it is being reported that Leakin' James Comey was told by Department of Justice attorneys not to answer the most important questions. Total bias and corruption at the highest levels of previous Administration. Force him to answer the questions under oath!" While it was uncertain if Comey spoke under oath Friday, lying to Congress is a crime under any circumstance. Over the past year, Republicans on the two committees have called in a series of officials and suggested after the closed-door meetings that there is evidence of bias at the Justice Department. The investigation's most public day was a 10-hour hearing in which former FBI special agent Peter Strzok defended anti-Trump texts he sent to a colleague as he helped lead both investigations. Strzok fought with Republican lawmakers in a riveting hearing that featured Strzok reading aloud from his sometimes-lewd texts, and Democrats and Republicans openly yelling at each other. New York Rep. Jerrold Nadler, the top Democrat on the Judiciary panel, vowed to end the investigation when Democrats take the House majority in January. "This is a waste of time to start with," Nadler said. "The entire purpose of this investigation is to cast aspersions on the real investigation, which is Mueller. There is no evidence whatsoever of bias at the FBI or any of this other nonsense." Comey, who has testified publicly on Capitol Hill about both the Clinton and Russia investigations, appeared for the interview after unsuccessfully fighting the subpoena in court. It was the first time he answered lawmakers' questions since an explosive June 2017 hearing in which he asserted that Trump fired him to interfere with his FBI investigation of alleged Russia ties to the Trump campaign. His lawyers said he would prefer to testify publicly and said the committees were prone to selectively reveal information for political purposes. "Don't do it in a dark corner and don't do it in a way where all you do is leak information," said Comey's attorney, David Kelley. Under the deal struck with the Judiciary Committee, Comey was to be free to speak about Friday's questioning and a transcript was to be released soon afterward. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Robert Goodlatte, R-Va., decried Comey's use of "baseless litigation" and called it an "attempt to run out the clock on this Congress," a reference to the few weeks left before Democrats take control. Both Goodlatte and South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy, the chairman of the oversight panel, are retiring at the end of the year. After the court fight was resolved, Goodlatte said a transcript will be released "as soon as possible after the interview, in the name of our combined desire for transparency." A report released this June from the Justice Department's internal watchdog said Comey was "insubordinate" in his handling of the Clinton email investigation in the final months of the 2016 campaign. But it also found there was no evidence that Comey's or the department's final conclusions were motivated by political bias toward either candidate. The report said the former FBI director, who announced in July 2016 that Clinton had been "extremely careless" with classified material but would not be charged with any crime, repeatedly departed from normal Justice Department protocol. Yet it did not second-guess his conclusion that Clinton should not have been prosecuted, despite assertions by Trump and his supporters that anyone less politically connected would have been charged. Associated Press writer Padmananda Rama and Matthew Daly contributed to this report. President Donald Trump announced Friday he's nominating State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert to be the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. "Heather Nauert will be nominated," Trump said Friday before departing the White House on Marine One for an event in Kansas City. "She's very talented, very smart, very quick, and I think she's going to be respected by all." Trump also said he would nominate William Barr as attorney general. Barr held the same position under former President George H.W. Bush. If she is confirmed by the Senate, Nauert, a former Fox News Channel reporter who had little foreign policy experience before becoming State Department spokeswoman, will replace Nikki Haley. Haley, a former South Carolina governor, announced in October that she would step down at the end of this year. While Nauert would be a leading administration voice on Trump's foreign policy, a White House official told The Associated Press the administration is downgrading the diplomatic post to a non-Cabinet position. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the change. Trump told reporters last month that Nauert was "excellent," adding, "She's been a supporter for a long time." Plucked from Fox by the White House to serve as State Department spokeswoman, Nauert catapulted into the upper echelons of the agency's hierarchy when Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was fired in March and replaced with Mike Pompeo. Nauert was then appointed acting undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs and was for a time the highest-ranking woman and fourth highest-ranking official in the building. Nauert, who did not have a good relationship with Tillerson and had considered leaving the department, told associates at the time she was taken aback by the promotion offer and recommended a colleague for the job. But when White House officials told her they wanted her, she accepted. That role gave her responsibilities far beyond the news conferences she held in the State Department briefing room. She oversaw public diplomacy in Washington and all of the roughly 275 overseas U.S. embassies, consulates and other posts. She was in charge of the Global Engagement Center that fights extremist messaging from the Islamic State group and others, and she has a seat on the U.S. Agency for Global Media that oversees government broadcast networks such as Voice of America. Just 18 months ago, she wasn't even in government. Nauert was a breaking news anchor on Trump's favorite television show, "Fox & Friends," when she was tapped to be the face and voice of the administration's foreign policy. With a master's degree from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism, she had moved to Fox from ABC News, where she was a general assignment reporter. She hadn't specialized in foreign policy or international relations. Shut out from the top by Tillerson and his inner circle, Nauert developed relationships with career diplomats. Barred from traveling with Tillerson, she embarked on her own overseas trips, visiting Bangladesh and Myanmar last year to see the plight of Rohingya Muslims, and then Israel after a planned stop in Syria was scrapped. All the while, she stayed in the good graces of the White House, even as Tillerson was increasingly on the outs. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders described Nauert in March as "a team player" and "a strong asset for the administration." A 2-year-old battling cancer needs the publics help. Her family is desperately looking for blood donors for their daughter who has a rare blood type. And her parents are not a match. Zainab Mughal suffers from neuroblastoma, a cancer usually found in small glands on top of the kidneys. Her struggle is hard for her parents and family to watch. Shes my love, my everything, my only child, said Mariam Mehmood, Zainabs mother. She means everything to us. She is the princess of the family. Everyone loves her. Doctors say in order for her to survive the cancer treatments she needs, she requires multiple blood transfusions. The problem is that her blood type is very rare. In order to find a few units for the little girl, we need to test a very specific population, said Nancy Benitez, a laboratory director. Medical experts said only people of Pakistani, Indian or Iranian decent could possibly be a match and even then, its still a challenge. The possibility of us finding a compatible donor for this little girl within the right ethnic group they want to screen is less than four percent, said Frieda Bright, a laboratory manager. Her blood donors must have a blood type of A or B. But they also must be missing the Indian B antigen. Doctors say if the child receives blood with that antigen, her body will reject it. OneBlood, a Florida-based non-profit is conducting a worldwide search for donors. We deeply appreciate those willing to help and we hope that we find a match for her, said Raheel Mughal, Zainabs father. Doctors say without the blood, the little girl has no hope. The blood is not going to cure, but the blood is very, very, very important to support her while she undergoes the treatment for this particular cancer, said Bright. OneBlood says 1,000 donors have been tested since September and only three matches were found so far. They need at least seven to 10 matches. What to Know Police in Hernando County arrested Dominick Breedlove and charged him with retail theft after the incident Wednesday afternoon at a Kohls. A Florida man was arrested after he allegedly stole two pairs of sneakers from a department store minutes after interviewing for a job there. Deputies in Hernando County arrested Dominick Breedlove and charged him with retail theft after the incident Wednesday afternoon at a Kohls store in Spring Hill, located north of Tampa. According to NBC affiliate WFLA-TV, 24-year-old Breedlove went into the store shortly after the interview and started looking at a Nike display for women's shoes that did not have security tags. Breedlove left the store and later returned with a bag from a previous trip. A lost prevention officer called the Hernando County Sheriff's Office after seeing Breedlove put the sneakers, worth a combined $150, inside the bag and leaving the store. Officers arrested Breedlove on the way to his car, where he told deputies that he had planned to gift the shoes to his mother. Breedlove was booked into jail with a $500 bond. Needless to say, he did not get the job, the sheriff's office said. What to Know The U.S. Marine Corps said in a statement released Friday that Capt. Jahmar F. Resilard of Miramar died in the Thursday crash. Military officials say a 28-year-old South Florida man has died in a crash of two U.S. warplanes that collided off Japan's coast. The U.S. Marine Corps said in a statement released Friday that Capt. Jahmar F. Resilard of Miramar, Florida, died in the Thursday crash. Another crew member was found and is in fair condition. Five others remain missing. Resilard was a F/A-18 pilot with the Marine All Weather Attack Squadron 242 and was stationed on Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in Yamaguchi, Japan. Family members told NBC 6 they were set to meet Resilard in Maryland for Christmas but are now making funeral plans. "For me its been bittersweet, you know, again, he lived his dream. He wanted to be a pilot, not just a pilot he wanted to be a fighter pilot," mother Joni Moore-Resilard told NBC 6 in a phone interview Friday. Lt. Col. James Compton called Resilard an "effective and dedicated leader who cared for his Marines and fellow pilots with passion." His decorations include the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, Global War on Terrorism Medal and National Defense Service Medal. The Marines said in a statement that the two planes were involved in routine training, including aerial refueling, but that it was still investigating what caused the crash. President Donald Trump tweeted that his thoughts and prayers were with the Marine Corps crew members involved in the collision. He thanked U.S. Forces in Japan for their "immediate response and rescue efforts and said "Whatever you need, we are here for you." Florida Gov. Rick Scott said he was "heartbroken" to learn of Resilard's death. "The loss of Capt. Resilard is a somber reminder of the danger our servicemen and women both home and abroad place themselves in every day to keep us safe," Scott said in a statement. "The entire State of Florida joins Capt. Resilards family in honoring his bravery and legacy of service." The crash took place 320 kilometers (200 miles) off the coast, according to the U.S. military. Japanese officials said it occurred closer to the coast, about 100 kilometers (60 miles), and thats where the search and rescue mission found the two crew members. Japans Maritime Self-Defense Force, which dispatched aircraft and vessels to join in the search operation, said Japanese rescuers found one of the crew from the fighter jet in stable condition. The Marines said the crew member was taken to a hospital on the base in Iwakuni and was in fair condition, but did not provide any other details. Japans coast guard also joined the search. The crash is the latest in recent series of accidents involving the U.S. military deployed to and near Japan. Last month, a U.S. Navy F/A-18 Hornet from the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan crashed into the sea southwest of Japans southern island of Okinawa, though its two pilots were rescued safely. In mid-October, a MH-60 Seahawk also belonging to the Ronald Reagan crashed off the Philippine Sea shortly after takeoff, causing non-fatal injuries to a dozen sailors. More than 50,000 U.S. troops are based in Japan under a bilateral security pact. NBC 6 Responds makes a difference when you have a consumer complaint or concern. In 2018, our unit tackled consumer complaints about unfulfilled company promises and products that dont deliver. For Meron Tiruneh, a company promised to deliver her items following her move from Florida to Sunnyvale, California. She called NBC 6 Responds after she said the company failed to deliver her belongings. At some point someone has to be responsible for my entire life is missing, Tiruneh told us during our interview back in July. After 5 months without answers from the moving company, we tracked down her belongings and her items were delivered free of cost. I reached out to NBC News and Sasha has been an angel to me, she said during the interview. We also helped Mark Chaves. Chaves called NBC 6 Responds after learning he would be forced to pay an extra fee if he rebooked his airline tickets. He wanted to change his travel reservations after learning Nicaragua was under a travel advisory at the time. And this was a perfect example of just another big company not caring about their customers. Especially their safety, Chaves told us. We sent an email to the airlines company and within days Chaves was able to rebook without paying the $125 service fee per ticket. The airlines also kicked in a free trip. Robert Haag called us after a contractor he found on a popular home improvement site took his money and never did the work. At my age I cant make it back up, its gone, Haag told us. We found out the contractor was unlicensed and had a criminal past. The home improvement site reimbursed Haag the money he lost, and the contractor has since been arrested for contracting without a license in another county. We reached to Gabriel Mira Dominguez about Haags allegations and his recent arrest for contracting without a license but as of right now we have not heard back. If you have a consumer complaint or concern you can reach us at (954) 622-6737 or (305) 622-6737. Or submit your complaint here. What to Know Bay Medical Sacred Heart said it will make the cuts Feb. 4 after it reopens in January at one-fourth its previous size. Only the hospital's emergency room has been operational since the Category 4 storm in October. A hospital on Florida's Panhandle says it will lay off 800 employees nearly half its staff because it suffered such serious damage from Hurricane Michael. Bay Medical Sacred Heart said it will make the cuts Feb. 4 after it reopens in January at one-fourth its previous size. The Panama City News-Herald reports that most of the hospital sustained heavy wind and water damage in the hurricane. It can't be repaired any time soon. Only the hospital's emergency room has been operational since the Category 4 storm in October. The city's other hospital, Gulf Coast Regional Medical Center, sustained less damage and has managed to reopen more of its services. The hospital has continued to pay employees and provide benefits in the weeks since the storm. Jennifer Aniston calls it "amazing" that "Friends" still has an audience big enough to prompt multi-million dollar business deals to keep it from disappearing on Netflix. "I find it amazing that it's continued to have such love and such an audience and such an appetite for it," Aniston told The Associated Press Thursday at the premiere of her Netflix film "Dumplin'." After an outcry from fans, Netflix announced earlier in the week that it was keeping the adventures of Ross, Rachel, Phoebe and Joey available to subscribers through 2019 at a reported $100 million price tag to the streaming service. "I think it says a lot about the show. Especially since it takes place at a time where it's so different from now. You know, people actually spoke to each other and hung out with each other and talked," Aniston said. WarnerMedia owns the show, which aired on NBC for 10 years ending in 2004. It won six Emmy Awards, including a best comedy actress Emmy for Aniston. Netflix paid more than triple the $30 million a year it had been paying for "Friends," The New York Times reported earlier this week, citing two unidentified people with direct knowledge of the deal "Friends" could soon appear more places online. The Times said nothing in the Netflix deal prevented the show from appearing on a streaming service AT&T plans to launch in 2020. What to Know Police say the two bystanders who were hit during a police shootout in the Bronx were hit by police gunfire The woman and the 12-year-old girl were hit in the at around 6 p.m. Wednesday in the area of West 183rd Street and Loring Place The suspect was caught and arrested; no police officers were shot during the shootout Police fired at least 20 rounds during the shootout with a drug suspect Wednesday evening, hitting two bystanders at the scene, one of whom remains in critical condition, the NYPD said. The 46-year-old woman, Irene Urena Perez, remains hospitalized after being shot in the stomach, and the other bystander, a 12-year-old girl, is in stable condition after bullet fragments hit her in the leg, police said. Perez had been walking out of work at a day care in a building by West 183rd Street and Loring Place Wednesday evening when she was struck by one of the flying bullets, according to her co-worker, Josie Perez. Josie Perez says the two of them had walked out of work together around 6 p.m., along with a child they care for -- but Josie forgot something and rushed back into the building. That's when she heard gunfire and ran out, picked up the little boy and took him back into the day care center. Josie ran out again to find Irene on the ground, bleeding, and called 911. Another witness, Anthony Bell, also called 911 when he saw the drug suspect running down the block, shooting at someone. "I just heard 'bam, bam,' saw the guy running down the block," he told News 4 New York. Police said officers fired at least 20 rounds after the suspect pulled out a gun and fired rounds inside a lobby in a building nearby during the shady drug deal. "The suspect in this incident shot a firearm in the lobby of a building during an apparent drug rip-off robbery, and then fired twice on the street at an approaching officer who was attempting to arrest him," NYPD Sgt. Jessica McRorie said in a statement, adding the investigation remains ongoing by the Force Investigation Division. The suspect, 37-year-old Edwin Castillo-Concepcion of the Bronx, was taken to Saint Barnabas Hospital for treatment of gunshot wounds to the neck and foot. He's expected to survive and is facing charges of attempted murder and criminal possession of a weapon. No police officers were shot during the shootout but they were taken to Jacobi Hospital for observation. Bell believes police were reckless in shooting at the suspect. "It doesn't matter" if the suspect opened fire first, Bell said. "If they didn't get hit, let the suspect go down the block. Catch him somewhere else. But don't start shooting where there's a crowd of people." People in the neighborhood who knew Irene Perez said she's a "very nice lady, she always says hello." What to Know Dont think about starting the SantaCon festivities this weekend while riding NJ Transit, Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North A wallet that Diane Keaton misplaced decades ago has turned up in a New York storage unit An irate deli customer is wanted for his violent tantrum in which he attacked a worker over the wait time for a breakfast sandwich Friday, Dec. 7, 2018 Happy Friday! Bundle up, a cold front is making its way into the region and the wind chills make it feel even more brutal. Highs will only reach the 30s. As always, get the latest forecast at nbcnewyork.com/weather. 1. NJT Prohibits All Drinks, MTA Bans Booze SantaCon Weekend Dont think about starting the SantaCon festivities this weekend while riding NJ Transit, Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North. All participating Santas riding NJ Transit will have to wait until arriving at their final SantaCon destinations either New York City or Asbury Park to get their drink on as the transportation agency has officially banned all beverages on its trains, light rails and buses from Saturday, Dec. 8, and Sunday morning, Dec. 9. The ban was implemented due to rowdy incidents that took place in past SantaCons. Read more here. 2. Diane Keaton's Lost Wallet Found in NY 50 Years Later A wallet that Diane Keaton misplaced decades ago has turned up in a New York storage unit. The Oscar-winning actress lost the wallet 50 years ago, she said on Instagram this week. This past May, treasure hunter Anton Lulgjuraj bought the contents of a deserted storage unit in Putnam County at an auction and discovered the wallet as he was perusing a dusty box, the Daily News reported. Read more here. 3. Man Flips Out Over Brief Wait for Egg Sandwich at NYC Deli An irate deli customer is wanted for his violent tantrum in which he attacked a worker when he was told his wait time for a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich would take at least five minutes, police said. The customer at the Hi Mango Flushing Avenue Deli in Bushwick demanded his order of a bacon, egg and cheese on a toasted cinnamon raisin bagel "right NOW" at around 4:30 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 25, according to cellphone video provided by deli workers. When the worker, Sanjay Patel, told the customer that he had several orders ahead of him and that it would take around 5 to 10 minutes, the customer became angry. Read more here. For the latest entertainment news and things to do, tune in to New York Live, Monday through Friday at 11:30 a.m. on NBC 4 New York. A New York City school crossing guard has been arrested, accused of hitting two children with a car and fleeing the scene, police say. Elisha Mayo, 29, fled the scene after striking the children, ages 2 and 11, who had run into the street just after noon on Thursday, according to police. Mayo is charged with leaving the scene of an accident with injuries, police said. It wasnt immediately clear whether she had an attorney who could comment on the allegations. The children are expected to be OK, police said. What to Know George Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russian intermediaries He was sentenced to 14 days in prison Papadopoulos attacked special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation as corrupt George Papadopoulos, the first person sent to prison in the Russia investigation, has been released. That's according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. The former Trump campaign foreign policy adviser was sentenced to 14 days in prison this year after he pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russian intermediaries. Special counsel Robert Mueller's team recommended incarceration for Papadopoulos because they said he begrudged his cooperation and his lies harmed the probe. Papadopoulos took a remorseful tone during his sentencing hearing, but he has since attacked Mueller's investigation as corrupt. Declassified documents show that Papadopoulos' foreign contacts during the presidential campaign prompted the FBI in July 2016 to open a counterintelligence investigation. That investigation was later taken over by Mueller. What to Know If confirmed by the Senate, Barr would succeed Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who was forced out by Trump in November. Trump has elevated Sessions' chief of staff, Matthew Whitaker, to acting attorney general. In an op-ed for The Washington Post in May 2017, Barr defended Trump's decision to fire former FBI Director James Comey. President Donald Trump on Friday picked former Attorney General William Barr to once again serve as America's top law enforcement official. But while his experience and mainstream background may boost his prospects for confirmation, Democrats are raising alarms about his comments on the Russia investigation and Hillary Clinton. Barr has expressed concerns about political donations made by prosecutors on special counsel Robert Mueller's team and has supported calls for an investigation into a uranium deal approved while Clinton was secretary of state, a pet issue of Trump supporters. It's not clear whether Barr, if confirmed, would take office in time to shape the Mueller investigation, which has shown signs of being in its final stages. But even if it wraps up before he takes office, Barr would be in a position to influence prosecutions stemming from the probe, as well as deal with other politically sensitive cases, such as responding to referrals from the House's new Democratic majority. Barr, 68, would succeed former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, whom Trump forced out after constant heckling because he had stepped aside from overseeing the Russia investigation. Sessions' chief of staff, Matthew Whitaker, was elevated to acting attorney general and took control of Mueller's investigation. Barr's confirmation would create uncertainty about the future of Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general who oversaw the Mueller investigation before Whitaker's appointment. Frequently, new deputies are also appointed when there's a new attorney general. Barr's appointment could bring more stability to the Justice Department. Sessions' tenure was marked by the incessant attacks from Trump, and Whitaker's elevation was also controversial. Questions were raised about Whitaker's credentials, critical comments he had made about the Mueller investigation before joining the Justice Department and his involvement with a company that was accused of misleading consumers and is under investigation by the FBI. Barr was attorney general between 1991 and 1993 at the same time Mueller oversaw the department's criminal division. Barr later worked as a corporate general counsel and is currently of counsel at a prominent international law firm, Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Trump called Barr "one of the most respected jurists in the country." "During his tenure, he demonstrated an unwavering adherence to the rule of law," Trump said. "There's no one more capable or qualified for this role." Confirmation hearings are unlikely before January, when Republicans will have a 53-47 majority, leaving Democrats powerless to block the nomination unless four Republicans break ranks. The next chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., called Barr's pick an "outstanding decision" and pledged to "do everything in my power" to quickly push the nomination through the committee and onto the Senate floor for confirmation. But the Senate's top Democrat, Chuck Schumer, said Barr must promise that Mueller's investigation can proceed unimpeded and that Mueller's final report will be made available to Congress and the public immediately after it is completed. Democrats have begun pointing to Barr's weigh-ins on hot-button investigative matters. In November 2017, Barr told the New York Times that there was more basis to investigate the uranium deal approved while Clinton led the State Department than potential collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign. "To the extent it is not pursuing these matters, the department is abdicating its responsibility," Barr said. He told the newspaper that there "is nothing inherently wrong about a president calling for an investigation," but he cautioned that an investigation shouldn't be launched just because a president wants it. In a May 2017 op-ed for The Washington Post, Barr defended Trump's decision to fire FBI Director James Comey, an action Mueller has been examining for possible obstruction of justice. He was quoted two months later in a Post story as expressing concern that members of Mueller's team had contributed to Democratic candidates. "In my view, prosecutors who make political contributions are identifying fairly strongly with a political party," Barr said. "I would have liked to see him have more balance on this group." In an episode that may hold parallels to the current special counsel investigation, Barr was attorney general when Bush on Christmas Eve 1992 pardoned six former Reagan administration officials including former Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger in the Iran-Contra scandal. Barr said in a 2001 University of Virginia oral history interview that he supported the pardons. "I certainly did not oppose any of them," Barr said. "I favored the broadest There were some people arguing just for Weinberger, and I said, 'No, in for a penny, in for a pound.'" Those who worked with Barr previously were quick to tout Barr's qualifications. "I think the president has chosen a superb nominee who is precisely what the Department of Justice needs now, which is a steady hand," said Joseph diGenova, a Trump supporter and former U.S. attorney. Paul McNulty, who worked at the Justice Department under Barr and a decade later became deputy attorney general, recalled him as decisive on the need for a strong federal response after the riots in Los Angeles following the acquittals on state charges of police officers involved in the Rodney King beating. He praised Barr's "boldness and thoughtfulness" in sending in the FBI to deal with a 1991 Alabama prison riot involving dozens of Cuban detainees. Barr, who was acting attorney general at the time of the Talladega prison riots, has said he overruled a Bureau of Prisons plan to respond and instead directed the FBI to go in, telling officials there'd be no concessions and to prepare for a hostage rescue situation. McNulty, now president of Pennsylvania's Grove City College, said Barr "has an extraordinary strategic mind so that as he thinks through the issues factually, he has a remarkable ability to then think about steps forward what plan of action makes the most sense in light of these facts and these circumstances." Associated Press writers Jill Colvin, Zeke Miller and Darlene Superville contributed to this report. White House chief of staff John Kelly's long-expected departure will occur in the days ahead, four sources tell NBC News. His tenure has been marred by controversy since he became chief of staff in the summer of last year, amid reports of tension with the president and West Wing staff. Reports of recent clashes with first lady Melania Trump made his already tenuous position only more so. Among the leading candidates to replace him is Vice President Mike Pences chief of staff, Nick Ayers. What to Know Daniel Santucci was sentenced Friday to life plus 50 years after pleading guilty in August to attempted murder, kidnapping and rape. Santucci faced a minimum prison term of 27 years but was given the maximum sentence allowed by law. A Delaware man accused of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a 4-year-old girl before throwing her into a pond has been sentenced to life in prison. Twenty-five-year-old Daniel Santucci was sentenced Friday to life plus 50 years after pleading guilty in August to attempted murder, kidnapping and rape. He faced a minimum prison term of 27 years but was given the maximum sentence allowed by law. Authorities said the girl was playing outside in April 2017 when a man lured her into a car and drove off. Two hours later, a motorist spotted the girl, wearing little clothing, at a park about 8 miles away, where police say she had been thrown into a large pond. Santucci was arrested in Florida two weeks later on a probation violation charge. "I share the feeling of relief with the community and our officers now that this predator is off the street," New Castle County Police Chief Vaughn Bond Jr., who called the crime "heinous" and "despicable," said after Santucci's arrest. Democratic rising star Beto O'Rourke's team has been fielding calls from senior operatives who worked on President Barack Obama's campaign in the pivotal states of Iowa and New Hampshire as the Texas congressman considers running for president in 2020, CNBC has learned. Led by chief of staff David Wysong, O'Rourke's inner circle has been engaging with political players from the states, which hold the earliest contests of the presidential primary season. These people include leaders of Obama's campaign operations in the states, according to multiple people with knowledge of the conversations. While people close to O'Rourke insist that the discussions have not led to any hires, a former senior Obama administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said it is clear O'Rourke will have the consultants in place to help guide him if he chooses to make a run for the White House. "This is the phase for someone exploring a presidential campaign in that they're doing everything they can to decide who they may want to run an organization and who they could turn to if he enters the race," the former Obama aide said. O'Rourke is fresh off a surprisingly close defeat at the hands of GOP Sen. Ted Cruz in reliably Republican Texas. He has been credited with lifting fellow Texas Democrats in House races to victory last month as the party flipped about 40 seats to take the majority. O'Rourke broke fundraising records and galvanized young voters in his Senate campaign, a possible indication of the kind of appeal Democrats will need to take on President Donald Trump. Yet, the fact that he lost a statewide race is giving some in the Democratic Party pause about a potential O'Rourke run. "You don't promote a loser," Chicago Mayor and former Obama White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel said recently. Momentum for a potential O'Rourke 2020 campaign appears to be building, nonetheless. Wysong, the congressman's chief of staff, talked as recently as this week with a former co-chair of Obama's New Hampshire organization, according to a person with direct knowledge of the phone call. According to this person, who declined to be named in this story, the former Obama campaign official reached out to Wysong and offered advice on how to navigate the state if O'Rourke were to jump into the race. "It was a very cordial and preliminary conversation," this person explained. They discussed some of the oddities, as well as the political hurdles, that Democrats face when running for president in New Hampshire, according to people briefed on the matter. In Iowa, O'Rourke's contingent has heard from Troy Price, chairman of the state's Democratic Party. Price served as Obama's Iowa political director during the president's 2012 re-election campaign. Hours after publication, and repeated attempts to contact him, Price on Thursday denied he had heard from anyone on O'Rourke's team. Iowa and New Hampshire are two of the first hurdles for anyone looking to become their party's nominee for president. Obama won the 2008 Iowa caucuses but lost the New Hampshire primary to Hillary Clinton. In 2016, Clinton won Iowa but lost New Hampshire on her way to defeating Sen. Bernie Sanders to become the party's nominee. Wysong referred a CNBC inquiry to O'Rourke's campaign spokesman, Chris Evans, who declined to comment. Presidential buzz for O'Rourke started taking hold while he was on the campaign trail this year, but he responded by saying he wouldn't run. Recently, however, O'Rourke said he is no longer ruling out a presidential bid. The buzz around him has only grown since Election Day. A key New Hampshire Democratic group invited him to the state to meet voters and strategists. Supporters and donors, meanwhile, are encouraging him to run for Senate again in 2020 or set his sights on the White House. O'Rourke met with Obama himself in November, more than a week after the midterms, according to the former Obama administration official. The Washington Post first reported the meeting. Obama has praised O'Rourke in public and likened the Texas Democrat to himself. "It felt as if he based his statements and his positions on what he believed," Obama said in a recent interview on "The Axe Files," a podcast hosted by his former top political advisor, David Axelrod. "And that, you'd like to think, is normally how things work. Sadly it's not." Obama and his former aides' interest in O'Rourke comes as former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick decides against running for president. Patrick had been telling associates he doesn't want to get involved with the race, according to a person close to him. Patrick is an Obama ally, and people associated with the former president had been encouraging Patrick to jump into the race for at least a year. In a Facebook post on Thursday, Patrick confirmed that he will not be running for president in 2020. "After a lot of conversation, reflection and prayer, I've decided that a 2020 campaign for president is not for me," Patrick wrote. "Knowing that the cruelty of our elections process would ultimately splash back on people whom Diane and I love, but who hadn't signed up for the journey, was more than I could ask," he added. This story first appeared on CNBC.com. More from CNBC: An estimated $70 million worth of cocaine seized by the United States Coast Guard in international waters was offloaded at the U.S. Navy pier in San Diego Friday. The 5,100 pounds of drugs were seized during a 49-day counterdrug mission in eastern Pacific waters in partnership with the Royal Canadian Navy aboard Her Majestys Canadian Ship (HMCS). Crew members with both agencies patrolled international waters off the coast of central and South America for a month-and-a-half into intercept drug smuggling operations. During their patrols, the crews stopped two go-fast boats, with 3,500 pounds of cocaine seized in one and 1,600 pounds were seized in the other. U.S. Coast Guard Vice Adm. Linda Fagan praised the international effort and said their Canadian partners have been "critical" to the operation. "It takes a network to defeat a network," she said. The drugs will be turned over the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency who will investigate the product and destroy it. To hear a beaming Donald Trump at his June summit with Kim Jong Un in Singapore, the solution to North Korea's headlong pursuit of nuclear weapons, a foreign policy nightmare that has flummoxed U.S. leaders since the early 1990s, was at hand. Since the remarkable claims made during the first-ever meeting of leaders from the archrival nations, however, there have been recriminations, simmering bad blood and very little progress. In other words, just what skeptics in Seoul and Washington have come to expect from North Korean nuclear diplomacy. So even as Trump says he's keen on another summit, possibly early next year, continuing sanctions and pressure from Washington are met with anger and foot-dragging from Pyongyang, which has bluntly stated that an "improvement of relations and sanctions are incompatible." One of the problems is a matter of wording. The statement hammered out in Singapore, which called for "the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," was so vague that it seemed tailor made for a stalemate: Each side can claim to be right when they say that they've done more than enough and it's the other side's responsibility to act. So where do we go from here? A second summit seems the most likely answer. Trump's national security adviser said such a meeting would not be a reward and that the president merely wants to give North Korea "a chance to live up to the commitments they've made at the Singapore summit." "He's held the door open for them, they need to walk through it," John Bolton said in an interview with NPR. "And this is one more chance for Kim Jong Un who is the only decision maker that matters in the North Korean system to deliver on what he said in Singapore, and that's possible I think some time after the first of the year." Other diplomatic channels have stalled, including talks between Trump and Kim's main envoys, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his North Korean counterpart Kim Yong Chol. Pompeo did meet on Thursday in Washington with South Korea's foreign minister in a new attempt to push the process forward. The State Department said only that the two officials "reaffirmed the ironclad alliance between the United States and (South) Korea and pledged to maintain close coordination to ensure the final, fully verified denuclearization of (North) Korea." Pompeo has traveled to Pyongyang four times this year, but canceled a planned meeting with a top North Korean official in New York last month when the North balked. Tentative plans to reschedule those talks, perhaps as early as next week, remain uncertain. Meanwhile, Pompeo's invitation for Kim to name a counterpart for his special North Korea envoy, former Ford Motor Co. executive Stephen Biegun, and send that person to Vienna for lower-level working discussions, has gone unanswered. The views from both Seoul and Washington are complicated. South Koreans are famous for ignoring North Korean threats, including repeated vows to turn Seoul into a "sea of fire," but there were widespread fears of war last year amid threats and insults between Trump and Kim Jong Un as the North tested a string of increasingly powerful weapons. Even the most jaded would likely say that things are better now. There has also been curiosity at the warming ties between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Kim, who have had three summits and agreed on an unprecedented trip to Seoul by Kim, possibly in coming weeks. Among the more stunning sights this diplomacy has spawned has been Moon, who has worked doggedly behind the scenes to orchestrate the various summits, filling a water bottle at a "sacred" volcanic lake in the North, and Kim being spirited across the inter-Korean border, the world's most heavily armed, in an armored limousine, a phalanx of burly bodyguards jogging alongside. But deep skepticism has always been the go-to mindset for many South Koreans, especially conservatives who have seen Moon's liberal presidential predecessors' engagement efforts with the North eventually fail to meet expectations. North Korea, it is true, has not conducted a nuclear or ICBM test since November 2017, but according to recent reports from private analysts it still is believed to be churning out nuclear bomb fuel and making headway on its missile program at more than a dozen facilities. Like the others, the latest such report, released on Thursday, is drawn from commercial satellite imagery and shows activity at a previously undisclosed site where the North is believed to be expanding a missile base. "The base is a strong candidate to receive North Korea's newest long-range missiles, including those that can strike the United States," wrote the report's authors at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. Although Kim made no promises to halt such work, and U.S. and South Korean officials played down findings they said they were already aware of, analysts say they underscore the difficulty the Trump administration will face in getting the North to provide a full accounting of its programs so that they might be inspected and verifiably dismantled in the event a denuclearization deal is reached. As Washington and Pyongyang have drifted further apart, Moon, his popularity numbers hovering around 50 percent, has scrambled to keep the diplomacy alive. Moon's officials have pushed the narrative and pushed aside skepticism from critics that North Korea's suspension of nuclear and long-range missile tests and the dismantling of its nuclear testing site are meaningful steps toward an eventual total abandonment of nuclear weapons. They also briefly floated a proposal that Washington consider softer sanctions on the North. Conservatives in Seoul, however, believe that Kim's outreach is meant to split Seoul from Washington, its military protector, so that it will be harder for the allies to boost sanctions and pressure should diplomacy fail. Any Trump-Kim summit redux, they say, needs to be prefaced with at least a declaration from the North of the extent of its secretive missile and nuclear programs; otherwise, it would just be another concession to a country that has spent years ramping up tension only to reap rewards by seeming to turn to diplomacy. Still, in a place that has seen regular flare-ups of violence since the near-total destruction of the Korean War in the early 1950s, there's also interest in seeing if Trump and Kim can pursue in another summit a rare opportunity to test the sincerity of Kim's declaration that with his weapons program "complete," he intends to pivot to lifting his country up from poverty. "With nuclear tensions on the Korean Peninsula dramatically reduced, it is time to find out if Kim's drive to improve the economy will eventually lead to denuclearization," Siegfried Hecker, a nuclear expert who has made regular trips to North Korea's nuclear facilities, wrote recently on 38 North, a website devoted to North Korea studies. "He may determine that his nuclear arsenal poses a significant hindrance to economic development that outweighs the putative benefits it confers. Washington and Seoul should work together to encourage rather than inhibit this potential shift." Police arrested a seventh suspect in the death of Makiyah Wilson, the 10-year-old girl who was gunned down while heading to an ice cream truck in Northeast D.C. this summer, police said. Darrise Jeffers, 19, of Northwest D.C. is the sixth person charged with first-degree murder in the case. A woman is charged with obstructing justice. Wilson was killed July 16 when four men jumped out of a car and opened fire on a group of people outside on a hot summer night. The little girl, who had recently finished fourth grade, was heading to an ice cream truck when the shooters fired on the 300 block of 53rd Street NE. The Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force arrested Jeffers Friday. Five others have been charged with first-degree murder in the case: Mark Tee Price, Gregory Taylor, Quentin Michals, Qujuan Thomas and 16-year-old Marquell Cobbs, who is charged as an adult. Quanisha Ramsuer, 25, of Southeast DC was charged with obstructing justice. Prosecutors say Michals was the ringleader, organizing the shooting because of a beef he had with someone in Wilson's neighborhood. Juveniles Shot in DC in 2018 The victims include a 10-year-old girl who was killed and a 3-year-old boy who was hurt. The night that Wilson was killed, the gunmen fired more than 60 shots, got back into an Infiniti sedan and sped off. Four other people, including Wilson's 18-year-old sister, were shot and wounded. A Virginia company is helping Fairfax County Fire and Rescue try to meet its Toys for Tots goal for 2018. The Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department has been partnering with the Marines' Toys for Tots program for almost 16 years now, Battalion Chief Willie Bailey said. We push to get them anywhere from two to three tractor-trailer loads of toys, and the firefighters just enjoy it, he said. The toys they collect are for the Toys for Tots Quantico campaign. They collected almost 95,000 toys throughout Northern Virginia last year and still ran out. And the Marines need even more help this year. With the liquidation of Toys R Us, Toys for Tots lost one of its biggest sponsors. Not only did the iconic toy store chain donate millions of dollars to Toys for Tots, it collected toys at its hundreds of locations. Thats where UNITS Moving & Portable Storage of Northern Virginia is stepping in to help. UNITS are a godsend, U.S. Marines Gunnery Sgt. Mack Stuckey said. The company is donating at least 20 of its large portable containers for storage at toy collection sites. Owner Eric Miller has been a supporter of toys for tots for more than 25 years and wanted to help. They said, 'You are just what we've been looking for. We lost our partner; we weren't sure how we were going to operate this year,' Miller said. Once a container is filled, UNITS will pick it up and deliver it to the warehouse. It's going to save them a lot of fuel, a lot of mileage and what they've told us is that's going to enable them to be in a position where they can take the money they had allocated for mileage and for fuel and they can buy more toys, Miller said. Stuckey said Miller's generosity will save the charity thousands of dollars so the Marines can carry on their 71-year tradition of spreading holiday cheer to those in need. As Marines, we get a lot of recognition for this campaign, but the truth of the matter is, you know, it's a joint effort, he said. It won't be successful without the public. Toys for Tots did receive money from Toys R Us this year because the toy store had already raised the money before going out of business, so next year could prove to be an even bigger challenge. Canadian authorities said Wednesday that they have arrested the chief financial officer of China's Huawei Technologies for possible extradition to the United States. China demanded her immediate release, and a former Canadian envoy to China warned the case might lead to retaliation by the Chinese against American and Canadian executives. Justice Department spokesman Ian McLeod said Meng Wanzhou was detained in Vancouver, British Columbia, on Saturday. The arrest took place on the same day Trump met with Chinese President Xi Jinping to discuss the trade war after the close of the G-20 summit in Argentina. They agreed to a 90-day truce in an escalating trade war that is threatening world economic growth and has set global investors on edge. Meng is a prominent member of Chinese society as deputy chairman of the board and the daughter of company founder Ren Zhengfei. McLeod said a publication ban had been imposed in the case and he could not provide further details. The ban was sought by Meng, who has a bail hearing Friday, he said. The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this year that U.S. authorities are investigating whether Chinese tech giant Huawei violated sanctions on Iran. Huawei issued a statement saying Meng was changing flights in Canada when she was detained "on behalf of the United States of America" to face "unspecified charges" in New York. "The company has been provided very little information regarding the charges and is not aware of any wrongdoing by Ms. Meng," the statement said. Huawei said it complies with all laws and rules where it operates, including export controls and sanctions of the United Nations, the U.S. and European Union. The Chinese Embassy in Ottawa said her human rights were violated and demanded she be freed. "The Chinese side firmly opposes and strongly protests over such kind of actions which seriously harmed the human rights of the victim," the statement said. A U.S. Justice Department spokesman declined to comment. In April, China appealed to Washington to avoid damaging business confidence following the Wall Street Journal report that U.S. authorities were investigating whether Huawei violated sanctions on Iran amid spiraling technology tensions. A foreign ministry spokeswoman, Hua Chunying, said then that China hoped the U.S. would refrain from taking actions that could further undermine investor confidence in the U.S. business environment and harm its domestic economy. That same month Washington barred Huawei rival ZTE Corp. from exporting U.S. technology in a separate case over exports to Iran and North Korea Trump has threatened to raise tariffs on Chinese goods in response to complaints that Beijing improperly pressures foreign companies to hand over technology. That is widely seen as part of a broader effort by Washington to respond to intensifying competition with Chinese technology industries that Trump says benefit from improper subsidies and market barriers. The escalating trade war is threatening world economic growth and has set global investors on edge. David Mulroney, a former Canadian ambassador to China, said U.S. and Canadian business executives could face reprisals in China. "That's something we should be watching out for. It's a possibility. China's plays rough," Mulroney said. "It's a prominent member of their society and it's a company that really embodies China's quest for global recognition as a technology power." Mulroney said Canada should be prepared for "sustained fury" from the Chinese and said it will be portrayed in China as Canada kowtowing to Trump. He also said the Iran allegations are very damaging to Huawei and said China will push back hard. Wenran Jiang, a senior fellow at the Institute of Asian Research at the University of British Columbia, said the Chinese will read the arrest on the same day as the Trump meeting with the Chinese leader as a planned conspiracy to do damage "She was in transit though Vancouver. That means the intelligence agencies in Canada and the U.S. were tracking her and planning to arrest her for some time," he said. He foresees a crisis in relations between the three countries if she is extradited and said any talk of free trade agreement between Canada and China would be over. U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse, a Republican member of the Senate Armed Services and Banking committees, said Huawei is an agent of China's communist party and applauded Canada for the arrest. "Americans are grateful that our Canadian partners have arrested the Chief Financial Officer of a giant Chinese telecom company for breaking U.S. sanctions against Iran," he said. President George W. Bush might have been in mourning Wednesday at his father's funeral, but he still managed to reach out with a friendly gesture to former first lady Michelle Obama. As Bush greeted the other living former presidents and their wives at the National Cathedral in Washington, where they were gathered for George H.W. Bush's state funeral, he seemed to slip something into Michelle Obamas hand, bringing a grin to her and former President Barack Obama's faces. It wasn't immediately clear what he passed her he didn't make reference to it when he spoke for his eulogy but it's not the first time he and the former first lady shared a moment of levity in a time of mourning. At the late Sen. John McCains funeral in September, Bush and Obama bonded over a cough drop. Obama said on the "Today" show that they have become partners in crime at every official function because White House protocol mandates that they sit next to each other. "I love him to death," the former first lady said of the 43rd president. "He's a wonderful man. He's a funny man." During McCains funeral, Obama asked Bush for a cough drop after he passed one to his wife, former first lady Laura Bush. Obama later realized that the cough drop box sported a White House official seal, possibly making it at least a decade old. On social media, many people commended the act of friendship between two figures from different political parties. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump shook hands with former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama after the Trumps arrived at George H.W. Bushs funeral at the National Cathedral. The duos relationship goes back further. In 2016, the bipartisan pair shared a hug at the National Museum of African American History dedication ceremony. On a 2017 episode of "Ellen," Bush told host Ellen DeGeneres that his friendship with Michelle Obama took many people by surprise. "[The friendship] surprised everybody," Bush said. "That's what's so weird about society today: [the surprise] that people on opposite sides of the political spectrum can actually like each other." Despite the good relationship between Obama and Bush, the combination of former presidents and first ladies in the first pew of George H.W. Bush's funeral made for an awkward moment at an otherwise solemn event. [NATL] George H. W. Bush Mourned by Nation He Led Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Barack and Michelle Obama, and Donald and Melania Trump sat shoulder to shoulder in the first row. It was the first time Hillary Clinton and President Donald Trump were in the same room let alone within a few feet of each other since Trump's 2016 inauguration. At his political rallies, Trump has continued to lead chants of "Lock her up," referring to the now closed federal investigation into allegations that Clinton had misused a personal email account for government communications. Trump has also continuously accused the Clintons of colluding with Russia and lots of other people, NBC News reported in October, though theres no evidence that those allegations are true. Clinton has expressed concerns about how Trump is running the White House. During the funeral, Clinton appeared to keep her eyes fixed on the altar before the group. As Trump made his way to the front pew of the church, he shook hands with the Obamas but didnt appear to acknowledge the Clintons. Melania Trump, however, did shake hands with Bill Clinton and wave at Hillary Clinton. The Obamas were seated between the Trumps and Clintons, and Michelle Obama sat between the political rivals with furrowed eyebrows and down-turned lips. Barack Obama sat cross-legged with his face turned. Michelle Obamas expression only changed when George W. Bush leaned over the pew to greet them and slip her an offering. As he grabbed Michelle Obamas hand, a smile spread across her face. Laura Bush also came over to say hello, shaking hands with Trump and waving to Melania Trump. George W. Bush shares his final conversation with his father, George H.W. Bush. Despite the general tension among the first pew's occupants, George W. Bush and Michelle Obama's moment reminded onlookers of the message sent by their cough drop exchange at the McCain funeral. At the time, Obama noted that despite being a "simple gesture," the moment illustrated a larger lesson about how politicians should treat each other. "[People are] hungry for what we all know: that party doesnt separate us. Color, gender those kinds of things dont separate us," Obama said on the "Today" show. "And if were the adults and leaders in the room, and were not showing that level of decency, we cannot expect our children to do the same." President Donald Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen, was in touch as far back as 2015 with a Russian who offered "political synergy" with the Trump election campaign and proposed a meeting between the candidate and Russian President Vladimir Putin, the special counsel said Friday. Court filings from prosecutors in New York and special counsel Robert Mueller's office lay out previously undisclosed contacts between Trump associates and Russian intermediaries and suggest the Kremlin aimed early on to influence Trump and his campaign by playing to both his political aspirations and his personal business interests. The filings, in cases involving Cohen and former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, cap a dramatic week of revelations in Mueller's ongoing investigation into potential coordination between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin. They make clear how witnesses previously close to Trump Cohen once declared he'd "take a bullet" for the president have since provided damaging information about him in efforts to come clean to the government and in some cases get lighter prison sentences. One witness, former national security adviser Michael Flynn, provided so much information to prosecutors that Mueller this week said he shouldn't serve any prison time. The interviews with prosecutors have yielded intimate information about episodes under close examination, including possible Russian collusion and hush money payments during the campaign to a porn star and Playboy model who say they had sex with Trump a decade earlier. In one of the filings, Mueller details how Cohen spoke to a Russian who "claimed to be a 'trusted person' in the Russian Federation who could offer the campaign 'political synergy' and 'synergy on a government level.'" The person repeatedly dangled a meeting between Trump and Putin, saying such a meeting could have a "phenomenal" impact "not only in political but in a business dimension as well." That was a reference to a proposed Moscow real estate deal that prosecutors say could have netted Trump's business hundreds of millions of dollars. Cohen admitted last week to lying to Congress by saying discussions about a Trump Tower in Moscow ended in January 2016 when in fact they stretched into that June, well into the U.S. campaign. Cohen told prosecutors he never followed up, though the offer bore echoes of a proposal presented by Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos, who raised the idea to other advisers of leveraging his connections to set up a Putin encounter. In an additional filing Friday evening, prosecutors said Manafort lied to them about his contacts with a Russian associate and Trump administration officials, including in 2018. The court papers say that Manafort initially told prosecutors he didn't have any contact with anyone while they were in the Trump administration. But prosecutors say they recovered "electronic documents" showing his contacts with multiple administration officials. The officials are not identified in the court filings. Manafort, who has pleaded guilty to several counts, violated his plea agreement by then telling "multiple discernible lies" to prosecutors, they said. Prosecutors in Cohen's case said that even though he cooperated in their investigation into the hush money payments to women he nonetheless deserved to spend time in prison. "Cohen did provide information to law enforcement, including information that assisted the Special Counsel's Office," they said. "But Cohen's description of those efforts is overstated in some respects and incomplete in others." Cohen, dubbed Trump's "legal fixer" in the past, also described his work in conjunction with Trump in orchestrating hush money payments to two women adult actress Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal who said they had sex with Trump. Prosecutors in New York, where Cohen pleaded guilty in August in connection with those payments, said the lawyer "acted in coordination and at the direction" of Trump, suggesting they had implicated him in Cohen's crime. Despite such specific allegations of Trump's actions, the president quickly tweeted after news of the filings: "Totally clears the President. Thank you!" In addition, the filings reveal that Cohen told prosecutors he and Trump discussed a potential meeting with Putin on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in 2015, shortly after Trump announced his candidacy for president. In a footnote, special counsel Robert Mueller's team writes that Cohen conferred with Trump "about contacting the Russia government before reaching out to gauge Russia's interest in such a meeting," though it never took place. In meetings with Mueller's team, Cohen "provided information about his own contacts with Russian interests during the campaign and discussions with others in the course of making those contacts," the court documents said. Cohen provided prosecutors with a "detailed account" of his involvement, along with the involvement of others, in efforts during the 2016 presidential campaign to complete a deal to build a Trump Tower Moscow, the documents said. He also provided information about attempts by Russian nationals to reach Trump's campaign, they said. However, in the crimes to which he pleaded guilty in August, he was motivated "by personal greed and repeatedly used his power and influence for deceptive ends." Prosecutors said the court's Probation Department estimated that federal sentencing guidelines call for Cohen to serve at least four years in prison. They said that "reflects Cohen's extensive, deliberate and serious criminal conduct." Prosecutors say Cohen "already enjoyed a privileged life," and that "his desire for even greater wealth and influence precipitated an extensive course of criminal conduct." German authorities raided Deutsche Bank's headquarters Thursday amid suspicions that its employees helped clients set up offshore companies that were used to launder hundreds of millions of euros. About 170 police officers, investigators and prosecutors swooped in on the bank's offices in Frankfurt and premises in nearby Eschborn and Gross-Umstadt at 10 a.m. (0900 GMT), seizing electronic and paper records. The investigation emerged from an analysis of documents leaked from tax havens in recent years, including the 2016 "Panama Papers," said Frankfurt prosecutors' spokeswoman Nadja Niesen. It is focused on two Deutsche Bank employees, aged 50 and 46, and possibly other still unidentified suspects, she said. At least one site raided was a suspect's home. Analysis of the Panama Papers and other documents "gave rise to suspicion that Deutsche Bank was helping clients set up so-called offshore companies in tax havens and the proceeds of crimes were transferred there from Deutsche Bank accounts" without the bank reporting it, Niesen said. In 2016 alone, more than 900 customers are alleged to have transferred some 311 million euros ($351 million) to one such company set up in the British Virgin Islands, she said. The suspects, both German citizens, are accused of failing to report the suspicious transactions even though there was "sufficient evidence" to have been aware of it. Deutsche Bank confirmed the search and said "the investigation has to do with the Panama Papers case." "More details will be communicated as soon as these become known. We are cooperating fully with the authorities," the bank said. Money laundering has become a growing problem in Europe, where a series of scandals has exposed lax regulation. And it's not the first time Deutsche Bank has run into trouble over the flow of dirty money. It was fined more than $600 million by U.S. and U.K. authorities in January 2017 for allowing customers to transfer $10 billion out of Russia in what regulators said was "highly suggestive of financial crime." The Panama Papers are a trove of documents from a law firm that handled shell companies for thousands of rich and powerful clients around the world. While owning a shell company is not illegal, it is used to hide the beneficial owner of a company or transfer, making it important for the handling and laundering of dirty money. Several other institutions besides Deutsche Bank have been fined by authorities in the U.S. and Europe for not properly checking up on the beneficial owners of shell companies that send money through their accounts. Analysts say that because these transactions can be lucrative and punishments are lax, banks have few incentives to do more than the minimum required by law to check on the identity of a bank. "Even in the most egregious cases, banks are often only required to pay a monetary penalty for engaging in criminal activity, which is merely the cost of doing business," said Jimmy Gurule, a former undersecretary for enforcement for the U.S. Treasury Department. "The failure to hold banks accountable for money laundering encourages such criminal activity, including laundering hundreds of millions of dollars in Panama and other money laundering havens," said Gurule, now a professor at Notre Dame Law School. Most recently, Denmark's biggest bank, Danske Bank, admitted that some 200 billion euros ($235 billion) in suspicious money had flown through its Estonian branch from 2007 to 2015. Whistleblower and former employee Howard Wilkinson has indicated that Danske Bank's management was aware of what was going on at the branch, which was among the bank's most profitable units. He has also alleged that family members of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russia's spy agency were using the bank for money laundering. The bank's CEO has since stepped down over the scandal. Another Baltic state, Latvia, has also emerged as a major hub of money laundering, with a 2014 leak showing that tens of billions of dollars were funneled from Russia in 2010-14. Some of the money reportedly went through Deutsche Bank and ended up in major capitals like London, according to The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project. There was no indication that Thursday's raid was linked to that scandal, though Deutsche Bank says that it has since stopped providing dollar transactions in some countries, including Latvia. At least one person was killed overnight in a motor vehicle accident in New Hampshire, according to Nashua officials. Crews responded at approximately 2 a.m. to the area of 15 Kinsley Street, where a car was left unrecognizable. Kinsley Street was closed between Chestnut Street and Elm Street as officials cleared and investigated the scene. Authorities did not say how many occupants were in the vehicle, nor did they release any names. The cause of the crash is under investigation. What to Know A man is facing several charges after his vehicle crashed into a bank overnight and had to be extricated. Robert Morano, 51, will be charged with negligent operation of a motor vehicle and a marked lanes violation. Morano's current condition is unclear after paramedics first took him to Good Samaritan Hospital, then airlifted him to Brigham & Women's. A man who had to be extricated from a car after crashing into a Massachusetts bank overnight will face several charges. Brockton authorities said the driver, identified as 51-year-old Robert Morano, will be charged with negligent operation of a motor vehicle, marked lanes violation, destruction of property, carrying a loaded firearm without a license, carrying a loaded firearm while intoxicated, and unlawful possession of ammunition. Morano was allegedly speeding in his Hyundai on Oak Street around 2:30 a.m. Friday when he appeared to lose control of his car and hit a curb leading into the parking lot of a CVS, according to Brockton police. The Hyundai went airborne and landed on the sidewalk leading to the entrance of a Webster Bank, taking out two handicapped parking signs and a light pole before crashing into the bank and flipping over on its roof, trapping Morano inside, police said. Police said officers arrived when the alarm went off. "They were notified by the alarm company that there was a car in the building," said Brockton Fire Captain Richard Costa. While firefighters worked to extricate Morano from the vehicle, authorities said the suspect told emergency workers that he had just left a bar. "The driver was alert when we arrived on scene, still located in the front seat of the vehicle," Costa said. Morano was taken by paramedics to Good Samaritan Hospital and eventually airlifted to Brigham & Women's Hospital in Boston. He remained hospitalized on Friday afternoon but his condition wasn't immediately clear. Police said the investigating officer recovered a loaded handgun from the scene. Morano's license to carry was expired. Authorities said they are waiting on medical records to determine whether additional charges are appropriate. It is not clear when Morano will be arraigned or if he has an attorney. The investigation is ongoing. The sheriffs office on Thursday released a list of potential years and models that might match the car involved, and are requesting residents who might have noticed any of these models with front-end damage to call call the Lake County Sheriffs Office at 847-549-5200 or Lake County CrimeStoppers at 847-662-2222. When he left the Navy, he enrolled in Lake Forest College at the age of 38 and received a bachelor's degree and furthered his studies at Roosevelt University. Upon graduation, he was hired into the North Chicago School District, where he taught and was a counselor for 21 years. DANBURY The company redeveloping the Matrix Corporate Center has agreed to pay a hefty annual fee to Danbury schools to alleviate concerns that hundreds of apartments planned at the site would overburden already crowded public schools. The agreement is expected to save a plan that Mayor Mark Boughton has said would have been a nonstarter otherwise. Boughton announced the agreement, which he says is the first of its kind in Connecticut, during his annual State of the City speech at the Greater Danbury Chamber of Commerce luncheon Friday morning. Were proud that weve been able to work on an agreement that is fair, that is just and that is going to be the first one ever done in the state, Boughton said. Were proud that our partners understand the impact their extra students might have on our classrooms and have agreed to pay. Summit Development closed a $17 million purchase for the long-underused, 1.2 million-square-foot Matrix building in October. The plan, to be called The Ridge at Danbury, calls for 400,000 square feet of residential units, 600,000 square feet of office and retail space, and another 100,000 for a new conference center. Boughtons so-called student impact fee is envisioned as a per-unit fee on each apartment the Southport-based company constructs at the former Union Carbide campus on the citys west side. The fee would raise about $550,000 in its first year, based on current redevelopment plans, in addition to its $860,000 annual tax bill, he said. It will increase to $650,000 and then $750,000 over the next several years as the project is built out and the city will reap the fee through 2039, per the agreement, Boughton added. In addition, the project will not use any tax deferral incentives to complete the project and Summit Development will pay the fee up front, instead of waiting until the project is complete, he said. THE STATE OF THE CITY Mayor Mark Boughton's initiatives for 2019 include: Acquiring the state's Interstate 84 Welcome Center Using the iconic First Congregational Church of Danbury as a community performing arts hall A $4 million project to rebuild downtown sidewalks and landscaping See More Collapse Its fair and it gets a piece of property back on the tax rolls thats been underutilized ever since Union Carbide left, essentially, Boughton said. Summit Development President Felix Charney confirmed the city and company had been working on the agreement immediately after the speech, but he was unavailable to comment further on the fees or timing of the project. Boughton said he has been told Summit expects the entire redevelopment to take 2.5 years to complete. The project still needs a series of reviews and approvals from city planning staff, but the impact fee agreement will ease many of City Hall and school administrators concerns about its effect on the growing school district. Impact fees are a tool used in states across the country to require developers to contribute a certain amount of money to specific purposes to ensure the final product pays for the public services it uses, such as roads, sewers or schools. Those fees are frequently built into state law and require complex modeling and calculations to determine the amount any type of development of any size should have to pay based on its expected impact to services. The proposed student impact fee is far less formal because there is no state law establishing a formal procedure for such fees, Boughton said. Instead, city staff made a more generalized estimation of about how many children. They plan to apply similar student impact fees to future, major residential development project, Boughton said. In addition to the new fee, Boughton outlined a series of new initiatives in the works for 2019. The plans include the city acquiring the iconic First Congregational Church of Danbury for a nominal fee in exchange for maintenance and preservation. The parish would still use it for services, but the city could also use the 800-person sanctuary space as a performing arts hall on other nights, Boughton suggested. After a tumultuous year in which Boughton lost in a hotly contested primary for governor and recovered from surgery to remove a benign brain tumor last year, he reflected on ending the year on a positive note. Im alive and Im doing what I love to do and I get paid for it, he said. It doesnt get any better than that. Serving as your mayor has been the highest honor. zach.murdock@hearstmediact.com The Amanda Rose Salon & Boutique in New Milford is all about giving back to the community this holiday season. The Route 202 business is showcasing a giving tree to support the Animal Welfare Society in New Milford, an independent, nonprofit and non-destroy animal rescue on Dodd Road. Animal Welfare is a great cause and they give a lot to the town, said owner Amanda Shrack of why she decided to launch the campaign. Items from the shelters wish list are listed on ornaments hung on the giving tree. Patrons are invited to purchase an item on an ornament. Founded in 1965, the shelter serves New Milford, Bridgewater, Roxbury, Washington and Roxbury. Were thrilled she chose us, said AWS manager Renee Gardner. Its flattering. Its about giving back, Gardner said. To have a business do this, its great. Gardner said since the temperature has dropped, the number of animals at the shelter has increased, a common occurrence at this time of year. Community support such as this provides the necessary supplies to care for the cats and dogs. Shes a good egg, said resident and client Enza Sorbara of Shrack and her charitable act. Shrack also sought sponsors for the holiday campaign. In five days, she received $1,000 to support AWS. Patrons who donate an item listed on an ornament will receive a discount or coupon for a service at the salon. Donations for the shelter will be accepted through the rest of the month. Shrack, 26, will celebrate her salons fourth anniversary in February, a month after she expects to add discounted wedding dresses. Theyll be just as good, but wont have the designer name, said Shrack. By spring, Shrack hopes to add professional hair care products to her salon and prom dresses to the boutique and, by sometime next year, a mobile bridal bus to serve wedding parties. The addition of wedding dresses in a few months will complement the existing services offered at the 72 Park Lane Road (Route 202) salon: hair color, cuts, styling and smoothing; bridal party and special event makeup and hair styling; and facial waxing. Cuts for men, women and children are available, but the majority of her clients are women and children. The owner also recently added custom-made headpieces using pins, hair combs and clips, as well as crocheted head bands to her boutique. She said she expects she will eventually incorporate veils into the custom headpieces, too. Its a creative outlet, Shrack said of the headbands and headpieces she makes while at home, away from her day job as a para-educator and her time at the salon. I think shes a great stylist, said Sorbara, who has been a client at the salon for about two years. I like her technique. Sorbara said Shrack is totally easy to work with, accommodating and flexible. Shannon Powell, of New Milford, and her three children have been Shracks clients for six years. I wouldnt trust anyone else, said Powell. She listens exactly to what you want and will give you her honest professional opinion. She really knows what she doing. Powell praised Shracks patience with clients, including Powells children, one of whom is nervous and scared when its time to get a haircut. The New Milford native has always had a knack for the beauty industry. Even as a child, Shrack styled her sisters hair. That passion led her to beauty school at Riccis Academy of Cosmetology, now TONI&GUY in Newtown, in the evenings while still in high school. After graduating, Shrack knew she didnt want to work for anyone else. If I have a passion for something, I have to do it my way, she said. So, I took a leap and opened a salon. I wouldnt do it anywhere but New Milford, she added. Shrack, a color and bridal specialist, is joined by fellow stylist Alison Merritt-Pelillo. Asked why she enjoys the beauty industry, Shrack said, It makes people feel good about themselves. The Amanda Rose Salon & Boutique at 72 Park Lane Road (Route 202) in New Milford is open Tuesdays through Fridays from 3:30 to 7:30 p.m., Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Sundays and Mondays by appointment. Appointments are strongly recommended. For more information, call 860-671-8486 or email amandarosesalon@gmail.com. Researchers have unearthed a strain of plague bacteria Yersinia pestis, in a woman who was buried in Sweden during the stone ages. This is one of the earliest strains of plague discovered and the results of the study titled, Emergence and spread of basal lineages of Y. pestis during the Neolithic decline, were published in the latest issue of the journal Cell. 3D illustration Enterobacterias. Gram negativas Proteobacteria, bacteria such as salmonella, escherichia coli, yersinia pestis, klebsiella. Image Credit: Rost9 / Shutterstock The researchers found a 20 year old woman who belonged to the farming community and was one of the 78 persons who were found in a passage grave in Gokhem in western Sweden. The team undertook genetic tests to look at the possible causes of death. The DNA from her teeth showed the ancient strain of the plague which was dated from around 5,000 years ago. This was also noted in another person buried alongside her. Nicolas Rascovan, a biologist at Aix-Marseille University in Marseille, France, lead author of the study said that a grave with so many individuals could mean that they all died of the plague epidemic. This tomb was of limestone and was dated to Neolithic times he added. This is considered to be the oldest evidence of plague, according to the researchers. Simon Rasmussen at the University of Copenhagen in a statement said, This is the earliest strain of the plague that we know about, and it probably played a big role in the decline of the population. You suddenly have this big outbreak and a lot of people are going to die. The strain of plague detected at Gokhem is one that causes pneumonic plague explain researchers. This type of plague that affects the lungs commonly, is more severe and rapidly fatal compared to bubonic plague that mainly affects the lymph nodes. Black Death across Europe in the 14th Century killed around 200 million people and that was an epidemic of bubonic plague. According to Rasmussen the origin of the plague as a disease among humans can be said to have appeared around 6,000 years back in regions that are now Ukraine, Romania and Moldova. These areas were inhabited by tens of thousands of individuals and there was overcrowding, poor hygiene and sanitation and close proximity to animals. All of these led to breeding of pathogens he explained. The researchers went on to write that plague bacteria first appeared among the Eurasians living in settlements around 5,700 years back. It spread rapidly among populations that were farmers via traders and trading routes. The traders travelled via horse drawn carts and took the microbes with them to far off lands. According to the scientists there was a collapse of these large settlements and plague epidemics could be one of the reasons for such declines. This decline is called the neolithic decline which led to a fall in the European populations around 5,500 years back. Rasmussen explained, We know that there was this decline in the population in neolithic times and that made it possible for people to migrate into Europe. When that happened, it completely changed the genetic makeup of the early Europeans. It turned Europeans into what they are today. This movement brought with it the strains of the microbes, the researchers added. There are a large number of babies who are diagnosed with milk allergy and are being supplemented with lactose free infant milk formula. Experts have claimed that this over diagnosis could be due to the influences of the formula industry. The results of the investigation titled, Over diagnosis and industry influence: how cows milk protein allergy is extending the reach of infant formula manufacturers, was published in the latest issue of the British Medical Journal. Image Credit: Patrik Jech / Shutterstock The researchers write that there has been a six fold rise in diagnoses of infant formula allergies over the past one decade. They have warned that it is not possible that so many more babies are developing cows milk allergies over this short period of time. The team explains that the guidelines that dictate the ways how milk allergy is diagnosed among babies is also influences by the manufacturers of formula feed for babies. There are industry-funded bodies that run the allergy training sessions and CMEs for doctors as well as health care professionals. This is leading to irrational and unnecessary proscription of the these non-allergenic formula. One of the major problems with this is the mistaken belief that breast milk could be allergenic to the baby and this may discourage breastfeeding. Dr Fiona Godlee, editor-in-chief of the BMJ, said, The growth in prevalence of cows' milk protein allergy [CMPA] has all the hallmarks of over diagnosis fuelled by commercial interests. We need tighter diagnostic criteria and guidelines drawn up by experts who are free from financial conflicts of interest. The report shows that between 2000 and 2016 there has been a rise from 105,000 to more than 600,000 annually in prescriptions for specialist formula milks prescribed to those who are allergic to regular milk. The report adds that the NHS was spending 8.1million on these specialist formula and is now spending to more than 60 million annually on these preparations. Nigel Rollins, of the World Health Organisations' department of maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health in a statement said, It's reasonable to question whether these increases reflect a true increase in prevalence. Dr Chris van Tulleken, lead author of this study and honorary senior lecturer, University College London Hospital said, The extensive links between the formula industry and the research, guidelines, medical education, and public awareness efforts around CMPA have raised the question of industry-driven over diagnosis. He pointed out that in the board of NICE (NHS body for guidelines development) that drew up the allergy guidelines, 5 of the 11 had declared their associations with the infant formula industry. Further the international guidelines released in 2007 and 2010 were sponsored by formula manufacturers. The five authors of the 2013 Milk Allergy in Primary Care guidance had conflicts of interest. This is unacceptable, he said. Dr van Tulleken wrote in the article, The Allergy Academy, which is sponsored by three infant formula manufacturers, delivers courses on Guy's and St Thomas' premises [in London]. These are described by the trust as private 'evidence-based training days for healthcare professionals. He referred to these specialists formulas as Trojan horses saying that companies use these to market their other baby formulas via doctors which are normally banned from marketing. He wrote, The belief that specialist formulas are exempt from the code may be enabling manufacturers to justify this network of links with clinicians and institutions to pursue a wider agenda. The World Health Organisation (WHO) also believes that this trend could have an adverse effect on breastfeeding. Larry Grummer Strawn, a technical officer at WHO, in a statement said, The influence that the formula industry has on young health professionals is likely an important reason for the lukewarm support for breastfeeding that we often encounter. Declan O'Brien, director general of the British Specialist Nutrition Association, whose members include Danone Nutricia, Mead Johnson and Nestle in a statement defending the charges said, We recognise the need to put in place policies to ensure that potential conflicts of interest can be managed and avoided. The measures in the Infant Formula Industry Code are in line with the WHO Code, UK regulations, the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry code and General Medical Council guidance. Serving three communities with just one library can be a bit of a challenge. According to Nicholas Hyten, coordinator of information services for the Zion-Benton Public Library, the organization plans to do more in 2019 to draw in Winthrop Harbor and Beach Park residents to make them see it's their library, too. Organ procurement teams are sometimes leery of accepting kidneys from deceased donors with acute kidney injury (AKI), fearing they will harm the recipients. However, a national study chaired by a Johns Hopkins kidney specialist suggests these fears may be unfounded. In medical chart reviews of 2,430 kidneys transplanted from 1,298 donors--585 (24 percent) of them with AKI--researchers say they found no significant differences in rates of organ rejection among kidneys from deceased donors with or without AKI. They also report they found no evidence that factors such as the amount of time an organ is chilled and left without blood supply before transplantation had any impact on recipient outcomes for those who received AKI kidneys. Results of the study, published Nov. 20 in the journal Kidney International, suggest that patients in need of kidney transplant could have access to more kidneys--potentially shortening organ waiting list times, the investigators say. With the field of medicine moving toward a system that focuses on the improvement of patient safety while reducing health care costs, this research is a step forward in the high-value health care movement. "Our results should add to evidence and reassure the general public and the transplant community that acutely injured deceased-donor kidneys appear to have the same success rates as noninjured kidneys from otherwise similar donors," says Chirag R. Parikh, M.B.B.S., Ph.D., director of the Division of Nephrology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and senior study author. "Even transplanted kidneys with the highest severity of AKI did not have worse outcomes, so we should bring these kidneys into the donor pool with confidence," Parikh adds. An estimated 95,000 Americans are on the national kidney transplant waiting list, according to the U.S. Organ Procurement and Transplantation Networks. Given the organ shortage, says Parikh, the transplant community should pursue measures to increase use of kidneys from deceased donors with AKI. AKI affects about one-third of patients in intensive care units, Parikh says. Hospitalized patients are likely to develop AKI as a complication resulting from reduced blood supply, or administration of medications to increase blood pressure, or from being placed on ventilators. Deceased donors are likely to develop AKI if they spent time in an ICU following a trauma or other medical or surgical complications. Physicians worry about patients who develop AKI because they are more likely to have negative long-term consequences, such as chronic kidney disease or premature death, Parikh says. It remains unclear if transplanting a kidney from a donor with AKI would have similar consequences. Nationwide, the discard or rejection rate for all potential donor kidneys is approximately 18 percent, and for AKI kidneys about 30 percent, Parikh says. "We estimate there may be approximately 500 kidneys a year with AKI that are currently discarded, but can be transplanted." Some criteria that surgeons use around decisions for kidney discard include the presence of diabetes, hypertension or poor kidney donor profile index--a standard measure of how likely a kidney is to function over time. The current study had two parts. In the first section, researchers conducted transplant chart reviews for kidneys from 1,298 donors in five regional organ procurement organizations (Philadelphia, Michigan, New York, New Jersey and New England) from 2010-2013, and linked them to 2,430 single kidney transplant recipients via the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network's national transplant registry. Donors with AKI, compared with donors without AKI, were more often African-American (24 percent versus 13 percent), more likely to have hypertension (36 percent versus 29 percent), and had a higher average kidney donor profile index (56 versus 46). Recipients of AKI kidneys versus non-AKI kidneys were more often older (55 versus 52 years old), and donor AKI kidney transplants had longer mean cold ischemia time (16.4 hours versus 14.9 hours)--the amount of time an organ is chilled before transplantation. The AKI kidneys also were more likely to undergo machine perfusion (a technique to push fluids through the organ to preserve it), a difference of 46 percent versus 37 percent, and slightly more likely to have human leukocyte antigen mismatches--a measure of how compatible a donor and recipient will be based on cell proteins. During an average follow-up period of four years, there were 623 (26 percent) kidneys that had permanent failure, so-called graft failures. This occurred in 475 (26 percent) recipients of AKI kidneys and 148 (25 percent) recipients of non-AKI kidneys. The severity of AKI did not impact graft failure rates. In the second part of the study, investigators examined recipient charts from a subgroup of 739 kidneys from 601 donors transplanted at 12 medical centers. They found graft failures or progression to kidney disease in 143 (19 percent) of the recipients (40 recipients received AKI kidneys and 103 received non-AKI kidneys). Kidney transplant potentially saves the health care system more than $250,000 per year for each patient in costs related to dialysis treatments, medications and hospitalizations, says Parikh: "Hopefully this study will provide confidence to surgeons that they can transplant these kidneys and expect good outcomes." The researchers caution it is possible that donor AKI kidneys selected for transplant have a more favorable risk factor distribution than the donor kidneys without AKI. In addition, donor AKI kidneys may be less likely to be selected for transplant unless they have other, more favorable characteristics such as younger age and an absence of other chronic health conditions. Researchers receive funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to capture vital signs via video As biometric systems -- technologies which measure biological information to identify a person -- continue to advance, their potential impact on health care capabilities surge. Via tools such as fingerprint recognition, face recognition, iris and retina recognition, and vein recognition, health care workers are provided with increasingly sophisticated ways to monitor patients. Researchers from Penn State and Johns Hopkin University are working to develop additional capabilities by capturing vital signs of patients in resource-constrained environments with a device most Americans use every day -- a cellphone camera. Funded by an initial $100,000 pilot grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the project, "Non-Contact Estimation of Biomarkers in Resource-Constrained Environments," uses cellphone camera and computer vision techniques to capture patients' vital signs at distances of up to four feet away -- a critical distance needed for highly contagious diseases like Ebola or tuberculosis. Led by Conrad Tucker, associate professor of engineering design and industrial engineering at Penn State, the mobile application will register natural head and body movements, distinguish between different skin tones and lighting conditions, and capture vital signs such as an individual's pulse rate. Collaborators at Johns Hopkins include Dr. William Checkley, associate professor of medicine and director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Global Non Communicable Diseases Research and Training, and his team of researchers. Jeffrey Gray, professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Johns Hopkins, played an instrumental role in connecting the Penn State and Johns Hopkins teams. "Our mobile-based application seeks to expand beyond a 'wellness app' classification by the FDA, to an FDA-approved tool that can be used by patients and healthcare officials for measuring vitals at a distance and in varying environments and populations all across the globe," Tucker said. "This pilot grant is a first step towards this goal, as it will enable the team to evaluate the technology that we've developed in real-world settings involving hardware, environmental and societal constraints." To test the proposed application in real-world situations, Tucker and doctoral student Sakthi Prakash will travel to India and Sierra Leone in December 2018 and March 2019. Testing locations were selected due to the team's hands-on experience in these countries, along with the opportunity to engage with a diverse group of individuals to test in varying environmental conditions. Penn State faculty members Soundar Kumara, Allen E. Pearce and Allen M. Pearce Professor of Industrial Engineering, and M. Jeya Chandra, professor emeritus in industrial engineering, have helped the team forge new collaborations in India. University of Illinois faculty member Paul McNamara, associate professor of agricultural and consumer economics, helped the team achieve similar collaborations through his established stakeholder network in Sierra Leone. Initial findings will be presented to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in early 2019. A return trip to India and Sierra Leone will take place in summer 2019 to collect additional data. Pilot results are expected to be released after the return trip. The team has tested the application's functionality on the Xiaomi Redmi 6 and the Samsung Galaxy J7 Prime, cellphones that are typically used in these countries, due to their relative affordability and availability in these areas. "It's one thing to demonstrate the feasibility of an algorithm in a controlled environment in a research lab. It's another thing for technology to function as intended in the field, where researchers have less control of the human and environmental factors," Tucker said. "This will be an excellent opportunity to integrate user-centered design, concepts that form the foundation for many of the engineering design courses that are taught in SEDTAPP here at Penn State." On Nov. 26, Tucker traveled to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation headquarters in Seattle to meet with a program manager from the foundation and members of the team to demo the mobile app that the team has developed and to discuss the team's plan of action for their upcoming international travel. A team from the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC) led by Dr. Donald Vinh, the RI's so-called "Dr. House" because of his research into rare diseases, has discovered a new human disease and the gene responsible for it, paving the way for the proper diagnosis of patients globally and the development of new therapies. Their findings are published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine. Dr. Vinh has coined this new disease 'combined immunoficiency' or 'CID,' and the gene responsible for it 'ICOSLG'. The disease is characterized by a weakened immune system and, because the body's ability to fight off infections is crippled, patients are susceptible to recurrent life-threatening infections such as pneumonias and debilitating infections, such as progressive warts. New disease that affects the immune system "This discovery will help patients who have escaped diagnosis - to now - be correctly diagnosed. By doing so, patients could benefit from aggressive monitoring of potential complications and earlier implementation of tailored therapies," explains Dr. Vinh, a researcher from the Infectious Diseases and Immunity in Global Health Program of the RI-MUHC and an associate professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases at McGill University. "Pinpointing this gene, will also help scientists identify who else in the family is at risk, including newborn babies before they become sick." Gene with a link to Chromosome 21 The scientist says the knock-on from this discovery is the glimpse into whether it causes the immune deficiency reported in Down syndrome, which occurs as these individuals get older. "This gene is on Chromosome 21 and it turns out that Down syndrome's patients, who have three Chromosomes of 21 (instead of the usual two), have a similar problem with their immune system. We're looking to see if this causes the immune deficiency reported in adults with Down's syndrome," says Dr. Vinh, whose study of genetic defects of the immune system has fueled his "medical detective" reputation. A patient with similar symptoms to the "Bubble Boy" Dr. Vinh's discovery originated with the medical investigation of a 36-year-old male patient who had endured recurrent sinusitis and pneumonias, yeast infections and viral infections since childhood. Researchers used a state-of-the-art technique called 'Whole Exome Sequencing' inside Dr. Vinh's laboratory to evaluate the patient's genes and perform sophisticated analysis of his genes compared to that of his family members, to identify the abnormal gene that was responsible for his disease. "At the clinical level, previous evaluations did not look at all his symptoms in their entirety as one disease but as individual and unrelated problems. But once you start putting the abnormalities together, you see our patient's case was similar to that of the "Bubble Boy," which was the most severe form. Our patient's disease is in the same family of conditions but because he was an adult, nobody thought to explore this possibility," says Dr. Vinh, who explains the "Bubble Boy" name was given to a young child in the Seventies who was forced to live in a sterile bubble from birth due to his severely weakened immune system. "Once we related our patient to the Bubble Boy's disease, which we know is genetic, we discovered this new gene," says Dr. Vinh, who collaborated with Dr. Andre Veillette, the Director of the IRCM Molecular Oncology Research Unit at the Montreal Clinical Research Institute (IRCM) in the study. "We are so relieved to finally receive a diagnosis, after so many years of doctors not knowing what was wrong with me, and with the research providing the potential for eventual treatment for me. And knowing that our children are not affected is a major comfort," says the French-Canadian patient, who resides in Eastern Quebec with his wife and two young children. Dr. Vinh has already received numerous requests from physicians around the world to test patients who may have the same medical condition diagnosed in his own patient, providing hope for both patients and their families. A booklet, in Swahili and English, could help teachers in Tanzania improve conditions for pupils with albinism in their schools. It has been written by Lancaster University academic Dr Charlotte Baker in collaboration with a team from the Albinism in Africa network founded by Dr Baker in 2014 with funding from the Wellcome Trust. The guide attempts to dispel many of the myths and perceptions surrounding albinism, to ensure that young people with this genetic condition have access to education and that their classrooms are accessible. Children with albinism are often excluded from education and, even when they are educated, they often face challenges in the school and classroom setting that range from physical barriers to learning, a lack of awareness of how to accommodate their low vision, and a set of myths and stereotypes that can make them a target of their peers. The booklet, also available as a pdf, will offer guidance to teachers on how to deal with offensive language and behavior and the stereotyping of children with albinism which often has profound consequences. It will also offer practical advice to teachers as to how best to support the children - simple things such as wearing hats outside and sitting at the front of the classroom near the board and away from bright direct light to help with their low vision. The guide, a pilot, will also offer advice to head teachers to support teachers in their quest for a positive learning environment and understanding. It will initially be distributed to schools throughout Tanzania through the Standing Voice vision programme and, later, revised for distribution to teachers in other African countries where there are significant numbers of children with albinism. Doris Mbura, a teacher who took part in a focus group to support the development of the booklet, said "These children are the teachers and doctors of tomorrow. With this support they can be the best." The booklet production team includes Dr Patricia Lund (Coventry) and Dr Gareth Dart (Worcester), as well as the UK and Tanzania-based NGO Standing Voice and the Canadian NGO Under the Same Sun, which both promote the wellbeing of people with albinism through education and advocacy. The team's work on the booklet has been supported by the UN Independent Expert on the Enjoyment of Human Rights by Persons with Albinism, Ikponwosa Ero. Newborns with vitamin D deficiency have an increased risk of schizophrenia later in life, a team of Australian and Danish researchers has reported. The discovery could help prevent some cases of the disease by treating vitamin D deficiency during the earliest stages of life. The study, led by Professor John McGrath from The University of Queensland (UQ) in Australia and Aarhus University in Denmark, found newborns with vitamin D deficiency had a 44 per cent increased risk of being diagnosed with schizophrenia as adults compared to those with normal vitamin D levels. "Schizophrenia is a group of poorly understood brain disorders characterized by symptoms such as hallucinations, delusions and cognitive impairment," he said. "As the developing fetus is totally reliant on the mother's vitamin D stores, our findings suggest that ensuring pregnant women have adequate levels of vitamin D may result in the prevention of some schizophrenia cases, in a manner comparable to the role folate supplementation has played in the prevention of spina bifida." Professor McGrath, of UQ's Queensland Brain Institute, said the study, which was based on 2602 individuals, confirmed a previous study he led that also found an association between neonatal vitamin D deficiency and an increased risk of schizophrenia. The team made the discovery by analyzing vitamin D concentration in blood samples taken from Danish newborns between 1981 and 2000 who went on to develop schizophrenia as young adults. The researchers compared the samples to those of people matched by sex and date of birth who had not developed schizophrenia. Professor McGrath said schizophrenia is associated with many different risk factors, both genetic and environmental, but the research suggested that neonatal vitamin D deficiency could possibly account for about eight per cent of schizophrenia cases in Denmark. "Much of the attention in schizophrenia research has been focused on modifiable factors early in life with the goal of reducing the burden of this disease," he said. "Previous research identified an increased risk of schizophrenia associated with being born in winter or spring and living in a high-latitude country, such as Denmark. "We hypothesized that low vitamin D levels in pregnant women due to a lack of sun exposure during winter months might underlie this risk, and investigated the association between vitamin D deficiency and risk of schizophrenia." Professor McGrath said that although Australia had more bright sunshine compared to Denmark, vitamin D deficiency could still be found in pregnant women in Australia because of our lifestyle and sun-safe behavior. Professor McGrath, who holds a prestigious Niels Bohr Professorship at Aarhus University, also led a 2016 Dutch study that found a link between prenatal vitamin D deficiency and increased risk of childhood autism traits. "The next step is to conduct randomized clinical trials of vitamin D supplements in pregnant women who are vitamin D deficient, in order to examine the impact on child brain development and risk of neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism and schizophrenia." Watch Out for Exit Polls at News18.com from 5 pm | After voting ends for the last two states at 5 pm, News18.com will bring you its exit poll that will give you an insight into voters' views and polling trends in Telangana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram. You can also watch the exit polls live on CNN-News18 for our extensive broadcast coverage. Clashes broke out between workers of the Congress and Hanuman Beniwal's RLP in Sikar district. Security forces and the paramilitary rushed to the scene and brought situation under control, India Today reported. The cause of the clashes remains unclear. #ElectionsWithNews18 - The power of numbers comes alive with Indias most trusted psephologist the man who got Bihar and Uttar Pradesh right, Surjit Bhalla. #BattleForTheStates #RoadTo2019 Tune in to CNN-News18 on 7th December, 2018 from 5 PM onwards. pic.twitter.com/036ioLIOiD Poll of Polls With News18 | Don't forget to log onto News18.com for exit polls this evening. Also, watch it live on CNN-News18 with psephologist Surjit Bhalla. According to a report in ABP News, clashes that broke out in Rajasthan's Sikar district between the Congress and the RLP, occurred in Fatehpur town. Rajasthan: Vehicles were set ablaze&vandalised in a clash which broke out b/w 2 groups at polling booth at Subhash school in Sikar's Fatehpur today. Voting remained affected for 30 minutes. Miscreants were later removed from spot by police&voting resumed. #RajasthanElections pic.twitter.com/x6nQChT0vR Vehicles were set ablaze and vandalised in a clash which broke at a polling booth at Subhash school in Sikar. Voting remained affected for 30 minutes, ANI reported. Selfies of people proudly showing off inked fingers flooded social media as Rajasthan went to polls Friday in 199 out of the 200 Assembly constituencies. Voters, particularly youngsters, took to platforms like WhatsApp, Twitter and Facebook to post their pictures after exercising their franchise. "Having voted is also a source of pride in the democracy. Therefore, I put a status (on social media about having voted) as soon as I came out of the polling station," a voter Girish Sharma said. "Have chosen my future, you too show up," read the status of Deepesh Goyal, who voted in Ajmer. Nearly 60 per cent of the 4.74 crore registered voters cast their vote by the 3 pm in Rajasthan as the state witnessed brisk polling in the assembly elections Friday. With two hours still to go before the end of polling, 59.14 percentage of the votes had been cast, according to the Election Commission website. Polling for 199 seats out of the total 200 in the assembly began at 8 am with voters lining up at 51,687 booths. A senior police officer said polling was going on peacefully and elaborate security arrangements are in place. Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, Pradesh Congress Committee chief Sachin Pilot and other leaders were among those who exercised their franchise. Raje (Jhalrapatan), Pilot (Tonk), former chief minister Ashok Gehlot (Sardarpura) are among the 2,274 candidates in the fray. Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje on Friday demanded action against former JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav for body shaming her during an election rally, saying she felt insulted by his comments and the Election Commission must take cognisance.Yadav made the personal comments, calling Raje fat and asking people to give her rest, while addressing a rally in Alwar on the last day of campaigning in Rajasthan on Wednesday. The chief minister said that Yadav had not only hurt her with his sexist and misogynistic comments, but insulted all women. In many parts of Rajasthan, more than 20% votes were cast in the first three hours of polling which started at 8 am.Waiting in a queue to cast his vote in Sanganer Assembly constituency of Jaipur, Mohan Singh said, "I have come with my grandchildren who are minors, but it is good for them to see the polling process. It makes them aware." It is not just the elders, youths too were excited about casting votes. "Quality education and employment are the main issue for youngsters. There is a need to improve education infrastructure in the state, because many of us have to go out of the state for higher studies," Utkarsh Agnihotri, a first-time voter, who is preparing for NEET said in Jaipur. In border districts of Barmer and Jaisalmer, people reached polling booths walking several miles through the desert to cast their votes Friday. People here had to walk long distances as polling booths are located at far off places. Both the districts share border with Pakistan and is part of the Thar desert region. Despite hardships, people from remote villages came out to vote with a noticeable number of women seen at the polling stations. One such voter is 101-year-old Pali Devi who voted at a booth in Barmer. People of Rajasthan have been voting since 8 this morning for 199 seats of the state assembly. In Bundi district's Hindoli area, 102-year-old Kisni Bai reached the polling booth with the help of a stick to cast her vote. Voting started with delay of nearly an hour at Sathur and Mandi polling booths in Hindoli. In other areas of the districts, the pace of voting was slow resulting in long queues at most of the booths. In Jodhpur district, long queues were seen outside several polling booths. An elderly priest who turned up to vote, said he voted for "dharam ki raksha" or protection of religion. In Baran district, people in Sukhnair village of Chipabadaud stayed away from polling. They said they were not satisfied with any political party. None of the parties showed concern for local issues, one of the villagers said. Watch Out for Exit Polls at News18.com from 5 pm | After voting ends for the last two states at 5 pm, News18.com will bring you its exit poll that will give you an insight into voters' views and polling trends in Telangana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram. You can also watch the exit polls live on CNN-News18 for our extensive broadcast coverage. A voter smiles as she shows identity card during the state Assembly elections, at a polling station in Ajmer, Friday, Dec.07, 2018. (PTI Photo) Rahul Asks party Workers to be Alert | Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday asked party workers to be vigilant after polls close in Rajasthan and Telangana, saying in "Modi's India, the EVMs have mysterious powers". Gandhi on Thursday had urged party workers in two states to put all their efforts at their respective polling booths to ensure the party's win in both the states. Congress party workers, be vigilant after polls close today. In MP, EVM's behaved strangely after polling: Some stole a and vanished for 2 days! Others slipped away & were found drinking in a hotel. In Modis India, the EVMs have mysterious powers Stay alert! pic.twitter.com/DViNl8fdPC Taking to Twitter on Friday, Gandhi asked party workers to be vigilant after polls close. "In MP, EVM's behaved strangely after polling: Some stole a bus and vanished for 2 days! Others slipped away & were found drinking in a hotel. In Modi's India, the EVMs have mysterious powers," he said, in an apparent reference to media reports that Electronic Voting Machines or EVMs reached a collection centre in Madhya Pradesh 48 hours after voting ended on November 28. Highest voter turnout has been recorded in Jaisalmer and Pokhran seats, with 70.31% and 71.29%, respectively. Jalore, Kota North, Jodhpur, Marwar Junction, Ajmer North have recorded the lowest voter turnouts. In the 2013 assembly polls, BJP had won 163 seats, while as Congress and BSP had taken 21 and 3 seats, respectively. 13 seats had gone to others. Bikaner Demands Extension in Voting | People standing in queues for several hours in Bikaner, due to faulty EVMs, are demanding an extension in voting time. People in Sardarpura and Jodhpur have made similar demands, the FIrstpost reported. Over 72% voter turnout has been recorded in Rajasthan till 5 pm as polling is still underway there. All-Women Booths Evoke Mixed Response | The Election Commission's move to set up all-woman booths for the assembly polls in Rajasthan received a mixed response with the voters giving it a thumbs up but the polling staff expressing some reservations. In a first-of-its-kind experiment in the state, the polling staff and security personnel at 259 out of the state's total 51,687 polling booths are all women. Fifty of these booths have been set up in Jaipur alone. Both men and women can caste votes at these booths. Women voters lauded the initiative. Sadulshahar, Suratgarh, Raisingh Nagar, Anupgarh, Sangria, Pilibanga, Nohar, Kolayat, Shahpura (Jaipur), Chomu, Bari, Bayatu, Ghatol, Pratapgarh, Pokran, Ramganjmandi have recorded a turnout of over 80%. Meanwhile, low voting percentage has been recorded in Mewar region. TIMES NOW-CNX ON RAJASTHAN | The survey has forecast BJP to get 85 seats, the Congress 105 seats and 2 for BSP. The half way mark in the 200-seat Assembly is 101. In 2013, the BJP had won 163 seats, Congress had won 21, the BSP three and others 13. KEY CONTESTS IN RAJASTHAN | Vasundhara Raje, who is the BJP's chief ministerial candidate, fought against veteran BJP leader Jaswant Singh's son Manvendra Singh in Jhalrapatan, the constituency she has represented since 2003. Manvendra Singh switched to the Congress just before the election, making the fight tougher for Raje this time. She had won 63 per cent of the votes cast in 2013, winning the seat by a margin of 60,896. Tonk, with a sizeable Muslim population, is a keenly-watched contest between Sachin Pilot and BJP candidate and Rajasthan Transport Minister Yoonus Khan, who is the saffron party's only Muslim face in the elections. The BJP had initially fielded sitting MLA Ajit Singh Mehta in Tonk. But in a change of strategy, the party dropped him and sent Khan to take on Pilot. TURNOUT IN RAJASTHAN | Rajasthan is a high-stakes state for the Congress as it is hoping to ride the anti-incumbency wave against Vasundhara Raje. The state, which voted today, witnessed nearly 60 percent turnout till 3 pm. Of the 200 seats, 199 went to the polls. The election in Ramgarh constituency of Alwar district was put off following the death of Bahujan Samaj Party candidate Laxman Singh. The results will be out on December 11, along with those from MP, Telangana, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram. INDIA TODAY-AXIS ON RAJASTHAN | The survey has forecast BJP to get 55-72 seats, the Congress 119-141 seats. The majority mark in the 200-seat Assembly is 101. In 2013, the BJP had won 163 seats, Congress had won 21, the BSP three and others 13. TIMES NOW-CNX ON RAJASTHAN | The survey has forecast that the Congress will get 105 seats, BJP will get 85 seats and BSP will settle for 2. The half way mark in the 200-seat Assembly is 101. In 2013, the BJP had won 163 seats, Congress had won 21, the BSP three and others 13. NEWSX-NETA ON RAJASTHAN | The survey has forecast BJP to get 80 seats, the Congress 112 seats and 7 for others. The majority mark in the 200-seat Assembly is 101. In 2013, the BJP had won 163 seats, Congress had won 21, the BSP three and others 13. In the 200-seat Rajasthan Assembly, the Congress is hoping to capitalise on a perceived wave of anti-incumbency against Vasundhara Raje. FOLLOW THE EXIT POLLS HERE | Exit Poll Results LIVE: Pollsters Give Congress Edge in Rajasthan; Close Call in Chhattisgarh, MP. KCR's Gamble May Pay Off Congress leader Sachin Pilot also voted at a polling station in Jaipur even as technical glitches marred voting at several booths in Rajasthan. Meanwhile, after casting her vote in Jhalawar, chief minister Vasundhara Raje spoke to the media and expressed her dissatisfaction over Sharad Yadavs body-shaming comment. To set an example for future its important that EC takes cognisance of this kind of language. I actually feel insulted and I think any woman would, she said. Yadav had apparently said at an a rally that Raje should rest as she has grown fat over the years and might have got tired. Rajasthan Assembly Election LIVE Updates | Voters at two polling booths in Jalores Ahor constituency created ruckus after voting was halted due to technical EVM malfunction. Glitches related to voting machines were reported at several places. Despite that, the state registered 41% voter turnout till 1 pm. With just two hours left for polling, all eyes are now on exit polls. News18 will begin its extensive coverage of the exit polls soon after voting end. Over 2,000 candidates are in the fray for 199 assembly seats as elections are set to determine whether the BJP bucks anti-incumbency and an increasingly aggressive opposition to return to power. Votes will be cast at 51,687 polling booths, 259 of them managed exclusively by women officials and security personnel. It is a seen as a straight fight between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress for about 130 seats. In other constituencies, groups like the Bahujan Samaj Party and rebels who are contesting against official party candidates may queer the pitch. Vasundhara Raje hopes to return as the states chief minister. If the Congress wins, it is expected to pick between former chief minister Ashok Gehlot and state party president Sachin Pilot for the top post in the state. In the current House, the BJP has 160 seats and the Congress 25. Raje is contesting from Jhalrapatan constituency, considered her bastion. This time she face BJP veteran Jaswant Singhs son Manvendra Singh who has defected to the Congress, complaining that his old party had hurt the pride of the Rajputs by ignoring his father in the last Lok Sabha election. In Tonk, Sachin Pilot and Rajasthan Transport Minister and BJP candidate Yoonus Khan are face to face. Khan is the only Muslim candidate fielded by his party. Ashok Gehlot is fighting for the Sardarpura seat. The polling caps a hard-fought campaign between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party. Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed 12 major rallies and Congress president Rahul Gandhi nine in the state. Both sides fielded their top leaders in the campaign. Telangana and Rajasthan are the last states to go to the polls in the current round of assembly elections, which also covered Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram. The counting for all states is on December 11. Election officials said 2,274 candidates are contesting in Rajasthan which has 4.74 crore registered voters. About 1.44 lakh security personnel have been deployed for polling day. The state assembly has 200 seats, but election in Alwar districts Ramgarh constituency has been put off due to the death of Bahujan Samaj Party candidate Laxman Singh. More than two lakh electronic voting machines (EVMs) and verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines will be used in the elections, chief electoral officer Anand Kumar said Thursday. He said it was for the first time that VVPAT machines are being used in Rajasthan. The BJP has fielded candidates for all 199 seats and the Congress for 194. For the five remaining seats, the Congress is in alliance with other parties. The BSP fielded 190 candidates, the CPI (M) 28 and CPI 16. Of the total 4,74, 37,761 registered voters, 2.27 crore are women and 20,20,156 are registered as first-time voters, Kumar told reporters. In the run-up to the polling, the Election Commission received 3,784 complaints related to violation of code of conduct. Of them, 3,098 were found true, he said. He said 13,182 booths are being called critical. Micro observers will be deployed at 4,982 booths, videographers at 3,948 and there will be webcasting from 3,138. As many as 4,146 vulnerable villages have been identified. Central Reserve Police Force personnel will be stationed at 7,791 booths. Nearly Rs 15 crore has been seized as unaccounted cash during the campaign period. Liquor worth Rs 25 crore, drugs worth Rs 7.48 crore, gold and silver worth Rs 6.88 crore and vehicles worth Rs 11.89 crore were also seized. Over 4,000 illegal arms were seized after the model code of conduct came into force last month. Rajasthan Director General of Police O P Galhotra said foolproof security arrangements are in place. Read all the Latest News, Breaking News and Coronavirus News here File photo of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao. Meanwhile, Telugu stars K Chiranjeevi, Akkineni Nagarjuna and 'Baahubali' director SS Rajamouli were among top celebrities from the film industry to cast their votes in assembly elections. Tennis star Sania Mirza also exercised her franchise along with her family in Hyderabad. With just two hours left for polling, all eyes are now on the exit polls. News18.com will begin its extensive coverage of the probable trends soon after voting ends. After a high-voltage campaign that saw war of words among contending parties, Telangana votes for a new Assembly on Friday with the Congress-led alliance challenging the ruling TRS, and the BJP seeking to make it a triangular contest. Voting has started for 119 seats in the Telangana assembly elections but the start has been marred by glitches in Hyderabad, Pedapalle, Karimnagar and Khammam. There have also been reports of names going missing from electoral rolls. Among those who complained is Badminton player Jwala Gutta, who said she was surprised to see my name disappear from the voting list after checking online. Over 2.80 crore electorate are eligible to exercise their franchise in the State, which has a total of 32,815 polling stations across. Campaigning by political parties came to an end at 5 pm Wednesday. Additional DG (Law and order) Jitender Thursday said about one lakh police personnel including 25,000 central paramilitary forces and 20,000 from other states are engaged in poll duties. The assembly polls in Telangana were originally scheduled to be held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha elections next year, but the House was dissolved on September 6 as per a recommendation by the state cabinet. It is to be seen if KCR's gamble to opt for early elections pays off. The Congress has stitched together "Prajakutami" (People's Front) along with the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), the Telangana Jana Samiti (TJS) and the CPI to take on the ruling TRS, led by caretaker Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR). The TRS, seeking a second term in office, is going alone, as also the BJP. Learning of Barzees early release from prison in September, Smart said she felt betrayed, frustrated. At a recent parole hearing, Smart was told that Barzee would be incarcerated until 2024. Still, she said, she is not afraid and actually feels sorry for Barzee, whose own family wont have anything to do with her and whom Smart also considers a victim of Mitchells. The chefs are Zac Rogers from Elements, Eddie Sweeney from Catch 35 and Val Insignares from Midici. They will be using items from the Chicago-based Popeil and Ronco companies. The program will also feature vintage TV commercials, product demonstrations and audience participation challenges. Sorry! This content is not available in your region Its easy to understand how this happens. If were all thinking that we need to be the early bird, it negates the impact of actually being said bird. In reality, its actually the night owl who fares better on this count youre much more assured of open aisles and uncongested checkouts within Costcos last hour of the day than you are in the first hour that it opens. However, you have to be willing to contend with what could a few depleted shelves, which really just means you might have to settle for the 70-inch TV. New Delhi: Madhya Pradesh Exit Poll 2018: After 13 years in office, Bharatiya Janata Party's Shivraj Singh Chouhan is gearing up for a fourth straight term in Madhya Pradesh. According to News Nation Exit Poll, the BJP will bag 108-112 seats to retain power in the state yet again in 2018. In a neck-and-neck fight with the incumbent BJP, the Congress will get 105-109 seats. The BJP is projected to get 40 per cent of votes, while the Congress is likely to get 39 per cent of votes in Madhya Pradesh Elections 2018. In the 2013 Assembly polls, the BJP had won 165 seats and the Congress had won 58. Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party and independent candidates had won four and three seats, respectively. Going by the poll survey, Madhya Pradesh Election 2018 is being dominated by Unemployment (23 per cent) and Agricultural issue (13 per cent) followed by Corruption (10 per cent), Inflation (7 per cent) and several other ongoing factors (47%) in the state. BJP's Shivraj Singh Chouhan remains to be the preferred chief minister in the state with an impressive 43 per cent votes. Congress MP Jyotiraditya Scindia and Kamal Nath is the second and third choice with 29 and 10 per cent of total votes respectively. Read | Poll of exit polls Live Updates: Congress ahead in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, close contest in Madhya Pradesh While the BJP is eyeing a fourth straight term in Madhya Pradesh the Congress is hoping for a comeback after 15 years in the state, which was once its stronghold. In 2018 Assembly elections, Madhya Pradesh witnessed an increase in the voter turnout with a record 75 per cent voters turning up at polling stations to exercise their franchise. In 2013, the polling percentage was 72.13 per cent in Madhya Pradesh. Hence, there was an increase of about 2.5 per cent. Assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh was mainly dominated by EVM issues with the Congress alleging illegalities in deposit of EVMs in the strong room. The Assembly elections to the 230-member strong Assembly was held in a single phase on November 28. The counting of votes will take place along with Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram and Telangana on December 11. Read | Chhattisgarh Exit Poll 2018: BJP's Raman Singh likely to lose state after 15 years, Ajit Jogi to be kingmaker However, different exit polls have predicted different results in Madhya Pradesh. According to India Today-Axis My India, India TV, Republic TV-Jan Ki Baat, Times Now -CNX, the BJP is likely to emerge as the single largest party in the state. But as per the poll suevey by India News MP-NETA, News 24-Pace Media, Republic-C-Voters and ABP News the Congress will make a huge comeback in the state after 15 long years. Madhya Pradesh Exit Poll 2018 LIVE UPDATES: 06:29 pm: What is the biggest issue in Madhya Pradesh? Unemployment: 23%, Agriculture:13%, Corruption: 10%, Inflation: 7% and Others: 47% 06:25 pm: Who is the first choice for Chief Minister in Madhya Pradesh? Shivraj Singh Chouhan leads with 43%, Jyotiraditya Scindia: 29%, Kamal Nath 10% and Others: 18% 06:15 pm: As per the post-poll survey by Prabodhan, BJP will bag as many as 118 seats in Madhya Pradesh. The Prabodhan exit poll predicted 99 seats for the Congress party. 06:03 pm: News Nation Exit Poll Results: Seat share projections: BJP: 108-112, Congress: 105-109 and Others to bag 11-15 seats. 06:02 pm: News Nation Exit Poll Results: Vote share projections - BJP: 40%, Congress: 39%, Others 14% and 7% votes may go to NOTA section. 05:34 pm: Madhya Pradesh exit polls shortly. Stay tuned with us. 05:16 pm: Madhya Pradesh election 2018 was dominated by EVM issues with the Congress alleging illegalities in deposit of EVMs in the strong room. 05:14 pm: In 2013 Assembly elections, the polling percentage was 72.13 per cent in Madhya Pradesh. Hence, there was an increase of about 2.5 per cent. 05:12 pm: In 2018 Assembly elections, Madhya Pradesh witnessed an increase in the voter turnout with a record 75 per cent voters turning up at polling stations to exercise their franchise. 05:06 pm: As many as 2,899 candidates, including 1,094 independents, are in the fray for the 230 seats, but the it is considered to be a straight fight between the Congress and the incumbent BJP. 04:58 pm: If the Congress is voted to power, it is expected to pick between Kamal Nath, Jyotiraditya Scindia and Digvijaya Singh for the chief minister's post in Madhya Pradesh. Read | Rajasthan Exit Poll 2018 Live: Congress to wrest power from BJP, likely to get 103 seats 04:52 pm: The BJP is eyeing a fourth straight term in Madhya Pradesh while the Congress is hoping for a comeback after 15 years in the state, which was once its stronghold. 04:49 pm: In the 2013 Assembly polls, the BJP had won 165 seats and the Congress had won 58. Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party had won four and independent candidates had won three seats, respectively. 04:46 pm: The tenure of Madhya Pradesh Assembly is scheduled to end on January 7, 2019. 04:44 pm: Counting of votes will be taken up on December 11 across Madhya Pradesh. 04:43 pm: Polling in Madhya Pradesh took place on November 28, 2018. 04:41 pm: Madhya Pradesh has 230 seats in the Legislative Assembly. 04:30 pm: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been in power in Madhya Pradesh since 2003. Read | Telangana Exit Poll 2018 Live Updates: KCR likely to retain power for second term 04:28 pm: Shivraj Singh Chouhan has been ruling Madhya Pradesh since 2005. 04:20 pm: Tune in to News Nation as we bring to you one of the most accurate EXIT POLLS, LIVE 5:00 PM onwards today. Join us using #NNExitPoll. Shivraj Singh Chouhan has been ruling the state since 2005, while the BJP has been in power since 2003. The party had stormed to power in 2003 under the leadership of Uma Bharti. The Congress was in power with Digvijaya Singh as its chief minister from 1993. The BJP had won 173 seats with 42.50 per cent of votes, while the Congress had managed to win only 38 seats with 31.61 per cent of votes. In 2008 also, the BJP retained the state under the leadership of Shivraj Singh Chouhan. The party had won 143 seats with 37.64 per cent of votes, while the Congress had emerged victorious on 71 seats with 32.39 per cent of votes. The BJP lost some of the votes and seats due to the presence of Uma Bharti's Bharatiya Jan Shakti Party. The party had won 5 seats with 4.71 per cent of votes. In 2013, the BJP was able to come back to power for the third consecutive term. The party had won 165 seats with 44.88 per cent of votes. The Congress had won only 58 seats with 36.38 per cent of votes. But this time, the Congress is hoping to snatch away the Shivraj Singh Chouhans bastion. The party is upbeat under the joint leadership of Kamal Nath and Jyotiraditya Scindia. However, the party's inability to declare the chief ministerial face can dent its prospects. The BJP is, however, confident to retain the state for the fourth consecutive term. Also Read | News Nation Exit Poll: Will 2018 Assembly polls revive Congress' political fortune? Shivraj Singh Chouhan is again contesting from Budhni Assembly seat where he is facing former Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee chief Arun Yadav. Another Congress heavyweight Ajay Singh is trying his luck from Churhat constituency. Former chief minister Digvijaya Singh's brother Lakshman Singh is contesting from Chachaura and his son Jaivardhan Singh is in the fray from Raghogarh. BJP's Yashodhara Raje is contesting from Shivpuri, while Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's brother-in-law Sanjay Singh Masani is contesting on a Congress ticket from Waraseoni Assembly seat. New Delhi: The Mizo National Front (MNF) looks headed for facile victories in the 40-member Legislative Assembly of Mizoram which went to poll on November 28, the News Nation Exit polls predicted on Friday. As per the exit polls results, Mizoram is seen as a direct contest between the Congress and MNF as in the previous elections in the state. While the survey gave 16-20 seats to the MNF, the Congress is projected to win 10-14 seats. The Zoram Peoples Movement (ZPM) and the BJP may get 5-9 and 0-4 seats respectively in the state. However, another contending party - the National Peoples Party (NPP) could play a vital role in the formation of the next government. Among the five states that recently went to elections this November-December, Mizoram is the only Congress-ruled state in the northeast region. The BJP neither in power nor in a ruling coalition in the state. Read | Madhya Pradesh Exit Poll 2018: Shivraj Singh Chouhan likely to retain power in neck-and-neck fight with Congress Read | Chhattisgarh Exit Poll 2018: BJP's Raman Singh likely to lose state after 15 years, Ajit Jogi to be kingmaker However, different exit polls are predicting different results for Mizoram. While some suggest that Mizoram may have its first hung Assembly in 2018, others say that the Narendra Modi government's performance in the Christian-majority state since 2014 will be keenly watched. Both the Congress and the MNF are contesting for all 40 seats while BJP has fielded candidates for 39 seats and the ZPM is contesting in 35 seats. Aiming a third term in office, Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla, among nine candidates who have filed nominations from multiple seats, is contesting for both the Serchhip and Champhai South seats. He has been the state chief minister since 2008. Read | Rajasthan Exit Poll 2018: Congress to wrest power from BJP's Vasundhara Raje, likely to get 103 seats MNF president Zoramthanga, who is seeking to oust Thanhawla after 10 years, will contest from Aizawl East-I against Congress's K Vanlalrawna and Zoram Peoples Movement (ZPM) nominee K Sapdanga. New Delhi : Telangana Exit Poll 2018: K Chandrashekhar Rao-led TRS is predicted to emerge as the single largest party in Indias youngest state Telangana, according to News Nation Exit Poll. With 53-57 seats, the post-poll survey projected TRS ahead of the Congress-TDP-led "mahakutumi" grand alliance. The alliance is likely to win 51-55 seats. Asaduddin Owaisis AIMIM is projected to bag 3-7 seats. The BJP may also open its account in the south Indian state and was predicted to win 1-5 seats. The voting for the 119-member Telangana Assembly elections was held on Friday. Although the official results will be declared on December 11 by the Election Commission, News Nation exit poll clears the picture before that. Earlier, the elections in Telangana were supposed to be held in May 2019. But incumbent Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) dissolved the Assembly in September following which the Election Commission announced polls in Telangana with four other states Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram. Also Read | Exit Polls Live Updates: Congress ahead in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, close contest in Madhya Pradesh For the Congress, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and the party President Rahul Gandhi addressed election rallies. The BJP relied on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the party President Amit Shah. Rahul Gandhi also addressed joint meetings with TDP chief and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu. Telangana Exit Poll 2018 Live Updates: #07:10 pm: The exit poll results of Telangana are out and it's not a good news for the BJP. Watch here Rajasthan Exit Poll 2018 Live: Congress to wrest power from BJP, likely to get 103 seats #07:00 pm: According to the post-poll survey conducted by Prabodhan, TRS will emerge as the single largest party with 59 seats against Congress-TDP alliance' 42 seats. #06:55 pm: KCR's Telangana Rashtra Samithi is likely to emerge as the single largest party in a neck and neck fight with the Congress-TDP alliance. TRS is predicted to get 53-57 seats as against Congress-TDP's 51-55 seats. #06:00 pm: Hello and welcome to the News Nation Exit Poll of Telangana Assembly elections 2018. Will K Chandrasekhar Rao return to power for the second term or the Congress-TDP alliance will wrest power from TRS? The results of News Nation exit poll will predict the possible outcome. Stay tuned. New Delhi: The first poster of Sushant Singh Rajput and Bhumi Pednekar starrer dacoit drama Son Chiriya is finally out. The movie is based in the heartland of Chambal valley also features Manoj Bajpayee, Ranvir Shorey and Ashutosh Rana in pivotal roles. Helmed by Abhishek Chaubey, the movie revolves around the time in history when dacoits used to have influence in Madhya Pradeshs Chambal. The movie has been extensively shot in Madhya Pradesh and is set in 1975. In a small talk with leading media channel, director Abhishek Chaubey told Bandits have been around for ages. They are criminals but its a huge tradition -- their society and life. There are so many layers to it. Why they were the way they were why they were bandits but they called themselves rebels so what was it that motivated them to live like that. Also Read | Deepika Padukone earns THIS much more than her husband Ranveer Singh Its a part of our history and culture and Im really shocked that were not telling more stories about them. In the West, its an established genre which is still being explored. I wanted to shoot in Chambal because its beautiful. I was completely overwhelmed by the society that existed and what were their concerns. I wanted to make an action film that explores their soul, he added. Sharing his experience on working for the film in Chambal, he told IANS, "Shooting for Abhishek Chaubeys film is on full swing. I came here in Chambal early to do a bit of warm-up for the film. Visiting ravines, talking to locals, working on dialect and inflection and a bit of cut-off from everything before the shoot helps keep the right things in perspective. Director of Son Chiriya, Abhishek Chaubey is popularly known for his directorial ventures which includes Udta Punjab, Ishsiqiya and Dedh Ishqiya. The first teaser of the film has been attached with the prints of Kedarnath, released on December 7 and the audience watched the film in the morning shows on Friday have already seen it. The movie is scheduled to release in February 2019 For all the Latest Entertainment News, Bollywood News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: The trailer of RSVPs upcoming war film URI starring Vicky Kaushal has received applause from all quarters. Not just the viewers but also Bollywood celebrities have been hailing the power-packed performance of the actor and the hard-hitting storyline as fabulous. Bollywood celebrities like Alia Bhatt, Aanand L Rai, Anupam Kher, Rakul Preet, Mohit Suri amongst others gave a thumbs up to the trailer, according to sources close to the actor. Vicky Kaushal will be seen donning the avatar of an army commando who heads the surgical strike in Uri. Its for the first time that Vicky is seen in an all-out action avatar going all guns and screaming his lungs out by mouthing hard-hitting dialogues. Also Read | Rajinikanth-Akshay Kumar starrer 2.0s Hindi version beats Rajamouli's Baahubali Seeing the trailer, heres what the celebs say: Alia Bhatt: What a fabulous trailer!!!!! Anupam Kher: Loved it. Jai Ho. Rakul Preet: Wooooooh !!! Goosebump trailer !! I get so happy to see films on army and #URITrailer totally looks like its going to make every Indian proud ! All d best ! Chak de phatte !! @vickykaushal09 @yamigautam and team ! Mohit Suri: Brilliant trailer !! First-day first show !! I m on !! Based on Indian Armys surgical strikes on terror launch pads across Line of Control (LoC), URI traces one of the most significant events of the history of the Indian Army. 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 Armys Special Forces carried out surgical strikes on terror launch pads across Line of Control (LoC). Also Read | Deepika Padukone earns THIS much more than her husband Ranveer Singh The teaser featured Vicky Kaushal in a revengeful avatar to avenge the death of his friend and fellow soldiers that laid their lives in the Pakistani terrorist attack. The power-packed trailer evokes a strong patriotic sentiment amongst the audience based against the backdrop of true events. 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 January 11, 2019. For all the Latest Entertainment News, Bollywood News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. MP Kalsakau, stated this week that it will be a long walk but the end will be reached. Even though we are located on the Purdue Northwest campus and we are grateful for their support, we are not affiliated with Purdue Northwest. We have a specific focus for learning through engagement. Science is all around us and we use it every day. Even with something as simple as cooking a recipe, you are using science. Last year, we decided to unveil this winter open house opportunity as a way to get more people to come see what we are about and also have some holiday fun. New Delhi: A team of the Uttar Pradesh police has rushed to Jammu to arrest Jeetu alias Fauji, an Army jawan, who was allegedly involved in the murder of a police inspector during the Bulandshahr violence on Monday. Jeetu is reportedly is seen in a video shot during the violence. Meanwhile, the police have also arrested five more people in the case, taking the total number of arrests to nine, officials said on Friday. Sedition is one of the 17 charges in the FIR in which 27 people have been named besides 50-60 unidentified people. They were allegedly involved in the violence that led to the killing of Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh and Sumit Kumar, 20. The violence was triggered after cattle carcasses were found in nearby fields. Jeetu of Mahav village is a named accused in the case, Inspector General (Crime) S K Bhagat told reporters in Lucknow when asked about his alleged involvement in the mob violence. His mother Ratan Kaur told NDTV that she could not identify her son from videos of the mob attack. She said the police had raided her house around 1 am on Tuesday, assaulted her daughter-in-law, vandalised the house and picked up her husband, Rajpal Singh. "Jeetu is in Kargil and if any evidence like a picture or a video emerges showing he killed the policeman then I will kill him myself. I'm not so heartless, I'm equally pained by the death of the policeman and the other boy from Chingrawathi and also for what the entire village and its people are going through," news agency PTI quoted her as saying to a TV news channel on Friday. "Both of my sons are in the Army. They are not here, they on duty," his mother Ratan Kaur told PTI. NDTV reported that other family members of Jeetu, however, confirm that he was present when the mob killing took place and left for Kargil after the incident. "He came from the spot and said, 'see the drama' and left for Kargil the same evening," said Chandravati, Jeetu's aunt. Jeetu's actual name is Jeetendra Malik and he is the 11th suspect named in the first information report (FIR) lodged at Siyana police station on December 4. According to preliminary information, he is posted in Jammu and a police team has been sent there, Bhagat said. "We hope that he will be arrested soon," the IG said, adding the Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed to probe the case would be able to ascertain his actual role. Army sources in New Delhi confirmed that the police have contacted the Northern Command and they are cooperating in the probe. The five people arrested were identified as Chandra, Rohit, Sonu, Nitin and Jitendra but their names were not mentioned in the FIR lodged for the murder of the Siyana SHO, Bhagat said. They were nabbed on the basis of video footage and eyewitness accounts, he said. Police teams were conducting raids to make more arrests, the IG said. The IG said that the confidential report of an inquiry conducted by ADG Intelligence S B Shirodkar has been handed over to senior officials. The cattle carcasses were found outside Mahav village strewn in the fields of former village head Rajpal Chaudhary, who too has been named in the FIR along with five more men from the village. All of them are absconding. Sources that PTI spoke to in the village revealed that Jeetu had come to the village on leave and was "present at the site of violence" but left soon after the incident on Monday afternoon. His elder brother is also in the Army. Jeetendra's wife Priyanka, 24, also supported her mother-in-law's claim of post-midnight vandalism and assault by the police. "I was at home with my father-in-law and my three- month-old baby when the police came to our house. They assaulted me so badly that my hand got fractured and I suffered an injury in one ear," she told PTI over phone from a hospital in Meerut.? Sumit Kumar, from Chingrawathi village, who died in the clash is among those named in the FIR which also accuses Bajrang Dal's Bulandshahr unit convenor Yogesh Raj, local BJP worker Shikhar Agarwal among others of instigating violence. According to the FIR, the suspects were booked on the charges of mischief by fire or explosive substance, murder, attempt to murder, sedition, rioting, voluntary assault on public servant to obstruct them from performing their duty and endangering life or personal safety of others. They have also been booked for destroying public property, among others. (With PTI inputs) For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: With the voting in Rajasthan and Telangana, the most-talked about election season comes to an end on Friday. Besides these two states, the people of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram have cast their votes in their assembly elections concluded recently. The results for all the five states will be out on December 11. But before that, News Nation will bring you one of the most accurate exit polls to predict the possible outcome of the elections. You can watch the results of the News Nation exit poll on News Nation TV as well as on our website at 5:00 pm, right after the voting ends. In Rajasthan, will the people of the state repeat its decades-long history of voting the incumbent out or the Vasundhara Raje-led BJP will break the jinx and retain power? Before the election commissions official results, we will bring you an insight into peoples mind through our exit poll conducted across the states 200 Assembly constituencies. The exit poll results will also tell you whether its Vasundhara Raje once again or Sachin Pilot or former CM Ashok Gehlot whom the voters want to see as their new chief minister. In Telangana, K Chandrasehar Rao is eyeing a second term as chief minister in the youngest state of the country. The voting for all the 119 seats were held on Friday. In the 2014 Assembly elections, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) won a simple majority in the House winning 63 seats. The Congress, despite having formed the State, and consequently lost in the neighbouring residual Andhra Pradesh, won only 21. In Madhya Pradesh, will BJP's Shivraj Singh Chouhan survive or Congress under Kamal Nathand Jyotiraditya Scindia oust him? Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is battling the anti-incumbency of BJP's 15-year rule in the state. The Assembly elections to the 230-member strong Assembly was held on November 28. Shivraj Singh Chouhan has been ruling the state since 2005, while the BJP has been in power since 2003. The party had stormed to power in 2003 under the leadership of Uma Bharti. The Congress was in power with Digvijaya Singh as its chief minister from 1993. Will BJP's 'Chaawal Wale Baba' Raman Singh create history in Chhattisgarh or Congress stop his juggernaut? Will former chief minister Ajit Jogi be a kingmaker in the state? Chief Minister Raman Singh, like his counterpart Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, is also facing the anti-incumbency of BJP's 15-year rule in Chhattisgarh. The Assembly elections to the 90-member strong Assembly was held in two phases on November 12 and 20. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress are the two main parties in the state but the state has witnessed a triangular contest this time with the emergence of Ajit Jogi-BSP alliance. The party had stormed to power in 2003 and ousted then Congress chief minister Ajit Jogi. In 2013, the BJP was able to come back to power for the third consecutive term. The party had won 49 seats with 41.04 per cent of votes. The Congress had won 39 seats with 40.29 per cent of votes. The difference between the two parties was just 0.75 per cent of votes. In Mizoram, which went go to polls on November 28, the main contest is between the incumbent Congress, the main opposition Mizo National Front (MNF), the Zoram People's Movement (ZPM) and the BJP. In the 2013 Assembly Elections in Mizoram, the Congress party had won 34 seats. The MNF had won five, while the Mizoram Peoples Conference had claimed victory in the remaining one seat (Mizoram Legislative Assembly has 40 members). Mizoram exit poll 2018 live updates: 07.15 pm: News Nation Exit Poll Results: Seat share projections: MNF: 16-20, Congress: 10-14, ZPM: 5-9, BJP: 0-4, OTHERS: 0-2 Telangana exit poll 2018 live updates: 07.00 pm: According to the post-poll survey conducted by Prabodhan, TRS will emerge as the single largest party with 59 seats against Congress-TDP alliance' 42 seats. 06.55 pm: KCR's Telangana Rashtra Samithi is likely to emerge as the single largest party in a neck-and-neck fight with the Congress-TDP alliance. The TRS is predicted to get 53-57 seats as against Congress-TDP's 51-55 seats. Rajasthan exit poll 2018 live updates: 6:35 pm: News Nation Exit Poll Results: Vote share projections: BJP: 39%, Congress: 44%, Others: 13, Nota: 04 06:30 pm: News Nation Exit Poll Results: Seat share projections: Congress to wrest power from BJP in Rajasthan. The people of Rajasthan seem to have rejected the rule of Vasundhara Raje as News Nation exit poll predicts Congress as the single largest party with 103 seats. Exit polls by other channels: India Today-Axis My India: Seat share projections - BJP: 55-72, BSP: 0 Congress: 119-141, Others 4-11. Times Now-CNX: Seat share projections - BJP: 85, Congress: 105, BSP: 2 Others: 7 Madhya Pradesh exit poll 2018 live updates: 06:03 pm: News Nation Exit Poll Results: Seat share projections: BJP: 108-112, Congress: 105-109 and Others to bag 11-15 seats. 06:02 pm: News Nation Exit Poll Results: Vote share projections - BJP: 40%, Congress: 39%, Others 14% and 7% votes may go to NOTA. Exit polls by other channels: Times Now-CNX: Seat share projections - BJP: 126, Congress: 89, BSP: 0, Others 9. Republic TV-Jan Ki Baat: Seat share projections - BJP: 108-128, Congress: 95-115, BSP: 6, Others 9. India News MP-NETA: Seat share projections - BJP: 106, Congress: 112, BSP: 0, Others 12. Chhattisgarh exit polls 2018 live updates: 05:35 pm: News Nation Exit Poll Results: Seat share projections: BJP: 38-42, Congress: 40-44, Ajit Jogi-led JCC and BSP alliance: 4-8, Others to get 0-4 seats. 05:30 pm: News Nation Exit Poll Results: Vote share projections - BJP: 38%, Congress: 41%, Ajit Jogi-led JCC and BSP alliance: 13%, Others to get 8% votes. Exit polls by other channels: Times Now-CNX: Seat share projections: BJP: 46, Congress: 35, Ajit Jogi-led JCC and BSP alliance: 7, Others: 2 seats. News24-Pace Media: Seat share projections: BJP: 36-42, Congress: 45-51, Ajit Jogi-led JCC and BSP alliance: 0, Others: 4-8 seats. India TV: Seat share projections: BJP: 42-50, Congress: 32-38, Ajit Jogi-led JCC and BSP alliance: 6-8, Others: 1-3 seats. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Polling to 119 constituencies is underway in Telangana on Friday and will end at 5 pm except for 13 constituencies classified as Left-wing extremism affected where it will end at 4 pm. The fate of the 1,821 candidates, in the fray to contest the Assembly elections in the state, will be decided by 28 million eligible voters. Among those fighting polls, around 25 per cent candidates are crorepatis, while 21 per cent have criminal cases registered against them, according to a survey conducted by the Telangana Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR). As many as 446 flying squads are in the state to swing into action if any irregularity is reported and 448 static surveillance teams will also keep a watch on the situation. They would wait in the wings to take action. Besides that, 224 video surveillance teams and 133 video-viewing teams have been pressed into service. There were 126 assistant expenditure observers and 123 accounting teams. A total of 44,415 ballot units, 7,557 reserve ballot units, 32,016 control units, 4,432 reserve control units and 32,016 VVPATs and 5,261 reserve VVPATs are being used for the polling. Read More | Telangana Assembly Elections 2018 LIVE: Voting begins in 119 seats Telangana Assembly election, which was originally scheduled to be held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha elections next year, will proof if KCRs gamble to opt for early elections pays off. Highlights: 3:00 pm: Voter turnout recorded till 3 pm is 56.17 per cent. 02.50 pm: UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi shares a message to the people of Telangana. A message to the people of Telangana from UPA Chairperson Smt. Sonia Gandhi. On election day it is important to remember the promise we made & fulfilled to the state & people of Telangana. #CongressIsWinning pic.twitter.com/uk7YxKTJ0j Congress (@INCIndia) December 7, 2018 02.35 pm: Jwala Gutta: I checked my name online 2-3 weeks ago, my mother's&my names were there, my father's&my sister's were missing. Today we went to cast vote but my name was also missing. I don't understand how's my name missing. I've been living here for 12 years. Jwala Gutta: I checked my name online 2-3 weeks ago, my mother's&my names were there, my father's&my sister's were missing. Today we went to cast vote but my name was also missing. I don't understand how's my name missing. I've been living here for 12 yrs. #TelanganaElections pic.twitter.com/mh1cRnTWu1 ANI (@ANI) December 7, 2018 02.20 pm: Challa Vamshi Chand Reddy, Congress candidate from Kalwakurthy, Mahbubnagar was allegedly attacked by unknown miscreants earlier today. He was later shifted to Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) Hospital, Hyderabad and is out of danger now. #TelanaganaElections2018: Challa Vamshi Chand Reddy, Congress candidate from Kalwakurthy, Mahbubnagar was allegedly attacked by unknown miscreants earlier today. He was later shifted to Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) Hospital, Hyderabad and is out of danger now. pic.twitter.com/bpgmAQBs5H ANI (@ANI) December 7, 2018 01.55 pm: A man was taken into custody after he allegedly took a selfie while casting his vote at a polling station in Rajendra Nagarm in Hyderabad on Friday, the police said. The voter identified as Shiv Shankar, clicked a selfie inside the polling booth this morning, following which a complaint was lodged by an election official and a case was registered, they said. 01.50 pm: Asaduddin Owaisi says AIMIM confident of winning all contested seats. "I am hopeful. I am fully confident that we will be successful in every seat. I hope people of Hyderabad, people of Telangana take this little difficulty, go out of homes and use their vote," he told reporters after casting his vote. 01.40 pm:49.15 per cent voter turnout recorded till 1 pm. 12.40 pm: Telangana DGP Mahender Reddy said polling is going on peacefully across the state. 12.30 pm: BJP MP Bandaru Dattatreya casts his vote at booth no.229 in Ramnagar of Musheerabad constituency in Hyderabad. Telangana: BJP MP Bandaru Dattatreya casts his vote at booth no.229 in Ramnagar of Musheerabad constituency in Hyderabad. #TelanganaElections pic.twitter.com/D8gLFfJBUj ANI (@ANI) December 7, 2018 12.10 pm: Sania Mirza cast her vote at Film Nagar Cultural Center in Hyderabad. Sania Mirza cast her vote at Film Nagar Cultural Center in Hyderabad. #TelanganaElections pic.twitter.com/GlD1jNSPRo ANI (@ANI) December 7, 2018 11.32 am: "I think people will vote for their own state, I hope they turn out in large numbers," said the TRS leader KT Rama Rao after casting his votes at Jubilee Hills in Hyderabad. 11.30 am: TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu appealed to the people of Telangana to cast votes. Appealing to the citizens of Telangana to exercise their right to vote today. Remember that every vote counts and will make a difference. #TelanganaElections N Chandrababu Naidu (@ncbn) December 7, 2018 Watch More | https://english.newsnationtv.com/live-tv 10.03 am: Badminton player Jwala Gutta took to Twitter to say her name had disappeared from the voters' list after she checked it online. Surprised to see my name disappear from the voting list after checking online!! #whereismyvote Gutta Jwala (@Guttajwala) December 7, 2018 Hows the election fair...when names r mysteriously disappearing from the list!! YY Gutta Jwala (@Guttajwala) December 7, 2018 09.56 am: TRS MP K Kavitha stands in a queue to cast her vote at polling booth no. 177 in Pothangal, Nizamabad. TRS MP K Kavitha stands in a queue to cast her vote at polling booth no. 177 in Pothangal, Nizamabad. #TelanganaElection2018 pic.twitter.com/3sQskAJzUs ANI (@ANI) December 7, 2018 09.53 am: Actor Chiranjeevi stands in a queue to cast his vote at polling booth no. 148 in Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad. Actor Chiranjeevi stands in a queue to cast his vote at polling booth no. 148 in Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad. #TelanganaElections2018 pic.twitter.com/mcjiXL12mr ANI (@ANI) December 7, 2018 09.48 am: Asaduddin Owaisi casts his vote at polling booth no. 317 at Mailardevpally, Shastripuram in Hyderabad. Hyderabad: Asaduddin Owaisi casts his vote at polling booth no. 317 at Mailardevpally, Shastripuram. #TelanganaElections pic.twitter.com/CbQDQFbxjT ANI (@ANI) December 7, 2018 09.20 am: Voter turnout 8.97 per cent till 9 am. 08.48 am: Deputy Chief Minister Kadiyan Srihari cast his vote in Warangal. Telangana: Deputy Chief Minister Kadiyan Srihari cast his vote in Warangal. #TelanganaElections2018 pic.twitter.com/MLrZdGI4Dc ANI (@ANI) December 7, 2018 08.32 am: BJP's G Kishan Reddy casts his vote at polling booth no.7 in Kachiguda, Hyderabad. Telangana: BJP's G Kishan Reddy casts his vote at polling booth no.7 in Kachiguda, Hyderabad. #TelanganaElections2018 pic.twitter.com/HRuneW8maY ANI (@ANI) December 7, 2018 08.18 am: Actor Allu Arjun stands in a queue to cast his vote at booth no. 152 in Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad. Telangana: Actor Allu Arjun stands in a queue to cast his vote at booth no. 152 in Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad. #TelanganaElections2018 pic.twitter.com/5kuui5v5Wy ANI (@ANI) December 7, 2018 08.16 am: Actor Akkineni Nagarjuna and his wife & actor Amala Akkineni stand in a queue to cast their votes at booth no. 151 in Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad. Telangana: Actor Akkineni Nagarjuna and his wife & actor Amala Akkineni stand in a queue to cast their votes at booth no. 151 in Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad. #TelanganaElections2018 pic.twitter.com/IZpOhBmyTU ANI (@ANI) December 7, 2018 07.47 am: State Irrigation Minister T Harish Rao casts his vote in polling booth no. 102 in Siddipet constituency. Telangana: State Irrigation Minister T Harish Rao casts his vote in polling booth no. 102 in Siddipet constituency. #TelanganaElections2018 pic.twitter.com/2q2tqbgoXl ANI (@ANI) December 7, 2018 07.29 am: People queue outside a polling station in Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad to cast their votes. Telangana: People queue outside a polling station in Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad to cast their votes. Voting is being held in 119 constituencies of the state today. #TelanganaElections2018 pic.twitter.com/pkAAk6PZ88 ANI (@ANI) December 7, 2018 07.25 am: I appeal to my sisters and brothers of Telangana to come out and vote in large numbers for an appeasement-free and development-oriented government. I specially urge my young friends to participate in this biggest festival of democracy without fail. I appeal to my sisters and brothers of Telangana to come out and vote in large numbers for a appeasement free and development oriented government. I specially urge my young friends to participate in this biggest festival of democracy without fail. Amit Shah (@AmitShah) December 7, 2018 07.09 am: Nizamabad: People cast their votes at a polling station in Pothangal. Nizamabad: People cast their votes at a polling station in Pothangal. #TelanganaElections2018 pic.twitter.com/yFq8I8ZBtg ANI (@ANI) December 7, 2018 06.50 am: Voters form queues outside a polling station in Pothangal. Nizamabad: Voters form queues outside a polling station in Pothangal where voting will begin shortly. #TelanganaElections2018 pic.twitter.com/8FL0hQAqXS ANI (@ANI) December 7, 2018 Voter turnout recorded till 3 PM in #TelanganaElections2018 is 56.17% For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: As political ardour is gaining pace ahead of crucial Assembly election results across five states, Congress president Rahul Gandhi appealed to his party workers to be vigilant against 'EVM tampering', saying that "in Modis India, the EVMs have mysterious powers". The Gandhi scion was referring to the alleged EVM malfunction in Madhya Pradesh which went to poll on November 28 to elect members in 230 constituencies across the state. "Congress party workers, its time to be vigilant. In MP, EVMs behaved strangely after polling: Some stole a school bus and vanished for 2 days. Others slipped away and were found drinking in a hotel. In Modis India, the EVMs have mysterious powers. Stay alert!" Gandhi tweeted this evening, hours after voting came to an end in Telangana and Rajasthan on Friday. Congress party workers, its time to be vigilant. In MP, EVMs behaved strangely after polling: Some stole a school bus and vanished for 2 days. Others slipped away & were found drinking in a hotel. In Modis India, the EVMs have mysterious powers. Stay alert! pic.twitter.com/dhNeraAfxa Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) December 7, 2018 Read | Madhya Pradesh Exit Poll 2018: Shivraj Singh Chouhan likely to retain power in neck-and-neck fight with Congress There were reports that some unidentified persons with laptops and mobiles were seen around the strong room which is strictly prohibited during elections. Another controversy broke out in the state when some voting machines were reached the strong room 48 hours after voting ended in the state. In a separate incident, two polling officers were "found drunk" along with EVMs inside a hotel owned by a BJP functionary. A seven-member Congress delegation on Tuesday informed the Election Commission about the incidents, seeking its direction to reveal the number of EVMs under the unused, reserve category. The Congress also demanded a probe alleging that the ruling BJP was "in collusion with the local administration" in a bid to tamper with EVMs during the November 28 Assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh. Read | Mizoram Exit Poll 2018: MNF likely to dethrone Congress after 10 years, BJP may open its account Telangana and Rajasthan were the last states to go to polls in the current round of Assembly elections, which also covered Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram. The counting of votes for all the states will take place on December 11. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Expressing shock and dismay over Sharad Yadavs comment on her, Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje on Friday said that the Election Commission should take an appropriate action against him. Bihar politician Sharad Yadav had body-shamed her at an election rally in Alwar on Thursday. "I am shocked. I feel insulted. He has insulted women. I think to set an example, it is very important that the Election Commission takes cognizance," Vasundhara Raje said after casting her vote at a pink voting booth exclusively for women. #Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje on Sharad Yadav's remark 'Vasundhara (Raje) ko aaram do, thak gayi hain, bahut moti ho gayi hain': To set an example for future it's important that EC takes cognisance of this kind of language. I actually feel insulted&I think even women are insulted pic.twitter.com/dNCO0QLTDX ANI (@ANI) December 7, 2018 "Is this the sort of example he wants to set for youngsters? Congress and its allies should be restrained in their language," said the chief minister as quoted by news agency ANI. Read More | Sharad Yadav sparks off controversy, says give Vasundhara Raje some rest as she has become fat Making a comment on her weight, Sharad Yadav had said, "Vasundhra ko aaram do, bahut thak gayi hain (let Vasundhara relax, she is tired." On Friday morning, Sharad Yadav tried to defend himself saying, "I said it as a joke. I've old relations with her. It wasn't derogatory in any way. I had no intentions of hurting her. When I met her, I told her then also that you're gaining weight," as quoted by the news agency. In 2017, the JD-U removed Sharad Yadav as the party's leader in Rajya Sabha, citing "anti-party activities" by the senior leader. This is not the first time that the 73-year-old leader has been in the midst of a controversy over a sexist remark. In 2017, Sharad Yadav made a strange connection between the "honour of a vote and a daughter's honour". He had said: "The integrity of a vote is bigger than the integrity of a daughter. If a daughter loses honour, the village loses its honour. But if a vote is sold, the nation will lose its honour." Also Read | Rajasthan Polls LIVE: BJP state chief Madan Lal Saini says Sharad Yadav should apologise for Raje remark In 2015, Sharad Yadav, while participating in a discussion in Parliament, started describing the beauty of "saanvli (dusky)" South Indian women. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: The Taliban have killed 14 Afghanistan soldiers and taken another 21 captive in an overnight attack in the country's western Herat province on Thursday, an Afghan official has said. Herat provincial council member Najibullah Mohebi said attackers besieged two army outposts late in the night in Herat's Shindand district. "The fighting lasted for six hours before reinforcements arrived and repulsed the insurgents early on Friday but not before they captured 21 troops," he said. ALSO READ | CNN office in New York evacuated after bomb threat: Reports However, the Defence Ministry's spokesman, Ghafor Ahmad Jaweed, put the number of army dead and wounded at 10. The different accounts couldn't immediately be reconciled, news agency PTI reported. Authorities blame the Taliban, who are active in the area and have been targeting Afghan security forces throughout the country in deadly attacks every day. However, no group has taken responsibility for the assault. Earlier, senior Taliban military commander Abdul Manan was killed in a US airstrike. Manan was the Taliban's 'shadow governor' in the southern Helmand province. Manan's death was also confirmed by the Taliban who in a statement described it as a "big loss" for the group but vowed that it will not affect their military operations. He had led the insurgency group's expansion as it expanded control over the opium-rich province in recent years. ALSO READ | Rajasthan Polls LIVE: 21.89 per cent voter turnout till 11 am as 4.7 crore electorates cast votes Afghan interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish said Manan was the militants' top military leader in southern Afghanistan and his death as a major blow to the Taliban. Abdul Manan was on the blacklist unveiled mid-October by the Riyadh-based Terrorist Financing Targeting Center (TFTC), which imposed financial sanctions on nine individuals, including six Taliban members. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has claimed that the approach of the ruling BJP was "anti-Muslim and anti-Pakistan" and expressed the hope that the stalled bilateral talks could resume after the general elections in India next year. Prime Minister Khan said his government was keen to bring the perpetrators of the 2008 Mumbai attack to book, asserting that it was in the interest of Pakistan. "India has elections coming up. The ruling party [of India] has an anti-Muslim, anti-Pakistan approach. They rebuffed all my overtures....Let's hope that after the election is over, we can again resume talks with India," Khan said in an interview with 'The Washington Post' on Thursday. India has firmly told Pakistan that talks and terrorism cannot go together. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has categorically ruled out the possibility of resumption of bilateral talks with Pakistan unless it stops cross-border terror activities against India. The general elections are due to be held in India in April or May 2019. Speaking about the Mumbai terror attack, Khan said Pakistan wants "something done about the bombers of Mumbai". "I have asked our government to find out the status of the case. Resolving that the case is in our interest because it was an act of terrorism," he said. On November 26, 2008, 10 Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists arrived by sea route and opened fire indiscriminately, killing 166 people. Nine of the attackers were killed by police while lone survivor Ajmal Kasab was captured and hanged after handed down death sentence by an Indian court. Perpetrators of the 26/11 attack, including its mastermind and banned Jamat-ud Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed, continue to roam freely in Pakistan, indicating that Islamabad is not serious in bringing them to justice. The JuD is believed to be the front group for the LeT. The US has offered a USD 10 million bounty for Saeed. After taking charge as prime minister in August this year, Khan said he was ready for peace talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Pakistan sent a proposal in September to hold foreign ministers' level talks in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. India, however, accepted and then rejected the proposal, blaming Pakistan for killing a security personnel in Jammu and Kashmir and accusing it of glorifying terrorism. Both India and Pakistan gave the green signal to the much-awaited Kartarpur Corridor last month. The 4-km-long corridor will connect Dera Baba Nanak in India's Gurdaspur district with Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib Narowal in Pakistan. The corridor will provide visa-free access to the Indian Sikh pilgrims to the gurdwara which is located in Shakargarh in Narowal district of Pakistan's Punjab province. "I have opened a visa-free peace corridor with India called Kartarpur [so that Indian Sikhs can visit a holy shrine in Pakistan]. Let's hope that after the election is over, we can again resume talks with India," Khan said in the interview. It is said that Guru Nanak Dev, the founder of Sikhism, had spent more than 18 years of his life there. The Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara is located on the banks of the Ravi River, about three-four kilometres from the border in Pakistan. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. The diocese backed off that plan after estimates showed a price tag at more than $50 million. However, when estimates for repairs of the 59-year-old building in Merrillville came back at $30 million, the plan returned to another version of a new high school. HARTFORD Immigration advocates and Yale Law School students were back again this year urging an independent state criminal justice agency to recommend reducing misdemeanor sentences from 365 to 364 days in an effort to stem deportations. That one day would give federal immigration judges more discretion in deportation hearings, the Sentencing Commission was told Thursday. The one-day reduction in sentencing, recommended by the commission last year, made it through the legislatures Judiciary Committee, but not through the full General Assembly. On Thursday it was one of eight issues the Sentencing Commission could again consider recommending to the General Assembly and Governor-elect Ned Lamont in 2019. Advocates told the commission that shaving one day off the misdemeanor sentences would lower the chance that immigrants convicted of lower level crimes, such as passing a bad check or minor larceny charges, would face interaction with United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, agents.Thats because a one-year misdemeanor sentence in Connecticut is classified by federal authorities as an aggravated felony and can mean deportation. Samantha Smith, a law student intern at the Yale Law School, told the commission: this modest change would have a big impact on Connecticuts immigrant community. Smith said several other states have recognized the law is unjust and have adopted the 364-day rule. She cited California, Nevada, Washington and Oregon as states that have made the change. This reform would simplify the plea bargaining process, Smith told the commission. This bill also strengthens state sovereignty. We urge you to help Connecticut join other states in making this modest but meaningful change. Jason Ramos, supervisor of the migrant care plan for the Consulate of Ecuador, located in New Haven, also urged the commission to once again back the one-day change in the law. The scale of this is huge, Ramos said. He said the misdemeanor arrests that triggered the events are generally minor crimes. People commit mistakes - as we all do, Ramos said. The law the way it is currently enforced disproportionately targets immigrants, he said. When someone is sentenced they are now being targeted by ICE. Ramos went on: They are trying to live their lives. They feel regretful (for their crime) and do better. They want to do better but they are kidnapped on their way to work, targeted. This very modest change can have a huge effect on the state, too, Ramos said. This is a benefit to the whole community, stating that when ICE takes a familys breadwinner away it creates problems for the family left behind which eventually become problems that the state has to take over. By adopting the 364-day rule Connecticut, Ramos said, would be a truly progressive state. Also pushing the commission to once again adopt the 364-day initiative was Alok Bhatt, of the Connecticut Immigrant Rights Alliance (CIRA). Connecticut should be complicit in this level of punishment on the federal level, Bhatt told the committee. He said changing the law would have an impact on black and brown communities and communities of color. He urged the commission to at least take this initial step towards building these protections in our communities to make Connecticut a safe place. Last year when the issue came in front of the Sentencing Commission it led to a lengthy discussion among members as to whether it was the commissions role to change the relationship between the state of Connecticut and the federal government. But those concerns were outweighed by members of the commission who argued that it was not only their right but their responsibility to make such recommendations. The commission is also considering expanding voting rights to convicted felons on parole and studying the possibility of facilitating voting by eligible persons who are incarcerated. Last year, the House debated and then tabled a bill that would restore voting rights to parolees who are still serving their sentences. The issue is likely to come up again this year with or without a recommendation from the commission. In addition, the commission is looking at moving Connecticut from a conviction-based sex offender registry to a risk-based registry focused on the risk. Connecticut is one of the few states that does not currently allow an individual an opportunity to be removed from its sex offender registry. The commission is proposing having all sex offenders register, but the length of time on the registry would be reduced based on whether they meet certain requirements. The commissions next meeting will be held at 2 p.m., Dec. 19. Brannock told students he would not call police because he did not feel there was a direct threat any longer, according to the affidavit. The teacher said he would notify school administrators the following Monday, court records state. Australia has determined that Tesla 100MW battery system saved $40 million and the system had cost only $66 million. This is a 20-month payback on the investment. Teslas 100MW/129MWh Powerpack project in South Australia provide the same grid services as peaker plants, but cheaper, quicker, and with zero-emissions, through its battery system. Here are the key findings from the report are that the Hornsdale Power Reserve: * Has contributed to the removal of the requirement for a 35 MW local Frequency Control Ancillary Service (FCAS), saving nearly $40 million per year in typical annual costs * Has reduced the South Australian regulation FCAS price by 75% while also providing these services for other regions * Provides a premium contingency service with response time of less than 100 milliseconds * Helps protect South Australia from being separated from the National Electricity Market * Is key to the Australian Energy Market Operators (AEMO) and ElectraNets System Integrity Protection Scheme (SIPS) which protects the SA-VIC Heywood Interconnector from overload [scribd id=395050069 key=key-dRCMVblSULN87eBEaJ1C mode=scroll] A 20-year-old Bridgeport man and four juveniles were arrested after the stolen car they were in crashed on the Merritt Parkway in Trumbull early Friday morning. Westport police were initially pursuing the stolen vehicle northbound on the Merritt near Exit 42 Merritt. Lt. Jillian Cabana said when the pursuit came upon a construction zone, the lead officer hung back in the left lane, while the suspect vehicle entered the right lane, which was closed for construction. The stolen vehicle struck another vehicle that was also on the highway and continued north switching between the right and left lanes of traffic through the construction pattern. The occupant of the struck vehicle was uninjured. The lead Westport officer in the pursuit was stuck behind traffic in the left lane when she lost sight of the suspect vehicle. The pursuit was terminated. Shortly after the pursuit was terminated, it was learned that the stolen vehicle crashed in the area of Exit 48-49 in Trumbull. Officers from Trumbull, Fairfield and the CT State Police were on scene and immediately apprehended all five occupants. Westport units responded to the scene and took custody of the suspects. With the assistance of Fairfield and Trumbull Police units, all five suspects were transported to Westport Police headquarters where they were charged. The driver of the stolen car - Andre Davis, 20, of Bridgeport - was charged with four counts of risk of injury to a minor, first-degree larceny, interfering with an officer, second-degree reckless endangerment, reckless driving, disobeying an officers signal to elude/attempted escape and operating a motor vehicle without a license. Davis was also found to have an outstanding warrant for violation of probation. He was held on $10,000 for arraignment Friday in Norwalk Superior Court. A 14-year-old female from Bridgeport was also arrested. She was issued a juvenile summons charging her with first-degree larceny and conspiracy. Since there was an active custody order for her, she was taken to Bridgeport Juvenile Detention. At the time of his arrest, a 14-year old male suspect was found to be in possession of four key fobs, one of which belonged to the stolen vehicle he had just exited. He was also issued a juvenile summons at Westport headquarters, charging him with first-degree larceny and conspiracy. He too, had an outstanding custody order, he was transported to Bridgeport Juvenile Detention. Officers learned a 13-year old male suspect of was the brother of the 14-year-old male suspect. He was also charged with first-degree larceny and conspiracy before being released to the custody of his mother. The brothers reside in Derby. A 15-year-old male suspect, also from Bridgeport, was transported to the Westport Police Department and issued a Juvenile Summons charging him with first-degree larceny and conspiracy. He was also released to the custody of his mother. The incident began at around 12:45 a.m. when officers were dispatched to a report of a suspicious vehicle after a Bradley Street resident reported a vehicle driving slowly with headlights off and occupants getting in and out of the vehicle. Officers responded to the area and set up a perimeter. Officers observed a black Audi traveling northbound toward Hillspoint Road, away from the area, with at least four occupants. Another officer began to follow behind the vehicle, which was confirmed to be stolen out of Easton after a registration check. Officers attempted to stop the vehicle in the area of Cross Highway. The vehicle evaded police and then went onto the northbound Merritt at Exit 42. Westport Police Chief Foti Koskinas expressed his outrage over these continuing incidents. Unfortunately, the teens and young adults involved in these incidents never experience real consequences from the juvenile justice system, he said in a release. Meanwhile, theyre putting residents, other drivers, our officers and in this instance, construction workers at risk. Luckily, no one was hurt during this incident. The teens involved in the pursuit last night had prior run-ins with law enforcement, which resulted in the orders to detain against them. Yet here they are, out and about in the middle of a week night knowing that all they will get is a slap on the wrist from the State of Connecticut. We are not doing Connecticut residents or these kids any favors by denying them consequences and real opportunities to reform. We need to work together to find a better solution before someone really gets hurt. WEST HAVEN A New Haven Fire Department battalion chief has been arrested in connection with an alleged assault of a Horwitz Uniform employee over a pair of boots, police said. Herschel Wadley, 53, of New Haven, is charged with third-degree assault and disorderly conduct. Wadley turned himself in to West Haven police on Thursday. The arrest stems from an incident at around 1:30 p.m., Oct. 19 at Horwitz Uniforms on Morgan Lane. Members of the New Haven Fire Department have a voucher/clothing allotment from the city of New Haven with Horwitz Uniforms. The worker told police that Wadley wanted to buy a pair of boots that were not on the approved vendors list. Wadley became increasingly upset when the worker refused to add the $125 boots to the list, according to the arrest warrant affidavit. The warrant affidavit said Wadley wanted her to fudge the purchase order to make it look like he purchased them through the City of New Haven. After she refused, Wadley became more vocal and asked why are you so hard on me? according to the warrant affidavit. Wadley became very upset and began berating (the worker), the warrant affidavit said. Wadley raised his voice and became very vocal after being denied the boots and at one point told the worker he would steal the boots. To defuse the situation, the worker asked Wadley to fill out the rest of his order. As the worker was putting together Wadleys order for white shirts, work pants and a mock turtleneck, he brought up the boots again. He asked her to look the other way so he could get the boots, the warrant said. The worker said no, again. At that point, Wadley pushed (the workers) temple area. It was then that Wadley came up from behind and grabbed her by the back of the neck, with his right hand, and clamped down and squeezed her neck and began shaking her neck side to side saying I thought we were friends and continued squeezing her neck, the warrant affidavit said. After the worker raised her voice, Wadley released her from his grip, the warrant affidavit said. A co-worker told police she did not witness the alleged assault, but did hear Wadley yelling. There was no video or surveillance equipment in the area, police said. Bob Horwitz, the stores owner, later called New Haven Fire Chief John Alston, who placed Wadley on paid administrative leave. Wadley remains on leave with pay and the department has suspended its investigation, Alston said. Wadley is also banned from visiting the store, police said. Horwtiz said there have been times in the past that Wadley had become upset and loud in the store because he could not get something he wanted that was not on the approved vendors list. Wadley is expected to appear in Superior Court in Milford on Dec. 18 to answer the charges. The appellate court disagreed and noted that Dillards three requests for counsel had been ignored; he had been kept in a small interrogation room without access to anyone other than police for almost 11 hours; his request for his diabetes medication had been denied three times; and part of his questioning took place with him lying face down on the floor of the room, trying to rest. Im worried about our president. The man doesnt seem happy. And when the president is unhappy, thats not good for him, nor for the rest of us. Lets face it: this is not good for the world. The man needs a dog. Have you noticed you never see him with one? I did some research about this because of my concern. Sure enough: according to Kyle Fitzpatricks article on the website PopSugar, Donald Trump is the first president in more than 100 years to be dogless. The last president without a canine companion was William McKinley (1897-1901). But at least he had a parrot, two angora kittens and roosters. Fitzpatrick reports Trump has no pets of any kind, according to the Presidential Pet Museum. (I am not making that up; there really is such a place.) Having a dog can help a president politically as well as personally. When Richard Nixon was the Republican candidate for vice president in 1952, he ran into a hot mess as he was accused of financial improprieties. And so he went on TV to defend himself. During that famous appearance, he vowed to keep one gift: a black-and-white dog that had been named by their children: Checkers. This became known as The Checkers Speech and it saved him the spot on Dwight D. Eisenhowers ticket. OK, if youre fact-checking at home, its true there was a period after Trump married Ivana Trump that he was forced to put up with her poodle, Chappy. But he didnt like the dog and tried to evict the poor creature. Contrast this with former President George Herbert Walker Bush, whose death last week has brought forth national and worldwide tributes and affectionate remembrances. He loved dogs and had many of them throughout his long life. In his final six months, after his wife, Barbara Bush had died, he had the company of a wonderful service dog named Sully, a yellow Labrador retriever. (Bush was using a wheelchair, so needed such a helper as well as the companionship.) Often, Sully would rest his head on Bushs lap. Sully even came to Bushs casket in the Capitol Rotunda Tuesday to pay his respects. When Bush was vice president, he had a cocker spaniel named Fred. Later, the Bushes had Millie, a springer spaniel. When she had five puppies, the Bushes accepted one of them, Ranger, into their family. Springer spaniels are great therapy dogs! Ive got one, the fabulous Olive, now 12 and still as loving, gentle and comforting as ever. Its wonderful to be greeted by her at my door at the end of a long and trying day. Dont you think our current president has long and trying days? Wouldnt he benefit from having such a presence in the White House? The thing is, I dont think the man likes dogs. He has a habit of insulting people by using canine references. In June 2016, he tweeted: Mitt Romney had his chance to beat a failed president but he choked like a dog. During that 2016 presidential campaign, which he somehow won despite his ongoing insults of everybody in sight, Trump also tweeted that another Republican presidential candidate, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, lies like a dog. Come on! Dogs dont lie. My Olive has never lied in her life. Yes, and in 2015 Trump tweeted that Glenn Beck got fired like a dog by Fox. Another time he tweeted: Robert Pattinson should not take back Kristen Stewart. She cheated on him like a dog and will do it again just watch. Thats an insult to dogs everywhere! Dogs dont cheat on people. Its humans who do such things. Trump also likes to compare women to animals when he puts them down. After his former aide Omarosa Manigault Newman published her book Unhinged, with some unflattering passages about the president, he called her that dog as well as a crazed, crying lowlife. Trump also attacked Gail Collins, who wrote for the Advocate weekly newspapers in Connecticut during the 1970s, then went on to write columns for New York Newsday and is now at the New York Times. In the early 1990s, when Collins was at Newsday, Trump sent her a copy of a column she had written, with his scrawled objections. He told her she was a dog and a liar and had the face of a pig. You see that? The man insults pigs as well as women and dogs. Contact Randall Beach at 203-680-9345 or randall.beach@hearstmediact.com. WEST HAVEN Weve reached a point in time where there no longer are local Pearl Harbor survivors able to attend the citys Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, but on the 77th anniversary of the Japanese sneak attack, those who remain remembered it for them. The West Haven Veterans Council organized Friday mornings observance at the William A. Soderman Memorial Flagpole on the Veterans Walk of Honor in Bradley Point Park. About 75 people attended. Of the 2,335 military personnel killed when 353 Imperial Japanese aircraft launched from six aircraft carriers bombed the U.S. Navy base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on Dec. 7, 1941, 1,177 were killed on board the U.S.S. Arizona. Overall, the dead included 2,008 Navy men, 109 Marines, 218 army men and 68 civilians For some who attended, the Pearl Harbor commemoration doesnt just recognize those who died that day. It recognizes the greatest generation a generation of people who saved this country, and basically saved the world... said Steve Carney, vice president of the Veterans Council. We remember today the men who died at Pearl Harbor because without them, basically, none of us would be here right now, Carney said. On this day, we give thanks to all who made the ultimate sacrifice, said Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 9422 Commander Freddy Jackson. Florence Stoeber, whose late husband, Jack Stoeber, had his ashes scattered in Pearl Harbor after he died on Jan. 16, 2016, at age 97, read the names of the 18 Connecticut servicemen who died at Pearl Harbor. West Haven Fire Department Lt. William Heffernan rang the departments chrome bell each time she recited one of the names including that of Steven Pepe, formerly of Bridgeport, a crew member on the U.S.S. Oklahoma whose remains were finally identified only recently. For decades, he had been listed as missing, but modern technology made it possible to identify his remains, Stoeber said. Pepe was buried in early October in the Massachusetts National Cemetery in Bourne, Mass. Louis Esposito, executive assistant to Mayor Nancy Rossi, served as master of ceremonies. Victor M. Borras of Gateway Christian Fellowship gave the opening and closing prayers, West Haven High School sophomore Nora E. Mullins sang the national anthem and retired West Shore Fire Department Lt. Kevin McKeon played taps on his bugle. The Stoebers 5-year-old grandson, Matthew McCann, lead the Pledge of Allegiance. Rossi was unable to attend, but sent her condolences to the relatives of those who died and said in a written statement, If we do not take the time to remember, we risk a sense of disconnection from our history. Other speakers included state Reps. Charles Ferraro, R-West Haven, and Dorinda Borer, D-West Haven, and Ben Florsheim, aide to U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn. To forget what took place on Dec. 7, 1941, would be a grave error, said Ferraro, echoing Rossi. Many of you who are my age learned about Pearl Harbor from our parents, but now its up to us, said Borer. Florsheim called it a really remarkable thing to see a city come together ... to remember this day. WEST HAVEN The city is about to send out bills for the second installment of real estate, personal property and motor vehicle taxes and sewer bills a routine semiannual occurrence that, unfortunately, is anything but routine this year for taxpayers in Allingtown. Thats because taxpayers in the Allingtown Fire District this year will receive a revised bill for both real estate and personal property because the current levy is insufficient to pay expenses for the current fiscal year, Tax Collector Dorothy Chambrelli said in a news release. The increase does not affect taxpayers in the West Shore or Center districts. West Haven is split into three fire districts that each has its own tax rate on top of the citywide tax rate. Pursuant to statutory requirements and as required in the five-year plan adopted by the state Municipal Accountability Review Board, the City Council approved an increase of 0.94 mill to the current Allingtown (tax) rate, resulting in an increase from 13.06 to 14 mills, the release states. Council approved came on Oct. 29. The mid-year tax increase came out of meetings with the MARB, which made it a requirement to approve the citys 5-year fiscal recovery plan and avoid having the city move up to Tier 4, which would have meant a higher level of state supervision. The revised bills will be mailed next week and will replaces the second half of the 2017 grand list bill, which is due Jan. 1 and considered delinquent and will be subject to interest as of Feb. 1. The motor vehicle bill will remain the same, said Chambrelli. The 2017 supplemental motor vehicle bill also will be mailed in December for vehicles registered after Oct. 1, 2017. While the fact that taxes are going up in Allingtown which now has a fire department, the City of West Haven Fire Department - Allingtown, that is no longer independent and is part of the city, has been publicized before. But city officials are bracing for the backlash when residents actually get their tax bills and start hearing from their mortgage companies. I wish we didnt have to send out a supplemental tax bill, but unfortunately, since the Allingtown fire department has come under the city, theyve had a deficit... said Mayor Nancy Rossi. That, coupled with the fact that the (fire department) pension fund has a deficit, would have come to almost a million shortfall, she said. Rossi said the pension fun was underfunded by the past administration. Had the City Council not voted to impose a mid-year tax increase, we would have gone into Tier 4, Rossi said. With the supplemental tax bill, we will move Allingtown out of the deficit situation and hopefully there wont have to be any more supplemental tax bills. No one wants to pay ... but hopefully, better days are coming, she said. And of course, around the holidays is the worst time it can go out. City Councilwoman Robbin Watt Hamilton, D-5, whose district makes up a large chunk of Allingtown, said that so far there are a few people Im starting to hear from. But a lot of people, they dont know until that escrow is a little short from their bank. Hamilton, who reluctantly voted for the tax increase, expects to start hearing from them next week. I want it noted that its the state that kind of mandated that a tax bill go out because of a shortage of the pension fund from the past administration... she said. I know people arent happy about it. ... For people looking to get it over with, the tax office is open 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays on the first floor of City Hall, 355 Main St., the release said. The city has an ATM outside the office. City Hall is closed for business Dec. 24, which is a furlough day for city employees. Taxpayers who dont want to wait in line can see their tax bills, make a payment, and print their payment history for income tax purposes at www.cityofwesthaven.com. Click on Tax Collector under the Government heading. Sewer bills are on the same page but under a separate heading. In January, taxpayers will be able to pay current taxes by mail to a tax office lockbox, P.O. Box 150461, Hartford 06115-0461, the release said. When paying by lockbox or the drop box outside the tax office in City Hall, the canceled check is the receipt. After Feb. 1, taxes with interest can be paid by mail to the Office of the Tax Collector, P.O. Box 401, West Haven 06516. Payments also can be made in person. Anyone who needs a motor vehicle clearance must pay in person with cash, credit card, bank check or money order, according to the release. BRANFORD When her oldest son Todd died at 26 in a Black Hawk helicopter crash in Texas in November 2004, Becky Christmas worried that his name would disappear. An Army captain, hed served in the 44th air defense artillery unit while deployed in support of Iraqi Freedom. Hed just spent Thanksgiving with his wife and family on their Wagon Mound, New Mexico ranch. On Tuesday, Dec. 11, Christmas, the president of American Gold Star Mothers, Inc., will be Grand Marshal of a massive convoy that will roll through Branford at 1:30 p.m. as part of Wreaths Across America, a national initiative to remember veterans and their families during the holidays. As the featured speaker at the program at Branford Fire Headquarters at 2 p.m., shell also share how, as a Gold Star mother a mother of a fallen service member shes kept her sons name, and memory, alive. For the second year in a row, Branford will be one of a handful of scheduled stops during the 700-mile route from Columbia Falls, Maine to Arlington National Cemetery. Thats thanks to the efforts of Lt. Cmdr. Dottie Packer, Nurse Corps and retired Navy, and Pamela Bold, retired chief petty officer of the U.S. Coast Guard. The 2-mile-long fleet will be composed of 200 volunteers traveling in buses, SUVs, and specially wrapped WAA vehicles, including Gold Star and Blue Star families, as well as dozens of 18-wheelers, along with motorcycle escorts of state and local police, and the Patriot Guard. The trucks will transport thousands of balsam wreaths on the week-long trek. Its a sight to behold, said Packer, whos encouraging Shoreline residents to line Route 1 from Regal Cinemas to Branford Fire Headquarters and to raise a banner or wave a flag in welcome and support. Its an opportunity for all of us to show gratitude for the sacrifice of fallen service members and their families. That act of remembering also furthers the mission of American Gold Star Mothers, according to Christmas, whom the ShoreLine Times reached at her ranch in Wagon Mound, New Mexico. AGSM was started by a woman named Grace Darling Seibold in 1928, she said. Her son disappeared fighting in World War I, so she spent years working at veterans hospitals in hopes of finding him. All the while, she was meeting all these women who were thinking the same thing they hadnt heard from their children and went to find them. What they found, she said, was other children and other mothers they could support. Eventually, Seibold learned of her sons death, but continued her community service. Not only that. She organized a group of mothers whose sons had lost their lives in military service with the purpose of comforting one another and giving loving care to hospitalized veterans confined in government hospitals far from home, Christmas said. Its a purpose that has made a profound impact on her life from the time she joined American Gold Star Mothers in 2006. I first met other GSM mothers in New Mexico, she said. Some were mothers from the Vietnam era. They showed me they had lived full lives and had also continued the mission that their child could not, by helping others. For Christmas, the partnership with Wreaths Across America is a natural one. Were blending our similar missions toward one goal: to remember and honor as many of our fallen American heroes as possible, she said. Packer agreed. The idea that powers WAA is that a person dies twice, once when he stops breathing, and a second time when someone mentions his or her name for the last time, she said. Thats why, when laying a wreath, they ask us to say the persons name out loud. At noon on Saturday, Dec. 15, at the end of seven days leading Americas longest veterans parade, thats precisely what Christmas will be doing, together with 44,000 volunteers placing 241,000 wreaths on headstones at Arlington National Cemetery, as well as countless other volunteers at 1,400 additional locations in all 50 states, at sea and abroad. Its a continuation of her goal of not only sustaining the legacy of her son in service to our country but also, as she put it, ensuring that no fallen soldier, or their family, is ever forgotten. Which takes us back to Tuesday, Dec. 11 in Branford. The sons and daughters of Gold Star mothers wrote a blank check payable to the USA for an amount up to and including their lives, said Packer. So did their families. Thats why Pam and I wanted this stop in Branford. This is our way of saying we recognize them and well remember them. In Branford, the convoy will roll out from exit 55, off Interstate 95 at approximately 1:30 p.m., followed by the program at 2 p.m. at the firehouse, featuring Christmas. For more information about the WAA, visit www.wreathsacrossamerica.org. Williams didnt need it, he said. He was perhaps more inquisitive and a little less inhibited than other students and would often stop by his office to ask questions, he said. ANSONIA Never forget were the words that cut through the sharp cold Friday during Ansonias ceremony marking the 77th anniversary of Pearl Harbor. Approximately 50 area veterans, local dignitaries including U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, state Sen. George Logan, R-Ansonia, and Shelton Mayor Mark Lauretti, and others gathered at Veterans Park to remember the Day of Infamy that forever changed history. And history is something, according to the ceremonys guest speaker, VFW Post 597 Comcowich-Carver Commander Patrick Freeman, a Vietnam veteran, that must be kept alive for generations to come. We need to continue to educate about our history, as history is becoming a dying art, said Freeman. If we dont learn from our mistakes, we are doomed to repeat them. Freeman spoke of the brave men and women who joined the military in droves, and felt compelled to answer the call of duty, following the sneak attack by the Japanese on Pearl Harbor that claimed the lives of more than 2,400 soldiers on Dec. 7, 1941. In todays world, we need more patriotism and unity in our country, Freeman said. We must stand together and not be a nation divided. Blumenthal came to thank those veterans in attendance. He expressed gratitude to Mayor David Cassetti and local veterans for holding the ceremony each year. Thank you for reminding us what it means to be an American. Never forget, said Blumenthal. Blumenthal also said given the state of the world today, with terrorist attacks, both on land and in cyberspace increasingly becoming the norm, he fears a Pearl Harbor can happen again. As a member of the Armed Services Committee, Blumenthal said he supports a strong national defense to ensure U.S. military power is superior to all others. We live in a dangerous world, and I worry every day about attacks on this nation, Blumenthal added. We are under siege as a nation, and we need to be more vigilant in our support for our national defense. Cassetti paid homage to the late President George H.W. Bush, who survived four hours at sea after being shot down by enemy fire in WWII, before being rescued. Its those acts of heroics that bring us together as we reflect on this Day of Infamy, said Cassetti. And we call upon all citizens to pay homage to all those who perished. Former Aldermanic President Peter J. Danielczuk served as emcee for the ceremony, while the Rev. Russell Lesiw of Seymour Evangelical Baptist Church opened and closed the program in prayer. The firing squad from St. Peter & St. Paul Catholic War Veterans participated with a gun salute and Bernard Williamson, of American Legion Post 54, Derby, played taps. Danielczuk thanked VFW Post 597 Quarter Master Kazimierz Casey Brejwo for organizing the annual ceremony, and leading all in the Pledge of Allegiance. Former Alderman and Navy Reserve Chief Petty Officer Patrick Henri said listening to Brejwo, with his Polish accent, lead the pledge, is one of his favorite moments in the ceremony. I like it when I hear someone speak who comes from another place, like Casey, and you know just how much they enjoy being here, said Henri. jean.sos@snet.net A 52-year-old man has been charged in four Atlantic City burglaries, including two in which thousands of dollars in liquor were stolen from a nightclub in the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. Bernard Snead, of Atlantic City, was taken to the Atlantic County jail after being charged with four counts each of burglary and theft, police said in a statement Friday afternoon. Snead entered the DAER Nightclub in Hard Rock Atlantic City on Nov. 23 and again on Nov. 27, taking more than $11,000 in booze, police said. On Nov. 28, Snead allegedly stole a laptop from an office at the Showboat Atlantic City. The next day he took cash and other items from Worship Surf Bar on the Boardwalk, police said. He was arrested Sunday while walking along the Boardwalk. Police didnt immediately respond to a request for additional information about the thefts. Snead has multiple prior arrests and convictions in Atlantic City, records show, and in 2012 the state Division of Gaming Enforcement put him on their excluded list, which bans him from any licensed casino in New Jersey. The list includes professional criminals and gaming cheats, among others, the division says. Anyone with information is asked to call Atlantic City police at 609-347-5766 or text anonymously to tip411 (847411) Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JeffSGoldman. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Elmwood Park police are looking for two men who attempted to lure elementary school students into their minivan after school twice this week. The incidents occurred about 4 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday as the children walked home from Gilbert Avenue School between Speidel Avenue and Elm Street, police said. Youre beautiful, do you want me to drop you off? the men said to the students, according to police. In both instances, the victims ran off and were not pursued by the suspects, Elmwood Park Police Chief Michael Foligno said in a statement. The men were in a dark minivan, possibly a Chevrolet, with rear tinted windows, Foligno said. Complete descriptions of the men were not available. The incidents were not reported to police until Thursday, Foligno said, adding that extra patrols marked and unmarked have been assigned to the area. Anyone with information about the incidents is asked to call police at 201-796-0700, option #7. Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Conagra Brands, makers of products such as Duncan Hines, Hunts Healthy Choice and Orville Redenbachers, plans to close two New Jersey facilities and lay off more than 500 workers, according to notices filed with the state Department of Labor. The notices said 308 workers could be let go in Parsippany by March and another 196 in Cherry Hill by May, according to two separate notices filed this month. The Parsippany and Cherry Hill offices were formerly part of Pinnacle Foods, which Conagra acquired earlier this year for $10.9 billion. The Parsippany location was the headquarters of the former Pinnacle Foods. We have made the decision that we will continue to have our management team and key corporate functions located in Chicago and Omaha, (Nebraska) which is cost-effective and allows us to meet the needs of the business, company spokesman Daniel Hare said in an email to NJ Advance Media on Friday. Hare said the New Jersey sites will not close until the end of next year. This will result in job eliminations, many of which will not occur until well into 2019, Hare said. Some affected employees will have the opportunity to apply for other positions at Conagra in Chicago and Omaha, Nebraska, Hare said. Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Q. We are non-residents of New Jersey. We have what is considered an investment property - it was our primary residence for 13 years before moving out of state in 2011 - which we are selling. I understand the "exit tax" will be required. We are moving back to New Jersey in 2019 will be purchasing a home. Would we be able to apply for a refund of the exit tax? -- Coming back soon A. It's a great question, and another example of how the so-called exit tax is often misunderstood. There really is no exit tax, said Steven Craffen, a certified financial planner with Stonegate Wealth Management in Oakland. He said when someone sells a home in New Jersey, the state requires the closing attorney to withhold the greater of 8.97 percent of the profit or 2 percent of the selling price - whichever is greater. "This is to force you to file a tax return in New Jersey," Craffen said. "You may then receive a refund for all or part of the tax that is withheld if you do not owe it." So the refund, he said, is not related to your residency. It is instead related to your taxable income in New Jersey for the year you sold the home or property, including any capital gain that is realized on the sale. To understand more about the exit tax, read this. Email your questions to Ask@NJMoneyHelp.com. Karin Price Mueller writes the Bamboozled column for NJ Advance Media and is the founder of NJMoneyHelp.com. Follow NJMoneyHelp on Twitter @NJMoneyHelp. Find NJMoneyHelp on Facebook. Sign up for NJMoneyHelp.com's weekly e-newsletter. Two men who authorities say are part of a big drug-trafficking ring in South Jersey were arrested Wednesday with eight pounds of drugs and a handgun as part of an eight-month, multi-agency investigation. Antonio Farias-Torres, 37, of Browns Mills, and Ansberto Garcia-Ortiz, 40, of Mount Holly, are now facing numerous drug and weapons charges and maybe deportation. The Camden County Prosecutors Office said they are both alleged to be in the United States illegally." The office said in a press release that authorities arrested the men in the parking lot of a WalMart in Cherry Hill Wednesday for trying to sell seven pounds of crystal methamphetamine and one pound of marijuana. In addition to the drugs, with a street value of $475,000, the men were found with a handgun, authorities said. The drug-trafficking group the men are part of is accused of acquiring the drugs in "bulk quantities to distribute throughout Camden and Burlington counties. The prosecutors office said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainers have been placed on the two men, seeking to hold them in jail until ICE agents can take them into federal custody. Camden County officials have said they do cooperate with ICE, but they generally do not abide by these detainers. Officials have said it would violate a persons constitutional rights to hold him or her past the release date or when they have been ordered released pending trial. The press release says the men were placed in the Camden County jail, but did not say whether the prosecutors office would seek to have them held pending trial. Rebecca Everett may be reached at reverett@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @rebeccajeverett. Find NJ.com on Facebook. With temperatures expected to hover around freezing this weekend, Erik Wade has two things on his mind staying warm and repairing his sailboat after it was pulled free Thursday after spending five days beached in Sea Isle City. Im no stranger to the cold. I worked in Alaska, Wade said Friday, a day after strangers helped rescue his marooned boat. You just have to make sure you eat and drink water. You burn more calories in the cold. Wade, a bridge painter from New England, was on his way to Florida when the sailboat he calls home broke free from its anchor washed up early Sunday on the beach. The vessel got stuck in the sand and sustained serious damage. Wade, 40, had no money for towing estimated at around $15,000 but local folks have helped him out. On Thursday, Capt. John Ryan, owner of Shamrock Salvage & Towing and TowBoat U.S. in Ocean City, had his crew pull Wades boat back into the water at a huge discount. They used a 100-foot towing vessel with two powerful engines to bring the sailboat to Seaview Harbor Marina in Longport, where it remained in a slip Friday. The tow captain said he expects to be paid only for diesel fuel and his crews wages. Wades a really nice guy and we really felt sorry for him, Ryan said. Its Christmastime. We had to help him, we really had no choice. Ryan said it can be tougher to pull a vessel out of sand than mud. Without a tow, Wade would have lost his home and perhaps his livelihood as his sailboat remained stranded on the shore. There was no way he was going to float off there, Ryan said. Wade said he hopes his insurance company will offer him something so he can pay it forward to Ryan and his crew. In addition to the tow, another sailor setup a GoFundMe for Wade seeking $5,000. The account had received $545 as of Friday morning. The sailboat sustained damage to its tiller, which is used for steering. He said there were also problems with the ignition and the boat wont start. Hes pretty sure he can fix everything, he said. My hope is that the starter and ignition switch can be rebuilt, he said. I dont have money for new parts. Im mechanically inclined, so I think I can make this work. NORTH BERGEN Township voters on Tuesday will decide whether the school district can move ahead with a $65 million plan to buy the countys old High Tech High School building, renovate the site to make it a new township school and pay for renovations to North Bergen High School. The referendum would allow the district to borrow $60 million, an amount township and school officials claim would be entirely offset by state aid and township revenue. The district would pay for the remaining $4,958,000 out of its budget. Hudson County Schools of Technology vacated its Tonnelle Avenue high school this year before opening a new, $160 million facility in Secaucus. George J. Solter, superintendent of North Bergens 7,600-student district, said acquiring the older building would allow the townships school system to move seventh, eighth and ninth graders to the new building, freeing up space in its six elementary schools for preschool students. The existing high school would remain open for sophomores, juniors and seniors. "Weve been trying to get a new school in the worst way for a long time, Solter told The Jersey Journal. Preschool students have taken half-day sessions inside trailers in Braddock Park since 2001 but state officials told the district back in 2017 that it could not legally use the park for school trailers. A page on the North Bergen districts website claims the referendum will come at Zero Impact on North Bergen Taxpayers! Solter said thats because the state is going to pay for $26 million in debt service, while township officials have agreed to give the district $1.25 million a year in revenue from payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreements. The district is also slated to get gradual increases in state school funding starting next year, Solter said. That amount will increase over seven years to $12 million. A state education department spokesman confirmed the state would offset $26 million in debt for the project. There is no formal agreement between the township and the district about shared PILOT revenue, according to township spokesman Phil Swibinski. But Swibinski characterized the public commitment by Mayor Nicholas Sacco and the townships commissioners to sharing PILOT revenue as absolutely ironclad. The township reported collecting $2.4 million in PILOT revenue in this years budget. One of the townships commissioners is Frank Gargiulo, who retired this year as superintendent of Hudson County Schools of Technology. The new High Tech High School campus is named after him. Solter said he hears from parents who ask why cities like Jersey City and Union City can build new schools but North Bergen cant. He said he tells them that the state funds new school construction in those schools because they are former so-called Abbott schools. North Bergen is not. The old High Tech High School opened in 1975 inside a former printing plant. It is assessed at $17,688,700, tax records show. Planned renovations at North Bergen High School include adding air conditioning, new lockers and a media center, according to Solter. The school district currently has $2.7 million in debt, according to the township's 2018 budget. North Bergen resident Robert Walden has been a critic of both Sacco and the districts use of Braddock Park as a home for preschool trailers. Walden said hes mystified that the school district wants voters to approve $60 million in borrowing without holding public meetings explaining the plan. Ramsey borough schools, which will ask voters on Dec. 11 to OK $42.9 million in borrowing, held 18 informational sessions for voters. The public cannot make a decision on that kind of crap without any meetings, Walden told The Jersey Journal. This is not the way to treat the community. Polls are open on Tuesday from 2 to 8 p.m. Terrence T. McDonald may be reached at tmcdonald@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @terrencemcd. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook. David Castellanos of First American Steel LLC, who has been assisting FPM officials in dealing with Gary officials, said several homeless people have been squatting on the site and will have to go before the facility can open. Its been an interesting 2018 for New Jersey rocker Jon Bon Jovi. He and his bandmates were finally inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The internet said the Sayreville native looked like the man whom porn star Stormy Daniels claimed threatened her. Oh yeah, and then he said Kim Kardashian was only famous because she made a porno. Wed say that type of year deserves a toast! How about with some of Bon Jovis own award-winning wine? Thats right. Bon Jovis wine, Hampton Water, was named the best rose of 2018 by Wine Spectator, and the 83rd best wine overall of the year by the magazine. It was just one of two roses to make the top 100. Its an incredible honor to be on Wine Spectators Top 100 Wines of 2018, let alone ranked as the top rose," Bon Jovi said in a statement. "Its a true testament to all of our hard work and I could not be more proud to share our excitement for, and love of, Hampton Water with people all over the world. According to the wines website, Hampton Water is hand-picked by the finest wine makers in the South of France has to offer, and is made up of the perfect blend of Grenache, Cinsault and Mourvedre grapes. So Bon Jovi knows grapes just as well as he knows guitars or at least, he knows people who do. The wine, which Bon Jovi made with his son, Jesse Bongiovi, is available online for 25 dollars a bottle. How did they come up with the name? It was one of those late nights out on our porch in the Hamptons, Bongiovi told People. My dad came over to me and asked, do you want some more pink juice? which is what we used to call rose. I told him No, no, no, we call it Hampton water now. We just thought it was pretty funny. In her latest and 18th book, Adriana Trigiani pays tribute to her late mother, the Big Band Era and the Jersey Shore. Trigiani has written a book a year since 2000 and has also done a couple of screenplays. The latest is a family saga, tracing one woman's life from just after she's out of high school to her death as an old woman. In this passage from "Tony's Wife, Harper, pp 496, $28.99) readers are introduced to the main character. "Chi Chi Donatelli's feet sank so deeply into the cool, wet sand, she closed her eyes and imagined them taking root below the silt, embedding themselves into the earth and spreading into tangled vines of curlicues, multiplying until they covered the ocean floor. That's the effect Count Basie's music had on her. His lush orchestrations filled the spaces of the world for her until there was nothing left as she listened to Swingin' the Blues on WBGO out of Newark. The factory girl held a transistor radio up to her ear and pressed it close, as though it were a dial and she were a safecracker. She would not miss a single note." The book contains many mentions of home-cooked Italian meals and Trigiani confirms these are from family recipes. She listened to her dad's vinyl while working on this and just before heading to Tenafly for her book tour, Trigiani spoke with New Jersey Authors. What follows is an edited version of that conversation. What attracted you to big band era? It's the music of my parents and my grandparents. My father was in college in the '50s and I said, "Why weren't you listening to rock 'n' roll?" And he would say, "Who would listen to rock 'n' roll if you had big band?" My father was on "The Ed Sullivan Show" with the Notre Dame Glee Club three times. And there's a tip of my hat to my dad. (The Sullivan show is in the book.) One of Trigiani's novels that was turned into a movie. Why have the Jersey Shore as the anchor for the main character? It's the Italian-American Riviera. My father's people, from Northern Pennsylvania, a lot of theirthem had homes by the shore. My grandmother Viola's sister had a house by the shore. Atlantic City was a really big deal. I had cousins that lived there and it was a very, very cool place to me. My parents were self-employed. Their idea of a family vacation was you went to visit family and washed their cars. What was it about Sea Isle that called to you? There were these nuns I read about and I started tracking these nuns. I found a postcard with a house from Sea Isle City, New Jersey and I carried it around with me. Sea Isle has fallen into obscurity. And, I like the word isle. New Jersey was always the place for me. Anything that borders the ocean to me also felt very European. That's just me but it seems exotic, interesting and something to be reckoned with. What is so funny now is I do so much touring in New Jersey and I always get a thrill when I know I am going to Spring Lake to the library or to St. Elizabeth's. My aunt went there to college. My father, when I was not well behaved, would say: "I am going to send you away to a convent in New Jersey." And when I finally went there it was fantastic. I could have gone. When writing, do you begin with a character or situation? Usually with a death of somebody real and I want to remember them and start digging. With this it was the death of my mom. The latest of Adriana Trigiani's novels, this focuses on a strong, smart Italian woman from New Jersey. What is your writing process? I walk around with spiral notebooks. I don't know what I will ever do. I write a lot because I love to write with my hands, then I type it up, then I outline, then I refine everything in the manuscript. Which authors do you reread? Ben Hecht, and I love Charlotte Bronte. Where did you get your first library card and could you share a memory of the library? My first library card was in Big Stone Gap, Virginia at the Wise County Bookmobile. I was 6-years-old. It was an old bread truck, painted brown. Taking the stand as the sole defense witness in his triple murder trial, Jeffrey Holland told an Essex County jury he didnt mean to kill Tiniquah Rouse. Rouse, he told jurors in Newark Thursday, suffered what appeared to be a seizure during consensual sex. And he certainly never shot Ashley Jones and Jarrell Marshall, the other two victims in the states case, the 30-year-old East Orange resident said. But under cross examination by a county assistant prosecutor, Holland, clad in a dress shirt and tie, responded cautiously and at times inconsistently, admitting he told detectives a very different story after his arrest than the one he was telling from the witness stand. Authorities allege that over course of two days in Newark in January 2016, Holland strangled and drowned Rouse, 21, in her bathtub before fatally shooting Jones, 23, and Marshall, 28. Among evidence gathered by investigators are surveillance video appearing to place him at the crime scenes, internet searches for New Jerseys laws regarding murder and numerous threatening text messages. Holland, who has pleaded not guilty to the charges, told defense attorney Sterling Kinsale he and Rouse had a strictly sexual relationship, and that he went to her apartment on Jan. 29, 2016, because he wanted to have a good time. When she started making gurgling noises during sex and stopped moving, Holland said he became concerned and tried to resuscitate her. When he couldnt, he told the jury, I completely panicked. He admitted removing items from the home and attempting to remove his DNA from her body in the bathroom, placing Rouses infant child in a closet before leaving. Assistant Prosecutor Justin Edwab, on cross examination, noted investigators searching Hollands cellphone found two photos of Rouses naked body in her bathtub, apparently posed with a bag on her head. The medical examiner, Edwab said, found water in her sinuses, consistent with being drowned. Investigators found Hollands phone earlier that evening had been used to search for New Jerseys laws regarding murder, and the evidence needed for a conviction. Holland acknowledged having disputes with Jones about the couples children and their relationship, describing the arguments to Kinsale as baby mama drama." Wed go back and forth, Holland said. Being with each other, not being with each other. He found out she and Marshall were dead, he testified, after the state Department of Children and Families called him to the hospital to pick up their children. The kids had been in Jones' apartment when she and Marshall were killed. When Holland arrived at the hospital, police officers hospital arrested him on an outstanding warrant for municipal charges. Cellphone messages between Holland and Jones, as well as to Hollands friends, show the couple and Hollands anger at them had been a frequent topic of conversation. The way I move, Id rather just eliminate both of them out of the picture, read one message to a friend noted by Edwab. Hollands own cellphone, the assistant prosecutor said, connected to cell towers in the area of Jones' apartment the night she and Marshall were killed on Jan. 30, 2016. On the stand, Holland denied ever possessing or having fired a gun. Edwab, however, said investigators found a holster, live ammunition and magazines for a handgun when they searched his home. And just days prior to the killings, Holland admitted, he had used his phone to search for where to purchase .40-caliber ammunition the same caliber of firearm used to kill Jones and Marshall. When investigators searched Hollands home, he acknowledged, they recovered a pair of green cargo pants and a pair of red gloves. Faced with surveillance footage from Jones' apartment building, Holland would not confirm the same gloves and cargo pants could be seen on the suspected killer captured by the camera. The evidence speaks for itself, Edwab said. Superior Court Judge Ronald Wigler, who is presiding over the trial at the countys Veterans Courthouse, has scheduled closing arguments for Tuesday morning. Thomas Moriarty may be reached at tmoriarty@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ThomasDMoriarty. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Authorities have charged two Washington, D.C., residents and a Maryland woman in connection with a South Jersey home invasion in which a woman was dragged down a flight of stairs. Two men wearing masks and brandishing handguns forced their way into a Washington Township, Gloucester County, home on the night of Feb. 3, police said. One intruder held a man at gunpoint while the other found a sleeping woman in an upstairs bedroom and dragged her down the stairs to the first floor, police said. Putting a gun to the womans head, the assailant demanded money. The woman suffered a head injury when she was pulled down the steps, police noted. The men ransacked the house and, prior to leaving, threatened to kill the victims if they called police. All they took was a wallet containing credit cards, police said. Authorities believe the victims may have been targeted because they own a South Jersey business. Township police announced Friday that Tyree Knight, 27, of Washington, was charged with robbery, burglary, criminal restraint, aggravated assault, possession of a weapon by a convicted felon and fraudulent use of credit cards. Anitra Brown, 31, of Hyattsville, Maryland and Marsha Spears, 27, of Washington, were charged with robbery, burglary, criminal restraint, conspiracy and fraudulent credit card use. Knight was already in Camden County Jail on other charges when he was charged in this case, police said. Washington Township Police and U.S. Marshals collaborated in arresting Spears, who is jailed in Washington, D.C. She will be extradited to New Jersey to face charges. A warrant was issued for Brown, who remains at large, and police are looking for an unidentified fourth suspect. Investigators say Knight and another man entered the home, while Brown and Spears waited in a vehicle. Anyone with information about this case is asked to contact Detective Michael Longfellow at 856-589-0330. A former New Jersey contractor wanted for bilking Hurricane Sandy-ravaged homeowners out of thousands of dollars may know some of the finer points of evading arrest. Thats because John F. Bishop is a former Hudson County police officer. Bishop, 54, of Celebration, Florida, is wanted by Ocean County authorities who say he ran off with $75,000 from homeowners without completing the work he was hired to do. Bishop, who faces second-degree theft by failure to make required disposition, spent 11 years in the Harrison Police Department before retiring in 2006. Bishops career in law enforcement was first reported by The Observer of Kearny. The Ocean County Prosecutors Office announced last month that Bishop stole from six Ocean County homeowners who hired him for construction or repair work related to the devastating storm. The investigation began when the homeowners filed reports alleging he was paid but never completed the work. The U.S. Marshals Service in Trenton said Thursday that Bishop, who formerly lived in Ocean County, has not yet been arrested. When somebody blows town, a cop would know how they would go about finding him, a former law enforcement source said when asked about Bishops case. The source said Bishop likely has skills from his time as a cop that could help him avoid handcuffs. An officer on the run would probably have a disposable burner phone that cannot be traced back to him. He would also likely know not to use a credit card with his name on it and would use a prepaid card or cash instead, the source added. If the former cop has been engaging in fraud for a long time, the source added, he would know how to create a false identity for himself and could just switch to that persona while evading law enforcement. But in the end, if Bishop is using his know how in an effort to stay at large, he will get caught anyway. You know how he is going to get caught? He is going to get caught the way they all get caught. They get pulled over for a routine traffic violation. Thats how they get caught," the law enforcement source added. The trick to skip tracing the term for tracking fugitives beyond their homes or regular hangouts "is to make the connection between all of the fugitives family members and friends because we dont skip to a place he has never been before because its outside their comfort zone, the source said. Law enforcement also likes to see a fugitives picture plastered on the walls of convenience store, police departments and post offices. Bishop faces five to 10 years in prison if convicted of the charge. Anyone with information on Bishops whereabouts is asked to contact Ocean County Prosecutors Office Det. Lindsay Llaught at 732-929-2027 ext. 3462 or the U.S. Marshals Service at usms.wanted@usdoj.gov. The Harrison Police Department could not be reached for comment on Bishops tenure there. More sophisticated means of tracking down fugitives have been omitted from this report. NEW YORK Trevor Lavines heart was racing. Lavine, a 15-year-old sophomore at Cicely Tyson School of Performing and Fine Arts in East Orange, was in Row CC, seat 101 on Wednesday at the Richard Rodgers Theatre, where the musical Hamilton has played over 1,300 performances. Lavine was in the first row, close enough for him to touch the stage. "I am so excited right now," he said at intermission. Its amazing. Great seats for Hamilton normally go for about $1,000 on Ticketmaster. Lavine paid $10 thanks to the Hamilton Education Program, now in its third year. As part of the initiative, students learn about the nations founding era, collaborate on performance pieces based on the lessons and, in the end, attend a Hamilton matinee dirt cheap. Students from 21 schools in New Jersey and New York attended on Wednesday. The musical, written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, uses modern song styles to tell the story of Alexander Hamilton and the American Revolution. It won the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 2016. Tim Bailey is director of education at the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, which oversees the Hamilton Education Program. Bailey said some students find in Hamilton something they didnt think possible to find in American history. That this isnt just old, dusty, carved-in-marble history, he said. That its living, its breathing and it relates to their own lives. The story of our nation 250 years ago is the story of our nation today, just told by different people. History teacher Steve Cunningham accompanied a group of about 50 students from Liberty High School in Jersey City on Wednesday. Cunningham, 40, who analyzes the lyrics of Hamilton songs with his students, said he had seen the show before but was eager to watch it in a theater full of high school students. "Oh my God, it's so much more exciting," Cunningham said. "Some of these kids are thrilled. Some of these kids are 'Hamilton' nerds." Wednesdays event began in the morning, with a dozen student performances on the Hamilton stage: monologues, scenes, raps, songs, all based on people and events that date to the nations founding. Dylan Casas and Isiah Blaise, both 17, represented Liberty High School with a spoken word piece about the trial that took place after the Boston Massacre. "We thought that's a great way to have a one-on-one conversation encompassing American idealism, early forms of nationalism, colonial expansion, Casas told The Jersey Journal. A trio of 16-year-old girls from Memorial High School Haneen Abdallah, Tina Chen and Haley Flores -- performed a Hamilton-esque rap about Benjamin Franklin. Fran Sanchez, 56, a Memorial history teacher, started incorporating lyrics from Hamilton into her lessons last year. The level of enthusiasm in the classroom when I did it last year was over the top, to the point that I had to extend the lesson and teach even further using the songs from play, she said. Its a teachers dream. After the morning performances and a question-and-answer period with some of the musicals players, the 1,300 students cheered their way through Hamilton, applauding even when the lights dimmed before each act. Carvens Lissaint plays George Washington in the show and emceed the student performances before Wednesdays matinee. Lissaint said theres a marked difference between performing for the usual theater crowd and for high school students. Theres a level of excitement and theres a level of newness, he said. Its really palpable." Terrence T. McDonald may be reached at tmcdonald@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @terrencemcd. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook. Police have increased patrols around the Ewing eatery thats become the target of harassing phone calls and online rage over a social media post about an employees possible firing. The owners of Cafe 72 say they havent fired an employee over her desire to attend a friends funeral and apologized in a Facebook post for a text message exchange that indicated she had lost her job. Someone posted screenshots in a Facebook group of the text exchange the worker had with one of the restaurants owners, in which the college student tried to arrange for someone to cover her hostess shift so she could attend the funeral for Michael Sot, a 20-year-old student at The College of New Jersey who was killed in a crash Sunday morning with an alleged drunk driver. During the exchange, Katie grows angry with the employee and tells her she will have to let you go if she cannot come to work as scheduled. One of the restaurants owners and Katies husband, Ben Sanford, posted the message online Thursday apologizing over the matter and saying the worker was not fired. He also announced that the business donated $1,000 to a GoFundMe established for Sot. In that message, Sanford said the business had received countless hate emails, bad reviews and threatening phone calls over the publicity and asked that the harassment stop. Ewing police confirmed they had received calls from Cafe 72 on Thursday and Friday regarding anonymous harassing phone calls to the business. As a result, our patrol officers have been periodically checking the business, Captain David LaBaw said. Madison Attanasio, who apparently posted the exchange on Facebook but is not the employee in question, posted a second Facebook message thanking everyone for their support of her post, but asked people to stop calling the business. The hate calls to cafe 72 arent doing any good but hurting the innocent people who work there, she wrote. Please dont call and harass the employees, but rather avoid the business altogether. Screenshot of a follow up post made by a TCNJ student regarding Cafe 72 Attanasio did not respond to several requests for comment. Cafe 72 was packed with customers on Friday afternoon and staff said the owners had no comment about the controversy, and that they were not in the restaurant that day. One customer said she usually calls in to have her lunch delivered but wanted to go into the restaurant to tell the staff she supported them. A former employee of Cafe 72 said she did not interact with upper management that much while she worked there but said that on occasion Katie would say things that were not the nicest to employees. The former employee is also a college student at TCNJ and said she has no plans to return to the restaurant as a customer after the social media incident. Services for Sot will be held Sunday. He was acting as the designated driver for fellow students early Sunday morning when a car driven by David Lamar V, 22, of West Windsor crossed the centerline and collided head-on with Sots Dodge Charger. Lamar is charged with vehicular manslaughter, assault by auto and driving under the influence. Matt Gray may be reached at mgray@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattGraySJT. Olivia Rizzo may be reached at orizzo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @LivRizz. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips Taxpayers in one New Jersey town might end up paying for the police presence at one homes massive Christmas light show. The 70,000-light display at Tom Apurzzis Old Bridge home made headlines last week when township officials told him he would have to pay $2,000 a night for cops to provide security. Apurzzi set up a fundraiser with a goal of $75,000 and managed to collect about $4,000. But now the townships mayor said Apurzzi might not have to pay after all. We have not sent him a bill. We havent sent him a fine. We just keep a tab of how much (it is) costing the township, Mayor Owen Henry said on Thursday. In past years, volunteer police officers patrolled the residential street during the shows, which attracted hundreds of visitors a night. Neighbors complained, saying pedestrians and parked cars clogged the road and created unsafe conditions, especially in the dark. The volunteers werent trained in crowd control and the four-nights-a-week event needed better security, Henry said. After some bitter back-and-forth among residents and a township council ruling that the show could go on, Henry and Chief of Police William Volkert intervened. They said Apurzzi needed to take responsibility for crowd safety. Four trained officers patrolled the event last weekend, with come-and-go crowds totaling about 300 or 400 each night, according to Henry. Apurzzi hasnt paid for the officers but he also hasnt been formally asked to do so. Henry said the police department is tracking their expenses, which include overtime pay, materials to fix the walking path, and lighting for pedestrians -- but it is up to the township council to decide if or how much to bill Apurzzi. According to a press release from the mayors office, event organizers are usually required to pay for the additional police security that is needed. It would not be fair to force residents to pay tax dollars for events where organizers refuse to pay for the added security costs, it said. Township Council President Mary Sohor did not respond to a request for comment. Tom Apruzzi's Christmas light show went on as planned despite controversy involving some neighbors. The display can be seen at his home at 18 Central Ave., Old Bridge. Old Bridge taxes likely will not increase because of Apurzzis semi-famous attraction, according to Henry. He said he doesnt foresee it becoming a line-item on the townships 2019 budget, either. Volkert said even if Apurzzi didnt pay, he would send cops every night. Neighbors previously voiced concerns about emergency vehicles' ability to get through the crowds, which Henry called a potential disaster. I dont have a choice, it is not like the show can go on without (officers) being there, the mayor said, adding he wouldnt be able to sleep at night knowing show attendees might be at risk. Apurzzi said he has been coordinating with police officers about when their services would be needed, and letting them know about nights he wont be running the show (Thursday night, for example, when he said a family situation prevented him from running it). When NJ Advance Media asked what he would do if the council sent him a bill, he answered: Well have to see. Cassidy Grom may be reached at cgrom@njadvancemedia.com Follow her at @cassidygrom. Find NJ.com on Facebook.Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips Six New Jersey schools were locked down and searched Friday after bomb and shooting threat hoaxes were made by phone, officials said. Linden High School; Benjamin Franklin Elementary School, Lawrenceville Elementary School and Lawrenceville Prep in Lawrence; and County Prep High School and McNair Academic High School in Jersey City all received threats just hours apart on Friday. It is unclear if they are related. Police swept each school with K9s, and deemed each building to be safe. The school day continued at all six schools. Linden High School students were forced to shelter-in-place after it received a bomb threat at approximately 8:45 a.m. By 11:15 a.m., the school was declared safe by the Union County Bomb Squad, the county sheriffs K-9 unit and local law enforcement and first responders, officials said. It is unfortunate that our childrens education has to be disrupted by reckless threats like these, Linden Police Chief David Hart said. Each of these threats are taken very seriously, and we will use every resource at our disposal to ensure that the person responsible is brought to justice. The incident is under investigation, and anyone with information is asked to contact the Linden Police Juvenile Bureau at 908-474-8520. In Jersey City, two high schools were evacuated after receiving bomb threats around 11 a.m.. Students and faculty from County Prep High School and McNair High School were evacuated to nearby schools until police allowed them to return to the building around 1 p.m., said Maryann Dickar, Jersey City Public Schools chief of staff. Three schools in the same town in Mercer County were among the schools to receive threats, though further investigation showed the calls were swatting incidents, officials said. At around 10:35 a.m., an adult male called the main office at Benjamin Franklin Elementary School in Mercer County claiming there were six pipe bombs in the building, Superintendent Ross Kasun said. The school was also immediately evacuated to an alternate location, he said. Within five minutes, an adult male called Lawrenceville Elementary School claiming he was headed to the school armed with a rifle, Lawrence Township police said. The school was also immediately locked down. A mile away from the elementary school, Lawrenceville Prep School received a call that bombs were placed on the campus, officials said. The school was evacuated, and Notre Dame High School and St. Anns School were locked down. All other schools in the district were also locked down as a precaution. It is unclear if the same man called in the three threats. The schools were evacuated while police swept the school with their K-9 unit before deeming the school safe, he said. Classes were back in session at both elementary schools by 11:50 a.m. We took (the threat) seriously, like we always do, Kasun said, noting all student and staff are safe, and the school day will continue as scheduled. An investigation revealed the calls were fraudulent and were classified as swatting incidents, the Lawrence Township Police Department said in a press release. The matter is still being investigated, and anyone with information is asked to call Lawrence Detective Sean Kerins at 609-844-7121. Over the past year, state law enforcement agencies have seen a dramatic rise in hoax threats of violence. The threats are highly disruptive and capable of creating dangerous situations for first responders, FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Christopher Stangl told reporters in November. 7 Ben Franklin Elementary School on lockdown following bomb threat Sophie Nieto-Munoz may be reached at snietomunoz@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her at @snietomunoz. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips A 23-year-old Rahway man was sentenced Friday to 58 years in prison for killing a 57-year-old taxi driver during an attempted robbery in 2015. Union County Superior Court Judge Lisa Walsh sentenced Nathaniel Young to 50 years for his murder charge and a concurrent sentence of 15 years for robbery. Young will also have a consecutive 8 years for the aggravated assault charge for seriously injuring a woman when the taxi cab crashed. The family of Imad Alasmar of Edison, who was a father to 10 children, read chilling emotional statements calling their father a good man who was trying to make a good honest living. They also recalled the night Alasmar was murdered and said their lives will have to continue without him. Alasmars wife had one of her daughters read her letter and her 10 children stood up in court for the judge and Young to see. I want everyone in the courtroom to know that I myself was also 20 at the time that his murder took place and never in my mind, never have I thought to take somebodys life, said Alasmars daughter Nathania Alasmar. My father was a very wise man, a very kind man and he instilled in all of his children morals and values that not a lot of kids these days have. I remember him saying if you go looking for trouble, trouble will find you, but trouble came looking for my dad that day. Alasmar immigrated to the U.S. from Jordan to find opportunity and a safer life. A former high school English teacher in Jordan, he worked mostly as a cab driver in the U.S., employed by Station Cab in Rahway for four years at the time of this death. Young chose not to speak during his sentencing other than to say yes to Walsh. He has maintained his innocence throughout the trial, according to his attorney Dino Bjelopoljak. According to First Assistant Prosecutor Albert Cernadas Jr., who referred to Young as a human tornado during the sentencing, Young called for a taxi on Aug. 25, 2015. Nathaniel Young appears in court in Elizabeth on charges of killing a cab driver in Rahway last August (Tom Haydon | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) Alasmar arrived and Young robbed him in the 1400 block of Bedford Street in Rahway, then shot him in the neck and head and took off. Alasmar's taxi kept going after he was shot, until it crashed into a parked car hitting a couple sitting in their car. As a result of the crash, one of the occupants, Stacey Lopez, a Rutgers student, lost her right leg. Since the day that I found out the man behind the taxis wheel had been killed I said I hope the killer finds enlightenment, that he never gets the chance to hurt anyone again, Lopez said holding up a picture of her leg in surgery and cast for the judge to see. "In five seconds a husband and father was killed, my body was ejected, my bones broken and my flesh was ripped open and severed, then the defendant ran away like a coward. He sentenced us all. Eyewitnesses at the scene of the crash described the suspect as a man with long dreadlocks. Bjelopoljak argued at trial that his client had shoulder-length dreadlocks but that they were cut the day before the murder so it could not be him Bjelopoljak also argued that his client would have had to been faster than Usain Bolt to kill the driver in Rahway, go back to his car and drive to East Orange by 11:09 p.m. Other evidence in the case centered around cell phone records and DNA from the taxicab and gun. Walsh said she also took into consideration that days after the crime Young was captured in Newark following a police chase in which his Nissan Sentra struck a 79-year-old woman walking her dog. Under New Jersey law he must serve 85 percent of each consecutive sentence before he is eligible for parole. Robert and Zeta Allens accomplishments extend beyond what many of us will ever accomplish, he said. When one would volunteer for something, the other would be right there. The Force Report is a continuing investigation of police use of force in New Jersey. Read more from the series or search your local police department and officers in the full the database. Defense attorneys and the state Public Defenders Office say the unprecedented release of police use-of-force data in New Jersey could significantly bolster the rights of defendants who for years have had the odds stacked against them in court. In the wake of The Force Report, a 16-month investigation of police use of force by NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, the attorneys said they have been strategizing over how they could use the data to gain more access to police personnel records in their cases. Until (NJ Advance Media) published (its) work, there was no resource like this available, said Sharon Bittner Kean, president of the Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys of New Jersey. Were delighted to have a tool that could bolster the rights of defendants. The investigation found that while the majority of police officers in the state barely used force at all, many departments had individuals who did so far more than their peers. The data revealed that multiple officers who were charged with brutalizing suspects and other types of misconduct would have raised red flags had a system been in place to track use of force trends. The entire database is now available to the public at NJ.com/force. The attorneys said that accessing police records can be difficult during discovery. They said cannot request a police officers entire disciplinary record when they cant present proof that theres anything relevant to the case in it. With the newly released data, they said they may now have a basis to request and receive more documentation. A lot of people think we can just go into court, ask and a prosecutor just hands it over. Thats not how it works, said Jennifer Sellitti, director of training and communications for the New Jersey Office of the Public Defender. Now we can use statistics to support our argument. We can say we know this exists. That gives us something we can put into a motion. Bittner-Kean said the defense attorney association plans to discuss The Force Report at its next board meeting and brainstorm how to use it in court. Sellitti said attorneys working for the Public Defenders office already have been combing through the database, and the office has been crackling with excitement at the possibilities it presents. This is something weve been discussing for a long time, and (NJ Advance Media) just stepped on the accelerator for everyone, she said. Sellitti also believes the newly released use-of-force data could prove valuable in other aspects of criminal litigation, such as reinforcing the prosecutions requirement to turn over evidence that may be favorable to the defense. It adds some teeth to what were asking prosecutors for, she said. Matthew Troiano, a defense attorney who spent years as a prosecutor for Hudson and Morris counties, said the database removed barriers to learning about an officers history. That could especially impact cases where an officers testimony conflicted with the testimony of someone he or she had arrested, Troiano said, because the differing accounts could be more easily compared to that cops past arrests. In that type of situation, itd be extremely helpful, Troiano said. To build The Force Report, reporters filed 506 public records requests, collected 72,677 paper records and spent more than $30,000 to create the most comprehensive statewide database of police force in the United States. The records spanning 2012 through 2016, the most recent year available cover every municipal police department and the State Police Terence Jones, a civil rights investigator, said he hopes The Force Report will prompt state Attorney General Gurbir Grewal to push for more transparency in policing data and enact reforms that will allow for greater accountability. I think its an embarrassment that you have to have a news organization do the work of these agencies, he said. The police have proved they cannot police themselves. And right now, you have county prosecutors acting as if they are the personal lawyers of the police. The state is supposed to represent the people. Hours after the project was released, Grewal called it nothing short of incredible and promised to propose changes to the system. On Wednesday, he issued a rare joint statement with every leading law enforcement official in the state conceding they had failed to accurately track police force and setting forth reforms, including standardized electronic reporting. We are continuing to make this dataset better. The numbers in this story were last updated Jan. 8, 2019. See the changes weve made here. NJ Advance Media staff writer Blake Nelson contributed to this story. Stephen Stirling may be reached at sstirling@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @sstirling. Find him on Facebook. For the first time in over a decade, the Blue Angels will roar over New Jersey at the biennial military air show at Joint Base McGuire-Dix Lakehurst. The team, officially the U.S. Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron, will return to the base in 2020, the U.S. Air Force at the base announced. The Blue Angels will headline the 2020 JB MDL Power in the Pines Open House and Air Show on May 16, 17. (The military often refers to the base by its initials, JB MDL) The show will be their first performance since the joint base was formed back in 2009 and the first performance at the base in 15 years, according to a base spokesman. Joint Base MDL is the nations only triple base, hosting units of the U.S. Air Forces McGuire Air Force Base, the U.S. Armys Fort Dix and the U.S. Navys Naval Air Engineering Station Lakehurst. It has over 40,000 acres of land stretching over two counties, Burlington and Ocean, and is even home to a Marine air unit as well. The Blue Angels have a long history of performing in New Jersey, and the base spokesman said he was excited that they would be returning to Lakehurst. The team, one of the most famous in the world, was founded shortly after World War II and currently performs in F/A-18 Hornet fighter attack jet. The precision flight demonstrations showcase the professionalism, excellence and teamwork found in all Navy and Marine Corps units, as well as provide the thrill and magic of flight to people each year," the spokesman said. Chris Sheldon may be reached at csheldon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrisrsheldon Find NJ.com on Facebook. A lawsuit filed by a Catholic school against an attorney it claimed breached a confidentiality clause in a clergy sex abuse settlement has been resolved, both sides said Thursday. Neither side offered details on the resolution. It brings an end to a six-year battle among the Order of St. Benedict of New Jersey, the private Delbarton School and Gregory Gianforcaro, an attorney who has represented numerous clergy sex abuse victims. The suit claimed Gianforcaro violated a confidentiality clause in a former Delbarton students 1988 settlement with the school when the lawyer told reporters in 2012 that the settlement was approximately seven figures. At the time, Gianforcaro was seeking to have the confidentiality clause lifted, and it eventually was. Gianforcaro denied violating the agreement because, among other factors, he was not representing the former student in 1988 when it was signed. The school's lawsuit sought damages from Gianforcaro in the amount of the original settlement. Gianforcaro and an attorney representing the school confirmed the resolution of the lawsuit Thursday but didnt disclose details, citing confidentiality rules. The resolution was signed by a judge on Wednesday, the same day jurors had begun hearing testimony in state Superior Court in Morristown. During questioning by attorney Robert Gold, Gianforcaro acknowledged making the statement in 2012 but said he didnt believe that violated the confidentiality clause, in part because he didnt know the exact amount because it had been redacted in the copy hed been given. In July, leaders of the Order of St. Benedict of New Jersey said 30 people had come forward since 1988 alleging sexual abuse by priests or lay faculty at Delbarton. The alleged abuses dated back to the late 1960s. The Order also said it had settled eight lawsuits with alleged victims, while seven others were pending. By Patricia Teffenhart This week we watched Katie Brennan speak publicly for the first time in front of state lawmakers who are tasked with investigating her sexual assault and the eventual hiring of her alleged assailant, Al Alvarez. We watched her raise her right hand and swear to tell the truth. We watched her give unflinching testimony for five long hours. Several times, she repeated the same sentiment: At each turn I told someone, I thought that would be enough. We think it should be enough, too. We are tired of watching survivors need to bare their souls and personal traumas in newspapers and on TV, in special legislative committees and Senate judiciary committees for their experiences to be taken seriously. Were tired of people who choose to harm others not being held accountable. Were tired of powerful people protecting their power first. And Katie Brennans testimony this week should be more than enough for us to take action for survivors of sexual assault. In her testimony, Brennan outlined areas we can focus on legislatively that, if the political will existed, would move the needle for survivors of sexual assault in New Jersey, including: Better training for judges and prosecutors on responding to sexual violence . Last weeks . Last weeks directive from the attorney general regarding clearer communication lines between prosecutors and victims of sexual assault is a start, but theres more work to be done. While the directives strongly encourage training for prosecutors, its not required. And that completely leaves out judges, who sometimes have received little to no training on responding to sexual violence. Lets not forget the most egregious example of an Ocean County judge who asked a victim if she had done anything to prevent her assault, including closing your legs. The Department of Justice reports that for every 1,000 sexual assaults, 230 are reported to police, nine get referred to a prosecutor, and less than five perpetrators will be incarcerated. Clearly, incorporating judicial and prosecutorial training specifically focused on sexual violence is long overdue. Expanding our states measly two-year civil statute of limitations for sexual assault. We know that two years is completely insufficient for survivors when considering the impact of trauma -- a years after their childhood victimizations. Our lawmakers have recognized this before, eliminating our criminal statute of limitations for sexual assault. But civil statute reform has stalled for over a decade in Trenton, in large part due to sustained lobbying efforts by the Catholic Church, which is currently We know that two years is completely insufficient for survivors when considering the impact of trauma -- a 2014 study of a national hotline found that the average age of callers reporting clergy abuse was 52.2 years old,after their childhood victimizations. Our lawmakers have recognized this before, eliminating ourstatute of limitations for sexual assault. But civil statute reform has stalled for over a decade in Trenton, in large part due to sustained lobbying efforts by the Catholic Church, which is currently under investigation for decades of mishandling child sexual abuse. In the meantime, the clock has run out for thousands of survivors. Its time for this bill to be heard, for survivors to gain access to expanded pathways to justice, and for perpetrators to be held accountable. These actions would have an enormous impact for survivors of sexual violence in New Jersey. But we cant legislate everything. Brennan also talked about the need for larger cultural change believing survivors. No survivor should have to tell their story to the newspaper to be heard, she said. We agree. We need to change laws but that must go hand in hand with changing the culture of disbelief around the impact and prevalence of sexual violence. We know at its core, sexual violence is about power and control rendering victims powerless and eliminating their control of the situation or the treatment they receive from the justice system. Katie Brennan emphasized over and over in her testimony how watch[ing] door after door close... is really demoralizing. Legislative leaders on the special committee have the power to ensure these hearings arent just another closed door. And lawmakers in Trenton can ensure that this time, it will be enough. Patricia Teffenhart is the executive director of the New Jersey Coalition Against Sexual Assault (NJCASA). NJCASA elevates the voice of sexual violence survivors and service providers by advocating for survivor-centered legislation, training allied professionals, and supporting statewide prevention strategies that work to address and defy the socio-cultural norms that permit and promote rape culture. Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook. Like Patton wading through the shallows off the Philippine shore, Donald Trump has returned. The president is making his triumphant return to the Jersey shore in policy if not in person. His bright idea this time around? Offshore oil drilling. This ought to end well. Trump's history with the Jersey shore is long and sordid. For years he was Atlantic City's chief huckster and purveyor of tacky hotels. If you wanted to play the slots in a building that looked like it was furnished at Liberace's garage sale, a Trump casino is where you went. Like all things Trump touches, his casino empire crumbled and ended in an ignominious defeat for our dear leader. The over-leveraged buildings were shuttered and their horribly garish fixtures sold off to people with no taste. In his wake was left mountains of debt and hundreds of lost jobs, neither of which he would ever take responsibility for. Aside from his occasional attempts to goose Miss America interest by returning to AC, that should have been the end of Trump's shoreline adventures. Alas, he's back and this time his plans are even more destructive. Trump and the rest of the GOP want to drill for oil off the Atlantic coast because they really love oil and the idea that there is a single natural resource not being exploited to it's fullest extent is horrifying to them. The consequences this time around are much bigger than Trump losing a bunch of other people's money, but that's certainly possible, too. Shore based tourism generates 44 billion dollars annually for New Jersey. It's a major jobs provider and economic engine in a state that needs all the horsepower it can find. It would be a really bad idea to cover it in a thick layer of crude oil. As Mark Wahlberg has taught us, offshore drilling accidents are not exactly uncommon. The economic and environmental fallout from an oil spill off our coast would far outweigh the benefit our relatively meager supply of dinosaur juice would provide. A Paterson police officer accused of pushing a hospital patient who earlier attempted suicide and later recorded another cop beating the man admitted Thursday to charges he tried to conceal the assault. Roger Then, 29, of Paterson, pleaded guilty a single charge and faces up to three years in prison when he is sentenced March 12, the U.S. Attorneys Office for New Jersey said in a statement. Then, who is suspended without pay, will be fired, Paterson police director Jerry Speziale said by phone Thursday. We are preparing the civil service paperwork for termination, Speziale said in a brief telephone conversation Thursday afternoon. He declined to comment further. Thens partner Ruben McAusland previously pleaded guilty to selling marijuana and heroin pills from his police car in a separate incident as well as deprivation of civil rights. He awaits sentencing. Then and McAusland went to St. Josephs Regional Medical Center in the city on March 5 to monitor a man who had been hospitalized after attempting suicide, authorities said. The first of the two assaults was captured on the hospitals surveillance video. It shows McAusland pushing the victims wheelchair with his hands and punching the man in the face near the admissions desk after the man threw medical glove boxes at the staff. Moments later, Then grabbed the man by the back of the neck and pushed the falling wheelchair further toward the floor. The second took place while Then and McAusland were watching the man as he lay in a hospital bed. Then hit record on his cell phone, smiled into the camera and turned it toward McAusland as his partner put on a pair of hospital gloves and punched the man in the face after the patient directed an expletive toward him. An incident report filed by the officers' didnt mention either assault. The hospital patients injures were severe enough that he had to to undergo eye surgery, officials said. Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JeffSGoldman. Find NJ.com on Facebook. The former top staffer in Gov. Phil Murphys administration accused of rape has refused to appear before a special legislative panel investigating how Murphys team responded to the accusation, NJ Advance Media has learned. An attorney for Albert J. Alvarez, the former chief of staff to the New Jersey Schools Development Authority, notified the committee within the past 24 hours that he wont appear before lawmakers, according to a source with direct knowledge who wasnt authorized to speak publicly on the matter. Katie Brennan, chief of staff to the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency, accused Alvarez of raping her last year when she was a Murphy supporter and he was a Murphy campaign official. Alvarez was Murphys campaign outreach director for Muslim and Latino communities when the alleged assault happened. He was later hired as deputy director of personnel for Murphy transition and then for the schools job in Murphys administration. Alvarez, 44, has not been charged with a crime and has, through his attorney, denied the allegations. The alleged assault ultimately kicked off the special investigation after it became public in an October Wall Street Journal article. Brennan told lawmakers on Tuesday that she went to the newspaper after she exhausted official channels for months to have her claim heard and Alvarez removed from the administration. Alvarez didnt leave his post until Oct. 2, when the newspaper contacted him for comment in preparation for the storys release. No survivor should have to tell their story to the newspaper to be heard," Brennan told lawmakers earlier this week during about four-hours worth of testimony. The committee is slated to meet next on Dec. 18, when Murphy administration officials are expected to provide testimony. Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewArco or Facebook. You may soon be slapped with more than just a fine in New Jersey if you dont move over for stopped emergency vehicles, thanks to a bipartisan bill being considered by state lawmakers. And a radio hosts opposition to the measure has sparked backlash even from Gov. Phil Murphy. The new legislation would stiffen the penalties for violators of the states decade-old Move Over Law," which requires drivers to either change lanes or slow down when approaching a police car, fire truck, tow truck, or sanitation vehicle stopped on the side of the road with their lights blinking. Currently, you face a $100 to $500 fine if they dont obey the law. This measure would also impose two points on your license if you break it. Motorists could face insurance surcharges and possible license suspension for piling up points on their driving record. Move Over Law fines drivers who fail to veer away from emergency vehicles The legislation would require the state Division of Motor Vehicles to create a public-awareness campaign about the issue, as well. The goal, sponsors say, is to protect the lives of police officers and emergency workers. Violators of the Move Over Law are putting officers at serious risk of injury or death, and they must understand that the severity of their actions, said state Assemblyman Eric Houghtaling, D-Monmouth. The law was enacted in 2009. But advocates have been pushing for the update since the 2010 death of State Trooper Marc Castellano, who was struck by a driver who failed to move over on I-95 in Howell. The new measure (S2501/A3890) was approved by the Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee on Monday. It must be passed by the full state Senate and Assembly and then signed by Murphy to become law. The matter drew attention this week when Judi Franco, a talk-show host on radio station New Jersey 101.5-FM, wrote a column calling the bill silly. The headline: Dead cops make bad laws. Franco blamed the original law for creating a hazardous trend of drivers noticing the activity too late and panicking and stopping short or trying to move over too quickly. A dead cop is sad, she wrote. But a horrible tragedy doesnt warrant a law that puts other drivers at risk and is almost impossible to enforce. Wayne Blanchard, president of the State Troopers' Fraternal Association, demanded an apology from the station. In a statement, Blanchard dismissed Francos column as a poorly written opinion piece designed to stir the pot for ratings. Blanchard also noted that seven police officers in New Jersey have been struck by drivers who failed to move over since August. On Thursday, Murphy took to Twitter to criticize Franco: Calling a law that protects our state troopers silly is not only ignorant, its dangerous. The brave men and women of the NJSP have our backs every day - we must have theirs.https://t.co/Z7wNsGtmgn Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy) December 6, 2018 New Jersey 101.5 released a statement saying its hosts are chosen because they offer strong opinions and viewpoints. We understand not everyone will agree with them they frequently disagree with one another and thats why we encourage our listeners to reach out on-air and online," the station said. "Our goal isnt to tell anyone what to think, but to give our hosts the space to start conversations. This isnt the first time Franco has made headlines this year. She and co-host Dennis Malloy were suspended by the station after referring to New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal as Turban Man. Grewal is Sikh. Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @johnsb01. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook. Katie Brennan, the official in Gov. Phil Murphys administration who alleges a former top Murphy staffer raped her last year, may sue the state of New Jersey for discrimination, her lawyer said in a letter to the states attorney general. In the letter dated Nov. 30 the lawyer puts the state on notice that it may file a lawsuit based on a decision by state Attorney General Gurbir Grewals office that Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez did not act improperly regarding Brennans case. The prosecutors office declined to press charges against Albert J. Alvarez, who Brennan accused of raping her after a Murphy campaign gathering in Jersey City last April. Suarez knows Alvarez, who was a Murphy campaign official at the time of the alleged attack. Brennan was a Murphy supporter at the time. We believe Ms. Brennan has claims that arise, at a minimum, under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination, Kathryn McClure, Brennans attorney, wrote in her letter to Grewal. McClure adds that her office is putting the state Attorney Generals Office, the Hudson County Prosecutors Office, Murphys office, and the Middlesex County Prosecutors Office on notice to preserve documents and other information in any form whatsoever that could be relevant to such a lawsuit. Politico New Jersey first reported on the letter on Thursday. NJ Advance Media also obtained a copy. Leland Moore, a spokesman for the attorney generals office, declined to comment Thursday night. Spokespeople for Murphys office and the Middlesex County Prosecutors Office did not immediately return messages seeking comment. After Brennan went public with her story in October, Grewal asked the Middlesex County Prosecutors Office to review the criminal case against Alvarez. On Nov. 27, Grewal sent a letter to state lawmakers saying his office found Saurez had no involvement in the investigation nor in the decision not to bring charges. Brennan, who is now chief of staff of the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage FInance Authority, derided the move as a swift conclusion" that heightens her grave concerns" about the treatment of sexual assault victims in the state. The integrity of every government body involved in the attorney generals investigation has been called into question, Brennan said in a statement. On Tuesday, Brennan testified for four hours before a special legislative committee investigating how Murphys team handled her allegations. Brennan said she still sought justice after prosecutors declined to press charges against Alvarez. But, Brennan said, her pleas went unanswered even though she informed members of Murphys team three times over the last year before and after the governor took office of the allegations against Alvarez. Alvarez did not resign from his job as chief of staff of the state Schools Development Authority until Oct. 2, when the Wall Street Journal asked him to comment on a story about Brennans accusations. Brennan said after reaching out to Murphys team twice, in December and March, she emailed Murphy and First Lady Tammy Murphy directly in June, saying she wanted to discuss a sensitive matter" that happened during the campaign. The governor replied he was on it." But Murphy said Wednesday he did not know the details of Brennans allegations at the time and didnt learn what Alvarez was accused of until the day he resigned. Murphy said he passed Brennans emails to his chief counsel and his campaigns chief counsel. The minute I understood what happened to her, my heart broke, I got sick to my stomach, and I feel awful to this moment about it," the Democratic governor said. The legislative committee investigating the matter will next meet Dec. 18. Its not clear yet who else lawmakers will call to testify. NJ Advance Media staff writer Susan K. Livio contributed to this report. Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @johnsb01. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook. WASHINGTON White House Political Director Bill Stepien, the New Jersey native who helped put Donald Trump in the White House, is joining the presidents 2020 campaign to try to get him a second term. Stepien, who earlier helped Chris Christie win two terms as governor, will join the campaign as a senior political adviser. In that role, he will help organize the re-election efforts on the state and local level, make sure the president is on the ballot in all 50 states, and oversee selection of delegates for the 2020 Republican National Convention, which will be held in Charlotte, North Carolina, in August. Now is the best opportunity to be laser-focused on further building out the political infrastructure that will support victory for President Trump and the GOP in 2020, Campaign Manager Brad Parscale said in announcing Stepiens appointment. In his new role, Stepien, who grew up in Long Valley, will be joined by another White House aide, Justin Clark. In 2016, Stepien was the campaigns national field director and Clark served as deputy political director. Unlike previous occupants of the White House, Trump began raising money for his re-election campaign early in his first term. He raised $71.9 million through Sept. 30. By contrast, President Barack Obama did not announce his candidacy for a second term until April 2011, after the midterms and started raising money then. Stepien played a key role in 2018 midterm elections that were seen as a referendum on Trump. The Republicans expanded their Senate majority but lost 40 seats and control of the House. Theyve got a keen understanding of the Trump movement across the country, and the expertise we need to prepare for the 2020 campaign, said Michael Glassner, another New Jersey native who serves as chief operating officer of the re-election committee. After leading Christies two successful gubernatorial campaigns, Stepien was named state Republican chairman in 2014. But Christie severed ties with him after investigators found emails between Stepien and some of those involved in the George Washington Bridge lane closing scandal. Stepien was never charged. Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant or on Facebook. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook. Longer said Hobart isnt losing money by providing the service. Hobart Fire Chief Randy Smith said the city has had the agreement with New Chicago to provide ambulance service only on an as-needed basis for about 25 to 30 years. Also, the two municipalities have a mutual aid agreement to help each other in the event of a large fire, he said, and New Chicago has a similar agreement with the City of Lake Station. President Donald Trump selected a new U.S. attorney general Friday, and it's not former Gov. Chris Christie, who has coveted the position and was a contender. Trump announced he plans to nominate William Barr, who served as U.S. attorney general under then-President George H.W. Bush's administration. Christie was one of a few people who remained on Trump's shortlist, a source familiar with the situation confirmed to NJ Advance Media last week. The list has whittled down in recent weeks, but Christie -- a longtime friend and ally to Trump, a fellow Republican -- was still "a top contender" and "checks all the boxes," according to the source. New Jersey's 55th governor long has coveted the position. After Trump pushed former Attorney General Jeff Sessions out of as the country's chief law enforcement officer Wednesday, Christie's name emerged as a possible replacement. Trump announced his pick outside the White House as he prepared to board a helicopter. "I want to confirm that Bill Barr," Trump told reporters. Barr "will be nominated for the United States Attorney General and hopefully that process will go very quickly," he said. Christie didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. The job of attorney general was one of only two that Christie said he would have accepted in the Trump administration that would have prompted him to resign as governor. The other position was to be Trump's vice president. But neither post was offered to Christie, who instead served the rest of his second term in office until Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, succeeded him in January. Despite being in the running, Christie said as recently as the middle of last month that he had not talked to the president about the job. "No," the ex-governor said in response to a question about whether Trump talked to him about it. Christie, who was in Atlantic City for a public event, wouldn't tell reporters whether he would have taken the job if it was offered. "The only person I owe that answer to is the president of the United States, and he hasn't asked," Christie said. Since he left office, Christie has worked as a private lawyer and a political analyst for ABC News. "I love my life that I have right now," he said at the time. "I'm more relaxed than I have been in 16 years," Christie added. "(Wife) Mary Pat and I are enjoying our time." The week before Christie made the comments, Trump that while he likes Christie, he had not spoken to him about becoming attorney general and that his administration was "looking at other people." NJ Advance Media staff writer Brent Johnson contributed to this report. Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewArco or Facebook. The MLB Winter Meetings begin Monday in Las Vegas, and there will be plenty of trade talk making the hot stove sizzle, with Cleveland Indians right-hander Corey Kluber, Arizona Diamondbacks right-hander Zack Greinke and San Francisco Giants southpaw Madison Bumgarner all on the market. New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman could be interested in one of those aces, after missing on Patrick Corbin, who went to the Washington Nationals on a six-year, $140 million contract, and Nathan Eovaldi, who returns to the Boston Red Sox with a four-year, $67.5 million contract. But theres a pitcher who has been flying under the radar a bit this winter, and its one who could make sense for the Yankees. SNYs John Harper thinks the Yankees could get Indians right-hander Trevor Bauer at a bargain price" because Cleveland is looking to slash payroll. At least thats what I was told on Thursday by an executive from a major league club who has had discussions with the Indians about their much-publicized willingness to trade a starting pitcher. ... You can get Bauer cheap, the exec said. The catch is that you have to take (Jason) Kipnis' money too. The Yankees might be the only team who would do that -- if theyre not really in on (Manny) Machado or (Bryce) Harper. ... Yes, the Indians would love to unload Kipnis -- their second baseman who has one year left on his contract -- for $14.7 million, plus a $2.5 million buyout on his option year salary of $16.5 million for 2020. So the real cost for one year of Kipnis would be $17.2 million, a huge overpay for a guy whose production has fallen significantly the last couple of seasons from his All-Star peak a few years ago. But, depending whether the Yankees are going to make a big push for Machado, Kipnis could fill a hole in 2019, allowing them to play Gleyber Torres at shortstop until Didi Gregorius returns from Tommy John surgery. The benefit would be the Yankees getting Bauer for a modest return, certainly none of their top prospects, while giving them the flexibility that comes with short-term deals. Or if the Indians were willing to eat some of the Kipnis money, perhaps the Yankees would be willing to send Clint Frazier back to where they got him in the Andrew Miller deal in 2016. It could work for both sides, with Cleveland looking for outfielders. Bauer, who is two years away from free agency, is projected to earn some $11 million next season via arbitration, which would bring the total for him and Kipnis to nearly $26 million-plus, which isnt including the Kipnis buyout. The 27-year-old Bauer broke in with the Diamondbacks in 2012 and has spent the last six seasons in Cleveland. His career-best 2.21 ERA in 2018 was second in the American League to Rays left-hander Blake Snell, who won the Cy Young Award with a 1.89 ERA. Bauer finished sixth in Cy Young voting and was an All-Star for the first time in 2018. According to Spotrac, Bauer is eligible for arbitration the next two years and will reach free agency in 2021. The lawsuit asked a judge to find that she was not in violation of the law by retaining both her positions, according to court documents, and should not have to repay any salary. Court filings claim the Attorney Generals Office gave her conflicting opinions on if the Common Council is the overseeing body of the Sanitary District, which would determine whether she should resign. Porter Regional Hospital will offer a variety of upcoming support groups. Stroke Survivor Support Group, for survivors, caregivers and family members, will meet from 2-3:30 p.m. Dec. 19 in room 2100 at the hospital, 85 E. US-6, Valparaiso. More information is at 219-983-8355. Our Carriage Infant Loss Support Group, for those who have suffered pregnancy and/or infant loss, will meet at 7 p.m. Dec. 20 at Christ Lutheran Church, 2610 N. Campbell St., Valparaiso. More information is at 219-309-6116. Hope and Healing Womens Cancer Support Group will be held from 5-6:30 p.m. Dec. 21 at the Campbell Street Cafe, 4245 Meridian Woods Drive, Valpariso. More information is with Peggy Banks at 219-983-6128. Beyond the Baby Blues, for parents faced with postpartum depression, will meet from 5-6:30 p.m. Dec. 26 in the Community Room at the hospital, or from 6-8 p.m. Dec. 26 at Childbirth Melodies, 138 S. Main St., Crown Point. More information is at 219-331-1945 or at 219-782-4149. 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 Videos Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos. Anything that you believe we can take to an entity to get a grant from is very important, said Craig Kenworthy, president of the park board, adding that could include migratory birds that use the property, or information on old growth trees. I think its possibly a great project and we do one thing really well. We build trails. The Exynos-powered models from previous Galaxy S models appeared to be slightly faster than the Snapdragon versions, but it looks like the situation is now reversed for the upcoming Galaxy S10 handhelds. Early samples of the Exynos 9820 and Snapdragon 855 tested in AnTuTu show a slight advantage for Qualcomm's chip, but the final versions might provide different results. 4 Reviews , News , CPU , GPU , Articles , Columns , Other "or" search relation. 3D Printing , 5G , Accessory , AI , Alder Lake , AMD , Android , Apple , ARM , Audio , Business , Camera , Cannon Lake , Cezanne (Zen 3) , Charts , Chinese Tech , Chromebook , Coffee Lake , Comet Lake , Console , Convertible / 2-in-1 , Cryptocurrency , Cyberlaw , Deal , Desktop , E-Mobility , Education , Exclusive , Fail , Foldable , Gadget , Galaxy Note , Galaxy S , Gamecheck , Gaming , Geforce , Google Pixel , GPU , How To , Human 2.0 , Ice Lake , Intel Evo / Project Athena , Internet of Things (IoT) , iOS , iPad Pro , iPhone , Jasper Lake , Lakefield , Laptop , Launch , Linux / Unix , Lucienne (Zen 2) , MacBook , Mini PC , Monitor , MSI , OnePlus , Opinion , Phablet , Radeon , Renoir , Review Snippet , Rocket Lake , Rumor , Ryzen (Zen) , Science , Security , Single-Board Computer (SBC) , Smart Home , Smartphone , Smartwatch , Software , Storage , Tablet , ThinkPad , Thunderbolt , Tiger Lake , Touchscreen , Ultrabook , Virtual Reality (VR) / Augmented Reality (AR) , Wearable , Windows , Workstation , XPS , Zen 3 (Vermeer) Ticker Samsung will soon introduce its latest flagship Exynos 9820 SoC with the release of the Galaxy S10 lineup of handhelds, and we caught a glimpse of how well this chip is performing through a leaked AnTuTu benchmark from last week. However, as with previous Galaxy S versions, Samsung will also release Snapdragon-powered versions for the U.S. market. Qualcomm has recently introduced the Snapdragon 855 flagship which will power some S10/S10+ models and AnTuTu already has some benchmarks showing the difference between the two versions. These are preliminary benchmarks, so the final versions could end up even faster than depicted hereinbelow. Unfortunately, the AnTuTu benchmarks never mix up Android devices with Apple ones, so we cannot see such direct comparisons for now, but it looks like the Snapdragon 855 is overall a tad faster than the Exynos 9820 and the Kirin 980 from Huawei. Surprisingly enough, the Exynos 9820 SoC is slower than the new Snapdragon and the Kirin 980 in the computing tests, while the Kirin 980 leads in the memory-related tests. On the UX side of things, the Exynos barely emerges victorious. Some may argue that synthetic tests do not really reflect real world applications. Huawei has been caught manipulating benchmark results before, so these tests may not be too accurate, at least not with early samples like these. More and more users are putting an emphasis on A.I.-powered tasks and want to compare different brands in this respect, so popular benchmarks should take this into consideration. We exchange gifts around this time, rather than Dec. 25. In my family, it was also a tradition for us to pass around what are often comedic poems about each other during Christmas time. This is one of those beautiful times of the year when I get to combine both my faith and my culture. As a Dutch American, I'm very proud of my ancestral roots, being that I'm in the neighborhood of 60 percent Dutch ethnically. I can also proudly say that almost all of our ancestry is Catholic, being that my paternal side is 100 percent Dutch, and comes from Brabant, Kleve and Amsterdam areas, while my maternal side is traditionally of the Reformed Tradition, from Friesland and Overijessel. Hansen graduated from the state police academy in 2013, Wojas said. He is a native of Boone Grove and graduated from Boone Grove High School, according to Wojas. Hansen went on to the University of Southern Indiana and Ivy Tech and studied criminal justice, the release states. Hansen is a TacMed instructor, a field training officer and background investigator, according to Wojas. Its really a story about the end of Kings life but it goes beyond that, Dapier said. What were very excited to bring to not just the community here but the students and children is the...fact that Martin Luther King sacrificed his life for his principles and that those principles extended beyond racial justice to workers rights and the war in Vietnam. The book really covers a lot. The president, who was elected on a platform of improving relations with the West and escaping crippling economic sanctions, has been seen as vulnerable to a challenge from Irans hard-liners, for failing to deliver on his promises. Many sanctions remain in place even after the signing last year of a nuclear deal, primarily because of what the United States says is Irans support for terrorism and human rights violations. Tehran denies those accusations, but no European or American bank will finance business with Iran as long as the sanctions remain in effect, unless the United States Treasury specifically certifies the deal, as it did for recent contracts with Airbus and Boeing. Image Former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is seen as part of Irans hard-line faction. Credit... Vahid Salemi/Associated Press Mr. Ahmadinejads two presidential terms, from 2005 to 2013, were defined by confrontation with global powers, especially the United States. He is widely admired by the rural poor but is despised by the middle class majority. Corruption grew substantially during his tenure, and it continues to be a major problem today. Experts say most of the profits from record-high oil prices during Mr. Ahmadinejads years were pumped around the state apparatus or were invested in ambitious housing projects that now stand empty in desert plains, without proper utilities or transportation infrastructure. In the draft, the investigators expressed concern that women were not being promoted into key positions at CBS News, and that a more muscular process was needed to protect employees who alleged misbehavior. But they also did not find that there was a toxic work or frat house environment for women at the wider news division. CBS declined to comment on the draft report, as did a representative for the board. Since Mr. Fagers dismissal, 60 Minutes has been operating under a cloud of uncertainty. The show is currently run by Bill Owens, who was second in command to Mr. Fager and is on a short list of candidates to take over the show. The investigators wrote that Mr. Fager had behaved inappropriately with colleagues in several instances. They said they believed that he had engaged in some type of sexually inappropriate conduct toward a CBS employee who alleged in 2009 that he had groped her. Another CBS News employee alleged that Mr. Fager had tried to kiss her with an open mouth at a corporate event about six years ago. The report also said a female employee had been instructed to drive him and other producers to a legal brothel while reporting a story in Nevada. This is the first I am hearing some of these allegations about my personal conduct, Mr. Fager wrote in an email to The Times. Im surprised and devastated to hear them from The New York Times since I was not given the opportunity by CBS investigators to respond to their accuracy. Mr. Moonves, during an interview with CBSs outside investigators in September, disclosed that CBS had paid $950,000 to a woman who had made claims of age and sex discrimination and had accused Mr. Fager of sexual misconduct. Investigators were not able to interview the woman, they wrote in the report, and while they could not rule it out, they found no credible evidence to confirm her account of misconduct. The investigators found that Mr. Fager had failed to respond appropriately to accusations of bullying against Michael Radutzky, a former senior producer on 60 Minutes, and harassment against Ira Rosen, currently a producer on the show. [What you need to know to start the day: Get New York Today in your inbox.] Nevayah still remembers the feel of the handcuffs. They were foreign to her; she had never been in trouble. A latecomer to New York Citys foster care system, Nevayah had been signed over to the Administration for Childrens Services when she was 16. Rather than enter a group home, she told her caseworker she would prefer to live with her mother in Ohio. Eager to start school, she bought a bus ticket, made it to Cleveland and phoned the agency to let them know that she was safe. Per protocol, A.C.S. said, they would send the authorities to make sure the home was suitable. But when the police arrived that night, they told Nevayah that New York Family Court had issued a warrant for her arrest. Graciously, she said, officers waited to handcuff her until she was in the back of their patrol car. By midnight, she was in a cell. In Family Court hearings every month, the A.C.S. is quietly being granted arrest warrants to detain foster children like Nevayah, whose only transgression is leaving the agencys care. The unusually draconian strategy has little precedent in any states foster care system, and it is unclear if the A.C.S. even has the authority to use such warrants under New York State law. Her treatment by the officers defied a consensus among professional groups like the American Medical Association and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists that using restraints like handcuffs, shackles and belly chains on pregnant women can cause complications and may interfere with doctors efforts to treat them, according to the complaint. The National Commission on Correctional Health Care, which accredits correctional facilities, strongly opposes the use of restraints during labor and delivery and discourages their use during the prepartum and postpartum periods, except when there is an imminent risk that the woman will flee or cause harm. Following the 6:14 a.m. delivery, a doctor wrote in hospital notes that officers, when informed that state law prevented shackling, said the N.Y.P.D. Patrol Guide supersedes this law and that patient would need to remain restrained during remainder of hospitalization. The guide, which is the official manual of police protocol, requires officers to handcuff and shackle arrestees who require medical or psychiatric attention, but it permits officers to remove the restraints when doctors request it and after consulting with a patrol supervisor. The officers at the hospital did consult a sergeant after the woman and her doctors asked them to remove the shackles, but the sergeant said the restraints were required, the complaint states. The number of women in the nations jails and prisons has grown considerably since the 1980s, which has forced law enforcement and correctional authorities, as well as policymakers, to grapple with the impact of incarceration on women, including those who are pregnant and give birth in custody. Dr. Carolyn Sufrin, an assistant professor in gynecology and obstetrics at Johns Hopkins Medicine, said a lack of comprehensive data about pregnant women in jails and prisons makes it difficult to study their experiences. The people who dont count, dont get counted, she said. New York is one of 26 states that prohibit shackling women in labor, Dr. Sufrin said, and some go as far as banning restraints for all pregnant women in custody. In the other 24 states, no state or federal law limits the practice, she said. PARIS He was the savior of Europe. A 39-year-old maverick who rescued France from the populist tide, the newcomer who crushed his far-right opponent Marine Le Pen in a TV debate on the eve of a presidential election. The leader who would make liberal democracy great again. The visionary who had a plan to jump start the European Union. A 21st-century John Kennedy. Some joked that he could walk on water. That was 2017. Eighteen months into his presidential term, Emmanuel Macron, faced with an uprising by a leaderless army of working poor in yellow vests and by violence unseen since the student riots of May 1968, is struggling to take back control of his country. The charismatic young president was jeered by protesters who tried to chase his car this week when he visited a public building set afire by rioters in Le Puy-en-Velay, in south-central France. Macron, demission Macron, resign has become the rallying cry of these modern-day sans-culottes, whose anger is directed at him, personally. In a rare show of humility, Mr. Macron admitted a month ago that he had failed to reconcile the people with its leaders. Little did he suspect that the anger would turn into hatred, of the kind thrown in the face of dictators by the Arab Spring. As a fourth Saturday of protests looms, in spite of an olive branch offered by the government, nobody can predict whether this revolt will eventually give way to dialogue or degenerate into an even more profound and dangerous crisis. What went wrong? Two sets of factors have come into play. One is not specific to France: an insurrectional wave that is now a familiar feature of Western democracies shaken by the disruptions of globalization, the aftermath of the 2008 economic crisis and the inability of our traditional political parties to adjust to these new challenges. Brexit, Donald Trumps election, an emergence of the far right in Germany and a victory of anti-system parties in Italy all, though less violent, are part of the same dynamics. Emmanuel Macron was initially seen as a bulwark against this trend. More determined than his predecessors, he would reform France with a progressive agenda that would do away with the injustices of the old world. FRONT PAGE An article on Nov. 27 about the Chinese researcher He Jiankui, using information provided by two sources, including an organizer of a conference on genome engineering, misstated the year in which Dr. He spoke at that conference. He spoke about his work on human embryo editing at a conference at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in 2017, not 2018. Because of that error, the premise of a quote by Fyodor Urnov was incorrect. Dr. He was speaking in 2017 before a woman in China was carrying twins whose genes had been edited; he was not concealing that he had already completed the procedure. NATIONAL An article on Thursday about Republicans in Wisconsin limiting the power of the governor misstated the day on which a North Carolina judge struck down part of a series of legislative changes. It was Wednesday, not Tuesday. OBITUARIES An obituary on Thursday about the longtime New York Public Library art curator Robert Rainwater misstated the name of a French printmaker whose work he exhibited. He was Felix Buhot, not Puhot. The obituary also misstated the name of the club in Manhattan where Mr. Rainwater celebrated Christmas with friends. It is the Century Association, not the Century Club. Errors are corrected during the press run whenever possible, so some errors noted here may not have appeared in all editions. For your sins, Bryan Cranston is all but flaying the skin off his body, night after night at the Belasco Theater. It is a demanding undertaking, both painful and rigorously skilled. And if youre a glutton for great, high-risk acting, you owe Mr. Cranston the courtesy and yourself the thrill of watching his self-immolation in Network, which opened on Thursday. Mr. Cranston is portraying Howard Beale, a grand old newscaster who becomes a martyr to the inhumanity of television, in this churning, immersive stage adaptation directed to overwhelm by Ivo van Hove of the passionately remembered 1976 movie. Howard Beale, you may recall, is the role that won Peter Finch an Oscar. But as fine as Finch was, his Howard remained a dutiful pawn in the bigger satirical scheme of the writer Paddy Chayefskys take on corporate greed and a tube-addicted nation. Mr. Cranston, as befits someone portraying an unbiddable maverick, tears through the formulas of Lee Halls Chayefsky-honoring script to create a raging, bleeding portrait of a man who is a creature and a captive of a satanic medium. If the bravura dementia of his Howard makes much of the rest of the show seem as two-dimensional as a flat TV screen, its a trade-off Im willing to accept, albeit with a sigh. Though he won a Tony Award playing Lyndon Baines Johnson in All the Way and an Olivier for his Beale at Londons National Theater Mr. Cranston became a surprising midcareer star on television, in the genial sitcom Malcolm in the Middle and the savage meth opera Breaking Bad. Of course, the driving force propelling these politicians was not only a high-minded ethos of public spiritedness: Ambition, ego and paternalism were also at work. But while Mr. Bush was rooted in the Eastern elite and Mr. McCain hailed from a storied military family, this era of leaders was not all to the manner born. Former Senators Daniel K. Inouye and Bob Dole the former a son of a Japanese immigrant and the latter a son of the Kansas plains, who first met in a military hospital after being wounded in World War II were both archetypes of this period and were hardly imbued with noblesse oblige. They were stewards of the country, and that was the point. They both believed that when you were elected to public office, your first responsibility was to solve the problems that come in your inbox, Mark Salter, Mr. McCains longtime chief of staff, said of the senator and the 41st president, citing their principles but lack of ideological rigidity. While both were committed internationalists, Mr. McCain more hawkish than Mr. Bush, the two demonstrated more flexibility on issues at home. Mr. Bush first ran to the right as an unsuccessful Senate candidate in 1964, but regretted his pandering on race and returned to the center in his winning House bid two years later. And while he dismissed what he called voodoo economics as a presidential candidate in 1980, he eagerly signed on to supply-side economics as Ronald Reagans vice president before raising taxes when he was president himself. He also signed the Americans With Disabilities Act, which made life easier for millions but created a new regulatory regime. The snow keeps coming down and we village managers are saying, I think we need to get the snow off the roof, he said. The roof is going to come down if we dont do something. WASHINGTON President Trump plans to nominate Heather Nauert, the chief State Department spokeswoman, to become his next ambassador to the United Nations as he moves to reshape his team for the final two years of his term, two people familiar with the choice said on Thursday. Ms. Nauert, a former Fox News anchor who has served as the public face of the State Department since last year, would replace Nikki R. Haley, who is stepping down as ambassador at the end of the year. If confirmed, Ms. Nauert would be one of the most prominent promoters of Mr. Trumps America First foreign policy. Ms. Nauert had been the favorite after Ms. Haley announced that she would leave the job, but after The Wall Street Journal reported that she was expected to be given the role, Mr. Trump grew muted about the choice, and administration officials said that she had become less interested in the post. The president floated other names to associates as possible nominees, including Kelly Craft, the ambassador to Canada; Richard Grenell, the ambassador to Germany; and John James, a Republican who lost a Senate race last month in Michigan. At one point, Mr. Trump even signaled to Mr. James that the job was likely to go to him, according to one person familiar with the situation. A statement he issued seemed designed to send a strong message to his detractors. Climate change is real, humans have made a significant impact, and we have the responsibility and capability to address it urgently, it said. Despite his opposition, Mr. McNamee was confirmed on Thursday, 50 to 49. Mr. Manchins ability to win as a Democrat in a deep-red state has helped hold down the Republican majority in the Senate. But he votes with Mr. Trump 60.8 percent of the time, according to the website FiveThirtyEight. Fewer than half of his votes line up with the positions advanced by the League of Conservation Voters, an environmental advocacy group. He is also about to lose his two closest ideological compatriots: Senator Joe Donnelly of Indiana and Senator Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Democrats who lost their re-election bids last month. Both of them voted against the confirmation of Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh; Mr. Manchin, bowing to the will of his constituents, was the lone Democrat to vote in favor. Mr. Manchins campaign contributions from coal and energy companies have also drawn the ire of the progressive left. Of the 20 senators who received the most money from coal mining interests in 2018, he ranks 11th and is the sole Democrat, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks campaign finance. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the firebrand Democrat and incoming House freshman from New York who has been pushing for a so-called Green New Deal, cited those contributions last week when she expressed opposition to Mr. Manchin. I have concerns over the senators chairmanship just because I do not believe that we should be financed by the industries that we are supposed to be legislating and regulating and touching with our legislation, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez told reporters at a news conference with members of the Sunrise Movement, an environmental advocacy group. Movement members also protested outside Mr. Schumers New York office on Monday. Under the seniority system by which Senate Democrats govern themselves, several of Mr. Manchins colleagues are ahead of him in the line for the top spot on the energy panel. But for various reasons including the tradition that a senator serves as the ranking member of only one committee they seem likely to turn it down. The maneuvering, which will be sorted out before the next Congress begins, is like a game of political musical chairs. WASHINGTON Influential Republican senators, working in concert with the White House, are making a last-ditch effort to pressure Senator Mitch McConnell and other party leaders to take up a bipartisan criminal justice bill at risk of being shunted aside in the rush to complete other business before Congress adjourns. With roughly two weeks remaining, senators and outside groups arguing for sentencing and prison law changes included in the bill, known as the First Step Act, have all but accused Republican leaders of underrepresenting the bills support to justify not allowing a vote. Supporters have additionally raised the possibility of attaching the long-sought changes to a must-pass year-end spending bill if leaders do not relent. There are a lot of people who dont want this bill to come up, and they are using the whip organization to accomplish their goals, said Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, the Republican leader of the Judiciary Committee and the bills lead author, referring to the formal apparatus responsible for measuring support in the Senate. But I know what I know. One of Mr. Grassleys allies, Senator Mike Lee, Republican of Utah, said on Thursday that he had secured firm commitments of support from at least 28 Republicans, more than half of the caucus, and from all 49 Senate Democrats well over the 60 to 70 votes party leaders indicated would be necessary for consideration. But Republican leaders insist that their own vote counting shows substantially less support, and that as long as they do not have a majority of Republicans on board, they will not advance a bill with far-reaching implications for the nations criminal justice system. LANSING, Mich. Michigan Republicans, following the tactics of conservative lawmakers in Wisconsin, moved on Thursday to start limiting the power of the incoming Democratic secretary of state and set the stage for additional curbs on the Democrats who will take over as governor and attorney general in January. The G.O.P.-led State Senate in Michigan, voting largely along party lines, passed a bill that strips the incoming secretary of state of the authority to oversee campaign finance issues and hands it to a new bipartisan commission. Other bills, which are likely to be approved next week, include proposals that would weaken the ability of the governor and attorney general to control the states position in court cases. Using a similar political playbook as their counterparts in Wisconsin this week, Michigan Republicans are responding to their Election Day chastening in top statewide races by trying to curb the power of leaders from the opposing party. The move has alarmed ethics watchdogs, who have called it a power grab, and has fueled protests among Democrats. But it is unclear if Republicans would pay a political price, given that many are in safe districts. A major difference between Wisconsin and Michigan, however, may be their Republican governors. In Wisconsin, Gov. Scott Walker, who was denied a third term in November, is now weighing the bills to limit his successor, Tony Evers; Mr. Walker has not indicated how he will act, but he has worked in concert for years with Republican legislative leaders there. In North Carolina, a House race is being investigated for potential voter fraud. Today, we called Alan Blinder, a Times national correspondent covering the story, while he was out interviewing voters in Elizabethtown, N.C. Lisa: This has been a complicated story. Whats the latest? Alan: The latest twist is that Republicans seem to be modifying their position a little bit. Weve been hearing from Republicans for some time that they thought the state needed to certify the election immediately. And then, a little bit ago, Dallas Woodhouse told me the party would be open to a new election if there was a showing of fraud. He told me hed been watching TV and had thrown up watching one of the reports. He threw up? Like, physically? Yes, he physically threw up. He said he was watching TV on Wednesday night and became physically ill. So the Republicans are all standing by Mark Harris at this point, but theyre opening the door to the idea that there may have been some real trouble in the Ninth District. That seems like a big development. It shows the party is getting a sense of trouble here, that this is not going away. This is a state where Republicans have spent a lot of time and energy talking about how to erase voter fraud and election fraud, and now, in one of the highest-profile races in the year in North Carolina, a Republican is accused of being a beneficiary of fraud. What are you hearing when you knock on doors? To be honest with you, not a lot of doors open with a story like this. Weve had some successes with finding people who will detail and talk about their experiences, but a lot of times people dont want to talk. But we have heard some firsthand accounts of activities that really raise questions about what happened here. WASHINGTON President Trump is strongly considering nominating William P. Barr, who served as attorney general during the first Bush administration from 1991 to 1993, to return for a second stint as head of the Justice Department, according to people close to Mr. Trump. Mr. Barr, a Republican and corporate lawyer, has long advanced a vision of sweeping presidential powers. Mr. Trumps growing focus on him comes amid a rocky reception for Matthew G. Whitaker, whom the president installed last month as acting attorney general after ousting Jeff Sessions from the post. With Democrats vowing oversight hearings into Mr. Whitaker when they take over the House in January, the president is said to be under pressure including from allies like Republican senators Charles E. Grassley of Iowa and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, the departing and incoming chairmen of the Senate Judiciary Committee to quickly nominate a viable successor to Mr. Sessions. Mr. Barr is seen as the leading candidate for the nomination if Mr. Trump does not decide to stay with Mr. Whitaker for an extended period, several Justice Department officials said this week. And while Mr. Trump is known for changing his mind capriciously, he likes to poll advisers and confidants about potential nominees and has asked several people about Mr. Barr recently. ATHENS Rioting broke out here and in Thessaloniki late Thursday, as masked youths at barricades pelted the police with homemade firebombs after rallies for the 10th anniversary of a fatal police shooting of a teenager. The unrest in Athens flared in the neighborhood of Exarchia, a traditional stronghold for anarchists and where 15-year-old Alexis Grigoropoulos was shot dead in 2008, leading to the worst street riots Greece had seen in decades. On Thursday, protesters lobbed firebombs and chunks of concrete hacked out of the sidewalks at riot police, who fired back tear gas and cast a choking, acrid haze, which hung over Exarchia into the early hours of Friday. A water cannon was used to douse fires in cars and dumpsters and on barricades and a buildings balcony. A police official said that the authorities had detained 66 people and that two officers and a protester had suffered minor injuries. The official said that some of the protesters had built a burning barricade of car tires and refuse, and others had climbed onto rooftops, prompting the police to stay in the neighborhood even after the streets had calmed. Thiemo Fetzer, an economics professor at the University of Warwick, has found that a significant number of people voted for Brexit not because they were ideologically opposed to the European Union, but rather because they wanted a way to protest after austerity cuts had left them feeling ignored by the government. Those same voters, he says, are now the most susceptible to doubts about Brexit being the best path forward, suggesting that, for them, pocketbook issues outweigh ideology. Perhaps reflecting those changing attitudes was well-regarded work by Survation, a research firm, that showed support for leaving had fallen around 10 percentage points in Sunderland since the referendum. This was not a traditional opinion poll, however, but an estimate based on responses from 20,000 people nationwide that were combined with information about the demographics and voting history of local areas. At Pop Recs, a music shop and cafe near the bus depot, three people who voted to stay in the European Union were debating a second referendum. Barry Cornell, 42, worried another public vote risked reviving the far-right U.K. Independence Party, which played a major role in the Brexit campaign. But the shops proprietor, Dave Harper, said he did not much care whom a referendum angered, so long as it reversed Brexit. Laura Brewis, 37, an arts organizer and fund-raiser sitting beside Mr. Cornell at the counter, lamented that elected leaders had said nothing for years about the European Union funding that came to Sunderland. Grants from the bloc have contributed to an aquatic center and a university campus, and helped underwrite a business center that assists aspiring software entrepreneurs, though these amenities are not always within reach for residents. In a square in the city center, a monument features the shipyard workers who once made Sunderland the largest shipbuilding hub in the world. It looks like a local project through and through, except for a small bronze plaque nearby covered in browning grass. Describing the source of some funding, it features not a Union Jack, but the flag of the European Union. The United Nations General Assembly on Thursday rejected a resolution proposed by the United States to condemn the Islamic militant group Hamas for violence against Israel. The rejection was a blow to the American ambassador, Nikki R. Haley, who had positioned the measure as a capstone of her tenure. In remarks before the vote, Ms. Haley characterized the resolution as an opportunity for the 193 member states of the General Assembly to put themselves on the side of truth and balance. Though the body has voted many times to condemn Israel, never once has it passed a resolution critical of Hamas, an organization Ms. Haley described as one of the most obvious and grotesque cases of terrorism in the world. Today could be a historic day at the United Nations or it could be just another ordinary day, said Ms. Haley, who announced in October that she would be resigning, perhaps by years end. LONDON It was fun while it lasted. The memories of Beyonce, Victoria Beckham and others displaying a fascination over the summer with European old masters have faded. Auctions of such works have once again reverted to traditional type. At least, that was the impression in London this week when Sothebys and Christies held their regular December sales of pre-Victorian art. The wall colors might have been different (black at Sothebys, blue at Christies), but these latest old master offerings featuring a Head of Christ by Rembrandt, portraits by Anthony Van Dyck and Frans Hals, and landscapes by the Brueghel family were put on show much the same way they have been for centuries. Were the tortoise to contemporary arts hare, said Johnny Van Haeften, a London-based dealer in old masters. He acknowledged that collecting fashion had shifted toward more recent artworks, but added that old masters represented an alternative investment strategy. Its about preservation of capital, he said. Its safe, and people are realizing what good value they are. The idea that European old masters are relatively inexpensive and that as investments they stand the test of time better than contemporary works is a familiar refrain among those trying to sell historic art. The trouble is, old masters have become an unpredictable market. The 19-year-old Rivas, who had the name of his mother, Esperanza, inked on his arm, said he only finished the sixth grade but has worked as a masonry assistant. Once he gets to the U.S., he hopes to be able to send money back home to his mother and the rest of the family in Honduras, where nearly two-thirds of the population of almost 5.5 million lives in poverty. Pop Music: Chris Thile With St. Vincent and Jon Batiste Dec. 15 and 22; ticketmaster.com. Yes, Chris Thile is based in New York City, and yes, he is the voice of the nations folksiest variety show. Since 2016, hes been host of American Public Medias Live From Here, a revamped version of A Prairie Home Companion, Garrison Keillors decades-long paean to storytelling and Midwestern values. But the dissonance dissolves when considering that Thile is a virtuoso mandolinist for the groups Nickel Creek and the Punch Brothers. For the month of December, Thile and his band, led by super-producer Mike Elizondo, have been broadcasting live weekly from Town Hall in Manhattan. The two remaining shows will star indie rock favorite St. Vincent and The Late Show bandleader Jon Batiste; and classical ensemble The Knights. There are still stories told and winkingly political sketches performed, but those musical A-listers form the shows core. Expect all the visiting artists to step outside their musical comfort zones. NATALIE WEINER The president smiled, index fingers raised. Dont tell me youre NA GA DA IT. I started to sweat. I chugged the rest of my beer. Got an idea! the president said. Secret Service guy right outside the door. His name is Brian why dont you use my voice and see if you can trick him into thinking its me. Everybody stared at me in anticipation. So I did it. HEY BRIAN, I KNOW YOURE DOING THAT SECRET SERVICE THING, BUT CAN YOU COME IN HERE FOR A SECOND! The agent opened the door and leaned his head, looking slightly confused. Its O.K., Brian, just having a little fun! the president said. (Dear Reader, everything youve just read is true but the quotes may not be word-for-word accurate. I didnt have a tape recorder. I have one now.) The next day I met with the president in the Oval Office with his advisers. The plan was that the staff would be assembled in the East Wing, Hail to the Chief would play, and I would come out as George Bush to the surprise and delight of everyone. So there I was, hidden off to the side of the room, which was packed. I was nervous. They loved the president. How would they react to me? Hail to the Chief began playing, I emerged from the alcove and started doing Bush making a Santas list. Love socks, stripy socks, also would love a pumpkin-colored tie very festive, very pumpkiny. Trust me, its killing, and I could see the president laughing really hard. I pulled out all the stops NA GA DA IT, wouldnt be prudent, Santa doing that thing he does in that whole area over there. Eventually the real Bush came up, and he did me doing him in front of me, and then I did him doing me in front of him. Paula and Barbara were behind us laughing. As part of a major shake-up at Penguin Random House, which recently merged two of its biggest publishing divisions Crown Publishing Group and Random House Molly Stern, Crowns senior vice president and publisher, will be leaving the company. Ms. Sterns departure came on the heels of one of her greatest publishing successes: She was the editor for Michelle Obamas memoir Becoming, which sold more than two million copies in just 15 days after its initial release, making it the best-selling book of 2018. In her acknowledgments, Mrs. Obama wrote that Ms. Sterns enthusiasm, energy, and passion instantly drew me to her. Molly kept me buoyed by her unwavering faith in my vision for this book. Ms. Stern is widely regarded within the publishing world for having an eye for both best-selling commercial fiction and award-winning literary fiction and nonfiction. Under her direction at Crown, the company published blockbusters like Gillian Flynns Gone Girl, Andy Weirs The Martian and Ernest Clines Ready Player One, as well as acclaimed nonfiction by best-selling authors such as Susan Cain, Erik Larson and Matthew Desmond, who won the Pulitzer Prize for Evicted. Ms. Stern, who realized the book-selling power of social media very early, asked Sarah Jessica Parker to start an imprint at Hogarth, which is part of Crown. Following the announced exit of Maya Mavjee, Crowns president and publisher, who will leave the company at the end of the year, Ms. Stern is the most prominent executive to leave as a result of the reorganization. Certainly, there are reasons this era is different, but blaming a lack of intellectual heft both overemphasizes the importance of intellectuals and largely dismisses a pretty impressive collection of present-day thinkers, including many of the Never-Trumpers calling for a reassertion of conservative values from the right, and scholars of political thought, race and authoritarianism showing courage and fortitude from the center and left. He also does not give enough emphasis to other conditions: the rise of partisanship extending even to the courts, the importance of tribal media in a new communications age, the obliteration of campaign finance rules that had put some limits on the power of the oligarchic class. Focused as he is on ideas, Wolfe does not end with a series of reforms to reverse our decline. Instead, he offers advice to his readers: Dont be petulant, appreciate the nobility of politics, trust experts, avoid conspiracy theorizing, dont believe candidates who promise only good news, pay attention to political debates, be sensitive to norms and not just laws. All good ideas, but Wolfe has no road map or magic wand to get most Americans to buy into them. America, Compromised is about the country in the Trump era, but not about Trump. Indeed, Lessig would have written much the same book if Hillary Clinton were president and if Democrats had control of both houses of Congress. His focus is not on bad people doing bad things, but on how incentives across a range of institutions have created corruption, with deleterious consequences for the nation. Anyone who has seen Lessigs mesmerizing TED Talk about Congress and political money knows the basis for this book, now extended to discuss a wider range of institutions, including finance, the media, the medical profession, the academy and the law. All of them, he says, have become corrupted by norms and misplaced incentives that in turn corrupt the behavior of actors who are themselves operating not out of venality but are caught in institutional webs. The rest of us? We inflict the greatest harm on society because we enable them. For Congress, Lessig notes that the framers were deeply concerned about corruption, but rarely focused on the evils of individual quid pro quos. They worried about institutions, the danger of politicians becoming dependent on forces beyond the voters who elected them or, as Madison wrote, the people alone. Congress, Lessig believes, is corrupt even though the overwhelming majority of congresspeople are not. The institutional corruption here comes from political money. It corrupts the agenda, the issues that get the focus and attention, and moves Congress away from the needs and concerns of the voters. While our political institutions were not all or mainly linked to voters, at least not directly, the House of Representatives is and was meant to be a channel for the voices of the people. It has become something else entirely. Similarly, Lessigs chapter on the media, in which he examines technology meeting market forces, reinforces the sense of dysfunction that flows from distorted incentives. One need only look at Facebook for a current example. Image With regard to finance, Lessig examines in different ways the 2008 collapse, from banks to ratings agencies that gave AAA ratings to entities that were absurdly dangerous. These agencies were created in the 19th century, and have had impeccable reputations because of their perceived independence and objectivity. But, Lessig says, the big three ratings agencies, designated as official by the Securities and Exchange Commission, compete to get the lucrative business of analyzing securities. Good ratings mean more business. Bad ratings, not so much. With financial institutions playing one agency off against the others, the results were predictable. Lessig quotes Roger Lowenstein, the author of a book on Wall Street: Imagine the big rating agencies as three competitive saloons standing side by side, with each free to set its own drinking age. Before long, 9-year-olds would be downing bourbon. The ratings failures were key contributors to the financial collapse. Individuals in the agencies did not take bribes it was the perverse incentives that corrupted the institutions. BETTER TIMES By Sara Batkie 140 pp. University of Nebraska. Paper, $17.95. Image At first glance, Batkies debut collection appears precariously schematic. Women lonesome, scarred, wobbling lead each of the nine stories, which are tidily sorted into three sections: past, present and future. Batkies writing is equally disciplined, radiating vibrant, if somewhat vacant, charisma like a practiced holiday guest. But thats before a trio of late stories achieve an alchemical feat, gold-plating the collections themes. Metaphors (for alienation, for insatiate desire) are marvelously transformed into the literal; existential fears (of purpose, of worth) mutate devilishly into the corporeal. In Cleavage, a spiritually lost woman suffers physical loss from a mastectomy, only to be tormented by her detached breast, clawing and clinging like a fidgety child. The 27-year-old in Lookaftering, sensing a strange uncoiling in her stomach, like a snake letting loose from a trick can, finds shes laid a clutch of eggs, a manifestation of her insecurities about love and maternity. Batkies stories shrewdly commingle the hopeless and the hopeful. Her women, demoralized by the absence of fathers and husbands, by stunted careers and aimless children, are locked in self-doubt and self-flagellation, though rarely do they lose faith in better times, even when theyve had slim experience of them. I did miss being loved, one character laments, if you can miss a feeling you have no proof of ever having. ITS COLOURS THEY ARE FINE By Alan Spence 258 pp. Canongate. Paper, $16. Image Through an approach perfected by James Joyce and Sherwood Anderson, Spences debut collection, first published in 1977 and newly reissued, surveys a narrow locale to disclose widespread truths. With remarkable precision and emotional weight, these stories depict working-class Glasgow: slummy, rowdy, tribal, drunken, despondent, quixotic and irrepressible. Characters, partitioned into proddies and cathlicks, are nearly always male, from wily schoolboys who prank their neighbors to desperate teenagers who unleash their discontent at the club. Husbands squander their wages on the last lingering pint and the chip-shop queue; old men, clutching flimsy welfare checks, walk around and fill in the day. Everything and nothing seems to be shifting. A mother dies, and her son gazes out the window: It was very ordinary. The sun shone on the greybrick tenement buildings, on the railings and the tumbledown walls and middens, on the dustbins and the spilled ashes. Only his imagination locates God in the clouds. THOSE WHO KNEW By Idra Novey 248 pp. Viking. $26. Idra Noveys timing is impeccable, though she probably wishes it werent for the sake of the Union. Her second novel, Those Who Knew, features a popular politician who has a history of assaulting women, including one attack in which he clamps his hand down over the face of our protagonist, Lena, nearly suffocating her until she passes out. The book is a thriller of sorts, as Lena flashes back to that moment, haunted by the death of another young woman shes sure the politician, a sociopathic senator named Victor, has murdered. He could kill again thanks to Lenas silence and the silence of others, including Victors homosexual playwright brother, Freddy. Freddy writes an experimental drama exposing Victor, which is interspersed in bits and pieces between the short chapters of the novel, but he locks it in a desk drawer. This is not so much a Whodunit as a When Will They Speak Up? Those Who Knew opens on an unnamed island 10 years after the fall of a murderous American-backed regime, and Victor has emerged as a young liberal savior, a leader from the Truth and Justice Party. But Victor is just as bad as, or worse than, his predecessors. Lena, a rebel whose family members were supporters of the old regime, thinks that if she blew the whistle on the beloved senator, no one would believe her. In addition to his assaults on women he claims to love, Victor is involved in a farm scandal, which leaves a lake of swine feces stinking up the countryside. Its only a matter of time before someone smells the rot. Noveys first book, the critically acclaimed Ways to Disappear, took place in Brazil and tackled similarly unpleasant subject matter a kidnapping, a severed ear, a writer disappearing up a tree, a strained mother-daughter relationship and a hotel going up in flames. It had bite-size chapters as well, interspersed with faux dictionary definitions rather than the intermittent play scenes and diary entries here. But somehow there was a sense of magic to that last book, an optimism among the dark alleys and dysfunctional family relationships. It was like the caipirinhas that its Brazilian characters kept mixing sweet but also sour, and packing a punch. But she wasnt. Eunice Carter did spearhead the strategy that brought down Luciano in 1936, reasoning correctly that prostitution rackets in Harlem, and how they were organized, might be the means of achieving his downfall. Carter was only the second woman in the history of Smith College to receive a bachelors and a masters degree in four years; she graduated from Fordham Law School, started her own practice and joined the New York City special prosecutors office run by Thomas E. Dewey. She was the only woman and the only African-American among Deweys hires, brought in, according to one historian, for her command of Harlem pool halls as well as Albany committee rooms. Carter likely drew inspiration from her parents, William and Addie Hunton. Brilliant and accomplished, they traveled widely as key early figures in the Y.M.C.A. Eunice and her younger brother grew up, in large part, away from each other and from their parents she was, according to family lore, their fathers favorite, despite years of separation though they did spend a formative year and a half together in Germany with Addie. (Their journey home to America landed their mother in some trouble when the white woman traveling with them was detained, not realizing what a segregated world awaited them.) Image African-American newspapers lauded Eunices professional accomplishments as a prosecutor and public figure, noting her success working with Dewey with particular pride, but they were perhaps even more interested in covering her personal life. The Chicago Defender described her wedding to Lisle Carter, a successful dentist, as a very impressive ceremony and the topic of discussion among society folk. Just a year earlier, she had been a bridesmaid at the most important social event in Harlem, the wedding of Madame C. J. Walkers granddaughter. Carters upward career climb was especially impressive in that overt racism didnt thwart her choices. But she could never quite escape its noxious hold on American society, whether it was being paid far less than her white male peers on Deweys staff or being passed over, in favor of a rival, for a prestigious judicial appointment. Most personally painful, however, was her brothers fervent belief in communism, which landed him in prison at the height of McCarthyism and led her to realize that her career had reached not a glass ceiling but a glass cliff. Lamentations To the Editor: In his review of five new books on Judaism (Lamentations, Nov. 18), Gal Beckerman movingly described the plight of contemporary American Judaism, with its spiritual void, sky-high intermarriage rate and lack of reverence on the part of most Jews. Yet I wish he had discussed the very different experiences of Orthodox Jews, for whom Judaism is often a living, dynamic and profoundly challenging and elevating experience. Instead, he dismisses Orthodox Judaism as something exotic and closed, and chooses to concentrate on the 90 percent who are not Orthodox. This diminishes his otherwise excellent essay. To a member of that Orthodox 10 percent, his choice is jarring. For one thing, Orthodoxy is growing rapidly. Fifteen percent of American Jews aged 28 to 45 identify as Orthodox and 27 percent of American Jewish children are being raised in Orthodox homes. Orthodox Jews are following a dynamic and relevant religion. I wish Beckerman had included us in his conversation. YVETTE ALT MILLER SKOKIE, ILL. The writer is the author of Angels at the Table: A Practical Guide to Celebrating Shabbat. To the Editor: Gal Beckermans quest for meaning in Judaism takes him everywhere except in the direction of Judaism itself. Lamenting the emptiness in the liberal Jewish world and the growth of assimilation, he sets us on a path to nowhere with his suggestions for books that only reinforce that idea. In fact, Jewish life today is far more nuanced. The historically neat boundaries of denominationalism are fraying. Today Jews search in many directions, and more and more are dabbling with traditional Judaism. Subscribe: iTunes | Google Play Music | How to Listen In his new book, The Politics of Petulance: America in an Age of Immaturity. Alan Wolfe is interested in more than the current moment. We dont need an explanation of one rogue election, he writes, but to focus on what kind of nation we have become. On this weeks podcast, Wolfe discusses an underlying problem in American politics, which he calls a penchant for despotism, for something resembling populism; a search for quick answers; an almost visceral turning away from thoughtfulness, from reason, from understanding that politics is just simply not capable of satisfying peoples immediate emotions. Image He does turn his attention to President Donald Trump. Hes tapping into deep currents in American cultural and political life, Wolfe says. Yet hes so extreme, and he possesses such exaggerated features of those tendencies, that you could also say that hes unique. As Brookhisers compact and balanced account makes clear, Marshall famously transformed the judicial branch into one fully equal to the president and Congress in stature and legitimacy. And he did so by declining to pick political fights he couldnt win in the short term while declaring broad constitutional principles that would shore up the authority of the courts in the long term. This narrative, familiar to law students, has certainly taken on new relevance in the age of Donald Trump, when battles between the president, the chief justice and the courts are once again provoking talk of constitutional crisis. Brookhiser, a senior editor of National Review and the author of several books on the founding fathers, draws no present-day parallels, but its impossible not to think of our current vexations when reviewing 19th-century Republican efforts to impeach Federalist judges. The House did indeed impeach a Federalist justice, Samuel Chase, for being highly arbitrary, oppressive and unjust, but after Marshall testified for Chase, the Senate acquitted him. Congress then expanded the size of the Supreme Court from six justices to seven, to give Jefferson the chance to fill vacancies with Republicans. But Marshall won over the Republican justices by convincing them of the courts institutional legitimacy. At a time of tribalism and polarization, culminating in threats by the states to nullify federal laws and secede from the Union, Marshalls central idea, shared with his Federalist heroes George Washington and Alexander Hamilton, was that we the people of the United States as a whole are sovereign and united, as opposed to we the people of the individual states. Our Constitution is not a compact of states, Marshall wrote in an anonymous pamphlet defending his own opinion upholding Congresss power to charter the Bank of the United States. It is the act of a single party. It is the act of [the] people of the United States. (Abraham Lincoln invoked the same argument in denying the Souths power to secede from the Union.) In an opinion echoing Washingtons Farewell Address, which had defined the United States as one people, Marshall wrote an eloquent paean to national unity: In war, we are one people. In making peace, we are one people. In all commercial regulations, we are one and the same people. Insisting that America was a republic rather than a direct democracy, he criticized Jefferson as a proto-Trumpian demagogue: His great power is chiefly acquired by professions of democracy. Every check on the wild impulse of the moment is [therefore] a check on his own power. He looks, of course, with an ill will at an independent judiciary. Jeffersons allies, led by Senator Richard Mentor Johnson of Kentucky, responded by proposing to attack judicial independence by limiting the tenure of federal judges, preventing the federal courts from hearing cases, making judges removable by Congress, allowing the Senate to overturn the Supreme Court and increasing the size of the court to 10 justices. Although Johnson was a populist legend for having killed the Shawnee chief Tecumseh, these proposals went nowhere because of the bipartisan unity on the court that Marshall managed to inspire. Could the Supreme Court under Chief Justice John Roberts, who has embraced Marshall as his model, play a similar unifying role in defending the Constitution against populist threats to judicial independence today? That depends on his fellow justices. And although Brookhisers biography reminds us that American politics has always been polarized, today the polarization threatens to transform the deliberations of the court. The life of Marshall reminds us of the urgent importance of Robertss efforts to persuade his colleagues to unite around a shared commitment to defending the legitimacy of the court by rising above partisan politics. Tesla Inc will start partial production in China in the second half of next year, the Shanghai municipal government said on Wednesday, as the US electric vehicle maker advanced its push in the world's largest auto market. Land leveling has basically been completed and site construction is on schedule to go ahead, the local authority said in a WeChat post describing a visit by Shanghai Mayor Ying Yong and Vice-Mayor Wu Qing. After listening to briefings from company representatives and checking on popular models, the officials encouraged the acceleration of the plant's construction on the premise of ensuring production safety and project quality, the post said. Tesla confirmed the latest developments with China Daily on Thursday, saying these accorded with an earlier statement made in its quarterly results to speed up the manufacturing timeline in China in order to "significantly increase the affordability of the Model 3". "We are aiming to bring portions of Model 3 production to China during 2019 and to progressively increase the level of localization through local sourcing and manufacturing," the automaker said in late October. "Production in China will be designated only for local customers." In July, Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk signed an agreement in Shanghai to open Tesla's "Gigafactory 3" in the city, with the capacity to produce 500,000 electric vehicles a year. It then secured a roughly 865,000-square-meter site in the suburban Lingang Area, becoming the largest ever foreign-invested manufacturing project in the city. The latest development indicated the US company has accelerated its plans for the plant. It previously estimated it would take around two years before the Shanghai plant started production and then another two to three years before the factory was fully ramped up to produce around 500,000 vehicles annually for Chinese customers. To drive localization, Tesla has also launched a WeChat account for hiring local staff. In November, the account released around 30 job vacancies for its Shanghai factory, including quality control and project construction-related posts, as well as administrative titles such as senior human resource managers. New-energy cars, which include battery-powered, plug-in hybrid and fuel-cell vehicles, are gaining popularity in China. Sales of these models reached 777,000 units last year and could surpass the 1-million mark in 2018, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. Production in China will help the electric-car maker to avoid unfavorable pricing involved with importing vehicles. Last month, it announced it would cut the prices of its new Model S and Model X in China by up to 25 percent to absorb "a significant part of the tariff to help make our cars more affordable for customers in China". The Russian energy minister, Alexander Novak, said his countrys output, 11.4 million barrels a day in October, would be reduced by around 230,000 barrels. Chris Midgley, global director of analytics for S&P Global Platts, which tracks energy and commodities markets, said the deal reflected sensible diplomacy by the Saudis in the face of American pressure. They look to Russia to get involved, he said. It takes some of the focus off them. Over the summer and fall, the Saudis and Russia ramped up production quickly in response to pressure from Mr. Trump and to ease market anxiety over the potential drying up of supplies because of Washingtons reimposition of sanctions on Iran. In November, Saudi output reached an unusually high level of 11.1 million barrels a day. Mr. Falih said the producers group could swing both ways. With growing concerns about oversupply, he said, it was natural to take crude off the market to avoid a glut that brings havoc to the oil industry. In the past, the Saudis have tried to avoid being the swing producer, the oil power that adds and subtracts supplies according to market pressures. At the moment, though, they seem more or less stuck with that role. In two days of difficult negotiations, the Saudis pushed for all OPEC members to join in the cuts. In the end, though, the group granted exemptions to Iran, whose output is declining because of Washingtons sanctions, and Venezuela and Libya, whose production has been hampered by political and economic turmoil and civil strife. So aside from Saudi Arabia, only a few OPEC countries chiefly Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates are likely to contribute much to cuts, analysts said. BRUSSELS They are creating defenses to limit Chinese investment, accusing China of seizing technology from foreign companies and warning of Chinese efforts to undermine their political system. It may all sound like a game plan hatched by officials in Washington, but the agenda is straight out of Brussels. While President Trump battles China over the issue of trade, Europe is in the midst of a conflict with Beijing that, in its own way, is just as intense. European leaders have become increasingly alarmed by what they consider Chinas aggressive incursions into the continents economy, including paying $23 million to expand port facilities in Bulgaria, providing $3.8 billion in financing for a high-speed railroad connecting Hungary and Serbia and acquiring a German robotics company that employs 14,000 people worldwide. Now, Brussels is passing laws to counter Chinas influence in the region. Last month, in a move clearly directed at China, European lawmakers and political leaders agreed on a system to scrutinize investments in the 28-member bloc as a way of protecting key industries. Ellen Dolan, 63, a property manager in Horsham, Pa., said she had been inundated with so many annoying robocalls, many of them from spoofed numbers, that she changed the mobile number she had had for years. I couldnt tell who were business contacts I wanted to hear from, and people who didnt give their names but launched into a spiel about refinancing loans or a better deal on health care insurance, Ms. Dolan said. She complained to the fraud line of the Better Business Bureau. Besides the BBB and the F.T.C., other groups take reports, including the AARP Fraud Watch Network, the United States Senate Special Committee on Aging, and the Federal Communications Commission. Consumers can also sign up for the Do Not Call Registry, which, although created to block telemarketers, can help weed out fraud attempts as well. Certain flavors of fraud schemes seem to persist, such as callers claiming to be from the I.R.S. And because of automated dialing, its not unusual for some consumers to receive multiple calls a day, particularly in the run-up to tax-filing season. In July, more than 20 people working with call centers in India were sentenced in a large scheme that bilked more than 15,000 Americans of hundreds of millions of dollars over a four-year period. Shutting down this operation helped tamp down some income-tax baiting calls, but other varieties of scams live on. Certain scams are holiday themed, and pop up at this time of year more frequently, whether by phone or by other means, according to the AARP: charity donation and gift-card scams, fake retail websites and even letters from Santa, which try to harvest a recipients identifying information. Its a new twist every day, said Amy Nofziger, a fraud expert for the AARP. Some calls offer prizes to get your interest, and others use fear. One favorite of Ms. Nofzigers: A caller will accuse an older person of wrongdoing, then demand the persons Social Security number, threatening to cut off benefits without it. Marriage still aint equal, yall. It aint equal. I tell women that whole you can have it all mmm, nope. Not at the same time. Thats a lie. Its not always enough to lean in, because that [expletive] doesnt work. Michelle Obama When Mrs. Obama spoke these words this week at a Brooklyn stop of her Becoming book tour, the crowd (and in turn, the internet) went wild. But it wasnt just her challenge to Sheryl Sandbergs lean in that struck me nor was it her rare, unfiltered language, though I liked that to o it was her comment about having it all. As a girl, the prospect of balancing a thriving career, a happy marriage and a couple of well-adjusted kids all while maintaining my friendships and hobbies was sold to me as an ultra-glam aspiration that left me daydreaming of a well-oiled life with me at the controls. Though Ive checked enough of these boxes, I realize with every passing year of my 30s that if I have children, something well, a lot of things will have to give. (As Shonda Rhimes once put it: Whenever you see me somewhere succeeding in one area of my life, that almost certainly means I am failing in another area of my life. ) When I write about a restaurant for Hungry City, my weekly column on New Yorks cheaper, less-heralded establishments , I always ask the photographer to take a portrait of the people who run it. Its important to me to show and honor their faces, and to learn something of the struggle that brought them here to this tiny storefront or fought-over patch of sidewalk, this underequipped kitchen with smoke leaking from the seams, this awkward room that theyve done their best to make feel like home. A dish may be delicious, but that lasts only for a moment. The amazing tamale you had one night out of the back of a truck under the elevated train could never be as amazing as the story of the person who made it. So as I put together this list of my favorites among the restaurants I reviewed in 2018 (in descending order, although truly, I loved them all), Im grateful to the owners and chefs for sharing their stories. Shari Horne broke her toes a decade ago, and after surgery, I have plates and pins and screws in my feet, and they get achy at times, she said. So Ms. Horne, 66, applies a salve containing cannabidiol , derived from the cannabis, or marijuana, plant. It eases the pain. The salve didnt help when she developed bursitis in her shoulder, but a tincture of cannabidiol mixed with T.H.C., the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis, provided relief. Using a pipe, she also smokes a few hits of a cannabis brand called Blue Dream after dinner, because I think relaxing is healthy for you. At War is a newsletter about the experiences and costs of war with stories from Times reporters and outside voices. Only a few people know exactly what happened the night of Oct. 22 on Shindand Air Base in western Afghanistan. Earlier that day, Wahidullah Khan, a 19-year-old Afghan commando, fired on a group of Czech soldiers who were in Afghanistan training Khan and his counterparts. Cpl. Tomas Prochazka was killed. Two of his comrades were wounded. It was one of the four insider attacks on Western forces this year, a grim benchmark for a war now known for repeated ally-on-ally killings. The events from the rest of that day are murky. Hours after the shooting, Khan was arrested by Afghan security forces and handed over to coalition troops. American Green Berets were involved in the exchange, according to American officials, but the extent of their involvement remains unclear. When Khan was returned to Afghan forces around midnight, he was unconscious. He died soon after. Some Afghan and American officials believe Czech soldiers beat Khan close to death before returning him to proper custody. [Get a weekly roundup of Times coverage of war delivered to your inbox. Sign up here.] The motive for Khans attack was unclear. Officials believe either he was a Taliban insider or had been in an argument with his Czech trainers. Khans family wants to know what happened and why. Nobody has told us who arrested him, who gave him to the foreigners, Hayaturahman Khan, the soldiers brother, told The Times last week. The following reports compile all significant security incidents confirmed by New York Times reporters throughout Afghanistan. It is necessarily incomplete as many local officials refuse to confirm casualty information. The toll here does not generally include claims of insurgents killed by the government, because of the difficulty of verifying such claims. Similarly, the reports do not include attacks on the government claimed by the Taliban. Both sides routinely inflate casualties of their opponents. The death toll in Afghanistan dropped this week, with 50 deaths confirmed for pro-government forces and 14 for civilians. Offensive operations by Afghan security forces increased in the last two weeks, according to a spokesman for the Afghan Ministry of Defense, and an important Taliban commander was killed. The Afghan government carried out more than 160 airstrikes against insurgents in this period. [Read the Afghan War Casualty Report from previous weeks] Dec. 6 Oruzgan Province: seven security forces killed One commando and two police officers were killed in a planned attack by the Taliban on Chinarto District center. After security forces requested air support, an American airstrike mistakenly targeted Afghan forces. The strike killed two police officers and two commandos and wounded two police officers and one commando. Ms. Funke said Mr. Barbuti often failed to give her the $150 a week allotted by the court, and that he was late paying bills for her parking garage, car insurance, her phone and internet, and that her supplemental health insurance was expired. In court Mr. Barbuti told the judge that he could not pay some of her bills because she refused to provide them to him. Some days it seemed like she spent more time fighting with Mr. Barbuti over her bills than it would take to manage them, and they were still a royal mess, she said. Mr. Barbuti said people had the wrong idea about guardians, that their powers were limited to what the judge gave them. New York also limited runaway fees: if a guardian billed more than $75,000 in a year, he or she could not take any new cases the following year. Theres a misconception about guardianship, that somehow or other you become that persons alter ego, Mr. Barbuti said. Thats just not the case. All you can do is what the court tells you you can do. He added: I like this kind of work. I feel theres a chance to help somebody and make a difference in their lives. If you were Ms. Funke, shouldnt you be allowed to withdraw into the covers if you wanted to? And the clutter in your apartment couldnt people understand that a writer needs materials around? Even if she were evicted, she had money to start somewhere else. Courts evict people with lots less. If you were Judge Kelly, what would you do? Would you want to be the judge who left her vulnerable and unprotected? Mr. Barbuti said the question of guardianship was a complex one. People should have the right to make their own decisions, even if you might look at it and I might look at it or a judge might look at it and say thats not a good decision, he said. I dont think the government should be making decisions like that for people. I think people should be able to make bad decisions. Within bounds. 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. You are here: Business Major airlines in China have lowered recruitment thresholds and increased training budgets to lure more college students and graduates into their cockpits as a pilot shortage spreads across the country's booming aviation industry. In its latest pilot recruitment announcement, China Eastern Airlines, one of China's three major commercial carriers, doubled its enrollment to more than 300, the largest recruitment in the company's history. While such recruitment had usually been limited to prospective students who are trained through a four-year college-based program, this year the airline has loosened the requirement. It is now open to university students or graduates aged below 26 as long as they pass a physical. Experts said the changes should help airline companies restock their fast-depleting pilot pipeline. In a recent outlook report, Boeing anticipated there would be 226,000 new commercial airline pilots and 238,000 new aircraft technicians in the Asia-Pacific region through 2034, with China taking the largest share100,000 pilots and 106,000 technicians. While airline capacity can be quickly increased in a couple of years by ordering more jets, the training of pilots, especially captains, takes longer, according to Li Lei, an industrial analyst with Minzu Securities. Compared with recruiting high school graduates into four-year college-based programs, training successful university candidates or graduates takes only two to three years, Li said. China Eastern said it is looking to train pilots for its latest models, including the B787 and A350. The Shanghai-based commercial carrier, which operates a fleet of nearly 700 aircraft with more than 7,200 pilots, is not the only airline feeling the pinch of a pilot shortage. Spring Airlines, China's first and largest budget carrier, established in 2005, welcomed its 1,000th pilot last month. As pilots are hard to come by in the market, the airline invested 800 million yuan ($115 million) to build a pilot training center at the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone in Pudong New Area in 2013. Over the past 13 years, the low-cost carrier has trained 657 pilots, with another 150 people receiving initial conversion training annually. "We spare no cost in pilot training to make sure all pilots master excellent skills," said Spring Airlines Chairman Wang Yu. In November, Boeing and HNA Group's Hainan Sky Plumage Flight Training Company entered into an agreement to expand pilot training capabilities in China and help meet the country's growing need for qualified commercial pilots. Under the agreement, Boeing will provide pilot training instructors for HNA Group, including for Hainan Airlines, at the Hainan Sky Plumage training center in Haikou, Hainan province, freeing HNA pilots from training duties and returning them to their primary pilot duties. Albert Frere, a Belgian high school dropout who parlayed the profits from his fathers nail factory into a fortune worth billions, and whose multinational mergers and acquisitions helped solidify the economic integration of Europe, died on Dec. 3 in Gerpinnes, Belgium. He was 92. His death was announced by Groupe Bruxelles Lambert, the holding company that he and Paul Desmarais, a Canadian entrepreneur, bought in 1982 to manage their investments. Mr. Frere, who was named a baron by King Albert II of Belgium in 1994, knew no borders as he bought and sold major stakes in blue-chip conglomerates. Those conglomerates also ignored national boundaries in Europe as they merged with other companies or acquired them. After buying a stake in the Belgian oil company Petrofina, for example, Mr. Frere later sold it to a French competitor, Total. She made such works, she said, not simply by copying a single still image from a movie, but by watching the whole film and compiling a selection of interior shots from different angles. It was an interest, she said, that began with a focus on movies stars but morphed into something else. For years I drew the figures, lots and lots of drawings of Joan Crawford and Lana Turner, all those women and their crises, she told The L Magazine in 2012, but at a certain moment I started to realize that almost everything in melodrama is happening indoors. Theyre these crazy places that are often beautiful homes, well appointed, everybodys miserable, nobody can leave, the door is wide open but they cant get out. So I thought, what is it about always being inside? Ive got to address that. Dawn Marie Clements was born on April 14, 1958, in Woburn Mass., to Bruce and Carlene (Johnson) Clements. She grew up in Chelmsford, Mass., and received a bachelors degree at Brown University in 1986. In a 2014 talk at the Vermont Studio Center, she recalled studying movies at Brown without the benefit of DVDs or even videotapes. They were projected from a chattering film projector, and we got to see them twice, and that was all, she said. So I got used to writing and drawing images and text just like a maniac in the dark. She went on to earn a master of fine arts degree at the University at Albany in 1989. By 1993 she was represented in the Venice Biennale. Later in the 1990s she was in group exhibitions at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., the University Art Museum in Albany and numerous other places. Since the turn of the century, her work has been seen in scores of group shows, including at the Brooklyn Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Academy of Music and the Bates College Museum of Art in Lewiston, Me., as well as in China, Belgium, England and elsewhere. Palden Gyatso, a Tibetan Buddhist monk who defied Chinese control of his homeland, and who then fled to tell the world his story of more than three decades of hardship in Chinese prisons and labor camps, died on Nov. 30 in Dharamsala, India. He was 85. The cause was liver cancer, said a spokesman for Free Tibet, a nonprofit organization dedicated to Tibetan liberation. Mr. Gyatsos soft voice became one of the strongest against Beijings continuing hold on his homeland after China occupied it in 1950, vanquished Tibets army in a matter of days and signed an agreement with Tibetan officials granting it control, beginning what many Tibetans consider a long and brutal occupation. The Chinese Communist Party has argued that Tibet has long been a culturally distinct part of China. But in the nearly seven decades since the occupation, China has kept a grip on Tibetan monasteries, even destroying some, and restricted aspects of Tibetan culture, like the Tibetan language and Buddhist religious practices. Ive experienced a lot of strange things while performing comedy: Rosario Dawson made fun of me while I was bombing in front of hundreds of Bernie Sanders fans. I once had to tell the crowd mid-show that the venue was closing for an impromptu health inspection. On Nov. 30, I performed stand-up as part of an annual event put on by the Asian-American Alliance at Columbia, and about 20 minutes into the show, my microphone was cut off. It wasnt because of some fire code violation, or because some violently drunk heckler and I were about to fistfight. It was because three student organizers came onstage and politely told me they were going in a different direction with the next 30 minutes of my remaining time after deciding my material was offensive. This was the joke that prompted their decision, slightly paraphrased: I open by saying I live in Hells Kitchen, a diverse area in New York populated by, among others, gay black men who are not shy about telling me they dont approve of what Im wearing. I try to learn things from everyone I encounter, and one day I realize oh, this is how you know being gay cant be a choice no one would choose to be gay if theyre already black. No one is doubling down on hardship. Then I say, no black dude wakes up and thinks that being a black man in America is too easy. No black dude says, Im going to put on a Madonna halter top and some Jordans and make an Indian dude real uncomfortable. Thats not a choice. The joke bombed total silence in the crowd of several hundred students but I didnt think anything was abnormal. I wrote the joke about six years ago, and it may be hacky at this point, but I certainly dont see it as anti-anyone. While comedians can and do tailor sets for audiences you dont do blue jokes in a room full of nuns kind of thing for the most part you learn what works with a crowd only when it works or doesnt. This particular joke has worked at New York clubs full of gay people, black people and college students multiple times. I didnt think twice about using it in a room full of smart, progressive young adults. But the high-profile arrest of Ms. Meng underscored a new and disturbing spiraling in the already complex relationship the tech industry has with China and the Trump administration. The Justice Department had been investigating Huawei on suspicion of having violated sanctions against exporting American technologies to Iran, and the arrest of Ms. Meng appears to be part of that effort. Since Huawei has become a global powerhouse in smartphones and equipment for the mobile networks, its no surprise that scrutiny about whose interests it is serving would increase. The companys founder, and Ms. Mengs father, Ren Zhengfei, was a former engineer in the Peoples Liberation Army, which had long set off warning bells among American intelligence officials about Huaweis ties with the Chinese government. All this makes the move against Ms. Meng look like a particularly bold one and a message to China that the United States has come to play. The government has a lot to be concerned about. As critical 5G fifth generation wireless networks roll out over the world, many are being deployed by Huawei. These are the networks that will usher in the next age of innovation, and the idea of China which pretty much exemplifies the surveillance economy dominating that age is troubling. But I am perplexed about why the Trump administration has been such an embarrassment when it comes to the kind of actual leadership and vision needed to keep the United States at the forefront of the tech race. Our governments commitment to investment in whats coming next is the best counterpart to vigilance against competitors like China. Instead, we are seeing a loud but decidedly empty effort to promote the idea that tech manufacturing should return to the United States (it wont) and a very weak commitment to bringing qualified tech and science minds into the centers of power (a good pick for the head of the Office of Science and Technology Policy has yet to be confirmed after being nominated this year). This week, the White House released a five-year plan around STEM education science, technology, engineering and math that is not nearly robust enough to make the Chinese even slightly nervous that we can keep up with their decidedly more aggressive efforts to train their work force for the next era of computing. Talk of succession is in the air. After 18 years, Angela Merkel is stepping down as chairwoman of the Christian Democratic Union, Germanys main ruling party since 2005. The partys conference meets this week in Hamburg to decide her replacement. But whoever follows Ms. Merkel for many, Europes de facto leader will inherit a fractious party and, if Ms. Merkel is unwilling or unable to see out her chancellorship through to 2021, a fragmented country. The stability (and even monotony) associated with German politics under Ms. Merkel appears to be coming to an end. Her looming retirement marks a deepening crisis of the German political system that threatens not just the future of the country, but of the European Union. Explanations for this shake-up often begin and end with Ms. Merkel. Her handling of the so-called refugee crisis and her downbeat, aloof style alienated large chunks of the electorate . The gradual weakening of the centrist parties has in turn fed polarization and the fragmentation of the electorate. But Ms. Merkel, for all her power and influence, is just one politician. Germanys new political crisis runs much deeper. It stems from an economic system that has resulted in stagnant wages and insecure jobs. The erosion of Germanys postwar settlement a strong welfare state, full-time employment, the opportunity to move up in the world has created a populace open to messages and movements previously banished to the fringes. The seeming inevitability of Mr. Netanyahus continuing reign should be surprising. Replacing a prime minister in Israel isnt difficult. All it would take is a majority of Knesset members to vote for another of their colleagues and Mr. Netanyahu would have to leave office. And he isnt immune from prosecution. In the past decade, the Israeli courts have sent both a prime minister (Ehud Olmert for bribery) and a president (Moshe Katzav for rape) to prison. In 2008, Mr. Olmert was forced from office at a relatively early stage during his own criminal investigation, when members of his coalition refused to serve under a prime minister accused of taking bribes. What makes Mr. Netanyahu so different? In nearly a decade back in power, he has delivered what had never seemed possible: a period of sustained economic growth, including, for the first time, a AA- international credit rating; flourishing ties with countries around the world (and, behind the scenes, new alliances with Arab governments); and, by Israeli standards, security. A third Intifada hasnt broken out on his watch. Israel found itself fighting on the ground in Gaza only once, for a 50-day period in the summer of 2014. And the shadow war with Iran in Syria has not boiled over. But the most incredible achievement for many Israelis is that Mr. Netanyahu has been able to do all of this without making any concessions to the Palestinians. For the Israeli right, this makes him irreplaceable. He stood up to international pressure during the Obama administration, long enough for the Palestinian issue to sink to the bottom of the global agenda. With President Trump in the White House and European and Arab leaders preoccupied by their own troubles, the pressure has now all but disappeared. There was a time not long ago, beginning in 1992 with the rise of Yitzhak Rabin, when the Israeli left seemed to be winning the argument: A two-state solution was necessary. No longer. No matter how deep their frustration with Mr. Netanyahu, no figures on the right want to openly challenge the most successful nationalist leader in Israels history. None are prepared to risk being accused of opening the way for the return of the defeatist left with its dangerous ideas of relinquishing territory. The aspiring prime ministers in Likud and its satellite right-wing parties all talk of making a run only after Netanyahu. This political and ideological ascendancy confers on Mr. Netanyahu at least temporary immunity political, if not necessarily legal. Mr. Olmert was forced to resign when he was charged with bribery only because he was already weakened and discredited as a prime minister. But the course of justice was slow. It took seven and a half years from his resignation to him actually going to jail. A similar fate may well be in store for Mr. Netanyahu, but only years from now. As long as he is satisfying his political base and the opposition fails to come up with a better narrative with which to replace his, he can continue fighting his legal battles from office. Anshel Pfeffer (@AnshelPfeffer) is the author of Bibi: The Turbulent Life and Times of Benjamin Netanyahu. On Monday, in an interview with The Intercept, Rashida Tlaib, a Michigan Democrat who in November became the first Palestinian-American elected to Congress, went public with her support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, which seeks to use economic pressure on Israel to secure Palestinian rights. That made her the second incoming member of Congress to publicly back B.D.S., after Minnesota Democrat Ilhan Omar, who revealed her support last month. No current member of Congress supports B.D.S., a movement that is deeply taboo in American politics for several reasons. Opponents argue that singling out Israel for economic punishment is unfair and discriminatory, since the country is far from the worlds worst violator of human rights. Further, the movement calls for the right of Palestinian refugees and millions of their descendants to return to Israel, which could end Israel as a majority-Jewish state. (Many B.D.S. supporters champion a single, binational state for both peoples.) Naturally, conservatives in the United States though not only conservatives have denounced Tlaib and Omars stance as anti-Semitic. It is not. The conflation of anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism is a bit of rhetorical sleight-of-hand that depends on treating Israel as the embodiment of the Jewish people everywhere. Certainly, some criticism of Israel is anti-Semitic, but its entirely possible to oppose Jewish ethno-nationalism without being a bigot. Indeed, its increasingly absurd to treat the Israeli state as a stand-in for Jews writ large, given the way the current Israeli government has aligned itself with far-right European movements that have anti-Semitic roots. [Listen to The Argument podcast every Thursday morning, with Ross Douthat, Michelle Goldberg and David Leonhardt.] Still, he said that he wanted peace and that although the Houthis have fired missiles at Saudi Arabia, his side would pose no threat to Saudi Arabia if the Saudis would only end their assault on Yemen. Theres no need for enmity with the United States, he told me in Arabic, and that seemed a message he wanted me to convey to Washington and the American people. I asked President Houthi about the sarkha, the groups slogan: God is great! Death to America! Death to Israel! Curses on the Jews! Victory to Islam! That didnt seem so friendly, I said. Its nothing against the American people, he replied. Its directed toward the system. When I asked about Saudi and American suggestions that the Houthis are Iranian pawns, he laughed. Thats just propaganda, he said. I ask you: Have you ever seen one Iranian in Yemen? Do we speak Farsi? This was all a trick, he said, analogous to the allegations of weapons of mass destruction used to justify war with Iraq. While the Houthis are called rebels, they clearly rule their territory. In contrast, the Saudi- and American-backed internationally recognized government of Yemen is a shell that controls almost no territory hence it is based in Riyadh. The president of this exile government, Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, is said to be gravely ill, and when he is gone it will be even more difficult to sustain the fiction that this is a real government. More broadly, I dont see any hint of a Saudi or American strategy. Theres little sign that bombing and starvation will actually dislodge the Houthis, while the Saudi military action and resulting chaos has benefited the Yemeni branches of Al Qaeda and the Islamic State. In that sense, Americas conduct in Yemen has hurt our own national security. Simple fixes, she said, can hide many imperfections: Candles can make a room in need of a paint job look moody instead of drab. A colorful throw blanket can hide blemishes on a sofa. But more than a pretty room, guests want tasty food, good music and plenty to drink. Ultimately, a party comes down to the quality of the guest list, not the decor. And yet, 67 percent of homeowners worry that friends and family will judge their homes when they visit, according to a survey by Chubb, a home insurance company. The collective anxiety might explain why 58 percent of respondents said they planned to renovate over the next 12 months. And maybe theyre right. Maybe other people are judging our homes. Maggie Kadziolka and her husband, Frank Giambolvo, were so anxious about what friends would think of the three-bedroom fixer-upper they bought in Bloomfield, N.J., in 2014, that they waited over a year to throw a housewarming party. It was almost embarrassing to have people over, said Ms. Kadziolka, 35, a lawyer. The house was in such rough shape when they bought it that they felt the only passable room was the basement, and even that needed work. When they finally threw that party, on a snowy night in February 2015, friends (most of whom had bought turnkey houses) didnt entirely mask their skepticism. What we heard was, Were so excited to see the final product, which is code to me for, Your place is O.K., but what are you going to do with it? Ms. Kadziolka said. Now that the house is fully renovated, with a new kitchen and bathrooms, they host regularly. A party is meant to be a celebration, and presumably friends and family do not walk into the living room and start checking for stains on the throw pillows and if they do, maybe its time for new friends. And yet, you see all your homes flaws, so why wouldnt your guests? A home is a sacred place and when you invite someone in, you realize how much of yourself is exposed, said Faith Roberson, a Manhattan home organizer. So its understandable that there is a level of anxiety before you let people in. Sometimes, your home isnt ready for prime time. So if the unease is unshakable, it may be a sign that you need to step back. If youre in the midst of a renovation, or reorganizing rooms, Ms. Roberson suggests holding off on the party and focusing your attention on transforming your space into what you envision. Think about a caterpillar, she said. When a caterpillar is turning into a butterfly, no one is in that cocoon with it. Its just evolving. China National Nuclear Corp, the State-owned nuclear power company, released its domestically-developed high-safety nuclear power plant distributed control system platform on Thursday. Known as the central nervous system of nuclear power plants, the nuclear advanced safety instrument and control platform, also called the Longlin system, plays an important role in ensuring nuclear projects' safety and stability and enables China to have a DCS with complete independent intellectual property rights, said the company. Some of the key standards are in accordance with the international level, it said, while it will also help boost China's nuclear technology exports, it said. Only a handful of developed countries have mastered the technology of the nuclear-grade DCS platform, which is critical for the safe shutdown and accident mitigation for reactors. Analysts believe as the core technology of the systems is one of the key components of a nuclear power station, China must conduct original innovation. It is believed the country will step up nuclear development with the implementation of the Longlin system, said Ye Qizhen, a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and also an expert on nuclear reactors and nuclear-power engineering. According to CNNC, all of the design, verification and testing of the program is in accordance with the most advanced and strictest standards worldwide, while the system also uses advanced information security technology. The Longlin system is a result of the company's more than 60 years of experience in integrating nuclear power engineering design, the research and development of the digital instrument control equipment and equipment manufacturing and supply. The system could be applied in nuclear power plants, research reactors and small reactors, it said. Yu Jianfeng, CNNC's chairman, said earlier that development of the nuclear industry over the past 60 years has proved that nuclear science and technology is strategically important. China must insist on independent innovation. The company said it would pay a great deal of attention to the working conditions of scientists, an important factor in improving the company's core competitiveness. "We will enable scientists undertaking major military projects and scientific and technological innovations to receive high salaries, and stimulate the creativity of talent to the greatest extent," he said. Other builders have developed an affinity for Hollywood. The Durst Organization began fielding requests from movie and TV producers to film in its buildings about five years ago, said Jordan Barowitz, the companys vice president of public affairs. Were seeing more interest in the residential side, as of late, said Mr. Barowitz, adding that the company has brought in well north of seven figures a year through the agreements. Recent shoots at Via, the developers Far West Side luxury rental tower with an unusual pyramidal facade, have included Bollywood sagas and an upcoming Netflix project. The productions pay from $5,000 for a few hours in an amenities space or apartment to $100,000 for a multiday shoot, Mr. Barowitz said. Via leased its final units about a year and a half ago, Mr. Barowitz said, but it has had more vacancies recently, as several two-year leases expired. He stressed that the companys growth in the film world isnt tied to the strength of the rental market; it is simply an arrangement that has created another revenue stream. At the Hub, a rental tower in Downtown Brooklyn, a homegrown film director found inspiration in a vacant penthouse. Spike Lee recently filmed an episode of the forthcoming second season of the Netflix series Shes Gotta Have It in a two-bedroom apartment listed for $6,643 a month. That apartment, and the rest of the building, is now leased. Tim Stacker, the location manager for the series, said he had noticed an uptick in developers offering empty apartments for film shoots. New developments are attractive to film and TV, because you dont have to deal with existing tenants, the units are empty, it looks pristine, said Douglas C. Steiner, the Hubs developer, who is also the chairman of Steiner Studios, one of the largest film studios in the country. Im hoping not to have empty units, Mr. Steiner said. But the film business hasnt treated him poorly either, he added: Its found money. For weekly email updates on residential real estate news, sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @nytrealestate. China is aiming to go where no one has gone before: the far side of the moon. A rocket carrying the Change-4 lunar lander blasted off at about 2:23 a.m. local time on Saturday from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southern China. (In the United States, it was still midday Friday). Chinese authorities did not broadcast the launch, but an unofficial live stream recorded near the site showed the rocket rise from the launchpad until its flames looked like a bright star in the areas dark skies. Nearly one hour later, Xinhua, Chinas state-run news agency reported that Change-4 had successfully launched. Exactly when it will set down at its destination has not yet been announced possibly in early January but Change-4 will provide the first close-up look at a part of the moon that is eternally out of view from Earth. What is Change-4? Change-4 includes two main parts: the main lander weighing about 2,400 pounds and a 300-pound rover. By comparison, NASAs Opportunity rover on Mars weighs about 400 pounds, and the Curiosity rover there is much bigger, at 2,000 pounds. Clemente Dimonda climbed into the barber chair, explaining how he came to operate a barbershop in Manhattan, and to cut the hair of a generation of mens wear executives, including Ralph Lauren. I used to work on Jamaica Avenue, in Queens, Mr. Dimonda said. One of the old men, Sicilian guy, he used to work in the shop where I used to work. In the stories of Mr. Dimonda, who is from Naples, barbering is filled with moments of high drama. In his Italian-accented English, he went on: One day, this man grab me by the jacket like this Mr. Dimonda seized his suit vest with both hands and he say, Look at me! I say, I look at you! He say, Youre too qualified for this area. You got to go to New York. You make a lot of money. The barber raised his finger and poked the air to finish: I never forget. That was 50 years ago. Today, Mr. Dimonda still wields a pair of scissors at age 85. He is known for giving what he calls a gentleman cut, no crazy look, high class, clean-cut, and for using old-fashioned supplies like witch hazel, cotton necklaces to catch loose hair and monogrammed capes. Designed by Mr. Lauren and rather unusually tucked into the eighth floor of the Polo Ralph Lauren headquarters at 650 Madison Avenue, Mr. Dimondas operation looks, as one customer described it, like the sort of a barbershop youd expect to see on an ocean liner in the 30s. WASHINGTON Democrats and Google executives worked arm in arm for years, particularly during the Obama administration. But when Sundar Pichai, Googles chief executive, testifies before Congress on Tuesday, some of the toughest questioning is likely to come from Democrats. The hearing will provide an early glimpse of how Democrats plan to approach Silicon Valley giants in the coming year as they assume control of the House of Representatives. And the testimony from Mr. Pichai, who is appearing before lawmakers after initially resisting, may provide clues about how he and the company will approach them. Democratic lawmakers, angry about Russian misinformation online during the 2016 campaign and concerned about the expanding influence of techs biggest companies, are expected to target the industry in the next Congress. Some have already raised concerns about potential antitrust and privacy violations, showing more willingness than Republicans to regulate an industry viewed as an engine of economic growth. Senators Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, a Democrat, and Bernie Sanders of Vermont, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, have warned that Amazon and other tech giants arent paying fair wages. Two other Democrats, Senators Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, have called for privacy and online ad legislation, saying big tech companies cant be trusted to regulate themselves. VANCOUVER, British Columbia The reasons that the United States asked the Canadian authorities to arrest a top executive of the Chinese technology company Huawei last week had been shrouded in mystery. On Friday, the details of the arrest and what led up to it came out in a Canadian courtroom. At a bail hearing in Vancouver for Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Huawei and a daughter of the companys founder, Canadian prosecutors said she was accused of fraud. The heart of the charges related to how Ms. Meng may have participated in a scheme to trick financial institutions into making transactions that violated United States sanctions against Iran, they said. Ms. Meng had direct involvement with Huaweis representations to banks, said John Gibb-Carsley, an attorney with Canadas Justice Department. The hearing shed light on an incident that has rattled the relationship between the United States and China as they prepare to enter negotiations to cease a brutal trade war. While changing planes in Vancouver on Dec. 1, Ms. Meng was arrested at the behest of the United States, which has for years looked into potential ties between Huawei and the Chinese government or Communist Party. This is a startling change for an organization that still has Ms. Sandbergs face pop up when you scroll over the About Us tab on its website; as recently as October, she was the lead author of a Lean In-branded essay in The Wall Street Journal. It coincides with a radical shift in perception of Ms. Sandberg in her day job, as Facebooks chief operating officer. In recent weeks, Ms. Sandbergs work at Facebook has been the subject of damaging headlines, from her slow response to Russian manipulation of Facebook to the way her team went on the attack against critics. Pundits have called on her to resign. Now, the Lean In movement is trying to figure out how independent it can actually become from the Sheryl Sandberg brand. Ms. Sandbergs workplace feminism revival began with her 2013 book, Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead. Research she popularized at the time about how women do not negotiate as strongly as men do for raises, about how posing like Superwoman in the bathroom can help women stand more authoritatively for a presentation is now mainstream. Her phrases became part of the lexicon. But it was always going to be tricky to have a feminist movement led by a billionaire corporate executive. Now jabs at Ms. Sandberg make some crowds cheer. Its not always enough to lean in, Michelle Obama said onstage in Brooklyn this month, while promoting her memoir. Using an expletive, Mrs. Obama added that Lean In stuff doesnt work all the time. For Ms. Sandberg, 49, none of this was the plan. She was widely expected to leave Facebook after the 2016 election and work for President Hillary Clinton, perhaps as secretary of the Treasury. When Mrs. Clinton lost, Ms. Sandberg continued at the company just as it became engulfed in crises. BEIJING As Huaweis finance chief and daughter of its founder, Meng Wanzhou has been a polished, professional face for a huge technology firm that long was opaque to the outside world. Ms. Meng, the eldest daughter of Ren Zhengfei, the leader of the telecom equipment maker, has appeared before reporters to announce the companys financial results. She has spoken at company events in New York; Cancun, Mexico; and beyond. She helped inaugurate centers in Britain, a key market for the Chinese giants expansion into the Western world. She also sat on the board of a Huawei partner company in Hong Kong called Skycom Tech that Canadian authorities now say did business in Iran. And through that position and her job at Huawei, Ms. Meng may have personally been involved in tricking financial institutions into making transactions that violated United States sanctions against Iran, they said. That has thrust Ms. Meng, 46, into the center of what promises to be a complex diplomatic tussle between the United States and China. She was arrested Dec. 1 in Vancouver, Canada, while changing flights, at the request of the American government, which is seeking to extradite her. The action escalated what had already been a roller-coaster year of economic conflict between the two powers, ahead of tricky negotiations to end a brutal trade war. Each week, technology reporters and columnists from The New York Times review the weeks news, offering analysis and maybe a joke or two about the most important developments in the tech industry. Want this newsletter in your inbox? Sign up here. Greetings, friends. Im Brian X. Chen, a tech columnist, meaning my job is to obsess over tech news so you dont have to. So heres the CliffsNotes version of the week in tech. I remember a time when tech companies were desperate to be in the news. Just a decade ago, making headlines usually meant a companys gadget or software product was making a big splash and getting nice publicity. But nowadays, tech companies are more powerful than ever, and journalists are focusing on holding them accountable rather than cheerleading. So I bet Facebook wishes it could be out of the news cycle, even briefly. This week, a British parliamentary committee released confidential Facebook emails and documents as part of its investigation into online misinformation. And they did not make Mark Zuckerbergs social networking empire look good. An Arizona state legislator with a history of anti-immigrant commentary is facing calls to resign after he told university students that black people dont blend in to society like European immigrants and always look different. The legislator, Representative David Stringer, who represents the Yavapai County area, made the comments after a public lecture at Arizona State University on Nov. 19, during which a history professor, Donald Critchlow, discussed the 2018 midterm elections. Mr. Critchlow said students recorded a private conversation they had with Mr. Stringer after the lecture. The recording was sent to local news outlets last week. Mr. Stringer can be heard saying that he doesnt think America is a successful nation. He follows up by saying that diversity is relatively new in the country, and that while European immigrants assimilated to society, thats not the case with African-Americans or other racial groups because they dont melt in. Stefan Timmermans, a professor of sociology at the University of California, Los Angeles, who researches how people die and how communities grieve, began attending several years ago as part of his work. He has spent time with workers at the medical examiners office, diving into files and going on ride-alongs with coroners. But he has kept attending the ceremony because he found it personally meaningful. I just find it also very moving and very touching that people come together around this, and theres something very powerful about stepping up to the plate, taking time from L.A. traffic and your everyday life, he said. It contrasts very strongly with the abandonment of these people. He said the ceremony was sort of like an antidote to the isolation and alienation you can have in big cities, which is reflected in the many unclaimed, about 1,500 in L.A. County every year. Phillip Gruber, who works in health services for the county, said he had been meaning to come for many years, and finally did this year, to see how our society finds a way to honor people who have been apart. Our highest ideal is to treat each other with dignity and respect no matter who you are, he said. Reflecting the diversity of Los Angeles, there were representatives of many spiritual traditions at the ceremony: Christian, Jewish, Native American, Islamic, Hindu, Buddhist. A man with an oboe played Bach, and a choir sang Amazing Grace. Those gathered placed flowers on the grave site, on a plot of land that has long been a final resting place for the forgotten of Los Angeles: More than a decade ago, the century-old remains of Chinese laborers were discovered nearby as workers were digging a tunnel for the extension of the citys subway. Walking back to the parking lot after the ceremony, Mary Bonderove, who came from Whittier to attend for the first time, had tears in her eyes. Every life matters, she said. China will soon start building a space-based positioning and navigation system designed to provide unparalleled accuracy to users around the world, according to project managers. The Kuilong system will link China's Beidou Navigation Satellite System with the Hongyan Satellite Constellation, on which construction will soon begin, said He Xing, executive vice-president of China Great Wall Industry Corp, which initiated the Kuilong program. After the system is completed, Kuilong users will have access to their exact position accurate to about 10 centimeters in less than one minute, no matter where they are, He told China Daily on Thursday on the sidelines of the Sixth China Space Forum in Beijing. He said the typical accuracy of a GPS reading on a mobile phone or car-mounted GPS receiver is about 5 to 10 meters, and positioning services are scarce to nonexistent in isolated places. The Kuilong system will involve a sophisticated chain of electronic transactions from the ground to tens of thousands of kilometers above Earth, said He Mu, head of the Kuilong program at Great Wall Industry. The Beidou system will obtain basic positioning data and then transmit it to ground control, which will use algorithms to improve accuracy before sending the information to the Hongyan constellation. Hongyan satellites, carrying augmentation devices in low orbit, will further process the positioning data and deliver it to end users around the globe, He Mu said. The first Hongyan satellite is scheduled to be launched this month atop a Long March 2D carrier rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China, according to China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, a State-owned space giant and parent of Great Wall Industry. The satellite will perform technological demonstrations in an orbit about 1,100 kilometers high to verify Hongyan satellites' compatibility with low-orbit and data-transmission capacity, designers said. China Aerospace intends to carry aloft about 60 Hongyan satellites before the end of 2022, and then place more than 200 smaller satellites in orbit to form a network with global reach. "When the 60 Hongyan satellites begin working in orbit, users will be able to know their position with 10-centimeter accuracy within three minutes anywhere in the world," He Mu said. "Once the entire 300-plus-satellite Hongyan constellation is operational, the Kuilong system will become fully functional and will give its users the same accuracy in less than a minute." Kuilong would revolutionize a wide range of businesses including the internet of things and smart transportation, he said. Good Friday morning. Here are some of the stories making news in Washington and politics today. _____________________ Meng Wanzhou, a top Chinese technology executive, was arrested in Canada at the request of U.S. officials on Saturday the same day President Trump and President Xi Jinping of China met to discuss a trade truce. The detention may bolster efforts to contain China and Iran, but it could upend trade talks between the worlds two largest economies. News of Ms. Wengs arrest sent stock markets around the world tumbling on Thursday as concerns of an emerging cold war between the United States and China intensified. A new study utilizing satellite imagery says North Korea is expanding a missile base that would be one of its most likely sites for deploying intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of reaching the United States. Mr. Barr has a generally mainstream G.O.P. and corporate reputation, Norman L. Eisen, who served as special counsel for ethics and government overhaul under President Barack Obama, said on Thursday. But he predicted that Mr. Barr would be vigorously vetted because of what he saw as blots on Mr. Barrs record, including his push for scrutiny of the mining deal, involving a company called Uranium One. Mr. Barr has put forward the discredited idea that Hillary Clintons role in the Uranium One deal is more worthy of investigation than collusion between Trump and Russia, Mr. Eisen wrote in a text message. That is bizarre. And he was involved in the dubious George H.W. Bush end of term pardons that may be a precedent for even more illegitimate ones by Trump. Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut, said on Friday that Democrats would carefully vet him. I will demand that Mr. Barr make a firm and specific commitment to protect the Mueller investigation, operate independently of the White House, and uphold the rule of law, Mr. Blumental said in a statement. He deserved particular scrutiny, the senator said, in light of past comments suggesting Mr. Barr was more interested in currying favor with President Trump than objectively and thoughtfully analyzing law and facts. A graduate of George Washington Universitys law school, Mr. Barr, 68, got his start in the 1970s working for the C.I.A. and later worked in the Reagan White House before leaving for private practice. In 1989, President George Bush appointed him to lead the Justice Departments powerful Office of Legal Counsel, and later elevated him to deputy attorney general and then attorney general. After the Bush administration, Mr. Barr spent most of his postgovernment career as the top lawyer for the telecommunications company that became Verizon, from which he retired in 2008. He later joined the Kirkland & Ellis law firm. In a November 1992 speech, Mr. Barr put forward the ideal of an attorney general whose primary loyalty is to the rule of law, not to the president who appointed him saying that he must provide unvarnished, straight-from-the-shoulder legal advice with no regard to political considerations like what conclusions the White House might prefer. Mr. Muellers team has left open the possibility that it could file new charges of lying against Mr. Manafort. His lawyers say he believes he was honest during his interviews with the special counsels office. The new documents were signed by Andrew Weissmann, a prosecutor known for his no-holds-barred approach who has become a favorite target of President Trumps. He wrongly destroyed peoples lives, Mr. Trump declared of Mr. Weissmann earlier Friday on Twitter. The filing capped a busy week for Mr. Muellers team. His office also filed a recommendation on Friday for the sentencing of Michael D. Cohen, Mr. Trumps former lawyer, alongside a scathing attack from prosecutors in Manhattan who rejected Mr. Cohens request to avoid a prison term and accused him of using his power and influence for deceptive ends. The prosecutors sought about four years in prison for Mr. Cohen when he is sentenced next week for lying to Congress about the extent of Mr. Trumps business dealings in Moscow, as well as for campaign finance violations and other charges. Convicted by a Northern Virginia jury in August of eight counts of financial fraud, Mr. Manafort agreed to a plea deal on the verge of a second trial. He met with the special counsels office at least a dozen times before they declared that he had violated the plea agreement. Prosecutors have previously accused the Russian they say Mr. Manafort was in touch with, Konstantin V. Kilimnik, of ties to Russian intelligence. A Russian Army-trained linguist, Mr. Kilimnik served as Mr. Manaforts right-hand man in Ukraine for more than a decade, working on behalf of the countrys Russia-aligned former president, Viktor F. Yanukovych, his party and the oligarchs behind it. In Fridays filing, prosecutors blacked out much of the information related to Mr. Kilimnik but revealed that some of it had been uncovered in emails and testimony. They claimed that Mr. Manafort lied about various interactions and meetings with him, as well as about his involvement with witnesses who might testify against Mr. Manafort. WASHINGTON On election night, in the back room of an exclusive country club outside of Charlotte, N.C., Mark Harris, a pastor turned politician, gathered a small group of friends and advisers to pray as they waited for the results. A longtime friend and fellow pastor, Mike Whitson, assured Mr. Harris, the Republican congressional candidate for North Carolinas Ninth District, that it was God who sets up kings and that God could be trusted with the outcome of this race. Mr. Harris won by just 905 votes, and jubilation set in. But now, a month later, the story of Mr. Harriss path to victory appears far from a divine anointing. In one of the most dramatic developments of the November elections, state-election officials have refused to certify Mr. Harriss victory over Dan McCready, a Democrat, and are investigating potential voter fraud after questions emerged over irregular absentee ballot activity, allegedly involving a consultant hired to advance Mr. Harriss campaign efforts. Congressional Democrats are calling for an emergency hearing. On Thursday, the executive director of the North Carolina Republican Party said he would be open to holding a new election, and on Friday Mr. Harris said he would be as well if fraud occurred that changed the elections outcome. The slow pace of accountability has infuriated Mr. Mattis, who officials say is dissatisfied with the punishments given largely to junior officers. The reprimands were first reported by The Times after a longer Times investigation into the ambush. The only senior officer to receive a letter of reprimand so far is Maj. Gen. Marcus Hicks, the head of Special Operations forces in Africa, who was already planning to retire. The delays have led to recriminations within the militarys individual fiefs. Army Gen. Tony Thomas, the leader of Special Operations Command which includes Green Berets, Navy SEALs and other American commandos around the world has complained that his troops have been singled out for fault. He has also leveled criticism that Pentagon leaders are protecting United States Africa Command, which oversees missions across the continent. In a memo to Mr. Mattis on Oct. 1, General Thomas blamed bad relations between Africa Command and the last commander of American commandos in Africa, Brig. Gen. Donald C. Bolduc, as one reason for the failed mission. The memo, obtained by The Times, said the internal tensions had hindered the ability of commanders, at both levels, to understand, communicate, assess and mitigate risk as events transpired in October 2017. Animosity erupted during the video conference at the Pentagon last month between Mr. Mattis; Gen. Mark A. Milley, the Army chief of staff; Mark Esper, the Army secretary; Owen West, the militarys top civilian Special Operations policy official; and Paul C. Ney Jr., the Pentagon general counsel. General Thomas called in from his headquarters at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa. Mr. Mattis wasnt the only one angry, Defense Department officials said. Army officials complained to aides that Mr. Mattis and Marine Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had contributed to the morass by allowing Africa Command, whose leader, Gen. Thomas D. Waldhauser, is also a Marine, to essentially investigate itself by appointing General Waldhausers own chief of staff, Maj. Gen. Roger L. Cloutier Jr., to conduct the inquiry. The blowback from the video conference was almost immediate. Maj. Gen. Edwin J. Deedrick Jr., the officer in charge of administering internal punishments, was quickly told by Army leaders to re-examine some of the reprimands from the investigation. Included in the initial batch of reprimands was one for Captain Perozeni, the leader of the team in Niger that came under attack. Africa Command leaders singled out Captain Perozeni and another junior officer in the early public accounting of the ambush for having mischaracterized the mission in a preliminary planning document sent to superiors as a trip to meet with tribal leaders, not a counterterrorism effort. LUMBERTON, N.C. The congressional campaign of Mark Harris disclosed late Thursday night that it owed more than $34,000 in connection with an absentee ballot and voter turnout operation that has prompted fears of election fraud and called the North Carolina Republicans narrow victory into question. Then on Friday, after days of silence, Mr. Harris said he would be open to a new election if an investigation into fraud allegations finds proof of illegal activity on either side to such a level that it could have changed the outcome of the election. Mr. Harris, whose campaign has received a subpoena, said in a recorded statement posted on Twitter that he was cooperating fully with the investigation and that he absolutely unaware of any wrongdoing. I trust that this investigation will be full and complete, examining any alleged irregularities that could have benefited either party in this election or past election cycles, he said. Im hopeful that this process will ultimately result in the certification of my election to Congress before the next House session begins. Even as he opened fire at Mr. Tillerson, Mr. Cohen and others he believes betrayed him, Mr. Trump has been busy orchestrating yet another staff shake-up that may leave more raw feelings in its wake. On Friday, the president named a replacement for Attorney General Jeff Sessions, whom he fired last month after a withering series of attacks, and he was, once again, seemingly on the edge of forcing out his White House chief of staff, John F. Kelly, with whom he is barely on speaking terms. The dust up with Mr. Tillerson was remarkable even in Mr. Trumps world of belligerent confrontations. Just a day earlier, former Secretary of State James A. Baker III, who rubbed Mr. Bushs feet on his deathbed, cried as he eulogized his friend and former president at a Houston church. Elsewhere in the same city just hours later, Mr. Tillerson, the former chief executive of Exxon Mobil, took the stage for a benefit for the M. D. Anderson Cancer Center at which he presented a blistering account of the president he served. It was challenging for me coming from the disciplined, highly process-oriented Exxon Mobil Corporation to go to work for a man who is pretty undisciplined, doesnt like to read, doesnt read briefing reports, doesnt like to get into the details of a lot of things, but rather just kind of says, Look, this is what I believe, Mr. Tillerson said in a discussion with Bob Schieffer of CBS News. Mr. Trump, he added, kept pressing for actions beyond his authority. So often, the president would say heres what I want to do and heres how I want to do it and I would have to say to him, Mr. President, I understand what you want to do, but you cant do it that way, Mr. Tillerson said. It violates the law. Often, he said, Mr. Trump would get frustrated. Id say, Heres what we can do. We can go back to Congress and get this law changed. And if thats what you want to do, theres nothing wrong with that, Mr. Tillerson said. I told him, Im ready to go up there and fight the fight, if thats what you want to do. WASHINGTON A senior administration official said on Friday that the United States had repeatedly warned Huawei, one of Chinas flagship technology firms, about violating American sanctions on Iran before the arrest Saturday of one of its top executives. Weve warned them for quite some time of violating the Iranian sanctions, Larry Kudlow, director of the White Houses National Economic Council, said on CNBC on Friday. We have these sanctions on Iran, it runs against our policy, why shouldnt we enforce that? The arrest, which was executed by Canadian authorities in Vancouver, has threatened to further complicate the trade conflict between the United States and China as they try to resolve their differences during a 90-day truce. Mr. Kudlow tried to play down any impact on those discussions, saying that the arrest of Meng Wanzhou, Huaweis chief financial officer, was a separate matter that should have no bearing on economic negotiations. President Trump and the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, agreed last Saturday to the 90-day trade truce, during which time there would be no additional tariffs as the two sides talk. Though Mr. Xis status as Chinas paramount leader is unchallenged, his management of the economy and relations with the United States had come under criticism before Ms. Mengs arrest, with some blaming him as pushing overly ambitious policies that aggravated the Trump administration and provoked the trade war. And the timing of Ms. Mengs detention may mean more pressure on Mr. Xi. It occurred as he and Mr. Trump were discussing a truce in the trade war over dinner in Buenos Aires. Aides said Mr. Trump was unaware of the arrest at the time, but some Chinese are already saying the American sides failure to raise it at the summit meeting amounted to a loss of face for Mr. Xi, and perhaps a deliberate attempt by hawks in Washington to embarrass China. Others said Ms. Mengs arrest would embolden those who have long suspected that the United States is determined to block Chinas rise. This will just confirm everyones worst suspicions about the U.S., said one retired businesswoman with family ties to the party leadership, speaking on condition of anonymity. Deng Yuwen, a political analyst in Beijing, said conservative forces in the Chinese government and society could use Ms. Mengs arrest to resist concessions as trade talks unfold in the next few months. If the U.S. makes an example of Huawei, the conservative nationalist forces in China and also the military will be very unhappy, and that will make it even more difficult to make compromises with the United States, he said. In the short term, the United States might gain from playing this card, but in the longer term, it doesnt gain from this, Mr. Deng added. This will make it harder for the reformers to speak up. Mr. Xi has not publicly commented on Ms. Mengs detention, but the Chinese Foreign Ministry has objected forcefully and demanded her release. A spokesman, Geng Shuang, said Washington needed to explain why Ms. Meng was being held and accused Canada and the United States of violating her rights. WELLINGTON, New Zealand More than 160 China experts from around the world have signed a letter urging New Zealands government to protect an academic who said she was the subject of harassment and intimidation for publishing research critical of the Chinese Communist Party. The letter, published Thursday on the Czech website Sinopsis and signed by 169 scholars, researchers, journalists, commentators and human rights advocates, is the latest effort by scholars to ramp up pressure on Western governments to confront Chinas political interference beyond its borders. The New Zealand police and the countrys intelligence agency, along with Interpol, are investigating the case of Anne-Marie Brady, a professor at the University of Canterbury in the city of Christchurch. She said she had been subjected to a yearlong harassment campaign in which her home was burglarized, her office broken into twice and her car sabotaged. Ms. Brady said the only items stolen from her home were electronic devices linked to her China scholarship, with the thief or thieves ignoring cash and newer electronics used by other family members. Nacogdoches, TX (75965) Today Cloudy with rain developing later in the day. High 56F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%.. Tonight Rain early...then remaining cloudy with showers late. Low 44F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch. A Shanghai-based company has been fined 1.3 million yuan ($188,800) for hiring Sola Aoi, a former Japanese adult video actress, to participate an activity in July where she was made to wear a red neckerchief usually worn by the young pioneers in China. According to the market regulation administration of Shanghai's Pudong New Area, Shanghai Zhenhai Industrial Limited Co, a company that sells male sex products, was fined for its improper usage of the red scarf which is emblematic of blood of revolutionary martyrs. The fine slapped on the company is the highest among similar incidents in China. On July 29, Shanghai Zhenhai invited the Japanese actress to a benefit activity in Dehong prefecture, southwest China's Yunnan province, to raise money for impoverished schoolchildren. The actress wore a red scarf when taking part in the activity on Aug 1. The incident quickly prompted an outcry among Chinese netizens that accused the company and actress defiling the sacredness of the red scarf. On Aug 9, the company issued an apology statement on its official Sina Weibo account after the Young Pioneers National Working Commission denounced the company's behavior. Distorting, vilifying, defaming or otherwise diminishing the deeds and spirit of heroes and martyrs is strictly prohibited, according to a new law in China regarding the protection of heroes and martyrs which took effect on May 1. Founded in 1949 and led by the Communist Party of China, the Chinese Young Pioneers is a national organization for Chinese children aged 6 to 14, most of whom are primary or secondary school students. LONDON Prime Minister Theresa May had just suffered three humiliating defeats in Parliament over plans to leave the European Union and, with a critical vote less than a week away, Britain seemed to be facing its biggest political crisis in decades. So the stage was set for the opposition leader, Jeremy Corbyn, to deliver a knockout blow. But when he rose to address a rowdy Parliament chamber on Wednesday, Mr. Corbyn, the left-wing leader of the Labour Party, ignored the chaos over Europe, instead using his allotted questions to focus on poverty and welfare changes. Throughout the interminable debates over Britains withdrawal from the European Union, or Brexit, Mr. Corbyn has often attacked Mrs. May, but he has been conspicuously noncommital about what he would do instead. To this point, Mr. Corbyns strategy has served him well. Yet with Parliament expected to reject Mrs. Mays Brexit plan on Tuesday, the space for dodging uncomfortable issues is rapidly dwindling, and a growing question is where Mr. Corbyn will come down. Whatever his decision, it could have a fateful impact on the result. PARIS A video of French students silently kneeling in rows, their hands behind their heads or secured behind their backs with zip ties as riot police circle them, has ignited outrage after being posted on social media by a watchdog group. The students in the video, taken on Thursday, were part of a protest in the western Paris suburb of Mantes-la-Jolie against proposed overhauls to national exams. Demonstrations against the exam proposals have slowly gained steam around the country, at the same time as France has been shaken by the Yellow Vest protests, which started as opposition to a planned increase in Frances fuel tax and have. On Friday, Jacques Toubon, Frances ombudsman for human rights, said he had opened an investigation into the treatment of the students. Local officials defended their actions, saying they were trying to prevent violence like that sparked by the Yellow Vest protests, in which four people have died and 700 been wounded. HAMBURG, Germany She is a moderate centrist with a humble leadership style and wry sense of humor. She does not boast. But she has a track record of forging unlikely consensus and winning elections. Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, the new leader of Germanys most powerful political party and likely future chancellor, sounds a lot like the current one. That is her greatest strength and her greatest weakness as she prepares to take over from Chancellor Angela Merkel, a towering figure both loved and loathed inside her party and her country. Ms. Merkels Christian Democratic Union announced its new leader on Friday after a closely watched vote by party delegates who chose from a list of three candidates: Ms. Kramp-Karrenbauer and two men who had vowed to take the party to the right. At a time when voters elsewhere in Europe and the world are clamoring for radical change and are turning to populist and often male leaders promising easy answers to complex global problems, Germanys biggest party on Friday opted for the opposite: a woman succeeding another woman with a nuanced political program that above all represents continuity and stability. GENEVA Independent experts investigating allegations of sexual abuse at the United Nations agency fighting AIDS have called for the appointment of new leadership, saying in a damning report that its executive director tolerated harassment and bullying in a toxic organizational culture. The agency, U.N.AIDS, was in a state of crisis that threatens its vital work, the expert panel said in its report, which was released Friday after a four-month investigation. The evidence of a broken organizational culture is overwhelming, it said. The panels four members pinned responsibility for the crisis on the programs executive director, Michel Sidibe, saying that under his autocratic leadership the agency had become a cult of personality marked by favoritism, preferment and ethical blindness that failed to prevent harassment and abuse or respond swiftly to accusations of ill treatment. A change in leadership has become necessary, the experts concluded. In an email to staff on Friday, Mr. Sidibe, a native of Mali who has led the agency since 2009, gave no indication of stepping down but instead mapped out a five-point plan for changes to be put into place next year. PARIS Paris braced for a fourth weekend of protests as the government warned of the potential for new violence and officials prepared to deploy tens of thousands of police officers throughout France and even armored vehicles in the capital. Hundreds of people had gathered early Saturday around the Arc de Triomphe, which was damaged in rioting a week ago. A crowd of Yellow Vests protesters were marching down the Champs-Elysees in central Paris, surrounded by exceptional police security amid fears of new violence. On Saturday, the police prefecture of Paris said more than 300 people had been arrested by 9 a.m. The original Yellow Vest protests were dominated by working-class people from the provinces upset over a gasoline tax increase and their declining living standards. They adopted fluorescent roadside safety vests as their signature, symbolizing their economic distress. But officials fear that the protests have been co-opted by far more violent elements taking advantage of the insurrectional climate and that Round 4, as Saturdays demonstrations are being called, could be more violent than ever. Three years after nearly 200 countries signed a landmark climate agreement in Paris, they are still far off-track from preventing severe global warming in the decades ahead. This month, diplomats from around the world are gathering in Katowice, Poland, to discuss stepping up their efforts. Its an enormous challenge. Under the Paris deal, every nation volunteered a plan to curtail its greenhouse gas emissions between then and 2030. But many large emitters arent even on track to meet their self-imposed targets, according to new data from Climate Action Tracker. Whats more, even if every country did manage to fulfil its individual pledge, the world would still be on pace to heat up well in excess of 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over preindustrial levels, the threshold that world leaders vowed to stay well below in Paris because they deemed it unacceptably risky. Right now, current pledges put the world on pace for around 3 degrees Celsius of warming this century. To reach the broader Paris goals, countries would have to dramatically accelerate the transition toward clean energy over the next 12 years. But, with global emissions on pace to rise sharply this year, time is running short. It is plain we are way off course, said Antonio Guterres, the secretary general of the United Nations, in a speech in Katowice this week. We are still not doing enough, nor moving fast enough, to prevent irreversible and catastrophic climate disruption. United States: falling short of its pledge Under the Paris Agreement, former President Barack Obama pledged to slash United States emissions 26 to 28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025. That was already a tough task: While pollution from the countrys power plants is falling rapidly as utilities retire coal plants in favor of cleaner natural gas and renewables, sectors like transportation and heavy industry have proven harder to clean up. But President Trump has disavowed the Paris agreement altogether and is now moving to dismantle Obama-era climate regulations like efficiency standards for cars and light trucks. And while some states, including New York and California, are pursuing their own policies on renewable energy and electric vehicles, they may not prove sufficient to close the gap. For now, analysts say the United States will fall well short of its Paris pledge. That, in turn, could make it harder for future administrations to pursue the even deeper emissions cuts by midcentury that are needed to help keep the world well below 2 degrees of global warming. European Union: debating new targets Although the European Union is currently on pace to fall slightly short of its promise to cut emissions 40 percent by 2030, compared with 1990 levels, that may soon change. In June, European officials agreed on more ambitious new measures for renewable power and energy efficiency which, if implemented, would help the union meet its overall emissions targets, according to Climate Action Tracker. And officials are now debating whether to revise their 2030 pledge and pursue even deeper emissions cuts. Still, there are plenty of obstacles: While countries like Britain and the Netherlands have vowed to phase out the use of coal power, Poland is currently building new coal plants. And the Continent as a whole has been slower to curb pollution from cars and trucks. China: existing pledge is highly insufficient Experts say China submitted a Paris pledge that was relatively easy to meet: overall emissions would peak around 2030 and the country would get 20 percent of its energy from non-fossil sources. The country appears to be on track to hit that target. Analysts now expect Chinas once-insatiable demand for coal to level off by the mid-2020s, and the government is investing heavily in cleaner sources like solar, wind and nuclear. China also now sells more electric cars and buses than the rest of the world combined. But the analysts at Climate Action Tracker rated Chinas existing pledge as highly insufficient and suggested that the country would have to step up its efforts considerably to help keep the world well below 2 degrees of warming. The countrys coal emissions, for instance, would most likely need to decline significantly by 2030 rather than simply flatten out. India: making progress India, which has long held that wealthier countries should take the lead on cutting emissions, has a less restrictive Paris pledge than Europe or the United States. The country vowed to install more clean energy and improve its carbon intensity, the amount of carbon dioxide emitted per unit of gross domestic product, while still allowing total emissions to rise through 2030. Indias emissions per person emissions would most likely still be lower than Americas or Chinas. Based on recent trends, it now looks plausible that India could surpass those goals as the falling cost of solar power and shifting market conditions have allowed the country to scale back plans for new coal plants. But the countrys emissions trajectory remains uncertain and the Indian government has asked for financial assistance from other countries to help ratchet up its climate efforts. Brazil and Indonesia: forests threatened Brazil and Indonesia are the worlds seventh- and eighth-largest emitters of greenhouse gases, in large part because farmers in those countries continue to burn and clear away carbon-rich rain forests and peatlands for agriculture. The two countries had vowed to better protect their forests as part of their Paris pledges, but both are now struggling to do so. In Brazil, deforestation rates have increased since 2012 after years of decline. And President-elect Jair Bolsanaro, who takes office in January, has vowed to roll back safeguards in the Amazon rain forest in order to promote ranching and logging. Indonesia has struggled to constrain the palm oil and paper plantations that are encroaching on its forests and peatlands. And the government has announced plans to double coal-fired power by 2025, which would further increase emissions. What happens next Negotiators are meeting in Katowice now to discuss guidelines for making national pledges and policies more detailed and transparent, so that outsiders can gauge individual countries progress (or lack thereof) more precisely. Many of the Paris pledges remain fairly opaque, and nations are often vague on what specific policies they will take to meet them. There is still no official mechanism for quantifying progress. As a result, groups like Climate Action Tracker have had to make rough estimates as to whether countries are on pace to meet their pledges and how much further each country would need to go for the world to stay well below 2 degrees of global warming. Increasing the transparency of pledges could make it easier for countries to pressure each other do more, but, ultimately, it will be up to national and local governments to decide to take stronger action. World leaders have informally agreed to consider strengthening their existing pledges before another round of talks in 2020, but it is still unclear how much they intend to do. Over 200 people suspected of telephone and online fraud in Cambodia were repatriated back to Guangzhou, the capital of South China's Guangdong province, on Thursday, December 6. A total of 233 suspects were released, demonstrating the cooperation between Chinese police and their foreign counterparts in fighting crime. According to a Guangdong provincial department of public security statement, three chartered planes carrying the suspects took off from Cambodia and landed in Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport at about 4 pm on Thursday. The suspects were detained late last month following a series of special operations launched by police officers from China and Cambodia after a month-long investigation, the statement said. Investigation and big data analysis earlier this year indicated that the suspects, based in the southeast, had been defrauding victims based in the mainland. Following these indications, Guangdong's public security department sent special task forces to Cambodia and sought Sino-foreign cooperation in the fight against telephone fraud . Police from Guangdong and Cambodia also seized a large number of bank cards, computers, mobile phones and other criminal tools in special operations in which more than 2,000 cases involving 63 million yuan were brought to justice, said the statement. "The special operations launched by Sino-foreign police officers have dealt a heavy blow to cross-border crimes involving telephone and online fraud," said the statement. The statement alleges that the suspects passed themselves off as police officers, judges, procurators and other law enforcers to defraud victims from more than 20 provinces, municipalities and regions since the beginning of the year. The Ministry of Public Security has sent seven police teams to Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia, and the Philippines to fight cross-border telephone and online fraud since the beginning of year. At least 700 suspects have been detained so far, the statement said. Under the crackdown, instances of telephone and online fraud has this year seen a reduction. China has fought around 31,000 cases involving this kind fraud so far this year, a reduction of 36 percent in comparison to the same period in 2017. A large area of fossilized dinosaur footprints has been found at a copper mine in Sichuan province. The mine's owner has agreed to a request from Zhaojue county, in the Liangshan Yi autonomous prefecture, to stop operations, Ebi Jiefang, former head of the Zhaojue cultural heritage administration, said on Thursday. On the afternoon of Nov 28, Ebi was at his home in Xichang when he received a call from Zike Lage, Party secretary of Zhaojue county. "He said fossilized dinosaur footprints had been found after rocks were blasted away in the Sanbiluoga Copper Mine, and he sent an SUV to Xichang to take me to the site," Ebi said. At the mine he found dinosaur footprints in three areas ranging from 4,000 to 8,000 square meters. At one site, footprints of two, three, four and five toes were seen. "It was the first time I had seen fossilized footprints with two toes," Ebi said. Fossilized dinosaur footprints had been seen at the copper mine in 1991, but nobody knew what they were. Four years later, Ebi went to the site with a curator of the Sichuan Museum, who was an expert in ancient creatures, and verified them. Fossilized dinosaur footprints had also been found at another site in Zhaojue, he said. Based on many sets of prints, scientists have made discoveries, including proving that carnivorous dinosaurspreviously thought to be poorly adapted to aquatic conditionscould swim, he said. But one set of prints, a collection of around 3,000 dinosaur tracks discovered in 1991, has been destroyed by mining. Xing Lida from China University of Geosciences will arrive in Zhaojue later this month. Together with other paleontologists, Xing is expected to formulate a suggestion for protecting the footprints, Ebi said. Zhaojue is a poor county needing financial support from higher-level governments for protection, he said. Paleontologists think that more than 100 million years ago, Zhaojue had soft lake sediments on which dinosaurs walked, leaving deep footprints that were covered by sediment and fossilized. Storm, an eight-year-old Haflinger mare from the Netherlands, has become a star on social media networks like Instagram thanks to her long, wavy locks. 24-year-old student and entrepreneur Naomi Beckers bought Storm from her previous owner two years ago after falling in love with her incredible hair, which interestingly, closely resembles her own blonde, curly locks. The gorgeous mare handt had her hair cut since she was only two-years-old, and she already had a decent number of social media fans when Naomi got her. So she decided to set up a new Instagram account where Storms human admirers could follow her progress, but never imagined it would become so popular. Storms Instagram now has nearly 35,000 followers, making her one of the most popular horses on the photo-sharing social network. Photo: haflinger_storm_naomi/Instagram I was planning to post a few pictures on it from time to time, but people kept asking me when I would post another photo, Naomi told Bit Magazine. It is actually a bit out of control, but I think it is very nice that it has grown so much! View this post on Instagram A post shared by Naomi Beckers & Storm (@haflinger_storm_naomi) on Feb 10, 2018 at 2:40pm PST Haflinger horses are renowned for their long, beautiful hair, but Storms is longer than most. When she was about three years old she already had wavy locks that passed her shoulder and her owner decided to let the hair it grow even more, only braiding it for protection. Storms hair has kept growing over the last six years and today it measures over one meter in length, earning the nickname Rapunzel, after the famous childrens story character. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Naomi Beckers & Storm (@haflinger_storm_naomi) on Oct 7, 2017 at 3:52am PDT You know who Storm reminds me of? Frederick the Great, aka the Fabio of Horses, a 17-year-old Friesian with equally gorgeous wavy hair, only black. Imagine if these two got together and made a baby, it would probably end up with the most incredible mane in the history of horses. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Naomi Beckers & Storm (@haflinger_storm_naomi) on Sep 15, 2017 at 1:40am PDT View this post on Instagram A post shared by Naomi Beckers & Storm (@haflinger_storm_naomi) on Aug 31, 2017 at 1:15pm PDT View this post on Instagram A post shared by Naomi Beckers & Storm (@haflinger_storm_naomi) on Jul 11, 2017 at 7:31am PDT View this post on Instagram A post shared by Naomi Beckers & Storm (@haflinger_storm_naomi) on Jul 4, 2017 at 7:12am PDT View this post on Instagram A post shared by Naomi Beckers & Storm (@haflinger_storm_naomi) on Jun 18, 2017 at 7:56am PDT View this post on Instagram A post shared by Naomi Beckers & Storm (@haflinger_storm_naomi) on May 3, 2017 at 10:03am PDT View this post on Instagram A post shared by Naomi Beckers & Storm (@haflinger_storm_naomi) on Apr 17, 2017 at 11:05am PDT A Chinese mother allegedly faked the kidnapping of her 11-year-old son as a way of testing whether her husband really cared about her and their child. The boys mother, a 33-year-old woman named Chen, filed a fake missing persons report in Yueqing City, on Friday. She told police that her son had last been seen near his school and gave them a description of his clothes. The case was declared a top priority and huge resources were allocated to an ample search operation in Yueqing and neighboring Wenzhou. The kidnapping attracted national attention, particularly because of the 500,000 yuan ($72,000) reward offered by the family for any information about the boys whereabouts, and online articles about his disappearance were read hundreds of millions of times just on social media platform Weibo. Everyone was fearing the worst, but it turned out that 11-year-old Huang had been safe and sound in the care of a relative all along. Five days into the search operations, police stumbled on evidence that Chen had been lying from the very beginning. CCTV footage from a parking lot near the scene of the alleged kidnapping showed the young mother telling Huang to go wait in another car, while she went to file the fake missing persons report. After running a search on the car that the boy had gotten into, police forces headed to a village near Yueqing and found Huang in the care of a relative of the family. Chen was detained and charged with creating and deliberately spreading false information, but whats even more bizarre is that according to an official police statement, she staged her own sons kidnapping because she had recently been in an argument with her husband and wanted to test his love for them. Feedback on this bizarre conclusion of a case that had garnered nationwide attention and support in China can be described as a mix of relief and anger. People are glad that the boy has been found safe and sound, but believe the woman should be severely punished for duping an entire country and wasting considerable public resources. Everyone is happy that the child is safe, but this kind of family member must be seriously dealt with! This not only wastes everyones time and energy, it is emotionally exhausting and wastes national resources. This is over the top! read one Weibo comment which was liked more than 7,000 times. Kidnapping is a very sensitive issue in China, where around 70,000 are kidnapped and sold on the black market every year. Very few of them are ever found again, so someone faking their own childs kidnapping for such a stupid reason as Chens is viewed as unacceptable. via SCMP Every day, hundreds of tourists and devotees visit a shrine in Shivapur, a small village about 180 km east of Mumbai, in India, to witness a controversial miracle known as the Levitating Stone of Shivapur. The Shrine of Qamar Ali Darvesh, a Muslim Sufi Saint who lived about 700 years ago, features an ancient stone that reportedly weighs 154lbs (90kg). Lifting this stone off the ground would normally require a lot of strength, but according to believers in the Levitating Stone miracle, its possible for a set number of men to lift it up over their heads with only their index fingers, but only after shouting Qamar Ali Darveshs name. This phenomenon has fascinated Indian Muslims for centuries, but many believe its nothing more than a gimmick. Photo: Telengana Today The Levitating Stone of Shivapur is closely tied to sufi Qamar Ali Darvesh. He was born in a family of middle-class Muslims whose men were very proud of their physical strength and spent most of their time training in a gymnasium. Qamar Ali was different from the other men in his family. He became a disciple of a Sufi Pir (great teacher) who lived near his home when he was only 6-years-old, and spent most of his time meditating and fasting. Legend has it that Qamar Ali was a compassionate boy who attracted devotees with his magical healing powers, but he was always mocked by the other boys, because he was never interested in physical activities. He died in his late years, but legend has it that as he lay on his death bed, the Sufi saint cursed one of the heavy stones that local men used for training in order to prove that spiritual power was greater than brute strength. He requested that the stone be placed near his grave and reportedly said: If eleven men place their right index fingers under the stone and then jointly call my name, I will cause it to rise higher than their heads. Otherwise, neither by themselves nor together will they be able to move it more than two feet off the ground. The Levitating Stone at the Shrine of Qamar Ali Darvesh, in Shivapur, is apparently the same one he cursed over 700 years ago, and men here have been using his formula to perform the miracle of lifting it over their heads with only their index fingers. Devotees say that the task can only be performed by 11 men, and only after shouting Qamar Alis name in unison. Because the Sufi Saint was a celibate and in deference to his chastity, women are not allowed to perform this feat or even touch the stone. There are many who believe that the Levitating Stone of Shivapur is a true miracle and a testament to the powers of Qamar Ali Darvesh, but to skeptics, its nothing more than a gimmick to scam money out of tourists and naive religious people. Although some photos and videos show the 11 men using their index fingers to lift the heavy stone off the ground, William Wolfe, who visited Shivapur in 1984, claims that he was one of the 11 men who attempted to lift it and saw the others using their palms and applying considerable force. I was one of the 11, and I was unable to pronounce his name, and in fact said nothing. This means that only 10 men were trying, not 11, Wolfe wrote on Quora. I also only lightly touched the stone with my right index finger and did this for just a moment, but I carefully observed the other 10 men. They put their entire hand under the stone and applied a considerable force. I could see their biceps flexing. I only touched it for a few moments because they lifted it rapidly with the force that they were applying. There was no levitation, but rather lifting. He is certainly not the only one to contest this miracle, but the general skepticism doesnt seem to have affected the popularity of the Levitating Stone one bit. Hundreds of people still flock to Shivapur to witness this magical feat with their own eyes. Meng Wanzhou APCO Worldwide represents Huawei, the Chinese telecommunications giant that is at the heart of the US battle with China on the technology and trade fronts. Canadian officials arrested Meng Wanzhou, CFO and daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, Dec. 1 based on an extradition order from the US. The arrest triggered a global market sell-off. Huawei is a long-time client of DC-based APCO. The DC firm handles foreign investment and security-related issues and provisions related to US government purchases, according to federal filing records. Don Bonker, former Democratic Congressman from Washington and executive director at APCO, oversees Huawei. He's APCO's go-to person on trade and investment issues (including Committee of Foreign Investment in the US) in Russia, Europe and Asia. Bonker specializes in Chinese investments in the US. Huawei's fees declined from $30K during the first and second quarter to $10K in the third period. Evan Kraus, APCO president and managing director of operations, told O'Dwyer's that his firm is "fully transparent about our lobbying and foreign representation work in all cases through our public filings." He confirmed the public filings are "an accurate reflection of our work." Michael Arndt Edelman Chicago has hired Chicago business journalist Michael Arndt to be an executive editor on its editorial team. Arndt comes to Edelman from Crains Chicago Business, where he served as editor since 2012, leading the publications evolution to a multi-platform operation. Before joining Crains, he was a senior correspondent and senior editor with BusinessWeek and has also served as Sunday business editor and chief economics correspondent with the Chicago Tribune based out of the papers Washington, D.C. bureau. At Edelman Chicago, Arndt will work to enhance the agencys content strategy and storytelling capabilities. He will also play a key role in enhancing Edelman Chicagos capabilities in B2B content strategy, working with C-suite clients to advise them on media strategy and content development, particularly in the area of thought leadership. Arndt will report to John Thomas, executive editorial director. While president Trump ridicules reporters and declares the media the "enemy of the people," China is spending millions to fortify its media and overseas propaganda institutions in a bid to promote its image in the US and throughout the world, according to a study released last month by the Hoover Institution. "While Americans are well acquainted with Chinas quest for influence through the projection of diplomatic, economic, and military power, we are less aware of the myriad ways Beijing has more recently been seeking cultural and informational influence, some of which could undermine our democratic processes," reads the 191-page report called, "Chinese Influence & American Interests: Promoting Constructive Vigilance." It contends "Chinas influence activities have collectively helped throw the crucial relationship between the Peoples Republic of China and the United States into a worrisome state of imbalance and antagonism." That campaign comes as US media are slammed as "fake news" and under financial siege from both advertisers and the Internet. The Chinese Government, in turn, stepped up its "grab the right to speak" effort from western media and independent Chinese-language outlets, which it claims distorts news about China and sullies the country's image. The public policy think tank reports that state-owned Chinese media companies have established a significant foothold in the US in print, radio, TV and online. China's main English-language newspaper, China Daily, has opened offices throughout the US. It also gains influence by lavishly funding its China Watch propaganda inserts in top American outlets like the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal. The Stanford University institute notes that it's often difficult to tell that material from China Watch is just propaganda for the PRC. For instance, Trump highlighted a China Watch piece that ran in the Des Moines Register as "real news," according to Hoover. Meanwhile, China's government has "severely limited the ability of US and western media outlets to conduct normal newsgathering activities within China, much less to provide news feeds directly to Chinese listeners, viewers and readers in China." The country also has stepped up efforts to silence critical voices in the Chinese-American community, by dispatching officials to the US to pressure them or family members living in China. Hoover calls on the Trump administration to demand reciprocity for American journalists attempting to do their professional work in China. "To the extent that they are prevented from doing so as a result of visa denials and restrictions of access, the US State Department should respond in kind by restricting visas and access for Chinese journalists in the United States," says the report. Hoover recommends that media advancing the Chinese government line be required to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. It suggests that employees of "these organizations should be given a disclosure package making them aware that they are working for a foreign agent institution." The US also should help independent Chinese media survive by "using grants via the Fulbright program or other vehicles, such as the State Department International Visitors or Speakers Bureau." Domestically, the US should aid independent Chinese-language media through manufacturing credits for printing press operations, and nonprofit tax designations to allow journalism business models to survive the current transitional crisis." Hoover stresses the need "to strike a balance between passivity and overreaction, confidence in our foundations and alarm about their possible subversion, and the imperative to sustain openness while addressing the unfairness of contending on a series of uneven playing fields." Irish Water today hosted a sod-turning event to mark the start of works on a 21.5 million upgrade project on the Tullamore and Birr Water Supply Schemes. The work is being carried out in partnership with Offaly County Council. Once completed, the upgrade works will secure the medium-term future of water supplies for both towns and ensure a reliable supply of high quality drinking water. Irish Water awarded the contract for the design, construction and commissioning of the works to Murphy Process Engineering earlier this year and works have now commenced. The project is expected to be completed in 2020 and will include the construction of three new water treatment plants, one in Tullamore, one in Birr and one at Clonaslee in Co. Laois. Speaking at the sod-turning event, Cllr. Danny Owens, Cathaoirleach of Offaly County Council said, "This is most welcome news for Offaly and for the 18,000 residents and businesses dependent on this water supply. Once these works are completed, residents and businesses in the area will have a safe and dependable drinking water supply." Deputy Marcella Corcoran-Kennedy TD said, "This investment by Irish Water, means that the thriving towns of Tullamore and Birr town will have the water infrastructure to support ongoing economic and social development necessary for this part Co. Offaly to grow and prosper." Commenting on the project, William McKnight, Infrastructure Programme Regional Lead at Irish Water said, "The works that are being carried out in Tullamore and Birr by Irish Water in partnership with Offaly County Council, will ensure the delivery of high quality drinking water for the most populated areas of Co. Offaly. This is one of a number of investments made by Irish Water to improve water and wastewater infrastructure across the country under its current business plan. The Irish Water Business Plan will see 5.5 billion invested in capital spending on drinking water and wastewater quality and capacity to 2021." A major car park in the centre of Tullamore is on the verge of reopening this weekend which will be welcome news for businesses and shoppers in the town. The old Texas car park has been closed since August when the extensive site was sold. Since then, parking in the town has become increasingly problematic, particularly at busy times. The Offaly Express understands that a leasing agreement is on the verge of being signed today between Offaly County Coucil and the owners of the site which would allow it to become operational as a car park from this weekend. Speaking to the Offaly Express, Cllr John Leahy said that he hoped the car park would be open this weekend. He added that while a decision on how to run and how to charge in the car park had not yet been taken, it was essential that it was reopened 'as soon as possible'. "Since the car park closed, it has been mayhem for businesses in the town. Businesses have been affected and customers of these businesses are complaining that there are no car parking spaces in Tullamore. When this car park reopens, it will help to alleviate some of the problems, particularly in the run up to Christmas." Cllr Leahy also confirmed that the council are looking to try and lease other private properties in the town to provide further car parking spaces although he did acknowledge that there was limited available space close to the town centre. He added that it was a positive to see the town so busy with increased foot-fall for businesses but he did say that unless the parking situation improved, potential shoppers would be inclined to do their shopping in other towns where parking isn't as big an issue. He commended people who work in the town for keeping spaces free during the day but he also said that if the parking issues in Tullamore did not improve, there might be a need to change the bye-laws for the town. "I hope we don't get to a point where we need to make all parking in the town either one hour or two hour. There is limited space to put more car parking spaces in Tullamore but we need to get the balance right for people working in the town and their customers to help alleviate the problems." Permanent fencing was erected around the site in November making it no longer even possible for pedestrians to even use the car park as a way of getting directly from Kilbride Street to William Street and Harbour Street. It has also had a detrimental impact on many businesses located close to the car park. An application was lodged with Offaly County Council back in 2008 with a developer hoping to turn the site into a 28,000 sq. metre shopping centre, complete with more than 700 underground car parking spaces. Offaly County Council has received 30,000 in EU funding to create two free public Wi-Fi hotspots. Minister of State at the Department of Rural and Community Development, Sean Canney TD today welcomed the announcement of the first successful applicants of the European WiFi initiative, WiFi4EU. This announcement sees Ireland securing 885,000 to establish a minimum of 59 free, open-access WiFi hot-spots throughout the country. This funding comes in the form of vouchers, worth 15,000 each, distributed to the successful local authorities. Speaking today, Minister Canney stated: This is a fantastic result for Ireland, Irish local authorities applied for 105 vouchers and secured 59 of them. This will bring free WiFi hotspots to many public spaces throughout the country and will vastly improve connectivity in communities." "I am also very pleased to confirm that the Department of Rural and Community Development will match all successful vouchers with a further allocation of up to 15,000. I hope that this contribution will help local authorities in developing an even more substantial network of free public WiFi hotspots. The Department of Rural and Community Development will match the funding provided by the European Commission, potentially doubling the value of the investment in public WiFi networks. The vouchers were awarded at EU level on a first-come first-served basis and Minister Canney added: This outcome shows how proactive local authorities in Ireland are and their determination to bring connectivity to their areas. They are doing as much as they can to provide their communities with a much-needed service and their efforts and engagement need to be applauded." "Officials from my Department worked very closely with Broadband Officers, local authorities and the European Commission ahead of the first call for applications, and this great result is a demonstration of the very positive engagement and willingness from all involved to improve the connectivity of communities." Each successful local authority now has 18 months to select locations for the WiFi4EU hotspots and complete their installation to be ready for public use. These locations need to be centres of public life where no other free WiFi service is already available. The WiFi4EU service will be free of charge, free of advertising and free from commercial re-use of data. Minister of State Canney, added: The amount of work invested in this project by our local authorities should not be underestimated. It speaks to a shared commitment to improve free-of-charge public WiFi services and to bring down the cost of mobile data." Local authorities across Ireland now have an opportunity to install WiFi in their villages, towns and cities, in parks and hospitals, libraries and town squares and I wish them all the best in their endeavours. AgustaWestland: Why did UPA go to Italy, when it could have shopped in Hyderabad India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Dec 7: One of the main allegations made in the AugustaWestland case was that middleman, James Christian Michel had deliberately disqualified the competition. Michel was aware that the AgustaWestland chopper was not catering to certain requirements that included ceiling and cabin height. The main competitor was from Sikorsky which had entered into a joint venture with Tata Advanced Systems Ltd. The Tata Advanced Systems Ltd India and Sikorsky Aircraft Company USA based in Hyderabad entered into a joint venture to manufacture 4,000 parts for the S92 helicopter cabins. Long association: The Michels earned 2 million Pounds from India between 1987 and 1996 The allegation is that the UPA government had decided to go ahead with AgustaWestland, despite Sikorsky putting out a lower tender. Further some of the requirements that AgustaWestland did not cater to such as ceiling height and cabin height would have been fulfilled by Sikorsky, which makes the S-92s which is used by the President of the United States of America. Why did India go with AgustaWestland, an anglo-Italian firm instead of choppers that could have been provided to us from Hyderabad, asks Air Marshal (Retd), B K Pandey. Pandey tells OneIndia that these choppers were meant for transportation of VVIPs. The entire exercise was controlled by the Prime Minister's Office and the Ministry for Defence. AgustaWestland did have a problem with both the cabin and ceiling height and this was one of the reasons it was unable to compete. The PMO had said then to change the ceiling and cabin height requirements so that AgustaWestland could come back into the competition. B K Pandey says that the irony is that the S-92 helicopters which was the competition is being manufactured by Tata Advanced Systems Ltd in Hyderabad. They have a collaboration with Sikorsky. The S-92 airframes are being manufactured since 2009 and the President of the United States uses this chopper. The question is why did we go to Italy, when we could have shopped in Hyderabad, asks Pandey. The other question is if the S-92s were cheaper and also fulfilling the requirements, then why did the government go in for AugustaWestland, he also asks. AgustaWestland: Michel's contacts in 2007 govt ensured competition was disqualified in trial stage The bigger problem: Pandey says that the AgustaWestland is a heavy chopper with three engines. There are assets no doubt, but the problem here is something else. There are three elements- the company, the equipment and the people who man the company. In these three, there could be a deficiency in any of the elements. If the deficiency was with the company then it could have been rectified. Blacklisting AgustaWestland by the then Defence Minister, A K Antony was a wrong step. You are a prisoners of the global aircraft industry and in this context Antony did severe damage by blacklisting. It was a totally flawed decision and cancelling the tender was not required.Instead the deficiency could have been rectified, Pandey also says. Disqualifying the competition: The Central Bureau of Investigation which is currently questioning Michel says that he had made over 100 visits to India to disqualify the competition. He visited India at least 100 times since 1993, during which he built contacts within the government. Sources tell OneIndia that he had built such strong links with the government that is alleged to have confidential defence files in his possession. He also had documents relating to the Cabinet Committee on Security. The biggest challenge for Michel was to ensure that a competitor did not bag this deal. AgustaWestland: 12 million Euros was set aside to lobby with 'family' AgustaWestland was facing stiff competition from M/S Sikorsky. The problem for Michel was that Sikorsky was quoting a much lower price and almost bagged the deal. Michel made an early visit to India and tried to deliberately disqualify the competition. The investigations that were conducted further in this regard showed that Sikorsky was disqualified in the trial stage itself. The un-opened commercial bid that was submitted in February 2007 was returned by the Defence Ministry back then. He also used his contacts to ensure that the financial bids of Sikorsky were not opened. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, December 7, 2018, 10:03 [IST] Asthanas allegations are imaginary says Verma in Delhi HC India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Dec 7: CBI Director, Alok Verma who was divested of his duties rejected the allegations made against him by special CBI director, Rakesh Asthana and termed them as nothing but the imagination of the petitioner. Verma in an affidavit filed in the Delhi High Court also said that there was highly incriminating material found against Asthana and a probe was needed to to restore public confidence in the the investigating agency. Verma-Asthana fought like Kilkenny cats, Centre tells SC in CBI case Verma's response was made to a petition filed by Asthana in which he challenged the FIR filed against him by the CBI. He had also challenged the decision to strip him of his responsibilities. Verma said that there was cogent evidence of bribery against Asthana and there was no need to seek a government approval before lodging the FIR against him. It may be recalled that the Supreme Court had on Thursday reserved its order on a plea filed by Verma in which he had challenged the decision of the government to send him on leave. Don't make a song and dance or rush to media, Jaitley advises agencies amidst CBI row The allegations are nothing but the imagination of the petitioner and the plea by Asthana is not maintainable, Verma contended. However the FIR should not be quashed as the allegations against Asthana are very serious in nature and requires a thorough probe, Verma said. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, December 7, 2018, 15:23 [IST] Rath Yatra stalled: BJP will not complain against constant negative publicity that Mamata is giving India oi-Shubham Ghosh Kolkata, Dec 7: The BJP's much anticipated 'Rath Yatra' programme in West Bengal which was supposed to begin on Friday, December 7, got stalled after the Calcutta High Court expressed its reservation over holding such a sensitive political programme within a short notice. The court feared untoward consequences that could be difficult for the state administration to manage and did not want to take any chance. BJP president Amit Shah, who was supposed to inaugurate the programme that would continue till January 16, did not go to Bengal and said at the party headquarters in New Delhi that even if the Yatra did not take place now, it will certainly happen in the near future. The saffron camp had planned to conduct three Rath Yatras starting from Cooch Behar in North Bengal where the BJP has witnessed a steady rise in its vote share but eventually could not organise it on time. Shah was, however, scheduled to reach Bengal on Saturday, December 8, to meet with local leaders. Mamata Banerjee scared of BJP rath yatra, strangling democracy, says Amit Shah TMC's attacking game will not displease BJP The BJP will be a tad dejected about its Rath Yatra getting cancelled on Thursday but it will be happy the way the Mamata Banerjee administration is responding to its political rise in the state. The BJP has lacked a strong leadership in Bengal to transform the mood against the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) into seats in the Parliament or Assembly but whatever is its shortcoming, Chief Minister Banerjee and her team are certainly making up for it. Repeated targeting of Bengal BJP president Recently, the convoy of Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghose came under attack in Cooch Behar and it is just the latest of the several attacks that have taken place over him. In Birbhum district, the TMC leaders distributed several thousands of 'khol' and 'khanjani' - types of instruments played by Hindu priests and followers - as a measure to counter the BJP's Hindutva politics. In the past, the ruling party was also seen propagating the worship of Lord Hanuman in the state to show that it is not too far behind its saffron opponent when it comes to appeasing the majority sentiments. Besides, CM Banerjee is using almost every platform to launch scathing attacks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his party. Mamata Banerjee running 'dictatorship' in West Bengal, alleges BJP Now, these instances will not make the BJP unhappy even though the party and its cadres have to spend days in uncertainty in the state. >From being a fringe player in Bengal politics, the BJP has made some significant progress in the state's politics and one of the reasons has been the constant negative publicity that Banerjee and her party has provided it. Banerjee should remember that in the later years of the former Left rule in Bengal, the Marxists did not try to disperse her protests and agitations physically, something they had done earlier only to dig up their own grave in the long run. The current ruling party is doing something similar and the repeated attacks on an important Opposition party leader, even if his party has negligible seats in the state Assembly, could lead to unsavoury consequences for today's leaders. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, December 7, 2018, 16:02 [IST] No one will be able to destroy Congress, leaders joining TMC 'drama', says Venugopal Winter session 2021: The issues Congress will raise on the first day in Parliament ED raids places linked to Robert Vadra; Congress accuses BJP of "vendetta" India oi-Vikas SV New Delhi, Dec 7: The Enforcement Directorate sleuths are reportedly carrying out raids at places linked to Congress president Rahul Gandhi's brother-in-law Robert Vadra. The raids are being held in Delhi and Bengaluru. At least three locations are being raided in Delhi. "They have locked our people of Skylight hospitality inside, they are not allowing anyone to go inside. Is this nazism? Is this a jail?..It has been 4.5 years and they found nothing, so now they are locking us outside and planting and fabricating evidence," Vadra's lawyer told media. The move comes after Vadra was issued a third summons on Thursday by the ED asking him to appear before the investigating officer in the Bikaner land deal money laundering case for questioning. The Congress on Friday slammed the ED raids against Robert Vadra's associates, saying an "unnerved" Modi government was unleashing "vendetta" against party chief Rahul Gandhi's brother-in-law to divert the narrative. The Congress' sharp reaction came after the Enforcement Directorate on Friday raided the premises of three people linked to firms of Robert Vadra in a case related to assets held abroad. "Sure shot defeat in 5 States unnerves Modi Govt to again use the old tools - unleash revenge & vendetta against Mr. Robert Vadra to divert the narrative," Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said on Twitter. "Such cowardice & intimidation will not subjugate either the Congress Party or the will of people," he said. Vadra, whose Sky Light Hospitality Pvt Ltd is being investigated for "fraudulently" acquiring land in Bikaner meant for rehabilitation of poor villagers, has avoided two previous summonses. The last summons was issued for his personal appearance this week when he chose to send his representatives instead. West Bengal Elections Exit Polls Vs Actual Poll: Who got it right? Exit polls Chhattisgarh results 2018: Congress likely to end Raman Singh's winning streak India oi-Chennabasaveshwar P Bengaluru, Dec 7: Exit poll surveys have given a slight edge to the Congress in Chhattisgarh. Incumbent Chief Minister Raman Singh is seeking madate for the fourth term in the tribal state. The half-way mark in the 90-seat Assembly is 46 seats. In 2013, the BJP had won 49 seats, the Congress won 39 while BSP bagged 1 seat. Here's a look at all exit poll results for Chhattisgarh. In Chhattisgarh ruling BJP to get 46 seats, Congress 35, BSP+ 7 and Other 7, as per Time Now-CNX Exit Poll. According to REPUBLIC-CVOTER, the survey predicted 39 seats for the BJP, Congress 46, and 5 for Others. Exit Poll 2018 Results: Pollsters predict win for Congress in Rajasthan BJP to get 21-31 seats, Congress 55-65 and Others 4-8 in Chhattisgarh, as per INDIA TODAY-AXIS survey. However, NEWSX-NETA survey give BJP 43 seats and 40 for Congress. In 2013, the BJP had won 49 seats, the Congress won 39 while BSP bagged 1 seat. Republic - Jan Ki Baat BJP to get 40 -48 seats and Congress 37-43 and Others 5-6 Exit Polls 2018 Madhya Pradesh: Congress puts up tough fight NEWSX-NETA, BJP - 43, Congress - 40 and other Others - 7. Voting was held in two phases on Nov 12 and 20. Chhattisgarh recorded 70% turnout as polls ended for 18 seats spread over eight districts in the first phase. At least six Maoists were reportedly killed in two encounters with security personnel in Bijapur and Sukma districts. Overall voter turnout was 76.35 per cent. A total of 1,079 candidates are in the fray, with both the Congress and the BJP contesting all the 72 seats. The BJP is in power in the state since 2003. Exit polls 2018 LIVE: BJP may lose Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh; Congress-TDP likely to fail in Telangana In the 2013 assembly polls, the state witnessed an overall voter turnout of 77.40 per cent. The polling percentage in 2013 is higher than the turnout in 2018 by over 1.05 percentage points. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, December 7, 2018, 19:47 [IST] Kumaraswamy to attend Ashok Gehlot's swearing-in on Dec 17: These are other leaders who would attend Rajasthan CM and Dy CM to discuss names of ministers with senior leadership in Delhi Rajasthan assembly polls: Only 5 won with more than 30 per cent margin "Feel insulted", says Vasundhara Raje on Sharad Yadav's remark calling her 'obese' India oi-Vikas SV Jaipur, Dec 7: Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje on Friday said that the Election Commission (EC) must take cognisance of the derogatory language used by former JD (U) leader Sharad Yadav. Yadav had on Thursday said that Raje has become 'obese'. "I actually feel insulted", she said, adding that not only her, the remark was an insult to women. "To set an example for future it's important that EC takes cognisance of this kind of language. I actually feel insulted and I think even women are insulted," Raje told the media today. Yadav made the outrageous comment on Thursday while campaigning in Rajasthan, where voting for 200 seats is underway today. Later on Thursday, he sought to downplay his comment as only a "joke" and not meant to hurt the Rajasthan chief minister. "I said it as a joke. I've old relations with her. It wasn't derogatory in any way. I had no intentions of hurting her. When I met her, I told her then also that you're gaining weight," Mr Yadav, 73, told news agency ANI. Sharad Yadav body-shames Vasundhara Raje, says 'Bahut moti ho gayi hain, pehle patli thi' "Aur ye Vasundhara, isko aaram do, bahut thak gayi hai. Bahut moti ho gayi hai... Pehle patli thi... Hamare Madhya Pradesh ki beti hai. Isko kaho ki aaram kare (And this Vasundhara, give her rest, she has become very tired... has become very fat... Earlier she was thin... She is a daughter of Madhya Pradesh. Ask her to rest)," Yadav had said. Yadav made the remark while campaigning in Mundawar of Alwar district ahead of Rajasthan Assembly Elections 2018 The BJP slammed Yadav for his comments and said that his statement is an insult to the women of Rajasthan. Yadav stirred controversies even before for making sexist remarks. In 2015 in Parliament, Yadav, started describing the beauty of "saanvli (dusky)" South Indian women. Last year, he made a strange connection between the "honour of a vote and a daughter's honour". For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, December 7, 2018, 10:49 [IST] You cannot drive at 120 kmph on highways says Madras HC Madras HC to hear actor Vijay's civil lawsuit against his parents, nine others 'What was Chennai Corporation doing since 2015 floods?': Madras HC pulls up civic body Good news, you can show vehicle documents in electronic form now India oi-Madhuri Adnal Chennai, Dec 7: The Madras High Court has ruled that drivers can show vehicle documents in electronic form when demanded by police or any other official, as stated in a Union government notification last month. A division bench of Justice Dr Vineet Kothari and Justice Dr Anitha Sumanth Wednesday disposed of various petitions against a memorandum which said vehicle drivers should carry original documents including licence, after recording the notification issued by the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways last month. Madras HC quashes plea by Maran brothers in illegal telephone exchange case "In view of the amendment brought by Union of India on November 2, the petitions have become infructuous," the bench said. The petitions included one filed by All India Confederation of Goods Vehicle Owners Association which challenged the memorandum issued by ADGP, State Traffic Planning Cell, on August 24, 2017 stating that persons driving without licence will be prosecuted under Sections 130 and 171 of Motor Vehicle Act. According to the memorandum, all motor vehicle drivers shall carry the original documents, including the licence, while driving. This was challenged by social activist 'Traffic' Ramaswamy, Tamil Nadu Lorry Owners Association and Tipper Lorry Owners Association and All India Confederation of Goods Vehicle Owners Association in the high court. When the matter came up for hearing, lorry owners association submitted before the bench a copy of the notification stating that an amendment had been made to Rule 139 of Central Motor Vehicle Rules 1989 with regard to production of licence and registration certificates of vehicles. The notification was addressed to the DGPs and secretaries of all the states and Union Territories. Black money case: Madras HC quashes criminal prosecution against Chidambaram's family The bench was further informed that according to the amended provision, citizens can produce transport-related documents such as registration, insurance, fitness certificates, permits, driving licence, certificate for pollution under check and any other relevant documents on demand by any police official or any other official in physical or electronic form. This would enable use of digital platforms for carrying and verification of the documents, the notification said. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, December 7, 2018, 11:01 [IST] Here is why Sachin Pilot refused to wear the traditional turban in Rajasthan India oi-Madhuri Adnal Jaipur, Dec 7: Come December 11, Congress leader Sachin Pilot will be hoping to not just celebrate a Congress win in Rajasthan, but also sport a 'safa', a traditional turban, after four years. The Rajasthan Congress chief had pledged in 2014 to not wear the traditional headgear till the party returns to power in the state. Rajasthan polls 2018: Cong releases manifesto, promises to provide jobs to youth, free education Pilot exuded confidence that the Congress will form the government in Rajasthan and he will wear the 'safa' once again after the results for assembly polls, scheduled to be held on Friday, are announced on December 11. "After the party suffered a major defeat in 2014, I pledged to not wear a 'safa' till it returns to power. I decided to give up wearing the 'safa', which I love wearing as a symbol of culture," he told PTI Wednesday when asked about his resolution. Pilot said people gifted him 'safas' on several occasions while he was campaigning for the assembly polls. Instead of wearing them, he said, he would put them down after touching them to his forehead. "I am quite hopeful that people's blessings will make sure that the Congress wins the elections and I will be able to wear the 'safa' once again," he said. Congress expels rebels but finds it difficult to rein in caste leaders in Rajasthan The 41-year-old Congress leader is contesting the state poll for the first time from Muslim-dominated Tonk constituency. He is pitted against BJP candidate Yoonus Khan. Pilot has been a former MP from Dausa and then from Ajmer. The Congress had faced a drubbing in the state in 2013 assembly polls and 2014 Lok Sabha elections. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, December 7, 2018, 5:43 [IST] India wants OPEC to reconsider its decision of cutting petroleum production India oi-Vinod Kumar Shukla New Delhi, Dec 7: For a developing country like India energy security is one of the important concern and in the present scenario when Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Country (OPEC) is planning to cut the production of petroleum products, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has demanded right and justifiable price of crude oil to which petroleum minister of Saudi Arabia Khalid al Falih said that OPEC will consider the concern of Indian Prime Minister and many other leaders about the decision of cutting production to arrest declining prices. India is the third largest consumer of the petroleum products in the world as it imports around 80 per cent of its total petroleum consumption.So the world leaders under the leadership of Modi demanded to fix a reasonable price for oil. Falih said, "We take words of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi seriously who has been very vocal like United States of America's president Donald Trump. I had met him in Buenos Aires during G 20 summit." Qexit: Qatar's pullout from OPEC could see deeper diplomatic ramifications in the region' "The Indian PM has put forth his view on this issue very strongly as he takes care of the Indian consumers and he is very serious about them. I have also seen him in three energy programme in India in which he was very vocal," said Falih. Saudi Arabia said that there is a chance that OPEC member countries might not agree to reduce production of oil as Falih too was of the view that he is not very sure about it. "We are still discussing that how production of oil can be reduced and many other are discussing the matter and are hopeful that some agreement could be reached upon," said Falih. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, December 7, 2018, 18:51 [IST] 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 Indias Witness Protection Scheme explained India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Dec 7: On Thursday, the Supreme Court passed an important order in which it approved the Centre's draft witness protection scheme. Further the court asked all the states to implement it until the Parliament came up with a legislation. A bench headed by Justice AK Sikri said that they have made some changes in the scheme. The issue of witness protection scheme had cropped up earlier when the top court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking protection for witnesses in rape cases involving Asaram Bapu. No stay: CBI probe into anti-sterlite protests will continue During the hearing on November 19, Attorney General KK Venugopal had told the top court that the draft scheme, which has now been finalised, would be made into a law "in due course", but till then the court should direct the states to start implementing it. The top court was also told by advocate Gaurav Agrawal, who is assisting the court as an amicus curiae in the matter, that the government has finalised the draft witness protection scheme after discussing it with all the states. The draft witness protection scheme, finalised in consultation with the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) and Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD), has three categories of witnesses based on the threat perception. In April this year, the Centre had informed the top court that it had framed a draft witness protection scheme and it was circulated among the states and Union Territories administration for comments. SC rejects PIL against Arun Jaitley, slaps cost of Rs 50,000 on lawyer The court had asked the Centre to finalise the scheme after getting response from the states and Union Territories. The court had said that witness protection scheme can be implemented for at least sensitive cases and the Ministry of Home Affairs could come out with a comprehensive plan. What it states: The draft of the Witness Protection Scheme, 2018 states that it is the first attempt at the national-level to holistically provide for the protection of the witnesses, which will go a long way in eliminating secondary victimisation. The witnesses, being eyes and ears of justice, play an important role in bringing perpetrators of crime to justice, the draft noted. "This scheme attempts at ensuring that witnesses receive appropriate and adequate protection. This will go a long way in strengthening the criminal justice system in the country and will consequently enhance national security scenario," the draft said. The types of protection measures envisaged under the scheme are to be applied in proportion to the threat and they are not expected to go on for infinite time, but are expected to be for a specific duration on need basis which is to be reviewed regularly. SC notice to ED on Mallya's plea to remove 'fugitive' tag Further, the scheme envisages that there should be safeguards that witnesses and accused do not come face to face during investigation or trial and adequate security measures should be there for the safety of the witnesses and all possible steps should be taken for expeditious completion of the trial of cases. The scheme provides for identity protection and giving a new identity to the witness. In the cases involving Asaram, petitioners who are witnesses, have sought a probe into the instances of alleged attacks and disappearances of witnesses in these cases. The top court had in March last year questioned Haryana and Uttar Pradesh over the status of implementation of witness protection schemes till then and had directed them to provide security cover to witnesses in rape cases against Asaram, who is at present in jail. While Uttar Pradesh has three such witnesses, Haryana has one. Section 195 A of the Indian Penal Code deals with witness protection. Countries such as USA, United Kingdom, China, Italy, Canada, Hong Kong and Ireland have witness protection scheme. In 2003, Justice V Malimath Committee on criminal justice system had recommended enacting a separate witness protection law and in 2006, the Law Commission of India, in its 198th report, provided for a draft witness protection law. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, December 7, 2018, 15:48 [IST] Jaguar, Mirage, AgustaWestland: How the Michels ruled Indias arms market since 1978 India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Dec 7: The Michel's are not new to India. The Central Bureau of Investigation says that the Michels have earned nearly 2 million pounds from India between 1987 and 1996. Michel's father, Wolfgang Max Richard Michel was an active player in the Indian arms marketing the 1970s and 1980s. He has worked on a number of deals in India, but remained a low key figure. His name and association with the arms market in India came out in the open after his son's name cropped up in the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper scam. AgustaWestland: Why did UPA go to Italy, when it could have shopped in Hyderabad Prior to AgustaWestland, Michel had worked on the Mirage deal. He had a deal with the French firm Dassault to sell Mirage fighters to the Indian Air Force. The agreement stated that he would be given a commission of 2.5 per cent. While all this was a low key affair, the first time this came out in the open was when Michel moved a French court to claim the money. This was however contested by the French firms, who said that the contract had lapsed in 1998 and hence he was not liable to be paid. India went on to purchase 10 Mirage fighters in 2000. The Economic Times while citing a French court judgment of September 11 2002 states that French companies Dassault International, Thomson-CSF and Snecma signed on September 24 1996 with the company of Panamanian law Keyser Inc contracts under which Keyser was attending Dassault and other companies in the promotion for the sale of Mirage 2000 to India. This contract was renewed twice by amendments on June 30 1997 and July 10 1998. Michel lost the case, but came back for the AgustaWestland deal. He is accused of bribing officials and also procuring secret documents from the Defence Ministry when the selection process was on. AgustaWestland: UK seeks urgent information on Michel's extradition 96, Entera Corporation is said to have earned more than 2 million Pounds from India. Michel senior too is alleged to have hobnobbed with the high and mighty in India prior to the signing of the Jaguar fighter jets deal. Documents that were declassified by the UK foreign office. Incidentally the Jaguar deal was signed in October 1978. At that time defence minister, Jagjivan Ram's daughter was employed at the Indian High Commission in London. Michel senior had made claims that he had hosted the then defence minister Jagjivan Ram prior to the signing of the deal. Michel inherited the consultancy business from his father Wolfgang Max Richard Michel. Wolfgang Max Richard Michel was also a consultant with AgustaWestland. Back in the 1980s, he was a consultant for the Indian territory and had reportedly acted as a mediator in other countries as well. Michel senior promoted three companies-Entera Corporation, UCM International Trading Limited and Ferro-imports Limited. Between 1987 and 1996. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, December 7, 2018, 11:26 [IST] Jet Airways to pay salaries in instalments to senior staff till April India pti-PTI Mumbai, Dec 6: Crisis-hit Jet Airways will pay salaries to its senior staff, including pilots, in instalments till April, sources said. The full service carrier, which has been grappling with financial woes, would give this month 75 per cent of the October salary, of which 25 per cent is expected to be credited on Thursday, they added. [14 flights of debt-ridden Jet Airways cancelled: Pilots call in sick due to non-payment] The sources said the payment schedule was discussed with pilots during their meeting with Jet Airways CEO Vinay Dube. As per the latest schedule, salaries would become current from April 2019 and 100 per cent of March salary would be paid in April itself, they added. According to the sources, 25 per cent of the October salary as well as 75 per cent of the November salary would be paid in January. Further, 25 per cent of the November pay along with full December salary would be given in February. Around 25 per cent of the January salary would also be paid in February, the sources said. They also said that 75 per cent of the January pay and full salary of February would be doled out in March 2019. [Tata Group may buy controlling stake in Jet Airways] A Jet Airways spokesperson said the airline is committed to meeting all its salary obligations and has already paid salary to 85 per cent of its workforce on time for the November payroll. "This week, the company has remitted the final tranche of the pending September salary and 25 per cent of October salary for the remaining 15 per cent of its employees. "All employees of the company, including its pilots and engineers, continue to actively cooperate to ensure its successful turnaround," the spokesperson said. PTI Mamata Banerjee scared of BJP rath yatra, strangling democracy, says Amit Shah India oi-Deepika S New Delhi, Dec 7: BJP chief Amit Shah on Friday launched a sharp attack on the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over her government's refusal to permit Party's "rath yatra" in the state, which was scheduled to begin from Coochbehar on Friday. "I want to tell Mamata Banerjee that by not giving permission to BJP programs, you will only invite the ire of people in your state. She (Mamata) is scared that if BJP takes out all these three rallies in the state of West Bengal and assemble in Kolkata then the foundation of a complete change will be laid down. So she attempted to stop all these yatras," Amit Shah said while addressing a press conference on Rath Yatra. "A democratic process (Rath Yatra) has been suppressed in West Bengal with rampant misuse of power. The CM is following this trend, this is non-democratic," he said. "We will definitely carry out all 'yatras', nobody can stop us. BJP committed to change in West Bengal. The 'yatras' have not been cancelled, just postponed," Shah said. Mounting a scathing attack against the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government, he also alleged that the state leads in the number of political killings in the country. "The entire West Bengal administration is working for the ruling TMC," he added. Amit Shah claimed that there is more violence in the state under Mamata rule than what was witnessed here ever before. "The people are tired of what they are seeing, experiencing. I am sure voters will side with us in state elections here next year." PM to address 5 rallies in WB during rath yatra; if it is stopped there will be a new format The BJP was scheduled to hold three 'rath yatras' that will start from different parts and traverse all the 42 Lok Sabha constituencies. It had moved the court seeking a direction to the state government for giving permission for its rallies after its applications allegedly went unanswered. On Thursday night, the Calcutta High Court had denied permission for the rally, saying there was not enough time for the state to make adequate security arrangements for a political rally of that scale. The high court also directed the party not to hold any such rally till January 9, 2019. Lawyers from the BJP then approached the division bench of the high court. Since the court's ban is specifically on rallies and not on public meetings, West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh said on Thursday that they will hold the public meeting at Jhinaidanga even if they were denied permission for the rally. The BJP campaign was scheduled to begin from Cooch Behar district in the north on December 7, from Kakdwip in the South 24 Parganas district on December 9, and from the Tarapith temple in Birbhum district on December 14. NIA team set to question Lashkar operative in France India oi-Vicky Nanjappa Kochi, Dec 7: The Indian agencies may soon get to question a Lashkar-e-Tayiba operative who has been imprisoned in France. This development comes just days after a team of French officials questioned an Islamic State operative at a jail in Kerala. The National Investigation is likely to question Muhammad Usman Ghani, a bomb maker who is part of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba. He was arrested in France for his alleged role in the Paris attack. The French authorities have accused him being one of the conspirators of the Paris attack. Teen's image with gun in hand surfaces months after he went missing Earlier this week, a team of the French anti-terror agency arrived in Kerala to question an ISIS operative in connection with the 2015 Paris attacks that had claimed 130 lives. The team questioned Subhani Haha Moideen, who is currently under the custody of the National Investigation Agency. The team arrived after an NIA court in Kochi granted permission to question Subhani. It may be recalled that Subhani had revealed that he knew the terrorists who carried out the Paris attack inside a theatre in 2015. NIA sources tell OneIndia that they would want to question Ghani to find out how many persons from India have joined the ISIS. Further the officials would also look to get information as to how many Indian operatives have joined the Lashkar-e-Tayiba abroad. Paris terror attack: French team in Kerala to quiz IS operative The French team was granted access to question Subhani under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty signed by India and France. Following this a Letter Rogatory was issued by the NIA Court in Kochi to a court in France seeking access to Ghani, so that he could be questioned by the NIA. India has a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty with 39 countries. The one with France was signed in 2005. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, December 7, 2018, 10:32 [IST] Congress questions Centre as to why people in power scared of naming China PM Modi has been exposed, cannot mislead people by lying: Congress India oi-PTI New Delhi, Dec 7: The Congress on Deecmber 7 hit back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his remarks that India could not prosper despite people with "big surnames" ruling the country, saying he could not mislead the people by "lying" as he had been "exposed". Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala also listed a string of achievements over the last seven decades to highlight the progress made under Congress governments. Addressing the 'Jagran Forum' organised by the Dainik Jagran media group, Modi had said, "People with big surnames came to power and went but no solution could be found to problems." He was making an oblique reference to the Nehru-Gandhi family. He also alleged that poverty was not alleviated as it could hit the "vote bank" of parties in the past. Surjewala dismissed the prime minister's remarks as "baseless" and listed several achievements of the country. "When he had not been born, India had won a war against Pakistan," the Congress leader said. He cited steps such as building of the Bhakra Nangal Dam, abolition of the Zamidari system, abolition of untouchability, setting up of the Navratnas, the IT boom, liberalisation, to state that there had been a tremendous transformation in the country. "When he was attending an RSS shakha, the country had changed the geography of the Asian sub-continent. When he was running an arrogant rule in Gujarat, the UPA government had lifted 14 crore people above the poverty line," he said. Surjewala said the Congress had not done all this, but it was the result of the hard work of 132 crore Indians in over 70 years. "You dishonour the journey of 70 years that India has undertaken. You cannot mislead the people by lying as you have been exposed," Surjewala claimed. He also claimed that when the results of the assembly polls in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Rajasthan and Telangana come out on December 11, the Congress was confident that it would mark a "new dawn for the country" and the beginning of a "new kind of politics". He claimed that the Congress' campaign throughout the state polls remained positive, while the BJP's campaign was one of "abuses and negativity". Surjewala claimed they had been indulging in divisive politics of caste and religion, but the extreme was reached when in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan polls they did not even spare the Gods. "Someone says Hanuman ji is from the Dalit community, someone says he is an adivasi, someone says he is from Arya Samaj. From Lord Ram to Hanuman, casteist and varna based divisions were made to divert the country's attention," he alleged. Congress chief Rahul Gandhi took part in 82 public meetings and a dozen road shows. He held press conferences in almost all the poll-bound states, Surjewala said. The Congress spokesperson alleged that the prime minister and his leaders used abusive language. "I will have to say that the PM's behaviour was shameful and condemnable," he said. The political discourse of the country was lowered by the BJP, he alleged. PTI For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, December 7, 2018, 20:34 [IST] PM to address 5 rallies in WB during rath yatra; if it is stopped there will be a new format India oi-Vinod Kumar Shukla New Delhi, Dec 7: West Bengal is one of the states in the country where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is eying a big gains in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and further in the next Assembly polls. So the party is working in the same direction with a strategy. In one such plans, the BJP considers organising at least five rallies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the Rath Yatra that it has planed in the state. The BJP leaders have been planning to take out rath yatra in the state formally known as Ganatantra Bachao Jatra (rally to save democracy) even if the administration denies it permission. The matter has gone to the court and if the court allows to Rath Yatra, the PM will have at least five rallies during the course of the yatra else the format will be changed. Originally the BJP was planning to organise several rath yatras starting at the same time to culminate at one place where a big public rally was planned. However, Calcutta High Court has denied permission to hold a rath yatra which was to be flagged off by party president Amit Shah from Cooch Behar on December 7. Let's see how Sonia, Rahul escape in income tax case, says Modi The court ruled that the rath yatra cannot take place till the next date of hearing that is January 9, 2019 when it would consider reports from the 24 districts through which the rally has to pass. Actually the court has deferred the rally until the Superintended of Police of respective districts speaks to BJP president of that particular district and file its report by December 21. The HC has passed order that by December 21, the Superintendent of Police of respective districts will speak to district Presidents of BJP and file a report on January 9, 2019 before the HC of Calcutta. Till then HC has deferred the rally. The BJP will be approaching a division bench against Calcutta High Court's order. "We will be going to division bench morning. We will seek justice that any peaceful democratic movement is permissible under Indian Constitution," West Bengal BJP vice president Jay Prakash Majumdar said. The Mamata Banerjee government informed the high court that would not give its approval for the rath yatra. The state's advocate general informed a bench of justice Tapabrata Chakraborty about the decision. "In a democratic set up all political parties are at liberty to pursue their programme. The government has no business stopping it," said Dilip Ghosh, president of the BJP's West Bengal unit, before the hearing. Upendra Kushwaha likely to resign from the Union government led by Narendra Modi The BJP has accused the West Bengal government for causing hurdle in the way of rally and want to drag it to the time when elections for the Lok Sabha are announced. But they cannot stop the rally of the PM. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, December 7, 2018, 10:38 [IST] 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 Pothole related accidents claimed 14,926 lives in 5 years India oi-Madhuri Adnal New Delhi, Dec 7: The Supreme Court has expressed concern over 14,926 people being killed in accidents due to potholes on roads across the country in the last five years. A bench headed by Justice Madan B Lokur said the large number of deaths caused due to potholes was "unacceptable" and was "probably more than those killed on border or by the terrorists." From potholes to garbage, when will Bengaluru roads be liberated? The bench, also comprising Justices Deepak Gupta and Hemant Gupta, said the number of deaths from 2013 to 2017 in accidents due to potholes indicated that the authorities concerned were not maintaining the roads. The bench sought a response from the Centre on the report filed by the Supreme Court Committee on Road Safety, headed by former apex court judge Justice K S Radhakrishnan. Nation salutes Mumbai man who has fixed 556 potholes after his son died in one of them The bench has posted the matter for further hearing in January. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, December 7, 2018, 10:55 [IST] ABP Opinion Poll: LDF headed for 2nd term in Kerala; UPA may form government in Tamil Nadu Andhra Pradesh Municipal Election Results 2021: Counting of votes to be held on March 14 Time to rethink on multi-phase polls: Former Chief Election Commissioner TS Krishnamurthy Rajasthan Assembly elections 2018 Highlights: 74.05 per cent turnout recorded India oi-Vikas SV Jaipur, Dec 7: Rajasthan, which voted today, witnessed over 74.05 percent voter turnout. Polling was set to end at 5 pm but officials said those already in the queue at the booths by then were being allowed to vote. The voting percentage till this time was 72.37, according to the Election Commission website. The exact percentage was expected later. Polling began at 51,687 booths across the state at 8 am. The police reported a few clashed among supporters, but said polling was largely peaceful. Paramilitary jawans opened fire in the air to disperse miscreants trying to force their way into a booth at a village in Alwar's Shahjahapur. In Bikaner's Kolayat, two groups clashed outside a polling booth and a vehicle was torched. In Sikar too there was a clash. The voting was held across 199 constituencies. The elections for the Ramgarh seat of Alwar district has been postponed due to the death of BSP candidate Lakshman Singh. The battle for the BJP is a tough one. The Congress expects to topple the Vasundhara Raje government and will put up a tough fight during the campaign. Stay tuned for Live updates here: Some important facts about Rajasthan Assembly elections 2018: Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje is contesting assembly elections from Jhalrapatan seat. The Congress has fielded BJP veteran Jaswant Singh's son Manvendra Singh against Raje in Jhalrapatan. Rajasthan Congress chief Sachin Pilot would be contesting from Tonk while former CM and veteran Congress leader Ashok Gehlot would contest from Sardarpur. PM Modi addressed 13 public meetings during the two-week campaign period, Raje held 75 public meetings besides a Gaurav Yatra. Amit Shah held 38 programmes covering all 33 districts in the state. Rajasthan is important for both the BJP and the Congress as it sends 25 MPs to the Lok Sabha. Read more about Rajasthan elections: Recalling Rajasthan elections 2013: When Raje returned as CM with overwhelming mandate Jat and Rajput communities to hold the sway in Rajasthan Assembly elections Political parties fighting a parallel battle on social media in Rajasthan Assembly polls Rajasthan elections: Hindus who fled Pakistan and took shelter in state remain overlooked Row over movie Kedarnath: Screening banned in 7 districts of Uttarakhand India pti-PTI Dehradun, Dec 7: A ban has been imposed by district magistrates on the screening of the movie "Kedarnath" in seven districts of Uttarakhand in view of protests by Hindu outfits, a senior official said on Friday. The Sushant Singh Rajput-Sara Ali Khan starrer set against the backdrop of the 2013 deluge hit theatres across the country Friday. The film depicts romance between a Muslim porter and a Hindu pilgrim. There is a ban on the film in seven districts of Uttarakhand where Hindu outfits have protested the film burning effigies of film-makers and the Central Board of Film Certification, ADG (law and order) Ashok Kumar told PTI on Friday. The decision has been taken by District Magistrates concerned to maintain law and order in their areas, he said. The districts where the film has been banned are Dehradun, Haridwar, Nainital, Udham Singh Nagar, Pauri, Tehri and Almora, the ADG said. Districts where there are no multiplexes or cinema halls like Chamoli, Uttarkashi, Pithoragarh, Bageshwar, Champawat and Rudraparayag have been left out of the ambit of the ban, he said. There are a total of 13 districts in the state. The ban was imposed by DMs concerned after the Uttarakhand High Court, while dismissing a PIL seeking a ban on it on Thursday, left it to the discretion of the state government and district administrations. [5th anniversary of devastating Uttarakhand floods: Over 5,000 still deemed missing] Hindu outfits like the VHP, Hindu Yuva Vahini, Bajrang Dal and Hindu Jagran Manch tore osters of the film and burnt effigies of its makers at different places in Uttarakhand on Thursday evening, saying it was hurting Hindu sentiments. Hindu outfits have accused the film of treating lightly a human tragedy of such magnitude by using a centre of Hindu faith like Kedarnath to depict the love story of a Muslim porter and a Hindu pilgrim. PTI 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 SC notice to ED on Mallyas plea to remove fugitive tag India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Dec 7: The Supreme Court has issued notices to the Enforcement Directorate on a plea by Vijay Mallya seeking to remove the 'fugitive' tag against his name. The plea comes a day after he made repeated offers to persuade Indian authorities to accept his settlement before the Karnataka High Court. The Westminster Magistrate's court is due to deliver its verdict on a plea by India seeking to extradite Mallya from the United Kingdom. 'Please take the money, stop the narrative that I stole': Vijay Mallya He urged the banks to accept his offer and said that the huge loans that he had taken from them went into keeping the now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines afloat despite high jet fuel prices. Mallya also claimed that his vast liquor empire, the United Breweries, contributed "handsomely" to state exchequers. In September, Mallya had told the Prevention Money Launder Act (PMLA) court that he was not a fugitive economic offender. He also said that he was not involved in the scheduled offence of money laundering. James Michel's extradition spooks Mallya, offers "to pay 100% back" In June the Enforcement Directorate had filed an application before the PMLA court to declare him a fugitive economic offender and also sought to confiscate all his properties estimated to be around Rs 12,500 crore. The court took congnisance of the plea filed by the ED. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, December 7, 2018, 11:43 [IST] Arun Jaitley framed bill on Art 370 nullification that can withstand legal challenge, says his wife PM Modi, Amit Shah pays tribute to Arun Jaitley on his death anniversary After Arun Jaitley, none in BJP understands psyche of Punjab: Naresh Gujral Jaitley statue at Kotla: Angry Bedi asks DDCA to remove his name from stands, quits membership SC rejects PIL against Arun Jaitley, slaps cost of Rs 50,000 on lawyer India oi-Deepika S New Delhi, Dec 7: The Supreme Court Friday on Friday dismissed a PIL raising allegations against Finance Minister Arun Jaitley relating to the capital reserve of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The top court also imposed a fine of Rs. 50,000 on the lawyer who had filed the petition. "We find no reason whatsoever to entertain this PIL," a bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justcie S K Kaul said. Sharma had accused the Finance Minister of plundering the capital reserve of the RBI. Don't make a song and dance or rush to media, Jaitley advises agencies amidst CBI row The bench also directed the apex court registry not to allow Sharma to file any PIL till he deposits Rs 50,000. The government's top law officer said the time has come to take a look at petitions wasting the court's time. Seeking action against Jaitley, ML Sharma had alleged that he wanted to "plunder" the capital reserve of RBI to waive off loan to certain companies. SC seeks replies from Centre & Karnataka on PETA's plea against Kambala race India pti-PTI New Delhi, Dec 7: The Supreme Court on Friday issued notices to the Centre and Karnataka government seeking their responses on a plea challenging the validity of a new state law allowing buffalo race, Kambala, in the state. The Kambala race, held between November and March, involves a pair of buffaloes tied to a plough and anchored by one person. They are made to run in parallel muddy tracks in a competition in which the fastest team wins. It is believed to be held to propitiate the gods for a good harvest, besides being a recreational sport for farmers. [What you need to know about Kambala] Bullock cart races are held in parts of north Karnataka and in the coastal districts of Udupi and Dakshina Kannada. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has filed a petition in the apex court challenging the validity of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Karnataka Second Amendment) Act 2017, which allowed Kambala and other races in the state. The matter came up for hearing on Friday before a bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta. The court, which issued notice on PETA's petition, tagged it with pending petition which has challenged similar state laws allowing use of bulls for 'Jallikattu' in Tamil Nadu and bullock cart races in Maharashtra. In its petition in Kambala matter, PETA has said the new amended law was contrary to the object and purpose of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 which mandates that animals must be protected from unnecessary suffering. [Supreme Court refuses interim stay on 'Kambala' race in Karnataka] On February 2 this year, the apex court had referred the pleas related to 'Jallikattu' to a five-judge constitution bench which would decide if the bull-taming sport fell under cultural rights or perpetuated cruelty to animals. Jallikattu, also known 'eruthazhuvuthal', is a bull- taming sport played in Tamil Nadu as part of the Pongal harvest festival. PETA is one of the petitioners who have challenged the state law that allowed the bull-taming sport in Tamil Nadu. PTI Sohrabuddin Shaikh encounter: Special CBI court verdict on December 21 India oi-Vicky Nanjappa Mumbai, Dec 7: The Special CBI court in Mumbai has reserved orders in the Sohrabuddin Shaikh and Tulsiram Prajapati encounter cases. Special court judge, S J Sharma began hearing final arguments on Monday. In all 210 witnesses were examined in the case. Once the final arguments were completed, orders were reserved. Although no date has been given, the verdict is expected to be out by the end of this year. Sharma is set to retire this month. The verdict will be out on December 21. Sohrabuddin Shaikh encounter: IPS officer destroyed leave records says CBI The CBI contended in court that the entire trial had been hampered by hostile witnesses. The agency also said that it had taken over the probe in 2010 from the Gujarat CID and most of the evidence that was placed on record was a result of the probe conducted by the CBI. Deposition of witnesses took place after 12 years, many of the witnesses stated that they could not remember the details and our star witnesses turned hostile. Thus, the entire chain of evidence has gone wrong and as a result we could not bring direct evidence, the CBI also submitted. Not possible to source gun on the run, Sohrabuddin, Prajapati encounters fake says CBI The CBI chargesheet said that BJP president Amit Shah and then home minister of Rajasthan, Gulab Chand Kataria were part of a nexus of politicians and criminals. There were 38 accused in all, but 16 including Shah were discharged in the case. Statue of Unity: Why are visitors returning disappointed ? India oi-Madhuri Adnal Ahmedabad, December 7: Tourists visiting the Statue of Unity in Gujarat were annoyed after the elevators stopped working for the third time in four days due to a technical snag. Earlier, it was reported that the Statue of Unity, which is touted to be the world's tallest statue, gets over 30,000 visitors on a daily basis. Tourists coming to see the 182-metre tall Statue of Unity dedicated to Sardar Patel in Gujarat's Narmada district, were irked as they had to wait for hours in long queues. The working elevator too was insufficient to handle the massive crowd. Now, Statue of Unity no more to be the world's tallest Statue: Find out why Each elevator is designed to carry 26 passengers and cover the distance of 153 meters in 30 seconds. Patel said, "We have contacted the Mumbai-based company that has installed these elevators to send its technicians immediately. The problem will be resolved soon." The Statue of Unity, located on Sadhu Bet islet on the Sardar Sarovar Dam in Kevadiya, was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 31. The statue is a tribute to Patel's role in getting 562 princely states to accede to the Indian Union after Independence. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, December 7, 2018, 20:46 [IST] Surgical strikes: Constant hype around military operations unwarranted, says ex Army officer India pti-PTI Chandigarh, Dec 7: Two years after the surgical strikes carried out by the Army across the Line of Control, Lt Gen (retd) D S Hooda on Friday said it was natural to have an initial euphoria over the success but the constant hype around the operation was unwarranted. [Surgical strikes: The need for more as 300 terrorists have resurfaced across the border] Gen Hooda was the Northern Army commander when the surgical strikes were carried out on September 29, 2016 across the LoC as a response to a terrorist attack in Uri earlier that month. The Army had said its special forces inflicted "significant casualties" on terrorists waiting there to cross into Indian territory. Gen Hooda was speaking during a panel discussion on the topic, 'Role of Cross-Border Operations and Surgical Strikes,' on the first day of Military Literature Festival 2018 here. The discussion was attended by Punjab Governor V P Singh Badnore amongst a battery of former Generals and Army Commanders. Many war veterans cautioned against "politicisation" of the military operations, as per a Punjab government release. Lt Gen Hooda said it was natural to have initial euphoria about the success but the constant maintenance of hype around the military operations was unwarranted, the release said. Responding to a question from the audience, General Hooda said in hindsight, it would have been better had we done it (surgical strikes) secretly. The aim of any such offensive had to be not only tactical but strategic too, which substantially hampers enemy morale, he said. [Mini surgical strikes: India hits Pak army HQ along LoC] Citing the example of the 1981 Israeli air strikes on Iraqi nuclear sites, which had caused considerable damage, Lt General (retd) N S Brar underscored the need to ensure long-term impact on the enemy before undertaking any such operation in the future. Cautioning the political masters against being adventurists, General Brar asked if the political masters would have taken responsibility had there been any causalities in the strikes, the release said quoting him. Earlier, a two minute silence was observed in the memory of the brave soldiers who laid down their lives in the service of the nation. Punjab Governor and Chandigarh Administrator V P Singh Badnore inaugurated the MLF. Notably, MLF, which is into its second edition this year, is organised to raise awareness among people about the legacy of the armed forces, and rekindle among youth the motivating spirit to join the Indian Army. PTI Take this man accused of raping teenage girl in Kerala found marching demanding justice for her! India oi-Shubham Ghosh Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 7: It perhaps won't get more eyebrow-raising than this. A man with a political link and accused of raping a teenage girl in Kerala along with others, was found marching for justice for the same victim! According to a report in The News Minute, a group of members of DYFI (Democratic Youth Federation of India) took out a march in the Parassinikadavu area of the state's Kannur district on December 4 seeking police action against those accused of gang-raping the 16-year-old girl in a local lodge. "But things took an absurd turn when the media figured out that a local DYFI leader, who had marched for justice was in fact arrested later in the same case," said the TNM report. Bengaluru: 40-year-old woman doctor duped of Rs 26 lakh, raped on pretext of marriage by conman The accused, a bearded man who was found marching for justice with a small crowd for the victim in a red shirt, was identified as Nikhil, secretary of a DYFI unit from Thaliyil in Kannur, as was reported by Asianet (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qA6dTk-Qndw&feature=youtu.be). On Thursday, December 6, the Kannur Police arrested four people, including Nikhil. "The protest march was held two days ago when the news just broke and no arrests were made. Nikhil was arrested on Thursday after the police found his involvement in the gang-rape case," TNM quoted a local source from Kannur as saying. The tragedy happened on November 19 when the girl, who had befriended a man on social media was taken to the lodge in Parassinikadavu where she was gang-raped. The perpetrators recorded the act and blackmail the girl's family to extort money and the girl's brother and mother lodged a police complaint subsequently and it led to an outrage. The DYFI, however, tried to distance itself from the arrested man. El Salvador woman's ordeal: Rape victim jailed for 20 years! DYFI district secretary in Kannur, Sanoj VK told TNM that Nikhil was earlier a unit secretary but not anymore. He said they had some issues with him including his habit of alcoholism and he wasn't given any prominent position in the party. It was also said that Nikhil used to participate in protests and other events. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, December 7, 2018, 16:55 [IST] Telangana polls: Congress ridicules TRS election symbol Ambassador car; Irony India oi-Shubham Ghosh Hyderabad, Dec 7: The state of Telangana, India's youngest, went to its second Assembly election on Friday, December 7. Though the first Assembly election in the state took place in 2014, along with the general elections that year, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao dissolved the Assembly a few months early to go to the people before the due date. The election is multi-pronged with the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) challenged by the Praja Kutami comprising the Congress and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and others besides the BJP and the AIMIM. Telangana polls 2018: For Chiranjeevi, no 'jumping queues' this time; watch video On Friday, as 119 seats of the Assembly went to the polls, the social media saw Congress workers ridiculing the TRS's election symbol - the iconic Ambassador car - saying it could accommodate just four persons while the Congress's 'Hand' symbol could be extended to anybody. Ambassador car was the symbol of closed India of the Congress years prior to 1991. Owls, black magic and the Telangana polls: What is the link It is quite ironical since it was the Congress's prolonged rule at the Centre after Independence in August 1947 that saw India refusing to adopt an open economy and the State Centrism of the pre-liberalised era was symbolised by the Ambassador car - the indigenously manufactured vehicle which was the king of the Indian roads. The dominance of the car was over once India started opening up its economy since 1991 and today, the Ambassador has remained to be a car of antique value. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, December 7, 2018, 16:21 [IST] Vijay Mallya has applied for another route to stay in the UK, says lawyer To strike off fugitive tag, Mallya moves SC India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Dec 7: Vijay Mallya has moved the Supreme Court seeking to remove the 'fugitive' tag against his name by the Enforcement Directorate. The case is expected to be heard today. The plea comes a day after he made repeated offers to persuade Indian authorities to accept his settlement before the Karnataka High Court. The Westminster Magistrate's court is due to deliver its verdict on a plea by India seeking to extradite Mallya from the United Kingdom. 'Please take the money, stop the narrative that I stole': Vijay Mallya He urged the banks to accept his offer and said that the huge loans that he had taken from them went into keeping the now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines afloat despite high jet fuel prices. Mallya also claimed that his vast liquor empire, the United Breweries, contributed "handsomely" to state exchequers. In September, Mallya had told the Prevention Money Launder Act (PMLA) court that he was not a fugitive economic offender. He also said that he was not involved in the scheduled offence of money laundering. In June the Enforcement Directorate had filed an application before the PMLA court to declare him a fugitive economic offender and also sought to confiscate all his properties estimated to be around Rs 12,500 crore. The court took congnisance of the plea filed by the ED. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, December 7, 2018, 5:38 [IST] Why is the ED catching up to Robert Vadra India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Dec 7: Two days after he was summoned, the Enforcement Directorate has conducted raids at three offices belonging to Robert Vadra. The raids are being conducted in connection with a money-laundering probe. The raids come just days after a third summons was issued to Vadra asking him to appear before the ED. The case in hand relates to the Bikaner land deal money laundering case. ED raids places linked to Robert Vadra, Congress fumes Vadra, whose Sky Light Hospitality Pvt Ltd is being probed for fraudently acquiring land in Bikaner meant for rehabilitation of poor villagers has avoided two summonses. The last summons was issued for his personal appearance, but he chose to send his representatives instead. An ED source informed OneIndia that Vadra has been wilfully avoiding the summonses. His personal appearance is needed in the case in order for us to record his statement. This was necessary after we gathered evidence against Sky Light Hospitality for the past three years. He has been deliberately avoiding joining the probe, despite us having the power to seek his custodial interrogation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. BJP govt on back foot, levelling allegations against me is their 'plan-B': Robert Vadra It may be recalled that in December 2017, the ED had arrested two persons in connection with the case-Jaiprakash Bagarwa and Ashok Kumar, The ED says that Kumar is a close aid of Mahesh Nagar, who is the authorised representative of Sky Light Hospitality. Vadra and his mother Maureen are directors in the company which has been accused of money laundering. In 2014, the Rajasthan Police had filed cases against Sky Light Hospitality. The following year the ED registered a case against the company and others under the provisions of the PMLA. This was done on the basis of the FIRs and also 20 chargesheets filed by the Rajasthan Police. ED officials say that Kumar was used as a conduit by Nagar, who was aware of the fraudulent nature of 69.55 hectares Sky Light Hospitality had purchased for Rs 72 lakh. This was later sold to Allegeney Finlease Pvt Lts for Rs 5.15 crore. The ED learnt that Allegeney was not involved in any real estate activity and the shareholders are either dummy or non/existent. Robert Vadra is de-facto Congress president: BJP Further the financial trails of Allegeney showed that it had received funds from a leading steel and power company, which it used to purchase the land in question at Bikaner. While the ED has managed to question almost all associated with the case, it has been unable to record Vadra's statement as yet. Hence it is important for us to seek his custodial interrogation, ED officials also said. On Friday, raids were also conducted at Bengaluru. Vadra's lawyer while addressing the media said that the employees were locked in one of the offices. They have locked our people of Sky Light Hospitality inside. They are not allowing anyone to go inside. Is this a jail, he also asked. For the past four and half years, they have found nothing. Now they are locking us outside and planting and fabricating evidence, he also added. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, December 7, 2018, 18:36 [IST] Are Imran Khan and Gen Bajwa at war over appointment of new ISI chief? Ruling party in India is 'anti-Muslim': Imran Khan International oi-Vikas SV Islamabad, Dec 7: On one hand Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan talks about peace and bettering ties with India, but on the other he leaves oppurtunity to take a jibe at BJP-led government. But this time, Khan has shunned veiled attacks and said that the ruling party in India has an anti-Muslim, anti-Pakistan approach. In an interview with the Washington Post, Khan said, "The ruling party [in India] has an anti-Muslim, anti-Pakistan approach." The Pakistan Prime Minister was answering a question about why he seems apprehensive towards ever since he came to power four months ago. On Thursday, Khan had said he was ready to hold talks with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi. When asked whether it is possible to resolve the Kashmir issue, the Pakistan Prime Minister said, "nothing is impossible." "I am ready for talks on any issue. There can't be a military solution for Kashmir," he said. He, however, said the gesture for peace cannot be one-sided. Can Imran Khan be trusted?: Here is what Army veterans have to say Earlier this year in September, a day after India called off foreign minister-level talks with Pakistan on the sidelines of United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, Khan took to Twitter to express his "disappointment". In the same interview to Washington Post, Khan also stated that he "wants something done about the bombers of Mumbai" and that the 26/11 was "an act of terrorism." Khan also said he is hoping that India will respond "positively" to Pakistan's "goodwill gesture" of opening the Kartarpur border for the Sikh pilgrims. Khan, earlier this week, termed it was unfortunate that Indian media has given Pakistan's positive gesture of opening the Kartarpur border a "political colour". For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, December 7, 2018, 14:21 [IST] US President Donald Trump nominates William Barr as new US attorney general International pti-PTI Washington, Dec 7: US President Donald Trump on Friday nominated William Barr as his new attorney general, replacing Jeff Sessions with the prominent conservative lawyer who will take charge of the sensitive probe into the alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential polls. Barr, 68, served as attorney general from 1991 to 1993 during the administration of President George H W Bush. He will replace Sessions who was fired by Trump last month. [Trump nominates ex Fox News journalist Heather Nauert as Haley's successor at UN] "I want to confirm that Bill Barr, one of the most respected jurists in the country, highly respected lawyer, former attorney general under the Bush administration, a terrific man, a terrific person, a brilliant man," Trump told reporters at the White House. "I did not know him until recently when I went through the process of looking through people, and he was my first choice from day one, respected by respected by Republicans, respected by Democrats. He will be nominated for US Attorney General and hopefully, that process will go very quickly," he said. If Barr is confirmed by the Senate after his official nomination, he will replace the current acting attorney general Matt Whitaker. Currently, Barr is counsel at the Kirkland & Ellis law firm in Washington DC. Whitaker had been a controversial pick from the start due to his views on Special Counsel Robert Mueller's inquiry. "I've seen very good things about him even over the last day or so, when people thought it might be Bill Barr, so Bill Barr for the US attorney general position. I think he will serve with great distinction," Trump said. [Trump nominates Brett Kavanaugh to replace retiring judge Kennedy] A furious President Trump sacked Sessions last month after he recused himself from investigations into Russia's possible meddling in US elections and collusion with the Trump campaign, paving the way for the appointment of Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Sessions was one of Trump's earliest supporters. He backed the President despite the barrage of attacks. Barr holds degrees in government and Chinese studies from Columbia University. While studying law at George Washington University, he worked at the CIA from 1973-1977. In 1989, he was appointed by former President Bush to head the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel. He was promoted to deputy attorney general next, and then to the top role. Barr retired from his position as counsel and executive vice-president of Verizon in 2008. PTI Last week's G20 summit in Buenos Aires naturally captured world attention, with its focus on the global trade structure, and especially on the welcome ceasefire in the Sino-U.S. trade war announced by the leaders of the world's largest two economies following their bilateral meeting. However, it is important not to forget the importance of China's regional diplomacy, meaning the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) that is underpinning its global strategy. Just before the G20 summit, and just after the APEC meeting in Port Moresby, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the Philippines to strengthen the bilateral relationship, now raised to the dignity of a strategic partnership. This is one of the more successful examples of regional partnership; largely out of resentment at perceived U.S. interference in his country's domestic affairs, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte turned to China, as many countries had done previously, in search of economic cooperation unencumbered by political conditions. It was a popular move in the Philippines, as there had been some concern that the pugnacious Duterte might take a confrontational stance against China over a territorial dispute related to islands in the South China Sea. In particular, China has always hoped to persuade the Philippines, a long-term American ally, to turn away from supporting any attempts by the United States to block Chinese naval activities in the region. In this regard, the Philippines has acquiesced in the peaceful and long-standing Chinese policy of "pursuing cooperation while shelving disputes for the time being." Relations with the United States have been downgraded, though joint military exercises continue. The Philippines was also happy at the thought of being a beneficiary of the BRI, due to its great need for infrastructural improvements in a nation with no mainland and more than 7,000 islands that make land transport difficult. However, in 2018 the roll-out of BRI in East Asia has encountered some initial difficulties. Malaysia has shown that economic/political partnerships with China are vulnerable to governmental changes. The comfortable relationship China had established with the government of Prime Minister Najib Razak, became distinctly uncomfortable following his replacement with old war-horse Mahathir Mohammad, who began by questioning the arrangements made by his predecessor, and made it clear he would look very hard at the terms of accepting Chinese loans for BRI infrastructural projects. This was always going to happen at some point. Such a new policy as the BRI, after an initial welcome by regional partners, was bound to then face a certain backlash, or at least a re-examination of the terms of such assistance. Worries have emerged that nations receiving such large loans from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), the financial arm of the BRI, might find themselves caught in a debt trap. This does not mean China's regional strategy in any serious difficulties, as teething troubles tend to be inseparable from any new policy framework, and China will undoubtedly be able to make the necessary re-adjustments. Hence, the Philippines was a good place to start. There is much goodwill towards China, and President Duterte still enjoys huge popularity despite criticism both inside and outside the country. He and Xi Jinping took the opportunity to hail improved relations following years of tension over South China Sea issues, with the Chinese side proclaiming a "rainbow after the rain." However, there was a degree of backtracking on BRI-based joint projects. This is probably not so much a demonstration of faltering Chinese commitment to the relationship with the Philippines, but rather a desire to ensure any financial fall-out from BRI projects does not damage the future relationship in what has become an unlikely king-pin of Chinese regional diplomacy. Duterte is a populist president who has retained a remarkable degree of domestic support after two and a half years in power. He is still much admired by the poorest elements of the country left behind by previous administrations, particularly in his native power-base on the southernmost island of Mindanao. Tim Collard is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit: http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/timcollard.htm Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn. Everyone eligible should be vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of long-distance travel or employment. Vaccination should be voluntary but those who don't get vaccinated should be frequently tested for COVID-19 as a condition of long-distance travel and employment. Both vaccination and testing should be voluntary and not required as a condition of long-distance travel or employment. I defer to the judgment of lawmakers as long as they base their decisions on a consensus of medical professionals. Vote View Results Flash Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang [Photo/fmprc.gov.cn] China has lodged solemn representations with Canada and the United States and demanded the immediate release of Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Thursday. Meng was provisionally detained by the Canadian Authorities on behalf of the United States of America, when she was transferring flights in Canada, Huawei said in a statement Thursday. Spokesperson Geng Shuang told a daily news briefing that China has lodged solemn representations with the Canadian and U.S. sides, urging the two countries to clarify the reason they detained Meng, immediately release her and effectively protect her legitimate rights and interests. You are here: World Flash Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Hun Many, president of the Union of Youth Federations of Cambodia on Thursday, pledging to strengthen exchanges and cooperation on youth. Wang spoke highly of the friendship between China and Cambodia over the past six decades since the establishment of diplomatic ties. Noting that China supports Cambodia in safeguarding national sovereignty and independence, and choosing the development path suited to itself, Wang expressed China's appreciation for Cambodia's support on issues concerning China's core interests. Wang also said he hoped young people from both countries would continue the China-Cambodia friendship. "As the young generation of Cambodia, we will continue the Cambodian-Chinese friendship and strengthen the exchange and cooperation between the two countries' youths," Hun Many said. Flash U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha in Washington D.C. on Thursday, discussing the denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula, said the U.S. State Department. The two sides agreed to maintain close coordination and insisted on "the final, fully verified denuclearization" of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), said Heather Nauert, spokesperson of the U.S. State Department, in a statement. Negotiations between Pyongyang and Washington saw little progress in the past few months, as differences between the two sides remained over the scale of denuclearization, U.S. sanctions, and whether to issue a war-ending declaration. A planned high-level meeting between Pompeo and a senior DPRK official in New York was cancelled, citing scheduling issue. Meanwhile, the momentum for talks continued. U.S. President Donald Trump revealed earlier this month that his second meeting with DPRK's top leader Kim Jong Un was likely to happen in January or February next year. The first-ever Kim-Trump meeting occurred in Singapore last June, followed by a joint statement in which the United States agreed to provide security guarantee to the DPRK in return for Pyongyang's commitment to denuclearization. Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said earlier this month that China encourages the United States and the DPRK to advance denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula. Fraud Detection and Prevention Market Status, Growth Prediction, Market Analysis & Forecast 2023 https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/fraud-detection-and-prevention-market?utm_source=OpenPR&utm_medium=SS https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/2142?utm_source=OpenPR&utm_medium=SS https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/purchase-enquiry/2142?utm_source=OpenPR&utm_medium=SS https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com The fraud detection & prevention market in Asia-Pacific is projected to grow at a significant rate during the forecast period, owing to increase in fraud incidents in emerging economies such as India, China and Japan. Furthermore, upcoming new visualization tools and applications, in addition to customer analytics and predictive analytics, may further increase the demand for these solutions.Emergence of big data analytics across various industries, such as BFSI, retail, manufacturing, healthcare, real estate, and others, high demand for cloud services, and proliferation of mobile devices for payment are expected to drive the market growth. Mobile phones enable easy access to personally identifiable information such as email address, home address, and banking & stored payment information.However, high installation cost of deploying varied prevention solutions, including predictive analytics, big data analytics, customer analytics, and others, hinders this growth.Access Full Summary at:In 2016, BFSI accounted for maximum revenue share, owing to frequent incident of fraudulent activities, specifically in mobile transactions. For instance, in January 2018, HID Global collaborated with Threat Mark, a threat and fraud detection technology provider to develop new features to improve the ability of financial organizations to identify cyber threats such as malware, identity theft, and account takeover.Rise in demand for advanced authentication provides numerous growth opportunities for market expansion in the government sector. In addition, the retail segment is projected to grow at a highest CAGR of 18.7%, owing to rise in incident of card-related frauds, transactions, and revenue loses. The authentication segment generated the highest revenue in 2015, as organizations largely invest on technologies that can protect data from security risks and malware attacks.Key Benefits for StakeholdersIn-depth analysis of the global fraud detection and prevention market along with its dynamics is provided to understand the market scenario.Quantitative analysis of the current trends and future estimations from 2016 to 2023 is provided to assist strategists and stakeholders to capitalize on prevailing opportunities.Porters Five Forces analysis examines the competitive structure of the fraud detection and prevention market and provides a clear understanding of the factors that influence the market entry and expansion.A detailed analysis of the geographical segments enables identification of profitable segments for market players.Comprehensive analysis of the trends, sub-segments, and key revenue pockets are provided in the report.Detailed analysis of the key players and their business strategies are anticipated to assist stakeholders to take informed business decisions.Profile analysis of leading players that operate in the fraud detection and prevention market are provided in the report, which highlight the major developmental strategies.Download Request Sample:The fraud analytics solution is expected to grow at the highest CAGR, as these solutions analyze various forms of data and then covert them to actionable insights. In addition, rise in adoption of advanced analytics techniques and competitive intelligence that involves tactful data collection & collation, analysis, and formation of meaningful insights that enables in making strategic business decisions supplements the fraud detection & prevention market growth.In 2016, North America accounted for a major share in the global fraud detection & prevention market. However, Asia-Pacific is expected to dominate by 2023, owing to increase in rate of Internet penetration in India, China, Japan, Malaysia, and Singapore as organizations need to protect corporate and personal information from fraud attacksFraud Detection & Prevention Market Key Segments:By Solution TypeFraud AnalyticsoPredictive AnalyticsoCustomer AnalyticsoSocial Media AnalyticsoBigdata AnalyticsoBehavioral AnalyticsAuthenticationoSingle-Factor AuthenticationoMultifactor AuthenticationBy ServicesProfessionalManagedBy Deployment TypeCloudOn-PremisesBy End UserSmall & Medium Enterprises (SMEs)Large EnterprisesBy Industry VerticalBFSIRetailHealthcareReal EstateManufacturingOthersManagedBy GeographyNorth AmericaoU.S.oMexicooCanadaEuropeoGermanyoUKoFranceoRussiaoRest of EuropeAsia-PacificoChinaoIndiaoJapanoRest of Asia-PacificLAMEAoLatin AmericaoMiddle EastoAfricaKey PlayersIBM CorporationOracle CorporationSAS Institute Inc.Fair Isaac CorporationSAP SEBAE SystemsACI WorldwideNCR LimitedLavastormThreatMetrixFor Purchase Enquiry: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:Sona Padman5933 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: Twin Screw Pumps Market Global Forecast 2018-25 Estimated with Top Key Players like Colfax, Netzsch, Wangen Pumps, PSG, Fristam, Kosaka Laboratory, SOMA Pumps, CTP, Huangshan RSP Twin Screw Pumps Market Global Forecast 2018-25 Estimated with Top Key Players like Colfax, Netzsch, Wangen Pumps, PSG, Fristam, K https://www.upmarketresearch.com/home/requested_sample/24833 https://www.upmarketresearch.com/home/enquiry_before_buying/24833 https://www.upmarketresearch.com/buy/twin-screw-pumps-market https://www.upmarketresearch.com/home/request_for_discount/24833 www.upmarketresearch.com UpMarketResearch offers a latest published report on Global Twin Screw Pumps Market Industry Analysis and Forecast 2018-2023 delivering key insights and providing a competitive advantage to clients through a detailed report. The report contains 124 pages which highly exhibits on current market analysis scenario, upcoming as well as future opportunities, revenue growth, pricing and profitability. The report contains basic, secondary and advanced information pertaining to the Twin Screw Pumps global status and trend, market size, share, growth, trends analysis, segment and forecasts from 2018 - 2023.Get Free Exclusive PDF Sample Copy of This Report@Twin Screw Pumps 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 Twin Screw Pumps 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 visit@The 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 Twin Screw Pumps market industry analysis & forecast 2018-2025 is segmented into Product Segment, Application Segment & Major players.Region-wise Analysis Global Twin Screw Pumps Market covers: North America Europe China Japan India Southeast Asia Other regions (Central & South America, Middle East & Africa)The key players covered in this study Colfax ITT Bornemann Flowserve SPX FLOW Leistritz HMS Livgidromash Klaus Union Netzsch Wangen Pumps PSG Seim S.r.l. Fristam Kosaka Laboratory SOMA Pumps CTP Huangshan RSPBuy Twin Screw Pumps Market analysis & forecast 2018-2025 Report along with complete TOC@Market segment by Type, the product can be split into Sealed Twin Screw Pump Non-sealed Twin Screw PumpMarket segment by Application, split into Oil and Gas Industry Chemical Industry Shipbuilding Industry Power IndustryThe Report covers in-depth analysis as follows: Chapter 1 Study Coverage Chapter 2 Executive Summary Chapter 3 Market Size by Manufacturers Chapter 4 Unmodified Twin Screw Pumps by Region Chapter 5 Unmodified Twin Screw Pumps by Region Chapter 6 Market Size by Type Chapter 7 Market Size by Application Chapter 8 Manufacturers Profiles Chapter 9 Production Forecasts Chapter 10 Consumption Forecast Chapter 11 Upstream, Industry Chain and Downstream Customers Analysis Chapter 12 Opportunities & Challenges, Threat and Affecting Factors Chapter 13 Key Findings Chapter 14 AppendixGrab Best Discount Price @Global Twin Screw Pumps Market Industry 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.In this study, the years considered to estimate the market size of Twin Screw Pumps 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 Twin Screw Pumps Market Industry 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 Twin Screw Pumps market industry analysis and forecast 2018-2025.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.About UpMarketResearch: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 Machine Condition Monitoring Market Projected to reach 3.50 Billion USD by 2024 | Key players include ALS Limited, Emerson Electric, General Electric and Honeywell MarketsandMarkets https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=29627363&utm_source=OpenPR https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestsampleNew.asp?id=29627363&utm_source=OpenPR According to the new market research report on the "Machine Condition Monitoring Market by Monitoring Technique (Vibration Monitoring, Thermography, Oil Analysis, MCA), Deployment (On Premise, Cloud), Monitoring Process (Online, Portable), Offering, Industry, and Region - Global Forecast to 2024", The machine condition monitoring market is estimated to grow from USD 2.38 Billion in 2018 to USD 3.50 Billion by 2024, at a CAGR of 6.7% between 2018 and 2024. Factors such as the development of a secure cloud computing platform, increased use of wireless communication technology for condition monitoring of equipment, and inclination of end users toward predictive maintenance are driving the growth of the machine condition monitoring market at present.The motor current analysis technique is expected to witness the highest CAGR during the forecast periodThe market for the motor current analysis technique is expected to grow at the highest CAGR between 2018 and 2024. Defects such as current imbalance and loading issues in motors, circuitry and motor insulation degradation, rotor damage, eccentricity in rotors, belt defects, and gearing defects can be detected by the motor current analysis technique, thereby resulting in high demand in the machine condition monitoring market.Download PDF Brochure @The market for software is expected to grow at a higher CAGR during the forecast periodThe market for software is expected to grow at a higher CAGR during the forecast period. Machine condition monitoring software help companies to calculate equipment reliability parameters such as rotating speed, vibration frequency, bearing faults, shaft misalignment, and temperature of machines. Also, machine condition monitoring software generates a comprehensive report of the final result after executing the analysis of all algorithms. The diagnostic report helps plant operators to predict an impending failure and avoid any breakdown situation.The market for cloud-based machine condition monitoring solutions is expected to grow at a higher CAGR during the forecast periodCloud-based monitoring is expected to exhibit a higher CAGR in the machine condition monitoring market during the forecast period. Cloud-based deployment benefits organizations with the increased scalability, speed, 24/7 service, and enhanced IT security. The growing adoption of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications by enterprises is bringing out huge growth prospects for cloud-based machine condition monitoring solutions.The market for online machine condition monitoring solutions is expected to grow at a higher CAGR during the forecast periodThe market for online machine condition monitoring solutions is expected to grow at a higher CAGR during the forecast period. Online machine condition monitoring provides real-time data to operators in the plant and is the most preferred monitoring process in critical plants that work continuously and are highly prone to defects.The market for the automotive industry is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast periodThe market for the automotive industry is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. The automotive industry depends on the performance of assets to effectively perform their core business activities as a system downtime can affect the revenue of the organization. In the automotive industry, time plays a crucial role, and any unplanned asset breakdown can heavily impact its brand image and sales, resulting in the high adoption of the machine condition monitoring technique in the automotive industry.The market in APAC is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast periodChina and India are the fastest-growing economies that are witnessing a rapid penetration of Internet of Things (IoT) in APAC. High high adoption of modern technologies for smart manufacturing, reduction in operational costs, and importance of security measures at workplaces drive the demand for machine condition monitoring solutions in the APAC region, thereby making this region the fastest-growing market for machine condition monitoring solutions.Request Sample @Major players operating in the machine condition monitoring market include ALS Limited (Australia), Emerson Electric (US), General Electric (US), Honeywell (US), Meggitt (UK), National Instruments (US), Parker-Hannifin (US), Rockwell Automation (US), Schaeffler (Germany), SKF (Sweden), Azima DLI (US), Bruel & Kjaer (Denmark), and Fluke (US).MarketsandMarkets provides quantified B2B research on 30,000 high growth niche opportunities/threats which will impact 70% to 80% of worldwide companies revenues. Currently servicing 7500 customers worldwide including 80% of global Fortune 1000 companies as clients. Almost 75,000 top officers across eight industries worldwide approach MarketsandMarkets for their painpoints around revenues decisions.Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. MarketsandMarkets now coming up with 1,500 MicroQuadrants (Positioning top players across leaders, emerging companies, innovators, strategic players) annually in high growth emerging segments. MarketsandMarkets is determined to benefit more than 10,000 companies this year for their revenue planning and help them take their innovations/disruptions early to the market by providing them research ahead of the curve.MarketsandMarketss flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "Knowledgestore" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets.Contact:Mr. Shelly SinghMarketsandMarkets INC.630 Dundee RoadSuite 430Northbrook, IL 60062USA : 1-888-600-6441newsletter@marketsandmarkets.com Global Commercial Refrigeration Equipment Market Size and Forecast 2025: Ali Group, Blue Star Ltd., Daikin Industries, Ltd., Electrolux AB and Panasonic Corp. https://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1692345 https://www.researchmoz.us/commercial-refrigeration-equipment-global-markets-and-technologies-through-2022-report.html/toc https://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=1692345 http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG https://studyanalyst.blogspot.in ResearchMoz include new market research report "Commercial Refrigeration Equipment: Global Markets and Technologies Through 2022" to its huge collection of research reports.This BCC Research report examines the way in which the global commercial refrigeration equipment market is evolving. The report includes a detailed survey of new organizations (innovators) in the market, as well as existing players. At the industry level, BCC Research will identify, examine, describe and provide global and regional market sizes for 2016 and forecast demand from 2017 through 2022. While a wide range of companies operate in the market, below is a broad classification of these companies:- Large refrigeration system manufacturers.- Large technology manufacturers with a presence in refrigeration systems.- Small niche refrigeration equipment and technology manufacturers.- Conglomerates active in multiple verticals, including industrial products.Get Complimentary Research Summary Of The Report:North America is the largest and most prominent user of commercial refrigeration equipment. The region, which consists of the U.S. and Canada, is expected to see a strong growth rate in the coming years. However, its estimated lower-than-average market growth will result in a decline of market share by 2022. Europe follows and is also expected to see a slower-than-average growth rate. APAC on the other hand is the fastest growing market and will see significant gains in market share during the reporting period.Refrigerators and freezers was the biggest segment with REDACTED market share in 2016, but is projected to give up market share due to its slower growth rate. The others segment includes refrigerated displaycases, ice machines, refrigerated vending machines, liquid chillers, refrigeration equipment parts, etc. Ofthese, all except liquid chillers are expected to be the key subsegments during the reporting period.Fluorocarbons is the top refrigerant type, though it continues to fall under strict governmental regulations due to its harmful impact on the environment. Globally, usage of fluorocarbons is on the decline, which is leading to alternatives such as hydrocarbons and inorganics to continue increasing market share by 2022.This BCC Research report has identified the following key points:- Global demand for commercial refrigeration equipment totaled around REDA CTED in 2016.- Global demand is expected to increase from an estimated REDA CTED in 2017 to around REDACTED in 2 022.- The global commercial refrigeration equipment market is expected to rise at a CAGR of REDACTED between 2017 and 2022."Obtain Table of Content @Commercial refrigeration equipment is defined as refrigeration systems that maintain temperatures at a level below than its surroundings, in order to avoid spoilage of perishable products, including food items. Commercial refrigerator models can be horizontal, semi-vertical or vertical, and operate at a chilled, frozen, combi chilled and frozen, or variable temperature. Equipment is used in transportation refrigeration units, to display food items and other perishable store merchandise.Commercial refrigeration equipment finds applications in hypermarkets, supermarkets, convenience stores, specialty food stores, e-commerce, and other end users. The others segment includes general stores, small unorganized stores (mostly in emerging regions), as well as distributors and producers of raw products, such as meats, vegetables, etc.Commercial refrigeration equipment uses various refrigerants, including fluorocarbons, inorganics, hydrocarbons/naturals and others. The others segment mostly comprises refrigerants that are a mix of inorganics or naturals and fluorocarbons.The commercial refrigeration equipment market can be broadly categorized into transportation refrigeration equipment, refrigerators and freezers, beverage refrigeration, and others. While transportation refrigeration equipment dominates the market, and is also the fastest-growing segment, the others segment is significantly large and includes refrigerated display cases, ice machines, refrigerated vending machines, liquid chillers, refrigeration equipment parts, etc.Make An Enquiry @Report Includes:- 83 tables- An overview of the global market for commercial refrigeration equipment- Analyses of global market trends, with data from 2016 and 2017, and projections of compound annual growth rates (CAGRs) through 2022- Identification of segments with high growth potential and their future applications- Explanation of major drivers and regional dynamics of the market and current trends within the industry- Detailed profiles of major vendors in the market, including Ali Group, Blue Star Ltd., Daikin Industries, Ltd., Electrolux AB and Panasonic Corp.About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.For More Information Kindly Contact:ResearchMozMr. Nachiket Ghumare,Tel: +1-518-621-2074USA-Canada Toll Free: 866-997-4948Email: sales@researchmoz.usFollow us on LinkedIn @Blog: Latest Report on Global Computer Assisted Coding Software Market: by key player Optum, Inc., McKesson Corporation, Nuance Communications Inc Computer Assisted Coding Software Market https://www.researchnreports.com/request_sample.php?id=193739 https://www.researchnreports.com/ask_for_discount.php?id=193739 https://www.researchnreports.com/enquiry_before_buying.php?id=193739 Research N Reports comes up with a new report named Computer Assisted Coding Software Market. This revived version has been distributed to help investors and providers in receiving a thorough understanding of the current market situation. It also presents a prediction of the market to help providers expertise their strategies to develop businesses. A widespread assessment on the forces limiting and thrusting market development has also been provided.Global Computer Assisted Coding Software Market is expected to grow at a CAGR of +11% during the forecast period 2018-2023Ask for PDF Sample Copy:Key players in Computer Assisted Coding Software Market:Optum, Inc., McKesson Corporation, Nuance Communications Inc., Cerner Corporation, Precyse Solutions, LLC, Trucode, Craneware Plc., Epic Systems Corporation, M-Scribe Technologies, LLC, ezDI, Inc, Coding Strategies, Inc., Alpha II, LLC, ID GmbH & Co., iMedx, ZyDoc, HRS Coding ElevatedOn the basis of its regional outlook, this report parts the market into Europe, North America, SouthEast Asia, India, China, and Japan. The next part of the report offers thorough insights on the key sections of the market. The growth of the Computer Assisted Coding Software market in all these areas has been premeditated in detail in this report. The major growth drivers and interceptor of the market have also been deliberated in the succeeding section of the study.The ensuing part of the study includes income analysis, production, value and growth of the Computer Assisted Coding Software market from 2018 to 2015. In addition, major mergers and procurements and expansions with other expansions that altered the face of the market have also been conversed. Last part of the report gives a gist of the protruding manufacturers operating in the market and appraises them in terms of skill and product type.Get Up to 50% Discount:Table of Contents:Chapter 1 Industry Overview of Computer Assisted Coding Software MarketChapter 2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Computer Assisted Coding Software MarketChapter 3 Technical Data and Manufacturing Plants Analysis of Computer Assisted Coding Software MarketChapter 4 Global Computer Assisted Coding Software Overall Market OverviewChapter 5 Computer Assisted Coding Software Regional Market AnalysisChapter 6 Major Manufacturers Analysis of Computer Assisted Coding SoftwareChapter 7 Development Trend of Analysis of Computer Assisted Coding Software MarketChapter 8 Computer Assisted Coding Software Marketing Type AnalysisChapter 9 Conclusion of the Global Computer Assisted Coding Software Market Professional Survey Report 2018For More Information:Our research will change the way you think about problems. We provide global consulting that can transform businesses and give you an experience of innovative solutions and outcomes.Research N Reports helps clients harness the power of innovation to thrive on change. We have successfully guided businesses throughout the world with our market research reports. We are uniquely positioned to lead digital transformations, thus creating greater value for clients by presenting growth opportunities in the global market.Our profound experience provides a clear and confident vision to help clients navigate the future. Research N Reports techniques encompasses both qualitative and quantitative modes to provide customized and highly flexible tailored research studies so that you get information that is just the best-fit to make informed strategic organizational decisions. Research N Reports helps clients decode the future to be more successful and innovative.(Research N Reports)10916, Gold Point Dr, Houston, TX, Pin - 77064,Sunny Denis(Sales Manager),+1-8886316977,sales@researchnreports.com Smart Rings Market - Global Industry Forecast 2017 - 2025 : McLear Ltd., Log bar Inc., Moodmetric, Shanxi Jakcom Technology Co. Ltd., Ringly Inc. Global Smart Rings Market https://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1187199 https://www.researchmoz.us/smart-rings-market-global-industry-analysis-trend-size-share-and-forecast-2017-2025-report.html/toc https://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=1187199 https://www.researchmoz.us/ http://marketresearchlatestreports.blogspot.com/ Researchmoz added latest report "Smart Rings Market - Global Industry Analysis, Trend, Size, Share and Forecast 2017 - 2025". The industry report lists the leading competitors and provides the insights strategic industry Analysis of the key factors influencing the market.Global Smart Rings Market: OverviewThis report covers the analysis and forecast of the smart rings market on a global and regional level. The study provides historic data of 2016 along with forecast for the period between 2017 and 2025 based on volume (Thousand Units) and revenue (US$ Mn).Smart rings are electronic wearable devices worn on the finger. It works through movement of the fingers and gesture control. The smart rings are equipped with sensors and chips which enables it to perform various functions such as receiving call, message and email alerts, making contactless payments, measuring blood pressure levels, pulse rates and heart beats and it also provides biometric solutions by monitoring access controls among others.Get a Sample PDF at:Global Smart Rings Market: Scope of the ReportThe study provides a decisive view of the smart rings market by segmenting it based on type of operating system, technology, applications and regional demand. The type of operating system, technology and applications segments have been analyzed based on current trends and future potential. The market has been estimated from 2017 to 2025 in terms of volume (Thousand Units) and revenue (US$ Mn). Regional segmentation includes the current and forecast demand for North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa. These have been further sub-segmented into countries and regions with relevance to the market. The segmentation also includes demand for individual applications in all regions.The study covers the drivers and restraints governing the dynamics of the market along with their impact on demand during the forecast period. Additionally, the report includes potential opportunities in the smart rings market on the global and regional level. The study encompasses market attractiveness analysis, wherein applications have been benchmarked based on their market size, growth rate, and general attractiveness for future growth.The market has been forecast based on constant currency rates. Prices of smart rings vary in each region and are a result of the demand-supply scenario in the region. Hence, a similar volume-to revenue ratio does not follow for each individual region. Individual pricing of smart rings for each application has been taken into account while estimating and forecasting market revenue on a global basis. Regional average price has been considered while breaking down the market into segments in each region.The report provides the size of the smart rings market in2016 and the forecast for the next nine years up to 2025. The size of the global smart rings market is provided in terms of both volume and revenue. Market volume is defined in thousand units, while market revenue for regions is in US$ Mn. The market size and forecast for each product segment is provided in the context of global and regional markets. Numbers provided in this report are derived based on demand generated from different applications.Get Complete TOC With Tables and Figures @Global Smart Rings Market: Research MethodologiesMarket estimates for this study have been based on volume, with revenue being derived through regional pricing trends. The price for commonly utilized grades of smart rings in each application has been considered, and customized product pricing has not been included. Demand for smart rings has been derived by analyzing the global and regional demand for smart rings in each application. The global smart rings market has been analyzed based on expected demand. Market data for each segment is based on volume and corresponding revenues. Prices considered for calculation of revenue are average regional prices obtained through primary quotes from numerous regional suppliers, distributors, and direct selling regional producers based on manufacturers feedback. Forecasts have been based on the expected demand from smart rings. We have used the top-down approach to estimate the global smart rings market, split into regions. The type of operating system, technology and applications split of the market has been derived using a top-down approach for each regional market separately, with the global type of operating systems, technology and applications segment split being an integration of regional estimates. Companies were considered for the market share analysis based on their product portfolio, revenue, and manufacturing capacity. In the absence of specific data related to the sales of smart rings of several privately held companies, calculated assumptions have been made in view of the companys product portfolio and regional presence along with the demand for products in its portfolio.Key Players Mentioned in the Report are:The report covers a detailed competitive outlook that includes market share and company profiles of key players operating in the global market. Some of the leading market players in the smart rings market are McLear Ltd. (U.K), Log bar Inc. (Japan), Moodmetric (Finland), Shanxi Jakcom Technology Co., Ltd. (China) and Ringly Inc. (U.S.) among others.The global smart rings market has been segmented into:Global Smart Rings Market, By Type of Operating System- Android- IoS- Microsoft WindowsGlobal Smart Rings Market, By Technology- Bluetooth-enabled smart rings- NFC-enabled smart ringsGlobal Smart Rings Market, By Applications- Mobile/contactless payments- User authentication and access control- Information sharing- Monitoring healthcare system- OthersMake an Enquiry of this report @Global Smart Rings Market, By Geography- North America- The U.S.- Canada- Mexico- Europe- The U.K.- Italy- Germany- France- Rest of Europe- Asia Pacific- China- Japan- India- Rest of Asia Pacific- Middle East and Africa (MEA)- U.A.E- South Africa- Rest of Middle East and Africa- Latin America- Brazil- Rest of Latin AmericaAbout ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.ResearchMozState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074For More Reports Visit @ 1,6 Hexanediol Market Competitive Analysis With Growth Forecast Till 2023 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=12293 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=CR&rep_id=12293 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com 1,6 Hexanediol Market: Overview1,6 hexanediol market has witnessed high growth along with its end use markets such as polyurethane, coatings and acrylates among others over the last few years. The compound has made significant progress with the end use industries which is helped by the fact that 1,6 hexanediol can be customized in order to suit the standards and safety requirements of the end use product. 1,6 hexanediol is basically a colorless crystalline solid with high affinity towards water.The main applications of 1,6 hexanediol are in the production of polyurethanes, acrylates, coatings, adhesives, plasticizers, and unsaturated polyester resins among others. Polyurethane, acrylic and coating applications account for the lions share of the global demand. One of the primary drivers of this market is the demand generated from the emerging countries in the Asia Pacific region. China and India in particular witnessed significant growth in the demand for 1,6 hexanediol over the past few years. Majority of the demand is generated from polyurethanes, which is one of the most versatile polymers in existence in the market.Polyurethanes are available in the market in varied forms and find a host of end-use applications. It is available as flexible or rigid foams as well as stiff and robust elastomers and are used in a wide range of end use industries such as insulation industry, electronics industry, and construction industry among some others. The high demand for different grades of polyurethane results in the indirect demand for its upstream chemical which is 1,6 hexanediol. Research and development is highly imperative for 1,6 hexanediol market as new applications such as UV curable resins, epoxy resins system and alkalyd resins are potentially huge markets and can drive the market in the future.For More Industrial Insights Get PDF Brochure:1,6 Hexanediol Market: Drivers and TrendsThe impending technological advancements, and development of bio based raw materials are expected to influence the growth of the 1,6 hexanediol market. However, there are a few restraints to the 1,6 hexanediol market. Storage and transportation is a major challenge for this chemically active substance. 1,6 hexanediol is highly hygroscopic in nature and measures need to be taken in order to minimize its interaction with air or moisture. Temperature of the product should be maintained between 55C and 70C at all times to optimize its utility. 1,6 hexanediol has been found to exhibit low toxicity and proper precautions need to be undertaken while handling the chemical. It causes eye irritation and diffuse opacity of cornea upon contact with eyes. Vapors or dust of 1,6 hexanediol also causes respiratory tract irritation. Proper protective garments should be worn by people handing the substance so as to minimize skin contact.1,6 Hexanediol Market: Regional InsightThe largest consumer of 1,6 hexanediol is Europe by volume as well as revenue generation. Demand from Europe is followed by Asia Pacific and North America. Asia Pacific market is expected to exhibit the swiftest growth rate owing to the increased applicability and demand from end use industries. The fact that the manufacturing hub of the world is located in this region also drives the growth in Asia Pacific. India, China, Russia, and Brazil are expected to show persistent demand in the foreseeable future.Request for Customization:Some of the major companies who are involved in the manufacturing of 1,6 Hexanediol are BASF SE (Germany), Ube Industries (Japan), Perstop AB (Sweden), Fushun Tianfu Chemicals Co., Ltd. (China), Lanxess (Germany), and Lishui Nanming (China) among many others.ABOUT US:Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.ContactTransparency Market ResearchState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Plastic Caps and Closures Market 2018-2023 | Amcor, Global Closure Systems, Comar, Aptar, Reynolds, TriMas, Phoenix, J.L. CLARK, Guala Closures https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/4920 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/check-discount/4920 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/plastic-caps-closures-market-4920 Global Plastic Caps and Closures Market, By Type (Screw Caps, Dispensing Caps, and Closures), By Material (Polypropylene, Polyethylene and Polystyrene), By End-User (Food & beverages, Pharmaceutical and Personal Care), By Region Forecast to 2023Plastic Caps and Closures Market SummaryThe global market for plastic caps and closures is mushrooming in size owing to a considerable demand purveyed by the food and beverage industry during the forecast period (2018-2023), asserts Market Research Future (MRFR) in an exhaustive study. Imbibing the latest technologies in the manufacturing process, the industry is now eyeing for a leap that would make it appropriate to meet the market demands fair and square.Get Sample Report with Complete TOC @Rapid industrialization and urbanization have led to transference in the patterns of consumer behavior as they now prefer packaged foods and beverages. The changing lifestyles of consumers and well as their inclination towards ready-to-eat foods has been a plus for the market. This has resulted in a burgeoning food and beverage industry which has now increased its production of processed offerings sparking further the demand for plastic caps and closures. The sector is keener to utilize plastic caps and closures as it shows remarkable ability to preserve flavor, nutrition, and texture of the end-product. Furthermore, its applications are widespread, transport-friendly, and incur a lower cost.Manufacturers are also investing heavily in research and development to deliver products of superior quality. The focus is mainly on slashing the production cost but never compromising on the quality which has marshaled to better sealing capabilities, extended shelf life, leakage proof usage, and reusability. These features are gaining a lot of traction and helping the product garner accolades from all quarters.However, the market has a few deterrents such as the availability and price of the raw materials along with stringent government regulations. The market may experience a few bottlenecks but not stagnancy which is undoubtedly a positive sign.Segmentation:The global market for plastic caps and closures can be segmented by material, type, and end-user.Material-wise, the market relies on polypropylene, polyethylene, and polystyrene. Polypropylene is currently spearheading the pack with 49.4% market share and is expected to witness the fastest CAGR during the forecast period.Type-based segmentation comprises screw caps, dispensing caps, and closures. Screw caps are currently the market leaders with 42.1% of the entire share and all set to enjoy a favorable tailwind during the review period.Based on end-users, the market consists of food and beverages, pharmaceutical, personal care, and others. Food and beverage are now dominating the market and expected to steer the market ahead in the foreseeable period. However, the pharmaceutical segment is also showing significant promises.Regional Analysis:Geographically the market covers the Americas, Asia Pacific (APAC), Europe, and the Middle East & Africa (MEA).The Americas had dominated the market by generating almost 30.6% of the global revenue in 2017. The fast-tracked life in the U.S. has spurred the growth of food and beverage industry owing to which the plastic caps and closures market is gaining momentum. Also, the rising ecological concern is forcing the manufacturers to inflate their research & development expenditure.Europe plays a significant role as sectors such as personal care, hygiene and beauty products and packaging are driving the many innovations that the market is now implementing. Healthcare & pharmaceutical sectors are fueling the same market by showing an increasing demand for the caps and closures. The U.K. has the largest market as it has expanding customer base and supportive regulations.The APAC region is accelerating at a steady pace as the market is taking a firm grip over the global export industry. FDI in retail is also luring in a huge number of international players. China and India are also giving signs of increasing disposable income which spurs the growth of the food and beverage sector. These sectors are widening the business ambit for plastic caps and closures. Thus, making the APAC a significant market player.Early Diners Are Offered Free Customization- Up to 20%Get Attractive Discount @Market Dashboard:Countries such as Brazil, Indonesia, and India are experiencing some changing dynamics owing to varying preferences, a growing number of working women population and substantial foreign investment in retail outlets. These have caused a spurring growth in the food & beverage sector which primarily affects the plastic caps and closures market positively.Amcor Limited, Silgan Holdings Inc., Global Closure Systems, Comar LLC, Aptar Group, Reynolds Group Holdings, TriMas, Phoenix Closures, Inc., J.L. CLARK, Guala Closures Group, and others are some of the key companies operating in the global plastic caps and closures market.Table of Contents1 Executive Summary$ 1,350.002 Market Introduction$ 0.002.1 Definition 172.2 Scope of the Study 172.3 Market Structure 172.4 List of Assumptions 182.5 Key Takeaways 192.6 Key Buying Criteria 193 Research Methodology $ 0.003.1 Research Process 213.2 Primary Research 213.3 Secondary Research 223.4 Market Size Estimation 233.5 Forecast Model 244 Market Dynamics $ 950.004.1 Introduction 264.2 Drivers 274.2.1 Growing Demand From Food & Beverage Industry 274.2.2 Innovation in Packaging 274.2.3 Drivers Impact Analysis 284.3 Restraints 284.3.1 Fluctuation in Raw Material Prices 284.3.2 Stringent Regulations Regarding the Use of Plastic and Recycled Materials 284.3.3 Restraints Impact Analysis 294.4 Opportunity 294.4.1 Scope in Developing Countries 29Continued........13 List of Tab$Table 1 Market Synopsis 15Table 2 List of Assumptions 18Table 3 Europe Food and Drink Industry, 2014-2015 27Table 4 Global Plastic Caps and Closures Market, by Type, 2016-2023 (Usd Million) 36Table 5 Global Plastic Caps and Closures Market, by Type, 2016-2023 (Million Units) 36Table 6 Global Plastic Caps and Closures Market, by Type, 2016-2023 (Weight-th Mt) 36Table 7 Global Plastic Caps and Closures Market, by Material, 2016-2023 (Usd Million) 39Table 8 Global Plastic Caps and Closures Market, by Material, 2016-2023 (Million Units) 39Table 9 Global Plastic Caps and Closures Market, by Material, 2016-2023 (Weight-th Mt) 40Table 10 Global Plastic Caps and Closures Market, by End-user, 2016-2023 (Usd Million) 43Continued.......Ask for your specific company profile and country level customization on reports.Get More Information on Plastic Caps and Closures Market Research Report -Forecast 2023 @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 Edibles.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, 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.Market Research FutureOffice No. 524/528Amanora ChambersMagarpatta RoadHadapsarPune -411028Maharashtra, India Contrast Media Market Outlook to 2025: GE, Bayer, Bracco, Guerbet, Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine Co., Ltd., and Lantheus Medical Imaging Research for Markets https://www.researchformarkets.com/sample/global-contrast-media-industry-2018-research-report-and-197262 https://www.researchformarkets.com/reports/global-contrast-media-industry-2018-research-report-and-197262 https://www.researchformarkets.com/inquiry/global-contrast-media-industry-2018-research-report-and-197262 According to this study, the Contrast Media Market report gives an edge to not just compete but to outmatch the competition. The report provides with CAGR value fluctuation during the forecast period of 2018-2025 for the global market. The contrast media market report also provides an analytical assessment of the prime challenges faced by contrast media market currently, and in the coming years, which helps market participants in understanding the problems they may face while operating in this market over a longer period of time.Contrast Media Market report is essential to guide for all the market aspirants like traders, distributors, manufacturers, suppliers and emerging market sectors.Some Of The Key Players In Contrast Media Market Include: GE Bayer Bracco Guerbet Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine Co., Ltd. Lantheus Medical Imaging Yangtze River Pharmeceutical Group Co.,Ltd(YRPG) BeiLu PharmaRequest Sample Copy of the Report @The report provides a comprehensive analysis of the Contrast Media industry market by types, applications, players and regions. This report also displays the 2013-2025 production, Consumption, revenue, Gross margin, Cost, Gross, market share, CAGR, and Market influencing factors of the Contrast Media industry in USA, EU, China, India, Japan and other regionsIn 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.Segmentation By Product Type: X-ray & CT Contrast Media MRI Contrast Media Ultrasound Contrast MediaSegmentation By Application Hospitals ClinicsRequest for Report Brochure for Latest Industry Insights @Major Table of Contents:1 Contrast Media Market Overview2 Global Contrast Media Competitions by Players3 Global Contrast Media Competitions by Types4 Global Contrast Media Competitions by Applications5 Global Contrast Media Production Market Analysis by Regions6 Global Contrast Media Sales Market Analysis by Region7 Imports and Exports Market Analysis8 Global Contrast Media Players Profiles and Sales Data9 Contrast Media Upstream and Downstream Analysis10 Global Contrast Media Market Forecast (2018-2025)11 Research Findings and ConclusionInquiry Before Buying@Highlights of the report1. Detailed overview of the market2. Key developments and product launches in the market3. Key parameters which are driving the market4. Strategies of key players and product offerings5. In-depth market segmentationNote: Any special requirements about this report, please let us know and we can provide custom report.About Research for Markets:Research for Markets indulges in detailed and diligent research on different markets, trends and emerging opportunities in the successive direction to cater to your business needs. We have established the pillars of our flourishing institute on the grounds of Credibility and Reliability. RFM delve into the markets across Asia Pacific, North America, South America, Europe, Middle East and Africa.Contact:Mr. A NaiduResearch for MarketsTel: +44 8000-4182-37 (UK)Email: alan.naidu@researchformarkets.com E-learning Software Market are trendy in world | the market is witness of considerable growth in online Training and in educations report analysis by market segments, future growth, competitor analysis, and region. E-learning Software Market https://www.itintelligencemarkets.com/request_sample.php?id=154 https://www.theresearchinsights.com/enquiry_before_buying.php?id=154 https://www.theresearchinsights.com/ask_for_discount.php?id=154 Growing adoption of training answers inside the company landscape, no matter their enterprise vertical, is a chief aspect promoting the E-learning Software Market Increase. An agencies worker base can avail training enjoy which can be customized to suit their gaining knowledge of velocity and potential and enhance information retention thru an interactive and wealthy media learning experience. Organizations consisting of city cab, for example, have released web-based education applications to offer language training to cab drivers for the development of communique with commuters. Owing to their benefits, authorities of various economies, inclusive of in India and Brazil, have undertaken tasks and programs to increase the get right of entry to of the neighborhood populace to such technology.E-learning Software Market is predicted to grow at over +5% CAGR from 2018 to 2023.Request for Sample Copy of This Report@-Competitor Analysis of E-learning Software Market:the providers inside the e-learning market include mcgrawhill, oracle, desire2learn, Apollo schooling organization, adobe systems, netdimensions, cisco structures, Pearson, courser, healthstream, sap, udacity inc., coursera inc., skillsoft, cornerstone, and edx inc. the ecosystem is characterised via severe opposition some of the existing gamers. The businesses adopt strategies such as partnerships and mergers and acquisitions to sustain growth in the market. As an example, in January 2017, udacity inc. obtained cloudlabs for the improvement of the collaborative coding surroundings.E-learning Software Market, by using Applications:The company e-learning marketplace can be segregated by size to consist of smbs and big establishments. This software program lets in the enterprise to teach their employee base in a variety of regions, starting from sensitivity to technical talent training. smbs having constrained financial sources are anticipated to more and more undertake the generation as they permit the training of many personnel at low cost costs. Due to their increasing rates of globalization and rapid industrialization, mncs having a large and dispersed worker base are resorting to diversity and sensitivity education and technical and control training for the diverse degrees in the organization.Enquiry for More Information@-E-learning Software Market, by region:The U.S. E-learning to know market is predicted to lead the worldwide industry, thanks to the growing penetration of corporate schooling programs within the place. The excessive utility of advanced technologies, video content material, and gamification is expected to pressure the call for. The high penetration of mobile technology is anticipated to power the Asia pacific e-studying market. The movement of the personnel to overseas places main to excessive call for of studying courses. Furthermore, developing economies within the place, along with India, have taken projects to improve the literacy quotes of the overall populace, broadly speaking in rural and semi-rural locations.The main points which are answered and covered in this Report are-What will be the total Industrial E-learning Software Market in the coming years till 2023?What will be the key factors which will be overall affecting the industry?What are the various challenges addressed?Which are the major companies included?Early buyers will receive up to 40% Discount on this report@-Table of Content:-Chapter 1 Industry Overview of E-learning Software MarketChapter 2 Manufacturing Cost Structure AnalysisChapter 3 Technical Data and Manufacturing Plants AnalysisChapter 4 Global E-learning Software Market OverviewChapter 5 Regional Market AnalysisChapter 6 Major Manufacturers Analysis of E-learning Software MarketChapter 7 Development Trend of Analysis of MarketChapter 8 E-learning Software Market Marketing Type AnalysisChapter 9 Conclusion of E-learning Software Market Professional Survey Report 2018About usThe Research Insights 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 usRobinSales managerContact number: +91-996-067-0000sales@theresearchinsights.com Automotive spark and glow plugs Market: 2022 | Borgwarner Inc., Federal-Mogul Corporation, Robert Bosch GmbH, Weichai Power Co. https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/sample/110114728/Automotive-spark-and-glow-plugs-Market https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/discount/110114728/Automotive-spark-and-glow-plugs-Market https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/rd/110114728/Automotive-spark-and-glow-plugs-Market https://www.researchreportinsights.com/ According to Research Report Insights (RRI) report, titled Automotive spark & glow plugs Market by 2022, the global automotive spark & glow plugs market is projected to exhibit moderate CAGR, accounting for US$ 6.6 billion in the forecast period from 2016 to 2022.Some key factors fueling the growth of the global market for automotive spark & glow plugs include growing production of automotive and vehicle parc, forthcoming stringent efficiency of fuel and certain norms related to emissions. Also, spark & glow plugs manufacturers durable business contracts with several OEMs help them in reducing cost of production duo to which profit margins increases and in turn shields them from cost fluctuations. These factors are also boosting the market growth during the forecast period. However, growing market demand for electric vehicles owing to fluctuating cost of fuel, rising awareness about environment and ongoing shift to engine downsizing is estimated to hinder the growth of global market for automotive spark & glow plugs in the coming years.Request For Report Sample:The global automotive spark & glow plugs market is categorized into product, sales channel, vehicle and regions. Based on product type, the global automotive spark & glow plugs market is fragmented into cold spark plug, ceramic glow plug, hot spark plug and metal glow plug. Among these, the segment of ceramic glow plug is projected to grow at relatively higher CAGR in the forecast period from 2016 t 2022. In addition, the market growth of ceramic glow plug segment is mainly driven by growing diesel engines demand in several developing countries viz. Mexico, China, Brazil etc.Based on vehicle type, the global automotive spark & glow plugs market is categorized into light commercial vehicle, passenger cars and heavy commercial vehicle. Among these, the segment of passenger cars is estimated to expand at a CAGR of 2.3% in terms of revenue in the next six years. However, based on sales channel, the global automotive spark & glow plugs market is bifurcated into aftermarket and OEM. And among these, the segment of aftermarket is anticipated to remain dominant in terms of revenue contribution in the coming years.Request Report Discount:Regionally, the segmentation is done into North America, Europe, APAC, Latin America and Middle East & Africa (MEA). Among regions, the MEA market in terms of volume is projected to grow at maximum CAGR of 4.0% over the forecast period. Also, the APAC region is estimated to remain dominant and exhibit 47.2% volume share by the end of 2022 in the global market for automotive spark & glow plugs. While in terms of volume, the Europe region is projected to show slow market growth over the forecast period and by the end of 2016, it will exhibit 22% of value share. Moreover, in terms of revenue, the Latin America region is anticipated to expand at a CAGR of 3% in the coming six years.Over the forecast period, the APAC region will remain dominant in the global market for automotive spark & glow plugs.Some of the key players operating in the global market for automotive spark & glow plugs include Borgwarner Inc., Federal-Mogul Corporation, Robert Bosch GmbH, Weichai Power Co., ACDelco Corporation, NGK Spark Plug, Denso Corporation, Valeo SA, Magneti Marelli, among others.Report Analysis:Research Report Insights (RRI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver a host of services including custom research reports, syndicated research reports, and consulting services which are personalised in nature. RRI delivers a complete packaged solution to clients; this combines current market intelligence, technology inputs, statistical anecdotes, valuable growth insights, 360-degree view of the competitive framework, and anticipated market trends.Contact Us:Research Report Insights (RRI)42 Joseph StreetPort carling P0B 1J0Muskoka, Ontario1Phone - +1-631-721-4201Website:Email: sales@researchreportinsights.com Arriving Global TV Ad-spending Market with Increase Demand of the New Trends by Key Players American Express, Comcast, Ford, P&G, Pfizer TV Adspending Market https://www.theresearchinsights.com/request_sample.php?id=395 https://www.theresearchinsights.com/enquiry_before_buying.php?id=395 https://www.theresearchinsights.com/ask_for_discount.php?id=395 The Research Insights declares the addition of a new report on the global market which is titled as TV Ad-spending market. It is an analysis and portrayal of the market report globally. It gives a clear image of the market and a thoughtful knowledge about its segments. The various sections is examined and is the key part of the market.Request for Sample Copy of this report:Top Key Vendors:American Express, Comcast, Ford, P&G, Pfizer, Verizon Communications, AT&T, Chrysler, General Motors, Johnson & Johnson, JP Morgan Chase, LOreal, Nissan, Time Warner, Toyota, Walt DisneyDifferent factors have been fathomed to give it a comprehensive perception of the market. The cost analysis of the TV Ad-spending market has been achieved while keeping in view the manufacturing expenses, labor cost, and raw materials and their market concentration rate, suppliers, and price trend. Buyers of the report will equally be obtainable to an inspection on market arranging with components like target customer, brand strategy, and value methodology.Request for Enquiry before Buying:On the basis of its regional outlook, this report parts the market into Europe, North America, SouthEast Asia, India, China, and Japan. The next part of the report offers thorough insights on the key sections of the market. The growth of the TV Ad-spending market in all these areas has been premeditated in detail in this report. The major growth drivers and interceptor of the market have also been deliberated in the succeeding section of the studyAsk For Discount:The report also gives detailed information on the global market in terms of its competitors, public growth, mergers & acquisitions and new product launches. The manufacturers in the TV Ad-spending market are defined in terms of their product and shares in the annual volume of the market between 2018 and 2023. This passage also includes details on the revenue generation capacity of key manufacturersTable of Content:Chapter 1 Overview of TV Ad-spending MarketChapter 2 Manufacturing Cost Structure AnalysisChapter 3 Global TV Ad-spending Market OverviewChapter 4 Technical Data and Manufacturing Plants AnalysisChapter 5 TV Ad-spending Market Regional AnalysisChapter 6 Major Manufacturers AnalysisChapter 7 Development Trend of Analysis of MarketChapter 8 TV Ad-spending Industry Type AnalysisChapter 9 Conclusion of the Global Market Professional Survey Report 2018About usThe Research Insights 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 usRobinSales managerContact number: +91-996-067-0000sales@theresearchinsights.com Global Ready Mixed Concrete (RMX) Market 2018: Key Players Cemex, LafargeHolcim, HeidelbergCement, Buzzi, Unicem, US Concrete, Votorantim Ready Mixed Concrete (RMX) Market https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/3222330-global-ready-mixed-concrete-rmx-market-data-survey-report-2025 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/enquiry/3222330-global-ready-mixed-concrete-rmx-market-data-survey-report-2025 SummaryWiseGuyReports.com adds Ready Mixed Concrete (RMX) Market 2018 Global Analysis, Growth, Trends and Opportunities Research Report Forecasting to 2023 reports to its database.This report provides in depth study of Ready Mixed Concrete (RMX) Market using SWOT analysis i.e. Strength, Weakness, Opportunities and Threat to the organization. The Ready Mixed Concrete (RMX) Market report also provides an in-depth survey of key players in the market which is based on the various objectives of an organization such as profiling, the product outline, the quantity of production, required raw material, and the financial health of the organization.Key manufacturers are included based on manufacturing sites, capacity and production, product specifications etc.:CemexLafargeHolcimHeidelbergCementBuzzi UnicemUS ConcreteVotorantimVotorantimCRHCimporChina Resources CementSikaThe main contents of the report including:Global market size and forecastRegional market size, production data and export & importKey manufacturers (manufacturing sites, capacity and production, product specifications etc.)Major ApplicationMajor TypeMajor applications as follows:Residential UseCommercial UseInfrastructure UseIndustrial UseMajor Type as follows:Transit Mixed ConcreteShrink Mixed ConcreteCentral Mixed ConcreteRegional market size, production data and Trade:Asia-PacificNorth AmericaEuropeSouth AmericaMiddle East & AfricaRequest a Sample Report @Major Key Points in Table of Content1 Global Market Overview1.1 Scope of Statistics1.1.1 Scope of Products1.1.2 Scope of Manufacturers1.1.3 Scope of Application1.1.5 Scope of Regions/Countries1.2 Global Market Size2 Regional Market2.1 Regional Production2.2 Regional Demand2.3 Regional Trade3 Key Manufacturers3.1 Cemex3.1.2 Company Information3.1.2 Product Specifications3.1.3 Business Data (Capacity, Sales Revenue, Volume, Price, Cost and Margin)3.2 LafargeHolcim3.2.1 Company Information3.2.2 Product Specifications3.2.3 Business Data (Capacity, Sales Revenue, Volume, Price, Cost and Margin)3.3 HeidelbergCement3.3.1 Company Information3.3.2 Product Specifications3.3.3 Business Data (Capacity, Sales Revenue, Volume, Price, Cost and Margin)3.4 Buzzi Unicem3.4.1 Company Information3.4.2 Product Specifications3.4.3 Business Data (Capacity, Sales Revenue, Volume, Price, Cost and Margin)3.5 US Concrete3.5.1 Company Information3.5.2 Product Specifications3.5.3 Business Data (Capacity, Sales Revenue, Volume, Price, Cost and Margin)3.6 Votorantim3.6.1 Company Information3.6.2 Product Specifications3.6.3 Business Data (Capacity, Sales Revenue, Volume, Price, Cost and Margin)3.7 Votorantim3.7.1 Company Information3.7.2 Product Specifications3.7.3 Business Data (Capacity, Sales Revenue, Volume, Price, Cost and Margin)3.8 CRH3.8.1 Company Information3.8.2 Product Specifications3.8.3 Business Data (Capacity, Sales Revenue, Volume, Price, Cost and Margin)3.9 Cimpor3.9.1 Company Information3.9.2 Product Specifications3.9.3 Business Data (Capacity, Sales Revenue, Volume, Price, Cost and Margin)3.10 China Resources Cement3.10.1 Company Information3.10.2 Product Specifications3.10.3 Business Data (Capacity, Sales Revenue, Volume, Price, Cost and Margin)3.11 Sika4 Major Application4.1 Residential Use4.1.1 Overview4.1.2 Residential Use Market Size and Forecast4.2 Commercial Use4.2.1 Overview4.2.2 Commercial Use Market Size and Forecast4.3 Infrastructure Use4.3.1 Overview4.3.2 Infrastructure Use Market Size and Forecast4.4 Industrial Use4.4.1 Overview4.4.2 Industrial Use Market Size and ForecastAt any Query @Continued....Contact Us: sales@wiseguyreports.comPh: +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.Address:Wise Guy Research Consultants Pvt LtdPune 411028Maharashtra,+91 841 198 5042 Alcohol Breathalyzer and Drug Testing Equipment Market 2026 | https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/sample/110114887/Alcohol-Breathalyzer-and-Drug-Testing-Equipment-Market https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/discount/110114887/Alcohol-Breathalyzer-and-Drug-Testing-Equipment-Market https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/rd/110114887/Alcohol-Breathalyzer-and-Drug-Testing-Equipment-Market https://www.researchreportinsights.com/ Alcohol and drug testing equipment are utilized to test inebriation levels stimulated by drug and alcohol consumption. Chromatography instruments, immunoassay analyzers, hair testing devices and oral testing devices, urine testing devices, and breathalyzers are extensively utilized for testing drug and alcohol content in individuals. The worldwide market for alcohol breathalyzer and drug testing equipment is anticipated to increase at a 6.9% CAGR in value terms all through the calculated period 2018-2026. The worldwide market estimated at around US$ 7,300 Million during 2017 that is likely to grow approximately US$ 13,393.3 Million towards the end of 2026.Market SegmentationIn terms of the equipment, the global market includes infrared (IR) based breathalyzer, semiconductor based breathalyzer, immunoassay analyzers, fuel cell based breathalyzer, oral fluid testing devices, chromatography instruments, hair testing devices and urine testing devices. The IR based breathalyzer is employed widely, owing to its high level of precision. This category is therefore likely to foresee robust growth over the assessment period. The fuel cell based breathalyzer is likely to continue as the biggest category over the calculated period, reflecting the maximum 7.3% CAGR.Request For Report Sample:In terms of the application, the global market includes alcohol detection and drugs detection. The alcohol detection is estimated to record the maximum 6.5% CAGR over the projected period, accounting for a market valuation of close to US$ 10 Billion towards the end of 2026. While rising number of drunk driving instances are likely to fuel the requirement for alcohol detection equipment, it is anticipated that drugs detection category will be highly lucrative in the said period.In terms of the end-user, the global market includes hospitals, federal departments, private sectors and rehabilitation centres. The federal departments end-user category will be witnessing higher demand, trailed by private sectors. Although revenue generation from the earlier category is estimated to account for in excess of US$ 6 Billion, that from the second will probably succeed US$ 4 Billion towards 2026 end. Although, private sectors category is likely to increase at a faster 7.5% CAGR in the coming years.Request Report Discount:In terms of the region, the global market includes Europe, North America, Middle East & Africa, Asia Pacific and Latin America. North America is estimated to lead with 52.3% of the overall market share in value terms, by 2018. APAC regional market is anticipated to remain the highest growing market, reflecting a 7.9% CAGR in value terms over the projected period.Key Market PlayersThe major companies functional in the global market areLifeloc Technologies Inc.Lion Laboratories LimitedAndatech Pty. Ltd.IntoximetersQuest Products, Inc.BACtrackC4 Development Ltd (Alcovisor)Dragerwerk AG & Co. KGaAAlere (Abbott.)OthersReport Analysis:Research Report Insights (RRI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver a host of services including custom research reports, syndicated research reports, and consulting services which are personalised in nature. RRI delivers a complete packaged solution to clients; this combines current market intelligence, technology inputs, statistical anecdotes, valuable growth insights, 360-degree view of the competitive framework, and anticipated market trends.Contact Us:Research Report Insights (RRI)42 Joseph StreetPort carling P0B 1J0Muskoka, Ontario1Phone - +1-631-721-4201Website:Email: sales@researchreportinsights.com Do you know? New innovation in Global Online K-12 Education market by Top Key Players like Google, Apple and K12 Inc. Global Online K-12 Education market https://www.theresearchinsights.com/request_sample.php?id=417 https://www.theresearchinsights.com/enquiry_before_buying.php?id=417 https://www.theresearchinsights.com/ask_for_discount.php?id=417 Online K-12 Education::OverviewThe Global Online K-12 Education market is estimated to clock US$+159 at the end of 2018 and is forecasted to reach a valuation of US$+285 at the end of the forecast period from 2018-2025, at a CAGR +11%. Market that consists of a detailed description and analysis based on the various types of products available in the market and also has the different end users. The report has statistics on the leading regional segment. The report discovers the productivity capacity, price and gross margin from the data. To understand the competitive significance among the traders, the report appraises the market share and middling price of some of the leading companies.K-12, a term used in education and educational technology in the United States, Canada, and perhaps different nations, is a short shape for the freely bolstered school grades before school. These grades are kindergarten (K) and the first through the twelfth grade (1-12)Online K-12 Education::Key Players:K12 Inc, Pearson, White Hat Managemen, Georg von Holtzbrinck, Bettermarks, Scoyo, Languagenut, Beness Holding, Inc, New Oriental Education & Technology, XUEDA, AMBO, XRS, CDEL, Ifdoo, YINGDING, Google, Apple and Baidu.Request a Sample Copy of this report@:Key Findings:The dominant part of up and coming patterns in K12 training identify with encouraging 21st century aptitudes by utilizing innovation in new and inventive ways.The changing employments of innovation necessitate that educators additionally change their techniques of guidance. A considerable lot of the innovations distinguished in this report permit and urge understudies to coordinate their own learning. Therefore, educators must move from being holders and merchants of learning to getting to be instructional facilitators who urge understudies to coordinate their own learning.A few devices are presently accessible that are expressly intended to help educators. Social learning systems, eportfolios, and distributed computing enable instructors to practically interface and support discourse about accepted procedures among instructors.Online K-12 Education Market: By Types Elementary Education (Grades 1-5) Junior High Education (Grades 6-8) Senior High Education (Grades 9-12)Online K-12 Education::By ApplicationsTeacher, Student and ParentsOnline K-12 Education Market: By RegionsUnited States, EU, Japan, China, India and Southeast AsiaRequest for more enquiry about this report@:Online K-12 Education Market::Current Trends, Future Scope and some Challenges CLOUD COMPUTING:Infrastructureasaservice (i.e., virtualization):Platformasaservice (PaaS):Softwareasaservice (SaaS): MOBILE LEARNING BRING YOUR OWN DEVICE (BYOD) LEARNING ANALYTICS OPEN CONTENT 3D PRINTING VIRTUAL AND REMOTE LABORATORIES COMPETENCYBASED MODELS SOCIAL LEARNING NETWORKS DIGITAL TEXTBOOKS FLIPPED CLASSROOMS AUGMENTED REALITYTable of Content:Chapter 1. MethodologyChapter 2. Executive SummaryChapter 3. Online K-12 Education Market, By TechnologyChapter 4. Industry InsightsChapter 5. Online K-12 Education Market, By RegionChapter 6. Company ProfilesChapter 7. Major Manufacturers Analysis of Online K-12 Education Market.Chapter 8: How to look at the future of Market?Chapter 9: Online K-12 Education Market, By End-userChapter 10: Conclusion of the Global Online K-12 Education Market Professional Survey Report 2018Hurry up early buyers will receive up to 40% Discount on this report@:Our Mission:Thanks for reading this article, you can also get individual chapter wise section or region wise report version like North America, Europe or Asia. Our Main Aim is to find the Important Insights of market and give it to you and it will help to grow your Business Rapidly in Market.About us:The Research Insights 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:RobinSales managerContact number: +91-996-067-0000.sales@theresearchinsights.com Global (North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa) Enterprise Cyber Security Market is demanding -by top key players like 360 Enterprise Security, Venustech & Westone Global Enterprise Cyber Security Market https://www.theresearchinsights.com/request_sample.php?id=661 https://www.theresearchinsights.com/enquiry_before_buying.php?id=661 https://www.theresearchinsights.com/ask_for_discount.php?id=661 Enterprise Cyber Security::OverviewThe Research Insights newly added a report, titled as Global Enterprise Cyber Security Market analysis, research, share, growth, sales & trends and forecasted of the market.The influence of predominant economic and directing scenario athwart the leading markets has been scrutinized in detail. Apart from this, the report also revives about the competitive landscape of the market. This report provides a complete synopsis of the market, presenting acumens into the key factors driving and limiting its growth.Request a Sample Copy of this report@:Enterprise security governance is an organization's technique for decreasing the danger of unapproved access to data innovation frameworks and information. Undertaking security administration exercises include the advancement, standardization, evaluation and enhancement of an association's endeavor hazard the board (ERM) and security. Enterprise security governance activities ought to be steady with the association's consistence prerequisites, culture and the board arrangements. Enterprise security governance is an organization's system for lessening the possibility that physical resources possessed by the organization can be stolen or harmed.. Global enterprise cyber security solutions market to grow at a CAGR of close to +11% during the period 2018-2025, according to their latest market research report.Enterprise Cyber Security::Key PlayersVenustech, Westone, H3C, Huawei, Topsec, Nsfocus, Sangfor, 360 Enterprise Security, Symantec Corporation, Asiainfo and DBAPPSecurity.Enterprise Cyber Security Market: By TypesSecurity Software, Security Hardware and Security ServicesEnterprise Cyber Security::By ApplicationsGovernment, Education, Enterprise, Financial, Medical and OthersEnterprise Cyber Security Market: By Regions North America Europe Asia-Pacific South America Middle East AfricaRequest for more enquiry about this report@:Enterprise Cyber Security Market::Current Trends, Future Scope and some ChallengesIran is on the rise:As per Accenture, Iran-based danger on-screen characters and gatherings look prone to proceed with their exercises consistently, boosting their capacities to boot.Production network dangers still a huge issue:Third-and fourth-party assaults are a key pattern during the current year, as any CIO deserving at least some respect knows. While supply chains are critical for ventures, these systems are ideal objectives for terrible performing artists zoning in on vulnerabilities. We have seen this with the plenty of outsider ruptures.Basic foundation in the line of sight:As indicated by the report, the oil and gas enterprises have a ton of work to do to get ready for the developing digital dangers.With the increased global awareness on the information security, particularly with the GDPR coming into power, Compliance and Regulation give one of a kind difficulties and chances to associations utilizing cloud administrations and other problematic innovations. This performance center will feature the most recent issues like GDPR and Cyber security Bill, and functional strategies to enhance your security in the cloud, ensuring and overseeing client information in a portable working environment to administration consistence and administrative strategy in the area.Table of Content:Chapter 1. MethodologyChapter 2. Executive SummaryChapter 3. Enterprise Cyber Security Market, By TechnologyChapter 4. Industry InsightsChapter 5. Enterprise Cyber Security Market, By RegionChapter 6. Company ProfilesChapter 7. Major Manufacturers Analysis of Enterprise Cyber Security Market.Chapter 8: How to look at the future of Market?Chapter 9: Enterprise Cyber Security Market, By End-userChapter 10: Conclusion of the Global Enterprise Cyber Security Market Professional Survey Report 2018Hurry up early buyers will receive up to 40% Discount on this report@:Our Mission:Thanks for reading this article, you can also get individual chapter wise section or region wise report version like North America, Europe or Asia. Our Main Aim is to find the Important Insights of market and give it to you and it will help to grow your Business Rapidly in Market.About us:The Research Insights 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:RobinSales managerContact number: +91-996-067-0000.sales@theresearchinsights.com English Language Training Market Size, Leading Players/ Websites (Disney, EF Education First, iTutor Group, Pearson, Teach Away, VIPKID, DaDa, Qkids, Gogokid, 51Talk) Global English Language Training Market Size, Leading Players/ Websites (Disney, EF Education First, iTutor Group, Pearson) https://decisionmarketreports.com/request-sample?productID=887133 https://decisionmarketreports.com/market-reports/887133/global-english-language-training-elt-market https://decisionmarketreports.com/request-sample?productID=887133 http://decisionmarketreports.com/ Global English Language Training (ELT) Market is a huge multi-billion dollar market expected to grow at more than 20% CAGR during forecast year 2018-2025, according to DecisionMarketReports.comThis report focuses on the global English Language Training (ELT) status, future forecast, growth opportunity, key market and key players. The study objectives are to present the English Language Training (ELT) development in United States, Europe and China.Request a Free PDF Sample Brochure of Digital English Language Training/ Learning @Global English Language Training (ELT) Market Size, Status and Forecast 2018-2025: English Language Teaching is based on the idea that the goal of language acquisition is communicative competence. It adopts concepts, techniques and methods in classroom for recognizing and managing the communicative needs of the language learners.In 2017, the global English Language Training (ELT) market size was xx million US$ and it is expected to reach xx million US$ by the end of 2025, with a CAGR of xx% during 2018-2025.The key players covered in this Digital English Language Learning Market study: Disney EF Education First iTutor Group New Oriental Education & Technology Pearson Teach Away VIPKID DaDa Qkids Gogokid 51TalkBrowse Complete Report with Table of Content @Digital English Language Learning Market segment by Type, the product can be split into B2C B2B B2GDigital English Language Learning Market segment by Application, split into K12 Adult OthersDigital English Language Learning Market segment by Regions/Countries, this report covers United States Europe China Japan Southeast Asia India Central & South AmericaThe study objectives of this Digital English Language Learning Market report are: To analyze global English Language Training (ELT) status, future forecast, growth opportunity, key market and key players. To present the English Language Training (ELT) development in United States, Europe and China. To strategically profile the key players and comprehensively analyze their development plan and strategies. To define, describe and forecast the market by product type, market and key regions.In this study, the years considered to estimate the market size of English Language Training (ELT) are as follows:History Year: 2013-2017Base Year: 2017Estimated Year: 2018Forecast Year 2018 to 2025For 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.For Better Insights help@decisionmarketreports.comTable of Contents1 Report Overview1.1 Study Scope1.2 Key Market Segments1.3 Players Covered1.4 Market Analysis by Type1.4.1 Global English Language Training (ELT) Market Size Growth Rate by Type (2013-2025)1.4.2 B2C1.4.3 B2B1.4.4 B2G1.5 Market by Application1.5.1 Global English Language Training (ELT) Market Share by Application (2013-2025)1.5.2 K121.5.3 Adult1.5.4 Others1.6 Study Objectives1.7 Years Considered2 Global Growth Trends2.1 English Language Training (ELT) Market Size2.2 English Language Training (ELT) Growth Trends by Regions2.2.1 English Language Training (ELT) Market Size by Regions (2013-2025)2.2.2 English Language Training (ELT) Market Share by Regions (2013-2018)2.3 Industry Trends2.3.1 Market Top Trends2.3.2 Market Drivers2.3.3 Market Opportunities3 Market Share by Key Players3.1 English Language Training (ELT) Market Size by Manufacturers3.1.1 Global English Language Training (ELT) Revenue by Manufacturers (2013-2018)3.1.2 Global English Language Training (ELT) Revenue Market Share by Manufacturers (2013-2018)3.1.3 Global English Language Training (ELT) Market Concentration Ratio (CR5 and HHI)3.2 English Language Training (ELT) Key Players Head office and Area Served3.3 Key Players English Language Training (ELT) Product/Solution/Service3.4 Date of Enter into English Language Training (ELT) Market3.5 Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion Plans4 Breakdown Data by Type and Application4.1 Global English Language Training (ELT) Market Size by Type (2013-2018)4.2 Global English Language Training (ELT) Market Size by Application (2013-2018)5 United States5.1 United States English Language Training (ELT) Market Size (2013-2018)5.2 English Language Training (ELT) Key Players in United States5.3 United States English Language Training (ELT) Market Size by Type5.4 United States English Language Training (ELT) Market Size by Application6 Europe6.1 Europe English Language Training (ELT) Market Size (2013-2018)6.2 English Language Training (ELT) Key Players in Europe6.3 Europe English Language Training (ELT) Market Size by Type6.4 Europe English Language Training (ELT) Market Size by Application7 China7.1 China English Language Training (ELT) Market Size (2013-2018)7.2 English Language Training (ELT) Key Players in China7.3 China English Language Training (ELT) Market Size by Type7.4 China English Language Training (ELT) Market Size by Application8 Japan8.1 Japan English Language Training (ELT) Market Size (2013-2018)8.2 English Language Training (ELT) Key Players in Japan8.3 Japan English Language Training (ELT) Market Size by Type8.4 Japan English Language Training (ELT) Market Size by Application9 Southeast Asia9.1 Southeast Asia English Language Training (ELT) Market Size (2013-2018)9.2 English Language Training (ELT) Key Players in Southeast Asia9.3 Southeast Asia English Language Training (ELT) Market Size by Type9.4 Southeast Asia English Language Training (ELT) Market Size by Application10 India10.1 India English Language Training (ELT) Market Size (2013-2018)10.2 English Language Training (ELT) Key Players in India10.3 India English Language Training (ELT) Market Size by Type10.4 India English Language Training (ELT) Market Size by Application11 Central & South America11.1 Central & South America English Language Training (ELT) Market Size (2013-2018)11.2 English Language Training (ELT) Key Players in Central & South America11.3 Central & South America English Language Training (ELT) Market Size by Type11.4 Central & South America English Language Training (ELT) Market Size by Application12 International Players Profiles12.1 Disney12.1.1 Disney Company Details12.1.2 Company Description and Business Overview12.1.3 English Language Training (ELT) Introduction12.1.4 Disney Revenue in English Language Training (ELT) Business (2013-2018)12.1.5 Disney Recent Development12.2 EF Education First12.2.1 EF Education First Company Details12.2.2 Company Description and Business Overview12.2.3 English Language Training (ELT) Introduction12.2.4 EF Education First Revenue in English Language Training (ELT) Business (2013-2018)12.2.5 EF Education First Recent Development12.3 iTutor Group12.3.1 iTutor Group Company Details12.3.2 Company Description and Business Overview12.3.3 English Language Training (ELT) Introduction12.3.4 iTutor Group Revenue in English Language Training (ELT) Business (2013-2018)12.3.5 iTutor Group Recent Development12.4 New Oriental Education & Technology12.4.1 New Oriental Education & Technology Company Details12.4.2 Company Description and Business Overview12.4.3 English Language Training (ELT) Introduction12.4.4 New Oriental Education & Technology Revenue in English Language Training (ELT) Business (2013-2018)12.4.5 New Oriental Education & Technology Recent Development12.5 Pearson12.5.1 Pearson Company Details12.5.2 Company Description and Business Overview12.5.3 English Language Training (ELT) Introduction12.5.4 Pearson Revenue in English Language Training (ELT) Business (2013-2018)12.5.5 Pearson Recent Development12.6 Teach Away12.6.1 Teach Away Company Details12.6.2 Company Description and Business Overview12.6.3 English Language Training (ELT) Introduction12.6.4 Teach Away Revenue in English Language Training (ELT) Business (2013-2018)12.6.5 Teach Away Recent Development12.7 VIPKID12.7.1 VIPKID Company Details12.7.2 Company Description and Business Overview12.7.3 English Language Training (ELT) Introduction12.7.4 VIPKID Revenue in English Language Training (ELT) Business (2013-2018)12.7.5 VIPKID Recent Development12.8 DaDa12.8.1 DaDa Company Details12.8.2 Company Description and Business Overview12.8.3 English Language Training (ELT) Introduction12.8.4 DaDa Revenue in English Language Training (ELT) Business (2013-2018)12.8.5 DaDa Recent Development12.9 Qkids12.9.1 Qkids Company Details12.9.2 Company Description and Business Overview12.9.3 English Language Training (ELT) Introduction12.9.4 Qkids Revenue in English Language Training (ELT) Business (2013-2018)12.9.5 Qkids Recent Development12.10 Gogokid12.10.1 Gogokid Company Details12.10.2 Company Description and Business Overview12.10.3 English Language Training (ELT) Introduction12.10.4 Gogokid Revenue in English Language Training (ELT) Business (2013-2018)12.10.5 Gogokid Recent Development12.11 51Talk13 Market Forecast 2018-202513.1 Market Size Forecast by Regions13.2 United States13.3 Europe13.4 China13.5 Japan13.6 Southeast Asia13.7 India13.8 Central & South America13.9 Market Size Forecast by Product (2018-2025)13.10 Market Size Forecast by Application (2018-2025)14 Analysts Viewpoints/Conclusions15 Appendix15.1 Research Methodology15.1.1 Methodology/Research Approach15.1.1.1 Research Programs/Design15.1.1.2 Market Size Estimation12.1.1.3 Market Breakdown and Data Triangulation15.1.2 Data Source15.1.2.1 Secondary Sources15.1.2.2 Primary Sources15.2 Disclaimer15.3 Author DetailsRequest a Free PDF Sample Report @About UsDecision Market Reports is a one-stop solution, covers market research studies of all the industries, companies and regions. DMR aims at providing quality research, and insights about every market to helps our clients in taking right decisions. Our repository consists of most trending industry reports, niche areas, and leading company profiles. A comprehensive collection of reports is updated daily to offer hassle-free access to our latest updated report databases.Contact UsGasper James304, S Jones Blvd,Las Vegas,NV 89107, USAUS Toll Free +1-866-605-1052Email: sales@decisionmarketreports.comWeb: Anti-static Films Market - Recent Analysis of Industry Trends and Technological Improvements For 2026 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/antistatic-films-market.html https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=35864 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Anti-static films are typically coated with tropical antistatic agents. New technologies are constantly adopted in the automotive industry to enhance functionalities. This factor is driving the anti-static films market in the forecast period. Electronic circuitry gets progressively smaller as electronic technology advances. As the size of the components reduces, the spacing of the microscopic insulators and circuits within them also reduces and their sensitivity to electric static discharge (ESD) increases. To protect such components, a packaging solution like anti-static films is required.Browse Market Research Report @Traditionally, pharmaceutical and automotive industries prefer rigid packaging products. These are rapidly being replaced by flexible packaging products like pouches, bags, and sacks made of plastics such as anti-static films. The rising preference for flexible packaging, particularly for high-performance applications, is expected to generate new market opportunities for anti-static films. Anti-static films have distinctive colors such as pink, black, grey or silver depending upon their properties or the anti-static additives added.The demand for anti-static films is majorly from electronics & electrical manufacturing service providers located in the Asia Pacific region, where China and Japan stand at the top. By country, China is expected to grow at the highest CAGR in the anti-static films market. The anti-static films market in India also growing rapidly. This is due to government initiatives like Make in India, Smart City, UDAN (regional airport development and regional connectivity scheme), and other initiatives. Growing massive infrastructure development projects in the Asia Pacific region, e.g. One Belt One Road (OBOR) and Sagarmala Project (India) are expected to boost the demand for electronic & electrical devices, which in turn is expected to drive the anti-static films market.Request a PDF Brochure With Future Advancements @The commercially available static controls such as anti-static films usually contain 15% to 20% of carbon black as an additive. The high content of carbon black in anti-static films leads to high surface conductivity which results in an uncontrolled discharge through the anti-static films material. This has resulted in the decline in the growth rate of carbon black as a conductive filler in the anti-static films packaging materials. Also, the market share of carbon black has decreased in recent years due to its damaging properties to sensitive electrical components. The increase in production of these printed circuit boards and semiconductor components is anticipated to boost the anti-static films market in the APAC regions. This, in turn, is likely to lead the high growth opportunities for the anti-static films market in these emerging markets such as APAC.About TMRTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Contact TMR90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Global Retail Banking IT Spending Market with Dell, HP, IBM, Microsoft, Accenture, Acer, ATOS, Capgemini, CGI, Cisco, Cognizant- growing due to the advanced Technologies Retail Banking IT spending market https://www.theresearchinsights.com/request_sample.php?id=320 https://www.theresearchinsights.com/ask_for_discount.php?id=320 https://www.theresearchinsights.com/enquiry_before_buying.php?id=320 Retail banking IT spending possesses a noteworthy offer in the total IT spending by banks around the world. Aside from spending on center hardware, software, and administrations, retail banks spend on various developing advances, such as, analytical technologies, internal operations, online banking, mobile banking, and channel management. Development in managing an account advancements has changed how a client deals a bank today. The advancement of technologies has not just improved the client experience and fulfillment level, however has additionally made banks inescapable basically, for example, through a cellphone, a client can complete a managing an account Transaction.Request a Sample Copy of this Report @:The Top Key Players such as Dell, HP, IBM, Microsoft, Accenture, Acer, ATOS, Capgemini, CGI, Cisco, Cognizant, CSC, EMC, FIS, Fujitsu, Genpact, HCL, Hitachi, iGATE, Infosys, Intel, JP Morgan, Misys, Netapp, Oracle, Polaris Software Lab, Ramco, SAP, Syntel, TCS, Temenos, Teradata, Unisys, Vmware, Wipro, and WNS.The structure of the report is curated in such a way that can be easily understood. To indicate the facts and figure, various graphical presentation techniques are used. Along with the elaboration of the market segments, it focuses on applications and specifications that are offered by different manufacturers.Global Retail Banking IT Spending Market: Trends, Scope and Growth Analysis-The development of innovation has improved client experience and satisfaction levels as well as made banks obvious for all intents and purposes. For example, with a click of a cellophane, a client can finish a managing a banking transaction. Extraordinary conflict among banks is expanding step by step and in this way banks are under huge straining to separate as far as products and services. In this manner, banks are grasping forefront advancements to manufacture solid associations with their customers and furthermore to control their use.Also, the report offers SWOT analysis, to identify the internal strength and weaknesses of Retail Banking IT Spending Market. Profiling about the leading global competitors has been included in the report that is more beneficial to balance the growth of the market. Different assessment models are used to find out the opportunities, which helps to increase the turnover of 2018-2023 year.Global Retail Banking IT Spending Market: By types-Core Banking, Online Banking, Mobile Banking, Channel Management, Internal Operations, Analytical Technologies, Increased Internet PenetrationGlobal Retail Banking IT Spending Market: Application Segment Analysis-Hardware, Software, ServicesGlobal Retail Banking IT Spending Market: Regional Segment Analysis-The market segmentation of the global Retail Banking IT Spending market is demonstrated across the various regions, such as USA, Europe, Japan, China, India, Southeast Asia, South America, South Africa. To predict the scope and productivity. Some of the important aspects are considered to highlight the strategy and growth of the market.Ask for Discount:Reasons to BUY this Report :A. Identified current and future development of the Global Retail Banking IT Spending Market.B. Key market diagonals over the business sections, Regions and Countries.C. Competitive Event management mapping the key public trends.D. Make available market size to assist with planning and strategic decisions.E. A five years forecast of the market.F. Detailed research and segmentation for the market.G. Helps you to understand market dynamics to give you deeper understanding of the market.H. To reveal opportunities for Market.I. Strategic references for the new competitors.TABLE OF CONTENT:Global Retail Banking IT Spending Market with Dell, HP, IBM, Microsoft, Accenture, Acer, ATOS, Capgemini, CGI, Cisco, Cognizant- growing due to the advanced Of TechnologiesChapter 1. Overview of Retail Banking IT SpendingChapter 2. Company (Top Players) ProfilesChapter 3. Development of Retail Banking IT spending marketChapter 4. Competitive Status, Trends and Growth.Chapter 5. Retail Banking IT Spending Market segmented by Products (2018-2023)Chapter 6. Segmented by Application and by regions (2018-2023)Chapter 7. Conclusion of marketChapter 8. Proposals of New Project.Chapter 9. Market opportunities and threats faced by Retail Banking IT spending market.Chapter 10. Research Findings and ConclusionTo Get More Information, Enquiry @:About usThe Research Insights 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 usRobinSales managerContact number: +91-996-067-0000sales@theresearchinsights.com Wheat-Based Varieties to Hold Half the U.S. Snacks Market Revenue in 2018, Finds a New Study https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=S&rep_id=50 https://www.factmr.com/report/50/snacks-market https://www.factmr.com/checkout/50/S https://www.factmr.com/ https://www.industrynewsanalysis.com/ The snacks market in the United States is expected to generate revenues worth over US $ 21 Bn and growing at over 5% Y-o-Y in 2018 over 2017. Nearly 28% of the global snacks consumption was estimated to be concentrated in the United States in 2017. Overall growth of the U.S. snack market can be attributed to,U.S. consumers increasing propensity for on-the-go foodRetail shelves filled with single-serve and grab-and-go snacksIncreased household spending on snacksConsumer preference for healthy snacks and delivery of clean labelled snacksGet Free Sample Report @The U.S. snacks marketplace is strictly regulated by FDA that monitors the aspects of food ingredients and food packaging, including snacks that are imported. Further, rising levels of obesity have significantly transformed consumer preferences wherein obesity conscious consumers are seeking healthy and clean labelled snacks.Biscuits Dominate the Palate of U.S. Snack Consumers in 2018 with over Half the Market ShareAlong with convenience, increasing preference for healthy yet convenient food has led the U.S. population to consume nearly worth US$ 11 Mn of biscuits in 2017. As manufacturers continue to introduce novel flavors, designs and varieties of biscuits wrapped in innovative packaging solutions, the US consumers love for biscuits is set to witness an upward trend in 2018.The U.S. snacks market has witnessed the entry of multiple snack bar providers. Availability of a range of snack bars complements the on-the-go lifestyle of the U.S. consumers wherein the snack bar sales are expected to occupy over one-fourth of the U.S. snacks market revenue in 2018.Supermarket/Hypermarket Leads Snacks Distribution in the U.S.With its extensive network of food retail channels of supermarket and grocery, the United States distributes a considerable quantity of snacks through supermarket/hypermarket. The snacks distribution in the United States through supermarket/hypermarket accounted for nearly US$ 7 Bn in 2017.Although convenience stores outnumber supermarket with their two fold presence, they accounted for the second largest distributor of snacks in 2017. Nearly 3 out of 10 snacks sold in 2017 were through convenience stores and the status quo is expected to continue in 2018.View Full Report with Table of Content @Wheat remains the popular source for snacks product in the United States. Although oats, millets and other sources based snacks are consumed, the United States preference for wheat-based snacks registered over half the revenues of U.S. snacks market in 2017. The demand is likely to continue in 2018 with an estimated increase of nearly US$ 500 Mn over 2017.The U.S. snack marketplace is highly consolidated at the top with the presence of industry titans such as General Mills and Kelloggs among others. Well aware of the opportunities in the U.S. snack marketplace, manufacturers are leveraging expansion strategies to gain profitability.In Nov 2018, globally popular Australian candy snack bar Violet Crumble initiated a partnership with British Wholesale Imports Inc. to expand the retail network in the United States. In May 2018, the food and beverage giant PepsiCo announced plans to acquire Bare Foods Co., a fruit and vegetable snack maker in the U.S. Kelloggs, one of the prominent player in the U.S. re-launched its Special K cereal bars with an aim to introduce healthier options for consumers.Technology penetration and increasing pool of discriminating consumers have transformed the U.S. consumer preference for food wherein they are highly seeking snacks between meals to satisfy food cravings. In addition, demand for traditional snacks is declining with the availability of healthy snacks options such as snack bars, fruit snacks and cookies.The aforementioned insights and numbers are according to a Fact.MR study which also tracks the performance of the U.S. snacks market for the period 2017-2022.Snacks Market Report is available for Purchase @About FactMRFactMR is a fast-growing market research firm that offers the most comprehensive suite of syndicated and customized market insights reports. We believe transformative intelligence can educate and inspire businesses to make smarter decisions. We know the limitations of the one-size-fits-all approach; that's why we publish multi-industry global, regional, and country-specific research reports.Contact UsFactMR11140 Rockville PikeSuite 400Rockville, MD 20852United StatesEmail: sales@factmr.comWeb:Read Industry News at- Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) Market 2018 Global Analysis By Key Players Olympus Corporation, Mistras Group, Intertek Group Plc, Sgs S.A, Nikon Metrology Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) Market https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/3215239-global-non-destructive-testing-ndt-market-report-2018 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/enquiry/3215239-global-non-destructive-testing-ndt-market-report-2018 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/checkout?currency=one_user-USD&report_id=3215239 WiseGuyReports.Com Publish a New Market Research Report On Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) Market 2018 Global Analysis By Key Players Olympus Corporation, Mistras Group, Intertek Group Plc, Sgs S.A, Nikon Metrology.Description:-The Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) industry has also suffered a certain impact, but still maintained a relatively optimistic growth, the past four years, Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) market size to maintain the average annual growth rate of 8.25% from 12850 million $ in 2014 to 16300 million $ in 2017, The analysts believe that in the next few years, Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) market size will be further expanded, we expect that by 2022, The market size of the Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) will reach 24230 million $.Get a Sample Report @For more information or any query mail at sales@wiseguyreports.comThis Report covers the manufacturers data, including: shipment, price, revenue, gross profit, interview record, business distribution etc., these data help the consumer know about the competitors better. This report also covers all the regions and countries of the world, which shows a regional development status, including market size, volume and value, as well as price data.Besides, the report also covers segment data, including: type segment, industry segment, channel segment etc. cover different segment market size, both volume and value. Also cover different industries clients information, which is very important for the manufacturers.Sections:-Section 1: FreeDefinitionSection (2 3): 1200 USDManufacturer DetailOlympus CorporationMistras Group, Inc.Intertek Group PlcSgs S.A.Ge Measurement & ControlNikon Metrology, Inc.Ashtead Technology, Inc.Sonatest Ltd.Bosello High Technology S.R.L.Fujifilm Holdings CorporationSection 4: 900 USDRegion SegmentationNorth America Country (United States, Canada)South AmericaAsia Country (China, Japan, India, Korea)Europe Country (Germany, UK, France, Italy)Other Country (Middle East, Africa, GCC)Continued.Enquiry About Report @Table Of Contents Major Key PointsSection 1 Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) Product DefinitionSection 2 Global Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) Market Manufacturer Share and Market Overview2.1 Global Manufacturer Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) Shipments2.2 Global Manufacturer Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) Business Revenue2.3 Global Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) Market OverviewSection 3 Manufacturer Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) Business Introduction3.1 Olympus Corporation Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) Business Introduction3.1.1 Olympus Corporation Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) Shipments, Price, Revenue and Gross profit 2014-20173.1.2 Olympus Corporation Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) Business Distribution by Region3.1.3 Olympus Corporation Interview Record3.1.4 Olympus Corporation Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) Business Profile3.1.5 Olympus Corporation Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) Product Specification3.2 Mistras Group, Inc. Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) Business Introduction3.2.1 Mistras Group, Inc. Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) Shipments, Price, Revenue and Gross profit 2014-20173.2.2 Mistras Group, Inc. Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) Business Distribution by Region3.2.3 Interview Record3.2.4 Mistras Group, Inc. Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) Business Overview3.2.5 Mistras Group, Inc. Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) Product Specification3.3 Intertek Group Plc Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) Business Introduction3.3.1 Intertek Group Plc Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) Shipments, Price, Revenue and Gross profit 2014-20173.3.2 Intertek Group Plc Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) Business Distribution by Region3.3.3 Interview Record3.3.4 Intertek Group Plc Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) Business Overview3.3.5 Intertek Group Plc Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) Product Specification3.4 Sgs S.A. Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) Business Introduction3.5 Ge Measurement & Control Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) Business Introduction3.6 Nikon Metrology, Inc. Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) Business IntroductionSection 4 Global Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) Market Segmentation (Region Level)4.1 North America Country4.1.1 United States Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) Market Size and Price Analysis 2014-20174.1.2 Canada Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) Market Size and Price Analysis 2014-20174.2 South America Country4.2.1 South America Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) Market Size and Price Analysis 2014-20174.3 Asia Country4.3.1 China Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) Market Size and Price Analysis 2014-20174.3.2 Japan Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) Market Size and Price Analysis 2014-20174.3.3 India Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) Market Size and Price Analysis 2014-20174.3.4 Korea Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) Market Size and Price Analysis 2014-20174.4 Europe Country4.4.1 Germany Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) Market Size and Price Analysis 2014-20174.4.2 UK Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) Market Size and Price Analysis 2014-20174.4.3 France Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) Market Size and Price Analysis 2014-20174.4.4 Italy Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) Market Size and Price Analysis 2014-20174.4.5 Europe Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) Market Size and Price Analysis 2014-20174.5 Other Country and Region4.5.1 Middle East Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) Market Size and Price Analysis 2014-20174.5.2 Africa Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) Market Size and Price Analysis 2014-20174.5.3 GCC Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) Market Size and Price Analysis 2014-20174.6 Global Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) Market Segmentation (Region Level) Analysis 2014-20174.7 Global Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) Market Segmentation (Region Level) AnalysisSection 5 Global Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) Market Segmentation (Product Type Level)5.1 Global Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) Market Segmentation (Product Type Level) Market Size 2014-20175.2 Different Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) Product Type Price 2014-20175.3 Global Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) Market Segmentation (Product Type Level) AnalysisSection 6 Global Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) Market Segmentation (Industry Level)6.1 Global Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) Market Segmentation (Industry Level) Market Size 2014-20176.2 Different Industry Price 2014-20176.3 Global Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) Market Segmentation (Industry Level) AnalysisSection 7 Global Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) Market Segmentation (Channel Level)7.1 Global Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) Market Segmentation (Channel Level) Sales Volume and Share 2014-20177.2 Global Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) Market Segmentation (Channel Level) AnalysisContinuedBuy 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. U.S. Commercial Boiler Market Analysis Focusing on Top Key Players A.O. Smith, Precision, Vapor Power, Burnham, PB Heat, Babcock and Wilcox, Victory Energy, Johnston, Hurst, Superior, Clayton, Parker, Rite Engineering, RBI, Fulton Commercial Boiler Market, Global Commercial Boiler Market Size, Commercial Boiler Industry, Commercial Boiler Market Trends https://www.marketstudyreport.com/request-a-sample/448861/ https://www.marketstudyreport.com/check-for-discount/448861/ https://bit.ly/2zN1LJv https://www.marketstudyreport.com/reports/global-commercial-boiler-market?utm_source=RR-SP https://www.marketstudyreport.com https://www.marketstudyreport.com/blog/ Market Study Report LLC recently introduced new title on 2018-2024 U.S. Commercial Boiler 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.U.S. Commercial Boiler Market is expected to reach over USD 3.5 billion by 2024. Increasing investment toward improvement of healthcare facilities coupled with increasing investment toward development of infrastructure sector will drive the industry growth. Growing demand for steam generation for space heating and water in equipment sterilization, rehabilitation centers & hospital will further complement the industry landscape.Request a sample of this premium report at:Stringent government regulations to curb carbon emissions from commercial sector along with growing demand for cost effective energy efficient system will propel the U.S. commercial boiler market. For instance, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency introduced National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants to reduce mercury, carbon mono oxide and particulate matter across industrial and commercial centers.Lodging application in 2017, was over 67,000 MMBtu/hr. Growing demand for steam generation and hot water across guest cottages, retirement & nursing homes, dormitories and hotels will fuel the U.S. commercial boiler market. Positive outlook toward hospitality sector will further boost the product penetration.Ongoing demand for energy efficient space heating systems across cold climatic regions will propel the U.S. commercial boiler Market. Alaska, Minnesota, South Dakota and North Dakota are some of the coldest regions with average 120F temperatures.Commercial Boiler commercial boiler market is set to witness significant growth owing to abundant availability of gas and its easier storage. The product ability to offer reduced operating costs, absence of soot and low noise are some of paramount features which will enhance the product penetration over forecast period. Louisiana, New York, Illinois and California are some of the major states accounted for high gas consumptions.Request a discount on standard prices of this premium report at:Ohio commercial boiler market is predicted to cross USD 150 million in 2024. Increased focus toward development of healthcare sector along with increasing investment toward development of zero emission buildings will augment the industry landscape.Positive outlook toward tourism sector coupled with increasing investment towards development of hospitals sector will drive the Florida commercial boiler market. In 2014, Florida tourism sector accounted for over USD 80 billion.Eminent participants in U.S. commercial boiler market participants include Burnham, PB Heat, Babcock and Wilcox, Victory Energy, Johnston, Hurst, Superior, Clayton, Cleaver-Brooks, Parker, Weil-McLain, Northwest Manufacturing, Rite Engineering, RBI, Fulton, A.O. Smith, Precision, Vapor Power, Bradford White, P.M. Lattner, Groupe Simoneau, Miura and Columbia.Table of Content:Chapter 1. U.S. Commercial Boiler Market Methodology and ScopeChapter 2. U.S. Commercial Boiler Market Executive SummaryChapter 3. U.S. Commercial Boiler Industry InsightsChapter 4. U.S. Commercial Boiler Market, By FuelChapter 5. U.S. Commercial Boiler Market, By ApplicationChapter 6. U.S. Commercial Boiler Market, By CapacityChapter 7. U.S. Commercial Boiler Market, By TechnologyChapter 8. U.S. Commercial Boiler Market, By RegionChapter 9. U.S. Commercial Boiler Market Company ProfilesFor more information on this report at:Related Report:Global Commercial Boiler Market Size By Fuel, By Technology, Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook, Competitive Market Analysis & Forecast 2018 2024Global Commercial Boiler Market is predicted to reach over USD 15 Billion by 2024. Rising demand for space heating & hot water across polar climate regions coupled with shifting trends toward deployment of energy efficient heating systems will boost the industry growth. Government efforts to encourage sustainable heating units and reduce carbon emissions will further complement the product adoption. For instance, the EU adopted Performance of Buildings Directive (EU) 2018/844, with an aim to achieve zero carbon emission from buildings by 2050.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 Report LLC4 North Main Street,Selbyville, Delaware 19975USAPhone: 1-302-273-0910US Toll Free: 1-866-764-2150Email:sales@marketstudyreport.comWebsite:Blog: Usage-Based Insurance (UBI) Market | Participants - (Allianz Insurance, Allstate, Generali, AXA US, Liberty Mutual Insurance, MAPFRE, Nationwide, Progressive Insurance, State Farm, TomTom) Usage-based Insurance Market https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/3020 https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/3020 https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/usage-based-insurance-ubi-market Usage-Based Insurance (UBI) Market size is set to exceed USD 107 billion by 2024; according to a new research report by Global Market Insights, Inc. One of the major factors driving the UBI market growth is an increase in the production of passenger & commercial vehicles that is embedded with telematics or the use of external tracking systems to capture data about the vehicles health & the driving behavior. Car makers and the insurance companies then use telematics data for calculating the insurance premium for clients in accordance with the usage rate of the vehicle. The insurance telematics enables customers to lessen their premium rates by adopting safe driving.Get Sample Copy of This Report @Industry Growth drivers:1. Growth of the automobile industry2. Shifting focus towards remote diagnostic technology3. Growth in the number of the connected cars bringing new UBI opportunities4. Rising penetration of smartphones integrated with vehicle connectivity systems5. Rapid use of UBI by insurance companies to improve profitability6. Growing trend of Try-Before-You-Buy (TBYB) insurance modelThe North America UBI market is projected to hold a majority market share of over 35% by 2024. The market growth is attributed to the factors such as the growth in the number of connected cars with inbuilt telematics solutions and the adoption of the cloud-based telematics solutions. The region is dominated by the presence of various car insurance companies that are using black box technology to track driving habits. The telematics-based black box devices provide detailed information to car insurance companies and let them calculate insurance risk levels more accurately.Company profiled in this report based on Business overview, Financial data, Product landscape, Strategic outlook & SWOT analysis:1. Allianz SE2. Allstate Insurance Company3. ASSICURAZIONI GENERALI S.P.A.4. AXA5. Cambridge Mobile Telematics6. Danlaw, Inc.7. Desjardins Group8. Insure The Box Limited9. Intelligent Mechatronic Systems Inc.10. Liberty Mutual Insurance11. Mapfre, S.A.12. Metromile Inc.13. Nationwide14. Octo Technology15. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company16. Sierra Wireless17. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company18. TomTom International BV19. UnipolSai Assicurazioni S.p.A.20. Vodafone Automotive SpA21. Zubie, Inc.Make an Inquiry for purchasing this Report @The commercial vehicles segment in the usage-based insurance (UBI) market is projected to register an excellent growth rate of over 18% from 2018 to 2024. The commercial vehicles segment is widely deploying telematics solutions to analyze vehicle and driver data to assess the risks and restore profit margins. These solutions are used in commercial fleets to help in integrating capabilities such as traffic updates, roadside assistance, and smart routing and tracking. Telematics insurance data is used by the insurers to review driving behavior and promote safe driving through insurance incentives. The technology is playing a key role in commercial logistics and supply chains as it helps in addressing the challenges related to driver monitoring, insurance, and safety.The OBD II technology held a major share of over 48% in the UBI market in 2017 and is expected to dominate the market with a share of around xx% in 2024. Vehicles equipped with telematics devices allow insurance companies to get a more precise information to rate a drivers premium. The traditional UBI programs use OBD II, which allows car owners to manage and remove engine malfunctions and improve vehicle reliability while reducing the fleet operations cost. By implementing OBD II fleet management telematics systems, which track driver performance and allow vehicle utilization, the companies can reduce their fleet insurance premiums.The PHYD segment held a dominant share of over 70% of the UBI market in 2017 as this telematics-driven insurance model takes into consideration how a person drives. The insurance companies can assess the driving skills by installing telematics devices in the car to record the driving habits. PHYD analyzes the habits based on several parameters such as speeding, braking, positioning, and parking to decide premiums. This helps in addressing the unfair practices of motor insurance and considers the factors to ensure that car owners are charged fair premiums.Browse Report Summery @Some of the major players of the operating in the UBI market are Progressive, Allstate, State Farm, AXA, Allianz, Liberty Mutual, Nationwide, Vodafone Automotive, UnipolSai, Generali, Octo, Metromile, TomTom, Insure The Box, Mapfre S.A, Zubie, Desjardins Group, Sierra Wireless, IMS, Cambridge Mobile Telematics, and Danlaw.About Global Market Insights:Global Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.Contact Us:Arun HegdeCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Phone:1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688Email: sales@gminsights.com Anesthesia Machine Market 2023 Top Key Players are Heyer Medical AG, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, Koninklijke Philips N.V, Draeger, GE Healthcare Anesthesia Machine Market https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/6179 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/anesthesia-machine-market-6179 Market Research Future Recently Added Premium Research Reports on Anesthesia Machine Market 2023 Which Gives in-depth Analysis of Regional data with Size and Share of Top 10 Players in the Globes.Competitive Landscape:Heyer Medical AG, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, Koninklijke Philips N.V, Draeger, GE Healthcare, Covidien, Smiths Medical, Mindray DS USA Inc., and Teleflex Inc.Get Premium Sample Copy @Market Scenario:The anesthetic machine is used to deliver and support anesthesia under the direct supervision of anaesthesiologists. The global anesthetic machine market was valued at 9.4 billion in 2016 and which is expected to reach 14.75 billion at a CAGR of 7.8 during the forecast period of 2016 to 2023.The growing number of surgeries performed around the globe is the prime driver of the market. According to estimates, in 2015, approximately 80 million inpatient surgeries were conducted in the U.S. According to Stanford Health Care, the most common anesthetic surgeries were nervous system surgeries, eye, ear and nasal surgeries, respiratory system surgeries, cardiovascular system surgeries, digestive system surgeries, urinary system surgeries, musculoskeletal system surgeries, and skin system surgeries.These figures swell when we include other specialties such as trauma and gynecology, which are capturing a broader market. Advancements in anesthesia system technology and the shift away from general anesthesia towards partial anesthesia, coupled with the development of short-acting anesthetics is driving a change in trend. Thus, the predominant continuous flow anesthetic machine or Boyles anesthesia machine is giving way to the intermittent flow anesthetic machine. Another trend catching on is the growing use of computer controlled anesthesia and patient monitoring devices.Portability and miniaturization have led to growing adoption of anesthesia in point of care surgeries. The growing capabilities of anesthetic devices such as the ability to deliver variable flow, minimum low flow rate, scavenging systems to capture waste gases, emergency systems such as oxygen flush systems and others are driving the market.The market restraints of the anaesthetic market are the high cost of installation and maintenance, scarcity of anesthesiologists, the risk of infection, complications such as pain, and deaths due to overdose and others. The mortality rate for general anesthesia is 1:10,000 as cited by many studies. Thus, advancements in devices due to safety concerns is strongly correlated with market growth.Segmentation:The Global Anesthesia Machines Market is segmented based on type, clinical indications, source, form, end users, distribution, and regions.Based on the type, the market comprises of continuous anaesthesia machines, intermittent anaesthesia machines, and others.Based on clinical indications, the market comprises of nervous system surgeries, eye, ear and nasal surgeries, respiratory system surgeries, cardiovascular system surgeries, digestive system surgeries, urinary system surgeries, musculoskeletal system surgeries, and skin system surgeries, and others.Based on components, the market is segmented into machines, ventilators, monitors, disposables, and others.Based on the subject, the market is segmented human and veterinary.Based on dimensions, the market is segmented into portable anaesthesia machines and stand-alone anesthesia machines.Based on end users, the market is segmented into hospitals, the point of care, and others.Based on the regions, the market is segmented as North America, Europe, Asia Pacific Middle East and Africa and rest of the world.Regional analysis:North America commands the most significant share of the market due to a large number of surgeries and sizeable public expenditure on healthcare. The U.S. spends a substantial proportion of the GDP on healthcare, of which approximately 16 % in 2016. However, the recent reimbursement cuts by the government of U.S. may hinder the market.Europe market is dominated by Germany, France, and the U.K. Owing to the extensive medical device industry of Germany. Poland, Spain, and Italy also have a sizable market share of the European market.Asia Pacific region is expected to demonstrate the fastest growth for the anesthesia machine market is owing to economic development and developing healthcare infrastructure. China is expected to drive a considerable growth followed by India. The leading domestic players, in China, are Tuoren Medical, Shengguang Medical, and Qiangjian Medical, which account for approximately 16 % of the local market share of China.The Middle East and Africa are led by Gulf economies of Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, and Qatar. The Middle East is a market to watch owing to its high wealth and the development of large hospital complexes in the region such as the King Fahd hospital, Riyadh. The market is however dependent on petrodollar and the expat population, which is a threat to its stability. The kingdom of Saudi Arabia reduced its healthcare spending by 35 percent in the year 2016 to wean the downfall of revenues owing to falling crude oil prices. Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations spend approximately 75 % of total healthcare expenditure through public budgets which must be seen as a threat as well as opportunity for the private players to capture the domestic market of Gulf economies.Thus, the short-term prospects for the Middle East region are expected to rise to previous levels after 2018. The government is undertaking harsh fiscal adjustment owing to weak oil price. However, the high and satisfactory foreign reserves of Saudi Arabia, which equal over 95 % of GDP, and low public debt stock of just 5.8 % of GDP in 2015 are enough to say that the cuts will not be too drastic!The Latin America market is characterized by poor domestic capacity and capability of production. China is expected to increase its share of the medical devices imports of Brazil, especially in low-end devices. Among the regions of Brazil, Sao Paulo, Minas Gerais, Bahia, Rio de Janeiro and Parana tops the healthcare expenditure list. However, the differential regional healthcare availability owing to extreme social and economic differentiation of the Brazilian population is the prime threat to the market. The inadequate health care in its vast rural areas, political turmoil, the weak Brazilian Real are the other threats to the market.Continued!Browse Full Reports @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 Europe Hair Color Market: Permanent and Demi-Permanent Hair Colors Held Nearly 60% Share in 2018 https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=S&rep_id=305 https://www.factmr.com/report/305/hair-color-market https://www.factmr.com/checkout/305/S https://www.factmr.com/ https://www.industrynewsanalysis.com/ From continued focus on the naturally-derived ingredients to demand for ethical products traversing preference of generations, Europe hair color market continues on an upward spiral. Hair color sales in Europe are envisaged to exceed US$ 500 Mn in 2018. Majority of the hair color market in Europe is concentrated in Germany and the U.K. collectively these two regions will hold over three-fifth value share in 2018.Get Free Sample Report @Permanent and demi-permanent hair color are expected to remain top-sellers in the Europe hair color market, collectively estimated to account for nearly 60% share in 2018. According to the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), permanent hair dyes represent approximately 80% of coloring products in the region. However, exposure to higher amount of chemicals are associated with risks of allergy, and in certain cases with cancer, which in turn have raised concerns among consumers regarding permanent hair colors.All hair color products are required to comply with regulations on cosmetics, which list coloring ingredients approved for use. Over 100 hair dyes have are permitted for use and regarded as safe by the European Union. Cosmetic manufacturers are needed to ensure that their products have undergone scientific assessments prior to their penetration into the market. Hair color products that are regulated under such norms find greater demand among consumers, thereby favoring growth of the market.View Full Report with Table of Content @Marginal Difference Estimated between Revenues of Natural and Chemical-based Hair ColorNatural hair colors have gained prominent palpability in Europe over the past couple of years, with concerns regarding chemical additives in hair care products and their impacts on health increasing among consumers. Natural hair color account for over half over the entire hair color sales in Europe, with revenues expected to exceed US$ 260 Mn in 2018. Gains from chemical-based hair colors in Europe will also be significant, with sales estimated to holdGrowing demand for natural hair colors among European consumers can be attributed to the fact that these products are devoid of ammonia content, which has been associated with significant hair thinning and damage. In addition, occupancy of leading cosmetic manufacturers in Europe has further been favoring development and sales of natural cosmetic products in the region, and hair colors are no exception.The European Union has banned over 1300 chemicals from being used in cosmetics, which include quaternium-15 and propylparaben, primarily used in various lotions and hair care products. This has further required manufacturers to premarket safety assessments, go through government authorization, and mandatory registration. Such intensive procedures associated with use of chemicals has further shifted focus of manufacturers toward natural cosmetic product development.Specialty Stores to Hold Significant Share of Europe Hair Color MarketMajority of the revenues in the Europe hair color market are estimated to be accounted by sales in specialty stores. Hair color sales in specialty stores will bring in over US$ 150 Mn in 2018, accounting for over one-third share of the Europe hair color market. Currently every European consumer opts for both offline and online purchases, and these two channels, specialty stores and online channels, continue to complement each other.Online sales of hair color are expected to hold over two-fifth share of the Europe hair color market, with sales estimated to exceed US$ 100 Mn in 2018. Growth in online sales continue to increase competitive pressures, accentuated by increasing significance of the off-price concepts.Aforementioned statistics and insights have been extracted from an analytical research study of Fact.MR. The report also offered forecast on the hair color market for the period 2017 to 2022.Europe Hair Color Market Report is available for Purchase @About FactMRFactMR is a fast-growing market research firm that offers the most comprehensive suite of syndicated and customized market insights reports. We believe transformative intelligence can educate and inspire businesses to make smarter decisions. We know the limitations of the one-size-fits-all approach; that's why we publish multi-industry global, regional, and country-specific research reports.Contact UsFactMR11140 Rockville PikeSuite 400Rockville, MD 20852United StatesEmail: sales@factmr.comWeb:Read Industry News at- Urology Devices Market Research Study by Top Industry Players Profiles - KARL STORZ GmbH & Co. KG, Olympus Corporation, Medtronic, Boston Scientific Corporation https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1120 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/urology-devices-market-1120 Market Research Future (MRFR) has unfolded in its latest Industry report that the Global Urology Devices Market will witness demand escalation leading to maximization of profits by 2023.Urology Devices Market - OverviewAcknowledging the traction, this market is vibrating with currently; Market Research Future (MRFR) in its recently published study report giving asserts that the global urology devices market gaining further prominence will register a spectacular growth by 2023, growing at a CAGR of 7.1 % during the review period (2017 2023).The Global Urology Devices Market is growing pervasively, mainly due to the increasing prevalence of disorders associated with the urinary tract system (UTS) and reproductive organs in men.Increasing occurrences of UTS disorders in women especially alongside the growing incidence of prostate cancer cases are escalating the market growth on the global platform.FREE SAMPLE REPORT @Urology Devices Market Growth and AnalysisAdditional factors substantiating the market growth include the developments of in advance healthcare devices and an increasing number of patients with kidney diseases. Simultaneously, the well-spread awareness about the availability and benefits of these devices such as reduced treatment and recovery time among renal disease patients, are fostering the market growth, fueling the demand for these devices.Innovation in urology devices alongside the increasing per capita health care expenditures is supplementing the growth of this market to an extent.On the other hand, factors such as the high cost of urology devices are expected to impede the market growth. Nevertheless, the emergence of many new processes such as Israeli firm Lumenis technologys new stone-striking method Moses method is providing impetus to the market growth, proving as game changers for urologists.Urology Devices Market - Key PlayersOlympus Corporation (Japan)Karl Storz GmbH & Co. KG (Germany)Medtronic (US)C. R. Bard, Inc. (US)Boston Scientific Corporation (US)Cook (US)Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA (Germany)Stryker (US)Dornier MedTech (Germany)NIKKISO CO. LTD (Japan)HealthTronics, Inc (US)Urology Devices Market SegmentsMRFR has segmented its analysis into six key dynamics for enhanced understanding.By Types-Dialysis Equipment, Urinary Stone Treatment Devices (ureteral stents, lithotripsy, and others.), Endoscopy Devices, Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia Treatment Devices (prostatic stents, catheter ablation, and others.), Urinary Incontinence & Pelvic Organ Prolapsed (sacral neuromodulator, urethral inserts & pessaries, vaginal meshes & slings, and others.) among others.By Technologies-Minimally Invasive Surgery and Robotic Surgery among others.By Applications -Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia, Prostate Cancer, Urinary Stones, and Urinary Incontinence among others.By End-Users -Hospitals, and Ambulatory Services among others. By Dialysis Equipment-Peritoneal Dialysis, and Haemodialysis among others. By Regions-Europe, North America, APAC and Rest-of-the-World.Urology Devices Market Regional AnalysisThe North American region is projected to continue with its dominance over the global urology devices market with the largest market share. Heading with the increasing prevalence of prostate cancer, kidney stones, and traumatic injury, among others, the region is estimated to create a significant revenue pocket during the review period (2017-2023).The European region is another lucrative market for urology devices. Increasing focus on the development of new devices alongside rising government support for R&D activities is contributing to the market growth.The Asia Pacific region is rapidly emerging as a promising market for urology devices, growing rapidly. Increasing incidents of prostate cancer, kidney stones, and traumatic injuries are fueling market growth.BROWSE COMPLETE 105 PAGES PREMIUM RESEARCH REPORT ENABLED WITH 40+ RESPECTIVE TABLES AND FIGURES @Urology Devices Market - Competitive AnalysisThe highly competitive market of urology devices appears to be diversified with the presence of a large number of players having a global presence. These players are heavily investing in R&D to develop advanced technologies and are adopting strategic initiatives such as expansion, and product Launch to gain the competitive edge and to sustain in the market.They compete against each other based on the devices quality, reliability, and cost. Marketers are tapping the growing markets for expansions.Manufacturers of urology devices create unique solutions to solve the needs and challenges of their customers, working with physicians, nurses and technicians around the world which further helps them to identify unaddressed needs.Urology Devices Market - Innovation NewsSeptember 21, 2018 Boston Scientific Corporation (US), a leading global medical devices manufacturer announced the launch of its kidney stone retrieval device namely LithoVue Empower Device.This device allows a single urologist to operate both an ureteroscope and a basket simultaneously during the procedure, performed via flexible ureteroscopy.Turning the two-person procedure into a single-person procedure, providing the surgeon with greater control and minimizing the risks of miscommunication.Major Points form Table of ContentChapter 1. Report PrologueChapter 2. Market IntroductionChapter 3. Research MethodologyChapter 4. Market DynamicsChapter 5. Market Factor AnalysisChapter 6. Global Urology Devices Market, By TypeChapter 7. Global Urology Devices Market, By TreatmentChapter 8 Global Urology Devices Market, By End UserChapter 9. Global Urology Devices Market, By RegionChapter 10. Company LandscapeChapter 11. Company ProfilesChapter 12. MRFR ConclusionChapter 13. AppendixAbout 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 Global Luxury Fragrance Market 2018: Key Players Avon, Chanel, Elizabeth Arden, Estee Lauder, Liz Claiborne, Loreal Luxury Fragrance Market https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/3336160-global-luxury-fragrance-market-data-survey-report-2025 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/enquiry/3336160-global-luxury-fragrance-market-data-survey-report-2025 SummaryWiseGuyReports.com adds Luxury Fragrance Market 2018 Global Analysis, Growth, Trends and Opportunities Research Report Forecasting to 2023 reports to its database.This report provides in depth study of Luxury Fragrance Market using SWOT analysis i.e. Strength, Weakness, Opportunities and Threat to the organization. The Luxury Fragrance Market report also provides an in-depth survey of key players in the market which is based on the various objectives of an organization such as profiling, the product outline, the quantity of production, required raw material, and the financial health of the organization.Key manufacturers are included based on manufacturing sites, capacity and production, product specifications etc.:AvonChanelCotyLVHMElizabeth ArdenEstee LauderEstee LauderGianni VersaceLiz ClaiborneLorealRevlonProcter & GambleRalph LaurenBulgariThe main contents of the report including:Global market size and forecastRegional market size, production data and export & importKey manufacturers (manufacturing sites, capacity and production, product specifications etc.)Average market price by SUKMajor applicationsMajor applications as follows:MenWomenChildren'sOthersRegional market size, production data and export & import:Asia-PacificNorth AmericaEuropeSouth AmericaMiddle East & AfricaRequest a Sample Report @Major Key Points in Table of Content1 Global Market Overview1.1 Scope of Statistics1.1.1 Scope of Products1.1.2 Scope of Manufacturers1.1.3 Scope of Application1.1.4 Scope of Regions/Countries1.2 Global Market Size2 Regional Market2.1 Regional Production2.2 Regional Demand2.3 Regional Trade3 Key Manufacturers3.1 Avon3.1.2 Company Information3.1.2 Product Specifications3.1.3 Business Data (Capacity, Sales Revenue, Volume, Price, Cost and Margin)3.2 Chanel3.2.1 Company Information3.2.2 Product Specifications3.2.3 Business Data (Capacity, Sales Revenue, Volume, Price, Cost and Margin)3.3 Coty3.3.1 Company Information3.3.2 Product Specifications3.3.3 Business Data (Capacity, Sales Revenue, Volume, Price, Cost and Margin)3.4 LVHM3.4.1 Company Information3.4.2 Product Specifications3.4.3 Business Data (Capacity, Sales Revenue, Volume, Price, Cost and Margin)3.5 Elizabeth Arden3.5.1 Company Information3.5.2 Product Specifications3.5.3 Business Data (Capacity, Sales Revenue, Volume, Price, Cost and Margin)3.6 Estee Lauder3.6.1 Company Information3.6.2 Product Specifications3.6.3 Business Data (Capacity, Sales Revenue, Volume, Price, Cost and Margin)3.7 Estee Lauder3.7.1 Company Information3.7.2 Product Specifications3.7.3 Business Data (Capacity, Sales Revenue, Volume, Price, Cost and Margin)3.8 Gianni Versace3.8.1 Company Information3.8.2 Product Specifications3.8.3 Business Data (Capacity, Sales Revenue, Volume, Price, Cost and Margin)3.9 Liz Claiborne3.9.1 Company Information3.9.2 Product Specifications3.9.3 Business Data (Capacity, Sales Revenue, Volume, Price, Cost and Margin)3.10 Loreal3.10.1 Company Information3.10.2 Product Specifications3.10.3 Business Data (Capacity, Sales Revenue, Volume, Price, Cost and Margin)3.11 Revlon3.12 Procter & Gamble3.13 Ralph Lauren3.14 Bulgari4 Major Application4.1 Men4.1.1 Overview4.1.2 Men Market Size and Forecast4.2 Women4.2.1 Overview4.2.2 Women Market Size and Forecast4.3 Children's4.3.1 Overview4.3.2 Children's Market Size and Forecast4.4 Others4.4.1 Overview4.4.2 Others Market Size and ForecastAt any Query @Continued....Contact Us: sales@wiseguyreports.comPh: +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.Address:Wise Guy Research Consultants Pvt LtdPune 411028Maharashtra,+91 841 198 5042 Rheumatoid Arthritis Market Research Study by Top Industry Players Profiles - AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Eli Lilly and Company, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, Novartis AG, Pfizer Inc https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1658 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/rheumatoid-arthritis-market-1658 The Global Rheumatoid Arthritis Market is expected to grow at a healthy CAGR of ~4% during the forecast period 2017-2022.Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammatory condition that possible can distress more than just the joints. It is found that in some individuals, the disorder also can damage a various parts of body system, including the lungs, skin, eyes, heart and blood vessels.The market is forecast to demonstrate a steady growth by 2022, surpassing its previous growth records in terms of value with a striking CAGR during the anticipated period 20172022.GET FREE SAMPLE REPORT @Global Rheumatoid Arthritis Market - Key PlayersPfizer Inc (U.S),Eli Lilly and company (U.S),Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (U.S),F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd (switzerland),Novartis AG (switzerland),Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (U.S),Sanofi (France),AstraZeneca (U.K) and many others.The major factors influencing the growth of the market include high number of individuals suffering from the autoimmune disease, it has been observed that this disease is found three times more in women than as men.According to Health Union, LLC is one of the common chronic disease that affects approximately 1.3 million Americans and as much as 1% of the global population.Global Rheumatoid Arthritis Market - SegmentsGlobal rheumatoid arthritis market has been segmented on the basis of drug type which comprises of Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug type (NSAID), Steroids, and Disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug type (DMARDs) and Biologic agents.On the basis of treatment include Synovectomy, Tendon repair, Joint fusion and Total joint replacement. Furthermore on the basis of diagnosis includes C - reactive protein (CRP) Test, CCP, ESR (Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate) Test and Synovial Fluid Analysis.Global Rheumatoid Arthritis Market - Regional AnalysisGlobally North America is the largest market for rheumatoid arthritis. The North American market for rheumatoid arthritis is expected to grow at a CAGR of and is expected to reach at USD Million by the end of the forecasted period.Europe is the second-largest market for rheumatoid arthritis which is expected to grow at a healthy CAGR of. Furthermore Asia pacific market is expected to be the fastest growing market for rheumatoidOBTAIN COMPLETE 85 PAGES PREMIUM RESEARCH REPORT DETAILS ENABLED WITH RESPECTIVE 40+ TABLES AND FIGURES @Major Points form TOC for Rheumatoid Arthritis Market Research Report Forecast to 2022Chapter 1. Report PrologueChapter 2. Market IntroductionChapter 3. Research MethodologyChapter 4. Market DynamicsChapter 5. Market Factor AnalysisChapter 6. Global Rheumatoid Arthritis Market, By TypeChapter 7. Global Rheumatoid Arthritis Market, By TreatmentChapter 8 Global Rheumatoid Arthritis Market, By End UserChapter 9. Global Rheumatoid Arthritis Market, By RegionChapter 10 Company LandscapeChapter 11 Company ProfilesChapter 12 MRFR ConclusionChapter 13 AppendixAbout 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 Contract Research Organization Services (CROS) Market 2018 Global Analysis with Top Key Players- IQVIA, LabCorp, PAREXEL, Syneos Health, ICON plc, PRA Health Sciences, Clintract Clinical Research, Inc. Contract Research Organization Services (CROS) https://www.qyresearchgroups.com/request-sample/1010531 https://www.qyresearchgroups.com/checkout/1010531 https://www.qyresearchgroups.com/check-discount/1010531 The report Contract Research Organization Services (CROS) Market by Key players highlights the essential market dynamics of Contract Research Organization Services (CROS) 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 Contract Research Organization Services (CROS) Market this is estimated by experts to develop at the most elevated CAGR amid the estimate time frame 2018-2025.The report gives the clear picture of current Contract Research Organization Services (CROS) 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.Get Sample Report with TOC, Please Visit @This report focuses on the global top players, covered IQVIA LabCorp PAREXEL Syneos Health ICON plc PRA Health Sciences Pharmaceutical Product Development, LLC Charles River Laboratories CHILTERN INTERNATIONAL S.R.L. MeDPAce Holdings Clintract Clinical Research, Inc. WuXi PharmatechMarket segment by Regions/Countries, this report covers United States Europe China Japan Southeast Asia IndiaTo PURCHASE the Full Report please click @Market segment by Type, the product can be split into Early Phase Development Services Pharmacokinetics/Pharmacodynamics (PK/PD) Toxicology Testing Clinic Research Services Laboratory Services OthersMarket segment by Application, split into Pharmaceutical and Biopharmaceutical Companies Medical Device Companies Academic InstitutesThe study objectives of this report are: To study and forecast the market size of Contract Research Organization Services (CROS) in global market. To analyze the global key players, SWOT analysis, value and global market share for top players. To define, describe and forecast the market by type, end use and region. To analyze and compare the market status and forecast between China and major regions, namely, United States, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia, India and Rest of World. To analyze the global 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 Contract Research Organization Services (CROS) Market Size, Status and Forecast 20251 Industry Overview of Contract Research Organization Services (CROS)1.1 Contract Research Organization Services (CROS) Market Overview1.1.1 Contract Research Organization Services (CROS) Product Scope1.1.2 Market Status and Outlook1.2 Global Contract Research Organization Services (CROS) Market Size and Analysis by Regions (2013-2018)1.2.1 United States1.2.2 Europe1.2.3 China1.2.4 Japan1.2.5 Southeast Asia1.2.6 India1.3 Contract Research Organization Services (CROS) Market by Type1.3.1 Early Phase Development Services1.3.2 Pharmacokinetics/Pharmacodynamics (PK/PD)1.3.3 Toxicology Testing1.3.4 Clinic Research Services1.3.5 Laboratory Services1.3.6 Others1.4 Contract Research Organization Services (CROS) Market by End Users/Application1.4.1 Pharmaceutical and Biopharmaceutical Companies1.4.2 Medical Device Companies1.4.3 Academic Institutes2 Global Contract Research Organization Services (CROS) Competition Analysis by Players2.1 Contract Research Organization Services (CROS) Market Size (Value) by Players (2013-2018)2.2 Competitive Status and Trend2.2.1 Market Concentration Rate2.2.2 Product/Service Differences2.2.3 New Entrants2.2.4 The Technology Trends in Future3 Company (Top Players) Profiles3.1 IQVIA3.1.1 Company Profile3.1.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.1.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.1.4 Contract Research Organization Services (CROS) Revenue (Million USD) (2013-2018)3.2 LabCorp3.2.1 Company Profile3.2.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.2.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.2.4 Contract Research Organization Services (CROS) Revenue (Million USD) (2013-2018)3.3 PAREXELAbout 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. Global Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Infections (AIDS) Market 2018 -By Trend and Outlook https://www.marketreportsworld.com/11886112 https://www.marketreportsworld.com/enquiry/request-sample/11886112 https://www.marketreportsworld.com/enquiry/pre-order-enquiry/11886112 https://www.marketreportsworld.com/purchase/11886112 Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Infections (AIDS) Market Pipeline Review, H1 2018, report provides report provides a Basic information on the global therapeutic landscape of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Infections (AIDS), Key players involved with pipeline review and targeted therapeutics covering drugs profile of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Infections (AIDS) industry.HIV is a virus which attacks the immune system and weakens ability to fight infections and disease. Symptoms include fever, sore throat, body rash, joint pain, muscle pain and swollen glands. The most common ways HIV is spread are by having vaginal or anal intercourse without a condom with someone who has HIV/AIDS, sharing needles or syringes with someone who has HIV/AIDS, being deeply punctured with a needle or surgical instrument contaminated with HIV and getting HIV-infected blood, semen, or vaginal secretions into open wounds or sores.Browse Full Report At:Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Infections (AIDS) report also provides comprehensive information on the therapeutics under development for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Infections (AIDS), complete with analysis by stage of development, drug target, mechanism of action (MoA), route of administration (RoA) and molecule type. The guide covers the descriptive pharmacological action of the therapeutics, its complete research and development history and latest news and press releases.Request for sample PDF copy of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Infections (AIDS) Market research report at:The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Infections (AIDS) (Infectious Disease) pipeline guide also reviews of key players involved in therapeutic development for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Infections (AIDS) and features dormant and discontinued projects. The guide covers therapeutics under Development by Companies /Universities /Institutes, the molecules developed by Companies in Pre-Registration, Filing rejected/Withdrawn, Phase III, Phase II, Phase I, Phase 0, IND/CTA Filed, Preclinical, Discovery and Unknown stages are 6, 1, 13, 45, 42, 1, 5, 106, 66 and 4 respectively. Similarly, the Universities portfolio in Phase III, Phase II, Phase I, Preclinical and Discovery stages comprises 2, 13, 25, 51 and 64 molecules, respectively.Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Infections (AIDS) (Infectious Disease) pipeline guide helps in identifying and tracking emerging players in the market and their portfolios, enhances decision making capabilities and helps to create effective counter strategies to gain competitive advantage.List of Tables Given Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Infections (AIDS) Market Reports: Number of Products under Development by Stage of Development, H1 2018 Number of Products under Development by Therapy Areas, H1 2018 Number of Products under Development by Indication, H1 2018 Number of Products under Development by Companies, H1 2018 Products under Development by Companies, H1 2018 Products under Development by Companies, H1 2018 (Contd..1), H1 2018 Number of Products by Stage and Mechanism of Actions, H1 2018 Number of Products by Stage and Route of Administration, H1 2018 Number of Products by Stage and Molecule Type, H1 2018Points covered in the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Infections (AIDS) Market research reports:Section 1: IntroductionSection 2: Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Infections (AIDS) Overview,Section 3: Therapeutics DevelopmentSection 4: Therapeutics AssessmentSection 5: Companies Involved in Therapeutics DevelopmentSection 6: Drug Profiles,Section 7: Dormant Projects And Discontinued ProductsSection 8: Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Infections (AIDS) - Product Development MilestonesHave a query, ask Our Expert:Scope Of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Infections (AIDS) Market Report:- The pipeline guide provides a snapshot of the global therapeutic landscape of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Infections (AIDS) (Infectious Disease).- The pipeline guide reviews pipeline therapeutics for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Infections (AIDS) (Infectious Disease) by companies and universities/research institutes based on information derived from company and industry-specific sources.- The pipeline guide covers pipeline products based on several stages of development ranging from pre-registration till discovery and undisclosed stages.- The pipeline guide features descriptive drug profiles for the pipeline products which comprise, product description, descriptive licensing and collaboration details, R&D brief, MoA & other developmental activities.- The pipeline guide reviews key companies involved in Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Infections (AIDS) (Infectious Disease) therapeutics and enlists all their major and minor projects.- The pipeline guide evaluates Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Infections (AIDS) (Infectious Disease) therapeutics based on mechanism of action (MoA), drug target, route of administration (RoA) and molecule type.- The pipeline guide encapsulates all the dormant and discontinued pipeline projects.- The pipeline guide reviews latest news related to pipeline therapeutics for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Infections (AIDS) (Infectious Disease)Purchase Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Infections (AIDS) Market Report at:Market is changing rapidly with the ongoing expansion of the industry. Advancement in the technology has provided today's businesses with multifaceted advantages resulting in daily economic shifts. Thus, it is very important for a company to comprehend the patterns of the market movements in order to strategize better. An efficient strategy offers the companies with a head start in planning and an edge over the competitors. Market Reports World is the credible source for gaining the market reports that will provide you with the lead your business needs.3rd Floor, Silver Spring, Sahyadri farms,Opp Prabhavee Tech Park,Baner - Mhalunge Road, Baner, Pune 411045 Acne Medication Market 2018 SWOT Analysis by Players: (Allergan, Galderma, Stiefel, Valeant, Bayer HealthCare, BioPharmX) Trends And Forecasts (2018-2025) Acne Medication Market https://www.qyresearchgroups.com/request-sample/1009349 https://www.qyresearchgroups.com/send-an-enquiry/1009349 https://www.qyresearchgroups.com/check-discount/1009349 The Acne Medication report is an exclusive elaborated study of the given industry with an aim towards the global market trend. The report focuses to deliver a synopsis of global Acne Medication Market with in-depth market segmentation by several market players, suppliers and distributors of Acne Medication. The global market of this industry is anticipated to experience lucrative growth during the forecast period. The report delivers prime statistics on the market status of the market manufacturers who are existent leaders and provides key opportunities and trends in the market.This report studies the global Acne Medication market status and forecast, categorizes the global Acne Medication market size (value & volume) by key players, type, application, and region. This report focuses on the top players in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, South America, and Middle East & Africa.The major manufacturers covered in this report Allergan Galderma Stiefel Valeant Bayer HealthCare BioPharmX Celtaxsys Johnson & Johnson Innovative Sciences Paratek Pharmaceuticals Promius Pharma Teva VersapharmGet your Sample Report Copy @On the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoInjectionOralOn 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, includingHospitalClinicThe study objectives of this report are:To analyze and study the global Acne Medication sales, value, status (2013-2017) and forecast (2018-2025).Focuses on the key Acne Medication manufacturers, to study the sales, 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.To Get info on this Report, Do Enquiry Here @Table of Contents:-Global Acne Medication Market Research Report 20181 Acne Medication Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Acne Medication1.2 Acne Medication Segment by Type (Product Category)1.2.1 Global Acne Medication Production and CAGR (%) Comparison by Type (Product Category)(2013-2025)1.2.2 Global Acne Medication Production Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20171.2.3 Injection1.2.4 Oral1.3 Global Acne Medication Segment by Application1.3.1 Acne Medication Consumption (Sales) Comparison by Application (2013-2025)1.3.2 Hospital1.3.3 Clinic1.4 Global Acne Medication Market by Region (2013-2025)1.4.1 Global Acne Medication 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 Acne Medication (2013-2025)1.5.1 Global Acne Medication Revenue Status and Outlook (2013-2025)1.5.2 Global Acne Medication Capacity, Production Status and Outlook (2013-2025)2 Global Acne Medication Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1 Global Acne Medication Capacity, Production and Share by Manufacturers (2013-2018)2.1.1 Global Acne Medication Capacity and Share by Manufacturers (2013-2018)2.1.2 Global Acne Medication Production and Share by Manufacturers (2013-2018)2.2 Global Acne Medication Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2013-2018)2.3 Global Acne Medication Average Price by Manufacturers (2013-2018)2.4 Manufacturers Acne Medication Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area and Product Type2.5 Acne Medication Market Competitive Situation and Trends2.5.1 Acne Medication Market Concentration Rate2.5.2 Acne Medication Market Share of Top 3 and Top 5 Manufacturers2.5.3 Mergers & Acquisitions, ExpansionTo avail discount on this Report @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. Microscope Digital Cameras Market Set to Cross US$ 1.2 Bn by 2027 - Danaher Corporation, Nikon Corporation, Roper Technologies, Inc., Carl Zeiss AG, Olympus Corporation https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-3523 https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/askus/rep-gb-3523 https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/microscope-digital-cameras-market https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/ Valuable insights on the global scenario of microscope digital cameras have been presented systematically in a recently carried out research on microscope digital cameras market by Future market Insights in its new publication titled Microscope Digital Cameras: Global Industry Analysis (2012-2016) and Opportunity Assessment (2017-2027). This research focusses on key players, trends, growth drivers, opportunities, developments and restraints across several key geographies of North America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ), Latin America, Japan and Middle East and Africa (MEA). On the basis of a structured research process and taking into consideration the past and present scenario, forecasts are provided in the research report from the period 2017 to 2027, a ten year forecast model, across each and every segment of the market.Request to View Sample of Research Report @Global Microscope Digital Cameras Market: Forecast HighlightsAccording to the insightful market survey on microscope digital cameras, the global microscope digital cameras market is anticipated to grow at a high pace to register a robust 9.2% CAGR during the assessment period. During the 2017-2027 period, the global market is estimated to reach a market evaluation of about US$ 1.2 Bn by the end of 2027.Global Microscope Digital Cameras Market: Segmental InsightsGlobal microscope digital cameras market is segmented by product type (biological microscope cameras, industrial microscope cameras), by sensor type (CMOS, CCD), by mount type (C mount, eyepiece mount/ocular mount), by end user (hospitals, research laboratories, pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, clinics) and by region.North America region shows high lucrativeness and is expected to dominate the global microscope digital cameras market during the forecast period with respect to high market valuation. This region is estimated to grow at a stellar growth rate to reach a valuation of about US$ 353.3 Mn by 2027 end. Japan region is expected to grow at the highest rate, a shade higher than North America to register a 10.3% CAGR throughout the forecast periodBiological microscope cameras segment by product type, is projected to register a higher CAGR of 9.3% during the forecast period and is more likely to lead the global market by product type in terms of high market valueBy mount type, C mount segment shows high potential as it grows at a comparatively high rate to reach a 9.4% CAGR and is likely to show dominance over eyepiece mount/ ocular mount segment. The C mount segment shows a market value almost seven times that of the eyepiece mount/ ocular mount segmentThe CCD segment by sensor type is expected to lead the market with a high value share. The CMOS segment shows high growth rate to register a stellar CAGR of 11.3% throughout the assessment periodBy end user, research laboratories (clinical and non-clinical) segment dominates the global market with a valuation of about US$ 645.7 Mn in 2027, growing at a robust growth rate. With respect to growth rate, the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries segment is projected to register the highest CAGR of 9.7% during the period of forecast 2017-2027Global Microscope Digital Cameras Market: DynamicsVarious factors favour the growth of the global microscope digital cameras market and the impact of these factors changes from region to region. Diverse application of microscope imaging technology, rising preference for CMOS and CCD, increasing penetration of international players through mergers, growing partnerships for direct distribution, higher spending on academic research along with focus on digital pathology, emergence of digitalization in the life science research, rising demand for microscopy cameras in scientific applications, new product innovations and launches, advancements in microscope digital cameras and rising laboratory automation are supporting the growth of the global microscope digital cameras market. However, factors such as premium pricing limiting market penetration ability, limited manufacturing facilities for microscope cameras, high equipment cost and entry barriers for small players to enter the consolidated market are posing growth restraints to the growth of the global microscope digital cameras market.Request Report for Table of Contents @Global Microscope Digital Cameras Market: Competition AnalysisThe global microscope digital cameras market has profiled key players such as Danaher Corporation, Nikon Corporation, Roper Technologies, Inc., Carl Zeiss AG, Olympus Corporation, Hamamatsu Photonics K.K, Basler AG, Guangzhou Micro-shot Technology Co., Ltd., BMS microscopes bv., and Euromex Microscopen bv.REPORT PAGE:About UsFuture Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centers in the U.S. and India.FMIs research and consulting services help businesses around the globe navigate the challenges in a rapidly evolving marketplace with confidence and clarity. Our customized and syndicated market research reports deliver actionable insights that drive sustainable growth. We continuously track emerging trends and events in a broad range of end industries to ensure our clients prepare for the evolving needs of their consumers.Contact UsU.S. Office616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWeb: Growth of Space Tourism Market is Estimated to Grow Incredible CAGR till 2022 | Worldwide leading Players - Bigelow Aerospace, SpaceX, Virgin Galactic, XCOR, Armadillo Aerospace, Boeing, EADS Astrium Space Tourism Market https://www.businessindustryreports.com/sample-request/109839 https://www.businessindustryreports.com/buy-now/109839/single https://www.businessindustryreports.com/check-discount/109839 Global Space Tourism Market Report 2018 explores future trends for supply, demand and market growth rate, market size, prices, trading, competition and value chain as well as Key Players of the industrys information with forecast from 2018 to 2022.Global Space Tourism Market Overview:According to Market Analyst, Global Space Tourism Market is projected to grow at a healthy growth rate from 2018 to 2022.Request Report Sample@Space Tourism market size to maintain the average annual growth rate of 26.7% from 89 million $ in 2014 to 181 million $ in 2017, Market analysts believe that in the next few years, Space Tourism market size will be further expanded, we expect that by 2022, The market size of the Space Tourism will reach 390 million $.Space tourism is likely to be an emerging trend owing to the increased expenditure on travel and tourism globally. Space tourism is an emerging concept wherein an optimal spaceflight is developed that will facilitate passengers to travel to outer space, Mars and the Moon. Increasing number of passengers signing up for space tourism coupled with the increasing investment from passengers is expected to propel the demand for space tourism in the coming years. Increase in the number of next-generation engineers, Decrease in the cost of space tourism, Possibility of hypersonic travel are some Key factor for Growth of the Market.Based on type, the space tourism market is Segmented into orbital and suborbital. Suborbital segment held the dominant market share in 2016 and is expected to have a growing market share over the forecast period. Passengers can experience weightlessness, acceleration of rocket launch, and the view of Earth over space from suborbital tours.Regionally, North America is likely to gain traction in the space tourism market owing to the development of human spaceflight programs in the U.S. Presence of numerous global vendors is one of the crucial factors driving the space tourism market in this region. Asia-Pacific is a potential market for space tourism owing to the rise in disposable income in this region.Purchase this premium research report with 125 Pages and No. of Table of contents, List of table atThe Market is segmented and projected on the basis of major key players:1 Bigelow Aerospace2 SpaceX3 Virgin Galactic4 XCOR Aerospace5 Armadillo Aerospace6 Boeing7 EADS Astrium8 Excalibur Almaz9 Space Adventures10 Space Island Group11 Zero2infinityThe Market is segmented and projected on the basis of major Region Segmentation1 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 @Key Questions Answered in this Report:1 What will the market size be in 2022?2 What is driving this market??3 What are the challenges to market growth?4 Who are the key players in Space Tourism Market?5 What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key players?TABLE OF CONTENTS1 Space Tourism Definition2 Global Space Tourism Market Major Player Share and Market Overview3 Major Player Space Tourism Business Introduction4 Global Space Tourism Market Segmentation (Region Level)5 Global Space Tourism Market Segmentation (Type Level)6 Global Space Tourism Market Segmentation (Industry Level)7 Space Tourism Market Forecast 2018-20228 Space Tourism Segmentation Type9 Space Tourism Segmentation Industry10 Space Tourism Cost Analysis11 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 Global Enterprise Search Market to Undertake Strapping Growth During 2019 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=2218 https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/enterprise-search-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com https://factsntrends.com/ Enterprise search provides benefits of higher productivity as it can reduce the time spent by employees in searching information by 15% to 30%. It makes business process more effective and productive to data intensive companies. Enterprise search system helps in maintaining the data security by providing limited access to the information as only authorized people have access to the information stored in the database.The enterprise search market is driven by various factors such as the need to make search more relevant, availability of technologies and obtaining relevant information. The enterprise search market was valued at USD 1,777.5 million in 2012 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 12.2% during the forecast period from 2013 to 2019. However, uncertain meaning of keywords, presence of customized internet search and multiple repositories are some factors inhibiting market growth.Get PDF Sample of This Report @In terms of end-user, banking and financial services segment was the largest segment and accounted for a 34.9% share in 2012. Connected banks and financial offices through intranet facilitating protective and effective sharing of data among different branches and offices are the factors driving market growth. Recommind Inc. based in San Francisco, a key player in information management, email management and enterprise search has provided solutions to leading investment banks. Smart logic Semaphore, based in United States provides enterprise software to key banking players such as Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Bank of America and many others.On the basis of size of enterprise, the market for enterprise search is segmented into large scale enterprise, medium scale enterprise and small scale enterprise. Large scale enterprise was the largest segment in 2012 and accounted for a 61.0% share. Owing to the increase in number of medium scale enterprises the market for medium scale enterprise is expected to be the fastest growing market among all the types.Geographically, North America was the largest enterprise search market in 2012 and accounted for a 34.2% share. Growing market penetration of enterprise search especially in high growth countries such as Canada and Germany has been the driving force for this market. Most of the U.S. players are entering the European market by collaborating with different European vendors to provide enterprise search in Europe.View Our Report @Most of the key players in this market are competing amongst each other by developing cost effective enterprise software and solutions with greater performance to gain a competitive advantage. The global enterprise search market is dominated by few organized players and regional players as well. The organized market players include Microsoft Corporation, Oracle Corporation, IBM Corporation, Coveo Solution Inc., Attivio Inc. and others.Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information. TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.Transparency Market Research State Tower, 90 State Street, Suite 700, Albany NY - 12207 United States Tel: +1-518-618-1030 USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453 Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.com Website:Blog: Regenerated Cellulose Market Research Report 2018-2025 | Top Key Players - Metabolix Inc., BASF SE, Corbion NV (PURAC), Natureworks LLC, Biome Technologies PLC, Mitsubishi Chemical Corp., Plantic Technologies Ltd Regenerated Cellulose Market Report 2018- 2025 https://www.upmarketresearch.com/home/requested_sample/25349 https://www.upmarketresearch.com/home/enquiry_before_buying/25349 https://www.upmarketresearch.com/buy/regenerated-cellulose-market https://www.upmarketresearch.com/home/request_for_discount/25349 www.upmarketresearch.com UpMarketResearch offers a latest published report on Global Regenerated Cellulose Market Analysis and Forecast 2018-2025 delivering key insights and providing a competitive advantage to clients through a detailed report. The report contains 116 pages which highly exhibit on current market analysis scenario, upcoming as well as future opportunities, revenue growth, pricing and profitability.Get Exclusive FREE Sample Copy Of this Report @Regenerated Cellulose 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 Regenerated Cellulose 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.The 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 Regenerated Cellulose Market analysis & forecast 2018- 2025 is segmented into Product Segment, Application Segment & Major players.Region- wise Analysis Global Regenerated Cellulose Market covers: North America Europe China Japan India Southeast Asia Other regions (Central & South America, Middle East & Africa)For More Information On This Report, Please VisitThe Major players reported in the market include: Metabolix Inc. BASF SE Corbion NV (PURAC) Natureworks LLC Biome Technologies PLC Mitsubishi Chemical Corp. Plantic Technologies Limited Bio-On SRL. Meredian Inc. Tianan Biologic MaterialsGlobal Regenerated Cellulose Market: Product Segment Analysis: Viscose Type Fibres Lyocell Type Fibres Highly Oriented FibresGlobal Regenerated Cellulose Market: Application Segment Analysis: Packaging Fibers Agriculture OthersThe Report covers in- depth analysis as follows: Chapter 1 Overview of Regenerated Cellulose Chapter 2 Global Market Status and Forecast by Regions Chapter 3 Global Market Status and Forecast by Types Chapter 4 Global Market Status and Forecast by Downstream Industry Chapter 5 Market Driving Factor Analysis of Regenerated Cellulose Chapter 6 Regenerated Cellulose Market Competition Status by Major Manufacturers Chapter 7 Regenerated Cellulose Major Manufacturers Introduction and Market Data Chapter 8 Upstream and Downstream Market Analysis of Regenerated Cellulose Chapter 9 Cost and Gross Margin Analysis of Regenerated Cellulose Chapter 10 Marketing Status Analysis of Regenerated Cellulose Chapter 11 Report Conclusion Chapter 12 Research Methodology and ReferenceTo Buy This Report and Get It Delivered In Your Inbox Within 24 Hours @Regenerated Cellulose 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 Regenerated Cellulose Market: Key Stakeholders: Regenerated Cellulose Manufacturers Regenerated Cellulose Distributors/Traders/Wholesalers Regenerated Cellulose Subcomponent Manufacturers Industry Association Downstream VendorsIn this study, the years considered to estimate the market size of Regenerated Cellulose 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 Regenerated Cellulose 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 Regenerated Cellulose 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: Regenerated Cellulose - Global Market Status & Trend Report 2013- 2025 Top 20 Countries Data Regenerated Cellulose - North America Market Status and Trend Report 2013- 2025 Regenerated Cellulose - South America Market Status and Trend Report 2013- 2025 Regenerated Cellulose - Europe Market Status and Trend Report 2013- 2025 Regenerated Cellulose - EMEA Market Status and Trend Report 2013- 2025 Regenerated Cellulose - Asia Pacific Market Status and Trend Report 2013- 2025 Regenerated Cellulose - China Market Status and Trend Report 2013- 2025 Regenerated Cellulose - India Market Status and Trend Report 2013- 2025 Regenerated Cellulose - 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 Smart Homes & Buildings Market 2017-2025 |By Analysis and Forecast till 2025 | By Global top Manufacturers Hitachi, Ltd., Schneider Electric, Siemens AG, Emerson Electric Co., Smarthome, Inc., Honeywell International Inc. Smart Homes & Buildings Market https://www.accurizemarketresearch.com/report/-smart-homes---buildings-market/sample-request https://www.accurizemarketresearch.com/report/-smart-homes---buildings-market/ask-for-customization https://www.accurizemarketresearch.com/report/-smart-homes---buildings-market https://www.accurizemarketresearch.com/ Global Smart Homes & Buildings Market size is projected to be valued $146 Billion by 2025; with a CAGR of 32.1% from 2017 to 2025. Smart Home & Building is a hub that controls communications in a home automation network between home automation gadgets automatically or on command. It incorporates devices such as lights, locks, remote cameras, video-enabled doorbells, security frameworks, and even duties like pet feeding. Smart technology can upgrade the performance of homes & buildings, and the experiences of people living and working in them. They can help cut carbon emissions, reduce energy use, and support more intelligent, fast and flexible management of energy supply and demand. Responsive, flexible and intelligent assisted living services can give support for the elderly and those with chronic illnesses, helping them live better and for longer at home. This technology makes life easier and comfortable by allowing control through voice and mobile apps as well as using automation and artificial intelligence to support and predict our changing needs.Growing energy cost, increasing government rules & initiatives, and increasing requirement for integrated security & safety solutions are the factors driving the growth of the smart homes & buildings market. However, high initial investment needed for well-integrated smart technologies may hinder the growth of the market. Moreover, growing trend of smart cities might provide with several growth opportunities in the forecasted years.Request for PDF Sample of this Report@The global smart homes & buildings market is segmented on the basis of product, technology, application, end user, and geography. The market is segmented by product as safety & security products/devices (surveillance cameras, door locks, smoke detectors & fire sprinklers), controllers (light sensors, motion sensors, CO2 sensors, dimmers, timers, and energy efficient lights), and home appliance & entertainment controllers (thermostats, remote controls, & smart plugs and energy monitors). Technology comprises Bluetooth, Zigbee, RFID, GSM/GPRS, and Wi-Fi. Further, the market is segmented by application as energy management, lighting control, HVAC control, appliances & entertainment control, safety & security, and home healthcare & child safety. By end user, the market is classified into residential users (individual homes, residential buildings & housing societies), commercial users (corporate offices, industrial production units, healthcare facilities, retail outlets and convenient stores, & hotels & restaurants), and government organizations.Based on geography, global smart homes & buildings market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Rest of the World (RoW). North America is further bifurcated into U.S., Canada, and Mexico whereas Europe segment consist of UK, Russia, Germany, France, Italy, and Rest of Europe. Asia-Pacific is segmented into China, Japan, India, South Korea, and Rest of Asia-Pacific while RoW is bifurcated into South America, Middle East, and Africa.Major companies operating in the global Smart Homes & Buildings market are Cisco Systems, Inc., Hitachi, Ltd., Schneider Electric, Siemens AG, Emerson Electric Co., Smarthome, Inc., Honeywell International Inc., Control4 Corporation, Delta Controls, and Ingersoll-Rand plc, among others.Request for Discount on this report@The key takeaways from the report The detailed analysis of Global Smart Homes & Buildings Market with respect to key segments such as product, end user and geography has been included in the report The report comprises the qualitative and quantitative analysis of the market with market estimation over 2016 2025 and CAGR between 2017 and 2025 Comprehensive analysis of market dynamics including Growth factors, restraining factors and opportunities will be provided in the report An exhaustive regional and country wise analysis of Global Smart Homes & Buildings Market has been covered in the report Profile of the major key players operating in the Global Smart Homes & Buildings Market will be provided, with detailed study on their key financials, product & services, new developments and business strategies.Scope of the Global Smart Homes & Buildings MarketProduct Segments Safety & Security Products/Devices Surveillance Cameras Door Locks Smoke Detectors & Fire SprinklersTechnology Segments Bluetooth Zigbee RFID GSM/GPRS Wi-FiApplication Segments Energy Management Lighting Control HVAC Control Appliances & Entertainment Control Safety & Security Home Healthcare & Child SafetyEnd User Segments Residential Users Individual Homes Residential Buildings & Housing SocietiesAccess full research report@Contact Ushelp@accurizemarketresearch.comPhone Number: +91-612-2369997About Accurize Market Research(AMR)Accurize Market Research, a research and consulting company providing syndicated as well as customized reports with precise analysis and future outlook. We work across several industries globally helping our customer plan their next strategic move. We at Accurize Market Research believe in customer satisfaction and suggest them take strategic decisions regarding the present and future endeavors. Our reports can be availed in different formats, i.e., Excel/PDF/PPT/Word as per the need and requirement of our consumers.K-129, PC COLONY, HANUMAN NAGAR, KANKARBAGH A federal jury Friday took about 20 minutes to find Andrew Kowalczyk guilty of nine counts of sexually exploiting three young girls, 2-year-old twins and their 8-year-old sister, over several months in 2005. Kowalczyk waived his right to attend the final day of trial. He penned in a handwritten note to the judge that he demanded new lawyers and was tired of sitting in the "kangaroo court.'' "There is no use to be there,'' the 44-year-old wrote. When hes sentenced in March, he could face up to 30 years in prison on each of the nine counts in a case that veteran child abuse investigators and prosecutors characterized as the most heinous theyve handled in their careers. After waiting a decade for the case to go to trial, the oldest of the three victims, now 22 years old, took the witness stand and sat through much of the four-day trial. Im happy that its over and I got closure, she told The Oregonian/OregonLive after the verdict was read. U.S. District Judge Michael W. Mosman informed the 12-member jury that counseling would be available for them. The jurors had spent a full afternoon viewing dozens of lewd and sadistic images of the young girls that police found on Kowalczyks two cameras and a hard drive. There were other images of the girls in their diapers, bound and hung from a shelving unit or shower rod, while wrapped in one of Kowalczyks shirts. In one video, an investigator identified Kowalczyk as the man whose voice could be heard saying, Come here, come here baby as he guided one of the toddlers to his erect penis. Theyre in diapers. Theyre barely verbal, Assistant U.S. Attorney Gary Sussman said of the 2-year-olds. Kowalczyk gave the children toys, food and gifts and paid for motel rooms in Portland where they and their mother stayed in 2005. The mother testified that she often left her daughters with Kowalczyk, as she looked for an apartment to live in or sold crack cocaine to make money. Kowalczyk had been a friend of the mothers brother. Kowalczyk used the mothers desperation and manipulated her to gain access to her girls, prosecutors said. He was supposed to look out for them, care for them. Instead, he raped, sodomized and abused them in horrible ways, Sussman said in his closing argument. Even worse, he recorded the abuseHe memorialized it, and he did it repeatedly. Part of the handwritten note Andrew Kowalczyk submitted to the judge, waiving his right to be present in the courtroom on the last day of his trial. Kowalczyk was arrested on unrelated charges in Puyallup, Washington on Dec. 27, 2007. When police seized the bags he was carrying out of a Northwest Motor Inn that day, they found his cameras and hard drive. Police discovered the child pornography images on the devices, and publicly released non-pornographic photos of the alleged victims to try to identify them. A short time later, their mother contacted police, and a multi-agency federal investigation ensued. Investigators linked Kowalczyk to the crimes by identifying his appendectomy scar on his lower abdomen in the photos, distinctive shirts he wore in the photos that were later found in a storage unit he rented and by matching up the bedspreads and furniture depicted in the images to the rooms rented at several Portland motels. 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. Prosecutors also played for jurors two recorded phone calls Kowalczyk made to his father from Pierce County jail in Washington state in January 2008. Sussman urged jurors to recall the panic and desperation in Kowalczyks voice as he spoke to his father. Did you get my stuff out of the hotel room? Kowalczyk asked his dad. If they get my hard drives, Im going to do life in here. At one point, his father advised him, You shouldnt be talking this way. Kowalczyks defense team, assistant federal public defenders C. Renee Manes and Ryan Costello, didnt call any witnesses. They argued that law enforcement had tunnel vision, solely focused on Kowalczyk without considering other potential suspects. Costello called it confirmation bias in his closing argument. From day one, he said, investigators zeroed in on Kowalczyk without considering another man as a potential suspect: Jesse Wilfong. Kowalczyk had rented the motel rooms for the girls using Wilfongs name and identification. Wilfong died while the case was pending. Law enforcements failure to investigate Jesse Wilfong matters. It matters because we dont know who abused the girls, Costello told jurors. They have the wrong man. Sussman quickly dismissed Costellos contention as wild theories being spun that are not supported by any evidence. He urged jurors not to allow the defense to shift the blame to some dead guy. The jury was sent to start deliberating about 11:45 a.m. Thursday. Notice of a verdict came around 12:07 p.m. Agents from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the FBI and a retired Portland police detective returned to the courtroom with federal prosecutors to hear the verdict. In the front row, the oldest victim also waited anxiously. Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Kerin turned to her just before the jury filed in. This is all for you and your sisters, he said. Thats what this all is about. Thats what kept us going through all of this. Kowalczyk, who already has been through more than a dozen lawyers in this case and contends he was not mentally competent to stand trial, asked the court in writing to appoint him new lawyers before his sentencing. -- Maxine Bernstein Email at mbernstein@oregonian.com Follow on Twitter @maxoregonian A veteran Portland police commander who was accused of driving intoxicated when he was in charge of the bureaus internal affairs division has pleaded no contest to reckless driving. Steven James Jones, 47, entered the plea to the misdemeanor charge in Multnomah County Circuit Court on Wednesday. The plea was filed in court on Thursday. Jones received a three-month suspended drivers license and also agreed to pay the city of Portland $38,239.95 in restitution within 60 days to cover damage to the police SUV he was driving and a light pole he struck on June 28, according to court records. Jones was off-duty, alone in the vehicle and not injured. All along hes taken responsibility for what he did, his lawyer Steven Myers said Thursday. Jones, a 24-year bureau veteran, has been on paid administrative leave since the crash. Hell remain on leave, pending the outcome of an internal affairs investigation. Oregon State Police issued Jones a citation alleging drunken driving and reckless driving at 3:26 a.m. on June 28, near Southwest Third Avenue and Arthur Street, according to court records. A witness told police he saw the police SUV speeding when it traveled onto a median and crashed into a light pole and a tree, according to the Multnomah County District Attorneys office. The witness stopped to check on the driver, "but the driver initially held his door shut from the inside and said that he was a police officer and that police were already responding,'' according to the investigation. Officers who responded described Jones, who smelled of alcohol, as swaying. A state trooper found Jones' blood-alcohol content was at a level of .10 percent, over the states .08 percent legal limit. Jones has been in a court diversion program and undergone treatment since he pleaded no contest to driving under the influence of intoxicants in August. Hes completed the diversion program and remains on probation for one year. If he abides by the conditions of his probation through next August, his pleas will be withdrawn and the charges dismissed. If not, he could face up to a year in jail. Jones was serving as the captain of the bureaus Professional Standards Division at the time of the crash. Capt. Jeff Bell now holds that position. Jones wont be eligible for retirement until he reaches age 50 with 25 years of service. Hell mark 25 years of service next September. -- Maxine Bernstein Email at mbernstein@oregonian.com Follow on Twitter @maxoregonian On a Monday in early November, Tricia Hall was found strangled to death near St. Paul in Marion County. The following Wednesday, her estranged husband, Lemarr Carver, was found dead of an apparent suicide in his home in Hillsboro. Because Marion County authorities have yet to say if Carver, 42, a Marine veteran, is responsible for Halls death, he is set to be buried with honors at Tahoma National Cemetery in Washington state later this month. But that burial may not happen. Officials at the cemetery are revisiting their decision. Military lawyers are now looking into the case, said Thomas Yokes, cemetery director at Tahoma. The Armed Forces has broad eligibility requirements for burial at a national cemetery. Burial is open to members of the military who met minimum active duty service requirements and were discharged under conditions other than dishonorable. Veterans found guilty of a capital crime lose that eligibility. That includes veterans who havent been charged because of death or flight to avoid prosecution. If a person was honorably discharged from the military and between the time of their death and their discharge they commit a felony that is punishable by life imprisonment, then they wouldnt receive military honors here, Yokes told The Oregonian/OregonLive. Since 1997, about 54,000 people have been buried at Tahoma, including veterans and their spouses. All military members buried there are considered to be buried with honors, which means if an investigation discovers posthumously that a veteran committed a capital crime, the military will have the veterans body disinterred and returned to the family. Carvers family has been notified that the cemeterys general counsel is looking into the case, Yokes said. Carver was set to be buried with Marine Corps and Veterans Service honors on Dec. 27 at the cemetery in Kent. We cant do the interment, Yokes said, until we know that a capital crime was not committed. Attempts by The Oregonian/OregonLive to reach Carvers family were unsuccessful. Sheriffs officials from Marion County have said Carver is the primary person of interest in his wifes killing. But they said it will be months before their investigation into who killed Hall is closed. They havent explained why. Carver was a criminal defense attorney with offices in Beaverton and Salem. He worked as a public defender and a private attorney in counties throughout northwest Oregon. He was found dead inside his home of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound when authorities went to his home to execute a search warrant. Jessica Bauer has little doubt about who had motive and opportunity to kill Tricia Hall, her best friend of 20 years. Carver doesnt deserve military honors, she said. Bauer believes she was the last person to speak to Hall, 47, on the evening of Nov. 4, before she was killed. Halls body was found on Nov. 5. In that conversation, Bauer said Hall told her: Hes coming to my car. I gotta go. Bye! Hall was planning to meet Carver for dinner that Sunday night in Woodburn. The next day at 7 a.m., Hall was found dead in a field near St. Paul, about 10 miles away from Woodburn. Police identified the woman as Hall on Nov. 6. About a month earlier, Bauer said, she helped Hall move out of the couples home. Hall had found a message that led her to believe Carver was having an affair, Bauer said. He also controlled Halls finances and decided who she could talk and see, Bauer said. He didnt want her to work. She wasnt allowed to wear a bathing suit in their backyard in their pool, Bauer said. Hall was still financially dependent on Carver, which is possibly the reason she was meeting with him in Woodburn, Bauer said. And Hall still cared for Carver. She loved him and thats the thing: She loved a monster, Bauer said. It was Halls first marriage, though she has a son from another relationship. According to Bauer, Carver and Hall were together for about three years and married for just over a year. She waited for this so long, Bauer said, and this is what happened. A bipartisan group of state legislators from Oregon and Washington will be in the same room next week to discuss how to replace the Interstate Bridge. Sen. Annette Cleveland, D-Vancouver, issued a statement Friday morning saying the meeting is a sign of a new level of collaboration between the two states in the decades-long effort to replace the shared bridge. I thank my friends in Oregon for their cooperation and support and look forward to working together for the mutual good of our region, Cleveland said in a statement. A replacement I-5 Bridge is critical for the region for current and future generations. Cleveland introduced legislation in 2017 creating a new bi-state committee which has never met with both states participating. The development is the latest indication that Oregon and Washington are ready to get back to serious discussions about how to replace the aging Interstate Bridge, which spans the Columbia River between the states and has been listed as a critical bottleneck by federal officials, local governments and the freight industry for decades. A couple Washington lawmakers in 2013 blocked state funding for the ill-fated Columbia River Crossing project, and Oregon eventually abandoned the effort the following year. In recent years, Washington lawmakers have tried to woo Oregon back to the negotiating table. Some Washington officials have changed their tune on whether light rail should be included in the project, others have pushed for bus rapid transit. That issue was a significant sticking point in the previous bridge discussion. Both states have major incentive, beyond the bridges long-standing problems, to get back to work. Oregon and Washington spent nearly $200 million on the previous planning effort, but much of that money was from the federal government. The states face a September 2019 deadline to show the feds they have made significant progress toward reviving bridge talks, or a bill for $140 million of the CRCs past planning costs comes due. Kotek in September indicated the two states should sit down and start talking about next steps in how to revive a bridge replacement project. The lawmakers will meet at 2 p.m. Tuesday at the Offices of the Oregon Association of Minority Entrepreneurs at 731 N. Hayden Meadows Dr. in North Portland. The meeting will be open to the public, and public comment will allowed. The Columbian first reported on the meeting Friday morning. Cleveland indicated five Oregon lawmakers have agreed to sit on the committee, but House Speaker Tina Kotek wouldnt go that far. Danny Moran, Koteks communications director, said six Oregon lawmakers agreed to attend the meeting as guests. Theres not a formal Oregon group beyond this meeting, Moran said in a text. Since the Joint Oregon-Washington Legislative Action Committee was created by Washington, Oregons Legislature may have to take formal action to appoint lawmakers to the committee in a more formal manner. In an Oct. 1. letter, Kotek and Sen. Peter Courtney told Oregons transportation committee co-chairs they welcome the renewed discussions. As you know, Oregon has a long history of leadership in pursuing a replacement project, Oregons top two legislative leaders wrote. Now is the time for a bipartisan group of Oregon legislators to re-engage with our colleagues in Washington to pursue congestion relief and ensure structural security between our two states," Courtney and Kotek wrote. The Oregon delegation includes Reps. Caddy McKeown, D- Coos Bay; Susan McLain, D-Hillsboro; Rich Vial, R-Scholls, and Sens. Lee Beyer, D-Springfield; Brian Boquist, R-Dallas and Cliff Bentz, R-Ontario. Washingtons group includes Cleveland, Sens. Ann Rivers, R-La Center; Lynda Wilson, R-Vancouver; Steve Hobbs, D-Lake Stevens, as well as state Reps. Sharon Wylie, D-Vancouver; Brandon Vick, R-Felida; Jake Fey, D-Tacoma and Ed Orcutt, R-Kalama. -- Andrew Theen atheen@oregonian.com 503-294-4026 @andrewtheen The Oregonian/OregonLive went to court to lift a judges order that had kept secret for years John Ackroyds unusual plea deal in the death of his 13-year-old stepdaughter Rachanda Pickle. In late 2016, when the news organization began investigating crimes associated with Ackroyd, the Linn County District Attorneys Office and Ackroyds lawyers said they couldnt discuss the Pickle case. At the time, Ackroyd was in prison for the 1978 murder of Kaye Turner, a Eugene woman who vanished on a run in Camp Sherman. After Ackroyd died in December 2016, prosecutors acknowledged publicly for the first time that the former state highway worker had entered a plea three years earlier in Rachanda Pickles disappearance to avoid a trial in the case. Ackroyd pleaded no contest in his stepdaughters death and agreed not to seek parole and to decline release even if he became eligible. Ackroyd made the plea in open court, but then the judge immediately signed an order to seal the records. It was highly unusual because pleas typically are a matter of public record. Attorneys with extensive experience in Oregons criminal courts told The Oregonian/OregonLive that theyd never heard of such a thing. George Eder, the chief deputy district attorney in Linn County, and one of Ackroyds attorneys, Elizabeth Baker, both insist the other side sought secrecy. The Oregonian/OregonLive filed a motion in February 2017 asking that documents in the case be unsealed. Linn County Circuit Judge David Delsman granted the request. The resolution of the case was extraordinary in another way beyond the secrecy. Typically when a defendant pleads no contest, a judge finds him guilty and the case proceeds to sentencing. But in Ackroyds case, prosecutors and Ackroyds attorneys agreed to suspend the sentencing phase indefinitely. If Ackroyd tried to seek parole, prosecutors would then move to sentence him. In the end, Ackroyd wasnt convicted of murder because he wasnt sentenced. The murder charge was dismissed when he died in 2016. -- Noelle Crombie ncrombie@oregonian.com 503-276-7184 @noellecrombie That it is hard to keep an eye on government in Oregon is the major takeaway from the first report from Oregon's new public records advocate. Across Oregon, people struggle to get information about police, schools and the most powerful public officials in the state, the advocate found. Oregon has had an open records and meetings law on the books since 1973. The law, passed in the wake of the Watergate scandal, gives every person a right to see any government document in Oregon, with limited exceptions. Today, the public often faces high fees and long delays when trying to access information about their government, Oregon public records advocate Ginger McCall wrote in her report. The exemptions that were intended to be limited now number more than 550. These problems are often caused or exacerbated by the fact that many state and local government agencies underfund records staffing, the report says. McCall's 15-page report is based on her observations over her first eight months as Oregon's records advocate. She's crisscrossed the state to provide 38 trainings that she says reached roughly 1,500 people. She technically only holds sway over state agencies, but she's made a mission to offer advice and training to any public agency or requester in the state. At present, McCall said, the burden to ensure the government doesn't illegally hide information falls largely on the public. That's a problem, she says. Most people aren't able to go to take their government to court to make sure the law is followed often the only recourse when a person seeking government documents believes there has been unlawful secrecy. Agencies often complain they are burdened by complicated requests for documents and the sheer volume of inquiries from the public, McCall noted. Still, agencies sometimes make it hard for a person to get even basic information about his or her own life, McCall said, citing an Oregonian news story. An investigation by The Oregonian/OregonLive, which is cited in the report, found Portland crime victims face long delays and expensive fees to access their own police reports. The average wait for a Portland police report in 2017 was 133 days. "When public bodies are not adequately funded, then requesters are expected to make up the difference to cover the costs of public records requests," the report says. "Public bodies' ability to procure necessary technology and staff depends on buy-in from leadership." Read the report HERE. Leadership buy-in would also make clear "requests are not merely an afterthought, but are, instead, a primary part of every public body's mission," she wrote. The Legislature tried to fix public records delays in 2017. But the law designed to hold agencies to a deadline has a loophole that undercuts its entire purpose, McCall wrote. If an agency says it is too swamped, it can bypass the legal deadlines. That's how the Portland Police Bureau is able to take so long to produce basic records. McCall suggests lawmakers add penalties to the law to incentivize agency leaders to see records requests as a core function that must be taken seriously. "Public bodies' ability to procure necessary technology and staff depends on buy-in from leadership," McCall wrote. Oregon's records law says agencies must pay the legal fees of requesters who challenge a denial of records in court and win. But McCall said people struggle to actually obtain the money they are entitled to. Some judges have determined agencies only need to pay legal costs must if a judge forces them to disclose records. So if an agency facing a lawsuit decides to voluntarily give up the records, the agency can avoid being on the hook to pay the requesters' legal expenses. Officials with the Seattle Police Department said Washington's strict records law, which penalizes agencies that act in bad faith, is why a person can usually obtain a basic Seattle police report in less than a week, typically for less than $1. Financial penalties for any delay "drives our funding, that drives our decisions," Mary Perry, the Seattle Police Department's director of transparency and privacy told The Oregonian/OregonLive. "So, we do get at least enough funding so we can at least keep this process going." McCall's observation that penalties would help isn't an official legislative proposal; it's her personal observation, she said. The report outlines two official legislative proposals from the public records advisory council: the life of the council should be extended beyond its 2021 sunset and state agencies should be required to report each year how many requests they received and how they they handled them. McCall's analysis is anecdotal, a problem in and of itself, she notes. There is no requirement that agencies report or track information on records requests. A reporting requirement, she said, would reward good actors and help identify agencies that must improve. McCall started as the state's first public records advocate in late April. The Legislature created the job at Gov. Kate Brown's direction and Brown selected McCall from three nominees of the advisory council. McCall said renewing the Public Records Advisory Council is critical for her to be able to push for policy changes down the line, as the council helps her vet changes and makes proposed legislation more likely to succeed. The council also provides oversight of McCall. Only the governor or the council can remove McCall from her post. The council is set to expire in 2021 and keeping it going, the report says, is critical to meaningful change in Oregonians ability to understand their government. Bethany Barnes bbarnes@oregonian.com Does your bank have a cardless ATM? Cardless ATMs interact with your smartphone to let you withdraw cash from your bank's enabled ATMs without inserting a card into a card reader. With some ATMs, your smartphone app generates a QR code for your withdrawal, and the ATM scanner reads the QR code off your phone. Other ATMs use near-field communications (NFC), the same technology that allows you to avoid slot readers by tapping your card or phone against a receiving sensor (think Apple Pay and digital wallet apps). In either case, your smartphone substitutes for your card. However, that adds another avenue for fraudsters to trick you out of personal information and drain your bank account. From a technology standpoint, cardless ATMs are relatively safe. They use tokenization to provide a random number for each transaction, avoiding transmission of the card number. The process generally requires a PIN number, thus thieves who steal your card information also need the PIN to withdraw funds. Most smartphones have layers of security, ranging from passcodes to fingerprint or face recognition that prevent smartphone thieves from taking advantage of your account. Unfortunately, you can render all of those safeguards useless when you give your information away via a phishing text scam. One scamming method involves text verification of your personal information (account number, password, and PIN number if required) to supposedly unlock your account. With this information, thieves can set up a phone they control using your information and add that phone to your account allowing cardless ATM withdrawals at any time. The text may not ask for information, but instead direct you to a fake website. You'll be asked to provide account information to allegedly unlock your account. Fake websites can be extremely convincing, including official-looking logos, text, and pictures and the web address is not necessarily a tipoff. (Look for a lock logo and "https" in the website, indicating a secure website but don't count completely on those steps to detect a fraudulent site.) While a PIN makes the task more difficult, thieves are sophisticated enough to know which banks require PINs with cardless transactions and which banks don't. If you fall for a phishing scam, any PIN required will be on the list of information you enter to allegedly unlock your account. Whether or not you use cardless ATMS, if you receive a text from a source claiming to be your bank, exercise caution. Do not reply with any personal information, follow any included links, or use any phone number included in the text. Contact your bank directly through a known secure number such as the one on the back of your card or go to a branch to talk to somebody in person. Cardless ATMs are convenient, saving transaction time and eliminating the possibility of your card getting inadvertently stuck in a reader and overall, the process is secure. You just need to know your bank's policies and practices on cardless ATM transactions and how to identify properly enabled ATMs. Understand how cardless ATMs work at your bank, the situations in which banks will text you based on your account status (such as fraud alert or transaction information), and how the banks will contact you if they need further information about your account. They will never ask for personal information by text, email, or over the phone unless you have initiated communications. Don't open your accounts up by replying to suspicious bank texts. Let the thieves move on to easier targets. Evidence suggests they will find some. If you would like to prevent identity theft, join MoneyTips and check out our free Identity Protector tool. Photo iStockphoto.com/TeroVesalainen While Thursday marked the first day of statewide marijuana legalization, officials in Midland and Midland County say there's more to come in terms of parsing out the new, hazy law. "There are still a lot of unanswered legal questions in this proposal," said J. Dee Brooks, Midland County prosecutor. "The question now is how we deal with this until a regulatory system is put in place to implement the new law." On the statewide ballot, Michigan voters passed Proposal 1 with 2,354,640 yes votes to 1,858,354 no making it the 10th state in the country to approve legalization of the drug for recreational use. In Midland County, however, the proposal failed with 20,346 no votes and 17,916 yes. "I anticipate the general population to not truly understand what has been passed," said James Branson III, attorney for the City of Midland. "I don't anticipate any issue on the commercial side, but I do anticipate issues on the private side." Because of this, Branson said police in Midland are prepared to have a two-week educational period for people who are ingenuously misinformed with the new law. Police who stop people who don't understand the private laws do not allow people to smoke in public - in places like their cars, front porch if it's visible to the public, or even on city streets - may let off citizens with a warning. This will be at the officer's discretion, however, and residents who officers choose to cite with not knowing the law can be fined $100 for the civil infraction and have their marijuana confiscated - provided the amount on their person at the time is 2.5 ounces or less. But the educational warnings have been agreed upon only in Midland. Each county, township or city in the state can have its own way of dealing with those unknowing of the law's inner workings. "This is all evolving and on-going," Brooks said. "We're addressing (learning how to police the law) as quickly and efficiently as we can." Those in possession of 2.51 to 5 ounces of marijuana, on a first violation offense, might be subject to a fine of up to $500 and must forfeit their marijuana. A second offense would result in up to $1,000 in fines and marijuana forfeiture. A third offense makes the civil infraction a misdemeanor, and a violator could face fines of up to $2,000 and forfeiture of marijuana. People who have more than twice the legal amount on their person - marijuana weighing more than 5 ounces or possessing 24 or more plants - will receive an automatic misdemeanor, but won't see jail time unless the violation was "habitual, willful and for a commercial purpose or the violation involved violence," according to state law. Under Proposal 1, state law currently allows the following: A person 21 years old or older to possess to use, consume, internally possess, purchase, transport or process 2.5 ounces or less of marijuana and not more than 15 grams of concentrated marijuana. A person 21 years old or older to possess, store and possess not more than 10 ounces of marijuana produced by marijuana plants cultivated on the premises and cultivate not more than 12 marijuana plants for personal use. Allows a person to give away or transfer without payment up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana, or up to 15 grams of concentrated marijuana, to another person who is 21 years old or older as long as the transaction is not publicized. Private employers, like the law under medical marijuana, can fire employees should they test positive for THC in their systems though this is on a case-by-case basis. Municipalities can also regulate the number of marijuana dispensaries/establishments within their boundaries or limit them altogether. The law on limiting or prohibiting commercial use, however, has yet to be fully fleshed out. Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) has a year from Dec. 6, 2018, to establish further statewide regulation of marijuana commercial businesses. For private use, Branson believes the issue lies in weight or rather, the lack of clarity on how to weigh marijuana when police make a regular stop. While the proposal is clear that no more than 2.5 ounces of marijuana can be carried on a person, knowing what 2.5 ounces is might be a different story altogether. State law does not identify a certain brand of scale for officers to use when weighing a citizen's marijuana. Because of this, he believes calibration of scales can vary, and a citizen who might have 2.3 ounces of marijuana could have their marijuana weighed at 2.6 ounces due to machine error. He anticipates people across the state, not just in Midland, will be victim to this very thing due to the learning curve of the new law. "We're not out to trick our citizens," Branson said, "but things are very up in the air. There's no secret on that. We're learning as we go along." Under the Michigan regulation and Taxation of Marihuana Act, Michiganders cannot: Operate, navigate or be in physical control of any motor vehicle, aircraft, snowmobile, off-road vehicle or motorboat while under the influence of marijuana Transfer marijuana or marijuana accessories to a person under the age of 21 Any person under the age of 21 to possess, consume, purchase or otherwise obtain, cultivate, process, transport or sell marijuana Separate the plant resin by butane extraction or another method that utilizes a substance with a flashpoint below 100 degrees Fahrenheit in any public place, motor vehicle, or within the curtilage of any residential structure Consume marijuana in a public place or smoke marijuana where prohibited by the person who owns, occupies or manages the property, except for the purpose of this subdivision a public place does not include an area designated for consumption within a municipality that has authorized consumption in designated areas that are not accessible to persons under 21 years Cultivate marijuana plants if the plants are visible from a public place without the use of binoculars, aircraft or other optical aids or outside of an enclosed area equipped with locks or other functioning security devices that restrict access to the area Possess marijuana accessories, possess marijuana or consume the drug on the grounds of a public or private school where children attend classes in preschool programs, kindergarten programs, or grades 1 through 12, in a school bus or on the grounds of any correctional facility Possess more than 2.5 ounces of marijuana within a person's place of residence unless the excess marijuana is stored in a container or area equipped with locks or other functioning security devices that restrict access to the contents of the container or area While LARA still has a year to figure out the inner workings of the rules and regulations for commercial marijuana businesses, Branson believes the City of Midland should opt out of allowing dispensaries or other commercial marijuana businesses to take roost in the city. Midland can opt back into allowing the businesses within city limits at any time. Branson will be giving a presentation during the next Midland City Council meeting on the prospects of opting out of the commercial side of the law. This will not impact the private use of marijuana, and the city cannot supersede state law. Residents can attend Branson's presentation. It is scheduled for 7 p.m. Jan. 28 at City Hall, 333 W. Ellsworth St. This will count as the first reading of the potential addendum to the law and if the council is interested, it has the ability to vote on opting out of the commercial side of the law. The second reading of the ordinance is tentatively scheduled for 7 p.m. Feb. 4 also in City Hall. At that time, the council can choose to adopt the ordinance, fully opting out of the commercial section of the law until possibly a later date. The Salvation Army Midland Corps has raised $45,000 toward its fundraising goal of $104,000 through this year's Red Kettle Campaign. With still $59,000 to go, two anonymous donors have agreed to match the funds raised at the Midland area red kettles this Saturday. The donors have pledged to match up to $4,000 of the funds raised that day, which The Salvation Army believes will be the means for helping them achieve this year's goal. "By this time of the year, we've typically raised a few thousand dollars more than where we are at this point. That's why we hope that donors in our community will really help us receive every penny of that $4,000 match on Saturday," said Captain Brian Goodwill, corps officer of The Salvation Army Midland Corps. Goodwill said he was optimistic about reaching the Red Kettle Campaign goal by Dec. 24. "We know we have a very long ways to go in the next three weeks in order to raise the remaining funds, but if everyone in our community can give even just a little, we can achieve this goal," he said. The Salvation Army uses the funds collected during the holidays throughout the entire year to help provide rent, utility, food, transportation and other necessities to Midland County residents living in poverty. The Salvation Army can also receive donations through the mail (P.O. Box 1447, Midland, MI 48641) or through its website (www.samidland.org). Volunteers interested in helping to ring bells and collect money are also needed, and can sign up to do so by calling The Salvation Army of Midland, at 989-496-2787. The Michigan State Police Tri-City Post will host its annual Stuff a Blue Goose event today at Walmart, 3921 Wilder Road in Bay City. Stuff a Blue Goose is an annual event where Troopers collect new toys for local needy kids in the Great Lakes Bay Region. The Troopers stuff the toys into their patrol cars known as Blue Gooses. Services for former President George H.W. Bush elicited a wide range of emotions as people grieved, honored and remembered. The nation won't soon forget the images of former Sen. Bob Dole raising a left hand to salute Bush's casket, former President George W. Bush's emotional eulogy, the thousands of people lining train tracks in Texas or even Sully, the late president's service dog, lying next to his casket. Exclusive: Inside the train carrying George H.W. Bush's casket Even light-hearted moments, such as when George W. Bush greeted Michelle Obama by handing her a cough drop, marked the occasion. Click through the slideshow above to see the best of the images from the several days of memorials and tributes. And go to our subscriber site, HoustonChronicle.com, for full coverage of the late president's life and death. There, you can also find a gallery of our best photography selected by Chronicle editors. NEWS WHEN YOU NEED IT: Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text message | Sign up for breaking news alerts delivered to your email here. Heathrow has set out its plans to expand operations and become carbon neutral. The airport has outlined its approach to four key areas to reduce and offset carbon emissions from the growth in the number of flights created by an additional runway. The plan outlines action on four key areas including: cleaner aircraft technology, improvements to airspace and ground operations, sustainable aviation fuels, and carbon offsetting methods. ') } else { console.log ('nompuad'); document.write(' ') } // --> ') } else if (width >= 425) { console.log ('largescreen'); document.write('') } else { console.log ('nompuad'); document.write('') } // --> To encourage cleaner aircraft technology, Heathrow will treat environmental performance of aircraft as a key consideration of slot allocations for new flights; offer free landing fees for a year at the airport for the first commercially viable electric flight; continue offering cheaper landing fees for cleaner and quieter aircraft; and review the infrastructure requirements for charging electric aircraft through the Heathrow Centre of Excellence for Sustainability. For airspace and ground operations, Heathrow aims to support the governments plans on modernizing airspace. This includes the potential elimination of routine stacking for aircraft coming to land, reducing emissions from aircraft on the ground through reduced taxi times, increasing access to on-stand power sources, and having fewer engines used while moving around the airport. To promote the use of sustainable alternative fuels, Heathrow says it aims to make the airport a leading hub for the development and deployment of sustainable aviation fuels by providing the necessary airport infrastructure, and support for pilot projects. Elsewhere, Heathrow will continue investing in UK peatland restoration and other projects to play a role in developing the next generation of UK carbon offsets. Over coming months, Heathrow will seek feedback from members in the aviation industry, advocacy groups and climate change experts to set out further details in its plan. Members of the public will then have an opportunity to feed into this process including plans to mitigate road traffic and construction in the next statutory consultation on Heathrow expansion in the summer of 2019. John Holland-Kaye, chief executive at Heathrow, said, Climate change is the biggest challenge facing our generation. But it is not aviation thats the enemy it is carbon. We are committed to taking the lead to deliver carbon neutral growth in aviation, and the plan we launch today sets out the roadmap to get there. The Florida GOP is undermining voters recent decision to restore voting rights for felons. Amendment 4, which reinstated voting rights to 1.4 million former felons who completed their sentence, passed in the states midterms with 65% majority and is scheduled to take effect on Jan. 8, but the Republicans are standing in its way by playing dumb. According to Mother Jones, the states elections chief is asking the overwhelmingly red state legislature to take another look at the initiative and reinterpret it. The fact that the amendment is even being reconsidered is a farce. It was presented to voters one way, the majority voters decided they liked it as it was, so it should go into law in that way. Republicans are patronizing and deceiving their constituents right in front of their eyes and pretending that its all part of the process. Secretary of State, Republican Ken Detzner, whos pushing for legislature feedback on the amendment, told press We need to get some direction from them [the legislature]as far as implementation and definitionsall the kind of things that the supervisors were asking. It would be inappropriate for us to charge off without direction from them. Yet, thats exactly what hes asking county boards of elections to do. Hes asked those supervisors of elections to make their own decisions about how to begin reinstating voting rights for affected felons and theyre understandably frustrated. Since Detzner provided no directions or timeline, each county is figuring out what to do on its own, and that could lead to yet more voter rights issues. While one county could decide to restore voters rights on the predetermined date other counties may not follow suit, and that lack of consistency could lead to lawsuits against the state. Voters will be footing those litigation bills. Republicans want to pretend that this process is an extremely nuanced, dangerous slope to slide down. They beg questions with answers that are not only evident, but should have been asked long before this amendment hit the ballot. State Senator Dennis Baxley told the Tampa Times How do you evaluate eligibility? I still have some questionsWhat were the terms of their sentence? Do they have to meet probation? Did they complete their debt to society or not? Every single one of Baxleys questions can be answered in one sentence. This amendment restores the voting rights of Floridians with felony convictions after they complete all terms of their sentence including parole or probation, excluding those convicted of murder or sexual assault charges, according to the amendments summary, available on the Florida Division of Elections website. That verbiage was also approved by the state supreme court in April of last year. In North of Dawn, author and professor Nuruddin Farah weaves the tale of a Somali family living in Norway. By turns introspective and expansive, the novel poses questions about the place of migrants in Western societies and self-imposed cultural isolation. But at its heart, North of Dawn is about people trying to find their place within a changing worldand the multitudes who find themselves caught between radical Islam and white supremacy. Farah, a Somali who now divides his time between South Africa and the United States, got the idea for his novel after talking with a friend in Oslo. When his friend brought up the high number of African migrants in countries like Norway, Farah pointed out that Norway itself has a history of sending its people around the world. Weargued back and forth [about] whether or not a country that has produced a large number of migrants, like many European countries, has the right to complain about migrants coming from somewhere else, Farah tells Paste. North of Dawn follows Somali couple Mugdi and Gacalo, whose lives in Oslo are turned upside down when their son, Dhaqaneh, kills himself in a suicide attack in Mogadishu. He leaves behind a widow, Waliya, and her two teenage children, daughter Saafi and son Naciim, from a previous marriage. Before his death, Dhaqaneh asks Gacalo to ensure the three are brought to Oslo, despite his estrangement from his father. But once in Oslo, Waliya becomes deeply associated with Muslim extremists in Norway, while her children are drawn to the Mugdi and Gacalos secular world. Focusing on the relationships between characters, the novel explores Somali, Muslim and Norwegian identity in the 21st century. The shadow of Somalias 1991 collapse hangs over Mugdi and his family; while Mugdi, a former ambassador, and Gacalo have left Somalia for a cosmopolitan life in Europe, their son, who was raised in Norway, rejects that world in favor of Muslim extremism in Somalia. Its a tension that, according to Farah, has played out in Somalia in recent decades. Mugdi, myself and otherswe belong to a secular form of Somali-ness, Farah says, which comes into conflict with groups of people who are against any form of secularism. Waliya falls into the latter camp, resisting integration into Norwegian society and restricting her children. A former prostitute who spent multiple years in a refugee camp with her children, Waliya refuses to work outside the home and attempts to keep her children from making friends or deviating from her strict view of what Islam. Many Somalis arrive in Europe and continue to think they will be able to dictate to their children that the only way of life is the traditional Islamic way, Farah explains. Waliya is risking the affection and love between her and her children. The intergenerational facet of the novel is the most powerful. Although heavily influenced by their parents extremist view of Islam, Saafi and Naciim grapple with how to bring their new life in Norway into harmony with their faith. Saafi, who was raped while living in a refugee camp, becomes more confident with time, while Naciim, who at age 12 was told he was the head of the household, turns his back on the patriarchal vision of Islam his mother has embraced. Where many immigrant narratives center on a Western perspective by affirming the humanity of those crossing borders, Farah delves deeper. In Naciim and Saafi, and their relationship with their grandparents, Farah offers a meditation on the responsibility we have to counter extremism in our own communities. Mugdis views on Somalis, including the children he sees as overly conservative upon their arrival to Oslo, are influenced by negative changes in his home country. But rather than turning away from the children as he did with Dhaqaneh, he finds points of connection with them. Juxtaposing Dhaqanehs suicide bombing with far-right terrorist Anders Behring Breivik 2011 attack, Farah reveals that no corner of the world is free of extremism. But North of Dawn posits that extremism can be reversed by communities countering the hateful rhetoric on which Islamic extremism and white supremacy thrive. In some cases, however, doing so requires the safety of a foreign nation; its impossible to imagine Saafi and Naciim having the security they need to grow into the thoughtful young adults in a refugee camp, where their safety is always under threat. What would we be able to do without migration, without open borders, without the possibility of peoplewhen things are really bad on one continentgoing to another continent? Farah asks. Nobody wants to run away from their home if their home is in peace. Bridey Heing is a freelance writer based in Washington, DC. More of her work can be found here. Back in October Apple submitted a detailed seven-page letter to the Australian Parliament objecting to six major points. Today, the Australian parliament approved a measure that some critics say will weaken encryption in favor of law enforcement and the demands of government. For the intelligence alliance known as Five Eyes comprising Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States, it's a huge victory. It's a huge victory for law and order and a bad day for criminals, terrorists and globalists around the globe. At the moment however, it's unclear how this will play out in real life. It will take a case against a Silicon Valley giant to see if the new law actually has any teeth. Ars Technica reports tonight that "The new law, which has been pushed for since at least 2017, requires that companies provide a way to get at encrypted communications and data via a warrant process. It also imposes fines of up to A$10 million for companies that do not comply and A$50,000 for individuals who do not comply. In short, the law thwarts (or at least tries to thwart) strong encryption. Companies who receive one of these warrants have the option of either complying with the government or waiting for a court order. However, by default, the orders are secret, so companies would not be able to tell the public that they had received one. "It's a big deal," Adam Molnar, a lecturer in criminology at Deakin University in Australia, told Ars. However, the law as currently written seems to contain what some view as a loophole. The statute says that companies cannot be compelled to introduce a "systemic weakness" or a "systemic vulnerability" into their software or hardware to satisfy government demands. For more, read the full Ars Technica report here. We're likely to hear from Silicon Valley's elites including Apple's CEO in the coming days on this development. For now, reactions have begun to roll in. As expected right-wing critics and opponents of the new law were out in full force already arguing that the new law will weaken Australians privacy and online security, potentially leaving them vulnerable to cyberhacking, and is a step on the way to a Big Brother-style police state. Australian Greens party Senator Jordon Steele-John has been vocal in his opposition of the Bill, condemning the Opposition for helping the Morrison government pass it and describing it as an affront to privacy and democracy." An affront to democracy? Really? You could read more of what critics are saying on news.com.au. On Tuesday Patently Apple was early on the news that Microsoft could Dump Edge for a Chromium Based Browser. This morning Microsoft made it official in a press release titled "Microsoft Edge: Making the web better through more open source collaboration." Microsoft stated that for the past few years, Microsoft has meaningfully increased participation in the open source software (OSS) community, becoming one of the worlds largest supporters of OSS projects. Today were announcing that we intend to adopt the Chromium open source project in the development of Microsoft Edge on the desktop to create better web compatibility for our customers and less fragmentation of the web for all web developers. As part of this, we intend to become a significant contributor to the Chromium project, in a way that can make not just Microsoft Edge but other browsers as well better on both PCs and other devices. More specifically, Microsoft Edge will now be delivered and updated for all supported versions of Windows and on a more frequent cadence. We also expect this work to enable us to bring Microsoft Edge to other platforms like macOS. Microsoft hopes to have a preview release for early 2019. Microsoft has been pushing hard for their fan base on iOS devices to adopt Edge, so changing course to have a compatible version of their browser for the Mac only makes sense. A Google spokesperson welcomed the news by stating that "Chrome has been a champion of the open web since inception and we welcome Microsoft to the community of Chromium contributors. We look forward to working with Microsoft and the web standards community to advance the open web, support user choice and deliver great browsing experiences." Chris Beard, CEO of the Mozilla Corporation who developed the Firefox browser, said in a statement today that "From a social, civic and individual empowerment perspective ceding control of fundamental online infrastructure to a single company is terrible." You could read his full response here. At present, there's been no official comment from Apple or their executives on this development It's been more than 15 years since IBM stopped making ThinkPad laptops, yet you're still likely to see them in the halls of industry, virtual or actual. That's thanks to Lenovo. The company formerly known as Legend Computers of Beijing, China, still produces the well-regarded laptop line, with its beloved AccuType keyboard. And indeed, a big part of the ThinkPad's longevity has to do with those rugged, inimitable keyboards. But Lenovo machines nowadays range well beyond the classic black ThinkPad slabs. (For one thing, you can get some of them in silver.) Rather, year after year, Lenovo continues to innovate with radical designs. Take the rotating-screen Yoga family, which influenced other major PC manufacturers like Dell, HP, and Acer to adopt its basic mechanism in their own 2-in-1 convertible laptop designs. Lenovo's high-concept devices also include the first foldable-screen PC, a ThinkPad. Lenovo's conventional Windows laptops include ThinkPads, ThinkBooks, and IdeaPads. (Gaming machines and 2-in-1 hybrids are another matter; more on them in a bit.) The Classics: The ThinkPads (and Now the ThinkBooks) ThinkPads are Lenovo's classically styled, business-oriented laptops, with a wide range of configurable features: touch screens, cellular connectivity, biometric login hardware, docking options. Their primary commonality? They almost always come colored in Lenovo's classic matte black. These machines tend to offer more in the way of IT-friendly features for monitoring, management, and business-oriented wired and wireless connectivity. To help position certain models within the larger laptop market, Lenovo divides its ThinkPads into a host of sub-classes indicated by a letter. These include the ultraportable ThinkPad X and top-of-the-line X1 lines, the entry-level ThinkPad L family, and the ThinkPad P mobile workstations. The 14-inch X1 Carbon is the company's executive flagship, joined in 2021 by the 13-inch X1 Nano, the lightest ThinkPad at 1.99 pounds. (Photo: Molly Flores) The bread-and-butter ThinkPads, though, are the T series, widely deployed business laptops that deliver a good balance of cost, durability, and feature set, along with the famous ThinkPad keyboard. Current T-series models include 14- and 15.6-inch notebooks, some with an "s" suffix after their model numbers to indicate a slimmer and lighter system. You may also see models with a small "g" at the end (indicating a discrete Nvidia graphics chip) or a "p" for "professional," an upper-echelon model with better specs. Our Experts Have Tested 146 Products in the Laptops Category This Year Since 1982, PCMag has tested and rated thousands of products to help you make better buying decisions. ( See how we test .) Beyond L, P, T, and X, Lenovo has also pushed another, newer line: E. The E series is more of a hodgepodge than most, resolutely budget-minded, with CPUs from both Intel and AMD and models in both 14- and 15.6-inch screen sizes. Meanwhile, Lenovo ThinkBooks are a distinct line from ThinkPads. They serve small and medium business (SMB) customers and also lean toward the value end of the spectrum. (See our picks for the best business laptops overall.) The ThinkBook line has grown in 2021, now coming in 13-, 14-, and 15-inch versions in slim and normal-thickness variants. You'll need a quick decoder to ThinkPad model numbers, whose logic changes every few years according to the moods of Lenovo's marketing braintrust. Until recently, the company used three-digit numbers with the first digit signifying screen size: Models that start with "3" have 13.3-inch, "4" have 14-inch, and "5" have 15.6-inch displays. Model numbers ending in "5" are based on AMD processors; "0" at the end indicates Intel. That scheme still holds for some older models still in the line. More recent models, however, carry a series letter such as E, T, or X plus two digits marking the screen size. So a ThinkPad E15 is a budget-minded model with a 15.6-inch screen, while the ThinkPad T14 is the classic business fleet machine with a 14-inch panel. The premium ThinkPad X1 models don't indicate a screen size in their model names. ThinkBooks simply use two digits in the name, for the screen size, with an "s" at the end if it's a slim variety. The IdeaPad Line: The Consumer Clamshells Lenovo IdeaPads, on the other hand, are aimed mainly at consumers, though design-forward business users and entrepreneurs may gravitate toward using an IdeaPad as a primary PC. You'll find some preloaded apps on many IdeaPad systems, particularly those bought from big-box stores. Look for IdeaPad models prepped by the Microsoft Store ("Microsoft Signature" versions) if you're dead-set on avoiding preinstalled bloatware. (Photo: Zlata Ivleva) Note that the screen-size and 0-for-Intel, 5-for-AMD numbering scheme of the ThinkPads does not apply to the IdeaPads. The line is divided into 100, 300, 500, 700, and 900 series, with higher numbers for more premium designs with fancier features (and higher price tags). Most current models carry only one digit, such as IdeaPad 5 or Slim 7. Screen size isn't specified; for example, you can find IdeaPad 5 models with both 14- and 15.6-inch displays. Lenovo also offers a host of IdeaPad Chromebooks, which are popular choices for buyers on a budget. Google's Chrome OS is simple to manage and use, since it centers on the Chrome Web browser and related apps. Lenovo's Chromebook lineup includes inexpensive IdeaPad consumer models, as well as more rugged ThinkPad-branded Chromebooks for businesses and schools. (See our picks for our best overall Chromebooks.) Yoga and Flex: Lenovo's Hybrids Under the larger ThinkPad and IdeaPad umbrellas fall most of Lenovo's wide range of touch-screen hybrids, which can function as both laptops and tablets: the Yoga and Flex laptops. Introduced in 2012, the first Yoga pioneered the 2-in-1 convertible laptop concept. Yoga laptops' 360-degree screen hinges let you flip and fold the system into four positions: a conventional laptop mode, an easel-like stand mode for presentations, an A-frame or tent mode for viewing videos or using touch apps on an airline tray table, and a tablet mode for reading or for scribbling and sketching with a stylus. In addition to high-end consumer systems called simply Lenovo Yogas, you'll find ThinkPad Yogas and ThinkBook Yogas that target a business audience. They follow the naming and numbering schemes for the lines they fit into, such as the ThinkPad X1 series. There's even a ThinkPad C13 Yoga Chromebook. (Photo: Zlata Ivleva) The Flex models, meanwhile, are broadly similar but tend to be cheaper than Yogas. At various times, the Flexes have been their own brand, though at this writing they're marketed under the IdeaPad banner. The latest Yogas and Flexes follow the single-digit naming scheme of the IdeaPads, using just 7 and 9, though one Yoga 6 model throws a curveball into the works...just because. (Photo: Zlata Ivleva) With these machines, the screen stays attached to the keyboard, meaning they're 2-in-1 convertibles as opposed to detachablesWindows 10 tablets with removable keyboards akin to Microsoft's Surface Pro slates. For some years, Lenovo offered a ThinkPad X1 Tablet, a business device with one of the best detachable keyboards on the market. It's just re-emerged as the ThinkPad X12 Detachable. The other prominent detachable 2-in-1 we've seen of late from Lenovo is the company's low-cost, consumer-minded Chromebook Duet for students and budget browsers. Legion: Meet the Gaming Brigade Finally, to keep up with the growing popularity of PC gaming, Lenovo launched an all-new laptop line, the Legion family, in 2017. It did this to differentiate its gaming systems from the main IdeaPad line, where the gaming rigs were known as "IdeaPad Y" models. (Even today, Legion laptops have a Y-shaped insignia on their lids.) The Legion brand includes both gaming laptops and desktops. That said, in 2020, Lenovo did reintroduce some IdeaPad Gaming models for players on tight budgets. (Photo: Zlata Ivleva) While at this writing an older Legion Y540 is still available, current models bear single digits, either a "5" or a "7" for mainstream and flagship gamers respectively. Legions with an "i" suffix use Intel Core processors, while others rely on AMD Ryzen power. The Legion family's pricing, given the models' specs and feature sets, has been attractive. You'll see Legion laptops in not only the familiar 15.6- and 17.3-inch screen sizes, but 16 inches (in the case of the Legion 5 Pro), and in a mix of distinctive designs, with more features specifically aimed at a gaming audience than the IdeaPad Gaming models ever had. So, Which Lenovo Laptop Should I Buy? For more of our favorite machines (that is, ones outside the Lenovo-sphere), check out our 10 favorite laptops overall, as well as our guides to the best cheap laptops and business laptops. But for our current, ever-evolving list of Lenovo favorites, scroll on down. The OnePlus 6T isnt just the best mid-range phone you can buyits one of the best phones of the year, with a gorgeous screen, tiny notch, and killer specs. And now you can win one of your very own. One lucky reader will win a OnePlus 6T in Midnight Black with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage along with three official cases. The phone is unlocked, so it works with AT&T and T-Mobile networks, as well as Verizon, though you may need to call your carrier to turn on some things. Entering our giveaway, on the other hand, couldnt be easier. You can scroll to the bottom of this page and enter your email address in the widget to gain a single entry. Score extra chances to win by subscribing to our Twitter and Twitch accounts, as well as the PCWorlds YouTube page (be sure to check out the latest episode of Android Confidential while youre there). Also make sure to follow OnePlus on Instagram for all the latest awesome pics taken with the 6Ts camera. The contest begins today and runs through Friday, December 14 at 9 a.m. PT. Only legal residents of the 50 United States (including the District of Columbia) or Canada (except Quebec) are eligible to win. See terms and conditions for full details. The lucky winner will be notified via email, so make sure to check those spam folders. And good luck! OnePlus 6T giveaway Good Friday Morning, Fellow Seekers. Philadelphia has become the latest big American city to pass whats known as a Fair Work Week law, which requires retail, fast-food and hospitality companies to provide some predictability to how it assigns and schedules its workers, The Philadelphia Inquirer reports this morning. The 14-3 vote by City Council comes after nearly a year of work by advocates. As The Inquirer reports, the law requires employers with more than 30 locations and 250 employees to give workers two weeks' advance notice of their schedules and offer predictability pay if schedules change after that. It also would requires employers to offer available shifts to existing employees rather than hiring new ones. The latter requirement, the newspaper noted, would bring some existing employees closer to full-time. With the vote, Philadelphia becomes the second-largest city, behind New York City, to pass such a requirement, the Inquirer reported. The law will affect about 130,000 workers, Councilwoman Helen Gym told the newspaper. On Thursday, City Council also approved a minimum wage hike for city employees to $15 and hour. Now the big question: Could it happen statewide? The answer, according to one economist, is Yes." But it wouldnt come without some serious heavy lifting. Pennsylvania could absolutely pass a fair scheduling law and Oregon is one example of what will likely be a growing list of cities and states in the years to come that pass such legislation, said Mark Price, a labor economist at the left-leaning Keystone Research Center in Harrisburg. Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, spent his first term pushing for a minimum wage hike for hourly employees. Right now, Pennsylvanias minimum is tied to the state minimum of $7.25 an hour, lower than most of its neighboring states. In the face of opposition from such pro-business groups as the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry, and the Republican-controlled General Assembly, the proposal hit a brick wall in this years legislative session. In June, Wolf signed an executive order raising the minimum wage for state employees and contractors to $12/hour. A fair working week bill in the General Assembly would hit the same wall of business opposition, Price said. They will see a scheduling law as a permanent regulation that undermines the bargaining power of their members, he said. "Basically a scheduling law gives more power to workers. So whats different in 2019? For one, Wolf was overwhelmingly re-elected in November, handily dispatching Republican Scott Wagner. And Democrats picked up a dozen seats in the House and five seats in the Senate. Reflecting national trends, those new lawmakers are overwhelmingly progressive and have publicly supported a minimum wage hike and other worker reforms. The issue for Wolf and his allies, Price notes, will be coming up with a bipartisan proposal that could win both Democratic support and the support of smaller, but more conservative, majorities in the House and Senate. The challenge to passing a scheduling law is the same as for passing a higher minimum wage. The roadblock is the leadership of the four caucuses agreeing to let a bill go to the floor for a vote, Price said. My bet is it is really hard for all but the most stridently partisan Republicans to oppose a law that gives families more certainty about their hours of work. Still, Imagine Pennsylvania employers having to ask their incumbent workers if they want more hours before they are allowed to hire a new worker, Price said. "Thats great for their incumbent workers but gives them voice they dont currently have. Assuming of course we can enforce the law. The rest of the days news starts now. Family members of incarcerated Pennsylvanians protested Gov. Tom Wolf at the annual Capitol Christmas Tree lighting Thursday, complaining of inhumane conditions for their loved ones, PennLives Wallace McKelvey reports. The Post-Gazette runs down the long list of candidates contending for a special state Senate election to fill the vacant seat of GOP Sen. Guy Reschenthaler, who was elected to Congress last month. Good news, Millennials, youre no longer ruining Philly. BillyPenn explains why. Live in Pittsburgh? The Incline has a sure-fire method to figure out how old your house really is. Heres your #Philly Instagram of the Day - because its all kinds of seasonal. WHYY-FM looks at the high cost of switching college majors. Commonwealth Court has tentatively set a date in a landmark school funding case, Keystone Crossroads reports. The Allentown schools need to do a better job of helping its most vulnerable students, The Morning Call reports, citing a new audit of the districts curriculum. The biggest 2020 fear for the Trump re-election camp? A recession, Politico reports. Heres Roll Call on Congress' Ethics Nightmare Before Christmas. WolfWatch. Gov. Tom Wolf and First Lady Frances Wolf talk to WITF-FMs Smart Talk' program this morning at 9 a.m. At 12:55 p.m.., in the East Wing Rotunda, Gov. Wolf joins the ever-thinning ranks of Pearl Harbor survivors and others to commemorate the 77th anniversary of the attack that drew America into World War II. Heavy Rotation. Heres an old favorite from XTC to get your Friday morning rolling. Fridays Gratuitous Hockey Link. Detroit bested Toronto in an Original Six matchup on Thursday night. The Wings got past the Leafs 5-4 in OT. The game marked the first appearance by Toronto forward William Nylander, whos been Hamleting around for most of the season in contract talks. And now youre up to date. PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii (AP) About 20 survivors are expected to gather at Pearl Harbor on Friday to pay tribute to the thousands of men lost in the Japanese attack 77 years ago. The youngest of the veterans are in their mid-90s. The Navy and National Park Service will jointly host the remembrance ceremony at a grassy site overlooking the water and the USS Arizona Memorial. Attendees are expected to observe a moment of silence at 7:55 a.m., the time the attack began on Dec. 7, 1941. Hawaii Air National Guard F-22 jets are scheduled to fly overhead in missing man formation to break the silence. In this Dec. 7, 1941 file photo, smoke rises from the battleship USS Arizona as it sinks during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. About 20 survivors are gathering on Friday, Dec. 7, 2018, at Pearl Harbor to remember thousands of men lost in the Japanese attack 77 years ago. The youngest of the survivors is in his mid-90s. (AP Photo, File)AP This year, no survivor from the USS Arizona will be attending the ceremony as none of the men were able to make the trip to Hawaii. The Arizona sank after two bombs hit the ship, triggering tremendous explosions. The Arizona lost 1,177 sailors and Marines, the greatest number of casualties from any ship. Most remain entombed in the sunken hull of the battleship at the bottom of the harbor. Altogether, the Pearl Harbor attack killed nearly 2,400 U.S. servicemen. Dozens of those killed have been recently identified and reburied in cemeteries across the country after the military launched a new effort to analyze bones and DNA of hundreds long classified as "unknowns." This led to the 2015 exhumation of 388 sets of remains from the USS Oklahoma buried in a national cemetery in Honolulu. The Oklahoma had the second highest number of dead after the Arizona at 429, though only 35 were identified in the immediate years after the attack. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency has identified 168 sailors and Marines from the Oklahoma since the exhumations three years ago. It has said it expects to identify about 80 percent of the 388 by 2020. Several families were scheduled to rebury their newly identified loved ones on Friday, including Navy Seaman 1st Class William Bruesewitz of Appleton, Wisconsin. Hes expected to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C. By AUDREY McAVOY, Associated Press The former CEO and controller of Worley & Obetz will stand trial after officials in Lancaster County say they illegally obtained more than $1 million to pay off personal debt. Jeffrey B. Lyons, the former CEO, and Karen L. Connelly, were scheduled for preliminary hearings before District Judge Edward Tobin on Wednesday. Lyons waived his hearing, and Tobin forward Connellys charges to county court following a two-hour hearing. Lyons and Connelly remain free on bail. Lyons, 57, and Connelly, 64, are accused by police of working together to use funds that covered $1 million in Lyons credit card debt. Connelly authorized most of the payments, according to police. The payments covered items such as trips and plane fare, online shopping purchases, gym memberships, home projects, spa services, dining costs, college costs for a relative and other costs, police said. Massachusetts company, Diesel Direct has purchased the physical assets of the former Worley & Obetz company, which were approved in U.S. Bankruptcy Court on Sept. 18. Gov. Tom Wolf participated in a solemn ceremony on Friday at the state Capitol honoring Pennsylvania survivors and families of those who died in the attack on Pearl Harbor 77 years ago. Wolf, the first governor to attend this annual ceremony since former Gov. Tom Ridge, paused to share the story of what four Pennsylvania survivors in attendance witnessed that day that led to the United States' involvement in World War II. Master Sgt. Isaac George of New Castle, was getting ready to go to breakfast when a Japanese plane dropped a bomb on the mess hall. He ended up spending the day in the control tower witnessing planes dropping bombs, service members die, and the U.S.S. Arizona sink into the harbor. Army veteran Richard Schimmel of Allentown was assigned to the aircraft warning service on Oahu, working as a plotter and switchboard operator in a location east of Pearl Harbor. He was the fifth person to learn Japanese planes were headed to Pearl Harbor. Initially, he thought the planes were on maneuvers dropping smoke bombs but a radio report informed him Pearl Harbor was under attack. Major Henry Hank Heim of Wiconisco came nearly eye-to-eye with the pilot of an enemy plane heading straight toward a hangar. He managed to get into a hangar only to have it bombed, throwing him against a wall rendering him unconscious. When he came to, he dragged himself to a machine gun to shoot at attacking planes only to have them return fire. He and six other soldiers ran for cover in an irrigation ditch and in the end only he and one other soldier made it out of the ditch alive. Lt. Col. William Bonelli was working on an aircraft as first wave of planes flew by and felt lucky to have escaped with his life while many other Army Air Corps members around him perished in that attack. Rear Admiral Michelle Skubic, commander of Naval Supply Systems Command, also offered some remarks. She said the legacy left by those four men and other serving their country back then is our fighting spirit has remained unshakable as has our unceasing determination to defend the defenseless and our resilience to rebuild after destruction. A burglar who specialized in hitting Chinese restaurants had the misfortune Friday of having his convictions and jail term backed by a state appeals court. The decision by a Superior Court panel means Stanley Mosley, 46, will keep serving a 12- to 24-year prison sentence for the string of August 2015 break-ins at the eateries in Cumberland County. Mosley was nabbed after being caught in the act of burglarizing another Chinese restaurant in Dauphin County, Judge Mary P. Murray noted in the state courts opinion. Mosleys method was pretty basic, investigators said. In each case, he smashed the glass front door of the restaurant, pried open the cash register and left. He was filmed by security cameras committing some of the break-ins, police said. The eateries in Hampden and East Pennsboro townships and Lemoyne were burglarized in the space of four days. Mosley acted as his own lawyer during his December 2016 trial. The jury convicted him of every count he faced. He appealed to the state court after county Judge Albert H. Masland called his challenges to his convictions quixotic. Murray cited Maslands conclusion that Mosley was properly convicted on all counts. Anything less than that would have been shocking. On appeal to the Superior Court, Mosley argued that prosecutors withheld evidence which would have cleared him. He insisted testimony that tracking of his cell placed him at the crime scenes was incomplete and unreliable. He claimed as well that he should have been allowed to present evidence about other burglaries that occurred while he was in prison after his arrest. Murray reached the same conclusion as Masland. She called Mosleys arguments rambling and incoherent. Police responding to a report of a man hanging from the bridge discovered the body of a stabbing victim suspended in the air Tuesday. The call came in around 9:43 a.m. Tuesday, to the Greenbelt area south of a PennDOT building, near Norfolk Southern Rail mile marker 20. Officers found a man who appeared to be entangled in wires along a concrete/stone section of the bridge, documents state. The man was identified as Daniel Kelly, 21, and was pronounced dead by the Dauphin County Coroners Office, documents state. Kelly suffered multiple visible stab wounds to his upper body, and the stabbing was determined to be the cause of death. During the course of the investigation, police identified Dylan Reeves, 20, as someone who was with Kelly prior to the stabbing. Police said both were homeless. Reeves was located in State College, and interviewed by detectives on Wednesday. Det. Jason Brinker with Harrisburg Police wrote that Reeves admitted to the following during his interview: On Dec. 3, Reeves stabbed Kelly with a knife, and dragged his body from where he committed the stabbing and ended up throwing him over the bridge. Kelly became entangled in wire and cable along a concrete portion of the bridge, leaving him suspended above the ground. According to the criminal complaint, the crime occurred sometime after 3:30 p.m. Monday. Reeves said he discarded the shoes he was wearing at the time of the stabbing due to them having blood on them. Reeves is currently incarcerated at the Centre County Correction Facility on an unrelated matter. He is charged with first degree murder, tampering with evidence and abuse of a corpse, according to online court documents. News of the arrest was creating a lot of buzz Thursday among members of Harrisburgs homeless community, many of whom were gathered for a hot meal at St. Michaels Lutheran Church on State Street. Several clients told a PennLive reporter Dylan Reeves had inserted himself into Harrisburgs homeless community within the past few months, and was a regular face on the citys soup kitchen circuit. Many also knew of the stabbing victim, Kelly, who most recently, they said, been working at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Harrisburg and, as of this month, sleeping in night shelter for homeless men at Downtown Daily Bread. Kelly was remembered Thursday as someone who was trying to get his life together. Those who had come to know both were still having a hard time Thursday evening wrapping their minds around the idea that Kelly was dead, and Reeves was the prime suspect in the case. Reeves presented himself as a nice enough kid who had attended college for a while, remembered Kevin Schieb, but there also were times when his conversation drifted into strange areas. He talked crazy stuff, Schieb said, He talked about killing people. Of course, Schieb and others said, they really never took Reeves - whom Centre County prosecutors identified last winter as having an adopted family in Alaska - having seriously because they had no reason to believe that he had any real motivation, means or opportunity to do so. Speculation about the motive behind the Kellys death and the relationship between these two down-on-their-luck men ran rampant at the tables, but authorities were not offering their leading theories Thursdays. Processing the reality was hard enough for Kathleen Schulkins, a leader of the Helping Hands Ministries that coordinates the soup kitchen at St. Michaels. It just hurts, Schulkins said, stopping to compose herself as she discussed the incident. I look at them as extended family. A Lancaster County man is facing charges after police say they found child pornography on his electronic devices. Police also said that during the investigation, it was determined Michael Wilhelm also had inappropriate contact with a child. Detectives with East Lampeter Township Police Department were notified by a CyberTipLine report of possible possession, manufacture, and distribution of child pornography on Jan. 22, according to police. Detectives, with assistance of the Lancaster County Computer Crime Unit, executed a search warrant on an address on Stoltzfus Lane in Leola and seized numerous electronic devices. The police report did not indicate when the search warrant was executed. Wilhelm, who police identified as the owner of the devices, admitted to viewing and downloading child pornography during an interview with detectives, police said. Officers then subsequently found images and videos on the devices. Detectives also learned during the course of the investigation that Wilhelm had indecent contact with a neighborhood child several years in the past. Court documents indicate Wilhelm was scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Thursday, where his charges of dissemination of photo or films of child sex acts, child pornography, and criminal use of a communication facility were waived to county court. He was also arraigned Thursday on a single count of indecent assault of a person under the age of 13 on Thursday. Wilhelm remains free on unsecured bail. A federal judge has set a 60-day deadline for the state to pay nearly $260,000 it owes after losing a race discrimination complaint filed by a black candidate for executive director of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission. U.S. Middle District Judge John E. Jones III set that cut-off date after Kevin Kaaba Brunson complained that he still hasnt been paid more than seven months after a federal jury found the commission discriminated against him when it hired a white woman for the director job instead. That jury awarded Brunson $150,000 in damages on his race discrimination claim in its April verdict, plus $1 in damages on his accompanying sex discrimination complaint. Jones later added another $108,000, most of it to cover Brunsons attorney fees, to the states bill. Brunson, a Harrisburg man who retired after a 39-year career with the commission, had sought more than $1.3 million in damages when he sued the agency in 2015. He was director of the Harrisburg region of the commission when he was passed over for the executive director job. The case was ironic since the commission is charged with eliminating discrimination in Pennsylvania. The state attorney generals office contended in contesting the suit that Brunson was not the most qualified candidate for the executive director job. Jones set the 60-day payment deadline after Deputy Attorney General Caleb Enerson responded to a demand Brunson lodged with the judge for payment. Enerson said in a letter to Jones that the Brunson payment is working its way through the state system and as of the end of November was being processed by the Department of General Services. Russ Corbett awoke to a horror on the night of April 17, 2017. The whole back of my house was on fire, the retired state trooper told Dauphin County Judge William T. Tully on Thursday afternoon. We just barely made it out. We lost everything we had. That fire at the Wyndham Way condo complex in Lower Paxton Township was no accident. As Corbett spoke, the man who set the blaze, Jake Reader, a former firefighter, stood just a few feet away. Moments later, Corbett and other victims of the four fires Reader set in April and May 2017 watched Tully sentence Reader to 6 to 12 years in prison. The judge also hit Reader with an order to pay nearly $1.1 million in restitution and ordered him to spend 10 years on probation. The question on everyones mind, however, was, Is that enough? Corbett and his neighbor, Elaine Chambers, who was burned out along with her 95-year-old father and 94-year-old mother, voiced concern that after serving his prison term Reader will get out and do it again. Tully said he shares that qualm. The blaze that left Corbett and Chambers homeless was one of three Reader set at Wyndham Way, Deputy District Attorney Christopher Cooper said. He also torched an unoccupied day care center. Those other fires caused minimal damage. No one was injured in the blazes, although Corbett said his elderly neighbor lost her two cats who were like her kids. Tully imposed Readers sentence after the visibly nervous 22-year-old pleaded guilty to eight felony charges of arson along with counts of risking a catastrophe and reckless endangerment. Reader had no sentencing deal. Public Defender Elizabeth Ruby urged Tully to impose a 5- to 10-year prison term. She said Reader at one time had a tentative deal for a 3- to 10-year jail term, but that was nixed by District Attorney Fran Chardo after he succeeded Ed Marsico as DA when Marsico became a county judge this year. Chambers told Tully about the terrible collateral damage Reader had caused. She described how I was awakened by what I can only describe as an inferno on the patio. As she struggled to get her mother out of the home all of the windows in the back of the house were blowing in. The stress of it all, including having to relocate to a tiny apartment, contributed to the physical declines of her parents, who died this past March, Chambers said. Their last year on Earth was miserable, she said Cooper said police quickly identified Reader as a suspect in the arsons. He said Reader also was a suspect in a series of hay bale torchings in the summer of 2016. Reader confessed to Wyndham Way and other arsons when confronted by investigators, the prosecutor said. Jake has been open and honest and forthcoming with the police, Ruby said. She said the arson spree was triggered, to a degree, by his anger at being dismissed from the Colonial Park Fire Company over a rule violation. Reader has mental health issues and physical and mental disabilities, Ruby said. She insisted that, after undergoing treatment programs in the county prison hes a year and a half smarterHes humbled by this. Ruby then read a letter written by Reader, who was standing by her side. He apologized and stated I do realize I could have severely hurt or killed someoneI do realize that what I did was a horrible thing. Im disappointed in myself because Im better than that, he added. Tully expressed his concern that Reader kept setting fires after that first devastating blaze. You picked out innocent neighborsand jeopardized everything they had, the judge said. Im very sorry. Something like this is never going to be happening again, Reader replied. Ive learned to control my anger, my impulses. The official start of winter, Dec. 21, is a little less than two weeks away. But central Pennsylvania will get a real blast of cold weather this weekend, as temperatures dip to the low 20s on Saturday and Sunday. And while most of us will be snug and warm at home, too many of our neighbors will be struggling to put food on the table or keep a roof over their heads. So, in the spirit of this season of giving, here are a few ways that you can help: The Central Pennsylvania Food Bank serves about 140,000 people in need in the central Pennsylvania region every month. Six in 10 of those who access its services are working families, a spokeswoman said. Other beneficiaries of its services include children, seniors and veterans. According to its website, the food banks top needs are such protein-rich and non-perishable items as peanut butter and canned chicken and canned tuna. The food bank also accepts such holiday-themed items as boxed mashed potatoes and stuffing; canned corn; canned green beans and canned fruit. If your employer, social organization or church is looking to organize a food drive, you can contact the food bank by email or by telephone at 717-564-1700 (in Harrisburg) or 570-321-8023 to learn more. The food banks web page is also rich in resources and advice. Downtown Daily Bread, a mission of the Pine Street Presbyterian Church in Harrisburg, is also another great resource. The organization serves lunch every day from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. to the more than 400 homeless who live in Harrisburg. In 2017, Downtown Daily Bread served more than 28,000 meals. Downtown Daily Bread also provides lockers, bus passes, transportation, haircuts, photo identification resources, laundry tokens, mail delivery, food vouchers and counseling services to the people it serves. The soup kitchen and its facilities are located at 310 N. Third St. in Harrisburg. For more information, call 717- 238-4717. Its website is also a great resource. Bethesda Mission, also in Harrisburg, provides an array of services to needy and homeless men and women. If youre looking to donate, the mens mission needs, among other items, gloves, underwear, winter coats, hooded sweatshirts, sweatpants, thermal underwear, work boots (sized 8-14), shaving razors and deodorant. The womens mission, meanwhile, is in need of such items as paper products, sharpies, journals, stamps, dictionaries, cooking spices and 33-gallon trash bags. All donations can be dropped off the missions main office at 611 Reily St. in Harrisburg. There are plenty of other ways you can help. You can donate your gently used clothing and household goods to Goodwill, Community Aid or the Salvation Army. Your local church, municipal building, or school district is also an excellent place to go for resources. And sometimes its as simple as a kind word. Its often said that a societys strength is judged by how it treats its weakest and most vulnerable members. This holiday season, lets show off that strength by making sure no one is left behind. By Greg Rothman As Pennsylvanians have transitioned into the holiday season, it would do our state government well to keep in mind the hope and promise the pilgrims felt about their new home during the first Thanksgiving. The founder of our modern state capital city, John Harris, came to the New World from Yorkshire, England in the late 17th century, seeking out a new home in a settlement along the Susquehanna River. Harris was, ironically enough, raised to be a brewer by his father. I say ironically because today the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is now home to 282 craft or small breweries, which is the sixth most in the country. According to the Brewers Association, Pennsylvania craft brewers make more barrels of beer than any other state more than 3.7 million barrels in 2017. Considering that Pennsylvania still has a Prohibition-era bureaucracy in place for regulating and price-controlling the liquor industry, this is impressive. Imagine how prosperous Pennsylvania brewers and the Commonwealth would be if this antiquated regulatory system was ended tomorrow. While our efforts in the state House, and the Liquor Control Committee on which I serve, have led to greater privatization of liquor in recent years, the unelected bureaucracy of the Department of Revenue and the Liquor Control Board continue to put in place taxes and regulations that cause economic stagnation and market inefficiencies. In late November, the state tax agency announced that it would be instituting a six percent tax on beer sold directly to consumers from breweries, starting July 1. Revenue stated that the new tax will keep the 1971 tax-reform code up to date. However, history shows us a different outcome is likely. In 1936, the state instituted a liquor tax after the Johnstown flood to be used for emergency funding. The tax would eventually rise to 18 percent by the 21st century, leading to multiple efforts by legislators to eliminate the tax in recent years. From these efforts to end a tax that is over 82 years old, we can see that once a tax on liquor is implemented in the Keystone state, it is not easily repealed. Instead, the increased costs to breweries is passed on to Pennsylvania consumers in the form of higher prices. Revenue for the state is then reduced as sale revenues plummet due to the decrease in price competition and the driving of businesses out of the Commonwealth. And the cycle continues. Furthermore, it is unfortunate that Revenue has decided to burden the growing craft brewery scene at a time when millennials, its main customer base, are leaving Pennsylvania for states with a more affordable cost of living and more opportunity, prosperity and economic and personal freedom. The Pennsylvania Fiscal Office reported last year that the state lost 13,000 educated millennials in 2015 alone. In the long term, craft breweries like Troegs, Susquehanna Brewing Co., Iron Hart Brewing, Appalachian Brewing Co. and more will be forced to export their brewing like our state exports our college graduates. These establishments are symbols of newly gentrifying cities and places where young, working millennials are seen during Happy Hour. But the new taproom tax will likely decelerate this momentum and discourage entrepreneurs in the beer industry from setting up shop in Pennsylvania cities that are just starting to prosper again as the national economy is taking off. As a real estate broker in the 1990s, I helped Troegs Brewing Co. secure its first property when it opened for business in south Harrisburg. In 1995, craft brewing was just starting to expand and was a cutting-edge industry. Many times, such as the case with the Trogner brothers and the Yuengling family, craft breweries start out as small family businesses. Soon after, as John and Chris Trogner and Dick Yuengling can attest, through taking big risks, brewing a quality product and hard work, they became two of the top breweries in the country. According to the Central Penn Business Journal, of the top 50 overall brewing companies, 40 are craft breweries. It is a shame that Pennsylvania state government agencies see fit to punish these successful family business stories with unfair and bureaucratic instituted taxes. Our Commonwealth was once a prime destination for entrepreneurs like John Harris and later industrialists like Andrew Carnegie and John Rockefeller, seeking to escape big government intrusion and determine their own destinies. These strong entrepreneurial roots are still reflected today in businesses like Troegs and Yuengling, but they need to be watered every now and then with common sense governing. After over a century of operating in a Prohibition-era mindset, it is time for our state government to get out of the liquor business and into the business of government reform. Instead of dampening economic growth through taxes and regulation state government should step out of the way and let the economy brew. State Rep. Greg Rothman, a Republican, represents the Cumberland County-based 87th House District. He also sits on the House Liquor Control Committee. He writes from Harrisburg. There are many problems with consumerism and how it affects our planet, and society. They include mass-farming of animals, and I entirely understand people who turn vegan in response. They include pollution of the oceans, and I understand those that wear only biodegradable clothing as a result (often from animals). And they include poor treatment of people, and I understand those that seek out manufacturers with the best labour practices as well. But for me, the biggest issue with modern consumption is its sheer volume, and the waste created by the companies trying to feed it. If clothing was valued more, and looked after better, then the most problematic aspects of mass farming, mass production and cheap labour would be mitigated. Leather is not a great material in terms of its impact on the environment. But if you have one great jacket - and wear it and repair it for decades - then its a lot better than the cheap products that would have gone into landfill in the meantime. The popularity of cashmere has caused huge problems in Mongolia over the past 30 years. But the biggest issue is mass production of cheap cashmere that has made it an everyday material. The biggest problem with fashion brands again, for me is not the fact they are expensive or spend too much money on catwalks. Its the fact they produce so much clothing that is expected to be consumed in a single season, and thrown away if it is not. Continuous stock of products from season to season (like the Anderson & Sheppard Haberdashery does, for example) is a much more responsible way to sell clothing. And so is made-to-measure something brands like Stoffa and Saman Amel emphasise in what they do. A friend was recently telling me about the big emphasis on sustainability at the recent Premier Vision Denim here in London. But the head of sustainability at Levi's said Lot No.1 is by far the most sustainable part of the company - just because it creates less consumption. As consumers, we can help by being patient. By not expecting everything, in every size, to be available all the time. Perhaps by pre-ordering or joining a waiting list (as the PS shop does in a small way, and Private White does in a bigger one). And with made to measure, be aware that theres a certain efficiency in waiting for something to be made just for you. So why do I hate Christmas jumpers? Because theyre disposable. Theyre a cheaply made piece of clothing intended to be worn, laughed at and chucked at the back of the closet. They are clothing as novelty. There are much bigger issues out there. Such as people buying stacks of cheap T-shirts, or a new glittery top for every party. But Christmas jumpers are such a glaring example. Often staring you in the face with a silly, smiling face poking out of the top. I know I could seem like a bad example. But I would never advocate someone buy as many suits, shoes or sweaters as I do in order to produce Permanent Style every week. And I know thats not how most readers consume it. They cherry pick, save up for pieces and then look after them. And I try, whenever I can, to give things to friends and family to avoid waste. Plus I wish companies wouldn't send unsolicited products in the post (mainly beard oil, at the moment). Buy quality clothing; look after it well; avoid fashion; and support companies that do the same. And dont buy that Christmas jumper. Bah humbug everyone. Local bookstores face shortages but still ready for holiday shoppers Local and independent bookstores are gearing up and asking customers to do their holiday shopping earlier than ever this year due to supply shortages. Don't forget to check out all the sale stuff in the PB Store and head to the Buy and Sell page to find more great deals and cool gear. 2.8k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard Democrats will be immediately putting an end to yet another Republican, wasteful, stupid, partisan, conspiracy-based investigation this one the investigation into fired FBI Director James Comey, the man fired by Donald Trump in May of 2017 because he was doing his job on the Russia investigation into Trumps obvious (that is, the parts that were public) attempt to collude with Russia. The top Democrat on the Judiciary panel Rep. Jerrold Nadler of New York said as he walked into the Comey interview that he will end the investigation when he takes over in January, reported AP Congressional reporter Mary Clare Jalonick. There is no evidence whatsoever of bias at the FBI or any of this other nonsense, Nadler said, as he walked into the closed-door deposition led by Republicans on Friday. New York Rep. Jerrold Nadler, the top Democrat on the Judiciary panel, said as he walked into the Comey interview that he will end the investigation when he takes over in January. There is no evidence whatsoever of bias at the FBI or any of this other nonsense, Nadler said. Mary Clare Jalonick (@MCJalonick) December 7, 2018 Republicans have claimed, without evidence and in fact even after Comey acted in a way that harmed Trups then opponent Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, that Comey and the FBI are biased against Trump. Comey is also a top witness regarding Trumps obstruction of justice on the Russia probe, and the Republican investigation is seen as a way to discredit Comeys testimony on Trumps obstruction. On December 2, Comey withdrew his bid to quash a congressional subpoena compelling him to testify in secret about the bureaus decisions on investigations ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Comeys lawyer David Kelley told Reuters that Republicans on the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee pledged to provide Comey with a full transcript within 24 hours of his testimony, and he will be permitted to make any or all of that transcript public. In an act that can only be seen as foolish on their part, Republicans also subpoenaed former AG Loretta Lynch, presumably about her brief encounter with former president Bill Clinton on a tarmac. This is the height of hypocrisy as Republicans justify Trump interfering in the DOJs probes to such an extent that he fired former AG Jeff Sessions because he would not interfere more in the Russia probe. It took Donald Trump to do it, but Democrats have finally become aggressive in their response to the nonsense stupidity that has for years guided Republicans down their current path, landing on Donald Trump as the most qualified person in the entire country to be president a man who doesnt even understand the basics of how Congress works, a man who doesnt care about the freedoms this country was built on who in fact spits on them, a man who treats other people with the contempt of a truly ignorant and delusional egomaniac. Republicans have been running the House like a pack of drunken frat boys starting investigations based on actual conspiracies with no evidence, refusing to fund the government or pay the most basic of bills, not working very often (all traits they share with the guy their party pretends is an anomaly- the guy in the White House), and generally behaving like naughty adolescents whose brains havent fully developed yet. What a difference an election makes. This is proof that every single vote, phone call, knocked door, donation it all mattered. Were going to, after eight long years have a House that functions like a grown-up House of Representatives. (Additional reporting by Reuters Sarah N. Lynch) Follow Sarah on Facebook and Twitter. (Reuters) Comedian Kevin Hart stepped down on Thursday from hosting the 2019 Oscar ceremony after insensitive words about gays he tweeted in the past resurfaced online. The 39-year-old comedian and Ride Along actor had announced on Tuesday that he would host the Academy Awards, the film industrys highest honors. I have made the choice to step down from hosting this years Oscars this is because I do not want to be a distraction on a night that should be celebrated by so many amazing talented artists, Hart said in a tweet late on Thursday. I sincerely apologize to the LGBTQ community for my insensitive words from my past, he tweeted. In one of the old tweets, Hart described an actors picture as a gay billboard for AIDS. In another he said if his son were playing with a dolls house, he would break it over his head and tell him to stop being gay. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which organizes the Oscars, was not immediately available for comment. Chad Griffin, the president of the Washington DC-based LGBTQ advocacy group, The Human Rights Campaign, responded to Hart on Twitter late Thursday. You have a rare opportunity to take responsibility, teach people in this moment, & send a message to LBGTQ youth that they matter & deserve dignity & respect, Griffin wrote. Hart, who also starred in the 2017 film Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, would have followed talk show host Jimmy Kimmel who hosted the Oscars in 2018 and 2017. Hart, writing on his Instagram page this week, called the gig the opportunity of a lifetime. I am so happy to say that the day has finally come for me to host the Oscars, he said. The Academy responded on Twitter: Welcome to the family. Hosting the Oscars is one of the most prestigious and difficult jobs in show business, navigating the expectations of the A-list audience in the theater and millions of people watching on television, with a combination of topical and insider jokes. Hart, who is African-American, would have been one of just a handful of black Oscar hosts over the past 90 years, including Chris Rock, Whoopi Goldberg and Sammy Davis Jr. Oscar nominations will be announced on Jan. 22, with the 2019 televised ceremony taking place in Hollywood on Feb. 24. (Reporting by Rama Venkat in Bengaluru and Rich McKay in Atlanta; Editing by Darren Schuettler and Peter Graff) 415 SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard By Nathan Layne WASHINGTON (Reuters) U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller may provide new details on Friday on how two of President Donald Trumps closest former aides have helped or hindered his investigation into possible collusion between Russia and Trumps 2016 election campaign. Mueller last month accused Trumps former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, of breaching a plea bargain agreement by lying to prosecutors, and he will submit information on those alleged lies in a filing to a federal court in Washington. The filing could shed new light on Manaforts business dealings or his consulting for pro-Kremlin interests in Ukraine. Manafort, who maintains he has been truthful with Mueller, managed Trumps campaign for three months in 2016. Also on Friday, Muellers office and the U.S. Attorney from the Southern District of New York are to file sentencing memos on Michael Cohen, Trumps former private lawyer. Cohen pleaded guilty to financial crimes in federal court in New York in August, and last week he pleaded guilty to lying to Congress in a Mueller case. Sentencing for both of those cases will be handled by one judge. Muller may disclose new information to supplement Cohens admission last week that he sought help from the Kremlin for a Trump skyscraper in Moscow late into the 2016 campaign. Muellers probe has infuriated Trump, who has regularly issued tweets criticizing Muller and his team. The president has denied any collusion between his team and Russia, and accuses Muellers prosecutors of pressuring his former aides to lie about him, his election campaign and his business dealings. The president has called Cohen a liar and weak person. Trump lashed out in new tweets early Friday, again questioning prosecutors and accusing federal investigators and senior officials of having conflicts of interest, without offering any evidence. Representatives for the U.S. Justice Department and the U.S. Special Counsels Office declined to comment on Trumps tweets. Renato Mariotti, a former federal prosecutor, said he was looking to see if Muellers prosecutors offer evidence that directly or tacitly support Cohens assertions that Trump directed him to make hush payments to women in violation of campaign finance law and that he let the White House know what he planned to tell Congress about the Moscow skyscraper project. Cohen now says he lied in that testimony. If the government does not contest that, it indicates that it is consistent with the evidence that they do have, Mariotti said, referring to Cohens assertions. It could be a big day. SUBSTANTIAL COOPERATION The filings on Cohen and Manafort follow a sentencing memo earlier this week regarding Trumps former national security adviser, Michael Flynn. In the memo, Mueller praised Flynn for providing substantial cooperation and argued that he should receive no prison time, a move widely seen by legal experts as a message to other would-be cooperators that assistance would be rewarded. Cohen is hoping prosecutors make a similar recommendation, emphasizing in a court filing last week that his decision to cooperate came in the face of fierce criticism by Trump of Muellers probe. Cohens lawyers also argued that celebrities engaged in similar tax evasion cases one of the core charges against him have faced only civil penalties. The lawyers said his financial crimes were unsophisticated, noting no overseas accounts were used. Manafort, in addition to allegedly lying to Mueller, was convicted in a separate case in Virginia for a sophisticated bank and tax fraud scheme that included tens of millions of dollars in payments for his work in Ukraine. Mariotti, the former prosecutor, said he expected Muellers office to be unsparing in its submission on Friday. They want the judge to throw the book at Manafort, sending a message to him and everyone else, he said. (Reporting by Nathan Layne; Additional reporting by Susan Heavey; Editing by Peter Cooney, Bernadette Baum and Jeffrey Benkoe) 440 SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard If there is going to be an infrastructure new deal in the U.S. Congress it is going to have to be a green one. Already newly-elected Democrats are proposing the idea of a Green New Deal as one of the top priorities for the new Congress after it convenes in January. And now, in an opinion piece in the Washington Post, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, has sent a message to the White House: there will be no infrastructure deal in Congress that does not address climate change. And addressing climate change is a very popular idea, both among the American people and within the scientific community. The new leading spokeswoman for progressives is Alexendria Ocasio-Cortez from New York. She has started a Green New Deal caucus in the House even though she wont be seated until January. To support her position she tweeted: A Green New Deal will actually help the economy by stimulating productivity, job growth and consumer spending. Former Chief Economist for the Senate, @StephanieKelton A Green New Deal will actually help the economy by stimulating productivity, job growth and consumer spending. Former Chief Economist for the Senate, @StephanieKelton https://t.co/ovV82AxnoL Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Ocasio2018) November 30, 2018 And now the most powerful Democrat in the Senate has joined the movement. In the Post Schumer wrote: Now that Democrats will soon control one branch of Congress, President Trump is again signaling that infrastructure could be an area of compromise. We agree, but if the president wanted to earn Democratic support in the Senate, any infrastructure bill would have to include policies and funding that help transition our country to a clean-energy economy and mitigate the risks the United States already faces from climate change. Since Schumer is often thought of as a mainstream establishment Democrat who takes corporate money, this is a big step for him. It will help endear him to the progressives, and further unify the Democratic Party. Some of Schumers words will warm the hearts of every Democrat, as he lambasted the current president: While notable progress was made during the Obama administration to stimulate renewable-energy technology and fashion international agreements to reduce carbon emissions, the Trump administration has shamefully undone much of that progress and appears unwilling to take any new steps to combat climate change. Worst of all, the administration is pulling the United States out of the Paris climate accord, giving a green light to countries such as China and India to increase carbon emissions by unacceptable amounts. Schumer also points out that nothing will get done in Congress without the support of Senate Democrats, which means him. If Trump wants any legislation to reach his desk for signature then Senate Republicans will have to compromise: Not only will House Democrats have the power to propose, debate and pass progressive legislation on the subject, but Senate Democrats will have substantial leverage as well. For any legislation to pass the Senate, 60 votes are required. There is no question that Donald Trump will try to make himself look good by getting Congress to pass a popular bill such as infrastructure funding. He needs something positive to run on in 2020 (if he is still in office by that time). And now Chuck Schumer has drawn a line in the sand: If Trump wants to look good, he has to change his tune on climate change. He has to become a believer instead of a climate change denier. And he will have to compromise with both Schumer and Nancy Pelosi, no matter how much it will be painful for him to do so. 754 SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard For some unknown reason it took a Swiss newspaper to discover how Tucker Carlson really feels about Donald Trump. In an interview with Die Weltwoche, Switzerlands leading German-language weekly, the Fox News host was very blunt: I dont think hes capable, he said. Carlson also made clear that he strongly dislikes the self-aggrandizement and boasting that have become President Trumps hallmarks. And, when the interviewer asked if he thought Trump has kept his promises, the normally verbose Carlson simply said: No. Fox News Channel is known to be generally pro-Trump, so it is surprising for one of their leading commentators to voice harsh words about the president. Fox is usually aligned with the current administrations policies and positions. And popular prime time hosts Sean Hannity and Jeanine Pirro have taken strong positions supporting Trump in his battles against Democrats and the Resistance. When asked about Trumps boastfulness, Carlson said: I hate that about him. Its not my culture. I didnt grow up like that. When asked to provide more details about whether Trump has kept his promises or achieved his goals, Carlson did not hold back on expressing his opinion: His chief promises were that he would build the wall, de-fund planned parenthood, and repeal Obamacare, and he hasnt done any of those things. I dont think hes capable of sustained focus. I dont think he understands the system. I dont think the Congress is on his side. I dont think his own agencies support him. He knows very little about the legislative process, hasnt learned anything, hasnt surrounded himself with people that can get it done, hasnt done all the things you need to do, so its mostly his fault that he hasnt achieved those things. Carlson has been critical of Trump before. When he harshly attacked then-attorney general Jeff Sessions, for recusing himself from the Russia investigation, Carlson said Trumps attack was a useless, self-destructive act. For Carlson the main issue is immigration, and has been a fervent advocate for Trumps hard-right position on immigration, according to the Washington Post. Some of Carlsons strongest words were used to criticize the Republican Party, saying that it will die if it doesnt take steps very soon to honestly represent middle-class American voters. The elite in our country is physically separated in a way thats very unhealthy for a democracy, Carlson said. Rural America is really falling apart, he said, adding that if youre running the country, you should have a sense of that. The Die Weltwoche interviewer, in editorial comments, said Carlson sounded like a renegade, saying: He was so tough on Trump. He was nobodys cheerleader. For a person who is so successful on Fox News, I didnt expect him to be so outspoken. On Wednesday, December 5, video blogger Patrick Lancaster appeared on Going Underground, a talk show on RT. The shows host, Afshin Rattansi, described Lancaster as having been on the front lines of the British-backed war in Ukraine since 2014. An unverified Twitter account attributed to Lancaster says he covers the Ukraine war on the DPR side of the frontline and describes himself as a crowdfunded journalist. He asks donors to give to an account in a Russian government-run bank. Lancaster argued that the November 25 incident in the Sea of Azov, in which three Ukrainian ships were fired on and then captured by Russian vessels while attempting to transit the Kerch Strait, was staged. Asked if Poroshenko will use the Kerch incident to skirt elections under the cover of martial law, Lancaster said the Ukrainian presidents plan is already working. Poroshenko, he said, now has the power to change the date of the March 2019 election or cancel it altogether, adding that martial law will help in his bid to maintain power. If someone looks at a map of the areas that hes put martial law in affect, these are all of the pro-Russian areas, the areas that either did not vote in the 2014 election because they were part of their own new country, Lugansk and Donetsk Peoples Republic, or that Poroshenko lost, Lancaster said. These areas that he put in martial law are the areas of Ukraine that are the most against him and even the other areas are not for Poroshenko." Lancaster added that with martial law, Poroshenko has the ability to stay in power. But Lancasters claim that martial law is exclusively being implemented in so-called pro-Russian areas is incorrect. First, the 10 Ukrainian regions put under martial law for 30 days starting on November 26 would be on the front lines of a military conflict with Russia. Secondly, seven of those 10 regions supported Poroshenkos candidacy in the previous presidential poll. For example, the Western region of Vinnytsia, where Poroshenkos Roshen confectionery company is based, is among those under martial law. As Reuters noted in 2016, nowhere is Poroshenkos influence more evident than on the streets of Vinnytsia itself, where he has developed his political base. During the 2014 presidential election, Poroshenkos highest level of support was in Vinnytsia, where he took 67.3% of the vote. Below Vinnytsia is the Odessa region, Poroshenkos birthplace, which is also under martial law. Poroshenko won a plurality of the vote (41.8%) there during the 2014 poll, taking the largest share of every district. In neighboring Mykolaiv, which was placed under military rule, Poroshenko also took a plurality (46%) of the votes. In the Kherson region -- where 80-95% of the residents in 88% of its territory speak Ukrainian, according to The Ukrainian Week -- Poroshenko took 51.4% of the vote in 2014. The Ukrainian Week is a weekly news magazine published by an Austrian commercial journalism company. According to a 2014 Kyiv Institute of Sociology survey, only 1% of Khersons residents supported joining Russia, while 94.9% were opposed. Further east in Zaporizhia region, Poroshenko won with a 38.1% plurality, coming in first in every district in a race that fielded 21 candidates. In northeastern Ukraines Summy region, which was part of the 18th century Ukrainian Cossack state and is also under martial law, 55.4% of voters supported Poroshenkos candidacy. In neighboring Chernihiv region, also under direct military control, Poroshenko took a plurality of the 2014 vote (48.5%). Things get more complicated in Donetsk, Lugansk and Kharkiv regions. Lancaster was wrong in saying the so-called Lugansk and Donetsk Peoples Republics are their own countries, as no United Nations member, including Russia itself, has recognized their statehood. In most of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, Russian-backed separatists prevented the 2014 election from proceeding. In Donetsk, the vote was only held in five of 22 constituencies; in Lugansk, four of 12. Support for Poroshenko was relatively low in those constituencies where the vote did occur (35.9% in Donetsk, 33.2% in Lugansk) In the final region currently under martial law, Kharkiv, Poroshenko took 35.3% of the vote in 2014. According to the Poland-funded Center for Eastern Studies (OSW), Kharkiv was the second most pro-Russian region in Ukraine, although the pollsters found following Russian military aggression in Eastern Ukraine and Crimea the number of people supporting closer ties with Russia had dropped. Ultimately attempts to establish a Russian-based peoples republic in Kharkiv failed. It should be noted that efforts to gauge popular sentiment there are complicated by the fact that, according to Natalia Shapovalova and Balazs Jarabik of Carnegie Europe, the local branch of the Ukrainian security service reportedly silences those with pro-Russian or pro-separatist views. But, as Shapovalova and Jarabik noted, citing a 2017 poll conducted by USAID and the Ukraine-based Institute of Mass Information, one quarter of the population of Kharkov blamed Kyiv for fighting in Donbass, while another quarter blamed Moscow (that ratio was 36-23%, respectively, in the previous year.) As Polygraph.info previously noted, Poroshenko does face steep odds in his quest to retain the presidency. A poll released nine days before the maritime incident showed nearly half the voters say they would not vote for the incumbent. Western media and civil society organizations have also expressed concern over Poroshenkos motives. Foreign Policy Magazine quoted the OSW as saying that the decision to introduce martial law is an attempt to exploit the situation and increase his public support. Some ordinary Ukrainians can be seen in Western news reports also worrying over the Ukrainian presidents political goals. But as it stands, the Rada or Ukrainian parliament (which ultimately approved military rule) put a check on Poroshenko, halving the martial law period from 60 days, as originally planned, to 30 days. Thus, as it currently stands, martial law will neither interfere with the 2019 elections themselves nor the campaign season. Whether it will be extended remains to be seen. But based on all of the available evidence, Lancasters claim that the regions put under martial law are all pro-Russian areas that either did not vote for Poroshenko or didnt participate in the elections is false. 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. Jerrel Floyd is an Alabama raised reporter who covers Summerville and Dorchester County for The Post and Courier. You are the owner of this article. Boeing Co. received a promise of more than $900 million worth of tax breaks over the course of 30 years as an incentive to build its 787 Dreamliner assembly plant in North Charleston. A new report shows that massive tax incentives are keeping hundreds of millions of dollars out of South Carolina's underfunded public schools. File/Grace Beahm Alford/Staff Syndicated and guest columns represent the personal views of the writers, not necessarily those of the editorial staff. The editorial department operates entirely independently of the news department and is not involved in newsroom operations. The Post and Courier 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. You have permission to edit this collection. Edit Close Political Reporter Caitlin Byrd is a political reporter at The Post and Courier and author of the Palmetto Politics newsletter. Before moving to Charleston in 2016, her byline appeared in the Asheville Citizen-Times. To date, Byrd has won 17 awards for her work. 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. WASECA An industrial hemp crop raised in southern Minnesota farm fields this year faced the same challenges as the corn growing in the area. "This year was bad with all the rain and not enough sun," said grower Josh Pinkernell, who with owners Matt Little and Garth Carlson are operating Midwest Hemp Farm under a state pilot project. This winter Pinkernell is tending to a bumper crop of hemp being grown inside a large greenhouse in Waseca that the group bought from Mike Drummer. "Theyre in full bloom right now," Little said of the hemp, which takes 90 to 100 days to grow to maturity. The group is getting ready to ramp up outdoor production next year going from 50 acres this year to 2,000 acres by contracting with area farmers. Little said their hope is to one day extract CBD oil, short for cannabidiol, from the hemp seed. The oil is used by many to reduce inflammation, manage pain and to improve focus for those with ADHD. Little who suffered much of his life with chronic back pain is a fan of the CBD oil. His girlfriend suggested he try a drop of oil on his tongue to treat his pain. "In five minutes the pain goes away" Little said But for now, manufacturing CBD in Minnesota is illegal, so farmers growing hemp must sell it to oil manufacturers in states where it is legal. The Waseca group also is growing the seed to be planted next spring. They see a good market for the seeds once hemp becomes more widely grown. "Part of it is getting genetics tailored to a specific areas seasons," Pinkernell said. "Well get more stable genetics as we go." Hemp fiber is also a popular product, but Little said those plants are a different variation that grow taller than the oil-producing plants. The current Farm Bill allows states to implement hemp pilot programs and the Minnesota Legislature approved it in 2015, said Whitney Place, assistant commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Agriculture. She said they are overseeing 43 growers who planted 710 acres of hemp this year. Place said the conflicting federal and state laws on marijuana and hemp leave many parts of industrial hemp development up in the air and leaves growers with limited marketing options until regulations catch up. "Its kind of a chicken-and-egg situation. The markets really not developed yet. Were hoping in the upcoming Farm Bill it will lift some of the drugs laws from hemp." Hemp and marijuana come from different variations of the cannabis sativa plant. While hemp was long ago widely grown in southern Minnesota, it was banned in 1957 over concerns about marijuana production. 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 LIMERICK With no comment or discussion, the Limerick Township Board of Supervisors granted final site plan approval to the first phase of a 30-acre project that will eventually bring more than 450 new residences and a traffic circle to the intersection of Ridge and Swamp pikes. With supervisors Chairwoman Elaine DeWan absent, the plan for phase one of Limerick Town Center was approved by a 3-1 vote. Supervisor Patrick Morroney voted no. The first phase includes Arcadia at Limerick Pointe, the 308-unit senior units comprised of a mixture of independent living, assisted living and memory care units that is at the center of the project. But the aspect of the project that will affect the most people is that the first phase approval also includes the re-alignment of Swamp Pike, through a traffic circle, to align with Lewis Road at the intersection with West Ridge Pike. Despite vehemently opposing the traffic circle since it was first insisted upon by Montgomery County and PennDOT road planners, Vice Chairman Ken Sperring, without comment, provided the crucial third vote needed for passage. Back in September, Sperring said he refuses on principle, to vote for anything involving the circle. However, with Morroney also voting no and Supervisor Ken Neafcy also absent at the September meeting, Sperring was convinced to vote to apply for three new traffic light permits from PennDOT that the project needed to move forward, after being re-assured there would be other opportunities to raise concerns about the traffic circle. Tuesday night was one of those opportunities, but Sperring did not take it. In addition to the the Arcadia building, the project also proposes about 160 townhomes and three retail buildings that have 32,000 square feet of space on the first floor, with apartments above. The developers, Ridge Swamp Associates LLP, must still obtain permits from the Montgomery County highway officials, as well as PennDOT, but have already obtained crucial permits from the Montgomery County Conservation District, according to Township Manager Dan Kerr and Township Engineer Khaled Hassan. In fact Hassan said the developers may begin doing some earth moving for the senior building quite soon. As for the townhouses and commercial buildings, although they have been the subject of extensive discussions with township supervisors, no formal plans have been submitted to the township for either of those project phases, said Hassan. This article first appeared as a post in The Digital Notebook blog. Via InstaPundit, a seemingly inexplicable news story: A Colorado Democrat whom female colleagues had accused earlier this year of frequenting a womens restroom inside the Statehouse is resigning, a spokesman said Wednesday. State Sen. Daniel Kagans departure, effective Jan. 11, will come as the Democrats retake the Colorado Senate majority. *** Republican state Sen. Beth Martinez Humenik said several women claimed to have seen Kagan using a womens restroom multiple times since January 2017. She filed a workplace sexual harassment complaint against Kagan in March. Why? Apparently he identifies as a woman. Whats wrong with that? Kagan said hed entered the womens restroom just once by mistake because it was unlabeled. The debacle prompted the state Senate to post signs outside its restroom designating men and women, Denvers KUSA-TV reported. How dare they be so narrow-minded? Why should bathroom users be relegated to an old-fashioned binary choice? What about all the other genders? Somehow, archaic concepts about sex, and the behaviors appropriate to men and womensorry!live on. Which only means, I suppose, that the Left will have grist for its oppression mill for generations to come. Earlier this week in Flynns fate I noted the sentencing memo filed by the Mueller team in the case of former Trump national security advisor Michael Flynn earlier this year. I have embedded the sentencing memo below. In relevant part the case against Flynn is based on FBI interviews with him about his conversations (intercepted communications) with Russian ambassador Sergei Kislyak following Trumps election. This is the entirety of the sentencing memo description of Flynns offense regarding these communications: The defendants offense is serious. As described in the Statement of Offense, the defendant made multiple false statements, to multiple Department of Justice (DOJ) entities, on multiple occasions. See Statement of Offense, United States v. Flynn, No. 17-cr-232 (D.D.C. Dec. 1, 2017) (Doc. 4) (SOF). The first series of false statements occurred during an interview with the FBI on January 24, 2017. At the time of the interview, the FBI had an open investigation into the Russian governments efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election, including the nature of any links or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald J. Trump. Days prior to the FBIs interview of the defendant, the Washington Post had published a story alleging that he had spoken with Russias ambassador to the United States on December 29, 2016, the day the United States announced sanctions and other measures against Russia in response to that governments actions intended to interfere with the 2016 election (collectively, sanctions). See David Ignatius, Why did Obama Dawdle on Russias hacking?, WASH. POST (Jan. 12, 2017). The Post story queried whether the defendants actions violated the Logan Act, which prohibits U.S. citizens from corresponding with a foreign government with the intent to influence the conduct of that foreign government regarding disputes with the United States. See 18 U.S.C. 953. Subsequent to the publication of the Post article and prior to the defendants FBI interview, members of President-Elect Trumps transition team publicly stated that they had spoken to the defendant, and that he denied speaking to the Russian ambassador about the sanctions. See, e.g., Face the Nation transcript January 15, 2017: Pence, Manchin, Gingrich, CBS NEWS (Jan. 15, 2017). When the FBI interviewed the defendant on January 24 about his interactions with the Russian ambassador, the defendant falsely stated that he did not ask the Russian ambassador to refrain from escalating the situation in response to the sanctions, and falsely disclaimed any memory of his subsequent conversation with the ambassador in which the ambassador stated that Russia had acceded to the defendants request. See SOF at 3. In addition, the defendant made false statements to the FBI about his prior interactions with the Russian government in December 2016 concerning a pending United Nations Security Council resolution. See id. at 4. The defendants false statements to the FBI about (i) his contacts with a Russian government emissary, (ii) the requests he conveyed to the Russian government through that emissary, and (iii) Russias response to those requests, 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. Query whether Flynn must have known his communications with Kislyak had been intercepted. The guy is the former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency. See Byron Yorks Examiner column Ten questions for Comey. The governments interception of Flynns conversations with Kislyak is implicit in the quoted portion of the sentencing memo above. Flynn must have been asked questions the answers to which the government already had. How serious could his misrepresentations have been under the circumstances. In her weekly Wall Street Journal column today Muellers gift to Obama Kim Strassel comments on the genuine scandal underlying this aspect of the case against Flynn. It is a small piece of the puzzle in the biggest scandal in American history and it is still playing itself out. Strassels column lays out this particular piece with perfect clarity. See also Debra Heine, Why Michael Flynn was set up. Strassel provides an indirect quotation of House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes on the leaks underlying journalistic accounts of Flynns conversations. Nunes characterizes the leaks as the most destructive to national security that he seen in his time in Washington. Their illegality is serious beyond any of Flynns legal misconduct, yet we await the identification of the perpetrators and the rendition of justice like we wait for Godot. Its not gonna happen. We all understand what is happening here, and what isnt, but its almost unbelievable. The Special Counsel s Sentencing Memo for Former by Scott Johnson on Scribd Sen. Joe Manchin is the leading contender to become the senior Democrat on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Manchin, however, is pro-coal, as befits a Senator from West Virginia. And when Manchin ran for the Senate in 2010, a campaign ad featured him shooting a bullet through a piece of climate change legislation. The left wasnt amused then, and it isnt amused now. Tom Steyer has joined environmental activists in calling on Sen. Chuck Schumer to keep Manchin out of the Ranking Member spot. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, whom the New York Times describes as a White House aspirant, said this of Manchin: He supports Donald Trumps dirty energy agenda. He simply cant be trusted to make the bold, progressive decisions we need. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez also weighed in. She stated: I have concerns over the senators chairmanship just because I do not believe that we should be financed by the industries that we are supposed to be legislating and regulating and touching with our legislation. The young airhead apparently is unaware that, because the GOP controls the Senate, Manchin will not chair the Energy Committee. Manchin doesnt have to face the West Virginia electorate for six more years, and its not clear he will ever run again. However, Inslee is probably right Manchin cant be trusted to make bold, progressive decisions about coal. Its also true, however, that the Ranking Member of the Senate Energy Committee doesnt make decisions about coal, a point several Senate Democrats have noted. For this reason, I suspect that Schumer will permit Manchin to ascend to this position. If he doesnt, Manchin should strongly consider switching parties. One analysis found that he votes with President Trump 60.8 percent of the time. And fewer than half of his votes adhere to the line of the League of Conservation Voters, a lefty environmental outfit. Democrats could prevent Manchins ascension while still honoring seniority rules. But that would require several Senators to change their plans regarding committee assignments. This would be a transparent ploy to block Manchin in order to accommodate the left. I dont think it will happen, but, again, if it does, Manchin would be well advised to abandon the party that will have abandoned him. The Washington Post takes time out from urging that the U.S. blow up relations with Saudi Arabia, as retribution for the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, to provide a clear-eyed assessment of reality in the Middle East. The Posts Liz Sly finds that Russia has become the regions rising power. Russia has made huge inroads, commercial and diplomatic, throughout the Middle East. The nations that now woo Putin run the gamut from Qatar to Egypt, from Turkey to Lebanon, from Iraq to Israel, and yes, to Saudi Arabia. Saudi King Salman chose Moscow over Washington for his first, and so far only, official overseas visit the first visit ever by a Saudi monarch to Russia. The kings visit produced an agreement between Russia and Saudi Arabia to cut oil production. This agreement has given Russia new weight in world energy markets. And Russian companies have signed billions of dollars worth of deals in oil and gas ventures with Saudi Arabia. No wonder Putin gave Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman such a hearty public greeting at the summit in Buenos Aires late last month. One can easily imagine how much warmer the relationship would be were the Trump administration to follow the Posts advice and blow up U.S. relations with the Saudi government. Sly attributes the rise of Russia in the Middle East to the vacuum left by the disengagement of the Obama administration and the unpredictability of the Trump one. Obamas disengagement was surely a huge factor. Trumps unpredictably, less so, I think. If Middle East leaders focus on Trumps actions rather than his rhetoric, there is little reason for them to tilt towards Russia. At the same time, its too risky for these leaders to ignore entirely Trumps rhetoric of disengagement. Some of Trumps rhetoric might prompt supporters to argue that its of no moment that Russia is gaining preeminence in the Middle East. Let the Russians have it, they might say. Trump himself might have said it. But his actions show he doesnt want the U.S. to lose business deals with countries like Saudi Arabia. And he wants a coalition of such countries to counteract Iran. My purpose here isnt to tout the virtues of engagement in the Middle East, though. The Washington Post believes engagement is important and it is intractably anti-Putin. My purpose is to highlight the disconnect between these positions and the Posts calls for action that would wreck U.S.-Saudi relations. It turns out that, for all its criticism of Trump for alleged coziness, if not collusion, with Putin, its the president, not the paper, who stands prepared to limit Putins influence with a central player in the Middle East. Ammo Grrrll dubs them REPULSI-CANS. She writes: I really want to know where I can go to get a gig as a pretend Democrat attacking other Democrats on television? Would that be a dream job, or what? There was chipmunk-cheeked Ana Navarro, on election night 2016, who was terribly excited about the pending, in-the-bag defeat of Donald J. Trump, as sweet sweet justice when Hispanics would get to deal him the mortal blow. Not being one who ever watches televised Pravda-like news, silly me, I didnt even know who the heck she was. Or, more accurately, who the hack she was. And imagine my surprise, then, to see the chyron under her name describing her as not only the Professionally Hispanic Diversity Drone on the panel, but also a REPUBLICAN. Who wanted the Republican candidate for President to be defeated! Say what? And just a few weeks ago, our Ana announced that she would vote for Gillum because DeSantis was nothing but a Trump mini-me. Ooooh, good one, Ana. Tough noogies, o fake Republican DeSantis won. Eventually. Ah, I am so old that Chet Huntley and David Brinkley on the only network we got in Alexandria when I was growing up read the news in a sober fashion and, reputedly, one was a Republican and one a Democrat, and we never had any idea which was which, becausewait for itthey were actual JOURNALISTS. Remember when that was a thing? They had gone to schools in which they were taught to be objective and unbiased and neutral to the best of their ability. Isnt that a quaint and hilarious notion? But anyway sometimes on those old-timey news shows there would be a panel with a Democrat who would express opinions on behalf of the Democrat Party and there would always also be a Republican who would represent the views of the Republican Party in a collegial and civil fashion. If there was ever a Republican featured whose sole purpose was to ATTACK other Republicans, I must have missed it. So this is a whole new page in the Pravda playbook. It involves employing aging hacks like another pretend Republican and former Israel supporter, Jennifer Rubin. You know, old Karl Marx got most things wrong in his disastrous tome, but one thing is true: there is a logic involved in taking political positions. Little Jenny can start out abhorring DJTs tone and, if Orange Man Bad is her sole motivation for everything, and Orange Man is a staunch supporter of Israel, she can end up in the same camp as vicious anti-Semites and anti-Israel activists. And a whole lot of other Never Trumpers can end up in that same boat, cruise ship, whatever. The news shows must think that having a pretend Republican attack Republicans really impresses the average Republican. I cant speak for all conservatives, certainly, but to me, the very idea is REPULSIVE, not impressive. I hold Loyalty to family, friends, country to be an important virtue. I dont think most people of integrity much prize loud-mouthed turncoats. Collecting their 30 pieces of silver to talk trash about former allies. Especially in what is clearly a winner-take-all cultural war. Its one thing to just be honest and upfront. When I realized that the Democrat Party for which I had voted for over 30 years had morphed into something unrecognizable and unsupportable in the areas of abortion, immigration, attitude toward Israel, and First and Second Amendment rights, I did not try to monetize my disgust by continuing to pretend I was a Democrat while loudly and viciously attacking every single plank of the Party. No. I just concluded: I guess I am no longer a Democrat. So I must be a Republican. Holy Cow! Mom and Dad will be so pleased. And then I registered Republican and got on with my life. Mr. AG and I both lost work because of it and a few not many friends. One friend, a great guy who thought he was being amusing, remained friends but introduced us at dinner parties as These guys are Republicans, but they are NICE Republicans. Uh, okay, not like those other troglodytes. Cute. Ms. Navarro, Ms. Rubin, and a raft of Never Trumpers should face the mirror one day and intone, Well Hells bells, Ive turned into a gun-grabbing, border-erasing, cheap labor-loving globalist, terrified of the climate. I must now be a Democrat! But evidently, theres not much money in that since all the good official Democrat hack gigs are already either taken by entrenched Democrat hacks or not available to anyone who cant check at least two Professional Victim Boxes. Wheres a nouveau hack to go to find work? Since I dont watch television, I need people to tell me if any news outlet employs fake DEMOCRATS who attack the Democrats, or if this is just a Republican job opportunity. Occasionally, Alan Dershowitz disagrees with the Democrats on silly things like presumption of innocence or the right to confront ones accusers, and that takes courage. But, to my knowledge, he doesnt specifically attack the Democrat Party. Which is a shame, and I think he should come over to the dark side where, as the joke t-shirt says, we have cookies. But I kind of admire both his misguided loyalty to his Party and his integrity for departing from the Party line when it violates Constitutional rules of law or the norms of human decency. I think when the chips are down he will eventually be on our side. Ana definitely will not. Ana and Jenny have the right to bloviate all they want about anything as long as they make no invidious comparisons about Valerie Jarretts looks. But why they get to continue to claim to be Republican surely violates all truth in advertising standards. I understand that there was some sort of petition asking for redress of this grievance, signed by many prominent actual Republicans. It apparently had no effect. So the Repulsi-cans blather on. Oh well, from the few times I have chanced to hear either woman yakking, I think we can safely say that their sphere of influence must be close to that of Kathy Severed Head Griffin, but well below that of Cher or Lena Dunham. Which is to say, nobody cares and probably either changes channels or puts the telly on Mute. PR-Inside.com: 2018-12-07 08:03:01 7 December 2018 Acron Announces Managing Board Changes Acron Group announces several changes in its Managing Board and appoints Dmitry Balandin the Groups Vice President for Finance. Acrons Board of Directors held an absentee vote that approved a new Managing Board, as follows: Dmitry Balandin, Vice President for Finance Vladimir Kunitsky, CEO (President) Alexander Lebedev, Vice President for Domestic Business Alexei Milenkov, Finance Director Irina Raber, Vice President for Human Resources and Special Projects Dmitry Khabrat, Vice President Overseas. Dmitry Balandin and Alexander Lebedev are new to the Managing Board, while Oscar Valters, who is leaving Acron Group, and Ivan Antonov, who remains with the Group as an advisor to the CEO, are no longer on the Managing Board. The new Managing Board is aligned with the Groups new strategy, which includes investments in developing our production capacity and our sales network in Russia and abroad, commented Alexander Popov, the Chairman of Acrons Board of Directors. On behalf of our Group, I would like to express our deep gratitude to Mr Valters, who has been with Acron for over 20 years and decided to retire from his position as Senior Vice President. Mr Valters has made an invaluable contribution to the Groups business development, built an effective system of finance management and ensured sustainability of our production facilities. Mr Balandin graduated from Kurgan State University with degrees in finance, credit and law, and received a PhD degree in economics upon defending his doctoral thesis in the Higher School of Management at St. Petersburg State University. He has been with the Group since 2013 as Director for Corporate Finance. Previously, he held several management positions in Gazprom Neftekhim Salavat. Mr Lebedev graduated from Vladimir State University with a degree in marketing. He has worked at Acron since 2011, serving as head of the organic and non-organic chemical product sales team, deputy head of the sales department and head of the sales department. In November 2018, Mr Lebedev was appointed Vice President for Domestic Business. Media contacts: Sergey Dorofeev Anastasiya Gromova Tatiana Smirnova Public Relations Phone: +7 (495) 777-08-65 (ext. 5196) Investor contacts: Ilya Popov Investor Relations Phone: +7 (495) 745-77-45 (ext. 5252) Background Information Acron Group is a leading vertically integrated mineral fertiliser producer in Russia and globally, with chemical production facilities in Veliky Novgorod (Acron) and the Smolensk region (Dorogobuzh). The Group owns and operates a phosphate mine in Murmansk region (North-Western Phosphorous Company, NWPC) and is implementing a potash development project in Perm Krai (Verkhnekamsk Potash Company, VPC). It has a wholly owned transportation and logistics infrastructure, including three Baltic port terminals and distribution networks in Russia and China. Acrons subsidiary, North Atlantic Potash Inc. (NAP), holds mining licenses for 13 parcels of the potassium salt deposit at Prairie Evaporite, Saskatchewan, Canada. Acron also holds a minority stake (19.8%) in Polish Grupa Azoty S.A., one of the largest chemical producers in Europe. In 2017, the Group sold 7.3 million tonnes of various products to 65 countries, with Russia, Brazil, Europe and the United States as key markets. In 2017, the Group posted consolidated IFRS revenue of RUB 94,342 million (USD 1,617 million) and net profit of RUB 14,260 million (USD 244 million). Acrons shares are on the Level 1 quotation list of the Moscow Exchange and its global depositary receipts are traded at the London Stock Exchange (ticker AKRN). Acron employs approximately 11,000 people. For more information about Acron Group, please visit www.acron.ru/en. PR-Inside.com: 2018-12-07 03:32:02 New Delhi office continues EB-5 investment company's international growth American Lending Center Expands Indian Market Share Dana Doran ddoran@rasky.com 202-207-3650 American Lending Center (ALC), a leading EB-5 regional center and subsidiary of Regional Centers Holding Group, signaled its ongoing expansion into Asia with the opening of the company's first Indian office in New Delhi. The office and heightened presence represent a significant step as the company broadens its investor base and looks to increase market share in the Indian financial space. ALC has achieved a 100% success rate over all of its 70+ projects across 19 states since 2010, making it a uniquely successful EB-5 regional center. ALC received a record-breaking nine EB-5 project approvals in nine different cities for 30 newly approved investors in March of 2018 alone. The company is currently the largest non-bank SBA 504 lending institution, having successfully provided over 350 million dollars to American ventures. ALC is excited to build on our presence in India, which we believe to be the next great area of opportunity in the EB-5 investment business," stated ALC Chief Executive Officer John Shen. "We are confident our company can bring its EB-5 expertise and innovation to Indian investor communities and make this new venture a successful addition to the ALC brand." Headquartered in Long Beach, California, ALC also has offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Taipei, and Ho Chi Minh City. The new Indian office is located in the Arunachal Building, Suite 807, 8th Floor, 19, Barakhamba Road, Connaught Place, New Delhi, Delhi 110001. For more information contact Ashutosh Mittal at +91 98100 48652. About American Lending Center Sustainable success through integrity, transparency, and accountability. American Lending Center (ALC) is a U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Service designated regional center held by Regional Centers Holding Group. ALC offers investment opportunities to immigrant investors who are interested in obtaining permanent resident status in the United States through the employment-based fifth preference visa (EB-5) program. ALC has completed funding projects in 19 states, and is committed to investment in deserving businesses anywhere, including those in rural and other underserved areas. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181206005 ALC opens New Delhi office, continuing the EB-5 investment company's international expansion and growth among Indian communities PR-Inside.com: 2018-12-07 15:12:12 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 855 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 Global professional services firm joins forces with Canadian virtual accountantsDOUGLAS, ISLE OF MAN / ACCESSWIRE / December 7, 2018 /International professional services provider Equiom is pleased to announce that it has acquired Canadian cloud accounting firm, Xen Accounting, marking its first Canadian deal and entry into the cloud services arena.Sheila Dean, Global CEO, EquiomEstablished 40 years ago, Equiom is a leading international professional services provider with a strong presence across Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Americas. Its focus is on supporting international corporations and high-net-worth individuals around the world with their wealth planning and related service needs. Xen Accounting was founded in 2013 and offers cloud-based accounting, payroll, tax compliance and virtual CFO services, specializing in Xero and its related cloud-accounting ecosystem. Xen Accounting is one of only four Xero platinum partners in Canada. This enables clients to tap into a team of professional accountants across the country and benefit from an automated accounting process facilitated by Xero cloud-accounting software.Ryan Lazanis, CEO, Xen AccountingEquiom's Global CEO Sheila Dean commented: 'This is a very exciting acquisition for Equiom. Having recently begun servicing private clients through South Dakota, it gives us a much broader capacity to support clients in North America. Furthermore, the addition of Xen Accounting will give a unique boost to our already strong payroll, accounting and tax service offering. Advancing technology has already enabled us to have a better conversation with our clients, engaging more often and actively. Equiom will leverage Xen's experience with a view to adopting their model of next generation accounting solutions. This will ultimately allow us to focus on adding value through timely reporting, analytics and forecasting, rounding out a proficient virtual service. A big thank you to the acquisition team for making this a reality and to Gowling WLG for their support.'CEO of Xen Accounting, Ryan Lazanis added: 'Businesses in the digital age need modern accountants that not only understand accounting and tax, but technology as well. Since 2013, we have prided ourselves on setting the trend with regard to offering our customers a truly easy, automated and pain-free accounting experience by pairing up professional accountants with the latest cloud accounting apps, all for a fixed monthly price. As we have grown, so have our clients and it's now important to shift things up a gear to take our cloud accounting services to a global stage by becoming part of Equiom, a firm that truly gets our model and what we are setting out to achieve. By being able to leverage Equiom's global footprint and expertise across a wide range of sectors and regions, we will be able to support our valued clients with an enhanced service throughout their growth. I fully expect that this is just the beginning of some exciting things to come.'Following integration with Equiom, Xen Accounting's team, who are based throughout Canada, will continue providing accounting services remotely to its clients.For more information visit www.equiomgroup.com About EquiomEquiom is fast becoming the stand-out business in the professional services sector, with a strong presence spanning 15 jurisdictions in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and The Americas. It provides a range of innovative and effective business partnering solutions.Equiom's experienced and highly qualified teams support corporations and high-net-worth individuals around the world with their fiduciary and related support-service needs.Equiom is an independent company focused on strategic thinking and quick responses to clients' requirements. It is a thriving business, continually seeking to develop its product range, in order to provide both existing and potential clients with an unrivalled range of options and opportunities.Equiom (Guernsey) Limited and Equiom Trust (Guernsey) Limited are licensed by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission. Equiom (Isle of Man) Limited is licensed by the Isle of Man Financial Services Authority. Equiom (Jersey) Limited is regulated by the Jersey Financial Services Commission. Equiom (Luxembourg) S.A is supervised by the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF), the supervisory authority of the Luxembourg financial sector. Equiom (Malta) Limited is authorised to act as a trustee and fiduciary services provider by the Malta Financial Services Authority. Equiom Trust Services Pte. Ltd. is licensed by The Monetary Authority of Singapore. Equiom Trust Services (BVI) Limited is regulated by the British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission. Equiom S.A.M. is authorised to act as a trustee and fiduciary services provider by the Ministry of Finance in Monaco. Equiom Trust (South Dakota), LLC (ETSD) is licensed in Guernsey by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission and in South Dakota by the South Dakota Division of Banking.About Xen AccountingXen Accounting is a fully virtual, 100% cloud-based, 100% paperless professional accounting firm which offers online accounting services to business across Canada in a virtual and paperless environment. Xen Accounting's goal is to provide its clients with an easy, automated and pain-free accounting service By combining professional accountants, technologists, state of the art cloud accounting software and a modern mindset, Xen Accounting helps to automate and modernise the accounting process for them and their clients.For more information visit www.xenaccounting.com CONTACT:Laura BryanCorporate Communications Teamlaurabryan@ equiomgroup.com +44 (0) 1624 699118SOURCE: Equiom MRRSE PR-Inside.com: 2018-12-07 11:22:45 Press Information MRRSE State Tower 90, State Street Suite 700 Albany, NY - 12207 (United States) Abhishek Budholiya Marketing Manager +1-518-730-0559 email https://www.mrrse.com/ # 548 Words State Tower90, State StreetSuite 700Albany, NY - 12207(United States)Marketing Manager+1-518-730-0559 The primary purpose of the research report is to analyze the global facial rejuvenation market performance on the basis of revenue contribution directed from diverse segments. The report is titled Global Market Study on Facial Rejuvenation: Botulinum Toxin to Remain Dominant Product Type Through 2026 Owing to Growing Popularity of Minimally Invasive Facial Treatment, which has been included to the broad online database of Market Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) to enlighten the readers about the product catalogue, regional expanse as well as end user sectors.For More Information Request Free Sample on Facial Rejuvenation Market Report @ https://www.mrrse.com/sample/1593 The initial section of the report talks about the market viewpoint which comprises of macro-economic factors impacting growth in the global facial rejuvenation market. Further, readers can gather information associated to opportunity analysis and market dynamics which include drivers, trends and restraints. The global economic outlook is also enclosed in the report which helps in making the assessment more edifying. On the basis of region, the global facial rejuvenation market is split into North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia Pacific and Middle East and Africa. For each of the mentioned regions, a detailed analysis is presented in terms of market size, absolute $ opportunity, Y-o-Y growth rate and attractive index. Moreover, the forecast analysis of the facial rejuvenation market based on country, end user and product type is embodied in a tabular form.The later section of the report discourse market segmentation in terms of product type that includes topical products, dermal fillers, botulinum products, micro abrasion equipment and chemical peels. Out of these, the botulinum products segment is likely to take the leading market share in the global facial rejuvenation market as a result of their higher efficacy associated to facial rejuvenation. The market for botulinum products is quite significant in North America and Europe, whereas, chemical peels have acquired decent popularity in Asia-Pacific and Middle East & Africa. Further, on the basis of end users, the global market is bifurcated into hospital, beauty centers, dermatology clinics and spa.The final section deals with the competitive landscape which delivers a dashboard view of the prime competitor firms operating in the global facial rejuvenation market. A detailed profiles of players is added to this section which highlights company description, SWOT analysis, financial information, product/segment overview and key developments. Some of the prominent companies examined in the report are Allergan plc Merz Pharma, Lumenis, Anika Therapeutics, Inc., Galderma (Nestle Skin Health), Contura and Daewoong Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. Overall, this analysis is a fine collection of data which can be utilized by investors to frame future plans.Browse Complete Detail on Facial Rejuvenation Market Research Report with TOC @ https://www.mrrse.com/facial-rejuvenation-market 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: 2018-12-06 23:42:04 America Movil To Be Host Sponsor; GSMA Reveals Details for 2019 Event as It Closes Highly Successful Mobile 360 Latin America 2018 in Buenos Aires GSMA to Celebrate 2019 Mobile 360 Series Latin America in Mexico Media: For the GSMA Florencia Bianco fbianco@gsma.com Tatiana Cantoni taticantoni@pimenta.com +55 11 95210 2225 GSMA Press Office pressoffice@gsma.com The GSMA today announced the location and themes for the 2019 GSMA Mobile 360 Series Latin America, which will bring together leaders from the private and public sectors to discuss the top issues and trends in the mobile and digital ecosystem. The event will take place in June 2019 in Mexico City, with America Movil already signed on as Host Sponsor. Mobile 360 Series Latin America is widely recognised as the main event for telecom, technology and innovation in the region. The great show weve had this past week in Buenos Aires, convening more than 1,000 delegates from 34 countries is proof of that, said Michael OHara, Chief Marketing Officer at the GSMA. We are excited to announce Mexico City as the destination for our 2019 edition, and we are looking forward to extending the dialogue on how mobile can contribute to economic growth and social development across this diverse region. 2019 Mobile 360 Latin America will comprise insightful keynote sessions and in-depth panel discussions covering two main themes. The first is intelligent connectivity, which combines massive connectivity enabled by 5G networks and the Internet of Things, with intelligence delivered by artificial intelligence and big data. The second major theme for the 2019 event is digital transformation and its impact on individuals and businesses throughout the region. The array of topics to be covered will also include automation, blockchain and immersive content, among others. Mobile 360 Latin America will also host the GSMA Latin America Plenary Meeting #48, the first year meeting of all GSMA Latin Americas Working Groups: Regulatory (REGU), Security & Fraud (SEGF), Technical & Terminals (TECT) and Wholesale Agreements and Solutions (WASL). -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 the industry-leading MWC events held annually in Barcelona, Los Angeles and Shanghai, as well as the Mobile 360 Series of regional conferences. For more information, please visit the GSMA corporate website at www.gsma.com. Follow the GSMA on Twitter: @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. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181206006 PR-Inside.com: 2018-12-07 10:25:02 Hakka Authors to Share Their Literary Creations in Japan Department of Communication and Marketing, Hakka Affairs Council Su You-sheng 886-2-8995-6988 ext 537 886-910-387-956 ha0439@mail.hakka.gov.tw Taiwans Hakka Affairs Council will hold a press conference in Tokyo on Dec. 15 to promote five literary works by notable Hakka novelists and poets. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181207005 Japanese edition of literary works by Hakka authors (Photo: Business Wire) Novels and poetry collections by five Hakka authors, including Chung Chao-cheng (), Li Qiao (), Tseng Kui-hai (), Li Yu-fang (), and Gan Yao-ming (), have been translated into the Japanese language and published earlier this June in Japan. To promote these literary works, Tseng, Li Yu-fang, and Gan, as well as Deputy Minister Fan Tso-ming () of the Hakka Affairs Council will attend the press conference, which will also invite Japanese anchor Takahashi Maasa to recommend the Japanese edition of Hakka literature as well as Hakka culture to the Japanese public. Before the press conference, the three authors will first participate in a forum titled Hakka Literature and Hakka Culture held at the National Museum of Ethnology in Osaka on Dec. 14. Following the press conference, they will also explore Hakka literature and share their views on literary creation in the two forums held at the Taiwan Cultural Center in Tokyo on Dec. 15 and 16. Hakka literature of Japanese edition: Love Stories of Goethe () by Chung Chao-cheng (translated by Nagai Eriko) (translated by Nagai Eriko) The Spring of Lan Caixia () by Li Qiao (translated by Aketagawa Satoshi) (translated by Aketagawa Satoshi) The Collected Poems of Tseng Kui-hai () by Tseng Kui-hai (translated by Yokoji Keiko ) (translated by Yokoji Keiko ) The Collected Poems of Li Yu-Fang () by Li Yu-Fang (translated by Ikegami Sadako) (translated by Ikegami Sadako) The Summer When Russian Winter Comes () by Gan Yao-ming (translated by Shirouzu Noriko) Hakka Literature and Hakka Culture Date: December 14, 2018 Time: 13:00~17:00 Venue: The National Museum of Ethnology Address: 10-1 Senribanpakukoen, Suita, Osaka Prefecture 565-8511, Japan *Free admission Taiwan-Japan Authors Forum and Book Launch Date: December 15-16, 2018 Time: 13:00~17:00 Venue: Taiwan Cultural Center in Tokyo Address: 2F, No.1-1-12 Toranomon, Minano-ku, Tokyo 105-0001, Japan *Free admission, registration required View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181207005 PR-Inside.com: 2018-12-07 15:31:02 Event Features Thought Leaders Eddie S. Glaude, Jr., Katherine Phillips, Derald Wing Sue and Kenji Yoshino Extends Companys Ongoing Activism on National Events New York, Dec. 07, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Interpublic Group (NYSE: IPG) announced today that it will join more than 150 companies across the U.S. for the Day of Understanding, initiated by the CEO Action for Diversity and Inclusion on December 7th, 2018. Michael Roth, Chairman and CEO of IPG, is a CEO Action signatory; CEO Action is the largest CEO-driven business commitment to advance diversity and inclusion in the workplace, and was launched in 2017. The IPG event will take place live in New York City at the companys headquarters and will be webcast to locations around the U.S., with agencies across the country planning viewing events at their offices. The Day of Understanding is intended to facilitate frank conversations and help bridge cultural divides inside and outside of the workplace. It is designed to include and to benefit all employees, regardless of race, gender or cultural affiliation. IPGs participation is co-sponsored by the companys global networks FCB, IPG Mediabrands and McCann Worldgroup; the event will feature top experts who will help foster discussion and greater understanding of the experiences of People of Color, immigrants, as well as specific religious and cultural groups. Speakers will also cover how various types of bias manifest, and will share tools to overcome discomfort about discussing and addressing these types of issues. Our identities have a lot to do with how we process what happens in the world and how we respond to personal experiences, as well as experiences in the workplace, noted Heide Gardner, Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, IPG. Our world is super-charged with conflict based around racial, ethnic and cultural identity as well as immigrant status. How we experience this conflict influences our work and our experiences with colleagues and thats why its so important that we provide a forum to talk about difficult issues at events like our Day of Understanding discussion, she continued. Diversity and inclusion has long been a focus for all of us at IPG, said Michael Roth, IPGs Chairman and CEO. We need to embrace our differences and provide opportunities for our employees to discuss them and to address how they affect our workplace. This is no longer an option for companies that want to continue to be successful its a mandate. We want to ensure that our employees feel comfortable and safe coming to work every day, and that we address any issues that may arise. Forums like this are an important part of creating an environment where our employees can do their best work every day, and can all have an equal opportunity to succeed in a safe and respectful environment. These are complex issues and todays programming is another step on our continuing journey of inclusion, he said. IPGs participation in the National Day of Understanding is part of the company s long-term commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, which includes a commitment to addressing common societal barriers to belonging and to maximizing contributions from diverse employees. The company has reinforced its commitment to inclusion with communications from top executives, as well as hosting town hall conference calls following racially or culturally charged events, like those in Charlottesville, Pittsburgh, and Kentucky. IPG also hosted a call with one of the companys top immigration attorneys in the wake of changes to DACA policy that impacted current employees and their families. In January, IPG will launch a new resource, the Diversity and Inclusion Assistance Line (DIAL), a call-in line specifically designed to help employees work through diversity-related issues IPGs programming for the National Day of Understanding will feature: Eddie S. Glaude, Jr., Author, Democracy in Black: How Race Still Enslaves the American Soul, Chair, Center for African-American Studies, James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor, Princeton University Katherine Phillips, Author, Diversity and Groups, Reuben Mark Professor of Organizational Character Management, Columbia Business School, Columbia University Derald Wing Sue, Author, Micro-aggressions in Every Day Life, and Race Talk and the Conspiracy of Silence: Understanding and Facilitating Difficult Dialogues on Race, Professor of Psychology and Education, Teachers College, Columbia University Kenji Yoshino, Author, Covering: The Hidden Assault on Our Civil Rights, Chief Justice Earl Warren Professor of Constitutional Law and Director of the Center for Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging, NYU School of Law IPGs diversity initiatives include formal goals and objectives for agencies and executives, robust metrics to measure progress, strategic communications and applying internal and external research to shape a portfolio of highly targeted activities and programs as well as an array of events from its business resource groups the Asian Heritage Group, the Black Employee Network, the IPGLBT, Somos, the Latino Employee Group, and the Womens Leadership Network. IPG and its executives have been recognized for their work on diversity and inclusion by organizations including the New York Urban League, the Human Rights Campaign and the American Advertising Federation (AAF). # # # About Interpublic Interpublic is one of the world's leading organizations of advertising agencies and marketing services companies. Major global brands include Craft, FCB (Foote, Cone & Belding), FutureBrand, Golin, Huge, Initiative, Jack Morton, MAGNA, McCann, Momentum, MRM//McCann, MullenLowe Group, Octagon, R/GA, UM and Weber Shandwick. Other leading brands include Avrett Free Ginsberg, Campbell Ewald, Carmichael Lynch, Deutsch, Hill Holliday, ID Media and The Martin Agency. For more information, please visit www.interpublic.com . # # # Contact Information Tom Cunningham (Press) (212) 704-1326 Jerry Leshne (Analysts, Investors) (212) 704-1439 PR-Inside.com: 2018-12-07 02:55:03 Taichung World Flora Expo Features Jade Art from NPM Sanlih E-Television Co., Ltd. Renie Lee +886-937-098-066 renie@mail.sanlih.com.tw Jadeite Cabbage and Little Jadeite Cabbage, two jade sculptures from the National Palace Museums (NPM) collection, will be on display at the Taichung World Flora Expo from Nov. 3 through April 24, 2019. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181206006 Taichung World Flora Expo Features Jade Art from NPM. (Photo: Business Wire) The Jadeite Cabbage, measuring 18.7 by 9.1 cm and 5.07 cm thick, is a perfect depiction of bok choy carved from a green-and-white jade. With a sculpture of locust and a katydid perched on a leaf, the jade art deftly presents the form and colors of the bok choy. The Little Jadeite Cabbage, on the other hand, measuring 13.4 cm by 8.9 cm, is craved from a green jade. The sculpture vividly portrays the form and texture of foliage with a mantis perched on the stalk, presenting how living creatures live in harmony with nature. The two pieces of art are on display at the Houli Horse Ranch venues NPM Butterfly Hall, which took its name from a famous line of NPMs collection of Poetry from Northern Song dynasty. According to Director Chen Chi-nan of NPM, the Jadeite Cabbage echoes the expo for it embodies agriculture in central and southern Taiwan. He hopes the jade sculpture will remind viewers of the origin of land and agriculture. In response to the expo, the NPM has transformed its cultural relics into new media art to showcase at the NPM Butterfly Hall, which incorporates the core values of ecosystem, nature, and harmony of the expo, as well as characteristics of flowers and horses to create a brand new immersive experience for visitors, said Deputy Director Lee Ching-hwi of NPM. Moreover, replication of NPMs collection of flower and horse-related cultural relics are also on display at the Horse Ranch Main Office, a city-level monument situated at the Houli Horse Ranch, to open a dialogue between modern civilization, nature, and ancient artifacts. In addition to jade sculptures, the expo will showcase more than 150 flora-themed artworks in collaboration with NPM, Tokyo Fuji Art Museum, and the National Taiwan Museum to expand culture scene and possibilities. Taichung City Mayor Lin Chia-lung stressed that the flora expo belongs not only to Taichung but the whole island of Taiwan. The city government had worked closely with local public and private sectors across Taiwan to present Taiwans wonderful things to the world through the expo. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181206006 The 175th meeting of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) ended on Thursday in Vienna, Austria, without a resolution on oil production cut for member countries. Prior to the meeting, concerns were high on the need for members to take a decision to cut their daily output by a minimum of one million barrels to rein in supply and stabilise declining oil prices. In his opening address, OPEC President and United Arab Emirate (UAE) Minister of Energy and Industry, Suhail Al-Mazrouei, stressed the need for the group to continue to leverage on its internal rebalancing mechanism to stabilize the market. Mr Al-Mazrouei said the outlook for 2019 suggests new challenges, by way of higher supply growth potentially slowing down in demand. But, despite earlier decision by Saudi Arabia, the largest producer in the group, to cut about 500,000 barrels of its production, the meeting ended on Thursday without a consensus on the volume of production to cut by the group. Although most members had an idea that a moderate reduction of an average of one million to about 1.3 million barrels cut was needed, delegates could not agree on how to share and the volume non-OPEC partners, like Russia, would contribute. Nigerias representative and Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, told Bloomberg before the meeting on Thursday the group was not expected to exceed a range of between 800,000 and 1 million barrels per day, or 1 million and 1.3 million barrels proposed by the groups Economic Advisory Board. Ibe Kachikwu [Photo Credit: THISDAYLIVE] Asked what volume he thought Nigeria would contribute, Mr Kachikwu who gave the countrys current daily production capacity as about 1.73 million barrels, said it would be very difficult to expect Nigeria to cut its production substantially. Some countries will struggle. Their economies are very constrained and tight. The smaller the cut, we will participate, and the larger it is, we will struggle to participate, he said. However, he said considering the consensus for everybody to be seen to contribute to the effort to stabilize the market and boost prices, Nigeria was ready to manage a small cut in line with whatever resolution the meeting would arrive at. He said after Nigeria got exemptions three times between January 1, 2017 and last July, there was need to join the collective effort to bring production and supply to a balance. We are keeping all fingers crossed. We got exemptions three times. This time, there is a decision that everyone must be seen to chip in something, he said. On price, Mr Kachikwu said with the levels dropping to $59 per barrel, from $62, the general expectation was for prices to be pushed up from an average of about $65 and $67 per barrel to about $70. On investments, he said although Nigeria is going into the period of elections, the usual investment reactions remained fantastic. He said the country would have to wait and see what happens after the elections, noting that if President Muhammad Buhari is returned elected, the investments would begin to move in. Immediately words filtered out about the inability of OPEC to come to a consensus on production cut, the crude oil market reacted, with prices declining by about 5.2 per cent to $58.36 a barrel, from about $59.34 a day earlier. Petrol marketers said late on Thursday that the federal governments claim of an agreement on subsidy debt was false. Thursdays meeting between the marketers and the government delegation was to resolve the alleged N800 billion debt government owes the marketers as petrol subsidy. Some of the marketers last weekend issued a seven-day ultimatum to the government to pay the debt or they would shut their operations. On Thursday evening, a finance ministry statement announced that government had reached an agreement with the aggrieved oil marketers. But, marketers who attended the meeting countered shortly after, saying at the time the ministrys statement was issued, the meeting was still ongoing, without any conclusions yet. Last Sunday, oil marketers on the platform of Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association (DAPPMA) and Independent Petroleum Products Importers Association issued a seven-day ultimatum to the government demanding the payment of the debt or risk a shutdown of all depots and fuel distribution outlets nationwide. Although government rallied a response with an offer of N340 billion promissory notes, the marketers rejected it. They insisted they needed cash to help them resolve the immediate challenge of paying their workers outstanding salaries and settle other obligations. In an attempt to address concerns by both parties, to forestall another fuel crisis, the Debt Management Office (DMO) convened a meeting on Thursday at the finance ministry headquarters in Abuja. Apart from the various unions of the marketers, government agencies present at the meeting include the finance ministry, DMO, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Budget Office of the Federation, Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation and the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA). At about 6.31 p.m., the finance ministry issued a statement claiming all parties had agreed on settlement terms. The statement, however, did not state the details of the agreement, particularly how much government was ready to release to settle the debt. But it said all parties agreed to ensure operations at all petroleum products depots and sales outlets continue uninterrupted till further notice. About three hours later, at about 9.13 p.m., spokesperson to the Finance Minister, Ella Abechi, issued an update of his previous statement. The statement reads, The Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association (DAPPMA), Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) and Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) with the Federal Government delegation meeting held at the Federal Ministry Finance in Abuja on Thursday, December 6, 2018, agreed that operations at all depots and sales will continue. After a meeting held today, Thursday, December 6, 2018, with senior Government officials from the Federal Ministry of Finance, the Debt Management Office, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Budget Office of the Federation, the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation and the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, we are satisfied with the arrangements being made by the Government to settle the claims of petroleum marketers. The discussions showed that the Government has considered the concerns and is reviewing the initial process approved by the Government for the settlement. We consider that this shows the Governments responsiveness to the need for the claims to be settled in a timely manner. We hereby wish to reassure the members of the public on the availability of PMS. We urge the public not to panic, as there will be no fuel scarcity. The engagement of the two sides will continue on Monday, December 10, 2018. However, after the publication of the finance ministry statement, the Executive Secretary, Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), Clement Isong, told PREMIUM TIMES in a telephone interview that the meeting ended without any firm agreement on a number of important issues. The MOMAN scribe told our reporter the marketers were still talking with the government with a view to reaching a final resolution next week, particularly on how much the government was ready to pay them. I do not know how to explain to you, Mr Isong said, when asked about the details of the agreement announced by the government. Basically, the resolution is not a good one. But, we are still engaging government. We are still talking, because we have not arrived at any figure yet. We will still meet next week. There are a lot of details we still have to agree next week, he added. Calls to the telephone of the Executive Secretary, Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association (DAPPMA), Olufemi Adewole, did not connect as his two telephones were switched off. Mr Adewole was one of the signatories to the letter that gave government the seven days ultimatum demanding payment for the outstanding subsidy debt, or risk the total shutdown of fuel depots and fuel distribution system across the country. The DAPPMA, whose members own many of the fuel depots nationwide, is yet to speak on Sundays seven-day ultimatum. Four small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are to showcase Nigerian clothing designs, footwear and agricultural products at the maiden Intra-African Trade Fair scheduled for Cairo, Egypt between December 11 and 17. The participation of the quartet in the trade fair will be facilitated by an Egypt-based Nigerian professional group, the Association of Professional Nigerians in Egypt. The association, in a statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES on Friday by its president, Obi Emekekwue, named the four growing Nigerian companies as Clothing Africana, Proach Shoes, Shoeplanet Multi Concepts Limited and Renyam Nigeria Company. Mr Emekekwue said Clothing Africana is a Lagos-based fashion and styling outfit, while Proach Shoes are manufacturers of high quality made-in-Nigeria shoes. Shoe Planet Multi Concepts Limited, he said, is a made-in-Nigeria designer, producer and marketer of high quality bags, shoes and other fashion-related products, while Renyam Nigeria Company specialises in agricultural products, including acha (hungry rice), honey, livestock, beans, maize, millet, and vegetables. The APNEG president said the sponsorship would cover the travel and accommodation costs of representatives of the companies for their travel from Nigeria to Egypt to participate in the trade fair as well as the cost of providing them with exhibition booths. The Intra-African Trade Fair is organized by the African Export-Import Bank (AFREXIMBANK), in collaboration with the African Union Commission, and hosted by Egyptian government. Organisers say more than 1,000 registered exhibitors from 41 countries are expected to attend, apart from more than 70,000 visitors. Mr Emekekwue said the association selected the four companies as beneficiaries of the sponsorship after a competitive process that involved extensive reviews of their company profiles and products by APNEG members. He said the decision to sponsor the small businesses to the trade fair was part of APNEGs commitment to foster improved economic ties between Nigeria and Egypt. Besides, he said the participation of the companies would expose Nigerian products to the Egyptian market and enable the small businesses make useful contacts to grow their businesses. APNEG, which is open to all Nigerian professionals resident in Egypt, was established to work for the advancement of Nigeria, promote and project a positive image of Nigeria and her cultural values. The group is also committed to the promotion of mutual understanding among its members and serve as a channel of communication with the government and people of Nigeria. The Board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) will, in the next two weeks, take a final decision on proceeding with governments plan to rehabilitate the countrys refineries, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, has disclosed. Mr Kachikwu, who spoke with Bloomberg in Vienna on the side-lines of the 175th meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) on Thursday, said the refineries rehabilitation plan has not progressed as fast as government would have wanted. We have not done as well as we should. We expected that by now we should have started the actual construction work. But, negotiations with the financiers and investors is taking longer than we thought, he said. But, the NNPC Board, in its last meeting, took a position that by December 15 we should take a final decision whether we are going forward or not, he added. The minister however confirmed the general opinion of members of the board and government was for the plan to go forward with some minor adjustments in the terms earlier set out. He expressed optimism that by the first quarter of next year, Nigerians will begin to see some work begin, at least in the initial construction development phase of the plan. Regardless, he said governments aspiration to cut down on importation of refined petroleum products was still on course, even where the refineries rehabilitation plan did not fall through. He said the Dangote refinery project was still moving ahead full steam towards its scheduled delivery date in 2020. Besides, the minister said three of the modular refineries government was putting in place are currently moving on stream, nearing the end and almost ready to deliver refined products into the local fuel market. Recently, the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Maikanti Baru said Kellog Brown and Root was asked to work with the Nigerian Engineering and Technical Company (NETCO)to conduct a detailed scoping of the refineries in Port Harcourt and Warri to determine what needed to be done in each. On completion of the technical assessment of the refineries and costing, he said the NNPC later approached the original designers and builders of the refineries to supervise the construction work. He said JGC Corporation of Japan and Saipem, were invited for the Port Harcourt Refinery, while Tecnimont and Snamprogetti were invited for Warri Refinery. In addition, he said Chiyoda Corporation was also approached, as well as Saipem, who handled the construction of the Kaduna Refinery. According to Mr Baru, the NNPC Board met with the contractors in London to sort out their anxieties about funding and debt service process. He said the delay in the commencement of the construction work on the refineries was because the NNPC was yet to agree on these issues. Once these issues are resolved, the relevant agreements with the financiers will be signed, to allow funding for the original refinery builders to come in and rehabilitate or refurbish the refineries, to guarantee us 90 per cent fuel production capacity, Mr Baru said. Hollywood actor, Kevin Hart, has stepped down as host of the 2019 Oscars after tweets emerged in which he used homophobic slurs. The decision comes just three days after he was announced as host of the 91st Academy Awards ceremony scheduled to hold on February 24, 2019. The tweets, originally posted between 2009 and 2011, resurfaced shortly after he was confirmed for role. The LGBT community said it contained offensive language towards them. It comes after LGBTQ media watchdog group GLAAD reportedly contacted the Academy Awards broadcaster ABC, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, and Harts management to discuss Kevins anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and record. Hart said in a 2010 stand-up special that if I can prevent my son from being gay, I will. A few days earlier, the comedian described his selection as Oscars host as the opportunity of a lifetime. The actor and comedians response to the outcry attracted a further backlash, as he wrote on Instagram that critics should stop being negative. On Friday, Hart responded with an apology to the LGBTQ community over his insensitive words and announced that he will no longer host the Academy Awards. The 39-year-old comedian wrote: I have made the choice to step down from hosting this years Oscars this is because I do not want to be a distraction on a night that should be celebrated by so many amazing talented artists. I sincerely apologize to the LGBTQ community for my insensitive words from my past. Im sorry that I hurt people.. I am evolving and want to continue to do so. My goal is to bring people together not tear us apart. Much love & appreciation to the Academy. I hope we can meet again. I work hard on a daily basis to spread positivity to ll with that being said, if you want to search my history or past and anger yourselves with what you find, that is fine with me. Im almost 50 years old and Im in love with the man that I am becoming. You live and you learn and you grow and you mature. Nuruddin Farah is a visiting professor of Literature at Bard College, upstate New York in the United States of America. A highly gifted and hardworking novelist and playwright, he has won major international prizes, including Neustadt International Prize for Literature. Born 73 years ago in Baidoa, Somalia, his father was a merchant and a translator for colonial masters, while his mother was an oral poet. He had his primary and secondary education in Somalia and Ethiopia. He then went to Panjab University in India, where he studied Philosophy and Literature and later to the University of Sussex in the U.K., where he studied playwriting. He wrote his first novel, From the Crooked Rib, which was published in 1970, in Panjab University. Since then, he has published many other novels, short stories, several stage plays, screenplays and essays. His new novel, North of Dawn, was published on December 4, 2018. Many of his novels have been translated into more than twenty languages. Medina, one of Nuruddin Farahs strong female characters, an editor and a translator, says in Sardines: Good writing is like a bomb. It explodes in the face of the reader. Nuruddin Farah has been exploding in our faces all these many years of peace and war on the continent of Africa and in the world, with his novels. He places truth at the centre of fiction, and fiction at the centre of truth. There is a great deal of anguish in his fiction, and also a great deal of tenderness. Farah knows how to write about women; the voices of women in his novels are eloquent. He also knows how to capture the tensions between the strong and the vulnerable effectively. To Nuruddin Farah, when a country loses its way in a dense smoke, only writers with wonderfully crafted arguments, deep insights, provocative, devastating, transformative stories can redeem that country. In From a Crooked Rib, A Naked Needle, Sweet and Sour Milk, Sardines, Close Sesame, Maps, Gifts, Secrets, Links, Knots, Crossbones, Hiding in Plain Sight, and North of Dawn he commands his subjects and language with impressive brilliance. Readers who are trying to make sense of a stateless anarchy called Somalia, will find the fiction of Nuruddin Farah very helpful. It is very reassuring that he waves the flag of redemption and new possibilities in many of his novels, as the dragon of menace charges at the reader. Clearly, Farah shows us in his novels, most often set in Mogadishu, that, although Somalia is still chaotic but the tragic turns can be overcome if people get themselves organised around great ideas that will save that country. Right now, as a character says in Links: There are too many people fighting over matters of no great consequences. Searching for a higher purpose, Cambara, a clear-headed female character in Knots, leaves Canada to join forces with other women who are struggling to make Somalia whole again. Their power and dignity show in their steady perseverance and stubborn hope, as they move and point in several progressive directions. You will also notice in Crossbones that the narrator argues against all manner of wrong stories and views about Somalia, about Africa, published in the Western media. With the choice of Malik, the patriotic, courageous and resilient Somali journalist in the diaspora, as the lead character in the novel, Farah is simply saying that Africans should step forward, more than ever before, to tell their stories authentically, lustily, truthfully and gracefully. In the evening of Saturday October 27, 2018, as the guest of the Ake Art and Books Festival in Lagos, he had a conversation with KUNLE AJIBADE, Executive Editor/Director of TheNEWS and PM NEWS: Kunle Ajibade: Your narrator in Links says that friends are forever linked through the chains of the stories they share. I presume that were all friends now, so lets share your stories. What kind of childhood did you have? Nuruddin Farah: I had a very interesting childhood, protected by my mother not because I was the only child that she gave birth to she gave birth to eleven children. But I was the only one in the family that looked like her family, so I had a very special place in her heart. And because I had a very special place in her heart, I was often protected from my fathers wrath my father had temper. I think because I was introduced to the written tradition early on in my life, at the age of four I was sent to a proper school because my mother was pregnant with another child. She couldnt cope with me, a very demanding child. I had, at the same time, in the same space, two traditions that supplemented one another. One was the oral tradition, and the other one was the written tradition and by the time I reached the age eight or nine, I was expected to read, write in and speak three foreign languages: Arabic, because I was born a Muslim; Amharic, which is the official language in Ethiopia where I was going to school; and English. With these languages, I began to show interest in writing, and I also began to know that the world was unfair to women and children. It is an often told story that when I was nine years of age, because my father wouldnt give me enough pocket money, I set up some kind of letter writing office. I had no office, but I would sit in front of the post office and adults, my fathers age or older men and women would come and tell me their stories and then they would tell me what language they wanted the letter to be written in. I remember one particular day an old man came and he wanted a letter written to his wife who, despite promising him many times that she would get back, did not do so. So the man said I should tell her in the letter to come back and to come back quickly, in less than a month; because if she does not come back, I will go to the town where she is, 350 kilometres away. I will beat her up, break every bone and drag her all the way to the home that she has deserted. Now, instead of writing what he told me, I wrote: If you do not come back within a month, you may consider yourself divorced. He used to beat her every time he was very cruel to her. She took the letter as evidence and with the assistance of her older brother, sought help from the Qadi, the judge in the town, and she was divorced. Six months later, the man, having lost patience, went to the village and he discovered that she had gotten married to somebody else. And when he inquired, he was told that the letter said that she was entitled to divorce. He came back, reported me to my father. I was punished and was asked never ever to write another letter. The unfairness was clear to me from early age. It was clear to me that my father, who was always very sweet to other people, was not as sweet to my mother or to his daughters and I always felt that there was something lacking, something absent from the relationships between husband and wife, or the relationships between father and daughter. And that is when the idea came to me that one way or the other, one must deal with these social injustices for society to become developed, healthy and forward-moving. Kunle Ajibade: That was in primary school, right? Nuruddin Farah: I was nine or ten, yes. Kunle Ajibade: In your secondary school, before you left for Panjab University in India, did you engage in any creative writing? Have these early writings survived? What do you think of them now? Nuruddin Farah: I dont know if they survived. What I can tell you is that my first two short stories, in fact, instead of making me happy with what I felt I had achieved, created anxiety in me. And the reason? My second short story was translated into Greek, my first short story was translated into Italian and Arabic and I became self-conscious and began to doubt my ability to write the kind of books that would be translated into English and other languages. And then on top of that, I wrote two novels before From a Crooked Rib, neither of which was ever published. I know that one of them is in the basement of a publishing house in America because the editor wanted to publish it, but I was anxious and too arrogant to revise anything and, therefore, I dont know what happened to it. Writing is like tilling the ground and preparing the earth to bear fruits. And unless you copy from something, inspiration usually comes through hard work, through sitting down and writing daily and revising it. Every novel that I write, I must revise it at least five times. Kunle Ajibade: What would you consider as the best learning process for you at that time? This was when you were about to enter the university? Nuruddin Farah: No, I was in my second year at university. I was about twenty one and I was always not interested in taking exams or studying, I was more interested in writing and so I wrote to avoid reading for exams. Kunle Ajibade: How did you pass your exams then? Nuruddin Farah: Well, they failed me at first and since I was very good in class, I was given the second opportunity to sit for the same exams as the other students and then I was allowed to pass. In the years that I was at university, I must have written about three novels and thats what my life was like. Up till today, its my habit. I live in Cape Town, South Africa, and, quite often, I work from about nine in the morning until five in the evening, thinking about writing or doing the writing because Ive dedicated my life to writing. Kunle Ajibade: What sort of books did you read at that time and did they influence you or your writing? Nuruddin Farah: Im quite sure they must have. They are not obvious in the books when you read them, but they did influence me, and one book or one play rather that I think influenced me greatly is A Dolls House by Henrik Ibsen, in which a woman who is miserable in her marriage walks off the stage, saying to her husband to go to hell. I found that very interesting, and I thought that many a woman married to many a cruel husband should be able to walk away and should be able to say: go to hell. Writing is like tilling the ground and preparing the earth to bear fruits. And unless you copy from something, inspiration usually comes through hard work, through sitting down and writing daily and revising it. Every novel that I write, I must revise it at least five times. Kunle Ajibade: You are very critical of Al Shabaab and all forms of religious bigotry in Knots, Crossbones and North of Dawn your latest novel. Was there any religious fundamentalism in Somalia when you were growing up? Who is to blame for religious excesses in Somalia now and how can the world get respite from the Al Shabaabs, the Boko Harams of this world and the Taliban terrorists who killed Basra Farah, your younger sister, in 2014? Nuruddin Farah: Somalia was known for being a secular nation; we were all secularists, never fanatical in our homes, in the way we prayed. Society was modest in its expression of the faith until after the collapse of the state structures of Somalia in 1991. Two years after that, I actually arrived in Nigeria, married to a Nigerian woman who has since left me for better pastures. Kunle Ajibade: Thats Amina Mama? Nuruddin Farah: Amina, yes. Kunle Ajibade: You were talking about religious bigotry in Somalia. Nuruddin Farah: And so when Somalia collapsed in 1991, I was actually in Uganda teaching at Makerere University. I tried to bring peace between the warring parties. I negotiated with the opposition groups and tried to get them to come and meet in Kampala where I was living at the time. And then after several attempts of talking to President Yoweri Museveni, whos still in power in Uganda, I was rather impatient with the slow pace of the peace efforts that Museveni and I were involved in. And then the BBC, at one point, asked me what was happening to safari in Somalia: Why isnt somebody doing anything about it while its collapsing? and then I said, stupidly because I was still a young man I suppose: because Museveni was more interested in appearing on the world stage, moving from Kampala to New York, to Baghdad and back to Kampala, thinking that he would be able to stop the American juggernaut of war from attacking Saddam Hussein. At which point, Museveni threatened me with detention and I had to leave in the middle of the night and leave my car, my apartment and books with friends of mine to sell when I was gone. And then I came to Nigeria where we had the displeasure of living under the dictatorship of General Ibrahim Babangida. But by then I had written three or four books on dictatorships. I have always been interested in social justice, democracy, and fighting against all forms of tyranny. Since what happened to my sister was exactly the same sort of thing that had happened to the character that was killed in the book, I withdrew the book from publication Sometimes, a writers fiction could turn into truth, and that is why we say good fiction is never far from the truth, it tells a version of truth. Kunle Ajibade: How did the killing of Basrah Farah, your sister, by the terrorists affect you? Nuruddin Farah: It did affect me quite a lot. My sister was a nutritionist working in Afghanistan for UNICEF. She rang me a couple of days before she was killed. She was coming to America because she had become an American citizen and she and I were supposed to meet. One day she went to a restaurant to have lunch. And then eleven Taliban terrorists went into the restaurant where she was having a meal with some of her friends who had come to say goodbye to her, and she died in the attack. Now, at that very time during that week or month, I had submitted a new novel in which someone who worked for the United Nations was killed by a terrorist attack in Mogadishu. Since what happened to my sister was exactly the same sort of thing that had happened to the character that was killed in the book, I withdrew the book from publication, or at least I tried to withdraw the book from publication because I felt guilty that I had willed my sisters death, that I had written about someone exactly like my sister. And that book eventually became the novel, Hiding in Plain Sight. Sometimes, a writers fiction could turn into truth, and that is why we say good fiction is never far from the truth, it tells a version of truth. Kunle Ajibade: Who is to blame for religious madness from which many parts of the world are suffering? Nuruddin Farah: Some groups of Arabs would not like it, but it would be very hard for you to find a rich petro-Arab dollar country being attacked by terrorists. This is my version: you know I cant share my thoughts with you about it in an evidence-based way. But my feeling is that the Arabs pay some of these terrorists monthly stipends to keep them away from their countries and keep them in Muslim areas Afghanistan, Somalia, Nigeria, etc., etc. where they fight and kill their own people, or other people of other faith. They kill more Muslims than they kill Christians and they specialise in terrorising poor people, while the Arabs who pay them monthly stipends have a comfortable existence wherever they are. The terrorists are not going to take over the world, what they are going to do is to destroy the faith so that they could take over the areas of the world in which they could propagate their distorted faith. Who is to blame? Society is to blame because people who are educated, who are employed, who are serving their countries well would not listen to these terrorists. Its usually the unemployed, the underemployed, the frustrated masses, who usually fall victim to their machinations. And that, I think, is very important. They cannot convince someone like me to join them knowing, of course, that they are not telling the truth about Islam. Kunle Ajibade: What truth about Islam are they not telling? Nuruddin Farah: They are insisting that the only way of practising Islam is to go back to the 13th century Islam, thats number one. Number two, they insist that if they kill any number of people and then they die, they go straight to heaven. Theyre not going to heaven, theyre going to hell. I can tell them, because if you kill one innocent person, you cannot present yourself to God, to Allah, and say that you are a good Muslim. And anyone who has killed one person cant expect anything but hell, all forms of hell. Kunle Ajibade: Your first novel, From a Crooked Rib, which is a critique of patriarchy and misogyny brought you instant love and fame and prestige among your compatriots as a matter of fact, according to you, there were so many women friends you made as a result of that novel. But why did your second novel, A Naked Needle, bring you hatred from the Siad Barre government? Nuruddin Farah: Let me tell you how it happened. When I published From a Crooked Rib I wrote it in 1968 and it was published in 1970 patriarchy was not a buzzword; you didnt use words like that but I was interested in the nature of subjugation, of the male gender dominating the life and soul of women. So, having written From a Crooked Rib, which is sympathetic to the woes and tribulations of women, I then wrote another novel called A Naked Needle, which is about a misogynist a self-hating, women-hating character. And my problem with A Naked Needle was that it became the bible of misogynists, which is the total opposite of my initial intention. So I pleaded with my publishers once I discovered that the book had become a bible for the misogynists to take it out of print. And the editor wrote to me a letter in which he said they had never received a letter from an author saying, I want this book taken out of print, because usually people say, I want my book to be reprinted and reprinted and reprinted, and then we agreed that it would be allowed to sell, and there would be no reprint, which pleased me entirely because I could not face the thought of having written a book for misogynists. Now if you want to buy A Naked Needle, you will have to pay $750 for one copy only very rich misogynists can afford that. There were very few people who saw what I was trying to do and, therefore, I think I failed in my attempt to write a book, a book which was successful on the surface but structurally weak. And it was structurally weak because the entire novel is based on one chapter from Ulysses by James Joyce. I thought I was a clever young man, you see. I was twenty seven or twenty eight when I wrote it, but Ive regretted writing that book. Kunle Ajibade: Was there any attempt to censor the book by the state? Nuruddin Farah: I also ran into trouble with the state and I was given thirty years in prison if I returned to Somalia. And because at the time I was twenty nine, I thought if I went into prison I would never be able to write another novel, misogynist or not. So I decided that voluntary exile was better. I usually see very many mini-dictators in very many households in Nigeria, in Somalia, in Africa and in most other places and its because we tolerate the father whos the tyrant or the mother who is a matriarch and a tyrant. We enable these tyrants in every household to invest their authority in the Dictator Supreme. Kunle Ajibade: Now, for twenty two years you couldnt return to Somalia. Nuruddin Farah: First, it was thirty years for a novel called A Naked Needle, and then I was sentenced to death for a novel called Sweet and Sour Milk. I thought there was nothing left. Kunle Ajibade: So you went into exile. Nuruddin Farah: So I went into exile and I continued writing. I usually say to young African writers, that if you live in the same household as your mother or your older brother, you may not be able to do much writing. But if you go away from their domination and go somewhere else where nobody knows you and work very, very hard daily, you may be able to do excellent writing because distance (in other words, exile) allows you the possibility of seeing things from a distance and therefore evaluating things for what they are. Whereas if I were in Somalia and I was writing the kind of books I was writing, my mother, my older brother, my father, somebody would always say to me: We love you, but you are stupid risking your life. The only thing that happened immediately to the members of my family was that eight of my brothers and sisters lost their jobs. They couldnt work for the state, so they had to find other means. Kunle Ajibade: Would you say that writing about imaginary homelands is more creatively pleasing and rewarding? Nuruddin Farah: It is. There is a Somali folktale which is one of my favourite folktales. There is a man, a traveller. This particular traveller travels, and travels, and travels and then comes to a road with two forks. And he knows that if he follows one fork of the road he will go east. If he follows the other one, he will go west. And he knows that he doesnt have the time to do both journeys and yet he wants to be able to do them. So what he does is: he imagines folding up one of the forks of the road and wearing that as a belt, and walks on the fork of the road in front of him and walks, and walks, and walks until he comes to the end of it. And then he unfolds the one that is around his belt. Kunle Ajibade: In Sweet and Sour Milk, after General Said Barre has just murdered all the Muslim clerics who were critical of him, Soyaan, your progressive character who works in the presidency, accuses the president of violating the constitution. The president is so surprised that Soyaan doesnt know that he has become the constitution itself. Not long after that Soyaan dies, having been poisoned by the KGB operatives. In view of your criticism of Siad Barre and other dictators in Africa, how did you survive your tormentors? Would you say that the dictatorship you criticise so much retarded the growth of Africa in a lot of ways? Nuruddin Farah: Let me say this in a very simple way. I dont see dictatorship, or a dictator, as someone who comes out of the blue and for whom we are unprepared. I usually see very many mini-dictators in very many households in Nigeria, in Somalia, in Africa and in most other places and its because we tolerate the father whos the tyrant or the mother who is a matriarch and a tyrant. We enable these tyrants in every household to invest their authority in the Dictator Supreme. In other words, Siad Barre would not have existed if it hadnt been for the fact that my father was also there terrorising the family. If there werent many other Nigerian husbands who were treating their wives badly, their children badly, and so on and so forth in many households, there would be no Babangida, there would be no General Sani Abacha, because this is a hierarchy and the hierarchy leads to the president. We only see the president because we all suffer from the president. Kunle Ajibade: And in our offices too. Nuruddin Farah: Exactly. You see when Siad Barre was very unhappy with me, one of the things he did was calling my father. Kunle Ajibade: And lastly, an 18-year-old aspiring writer, Aatish Taseer, once visited the late V.S. Naipaul with his journalist mother. The excited Taseer told Naipaul that he just got an admission offer from Amherst College in the U.S. Dont go, Naipaul told the young man. What should he do? Taseers journalist mother asked. Naipaul paused and then said, Go out boldly into the world, and find out what the world is like. What would you have said to that young aspiring writer? Nuruddin Farah: I would have said the very opposite of what Naipaul had said. The Court of Appeal, Benin Division, on Friday, granted the prayers of five prisoners, seeking the order of the court to direct the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to include all prisoners in the voter register. Justice S. Oseji, delivered the lead judgment, on behalf of Justice Helen Ogunwumiju. The appeal was filed by five inmates on behalf of other inmates in Nigerian prisons. Those that filed the appeal are Victor Emenuwe, Onome Inaye, Kabiru Abu, Osagie Iyekekpolor and Modugu Odion. The judgment affirmed the judgment granted by a Federal High Court in 2014, that prisoners can vote. However, Mr Oseji did not grant a declaration that INEC should liaise with the Nigeria Prison Service to create a registration centre at various prisons across the country. Speaking to journalists after the judgment, counsel to the appellant, President Aigbokhan of the Initiative for Rural Development, Information and Legal Advocacy (IRDILA), urged INEC to commence immediate registration of inmates across the country for them to participate in next years election. Mr Aigbokhan said they would appeal some aspects of the decision of the Court of Appeal. According to him, Prison inmates have their community. Polling units should be located there. We believe they have a right to vote in an election so as to decide those who ultimately decide their future. When franchise is given to them, attention will be focused there. Their situation and health conditions will be improved. In 2014, the Federal High Court granted our prayers that prisoners can vote but narrowed it to the four applicants in the suit even though it was stated there that those applicants were representing other inmates. We went to the Court of Appeal and the court agreed that the judgement represented all inmates in the country. That INEC should with immediate effect collate the names of inmates and allow them to vote in 2019. The judgment disagreed that INEC should create polling units inside the prison. In 2015, the inmates were over 550,000. All INEC needs to do is to update their voter register and liaise with NGO as volunteers to help them. It is victory for Nigerias democracy.(NAN) Morayo Afolabi-Brown, host of popular TV talk show, Your View, on Friday, apologized to her husband on live TV over a statement she made on air. The talkshow host was in the news on Wednesday for saying that she trusts her husband but wouldnt allow him bathe their daughter. Ms. Afolabi-Brown, who is the daughter of the late activist, Alao Aka-Bashorun, made the submission during an episode of the popular morning show. She said her stance was based on the increasing tales of sexual abuses carried out on little girls by their fathers. Her statement generated a lot of criticism and backlash from people especially on social media. TVC official twitter handle also tweeted her exact statements. The tweets read, I absolutely trust my husband but I wont take chances and have him bathe my daughter, because whether we like it or not, there is something flying in the air these days that is encouraging imbalance and immoralities. ~ @moakabash #YourViewTVC In spite of negative reactions that immediately trailed her statement, the TV presenter insisted that she was not wrong. In a video posted on Instagram on Thursday, she said her husband was not a pedophile, but a responsible decent man who can never do anything to hurt any of his children. She, however, doubled down by saying she was speaking for women who keep quiet despite knowing their husbands are sexually abusing their daughters. So understand this, there are women who have used their life to vouch that their husbands would never abuse their daughters yet we see it happen. Lets make it easy for those women to speak up. Lets make it easy for girls to speak up about their abusers, even if its their father! she added in the caption to the video. During the live recording of her show on Friday morning, a tearful Morayo apologized to her hubby. She said; The last 24 hours have been tougher than I expected, my sincere apologies to my husband, I love, trust and respect you! It was an error and Im really sorry. It was not my intention. I love, trust and respect you. You do not deserve all the horrible things people have said about you. The last 24 hours have been tougher than I expected, my sincere apologies to my husband, I love, trust and respect you! It was an error and Im really sorry!, She said on the show on Friday morning. I absolutely trust my husband but I won't take chances and have him bathe my daughter, because whether we like it or not, there is something flying in the air these days that is encouraging imbalance and immoralities. ~ @moakabash #YourViewTVC pic.twitter.com/GAeWdjev7F TVC (@TVCconnect) December 5, 2018 Mrs Afolabi-Browns husband is a lawyer and a businessman. Watch the video below: Ms.Afolabi-Brown anchors the show which airs on Television Continental, Lagos, alongside Yeni Kuti and Tope Mark Odigie. The remains of the late veteran Yoruba comedian, Moses Adejumo, popularly known as Baba Sala, were buried in his Ilesa country home on Friday amid tears by family members and other sympathisers. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the 82-year-old comedian died on October 7 at his private residence in Ilesa after suffering a stroke. Speaking at the funeral service held for the deceased at the Cherubim and Seraphim Church, Model Parish District Headquarters, Ilesa, Elder Apostle S.O Adeoye enjoined Christians to live a life worthy of emulation. He said the late Adejumo lived an exemplary and fulfilled life by serving his God, the church and humanity. Mr Adeoye, who urged the congregation to always lay their treasures in heaven where they will not be consumed by ants, said the life and times of the late comedian should serve as a worthy example. Also speaking, the Supreme Head, Cherubim and Seraphim Unification Churches World Wide, Solomon Alao, said the deceased was not a member of any cult group while alive. Late Adejumo came, saw and his life was meaningful for he impacted joy and happiness on many lives. His talents, plays, script and performance shaped many lives; Adejumo would forever remain in the peoples heart, he said. Bola Odubela of Cherubim and Seraphim Church, Agege District Headquarters, Lagos, on his part, urged Christians to prepare for death by refraining from sin. Jesus Christ said you will face tribulations, be of good cheer for I have overcome the world. Accept Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Saviour and behave in a godly manner so as to have joy at the end of your race on earth, he said. (NAN) Police in Pakistan used batons and water cannons to disperse hundreds of activists from the main opposition party who were protesting the arrest of their leader on Thursday, leaving dozens wounded. The protest erupted in the eastern city of Lahore when the countrys corruption watchdog took opposition leader, Shahbaz Sharif, to a court for a pre-trial hearing on graft charges. Shahbaz is the younger brother of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and has been in the custody of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), a federal anti-corruption body, for almost three months. The younger Sharif is suspected of corruption during his time as chief minister of the central province of Punjab between 2013 and 2018. The protesters clashed with riot police when they were stopped from marching into the court premises, local administration official, Mohamed Usman, said. Unusually for a political demonstration in Pakistan, among their ranks were hundreds of women. At least three dozen activists were wounded as police fired tear gas into the crowd and used batons and water cannons to disrupt the protesters, Mohamed Mehdi, a spokesman for Sharifs Pakistan Muslim League party, said. Nawaz Sharif condemned the use of force against the peaceful protesters, saying it shows the governments frustration. Prime Minister Imran Khan took over in August after defeating the party of Sharif, who said the July election was rigged with the backing of the countrys powerful military. (dpa/NAN) U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said he will nominate State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert as the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, succeeding outgoing Nikki Haley. Heather Nauert will be nominated for the ambassador to the United Nations, Mr Trump told journalists before departing the White House for a conference in the state of Missouri. Mr Trump praised Ms Nauert as a very talented, very smart, very quick person, working well with State Secretary Mike Pompeo. Ms Nauert, a 48-year-old former Fox News presenter, assumed her current post in April 2017. She was reportedly a leading contender for the ambassadorship after Ms Haley publicly announced her resignation in October. Picking Nauert, an Illinois native, to represent the U.S. at the international arena is seen as an unorthodox choice by Trump, as the veteran news presenter had little political or foreign policy-making experience before joining the State Department. Ms Nauert, following the nomination, will probably face a tough Senate confirmation hearing focused on her qualification. Nauert has reportedly gained the trust of Mr Pompeo, although journalists covering the State Department complained about the falling frequency of the news briefings under Nauert. Ms Haleys resignation announcement almost two months ago came as a surprise to many high-level administration officials. Ms Haley, who took the job days after Mr Trumps inauguration in January 2017, said she would remain in the post until the end of this year. (Xinhua/NAN) Nigerias HIV indices have improved in the last five years, the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) said on Friday in Abuja. The Director-General of the agency, Sani Aliyu, made the disclosure at the launch of Free to Shine Campaign against Childhood Aids by the wife of the President, Aisha Buhari. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the theme of the campaign was, Transforming Africa through Prioritising Children, Adolescent and Mothers in the fight against HIV. Mr Aliyu, who was represented by the Director, Community Prevention, Care and Support Department, NACA, restated the commitment of containing and subsequently halting the spread of HIV. He said the Free to Shine Campaign was a reinforcement of governments political commitment to control the epidemic in the country. He expressed optimism that the goal to end mother-to-child transmission of HIV was attainable, stating that Thailand, Belarus and Armenia have achieved it. The DG said in Africa, mother-to-infant transmission rate was now below five per cent in countries such as Ethiopia, South Africa and Tanzania. I strongly believe that our mutual goal of keeping all mothers healthy and offering children a HIV-free start is achievable with the collective efforts of stakeholders across all sectors. This campaign presents a unique opportunity for all of us to bolster our efforts, Mr Aliyu said. He commended the passion and efforts of the wife of the President in advocating for the well-being of women, children and adolescents in the country. Mr Aliyu said with the support of Mrs Buhari, NACA was confident that the campaign would unite people and organisations from the community to the national level. He, therefore, appealed to the wives of governors to remain unrelenting in their efforts to ensure that actions are sustained, resources mobilised and accountability enforced at all levels. According to the DG, NACA remains committed to its mandate and is ready to assist and support the wives of governors as they roll-out the campaign. I urge all stakeholders to continue to align their support to end childhood HIV and AIDS which affects our national objectives, policies and systems. This will ensure that Nigeria is not left behind, as the rest of the world progresses towards achieving the 90-90-90- goals of HIV epidemic control, he said. Earlier, Austin Omoigberale, President, Paediatric Association of Nigeria (PAN), expressed willingness to assist the government to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV in the country. Mr Omoigberale, represented by Mariya Mukhtar, said the campaign would go a long way to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV in the country. The launch of the Free To Shine Campaign was graced by the Senior Special Assistant to the President, Office of the Wife of the President, Hajo Sani, wives of governors of Jigawa and Edo states, former Plateau State Deputy Governor, Pauline Tallen, and others. (NAN) A non-governmental organisation, MedicAid Cancer Foundation, has outlined how it is assisting in the treatment of cancer in Nigeria, saying it has assisted no fewer than 600 patients across the country until their full recovery. The organisation stated this on Thursday at a press briefing in Abuja it held ahead of a four-day summit it has slated for between December 10-13 at the NAF Conference Centre in Abuja. It said the summit specifically targets cancer registries, cancer care team managers, epidemiologists, statisticians, government agencies, global cancer survival in countries with low resources and would also incorporate a capacity building workshop for old and new cancer data collection centres. Zainab Bagudu, who is the wife of the Kebbi State governor and also the founder of the organisation, said most patients assisted by the foundation have a combination of treatments, such as surgery with chemotherapy and or radiation therapy, She said the treatment options also include immunotherapy, targeted therapy, or hormone therapy. Some people with cancer will have only one treatment. But most people have a combination of treatments, such as surgery with chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy You may also have immunotherapy, targeted therapy, or hormone therapy, Mrs Bagudu said. Mrs Bagudu also disclosed that her organisation has also diagnosed no fewer than 30,000 persons. She said MCF in Kebbi State uses the population registry and hospital registry to gather data collection of cancer patients. Also at the event, the Deputy Medical Director of MedicAid Radio Diagnostic Centre, Ibrahim Hyelakumi, who is also a medical doctor, advised Nigerians to avoid tobacco in all its forms, including exposure to secondhand smoking to prevent cancer, adding that a healthy lifestyle could prevent the disease. Eat properly; reduce your consumption of saturated fat and red meat, which appears to increase the risk of colon and prostate cancers, Mr Hyelakumi said. Limit your intake of charbroiled foods (especially meat), and avoid deep-fried foods, he added. In a press statement later, the organisation spoke on its forthcoming summit in Abuja. In efforts to enhance the quality of cancer data in the country, the MCF, a leading non-governmental organisation in cancer advocacy in Nigeria, will gather relevant experts to stimulate stakeholders on the need to focus on ways to improve cancer survivorship, it said. Vice President Yemi Osinbajo is expected to be the special guest of honour, while Kebbi State governor Atiku Bagudu, wife of the President, Aisha Buhari, and wives of Nigerian governors would be the host and guest respectively. Majority of governors of Nigerias ruling party, APC, were on Thursday absent at a meeting called by the national chairman of the party, Adams Oshiomhole, and the partys National Executive Committee. Mr Oshiomhole said 20 new governorship candidates of the party and nine sitting governors were expected at the meeting, which he said was being held to get to know the governorship candidates. But it was observed that only two governors were present: Niger State Governor, Sani Bello; and Plateau State Governor, Simon Lalong. The party kept mum on why its invited governors were absent at the meeting. Its spokesperson, Lanre Isa-Onilu, did not respond to calls and messages sent to him on the matter. The meeting commenced at about 12:10 p.m. and lasted for about two hours. Journalists were only allowed to observe the commencement of the meeting. At the meeting, the APC urged its candidates to run inclusive and issue-based campaigns. It also warned its leaders in the states against supporting candidates of other parties. This warning comes as APC govenrors in states like Ogun and Imo have already declared their intention to support candidates of other parties for some elective positions. Governors Ibikunle Amosun and Rochas Okorocha of Ogun and Imo could not get their preferred candidates to emerge as governorship candidates of the APC and thus encouraged them to join other parties. Thursdays consultative meeting of the APC NWC was presided over by its National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole and attended by some of the partys governorship candidates, state chairmen and state secretaries. The event was held at the partys National Secretariat in Abuja. I call on governorship candidates to run an issue-based campaign based on the unprecedented achievements of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led APC administration which is evident in all the states of the federation, Mr Oshiomhole said in his opening address. The partys governorship candidates should run an inclusive campaign by bringing onboard former aspirants and domesticate ongoing peace and reconciliation efforts undertaken by the National Working Committee (NWC). Mr Oshiomhole also said the meeting would enable the candidates seek clarifications from the national leadership of the party on any matter they thought was important. We are obligated as a party to market between now and 20th of March, 2019 not only our party members but to all Nigerians who are of voting age, the chairman said. I thought it is also helpful that the candidates themselves know one another. Speaking on the outbursts that followed the primaries, he said In many states, we have many challenges but said state organs of the party recognised that they had to be neutral. I guess in some states, some of the executives were able to maintain that level of neutrality and in some other states, the story was different as we read in the newspapers of some state organs interfering with the process. So, we imagined that there could have been some cries and some quarrels. He said the candidates have a more important role to play as their actions will help the reconciliation process. Mr Oshiomhole said the state chairmen should work with the candidates, not only for governorship but for all the elections whether they like them or not, noting the window for substitution has closed. He assured all that is needed for the victory of the party in the election on the part of the party and on the part of the NWC will not be spared. We will play our parts and we should have far more governors after next years election than we have at the moment. According to a statement released shortly after the meeting by Mr Issa-Onilu, the party said the meeting observed a minute silence in honour of the late chairman of the Cross River State chapter of the Party, Mathew Achebe, who died recently in a ghastly auto crash. The statement also said the meeting frowned at attempts by some party leaders to polarise the party in some states following post-primary disputes and resolved that party leaders must campaign for all candidates of the party. It described a situation where leaders engage in selective support by picking and choosing candidates to campaign for and support as anti-party. The statement also revealed the Enugu state chairman, Ben Nwoye, distanced the state chapter from what it described as the condemnable actions and utterances of a senatorial aspirant in the state, Osita Okechukwu, who has been calling for the removal of the national chairman following his loss in the primaries. It also said the consultative meeting passed a vote of confidence on the NWC and urged it to continue its effort to protect the best interest of the party and pursue efforts to achieve peace and reconciliation in the party. President Muhammadu Buhari has apparently refused to sign the Electoral Act Amendment Bill the fourth time and has transmitted his decision to both arms of the National Assembly. Ita Enang, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters, said Friday the president had taken a decision on the bill but refused to confirm whether he had signed or declined assent. His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR has communicated to the Senate and House of Representatives his decision on the Electoral (Amendment Bill, 2018 in accordance with the powers vested in him by the 1999 Constitution, Mr Enang told journalists. Asked whether the bill was assented or rejected, Mr Enang simply said the president has taken a decision in accordance with the powers vested in him according to the Constitution. And by convention, that decision contained in the communication can only be revealed by the person to whom that decision is addressed. But the electoral bill has left Mr. President because he has taken a decision and has remitted it back. Pressed further, Mr Enang said, Thank You very much, but this is all the law allows me to say by convention. Mr. President has sent that communication to the National Assembly. The President had declined assent to the bill four times citing drafting issues. Senate Leader, Ahmed Lawan last week said Mr Buhari should take time to study the bill and take a decision he is comfortable with. Mr Buhari had first in March withheld assent to the bill with reasons that the proposed law would usurp the constitutional powers of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to decide on election matters, including fixing dates and election order. However, after a second communication from the National Assembly, the President again in September declined to assent to the bill. In a statement by Mr Enang conveying his decision, Mr Buhari gave reasons for his decline Mr. President is declining assent to the Electoral Amendment Bill due to some drafting issues that remain unaddressed following the prior revisions to the Bill. Mr. President invites the Senate and House of Representatives to address these issues as quickly as possible so that he may grant President Assent to the Electoral Amendment Bill. There is a cross-referencing error in the proposed amendment to Section 18 of the Bill. The appropriate amendment is to substitute the existing sub-section (2) with the proposed subsection (1A), while the proposed sub-section (1B) is the new sub-section (2A) The proposed amendment to include a new Section 87 (14) which stipulates a specific period within which political party primaries are required to be held has the unintended consequence of leaving INEC with only 9 days to collate and compile lists of candidates and political parties as well manage the primaries of 91 political parties for the various elections. This is because the Electoral Amendment Bill does not amend sections 31, 34 and 85 which stipulates times for the submission of lists of candidates, publication of lists of candidates and notice of convention, congresses for nominating candidates for elections. Mr Buharis new decision is expected to be read at the Senate and House of Representatives coming week. President Muhammadu Buhari has formally declined assent to the Electoral (Amendment) Bill. In a letter to both chambers of the National Assembly, Mr Buhari said passing a new bill with elections close by could create some uncertainty about the legislation to govern the process. He also highlighted some parts of the bill that he said need legislative action. Many politicians, including leaders of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had called on the president to assent to the bill. A hint to Mr Buharis decision to withhold assent to the bill was first given by his aide, Ita Enang, who said earlier on Friday the president had sent the bill back to parliament. The president had declined assent to the bill in previous times, citing drafting issues. Senate Leader Ahmed Lawan last week said Mr Buhari should take time to study the bill and take a decision he is comfortable with. Mr Buhari had first in March withheld assent to the bill with reasons that the proposed law would usurp the constitutional powers of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to decide on election matters, including fixing dates and election order. However, after a second communication from the National Assembly, the president again in September declined to assent to the bill. A copy of the new letter sent to the House of Representatives was seen by PREMIUM TIMES later on Friday. The letter stated among other reasons the legislative encumbrance such new act may pose for the 2019 elections which are a little over two months away. Such encumbrance Mr Buhari said may create room for disruption and confusion during the 2019 elections. Pursuant to section 58 (4) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended, I hereby convey to the House of Representatives my decision on 6th December 2018 to decline presidential assent to the Electoral (Amendment) Bill, 2018 recently passed by the National Assembly. I am declining assent to the Bill principally because I am concerned that passing a new electoral bill this far into the electoral process for the 2018 general elections which commenced under the 2015 Electoral Act, could create some uncertainty about the applicable legislation to govern the process. Any real or apparent change to the rules this close to the elections may provide an opportunity for disruption and confusion in respect of which law governs the electoral process. Mr Buhari was referring to 2019 General Elections just about 72 days away. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has fixed presidential and National Assembly elections for February 16, 2019, while governorship and state assembly elections will hold two weeks after on March 2. Noting that his decision was taken in the best interest of the country and our democracy, President Buhari wants the National Assembly to specifically state in the Bill that the Electoral Act will come into effect commencing after the 2019 General Elections. Asides election concerns, Mr Buhari also noted some legislative amendments the bill requires. It is also important for the following drafting amendments to be made to the Bill: a. Section 5 of the Bill, amending section 18 of the Principal Act should indicate the subsection to which the substitution of figure 30 for figure 60 is to be effected. b. Section 11 of the Bill, amending Section 36 should indicate the subsection in which proviso (provision) is to be introduced. c. Section 24 of the Bill which amends Section 85 (1) should be drafted in full as the introduction of electing to the sentence may be interpreted to mean that political parties may give 21 days notice of the intention to merge as opposed to the 90 days provided in Section 84 (2) of the Electoral Act which provides the provision for merger of political parties. d. The definition of the term Ward Collection Officer should be revised to reflect a more descriptive definition than the capitalized and undefined term Registration Area Collation Officer The latest decline makes it the third time Mr Buhari withheld his assent to the electoral bill. Prior to the decline, opposition and critics of the government have accused him of withholding his assent due to his fear of legalising the use of card readers for elections INEC has been using the card reader for recent elections but the machine is yet to be incorporated into the countrys electoral law. The National Assembly is yet to react to this latest development. A new twist was added to the controversial Malabu scandal on Wednesday when details emerged that Russia asked Italy to drop charges against a former ambassador caught up in the long-running Nigerian corruption case. Reuters reports that legal documents seen Wednesday showed that authorities in Russia plan to ensure charges against Ednan Agaev, a former ambassador, were dropped. The Malabu deal, struck in 2011 under former President Goodluck Jonathan, saw the Nigerian government act as a negotiator in the sale of OPL 245 oil block in offshore Nigerian waters. Two international oil and gas giants, Royal Dutch Shell and Italian Agip-Eni, paid out about $1.1 billion to Dan Etete, a former Nigerian petroleum minister who had previously been convicted of money laundering in France. The payout would later become a subject of a cross-border investigation spanning over six countries. Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi and four ex-Shell managers, including former Shell Foundation Chairman, Malcolm Brinded, are on trial in one of the largest cases in the history of the oil and gas industry. All the accused have denied wrongdoing. Two men named in the case Emeka Obi, a Nigerian consultant in England, and Gianluca Di Nardo, an Italian stood as middlemen in connecting parties and ensured the transfer of the funds through international bank accounts in the oil deal, prosecutors alleged. They have been convicted in Italy. Agaevs involvement At the centre of the scandal is a former petroleum minister, Dan Etete. Mr Etete is alleged to have fraudulently received a total of $801 million from the Nigerian government, part of the money paid by the oil giants. He is believed to have worked with Mr Agaev, a former Russian ambassador in Colombia, who also served as an intermediary in the deal. Details showed that Mr. Etete had decided to cash in on the block based on advice from desperate businessmen like Mr Agaev. Mr Agaev sued in New York for a payment he wanted from Malabu out of the OPL 245 deal. He was later reported to have launched arbitration to seek a $65 million fee from Malabu for his work as a go-between and eventually reached an out-of-court settlement, details of which were not disclosed. Mr Agaev, who has denied wrongdoing, is among individuals charged with international corruption in the controversial oil deal. On Wednesday, documents filed by prosecutors with the Milan court showed Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov handed a letter to his Italian counterpart in Moscow at a meeting on October 8, calling on Italian authorities to be reasonable. Reuters reports that the letter said Russia was convinced Mr Agaev had committed no wrongdoing. We hope the Italian authorities adopt a reasonable approach and after respective checks find a way to change the status of E.T. Agaev from accused to witness, an excerpt from the letter read. Sergio Spadaro, an Italian prosecutor, described the request as surprising during hearing Wednesday. The Malabu deal is believed to have reduced Nigerias expected revenue by nearly $6 billion, according to a new report by the anti-corruption group, Global Witness. The group in its report released in November titled: Take the Future, said the projected lost revenue could fund Nigerias combined annual federal health and education budgets twice over. The report drew on an analysis from leading experts at Resources for Development Consulting commissioned by Global Witness and NGOs HEDA, RE:Common and The Corner House. The analysis of the contract terms estimated these changes could reduce the Nigerian governments projected revenue from the oil fields by $5.86 billion over the lifetime of the project when compared to the terms that had applied before the 2011 deal and assuming an oil price of $70 per barrel. President Muhammadu Buharis wife, Aisha Buhari, has accused Nigerian men of allowing two or three unnamed persons to cage her husband, thereby limiting his ability to perform to the expectation of millions who voted him into office. Mrs Buhari said this at a national women leadership summit organised by a political group, Project 4+4 for Buhari & Osinbajo 2019, The Cable reported Friday. The video of the speech, which has elicited praise and criticisms online, was shared on Twitter by a user, ThankGod Ukachukwu. Mrs Buhari, known for her fiery public rebuke of her husband, said although over 15 million Nigerians voted for Mr Buhari in 2015, only two or three persons have since taken control of the government. She did not name the individuals. Our votes were over 15 million in the last election, and after that only for us to be dominated by two people that hinders collective team work that we started, which is totally unacceptable, she said. If 15.4 million people can bring in a government, and only for the government to be dominated by two people; where are the men of Nigeria? Where are the Nigerian men? What are you doing? Instead of them to come together and fight them, they kept visiting them one after the other, licking their shoes. I am sorry to use that word. The speech was received with loud applause from her audience, who were mostly women. Mrs Buhari said it was unfortunate that people were only listing the achievements of the president in the fourth year of his government, when that should have been done in the first year. She blamed the lack of team work. As we did not buy votes, we formed a government, the government that has overthrown an incumbent government for the first time in the history of Nigeria. After that, what we are expecting is team work; we had a bit of team work, but it wasnt full. All the achievements that have been listed; for the past one month, people have been singing the songs of achievements, we would have achieved that within one year of the administration, but it happens that we are dragging it up to the fourth year. So we believe in team work and we believe in government of inclusiveness. People should not relent, they should continue to fight, continue to talk against the few that dominated the government, she said. It is not the first time Mrs Buhari would accuse unnamed associates of the president of hijacking the administration and stalling progress. In October 2016, she told the BBC that she may not back her husbands reelection in 2019 except he shakes up his cabinet. At the time, Mr Buhari dismissed his wifes claim and mocked her seeming partisanship. Speaking during a visit to Germany while answering reporters questions, Mr Buhari said, I dont know which party my wife belongs to, but she belongs to my kitchen and my living room and the other room, the Associated Press quoted the president as saying. Mr Buhari and the Presidency are yet to react to his wifes latest outburst. Mrs Buhari said she has continued to complain about the two influential persons around her husband for the sake of the future generation. She said the political space must be allowed for all to participate including those who left the country for greener pasture abroad. We should continue to say no because this is the future, not of my age; not of my husbands age, but the future of our grand children. We are talking about better Nigeria, of brain drain, that all those who went out to other countries to work should come back and participate in this country, she said. The European Union (EU) says it is supporting the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in its plans to get people with disabilities, women and the youth to fully participate in the 2019 general elections. EU disclosed this at a media roundtable briefing on Thursday at the European Embassy in Abuja, after a closed-door meeting of the head of delegates of the EU, Ketil Karlsen, with the INEC chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, and founder of The Albino Foundation, Jake Epelle. Mr Karlsen said the meeting discussed how to get people with disabilities more involved in the electoral process. Today we are here to discuss the importance of the participation of people with disabilities, women and youth to ensure these people have better access to voting, Mr Karlsen said. The EU has been supporting INEC for a very long time, it is not something we started doing just ahead of the elections. So as a matter of fact, we have been providing institutional support and technical support for a very long time. Let me say the support from the EU does not start here, because since 1999 we have provided more than one million euros to support the democratic processes in Nigeria. And we are very thankful to INEC and our other partners in Nigeria. We would all like to see a continued consolidation of democracy through free and fair elections in 2019, he added. Mr Yakubu said INEC would ensure inclusiveness in the electoral process for women, youth and people with disabilities, adding that NEC has been Persons Living with Disabilities (PWD)-friendly. It would be recalled that directors at INEC adopted the draft Framework on Access and Participation of Persons Living with Disabilities ahead 2019 General Elections. INEC has been PWD-friendly. Remember in the Anambra elections, for the first time in the history of elections in Nigeria we introduced the magnifying glasses for those with visual impairment, Mr Yakubu said. In the Osun governorship election, we introduced textile balloting, meaning that those with visual impairment again were able to vote and were assisted. The Head of EU, Ketil Karlsen, the INEC chairman Mahmood Yakubu, and Founder of The Albino Foundation, Jake Epelle. The Head of EU, Ketil Karlsen, the INEC chairman Mahmood Yakubu, and Founder of The Albino Foundation, Jake Epelle. We have said it several times, if you look at the voter registration that we have, it is very robust and in the election that we have conducted we have never had any issues with an illegible person in the register. And very recently we have also displayed the entire national register of voters in all 119,917 polling units nationwide for citizens to help us clean up the register. Another thing is that we have been collating claims and objections of citizens. On Tuesday next week, we are inviting the resident electoral commissioners to further discuss the outcome of the display of the voters register. And after we have met, we will make whatever findings we have known to the public, he added. A lecturer at the University of Ibadan has charged Nigerians to participate actively in next years polls so as to deepen the countrys democracy. Nkechi Christopher, a professor, spoke on Thursday in Ibadan at a book reading event on Bayo Olupondas Are You Not A Nigerian? organised by the Ibadan School of Governance and Public Policy (ISGPP). According to the don, efforts at promoting democratic values should not be left to politicians. All of us know what the government should do but do we do what we are to do? We should be concerned about what we can do to ensure this country progresses through participation and learning from our history. It is sad that the civil society groups that fought for the democracy are not the ones enjoying it but the politicians. Also speaking at the event, Tunji Olaopa, the Executive Vice Chairman of ISGPP, said creating the ideal Nigeria takes much more than wishful thinking but collective efforts geared toward a common goal. Mr Olaopa, who was represented by Bode Lucas, enjoined Nigerians to be more committed to making the Nigeria project work. Mr Oluponda, the author of the book, also urged Nigerians to contribute their quota in driving growth and development in the country A whole lot of us are just sitting back doing nothing; it is really bad. So I wrote to challenge us all to rise to the occasion and salvage this nation from corruption. Today, the problem is worse because the local government system is dead and so at the grassroots level there is chaos. We need active participation in the electoral system to begin the change that this nation deserves, Mr Oluponda said. Remi Aiyede, the lead reviewer of the book, said concerted efforts by intellectuals and the citizenry were needed to actualise the Nigeria project. Justice Musa Kurya of a Jos Federal High Court on Friday cautioned a Senior Advocate of Nigeria over his insistent remarks that he would appeal the yet-to-be-delivered judgement on the ongoing forgery case against Ibrahim Baba-Hassan, a Plateau lawmaker. You keep bragging that you will appeal the ruling. This is strange because the case is ongoing. I dont know why you make this remark while this case is ongoing; I wonder why you will keep predicting the outcome of a case when I have not given my judgment, a visibly miffed Mr Kurya told the lawyer, Solomon Umoh, who is Mr Baba-Hassans counsel. He warned further: You must stop preempting my judgement in this matter; this is not the first time you are making this remark. You have been saying it over and over again and I am not comfortable with that, so stop it from today. The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Mr Umoh made the remark while addressing the prosecution counsel, David Ibeawuchi. Mr Umoh had advised the counsel against thinking that the case was going to end at the Federal High Court, asserting that this case will go up to the Supreme Court. NAN reports that Mr Umoh, after being cautioned, quickly tendered an apology to the judge, and promised not to mention that again. I apologise, even though I merely wanted to let them know that we still have a long way to go in this matter, he said. Mr Baba-Hassan, an APC member representing Jos North-North Constituency in the Plateau House of Assembly, is standing trial over alleged forgery of the University of Jos Diploma certificate in Business Administration, which he submitted to INEC for clearance. The defendant is claiming that he obtained the said certificate in 1996. The complainant in the case is Abdul Saleh, also an APC member, who contested the state constituency primary elections in 2014, and lost the partys ticket to Baba-Hassan. Mr Sale is alleging that Baba-Hassan was not qualified to have contested the primary election for presenting a forged certificate to INEC for clearance When the case came up for hearing on Friday, Mr Sale, who is the star witness, gave his evidence-in-chief and was ready for cross-examination, but Mr Umoh objected to the witness being allowed to give oral evidence in the matter. That objection got the parties involved in the case, including APC Defence Counsel, L. D. Dafar, to engage in a series of arguments till the judge ruled in favour of the prosecution. At that point, Mr Umoh went ahead with the cross-examination of the star witness and specifically asked him to state what he wanted from the case, and what he had against the respondent. Mr Saleh said that all he wanted was for Baba-Hassan to be disqualified and the ticket of the APC primary for the Jos North-North Constituency given to him since he came second behind him (Baba-Hassan). After Messrs Umoh and Dafar completed their cross-examination of Mr Saleh, Mr Umoh told the court that he intended to amend his statement of defence to include a Degree Certificate, which the accused had obtained as an additional qualification. He asked for an adjournment to enable him made the necessary amendment. The prosecuting counsel and APC defence counsel did not object to the application. We are not objecting to the application to amend the defence statement because we have no problem with that; it wont affect us in any way because our problem is with the forged certificate the accused tendered to INEC in 2014, Mr Ibeawuchi said. Justice Kurya then adjourned the case to January 14, 2019, for the accused to open their defence. (NAN) The Nigerian Prisons Service (NPS) says human element, infrastructural gaps and aggression by inmates are some factors that account for jail breaks in prisons across the country. The prisons spokesperson, Francis Enobore, disclosed this in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Abuja. Mr Enobore admitted that the preponderance of jail breaks in the country was worrisome, adding that the identified elements, including congestion, were responsible for the trend. It is true that Nigeria has recorded ugly incidents of jail-breaks. The facts have remained obvious following the scenario where prisons house inmates far beyond their capacities. For instance, Port Harcourt Prison was built for 800 inmates, but right now, we have nothing less than 4, 000 inmates in the prison. It became evident also where convicted inmates are mixed up with the Awaiting Trial Persons (ATP) that account for about 70 per cent within the prison facility, he said. He said that the situation had made the system to lose values and grow hardened inmates who pose serious threat to national security. With such scenario, disturbances and tension become natural and inevitable within the prison facility, Mr Enobore said. He disclosed that the Controller-General of Prisons, Jaafaru Ahmed, had ordered the renovation, expansion and construction of facilities, including cells, offices and hostels in the prisons to create enabling environment. According to him, this will enable officers and men discharge their duties effectively and also meet up with global practice and curb the menace if jail breaks. The controller-general had observed that only motivated staff would ensure that such incidents never occur again. He resorted to promoting 14,592 officers and men to boost their moral. As I speak, 75 different infrastructural projects are going on to ensure such ugly incident jail-break does not occur again. Some of the projects have been completed and others are still under construction, he said. The spokesperson noted that manpower deficit in the service had been addressed by the current administration. The request of the CGP was granted to recruit over 6,000 personnel into the service to add value to the security architecture as well as promote excellence in the service, he said. He assured that the service would not relent in ensuring that the prison becomes a full correctional system and suitable for prisoners to learn and become useful to the society. He urged the public, including corporate organisations, to invest in prisons, especially in the provision of quality facilities. (NAN) President Muhammadu Buhari has pledged to sign the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) into law once the bill is re-transmitted to the presidency. Mr Buhari gave the pledge at the 40th anniversary of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) on Thursday in Abuja. The theme of the anniversary is, Nigeria Oil and Gas Workers; Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow. Mr Buhari, who was represented by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, said the bill would address most of the challenges of the oil workers and the industry as a whole. He urged the workers to support his administration towards ensuring better welfare for workers. Mr Buhari also commended the workers for the progress made, while urging them to dialogue instead of shutting down the country while in a dispute with their employers. (I am) a workers friendly president, who is concerned about better working conditions for workers. (I) respect the rule of law and the law of the land. (I) promise to sign the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill once it is brought to (me), he said. PREMIUM TIMES reported how Mr Buhari had in September refused to sign the PIGB after it was passed by lawmakers. He raised concerns about some of the content and asked for those to be amended by the lawmakers. The presidents statement on Thursday indicates his readiness to sign the bill once the amendments are done. Speaking earlier, NUPENG president, Williams Akporeha, decried the continued casualisation of workers by oil companies, saying the union would always fight for better working conditions of its members. The enormous challenges confronting our union, most especially with regards to the employers, government and general public perception of our enormous powers, influence and ever constant solidarity. We know that often, many employers are scared of relating with us and this wrong perception is sometimes responsible for the hostile attitude to our efforts in organising their employees. In the light of this realisation, our administration will embark on massive public image polishing and mending relationship with all aggrieved stakeholders. Our new mission is to ensure prosperity and good returns for everyone in the industry. We pledge to be more cooperative and collaborative in our dealings but without compromising on the best interest of our members and global labour best practices. We have further resolved to be more open and engaging in social dialogue with all stakeholders. We urge everyone, government, employers and the public to know that we are fully committed. That is, in rendering efficient, effective and public/stakeholders friendly services to our dear country and its citizens, he said. Also, former Head of State, Yakubu Gowon, called on the union to ensure availability of fuel supply during the Yuletide season. He added that owing to the recent spate of strikes, citizens were beginning to see NUPENG as a force for economic dislocation. He urged them to embrace dialogue rather than using strike as a first option. The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the proposed 2019 budget estimates. The approval was given Friday at a special session of the council chaired by President Muhammadu Buhari inside the Council Chamber of State House villa, Abuja. Briefing reporters at the end of the meeting, Minister of Budget and Planning, Udoma Udoma, said the estimates have been approved and will soon be forwarded to the National Assembly for passage. Asked to give details of the approved estimates, Mr Udoma declined saying that will mean usurping the powers of the President. He is the one who will present it. I dont want to usurp his powers, he said. The minister said the executive arm was already working with the National Assembly to get a date for Mr Buhari to present the budget. The pioneer chairman of Nigerias anti-graft agency, EFCC, Nuhu Ribadu, is among eight individuals and organisations recognised globally for their role in curtailing corruption at an event held Friday in Putrajaya, Malaysia. The honorees, from Asia, America, Africa, Oceania and Europe, were recognised at the Third annual Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani International Anti-Corruption Excellence (ACE) Award 2018. Held to coincide with International Anti-Corruption Day on December 9, the winners were presented their award by Tamim Al-Thani, Emir of the State of Qatar; Malaysian Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohamad; the Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Yury Fedotov; and the Qatari Attorney General Ali Al-Marri. Mr Ribadu was nominated for the award by Nigerian nonprofit, African Centre for Media and Information Literacy (AFRICMIL). Organisers said the nominations underwent thorough assessment and screening process, before the final approval by the centres board. The award has been established to shine a light on the fight against corruption across the worldand acknowledge the outstanding contributions towards the prevention of and the fight against corruption that are being made around the world. The winners for this year are from Liberia, Australia, Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Papua New Guinea, USA and Mexico were presented their Award in support of The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and its anti-corruption mandates, specifically, the implementation of the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC). Before the ceremony, a 12m high statue of an open hand, the symbol of the ACE Award and a representation of the transparency and openness required of governments around the world, was unveiled in Dataran Putra, opposite the Prime Ministers office. After a long and thorough selection process, the High-Level Committee of the ACE Award, with recommendations from the Assessment and Advisory Board, chose eight recipients across four categories: Anti-Corruption Lifetime or Outstanding Achievement, Anti-Corruption Innovation, Anti- Corruption Youth Creativity and Engagement, and the Anti-Corruption Academic Research And Education. In the Anti-Corruption Innovation category, Papua New Guinea Phones Against Corruption from the island state of Papua New Guinea was recognised for its innovative mobile platform for reporting corruption. The text message service has resulted in over 6000 reports of corrupt activity. Since its launch on August 15, 2010, PNG Phones Against Corruption has been responsible for the opening of over 250 cases being investigated by the Papua New Guinea authorities, with five of those awaiting trial. The initiative is responsible for the arrest of two Papua New Guinea government bureaucrats for mismanagement of over $2 million of official funds. Sharing the Anti Corruption Innovation Award is Ghanaian Roger Oppong Koranteng. Mr Koranteng is the Lead Trainer as well as Governance and Anti-Corruption Adviser for the Africa Commonwealth Secretariat, and has used his position to bring together the heads of African Anti- Corruption offices to peer-review anti-corruption initiatives, set performance benchmarks and exchange best practices. A bilateral information-sharing agreement between Ghana and Nigeria is a direct result of the work spearheaded by Mr Koranteng. He has responsibility for governance, anti-corruption, democratic and oversight institutions in all the 52 commonwealth countries. This year, there are two shared winners in the Anti-Corruption Academic Research And Education category, the first of whom is Robtel Neajai Pailey from Liberia. In the fight against corruption, it is vital to begin educating the next generation of citizens as early as possible. This was the aim of Ms Pailey, Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at the University of Oxford, when she wrote her childrens books, Gbagba and Jaadeh. The books introduce children to the effects of corruption on everyday life, and have been made into short films, and even songs. Ms Pailey has spoken at a number of prestigious events on the subject of corruption, including a 2016 TED talk on Corruption in Africa, as well as at a number of conferences and seminars across the world. The second awardee in this category is Jason Sharman, holder of the Sir Patrick Sheehy professorship in International Relations at the University of Cambridge. Before joining the University of Cambridge, Professor Sharman received his Undergraduate degree from the University of Western Australia, followed by a PhD from the University of Illinois, and has worked at the University of Brisbane and Griffith University in Australia. His work includes investigations into the corrupt practices used by despots to hide illicit funds, alongside in-depth studies on money laundering and asset recovery. His publications have been reviewed by the Economist, the Financial Times and the Australian Institute of International Affairs, among others. The first awardee for the Anti-Corruption Youth Creativity And Engagement category, Fernanda Aguirre, is a Mexican community activist who epitomises battling corruption from its inception. Her first introduction to community action was at home, when she participated in the Lions Club of Mexicali at the age of six in the programme that her grandfather and her parents headed, called Receive the Gift of Sight. Through this, they provided eye examinations, lenses and even sight operations to people of limited resources throughout Mexico. From these beginnings, Ms Aguirre has expanded her community outreach, working in fields as varied as voter registration and motivation, gender equality in politics, and youth programmes designed to give voice to the younger generation. She is currently finishing an MBA in order to further improve the effectiveness of her anti-corruption programmes. The second award in the category of Anti-Corruption Youth Creativity and Education is the organisation Accountability Lab, an organisation based in Washington DC with the aim to promote fairness and accountability in as many countries as it can reach. They run an Accountability Incubator, a flagship programme for young civil society leaders that invites them to build sustainable, effective tools for accountability, participation and social impact in their societies, as well as Integrity Idol, a global campaign run by citizens in search of honest government officials, as well as the Integrity Fellowship, a month-long fellowship where the fellows are given opportunities to work with and learn from exemplary civil and public servants. The final award was conferred upon two winners in the category of Anti-Corruption Lifetime Achievement. Nuhu Ribadu was a Nigerian civil servant who argues for actions instead of words as the only way to end corruption. His actions focus on his home country of Nigeria, and the corruption that has robbed the state of huge sums of money while stagnating development. He cites improving the foundations of leadership, institutions and individuals as the key requirements for anti-corruption success in any nation, saying If things are not done in the right way, cutting corners will always continue. His fearless work has resulted in the prosecution of a number of prominent politicians. The second winner of this prestigious category is Leonard Frank McCarthy, whose work is credited with shaping the global economy. As Vice-president of the World Bank, he spearheaded initiatives designed to increase the organisations ability to address fraud and corruption. Under his leadership, integrity due-diligence has become a standard of World Bank investigations, and under his guidance the World Bank Preventative Services Unit was created, to ensure that potential corruption could be stopped before it had even begun. The fight against corruption is not something that can be accomplished in just one day, commented Eduardo Vetere, Vice President of the International Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities, during the press conference after the award. He continued; It is a slow, day by day process in which not only government officials but the entire public have to cooperate and collaborate. Tan Sri Abu Kassim Mohammed, Director of the National Centre for Governance, Integrity and Anti- Corruption (GIACC) spoke about the progress made by Malaysia under the present government in tackling corruption. The government of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has taken great steps towards improving elements such as accountability, efficiency and transparency, instilling a comprehensive approach to fighting corruption within Malaysia. Mr Al Marri, UNODC Regional Special Advocate for the Prevention of Corruption, announced the establishment of the International Anti-Corruption Excellence Award, under the patronage of Sheikh Al-Thani , at the 8th Annual Conference of the International Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities (IAACA) in November 2015 in St. Petersburg, Russia. At a point in the life of the Redeemed Church, the church was so broke it could not pay a carpenter N204 for work done. This was disclosed by the General Overseer of the church, Enoch Adeboye, on Thursday at the ongoing RCC convention. When we were building the first auditorium at the Redemption Camp, the carpenters came to me one morning for N204.00 to continue with the work, but I didnt have money then so I told them I would send for them when I got it. They were surprised that I could not afford a mere N204! And as they left, I overhead them grumbling. They said I was complaining that (the) pace of work is slow, yet I didnt want to give them money. I reported the matter to God: God You can hear them, send help. After that, I fell asleep because I had had an all-night prayer. When I woke up there was a man sitting at the door of my office eating breakfast. I said to myself, Ah, this mans case must be serious; he is blocking my way so I cant go out. Sir, how can I help you? I inquired. Whats your problem? He said he had no problem, but that he had collected house rent from his tenants and as he was about to have breakfast, God told him to come quickly to the Camp and give the money to me. He continued: When I came and I found you sleeping, I said to God, Can I eat my breakfast while he is sleeping? He gave me the money, I blessed him and he left. When I opened the envelope, it contained N1,200.00, so I sent for the carpenters; it was time now for me to show off. They needed and grumbled over N204.00, but God had provided N1,200.00. At the Thursday session of the Holy Ghost Congress, top Pentecostal pastors from Nigeria and overseas took turns on the pulpit. Among the clerics who preached and led the congregation in special prayer sessions were Ayodele Oritsejafor, Founding and Senior Pastor of Word of Life Bible Church and former national president of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria; and Taiwo Odukoya a Senior Pastor of The Fountain of Life Church, Lagos. Others were S.K. Abaira, retired leader of Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) Worldwide; Mercy Ezekiel of Christian Pentecostal Mission International, Lagos, and Joseph Imakando of Bread of Life International Ministries, Zambia. Their presentations and prayers centered on the growth of the church; the need for strong families; the challenges of life; and Gods promises. Also present were delegations from many of the 197 countries where RCCG has missions. They included delegations from African countries, Thailand and Indonesia. The leader of the delegation from Indonesia, Obaja Sethianwan of the International Christian Assembly, said he was marvelled by the size of the auditorium of RCCG. He said the anointing of Mr Adeboye, which he tapped into during his last visit to the Redemption Camp, was manifesting in wonders and miracles in Indonesia, where the churches are growing. Importance Of Prayers Mr Adeboye took over after a ministration by the Mass Choir of the church, with his usual opening prayers during which he kneels down at the pulpit. Speaking about the importance of prayers and why God answers the prayers of people before they are said, he explained why people need to pray. He illustrated each point with examples. He said people need to pray because the spiritual controls the physical; and because God knows where the help we need is. Job in the Bible, he said, did not get into trouble until Satan had a conversation with God. He explained with the N204 experience of the church, saying people need to pray because there are some heights they cannot reach without divine intervention. He said his church ran out of money when they were building the first auditorium but God intervened through an unexpected source. Speaking on Gods possible responses to prayers, he said the best is for God to answer us before we call on him because He is gracious and merciful or because sometimes, He does it for His names sake. He said the ready response could be the privilege of Gods children or ambassadors and the elect of God the beloved, those he has chosen to love. The General Overseer illustrated this with a personal experience that drew a thunderous applause from the congregation. He said in his former house at the Camp he had a prayer room where he isolated himself to do serious prayers. But his last born, who was a child then, would usually go in there for cookies and wouldnt leave until he was given. He said to stop the boy from disrupting his prayers, he decided to keep cookies by his side anytime he went to the prayer room to pray. The night was meant for serious prayers, so after an altar, he led the congregation in a long prayer session. As at 7 p.m. that night, 28 babies had been born at the Camps medical facility. Pastor Adeboye and his wife Ayo Oritsejafor at the Holy Ghost Congress Holy Ghost Congress Testimonies were shared by women who said they had been barren for many years, those who said they had received healing and a young man who said he narrowly escaped the inferno on the Otedola bridge in Lagos. A Federal High Court in Lagos on Friday fixed January 29, 2019, to hear a motion seeking bench warrant against the Chief Executive Officer of Innoson Nig. Ltd., Innocent Chukwuma, and others charged with forgery. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the federal government, through the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation had filed a four-count charge of forgery against the accused in charge number FH/L/565C/1. The accused are Innosson Nig. Ltd., Innocent Chukwuma, Charles Chukwu, Maximian Chukwura, Mitsui Osk Lines C and Anajekwu Sunny. They are alleged to have conspired to commit offences on October 10, 2013, at Apapa, Lagos. At the last adjourned date on November 9, the court adjourned until Friday (today) for the hearing of a motion seeking bench warrant against the accused. The case, however, could not proceed on Friday as scheduled following the absence of defence counsel, Macarthy Mbadugha, who is said to be on a medical trip abroad. Justice Ayokunle Faji consequently adjourned the case until January 29, 2019, for hearing. In the charge, the prosecution said the accused falsified shipping documents, which they deposited with Guaranty Trust Bank Plc as collateral for a N2.4 billion loan to Innosson Nig. Ltd. The shipping documents were also alleged to have been falsely presented as genuine and with intent to defraud in order to clear goods worth N2.4 billion. According to the charge sheet, the offences contravene the provisions of Sections 1(2) (c) and 3(6) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act, 2004. The judge had on January 11, stayed proceedings in the case, pending the outcome of an appeal filed by the defence at the Supreme Court. During a court sitting, however, the prosecutor, Julius Ajakaiye from the Federal Ministry of Justice, informed the court of an earlier decision of the Court of Appeal which, he argued, dismissed the defences appeal for a stay of proceedings. Citing the provisions of Sections 306 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015, and the case of the Federal Republic of Nigeria versus Olisa Metu, Mr Ajakaiye urged the court to vacate its earlier order to await the decision of the Supreme Court and order hearing of prosecutions motion for bench warrant against the accused. The court consequently vacated the order and set a date for hearing of the prosecutions motion for bench warrant. (NAN). The Emir of Deba in Gombe State, Ahmed Usman, has turbaned five women with traditional titles in his kingdom. The ceremony held at the emirs palace in Yamaltu/Deba Local Government Area of the state on Friday. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the new titleholders include Fatima Mohammed, turbaned as the first Garkuwan Matan Deba and Aisha Muhammed as Annurin Deba. Others are Halima Muhammed as Tauraruwan Deba; Kulu Tela-sidi as Wakiliyan Matan Deba; and Abu Gurkuma as Sarkin kudu of Deba. Speaking during the ceremony, the emir said the women had excelled in their various field of endeavours. Mr Usman said the women were doing their best in the council, adding that they have vital roles to play in the council. He called on them not to relent in their efforts for the success of the emirate and entire people in the council. Speaking on behalf of the new titleholders, Mrs Mohammed commended the emir over the appointment and promised to serve the council judiciously. She said that their appointment was a demonstration of a just and quality leadership that believes in women in leadership. (NAN) Hoodlums invaded the Mandate Market in Ilorin, Kwara State, on Thursday, scaring away petty traders and TraderMoni agents and disrupting the disbursement of money to beneficiaries of the scheme. As early as 9 a.m., the hoodlums, some of them wearing PDP Atikulated T-shirts, stormed the Mandate Market, insisting that the TraderMoni scheme could not be conducted, because Senate President Bukola Sarakis father donated the land to the state government to build the market. It was not clear whether they were sent by anyone or whether they were mere party zealots, working on their own. According to witnesses, including Bank of Industry (BOI) officials who were at the market to supervise the enumeration and disbursement of the N10, 000 collateral free loans, the arrival of the mob at Mandate Market caused some uproar. The thugs also intimidated the petty traders who had lined up to participate in the programme. Many of the traders were palpably annoyed and refused to leave the market. Calm was restored with the intervention of the police. At the Ipata Market, where enumeration and disbursement of the TraderMoni loans were also going on, market leaders reportedly rebuffed pressure from some officials of the state, urging them to shun the enumerators. The programme went on without incident. Officials of the Bank of Industry told journalists that enumeration had been going on in the two markets in Kwara State in the last few days, without incident until Thursday. The vice president, Yemi Osinbajo, is expected in the markets on Friday December 7. TraderMoni, which is part of the federal governments Social Investment Programme (N-SIP) under GEEP, is designed to assist petty traders across the country expand their trade through the provision of collateral and interest-free loans from N10,000. The loans are repayable over a period of six months at which point the traders on repayment will receive a fresh N15, 000 loan, which rises to N20, 000 when repaid. The microcredit scheme, which has since been formally launched nationwide, is expected to reach two million petty traders by the end of the year. (NAN) The Governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom, on Thursday in Makurdi presented the 2019 Appropriation Bill of N196.5 billion to the Benue House of Assembly for passage into law. The bill tagged `Budget of security, peace and prosperity in Benue, was presented by the deputy governor, Benson Abounu, who represented Mr Ortom. The governor explained that N106.3 billion would be expended on recurring expenditure while capital expenditure would gulp N90.1 billion. He regretted the poor performance of the 2018 budget, which he blamed on low inflow of federal allocation and the under performance of the internally generation revenue firm. He, therefore, urged the state assembly to expeditiously pass the appropriation bill in the interest of the Benue people. Receiving the bill, the speaker, Titus Uba, promised that the bill would receive expeditious consideration and passage. Mr Uba, however, urged all agencies of government to be prepared for the defence of their sector allocations in the bill to enable its early passage. (NAN) The management of the University of Ilorin has officially reacted to the death of one of its students, Adigun Emmanuel, who was rumored to have committed suicide. The deceased, who was a student of the Faculty of Agriculture, was reported to have ingested poison last Thursday, due to failure in his final year project. In a statement signed by its director of corporate affairs, Kunle Akogun, and made available to PREMIUM TIMES on Thursday night, the University said that investigations revealed that the Mr Adigun took his own life as an eventual culmination of his drug addiction. Some close friends of the late Mr Adigun revealed that the obviously depressed student had unsuccessfully attempted suicide thrice, having publicly expressed profound regret, on many occasions, that it was his nagging younger sister that was sponsoring his education. He was further reported to have lamented that it would be too difficult for him to approach the same younger sibling for the needed finances to complete his extended stay on campus as a result of his failure in several core courses. However, Mr Akogun said contrary to reports, the deceased, with a CGP of 2.72, failed seven different courses, which accounted for his non-graduation in the last academic session. He said the student could not be said to be academically outstanding nor on the verge of completing any research project. He never completed the series of enabling experiments that would have given him the data needed for his research and that he took his life while he was expected to complete registration formalities, a prerequisite for his retake of all the courses he had earlier failed, the school said. The statement added that when a senior academic staff of the deceaseds Department of Agronomy got wind of the late Mr Adiguns psychological problem through their interactions, she offered series of assistance to him to avert the regrettable consequence. Some of the measures taken by the management and good-spirited members of staff to soothe the nerves of the deceased included a four-week intensive rehabilitation at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Ilorin, courtesy of the Professor, who also adopted him as her Mentee; the facilitation of hostel accommodation for him on campus through the recommendation of the Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture, Prof. Gbadebo Olaoye; and a soft loan granted him by the same Mentor, even while she (the Mentor) was in far-away Nairobi, Kenya, some days to the incident, to settle his school fees. Mr Akogun said despite all these rehabilitative efforts to place the deceased in the right frame of mind, he still resorted to the despicable act of suicide, to the consternation of all those who assisted him one way or the other. The University insisted that there was no iota of truth that the suicide had anything to do with the deceaseds academic challenges at the University of Ilorin, adding that: it is a manifested testimony of the increasing danger of drug addiction and peer pressure as it was reliably gathered that a son of his landlady, who was also his friend, schooling in a sister tertiary institution in Ilorin, also terminated his own life in similar circumstance, not quite long ago. While the University commiserated with the late Mr Adiguns family over the unfortunate incident, it appealed to parents, relations and guardians to be up and doing in their responsibilities to their children and wards so that they (the children) would grow up to live a decent life. He further said the university is committed to the provision of qualitative education and other forms of services to its students. Habila Dung, a prosecution witness in the N6.3 billion fraud case against Jonah Jang, has said that the former Plateau governors style of expending security funds was not peculiar to him. Jangs way of handling security funds is not new; it is the same way his successor, Gov. Simon Lalong, is doing it, Mr Dung, former Permanent Secretary, Cabinet and Special Services, told the Plateau State High Court trying Mr Jang, on Friday in Jos. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that Mr Dung is the fourth prosecution witness in the case brought against Mr Jang and Yusuf Pam, a former cashier in the Plateau Government House. The accused persons are being tried over the alleged fraud said to have been committed between September 2010 and October 2014. They are facing 12 count charges bordering on conspiracy and money laundering allegedly committed when Jang was the governor of the north-central state. The anti-graft agency is alleging that the defendants had conspired to defraud the state of the said amount (N6.3bn), via illegal acts, contrary to, and punishable under, sections 15, 16, 17, 18 and 19 of the Money Laundering (Prohibition Act) 2011, as amended. The former permanent secretary had, on Thursday, told the trial Judge, Daniel Longji, that all withdrawals made by Mr Pam were taken to Mr Jang for disbursement to the 17-member State Security Council. But, while being cross-examined on Friday by Mr Jangs counsel, Mike Ezekhome, Mr Dung said that the practice of withdrawing security funds from the state coffers by a cashier and delivering same to the governor in his office, was not peculiar to Jang. The practice is still on-going, long after Jang left office in May 29, 2015. The current governor is doing the same. So, it is nothing new. I was the Permanent Secretary, Cabinet and Special Services in the office of the Secretary to the State Government, between December 2014 and September 6, 2015. Once there is a security challenge, the governor will ask me to raise a memo for a certain amount which will be withdrawn by the cashier and taken to the governor, he said. NAN reports that Mr Ezekhome produced documents indicating withdrawals done between July 1 to October 7, 2015, in eight different bank statements by Yusuf Pam and his successor, Erick Kangnan, to further confirm that such withdrawals were a normal trend with both the Jang and Lalong administrations. Will I, therefore, be correct to say that during Gov Jangs and Gov Lalongs tenures, while you were the permanent secretary, and when Yusuf Pam and Erick Kangnan were cashiers, the same pattern was adopted? Mr Ezekhome asked, to which Dung answered, yes sir, the pattern was the same. The same pattern used in withdrawing security funds tagged as `classified expenditures during Governor Jonah Jang is still the same pattern within the administration of Lalong, Dung reaffirmed to the court. The defence counsel asked the prosecution witness whether he had ever seen Pam (2nd accused), delivering any of the withdrawn funds to Mr Jang in his office, to which he answered in the negative. On whether he had ever seen Mr Jang putting any such monies in the booth of his car to take home or heard anybody said he/she saw him (Jang), doing that when he was governor, Mr Dung answered, not at all sir. The defence counsel also asked Mr Dung whether he had ever heard any of the beneficiaries of the security funds complaining that Mr Jang ever denied him/her of his/her allowance, and the to prosecution witness said that no one had ever complained. On whether the same security challenges Mr Jang faced as governor were faced by Governor Lalong when he (Dung), was still in office as permanent secretary in the cabinet office, Dung answered in the affirmative. According to him, Mr Lalong was facing the same security challenges and was withdrawing and expending security funds the same way. Justice Longji has adjourned the case to March 5, 6 and 7, 2019 for the continuation of hearing. (NAN) The All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Akwa Ibom, Nsima Ekere, says he is confident the states former governor, Godswill Akpabio, will not betray the party by working for other candidates. Mr Ekere said this while addressing journalists after a meeting with the partys National Working Committee (NWC) in Abuja on Thursday. Mr Ekere was deputy governor under Mr Akpabio before he resigned after spending only 17 months and two days in office. It was then reported that Mr Ekeres resignation from office on October 31, 2012 was to beat his planned impeachment by the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, a move attributed to issues relating to loyalty and obedience to Mr Akpabio. Both men had not been in the same political party since then until this year when Mr Akpabio left the PDP to join Mr Ekere in the APC. Following Mr Akpabios defection to the APC and Mr Ekeres emergence as the partys governorship candidate, there have been questions whether the candidate will have the full support of hi former boss. Mr Akpabio, who was a former senior member of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), recently admitted secretly preferring the candidacy of President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015 while Mr Akpabio was still in the then ruling PDP, which made some to question his loyalty as a party man. However, Mr Ekere described Mr Akpabio as a total APC party man who is working for all candidates of the party. I can assure you that Chief Godswill Akpabio and his entire political structure are solidly working for the APC and all our candidates in the next general elections, not only in Akwa Ibom but all over the country, he said. He is not the kind of person that will be working for the APC and the President on one side and working against other candidates of the party. He is totally an APC man, a loyal party leader in the state and he will definitely work for all APC candidates in the election. Denying bad blood exists between him and Mr Akpabio, the candidate said I resigned from office for very personal reasons, stressing that he has Mr Akpabios support as the governorship candidate of the party. Before the last primaries, the former governor you are talking about joined the party at end of August and the primary was in early October and way before the primary, he was my number one supporter, going round the state campaigning for me to emerge candidate of the party. So, there is absolutely no truth to that. Speaking on the speculated plot by the APC to use force to remove the sitting governor in the state, Udom Emmanuel of the PDP, Mr Ekere said there was no truth in the speculation. He said the president will not support such, adding that if there is a party ready to take that route, it is the party in power in the state. That is totally false and no truth in such assertion. It is a matter of crying wolf. In fact, if there is someone who is intolerant to the opposition, anybody desirous of not allowing the citizens to find their political bearing, it is the intolerant government in Akwa Ibom State. This is a government that does not even allow opposition candidates in the APC to erect billboards in the state. It is the PDP government in Akwa Ibom that is using the apparatus of government against the APC and we shall resist it. He predicted that the PDP will not retain power in the state in 2019. All the political actors then who made the PDP have all left and 90 per cent are now in the APC. These were the people who usually make things happen. So do I need to tell you that there is no way PDP can win in Akwa Ibom. They dont even have the men and resources. The only thing they have is the money that the governor is throwing around. The remaining four staff of Osun College of Technology, Esa-Oke, who were kidnapped on their way from work on Tuesday, have regained their freedom, according to the police. The police spokesperson in Osun, Folashade Odoro, confirmed their release to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday. Mrs Odoro said that the abducted staff regained freedom in the early hours of Friday and had all been reunited with their families, but did not give details on the release. The remaining four abducted staff of the college have been released and have been reunited with their families. Efforts are still ongoing to arrest the gunmen that kidnapped them and the police will not stop until the perpetrators are brought to justice. she said. The police spokesperson however did not say if ransom was paid for their release or not, but queried, How can ransom be paid to abductors that were not seen? NAN recalls that suspected gunmen kidnapped eight staff of the college, and also killed one other who tried to resist being kidnapped. The gunmen later freed four on Wednesday and there have been little or no details on how they regained their freedom. The institutions spokesperson, Adewale Oyekanmi, had told NAN how the abduction took place. He said that the institutions staff were attacked and kidnapped around 4:30 pm while leaving the college premises after close of work on Tuesday. Mr Oyekanmi said the gunmen blocked the Esa-Oke Road leading to the college campus, stopped the staff vehicles plying the route and abducted them. One of the staff was shot and killed when he did not stop and was trying to escape in his car. The police, the DSS and men of the OPC are however helping in combing the bushes to see if they can rescue the kidnapped staff. he said (NAN) The pan-Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, has expressed dissatisfaction with the Independent National Electoral Commissions (INEC) level of preparedness to conduct a free, fair and credible elections in the country next year. A leader of the group, Ayo Adebanjo, stated this while speaking with journalists at Toru-Orua, the hometown of Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson, during the burial ceremony of his late mother, Mrs Goldcoast Dickson. Mr Adebanjo who called for an outright change in the leadership of INEC, stressed that it was impossible for the head of an electoral umpire appointed by one of the presidential candidates to be impartial in the conduct of the 2019 general elections. According to him, We have said it before that we dont have any trust in INEC as it is presently constituted. In fact, we are of the view that the whole team should be disbanded. For us to have a free and fair election, there should be no relation of a contestant in the presidential election in INECs leadership. A statement by the Special Adviser to the Bayelsa Governor on Media Relations, Fidelis Soriwei, said the Afenifere chieftain also restated the groups commitment to the ongoing struggle for the restructuring of the country. Mr Adebanjo called on Nigerians to vote for the Peoples Democratic Partys candidate, Atiku Abubakar, in the forthcoming presidential elections for the country to remain united in peace and make progress. Commiserating with the Dickson family, he described the late Madam Goldcoast as a blessing to Nigeria for bringing up a son in the person of Governor Dickson who has proved himself as a worthy leader. Describing the governor as a product of the Alliance for Democracy, a nationalist and patriot. The Yoruba leader said he was proud of Dicksons achievements in office. His words, Shes a blessing to Nigeria for giving us a Dickson as a governor. When you see the performance of Governor Dickson, you know the root she came from. For me to travel all the way from the airport to South West to come to this place, shows, the honour and regard I have for Dickson. He is a nationalist, true patriot and democrat and a ruler of the people. I believe very much in his style of governance. Dont forget that he was trained by the Alliance for Democracy, which is the root of the Action Group. 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. The Dormaa District distribution actually marks the second ABCF distribution in Brong Ahafo and brings the total number of bicycles contributed by the Foundation to 340. The Foundation's fifth bicycle distribution event took place on July 26, 2017, in Amasu, in the same Brong Ahafo Region. According to Bernice Dapaah, the founder and CEO of the company, in Kumasi, Ghana, that manufactures the EcoRide bamboo bicycles that are sponsored by ABCF for its distributions, the Dormaa District is one of the Southwest districts in Ghana with the greatest need for educational support, and is also home to a significant number of rural students who are challenged to travel significant distances, on foot, from remote communities to their learning centers. A 2018 survey in the "Journal of Economics and Economic Education Research" titled "Dropout Issues and its Economic Implications: Evidence from Rural Ghana" disclosed that the prominent factors identified to influence dropouts included poverty, low levels of parental education, corporal punishment and long distances to school. In addition, a 2014 report by the Ghana Statistical Services disclosed that "there is a huge gap in educational attainment between urban children and their rural counterparts. Only eight percent of urban-dwelling children had no education, while almost one in every four children in rural dwelling had no education." The recipients of this most recent ABCF bicycle distribution were drawn from several senior high schools across the District, including the Dormaa Senior High School; the Dormaa Adehyeman and Dormaa Wamafo Senior Schools. Commenting on how the new bicycle would impact her own pursuit of education, one of the recipients, Azuori Philpa said: "This bicycle is very much appreciated because it will help me to avoid late evening travels on risky footpaths and save me more effective hours to devote to learning." Among the officials in attendance at the distribution event were Barimah Dei-Kusi Gyabaah II, of Dormaa Ankobeahene; Barimah Yeboah Kodie, of the Dormaa Adauanahene and Aboabo No.3 hene; Maxwell Mensah, Deputy Coordinating Director, Dormaa Municipality, and Thomas Asante Armstrong, Head of Inspectorate Division GES Dormaa; and School Principal Nicholas Asamoah. According to Head of Inspectorate Armstrong: "The bicycle has the great potential of eliminating the key bottlenecks some of the students face, including absenteeism, and fatigue from long-distance travels to school. We hope that with this challenge out of the way and the risks minimized, they will improve on their key performance metrics." "We at ABCF, and our partners in the U.S. and in Ghana, clearly understand the direct connection between Ghanaian student access to education and the successful future they can build for themselves, their families and communities," said Patricia Marshall Harris, the Foundation's executive director. "It seems as though it was only yesterday that we launched the Foundation with our first bicycle distribution in Kumasi. We have now, however, distributed a total of 340 bicycles in 10 districts throughout Ghana and are quite anxious to do all we can to buy more of these wonderful Ghanaian-made bamboo bikes and to get them into the hands of as many under-resourced students, small farmers and healthcare workers, as possible." Who is ABCF? The African Bicycle Contribution Foundation (ABCF) is a 5013 non-profit corporation whose mission is to generate funding to underwrite the distribution of bicycles to under-resourced students, teachers, and transport-dependent small farmers and healthcare workers, in Ghana. The Corporation has made a commitment to finance the free distribution of 2500 bicycles in Ghana, over its first five years of operation. ABCF works in partnership with the Ghana Bamboo Bikes Initiative, which produces the iconic Eco-Ride bamboo bicycle; the Bright Generation Community Foundation, the Respect Alliance, and the U.S.-Ghana Chamber of Commerce. Included among the foundation's corporate and charitable non-profit sponsors are Independence Blue Cross, PayPal, ARAMARK, Global Advisory Services, the Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Dr. and Mrs. Colin A. Romero and Millennium 3 Management, Inc. For further information about ABCF, please contact the ABCF offices: info@africabike.org CONTACT: A. Bruce Crawley Tel: 215-751-0140 abcrawley@m3mpr.com Video - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/794864/Children_on_Bamboo_Bikes.mp4 Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/794862/Kids_with_Bikes.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/794863/Chief_and_Bernice_Greeting_Children.jpg SOURCE African Bicycle Contribution Foundation BBVA Microfinance Foundation, recipient of the Corporate Citizen of the Americas 2018 award from the Organization of American States - The Foundation's CEO, Javier M. Flores, has received this award from the hands of secretary general for the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro - This award, bestowed to the Foundation by the Trust for the Americas/OAS acknowledges its program to promote women's economic empowerment in benefit of low-income female entrepreneurs, "to push for gender equality by offering economic opportunities to women and girls in the region" - The BBVA Microfinance Foundation serves 1.2 million women in Latin America with specialized financial services, such as products to support their children's savings, loans for rural women or financial and technical skills training QINGDAO, China, Dec. 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The government of Shandong province recently held its annual general meeting, at which the Information Office of the People's Government of Shandong Province gave a presentation on the major projects of the last five years that succeeded in best promoting traditional Chinese culture. The projects covered five essential areas: Strengthening the study of the best examples of traditional culture The "Introducing Masters Project" was implemented, during which Confucian scholars and experts who were trained at the best schools in China and abroad were engaged to serve as Taishan scholars of Confucianism in Shandong province. The province assembled a collection of stories exemplifying what was most representative of traditional Chinese culture, including selecting 700 stories and publishing two series of storybooks. The effort also included the establishment of 1,630 beilei art workshops. More than 15,000 events have been held every year to tell the stories behind the traditions and popularize the art forms, benefiting more than three million students. Facilitating the integration of culture and tourism The province is committed to facilitating the integration of culture and tourism, as telling the story about the culture is very much at the soul of tourism while tourism serves as the carrier of culture. By uncovering and integrating the many different cultures and traditions, including Confucian, Qi, Taishan, Yellow River, spring, sea, canal, Water Margin, Jiaodong Red and other folk cultures, the province has established 10 cultural tourism destinations, key among them: the home of Confucius in Qufu, a.k.a. the Sacred Land of Confucius, the sea resorts of Yantai -- the Fairyland Coast, Tai'an -- Blessing Mount Tai, Jinan -- the City of Springs, -- the City of Springs, Linzi -- the ancient capital of Qi Kingdom, Jining, Liaocheng & Zaozhuang -- the Shandong Section of the Grand Canal, Liaocheng -- Bastion of the "Water Margin" Heroes, Dongying and other riparian cities along the estuary of the Yellow River, Linyi in the Yimeng Mountains, and Weifang -- the City of Kites. The fifth China Intangible Cultural Heritage Expo was recently held, attracting 820,000 visitors and 60 million online viewers. By hosting the International Confucius Culture Festival, the Taishan International Mountain Festival, the Qingdao International Beer Festival, the Heze International Peony Festival and the Weifang International Kite Festival, the province has become identified with the hosting of China's most well-known tourism events. Promoting the "Library + Academy" model Since 2014, Shandong province has been advocating the "Library + Academy" public cultural service model, in order to facilitate the development of both rural and community Confucianism. The Nishan Academy was established to expand on the meaning of a public library, and Confucianism classes were set up at comprehensive township cultural stations, rural cultural compounds and community cultural centers to educate the general population on traditional culture and make them more aware of the aspects of traditional culture that are the most representative. In total, 1,604 urban community Confucianism classes have been set up, hosting 10,500 events with 860,000 participants, while 22,000 rural Confucianism classes were opened in 17 cities, with 2.67 million participants. Enhancing the heritage of Qufu's traditional culture The province has been building facilities to better showcase Qufu's traditional culture, as well as establishing an international center for Confucianism research and innovation and creating a platform for global cultural exchanges. An experience center at the headquarters of the Confucius Institute and the Nishan Sacred Landscape, among other facilities, have been established. Making sure Confucian culture takes its rightful place on the world stage The Fifth Nishan Forum on World Civilizations was held in Nishan, Qufu, Shandong province in September 2018, attracting 600 experts and scholars from 27 countries and regions who gave or engaged in 27 academic speeches and dialogues. A series of events celebrating Chinese Spring Festival were held in 18 cities across 13 countries including Cuba, Laos, New Zealand, Sweden and Thailand. Through the partnership with the China Cultural Centre in New Zealand, an intangible culture group comprised of the three inheritors of paper-cut, kite and woodcut New Year's pictures each hosted an exhibition of the ancient crafts in the country's two largest cities, Auckland and Wellington. SOURCE Information Office of the People's Government of Shandong Province PADUCAH, Ky., Dec. 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Dippin' Dots, the nation's leading flash frozen beaded ice cream company, has earned The Martha Layne Collins Award given by World Trade Center Kentucky, which recognizes companies that have shown exceptional progress and success internationally. The honor follows Dippin' Dots debut in China earlier this year and steady growth throughout several international markets. Dippin' Dots has established its own corporate warehouse and distribution network in China and currently has five locations in Shanghai, with five more slated to open by the end of this month. Some of the store locations are co-branded with sister company Doc Popcorn, the largest franchisor of fresh-popped popcorn. Additional Dippin' Dots locations will open throughout 2019, including presence in Beijing and several internationally branded amusement parks in China. Dippin' Dots and Doc Popcorn currently operate in Philippines, Canada, South Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, Australia, Japan, Chile, Oman, China and Russia. The companies expect to double year-over-year growth for each of the next five years in international markets. "We are proud that Dippin' Dots is an American brand that is shipped and sold across the world," said Dippin' Dots CEO Scott Fischer. "Our international growth has contributed significantly to our manufacturing facility production during our slower winter season, which means we can maintain more employment opportunities year-round. We've also expanded our production facility to prepare for an uptick in business during this season." Dippin' Dots was awarded The Martha Layne Collins Award for Excellence in International Trade at a gala Thursday, Dec. 6 in Kentucky. The award is given to companies who were chosen for their accomplishments in international business and ability to successfully navigate global trade markets in order to positively benefit the state. Criteria is based on the company's success through outstanding commitment to, and performance in international trade; evidence of executive management and organization-wide commitment to international business; uniqueness and creativity of international strategy/plan; and overall contributions to the local community through world trade. "We are thankful for the Kentucky World Trade Center, the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Southern United States Trade Association. All of these organizations are team players that contribute to our success and have greatly helped us navigate international commerce," said Dippin' Dots Chief Development Officer Stan Jones. "We've been fortunate to have great partners that have helped assist us to find reputable suppliers, given legal advice and better taught us the cultures and business practices of various countries." For additional information regarding Dippin' Dots and Doc Popcorn's debut in China, contact [email protected]. About Dippin' Dots, L.L.C. Dippin' Dots has produced and distributed its flash frozen tiny beads of ice cream, yogurt, sherbet and flavored ice products since 1988. Made at the company's production facility in Paducah, Kentucky, Dippin' Dots distributes its unique frozen products in all 50 states and 11 countries through its franchised and direct distribution network. For more information, including franchise opportunities, please visit www.dippindots.com. SOURCE Dippin' Dots Related Links www.dippindots.com Beyond donations, Enterprise Rent-A-Car is supporting the Fill Your Tank program with a hunger awareness and local engagement campaign. Hunger is often invisible and the campaign helps make hunger in our communities more visible. In presenting the donation, Valerie Brandon, Regional Vice President said, "Enterprise Rent-A-Car is woven into the fabric of the Los Angeles community and food insecurity is an issue for our community. This donation to Los Angeles Regional Food Bank will support those in our community who need a little help to reach to their full potential." Globally, one in nine people doesn't get enough food to be healthy and lead an active life, according to the World Food Programme. Today, more than a third of households served by Feeding America include at least one child. And, according to Food Banks Canada, 13 percent of Canadians live in a state of food insecurity, which means they do not have reliable access to adequate amounts of safe, good-quality, nutritious food. "The ongoing financial support we've received from Enterprise has a tremendous impact on our work," said Michael Flood, President and CEO of the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank. "This year's donation will enable the Food Bank to provide up to 260,000 meals for families and individuals facing food insecurity." About the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank The Los Angeles Regional Food Bank has worked to fight hunger in Los Angeles County since 1973 and has distributed the equivalent of more than 1 billion meals across our community. The Food Bank provides food to more than 300,000 clients on a monthly basis and distributed 70 million pounds of food in 2017 to children, seniors, working families, veterans and other neighbors in need. To support the vision that no one goes hungry in Los Angeles County, nutritious food is distributed through a network of more than 600 partner agencies, directly to children through our Children's Backpack and Summer Lunch programs, to approximately 27,000 seniors each month through our Senior Nutrition program and to working families and college students through our Mobile Food Pantry. The Los Angeles Regional Food Bank is a 4-star rated charity by Charity Navigator. For more information, visit lafoodbank.org. For more information, contact: David May, Los Angeles Regional Food Bank Director of Marketing and Communications (323) 234-3030 ext. 134 [email protected] SOURCE Los Angeles Regional Food Bank Related Links http://www.lafoodbank.org DARIEN, Conn., Dec. 5, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Greenworks Lending, a specialty finance company dedicated to commercial property assessed clean energy (C-PACE), today announced the closing of a corporate investment totaling $40 million from CarVal Investors. In addition, CarVal Investors has committed to provide Greenworks Lending with at least $250 million in capital to support the generation and funding of large-balance C-PACE assets. $40 million will fuel growth in existing and new markets. will fuel growth in existing and new markets. Partnership supports Greenworks Lending's leading C-PACE origination and underwriting platform with up to $250 million in funding for large assets. in funding for large assets. Greenworks Lending to benefit from CarVal Investors' clean energy, commercial real estate and mezzanine lending expertise. Institutional funding from CarVal Investors speaks to the quality of Greenworks' C-PACE origination platform. Two of CarVal Investors' investment strategies include commercial real estate credit and renewable energy. "Greenworks Lending's ability to generate quality assets through C-PACE-financed projects across the nation represents a strong opportunity in areas we know well," stated Jerry Keefe, principal at CarVal Investors. "They are industry founders and leaders with a proven platform and we are excited about the opportunity for CarVal to support the growth of Greenworks Lending." Greenworks Lending is a privately held firm founded by Jessica Bailey and Alexandra Cooley who nurtured the then-nascent commercial PACE industry at the Connecticut Green Bank prior to forming Greenworks in 2015 to scale nationally. The company helped to establish Commercial PACE as an asset class via the industry's first rated Commercial PACE securitization ($75 million) in 2017 and has just this week closed a $150 million securitization with TIAA/Nuveen. "CarVal's investment in Greenworks comes at an exciting moment for Greenworks Lending and the industry as a whole. The success of the platform we've built over the past several years has demonstrated the power of this type of financing for commercial building owners. This partnership with CarVal will allow us to double-down on what's working, expand our footprint and ultimately enable more commercial building owners to access clean energy and improve their buildings," notes Jessica Bailey, co-founder and CEO. The partnership with CarVal will significantly expand Greenworks' leadership position in the C-PACE market by enabling the firm to offer financing for larger projects. Demonstrating the power of this partnership, upon securing the relationship with CarVal, Greenworks Lending was able to offer a new 600-unit multifamily development in Dayton, Ohio, funding to support a multitude of energy-saving measures being designed into the project. "In the past 12 months, Greenworks Lending has seen demand for large-balance C-PACE financing increase significantly," stated Bailey. "The CarVal investment will help us take advantage of the interest in this part of the market while continuing to deliver our financing to as many commercial property owners as possible on a national scale." C-PACE makes it possible for owners of commercial properties to obtain low-cost, long-term financing for energy efficiency, water conservation, renewable energy projects and more. The program starts with state government policies that classify clean energy upgrades and above-code new installations as a public benefit such as a new sewer, water line or road. These upgrades can be financed with no money down and then repaid as a benefit assessment on the property tax bill over a term that matches the useful life of improvements and/or new construction infrastructure (typically 20-plus years). The assessment transfers on sale and can be passed through to tenants where appropriate. About Greenworks Lending: Greenworks Lending provides financing to commercial property owners to make their buildings more energy efficient and/or install clean energy systems through a structure called Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE). Based in Connecticut, Greenworks Lending was founded by developers of the most successful state commercial PACE program in the country. The combined impact of the firm's financing has improved countless properties in more than a dozen states while generating a carbon offset equivalent to protecting a land mass of 26 square miles into forest for 20 years. About CarVal Investors: CarVal Investors is a leading global alternative investment fund manager. Since 1987, CarVal has invested $110 billion in 5,300 transactions across 79 countries. CarVal has a long history of successful energy and power investments and is an innovator in structuring partnerships in the renewables industry. For more information, visit www.carvalinvestors.com. Media Contact: Adam Moskowitz 203.837.7816 | [email protected] SOURCE Greenworks Lending With the improvement of people's living standards and the transformation of consumption structure, the focus on diseases has shifted from simple treatment to prevention in recent years. Plant extracts, as the core raw materials and products of biopharmaceuticals, have been widely applied in botanical drugs, food additives, functional foods, health foods, and cosmetics, etc. Biopharmaceuticals have developed rapidly in the 21 st century. Under new medical models, active and functional plant extract products have gained worldwide favor and broad market potential. Meanwhile, the continual introduction of favorable and industry support policies in China enables the industry to rapidly develop; the plant extract industry market size in China is expected to reach RMB 24.9 billion in 2018, and to exceed RMB 34.1 billion by 2022. The plant extract industry will become a new strategic key industry in China's economy and social development in the future. Plant extracts enterprises to gather and open a new chapter of NEX China together NEX China, a leading exhibition in China's plant extract industry, has comprehensively gathered top enterprises of the industry, with the exhibitors expected to reach over 600 in 2019. In addition to the nearly 100 enterprises from Shaanxi, one of the birthplaces of plant extracts, including Acetar, Shaanxi Jiahe, Shaanxi Huike, and Xi'an Yuensun, there will also be leading plant extract enterprises from Hunan, including ACE Biotechnology, Hunan NutraMax, Hunan Huacheng, and Changsha Huir, to jointly explore the new development trends of the industry. The China Chamber of Commerce for Import & Export of Medicines & Health Products (CCCMHPIE) has successively introduced four standards in recent years to promote the industry to gradually become normalized, driving product quality improvement and launching more advanced products and technologies at NEX China. In the exhibition this year, CCCMHPIE officially released the 2018 edition of the Plant Extract International Business Standard, which has further promoted plant extract enterprises to constantly improve extraction processes and technology to deal with industry transformation. It will normalize plant extract exports and increase China's international competitiveness, and also bring new opportunities and challenges to the plant extract industry. The 2019 exhibition will present diverse innovative products and technologies to buyers of the plant extract industry. For example, the technological innovation and R&D of Dongming Growth have achieved leaching of active ingredients of natural plants under low temperature conditions using ultrasonic counter-current extraction technology, which fully protects the activity of active ingredients in plants, and enables products to possess good physical properties; Xi'an App-Chem has extracted stachyose from rhizomes of Stachys sieboldii using water, which is sourced from traditional vegetables, is green and safe, has very low sweetness and calorie, and has been permitted to be used in food in many countries. Many high-end conferences and activities on 2019 site to accelerate plant extract enterprises' gearing toward international standards NEX 2018 was extremely popular and attracted 60,744 visitors from 120 countries and regions together with the concurrently held CPhI China, growing by 10% over 2017; in particular, the number of overseas visitors showed explosive growth, reaching 15,329 and growing by over 50% over 2017. The numerous exhibitors expanded their stands due to the good exhibition results. NEX China 2019 will expand to cover the entire E4 and E5 Halls of SNIEC, to meet the participation demands of more enterprises. The host will also hold many quality conferences and activities: China-World Natural Ingredient Conference 2019 will continue to analyze changes of global regulations, track standards of the United States Pharmacopeia, feel the pulse of the industry, and provide guidance for enterprises; NEX High Quality Suppliers Gallery will showcase quality plant extract suppliers that pass GEP certification and products thereof, to offer more display opportunities to Chinese quality extract plant enterprises and have more Chinese and overseas professional visitors understand the strength of Chinese enterprises; the host will also hold the Seminar on Innovative Technology for New Raw Materials in association with quality Chinese media, for in-depth conversations on new standards, new technologies, and market applications, etc., of new raw materials; furthermore, NEX China 2019 and the concurrent HNC 2019 will jointly hold the 2019 Health Product Buyer Matching Meeting, to achieve maximum resource integration, furnish exhibitors and buyers with a commerce and trade exchange platform that has higher efficiency and quality, realize an all-win scenario, and jointly help the big health industry achieve development, transformation and upgrading. Stand booking for 2019 has already begun. Visit the exhibition website http://www.cphi-china.cn/nex/en now to register online, join the annual event of the plant extract industry, and have face-to-face exchanges with well-known enterprises. NEX China 2019 June 18-20 2019, SNIEC, Shanghai, China Organizer: UBM EMEA, CCCMHPIE Co-organizer: UBM Sinoexpo SOURCE Shanghai UBM Sinoexpo International Exhibition Co., Ltd Related Links http://www.cphi-china.cn/nex/en SEATTLE, Dec. 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- PAIPUR is pleased to share the success of the company's newest model of analog notebooks, which after a July release on Amazon.com, have proven not only to be relevant in the technology age, but an essential companion to the modern devices that provide necessary connection in the digital world. The PAIPUR Notebook has a unique HYBRID format - dotted grid pattern on the left side pages and ruled pattern on the right side pages. Helps you think better and create more. Mark Hodierne, Founder and CEO of PAIPUR, shared, "We've seen the studies that tell us that putting a pen to paper, that tactile feeling, provides us with a physiological response we just don't get from our smartphones. That doesn't mean we turn away from the advancements that have made the world what it is today but we can still engage those needs, enhancing our ability to process information, with a notebook. I designed PAIPUR notebooks with that in mind and the growing number of people who are exploring bullet journals as a way of planning and managing." PAIPUR products combine function and superior design to deliver a paper product that users find both nostalgic and intuitive. The latest update to the brand's signature product utilizes an even higher standard of materials in the manufacturing process than its original model, and enhances the brand's hybrid layout of dotted sheets and lined sheets by providing the consumer with the choice of both wide- and narrow-lined formats. All formats are ideal for creative and planning applications. "Notebooks have been around for a long time, but the traditional format leaves a lot to be desired. When I designed the first PAIPUR product, my goal was to create a tool that energizes ideas. I achieved it by creating a simple design that is beautiful enough for gift-giving, that is functional for a variety of uses, and that is affordable," noted Hodierne. As sales continue to soar, Hodierne looks toward the future of the brand, "PAIPUR is a small business with big goals. In the future, we plan to release fully-ruled and dotted models for customers who don't utilize our hybrid format, and specialty and companion products. For now, we're concentrating on delivering an irresistible notebook that helps people be creative in their own unique way." For more information, contact Mark Hodierne at [email protected] or visit PAIPUR.com. About PAIPUR PAIPUR was founded by Mark Hodierne in 2016 in response to his seemingly endless quest for the perfect notebook. He'd tried them all, and knew there had to be something better. With design in mind, Hodierne set out to create a product that entices its users to draw, write, or doodle their dreams with a tactile approach that is timeless. Simple lines, colorful covers, and the high-quality materials used to construct PAIPUR products make each of their notebooks an irresistible facet of daily life to their owners. PAIPUR is committed to sustainability and is a proud Conservation Partner of the Nature Conservancy. Find out more at www.PAIPUR.com. Related Images paipur-color-series-notebooks.jpg PAIPUR Color Series Notebooks The PAIPUR Notebook has a unique HYBRID format - dotted grid pattern on the left side pages and ruled pattern on the right side pages. Helps you think better and create more. paipur-mono-series-notebooks.jpg PAIPUR Mono Series Notebooks The PAIPUR Notebook has a unique HYBRID format - dotted grid pattern on the left side pages and ruled pattern on the right side pages. Helps you think better and create more. paipur-color-series-orange-notebook.jpg PAIPUR Color Series Orange Notebook Unique HYBRID format - available in wide and narrow spacing. paipur-color-series-dark-blue.jpg PAIPUR Color Series Dark Blue Notebook Unique HYBRID format - available in wide and narrow spacing. SOURCE PAIPUR Related Links http://www.PAIPUR.com Elgort explains, "This collaboration was such a natural fit for me as an artist. Portrait photography is a form of storytelling, and to have the opportunity to photograph these incredible women is a way of celebrating their stories. Each Forevermark diamond is unique and in wearing them in her own way, each woman can celebrate the one of a kind qualities that make her who she is." Celebrities including Michelle Williams and Chanel Iman attended, adorned in Forevermark diamonds, to celebrate the women and reflect on their own unique qualities. Guests were able to discover and capture these qualities through aura photographs taken by Christina Lonsdale, the visual artist behind Radiant Human. DJ May Kwok provided music throughout the night. Charles Stanley, President of Forevermark US, explains, "We have always believed in the ability of art and fashion to empower women, which is why we were so thrilled to collaborate with Sophie on this series. The Forevermark Tribute Collection symbolizes the unique and multi-dimensioned woman wearing it, and we are delighted that Forevermark's entry into e-commerce will continue to provide new opportunities for women to use diamonds to tell their stories." The event kicked off the launch of Forevermark's e-commerce platform, which features the Forevermark Tribute Collection and Forevermark Alchemy Collection by Jade Trau. Both collections will be on display at a two-day Forevermark pop-up shop that is open to the public on December 7th and 8th. The Forevermark Tribute Collection is comprised of diamond pendants, stackable rings, bracelets and earrings. Each Forevermark diamond in the collection is representative of a woman's individual qualities, which together, make her the unique, multi-dimensional person that she is. The pieces can be harmoniously stacked or layered to pay tribute to the distinct characteristics, personality, and style of the woman wearing them. The Forevermark Alchemy Collection by Jade Trau transforms four classic diamond shapes into meaningful archetypes that bond the diamond to its wearer. Each shape speaks to a part of a woman, while allowing her the ability to utilize her own creativity to combine the pieces that speak to her individuality. The collection features diamond medallions, signet rings, stackable rings, layering necklaces, and bracelets. www.forevermark.com/en-us/collections/tribute-collection www.forevermark.com/en-us/collections/jade-trau-collection https://www.forevermark.com/en-us/now-forever/trending/females-in-focus/ About the women: Sophie Elgort Sophie Elgort is a photographer and director based in New York City. Sophie's fresh and spontaneous style has made her a sought-after photographer for fashion magazines and brands. Alongside her photography, Sophie is also the co-founder of Through Our Lens, a non-profit that provides life-changing access and significant mentorship to teen girls through photography with the goal of more inclusion in the fashion industry. Her work is represented at Staley Wise Gallery in NYC. Rosario Dawson Rosario Dawson is an actor and activist that has starred in films including the Sin City franchise, Rent, 25th Hour, and Krystal. For her performance in Seven Pounds, Dawson won the Best Actress in a Motion Picture Award at the 2009 NAACP Image Awards. Dawson starred in Netflix's Daredevil in 2015 and has since reprised her role in Netflix series Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Jessica Jones and The Defenders. In 2013, Rosario founded Studio One Eighty Nine (Studio 189) with Abrima Erwiah, a fashion and media lifestyle brand made in Africa that produces African and African-inspired content and clothing. In 2018, Studio 189 was the recipient of the prestigious CFDA Lexus Sustainable Fashion Initiative Prize. Dawson co-founded Voto Latino in 2004, which helps to empower Latino millennials to vote and influence change in government. Dawson is an active board member of V-Day, The Lower East Side Girls Club, Operation USA and the Environmental Media Association. In 2013, she was also honored with the President's Volunteer Service Award for her valuable contributions to the community. Janet Mock Janet Mock is a writer, director, producer, and New York Times bestselling author. She is an advocate for trans rights, and the founder of #GirlsLikeUs, a social media project that empowers trans women. Janet made television history this year as the first trans woman of color to write, direct, and produce for a series with Ryan Murphy's FX drama Pose, which has assembled the largest cast of trans actors in regular roles ever for a scripted series. This past year TIME listed Janet as one of the "100 Most Influential People of 2018." Janet has written two memoirs, Redefining Realness and Surpassing Certainty. Cristina Ehrlich Cristina Ehrlich is a fashion stylist that lives between New York City and Los Angeles. Her style philosophy is defined by classic, chic, and timeless sensibility with a modern edge. She works regularly with Hollywood's finest, including Penelope Cruz, Tina Fey, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Laura Dern, among others. She has worked with photographers such as Patrick Demarchelier, Mert and Marcus, Peter Lindbergh, and Peggy Sirota and her contributions to the fashion scene span celebrity, editorial, advertising, as well as design. Violetta Komyshan Native NYC resident Violetta Komyshan always knew she wanted to dance and began at age 9. Dance fell into her life by chance when Eliot Feld's school and company Ballet Tech were auditioning students at her public school in Brooklyn. At the age of 9, Violetta was offered the chance to train with Feld in Manhattan at a space shared with the American Ballet Theatre. Afterwards, she attended the prestigious Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School, majoring in dance. Violetta also trained in Paris at the Academie Americaine de Danse and Paris Opera Ballet with one of her idols, Violette Verdy. Most recently, Violetta danced with NYC-based company BalletNext for two years professionally. Dr. Niamey Wilson Niamey Wilson MD, FACS, is the Director of Breast Surgery in Research and Quality for the Hartford Healthcare Breast Cancer Program, a Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Alliance healthcare system. Dr. Wilson specializes in all aspects of breast health and the surgical management of complex breast diseases. Her approach to her patients is comprehensive and thoughtful. She is a committed advocate for her patients' health. She is the mother of three children, and has authored several articles as a Huffington Post Contributor, writing often about managing the balance of work and home. ABOUT FOREVERMARK Every Forevermark diamond undergoes a journey of rigorous selection. Our unique inscription is an assurance that every Forevermark diamond meets the exceptional standards of beauty, rarity and is responsibly sourced. FOREVERMARK DIAMONDS BEYOND the 4C's Forevermark goes beyond the standard 4Cs to select diamonds that are genuine, natural and untreated. Forevermark diamonds are cut and polished by master craftsmen to reveal their ultimate beauty and natural brilliance. FOREVERMARK DIAMONDS ARE RARE Less than one percent of the world's diamonds are worthy of the Forevermark inscription. FOREVERMARK DIAMONDS ARE RESPONSIBLY SOURCED Each Forevermark diamond is responsibly sourced and embodies our principles of integrity, striving to create opportunities for women and our dedication to protection of the natural world. The inscription is an assurance of the physical integrity of our diamonds throughout their journey, as well as the conscientious integrity with which we run our business. FOREVERMARK INSCRIPTION & GRADING Each Forevermark diamond is inscribed with an icon and individual number as an assurance that it has met Forevermark's standards of beauty and rarity and that it is responsibly sourced. The Forevermark inscription is placed on the table facet of a Forevermark diamond. Invisible to the naked eye, the inscription is 1/5000th of a human hair and can only be seen using a special Forevermark viewer available at Authorized Forevermark Jewelers. Authorized Forevermark Jewelers are able to supply a Forevermark Diamond Grading Report to their customers providing an accurate blueprint of the qualities - cut, color, clarity and caratage - of each Forevermark diamond. Forevermark is the diamond brand from The De Beers Group of Companies and benefits from over 125 years of diamond expertise. Forevermark diamonds are carefully selected and come from sources committed to high standards; they are beautifully crafted by a select group of Diamantaires and exclusively available from select Authorized Forevermark jewelers. For more information and to find your nearest Authorized Forevermark jeweler go to www.forevermark.com. SOURCE Forevermark Related Links http://www.forevermark.com FREMONT, California, December 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- According to a new market intelligence report by BIS Research titled, 'Global Small Launch Vehicle Market, Analysis and Forecast, 2018 - 2028', the small launch vehicle (SLV) market was estimated at $341.2 million in 2017 and is expected to reach $6.9 billion by 2028, growing at a CAGR of 30.51%. The growth of the SLV market is aided by the increase in the deployment of small satellite for commercial end users, the surge in demand for small satellite constellations, and the significant increase in investments by large space organizations in developing SLVs. Recent innovations in components and services have enabled the SLV technology to reach to a wider segment of consumers in the industry. (Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/495163/BIS_Research_Logo.jpg ) Browse 17 market Data Tables and 114 Figures spread through 186 Pages, and in-depth TOC on "Global Small Launch Vehicle Market" The introduction of SLVs is unprecedented and is anticipated to bring about radical changes in the satellite launch service business. Due to ongoing efforts of industry players to develop high-end launch solutions for space missions, the SLV market is anticipated to grow at a rapid pace. Furthermore, given the huge potential of SLVs in terms of providing cost-effective and faster launch solution, it is expected that the market will observe a larger number of key strategic developments during the forecast period from 2018 to 2028. According to Vaishali Sharma, analyst at BIS Research, "the region of Asia-Pacific is currently dominating the small launch vehicle market. However, the geographical analysis of this market unveils a great potential for its growth in North America. According to the analysis, the presence of emerging economies, particularly the U.S. and China, is majorly contributing to the growth of the market." BIS Research Report: https://bisresearch.com/industry-report/small-launch-vehicle-market.html The SLV market is expected to witness a high growth rate owing to the surge in demand for small satellite constellations, and the significant increase in investments by large space organizations in developing SLVs. Moreover, development of SLVs can help in overcoming the challenges faced by small satellite operators to launch their satellites. According to Mr. Francisco Garcia, Head of Mission & Operations Department, PLD Space, "The major challenge for small satellite manufacturers is the long waiting time for the launch of their satellite along with heavy satellites. Furthermore, they have to rely on scheduling of the primary space mission, thus, causing unnecessary delays. Small satellites being launched as secondary payload on medium to heavy launch vehicles have relatively limited opportunities due to lack of control on the launch schedule and destination orbit of the vehicle. Therefore, demand for development of SLVs dedicated for launching small satellites is escalating. Going ahead, we can witness huge demand for satellites in the range of 30 to 60 kg weight compared to 10kg satellites and will emerge as a huge business for SLV operators. Furthermore, SLVs (especially micro launchers) will play an important role in the upcoming mega-constellations with satellites in the range of 100 to 200 kg, especially when they are related to the frame of constellation replenishment." Request for a sample: https://bisresearch.com/requestsample?id=587&type=download The market report on SLVs provides a detailed analysis of the recent trends influencing the market, along with a comprehensive study of the future trends and technological developments. It also includes a competitive analysis of the leading players in the industry, corporate overview, financial summary, and SWOT analysis. The overall market has been segmented into end user, payload range, and region. Defense, academic, commercial, government, and non-profit organizations are covered as parts of the end user segmentation in the present study. Wherein, the report includes < 20 kg, 20 kg - 150 kg, 151 kg - 500 kg, 501 kg - 1,200 kg, and 1,201 kg - 2,200 kg as the payload range. The 1,201 kg - 2,200 kg payload range has been categorized as part of small launch vehicle market by payload analysis. The advancements in space technology have led the key manufacturers to build advanced small launch vehicles that are highly cost-effective, and less complex. Arianespace, CubeCab, IHI Corporation, Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd., Lockheed Martin Corporation, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd., Orbital ATK, Inc., Rocket Lab USA, Inc., Space Exploration Technologies Corp., and The Boeing Company are some of the leading producers that use advanced space technologies in small launch vehicles. Key questions answered in the report: What are the trends in the global small launch vehicle market across different regions? What are the major driving forces that tend to increase the demand for the small launch vehicle during the forecast period 2018-2028? What are the major challenges inhibiting the growth of the global small launch vehicle market? Which end user (defense, academic, commercial, government, and non-profit organization) of the global small launch vehicle market dominated in 2017 and what is expected to be the scenario in 2028? What was the revenue generated by the global small launch vehicle market by payload range (as < 20 kg, 20 kg - 150 kg, 151 kg - 500 kg, 501 kg - 1,200 kg, and 1,201 kg - 2,200 kg. 1,201 kg - 2,200 kg) in 2017, and what will be the estimates by 2028? What was the aggregate revenue generated by the global small launch vehicle market by region ( North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and Rest-of-the-World) in 2017, and what will be the estimates by 2028? , , , and Rest-of-the-World) in 2017, and what will be the estimates by 2028? Who are the key players in the global small launch vehicle market and what are the new strategies adopted by the market players to make a mark in the industry? What major opportunities do the small launch vehicle companies foresee ten years ahead? What is the competitive strength of the key leading players in the small launch vehicle market? Related Reports: Global CubeSat Market - Analysis and Forecast, 2018-2022 Global Small Satellites Market - Analysis and Forecast, 2017-2021 Global Airborne LiDAR System Market - Analysis and Forecast, 2017-2021 Global Nano Satellite Market - Analysis and Forecast, 2018 - 2023 About BIS Research: BIS Research is a global B2B market intelligence and advisory firm focusing on those emerging technological trends which are likely to disrupt the dynamics of the market. With over 150 market research reports published annually, BIS Research focuses on high technology verticals such as 3D Printing, Advanced Materials and Chemicals, Aerospace and Defense, Automotive, Healthcare, Electronics and Semiconductors, Robotics and UAV, and other emerging technologies. Our in-depth market intelligence reports focus on the market estimations, technology analysis, emerging high-growth applications, deeply segmented granular country-level market data, and other important market parameters useful in the strategic decision-making for senior management. What distinguishes BIS Research from the rest of the players is that we don't simply provide data but also complement it with valuable insights and actionable inputs for the success of our clients. Contact: Bhavya Banga Email: [email protected] BIS Research Inc. 39111 PASEO PADRE PKWY STE 313, FREMONT CA 94538-1686 Visit our Blog @ http://bisresearch.com/blog/ Connect with us on LinkedIn @ https://www.linkedin.com/company/bis-research Connect with us on [email protected] https://twitter.com/BISResearch SOURCE BIS Research LIVONIA, Mich., Dec. 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Tower International, Inc. [NYSE: TOWR], a leading global manufacturer of engineered automotive structural metal components and assemblies, today announced it has entered into a stock purchase agreement (SPA) relating to the sale of all of its European Operations to Financiere SNOP Dunois S.A.(FSD), a privately owned French automotive supplier. The SPA is in substantially the form contemplated at the time that the Memorandum of Understanding was executed between Tower and FSD on November 20, 2018. The purchase price represents an Enterprise Value of 255 million which represents an EV / Adjusted EBITDA multiple of 5.4x 2018 full year expected earnings. "We are pleased to have executed the stock purchase agreement with FSD for the divestiture of Tower's European operations. When completed, the divestiture will reduce Tower's net leverage to less than 1 times Adjusted EBITDA, giving Tower the flexibility to continue to profitably grow our business while maintaining a conservative balance sheet and providing the opportunity for the return of capital to shareholders," said CEO Jim Gouin. "Since 2014, Tower's North American business has grown by more than 40 percent in a relatively flat production environment as we have benefitted from the industry's shift from passenger cars to trucks and SUVs as well as OEM outsourcing. Tower is well positioned to continue to benefit from these trends and current projections for full-year 2020 represent continued above market revenue growth and improved Adjusted EBITDA margins." Tower has also received Term Loan B lender consents and, subject to execution of definitive agreements intends to repay $50 million of outstanding Term Loan B indebtedness upon the closing of the transaction with FSD. This repayment, coupled with Tower's voluntary reduction to the Term Loan in July of this year, would represent repayments totaling $100 million and reduce Tower's Term Loan B to less than $260 million. The closing of the sale transaction is expected to take place during the first quarter of 2019 and is subject to approval of the applicable antitrust authorities and certain other conditions. Forward-Looking Statements and Risk Factors This press release contains statements which constitute forward-looking statements, within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including but not limited to statements regarding the completion of the sale transaction and debt repayment described in this press release, the timing and consequences of those transactions, projected enterprise value, positioning, projected truck revenues and the outlook for revenue, Adjusted EBITDA Margin, and net leverage. The forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as "anticipate," "believe," "plan," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "project," "target," and other similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this presentation and are based upon management's current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on us. Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. The following important factors, as well as risk factors described in our reports filed with the SEC, could cause our actual results to differ materially from estimates or expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements: global automobile production volumes; the financial condition of our customers and suppliers; our ability to make scheduled payments of principal or interest on our indebtedness and comply with the covenants and restrictions contained in the instruments governing our indebtedness; our ability to refinance our indebtedness; risks associated with our non-U.S. operations, including foreign exchange risks and economic uncertainty in some regions; any increase in the expense and funding requirements of our pension and other postretirement benefits; our customers' ability to obtain equity and debt financing for their businesses; our dependence on our largest customers; pricing pressure from our customers; changes to U.S. trade and tariff policies and the reaction of other countries thereto; work stoppages or other labor issues affecting us or our customers or suppliers; our ability to integrate acquired businesses; our ability to take advantage of emerging secular trends, risks associated with business divestitures; costs or liabilities relating to environmental and safety regulations; our ability to close the pending transaction in accordance with anticipated terms; and regulatory and other conditions that must be satisfied or, in certain circumstances, waived in order to consummate the pending transaction. We do not assume any obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. Contact: Derek Fiebig Executive Director, Investor & External Relations (248) 675-6457 [email protected] SOURCE Tower International, Inc. BIRMINGHAM, Ala., Dec. 6, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- With traditional media companies losing advertisers daily, thanks to the rise of social media and instant online ads, the developers at SmartCard Digital wanted to come to the rescue with a new technology, MyCity Smartcard. The new technology benefits consumers, merchants, and the media companies themselves. Shows how SmartCard is used so merchants get advertising for trade and Media companies recoup their costs via SmartCard. With the upcoming new market launches of SmartCard, CEO Joe Miele says, "MyCity Smartcard is about to disrupt the advertising world with its innovative advertising business model." The reason? With advertising prices at an all-time high, the developers say millions of small businesses have pulled back from advertising because with traditional advertising, there are no guarantees that their ads will work. With MyCity Smartcard, he says, "Businesses don't pay a dime for their advertising until customers come in and make a purchase." Even then, businesses only have to pay at a rate equal to the exact cost of goods sold. Traditional media companies such as radio stations, print media, and TV stations have lost market share since social media entered the advertising scene. With MyCity Smartcard media companies can offer businesses traditional advertising in exchange for that company's trade. The media companies, in turn, resell this trade to consumers, enticing them with deep discounts available only through the app. It's a boon to customers, Miele points out, since they get hefty discounts on the products and services they need. He explains that businesses will get all the advantages of traditional advertising without any out-of-pocket cash. Traditional media get these businesses back into their advertising funnelso everyone benefits. As Miele puts it, "It's a new, smarter advertising cycleone that's customer-centric since customers pay for every ad indirectly with their purchases." Even before its ICO launch, MyCity Smartcard has already debuted in three markets and has commitments for four more. Using a technology they've tested for two years, the app looks promising for savvy investors, as well as the businesses, media companies, and consumers in our growing market. Smartcard Digital smartcarddigital.com created MyCity Smartcard to be a new technology/app that benefits merchants and traditional media outlets with an innovative way to increase their business, at the same offering exciting savings to consumers. Miele concludes, "We hope to change the way businesses advertise forever." Media Contact: Joe Miele, CEO Ph: (205) 983-8803 Email: [email protected] Related Images advertising-cycle.jpg Advertising Cycle Shows how SmartCard is used so merchants get advertising for trade and Media companies recoup their costs via SmartCard. screenshot.png Screenshot Sample from one of our media partners logo.jpg Logo Related Video https://vimeo.com/283709344 SOURCE MyCity Smartcard llc Related Links http://smartcarddigital.com LYMINGTON, England, December 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- New solutions to old problems through combining entrepreneurial creativity with a will to create social value '49', a new Innovation Centre, launching today aims to combine open innovation with business know-how and tech savvy in order to tackle age-old social problems. The enterprise will incentivise entrepreneurs by offering facilities, support and investment for their business ideas and, at the same time, enabling them to contribute to solving some of the big social challenges. (Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/795206/49_Logo.jpg ) 49 is an impressive facility in the heart of the New Forest, developed thanks to private investors, a 220k interest free loan from Enterprise M3 LEP and a further 150k investment from New Forest District and Hampshire County Councils. It will comprise of three 'academies' tailored to digital innovation, business expertise and social enterprise and it will also be the home of a new skills and talent incubator. 49 will invite entrepreneurs to take part in investment readiness, exporting, incubation and acceleration programmes combined with business mentoring and, critically, will give them opportunity to pitch for much sought-after patient capital investment, which is the funding start-ups need and is in limited supply. These programmes and investment will also be offered to social enterprises and charities who are ambitious to scale. 49 will make them more efficient and give them the environment and the skills to grow, enabling them to focus on the issues they were set up to tackle. In return, they will be asked to offer their expertise to work with 49 to create new pilot schemes which will be tested, scaled and replicated once proven effective. 49 will then develop technological solutions to compliment the pilot schemes and will focus on commercialising the resultant disruptive technology. Paul Sherry, Founder & CEO of 49 said, "Some of society's biggest issues cost billions and we believe by bringing entrepreneurs, experts and technology together and letting ideas collide, we will root out solutions. Not only will we save tax payer's money, but we will boost productivity and develop the 3rd sector, effectively doing 'more for less'. What works here will work anywhere, so we will replicate the model and roll it out across the UK and abroad." Commenting on the launch, Cllr Barry Rickman, Leader of the New Forest District Council said: "We are delighted that 49 will help boost the economy through their innovative approach. Nurturing local talent and attracting new talent to the area is one of the key aims of our Local Economic Development Strategy, and their innovative approach to tackling social issues, which weigh heavily on our society, will be a tremendous benefit. They have also brought a large commercial property back into economic use and created an impressive coworking facility which is great news for the New Forest." Leader of Hampshire County Council, Cllr Roy Perry commented: "I'm pleased we're able to support this innovative project which will help businesses across the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector start and grow. This contribution from the County Council's Invest in Hampshire fund provides capital investment into these much needed facilities which will help Hampshire's economy continue to prosper into the future." Enterprise M3 Director Kathy Slack commented: "As part of the Government's Green GB initiative, we have recently announced a Clean Growth Enterprise Fund. As an area of outstanding natural beauty, the New Forest is an ideal place for entrepreneurs and innovators to come up with projects to help drive our vision of becoming a high tech, high growth, low carbon economy. We are delighted 49 will offer small businesses the support they need to develop innovations into viable businesses." About 49 Society is facing economic, environmental, social and cultural challenges and 49 believes that business-led open innovation is a powerful enabler that can combine entrepreneurial creativity with a will to create social impact. 49 combines the power of open innovation with business know-how and brings bright, passionate and creative people together to let ideas collide to innovate, disrupt, develop talent and address some of the toughest challenges in society. For case studies, photos and videos go to media.fiftyminusone.com SOURCE 49 COLLEGE PARK, Md., Dec. 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Whether the office holiday party is a cheerful event or a cringe-inducing one or some of both, management professor Jennifer Carson Marr at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business has advice for navigating potential pitfalls. Share but don't overshare: "A holiday celebration at work offers an opportunity to develop relationships with colleagues, supervisors or other higher-ups that you may not always have that much access to," says Marr, coauthor of "When sharing hurts: How and why self-disclosing weakness undermines the task-oriented relationships of higher status disclosers," published in 2018 by Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes. "That can be a real advantage." Because the parties are more social and informal, they lend themselves to more substantive personal conversations. It can be good or bad. "As it relates to my own research, one of the things that you might do, especially if there is alcohol involved, is 'over-disclose' to people who maybe you shouldn't be over-disclosing to," Marr says. And when it comes to hierarchical relationships, that can have potentially negative consequences for the work relationship later. "This is the sort of context where it's easy to let our guards down," says Marr. "Check yourself. If what you are about to disclose is not something you want your colleagues to know, hold back. These relationships are the same work relationships you have to face the next day in the office." Do more asking than telling: "Instead of focusing on what you are going to tell other people about yourself, ask more questions," Marr says. "Or ask for advice, especially with a supervisor or someone from another department that you wouldn't normally have an opportunity to speak with." Research from Harvard professor Alison Wood Brooks shows that people who seek advice and ask questions tend to seem more likable and more competent. Make a new contact: Don't just spend the event speaking to your work friends, your supervisor or the people most strategically aligned with your interests. She recommends thinking about who you could talk to and what questions you could ask them before you go. Try to identify common interests and think about what you can learn from someone else, or broadly what you can offer to others. "That can help guide some of your conversations and also maybe make you feel less anxious," she says. Invest in it: For working people, a holiday party often requires an actual monetary investment, in the form of a babysitter or festive attire. So before you set out for your holiday gala, make a list of what might make the cost worthwhile, Marr suggests. Maybe a successful 3-minute conversation with a partner or other influential manager will make the party a success. Avoid the naughty list: Drinking too much at office parties is definitely on the 'Do Not Do' list, along with any inappropriate behavior, says Marr. "It's important to keep in mind that it's still a professional environment. You want to engage with all your co-workers the way you would be expected to if you were at work." Dress for success: Likely you will be expected to dress at least a little more festive than usual. But how much more? Let the venue dictate your attire, or ask the party organizer for dress code guidance. "When in doubt, it never hurts to be slightly more professional than not," Marr says. Prepare your "plus-one": Talk to your partner or spouse about your goals for the party and whom you hope to talk to. "It's often actually easier for your significant other to help facilitate conversations," Marr says. Even introverted people find stilted casual-work conversations are easier when they're doing it on someone else's behalf. If you're the plus-one at your partner's event, treat it like your own work event. Behave appropriately, don't overdrink and don't overshare. Give wisely: If your work group has a gift exchange, make sure they're inclusive to avoid hard feelings, or concerns about favoritism and fairness. Consider carefully what gifts you exchange with colleagues. "I remember one Secret Santa exchange from a past job, where somebody gave a really inappropriate gift that was clearly intended to be very funny, but would certainly today be viewed as sexual harassment," she says. Be sensitive: Remember that the holiday season can be stressful and emotionally draining for lots of reasons, Marr says. And that can sometimes influence interactions at work. Just remember to be extra nice to people at work during the holidays and sensitive to those potential factors. Behave online: Remember to think about boundaries on social media, too, when posting about gift exchanges and holiday parties. Sometimes your work colleagues might be part of your social media "follower" or "friend" group. Over the holidays, remember anything you post can be seen by anyone in your online audience. Don't skip: "Know your work environment," Marr advises. Sometimes the holiday party is truly optional, and sometimes you're very much expected to attend. If it's optional and you want to skip it, she warns, just consider what signals you're sending, even inadvertently. Marr cites a study from Erin Reid, a researcher at Canada's McMaster University, which shows that women may be less able to pass on attending work events without being penalized for doing so, compared to their male colleagues. Visit Smith Brain Trust for related content at http://www.rhsmith.umd.edu/faculty-research/smithbraintrust and follow on Twitter @SmithBrainTrust. About the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business The Robert H. Smith School of Business is an internationally recognized leader in management education and research. One of 12 colleges and schools at the University of Maryland, College Park, the Smith School offers undergraduate, full-time and part-time MBA, executive MBA, online MBA, specialty masters, PhD and executive education programs, as well as outreach services to the corporate community. The school offers its degree, custom and certification programs in learning locations in North America and Asia. Contact: Greg Muraski at [email protected] or 301-405-5283 SOURCE University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business Related Links http://www.rhsmith.umd.edu DUBLIN, Dec. 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Robotics and Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) in Industrial Automation: Cloud Robotics, Teleoperation, Telerobotics, Digital Twinning and IIoT 2018 - 2023" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) solutions are poised to transform many industry verticals including healthcare, retail, automotive, and transport. For many industries, IIoT will significantly improve reliability, production, and customer satisfaction. While, IIoT will initially improve existing processes and augmented current infrastructure, the ultimate goal will be to realize entirely new, and dramatically improved products and services. Successful companies will be those that understand how and where IoT technologies and solutions will drive opportunities for operational improvements, new and enhanced products and services, as well as completely new business models. Cloud Robotics is distinguished from the general field of electromechanical automation through its use of Teleoperation as well as reliance upon various Cloud Computing technologies such as computing and storage as well as the emerging cloud-based business models enabling Robotics as a Service. In addition, Cloud Robotics will benefit greatly from Edge Computing technologies, such as Mobile Edge Computing, as well as commercial introduction of 5G. One of the important advantages of the Cloud Robotics market is the ability to make robotics and industrial automation equipment available to a much wider spectrum of users. One of the ways in which this is accomplished is via open APIs, which enable abstraction of the robotics control plane from the application user interface. This means that customers do not need to use proprietary user interfaces for robotic controllers. Teleoperation represents the ability to operate equipment or a machine from a distance. A specific form of teleoperation involving remote control of a robot from a distance is referred to as telerobotics. Teleoperation and telerobotics are both supported by ICT infrastructure including broadband communications, sensors, machine to machine communications, and various IoT technologies. Enhancements in wireless broadband are untethering teleoperation. Prior to 5G and Mobile Edge Computing (MEC), Teleoperation is largely relegated to fixed communications connections. 5G and MEC will enable Teleoperation anywhere there is 5G coverage, enabling many new consumer and industrial automation scenarios involving robotics. This research is critical to identifying opportunities for R&D, technology integration, and development of new solutions and applications across industry segments. Our findings, insights, data and forecasts are also a key part of capitalizing upon the market for new and enhanced hardware, software, platforms, and services for emerging IoT networks and systems. In support of these goals, the report provides critical analysis about IIoT technologies, companies, applications, services, and solutions. Report forecasts include overall global and regional IIoT outlook as well as IIoT by industry vertical, software, hardware, and services for the period 2018 to 2023. This research also evaluates the Cloud Robotics market including technologies, companies, strategies, use cases, and solutions. The report provides global and regional forecasts for Cloud Robotics apps, services, and components from 2018 to 2023. Forecasts include the market outlook for Cloud Services support of Cloud Robotics including Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), Software as a Service (SaaS), and Robotics as a Service (RaaS). Forecasting for Cloud Robotics by deployment model is also included covering Public Cloud, Private Cloud, Hybrid Cloud, and Community Cloud. It includes detailed forecasts for robotics by robot type, components, capabilities, solutions, and connectivity for 2018 to 2023. Key Topics Covered Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) Technologies, Solutions, Applications and Services Market Outlook and Forecasts 2018 - 2023 1 Introduction 1.1 Scope of Research 1.2 Target Audience 1.3 Key Findings in Report 1.4 Companies in Report 2 Executive Summary 2.1 IIoT Markets by Region 2018 - 2023 2.2 IIoT Global Markets by Products 2018 - 2023 3 Overview 3.1 Defining Industrial Internet of Things 3.2 Critical Focal Areas for IIoT Execution 3.3 IIoT Application Areas 3.4 Forming a Foundation for IIoT 3.5 Evaluating the Future Potential of IIoT 4 IIoT Technologies 4.1 Hardware Technologies 4.2 Software Technologies 4.3 IIoT and Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) 4.4 Network Technologies in IIoT 5 IIoT Global Market Analysis and Forecasts 2018 - 2023 5.1 IIoT Markets by Region 2018 - 2023 5.2 IIoT Global Markets by Products Offered 2018 - 2023 5.3 IIoT Global Markets by Industry Sector 2018 - 2023 5.4 Market for Teleoperation and Tele-robotics in IIoT 6 Company Analysis 6.1 AGT International 6.2 ARM Holdings 6.3 AT&T Inc. 6.4 B+B SmartWorx 6.5 Bayshore Networks 6.6 Bosch 6.7 Cisco System Inc. 6.8 Contiki 6.9 Digi International 6.10 Echelon Corporation 6.11 Elecsys Corporation 6.12 General Electric 6.13 Jasper Technologies Inc. (Cisco) 6.14 Lynx Software Technologies, Inc. 6.15 Object Management Group (OMG) 6.16 OneM2M Partners 6.17 ParStream (Cisco) 6.18 RIOT 6.19 Real Time Innovation (RTI) 6.20 Sensata Technologies 6.21 Symantec 6.22 Unisys Corporation 6.23 Wind River 6.24 Worldsensing 6.25 Wovyn LLC Cloud Robotics Technologies, Solutions, Challenges, and Market Opportunities 2018 - 2023 1. Introduction 1.1 Cloud Robotics Overview 1.2 Traditional vs. Cloud Robotics 1.3 Cloud Robotics Architecture 1.4 Robot Types 1.5 Cloud Technology in Robotics 1.6 AI and Machine Learning Solution 1.7 Connectivity Technology including 5G 1.8 IoT, Industrial IoT and Cloud Robotics 1.9 Collaborative Robots 1.10 Market Challenges and Opportunities 2. Enabling Technologies 2.1 Teleoperation 2.2 Cloud Computing 2.3 Edge Computing 2.4 Fifth Generation (5G) Cellular 3. Cloud Robotics Ecosystem Analysis 3.1 Market Segmentation 3.2 Ecosystem and Players 3.3 Most Likely Applications 3.4 Anticipated Regional Adoption 3.5 Emerging Cloud Robotics Business Models 3.6 Robotics Production 3.7 Robotics Cost Structure 3.8 Robotics ROI 3.9 Cloud Robotics Intellectual Property 3.10 Research and Development Activities 4. Company Analysis 4.1 Rockwell Automation Inc. 4.2 KUKA AG 4.3 ABB Group 4.4 FANUC Corporation 4.5 Yaskawa Electric Corporation 4.6 Universal Robots 4.7 Tend.ai 4.8 Rapyuta Robotics Co. Ltd. 4.9 HotBlack Robotics Srl 4.10 Calvary Robotics 4.11 Motion Controls Robotics Inc. 4.12 Wolf Robotics LLC 4.13 Tech-Con Automation Inc. 4.14 Matrix Industrial Automation 4.15 Automation IG 4.16 Ortelio Ltd 4.17 SoftBank Robotics Holding Corp. 4.18 iRobot Corp. 4.19 Google Inc. 4.20 IBM Corporation 4.21 Microsoft Corporation 4.22 Ecovacs Robotics Inc. 4.23 CloudMinds 4.24 Ozobot & Evollve Inc. 4.25 Segway Inc. and Ninebot 4.26 Erle Robotics 4.27 Adept Technology 4.28 Ekso Bionics 4.29 Lockheed Martin 4.30 Mazor Robotics 4.31 Pv-Kraftwerker 4.32 ReconRobotics Inc. 4.33 Seegrid 4.34 Spacex 5. Cloud Robotics Market Forecast 2018-2023 5.1 Global Cloud Robotics Market 2018-2023 5.2 Regional Cloud Robotics Market 2018-2023 5.3 Robot Unit Shipment Forecast 2018-2023 6. Conclusions and Recommendations Teleoperation and Telerobotics: Technologies and Solutions for Enterprise and Industrial Automation 2018-2023 1. Executive Summary 2. Overview 3. Automation and Robotics in Industrial IoT (IIoT) 3.1 Industrial IoT in Context 3.2 Technology Transformation: Broadband Communications 3.3 Industrial Productivity and IIoT Economic Contribution 3.4 Industrial Efficiency and IIoT 3.5 IIoT Adoption Trends Globally 3.6 Smart Factories, Intelligent Manufacturing, and Industry 4.0 3.7 Industrial Revolution and Migration 3.8 IIoT Building Blocks 3.9 Industrial Automation and IIoT 3.10 Human Aspect of IIoT 3.11 Integrated Digital and Human Workforce 3.12 Wearable Technology and IIoT 3.13 Workforce Augmentation 3.14 Hybrid Industry and Robotics 3.15 Drone Logistics 4. Teleoperation and Telerobotics 4.1 Telerobotics 4.2 Telepresence 4.3 Teleoperation 4.4 Telemanipulation 4.5 Internet Telerobotics 4.6 The Web and Telerobotics 4.7 Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP) 4.8 Technical Architecture of Telerobitcs System 4.9 Bilateral Control and Haptic Feedback 4.10 Unilateral vs. Bilateral Model 5. Role of Teleoperation and Telerobotics in Automation 5.1 The Role of Telerobotics in Industrial Automation 5.2 Impact on Logistics and Supply Chain 5.3 Industrial Producer/Consumer (Prosumer) Value Chain 5.4 Employment Transformation and the Future for Factory Workers 5.5 Clear Production 5.6 Manufacturing Supply Chain and Robotics 5.7 Connected Service and Teleoperation 5.8 Benefits and Drawbacks 5.9 Edge Computing for IoT 5.10 Swarm Computing 6. Impact of Teleoperation and Telerobotics 6.1 Technologies facilitating Hyper Automation 6.2 Rise of the Hybrid Enterprise to Optimize IIoT 6.3 Intelligent Human Workforce: Augmented by AI and Robots 6.4 Drone Logistics to become Common for B2B as well as B2C 6.5 Industrial Robotics remains the Key Area of Focus 6.6 Rise of the Smart Machine driven Factory of the Future 6.7 Engaging the Consumer throughout the Product Lifecycle 6.8 A Transformation to an Outcome Economy 6.9 Information Technology (IT) & Operational Technology (OT) Convergence 6.10 New Stakeholders Emerge and New Relationships Develop 7. Teleoperation and Telerobotics in Edge Networks 7.1 Edge Computing 7.2 Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC) 7.3 Teleoperation and Telerobotics in MEC 8. Teleoperation and Telerobotics Market Analysis and Forecasts 8.1 Market for Teleoperation and Tele-robotics in IIoT 2018-2023 8.2 Digital Twinning and Physical Asset Security 8.3 IT Process Efficiency Increase 8.4 AI to Replace Human Form Work 8.5 Enterprise AI Adoption Trends 8.6 Inclusion of AI as IT Requirement 9. Conclusions and Recommendations 9.1 Need for Enhanced Operational Support 9.2 IIoT: Don't Forget the Consumer 10. Appendix: Digital Twin Product and Service Ecosystem 10.1 Digital Twinning Impact on Industry Segments 10.2 Application Development and Operations 10.3 Digital Twin Use Cases and Applications 10.4 Digital Twinning as a Service (DTaaS) Companies Featured ABB Group Adept Technology AGT International ARM Holdings AT&T Inc. B+B SmartWorx Bayshore Networks Bosch Calvary Robotics Cisco System Inc. CloudMinds Contiki Digi International Echelon Corporation Ecovacs Robotics Inc. Ekso Bionics Elecsys Corporation Erle Robotics FANUC Corporation General Electric Google Inc. HotBlack Robotics Srl IBM Corporation iRobot Corp. Jasper Technologies Inc. (Cisco) KUKA AG Lockheed Martin Lynx Software Technologies, Inc. Mazor Robotics Microsoft Corporation Motion Controls Robotics Inc. Object Management Group (OMG) OneM2M Partners Ortelio Ltd Ozobot & Evollve Inc. ParStream (Cisco) Pv-Kraftwerker Rapyuta Robotics Co. Ltd. Real Time Innovation (RTI) ReconRobotics Inc. RIOT Rockwell Automation Inc. RTI Connext DDS Seegrid Segway Inc. Ninebot Sensata Technologies SoftBank Robotics Holding Corp. Spacex Structured Assurance Case Meta-model (SACM) Symantec Tech-Con Automation Inc. Tend.ai Threat Modelling Unisys Corporation Universal Robots Wind River Wolf Robotics LLC Worldsensing Wovyn LLC Yaskawa Electric Corporation For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/rfh57q/2018_study_on?w=5 Did you know that we also offer Custom Research? Visit our Custom Research page to learn more and schedule a meeting with our Custom Research Manager. Media Contact: Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com NASHVILLE, Tenn., Dec. 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- AAC Holdings, Inc. (the "Company" or "AAC") announced that AAC's management team and Board of Directors have conducted a review of the Company and its performance and remain optimistic about the underlying market conditions, AAC's position as the largest independent provider of drug and alcohol addiction treatment services in the U.S., and the opportunity to create sustainable value for AAC's shareholders. AAC participates in an addressable market that management believes is in excess of $30 billion with attractive underlying industry trends, contributing to market growth in excess of 4% per annum. First and foremost, AAC is committed to providing the best care possible for its patients and has taken a leadership role in the industry with its landmark patient outcomes studies. With three years of research from over 4,000 patients, AAC was able to demonstrate meaningfully differentiated clinical outcomes compared to national benchmarks. Notwithstanding the issues that contributed to lower than expected revenue growth since July 2018, the Company currently expects to be able to grow its top line revenue in 2019 at or better than the industry growth rate long-term, driving corresponding improvements in profitability and cash flow generation. The Company is poised to reap the near-term benefits of strategic initiatives implemented during 2018. These initiatives include: Key hires of Michael Nanko as President and Chief Operating Officer, Stephen Ebbett as Chief Digital & Marketing Office and Dr. Larry Weinstein as Chief Medical Officer; as President and Chief Operating Officer, as Chief Digital & Marketing Office and Dr. as Chief Medical Officer; The implementation of new technology used to interact with prospective patients; Revising admissions compensation structure and training to improve best practices; and Realigning our organizational structure to improve operational efficiency. AAC also announced today a cost reduction initiative to improve operating performance across the organization. "We fully realize that our recent performance was unacceptable," said Michael Cartwright, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of AAC. "We hit unanticipated headwinds in August that caused a significant decline in call volume and led to lower census. We have made significant investments in a corporate infrastructure meant to support a larger business than we have today and that is why we are taking action to streamline the organization." AAC's implemented cost reduction program is currently expected to reduce the Company's total expenses on an annualized basis by approximately $15 million and includes an aggregate reduction of approximately 200 positions across the Company. The actions taken include: The consolidation of the San Diego outpatient and sober-living facilities into the Laguna operations in California to provide more efficient operations and stronger financial performance. The Company expects this consolidation to be fully executed prior to December 31, 2018 ; outpatient and sober-living facilities into the Laguna operations in to provide more efficient operations and stronger financial performance. The Company expects this consolidation to be fully executed prior to ; A strategic alternative for Townsend operations in Louisiana ; and operations in ; and Effective November 30, 2018 , a reduction of approximately 100 positions, including corporate functions, which is intended to align staffing levels with current occupancy. The Company currently expects to incur less than approximately $1 million in one-time cash expenditures to fully execute the initiatives outlined above, the majority of which we expect to be incurred during 2019. These cost reduction efforts were not included in the Company's 2018 guidance released on November 6, 2018. About American Addiction Centers American Addiction Centers is a leading provider of inpatient and outpatient substance abuse treatment services. We treat clients who are struggling with drug addiction, alcohol addiction and co-occurring mental/behavioral health issues. We currently operate substance abuse treatment facilities located throughout the United States. These facilities are focused on delivering effective clinical care and treatment solutions. For more information, please find us at AmericanAddictionCenters.org or follow us on Twitter. Forward Looking Statements This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. These forward-looking statements are made only as of the date of this release. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terms such as "anticipates," "believes," "could," "estimates," "expects," "may," "potential," "predicts," "projects," "should," "will," "would," and similar expressions intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words. Forward-looking statements may include information concerning AAC Holdings, Inc.'s (collectively with its subsidiaries; "AAC Holdings" or the "Company") possible or assumed future results of operations, including descriptions of the Company's revenue, profitability, outlook and overall business strategy. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results and performance to be materially different from the information contained in the forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties and other factors include, without limitation: (i) our inability to effectively operate our facilities; (ii) our reliance on our sales and marketing program to continuously attract and enroll clients; (iii) a reduction in reimbursement rates (or failure to pay) by certain third-party payors for inpatient and outpatient services and point-of-care and definitive lab testing; (iv) our failure to successfully achieve growth through acquisitions and de novo projects; (v) the possibility that a governmental entity may prohibit, delay or refuse to grant approval for the consummation of an acquisition; (vi) our failure to achieve anticipated financial results from contemplated and prior acquisitions; (vii) a disruption in our ability to perform diagnostic laboratory services; (viii) maintaining compliance with applicable regulatory authorities, licensure and permits to operate our facilities and laboratories; (ix) a disruption in our business and reputational and economic risks associated with civil claims by various parties; (x) inability to meet the covenants in our loan documents or lack of borrowing capacity; (xi) our inability to effectively integrate acquired facilities; and (xii) general economic conditions, as well as other risks discussed in the "Risk Factors" section of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017, the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended March 31, 2018, the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended September 30, 2018 and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. As a result of these factors, we cannot assure you that the forward-looking statements in this release will prove to be accurate. Investors should not place undue reliance upon forward-looking statements. SOURCE American Addiction Centers Related Links https://americanaddictioncenters.org WASHINGTON, LONDON, and SYDNEY, Dec. 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Responding to the current constitutional crisis in Sri Lanka, leading Tamil diaspora organizations issued a call to the international community to support a permanent political solution to the country's ethnic problem that goes beyond current or proposed constitutional arrangements and provides international guarantees and safeguards. The US Tamil Political Action Council (USTPAC), British Tamil Forum (BTF), Australian Tamil Congress (ATC), People for Equality and Relief in Lanka (PEARL), and World Thamil Organization (WTO) jointly issued the statement. The collapse of the Sri Lankan government on October 26th, 2018 has exposed the inconsistency and instability of Sri Lanka's ethnocracy. A blatant disrespect for constitutional law and the failure to preserve promises made toward their people and the international community is evident. Since the 2015 presidential election, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has provided qualified support to the "unity government." This support has been given with the expectation of the restoration of normalcy in the former war zones of the North and East - the traditional areas of habitation of the Tamils -, Transitional Justice, a permanent political solution acceptable to the Tamil people, and implementation of good governance. The Sirisena government's scant progress towards these expectations has been insubstantial and remains reversible. The TNA at a meeting with 15 countries on November 21, 2018, "urged the diplomats to use their influence with whoever necessary to set things right and put the country in the right path." The TNA's leader and Leader of Opposition Mr. Sampanthan expressed concern that, "Tamils are likely to become the worst victims in Sri Lanka's political crisis." Since Sri Lanka's Independence in 1948, the two primary Sinhala political parties have demonstrated a pattern of 'ethnic outbidding' in catering to the Sinhalese majority community at the expense of all others, beginning with disenfranchising a million members of the Tamil community. Following enactment of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) in 1978 and extensive use of emergency powers, the country has experienced years of authoritarian rule. The use of extrajudicial powers has subverted constitutional rights, perpetuating a lack of respect for the rule of law, and a culture of oppression and impunity by the security establishment, mainly targeting the Tamil population in the North and East. This targeting includes war crimes and crimes against humanity and genocide. In 1987, the 13th Amendment based on the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord, an inadequate agreement to address Tamil grievances, created Provincial Councils as the unit of devolution, including police and land power. The Amendment also merged the Tamils' traditional homeland of the North-East into one province. The non-implementation of the 13th Amendment, including the dismembering of the merged North-East in 2006 without the required Referendum, is a blatant ongoing disregard of the country's constitution. Sri Lanka co-sponsored UNHRC Resolution 30/1 in 2015, which required the establishment of a hybrid court including international judges and prosecutors. Sri Lanka has repeatedly rejected this commitment since. The ethnocentric nature of the Sri Lankan state controlled by a Sinhala Buddhist nationalist ideology is fundamentally incapable of providing a political settlement that addresses the root causes of the war, provided the Sinhala-centric political reality of the past decades continues. For the Tamil community, the hard questions remain Will we be able to advance transitional justice within this current political state mechanism, regardless of the regime in power? Even if the present constitutional exercise to solve the Tamil question succeeds, what are the chances of such an arrangement being faithfully and permanently implemented? What kind of international safeguards would be needed to ensure legitimacy and permanency? While we want the current crisis to be solved within the norms of democratic principles and the constitution, we urge the international community to reassess its options. It must take on a greater role in instituting transitional justice in Sri Lanka and must support fundamental change for a permanent political solution that meets the aspirations of the Tamil people, strengthened by international guarantees. For further information, contact: S. Sivam, President, USTPAC T: +1 202 595 3123 Website: www.ustpac.org Email: [email protected] Twitter: @UstpacAdvocacy SOURCE USTPAC Related Links http://www.ustpac.org ROLLING MEADOWS, Ill., Dec. 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. today announced the acquisition of UK-based Pavey Group. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. A retail insurance broker with offices in Torquay, Exeter, Holsworthy and Highbridge, England, Pavey Group offers retail property and casualty insurance and risk management advice to commercial businesses, care facilities, charities and the construction, manufacturing, agricultural and leisure sectors. Graham Brown, Managing Director of Pavey Group, and his associates will continue to operate from their existing office locations and will form part of Gallagher's UK Retail Division. "Pavey Group is a very well-respected firm with a complementary culture and mix of business that expands Gallagher's presence in South West England," said J. Patrick Gallagher, Jr., Chairman, President and CEO. "We are delighted to welcome Graham and his colleagues to our growing global team." "Pavey Group has an excellent reputation for looking after its clients' needs in the mid-corporate space and in specialist sectors," said Michael Rea, Chief Executive of Gallagher's UK Retail Division. "We really like the management team, their values and the culture that they have created, and are looking forward to working together and taking the business forward." Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG), a global insurance brokerage, risk management and consulting services firm, is headquartered in Rolling Meadows, Illinois. The company has operations in 35 countries and offers client service capabilities in more than 150 countries around the world through a network of correspondent brokers and consultants. Investors: Ray Iardella Media: Linda J. Collins VP Investor Relations VP Corporate Communications 630-285-3661/ [email protected] 630-285-4009/ [email protected] SOURCE Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Related Links http://www.ajg.com HAMILTON, Bermuda, Dec. 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- This evening, BOMBAY SAPPHIRE gin announced Montreal-based artist, Erik Nieminen, as the Grand Prize Winner of the 9th Annual BOMBAY SAPPHIRE Artisan Series. The world's largest online art platform, Artsy, curated the star-studded grand finale celebration at the iconic Villa Casa Casuarina for the second year. The mansion's lavish, old-world design was infused with Miami's tropical persona, where actress Tessa Thompson hosted an illustrious mix of artists, celebrities, musicians, and industry innovators including Laura Harrier, Teyana Taylor, Brendan Fallis, Shaun Ross, Kevin Garnett, Chloe Wise, Beau Dunn, and Sarah Bahbah. Attendees sipped artfully crafted BOMBAY SAPPHIRE cocktails while dancing to music by DJ duo Sofi Tukker. Launched in 2010, the BOMBAY SAPPHIRE Artisan Series is an annual arts competition committed to fostering up-and-coming visual artists by providing a national platform to showcase their work. Over the past six months, the Artisan Series program embarked on a search across North America to discover top emerging creatives. From a pool of over 6,000 submissions, the top 15 finalists were given the opportunity to showcase their work at SCOPE Miami Beach, one of the world's most prestigious international art fairs, in advance of the finale. After careful consideration by this year's esteemed panel of judges, including Head Curator of Artsy Matthew Israel, SCOPE Vice President Daria Brit Greene, and Artisan Series National Curator Andre Guichard, Thompson took the stage to announce Erik Nieminen as the grand prize winner. As part of his winning prize, Nieminen will collaborate with Artsy on an immersive public art project in New York City next summer and receive a $10,000 cash prize. Nieminen absorbed his victory stating, "It's been an incredible honor to exhibit my work alongside so many talented peers. I'm profoundly grateful for the exposure I've gained by showcasing my work throughout the BOMBAY SAPPHIRE Artisan Series and SCOPE Miami Beach. I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to collaborate with a groundbreaking partner like Artsy and can't wait to share my new work with the world next summer in New York City." In addition to Nieminen, two other artists were recognized for pushing creative boundaries in the industry: Second Place Winner Judy McReynolds-Bowman (Detroit) and People's Choice Winner J Margulis (Miami). For their awards, the two will create new and innovative works of art, scheduled to unveil next year at public gallery exhibits in their hometowns of Detroit and Miami. Following the announcement of Nieminen's win, BOMBAY SAPPHIRE Brand Director for North America Tom Spaven reflected on the program's dedication to fostering rising creatives stating, "The Artisan Series has had a longstanding commitment to providing up-and-coming artists with a global stage to showcase their talents. It's always exhilarating to witness these artists spark their inner creativity to express themselves, and I can't wait to see how Nieminen inspires others to explore the furthest boundaries of their artistry through self-expression." As the evening culminated, Tessa Thompson ascended the stage to express her admiration for the Artisan Series and its commitment to serving the creative community stating, "There is such an extraordinary pool of diverse, undiscovered talent who are not afforded a platform or opportunity to share their artistry with the world. Now, more than ever, it's important to stand behind organizations that embrace diversity in the arts, which is why I'm thrilled to be involved with this year's BOMBAY SAPPHIRE Artisan Series as we celebrate the creativity of each and every one of the artists here tonight." Press Contacts: Kristin Brice Steph Shirvell Senior Account Executive Account Executive 646-654-3409 646-654-3447 [email protected] [email protected] ABOUT THE BOMBAY SAPPHIRE ARTISAN SERIES The BOMBAY SAPPHIRE Artisan Series fosters the talents of emerging artists through a North American search for the best up-and-coming names in visual arts. Each year, a handful of finalists are selected from thousands of online submissions and local gallery events to showcase their work at SCOPE MIAMI BEACH, the premier showcase for international emerging contemporary art. Since its inception in 2010, the Artisan Series has received more thirty thousand submissions from visual artists across the U.S. and Canada and has precipitated the sale of artwork to musicians, collectors, and film moguls a testament to the exceptional caliber of talent receiving exposure from this annual emerging arts competition. ABOUT ARTSY Artsy is the global platform for collecting and discovering art. Artsy partners with leading museums, international galleries, auction houses, and art fairs to create the world's largest art marketplace. Artsy expands the entire art market by using best-in-class technology to effectively connect supply and demand at a global scale. With 3,000+ partners across 90+ countries and the most-read art publication online, Artsy empowers a global audience to learn about, discover, and collect art. Launched in 2012, Artsy is headquartered in New York City with offices in London, Berlin, Hong Kong, and Los Angeles. ABOUT BOMBAY SAPPHIRE BOMBAY SAPPHIRE is the world's number one premium gin by volume and value. BOMBAY SAPPHIRE is created with a unique combination of ten sustainably sourced botanicals from around the globe. The brand's signature distillation process known as vapour infusion is showcased at the BREEAM award-winning Laverstoke Mill Distillery in Hampshire, England. The vapour infusion process skillfully captures the natural flavors of the botanicals which results in the gin's fresh, bright taste. BOMBAY SAPPHIRE, which was awarded a gold medal in the 2018 Las Vegas Global Spirit Awards and a double gold medal in the 2017 San Francisco World Spirits Competition, is recognized for crafting the finest quality gin. For more information, please explore www.bombaysapphire.com. The BOMBAY SAPPHIRE brand is part of the portfolio of Bacardi Limited, headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda. Bacardi Limited refers to the Bacardi group of companies, including Bacardi International Limited. BE BRILLIANT AND INSPIRED. DRINK RESPONSIBLY! SOURCE BOMBAY SAPPHIRE Related Links http://www.bombaysapphire.com LOUISVILLE, Ky., Dec. 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- White Protestantism has dominated U.S. politics and culture for much of the nation's history, but demographic change and an exodus from churches by the young are bringing the era to a close. That prediction comes from Robert P. Jones, founder and chief executive officer of Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI), who has won the 2019 Grawemeyer Award in Religion for his book, "The End of White Christian America." Simon & Schuster published the work in 2016. Robert P. Jones University of Louisville and Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary jointly give the religion prize. America is no longer mostly white and Christian, Jones found. Although 54 percent of the U.S. population met that description in 2008, the number fell to 45 percent in 2016. The election two years ago gave Republicans political control of the country but also signaled a "death rattle" for white Christian America, he said. Jones also explained an affinity between white evangelical Protestants and President Donald Trump in his book, noting Trump "cast himself as the last chance for Republicans and conservative white Christians to step back from the cliff, to preserve their power and way of life." White Protestants, particularly white evangelicals, must find their place in a new America or face challenging internal and external consequences, he warned. "Jones well describes the decline of mainstream Protestantism many of us are seeing in our churches and theological institutions," said Tyler Mayfield, an associate professor of Old Testament at the seminary who directs the religion award. "He also offers an appropriate critique of how mainline Protestants have failed to address racism even though they have been a public voice for racial justice." PRRI is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that conducts independent research at the intersection of religion, culture and public policy. In 2016, The New York Times Review of Books called Jones' book "possibly the most illuminating text for this election year." Recipients of the 2019 Grawemeyer Award winners are being named this week pending final approval by university and seminary trustees. The annual, $100,000 prizes reward outstanding ideas in music, world order, psychology, education and religion. Winners will visit Louisville in April to accept their awards and give free talks on the winning ideas. SOURCE University of Louisville Related Links http://www.louisville.edu Results for the world's first blockchain based first "One Person One Vote" showed 97.38% in agreement. The technical session on Mainnet aimed to actively engage developer community while the visions of enabling BOScoin based payments in Jeju B-town was revealed during the event. SEOUL, South Korea, Dec. 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Korean blockchain project aiming to create a new financial methodology, BOScoin (Corporate name: BlockchainOS, CEO: Yezune Choi, http://boscoin.io ) held its first global community conference "BOSCON 2018" with more than 500 community members present. The event's main highlight was the announcement of the result of the world's first blockchain based Congress Voting on BOScoin's Membership Reward Proposal. The first voting proposal was on membership rewards. Of the 1,375 KYC certified individuals, 1,361 people participated in the vote, showing a high participation rate. 97.38% of the total votes were in favor of the proposal, 1,339 people had agreed. To participate, individuals had to pass the KYC process, hold and also freeze ten thousand BOS. Through this vote, the technical and operational capabilities of BOScoin's Mainnet were proved. BOScoin currently has four nodes running in Seoul and plans to add ten more nodes in Tokyo, Frankfurt and other locations by the end of this year. BOScoin's co-founder and CEO Yezune Choi said, "2018 is the year we focused on building the foundation for the Mainnet launch and making community votes possible." He also added, "2019 will be a year with advances in not only technical features like open membership and trust contracts, but also global development in business areas." Talking at one session, BOScoin's US Community Branch Manager Scott Matheina said, "The global community has its eyes set on this Korea based BOScoin project with high hopes. I will do my best in bringing more of the world's citizens to participate in Public Financing - the new financing methodology BOScoin aims to bring forth, by expanding the reach of the community and holding road trips to increase understanding about the project." While introducing the concept idea on creating a BOScoin payment enabled B-town in Jeju Island, BOScoin CSO Jonghyun Kim explained, "BOScoin and its partners are planning to form a commercial district in Jeju where BOScoin be used as a method of payment. This will become an example of using BOScoin in daily life." Korea University professor Hyungjoong Kim and other industry figures also joined the event and celebrated BOScoin's recent progress. In the afternoon sessions, law professional Jongsoo Yoon discussed "Blockchain for Commons" while leaders of partner companies like PayExpress CEO Jaehyang Kim and Nature Mobility Joosang Lee also talked about their vision and strategy for Public Financing. More information on BOSCON 2018 can be found at the website and details of BOScoin membership and first vote can be found here . About BOScoin BOScoin is a New Financing Methodology. BOScoin enhances the way Social Capital is used to create products and services on our platform by funding projects which are expected to add long term value to the entire network. We will provide a decidable and approachable framework for creating and executing smart contracts & decentralized applications on the blockchain called "Trust Contracts". The "Congress Network" is aimed towards creating a more democratic decision making process using homomorphic encryption, Human Identity Authentication, coupled with node rewards and a coin issuance schedule aimed towards creating value for the coin while deterring the centralization of power. The Modified Federated Byzantine Agreement consensus algorithm (ISAAC) will allow for up to 5000 tx/sec. SOURCE BOScoin Related Links http://boscon.io SANTA MONICA, Calif., Dec. 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- BoxiePro Deep Clean Cat Litter has won the 2018 Pet Business Industry Recognition Award. BoxiePro is the first kitty litter to eliminate 100 percent of the bacteria in the litter box. This award highlights innovative and effective new products from this year. BoxiePro cat litter won the 2018 Pet Business Industry Recognition Award BoxiePro was released in March 2018 and has created a new revolution in litter by helping cat parents maintain a cleaner and more germ-free home outside the litter box. BoxiePro clumping cat litter transforms the litter box and home by using a special blend of natural deep-cleaning probiotics to eliminate all bacteria in the box so cats do not track germs throughout the home. BoxiePro's revolutionary natural technology keeps cats and homes healthier. "It has been an exciting year launching BoxiePro and creating a whole new area of the cat litter market focused on cleanliness outside of the litter box. Our concept has really resonated and met the needs of consumers focused on home, family and health. It's exciting to be the first company in this space and we are thrilled to receive this award from Pet Business," shares Josh Wiesenfeld, Boxiecat's founder and CEO. About Boxiecat LLC: Boxiecat LLC was formed in 2009 with the launch of its groundbreaking scent-free litter. In 2012, Boxiecat litter was awarded the Cat Fancy's Editor's Choice award. Boxiecat's innovative litter line uses its award-winning litter as the foundation for all of its litter products and features Flat Top clumping, ultra-low dust, natural probiotic odor control and tracking resistance. Boxiecat's philosophy is to provide natural, long-lasting and effective litter that tackles the big issues most people have with litter care. Their litter line includes scent-free, scented, extra-strength and the new Deep Clean formulas. The company also offers a line of Boxiecat and Boxiedog probiotic-powered Stain and Odor formulas. BoxiePro is distributed in the United States by Pet Food Experts, Newco Distributors, Southeast Pet, Frontier Distributing and Supreme Pet Supplies, and in Canada by Kane Pet Supplies. BoxiePro cat litter is available for purchase online and in pet specialty retail. For more information about Boxiecat LLC, visit boxiecat.com. MEDIA CONTACT: Hadley Porter Boxiecat LLC Tel. 877-817-0253 x4 [email protected] boxiecat.com Related Images pet-business-award-logo-2018.jpg Pet Business Award Logo 2018 BoxiePro cat litter won the 2018 Pet Business Industry Recognition Award boxiepro-deep-clean-cat-litter-won.jpg BoxiePro Deep Clean Cat Litter won the 2018 Pet Business Industry Recognition Award BoxiePro cat litter comes in 16 lb and 28 lb bags, and is sold at retailers throughout the U.S. and worldwide. Related Links Pet Business Top Pet Products of 2018 BoxiePro Distributors Related Video https://vimeo.com/286729836 SOURCE Boxiecat, LLC Related Links https://boxiecat.com DUBLIN, Dec. 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The "The Global Caprolactam Market" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. According to a recently conducted research about the global caprolactam market, as an overall, it is projected to reach approximately 6,564 thousand tons by the end of 2023, increasing at a CAGR of around 3% per year in the period 2017-2023. The report focuses on both product and regional breakdown, offering a larger perspective on the market dynamics. Although caprolactam is predominantly used for the manufacture of synthetic fibers, the analysis considers the application of caprolactam across various industries. In particular, the largest share of caprolactam consumption is for the production of polyamide fibers, which accounted for around 55% of the total in volume terms. Meanwhile, the chemical's application for PAM resins has been growing with the highest rate of about 5.58% per year. Regionally, the largest global caprolactam market was North East Asia, which accounted for about 50% of the total in volume terms. In comparison, Africa was the smallest global caprolactam market during the analyzed period and is expected to remain such in the medium term. During the last several years, the development of the automobile industry is one of the major factors, driving the global caprolactam market. This is due to the variety of applications of nylon 6 in different automotive parts such as door handles, air bag containers, radiator grilles, relay boxes, air intake manifold and engine covers, among others. Furthermore, automakers are focusing on light weighting of vehicles in order to improve fuel efficiency and performance. Therefore, metallic parts of automobile are being rapidly replaced by nylon 6 due to high temperature and chemical resistance. In addition, innovation in the field of electronics along with increasing consumption of smart phones, tablets, laptops and TVs has resulted in driving demand for engineering plastics, subsequently driving the growth of the global caprolactam market. The growing demand for convenience food across the globe is also a major contributor for the demand growth for specialty films for packing. Since nylon 6 is a key constituent in specialty films, the latter is driving the global caprolactam market. In recent years on the global scene many large market players closed their capacities, owing to the capacity surged in Asia over the past few years. Another fact, influencing the caprolactam market is the recent Chinese policy decision. In October 2017, the China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC) announced that it will extend anti-dumping duties on imports of caprolactam from the EU and the US for another five years. The demand for caprolactam in North America was estimated to be more in resins as compared to fibers over the last two years. It was supported by stringent government regulations, increasing pressure for lightweight and durable polyamide 6, as well as the need for improving the standard of processing and manufacturing end products. Key Topics Covered 1. Introduction 1.1. Report description 1.2. Research methodology 2. Executive summary 3. Characteristics of caprolactam 4. State of the global demographics and economy 4.1. Characteristics of the global demographics in 2013-2017 4.2. Characteristics of the global economy in 2013-2017 4.3. Forecast for the development of the global economy in the medium term 5. Overview and analysis of the global caprolactam market 5.1. Volume and dynamics of the global caprolactam market in 2013-2017 and forecast for 2018-2023 5.2. Structure of the global caprolactam market by main regions in 2013-2017 and forecast for 2018-2023 5.3. Structure of the caprolactam market in Africa by countries in 2013-2017 and forecast for 2018-2023 5.4. Structure of the caprolactam market in Asia and Pacific by countries in 2013-2017 and forecast for 2018-2023 5.5. Structure of the caprolactam market in the CIS countries by countries in 2013-2017 and forecast for 2018-2023 5.6. Structure of the caprolactam market in Europe by countries in 2013-2017 and forecast for 2018-2023 5.7. Structure of the caprolactam market in the Middle East by countries in 2013-2017 and forecast for 2018-2023 5.8. Structure of the caprolactam market in North America by countries in 2013-2017 and forecast for 2018-2023 5.9. Structure of the caprolactam market in North East Asia by countries in 2013-2017 and forecast for 2018-2023 5.10. Structure of the caprolactam market in South and Central America by countries in 2013-2017 and forecast for 2018-2023 5.11. Structure of the global caprolactam market by application/main product groups in 2013-2017 and forecast for its development in 2018-2023 5.12. Key recent trends on the global caprolactam market 5.13. Key drivers and restraints for the market development in the medium term 6. Overview and analysis of the global production of caprolactam 6.1. Volume, distribution and dynamics of the installed capacities for the global production of caprolactam broken down by regions in 2013-2017 and forecast for their development in 2018-2023 6.2. Volume and dynamics of the average annual utilization rates used for the production of caprolactam globally, broken down by regions, in 2013-2017 and forecast for their development in 2018-2023 6.3. Volume and dynamics of the global production of caprolactam in 2013-2017 and forecast for 2018-2023 6.4. Structure of the global production of caprolactam in 2013-2017 by main regions and forecast for 2018-2023 6.5. Structure of the caprolactam production in Africa by countries in 2013-2017 and forecast for 2018-2023 6.6. Structure of the caprolactam production in Asia and Pacific by countries in 2013-2017 and forecast for 2018-2023 6.7. Structure of the caprolactam production in the CIS countries by countries in 2013-2017 and forecast for 2018-2023 6.8. Structure of the caprolactam production in Europe by countries in 2013-2017 and forecast for 2018-2023 6.9. Structure of the caprolactam production in the Middle East by countries in 2013-2017 and forecast for 2018-2023 6.10. Structure of the caprolactam production in North America by countries in 2013-2017 and forecast for 2018-2023 6.11. Structure of the caprolactam production in North East Asia by countries in 2013-2017 and forecast for 2018-2023 6.12. Structure of the caprolactam production in South and Central America by countries in 2013-2017 and forecast for 2018-2023 6.13. Characteristics of the main producers of caprolactam globally along with their exact installed capacities and used production techniques 7. Characteristics and analysis of the global prices of caprolactam 7.1. Value chain analysis 7.2. Structure of price formation 7.3. Characteristics of the global prices of caprolactam in 2013-2017 and forecast for 2018-2023 7.4. Characteristics of the regional prices of caprolactam in 2013-2017 and forecast for 2018-2023 8. Overview and analysis of the global imports of caprolactam 8.1. Volume, value and dynamics of the global imports of caprolactam in 2013-2017 8.2. Structure of the global imports of caprolactam by main regions in 2013-2017 8.3. Average prices of the caprolactam, imported globally in 2013-2017 9. Overview and analysis of the global exports of caprolactam 9.1. Volume, value and dynamics of the global exports of caprolactam in 2013-2017 9.2. Structure of the global exports of caprolactam by main regions in 2013-2017 9.3. Average prices of the global exports of caprolactam in 2013-2017 10. Balance between supply and demand on the global caprolactam market 10.1. Balance between supply and demand on the global caprolactam market in 2013-2017 and forecast for 2018-2023 10.2. Balance between supply and demand on the global caprolactam market by main regions in 2013-2017 and forecast for 2018-2023 Companies Mentioned BASF Lanxess Domo Caproleuna Grupa Azoty Ube Industries Grodno Azot Azot Kemerovo Kuibyshevazot Shchekinoazot Azot Cherkassy Advansix Fibrant Abel Chemical China Risun Coal Chemicals Group Fibrant Fujian Eversun Holding Fujian Jinjiang Pc Comp. Lim. Fujian Shenyuan New Materials Fujian Tianchen Yaolong New Mat. Hengshen Technology Hubei Sanning Chem Co Jiangsu Haili Chemical Juhua Group Corp. Luxi Chemical Group Shandong Fangming Pc Shandong Haili Chemical Shanxi Jintaoyuan Shanxi Lanhua Sci-Tech Venture Shanxi Lubao Group Coking Shenma Group Sinopec Baling Pc Sinopec Shijiazhuang Rf Ch Taiyuan Chem. Ind. Zhejiang Baling Hengyi Sumitomo Chemical Toray Industries Ube Industries Capro Corp. Fert. and Chem. Travancore Gujarat State Fertilizer Ube Chemicals ( Asia ) ) Monomeros Col/Venez For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/3wdpsg/caprolactam?w=5 Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. Media Contact: Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com LOS ANGELES, Dec. 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Los Angeles-based organic CBD industry leaders CBDfx have intensely ramped up production of CBD products this week, including popular new Turmeric & Spirulina Gummies , on the heels of what they expect to be explosive demand. Vegan CBD Gummies by CBDfx CBD Gummies with Turmeric & Spirulina - Antioxidant The House of Representatives and the Senate have tentatively agreed to a version of the 2018 Farm Bill, sending shockwaves through CBDfx and other hemp-related businesses, and potentially signaling the long-overdue end of hemp restriction in the United States. Current hemp laws are massively out of date in regards to both public sentiment and government policy surrounding hemp. Should the bill become law, it will finally be totally and permanently legal to farm hemp in America, which will inject millions of badly-needed dollars into agribusiness and the U.S. economy at large. In anticipation of this monumental sea change towards hemp and its related products such as cannabidiol (CBD), CBDfx has increased production of its highly favored CBD Gummies products. Consumer preferences are indicating that dosing CBD via a sweet and chewy edible treat is one of the most popular options, and CBDfx has deemed it prudent to get out in front of this pending legislation by ensuring product manufacturing can meet demand. Currently, CBDfx offers three CBD Gummy products: CBD Gummy Bears (300mg) CBD Gummies with Turmeric & Spirulina CBD Gummies 8ct pouch (40mg) About CBDfx: CBDfx is a Southern California-based company focused on providing high quality, full-spectrum CBD to customers in a wide variety of formats. The company began with a full range of CBD vape products, and has since expanded to include edible CBD products as well. The company's mission is to offer the purest and most effective organic/ethically sourced CBD options on the market today. Media Contact: Christian Graversen, CBDfx www.cbdfx.com (855) 228-9953 [email protected] SOURCE CBDfx Related Links https://cbdfx.com PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Brianna Wronko, CEO of Group K Diagnostics (GKD), a healthcare innovator revolutionizing patient care with accurate, fast and affordable diagnoses, has been elected to the Philadelphia Startup Leaders Board. Wronko has a BSE in Bioengineering from the University of Pennsylvania, and seven years of research experience in biotechnology. She is well versed in FDA processes and spearheads GKD's technological development and company vision. Brianna Wronko "As a young professional that's active in the startup community, I look forward to representing other biotech entrepreneurs in the Philadelphia area," said Wronko. "It is a great honor to be nominated to the Philadelphia Startup Leaders Board, and I hope my unique perspective can support the group's mission to help current and future founders succeed in Philadelphia and beyond." Philly Startup Leaders is an active community of startup entrepreneurs that helps connect, educate, and develop the members of Greater Philadelphia's startup community. They supply startups with the resources and connections they need, with a vision of building a world-class ecosystem of innovators and entrepreneurs in the Philadelphia region. The announcement comes on the heels of Wronko's recognition as part of Philadelphia Business Journal's 2018 Women of Distinction, as well as the commencement of Part II of GKD's liver function clinical trial at the University of Pennsylvania Liver Disease Clinic and the securement of $2M in Series A funding. About Group K Diagnostics Group K Diagnostics is revolutionizing patient care with accurate, fast and affordable diagnoses. Group K's microfluidic point-of-care device, called the MultiDiagnostic, provides test results in 20 minutes, allowing patients to have direct access to their medical results and enabling doctors to adjust medical treatments in a timely manner. The device has the potential to drastically improve quality of patient care. CEO Brianna Wronko founded the Philadelphia-based company in 2016. Since its invention, Group K's innovation has generated praise in the healthcare and technology industries. Group K was named 2017 Best of the Best by MABA and Most Innovative Company of the 2017 Heart Science Forum. Wronko has also received recognition as the 2018 Spring PACT TiE Top Pitch Event Winner, winner of the technology category of the 2018 Stellar Startup awards, and the recipient of various other grants and awards. Media Contact: Kim Cox [email protected] 215-867-8600 ext. 220 SOURCE Group K Diagnostics Related Links https://www.groupkdiagnostics.com The Cerebri Values system automatically matches individual customers to offers at scale to rapidly and efficiently achieve KPIs. With a single, dynamic metric, Cerebri Values monitors the true brand commitment of the entire customer base and represents the collective voice of the customer in strategic discussions. Cerebri Values is the new science of CX, deployed on a SaaS basis behind the corporate firewall via a dedicated UX or as easily-integrated APIs. "We are honored to be chosen for Mastercard Start Path, joining an elite class of emerging companies delivering innovative solutions to the financial services sector," said Jean Belanger, Cerebri AI's co-founder and CEO. "Connecting with Mastercard's worldwide experts and business partners will help us accelerate our plans to transform customer experience into a competitive advantage for Fortune 500 enterprises." "Collaborative innovation between rising startups and leading organizations will drive scale, unlock new opportunities and propel the future of commerce," said Amy Neale, vice president, Mastercard. "We welcome Cerebri AI to Start Path and our global network of cutting-edge payment and technology partners." About Cerebri AI Cerebri AI enables enterprises to measure the value of every customer interaction sales, marketing, service from the customer's point of view. Our product, Cerebri Values, is the first true measure of customer experience (CX) and is incredibly easy to use every interaction is valued in dollars. Cerebri Values also measures the impact of next best actions on customers' commitment to brands and propensity to spend, maximizing customer-related KPIs. Headquartered in Austin with offices in Toronto and Washington, DC, the company has 50 employees who have been awarded over 130 patents to date. To learn more about the Cerebri Values system, visit cerebriai.com SOURCE Cerebri AI Related Links https://www.cerebriai.com BEIJING, Dec. 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- China Online Education Group ("51Talk", or the "Company") (NYSE: COE), a leading online education platform in China, with core expertise in English education, today announced that it will report its third quarter 2018 unaudited financial results on Monday, December 17, 2018, before the open of U.S. markets. The Company's management will host an earnings conference call at 7:00 AM U.S. Eastern Time on December 17, 2018 (8:00 PM Beijing/Hong Kong time on December 17, 2018). Dial-in details for the earnings conference call are as follows: United States (toll free): 1-866-264-5888 International: 1-412-317-5226 Hong Kong (toll free): 800-905-945 Hong Kong: 852-3018-4992 China: 400-120-1203 Participants should dial-in at least 5 minutes before the scheduled start time and ask to be connected to the call for "China Online Education Group." Additionally, a live and archived webcast of the conference call will be available on the Company's investor relations website at http://ir.51talk.com. A replay of the conference call will be accessible approximately one hour after the conclusion of the live call until December 24, 2018, by dialing the following telephone numbers: United States (toll free): 1-877-344-7529 International: 1-412-317-0088 Replay Access Code: 10126752 About China Online Education Group China Online Education Group (NYSE: COE) is a leading online education platform in China, with core expertise in English education. The Company's mission is to make quality education accessible and affordable. The Company's online and mobile education platforms enable students across China to take live interactive English lessons with overseas foreign teachers, on demand. The Company connects its students with a large pool of highly qualified foreign teachers that it assembled using a shared economy approach, and employs student and teacher feedback and data analytics to deliver a personalized learning experience to its students. For more information, please visit http://ir.51talk.com. For investor and media inquiries, please contact: China Online Education Group Investor Relations +86 (10) 5692-8909 [email protected] The Piacente Group, Inc. Brandi Piacente +86 (10) 5730-6200 +1-212-481-2050 [email protected] SOURCE China Online Education Group Related Links http://ir.51talk.com BERLIN, Dec. 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- On December 6, two well-known artists from the city of Xi'an, China visited Berlin to install more than 100 terracotta warrior replicas on a boat that traveled down the Spree River in the heart of Berlin. The art installation was part of the kick-off event where Mr. Wang Ben, painter and chairman of Xi'an Chinese Art Academy and Mr. Zhang Deyong, calligrapher from Xi'an, demonstrated their traditional Chinese art and announced the beginning of a four-day geocaching game in the city of Berlin. "I am very happy that the 'Xi'an Meets Berlin' event is taking place in Berlin," said Ms. Chu Huizi, representative from the Chinese Embassy to Germany. "This is the first time that the Terracotta Army has been presented in such an interactive form outside of China, such as an art installation or geocaching, and it's great for Berliners to experience the magic of the Terracotta Army in this way." The kick-off event hosted around 100 people on a cruise down the river Spree, with a live painting demonstration from the Xi'an artists. Attendees had the opportunity to capture photos of the art installation against famous Berlin landmarks like the Reichstag and the Paul Lobe-Haus. "I am very excited to be in Berlin sharing Xi'an with the city," said Mr. Wang Ben, a well-known painter from Xi'an. "Art is central to Berlin's culture and we wanted to create a unique way of presenting our city to the Berlin people. We hope that this helps to build bridges between Berlin and Xi'an and allow us to share in each other's culture." Following the event, Berliners were invited to join in a geocaching game over the weekend, ending at 8:00 p.m. on Sunday, December 9. Participants will use the locations hosted on the event website www.XianBerlin.de to find the miniature terracotta warriors hidden around Berlin. Once participants find one of the 25 hidden figures, they can publicly post to Facebook or Instagram with a photo using #XianBerlin to be entered to win a trip for two to Xi'an in 2019. A winner will be selected and announced on December 11 following the official end of the competition. SOURCE Xian Chinese Art Academy Related Links http://www.xianberlin.de/ BEIJING, Dec. 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Concord Medical Services Holdings Limited ("Concord Medical" or the "Company") (NYSE: CCM), a leading cancer hospital operations management solutions provider and operator of a network of radiotherapy and diagnostic imaging centers in China, today announced that it will hold its 2018 annual general meeting of shareholders on December 29, 2018, at 10:00 a.m. (Beijing Time). The meeting will be held at 18/F, Tower A, Global Trade Center, 36 North 3rd Ring Road East, Dongcheng District, Beijing, China. The shareholder record date is December 17, 2018. No proposal will be submitted for shareholder approval at the annual general meeting. Instead, the annual general meeting will be convened for shareholders who are entitled to vote to discuss Company affairs with management. Concord Medical's annual report on Form 20-F filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, containing the Company's audited financial statements for the financial year ended December 31, 2017, is available in the Investor Relations section of the Company's website at http://ir.ccm.cn. The Form 20-F is also available on the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov. In October 2018, Bluestone Holdings Limited ("Bluestone"), a company indirectly wholly owned by Dr. Zheng Cheng, transferred its shares in Morgancreek Investment Holdings Limited ("Morgancreek") (which in turn held shares in Concord Medical) to companies wholly owned by Mr. Hao Zhou and Ms. Bi Zhang, the spouse of Mr. Jianyu Yang, respectively. On the same day, all the Class A Ordinary Shares of Concord Medical held by Morgancreek were converted into Class B Ordinary Shares of Concord Medical. Morgancreek transferred 7,500,000 Class B Ordinary Shares of Concord Medical to Bluestone. Upon completion of these transactions, Mr. Zhou and Ms. Zhang indirectly hold 30% and 70% shares of Morgancreek, respectively, and Dr. Cheng holds shares of Concord Medical through Bluestone. As of the date of this announcement, Morgancreek holds 38,287,948 Class B Ordinary Shares and 4,660,976 American Depositary Shares of Concord Medical, each representing three Class A ordinary shares, and Bluestone holds 7,500,000 Class B Ordinary Shares of Concord Medical. As of the date of this announcement, the Company has 84,368,529 Class A Ordinary Shares and 45,787,948 Class B Ordinary Shares issued and outstanding. Holders of Class A ordinary shares are entitled to one vote per share, while holders of Class B ordinary shares are entitled to ten votes per share. About Concord Medical Concord Medical Services Holdings Limited is a leading specialty hospital management solution provider and operator of the largest network of radiotherapy and diagnostic imaging centers in China. As of June 30, 2018, the Company operated a network of 30 centers with 21 hospital partners that spanned 21 cities and 14 provinces and administrative regions in China. Under long-term arrangements with top-tier hospitals in China, the Company provides radiotherapy and diagnostic imaging equipment and manages the daily operations of these centers, which are located on the premises of its hospital partners. The Company also provides ongoing training to doctors and other medical professionals in its network of centers to ensure a high level of clinical care for patients. For more information, please see http://ir.ccm.cn. For more information, please contact: Concord Medical Services Mr. Edward Zhang (Chinese and English) +86 10 5903 6688 (ext. 608) [email protected] SOURCE Concord Medical Services Holdings Limited Related Links http://ir.ccm.cn LUXEMBOURG, Dec. 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Constellation Oil Services Holding S.A. ("Constellation" or the "Company"), formerly known as QGOG Constellation S.A., has been involved in discussions and negotiations with certain holders (and investment managers for certain holders) (each, a " Noteholder ") of the 9.00% Cash / 0.50% PIK Senior Secured Notes due 2024 (the " 2024 Notes ") issued by the Company pursuant to that indenture dated as of July 27, 2017 by and among the Company, the subsidiary guarantors party thereto from time to time and Wilmington Trust, National Association, as trustee, paying agent, transfer agent and registrar. Discussions with Members of the Ad Hoc Committee Following the execution of confidentiality agreements entered into as of October 18, 2018 (the " Confidentiality Agreements ") with certain members of an ad hoc committee of Noteholders (the " Ad Hoc Committee "), representatives of the Company and the Company's financial and legal advisors (the " Company Representatives ") met in person and by telephone with representatives of the Ad Hoc Committee and the Ad Hoc Committee's financial and legal advisors (the " Ad Hoc Committee Representatives ") to discuss the terms of a possible consensual restructuring, recapitalization, reorganization, refinancing and/or amendment of the 2024 Notes and related matters (a " Potential Transaction "), and exchanged proposals representing the terms of a Potential Transaction (each, a " Proposal "), which the Company is required to make public under the Confidentiality Agreements (such materials, collectively, the " Cleansing Materials "). Subsequent to these discussions, the Company has reached an agreement in principle with a majority of the 2024 bondholders, subject to definitive documentation and approval by the parties to that certain plan support agreement entered into in connection with the restructuring proceedings. The Cleansing Materials are set forth in a consolidated written presentation of each Proposal described above (collectively, the " Cleansing Presentation "). All information contained in the Cleansing Presentation is accurate as of the date of when delivered to such stakeholders, and has not been updated since such date of delivery. Such information should not be relied upon for any purposes. In accordance with its obligations under the Confidentiality Agreements, the Company has posted the Cleansing Presentation on a section of its website that is readily accessible to the public. The Proposals of each of the Company Representatives and the representatives of and/or financial and legal advisors to the Ad Hoc Committee each represent the last best term sheet or similar document in respect of any Proposal(s) made by or on behalf of such party and delivered to each of the Company and the Ad Hoc Committee Representatives. Certain Other Important Information In addition to the disclaimers and qualifiers set forth in the Cleansing Materials, all statements made in the Cleansing Materials are in the nature of settlement discussions and compromise, are not intended to be and do not constitute representations of any fact or admissions of any liability and are for the purpose of attempting to reach a consensual compromise and settlement. Nothing contained in the Cleansing Materials is intended to or shall be construed to be an admission or a waiver of any rights, remedies, claims, causes of action or defenses. The information contained in the Cleansing Materials is for discussion purposes only and shall not constitute a commitment to consummate any transaction, or otherwise take any decisions or actions contemplated in the Cleansing Materials. Furthermore, the contents of the Cleansing Materials shall not be construed as guidance by the Company in relation to its future results, and the Company does not assume and expressly disclaims any responsibility to update such contents or information at any time. This press release is neither an offer to sell nor the solicitation of an offer to buy any security. This press release is also not an offer to purchase or a solicitation of an offer to purchase with respect to any security, nor is this press release a solicitation of any consent to any amendments with respect to the 2024 Notes or any other security. NOTICE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS This press release contains "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, which are intended to be covered by the safe harbor created by such sections and other applicable laws. Where the Company expresses or implies an expectation or belief as to future events or results, such expectation or belief is expressed in good faith and believed to have a reasonable basis. However, such statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, which could cause actual results to differ materially from future results expressed, projected or implied by the "forward-looking statements." The Company undertakes no obligation to release publicly revisions to any "forward-looking statement," including, without limitation, outlook, to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this news release, or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as may be required under applicable securities laws. Investors should not assume that any lack of update to a previously issued "forward-looking statement" constitutes a reaffirmation of that statement. Continued reliance on "forward-looking statements" is at investors' own risk. SOURCE Constellation Oil Services Holding S.A. Ukraine says Russia is deliberately blockading Mariupol and another Ukrainian port on the Sea of Azov, Berdyansk after Russian border guards fired on three Ukrainian ships and seized their crews off the Crimean Peninsula. Russia and Ukraine share access to the Sea of Azov under a 2003 treaty. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has suggested "sensible dialogue" will solve the crisis but an escalation in tensions between the two nations could have wide-reaching effects, including on fertilizer trade. Nitrogen fertilizers impact Neighbourly disputes over nitrogen fertilizer exports have been around for a decade already with the imposition of duties on Russian ammonium nitrate (AN) by Ukraine on May 21 2008. Ukrainian anti-dumping duties on Russian nitrogen fertilizers, excluding ammonia, prevail and are set at 31.84% through 2018. Russia in turn has placed Ukrainian nitrogen facilities belonging to Dimitry Firtash, Ihor Kolomoisky and state-run Sumykhimprom on its sanctions list from early November 2018. The impact of the Russian sanctions announcement is still unclear, but most believe ammonia trade between Russia and Ukraine will continue in the short term. This is because sanctions do not prevent payment from Ukraine to Russia for ammonia received but will instead block Russian bank accounts and funds owned by Firtash and Kolomoisky. Read the full story: https://www.crugroup.com/knowledge-and-insights/insights/2018/worsening-in-russia-ukraine-relations-could-hit-nitrogen-market/ Read more about CRU: http://bit.ly/About_CRU About CRU CRU offers unrivalled business intelligence on the global metals, mining and fertilizer industries through market analysis, price assessments, consultancy and events. Since our foundation by Robert Perlman in 1969, we have consistently invested in primary research and robust methodologies, and developed expert teams in key locations worldwide, including in hard-to-reach markets such as China. CRU employs over 260 experts and has more than 10 offices around the world, in Europe, the Americas, China, Asia and Australia our office in Beijing opened in 2004. When facing critical business decisions, you can rely on our first-hand knowledge to give you a complete view of a commodity market. And you can engage with our experts directly, for the full picture and a personalised response. CRU big enough to deliver a high-quality service, small enough to care about all of our customers. SOURCE CRU DUBLIN, Ireland, Dec. 6, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- DELopen, an open platform based on block chain technology, supported by WuXi AppTec Co. LTD., Y-gene Biotech Co., Ltd., and academia/institutions dedicated to the development and application of DNA Encoded Library (DEL) Technology, announced its launch to better connect industry and academia to utilize DEL technology in drug discovery via its website DELopen.org. Pioneered by Dr. Richard A. Lerner and Dr. Sydney Brenner in 1992, boosted by the revolution of next gen sequencing in the early 2000's, DEL has gradually become a disruptive drug discovery alternative to traditional high-throughput screening, evidenced by multiple examples of DEL compounds entering clinical trials. In the past decade, most of the major pharmaceutical companies have started accessing this technology via internal effort or external partnerships. In contrast to high throughput screening, DEL requires very small amounts of target protein and minimum assay development. DEL selection can also be performed on benchtop and does not require complex instrumentation. Most importantly, it disrupts the concept of "cost-per-well" and allows testing billions of compounds in one test tube. However, due to the nature of DEL technology, heavy investment must be made in the upfront library synthesis, and also downstream data mining and management, limiting the access for academia and individual companies. To date, most of the collaborations take a fee-based format between library providers and screeners. In-depth collaboration in these relationships has also been limited by intellectual property complications. Providing an effective method for information sharing and protection of intellectual property through a neutral third-party platform will undoubtedly bring changes to the whole industry. In their insightful article "DNA-Encoded Compound Libraries as Open Source: A Powerful Pathway to New Drugs" (2016), Dr. Lerner and Dr. Brenner wrote, "We envision a system that operates as follows. A pharmaceutical or a biotech company provides an encoded library, but not the code, to a researcher. The researcher does a binding assay on the bench top and carries out the PCR on the binding molecules to read the code in the form of DNA sequences. These sequences are returned to the owner of the library who now knows the nature of the molecules bound as well as some of their structureactivity relationships from truncated molecules. If the nature of the discovered molecules looks interesting, then everyone wins. The pharmaceutical company gets a drug lead and the researcher gets a tool compound to help further dissect the role of the target molecule in health and disease. Of course, such collaborations will be accompanied by license relation-ships so that the partners both share in a commercial success. In the end, the problem reduces to the question of how will creators of huge libraries make them an open source for academia?" The goal of the DELopen platform is to provide free access of DEL libraries owned by participating partners to academic users for research in drug discovery. Blockchain technology will assist in proving the IP assets, origin, and proof of ownership, without any disclosure of data. We envision that the new platform provides full protection of intellectual properties for both user and technology provider thus lowers the IP barrier and promotes in-depth collaboration. Ultimately, the industry/academia alliance will unlock the true potential of DEL technology for future drug discovery. "This is a game changer to worldwide drug discovery. I am grateful that WuXi, with its superior chemical capability, will open this opportunity to academic researchers to advance the discovery effort and technology," said Dr. Richard A. Lerner. "DELopen is surely going to create a revolutionary discovery platform not only in the pharmaceutical industry but also in biomedical research in general. The past decade has fully demonstrated the potential and utilities of DEL as a drug discovery tool," said Xiaoyu Li, Chief scientist from Y-gene Biotech Co., Ltd. "Now DELopen has extended the power of DEL with the innovative strength of academic and institutional researchers. We are extremely excited by the opportunity and thrilled to be able to contribute to this initiative." About DELopen DELopen is a platform connecting industry and academic research institutions to promote the sharing of scientific research information and the protection of intellectual property. Through DELopen, researchers and institutions engaged in the development of new drugs with DEL technology can more quickly conduct early drug development and push the results to commercialization as soon as possible. About WuXi AppTec WuXi AppTec is a leading global pharmaceutical and medical device open-access capability and technology platform company with global operations. As an innovation-driven and customer-focused company, WuXi AppTec provides a broad and integrated portfolio of services to help our worldwide customers and partners shorten the discovery and development time and lower the cost of drug and medical device R&D through cost-effective and efficient solutions. With its industry-leading capabilities such as small molecule drug R&D and manufacturing, cell therapy and gene therapy R&D and manufacturing, drug R&D and medical device testing, WuXi platform is enabling more than 3,000 innovative collaborators from more than 30 countries to bring innovative healthcare products to patients, and to fulfill WuXi's dream that "every drug can be made and every disease can be treated." About WuXi DNA-Encode Library (DEL) Technology Service WuXi DEL Technology Service provides customers with a cutting-edge hit identification and optimization platform using an affinity-based selection method against DNA-Encoded small molecule libraries. With operations in China, Europe and North America, clients span from small biotechnology companies to big pharmaceutical companies. About Y-gene Biotech Co., Ltd. Shenzhen Y-gene Biotech Co., Ltd. was founded by professors who have decades of experiences in the field of DNA-encoded library (DEL) technology. The company has developed a number of leading DEL preparation and selection technologies, established an innovative drug discovery platform, and has been providing rapid and effective library screening services to meet the drug discovery needs of customers worldwide. About Blockchain technology Blockchain is a tamper-proof digital ledger that records activity in a transparent, secure, and accessible format. As a tool for improving security, transparency, and efficiency, its potential applications in the pharmaceutical and medical industries are numerous. Intellectual property is arguably the most significant aspect of any new drug, as the core and most critical part of a patent is its Composition of Matter. In the patent office, proving a patent requires four aspects: * Proof of creator * When was it created? * What was included on the date of creation? * Proof that the content was not altered Use of blockchain, in this case, will assist in proving the IP assets, origin, and proof of ownership, without any disclosure of data. SOURCE DELopen Related Links http://DELopen.org SANTA MONICA, Calif., Dec. 6, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Douglas Emmett, Inc. (NYSE: DEI), a real estate investment trust (REIT), announced today that its Board of Directors has declared a quarterly cash dividend on each share of its common stock of $0.26, or $1.04 on an annualized basis. The dividend will be paid on January 15, 2019 to shareholders of record as of December 31, 2018. This represents a 4% increase over the Company's 2018 quarterly dividend. About Douglas Emmett, Inc. Douglas Emmett, Inc. (DEI) is a fully integrated, self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT), and one of the largest owners and operators of high-quality office and multifamily properties located in the premier coastal submarkets of Los Angeles and Honolulu. Douglas Emmett focuses on owning and acquiring a substantial share of top-tier office properties and premier multifamily communities in neighborhoods that possess significant supply constraints, high-end executive housing and key lifestyle amenities. For more information about Douglas Emmett, please visit our website at www.douglasemmett.com. Safe Harbor Statement Except for the historical facts, the statements in this press release regarding Douglas Emmett's business activities are forward-looking statements based on the beliefs of, assumptions made by, and information currently available to us about known and unknown risks, trends, uncertainties and factors that are beyond our control or ability to predict. Although we believe that our assumptions are reasonable, they are not guarantees of future performance and some will inevitably prove to be incorrect. As a result, our actual future results can be expected to differ from our expectations, and those differences may be material. Accordingly, investors should use caution in relying on forward-looking statements to anticipate future results or trends. For a discussion of some of the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Stuart McElhinney, Vice President Investor Relations 310.255.7751 [email protected] SOURCE Douglas Emmett, Inc. Related Links http://www.douglasemmett.com Dr. Stover has been an active member of the ACP for over a decade, serving on several committees and holding the leadership position of Pacific Region Director, guiding membership and prosthodontic initiatives along the West Coast of the United States. He is a Fellow of the ACP and a Diplomate of the American Board of Prosthodontics. After completing his DDS at Northwestern University Dental School, Dr. Stover joined the U.S. Air Force, where he completed a residency in Advanced Education in General Dentistry Program (AEGD) and a residency in prosthodontics. He also received a Master's Degree in prosthodontics from the University of Texas for his research on cell interactions with implant surfaces. Dr. Stover is the recipient of the Meritorious Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, and served as the regional prosthodontic consultant to the Air Force Surgeon General. Before attending dental school, Dr. Stover worked as a field geologist, carpenter, and taught English in Japan. Currently, Dr. Stover maintains a private practice in Olympia, WA and lectures nationally and internationally. About Prosthodontists A prosthodontist is a dental specialist who focuses on the restoration and replacement of missing teeth and other oral or facial issues. Prosthodontists specialize in helping patients with implants, dentures and veneers, all the way to full mouth and jaw reconstructions. About the ACP The American College of Prosthodontists (ACP) is the only ADA recognized organization for the specialty of prosthodontics. Founded in 1970, the ACP is dedicated to advancing the art and science of prosthodontics and promoting the specialty to the public and dental professionals. For more information, consumers can visit GoToAPro.org and dental professionals can visit Prosthodontics.org. Evan Summers (312) 573-1260 [email protected] SOURCE American College of Prosthodontists Related Links http://www.GoToAPro.org CHARLOTTE, N.C., Dec. 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Duke Energy meteorologists today modeled the latest forecast for an approaching winter storm and project the heavy wet snow, sleet and freezing rain will result in approximately 500,000 power outages or more for homes and businesses in the Carolinas. "There remains a lot of uncertainty with this storm," said longtime Duke Energy chief meteorologist Nick Keener. "A slight change in the storm's track or in the temperature could result in fewer or even more outages, so everyone needs to be prepared." More than six inches of snow or a quarter of an inch of ice accumulation will cause branches to sag and trees to fall, bringing power lines down with them. Additionally, hazardous road conditions can result in vehicle accidents which further increase the risk for power outages as cars hit power poles and other electrical infrastructure. The company typically requires 12-24 hours to fully assess damage from a significant weather event, even while simultaneously restoring power. Winter storms can present additional challenges to moving personnel and equipment to hard hit areas. Widespread power outages expected Based on the current forecast, widespread, multiple-day power outages are expected for the Mountains, Foothills, Piedmont, Triad and Triangle areas of North Carolina and portions of Upstate South Carolina and customers should be prepared. Duke Energy has more than 8,700 line and tree workers, damage assessors and support personnel ready to respond. However, weather and travel conditions may be hazardous and challenging, and could delay damage assessment and restoration. Safety reminders With temperatures below freezing, customers should make a plan to move family members especially those with special needs to a safe, alternative location in case an extended power outage occurs. We urge everyone to be prepared and stay safe and encourage other family members, friends and neighbors to do the same. If you plan to use a generator due to a power outage, follow the manufacturer's instructions to ensure safe and proper operation. Operate your generator outside. Never operate it inside a building or garage. Don't use grills or other outdoor appliances or equipment indoors for space heating or cooking, as these devices may omit carbon monoxide. Check and restock your emergency kits with flashlights, batteries, bottled water, non-perishable foods, medicines, etc. Also, ensure a portable, battery-operated radio, TV or NOAA radio is on hand. Stay away from power lines that have fallen or are sagging. Consider all lines energized as well as trees or limbs in contact with lines. Please report downed power lines to Duke Energy. If a power line falls across a car that you're in, stay in the car. If you MUST get out of the car due to a fire or other immediate life-threatening situation, do your best to jump clear of the car and land on both feet. Be sure that no part of your body is touching the car when your feet touch the ground. If you are driving and encounter emergency responders or other roadside work crews, remember to MOVE OVER, it's the law in North Carolina and South Carolina , and a good practice for all drivers. Reporting outages Customers who experience an outage during the storm have multiple ways on how to report it: Text OUT to 57801 (standard text and data charges may apply) Call the automated outage-reporting system at 800.POWERON for Duke Energy Carolinas customers and 800-419-6356 for Duke Energy Progress customers. Report an outage or view current outages online at www.dukeenergyupdates.com Duke Energy also will provide updates on its social media channels to keep customers informed if significant outages occur: Duke Energy on Twitter: www.twitter.com/DukeEnergy Duke Energy on Facebook: www.facebook.com/DukeEnergy About Duke Energy Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK) is one of the largest energy holding companies in the U.S., with approximately 29,000 employees and a generating capacity of 49,500 megawatts. The company is transforming its customers' experience, modernizing its energy grid, generating cleaner energy and expanding its natural gas infrastructure to create a smarter energy future for the people and communities it serves. The company's Electric Utilities and Infrastructure unit serves approximately 7.6 million retail electric customers in six states North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky. Its Gas Utilities and Infrastructure unit distributes natural gas to approximately 1.6 million customers in five states North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Ohio and Kentucky. Its Commercial Renewables unit operates a growing renewable energy portfolio across the U.S. A Fortune 125 company, Duke Energy was named to Fortune's 2018 "World's Most Admired Companies" list and Forbes' 2018 "America's Best Employers" list. More information about the company is available at duke-energy.com. The Duke Energy News Center includes news releases, fact sheets, photos, videos and other materials. Duke Energy's illumination features stories about people, innovations, community topics and environmental issues. Follow Duke Energy on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook. Contact: Corporate Communications 24-Hour: 800.559.3853 SOURCE Duke Energy Related Links http://www.duke-energy.com The Group has today signed Letters of Intent with the Royal Government of Bhutan and the Central Monastic Body to sustainably strengthen the country's vision care infrastructure. In line with their common ambition to eradicate unprotected and uncorrected poor vision, the partners will address the two biggest barriers to good vision, access and awareness, through training and capacity building, philanthropic support and awareness-raising. Chairman of Essilor, Hubert Sagnieres, commented: "Poor vision affects every aspect of a person's life, impacting their ability to learn, to work, to live independently and to realize their full potential. We are proud to be collaborating with the Bhutanese government to develop a strategy and actions which will see poor vision eradicated from the country. This will bring further prosperity and happiness to its people and Essilor one important step closer to its ambition of eradicating poor vision worldwide within one generation." Speaking about the partnership, Bhutan's Minister of Health, Lyonpo Dechen Wangmo, said: "I am extremely happy to share, under the patronage of Her Majesty the Royal Grandmother Ashi Kesang Choden Wangchuck, that the Ministry of Health is honoured to be a partner in Essilor's vision to eradicate poor vision. I am confident that this partnership is the start of a compassionate friendship with a common goal to render help to the most in need." To address the lack of skilled eye care professionals and access to eyewear, Essilor will bring its most successful inclusive-business, Eye Mitra ("Friend of the eye" in Hindi), from India to Bhutan. By training women and men to become primary vision care providers, Essilor will support them to open up optical stores in their communities. This will not only help to sustainably improve access to affordable quality eyecare, but also to bring socio-economic value to rural communities. To read full text please click here CONTACTS Media relations Mission Communications Mailis Thiercelin Lauren Wyper [email protected] [email protected] SOURCE Essilor ATLANTA, Dec. 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- With winter weather expected to impact Georgia over the weekend, Georgia Power is advising customers to prepare for the potential of wind, rain, snow, or ice. The company is monitoring the changing weather conditions and is ready to respond to any service interruptions as quickly and safely as possible. Georgia Power reminds customers to keep safety first during severe winter weather and offers the following tools to stay connected and informed. Tools You Can Use to Prepare for Severe Weather Year-round Outage Alerts Subscribe to the free Georgia Power Outage Alert service to receive personalized notifications and updates via text message. Subscribe to the free Georgia Power Outage Alert service to receive personalized notifications and updates via text message. Outage & Storm Center Available at www.georgiapower.com/storm, customers can visit this site to sign up for Outage Alerts, report and check the status of outages, and access useful safety tips and information. Customers can report and check the status of an outage 24 hours a day by contacting Georgia Power at 888-891-0938. Available at www.georgiapower.com/storm, customers can visit this site to sign up for Outage Alerts, report and check the status of outages, and access useful safety tips and information. Customers can report and check the status of an outage 24 hours a day by contacting Georgia Power at 888-891-0938. Outage Map Housed within the Outage & Storm Center, Georgia Power's interactive Outage Map provides near real-time information, allowing users to see where outages are occurring across the state and track estimated restoration times. Housed within the Outage & Storm Center, Georgia Power's interactive Outage Map provides near real-time information, allowing users to see where outages are occurring across the state and track estimated restoration times. Georgia Power Mobile App Download the Georgia Power mobile app for Apple and Android devices to access storm and outage information on the go. Download the Georgia Power mobile app for Apple and Android devices to access storm and outage information on the go. @GeorgiaPower on Twitter Follow @GeorgiaPower on Twitter for storm tips, outage updates, customer service and more. For additional video tips on preparing for winter weather, visit GeorgiaPower.com/WinterPrep. The site features information on a variety of winter weather topics including Watches vs. Warnings, Staying Connected, Electrical Safety and more. About Georgia Power Georgia Power is the largest electric subsidiary of Southern Company (NYSE: SO), America's premier energy company. Value, Reliability, Customer Service and Stewardship are the cornerstones of the company's promise to 2.5 million customers in all but four of Georgia's 159 counties. Committed to delivering clean, safe, reliable and affordable energy at rates below the national average, Georgia Power maintains a diverse, innovative generation mix that includes nuclear, coal and natural gas, as well as renewables such as solar, hydroelectric and wind. Georgia Power focuses on delivering world-class service to its customers every day and the company is consistently recognized by J.D. Power and Associates as an industry leader in customer satisfaction. For more information, visit www.GeorgiaPower.com and connect with the company on Facebook (Facebook.com/GeorgiaPower), Twitter (Twitter.com/GeorgiaPower) and Instagram (Instagram.com/ga_power). SOURCE Georgia Power Related Links http://www.georgiapower.com DENTON, Texas, Dec. 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- HealthTrackRx, a clinical solutions company that assists healthcare providers with monitoring patients on prescription opioids, has now enrolled more than 30,000 patients in their GuideMed program. In addition, early program data shows an average 40 percent decrease in inappropriate medication use among those patients enrolled in the program. GuideMed is an onsite service that serves healthcare systems and clinicians with the staff, tools and software needed to support the appropriate prescribing and use of opioids in chronic pain patients. The GuideMed monitoring program provides physicians the information they need to ensure patients are taking their medications as prescribed, not receiving any other potentially harmful medications and detecting any early signs of opioid or other substance misuse. Early detection of misuse enables a physician to intervene and take appropriate actions to help prevent a patient from moving down the path of addiction and drug abuse. "HealthTrackRx is committed to helping solve the opioid and prescription drug misuse crisis we have in the United States," said Doug Brenner, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of HealthTrackRx. "We know that healthcare systems are struggling to balance caring for patients with chronic pain, with safely prescribing opioid medications while also meeting state and federal prescribing guidelines. GuideMed was designed to reduce the burden associated with achieving that balance. We are excited about the early results of the program and its potential to help turn-the-tide of the opioid crisis." The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and most states have issued guidelines to govern how opioids are prescribed and urge practitioners to closely monitor their patients. The GuideMed program provides trained staff to help complete patient monitoring tasks including administering opioid risk assessments, checking state prescription monitoring databases and ensuring laboratory tests are completed. Using the monitoring information, the program's proprietary software provides detailed reports, so healthcare practitioners can make well-informed decisions. HealthTrackRx is currently finalizing a detailed clinical review of program data and anticipates publishing the results in mid to late 2019. For more information about the GuideMed program, or HealthTrackRx visit www.GuideMed.com. About HealthTrackRx HealthTrackRx is an integrated clinical solutions company that helps clinicians with appropriate medication prescribing and monitoring. The company provides cost-effective programs, testing and data analytics to support appropriate opioid and antibiotic stewardship. For more information visit www.healthtrackrx.com. CONTACT: Jennifer Armstrong Vice President, Marketing 972-833-4681 [email protected] SOURCE HealthTrackRx Related Links http://www.healthtrackrx.com ZURICH, Dec. 6, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- In a candid interview with the Swiss weekly "Die Weltwoche," Fox News Channel host Tucker Carlson reveals that he believes President Trump is incapable of the legislative demands of being president. When asked if Trump has kept his campaign promises, Carlson says, "No". He tells WW foreign editor Urs Gehriger: "His chief promises were that he would build the wall, de-fund Planned Parenthood, and repeal Obamacare, and he hasn't done any of those things." "I don't think he's capable. I don't think he's capable of sustained focus. I don't think he understands the system." "I think Trump's role is to begin the conversation about what actually matters." In the wide ranging discussion, Carlson also reveals that: "I self-consciously try not to go crazy." "I've never read an article about myself, ever." "If I wanted to be a policy adviser, I probably could. The bar seems to be very low. Most policy advisers are very stupid." Read the full interview at: https://www.weltwoche.ch/ausgaben/2018-49/artikel/trump-is-not-capable-die-weltwoche-ausgabe-49-2018.html "Die Weltwoche" is Switzerland's leading German language opinion weekly with a readership of over 400,000 in Switzerland, Germany, and Austria. Available on newsstands now. Contact: Urs Gehriger, Foreign Editor, Die Weltwoche. Email: [email protected] +41765105947 Related Files Press release Tucker Interview .docx Tucker Carlson Quotes.docx Related Links Die Weltwoche Tucker Interview SOURCE Die Weltwoche DALLAS, Dec. 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Oberheiden, P.C., a federal criminal defense law firm with a nationwide presence, has been actively monitoring the federal government's crackdown on illegal immigration, specifically as it relates to prosecuting businesses that hire undocumented workers. While many of the raids and immigration sweeps conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have targeted businesses in California and Texas, small and family-owned businesses in other states are currently being targeted as well. Newsweek recently quoted a special agent in charge of investigations in Texas and Oklahoma as stating: "Businesses that knowingly hire illegal aliens create an unfair advantage over their competing businesses ... In addition, they take jobs away from U.S. citizens and legal residents, and they create an atmosphere poised for exploiting their illegal workforce ... You may have gotten away with it, but we're watching and we're coming." However, these situations are rarely as straightforward as federal authorities make them out to be. In border states like California and Texas as well as other states with large populations of both legal and illegal immigrants, companies can face extreme hardships in determining whether prospective workers are properly documented. Additionally, with states like California taking legal action against employers who cooperate in ICE and DHS immigration sweeps, employers can quickly find themselves in precarious legal circumstances. For the businesses targeted in immigration enforcement investigations and sweeps and raids on the ground, seeking experienced legal representation needs to be a top priority. These circumstances can quickly go from bad to worse, and business owners and executives who are charged with federal immigration crimes can face insurmountable financial penalties and years or decades of imprisonment. Entire businesses can be lost to the effects of ICE and DHS enforcement activity even in situations where the evidence ultimately proves that these agencies' efforts were misguided. When defending against allegations of federal immigration crimes whether during an investigation, during a raid or immigration sweep, or in federal criminal litigation business owners and executives must be extremely cautious to avoid mistakes that could jeopardize their interests. This includes avoiding mistakes such as speaking to special agents without legal representation as we well as taking proactive measures to assert a strategic defense. Oberheiden, P.C.'s federal defense lawyers have centuries of combined experience in high-stakes federal matters, and many of the firm's attorneys handled these cases as prosecutors with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) before entering private practice. Business owners and executives who are concerned about federal immigration enforcement action or who are actively being pursued by ICE or DHS can contact Oberheiden, P.C.'s Dallas, Texas, headquarters for a free and confidential case assessment. The firm has lawyers in various states around the country and is capable of representing clients in ICE and DHS matters in Texas, California and nationwide. Contact Oberheiden, P.C. For more information, business owners and executives can call Oberheiden, P.C. at 214-469-9009 or email federal defense attorney Dr. Nick Oberheiden directly at [email protected]. More information about the firm can be found at www.criminaldefense.com. The information contained in this statement does not constitute legal advice. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes. This information may constitute attorney advertising in some jurisdictions. All website disclaimers apply. CONTACT: Nick Oberheiden Oberheiden, P.C. 5728 Lyndon B. Johnson Fwy. #250 Dallas, TX 75240 1-214-469-9009| [email protected] CriminalDefense.com Related Links Oberheiden, P.C. SOURCE Oberheiden, P.C. Related Links http://CriminalDefense.com TUCSON, Ariz., Dec. 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- An entry in the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB) can end a doctor's career permanently. It is critical for doctors to understand how this works, and patients ought to know what it means. In the winter 2018 issue of the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons, Lawrence Huntoon, M.D., Ph.D, summarizes the key points in the new 239-page Guidebook to the NPDB. The NPDB was created by the Health Care Quality Improvement Act of 1986 (HCQIA) for the purpose of preventing "bad doctors" from simply moving to another place where no one would know of their history. Malpractice payments and "adverse actions""any negative action or finding"taken by a licensure board, law enforcement agency, peer review organization, accreditation organizations, or clinical privileging entities such as hospitals must be reported. All reports remain there permanently unless withdrawn by the reporting entity. Before a hospital grants privileges, it must by law check the NPDB. The Guidebook states that the NPDB is "primarily a flagging system that may serve to alert users that a more comprehensive review of the qualifications and background of a health care practitioner, entity, provider or supplier may be prudent. NPDB information should not be used as the sole source of verification of professional credentials." However, Dr Huntoon emphasizes that hospitals rarely look past the "scarlet letter" of an adverse report in deciding whether to grant or renew hospital privileges. "NPDB does not make determinations regarding the accuracy of reported information, validity, merit or lack thereof of reported adverse actions," Dr. Huntoon states. The action may have involved a trivial issue, or even a sham peer review action taken in malicious bad faith in order to remove a competitor. Physicians need to be aware of what constitutes a reportable event. Many do not know that if they resign their medical staff privileges for any reason while an investigation is ongoing, they must be reported. Once they have resigned, they lose any due-process rights they might have had to defend themselves. The definition of "investigation" is not clear, Dr. Huntoon warns, and worse, it may be kept secret from the doctor. Physicians should not resign without getting a written statement that they are not under investigation, he advises. As hospitals are increasingly large corporate entities focused on their bottom line, they are increasingly the adversaries of physicians rather than partners in a healing mission, observes the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons. Thus, physicians who work in hospitals need to be vigilant about requirements of the NPDB. The Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons is published by the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS), a national organization representing physicians in all specialties since 1943. SOURCE Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) Related Links https://aapsonline.org BOZEMAN, Mont., Dec. 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Will Sarni, a global thought leader on water strategy and innovation, has joined the Project WET Foundation Board of Directors. The founder and CEO of Water Foundry, which advises companies on water-related risks and invests in digital water technologies that address water scarcity and quality issues Will becomes the ninth member of the global water education nonprofit's Board of Directors. "Will Sarni is an internationally recognized water sustainability expert known for his 'out-of-the-box' thinking and practical solutions for solving the complex water issues facing our world," said Tom Cooper, Project WET Foundation Board Chair and Senior Environmental Health and Safety Manager for Lam Research Corporation. "We are absolutely thrilled to have him join us as a board member, and we look forward to having Will's help in furthering our mission of educating the world about water." Before launching Water Foundry Will founded and led DOMANI, a sustainability strategy firm that was acquired by Deloitte Consulting. At Deloitte, he founded the water strategy practice which provided services to U.S. and non-U.S. multinationals on quantifying and mitigating water-related risks. Will has authored numerous books and articles and presented on such topics as the value of water, innovations in digital water technology, the circular economy and the energy-water-food nexus. He is also the author of a forthcoming book, Digital Water: New Technologies for a More Resilient, Secure and Equitable Water Future, which Routledge will publish in 2019. Will joins a Board that reflects the Project WET Foundation's core beliefs that water is for all water users and that water resources management and education are crucial to a healthy and sustainable environment and economic prosperity. All water user categories and diverse geographic regions as well as government agencies and private enterprise are represented. Other members of the Board include a NASA astronaut recently returned from the International Space Station, senior executives from the mining and semiconductor industries, a university water education expert, and retired leaders from Black & Veatch, Nestle Waters, USAID and USDA. About the Project WET Foundation: Since 1984, the Project WET Foundation has been dedicated to reaching children, parents, teachers and community members with action-oriented water education to enable every child to understand and value water, ensuring a sustainable future. Project WET ("WET" stands for "Water Education for Teachers") is active in all 50 U.S. states and more than 70 countries worldwide. Learn more at http://www.projectwet.org. Media Contact: Nicole Rosenleaf Ritter 406.585.4115 [email protected] SOURCE Project WET Foundation Related Links http://www.projectwet.org NEW YORK, Dec. 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- OTC Markets Group Inc. (OTCQX: OTCM), operator of financial markets for 10,000 U.S. and global securities, today announced Denmark Bancshares, Inc. (OTCQX: DMKBA, DMKBB), a diversified one-bank holding company headquartered in Denmark, Wisconsin, has qualified to trade on the OTCQX Best Market. Denmark Bancshares, Inc. upgraded to OTCQX from the Pink market. Denmark Bancshares, Inc. begins trading today on OTCQX under the symbols "DMKBA" and "DMKBB". U.S. investors can find current financial disclosure and Real-Time Level 2 quotes for the company on www.otcmarkets.com . "Denmark Bancshares, Inc. joins over 85 US community banks that have qualified to trade on the OTCQX Best Market based upon their high financial standards and corporate governance best practices," said Jason Paltrowitz, Director, OTC Markets Group International Ltd. and EVP of Corporate Services at OTC Markets Group. "We are pleased to welcome Denmark Bancshares, Inc. to OTCQX and congratulate the bank on achieving this important milestone." "We are excited about qualifying for the OTCQX Best Market. Moving up to OTCQX is an appropriate next step in the Company's growth plan," said Scot Thompson, President and CEO of Denmark Bancshares, Inc. "Being traded on OTCQX will allow for greater exposure, accessibility, and liquidity for the investment community as we continue to execute on our strategy of building a strong community bank." Denmark Bancshares, Inc. was sponsored for OTCQX by Raymond James, a qualified third-party firm responsible for providing guidance on OTCQX requirements and recommending membership. About Denmark Bancshares, Inc. Denmark Bancshares, Inc. (DBI), headquartered in Denmark, Wisconsin, is a diversified one-bank holding company. DBI reported total assets of $501 million as of September 30, 2018. Denmark State Bank, DBI's subsidiary bank, is an independent community bank that offers full service banking offices in Denmark, Bellevue, Howard, Lawrence, Reedsville, Shawano and Whitelaw, Wisconsin, serving primarily Brown, Kewaunee, Manitowoc, Outagamie and Shawano Counties. Denmark State Bank offers a wide variety of financial products and services including loans, deposits, mortgage banking, and investment services. DBI also extends farm credit through its subsidiary Denmark Agricultural Credit Corporation. About OTC Markets Group Inc. OTC Markets Group Inc. (OTCQX: OTCM) operates the OTCQX Best Market, the OTCQB Venture Market and the Pink Open Market for 10,000 U.S. and global securities. Through OTC Link ATS and OTC Link ECN, we connect a diverse network of broker-dealers that provide liquidity and execution services. We enable investors to easily trade through the broker of their choice and empower companies to improve the quality of information available for investors. To learn more about how we create better informed and more efficient markets, visit www.otcmarkets.com. OTC Link ATS and OTC Link ECN are SEC regulated ATSs, operated by OTC Link LLC, member FINRA/SIPC. Subscribe to the OTC Markets RSS Feed Media Contact: OTC Markets Group Inc., +1 (212) 896-4428, [email protected] SOURCE OTC Markets Group Inc. Related Links http://www.otcmarkets.com CHICAGO, December 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the new market research report "Protective Cultures Market by Product Form (Freeze-dried and Frozen), Target Microorganism (Yeasts & Molds and Bacteria), Application (Dairy & Dairy Products, Meat & Poultry Products, and Seafood), Composition, and Region - Global Forecast to 2023", published by MarketsandMarkets, the Protective Cultures Market is estimated to be at USD 101 million in 2018 and is projected to reach USD 292 million by 2023, at a CAGR of 23.6%. Owing to factors such as increasing demand for natural preservative-free products, the demand for extending the shelf life of perishable products, and increase in concerns for food wastage, the global market for protective cultures is projected to witness significant growth during the forecast period. (Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/660509/MarketsandMarkets_Logo.jpg ) Don't miss out on business opportunities in Protective Cultures Market. Speak to Our Analyst and gain crucial industry insights that will help your business grow. https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/speaktoanalystNew.asp?id=4070383 The multi-strain mixed segment is estimated to dominate the market with the largest share in 2018. On the basis of composition, the multi-strain mixed segment is estimated to account for the dominant market share in 2018. These cultures are most commonly used because of the benefits they offer over single and multi-strain cultures. Every individual strain in these cultures offers different functions and inhibits the growth of either a particular microorganism or different microorganisms. Browse in-depth TOC on "Protective Cultures Market" 72 - Tables 63 - Figures 146 - Pages View detailed TOC @ https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/protective-culture-market-4070383.html The freeze-dried form segment is projected to account for a larger share of the market by 2023. The freeze-dried segment of protective cultures is projected to account for a larger share by 2023, as freeze-dried cultures offer multiple benefits over frozen cultures. Freeze dried cultures do not require special handling methods while shipping them from location to location. In addition, once a culture is freeze-dried, there are no other risks of dealing with power failures or lack of liquid nitrogen supply for preservation. These factors are driving the growth of freeze-dried protective cultures. Request Free Sample Pages @https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestsampleNew.asp?id=4070383 Europe is projected to account for the largest market share by the projected year. Europe is projected to account for the largest market share by 2023. Consumer awareness about preservatives and the inclination toward clean label products is driving the demand for protective cultures in this region. The combined output of the EU-28 countries in the global dairy industry contributes 44% to the global dairy production. In addition, the overall protective cultures market is driven by the growing concerns regarding food spoilage, globally. This report includes a study of the marketing and development strategies, along with the product portfolios, of the leading companies. It includes profiles of leading companies such as CHR Hansen (Denmark), DowDuPont (US), Sacco S.R.L (Italy), CSK Food Enrichment B.V. (Netherlands), THT S.A. (Belgium), Dalton Biotechnologies (Italy), Biochem S.R.L (Italy), Meat Cracks Technology GmbH (Germany), Royal DSM N.V. (Netherlands), Bioprox (France), Aristomenis D. Phikas & Co SA. (Greece), and Soyuzsnab Group of Companies (Russia). Browse Adjacent Markets @ Food Ingredients Market Research Reports & Consulting About MarketsandMarkets MarketsandMarkets provides quantified B2B research on 30,000 high growth niche opportunities/threats which will impact 70% to 80% of worldwide companies' revenues. Currently servicing 7500 customers worldwide including 80% of global Fortune 1000 companies as clients. Almost 75,000 top officers across eight industries worldwide approach MarketsandMarkets for their painpoints around revenues decisions. Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model - GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. MarketsandMarkets now coming up with 1,500 MicroQuadrants (Positioning top players across leaders, emerging companies, innovators, strategic players) annually in high growth emerging segments. MarketsandMarkets is determined to benefit more than 10,000 companies this year for their revenue planning and help them take their innovations/disruptions early to the market by providing them research ahead of the curve. MarketsandMarkets's flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "Knowledge Store" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets. Contact: Mr. Shelly Singh MarketsandMarkets INC. 630 Dundee Road Suite 430 Northbrook, IL 60062 USA: +1-888-600-6441 Email: [email protected] Research Insight @ https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/ResearchInsight/protective-culture-market.asp Visit Our Website: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com SOURCE MarketsandMarkets QINGDAO, China, Dec. 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Starting from January 1, 2019, five Chinese cities -- Xiamen, Qingdao, Wuhan, Chengdu and Kunming -- will implement a 144-hour (6 day) transit visa exemption policy for non-Chinese citizens who are transiting through the five cities, giving them more time and opportunities to get a taste of the hospitality that Shandong province is known for and experience some of its folk customs. How does one travel in Shandong in 144 hours? The Information Office of the People's Government of Shandong Province has put together some recommendations. A three-day trip throughout the province's coastal regions Stop 1: Qingdao The old city of Qingdao is a place that every traveler to China has heard about and wants to visit. Badaguan, a.k.a. the Expo of World Architecture in China, features a multiplicity of architectural styles, giving visitors the opportunity to feel the romance of the historical locale. Stop 2: Yantai The seaside city of Yantai has a distinctly different feel from Qingdao. Yantai Mountain is the region's landmark and a scenic spot replete with beautiful scenery and oddly-shaped rocks. The nearby city of Penglai has a long, historical association with the Taoist legend of the Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea, imbuing visitors with a sense of being in a wonderland. In winter, lightly falling snow and seagulls in flight make for a spectacular sight. Stop 3: Weihai Every winter in Yandunjiao, travelers can observe the thousands of whooper swans that spend the winter here. Lights from the fishing boats, seaweed cottages and country roads form a dream-like world reminiscent of what one might only see in an oil painting. A three-day tour of the inland regions Stop 1: a fantasy journey to Tai'erzhuang During the visit in Tai'erzhuang, a water town nestled in a landscape that is typical of the region that lies on the north side of the Yangtze River at the point where Jiangsu ad Zhejiang provinces meet, you can make your entrance into the ancient city on the deck of a black-awning boat and turn back the clock as you stroll leisurely around the houses, walking bridges and gently meandering canals and rivers that frame the exquisite scene, taking in the ancient Huizhou buildings and the architecture that is emblematic of the region. Stop 2: Mount Tai Climb to the top of Mount Tai, known as the Chief of the Five Sacred Mountains, and take in the view of all mountains in a single glance. At the top of the mountain, you can look down on the whole of the city of Tai'an. Stop 3: Qufu, a.k.a. the Holy City of the East If you want to understand the true meaning of the common Chinese saying, "how happy we are to meet friends from afar", a visit to Kong Family Mansion, the Temple of Confucius and Confucius Cemetery is an essential part of the journey through Shandong. Experience what it must have felt like in the days of Confucius at Kong Family Mansion, visit the Great Hall of Confucius and the first private school in China, which is located inside the Temple of Confucius, as well as the classic Confucian culture on display at the famed burial place. Stop 4: Jinan, the City of Springs In Jinan, a city known for its many springs, you can enjoy the beauty and sound of bubbling water, all well stocked with many species of beautiful fish. The water that pours forth from Pearl Spring emulates the look of gorgeous pearls. The area is home to 72 famous springs, among them, Baotu Spring, Black Tiger Spring, Five Dragon Pool and Baimai Spring, each one worth a visit as each is unique in its natural design and surrounding flora. SOURCE Information Office of the People's Government of Shandong Province The Shanghai Jewellery Fair, which opens from 7 to 10 December at the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition & Convention Center, offers a fascinating look at jewellery alliances with fashion products, such as clothing, handbags, leather, cosmetics, home furnishings and artworks. "In today's competitive market, you need to be collaborative. It is amazing how eager people who share our vision have come to help make it a reality," says Teddy Tan, Event Manager - China Jewellery Fairs, UBM Asia. That vision, now known as Jewellery Life Pavilion 2.0, came into fruition in 2017 and was unveiled the same year. Unconventional brand partnerships, such as jewellery with other fashion products, are back this year after the resounding market debut. "The pavilion gave jewellers and independent fashion designers the platform to reach traders targeting young Chinese consumers who are looking for unique ways to express themselves," says Mr Tan. Featured under the pavilion are several notable jewellers, including Kelly Xie Fine Jewelry, Chic Chu Fine Jewelry, designer brand Alice, and international precious gems supplier P.N. Gems. Joining them are overseas fashion brands, such as PERA (Singapore), WannaSuvarnamani Co Ltd (Thailand), KitSilver Jewellery (Philippines) and ANC (Thailand). Designer Pavilion As relevant as ever are Shanghai Jewellery Fair staples from the Designer Pavilion: professional designers from home and abroad that showcase to the fair's global audience their high-quality jewellery with rich aesthetics. Buyers get insights into current designer viewpoints and market trends through their work. "New collections from designers are always long-awaited. Buyers are keen to find out what boundaries the designers have stretched this time," Mr Tan said of the fair's iconic feature. Chinese Culture Pavilion Yet another confirmation of the Shanghai Jewellery Fair's non-stop evolution is the debut this year of the Chinese Culture Pavilion. Playing a key role in this pavilion are five elements that are central to Chinese Culture metal, wood, water, fire and earth which represent the five kinds of energy that make up the universe. Exhibitors will showcase related products in booths under the corresponding five themes, allowing buyers to find products easily. "New experimentation not only confirm our extraordinary dynamism as fair organisers but that of the industry at large. Together with our exhibitors, we explore the market's changing needs and interests and build our offerings around them, such as this new pavilion," says Mr Tan. Learning forums, networking socials and more Aside from the variety of jewellery, related products and services animating the booths, the Shanghai Jewellery Fair will also feature knowledge seminars and networking opportunities. These opportunities to learn as well as to socialize will offer a rich menu of insights as speakers discuss the latest market trends. "Industry experts and company decision makers make up our list of speakers dishing out inspirational messages on creating business opportunities," says Mr Tan. "Our seminars are viewed favourably and are often well-attended," he added. Adding to the business-with-pleasure mix at the fair are enjoyable onsite activities that participants can indulge themselves in. One of these is "Mirage," where featured artists from Southeast Asia will demonstrate their talents in painting or drawing and visitors can themselves draw or paint under the guidance of the featured artist. In addition, UBM Asia is partnering with 3D printing technology specialist iiiMark 3D and Aimier, a Community organization in China, in organizing a fun activity at the fair, called "Everyone could be a designer." Under the guidance of a professional jewellery designer, art works by physically or mentally challenged children under the patronage of Aimier will be made into jewellery via 3D printing technology. Any funds raised through the sale of the jewellery onsite will support Aimier. Visitors are also encouraged to bring their children's artworks so they could be customized into jewellery products using 3D printing technology. Participants who submit their children's art work can expect to receive the finished jewellery after 7 to 10 days. UBM Global Jewellery Events Calendar 2019 Exhibitions Dates Venue Mainland China China International Gold, Jewellery & Gem Fair Shenzhen 19 - 22 April 2019 Shenzhen Convention & Exhibition Center China International Gold, Jewellery & Gem Fair Shanghai 28 November - 1 December 2019 Shanghai World Expo Exhibition & Convention Center Hong Kong region Asia's Fashion Jewellery & Accessories Fair March Edition 27 February - 2 March 2019 AsiaWorld-Expo - Hong Kong June Hong Kong Jewellery & Gem Fair 20 - 23 June 2019 Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre Asia's Fashion Jewellery & Accessories Fair September Edition 16 - 19 September 2019 AsiaWorld-Expo - Hong Kong September Hong Kong Jewellery & Gem Fair 16 - 20 September 2019 18 - 22 September 2019 AsiaWorld-Expo - Hong Kong Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre Taiwan region Taiwan Jewellery & Gem Fair 15 - 18 November 2019 Taipei World Trade Center Japan Japan Jewellery Fair 28 - 30 August 2019 Tokyo Big Sight Exhibition Center India Gem & Jewellery India International Exhibition 8 - 10 March 2019 Chennai Trade Centre Kolkata Jewellery & Gem Fair 6 - 8 April 2019 Milan Mela Complex - Kolkata Hyderabad Jewellery, Pearl & Gem Fair 14 - 16 June 2019 HICC, Novotel - Hyderabad Delhi Jewellery & Gem Fair 28 - 30 September 2019 Pragati Maidan - Delhi Middle East Jewellery Arabia Bahrain 19 - 23 November 2019 The Bahrain International Exhibition and Convention Centre Turkey Istanbul Jewelry Show I 21 - 24 March 2019 CNR Expo Center - Istanbul Istanbul Jewelry Show II 10 - 13 October 2019 CNR Expo Center - Istanbul Russian Federation JUNWEX St. Petersburg 6 - 10 February 2019 EXPOFORUM - St. Petersburg JUNWEX New Russian Style 22 - 26 May 2019 All-Russian Exhibition Centre - Moscow JUNWEX Moscow, JUNWEX Watch 25 - 29 September 2019 All-Russian Exhibition Centre - Moscow For exhibiting, please contact: Sales Department, Jewellery Fairs, UBM China (Guangzhou) Co., Ltd. Tel: (86) 20 8666 0158 Fax: (86) 20 8667 7120 E-mail: [email protected] For visiting, please contact: Visitor Promotion Department, Jewellery Fairs, UBM China (Guangzhou) Co., Ltd. Tel: (86) 20 8667 2808 Fax: (86) 20 8667 7120 E-mail: [email protected] www.shanghaijewelleryfair.com The China International Gold, Jewellery & Gem Fair Shanghai is organised by UBM, which in June 2018 combined with Informa PLC to become 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 UBM China (Guangzhou) Co., Ltd Related Links http://www.ubm.com NEW YORK, Dec. 6, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Juan Monteverde, founder and managing partner at Monteverde & Associates PC, a national securities firm headquartered at the Empire State Building in New York City, is investigating the Board of Directors of WildHorse Resource Development Corporation ("WildHorse" or the "Company") (NYSE: WRD) for possible breaches of fiduciary duty related to the sale of the company to Chesapeake Energy Corporation ("Chesapeake"). Under the terms of the proposed transaction, WildHorse shareholders are only anticipated to receive 5.989 shares of Chesapeake common stock or a combination of 5.336 shares of Chesapeake common stock and $3 in cash for each share of WildHorse that they own. Click here for more information: https://www.monteverdelaw.com/case/wildhorse-resource-development-corporation. It is free and there is no cost or obligation to you. The investigation focuses on whether WildHorse and its Board of Directors violated securities laws and/or breached their fiduciary duties to the Company's stockholders by 1) failing to conduct a fair process, 2) whether and by how much this proposed transaction undervalues the Company by and 3) failing to disclose all material financial information in connection with the upcoming shareholder meeting. Monteverde & Associates PC is a national class action securities and consumer litigation law firm that has recovered millions of dollars and is committed to protecting shareholders and consumers from corporate wrongdoing. Monteverde & Associates lawyers have significant experience litigating Mergers & Acquisitions and Securities Class Actions, whereby they protect investors by recovering money and remedying corporate misconduct. Mr. Monteverde, who leads the legal team at the firm, has been recognized by Super Lawyers as a Rising Star in Securities Litigation in 2013, 2017 and 2018 an award given to less than 2.5% of attorneys in a particular field. He has also been selected by Martindale-Hubbell as a 2017 and 2018 Top Rated Lawyer. If you own common stock in WildHorse and wish to obtain additional information and protect your investments free of charge, please visit our website or contact Juan E. Monteverde, Esq. either via e-mail at [email protected] or by telephone at (212) 971-1341. Contact: Juan E. Monteverde, Esq. MONTEVERDE & ASSOCIATES PC The Empire State Building 350 Fifth Ave. Suite 4405 New York, NY 10118 United States of America [email protected] Tel: (212) 971-1341 Attorney Advertising. (C) 2018 Monteverde & Associates PC. The law firm responsible for this advertisement is Monteverde & Associates PC (www.monteverdelaw.com). Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome with respect to any future matter. SOURCE Monteverde & Associates PC Related Links http://www.monteverdelaw.com DALLAS, Dec. 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) (the "Company") today reported its November and year-to-date 2018 preliminary traffic statistics. The Company flew 11.3 billion revenue passenger miles (RPMs) in November 2018, an increase of 4.9 percent from the 10.8 billion RPMs flown in November 2017. Available seat miles (ASMs) increased 6.5 percent to 13.4 billion in November 2018, compared with November 2017 ASMs of 12.6 billion. The November 2018 load factor was 84.5 percent, compared with 85.8 percent in November 2017. This release, as well as past news releases about Southwest Airlines Co., is available online at Southwest.com. Southwest Airlines Co. Preliminary Comparative Traffic Statistics NOVEMBER 2018 2017 Change Revenue passengers carried 11,648,833 11,399,727 2.2% Enplaned passengers 14,013,219 13,583,142 3.2% Revenue passenger miles (000s) 11,325,998 10,797,426 4.9% Available seat miles (000s) 13,399,165 12,577,687 6.5% Load factor 84.5% 85.8% (1.3) pts. Average length of haul 972 947 2.6% Trips flown 114,725 111,690 2.7% YEAR-TO-DATE 2018 2017 Change Revenue passengers carried 123,679,128 119,178,821 3.8% Enplaned passengers 149,986,211 144,333,045 3.9% Revenue passenger miles (000s) 122,252,955 118,328,128 3.3% Available seat miles (000s) 146,231,299 140,943,008 3.8% Load factor 83.6% 84.0% (0.4) pts. Average length of haul 988 993 (0.5)% Trips flown 1,259,241 1,234,442 2.0% SW-T SOURCE Southwest Airlines Co. Related Links http://www.southwest.com COLUMBIA, Mo., Dec. 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- StorageMart, a Columbia, Missouri based self storage company, proudly announced that it has acquired a new facility in San Antonio, Texas. This is the fifth StorageMart location opening in the San Antonio area, serving Helotes and Leon Valley areas in northwest San Antonio. The new StorageMart on Braun Road has over 72,000 square feet of rentable space with an option of 218 climate controlled units, 282 regular units, and 23 parking spaces for rent. Cris Burnam, president of StorageMart, is eager to bring new self storage opportunities to San Antonio. "StorageMart is excited to add another store to our collection in the San Antonio area. We will continue to bring our easy, clean, friendly service to Helotes and San Antonio area." This San Antonio storage facility will go through significant remodeling like upgrading security systems, improving fencing, and adding a lift gate. All of these remodels will help this StorageMart location meet the company's brand promise of easy, clean, and friendly service. StorageMart started with a single store in Columbia, MO and has grown to be the largest privately-owned, family operated storage company in the world. StorageMart is led by the Burnam family, which has been in the storage industry for three generations. Dedicated to providing easy, clean and friendly service to each and every customer, StorageMart is also committed to giving back to the many communities it calls home through their Store it Forward program. In 2017, the company donated more than $159,000, in addition to donating over $370,000 in free rent to charities throughout the US, UK, and Canada. Find out more at https://www.storage-mart.com CONTACT: Sarah Little, [email protected] SOURCE StorageMart Related Links http://www.storage-mart.com DUBLIN, Dec. 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The "The Global Styrene Butadiene Rubber (SBR) Market" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. According to a recently conducted research about the global Styrene Butadiene Rubber (SBR) market, as an overall, it is projected to reach approximately 9,207 thousand tons by the end of 2023, increasing at a CAGR of around 3% per year in the period 2017-2023. The report focuses on both product and regional breakdown, offering a larger perspective on the market dynamics. Although SBR is predominantly used for the production of car tires, the analysis considers the application of SBR across various industries. In particular, the largest share of SBR consumption is for the production of car tires, which accounted for around 30% of the total in volume terms. Meanwhile, the chemical's application for conveyer belts has been growing with the highest rate of about 4.06% per year. Regionally, the largest global SBR market was North East Asia, which accounted for about 40% of the total in volume terms. In comparison, Africa was the smallest global SBR market during the analyzed period, which, however, is expected to change in the medium term. Due to the large amount of SBR, which goes for the manufacture of tires and tire products, SBR consumption is highly dependent on the automotive industry and tire sectors as a whole. One of the major trends on the global SBR market is linked with the introduction of tire labeling standards in the automotive industry. The introduction of a tire label in the EU has prompted a series of research initiatives into advanced materials, which led to more advanced S-SBR technology. Another emerging trend on the global SBR market is connected with sustainability and environmental concerns, which lead to development of bio-based products and, in particular, bio-rubber by using bio-butadiene (bio-BD). Regionally, one of the latest concerns on the Indian market is linked with the imposed antidumping duties (ADDs) on SBR of 1500 and 1700 series imported from the European Union, Thailand and South Korea, for a period of five years. What is more, the US also began anti-dumping investigations in July 2016 and subsequently issued preliminary final rates for cash deposit collections on imports from Mexico, Brazil, South Korea and Poland in July 2017. Key Topics Covered 1. Introduction 2. Executive Summary 3. Characteristics of SBR 4. State of the Global Demographics and Economy 5. Overview and Analysis of the Global SBR Market 6. Overview and Analysis of the Global Production of SBR 7. Characteristics and Analysis of the Global Prices of SBR 8. Overview and Analysis of the Global Imports of SBR 9. Overview and Analysis of the Global Exports of SBR 10. Balance Between Supply and Demand on the Global SBR Market Companies Featured Egyptian Styrenics Tahrir Petrochemicals Ineos Styrolution Synthos Kralupy Total Petrochemicals BASF Synthos Dwory Nizhnekamskneftekhim Sadaf Americas Styrenics Cos-Mar Shell Canada Ltd. Pemex Petroquimica Abel Chemical Anhui Haoyuan Chemical BASF-YPC China Nat. Offshore Oil Co Cnooc And Shell Pc Cnooc Ningbo Daxie Pc Dagu Chemical Daqing Zhonglan Pc Fujian Gulei Petrochemical Shandong Yuhuang Chemical Shanghai Secco Pc Sp Chemicals (Taixing) Tangshan Risun Chemical Chiba Styrene M. Hanwha- Total Pc LG Chemical Lotte Chemical Sk Global Chemical Yeochun Ncc Shell Chemicals Seraya IRPC and many more... For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/qhzk6b/styrene_butadiene?w=5 Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. Media Contact: Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com DENVER, Dec. 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Pop Culture Classroom, the educational nonprofit behind Denver Pop Culture Con, announces they are accepting title submissions to the 2019 Excellence in Graphic Literature Awards. The Excellence in Graphic Literature Awards celebrate the best in fiction and non-fiction graphic novels, honoring the creators, publishers and educators using graphic literature to inspire a love of learning in classrooms worldwide. The goals of the awards are to help educators and librarians identify literary-level, high quality graphic novels to bring into diverse classroom settings; to drive growth for the graphic novel publishing category within libraries and schools; and to grow legitimacy and respect for the format, the medium and its creators. "Modern readers are living during the greatest communication revolution of all-time, where pictures and text share the same stage," said Dr. Katie Monnin, Director of Education at Pop Culture Classroom. "The Excellence in Graphic Literature Awards look to honor the best and brightest in graphic novels, giving an easy stamp of approval for educators and librarians to use when choosing what to teach with." Any and all book-length works published during the calendar year of 2018, regardless of publisher size, are eligible for the awards. Individuals, creative teams, editors, agents, and publishers are all welcome to submit their titles for consideration. Award categories include the following: Book of the Year Mosaic Award Best in Educational Comics: Children (0-8 years old) Best in Educational Comics: Middle Grade (9-13 years old) Best in Educational Comics: Young Adult (14-17 years old) Best in Educational Comics: Adult (18+ years old) There will be two winners in each category, one for fiction and one for nonfiction. Each title will be reviewed by a diverse group of expert graphic literature jurors, and on June 1, 2019, Denver Pop Culture Con will host a ceremony and a reception to honor both the nominated and the winning titles. To learn more about the Excellence in Graphic Literature Awards, visit https://popcultureclassroom.org/egl-program or email [email protected]. About Denver Pop Culture Con Denver Pop Culture Con is one of the most attended pop culture conventions in the U.S. due in part to its unique educational programming schedule and its family-friendly mission and environment. One of the largest portions of the show floor (approximately 10,000 square feet in 2017) is dedicated to teens and children, with activities designed to engage kids in education through pop culture. Visit www.DenverPopCultureCon.com for more information and to buy tickets. About Pop Culture Classroom Pop Culture Classroom is the educational non-profit behind Denver Pop Culture Con. Founded in 2011, the organization is on a mission to inspire a love of learning, increase literacy, celebrate diversity and build community through the tools of popular culture and the power of self-expression. Visit www.PopCultureClassroom.org to learn more about our goals, programs and objectives. SOURCE Pop Culture Classroom Related Links http://www.popcultureclassroom.org TORONTO, Dec. 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ - The Green Organic Dutchman Holdings Ltd. (the "Company" or "TGOD") (TSX:TGOD) (US:TGODF) is pleased to announce the voting results from its annual general and special meeting of shareholders of the Company ("Shareholders"), held in Mississauga, Ontario on December 6, 2018 (the "Meeting"). All of the matters put forward before Shareholders for consideration and approval as set out in the Company's management information circular dated November 7, 2018 (the "Circular") were approved by the requisite majority of votes cast at the Meeting. In particular, Shareholders approved the election of all director nominees as follows: Votes in Favour Votes Withheld % of Votes Cast in Favour (rounded) Brian D. Athaide 52,054,286 69,035 99.87% Jeffrey J. Scott 52,058,690 64,631 99.88% Ian P. Wilms 52,061,767 61,555 99.88% Marc Bertrand 51,981,416 141,905 99.73% Nicholas G. Kirton 52,049,507 73,814 99.86% Shareholders also approved the following items of business before the Meeting: (1) the setting of the number of directors of the Company at five; (2) the appointment of KPMG LLP as auditor of the Company for the ensuing year and the authorization of directors to fix their remuneration; (3) the adoption by the Company of a new 10% rolling share option plan (the "New Share Option Plan"); (4) the adoption by the Company of a fixed number restricted share unit plan (the "New Restricted Unit Plan"); and (5) the adoption by the Company of a fixed number non-employee directors deferred share unit plan (the "New Non-Employee Directors Deferred Unit Plan"). The total number of common shares of the Company ("Common Shares") represented by Shareholders present in person and by proxy at the Meeting was 56,214,964 Common Shares, representing 20.92% of the Company's total issued and outstanding Common Shares. Detailed voting results for the Meeting together with a copy of each of the New Share Option Plan, the New Restricted Unit Plan and the New Non-Employee Directors Deferred Units are available under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. "We are thrilled with the overwhelming support from shareholders at our AGM," commented Jeff Scott, Chairman of the Board. "2019 will be a pivotal year as TGOD's flagship domestic facilities begin production ramp-up and sales commence in the coming weeks. With over $450 million raised, TGOD has established itself as a leader in Canadian and international cannabis markets with differentiated premium all-natural organic product, continued expansion across Europe and Latin America, and a team with over 200 years of CPG experience including a proven track record and ability to execute. I have the utmost confidence in our team as we solidify our organic leadership position and deliver on our goal of becoming the largest organic cannabis brand in the world." The Company is also pleased to announce that the previously announced plan of arrangement (the "Arrangement") involving the Company and its wholly-owned subsidiary, TGOD Acquisition Corporation ("SpinCo") and the related non-brokered private placement offering by SpinCo of up to 20,000,000 subscription receipts of SpinCo ("Subscription Receipts") at a price of $0.50 per Subscription Receipt for gross proceeds of up to $10,000,000 were also overwhelmingly approved by Shareholders at the Meeting. Pursuant to the Arrangement, Shareholders of record as of the distribution date (the "Distribution Record Date") will receive 0.15 of one unit purchase warrant of SpinCo (each, a "SpinCo Unit Warrant") for each Common Share held. Each SpinCo Unit Warrant will entitle the holder to purchase one unit of SpinCo (a "SpinCo Unit") at a price of $0.50 per SpinCo Unit for a period of 30 days from the effective date of the Arrangement (the "Effective Date"). Each SpinCo Unit will consist of one common share of SpinCo ("SpinCo Share") and one-half of one common share purchase warrant of SpinCo (a "SpinCo Warrant") with an exercise price of $1.25 per SpinCo Warrant Share for a period of 24 months from the date the SpinCo Shares commence trading on a recognized stock exchange, subject to certain acceleration provisions. Shareholder approval of the Arrangement follows the receipt by the Company on November 6, 2018 of an interim order from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (Commercial List) (the "Court") authorizing various matters in connection with the Arrangement. The Company is seeking a final order of the Court to approve the Arrangement at a hearing expected to be held on December 10, 2018. The establishment of the Distribution Record Date remains subject to the satisfaction of all conditions to the Arrangement (including receipt of requisite corporate and Court approvals) and the approval of the Toronto Stock Exchange. The board of directors of the Company will determine the Distribution Record Date and the Effective Date following satisfaction of all of the conditions to the completion of the Arrangement. The Company will provide further updates on the Arrangement and the Distribution Record Date in due course. Full details of the Arrangement and certain other matters are set out in Circular, a copy of which together with other meeting materials can be found under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. ABOUT THE GREEN ORGANIC DUTCHMAN HOLDINGS LTD The Green Organic Dutchman Holdings Ltd. is a premium global organic cannabis company, with operations focused on medical cannabis markets in Canada, Europe, the Caribbean and Latin America and the Canadian adult-use market. The Company grows high quality, organic cannabis with sustainable, all-natural principles. TGOD's products are laboratory tested to ensure patients have access to a standardized, safe and consistent product. TGOD has a funded capacity of 170,000 kgs and is building 1,382,000 sq. ft. of cultivation facilities across Ontario, Quebec and Jamaica. TGOD's Common Shares and warrants issued under the indenture dated November 1, 2017 trade on the TSX under the symbol "TGOD" and "TGOD.WT", respectively. Forward-Looking Information Cautionary Statement This news release includes statements containing certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities law ("forward-looking statements"). Forward looking statements in this release includes, but is not limited to, statements about the future legalization of cannabis-infused products in Canada, statements about future research, development and innovation by the Company, statements about the offering of any particular products by the Company in any jurisdiction and statements regarding the future performance of the Company, the ability of the Company to receive, in a timely manner and on satisfactory terms, the necessary regulatory, court, and other third party approvals in connection with the Arrangement, the ability of the Company to satisfy, in a timely manner, the conditions to the closing of the Arrangement, and other expectations and assumptions concerning the Arrangement. The anticipated timing provided herein in connection with the Arrangement may change for a number of reasons, including the inability to secure necessary regulatory, court, or other third party approvals in the time assumed or the need for additional time to satisfy the other conditions necessary to complete the Arrangement. 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. 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 TSX nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of Toronto Stock Exchange) accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE The Green Organic Dutchman Holdings Ltd. NEW YORK, December 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- GSX Group, tZERO, SharesPost, and Techemy among founding members of the Verified Token Framework to provide interoperable security token guidelines A consortium of some of the most influential blockchain industry leaders have announced the launch of a common framework to facilitate market interoperability of security tokens. The Millbrook Accord, formed at the Blockchain South Leadership Summit 2018 at the Millbrook Resort in Queenstown, New Zealand, includes SharesPost, Techemy, tZERO, Gibraltar Stock Exchange (GSX) Group, Global Advisors, ERCDEX, NEM, HyperLink Capital, Alchemist Ventures, Bankorus, Blockchain Labs, and AnyPay. Governed by the Blockchain Token Association (BTA), the Millbrook Accord is a working group focused on the promotion and representation of Security Token initiatives, and the maturation of new digital asset classes. The accord's new Verified Token Framework (VTF) will provide leading industry guidelines on security token interoperability, and aims to become the foremost reference document, codebase, and community for the security token ecosystem. The core VTF codebase itself is open-source. Security tokens are digital assets representing traditional securities, including physical assets and equities, and are expected to serve as a fundamental pillar of the future of financial products. The addressable market for security tokens is estimated to be around $500 trillion USD, with investments in the new asset class having already exceeded $500 million USD in 2018 alone. The primary purpose of the Millbrook Accord is to put forward practical solutions in order to facilitate a more seamless process for verifying identities, navigating jurisdictions, and ensuring compliance among token holders, exchanges, and platforms. Saum Noursalehi, CEO of tZERO, said: "In order for the security token movement to grow, companies need to agree on an unbiased standard. The Verified Token Framework is a step toward ensuring that digital assets are interoperable and that the unique challenges presented by security tokens are addressed." In order to support continued collaboration and consensus-building in addressing some of the biggest obstacles to the continued expansion of the blockchain industry, the Millbrook Accord will hold quarterly bake-offs in locations all over the world, with the first being held in New York City. As part of these meetings, members will be encouraged to review and contribute to a new GitHub repository, which has been set up to help advance the accord's software goals. Jeff Pulver, Chairman of the Blockchain Token Association, said: "In the Voice over Internet Protocol era, we invited industry leaders to bring their production-ready code to quarterly bake-offs, where developers sought to make their code interoperable. The result was a free and open source set of standards, which ultimately led to interoperability of services. We believe a similar collaborative approach to technological advancement will assist in the acceleration of blockchain adoption and the maturation of the global security tokens ecosystem." Addressing the currently fragmented industry standards which result from differing regulatory requirements in global jurisdictions, the Millbrook Accord VTF aims to accelerate adoption and growth of tokenized securities by supporting industry alignment and collective focus to overcome a common challenge. In addition, the VTF codebase will include various regional compliance and feature requirements for security tokens. NEM, a founding member of the Millbrook Accord, will serve as the first non-Ethereum based blockchain implementation of the VTF through its protocol features, making the VTF the first formalized multi-chain effort for security tokens to date. Fran Strajnar, CEO and Founder of Techemy, said, "The members of the Millbrook Accord and the BTA have come together due to our shared belief that the security token industry is set to experience an interoperability crisis. Tokens issued by various groups will be incompatible between blockchains, within market participants, including the exchanges that will list them, as well as the custodians and broker dealers who will handle them. The Millbrook Accord is an effort to create an interoperable framework for security tokens, which can be adopted on any smart-contract enabled blockchain and in any country." Fran Strajnar, CEO of Techemy and Jeff Pulver, Chairman of the Blockchain Token Association are available for interview. About the Millbrook Accord: The Millbrook Accord is a working group formed by key drivers of the security token movement. Formed at the Blockchain South 2018 Leadership Summit at the Millbrook Resort, Queenstown, New Zealand, the Millbrook Accord sets out to provide solutions and industry guidelines surrounding the current complexities around security token interactions. Focusing on the development of interoperability solutions for the securities token market, the working group aims to provide practical solutions when it comes to navigating jurisdictions and ensuring compliance among token holders, exchanges, and platforms. Spearheaded by Techemy Ltd, the group's founding members include SharesPost, tZERO, GSX Group, Global Advisors, ERCDEX, NEM, HyperLink Capital, Alchemist Ventures, Bankorus, Blockchain Labs, AnyPay, and Wachsman. For more information, visit: VerifiedTokenFramework.com SOURCE Techemy CHICAGO, Dec. 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Aon's Impact Forecasting team today launches the latest edition of its monthly Global Catastrophe Recap report, which evaluates the impact of the natural disaster events that occurred worldwide during November 2018. The report reveals that a series of major wildfires burned across Northern and Southern California throughout the month; the most catastrophic, the Camp Fire in Butte County, largely destroyed the city of Paradise, killing 88 people with dozens of others unaccounted for. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, CalFire, cited that 19,357 homes and other structures were damaged or destroyed, making the Camp Fire the deadliest and most destructive on record in California. Additionally, three people were killed in the Woolsey Fire as the fire damaged or destroyed nearly 2,000 structures in Ventura and Los Angeles counties. Total aggregated economic losses for the fires were expected to minimally exceed USD10 billion, while insurance claims payouts for wildfires are set to exceed USD10 billion in the United States for the second year running. Steve Bowen, Impact Forecasting Director and Meteorologist, said: "With annual wildfire industry payouts expected to exceed USD10 billion for the second consecutive year in the United States, the standard assumption of wildfire being a secondary peril may evolve in the future. While insurers remain firmly in position to handle the volume of claims in the aftermath of recent events, these heightened losses put a further spotlight on the growing risk of the peril around the world. The growth of exposure into known fire locations and the prospect of more weather and climate-driven effects will require continued focus on mitigation initiatives." Meanwhile, Cyclone Gaja made landfall in southern India, causing widespread impacts across the states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The cyclone killed 46 people as damage was incurred to more than 117,500 homes. The overall economic impact was listed in excess of INR54 billion (USD775 million). Two other notable tropical cyclones made landfalls in November, both in Vietnam. Tropical Depression Toraji killed 19 people as damage reached at least VND396 billion (USD17.2 million). A weakened Typhoon Usagi brought record rainfall to the greater Ho Chi Minh metro area. Minimum economic damage was listed at VND347 billion (USD15 million). Further natural hazard events to have occurred worldwide during November include: A major magnitude-7.0 earthquake struck just north of Anchorage, Alaska on November 30 , causing widespread damage to residential and commercial property in addition to local transportation and utility infrastructure. Total economic losses were expected to exceed USD100 million . on , causing widespread damage to residential and commercial property in addition to local transportation and utility infrastructure. Total economic losses were expected to exceed . Parts of Italy and Spain dealt with complex storm systems and flooding during the end of October into November. In Italy alone, dozens of fatalities were recorded as the inclement weather killed dozens of people. Economic damage was expected to be more than EUR3.0 billion ( USD3.4 billion ). In Spain , one person was killed as flooding caused severe damage to infrastructure and agriculture. Crop damage in the Valencian region alone will range from EUR70 -120 million ( USD80 -140 million). and dealt with complex storm systems and flooding during the end of October into November. In alone, dozens of fatalities were recorded as the inclement weather killed dozens of people. Economic damage was expected to be more than ( ). In , one person was killed as flooding caused severe damage to infrastructure and agriculture. Crop damage in the Valencian region alone will range from -120 million ( -140 million). Strong thunderstorms impacted central areas of Chile with large hail and intense rainfall, causing notable agricultural damage. Agricultural industry authorities estimated that economic losses were likely to approach USD200 million . Among the worst affected areas were the O'Higgins and Maule regions. with large hail and intense rainfall, causing notable agricultural damage. Agricultural industry authorities estimated that economic losses were likely to approach . Among the worst affected areas were the O'Higgins and Maule regions. Severe weather events also occurred in the United States and Australia . and . Heavy rainfall swept across parts of the Middle East , prompting flash flooding and dozens of casualties. Damage in Kuwait alone was listed at KWD100 million ( USD330 million ). , prompting flash flooding and dozens of casualties. Damage in alone was listed at ( ). Winter storm events caused notable damage and disruption in the United States and China . To view the full Impact Forecasting November 2018 Global Catastrophe Recap report, please follow the link: http://bit.ly/if-recap-nov-2018 Along with the report, users can access current and historical natural catastrophe data and event analysis on Impact Forecasting's Catastrophe Insight website, which is updated bi-monthly as new data become available: http://catastropheinsight.aon.com Further information For further information please contact the Reinsurance Solutions PR team: Andrew Wragg (+44 207 522 8183 / 07595 217168) David Bogg or Alexandra Lewis Follow Aon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Aon_plc For information on Aon plc. and to sign-up for news alerts: http://aon.mediaroom.com Notes to Editors Aon (NYSE: AON) announced in May 2018 it will retire the business unit brands of Aon Benfield and Aon Risk Solutions, which follows the retirement of the Aon Hewitt business unit brand in 2017. This move was designed to increase the rate of innovation across the firm and make it easier for colleagues to work together to bring the best of Aon to clients. Aon has five specific global solution lines: Commercial Risk Solutions, Reinsurance Solutions, Retirement Solutions, Health Solutions and Data & Analytic Services. SOURCE Aon plc Related Links http://www.aon.com/ PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey (UWGPSNJ), in partnership with The Chris Long Foundation, is launching a 25-day crowdfunding initiative to amplify the impact of the First Quarter for Literacy campaign, an initiative of Philadelphia Eagles Defensive End Chris Long to help Philadelphia area children improve their reading skills. The First Quarter for Literacy initiative will put new books into the hands of 5,000 local children. This "Second Quarter for Literacy" push is designed to amplify the impact of Long's initial investment by making additional strategic investments into programs designed to help more children throughout the region read on grade level by the end of third grade. UWGPSNJ hopes to raise at least $25,000 through crowdfunding efforts and will match donations, dollar for dollar, up to $100,000 from United Way's Innovation Fund. "You'd be hard-pressed to find a more inspiring community champion than Chris Long, who has been committed to using his platform and resources to do a tremendous amount of good in the communities where he has lived and played," says Bill Golderer, president and CEO of UWGPSNJ. "In that spirit, we are challenging each and every member of the Greater Philadelphia region to get off the sidelines to support our youngest learners." Grade level reading by 4th grade is a critical milestone, as children begin to transition from learning to read, to reading to learn. Children who are not reading on grade level by fourth grade are four times more likely to drop out of high school than proficient readers. According to Philadelphia's Read by 4th campaign, which is funded by United Way and approximately two dozen other funders, "by the start of the 2016-2017 school year nearly two thirds of children in Philadelphia entered the 4th grade unable to read at grade level." To combat this problem, contributions to the Second Quarter for Literacy initiative will help: Expand the Parent-Child Home Program to provide more families in need with the knowledge, skills, and materials they need to prepare their children for success in pre-K and beyond Launch a 1:1 interactive, web-based tutoring program designed for use in classrooms for grades 1-3 Expand Philadelphia's Read by 4th campaign into suburban communities "Every child deserves the chance to succeed in school and in life, and that starts with being able to read on grade level. Together with United Way, I want to help level the playing field so that all children have the resources and supports they need to build these critical skills," says Long. "This is a huge challenge, so we're only going to be successful if we all chip in what we can. Every donation no matter what size can make a life-changing impact." The Second Quarter for Literacy will run through Monday, December 31. Contributions can be made at gofundme.com/2nd-quarter-for-literacy with opportunities to receive rewards and prizes for giving while supplies last. For more information about UWGPSNJ's work to improve early literacy and end intergenerational poverty, visit UnitedForImpact.org. For more information about Chris Long's First Quarter for Literacy initiative, visit FirstQuarterForLiteracy.org. SOURCE United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey Related Links www.UnitedForImpact.org The memo issued by Mueller in regard to the Trump administration's former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, who sat for 19 interviews with the Special Counsel's Office, read: "The defendant also provided useful information concerning __________." The majority of the memo was redacted, like a teaser trailer for what is yet to come. Surely this will be a defining moment of our time and, indeed, the entire world is watching to learn what the OSC has uncoveredand will continue to uncoverduring its investigation of alleged Russian government interference in the 2016 election. Iconic brands require leadership, consistency, and determination. The OSC has all three, with steadfast leadership from Mueller and a commitment to adhere to its mission to uncover the truth and hold those in violation of the law accountable. While there was initially bipartisan support of the office, criticism from Trump and his supporters in the conservative media has grown. Yet the office continues to be unwavering in carrying out its civic duties for the people of our country. Brands cannot become icons without leadership. While we recognize the Special Counsel's Office as the 2019 "Brand to Watch," Robert Mueller is a notable figure to watch and we urge him to be named Time's Person of the Year. As Mr. Mueller continues to lead his team in the investigation in the coming year, we are watching and waiting for answers, accountability, and justice for all. Join us today, Friday, December 7, 2018, at Brandstand at SVA Theatre in New York City, where "Brand to Watch" in 2019 will be announced. RSVP here or email Emily Weiland to be added to the press list. Press contact: Emily Weiland, Director of Operations SVA Masters in Branding Program [email protected] 1 (803) 840-1843 ABOUT THE UNITED STATES OFFICE OF SPECIAL COUNSEL The Special Counsel's Office, currently led by Robert Mueller, is a permanent independent federal investigative and prosecutorial agency whose basic authorities come from four federal statutes: the Civil Service Reform Act, the Whistleblower Protection Act, the Hatch Act, and the Uniformed Services Employment & Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA). The OSC protects federal employees from prohibited personnel practices, especially reprisal for whistleblowing, and investigates allegations of prohibited activities. ABOUT DEBBIE MILLMAN Named "one of the most creative people working in business" by Fast Company, Debbie Millman is an author, educator, brand strategist, and host of the podcast, Design Matters. For 20 years, she was President of the design division at Sterling Brands, where she worked with over 200 of the world's largest brands. In 2009, she cofounded the world's first graduate program in branding at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. ABOUT THE SVA MASTERS IN BRANDING PROGRAM The Master of Professional Studies in Branding, the first of its kind, is a one-year graduate degree program that examines the relationship between design and strategy, and the power of design thinking as a way to combine creative skills with the problem-solving and decision-making processes of design and business. SOURCE School of Visual Arts Related Links http://branding.sva.edu DUBLIN, Dec. 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The "The Global Vinyl Chloride Market" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. According to a recently conducted research about the global vinyl chloride market, as an overall, it is projected to reach approximately 55,536 thousand tons by the end of 2023, increasing at a CAGR of around 4% per year in the period 2017-2023. The report focuses on both product and regional breakdown, offering a larger perspective on the market dynamics. Although vinyl chloride is predominantly used for the production of PVC, the analysis also considers other applications of vinyl chloride. In particular, the largest share of vinyl chloride consumption is for the production of PVC, which accounted for around 99% of the total in volume terms. Meanwhile, the chemical's application for other usages has been growing with the impressive rate of about 17.35% per year. Regionally, the largest global vinyl chloride market was North East Asia, which accounted for about 50% of the total in volume terms. In comparison, Africa was the smallest global vinyl chloride market during the analyzed period and is expected to remain such in the medium term. Vinyl chloride is highly dependent on the development of end-use markets such as construction and piping industries, since as the most commonly used thermoplastic, PVC is being utilized in the production of a variety of products, such as pipes and fittings, wires and cables, sheets, blow molded bottles, windows, doors, roofing, automotive parts. One of the leading trends on the market is connected with the continuous improvements of the manufacturing technology, prompted by the emerging safety and environmental requirements. Commercial production of vinyl chloride was initially based on the catalytic hydrochlorination of acetylene. However, this route requires high energy costs and is now obsolete everywhere but in China where ample coal supplies have kept the cheap alternative in business. Presently, more than 90% of the global vinyl chloride production outside of China is based on ethylene. What is more, most of the modern vinyl chloride plants use integrated processes, which combine endothermic and exothermic reactions, resulting in an almost energy balanced operation. Regionally, the Chinese government started a series of environmental inspections before the start of the G20 conference held in Hangzhou, China in early September 2016. As a result, numerous Chinese vinyl facilities have lowered their operating rates, or even shut down. Actually, after the conference, the Chinese government continued with the environmental inspections, which caused relatively low domestic PVC production resulting in tight supply and soaring prices. In addition, India's economy has been growing and the vinyl chloride demand also, prompted by the significant infrastructure demand and housing projects. As for North American market, demand growth in the US has been steady at about 3% as the construction activity continues to recover from the 2008-2009 financial crisis. Furthermore, due to the cheap ethane feedstock from shale gas, there has been a gradual expansion of the US vinyl chloride and PVC production and export over the past few years. Key Topics Covered 1. Introduction 2. Executive Summary 3. Characteristics of Vinyl Chloride 4. State of the Global Demographics and Economy 5. Overview and Analysis of the Global Vinyl Chloride Market 6. Overview and Analysis of the Global Production of Vinyl Chloride 7. Characteristics and Analysis of the Global Prices of Vinyl Chloride 8. Overview and Analysis of the Global Imports of Vinyl Chloride 9. Overview and Analysis of the Global Exports of Vinyl Chloride 10. Balance Between Supply and Demand on the Global Vinyl Chloride Market Companies Featured Egyptian Styrenics Tahrir Petrochemicals Ineos Styrolution Synthos Kralupy Total Petrochemicals BASF Ineos Styrenics Plastik Sibur-Khimprom Kian Petrochemical Pars Petrochemical Tabriz Pc Kuwait Styrene Jubail Chevron Phillips Sadaf Americas Styrenics Cos-Mar Ineos Styrolution Lyondellbasell Industries Ineos Styrolution Shell Canada Ltd. Pemex Petroquimica Abel Chemical Guangxi South Gulf Pc Liaoning Bora Petrochemical Maoming Petrochemical Shihua Nanshan Group Co Ningxia Baofeng Energy Wanhua Chemical Xinjiang Dushanzi Tianli Pampa Energia Cia Brasil. De Estireno Edn Estireno Do Nordeste Petroquimica Innova and more... For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/zrzj4n/vinyl_chloride?w=5 Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. Media Contact: Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com DUBLIN, Dec. 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Oil & Gas Sensors Market by Type (Pressure, Level, Flow,Temperature), Connectivity (Wired, Wireless), Application (Remote Monitoring, Condition Monitoring, Analysis), Sector (Upstream, Midstream, Downstream), and Region - AGlobal Forecast to 2023" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The global oil & gas sensors market is projected to reach a size of USD 9.4 Billion by 2023 from an estimated USD 7.4 billion in 2018 at a CAGR of 4.81%. This growth can be attributed to the increasing demand for sensors due to capacity addition in the refinery sector and the growth in the IoT sector. By Type, pressure sensor segment is expected to be the largest contributor in the oil & gas sensor market during the forecast period The report segments the oil & gas sensor market, by type, into pressure sensor, level sensor, temperature sensor, flow sensor, and others including vibration sensor. The pressure sensor type segment is expected to hold the largest market share by 2023. Factors such as increased focus on augmenting production from oil & gas wells and improved economic and operational benefits provided by technology are expected to drive the pressure sensor market. Wired sensor accounts for the largest market share during the forecast period The oil & gas sensor market, by connectivity, is segmented into wired and wireless sensor. The wired segment is expected to dominate the oil & gas sensor market by 2023. Increasing exploration and production activities in the oil & gas industry would result in growth of sensor installation. This would drive the market for wired sensors because of its high reliability as wired sensors are directly linked to the device that receives the input. By sector, the downstream segment is expected to grow at the fastest rate during the forecast period The downstream segment is expected to grow at the fastest rate during the forecast period. Downstream sector includes refining of petroleum crude oil, processing and purifying natural gas, and distribution of products derived from crude oil and natural gas. Asia Pacific is the largest consumer of oil & gas sensors, with oil & gas investment increasing in countries such as India, China, and Japan. Asia Pacific is expected to be the largest market for oil & gas sensors during the forecast period In this report, the oil & gas sensors market has been analyzed with respect to 5 regions, namely, North America, Europe, South America, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East & Africa. Asia Pacific is estimated to be the largest oil & gas sensors market from 2018 to 2023. Increasing adoption of industrial automation in emerging countries such as India and China are some of the key factors responsible for the growth of the oil & gas sensors market in this region. Moreover, according to IBEF, ONGC (India) is investing USD 2.73 billion on drilling oil & gas wells from 2018 to 2019. In addition, Saudi Aramco is planning to invest in the downstream sector in India. Such factors would drive the oil & gas sensors market in the country. The major players in the global oil & gas sensors market are Emerson (US), ABB (Switzerland), Siemens (Germany), Rockwell (US), Honeywell (US), Fortive (US), and General Electric (US), among others. Honeywell focuses on innovation and development of the products for various oil & gas processes. It provides a comprehensive offering of sensors for the oil & gas industry, which help customers in achieving better energy efficiencies. Market Developments Siemens introduced a new generation temperature transmitter for various sensor types that provide results in extreme temperatures up to -5 degree Celsius. It uses 4 wire connection for both sensors SITRANS TH420 and TR420 to increase data accuracy and reliability. ABB expanded its operations network with a new collaborative operations center for the oil, gas, and chemical industries in Norway . . Emerson introduced a new platform for its Rosemount X-well technology for surface sensing temperature measurement solutions. Fortive (Gems Sensors) launched a new Ultrasonic Level Sensor, XLS-1. The ultrasonic sensing technology enables the level sensor to sense oil, water, and harsh chemicals, while ignoring foam and condensation. Key Topics Covered 1 Introduction 1.1 Objectives of the Study 1.2 Definition 1.3 Market Scope 1.3.1 Market Segmentation 1.3.2 Regional Scope 1.4 Years Considered for the Study 1.5 Currency 1.6 Stakeholders 2 Research Methodology 2.1 Research Data 2.1.1 Secondary Data 2.1.1.1 Key Secondary Sources 2.1.2 Primary Data 2.1.2.1 Key Data From Primary Sources 2.1.2.2 Key Industry Insights 2.1.2.3 Breakdown of Primaries 2.2 Market Size Estimation 2.2.1 Bottom-Up Approach 2.2.2 Top-Down Approach 2.3 Market Breakdown & Data Triangulation 2.4 Assumptions 3 Executive Summary 4 Premium Insights 4.1 Oil & Gas Sensors Market, By Country 4.2 Oil & Gas Sensors Market, By Connectivity 4.3 Oil & Gas Sensors Market, By Type 4.4 Oil & Gas Sensors Market, By Application 4.5 Oil & Gas Sensors Market, By Sector 4.6 Asia Pacific Oil & Gas Sensors Market 5 Market Overview 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Market Dynamics 5.2.1 Drivers 5.2.1.1 Increasing Adoption of Ultrasonic Sensors 5.2.1.2 Increasing Demand for Sensors Due to Refining Capacity Additions 5.2.1.3 Growing Iot in Oil & Gas Industry 5.2.2 Restraints 5.2.2.1 Rising Investment in the Renewable Sector Would Affect the Demand for Sensors 5.2.3 Opportunities 5.2.3.1 Increasing Unconventional Drilling Techniques Such as Mpd and Directional Drilling 5.2.3.2 Growing Offshore Investments 5.2.4 Challenges 5.2.4.1 Low Acceptance Level Toward Adopting New Technologies 6 Oil & Gas Sensors Market, By Type 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Pressure Sensor 6.2.1 34 6.3 Temperature Sensor 6.4 Level Sensor 6.5 Flow Sensor 6.6 Others 7 Oil & Gas Sensors Market, By Application 7.1 Introduction 7.2 Remote Monitoring 7.2.1 Asia Pacific is Projected to Be the Largest Market for Remote Monitoring 7.3 Condition Monitoring & Maintenance 7.3.1 North America is Projected to Be the Fastest Growing Market for Condition Monitoring & Maintenance 7.4 Analysis & Simulation 7.4.1 North America is Expected to Hold the Largest Market Share 8 Oil & Gas Sensors Market, By Connectivity 8.1 Introduction 8.2 Wired 8.2.1 North America is Expected to Be the Fastest Growing Market 8.3 Wireless 8.3.1 Wireless is Expected to Be the Fastest Growing Segment 9 Oil & Gas Sensors, By Sector 9.1 Introduction 9.2 Upstream 9.3 Midstream 9.4 Downstream 10 Oil & Gas Sensors Market, By Region 10.1 Introduction 10.2 North America 10.3 Asia Pacific 10.4 Europe 10.5 Middle East & Africa 10.6 South America 11 Competitive Landscape 11.1 Introduction 11.2 Market Share Analysis 11.3 Competitive Scenario 12 Company Profiles 12.1 Benchmarking 13 Company Profile 13.1 Honeywell 13.2 Emerson 13.3 Lord 13.4 Siemens 13.5 ABB Ltd. 13.6 Fortive 13.7 Rockwell 13.8 Indutrade 13.9 MTS Sensor Technology GmbH & Co. KG 13.10 General Electric (GE) 13.11 BD Sensors 13.12 Bosch 13.13 TE Connectivity For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/43b6rs/worldwide_oil_and?w=5 Media Contact: Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com Bailey called the current moment "unquestionably troubling times not a period of 'we,' as it should be, but rather one of 'us and them.''' He cited global issues such as the rise of repressive regimes, growing intolerance and the othering of fellow human beings, and domestic ones such as a widening gap between haves and have nots, and the de facto re-segregation of American schools. In addition, he said, American higher education is facing "unprecedented skepticism" about its value and purpose. "A substantial portion of the country sees higher education as lacking intellectual diversity, while soaring student debt is falling most heavily on those students least able to pay it off. Many critics and citizens are asking: Is college really worth it? Do public institutions deserve the funding they receive? Do private colleges and universities earn the ever-increasing tuition that they charge?" Bailey argued that Teachers College should view meeting its own challenges and addressing the world's problems as one and the same endeavor. The College "stands at the forefront of new knowledge about learning and human development across the lifespan" and has been a leader in shaping inquiry and practice in education, health and psychology. Still, "by building a stronger and more effective Teachers College, we will strengthen our ability to build a stronger and more just world," he said, "and by truly marshaling our resources to achieve our broader social goals, we will become a stronger and more effective and sustainable institution." In offering a blueprint for achieving what he called "the power of we," Bailey drew on his own past experience in leading TC's Community College Research Center, which, during his tenure, played a major role in shifting the nation's two-year colleges from merely providing education access to a focus on ensuring that students complete their degrees and emerge with the skills to succeed in work and life. After years of studying different strategies, and helping to pilot-test many of them, Bailey and his associates developed Guided Pathways, a comprehensive strategy (since adopted by more than a fifth of the nation's community colleges) that addresses all of students' needs. [See Bailey's book Redesigning America's Community Colleges: A Clearer Path to Student Success (Harvard University Press 2015), coauthored with Shanna Smith Jaggars and Davis Jenkins.] Teachers College, too, must focus on creating comprehensive solutions, Bailey said. To that end, he proposed "a guided pathways model" for the College that will require "the courage to make difficult choices" but ultimately enable TC "to take full advantage of all of our great strengths and flourish well into the future." First and foremost, Bailey said, TC must better support its own students' pathways, from recruitment, through programs and internships, to career services, placement and beyond. The College must also develop its many small programs "so that they work in concert and are synchronized and conducted with reference to one another"improvements that will make TC "a place that our students and funders can better understand, navigate, and support" while also enabling stronger "recruitment and continuous professional development of our faculty." And TC must do more within its own walls to ensure "respect for equity, diversity, and a commitment to collegiality," including valuing others' perspectives "not just in spite of how different their experience and political views might be, but because of those differences." The inauguration ceremony also included remarks by New York City Council member Mark Levine (7th District), Adriano Espaillat, New York Congressman (13th congressional district) and Teachers College alumna Belinda Miles, President of Westchester Community College. From within the College, speakers included William D. Rueckert, Chair of TC's Board of Trustees (and descendent of TC founder Grace Hoadley Dodge); and representatives from TC's faculty, staff, union employees, students and alumni. Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz, Associate Professor of English Education, delivered an original poem she wrote in Bailey's honor, titled "Creating Pathways Where There Were None Before." Twitter: @TeachersCollege and #TCinauguration CONTACT: James Gardner, [email protected], 212-678-3898, or Patricia Lamiell, [email protected], 212-678-3979 SOURCE Teachers College, Columbia University Related Links http://www.tc.edu United Nations, Dec 7 : The UN General Assembly has failed to adopt a US drafted resolution condemning Hamas. Backed by US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, the draft was going to condemn Hamas' rocket attacks against Israel, and it was the first drafted UNGA resolution to condemn the Palestinian resistance. Before the vote on Thursday, a separate vote was held by the General Assembly to decide the majority it would need to pass the resolution, Xinhua reported. The US asked for a simple majority, while Kuwait asked for a two-thirds majority. The Kuwaiti request won as a result. The draft received 87 votes in favour, 58 against, and 32 abstentions, which failed to win the required two-thirds majority in the UN General Assembly. All the Arab countries voted against the resolution. The UN General Assembly also voted on a resolution pushed by the Palestinian Authority. It included condemnation of Israeli settlements and a reference to the parameters of a future peace agreement. The resolution was adopted with only 6 votes against it. Washington, Dec 7 : Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team could reveal new details in its ongoing probe into possible Russian collusion on Friday due to court filing deadlines involving President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and former lawyer Michael Cohen. Mueller's office has a Friday deadline to explain to the court why it accused Manafort of lying to investigators and breaking his cooperation deal, CNN reported. Manafort's plea deal was thrown for a loop last week when Mueller's team accused the former campaign chairman of lying to them after he pleaded guilty to two conspiracy crimes and began cooperating with the Russia probe. The Special Counsel must now explain exactly why it believes Manafort lied and what he lied about. A spokesman for Mueller's office has said at least part of the Manafort memo would be made public. Separately, the Special Counsel's office and federal prosecutors in New York have to provide memos to recommend a sentence for Cohen -- filings that are expected to detail how he has cooperated in multiple investigations. Cohen's case took a twist last week when he pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about the extent of talks with Trump involving Trump Tower Moscow, which he had said ended in January 2016. Discussions about the project went as late as June 2016, his plea revealed and Cohen said in court that he lied "out of loyalty to Individual-1", a reference to Trump. The memos from Mueller come the same week that the Mueller's office said in court on Tuesday that Trump's former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn provided "substantial assistance" to the Special Counsel's office and should not receive jail time, CNN reported. On Friday, former FBI Director James Comey will testify behind closed doors before the House Judiciary and Oversight committees for a Republican-led probe into the origins of the agency's Russia investigation. Also Friday, George Papadopoulos -- the first person to plead guilty in the Mueller probe -- is being released from prison after serving a two-week sentence. Hyderabad, Dec 7 : Superstar K. Chiranjeevi and Akkineni Nagarjuna were among top celebrities from the Telugu film industry who cast their votes in the Telangana Assembly elections on Friday. Well-known director Rajamouli and actors Venkatesh, Allu Arjun and Nithin were also among the Tollywood personalities who exercised their franchise at various polling stations in Jubliee Hills here. They appealed to all citizens to come out and to exercise their democratic right. Actor-politician Chiranjeevi along with his wife K. Surekha stood in queue along with commoners and exercised their franchise. Chiranjeevi later told reporters that it is the duty of each and everyone to cast his vote. The former central minister and Congress party leader, however, parried questions about politics. "I came to here to cast my vote as a common citizen," he said when asked about the prospects of Congress-led People's Front. Chiranjeevi, who had been focusing on films last four years, stayed away from campaigning in Telangana. Popular actor Nagarjuna and with his wife Amla Akkineni also cast their votes. "It's your day. Come out and cast your vote instead of just complaining," he said. Polling to elect a new state Assembly was underway in Telangana in all of the 119 constituencies in the first full-fledged elections in the country's youngest state. New York, Dec 7 : CNN's offices and studios here were evacuated on Thursday night because of a phoned-in bomb threat. But police and the network have issued an all-clear message saying it was safe. "The NYPD (New York Police Department) has now given us the all clear, and employees have been permitted to return to the building,"CNN Worldwide president Jeff Zucker said in an internal memo to staff on Friday. "The building is secure and safe for everyone to return in the morning. We appreciate the swift action by the local authorities, and the patience and professionalism of all the employees who were impacted." The threat was not substantiated, the NYPD tweeted. The threat came on Thursday night when a caller indicated there were five devices in the building, according to a law enforcement source. Several fire alarm bells rang inside the newsroom, signaling an evacuation shortly after the call was received. Staffers evacuated the offices in the Time Warner Centre building. The network temporarily went to taped programming for about half hour before going live from the street while police investigated. The network's bureau was evacuated in October after a package with an explosive device, addressed to former CIA Director John Brennan, was discovered, officials said. That package was among more than a dozen improvised explosive devices sent to prominent Democratic politicians and donors around the country in October. None of the devices detonated, and no one was injured. Suspect Cesar Sayoc, 56, was charged with five federal crimes and is currently in custody waiting for trail. If convicted, he could receive up to 48 years in prison. New Delhi : Had his dreams remained just dreams, Dharmendra could well have been driving a tractor in the verdant fields of Punjab all through the years during which he was, instead, one of the biggest stars of Hindi cinema. Born Dharminder Singh Deol on 8 December 1935 in Nasrali, a peaceful village in Ludhiana district, Punjab, to schoolteacher Kewal Kishan Singh and Satwant Kaur, his family had its roots in the nearby less-than-a-dot-on-the-map village of Dangon, near Pakhowal, Ludhiana. Dharminder Singh spent his early life in the village of Sahnewal and studied at Government Senior Secondary School at Lalton Kalan in Ludhiana district, where his father was the headmaster. He later did his Intermediate from Ramgarhia College, Phagwara, in 1952. This multitude of places associated with him, as he grew into his teenage years, became the raison d'etre for the many differences of views about his roots. Never mind if, today, Dharminder Singh, known to the world as Dharmendra (meaning the God of religion), belongs to not just the entire country, but perhaps, to the globe. Wherever Indian cinema is watched and cherished, he is, simply, one of the biggest and longest-lasting stellar entities, belonging to what is now the biggest film industry in the world... Dharmendra spoke to me about his early ambitions during our first interview meeting in 2011. Since he was a simple boy from Punjab who wanted to set out to enter the big, bad world of films, how had his family reacted? The actor told me, 'My father wasn't happy because he was not too sure of the outcome, and of what would happen if I met with failure. My mother, however, was always supportive.' So the obvious question that comes to mind is: Why did the young Dharam have stardust in his eyes? Candidly, he said, 'I was in awe of the stars like Dilip (Kumar) saab, Raj (Kapoor) saab and even heroines like Nargis, Madhubala and Vyjayanthimala. But my ambitions were quite restricted! My big dream and my simple prayer to God was my pictures being present everywhere, just like those of my idols.' A naive and simple Dharmendra was not at all bothered whether he earned no money, a little money, or a lot! He said: 'My goal was very simple -- one flat and one Fiat (car)! When I came to Bombay -- that's what Mumbai was known as then -- I only had my dreams. I was an untutored villager, with no idea of acting. I wasn't even aware [that] I was good-looking until I began getting movie offers because of my good looks. When I arrived here, I was in fact shocked by the lifestyles of the stars -- it was far different from what I had imagined back in Punjab!' So, what had actually stirred the pot and made the lad wish to get into films? What was, so to speak, the churning point? The answer to this was as simple as the man himself: Years ago, he had gone with his uncle for a relative's wedding to a nearby town. He was about twelve or thirteen years old at the time, studying in Class Eight, when he got to watch (the result of a promise made by the uncle as an incentive to attend the wedding) a film called "Shaheed" at the Minerva cinema in Ludhiana. And that did it! Suddenly, life changed for the young boy. The images from the film began to haunt him. Nothing else was of any interest. His mother continued to tell the boy fairy tales and inspirational stories; the grocer in the village continued his spell of ghost stories, but young Dharam was no longer the avid listener. He believed in the boy Ram from the film, who grew up to be a freedom fighter enacted by the famous Dilip Kumar. He felt Ram and he were brothers. He began to spend a lot of time on his own, with thoughts of the little boy (interestingly played by one Sashi Kapur, who had nothing to do with Shashi Kapoor!) from Shaheed for 'company'. He felt that he knew and understood him, and he certainly wanted to be like him and grow up to be -- in an interesting interplay of reel and real -- Dilip Kumar! Years passed and Dharam grew into a strapping young man. He even joined an American drilling company as what he now calls 'a mechanic'. Around this time, it is said Dharam Singh lost his virginity to an older woman, and also had his first drink in the company of his American colleagues from the drilling company. In 1954, he married Prakash Kaur. But the ambitions of becoming an actor continued to seethe within him like lava waiting to erupt from a dormant volcano. His visits to Ludhiana city to watch films became more and more frequent. Dharam found these to-and-fro journeys tedious, but everything was worth it just to watch the great actors he had come to adore and wanted to emulate... (Extracted from "Dharmendra, Not Just A He-Man: A Biography" by Rajiv Vijayakar, with permission from Rupa Publications) New Delhi : Is humanity in peril due to climate change? The much-publicised underwater meeting of the Maldavian cabinet 2009, just about two months before the 15th UN Conference on Climate Change (COP 15), was deemed to have already responded to that question, albeit symbolically. Maldavian ministers, led by then President Mohamed Nasheed, literally went down in the shallow waters off the island of Girifushi, one of the nearly 1,000 that make the Maldives most vulnerable to climate change. They then got down to the business of governance by communicating through hand gestures. Some critics dismissed that meeting as a publicity stunt. Many in the diplomatic world, however, judged it a remarkable and bold gesture. It was considered a clarion call to global consciousness on issues that must be hammered out at the COP 15 in Copenhagen. The most intense climate campaigner among the then Heads of State, Nasheed wanted to create awareness about not just the plight of the small-island countries in the wake of the rise in sea levels but also the extinction of life on Earth as hinted in the report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that went on to win the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. Come 2018 -- and three years after Paris Climate Agreement -- COP 24 is now being held, literally, on top of one of Poland's deep coal mines. It is yet not clear if it is another bold experiment by Poland's young President, Andrzej Duda, to draw the attention of the international community to the darker side of the long and fatally flawed international efforts in addressing one of the deadly sources of climate change. The conference is underway (December 2-14) in the region called the Upper Silesian Basin, known for the deep mines of lignite, hard and dirty coal. These are not just Poland's largest operating coal mines, but the mine workers there are the key deciding factors in Polish politics. The conference venue, Katowice, not far from Krakow where President Duda comes from, is in a busy mining area with strong political clout. The region is the home to the European Union's largest coal producers. Needless to emphasise, ownership of these coal mines is not just Polish but other European countries as well. So, the roots of the mining are not only deep but, in a globalised world, have spread far and wide. As if to broadcast the "reality-show" and to make the green movement extremely anxious, many of the events on the margins of COP 24 are financed by the coal-mining companies. Until the affordable access to alternate fuel that provides similar employment and prosperity to Polish workers, sticking with coal is the only option for the Polish government. To hammer home the point, the government recently announced it is planning to invest in the construction of a new coal mine in Silesia. By selecting it as venue for COP 24, Poland is making audacious efforts to raise global consciousness and awareness on the stark ground reality of the global war to tackle one of the greatest challenges of our times. A positive message from Katowice and the Upper Silesian basin is that the world needs to eliminate coal through techno-political-social solutions and not just through "clean coal"-like soft technological options. What is the stark and dark reality? Nearly 80 per cent of the electricity in Poland is derived from coal. Globally, coal is the single-largest contributor to the Green House Gas (GHG) emissions, in this case carbon dioxide. On a weight-by-weight basis, coal produces 30 per cent more GHGs than oil and 50 per cent more than natural gas. It is also the major contributor to air pollution that is now a life-threatening menace in the urbanised world. Coal mining is also a significant source of emission of methane, which has even more global-warming potential than carbon dioxide. Widespread use of lower quality coal to heat homes, especially in the colder months, has led to smog and respiratory illnesses in Poland's southern cities, as in many emerging economies like India and China. So, this black gold is now called dirty and anti-environmental in all its characters. But historically, coal has been serving humanity for ages for heating, cooking, steaming, lighting, manufacturing and electrifying. It was instrumental in triggering and spreading the industrial revolution that started with steam engines in the mid-18th century and has provided direct and indirect employment to billions. To be fair, Poland is not the only country that uses coal to meet a major part of its energy needs. Globally, 40 per cent of the energy is produced by burning coal. China, India, the US are the three largest emitters of GHGs, most of which come from coal. In the US, the fracking revolution has in recent years reduced the use of coal for electricity to 30 per cent. So, will delegates from all over the world to COP 24 get the symbolic message of President Duda in hosting the Climate Conference of world leaders on top of a coal mine? (The author is Chairman TERRE Policy centre and former director UNEP. The views expressed are personal. He can be contacted atshende.rajendra@gmail.com) Lucknow, Dec 7 : Two people were killed on Friday in Uttar Pradesh's Jaunpur district of when the car they were travelling in fell into a roadside ditch, police said. The accident took place near Aliganj when the driver lost control on a small bridge and dived into the ditch. According to the police, two other people were critically injured. Manila, Dec 7 : Philippine communist rebels on Friday declared a unilateral Christmas ceasefire, six months after the collapse of peace talks with the government. In a statement, the central committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines - which will mark its 50th anniversary on December 26 - announced that its armed wing, the outlawed New People's Army (NPA), will not attack government forces from December 24 to 26 and from December 31 to January 1, 2019, reports Efe news. "During the days covered by this temporary ceasefire declaration, all units of the NPA and people's militias shall cease and desist from carrying out offensive military campaigns and operations against uniformed armed personnel," the statement said. The ceasefire can be cancelled in the event of a government offensive, or extended if conditions remained positive, it added. It has been customary for the Philippine government and the communist rebels to declare a Christmas ceasefire since the start of formal talks in the late 1980s. The current peace negotiations began in August 2016 after President Rodrigo Duterte took office and the two sides had declared a ceasefire that lasted until February 2017, when the rebels unilaterally broke the truce due over disagreements with the negotiations that were being carried out in Oslo, before backing out from the talks in June this year. The NPA, founded in 1969 and listed as a terrorist organisation by the US and the European Union, is among the oldest Communist guerrilla groups in Asia. It will turn 50 in 2019, and has some 6,000 regular troops waging a revolutionary armed struggle that has led to more than 40,000 deaths in the last five decades. Canberra, Dec 7 : Australia on Friday passed controversial laws designed to compel technology companies to grant police and security agencies access to encrypted messages. The government has said that the laws, a world first, are necessary to help combat terrorism and crime, the BBC reported. The laws were rushed through parliament on its final day of the year. The Labor opposition said it had reluctantly supported the laws to help protect Australians during the Christmas period, but on Friday it said that "legitimate concerns" about them remained. Cyber-security experts have warned the laws could now create a "global weak point" for companies such as Facebook and Apple. Australia already has laws which require providers to hand over a suspect's communication to police. Under Australia's legislation, the police can force companies to create a technical function that would give them access to encrypted messages without the user's knowledge. If companies don't comply with the laws, they risk being fined. Jaipur, Dec 7 : Close to 23 per cent polling was recorded in the first three hours of the Rajasthan Assembly elections on Friday. According to the state Chief Electoral Officer's office here, 22.77 per cent of over 4.74 crore voters had cast their votes by 11 a.m. The polling, which began on a dull note at 8 a.m., picked up speed in the last two hours. Voting will continue till 5 p.m. Long queues of voters, including women, were seen, especially in rural areas. There are 2,274 candidates in the fray for the 200-member Assembly. Of them, 189 women are contesting in 199 constituencies. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is fighting anti-incumbency to retain power, is contesting on all seats while the Congress has left five seats for its allies. The election in Alwar district's Ramgarh constituency has been postponed due to the death of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate Laxman Singh. The Mayawati-led BSP has fielded 190 candidates, the Communist Party of India-Marxist 28 and the Communist Party of India 16 candidates. There are 830 Independent candidates. Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje voted at a polling booth at her Jhalrapatan constituency in Jhalawar district, while Union Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and Congress leader Sachin Pilot exercised their franchise at a polling booth in Jaipur. After casting her vote, Raje told the media: "I think people have seen the kind of work that has taken place in Rajasthan and I think they will go out and vote for development." She said that this vote was for development of the state. Pilot after casting his vote said that the Congress has done well in the state and there was a wave in party's favour. "There are people who never visited the state and have come only for campaigning. The state has suffered a lot under Raje," Pilot said. Counting of votes will take place on December 11. Mumbai, Dec 7 : Actor Sidharth Malhotra has started shooting for his next film "Marjaavan". Sidharth on Friday tweeted a still from the upcoming film. He is seen sporting a rugged look and has tattoos of all religion -- Hinduism, Sikhism, Islam and Christianity. He captioned the image: "Ishq aur inteqaam ka koi mazhab nahi, koi ek Rab nahi! (Love and revenge have no religion, no one is god. 'Marjaavaan' shoot begins today!)" The film's director Milap Zaveri shared Sidharth's image and wrote: "Power, Passion, Pyar (love)! 'Marjaavaan' first look." Producer Bhushan Kumar described the journey as exciting and wished the entire cast luck for the film's shoot. "Marjaavan" is slated to release on October 2, 2019. The film will also star Riteish Deshmukh, Rakul Preet Singh and Tara Sutaria, who is making her Bollywood debut with "Student Of The Year 2". "Marjaavan" reunites Zaveri with Riteish and Sidharth after four years . They were seen together in "Ek Villain", which was written by the filmmaker. Other details of the film are still under wraps. San Francisco, Dec 7 : In a bid to reduce gender biases in its translation service, Google has started rolling out a feature that provides feminine and masculine translations for some gender-neutral words on the Google Translate website. The feature is currently available only for a few languages, although Google plans to bring it to more languages soon. So one can now translate single words from English to languages like French, Italian, Portuguese, or Spanish. As of now, translations for short phrases and sentences that mention a person in a gender-neutral way is available for the English and Turkish language pair. "In the future, we plan to extend gender-specific translations to more languages, launch on other Translate surfaces like our iOS and Android apps, and address gender bias in features like query auto-complete," James Kuczmarski, Product Manager, Google Translate, said in a blog post on Thursday. Google Translate learns from hundreds of millions of already-translated examples from the web. Historically, it has provided only one translation for a query, even if the translation could have either a feminine or masculine form. So when the model produced one translation, it inadvertently replicated gender biases that already existed. For example, it would skew masculine for words like "strong" or "doctor," and feminine for other words, like "nurse" or "beautiful." "Now you'll get both a feminine and masculine translation for a single word - like 'surgeon' when translating from English into French, Italian, Portuguese or Spanish," Kuczmarski said. "You'll also get both translations when translating phrases and sentences from Turkish to English. For example, if you type 'o bir doktor' in Turkish, you'll now get 'she is a doctor' and 'he is a doctor' as the gender-specific translations," Kuczmarski said. The new feature is part of Google's efforts to promote fairness and reduce bias in Machine Learning. Google said it is also thinking about how to address non-binary gender in translations, though it is not part of this initial launch. Hyderabad, Dec 7 : With hundreds of people from Hyderabad heading to their native places to cast their votes in the Telangana Assembly elections on Friday, the state government decided to exempt them from toll tax. Chief Secretary S.K. Joshi issued orders to this effect following a request from Chief Electoral Officer Rajath Kumar. The poll official told reporters that in view of the reports of long traffic jams at toll plazas, he requested the Chief Secretary to waive the toll tax to enable people to reach their villages faster. A large number of people from Hyderabad have been leaving for various districts across the state since Thursday. The railway stations and bus stations were also crowded with the people leaving for their destinations. Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) was operating additional bus services to clear the rush. Rio De Janeiro, Dec 7 : AC Milan are monitoring Brazilian pair Everton Soares and Rodrigo Dourado as they seek to bolster their squad in the January transfer window. Everton was Gremio's leading scorer with 19 goals across all competitions in 2018 and he was rewarded for his consistency by earning a maiden call-up to Brazil's national team, reports Xinhua news agency. Dourado has shone this year in a defensive midfield role for Internacional, who are seeking 12-15 million euros for the 24-year-old, according to Globesporte. Other European teams to have shown interest in Dourado include Hertha Berlin and Benfica, it added. AC Milan are already guaranteed of one Brazilian signing in January after securing Flamengo midfielder Lucas Paqueta in October. Ahmednagar (Maharashtra), Dec 7 : Union Minister for Shipping Nitin Gadkari fainted during a function here on Friday. The incident occurred when he was standing with other dignitaries for the National Anthem at the convocation function of the Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth (MPKV) Agricultural University. Gadkari started feeling uneasy, lost his balance and collapsed on the dais. Maharashtra Governor C.V. Rao and some others rushed to prevent him from falling. He was taken to a local government guest house and examined by a team of emergency medicos. A diabetic patient, Gadkari's condition was stated as "stable" by his Bharatiya Janata Party colleagues. He himself tweeted on his condition after a couple of hours. "Had slight medical condition due to low sugar. I have been attended by doctors and I am doing well now. I thank all of you for all the well wishes," Gadkari said. After a short rest at the guest house, Gadkari took a helicopter ride to Shirdi for a darshan of the world famous Shri Saibaba Samadhi temple and later took a private flight to his hometown Nagpur. Party colleagues said his gruelling daily schedules in public life may have taken a toll on his health which resulted in his collapse. Gadkari, who handles several critical portfolios, is known to maintain a stringent 18-hour schedule starting at 6 a.m. with yoga and his working day continues well past midnight. Islamabad, Dec 7 : Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has an "anti-Muslim" and "anti-Pakistan" approach and claimed New Delhi rebuffed all his gestures due to the upcoming general elections. Khan made the remarks in an interview to the Washington Post on Thursday. Later, at an event in the capital on Friday the Prime Minister said that "the condition of Muslims in today's India proved that the demand for a separate homeland was justified". Asked during the interview with the Post that why his gestures to India were dismissed since he took power earlier this year, Khan said "The ruling party (in India) has an anti-Muslim, anti-Pakistan approach." He claimed that India rejected his repeated calls for peace because it has the general elections coming up in 2019. "India has elections coming up. They rebuffed all my overtures." Khan expressed the hope that once the elections get over in India, both countries can resume talks. He later addressed Baloch students during an event here on Friday and said: "The way Muslims are treated today in India has made people realise now why Pakistan was born." In his interview with the Post, Khan said that he opened the Kartarpur border to facilitate visa-free pilgrimage by Indian Sikhs to Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara where Sikhism's founder Guru Nanak Dev spent the last 18 years of his life. A day earlier, Khan slammed New Delhi for giving a "political colour" to his gesture of Kartarpur border opening and called it "unfortunate". "Unfortunately, India portrayed it as us seeking political advantage... The Indian media gave Kartarpur (border opening) a political colour as if we did this to gain some sort of political mileage. This is not true. We did it because it is part of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's manifesto," he said. The Pakistani leader also said that he "wants something done about the bombers of Mumbai", adding that "resolving that case is in our interest because it was an act of terrorism". Ten Pakistani terrorists sneaked into Mumbai through the sea in 2008 and went on a killing spree, leaving 166 Indians and foreigners dead. Indian security forces shot dead nine of them while a 10th, who was captured, was hanged. New Delhi, Dec 7 : The government on Friday appointed Hyderabad-based Indian School of Business (ISB) Associate Professor Krishnamurthy Subramanian as the Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) in the Finance Ministry for a period of three years. Subramanian fills the position lying vacant for about six months since Arvind Subramanian left in June. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet approved the appointment of Krishnamurthy Subramanian, Executive Director (Centre For Analytical Finance), ISB, to the post of CEA, the Department of Personnel and Training said. A PhD (Financial Economics) from the Booth School of Business, University of Chicago, and an alumnus of IIM Calcutta and IIT Kanpur, Subramanian is an expert in banking, corporate governance and economic policy. His services on the expert committees on corporate governance for Securities and Exchange Board of India and on governance of banks for the Reserve Bank of India have established him as one of the chief architects of corporate governance and banking reforms in India, the ISB website says. Canberra, Dec 7 : Australia has passed a controversial law designed to compel technology companies to grant police and security agencies access to encrypted messages on platforms like WhatsApp, prompting warnings from Facebook and other tech companies about the privacy risks involved in the move. Australian lawmakers voted in favour of the Telecommunications Access and Assistance Bill late Thursday. The government said the new measures will help police and security agencies combat terror attacks and child sex crimes, the BBC reported. Tech companies and civil liberties groups said it was a "dangerous overreach" that will affect a wide range of businesses and their customers. The law was passed amid allegations of encrypted platforms facilitating spread of rumours, hate speech and even criminal activities like child trafficking and drugs businesses. The measures were rushed through Parliament on its final day of the year. The Labour opposition said it had reluctantly supported the laws to help protect Australians during the Christmas period, but on Friday it said that "legitimate concerns" about them remained. Facebook spokesman had earlier said that the move will have "far-reaching consequences" for the privacy and security of encrypted platforms like WhatsApp and Google, and device manufacturers like Apple, Microsoft and Samsung. The Digital Industry Group, a tech industry association, said the law raised "the prospect of introducing systemic weaknesses that could put Australians' data security at risk". "It is also deeply concerning that the minimum safeguards Australians should expect under such unprecedented new powers -- judicial oversight and a warrant-based system -- are absent," the group said in a statement. Australia already has laws which require providers to hand over a suspect's communication to the police. Under Australia's legislation, the police can force companies to create a technical function that would give them access to encrypted messages without the user's knowledge. If companies don't comply with the laws, they risk being fined. WhatsApp had earlier said in a statement that it cares deeply about the privacy of its users. "WhatsApp cares deeply about the privacy of our users and we remain committed to providing end-to-end encryption," a company spokesperson said. WhatsApp has challenged government attempts to curtail the use of end-to-end encryption in the past, notably in Brazil. Firozabad (Uttar Pradesh), Dec 7 : Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav on Friday blamed the "dangerous policies" of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the mob violence in Bulandshahr earlier this week, and said that panicked by their shrinking base they were fanning communal passions. "The Bulandshahr incident is a result of the 'thoko niti' of the state government," the former chief minister said at a public rally in Firozabad. Speaking at the rally held during the unveiling of a statue of a Kargil martyr, Yadav also warned the people to be watchful of the activities of the BJP and its leaders as they had mastered the art of confusing people and fanning communal passions. Samajwadi Party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav who shared the stage with his son, with whom his relations had soured in the past few years, also targeted the BJP and said only the SP had "the power to defeat the BJP". He claimed that the BJP was pumping in money everywhere to win the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, but he hoped for a victory for the SP. He said that the hard work of the SP cadres will ultimately see the party candidates win in large numbers. Shimla, Dec 7 : Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Friday laid the foundation stone of a 100-metre span motorable double lane cable-stayed bridge over the Beas river on the Hanogi-Kholanala road in Mandi district. Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said this bridge would ensure better connectivity between the Seraj and Drang areas. This would be the state's first cable-stayed bridge that would be completed in two years. The bridge will be constructed at a cost of Rs 15.85 crore. Meanwhile, Member of Parliament Ram Sawroop Sharma thanked the Chief Minister for persuading the Union Railways Minister to upgrade the Pathankot-Jogindernagar railway line. The 165-km-long rail track from Pathankot in Punjab to Jogindernagar in Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh was once proposed to be declared a Unesco heritage site. The British had laid the Pathankot-Jogindernagar line in 1932, linking the prominent religious towns of Kangra and Mandi districts of the hill state. Each year, a large number of tourists ride the trains on the line to take in the scenic beauty of the Himalayas. New Delhi, Dec 7 : Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Friday urged his party workers to be vigilant against "EVM tampering" as voting came to an end in Telangana and Rajasthan, cautioning them that "in Modis India, EVMs have mysterious powers". "Congress party workers, be vigilant after polls close today. In MP, EVM's behaved strangely after polling: Some stole a bus and vanished for two days! Others slipped away and were found drinking in a hotel," tweeted Gandhi. The Congress chief was referring to the incident in Madhya Pradesh's Sagar where electronic voting machines (EVMs) were transported in a vehicle without any registration number and reached the collection centre 48 hours after the voting ended. In another incident, two polling officers were "found drunk" along with EVMs inside a hotel owned by a Bharatiya Janata Party functionary. Reporting the incidents to the Election Commission, the Congress on Tuesday had demanded a probe alleging that the BJP was "in collusion with the local administration" in attempting to tamper with EVMs during the November 28 Madhya Pradesh Assembly polls. New Delhi, Dec 7 : The Congress on Friday lambasted BJP President Amit Shah for parrying a media query over Prime Minister Narendra Modi yet to hold a press conference, and asked if Modi and Shah consider themselves above accountability. Asked to respond on Congress President Rahul Gandhi's charge of Modi not holding a single press conference during his entire tenure, a visibly upset Shah -- addressing a media conference at the party headquarters here -- sought to deflect the question saying "(BJP spokesman) Sambit Patra will respond". With the media person persisting with his question, Shah replied: "Will reply... the reply will be on party's behalf, why are you worried?" Reacting to the development, Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala accused Shah of "insulting Indian democracy and freedom of press". "Does Shah mean democracy is dead in country and the Prime Minister can't be held accountable to the rule of law or to be questioned on failed policies of his government and charges of corruption?" asked Surjewala. The Congress leader said Shah's remarks denigrated the right of media to question and reflected the "autocratic attitude" of the Modi government. "Does Shah think questioning the Prime Minister for not addressing the media is per se defamatory or bad? Arrogance of power has gone so high that they consider themselves above democracy, above accountability and above answering to the people of India," added Surjewala. Taking a jibe at Modi for not holding a press conference ever since he became the Prime Minister in 2014, Gandhi had on Wednesday asked him to hold one, saying "it's fun having questions thrown at you". Modi has been under attack from the opposition for not entertaining media conferences and giving only "scripted interviews to friendly media channels". Incidentally, Modi on the day advocated media's right to question the system. "To question the system is not only media's responsibility but also its right and I welcome it," Modi said while addressing the 75th anniversary of Dainik Jagran. Chandigarh, Dec 7 : The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a charge sheet against its former Deputy Director Gurnam Singh alleging that he misrepresented the case of investors of Unipay ponzi schemes in collusion with an advocate, and took a bribe of Rs 4.5 crore from the promoters of the firm, the agency said on Friday. The charge sheet, filed in a sessions court on Wednesday under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), also mentions the names of Singh's wife Dalip Kaur and advocate Puneet Sharma, who was counsel of Unipay investors and represented the writ petitions before the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The move came a day after the ED issued orders for attachment of Rs 4.8 crore worth of properties belonging to Singh, his wife and Sharma. The probe agency said that Singh was in the habit of misusing his official position and power for his personal benefits, hence was repatriated back to his parent department on January 20, 2017. "Singh extracted money from the investors through Sharma by misrepresenting and making false claims of his proximity to people in positions of power, authority and at the same time took bribe from the promoters of the ponzi schemes," said the ED. "He had received bribe ranging between Rs 3.5 crore and Rs 4.5 crore from the accused persons with a fraudulent promise to settle the writ petition in the High Court as well as ongoing investigation in the instant case registered by the ED," said the agency. "The bribe illegally obtained by Singh was structured in the form of immovable properties in his name and of his wife and was later on projected as being untainted." The ED said it had conducted searches on March 22 and 23 at the residences of Singh, Sharma and accused persons and recovered documents relating to possession of movable and immovable properties. The FIRs were registered in Haryana, Punjab and Chandigarh against the agents of Unipay2U Marketing Pvt Ltd and Unipaygateway2U Trading Pvt Ltd based in Chennai, and having offices in Bengaluru. The companies had Managing Director Mugundham Gangam, a Malaysian national, besides other Indian directors. The company floated online investment scheme on the basis of various complex marketing level techniques of referral and binary system. The investors were lured with assured return of 21 per cent for 10 months. Initially, the company paid back the money to the investors to gain their confidence but after sometime it fled with the money of the investors. The aggrieved investors approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court in 2011 by filing various writ petitions against the company and its agents through advocate Sharma. The High Court entrusted the investigation with ED Chandigarh in 2012 and the agency filed a case on March 7, 2012. The first charge sheet in the case was filed on September 27, 2017 and the other one on July 17. Abu Dhabi, Dec 7 : Dubai Crown Prince Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has launched the largest Arabic audio library in the world. The Dubai Audio Library, which targets seven million visually impaired people in the Arab world, was an initiative undertaken by the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) in collaboration with the website Bookshare.org. The launch of the initiative on Thursday coincided with International Volunteers Day. Mattar Al Tayer, Director-General and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of the RTA attended the inauguration of the library along with Abdullah Al Basti, Secretary-General of the Executive Council of Dubai. The Crown Prince marked the launch by uploading the first book to the Dubai Audio Library, Zayed Diwan, a collection of 87 poems written by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai. The RTA was seeking to provide 300,000 books in Arabic. More than 10,000 volunteers will convert Arabic books into digital format and edit them before uploading them to the website. Chandigarh, Dec 7 : Under the Punjab government's farmers' debt relief scheme, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Friday gave debt relief against commercial bank loans to the tune of Rs 1,771 crore to 109,730 eligible marginal farmers of four districts. The Chief Minister announced the extension of the waiver scheme to farmers with landholding of 2.5 to 5 acres. "The amount is being transferred directly to the accounts of the marginal farmers of commercial banks directly and the process will be completed by tomorrow," the Chief Minister told a function in Baran village in Patiala district, around 70 km from here. The farmers covered in this phase of debt relief scheme belong to Patiala, Ludhiana, Sangrur and Fatehgarh Sahib districts. Addressing the function, the Chief Minister said that in the next phase, farmers having landholding of 2.5 to 5 acres would get debt waiver for loans of cooperative and commercial banks. Amarinder Singh also reiterated his commitment to waive off the loans of the landless labourers in the subsequent phases of the implementation of the waiver scheme. The Chief Minister said waiver up to Rs 2 lakh had been given to all the marginal farmers and also to the small farmers who had availed loan up to Rs 2 lakh under the scheme. He said a sum of Rs 1,815 crore of 3.18 lakh marginal farmers of Cooperative Banks had been waived off in the first phase, in addition to Rs 1,771 crore of 1.09 lakh marginal farmers of commercial banks in Friday's state-level debt relief function. The Chief Minister announced that 2.15 lakh small farmers of Cooperative Banks would be covered in the third phase and 50,752 small farmers of commercial banks would be covered in the fourth phase. It is estimated that farmers in agrarian Punjab are under a debt of Rs 90,000 crore. Agartala, Dec 7 : The CPI-M on Friday 'gheraoed' the Tripura Police headquarters to protest against attacks on party cadres and leaders by alleged BJP workers and against attempts to turn the ongoing local urban body election process into a "farce". After more than three hours of 'gherao', a delegation of Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leaders led by Badal Choudhury met senior police officials and apprised them about the "abnormal situation prevailing in the state". "Democracy totally throttled after the BJP-led government came to power in Tripura in March. We have told the Director General of Police (Akhil Kumar Sukhla) and other senior officials that if the violent attacks on opposition leaders, cadres and supporters were not stopped, then our agitation will be intensified," Choudhury told the media. Former Minister Manik Dey, CPI-M west Tripura district secretary Pabitra Kar and three MPs - Jitendra Chowdhury, Sankar Prasad Datta and Jharna Das Baidya - led the demonstrations. Badal Choudhury said that after preventing the submission of nominations of Left party candidates for the by-polls to the urban local bodies, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers attacked the houses of the candidates belonging to opposition parties. Kar accused the attackers of looting valuables from the houses and not sparing even women and young gils. He accused the police of not taking any action. CPI-M state secretary Gautam Das said that following the demands of the Left parties, the State Election Commission asked the state police chief to take action against the attacks on candidates and others but the Director General of Police did nothing. By-elections will be held on December 22 in 158 vacant seats of 13 Municipal bodies and Agartala Municipal Corporation. New Delhi, Dec 7 : Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu on Friday said that young doctors need to uphold medical ethics and treat every patient with compassion and empathy, irrespective of his or her financial background. "Only doctors can provide the healing touch to the ailing humanity and they only can make the difference between life and death. People admire actors but they adore doctors, and doctors must treat their profession as a mission," he added. While addressing young doctors at the 46th Annual Convocation of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here, he stated that medical education has undergone a paradigm shift from classroom-based teaching to self-directed small group learning using principles of adult learning. "The traditional methods of learning have evolved into competency-based learning to ensure that trainees acquire all essential skills before licensure. The curriculum in medical education needs to be constantly upgraded in tune with the latest advancements," Naidu stated. Citing a report, Naidu said that India has only 1.1 beds per 1000 population compared to the world average of 2.7. "Seventy per cent of India's health care infrastructure is in the top 20 cities. We have to make quality healthcare accessible and affordable. There is also a significant urban-rural divide, and we have to bridge this gap in providing state-of-the-art healthcare services," he added. Naidu also pointed out that India faces a 'paradoxical' situation in the health sector and the same treatment should reach all citizens. "An important step in this direction will be to promote manufacturing of state-of-the-art devices and equipment in the country, particularly under the 'Make in India' programme and such a move will not only save precious foreign exchange but also bring down the costs of devices," he added. At the convocation, Naidu presented the Lifetime Achievement Awards to Dr. A. K. Saraya, Dr. Samira Nundy, Dr. Kamal Buckshee and Dr. Gomathy Gopinath. He also presented gold medals and certificates to 31 medical students who have achieved highest merit. New Delhi, December 07 : The supreme court on Friday turned down the CPI(M)-led LDF governments request for an urgent hearing on its plea challenging the Kerala high court verdict constituting a three-member observer committee on Sabarimala temple. The LDF government wanted the SC to hear the plea challenging the constitution of the supervisory panel before the vacation period starting December 15. The top court also turned down the state governments request to transfer all pending petitions and applications on Sabarimala from the high court to the supreme court. Seeking transfer of all petitions pertaining to Sabarimala issue to the supreme court, the state government had argued that the petitions were moved by vested interests with the aim of thwarting the state governments efforts to implement the apex court verdict of September 28 allowing women of child-bearing age entry into the Sabarimala temple. Challenging the Kerala high courts constitution of a three-member panel of observers with sweeping supervisory powers over Sabarimala - including the power to issue directions to the police the state government had contended that the panels constitution amounted to an encroachment on the executive powers of the government and would jeopardise the regulations put in place by the police for the implementation of the SC verdict on womens entry into the hill shrine. The three-member observer panel comprises former high court judges Justice P R Raman, Justice Siri Jagan and serving IPS office A Hemachandran. The high court had vested the panel with power to take on-the-spot decisions and overall supervision to ensure that smooth pilgrimage is facilitated. Washington, Dec 7 : White House Chief of Staff John Kelly is expected to resign in the coming days, CNN reported on Friday, citing sources familiar with the situation. Kelly's potential replacements included Nick Ayers, Vice-President Mike Pence's Chief of Staff, the report said. CNN quoted two White House sources as saying that Kelly's relationship with the President, often reported as "tumultuous", was no longer seen as "sustainable" and will likely lead to Kelly's ouster in the near future. The former secretary of Trump's Department of Homeland Security, Kelly joined the White House in July 2017 following the resignation of former White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus. In April, Kelly issued a public statement denying reports from NBC News that he referred to Trump as an "idiot" during conversations with colleagues and mocked the President's lack of policy knowledge. Kelly's tenure working for the President was marked by controversies. He was faced with Trump's controversial response to the racially charged protests in Charlottesville, Virginia. Kelly was photographed looking grim-faced in the lobby of Trump Tower as the President declared there were "good people" on both sides of the racist violence. He also mishandled the situation involving former staff secretary Rob Porter, who was accused by two of his ex-wives of abuse. Kelly's shifting stance in the row caused his credibility inside the West Wing to plummet. New Delhi, Dec 7 : Terming the Enforcement Directorate (ED) "raids" on the premises of Robert Vadra-owned Skylight Hospitality as "political vendetta", the Congress on Friday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of acting like a "don" and "persecuting and hounding everyone opposed to him". According to sources, premises of some persons linked to the firms of Vadra - brother-in-law of Congress President Rahul Gandhi - were searched in connection with alleged commission received by few people in defence deals. Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said the ED, besides raiding Vadra's office in the national capital, also carried out searches in residence of his associate, his sister and her in-laws in Noida (Uttar Pradesh), without any search warrant. "Politics of revenge and malicious vendetta has today reached its nadir. Modi is acting like a don lording over a criminal empire to persecute and hound everyone opposed to him," Surjewala told the media here. He said Modi was "unnerved" by the "sure shot defeat" in Assembly polls in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Telangana and Chhattisgarh and the raids were aimed at diverting the narrative. "Modi government in last 54 months has let loose a criminal conspiracy to vilify, denigrate and malign Vadra to settle political scores. As all else failed, Modi government has unleashed all its agencies including ED, CBI and Income Tax to victimize Vadra in an utterly mala fide manner," alleged Surjewala. The ED action comes two days after Vadra on Wednesday had alleged "relentless political witch-hunt" against him after the agency served him fresh summons. Chandigarh, Dec 7 : Two Punjab Police officials were killed and two others were injured when their car collided with a truck in Punjab's Barnala district, police said on Friday. Assistant Sub Inspectors (ASIs) Gurmit Singh and Malkit Singh were killed in the accident when their car hit the truck from behind near Handiaya village. Both died on the spot, police said. Due to dense fog, visibility in the area was poor. The car hit the truck when the truck driver applied brakes suddenly. Two other ASIs, Sadhu Singh and Rachpal Singh, were injured and admitted to a hospital. The four officials were going to Patiala for official work from Muktsar town. New Delhi, Dec 7 : A Delhi court on Friday allowed a joint application of noted advocate Ram Jethmalani and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to withdraw a suit related to expulsion of the senior lawyer from the party. Additional District Judge Sumit Dass disposed of the suit after both sides agreed to end the suit. Jethmalani's advocate Ashish Dixit and BJP counsel Manik Dogra told the court that the senior lawyer and the party had amicably resolved the issue as BJP President Amit Shah had expressed "regret" over the senior lawyer's expulsion. Amit Shah and BJP General Secretary Bhupender Yadav called on Jethmalani and expressed "their sincere regret at the expulsion of the plaintiff", the joint application said. It said Shah and Yadav acknowledged the contribution of Jethmalani to the party. Jethmalani has challenged the party's decision to expel him in May 2013 and asked the court to declare the move null and void and sought damages of Rs 50 lakh from the BJP. New Delhi, Dec 7 : The CBI is all set to examine British National and middleman Chritian Michel in the Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal case in the light of documents and statements of his Delhi-based associate R.K. Nanda, sources said on Friday. A senior CBI official told IANS that the agency will confront Michel with the statement and documents of his close associate Nanda and Nanda's Mumbai-based partner J.B. Balasubramanian. The official said that Michel was instrumental in the formation of a shell company in 2005 by Nanda, namely Media Exim Pvt Ltd, with Balasubramanian as another Director. He alleged that Nanda's company was a dummy one and used for Michel to park illegal money and nominally to export jewellery and music CDs to Dubai from India. The official also said that as per Nanda's statement in 2015 to the agency, he received Rs 6.5 crore from Michel's Dubai-based company Global Services FZE between 2005 and 2007. The official said that Nanda, who also ran a travel business based in Connaught Place here, had received the said amount from Michel's Dubai bank accounts in HDFC Bank and Citibank into the account of Media Exim. He said the company was set up in 2005 ostensibly to export jewellery and music CDs, but no export took place and later on, as directed by Michel, some properties were purchased in the name of Media Exim. The official also said that according to the statement of Nanda, Balasubramanian came in contact with him through Michel. The official said that earlier, Balasubramanian in his statement to the agency disclosed that he had met Michel through one Seturaman of Nelson Health Club in Samrat Hotel in 2005. He said that Michel and Nanda invested in real estate in Delhi and bought three properties, including a farmhouse in Chhattarpur, in the name of Media Exim. However, Michel, with the help of Nanda, sold two of the three properties in 2011-12. "The money was transferred to Michel's Dubai-based firm Global Finance FZE by Nanda," the official said. The official further pointed out that during the investigation, it was noticed that Nanda allegedly received nearly Rs 19 crore from Michel. Even Nanda's company, Supreme Airways, used to buy air tickets for Michel's travels and his other contacts, for which a payment of Rs 12 crore was made. Besides Nanda, the official said that the driver of Michel, Narayan Bahadur, who drove him around the power centres of the national capital, would also be confronted in the coming days as he in his statement to the agency in 2015 had said that he was once asked to pick up three English friends from Hyatt Hotel to a Bungalow at Sainik Farms in Delhi, where a function was going on. In his statement, Bahadur also mentioned that one Indian came out to receive those three friends of Michel in 2008. When Bahadur was asked to choose the Indian from several photos, he picked the photograph of Sanjeev Tyagi. Michel is currently being questioned by CBI, which obtained a five-day remand on Wednesday after he was extradited to India from Dubai late on Tuesday night. He will be produced before a special CBI court on December 10. The CBI on Thursday said that it has received a request for consular access to Michel from the British High Commission through the Ministry of External Affairs. The request is under process. Michel has been accused of bribing many politicians, officials and journalists to swing the deal and is being probed by the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED). In 2014, India scrapped the contract with Italian company Finmeccanica's British subsidiary AgustaWestland for supplying choppers to the Indian Air Force over alleged breach of contractual obligations and charges of paying kickbacks for securing the deal. The revelations had been made during a judicial trial against the company in Italy. (Anand Singh can be contacted at anand.s@ians.in) Berlin, Dec 7 : German Chancellor Angela Merkel gave an emotional farewell speech to her ruling Christian Democrats Union (CDU) party as she stepped down as its leader on Friday and was given a standing ovation of over six minutes. Her conservative party of 1,001 representatives, among them 658 male and 343 females, was set to vote later in the day to decide on a successor to 64-year-old Merkel, its leader of 18 years. She decided not to re-run in October, after suffering major setbacks in two state elections earlier this year. Merkel fought back tears as CDU delegates gave her the standing ovation amid cheers and cries. Delegates held posters stating: "Thanks boss, for 18 years of leadership". She hinted that she was supporting the party's current General Secretary, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, to succeed her, praising her electoral performance as Chief Minister of Saarland, the BBC reported. According to a DeutschlandTrend survey, 47 per cent of CDU supporters would like Kramp-Karrenbauer to take the party lead. Popular in Saarland and Berlin, Kramp-Karrenbauer has an unpretentious style and a reputation for calm analysis as well as political acumen. Kramp-Karrenbauer's key rival is millionaire corporate lawyer Friedrich Merz. He was a powerful player in the CDU in the early 2000s but left politics when he fell out with the Chancellor. Merz has strong links to the US, has built a career in the private sector and works for US investment firm Blackrock. Jens Spahn, currently the Health Minister in Merkel's government and the third candidate in the running, appeared to have less chance of winning, the BBC reported. He was once described by former Finance Minister Wolfgang SchAuble as "one of the great hopes for the future of our party". "Our liberal values must be defended, internally and externally," Merkel said in her speech that was punctuated by applause. She warned of tough challenges ahead, including climate change, maintaining European unity and coping with Brexit. The leader reminded the CDU of other electoral successes in 2017 and avoided mentioning this year's setbacks in state elections. "I don't need to be party chairman to remain bound to this party. And I'm still Chancellor," said Merkel, who has been CDU chair since 2000 and was elected Chancellor in 2005. She was re-elected in 2009, 2013 and 2018. Whoever gets elected, the new party chair would face tricky challenges, including finding the right way to cooperate with Merkel, coordinating party strategies and government policies, and coping with the other two governing parties -- the Christian Social Union and the Social Democratic Party. The DeutschlandTrend survey showed that a majority of Germans, 57 per cent, wanted Merkel to remain Chancellor until the next federal election. Panaji, Dec 7 : Goa Chief Secretary Dharmendra Sharma on Friday finally filed an affidavit before the Panaji Bench of the Bombay High Court, in connection with a petition filed last month seeking public disclosure of the health status of ailing Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar. The Chief Secretary's reply in response to the High Court's directive comes after the state government sought three adjournments. Though sources in the state administration said that the CS' reply was filed late on Friday in the court registrar's office, its contents will be formally revealed once the court hears the case again on December 10. Parrikar is suffering from advanced pancreatic cancer and 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 October 14 and has not attended any official meeting or function outside his private residence. The Opposition, as well as the ruling coalition's allies, have been demanding the Chief Minister's resignation, contending that the administration has come to a standstill due to his absence. Petitioner Trajano D'Mello has sought directions from the court to the state chief secretary to have the former Defence Minister's health evaluated by a panel of expert doctors and release the medical report in public domain. Ever since Parrikara's health started deteriorating there has been no health bulletin, as demanded by the Opposition, forthcoming from the Chief Minister's Office, barring several informal intimations to the media, which suggested that he was suffering from "indigestion" and "mild pancreatitis". Jammu, Dec 7 : Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and National Conference President Farooq Abdullah on Friday ruled out any alliance for the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a function in Katra town, Abdullah said the National Conference would fight these elections on its own. And once the party was voted to power, it would grant autonomy to various regions of the state, he added. "Such a mechanism under the overall superintendence of the state government will further strengthen regional unity, which is imperative for the singular entity of Jammu and Kashmir," he said. Abdullah hoped this will enhance the spirit of participatory decision making. New Delhi, Dec 7 : India's bankrupt companies offer a never-before opportunity to the global investors to ride the country's exceptional growth trajectory, thanks to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said. "Given the future potential of the Indian economy and the fair process followed under the Code, it is a great opportunity for investors who are seriously thinking about investing in India," he said through a video conference at an event in New York. Jaitley said India's economy is growing faster than some of its contemporaries amongst the emerging economies and it is likely to maintain this high growth rate of at least 7-8 per cent over the next decade, the Finance Ministry said in a statement on Friday. He was addressing fund houses and law firms at a conference on "Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code - A New Paradigm for Stressed Assets", hosted by the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) and the Consulate General of India, New York, USA on Wednesday. "There can't be a better opportunity than the present one which is being offered through the Code. This is the right time and right place to be in India for these kinds of investments," he said noting the number of stressed assets available for takeover is extremely large. Prior to the IBC, he said the scattered regime had impacted the domestic private investment with over capacities in certain sectors coupled with "unacceptably high" levels of non-performing assets in the banking system, hindering growth. Jaitley said the government not only enacted the Code expeditiously but is also implementing it at an unprecedented pace. Despite the initial teething troubles, which the government is addressing, the outcome has been better than anticipated. "The only downside has been that in some of the cases because of appeals and counter-appeals and litigations, the process has got somewhat delayed. But then the Supreme Court has stood up to the occasion," he said. The participants were keen to understand the process certainty, time certainty and outcome certainty. Srinagar, Dec 7 : Police said on Friday that two accomplices of militants involved in the murder of a police officer in Jammu and Kashmir have been arrested. A police spokesman said the accomplices were involved in the killing of police Sub-Inspector Imtiyaz Ahmad Mir on October 28 in Pulwama district. Both belonged to Pulwama. Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 7 : Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday night inaugurated the 23rd edition of the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) here. The fete will conclude on December 13. Inaugurating the event, Vijayan said festivals were the main medium to promote secular ideas and a means to sustain humanity. "IFFK is a proof of this propagation. Kerala didn't give up in the catastrophic setting of unexpected floods. This year's festival is a testament of the solidarity of cinema lovers," he said. Bengali filmmaker Buddhadeb Dasgupta was the chief guest and actress and filmmaker Nandita Das was the guest of honour. Acclaimed Iranian filmmaker and jury chairman Majid Majidi received the Lifetime Achievement award from Vijayan. Receiving the award, Majidi said: "More than any award and achievement, I would like to cherish the priceless warmth and kindness from the audience." Following the ceremony, the opening film, "Everybody Knows", directed by Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi, was screened. New Delhi, Dec 7 : Exit polls on Friday predicted a Congress sweep in Rajasthan and a Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) win in Telangana while giving the Congress an edge over the BJP in a fiercely-contested battle in both Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. The surveys predicted that Mizoram, the only northeast state now with the Congress, may see a hung Assembly. Surveys by media organisations and agencies predicted a Congress victory in Rajasthan, continuing a trend in a state that has not re-elected the party in power for a second term in the last 20 years. In the 200-seat Rajasthan Assembly, the India Today-Axis My India survey gave the Congress 119 to 141 seats with a vote share of 42 per cent. The BJP was poised to get 55-72 seats with a 37 per cent vote share. The Republic TV-CVoter predicted that the Congress would get 81-101 and the BJP 83-103 seats. The Times Now-CNX survey forecast that the Congress was likely to win 105 seats and the BJP 85 seats. The BSP could get seven seats. A survey by News24 gave the Congress a clear majority (110-120 seats) with the BJP likely to win 70-80 seats. In 2013, the BJP won 163 of 200 seats. The Congress finished a distant second with 21 seats. In Telangana, the exit polls predicted that the ruling TRS will retain power and the gamble by Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao to dissolve the Assembly ahead of schedule may have worked in his favour. According to various surveys, the Congress-led People's Front will have to sit in the opposition in the Assembly. The Congress had stitched an alliance with the Telugu Desam Party, the Telangana Jana Samithi and the Communist Party of India to take on the TRS. India Today-Axis My India exit poll predicted that TRS may win 79 to 91 seats in the 119- member Assembly while the Congress-led alliance may get 21 to 33 seats. The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) may end up with 4-7 seats and the BJP 1-3 seats. The Times Now-CNX survey predicted that the TRS may win 66 seats and the Congress-led alliance 37 while the Republic TV-CVoter claimed that TRS would win 48-60 seats, Congress 47-59, BJP 5 and others 1-13 seats. TV9 Telugu-AARA predicted that TRS may win 75-85 seats, Congress 25-35, BJP 2-3 and others 7-11 seats. However, NewsX-Neta predicted that TRS would emerge as the single largest party with 57 seats, three short of the 60 needed to form a government. It claimed that the Congress alliance may get 46, BJP 6 and others 10. Exit polls in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, the states ruled by the BJP since 2003, indicated a close contest but an edge for the Congress. A majority of exit polls predicted a Congress victory in Madhya Pradesh. ABP News-Lokniti CSDS survey gave the Congress 126 seats, BJP 94 and others 10 in the 230-member Assembly. India Today-My Axis poll too gave the Congress an edge (104-122 seats) and the BJP 102-120 seats. It predicted 1-3 seats for BSP. C-Voter predicted a Congress win in 110 to 126 seats as against the BJP's 90-106 seats. Other parties are likely to win 6 to 22 seats. As per iTV-Neta exit poll, the Congress may win around 112 seats and the BJP 106. Other parties, including BSP, could win around 12 seats. However, Times Now-CNX poll gave the BJP the upper hand with 126 seats and 89 seats for the Congress. In the 230-seat Assembly, a party needs 116 to form a government. In 2013, the BJP won 165 seats, the Congress 58, BSP four and Independents won three seats. In Chhattisgarh, the Congress is likely to get enough seats to form a government, a majority of exit polls said. But some predicted the BJP would retain the state. According to India Today-Axis My India, the Congress would bag 55-65 seats in the 90-member Assembly, reducing the ruling BJP to 21-31 seats. Republic-C-Voters gave the Congress 40-50 seats and the BJP 35-43 seats. But Times Now-CNX and ABP News-CSDS forecast that the BJP would retain power for a fourth straight time. The former projected 46 seats for BJP and 35 for the Congress while the latter saw BJP's victory on 52 seats and that of Congress on 35. News Nation predicted 40-44 seats for Congress, 38-42 for BJP and 4-8 for the alliance of former Chief Minister Ajit Jogi-led Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (JCC) with Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which can play a role of the kingmaker in the event of a split verdict. News24-Pace Media exit poll said the Congress would emerge the winner with 45-51 seats while the BJP would settle for 36-42 seats. In 2013, the BJP formed the government after wining 49 seats. If the exit polls are to believed, Mizoram may have a hung 40-member Assembly. As per CVoter, the ruling Congress is likely to get 14 to 18 seats and the Mizo National Front (MNF) 16-20. It has predicted 3-7 seats for the Zoram People's Movement (ZPM). According to India Today-Axis My India, ZPM may dent both the MNF and Congress in the state. According to Times Now-CNX, the MNF will win 18 seats and the Congress 16. The exit polls by Republic-C-Voter showed the MNF getting 16-20 seats. The exit polls were announced after polling ended in Rajasthan and Telangana on Friday. Polling was held earlier in Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram and Chhattisgarh. The results of all five states will be declared on December 11. Hyderabad, Dec 7 : Voter indifference in Hyderabad marked was visible in the Telangana Assembly elections as the state capital recorded the lowest turnout of 50 percent. The efforts of the Election Commission and various NGOs to improve polling in the city failed to yield the desired results in the tech hub. Appeals by eminent citizens and even celebrities making a beeline to the polling centres failed to bring voters out of their homes. According to the Election Commission, 67 percent polling was registered in all 119 constituencies in the state till 5 p.m. and as those standing in queues were allowed to cast votes the final figure is expected to be around 70 percent. While there was enthusiasm among voters in rural areas, many polling booths in the state capital wore a deserted look. Among districts, Adilabad recorded the highest polling of 75.6 percent while Hyderabad finished last with 50 percent. Among constituencies, Yakutpura in the old city of Hyderabad recorded lowest turnout at 33 percent turnout. The city has a total of 15 constituencies with over 38 lakh voters. It is believed that people either preferred to spend the day at home or left the city with their family to holiday. Friday was declared a holiday and since this is followed by two more holidays (Second Saturday and Sunday), people apparently preferred a holiday at their natives place or tourist destinations in neighbouring states. The city saw a turnout of 53 percent in 2014. Telangana Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Rajath Kumar wanted the IT companies to declare a holiday so that their employees could vote. While the IT companies turned down his proposal, they agreed to allow their employees to cast their vote. Kolkata, Dec 7 : An investigation has been initiated after the cigarette-to-hotel major ITC Ltd lodged a complaint saying its logo and name of company Chairman Y.C. Deveshwar was used by a fake website to deceive people, police said on Friday. The IT team of the diversified conglomerate found a fake website "ITC Holidays", which used its logo and mentioned an incorrect email address of Deveshwar. "An investigation has been initiated," a police officer of Kolkata Police Cyber Crime department said. "Our IT team found a fake website created in the name of ITC Holidays. It used the company's logo. Immediately, we lodged a complaint to the police a month back," ITC Executive Vice President and Head, Corporate Communications, Nazeeb Arif, told IANS. New Delhi, Dec 7 : The UP Police has contacted the Northern Command to identify its Army man, who has been named as accused in the murder of a Police Inspector during the mob violence in Uttar Pradesh's Bulandshahr on December 3, Indian Army sources said on Friday. "The police has contacted Northern Command and fullest cooperation is being extended," said a source here. He said the details would be released by the police at appropriate time after positive identification. "Since the matter is under investigation, no other comment can be offered," the source added. The remarks came after the Uttar Pradesh Police claimed that a team has been sent to Jammu to nab an Army soldier. According to the UP Police, Jeetu Fauji has been named as an accused in Singh's murder. Singh was attacked and shot dead by a Hindu mob protesting against alleged cow slaughter, while a young man was gunned down in unexplained circumstances in western Uttar Pradesh on Monday. New Delhi, Dec 7 : The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has approved India's proposal to observe an International Year of Millets in 2023, Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said on Friday. Singh had made the demand in August this year, which has been accepted by the ongoing FAO Council in Rome. Millets consist of Jowar, Bajra, Ragi and minor millets, together termed as nutri-cereals. Singh said the development will enhance global awareness to bring back these nutri-cereals to the plate, for food and nutrition security and for increasing production to face the challenges posed by climate change, globally. In addition, the Council also approved India's membership to the Executive Board of the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) for 2020 and 2021. Vishakhapatnam, Dec 7 : Skipper Pardeep Narwal's stunning 27-point raid guided Patna Pirates to a thumping 53-36 victory over Puneri Paltan in an inter-zonal challenge match of Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) here on Friday. Pardeep also reached the 800-point landmark in the history of the league. For Pune, GB More put in a strong raiding effort and scored 13 points but didn't get support from his defence. Pardeep Narwal got Patna Pirates off to a storming start with a super raid in the 2nd minute. Narwal scored the first six points for Patna in three minutes to give them 6-3 lead. Puneri Paltan suffered an all out in the next minute as they trailed 4-9. Sandeep Narwal scored his third point as Puneri Paltan tried to mount a comeback to trail 6-9 after five minutes. In the 8th minute, Patna Pirates led 13-8 and were looking in fine form with Pardeep Narwal leading their charge. At the end of the first half Patna Pirates led 24-19. The second half started in a similar fashion as Pardeep picked up a two-point raid and Patna inflicted an all out to lead 30-21. Puneri Paltan had no answer to Pardeep Narwal and were left floundering. GB More tried his best to keep the margin of defeat respectable for Puneri Paltan. Sandeep Narwal also did put in a performance for Pune but they still couldn't match up to Patna Pirates. With less than 10 minutes to go, Patna Pirates held a 13-point lead and looked in command. Pardeep continued to torment Puneri Paltan's defence and in the process also became the first man to reach the 800 raid point landmark in the history of Pro Kabaddi League. Patna ran out comfortable winners with a 17-point victory margin in the end. New Delhi, Dec 8 : An All India Radio (AIR) official accused of sexual harassment by nine women employees has been demoted from his position and subjected to other salary cuts as he was found guilty, the National Commission for Women (NCW) said on Friday. "The disciplinary authority accepted the recommendations and the authority imposed a major penalty of reduction to a lower pay scale by two stages for one year and no increment during the reduction period," the NCW said in a statement. "After the expiration of one year, the reduction period will have effects on subsequent increments. The accused was also transferred as an administrative measure," the Commission said. The NCW in its letter addressed to the Secretary, Information and Broadcasting, and CEO, Prasar Bharati, last month had directed to conduct an inquiry into the complaints. The Commission's direction came after it received a formal complaint dated November 12 from the office-bearers of the All India Radio Casual Announcer and Comperes Union alleging sexual harassment at workplace of casual announcers and comperes working in different stations of the AIR across the country. The Prasar Bharati, in response to the NCW letter, had also mentioned about certain preventive measures taken by the AIR, like posting of women Programme Executives as station In-Charge, installation of CCTV cameras at vantage points and providing transport facility to women employees during odd hours. According to the NCW, the Prasar Bharati Secretariat has asked its centres to send quarterly progress reports in respect of sexual harassment complaints being inquired into by the respective internal committees. Earlier on November 9, Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi wrote to Information and Broadcasting Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore to ensure that a "sensitive and fair system" is put in place at the state-owned AIR to address the sexual harassment complaints. Lucknow, Dec 8 : Five more persons were arrested on Friday for their alleged involvement in the mob violence in Uttar Pradesh's Bulandshahr earlier this week, police said. The number of persons arrested has now gone up to nine even as the main accused Yogesh Raj still remains at large. Inspector General (Crime) S.K. Bhagat said five persons have been arrested on the basis of video footage and an identification done by local residents. He also said the name of a certain Jeetu Fauji has also cropped up during the investigation. Fauji is said to be working with the Border Security Force (BSF) and is posted in the Kargil sector. A team of police has left for Jammu to arrest him, the officer said while also clarifying that his exact role and complicity in the mob violence, which left two persons including a police inspector dead, will be clear after the probe by the Special Investigation Team (SIT). Meanwhile, ADG (Intelligence) S.B. Shiradkar, who was sent to Bulandshahr specially by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in the aftermath of the violence, submitted his report to DGP O.P. Singh on Friday. Officials told IANS that the report would be submitted to CM Adityanath when he comes back to the state capital from New Delhi on Saturday. Kolkata, Dec 8 : Human rights violation is rampant throughout the country in the form of Bulandshahr Killing, death in Bengal's Lalgarh or Kathua rape case, a panel of human rights workers said here on Friday. "Bulandshahr and Lalgarh are places far away from each other but the situation is the same. When seven people of Sabar community died due to malnutrition in Lalgarh (of West Midnapore district), the administration tried to cover it up saying they were prone to addiction. In Bulandshahr, the brave policeman who was investigating Akhlaq's murder gets shot," Kinnar Roy, an author, said while announcing an upcoming Human Rights convention on December 10. The convention marking the 70th anniversary of Human Rights Day, to be held at Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture in Golpark, will have people from various walks of life. Human Rights Day is observed every year on December 10, as the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on this day in 1948. Pointing out the current scenario in India, Roy said: "We no longer have the freedom of choosing our food, way of dressing, our religious practices and our behaviour. Our constitution has given us the right but there is a constant violation of them." The panel raised the issue of women's safety which is a major issue in our country. "Our Prime Minister was questioned on international platform regarding the child's rape in Kathua. The injustice against women is all about curbing human rights," Bharati Mutsuddi, a lawyer, said. She pointed out that democracy and human rights go hand in hand and citizens should be aware about their rights being snatched away. Talking about the loopholes in Bengal's election system, Mutsuddi said: "We need to make our constitution, Universal Declaration of Human Rights the tool against injustice. Even the Article 21 (of constitution) talks about people's will, but in our state, our chosen representatives couldn't even file nominations". Mumbai, Dec 8 : Actor Vir Das, who will begin shooting for "Go Goa Gone 2" next year, says it will be just as fun as the first installment if not more. "We will begin shooting in some point in 2019. We had a really good meeting between the three of us Kunal Kemmu, Anand Tiwari and me, where we sat and listened to the script. I can confidently tell you it is going to be just as fun if not more," Vir told IANS. "Go Goa Gone" is a zombie comedy film directed by Raj and D.K. The film features Saif Ali Khan, Kunal Khemu, Vir Das, Puja Gupta and Anand Tiwari. It was released in May 2013 and almost one third of the film was shot in Mauritius. Vir will also be seen in Netflix's upcoming show titled "Losing It". Washington, Dec 8 : US President Donald Trump has said he will nominate William Barr to be the new attorney general, a post the jurist previously held between 1991 and 1993. If confirmed by the Senate, the 68-year-old Barr will succeed Jeff Sessions, who was forced out by Trump on November 7, Efe news reported on Friday. "He was my first choice from day one, respected by Republicans and respected by Democrats," Trump told reporters at the White House. "He will be nominated for the US attorney general and hopefully that process will go very quickly," the President added. Sessions stepped down amid criticism from Trump and was replaced on an interim basis by his Chief of Staff, Matthew Whitaker. The relationship between Trump and Sessions soured due to the latter's decision in March 2017 to recuse himself from any involvement in the Justice Department investigations regarding alleged Russian interference in the presidential election, or potential collusion by the Trump campaign with Moscow. Sessions did so after questions arose about the then-senator's contacts with the Russian ambassador in 2016 while he had a role in Trump's campaign. Less than three months after Sessions' decision, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein named a former FBI director, Robert Mueller, as special counsel in the Russia investigation. That appointment came on May 17, just eight days after Trump fired then-FBI Director James Comey, who had been leading that agency's Russia probe. Barr, who served as attorney general under former US President George Bush, could oversee Mueller's investigation if confirmed. US intelligence agencies accuse Russia of interfering with the 2016 campaign to favour Trump over his rival, Hillary Clinton. Trump denies any collusion and Moscow denies meddling in the 2016 election. The Red Lion Hotel in Moorooka has been sold to Publican Peter Braithwaite for an undisclosed price. Peter Braithwaite, was the previous owner of the Commercial Hotel in Lake Macquarie. Glenn Price of HTL Property, in conjunction with Tom Gleeson of JLL Hotels, held the listing for 215 Beaudesert Rd, Moorooka, and ran the targeted expressions of interest campaign. Set on 820 sqm, the property is just 9km from Brisbane CBD. The hotel recently underwent an extensive internal and external renovation which now comprises a large public bar, bistro, and 28 gaming entitlements. HTL Propertys Director Glenn Price said, "NSW publicans continue to view QLD as an opportune hunting ground to expand their portfolios. "Not only are large corporate groups firmly focused on the state but independent operators looking to break into the market continue to run the ruler over available opportunities," he added. Peter suggested a rebranding of the pub is likely and that he is upgrading the gaming room with 20 new machines. HTL Property earlier this year sold The Rising Sun Hotel in Townsville, for over $20million, to Redcape who are shortly to list on the ASX. Between 2017 and 2018, Sydney Metro median house prices have softened by 5.6%, whilst units have softened at a more moderate rate of 2.5%, according to the latest PRD nationwide livability report. This reflects a consecutive decline for unit median price, which PRD have stated, presents an opportunity for buyers to break into Sydney's property market and capitalise on increasing affordability. They have recommended that prospective houses buyers looking for affordable options should look toward Sydneys South Western suburbs. Particularly as there is $15.3B worth of development in the pipeline or under construction in the 2nd half 2018 there are many exciting projects that will improve Sydneys infrastructure, attracting commercial activity and population growth in the near future. One of the affordable and livable house hotspots that PRD highlighted is Panania (pictured above), located roughly 20.5km from the CBD. The suburb has a median house price of $973,000 comprised of a two bedroom median price of $857,500, a three bedroom median price of $940,000 and a four plus bedroom median price of $1,005,00. Panania is a frequent feature on the affordability and livability report located in southwest Sydney. The report notes, "it is well-serviced by a variety of shops, public transport, schools, parks and the Western Sydney University. "Median house price in the suburb of Panania softened by -7.9% between 2017 and 2018, which presents a perfect opportunity for buyers to capitalise on increased affordability." "Meanwhile investors are benefiting from a low vacancy rate (1.2%) as well as strong rental yields (3.1%)," the report added. Pananias appeal will be further enhanced by the $7.0M^ Anderson Ave Mixed Development due to commence in the 2nd half of 2018, according to PRD. For apartments however a hotspot that PRD nationwide made note of is Hurstville (pictured above). Located roughly 13.3km from the CBD, the median unit price is $711,000. For a one bedroom apartment the median price is $555,840, while for a two bedroom apartment the median price is $705,000. Three plus bedroom apartments in Hurstville, positioned to the south west of the Sydney CBD, have a median price of $840,000. The report states Hurstville is well positioned as a business hub for the surrounding areas, and boasts a Westfield shopping centre as well as schools, parks and medical facilities. "Despite a minor annual median unit price softening of -1.3% since 2017 Hurstville remains a top performing liveable and affordable suburb, with solid rental yields of 3.8% and low vacancy rates of 1.7%." "Residential and commercial projects valued at approximately $5.8 million in the 2nd half of 2018 will answer future demand and stimulate the local economic growth," the report concluded. Jennifer Gore-Cuthbert, owner and founding attorney of Atlanta Personal Injury Law Group Gore LLC, has been recognized by Georgia Trend Magazine as Legal Elite in Personal Injury Law. This is her third consecutive year to receive this prestigious award. Each year, Georgia Trend invites all Georgia lawyers to submit online nominations for those they consider the best in their field. Respondents cannot vote for themselves, and places on the list cannot be purchased. The honorees are determined by lawyers votes only. This years group of Legal Elite award winners practice across the state of Georgia and represent 16 different areas of law. To see the full Georgia Trend Legal Elite 2018 listing, visit http://www.georgiatrend.com/December-2018/Georgia-Trend-2018-Legal-Elite/. Jennifer says she is honored to be included in this esteemed group: Thank you to all my colleagues who nominated and voted for me to be recognized by Georgia Trend Magazine as Legal Elite 2018 in Personal Injury Law! I am grateful for my team in their hard work, striving to provide clients an excellent experience. I am grateful for our clients, who place their trust in our firm. Georgia Trend is Georgias only statewide business publication. For more than 30 years, the award-winning magazine has presented a balanced analysis of business and political trends around Georgia. The monthly magazine boasts more than 50,000 subscribers. About Atlanta Personal Injury Law Group Gore LLC: Atlanta Personal Injury Law Group Gore LLC believes that the victims of serious collisions deserve compensation for their injuries. They should not have to deal with uncooperative insurance companies or get the runaround while trying to recover physically, financially, and emotionally. Atlanta Personal Injury Law Group Gore LLC represents victims of auto collisions, motorcycle collisions, truck collisions, victims hit by drunk drivers, those injured in a slip-and-fall, as well as wrongful death cases. We have cell phones more powerful than the computers used to send people to the moon but our jeans dont even have large enough pockets to carry them. Womens lives have changed radically, but their jeans have not caught up. With limited options, women have accepted sacrificing comfort and utility for style. Most womens jeans have tiny or fake pockets making it impractical to carry everyday essentials such as a phone, wallet, keys etc. While Wardah was a PhD student at MIT, she often had to carry her belongings (phone, wallet, keys, id) in her hands when going between her office and lab because most of her jeans had very small pockets. One day she voiced her frustration about not being able to carry her things to her husband, Ahmed, who grew up in the textile industry. At first, Ahmed had a hard time believing that this could be a real issue. He did some research, and found that many other women were frustrated with the lack of pockets in their garments and they started working on a prototype. What started off as a fun project took a life of its own and now has emerged into a fashion-tech startup. Richard Lowe, fashion industry veteran who has worked for brands like Juicy Couture, Vera Wang and Spiegel, came on board as the creative director. To him it was simple - pockets are hard, bulky and no big brand wants to compromise even slightly on style, so they just choose to strip such a basic necessity. As he had helped develop shape-fx technology which uses technical fabrics to create a flattering look, he knew exactly how to add pockets to jeans, while not compromising on style or comfort. Radian Jeans started with the goal of making comfortable jeans with functional pockets and added cutting-edge textile technology to create the perfect jeans. Radian jeans have comfortable stretch fabric, temperature regulation and an extremely flattering fit. Radian also developed proprietary algorithms to determine the perfect fit based on each customers body measurements in order to eliminate the frustration of trying to find the right fit of jeans in store and the hassle of returning online purchases. Radian Jeans is accepting pre-orders on Kickstarter. Radian jeans are available in 4 colors (indigo, light blue, black, white) in skinny and straight fits. The white jeans are created using nanotechnology-based fabric treatment to provide a natural self-cleaning effect. Radian tested the jeans with a group of women, and recorded the results; see video here. For more about Radian Jeans and to pre-order, visit: http://www.radianjeans.com or visit Kickstarter. About Radian Radian is a Boston startup focused on developing technology-based functional apparel. Co-founded by Ahmed Malik, who grew up in the textile business and is currently part of the MIT Advanced Functional Fabrics of Americas Entrepreneurship Program. Wardah, Radians co-founder and now advisor, has a PhD in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT and is working on artificial intelligence based technologies. We are excited to bring our experience and dedication to customer service to Pinellas Park. Cellular Sales, the largest independent Verizon Wireless retailer by volume, announces their expansion in Florida with a new store in Pinellas Park. Over the next year, the store is expected to add new jobs within the local community. On November 20, the store located at 74006 A 66th Street welcomed its first customers. Cellular Sales has opened over 100 stores in Florida but this is their first in Pinellas Park. We take pride in our large presence throughout the state of Florida, said Cellular Sales Regional Director Jason Crutcher. With our first store in Pinellas Park, we look forward to better serving central Florida communities. The store currently employs seven team members with plans to add at least three new team members as the store continues to grow over the next year. Due to their innovative approach to customer service, Cellular Sales has experienced significant growth over the past 25 years. It has been named to Inc. Magazines 5000 list of the fastest growing companies nine times, achieving Hall of Fame status. Cellular Sales successful, hands-on approach to customer service starts with training. Before selling on their own, new Cellular Sales team members are with senior sales reps for four to six weeks. Team members are encouraged to view themselves as entrepreneurs with the support of an established, successful company backing them up. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics expects demand for retail sales jobs to grow over the next decade and sales experience will be valuable. Cellular Sales understands the value of great training and support from a personal and professional development point of view. We are excited to bring our experience and dedication to customer service to Pinellas Park, said Cellular Sales Regional Director Cheyenne Jenkins. We look forward to building up a strong team of leaders and salespeople at our new store. Cellular Sales seeks to hire individuals with a passion for customer service to work at its Park and 66th Street store in Pinellas Park. Those interested in applying for jobs at this Cellular Sales location may contact Cellular Sales Recruiter Vance Hall at (813) 394-5846 or vance.hall(at)cellularsales.com. About Cellular Sales Headquartered in Knoxville, Tenn., Cellular Sales was founded in 1993 and has been named to Inc. Magazines 5000 as one of the nations fastest-growing privately owned retailers for nine of the past 10 years, something only 0.5 percent of companies on that list achieve. The company currently employs 7,200 people and operates over 700 stores nationwide across 41 states. Job seekers may visit jobs.cellularsales.com. For more information on the company, visit cellularsales.com. Center for Vision and Population Health at Prevent Blindness established. Now is the time for all those working to address vision & eye health to coordinate and streamline our efforts to effectively improve access to quality eye care, promote research, & establish best practices to improve eye health today and for generations to come- Jeff Todd, PB President. Healthy vision can be a key component to independence and well-being for people of all ages. However barriers such as poor access to eye care, lack of insurance coverage, and inconsistent policies for eye health can prevent early detection and treatment of eye disorders. Prevent Blindness, the nations oldest volunteer eye health and safety organization, is committed to convening stakeholders in vision, public health, and patient advocacy to address the barriers to healthy vision and work to increase the uniformity of vision preservation nationally. To accomplish this, the Center for Vision and Population Health at Prevent Blindness (CVPH) has been established as a national coordinating body for effective practices, state-level technical assistance, and programmatic interventions. A 2016 report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM), Making Eye Health a Population Health Imperative: Vision for Tomorrow, advanced a number of recommendations for improving eye health in the United States. Among the ensuing discussion was the need for a coordinated national effort that engages key stakeholders to advance vision and eye health from a population health perspective. The NASEM Report emphasized current gaps and the pressing need for action, but executing its recommendations will require coordinated efforts from stakeholders across public health, policy, community, and clinical arenas said Heather E. Whitson, MD, MHS, co-author of the NASEM report and Associate Professor of Medicine, Associate Professor in Ophthalmology, and Deputy Director of the Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development at Duke University. She added, Prevent Blindness and its Center for Vision and Population Health are perfectly positioned to serve as the backbone of this effort. The CVPH will respond to this call to action and will work through diverse professional stakeholders and patient advocates to drive improvements in policy, program, and a coordinated national approach to eye health. Prevent Blindness president and CEO, Jeff Todd, along with co-authors Dr. Whitson and Edwin C. Marshall, O.D., M.S., M.P.H., Professor Emeritus of Optometry and Public Health, Indiana University, addressed the various challenges facing, and provided strategies for such a center in a recently published article in the Journal of the American Medical Association Ophthalmology entitled, Eye and Vision Health for Tomorrow: From Recommendations to Coordinated Action. Working in direct collaboration with experts from medical, scientific, public health, research and corporate sectors, the CVPH will leverage key stakeholder input, data from improved surveillance efforts (including state and national survey data), and peer-reviewed scientific literature to identify areas of geographic, population, and disease significance that provide opportunities for significant impact. The information, resources, and guidance developed by this new Center will result in increased awareness about eye health and preventive practices that can be integrated into existing health and social service programs, ultimately elevating the attention given to eye health in the context of public health programs. As part of the launch of the CVPH, Prevent Blindness is establishing an Advisory Committee, chaired by Dr. Whitson, and staffed by Kira Baldonado, Vice President of Public Health and Policy at Prevent Blindness. The Advisory Committee will include experts in the fields of ophthalmology, optometry, epidemiology, geriatrics, minority health, public health, and patient advocacy. The NASEM report has been monumental in elevating the need facing this country and in presenting multiple areas of improvement for our nations vision health, said Mr. Todd. Now is the time for all those working to address vision and eye health to coordinate and streamline our efforts to effectively improve access to quality eye care, promote research, and establish best practices to improve eye health today and for generations to come. For more information on the Center for Vision and Population Health at Prevent Blindness, please call Prevent Blindness at (800) 331-2020 or visit preventblindness.org. About Prevent Blindness Founded in 1908, Prevent Blindness is the nation's leading volunteer eye health and safety organization dedicated to fighting blindness and saving sight. Focused on promoting a continuum of vision care, Prevent Blindness touches the lives of millions of people each year through public and professional education, advocacy, certified vision screening and training, community and patient service programs and research. These services are made possible through the generous support of the American public. Together with a network of affiliates, Prevent Blindness is committed to eliminating preventable blindness in America. For more information, or to make a contribution to the sight-saving fund, call (800) 331-2020. Or, visit us on the Web at preventblindness.org or facebook.com/preventblindness. Rafeeq Mohammad, Area Director of Club Z! Tutoring of Clear Lake When a child receives individualized attention and assistance in their education, there is no hurdle they cannot jump. Club Z! Tutoring of Clear Lake, proudly serving families in League City, Friendswood, Clear Lake, and Houston is celebrating its official grand opening with special offers, including FREE SAT or ACT test preparation programs. Local families are encouraged to like and follow the Club Z! Tutoring of Houston Facebook page to participate in all of its grand opening special offers and promotions or call 832-460-5643 to register. Club Z! Tutoring of League City offers in-home and online tutoring for all subjects, including SAT and ACT test preparation and study skills development. In addition, Club Z! Tutoring of Clear Lake has services and programs to support students of all ages, from Kindergarten readiness through college admissions counseling. Club Z! services are also available year-round, with everything from test prep classes to online reading camps available during the summer and early fall. Club Z! is the nations largest in-home and online tutoring and test prep organization, with more than 450 offices in North America. Club Z! Tutoring of Clear Lake is owned and operated by Rafeeq Mohammad, who has much expertise in the field of education already and provides much of the consulting services for Club Z! himself given his extensive educational experience and background. As a math teacher and department chair, Rafeeq Mohammad uses his experience in the school system to make Club Z! a valuable asset to the families of Clear Lake. Adds Mohammad: Dont think of tutoring as an expense but rather as a great investment in your childs future. When a child receives individualized attention and assistance in their education, there is no hurdle they cannot jump. Our tutors help build a childs confidence in learning which will contribute immensely to their success. So, invest in your childs future and see how they reap the benefits throughout their educational careers. Club Z! Tutoring of Clear Lake tutors are all highly qualified, professional educators who are passionate about education. In addition, all Club Z! tutors are thoroughly screened and background checked prior to hire, and students are carefully matched to a Club Z! tutor using the companys proven Z! Tutor Match process. The Z! Tutor Match is based on academic qualifications, personality traits, and other factors that help foster student success. Club Z! even offers a 100% satisfaction Z! Guarantee backing their tutor match. And each student receives a customized learning plan, based on his/her academic goals, time frame, and level of current achievement, which is implemented using the students classroom curriculum or one of Club Z!s proprietary curriculum options. Mr. Mohammad is particularly excited to bring Club Z!s proven SAT and ACT test prep programs to Clear Lake families, having firsthand experience with the intensely competitive nature of college admissions. That is why they are especially confident in the companys Z! Prep Score Booster, its SAT and ACT diagnostic test and study tool. Club Z! of Clear Lake is offering all League City families a free 30 day trial of the Score Booster program, now through January 7th. Adds Mohammad: Students will receive instant feedback on their test performance, including videos with top notch tutors demonstrating the correct way to answer each and every question on each and every test. In addition, students will get 30 days of access to our Z Prep! Online study tools, which include video modules for topics ranging from linear equations to solving word problems. The Score Booster has had a tremendous impact on our students results for test prep, with average gains of 200 points on the SAT and 4-5 points on the ACT, and were excited for our local families to try it out. Club Z! Tutoring of Clear Lake is also extending free online homework help to students in and around League City, now through January 7th, in recognition of the companys grand opening. The online homework help program is one of Club Z!s most popular services, providing one-on-one access to a highly qualified tutor, to help with homework assignments in all subjects, ranging from reading to science and math. Club Z! online homework help is available Monday-Thursday from 8 pm to 11 pm MST, and students will have unlimited access during the promotional period. Families are encouraged to like and follow Club Z! of Houston on Facebook or call 832-460-5643 to take advantage of the free offers, as well as all of the other exciting grand opening promotions. Cosmic Crisp logo Were long overdue for a campaign that highlights fresh produce and farming direct to the consumer in a way that excites the dreamer inside all of us. The powerhouse team that made the ever popular Pink Lady brand apple a household name is gearing up to make apple history once again, this time with the variety sold under the brand Cosmic Crisp. Proprietary Variety Management (PVM), noted innovators in produce IP, branding and global management, is in the pilots seat to navigate a $10 million-plus marketing budget, the largest consumer launch in apple history. The theme for the launch ties directly to the innovation and the dedication of the breeders and growers who spent over 20 years to carefully cultivate the Cosmic Crisp brand apple. Titled Imagine the Possibilities, the campaign speaks to this apple setting a new bar for flavor, presentation and storage, and as a category breakout inspiring chefs, families and apple lovers. Our goal is to inspire and educate people of all ages by using Cosmic Crisp as a perfect example of big dreams becoming a reality, explained Kathryn Grandy, director of marketing for Proprietary Variety Management. Were long overdue for a campaign that highlights fresh produce and farming direct to the consumer in a way that excites the dreamer inside all of us, she added. To celebrate the inspiration and passion behind the Cosmic Crisp, PVM has selected a unique group of initial partners rooted in the arts and sciences, all sharing the message of aspiration and education. Imagine the Possibilities will come to life through partnerships with The Good Housekeeping Nutritionist Approved Emblem, Missoula Childrens Theatre and The Produce Moms, among others to be announced. The importance of dreaming big is embodied in the special partnership PVM developed between Cosmic Crisp and Missoula Childrens Theatre (MCT), the largest non-profit touring childrens theatre in the world. While the theatre is based in Missoula, Mont., presenting organizations bring its popular week-long drama residency to communities across North America and around the world. In 2019, the MCT season includes an updated version of the theatres original musical, Johnny Appleseed, which will have its world premiere in February. Cosmic Crisp is sponsoring the premiere of Johnny Appleseed in Missoula, as well as its national tour. Aligned with the theatres goals of empowering children and communities with hands-on learning and access to the performing arts, audiences will be treated to exclusive Cosmic Crisp tasting experiences. Also key to the fall 2019 debut of Cosmic Crisp is The Good Housekeeping Nutritionist Approved Emblem, which the brand earned. The GHNA Emblem is the first health-conscious emblem or seal in the food and beverage industry awarded to qualifying brands that help consumers make healthier choices. By leveraging the emblem, Cosmic Crisp will be able to share its story with millions of new consumers through print materials, digital platforms and tasting events. Another trusted seal of approval for the Cosmic Crisp comes through a partnership with The Produce Moms, which has become a powerful voice within the produce industry and beyond. Founded and led by Lori Taylor, who has dedicated her career to increasing the consumption of fruits and vegetables, The Produce Moms reaches millions of families, schools, nutritionists and others each month with digital content and public appearances. Taylor will be the first of several influencers who will promote Cosmic Crisp to reach consumers on and offline. Were elated to have a solid set of partnerships in place that support Cosmic Crisp on many levels, said Grandy. And were just getting warmed up. PVM has selected award-winning integrated marketing firm McDill Associates as the lead agency for the multi-year Cosmic Crisp marketing campaign. With more than 20 years of experience, McDill creates breakout branding, packaging and campaigns for fresh produce and consumer packaged goods. In partnership with McDill Associates, Ellipses Public Relations will spearhead public relations, social media and influencer relations for Cosmic Crisp. Backed by a $10 million-plus marketing budget, the Cosmic Crisp retail launch will take place in the fall of 2019, and an estimated 2.2 million boxes are expected to be on the market in 2020. About Cosmic Crisp The Cosmic Crisp WA 38 cv brand apple variety is the remarkable result of 20 years of study and research by Washington State University's world-class tree fruit breeding program. Cosmic Crisp brand apples are a cross between Enterprise and Honeycrisp. The large, juicy, red apple has a firm and crisp texture that provides ample sweetness and tartness, making it an excellent eating and baking apple. It is naturally slow to brown when cut and maintains its texture and flavor in storage for more than a year. The name, Cosmic, was chosen for the apples starburst-like lenticels (pores) that can be seen at a molecular level on the surface, resembling the cosmos. Crisp links to its parent, the Honey Crisp. This sweet, delicious, crisp apple will be harvested by growers throughout Washington for retail delivery in the autumn of 2019. For information and updates, visit http://www.thecosmiccrisp.com. About The Produce Moms The Produce Moms, led by Lori Taylor, is a community of passionate fresh produce advocates with a mission to inspire everyone, especially children, to eat more fruits and vegetables. The Produce Moms educates consumers about fresh produce, introduces them to produce brands, engages the produce industry with consumers in inspiring conversations, and promotes public policy to protect and increase the availability of fresh produce at American schools. Visit http://www.theproducemoms.com for additional information. About Missoula Childrens Theatre Founded in 1970, Missoula Childrens Theatre (MCT Inc) is a 501(c)( 3) non-profit arts organization dedicated to the development of life skills in children through participation in the performing arts. With its traveling tour group, MCT impacts more than 65,000 children in 1,200 communities in all 50 states, Canada and over a dozen countries overseas annually. At every stop, MCT professionals arrive with a set, lighting, costumes, props and make-up--everything it takes to put on a play, except for the cast. Fifty to 60 local children in small towns and U.S. military communities are selected to participate in an original musical, which they perform after just six days of rehearsal. Additional information about MCT may be found at http://www.mctinc.org. Photography available upon request. The African American Guide to the Bible: a potent opus that addresses the Bibles genuineness, racial objectivity, and humanity in general. The African American Guide to the Bible is the creation of published author, Dr. H.C. Felder, an apologetics teacher at New Beginnings Church, founder of Giving An Answer ministry, and host of a weekly apologetically-based talk show. Dr. Felder shares, The African American Guide to the Bible makes the case for the relevance of the Bible from the perspective of people of color. It presents a comprehensive biblical view of topics of interest to African Americans and clarifies racial issues for white people. Part 1 addresses the inspiration of the Bible by giving evidence for its authenticity. A considerable amount of time is spent on examining the original text of the Bible, the archeological evidence, and the evidence from predictive prophecy to demonstrate the uniqueness of the Bible. Part 2 deals with the black presence in the Bible by demonstrating the prominence of people of color and black people in particular by highlighting their importance in the plan of God. It explains what it means to be black and demonstrates that the scientific and biblical evidence are both consistent with respect to race. Part 3 is a response to the arguments of racism used by critics of the Bible, for example, Christianity is the white mans religion and Bible supports slavery and racism. These arguments are examined and evaluated in light of scripture and the context of history. Part 4 deals with the unity of humanity from a biblical perspective. It shows why racism is not only unbiblical but is evil when understood from the perspective of God. Published by Christian Faith Publishing, Dr. H.C. Felders new book hopes to give insight to the longstanding issue of racism that has plagued humanity since ancient times. This book conveys inclusive notions on the significance of racial diversity in biblical times through scriptural evidence that truly edifies the compassionate nature of Gods Word to all. View a synopsis of The African American Guide to the Bible on YouTube. Consumers can purchase The African American Guide to the Bible at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble. For additional information or inquiries about The African American Guide to the Bible, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919. Earnworthy (earnworthy.com) is delighted to announce that our consultancy has been approved as a Certified Expert by Zapier, an online automation software program that allows us to integrate our favorite sales and marketing tools, which include: Unbounce ActiveCampaign Google Analytics Google Ads Facebook Ads CallRail Typeform Chatra and hundreds of others! As a Zapier Certified Expert, Earnworthy is now part of the Zapier Experts Community, and better able to improve processes, recommend new applications, and automate the workflows for our clients. We will have access to better tools and resources to help make any workflow possible on the Zapier platform. Using Zapier, we can easily connect landing page tools such as Unbounce to email automation tools such as ActiveCampaign, and can fully utilize the robust features of Zapier to ensure all of the necessary data is captured every time. If you are interested in learning more about our work as a Certified Zapier Expert, please email us at hello@earnworthy.com to see if we are a good fit for your next project. About Zapier: Zapier is a web-based service that allows end users to integrate the web applications they use. Although Zapier is based in Sunnyvale, California, it employs a workforce of 125 employees located around the United States and in 13 other countries. About Earnworthy: Earnworthy is a growth marketing consultancy based in Boca Raton, Florida, specializing in landing page design, A/B testing, and conversion optimization. Whether youre an experienced marketer, a business owner, or someone who is just trying to figure this stuff out, we can help you navigate the marketing landscape, so youll convert more of your website visitors into leads and customers. In addition to being a Zapier Certified Expert, we are also an Unbounce Agency Partner, Google Partner, ActiveCampaign Certified Consultant, and CXL Certified Optimizer. Eaton Square would like to congratulate the shareholders of Irwinconsult on the recent sale of their firm to WSP. Irwinconsult was advised by Roger Collins-Woolcock, Eaton Square Principal (Brisbane), Mark Goodwin, Managing Principal (Perth) and Reece Adnams, CEO and Global Managing Principal. Irwinconsult is a leading structural, building services, civil, waste and traffic engineering consultancy with offices in Melbourne, Bendigo and Darwin. Over its 65 year history, it has worked on many iconic buildings in Melbourne including the State Library of Victoria, Royal Childrens Hospital, the Shrine of Remembrance and the University of Melbourne School of Design. The firm provided specialist engineering services for the Bendigo Hospital and Geelong Library and Heritage Centre. In Darwin since 1964, Irwinconsult has worked on many significant buildings including the Palmerston Regional Hospital and Soho Apartments. The sale to WSP will help Irwinconsult expand its services into other major centres across Australia and fast-track its current expansion into the United States where it currently has three building projects underway. In doing so, it will create greater opportunities for its 200+ employees. We see this as a continuation of the global consolidation of the engineering services sector. Global companies like WSP are keen to attract specialized IP based businesses such as Irwinconsult, and Irwinconsult will benefit from WSPs global reach and balance sheet for larger projects noted Roger Collins-Woolcock from Eaton Square. Cross-border transactions are the norm in the engineering services sector now, which is why it has been important for us to grow our offices in Canada, the US, London, Asia and Australia noted Reece Adnams, CEO at Eaton Square. WSP is a global management and consultancy services business focused on the built and natural environment. It is headquartered in Montreal, Canada and is one of the largest consultancies In the world with over 48,000 staff. Eaton Square Eaton Square is an international cross-border M&A and capital service provider with operations in 15 offices with over 50 M&A and capital professionals across US, Canada, China & Hong Kong, Australia, UK, Switzerland, Singapore and Israel. We assist growth-oriented, technology and services businesses to: Capitalise on the value they have built in their business for shareholders Undertake mergers and acquisitions Access the capital they need to grow and expand We are focused on four key opportunities: 1. Mergers and Acquisitions - buy side, sell side, mergers 2. Capital Raising - growth capital, bank debt, private equity, second round of capital raising 3. Public Markets - full or partial new market listing, reverse listing with capital raise 4. Transaction Readiness - market attractiveness, transaction preparations and organisation shaping, business and capital strategy, execution For more information, contact: Roger Collins-Woolcock Mark Goodwin Managing Principal Managing Principal roger.collins-woolcock(at)eatonsq.com Mark.Goodwin(at)eatonsq.com Ph: +61 412 778 807 Ph: +61 422 005 439 Garland employees attended the Pillar Award event to accept the award on behalf of the company. To see the impact weve had over the years through our fundraising and volunteerism is what keeps us going year after year. Spirit Week has become who we are as an organization. Garland was recently honored with a Medical Mutual Pillar Award for Community Service for its annual tradition of supporting non-profit organizations through fun, creative and thoughtful fundraising. Garlands philanthropic initiative called Spirit Week began in 2010 with Garland employees helping raise more than $400,000 for charities in northeast Ohio and across the country over the last nine years. The company was honored at an event Thursday, December 6 along with seven other 2018 Pillar Award honorees. Garlands Spirit Week initially began as a weeklong fundraising event, but has since transformed into a several months long initiative that kicks off well before the official date in May. Garland has supported a variety of charities throughout the years, including Make-A-Wish Foundation, St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital, Greater Cleveland Habitat for Humanity, Ohio Cancer Research and most recently, the Achievement Centers for Children. In addition to providing Garland employees with a way to give back to the community, Spirit Week has also served as a way for employees to support their fellow partners through cancer diagnoses. In 2013, Garland supported the Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation, an organization that funds lung cancer research and advocacy. The organization was providing help, support and comfort to the wife of a California-based Garland sales rep after she was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer at 28 years old. One of Garlands own board members was also battling the disease. Three years later, two more Garland family members received cancer diagnoses. Once again, Garlands employees rallied behind their colleagues not only by offering support personally and professionally, but also by raising money for Ohio Cancer Research, a nonprofit organization dedicated to funding aggressive cancer research. Garlands employees truly have embraced the goal of Spirit Week, which has always been to support non-profit organizations who are doing so much good in our local community and also across the country, said Chuck Ripepi, Garlands CFO. To see the impact weve had over the years through our fundraising and volunteerism is what keeps us going year after year. Spirit Week has become part of who we are as an organization. Garlands 2019 Spirit Week charity is Santas Hide-A-Way Hollow, a completely volunteer-run organization that brings the spirit of Christmas joy to seriously and terminally ill children and their families all throughout the year. The Garland Company, Inc. is one of the worldwide leaders of quality, high-performance roofing and building envelope solutions for the commercial, industrial and institutional markets. For over 120 years, Garland has continually developed unique product and service offerings that have raised the bar of performance while exceeding the individual needs of customers throughout the world. Today, our network of over 200 local building envelope professionals is ideally positioned throughout the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom to provide quality building envelope solutions for single and multi-property facilities. The Garland Company Inc., headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, is an ISO 9001:2015 certified company. For more information, visit http://www.garlandco.com or call toll-free to be connected with your local Garland representative at 1.800.321.9336. In keeping with its culture of innovation, global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP is now the legal corporate partner for New York University (NYU) Stern School of Business Creative Destruction Lab - New York City (CDL-NYC), a seed-stage program focused on maximizing the probability of success of massively-scalable science and technology startups. As part of NYUs Stern Business School (NYU Stern), a leading nonprofit educational and research institution, CDL-NYC does not charge fees or take equity in the companies created. Founders receive intensive mentorship from preeminent serial entrepreneurs, access to capital from leading venture investors, technical advice from world-renowned scientists, and execution support from students at NYU Stern's top-ranked MBA program. Scott J. Bornstein, co-chair of Greenberg Traurigs Global Intellectual Property & Technology Practice and co-chair of the firm's Global Patent Litigation Group, and Barry J. Schindler, chair of Greenberg Traurigs Global Patent Prosecution Group, will lead the firms participation. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work with some of the most innovative and creative new technology companies and to partner with NYU Stern on this program, Bornstein said. The 22 participating companies were selected from more than 3,000 applicants including companies affiliated with some of the top universities in the United States. Greenberg Traurigs partnership with CDL-NYC includes program sponsorship and legal support, as Bornstein describes, to the selected CDL companies. Most of the legal work for the startups is expected to focus on intellectual property IP law matters; formation and incorporation documents; capitalization table creation and updates; and contracts and negotiations for employees and deals, according to Deepak Hegde, associate professor of Management & Organizations and director of CDL-NYC program at NYU Stern. Hands-on support from professionals in our community is key to the success of the program overall, as well as of the individuals participating, Hegde said. We are thankful for the attorneys involvement given their reputation and achievements and trust it will be a learning experience for the startups, the mentors, and professors, as well as for the legal team. Greenberg Traurig is particularly proud of this partnership because the work of CDL-NYC is so closely aligned with the goals of Greenberg Traurigs Innovative Client Strategies Team and overall our history and culture of innovation in the legal profession, Schindler said. We look forward to working on what will be a truly unique experience. On Friday, Dec. 7, Bornstein and Schindler, who have previously served as guest lecturers at NYU Stern, will present with Greenberg Traurig IP associates Arsha Hasan and Richard Abeeku Mills-Robertson to participating CDL-NYC companies on IP 101 for Startups. The presentation will focus on aspects of IP law that startups should think about when developing their products and services. About Greenberg Traurigs Intellectual Property & Technology Practice: With more than 180 intellectual property attorneys and agents in the United States, Asia, and Europe, Greenberg Traurig provides a broad range of patent, trademark and copyright protection and strategic counseling. Greenberg Traurig was named a National Tier 1 Law Firm for IP Litigation, Patent Law, Trademark and Information Technology Law by U.S. News and Best Lawyers, 2017 Best Law Firms Rankings." 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. Paul M. Seby of global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP has been recognized by the Denver Business Journal in its 2018 Whos Who in Energy list. Seby and fellow honorees will be recognized at a reception in Denver, Dec. 6. Whos Who in Energy recognizes business leaders who are helping guide and shape Colorados energy industry in fields such as exploration, production, engineering, renewable, law, well services, finance, manufacturing, education, training, public policy, and environment. Seby, a shareholder in Greenberg Traurigs Denver office and member of the firms Energy & Natural Resources Group, is a leading practitioner in the Rocky Mountain region, with nearly 25 years' experience analyzing a myriad of environmental issues. He counsels public and private clients in the energy, mining, manufacturing, and service industries on how to navigate and successfully operate within the complex framework of state and federal environmental regulations and policies. Seby has vast experience prosecuting cases to enforce and overturn administrative agency regulations and decisions, and has defended clients in federal and state enforcement proceedings, in appearances before the U.S. Supreme Court, several U.S. Courts of Appeal, and the Colorado Supreme Court, among others. Bearing in mind that a successful outcome is often a combination of traditional and non-traditional legal strategy, Seby leverages his experience to negotiate with government agencies and adversary groups. About Greenberg Traurig, LLP Energy and Natural Resources Practice Greenberg Traurigs Energy and Natural Resources Practice brings together attorneys from across the firms global offices to provide broad-ranging representation of upstream, midstream, downstream, traditional power generation, and renewable energy companies on important aspects of their gas exploration, energy production, transportation, and storage operations. Greenberg Traurigs attorneys knowledge and experience, including in-house and government experience, within many segments of the energy and natural resources industry enables the group to develop and implement legal strategies for clients in the United States and in international markets, including Latin America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. The firm's energy practice is further distinguished by lawyers with substantial FERC experience and broad energy finance representations. Several of the firms energy attorneys are former general counsel at energy industry companies, and provide a valuable business perspective for energy clients across the globe. Greenberg Traurigs Energy and Natural Resources Practice has expanded significantly in Latin America and Europe with the establishment of the firms Mexico City and Warsaw offices. About Greenberg Traurig 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. Fransiska Rindorindo If you want to reduce your 2019 property tax bill, you have until the end of December, 2018, to qualify for a homestead exemption. As 2018 comes to a close, there is still time to buy a house and save money by qualifying for a Homeowners Exemption. Rindorindo is urging homebuyers to take advantage of the Harris County Residential Homestead Exemption. According to the Harris County Appraisal District (HCAD), an exemption removes part of the value of your property from taxation and lowers your taxes. For example, if your home is valued at $120,000 and you qualify for a $20,000 exemption, you pay taxes on your home as if it was worth only $100,000. The HCAD Website details different categories of exemptions: School taxes: After qualifying for this homestead exemption, the homeowner receives at least a $25,000 homestead exemption on the value of the home for school district taxes. County taxes: Harris County provides a 20% optional homestead exemption to all homeowners. For example, if the home is valued at $150,000, the homeowner reduces the taxable value of their property by $30,000. Optional exemptions: Any taxing entity, including a city, county, school or special district, may offer an exemption for up to 20% of a homes value. No matter what percentage, however, the amount of the optional exemption may not be less than $5,000. As an added bonus, the optional exemption percentage is added to any other homestead exemption for which the applicant qualifies. If you want to reduce your 2019 property tax bill, you have until the end of December, 2018, to qualify for a homestead exemption, Rindorindo said. Otherwise, youll have to wait until 2020 to qualify. Buyers must close escrow by December 31, 2018, because the property must be owned as of January 1, 2019, to qualify for the exemption. I know some special lenders that can help with this. They can close as fast as 15 calendar days and up to three weeks, compared to the more common 30-day close, Rindorindo concluded. Typically, FHA financing takes 30-45 days. With these special lenders I was recently able to close in three weeks when working with first-time homebuyers. About Fransiska Rindorindo, RE/MAX Signature Fransiska Rindorindo works with both buyers and sellers. In addition to English, she speaks German, Indonesian and Spanish. Fransiska is a Certified International Property Specialist and Master Certified Negotiation Expert. For more information, please call (713) 489-1718, or visit http://www.har.com/Fransiska. For media inquiries, please call the NALA at 805.650.6121, ext. 361. It's clear people want more choices for ordering in-restaurant and for home delivery, and we are excited to collaborate with JetSense.ai to make that happen. JetSense.ai, designer of integrated customer service solutions (Radnor, Pa.), and Neighborhood Restaurant Group (NRG) (Alexandria, Va.), an award-winning collection of independent and idiosyncratic businesses in Washington, D.C., Virginia, and Maryland, have formed a strategic partnership to design a message-based restaurant ordering system enabled through JetSense.ais integrated chatbot platform. Initially, the text ordering service will be available via text messaging (SMS) and Amazon Alexa, and will soon also include the WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger channels. At NRG, the customer experience is paramount. We seek to discover and implement progressive solutions that will exceed our guests expectations, commented Michael Babin, CEO, NRG. Its clear people want more choices for ordering in-restaurant and for home delivery, and we are excited to collaborate with the experienced team at JetSense.ai to make that happen." Not only is this text-to-order solution more affordable for customers, but it is also more cost effective for restaurants, eliminating costly delivery service fees while providing vital customer insights otherwise inaccessible. We are thrilled to partner with a company that already builds award-winning restaurant experiences, added Eric Kades, CEO, JetSense.ai. NRGs expertise in the industry is invaluable as we continue to develop our message-based restaurant ordering technology. JetSense.ais integrated technology platform allows it to launch new chatbot applications quickly and easily with live agent backup to ensure a seamless customer experience. Look for the technology coming soon to Bluejacket(Washington, D.C.) and other NRG restaurants. About JetSense.ai JetSense.ai, designer of integrated customer service solutions enabled through intelligent OmniBots with the embedded support of live agents, is disrupting consumer experience with its next-generation communication platform. JetSense.ai is the brainchild of CEO Eric Kades, founder of JetSpring, a leading outsourced student support provider for the higher education sector. His industry-specific knowledge and seasoned perspective on customer service, combined with the business, start-up, and marketing expertise of his JetSense.ai colleagues, have led to the creation of this first-to-market offering designed to change the face of customer experience. About Neighborhood Restaurant Group Neighborhood Restaurant Group is a collaborative of 20 independent brands and businesses dedicated to enhancing the communities in which we live and work. The company includes: Birch & Barley, Bluejacket Brewery, B-Side, Buzz, ChurchKey, Columbia Firehouse, EatBar, Evening Star Cafe, Hazel, Iron Gate, Owens Ordinary, Planet Wine Shop, Red Apron, Red Apron Burger Bar, Rustico, The Arsenal, The Partisan, The Sovereign. Caring.com, the nations leading online destination for caregivers, has named Medical Care Alert to its list of top medical alert systems for 2019. The medical alert provider was recognized as the Best for EMT/EMD Certified Monitoring. Medical Care Alert was one of fourteen companies that qualified for the list based on its demonstration of excellent customer service, transparency, and affordability. With a variety of medical alert systems on the market, this list was developed to help seniors and their loved ones easily identify those with the highest overall value. As a part of the review process, Caring.com identified key features to look for in a system such as waterproofing, fall detection technology, location monitoring, and mobile help button. We understand that safety is top of mind when caring for the elderly and thats why were committed to providing the best medical alert monitoring, says Bryan Stapp, Medical Care Alert President. All our agents are EMT/EMD-Certified, extensively trained to work with seniors and truly care about the people we serve. According to the CDC, one out of four older adults fall every year with 20 percent of those falls resulting in broken bones or head trauma. A medical alert system enables seniors to get immediate help in the event of an emergency and provides their loved ones with peace of mind. To see the complete list of top medical alerts systems, visit https://www.caring.com/caregivers/best-medical-alert-systems ABOUT MEDICAL CARE ALERT Medical Care Alert is an award-winning service offered by American Response Technologies, Inc. Based in Michigan, the company operates USA based monitoring centers in New York and California with thousands of clients in all 50 States. The family-owned company is dedicated to providing the very best in medical alert monitoring, with the highest quality medical alert equipment, at an affordable price. To learn more, visit https://www.medicalcarealert.com ABOUT CARING.COM With millions of website visitors, Caring.com is a leading senior care resource for family caregivers seeking information and support as they care for aging parents, spouses, and other loved ones. Applying cutting-edge technology to its social mission, Caring.com provides helpful eldercare content for caregivers and comprehensive senior living and senior care directories for the United States -- with more than 200,000 consumer reviews and a toll-free referral line at (800) 325-8591. Senior living communities and in-home care agencies may also visit our industry blog for further information: https://partners.caring.com/ MyMeds brings to the market a technology solution with a human touch, serving as a connection between patients, their medications, and caregivers. Medication experience innovator MyMeds today announced a collaboration with Mayo Clinic Global Business Solutions, marking a major step in the healthcare sectors efforts to combat patient non-adherence to doctor-prescribed medications. Medication non-adherence the term which describes patients not taking their medications properly is one of the costliest healthcare challenges plaguing employers, health plans and health systems across the industry. By improving medication adherence rates, patients can benefit through better health care outcomes while payors can generate savings across the healthcare system, especially for self-insured employers and health plans. MyMeds proprietary ACE Medication Experience (Adherence, Communication, Education) will now include Mayo Clinic educational content on medications, enabling all current MyMeds enterprise users access to Mayo Clinics best-in-class medication information. Currently, mayoclinic.org is one of the most visited websites worldwide for people searching for reliable, quality health information. At Mayo Clinic, we continually seek to discover and share medical knowledge for the benefit of everyone, said Sandhya Pruthi, M.D., Chief Medical Editor, MayoClinic.org and Mayo Clinic Global Business Solutions. Mayo Clinic produces trusted, evidence-based health and medication information which can help empower people to effectively manage their health and medications. Reaching individuals with timely, accurate medication information helps support their overall care, said Susan Westcott, Senior Director of Pharmacy - Managed Care, Mayo Clinic. Working with MyMeds is another way Mayo Clinic is able to share its knowledge and expertise with others to support medication adherence and clinical outcomes. Recognizing that the modern medication experience is more than just receiving reminders, MyMeds proprietary platforms provide members access to a variety of educational resources to learn more about their medications, and how and why they are taking them. Among other features aimed at improving patient education and outcomes, patients can use MyMeds to communicate securely with pharmacist-led patient care teams, so theyre never alone in their medication-taking journeys. To simplify the user experience, the platforms leverage MyMeds proprietary pharmacy benefits management (PBM) connectivity technology to easily populate prescription information into its database, in real-time. With its Digital+Human approach of combining technology with human caregivers and clinical teams, MyMeds brings to the market a technology solution with a human touch, serving as a connection between patients, their medications, and caregivers. We are very excited to offer Mayo Clinics trusted educational content to patients enrolled in MyMeds platforms. As a doctor, Ive seen firsthand the challenges both medical and from a cost-perspective that result from patients missing their medications or misunderstanding their prescriptions, said Rajiv R. Shah, MD, Founder and CEO, MyMeds. I believe this collaboration supports patients by providing them with accurate, easy to understand information while helping address this significant issue affecting everyone in healthcare. ABOUT MYMEDS: MyMeds modernizes the medication experience. Our mission is to transform the way people think about their meds. Founded by a doctor who believes that everyone can live healthy lives, and designed by a team of patients, pharmacists and physicians, MyMeds is the industry-recognized leader in the emerging field of medication adherence. MyMeds is the trusted partner of multiple large employers, health plans and PBMs. 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. MEDIA CONTACTS For MyMeds: Jeff Jahangir jeff(at)my-meds.com +1-612.333.9260 For Mayo Clinic Global Business Solutions: Joe OKeefe newsbureau(at)mayo.edu +1-507-284-5005 Ivan Marazzi, PhD, Assistant Professor of Microbiology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, was awarded $2.5 million in funding by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) to further the understanding of the underlying causes of neurodegenerative disorders such as Lou Gehrigs, Alzheimers, and Parkinsons diseases. The award is part of a $64 million commitment by CZI to fund early-career investigators and collaborative science teams to launch the CZI Neurodegeneration Challenge Network. This new network brings together experimental scientists from diverse research fieldsneuroscience, cell biology, biochemistry, immunology, and genomics. I am honored to receive this prestigious award and look forward to working closely with my colleagues in an effort to reach scientific breakthroughs that will help millions of people suffering from these diseases, said Dr. Marazzi. CZI recognizes the importance of cross-disciplinary approaches to study neurodegenerative disorders and improve health for mankind. To fill gaps in our understanding of neurodegenerative diseases, we need to support new approaches, explore new ideas, and help experts connect across disciplines, said CZI Head of Science Cori Bargmann. We're excited to welcome the first group of CZI Neurodegeneration Challenge Network grantees. Together, their work will increase our knowledge of the basic biology of these diseasesand we need that knowledge to develop better treatments. Dr. Marazzi studies epigenetic- and chromatin-mediated mechanisms, the heritable alterations that cause genes to turn on or off, and the cellular response to pathogens or cellular differentiation. The major focus of his research is the unique and shared molecular pathways underlying inflammatory, infectious, and neurodegenerative diseases. His work in neurodegeneration has provided a new paradigm for how mutations can confer both susceptibility to infection and predisposition to neurodegeneration. Building on this groundbreaking discovery, he aims to elucidate the relationship between seemingly unrelated diseases and find effective therapeutic interventions. Neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimers disease, Parkinsons disease, Huntingtons disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (also known as ALS or Lou Gehrigs disease), are a class of diseases that affect millions of people worldwide. Alzheimers disease alone is the fifth most common cause of death for Americans above age 65, and the number of people with Alzheimers and related dementias is predicted to nearly triplefrom 5 million to 14 million peopleby 2060. Meanwhile, the causes of most neurodegenerative diseases are only partly understood, and there are still no effective therapies to cure, prevent, or even treat most of these disorders. The CZI Neurodegeneration Challenge Network seeks to address these gaps by launching a collaborative network that will bring together scientists, physicians, and engineers to focus on neurodegenerative diseases as a broad class of disorders, with shared features and potentially shared solutions. Challenge Network researchers will focus on understanding the fundamental biology of what causes these diseases and how they progress, with an aim toward future development of new strategies for treatment and prevention. Despite tremendous investment and progress in understanding these diseases, there remains a surprising amount of very basic information about their biology that we dont know, said CZI Science Program Officer Katja Brose. By supporting these interdisciplinary collaborations and generating shared tools, resources, and platforms, we hope to inspire a new approach to tackling neurodegenerative diseaseone that leverages the combined power of basic science and technology to accelerate progress towards clinical goals. In February 2018, CZI issued an open request for applications to the Neurodegeneration Challenge Network. CZIs Ben Barres Early Career Acceleration Awards, named for the late Ben Barres, MD, PhD, an American neurobiologist and fierce advocate for young scientists, women, mentorship, and diversity in science, will support early-career academic investigators, especially those who are new to the field of neurodegeneration. CZI is awarding a total of $55.25 million for these awards. Each of the 17 selected investigators will receive $2.5 million, and will benefit from the scientific and professional mentorship and collaborative support of the Challenge Network. CZIs Collaborative Science Awards will support small groups of interdisciplinary collaborations focused on the fundamental biology of neurodegeneration. Each collaborative group includes at least one physician. CZI believes that fostering new models of collaboration between physicians, engineers, computational biologists, and scientists studying basic biology will allow them to reach breakthroughs faster. CZI is providing more than $9 million for these awards. Each of the nine selected groups will receive $1.05 million each. 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. About the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative: The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative was launched in December 2015 by Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook, and Priscilla Chan, a pediatrician and founder and CEO of The Primary School in East Palo Alto. The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative is a new kind of philanthropy that seeks to engineer change at scale. By pairing world-class engineering with grant-making, impact investing, policy, and advocacy work, CZI hopes to build a future for everyone. Initial areas of focus include supporting science through basic biomedical research and education through personalized learning. CZI is also exploring ways to address barriers to justice and opportunityfrom criminal justice reform, to expanded access, to economic opportunity and affordable housing. delivers the safest and most successful outcomes of any elective procedure, performed in the world Dello Russo Laser Vision utilizes the latest breakthroughs in Lasik technology to provide patients with unparalleled results and superior outcomes. Combining Contoura Topography Guided Lasik and the Alcon FX500 laser, patients receive 20/20 or greater vision, allowing them to see better than they did while wearing contact lenses or glasses, and have a significantly reduced risk of developing side effects associated with older Lasik procedures, such as chronic dry eye or halos. According to Dr. Joseph Dello Russo, renowned eye surgeon and owner of Dello Russo Laser Vision, utilizing the most advanced technologies and techniques in laser assisted vision correction appeals to the results driven patient who would like to achieve the best vision possible. Developing and operating with the latest advancements in Laser assisted vision correction has been a theme of Dr. Dello Russos career. Considered a pioneer of laser eye surgery, Dr. Dello Russo was a principal investigator for FDA trials of the first laser vision correction procedure back in 1990 and has remained at the forefront of emerging technologies in the 3 decades since. Lasik is a technique sensitive procedure, explains Dr. Dello Russo, The expertise of your eye surgeon and the technology he or she employs to perform your lasik procedure greatly influences your outcome. Topography guided LASIK with Contoura Vision represents the latest advancements in laser assisted vision correction. It provides surgeons with detailed information that allows for a more customized, more precise procedure. Personalization is critical to obtaining the best outcome because no two eyes are the same. Just like a fingerprint, the eye has unique characteristics. Topography technology maps out these unique characteristics by charting over 22,000 unique elevation points of each cornea. This provides the surgeon with detailed information that cannot be obtained from other technology on the market. The added degree of customization and precision from Topography-guided Lasik produces consistently better results. In fact, Contoura Lasik does Contoura Lasik deliver unparalleled results in laser vision correction, studies show it delivers the safest and most successful outcomes of any elective procedure, performed in the world, says Dr. Dello Russo. Men and women living in New York City and New Jersey are invited to one of the four Dello Russo Laser Vision Correction centers for a complimentary consultation to determine if they are a good candidate for Lasik eye surgery. Marc Jenkins, CEO, Patron Technology Patron Technology, the industry-leading event technology solution, is proud to announce that two senior members of the team will present in live sessions at XLIVE. Held December 9-12 in Las Vegas, XLIVE convenes industry leaders at the intersection of music, sports, film, culinary, beverage, eSports, technology, brands and live event experiences. Patron Technology CEO Marc Jenkins will take part in a fireside chat with business futures strategist and author Rob Salkowitz (Forbes; Comic-Con and the Business of Pop Culture). The chat will focus on the role new technologies play, and how event organizers weave them into the structure of live events to eliminate bottlenecks, improve visibility into event operations, and help everyone get more of what they expect out of attending the event. Now, more than ever, event producers, sponsors, and the event attendees themselves expect a deeper, more personalized event experience. The role of digital technology within the event industry has gone from nice-to-have to major player. says Jenkins. We work with our clients to keep them ahead of the curve on technology implementation. Thuzi, a Patron Technology product, will send Scott Blackburn, Thuzi CEO, to speak on elevating event ROI at the XLIVE Destination and City Visitors Bureau and Destination City Workshop. This intimate, senior-level forum takes place on December 10 and is a day of interactive roundtable discussions and informative panels. Blackburn and others will discuss the importance of incorporating your live event with city attractions to create a whole new immersive and interactive live event experience, as well as offer tips for doing so. In addition to speaking, Thuzi is providing several activations through the Thuzi app at XLIVE. The XLIVE app is one of the most important platforms we have to connect and engage our community during the event, says Waco Hoover, founder of XLIVE. It provides many of the powerful and unique engagement opportunities afforded to XLIVE exhibitors, sponsors, and attendees, and it wouldnt be possible without Thuzi as a partner. About Patron Technology Patron Technology enables live event organizers to create better, more customized experiences for their ticket buyers and deeper, more profitable relationships with their sponsors through an integrated, industry-leading event technology solution. Event organizers of different sizes and across different segments use Patron Technology for ticketing, marketing, fan engagement, CRM, logistics and data management. Representatives of the 16 USRN member universities gather in Israel for the USR Summit 2018. We are very glad to work with so many renowned member universities across the world. We look forward to advancing the growth of USRN to raise the awareness of social responsibility among universities in different parts of the world, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) co-hosted the University Social Responsibility (USR) Summit 2018 in Haifa, Israel, with University of Haifa and The Hebrew University of Jerusalem in early December this year. The USR Summit is a biennial flagship event of the University Social Responsibility Network (USRN), a global alliance initiated by PolyU. The USR Summit this year gathered over 100 senior government officials, academics, community leaders and students of higher education institutions from various countries to discuss the role of universities on the theme of Universities Social Responsibility in Shaping a Future of Critical Hope. Prof. Angelina YUEN, PolyUs Senior Advisor to the President and also the Chairperson of the Executive Committee of the USRN; Prof. Gustavo MESCH, Rector of University of Haifa; and Prof. Yaffa ZILBERSHATS, Chair of the Planning and Budgeting Committee, Council of Higher Education in Israel, officiated the launch of the Summit at the University of Haifa on Sunday (2 December). Prof. Yuen expressed the excitement of seeing USRN, which started from a small dream a couple of years ago, has now become a worldwide network to promote social responsibility amongst global universities. We are very glad to work with so many renowned member universities across the world. We look forward to advancing the growth of USRN to raise the awareness of social responsibility among universities in different parts of the world. Mr. BAN Ki-moon, the 8th Secretary General of the United Nations, also sent his congratulations to this years Summit through a video speech. The three-day Summit consisted of different plenary and parallel sessions around the theme of USR and study tours in both the Haifa region and Jerusalem. The inauguration of the USR Students Network was also held during the Summit. Student representatives from the USRN member universities made presentations on their community engagement experiences, and discussed with their counterparts about the possible collaborative cross-border projects. The Summit was concluded in The Hebrew University of Jerusalem on 4 December 2018. PolyU established the USRN in 2015 in the belief that universities have an obligation to collaborate as well as identify solutions to address economic, social and environmental challenges facing the world today, making the world more just, inclusive, peaceful and sustainable. USRN is a platform to bring universities together to exchange ideas as well as share resources and best practices. The member universities also collaborate on impactful projects in an endeavour to promote and foster USR initiatives in higher education on a global scale. Today, there are 16 member universities in the USRN. Caring.com, the nations leading online destination for caregivers, has named QMedic to its list of top medical alert systems for 2019. The medical alert provider was recognized as the Best for Compliance and Activity Monitoring. QMedic was one of fourteen companies that qualified for the list based on its demonstration of excellent customer service, transparency and affordability. With a variety of medical alert systems on the market, this list was developed to help seniors and their loved ones easily identify those with the highest overall value. As a part of the review process, Caring.com also identified key features to look for in a system such as waterproofing, fall detection technology, location monitoring and mobile help button. We have a fundamentally different approach to medical alert services than traditional products, says Sombit Mishra, QMedic Founder & CEO We are the only medical alert solution that is able to proactively monitor activity and wear patterns 24/7 to drive compliance and safety." According to the CDC, one out of four older adults fall every year with 20 percent of those falls resulting in broken bones or head trauma. A medical alert system enables seniors to get immediate help in the event of an emergency and provides their loved ones with peace of mind. To see the complete list of top medical alerts systems, visit https://www.caring.com/caregivers/best-medical-alert-systems ABOUT QMEDIC Founded in 2010 by MIT scientists, QMedic provides a wearable monitoring and cloud computing platform that enables care networks to proactively and unobtrusively monitor the safety of older adults aging in place. Funded by the National Institutes of Health, QMedic has been recognized as a top health disruptor by AARP, Athenahealth, TEDMED and AWS, and previously won the Cleveland Clinic Future of Medicine Award. QMedic's wearable medical alert service is the first and only to calibrate personal behavior baselines 24 hours/day, flag anomalies and escalate early warning signs in real-time to the care network, including call centers, family caregivers, nursing stations and population care managers. For more information about QMedic, visit http://www.qmedichealth.com ABOUT CARING.COM With millions of website visitors, Caring.com is a leading senior care resource for family caregivers seeking information and support as they care for aging parents, spouses, and other loved ones. Applying cutting-edge technology to its social mission, Caring.com provides helpful eldercare content for caregivers and comprehensive senior living and senior care directories for the United States -- with more than 200,000 consumer reviews and a toll-free referral line at (800) 325-8591. Senior living communities and in-home care agencies may also visit our industry blog for further information: https://partners.caring.com/ Mansfield, Texas-based Ramtech Building Systems, the Southwest's premier design-build construction firm for relocatable modular buildings and permanent modular construction has announced that Gary Davenport, the company's Project Architect and Design Project Manager, has received his architecture license for the state of New Mexico. Ramtech and Davenport applied for the license in order to meet a requirement in the procurement process in the companys successful pursuit of a $13.5 million multi-use office building (MUOB) project for the Los Alamos National Laboratory. According to Davenport, the MUOB project requirements stipulated that a registered New Mexico architect must be the Professional of Record and Designer of Record in addition to having five to eight years experience designing similar multi-story modular projects. Mr. Davenport worked closely with the State of New Mexico Board of Architects and was able to receive his reciprocal approval in just over three weeks. Mr. Davenport came to Ramtech in 2015 after an extensive career in the modular building industry. He has a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the New Jersey Institute of Technology, is an active member of the American Institute of Architects, and also holds National Certification of Architectural Review Boards (NCARB) and LEED certifications. The New Mexico licensure required an intensive review of his experience, evaluation by the NCARB, passage of the New Mexico legal requirements test, and confirmation of his good standing with the other states in which he is registered. Those states include Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and New Jersey. The licensure becomes the sixth state where Davenport maintains licenses and provides Ramtech with an increased capacity to pursue both public and private projects in the state. About Ramtech Building Systems Since 1982 Mansfield, Texas-based Ramtech Building Systems has been providing innovative permanent modular buildings for government agencies, healthcare providers, Fortune 500 companies, and educational institutions throughout the Southern United States. As a design-build construction company, Ramtech offers full in-house design, a manufacturer direct product, and complete site construction services all within a single-source solution. By emphasizing a value engineering approach, Ramtech has successfully completed over 4,000 relocatable building and permanent modular construction projects throughout the Southern United States. For more information, visit the company's website at RamtechModular.com. Paul Quick, Smithville President I look forward to creating higher levels of engagement and collaboration with an already strong team at Smithville and delighting our customers with superior service that truly exceeds expectations. Following an extensive national search, Smithville Communications, Indianas largest, privately held telecommunications company, has named Paul Quick its new president of Smithville Communications, Inc. and Smithville Telecom, LLC, according to Darby A. McCarty, Chairman and CEO. Mr. Quick joins Smithville from a senior executive position with Frontier Communications, where he last served as vice president of commercial sales in nine states. While at Frontier, Mr. Quick held a variety of senior positions, including serving as senior vice president and general manager for Frontiers residential and commercial operations in Connecticut and Pennsylvania before being promoted to multi-state responsibilities. In his new role, he will oversee all facets of Smithville residential and commercial operations. He began his new position in mid-November. We at Smithville are pleased and excited to have a top professional of Pauls caliber to provide strategic leadership for our company, said Ms. McCarty. Pauls executive experience spans the entire spectrum of the telecommunications industry, from product development and operations to management and construction to sales and marketing. We are confident that Paul will help us enhance and improve our already strong commitment to our customers. As we got to know Paul in interviews, his passion for excellence in superior customer experience and his focus on developing high-performing teams became evident, noted Cullen McCarty, Smithville Executive Vice President. Paul brings to Smithville deep and proven experience in our industry, and we look forward to his leadership in enhancing customer, business and community relationships and growing our residential and commercial businesses. It is a privilege to assume the role as president of a company that already holds a strong history as a technology innovator and a champion for its customers, said Mr. Quick. I look forward to creating higher levels of engagement and collaboration with an already strong team at Smithville and delighting our customers with superior service that truly exceeds expectations. Before joining Smithville, Mr. Quick held a variety of executive roles with increasing responsibility for Frontier. Just prior to Smithville, Mr. Quick was Vice PresidentCommercial Sales for Frontier for Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Southeast states, which included New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee. In this executive role, he led a commercial sales team of more than 100 professionals involved in sales of network services, equipment and advanced solutions to small- and medium-sized commercial customers. Mr. Quicks varied executive roles during his six-year career at Frontier also included Senior Vice President of Operations for New York, Connecticut and Pennsylvania (2017-2018); senior vice president and general manager for Frontiers Connecticut operations (2014-2017), where he played a key leadership role in the conversion and integration of AT&T Connecticut into Frontier; and senior vice president and general manager for Frontiers Pennsylvania operations (2012-2014), where he led a team of 200 professionals providing commercial and residential services that included voice, broadband and video services. Executive positions held prior to Frontier included serving as president of Paper Magic Group (a subsidiary of CSS Industries) from 2008-2012. Prior to Paper Magic, Mr. Quick held roles of increasing executive responsibility during a successful 25-year career at Hallmark Cards. His responsibilities included overall business strategy and P&L for Hallmarks focus on the deep discount greeting card industry. Mr. Quick also served as General Manager of Hallmarks Specialty products, General Manager of Hallmarks Ethnic Business Unit as well as Internal Audit Director. Mr. Quick previously served on the non-profit boards of the Alliance for Children and Families and The Family Conservancy (formerly Heart of America Family Services) as a board member and board chairman. He also previously served on the board of the influential Connecticut Business and Industry Association. He held similar positions of senior volunteer service in Pennsylvania. A native of Kansas City, Missouri, Mr. Quick holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Pepperdine University, Graziadio School of Business and Management (Malibu, California), and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Drake University (Des Moines, Iowa). He and his wife, Avalyn, are the proud parents of two daughters, Amanda and Alexis. About Smithville Nationally recognized for more than a decade as a Top 100 Broadband Company, privately owned Smithville is Indianas largest independent telecom company with more than 200 employees. With an earned reputation as a communications technology innovator, Smithville is presently deploying Fiber-to-the-Premise (FTTP) and other enhanced fiber services to its business and residential customers. It launched its Best Speed Available service in 2017, eliminating speed tiers and data caps for its internet service, regardless of platform (fiber or copper). These services, which range up to 100 Gbps for enterprise operations, provide a platform for the fastest connectivity available in Indiana to business, institutions and consumers. In addition to its residential services, Smithville provides commercial fiber-based connectivity, data consulting, network management and managed services for businesses, university campuses, biotechnology companies, healthcare providers, government offices, residential centers, communities and other entities, including the WestGate @ Crane Technology Park and the Purdue Research Park. Smithville also manages a legacy copper communication network in rural south-central Indiana, and a system-wide fiber-to-the-cabinet upgrade has improved speeds and reliability across its copper-based network. The company currently serves about 23,000 businesses and residences in southern and central Indiana. For more information, please visit http://www.smithville.com. Our guys were living in vans to ensure these fine men and women were fueled and ready to go. Bruce Schlee CEO, Strike Force Beverage In late June, Strike Force Energy kicked off a summer giveback campaign entitled, Send It. Orders from customers that used the code SENDIT at checkout were matched and sent to military personnel around the world. At the same time the Send It campaign was ending Hurricane Florence was preparing to hit the East Coast and Hurricane Michael was bearing down on the Gulf Coast. Once again Strike Force responded by mobilizing teams to support efforts in hurricane affected areas. Strike Force built food bags, donated water and other supplies to people in need. First Responders, police, firemen, power line crews and soldiers throughout North & South Carolina, Florida and Georgia received Strike Force Energy to keep them fueled. Our guys were living in vans to ensure these fine men and women were fueled and ready to go. Bruce Schlee CEO, Strike Force Beverage. We would not be able to support these types of efforts without the continued support of our customers. This is our small way to give back and support our communities. Without our generous and thoughtful customers, this donation would not have been possible. About Strike Force Beverage Strike Force Beverage designs, develops and manufactures liquid concentrated beverage enhancers. Veteran Owned and American Made, Strike Force Energy contains Caffeine, Taurine, Potassium, B3, B6, and B12. For more information visit http://www.strikeforceenergy.com. Best Places to Work in 2019, A Glassdoor Employees Choice Award Winner We hoped that creating a company where employees love to work would translate into delivering the best service for our clients. Based on the Glassdoor.com results, it looks like that has been the key to our success for over twenty-seven years, said John Dowd, Co-Founder and Owner. Sundance Vacations has been honored with a Glassdoor Employees Choice Award, recognizing the Best Places to Work in 2019. The Employees Choice Awards program, now in its 11th year, is based solely on the input of employees, who elect to provide feedback on their jobs, work environments and companies on Glassdoor, one of the worlds largest job and recruiting sites. In todays tight labor market, job seekers are in the drivers seat when it comes to deciding where to work and they want to know the inner workings of a company before accepting a new job. To help people find the best jobs and the best companies, the Glassdoor Employees Choice Awards recognize employers at the top of their game, said Dr. Andrew Chamberlain, Glassdoor Chief Economist. For employers, we know that a satisfied and engaged workforce helps drive financial performance. Glassdoor Best Places to Work winners are strategically investing in company culture, career growth opportunities and more, which also serves as a major recruiting advantage. On Glassdoor, current and former employees voluntarily and anonymously share insights and opinions about their work environments by sharing a company review, designed to capture a genuine and authentic inside look at what a specific job may be like at a particular company. When sharing a company review on Glassdoor, employees are asked to rate their satisfaction with the company overall, and key workplace factors like career opportunities, compensation and benefits, culture and values, senior management and work/life balance. In addition, employees are asked to describe the best reasons to work at their companies as well as any downsides. Glassdoors Best Places to Work were determined using company reviews shared by U.S.-based employees between October 23, 2017 and October 21, 2018. To be considered for the small & medium category, a company must have fewer than 1,000 employees and have received at least 30 ratings across each of the eight workplace attributes from U.S.-based employees during the period of eligibility. The final list is compiled using Glassdoors proprietary algorithm, led by its Economic Research Team, and takes into account quantity, quality and consistency of reviews. For the complete list of the Glassdoor Best Places to Work winners in 2019, please visit: https://www.glassdoor.com/Award/Best-Small-and-Medium-Companies-to-Work-For-LST_KQ0,43.htm. About Sundance Vacations Sundance Vacations is a national travel company that specializes in vacation accommodations. The company is headquartered in Wilkes-Barre, PA and maintains offices in New Jersey, Northeastern Pennsylvania, and beyond. Sundance Vacations placed in the Best Place to Work in Pennsylvania by Best Companies Group for four consecutive years. The company has also been honored twice as one of the Fastest-Growing Travel Companies in Pennsylvania by Inc. 500/5000. About Glassdoor Glassdoor combines all the latest jobs with millions of reviews and insights to make it easy for people to find a job that is uniquely right for them. As a result, Glassdoor helps employers hire truly informed candidates at scale through effective recruiting solutions like job advertising and employer branding products. Launched in 2008, Glassdoor now has reviews and insights for over 830,000 companies located in more than 190 countries. For more information, visit glassdoor.com. Glassdoor is a registered trademark of Glassdoor, Inc. Media Contact: Amelia Green-Vamos, pr@glassdoor.com Logo: https://www.sundancevacations.com/media/images/sundance-logo.png Contact: Valerie Burke Director of Customer Experience & SEO 1-800-220-9400 x 1077 vburke@vacmail.com Agnes Chow and Nathan Law Accept the Lantos Prize on Joshua Wong's Behalf Hong Kong is at the symbolic forefront of the clash between authoritarian rules and democratic values. Fighting for democracy in Hong Kong is not only in our countrys best interest, but it is crucial for the world." -- Agnes Chow & Nathan Law The Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justices 10th Anniversary Gala celebration was held at the Willard Hotel on Wednesday, December 5, 2018. In a room full of Members of Congress, human rights activists, dissidents, members of the media and supporters, Joshua Wong, a Hong Kong activist was presented the 2018 Lantos Human Rights Prize in absentia. In January 2018, Joshua Wong was sentenced to three months in prison for leading the mass democracy protests known as the Umbrella Movement, a 79-day occupation of the city demanding freer elections and greater political autonomy. He is appealing that conviction, and is currently out on bail. As a condition of his bail, Wong surrendered his passport to the court. Documents show the court has denied his request to travel to the United States to receive the Lantos Prize. Wongs friends and fellow leaders of Demosisto, Nathan Law, once Hong Kongs youngest lawmaker who was removed from office when Beijing deemed his oath of office insincere, and Agnes Chow, who was barred from seeking political office for her activism, jointly accepted the award on Wongs behalf. Hong Kong is at the symbolic forefront of the clash between authoritarian rules and democratic values. Fighting for democracy in Hong Kong is not only in our countrys best interest, but it is crucial for the world that we introduce rule of law and democracy to China by safeguarding it in Hong Kong, Law and Chow said in their jointly delivered remarks. U.S. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi spoke at the event adding that Joshua Wong has faced incarceration, intimidation and harassment for his peaceful work to put Hong Kong on the path to a more free, democratic future. America has a moral duty to speak out in defense of the human rights, political rights and dignity of the people of Hong Kong. Dr. Katrina Lantos-Swett, President of the Lantos Foundation, said, Joshua Wongs inspirational mobilization of over 100,000 Hong Kongers to engage in peaceful protests on behalf of democracy and the rule of law has galvanized a generation of young people to become activists and to peacefully resist Chinese control of their government. He richly deserves the 2018 Lantos Human Rights Prize and we look forward to following this young leaders trajectory. About The Lantos Foundation: The Lantos Foundation was established in 2008 to further the legacy of Tom Lantos, the only Holocaust survivor ever to serve in Congress. In addition to his service as Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and Founder of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, Tom Lantos will be long remembered for his profound moral convictions and his deep commitment to human rights. We focus our work on four pillars that represent the major themes of Toms work: Religious Freedom, Rule of Law, Global Citizenship and the Lantos Legacy. Total Food Service is honored to announce the 2019 Top Women in Metro New York Foodservice & Hospitality, presented by Women's Foodservice Forum. We owe special thanks to a number of colleagues that represent many segments of the Tri-State foodservice community. They were gracious with their time to help us build this list of the best and the brightest women in our industry, said Total Food Service publisher Fred Klashman. The December issue of the magazine is dedicated to profiling the impact that women have had on the Tri-State foodservice scene and to highlight that they have risen to amazing heights and have turned the Greater NYC Marketplace into the epicenter of the worlds restaurant and foodservice industry. The categories include Associations, Catering, Chefs, Clubs, Corporate Dining, Education, Healthcare, Hotels, Media/PR, Restaurants, Vendor-Equipment & Supply, Vendor-Food & Beverage, and Vendor-Services. The list identifies innovators within each of those major disciplines of the foodservice and hospitality industry. Our goal is to share some of their amazing stories and to make all of us realize that any goal is accomplishable with a measure of hard work and some good luck sprinkled in, said Total Food Service publisher Leslie Klashman. Meet the 2019 Top Women in Metro New York Foodservice and Hospitality- https://totalfood.com/2019-top-women-foodservice-hospitality/ About Total Food Service Since 1990, Total Food Service (TFS) has served the Metro New York foodservice industry, including restaurant operators, chefs, dealers, consultants, and suppliers. Each month, TFS delivers the latest news, insights, and interviews. TFS monthly print and digital issue focus exclusively on the worlds largest food service and hospitality capital of the world, Metro New York. TFS website is updated daily with other national foodservice storylines and includes online resources including a comprehensive national Food Distributors page. About Womens Foodservice Forum WFF is the Food Industrys thought leader on womens advancement and gender equity. WFF provides research, insights and best practice solutions that enable food companies to address the pressing need for talent, gain better consumer insights and drive business growth by realizing the full potential of women leaders. WFFs annual conference is a highlight of the foodservice industrys calendar and is slated for March 10th-13th in Dallas, TX. The New Solid State Low Frequency Buzzer from Transducers USA This buzzer has been designed to respond to the need for upgrading and replacing electro-mechanical transducers which have movable armatures. This new solid state buzzer has been designed to respond to the need for upgrading and replacing electro-mechanical transducers which have movable armatures. The solid-state piezoelectric design feature eliminates the moveable plunger in electro-mechanical devices. With no moving parts, the solid-state circuitry promises an almost infinite life for ceramic piezo audio output. The new Model TRIP-2612P(S) from Transducers USA delivers 400 Hz at a minimum of 95 dB with a standard 12DC. The problem with higher frequencies used in audible alarm notification appliances is that many aging individuals lose their ability to hear. Lower frequencies are better heard by those with hearing loss, such as the elderly in nursing homes. The NFPA has been dealing with standardizing low frequencies in alarm devices and notifiers for many years now, but the current trend is to use low frequency sounders. Since hearing loss is not apparent among occupants of a hotel, for example, the NFPA 72: National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code now requires low frequency sounders must be installed in all sleeping rooms, not in corridors. This applies also to dormitories, assisted living and retirement facilities, apartments, condominiums, colleges, universities and other buildings with sleeping areas. The TRIP-2612P(S) from Transducers USA meets this NFPA code requirement. The TRIP-2612P(S) is RoHS compliant with a flame-retardant plastic cover. It provides easy and stable PC board mounting and connections. The unit measures 26mm x 19mm off the PC board. The TRIP-2612P(S) is priced at $3.90 each in 1K quantity. Transducers USA can provide modifications to this solid-state device, as well as custom designs to suit special application needs. To compare the sounds of high and low frequency transducers, and those from a solid-state vs. an electro-mechanical device, listen to the Live Presentation on the Transducers USA website. Product Specifications include: Operating Mode: Continuous Tone Nominal Operating Voltage: 12 VDC Operating Voltage: 8 to 16 VDC Operating Frequency: 400+/-100Hx Sound Output: 95dB(A)min. at 12 VDC, at 10cm, at 25 Operating Current: 55mA max. at 12 VDC Operating Temperature: -40 C to +85 C Storage Temperature: -40 C to +85 C Termination: 2 pins, 0.04 (1.0 mm) brass, electro-tin plated Weight: 7.5g NOTE TO EDITORS: Free evaluation samples of the TRIP2612P(S) can be made available to editors who wish to conduct a product review. Please contact Joe Sieracki at 847-956-1920 or jsieracki@tusainc.com. For more information on the TRIP-2612P(S) Solid-State Low Frequency Buzzer and other audible signal devices from Transducers USA, please visit: http://www.tusainc.com or request our Spec Sheet. About Transducers USA Transducers USA produces quality audible signal devices at very competitive prices for Original Equipment Manufacturers. The company manufactures a comprehensive line of audio indicators and transducers in piezo and electro-mechanical varieties, including microphones, speakers, and ultrasonic components. Products are manufactured in ISO-9000 and RoHS certified facilities in Asia. Transducers USA provides customer support and engineering assistance from their local headquarters in Elk Grove Village, IL. Over 1,300 production workers and 100 specialized audio engineers support Transducers USA. In addition to hundreds of standard audible signal devices, custom products are also available at Transducers USA, based on either a customers design or one created by Transducers USA engineers. CAD drawings and tooling will be provided at no charge for qualified orders. Distributors and sale representatives are utilized as a channel to market. Local contacts can be found on http://www.tusainc.com. We are bringing travel experiences to a young audience in a new way, and this recognition motivates us to work even harder to get people off the couch and on vacation. Boston-based TravelPirates won Worlds Leading Travel Deals Website at the 25th annual World Travel Awards in Lisbon on Saturday. Known for finding and sharing amazing travel deals on social media, the relative newcomer to the U.S. beat out several industry veterans, including the 5-consecutive-year previous winner. Praised by the Wall Street Journal as the Oscars of the travel industry, World Travel Awards is renowned as the most prestigious and comprehensive awards program in travel. After a thorough application process, consumers and travel industry professionals vote for nominees across all key sectors of the travel, tourism and hospitality industries. Winning a World Travel Award is recognized globally as the ultimate hallmark of industry excellence. This is a huge honor, and were humbled that voters have chosen TravelPirates as their favorite travel deals website, said Phil Salcedo, VP, North America at TravelPirates. We are bringing travel experiences to a young audience in a new way, and this recognition motivates us to work even harder to get people off the couch and on vacation. For those who have kept a close eye on the travel industry in recent years, TravelPirates achievement may not come as a surprise. In 2018 the company surpassed 10 million fans on Facebook, maintaining its status as the most popular social media travel brand in the world. Famous in the travel industry for buying less than 10 percent of its traffic, TravelPirates has built its social media empire by sharing relevant content with its largely millennial fanbase and making it go viral. This milestone achievement is a testament to the companys innovative growth strategy of focusing on organic social media growth in lieu of traditional marketing tactics. TravelPirates win at the World Travel Awards closes out a banner year for the young travel company, following previous accolades at Travel Weeklys 2018 Magellan Awards and BostInnos 2018 50 on Fire. About TravelPirates TravelPirates is an award-winning travel deals website and app. The free-to-use service is made possible by TravelPirates expert deal hunters who use proprietary algorithms and their own extensive travel expertise to provide users with the best value-for-money deals on flights, hotels, vacation packages and more. The company is based in Boston, Massachusetts and was founded in 2016 as the U.S. division of HolidayPirates Group, one of the fastest-growing online travel companies in Europe. Visit TravelPirates online at http://www.travelpirates.com, download the free TravelPirates app for iOS and Android, subscribe to TravelPirates email newsletter, or follow TravelPirates on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn and WhatsApp. My best ability has been to assemble a dynamic team of people that work alongside of me at WebiMax. Without them, I couldnt have achieved this. The Philadelphia Business Journal hosted the 2018 Most Admired CEO awards this week at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Philadelphia. The prestigious event gathered award winners from some of the top companies in the Delaware Valley for their commitment to their employees and success in their industry. WebiMax is proud to announce that CEO and Founder, Ken Wisnefski, as a recipient of the prestigious award. According to their website, the Philadelphia Business Journal selected their award recipients based on the following criteria, We're looking for men and women who are established leaders with a strong record of innovation in their field, outstanding financial performance, a commitment to quality, a strong vision, a commitment to diversity in the workplace and contributions to Greater Philadelphia. Wisnefskis track record of success made him the perfect candidate for this honor. In fact, Wisnefski is no stranger to success, having received previous awards from Inc. Magazine recognizing WebiMax as one of the Fastest Growing companies in the USA, along with being named one of Forbes Most Promising companies and Business of the Year from NJBiz. Kens vision brought WebiMax to the Camden waterfront as the first company to join the New Jersey program. Ken was quick to point out that his employees helped play a role in his success saying, While CEOs often get too much credit when things are going well or too much blame when they are going bad, at the end of the day, any companys best asset is its employees. Wisnefski continued, My best ability has been to assemble a dynamic team of people that work alongside of me at WebiMax. Without them, I couldnt have achieved this. Wisnfeski and his team at WebiMax have been in business for more than a decade. In addition to helping thousands of clients grow their presence online, WebiMax is also the parent company of MediaWize, which operates the OCNJDaily.com, Downbeach.com, SeaIsleNews.com and SomersPoint.com news sites. Businesses interested in learning more about Wisnefski and the plethora of digital marketing services offered by WebiMax can call WebiMax at 1-888-932-4629, or visit their brand new WebiMax.com. About WebiMax: Driven for success, WebiMax helps its clients achieve tremendous returns via their online marketing efforts. Led by serial web entrepreneur and digital marketing expert, Ken Wisnefski, WebiMax has established itself as one of the most respected digital marketing firms worldwide. WebiMax is proud to provide solutions that positively impact clients ranging from early phase start-ups to Fortune 100 companies. With offices located in New Jersey, California, London and Sydney, WebiMax delivers results. For more information, visit us at WebiMax.com or call 1-888-932-4629. "Phoenix is recognized as a growing innovation hub. And our experience of the past few months has shown us that it also has a fantastic tech community, a community where people actively help each other. It's like no other place Ive seen, in that sense.-- Biometrica CEO Wyly Wade On Friday, Biometrica Systems, Inc, a Phoenix and Las Vegas-based technology company that tracks crime and criminals, announced it was opening its first Phoenix-area office in Tempe on Dec. 10, kicking off a Southwest-focused expansion. It made perfect sense for us to develop operations in the Phoenix area, especially when were also expanding into new verticals as a data company, said Biometrica CEO Wyly Wade. Phoenix, the nations 5th most populous city, is recognized as a growing innovation hub. Arizona is a great place to live and work across several parameters. And more importantly, our experience of the past few months has shown us it also has a fantastic tech community, one where people actively help each other. It's like no other place Ive seen, in that sense. Wade added that being based in Tempe was "the logical thing to do." Any company's greatest asset is its people and we believe the Tempe area is a hub for young talent looking for innovative organizations doing interesting things," he said. "The U.S. News and World Report has named ASU the most innovative university in the country all four years the category has been around." In addition, he added that being in Arizona itself made sense. "The University of Arizona, based out of Tucson, has a serious research and tech pedigree, and there's a network of other science and technology organizations around that are all actively focused on fostering a culture of diversity and technology in the state. StartupAZ Foundation Co-Founder and Director, Brandon Clarke, said he was looking forward to Biometricas Arizona journey. It is high-growth ventures like Biometrica that are driving the economic vibrancy of greater Phoenixs economy. Wyly embodies the type of entrepreneur StartupAZ exists to support; one that is keenly focused on growth and giving back to the community. Biometrica CEO Wade is one of the StartupAZ Collectives leaders this year. The Collective is the StartupAZ Foundations signature initiative, designed to increase the performance and growth of the regions highest potential startup companies by combining their talent, networks and resources to help each other meet challenges and achieve milestones. Biometrica CFO Nigel White said the company was happy to have kicked off its Arizona-focused 2019 initiative in 2018 itself. Weve made our first two local hires, he said. One is a software developer who came to Arizona with a background in law, went on to study at the Galvanize tech ecosystems Phoenix campus, and stayed on in the area. The second is a multi-generation Arizonan with a strong marketing and branding background, who grew up in the local law enforcement community, and has an inherent understanding of the work we do because of that." Both are women, White said, and added, "For a multi-industry focused data company, Arizonas diversity of talent makes it an exciting place to be, at an exciting time for Biometrica. The company will be looking to hire between 20-25 people for its Tempe office in 2019, before further expansion in 2020. About Biometrica Biometrica Systems, Inc. (http://www.biometrica.com) is a Nevada and Arizona-based technology company that creates software and systems with the intention of minimizing criminality. We have the countrys largest private multi-jurisdictional, 100% law enforcement verified database of arrests, attached to near real-time Facial Recognition, and a range of other biometric-enabled tools including private, encrypted information networks and incident management software. We work with and support the work of federal, state and local law enforcement, other first responders, criminal justice professionals (including nonprofits working in education, research and training), intelligence agencies, private investigators, process servers, and private sector security and surveillance teams. We are committed to doing our part in building better quality arrest and conviction data and more transparent access to that data. Private Investigator License # 1295 [Nevada PILB] For more information: media(at)biometrica.com Gennifer Choldenko is perhaps best known for her historical novels for middle graders, most notably the Al Capone at Alcatraz series. Her forthcoming novel, One-Third Nerd, is a contemporary story for slightly younger readers, which follows three unique siblings and their quest to convince their parents (and curmudgeonly landlord) to allow them to keep the family dog. Choldenko spoke with PW about balancing humor and seriousness, crafting neuroatypical characters, and writing from the truest part of yourself. What draws you to writing stories for children? Ive always loved to write. I used to write advertising, but I wanted to write for myself. I hated advertising after a while. I really felt like I was selling my soul. I thought I could write for adults; it never really occurred to me to write for children. I found it really boring to write for adults. [Laughs] I couldnt care; I didnt want to. It was weird because I knew I loved writing. Eventually I came to the realization that what Id written before and really loved had all featured a protagonist between ages 10 and 17. Oh my god! I could write for kids. I always loved reading kids books. It just all came into place. As soon as I start writing for kids, I get animated and excited. I love that age. So, I do it because its who I am inside. It just comes naturally. I dont want to ever have to write a book for adults. From where did the inspiration for One-Third Nerd come? Was the drama surrounding the familys incontinent pet (or other details) influenced by personal experience? The character Dakota popped into my head one day when I was doing something unrelated. She is all-consuming and demanded my attention. I started to play around with her and, pretty soon, the rest of the family came into the picture. Sometimes books come from characters, sometimes from settings, sometimes ideas. They come from all kinds of things. But this book came just from characters. The dog is basically my dog. She has every peeing problem known to man. Shes 10 and a half. In the last few years, Ive mainly been writing historical fiction. Its fun to write a contemporary [story] again and to place it in the general area that I live. I thought itd be really fun to try that and [take] a break from historical fiction. I love writing historical fiction, but I like to do different things because I think it stimulates different parts of your brain. This seemed like a lark to do on the side. Why did you choose to tell the story from Liams point of view, rather than from the perspective of one of his sisters? I think because Dakota is a little much. I thought it would be funnier if her older brother had to deal with her. In some ways, shes the main character. They both are, but she plays a huge role. I thought Liams observations of Dakota would be more fun to see on the page than her observations of herself. Is One-Third Nerd the start of a series? Im going to do two, but I dont know if it will be beyond that. Once I finish the second, which I just started, then Ill know where Im going with it. Its a different kind of book. For one thing, its a little younger than my middle grade. I think a second grader who reads well could easily be handed this book, which I dont know if Id do with Al Capone Does My Shirts. Its a little lighter and shorter and the themes are not so intense. How do you strike the right balance between humor and seriousness in your novels? I dont have a lot of control over that. I think its who I am. I have a funny side, but Im also very intense. When I allow that part of myself on the page, people respond to it. If you really put yourself into a book, which doesnt mean youre writing autobiography in any sense of the word, but youre putting the truest part of who you are in your work, people really respond to it. When I write from that part, it is a stronger book. Do you ever struggle to write from that truest part of yourself? When I was trying to get published, I definitely tried to write something that someone would want to buy. I had an idea of what that was because I would go to conferences and they would say what they wanted. I would try to write that book, but it didnt sell because, even though it was supposedly what the world wanted, it didnt showcase who I am in the best way. But then, with my book that will be out in 2020, I way saying to my agent that its not really funny at all. She said, Really? I think its funny. Its definitely not as funny as One-Third Nerd, but she found humor in it that I didnt really realize. So I think who you are and where youre from leaks out between the words. How do you stay in touch with what children will find funny? Its funny you should say that because I do think there is some humor in One-Third Nerd that kids will think is funny and adults wont. I think I went around adults and went directly to the kids. I do a lot of school visits and I like to be around kids. Its my goal to get kids up and doing stuff [during my visits]; I dont just rattle off information. I get to interact with them and see what they respond to. I read the first chapter of One-Third Nerd to a couple of school groups; the things they respond to are not always what I think they will respond to. They couldnt get over the chapter title Pee in the Fridge. The reason I write for this age group is because I really am 11 inside. Thats the age that feels most comfortable to me. Your Al Capone series and One-Third Nerd both include neuroatypical characters. Why is it important to you to include these characters in your books? What are the challenges of representing neuroatypical individuals? I had a sister who had autism, so I knew I would write a book with a character with autism. Somehow Natalie just showed up [in the Al Capone books] and didnt want to leave. I think when you have lived in a family like that, it gives you a different perspective on neuroatypical people. I feel strongly about representing neuroatypical characters. There are so many families out there for which this is normal life, and I want them to see themselves in books. I did a lot of research into kids and families with Down syndrome for One-Third Nerd. It really struck me how normal it all is. Everything in their lives wasnt centered around the kid with Down syndrome, its just a reality that is incorporated into their lives. I dont want to make being neuroatypical a big thing or to write a problem novel that centers on it; I want to represent reality. Did you envision One-Third Nerd with illustrations? Did you have a role in that decision? I was very involved. I thought the book would come to life with illustrations in a way it wouldnt without them, and I lobbied really hard when we negotiated the contract with the publisher. My agent and I were adamant. The publisher picked Eglantine Ceulemans. I think she did a great job. Her ability to bring Izzy and Dakota to life was spot on! She just got them. Your website notes that you are open to school visits anywhere in the world. Do you travel often for school visits? Can you talk about one of your most rewarding experiences? I do a lot of school visits. Usually a trip a month, which works out pretty well, with local school visits in-between. Ill tell you about the most unusual school visit. I did a visit in Nepal, where instead of a bell system, they had a man with a bell. Labor is cheap there, so its easier to have a man with a bell. There were wild monkeys that ran wild across the schoolyard, too. For Chasing Secrets school visits, the students and I do improv. Im going to try to do the same for One-Third Nerd. Im always trying to get the students to be part of the creative process. Im trying to show them how to recognize ideas and let them in. Is it difficult to balance touring with writing? Do you have methods youve developed that help you maintain productivity? Happily, I love to write, so I get uncomfortable if I dont get my writing time. What I try to do is write early in the morning. During this time, there is no answering email and other marketing-related work. I set aside three hours where I just write. Then I try to get marketing stuff done in the afternoon. At the end of the day, Ill have another two hours to write. Thats a perfect day. But Im really religious about my morning writing time. Have you ever considered writing for teens? Sometimes an idea comes to me that feels like it might be young adult. Ive been playing around with this initial idea that might be a YA, but I think when Im done itll be middle grade. I remember exactly what it was like to be between eight and 13. A lot of traumatic things happened when I was a teen, so I dont feel like I was totally there. I dont feel like I really had the opportunity to be a teen. What can you tell us about what youre working on now? It is a historical fiction middle-grade novel called Orphan 11. I traveled to Thailand to spend time with elephants and did a lot of research into the 1938 circus to prepare. There was some other really interesting research; I cant share it because it would spoil the plot, but its an unusual book! One-Third Nerd by Gennifer Choldenko, illus. by Eglantine Ceulemans. Random/Lamb, $16.99 Jan. 29 ISBN 978-1-5247-1888-6 What if you fell in love with someone but could never physically touch that person? Thats the big question at the heart of the new YA novel Five Feet Apart by first-time author Rachael Lippincott, written with Mikki Daughtry and Tobias Iaconis (Simon & Schuster) which debuted on the December 9 New York Times bestseller list after its first week on sale. The book is Lippincotts adaptation based on Daughtry and Iaconis screenplay for the feature film of the same title, set for release on March 22, 2019 from CBS Films and Lionsgate and starring Cole Sprouse (Riverdale) and Haley Lu Richardson (The Edge of Seventeen). One big bump for the title is surely the official movie trailer, released November 2, with nearly 5.5 million views on the CBS Films upload alone in addition to views on other YouTube uploads. Other early sales drivers include social media graphics used by S&S to promote the book, a three-week author blog tour for Lippincott, a launch event at a local bookstore, and a mention for the book in the December issue of Seventeen magazine. The New York Times attention has helped push Five Feet Apart into its fourth printing for a total of 110,000 copies in print to date. S&S will additionally publish a movie tie-in edition in February, which is currently scheduled for its own 90,000-copy initial run. In the story, teens Stella and Will both have cystic fibrosis. They meet at the hospital where they are each receiving treatment and soon a romance sparks. However, its crucial that CF patients remain at least six feet from each other to avoid any cross-infection/contamination, so the couple grow closer emotionally while staying physically apart. As a lead-up to the film, Five Feet Apart the novel had a lightning-fast turnaround in terms of book publishing. Alexa Pastor, who was recently promoted to editor at Atheneum Books, edited Five Feet Apart in her role as associate editor at S&S Books for Young Readers. She explained how everything came together. When CBS Films and [director] Justin Baldoni started developing the screenplay for Five Feet Apart, she said, one of the producers pitched the idea of publishing the story simultaneously as a YA novel to my publisher, Justin Chanda. Once the S&S team read the story, Pastor noted, We fell in love with these characters and couldnt have been more excited to partner with the film group. Finding a writer was the next bigand urgenthurdle to get over. Lippincott came onto S&Ss radar screen via her credentials as a 2017 graduate of the English/writing program at the University of Pittsburgh, where she studied under fellow S&S and bestselling YA author Siobhan Vivian. Vivian and Lippincott related the specifics of how they connected for the project during a December 2 event at year-old indie Riverstone Books in McCandless, Pa. Back in March 2018, Lippincott said during the event, Siobhan let me know about this opportunity where S&S was looking to take a screenplay and make it into a book and she sent me the information. It was literally two weeks before I was set to open a food truck with my partner. After reading through the screenplay, Lippincott knew she wanted the joband that the heat was on. I basically had a week to put together a first chapter, she said, and I was lucky enough to get the position based on that. For her part, Vivian had every confidence in the writer she fondly calls her student/third daughter. I knew immediately shed be perfect for it, Vivian said, basing her assessment on what she came to know of Lippincotts talent, coursework and discipline, and personality. Pastor felt the same way about offering Lippincott the job. I knew right away Rachael was the perfect choice. She instinctively understood these characters and her writing is just so spot on for the teen audience. After all the contractual paperwork was in orderLippincott is repped by Rachel Eckstrom Courage of Folio Literary Managementthe ball began speeding down the hill. This was a crash-course deadline, Lippincott said, which her editor let her know from the get-go, asking if she would be able to deliver under the constraints. Lippincott believed she could. At first I was a little intimidated, to be honest, she recalled. But there was another part of me that had this confidence that if I sat down and gave it my all there was a real chance I could get the position. After she won the assignment, Lippincott said, I wrote a complete first draft in 14 days, then I passed out for two weeks. From Script to Manuscript The screenplaywhich typically does not contain copious detailserved as a skeletal outline, but Lippincott says she definitely had leeway in terms of adding depth to character voices and scenes, and creating her vision of what getting around the hospital might look like, for example. She colored some of this writing by recalling her familiarity with hospitals when she had spinal fusion surgery for scoliosis during her sophomore year in high school. I remember that entire hospital experience, all the nurses and the people I interacted with when I was learning how to walk again and go up stairs. One of the scenes she wrote for Stella was almost identical to my experience, she said. Early on, Lippincott knew she wanted to frame her story as a dual POV book; the screenplay was not structured that way, but all parties were on board. This left Lippincott with the task of also creating more of a world for Will, which was not present in the screenplay. She also said the first thing she did was divide the entire screenplay into sections, determining whose voice was louder where, and then I just went for it. Lippincott added that she freely exchanged notes with the screenwriters as needed and that the partnership went smoothly. Pastor was also very pleased with the writers give-and-take. Rachael and the screenwriters, Mikki and Tobias, clicked from the start and worked collaboratively, bringing the story to life simultaneously on the page as it was being shaped for the screen, she said. Lippincott wrote four drafts of the book between March and August, which included incorporating fast-flying revisions of the screenplay that were happening since the movie began filming in June. Time was also required along the way for editorial consultation with CF advisors so that the medical information was accurate, and the characters experiences realistic. Most important for Lippincott in this process was learning about the CF community. She said she was particularly struck by the social media postings of Claire Wineland, a CF advocate and activist and popular figure on YouTube who founded the nonprofit Claires Place Foundation. Wineland discussed the difficulties of her disorder with humor, and had more than 200,000 YouTube followers. She sadly died September 2, 2018, suffering a stroke just a week after a successful double lung transplant. The finished novel hit shelves on November 20 and started selling immediately. I was checking Amazon every now and then, thinking, people are liking this! Lippincott said about her books first days on sale. As for what might be enticing readers, Pastor shared some of her insights on the books appeal. I think what readers are really connecting with is the unusual and heartbreaking question at the center of the story: how do you love someone you can never touch? she said. Will and Stella have such a unique love story because the one person who really understands what theyre going through is the one person whos the most dangerous to them, and they have to decide if that emotional bond they have is worth never being able to close the physical space between them and have a normal relationship. But she believes there are also characteristics of the book that set it apart from other tales of ailing teens. Theres this real, relentless sense of hope to the story that lifts it out of just the sick lit realm, she said. Rachael does such a great job of balancing the realities of cystic fibrosis with humor, the squees of first love, and figuring out what you want your life to mean, which are things that all readers can relate to. Lippincott said the books cover represents something special to her and the screenwriters as well. You find out about it on the very first page of the book, she said. The jacket artwork is based on a drawing of lungs that are fashioned out of intricate flowers with a background of stars. Its one of many drawings that Stellas sister has created for her to decorate her hospital room. Five Feet Aparts debut on the New York Times has been a pleasant surprise for both author and editor. I was on the food truck for a shift on a Wednesday and it was snowy and freezing, Lippincott recalled. Then I got a call from Alexa around 5 [p.m.] When Pastor said she had some good news, Lippincott noted, I thought she was going to tell me I got to go to an advance screening of the movie or something. But she told me that the book made the New York Times list and I just cried. I wanted to bolt off the truck but I had to work. It made the five-hour shift go quicker! Pastor said that it was a happy experience all around to see the book land on the list. As an editor its always such a joy to see readers really coming to a book you love and connecting with it so quickly, she noted. Its very special. But I think for this project in particular its so gratifying because this was truly such a team effort. From Rachael, to the screenwriters, to CBS, Justin Baldoni, and the entire S&S BFYR team, so many people worked to make sure this story got told. And she said that everyone involved is grateful for another aspect of Five Feet Aparts success. For all of us, to see a book about characters with cystic fibrosis, a disease that affects so many but that so few people really know about, become a bestseller feels like we accomplished our goal of bringing more awareness and representation to this community. Lippincott is still basking in all the positive attention, but that doesnt mean shes taking any kind of break. Im still shocked, she said. I hoped the book would do well, but never in my head could I even fathom this would get on the Times list.. After the bestseller list news, she said, I woke up the next morning and did a 1,000-word power hour. This experience has been a validation that this is what I should be doing. To that end, shes about 40% done with a new project, also a YA novel. This heady experience also has Lippincott reflecting on how she chose her path to becoming an author. I think Ive always wanted to be a writer. If it wasnt writing, it was reading, growing up. I would always carry around a composition notebook. It wasnt until high school until I started taking it seriously. Lippincott recalled a writing workshop in her Philadelphia high school when her classmates applauded something she had written. I remember in that moment thinking, This is what I want. After a detour into pre-med studies at college, she signed up for Vivians course, Writing Youth Literature, as a general education course. But Vivians powerful speech on the first day of class, asking that only serious students stay on, left Lippincott feeling uncertain about going back. Fortunately, she did. Five Feet Apart by Rachael Lippincott, with Mikki Daughtry and Tobias Iaconis. Simon & Schuster, $18.99 Nov. ISBN 978-1-5344-3733-3 Poet Meghan O'Rourke has been named the next editor of the Yale Review, succeeding acting editor Harold Augenbraum on July 1 of next year, the 200th anniversary of the journal's founding. ORourke will also teach a new course on the art of editing at Yale. We consider ourselves fortunate to have one of the countrys most accomplished literary minds to lead the Yale Review into its third century and remake it as a journal of the digital era, building on a great tradition of such editors as Wilbur Cross, John Palmer, and J. D. McClatchy, Peter Salovey, president of Yale University, said in a statement. O'Rourke, a poet, memoirist, and editor as well as a graduate of Yale University, got her start as an editor at the New Yorker, and has served as culture editor and literary critic for Slate as well as poetry editor for the Paris Review. She is the author of the memoir The Long Goodbye and the poetry collections Once, Halflife, and Sun In Days. She has been awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Whiting Award, two Pushcart Prizes, and the Union League Prize from the Poetry Foundation, among other awards, and has taught at New York University, Princeton, and The New School, and is currently completing a book about chronic illness. Were living in a truly exciting moment in American literary culture, and the opportunities for the Yale Review as it moves into the digital age are enormous, said ORourke. I hope to continue publishing some of the best writing and thinking of our time, with a focus on exploring pressing literary and cultural issues, from the predicament of the undocumented to how the arts are responding to the opioid epidemic. READ MORE: Colleges of education shut down following strike by lecturers National secretary of CETAG, Nana Ohene Gyan, said some more time will be need to complete the remaining syllabus. "If you take two weeks we are supposed to spend now, we would have been left with 14 weeks. So from January, we should look at way of adding 14 weeks from January 8 so that at least we can have a full first semester work," Mr Gyan said. The strike action was called off on Tuesday after leadership of CETAG met with the labour commission over their market premium and book and research allowance. READ MORE: Trainee teachers resort to playing cards as their teachers remain on strike In a social media post on Wednesday, the actress stressed that times are hard and that things are looking bad. Things are hard in this country!!!! Its that bad!!!!!! Yvonne Nelson posted on her timeline. In a separate tweet, she again complained about the how expensive things have become in the country, while also lamenting the high unemployment situation in the country. The post drew a hundreds of responses from her fans, with most of them agreeing with the actress. Well, John Dumelo has also added his opinion, reminding the actress that I told you so. The actor, however, went on to console his friend, insisting things will soon get better in the country. He wrote: Yvonne, dont worry. Things will get better soon. Yvonne Nelson has never been shy to voice out her opinions when it comes to national issues. Some years back, she led a vigil to protest against the then National Democratic Congress (NDC) government when citizens were experiencing erratic power supply. And, it appears she has been unimpressed by the performance of President Akufo-Addo and the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) since they also came into office. 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! In an interview with Accra-based Citi FM, Prof Quartey argued that the governments decision to pay customers of DKM for their losses incurred after the company collapsed will only encourage other victims in similar situations to demand a bailout from the government. This he said will threaten governments fiscal position. His comments come after the Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta disclosed that the government had settled about 80 per cent of funds owed DKM customers. He said this during his presentation of the 2019 budget in Parliament. But Prof Quartey entreated the government to ensure that the reimbursement of DKM customers is the last time it pays victims of such financial scams. The DKM payment is a campaign promise, and from what we heard from the budget Government has already paid the majority. But going forward I dont think we should encourage that kind of payment. Yes, there is an element of greed. If you recall in the case of Menzgold, the Bank of Ghana came warning customers and the customers rather went on rampage demonstrating and attacking Bank of Ghana. Now that theyve hit a wall they want the Central Bank to come and bail them. READ ALSO: Menzgold suspends online trading; ask staff to go on leaveMenzgold suspends online trading; ask staff to go on leave He also commented on how the bailout of the collapsed banks has worsened the situation. Addressing the participants, which also included Ghana government officials such as Foreign Minister Hon Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, Defence Minister Hon Dominic Nitiwul, Interior Minister Hon Ambrose Dery, and Education Minister Hon Mathew Opoku Prempeh, Vice President Bawumia indicated that this years theme, which is a follow up on last years theme of EU Partnering Ghana Beyond Aid, is indicative of the greater cooperation between the two bodies. These themes chosen for our Dialogues reflect the collective resolve of our two sides to re-orient our cooperation towards the attainable vision of a Ghana beyond Aid. READ ALSO: There's no money for Farmers Day celebration - Agric Minister The mechanisms for dialogue provided for by the Cotonou Agreement have not only given us ample opportunity to regularly engage and exchange ideas in a frank and transparent atmosphere, but has also brought us closer in the spirit of a good partnership. Remember, Africa is the closest continent to Europe, historically and geographically, and the choices we make impact each other greatly.The primary objective of such dialogues, Vice President Bawumia indicated, should be to build on the achievements recorded since last years event, deliberate and make concrete proposals that would advance our common interests, contemplate solutions to the challenges confronting our two continents and sides, and reconsider pragmatic ways to strengthen Ghana's capacity towards industrialization, and a brighter future. The group said there is also discrimination when it comes to the distribution of packages to assist farmers in the country. According to them, large-scale farmers are given juicy prize packages while smallholder farmers and women who constitute majority of farmers are given hoes and cutlasses. The PFAG observed that peasant farmers are often awarded with hoes, cutlasses, knapsack sprayers, fertilizer and at best, bicycles and motor cycle, whereas large-scale farmers are given houses, pickups, tractors, combine harvesters. This, they said, is in spite of the fact that smallholder farmers provide over 80 per cent of the countrys food and raw materials. In a statement, the group said it doesnt understand why it has to be so and want to know the criteria used in rewarding deserving farmers. It must be noted that, whiles large scale farming is by choice in developed countries, in Ghana, it is by privilege, gender and inheritance, sections of the statement reads. It adds that most women have no choice of expanding their farm size due to land tenure system and difficulty accessing credit for being a woman. It would, therefore be unfair for such a woman who has a passion for agriculture to miss the opportunity of winning a house to a man who is privileged to inherit resources, land and also, has access to credit due to availability of inherited collateral. The PFAG, therefore, wants the Ministry of Food and Agriculture which is responsible for the award scheme to relook at it with the view to improving it to benefit smallholder farmers. The book, which was launched by Vice President Dr Mahamadu Bawumia, chronicles her political journey, giving insight into her political activism and experiences. ece-auto-gen Affectionately calling him Jerry, Mrs Rawlings reveals their "on-again, off again status was taking a toll" on her and decided at a point to call it a quite but the young miliatry man, Mr Rawlings, would show up to sabotage her attempts at a new relationship. ece-auto-gen "We might be together daily for one week, then just as weekly, he will disappear for two more months or more," she reveals. "While my feelings for him had become strong, I imagined he could have another lady on his rader." Her mind will race occasionally because she felt she had fallen in love with a man whose heart was crawling at snail pace to get to her. She became devastated as she received a letter from a friend telling her Rawlings was in a relationship with a white Swiss teacher. ece-auto-gen She nonetheless shrugged it off, telling how deeply she was in love with Rawlings. The former first lady notes that by the time she was in her third year at the University, she came to grips with reality that their young love was heading to a dead end. "I told myself I was going to write him off. As hard as it was to live past the disappointments, I could not ignore the fact that there had never been any certainty in the relationship," Mrs Rawlings says. She concludes at one point that the relationship was heading nowhere and that Rawlings was wasting her time. Describing the young military officer as an "intelligent and charming man" who would surface, sometimes after a long morning jog from the Burma Camp Military Headquarters to rest at her house, Rawlings maybe in love with someone else. ece-auto-gen "I decided to let go and move," she says. Years would pass and take both of them through different paths but somehow, their worlds seemed to find their way back to gether. "Even when I had done all I could to walk away," the founder of the National Democratic Party wrote, "serendipity had a beautiful way of pulling our lives back on the same track." ece-auto-gen We must "get out of the Afro-centric vision of business" to "understand that when one has a global vision, worldwide, this includes Africa," Elong says in a discussion of future technologies. Elong has no degree in IT or robotics but studied strategy and competitive intelligence in France, becoming the youngest-ever graduate from Paris' Economic Warfare School. He founded his startup Will & Brothers in 2015 with a main project called Drone Africa, which aims to provide drones for civil purposes to businesses, the state in Cameroon and elsewhere. With a top range of up to 20 kilometres (12 miles), the drones can be used for purposes as different as cartography, media coverage, support for agriculture and detecting gas in mines to reduce the risk of accidents. "The know-how is here, in Cameroon," says Elong, who is aware young African talent often seeks employment in Europe and elsewhere. He says at this stage his firm's capital of $200,000 (162,400 euros) has come from Western backers. Also supported by the government of President Paul Biya, Elong hopes eventually to raise $2 million to expand the business but he regrets that "not many Africans are involved" in the project, which features two airborne types of drone and one terrestrial model. The commercial market in Africa is expanding with unmanned aircraft already whizzing across the skies delivering items like medicine and food, and even helping farmers sow seeds. 'Flying wing' In Rwanda, drones get medical supplies such as blood and vaccines to remote areas. Tanzania is launching a similar programme. And drones equipped with night-vision cameras help to detect and track poachers in Kenya, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe. Elong presents the two airborne prototype models on a table inside his assembly shop. The first "flying wing that we've baptised Algo" has the furthest range and could prove an economical solution to the costly task of making maps, he suggests. The second type, known as Logarythm, has four arms forming a propeller, can reach an altitude of up to 500 metres (1,640 feet) and is fitted with high-definition cameras, which would be useful in high-risk zones and for precision work, Elong adds. Crucially, he argues, manufacturing costs are lower than those of foreign manufacturers, so the drones produced will be priced competitively across the African marketplace. He envisages "selling drones to Vietnam, to Venezuela, to Denmark for example, and becoming one of the biggest global enterprises in this sector." Elsewhere, two young engineers in white lab coats are carefully building a prototype. "When all the components are available, we are able to assemble a drone like this in 24 hours," says engineer Louis Ekani. Some of the parts are made in Cameroon, while others are supplied from abroad. 'The pride of Cameroon' "The start was extremely complicated," says young technical director Yves Tamu, who is described on the company website as an entrepreneur, digital champion and inventor. "But we have a dynamic, autonomous and state-of-the-art team thanks to which we found the solution (to assembling drones)." The average age of employees is barely 22 and the team comprises mainly engineers and developers who have spent two years building airworthy drones. "Will & Brothers is the pride of Cameroon," gushed Minister of Posts and Telecommunications Libom Li Likeng at a government ceremony to present the drones in early February. Their design demonstrates "the innovative capacity of Cameroonian youth", she added. Elong's firm is represented in Ivory Coast and plans to open offices in France and the United States, but he stresses the development of artificial intelligence is his primary goal. Will & Brothers has worked on an AI known as Cyclops, which enables drones to detect people, objects and vehicles and to identify different types of animal at specific sites. "Artificial intelligence is the future of humanity," Elong says, confident that Africa can at least try to compete with the big tech giants in California. "It knocks me out that so many people here take no interest in technology." Sogunro said announced this at a press briefing to announce the schools 40th-anniversary celebration of the polytechnic. He said the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) granted the school a permit to operate the radio station after assessing the equipment the Lagos state government put in place for the station. ece-auto-gen Sogunro according to the Nation also listed the institution under his leadership. He said the polytechnic got patent rights for three machines developed by members of staff and students, adding that the machines are fuel-less electric power generating set, automatic car jack, and biogas energy system. He said: The academic board has approved the commencement of general agriculture for all students. This, in effect, is to mobilise our students for the realisation of mass production of agricultural produce, poultry, fish farming and the likes. This is to encourage food security and ensuring that we are able to produce well for our communities. The polytechnic also acquired water space and two hectares of land for fish farming and horticulture in Agbowa area. It is worthy of note, in a bid to ensure the security of lives and property, the polytechnic is strengthening the surveillance by providing CCTV on campus. ALSO READ: Yetunde Akilapa reportedly caught stealing According to reports, Akilapa was caught and handed over to the police while trying to gain entrance into an apartment on in Ajao estate, Oluwalogbon area of Ketu, Lagos state. ece-auto-gen The fifth arrest is coming six months after she was arrested and charged to court for burglary and stealing valuables to the tune of N7million at an apartment situated inside Mutairu street, Shangisha area of Ketu, Lagos. As it had happened in previous attempts, Akilapa was caught with a bunch of master keys, which she intends using to gain entry. In 2014 after she was arrested for burglary and stealing, she said he needed prayers to overcome the spiritual attack on her. I am not a thief. I didn't steal anything. I dont know what is happening to me. I have every reason to believe my problem is spiritual. I can't even explain the circumstance I found myself. I am fed up with life. I am not what people think I am. God please help me out of this mess. As I am speaking with you now, I am in Ibadan, Oyo State, seeking the face of God and I believe I would get out of this dilemma one day. I am not a kleptomaniac. Sources told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the incident occurred in the evening within the schools premises. The 16-year old was said to have been engaged in a friendly dispute with a colleague over the ownership of a ball before it degenerated into an argument over who had more portent charms. NAN reports that the late Favour, who was in Senior Secondary Class Two before his death, was allegedly stabbed in the chest and later died at the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital (EKSUTH), Ado Ekiti, where he was taken. The suspect, who allegedly killed Favour, has since been taken into police custody. Sources said Favour, an Ebira indigene from Kogi, was said to have initiated the encounter when he brought out a small axe and a knife wrapped in a white and red scarf and dared his colleague to a fight. However, his colleague was said to have overpowered him after a while trying, stabbing him in the chest with the knife and fatally injuring him in the process. It was learnt that the development brought activities in the school to a halt as other students and teachers alike fled the premises. When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, DSP Caleb Ikechukwu, said he needed time to react to the incident after getting a clearer report on the incident. Police officers from the nearby Odo Ado Division were, however, sighted at the main entrance into the school which had been shut. NAN learnt the police deployment followed alleged threats by the family of the deceased to embark on reprisal attack at the school. Confirming the incident, the schools Principal, Mr Ebenezer Falayi, said the incident occurred at about 2.15pm after the school had closed . Falayi said the students had dispersed before the incident attracted teachers who mobilised to the scene to convey the victim to EKSUTH. This incident really saddened us because it could have been avoided What I gathered from students who were at the spot of the gory incident was that the duo were arguing over who had superior power and the deceased had earlier gone home to bring all those weapons which could not pierce the suspect when used on him. I was told that the suspect later overpowered him, collected the weapons and stabbed the victim in the chest Our teachers, including myself, my Vice and Registrar alongside other teachers who were resident on campus here rushed him to EKSUTH. We even took the suspect along. The victim was put on life support, but that could not help the situation, he died in the hospital. I had to quickly call the DPO of Odo Ado Police Station who reinforced his men and contacted the police station at Oke Ila to prevent the suspect from being killed by highly enraged family members of the deceased. The hospital insisted on doing the autopsy before releasing the corpse but the family resisted this They later released the corpse to the family when it nearly caused trouble in the hospital The deceased, a businessman identified as Alhaji Hussaini Usman, was strangled to death at his residence in Apo on Sunday, October 28, 2018. "He was said to be on his way to the mosque around 5am with Huzaifa when the assailants attacked him and asked Huzaifa to face the wall," the Daily Trust News gathers from a family member of the older Usman. On Thursday, December 6, 2018, the Daily Trust confirms Huzaifa's account regarding the incident. ece-auto-gen The suspect who is the last son of the businessman tells neighbours who got attracted to strange noises in his house that armed robbers killed his father. ALSO READ: Mum hunts down son who reportedly committed murder In more comments the family member welcomes suspicion that the 22-year-old might be involved in his father's death due to conflicting reports connecting to the death of Alhaji Hussaini Usman. Two weeks after he is buried, his son Huzaifa is detained by the police. His failure to join a train of mourners at his father's burial ceremony reportedly raised doubt about his innocence. Mahmud was certified dead at the hospital on December 6, 2018, around 9:30 pm. On Thursday, December 6, 2018, Bauchi Police Public Relations Officer, Kamal Abubakar told Northern City News on that command received the report on December 2 and arrested two suspects in connection with the incident. Abubakar said, We received a report on the death of a young man, who was allegedly shot dead by a member of the vigilante group at the Rariya Quarters. We have commenced an investigation into the incident and whoever is found guilty will be prosecuted. So far, we have arrested two people in connection with the incident. Abubakar also cautioned members of the vigilante group to stop engaging in jungle justice, regardless of the powers handed out to them. Punch Metro reports an eyewitness, Yahuza Shehu, saying, When they removed Mubaraks cap, they discovered that he had already shaved his head, so they left and later came back in large numbers, claiming that they heard that some people were making uncomplimentary statements about them. This led to an argument and the deceased took his younger siblings and kept them in one room; they were eight in the room. But one of the vigilantes forced the window opened, pointed his gun inside the room and shot Mahmud to death. We discovered over 58 gun pellets in his body; one of the pellets hit someone called Aliyu on his leg and injured him. Another resident of Rariya quarters, Alhaji Yahaya Ajiya, explains the shock of residents, Though the vigilantes discovered that Mahmud had shaved, they mobilized and came back in large numbers and beat people. In the process, someones hand was cut and a woman was also injured. We have reported the matter to the police and initially, they arrested six people, but later released three of them. We dont know why they were released, but we will not leave any stone unturned until the culprits are punished. The Republic of Zimbabwe, a landlocked country in southern Africa, is an ethnically diverse nation, with a population of around 13 million people. Gold, mineral exports, agriculture and tourism are the main foreign currency earners of the country. Tourism for the country means parks, reserves, large water bodies and exciting safaris. Though it isn't one of the countries that pop into mind when tourism in Africa comes up, there are many reasons why more people should visit. Here are a few. 1. Victoria falls ece-auto-gen This is both an obvious tourist attraction and an obscure one, as not many people know that the Victoria falls is one of the most beautiful places in Africa. It is also one of the most dangerous tourist attractions. Victoria falls plunges down a great 108m height along the River Zambezi, that is a sight to behold. At the falls, you can go bungee jumping, white water rafting, abseiling and enjoy the luxurious river boat cruises. The best time to visit is during July to August when there is no mist. Because the falls borders on Zambia and Zimbabwe, it is also a tourist attraction in Zambia. 2. Great Zimbabwe ruins ece-auto-gen The ancient stone ruins are said to have been built between the 13th and 15th centuries by the ancient Munumatapa kingdom. It boasts of advanced architectural design and evokes marvels from archaeology and history enthusiasts. 3. The many national parks ece-auto-gen Zimbabwe is home to many national parks such as Matopa, Nyanga, Lake Mutirikwi, Hwange and Gonarezhou. Among these is Mana Polo which is a large pool that flows from the river Zambezi. At the other national parks, animals such as elephants, lions, hippos and antelopes can be sighted during the safaris, but at Mana Polo, more aquatic animals like crocodiles are sighted, along with herds that come to get an occasional bath and drink. You can hire a canoe to sight a lot of these animals. ALSO READ: Check out 5 affordable family vacations in Africa to make this December 4. Chinhoyi caves ece-auto-gen The Chinhoyi caves carve their way into the cliffs just west of the center. They conceal an underground lake located 50m below surface level. They occupy their very own national park, and divers come from far and wide to try ultra-technical deep descents into the cool subterranean waters that hide in the gaping caverns. 5. Matobo hills ece-auto-gen Mr Femi Adesina, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, in a statement in Abuja on Thursday, said the president felicitated with the government and people of Anambra for the deserved award on the governor. President Buhari noted that, the award takes into full cognisance the maturity and decency of the governor in handling the last elections in the state. The president commended Cardinal Francis Arinze, Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments at the Vatican, who would lead a Pontifical Mass preceding the special award by the Catholic Church to Obiano on Dec. 8. He affirmed that the recognition by the Catholic Church would send the right signal to other states and all Nigerians that free, fair and peaceful elections are realisable, especially when political leaders declared their stand against non- violence elections. CBCN gave the order on Thursday, December 6, 2018 in Abuja following the public altercation that ensued between Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka and the former governor of Anambra, Peter Obi, who is also the vice presidential candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). According to the secretary general, Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria, Rev. Fr. Ralph Madu, the bishops condemned the incident that occurred at the Adoration ground, Enugu, adding that without reservation that it does not have the support of the CBCN. He said, "As has always been our stand, the Catholic church in Nigeria, as clearly stated in their August 7, 2018 directives, remains apolitical and does not support or subscribe to any political party. Our concern is for a peaceful election process seen to be free, fair, credible and just, and a democratic governance that guarantees peace, justice, equity, among others. "On behalf of the conference, we wish to reiterate their obligation as teachers of faith and morals, to educate the faithful on their role in the political life of the country, mindful of the present charged political atmosphere of Nigeria. "With the ongoing campaigns of political parties gathering momentum, we deemed it necessary to again remind all priests and religious to keep to the position of the church on the issue of nonpartisan politics." He hinted that the Enugu Diocese where Rev Mbaka is incardinated is taking the necessary measures on the incident. Madu added that, by obeying the Canon Law of Catholic, no Catholic priest is allowed to participate in partisan politics. Mbaka, during a service on Sunday, December 2, 2018, declared that the PDP's presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakawill fail in 2019. Dabiri-Erewa made the assertion while playing host to the Rwanda High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr Stanislas Kamazi, in Abuja. She, however, ruled out the possibility of voting for Nigerians in Diaspora in 2019. Nigerians abroad have the touch of the government, Nigerians in the Diaspora have remitted about 22 billion dollars annually. But, beyond the remittance, they also want to vote and efforts are being made to achieving that; though, not in 2019. It is one of what we hope that will happen in subsequent elections, Dabiri-Erewa said. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the Chairman of the Independent Electoral Commission, (INEC) Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, had at a forum said that the possibility of Diaspora voting in 2019 was not certain. Yakubu said that the National Assembly needed to amend the sections of the Constitution and the Electoral Act (2010 as amended) to make way for Nigerians living outside the country to participate in the electoral process and vote. The law as it stands at the moment, says that you can only vote where you are registered, the INEC chairman had said. Dabiri-Erewa said that those in the Diaspora were also interested in investing in the country and government was making environment conducive for that investment. They want to invest in their own country; so, we are providing the structures to make that possible by working with other government agencies to make that possible. Government is also working on data of those that have returned; lots of them are going into farming and they are not regretting investing in their country. So, government is making sure that the Diasporas invest in their country to bring in their wealth of their experiences and resources to develop the country. We want to ensure that Nigerians in the Diaspora be the best as they always be, she said. Dabiri-Erewa said that there were a lot of lessons to learn from Rwanda Diaspora operation. In his remarks, the high commissioner said that there were a lot of lessons to learn from Rwanda Diaspora policy which has been in operation for some years. Kamazi said that Rwandas new administration had created a platform for the Diaspora to be part of the country and enjoy the same right as the citizens in the country Apart from this, there is the personal contact. As a matter of fact, every year in Rwanda we hold constitutional meeting for strategy to develop the sub-sector. The President of Rwanda has always been part of Rwanda Day in any part of the world bringing all Rwandans together and to interact with the dynamics of the country. This forum formation led to the emergence of strategic investment that wants to be implemented in Rwanda and which triggers members of the Diaspora and also investors or economic operators in their host country. They are mobilised to embrace Rwanda economic dynamics and the opportunities that are there, he said. According to him, the diplomatic mission and embassy also have a clear directive to attend to members of the Diaspora. When they come to us we have a lot of programmes to ensure that all their needs are met and ensure that they invest in their host countries. The theme of the anniversary is, Nigeria Oil and Gas Workers; Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow,. Buhari, who was represented by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Sen. Chris Ngige, said the bill would address most of the challenges of the oil workers and the industry as a whole. Buhari urged the workers to support his administration towards ensuring better welfare for workers. He also commended the workers for the progress made, while urging them to dialogue instead of shutting down the country while in a dispute with their employers. (I am) a workers friendly president who is concerned about better working conditions for workers. (I) respect the rule of law and the law of the land. (I) promise to sign the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill once it is brought to (me), he said. Speaking earlier, NUPENG President, Mr Williams Akporeha decried the continued casualisation of workers by oil companies, saying that the union would always fight for better working conditions of its members. The enormous challenges confronting our union, most especially with regards to the employers, government and general public perception of our enormous powers, influence and ever constant solidarity. We know that most often many employers are scared of relating with us and this wrong perception is sometimes responsible for the hostile attitude to our efforts in organising their employees. In the light of this realisation, our administration will embark on massive public image polishing and mending relationship with all aggrieved stakeholders. Our new mission is to ensure prosperity and good returns for everyone in the industry. We pledge to be more cooperative and collaborative in our dealings but without compromising on the best interest of our members and global labour best practices. We have further resolved to be more open and engaging in social dialogue with all stakeholders. We urge everyone, government, employers and the public to know that we are fully committed. That is in rendering efficient, effective and public/stakeholders friendly services to our dear country and its citizens, he said. Also, former Head of State Yakubu Gowon called on the union to ensure availability of fuel supply during the yuletide season. He added that owing to the recent spate of strikes, citizens were beginning to see NUPENG as a force for economic dislocation. ITUC is the largest trade union federation in the world. The Presidents congratulatory message was conveyed in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, in Abuja on Friday. The president joined members of the NLC and all Nigerian workers in celebrating the election, which he said had further signaled the great work the union had been doing in ensuring the welfare of workers. President Buhari expressed belief that, as the first African to head the ITUC, the labour leader would bring his wealth of experience in persuasion and negotiation to the new position. The president, who assured the NLC President of the Federal Governments support, wished him a successful tenure. Speaker Yakubu Dogara said these words at the National Assembly on Thursday, December 6, 2018, at an investigative hearing organised by the House Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream) on the need for Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) to return its Western Operational Headquarters to Warri, Delta State. Dogara said the House of Representatives would diligently monitor local and foreign investors in the sector to ensure the implementation of their corporate social responsibility while doing business in the country. The Speaker explained that the investigation was not a witch-hunt, but a fact-finding exercise that would enable the parliament to arrive at fair and credible decisions in the best interest of all parties concerned. You will all recall that on Thursday, 5th July, 2018, the House deliberated on a motion on the Need for Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) to return its Western Operational Headquarters to Warri, Delta State, Dogara said. By resolution, the House mandated the Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream) to investigate the matter and report its findings to the House for further legislative action. The genesis of this issue was the decision by the Management of Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) in 2013 to move its Western Operational Headquarters from Warri to Lagos, due to alleged hostility against the company in Warri. The company claimed that the situation was adversely affecting the effectiveness of its operations in the region. On their own part, the host communities are averse to the relocation of SPDC Western Headquarters from Warri. This is because, as we all know, the area is the source of the oil, and that is where SPDC and other multinational companies are engaged in the actual drilling operations. It is common knowledge that the oil exploitation activities take their devastating tolls on the environment as well as the health and the economic life of the people of the oil producing communities. It is believed that the return of the headquarters of SPDC to Warri will ensure that the expected Corporate Social Responsibility and interface, which the region should enjoy from the company, will be better achieved. According to the account given to the House of Representatives, efforts have been made by the people of the host communities, Delta State Government and other stakeholders to persuade SPDC to effect the return of its Western Operational Headquarters to Warri to no avail. This investigative hearing is expected to unearth all issues surrounding this subject matter, so that the House can be guided to take an informed position on it, he added. Aliyu, represented by the Director, Community Prevention, Care and Support Department, NACA, made the disclosure at the launch of Free to Shine Campaign against Childhood Aids by wife of the President, Aisha Buhari. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the theme of the campaign was, Transforming Africa through Prioritising Children, Adolescent and Mothers in the fight against HIV. He restated the commitment of NACA to contain and subsequently halt the spread of HIV, adding that the Free to Shine Campaign was a reinforcement of governments political commitment to control the epidemic in the country. Aliyu expressed optimism that the goal to end the mother-to-child transmission of HIV was attainable, stating that Thailand, Belarus and Armenia had achieved it. The DG said in Africa, mother-to-infant transmission rate was now below five per cent in countries such as Ethiopia, South Africa and Tanzania. I strongly believe that our mutual goal of keeping all mothers healthy and offering children a HIV-free start was achievable with the collective efforts of stakeholders across all sectors. This campaign presents a unique opportunity for all of us to bolster our efforts, Aliyu said. He commended the passion and efforts of the wife of the President in advocating for the well-being of women, children and adolescents in the country. Aliyu said with the support of Mrs Buhari, NACA was confident that the campaign would unite people and organisations from the community to the national level. He, therefore, appealed to the wives of governors to remain unrelenting in their efforts to ensure that actions were sustained, resources were mobilised and accountability was enforced at all levels. According to the DG, NACA remains committed to its mandate and is ready to assist and support the wives of governors as they roll-out the campaign. I urge all stakeholders to continue to align their support to end childhood HIV and AIDS which affects our national objectives, policies and systems. This will ensure that Nigeria is not left behind, as the rest of the world progresses towards achieving the 90-90-9- goals of HIV epidemic control, he said. Earlier, Prof. Austin Omoigberale, President, Paediatric Association of Nigeria (PAN) expressed willingness to assist the government eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV in the country. Omoigberale, represented by Dr Mariya Mukthar, said the campaign would go a long way to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV in the country. According to a report by Daily Trust, residents were left fearing for their lives due to heavy shooting in the area early on Friday, December 7. The insurgents entered the ancient town through the abattoir axis to gain access. Residents in the town narrated that panic had begun to develop upon hearing sounds of heavy gunshots but it ceased after an hour. The attack came barely six hours after Boko Haram insurgents attacked Damboa local government area of Borno. The Director, Army Public Relations, Brig.-Gen.Sani Kukasheka, disclosed in a statement in Maiduguri on Thursday that troops killed one Boko Haram insurgent and arrested two others. The statement was issued by the presidents Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, in Abuja on Friday While describing the new First Class traditional ruler as a wise choice and worthy successor, President Buhari opined that Jibrins impeccable credentials as a distinguished public servant and land expert would be deployed to impact positively on development of his emirate. His people will benefit immensely from his wealth of experience in the Ministry of Environment, the president added. Buhari, who wished the new emir a successful reign, also urged him to build on the legacies of his predecessor and promote peace and unity in the emirate. Jibrin, who is the current Minister of State for Environment, emerged as the 13th Emir of Nasarawa Town, following his selection by kingmakers of the Nasarawa Emirate Council in Nasarawa Local Government Area of the state. Gov. Tanko Al-Makura of the State has since approved the appointment of the new emir. The 33,000-litre tanker fell at the boundary between Lagos and Ogun States on Friday, December 7, 2018, according to a report by Channels Television. The accident caused panic in the area as people ran for safety while emergency services were mobilised to the scene. The resulting gridlock affected both incoming and outbound traffic as vehicles were diverted to alternative routes. The eyewitnesses, who spoke to Channels TV, said the over-speeding of the tanker driver led to the accident. Only Buhari has the capacity to keep to the promise because he has a track record of proven integrity and honesty. He loves the South-East region and he has proved this love by a number of infrastructure development sited in the Zone and his appointment of Igbos into key federal positions. Buhari and APC have assured the zone and we are convinced that he will shift power to South-East zone after his second term in office in 2023. There is no deceit in the promise. What we need to do as a people is to queue behind and support Mr President to realise his second term bid because that is the opportunity we have to taste the number one position in the nearest possible time, Nwachukwu said. He described as unrealistic the purported promise by Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the PDP Presidential candidate, to serve for four years and hand over power to Mr Peter Obi, his running mate in 2023. He, therefore, urged the Igbo political elite, the intelligentsia, traditional rulers and the business community to resist the fake promise. The former vice president made this charge while speaking at the PDP's southwest rally that took place in Ibadan, Oyo State on Thursday, December 6, 2018. The candidate said the president has failed to fulfill campaign promises that compelled Nigerians to vote him into the country's highest political office in 2015. He further argued that Nigeria was better run as a country during the 16-year reign of PDP at the helm. He said he'll make the country prosperous if he defeats the incumbent president and is allowed to run the country which he said is becoming poorer under current management. He said, "In 2015, some liars, deceitful people came here to deceive us and we gave them our votes. But we have discovered that they have failed to deliver all the promises they made to Nigerians. "In the history of this country, the best prosperity, peace, and educational advancement we all enjoyed under the Peoples Democratic Party. "He (Buhari) promised us jobs. But instead of giving us jobs, over 12 million jobs have been lost. They promised to alleviate poverty but we are becoming poorer as a country. Now, Nigeria is the poverty capital of the whole world. Is this kind of government you want to continue with? "Everyone knows that I chaired the best economic team in this country. If you give me the opportunity again, I will organize the best team that would bring economic prosperity back to this country. "South West has been known for educational advancement, if I'm given the opportunity, I will ensure that this zone regain its glory. "One of the most touted things is restructuring of this country. Today, I pledge that within six months, we shall begin the process of restructuring. I have lived in this city and I am not a stranger to Ibadan or Yoruba race, therefore, don't believe APC again. PDP needs your support. This Buhari must go." 2019 presidential election ece-auto-gen While next year's election, scheduled for February 16, 2019, is expected to be keenly-contested between Atiku and President Buhari, 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. He said the APC being the leading party in the state was already in court seeking the praying it to compel the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise its candidate ahead of the 2019 general elections. The lawmaker also said that he was quite appreciative of the concerns and prayers of Nigerians regarding the political and security challenges faced in the state, adding that the state was beginning to achieve stability. I appreciate prayers from concerned Nigerians and actually their prayers are working. The political senerio is stable now that the leading party in state, the All Progressives Congress (APC) is in court seeking the court to compel INEC to recognise its candidate for the 2019 general elections. We have successfully conducted the primaries which was confirmed by the states INEC; we are now waiting for INEC to accept our candidate. So far the court proceeding is in order and we are hopeful that the court will issue an order compelling INEC to receive our, he said. Rakiji also said that there is absolute calm in the state due to the fact that the state was controlled by the APC. Zamfara is absolutely calm and fully controlled by the government, as you are aware, APC is about 90 per cent here and that makes it really calm. The breakthrough operation, performed in September 2016 in Sao Paulo, Brazil, shows that such transplants are feasible and could help thousands of women unable to have children due to uterine problems, according to a study published in The Lancet. Until recently, the only options available to women with so-called uterine infertility were adoption or the services of a surrogate mother. The first successful childbirth following uterine transplant from a living donor took place in 2014 in Sweden, and there have been 10 others since then. But there are far more women in need of transplants than there are potential live donors, so doctors wanted to find out if the procedure could work using the uterus of a woman who had died. Ten attempts were made -- in the United States, the Czech Republic, and Turkey -- before the success reported Wednesday. Infertility affects 10 to 15 percent of couples. Of this group, one in 500 women have problems with their uterus -- due, for example, to a malformation, hysterectomy, or infection -- that prevent them from becoming pregnant and carrying a child to term. "Our results provide a proof-of-concept for a new option for women with uterine infertility," said Dani Ejzenberg, a doctor at the teaching hospital of the University of Sao Paulo. He described the procedure as a "medical milestone". "The number of people willing and committed to donate organs upon their own death are far larger than those of live donors, offering a much wider potential donor population," he said in a statement. The 32-year-old recipient was born without a uterus as a result of a rare syndrome. Four months before the transplant, she had in-vitro fertilisation resulting in eight fertilised eggs, which were preserved through freezing. The donor was a 45-year-old woman who died from a stroke. Her uterus was removed and transplanted in surgery that lasted more than ten hours. Proof of concept The surgical team had to connect the donor's uterus with the veins, arteries, ligaments, and vaginal canal of the recipient. To prevent her body from rejecting the new organ, the woman was given five different drugs, along with antimicrobials, anti-blood clotting treatments, and aspirin. After five months, the uterus showed no sign of rejection, ultrasound scans were normal, and the woman was menstruating regularly. The fertilised eggs were implanted after seven months. Ten days later, doctors delivered the good news: she was pregnant. Besides a minor kidney infection -- treated with antibiotics -- during the 32nd week, the pregnancy was normal. After nearly 36 weeks a baby girl weighing 2.5 kilograms (about six pounds) was delivered via caesarean section. Mother and baby left the hospital three days later. The transplanted uterus was removed during the C-section, allowing the woman to stop taking the immunosuppressive drugs. At age seven months and 12 days -- when the manuscript reporting the findings was submitted for publication -- the baby was breastfeeding and weighed 7.2 kilograms. "We must congratulate the authors," commented Dr. Srdjan Saso, an honorary clinical lecturer in obstetrics and gynaecology at Imperial College London, describing the findings as "extremely exciting". Richard Kennedy, president of the International Federation of Fertility Societies, also welcomed the announcement but sounded a note of caution. That the charismatic but fiery Raje is a maharani, or princess, is nothing unusual in Rajasthan, a state famous for its forts and grand palaces with peacock-filled lawns. It is one of India's few regions where the local royal families going back centuries -- and outlasting British rule -- have flourished in democratic politics since independence in 1947. AFP Raje, 65, is the daughter of a former maharaja and married an erstwhile ruler of another dynasty. Her main challenger in her constituency is Manvendra Singh, another blue blood from western Rajasthan. Another is Siddhi Kumari, also a princess and a two-time state lawmaker who lives in a wing of her ancestral palace in Bikaner around 340 kilometres (210 miles) from the state capital Jaipur. The rest, its walls decorated with family portraits of resplendent kings, queens and princes of yore and mounted heads of hunted beasts, has been converted into a hotel. "I do my work and go. No one needs to know (me) apart from my work," said Kumari, 45, perched on a sofa next to a stuffed leopard. "I don't take the people's trust in me or the family I come from lightly. But the trust that is there has to be earned every day. I take it very seriously and work every day," she told AFP. AFP Ayodhya Prasad Gaur, author of a book on one of the state's leading royal families, said the nobility's popularity had to do with their "permanence" compared to ordinary politicians who just "come and go". "The erstwhile rulers of Jodhpur still receive a wedding invite -- just like kings of earlier times -- from hundreds if not thousands of people in the region each year. And they maintain that relationship by sending a token amount as a gift for every invite they receive," Gaur told AFP. "Family name only works in the first election," cautioned Vishvendra Singh however, a Congress lawmaker running in the state election from the erstwhile royal family of Bharatpur, around 190 kilometres from Jaipur. "I have been in politics for three decades and have been elected multiple times as parliamentarian and a state lawmaker. I am in constant touch with the people, meet everyone and that is what works in politics," he told AFP. 'Aloof and autocratic' Raj Singh, a voter in Bikaner, said he voted for Kumari in the last two elections. AFP "Unlike ordinary politicians, (royals) won't indulge in local schemes to make money or shield criminals as that could tarnish the family name," he told AFP. State premier Raje, representing Modi's ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), swept to power in a landslide in 2013, much like Modi did nationally a year later. But her personal popularity has waned, with critics calling her aloof and autocratic and out of touch with the interests of ordinary people. Like Modi, she never holds press conferences. Her government's handling of caste protests and problems boosting investment and creating jobs have also gone down badly with voters. AFP "There are so many things that were promised but not delivered," said Shiv Prakash, a voter in Jodhpur. Results from Rajasthan, as well as for Telangana, also voting on Friday, plus from Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram -- which have already cast ballots -- will likely be published on December 11. The contests are seen as a dry run for 2019, with Modi and his likely rival from the Congress party, Rahul Gandhi -- scion of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty -- both campaigning actively. This is because thousands of Tanzanians have flocked to Tanashas page to welcome their new in-law and show her some love. But the love recently turned ugly after the emergence of a video of Wizkid leaving the club with the lass. Read Also: Tanasha Donna reacts to leaked video of her leaving Kiza Lounge with Wizkid ece-auto-gen Many Tanzanian have taken to social media and Tanzanian gossip blogs to bash the NRG presenter forcing her to act to protect her space from negativity. She took to her social page to categorically state that bullying wont be tolerated. Let me make this VERY CLEAR. Any negative comments/pages/blogs I will block immediately. Positive vibes ONLY, read her post. ece-auto-gen Tanasha Marrying Diamond Diamond Platnumz recently disclosed that he will be saying I Do on the day of love, Valentines Day. This will be exactly a year after Zari called off their relationship. I have arranged for my wedding to be on Valentines Day 2019. Valentines Day will be on a Thursday so we will have wedding celebrations that will last till Sunday. Thats what I have planned so far, I will inform you of any changes,he said on Wasafi TV. The vocal trade unionist was once again elected as the vice-chairperson of the organization during the 4th congress of ITUC. He was proposed by his colleagues from Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Somalia in the presence of over 3,000 delegates. "The position you have just bestowed on me isn't an easy one. You are sending me to war; to fight for working men and women wherever they are in the world. ece-auto-gen "I am only your soldier whose actions will always come from you, the commanders, and I will never let you down. I will stand for your interests and put up my life for you always," he said while accepting the appointment. Atwoli will now serve ITUC as VC for the next four years, the term will end in 2023. Leading All the Way Atwoli currently serves as Kenya's COTU Secretary-general, the VP of the International Labour Organization and the president of the Organization of African Trade Union Unity, which has its headquarters in Accra, Ghana. Reports indicate that the delegates arrived at a unanimous decision to reinstall Atwoli to the ITUC VC position. He has managed to win the seat for the third time now, having served continuously since 2010. In a press statement sent to newsrooms, the embassy through the United State Agency for International Development (USAID), contributed the money to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) to provide food assistance to more than 400,000 refugees living in northern Kenya. ece-auto-gen Funding for Refugees low WFP Country Director and Representative in Kenya Annalisa Conte noted that funding of the refugees' food basket had remained low. Since the beginning of this year, funding for the cash component of the refugees food basket has remained unpredictable and dangerously low. "We are grateful to the American people for their generosity and at the same time, we appeal to all donors to help secure funding needed to guarantee continued food assistance to refugees," Conte said. US Government to Stand with Refugees - USAIDs Mission Director Mark Meassick USAIDs Mission Director Mark Meassick added that the US government would always stand with disadvantaged men and women from their contries. "USAID is proud to partner with WFP and the Government of Kenya at both national and county levels in supporting food and nutrition security for refugees through the Bamba Chakula program, which also benefits host communities by stimulating local markets and creating jobs," Mr. Meassick said. The donation ($14.3 Million) by the agency is set to provide direct cash transfers to refugees in Dadaab and Kakuma camps that will be enabled by the WFP. Food and Bamba Chakula WFP provides food assistance to refugees in the form of a mix of food items cereals, pulses, vegetable oil and nutrient-enriched flour and a cash transfer called Bamba Chakula, which is Swahili-based slang for get your food. The transfer is done through mobile telephones which allows the refugees to purchase products from the local market. ece-auto-gen In October this year, WFP's monthly cash transfer increased from the initial Sh220 million to Sh170 million. WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. Purdue students on all three of the universitys physical campuses will see no increase in room and board rates for the 2019-20 academic year. This will be the seventh consecutive year students on the West Lafayette campus will not see an increase in rates. Board rates were reduced twice for the 2013-14 and 2014-15 academic years and not subsequently increased. Therefore, the total cost of room and board will be lower for 2019-20 than it was in 2012-13. In combination with an unprecedented seventh consecutive year of zero tuition increase, this means that the total cost of attending Purdue will be less in 2020 than in 2012. At Purdue Northwests Hammond campus, this will be the fourth consecutive year rates have been held flat. At Purdue Fort Wayne, this will be the fourth consecutive year that the average rate has not increased. Purdues Board of Trustees approved the rates on Friday (Dec. 7). In just seven years, Purdue has gone from having the second-highest rates in the Big Ten to having the lowest. Room and board is the second-largest expense for our students and their families, and as long as we can avoid raising the cost without diminishing our commitment to excellence, its the right thing to do, said Purdue President Mitch Daniels. The Division of Student Life provides 14,482 beds across various price points for undergraduate and graduate students and families on or near the West Lafayette campus, an increase of 1,066 available beds over the 2017-18 academic year. Prices per academic year range from $2,466 for a small double room in Cary Quadrangle to $9,500 for a single-bed unit in First Street Towers. Those living in West Lafayette campus residence halls are also required to carry one of five meal plans, ranging from $2,998 to $5,398 per academic year. There also are options at Purdue University Residences apartment complexes where no meal plan is required. In recognition of Purdues growing student body and the increased student demand for on-campus housing, the Board of Trustees approved during its meeting in October 2018 the final details of the addition of 1,300 beds through the construction of Third Street North and Meredith South residence halls delivered through a public private partnership with Plenary Properties. The additional beds will be available for Fall 2020. Purdue Northwest-Hammond campus provides 744 beds in two- and four-bedroom apartment-style configurations. Rates for the two- and four-bed units will remain $5,595 and $6,514, respectively. At Purdue Fort Wayne, 1,140 beds will be provided in one-, two-, three- and four-bedroom configurations. Rates range in price points from $4,930 to $9,826 per academic year. About Purdue West Lafayette Student Life The Division of Student Life provides approximately 14,482 beds across various price points and amenities on the West Lafayette campus, and all campus housing is voluntary. The system is financially self-supporting, and no state funds or general student fees are used for construction, maintenance or operations. Purdues residence hall network is one of the largest of any school that doesnt require students to live on campus. University Residences offers a package that includes furnished rooms with utilities, cable TV and wireless high-speed internet access. Meals are available 18 hours a day. Professional staff members live in residence halls to provide support to students and their communities. In addition, access to buildings is monitored, and security policies are enforced to help ensure student safety. Sources: Mitch Daniels, president@purdue.edu Beth McCuskey, vice provost for student life, 765-494-1022, bmccuske@purdue.edu WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. As Purdue celebrates 150 years of Giant Leaps in world-changing discovery and development, three more researchers are serving as shining examples of the universitys place as a leading intellectual center. David Purpura, associate professor of human development and family studies; Chunyi Peng, assistant professor of computer science; and Elias Bareinboim, assistant professor of computer science, have received Early Career Development (CAREER) awards to further their research from the National Science Foundation. The awards support the development of individual research programs of distinguished scientists early in their careers. Recipients may be involved in scientific computing, biological or environmental research, basic energy sciences, fusion energy sciences, high energy or nuclear physics. Over the next five years, the award will provide Purpura with $1,444,280, Peng with $554,995 and Bareinboim with $499,712. Purpura researches how young children in preschool and primary school learn math and how language concepts affect that development. Purpuras project, Mechanisms Underlying the Relation between Mathematical Language and Mathematical Knowledge, will examine the process by which math language instruction improves learning of mathematics skills in order to design and translate the most effective interventions into practical classroom instruction. The first objective is to examine if quantitative and spatial math language affect the development of different aspects of mathematics performance, and the second objective is to examine how quantitative math language versus, or in combination with, numeracy instruction affects numeracy development. Successful development of numeracy and geometry skills during preschool provides a strong foundation for later academic and career success. This project will allow us to better understand how early mathematics development is influenced by specific language components so that we can develop refined and targeted instructional methods and tools, Purpura says. Through this project, and in collaboration with a professional illustrator and professional childrens book author, we will be developing and refining several picture books for children with embedded math content and then evaluating the effects of using these books on childrens knowledge of early mathematics concepts. These books will be able to be used by parents and teachers to support their childrens learning. Pengs project, Amplifying Intelligence in Mobile Networked Systems, aims to enhance intelligence to the 4G and 5G subsystems. Current cellular network systems remain closed to the research community and dont expose sufficient information on their network behaviors. She will explore a novel data-driven, verifiable approach to open them up and equip with learning and reasoning capabilities. This will bring transformative innovations to current cellular network research and beyond, enabling new designs to optimize performance and enhance reliability. Peng will also continue to work closely with mobile network companies for possible technology transfer. She will recruit and train a new generation of engineers and students, including those from under-represented groups. This project will open a new direction for researchers, especially academia ,to conduct mobile network research and make intellectual contributions to mobile internet infrastructure for our society, Peng says. The project is disruptive and also complements the ongoing efforts on wireless access and architectural innovations. Bareinboim researches causal interference and its applications to data-driven sciences, including health and social sciences. His project, Approximate Causal Interference, seeks to develop a general algorithmic theory of approximate causal interference that is capable of producing more robust, reproducible and generalizable causal explanations. Currently, state-of-the-art machine learning methods can only be applied in large-scale settings when considering correlation, not causation, which is the ultimate goal of scientists. Knowledge available to scientists does not always match what the theory expects, and the theory does not always accept more relaxed causal specifications as input. Some researchers continue to make their claims even when the required conditions are not met. His project will bridge the gap between the conditions entailed by the theory and the knowledge available at the hands of the scientist. He seeks to characterize the trade-off between the combination of data and background knowledge available, and the strength of newly hypothesized causal explanations. Bareinboim will construct approximation schemes allowing inputs that are coarse and imprecise while generating outputs that are still causally meaningful. This research will offer foundational grounding for most of the data science inferences made today, which is largely ad hoc, Bareinboim says. It will impact the practice of several data-intensive fields that are built on cause-and-effect relationships, including econometrics, education, bioinformatics and medicine. Writer: Kelsey Schnieders Lefever, kschnied@purdue.edu Sources: David Purpura, purpura@purdue.edu Elias Bareinboim, eb@purdue.edu Chunyi Peng, chunyi@purdue.edu Air New Zealand's busiest time of the year may be smacked with a worker strike, potentially affecting the flights of thousands of travellers. Union workers informed the airline that a "total strike" will be in the cards on December 21 if negotiations don't go well on Monday. Almost a thousand employees, including hundreds of engineers and logistics workers, will participate in the planned strike. "It will effectively ground the fleet without those engineers The airline will have to take quite extreme measures," said Savage, E tus head of aviation. Savage told RadioLIVE that the airline has taken an "unnecessarily aggressive approach" in pay, conditions, and overtime rate negotiations. He says the airline offered many union workers less than what they offered to another group of engineers, essentially "low-balling" them. "We're not going to accept cutbacks. We're not going to clawbacks on our pay and conditions just before Christmas," Savage said. Air NZ general manager aircraft maintenance Viv de Beus says it appears the engineers are deliberately using Kiwi families' much anticipated Christmas holidays as a bargaining chip. The airline warns that if the strike goes ahead, the plans of more than 40,000 people flying domestically and internationally will be at risk. Despite potential backlash over cancelled Christmas flights, Savage told RadioLIVE that 90 percent of the union agreed to go ahead with strike action. When Leah Panapa points out that some union member's salaries are over $150,000, Savage says those workers still deserve fair pay considering their skills and conditions. "The important thing to these are very highly skilled engineers. They work shift work all through the night fixing planes It's really important that they're paid well." Air NZ will communicate with travellers closer to the travel date if the workers go ahead with their strike action. Listen to the full interview with Savage above. Drive with Leah Panapa, in for Ryan Bridge, 3pm - 6pm Weekdays and streaming live on 'rova' channel 9 - available on Android and iPhone. RadioLIVE. A Porirua paua poacher has been sentenced to prison in order to send a strong message about fishery poaching in New Zealand. Ruteru Sufia was sentenced to 18 months in prison for getting caught twice for exceeding the daily limit of ten paua per day. Sufia pleaded guilty to poaching 366 paua from Makara beach across two days. Nearly one-fifth of them were under the legal size. MPI fisheries team manager Mike Green has applauded the prison sentence ahead of summer, which he hopes sends a strong message that poaching is unacceptable "We're very pleased that the judiciary have come down hard on this," Mr Green said. He told RadioLIVE that those who poach such high quantities typically sell it off rather than keep it for personal consumption. Sufia was caught initially by MPI Fishery officers with 145 shucked paua in his pack. The next day he was caught in the same place, picking up the remaining 221 paua. Sufia was already considered a recidivist offender, according to Mr Green. Mr Green advises those who see suspicious activity to alert MPI as these tips are critical for the agency to monitor the country's extensive coastlines. "We do really very much on the public giving us information." Vehicle registration numbers, boat names, and precise locations are all crucial information that MPI can use to double down on suspected poachers. To report poaching, suspicious, or illegal activity call 0800 4 POACHER (0800 47 62 24) or email poacher@mpi.govt.nz. Listen to the full interview with Mike Green. The Long Lunch with Lynda Hallinan, 12pm - 3pm on RadioLIVE and streaming live to the rova app on Android and iPhone. RadioLIVE. The U.S. military is dangerously under-funded and could lose the next big war it wages. That is the key message from a new report by the influential National Defense Strategy Commission. Established by Congress to provide an independent, non-partisan assessment of the 2018 U.S. National Defense Strategy (NDS), the Commission is comprised of respected Washington insiders. Its report certainly reflects a clear strategic logic, keeping in mind that Strategy is fundamentally about aligning ends, ways, and means. On means, it contends that budget caps imposed by Congress in 2011 have brought the U.S. military to the brink of strategic insolvency. The Commission suggests that the size of the U.S. defence budget should increase by 35% per year to fund a rapid and substantial augmentation in military capabilities. The Commission is most critical when it comes to ways, charging the NDS with failing to lay out clear operational concepts for achieving U.S. security objectives in an era of growing major-power competition: We are concerned that the NDS too often rests on questionable assumptions and weak analysis, and it leaves unanswered critical questions regarding how the United States will meet the challenges of a more dangerous world. Yet when it comes to ends, the report is surprisingly soft. It concurs with the NDS assessment of the strategic environment, characterising these circumstances as the most complex and dangerous faced by the U.S. in decades. Nor does it quibble with the longstanding U.S. strategic objectives recited in the NDS. The Commission describes America as a global power with global obligations and one which must thus maintain favourable power balances in key regions, such as the Indo-Pacific, to underwrite its global leadership. But how realistic is it for the U.S. to continue to realise these enduring strategic goals in a progressively multipolar world? In my new book, The Four Flashpoints: How Asia Goes to War, I argue that the prospect of America maintaining such asymmetric advantages is increasingly fanciful. The prospect of America maintaining its asymmetric advantages is increasingly fanciful. For one, geography favours China and Russia too strongly. Taiwan, for instance, is 11,000 kilometres away from the continental United States. It lies a mere 160 kilometres from China. Coupled with its development of increasingly powerful and precise anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) capabilities, this geographic advantage is fast enabling Beijing to block America from coming to Taiwans defence. Second, even if America finds more funding to throw at this problem, the costs to Beijing of countering such responses are considerably lower. Washington, for example, is seeking to establish military bases at a greater distance from China and to project power into key theatres such as the South China Sea from these. The new joint U.S.-Australia base at Manus Island could well be a case in point. But Beijing can simply react to these efforts by producing more missiles with the capability to strike at such facilities. Third, countries are generally most willing to use military force to secure interests closest to them. Russias 2008 incursion into Georgia and its 2014 annexation of Crimea confirm this. China too has been unequivocal in its commitment that Taiwan constitutes a core interest that it would fight to defend. Rather than spreading itself far and wide in the pursuit of improbable favourable power balances, I argue in The Four Flashpoints that America should draw inspiration from former Secretary of State Dean Acheson. During the 1950s, Acheson spoke of the need for the U.S. to create more focused situations of strength areas around the Soviet periphery where America and its allies were so strong that Moscow wouldnt entertain employing aggression there. In Asia, the U.S. currently enjoys such situations of strength in the East China Sea and on the Korean Peninsula. The PLA would, for instance, be no match for the combined forces of the U.S. and Japan in a clash over the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu islands. America should be doubling down here to ensure these situations of strength can be preserved. By contrast, the U.S. position on Taiwan and, increasingly, the South China Sea are situations of weakness. Sooner or later, strategic geography and Chinas military modernisation will combine to give China the upper hand in these flashpoints. In anticipation, Washington should avoid making these areas the focus on deepening Sino-American competition. By doubling down in the East China Sea and on the Korean Peninsula, and easing off on the South China Sea and Taiwan, America can still meet what has long been its overriding strategic goal in Asia that of preventing a potentially hostile power from dominating this region. The type of Asian power balance that emerges from such an approach will be less lopsided, but that is in keeping with the original metaphor of balance in international politics. Speculation is rife that growing Sino-American competition amounts to a new Cold War. In the early years of the original Cold War between America and the Soviet Union, U.S. policymakers debated intensely what American strategic objectives in Asia ought to be and how these should be pursued. Such debates are badly needed today. Even if the U.S. defence budget receives the funding boost called for in the National Defense Strategy Commission Report and there is no guarantee it will, following President Trumps October 2018 call for 5% spending cuts across all Federal departments this should not negate the need for a much closer, more critical assessment of U.S. strategic objectives, especially in Asia. Dr. Brendan Taylor is an Associate Professor and head of the Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs. Specialising in great power strategic relations in the Asia-Pacific, economic sanctions and regional security architecture, he previously served as Head of the Strategic & Defence Studies Centre from 2011. Dr. Taylor holds a PhD and masters degree from The Australian National University and a BA (Hons) from Waikato University in New Zealand. With a longstanding association at the ANU, Dr Taylor has also held the position of Director of Studies at the Strategic & Defence Studies Centre. This article appeared originally at Lowy Institute's the interpreter. Flying home on Air Force One last Saturday, President Donald Trump talked to reporters about his successful dinner chat with General Secretary Xi Jinping, declaring: Its an incredible deal. It goes down, certainlyif it happens, it goes down as one of the largest deals ever made. Its a deal between the United States and China made by the President and the President. And itll have an incredibly positive impact on farming, meaning agriculture, industrial products, computersevery type of product. As with much of what Donald Trump says, theres some truth here and some not so much truth here. The Chinese states account of the meeting has been brief. State Councillor Wang Yi said, The discussions on economic and trade issues between the two sides were very positive and constructive, and reached a principled consensus. Wang also reportedly said that the consensus Trump and Xi reached included preventing trade frictions from spreading, returning to dialogue to resolve issues, and a joint goal of cooperation to benefit the global economy. So, we dont know much from the dinner meeting itself. But we do know what the Chinese authorities have done in response to the U.S. tariffs since Trump first imposed them in July 2018. We also know that different parts of the U.S. government machinery continue to take strong measures that can only be seen as part of a long-term China strategy. The arrest of the Huawei founders daughter (and Huawei CFO) Meng Wanzhou in Canada for extradition to the U.S. is a strong indicator that U.S. authorities see themselves as engaged in high-technology competition with Beijing. Because of this, when Chinese tech companies break the rules, the U.S. is willing to act. Beijing seems to also see this arrest as part of what is now an agreed long-term strategic competition, with the usually strident Global Times getting it right: For a considerable period of time, negotiating while at war will be the normal state of ChinaU.S. relations, and we need to get used to this new reality. Less sensational, but on a deeper level, the latest report of the U.S. Trade Representative, released on 20 November 2018, is an example of this. Its not happy reading for those wanting an early and enduring end to U.S.China structural economic and trade differences. But it does a great job of analysing and describing Chinese state and corporate measures and actions since the U.S. tariffs began. It shows that Beijings response to the tariffs has been to double down on the policies and practices at the core of the dispute with the U.S.. And Beijing has also used its iron control of Chinese media to obscure their continuing commitment to the Made in China 2025 plan that underpins these key policies and practices. A leaked memo from Chinas Internet Propaganda Ministry is typically direct and threatening, telling Chinese media outlets To re-emphasise: do not make further use of Made in China 2025, or there will be consequences. What doubling down have we seen from China on its pursuit of strategic and economic dominance in high-tech sectors? China updated its set of strategic emerging industries, issuing a new draft for comment in September 2018. This keeps the Made in China 2025 focus on creating Chinese technological dominance in new-generation information technology, high-end equipment manufacturing, new materials, biotechnology, new energy vehicles, new energy, and data. It also looks like Chinese actors have increased the tempo and scale of cyber-enabled theft against U.S. firms in the cloud computing, internet of things, artificial intelligence, biomedicines, civilian space, alternative energy, robotics, rail, agricultural machinery, and high-end medical devices sectors. Last month, cybersecurity firm Carbon Black reported a sharp rise in the third quarter of 2018 in attacks against manufacturing companiesa type of attack that has been frequently tied to Chinese economic espionage. Carbon Blacks chief cybersecurity officer, Tom Kellerman, said there has been a resurgence of Chinese attacks. And I think thats in direct line with the increasing tension with the South China Sea coupled with the trade war. Essentially, the Chinese have taken the gloves off. Chinas unfair technology transfer regime for U.S. and other foreign companies operating in China persists. The U.S. Trade Representatives report tells us that companies and other trading partners have continued to report on and express concern regarding Chinas technology transfer regime. China has not effectively resolved the systemic or specific problems. The U.S.China Business Councils members support this judgement. In its 2018 member survey, the council reports that 88% of companies are concerned about Chinas preferential policies for domestic companies, and American companies are less optimistic about Chinas policy direction than in earlier surveys. And the U.S.China Business Council isnt alone. The European Union Chamber of Commerce in China says it shares many of the U.S. concerns about China, including a general lack of market accessparticularly in high-tech sectorsa business environment that favours domestic firms [and] the continued existence of technology transfers as a pre-condition for market access. Chinas much trumpeted opening up as championed by Xi at the recent Shanghai Import Expo turns out to be limited and incremental changes to foreign investment restrictions. This approach is confined to sectors where China wants to attract more foreign investment and technology transfer, or where Chinese state policies have already created overwhelmingly favourable conditions for Chinese firmslike railway lines and electricity grid construction and managementso opening to foreign competition is likely to be meaningless. Theres plenty more in the U.S. Trade Representatives report. But one other crucial area shows both Beijings continued drive to get hold of high technology to gain strategic and economic dominance, combined with behaviour that is designed to obscure this effort. This is in the scale and focus of Chinese outbound investment. Unsurprisingly, in light of the tariff dispute and overall tension, Chinese investment into the U.S. has dropped markedly over the last year. In the first half of 2018, completed acquisitions and greenfield investments by Chinese companies were at their lowest rates for seven years, and since then, the pace of newly announced transactions remains similarly depressed. The surprise, though, is that a particular type of Chinese foreign investment into the U.S. has not just continued, but increased quite dramatically. Instead of falling along with general Chinese investment into the U.S., Chinese venture capital investment into U.S. technology centres, including Silicon Valley, has actually intensified in recent months. This shows that the Chinese state is intent on continuing to secure cutting-edge technologies and intellectual property from the U.S. to implement its Made in China 2025 plan. What do we make of all this? As Peter Jennings has said, no doubt the dinner Trump and Xi had in Buenos Aires was lovely. There may even be a future incredible deal between Trump and Xi on agriculture, general manufacturing, food and servicesalthough seeing this anytime soon on the back of the Huawei arrest looks unlikely. We can be very sure, though, that General Secretary Xi and the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party remain ruthlessly focused on achieving strategic and economic dominance in the commanding heights of the future global economyin areas like artificial intelligence, quantum computing, new energy, biotechnology, new internet technologies and advanced manufacturing. So, theres no end to the renewed strategic and economic competition between China and the United States. There will be continued effort by both governmentsand their business communitiesto decouple in the areas of high technology and advanced manufacturing. Lets understand this central fact, look for the opportunities for Australia, and work through the implications for global security and the regional and global economy. Is China's Social Credit System Really as Dystopian as It Seems? Editor's Note: This article was originally published at ScienceNordic. British journalist James OMalley was on the Beijing-Shanghai bullet train last month when he heard a disturbing announcement. Dear passengers, people who travel without a ticket, or behave disorderly, or smoke in public areas, will be punished according to regulations and the behavior will be recorded in individual credit information system. To avoid a negative record of personal credit please follow the relevant regulations and help with the orders on the train and at the station. It was particularly chilling to anyone familiar with George Orwells dystopian classic, 1984. Indeed, what disturbed James is Chinas widely discussed and severely criticized Big Brother-style social credit system. But before we get carried away to 1984, lets get a more comprehensive overview of the system, including some misunderstood or lesser-discussed aspects. A measure of trustworthiness The system is portrayed by some media as a big-data surveillance system that aims to monitor, assess, and discipline citizens social, political, and economic behavior. It was first referred to in 2014 in a government document (in Chinese) issued by the State Councilthe highest executive organ of state power in the Peoples Republic of China. The document described an omnipotent social credit system due to be launched in 2020, which aims to rate everyones trustworthiness. The credit referred to in the unnerving train announcement is the translation of the Chinese word xinyong, which indicates a persons honesty and trustworthiness. It is believed that the system entails a series of big data and AI-enabled processes that compute an individuals behavior, from online purchasing to obedience to traffic laws, timely bill payments, or your choice of friends. High scores beget social privileges All 1.35 billion Chinese citizens will be subjected to the system. People with high scores will enjoy better social privileges and economic benefits. Low scores on the other hand, could get you blacklisted from accessing certain services, such as flights or train travel just as James heard on the train. The potential for misuse and the likelihood of mishandling personal, private data is easily drawing public attention in todays data-sensitive era. Data in the hands of an authoritarian government like China becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, which vividly illustrates how digital technology is aiding authoritarian regimes to augment their rule and sustain themselves by pressuring their citizens to act in certain government-approved ways (for higher social credit scores in this case). A work in progress However, many concerns around the social credit system are either inaccurate or one-sided. For one thing, the Chinese government has not yet announced officially how the credit system will work, including, probably most importantly, how algorithmic credit scoring will be amassed and different qualities weighted against one another. Some tend to consider the high-profile Sesame Credit (Zhima Xinyongin Chinese), a private credit system operated by Ant Financial, a company affiliated with Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, as an example of such a mass surveillance system. With its 520 million users, Sesame Credit is for sure the current leader in Chinas social credit industry. Still, it is essentially evaluating purchasing volume and the price of purchased goods, rather than the content of purchases. To use the explanation from an Ant Financial spokeswoman, Its basically the frequency that matters, its not what you buy that matters. Cocaine or cake: the system doesnt care what you buy To be blunt, Sesame Credit does not care whether the user purchases cocaine or cake; it simply wants to sell products. Your score will increase as long as you buy something from Alibaba. As it turns out, Sesame Credit is more of a loyalty program than a reliable measure of xinyong or credit. To believe that Sesame Credit would work like a state-approved beta version of a social credit system risks exaggerating the use of inaccurate data tracking and information to deliver rewards and punishments. This further shows the challenge to compile necessary and sufficient data that covers every aspect of social life to serve as a useful reference in establishing a single and panoptic national-scale social credit system. To use Jamie Horsleys argument in Foreign Policy, Chinas Orwellian social credit score isnt realThere is no such thing as a national social credit score. Companies will also be rated Apart from the (negative) political implications of the work-in-progress social credit system, we should also consider the economic implication of such a system. According to the 2014 government document, one of the initiatives of the credit system is to rate not only individuals but also organisations and companies in order to promote economic growth and further the credibility of the government. The Chinese government has experienced the dearth of commercial and consumer credit data for a long time. The Peoples Bank of China the central bank runs the countrys only official credit rating system, and as of 2017 it serves only about 300 million people, or less than 25 per cent of the total population in China. In other words, three out of every four Chinese citizens lack publicly available credit histories. By contrast, over 80 per cent of the adult population in the US has a credit score, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureaus Office. System could boost investment and borrowing In the current system, many Chinese consumers especially younger generation with higher spending power and consumption potential struggle to invest or borrow money from the bank. Strict rules at most banks disqualify the majority of college and university students and new graduates from applying for credit cards. Similarly, small and medium-sized business (SMEs), which account for over 80 per cent jobs in the country, always struggle to get loans from Chinas financial institutions, regardless of the governments push. The lack of credit information puts the push to lend money to small firms in direct conflict with the effort to reduce risk in the financial system. That in turn hinders domestic consumption, a worrying factor amid Chinas slowing economy that would further deteriorate in the ongoing US-China trade war. A national wide credit system, in this sense, would allow responsible borrowers access to a line of credit. It will not only service Chinese bankers, but also has constructive effects on the economic realities of individuals and companies and the whole Chinese economy in the long run. Find a great selection of commercial real estate, manufactured homes, timeshares and more for Sale Buy real estate. Find a great selection of commercial real estate, manufactured homes, timeshares and more for Sale in US and Canada. Search Real Estate , We're sorry, this article is not currently available By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 12/06/2018 ADVERTISEMENT FOLLOW REALITY TV WORLD ON THE ALL-NEW GOOGLE NEWS! Reality TV World is now available on the all-new Google News app and website. Click here to visit our Google News page, and then click FOLLOW to add us as a news source! ADVERTISEMENT Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade. star Colton Underwood is ready and hoping to find mutual and lasting love with the woman of his dreams.When 's 23rd season premieres Monday, January 7, 2019 at 8PM ET/PT with a three-hour special event, Colton will begin his search for "the one" out of 30 beautiful bachelorettes on ABC.The ladies will include a pageant star who calls herself the "hot-mess express," a "confident Nigerian beauty with a loud-and-proud personality," a "deceptively bubbly spitfire" who is hiding a dark family secret, a California beach blonde who has a secret that ironically may make her the Bachelor's perfect match, and a "lovable" phlebotomist, according to ABC.Before Colton's journey begins, he will sit down with longtime host Chris Harrison for a frank discussion about the backlash he received after being announced as the next star.Colton will open up about his alleged readiness to become a husband and his thoughts on the Fantasy Suite dates and their significance.After moving into the show's infamous Los Angeles mansion, Colton will be introduced to his lineup of bachelorettes one by one. Following the limo entrances, Colton will be afforded the opportunity to get to know the women better at the cocktail party.Colton will be swept away by a very "assertive" woman, according to ABC, and he'll be surprised by how much chemistry he feels with some of the women."There are even a few kisses," teases the network.One "persistent" lady will then steal Colton away not one, two, or three times -- but four times, much to the dismay of her competition! The woman's aggressive moves may either turn Colton on or off.Once the First Impression Rose gets put on the table, women will find themselves scrambling for time with Colton before he must hand the coveted rose out."He ends up giving it to the lady who helped him feel the most comfortable in this very new situation," reveals ABC.By the end of Night 1, Colton will hand out only 23 roses to the bachelorettes of his choice.On the new season, Colton will embark on many exciting dates in the United States -- including his hometown of Denver, CO -- before traveling with some of his lucky bachelorettes to the romantic destinations of Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Portugal.will also feature dates that will test the women's perseverance in pursuing their romantic objective, along with fun, exciting and exotic dates that will elicit passion.One date will surprise a group of women when they must share personal stories with Colton about their "firsts." Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman will be on hand to offer some unconventional advice and unusual performance tips.Actor and comedian Billy Eichner will oversee another date in which some of the bachelorettes will relive their childhoods through enjoying a fierce summer camp-type competition.Terry and Rebecca Crews will put a group of powerful and passionate women through the "Bachelor Strongest Woman" competition, with Harrison and Fred Willard commentating and providing the play-by-by.And in another entertaining date, up-and-coming country star Tenille Arts will perform her new song, "I Hate This," for Colton and one special lady.Country superstar Brett Young will also make an appearance this season when he sings "Here Tonight" as Colton surprises one of his wonderful bachelorettes.To learn more about the 30 bachelorettes who will be competing for Colton's heart on 's 23rd season, click here To read spoilers on Colton's season about who makes it to the end and receives his final rose, click here Interested in more news? Join our The Bachelor Facebook Group We asked readers which Athens staples made their short list, then we threw in a few favorites of our own. From best drunk food to best hidden gem, here are the award-winning best things to eat, drink and do all around Athens. Except for the shiny Mac desktop on the corner of his desk, Charles Bullocks office looks as though it hasnt changed much in his 50 years te The latest official numbers on the price of agricultural produce gives an idea of why farmers are angry. Sanjeeb Mukherjee reports. IMAGE: Farmers during their march to Parliament, November 30, 2018. Photograph: Adnan Abidi/Reuters The latest numbers on the price of agricultural produce give an idea of what fueled the farmers' protest in Delhi. Gross value added (GVA) during the September quarter (the second for the financial year beginning April 1) in agriculture, forestry and fishing rose 3.8 per cent at constant prices but 2.8 per cent at current prices over a year. This means prices increased at a slower rate in the period, compared to a year before. In contrast, the gap between GVA at constant and current prices during the corresponding period of 2017-18 was a positive 1.7 percentage points. "Farmers aren't getting remunerative prices. They incur a huge loss in selling their produce below the state-mandated Minimum Support Price (MSP)," said a senior leader associated with the farmers' protest. According to a government statement, the production of kharif crops in 2018-19 is expected to rise by 0.6 per cent as compared to 1.7 per cent during the same period last year. Which means less of output growth has not meant better prices. "A GVA of 3.8 per cent in the second quarter of 2018-19 is surprising, given that production of several kharif crops could fall as per the First Advance Estimate for the year. "I think production of the allied sector, which has 55 per cent share in agricultural GVA, contributed," said Madan Sabnavis, chief economist at CARE Ratings. Around 55 per cent of the GVA of this sector is from livestock products, forestry and fisheries, where the combined growth was 6.7 per cent in Q2. India's kharif grain production in the 2018-19 crop year that started in June is projected to touch an all-time high of 141.59 million tonnes (mt), up 0.6 per cent from last year. Despite an almost 10 per cent overall shortfall in monsoon, rains were distributed well and were timely. The total area under kharif crops is estimated this year at close to one per cent more than last year. According to the First Advance Estimate, rice production is estimated at 99.24 mt, about 1.8 per cent more than the final estimate for 2017-18. This is despite several parts of Bihar, Jharkhand and eastern UP experiencing drought-like conditions in the initial period of the four-month southwest monsoon season that started from June. Coarse cereal output is estimated at 33.13 mt, around 2.2 per cent less than last year. Pulses' output is projected at 9.22 mt, from 9.34 mt last year. The drop is due to a shift towards sowing of soybean in place of more traditionally grown lentils in some parts of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. Total oilseed production is estimated at 22.18 mt, nearly 5.7 per cent more than last year's final estimate of close to 21 mt. Due mainly to a 22.6 per cent jump in soybean, despite a fall in groundnut production. Cotton production is estimated at 32.48 mn bales (a bale is 170 kg), about 6.9 per cent less. And, jute production at 10.16 mn bales (each 180 kg), as against 10.13 mn bales last year. Former Fortis and Ranbaxy promoters Malvinder Singh and Shivinder Mohan Singh reportedly came to blows in the latest turn to their ongoing feud. In a video posted on social media, Malvinder Singh is seen as saying, "Today is December 5, 2018, a little after 6 pm, Shivinder Mohan Singh assaulted me at 55 Hanuman Road. He physically hit me. He hurt me." Showing off a bruise on his forearm, Malvinder said, "He injured me here. He broke this button and he gave me a bruise here, he bruised me here. He kept threatening me and refused to budge until the team here separated him from me." When contacted, Malvinder declined to comment, whereas younger brother Shivinder did not respond to messages. The incident reportedly happened on Wednesday as Shivinder was trying to disrupt the board meeting of a group company, Prius Real Estate, which he claimed has lent around Rs 2,000 crore to companies owned by Gurinder Singh Dhillon and his family. Malvinder said the board meeting was held to decide to recover the money from the Dhillon group. As per media reports, Shivinder on his part denied Malvinder's claims as false and fabricated, and said it was Malvinder who had hit him. The relationship between the Singh brothers, erstwhile promoters of Fortis Healthcare, went sour after allegations of fund diversion from the healthcare chain emerged. It reportedly aggravated further over payment of arbitration award to Daiichi Sankyo. Shivinder had offered to pay his share of the Rs 3,500 crore award to the Japanese drug maker in a dispute related to the acquisition of Ranbaxy Laboratories. Earlier, in September this year, Shivinder had filed a petition before the National Company Law Tribunal alleging that collective and ongoing actions of Malvinder and ex-Religare chief Sunil Godhwani led to a systemic undermining of the interests of the companies and their shareholders. He had also alleged his elder brother Malvinder forged his wife's signature, perpetrated illegal financial transactions and led the company into an unsustainable debt trap. Later, on September 14, the petition was withdrawn by Shivinder from NCLT on his mother's advice. Photograph: PTI Photo Individuals often postpone tax planning till the end of the financial year. As the deadline for showing proof of investments draws near, they invest randomly in any product that will help them save tax for that year. Later, they realise that it is not suited for them, so they abandon it. Tax planning should not be a standalone, one-off activity, but should be in sync with your overall financial plan, says Sanjay Kumar Singh. With just three-and-a-half months left for the financial year to end, it is time you began making tax-saving investments -- if you haven't already. And when you invest in these instruments, make sure that they are in sync with your overall financial plan, and help you move closer to your financial goals. Random, one-off investments in products selected without due care can do a lot of harm to your financial health. Fulfil your insurance needs first: To decide where to invest for tax saving, examine the gaps in your financial plan. First, check if you are adequately insured. The tax benefit is available on life insurance (Section 80C) and health cover (Section 80D). The broad principle for deciding whether you have adequate life cover is: Your existing assets plus your life cover should be adequate to meet all your liabilities, provide for major financial goals, and for your family's regular needs. If you find this too complicated, go by a simplistic rule of thumb and buy a term plan with sum assured equal to 10 to 15 times your annual income (depending on what your pocket allows). "Avoid investment plus insurance products. With term insurance, you will be able to get relatively higher sum assured at a lower premium," says Archit Gupta, founder and CEO, ClearTax. Next, assess your health insurance coverage. Even if you have a cover from your employer, buy personal health cover for your family. Match investment product to risk appetite: Before you start investing, check to what extent your existing investments and expenses will fulfil your Section 80C obligations. For instance, you may have Employees Provident Fund contributions, life insurance premium, and principal repayment on home loan. In that case, you may have to invest only a limited amount. Most products on which you get tax benefit under Section 80C are debt products, barring two -- unit-linked insurance plans (Ulips) and equity-linked saving schemes (ELSS) -- which are equity products. Choose an equity or debt product depending on the asset allocation of your existing portfolio. On the equity side, prefer ELSS. "Be aware of your risk tolerance before investing in ELSS. To realise higher returns, you should be prepared to stay invested for a relatively long period of more than five years in ELSS," says Gupta. Public Provident Fund (PPF), which gives tax benefit at the time of investing and is tax free upon maturity, should be favoured on the debt side. Ulips are for the young: According to IRDAI (Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India) rules, if you are less than 45 years old the sum assured on your Ulip must be at least 10 times the premium. But if you are above 45, the minimum sum assured can be only seven times. Income tax rules, however, say that maturity proceeds will be tax exempt only if the sum assured is 10 times the annual premium. "Older investors need to ensure that they buy a Ulip that meets this criterion," says Deepesh Raghaw, founder, PersonalFinancePlan.in, a Sebi-registered investment advisor. While younger investors may buy a Ulip, older investors should avoid them. "A Ulip is an investment-cum-insurance product. A part of your premium goes into meeting mortality cost. This cost is lower for younger persons, hence Ulips may not be a bad idea for them. But it increases as you grow older and affects the returns of these investors," says Raghaw. Steer clear of mis-selling in traditional plans: This is the product category that is most heavily mis-sold during the tax season. These plans invest heavily in government and other bonds. Commissions to agents also tend to be high in the initial years. So, the internal rate of return on them does not exceed 3 to 6 per cent. Moreover, exiting them is difficult. An investor loses out on all her/his money unless s/he has paid the premium for at least three years. Here again the rate of return tends to be lower for older persons due to higher mortality charges. Key mistakes to avoid: Individuals often postpone tax planning till the end of the financial year. As the deadline (usually the first half of February) for showing proof of investments draws near, they invest randomly in any product that will help them save tax for that year. Later, they realise that it is not suited for them, so they abandon it. For many investors, this sequence of events gets repeated several times, at least in the initial years of their working life. Tax planning should not be a standalone, one-off activity, but should be in sync with your overall financial plan. "All tax planning decisions should be taken keeping in mind three major aspects -- your personal financial goals, risk tolerance and investment horizon," says Gupta. Many investors over invest in tax-saving products. "Due to sales push by agents during the tax-saving season, many people buy multiple insurance policies even though their Section 80C limit has already been reached," says Malhar Majumder, founder, Positive Vibes Consulting and Advisory. Many investors also fail to appreciate that some products give tax benefit at the time of investing and are also not taxed at maturity. PPF belongs to this category. On the other hand, products like the five-year fixed deposit gives tax benefit at the time of investing, but the interest income from it is taxable. The former is obviously a superior product. Many people also do not realise that the interest income from the National Saving Certificate (NSC) is taxable. Others are not aware of the additional tax deduction of Rs 50,000 available on National Pension System (over and above Section 80C), or that tax benefits are available only if you invest in a tier one plan. Some investors rotate their tax savings. They pull money out of those instruments whose lock-in has ended and reinvest it again for tax-saving purpose. "If they were to let the money remain invested and put in new money each year, it would help them create a considerable corpus over the long term," says Majumder. Term plan, EPF, PPF and ELSS should be your favoured instruments for meeting your Section 80C requirements. Risk-averse investors looking for better returns may also opt for retirement products from mutual funds, which are hybrid funds with a lock-in of five years. Heed these changes in the last Budget Rs 40,000: A standard deduction of Rs 40,000 was introduced that replaces medical reimbursement and transport allowance. Saving of up to Rs 5,800 for salaried individuals. Rs 50,000: Under Section 80D, taxpayer can claim enhanced deduction up to Rs 50,000 (earlier Rs 30,000) on premium paid for a senior citizen. Claim additional deduction of up to Rs 20,000 by taking a medical cover for senior citizen parents. Rs 50,000: Senior citizens can, from April 1, 2018 claim deduction under Section 80TTB up to Rs 50,000 on interest received from deposits with banks and post offices. Gift money to your parents for investment in bank deposits. Gifts to relatives is tax exempt. Interest income received by senior citizen parents will also be tax free up to Rs 50,000. Rs 100,000: Long-term capital gains on sale of listed equity shares and units of mutual funds, which were earlier completely exempt from income tax will, from April 1, 2018, be subject to capital gains tax at 10 per cent for gains above of Rs 100,000. Contest on their own and get washed out, as happened in the 2016 assembly elections? Or contest in league with one of the Dravidian majors and get submerged under its election symbol? With elections looming, minor political parties in Tamil Nadu are caught in this dilemma, says N Sathiya Moorthy. IMAGE: Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam founder and general secretary, Vaiko, addresses a protest rally against Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit over the release of seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, in Chennai, on December 3, 2018. Photograph: PTI Photo With only months left for the Lok Sabha polls, minor political parties in southern Tamil Nadu are caught in an identity crisis of sorts, having to choose between victory or a share in the victorious alliance on one hand and re-obtaining official recognition and a registered symbol ahead of the state assembly polls two years hence. The 2016 assembly polls witnessed a unique situation in which three parties among them cornered all the seats and much of the votes, denying the minor parties, many of whom formed a Third Front, with disastrous consequences. The ruling AIADMK, whose minor allies also contested under the partys Two Leaves symbol, obtained 41 per cent votes while the Opposition DMK+ combine came a very close second with 40 per cent in terms of vote-share. Within the DMK combine, the party obtained 31.86 per cent, and the Congress 6.47 per cent, among others. The problem for the Pattali Makkal Katchi, which contested alone and came a very distant third with 5.36 per cent vote-share, is that the party still fell short of the six per cent required for retaining the Mango symbol, allotted by the Election Commission, for recognised parties. Less said about the other minor parties the better, as the MDMK, VCK, TMC and, apart from the CPI and the CPM, contested together as the Peoples Welfare Front (PWF), so also the ruling BJP at the Centre, could obtain way before even the half-way, three per cent mark. For a political party to be not only registered but also recognised by the EC to be allotted a frozen symbol of its choice, it should have obtained six per cent vote-share in a particular state. For national parties, they should have obtained two per cent vote-share each in three states LS polls, or six per cent vote-share in assembly elections in four States. Under this scheme, only the BJP, Congress, CPM and the BSP qualify for national symbol while the DMK, AIADMK and the DMDK of actor-politician Vijayakanth are in the reckoning. Of them, the DMDK, having polled 5.1 per cent vote-share in the LS polls of 2014 as a partner in the victorious BJP-NDA at the national level, slipped to 2.41 per cent, and faces the danger of losing the registered Drum symbol. It is against this backdrop that behind-the-scenes jockeying for seat-sharing, especially within the Opposition DMK-led combine has begun in right earnest, or so it seems. Trouble started when the partys high-profile treasurer Duraimurugan, a veteran legislator and former minister, clarified in a television interview that only the Congress and IUML were their allies at present and parties like the MDMK and VCK were friends. Reading between the lines, MDMK founder Vaiko and VCKs Thol Thirumavalavan told newsmen that their cadres were upset over such categorisation. Truce was announced when the two leaders especially met the DMK president M K Stalin, separately, and the latter reportedly reassured them on this score. By all accounts, given the narrow vote-share difference in elections 2016, which however made a huge difference in seat share for the ruling AIADMK from the previous 2011 assembly polls, the DMK, now under M K Stalin, is keen on retaining the 40 percent alliance vote from 2016 and boosting the vote share across the board, both in Tamil Nadu and in the lone Puducherry LS constituency. Going by past experience, the DMK may not be unwilling to shed more seats to the allies than the rival AIADMK. It is another matter, that the latter too cannot be as assertive in the post-Jaya scenario, as it was in 2014 and 2016, when the party went on its own and swept the twin polls all by itself. Given in particular the untested quality of the Sasikala-Dhinakaran led rebellion that cost the RK Nagar assembly by-election for Jayalalithaas seat, the AIADMK under the twin leadership of Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) and Deputy CM, O Panneerselvam (OPS) may be more accommodative than even the DMK at times. There is another angle to the episode. Given perceptions of the anti-minorities tag attaching to the ruling BJP at the Centre and purported anti-people policies, also of the ruling AIADMK in the state, the two parties are said to be still unclear and unsure of tying up for the LS polls. One possibility that is being tossed about is for the AIADMK to tie up with the minor parties and bag at least a dozen or so of the 40 LS seats (including Puducherry) and then join the BJP-NDA alliance, if it came to that. However, the results of the ongoing four-state assembly polls may be a determinant, too. This is even truer of the minor parties, which see a looming anti-incumbency wave against the BJP and the AIADMK in their respective spheres. Still, however, for the DMK or the AIADMK, to forego seats to minor parties could well mean that the latter might have to be allowed to contest on new and Independent symbols, often allotted through a draw of lots after the last day for withdrawal of nominations. Given that only 21 days would be available for campaigning and the way the EC has been coming down on unlawful campaign methods, popularising new and different symbols for the same party in different constituencies could prove to be a Herculean task for the respective party leaderships and their alliance leader. In turn, this could mean that the alliance per se may have to give up hopes of winning those very seats, and thus increasing the seat score of the rival combine, as if by default. As alliance leaders at the national level, the BJP and the Congress, may not be appreciative of such an initiative, either, though their say in the matter might not be the decisive factor. Given the complexities of the issues involved, a section within the DMK is believed to have mooted the idea that junior/minor partners contest the LS polls on the partys Rising Sun symbol, and the leadership be as generous as can be under the circumstances, in terms of seat shares and constituency allotment. In continuation thereof, it is also said in private that the junior partners would get their share in the subsequent RS polls, given the DMK combines existing 98-member strength in the 234-seat state assembly, and more so in the assembly polls of 2021. It is also being speculated that any disastrous results for the ruling AIADMK in the LS polls, and a possible defeat for the BJP-NDA at the national level, could fast-track assembly polls, for the DMKs junior partners to get their due share. It is also being pointed out that even with separate symbols, even if the same for all constituencies contested by the junior partner, there was no way the DMK or the AIADMK leader of either combine could allot them as many seats as may be required for the respective parties to obtain the six per cent vote share, required for retaining/regaining their registered symbols. There is however truth in the suggestion that contesting as a Third Front in elections 2016 and in the BJP-NDAs company in 2014, none of the minor parties, including the PMK and the MDMK, could poll enough votes to retain/regain their registered symbol. The suggestion is for most if not all of the minor parties to yield to pressure from a major party in the impossible situation presented at the LS polls, but cartelise themselves within the combine, post-polls, and demand their pound of flesh in the assembly elections. This way, it is felt, they could also ensure that the major partner did not ride rough shod over junior partners, threatening them with the anti-defection law, which especially the AIADMK under Jayalalithaa was wont to do in her time. Though the figures might go up in the company of a larger ally like the DMK, AIADMK or even Sasikala-Dhinakarans AMMA, the last one in particular getting a registered symbol itself may depend on the partys performance in the 20-seat assembly by-polls, which the EC has promised and/or is expected to hold by February 2019, ahead of the LS elections, due by May. That way, yes, LS poll alliances may be dependent on combination(s) for and the vote shares obtained in the by-polls, if held ahead of the assembly polls. While the minor parties may be desirous of contesting a few seats from either of the major fronts, it is most unlikely that they would be allotted any, given that almost all of them had contested elections 2016, without being in the company of either the ruling AIADMK or the rival DMK. The list includes the PMK and the DMDK, which seem to have concluded that for a victorious alliance, the DMK and/or the AIADMK would have to compete with each other to invite them to join their combine, rather than either of them, separately, wooing one of the major parties. Reality speaks otherwise, which junior parties like the MDMK, VCK and the TMC do not hesitate to acknowledge. All of it has since come out in the open, what with Stalin addressing the issue squarely while talking to newsmen in Chennai. He said that there was no discontent among the partys allies, existing and prospective, over former Union minister A Rajas suggestion that some of them could contest under the DMKs Rising Sun symbol. Its all media creation, Stalin said further, though that still remains an unconvincing proposition. It is this kind of cracks in the emerging DMK-led combine the ruling AIADMK is hoping for, to help them win a respectable number of seats for the party and the party-led alliance, whenever finalised. N Sathiya Moorthy, veteran journalist and political analyst, is Director, Observer Research Foundation, Chennai Chapter. 'The BJP has been tinkering with the Indian Constitution every now and then.' 'Instead of celebrating November 26 as Constitution Day, the BJP was more interested in (the VHP's) Dharam Sabha which was called that day.' 'This shows they believe more in the Ram mandir than in the Constitution.' IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi with Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis at the Deeksha Bhoomi in Nagpur, April 14, 2017. Photograph: Press Information Bureau of India Savitribai Phule, the Bharatiya Janata Party member of Parliament from Bahraich, Uttar Pradesh, resigned from the party on Thursday, December 6, after speaking out against its policies over the last few months. While resigning on a day that marked Dr Ambedkar's 62nd death anniversary, Phule -- a Dalit MP -- said the BJP is dividing Indian society and was not interested in the welfare of the Dalit community, but only in its votes. Phule has been raising her voice openly against the BJP since April after several states witnessed violence during the Bharat Bandh called by Dalit organisations to protest the alleged dilution of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. ", " Phule tells Rediff.com's Syed Firdaus Ashraf. What led you to quit the BJP? The ideology of the BJP is to insult and humiliate Dalits and minorities. India should be run according to the Indian Constitution, but the BJP wants to run it according to Manusmriti (The laws of Manu, an ancient Hindu religious legal text). I have been feeling this since 2014 and I have raised these concerns even in the Lok Sabha. But being a Dalit, my voice was not heard. There is a conspiracy going on to change the Indian Constitution and this was stated by BJP Minister Ananth Kumar Hegde. Even RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) chief Mohan Bhagwat said (before the Bihar assembly elections in 2015) that they will re-examine caste-based reservations. You said similar things earlier. Were you not called by senior party leaders to discuss these issues? In the BJP, Dalits do not get any respect. Dalit leaders do get elected (on reserved seats) on a BJP ticket, but they become slaves of the party. The BJP has been tinkering with the Indian Constitution every now and then, but not a single Dalit leader has dared to go and speak up against this wrongdoing. Today, I am a member of Parliament and it is only thanks to reservations. If there were no reservations, I would not have been an MP. And when I raise issues related to reservations within the party, I am called a rebel. I am only raising the concerns of the Dalit community. Instead of celebrating November 26 as Constitution Day, the BJP was more interested in (the Vishwa Hindu Parishad's) Dharam Sabha (in Ayodhya) which was called that day. They were talking of the Ram Mandir that day. This shows they believe more in the Ram mandir than in the Constitution. You have resigned just months before the elections. I have been speaking on Dalit issues continuously since 2014. It is not that I have woken up now. IMAGE: Savitribai Phule addresses a press conference after resigning from the BJP in Lucknow, December 6, 2018. Photograph: Nand Kumar/PTI Photo The Uttar Pradesh chief minister says Lord Hanuman was a Dalit and you are saying the BJP does not respect Dalits. If Hanuman was a Dalit and a human, why was he made into a monkey? He was given as much importance as a monkey, and insulted. In those days they (the upper castes) used to consider Dalits as monkeys. Even now they do that. Dr Babasaheb's statues are being defiled in Saharanpur, Meerut, Allahabad and ask me where not. The people who break Dr Babasaheb's statues are never arrested. Why? The BJP is not a party for Dalits, it only wants their votes. And when they come to power they insult and humiliate us. And now the party's attention has completely turned towards a Ram mandir in Ayodhya. The Ram mandir has always been on the BJP's agenda. Only Brahmins will benefit from the Ram mandir, not Dalits. What will Dalits get out of the Ram mandir? Nothing. These Brahmins scare poor Dalits in the name of god and they run this temple business. What benefits will the Dalits get out of the Ram mandir? Are you planning to join any other party like the BSP or SP? I am working for the Bahujan Samaj and it is my duty to speak up for Dalits. If a Dalit is wronged, I will raise my voice. And when I speak my mind, I am called 'neech'. I am insulted. Did you ever speak to Prime Minister Modi on atrocities against the Dalits? I have spoken regularly, but till date Dalits have not got justice. Dalits are not getting reservations in jobs today and they are always insulted. Dalits do get reservations, don't they? The Supreme Court said give 27 per cent reservations, but only 5 per cent is being given. Moreover, Dalits do not get promotions in their jobs. I raised this issue in the Lok Sabha, but no one heard my pleas. Before resigning from the BJP, did you speak to Modi or tried to meet (BJP national President) Amit (Anilchandra) Shah? I have told them that they must follow the Constitution as it is the best in the world. It brings equality in society. Will India run on its Constitution or the Ram mandir? 'The Indian Army served with honour and distinction in France and Flanders, East Africa, Gallipoli, Aden, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Palestine, Transcaspia, Persia and even China.' 'The sacrifice of India's soldiers was consigned to the dustbin of history in the post-colonial world.' IMAGE: Vice-President Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu at the inauguration of the Indian War Memorial at Villers Guislain, France, November 10, 2018. On November 11, some 70 heads of State assembled in Paris to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the end of Great War. India was represented by Vice-President Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu, who a day earlier had inaugurated the Indian Military Memorial at Villers Guislain, in northern France, to pay homage to the 75,000 Indian troops who did not return to their native land. One man has been behind the project of remembering these brave sons of India, who fought in a war which was not theirs. Squadron Leader Rana Tej Pratap Singh Chhina (retd), who heads the Centre for Armed Forces Historical Research at the United Service Institution of India, New Delhi. Squadron Leader Rana Tej Pratap Singh Chhina (retd). Squadron Leader Chhina, a world authority in the domain of military history, also participated in the documentary, The Forgotten Army. Directed by journalist Mandakini Gahlot, the film explored India's historic participation in the Great War. The premiere took place at the French embassy in Delhi in presence of Alexandre Ziegler, the French ambassador to India, who praised Squadron Leader Chhina, noting, "The painstaking research conducted by Squadron Leader Chhina... greatly helped revive interest in India's role in World War I, embarking as early as 2014 in a four-year project on the crucial contribution of Indian soldiers to the Great War." Squadron Leader Chhina speaks to Claude Arpi about his days in the Indian Air Force, his momentous project to keep the memory of Indian soldiers alive, the importance of history for a nation. Tell us about your background, your family in Punjab. I served as a helicopter pilot in the Indian Air Force. My father was a professor of neuro-physiology at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi. My ancestral village is Harse Chhina in Amritsar district. We are traditionally a family of farmers, but in our region there is also a strong tradition of soldiering. My paternal grandfather was a soldier. He served in the Great War in Aden, Egypt and Mesopotamia. His younger brother served in the same regiment in all these theatres, but also in Palestine. My maternal grandfather was a cavalryman. He served in the Great War in Mesopotamia and East Africa. They were all pre-war regulars. Both my paternal and maternal grandfather were decorated during the war. The former received the Indian Distinguished Service Medal for gallantry at the Battle of Sannaiyat in Mesopotamia while the latter was awarded the Indian Meritorious Service Medal for services in East Africa. How and why did you decide to join the IAF? I was interested in the military and in flying as a schoolboy. I joined the National Defence Academy after graduating from school. My traditional 'family regiment' had gone to Pakistan when the Indian Army was divided at the Partition of the country in 1947, so I opted for the air force. IMAGE: Squadron Leader Chinna at the Indian War Memorial at Villers Guislain, France. How did you get interested in history? I was fascinated with the stories of the old Indian Army from a very early age. When I was a young boy I came across an old military tunic belonging to my grandfather as well as an old medal in our village and I wanted to know more about them. That started me off on my pursuit. I would spend my vacations in the village finding old soldiers who had fought in the world wars and talking to them about their experiences. The oldest was a soldier who enlisted in a cavalry regiment in 1904 and fought his first campaign as a cavalry trooper on the North West Frontier of India in 1908. Tell us about your work with the CAFHR. The USI is the oldest military think-tank in India, indeed perhaps in all of Asia. It was founded in 1870 for the furtherance of interest and knowledge in the art, science and literature of national security in general, and of the defence services in particular. The CAFHR was established in December 2000 under the aegis of the USI at the behest of the three service headquarters for encouraging an objective study of all facets of Indian military history with a special emphasis on the history of the Indian armed forces. I am the secretary of the CAFHR and apart from working on research projects involving aspects of military history, the centre also provides assistance to curators of military museums and works to inculcate an interest in military history by organising battlefield tours and staff rides. IMAGE: Squadron Leader Chhina at Villers Guislain with Frenchmen in uniforms Indian soldiers wore in the Great War enacting WWI battles. When did you start to work on the WWI project? What were your objectives? India had made a very significant contribution to the First World War, both in terms of men and material, which far exceeded both expectations and capability at the time. However, by the time the war ended, Britain's relationship with India had changed irrevocably. The war set in chain a series of events that would lead to the end of the British Raj less than three decades later in August 1947. But in the period after Independence, the war was largely forgotten in India. The sacrifice of India's soldiers was consigned to the dustbin of history in the post-colonial world. The Indian Army that had served with honour and distinction in France and Flanders, East Africa, Gallipoli, Aden, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Palestine, Transcaspia, Persia and even China, was itself divided between the newly independent States of India and Pakistan. Although both these armies retained an institutional memory of the war in their battle honour days and regimental histories, the new States viewed it as a colonial conflict of little or no relevance to their history. However, the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War gave a global impetus to numerous commemorative activities. It also generated wider interest in the role played by India in the conflict and gave fresh momentum to commemoration in India and abroad. Within India, the USI took the lead and spearheaded the 'India and the Great War' centenary commemoration project with the support of the ministry of external affairs who supported it as a public diplomacy initiative. The project used the centenary commemoration as a medium to examine the involvement of India and its army in the war effort as well as the political, social and economic effects of the war on India. It undertook and supported a number of commemorative activities, academic research, and community engagement projects, all of which have combined to influence the manner in which the war -- with its colonial roots and postcolonial legacies -- is viewed and understood within India. The 'India and the Great War' centenary commemoration project engaged with a wide spectrum of partners, from governments down to individuals, including descendants of veterans of the Great War both in India and Pakistan. For many, it was the first time in living memory that the contribution of their forebears was being recognised or remembered. Among nations, the UK, France, Belgium, Australia, New Zealand and Turkey, have been active project partners in the commemorative activities undertaken by the USI. The underlying message of the project has been Remembrance: Both a Remembrance of sacrifice and also a Remembrance of the futility of war as means to resolve conflict among nations. You wrote a book on war memorials. Do you think that India pays enough respect to military history? The study of military history is still in a relatively nascent stage in India. Over the last decade there has been a growing interest in the subject among Indian historians, which is very encouraging. One of the biggest impediments has been the failure of successive governments to enforce existing mechanisms for transfer of military related records to the public domain. Without access to primary sources the historian can do very little. Ignorance and apathy lie at the root of this problem. The concerned authorities would do well to remember the old adage that those who do not remember the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them. IMAGE: Squadron Leader Rana Chhina, Raka Singh, Ambassador Jan Luykx and Anjum Chhina. Photograph: Kind courtesy Centre for Armed Forces Historical Research/Facebook How did you get the idea of an Indian Armed Forces Memorial in Villers-Guillain in northern France to commemorate the Indian participation in the Great War? Apart from the literary and academic interest that it generated, the centenary also gave a fillip to remembrance and allowed the State to create a space for community participation in commemorative activities. One of the laid down objectives of the 'India and the Great War' centenary commemoration project, formulated as early as 2013, was the possible construction of appropriate national memorials in different parts of the world where Indian soldiers had fought and died in the Great War. This proposal was pending with government when the chance visit by a senior USI member, Major Kinny Khanna, to Villers-Guislain in France resulted in a reinvigoration of the entire process. Monsieur Gerard Allart, the mayor of Villers-Guislain, was extremely supportive of the suggestion to have a memorial to those Indian soldiers who fell while fighting in the area during the Battle of Cambrai in November-December 1917. He and his entire team worked tirelessly to ensure that the project came to fruition. The memorial is located near the site of Lance-Dafadar Gobind Singh's death-defying ride in December 1917, which resulted in the award of the highest decoration for valour in battle available at the time, the Victoria Cross. It is the second Indian national memorial overseas, the other being on the ramparts at Ypres in Belgium, adjacent to the Menin Gate. Who supported you? We were supported by the three service chiefs of the Indian armed forces, the ministry of external affairs as well as the Indian embassy in France. In addition, we owe a debt of gratitude to the people of France and the commune of Villers-Guislain for their support for this project to honour the memory of our countrymen who fell fighting for France a century ago. IMAGE: The Indian War Memorial at Villers Guislain, France, says Squadron Leader Chinna, 'is located near the site of Lance-Dafadar Gobind Singh's death-defying ride in December 1917, which resulted in the award of the highest decoration for valour in battle available at the time, the Victoria Cross.' How did the French people react to the 'Indian presence' on the battlefield in Northern France, 100 years ago... and today? The people of France greeted the arrival of the Indians with great enthusiasm. Large crowds lined the streets as the Indian soldiers disembarked at Marseille and proceeded to their camps. In the countryside, where many Indian soldiers were billetted on French farms, they were received with love and affection. Many Indian soldiers are recorded as referring to the French matrons who looked after them as their French mothers. Even today, when we interacted with local people in different parts of France during the course of the Great War centenary commemoration project, we were always greeted with genuine warmth and with expressions of gratitude for our attempts to recall the memory of the Indian veterans of the Great War who fought and died in France. At the ceremony organised by the commune of Villers-Guislain on December 2, 2017 to announce the plans for building the memorial, we were overwhelmed to see the tremendous response of the entire community. People from all walks of life, young and old, ranging from toddlers to grizzled veterans braved the freezing temperatures to be present on the occasion. Local school children sang the Indian National Anthem while French military veterans carrying their flags and wearing their medals honoured us with their presence. Mayor Gerard Allart made a very moving speech in which he referred to the debt that was owed by the people of France to these soldiers who came from a faraway land to fight for France. Was the inauguration of the monument a special moment? The culmination of our joint endeavours and the highlight of the commemorative activities was the inauguration of the Indian Military Memorial at Villers Guislain on November 10, 2018 by the hon'ble Vice-President of India, Mr Venkaiah Naidu. This event marks a historic landmark in the strong ties of friendship between India and France. IMAGE: Left to right: Anthony McClenaghan, Brigadier Clive Elderton (retd), Squadron Leader Chhina (retd), Brigadier Sudhir Kumar Sharma, India's military attache in France, Gerard Allart, the mayor of Villiers-Guislain. A few words about India: The Forgotten Army, the documentary film you made with Mandakini Gahlot. The film traces in part the journey of an Indian cavalryman, Harnam Singh, who went to fight in France in the Great War. I am currently translating his memoirs for publication from Gurmukhi into English. He was a Sikh soldier from the Punjab, who was among the first Indians to land at Marseille in 1914. He was later evacuated to Brighton with severe frostbite, but luckily recovered to return to the front. Given the extreme paucity of written accounts by Indian soldiers, the memoirs are worth their weight in gold. The documentary weaves together his individual history starting from his village in India to the battlefields of France and Flanders and places it in the larger context of the services of the Indian Army on the Western Front. What were your objectives? The objective was to highlight the role of the Indian Army in the Great War and give the narrative a human face by telling the story through the first-hand experiences of a soldier who went through the war. The documentary medium allows us to share the story with a much wider audience. In so doing, we wanted to provide the forgotten soldiers of the Indian Army not just with an acknowledgement of their role or a commemoration of their sacrifice, but also to reinstate them to their proper place in history. IMAGE: French school children sing the Indian National Anthem to commemorate Indian soldiers who fought and died on the Western Front during WWI. Is it difficult to be a historian today in India? The biggest problem facing the historian in India today is the non-release of primary source records into the public domain by the various record creating agencies of government. Although there is a law called the Public Records Act that exists to enable this transfer, its implementation is lackadaisical and officials take refuge behind the colonial-era legislation called the Official Secrets Act, which prevents effective monitoring of the process of transferring records and leads to a lack of accountability of concerned agencies. Photograph: PTI Photo An Uttar Pradesh police team was sent to Jammu to arrest an Army jawan allegedly involved in the murder of a police inspector during the Bulandshahr violence, and five more people were nabbed in the case, taking the total number of arrests to nine, officials said on Friday. Sedition is one of the 17 charges in the first information report in which 27 people have been named besides 50-60 unidentified people. They were allegedly involved in the violence that led to the killing of Inspector Subodh Singh and Sumit Kumar, 20. BJP leaders wanted Subodh Kumar Singh transferred Two days before Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh was killed, local Bharatiya Janata Party leaders had demanded his transfer after accusing him of creating obstacles for religious functions. In a letter sent to Bulandshahr MP Bhola Singh, they alleged that his behaviour caused resentment in the Hindu community. The letter was forwarded by the MP to Bulandshahr SSP K B Singh demanding a probe against him. On Friday, the SSP confirmed to PTI that he had received such a letter from Bhola Singh. When asked what action was taken over it, he said probe orders were given. The letter, which was surfaced on social media, was signed by BJP's Syana city chief Sanjay Shrotri, city vice president Kapil Tyagi, former corporator Manoj Tyagi, B B nagar mandal president Neeraj Chaudhary, BJP assembly convener Vijay Kumar Lodhi and Syana block pramuk Pushpendra Yadav. The violence was triggered after cattle carcasses were found in nearby fields. Jeetu alias Fauji of Mahav village is a named accused in the case, Inspector General (Crime) S K Bhagat told reporters in Lucknow when asked about his alleged involvement in the mob violence. Jeetu's actual name is Jeetendra Malik and he is the 11th suspect named in the FIR lodged at Siyana police station on December 4. According to preliminary information, he is posted in Jammu and a police team has been sent there, Bhagat said. "We hope that he will be arrested soon," the IG said, adding the Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed to probe the case would be able to ascertain his actual role. Army sources in New Delhi confirmed that the police have contacted the Northern Command and they are cooperating in the probe. The five people arrested were identified as Chandra, Rohit, Sonu, Nitin and Jitendra but their names were not mentioned in the FIR lodged for the murder of the Syana SHO, Bhagat said. They were nabbed on the basis of video footage and eyewitness accounts, he said. Police teams were conducting raids to make more arrests, the IG said. The IG said that the confidential report of an inquiry conducted by ADG Intelligence S B Shirodkar has been handed over to senior officials. The cattle carcasses were found outside Mahav village strewn in the fields of former village head Rajpal Chaudhary, who too has been named in the FIR along with five more men from the village. All of them are absconding. Sources that PTI spoke to in the village revealed that Jeetu had come to the village on leave and was 'present at the site of violence' but left soon after the incident on Monday afternoon. His elder brother is also in the Army. "Both of my sons are in the Army. They are not here, they on duty," his mother Ratan Kaur told PTI, adding the police had raided her house around 1 am on Tuesday, assaulted her daughter-in-law, vandalised the house and picked up her husband Rajpal Singh. The 60-year-old woman said she was away in Pipala village at the house of her elder daughter-in law as her family had suffered a bereavement recently. She said she returned home only on Wednesday. Speaking to a TV news channel, she Friday said, "Jeetu is in Kargil and if any evidence like a picture or a video emerges showing he killed the policeman then I will kill him myself. I'm not so heartless, I'm equally pained by the death of the policeman and the other boy from Chingrawathi and also for what the entire village and its people are going through." Jeetendra's wife Priyanka, 24, also supported her mother-in-law's claim of post midnight vandalism and assault by the police. "I was at home with my father-in-law and my three- month-old baby when the police came to our house. They assaulted me so badly that my hand got fractured and I suffered an injury in one ear," she told PTI over phone from a hospital in Meerut. Sumit Kumar, from Chingrawathi village, who died in the clash is among those named in the FIR which also accuses Bajrang Dal's Bulandshahr unit convenor Yogesh Raj, local BJP worker Shikhar Agarwal among others of instigating violence. According to the FIR, the suspects were booked on the charges of mischief by fire or explosive substance, murder, attempt to murder, sedition, rioting, voluntary assault on public servant to obstruct them from performing their duty and endangering life or personal safety of others. They have also been booked for destroying public property, among others. IMAGE: Union Minister Nitin Gadkari at Nagpur airport on Friday. Photograph: PTI Photo Union minister Nitin Gadkari had a health scare on Friday after he fainted during a public event in Maharashtra's Ahmednagar district. The 61-year-old Bharatiya Janata Party leader fainted at the convocation of the agriculture university at Rahuri while the national anthem was being sung. He attributed the episode to low sugar and low oxygen supply to his body as he was wearing convocation robes. "I felt some suffocation during the event. The pandal (at the venue) was air-tight. I was wearing the robes of the convocation ceremony, that is why there was less oxygen. That is also why I fainted. My health is alright. (I have) no problem of blood pressure or sugar (now)," Gadkari told media. Earlier, the minister had attributed the incident to low sugar in his body. 'Had slight medical condition due to low sugar. I have been attended by doctors and I am doing well now. I thank all of you for all the well wishes,' Gadkari had tweeted shortly after the incident. A video grab of the event shows Maharashtra Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao, who was standing beside him, supporting Gadkari after he fainted. Gadkari was examined by a team of doctors present at the venue. His blood pressure was checked and he remained on his seat on stage for about 10 minutes, after which he walked to his vehicle. He visited the Saibaba temple at Shirdi and flew to his home town Nagpur, landing there at 4.30 pm. At Nagpur airport, Gadkari said he had suffered vertigo (a sensation of spinning dizziness). "I got a vertigo due to extreme heat and suffocation during the programme. My blood pressure and blood sugar are normal. Because of this incident a lot party workers are worried, but there is no need to worry. As per the doctor's advice, I will be undergoing certain medical check ups," he said. Nagpur BJP city chief Sudhakar Kohale said Gadkari will attend the Khasdar Sanskrutik Mahotsav at Nagpur on Friday evening as scheduled. Vijay Darda of Lokmat group tweeted, 'Just spoke to @nitin_gadkari ji. Thank God, he is fine. He said whenever he wears convocation attire he feels dizzy. He also said it was suffocating due to tightly closed pandal. His sugar went low. Nothing to worry. He's hale & hearty. May he be blessed with long & healthy life.' Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar said as he has asked Gadkari to take care of his health. 'Sometimes hard work takes a toll on health! @nitin_gadkari ji please take care. I wish you a very good health!!' Pawar tweeted. Meanwhile, Gadkari's visit to Goa on December 10 has been cancelled, state Public Works Department Minister Sudin Dhavalikar said. Gadkari was scheduled to inaugurate a bridge across Khandepar river in North Goa. "I have received communication from Gadkaris office that he has a meeting in the national capital on December 10. Also, due to his health condition, he will not be able to come to Goa,"Dhavalikar told PTI. India has abstained from voting on a United Nations General Assembly draft resolution put forward by the United States that would have condemned the activities of Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza. The resolution 'Activities of Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza' got 87 votes in favour, 58 against with 32 abstentions. The resolution failed to be adopted on Thursday as it could not garner two-thirds support in the General Assembly. India was among the 32 countries that abstained from voting on the resolution which would have condemned Hamas for "repeatedly firing rockets into Israel and for inciting violence, thereby putting civilians at risk", and for its use of resources in Gaza to construct military infrastructure including tunnels to infiltrate Israel and equipment to launch rockets into civilian areas. The resolution had specified that further engagement by the UN Secretary-General, and the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, in efforts to de-escalate the situation in Gaza, was also needed. Through a procedural vote held before the main vote on the resolution, the assembly had voted to apply the two-thirds majority requirement for the adoption of the draft. Before the voting, US Permanent Representative to the UN Nikki Haley said that despite more than 500 General Assembly resolutions condemning Israel, not one condemning Hamas has ever been adopted. She described the two-thirds decision, which passed by just a handful of votes, as "unfair" adding that the Hamas resolution was an opportunity for States to "do the right thing." "There is nothing more anti-Semitic than saying we cannot condemn terrorism against Israel, while we would not hesitate for one minute to condemn the same acts if they were taken against any other country The people who have suffered by far the most because of Hamas are the Palestinian people. For their sake, the world should speak out against the destruction of Hamas and what it continues to cause," she said. Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon said that the resolution had been a chance for "UN redemption" and that those who had voted against it "should be ashamed of themselves". He said Hamas exploits the people of Gaza, adding that the organisation is in flagrant violation of international law. There is no difference between Hamas, and Al-Qaida and Boko Haram, he said, adding that as the Jewish people are celebrating Hanukkah, the plurality of Member States of the United Nations has chosen to condemn Hamas. A number of States explained their reasons for voting against the resolution. The Saudi Arabian representative stated that, since 1967, Israel has not respected any General Assembly or Security Council resolutions, whilst Kuwait and Iran's representatives said that the resolution "ignores" and "deflects attention from" the root causes of the conflict. The representative of Kuwait called for respecting relevant United Nations resolutions in efforts to address the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and stressed the importance of a two State solution based on pre-1967 borders. Speaking after action had been taken on the drafts, the Permanent Observer for the State of Palestine said the strong support for draft that was adopted was an unequivocal affirmation, especially significant in view of actions aimed at eroding the global consensus for a just solution for the Palestinian people. IMAGE: BJP chief Amit Shah addresses a press conference in New Delhi. Photograph: Arun Sharma/PTI Photo The Calcutta high court on Friday came down heavily on the West Bengal government for not responding to letters of the Bharatiya Janata Party seeking permission for its rath yatras in the state and directed top officials to take a decision on the processions by December 14. A division bench of justices Biswanath Somadder and A Mukherjee said the government's silence on the permission is 'astonishing and astounding'. The court disposed of an appeal by the BJP against a single bench order of Thursday that refused permission for its rath yatra and directed the state to hold the meeting by Wednesday. The chief secretary and home secretary and the director general of police shall hold a meeting with three representatives of the BJP by December 12 and take a decision on the matter by December 14, the court directed. The court also directed that superintendents of police of all districts in West Bengal will file a report by December 21 to it on holding of 'rath yatra' rallies by the BJP, after hearing all the district chiefs of the party. Observing that an injunction upon the petitioner could not have been passed by the single bench, the division bench modified its ad interim order of Thursday. The division bench criticised the state government for not responding to the BJP's letters for permission to hold three rath yatras in the state. The single bench of Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty had on Thursday said it cannot give permission at this stage for the BJP rath yatra in Coochbehar, which was scheduled to be flagged off by party president Amit Shah on Friday, after the state government refused to allow the event on the grounds that it might cause communal tension. He directed that the rally stands deferred till the next date of hearing on January 9. The rath yatra in Coochbehar was slated to be the first of the three by BJP before the Lok Sabha polls next year. The other two were to be held on December 9 from Kakdwip in South 24 Parganas district and on December 14 from Tarapith temple in Birbhum district. The rath yatras were supposed to cover all the 42 Lok Sabha constituencies of the state. Passing the order, the division bench observed that keeping the matter pending till January 9 will virtually render the petition infructuous or merely an academic exercise as three-fourth of the proposed scheduled dates for holding of the yatra would be over by that time. The division bench said there was no plausible reason for the observation by the single bench -- 'Needless to say, the rally stands deferred till next date of hearing' on January 9. "This observation in the nature of a mandatory injunction upon the petitioner in their own petition was perhaps quite unnecessary," the division bench said. It said Justice Chakraborty had passed an injunction on the petitioner in their own petition, specially after specifically opining that reliefs sought for could not be granted at this stage. The BJP had prayed for direction to the state authorities to grant cooperation/permission/administrative support to organise the three yatras, the party's lawyer Phiroze Edulji said. The division bench observed during the hearing that the state cannot be so unreasonable not to allow another party to hold a rally. Appearing for the BJP, counsel Anindya Mitra submitted that the party had written to the state authorities first on October 29 and several more times thereafter for discussion on modalities of holding the rallies, but did not receive any response from either the home secretary or the DGP. Mitra submitted that the single bench has also deferred the yatras from Kakdwip in South 24 Parganas district and Tarapith temple in Birbhum district and claimed that this was beyond the scope of the matter before the court. He claimed that such denial amounts to violation of the party's constitutional rights. Mitra submitted that there was no expression of opinion from the state that there is a problem in giving permission for the yatras from Kakdwip and Birbhum. Advocate General Kishore Dutta for the state submitted that Coochbehar has a history of communal clashes and that there are intelligence inputs of possible disturbance to peace if the yatra was allowed to be held. As such, permission for the rath yatra from Coochbehar was refused by the district superintendent of police, Dutta told the court. The HC's order on Friday was described as a 'big win for democracy' by BJP president Amit Shah. 'Mamata didi's attempts to deny the BJP its legitimate right to undertake political campaign in the state to expose TMC' misgovernance has been thwarted by court, which has asked Bengal administration to cooperate. Big win for democracy! BJP will soon set out on its Gantantra Bachao Yatra (save democracy yatra),' Shah tweeted after the court's order. Earlier in the day, Shah had launched a scathing attack on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, accusing her of 'throttling' democracy in the state by not letting his party undertake its three proposed yatras. He had asserted that the BJP will certainly undertake these yatras across the state by following the due judicial process. "Mamata Banerjee's govt has failed on all fronts. West Bengal is among the top states in terms of political violence. "Due to the politics of appeasement, law and order in the state has completely collapsed. Even the administration in Bengal is complicit in this vote bank politics," he had said. Training his guns on Banerjee and the Trinamool government, the BJP president said people in the state are ready for change and asserted that the party will win a majority of seats in the Lok Sabha polls. His party's expansion in the state and win in over 7,000 seats in panchayat polls has rattled the Trinamool Congress chief. It is giving her 'sleepless nights' and left her 'scared', Shah said. "She knows these yatras will lay the foundation for change. That is why she is trying to stop them," he said. According to Shah, the state government often denied permission to his party's programmes. It had kept writing to the home department and the director general of police to seek their nod for the 'yatras' but in vain, Shah alleged. "The way Mamata Banerjee is using her government to trample upon democratic norms is very undemocratic and is throttling democracy," he said. In his view, his party's campaign in the state against the 'misgovernance' of the Trinamool has resulted in people rising against it. Announcing that he would visit the state on Saturday, he said he would give the chief minister 'unsolicited' advice -- that the more her government tries to suppress the BJP, the more will anger spread among people. The BJP's expansion was a reason behind violence in the panchayat elections, allegedly by Trinamool Congress workers, with more than 20 BJP workers being victims of political killing, he said. Shah cited the murder of three party workers and asked Banerjee what action the police had taken so far. Such massive violence was not seen even during the Left government, he alleged, adding that the police and Trinamool Congress combined to abet political murders. The BJP president cited a study to claim that the state accounts for 26 political murders out of 100 in the country. The mafia, he alleged, was working in sectors like health, education and business, and governance has collapsed. Not just the government, the state administration has also resorted to the "politics of appeasement" to please a community, Shah said, in an apparent reference to the Muslim community. The state government had neither the capability nor the intention to act against outfits linked to terror, he added. Shah also rejected the state government's claim that his party's events will lead to communal tension, saying he visited the state 23 times as BJP president and there had never been any communal flare-up. The TMC and the state police are often behind communal incidents, he alleged. Asked to comment on the recent violence in Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh, Shah noted that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has already spoken about it and a SIT has been set up to probe the ***** 12 policemen injured in clash with BJP workers The police and BJP workers fought a pitched battle in a forested area of Jalpaguri district on Friday injuring 12 policemen, including an additional SP. The additional superintendent of police was seriously injured after a stone hit him in the eye, Jalpaiguri SP Amitabha Maiti said. The incident occurred near Dhupjhora under Dhupguri police station when the BJP activists were going to a public meeting of senior party leaders in neighbouring Coochbehar district. A bus carrying BJP workers was stopped by the police near Dhupjhora, a village in a forested area, and the activists got down from the bus and started hurling stones towards the policemen, Maiti said. The policemen were outnumbered by the BJP workers and 12 police personnel, including additional SP Thendup Sherpa, were injured by the stone pelting, he said. Sherpa suffered serious injury in the eye and was hospitalised, said the SP who has visited the spot. A large contingent of Rapid Action Force (RAF) and police were deployed in the area. Several cars and buses were also damaged in the incident. BJP state president Dilip Ghosh alleged in Coochbehar that the administration and ruling Trinamool Congress workers were obstructing party workers to come to Coochbehar. IMAGE: Voters stand in queues outside the polling station to cast votes for the state assembly elections, at Samred village, Ramgarh Tehsil in Jaipur, on Friday. Photograph: PTI Photo Rajasthan recorded a turnout of 74 per cent in polling on Friday, sealing the fate of Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje whose Bharatiya Janata Party is hoping to return to power after a tough challenge from the Congress. In Telangana, an estimated 67 per cent of over 2.80 crore voters cast their ballots on Friday in an election that will test the popularity of the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti supremo K Chandrasekhar Rao and the wisdom of the great gamble he made in going for early elections. Barring stray incidents of clashes and malfunctioning of voting machines at a few places, the polling was largely peaceful, including in areas affected by Maoist insurgency. "As of 5 pm, we have reports that the polling was at 67 per cent. Webcasting shows that some people are still in queues. So, we expect the polling to go up by another two per cent," the state's chief electoral officer Rajat Kumar told reporters. The Election Commission said 74.02 per cent of voters exercised their franchise, a tally just short of the 75.23 per cent registered in the previous assembly election. IMAGE: :Rajasthan Congress chief Sachin Pilot shows his ink-marked finger after casting vote in Jaipur. Photograph: PTI Photo The police reported a few clashes among supporters but said polling across the 51,687 booths was largely peaceful. Special Director General (law and order) N R K Reddy said Indo-Tibetan Border Police jawans opened fire in the air to disperse a mob trying to enter a booth at a village in Alwar's Mundawar constituency. There were clashes and arson outside the booths in Bikaner and Sikar but polling remained unaffected, he added. At places in the border districts of Barmer and Jaisalmer, people walked miles through the desert to cast their votes. In Bundi district's Hindoli area, 102-year-old Kisni Bai was among the voters. Also in Bundi, Dhapu Bai, said to be over 100 years old, was brought to the polling station on a cot by her family members. IMAGE: Telangana caretaker Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and his wife Shobha after casting their votes at a polling station in Hyderabad. Photograph: PTI Photo First-timers recorded the significant milestone in their lives with selfies, displaying an inked finger, to be posted on social media. "Have chosen my future, you too show up," one man posted. Jaisalmer's Pokaran recorded the highest turnout of 87.03 per cent. The lowest, 59.97 per cent, was in Pali's Sumerpur, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a public rally on the last day of the no-holds-barred electioneering seen in the state. The BJP is trying to retain power in the state it won in 2013, displacing Ashok Gehlot's Congress government. If Congress returns, as exit polls predicted Friday evening, Gehlot is tipped as a possible candidate for the post -- along with the state party chief Sachin Pilot. Vasundhara Raje contested from her Jhalrapatan constituency, Pilot from Tonk and Gehlot from Sardarpura. IMAGE: Voters show their identity cards at a polling station in Jaipur. Photograph: PTI Photo Results will be declared on December 11, along with those from four other states that went to the polls during the past weeks. There are 2,274 candidates in the fray for 199 constituencies out of the total 200 in Rajasthan. Polling in Alwar district's Ramgarh constituency will take place later due to the death of Bahujan Samaj Party candidate Laxman Singh. Raje, the BJP's chief ministerial candidate, contested against veteran BJP leader Jaswant Singh's son Manvendra Singh in a constituency she has represented since 2003. Manvendra Singh had switched to the Congress just before the election. IMAGE: Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje shows her finger marked with indelible ink at her Jhalrapatan constituency in Jhalawar. Photograph: PTI Photo In Tonk, Pilot contested against Rajasthan Transport Minister Yoonus Khan, the BJP's only Muslim face in the elections. In the current House, the BJP has 160 seats and the Congress 25. Polling began at 8 am, picking pace over the first few hours. The final turnout figure will be released by Saturday morning, Rajasthan's chief electoral officer Anand Kumar said. In Telangana, chief electoral officer Rajat Kumar said four people were injured in a clash between Congress and Telangana Rashtra Samithi workers at Kosigi. Reports said TRS and Congress workers clashed at a place in Nagar Kurnool district. Kumar said there was a delay in start of polling at some booths on accounts of malfunctioning of EVMs and voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines. IMAGE: Former CM and senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot and his family members after casting their votes in Jodhpur. Photograph: PTI Photo Thirty odd complaints of model code violation were also received. He said officials had to replace 754 Ballot units, 628 control units and 1,444 VVPAT machines which were used for the first time in Telangana. The CEO said Income Tax and state government officials have seized unaccounted cash and other goods worth Rs 138 crore since the Model Code of Conduct came into force in September last week. Vote was taken for all the 119 seats of Telangana assembly for the first time after the division of Andhra Pradesh and creation of India's youngest state in 2014. Telangana and Andhra Pradesh Governor ESL Narasimhan, caretaker Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, ministers K T Rama Rao and T Harish Rao, BJP's Telangana president K Laxman, state Congress chief Uttam Kumar Reddy and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi were among leaders who cast their ballots. IMAGE: TRS MP K Kavitha stands in a queue to cast her vote in Pothangal, Nizamabad. Photograph: ANI Uttam Kumar Reddy alleged that his party candidate in Kalwakurthy Assembly segment Vamsichand Reddy was attacked by BJP cadre in Amangal where he had gone to observe the poll pattern. However, BJP's chief spokesperson Krishna Saagar Rao denied the allegation claiming the Congress was 'playing victim games sensing disastrous defeat'. TRS supremo and caretaker Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, widely credited for the creation of Telangana, exuded confidence that his party would come back to power with a 'huge majority'. Uttam Kumar Reddy hoped that Congress-led 'Praja Kutami' would win and get over 80 seats in the 119-member House. Reddy, who spoke before the polling concluded, said the number could go up if the voting percentage was higher. Adding a dash of glamour to the poll process, celebrities turned up in good numbers to cast their votes. Actor-turned-politician Chiranjeevi, veteran actor Krishna, popular heroes Nagarjuna, 'junior' NTR and Mahesh Babu, and 'Baahubali'-fame director S S Rajamouli exercised their franchise. IMAGE: Union minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore casts his votes at a polling booth in Vaishali Nagar, Jaipur. Photograph: ANI Tennis ace Sania Mirza and star badminton player P V Sindhu also cast their vote. At some places, people were seen taking selfies with celebrity voters. However, disappointment was in store for shuttler Jwala Gutta, who said she could not vote as her name was missing from the voters list. Reacting to her complaint, Rajat Kumar said he has sought a report form the district Electoral officer concerned. "I sincerely apologise to people who could not vote as their names were missing. We will certainly rectify mistakes in the voters list," he said. Additional DG (Law and order) Jitender said about one lakh security personnel, including 20,000 drawn from other states and 25,000 central paramilitary forces, were deployed to ensure peaceful polls. The Congress has stitched together 'Praja Kutami' (People's Front) with the Telugu Desam Party, Telangana Jana Samiti and the Communist Party of India in a bid to wrest power from the TRS, which is seeking a second term in office. The TRS has gone it alone in the polls and so has the BJP. As many as 1,821 candidates including a transgender are in the electoral fray. Voting began at 7 am and concluded at 5 pm, except in 13 constituencies classified as Left Wing Extremist-affected where the process ended at 4 PM itself. Counting of votes would be taken up on December 11. A meditation camp by Sri Sri Ravishankar at the Brihadeeswara shrine, a UNESCO World Heritage temple at Thanjavur, faced opposition from pro-Tamil outfits, as the Madras high court granted interim stay against the programme prompting the organisers to shift the venue. The two-day event at the ancient shrine, categorised as 'Great Living Chola Temples,' by the UNESCO, faced the ire of pro-Tamil outfits like Tamil Desiya Periyakkam which had support of parties like the Communist Party of India-Marxist and Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi. A division bench on the court's Madurai Bench, comprising Justices K K Sasidharan and Audikesavalu, after hearing a plea, granted interim stay against the event. The court directed the Thanjavur district collector and police Superintendent to ensure that the event did not take place in the temple and instructed them to remove chairs and pandal put up for the programme. The petitioner N Venkatesh, in his plea, argued that if the event was allowed to be held, it would set a wrong precedent and would lead to similar events in future as well. Such events, if held, would affect the temple, he said and cited the National Green Tribunal holding the Art of Living responsible for the damage to the Yamuna floodplains due to an event it held in 2016. Following news about the meditation camp, a row erupted as to how permission could be granted for Art of Living, a private body to hold the event at the temple. The shrine is a heritage site that fell under the purview of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and the state government's Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department. After an independent journalist's tweet about 'a tent-like structure', near the temple vimana (tower) asking how the heritage temple could be disturbed, pro-Tamil groups and parties started protesting. "There is no scope under the law to hold such events in the Thanjavur temple, which is protected by the ASI and it is a UNESCO Heritage site, if permission was given it is against the law," VCK general secretary D Ravikumar told PTI. The VCK leader said his party had no objection to the event per se but only the location. "It is a 1000 plus year monument which is a treasure of Tamil Nadu, any structure even if it is temporary cannot be put up there," he said. When pro-Tamil outfits attempted to take out a procession at Thanjavur against the event, they were detained by police and additional police pickets were deployed. A spokesperson for Art of Living said they had got approval from the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department and the ASI well in advance. "Since it is normal to have spiritual discourses in temples, the programme was organised here," she said. A statement from Art of Living said its volunteers were engaged in cyclone relief work at Vedaranyam and Pudukottai. While Ravishankar was scheduled to visit such areas to oversee the rehabilitation work, local people wanted him to facilitate a meditation programme. "It is unfortunate that a couple of people with vested interests...are quoting false allegations," it said. The event, christened "Vigyan Bhairav Master class meditations," that encompasses deep meditation techniques to tap super consciouness, has been shifted to a hall near the temple, organisers said. It is being held from Friday evening and would conclude Saturday, they added. As the nation remembers Pearl Harbor, and the U.S. entry into World War II, Floyd Welch has his own memories. An electricians mate on the USS Maryland docked at the Hawaiian naval base on Dec. 7, 1941, Welch was coming out of the shower when he noticed some muffled noises. Then an alarm was sounded, and before long, he and his shipmates were at their battle stations. Then they were at war. Very few of us knew what was going on, recalled Welch, an East Lyme resident who will turn 98 in February. He has indelible memories of that date, exactly 77 years ago, which transformed the lives of millions of Americans. When I stuck my head out of the focsle, there was a battleship on it side, Welch recalled, describing the damage inflicted on the USS Oklahoma. His own ship was hit by two bombs, and the image of those shipmates killed on Dec. 7 have stayed with him for a lifetime. Welch made it through the entire war on the Maryland, including close calls in naval battles off the Philippines and Okinawa. I crossed my fingers and made it, said Welch, And Im proud of my service. Welch took part in an anniversary ceremony Thursday, at a dedication of the opening of the Pearl Harbor Memorial Park in New Haven. Few survivors of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor are still living, and the nation is far removed from the galvanizing impact it had on a nation unaccustomed to war. More for you What Connecticut was like in 1941, the year of Pearl Harbor If I were to ask most of my students, what Pearl Harbor Day is, they could tell me factually, more or less what happened on Dec. 7, 1941, said Matt Pavia, an author and educator. But what I can say with reasonable certainty, is that Im sure teenagers today cant grasp what it that date meant to anyone who was alive then, what it was like to live through that day. The attack killed 2,403 and wounded 1,178, including 17 men from Connecticut. Stamford residents Vincent Horan, an aviation mechanic at Wheeler Field, and William Thomas ONeill Jr., an ensign on the USS Arizona, were killed in the attack. Bridgeport lost two men in the raid: George Povesko was killed onboard the USS Arizona, and Felix Wegrzyn, serving in the Army Air Corps, who was killed at Hickam Field. George Smith of New Haven, an Army Air Corps private, also died at Hickam Field. Pavia, a teacher at Darien High School who co-authored a new book on Stamford in the Vietnam era, said few Americans today of any age could understand the impact that Pearl Harbor had on a generation, and its aftermath. Total war is a concept foreign to the culture of 2018, he said. We live in a time when our armed forces are comprised of a microscopic percentage of the population, Pavia said. In the 1940s, when the Japanese attacked and war was declared the next day, virtually every person in America directly impacted. Young men were signing up, parents were sending kids overseas, brothers and sisters were saying good-bye, it was a war that affected everyone. That just doesnt happen anymore. Contemporary culture, the author said, has little in common with American society in 1941. We live in a materially comfortable society, where were used to having an abundance around us, of physical comfort and material possession. I dont think any of us are any longer conditioned to the idea of communal sacrifice in the way the World War II generation was, Pavia concluded. The attack on Pearl Harbor changed everything in Connecticut, as it did for the rest of the country. The fear of sabotage and follow-up attacks consumed law-enforcement all over the region. Guards were posted around the clock at the Cos Cob power station, which kept the trains running from New York to New Haven. Air-raid wardens were posted across Long Island Sound, ensuring total darkness in the nighttime hours. Japanese and German nationals were picked up and detained for questioning by local police officers and FBI agents. A sandwich shop called the Triple Decker, owned by a Japanese immigrant, Junzo Junior Nojima, was vandalized in Stamford but a group of local citizens turned out to help him clean up the damage, and he remained in the city for years afterward. The Navy recruiting station, a post office in South Norwalk, was mobbed with recruits, most of whom were turned away because they were too old for service. Gov. Robert Hurley shut down all private aviation in the state. The attack at Pearl Harbor transformed the region in other ways, bolstering its status as an industrial powerhouse. Wartime industry ran full shifts turning out material by the bargeload. Felt made in Greenwich lined army boots for cold-weather combat. Millions of rounds of .30-caliber rifle and machine gun bullets poured off the line at the Remington Arms Co. in Bridgeport. Corsair fighter planes roared overhead on test flights from the Chance Vought factory in Stratford. At the Luders boat-building factory in the South End of Stamford, a sign outside read Remember Pearl Harbor. Those moments now only exist in history books or faded newspaper clips for all but a few men and women now in their 90s or above. Veterans still pause to remember Pearl Harbor Day. Its a day that carries such importance and is another incredible example of the ultimate sacrifice made by so many before us that helps to ensure the great freedoms we enjoy every day until this day. A day that cannot and will not ever be forgotten, said David Vieira, an Army veteran from Danbury, and a member of the VFW. Jeff DeWitt, an Air Force veteran from Norwalk, said Dec. 7 was a turning point in history, one that should be remembered 77 years later. It was a day that defined a generation of Americans and changed the world. Service, sacrifice and valor were demonstrated by American heroes at unprecedented levels and foreshadowed the trials, toughness and grit that epitomized that Greatest Generation during the Second World War. DeWitt, who is active with the American Legion Post in Norwalk, took part in a recent Pearl Harbor commemoration this week, an obligation he felt a duty to carry out. We have to tell the story of the generations before us so theyre not forgotten, he said. This is an important story and possibly the most important. rmarchant@greenwichtime.com 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 Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau knew in advance that Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of China's Huawei Technologies, would be arrested in Vancouver during a transit on Saturday. But he said there was no political involvement in the case, while sources indicated the investigation into Huawei's involvement in Iran had predated the Trump administration and the U.S.-China trade war. Canadian Justice Department officials decided to arrest Meng when she was transiting through Vancouver on Dec. 1 at the request of U.S. law enforcement authorities, Trudeau said, confirming a statement from the Chinese side earlier this week. Washington is investigating her in connection with alleged violations of U.S. trade sanctions against Iran, and White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on Friday the case was "simply an issue of national security." "The appropriate authorities took the decisions in this case," Trudeau told reporters in Montreal. "We were advised by them with a few days' notice that this was in the works but, of course, there was no engagement or involvement on the political level in this decision because we respect the independence of our judicial processes." Beijing has accused Canada and the United States of arresting Meng, the daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, without giving a reason. "Detaining a person without providing an explanation has undoubtedly violated her human rights," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a news conference, adding that Beijing has lodged "stern representations" with both the U.S. and Canada, calling on them to free Meng immediately. But Reuters cited one source as saying the arrest had been discussed with Huawei's board of directors in advance. Ms. Meng's arrest came as U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to a temporary trade war truce at the G20 leaders' summit in Argentina, which Trudeau also attended. U.S. national security adviser John Bolton on Thursday said he also knew of the arrest plans in advance. Extradition 'likely' Fang Enge, a senior U.S. political risk management consultant with connections to Congress, said U.S. investigators had been concerned that Huawei could be violating sanctions against Iran since before Trump took office. He said Meng is now highly likely to be extradited to the United States. "It's not 100 percent certain, but the likelihood is very high, because there is an extradition agreement in place between the two countries," Fang said. "If the U.S. provides sufficient evidence, then Canada basically has to cooperate." "In theory, the judge's decision is independent and will not be influenced by politics, and will not take into account Sino-U.S. relations, or how the current trade negotiations are going," he added. Meng is scheduled to appear for a bail hearing in a Vancouver courtroom on Friday and a publication ban on the details of the U.S. allegations is in effect at the request of the Huawei executive, according to officials. 5G networks Her arrest comes as Canada faces intense pressure from Washington to block the Chinese telecom company from supplying equipment for next-generation 5G mobile networks. The United States and Australia have already barred Huawei equipment from the next generation of 5G networks, while New Zealand has issued a ban on Huawei equipment with at least one supplier, and the U.K.'s BT has announced it will remove Huawei equipment from its network following queries from the head of intelligence service MI6. Huawei, which analysts say is privately owned but nonetheless behaves like a strategic partner in China's technological development, said in an open letter that it won't change its partnership with global suppliers, regardless of how "unreasonable" the U.S. becomes. "It is unreasonable for the U.S. government to use these sorts of approaches to exert pressure on a business entity," the company said in an open letter cited in the U.S. edition of the state-controlled China Daily newspaper. "They are against the spirit of free economy and fair competition. Nevertheless, regardless of how unreasonable their approach becomes, the partnerships we have with our global suppliers will stay unchanged," the letter said. Reported by Wen Yuqing for RFA's Cantonese Service, and by Qiao Long for the Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie. Myanmar troops clashed with Arakan Army soldiers in remote parts of northern Rakhine states Buthidaung and Rathedaung townships, leaving casualties on both sides during fighting this week, the military-owned news service Myawady reported on Friday. Four AA soldiers were killed during the clashes, while officers and other ranks from the Myanmar Army also lost their lives, the report said, but gave no further details. Clashes began after AA troops ambushed a military column conducting area clearance operations" near the Myanmar-Bangladesh border on Monday, the report said. The fighting continued until Thursday in Buthidaungs Pyinchaung village and Rathedaungs Yaysochaung village, Myawady said. The fighting began after the Myanmar military intruded into the Arakan Army-controlled area to conduct operations, AA spokesman Khine Thukha told RFAs Myanmar Service. The Myanmar army has insisted that it will maintain regional stability and security in the area. Fighting took place between Nahan and Wanatyone villages from Dec. 3 through Dec. 6, he said. These clashes were also intense, with a battle in Monday lasting for five hours and another on Wednesday lasting eight hours, Khine Thukha said. Clashes also occurred north of Buthidaung on Nov. 29, with intense hostilities near Saipyinchaung village, he said. Troubling for locals Tun Aung Thein, a local lawmaker from Buthidaung, expressed concern about the residents of four village tracts in the regions remote Saipyin Hill area who fled their homes during the hostilities. Its troubling for local residents when the fighting escalates, he said, adding that officials have not heard any news from people who live in the area about 40-50 miles from Buthidaung township where he lives. Internet connections and communications are inaccessible in the hilly region there, he said, adding that it is physically difficult to reach displaced villagers because of poor road conditions. No clashes were reported this morning though tensions remain high in the region, sources said. Buthidaung township administrator Kyaw Min Tun said relief work is underway for the estimated 2,000 villagers who have been displaced. Were standing by, which is our duty, he told RFA, adding that only about 2,000-3,000 villagers lived in the area. Security here is safe because we have border guards and military, he said. The AA said that fighting between the two armies had also occurred between Buthidaungs Wanatyone and Nahan villages on Nov. 28. The two Rakhine townships along with adjacent Maungdaw township were the focal points of a brutal military crackdowns on Rohingya Muslims in 2016 and 2017, which together left thousands dead and forced more than 800,000 members of the minority group across the border and into Bangladesh. The AA has not signed the governments nationwide cease-fire agreement, which 10 other ethnic armies have inked, because of the ongoing hostilities with the national military. Reported by Kyaw Thu for RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Nandar Chann. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin. A court in Myanmars Kachin state on Friday sentenced three prominent youth activists to six months in jail and ordered them to pay fines for their involvement in peaceful demonstrations during which protesters called on the government to help civilians trapped in war zones by fighting in the northern state. The township court in Kachins capital Myitkyina convicted Lum Zawng, Nang Pu, and Zau Jat, of defaming the Myanmar military under Section 500 of the Penal Code for helping to organize the events and making speeches to rally support for villagers trapped in the states Tanaing township gold and amber mining region. About 5,000 protesters rallied in Myitkyina on April 30 and May 1, demanding an end to the national armys offensives and the rescue of about 3,000 people trapped in the area during fighting between the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the national military. Three days later, around 300 people renewed the protest and staged a short-lived sit-in camp in the city. The three activists said they first tried to talk with Kachin state officials to help the displaced residents, but decided to stage a protest after they did not respond to their request. We have been sentenced for trying to help people in trouble, said Lum Zawng, a lawyer who is involved in social issues. When they heard our sentences, people realized how much Myanmars judicial system is falling apart. We are deeply concerned about how this system will mete out justice for people. The three were ordered to pay fines of 500,000 kyats (U.S. $320) each and told they would receive an additional six months in prison if they failed to pay. Lieutenant-Colonel Myo Min Oo from the militarys Northern Region Command who filed criminal defamation complaints against the activists for insulting the armed forces by raising the plight of civilians trapped by the conflict, did not attend the hearing. Some residents who had been trapped during the hostilities showed up at court for the hearing. We are speechless About 60 locals and rights activists staged a demonstration outside the courthouse to showing their disapproval with the courts ruling, the online journal The Irrawaddy reported. Following the hearing, the trios lawyers and some of the residents displaced by fighting on whose behalf they had protested held a press conference at Myitkyinas Manaw Park to express their disagreement with the sentences. Kachin youth organizations also said they would release a statement calling for the three activists to be set free. The decision of the court shows that our country is not a democratic country although the current government came to power by proclaiming itself a democratic government, said Nang Pu, director of Htoi Gender and Development Foundation. The lack of rule of law is threatening the right to information. Nang Sai, a resident of the Jormasae internally displaced persons camp, said she and others had called Nang Pu to ask her to help trapped villagers who did not have access to food during the clashes. We are speechless about seeing these three sentenced; were very sad, she said. We want to see them released immediately. Dwe Bu, an attorney representing the protesters, said their legal team will submit an appeal of their sentences to a higher court. Appalling verdict London-based rights group Amnesty International also expressed disapproval of the verdict and called for it to be overturned. Todays appalling verdict against three peaceful activists shows the governments determination to silence any criticism of their actions in this deadly conflict and repress any peaceful opposition to the military whatsoever, said Tirana Hassan, Amnestys director of crisis response. These jail sentences reflect a pattern of continued attacks, intimidation, threats, and prosecutions against human rights defenders, journalists, and community leaders who peacefully speak out in defense of civilian victims of military operations, she said. Myanmar government and military officials have increasing used vaguely worded laws to bring criminal charges against those who are publicly critical of their actions. Government soldiers have regularly clashed with the KIA, which controls large swathes of territory in the state including the Tanaing area of Myitkyina district, since a 17-year bilateral cease-fire agreement collapsed in 2011. The hostilities have forced more than 100,000 residents to flee to safety over the years, with many seeking shelter in Buddhist monasteries, Christian churches, or displaced persons camps in the state. Reported by Elizabeth Jangma for RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Khet Mar. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin. Myanmar journalists stage a protest to demand the release of Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo (pictured in posters behind) in Pyay township, central Myanmar's Bago region, Dec. 27, 2017. Myanmars information minister has rejected widespread domestic and international criticism that the Southeast Asian country is backpedaling on media freedom, and has stressed the need for state-owned news organizations to continue informing citizens about government policies and decisions. In recent years, officials and military officers have increasingly used vaguely worded laws to have journalists who publish reports that are critical of them arrested and jailed. Ive been hearing that our country is deprived of media freedom, even more so now than it was under the previous government, said Information Minister Pe Myint on Wednesday during the opening ceremony of a conference on media development in Myanmar in the capital Naypyidaw. I would advise those who have been saying this to avoid blaming the government indiscriminately, he said. Make accusations only after conducting a detailed assessment of the facts and figures. Only then will the government be able to consider the accusations. Pe Myint also said there is a still a need for state-run media in Myanmar to let people know what their government and lawmakers are doing for them. The government and parliament have a responsibility to report back to the voters on what they are doing, he said. The government media is fulfilling that duty. Even for future governments, I want to say, the information channel between the government and the people would be the same as now, or in some form that suits the changing times. Pe Myint also blasted international reports on media freedom in the country, such as the annual World Press Freedom Index issued by Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF), which receives support from the French government, saying they are biased. Myanmars position on RSFs raking of 180 countries fell six places this year to 137 from 131 in 2017. 'Never friendly to the media' More than a dozen media and civil society groups issued a statement on Wednesday opposing Pe Myints comments, accusing him of ignoring the findings of research-based reports by other domestic and international organizations detailing Myanmars declining media freedom, said the online journal Frontier Myanmar. I feel that the information minister has never been friendly to the media, but now he has spoken about it, said Myint Kyaw, secretary general of the Myanmar Journalist Network. Weve had a feeling that government will keep controlling state media, and its now clear that it will, he said. Everybody knows that press freedom is getting worse as journalists are being arrested and detained, but he [Pe Myint] was trying to deny this, said Chit Win Maung, a member of the Myanmar Press Council (MPC). Forty-four members of the media are facing legal action in 28 cases across Myanmar, according to Frontier Myanmar. Yangon officials in October brought an incitement case against three journalists from Myanmars privately owned Eleven Media Group for a report criticizing the regional governments business dealings and budget. Though officials withdrew the case, Chief Minister Phyo Min Thien has pledged to reinstate it if the trio fails to apologize after the MPC mediates the matter. In September, two Reuters reporters were handed seven-year sentences for possessing classified 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. Unwilling to amend Media Law When the MPC was formed as a government-appointed body under the Ministry of Information in 2012, it advocated self-censorship. But in response to local media criticism, it was shortly reformed as an independent organization. The body is responsible for mediating press disputes, promoting journalism ethics, and protecting journalists in Myanmar. Its 15 to 30 members, each of whom serves a three-year term, include representatives from privately owned media, though government leaders can nominate members. Following the election of 10 new members in August, MPC Chairman Thiha Saw, who also is executive editor of the privately owned English-language newspaper The Myanmar Times, urged the group to amend countrys Media Law to better protect journalists. Myanmars constitution, drafted in 2008 by a military junta that ruled the country at the time, does not guarantee media freedom. The Media Law was passed in 2014 to fill this void by offering partial protection to media freedom, though it fails to guarantee the rights of journalists. The information ministry hasnt demonstrated a willingness to amend the Media Law, Myint Kyaw said. Its not good for the country. Ma Thida, the first elected president of PEN Myanmar who now serves as a board member of PEN International, a global organization that promotes freedom for writers, suggested that the MPC was not fully free of government influence. I dont want it as an organization that works under the governments control, he said. I want media people to appreciate themselves, adhere to media ethics, and face the problem if they want to be treated fairly. If this happens, then the level of trust and understanding between the government and media will grow, she said. 'The truth of the situation' Myanmar journalism trainer Sein Win said all institutions, including the government, NGOs, and reporters have to work together to develop the media in Myanmar. But the information minister doesnt think this is the case, he said. Instead, he said [journalists] should not point to him and the government when they dont get everything right. It is not the way to seek a solution. Toe Zaw Latt, Myanmar bureau chief for Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), an independent Myanmar news service supported by Norway for more than a quarter-century, disagreed with Pe Myints claim that news organizations funded by foreign countries are biased. He said that despite receiving funding from Norway, the country has never interfered in DVBs reporting. If it did, we would not accept it, he said. We have the right to decide what we do in our media organization. Tharlon Zaung Htet, a member of Myanmars Committee for the Protection of Journalists, said that the role of privately owned media is not to promote nationalism or the countrys image, as the minister's comments suggested. Its responsibility is to tell people what the truth of the situation is, he said. The information minister asked the media to promulgate propaganda at a conference on media development. Lame argument Kyaw Phyo Thu, news editor of the English-language version of the online journal The Irrawaddy, wrote in an editorial on Thursday that it was disappointing to hear such comments from the countrys information minister, especially one who serves a government that is tasked with leading a democratic transition. Frankly, his lame argument for the continued need for a government mouthpiece is simply an embrace of one of the former military governments main legacies: an official propaganda mechanism, he wrote. Ye Htut, Myanmars outspoken former information minister and presidential spokesman, said that other media organizations need to speak out about Pe Myints comments to prevent a backsliding of press freedom. If not, media reform will be reversed during the [ruling] National League for Democracy government, though this didnt occur during Thein Seins government term, he said referring to the former president who ended press censorship during his five-year administration that began in March 2011. Reported by Win Ko Ko Latt and Kyaw Thu for RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Khet Mar. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin. Myanmar minister of religious affairs and culture Aung Ko attends a ceremony to mark the anniversary of Martyrs' Day at the Martyrs' Mausoleum in Yangon, July 19, 2018. Myanmars minister of religious affairs has been rebuked by top leaders for using the term extremist religion to refer to Islam in recent racially charged comments he made referring to the countrys persecuted Rohingya Muslim ethnic minority, said a government spokesman on Friday. Zaw Htay, director general of State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyis office, did not specify which leaders warned the minister or what was said, when he referred to the criticism of the minister during a news conference. He also said that ministers should publicly speak only about government policies and keep their personal opinions to themselves. Former general Aung Ko, who was appointed religious affairs minister by Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi, told reporters earlier this week that he was specifically speaking about Bengalis during previous comments about an extremist religion that would threaten Myanmars Buddhist majority. While we Buddhists practice monogamy and have only one or two children, an extreme religion encourages having three or four wives and giving birth to 15 to 20 children, he said in a video published by RFA. After three, four, five decades in this Buddhist country, the Buddhist community will certainly become the minority. Myanmar views the Rohingya as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, though many have lived in the country for decades, and refers to them as Bengalis. The Rohingya were stripped of citizenship 35 years ago and have been denied access to jobs and basic services such as health care and education. Two brutal crackdowns by the Myanmar military in Rakhine state in 2016 and 2017 together drove more than 800,000 Rohingya from their communities and into neighboring Bangladesh where they have been living in massive displacement camps. No bearing on repatriation Zaw Htay said that Aung Kos views will have no bearing on the planned repatriation of some of the hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees who will return to Myanmar under a much-delayed program that is now set to begin in December or January following general elections in Bangladesh. The two countries signed an agreement in November 2017 to repatriate refugees who want to voluntarily return to Rakhine state. The refugee repatriation process will keep going as it was made by step-by-step agreements, he said. Officials from both Myanmar and Bangladesh discussed the repatriation program again on Friday, Zaw Htay said, and Myanmar officials proposed that a group of Hindu refugees who fled across the border during the crackdown be among the first group of returnees. About 430 Hindus really want to return home, and they have informed both the Bangladeshi and Myanmar governments that they want to return, Zaw Htay said. Thats why we have proposed to Bangladesh that it would be good if we included these Hindus in the first group together with other Muslims who want to return. If we do, then the repatriation process will get off to a smooth start. Myanmar had included the Hindus on the initial list of approved refugees to be repatriated, but officials said that Bangladesh didnt want to send them back first and that it would try to put them on the list after the first batch of Rohingya refugees had been returned. The program was postponed after none of the Rohingya refugees showed up at the border to be processed for repatriation on the appointed day in November. For now, it appears the Hindus are the only refugees willing to return to Myanmar from Bangladesh. Hindus residing in northern Rakhine suffered violence at the hands of Muslim militants who invaded their villages and drove out or killed them following deadly attacks on police outposts that sparked the crackdowns on Rohingya communities. The militants detained nearly 100 people from several Hindu villages, killed most of them, and dumped their corpses in mass graves. They also forced the young Hindu women to convert to Islam and took them to a Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh. Reported by Thiha Tun, and Win Ko Ko Latt for RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Khet Mar. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin. Vietnamese activist Nguyen Trung Ton, currently serving a 12-year jail sentence, is being punished by prison authorities for maintaining his innocence of charges he plotted to overthrow his countrys communist government, his wife said on Friday. Shortly after visiting her husband in prison, Nguyen Thi Lanh told RFAs Vietnamese Service that prison authorities are forcing him to sit separately from the other inmates as he reviews prison rules because they are worried that he may influence the others. They are trying to force him to write a confession every day and accept the accusations against him, but he refuses, Nguyen Thi Lanh, said. He told them he is fighting for democracy so that people can enjoy all the freedoms specified by the international convention on human rights, she said, adding, My husband is very firm, and he accepts his imprisonment [over falsely pleading guilty]. Arrested on July 30, 2017 by Vietnamese security officers because of his connection with the Brotherhood for Democracy group, Nguyen was accused of plotting to overthrow the government and charged under Article 79 of Vietnams penal code. Taken into custody at around the same time were fellow Brotherhood for Democracy members Nguyen Van Tuc, Pham Van Troi, Truong Minh Duc, and Nguyen Bac Truyen, according to information provided by relatives and the website of Vietnams Ministry of Public Security. Judicial authorities in Hanoi handed down harsh prison terms to Nguyen and five other Brotherhood for Democracy members on April 5, 2018, earning the condemnation of international rights groups who had called for the charges of subversion to be dropped. Vietnams one-party communist government is currently detaining at least 130 political prisoners, including rights advocates and bloggers deemed threats to national security, according to New York-based Human Rights Watch. It also controls all media, censors the internet, and restricts basic freedoms of expression. Reported by RFAs Vietnamese Service. Translated by Viet Ha. Written in English by Eugene Whong. Tsewang Dolma, an executive member of the Tibetan Youth Congress exile group, who is currently on a visit to the democratic island of Taiwan, has lent her vocal support to a campaign to release Taiwan democracy activist Lee Ming-cheh, jailed in China on subversion charges, because she sees strong parallels with the situation of Tibetans under the ruling Chinese Communist Party. Born in Kathmandu, a third-generation Tibetan exile, her grandparents fled over the Himalayas from Tibet after the People's Liberation Army (PLA) occupied Tibet. Elected chairwoman of Kathmandu Chapter of the Tibetan Youth Congress in 2013, Tsewang Dolma decided she must unite Tibetans in the wake of a harshly suppressed uprising in 2014. She spoke to RFA's Mandarin Service about the "middle way" of the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, and working for Tibetan independence in exile: RFA: How do you reconcile the Tibetan Youth Congress' calls for independence with the Dalai Lama's middle way of autonomy under Chinese rule? Tsewang Dolma: I have never thought there was any conflict between the the independence route and the middle way. The Dalai Lamas middle way is born of great compassion for China ... which will have to consider whether to accept it. As for the Tibetan Youth Leagues support for independence, this is the innate right of Tibetans ... The Tibetan Youth League requires independence. Of course, it will take time and faith, but there is no conflict with the middle way, because the two are not competing with each other. Our common enemy is the Chinese authorities that oppress and deprive Tibetans of their religion, their freedom and their human rights. RFA: The Tibetan Youth Congress is the largest Tibetan non-profit organization (NGO). It is accused by the Chinese government of being a "terrorist organization" that splits the country. Tsewang Dolma: That is not true. The Tibetan Youth League is fighting for independence, which is the birthright of Tibetans. No matter what happens, the Tibetan Youth League will always pursue this using non-violent action. The Chinese Communist Party is smearing us, which shows that what we are doing has been very influential. RFA: What is your view of the Dalai Lama's desire not to reincarnate? Tsewang Dolma: His Holiness is 84 years old and still very healthy, and has said that he will live to be 100 years old. This is good news. The Tibetans are very angry that the Chinese Communist Party wants to get involved in the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama and that it has begun to think about how to prepare for the next Dalai Lama. This is very funny. The Communist Party of China does not believe in Buddhism and deprives Tibet of its religious freedom, yet it still feels the need to intervene in the reincarnation process. Their methods are very dirty and they should stop intervening in this matter. We will pray for the health of His Holiness, and Tibetans will unite. The younger generation will take on more responsibility. I hope that one day Tibetans will return to Tibet and fly the snow-lion flag from the Potala Palace. RFA: Taiwanese Buddhists have repeatedly invited the Dalai Lama to visit Taiwan, but their request has been denied, not just under the nationalist KMT, but during the past two years under Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) President Tsai Ing-wen. Tsewang Dolma: I can understand that if political leaders want to invite the Dalai Lama, sometimes it is very difficult because there are so many things to consider. His Holiness is a good religious leader. He promotes Buddhism everywhere and teaches love and compassion. If the Taiwan government were able to invite him, of course it would be wonderful. I think the Taiwanese would be very lucky to have a visit from the Dalai Lama. But actually, he is very old, and we are very concerned about his health and safety. We all [recently] expressed hope that His Holiness wouldn't take so many trips, but it is a good thing to see him go out in the world to talk about Buddhism. RFA: What steps is the Tibetan Youth League taking to promote Tibetan independence? Tsewang Dolma: One of the themes of the Tibetan Youth Leagues initiative this year is to appeal to Indian politicians, grassroots leaders and ordinary people by saying that an independent and free Tibet will bring security to India. This view has been supported by many Indians, and many Indians are also angry that the Chinese authorities are persecuting Tibetans. As an exiled Tibetan, I am very grateful to the Indian government for supporting the [Tibetans] for 60 years and helping them to set up the government-in exile, as well as many NGOs and schools. I regret that I did not grow up in Tibet. But I never thought that was unfortunate. I am very proud of being a Tibetan because the Tibetans have a unique nature, including kindness, courtesy, trusting others, [as well as] their own religion. Reported by Hsia Hsiao-hwa for RFA's Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and the SOS-Mediterranee aid group say the migrant rescue ship they operate in the Mediterranean Sea is ceasing operations due to "sustained attacks" from European Union states. MSF blamed Italy and other European states for smearing and obstructing the work of its chartered vessel Aquarius, which has helped rescue some 30,000 migrants in international waters between Libya, Italy, and Malta since February 2016. "Not only has Europe failed to provide search and rescue capacity, it has also actively sabotaged others' attempts to save [the] lives" of migrants attempting to "flee by sea along the world's deadliest migration route," the Nobel Peace Prize-winning group said in a statement late on December 6. In June, the Aquarius became a symbol of the political and diplomatic crisis over migrants in Europe when Italy closed its ports to the ship and left it stranded with 630 people on board. "This is the result of a sustained campaign, spearheaded by the Italian government and backed by other European states, to delegitimize, slander, and obstruct aid organizations providing assistant to vulnerable people," MSF said. "Coupled with the EU's ill-conceived external policies on migration, this campaign has undermined international law and humanitarian principles," the group said. "With no immediate solution to these attacks, MSF and SOS-Mediterranee have no choice but to end operations by the Aquarius," it added. Frederic Penard, director of operations for SOS-Mediterranee, said his nongovernmental organization was "actively exploring options for a new boat." The Aquarius has remained in the French port of Marseille since October. In November, Italy ordered the seizure of the ship as part of an investigation into allegations that it had passed off tons of potentially toxic waste as ordinary waste at Italian ports. With reporting by BBC, AFP, and dpa Russian prosecutors in St. Petersburg have indicted two former high-school science teachers who are accused of making drugs in an example of life imitating art. The prosecutor's office said on December 7 that a physics teacher and a chemistry teacher have been charged with the large-scale production and sale of amphetamine that mirrors the hit television series Breaking Bad. The two unnamed suspects -- a man and a woman -- are accused of setting up an underground chemical laboratory to cook the drugs, selling some 1.3 kilograms of amphetamine between May 2017 and February 2018 before being apprehended earlier this year. In Breaking Bad, Walter White, a high-school chemistry teacher stricken with cancer, decides to use his knowledge to make high-quality methamphetamine to make money to take care of his family after he dies. The suspects are being detained until trial, where they face up to 20 years in prison if convicted. With reporting by AP, Snob.ru, and The Moscow Times MINSK -- A young Belarusian has told RFE/RL that he is "totally ashamed" that he agreed to play the role of a disgruntled Ukrainian in a new report broadcast in November by Russia's state-owned Channel One. "This is really shameful and I am totally ashamed that I did this," Vitaly Yurchenko said on December 7, adding that it was a "monstrous mistake." Yurchenko told RFE/RL's Belarus Service that he played the role because the audio in the original interview, which was purportedly filmed in the Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih, was unusable and the submission deadline was looming. The scene was filmed in an apartment in Minsk. He said that he personally had seen the original interview and that Russia's Channel One was not aware of the deception. Russian state media generally, and Channel One in particular, have been accused of falsifying purported news reports in the past, including through the use of actors to impersonate locals. Channel One television on December 7 issued a press release apologizing for the Kryvyy Rih report and saying that the channel had been deceived by "stringers" who prepared the report. The channel added that it would make the original interview public as soon as possible. The piece, which was broadcast in November for the fifth anniversary of Ukraine's Euromaidan uprising, argued that it had failed to bring any tangible results to Ukraine. It showed Yurchenko posing as a young man identified as Kirill Chubenko from "Ukraine" who complained that he had not benefited personally from the Euromaidan events. "Euromaidan hasn't given me anything personally," Yurchenko/Chubenko said. "Just look where we ended up. We were supposed to look toward the future but that future turned out to be without heat, with expensive electricity. And who knows how it will all end?" Channel One apologized to its viewers and said there was no justification for the deception. Yurchenko was first identified on the video by prominent Russian blogger Ilya Varlamov in a post on December 6. Varlamov said he was tipped off by a reader. Yurchenko told RFE/RL that after Varlamov's blog post was published, he began receiving threats on social media and decided to come forward with his side of the story. History Of Fakery In 2016, the independent website The Insider published an expose about how Russian television hired people in Germany to express antimigrant views for news reports. The same year, Channel One used footage from a 2016 film set in Syria to bolster a claim by Moscow that a suspected chemical attack in the town of Douma had been "staged." In 2014, Channel One showed a nearly 20-year-old photograph of a mass grave from Russia's first war with Chechen separatists in the 1990s and described it as one of several "horrifying images" of the war in eastern Ukraine. In June 2018, the Ukrainian website Stop Fake, which combats Russian disinformation, published a report by Lukas Andriukaitis of the Vilnius Institute for Policy Analysis that collected numerous examples of actors playing "the roles of alleged locals" in Russian news media reports. "The tactic is very effective and deliberately targeted at Russian-speaking television viewers," Andriukaitis wrote. "Since most of the casual Russian TV viewers are less likely to get their everyday information from different sources...a lot of them never find out that these were professionally staged and manipulated lies." "In this day and age, when active communities and independent investigators are very active on the Internet," he continued, "it gets increasingly harder for Kremlin-funded media to get away with these scams on a large scale." Written by Robert Coalson based on reporting by Anton Trafimovich of RFE/RL's Belarus Service YEREVAN -- An appeals court in Armenia has reinstated the pretrial detention of former President Robert Kocharian, who is accused of overthrowing the country's constitutional system. Kocharian's lawyer, Haik Alumian, told reporters in Yerevan that the court issued the ruling for his client to be arrested on December 7, two days before the country holds snap parliamentary elections. Alumian, who said the ruling will be appealed, said Kocharian walked to jail on his own without waiting for police to take him there. Kocharian was initially arrested in July on charges stemming from his government's deadly repression of opposition protesters during the final weeks of his 1998-2008 rule. He is accused of illegally ordering soldiers to use force against opposition supporters who were protesting against alleged fraud in the disputed presidential election of February 2008. Eight protesters and two police were killed when security forces engaged in clashes with the protesters on March 1-2, 2008. Kocharian denies the accusations, saying the current government was waging a political "vendetta" against him. Kocharian, 64, was freed on August 13 by a court of appeals that ruled that the constitution gave him immunity from prosecution in connection with the 2008 violence. Kocharian announced he was returning to politics just days after his release from a Yerevan detention center where he was being held. Since then, he has repeatedly accused Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian's government of endangering the country's national security, undermining its relations with Russia, and lacking economic programs. However, Kocharian has decided not to run in the snap parliamentary elections scheduled for December 9. Pashinian has defended the criminal charges against Kocharian, declaring on August 17 that "All murderers will go to prison." The Czech Security Intelligence Service (BIS) has rejected President Milos Zeman's accusations that it is giving him "wrong" data about intensification of spying activities in the country by Russia and China. Zeman on December 6 publicly doubted the annual report by the BIS, which concluded that Moscow and Beijing have intensified their spying operations in the Czech Republic. Zeman also said the quality of the BIS's work was deteriorating. The BIS report issued on December 3 said Russian and Chinese spies in the country were working out of their embassies in Prague. BIS chief Michal Koudelka said on December 7 that his service "has never been as successful as it has been in the last several years," adding that in the last five years, the service had prevented dozens of Russian and Chinese intelligence officers from operating on Czech territory either by refusing to accredit them or forcing them leave the country "quietly." Zeman said the BIS failed to provide evidence of specific Russian or Chinese espionage activities. He also accused the BIS of failing to uncover any Islamic "terrorists" in the Czech Republic, despite what he said was confirmation of their existence by law enforcement. Zeman used slang words, describing the report as "gibberish" or "blather" and the intelligence officers as "bozos." Koudelka said his agency broke a Russian spying network earlier this year and completely paralyzed its activities. "According to our Israeli and U.S. colleagues, we are among the most effective services in Europe," Koudelka said. Zeman is known for his pro-Russian and pro-Chinese views. Prime Minister Andrej Babis and his government, as well as opposition politicians, have rejected Zeman's criticism. With reporting by AP Buried in a cold basement under tons of crumbled Soviet concrete after a devastating earthquake, six Armenian men ate jarred pickles and canned fruit for 35 days before being miraculously rescued on a wintry day in January 1989. Seemingly disoriented 50-year-old electrician Haikaz Hakopian was shown on a hospital bed in the Armenian capital, Yerevan, telling the men's amazing tale of underground survival -- the longest anyone had ever spent beneath earthquake rubble and lived to tell about it. "I remember I was in the cellar with my neighbors and then dishes started breaking," Hakopian recounted. "I remember we tried to get up. I don't remember much after that." He added that he had sung songs and told tales to help keep the other five men entertained during their ordeal, dubbed by Soviet news agency TASS the "Leninakan miracle," after the city where it all happened. Hakopian and the others' saga reverberated throughout the Soviet Union and beyond, and was quickly picked up by foreign media outlets, including The New York Times. It was an inspirational story of human hope and survival, but there was one problem: It was a hoax. An early instance of fake news, Soviet-style. The tragedy itself had been all too real. The temblor that struck northern Armenia on December 7, 1988, killed more than 25,000 people, injured up to 130,000, and left hundreds of thousands homeless or without basic supplies. But exactly two weeks later, a Libyan bomb blew up Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing all 259 people aboard and 11 more on the ground. That brutal terrorist attack snatched the global spotlight from Armenia and vast swaths of the international community seemingly forgot about the plight of the earthquake's victims. That's when Artyom Shahbazian, a reporter for Soviet Armenia's Armenpress news agency, decided to fabricate a remarkable story to refocus global attention on Soviet Armenia's horrific tragedy, three of his former colleagues tell RFE/RL. Shahbazian -- who emigrated to Israel after the break-up of the Soviet Union and who died in Canada in 2005 -- was convinced that his countrymen needed his help, they said. "Western countries had already begun to forget about it," Lyova Azroyan, a longtime Armenpress reporter based in Yerevan, tells RFE/RL. "That's why [he said he] invented the story." Shahbazian sent his bogus story of the rescue to TASS so that it would get international distribution, according to Azroyan. Another account suggests that a TASS reporter was with Shahbazian in Leninakan and conspired to make up the report. But Aram Ananian, the current director of Armenpress, tells RFE/RL he knows that Shahbazian was the author. PHOTO GALLERY: On December 7, 1988, an earthquake shattered the north of Soviet Armenia. Three decades later, the region is yet to recover from a disaster that killed more than 25,000 people and destroyed tens of thousands of homes. An Even Bigger Hoax Another Armenpress journalist at the time, Armen Dulian, concurs that the rescue hoax was Shahbazian's work. He also acknowledges to RFE/RL that he wrote even more of a whopper in the quake's aftermath. But the fake story by Dulian, who subsequently worked for RFE/RL and remains a popular fixture on Armenian Public Television, appears to have been quickly spotted as a hoax. In it, he wrote that several pregnant women in the earthquake zone had given birth to babies with superhuman abilities like night vision and fur, presumably due to the cold conditions their mothers had been subjected to. Dulian said he also wrote his "superbaby" tale in hopes of highlighting the poor conditions his compatriots were enduring since the initial tragedy. "I wanted to draw the attention of the world to our misfortune," Dulian told RFE/RL in the run-up to the 30th anniversary of the Armenian earthquake. "That's why I invented the story. I didn't expect that the world could perceive it as a true story. It was a mistake that I never repeated in my journalistic career." Although Dulian's ridiculous, U.S. tabloid-like story about freakish babies was probably laughed at by most readers, he said some media outlets actually believed it and that a German TV crew called him to come to Armenia to film the unusual babies. He had to tell them the story was a hoax. Real People Shahbazian's equally fictional story of the pickle-eating Hakopian's rescue was seemingly more believable. Despite countless stories after earthquakes around the world in which survivors exaggerate or mistakenly recount the amount of time they spent under rubble before their rescue, Shahbazian's story seemed plausible -- particularly after Hakopian appeared on Soviet TV talking about his ordeal. Although Shahbazian seems to have taken the details of his ruse with him to the grave, Hakopian was a real person who seemingly survived the earthquake. A TV report on the U.S.S.R.'s popular Vremya news program claimed Hakopian was brought to Yerevan from the stricken city of Leninakan (which is today known as Gyumri). Dulian says Shahbazian had gone to Leninakan and may have met Hakopian there. Whether those two concocted the story together or Shahbazian simply embellished Hakopian's original account of a rescue is unclear. Some reports -- excluding the fake one -- stated that Hakopian's wife and four children had been killed in the tragedy. A doctor was even on hand for the television report to say that Hakopian's condition was satisfactory. The other five men were reportedly not brought to Yerevan for treatment -- only Hakopian. New Transparency, Exposing Lies It didn't take long for Soviet officials to begin to doubt the authenticity of the January 13, 1989, TASS report about the six miracle survivors. The next day, The New York Times reported that Soviet media had "cast doubt" on the report of the miraculous January 11 rescue. TASS reported that it could "neither confirm or deny" the account, and Armenian officials told The New York Times that its branch of the Soviet Health Ministry was trying to "verify the facts and find all of" the six purported survivors. The New York Times expressed hope that its story of the rescue "might yet turn out to be true" and offered a sliver of praise to the openness in the media brought on by Mikhail Gorbachev's rise to power in the Soviet Union. It noted that Gorbachev had "brought not only a new liveliness but also a new element of uncertainty into [the Soviet media and] what used to be a monolithic propaganda machine, one that was counted on for consistency, if not always truth." The central Soviet newspaper Izvestia announced it had been unable to find any of the other men cited by Hakopian as having been rescued and had launched an investigation into the "Leninakan miracle." Hakopian was even said to have been given a psychiatric evaluation and found to be "completely normal." Though a TV report said he acted "exhausted and distracted" during an interview, casting doubt on the accuracy of some of the quotations attributed to him by TASS." But a day later the charade was seemingly over. The New York Times printed a story titled Soviets Say Armenian Invented Ordeal In Quake, with TASS reporting that Hakopian and his sister seemed to have made up the story about being trapped for 35 days under the rubble. More recently, in the weeks ahead of the 30th anniversary of the Armenian tragedy, efforts by RFE/RL -- including pleas on a local Gyumri TV station and social media -- to locate Hakopian or any of the other men named in the bogus rescue report were unsuccessful. Sergei Nazaretian, an adviser to the director of the Armenian National Service for Seismic Protection, tells RFE/RL that the last recorded rescue after the 1988 earthquake was the discovery of a victim 13 days later. It will likely never be known if Hakopian and Shahbazian knew each other or collaborated in some way on the fake story. It's also difficult to know whether Shahbazian's fake news story succeeded in getting the world to pay more attention to the horrible predicament the Armenian people were in. What is certain is that even 30 years later, many of the cities in northern Armenia hit hardest by the earthquake are still struggling. Written by Pete Baumgartner based on reporting by Harutyun Mansuryan YEREVAN -- Armenian police say the fugitive nephew of former President Serzh Sarkisian has been detained in the Czech capital. Armenian officials said on December 7 that Narek Sarkisian, who is wanted in Armenia on various criminal charges, had been located with the assistance of Interpol and detained in Prague the day before. According to police, Narek Sarkisian introduced himself by the name of Franklin Gonzales and produced a fake Guatemalan passport. He is now being processed for extradition back to Armenia, the police added. Armenian authorities said in July that the National Security Service had issued an arrest warrant for Sarkisian, accusing him of alleged criminal activities linked to kidnapping, and illegal drug and weapon possession. That same month police arrested Narek Sarkisian's brother, Haik, and charged him with attempted murder in a case that was closed in 2007. He was later released on bail. Narek and Haik are the sons of Serzh Sarkisian's younger brother, Aleksandr, who was briefly detained by police and security officers twice in July amid an investigation into alleged illegal weapon possession. Another brother of the former president, Levon Sarkisian, along with his son and daughter, were charged with 'illegal enrichment' and tax evasion after tax inspectors discovered in June that they held millions of dollars in undeclared deposits at an Armenian bank. A Yerevan court issued an arrest warrant for Levon Sarkisian and his son in July, but their whereabouts have been unknown since then. Levon Sarkisian's daughter was ordered not to leave Yerevan. Acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian announced a crackdown on corruption after coming into office on May 8. Serzh Sarkisian, who had been president for 10 years, moved to the newly empowered post of prime minister in April but stepped down after weeks of peaceful street protests led by Pashinian, who was then an opposition lawmaker. Eight inmates in Russia's Far Eastern Sakha-Yakutia region have launched a hunger strike to protest conditions at the prison where they are being held, the head of a regional human monitoring group says. Marina Semyonova, chairwoman of Sakha-Yakutia's Public Monitoring Commission said on December 7 that four of the protesting inmates have also sewn their mouths. Semyonova said the inmates are protesting alleged beatings by prison guards and the lack of winter clothing provided at the facility, which is in a region where temperatures this week have been as low as minus 34 degrees Celsius. Semyonova said her commission had sent inquiries about prison conditions to the regional prosecutor's office, the regional ombudsman, Russia's Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN), and Civic Chamber, a nongovernmental organization that monitors the operations of state entities in Russia. Abuse by prison guards, police, and other law enforcement officials across Russia has become a contentious issue since July when a video showing at least 17 guards beating an inmate at a prison in Yaroslavl was released by the Moscow-based newspaper Novaya Gazeta. In Russia, there are special prison facilities for prison guards and police who have been convicted of crimes. FSIN deputy chief Valery Maksimenko said in November that a growing number of convicted police officers in the country means Russia needs more of those special prison facilities. Based on reporting by Mediazona and Interfax Ukraine is accusing Russia of keeping up its blockade of the Kerch Strait that links the Black Sea with the Sea of Azov, warning that it will soon send more navy ships through the strait. The warning by Ukraine's Defense Ministry sets up another possible military confrontation in the area, where Russian seized three Ukrainian Navy ships and 24 crewmen on November 25. The Ukrainian Border Guard Service said on December 7 that more than 140 Ukrainian civilian ships were stuck on both sides of the Kerch Strait as a result of excessive checks and delays by Russia. It accused Russia of creating a bottleneck for Ukrainian ships sailing between the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea. The complaints come three days after Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Volodymyr Omelyan announced that Russia had "partially" unblocked Ukraine's Sea of Azov ports, allowing Ukrainian ship to pass through the Kerch Strait for the first time since November 25. "Vessels make their way to the entrance and exit through the Kerch Strait toward Ukrainian ports," Omelyan said on December 4, adding that all Ukrainian ships "are stopped and inspected by Russia as before, but the traffic has been partially restored." The Ukrainian sailors remain in Russian captivity despite international calls for their release. The November 25 incident off Crimea's Black Sea coast near the Kerch Strait was the latest escalation in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine that began in 2014 when Russian forces seized and illegally annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula. Based on reporting by Reuters, AP, and AFP SIMFEROPOL -- A Russia-controlled court in Crimea has sentenced prominent lawyer Emil Kurbedinov to five days in jail for a 2013 Facebook post made before Russian forces seized and subsequently annexed the peninsula from Ukraine. The court in Simferopol on December 7 found Kurbedinov guilty of the propagation and public demonstration of symbols of an extremist organization. The exact contents of the post were not immediately revealed. Kurbedinov, who was detained on December 6, has called the accusation "absurd" and said that his arrest was politically motivated. Kurbedinov said he believes his arrest and trial were linked to his representation of one of the 24 Ukrainian sailors detained by Russian forces on November 25 when three Ukrainian Navy ships were seized in the Sea of Azov. His lawyer, Aleksei Ladin, said at the trial that his client did not break any laws as the Facebook post in question was made prior to Russia's annexation of Crimea in March 2014 and therefore Russian law did not apply to the case. Other clients of Kurbedinov in recent years have included defendants in Crimea charged in high-profile cases that human rights organizations and Western governments say are politically motivated. Since Russia seized and illegally annexed the Ukrainian peninsula in 2014, Moscow has conducted a persistent campaign of oppression that targets Crimeans who oppose the annexation. U.S. President Donald Trump has chosen State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert as the country's next ambassador to the United Nations in a round of senior staff changes halfway through his four-year mandate. Trump made the announcement of Nauert's appointment to reporters as he departed the White House on December 7 for a trip to Kansas City. He also said he had picked former Attorney General William Barr to fill the top job at the U.S. Justice Department again, and that he would make another personnel announcement with regard to the joint chiefs of staff on December 8. "She's very talented, very smart, very quick and I think she is going to be respected by all," Trump said of the 48-year-old Nauert. If her nomination is approved by the Senate, Nauert, a former ABC and Fox News anchor and correspondent, will succeed Nikki Haley, who announced in October that she would leave the UN post at the end of the year. Nauert, who joined the State Department as spokeswoman in April 2017, was named acting undersecretary for public diplomacy and public affairs earlier this year. She is an unusual choice for the UN diplomatic post as she has no prior political or policy-making experience. Barr, who held the same position in the administration of the late President George H.W. Bush, will succeed Jeff Sessions, who Trump forced to resign last month amid rising pressure on the White House from the Russia-collusion investigation of Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Lawyer Matthew Whitaker was appointed acting attorney general after Sessions stepped down. "As the former AG for George H.W. Bush and one of the most highly respected lawyers and legal minds in the Country, he will be a great addition to our team. I look forward to having him join our very successful Administration!" Trump tweeted after making the announcement. With reporting by CNN, dpa, and AP One of Russia's leading banks, VTB, says it has started to allow its automated teller machines (ATMs) in Kazakhstan to accept Russia's MIR payment cards. In a December 7 statement, VTB said holders of the MIR cards can now withdraw cash from the bank's 85 ATMs and 40 cash-issuing points across Kazakhstan. MIR payment cards issued since December 2015 are operated by the National Card Payment System, a subsidiary of the Central Bank of Russia. The system was developed in 2014 to overcome potential blocks on electronic payments caused by international sanctions imposed on Russia in response to its seizure and illegal annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region. Several Russian banks have been denied services by the U.S.-based Visa and MasterCard companies as a result of those sanctions. MIR, which means "world" or "peace" in Russian, is mainly promoted by the Russian government. All banks in Russia have been obliged under Russian law to allow the use of MIR cards for receiving welfare and pension payments since May 1, 2017. VTB also allows the use of MIR payment cards for withdrawals from its machines in Armenia and Belarus. Aleksandr Averin, co-chairman of the unregistered opposition Other Russia coalition, has been sentenced to three years in prison on charges of attempted weapons smuggling. A court in the Rostov region bordering Ukraine handed down its ruling on December 7. Averin was arrested in April while crossing the border between Russia and part of Ukraine's Luhansk region, which is controlled by pro-Russian separatists, after border guards found a pistol in his possession. Other Russia, which Averin co-founded in 2006, has insisted that the pistol was planted and only Averin's thumbprint was found on the pistol. The party has called Averin's arrest a provocation by Russian security officials. Averin was one of the organizers of a series of opposition protests in 2006, during which he was repeatedly detained by security authorities. Based on reporting by Interfax and Mediazona Provincial officials in Afghanistans western province of Herat say Taliban fighters staged a coordinated attack overnight on two Afghan army outposts, killing 14 Afghan soldiers and capturing another 21. Najibullah Mohebi, a member of Herats Provincial Council, said the attack began late on December 6 in the Shindand District a district where one of the largest Afghan Air Force bases is located about 110 kilometers from the border with Iran. Mohebi says the fighting lasted six hours, stretching into the early morning hours of December 7, before reinforcements arrived and pushed back the attackers. Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman Ghafor Ahmad Jaweed put the number of Afghan soldiers killed at 10. Shindand district chief Hekmatullah Hekmat said that as many as 200 Taliban fighters took part in the attack using rocket-propelled grenade launchers and automatic assault rifles. Hekmat said 30 Taliban fighters were killed and that fighting was continuing sporadically in the area on December 7. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid posted a video on Twitter showing what he said were the captive Afghan soldiers being held inside a room. The authenticity of the video could not immediately be confirmed. The Taliban spokesman also claimed 14 Afghan government troops were killed in the battle. Based on reporting by AP and dpa The United States has backed Kosovo's moves toward establishing a regular army, but it tried to reassure those opposed to the action by insisting the process will take "many years. The U.S. ambassador to Pristina, Philip Kosnett, made the comments in an interview with RTK television on December 6, eight days before the Kosovar parliament is set to vote on whether to transform the Balkan country's lightly armed security force into a national army. The U.S. comments came hours after NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg stressed that said Kosovo's plan was "ill-timed" and goes "against the advice of many NATO allies." Belgrade and ethnic Serbs in Kosovo have vehemently opposed the creation of a Kosovar military, saying it would violate UN resolutions and be used against the countrys Serb minority -- a claim denied by officials in Pristina. Kosnett said that "it is only natural for Kosovo as a sovereign, independent country to have a self-defense capability." "Some people in neighboring countries have fixated on a certain date that is coming up very soon and have expressed concerns that the evolution of the [Kosovo Security Force, or KSF] into the Armed Forces could have negative implications for security," the ambassador said. "What I will say about that is this is a process that will take many years. That Kosovo has every reason, every right to have a selfdefense capability," he added. "Whether they pass this law or change the patches on their shoulders of the personnel on a certain date, is not the most important thing," Kosnett insisted. What is important is that it will be a "long, sustainable, and multiethnic" process that involves ethnic Serbs and members of other communities, he added. Kosnett also called for dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, saying that "it is important for people in both countries to understand the perspective of the other side." "Because when you are not communicating, all sorts of fears will rise to the surface and people always fear what they do not understand," the ambassador added. Tense Relations Relations between Pristina and Belgrade have been tense since Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008. Although more than 110 countries recognize Kosovo, Serbia does not. Both Kosovo and Serbia have been told they must resolve their differences in order to make progress toward EU membership, but EU-sponsored normalization talks have been stop-and-go in recent months. Stoltenberg said he had called Kosovar and Serbian leaders on December 6 to underline that both countries should "show calm and restraint, and avoid any provocative statements or actions." Stoltenberg said in a statement that he had told Kosovar Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj that Pristinas plan to transform the KSF into an army was "ill-timed, goes against the advice of many NATO Allies, and can have negative repercussions on Kosovo's prospects for Euro-Atlantic integration." "Should the mandate of the Kosovo Security Force evolve, NATO will have to examine the level of our engagement with the Kosovo Security Force." he warned. Stoltenberg told Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic of "the need to deescalate current tensions" and reminded both leaders that the EU-mediated dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina remains "the only way to bring durable peace and stability to the region." Serbia lost control over Kosovo in 1999 after NATO launched air strikes to stop the killing and expulsion of ethnic Albanians by Serb forces during a two-year counterinsurgency war. Nearly two decades after the end of the conflict, the landlocked territory of 1.8 million people is still guarded by NATO troops. The current KSF is a 2,500-strong force trained by NATO and tasked with crisis response, civil protection, and ordinance disposal. Following his discussion with Stoltenberg, Haradinaj reiterated that his country remained committed to transform the force into a regular army, calling it a "sovereign decision of Kosovo." The move "contains in itself the vision and will of the citizens of Kosovo to preserve and defend Western values," he wrote on Facebook. The prime minister said the process would "provide a professional, multiethnic, and credible army serving all citizens of Kosovo. Meanwhile, Vucic said in a statement he had told Stoltenberg that Kosovo's plan represents a "danger" for the "survival" of Kosovos ethnic Serb minority. Serbia has warned the formation of a Kosovar army could trigger an armed intervention in its former province. In October, Kosovo's lawmakers gave preliminary approval to legislation expanding the size and competencies of its security force in a session that was boycotted by ethnic Serb representatives. With reporting by AP U.S. prosecutors have asked a judge to sentence President Donald Trump's longtime personal lawyer to a "substantial" prison term after he admitted to paying a porn actress money to keep her from embarrassing Trump during the 2016 election. Meanwhile, Special Counsel Robert Mueller asked a judge for no additional prison time for Michael Cohen on a separate set of charges that said Cohen lied about potential Moscow real estate development that could have brought Trumps business "hundreds of millions of dollars from Russian sources." The two filings were made in Manhattan federal court on December 7. The charges Cohen faced from Manhattan federal prosecutors were separate from, but grew out of, Mueller's investigation into Trump associates and their interactions with Russian officials. Cohen, who has been cooperating with Mueller, pleaded guilty to charges including tax, bank, and campaign finance fraud in August. Cohen worked for years for Trumps business organization, serving as a "fixer," to help out with business deals and other matters. Some of the charges Cohen faced stem from his efforts to prevent at least two women from going public with their stories of having affairs with Trump, something that Trump has denied repeatedly. Some of the money that was paid to the women allegedly came from shell corporations that Cohen set up, and with money that was allegedly provided by Trump. Investigators have been looking at whether the money Trump allegedly paid could constitute a contribution to his election effort, and whether it should have been disclosed under federal election law. Prosecutors said that Cohen should get some credit for his cooperation with Mueller, but noted that he had not entered into a cooperation agreement with their office. And they said that some of his cooperation came only after it became clear he was about to be indicted, rather than before. "The crimes committed by Cohen were more serious than his submission allows and were marked by a pattern of deception that permeated his professional life (and was evidently hidden from the friends and family members who wrote on his behalf)," prosecutors wrote. Muellers sentencing request, meanwhile, focused on Cohen's admission last week that he lied to congressional committees also looking into connections with Russian officials. Mueller's prosecutors said that Cohen misled at least one congressional committee about the discussions he had with unnamed Russian officials and other officials about a building that Trump had long sought to build in Moscow. Cohen had previously said that talks about the deal stopped in January 2016, but, according to Muellers court filing, those discussions in fact were ongoing as late as June 2016, as Trump was closing in on securing the Republican Party's nomination to be U.S. president. Cohen admitted he misled the Senate Intelligence Committee about that and other details in testimony he provided to the committee in August 2017. Cohen is scheduled to be sentence on December 12 on all the federal charges he has pleaded guilty to. Trump has called repeatedly called Mueller's investigation a "witch-hunt" and denied wrongdoing. Earlier this week, he asserted that Cohen had lied about Trump's business dealings in Russia to get reduced jail time. Editor's Note: To receive Steve Gutterman's Week In Russia each week via e-mail, subscribe by clicking here. Moscow played the blame game as a new confrontation with Ukraine and a dispute with the West over missiles that could reach deep into Europe ratcheted up tensions. At home, Russia saw its population decline and faced flak over the jailing of a 77-year-old rights activist. Here are some of the key developments in Russia over the past week and some of the takeaways going forward. An Election Next Door For a guy who claims he doesn't meddle in elections, Russian President Vladimir Putin sure is talking a lot about one of the presumed candidates in Ukraine's vote next March -- the incumbent, Petro Poroshenko. Amid even-higher-than-usual tension between Moscow and Kyiv over a confrontation in which Russia fired on Ukrainian naval vessels and arrested 24 crewmen -- who are now in Moscow's Lefortovo jail -- Putin gave an elaborate explanation of why he wasn't taking Poroshenko's phone calls. Which was, of course, dutifully reported by state news agencies. "It's not that I'm just avoiding Petro Alekseyevich and don't want to talk to him, that's not it," Putin said on November 5, possibly using the patronymic to imply respect on the surface while hinting that Poroshenko can never escape his Soviet background. "The thing is, I don't want to take part in his election campaign." Poroshenko, Putin said, "wants to demonstrate that he is successfully resolving the problems that arise" by laying the blame on Russia. "It's an obvious scheme, and Iwon't take part." The remarks echoed a broadside Putin launched at Poroshenko before an audience of foreign executives and Russian state-TV viewers on November 28. Accusing Kyiv of staging the confrontation to boost his seemingly slim chances of reelection, he said that Poroshenko "might not even make it to the second round" that would be held if no candidate wins a majority of votes on March 31. Ukraine, of course, blames Russia for the November 25 incident near the Kerch Strait, as does the West. Dinner Discussion President Donald Trump cited the incident -- and, in particular, the fact that the 24 crewmen were still in Russian custody -- when he called off a major meeting with Putin on the sidelines of the Group of 20 (G20) summit in Buenos Aires on December 1. The snub may have been a blow to Putin -- for a sign that it hit home see a spate of criticism of Trump on state TV, with one prime-time host asking "What kind of a man is this?" But Putin did talk briefly to Trump at a summit dinner -- a conversation in which he said neither president budged from his position. A week later, who's ahead in the geopolitical grappling set off when a Russian coast guard cutter rammed a Ukrainian navy tugboat? Depends who you ask. "Round 1 goes to Russia," was how Steven Pifer, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, put it in the title of an article on December 3. "The West should make clear that Russia will face concrete consequences if it does not release the Ukrainian naval vessels and crews and allow Ukraine free passage" through the Kerch Strait, the bottleneck between Russia and Crimea that is the only passage for ships between the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, where Ukraine has key ports, he wrote. 'There Must Be Action' But so far, Pifer wrote, "the United States and Europe have reacted weakly, largely limiting their responses to expressions of concern." "Nothing suggests that [Western] expressions of concern and condemnation, or Trump's on again/off again handling of his meeting with Putin, caused anxiety in the Kremlin," he wrote. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin appealed for a robust response as his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov looked on at an Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) meeting in Milan on December 6, saying: "Declarations are not enough. There must be action." Pavel Baev, a senior researcher at the International Peace Research Institute in Oslo, had a different take. He sees the naval clash and Trump's snub as a sign that Putin is "trapped in an escalatory spiral of his own making," as the title of an article published by the Jamestown Foundation on December 3 said. "Putin's inflexible position in this latest crisis shows that his ability to maneuver around military confrontations in order to maximize political gains has, for all intents and purposes, disappeared," Baev wrote. 60-Day Deadline Speaking of the blame game, Russia is playing it avidly as pressure mounts for Moscow to scrap a missile system that the United States and NATO say violates a cornerstone of Cold War nuclear arms control -- the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF). And so is the United States. Trump announced in October that Washington would abandon the INF, citing the alleged Russian violation and concerns that non-signatories such as China are free to develop the medium-range missiles that are off-limits for Moscow and Washington under the 1987 pact. Trump did not offer Russia an out in his warning. But on December 4 -- amid concerns that the United States was letting Russia out of the treaty while attracting all the blame itself, and calls in Europe for efforts to keep the INF alive -- Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washington would walk if Moscow does not come into compliance within 60 days. The top U.S. arms control official added detail to the demand two days later, saying Russia must get rid of the Novator 9M729 system or decrease its range to return to "full and verifiable compliance." "The ball's in Russia's court. We can't do that for them. They have to take the initiative," said Andrea Thompson, the undersecretary of state for arms control and international security. But Moscow hates ultimatums, and Putin had already made pretty clear that it is not happening, saying the United States was "looking for someone to blame for this...ill-considered step" and repeating a warning that if the United States arms itself with missiles banned by the treaty, Russia will do the same. Not That Into You Even if Putin can convince the world that the United States is to blame for the seemingly inevitable demise of the INF, Russia's image in the West is unlikely to improve much. Nearly five years after it sought to shift state borders by seizing Crimea from Ukraine, Russia is viewed more unfavorably than favorably in 16 out of 25 countries surveyed for a Pew Research Center report released on December 6 -- including the United States, Canada, and all of those surveyed in Europe except Greece. Whatever the effects abroad, Putin may be eager to see whether the standoff over the INF -- and more so, the confrontation near the Kerch Strait -- give his ratings at home a new Crimea bump. He could use one: In a survey published on November 22 by the Levada Center, 56 percent of likely voters would vote for Putin if a new presidential election were to take place now -- 10 percentage points fewer than one year ago. With or without the action at sea or any other major catalyst, Putin may be hoping public anger over the imminent increase in the pension age will fade -- and that his ratings improve as the months pass. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, the target of not-so-successful Kremlin efforts to shield Putin from blame for the retirement-age hikes away from Putin, said on December 6 that the decision to push ahead with pension reform was "the most difficult" decision a Russian government has had to make in recent decades -- since the collapse of the Soviet Union, that is. Demographic Decline Meanwhile, there are signs that some of the policies Putin has pursued are falling short of their aims, and that prominent pieces of legislation he has signed are having a negative effect. One of Putin's main goals has been to reverse Russia's post-Soviet population decline and show up those who predict the population will dwindle further. But with the deaths exceeding births, Russia saw a population loss of 173,400 in the first nine months of 2018. Speaking of blame, the culprit was the 1990s, according to Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova. On December 4, Human Rights Commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova said that a law Putin signed in 2017, which decriminalized some cases of domestic violence, was a "mistake" and called for new legislation to combat abuse in the home. Human Rights Watch is due to issue a report next week documenting how a 2013 law whose stated goal to prevent the spread of "propaganda" for "nontraditional sexual relations" to minors is having a "deeply damaging effect on LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender] youth." Road To Repression? And while Russia is grabbing plenty of attention for its actions abroad, it faced criticism this week for a development at home that Kremlin critics say does not bode well for the rest of Putin's six-year term: the jailing of human rights activist Lev Ponomaryov, 77. On December 5, a Moscow court ordered Ponomaryov jailed for 25 days after ruling that he was a repeat violator of regulations governing public gatherings -- in part because of Facebook post about a planned protest. "Putin's justice in all its glory," opposition politician Ilya Yashin tweeted, while the Council of Europe's human rights commissioner called the sentence "a stark example of the disproportionate nature of the sanctions foreseen in the legislation." Ponomaryov himself, speaking to the AFP news agency as he rode to jail in a police van, said that Russia is "gradually inching toward mass political repressions." Ruling on appeal on December 7, the Moscow City Court shortened the sentence to 16 days. 10 A lightbulb in a Kalash village installed with the help of an NGO working in the region. Khattak said that although there is poverty among the Kalash, the people have very limited needs, they are not using cars, the food is eggs and milk etc., so they are pretty OK. Canadian arrested at Cancun airport for entering Mexico with handgun Cancun, Q.R. A Canadian man arriving on a WestJet flight was arrested at the Cancun International Airport after officers found a handgun in his luggage. The man, identified as Timoty N from Calgary, Alberta, was taken into custody by federal police after a routine search of his luggage produced a Colt .25 automatic hand gun. Police also found cartridges. According to police, when performing security and surveillance functions in the international arrivals area of Terminal 4, they inspected the checked baggage of Timoty N which is when the found the gun and ammo. Since he lacked the necessary documentation to bring the weapon into Mexico, he was taken into custody and placed at the disposal of the Federal Public Prosecutors Agency. HOMELESSNESS charity Rush House has been granted 62,674 to help care leavers find somewhere to live. The cash from Lloyds Bank Foundation will employ a tenancy development worker on the three-year project. They will help care leavers overcome the daunting step of setting up and looking after a home, including advice on budgeting. Rush House chief executive Rachael Wilson said she was delighted with the grant. She added: The current funding climate for small local charities is particularly difficult, meaning lots of support previously offered in the area no longer exists, leaving young people in Rotherham particularly vulnerable. This project will give us the opportunity to support young people leaving the care of the local authority to prepare for independence and support them in finding and settling in their new homes and successfully sustaining their tenancies. Care leavers can be vulnerable to loneliness, mental health issues and unemployment and councils are struggling to offer enough support. Rush House service users will be involved in shaping the project, which will be called A Place Of Your Own. Foundation chief executive Paul Streets said: As our latest research has shown, there is a quiet crisis facing local authorities. Ever-tighter budgets mean vulnerable people have to rely on the support of local charities like Rush House. Their work makes a vital difference, day in, day out to peoples lives. Were proud to partner with Rush House as part of Lloyds Banking Groups plan to Help Britain Prosper. West Yorkshire chief fire officer John Roberts, Richard Wood from Weber UK and James Courtney. FIRE services have saved taxpayers thousands by teaming up to purchase new car-cutting equipment - known as the jaws of life. South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue joined West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service in buying new tools to assist at traffic collisions. They awarded a joint contract to Weber Rescue UK, spending 1.25 million on the battery-powered machinery. The specialist gear is to be used at road traffic crashes to safely remove casualties from vehicles. All appliances within both services are expected to carry the new model by next month. These new tools are more powerful and have longer battery lives than older kit, helping to get wounded motorists out quicker. As well as minimising costs, the joint purchase is set to save services time and make training and maintenance more efficient. Bosses hope that standardising the gear across two services will make cross-border traffic crash responses quicker and more effective. The procurement was led by South Yorkshire staff, while West Yorkshire directed research and development. James Courtney, South Yorkshires chief fire officer, said: This is a great investment in standardising operational equipment and will undoubtedly improve our response to rescue incidents. Collaborating on projects such as this presents us with a great opportunity to provide a more effective and efficient service to the people we serve. Police and fire service minister Nick Hurd added: This kind of collaboration is great to see and the results are clear. I commend the fire chiefs in South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire for this project, and hope that this kind of closer working will become more widespread across our fire and rescue services. The joint purchase came after the publication of a 2016 Home Office report, which found that fire services were paying similar prices for equipment but buying separately despite the benefits of buying together. In early December, the jewellery design contest results were summed up and the winners of the contest were announced; for a decade, this contest has served as the platform for the popularization of the designers projects of the Russian jewelers as well as for the promotion of jewellery art into the foreign markets. Only new jewellery items awarded at the professional contests held in Russia and the post-Soviet countries are displayed at the Moscow international contest Russian Diamond Line 2018 (RDL). The RDL prize winners regularly become the winners in the world contests and are ranked high at the leading exhibitions. Next year, the exhibition expositions in the Russian national pavilions in Hong Kong and the USA will be based on our top brands. The Sea Star earrings from the Microcosm Collection. Dmitry Belman. Traditionally, the international jury consisting of the experts from Russia, France, the USA and Poland, choose up to 10 works in each of the two contest nominations. In the Exclusive nomination, the Drop of Contention brooch by Andrey Mikhailov (Moscow), the Stump with Shoots brooch by Vladimir Markin (Moscow), the Peony brooch by Nikolai Romanov (Nizhny Tagil), the Harlequin ring by Igor and Maria Badovs (Moscow), the Frog at the Dancing Party ring by Anna Matveyeva (Moscow), the Bouquet set by the Bagiryan Jewelry Moscow brand, and the Fish pendant from the Fairy-tales by Pushkin collection by Galina Konyayeva (Voronezh) were announced as the best pieces. The Drop of Contention brooch. Andrey Mikhailov. The Lotus ring by Larissa Zolotova (St. Petersburg), the earrings and ring from the collection Treasures of the Shipwreck by LEO TOTTI (Togliatti), the RemembranceEden ring by Andrey Chiryev (Yaroslavl), the Ferns Mystery earrings by Alina Andreyeva (Moscow), the Marine Fantasy bracelet (CHEKOTIN, Moscow), and the Sea Voyage ring by Almaz-Holding (Moscow) became the prize winners in the Golden Series. The Ferns Mystery earrings. Alina Andreyeva. The Microcosm collection by Dmitry Belman was awarded the Grand Prix of the Russian Diamond Line 2018 for the innovation in the granulation technique. According to the jeweler, this achievement was the result of his 20-year efforts. All this time, I studied the works of the Greek-Mycenaean culture, the Etruscan art - and for me, it is, first of all, an intriguing aesthetic symbol and deep philosophy, the microcosm. However, my goal was not to restore the lost jewellery technique but to offer the contemporary edge to it, as well as the sculpturesqueness and volume. The principle difference between my granulation technique and the traditional one is the creation of the volume microforms in a jewellery piece a kind of microsculptures where each bead-granule of 0.15 to 0.30 mm in diameter is ideally round, perfectly polished and has an individual setting. Such individual setting of each bead allows the creation of ideally clear, airy and a jour forms, geometric and fancy, as if flying ones. There are from 73 to 95 granules in each microsculpture and totally, 120 microsculptures have 7,600 granules. The further development of my designer technique was the use of precious stones in these microsculptures. The Fish Pendant. Galina Konyayeva. Taking part in the popular creative contest is critical to all the jewellery market players as the RDL prize winners not only demonstrate their achievements in design and technologies but also set trends for the development of the national jewellery industry for some years in future. After the Award Ceremony that will be held within the framework of the Hands of Gold of Russia exhibition (Gostiny Dvor, December 14-16), the contest prize winners will take part in the International Jewellery Design Excellence Award-2019, the results of which will be announced in Hong Kong on March 2, 2019. He damaged dozens of homes and vehicles. Police was in difficulty because they dont have many options . They even said cant do anything. The age at which a child can be held criminally responsible is 10 under federal law. However, we all have a responsibility to make sure children are kept under some care and control, WA Police Commissioner Chris Dawson said to media. Police officers have spent the past week sitting outside the boys home in an attempt to stop the vandalism. He is pretty violent for a nine-year-old, a resident appreciated. Authorities are calling for calm. The kid on surveillance cameras Even politicians are involved in this case. Right now, the Department of Communities, WA Police, Department of Education and Mental Health Services are doing everything they can to help this child. They need a bit of time and a bit of trust, so that they can do their job, Swan Hills politician Jessica Shaw said adding that police is confronting with an incredibly complex situation. Finally, the child has been taken away by police. Police said they were working with the family to manage the childs behavior. Chandigarh Judicial Academy SPOKESMAN NEWS SERVICE: CHANDIGARH, DECEMBER 7: After successfully conducting of Ist National Conference of the Computer Committees of High Courts under the aegis of the e-Committee of the Hon'ble Supreme Court on January 20-21, 2018 at Allahabad, 2nd National Conference on "e-Courts Project - Exploring New Horizons" is to be organized on December 8-9, 2018, at Chandigarh Judicial Academy. Justice A.M. Khanwilkar, Justice Hemant Gupta of Hon'ble Supreme Court; Chief Justice of Himachal High Court Justice Surya Kant; Hon'ble Judges of Computer Committees of all High Courts; dignitaries from Hon'ble e-Committee, Supreme Court of India; Department of Justice; Central Project Coordinators of all the High Courts and NIC officers/officials are participating in this Conference. Advertisement There would be two working sessions on 08.12.2018, wherein discussions regarding (i) e-Courts Project in High Courts and District Courts: Present scenario & Achievements; (ii) Development of new projects by High Courts at own level and in collaboration with C-DAC, NIC & other Govt. Agencies; and (iii) Migration to CIS 1.0 in High Courts: success & Challenges, would be held. Similarly, two working sessions would be conducted on 09.12.2018 wherein discussions regarding (i) Sharing best practices and software applications amongst High Courts; (ii) New initiatives: Future projects and goals; and (iii) Migration to CIS 3.0 in Subordinate Courts: success & challenges and implementation, training and e-Awareness, would be held. During these working sessions, Chairman of Computer Committees of different High Courts would give a presentation of the Projects regarding computerization going on in their respective High Courts. Punjab and Haryana High Court Advertisement A souvenir containing the progress of ongoing and future computerization projects in Hon'ble Supreme Court as well as all the High Courts would be released. A book on I.T. initiatives of High Court of Punjab and Haryana would also be released. High Court of Punjab and Haryana is going to launch Case Management System CIS 1.0 in the inaugural session of the conference on 08.12.2018. This application is going to be implemented in two phases. In first phase, the High Court will migrate to new filing, allocation and registration system covering more than 70% part of CIS 1.0. As the system stabilizes, in second phase, the High Court will migrate to new Readers Module in another week to 10 days time. Punjab and High Court has successfully executed all the projects launched by Hon'ble e-Committee, Supreme Court of India. Recently, the High Court has launched bouquet of I.T. initiatives for ease of litigants and lawyers. Some of the prominent initiatives are e-Payment of High Court Services, Android based Mobile Application, Online Grievance & Feedback System, Surety Information Management System, Infrastructure Web Application, Crystal Reports Software, e-Notices, new printing parameters on both sides of paper to save paper, Visitors counter on High Court Website, e-Copy & e-Inspection, supply of certified copy of High Court orders in District Courts, Case Status/ certified copy of orders at Common Service Centres, dedicated website link of Indian Judiciary for NRIs, launching of digitization of Subordinate Courts record etc. Param Vir Chakra Awardee Sub Maj Yogindra Singh Yadav interacting with school students during Saragarhi Samvadh Spokesman News Service: Chandigarh, December 7: On the opening day of Military Literature Festival 2018, students from predominantly remote rural areas were awestruck with the valour of decorated officers, who interacted with the students and shared their heroic tales, even as the Clarion Theatre drew large crowds, especially among youngsters, with its exciting Audio Visuals. Sub Maj Yogindra Singh Yadav, Param Vir Chakra, Col HS Kahlon, VrC, Col Balwan Singh, MVC, Col GS Bajwa, and several other decorated officers of the Indian armed forces interacted with the students during the Saragarhi Samvadh on the sidelines of the MLF here today. The war veterans shared their inspiring experiences of the battlefield, as well as of the armed forces, with students to motivate them to join the armed forces. Advertisement A war veteran sharing his life experiences with students during Saragarhi Samvadh Amarpal Singh, a student of a local government school, said that he was mesmerised after listening to the real-life stories. He said that while interacting with Sub Maj Yogindra Singh Yadav, Param Vir Chakra awardee, he came to know of several interesting things about the Indian Army and especially about the Kargil War. He was impressed with the fact that even after receiving 17 bullet injuries during the Kargil War, Sub Maj Yogindra Singh Yadav was still so active. Col Balwan Singh interacted with the students of Maharaja Ranjit Singh Armed Forces Preparatory Institute and gave them information about joining the Indian Army through the Services Selection Board (SSB). The Clarion Auditorium also became a centre of attraction for the younger generation through movies, documentaries, audio visuals and presentations on heroic deeds and naval action. Advertisement A war veteran sharing his life experiences with students during Saragarhi Samvadh The movies showcased today included Rakshak-E-Hind, a motivational film about the armed forces, a film on the biggest tank battle of 1965 war showcasing 3rd cavalry blasting Pakistani tanks in Khemkaran sector, another one titled, Heroes of Dograi- 3 Jat on the doorsteps of Lahore during the 1965 war, a film about the Naval action during the 1971 war. Later, films and documentaries regarding an all women Army Mount Everest Expedition, another named Army-An instrument of National Power and Pride, about Naval Aviation, besides several others, were showcased, on the first day of Military Literature Festival 2018. The school students, in particular, cherished the event and said that on seeing these films, they came to know about the various aspects of the armed forces, as well as about the sacrifices made by the armed personnel. PSHRC To Observe Human Rights Day Spokesman News Service: Chandigarh: 7th Dec'18: The Punjab State Human Rights Commission will be organizing a function in its office at Chandigarh to mark Human Rights Day on December 10, 2018. On the occasion Chairperson, PSHRC and former Chief Justice of Patna High Court , Justice Iqbal Ahmed Ansari, will also address the gathering of its officers and staff. Human Rights Day is celebrated on the 10th December every year to commemorate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which was adopted and proclaimed by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1948 as the shared standard yardstick to protect human rights across the globe. Advertisement During the last 21 years, since its inception on the 16th July, 1997, the Commission has endeavored to promote a culture of human rights. The PSHRC, like most of the human rights institutions in the world, is a recommendatory body as per the Protection of Human Rights Act passed by Parliament. Punjab State Human Rights Commission The Commission's functions also include inquire suo motu or on a petition presented to it by a victim or any person on his/her behalf into complain of human rights. This year PSHRC has taken 46 suo motu cases based on new item published in various newspapers and electronic media The Commission also undertake research and organise seminars and discussion programmes on human rights issues, spread awareness about human rights and encourage efforts of non-governmental organisations towards promotion of human rights. Advertisement PSHRC has been holding an Internship Programme in its office since the year 2007, in order to spread awareness of human rights issues among University students. This programme is open to students pursuing graduate, post-graduate studies in Law, and Human Rights etc. Punjab State Human Rights Commission has also been visiting different districts to make an assessment of enforcement of various measures related to human rights and implementation of welfare schemes so as to come out with recommendations for the Government. In last 21 years, PSHRC has received more than 267000 cases of human rights violation. A brief breakup of important 5 types of cases instituted by PSHRC has been as per table below:- Advertisement Apart from the State Government, several organisations, NGOs of Human Rights Defenders and media have actively supported and supplemented the work of the PSHRC towards promotion and protection of human rights. Punjab Governor VP Singh Badnore while addressing the gathering after inaugurating the Military Literature Festival Spokesman News Service: Chandigarh, December 7: Punjab Governor V. P. Singh Badnore today dedicated MLF 2018 to the valour of the over 74000 Indians who had laid their lives in the First World War. Inaugurating the Military Literature Festival at the Lake Club Chandigarh, he termed the MLF as a befitting tribute to the unknown martyrs, to mark centenary year of the Great War. Advertisement Thanking Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh for educating the younger generation about the sacrifices made by the Indian soldiers, through the unique platform of MLF, the governor expressed satisfaction over the perfectly conceptualised festival. Recalling the unparalleled sacrifice of the Indian soldiers in the World War-1 and II, the governor said, "This year also marks the centenary of the Great War of 1914-1918, a time for remembrance of the 74, 000 Indians who fell and 67, 000 others who were severely wounded, many of whom never recovered, and they lie in, or their ashes are interred in foreign fields". The governor said that it was a matter of great pride for the country that sent 1.3 million soldiers in these expeditions. The Indian soldiers proved their mettle in these missions by winning 11 Victoria Crosses and significantly six more were won by British officers leading Indian troops, he added. He expressed satisfaction that during the festival, many important speakers would also focus on the known and unknown facets of these wars to make the younger generation aware of the unique role of Indian soldiers in these expeditions. Advertisement The governor appreciated the fact that the MLF was not confined to the World Wars but will also focus on the heroism and unparalleled courage of the great Maharana Pratap, Shivaji, and many other such warriors who have always been a great source of inspiration. The MLF is also going to have deliberations on Mahabharata, the world's longest epic, which was set in this very region, he noted. Advertisement Describing Punjab as the Sword Arm of the nation and the Tricity of Chandigarh as the retirement hub of military stalwarts, the governor said that on assuming charge of Administrator UT, he found that approximately 90 Lieutenant Generals and 133 Major Generals were living in the City Beautiful after retirement. Circulating tumor-cell (CTC) count could be used to choose hormone therapy or chemotherapy as frontline treatment for patients with estrogen receptor-positive (ER+), HER2-negative (HER2-) metastatic breast cancer, according to data from the phase III STIC CTC clinical trial presented at the 2018 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held Dec. 4-8. In the case of discrepancy between CTC count-based treatment choice and physician's choice of treatment, frontline chemotherapy was associated with a significant gain in overall survival. "Two main treatment options exist for patients newly diagnosed with metastatic, ER+, HER2- breast cancer: hormone therapy or chemotherapy (eventually followed by maintenance hormone therapy). There is unfortunately no validated predictive biomarker to guide that choice," said Francois-Clement Bidard, MD, PhD, Professor of Medical Oncology at Institut Curie (Saint Cloud, France) and University of Versailles. While frontline hormone therapy is the preferred treatment option because of limited side effects, chemotherapy is proposed in patients presenting with adverse prognostic factors, Bidard explained. These factors are, however, not well defined in the current literature and, as the choice between hormone therapy and chemotherapy relies on the doctor's estimate of the patient prognosis, different doctors may, in turn, propose different treatments to the same patient, he noted. "CTC count has been investigated in thousands of breast cancer patients worldwide over the past decade, and numerous analyses have established that, beyond performance status, CTC count is the strongest prognostic marker in ER+, HER2- stage 4 breast cancer patients," Bidard said. His team studied whether CTC count can be used to assess a patient's prognosis and personalize the choice between hormone therapy and chemotherapy. "In our study, not only have we demonstrated that basing the decision on CTC count alone does not harm patients in the overall study population (primary objective), but subgroup analyses show that, in the 292 patients with discordant treatment recommendations (between the clinician estimate and the CTC count), frontline chemotherapy was associated with a significant 35 percent decrease in the risk of death," Bidard said. In this trial, 778 patients were randomly assigned 1:1 to a clinically driven treatment arm (hormone therapy or chemotherapy was administered as decided by a physician based on clinical factors) or a CTC-driven treatment arm (hormone therapy was administered if 7.5 ml blood had less than 5 CTC and chemotherapy was administered if 7.5 ml blood had 5 or more CTC). After randomization, in the clinically driven arm, 72.6 percent of the patients received hormone therapy and 27.4 percent received chemotherapy. In the CTC-driven arm: Among those likely to receive hormone therapy by clinically driven choice, this treatment option was confirmed by a low CTC count in 66.7 percent of the patients; the remaining 33.3 percent were switched to chemotherapy based on a high CTC count; Among those likely to receive chemotherapy by clinically driven choice, this treatment option was confirmed by high CTC count in 48.1 percent of the patients; the remaining 52.9 percent were switched to hormone therapy based on low CTC count. The study met its primary endpoint (assessed in the 778 patients), with progression-free survival (PFS) not being inferior in the CTC-driven arm, compared with the clinically driven arm. Patients whose treatment was escalated to chemotherapy based on CTC count had a significantly longer PFS (median PFS was 10.5 months with hormone therapy in the clinically driven arm who had high CTC count, versus 15.5 months with chemotherapy in the CTC arm) and showed a trend toward longer overall survival (OS, 37.1 vs. 42.0 months). In contrast, patients whose treatment was de-escalated to hormone therapy based on CTC count had non-significantly shorter PFS and OS compared with those who received chemotherapy in the clinically driven arm who had low CTC count. In an exploratory analysis, pooling the two subgroups of patients (292) with discordant treatment recommendations showed that patients treated with frontline chemotherapy had significantly longer PFS (34 percent less likely to have their disease progress) and OS (35 percent lower risk of death). Overall survival rates at 24 months were 82.9 percent in patients treated with chemotherapy (eventually followed by maintenance hormone therapy) vs. 74.7 percent in patients treated with frontline hormone therapy. "Since the 90's, no trial has assessed the question of front-line therapy, and our results suggest that modern prognostic biomarkers, such as the CTC count, may lead to better patient survival," Bidard added. Bidard noted that a main limitation of the study is that during the STIC CTC study follow-up, CDK4/6 inhibitors (palbociclib, ribociclib, and abemaciclib) became largely used as first-line treatment, therefore, doctors are more likely to recommend front-line hormone therapy combined with CDK4/6 inhibitors rather than chemotherapy. New research has reported effective conservation strategies that can mitigate the impacts of climate warming on sea turtle nesting success. In the article published by Scientific Reports, a range of experiments were conducted between 2012 and 2017 in St Eustatius Marine Park in the Dutch Caribbean by Swansea University and Wageningen University & Research in association with St Eustatius National Parks, Groningen University and Deakin University in Australia. Lead scientist Dr Nicole Esteban from Swansea University says that turtles do not have sex chromosomes. It is the incubation temperature in sand surrounding a clutch of eggs that determines the sex of a turtle hatchling, which is known as Temperature-Dependent Sex Determination. Eggs incubating at cooler temperatures (generally lower than 29C) produce male turtles and eggs incubating at warmer temperatures produce females. This has led to concerns that, in the context of climate change, warming air temperatures may lead to female-biased sea turtle populations. The research team developed a series of trial experiments to test the effect of various shading treatments that were easily available (white sand, white sheet, palm leaves). The sand temperatures below the shaded areas were recorded using small temperature loggers buried at turtle nesting depths on Zeelandia and Oranjebaai beaches in St Eustatius. The data were combined with long-term beach temperature data to estimate the effect of shading and relocation between the beaches on hatchling sex ratios. In the study, a conservation mitigation matrix is presented that summarize evidence that artificial shading and nest relocation can be effective, low-cost, low-technology conservation strategies to mitigate impacts of climate warming for sea turtles. Dr Nicole Esteban said: "Our previous work in St Eustatius showed that incubation temperatures are relatively high (mean of 31C) so the majority of turtle hatchlings born at these beaches have been female biased during the past decades. "Therefore, there is a real concern that not enough male hatchlings would be born on the beaches in future to sustain the local population and we decided to investigate options for conservation actions to reduce incubation temperatures." Marjolijn Christianen, collaborator from Wageningen University & Research said: "The results of the study surprised us. They show that simple measures can be very effective in preventing a female-only turtle population. The most effective shading material is palm leaves, decreasing temperature by a mean of 0.6 C. Variation between beaches that are only 1 km apart was an average of 1.9 C. Relocation between beaches and shading could shift hatchling sex ratio from the current ranges (97-100% female) to 60-90% female -- a big difference." Performance on an exercise test predicts the risk of death from cardiovascular disease, cancer, and other causes, reports a study presented today at EuroEcho-Imaging 2018.1 Good performance on the test equates to climbing three floors of stairs very fast, or four floors fast, without stopping. The findings underline the importance of fitness for longevity. The study included 12,615 participants with known or suspected coronary artery disease. Participants underwent treadmill exercise echocardiography, in which they were asked to walk or run, gradually increasing the intensity, and continue until exhaustion. The test also generates images of the heart to check its function. During a median 4.7-year follow-up, there were 1,253 cardiovascular deaths, 670 cancer deaths, and 650 deaths from other causes. After adjusting for age, sex, and other factors that could potentially influence the relationship, each MET (metabolic equivalent)* achieved was independently associated with 9%, 9%, and 4% lower risks of cardiovascular death, cancer death, and other causes of death during follow-up. The death rate from cardiovascular disease was nearly three times higher in participants with poor compared to good functional capacity (3.2% versus 1.2%, p<0.001). Non-cardiovascular and non-cancer deaths were also nearly three-fold higher in those with poor compared to good functional capacity (1.7% versus 0.6%, p<0.001). Cancer deaths were almost double in participants with poor compared to good functional capacity (1.5% versus 0.8%, p<0.001). As expected, the imaging part of the examination was predictive of cardiovascular death, but not of deaths caused by cancer or other conditions. Study author Dr Jesus Peteiro, a cardiologist at University Hospital A Coruna, A Coruna, Spain, said: "Our results provide further evidence of the benefits of exercise and being fit on health and longevity. In addition to keeping body weight down, physical activity has positive effects on blood pressure and lipids, reduces inflammation, and improves the body's immune response to tumours." Dr Peteiro said people do not need to undergo exercise echocardiography to check their fitness level. "There are much cheaper ways to estimate if you could achieve ten METs on the treadmill test," he said. "If you can walk very fast up three floors of stairs without stopping, or fast up four floors without stopping, you have good functional capacity. If not, it's a good indication that you need more exercise." ESC guidelines recommend at least 150 minutes a week of moderate aerobic physical activity or 75 minutes a week of vigorous aerobic physical activity, or a combination of the two intensities.2 Organ procurement teams are sometimes leery of accepting kidneys from deceased donors with acute kidney injury (AKI), fearing they will harm the recipients. However, a national study chaired by a Johns Hopkins kidney specialist suggests these fears may be unfounded. In medical chart reviews of 2,430 kidneys transplanted from 1,298 donors -- 585 (24 percent) of them with AKI -- researchers say they found no significant differences in rates of organ rejection among kidneys from deceased donors with or without AKI. They also report they found no evidence that factors such as the amount of time an organ is chilled and left without blood supply before transplantation had any impact on recipient outcomes for those who received AKI kidneys. Results of the study, published Nov. 20 in the journal Kidney International, suggest that patients in need of kidney transplant could have access to more kidneys -- potentially shortening organ waiting list times, the investigators say. With the field of medicine moving toward a system that focuses on the improvement of patient safety while reducing health care costs, this research is a step forward in the high-value health care movement. "Our results should add to evidence and reassure the general public and the transplant community that acutely injured deceased-donor kidneys appear to have the same success rates as noninjured kidneys from otherwise similar donors," says Chirag R. Parikh, M.B.B.S., Ph.D., director of the Division of Nephrology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and senior study author. "Even transplanted kidneys with the highest severity of AKI did not have worse outcomes, so we should bring these kidneys into the donor pool with confidence," Parikh adds. An estimated 95,000 Americans are on the national kidney transplant waiting list, according to the U.S. Organ Procurement and Transplantation Networks. Given the organ shortage, says Parikh, the transplant community should pursue measures to increase use of kidneys from deceased donors with AKI. advertisement AKI affects about one-third of patients in intensive care units, Parikh says. Hospitalized patients are likely to develop AKI as a complication resulting from reduced blood supply, or administration of medications to increase blood pressure, or from being placed on ventilators. Deceased donors are likely to develop AKI if they spent time in an ICU following a trauma or other medical or surgical complications. Physicians worry about patients who develop AKI because they are more likely to have negative long-term consequences, such as chronic kidney disease or premature death, Parikh says. It remains unclear if transplanting a kidney from a donor with AKI would have similar consequences. Nationwide, the discard or rejection rate for all potential donor kidneys is approximately 18 percent, and for AKI kidneys about 30 percent, Parikh says. "We estimate there may be approximately 500 kidneys a year with AKI that are currently discarded, but can be transplanted." Some criteria that surgeons use around decisions for kidney discard include the presence of diabetes, hypertension or poor kidney donor profile index -- a standard measure of how likely a kidney is to function over time. The current study had two parts. In the first section, researchers conducted transplant chart reviews for kidneys from 1,298 donors in five regional organ procurement organizations (Philadelphia, Michigan, New York, New Jersey and New England) from 2010-2013, and linked them to 2,430 single kidney transplant recipients via the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network's national transplant registry. Donors with AKI, compared with donors without AKI, were more often African-American (24 percent versus 13 percent), more likely to have hypertension (36 percent versus 29 percent), and had a higher average kidney donor profile index (56 versus 46). Recipients of AKI kidneys versus non-AKI kidneys were more often older (55 versus 52 years old), and donor AKI kidney transplants had longer mean cold ischemia time (16.4 hours versus 14.9 hours) -- the amount of time an organ is chilled before transplantation. The AKI kidneys also were more likely to undergo machine perfusion (a technique to push fluids through the organ to preserve it), a difference of 46 percent versus 37 percent, and slightly more likely to have human leukocyte antigen mismatches -- a measure of how compatible a donor and recipient will be based on cell proteins. advertisement During an average follow-up period of four years, there were 623 (26 percent) kidneys that had permanent failure, so-called graft failures. This occurred in 475 (26 percent) recipients of AKI kidneys and 148 (25 percent) recipients of non-AKI kidneys. The severity of AKI did not impact graft failure rates. In the second part of the study, investigators examined recipient charts from a subgroup of 739 kidneys from 601 donors transplanted at 12 medical centers. They found graft failures or progression to kidney disease in 143 (19 percent) of the recipients (40 recipients received AKI kidneys and 103 received non-AKI kidneys). Kidney transplant potentially saves the health care system more than $250,000 per year for each patient in costs related to dialysis treatments, medications and hospitalizations, says Parikh: "Hopefully this study will provide confidence to surgeons that they can transplant these kidneys and expect good outcomes." The researchers caution it is possible that donor AKI kidneys selected for transplant have a more favorable risk factor distribution than the donor kidneys without AKI. In addition, donor AKI kidneys may be less likely to be selected for transplant unless they have other, more favorable characteristics such as younger age and an absence of other chronic health conditions. Yaqi Jia, M.P.H., of Johns Hopkins was a contributing author of the study. Other authors hailed from the University of Utah School of Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, the University of Maryland School of Medicine, the University of Michigan Medical School, Drexel University Dornsife School of Public Health, Drexel University College of Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, the Columbia University Renal Epidemiology Group, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons, New York Presbyterian Hospital-Weill Cornell Medical Center, the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Barnabas Health in Livingston, New Jersey, and University Hospital in Ulm, Germany. This work was supported by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) grants R01DK-93770 and K24DK090203; the Health Resources and Services Administration contract 234-2005-37011C; a Roche Organ Transplantation Research Foundation Award to Parikh; and a Fellow-to-Faculty award from the American Heart Association, and an NIDDK career development grant (K23DK105207) to other co-authors. Although helium is a rare element on Earth, it is ubiquitous in the Universe. It is, after hydrogen, the main component of stars and gaseous giant planets. Despite its abundance, helium was only detected recently in the atmosphere of a gaseous giant by an international team including astronomers from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland. The team, this time led by Genevan researchers, has observed in detail and for the first time how this gas escapes from the overheated atmosphere of an exoplanet, literally inflated with helium. The results are published in Science. Helium is the second most abundant element in the Universe. Predicted since 2000 as one of the best possible tracers of the atmospheres of exoplanets, these planets orbiting around other stars than the Sun, it took astronomers 18 years to actually detect it. It was hard to spot due to the very peculiar observational signature of helium, located in the infrared, out of range for most of the instruments used previously. The discovery occurred earlier this year, thanks to Hubble Space Telescope observations, which proved difficult to interpret. Team members from UNIGE, members of the National Centre for Competence in Research PlanetS, had the idea of pointing another telescope equipped with a brand-new instrument -- a spectrograph called Carmenes. Detecting colours of planets with Carmenes A spectrograph decomposes the light of a star into its component colours, like a rainbow. The "resolution" of a spectrograph is a measure indicating the number of colours that can be revealed. While the human eye cannot distinguish any colour beyond red without an adapted camera, the infrared eye of Hubble is capable of identifying hundreds of colours there. This proved sufficient to identify the coloured signature of helium. The instrument Carmenes, installed on the 4-metre telescope at the observatory of Calar Alto in Andalusia, Spain, is capable to identify more than 100'000 colours in the infrared! This high spectral resolution allowed the team to observe the position and speed of helium atoms in the upper atmosphere of a gaseous Neptune-size exoplanet, 4 times larger than the Earth. Located in the Cygnus (the Swan) constellation, 124 light-years from home, HAT-P-11b is a "warm Neptune" (a decent 550C!), twenty times closer to its star than the Earth from the Sun. "We suspected that this proximity with the star could impact the atmosphere of this exoplanet" says Romain Allart, PhD student at UNIGE and first author of the study. "The new observations are so precise that the exoplanet atmosphere is undoubtedly inflated by the stellar radiation and escapes to space," he adds. A planet inflated with helium These observations are supported by numerical simulation, led by Vincent Bourrier, co-author of the study and member of the European project FOUR ACES*. Thanks to the simulation, it is possible to track the trajectory of helium atoms: "helium is blown away from the day side of the planet to its night side at over 10'000 km/h," Vincent Bourrier explains. "Because it is such a light gas, it escapes easily from the attraction of the planet and forms an extended cloud all around it." This gives HAT-P-11b the shape of a helium-inflated balloon. This result opens a new window to observe the extreme atmospheric conditions prevailing in the hottest exoplanets. The Carmenes observations demonstrate that such studies, long thought feasible only from space, can be achieved with greater precision by ground-based telescopes equipped with the right kind of instruments. "These are exciting times for the search of atmospheric signatures in exoplanets," says Christophe Lovis, senior lecturer at UNIGE and co-author of the study. In fact, UNIGE astronomers are also heavily involved in the design and exploitation of two new high-resolution infrared spectrographs, similar to Carmenes. One of them, called SPIRou, has just started an observational campaign from Hawaii, while the UNIGE Department of astronomy houses the first tests of the Near Infrared Planet Searcher (NIRPS), which will be installed in Chile at the end of 2019. "This result will enhance the interest of the scientific community for these instruments. Their number and their geographical distribution will allow us to cover the entire sky, in search for evaporating exoplanets," concludes Lovis. *FOUR ACES, Future of Upper Atmospheric Characterisation of Exoplanets with Spectroscopy, is a project funded by a Consolidator grant of the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Unions's 2020 Research and Innovation Programme (grant agreement n724427). Scholars from USC and other leading universities conclude that rules on the books to increase fuel economy for passenger vehicles will do more good than harm, contradicting claims by the Trump administration as it seeks to roll back fuel economy standards. In a research paper that scrutinizes the cost-benefit methods used by federal officials to justify rolling back the regulations, the researchers conclude the government analysis is flawed and that it departs from accepted protocols. They found the analysis overlooked 6 million used cars, wiping out benefits estimated at least $112 billion. The research findings, which are reported in Science today and will be presented to automakers and policymakers at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris this week, are significant because they reflect best practices identified by leading, independent economists and engineers. The findings are also consistent with previous assessments showing that benefits for fuel-efficient vehicles outweigh costs. And the benefits accrue as blue skies, better health and fewer greenhouse gases (GHGs) contributing to global warming. Antonio Bento, a professor of public policy and economics at the USC Price School of Public Policy and director of the nascent USC Center for Sustainability Solutions, said the study represents a "rapid assessment policy response" to the controversial regulatory proposal, which is undergoing federal rulemaking. "It appears federal officials cherry-picked data to support a predetermined conclusion that the clean-car standards will lead to too many highway deaths," said Bento, the study's lead author. "We do not support that conclusion and the data does not support that conclusion." The politics and economics behind miles per gallon The Trump administration's attempt to freeze fuel-economy standards for cars and light-duty trucks has sparked conflict with California and other states. Critics say the regulatory freeze is difficult to justify on economic, legal or environmental grounds. advertisement But the new study goes a step further, suggesting the shortcomings in the government's economic analysis are so egregious they seem like a deliberate attempt to manipulate statistics and mislead people. Ironically, Bento occupies a special position in the controversy: He is the economist most often cited in the documents the EPA used to make its case for the regulatory relaxation. He is among a group of interdisciplinary scholars from leading universities who participated in the study, including experts from USC, Carnegie Mellon, Yale, the University of California and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, among others. In 2007, Congress adopted laws to require corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) to increase to 35 mpg by 2020. The CAFE standards govern fuel economy across the U.S. fleet of passenger cars and light trucks. The U.S. EPA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration set fuel economy gains between 27 mpg and 55 mpg between 2012 and 2025. A midterm review conducted in 2016 affirmed the benefits exceeded the costs and the measures would be technologically feasible. But this year under the Trump administration, the federal agencies reversed course, proposing rules to freeze CAFE standards at 2021 levels through 2025. Federal officials argue that forcing automakers to achieve an average of 54 mpg in seven years would lead to cars that are too expensive, thus forcing people to keep too many old vehicles that are less safe. The federal government also seeks to revoke California's long-standing authority to set its own, more stringent tailpipe standards and limit other states from following suit. Gov. Jerry Brown has vowed to fight the proposed rollback. advertisement Distortions and flawed data cast doubt on federal findings But the researchers were puzzled by the policy reversal, prompting them to conduct an independent assessment of the government's economic analysis used to justify the change. The authors are among the world's top experts in environmental economics and climate change, including the study of fuel economy standards. Their study describes a pattern of selective fact-picking and distortion throughout the government's analysis. It finds that the 2018 analysis contains adjustments to a prior review of 2016, but nonetheless it is "our conclusion that the 2018 [federal] analysis has fundamental flaws and inconsistencies and is at odds with basic economic theory and empirical studies our summary judgment is that the changes in the 2018 NPRM [notice of proposed rulemaking] are on balance misleading." Specifically, the study cited two key changes in the 2018 document that deviate from standard cost-benefit protocols. First, the scientists say the economic analysis mistakenly concludes that relaxation of the rule will shrink the vehicle fleet by 6 million cars by 2029, which greatly skews the bottom line. It also flies in the face of economic principles because, the economists argue, only more stringent standards -- not fewer -- would increase costs for cleaner, new vehicles, and as prices for new and used vehicles increase, fleet size would diminish -- not the other way around. The revision "is simply inconsistent with basic economic theory," the study finds. By miscalculating the size of the auto fleet, the researchers say the report underestimates vehicle miles traveled, gasoline consumption, GHG emissions and traffic fatalities. A correct estimate of fatalities alone represents a $90.7 billion savings, which the federal proposal omits. Second, the researchers applied the generally accepted global -- rather than domestic -- social cost of carbon as a criterion to value GHG emissions reductions. That change, plus the revision for the number of vehicles, closes 63 percent of the difference between negative costs and the break-even point for the CAFE standards -- a positive net gain of at least $112 billion dollars, the study shows. Costs can also be reduced by technology innovation, including improvements to internal combustion engines, automotive materials and design and wider use of zero-emissions vehicles, the study finds. Finally, the researchers describe how the government deviated from "preferred protocol" developed in another study that Bento published in the American Economic Review in 2009, and commonly used in cost-benefit analyses, including externalities such as energy security, air pollution, gasoline prices, GHG emissions and traffic congestion. Failing to account for those variables overestimates the cost of the regulation while underestimating benefits, the researchers found. "It's doubtful these miscalculations were inadvertent," Bento said. "These are not mistakes, rather these are deliberate downsizing of benefits and inflating costs." An interdisciplinary research effort The study represents an important precedent for the emerging USC Center for Sustainability Solutions, said Bento, who has a courtesy faculty appointment at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. "Rapid assessment exercises like this one, as well as direct dialogue with stakeholders, will become signature activities of our new USC Center for Sustainability Solutions," Bento said. He added the study will help promote dialogue when he presents it to the OECD meeting this week. Bento was joined on the study by Kenneth Gillingham of Yale University, Mark R. Jacobsen of UC San Diego, Christopher R. Knittel of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Benjamin Leard and Virginia McConnell of Resources for the Future, Joshua Linn of the University of Maryland, David Rapson of UC Davis, James M. Sallee of UC Berkeley, Arthur A. van Benthem of the University of Pennsylvania and Kate S. Whitefoot of Carnegie Mellon University. Bento, Gillingham, Jacobsen, Knittel, Sallee and Van Benthem are also affiliated with the National Bureau of Economic Research. On December 6, 2018, the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut entered an order dismissing, with prejudice, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's complaint against Jesse Litvak. The court's order was based on the SEC's motion to dismiss its claims against Litvak. Litvak was also criminally charged by the U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut based on the same facts underlying the SEC's action. Litvak was twice convicted, in jury trials in March 2014 and January 2017, but those convictions were both overturned by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, most recently in May 2018. In July 2018 the U.S. Attorney moved to dismiss its criminal case against Litvak and the court granted the motion to dismiss on August 1, 2018. For further information, see Litigation Release No. 22602 (January 29, 2013). The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a subpoena enforcement action against NVC Fund LLC and its principal, Frank Ekejija, seeking an order directing them to comply with an investigative subpoena for documents and testimony. According to the SEC's application, filed on November 30, 2018 in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, the SEC is investigating whether certain individuals or entities engaged in a potential pump-and-dump scheme in the stock of three penny-stock companies, Cherubim Interests, Inc., PDX Partners, Inc., and Victura Construction Group, Inc. Because the SEC was concerned about the accuracy of the companies' disclosures, the SEC suspended trading in their securities on February 15, 2018 for ten business days. Based on its ongoing investigation, the SEC has reason to believe that each company issued false public statements in January 2018 to "pump" their stock price, claiming that NVC Fund owns "trillions" of dollars in "AAA-rated" assets, and that each company acquired hundreds of millions of dollars of these assets from NVC Fund. After the stock price and trading volume for each company increased as a result of the news, an entity associated with the companies may have "dumped" their overvalued shares for significant profits. In June and September 2018, the SEC issued subpoenas to NVC Fund and Ekejija for the production of documents and testimony. According to the SEC's application, NVC Fund and Ekejija produced a limited number of documents, and Ekejija gave limited testimony. Both refused to produce key documents responsive to the subpoenas, and Ekejija refused to testify about matters relevant to his participation in the conduct being investigated. The SEC's application seeks an order from the court compelling NVC Fund and Ekejija to fully comply with the SEC's subpoenas. The SEC previously filed a subpoena enforcement action against other parties in this matter. The SEC is continuing its fact-finding investigation in this matter and has not concluded that anyone has violated the securities laws. Open vs Closed Automation Systems This is quite probably the most important decision to make when planning for your laboratory system. An open system is an automation line on which both the software and hardware can incorporate all types of analyzers, and different makes of pre- and post-analytical instrumentation. For an open system you purchase the track separately and then custom build your system based on your laboratory requirements. The major advantage of this is that it gives the laboratory the freedom to pick and choose the instrumentation for the automation line as well as giving a large amount of flexibility in track layout and design. Some vendors form partnerships with external track suppliers and are able to offer the track as part of an arranged agreement with the laboratory. The disadvantage of an open system is that it requires significant work and validation on the behalf of the laboratory to determine which instruments and track system to include. A closed system is usually a pre-defined package of instrumentation and automation lines from a specific vendor. This may include other manufacturers equipment but this will be specified and chosen by the vendor. The hardware and software in a closed system is designed to be specific to the vendors analyzers which can make incorporation of an outside instrument extremely difficult, if not impossible. Closed systems do not offer the flexibility of open systems and are more difficult and costly to modify, however the major advantages of installing them are that they are organized by the vendor, they are complete systems, and they are ready to use upon installation. Figure 1: Sysmex HST-N Total Hematology Automation System Continuous Flow & Batch Processing Sample flow through a laboratory takes one of two forms in a fully automated laboratory. In batch processing, samples are prepared for processing by pre-analytical integrated instruments, then in high-throughput laboratories, large numbers of specimens will be racked-up and transported to instrument starting points. Batch processing offers the advantage of allowing laboratories to be efficient with QC and reagents. A disadvantage of batch processing is that it is necessary to take numerous aliquots at the pre-analytical stage leading to potential problems with sample retrieval and quality management. Figure 2: Cobas 8100 Intelligent Automated Workflow Series, Roche Diagnostics Continuous flow systems allow single patient specimens to be placed on a continuously moving conveyor belt which stops at all analyzers necessary for the appropriate tests to be performed. These systems are becoming increasingly popular for the enhanced workflow efficiency that they offer; from a LEAN perspective, continuous flow provides consistent flow of process eliminating wasteful steps and the potential for error. Figure 3: Aptio Automation, Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics Watch video: Workflow IVD Solutions Premiered at AACC 2015 - Franz Walt, President, Laboratory Diagnostics at Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics, discusses the latest developments in clinical workflow solutions at the AACC 2015 Clinical Lab Expo. Pre-Analytical & Post Analytical Pre-analytical refers to the preparation of specimens prior to processing and can vary considerably depending on the type of laboratory and the sample types being handled. The method of processing will depend on whether a continuous flow or batch processing approach is being used. Integrated instruments which de-cap, centrifuge, sort and aliquot samples are available. There are instruments available which are capable of interfacing with both continuous flow and batch processing automation. Figure 4: Power Processor Sample Handling System, Beckman Coulter Download case study: Lean Lab Chooses Beckman Coulters Power Express: Driving Peak Performance - This case study explains why the Community Regional Medical Center in the US chose the Power Express automation solution to aid their laboratory, optimizing and reducing time spent on pre-analytical processes. Alternatively, modular components can be utilized to perform de-capping, centrifugation and aliquoting processes as part of the continuous automation line. Figure 5: VersaCell System, Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics The last approach is to perform pre-analytical tasks manually however this really should be avoided. Manual de-capping and aliquoting in particular can cause carpal tunnel injury and are repetitive tasks for staff. Post-analytical instrumentation requires removal of samples to a holding area or stockyard from which it may be retrieved if additional testing is required. Exit robots vary in their capabilities; some sort samples for distribution to other laboratories, some have a refrigeration unit, and others have aliquot modules. The type of instrument that you require will depend very much on your further testing requirements. Figure 6: Sysmex XN-9000 Sorting & Archiving, Sysmex Europe. The menacing, smoky haze that drifted south from the deadly Camp Fire in Butte County and lingered in the Bay Area for nearly two weeks last month has prompted San Francisco officials to bolster the citys ability to respond to sustained air-quality incidents, which are expected to worsen with climate change. On Friday, Mayor London Breed handed down an executive order instructing city agencies, including the departments of Emergency Management and Public Health, to begin reviewing and revising the citys protocols for keeping residents safe during long stretches of unhealthy or dangerous air. Here in San Francisco, we are used to earthquakes. We know its not a matter of if, but when, Breed said Friday. But the climate change has begun to shift the citys focus on what we need to do to better prepare for things that we never had to prepare for in the past. These recent fires unfortunately impacted our air quality in a way that we had never experienced. The haze that hung over the Bay Area was an unprecedented situation, officials said. Before 2017, it was uncommon for the Environmental Protection Agencys Air Quality Index to rise above 50, a level that presents little to no health risks. During the Camp Fire, the index was at least 150 conditions considered unhealthy for sensitive groups, such as people with respiratory conditions for 13 consecutive days. In San Francisco, the index at times topped 250, a level described as very unhealthy. Northern California briefly earned the dubious distinction of having the worst air quality in the world. Considering the deadly and record-breaking heat wave that hit in the Bay Area last year and the air event from last month, Were dealing with unprecedented situations due to climate change, said Mary Ellen Carroll, executive director of the Department of Emergency Management. The mayors executive order, she said, is a matter of bringing us together as a city to revise what we already have planned to anticipate these new, unprecedented incidents. By the first quarter of 2019, Breed wants a plan with recommendations and guidelines tied to air-quality thresholds that includes advice for the public on when they should use protective masks and instructions on how the city should distribute them. The plan will also include protocols for reaching out to vulnerable populations like the homeless and the elderly. The executive order also mandates the creation of a task force to establish crite-ria, locations and measures of effectiveness for public respite facilities during poor air quality and other weather-related events. Breeds directive also requires Carroll and her staff to create a roster of city employees who can more rapidly deploy aid and expertise to disaster areas. Despite the concerns around air quality in San Francisco, there was no uptick in 911 calls. We had no incidents whatsoever tied to the air quality last month, Carroll said, and that is due to people heeding the advice that they clearly heard to take precautions and, most importantly, to stay indoors. But Carroll added that she does see room for improvement in the way the city disseminates information about when people should wear air-filtering masks, which were nearly ubiquitous during the worst days of the air event last month. 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. There is some work to do on the mask recommendations. That was one area where we received some criticism Why isnt the city handing out a mask to every person here? Carroll said. Thats a hard one, because you dont want to do something irresponsibly. City health officials cautioned that while it seems sensible to use a mask when the air quality is poor, wearing the masks can cause excessive strain on people who have underlying heart or lung disorders. To wear a respirator, you have to be healthy, because it takes a lot of effort to wear them, said Dr. Tomas Aragon, the citys health officer. Masks are not the solution for everyone, Carroll said. Dominic Fracassa is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: dfracassa@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @dominicfracassa Public works crews dismantled a high-profile homeless encampment Thursday in East Oakland after its residents declined to obey the citys orders to leave the lot. The encampment, known as Housing and Dignity Village in its 1-month existence, was seen by many as an outgrowth of frustration with the response by local officials to the regional homelessness crisis. Supporters and community groups said it was a justified reaction to inadequate government intervention to the growing tide of people in Oakland without homes. The villages organizers say the site was not a typical homeless encampment. The model first attempted in January 2017 at Grove Shafter Park in North Oakland before the city closed it was designed to be an organized, drug-free, alcohol-free place safe for women and children. The one in East Oakland, at Clara Street and Edes Avenue, was stocked with food, donations and medical supplies. About 15 people lived there, but other homeless people would come during the day to pick up food and other items. Oakland officials said it was a nuisance for nearby residents and deemed it an illegal trespass on city land. The two sides fought the issue last month in court, and a federal judge cleared the way for Oakland to move forward with an eviction. The city was prepared to clear out the lot Wednesday but, amid rain and a crowd of protesters, decided not to. The villages residents said they were told that a meeting with city officials would be possible to negotiate the matter prior to any eviction. On Thursday afternoon, public works employees wore gloves, hard hats, surgical masks and neon vests as they disassembled and cleaned the fenced-off lot using oversize rakes and shovels. Canopies, tiny homes and other structures were broken down and loaded into a truck. The citys policies mandate that items be stored 90 days for residents to retrieve them. It wasnt immediately clear where the 15 residents would go next, but city officials said they all have been offered shelter. Denise Draper, who sleeps in her car, said the village helped her with whatever she needed. Outside the fence, she and others screamed at police officers and uncomfortable-looking public works employees, some of whom have said privately they dislike this part of their job. They were helping us so we could help ourselves and not die in the streets. Whatever I needed a pair of socks, water, Draper said, then turned back to face the city workers. Anyone can become homeless at any time. Youre standing on your feet now. God will knock you down. 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. Officers briefly handcuffed one of the villages residents before releasing her. The resident, Aiyahnna Johnson, said she was detained after she tried to stop crews from hauling her things away in a truck. Oakland police Capt. Tony Jones said no one would be arrested or cited and referred questions to the city administrators office. Nobodys going to jail here today, he said. Were here to do a civil standby to make sure Public Works can safely clear the lot. The lot had been vacant for about a decade. City officials are now hoping to turn it into a site for an affordable housing project. Kimberly Veklerov is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kveklerov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kveklerov Most of what happens at San Franciscos Hall of Justice boils down to a whole lot of nothing. Witnesses wait in the halls for hours or days to be called to testify. Attorneys appear in court for the sole purpose of agreeing on the next time theyll appear in court. The wheels of justice, in other words, move painfully slowly. But they do grind away, and sometimes, a fair outcome emerges. And so it went last week in an infamous San Francisco car break-in case. The defendant was Delon Terrance Barker, 22, who was identified by police and later his own parole agent as the man photographed by The Chronicle on Jan. 30 smashing a car window and snatching a backpack. He walked into Department 11 on Wednesday wearing a bright orange sweatshirt, bright orange pants and handcuffs. It was his preliminary hearing, and Superior Court Judge Victor Hwang would soon decide whether there was enough evidence to send him to trial. That would be an unusual outcome in San Francisco, which had a record 31,322 car break-ins last year and just one resulting in a trial. The twisty tale began when a Chronicle photographer and I visited Lombard Street to interview residents incensed by the citys inaction on the car break-ins that plague their block the block where tourists park to walk down the famous, curvy stretch below. As we chatted with residents and workers about the shattered glass that turns up far too often and the unwitting tourists emotionally shattered when their rental cars are burglarized a man jumped out of a white Volkswagen that had paper plates, smashed the window of a parked Dodge Caravan, swiped a backpack and sped off. Right in front of us. As my colleagues camera clicked away. In a way, his brazenness was understandable. Police made arrests in just 1.6 percent of reported car break-ins last year. The district attorneys office reported prosecuting 86 percent of the cases they received, but all but one was settled before trial. The Superior Court said defendants received an average of 5.1 months in jail. Most of those who broke into cars faced no consequences at all. But in an epic case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, it turns out that when your photo runs on the front page of a major newspaper, you become the literal poster child for the crime. And every level of the criminal justice system has to take notice. Police circulated the Chronicle photos, instructing officers to be on the lookout for the suspect. An officer identified the man as Barker, and the district attorney issued a warrant for his arrest. On Feb. 23, police arrested Barker and two other men after they were seen breaking into cars in Vacaville and led officers and a California Highway Patrol airplane on a chase down Interstate 80 at speeds topping 100 mph. The car crashed in Oakland, and police said it contained stolen documents, electronics and money believed to have come from more than 10 victims around the Bay Area. Barker had been arrested before, at age 18 for a carjacking. That time, he was charged with robbery and multiple weapons offenses. He pleaded guilty to second-degree felony robbery and a gun charge in March 2016 and was credited with time served. In the Vacaville case, Barker was released on $35,000 bail and didnt show up for his court date May 24. Solano County prosecutors issued a warrant for his arrest. He was arrested on Nov. 17 in San Francisco on the Lombard Street warrant and has been in jail at the Hall of Justice ever since. His defense attorney, Erwin Fredrich, and Assistant District Attorney Larry de Souza failed to strike a deal before the preliminary hearing. Fredrich said Barker would take 18 months in state prison, but de Souza held out for three years. The preliminary hearing was set for 9 a.m. Tuesday, and several police officers compelled to testify waited a few hours. One of them feared hed be late for a physical therapy appointment to help him recover from an injury sustained after he was struck by a different car break-in suspect fleeing the scene. De Souza eventually asked that the hearing be moved to Wednesday because the police officer whod translated for the Chinese tourist whod rented the Dodge van wasnt available. Everybody returned at 9 a.m. Wednesday and again waited a few hours while Hwang heard other matters. The pace was so slow, I entertained myself by watching a man in the hallway with a parrot on his shoulder hold up a cup of water for the bird to drink. Apparently, the two are regulars at the Hall of Justice. The parrot is named Mystic, wears a sweater and has business cards. Only in San Francisco. Finally, the preliminary hearing began. Fredrich asked the judge to remove me from the courtroom because I had seen the Lombard Street incident and could conceivably be called as a trial witness. Witnesses, he argued, shouldnt hear the testimony of other witnesses. Hwang said, Its preferable, but Im not going to order it. So I stayed. A plainclothes police officer whod been tipped off to the suspicious Volkswagen circling the Lombard Street block the day of the break-in had been nearby, but couldnt nab the suspect. He testified about what he saw and said he tested the Dodges door right after the incident, and it was locked. That is key, because a California law requires proof a car was locked for a break-in to be charged as a felony burglary. Otherwise, its misdemeanor theft. State Sen. Scott Wiener is trying for the second time to change state law so a smashed window would be sufficient evidence to charge a felony. Almost as soon as it began, Hwang recessed the hearing for a 90-minute lunch break. For someone used to the rapid-fire pace of a daily newspaper and website, the process was excruciating. 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. After the long lunch, the officer who translated for the Chinese tourist testified. The tourist had said his backpack contained his passport, Chinese identification card, Hong Kong currency worth about $400, a scarf, a selfie stick and a charger. And then Barkers parole agent, Sung Han Kim, took the stand. De Souza showed him the Chronicle photographs. Do you recognize who this person is? de Souza asked Kim. Yes, it appears to be Delon Barker. I recognize the face, the jawline, the nose, Kim said. He is here in court. He is wearing an orange sweatshirt and orange pants. Barker whispered with his attorney at times, but said nothing audible during the hearing and maintained a neutral expression. Hwang said there was enough evidence to send Barker to trial and ordered him held on $140,000 bail. Fredrich asked that he be transferred to Solano County to resolve that case first, but Hwang didnt decide that matter. After two days and seemingly endless hours, it was done for now. Bailiffs led Barker out of the courtroom and back to jail. The witnesses rushed out to resume their busy days. Fredrich, clutching his briefcase, quickly walked away. He declined twice to comment on the case or say anything about his client. On Tuesday, he said, Im not saying anything. You have your rights under the First Amendment, and my guy has other rights under other amendments. Fair enough, right? Of course. On Wednesday, as he left the Hall of Justice, all hed say was, We press on. San Francisco Chronicle columnist Heather Knight appears Sundays and Tuesdays. Email: hknight@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @hknightsf Lee James caseworker called to tell him that after receiving government assistance to help pay the rent on a studio in the Tenderloin, he was now making too much money to qualify. Huh. Me? James said, laughing. Can you do that? Can you make too much money? Its a good problem to have, all things considered. James, 52, paid his rent in full, on his own, this month for the first time since 2015. He earns $22 an hour as a scooter technician at San Franciscos Skip, one of two companies permitted to offer scooter rentals on city streets through a yearlong pilot program. James, formerly homeless, is one of a growing number of workers at Skips workshop in the Bayview neighborhood who fixes injured scooters, as he calls them, before theyre stacked on racks, loaded into vans and dispersed across the city. Scott Strazzante / The Chronicle 2018 The scooter technician gig didnt exist a little more than a year ago. Its an example of how shifts in business models, social norms and consumer habits spurred by startups can spawn new kinds of work, defying predictions that new technologies will destroy more jobs than they create. Job opportunities for people like James sprouted up as the first scooter rentals began hitting the streets of Los Angeles. The burgeoning market, fueled in part by hundreds of millions of dollars in venture capital and in part by enthusiastic users who pay $1 and up per ride, has created living-wage jobs for hundreds of people from varying socioeconomic classes. I see the Bayview people, James said, looking around. I hear them talking about the old streets where I used to live. Skip doesnt require technicians to have a high school diploma, mechanic training or even a drivers license, which prevents some people from working for Uber or DoorDash, for example. Matt Tran, co-founder and head of operations at the Bayview workshop, said recruiters mostly look for a strong work ethic and an ability to pick up new skills quickly. When James was 21, in the late 80s, he worked at a tire shop in Sacramento. When the clutch went out in his creamsicle-colored Datsun 240Z classic car, his boss helped him to order new parts and showed James how to fix it. The experience set a fire inside me, James said. He continued to work at the tire shop and later a hydraulic pump repair service in San Mateo, while tinkering with cars on the side. No matter where I go, if the car breaks down short of a new engine I can fix it, James said. But after becoming homeless, James stayed in shelters in San Francisco from 2015 to last year, when he said his name floated to the top of a waiting list and a city agency helped him find affordable housing. The scooters first appeared on city streets and sidewalks in February, when a handful of startups introduced them without permission from city agencies. James signed up with Bird to be a charger, an independent contractor who roams the city picking up scooters whose batteries had run low and charging them at home before returning them to the streets. When Bird left town as a result of the citys new scooter-rental permit process, the startup fired its chargers. Since they were contractors, they didnt get any warning or severance. James couldnt return to his job fixing hydraulic pumps in San Mateo. In 2017, a car ran a stop sign and collided with his moped, breaking his left leg and hip. He has a limp and cant carry much weight. I was applying for Social Security when I found this job, James said. He thought he would live the rest of his life reliant on government aid. Then I saw the ad for fixing scooters. It was a real job. Skip promised to be a different kind of scooter company. A lengthy application for one of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agencys prized permits told the story of a startup from San Francisco that would hire locally, provide skills training, and donate up to $500,000 to organizations such as City College of San Francisco that offer vocational courses for mechanics. Skips Tran says the company is making good on its promise. It sends employees to recruit and train riders at Sunday Streets festivals in the Excelsior and the Tenderloin. Recruiters post job flyers in employment offices and shelters and hold regular community meetings. I think that was something San Francisco was looking for, Tran said. Several companies that were excluded from the scooter trial are contesting the citys decision, saying the process was unfair. Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes Technicians are classified as employees, not independent contractors, and earn at least minimum wage. Theyre also eligible for health insurance, Tran said. Scoot, the other scooter company with a permit to operate in San Francisco, has more than 40 full-time mechanics. Most are regular employees and receive benefits and shares in the company, according to Scoot. Jana Asenbrennerova / Special to The Chronicle Bird, which still operates in Oakland, hires technicians as contractors. After clocking in to a 4 p.m. shift on his phone, James scanned a large rack of scooters looking for one that called to him. Electronic dance music droned in the background, and about a dozen workers mostly young black men sat at their desks tinkering with scooters. Some had electrical wires clipped; others were missing all the stickers with Skips logo, probably because people tried to steal them, James said. Hes seen scooters stripped for parts and set on fire. Theres a certain percentage of people who dont like the scooters, just because. So they figure ... Im going to hurt this company where theyre living, he said. It hurts him to see the vandalized ones. My heart goes into this thing, James said, grabbing a scooters handlebars. It has a job to do, and it does its job well. If its fixed everythings oiled and greased and working right it will carry a 250-pound man up a hill. Without this, I could end up anywhere. I could end up homeless again, or I could end up doing something stupid. But these guys provide me a job. They provide me a skill set. They pay me a livable wage. I paid my rent for the first time today. It was a huge day for me. Melia Russell is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: melia.russell@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @meliarobin California regulators are considering new rules governing how and when utilities shut off power as an attempt to prevent electrical equipment from sparking dangerous wildfires. A proposal under consideration by the California Public Utilities Commission would examine the agencys current rules on intentional blackouts and could result in more detailed state standards. The plan is significant for Pacific Gas and Electric Co., which is under intense scrutiny over whether its equipment sparked the states two most destructive wildfires, the 2017 Tubbs Fire and this years Camp Fire. PG&Es new power shutoff program has been criticized both when it was fully implemented and when it was not. A draft order the utilities commission will consider next Thursday in San Francisco notes that the state has been experiencing unprecedented conditions fueling extreme fire behavior. Exacerbating wildfire conditions are energized power lines and the potential of these lines to either spark or worsen an existing wildfire, the document states. Accordingly, it notes, utilities have chosen to shut off power to certain lines to reduce risk. However, de-energization can leave communities and essential facilities without power, which brings its own risks and hardships, particularly for vulnerable communities, the draft order says. The proposed regulatory process would look at the conditions under which utilities impose intentional blackouts, exploring whether the commission should should limit the practice and develop criteria for when it should be used. Regulators would also look at the best ways of notifying stakeholders, among other areas. PG&E spokesman Paul Doherty said in an email that the utility is supportive of the commissions continued efforts in looking into this critical issue. We only consider temporarily turning off power in the interest of safety and as a last resort during extreme weather conditions to reduce the risk of wildfire, Doherty said. We look forward to collaborating with the commission and participating in workshops related to this proceeding. In October, PG&E turned off power because of fire risk for the first time in several Northern California counties, prompting protests from residents who said the utility did not clearly communicate its plan. Last month, PG&E told residents in the Sierra foothills to prepare for potential power losses because of dry and windy weather, but it ultimately decided not to pull the plug. In Butte County, the historically devastating Camp Fire had already started raging by the time the utility announced that weather conditions did not warrant this safety measure. PG&E says it looks for several factors before cutting power, including whether the National Weather Service has declared a red-flag warning, humidity levels of 20 percent or lower, sustained winds of 20 to 25 mph with gusts of 40 to 45 mph, the condition of dry fuel and vegetation, observations from PG&E field crews and other site-specific considerations. The need for protocols governing de-energizing power lines was identified in SB901, legislation passed this year that also controversially allowed utilities to pass some wildfire-related costs along to customers. Fire Tracker Follow wildfires across the state Latest updates on wildfires burning across Northern and Southern California The bills author, state Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, said he supports utilities shutting off the power because of fire danger. Weve got to do whatever it takes. Thats one of the tools in the toolbox, until we have a more resilient electrical grid, Dodd said. I know its a great inconvenience, but the alternative is much more inconvenient. The commissions latest de-energization efforts drew praise from The Utility Reform Network, an industry watchdog. We think it makes a lot more sense to have the same set of standards for all utilities, said Mark Toney, the consumer groups executive director. The utilities commission has already scheduled two public workshops about de-energization, the first of which is next Friday in Santa Rosa, the area most devastated by the October 2017 wildfires. Another workshop is set for Jan. 9 in Calabasas (Los Angeles County). Commission officials expect a proposed decision on de-energization rules to come be out next summer and a final decision to follow shortly afterward. J.D. Morris is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jd.morris@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @thejdmorris WASHINGTON California is unlikely to get all the wildfire relief funding it has requested from Congress before the end of the year, Sen. Dianne Feinstein said Thursday. Gov. Jerry Brown asked for $9 billion in assistance in a letter to congressional leaders last month. We wont get $9 billion, Feinstein, D-Calif., told a Politico reporter Thursday, adding she would have to get an update on where relief stood. Two sources close to year-end funding negotiations said a disaster package for California and other states and U.S. territories is still being worked out. Besides relief for the devastating fires this year in Butte County and Southern California, lawmakers are working to pay for aid for victims of hurricanes and other recent disasters. A spokesman for Feinstein said the Democrat was not saying Californias funding would never come, but that it would not all come right away. The federal government offers funds for disaster relief in multiple ways, and money can be allocated in several bills over time. She appreciates that the (Senate) Appropriations Committee and congressional leaders are including disaster funding in a year-end spending bill, though all $9 billion may not come in the first round, Feinstein spokesman Adam Russell said. Instead, we expect the full amount will come in several tranches, just like last year, Russell said. Right now, there is plenty of disaster funding to pay for ongoing efforts, so spreading it out wont delay the recovery. Fire Tracker Follow wildfires across the state Latest updates on wildfires burning across Northern and Southern California Congress is racing to wrap up its business before new lawmakers are seated in January. Funding for roughly one-quarter of the government, including the Department of Homeland Security, the parent agency of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, had been scheduled to expire Friday, but Congress passed an extension through Dec. 21. Lawmakers and President Trump are in a standoff over money for his promised border wall. Trump and Republicans are pushing for $5 billion, while Democrats refuse to go above a previously negotiated $1.6 billion for border security. Tal Kopan is The San Francisco Chronicles Washington correspondent. Email: tal.kopan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @talkopan A group of Camp Fire survivors claim in a new lawsuit against Pacific Gas and Electric Co. to have pinned down how the deadly fire started, blaming the ignition of the blaze on a specific part of one of the utilitys transmission towers in Butte County. The suit filed Thursday in San Francisco Superior Court says the unprecedented fire began last month east of Paradise because of a poorly maintained jumper extension, which leads wires from one side of a transmission tower to another. As intense winds blew through the area Nov. 8, an uninsulated jumper cable made contact with the PG&E tower in question, sending blazing hot molten materials into dry vegetation and sparking what became Californias deadliest and most destructive wildfire, according to the lawsuit. Attorneys place blame directly on PG&Es failure to properly inspect and maintain the tower, according to the lawsuit, which was filed on behalf of 34 people who said they lost homes or property in the fire. The lawsuit does not say why the jumper made contact with the tower, but NBC Bay Area reported that authorities are looking at a steel hook supporting the extension, citing sources familiar with the investigation. Now Playing: From the Wine Country Fires to the Camp Fire, California has had a run of almost unimaginable damage to the already tight North Bay housing markets, let alone firestorms from the previous three years. KTVU's Tom Vacar reports. Video: KTVU PG&Es entire system is old and decrepit, and instead of inspecting and maintaining it in a prudent fashion, they simply let it run until it fails and then fix it, said Mike Danko, one of the attorneys involved in the suit. Most of the time, you get away with that. ... But you dont get away with it in the situation that we have with the drought and the dry conditions. PG&E did not comment on the claims in the suit, instead echoing its previous comments that the safety of the customers and communities it serves are its highest priority. We are aware of lawsuits regarding the Camp Fire, spokeswoman Mayra Tostado said in an email. Right now, our focus is on assessing infrastructure, safely restoring power where possible, and helping our customers recover and rebuild. Tostado also stressed that the Camp Fires cause is still under investigation. But speculation has centered around PG&E since the early days of the fire, after the utility told regulators its high-voltage Caribou-Palermo transmission line malfunctioned shortly before the first flames were reported in the area where the blaze reportedly began. Thursdays lawsuit includes pictures of the transmission line running through rugged, forested terrain. Five towers on the line near the Camp Fire origin point collapsed because of a winter storm in 2012, the lawsuit notes. The towers were replaced with temporary wooden poles in 2013, and steel towers were not installed until 2016, the suit says. Fire officials allowed representatives of affected parties to access the Camp Fire origin site Nov. 18, when pieces of insulators and other debris still littered the ground under the tower in question, according to the lawsuit. Authorities had removed failed wire sections and the jumper extension, the lawsuit says. A spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire, declined to comment. PG&E has also reported another part of its equipment malfunctioned shortly after the fire began, a revelation that has come under scrutiny as Cal Fire investigates a possible second start to the Camp Fire. Thursdays lawsuit includes a photo of what it describes as the location of that second outage. The photo appears to show a burned tree lying in front of an orange cone where lawyers say a distribution pole later removed by Cal Fire once stood. Fire Tracker Follow wildfires across the state Latest updates on wildfires burning across Northern and Southern California This outage was caused by the failure of a distribution line, and that failure ignited another blaze that was soon engulfed by and helped fuel the Camp Fire, the suit says. PG&E has endured a turbulent ride on Wall Street as its legal and regulatory challenges continue to mount since the Camp Fire broke out. Shares of the utilitys parent company, PG&E Corp., closed Friday at $25.79, nearly half their opening price the day the fire started. Camp Fire survivors have filed multiple suits against the energy company in San Francisco and Butte County courts, and a federal judge overseeing PG&Es probation because of the 2010 San Bruno pipeline blast has opened a new, wildfire-related line of inquiry. At the same time, the California Public Utilities Commission has said it wants to expand an investigation into PG&Es safety culture, originally born out of the San Bruno fallout, to include wildfires. The utility also faces the prospect that its equipment may be found responsible for starting last years Tubbs Fire, the most destructive of the devastating 2017 Wine Country wildfires. The cause of that fire is still under investigation, but investigators have said PG&E equipment started 17 other fires that burned through Northern California last year. Dario de Ghetaldi, another attorney representing plaintiffs in the suit filed Thursday, said the cause of the Camp Fire is distinctly clearer than the Tubbs Fire, even one month after this years blaze broke out. He noted the tower out on an exposed ridge at the origin point, along with the equipment taken by Cal Fire and the regulatory reports from PG&E. Theres not a lot of other possibilities, he said. I dont have any doubt. J.D. Morris is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jd.morris@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @thejdmorris A man accused of murdering a 16-year-old San Francisco high school student in the Outer Mission over the weekend stabbed the boy in the neck while the teen was recording a street brawl on his cell phone, prosecutors said Thursday. The defendant, 38-year-old Sergio Rocha, was then stabbed by someone else while allegedly swinging his knife during the fracas that broke out between two groups Saturday night at Geneva and Mission streets. The victim, Josue Mejia-Sanchez, a student at San Francisco International High School, died at the scene. Rocha was taken to the hospital, where he was later charged with murder, attempted murder and attempted aggravated mayhem. He remains hospitalized and was not present for his first scheduled court appearance on Thursday. The episode began around 9:40 p.m. as Rocha and his 48-year-old friend walked to a neighborhood pool hall, prosecutors said. The two men were confronted by two younger individuals who provoked a fight with the unnamed friend, Assistant District Attorney Michael Swart wrote in a motion to detain Rocha without bail. This friend then pursued two of the initial troublemakers and got into a fist fight with one of these unknown street toughs, which resulted in the individuals rolling on the ground and punching each other, Swart wrote. As the two fought on the ground, others began to circle around them, including Rocha and Mejia-Sanchez, who was last to arrive and appeared to be recording the fight on his phone, prosecutors said. Thats when Rocha suddenly pushed one of the people in the group and plunges his knife into the unsuspecting 16-year-olds neck, killing him instantly, Swart wrote. Rocha then swung the knife at another person in the group, who jumped out of the way of the blade, prosecutors said. Moments later, prosecutors said, someone else in the melee stabbed Rocha in the chest at the same time he was hit in the head with a beer bottle, causing Rocha to fall and hit his forehead on the concrete. 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. Paramedics took Rocha to San Francisco General Hospital where he underwent surgery for his wounds. While being questioned by police and shown video of the incident, Rocha identified himself, and eventually conceded he had a knife, Swart wrote. Rocha told police he had no intention of hurting anyone, prosecutors said. The San Francisco public defenders office was appointed to represent Rocha, but a spokeswoman for the office said it is too early to comment on the case. Tara Hobson, principal at San Francisco International High School, sent a letter to teachers on Monday, asking them to share the news of Mejia-Sanchezs death with their students. Death can be difficult for us to understand, especially when it is sudden, she wrote. We may experience many different feelings, such as shock, sadness, and confusion. I want you to know that we, the SF International staff and community care about you and your feelings and that all feelings are normal. Evan Sernoffsky is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky If you follow Tacos Oscars Instagram feed (@tacososcar), which is how most of its fans would find its tacos before the pop-up opened a permanent spot in Oakland last week, youve grown accustomed to seeing smiling, often ridiculously attractive, people wearing TACOS OSCAR TACO STALKER T-shirts. The photos arent just posted from Oakland, but from Paris, Berlin, Mexico City, London, Botswana, Guatemala, Bangkok, Oslo, Tokyo, Minnesota, a tractor in Pennsylvania, Burning Man (duh), the Taj Mahal, a Grateful Dead show in Los Angeles and a Wal-Mart in El Paso, Texas. Considering the clench-jawed effort some brands put into going viral, it would be tempting to read the T-shirt photos as an exercise in hype building. That is far more draconian than the real story, which is simply that Oscar Michel, the Oscar of Tacos Oscar, has a supernatural ability to make friends. After his neo-psychedelic rock band Gris Gris stopped touring a decade ago, Michel, 39, spent a few years working at Urban Ore, Berkeleys architectural salvage mecca. The former Dona Tomas chef stepped away from the job for a spell to work at an East Bay pizzeria and stage at more famous places, but he returned to Urban Ore. Rather than cook in restaurants, the Southern California Mexican American kid just wanted to re-create the breakfast tacos his band had inhaled every time they played in Austin, Texas. Michael Short / Special to The Chronicle, 2018 Michel talked about breakfast tacos so much, in fact, that in December 2013 one of his co-workers, who was opening a music studio in West Oakland, told him, Why dont you shut up and do something about it? That friend just a heads-up, the constellation of friends Michel mentions in telling his story is vast offered to float the cost of equipment and ingredients if Michel could make tacos to give away at the studios opening party. So Michel dropped a couple hundred bucks at the Coliseum flea market on a propane burner and a griddle, then picked up a block of masa from Oakland tortilla factory La Finca. At the party, Michel pressed and cooked tortillas by hand while a cook friend filled them and passed them out. They gave away the tacos but set a little tip jar next to the griddle. At the end of the night it had $700, Michel says. I thought, I could get used to this! Other friends soon commissioned Michel to make tacos in front of their shops. After a few pop-ups, he roped in Jake Weiss, 39, another former guitarist (band: Days Away), who had cooked in restaurants such as Delfina for decades. Hes a bit of a perfectionist, which is great. Im more aloof and artsy and weird, Michel says. I used to help my mom and grandmother cook, but he came from the Im-16-and-working-in-this-French-restaurant world. Weiss took over the prep for their events, the quality of the food spiked, and sometime during their weekly residency at Oaklands Starline Social Club in 2016, Tacos Oscar blew up. Eighty people would line up in front of a griddle only big enough to cook 12 tortillas at a time. Michel quit his Urban Ore job for good. Michael Short / Special to The Chronicle People loved the pop-ups fried-egg tacos and its take on quesadilla, made by melting and crisping the cheese directly on the griddle. Tacos Oscars psychedelic-cartoon flyers, most of them illustrated by a friend in Texas, didnt hurt. Most of all, fans loved the freshly made tortillas. Two Octobers ago, Michel was sitting at another friends bar, chatting about a couple of regulars who came to every pop-up he had started hanging out with them, naturally and Michel joked that his newest friends were his taco stalkers. His bartender friend bought some press-on velvet letters and showed up for the next pop-up wearing a T-shirt reading TACOS OSCAR TACO STALKER. Our homegirl made this rad shirt for our taco party last night at the Starline! Michel posted on Instagram. I want my own! So he made one. Back when Gris Gris had toured the couch-surfing-and-sweaty-van seats kind of touring, not the custom bus-and-groupies kind Michel said his band would roll into a new town, swing by a thrift shop and buy blank T-shirts to screen-print the bands logo on for DIY merch. Michel copied the velvet letters onto a printing screen and returned to the thrift stores. He advertised the shirts on Instagram, donating $5 from every sale to a cause like Sonoma fire relief, Mexico City earthquake recovery or an Oakland initiative called Mujeres Unidas y Activas. Customers bought out each new crop of shirts and sent him pictures of themselves wearing them in Jalisco, Mexico, say, or somewhere in Spain. Weiss parents took theirs to Zimbabwe. One stalker took a photo of herself standing in the surf in Hawaii, wearing the T-shirt over a bikini bottom. A week later another stalker, this one bearded, copied the outfit in a snowy field in Kansas City, Mo. Michel has mailed T-shirts to stalkers who have never been on the same continent as his tacos. Every time I see (the shirt), it warms my heart, Michel says. Its cool that these people are repping this weird, obscure reference. Michael Short / Special to The Chronicle 2018 Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more. For the past year and a half, Michel and Weiss have been upgrading a shipping container in Temescal, paying the rent by catering weddings and throwing the occasional pop-up. Nothings too thought-out or planned, Michel says. Thats probably why its taken us so damn long to open. But open it finally did on Nov. 30. The end of the shipping-container kitchen that faces 40th Street has a service window and a chalkboard that lists the days tacos and quesadillas, most priced in the $4 range. Customers file past the container to eat at wooden tables set up in a half-covered alley whose walls are painted robins egg blue. (A second shipping container is used for storage.) Michel and Weiss hope to add aguas frescas, a salad and an ever-changing bowl of beans nothing expensive or grandiose, considering they have minimal refrigeration in their shipping-container kitchen and then open for lunch and brunch-time Micheladas. We have tons of friends in the neighborhood, Michel says of the new location. Most of the business owners around him are people he knew from his years living in Temescal. Its a cool weird magnet. Three things about Tacos Oscar Where and when: Alleyway in the complex at 420 40th St., Oakland. 5-10 p.m. Monday, Thursday-Sunday. What to eat: The menu's still small and ever changing. Get any taco involving eggs - sometimes a fried egg, sometimes a herbed frittata - and the crisp-cheese quesadillas (both $4-$4.50). Vegan and vegetarian options are always available. Extra: A T-shirt, of course ($25, with $5 of the proceeds donated to a cause) See More Collapse Not long before opening day, Michel and Weiss ordered new and never worn T-shirts. Professionally printed on the back are the restaurants cactus logo and official address. One has already been spotted in Alaska. Jonathan Kauffman writes about dining culture in the Bay Area. Email: jkauffman@sfchronicle.com Twitter/Instagram: @jonkauffman WASHINGTON - Federal prosecutors filed new court papers Friday directly implicating President Donald Trump in plans to buy women's silence as far back as 2014 and offering new evidence of Russian efforts to forge a political alliance with Trump before he became president - disclosures that show the deepening political and legal morass enveloping the administration. The separate filings came from special counsel Robert Mueller III and federal prosecutors in New York ahead of Wednesday's sentencing of Trump's former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen. Taken together, the documents suggest that the president's legal woes are far from over and reveal a previously unreported contact from a Russian to Trump's inner circle during the campaign. But the documents do not answer the central question at the heart of Mueller's work - whether the president or those around him conspired with the Kremlin. The documents offer a scathing portrait of his former lawyer as a criminal who deserves little sympathy or mercy because he held back from telling the FBI everything he knew. For that reason, prosecutors said, he should be sentenced to "substantial" prison time, suggesting possibly 3 1/2 years. Trump immediately declared that he was vindicated. "Totally clears the president. Thank you!" he tweeted. White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said the Cohen filings "tell us nothing of value that wasn't already known." The special counsel's office said Cohen had provided "useful information" about its ongoing probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election, as well as "relevant information" about his contacts with people connected to the White House between 2017 and 2018. Mueller revealed that Cohen told prosecutors about what seemed to be a previously unknown November 2015 contact with a Russian national, who claimed to be a "trusted person" in the Russian Federation offering the campaign "political synergy" and "synergy on a government level." Cohen told investigators that the person, who was not identified, repeatedly proposed a meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying that such a meeting could have a "phenomenal" impact, "not only in political but in a business dimension as well," the special counsel's office wrote. Cohen, though, did not follow up on the invitation, because he was already working on a Trump project in Moscow through a different person he believed to have Russian government connections, the special counsel's office wrote. Prosecutors also singled out Trump as being directly involved in efforts to buy the silence of women who might level public allegations about him. The memo from New York prosecutors identifies three people at an August 2014 meeting: Cohen, "Individual 1" and "Chairman 1." The document elsewhere identifies Individual 1 as Trump, and people familiar with the case said Chairman 1 is David Pecker of the National Enquirer. "In August 2014, Chairman-1 had met with Cohen and Individual-1, and had offered to help deal with negative stories about Individual-1's relationships with women by identifying such stories so that they could be purchased and 'killed,' " the prosecutors' memorandum says. Cohen pleaded guilty in August to violating campaign finance law when he arranged payments to an adult-film star during the 2016 election. At the same time, he pleaded guilty to a handful of other crimes, including making a false statement to a bank. In recent weeks, he pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about efforts during the 2016 presidential campaign to get a Trump-branded tower built in Moscow. Cohen had asked for a sentence of no prison time, citing his cooperation with investigators. Mueller's office gave him some credit for his assistance, saying that while his crime was "serious," he had "taken significant steps to mitigate his criminal conduct." "He chose to accept responsibility for his false statements and admit to his conduct in open court. He also has gone to significant lengths to assist the Special Counsel's investigation," the office wrote. New York prosecutors, however, were far harsher in their assessment of Cohen's character, saying he should get only a modest reduction in an expected prison sentence of about five years. In their 38-page filing, they suggest he should receive about 3 1/2 years in prison. "He seeks extraordinary leniency - a sentence of no jail time - based principally on his rose-colored view of the seriousness of the crimes; his claims to a sympathetic personal history; and his provision of certain information to law enforcement," prosecutors wrote in their filing. "But the crimes committed by Cohen were more serious than his submission allows and were marked by a pattern of deception that permeated his professional life." The filing also suggests that Cohen's cooperation with law enforcement was not so significant to the investigations swirling around the president. "To be clear: Cohen does not have a cooperation agreement and is not . . . properly described as a 'cooperating witness,' as that term is commonly used in this District," the prosecutors wrote. Prosecutors also accused Cohen of holding back some of what he knew. "This Office understands that the information provided by Cohen to [Mueller's office] was ultimately credible and useful to its ongoing investigation," prosecutors wrote, but said they would not give him a legal letter detailing his cooperation because "Cohen repeatedly declined to provide full information about the scope of any additional criminal conduct in which he may have engaged or had knowledge." The two memos were submitted to U.S. District Court Judge William Pauley III, who is scheduled to sentence Cohen. Robert Mintz, a former federal prosecutor now in private practice, said the filings show that Cohen "was trying to have it both ways" and that, instead of succeeding, he became "a textbook example of how not to cooperate with federal prosecutors." Mueller submitted a seven-page memo that doesn't take any firm position on how long Cohen should spend in prison. In their memo, New York federal prosecutors lambasted Cohen, detailing his lies to the IRS and banks and his gaming of the campaign finance system - acts that prosecutors said were driven largely by his "own ambition and greed." Cohen, they claimed, relished the role of being Trump's "fixer," trying to use it to win a role in the administration, and then, when that failed, he set out to swindle companies out of money by tricking them into thinking he could provide access and insight. In reality, though, they said Cohen was not much more than "a man whose outlook on life was often to cheat," and he did not deserve to be spared entirely because he finally decided to plead guilty. "After cheating the IRS for years, lying to banks and to Congress, and seeking to criminally influence the Presidential election, Cohen's decision to plead guilty - rather than seek a pardon for his manifold crimes - does not make him a hero," prosecutors wrote. 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. Prosecutors repeatedly highlighted what they suggested was minimal information provided by Cohen, noting that while he also met with New York state investigators and tax authorities, that cooperation "warrants little to no consideration as a mitigating factor" because Cohen told them nothing of value beyond what they would probably have gotten without his help. The Mueller memo says that Cohen "repeated many of his prior false statements" when he met with the special counsel's office in August, and it was only in a second meeting on Sept. 12 - after he pleaded guilty to the campaign finance charges - that he admitted "his prior statements about the Moscow Project had been deliberately false and misleading." The special counsel's office wrote that Cohen's lies to Congress "obscured the fact that the Moscow Project was a lucrative business opportunity that sought, and likely required, the assistance of the Russian government," and that, if completed, the Trump Organization could have received "hundreds of millions of dollars from Russian sources in licensing fees and other revenues." They noted, as Cohen had already admitted, that Cohen and Trump discussed the project "well into the campaign." The special counsel's office added, though, that Cohen "has gone to significant lengths to assist the Special Counsel's investigation." The office wrote that Cohen had "explained financial aspects of the deal that would have made it highly lucrative," and, without prompting, he had corrected other statements he made about his contacts with Russian officials during the campaign. For example, Cohen said in a radio interview in September 2015 that Trump should meet with the president of Russia during the United Nations General Assembly, and he claimed for a time afterward that the comment had been "spontaneous" and not discussed with members of the campaign. In fact, the special counsel's office said, Cohen later admitted that he had conferred with Trump about contacting the Russian government for the meeting - which ultimately did not take place. In asking for a sentence of no prison time, Cohen stressed his extensive cooperation with Mueller as well as investigators from other agencies. His lawyers linked his wrongdoing directly to Trump, writing that Cohen was motivated to pay the women to keep quiet and lie to Congress out of his "fierce loyalty" to Trump. Trump had publicly denied the affairs and said he "stayed away" from business in Russia. "He could have fought the government and continued to hold to the party line, positioning himself perhaps for a pardon or clemency, but, instead - for himself, his family, and his country - he took personal responsibility for his own wrongdoing and contributed, and is prepared to continue to contribute, to an investigation that he views as thoroughly legitimate and vital," Cohen's lawyers wrote in court papers submitted last week. For his part, Trump ridiculed Cohen's request on Twitter and seemed to contrast him with Roger Stone, a longtime Trump adviser who has suggested publicly that he would be unwilling to cooperate against the president. Of Cohen, Trump said, "He lied for this outcome and should, in my opinion, serve a full and complete sentence." Of Stone, he said, "Nice to know that some people still have 'guts!' " --- Video Embed Code Video: Federal prosecutors filed new court papers on Dec. 7 that revealed a previously unreported contact from a Russian to Trump's inner circle during the campaign.(Melissa Macaya ,Monica Akhtar/The Washington Post) Embed code: RIMBO, Sweden Yemens warring sides agreed to a broad prisoner swap Thursday, sitting down in the same room together for the first time in years at U.N.-sponsored peace talks in Sweden aimed at halting a catastrophic war that has brought the country to the brink of famine. Hopes were high that the talks wouldnt deteriorate into further violence as in the past, and that the prisoner exchange would be an important first step toward building confidence between highly distrustful adversaries. The 3-year-old conflict pits the internationally recognized government, which is backed by a Saudi-led coalition, against Shiite rebels known as Houthis, who took the capital of Sanaa in 2014. The Saudis intervened the following year. U.N. envoy Martin Griffiths said the two sides have signaled they are serious about de-escalating the fighting through calls theyve made in recent weeks, and urged them to work to further reduce the violence in the Arab worlds poorest nation, scene of massive civilian suffering. Im also pleased to announce the signing of an agreement on the exchange of prisoners, detainees, the missing, the forcibly detained and individuals placed under house arrest, Griffiths said from the venue. It will allow thousands of families to be reunited, and it is product of very effective, active work from both delegations. The international Red Cross said it would oversee the prisoner exchange, which is expected to take weeks. The talks in the Swedish town of Rimbo, north of Stockholm, aim to set up a framework for negotiations on a future peace agreement, Griffiths said, calling the coming days a milestone nonetheless and urging the parties to work in good faith ... to deliver a message of peace. The fighting in Yemen has generated the worlds worst humanitarian crisis and claimed at least 10,000 lives, with experts estimating a much higher toll. 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 Saudi-led group has conducted thousands of air strikes, hitting schools, hospitals and wedding parties in what critics call reckless bombardment. The Houthis have, for their part, fired long-range missiles into Saudi Arabia and targeted vessels in the Red Sea. Both sides stand accused of war crimes. U.N. officials, however, have sought to downplay expectations from the talks, saying they dont foresee rapid progress toward a political settlement but hope for at least minor steps that would help to address Yemens worsening humanitarian crisis and prepare a framework for further negotiations. Griffiths said the talks would address several main points mentioned by both sides: broader prisoner exchanges, the release of funds to the central bank to pay civil servants in rebel-controlled territory, a possible handover of the port at Hodeida to the United Nations, and rebel calls to lift the coalitions blockade of Sanaa airport to commercial traffic. David Keyton and Brian Rohan are Associated Press writers. One had to notice Donald Trumps discomfort at the funeral service for George H.W. Bush. Trump struggled to sit through something that wasnt all about him. In fact, it was all about what he is not. Speakers eulogized Bush for appealing to our best instincts, not our worst impulses. For sharing credit in victory and shouldering the blame in losses. For his loyalty to the institutions of government. For being respected by world leaders. For his courage and bravery as a war hero. For his honor, integrity, dignity and decency. And for a life code that began with tell the truth. The entire ceremony was a repudiation of Trump and his inadequacy as both a leader and as a man. Gary Cavalli, Danville Front-page news Seriously, the stories on George H.W. Bushs state funeral on page 8?! Are you kidding me? Every newsworthy paper in the country has this event on their newspapers front page. I am very disappointed. Mary Beth Eadie, San Mateo Crazy stereotypes As someone who is of Asian descent, I agreed with much of what was expressed by the writer of Crazy Rich Asians is distant from reality (Open Forum, Dec. 6). Much of the foreign wealth and glamour of the Asian characters in this movie is simply a fantasy, as is the tacked on happy ending when a 20-something female college professor accepts her rich boyfriends marriage proposal despite being rejected (and treated quite rudely) by both his mother and grandmother. Its also true that many groups within the Asian community dont have the same educational or economic opportunities, and that this issue needs to be further addressed. However, Im hopeful that the success of Crazy Rich Asians will lead to more mainstream movies about our lives, and more reality-based films with Asians in leading roles. Thankfully, the age of those stereotypical Charlie Chan movies is in the distant past. Jenny Wong, Daly City Help the inmates Anyone who works with inmates or the Department of Corrections is a hero in my book. I have talked to many people who have taken certain classes within the prison and when they are released they have to take other classes in order to get a drivers license, which cripples their progress and is a form of double jeopardy. Californians know that much must be done to reduce the revolving-door process. Arsenia Harrison, Sacramento The housing crisis Regarding No-park city (editorial, Dec. 6): Im fine with new residential construction in San Francisco being garage-free. Fewer young people today are buying cars or even getting a drivers license, and many walk, bike, or sometimes take a Lyft or Uber. However, unless the cost of new housing is made more affordable to rent or buy, more and more Millennial and Generation Z members will be living with their parents well into their 20s and 30s and borrowing their cars to get around. Annabelle Devereaux, San Francisco U.S. must lead The latest report card on carbon emissions shows how critical it is for the United States to take the lead on action to address global warming (Greenhouse-gas emissions soar, stalling global warming battle, Dec. 6). Our best hope for immediate action comes in the form of the bipartisan Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act, recently introduced in Congress, which would put a serious dent in U.S. emissions while protecting low-income households by refunding the proceeds of a carbon fee to every American. Lets show the world that we can be climate leaders again. Ben Keller, Oakland Antidote for anxiety As a psychiatrist, anxiety is part of my daily life; it is my bread and butter. I am pretty adept at helping folks with their suffering. But now I find myself also afflicted. My form of anxiety, presenting with intrusive worrying, nightmares and catastrophic fears of impending doom, has a different diagnostic label. We psychiatrists who work in the realm of understanding mental health impacts of climate change call it eco-anxiety. This morning, facing the news reports of increasing carbon dioxide levels measured for 2017 sent me into a state. I also have the prescription to manage my anxiety: engaged sustained political action. Fending off worries by passive retreat or avoiding facing the reality of the looming threats of climate change are not effective coping strategies. My prescription: be active and engaged in advocating and creating solutions. Make sure your congressional representatives hear your voice demanding urgent policy solutions. Act now: Contact your congressperson demanding support for the new House bill, Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act (HR7173) and the Green New Deal. Help yourself manage the worries while helping the world with real solutions. Robin Cooper, San Francisco Read The Chronicle Does anyone but me find it odd that Page One of the Dec. 6 Chronicle contains an article entitled Serious Shortage of Muni drivers while the page 13 editorial discusses the Board of Supervisors doing away with mandatory parking requirements for new buildings? If were going to be a transit first city, arent we going to need reliable transit first? Scooters, bikes and rental rides are not a viable option for many senior citizens, while our increasingly unreliable bus system makes living in the city a transportation nightmare. It might be helpful if our politicians would read The Chronicle before making city policy decisions. Carl Koehler, San Francisco The real Santas many helpers Lets put to rest this controversy about Santa Claus and the misguided teacher who was trying to convince her pupils that Santa Claus isnt real. The first Santa Claus lived in Myra, in what we now call Turkey. His name was St. Nicholas. He was a Catholic bishop who secretly distributed money to many families or individuals who were in dire straits. What a generous person! How grateful we can be that he walked the face of the Earth in the fourth century. Lets rather celebrate the presence of the Kris Kringles and all the others we call Santa Claus as his multitude of helpers loving the children down through the centuries. How many can say they have had so many helpers doing the good they inspired? Mary Anne Anderson, Orinda All of a sudden, San Francisco has an extra $181 million to spend. It comes from excess education funds, and some officials hope thats exactly how it will be spent: on education. Specifically, teacher pay raises. So far, proposals at City Hall exclude using the money for schools, with Mayor London Breed pushing to fund homelessness initiatives. The Board of Supervisors three new, incoming members, however, say extra funding for schools will be a priority for them. The windfall comes as the school district is facing a legal challenge to a new parcel tax that would raise $50 million annually, most of it for a teacher pay raise. School officials say that means they dont have the expected funding to cover the 7 percent teacher pay hike. So, the windfall suddenly becomes a potential solution. The citys sudden influx of cash came from the Educational Revenue Augmentation Fund, or ERAF, a state program that shifts a portion of local property taxes to public school systems in each county. When county auditors determine that there is enough money to meet the minimum state requirements for its public schools and community colleges, the remaining funds are returned to the local governments. San Francisco learned last week that it was getting money back for the first time. School district officials knew that there might be a challenge to Proposition G, the parcel tax that voters approved in June to give teachers the pay raise. But they implemented the raise anyway, saying they had fiscal contingency plans as they waited for the funds and the Nov. 26 deadline to challenge the measure in court. At the 11th hour on Nov. 26, San Francisco resident Wayne Nowak filed a challenge in response to City Attorney Dennis Herreras September request for the courts to validate the citys use of a simple voter majority instead of a two-thirds threshold to pass Prop. G. Nowaks attorneys declined to comment or make their client available for comment. Given the threat of a legal challenge, the city had already planned to collect the parcel tax money from property owners but hold it in escrow until the case is resolved, which could take years. For more than two decades, passing a tax measure for a specific purpose like teacher salary increases has required a two-thirds majority to pass. But Prop G. is one of three San Francisco tax measures voters have passed this year without that supermajority. The passages were based on Herreras interpretation of a recent state Supreme Court ruling to mean that tax measures put on the ballot by citizens not government officials need only a simple majority vote to pass. All face the same legal challenge. Among the three measures a child care tax measure and the pay raise in June and Novembers Proposition C to pay for homeless services the city will collect up to $500 million in annual tax revenue without the freedom to spend it. Spending plans Mayor's proposal $90.5 million to the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing and Department of Public Heath for homeless and behavioral health services. $90.5 million to the Mayor's Office of Housing and Community Development for affordable housing projects. Supervisors' proposal $121 million to Mayor's Office of Housing and Community Development and Department of Public Health for affordable housing and acquisition of small sites to prevent evictions. $50 million to the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission to purchase electric utility equipment from PG&E to help decrease the city's dependence on the utility. $10 million to the Human Services Agency to help meet some of the goals of June's Universal Childcare for All ballot initiative. See More Collapse The city received a total of $414.7 million in excess ERAF funds for both the previous and current fiscal year, with more than half required to go toward budget reserves and to certain city agencies. The citys public schools get about $35 million for youth services and rainy day reserves. That leaves the $181 million up for grabs. Breed wants to spend all the money on homelessness initiatives outlined by Novembers Prop. C, which she opposed. It would raise $300 million in taxes from the citys largest businesses. The measure passed with 61 percent approval. A proposal by several supervisors seeks to divvy up the money for homelessness initiatives, energy independence and child care. Supervisor Norman Yee said he would like to see a portion of the supervisors plan go toward one-time teacher bonuses. School board President Stevon Cook said he agrees homelessness is a top priority for the city, but hes concerned about the lack of revenue for the teacher raise. Our teachers are definitely going to be on edge until thats resolved, he said. Im sure that people in (Breeds) administration would be concerned if teachers in effect have to go through a pay cut. Both Yee and Supervisor Hillary Ronen noted that because the schools are already getting a chunk of the total excess ERAF funds, they would like to see how the school system plans to spend the money before committing to giving them more. The politically powerful teachers union will be pushing city officials to consider the needs of teachers and students. Last school year we lost 700 teachers and para-educators, but we were able to fill nearly every position with qualified educators due to Prop. G, said Elaine Merriweather, the executive vice president for United Educators of San Francisco. Without this critical support from the city, we risk even more turnover next year, which would be a terrible blow not only to the impacted educators but to the students and families we serve. The Board of Supervisors cant take up the allocation until next year, which means there will be three new supervisors who will have a say on how the money is spent. And each one of them Matt Haney, Shamann Walton and Gordon Mar support extra funding for schools. The source of these funds literally has the word education in it, said Haney, the incoming District Six supervisor and a former school board president who is still a member of that board. Shouldnt it be incumbent on us to make sure that schools, students and teachers are high on our list of priorities when looking at how to allocate these unexpected resources? Walton, the incoming District 10 supervisor, said if there arent resources from the $181 million going into education, it will be very problematic for me. I think its exciting to have this revenue and these resources, and I want to make sure that everyone remembers the word education as they allocate the funds, said Walton, who is also a former school board president and still a member of the board. Similarly, incoming District Four Supervisor Mar said short-term Prop. G bridge funding is a high priority for him, along with homelessness and housing initiatives. Jeff Cretan, the mayors communications director, said Breed remains focused on using the surplus funds to address homelessness and mental health and substance abuse disorders for people suffering on our streets. Obviously, a significant portion of this funding is going to education already, Cretan said. There are a lot of priorities for our city, and (Breed) will work with everyone on them. Nevertheless, he added that the mayor is open to conversations about how to spend the ERAF windfall. Were exploring all options to enact the educator raises and other priorities the majority of San Francisco voters supported in June, district spokeswoman Gentle Blythe said. Amid all the back-and-forth from the politicians, several public school parents are also starting to make noise about getting a chunk of the money for their kids schools. Heather Stephenson, who has a second-grader at Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy, said its unfair that public schools have largely been left out of conversations about where the extra windfall money will go. Stephenson, 45, said she would like to see some of the windfall money go toward one-time spending on things such as keyboards and laptop access for the kids. Were a city that is built on the back of a highly educated workforce, and the fact that our schools arent the best schools in the entire world is just embarrassing, she said. Jill Tucker, Trisha Thadani and Dominic Fraccassa are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com, tthadani@sfchronicle.com, dfracassa@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JillTucker, @TrishaThadani, @DominicFracassa Courtesy of Octaviano family Family members are asking for the publics help in locating a 22-year-old UC Irvine student last seen walking near the Golden Gate Bridge tunnel on Black Friday. Gavin Cusi Octaviano, an alumnus of St. Ignatius College Preparatory in San Francisco, traveled to San Francisco on Nov. 21 to spend Thanksgiving with his family and celebrate his birthday. On Nov. 23, surveillance cameras captured him parking a family members 2008 Mercedes Benz C 300 in the northern Golden Gate Bridge parking lot at 5:20 p.m., according to a statement from his family. THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. (AP) A sheriff's deputy who died in a mass shooting at a Southern California bar was shot five times by a gunman who massacred 11 others, but the officer was killed by friendly fire, authorities said Friday. Sgt. Ron Helus was fatally shot in the heart by a California highway patrolman who had joined him in a firefight with the gunman at the Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks on Nov. 7, Ventura County Sheriff Bill Ayub said "It was just a tragic detail that unfolded so rapidly, in my view it was unavoidable," Ayub said. "They were ambushed almost immediately." Ayub said the fatal shot did not diminish the heroism shown by the officers. The CHP officer was not identified, but is a 9-year veteran of the force who is on leave. Investigators did not offer any more insight into what drove Ian David Long, 28, to storm the country and western bar at an event for college students. Long took his own life after the gun battle with the two officers. Long threw smoke grenades into the group of revelers, obstructing what they could see, before he opened fire. Then he used a flashlight with a laser sight attached to his .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol as he fired. Panicked revelers smashed windows to flee, dived under tables and piled on top of each other in an effort to dodge the gunfire. The first two officers to arrive at the scene, Helus and a California Highway Patrol officer, saw at least 100 people fleeing the bar. Long had gotten into a tactical position and fired on them when they entered, killing Helus. The 29-year veteran of the department was close to retirement. 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 The flight deal gurus at Thrifty Traveler have teamed up with SFGate to provide a weekly roundup of the best domestic and international flight deals from the San Francisco Bay Area. This week our deals include flights from Bay Area airports to Dallas, Paris, Austin, Bangkok, Long Beach, and Ho Chi Minh City. All fares listed are round trip. We will only suggest highly restricted "Basic Economy" fares for flights of less than two hours. (This is our weekly feature called Friday Fare Deals. If you are a Bay Area bargain hunter, be sure to tune in each Friday morning or sign up for our email alerts. ) If you have family or friends who've moved away to Texas, you can go visit them on the cheap in coming months...or you can fly them back to the Bay. DALLAS: Nonstop and roundtrip flights from San Francisco to Dallas are $176 for select dates in January and February. This nonstop route is usually over $200. Availability into Dallas Fort Worth is available on American; however, we prefer the Alaska fares that include advanced seat assignment and a free carry-on bag. $176 - San Francisco (SFO) to Dallas Love Field (DAL) - Alaska Airlines AUSTIN: Alaska Airlines is serving up some cheap fares to Texas from the Bay Area this week. Alaska has also cut prices on nonstop flights from San Jose to Austin. This route tends to cost over $230 but is just $176 this January and February. These cheap nonstop routes on Alaska are some of the best cheap domestic fares, as they always include advanced seat assignment and a free carry-on. $176 - San Jose (SJC) to Austin (AUS) - Alaska Airlines LONG BEACH: Looking for a quick and cheap beach getaway? Take advantage of Jetblues sub-$100 prices to Long Beach this winter and spring. This nonstop route is just $96 roundtrip; typically closer to $180. With Jetblue all fares include advance seat selection and a free carry-on bag. Plus, Jetblue economy provides more legroom than any other US carrier! This cheap flight deal is available from January through April. $96 - San Jose (SJC) to Long Beach (LGB) - Jetblue Airlines Don Bartletti / TNS Check out Thrifty Traveler Premium for daily international flight deal notifications. PARIS: We told you about the crazy cheap nonstop flights to Paris in last week's fare deals, but that deal is back and even better. A fare war has broken out between the US carriers on nonstop routes to Paris, and United is challenging Deltas ultra-low fares. This means even more savings (and miles!) for you as the traveler. For select dates in January, September, and October, you can fly to Paris for $374 nonstop and round trip on United. ($475 fares are more prevalent, which is still quite a bargain) This United fare includes a personal item, carry-on bag, and advanced seat assignment. Nonstop flights to Paris out of the Bay Area are typically $700+. $374-$475 - San Francisco (SFO) to Paris (CDG) - United *NONSTOP* Barkley Dean BANGKOK: Thailand on your bucket list? Heres your chance! 4-star airline China Southern has heavily discounted their fares to SE Asia this week. Typically, flights to Bangkok are well over $800. However, for select dates this February and March, you can fly to Thailand for half that price. Only one connection (in Wuhan, China) required each way. China Southern fares include advance seat assignment, checked bags, and meals. $420 - San Francisco (SFO) to Bangkok, Thailand (BKK) - China Southern Hey Traveler! Don't miss out on a thing! Sign up here for our free bi-weekly travel news email updates. HO CHI MINH CITY: These cheap fares from San Francisco on China Southern are also live for flights to Vietnam. If you havent been, we highly recommend visiting Vietnam. Flights to Vietnam typically cost over $800, but are more than $300 off right now. Book a flight for select dates in February or March (including Spring Break availability) and check out Ho Chi Minh City. Only one connection in Wuhan, China required each way. China Southern fares include advanced seat assignment, checked bags, and meals. $457 - San Francisco (SFO) to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (SGN) - China Southern All flights are best found via the Google Flights links list here. New to Google Flights? Check out Thrifty Travelers guide. All fares are round-trip and valid at the time of posting, but as always, are subject to change. Read all recent TravelSkills posts here Get twice-per-week updates from TravelSkills via email! Sign up here Chris McGinnis is the founder of TravelSkills.com. The author is solely responsible for the content above, and it is used here by permission. You can reach Chris at chris@travelskills.com or on Twitter @cjmcginnis. A small family business in Morgan Hill that uses goats for landscaping suffered a difficult blow this week when a herd of 60 pregnant goats was stolen from their farm, CBS reported. Green Goat Landscapers said a trailer with the goats was taken from the area of Santa Teresa Boulevard in late November, and found abandoned and empty on East Main near Highway 101. The thief also allegedly vandalized a watering system used for the herd. Owner Brian Allen said the goats among them Zorro, Big Guy and Oreo are part of the family. HUH: Trailer said to contain more than $100,000 in Ramen noodles stolen Allen estimated the value of the stolen goats and vandalized property at $10,000, quite a setback for a small local business. The stolen goats were expected to give birth to an additional 200 goats, he told CBS. Letting goats graze on weeds is an increasingly popular alternative to using herbicides and chemical weedkillers. ALSO: Scott Wiener says he'll reintroduce common sense bill to combat auto burglaries The stolen goats were well loved by the company's customers. Green Goat's customers said they're happy with the companies services and the goats appear to be satisfied, too. "About 40 goats roamed the area for a week munching and chewing weeds and grasses," wrote Donna A., a customer in Cupertino, on Yelp earlier this year. "This is such an eco friendly way to handle weed abatement in our whole area and along Permanente Creek. Everyone seemed contented especially the goats!" Others call the goats "awesome," "adorable" and "professional." Allen is reportedly desperate to get the stolen goats back, posting flyers and scouring Craigslist ads, but all to no avail so far. The company is currently offering a reward for information that leads to the return of the goats. Filipa Ioannou is an SFGATE staff writer. Email her at fioannou@sfchronicle.com and follow her on Twitter SAN DIEGO The lines for asylum-seekers waiting to enter the U.S. at California ports of entry are the longest of any along the southwest border, according to a forthcoming report. The new report a partnership between the University of Texas at Austin Robert Strauss Center, the UC San Diego Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies and the Migration Policy Center found disparate and often unclear methods for getting added to a wait list depending on where an asylum-seeker is hoping to cross the border. U.S. authorities have tried to push asylum-seekers to ports of entry, said Savitri Arvey, a researcher at Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies at UC San Diego. When asylum-seekers show up to ports of entry to request asylum, the process is not that simple. Customs and Border Protection officials say the number of people they can take each day to begin the asylum process depends on how much space they have available in their holding cells. Lawyers and advocates, on the other hand, have questioned the legality as well as the ethics of telling those who are ostensibly fleeing for their lives to wait in a country where they might still be in danger. U.S. officials practice of metering or limiting the number of people seeking protection let in each day started in California before extending along the entire border. Such policies have led to wait lists, operated in some cities by Mexican officials and in others by non-government organizations. In Tijuana, migrants themselves manage the list in a notebook provided by Mexican officials to determine who will cross next to ask the U.S. for help. The metering policy that has led to long lines is believed to cause more asylum-seekers to try to cross into the U.S. illegally, according to a government watchdog report. CBP countered that in order to balance resources among its responsibilities including detecting drug smugglers and facilitating international trade the agency has to limit how many asylum-seekers come in its doors at a time. The number waiting to ask for help in San Diego grew to more than 5,100 since a migrant caravan arrived in November. Depending on the day, CBP officials in San Ysidro, where the asylum line forms, take in between 20 and 80 people per day. Researchers estimate it would take about three months for those currently at the back of the line in Tijuana to make it to the front. Kate Morrissey is a San Diego Union-Tribune writer. CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. A man who drove his car into a crowd of counterprotesters at a white nationalist rally in Virginia was convicted Friday of first-degree murder for killing a woman in an attack that inflamed long-simmering racial and political tensions across the country. A state jury rejected arguments that James Alex Fields Jr. acted in self-defense during a Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville on Aug. 12, 2017. Jurors also convicted Fields of eight other charges, including aggravated malicious wounding and hit and run. Fields, 21, drove to Virginia from his home in Maumee, Ohio, to support the white nationalists. As a group of counterprotesters marched through Charlottesville, he stopped his car, backed up, then sped into the crowd, according to testimony from witnesses and video surveillance shown to jurors. Prosecutors told the jury that Fields was angry after witnessing violent clashes between the two sides earlier in the day. The violence prompted police to shut down the rally before it even officially began. Heather Heyer, a 32-year-old paralegal and civil rights activist, was killed, and nearly three dozen others were injured. The trial featured emotional testimony from survivors who described devastating injuries. The far-right rally had been organized in part to protest the planned removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. Hundreds of Ku Klux Klan members, neo-Nazis and other white nationalists emboldened by the election of President Trump streamed into the college town for one of the largest gatherings of white supremacists in a decade. Some dressed in battle gear. Afterward, Trump inflamed tensions even further when he said both sides were to blame, a comment some saw as a refusal to condemn racism. According to one of his former teachers, Fields was known in high school for being fascinated with Nazism and idolizing Adolf Hitler. Jurors were shown a text message he sent to his mother days before the rally that included an image of the notorious German dictator. But Fields lawyers told the jury that he drove into the crowd on the day of the rally because he feared for his life and was scared to death by earlier violence he had witnessed. The jury will reconvene Monday to determine a sentence. Under the law, jurors can recommend from 20 years to life in prison. Fields is eligible for the death penalty if convicted of separate federal hate crime charges. No trial has been scheduled yet. Denise Lavoie is an Associated Press writer. WASHINGTON President Trumps former lawyer, Michael Cohen, was in touch as far back as 2015 with a Russian who offered political synergy with the Trump election campaign, the federal special counsel said Friday in a court filing. Filings by prosecutors from both New York and the Trump-Russia special counsels office laid out for the first time details of the cooperation of Cohen, a vital witness who once said hed take a bullet for the president but who in recent months has become a prime antagonist and pledged to come clean with the government. Federal prosecutors said Friday that Cohen deserves a substantial prison sentence despite his cooperation with investigators. He is to be sentenced next week, and may face several years in prison. In an additional filing Friday evening, prosecutors said former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort lied to them about his contacts with a Russian associate and Trump administration officials. Manafort, who has pleaded guilty to several counts, violated his plea agreement by then telling multiple discernible lies to prosecutors, they said. In hours of meetings with prosecutors, Cohen detailed his intimate involvement in an array of episodes, including some that directly touch the president, that are at the center of investigations into campaign finance violations and potential collusion between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin. In one of the filings, Mueller details how Cohen spoke to a Russian who claimed to be a trusted person in the Russian Federation who could offer the campaign political synergy. The filing says the meeting never happened. Cohen also discussed a Moscow real estate deal that could have netted Trumps business hundreds of millions of dollars and conversations with a Russian intermediary who proposed a meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin as well as offering synergy with the campaign, prosecutors said. Cohen also described his work in conjunction with Trump in orchestrating hush money payments to two women a porn star and a Playboy model who said they had sex with Trump a decade earlier. Prosecutors in New York, where Cohen pleaded guilty in August in connection with those payments, said the lawyer acted in coordination and at the direction of Trump. Despite such specific allegations of Trumps actions, the president quickly tweeted after news of the filings: Totally clears the President. Thank you! Prosecutors in Cohens case said that even though he cooperated in their investigation into the hush money payments to women he nonetheless deserved to spend time in prison. Chad Day, Eric Tucker and Jim Mustian are Associated Press writers. WASHINGTON President Trump announced Friday hes nominating State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert to be the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Heather Nauert will be nominated, Trump said Friday. Shes very talented, very smart, very quick, and I think shes going to be respected by all. If she is confirmed by the Senate, Nauert, a former Fox News Channel reporter who had little foreign policy experience before becoming State Department spokeswoman, will replace Nikki Haley. Haley, a former South Carolina governor, announced in October that she would step down at the end of this year. Plucked from Fox by the White House to serve as State Department spokeswoman, Nauert catapulted into the upper echelons of the agencys hierarchy when Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was fired in March and replaced with Mike Pompeo. Nauert was then appointed acting undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs and was for a time the highest-ranking woman and fourth highest-ranking official in the building. Nauert was a breaking news anchor on Trumps favorite television show, Fox & Friends, when she was tapped to be the face and voice of the administrations foreign policy. With a masters degree from Columbia Universitys Graduate School of Journalism, she had moved to Fox from ABC News, where she was a general assignment reporter. She hadnt specialized in foreign policy or international relations. Shut out from the top by Tillerson and his inner circle, Nauert developed relationships with career diplomats. Barred from traveling with Tillerson, she embarked on her own overseas trips, visiting Bangladesh and Myanmar last year to see the plight of Rohingya Muslims. Catherine Lucey, Matthew Lee and Zeke Miller are Associated Press writers. WASHINGTON The Supreme Court justices sounded unwilling Thursday to overturn a long-standing precedent that allows a state and the federal government to prosecute a person for the same crime despite the constitutional ban on double jeopardy. A lawyer for Terance Gamble, an Alabama man who was prosecuted in both state and federal court for being a felon in possession of a gun, urged the court to restore the original meaning of the Fifth Amendment protection against double jeopardy. But his argument ran into surprisingly strong skepticism from both liberal and conservative justices, who said they were inclined to stick with precedent. This is a 170-year-old rule, said Justice Elena Kagan. It has been repeatedly upheld by more than 30 justices, and Kagan said she was uncomfortable in tossing it out now. In the 1960s, the U.S. Justice Department used the exception to protect blacks and civil rights workers in the South. If violent crimes against them resulted in acquittals before all-white state juries, federal prosecutors could bring a separate prosecution under federal civil rights law. More recently in Los Angeles, this doctrine allowed federal prosecutors to charge and convict four police officers in the beating of motorist Rodney King after they had been acquitted of essentially the same charges under state law in Simi Valley. Some legal experts said a high court ruling striking down the separate sovereigns exception could pose problems for special counsel Robert Mueller and his prosecutions of advisers to President Trump, including his former campaign manager, Paul Manafort. If Trump were to pardon Manafort for the federal crimes and the Supreme Court eliminated the exception, states could be limited in bringing their own charges for the same crimes. But during arguments Thursday it looked as if such concerns were premature. Justice Brett Kavanaugh appeared to agree with Kagan. Upholding long-standing precedents is part of the original understanding of the Constitution, he said, adding that the justices should not overturn such a precedent without clear evidence that it was wrong and unworkable. David G. Savage is a Los Angeles Times writer. HOUSTON Thousands waved and cheered along the route as funeral train No. 4141 for the 41st president carried George H.W. Bushs remains to their final resting place on Thursday, his last journey as a week of national remembrance took on a decidedly personal feel in an emotional home state farewell. Some people laid coins along the tracks that wound through small town Texas so a 420,000-pound locomotive pulling the nations first funeral train in nearly half a century could crunch them into souvenirs. Others snapped pictures or crowded for views so close that police helicopters overhead had to warn them back. Elementary students hoisted a banner simply reading THANK YOU. 3 1 of 3 DOUG MILLS;Doug Mills / New York Times Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Doug Mills / New York Times Show More Show Less 3 of 3 WASHINGTON President Trump inched closer to his long-teased major White House shake-up Friday, gearing up for the twin challenges of battling for re-election and dealing with the Democrats investigations once they take control of the House. The biggest piece of the shifting picture: Chief of Staff John Kellys departure now appears certain. Kellys replacement in the coming weeks is expected to have a ripple effect throughout the administration. According to nearly a dozen current and former administration officials and outside confidants, Trump is nearly ready to replace Kelly and has even begun telling people to contact the man long viewed as his likely successor. John Kelly, the White House chief of staff, is likely to leave his post in the next few days, ending a tumultuous 16-month tenure still among the longest for a senior aide to President Donald Trump, two people with direct knowledge of the developments said Friday. Kelly and Trump have grown weary of each other. But Trump, according to several senior administration officials and people close to him, has so far been unable to bring himself to personally fire a retired four-star general. Documents released by the British Parliament show that the social media giant gave select companies special access to users data. San Jose City Council approves the sale of 10 acres of public land to the tech giant, a move that would make it the citys largest employer and a catalyst for downtown revitalization. Marriott Silence the drums and chants. Call off the boycotts. The two-month hotel strike is over, with 99.6 percent of the workers approving a new contract. Kamala Harris OAKLAND (BCN) A two-time felon who was one of the 17 people who was charged for a robbery scheme earlier this year that targeted Apple retail stores across the state that resulted in the loss of more than $1 million was placed on probation and set free today. Joshua Cole, 19, pleaded guilty on Oct. 22 to felony conspiracy and felony second-degree commercial robbery for his role in a robbery at the Apple store at 5640 Bay St. in Emeryville on Sept. 25 in which about $60,000 worth of merchandise was stolen. At a brief hearing today, Alameda County Superior Court Judge James Cramer gave Cole credit for the time he's already served in custody and placed him on three years' probation. Cole previously was convicted on March 23 of carrying a concealed firearm and on April 10, 2017, of second-degree burglary. Cole was one of 10 suspects who were charged in connection with the robbery at the Apple store in Emeryville on Sept. 25. Six of the 10 suspects are still in custody. Two defendants in the case are scheduled to be sentenced next week. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said in late September that he filed charges for the 17 suspects in Apple store robberies statewide, including the Emeryville case, in Alameda, Santa Clara and Fresno counties. Becerra said the defendants are charged with entering Apple retail stores in large groups wearing hoodies and snatching products on display in a matter of seconds. He said the alleged crimes took place in 19 counties. He said local law enforcement agencies from seven Bay Area counties were among agencies in 19 counties that assisted in the investigation. Becerra's office didn't respond today to a request for comment on the case. Copyright 2018 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera sued a Menlo Park investment advisor and her husband today, alleging that she fraudulently bought an affordable housing unit in the city and then illegally rented it out. Caroline Novak bought a studio condominium at 300 Beale St. in 1999 for $178,500, according to the San Francisco Superior Court lawsuit. The sale was made under a program in which developers are required to make some units available to low- and moderate-income first-time homebuyers at below-market rates. The lawsuit alleges that Novak lied on her application when she failed to list any assets and said she didn't own any real estate, although she in fact co-owned a house in San Mateo with her parents at the time. It claims Novak and her husband Igor Lotvsin leveraged loans and lines of credit on the unit to buy a market-rate apartment in the building for $1,025,000 in 2010 and then a $2.25 million house in 2015 in Redwood City, where they allegedly now live. From 2010 to 2014, the couple allegedly illegally rented the studio for $2,000 to $3,000 per month, in violation of a requirement that buyers must either live in the affordable housing units, sell them to another low-income buyer or obtain permission to rent, the lawsuit contends. Novak and Lotsvin are now co-managers of Sage Rhino Capital LLC, an investment advisory firm, in Menlo Park. Novak could not be reached for comment today. The lawsuit asks for penalties of up to $3,500 per day for alleged fraudulent business practices and an injunction requiring the couple to work with the city to sell the studio to a qualified affordable housing buyer. Novak worked as an investment advisor with Merrill Lynch Pierce Fenner & Smith Inc. in Menlo Park from 2004 until she resigned on Dec. 15, 2017, following an allegation of "failure to disclose an outside business activity," according to a listing maintained by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. She previously worked an investment advisor with Morgan Stanley in San Mateo from 2002 to 2004, according to the listing. The lawsuit also alleges that in response to inquiries from the San Francisco Mayor's Office of Housing and Community Development in 2015, 2016 and 2017, Novak falsely stated under penalty of perjury that she lived in the studio unit. Herrera said lawyers in his office have investigated 21 other cases of affordable housing fraud and obtained $3.3 million in judgments and settlements. Almost of the units have been resold to buyers in the affordable housing program, he said. The city attorney said fraud in the program can be reported to the housing office's anonymous hotline at (415) 701-5613 or to sfhousinginfo@sfgov.org. Copyright 2018 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) The family of a 21-year-old man killed by San Francisco police during an alleged shootout at an Excelsior District barbershop earlier this year has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city. This morning, the family of Jehad Eid and their attorney announced they filed the lawsuit Wednesday in federal court in San Francisco. Eid's family, who are Muslim immigrants with Palestinian roots, said they were devastated by the March 21 officer-involved shooting, which police said began when Eid fired at them first. "He was just taken too soon. We feel sorry for the cops when they have a situation (like this), but it's also a time for them to feel sorry for us and what happened to our son. They took him away from us," Jehad's father Ziad Eid said. According to Jehad's uncle Eid Eid, their family has owned multiple businesses in San Francisco over the last 40 or 50 years. "We helped the city a lot and we were always involved in the city in a good way. So to have one of our own killed by SFPD was really a shock to us," he said. Civil rights attorney Dan Siegel, representing the Eid family, said, "Horribly, this is a daily occurrence. Every day in the U.S. a young person is killed by the police. Most of these killing are inappropriate, improper, and result from an unlawful use of excessive force, which in most cases is motivated by some sort of racism, or ethnic bias. We are determined to end this epidemic and to end it in San Francisco." Siegel also said police officers overreacted to the situation instead using of de-escalation tactics that were being encouraged since the Police Department adopted a new use of force policy in 2016. The lawsuit claims the two police officers involved in the shooting "used excessive and unnecessary force ... because they lacked reasonable cause to believe that he posed a threat." Jehad, a Suisun City resident, was working as a mobile phone salesman at the time of the shooting, the lawsuit said. Police said the shooting unfolded when family members told police Jehad was threatening them, flashed a gun and was trying to break into their garage. When police arrived, officers were told he was at the Amazon Barber Shop at 949 Geneva Ave. When officers entered the shop, Eid shot at them first, police said. Two officers identified as Officers Kevin Endo and Tess Casey then fired back, striking Eid. According to Siegel, Endo and Casey fired at least 12 shots. Eid was taken to the hospital, where he died. An officer was also injured in the shooting, as well as a minor and three men, police said. In addition to the city, the Police Department and Chief William Scott have also been named as plaintiffs in the suit. 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. Community members, college students and staff and a city official will gather this morning to celebrate the unveiling of the Frida Kahlo Way street signs in San Francisco, according to the office of Supervisor Norman Yee. Frida Kahlo Way is not a new street, rather the new name for Phelan Way, the address of City College of San Francisco. The street is changing names because James Duval Phelan, who the street was named after, used anti-immigration rhetoric and was a leader in the anti-Japanese movement, according to the University of San Francisco. Frida Kahlo was a Mexican painter who achieved international popularity and was married to Mexican muralist Diego Rivera, according to Frida Kahlo Foundation. The unveiling will take place at 10 a.m. at the Diego Rivera Theater on the Ocean campus of City College of San Francisco at 50 Frida Kahlo Way. The Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office has identified the deputy who fatally shot a Discovery Bay man Wednesday morning. The deputy's name was released Thursday. Matthew Gauthier has been with the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office for more than eight years. He was placed on administrative leave. The shooting unfolded shortly after 9:30 a.m. when Gauthier and another deputy were finishing up a call on Adelaide Drive in unincorporated Pacheco and spotted Paul Ridgeway who Gauthier eventually shot and killed. Prosecutors say a man now charged with murder fatally stabbed a 16-year-old boy in the neck as the teen was filming a street fight Saturday night in San Francisco's Excelsior neighborhood. Sergio Rocha, 38, was scheduled to be arraigned Thursday afternoon in San Francisco Superior Court for the killing of Josue Mejia-Sanchez. Rocha's arraignment, however, was continued to Monday, as he remains hospitalized for injuries he suffered in the melee that prosecutors said happened after the stabbing. San Jose plans to work with electric scooter companies to address reports of injuries and impacted traffic caused by the mobile technology, the city reported. The city made the announcement Thursday. Mayor Sam Liccardo and council members signed a memorandum Wednesday to curb scooter speeds in high-traffic areas and receive safety data from scooter companies. Multiple injuries and two deaths have been reported in the U.S. since shareable electric scooters first made their appearance over a year ago, according to the city. Users access the scooters through mobile applications and are able to pick them up on various street corners. Liccardo said the proposal is an effort to make scooters safer, while allowing them to remain on the streets for improved accessibility and enjoyment. "Here in the heart of Silicon Valley, we can leverage technology to improve safety risks, while supporting the mobility options that thousands of our residents clearly want," Liccardo said in a statement. Hayward Mayor Barbara Halliday and other elected officials are expected to attend the opening today of a home for formerly incarcerated women who are seeking to be reunified with their children. The "Brighter Futures" home is the brainchild of Kim Carter, a former addict and homeless person who's been recognized as one of CNN's "Top 10 Heroes" and received the 2018 James Irvine Leadership Award for helping to create solutions to California's most pressing social issues. Carter has reunited a total of 282 children from foster care back with their mothers and helped more than 1,500 women reach self-sufficiency. Carter said that 27 years ago she was among the homeless population where substance abuse and incarceration was the daily norm but she was able to rebuild her life, receive a governor's pardon and help other women in similar situations. 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 JOSE (BCN) A 32-year-old man was arrested this morning for alleged DUI after crashing into an apartment complex in the Willow Glen neighborhood of San Jose early this morning. The crash happened at 1:23 a.m. in the 1000 block of Meridian Avenue when a man driving a white Honda Accord north on the street rear-ended a black Volkswagen Sedan, police said. Both vehicles lost control and crashed into an apartment complex at the same address. The drivers were taken to the hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening, and no one inside the apartment was injured, police said. Daniel Alberto Quintana was arrested after being released from the hospital and booked into Santa Clara County jail on suspicion of DUI. 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. An 83-year-old man is missing this evening and San Rafael police are asking for help finding him, police said. Alan Tritz is 6 feet 1 inch tall, 170 pounds and was last seen today at 8:30 a.m. He may have driven to the San Francisco area. Tritz was wearing a blue polo shirt and a gray sweatshirt with a "Children's Benefit Society" logo and tan pants. He may be in a 1997 dark green Honda Civic with license plate No. 3WPU136. Anyone with information that can help find Tritz is asked to call 911 or San Rafael police at (415) 485-3000. Copyright 2018 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) San Francisco police are warning the city's Chinese community of an ongoing "blessing scam," where scammers play on residents' beliefs to extort money from them. Scammers did this twice last week in different parts of the city, making off with a significant amount of money, according to police. The first theft happened on Nov. 29 on Schwerin Street in San Francisco's Visitacion Valley neighborhood. A group of suspects convinced the victim to go home and bring them as much money as she could for a blessing to protect her son, according to police. When the victim returned with the money, she felt someone tug at her bag but was distracted by one of the suspects. The suspects then told her that she didn't need to pay. When the victim got home she realized her money was gone, police said. A similar scam happened two days later near 6th Avenue and Clement Street. On Dec. 1, two suspects talked to the victim about herbs to heal a sick family member. A third suspect then told the victim she could "read her aura" and predicted a tragedy would befall the victim's family within a few days, according to police. The victim gathered money and valuables and returned for a blessing. But the suspects stole everything, according to police. Police didn't say exactly how much money was stolen in either incident. Police are asking family members and caregivers to talk to their older relatives and warn them of the scam. Potential victims should call police. "The San Francisco Police Department urges older members of the Chinese community to be suspicious of strangers claiming to provide relief from a curse, an illness, or who provide 'purification' ceremonies in which cash and valuable items must be offered as part of the process," police said in a statement. Anyone with information about the scams is asked to call the SFPD 24-hour tip line at (415) 575-4444. Tips can be texted to TIP411. 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) The owner of a financial services enterprise has been arrested and charged in federal court in San Francisco with fraud in connection with an alleged scheme to steal millions of dollars from people trying to repay student loans. Brandon Frere, 41, of Sonoma County, was arrested at San Francisco International Airport Tuesday night as he attempted to board a flight to Cancun, Mexico, according to U.S. Attorney's Office spokesman Abraham Simmons. Frere was charged with one count of wire fraud in a criminal complaint filed under seal Tuesday and unsealed after his initial appearance before a federal magistrate on Wednesday. FBI Agent Christopher Bognanno said in an affidavit accompanying the complaint that he believed Frere, who has allegedly stashed $7 million in bank accounts in Andorra and Luxembourg, may have been preparing to flee the country. Frere is in custody and will reappear before U.S. Magistrate Sallie Kim in San Francisco on Monday for a detention hearing and identification of his defense lawyer. The fraud charge would carry a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, if Frere is convicted. Between 2011 and 2015, Frere established three companies that purported to help borrowers, for a fee, to prepare documents seeking student loan forgiveness or reduction. The companies are American Financial Benefits Center, Ameritech Financial, and Financial Education Benefits Center. They took in more than $28 million between 2014 and early 2018, according to the complaint. The complaint alleges that Frere and the companies misrepresented the victims' legal ability to reduce their loans and misrepresented structure and purpose of fees they charged. It claims that company agents encouraged borrowers to pay enrollment and monthly membership fees to the education center and obscured the fact that those fees were not related to debt repayment. Bognanno wrote, "Frere targeted recipients of federal student loans who were often struggling to make payments and devised a scheme to steal millions of dollars from them for the benefit of himself and his family members." The criminal investigation came after the Federal Trade Commission filed a civil consumer fraud lawsuit against Frere and the companies in February. In the civil case, U.S District Judge Saundra Brown Armstrong of Oakland issued a preliminary injunction on Nov. 29 barring Frere and the companies from offering debt relief services, collecting fees, or taking control of any assets. Armstrong said Frere and the companies had engaged in "deceptive and abusive acts." She also appointed a receiver for the companies. Bognanno said in the complaint that Frere was told on Nov. 29 that Armstrong was about to issue an injunction. He then allegedly transferred $400,000 out of three company bank accounts 45 minutes before the injunction was issued. The money went to accounts for himself, his family and his lawyers, Bognanno 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. SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) The San Francisco Fire Department pulled a man from the surf at Ocean Beach and rushed him to a local hospital where he was in critical condition this afternoon, according to SFFD. The fire department put out a tweet around 12:30 p.m. saying authorities were performing CPR on the man, who had apparently been surfing today when things went awry. He was rushed to the hospital in critical condition a little after 1 p.m., according to the fire department. A beach hazard went in effect Thursday afternoon but was lifted this morning at 8 a.m., according to the National Weather Service. Further information was not immediately available. 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 serial arsonist from Pittsburg has been convicted of 31 arson-related felonies this week, Contra Costa County Fire Protection District officials announced today. James Bishop III faces up to more than 20 years in prison when he is sentenced on Jan. 25, according to the fire district. Bishop was arrested in May 2017 after authorities noticed an increase in the number of vehicle fires in the area, with many sharing common characteristics such as the use of an accelerant on the cars' exteriors, fire officials said. Using security footage from homes and businesses near the scenes of the fires, investigators identified a Toyota RAV4 associated with Bishop and arrested him on May 12. A Contra Costa County Superior Court jury found him guilty Tuesday in connection with 14 fires among 45 that were examined as part of the investigation. The fires occurred in Pittsburg, Antioch, Martinez, Pleasant Hill, Concord, Walnut Creek, Lafayette, Brentwood and Benicia. Retail store giant Target Corp. has agreed to pay $7.4 million to settle allegations that it violated a 2011 stipulated judgment regarding the company's handling and disposal of retail hazardous waste, prosecutors said. Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O'Malley said the current settlement in Alameda County Superior Court follows investigations of Target's conduct between 2012 and 2016, during which time she said the Minnesota-based company committed violations by improperly disposing hazardous waste into landfills. O'Malley said the waste included items such as electronics, batteries, aerosol cans, compact fluorescent light bulbs and medical waste including syringes, over-the-counter and prescribed pharmaceuticals and confidential medical information from its customers. O'Malley was part of a coalition of 24 local governments and California Attorney General Xavier Becerra that filed suit against Target, which is the eighth-largest department store retailer in the U.S. A 41-year-old Discovery Bay man fatally shot by a Contra Costa County sheriff's deputy after allegedly firing his own gun at the deputy in unincorporated Pacheco on Wednesday has been identified by the sheriff's office as Paul Ridgeway. Shortly after 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, two deputies were finishing up a response to a call on Adelaide Drive when one noticed Ridgeway, who had an outstanding warrant and was on foot near Pacheco Boulevard and Adelaide Drive, according to the sheriff's office. The deputy went to contact him, but Ridgeway allegedly reached into his waistband while running away, prompting a foot pursuit. The deputy commanded him to show his hands and tried to physically control him, sheriff's officials said. During the struggle, Ridgeway allegedly pulled out a firearm from his waistband and fired a shot toward the deputy's head but missed. The deputy returned fire and shot Ridgeway, who was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the sheriff's office. Ridgeway had a no-bail warrant for evading and resisting arrest in another county, was an alleged gang member with multiple prior law enforcement contacts for assault, theft and other offenses, sheriff's officials said. A man shot to death in East Oakland late last month has been identified as Sean Ramsey of Oakland, according to the Alameda County coroner's bureau and police. Officers who responded to a report of a shooting in the 7300 block of Bancroft Avenue, near the Eastmont Town Center, at about 1:15 p.m. on Nov. 26 found Ramsey, 28, suffering from an apparent gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead at the scene, according to police. BART directors voted unanimously today to approve a new four-year contract with the transit district's police officers that will give them a 16 percent pay raise over the next four years. BART officials said salaries for police officers are rapidly rising nationwide and the new labor package is needed to brings their officers closer to average salaries in the Bay Area. The agreement includes a one-time 6 percent salary increase as well as annual raises ranging from 2.5 percent to 2.75 percent over the life of the four-year contract. BART officials said an important provision of the agreement allows its Police Department to hire outside contractors to help with background checks for officer candidates. A Southwest Airlines flight that departed from Oakland this morning slid off the runway as it landed at Hollywood Burbank Airport, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman said. Southwest Flight 278 took off from Oakland International Airport around 8 a.m., but upon landing at about 9:05 a.m. at the Burbank airport, the plane rolled off the end of Runway 8, FAA spokesman Ian Gregor said. The plane came to a stop in the Engineered Material Arresting System, a safety system designed to help stop a plane if it rolls off the runway, Gregor said. Southwest officials wrote on Twitter that there were 112 passengers and five crewmembers on the plane, and they all safely got off the aircraft. No injuries were reported but some flights have been canceled or delayed into Burbank as a result of the incident, according to the airport. The family of a 21-year-old man killed by San Francisco police during an alleged shootout at an Excelsior District barbershop earlier this year has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city. This morning, the family of Jehad Eid and their attorney announced they filed the lawsuit Wednesday in federal court in San Francisco. Eid's family, who are Muslim immigrants with Palestinian roots, said they were devastated by the March 21 officer-involved shooting, which police said began when Eid fired at them first. Civil rights attorney Dan Siegel said police officers overreacted to the situation instead using of de-escalation tactics that were being encouraged since the Police Department adopted a new use of force policy in 2016. The lawsuit claims the two police officers involved in the shooting "used excessive and unnecessary force ... because they lacked reasonable cause to believe that he posed a threat." San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera sued a Menlo Park investment advisor and her husband today, alleging that she fraudulently bought an affordable housing unit in the city and then illegally rented it out. Caroline Novak bought a studio condominium at 300 Beale St. in 1999 for $178,500, according to the San Francisco Superior Court lawsuit. The sale was made under a program in which developers are required to make some units available to low- and moderate-income first-time homebuyers at below-market rates. The lawsuit alleges that Novak lied on her application when she failed to list any assets and said she didn't own any real estate, although she in fact co-owned a house in San Mateo with her parents at the time. It claims Novak and her husband Igor Lotvsin leveraged loans and lines of credit on the unit to buy a market-rate apartment in the building for $1,025,000 in 2010 and then a $2.25 million house in 2015 in Redwood City, where they allegedly now live. From 2010 to 2014, the couple allegedly illegally rented the studio for $2,000 to $3,000 per month, in violation of a requirement that buyers must either live in the affordable housing units, sell them to another low-income buyer or obtain permission to rent, the lawsuit contends. A Ukiah man who was arrested by Cloverdale police after a bank robbery Tuesday is suspected of robbing other banks in the North Bay, a Santa Rosa police sergeant said. Cloverdale police arrested Travis Strickland, 37, during a traffic stop shortly after a suspect wearing a wig and a hat robbed the Exchange Bank at 116 S. Cloverdale Blvd. around 5 p.m. Tuesday, Sgt. Josh Ludtke said. Strickland is suspected of bank robberies and attempted robberies in Ukiah, Cloverdale, Healdsburg and Santa Rosa, Ludtke said. Santa Rosa police detectives searched Strickland's home and vehicle and found clothing and other evidence of bank robberies, including a Nov. 20 robbery of an Exchange Bank in Santa Rosa, according to Ludtke. A 20-year-old man was injured in a shooting in San Francisco's Bayview District early this morning, police said. The shooting was reported at about 3:45 a.m. in the area of Third Street and Newcomb Avenue. The victim was walking in the area when he was shot in the leg. He was taken to a hospital and is expected to survive, according to police. The suspect was described as a male but no detailed description of him was immediately released. 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. OAKLAND (BCN) A transient man with seven prior felony convictions has been convicted of first-degree murder for fatally stabbing another man during a dispute over a bicycle at a homeless camp in Oakland in late May. Jurors delivered their verdict against Mario Castineda, 37, for the death of 52-year-old John Bell late Thursday afternoon after only a day of deliberations. The jury's verdict means that Castineda faces at least 26 years to life in state prison when Alameda County Superior Court Judge Trina Thompson sentences him on March 8, as it also convicted him of using a knife to kill Bell and of having prior convictions that could add to his term. Castineda's lawyer Tiffany Danao told jurors in her opening statement last week that Castineda is innocent because the description of his attacker that Bell provided to police before he died doesn't match Castineda. Danao said Bell, who was stabbed at the camp in the area of Fifth and Webster streets underneath Interstate Highway 880 on May 26 and died five days later, described his assailant as an Asian man in his early 20s who was about 5-foot-3 and weighs about 120 pounds. But the defense lawyer said Castineda is Mexican, is in his late 30s and is significantly larger than 5-foot-3 and 120 pounds. Jail records list Castineda as 5-foot-9 and 165 pounds. Danao told jurors, "Mr. Castineda is innocent and the government has charged the wrong man." She said, "Mario Castineda did not stab John Bell." But Alameda County prosecutor Tim Wagstaffe said today that Bell consistently said that the man who stabbed him was "Rio," which is Castineda's nickname. Wagstaffe also said that at one point Bell described his attacker as "a short Mexican guy" and his later description "wasn't that far off" the mark. Wagstaffe said he thinks the evidence against Castineda was "fairly overwhelming" and that's why the jury convicted him quickly. Oakland police Officer Hector Jimenez wrote in a probable cause statement that Castineda stabbed Bell at the homeless camp on May 26 and then rode off with Bell's bicycle, which was later recovered at a nearby Shell gas station. After he was attacked, Castineda was taken to a hospital, where he was treated and released. However, on May 31 Bell succumbed to his stabbing wounds and was pronounced dead after police found him at Fifth and Webster streets. Jimenez testified that a witness at the homeless camp told police that Bell was getting the best of a fight over his bicycle and then Castineda pulled a knife out of his pocket and stabbed Bell. Jimenez said the witness told police that when he confronted Castineda after Bell died Castineda said he didn't mean to kill Bell and Bell's death was an accident. Jimenez said pathologist Dr. Thomas Rogers ruled that the two stabbing wounds that Bell suffered in his abdomen punctured his abdomen and ultimately caused his death. Wagstaffe said doctors released Bell from the hospital because X-rays and scans didn't show the depth and severity of the knife wounds he suffered. The prosecutor described Bell's death as "tragic" and "very painful" and said Bell had a follow-up appointment scheduled at the hospital for the day after he died. Castineda's prior convictions, which date back to 2000, include assault, possession of a controlled substance, receiving stolen property, unlawful driving or taking of a vehicle and possession of a firearm by a felon. 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. The Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office has identified the deputy who fatally shot a Discovery Bay man Wednesday morning. Matthew Gauthier has been with the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office for more than eight years. He was placed on administrative leave. The shooting unfolded shortly after 9:30 a.m. when Gauthier and another deputy were finishing up a call on Adelaide Drive in unincorporated Pacheco. Gauthier noticed Paul Ridgeway, who had an outstanding warrant, standing near Pacheco Boulevard and Adelaide Drive, the sheriff's office said. When Gauthier tried to contact him, Ridgeway reached into his waistband while running away, prompting a pursuit, according to the sheriff's office. Gauthier ordered Ridgeway to show his hands and tried to physically control him, sheriff's officials said. During a struggle, Ridgeway allegedly pulled a firearm from his waistband and fired a shot, which missed Gauthier's head. Gauthier returned fire and hit Ridgeway who died at the scene, according to the sheriff's office. The shooting scene was processed Wednesday. Ridgeway was face down on the ground and when technicians turned his body over they found a loaded gun with his finger on the trigger, according to the sheriff's office. An extended gun magazine was found in Ridgeway's pocket and an expended bullet casing was found near Ridgeway, sheriff's officials said. Ridgeway was allegedly a member of the Family Affiliated Irish Mafia and an associate of the Nazi Low Riders, which are white supremacist prison and street gangs, according to the sheriff's office. Ridgeway had a no-bail warrant for evading and resisting arrest from another county, sheriff's officials said. He also had extensive prior contacts with law enforcement that included drug possession, assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a stolen vehicle and possession of burglary tools and parole violations, according to the sheriff'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. Western forces fighting in southern Afghanistan had a problem. Too often, soldiers on patrol passed an older man walking hand-in-hand with a pretty young boy. Their behavior suggested he was not the boy's father. Then, British soldiers found that young Afghan men were actually trying to "touch and fondle them," military investigator AnnaMaria Cardinalli told me. "The soldiers didn't understand." All of this was so disconcerting that the Defense Department hired Cardinalli, a social scientist, to examine this mystery. Her report, "Pashtun Sexuality," startled not even one Afghan. But Western forces were shocked - and repulsed. For centuries, Afghan men have taken boys, roughly 9 to 15 years old, as lovers. Some research suggests that half the Pashtun tribal members in Kandahar and other southern towns are bacha baz, the term for an older man with a boy lover. Literally it means "boy player." The men like to boast about it. "Having a boy has become a custom for us," Enayatullah, a 42-year-old in Baghlan province, told a Reuters reporter. "Whoever wants to show off should have a boy." Baghlan province is in the northeast, but Afghans say pedophilia is most prevalent among Pashtun men in the south. The Pashtun are Afghanistan's most important tribe. For centuries, the nation's leaders have been Pashtun. President Hamid Karzai is Pashtun, from a village near Kandahar, and he has six brothers. So the natural question arises: Has anyone in the Karzai family been bacha baz? Two Afghans with close connections to the Karzai family told me they know that at least one family member and perhaps two were bacha baz. Afraid of retribution, both declined to be identified and would not be more specific for publication. As for Karzai, an American who worked in and around his palace in an official capacity for many months told me that homosexual behavior "was rampant" among "soldiers and guys on the security detail. They talked about boys all the time." He added, "I didn't see Karzai with anyone. He was in his palace most of the time." He, too, declined to be identified. In Kandahar, population about 500,000, and other towns, dance parties are a popular, often weekly, pastime. Young boys dress up as girls, wearing makeup and bells on their feet, and dance for a dozen or more leering middle-aged men who throw money at them and then take them home. A recent State Department report called "dancing boys" a "widespread, culturally sanctioned form of male rape." So, why are American and NATO forces fighting and dying to defend tens of thousands of proud pedophiles, certainly more per capita than any other place on Earth? And how did Afghanistan become the pedophilia capital of Asia? Sociologists and anthropologists say the problem results from perverse interpretation of Islamic law. Women are simply unapproachable. Afghan men cannot talk to an unrelated woman until after proposing marriage. Before then, they can't even look at a woman, except perhaps her feet. Otherwise she is covered, head to ankle. "How can you fall in love if you can't see her face," 29-year-old Mohammed Daud told reporters. "We can see the boys, so we can tell which are beautiful." Even after marriage, many men keep their boys, suggesting a loveless life at home. A favored Afghan expression goes: "Women are for children, boys are for pleasure." Fundamentalist imams, exaggerating a biblical passage on menstruation, teach that women are "unclean" and therefore distasteful. One married man even asked Cardinalli's team "how his wife could become pregnant," her report said. When that was explained, he "reacted with disgust" and asked, "How could one feel desire to be with a woman, who God has made unclean?" That helps explain why women are hidden away - and stoned to death if they are perceived to have misbehaved. Islamic law also forbids homosexuality. But the pedophiles explain that away. It's not homosexuality, they aver, because they aren't in love with their boys. Addressing the loathsome mistreatment of Afghan women remains a primary goal for coalition governments, as it should be. But what about the boys, thousands upon thousands of little boys who are victims of serial rape over many years, destroying their lives - and Afghan society. "There's no issue more horrifying and more deserving of our attention than this," Cardinalli said. "I'm continually haunted by what I saw." As one boy, in tow of a man he called "my lord," told the Reuters reporter: "Once I grow up, I will be an owner, and I will have my own boys." 2010 Joel Brinkley An animal hospital in the East Bay has seen a nearly threefold increase in animals being shot over the past year and fears that the culprit may be people using the animals as target practice. ALSO: Herd of pregnant goats stolen from East Bay landscaping business Staff at the animal hospital at the Lindsay Wildlife Experience in Walnut Creek called the increase a "disturbing trend" in a Facebook post Friday. The hospital normally sees 10 to 15 animals with shooting injuries each year, but has taken in seven such animals in the past month alone, and a total of 30 in 2018. The rise has them alarmed. MORE: Golden eagle shot with pellet gun in such bad shape, vets thought it was hit by a car "From birds to mammals, these animals are coming in from all over and we do not know why this is happening," the hospital wrote. "We can only speculate that people are using the animals as target practice or see them as nuisances." Earlier this year, the hospital took in a golden eagle who had been so thoroughly injured by a pellet gun, vets initially thought he had been struck by a car. "It is hard enough to see a beautiful bird like this injured by an accident," Lindsay veterinarian Allison Daugherty said at the time. "Realizing that someone may have done this deliberately makes it even worse." Most of the animals do not survive their injuries. Lindsay staff encourage anyone who sees a possible illegal wildlife shooting to call the California Fish and Wildlife hotline at (888)-334-CALTIP. Filipa Ioannou is an SFGATE staff writer. Email her at fioannou@sfchronicle.com and follow her on Twitter The chatter over who will run against President Trump in 2020 is starting to intensify, with Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., saying she's mulling the decision over the holidays and Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., heading to New Hampshire to test the waters. Now, Cher, iconic deliverer of such spicy Twitter takes as "Something is amiss with ipad" and "IM NOT YELLING ... IM CHER" is weighing in. ALSO: Eric Swalwell apologizes for 'boo-hoo' jab at Susan Collins At the top of her ideal ticket is former Vice President Joe Biden, another person with a career spanning over half a century of highs ("Moonstruck" and the Violence Against Women Act respectively) and lows ("Mama Mia: Here We Go Again" and the Anita Hill hearings come to mind). "I know Joe Biden and I know him to be a really great man," Cher told ITK earlier this week. But Biden is 76 years old, and much as she might like to, Cher can't turn back time; The next best thing is a younger running mate. MORE: Biden says he's the most qualified person to be president "I would love to see [Biden] with someone young," she said. But who? The answers lie in California. "Kamala Harris or I can't remember what Swalwell's first name is," suggested Cher, referring to the Democratic California Senator, who is 54, and Rep. Eric Swalwell, who is 38. Swalwell was gracious about the mixed compliment. "I love Cher's music and am honored she'd consider me for that role," he said. "I also give her a lot of credit for remembering the harder part of my name." The 2020 race is likely to get ugly fast, but perhaps it's some comfort to Swalwell that Cher really does think he's strong enough. Filipa Ioannou is an SFGATE staff writer. Email her at fioannou@sfchronicle.com and follow her on Twitter On Friday afternoon, federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York recommended that Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's former personal attorney, receive a "substantial term of imprisonment." The 40-page document outlines some of Cohen's work during the 2016 campaign, when he was serving as Trump's lawyer. Getting to the airport for a flight out of town is a certain sort of headache. While there's a strong possibility the trip is under the best of circumstances (read: vacation), the pre-flight hoops one must jump through until you're settled in your assigned plane seating are, well, taxing. Everyone believes they know the best option for getting to San Francisco International Airport. In a spirited dissection of the topic in a recent SFGATE meeting, everything from BART to rideshares to driving and parking, was discussed. Is it faster to get to the airport by car, when there's inconveniences such as traffic and parking, or via BART, when that has its own set of possible delays and issues? CALIFORNIA VS. TEXAS: What things cost in San Francisco compared to the 'cheapest' US city And beyond the time spent getting to the airport, there's also the question of cost. BART rides from San Francisco to the airport typically cost anywhere from $8.75 to $9.15, one way; parking at SFO can cost anywhere from $24 - $36 per day; rideshares, well ... that is anyone's guess, depending on the time of day and surge pricing. We decided to test out two methods of getting to the airport, pitting BART versus rideshare services such as Lyft or Uber. The busiest day and time for departing travelers are Fridays, between 6 a.m. to 12 noon, according to SFO public information officer Doug Yakel. With that information in mind, we found ourselves at Union Square at 10:18 a.m. on a Friday, ready to depart on a highly scientific (ahem) adventure to see who could get to the airport fastest, and how much each option costs. SFGATE writer Filipa Ioannou set out for the Powell Street BART station, while writer Dianne de Guzman hailed a ride from Lyft to the airport. Read through the slideshow above to see how the two fared in their trips to San Francisco International Airport. Twenty20 Kizhakkambalam, a project initiated to demolish the LakshamVeedu colonies under Kizhakkambalam Panchayath to rebuild them to Gods Villa was inaugurated by versatile actor, Kamal Hassan along with Makkal Neethimayam members - C.K Kumaravel, P A Rajanarayanan, Kizhakkambalam Grama Panchayath President - KV Jacob , Vice President - Jincy Aji, Eastern Group MD - Navas Meeran, Arjuna Naturals Extracts MD - P J Kunjachan. Twenty20 along with Kizhakkambalam Panchayat has rebuilded 73 houses namely Njarallur (37 houses), Velangu (24 houses), Kanamburam (8 houses) and Makkenikkara (4 houses). As a part of the project, the completed 37 houses of Njarallur Colony were handed over to the families along with Possession Certificate by Kamal Hassan. The house in four cents includes two bedrooms, a hall, and kitchen with car parking facility along with amenities such as European toilet, sink, light and water. Also, Twenty20 has provided accessories like fan, fancy lights, furniture, dining tables, mixer/grinder, beds, TV, and sofa sets worth Rs 2 lakh at 50 per cent of the cost. Water connections are provided to each house with independent storage tanks of 1000 litres. Besides that, a 25,000 litre common water tank, two wells and a bore-well is also constructed to make sure water supply is available for the colony. Commenting on the occasion, Kamal Haasan, says, I have come here not as a dignitary but as a partner, and will continuously, shamelessly copy the idea implemented by my friend Sabu M Jacob that helps in nation building. My vision is not blurred by party life. With a single vision and healthiest competition both me and Sabu Jacob will work as an individual of civic citizen. For executing good ideas, we need power. With sheer perseverance one can overcome any hindrances. Earnestness is the first thing I see here. For nation building, one must change personally. The main goal of neo political leaders is to secure more money for development rather than to earn money. Entire cost for the Njarellur project is six crores out of which Twenty20 has spent five crores 26 lakhs and the Panchayath spent 74 lakhs under the government scheme LakshamVeeduOttaveedakkal Project. Along with other welfare activities, Twenty20 Kizhakkambalam has completed 300 houses for the poor and renovated 800 houses with modern amenities. Sabu M Jacob, Twenty20 - Chief Co-Ordinator & MD, Kitex Garments, says, Successive political parties have ruled the panchayat for 20 years. But the life of voters, who were poor, remained the same. Thats why I decided to change their lives. I want to make Kizhakkambalam Panchayat the best in the country by the year 2020. 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We teach the right concepts required to become a SCWCD. We do not expect our students to memorize some concepts or trick questions or programming examples to pass a test. We prepare them to be real software developer where they are able to fix existing code, develop new code to build web applications, document and be able to explain what their code or someone else code does. We require that students have access to a laptop or PC to install required software and work on real problems as part of this course. As a pre requisite the student should have the knowledge of Java programming language and basic knowledge of HTML and JavaScript to attend this course. Course consist of prepared lecture notes, videos of lectures, live access to teachers for 12 hours a day, hundreds of real life assignments plus sharing of best assignments from class. 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Online Java Certification Course Content is designed by working java professionals with a combined experience of nearly 25 years in java behind them. The development of this course was the meeting point of all these java professionals where they shared their magical ideas, concepts, real life experience and problems which resulted in this exciting course. Come! Join the gang and enjoy the world of Java. Online Java Certification course is designed keeping only three things in mind; Simplicity, Efficiency and Coverage. Simplicity - The entire - The entire Java course is designed in a very simple way such that anyone who just reads, watches and practices this, would go on to become an effective Java Developer. Efficiency - This Java Developer course takes you through a journey in which you will be learning and experiencing a whole new world to its fullest by putting in minimum effort STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- An Eltingville doctor was convicted Thursday of running a multimillion-dollar pill-mill ring that flooded the streets with nearly three million oxycodone tablets, authorities said. A jury found Dr. David Taylor, 75, guilty of conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute oxycodone following a one-week trial in Manhattan federal court. Taylor faces up to 20 years in prison when he is sentenced April 5, 2019. Dr. David Taylor violated his solemn Hippocratic oath to do no harm," U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said. Authorities said Taylor ran the scheme out of three Staten Island offices -- including the Hylan Boulevard-Oceanic Avenue location -- and prescribed more than 2.6 million 30-milligram oxycodone tablets during the five-year conspiracy. The doctor wrote prescriptions for his co-conspirators who sold the drug for a street value of more than $2 million. The ring included two Staten Island men: Vito Gallicchio, 49, and Daniel Garcia, who recently pleaded guilty to federal drug-conspiracy charges. Gallicchio, of Willowbrook, and Garcia, of Graniteville, who is in his late 50s, were among the five co-defendants ultimately charged in the scheme. The other three men, Nicholas Avicolli, 54, Lawrence Montalbano, 52, and Michael Carim, 34, also took pleas. Gallicchio and Garcia worked with Taylor from January 2012 through June 2017 to illegally distribute millions of dollars of pain medicine, authorities allege. Taylor allegedly wrote prescriptions for oxycodone, oxymorphone and alprazolam, an anti-anxiety medication sold as Xanax, without examination, according to a law enforcement source. The doctor didnt perform MRIs or maintain medical records and kept oxycodone prescriptions at the same level for every refill, the source said. Gallicchio sent fake patients, many of who were believed to be addicts, to Taylor to get prescriptions filled, said the source. Taylor allegedly exchanged prescriptions for services, like bottles of Glenlivet, a single-malt Scotch whisky, as well as construction work at his home, the source said. The three men were indicted on one count of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance. Gallicchio and Garcia each recently pleaded guilty to that charge in Manhattan federal court. Garcia is scheduled to be sentenced on March 5, 2019; Gallicchios sentencing is set for March 8. They face a sentence of up to 20 years in prison. Taylors lawyer, Charles Carnesi, did not immediately return a request for comment. MANHATTAN, N.Y. Eric Garners mothers emotions have been percolating for more than four years, but when she finally came face to face with the cop in the viral video taking down her son, she was frozen. I was kind of numb, Gwen Carr said. It was very, very emotional being in the space with my sons murderer, but I was able to contain myself. Carr and NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo sat quietly just a few feet away from each other during the packed proceeding at One Police Plaza Thursday morning to discuss the cops pending administrative trial. Pantaleo, garbed in a dark blue suit, appeared unemotional and did not address the court. The former 120th Precinct officer remained seated with his head down until the courtroom was cleared after the hearing. He was nervous, but optimistic these allegations will finally be litigated in a court room, his attorney Stuart London told the Advance. The Civilian Compliant Review Board (CCRB) has charged Pantaleo with using a chokehold to subdue a subject in Garners death on July 17, 2014 in Tompkinsville. The defense maintains he used a seatbelt maneuver to take down Garner during his arrest. A grand jury declined to indict the officer on criminal charges several years ago. London and the lawyers from the CCRB hashed out the pending litigation during the brief proceeding before the judge set a trial date for May 2019. London said he wants the CCRB to define if the chokehold charge is intentional because it was critical to his client receiving a fair trial. How can it be a mistake when a man begs for his life and says he cant breathe 11 times and you dont let up, Carr fired back. Suzanne OHare, deputy chief prosecutor of Administrative Prosecution Unit, said she would be ready in late January or February, but London was concerned about the CCRBs pending motion to unseal the grand jury records and the feds ongoing investigation in the case. The family, the community deserve a resolution, OHare said. London was hoping for a July 18, 2019 date, a day after the five-year statute of limitations expires for the feds to arrest Pantaleo on civil charges. We dont (want) to worry about the feds swooping in last minute to arrest my client last minute, its a real danger, London told the court. The judge said she was not interested in delaying the case any further, and set a date for May 13- 24. She also set aside June 3-5 in case of any conflicts. I think we can proceed, and I think we should, said the judge. OHare said her office has turned over more than 27,000 pages of discovery to the defense, while London has more than 40,000 pages of evidence to examine for the trial, including a report by an independent medical examiner. The defense claims their medical examiner found Garners trachea and neckbone were intact after the encounter. The city's medical examiner ruled Garner's death a homicide, determining that he died from "compression of neck (choke hold), compression of chest and prone positioning during physical restraint by police." His weight and pre-existing medical conditions -- acute and chronic bronchial asthma and hypertensive cardiovascular disease -- also contributed to his death, the medical examiner's report stated. Garner, 43, died when cops attempted to arrest him for allegedly selling loose cigarettes near Bay Street and Victory Boulevard in Tompkinsville. Video taken by witness Ramsey Orta showed Pantaleo wrestle Garner to the ground while Garner could be heard repeatedly shouting I cant breathe. The parties said they each have 13 witnesses and will need five days to present their case. A status conference was set for Jan. 31 at 1 Police Plaza. Meanwhile, Carr is not giving up hope of a federal indictment and feels there would be closure if Pantaleo lost his job. The cop has been on desk duty since the incident. Im hopeful justice will come out of this ...it will just give us closure, Carr said. Justice would be all the officers losing their jobs. The city owes them justice, said Rev. Al Sharpton. Shira Stoll, a Multimedia Specialist for the Advance/SILive.com, is the filmmaker behind the Where Life Leads You documentary and the Staten Island Holocaust Survivor series. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. In 1934, 14-year-old Margot Capell was getting ready to be the valedictorian of her grade school class in Rulzheim, Germany. On graduation day, her teacher told her that she could not be the valedictorian because the Nazi Regime would not allow a Jew to hold this honor. From then on, the integrated friendly town she once knew turned hostile, and the Jews were separated from the rest of the community. Her best friend stopped speaking to her and the shop where she worked was vandalized. Her home was broken into and the police ignored her familys cry for help. The rise of anti-Semitism was slow and gradual, but nonetheless, Margots family knew they had to leave. Her mother sent Margot to England through an organization that helped Jews go there as housekeepers. She spent a year and a half in England before traveling to the United States to live with her uncle. Margots brother built a new life in Sweden. Margot worked hard to save money for her parents' visas, so she could bring them to the United States, as well. However, by the time she had the money ready, her parents were killed in a concentration camp in Poland. I never got my parents here and that will bother me till the end of my days. That I know, she said. Portrait of Holocaust survivor Margot Capell holding a photo of her parents. Her biggest regret was not being able to save them. (Shira Stoll/Staten Island Advance)Staff-Shot I met Margot at the Wagner College Holocaust Center Rosh Hashanah lunch in 2017. What captivated me immediately was her sharp mind and brilliant memory. She spoke eloquently with students who were interested in her stories. She was most excited to talk about sneaking into movie theaters as a child to see the Shirley Temple movies. She agreed to speak about her story for the Holocaust project. After our interview, Margot pulled out numerous albums and a large manila envelope from a cabinet in her basement and placed them on an ironing board. As she carefully opened the envelope, 80 years of photos illuminated the room: Her husband in front of the candy shop that they owned; her brother Paul with his wife he met in Sweden; a beauty shot of herself that she sent to her husband while he was fighting in the U.S. Army. She smiled, remembering the life she rebuilt with her husband. The 98-year-old Dongan Hills resident holds a powerful message: Make sure it doesnt happen again. Theres still anti-Semitism in this country, lets not kid ourselves, Margot said. Make sure that the younger generation knows that it could happen here. We invite you to watch the above video to hear about Margots escape from Germany and the life she rebuilt. STATEN ISLAND -- Should the state legalize marijuana as a way to fix the cash strapped Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the citys crumbling subways? Island elected officials are skeptical and split on the issue. A report from New York Universitys Rudin Center for Transportation Policy and Management published Wednesday, called on lawmakers to consider legalizing and taxing marijuana to improve the citys mass transit. The report comes as Albany is weighing whether to legalize recreational pot -- a plan that seems all the more likely to be approved now that the New York state Legislature is comfortably under Democratic control. The report noted that the potential tax on marijuana could generate between $500 to $700 million annually, and that combined with other fees, a cannabis tax would be a way for the MTA to address many of its operating and capital needs. Clearly, increased fares and congestion pricing are insufficient to deal with the long-term financial needs of the subway system, the report said. This report argues that the subways need a dedicated revenue source with the potential for growth in future decades -- one that does not divert funds from other public services, and that has yet to be tapped by the state and local government. The legalization of recreational cannabis offers New York State a unique opportunity to generate a new revenue stream dedicated to mass transit. Over the summer, a report commissioned by Gov. Andrew Cuomo in January, said if legalized, New York State would be one of the largest regulated marijuana markets with the potential to gain $678 million in tax revenue. The state report noted that legalizing marijuana would also present a number of other benefits like bringing down the number of disproportionate pot-related arrests of minorities and potentially reduce opioid deaths and initial prescribing of the drugs. QUESTIONS RAISED "Theres no doubt that legalizing adult-use cannabis will generate hundreds of millions of dollars in new tax revenue for the state, said State Sen. Diane Savino (D-Staten Island). Its important where we decide to spend that money, be it on healthcare, education, or infrastructure, and how it can benefit the public. The MTA needs more than adult-use cannabis to get things moving smoothly again, and so while some of this revenue might be helpful, we need other initiatives, like the Move NY Plan, to reduce congestion and get the trains back on track. Savino, who is considered the architect behind the states medical marijuana program, said if legalized, its important to remember that the marijuana industry -- from grow farms to dispensaries -- will likely be spread out all across the state and not just centered in New York City, where real estate is expensive and space is scarce. Because the industry will likely be spread all around the state, Savino said not just New York City, but the entire state should be able to reap the financial benefits of the marijuana industry if it is legalized. State Sen. Andrew Lanza (R-Staten Island) argued the NYU report was not about revenue, but was just advocating for marijuana to be legalized. Lanza said more research around the potential health and safety risks marijuana could pose if legalized are still needed before Albany makes a decision on whether to legalize the drug. We dont need this idiotic Rudin Center Study to tell us whether or not we need to [legalize marijuana] based upon the fact that it will make money, Lanza said. Tell us what the health consequences are, tell us how its going to affect peoples lives, tell us how its going to affect the safety of our roads. You dont need to tell us we can make money from it, that is a complete waste of time. Assemblyman-elect Michael Reilly (R-Staten Island), called the reports findings the epitome of insanity. "It is absurd that we would look outside the agency [MTA] for funding when we can immediately find hundreds of millions in wasteful spending within -- from duplicative executive positions with six-figure salaries to millions lost because of fare beaters who go unpunished. Reilly said. New Yorkers already pay a .375 percent tax on every purchase made, directly supporting the agency, in addition to the fares and tolls that they are trying to increase once again. Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis (R-Staten Island) said she thinks other streams of revenue can be used to fix the MTA. She said the state could end its collection of bond fees from the MTA, allowing revenue collected through the MTA police to go back to the MTA instead of to the municipalities You know our government is an epic fail when it has one of the biggest budgets in the nation yet needs to resort to pushing weed to generate the revenue needed to fund one of the most basic services for its citizens," Malliotakis said. "Before we collect another penny from taxpayers we need to put an end to the city and states wasteful spending, mismanagement and corruption were reading about all to often these days. The NYU study pointed out that states that legalized marijuana have been reporting higher-than-expected tax revenues in recent years. The state of Colorado has earned $862 million in total revenue since 2014, the study found. Washington State walked away with $686 million in excise tax revenue since 2014, and Oregon has earned $173 million in total revenue since 2016. I do not support the legalization of marijuana for recreational use, no matter the potential funding attachment. However, I am open to other solutions for the MTAs money problems - but they have to include real proposals and money specifically dedicated toward transit improvements for our borough without further burdening my constituents, said City Council Minority Leader Steven Matteo (R-Mid Island). Despite paying skyrocketing tolls, constantly increasing fares and a dedicated MTA payroll tax, Staten Islanders see scant benefits from the citys public transportation system." Councilwoman Debi Rose (D-North Shore), said believes funding should come from a source other than pot. Three years ago, I came out in support of the Move NY Plan as a way to lower tolls on the Verrazzano Bridge, while raising money to fund our transit system, Rose said. I continue to believe that some form of this plan can provide the equity Staten Islanders deserve as well as a more efficient transit system. Assemblyman-elect Charles Fall (D-Staten Island) said while some revenue from legalizing marijuana could be used to help the MTA, it will take much more to get it running at the level our commuters deserve. FOLLOW SYDNEY KASHIWAGI ON TWITTER. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. A Staten Island justice has ordered a bench warrant for a teen defendant who had been sprung from jail by a controversial Kennedy family charitys mass bail-out program after the boy failed to appear for a scheduled court date. The 17-year-old Tompkinsville resident had been free on $10,000 bail posted by the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights foundation. His name is being withheld due to his age. The teen was slated to appear in state Supreme Court, St. George, on Wednesday for a conference on robbery, assault and other charges arising from separate incidents three months ago. Assistant District Attorney Travis Atkinson requested the warrant, expressing concern the teen would not appear in court voluntarily. Because the foundation paid the bail, the defendant is not beholden to a family member or friend should it be forfeited, he maintained. Justice Alexander Jeong ordered the warrant and bail forfeiture. Starting in October, the Kennedy foundation planned to pony up bail for all women and youthful offenders ages 16 and 17 housed on Rikers Island. At the time, Kerry Kennedy, the groups president, said the Mass Bail Out Action "is an opportunity to shine a light on the injustices of our bail system not only in New York City, but across the country." While wealthier New Yorkers are set free, women and children, children 16- and 17-years-old, are jailed - many for less than $1,000 simply because they cannot make bail," she said then. However, District Attorney Michael E. McMahon, the mayor, police commissioner and other law enforcement officials expressed serious concerns about the project. McMahon said the plan "entirely ignores victims rights and posed a serious risk to the community by potentially allowing violent offenders out of jail. The D.A. also questioned the legality of the program. McMahon's spokesman said then the foundation could potentially free 23 defendants on Staten Island, including 18 women. The D.A. said a number of them were being detained for violent robberies and firearms possession. It was not immediately clear Thursday if, in fact, those 23 defendants had been bailed out. The program has since been disbanded, the New York Post recently reported. In October, foundation volunteers had posted $1.2 million to free 105 people, a recent New York Times report said, citing a foundation lawyer. Defendants bailed out were as young as 16 and as old as 62, while individual bail filings ranged from $750 to $100,000, the Times said. Of those released, 64 were adult women and 41 were high school-aged males, said the Times. The vast majority 92 percent of them had been charged with a felony, the report said. As of Nov. 16, only two of the 90 defendants who had court dates failed to appear, the Times reported, referring to information from the group. The Kennedy foundation did not immediately respond to an Advance e-mail seeking comment. In the Staten Island teens case, he and an unidentified accomplice were accused of mugging a 19-year-old victim on Aug. 31 on Bennett Street in Port Richmond. They stole a $250 Samsung Galaxy cell phone, police said then in seeking the publics help to identify two individuals wanted for questioning. A criminal complaint alleges the defendant punched the victim in the face. The teen is also accused of robbing another victim in West Brighton less than a week later on Sept. 6. That theft occurred at 6:50 p.m. on the 1200 block of Castleton Avenue and was captured on surveillance videotape, said the complaint. Give me more. Give me the rest. If you tell anyone, I will find you and hit you, the complaint quotes the defendant as telling the victim. The teens lawyer did not immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment on the case. 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! The Saudi-led coalitions jet fighters on Thursday launched over 28 airstrikes on various parts of Yemen despite earlier claims that it had ordered its forces halt their attacks on Yemen with the beginning of peace talks in Sweden. AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): The Saudi-led coalitions jet fighters on Thursday launched over 28 airstrikes on various parts of Yemen despite earlier claims that it had ordered its forces halt their attacks on Yemen with the beginning of peace talks in Sweden. The fact that the coalition forces and their mercenaries have continued their aggression against Yemen on the first day of peace talks in Sweden indicates that the aggressors have no interest in the establishment of peace and preparing the grounds for a second round of talks, Yemens Arabic-language al-Masirah television network quoted a Yemeni army general as saying. Three women were killed, and many houses were destroyed in the Thursday Saudi attacks, General Yahya Saree, a spokesman of the Yemeni Armed Forces, said. In retaliation, Yemeni army forces, backed by allied fighters from the Houthi Ansarullah movement, hit gatherings of Saudi soldiers and Saudi-led mercenaries in the kingdoms southwestern Jizan region on Thursday. Using six domestically-manufactured Zelzal-1 (Quake-1) short-range missiles, they hit the enemy gatherings off Qais Mountain and the village of al-Laj in Jizan province. The report added that at least three Saudi-led forces had been killed and two others wounded by explosives planted by Yemeni troops in al-Nar Mount area in Jizan. Meanwhile, al-Masirah said in a separate report that the Yemeni army had managed to shoot down a spy drone belonging to Saudi-led forces in the coasts of Yemens western province of Hudaydah. Later on Thursday, the Yemeni army spokesman said that 28 Saudi-led mercenaries were killed and 64 others injured during clashes with Yemeni forces in Damt region in the southern province of Dali'. The escalation comes as Martin Griffiths, the UN special envoy to Yemen, told reporters that the two sides were willing to work towards de-escalation. Talks between the Ansarullah movement and the Saudi-led military coalition opened on Thursday in Rimbo, Sweden, a rural area some 60 kilometers (37 miles) north of Stockholm. They are expected to last a week, a UN official told reporters. The meeting marks the first time warring Yemeni parties have officially met since 2016, when more than 100 days of negotiations in Kuwait yielded no breakthrough in the devastating conflict. Griffiths said he was cautiously optimistic the talks would help find common ground between the warring parties, particularly over the fate of the city of Hudaydah, which is currently under a tight siege imposed by the invaders. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for the immediate removal of Saudi Arabias blockade on Yemen as the Sweden talks started. He also called on the Ansarullah movement and Yemens former Saudi-backed government to show flexibility and make room for progress. A spokesman for Guterres said later on that the secretary general was specifically appealing to both sides to continue the de-escalation in the port city of Hudaydah, which acts as a lifeline for the entire country. Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdelsalam told the Arabic-language Al-Mayadeen television channel on Thursday night that his side would decide by Friday whether there was any hope for progress. "We will judge whether Stockholm talks are serious or not tomorrow (Friday)," he said. Leading a coalition of its allies, including the United Arab Emirates and Sudan, Saudi Arabia invaded Yemen in March 2015 in an attempt to reinstall former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, who had resigned amid popular discontent and fled to Riyadh. The imposed war initially consisted of an airstrike campaign but was later coupled with a naval blockade and the deployment of ground mercenaries to Yemen. Since the onset of the aggression, the Yemeni army, backed by fighters from Ansarullah movement, has been defending the impoverished nation against the invaders. The coalition is also resolute to crush the movement as another goal in its war on Yemen, which is teetering on the edge of famine. /257 It took a public shaming at the royal commission to finally get the prudential regulator to do its job and start using its powers against institutions. The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority's target was wealth management giant IOOF which it has had issues with for years over non-compliance, conflicts and a failure to meet regulatory imposed deadlines. The action, unveiled on Friday, rendered the whistleblower, who was terminated from his job in early 2015, speechless. Finally they might get to the bottom of it, he said after being told the news that APRA had issued show cause notices and taken five individuals to the Federal Court to disqualify them for not being fit and proper persons to run a super fund. The best new year's resolution, so they say, is to never make a new year's resolution at all. Mark Zuckerberg must be feeling that way. After declaring in January that this was the year he would "fix Facebook", he has achieved almost the complete reverse, with the social media giant looking more broken and desperate with each passing week. It's been a year to forget for Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Credit:Bloomberg The decision of British politicians this week to release confidential documents that Facebook tried to keep secret is deeply embarrassing for Zuckerberg, revealing some of his personal interventions in cases where staff proposed cutting off data supplied to competitors. The cache of emails also suggested that while Facebook did not break its long-standing policy of not selling user data, it certainly wanted some form of "reciprocity" from partners. Huawei Technologies Co is the worlds largest telecommunications equipment and consumer device supplier and has been involved in Australia's networks since 2004, building up a base of 700 staff across Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth. While the business brings in $600 million locally, and is a major supplier of consumer devices and network equipment, the Chinese behemoth has had a chequered history with the Australian government. Huawei has had a rocky history in Australia. Credit:Bloomberg Today, both Vodafone Hutchison Australia and Singtel Optus have ongoing partnerships with Huawei as part of their 3G and 4G mobile networks, and some telcos sell Huawei smartphones and modems (including Optus, Vodafone and TPG Telecom). Huawei also built the largest private 4G network in the country for mining company Santos. Telstra does not use Huawei kit in its networks, does not sell consumer products from the brand and has not had a relationship with the provider in the past. It was eight years ago, in December 2010, when Vodafone began its relationship with Huawei as a provider of Radio Access Network equipment to modernise its 4G, 3G and now-defunct 2G networks. This equipment is still supplied by Huawei but is managed separately by Vodafone and companies like Finlands Nokia. Huawei is not involved in the core network, which is akin to the brain of the system, with Vodafone using Ericsson and Nokia for this technology instead. Huawei signed its first commercial contract to build a 4G network with Optus in 2012 (at that time, Vodafone had only used the equipment for 2G and 3G). There were signs of difficulty for Huawei shortly after it established a board of directors in Australia in 2011 amid attempts to secure billion-dollar National Broadband Network (NBN) contracts. This was the first time the company had created a local board. The company's hopes of involvement were misplaced. In 2012, then-prime Mmnister Julia Gillard banned Huawei from tenders to build the NBN Co on the basis of advice from the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation. A year later, as Communications Minister, Malcolm Turnbull said the government would review the ban (though the ban was not overturned). In 2017, tensions grew after an announcement by the federal government that Australia would manage an undersea cable between Australia and Papua New Guinea. Huawei had signed an agreement with the Solomon Islands to build the cable from Sydney to Honiara earlier in the year. By August 2018, the government had chosen to ban Huawei from participating in supplying local telcos with equipment for their next generation high-speed 5G networks, on security grounds. Japan is set to effectively ban government purchases of telecommunications products from China's Huawei Technologies and ZTE Corp over fears of intelligence leaks and cyber attacks, the Yomiuri newspaper reported on Friday. The government is expected to revise its internal rules on procurement as early as Monday. It is unlikely to name the two companies, to avoid aggravating China, but Huawei and ZTE are to be subject to the ban, the report said, citing a government source. Australia and New Zealand have blocked Huawei from building 5G networks. Credit:AP The report follows a decision by the United States this year to ban government purchases of Huawei gear. US intelligence agencies allege Huawei is linked to China's government and that its equipment could contain "backdoors" for use by spies, although no evidence has been produced publicly and the firm has denied the claims. The head of energy giant Origin has slammed the Morrison governments proposed new powers to compel energy retailers to sell off their generation assets as unprecedented market intervention, and has warned it may halt investments in new generation projects. Origin Energy chief Frank Calabria told investors on Friday that the governments now-stalled big stick legislation, to break up energy retailers and generators, would fail to achieve its intended aim of lowering power prices. Origin Energy CEO Frank Calabria. Credit:Christopher Pearce Instead, he said, the legislation would jeopardise the companys investment decisions in new power generation assets and drive up prices for consumers. He said Origin would not risk investing in the expansion of the Shoalhaven pumped hydro plant in New South Wales and the Quarantine gas plant in South Australia while the prospect of the forced divestment legislation loomed. The federal government's small business financing push has received a substantial boost after the prudential regulatory signalled it would support the establishment of a Business Growth Fund. The growth fund is one part of the government's two part small business finance policy announced last month which features a potential $2 billion investment in a securitisation fund to help small businesses access debt finance outside the big banks and the "encouragement" of the establishment of a growth fund to provide longer term equity funding. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and RBA Governor Dr Philip Lowe during a Business Growth Fund roundtable at Parliament House in Canberra on Thursday. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority support was considered crucial to get the fund across the line and it indicated its intention to support the fund at a round table in Canberra on Thursday. Small business ombudsman Kate Carnell said the APRA move was crucial. The dramatic arrest of a Chinese telecommunications executive has driven home why it will be so hard for the Trump administration to resolve its deepening conflict with China. In the short run, the arrest of Huawei's chief financial officer heightened scepticism about the trade truce that presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping reached last weekend in Buenos Aires, Argentina. On Thursday, US stock markets tumbled on fears that the 90-day cease-fire won't last, before regaining most of their losses by the close of trading. In the short run, the arrest of Huawei's chief financial officer heightened scepticism about the trade truce that presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping reached last weekend. Credit:AP But the case of an executive for a Chinese company that's been a subject of US national security concerns carries echoes well beyond tariffs or market access. Washington and Beijing are locked in a clash over which of the world's two largest economies will command economic and political dominance for decades to come. "It's a much broader issue than just a trade dispute," said Amanda DeBusk, chair of the international trade practice at Dechert. "It pulls in: Who is going to be the world leader essentially?" The new normal for thousands of HSC graduates receiving exam results and ATARs next week is not knowing what they will do next. Many who apply for uni may not meet an academic or know the rudiments of the course they enrol in until lectures begin months after they accept a place. About 280 Bachelor of Nursing positions a year are offered at University of Notre Dame's Sydney school. That contributes to high first-year uni dropout numbers. Australia's national attrition rate is estimated at about 15 per cent. By contrast, smaller universities go the student interview route. At University of Notre Dame Australia, everyone applying for an undergraduate spot is interviewed by a faculty dean or senior staff. Bronte Williams has loved food for as long as she can remember. Fuelled by a lifelong passion for all things culinary, Williams enrolled at Sydney's William Blue College of Hospitality Management after finishing year 12. Now 21, Williams is heading to Japan to undertake a college-organised six-month industry placement. Sydney's Bronte Williams is heading to Japan as part of her William Blue College of Hospitality Management course. "To immerse myself in a new culture and have the chance to learn how to prepare food as intricate and precise as the great Japanese chefs is exciting," Williams says. William Blue, part of Torrens University, offers degrees and diplomas in commercial cookery, tourism and hospitality management. I hoped that high school would be different, but the first few months of grade 7 turned out to be similarly friendless. Lunchtimes were truly terrifying, publicly exposing my loneliness, so I'd hide in the library, rather than walk around the schoolyard alone. I had no idea what crabapples were, and I thought Trixie's parents were rather harsh, what with the endless chores they made her do. Yet still, I wanted to be just like her. Most of all, I envied Trixie her wonderful best friend. Because no matter how much I searched for a companion like Honey (ponies optional), primary school never delivered me one. My number-one inspiration in this quest was Trixie Belden, who starred in a series of books to which she lent her name. Trixie lived on Crabapple Farm in New York State, but her adventures really began when a poor little rich girl called Honey moved into the manor on the hill, bringing her stable of ponies with her. Between school, chores and oodles of pony riding, Trixie still found time to team up with Honey and solve mysteries, outwit nefarious adults, and have fabulous adventures. As a child, it seemed to me that adventures were meant to be shared with a best friend. In the books I read the heroes always had one, or they were looking for one. So I looked too, desperate for a suitable offsider. Then, suddenly, I found Natalie. We were brought together by the fact that our surnames both started with a "D", which meant that we sat in the same row in class. Unlike me, Natalie was cool. She was also kind and sweet and I thought she was very beautiful. She didn't own any ponies, but still, we did all the things that I thought best friends should do. I slept over at her house, and we would hug and giggle and stay up late watching videos on her Betamax. I liked her mum, and her grandmother, who couldn't speak any English, but was always amused at my attempts to communicate in Greek, even though I never really got past "yasu, yia yia!" Natalie and I talked about running away together, stowing away on a ship that would take us to faraway places, where we'd have amazing adventures. Then, in our second year of high school, Natalie told me that she really was going away. Not on a ship, but on a plane. Her family were moving to Greece, a place Natalie had only ever visited. And they were never coming back. During her last week at school my mum cooked us dinner, and took photos of us smiling together, but I felt that something inside me was slowly being crushed. The next day I started weeping at school, deep uncontrollable sobs that filled me with shame, because a 13-year-old shouldn't cry, especially not in front of her classmates. Then the terrible day arrived, and suddenly Natalie wasn't there any more. At first we wrote to one other, but slowly those letters became less frequent. As the gap between us widened, I just didn't know what to say anymore. Eventually I made a new best mate, who I clung to with profound gratitude. And so I finally surrendered Natalie to her new life on the other side of the world. On the side of a corrugated iron water tank, in the middle of the sun-scorched outback, sits a tiny box the size of a pack of gum. It might be the future of Australia's space ambitions. It is built with cheap, off-the-shelf components, and has far less transmitting power than your mobile phone. Anyone could make one. But this one is special: it can talk to the sky. Myriota's transmitters monitor water tank levels and beam the data to a satellite. Or, more precisely, it can talk to an Australian satellite, which was launched into orbit with a rocket on Tuesday morning. The satellite, from Australian start-up Myriota, was joined on its skyward ride on SpaceX's Falcon 9 by three other Australian craft, making Tuesday this country's biggest-ever launch day. It's the smallest island in Sydney Harbour, once a training ground for sea cadets but now shuttered up and home to a gently deteriorating collection of heritage-listed buildings and a raucous seagull colony. But Snapper's relative obscurity should be no reason for a large company, now seeking to demolish one of the island's structures, to confuse it with an identically named island 200 kilometres to the north-east. Sydney's boat-shaped Snapper Island, just 1.65 hectares in size, sits 200 metres off Drummoyne. Credit:Mark Merton/Sydney Images And that's just the beginning of Commonwealth-owned Snapper Island's woes. An impasse between the federal Department of Finance and the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust has left the tiny island in bureaucratic limbo, while its heritage structures lapse into decay. Broadspectrum, the company that, in a previous incarnation, ran offshore detention centres on Manus and Nauru, last month applied to knock down an ablutions block on the island under a management contract with the Department of Finance. The family of a McDonald's manager, who was shot in the head and found under a Sydney bridge with his hands bound, is still searching for answers after a coroner ruled he was killed by "persons unknown". NSW Coroner Les Mabbutt has offered his condolences to the family of 34-year-old Darren Alexander Galea, who was killed in January 2014 at Auburn. Darren Alexander Galea, inset, who was killed in in January 2014. Credit:NSW Police "Tragically, the terrible and shocking impact on his closed-in family has left his loved ones with many questions that can't be answered," he said at Glebe Coroners Court on Friday. Mr Galea stopped by a mall to purchase orchid flower bulbs after finishing work at 4pm on January 15. A NSW doctor allegedly involved in an abduction ring that helped mothers kidnap and hide away their children says he is looking forward to the truth coming out. William Russell Massingham Pridgeon, a 64-year-old Grafton doctor, is among those charged for their roles in an alleged network that evaded detection for a decade. Dr William Russell Massingham Pridgeon (right) is seen being driven into the Brisbane Watchhouse after his arrest. Credit:AAP/Darren England He appeared in Brisbane Magistrates Court on Friday, where magistrate Annette Hennessy moderated bail conditions stemming from accusations that he helped two mothers abduct and disguise their children, sometimes for years. Outside court, he thanked police for their courtesy and kindness. Police have charged a man with two counts of murder after seizing a bloody tomahawk from a central Queensland caravan park where two long-term residents were found dead. The 64-year-old man, also a long-term resident, spent most of Friday in custody before detectives eventually charged him with the murders of a 63-year-old man and 60-year-old woman who were fatally injured on Thursday. One of the victims' caravans south of Gladstone. Credit:Andrea Crothers - WIN News Rockhampton The alleged attacks left the victims' caravans sprayed with blood and emergency services were confronted by two "horrific" crime scenes upon arrival. Detective Inspector Darrin Shadlow said the victims were found in their separate homes at Calliope Caravan Park, 25 kilometres south-west of Gladstone, about 5pm on Thursday. In one of Mitchelmore's focus groups, a man said, "Can't we outsource our government to New Zealand?" Morrison is the chief personal beneficiary of the latest leadership upheaval, yet he is also a victim of the syndrome at the same time. He is Australia's prime minister, and nobody cares. "The response," says Mitchelmore, formerly a Labor Party pollster, "was, 'What's the point? We're just getting on with our lives.' " And so we are, at every level. The live sheep export trade, for instance. This week the industry announced it was suspending itself for three months. With the government still flailing around trying to properly respond to years of scandals and failures, the exporters themselves said "Enough!" There won't be any live exports for the three months of the coming northern hemisphere summer, the chairman of the Australian Livestock Exporters' Council, Simon Crean, announced this week. Energy is another. After five years of failure, the government's latest attempt at a policy collapsed in the Parliament this week. It's not much of a policy, the so-called "big stick" to allow the forced divestment of electricity firms' assets if they don't set prices that the government likes. It's such an intrusive and arbitrary policy that even Labor disdained it as a "Venezuelan-style" intervention into the market. The government has allowed Labor to look more pro-business and more responsible than the Coalition. In the face of such absurdity and uncertainty, some big power companies are on an investment strike. The chairman of EnergyAustralia and former chair of the Business Council, Graham Bradley, said this week that the "big stick" would chill new investment in electricity generators. Flagging interest ... Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Thursday. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen "We are in desperate need of the certainty before EnergyAustralia can proceed with the investment in new capacity" to replace retiring coal-fired power plants like Liddell, Bradley told The Australian. In the meantime, Australians are "getting on with our lives", as Mitchelmore says, finding our own solutions. The number of Australian homes with solar panels on their roofs hit 2 million this week. Companies are doing the same. There was a massive increase in large-scale solar panel installations in the year to the end of October. Approaching tenfold in a single year a whopping 850 per cent, from 0.27 gigawatts to 2.3 gigawatts. Together with household solar, the percentage of renewable energy sources as a share of total energy sources connected to the grid reached 19.9 per cent. What an irony that investment in coal power is stalled and solar power is soaring under a prime minister famous for accessorising his parliamentary appearances with a big lump of black coal. After five years of Coalition failure to even produce a policy, Australians aren't waiting for the government a moment longer. Now that the government does't command a majority in either of the houses of federal parliament, the rest of the political system is moving around the government to impose solutions to other long-standing problems, too. This week we saw Labor collaborating with the crossbench members of parliament to put together a new system for moving asylum-seekers in need of medical assessment from overseas processing sites to Australia. To be fair to Morrison, he has taken steps in his brief tenure to get all the remaining children and families off Nauru and onto the Australian mainland. He said this week: "In the last three months I have taken 100 children off Nauru. There are 10 children on Nauru today." And the US is still in the process of screening and accepting its share. There is progress; it's just too slow for community tolerance. Again, where the government has taken too long to find a solution, others are mobilising to find another way. Loading The non-government forces in the House were ready to vote into law a bill that would allow offshore asylum-seekers, if assessed by two doctors as needing assessment in Australia, to be allowed to travel to Australia. The government claims that this is evidence that Labor wants to "start the boats again". This is not true. Labor suffered searing political pain after its bungling of border policy. Julia Gillard told me at the time that there were two reasons Labor lost its majority at the 2010 election under her leadership, forcing her into coalition with the Greens, according to Labor's own research. First was the leadership coup and the recriminations that followed, and second was Labor's failure to control the boats. Labor is determined not to allow a repeat. That's why under Bill Shorten it adopted the government's boats turnback policy. And it's why Labor insisted that this new bill, moved by the new independent MP for Wentworth, Kerryn Phelps, retain the key principle of ministerial discretion. That is, even if two doctors have attested that an asylum seeker needs to be medically assessed in Australia, the final decision rests with the minister for immigration. The minister can block any transfer on national security grounds. In effect, this is codifying what the Morrison government has been doing in any case. But Morrison doesn't want to let an opportunity to torment Labor pass by. He claims that this will be marketed by people smugglers as an opening of the border. And, in that, he may well be right. He seized on this to declare, rather excitedly, that "this is about Australia's safety and Bill Shorten is a clear and present threat to Australia's safety". But the rest of the Parliament, like most of the country, has run out of patience with the government, and is imposing its own solution. The government allowed Parliament to move into summer recess rather than allow the Phelps bill to pass. Over the break, the government will no doubt succeed in bringing the final 10 kids from Nauru to Australia. Meaning that no children will be in any offshore processing site. But when Parliament resumes in February, the Phelps bill will await nonetheless. A federal anti-corruption body is in the same category. The rest of the political system is ready to move to create a federal ICAC or IBAC-style body. The Greens first proposed this idea. Labor, seeking to fix its image problem after the Sam Dastyari case, decided to adopt it too. Only the government continues to hide behind the excuse that there is no corruption at the federal level, that it miraculously vanishes at the borders of the Australian Capital Territory. Canberra is protected by a magic force field of virtue, apparently. This is absurd. The independent MP Cathy McGowan has proposed a bill to create a national integrity commission. The details need work but it, too, ultimately will succeed if the government fails to act. The Parliament exists to solve problems, not host expensive parlour games. After five years, Australia has given up on the Coalition's ability to solve problems. Unless it radically rewrites its agenda in the new year as it approaches the election, the Morrison government will be left behind, allowing Labor effortlessly to position itself as the party of the future. The government's epitaph might well be the words spoken last week by Morrison's Minister for Financial Services, Kelly O'Dwyer that the Coalition is seen as "homophobic, anti-women climate-change deniers". And 2019 is almost upon us. A man who viciously assaulted a gay lover, set fire to his apartment and left him for dead is due to be sentenced for murder. Lane Tynan Mitchell, 25, and Peter Anthony Jarman, 49, had sex and took methamphetamine in the older man's North Perth apartment in June last year before an argument erupted. Peter Anthony Jarman died during a blaze at his North Perth apartment. Credit:WA Police Mitchell, who provided the drugs, became enraged when Mr Jarman refused to give him cash for a taxi fare. He admitted punching, kicking and bludgeoning Mr Jarman with a wine bottle, although a forensic pathologist said the victim may also have been hit with a statue and a frying pan. A top Philippines army general and war hero has warned that if Australia does not help his country fight Islamic State-backed jihadists in his country, those militants could carry out attacks in other countries including Australia. Major-General Cirilito Sobejana, who has been awarded his countrys top military honour and commands an infantry division, has said that Australias military training assistance in the Philippines is stopping insurgent groups in the countrys south from spreading elsewhere in the region. Major General Cirilito Sobejana the recipient of the medal of valor at the National Heros Cemetery in Manila, Philippines. Credit:Kate Geraghty "Terrorism is a global concern. Why not solve the problem in areas where this terrorist group dwell? One way of preventing these people going to Australia is addressing it in places where they are right now," he said. "The terror groups are being funded internationally. They might be mobilised in other places outside the Philippines, so we have to finish them all here rather than wait for them to go out and wreak terrorist actions outside the country, like in Australia. Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has defended Labor's role in a chaotic final parliamentary sitting day of the year, saying he secured "half a win" on a landmark encryption bill despite ongoing concerns. Mr Shorten also stood by his support for migration law amendments that make it easier for asylum seekers in offshore detention to get medical transfers to Australia, after Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Labor's position was evidence it is a "risk to our borders". Bill Shorten and Scott Morrison. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Speaking to the media on Friday, Mr Shorten said Labor had ultimately backed the Assistance and Access Bill giving security agencies new powers to obtain the encrypted communications of criminal suspects as he felt the need to reach a compromise before the Christmas break. "I thought it was important that we reach at least a sensible conclusion before the summer on the important matter of national security. We will seek to improve the legislation in the new year. There are legitimate concerns about the encryption legislation but I wasn't prepared to walk away from my job and leave matters in a stand-off and expose Australians to increased risk in terms of national security," he said. Unhappy Labor MPs are insisting on major changes to the encryption regime that Opposition Leader Bill Shorten backed in a last-minute deal with the Morrison government on Thursday. The MPs fear Prime Minister Scott Morrison will use the summer break to bed down the laws and will renege on undertakings to fix flaws, arguing there is no demonstrable need to do so. Opposition Leader Bill Shorten and digital economy spokesman Ed Husic. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen One senior figure said the backdown made Labor look weak and confused for supporting legislation it had conceded was flawed. Dissatisfaction in the party was "substantial" and "pretty widespread", they said. The controversial laws compel technology firms to give authorities more access to encrypted communications such as messages from suspected terrorists or child sex offenders. The city of Marawi in southern Philippines was almost destroyed in the months-long siege. Credit:AP Despite prospects for political improvement in the southern Philippines, experts believe extremist groups will continue to recruit and attack. Troublingly, they have deep connections to jihadists both in the Middle East and in other parts of South-east Asia, such as Indonesia. Loading The combination of this latent transnational network and the possibility that another round of IS-style inspiration might unite the various groups and send them on the offensive right on Australias doorstep is what prompted Canberra to offer the 80-strong training assistance force to Manila last year. Weve always been aware and concerned about a flow of foreign terrorist fighters that have been radicalised even further with extremist views that will return back to their homelands ... particularly in the South-east Asia region, says Air Marshal Mel Hupfeld, the Australian Defence Forces chief of joint operations. We want to make sure theres no transfer of terrorism from one location to another and ideally prevent them affecting us in homeland Australia. The dont be in a hurry to die motto is part of the urban movement combat shooting training, in which Philippines marines are being trained to enter and clear buildings. It means moving in pairs, systematically covering each corner of each room. Private Brodie Smith (right) observes a Filipino marine as he enters a mock building during training. Credit:Kate Geraghty It is one of the most dangerous things a soldier can do, explains infantry platoon commander Captain Thomas Grawich. Doorways are known as fatal funnels because they bunch soldiers together into a target. Two soldiers can cover two or three corners after opening a door, but there is always a blind spot. Manoeuvres to get the upper hand use surprise and lure an enemy into giving away their own position. The worst thing you can do is enter a door and just stand there. It is all based on doctrine that has been developed over years by Australias special forces units. On a rifle range that sits on the grounds of a low-security prison farm, the Filipinos are learning marksmanship techniques. Philippines combat shooting is about where Australian doctrine was 20 years ago. One trick they are being taught is to raise their weapon and fire quickly, even if they havent sighted a target perfectly. Speed is essential because the first bullet puts an enemy on the defensive. The precise aim can come with the second and third rounds. A Filipino marine fires at a target during training. Credit:Kate Geraghty The simple lesson from engagements like Marawi is that the guy who shoots first is the guy who is going to survive, says Major Holloway. Corporal Aaron Harch and Private Brodie Smith, from the Brisbane-based 8/9 RAR, say most of the Philippines marines are halving the time it takes them to squeeze off their first round. Marine Staff Sergeant Crisanto Casarino is a case in point: hes gone from about 1.5 seconds to 0.7 seconds with a few days training. Thats likely the difference between life and death. They still need to move with speed and aggression, Harch says. But they also need to gain as much awareness as possible. Threats will come from every angle. So they need to be thinking about their stance and movement, so that regardless of anything that happens theyll more instinctively respond with control and accuracy. A lot of it is just muscle memory and rote learning. Australian Army Sapper Nicholas Field and Lance Corporal Callum Leete instruct Philippine marines during training at Marine Base Gregorio Lim. Credit:Kate Geraghty At Marine Base Gregorio Lim, south of the capital Manila, Australian snipers Private Ryan Hudson and Corporal Joe Hollis are teaching Filipino counterparts about sharpshooting in cities. Finding the right position and staying concealed are critical. Snipers work in teams of two, one shooting and the other spotting through binoculars to see where shots land and what is going on around the narrow focus of the rifle sight. Private Hudson shows a pair of local snipers - who cannot be named because their identities are protected - how to put up a black curtain inside a room for concealment. They will shoot through holes cut in the curtain and tiny gaps in the walls. Thats how hidden they have to stay. The curtain means that unless someone is standing right outside peering into the room, the snipers will be very hard to see. Loading Even so, snipers are so valuable they need self-protection options. You have to make sure you have an escape route, Private Hudson explains. You can use early warning systems, like putting glass or rubble on the ground so you can hear anyone approaching. Army Scout Rangers officer Major Alberto Balabat, who commanded troops in Marawi, said the insurgents there had some very good snipers. We were in shock," he says. "We were very surprised that the enemy was very much prepared and more skilled than wed seen before. Another marine special forces officer, who cannot be named, recalls how he and his men would take off their helmets and poke them above cover to draw insurgents' fire so they could identify their position. Beyond the urban combat training, the Australians are also helping the Filipinos with advice on policing the porous sea border between the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia and stopping the movement of potential fighters and weapons, says the commander of the training mission, Army Lieutenant-Colonel Gavin Ware. "We've trained with over 7000 members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in exercises that have included urban combat techniques, maritime security coordination skills and air operations, he says. An upcoming plebiscite to deliver greater autonomy to the Philippines Muslim-majority southern regions should go some way to alleviating some of the political volatility and the grievances of disaffected young people that make them easy recruits for extremists. But experts dont believe the problem will go away. Steven Rood, a visiting fellow of the Australian National University who has worked in Mindanao for over a decade, said some groups, such as the decades-old Abu Sayyaf and the newer Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), wont be satisfied with autonomy. Theyre going to try and prove that autonomy doesnt help and what you need is a caliphate, Rood says. They will try to be the spoilers. Just this week, BIFF fighters clashed heavily with Philippines soldiers an hour outside the major city of Cotabato, where Australian trainers were based for much of the past year before they moved to Palawan. Filipino marines during urban combat training. Credit:Kate Geraghty One persistent problem, he and others say, is the Philippines governments failure to quickly reconstruct Marawi, which was all but razed as the military blasted the IS fighters out. Former residents remain in camps and are getting angry, having been told they wont have new homes until 2022. That feeds into the IS narrative that it was the military, not the insurgents, who destroyed Marawi. Nothings happening, Rood says. The tragic slowness of this entire process is going to help [insurgent] recruiting. Jakarta: The man who helped pay the protesters demonstrating against Australia at its embassy in Jakarta is the head of "Jomin", one of President Joko Widodo's official volunteer teams campaigning for his re-election. But Nanang Kosim insisted his role in helping organise and pay for two rallies outside the Australian embassy on Tuesday and Friday last week had nothing to do with his work with the campaign to re-elect Mr Joko, who is widely known as "Jokowi". Small groups protested outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta several times last week. Credit:Rudi Aliyafi Mr Nanang said instead that it was related to another activist group he recently helped establish, the little-known Unity of Indonesia Muslim League. The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age revealed last week that many of the people protesting against Scott Morrison's suggestion to move Australia's embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem were paid 35,000 rupiah each (a little less than $3.50) to appear at the rally. Some had little idea what they were actually protesting against. Beijing: The Huawei controversy dominated a high-level meeting in Beijing between Australia and China, in the wake of the dramatic arrest of Huawei executive heiress Meng Wanzhou. Former Australian prime minister John Howard meets Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi at Zhongnanhai in Beijing. Credit:Sanghee Liu Former prime minister John Howard led the Australian delegation at annual talks and later met with China's most senior diplomat, Politburo member Yang Jiechi, at the Zhongnanhai leader's compound. Yang, a top advisor on the United States and a friend of the Bush family, noted Howard had been the Australian prime minister for 11 years and said China remembered his "important contributions to bilateral ties". "The continued growth of Australia China relations requires joint efforts from both sides," he said. Charlottesville: A man who drove his car into a crowd of counterprotesters at a white nationalist rally in Virginia has been convicted of first-degree murder for killing a woman in an attack that inflamed long-simmering racial and political tensions across the country. James Alex Fields jnr. Credit:Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail via AP A state jury rejected arguments that James Alex Fields jnr acted in self-defence during the "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville on August 12, 2017. Jurors also convicted Fields of eight other charges, including aggravated malicious wounding and hit and run. Fields, 21, drove to Virginia from his home in Maumee, Ohio, to support the white nationalists. ~ Says Prosecutor Martijn Reinier Van Nes has an axe to grind with her as he withholds her belongings.~ PHILIPSBURG:--- Judy LaPaix a civil servant from the Ministry of Justice has been exonerated from all criminal charges says the Prosecutors Office via a letter that was delivered to her on Wednesday. LaPaix however, still cannot get back her personal belongings that were taken from her home on June 20th, 2018 when she was arrested and her home was searched by detectives in the presence of Judge Giesen. LaPaix said that her life is no longer the same since the arrest and the worldwide label she was given and even though she was released shortly after the arrest she now has to take the Minister of Justice to court to be able to return to work. That case is scheduled for December 18th. In explaining her plight LaPaix said that she was arrested and accused of taking a bribe as a Civil Servant simply because she wrote 7 letters for Joan Peterson and she charged Peterson $100.00 for drafting the letters. LaPaix said the Prosecutors Office made their conclusions based on a Whatsapp text message with Peterson when she requested her services. LaPaix further explained that even though she worked at the Ministry of Justice and considered law enforcement officers to be her colleagues not once they summoned her to explain the text messages which she said was very clear. When the detectives and judge showed up at my home, they arrested me and conducted a house search in my absence and to date, the police neither the Prosecutors Office did not give me an inventory as to what they removed from my home. I know some of the things that are missing from my home, but I just dont know all that was removed officially. Besides that, I contacted the Prosecutors Office today to ask when I can get my belongings back and I was told that Prosecutor Martijn Reinier Van Nes refused to speak with me however, I was told that a decision still has to be taken on what if anything will be returned to me. Nightmare. LaPaix said her nightmare started on September 1st, 2017 when her boyfriend Fernando York van Heyningen was arrested for a double homicide that took place in front of his Sucker Garden home on January 16th, 2017. On September 1st, 2017, detectives and a judge showed up at Van Heyningens house and broke down his door and began searching his home at the time my boyfriend was at my home I drove him to his house when his relatives told him about police being at his house. When I reached the scene my boyfriend came out of the car and went into his house and he was arrested while I stayed at his uncles house across the street. Detective Leslie Richardson approached me while I was there and took my phone also searched my vehicle illegally. Since then I cannot get my phone back from the police and my boyfriend cannot get his belongings back even though he was also exonerated since March 2018. What is worst in all of this the Police, Prosecutor, and Judge left my boyfriends house open while he was in pre-trial detention for two days and his home was invaded by robbers. Can you imagine the Prosecutor and Judge arrested him because he spoke on Whatsapp to two persons that police had as suspects in the same homicide investigations. LaPaix said those two persons were released from custody and while she was victimized her boyfriend is also suffering the same faith because he cannot even find a job because of his experience with law enforcement. Click here to read the letter of exoneration.\ SIMPSON BAY, St. Maarten (Tuesday, December 4, 2018) The 2018 high tourist season which runs from December through April 2019 looks very promising, according to the Management Board of the Princess Juliana International Airport, SXM. Long-haul airline flight frequency in the first quarter of 2019 will be at 81% of what it was in 2017, culminating in March 2019 at 98% of 2017. According to the Winter program for 2018/2019, the Air Transat airline has announced that it will be returning to SXM Airport starting December 22, 2018. Air Transat was named the Worlds best leisure airline in 2018. The many Canadian vacationers will have the pleasure of rediscovering St. Maarten/St. Martin, while islanders will enjoy a weekly direct flight to Montreal, as well as a weekly direct flight to Toronto, Canada. The Air Transat flight can carry a capacity of 149 to 189 passengers. Bookings are available via your local travel agency or online at www.airtransat.com. Moreover, the Divi Divi airlines will be available for travelers seeking flights to Curacao from December 10, 2018. The airline has the capacity for 189 passengers and will be available for booking on Sundays, Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. The Winter program for 2018/2019 also confirms Sunwing returning its operations on February 28, 2019 originating out of Montreal and Toronto, Canada for weekly flights on Thursdays. The JetBlue flights to Fort Lauderdale has also caused a stir of interest, with flights originating out of Florida with daily flights starting on February 14, 2019, Valentines Day. As is customary, the weekends will be the peak days in terms of scheduled aircraft movements and passengers. According to the Operations Management of the Princess Juliana International Airport (SXM), the peak hours for passenger volumes will be from 12:00pm through 5:00pm on Saturdays and Sundays. During the month of August 2018, the airport saw an impressive influx of travelers with the arrival counts recorded at 35,623 and 37,706 departing passengers. The overall total passenger volume from January through September 2018 measures arrivals at 235,024 with departures at 268,344. The Managing Board of SXM Airport is set to begin its migration process from the current pavilions in a weeks time frame. This will complete the Package One - Temporary Operations of the reconstruction project. The team is in full overdrive and determined to be ready for the increasing passenger traffic during the start of the high season. PHILIPSBURG:---The World Bank Group representatives Ms. Khaleda Atta, Senior Operations Officer, and Hannah Messerli, Senior Private Sector Development Specialist in Tourism recently met with the President of the St.Maarten Small Properties Association (SMSPA) Ms. Nzinga Lake to discuss various matters in relations to tourism developments on St. Maarten. Topics discussed were gathering of statistical data, implementing policies, economic opportunities, cultural heritage, product development, and future tourism developments. In the meeting with the representatives of the World Bank Group, Ms. Lake also took the opportunity to discuss the overview of the association and challenges being faced in the economy post, Irma. "As an association, our mission and goals are to continue working in the best interest of our members and to continue having open and concrete discussions with all stakeholders within our community, regionally and internationally. "That also includes the World Bank Group, said Lake. PHILIPSBURG:--- Friday, December 7th marks International Civil Aviation Day which was established in 1994 by International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), through Assembly Resolution A29-1, to mark the 50th anniversary of the Organization, created on 7 December 1944. The 2018 theme for International Civil Aviation day is Working Together to Ensure No Country is Left Behind. The theme reflects on the campaign of ICAOs efforts to assist States in implementing ICAO Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs). The main goal of this work is to help ensure that SARP implementation is better harmonized globally so that all States have access to the significant socio-economic benefits of safe and reliable air transport and can address safety, security and emissions-related issues, according to ICAO. Minister of Tourism & Economic Affairs Stuart Johnson would like to commend all those working in the civil aviation arena for their resilience during these challenging times. An all-out effort is underway at SXM Airport Terminal Building to have part of the terminal building operational this month. The process to migrate from the existing pavilions have begun and this will complete the Package One temporary operations of the reconstruction project. SXM Airport has seen aviation numbers increase, and this is testimony to all the hard work and effort being put in by all stakeholders. In the New Year which is just several weeks away, aviation traffic to the destination will further increase as airlines resume their normal schedules to the destination. At the same time, we are also welcoming new airlift to the country. The team at SXM Airport are ready for the increasing passenger traffic during the start of the high season it was reported on Thursday. Once again, our countrys on-going recovery and rebuilding effort is testament to the resilience of the Sint Maarten people, and I would like to take time out to commend you all for the hard work as we move our nation forward together. Happy International Civil Aviation Day, Minister of Tourism & Economic Affairs Stuart Johnson said on Thursday. In 1996, pursuant to an ICAO initiative and with the assistance of the Canadian Government, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly by resolution officially recognized 7 December as International Civil Aviation Day and listed it as an official UN day. The purpose of the global celebration is to generate and reinforce worldwide awareness of the importance of international civil aviation in the social and economic development of States, and of the role of ICAO in promoting the safety, efficiency and regularity of international air transport. As the UN and world nations have now adopted Agenda 2030, and embarked on a new era in global sustainable development, the importance of aviation as an engine of global connectivity has never been more relevant to the Chicago Conventions objectives to look to international flight as a fundamental enabler or global peace and prosperity, according to the UN. A Rocket Lab Electron booster is decked out with a big NASA logo ahead of the company's first launch for the U.S. space agency from its New Zealand launch site, on the North Island's Mahia Peninsula. Liftoff is scheduled for Dec. 12, 2018. Rocket Lab is set to launch its first mission for NASA next week, just a month after acing its first commercial flight. The California-based startup is targeting the night of Dec. 12 for the ELaNa-19 mission, which will send 10 tiny cubesats to low Earth orbit for NASA. If all goes according to plan, an Electron rocket will lift off from Rocket Lab's New Zealand launch site, on the North Island's Mahia Peninsula, during a 4-hour window that opens at 11 p.m. EST (0400 GMT and 5 p.m. local New Zealand time on Dec. 13). There will be other opportunities if something scuttles the Dec. 12 attempt; the launch window runs through the night of Dec. 20. ["It's Business Time!" Rocket Lab's 1st Commercial Launch in Photos] "ELaNa" stands for "Educational Launch of Nanosatellites." ELaNa-19 is a milestone mission, marking the first time that NASA cubesats have a commercial rocket all to themselves, Rocket Lab representatives said. (Tiny satellites usually have to hitch rides aboard vehicles toting big satellites as their primary payloads.) Rocket Lab aims to greatly increase access to space using the 57-foot-tall (17 meters) Electron, which can loft about 500 lbs. (227 kilograms) to orbit on each $5 million liftoff. The expendable rocket has flown a total of three orbital missions to date demonstration flights in May 2017 and January 2018 (called "Just a Test" and "Still Testing," respectively) and a maiden commercial mission on Nov. 10. On that most recent flight, dubbed "It's Business Time," an Electron successfully delivered six small satellites and a "drag sail" technology demonstrator to low Earth orbit. The 10 cubesats flying on ELaNa-19 weigh a total of 172 lbs. (78 kilograms), Rocket Lab representatives said. The small spacecraft will be deployed into a 310-mile-high (500 kilometers) circular orbit by the Electron's "kick stage." The cubesats will gather a variety of scientific data and test various new technologies. For example, one of the spacecraft will measure radiation levels in near-Earth space, and another will demonstrate the deployment and control of a solar-sail system that could eventually help propel small probes on deep-space missions, Rocket Lab representatives said. Reaching orbit twice already this year has made 2018 a banner year for Rocket Lab," Rocket Lab founder and CEO Peter Beck said in a statement. "Capping it off with our first launch for NASA is a tremendous way to celebrate the new era of improved access to orbit for small satellites." On Rocket Lab's three previous flights, the mission name also doubled as the rocket moniker. But that will change for ELaNa-19; the Electron rocket flying the mission is named "This One's for Pickering." The moniker honors Sir William Pickering, who headed the Jet Propulsion Laboratory from 1954 to 1976 and led the team that developed Explorer 1, the United States' first successful satellite. Pickering, who was born in New Zealand, died in 2004 at age 93. 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. Updated on Dec. 7 at 8:38am ET: We've got the Avengers 4 trailer below, which reveals the full title of the movie and its new, earlier release! Ever since the credits rolled on Avengers: Infinity War, we've put one question above all others: "When do we get to see what happens next?" Details of Marvel's next big Avengers movie are scarce right now, but we've been able to piece together some key details thanks to the myriad of teases and leaks on the web. Before we continue, know that this story will feature spoilers for the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, including Avengers: Infinity War. Here's what we know, true believers: When is Avengers 4 coming out? Back in October of 2014, before we knew how shockingly Avengers: Infinity War would end, Marvel announced that "Avengers: Infinity War Part II" would release on May 3, 2019. Much like the ranks of still-alive Avengers, that's changed. In the first trailer, Marvel announced that the next Avengers film is actually coming out in April, instead. How do I watch the Avengers 4 trailer? On Friday, Dec. 7, Marvel Studios published the Avengers 4 trailer online, and here it is: What will Avengers 4 be called? Per the above trailer, we finally know that Avengers 4 is actually titled Avengers: Endgame. The tweet where Marvel Studios dropped the trailer reads "Part of the journey is the end." a quote from Tony Stark's monologue at the start of the trailer. Early speculation suggested the title would be Infinity Gauntlet, Marvel exec Kevin Feige threw cold water on that name. (Image credit: Marvel Studios) The Endgame title definitely confirms another hint. An early clue as to the title came from the Russo brothers, who directed Infinity War. In a long-since deleted tweet, that Inverse reported on, a Twitter user named @occmarvel said "The fact that the Russo brothers wont give us the Avengers 4 title because it spoils Infinity War scares the shit outta me," which pushed the Russos to respond from their own Twitter account with two ominous words: It should. One fan theory posits that the film title is Avengers: Anarchy, based on a close study of a photo shared by the Russos on Twitter. That pushed fans to think the new film's title will be very doom and gloom, such as Avengers: Annihilation. Who's in the Avengers 4 cast? Before we get to the cut and dry list of the Avengers 4 cast, as credited on IMDb, let's talk basics. The core Avengers (2012) film cast Robert Downey, Jr. (Tony Stark/Iron Man), Mark Ruffalo (Bruce Banner/Hulk), Jeremy Renner (Clint Barton/Hawkeye), Scarlett Johansson (Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow), Chris Evans (Steve Rogers/Captain America) and Chris Hemsworth (Thor) are all coming back. In the trailer, we saw all of those actors, plus Karen Gillan as Nebula and Paul Rudd as Ant-Man. (Image credit: Marvel Studios) We'll also see other Infinity War survivors Nebula, Rocket and War Machine and how they're dealing with a world where half of their friends don't exist anymore. After Infinity War spent a lot of time with the characters introduced since the first Avengers film, the fourth Avengers film will likely find the core six righting the wrongs of Thanos' world-halving move. In terms of new characters, Avengers 4 will be the first in the series with Captain Marvel (Brie Larson), who debuts in her own film (coming March 2019), but the film will be the first MCU film for Katherine Langford (13 Reasons Why), who's playing a to-be-announced role, which is possibly an older version of Ant-Man/Scott Lang's daughter. MORE: Upcoming Marvel Movies: A Timeline of Release Dates And now, it's time to bring out your dead. While many, many characters died at the end of Infinity War, nobody is off the table, especially with the Time, Soul and Reality Gems in play to send Avengers back in time, bring the dead back to life and warp the perceptions of others. So, yes, there's no way to be sure you've seen the last of Tom Hiddleston as Loki (he's coming back for a Disney Play series, by the way), Idris Elba as Heimdall, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, or Paul Bettany's Vision. And those are just the characters who died before The Great Snappening. So, yes, don't expect you've seen the last of Chadwick Boseman as TChalla or Black Panther, especially as there are more Black Panther movies coming. Someone else Okoye (Danai Gurira) or Shuri (Letitia Wright) are top options may take the mantle in his absence, though. Also set for a sequel are Tom Holland's Peter Parker, who's due to appear in Spider-Man: Far From Home next year. Don't be surprised to see some, if not all of the rest of the snapped-off folks who include Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan), Falcon/Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen), Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) in Avengers 4. In an interview with E! News, Zoe Saldana stirred speculation that Gamora will return, and Tessa Thompson will likely be reprising the role of Valkyrie, according to co-director Joe Russo. A longer list, sourced from IMDb on Oct. 29, includes: Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark / Iron Man Chris Hemsworth as Thor Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow Chris Evans as Steve Rogers / Captain America Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner / Hulk Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch Dave Bautista as Drax Pom Klementieff as Mantis Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton / Hawkeye Chadwick Boseman as T'Challa / Black Panther Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts Letitia Wright as Shuri Ty Simpkins as Harley Keener Don Cheadle as James Rhodes / War Machine Paul Rudd as Scott Lang aka Ant-Man Tilda Swinton as The Ancient One Josh Brolin as Thanos Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier Bradley Cooper as Rocket Raccoon Evangeline Lilly as Hope van Dyne / The Wasp Karen Gillan as Nebula Brie Larson as Carol Danvers / Captain Marvel Michelle Pfeiffer as Janet Van Dyne Jon Favreau as Happy Hogan Frank Grillo as Brock Rumlow / Crossbones Do we know anything about the actual plot of Avengers 4? Aside from the obvious, that it will set the remaining, living Avengers on a path to restore order and stop Thanos? No, not really. The big clue set forth in Infinity War was that Doctor Strange had found only one future, in the 14 million possible futures, where the Avengers defeat Thanos. He said that line to Tony Stark, who will likely go about reverse engineering that solution. That solution likely involves Captain Marvel, who Nick Fury summoned as a sort of grand Hail Mary pass at the end of Infinity War. Other key ways to beat Thanos likely include resolving the bad blood between Tony Stark and Steve Rogers, and getting the Hulk to come out of hiding. Other speculation tied to hair styles of stars on the set of Avengers 4 suggests that the Time Gem will be used to send some of our heroes back to the battle of New York in the first Avengers movie. Are there any Avengers 4 set photos? Since principal production has ended on Avengers 4, there's been enough time for set photos to leak. Men's Journal has compiled a bunch that show off new costumes, and GamesRadar's got a shot of Gwynneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts donning what looks like her Rescue armor from the comics. More clues may be found in an image shared by The Russo Brothers on Twitter, with a caption reading "Look hard" but they're not obvious. Originally published on Tom's Guide. Fox News published a startling article Monday (Dec. 3) with the headline "NASA scientist says Earth may have been visited by aliens." Unsurprisingly, that news rocketed around the web, with similar articles soon turning up in the New York Post, Russia Today and The Daily Wire. (Fox appears to have been the first major U.S. news source to run with the story.) These articles are based on a document on NASA's website by Silvano Colombano, a researcher at NASA's Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California. It really does argue that scientists should at least take seriously the notion that aliens may have visited planet Earth. But Colombano told Live Science that the coverage on Fox News and elsewhere misrepresented what he was trying to say when he wrote it. "It is not accurately represented," he said. "My perspective was simply that reports of unidentified aerial phenomena should be the object of serious study, even if the chance of identification of some alien technology is very small." [13 Ways to Hunt Intelligent Aliens] There's some nuance here. Colombano really does believe, as Fox News wrote, that aliens "may" have visited planet Earth. As in, it's theoretically possible that this has happened, not entirely impossible, and worth looking for evidence that it has. But that's not the same as expecting to actually find any such evidence, or believing that there's a good chance aliens are scuttling around under our noses an impression you might get if you read Fox News's article. Though Colombano's name and email address appear right on top of the document, he said Fox News did not contact him before publishing their story. (Live Science has reached out to Fox News to confirm this, but has not yet heard back.) Fox described the document as a "new research paper" a term usually used to describe formal articles intended for publication in research journals and making conclusions based on evidence and the scientific method. But that's not what this document is. "The context was a presentation delivered last spring at a meeting of the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute," he said. SETI is an organization devoted to the hunt for alien life, mostly by scanning radio signals from space for evidence of biological origin. "The meeting was to get feedback from scientists as to future directions for the Institute's research program," Colombano said. The document accompanied a talk he gave in which he suggested that perhaps the notion of aliens visiting Earth isn't quite as ridiculous as most scientists believe, and that SETI might devote some resources to systematically hunting through UFO reports and other data for evidence that this has happened to hunt for a faint, unlikely signal in a lot of messy noise. In other words, it was a speculative piece of writing intended to persuade other scientists to spend their resources on a long-shot project not an argument about whether or not aliens have actually visited Earth. Colombano's position is that it's possible, but not necessarily likely. Originally published on Live Science. BERLIN - German politics is a realm where predictability is prized. But when the grandees and the grunts of Germany's dominant postwar party gather in Hamburg on Friday, they will face an uncertainty unknown for the past 18 years. The Christian Democratic Union will elect its first new chief since a 45-year-old east German physicist named Angela Merkel took charge in 2000. The choice is between a close Merkel ally who wants to carry on with the big-tent centrism the chancellor has long championed, or a longtime rival who aims to steer the party back to the right. Whoever wins becomes the favorite to take over as Germany's next leader, with the opportunity to shape Europe's primo political and economic player for years to come. That means that while Merkel is nowhere on the ballot in Friday's vote, she has everything at stake. "It's about her legacy," said Robin Alexander, a German author and journalist who has written extensively on the chancellor. "If Merz wins, it means the CDU wants something new. If AKK wins, they want to continue and still value her. Merkel is heavily invested in AKK." Merz is Friedrich Merz, a 63-year-old corporate lawyer who has been out of politics for nearly a decade after being unceremoniously sidelined early in Merkel's reign. AKK is Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, a quietly effective 56-year-old politician whom Merkel tapped to be CDU general secretary this year after a long tenure leading the tiny west German state of Saarland. In addition to being a stylistic soulmate, Kramp-Karrenbauer would give Merkel the chance at a graceful exit from the chancellery. Merkel has said she intends to govern until her term is up in 2021, and the selection of Kramp-Karrenbauer would make that at least a possibility. A hastier departure is likely should the CDU go with Merz. Not only would the vote signal a repudiation of Merkel, it would also create an unwieldy dynamic in which two people who are known not to get along sit together atop the German political world. Polls show Kramp-Karrenbauer is better liked than Merz among CDU voters and the public at large. But Merz has received a notably more enthusiastic response at a series of town-hall-style meetings held across the country in the weeks since Merkel stunned the German political world by announcing she would step aside as party chair. Ultimately, the choice is up to the 1,001 delegates who convene Friday in Hamburg, a mix of party elders and local office-holders who will make a decision with consequences for 83 million Germans. The party's choice mirrors one faced by center-right parties across Europe as they attempt to adapt to a surging far-right. In countries such as Austria, France and Britain, the traditional conservative heavyweights have adopted much of the rhetoric and positioning of their populist rivals. The strategy has succeeded in some places and failed spectacularly elsewhere. Merkel, while toughening her stance on immigration, has largely declined to try to beat the far-right by matching its approach to politics. She refuses to cooperate with the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD), and continues to defend the decision that more than any other made her a pariah among the insurgent party's followers: Her 2015 choice to keep German borders open amid an unparalleled influx of asylum-seekers. That stance has won her plaudits as a beacon of tolerance and humanitarianism who is prepared to face down a rising tide of populism in defense of Western values. But it has also earned her scorn from not only the AfD, but also from some within her own party who feel the CDU has strayed too far to the center - or even the left - under her leadership. Most of those disaffected CDU voters are pinning their hopes on Merz. During his years in the political wilderness, as he grew wealthy in the business world, he was known to be critical of Merkel's inclination to stray from conservative stands. That tendency included not only her handling of refugees, but also the introduction of a minimum wage, an end to nuclear power and a bolstering of the social welfare system. As a candidate, Merz has been careful not to portray himself as a zealous adversary of Merkel's, mindful of the fact that she still enjoys wide appreciation in the party for her 13-year run as chancellor. But he has done just enough to signal that he would take the CDU - and, perhaps, Germany - in a different direction. Merz has second-guessed her response to the 2015 crisis, saying he would have allowed an initial batch of asylum-seekers to enter but then moved quickly to seal the border. Experts doubt whether that would have been feasible, given the volume of people entering the continent and the lack of internal border controls in Europe. Merz has also questioned the fundamental right to asylum, though he later had to walk those comments back amid criticism that his suggestion was unconstitutional. Perhaps most appealing to his fans is his boast that he can cut support for the AfD in half and bring the CDU's share of the vote back up to 40 percent. The party won just 33 percent in elections last year and has fallen to the high 20s in recent polls as the AfD has climbed to around 15. Merz recently accused his party of accepting the AfD's rise "with a shrug of the shoulders." "A decisive topic will be who can win back voters, and I think many have hopes that Merz can provide the answer," said Wolfgang Fischer, the CDU mayor of the west German town of Olsberg and a longtime friend of Merz's. But the CDU has not only lost voters to the right. Centrist and progressive voters have also abandoned the party, prompting a surge for the environmentalist Greens. That's one reason that many in the CDU are wary of a lurch to the right and favor a less polarizing candidate. Much like Merkel, Kramp-Karrenbauer is known as a moderate consensus-builder who eschews ideology in favor of pragmatism. She, like the chancellor, has encouraged the country to move on from an endless debate over decisions made in 2015. The similarities have earned her the moniker "mini-Merkel." "AKK can better unite the party," said Herbert Reul, the CDU interior minister in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany's most populous state. "Her personality isn't confrontational. She's a mediator and doesn't just defend one particular position but is open." If AKK reminds Merkel of herself, Merz may more closely resemble some of the big-personality foreign leaders the chancellor has grown accustomed to jousting with. "Merz is the kind of man that Merkel doesn't like to have around her," said Margaret Heckel, who has written a book on the chancellor's leadership style. "If you look at her team, you don't find pushy alpha males." And yet, the alpha male is in vogue worldwide, whether in Russia, Turkey or the United States. Merz is certainly no Vladimir Putin, Recep Tayyip Erdogan or President Trump. But he would be, at the very least, a nod in that direction after years in which Germany has stood defiantly apart. He would also be a throwback to an earlier era, one before Merkel's 18 years modernized the CDU and transformed it from the older, more male, and more traditional party it long had been. "He's a character from the 1990s," said Alexander, the author, who is chief correspondent at the right-leaning Die Welt newspaper. "Merz may mean something new. But funnily enough, that something new would be something old." DARIEN For a few months out of the year, residents will be able to enjoy the beach with their dogs. The Parks and Recreation Commission voted 7-1 on Nov. 28 to initiate a pilot winter program to allow dogs on Weed Beach. Commission member Lorene Bora was the sole vote against the program. I just think dogs doing their business in the sand, picked up or not, I just personally find gross, Bora said. Im going to be walking barefoot, digging in the sand with my grandchild. ... It just grosses me out. Parks and Recreation Director Pam Gery said if residents want to see the program continue, they must work together to help enforce the rules. I have been asking people if they would be willing to be on a small dog committee, Gery said. Theyve been very supportive of that. With the pilot program, leashed or unleashed dogs will be allowed in a designated area to the far left of the Weed Beach Concession stand and bathrooms. The program will run from December until March 31. The town will provide doggy waste bags, but dog owners are also encouraged to bring their own. We have purchased a small picket fence that will be installed soon, Gery said. The designated area will be open every day from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The commission chose these times to avoid conflict with early morning traffic or students leaving school. Commission member Susan Daly said she was slightly concerned with the unknown element of allowing dogs on Weed Beach. When we did Cherry Lawn, it was so easy because dog were already there, we just restricted them, Daly said. Now were moving to a space where dogs have never been. To monitor the program, the commission agreed to revisit the issue at their monthly meetings, and members have the power to rescind the program before its official end date if it is found rules are not being followed. Commission member Amy Doering said her only concern was the enforcement of the policies, adding there had only been one ticket given in seven years to a dog owner, despite talks of residents breaking the rules previously. I just want to know if we do this program there will be a backbone to it, she said. However, commission member Michael Sgroe said the success of the program is about more than just the commissions enforcement. This is going to work if the community makes it work, Sgroe said. Its a privilege. dj.simmons@hearstmediact.com, 203-842-2568 WASHINGTON Many lawmakers who will retire at the end of this Congress or who lost re-election have shuttered their offices and gone home by now. Not so Connecticut Democrat, U.S. Rep. Elizabeth Esty. Esty, who represents the 5th congressional district, continues to meet with constituents, often in a borrowed conference room that belongs to Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Calif., and is helping gun control advocates draft a list of priorities for the next Congress. She also wants to shepherd one last piece of legislation - the Women in Aerospace Education Act into law. That bill, which President Donald Trump is expected to sign next week, will prod NASA to encourage the recruitment of women and others who are underrepresented in the fields of science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and computer science. Im still getting things done, Esty said. Not so many of her colleagues, who like Esty had to terminate staff and close their congressional offices so they could be refurbished to accommodate a large incoming freshman class. A lot of people have checked out and bagged it, Thompson said. But not Elizabeth. Shes working until the last minute. Esty, 59, decided against running for re-election after she was sharply criticized by Connecticut Democrats for her handling of an abusive chief-of-staff. She failed to fire the aide for months, and then gave him severance and a good recommendation for a job with Sandy Hook Promise in Ohio. Rep.-elect Jahana Hayes, a fellow Democrat, was elected in November to fill Estys seat. Esty has represented the 5th district for six years - all that time as a member of the minority party in the U.S. House. She is leaving just as Democrats seize control of that chamber, which would have boosted her chances to advance gun control and other issues on her agenda. Shes going to be missed. Not only by her constituents but also by those fighting against gun violence, said Thompson, who worked with Esty on the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force. Because she represented Newtown in Congress, Esty was thrust into the middle of a national debate on gun control when she took office in January of 2013, just weeks after the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School. You dont always choose the issues, the issues choose you, Esty said the time. She is now regretfully leaving a job she says will never be able to replicate. Im not going to find anything that gives me the opportunity to work on the same breadth of issues, she said. Esty said she is done with politics and wont seek another elected office. Its hard to imagine that now, she said. But Esty, who served in the Connecticut legislature, clerked for a federal judge, was a Supreme Court lawyer for a prestigious law firm in Washington D.C., and taught at American University, would like to keep a hand in public policy. She said others who have left Congress have advised her to take some time off before she takes the next step in her career. With her husband, Dan Esty a former commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection on sabbatical from Yale to write a book, Esty said she plans to take that advice. She said she plans to do some traveling and think about where do I think I can make the most difference? Estys truncated congressional career may be a cautionary tale to other politicians. Or not. Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., accepted the resignation of one of her top aides Wednesday after it was revealed the California Department of Justice paid $400,000 to settle sexual harassment complaints against him. Harriss office says the senator did not know about the lawsuit or the harassment claims until recently. In an editorial Friday, the Sacramento Bee said thats not likely. (He) wasnt out on the periphery of Harris staff; he was a senior aide she knew for 14 years hardly a stranger, the newspaper wrote. Ron Schurin, a University of Connecticut political science professor, said he does not expect Harris to resign. But he also said the incident will have an adverse impact on her presidential aspirations. As far as Esty, Schurin said her bad judgment in handling an abusive aide cut short a promising career in politics. Had the scandal not happened, she would have continued to serve her district well and been a productive member of the House of Representatives, Schurin said. As a retired lawmaker who served more than five years in the U.S. House, Esty will be eligible for a congressional pension when she turns 62. The amount of the pension depends on years of service and an average of the highest three years of her congressional salary. Former lawmakers have other perks. Esty will always have access to the U.S. House chamber - and is entitled to the honorific congresswoman for life. T he boss of one of Londons biggest housebuilders on Friday pleaded with politicians to avoid a hard Brexit disrupting the vital flow of materials into the UK. Berkeley Group, which accounted for more than 10% of the capitals private and affordable homes in the six months to October, imports around half its materials from Europe, as well as relying on an EU workforce. Chief executive Rob Perrins called for a pragmatic solution ahead of a critical vote on Theresa Mays withdrawal deal, the defeat of which is likely to presage another period of turmoil at Westminster next week. Perrins warned: I hope we find a solution that doesnt keep the uncertainty running on or means we get a very hard Brexit, which doesnt allow the free movement of materials. Materials will be the issue, if you have short-term materials shortages. Berkeley imports timber from Holland, and cement and bricks from Belgium, while its cladding is sourced in the Far East but assembled on the Continent and imported on a just-in-time basis. He added: To reorder the supply chain will be difficult. When you switch, switching cladding will be really difficult. If you cant get a building water-tight, it doesnt matter that I can source a kitchen from the UK. I havent got a water-tight building. You have got to sort out your whole supply chain, because you will be held up by a part of it... Free movement of goods is critical and any government would want that. We wont get fresh food. We wont be the first business to run out. Hopefully pragmatism will come into play, it has to. Berkeleys first-half profits slid 25% to 401.2 million, although resilient trading despite Brexit uncertainty and stamp duty tax hikes meant it upgraded full-year forecasts by at least 5%. The shares rose 3%, or 99p, to 3420p. The firm has splashed out on 11 sites but has a cash pile of 859.7 million, up from 687.3 million in April. Perrins said it was a bit underinvested, adding: It would be better to have it invested in the UK, employing people, but you take a degree of caution. Berkeley has committed to pay 280 million a year in dividends until 2025. C hicken supplier 2Sisters is facing renewed City pressure over plans to exclude a group of lenders from a 250 million debt repayment. The row is the latest bout of bad publicity to hit the Tesco supplier found guilty of hygiene failings in March. Parent company Boparan, owned by chicken king Ranjit Boparan, has split bondholders, with one group set for an imminent payout but another left empty-handed. The feud centres on 370 million of proceeds from the sale of three food firms including Goodfellas pizzas. Boparan will pay an initial 95 million to a group holding debts due in 2019 within weeks. But lenders holding debts that mature in 2021 believe they are entitled to a share, too, claiming bondholders are typically paid back equally, no matter which tranche of bonds they hold. We have worked in the industry for a long time and not seen this happen before, one bondholder said. The 2021 bonds have fallen 16% to 70p in the pound in response, suggesting the market thinks 2Sisters may be unable to pay back the debt. Some say that is why 2021 holders want a share of the Goodfellas proceeds. A group of them are considering legal action if Boparan goes through with the payment, a market source said. 2Sisters said it was in compliance with its legal obligations. We are not aware of any legal action and we have every expectation we will pay our debts when they are due, it said. Sabrina Fox, of researcher Covenant Review, said the original contract contained a loophole that could circumvent the requirement to redeem the bonds equally. V ictoria Beckhams London headquarters has been sold to a Middle Eastern investor for 16.8 million, the Evening Standard can reveal. Dubai-based SRG Holding, a client of agent CBRE, has bought 14,746 square feet office block 202 Hammersmith Road from Aberdeen Standard Investments. It is used by Beckhams fashion empire which moved in last year. The building is in the heart of Hammersmiths commercial district, with nearby occupiers including Walt Disney and L'Oreal. Data from Savills, which advised the seller, shows Middle Eastern investment in London commercial property should reach 1.38 billion in 2018. That is up 30% from last year. Jonathan ORegan, director in the Central London investment team at Savills, said: We received strong interest from both international and domestic capital for this high profile investment." Ed Bradley, head of West End investment at CBRE said 202 Hammersmith Road would be "a great addition" to SRG's UK portfolio. Overseas buyers have recently been attracted by the weaker pound making deals more tempting, high occupier demand for offices, and rising rents. T he number of couples jetting off for their nuptials has rocketed 19 per cent over the past year, according to figures compiled by XE. And while the Eurozone remains the most popular destination, plenty are also heading to more exotic locations such as Australia, Thailand and Fiji. Mark Bodega, director at XE, expects to see an increasing number of people saying I do overseas especially if they can take advantage of currency movements. Weddings are notoriously expensive and getting hitched in the UK isnt likely to get cheaper any time soon, he says. Its no wonder couples are heading abroad when the likes of Mauritius offer beautiful settings, low costs and favourable exchange rates. Its certainly easy to understand the enthusiasm for a foreign wedding. After all, tying the knot on a sun-drenched beach with the waves gently lapping the shore is far more appealing than getting hitched in a dreary register office in the middle of suburbia. Then there are the costs. While the average UK wedding now costs an estimated 20,500 but 12,000 can be saved due to a combination of currency movements, inviting fewer guests, and having fewer opportunities to get carried away with unnecessary spending. Here are some top tips for planning a wedding abroad 1. Do your research Have you a dream destination in mind? Is there a country that means a lot to you? You need to bear in mind that the time of year you want to marry will affect both the price and suitability of a destination. You should also find out about the experiences of other couples that have got married in that country. 2. Consider a wedding planner Theres a lot to think about when you book a venue and caterers in the UK so imagine how challenging it can be if youre organising it from thousands of miles away. Hiring a wedding planner is worth considering. Although you will obviously pay more, you will be tapping into their knowledge and they may even be able to negotiate you some attractive deals. 3. Consider using an international payments specialist Sending frequent, large payments overseas will be hard to avoid especially if youve chosen the cost-effective option of managing everything yourself. With high street banks charging up to 40 per transaction, it doesnt take much for costs to spiral. Using a specialist money-transfer service, particularly online, can cut the cost dramatically. 4. Plan for emergencies Dont set foot on the plane without adequate travel insurance covering you against everything from lost baggage to health issues. Apply for a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) if youre heading to Europe but accept this may only cover the very basics. Bearing in mind the costs involved, you should also consider specific wedding insurance that will protect you should you need to cancel due to ill health or anything is stolen particularly big ticket items such as the wedding dress or rings. 5. Make sure it's legal I was never allowed a Christmas tree. It wasnt the done thing, even in a secular Jewish home such as mine. We did Christmas Day, of course; its a celebration centred around eating which, as my grandma would say, is so Jewish. Whats not to like? But we never had any of the sparkly bits as this was one step too far, it was just wrong. Bacon bagel wrong. So I used to walk past other peoples houses and redecorate the trees twinkling through front-room windows. I was so anxious to join in with the Yuletide accessorising that I tried to rebrand the whole thing in order to make it more Jewish-friendly but my mum just wasnt buying the idea of a Chanukah bush. We did Chanukah, of course, but it nearly always coincided with the lead-up to Christmas, which offered far camper pleasures. Despite my familys best efforts to generate some sort of enthusiasm for the Jewish festival, for me it was a rather inferior distraction from the big day when the TV would be great and the proper gifts were given. Today is the sixth day of Chanukah. You may have spotted a Chanukiah (a candelabra with nine branches, also called a menorah) in some peoples windows. The Chanukah festival commemorates the victory of Jews over a tyrant king (pretty much the theme of most Jewish knees-ups) and the re-dedication of the Temple in Jerusalem. As the story goes, a small quantity of oil was used to light the Temples menorah, which miraculously lasted eight days. As Chanukah has come early this year I have been free of the usual Christmas distractions, so I decided to throw myself headlong into it. The first thing was to find the perfect menorah and put it in my window. There are innumerable Jewish rituals but this is the most public the one where you show off your Jewishness to neighbours with jazz-handed pride. As I lit the first candle, an unexpected thing happened. I felt afraid. My Jewishness and my London-ness have always co-existed in perfect harmony. The London I grew up in is a divine gift of blended communities, so I have never felt that being Jewish might be something to hide. But this year, with anti-Semitism on the rise, it suddenly feels dangerous. There were 727 incidences of anti-Jewish hate crimes recorded in the first half of this year, one of the highest figures in decades. It is more likely now than it was when I was born 40 years ago that someone may wish to harm me over my seasonal symbol of Judaism. "The London I grew up in is a blend of communities, so I have never felt being Jewish might be something to hide" This is profoundly unsettling, as I consider myself to be an incorrigible optimist, a sort of kosher Pollyanna. This week, each time I have lit my candles I have paused. I have remembered the Jewish school in London I spoke at where children learn behind barbed wire with armed response units; my friend, a brave Jewish MP who receives daily death threats; the time I was called a Zio pig on social media; and the conversation I had with someone I thought was a reasonable friend who recounted his 9/11 Jewish conspiracy. Tonight I am going to try not to think about any of this. I have to. What a tragedy that I feel like this in my home and in the city I love. Carole Middleton: a seriously class act Carole Middleton / GC Images Once I was shopping for wedding shoes (my favourite pastime) with a particularly discerning girlfriend. We were at a mega-private, chi-chi boutique where there are no prices and the staff dont do friendly. While I was perusing the diamante clip-ons, I noticed a letter on the wall in immaculate handwriting. It was from Carole Middleton thanking the shop and the shoe designer for their efforts. The rise and rise of the Middleton family is in large part because of Mrs Middleton. It is perhaps easy to forget that it was her extraordinary drive that took her from Ealing council estate to grandmother of the future king. Ambition in women is still seen as threatening and often denigrated. Reading Mrs Middletons recent interview (her first in 15 years), I remembered her thoughtful note in the shop and realised that her wonderful success and that of her children is because, whatever class she may have been born into, she has always been a seriously class act. Strictly is great when its all over Actor Charles Venn was voted off Strictly last week, and like all the other departing couples, including me (in the same week), he blubbed on the sofa with Zoe Ball as a montage of his best bits was played. From my experience, it isnt the fact that its all over that makes people cry, it is the overwhelming exhaustion that suddenly hits you. Its like being up for three months straight revising for exams. Once its finished there is an uncontrollable release of emotion. K amikaze pilots in the Second World War knew they were going down in flames and embraced it. Prime ministers are different. They do everything they can to stay aloft, although they dont always succeed. Is Mrs May really going to sit there in the House of Commons next Tuesday night and watch as the centrepiece of her premiership is shot down? For the defeat of her Brexit deal is as near to a mathematical certainty as you get in a parliamentary division. Labour MPs remain solidly opposed. So do the other minority parties, with the sole exception of the eccentric Lib-Dem member for Eastbourne. And the hard Brexiteers and the DUP are, rightly, not fooled by last-minute amendments that ensure the Commons will be given a future vote on whether the UK enters the Irish backstop. Its an empty promise since a) the backstop is a legally binding international treaty that, as the Attorney Generals published advice showed, cannot be unilaterally overridden by the UK; b) the alternative being offered is semi-permanent transition, which is hardly what the Brexiteers seek; c) in this hung Parliament, the Commons can vote on whatever it wants without a government promise. Meanwhile, moderate Conservative MPs who should have been Mrs Mays allies but who she consistently alienated are lining up to vote against her deal. Judging by the opinion poll for the Evening Standard today, the public too has reached its verdict. Sixty per cent sensibly conclude that an arrangement where the only thing that changes when we leave the EU is that we give away control over our laws and money is not a good one. In short, Mrs Mays exhausting, but uninspiring, effort over the past fortnight to sell her deal to her party, Parliament and the people has comprehensively failed. So what happens next? Complicated spidergrams have been published showing a multitude of options: no deal, Norway plus, second referendum, new election, new Prime Minister. One short-term option now seems the most likely: delay. If the PM is going down to a humiliating defeat on Tuesday, then why not put it off and hope that something comes up? Thats the suggestion from the chair of the backbench 1922 Committee, and from her remaining loyal Cabinet members. It would certainly fit a pattern. For delay has been the revealed preference ever since Britain prematurely triggered Article 50: delay full Brexit with a transition; delay ending the transition by adding extra years; delay producing the details of a future economic partnership; delay presenting the new immigration plans; delay publishing the legal advice; delay the inevitable Tory leadership challenge. Delay is what you do when youre not prepared to confront the hard truths about a course of action youve embarked upon. So why not delay next Tuesdays vote? Yes, it avoids once again the hard truths. No, it wont lead to any new options or concessions from the EU. It may not be heroic but nor is it kamikaze, and it means this government lives to die another day. TODO: define component type apester Rail needs accountability The report from the Office of Rail and Road today says there may need to be a single person in charge of timetables to prevent a repeat of the chaos that attended the introduction of new rail schedules in May. It was the second part of Stephen Glaisters findings, and he is right to identify accountability as a problem. As he observed, the disruption in May saw rail operators blaming Network Rail for giving them insufficient notice, and everyone blaming operators. The option now is to appoint a single person or body to take charge of planning. It is an overdue measure: we need coherent leadership someone to take responsibility for co-ordinating this complex system with its mixture of public and private ownership, and to take the buck when things go wrong. Meanwhile, Keith Williams, deputy head of John Lewis, is conducting a year-long investigation into the rail system. But for now, Transport Secretary Chris Grayling should implement this report. S ome punchy pricing from the revamped Odeon in Leicester Square: the top-price tickets for its reopening, with Mary Poppins Returns on the billing, are more than 40 each. That would seem like a one-fingered salute to a generation that could just head home, and sit in bed chowing on Deliveroo and pecking at WhatsApp like a chicken looking for a grain, while scrolling through Netflix. No wonder there have been howls of outrage. But let me tell you, 40 is cheap for two hours of Mary Poppins. Have you seen the misery in the outside world? People, collars up, coats clutched tight against the cold, grimacing at each other; evenings with friends on edge as one person unconsciously reveals Brexiteer leanings; fellows sniping in corners about the latest office directives for equality; stock markets sinking like newspaper headlines about the impending end of civilisation. And then a cinema invites you into the deep peace of a room with velvet-covered seats. The lights will go down and the message to turn off all mobile phones will play. With a click of his heels, Lin-Manuel Miranda, as Jack the lamplighter, can return us to a state of childhood wonder. Mary Poppins, this time played by Emily Blunt, will glide down with her umbrella to make the world spit spot again. Mary Poppins Returns world premiere - In pictures 1 /15 Mary Poppins Returns world premiere - In pictures Emily Blunt (L) and John Krasinski attend the Premiere Of Disney's 'Mary Poppins Returns' at El Capitan Theatre on November 29, 2018 in Los Angeles Getty Images Dick Van Dyke (L) and Emily Blunt Getty Images Emily Blunt Reuters Emily Blunt, right, star of "Mary Poppins Returns," is joined by her husband John Krasinski Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP Emily Blunt (R), Dick Van Dyke and his wife Arlene Silver Reuters Emily Blunt Reuters Lin-Manuel Miranda, left, and Dick Van Dyke Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP Lin-Manuel Miranda, right, a cast member in "Mary Poppins Returns," poses with his wife Vanessa Nadal Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP Getty Images Ben Whishaw Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP Emily Blunt and her husband John Krasinski Reuters Cast members poses for a group photo at the world premiere of Disney's movie Mary Poppins Returns in Los Angeles, California Reuters Cast members Lin Manuel-Miranda and Dick Van Dyke Reuters Emily Blunt and her husband John Krasinski Reuters Emily Mortimer Reuters Im not surprised that the Odeon thinks it can get away with these ridiculous ticket prices. In these dark days, what we all need is to be made to switch off the mosquito buzz of our phones and disappear into the warmth of a good Christmas movie. 40 is nothing: I would happily fork out 100 for a few good songs and the gleam of a Mary Poppins smile. Mary Poppins Returns Official Teaser Trailer Its great having a hot next-door neighbour The radiators in my flat never get above lukewarm, so over the last week Ive tried an experiment of not even turning on the boiler for this trickle of heat and reserving it for bathtime alone. It produced this revelation: surrounded by the neighbouring flats, and their indulgent heating habits, Ive found that I can just bask in the warmth that is convecting through my floorboards with only one extra jumper on, without inflicting a winter gas bill on myself. I should thank my downstairs neighbours but will they thank me? After all, while their hot air rises, my cold air sinks. Mr Big admits his true passion: history Sarah Jessica Parker and Chris Noth in Sex and the City / IMDB I headed to Boisdale in Canary Wharf for its annual cigar awards and found myself at the top table opposite Chris Noth Mr Big off Sex and the City. On one side of him was Nancy dellOlio, on the other, Rosie off Love Island. Whoever was doing the seating plan must have been having a giggle. Mr Big, it transpired, was not so big on small talk. He was charming, and polite to his dining companions, but just never quite relaxed. At least until I discovered he was mad keen on history, and we struck up a conversation about books and podcasts on WWI. He got out his phone to take notes on recommendations. After many years of editing the Diary pages I learned one thing about human nature. However famous they are, never ask about how their work is going they will be riddled by the same anxieties as all of us and avoid discussing it. But theres always a secret passion, and for Noth it wasnt going to be talking about Carrie all over again. Refugee pop-ups are real Christmas spirit Walking down Great Marlborough Street I was delighted to see some new shop signage going up. Imad Alarnab, the feted Syrian chef and ambassador for Help Refugees, has a new pop-up Choose Love kitchen opening for the Christmas season. That hes got this spot is thanks to the generosity of Shaftesbury, the local landowner of much of west Soho. It also hosts the Help Refugees Christmas shop in Fouberts Place off Carnaby Street, where you dont buy stuff for yourself but for those who need it. L ondon-based artist Kate Daudy recently travelled in the Middle East interviewing refugees about home and identity. The dignity, courage and resilience of those she met led her to create a new body of work. It questions where are we now, what matters and how we might better understand and fight against intolerance, discrimination and prejudice. Step aside puffer jackets, the puffer dress is the latest padded style set to elevate your 2018 winter wardrobe. The sartorial spin on the cosy coat is the creation of Italian brand Moncler. The label, best known for ts heavy-duty outerwear has collaborated with Maison Valentino creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli on the inventive item. The collection was released in October and consisted of several dramatic items of quilted garms, from floor-length dresses to capes in statement hues including bubblegum pink and cobalt blue. "Inspired by the Madonnas of the Renaissance, this ethereal dress is created in laque fabric with a soft down filled core," Moncler says of the dress designs, which marry sportswear and Haute couture. Although the item is definitely on the quirkier side of the style spectrum, it hasn't stopped fashion influencers from snapping it up. In fact, the 1,835 dress has already sold out on the British website, but is still available at Barneys for 2,128. Down-Quilted Long Puffer Dress, 2128.01 (Barneys) / Barney's Influencers and celebrities have already taken the sweeping puffy gown to the streets and red carpet, the results of which are pretty eye-catching. Monica Almada paired the luxe blue dress with equally high end Balenciaga trainers and a Chanel handbag. Meanwhile, Tina Craig and Vanessa Hong went all-out, accessorising it with matching elbow length gloves. Too much puff for you? Moncler's inflated dress comes in a range of styles, including a shorter jacket dress created in collaboration with British designer Simone Rocha. Millie Bobby Brown was the first A-lister to brave the in-your-face frock at Moncler's presentation during Milan Fashion Week in February. Millie Bobby Brown attends Moncler Genius during Milan Fashion Week / Getty Images for Moncler The ever eccentric Ezra Miller proved the style's unisex appeal by wearing the dress and dramatic cape on the red carpet to the Fantastic Beasts world premiere. Ezra Miller attends "Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes Of Grindelwald" World Premiere / Getty Images The day after being awarded UN Global Citizen of the Year for her work as a human rights barrister, the effortlessly glamorous Amal Clooney was spotted out with her twins in New York on Thursday. Stepping from the Four Seasons Hotel, Clooney was snapped dressed in leather trousers and Stuart Weitzman boots - with a bang-on-trend leopard print sleeveless jacket draped around her shoulders - carrying her beautiful kiddies: Alexander on her right hip, daughter Ella on her left. "goals. #AmalClooney effortlessly balancing her twins while also being the coolest person in the world + an accomplished humanitarian + attorney" tweeted Vogue style editor, Edward Barsamian. Amal Clooney with her kids Alexander Clooney and Ella Clooney leaves their hotel in New York / SplashNews.com The twins were dressed in turned-up jeans and adorable children's trainers, with Alexander in a black coat, Ella in a denim with a white bobble hat. It has been a big week for Clooney who, on Wednesday, hit the headlines for her UN Global Citizenship Award acceptance speech, in which she criticised US President Donald Trump. Guests including actress Kate Winslet, Nobel Prize winner and former President of Liberia, Her Excellency Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Annabel Karmel MBE came together for the Global Thinkers Forum (GTF) Honorary Awards for Excellence on Thursday night. Nominated predominantly by the Global Thinkers Forum advisory board although eminent individuals, companies or NGOs can also be put forward separately the honorees of the night included Dame Helena Morrissey, Financier and founder of 30% Club, and Teresa Njoroge, founder of the charity Clean Start, which supports women and girls imprisoned in Kenya. Picking up her award, Njoroge said, "I dedicate this award to millions of vulnerable women and girls across the world, who endure miscarriages of justice. You can rise up from anything and create a new future for yourself. Lets all do something to right the injustices in our world. Together, we can create second chances. Former President of Liberia and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Her Excellency Ellen Johnson Sirleaf / Global Thinkers Forum The night also saw the Athena40 recognition go to Her Royal Highness Princess Sumaya bint El Hassan, president of the Royal Scientific Society, for her services for women's leadership and empowerment. The Global Thinkers Forum brings together exceptional female leaders from around the world to partake in discussions about global challenges and trends. The Global Thinkers Forum Awards attendees and winners / GTF F or some, a simple hello suffices. Others will use anything as an excuse to wrap their arms around anyone and give them a hug. Hug advocates say it releases oxytocin, a hormone that increases feelings of attachment and reduces stress. But hugs are out this week as the founder of Ted Baker, Ray Kelvin, is accused of forcing them on his staff its part of a claim of alleged harassment against him. Even at the more benign end of the spectrum, hugs are divisive. The hugphobic dread Christmas party season, as do germophobes one party might think they are being affectionate, the other sees the hug as high-risk, exposing them to a hotbed of disease. Lean in: here are the new rules of physical contact. Know your audience That means not hugging your boss or employees (unless you work in the theatre). People youve just met are an unknown quantity do a quick assessment of the room and judge. If theres a culture of hugging, you will look frosty if you just extend a handshake, while unless youre Barack Obama fist- bumping is hard to pull off. And if someone clearly hates hugs (arms tightly folded in a barrier, eyes willing you not to approach), its not up to you to convince them. If you are so needy that you must hug and be hugged all the time, just get a dog and stop inflicting yourself on unwilling participants. You are the reason people dont like hugs. Do hug back Weak hugs are like weak handshakes a sign youre insipid. But dont go the other way bear hugs are best saved for bears. Timing is everything Just because youre hugging, it doesnt mean you have to be attached to each other for ever. Anything longer than three seconds and your fellow participant will question your intentions. And be warned three seconds is longer than you think. Dont speak The physical contact is enough, you dont need to crack a joke to justify your behaviour the other person probably wont hear you anyway. Keep it simple Its a hug, not an excuse to smell the other persons hair, snog their cheek or try to read the label on their jumper so you can buy the same one. If you must do a power pat to show you are the instigator, be gentle and dont pat your boss. Back hugs, where you ambush someone from behind, are sneaky and never acceptable. Height issues If the other person is significantly taller or smaller, hugging may be more challenging. Dont make a joke about bending down or stretching your arms out. Just do it W hat makes a Christmas tree? The tinsel, twinkly lights, baubles - you know the drill. But if youre bored of the usual baubles and tinsel, perhaps its time to look further afield than the cupboard under the stairs for some decoration inspiration. Why deck the halls with boughs of holly when you could string up popcorn, origami and biscuits? These are just some of the Christmas tree decoration traditions from around the world that put us Brits to shame in the creativity stakes, according to Celebrity Cruises. Here are the most charming international Christmas tree trends for us to copy. So if your festive forest needs a makeover, take heed from some of these ideas. Popcorn on a string in the USA Popcorn wasnt always just a healthy millennial snack. In America in the 1950s and '60s, adorning the tree with delicate strings of popcorn was a craze. The sweet-and-salty tradition is thought to originate from when outdoor Christmas trees were decorated with food for wildlife. Perfect if youre feeling peckish while youre putting presents under the tree. Real candles in Germany This decorative tradition might be something of a fire hazard, but a cosy look can be just as easily achieved with LED candles. Legend has it that Protestant reformer Martin Luther introduced real candles to Christmas trees in the 16th century to recreate a starry night sky. O Tannenbaum. Sparkly spiderwebs and spiders in Ukraine Its not just a hangover from Halloween: in Ukraine, families dot their trees with shimmering spiderwebs to celebrate a famous folklore. The story goes that there was once a poor family who couldnt afford to decorate their tree, so a Christmas spider decorated it with webs that turned to gold and silver on the big day, making the family rich. Magic and riches not guaranteed, sadly. Shell ornaments in Australia Christmas takes place during the summer season in Australia, meaning the trees have less of a wintry theme. Youll often find pretty little shells on the branches of Christmas trees down under, either in their natural form or embellished with glitter. Straw himmeli in Finland Who knew geometry could be so trendy? These structures, traditionally made from rye straw, can be found in UK department stores, often in copper and gold. In Finland, they were hung above dining tables at Christmas and remained until midsummer as they were said to bring a good harvest. Himmeli can now be seen on the trees of Finnish families and are very popular on Pinterest in case you fancied making some DIY decor. Kerstkransjes biscuits in the Netherlands In the Netherlands at Christmas, youll find delicious treats on their trees called kerstkransjes, biscuits in the shape of Christmas wreaths tied to branches with red ribbon. A buttery cookie base, they can be decorated in many ways but youll mostly see almond and chocolate versions. Its a common occurrence in many Dutch households that these tasty ornaments will be nibbled away before Christmas Day, leaving just the red ribbon behind. Origami birds in Japan T ake a straw poll of the UKs favourite treats and chocolate, beer and chips would likely feature at the top. Which surely makes Belgium the only choice for a tasty short break. The country is king in all of these, producing the most sumptuous chocolate, the finest frites (it even has a Frietmuseum) and the most diverse range of beers (below) plus handsome old taverns and hip young bars in which to drink them. Also culturally rich and easy to reach only a short drive from Calais Belgium has all the ingredients you need for the perfect weekend escape. City slicking Belgium has a host of historic spots to tempt a city-breaker. Theres chocolate-box Bruges, with its canals and chocolatiers. Theres arty Antwerp, full of fashion boutiques, diamond merchants and innovative buildings. And theres glorious Ghent, where medieval charm melds with a lust-for-life vibe the dining, drinking and underground music scene here is hard to beat. Visit Ghents SMAK Museum of Contemporary Art, shudder at the spooky Gravensteen (Castle of the Counts) and cycle alongside its criss-crossing canals (below). Or head to the city of Mons, still buzzing from its year as European Capital of Culture 2015, and home to an atmospheric old centre and intriguing modern museums. Cool coast Dont think of Belgium for beaches? Think again: the country has a lovely, 68km-long coastline dotted with charming resort towns, toe-squidgingly soft sand and excellent restaurants serving Flemish shrimp, Ostend oysters and moules frites in sight of the sea. Have a go at sand-yachting on the wide, dune-backed strand at De Panne, stroll or cycle past the belle epoque villas at De Haan (below), buy the very freshest catch at Zeebrugges huge fish market and visit the art galleries, museums, Napoleonic fort and pretty parks of Ostend, Belgiums City at the Sea. Further afield Even on a short break, its easy to explore more in compact Belgium. For instance, head to little Leuven, which has a big claim to fame: the Stella Artois brewery, which you can explore via guided tour. Alternatively, delve into some of Europes darkest days in Ypres. Visit the In Flanders Fields Museum of the First World War and moving Menin Gate before heading to the plains where those horrors played out. Then get out into the countryside. The deep gorges, lush hills and intricate cave systems of the Ardennes are ideal for hike and kayak trips the perfect way to work up at an appetite for more chocolate, chips and beer. A British teenager has been jailed after making bogus bomb threats to hundreds of schools and sparking an airport security scare. George Duke-Cohan, 19, was jailed for three years at Luton Crown Court this afternoon. The teen, of Mutchetts Close, Watford, twice targeted schools in the UK and US with hoax messages, before phoning in a fake report of a hijacked aircraft while under investigation. He pleaded guilty in September to three counts of making hoax bomb threats, during a hearing at Luton Magistrates' Court, the National Crime Agency (NCA) said. Duke-Cohan is pictured being spoken to by NCA officers / PA In his sentencing remarks, Judge Richard Foster said: "You knew exactly what you were doing and why you were doing it, and you knew full well the havoc that would follow. "You were playing a cat-and-mouse game with the authorities. "You were playing a game for your own perverted sense of fun in full knowledge of the consequences." Duke-Cohan had first created panic in March 2018 when he emailed thousands of schools in the UK warning about an explosive. More than 400 schools were evacuated as a result, according to the NCA. Police arrested him days later, but he was able to send another batch of emails to schools in the US and UK while under investigation in April. His messages claimed a pipe bomb had been planted on the premises. Duke-Cohan was arrested for a second time and released on pre-charge bail with conditions that he did not use electronic devices. Before long his name was in the frame for a third hoax, regarding a bogus tip-off that hijackers had taken over a United Airlines flight between UK and San Francisco. Detectives found that Duke-Cohan had made the calls to San Francisco Airport and their police force while he was on pre-charge bail for the two previous offences. He was arrested for a third time at his home in Watford, Hertfordshire, on August 31 this year. A couple who illegally converted an east London office block into 14 flats full of fire safety hazards have been told they must pay 150,000 or face jail. Soorippilla Balasingham, 62, and his wife Bavany, 53, collected up to 10,000 a month in rent between 2013 to 2016 from the dozens of people living in the makeshift homes. They were granted planning permission to turn Cambridge House, a former security firm office in Barking, into 10 flats after buying the building for 1.21 million in 2008. But the couple did not carry out the permitted works, instead cramming 14 flats into the building, which is near Barking and Dagenham councils planning offices. When inspectors visited in 2014 they found multiple dwellings on the first two floors of the three-storey building eight on the ground floor and six on the first. The flats were also found to have exposed wiring, fire safety issues and other dangers. The council issued an enforcement notice ordering the building to be turned back into offices by July 2016 which the couple appealed, but this was dismissed. The Balasinghams were found guilty of offences under the Town and Country Planning Act earlier this year. Last week, at Snaresbrook crown court, they were ordered to pay 72,447 each as part of a confiscation order under the Proceeds of Crime Act, plus 3,329 each in costs. They have until the end of February to pay up or face 15 months in prison. Margaret Mullane, the councils cabinet member for enforcement and community safety, said: It is un-believable that they thought they would get away with ignoring planning processes and simply do what they want, when they want particularly when the building is a stones throw away from our planning offices. A suspect in the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence has been jailed for nine years after he admitted being one of the ringleaders of a 3 million drugs plot. Jamie Acourt, 42, and his older brother Neil, 43, were the kingpins of a cannabis supply line, enlisting family members and friends to ferry drugs on 600-mile round trips from London to the north east of England. When the crime ring was busted in 2016, Jamie Acourt left his partner and two children to go on the run to Spain, evading arrest until May this year when he was caught leaving a gym in Barcelona. The Acourt brothers became notorious after they were arrested on suspicion of the 1993 murder of teenager Stephen Lawrence, who was stabbed to death in a race-fuelled attack by a group of white men. Both men were publicly named as suspects in the murder but have always denied involvement in the attack. Killers Gary Dobson and David Norris were convicted of the murder in 2012 and are currently serving life sentences. Jamie Acourt after his arrest earlier this year / Getty Images Yesterday at Kingston crown court, on the second day of his trial, Jamie Acourt pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cannabis resin between January 2014 and February 2016. He will now join his brother behind bars after Judge Peter Lodder QC sentencing him to nine years in prison. "That you played a leading role is beyond doubt. Delivery men took most of the risks, you and your brother remained in the background and received the money", he said. "From this alone, it's clear you were a ringleader." Acourt's barrister, Michael Holland QC, pleaded with the judge to take into account his life in the public eye since the Stephen Lawrence murder, saying he was pleaded guilty when "overwhelmed" by the glare of high-profile drugs trial. 18-year-old Stephen Lawrence was fatally stabbed in Eltham on April 22, 1993 / PA Neil Acourt, who is now know as Neil Stuart, was sentenced to six years and three months in prison after he admitted his role in the drugs plot in February last year. His father-in-law, Jack Vose, 65, was one of the couriers also jailed after a police surveillance operation busted the drugs line. Prosecutor Crispin Aylett QC said around 750 kilos of cannabis, with a street value of 3 million, was supplied across two years and Jamie Acourt could be tied to two-thirds of the cross-country trips. He said the Acourt brothers were the "ringleaders", directing operations and collecting money while their couriers took most of the risks, although Jamie Acourt "withdrew" from the operation in 2015 after the arrest of one of their couriers. Vose was caught with 100 kilos of cannabis resin in South Shields, while another courier, Darren Thompson, 29, was busted as he was about to collect 200,000-worth of the drug. Neil Acourt, pictured in 1998, previously admitted conspiracy to supply drugs / PA When police tried to arrest Jamie Acourt in February 2016 he had already fled. He was eventually tracked to the trendy Diagonal Mar district of Barcelona, living under the name Simon Alfonzo, after being identified as one of Europe's most wanted men. Mr Holland QC told the court Acourt has struggled to find work thanks to the persistent murder claims, and he pleaded guilty when "unable to face the matters in hand in terms of this trial". He added that Acourt spent two years working odd-jobs in Spain, but his flight from justice "was driven not by the simple desire to avoid responsibility for this offence but he couldn't face the idea of walking into court and facing the sort of press coverage that he would likely face". Acourt has three previous convictions, including fines for theft and going equipped for burglary in the 1990s, and a conditional discharge for possession of drugs in 1993. He, Neil Acourt, Vose, Thompson, James Botton, 46, Lee Birks, 57, Paul Beavers, 51, were all convicted of conspiracy to supply class B drugs and jailed. M ore than 20 London MPs have written to Met Police Commissioner Cressida Dick criticising plans for armed foot patrols to combat gang crime. Tottenham MP David Lammy and 20 of his Labour colleagues have asked for clarity on the plans first revealed last week. Ms Dick said armed officers could undertake short foot patrols following incidents of serious gang violence in London. Speaking this week, she said there could be very limited circumstances where officers would take a targeted deployment on foot, citing one recent example in south London where there had been three shootings and a murder in a small area within six hours. She said the patrols would not be routine, but deployed in reaction to extreme violence. In the letter, Mr Lammy described the proposals as a major step-change compared to traditional policing in Britain. He wrote: Currently, armed officers are only used when there is an indication that the suspects themselves possess weapons. The spike in violent crime in the past year is a matter of serious concern for us all. He said the sight of armed officers patrolling estates could create a climate of fear which would erode the already fragile trust between police and the people they serve. He added: This is particularly an issue for black and minority ethnic citizens, who are likely to be disproportionately represented in the areas targeted by armed officers. Strong neighbourhood policing, funding for youth and community services, and a comprehensive public health approach is the best way of tackling Londons violent crime problem. Speaking to the Standard, Mr Lammy said young people could be put off approaching the police, to give information on gang crime, for example, if armed officers were patrolling communities. Police need intelligence, and they need young people to feel comfortable in approaching them. This tactic will scare young people away from approaching police officers, he said. A man has been jailed for life for murdering his former friend by repeatedly stabbing him with a large Rambo knife after a row over a stolen motorbike in south London. Tyrone Farquharson, 20, was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum of 21 years at the Old Bailey on Friday for murdering Kelva Smith during a violent attack on March 5. Mr Smith was killed in South Norwood, Croydon, after Farquharson launched a sudden and violent knife attack on him, police said. At around 4pm, Mr Smith had arranged to meet Farquharson, who he knew well, to talk about a motorbike he had stolen weeks earlier from Croydon which he wanted to sell. However, the motorbike had gone missing the night before, after which Mr Smith was told by his brother that Farquharson, of Archer Road, South Norwood, and a 14-year-old boy had been riding it. Victim: 20-year-old Kelva Smith When Mr Smith met Farquharson with his cousin, thinking he was not being honest about the bike, a fight broke out and Farquharson pulled out a large Rambo-style knife. A 16-year-old, aged 15 at the time, who was accompanying Farquharson was brandishing an axe, Scotland Yard said. Farquharson then lunged forward and repeatedly stabbed Mr Smith, before chasing the victim and his cousin - who tried to escape before Mr Smith collapsed on the pavement. The attackers fled as Mr Smith's cousins and members of the public tried to save him. Despite efforts by paramedics, Mr Smith died in the street at 5.34pm. Stolen motorbike at centre of dispute / Met Police The attack was witnessed by a number of members of the public, one of whom saw Farquharson walking back to his home while laughing and joking with their weapons clearly visible. They spent under a minute inside Farquharson's home before coming back outside and apparently looking for somewhere to dispose of their weapons, which were never recovered. Both Farquharson and the 16-year-old handed themselves into Lewisham police station the day after Kelva's murder. The stolen motorbike at the centre of the dispute was found in Albert Road. Detective Sergeant Rob Tickle from the Homicide and Major Crime Command said: Today a young man was sentenced to life imprisonment for stabbing his former friend to death. "It is important that people understand the reasoning for the minimum term imposed by the judge and that Farquharson will have to serve 21 years before he can even be considered for parole. "Even then, he will have to convince a parole board that he is no longer a danger to the public. There is no reduction by half for sentencing in a murder case. Knife crime is the scourge of towns and cities and a blight on the futures of our young people, whether it be those who carry and use them or worse, those who suffer appalling and life-changing injuries as a result of being attacked. The Smith family have paid the ultimate price with the death of Kelva. I feel that we have to do more to stop this and change the mindsets of those who carry and use weapons. The 16-year-old, from East Croydon, who has been convicted of possessing an axe and conspiracy to rob but not guilty of murder, will be sentenced on December 19. A woman who claimed she was being pursued by the henchman of her arms-dealing sheikh ex-boyfriend when she stole almost 19,000 from an artisan market has been jailed for 15 months. Janine Sparks, 40, pocketed about 1,000 a week when trusted to bank the cash takings as assistant manager of the Mercato Metropolitano in Borough. When the theft was discovered, South African-born Sparks devised a tale of paying off debts to a wealthy ex-boyfriend called Ali, whom she claimed was a sheikh in Dubai. The former cruise ship worker said she had been living the high life in the United Arab Emirates, flying first class, dining at top restaurants, and being lavished with designer clothes and jewellery. But she claimed the sheikh was also dealing in drugs and arms, and she fled Dubai in 2012 after growing uneasy with his criminal ties. She said her past life caught up with her earlier this year when Alis henchman came to the UK demanding money and threatening to hurt her if she did not pay up. Sparks told Inner London crown court that she started stealing the marketplace takings to settle the debt, as well as spending money on herself and her cocaine habit. Judge Silas Reid dismissed Sparkss claims as untrue on Monday, saying he did not believe that she had been threatened by a man, and that she was lying about her motives. He sentenced her to 15 months in prison yesterday. There is a wild difference between someone who feels they have no other option because of threats to them, and someone who in the very first week of a job is stealing the entirety of the takings, the judge said. Not just dipping into the money but just taking it all. The court heard Sparks lived in Dubai for five years, working in hospitality, and claimed she was in a relationship with Ali for the past six months. She told the court she left without breaking up with the sheikh, moving back to South Africa after a stint on a cruise ship before coming to the UK. A young man was repeatedly knifed near Wembley Arena after a concert by Jamaican dancehall star Popcaan. The victim, aged in his 20s, was rushed to hospital after being stabbed five times, including three times in the chest, in north London. Emergency services rushed to Arena Square, off Engineers Way, Wembley at around 11.45pm. He was taken to a north London hospital where his condition is not life threatening, Scotland Yard said. Shortly before midnight, towards the back of the venue, a 31-year-old male was arrested by police and a firearm and ammunition were recovered. He was held on suspicion of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life. Officers took him a north London police station where he remains. A Met Police spokesman said: A crime scene is in place and officers from North West Area Command Unit remain on scene at this time. There were no reported injuries as result of the firearm. Enquiries continue. 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 counter-terrorism finance team has seized more than 11 million in the past five years, including cash sent by London families to relatives fighting for Islamic State. The work of the National Terrorist Financial Investigation Unit has also led to 105 convictions for a range of offences from terrorist fundraising to fraud, Scotland Yard said today. In one of its biggest cases the unit dismantled a 38-strong network of criminals who conned 18 elderly people out of their life savings, totalling more than 1.2 million. Police initially investigated links between the gang and terrorism and believe some of the victims money was transferred into the accounts of individuals travelling to Syria, though none of the gang were charged with terrorist offences. All the cash has since been returned to victims who are still alive. In another case a married couple in their 40s, from south-west London, were jailed for four years for sending 219 to their nephew in a terrorist training camp in Syria. They pleaded guilty to fundraising for the purposes of terrorism. In January 2014 the unit intervened to stop a 27-year-old woman from north-west London sending 20,000 to her husband, fighting for IS in Syria. Another woman carrying the money was intercepted at Heathrow. Commander Clarke Jarrett, head of Scotland Yards Counter-Terrorism Command, said: Financial investigation is a crucial part of the counter- terrorism effort... it is stopping money from reaching the hands of terrorists or being used to fund terrorist attacks. W illiam Sitwells biggest regret in the furore that saw him resign from Waitrose Food magazine after insulting vegans? Its not that he caused such offence. Its that his joke wasnt funny enough. What was far more annoying [than unemployment] was to suffer the humiliation of hearing people discuss how bad my joke was, Sitwell despairs. Sitwell (right) caused uproar in October after a controversial reply to a freelance journalist was made public. She had pitched a vegan series for the magazine. He rejected the proposal, replying: How about a series on killing vegans, one by one? After the email exchange was made public, Sitwell stepped down from his role and apologised for what he called an ill-judged joke. Now he seems to think it was ill-judged from a comedic perspective but emphasises that he does have a funny bone. I feel Ive made some quite good jokes over the years, he writes in the new issue of Boisdale Life magazine. He has long pored over the masters to study the craft of the comedian, he says. The set-up, the punchline, the very delivery. I have spent hours on YouTube watching the masters: Tommy Cooper, Michael McIntyre, Louis CK, Bill Hicks, the masterful mimicry of Rory Bremner. But now look... [Im] known as the idiot who made an unfunny joke and lost his job. Sitwell, who previously worked at the Sunday Express, also admits to possessing shocking timing, as Waitrose was launching a new range of vegan food that very week. Worst of all, he laments, he wrote what he considered a funnier second email to the pitching journalist, that was never published. I suggested another variant of the plant-based series. How about a column called The Honest Vegan, I wrote. A millennials tale of earnest endeavour and bacon sandwiches. Now I reckon thats quite funny. But as it is quite funny no one has remarked on it. Dont give up the day job. Oh wait... Remaining obstacle The Speaker, John Bercow, has told his deputies that he wants to chair all five gruelling days of the Brexit debate, The Londoner understands. This puts him in pole position to influence the debate, which wont please Julian Smith, the Chief Whip, who identified Bercow as a problem in behind-the-scenes ITV news footage of the whips desperate attempts to win the vote. Were up against some other issues, like the Speaker has got a strong view on this [Brexit], Smith was recorded saying. Last year, Bercow told a group of students he voted Remain in the referendum. -- Let no one say Theresa May stage-manages her public appearances. Facing a Facebook Q&A on the Brexit Deal yesterday, the final question put to bed any suggestion that her press team had pre-chosen the questions: When did you choose to become a dictator? John Richardson, Fife. -- Australian comic Adam Hills, who has an artificial foot, revisited his favourite Prince Philip anecdote at a Christmas Without Tears fundraiser this week. The pair met at the Royal Variety Show a decade ago. Do you fly home tomorrow? Philip asked. Yes, I will be, sir, Hills replied. Philip: You can smuggle something out of the country in that leg of yours. Resourceful. Close shave for 007 Actor Samantha Morton has her eyes on a major film role. Id love to play a baddie in James Bond, she tells The Londoner. Id never be cast as a Bond Girl, she explains. But I hold nothing against them look at Grace Jones. As a young girl, she blew my mind. Mortons newly shaved head may help land the role. The next 007 film is in pre-production. When youre younger its cute and pixieish, she explained at the British Independent Film Awards. And now, I just look like a thug. AJ and Anais take up Reserved places at Oxford Street launch Vogue celebrated the launch of its capsule partywear collection with fashion label Reserved on Oxford Street last night. Model and DJ Mary Charteris reclined, Geri Horner sparkled, while model Anais Gallagher daughter of Noel Gallagher and Meg Mathews embraced her boyfriend Kitt Sullivan. AJ Odudu was festive in green. The TV presenter may be looking forward to seeing her mum, Florence, this Christmas. Earlier this year, the pair made documentary Manhunting With My Mother, journeying to Nigeria to find love. It basically stemmed from the fact that I was turning 30, she said. I had a bit of a meltdown. I was questioning what did I want I wanted a career, but I also thought I would be married by now, or at least have a boyfriend. She has said she is still in touch with one of the suitors her mum set her up with. Elsewhere, Alexa Chung was at a party hosted by JW Anderson to celebrate the launch of a Gilbert & George capsule collection. SW1A Jeremy Corbyn is back on top: the Labour leader has been announced as the winner of the Parliamentary Beard of the Year Award. He has now won six times (including a joint victory tied with Tory John Randall in 2012) but was unseated last year by Mansfield MP Ben Bradleys designer stubble. The award is not about the politics of the beard wearer but about how well they have deployed their beard in public during the year, a representative of the Beard Liberation Front says. -- Visiting the House of Commons yesterday for a parliamentary press gallery event, Tony Blair was approached by a member of the catering staff. We miss you so much, they were overheard saying. -- Work has taken Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson away from his family for two weeks. So whats he most looking forward to getting back to? Seven days of chocolate in your Advent calendar to eat. -- B ritain wants leadership and a bit of gumption, Boris Johnson declared today as he fleshed out rival plans for Brexit while Theresa May fought for her political life. The former foreign secretary unleashed a withering attack on the PMs Brexit blueprint, widely expected to be voted down by scores of Tory MPs on Tuesday. He also accused the Government of deciding to collaborate in our own incarceration over the proposed backstop. Arguing that the UK needs to be ready to crash out of the EU to force Brussels to negotiate a better deal, he said: I dont want to pretend to the public there would be no disruption at all. I dont want to pretend there would be no challenges at all. But what people I think want to see is a bit of gumption from this country and a bit of willingness to tackle those problems, and a bit of leadership. He told ConservativeHome that if Mrs May withdrew next weeks vote it would be an admission of defeat and a very, very serious mistake. Mr Johnson tore into the deal to avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic, which means the UK could be stuck in a customs union indefinitely. Countdown to Brexit: 112 days until Britain leaves the EU The manacles have been co-forged, if you like, by us. We have decided to collaborate in our own incarceration, he said. Its unbelievable. Its a kind of S&M approach to government. What perversion is it where you want to be locked up in chains? S adiq Khan said responding to the impact of Brexit is the biggest challenge facing London and trumped other priorities for City Hall. In an interview with the Standard, the Mayor spoke of his realisation of how the negative impact of Brexit would permeate throughout the capitals economy and public services. He also revealed that the Irish prime minister, whom he met yesterday, warned the UK there was no alternative departure deal on offer from the EU and the best thing all round would be if we werent leaving the EU. Mr Khan yesterday became the first London mayor to pay an official visit to the Irish capital, as part of efforts to maintain links with other EU cities after Brexit. He said to a meeting of business leaders in Dublin: When I became Mayor in 2016 I knew that my city had big challenges ahead, from poor air quality to a lack of affordable housing. But its now clear that the biggest challenge facing London, and in some respects many cities in Europe, is Brexit. Countdown to Brexit: 112 days until Britain leaves the EU He told the Standard that many EU citizens employed in key public services, such as the NHS and social care, were considering whether to leave the UK. When I was running for election we didnt foresee leaving the European Union, particularly in the way the Prime Minister is leading us towards. What is clear to me is that the consequences of leaving the EU without a deal are catastrophic, he said. Referring to his policies to reduce deaths caused by toxic air and road collisions, he said: I dont think you can equate loss of life with anything ... but I dont think people realise how Brexit permeates through everything. There is no industry that isnt impacted by Brexit. Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar told Mr Khan that there was no alternative exit deal on offer from the EU. T heresa May has been urged by a leading Tory backbencher to delay the crucial vote on her Brexit deal to avoid a humiliating defeat. Sir Graham Brady said clarity on the controversial backstop was more important than the timing of the vote on the Prime Ministers agreement. It comes after Mrs May was urged by some Cabinet ministers to postpone the vote, which many of her fellow Conservatives expect she will lose. Sir Graham, chairman of the backbench 1922 Committee, said he would welcome the vote being deferred if no solution could be found to differences within the party over the Northern Ireland border backstop. Sir Graham Brady has urged the PM to delay the vote (Parliament) He told BBC Two's Newsnight: "I think the most important thing is to have clarity about how we might remove ourselves from a backstop ... if we were to enter into one in the future. "It's having the answer to that question of substance that is most important, not the timing, so if that question can be answered in the course of the next few days then all well and good. "If it can't, then I certainly would welcome the vote being deferred until such time as we can answer that question." MPs tabled earlier tabled an amendment to the meaningful vote on the deal that would give MPs some control over the controversial backstop, which has been the main sticking point after two years of negotiations Philip Hammond: Hopes of better Brexit deal are a delusion The alteration would mean Parliament will have to approve a decision to trigger the backstop arrangement or extend the transition period beyond December 2020. It was tabled by Northern Ireland minister Sir Hugo Swire, Richard Graham and Bob Neill, hours after the Prime Minister indicated Parliament would choose between the two options after the UK formally quits the EU. Prime Minister Theresa May as she speaks in the House of Commons in London on December 4 / AFP/Getty Images The move is likely to be seen as a bid to bolster flagging support for Mrs May ahead of a crunch Commons vote on her EU withdrawal deal next Tuesday - a showdown the PM made clear on Thursday morning she would not postpone. But it remains to be seen whether it goes far enough to win over enough Tory Brexiteers to get the deal through the Commons. TODO: define component type apester DUP leader Arlene Foster, whose party opposes Mrs May's deal, warned that the amendment would not be enough, tweeting: "Domestic legislative tinkering won't cut it. "The legally binding international Withdrawal Treaty would remain fundamentally flawed as evidenced by the Attorney General's legal advice." The backstop, intended to prevent the return of a hard border in Northern Ireland, is highly controversial as Brexiteer MPs claim it traps the UK into obeying rules set by Brussels without a say over them. Theresa May dodges question about delaying Brexit vote The Government says it aims to conclude a comprehensive trade deal with the EU before a backstop arrangement would be needed. Under the Withdrawal Agreement, the backstop would be introduced if a trade deal had not been agreed by both sides by the time the transition period ends in December 2020. C haos at Dover if Britain crashes out of the EU could last up to six months and cause gridlock on major roads and difficulties with food and medicine supplies and getting bodies to mortuaries, it emerged today. Ministers are drawing up contingency plans for if there is a no-deal Brexit, leading to delays at ports. Whitehall officials are preparing for the possibility of reduced access into Dover and Folkestone. Kent County Council is warning staff they may have to work at home for six months. Two hundred extra traffic officers could be mobilised to try to avoid traffic gridlock, which officials say could lead to children missing exams because they are unable to get to school. 'Chaos' Banksy's Brexit mural in Dover / REUTERS A council paper also stated that there could be difficulties with transporting the deceased to post-mortem or body storage facilities. Kent council warned that bodies could pile up in the event of a No-deal Brexit / REUTERS Kent is also calling for safety rules limiting lorry drivers working hours to be relaxed. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said planes could be used to fly in drugs, and medicines could be given priority access through gridlocked ports in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Chemists might also be allowed to ration drugs. Officials are warning health organisations that delays under a no deal could last from six weeks to six months in a worst-case scenario. One letter from the Department of Health states: In a no deal exit we would be pressing member states hard to introduce pragmatic arrangements to ensure the continued full flow of goods. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said planes could be used to fly in drugs, and medicines could be given priority access through gridlocked ports / PA Mr Hancock wrote: "Although we cannot know exactly what each member state will do with respect to checks on the EU border, the cross-Government planning assumptions have been revised so we can prepare for the potential impacts that the imposition of third country controls by member states could have. TODO: define component type apester "These impacts are likely to be felt mostly on the short straits crossings into Dover and Folkestone, where the frequent and closed loop nature of these mean that both exports and imports would be affected. "The revised cross-Government planning assumptions show that there will be significantly reduced access across the short straits, for up to six months. "This is very much a worst-case scenario; however, as a responsible Government, we have a duty to plan for all scenarios. " The Prime Minister is under growing pressure to delay the December 11 vote to give herself time to ask for more concessions from the EU at a Brussels summit at the end of next week. Boris Johnson said the PMs deal gives the "EU the indefinite power to bully and blackmail this country to get whatever it wants" / PA With three days of the five-day debate complete, an analysis showed that of 163 MPs who have spoken, just 27 have indicated they will back Mrs May's deal compared to 122 - including 29 Tories - who will vote against. Senior Conservative MP Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the backbench 1922 Committee, said he would welcome deferring the vote to allow time to settle the question of how the UK removes itself from the so-called "backstop" arrangements for Northern Ireland. However, a spokesman for Mrs May insisted the vote would be held on Tuesday. Writing on Facebook, Boris Johnson said that the backstop "hands the EU the indefinite power to bully and blackmail this country to get whatever it wants in the future negotiations", because it denies the UK the power to leave without agreement from Brussels. Predicting that France will use this advantage to "plunder" UK fishing waters, Spain will "make another push for Gibraltar" and Germany will demand concessions on migration, the former foreign secretary said: "It is quite incredible that any government could agree to such terms. T heresa May's efforts to win public backing for her Brexit deal have failed, according to a poll that will pile pressure on her to delay a potentially crushing defeat in the Commons. More than 60 per cent think leaving the European Union on her terms would be a bad outcome for Britain, including 47 per cent of Conservatives, Ipsos MORI said. Only 25 per cent think the deal would be good. Seven in 10 are not confident she obtained a good agreement from the EU, including more than half of Conservative supporters. Half of the public say the deal is worse than they expected. The Prime Minister launched her plan to get the public on her side two weeks ago in the hope that MPs would fall into line. But the poll for the Evening Standard suggests it has fallen flat. In other key developments: Former foreign secretary Boris Johnson called for more gumption and leadership over Brexit in an interview. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said No 10 was very clear that the Commons vote will not be postponed. He revealed planes may be used to fly medicines in a no-deal outcome. Downing Street declared 30 Cabinet ministers were visiting all corners of the UK to sell her deal. However, some did not seem to venture far from home. Chief Secretary to the Treasury Liz Truss, MP for South West Norfolk, was listed as visiting a butchers in East Anglia; Chancellor Philip Hammond was visiting a school in Chertsey, which is in his constituency; and Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay went to Peterborough, close to his North East Cambridgeshire seat. Tory ex-minister Jo Johnson and former Labour foreign secretary David Miliband joined forces to attack the Norway-plus option for Brexit, which they said would cost as much as EU membership yet make the UK rule-takers. The pair urged wavering MPs to back a second referendum. Loading.... With MPs speculating that Mrs May will face a confidence vote next week, some 43 per cent of the public told Ipsos MORI they thought she should resign as Prime Minister if her plan is voted down. But 50 per cent thought she should carry on. The Prime Minister's efforts to win backing for her deal have failed / AP The public were deeply divided if the vote was lost on Tuesday, but the options that commanded biggest support were another referendum on Leave vs Remain (20 per cent); asking the EU for a better deal (19 per cent) and quitting on no-deal terms (20 per cent). Loading.... There was less support for a second Commons vote without any changes (six per cent) or a general election (10 per cent); a referendum on the deal alone (10 per cent) or scrapping Brexit without a referendum (11 per cent). Boris Johnson has called for more 'gumption' over Brexit (Photo: Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images) / Getty Images Treasury warnings of lower growth appear to have hit home. By more than two to one, Britons think their own standard of living will deteriorate. Some 55 per cent think the economy will be worse off for the first five years after Brexit. TODO: define component type apester However, 45 per cent think the country will benefit in 10 to 20 years. Mrs Mays personal ratings have improved during her battle for the deal, including among Conservatives. Jeremy Corbyns ratings have slipped slightly among Labour supporters. Loading.... And Tories will be cheered that they are level-pegging with Labour despite the Brexit woes, at 38 per cent each. Gideon Skinner, head of political research at Ipsos MORI, said: Unfortunately for Theresa May, reaction to her withdrawal agreement is now worse than it was for the Chequers plan. But he warned: Politicians arent going to find any easy answers in public opinion. There is little consensus among the public over the best approach to take if her deal falls. Chief Whip Julian Smith has admitted to ministers that the Government is heading for defeat. Some MPs think they will be more than 100 votes short. Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers urged Mrs May to delay the vote and ask the EU for better terms. T he former leader of Ukip Paul Nuttall has quit the party over its decision to appoint Tommy Robinson as an adviser. This came as Ukip's leader in Scotland, MEP David Coburn, also resigned in protest at the "English nationalist direction" adopted by the party. They form a list of high-profile members to recently leave Ukip along with Nigel Farage, who quit earlier this week. The 36-year-old former leader of the English Defence League Mr Robinson, real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was given the role to support current UKIP leader Gerard Batten in November. Tommy Robinson outside the Houses of Parliament / EPA In a statement regarding his resignation, Mr Nuttall, the MEP for North West England, said: "After much soul-searching over the past week, I have concluded that I must, as of today, resign as a member of Ukip. "I do this with an immense amount of reluctance and regret, as I have worked tirelessly for the party for the past fourteen years." Ukip leader Gerard Batten / PA He then went on to explain his reasoning and said: "I am resigning because the party is being taken in a direction which I believe is harmful to Brexit. The association with Tommy Robinson will simply appal many moderate Brexit voters and inevitably be detrimental to the cause. "The Tommy Robinson issue should have been shelved and debated within the party following Brexit; in line with the sensible decision taken by the National Executive Committee last month. The party leadership and my MEP colleagues have been aware of my views on this issue for some time. "Putting Tommy Robinson front and centre, whilst Brexit is in the process of being betrayed is, in my view, a catastrophic error. To conflate Brexit and Robinson at this crucial moment is to put the Eurosceptic cause in danger and I cannot and will not be party to that. "I will continue to serve the North West of England in the European Parliament until my term expires." MEP David Coburn has also quit UKIP / PA In a letter to Ukip's party chairman, Mr Coburn accused the party of promoting anti-Islamic policies and English nationalism. In the message, also sent to the chair of the party in Scotland, Mr Coburn said: "As a unionist, I abhor English nationalism as much as I abhor Scottish nationalism. "The party has been infiltrated by people with an alternative agenda, which is not the one on which I stood when I was elected and sadly does not represent the values for which Ukip once stood. Nigel Farage, who had three different stints as Ukip leader, cited Mr Robinson as an issue when he quit. He 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. T he FTSE 100 has suffered record losses not seen since the aftermath of the Brexit vote. UK shares plunged following the arrest of a top Huawei executive that renewed fears over tensions between China and the US. A staggering 3.2 per cent was wiped off the FTSE on Thursday in its worst day of trading since Britons voted to leave the EU in June 2016. The midcap FTSE 250 was down 2.8 per cent, with domestically focused stocks slightly less affected than the wider European market. Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou was arrested in Canada / REUTERS It comes ahead of a crucial Commons vote on Prime Minister Theresa Mays Brexit deal next Tuesday. Losses on the British blue-chip index were in line with European peers with falling oil and commodities prices hitting heavyweight oil and mining stocks. The oil and mining sectors were down 4.5 percent and 4 percent respectively as OPEC ended a key meeting without making a decision on crude output. Industrial metals prices also fell, and copper hit a three-week low after the arrest of Chinese smartphone maker Huawei's chief financial officer. Meng Wanzhous arrest dampened hopes for resolution to the ongoing US-China trade conflict. "The Huawei arrest appears to be the straw that broke the camel's back", wrote Connor Campbell, an analyst at Spreadex. TODO: define component type apester "The rapidly dwindling good-feeling towards the U.S. and China's vague trade war ceasefire turned actively hostile on Thursday, investors fearing that, 90-day truce or not, the relationship between the two superpowers might be about to take a turn for the worse," he said. A two-year-old girl, believed to be the first child in the UK to be prescribed medical cannabis, cannot receive treatment because no pharmacy has a licence to sell it, according to her father. Jorja Emerson's family fought for weeks to secure the landmark prescription to treat her severe epilepsy. However, after receiving it on Monday, they have now been told they face a further delay in getting treatment. Jorja's father, Robin Emerson, 33, said she urgently needs treatment because she currently has a chest infection, which is setting off her seizures. He added: anything could happen. A Government spokesman pointed out that medical cannabis "can be imported using appropriately licensed pharmaceutical wholesalers". However, Mr Emerson said this process could take "weeks or months". Jorja Emerson's father said he cannot access the medical cannabis she needs for her severe epilepsy because no pharmacy is licensed to sell it. / PA "We are letting bureaucracy get in the way of saving children's lives. "Jorja is entitled to her medication and it's legal. There should be no issue." Responding to Jorja's case, Sir Mike Penning MP, who co-chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Prescribed Use of Medical Cannabis, said: "Parents like Robin already have more than a head full, coping with the stresses and strains of caring for very sick children. "The last thing they need is a long and tortuous process to actually get the medicine that's been prescribed. "This assault course of bureaucracy needs sorting out once and for all. "But in the meantime, if this prescription isn't sorted soon I'm minded to ask a small cross party group of MPs led by myself and my co-chair Tonia Antoniazzi to go and get it from Canada and give it to Robin for Jorja." Mr Emerson said that for Jorja, the treatment is "the difference between her living and dying". Jorja, who is from Dundonald in County Down, Northern Ireland, suffers up to 30 seizures each day. Her father said he will not leave London until he has obtained the drug. The Government spokesman said: "There are already a range of products that can be supplied and we are working closely with a range of other manufacturers to ensure a wider range is available for specialists to prescribe for their patients." There are a small number of patients already receiving the treatment following lawful importation, he added, and no Home Office import licences have been refused from appropriately licensed pharmaceutical wholesalers in relation to medical cannabis. O 2 has said its 4G network has been restored after millions of customers were affected by a total service blackout. The phone firm said the network was up and running again after the chaos that wreaked havoc for users across the UK on Thursday. It comes after its CEO Mark Evans apologised to the millions affected by the huge outage. In a statement on 02s website, the firm since said the network had been restored early on Friday morning. O2 boss Mark Evans issued an apology to customers / Twitter However some UK customers were still taking to social media on Friday morning to complain of ongoing issues with data. O2's statement read: We can now report that our 4G network has been restored. Our technical teams will continue to monitor service performance closely over the next few days to ensure we remain stable. 02 added that a review would be carried out to understand fully what happened. Apologising for the outage yesterday, Mr Evans said: that his teams were working really hard to find a swift resolution" adding that he was "sorry to everyone affected." Millions of O2 customers have been affected by the O2 outage / AFP/Getty Images Bosses at Telefonica which owns O2 and Ericsson UK and Ireland had said they hoped to restore full service by Friday morning. 02, Britains second biggest mobile network blamed the issue on a third-party supplier and Ericson, which makes mobile network equipment. Data and 4G stops working for O2 users A total of 32 million customers are thought to be affected with phones failing to show any data connection. Customers using Sky, Tesco Mobile, GiffGaff and Lycamobile, which share O2's network, were also hit. London's Santander Cycle network was also affected with customers saying there were unable to take out bikes due to malfunctioning terminals. Screens at London bus stops were also hit. A TfL spokeswoman said: Were sorry that customers are unable to use our Countdown screens at bus stops for live travel information and some Santander Cycles customers cannot hire bikes. A t least 12 people including hostages have been killed in two attempted bank robberies in Brazil. Military police said the attempted heists began around 2.30am on Friday in the downtown area of the city of Milagres. The robbers at one bank had taken several people hostage when police surrounded the area. A fight broke out, leaving several dead. Authorities have yet to identify the dead. The mayor of Milagres told local media that two children, between 10 and 13 years old, were killed. It is not immediately clear how the hostages were taken. Latin America's largest nation routinely is the world leader in total annual homicides. Ceara is one of the country's most violent states. C hildren as young as 12 were among 153 pupils arrested at a high school near Paris after new protests in support of the Yellow Vests movement. Dramatic footage shows how police in riot gear lined up youngsters on their knees with their hands tied behind them. The pupils, from the Lycee Saint-Exupery in Mante-la-Jolie, 30 miles west of Paris, had allegedly threatened to burn down the school during a nationwide day of action that blockaded schools in protest at education reforms. It comes as French authorities are braced for the possibility of more riots and violence at anti-government protests this weekend. Police in riot gear lined up youngsters on their knees with their hands tied behind their heads / Facebook Prime minister Edouard Philippe said 89,000 police will be deployed across France, with armoured cars in Paris and the Eiffel Tower and Louvre shut. Police unions and city authorities met to strategise on how to handle the protests on Saturday, which are being held even though French President Emmanuel Macron earlier this week cancelled a fuel tax hike that had unleashed weeks of unrest. The Eiffel Tower, along with more than a dozen museums, two theatres and other cultural sites in Paris, will be closed Saturday for security reasons. The Paris Opera has cancelled planned performances Saturday on its two Parisian sites. Two music festivals in Paris have been postponed and the Arc de Triomphe remains closed since it was damaged in last weekend's protest, which left over 130 people injured. T he daughter of the Broadway legend behind the song Baby, Its Cold Outside has defended the song's lyrics following a recent backlash over its content. Susan Loesser, whose father Frank wrote the well-known tune, spoke out after the song was dropped by multiple US radio stations. She described it as a song my father wrote for him and my mother to sing at parties, when speaking to NBC news. The negative reaction followed some calling the songs lyrics sexist and that they could even hint at date rape, with lines like whats in this drink? highlighted as contentious. Ms Loesser also blamed the recent backlash against the song on Bill Cosby. Bill Cosby is escorted out of the Montgomery County Correctional Facility in Eagleville / AP Disgraced comedian Cosby, 81, was jailed for three to ten years over drugging and sexual assaulting a woman in 2004. In 2015, a Saturday Night Live sketch parodied the song with a cast member appearing to imitate Cosby performing the tune. "Bill Cosby ruined it for everybody," Susan Loesser told NBC News on Thursday. Way before #Me Too, I would hear from time to time people call it a date rape song. I would get annoyed because its a song my father wrote for him and my mother to sing at parties. But ever since Cosby was accused drugging women, I hear the date rape thing all the time. Ms Loesser, 74, said she understood the reaction of some but think the lyrics need to be looked at in context. "Absolutely I get it, she said. But I think it would be good if people looked at the song in the context of the time. It was written in 1944. "I think my father would be furious [at it being banned from the radio]. "People used to say 'whats in this drink' as a joke. You know, this drink is going straight to my head so whats in this drink? Back then it didnt mean you drugged me." The song became widely known when it was sold to MGM and used in the film Neptunes Daughter, with the song winning an Academy Award for that. It has been taken off playlists at stations in Cleveland, San Francisco and Denver. D onald Trump has chosen William Barr to be the new US attorney general, a position he previously held in the 1990s. If confirmed by the Senate, Mr Barr would replace Jeff Sessions, who was fired by Mr Trump a month ago. The role would put him in charge of the federal probe into Russian election interference. Mr Barr was "my first choice from day one," and "a terrific man, a terrific person, a brilliant man," the US president told reporters outside the White House. President Donald Trump says he will nominate William Barr as attorney general / AP Mr Barr, a lawyer who was previously attorney general from 1991 to 1993 under President George HW Bush, has defended Mr Trump's controversial decision to fire then-FBI Director James Comey in May 2017 when Mr Comey was leading the Russia probe. After Mr Comey's firing, Special Counsel Robert Mueller took over the investigation, which includes any possible collusion between Moscow and Mr Trump's 2016 election campaign and any potential obstruction of justice. Mr Barr has said there is more reason to investigate potential wrongdoing by Hillary Clinton than there is to probe any potential collusion. Mr Barr previously served as attorney general under George HW Bush / AP As attorney general, Mr Barr would have ultimate responsibility for the Russia probe, unless he recuses himself. Mr Sessions recused himself from overseeing the investigation. US intelligence agencies have concluded Moscow worked to influence the election and tip it in Mr Trump's favour. Russia has denied any interference. G eorge HW Bush has been laid to rest next to his wife Barbara and their daughter Robin in Texas at a private, graveside service for his family. The ceremony concludes days of funeral activities honouring the 41st US president. His friend and former Secretary of State James Baker address crowds gathered at the funeral on Thursday. Mr Baker said, "The world became a better place because George Bush occupied the White House for four years". George W Bush and Laura Bush watch as the flag-draped casket of former President George HW Bush is carried for burial / AFP/Getty Images He said that Mr Bush embodied some of the nation's best values, "temperate" in thought, word and deed, "our nation's very best one-term president". George P Bush, the former president's grandson, subsequently struck a more personal tone with the man he and the younger generations called "gampy". Country music's Oak Ridge Boys, among the president's favourites, sang Amazing Grace and Reba McEntire offered The Lord's Prayer as three days of official ceremonies in Washington gave way to more personal touches for the Bush family in Texas. The night before, more than 11,000 people paid their respects as his casket lay in repose all night at St Martin's Episcopal Church, where his family worshipped. George W Bush and former First Lady Laura Bush arrive for the interment ceremony / AFP/Getty Images The nation's capital bid him goodbye on Wednesday in a Washington funeral service that offered high praise for the last of the presidents to have fought in World War II - and a hefty dose of humour about a man whose speaking delivery was once described as a cross between Mister Rogers and John Wayne. Mr Bush's casket returned for the services in Houston, a ride on a special funeral train and eventual burial at his family plot on the presidential library grounds at Texas A&M University in College Station. 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 His final resting place is alongside Barbara, his wife of 73 years, and Robin Bush, the daughter they lost to leukaemia aged three. T he father of a backpacker missing in New Zealand broke down in tears today as he begged for help in finding his daughter. Grace Millane, who turned 22 on Sunday, has not been heard from since December 1 after arriving in Auckland less than two weeks earlier as part of a round-the-world trip. Local police have said they have grave fears for the safety of the graduate from Billericay, Essex. Her father travelled from Britain on Friday, and appealed for help to find his daughter. As a family weve been extremely concerned for her welfare, he said at a tearful press conference in Auckland. Grace is a lovely, outgoing, fun-loving, family oriented daughter." David Millane, father of missing English backpacker Grace Millane speaks at a press conference in Auckland, New Zealand / AP Officers have identified and questioned the man and he remains a person of interest, but he has not been taken into custody, they revealed. Her family became concerned when contact suddenly stopped and she failed to respond to messages on her birthday. Mr Millane said Grace had never been out of contact for this long. She is usually in daily contact with either her mother, myself, her two brothers or members of the family on social media, he said. He added that Grace had been looking forward to the New Zealand leg of her trip after spending a month in Peru. Grace Millane has been missing in Auckland, New Zealand since Thursday (Grace Millane / Facebook) She arrived her on November 20 and has been bombarding us with numerous photographs and messages of her adventures, he said. Were all extremely upset, and it's very difficult at this time to fully describe the range of emotions we are going through. I would like to take this opportunity to appeal to anyone whos seen, spoken to or come into contact with Grace over the last few days and to come forward with any detail no matter how small and contact the investigation team. Police have released CCTV of missing Brit Grace Millane / PA Detective Inspector Scott Beard, of Auckland City Police said the last known sighting of Grace was at 9.41pm at the Citylife Hotel, on Saturday, December 1 with a male companion. He said that officers had also identified an apartment at the city centre hotel as a location of interest. "It has now been six days since Grace was last seen, at this point, we hold grave fears for her safety." He added that they "still have no evidence of foul play". Earlier this week, a potential witness told a local newspaper she saw a young woman resembling Ms Millane standing near the southern motorway in Manuka, about 14 miles from where she was last seen. The woman said: Where she was standing, it was really bizarre and she was by herself nobody around just a girl on her own. She was in a very unusual place to stand. A British pilot sacrificed himself to save the lives of his four passengers in an incredible act of heroism. David Goodwin, 59, took over the controls from his partner Michelle Tilley, a less-experienced pilot, when their light aircraft became shrouded in cloud in a mountain range in South Africa last Thursday. He pulled the Cessna up higher but was forced to crash-land in a forest as it scraped the 6,300ft peak. His family told how Mr Goodwin angled the plane to ensure he took the brunt of the impact, then stayed inside to free the others, including his partners two sisters and a teenage nephew, before escaping himself. Mr Goodwin was sat beside his partner Michelle Tilley who was flying the plane He suffered 95 per cent burns as he pulled them clear moments before the craft exploded in a fireball. He then led the group almost three miles through countryside, at times carrying his partners sister, to a main road, where he flagged down a truck driver who summoned rescuers. Mr Goodwin died from severe burns in hospital the following day despite surgeons battling to save him. His nephew Jamie called him an incredible man. He told Skydive Mag: He angled the plane crash so he would take the most impact, then made sure everyone got out before he did, despite being engulfed in flames. A Cessna 206 similar to the plane that crashed "Regardless of sustaining terrible burns and being stripped naked by the flames he gave everyone the strength to keep moving and get away before the craft exploded. He even carried Michelles sister who couldnt walk to get to the road. He saved the lives of all of her family. He flagged down help and stayed incredibly strong until he knew everyone was safe. Four people owe him their lives, and so many more are thankful for that. Mr Goodwin, believed to be from Durham, had gone to South Africa with Ms Tilley and her sister Charlene for the funeral of their mother. Along with third sister Tanya Collins and her 17-year-old nephew Ryan, the group decided to go on a three-day air safari, visiting their mothers favourite places in the African bush. The plane was being piloted by Ms Tilley, a qualified skydiver with 200 flying hours experience, as Mr Goodwin was not qualified to fly in South Africa. It is thought that on their return to Pretoria, she had tried to fly under rolling clouds that met them 50 miles after taking off from Nelspruit, weaving through valleys in a practice known as scud running. Mr Goodwin, an experienced pilot with more than 1,200 flying hours, took over control of the Cessna 206 and tried to climb to safety. But 50ft from clearing the summit he hit a pine forest. The plane was caught in the tree canopy before dropping to the forest floor, where it caught fire. A British backpacker missing in New Zealand was last seen at a hotel with a "male companion", police said as a desperate search continues. Grace Millane, who turned 22 on Sunday, has not been heard from since December 1 after arriving in Auckland less than two weeks earlier as part of a round-the-world trip. Her father David Millane made an emotional appeal for help in finding his "outgoing, fun-loving" daughter as police said they held "grave fears" for her safety. "We now have the last known sighting of Grace at 9.41pm at the Citylife Hotel, on Saturday 1 December with a male companion," said Detective Inspector Scott Beard, of Auckland City Police. Police have released CCTV of missing Brit Grace Millane / PA "Police have identified this man and he has been spoken to." Mr Beard said officers had also identified an apartment at the city centre hotel as a location of interest. "It has now been six days since Grace was last seen," he added. "At this point, we hold grave fears for her safety." He added that they "still have no evidence of foul play". Grace Millane has been missing in Auckland, New Zealand since Thursday (Grace Millane / Facebook) Mr Millane arrived in New Zealand on Friday morning and told reporters it was unusual for his daughter to be out of contact. Fighting back tears, he told a press conference: "Grace is a lovely, outgoing, fun-loving, family-orientated daughter. "She's usually in daily contact with either her mother, myself, her two brothers or members of the family on social media." Grace has not been seen since Saturday, when she spoke to her roommates at Base Backpackers in Auckland / Grace Millane / Facebook He added: "She... has been bombarding us with numerous photographs and messages of her adventures. "We are all extremely upset and it's very difficult at this time to fully describe the range of emotions we are going through." Ms Millane, reported to be from Essex, arrived in New Zealand as part of her year-long travels on November 20, having previously visited Peru. Police said more than 25 staff were working on the case and were trawling through hours of CCTV footage to trace her movements. A spokesman for the Foreign Office said: "We are providing consular support to the family in the UK, and working with the New Zealand Police in relation to reports of a missing British national in New Zealand." N ASA has released stunning new images from Mars taken by the InSight lander as it maps out its surroundings. The high-tech probe, which landed successfully on the red planet on November 27, took the photos on Thursday as it begins setting up equipment on the surface. Capturing scenes reminiscent of a sci-fi film, the Instrument Deployment Camera caught glimpses of a ten-sided solar panel with the dusty red surface of the celestial body in the background. Others capture gritty outlooks of the planet's surface and the metallic body of InSight, while some show the desolate expanse surrounding the lander. NASA InSight spacecraft lands on Mars On Thursday, Bruce Banerdt, the mission's principal investigator at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, described pictures as "glimpses of our workspace" . "By early next week, we'll be imaging it in finer detail and creating a full mosaic," he said. With a reach of nearly six feet, its mechanical arm will be used to pick up science instruments from the lander's deck. Its arm is being used to move equipment on the planet (NASA/JPL-Caltech) It will then set them on the Martian surface at Elysium Planitia, the lava plain where InSight touched down. Over the past week and a half, mission engineers have been testing equipment and spacecraft systems, to determine if they are in working order. Instruments are even recording data, with a drop in air pressure possibly caused by a passing dust devil detected by the pressure sensor. NASA staff high-five each other as the landing of the InSight probe is confirmed / REUTERS The feat of landing on the planet was a culmination of a six-month-long 300 million mile journey. Only around four in 10 missions ever sent to Mars have been successful, all of which have involved spacecrafts from the US. The InSight lander survived a so-called "seven minutes of terror", the name given to the tricky landing phase for the robotic probe. It was travelling at an immense speed of around 12,300mph and had to swiftly slow down through the thin atmosphered to land safely on the planet. A sheriff's deputy who died in a mass shooting at a bar in California was shot five times by a gunman who massacred 11 others but the officer was killed by friendly fire. Sergeant Ron Helus was fatally shot in the heart by a California Highway Patrol (CHP) officer who had joined him in a battle with the gunman at the Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks on November 7, Ventura County sheriff Bill Ayub said. "It was just a tragic detail that unfolded so rapidly, in my view it was unavoidable," Mr Ayub said. " "They were ambushed almost immediately," he added, before saying the fatal shot did not diminish the heroism shown by the officers. The casket with the body of Ventura County Sheriff Sergeant Ron Helus (Getty) The CHP officer was not identified, but is a nine-year veteran of the force who is on leave. Investigators did not offer any more insight into what drove Ian David Long to storm the country and western bar at an event for college students. Long took his own life after the gun battle with the two officers. The 28-year-old threw smoke grenades into the group of revellers, obstructing what they could see, before he opened fire. Thousand Oaks Shooting - In pictures 1 /42 Thousand Oaks Shooting - In pictures Teylor Whittler (L) is hugged by her father after she fled the Borderline Bar and Grill where a gunman injured 11 people in Thousand Oaks, California EPA People comfort each other as they sit near the scene AP Sheriff's deputies speak to a potential witness as they stand near the scene AP Sheriff's deputy speaks to a potential witness as they stand near the scene AP A witness talks to reporters outside a country music bar and dance hall in Thousand Oaks AFP/Getty Images A woman who fled the Borderline Bar and Grill where a gunman injured 11 people EPA People walk away from the scene Thursday, Nov. 8, 2018, in Thousand Oaks AP People comfort each other as they stand near the scene AP Law enforcement officers secure the road leading to the Borderline Bar and Grill where a gunman injured 11 people in Thousand Oaks, California EPA This handout video grab obtained on November 8, 2018 courtesy of Jeremy Childs twitter account shows people gathering outside a country music bar and dance hall in the Los Angeles-area after a gunman barged into a large, crowded venue and opened fire late November 7, wounding at least 11 people including a police officer, US police said. AFP/Getty Images An FBI agent talks to a potential witness as they stand near the scene Thursday, Nov. 8, 2018, in Thousand Oaks AP People comfort each other as they stand near the scene Thursday, Nov. 8, 2018, in Thousand Oaks AP This handout video grab obtained on November 8, 2018 courtesy of Jeremy Childs twitter account shows people gathering outside a country music bar and dance hall in the Los Angeles-area after a gunman barged into a large, crowded venue and opened fire late November 7, wounding at least 11 people including a police officer, US police said. AFP/Getty Images Distraught onlookers at the scene Women who fled from the shooting at the Borderline Bar and Grill pass by a sheriff's deputy after a gunman injured 11 people in Thousand Oaks, California EPA Emergency services outside the Borderline Bar and Grill ABC Ambulance at the scene KABC SWAT police preparing to raid the restaurant ABC7 Google Streetview of the Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks where the shooting has taken place Google EPA Emergency services ABC7 A victim receives treatment ABC7 Emergency Services ABC7 Thousand Oaks Shooting ABC7 Thousand Oaks Shooting KABC Thousand Oaks Shooting ABC7 News Thousand Oaks Shooting ABC7 News Thousand Oaks Shooting ABC7 News Thousand Oaks Shooting ABC7 News Thousand Oaks Shooting ABC7 News Thousand Oaks Shooting ABC7 News Thousand Oaks Shooting ABC7 News In this image made from aerial video, officials tend to a person on the ground in the vicinity of a shooting in Thousand Oaks, California AP First responders are seen outside Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks, California, U.S Reuters Friends of attendees at the Borderline Bar and Grill where a gunman injured 11 people wait to hear news of their friends in Thousand Oaks EPA Law enforcement officers secure the road leading to the Borderline Bar and Grill where a gunman injured 11 people in Thousand Oaks EPA Law enforcement officers secure the road leading to the Borderline Bar and Grill where a gunman injured 11 people in Thousand Oaks, California EPA Women who fled from the shooting at the Borderline Bar and Grill pass by a sheriff's deputy after a gunman injured 11 people in Thousand Oaks, California EPA First responders are seen outside Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks, California REUTERS This photo obtained on November 8, 2018 courtesy of Jeremy Childs twitter account shows police officers interviewing people outside a country music bar and dance hall in Thousand Oaks, in the Los Angeles-area, after a gunman opened fire AFP/Getty Images An FBI agent talks to a potential witness as they stand near the scene Thursday, Nov. 8, 2018, in Thousand Oaks AP A woman who fled the Borderline Bar and Grill where a gunman injured 11 people is hugged by relatives in Thousand Oaks, California EPA He then used a torch with a laser sight attached to his .45-calibre semi-automatic pistol as he fired. Panicked revellers smashed windows to flee, hid under tables and piled on top of each other in an effort to dodge the gunfire. Police responding to Thousand Oaks shooting / AP The first two officers to arrive at the scene, Sgt Helus and a CHP officer, saw at least 100 people fleeing the bar. Long had got into a tactical position and fired on them when they entered, killing Sgt Helus. The 29-year veteran of the department was close to retirement. K evin Hart has stepped down as host of the 2019 Academy Awards amid controversy over alleged homophobic tweets he posted nearly a decade ago. The US comedian and actor was named as the host of the Oscars on Tuesday, describing the role as "the opportunity of a lifetime". Shortly after his appointment, tweets resurfaced, originally posted between 2009 and 2011, which contained offensive language towards the LGBT community. Amid a growing controversy and after refusing the Academy's request to apologise, Hart announced on Twitter he was stepping aside and said sorry for his "insensitive" words. In a tweet on Friday, he said: "I have made the choice to step down from hosting this year's Oscar's. This is because I do not want to be a distraction on a night that should be celebrated by so many amazing talented artists. I sincerely apologise to the LGBTQ community for my insensitive words from my past. "I'm sorry that I hurt people.. I am evolving and want to continue to do so. My goal is to bring people together not tear us apart. Much love & appreciation to the Academy. I hope we can meet again." Hart posted a video minutes before stepping down in which he appeared to defend himself. He said: I just got a call from the Academy and that call basically said 'Kevin apologise for your tweets of old or we'll have to move on and find another host'. I chose to pass because I've addressed this several times. I've said who I am now verses who I was then. I'm in a completely different space in my life." TODO: define component type apester M ac Miller has been nominated for a posthumous Grammy award, three months after he died. Millers final album, Swimming, has earned him his first ever Grammy nod in the Best Rap Album category. Swimming, released on August 3, will go up against Travis Scotts Astroworld, Cardi Bs Invasion of Privacy, Daytona by Pusha T and Victory Lap by Nipsey Hussle. Miller, real name Malcolm McCormick, was found dead at his home in California on September 7. His death was later ruled as an accidental overdose. Nominated: Mac Miller has earned his first ever Grammy nomination / Owen Sweeney/Invision/AP His fans immediately took to social media to discuss the nomination, congratulating the late star and wishing he could be here to see it. One wrote: Mac Miller got GRAMMY nominated. I'm happy and sad at the same time. Another said: This morning Mac Miller received his first #Grammy nomination. Im not crying, you are. A third wrote: Mac Miller got nominated for Best Rap Album and imma cry. Millers ex-girlfriend Ariana Grande paid tribute to the late star in her smash hit single Thank U, Next. She regularly posts touching posts about Miller on her social media pages. Memory: Ariana Grande and Mac Miller backstage during the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards in New York, NY, USA. / Getty Images Grande herself is up for two awards including Best Pop Vocal Album for Sweetener, battling Beautiful Trauma by P!nk, Reputation from Taylor Swift, Meaning of Life by Kelly Clarkson, Shawn Mendes self-titled album and Camila by Camila Cabello. Her performance of God Is A Woman is also nominated for Best Pop Solo Performance, alongside Colors by Beck, Havana by Camila Cabello, Joanne by Lady Gaga and Post Malones Better Now. K evin Hart has stepped down as host of the 2019 Academy Awards amid controversy over homophobic tweets he posted nearly a decade ago. The US comedian and actor was named as the host of the Oscars on Tuesday, however, shortly after his appointment, tweets from 2009 and 2011 resurfaced which contained offensive language towards the LGBT community. On Friday, Hart announced on Twitter that he was stepping aside as he apologised for his "insensitive" words. So who will stand in his place? Here's a handful of potential candidates: An obvious choice, but Kimmel has already proven he can handle the pressure of an Oscars stage twice, having previously hosted the show in 2016 and 2017. The American chat show host showed he can weave in the right amount of controversy without getting the Academy in trouble and still keep the audience awake. And his mum might even deliver some fresh Oscar-shaped cookies again for the peckish audience, giving him a few bonus points. With Kimmel seeing two successful runs he could easily be on standby for the hat-trick if needs be. The Good Place star Bell proved she can make any stage work for her after she became the first ever host of this years prestigious SAG Awards. Bell impressed with her eloquent delivery and witty humour. Shes even previously guest-hosted for Kimmel making her a good alternative to the late night host. Plus, if its a controversy-free star the Academy are looking to showcase, Bell has Disney princess under her belt. This hilarious dynamic duo are best known for their dry, ironic humour. The pair proved they are a match made-in-heaven after they hosted the Golden Globes back in 2016. Their effortless self-deprecating wit combined with a genuine-comfort they find in each other made Lawrence and Schumer an easy watch as they breezed through a number of topical jokes. With both actresses popular with audiences, the pair could be the perfect fit for the Oscars. Hilarious: Reynolds is known for his sarcastic humour / Getty Images Deadpool star Ryan Reynolds is loved globally for his very sarcastic humour, often taking the internet by storm for his savage comments about wife Blake Lively. But what makes Ryan Reynolds perfect for the job as host is his lack of embarrassment factor, meaning hes pretty much open to giving anything a go in the name of comedy. Paired with the right comedian, Reynolds could make Oscars history if he were to step on the stage as host. Next up: Key and Peele have become known for their relatable sketches / Getty Images Key & Peele Hilarious comedy duo Key and Peele, Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele, have become globally popular for their Comedy Central sketches as part of their self-titled show. With Peele now an Oscar winner, having taken the gong for Best Original Screenplay for get Out last year, the duo could easily hold an Oscars audience with their global humour and relatability. TODO: define component type apester The pair have also become well known for tackling race through humour, making them more time-relevant than ever. D aniel Knox - Chasescene (H.P. Johnson Presents) ***** Daniel Knox learned how to play music in public, at night. Back in the Nineties, freshly dropped out of film school, he would drift in and out of luxe hotels in downtown Chicago, find a piano in the basement and experiment until the staff kicked him out. He continues to work as a cinema projectionist (and occasional organist) in his native city, and still spends a lot of time wandering in the darkest hours as his deadpan Instagram feed attests: discarded unicorn horns; frozen hot-dog stands; pretty reflections in the asphalt. Thats how his music sounds too. I try to reach for you but always/I haunt the corners and the hallways/Im always late for my applause/I try to reach you with my claws Chasescene is Knoxs fourth album and the one that ought to expand his cult beyond Chicago (David Lynch, Rufus Wainwright and Jarvis Cocker were all early converts). The production is old Hollywood by way of Weimar Berlin: tipsy pianos, swooning strings and debonair melodies. Knoxs baritone is supple and graceful, but it rarely provides comfort. The title track is a lovelorn murder ballad. On the country-tinger Leftovers, he displays some of the vituperative wit of a Father John Misty or John Grant: Getting tired of this musicless dance/Why dont you put your hand down my pants? But its the murmured, melancholy afterthought that lifts the song: And then we will be going somewhere stranger. At other moments he is content to play cinematographer: Nina Nastasia sounds like a doomed Disney witch on The Poisoner; Cocker lends his seedy whisper to Capitol; the instrumental waltz that opens the album really deserves its own Netflix series. A warm tinkle of chandeliers before youre thrown out into the elements. by Richard Godwin Van Morrison - The Prophet Speaks (Caroline International) *** At 73, Van Morrison has been shaming younger artists with his work rate. But with a fourth album in just over 12 months, that prolific output is starting to look a little mercenary. At least the fans shelling out for The Prophet Speaks will find moments of Van the Mans magic. Alongside a formidable blues band, he produces bursts of soulful scatting on a record of personal favourites by Sam Cooke, Solomon Burke and John Lee Hooker, as well as half a dozen new tunes. Compared to the majesty of Astral Weeks, released almost exactly 50 years ago, its a ragtag collection thats unlikely to appeal beyond true believers. They shouldnt have long to wait for his 41st album. by Andre Paine LP- Heart to Mouth (BMG) **** New Yorks Laura Pergolizzi (LP, for short) may have just penned her most honest album to date with her fifth outing. When I get on the mic and start doing melodies, I can feel that direct line from my heart to my mouth, she says. Confessional songs they certainly are, exemplified by the touching Recovery, with stripped-back piano and stark lyrics, about a broken relationship and addiction. Channelling a blend of arty pop-rock, she lays bare a struggling soul on Stevie Nicks-inspired Dreamcatcher and dreamy electropop earworm Girls Go Wild. Shes written for everyone from Rihanna to Cher and her vocals are compared to others (Gwen Stefani, usually). Yet Heart to Mouth feels like Pergolizzis moment to be recognised as a powerful artist in her own right. by Elizabeth Aubrey Moonlight Benjamin - Siltane (Ma Case) **** Haitis Moonlight Benjamin generates one powerful sound. Memwan, the arresting opening track, is hollered over jangling guitars and drums, her voice sailing over the turbulence. Her mother died giving birth to her in Port au Prince, she was raised in an orphanage and is now based in France. Benjamins styles been called voodoo rock n roll and she sings in creole and occasionally French. Not all songs match the opening but the electric guitar (Matthis Pascaud) and rumba rhythms of Port au Prince are striking, as is Met Agwe. Given the urgency of her vocals its a shame the lyrics arent translated. by Simon Broughton Jessica Radcliffe - Remembrance (Ubuntu Music) **** There is Kickstarter, and then there are television quiz shows. Part of a team that beat the Chaser on ITVs The Chase, London-based vocalist and composer Jessica Radcliffe poured her winnings into recording this remarkable project, a portrayal of the impact of the First World War. Flanked by a spirited band on reeds, keys, bass and drums, she draws on an array of influences to reanimate the likes of Dulce et Decorum Est by war poet Wilfrid Owen, and offer fresh originals including I Would Rather Be A Rebel, a tribute to the suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst. Charismatic singing, speaking or vocalising without words as she does on The Last Post Radcliffe is a talent to watch. by Jane Cornwell Jacob Collier - Djesse Vol. 1 (Decca) **** Londoner Jacob Collier is yet another musician discovered through his YouTube cover versions but his were genuinely special split-screen films in which he reworked songs, played every instrument and sang every layer. His debut album was recorded in his bedroom, maintaining that homemade feel. The follow-up is more ambitious. This is the first of four collections due out soon, backed by the sounds of Jules Buckleys Metropole Orkest and featuring everyone from Laura Mvula to Moroccan Gnawa musician Hamid El Kasri. He still has a winning way with a cover, jazzing up Lionel Richie and The Police here, while originals range from sparkling show-tunes to Princey electrofunk. Its anyones guess what the next instalment will be like.by N ick Knowles was sent packing from the Im A Celebrity camp after 20 days in the jungle. The TV presenter appeared sombre as he received the news that he was next to exit the show after landing in the bottom two with fellow contestant Fleur East. Opening up on his time on the show, Knowles told hosts Declan Donnelly and Holly Willoughby how he was hopeful his extraordinary experience would inspire viewers at home. He said: When I came in here I wanted to see if a whole bunch of people could come together and make friends. Were having such a hard time in the UK [with being divided] I wanted to see if we could all get on then it might be a pointer for everyone at home. ITV Speaking about his natural leadership qualities, he added: It wasnt so much taking charge for me, it was just I had done more stuff in the wild then they had so it was a matter of taking the weight of that, especially the cooking. You dont want to mess up the cooking. However, Knowles also took time to reflect on the tough bits that viewers dont see at home, such as lugging the wood uphill and boredom. The DIY SOS presenter left his camp-mates, and viewers, baffled as he insisted Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin never set foot on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission. Good spirits: Knowles seemed content with being booted out / ITV "No one's landed on the moon," he said. "No we haven't. When [the US] discovered they couldn't get to the moon they faked it." Anne Hegerty attempted to dispel his arguments, telling him the Russians were tracking the US mission, how they managed to take photos and how the astronauts avoided radiation poisoning. Emily Atack was unconvinced by Knowles' claims, branding them "b*******". She said: "Nick has one of those voices where you believe everything he says - but I don't belive we didn't go to the moon. Nick Knowles claims moon landing was 'fake' "I think it's b*******. I think we have landed on the moon." Commenting on the songs success, he said: Even if its comedy value, thank you very much. Its ridiculous. Im A Celebrity is on ITV, tomorrow at 9pm I ve always thought Id rather holiday in a decent open prison than in Dubai. Or a broom cupboard, if it came to that. This startling documentary has only confirmed me in that resolution. Anybody seduced by the ad campaigns promising beautiful beach life, luxury restaurants, must-visit hammams, state-of-the-art shopping malls and world-class water parks should watch. In February this year, Latifa bint Mohammed al-Maktoum, one of the 30 children of the billionaire ruler of Dubai and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, tried to escape from the country on a yacht. She set a course for India, from where she hoped to fly to America to start a new life. Pictured: Tina Jauhiainen & Princess LAtifa / BBC/Detained in Dubai Instead, the US-flagged boat was boarded in international waters by armed men. She was seized and apparently returned to the UAE and has not been heard from since. A few days before setting off, Latifa, 32, had recorded a long statement about her life on video, for release in the event that she didnt make it. Five days after her capture it was put up on YouTube. Now producer and director Jane Mc-Mullen (whose credits include the expose Weinstein, and North Koreas Deadly Dictator, about the assassination of Kim Jong-nam) has interwoven this footage with a clear account of how and why the escape was attempted. She uses interviews with French ex-naval officer Herve Jaubert, who devised the escape plan and captained the yacht, and Latifas best friend, a sporty Finnish woman called Tiina Jauhiainen, who was accompanying her. Latifa and Tiina had been sky-diving partners the princesss love for this sport even having been publicised as proof of the freedoms available to women in Dubai. The documentary is much enhanced by vivid footage of her falling free, high above the extraordinary layout of the city, including the Palm Jumeirah artificial archipelago: an incredible image of liberation that makes a graphic contrast to the grim story of constraint and confinement she delivers herself to the camera. Pictured: Tina Jauhiainen / BBC Latifa first tried to escape when she was 16 but was arrested at the border, beaten and detained for three years, four months, she says. That was not so unusual, either. One of her sisters, Shamsa, who had tried to flee from her family while in Britain in 2000, was kidnapped from a Cambridge street and returned to Dubai to be imprisoned for eight years, remaining zombified with drugs and continually monitored, Latifa says. This abduction was never fully investigated by British police, a former Cambridge detective admits. Latifa, whose testimony to camera is measured and persuasive, says life in the UAE is not at all as it has been portrayed in the media. Theres no justice here, especially if youre a female, your life is so disposable. Sharia law allows men to chastise and beat their wives or children, explains Rothna Begum of Human Rights Watch. Latifa had plotted her escape for seven years and was confident she would make it. I expect it to be the start of a new chapter in my life, one where I have some voice, I dont have to be silenced. She recorded the video in the hope that her endeavour wouldnt be entirely in vain if she didnt. This documentary fully honours that hope. On being captured, Latifa said she would rather be shot there and then on the boat than taken back to Dubai. Standing Deputy Minister Bui Thanh Son receives Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus Andrei Dapkyunas Deputy Minister Bui Thanh Son has received Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus Andrei Dapkyunas on his visit to Vietnam and his attendance at the 16th Vietnam International Trade Fair (Vietnam Expo 2018) as guest of honor. He affirmed that Vietnam always attaches importance to relations with Belarus and thanks it for support to Vietnams cause of building and developing, while stressing that the leaders and people of Vietnam always cherish the friendship of the leaders and people of Belarus as well as its assistance at international forums, and the two Ministries of Foreign Affairs should play the leading role in boosting bilateral cooperation in various fields. At the meeting, the two sides exchanged solutions to intensify economic and commercial cooperation. Deputy Minister Andrei Dapkyunas expressed his happiness at his first visit to Vietnam, while stressing that Vietnam is a special partner of Belarus and is the first country signing a free trade agreement with Eurasia Economic Union. He affirmed that the Belarusian government would create every condition for enterprises of the two countries to boost bilateral economic-commercial cooperation on a par with political relations. Belarus will also continue supporting and closely coordinating with Vietnam at international forums./. Space News space history and artifacts articles Messages space history discussion forums Sightings worldwide astronaut appearances Resources selected space history documents advertisements China launches probe, rover on mission to land on moon's far side December 7, 2018 China has launched a robotic lunar lander and wheeled rover in an attempt to achieve the first surface exploration of the far side of the moon. The Chang'e 4 mission lifted off Friday (Dec. 7) at 1:23 p.m. EST (1823 GMT or 2:23 a.m. Beijing time on Dec. 8) on a Long March 3B rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China. If all proceeds to plan, the lander and rover is expected to touch down in Von Karman crater, within the South Pole-Aitken Basin, after a five-day trip to the moon and then three weeks in lunar orbit, on or about Jan. 3, 2019. If successful, it will be the first spacecraft to land on the side of the moon that faces away from Earth. Sometimes mistakenly referred to as the "dark side," the far side of the moon receives the same amount of sunlight as the near side. Chang'e 4 is China's second mission to the surface of the moon. On Dec. 14, 2013, the Chang'e 3 lander and its rover Yutu ("Jade Rabbit") made the first landing on the moon in 37 years, establishing China as only the third nation in history to reach the lunar surface. Lessons learned Yutu's planned exploration of the moon's Sea of Rains (Mare Imbrium) ended at 360 feet (110 meters) after a problem rendered the rover immobile. It continued to function as static science platform though, through 2016. The Chang'e 4 lander and rover were originally backup units to the Chang'e 3 mission. They were repurposed for Chang'e 4 and modified to take account into the lessons learned on the earlier mission. The Chang'e-4 rover retained the same basic shape and configuration of its predecessor, but gained adaptable and adjustable components to account for the more complex terrain at its far side landing site and to accommodate the science and communication needs of the mission. To enable far side operations, China launched in May the Queqiao ("Magpie Bridge") communications satellite into a halo orbit around the second Lagrangian (L2) point of the Earth-Moon system. From its position 280,000 miles (455,000 kilometers) from Earth, the satellite will serve as a data relay for the Chang'e 4 lander and rover on the lunar surface. Far side science The Chang'e 4 lander and rover have a total of eight instruments, payloads and cameras to support the mission's scientific objectives, including a low-frequency radio-astronomy study and topographic and mineralogical composition studies of the moon's far side surface. The lander is outfitted with a landing camera, a terrain camera, a low frequency spectrometer and, in partnership with Germany, the Lunar Lander Neutrons and Dosimetry experiment. The rover is equipped with a panoramic camera, a ground-penetrating radar, a visible and near-infrared imaging spectrometer and, in collaboration with Sweden, the Advanced Small Analyzer for Neutrals experiment. The Chang'e 4 mission also carries a "mini biosphere," designed by 28 Chinese universities, that comprises an aluminum tin holding potato and arabidopsis (a member of the mustard family) seeds, as well as silkworm eggs and a camera. Siding with history China's Chang'e 4 launch came just two weeks before the 50th anniversary of another mission with far side history. On Dec. 21, 1968, NASA launched the Apollo 8 crew of Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and Bill Anders, who became the first humans to see the far side from lunar orbit. The first mission to photograph the far side was the Soviet Union's Luna 3 robotic probe. The spacecraft flew over the sun-lit surface on Oct. 7, 1959, and captured 29 images covering 70 percent of the far side. If successful, Chang'e 4 will be the 20th mission in history to safely touch down on the moon. A Long March 3B rocket launches the Chang'e 4 mission from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China on Dec. 7, 2018. The Chang'e 4 probe and rover are targeted to land on the moon's far side in early January 2019. (Xinhua) Rendering of the Chang'e 4 rover on the surface of the far side of the moon. (China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation) Rendering of the Chang'e 4 lander on the surface of the far side of the moon. (China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation) China's Yutu moon rover, photographed on the lunar surface by the Chang'e 3 lander on Dec. 16, 2013. (CASC) The moon's far side, as photographed by China's Chang'e 5 T1 in 2014, is the target for the Change'e 4 mission. (Chinese Academy of Sciences) 2021 collectSPACE.com All rights reserved. Countries & Areas Search for country or area A Afghanistan Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan B Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Brazil Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burma Burundi C Cabo Verde Cambodia Cameroon Canada Central African Republic Chad Chile China Colombia Comoros Costa Rica Cote dIvoire Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czechia D Democratic Republic of the Congo Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic E Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Eswatini Ethiopia F Fiji Finland France G Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Greece Grenada Guatemala Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana H Haiti Holy See Honduras Hungary I Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Israel Italy J Jamaica Japan Jordan K Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kosovo Kuwait Kyrgyzstan L Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg M Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Mauritania Mauritius Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Morocco Mozambique N Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria North Korea North Macedonia Norway O Oman P Pakistan Palau Palestinian Territories Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Q Qatar R Republic of the Congo Romania Russia Rwanda S Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa San Marino Sao Tome and Principe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Korea South Sudan Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Sweden Switzerland Syria T Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Timor-Leste Togo Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Tuvalu U Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom Uruguay Uzbekistan V Vanuatu Venezuela Vietnam Y Yemen Z Zambia Zimbabwe In a speech to the plenary session of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Ministerial Council in Milan on Thursday, senior official with the Romanian Foreign Ministry (MAE) Dan Neculaescu voiced Romania's concern with a worsening security state at European level, marked by an ongoing conflict in Ukraine, persistent frozen conflicts in the Black Sea region and the erosion of the conventional arms control regime. "During the plenary session of the OSCE Ministerial Council, Dan Neculaescu voiced concern with worsening security state at European level, marked by an ongoing conflict in Ukraine, persistent frozen conflicts in the Black Sea region and the erosion of the conventional arms control regime. Senior official Dan Neculaescu reaffirmed Romania's strong support for the efforts to resolve the crisis in Ukraine, including through its active participation in the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission, and reiterated the country's support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, as well as worries over the current developments in the Black Sea/Azov Sea, delivering a strong message on the importance of international law being observed, defusing the situation and of the need for captured Ukrainian ships and personnel being returned," MAE said Friday in a press statement. According to MAE, Neculaescu advocated stepping-up efforts to solve all prolonged conflicts in the OSCE area and argued that this issue should be kept in the organisation's priority hierarchy. He also referred to the dynamics in the settlement of the Transnistria file and advocated a balanced approach that would make the parties accountable for making progress with all the components of the 5+2 negotiating agenda. "As regards the political and military dimension of the organisation, senior official Dan Neculaescu underscored that the full implementation of the principles and commitments pledged by the participating states is a way of guaranteeing security and strengthening stability, military transparency and predictability in the area, urging for an update of the Vienna Document. In the context of Romania's assuming the six-month rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union on 1 January 2019, Dan Neculaescu mentioned Romania's readiness to closely co-operate with the forthcoming Slovak OSCE Chairmanship-in-Office to secure synergy in areas and fields that are relevant to both organisations." The Constitutional Court of Romania (CCR) decided to issue on 13 December its opinion regarding the Government 's notification regarding the existence of a constitutional conflict after President Klaus Iohannis deferred the appointment of the new ministers of Transport and Regional Development, official sources told AGERPRES on Friday. Prime Minister Viorica Dancila announced on Friday that the Government notified the Constitutional Court of Romania about the fact that President Klaus Iohannis has not made a decision regarding the appointment of the new ministers of Transport (Mircea Draghici) and Regional Development (Lia Olguta Vasilescu). PM Dancila spoke in the beginning of the Government sitting about the recent discussions which members of the Executive carried out in Brussels with European officials on the takeover of the Presidency of the EU Council. In this context, she underscored that "the only uncertain situation" at the moment is created by President Iohannis "through blocking the appointment of new ministers in two important areas." On 21 November, the Social Democratic Party's (PSD) National Executive Committee (CExN) decided to propose Lia Olguta Vasilescu for Minister of Regional Development and Public Administration, and Mircea Draghici for Minister of Transport. The decision came after President Klaus Iohannis rejected the initial picks: Ilan Laufer for Regional Development and Lia Olguta Vasilescu for Transports. The head of state argued the two were not suited for the positions. The President announced that he would consider PSD's new proposals after the National Day. The Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers has held its quarterly meeting to oversee the execution of judgments and decisions from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) from 4 to 6 December, the latter's decision in the file regarding Romania's involvement in the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency)'s secret detention centers program, namely the Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri case, having also been discussed, a release by the Council of Europe reads. The ECHR rejected in October Romania and Lithuania's appeals against the court's May ruling that the two countries had been involved in CIA's secret detention centers program. The ECHR decided in favour of two prisoners in Guantanamo, Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri (against Romania) and Abu Zubaydah (against Lithuania) who affirmed that they were secretly detained in these countries 2004 through 2006 and that they were subject to various forms of moral and physical violence. The same with Lithuania in the Zubaydah case, the European court also condemned Romania to pay to Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri a USD 100,000 compensation. The ECHR also required Romania to get guarantees from the US authorities that Al-Nashiri will not be sentenced to death. This request was reiterated on Thursday by the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers that is asking the Bucharest officials to use all possible means to get guarantees in this extreme emergency situation from the United States of America that al-Nashiri will not be sentenced to death and will not be exposed to a blatant denial on behalf of the American judiciary. Moreover, the same committee calls on Romania to consider in such an approach with the US authorities a joint action with Poland, a country already condemned by the ECHR for similar deeds in 2015. The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe also "reminds the necessity to quickly advance in the criminal investigation regarding the circumstances the applicant was brought to Romania, the treatment he was subjected to over there and then transferred, which particularly entails the investigation of possible acts of torture." In context, the same committee refers to the amendment of the Criminal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code of Romania, and bringing to mind the opinion of the Venice Commission estimates that this reform "will significantly affect the efficiency of the Romanian criminal justice system in combating the various forms of serious crimes, the violent crimes included." Therefore, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe demands Romania to reconsider the recent amendments brought to the two codes, having in mind the requirements in the "Guidelines of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on eradicating impunity for serious human rights violations." Eventually, "the Romanian authorities are invited to quickly inform the Committee on the steps undertaken in view of obtaining the necessary diplomatic guarantees from the US authorities and answer the Committee's fears regarding the efficiency of the criminal investigations," the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers says, mentioning that this case will be addressed again at its March 2019 meeting. The improvement of the bilateral legal framework and the future joint cultural activities featured on Friday on the agenda of the meeting between Culture Minister Valer-Daniel Breaz and Macedonian Minister for the Diaspora Edmon Ademi. According to a release of the Minister of Culture and National Identity (MCIN), the Romanian official commended the guests on the occasion of the celebration of the Macedonian Language Day and showed that in less than a month of Romania's effective takeover of the first rotating Presidency of the EU Council, a unique moment in the European journey of our country, the Government is ready to get concrete results, for the interest of all European citizens. Minister Ademi underlined that he appreciates the friendship and diplomatic relations with our country, expressing his wish to organize the Macedonian Culture Week in Romania next year. The meeting was also attended by Secretary of State for European Affairs and International Relations with the MCIN and undersecretary of State Irina Sanda Marin Cajal. The Minister for the Diaspora of the Republic of Macedonia was accompanied by Special Advisor Redzep Saliu, Nikola Shalvarinov, Director of the Migration Agency, and Mariana-Venera Popescu - Parliamentary Group of National Minorities. Also attending the meeting was Ambassador of the Republic of Macedonia in Bucharest Gabriel Atanasov. Secretary of State for Global Bilateral Affairs Monica Gheorghita met on Thursday with the head of the United Nations Liaison Office for Peace and Security (UNLOPS) in Brussels, Rory Keane, on a visit to Romania for an exchange of opinions on the EU-UN cooperation during the term of Romania's Presidency of the Council of the European Union. "The Romanian dignitary briefed about the priorities of Romania's Presidency of the Council of the European Union in general, and in the fields of peace and security, in particular, and referred to Romania's contributions to the UN peace-keeping operations, namely the implementation of reform processes in the fields of peace and security within the UN system. The Romanian side revealed the need to respond to renewed requirements regarding the prevalence of conflict prevention and the priority approach of the causes that undermine a sustainable peace, enhancing the cohesion between the political and operational sides within the peace-keeping operations, including by imposing a responsible leadership, as well as the initiation of certain consultation and coordination processes regarding the carrying out of several joint actions, in view of accomplishing each mission's mandates," the Foreign Affairs Ministry (MAE) informs in a press release. The two officials talked about the strengthening of the partnership between the UN and regional organisations, in a trilateral format UN-EU-the African Union, as well as the increase and strengthening of women's and the youth's role in conflict prevention and peace consolidation. The head of UNLOPS emphasised the UN's priority attention to the development of partnerships for the administrative and financial support of the UN projects and highlighted the important place the partnership with the EU occupies in conducting complex peace operations. "At the same time, the UN official referred to the efficiency of the future peace operations, as main objective of the reform process underway and encouraged Romania to continue the investments in niche domains within the UN, such as UN security staff training taking place within the Centre of Excellence for Protection and Security of SPP [the Protection and Guard Service, ed.n.]. The visit to Romania of the the UNLOPS head in Brussels provided the opportunity to reiterate Romania's commitment in backing the UN efforts, including as part of the commitment assumed within the campaign for the promotion of Romania's candidacy to the UN SC and the EU's efforts in preventing conflicts and streamlining the peace-keeping operations," the same source mentions. The Social Democratic Party (PSD) believes that President Klaus Iohannis "blocks" Romania by deferring a decision regarding the Government reshuffle, adding that the Social Democrats will make use of "all the legal and constitutional means" to unblock the situation created. "The Social Democratic Party condemns the irresponsible decision of President Iohannis to block the functioning of two key-ministries of Romania's Government. Lacking any political, legal or constitutional argument, Iohannis is driven by a personal grudge and obsessions, bringing damage to the Romanian state, which he should represent. Iohannis is purely blocking Romania, so that the PSD+ALDE [the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats] Government do not invest in highways and local development. The scandals and conflicts created by Iohannis are the more irresponsible in the context of the Centennial Year and the repeated calls of the European officials on having a political consensus prior to Romania taking over the Presidency of the Council of the EU," a release of the PSD sent to AGERPRES on Friday informs. According to the quoted source, "Iohannis showed today a behavior lacking any decency and common sense toward the Prime Minister, despite the political peace message that she addressed at a solemn sitting of Parliament, organised on the occasion of the Centennial. " "Beyond the functions, President Iohannis should have shown his polite behavior and courtesy towards a lady. Under these circumstances, the PSD will use all the legal and constitutional means to unlock the situation created by Iohannis and determine him to observe the laws and the Constitution of Romania," the release mentions. President Klaus Iohannis stated on Friday that he he awaits the ruling of the Constitutional Court of Romania (CCR) on a complaint filed by the Government over his delaying in appointing the new transport minister and the new regional development minister following a recent reshuffle, and then act constitutionally. Deputy Speaker of the Deputies' Chamber Florin Iordache (PSD - the Social Democratic Party) believes that President Klaus Iohannis has exceeded his constitutional role in the case of the reshuffle at the Ministry of Development and the Ministry of Transportation and proves this is a political battle. "President Iohannis exceeds his constitutional role, which is that of a guarantor of the Constitution. The fact that he did not answer to the proposal of reshuffle, which is clearly the prerogative of the Prime Minister, is blocking the Government proving this is a battle, a continuous political battle and he exceeds, thus, his constitutional role. He did not understand a thing. In the end, Mr. Prime Minister needed to address the Constitutional Court, in order to unblock the Government's activity. The resignation is a unilateral act," Iordache told AGERPRES on Friday. He also added that the PSD will analyse the situation and make a decision with respect to what to do next. "On Friday, Prime Minister filed a complaint with the Constitutional Court of Romania. Probably, the Court will issue an opinion, but allow me to say that it won't solve the problem. The CCR can't solve this, because this problem is not of a constitutional nature, but of a political nature. And I will also tell you what are the two cause of this political problem. The first cause is de facto that Romania doesn't have a Prime Minister, the second one is the total inability of the PSD to make politics, any type of politics," the head of state said at the Cotroceni Presidential Palace. Iohannis reproached the Prime Minister that "the inability to maintain a dialogue, at least at institutional level," for solving a problem. He also went on to say that the Prime Minister wrote him, without contacting him, a request of Government reshuffle, after which, "without waiting for my response," she sent another request on the same topic. Prime Minister Viorica Dancila announced that the Government notified the Constitutional Court of the fact that President Iohannis did not make a decision with respect to the appointment of the new ministers of transport (Mircea Draghici) and Regional Development (Lia Olguta Vasilescu). Romania's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Ion Jinga, brought to mind Romania's commitment to continue developing cooperation between the European Union and the United Nations during its forthcoming Presidency of the Council of the European Union in an address held on Thursday in the opening of the debate of the Security Council regarding the role of regional organizations in conflict prevention and resolution. In his speech, the diplomat reiterated Romania's firm commitment to preventive diplomacy and reminded that Romania was the first country to introduce the issue of cooperation with regional organizations on the United Nations agenda by promoting Security Council Resolution 1631, adopted in 2005 under the Romanian presidency of this body, informs a press release sent by the Permanent Mission of Romania to the United Nations. Underlining the importance that Romania attaches to UN peacekeeping operations, the Permanent Representative stressed that over the last 27 years, Romania has participated with over 12,500 police officers, servicemen and security officers at 25 UN peacekeeping missions. Ambassador Jinga mentioned that, as current chair of the United Nations Commission on Peacebuilding (PBC), Romania attached great importance to conflict prevention, as reflected in the PBC's priorities. These include promoting a regional approach in the work of the commission, strengthening partnerships with regional and sub-regional organizations (in particular with the African Union), and supporting conflict-affected countries through actions ranging from stopping conflict outbreak to peace consolidation and post-conflict reconstruction. The debate on "The Role of States, Regional Organizations and the UN in Conflict Prevention and Resolution" was organized by Cote d'Ivoire as President of the Council in December. Romania's Justice Minister Tudorel Toader met France's Justice Minister Nicole Belloubet on Friday to discuss the state of play for Romania's preparations for assuming the six-month rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union on January 1, 2019. According to a press statement released by the Romanian Justice Ministry, the meeting took place on the side-lines of the Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting that took place in Brussels, Belgium, on Thursday and Friday. "The two dignitaries discussed the state of play in the preparations for Romania taking over the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union, presenting the files that will have priority under the Romania tenure, as well as a series of events scheduled to take place in the first half of 2019. Minister Tudorel Toader invited his French counterpart to come to Romania on a working visit on the side-lines of the informal meeting of the justice ministers to be held in Bucharest in February 2019. The two officials voiced their shared desire to co-operate constructively and to advance as many of the files currently under negotiation as possible that are taken over by the Romanian side early next year, while also counting on the support of the other ministers of justice of the other EU member states, the European Commission and the European Parliament.' Accompanying Toader at the meeting was ambassador Luminita Odobescu, the permanent representative of Romania to the European Union, as well as a technical delegation. Romania's objective during the Presidency of the Council of the EU in the first half of next year in the healthcare field is to guarantee access to healthcare for all the European citizens, informed the Ministry of Healthcare. "Starting on January 1, 2019, we will be in charge of coordinating one of the most important institutions - the Council of the European Union (EPSCO). In the healthcare field, we are prepared to honestly and neutrally act for developing and strenghtening the European project," Minister Sorina Pintea said, as quoted in a press release on Friday sent by the Ministry of Healthcare. Pintea took over from his Austrian counterpart, Beate Hartinger-Klein, the mandate of the rotating Presidency of the Council of the EU in the healthcare field. According to the release, the Romanian Presidency in the healthcare field will continue with the efforts of advancing the EU agenda on topics of impact and with benefits to the patients. "Our country's objective during the mandate is to guarantee access to healthcare for all European citizens. Romania will make all efforts to make progress in the legislative file regarding the regulations on assessing health technology (HTA)," reads the release. The programme of the Romanian Presidency in the healthcare field included five priority topics that have to do with the antimicrobial resistance, equal access to drugs of EU patients, patients' mobility and digital health (eHealth). The Romanian Presidency will also continue the strategic debate regarding the access of patients to drugs and innovating therapies, with an affordable price, with the topic to be included on the agenda of the informal reunion of health ministers in April in Bucharest, in which occasion they will also discuss about the treatment of such conditions related to Hepatitis-C-Virus. The Romanian Presidency will also organise in Bucharest the digital week (e-Health week) with a series of events dedicated to digital health. Senate President Calin Popescu Tariceanu paid an official visit to Poland between 6 and 8 December, at the invitation of his Polish counterpart, Marshal of the Senate of the Republic of Poland Stanislaw Karczewski. During the talks with the high Polish officials, the Senate President expressed the interest for boosting the bilateral economic relations. According to a release of the Senate sent to AGERPRES, Tariceanu met with Poland's President Andrzej Duda, Marshal of the Senate of the Republic of Poland Stanislaw Karczewski, Marshal of the Sejm Marek Kuchcinski, Foreign Affairs Minister Jacek Czaputowicz and Minister of Investment and Development Jerzy Kwiecinski. Moreover, Tariceanu also met with head of the governing party and chairman of Law and Justice Jaroslaw Kaczynski. He commended the frequency and quality of the dialogue between the two legislative forums of the two countries, highlighting the significant contribution to expanding and diversifying the areas of cooperation, and the formats of dialogue and strategic partnership between states that parliamentary diplomacy has in the current context of global developments. During the meetings Calin Popescu-Tariceanu stressed the importance of jointly organized projects, such as the "Trilateral Romania-Poland-Turkey," that is carried out at the level of Parliaments and foreign affairs ministries or the "Bucharest Format" (B9), that is carried out at the level of heads of state, presidents of parliaments or defence ministers of the nine countries securing the eastern flank of NATO. According to the quoted source, also mentioned was the first parliamentary Summit of the B9 Format, organized at the joint initiative of Romania's Senate President and Marshal of the Senate of the Republic of Poland, hosted at the Palace of Parliament in Bucharest on April 17-19, 2018. Tariceanu voiced the interest for boosting the bilateral economic relations, both in trade and investments, showing that the new possibilities provided by the "Three Seas Initiative" cooperation format should be capitalised on in a regional context by quickly initiating a cooperation between the two countries in the transport infrastructure area, as well as in telecommunication and energy. "Tariceanu stated that the next interval provides Romania an additional opportunity to configure the deeply democratic and European vocation, and have a tangible and effective contribution during the Presidency of the EU Council. He insisted on the importance, in the current stage of European construction, ensuring cohesion at the level of the entire Union, with the rotating Presidency that Romania will take over as of 1 January 2019 having this main goal, both in respect to the negotiation debates of some important files for the future of the EU and in regards to strengthening the policies through which the Union will avoid deepening the cleavages it is currently confronted with," the release mentions. The visit also includes a trip to Gdansk, the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. There, Tariceanu will meet with Prefect of the Voivodeship Dariusz Drelich, as well as with with members of the board of directors of the Gdansk Port, with representatives of the Group Lotos Board of Directors, operating, refining and marketing oil and gas, and with a group of employees and retirees of the company, graduates of the Petroleum-Gas University of Ploiesti. On the occasion of his visit to Gdansk, Senate President Tariceanu will lay a wreath at the Monument of Martyrs and tour Sztutowo (34 km east of Gdansk), the Museum of the Stutthof Concentration Camp, the first concentration camp set up outside Germany, which ran from 2 September 1939 to 9 May 1945. Tourism Minister Bogdan Trif stated on Friday in the Vama Buzaului village that the number of authorisation requests of guest houses and hotels increased by 10 percent compared to 2017, after the Government granted the holiday vouchers, adding that, in the sitting on Friday, the Government decided to continue granting holiday vouchers for another two years. "I believe that granting this vouchers was a measure that stimulated the tourism in Romania, a measure that enjoyed the support of companies, associations in the tourism area, it was a measure that had a social character. Let us not forget that over 1.2 million Romanians benefited form these vouchers, worth 1450 lei, money that could be spent only in the country. I am glad that we manage to somehow prolong this measure. I want to tell you that it also had a secondary effect, a beneficial effect for us, because the number of authorisation requests from guest houses and hotels increased by 10 percent compared to 2017. In other words, we managed to bring out a good part of the economy that run illegally. Some guest houses or hotels were established this year, but many of them operated illegally," Trif mentioned. When asked what are the areas of the country with the most requests for authorisation, Minister Trif said he won't provide examples of other areas, for he is in Sibiu country and he will refer only to this county. He added that the holiday vouchers led to the growth of the number of tourists by 6 percent compared to 2017, a percentage that will increase, taking into account the Christmas and New Year holiday period. "I even discussed with partners of the private milieu, as I like to call them and those who are dealing with taking tourists out of the country were a little upset that the percentage of those who want to spend New Year's Eve abroad declined significantly. I can tell you that the number of those who want to spend the New Year's Eve in the country increased by 30 percent, which is an important percentage that can only bring us joy," Minister Trif mentioned. Tourism Minister Bogdan Trif attended on Friday the inauguration of the tourist resort of local interest called Vama Buzaului. The main risk when it comes to security in the Eastern European region is represented by Russia, while this state's actions create "an absolutely real and direct threat to countries in Eastern Europe and countries in the Black Sea area," Ukrainian Ambassador to Romania Oleksandr Bankov stated on Friday. "The main risk is represented by Russia and Russia's action in the entire Eastern Europe and especially in the Black Sea region, for Russia's actions and imperialist Russia's ambitions create in fact an absolutely real and direct threat to countries in Eastern Europe and countries in the Black Sea area. This is what we all know and I believe that you all saw the latest developments, this is already an open attack, which is in fact what happened in the war between Ukraine and Russia, when the attack was conducted under Russia's pavilion and ordered and it was, in fact, carried out by the Russian forces," said the Ambassador, on the occasion of his participation in a debate on security issued at the Eastern border of NATO organised by the "It depends on us" Association, the Hanns Seidel Foundation - Romania and the Centre for Prevention of Conflicts and Early Warning. He believes that the sanctions imposed on Russia for "the aggressive actions" in what concerns the Eastern flank of NATO did function, but this is not the result expected yet. The Ambassador said that there are many directions in what concerns the measures that should be taken for strengthening security in Eastern Europe. He also mentioned that Romania and Ukraine share a good cooperation in the military and law enforcement fields, specifying that this week there were signed two collaboration protocols, one with the Romanian Border Police, the other one with the General Anti-corruption Directorate with the Interior Ministry (MAI). Asked by the journalists about the law that forbids the right of minorities in Romania to study in the Romanian language in Ukraine, he stated: "This is not about forbidding some rights, this is about strengthening education in Ukrainian language and this topic is very well known, it is bilaterally discussed (...) The topic, the subject will be approached during some meetings that will take place next week," said Oleksandr Bankov. President of the Centre for Prevention of Conflicts of Early Warning Iulian Chifu stated that the Romanians are affected by the situation in Ukraine. In his opinion, in order to consolidate security in Eastern Europe there is a need of European unity. "I believe that, first of all, we should have European unity and, second of all, we should have Trans-Atlantic unity, between the EU and the United States that is. I saw a few very strong messages delivered after the last reunion of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the NATO member states (...) we basically see the temptation to make this cohesion and go further on these directions," Chifu said. US Ambassador in Bucharest Hans Klemm on Friday stated in a speech delivered at the "Al. I. Cuza" University of Iasi that a key objective of the strategic partnership between Romania and the US is also the promotion of the common economic prosperity, while also adding that, although the GDP in our country has increased very rapidly after the EU accession, the gains of this economic growth are especially due to the citizens in the urban area, while three quarters of the population in the rural environment lives in poverty. The speech of the US Ambassador was held on the occasion of the conference on political sciences "International development and democratisation." The American official brought to mind that, for two decades, the United States and Romania have closely collaborated, building a framework that strengthens bilateral relations, supporting development and Euro-Atlantic integration of Romania and confronted together the global and regional challenges. On the other hand, he showed that the benefits of accession to the EU are unevenly distributed at economic and social level in Romania. He quoted the Eurostat statistics regarding EU's healthcare expenditures, according to which Romania has some of the lowest healthcare expenditures per capita in 2016, and showed that many of the Romanian citizens have no access to the healthcare system, as they are part of the informal economy. He also said that in education, too, the situation is similar, as the system is under-financed, pro-capita education is the lowest in the EU and the differences between the educational performances of the young people living in the rural area and those in the urban area in Romania are very visible. The US official said that according to the OECD programme for International Student Assessment, only 40 per cent of the 15-year old citizens of Romania are functional illiterates. He went to say that President Iohannis has just spoken about these challenges three days ago, launching an initiative in the education field. Romania had the lowest vocational education rate in the European Union, with pupils in the rural area coming from a disadvantages environment having substantially bad fate. He offered as example the Roma children who learn in separate schools, re-strengthening the segregation models, which are increasing the gap in what the quality of education is concerned. The US Ambassador said that more than 80 per cent of the schools with low results and only 1 per cent of the schools with high performances are located in the rural areas. Approximately 27 per cent of the young in the country do not finish secondary education and their informal employment dominated the agricultural sector, with more than 1.6 million participants involved in subsistence agriculture, said Hans Klemm. The US official brought to mind that the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank helped several Romanian governments to improve efficiency of public administration, to approach the necessary structural reforms, to invest in human capital and create conditions so that all Romanians enjoy the benefits of being an EU member state. Furthermore, the US official underscored that the strategic partnership between the two countries is based on the shared commitment towards values such as the rule of law, the open market and the observance and promotion of human rights. Russian President Vladimir Putin put it succinctly when he recently warned that prospects for peace in Ukraine were negligible as long as the current authorities in Kiev remain in power. Worse, given a new rash of provocations by the Kiev regime, the entire region is being threatened with conflict, and even all-out war. It seems clear and criminally reprehensible that the Kiev regime and its President Petro Poroshenko are intent on dragging the United States and the NATO military alliance into a war with Russia. The incendiary conduct of Ukrainian politicians and their military is that of a regime out of control, with no regard for maintaining international peace. But this Frankenstein creation is entirely the responsibility of the American and European governments which have enabled and condoned its reckless behavior. Russias Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova got it right when she said that Russia is the party which is preventing Europe from sliding towards war by stoically containing the Kiev regimes provocative conduct. Yet the regime turns reality on its head by claiming that it is defending Europe from Russian aggression. The recent Kerch Strait incident was a cynical and flagrant attempt by Poroshenko to incite a conflict with Russia. The three Ukrainian warships violated Russian maritime borders in a deliberately menacing maneuver. Moscow was within its legal right to apprehend the heavily armed vessels and 24 crew members some of whom were secret services. Absurdly, the Kiev regime is accusing Russia of lawlessness. More perplexing, the US and European governments appear to have bought into that perverse narrative and are also haranguing Russia over the incident. Poroshenko has been doing the US and European media rounds urging American and NATO military support. This week it was reported that the US Navy 6th Fleet is planning to send a warship into the Black Sea area in response to Russian aggression. US warplanes also reportedly this week flew over Ukrainian territory under the so-called Open Skies treaty, in a blatant show of force to Moscow. Following the Kerch Strait incident, the Kiev regime has gone several steps further in inflaming tensions with Russia. It is renewing the push for an historic schism in the Russian Orthodox Church. Evidently, the politicians in Kiev are trying to incite sectarian conflict between Ukrainians, many of whom wish to remain part of the Russian Orthodox denomination rather than a putative new, separate church of Ukraine. The nefarious agenda is also to antagonize Moscow which will be obliged to defend the security of its church interests and members. There were also credible reports of the Ukrainian Armed Forces this week mobilizing artillery and troops on the Contact Line with the breakaway Donbas regions of Luhansk and Donetsk. The Kiev regime has been waging a low-intensity war against the ethnic Russian people in Eastern Ukraine over the past four years because they refuse to accept the legitimacy of the February 2014 coup which ousted an elected government. Despite an international peace treaty, the Minsk Accords of 2014 and 2015, the Kiev regime has shown no signs of granting autonomy to the Donbas regions and has continued its aggressive military campaign. This weeks mobilization of UAF and reports of NATO troops also present raises concerns that the Kiev regime is deliberately destabilizing the region. Poroshenko and his Russophobic cabal are calling on NATO for support in the event of a confrontation with Russia. This is a reckless premeditated pursuit of war, which has been a tendency by the Kiev regime ever since it illegally seized power in the CIA-backed coup detat in 2014. The US and European governments bear responsibility for creating the highly dangerous situation by their fawning over Kiev with military and financial support. The resonance with the origins of World War II is too alarming to ignore. It was through the Ukraine that the German Third Reich launched its catastrophic offensive on Soviet Russia in June 1941. Today, the Kiev regime is all too reminiscent of Neo-Nazi affiliation and a rabid anti-Russian mentality. Its unhinged conduct is being indulged by American and European governments, military and media either out of ignorance or, more sinisterly, out of calculated intent to prompt confrontation with Russia. It is only 73 years since the end of World War II. Incredibly, despite living memory of that horror, the world is being endangered again by criminal disregard for international law. And in the same geographical location. Western governments are fully responsible for the present instability and potentially incendiary situation. They must act immediately to restrain the Kiev regime if, that is, they genuinely want to uphold peace with Russia. Ive been warning for a while now that we are pushing towards an inflection point in history. With each passing week it feels like events are accelerating as change to the status quo is everywhere. In Europe, the EU leadership and Theresa May are so desperate to stop Brexit they cant stop lying about everything. In one day we have Mays government found in contempt of Parliament for not releasing the full legal advice of her Brexit deal and the European Court of Justice pronounce that the U.K. can unilaterally cancel Brexit if they want to. They are this desperate because there is a real probability of Mays horrific deal not getting the thumbs up from parliament. That said, the arm-twisting behind the scenes is likely epic as one by one Mays remaining cabinet members come out in favor of the deal because they see they have no other option. At the same time France is literally on fire thanks to a good ol fashioned tax revolt, which reviled, unprepared and arrogant President Emmanuel Macron cannot fathom. Macrons handling of these protests has been abysmal, displaying a level of contempt for the French people so profound he may wind up more hated in the end than Theresa May. Both of these odious people make no bones about their real loyalties and the more they talk, the more they try to sell their latest betrayal of national interests for Brussels the more the intensity of the hatred of them increases. This is not a linear thing. Its the kind of situation that goes from murmurs and shrugs to outright violence in a matter of days. Especially when you come out and tell the very nationalistic French people that nationalism is akin to evil. In Macrons case raising the tax on diesel fuel was a bridge too far. Pathetic global warming, globalist ideologue that he is, he castigates the people who are materially harmed by this tax as thugs and then doubles down when they get even madder. So its no surprise that his calling a moratorium on it for six months was rejected by the protesters. They know they cant trust Macron. With Frances tax rates already nearly the highest in the so-called first world the burden of this tax would have fallen heaviest on the people just barely surviving existing ruinous government policy. All taxes are marginally regressive, even progressive income taxes. And those taxes which are a flat rate tax on a per item basis are the most regressive. Just because you make more money doesnt automatically mean you are going to eat more food or drive your car more. Hence, the tax falls disproportionately as a percentage of marginal income on the lower economic strata. And Macron tried to sell himself as a reformer. Theres nothing unique about raising taxes in France. If Macron wanted to be novel, he would have lowered fuel taxes. You improve the lives of people by removing the burden of paying for worthless little leeches like him and the massive bureaucracy that supports his patent idiocy like taxing fuel to combat global warming. The less said about Theresa May the better but just so everyone is clear May gave the EU everything they wanted, not because shes a bad negotiator but because shes a bad liar. Every day she lies telling everyone who will listen (and that number is dropping daily) that shes working for the people of Britain. No she is not. Shes working for the British ruling class and its entrenched bureaucracy who are in league with their counterparts in Brussels to erect an unassailable oligarchy across Europe. May, Juncker, Tusk and Merkel have intentionally run the clock out while doing the political calculus that the Tories are so scared of a Labour takeover that theyll all roll over in the end, hold their nose and vote for this complete sell out of whats left of British sovereignty. But, if you think Ive been harsh to this point Ive saved the best for my own so-called President, Donald Trump. For a while I gave Trump the benefit of the doubt, thinking he was doing his best beset by a U.S. political establishment which is the worst kind of cruel. But, after the fiasco of the mid-terms and his systematic capitulation to all things neoconservative, Trump has become a parody of himself on foreign policy. By allowing the paranoid John Bolton to convince Trump that everything neocon is in the interest of America First Trump has now embraced every foreign policy lie he campaigned against. His own lack of moral center has led to his having a complete lack of moral courage in confronting the vast apparatus arrayed against him. To the point where he doesnt announce policy decisions that he knows are unpopular with not only his base but also the center of the country he needs to get re-elected in 2020. He leaves that job to the disgusting and stupid Mike Pompeo. Trumps need to be liked is his Achilles heel and its been used by the Deep State to destroy him. He fancies himself a deal-maker and so it was easy for him to be led by his nose (because remember, he doesnt believe in anything except leverage) by Bolton et.al. to unilaterally abrogate any treaty that is inconvenient to their cause of world subjugation on the basis of it not being fair to America. Hence, Russias new weapons are something the U.S. cant deal with so to counter them the INF treaty has to go. Its regrettable, a shame, bad, whatever Trump tweets out about it. The imperial power always grows increasingly paranoid that everyone is out to destroy them. Because the imperial power knows in its heart that it's awful. That it has abused and destroyed people the world over and they are angry. They know this is true and because they would want revenge, they expect everyone else to want the same thing. The politically strong dictate and only negotiate out of weakness. Leaving the INF treaty while leaving the door open to a deal is an admission that Russias weapons have to be countered by breaking the treaty to put missiles on Russias doorstep because Bolton cant conceive of a day where Russia and the U.S. are not adversaries. Ive said from the beginning that Trump would have to allow the neocons to run things for a while and then when their schemes ran aground, he would reverse them all and use that reversal to win the broad support of a war weary and pissed off American electorate, regardless of the Democrats blatant and upfront voter fraud. But, Trump is beyond that now. He told us of his hatred for Iran on the campaign trail and all Bolton and Mattis and the rest of the Gang That Cant Invade Straight had to do was sell Trump on the tired canard that more death, more troops, more weapons is the path to victory. Trump is so desperate for a couple of tenths of GDP he sold out his people for this. Hell stay in office just long enough to go from savior to villain, just like every other potential U.S. reformer. The take away from the failures of these three main leaders of the increasingly unfree world is that confidence in them, their governments and the systems that make up and support them is failing rapidly. And confidence lost is never regained. Once the public trust is breached it is never regained. And thats where rapid societal change sprouts from, catching those who think they are in control off guard completely, like Macron was over the diesel protests. All of these people are weak-minded fools. James OKeefe of Project Veritas Action wrote a brilliant article over the summer in which he defined the difference between moral courage and physical courage. Nearly every man is willing to lay down his life for his cause. Thats physical courage. Its easy you dont have to live with the fallout of your acts since youre dead. But moral courage is willing to be the villain, to stand athwart the crowd and risk your reputation for what you believe in. This is why the Tories in parliament will vote for Mays Brexit Deal. They dont want to be blamed for the mess of a hard Brexit they fear. This is why Macron will implement the worst neoliberal policies. He doesnt want to be called a traitor by the media and oligarchy who made him. And its why Trump will not MAGA. He was willing to Drain the Swamp as long as it didnt cost him and his family his brand and his reputation. He was willing to talk the talk but not walk the walk. Now he just rambles on Twitter like a pathetic loser while Putins prophecy about his presidency comes true. Presidents change, he said to Oliver Stone in the Putin Interviews, Policy doesnt. And as we approach the moment where a critical mass of people see the costs of maintaining this vacuum of moral courage we call a society rise above the benefits of it the closer we are to the worst kind of chaos. It is difficult to understand how the Scottish writer Arthur Conan Doyle remains so popular today with his adventures of the worlds most famous detective when any critical thinking that contradicts the status quo is dismissed out of hand as the ranting of a lunatic. In other words, it would have been next to impossible for Sherlock Holmes to break many cases today given the propensity of the powers-that-be to scream conspiracy theory every time an explanation of an event surfaces that is at variance to the official narrative. Consider the story, The Adventures of the Dancing Men, published in 1903. Here we have one of those rare cases when one of Holmes clients succeeds in getting himself killed before the famed detective can solve the mystery. The victim, Hilton Cubitt, hires Holmes after receiving a number of strange letters featuring stick figures in various hieroglyphic-style poses. We also learn that Cubitt has just been married to an American woman, who insisted that her husband never inquire about her past, which, she said, featured some disagreeable associations. One day, Holmes was informed that Cubitt had been found dead of a bullet to the heart, while his wife, lying nearby, was wounded with a gunshot wound to her head. The police arrived on the crime scene and made the rapid determination that Cubitt had been killed by his wife, who then turned the weapon on herself. A lovers quarrel, case closed. Not so fast, said Holmes, who had been able to crack the code of the letters, discovering that the author had been using an ingenious cipher to compose them. He was able convince the local authorities to cast a net in an effort to capture the real perpetrator. The detective then mailed a letter to the suspect an American, who believed the letter Holmes sent was from Cubitts wife using the same cipher. I wont spoil the ploy any further because the main point here is that Holmes was permitted to pursue a line of inquiry that ran counter to what the police on the scene had believed happened. In other words, Holmes was not dismissed as some dangerous quack. Instead, he was given an opportunity to lay out his evidence and present his case. What was at stake in this case was more than just the truth. The fate of Cubitts wife hung in the balance since she survived the self-inflicted gunshot wound so much for not spoiling the plot and would have served out a lengthy prison term had it not been for the famous sleuth and his gift of observation and analysis. Its important not to forget that criminals, due to the very nature of their work, naturally wish to cover their tracks since not getting caught is an important part of any crime. This requires the investigator to think like a criminal and, possibly, entertain some seemingly far-fetched hypotheses in order to answer the question whodunnit. What is this if not democracy in action and the freedom of speech; the right to a fair trial, not the one that has been handed down to you? What wrongly accused individual, sitting behind bars in prison, would not want some wild-eyed conspiracy theorists searching for the elusive truth that would vindicate him or her? In Conan Doyles day, to entertain the notion that some explanation with regards to a crime was too wild to entertain so long as it stood up to rigorous analysis was not only inconceivable, it made for very poor fiction writing. And since there is actually little that separates the task of a police detective from that of an investigative journalist which is, in a nutshell, arriving at the truth we must ask why the latter is so determined not to consider alternative narratives to the ones they peddle to the public in one uniformed voice. If the mainstream media were remotely concerned about revealing the truth with regards to any particular case, they would welcome a plurality of voices and then sift through the facts to find the golden nuggets. If a particular theory does not hold up to analysis it would be, like the marketplace of ideas, tossed aside like a worthless stone. As things stand, however, the media not only shuts down any and all alternative views, it has very few if any investigative journalists of its own who are permitted to seriously challenge the state-sanctioned narrative. Indeed, much of the investigative reporting arrives on the scene long after the damage has already been done. Consider the prelude to the 2003 Iraq War, for example, when blind patriotism, not to mention political opportunism, was at toxic levels. Where was the media then? They were out shaking the proverbial pompoms, whoring on behalf of cruise missile sorties, while discrediting dissenters worse than if they had been French cheese-eating surrender monkeys from the axis of weasel. If one wanted to get a real picture of the conspiracy theorists polluting the media stream you could do no worse than that pathetic exercise in self-delusion and deceit. Only after Baghdad was under 24-hour bombardment, with UN weapons inspectors on the ground screaming that they could not find the smoking gun of WMDs, did the media start suggesting things were not all they were cracked up to be. Michael Massing, writing in The New York Review of Books, called out the media out for its pathetic late-to-the-game handling of the war: In recent months, US news organizations have rushed to expose the Bush administrations pre-war failings on Iraq. Iraqs Arsenal Was Only on Paper, declared a recent headline in The Washington Post. Pressure Rises for Probe of Prewar-Intelligence, said The Wall Street Journal. So, What Went Wrong? asked Time. In The New Yorker, Seymour Hersh described how the Pentagon set up its own intelligence unit, the Office of Special Plans, to sift for data to support the administrations claims about Iraq Watching and reading all this, one is tempted to ask, where were you all before the war? Why didnt we learn more about these deceptions and concealments in the months when the administration was pressing its case for regime changewhen, in short, it might have made a difference, Massing asked. The medias enthusiasm for the Iraq War did not, however, fool the public into welcoming it with open arms. In fact, they did what the media should have been doing, coming out in record numbers around the world to question the reckless rush to war. Patrick Tyler wrote in the New York Times that the protests showed there were two superpowers on the planet: the United States and world public opinion. We already know which superpower emerged triumphant, no thanks to the media lap dogs. Iraq was just the beginning of the medias fall from grace. Since the dawning of the Internet age and the rise of citizen journalists, it has proven itself to be inextricably bound up with the state-sanctioned narrative on numerous occasions as one conspiracy theory after another is wheeled out for public consumption, with the Russiagate fairytale being the mother of them all. Meanwhile, in Syria, we are just one more chemical attack away from another major eruption of violence. What is so unacceptable about such dire prospects is that Western journalists once again siding with the war machine never report on the chemical attacks in Syria by asking who has the means, motive and opportunity for conducting them? The answer is so simple and obvious it could be handled by a child. Instead, the media would have us accept the conspiracy theory that Syrian President Bashar Assad, on the very cusp of military victory, chose at that precise moment to use chemical weapons against a motley crew of rebels, thus risking the intervention of the US and losing everything. Rarely if ever do the Western mainstream media raise the much more likely possibility that the rebels, anxious for Western intervention amid severe setbacks, would be the most likely candidate to resort to such primitive methods. I can only imagine that Arthur Conan Doyle, were he alive today, would blush in shame at the site of the mainstream media investigative journalists, who apparently not only learned nothing from recent history, filled as it is with unnecessary bloodshed and violence, they learned nothing at all from the experiences of Sherlock Holmes. Follow Robert Bridge on Twitter @Robert_Bridge https://twitter.com/Robert_Bridge ATLANTIC OCEAN (Dec. 2, 2018) Sailors aboard the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) honor the ship's namesake, former President George H. W. Bush, by lighting Bush's initials and presidential number while underway in the Atlantic Ocean, Dec. 2, 2018. Bush, the 41st president of the United States, died Nov. 30, 2018, in Houston, Texas at the age of 94. Bush flew 58 combat missions as a Navy pilot during World War II, for which he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, three Air Medals and shared the Presidential Unit Citation awarded to the light aircraft carrier USS San Jacinto (CVL 30). Bush will lie in state at the Capitol Rotunda and be given a state funeral at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., before being laid to rest next to former first lady Barbara Bush in College Station, Texas. (U.S. Navy photo) X 0 20 Help Keep Us Soaring We need your help! Our subscription base has slowly been dwindling. We need your help in reversing that trend. We would like to add 20 new subscribers this month. Each month we count on your subscriptions or contributions. You can support us in the following ways: At the meeting between Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Singapore's Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Law Shanmugam (Photo VNA) He highlighted the strategic partnership between Vietnam and Singapore and said that the two countries are expanding cooperation in all realms with Singapore being the third biggest foreign investor in Vietnam. The cooperation achievements that Vietnam and Singapore have gained over the past few years were significantly contributed to by the two ministries, he added. He suggested the two ministries increase consultation in addressing issues of mutual concern, contributing to the maintenance of peace, stability, and development in each nation as well as in the region at large. Regarding the prevention of crimes, the PM asked the two sides to maintain cooperation mechanisms and strengthen information exchange and investigation coordination, especially in ensuring cybersecurity and dealing with high-tech crime, economic crime, drug crime, terrorism, and wanted crime. Shanmugam, who is also the Minister for Law, told the host that his working visit to Vietnam aims to tighten the multi-faceted cooperation with the countrys Ministry of Public Security, through which contributing to deepening the strategic partnership between the two countries. While informing PM Phuc about the two ministries cooperation outcomes, Shanmugam said the two sides have actively worked together to enforce law in the fight against crimes, fire prevention, and rescue efforts, thus contributing to ensuring order and security in each nation as well as peace and stability in the region. The two ministries agreed to step up and expand coordination in the coming time, he added. While discussing international matters, Shanmugam said ASEAN is playing an increasingly important role in global cooperation. He called on ASEAN member states to further promote solidarity and close-knit relations in the context of more complicated and unpredictable political and commercial turmoil in the world. The Minister expressed his hope that PM Phuc will continue backing the strengthened cooperation between the two ministries in law-building and crime prevention. The PM conveyed his congratulations to PM Lee Hsien Loong, the Singapore Government, and its people on the successful organisation of the 33rd ASEAN Summit, which not only contributes to promoting regional peace, solidarity, and prosperity but also reinforces the security and development of each ASEAN member nation, including Vietnam and Singapore./. Clayton Mitchell New Zealand First MP The Employment Relations Bill had its third and final reading in parliament this week. It has been a work in progress for some time, as the three coalition partners in government have worked together to reach a consensus on critical issues. It was important to New Zealand First that the new law struck a balance between protecting workers rights and employers interests. We were especially concerned about the provision allowing for the abolition of the 90-day trial, and fought hard to retain the trial period for small and medium businesses with fewer than 20 employees. It was a key win, and ensured that small businesses were not disadvantaged under the legislation. New Zealand First has also endorsed a change to the bill limiting the access of unions to non-unionised workplaces by requiring prior consent from the employer. Workplaces where union members are covered by a collective agreement will allow access to union representatives without employer consent being needed. At workplaces where a multi-employer collective agreement (MECA) is in place, employers will be required to enter into bargaining, but have a right to opt out on reasonable grounds. This means that two similar factories, one Auckland-based and one Kawerau-based for example, which have considerably different cost structures, now have an opportunity to negotiate their own agreement which benefits both employer and employees, while maintaining sustainable growth in differing situations. New Zealand First has taken a common sense approach to this legislation, which will bring much-needed balance and positivity to the employment environment. It is a great example of coalition politics at work and there is much to celebrate. National MP Scott Simpson is hitting out at the Government over a decision he says will reduce police capability in Thames. Labour is introducing something called 24/demand demand meaning however many days a station is required to be manned during the course of the week. This allows local commanders to deploy their resources where demand dictates and where they believe staff will be best utilised. Some commanders have decided they are better to have stations open for example 24/3 covering the busy periods of Thursday - Friday - Saturday nights, says Police Minister Stuart Nash. I dont see any advantage to having a uniformed officer sitting at a desk at 3am on a Tuesday morning, I would rather they were out in the community. Coromandel MP Scott Simpson believes the decision is unfair on our community and will lead to more victims. When National was in Government we committed $503 million to a Safer Communities Package which included a target of 95 per cent of New Zealanders living with 25km of a 24/7 police base. This Government has now dropped that target and tried to keep it quiet. The 24/7 bases included Thames. The Government needs to explain why its stripping away resources away from this area. The Thames station will now be called 24/Demand, which is just spin. It means police will need to guess when the station should be open 24/7 but that wont be all the time. Stuart says response times matter too and police are putting a lot of effort into that, with average times of between 7-12 minutes to respond to an emergency. The government is also delivering 1800 extra police the biggest single investment ever in Policing, says Stuart. As a result of this increased investment, there will be 127 extra frontline officers in the Waikato District, an increase of 21 per cent on current staffing levels. We are also investing in property and stations to support regional communities. For example, front counters in 14 sites in the Waikato Police District were closed due to health and safety concerns and problems with public accessibility under the previous government. Since then, 10 have been upgraded and reopened, and work is underway on the remaining four counters. The 10 Police sites where front counters have been upgraded are: Thames; Waihi; Paeroa; Whitianga; Matamata; Huntly; Te Kuiti; Te Awamutu; Morrinsville; Hamilton Central The four remaining sites where work is still to be completed are: Whangamata; Otorohanga; Cambridge; Hamilton Road Policing Base. In the Bay of Plenty, there has also been an increase in investment. Stuart there will be 125 extra frontline officers in the Bay of Plenty Police District, an increase of 19 per cent on current staffing levels. We are also investing in property and stations to support regional communities. For example, front counters in 16 sites in the Bay of Plenty Police District were closed due to health and safety concerns and problems with public accessibility under the previous government. Since then, 10 have been upgraded and reopened, and work is underway on the remaining four counters. The 10 Police sites where front counters have been upgraded are: Mount Maunganui; Katikati; Whakatane; Opotiki; Te Puke; Turangi; Kawerau; Tokoroa; Mangakino; Rotorua District HQ. The six remaining sites where work is still to be completed are: Tauranga Central; Tauranga South; Papamoa; Taupo; Murupara; Putaruru Bay of Plenty You will be operating the Roller and also required to help out the team hands on. You will be working around Tauranga, for... View or Apply on GoodWork.co.nz Grace Millane was last seen going into the CityLife Hotel with a man on Saturday night, police say. Detective Inspector Scott Beard this afternoon told media police hold "grave concerns for her safety". Grace Millane was last seen at 9.41pm on Saturday, December 1 at the central Auckland hotel and police have spoken to the man she was with. An apartment in the CityLife Hotel on Queen Street is a place of interest and police are now carrying out a scene examination. "We still have no evidence of foul play, Grace is still missing," says Detective Inspector Scott Beard. He says he was unable to discuss what man Grace Millane was last seen with. Scott says the man is not in police custody, but is a person of interest. And police have reviewed hours and hours of CCTV footage. A missing person report was received on Wednesday for the 22-year-old after her family had not heard from her for several days. Grace's father has arrived in Auckland today to help police in the search operation. David Millane was met by police at the airport and is being supported by them today. David struggled to hold in his emotions as he told media of his worry for his daughter. "As a family we've been extremely concerned for her welfare. "Grace is a lovely, outgoing, fun loving, family orientated daughter. She's usually in daily contact with family on social media," he says. "Grace has never been out of contact for this amount of time and is usually in daily contact with either her mother, myself or her two brothers." "Grace is on a year-long worldwide overseas experience. Grace started this travel journey in Peru in South America and was really looking forward to the second leg in New Zealand. "She arrived here on the 20th of November and has bombarded us with numerous photographs and messages of her adventures. "Finally, I would just like to take this opportunity to appeal to anybody who has seen, spoken to, or come into contact with Grace over the last few days, to come forward with any detail, no matter how small, and contact the investigation team." Bay of Plenty Ever thought of joining the civil construction industry? if so then this is your chance to get a foot in the door. We are... View or Apply on GoodWork.co.nz Whakatane District Mayor Tony Bonne is retiring from local government. His time as mayor will come to a close at the conclusion of the current triennium, which will be marked by the Councils annual Over-80s Christmas Morning Tea. Mayor Bonne says after serving the community for 18 years - 12 of those as Mayor - it was time for new blood to come through. It will give me more time to devote to Linda and my family, and provide an opportunity to take on a new challenge, he says. I have enjoyed every minute representing our District and have enjoyed working with a group of talented and committed councilors, and the entire community, to make our District what it is today. Once you pause and look back, you come to realise that as a Council, we have achieved a great deal. To name but a few achievements, we have: Constructed the award-winning Whakatane Library and Exhibition Centre - Te Koputu a Te Whanga a Toi - and our new District Museum and Research Centre Te Whare Taonga o Taketake Sold Council land to allow residential subdivisions to proceed, creating new urban living spaces and deepening our rates base Implemented a new District Plan Developed stronger and deeper Iwi relationships and partnerships Secured Air Chathams as our key air transport link after the departure of Air New Zealand Completed a number of key flood mitigation projects And lead the District through the recovery from the disastrous 2017 floods. I can assure you all that I will keep my foot firmly on the accelerator right through until the end of my Mayoralty, and there are a number of projects I would like to cement in before I go. These include having a firm direction in the Three Waters space; a commercial arm to invest and protect the communitys assets for future generations; and firming up the reality of a lifestyle retirement village, he says. Local government is an exciting place and I thank the community for the honour it has bestowed on me because it has been a privilege to represent you all. He has confirmed he will enter the local real estate industry, following the conclusion of his term in office in October 2019. Champion surfer Indica Knox Corcoran is looking for sponsorship for the upcoming surfing competitions in Australia. A student at Tahatai Coast School, the eight-year-old won second place in the prestigious Sydney BL Blast Off competition in October. Prior to competing in the five-day Australian competition, Indi and his family went to Bali for training, and returned for a week to surf at the Mount and Whangamata before leaving for the Sydney contest. DHD Surfboards had two boards waiting for him in Sydney, says Indicas father Phil Corcoran, a national surf competition judge. The competition was amazing. He got there a few days early so was able to train. He surfed five times in total and got two seconds and a first. That put him into the semi-finals where he got a second, and he also got a second in the finals. There were around 350 competitors overall, with 38 in Indis division, most of whom were Australians. Having surfed since the age of two, Indicas first competition was in Gisborne in 2015. The then four-year-old was up against under 14-year-olds. Indi has received local sponsorship from Seventhwave Wetsuits and Curve Surf, who contributed $500 for the BL Blast Off, and $500 in 2017 so Indi could train at the Australian High Performance Centre. Theyve been a huge help for us, says Phil. To go further in the sport, Indi needs more sponsorship to help pay for flights and travel ahead of 2019. New Zealand A will be looking to lift their all-round game tomorrow when they take on India A in their second ODI at the Bay Oval after falling just short in yesterday's high-scoring series opener. They did well to set the visitors a formidable looking target of 309, but despite needing all but the last over to get there the visitors always looked on track, and opened the three match series with a four wicket win. With the exception of skipper Corey Anderson, who's looking to use the series to push his way back into Blackcaps contention after recent injury and illness setbacks, all the New Zealand A top order made strong contributions. The Bay of Plenty man was caught at backward square leg after top-edging a pull shot as he looked to up his scoring rate after reaching six off 19 balls. Fellow Blackcap on the comeback trail Jimmy Neesham lead the way with a commanding 79 not out off 48 balls, while Hamish Rutherford and Northern Districts wicketkeeper Tim Seifert added 70 (off 66) and 59 (53) respectively. Neesham also looked to show good form to the Blackcaps selectors with the ball, returning his team's most economical figures of 1-40 off his eight overs. For India A Vijay Shankar was the key to victory with his 87 not out off 80. The two teams meet again tomorrow and Tuesday in the remaining matches in the series, both beginning at 2pm. Entry is free. India A wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan tries an unorthodox fielding technique Hamish Rutherford takes a catch to dismiss India A's Shreyas Iyer Syracuse, N.Y. -- A New Jersey company has proposed building a $62 million, 283-unit apartment building in the Syracuse University area. Northside Genesee Associate, has filed plans with the Syracuse Industrial Development Agency to build the 350,000-square-foot building on a 1.6-acre site in the 1200 and 1300 blocks of East Genesee Street. It would be constructed on the north side of the street, directly across the road from the 505 on Walnut, a 126-unit student housing development that opened in August. Northside Genesee Associates is a limited liability corporation created by Michaels Development, of Marlton, New Jersey, the same company that built the 505 on Walnut. Unlike the 505, the new building would not be built for student housing. Instead, it would target young professionals, medical professionals, medical school graduates and university staff, according to the plans filed with the development agency. The building would include approximately 2,400 square feet of first-floor retail space and have indoor parking for 295 vehicles. The developer owns or has purchase options on 12 parcels that would have to be combined to accommodate the project. Nine existing apartment homes and buildings on the site would be demolished. No rent information was included in the plans filed by the developer. The 505 On Walnut is a 126-unit (363-bedroom) student housing development built by Michaels Development at 505 Walnut Ave. in Syracuse. Michaels has proposed building a $62 million, 283-unit apartment building across East Genesee Street from the 505. (Rick Moriarty | rmoriarty@syracuse.com) Northside Genesee Associates has applied to the development agency for tax breaks in the form of a mortgage tax exemption worth $330,393, an exemption, valued at $2 million, from sales taxes on construction materials and a 15-year payment-in-lieu-of-tax agreement. The developer did not estimate the value of the PILOT agreement. That will be left up to the agency's staff to determine before the agency votes on the application. However, the developer has asked for a priority commercial and residential PILOT, which is reserved for mixed use and residential projects that either locate in a Neighborhood Revitalization Strategy Area or consent to incorporate and rent 20 percent of the project's residential units at the annual 65 percent area median income rent limits for the city of Syracuse. Under a priority commercial and residential PILOT, the property would be given a 100 percent exemption from any increase in its tax assessment attributable to the project for 10 years. The exemption would be phased out in years 11 through 14, so it would be fully taxable in year 15. The developer said the project will support 220 construction jobs and create nine permanent jobs. Contact Rick Moriarty anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-470-3148282 Update: Andrea Maranville of Sherrill was named Star Baker in the first episode. She won with her Great Grandma Grace's chocolate cakes. Andrea Maranville, of Sherrill, N.Y., will be one of 10 contestants in tonight's premiere of ABC's "Great American Baking Show: Holiday Edition." Maranville traveled to England for the competition, which is a spin-off of the "Great British Baking Show." It's the one with the big white tent with Paul Hollywood as a judge. "It's an odd feeling," Maranville said tonight, just hours before the show's premiere. "I'm excited and nervous. And I know exactly what happens." Maranville said she's been talking today with the nine other contestants, who she described as life-long friends even though they only met in August, when the show was filmed in England. "It's a great family feel-good competition," she said. "It's competitive but not in the way you think. This is the fourth season now. I hope the American audience really likes it. We put our heart and soul into it." Like with many reality television shows, Maranville said she couldn't say anything about what will happen in the six-episode competition. She can't say whether Hollywood ever shook her hand, as the judge sometimes does when he thinks a baker does exceptionally well. She can't say whether she had prior experience making the technical challenge -- the part of the show where contestants are presented with ingredients and limited instructions and tasked with making an obscure item. And she wouldn't say whether she'd ever cried on camera. Many contestants do, out of joy and sometimes frustration. "Oh, I can't tell you any of that," she said, laughing. But part of the mystery will be unveiled tonight. The show starts at 9 p.m., and Maranville and her family are hosting a few people at their home in Sherrill to watch. Maranville described herself as a self-taught baker who started working on family recipes soon after she married. She and her husband have four children, ages 5 to 13, and she said she's a full-time mom. She said she likes a wide-range of baking, from cookies and breads to cakes and ice cream. "And custards and tarts," she said. "I just developed a passion for it," she said, adding that the more she baked, the more she learned about the ways butter, yeast, flours and sugars can work wonders. "You learn nuances the more you bake," she said. Earlier this week, Maranville spoke optimistically about the show with NewsChannel 9. "I think everyone's going to be very happy when they watch the show," Maranville told NewsChannel 9. Love representing upstate and Central New York in the #americanbakingshow! Cant wait for December 6th at 9pm est on @ABCNetwork @WTEN @NewsChannel9 @GABakingShow https://t.co/fWuwCrS1P0 Andrea Maranville (@swtlifeofabaker) November 29, 2018 You can follow Maranville -- and see photos of her tempting baked goods -- on her Instagram account @sweetlifeofabaker. You can also read more about her and her love of baking in the Rome Sentinel and the Utica Observer-Dispatch. ROME, N.Y. -- A 13-year-old from Rome was arrested and charged with rape, according to the Oneida County Sheriff's Office. The 13-year-old is accused of raping another juvenile, deputies said. The juvenile was then issued an appearance ticket and referred to juvenile probation, deputies said. The victim was offered counseling services through the Child Advocacy Center, deputies said. The Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard police blotter of arrests from police agencies around Central New York has been updated today. Most of the new arrests are from the last couple weeks. The police blotter is searchable by name, charge or agency. You can search current dates or find arrests made in the past. Our database contains arrests from the current year and two years back. Among the 203 new arrests are: 37 people charged with DWI A Manlius man charged with criminal obstruction of breathing or blood circulation A Central Square man charged with growing marijuana A Baldwinsville woman charged with grand larceny Information in the police blotter is provided by the arresting agencies. Arrests are also published in the Neighbors pages of The Post-Standard. A New York State thruway toll worker has been arrested for stealing from the thruway authority, according to New York State Police. David E. Hidalgo, 32, of Herkimer, faces charges of fourth-degree grand larceny, petit larceny and first-degree offering a false instrument for filing, police said. Hidalgo stole $3,642 from the thruway authority while he was employed as a toll collector from June through November of 2018, police said. Authorities discovered the theft during an audit of tolls, police said. He is being held at the Oneida County Jail in lieu of bail and is set to appear in Village of Herkimer Court on Dec. 10 at 5 p.m., police said. The National Reserve brought a flair of bluesy, Southern dad rock to The Haunt in Ithaca for DSP Shows' Holiday Party Thursday. The CNY-based concert booking company celebrated 10 years of putting on shows at The Haunt, The State Theater of Ithaca, the Center for the Arts in Homer, and other venues, inviting friends, family and the general public to an upbeat night. With free admission, free tacos provided by Finger Lakes food truck The Good Truck, and support from regional acts Upstate and Aaron Rizzo, many in the crowd danced to the music and celebrated right along with DSP. Aaron Rizzo, born and raised in Rochester, started the night with a variety of jam rock that captured musical influences from all over the spectrum. Rizzo, now a senior at Ithaca College, played guitar and sang, and invited some of his friends from the Ithaca College music program to play in his backing band. "When I see the bassist in math tomorrow, I'll have to tell him they were good," said Ben Kaplan, also an Ithaca College senior. Rizzo belted out vocals, including one very high note, on songs from his record "Blck Tee Shrt" and on a cover of "Ain't No Sunshine," by Bill Withers. He's headed to New York City to record a new record soon. Upstate, a 6-piece band with roots in Lansing, N.Y, just minutes outside Ithaca, brought sunny female-led indie folk pop to the show. The three female vocalists, Melanie Glenn, Mary Kenney, and Allison Olender harmonized over mandolin, upright bass, and percussion. Christian Joao played the cajon, a wood box from Peru that musicians sit on to play, for percussion, and also cymbals that he smacked with his hands instead of using sticks. He wore a black tank top and a black sweat band on his head. Mandolin player Ryan Chappell was celebrating a birthday that night, wearing a shiny "Happy Birthday" headband and a hot pink "Happy Birthday" pageant sash, as if he was a teenage girl celebrating her Sweet Sixteen. "I'm definitely playing like it's my birthday," he said, before Upstate launched into the next song that the vocalists wrote new lyrics for to celebrate his birthday. Upstate brought the first of two Beatles covers last night. Their choice, "I'm Looking Through You" on Rubber Soul, made tons of sense for the upbeat and melodically-inclined group. Likewise, The National Reserve's choice made tons of sense as well. They chose "Don't Let Me Down," John Lennon's bluesy track that was released as the B-side to "Get Back" in 1969. The National Reserve, which has been playing Brooklyn bars on Friday nights for almost five years, played their own 70s rock inspired songs as well. Each one sounded vaguely like something famous that came out during that time period, but they were mostly originals. All at once, they were Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Black Keys, and The Lumineers if the band ate nails for breakfast. They invited the audience to sing along with them on a cover of David Waddell's "Let Me Ride in Your Big Cadillac." They sang about whiskey and frontman Sean Walsh -- who looked like Hagrid from Harry Potter might if he was in a 70s Southern rock band - shredded guitar solos. Keyboardist Steve Okonski also stood up to play accordion on a few songs, and sang one with the same amount of grit in his voice as ZZ Top. The got the crowd dancing. One couple in their 60s showed off their obviously rehearsed swing-inspired dancing. A couple danced cheek to cheek, and a few more practiced their twirling skills on each other. Groups of friends danced and cheered. They embraced the holiday spirit and celebrated alongside DSP Shows, enjoying the bright and clean sounds of gritty 70s guitar. SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Hundreds of Old Newsboys are spread across Central New York today to hawk special editions of The Post-Standard to raise money for the Christmas Bureau, which provides gifts, food and other items to Onondaga County families in need. The goal of the annual Old Newsboys Hope for the Holidays fundraiser is the same as it's been for more than 80 years: Every child deserves a gift on Christmas. "Hope for the Holidays is the best of Syracuse traditions - we celebrate the holiday season and raise money for our community - built on the award-winning tradition of The Post-Standard," said Tim Kennedy, president of Advance Media New York. "Hope matters for the 3,000 families that benefit from our collective efforts. Hope matters for all of us." Want to donate now? You can do it online The Christmas Bureau, which is sponsored by the Salvation Army and the United Way of CNY, served 7,000 children in 2017. Old Newsboys will be stationed on street corners, stores and gas stations today and Saturday hawking newspapers for donations with the same message to the community from the 1930s: "Buy a paper ... give what you can." The newspapers are donated and all the money collected goes to the Christmas Bureau. Syracuse, N.Y. -- The levels of toxic chemicals in Onondaga Lake fish continue to fall, a sign that the decades-long lake cleanup is working, new reports show. The amount of mercury in the flesh of small prey fish fell 70 percent from 2009 to 2016, according to data provided by Honeywell and accepted by the state this year. In the lake's popular game fish, smallmouth bass and walleye, the amount of mercury in 2016 was half the level it was in 2009, the data show. PCB levels in fish have also fallen in that same time period: About 50 percent in walleye and 63 percent in bass. "It's moving in the right direction," said Charles T. Driscoll, the SU professor who has done research on mercury in the lake for decades. "It's right on track." The mercury isn't gone, however, and it won't be for a long time. The levels in smallmouth bass and walleye remain far higher than the standards set in 2005. Honeywell's 2016 data shows mercury levels in bass at 0.92 parts per million, about half of what they were in 2009 but still three times higher than the target level of 0.3 ppm. Mercury levels in Onondaga Lake fish have dropped steadily since a baseline report was done in 2009. There's still enough mercury, PCBs and other toxic chemicals in Onondaga Lake fish to warrant health advisories. The state Department of Health recommends that children under 15 and women under 50 eat no fish caught in the lake, and that nobody eat walleye and carp. Consumption of other species should be limited, the health department said. A health department study last year showed that Burmese and Bhutanese refugees who eat fish from the lake had elevated levels of mercury. The decline in mercury in fish is attributed to Honeywell's court-ordered cleanup, which included dredging 2.2 million cubic yards of highly contaminated sediment and capping of 475 acres of the lake bottom. Honeywell also developed a system to inject a common agricultural fertilizer in the deepest parts of the lake, which helped slash mercury levels in the water by 95 percent. The latest monitoring report submitted by Honeywell to the state Department of Environmental Conservation shows that mercury levels in prey fish fell from 0.3 parts per million in 2009 to 0.09 ppm in 2016, a drop of 70 percent. A recent paper by Driscoll and a Honeywell contractor says those mercury levels meet the standards set in the DEC's 2005 cleanup order. That order sets a goal of 0.14 to 0.3 ppm of mercury in fish flesh. While humans don't eat the small prey fish, including the round goby and the banded killifish, the drop in mercury in those fish is important for several reasons. The small fish form the base of the food chain that sustains the big game fish, and lower levels of mercury in prey mean the big predators are taking in less mercury. "Reductions in mercury concentrations in prey fish are a good early indicator of long-term improvements in mercury concentrations in sport fish," according to Driscoll's paper. Prey fish are also relatively stationary and have shorter lives than bigger fish, so they are more accurate indicators of changes of toxin levels in the lake, the paper said. Levels of mercury in the flesh of bigger game fish will take much longer to fall, Driscoll said. That's in part because those fish travel in and out of the lake, so they can pick up mercury from other water bodies. In addition, large predators like walleye accumulate mercury in their flesh as they eat contaminated prey fish, and it can take years for that mercury to leave their bodies. There is no date by which Honeywell must meet the mercury standards in fish. The company is on the hook to monitor the progress of the cleanup indefinitely. Mercury was dumped in and around the lake for decades, and it remains pervasive in the environment. A 2014 study found that birds and bats had mercury levels so high that 20 percent of some bird chicks would not survive. Contact Glenn Coin: Email | Twitter | Google + | (315) 470-3251 A federal judge on Friday sentenced Syracuse developer Steven Aiello to three years in prison and a $500,000 fine after he was convicted of fraud and conspiracy by juries in two state corruption trials. Aiello, 60, the founder of Cor Development, was found guilty in separate trials of conspiring to bribe a state official and of playing a role in the rigging of competitive bids for state construction contracts. Aiello's business partner Joseph Gerardi and two state officials were also convicted in the corruption cases. Aiello was the only defendant convicted in both trials. He faced a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison when he appeared Friday morning before U.S. District Judge Valerie Caproni. In addition to his prison time, Aiello was sentenced to two years of supervised release, said a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York. He will have to report to prison March 1 unless a judge allows him to remain free on bail while appealing his conviction. Steven Aiello gets sentenced to 3 years in prison and a $500k fine. Aiello must report to prison by March 1st unless defense can pursuade judge to let him out on bail while he appeals @News_8 @NewsChannel9 @WTEN @news4buffalo Morgan Mckay (@morganfmckay) December 7, 2018 The developer's lawyers asked Caproni this week to move Aiello's sentencing to a larger courtroom to accommodate 60 to 70 people from Syracuse who were expected to attend his sentencing. Caproni denied the request. The judge sentenced Aiello's business partner, Joseph Gerardi, on Thursday for his role in the bid-rigging scheme that brought in more than $100 million in state construction work to Cor Development Co. In that case, Alain Kaloyeros, the former head of SUNY Polytechnic Institute, was convicted of fraud and conspiracy for his role in rigging contracts for Cor and a Buffalo developer. Kaloyeros is due to be sentenced Tuesday. As a result of the bid-rigging, Cor Development won state contracts to build the Central New York film hub and a high-tech LED lighting factory in DeWitt, prosecutors said. Gerardi was sentenced to 30 months in prison and a $500,000 fine for his role in the bid-rigging scheme. Caproni allowed Gerardi to remain free on bail pending further review. Defense attorney Milt Williams said after Gerardi's sentencing that he plans to appeal the conviction. Aiello and Gerardi were also accused of funneling $35,000 in bribes to Joseph Percoco, a former top aide to Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Prosecutors said the bribes were paid through a "shell company" set up by lobbyist Todd Howe in exchange for influence on state government decisions. Percoro was convicted of taking more than $300,000 in bribes. He was sentenced in September to six years in prison. Percoco is due to report to federal prison on Dec. 28. Contact Mark Weiner: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 571-970-3751 Ann M. Ryan, Ph.D., is professor of American Literature at Le Moyne College, in Syracuse. Her scholarly work focuses on the life and writings of Mark Twain. Her forthcoming book is entitled "The Ghosts of Mark Twain." By Ann M. Ryan | Special to Syracuse.com Last year, when the disturbing videos first emerged from the Theta Tau fraternity at Syracuse University, I thought of a passage from the fiction of Mark Twain. A front-page article in a recent Post-Standard reminded me of it again. One of Mark Twain's characters, a mysterious stranger from another world, reflects on humanity: "For your race, in its poverty, has unquestionably one really effective weapon -- laughter. Power, money, persuasion, supplication, persecution -- these can lift at a colossal humbug ... weaken it a little, but only laughter can blow it to rags and atoms at a blast. Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand." What Twain is describing here is satire, the humor that threatens regimes and deflates egos; it tells us that the emperor has no clothes. Syracuse Theta Tau brothers explain crude skits: 'We thought it was OK' Satirists are like the prophets. They howl in the wilderness, "Make straight your paths." Twain understood that satire works best when it's aimed at the powerful and the privileged. Using all their tools -- wit, irony, occasional vulgarity and rage -- satirists tear down one world and point toward a better one. And like prophets, satirists never relent. No matter how many stones are hurled, no matter who heckles or threatens, satirists remain committed to their truth. The boys of Theta Tau -- and their defenders -- have represented their behavior as poorly executed humor. It was an attempt at parody, a satire or maybe a "roast." They insisted that their behavior, though boorish, wasn't meant to offend; it was just supposed to be "funny." These soon-to-be engineers pointed to their clumsiness as writers and the lack of time they had to prepare. Ultimately, they admitted to being, in their own words, simply "young and stupid." "Young and stupid," may explain barbed-wire tattoos or nighttime bungee jumping. It doesn't quite explain a video where students mime the sexual assault of a Down Syndrome man in a wheelchair: He's "drooling" we're told, so they won't need to "use any lubrication." That's not the sweet, uninhibited voice of youth we hear in that video; it's something a lot darker. And, for what it's worth, we rarely accept impetuosity as a defense for the bad choices made by poor kids, or young minorities and immigrants. We expect those kids to pay for their mistakes -- a look at our prisons proves the point. Only the children of privilege -- young people at prestigious universities, studying to join one of the most lucrative professions available, for example -- those are the kids who get to be "young and stupid." In any case, as "young and stupid" as the boys of Theta Tau may be, they're still not satirists, not even clumsy ones. Like all sorts of activists and artists, satirists enjoy the spotlight; they don't avoid it. I've known many brave and talented students in my 25 years of teaching, and when they perform, they do it in the open. They fearlessly stand on any number of stages: musical, theatrical or political. And they sign their names to essays and artwork and ideas of all kinds. The boys of Theta Tau performed in relative anonymity, in a darkened basement, and posted their performance on a restricted website. So if it wasn't satire, what did we see and hear on those videos? Mark Twain would call them practical jokes, "cruel and barren of wit." Practical jokes, according to Twain, have no higher ambition than to exchange pain for pleasure. Twain -- who confesses to being a joker at times -- attacks this use of humor and the men who enjoy it. Twain's jokers sit in front of general stores or they prowl backwater streets, looking for someone to bully, or mock or torture. Pap Finn, Huck's drunken father, is Twain's finest incarnation of this particular kind of nastiness. When a Black professor arrives in St. Petersburg, Pap complains, he had "the whitest shirt on you ever see...and could talk all kinds of languages, and knowed everything." Pap sees, standing before him, a changing world, and he "ain't the kind of man to stand it." He pushes the professor off the street and into the mud, as the gathering crowd enjoys the spectacle. We seem surrounded by Pap Finns of late. Our president mocks a disabled reporter, or the appearance of any woman who offends him, or he denigrates the intelligence of a black member of Congress. And the crowds laugh. Rosanne Barr describes Valerie Jarrett, an African American member of the Obama administration, as a child of the "Muslim brotherhood & Planet of the Apes." And then she claims it was "only a joke." And while neo-Nazi thugs beat protesters in Charlottesville, their fellow thugs cheered and chanted obscenities. The Theta Tau videos are simply adolescent versions of these more public outrages. I'm sure the young men of Theta Tau regret that night, and feel their own foolish behavior betrayed their better selves. If so, it's time to grow up and learn some lessons, time to stop being "young and stupid." As their fraternity brothers mocked gay people, the disabled, women, Jews, racial minorities, and immigrants, they either joined the fun or laughed from the sidelines. No one did anything to stop it. It's time they confront the seriousness of what they did and not dress it up as "humor." The world beyond the ivory tower is not a frat house. That America is filled with precisely the people they mocked so casually -- no matter how many Pap Finns try to change it. Democrat Dan McCready withdrew his concession Thursday in a North Carolina congressional race that has been roiled by accusations of fraud. In an interview with Charlotte-area TV station WSOC, McCready also called on Republican rival Mark Harris "to tell the American people exactly what he knew and when he knew it." "Over the last week, we have seen the criminal activity come to light, and we have seen that my opponent, Mark Harris, has bankrolled this criminal activity," McCready said. "And so, as of today, I am withdrawing my concession to Mark Harris." McCready followed up with a tweet announcing the news and calling on Harris "to end his silence and tell us exactly what he knew, and when." North Carolina election officials are investigating whether an operative working on behalf of Harris illegally collected incomplete ballots from voters in the state's 9th District. The state probe has delayed the certification of Harris' race, and state officials could decide to call for a new election. Harris and McCready are separated by 905 votes, according to unofficial returns. McCready had conceded defeat Nov. 7, about 24 hours after the polls had closed and long after Harris had declared victory. "For me now, country over party means offering my help to Mark, which I did by phone, as he takes over his new job representing us," McCready said at the time. "I believe when our leaders succeed, all of us succeed." The allegations are largely concentrated in two North Carolina counties where Republican operative Leslie McCrae Dowless allegedly oversaw a crew of workers who collected absentee ballots from voters. Some of those ballots, according to affidavits filed with state authorities, were incomplete when they were gathered. Dowless ran a get-out-the-vote effort for the Harris campaign during the primary and general elections. Dowless, who has worked on political campaigns in Bladen for at least a decade, touts his ability to mobilize voters to cast ballots by mail. He has been under scrutiny by state officials since 2016, when allegations surfaced about illegal ballot harvesting in that year's campaigns. The North Carolina Board of Elections has indicated that it will hold a hearing on the latest allegations by Dec. 21 and could decide afterward whether to certify the election, call a new election or take some other course of action. Earlier this week, Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., the incoming majority leader, said the House might refuse to seat Harris in January if "substantial" questions remain about the integrity of the election. Asked about that prospect Thursday, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who has been nominated by her party to serve as speaker next year, said she is watching to see what the state board decides. She noted that "the House still retains the right to determine who is seated" and said that if members object to Harris being seated, "we'll see how that goes." Under the Constitution, the House has the express authority to judge the "elections, returns and qualifications" of its members. Hoyer said this week that he intended to discuss the matter with Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., who is expected to chair the Committee on House Administration next year. Under federal law, that panel is empowered to independently investigate the election and make recommendations about how the dispute should be resolved - including calling for a new election. "This is bigger than one seat," Pelosi said at her weekly news conference Thursday. "This is about undermining the integrity of our elections, and what was done there was so remarkable and that those entities got away with it, even to the detriment of Republicans in the primary." Separately, a group of Republican state senators Thursday asked Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper to create a bipartisan task force to examine election fraud. SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Nearly $3 million, or about $25 per vote, was spent in the hotly-contested state Senate 50th district race won by Republican Bob Antonacci. Antonacci, Onondaga County's comptroller, narrowly defeated Democratic candidate John Mannion, a West Genesee High School teacher. Antonacci captured 62,333 votes, or 51 percent, to Mannion's 60,010, or 49 percent. Antonacci and Mannion campaigned intensely for the seat of Republican Sen. John DeFrancisco, who is retiring after serving 26 years. Campaign spending hit $2.92 million. There's never been a race for that seat that has attracted as much money. The 50th district includes a small part of Syracuse's North Side, most of Onondaga County and parts of Cayuga County. Money poured into the race in two ways: direct contributions to the candidates and ads and other services paid for by outside groups that supported the candidates, but did not coordinate with their campaigns. Union groups spent heavily to support Mannion, who heads the teachers union at West Genesee. Outside groups spent more than $1 million backing Mannion. Nearly $650,000 of that came from the New York State United Teachers Union and its political action committee, Fighting for our Future. Outside groups spent more than $451,000 to support Antonacci. Those groups included the Upstate Jobs Committee, an arm of the Upstate Jobs Party, and Balance NY, a Republican-funded group. Antonacci brought in $775,554 in direct contributions, while Mannion raised $570,572. The New York Senate Republican Campaign Committee was Antonacci's biggest contributor, shelling out $349,000. Antonacci also transferred $116,718 to his campaign that was left over from his unsuccessful 2014 campaign for state comptroller. His other big contributors included: Daniel Loeb, a New York City billionaire hedge fund manager, $11,000; Frank H. Suits of Cortland, CEO of Suit-Kote, a paving company, $11,000; Kimberly Weitsman, wife of Adam Weitsman, owner of Upstate Shredding, a scrap metal business based in Owego, $11,000; NY Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan's campaign fund, $11,000; American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Union in Washington, D.C., $11,000; Sen. John DeFrancisco's campaign fund, $9,913. Mannion's campaign received $247,108 from the New York Democratic Senate Campaign Committee. Here are some of Mannion's other big contributors: United Federation of Teachers Committee on Political Education, New York, $12,000; Voice of Teachers for Education, Latham, $11,000; Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, Washington, D.C., $11,000; Campaign fund of state Senate Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins of Yonkers, $11,000; Mason Tenders District Council of Greater NY union, New York, $11,000; Sean Eldridge of Garrison, founder of Stand Up America, a group opposed to President Trump, $10,000; Chris Hughes of Garrison, a co-founder of Facebook, $10,000. WASHINGTON -- Rep.-elect Anthony Brindisi received a flood of last-minute campaign cash in his winning bid to unseat Rep. Claudia Tenney in the 22nd Congressional District, new records show. Brindisi, D-Utica, raised more than $783,000 from some 32,000 contributions between Oct. 18 and Nov. 26, according to a report his campaign filed Thursday with the Federal Election Commission in Washington. The late burst of donations, topping the amount some candidates raise in a year, pushed Brindisi's fundraising total for the campaign to more than $4.6 million, the records show. The big infusion of cash allowed Brindisi to spend more than $1 million in the final weeks of his campaign. In the end, he had about $65,000 remaining in his campaign account as of Nov. 26. Tenney, R-New Hartford, raised less than half of Brindisi's total during the same period (about $298,000) and spent about $671,000 in the final weeks of her campaign, according to a report her campaign filed Thursday with the FEC. Tenney's post-election report for the latest period, Oct. 18 through Nov. 26, showed she raised a total of about $3.2 million over the course of the election -- about $1.4 million less than Brindisi. Tenney ended the campaign with $174,665 remaining in her campaign account and debts of about $170,000, according to the FEC reports. All told, the 22nd District campaign was the most expensive race out of New York's 27 House districts this year. Independent political groups spent an additional $16 million on both candidates, FEC records show, bringing the combined total spent on the election to almost $24 million -- a record high for a Central New York House race. The election, one of the most competitive House races in the nation, was too close to call election night, when Brindisi led Tenney by 1,293 votes. After a count of absentee and affidavit ballots over the following two weeks, it became clear Brindisi won the election by about 4,000 votes, according to unofficial election returns. The state Board of Elections is expected to certify the results on Dec. 14. Despite his fundraising success, Brindisi has called for campaign finance reform to limit the influence of money in politics. He said the issue will be among those at the top of his agenda next year in the Democratic-controlled Congress. During the campaign, Brindisi refused to take corporate donations from political action committees, or PACs. He accepted money from non-corporate PACs including labor unions. The 22nd Congressional District covers all of Madison, Oneida, Cortland and Chenango counties and portions of Oswego, Broome, Herkimer, and Tioga counties. Contact Mark Weiner: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 571-970-3751 ABC News is facing criticism after two commentators joked about President Donald Trump planning his own funeral during coverage of former President George H.W. Bush's funeral on Wednesday. Chief foreign correspondent Terry Moran and contributing correspondent Devin Dwyer were adding commentary during the live stream of the 41st U.S. President's funeral at the National Cathedral when they started imagining how different Trump's funeral would be. "Probably a different tone in that funeral," Moran joked. "First [Trump is] going to choreograph it, so there might be more trumpets and fanfare." "Yes, he would do it bigger, one would imagine," Dwyer agreed. "It will be the best presidential funeral ever. No one will ever have seen anything like that funeral," Moran added. ABC News Terry Moran mockingly fantasizes about Trump's funeral: "First, hes going to choreograph it. So, there might be more trumpets and fanfare. ... It will be the best presidential funeral ever. No one will ever have seen anything like that funeral." pic.twitter.com/Sjt8pm5m9f Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) December 6, 2018 Dwyer sparked the conversation when he suggested that Trump may have recognized at Bush's funeral that he'll likely get a similar treatment in the future. Former presidents George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama also attended the funeral, but similar commentary wasn't made about them. The Wrap criticized ABC's coverage for its "uncomfortable turn" towards Trump's eventual funeral. Dan Gainor, vice president of the conservative Media Research Center, called the commentary appalling. "To mock him during the coverage of the president's funeral is just despicable garbage. I would say ABC News should apologize, but it wouldn't be sincere if it did. This is about the billionth example of unprofessional journalism in their attacks on Trump. It's only more outrageous because of the solemn occasion," Gainor told Fox News Thursday. "It's in bad taste to joke about any of our current leader's future passing," political comedian Tim Young told Fox News. "#ABC 'News' is an embarrassment," actor James Woods wrote on Twitter. Additional tweets called for Moran and Dwyer to apologize. They have not publicly responded to criticism. At Bush Funeral, ABC News Panelists Joke About Future Trump Funeral (Video) https://t.co/68aI90L4t4 Joel B. Pollak (@joelpollak) December 6, 2018 "Pearl Harbor" is the No. 1 trending topic on social media Friday morning as Americans recognize the anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, "a date which will live in infamy." However, President Donald Trump did not make any mention of Pearl Harbor in a series of tweets Friday morning. He instead focused on criticizing Special Counsel Robert Mueller and his investigation into possible collusion with Russia during the 2016 election. "Robert Mueller and Leakin' Lyin' James Comey are Best Friends, just one of many Mueller Conflicts of Interest," Trump began his Twitter rant. He also called his deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein "totally conflicted." Rosenstein oversaw Mueller's probe until last month when Trump fired Jeff Sessions and named Matt Whitaker his acting attorney general. Robert Mueller and Leakin Lyin James Comey are Best Friends, just one of many Mueller Conflicts of Interest. And bye the way, wasnt the woman in charge of prosecuting Jerome Corsi (who I do not know) in charge of legal at the corrupt Clinton Foundation? A total Witch Hunt... Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 7, 2018 ....Will Robert Muellers big time conflicts of interest be listed at the top of his Republicans only Report. Will Andrew Weissmans horrible and vicious prosecutorial past be listed in the Report. He wrongly destroyed peoples lives, took down great companies, only to be........ Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 7, 2018 .....overturned, 9-0, in the United States Supreme Court. Doing same thing to people now. Will all of the substantial & many contributions made by the 17 Angry Democrats to the Campaign of Crooked Hillary be listed in top of Report. Will the people that worked for the Clinton.... Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 7, 2018 ....Foundation be listed at the top of the Report? Will the scathing document written about Lyin James Comey, by the man in charge of the case, Rod Rosenstein (who also signed the FISA Warrant), be a big part of the Report? Isnt Rod therefore totally conflicted? Will all of.... Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 7, 2018 ...the lying and leaking by the people doing the Report, & also Bruce Ohr (and his lovely wife Molly), Comey, Brennan, Clapper, & all of the many fired people of the FBI, be listed in the Report? Will the corruption within the DNC & Clinton Campaign be exposed?..And so much more! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 7, 2018 Trump's only other tweet Friday morning said "China talks are going very well!" He did not elaborate. Trump previously mentioned Pearl Harbor in a meeting this summer with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. "I remember Pearl Harbor," the president said in June, referring to the surprise attack that pushed the U.S. into World War II. The Washington Post reported in August that Trump made the remarks before criticizing Japan's economic policies and the U.S. trade deficit. He also sought a bilateral trade deal that is more favorable to U.S. exporters of beef and automobiles. Trump's tweets come as Mueller faces two court deadlines Friday and ex-FBI director James Comey is scheduled to appear before lawmakers on Capitol Hill. Trump has frequently criticized Mueller's investigation as a "witch hunt," despite producing dozens of criminal charges and guilty pleas from Trump associates including former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and former personal attorney Michael Cohen. Trump has denied all wrongdoing. Mueller is set to reveal more details about his Russia investigation on Friday as he and federal prosecutors in New York will have to file separate memos in court detailing the cooperation of Cohen, who has admitted lying to Congress and orchestrating hush-money payments to protect the president. The Associated Press reports Mueller's team will also disclose what they say former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort lied about when his plea deal fell apart last month. Update: Trump recognized Pearl Harbor Day in a tweet late Friday morning. "Today, we honor those who perished 77 years ago at Pearl Harbor, and we salute every veteran who served in World War II over the 4 years that followed that horrific attack. God Bless America!" his Twitter account said. WASHINGTON - Former attorney general William Barr is President Donald Trump's leading candidate to be nominated to lead the Justice Department, according to people familiar with the deliberations - a choice that could be announced in coming days as the agency presses forward with a probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election. Barr, 68, a well-respected Republican lawyer who served as attorney general from 1991 to 1993 under President George H.W. Bush, has emerged as a favorite among a number of Trump administration officials, including senior lawyers in the White House Counsel's Office, these people said. Two people familiar with internal discussions said the president has told advisers in recent days that he plans to nominate Barr. Administration officials are preparing for the likelihood that Barr's nomination will be announced in the coming days, these people said. Barr declined to comment. Given the political fights enveloping the Justice Department, any attorney general general nominee is likely to face tough questions at their Senate confirmation hearing. The president has repeatedly accused the department of launching a biased investigation into his campaign, and charged Special Counsel Robert Mueller is conducting a "witch hunt" targeting him and his aides. Democrats want assurances the department's next leader will resist political pressure from the White House; Republicans want assurances the department will operate investigations in an evenhanded fashion toward members of both parties. Barr's past statements about the Russia probe, in which he has questioned the political tilt of Mueller's team, could give some Democrats fodder to attack Barr's nomination, but several Republican operatives who support Barr for the position noted he once worked alongside Mueller in the Justice Department, and said his track record from the Bush administration should calm any Democratic concerns that the department would see its independence eroded. One person familiar with the discussions cautioned that while Barr is the leading candidate, the decision is not final and the president could decide to pick someone else. Another person familiar with the discussions said Barr is "a really serious contender and possibly the front-runner" for the job but stressed it was impossible to predict Trump's pick definitively until it was announced publicly. That person said those advising the president viewed Barr as someone who knows the department well and is a good manager. Barr, this person said, also had a bluntness that is likely to resonate with the president. "The president is very, very focused on [a candidate] looking the part and having credentials consistent with the part," the person said. Richard Cullen, a former U.S. attorney in Virginia who is now in private practice, representing Vice President Mike Pence, said Barr "truly would be the gold standard in terms of what any president of the United States would be looking for in term of experience, judgment and intelligence. He's the real deal." Those familiar with the discussions said Barr, having already been attorney general, doesn't feel a particular ambition for the position, but does feel a sense of duty to take it if offered. An alternate candidate is Rep. John Ratcliffe, R-Texas, a conservative whose support of the president has won the attention and backing of some inside the White House, these people said. Others who were considered for the job but now appear out of the running include John Michael Luttig, a former judge and Justice Department official who is now the top lawyer at Boeing, and Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta. Acosta's chances dropped precipitously after a Miami Herald report detailing his role in the prosecution of a billionaire sex offender who victims say was given light punishment, according to people familiar with the discussions. The current acting attorney general, Matthew Whitaker, had also hoped to be nominated for the job, according to people familiar with the internal discussions. Whitaker is set to appear Friday with the President at a law enforcement gathering in Kansas City, Missouri. Even if Barr were announced as the president's choice this week, it could take months for a confirmation vote, given the congressional schedule. In the meantime, Whitaker would stay in that role until a nominee is confirmed. Whitaker's selection, even as a temporary replacement of Sessions, angered Democrats who question both his resume and the legal justification for the move, given that he was not serving in a Senate-confirmed position. Trump forced out Sessions in early November, after the midterm elections. Administration officials expect Barr's nomination would be received positively by Republicans who respect his experience and Democrats who would likely view him as an old-school GOP lawyer with no particular personal loyalty to the president. George Terwilliger, who served as the No. 2 official in the Justice Department when Barr was attorney general, said Barr would bring "40 years of high level experience, both in government and in business, which gives him a perspective that fits many of this administration's priorities." "I have no way of knowing if the report that he's a leading candidate is accurate, but if he was, because of both his government and corporate background, he would enjoy widespread support - both in and outside the legal community," Terwilliger said. After leaving the Justice Department, Barr served in a variety of high-level corporate positions, including as general counsel and executive vice president of Verizon Communications. He is currently a lawyer at Kirkland & Ellis and does work advising corporations on government enforcement and regulatory actions. Barr's daughter, Mary Daly, is a senior Justice Department official overseeing the agency's efforts against opioid abuse and addiction. As attorney general in the early 1990s, when crime rates were far higher than they are today, Barr advocated for a get-tough approach and sending repeat offenders to prison for long sentences. That viewpoint could come into conflict with efforts by the White House and in Congress to scale back some prison sentences as part of an effort to reform the criminal justice system. At that time, Mueller led the department's criminal division, reporting directly to Barr. The two worked together on the multiyear investigation into the 1988 terrorist bombing of Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. Barr shares at least one of the president's views on the probe being conducted by Mueller. In 2017, when asked by The Washington Post about political donations made by lawyers on the special counsel's team, Barr said "prosecutors who make political contributions are identifying fairly strongly with a political party" and added: "I would have liked to see [Mueller] have more balance on this group." Barr also wrote last year that the administration's decision to fire Jim Comey as FBI director was "quite understandable" because, in his view, Comey had usurped the power of the attorney general when he publicly announced his recommendation not to charge former secretary of state Hillary Clinton during the investigation of her private email server. The events that led up to Comey's firing have become part of Mueller's investigation, seeking to determine whether the president sought to obstruct the probe. In a 2001 interview, Barr revealed how little he thought of a special counsel that vexed him during the Bush administration - Lawrence Walsh, who was tapped to oversee the Iran-contra case. Barr said Walsh "was certainly a headhunter and had completely lost perspective, and was out there flailing about on Iran-contra with a lot of headhunters working for him. The whole tenor of the administration was affected by that." Still No Deal On EU Digital Services Tax by Ulrika Lomas, Tax-News.com, Brussels 07 December 2018 European finance ministers were again unable to reach an agreement on a proposed digital services tax, despite attempts by Austria, France, and Germany to broker a compromise. In March, the European Commission proposed the introduction of a temporary three percent excise tax on turnover from certain online activities. The tax would apply to companies with total annual worldwide revenues of at least EUR750m (USD850.6m) and EU revenues of EUR50m. The Commission had said that the measure would be temporary, pending a long-term international agreement on how to tax the profits of digital companies. EU finance ministers failed to reach an agreement on the proposals at their last meeting in November, with Ireland, Sweden, and Denmark the most vocal in expressing their concerns. At a December 4 meeting of finance ministers, Austria, which holds the Council presidency, put forward a compromise text "containing the elements that have the most technical support from member states." However, according to a Council statement, a number of member states were unable to "accept the text for political reasons as a matter of principle, while a few others were not satisfied yet with some specific points in the text." The proposals must be unanimously agreed by all EU member states. The compromise text argued that the tax should be "an easy-to-implement measure targeting the revenues stemming from the supply of digital services where users contribute significantly to the process of value creation." It should apply "to revenues resulting from the provision of certain digital services only." Ministers also examined a joint declaration issued by France and Germany, which reined in the scope of previous schemes. The declaration called on the Commission and Council to "amend and focus its draft directive for a digital services tax on a tax base referring to advertisement, on the basis of a three percent tax on turnover." It said the Commission and Council should in due course submit proposals "on taxing the digital economy and minimum taxation in line with the work of the OECD." France and Germany urged the Council to adopt the directive by March 2019 at the latest. The tax would enter into force on January 1, 2021, if no international solution has been agreed by that date. The document recommended that if an international solution was agreed and translated into EU law before January 1, 2021, the implementation of the digital tax directive could be withdrawn and expire by 2025. It stated that France and German expect the OECD will reach an agreement by 2020. The Presidency recommended that the Council's working group continue to work on the basis of the compromise text and the Franco-German declaration, "with the aim of reaching an agreement as soon as possible." Valdis Dombrovskis, Vice-President for the Euro and Social Dialogue, tweeted that the Commission hopes member states "can forge a compromise ASAP in 2019" under the incoming Romanian Presidency. He added that "all companies should pay their fair share of tax." Tax Commissioner Pierre Moscovici said that he would "not give up." He stressed the need to "continue talking and find an agreement by March." Switzerland-Pakistan DTA Enters Into Force by Ulrika Lomas, Tax-News.com, Brussels 07 December 2018 A new double taxation agreement (DTA) between Switzerland and Pakistan entered into force on November 29. The new DTA replaces the existing agreement between the two countries. Its provisions will apply from January 1, 2019. The agreement was signed in March 2017. The Swiss Federal Council said that the DTA improves upon the previous agreement with regard to the taxation of service charges and profits resulting from the sale of significant interests. Under the DTA, withholding taxes on dividends will generally be capped at 20 percent. A 10 percent rate will apply if the recipient oft he dividends is a company that owns at least 20 percent of the company paying the dividends. The DTA caps the withholding tax rate for both interest and royalties income at 10 percent. The agreement also contains an arbitration clause, to guarantee the avoidance of double taxation. Its provisions on the exchange of information are in line with the international standard and its anti-abuse provision meets the minimum standard recommended by the OECD in its base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) project. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. Global Managed Pressure drilling Market - Competitive Analysis Characterized by the presence of several well-established and small players, the Global Managed Pressure Drilling Market appears to be highly competitive. Well established players incorporate acquisition, collaboration, partnership, expansion, and product launch in order to gain competitive advantage in this market and to maintain their market position. These key players compete based upon pricing, and services. Vendors operating in the market strive to deliver the best quality services based on innovative technologies, and best practices. These Key Players make a substantial investment for R&D and to secure a guaranteed resource for the customers. Managed pressure drilling market demonstrates a high growth potential which is likely to attract many entrants to the market resulting in to intensified competition further. Industry News In June 2017, Noble Corporation plc has awarded AFGlobal a contract for the provision of an integrated deepwater managed pressure drilling (MPD) system. The contract include the supply and installation of a completely integrated, next-generation MPD system. In July 2016, AFGlobal Corp. has agreed to acquire Managed Pressure Operations (MPO), a subsidiary of MHWirth. This acquisition helps the company to solidify their position as a specialized original equipment manufacturer (OEM). EFC Group, has developed a long-term relationship with Weatherford, leading to multiple contract awards for Managed Pressure Drilling equipment supply to support the Weatherford Secure Drilling services business. These contract include the design and supply of direct hydraulic controls, hydraulic power units, choke, flow metering and buffer manifolds as well as integrated reelers, umbilicals, hoses & stab plates. A Sample of This Report Is Available upon Request @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1586 Global Managed Pressure Drilling Market - Overview Managed pressure drilling (MPD) is a drilling technique that uses enclosed and pressurized circulation system to provide precise wellbore control. MPD is applicable in severe conditions, such as fluid loss, tight pore pressure, high-pressure, high-temperature drilling, differential sticking, unknown pore pressure, and various other conditions. According to a recent study report published by the Market Research Future, The global market of Managed Pressure drilling is booming and expected to gain prominence over the forecast period. The global Managed Pressure drilling market is forecasted to demonstrate an exponential growth by 2023, surpassing its previous growth records in terms of value with a whooping, CAGR during the estimated period (2017 2023). Global increasing demand for energy has resulted in rapid increase in the offshore drilling activities to meet the increasing demand, which ultimately has provided significant boost to the Managed Pressure drilling market. Moreover, new oil reserve discoveries increase the drilling and exploration activities in coming years which upsurge the demand for the market. Additionally, increasing deepwater drilling activities in Africa and Latin America is also expected to boost the demand for managed pressure drilling services during the forecast period. However, environmental risks and strict government regulations for drilling as well as increasing focus on renewable energy may hinder the market growth of the market. Managed Pressure drilling Market - Segmentation Global Managed Pressure drilling Market is segmented in to two key dynamics for an easy grasp and enhanced understanding. Segmentation: Based on Technology, the market has been segmented into Mudcap Drilling, Constant Bottom Hole Pressure and Return Flow control Drilling. Constant Bottom Hole Pressure dominates the technology segment of the market and is expected to grow at highest CAGR during the forecast period. CBHP technique provides site safety by monitoring the annular pressure while detecting kicks and fluid losses early and drilling. This technology is used extensively in the North American continent for drilling offshore wells in the Gulf of Mexico, where drilling conditions are tough. Based on Well Type, the market has been segmented land and offshore. The offshore segment held the largest share in the managed pressure drilling market and is expected to grow at highest CAGR during the forecast period. The growth is attributed to the frequent use of managed pressure drilling in High Pressure High Temperature (HPHT) wells and deepwater resources. Segmentation by Regions: Comprises Geographical regions - North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa and South America. Browse The Full Research Report At@ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/managed-pressure-drilling-market-1586 Global Managed Pressure drilling Market - Regional Analysis North America dominates the Managed Pressure drilling market. The U.S. accounts for the largest market share in the North American region. The advancements in unconventional drilling technologies, which have attracted capital for oil and gas drilling projects. Additionally, vast hydrocarbon resources in the U.S. Shale basins and continuous offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico region, are driving the demand of the market. Africa is other major market for the Managed Pressure drilling. Increasing offshore discoveries in countries such as Nigeria, Angola, and Tanzania driving the growth of the market in the region. Asia Pacific and Europe are also an important market for the Managed Pressure drilling. Increasing demand for energy due to urbanization & industrialization from the countries such as India, China, and Indonesia among others driving the demand of the market in Asia Pacific region. The Europe Managed Pressure drilling market is expected to be dominated by countries such as U.K, Norway and Russia. The development of unconventional oil and gas exploration activities such as shale, is driving the market in the region. It is expected to contribute significantly during the forecast period. Jim Kruzan has re-branded his company, Kaydan Wealth Management, with this official new name to reflect its unique offerings apart from other Raymond James offices. His office has been located in Fenton since 2008. Why it matters: Anyone who has been in training for a new job knows how scary it can be, constantly worrying about making a mistake that could get you in trouble. So, spare a thought for the Google trainee who accidentally published a dummy advert thats thought to have cost the firm around $10 million. The mistake happened during a group training exercise in which Google employees were shown how to use the companys in-house ad placing system. The Financial Times reports that one worker went further than intended and submitted a live buy order into the system. The error caused a fake advert, made up of nothing more than a yellow rectangle, to appear in numerous websites and apps across the US and Australia for around 45 minutes on December 4. As soon as we were made aware of this honest mistake we worked quickly to stop the campaigns running, said Google, in a statement. If that doesn't sound bad enough, the trainee placed the order at around ten times the normal price for the ads. At $25 per CPM (cost per thousand impressions), it was much higher than the usual $2 - $4 market price. Not only was the ad placed on Googles AdX, but it was also placed on several ad exchanges, which helped ensure it reached a wide audience. Google has promised to honor payments to publishers for any ads purchased. It never revealed exactly how much this mistake cost the firm, but the FT believes payments to publishers and cleanup bills put it at around $10 million. Google says it now has safeguards in place to ensure such a costly error never occurs again. No word on what happened to the employee. The Apple Watch just got a lot more useful. Now that Apple has officially rolled out the much-anticipated watchOS 5.1.2 update, features such as electrocardiogram reading and irregular heartbeat notification are now available. Apple unveiled the fourth-generation Apple Watch this past September. Besides its updated aesthetics, perhaps the most notable new hardware feature is its ability to take an EKG reading directly on the watch, no peripherals needed. Apple didn't activate the feature outright, however. Perhaps it needed more testing, as new features usually do, especially those involving hardware. But now it's finally here. How To Take An EKG On Your Apple Watch To be able to take an EKG, users must first update their Apple Watch to the latest software, which is, as mentioned, watchOS 5.1.2. After installing the update, users must open the EKG app and rest their index finger lightly on the crown for 30 seconds. At this point, the Apple Watch acts as a single-lead EKG that reads the user's heart rhythm and sends that off to the Health app on their paired iPhone. From there, users can export it into a PDF, which can then be sent to a doctor for further observation. Of course, the Apple Watch's EKG features aren't going to replace sophisticated and professional-grade electrocardiograms anytime soon, but it's still an incredible feature to have on one's wrist. Plus, it's something other smartwatches don't have at all. Heart Rate Monitor On Apple Watch As for the heart rate notification feature, Apple says the watch keeps track of the user's rhythm every two hours or so, but that depends on whether they're stationary or not. If the watch gets five consecutive readings that are abnormal, it will alert the user and suggest they consult a doctor about it. Those who've already been diagnosed with atrial fibrillation should turn the feature off, Apple says. Again, Apple clarifies that these features are not diagnostic tools. In other words, they can't actually determine at least not officially if there's something wrong with the person's heart health. Moreover, they're also probably not the sort of features people will use on a regular basis, according to Apple. The EKG feature, for one, should only really be used if the user feels something off, and then the resulting report should only be shared with the user's doctor. Needless to say they shouldn't act on the findings willy-nilly. This is an important point to make, especially since a number of people often dangerously self-medicate. Long story short, the Apple Watch isn't a doctor. Both features mentioned above are incredible feats of innovation, but they're not particularly guaranteed to be 100 percent accurate. In any case, both features are limited to the United States for now as part of the watchOS 5.1.2 update. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The scientists at European Organization for Nuclear Research or CERN shut down the Large Hadron Collider in what is to be the first step in a two-year maintenance effort. The LHC, located in Geneva, Switzerland, has performed exceptionally well in its two years of operation between 2015 and 2018. The particle smasher has helped scientists increase their understanding of the universe that was formerly unknown to mankind, producing five times more data than its first run. With its second scheduled power-down, the LHC will be prepared for better and more potent experiments that will expand the knowledge of fundamental physics as well as the universe. The plan is to switch the LHC back on in early 2021 after an upgrade and renovation work. The LHC 2.0 According to a CERN's latest press release, the LHC was already shut down earlier this week for maintenance and extensive upgrades. The scientists reveal that the machine will be equipped with a network of advanced detectors and transmitters that will allow the particles to collide at higher speeds, enabling the scientists to gain further advancement in the field of physics. "The second run of the LHC has been impressive, as we could deliver well beyond our objectives and expectations, producing five times more data than during the first run, at the unprecedented energy of 13 TeV," Frederick Bordry, CERN Director for Accelerators and Technology, said in the release. "With this second long shutdown starting now, we will prepare the machine for even more collisions at the design energy of 14 TeV." LHC: Father Of The 'God Particle' The LHC is famous for its discovery of Higgs Boson in 2012, also known as the "God Particle." Its revelation helped two CERN scientists earn the coveted Nobel Prize for Physics in 2013. "In addition to many other beautiful results, over the past few years the LHC experiments have made tremendous progress in the understanding of the properties of the Higgs boson," adds Fabiola Gianotti, CERN director-general. "The Higgs boson is a special particle, very different from the other elementary particles observed so far; its properties may give us useful indications about physics beyond the Standard Model." During its shutdown, the researchers will mine the existing data to get a deeper look into physics that was revealed by the LHC in its two years of operation. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. Why did Ned Kelly choose to be a villain?Kelly was twelve when his father died, and he was subsequently runescape gold required to leave school to take on the new position as head of the family. Shortly after this, the Kellys moved to Glenrowan. As a teenager, Ned became involved in petty crimes, regularly targetting the wealthy landowners. A professional Game website is Recommended to you, Rsorder is a Trusted Runescape gold Site 2018 to Buy All RS products with 24/7 online. It owns 10 years of experience in the gaming market and Millons of players from Europe, Asia, South America and so on.Now The new version of Mobile is live, you can buy All RS products with mobile conveniently and quickly! 5% more gold code:RSYK5 for all rs products & 10% Off code:OSRSA10 for all osrs accounts anytime! His family was not particularly liked by the law, and so when he was persecuted by a few of the policemen, he reacted and decided to become an outlaw. He figured that if he was going to be charged for something, he would give them a real reason. Kelly became a protege to another bushranger, Harry Power who was a notorious bushranger of Victoria, originally transported to Van Diemen's Land in 1841 for stealing shoes. Upon his release, he continued his life of crime, which landed him in Pentridge Gaol. He became a bushranger when he escaped from Pentridge in 1869. At first he worked solo, but decided after while that he would like an accomplice. A friend of his named Jack Lloyd had a nephew, Ned Kelly, just 15 years old and already embittered by frequent run ins with the police. Lloyd recommended the young Ned Kelly to Harry Power. Power became a mentor to Ned Kelly, taking him on as an apprenctice in 1870, and teaching him the finer points of bushranging. Ned Kelly gradually progressed to crimes of increasing seriousness and violence, including bank robbery and murder, soon becoming a hunted man. (MORE) Why was Ned Kelly famous and what did he do?Ned Kelly was one of Australia's most notorious bushrangers. Contrary to popular belief, he was not a hero, but a murderer. There is a misconception that he was a noble man who gave some of his "pickings" to the poor, but there is no evidence to support this. Kelly was arguably best known for his famous armour . Ned Kelly survived to stand trial, and was sentenced to death by hanging on 29 October 1880. He was hanged in Melbourne on 11 November 1880. (MORE) Guys!Welcome to Join 2018 Biggest Promotion on RSorder for RS 2007 Gold&RS Gold& More with 6% off Code CRA6 &2X loyalty points for RSorder members Dec.12-Dec.18, 2018! Snap Immediately http://www.rsorder.com/rs-gold The Second Flash Sale for Free 150M Runescape 2007 gold&1000M Runescape gold will Begin at 3:00 a.m. GMT on Dec.17, 2018 ! More families are coming forward with complaints of misconduct at T.M. Landry College Prep school after allegations of abuse and fraud at the unaccredited school surfaced last week. The Breaux Bridge Police Department has received 10 new complaints since Monday, Police Chief Rollie Cantu said Thursday. He would not describe the nature of the allegations and declined to provide any of the written complaints because they are being investigated. A lawyer representing families of former T.M. Landry students, Ashlee McFarlane, said several of her clients had filed new reports this week. "They all concern instances of physical contact by Mike or Tracey Landry on their children while they were attending the school," McFarlane said, referring to the married couple that operates the school. Previously closed cases are also now being re-investigated, Cantu said. He said he did not know the number of open investigations that have resulted since The New York Times on Nov. 30 detailed allegations of abuse. +10 Reports of abusing students, falsifying records surface at well-known Louisiana school The New York Times published a report Friday accusing officials at the T.M Landry Prep School in Breaux Bridge of falsifying records in an att Most of the abuse accusations are against the Landrys, who have also been accused of falsifying transcripts and pressuring students to lie on college applications. Among cases being reopened for investigation is that of Nyjal Mitchell, who initially reported to Breaux Bridge Police in February 2017 that Michael Landry had choked him and attacked three other students, according to his written statement. Nyjals mother, Mary Mitchell, said her son was 14 at the time. Cantu said detectives referred the 2017 case to the St. Martin Parish Sheriffs Office after determining the incidents happened in the schools previous location on Bordelon Road, outside city limits. The Sheriffs Office declined to comment on the status of the investigation. A public records request filed by The Advocate for the case file is pending. Cantu said city police reopened the investigation this week because a new witness is claiming the abuse against Mitchells son occurred at the schools current location on Rees Street. Mary Mitchell said there has never been any confusion that the abuse happened at the Rees Street location, after the school moved there in December 2016. Top stories in Acadiana in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up He (dragged) my son and put his foot on his throat right here in Breaux Bridge at Rees Street. We were very specific about that, Mitchell said, referring to her sons allegation against Michael Landry. Mitchell told police about the allegation on Feb. 13, 2017, according to a complaint report, which notes that the alleged incident occurred about one month prior. Mitchell said her son did not immediately tell her about the abuse because the family was preoccupied with caring for her daughter, who had been diagnosed with a rare nervous system disorder that necessitated traveling to New Orleans for treatment. A teacher noticed something was wrong with Nyjal, and encouraged Mitchell to ask her son about it, Mitchell said. Nyjal opened up about what happened to him and other students when prodded, she said. He was like Mike is kind of rough, but its not like he did anything to me he wasnt doing to anybody else, Mitchell recalled. At that point I saw him freeze. Mitchell said she called the police department, as well as the Sheriffs Office, for several months for updates on the investigation, but was never given any information. The lack of progress was baffling to her children, she said. They were asking me, So nothing is going to happen to Mike? Hes not going to be arrested? He can just do this stuff to these kids? Mitchell said. T.M. Landry on Thursday remained open and bustling. A receptionist at the front desk said neither Michael Landry nor Tracey Landry was available to speak. The school has not issued any statements in response to The Times story. A T.M. Landry board member, Greg Davis, did not return a call Thursday. LSU and its medical marijuana partner GB Sciences have entered into an agreement for research and development under the universitys marijuana growing program. Louisiana medical marijuana delayed after state forced to do product testing, company says The first batch of legal medical marijuana in Louisiana won't be on the shelves until January at the earliest, two months later than hoped, wi The agreement, which was expected as part of LSUs selection of GB Sciences through a competitive bid process, gives each party rights to background intellectual property during research and development projects, the company said Friday. John Davis, president of GB Sciences Louisiana, said research at the marijuana growing facility could beget inventions like new strains of cannabis beneficial to certain medical conditions; new extraction processes; or genetic or DNA banks. More likely than not, LSU will be the inventor so their scientists will be listed as the inventor, then we will commercialize the invention, Davis said, adding the intellectual property rights will be split on a case-by-case basis. LSU has cited the potential for research in the marijuana space as a key reason it decided to opt-in as one of Louisianas two growers of medical marijuana. The other is Southern University, which is partnered with a private company to run its program, though that program is lagging behind LSUs. The LSU AgCenter said a copy of the agreement will have to go through the university's public records process, citing potentially confidential information. GB Sciences also said it is in early talks with Pennington Biomedical Research Center, LSU Health Sciences Centers in New Orleans and Shreveport, and several prominent medical complexes about opportunities for research collaboration, clinical trials and general patient care. Top stories in Baton Rouge in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Weve gotten together in groups and were starting to discuss what would this look like, what direction do we want to go in, Davis said, adding the talks have been preliminary. Really the excitement came from the health care space to us. John Kirwan, executive director of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center, said the center does work to find treatments for people suffering from chronic disease, and some research has shown that therapeutic cannabis may help those patients. While were interested in pursuing clinical trials in this area and excited about potential partnership opportunities with the LSU AgCenter, GB Sciences and our hospitals, its still so early in the process that we dont have any details to share, Kirwan said in a statement. Davis said there are few companies focusing on the medical research component of the marijuana industry, making GB Sciences program unique. The company said its public-private partnership with LSU is a first for the industry. Louisiana's top banking regulator seeks 'safe harbor' for banking marijuana industry Louisianas top banking regulator and 12 others are asking Congress to clear the way for banks to do business with the marijuana industry, whi GB Sciences is expected to have product available early next year, though the program has faced several delays stemming from regulatory issues. Can Louisiana's fledgling medical marijuana industry keep up with expanded demand? A recent expansion of treatable conditions in Louisiana's fledgling medical marijuana program could grow the industry by millions of dollars a When Arthur Parker left prison this summer after serving more than 20 years for a burglary conviction, what he wanted most was a job to support himself. But getting one proved more difficult than he expected. He spent weeks applying for work with no success, he said, until Catholic Charities helped connect him with Gerard's Furniture on Florida Boulevard. But now, with that business' impending closure, Parker knows he will soon be again searching for a job. "Employment is very important for somebody getting out of prison, because without it you'll be shortly going back to prison or getting into trouble or homeless," Parker said Friday morning, speaking to about 50 business, corrections and service leaders in downtown Baton Rouge. Parker was a speaker at a forum engaging employers about hiring those previously incarcerated and how landing the job at Gerard's Furniture "helped me get on my feet." The 61-year-old was one of three "success stories" of employed former prisoners presented to the business and nonprofit stakeholders at the forum, organized by the Capital Area Reentry Coalition, Baton Rouge Area Chamber and Louisiana Association of Business and Industry. But research shows it takes about three years for a former prisoner's successful integration back into society, which means what comes next for Parker could be the difference between reoffending or staying out of prison. But Parker felt more confident after meeting Eric Lane, the owner of Gerry Lane Enterprises. The businessman pulled Parker aside at the forum and encouraged him to apply at his company. "That was a good thing," Parker said, smiling. "I'm going to go see him." Those are the types of connections that state Department of Corrections Secretary Jimmy LeBlanc hopes to continue to nurture in the business community, especially as the state begins to address its historically sky-high incarceration rate and to invest more in re-entry programs and support. Last spring, the legislature passed a sweeping prison reform package that addressed sentencing and parole eligibility guidelines. The objective of the reforms are to reduce the state's prison population and free up funds for more services to support prisoners. Top stories in Baton Rouge in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up "When you leave prison with that ex-offender (label) on your back, it's tough," LeBlanc said. "We need help and we need help from our employers." +5 One year later: These questions, concerns about big 'reinvestment' from state's criminal justice reforms A year since the state passed massive criminal justice reforms, much of the focus has been on Louisiana newly shedding its notorious title as About half of the more than 60,000 people under supervision by probation and parole are unemployed, LeBlanc said. But he said changing that will come through partnerships, both by his department and in the public and private sector. He said his department has started programs in the past few years to provide useful training to offenders while they're incarcerated, so they can a valued part of the workforce upon their release. He also said they are working to better prepare prisoners to return to society, including providing driver's licenses and technology courses. Lane, along with two other local business executives, one with the Belle of Baton Rouge Casino and Hotel and the other with a contracting company, shared their successes in hiring ex-offenders, as well as the challenges they've faced. All three said transportation is an ongoing issue as well as having employees trained to work. LeBlanc said they are working to better address both those issues. Department of Corrections assistant secretary Rhett Covington also shared the new ways prison officials are bringing online certifications and educational programming to prisoners, and said if employers have other ideas or needs, they can find ways to see them. Let us know how we can help, Covington said. Put us to work. The forum also included information on tax and insurance breaks and benefits businesses can access when they hire certain formerly incarcerated job candidates. And nonprofit leaders explained how they are already working with ex-offenders to prepare and support them as they return to the job market. Work with social service agencies, said Cherie LaCour-Duckworth, the vice president of workforce development for Louisiana's Urban League's, explaining they can help decrease turnover and improve candidates. Youll find youll save money and youll improve the community. Two priests who spent time in the Baton Rouge-area were named in a ground-breaking list released by leaders of the Jesuit religious order on Friday of clergy who have been credibly accused of sexual abuse. +13 Jesuit order releases list of priests, others credibly accused of abuse; 19 with ties to New Orleans Leaders of the Jesuit religious order released a list of 42 priests and other members Friday morning who have been credibly accused of sexual Jody Blanchard, SJ Birth: 1953 Ordination: 1983 Status of Individual: Left Society of Jesus 1994 Estimated Timeframe of Abuse: 1980s Removed from Ministry: Left Society of Jesus 1994 Pastoral Assignments: St. Charles Borromeo Church, Grand Coteau, La. Tulane Catholic Center, New Orleans **Immaculate Conception Parish, Baton Rouge, La.** Strake Jesuit College Preparatory, Houston Note: Immaculate Conception in Scotlandville is Baton Rouge's only Catholic Church staffed by a Jesuit priest, with the Rev. Thomas Clark as its current pastor. The parish dates back to 1953, according to its listing on the Jesuit order's official website. Immaculate Conception is also known for its connection to nearby Southern University. Clark celebrates Mass for Southern students and the parish helps to put on events at Southern's MLK Catholic Student Center. The church will undergo renovations in 2019. Thomas J. Naughton, SJ Top stories in Baton Rouge in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up NOTE: This is Fr. Thomas Naughton of the former New Orleans Province, not Bro. Thomas Naughton of the former Missouri Province Birth: 1933 Ordination: 1965 Status of Individual: Left Society of Jesus 2009; Deceased 2012 Estimated Timeframe of Abuse: 1970s Removed from Ministry: 2002 Pastoral Assignments: Jesuit High School, New Orleans Jesuit High School, El Paso, Texas Jesuit High School, Tampa, Fla. Jesuit College Preparatory School, Dallas St. John's Co-Cathedral, Shreveport, La. **Manresa House of Retreats, Convent, La.** Strake Jesuit College Preparatory, Houston Jesuit Seminary and Mission Bureau, New Orleans Montserrat Retreat House, Lake Dallas, Texas St. Killian Parish, Mission Viejo, Calif. Note: Manresa House of Retreats is located in St. James Parish. The East Baton Rouge Parish School Board voted unanimously Thursday to put off for a month guidelines for handling requests for industrial tax exemptions after several board members and critics of the tax breaks said recent wording changes undermine many of the good things in the short document. Board member Mike Gaudet defended the changes, but said hes willing to keep working on them for another month. Gaudet said hes trying to strike the right balance between encouraging economic development and improving school tax revenue. I dont want you to think that anyone on this board is trying to give away money to industry, said Gaudet. +9 East Baton Rouge school employees postpone walkout after opposed tax breaks left off state board agenda East Baton Rouge Parish school employees have postponed their Oct. 31 protest walkout after learning the industrial tax break requests they op Tia Mills, president of the East Baton Rouge Association of Educators, didnt see it that way, urging that the board to cease giving such exemptions at all when it comes to public schools. "This is the poorest, richest state in the union. We need to do something to change that, she said. Stop giving the money away. Can't see video below? Click here. The School Board plans to take up the proposed guidelines again when it meets on Jan. 4. The push for a delay began Wednesday when a faith-based group critical of these tax breaks, Together Baton Rouge, attacked what they described as "several, subtle changes" to guidelines the Metro Council approved Nov. 14, saying the proposed changes serve to "gut the measure entirely and transform it into a rubber stamp." After Thursdays delay, Together Baton Rouge volunteer leader Dianne Hanley said shes encouraged. I think were becoming more confident that they are really taking this all seriously and they are not just rubber stamping, so thats good, Hanley said. East Baton Rouge Metro Council agrees to hard-fought compromise on industrial tax exemption guidelines The debate over what guidelines the East Baton Rouge Parish Metro Council will use on future industrial tax break requests was settled Wednesday. The parish school systems proposed guidelines preserve the most contested part of the Metro Councils guidelines, namely that projects need to create at least 15 permanent, full-time jobs. But, unlike the Metro Council's version, the School Board would exempt from the job requirement any "environmental project" providing benefits for things like cleaner air, land and water above what's required by law. Together Baton Rouge has labeled that a massive loophole." Brod Bagert, an organizer with Together Baton Rouge, said that simply buying new equipment could earn a company a tax exemption. Every time you buy a car, your emissions are a little better, he said. Top stories in Baton Rouge in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Gaudet, who is a chemical engineer by training, said the contested provision is not a loophole but is modeled on something that occurs in Texas. He said it would encourage more environmental initiatives that are above and beyond the norm. He said hes long cared about the environment, going back to the years he worked at Albemarle. He urged the board not to give up on offering such incentives. To do otherwise would be voting against clean air or clean water, which I dont think we want to do, Gaudet said. The guidelines are the culmination of years of debate over how best to remake Louisianas decades old ITEP program, which gives property tax breaks to manufacturers that plan to spend money on expansions or improvements. Can't see video below? Click here. Under new state rules that took effect on Aug. 20, approved projects receive an 80 percent property tax abatement down from 100 percent previously over 10 years, instead of eight. But, in a big change from the past, local taxing authorities now have an opportunity to say yea or nay to the portion of the tax breaks that applies to them. In East Baton Rouge Parish, that includes the School Board as well as the Metro Council and Sheriff's Office. The changes have sparked intense public and behind-the-scenes debate, pitting business groups favoring fewer restrictions on the exemptions against community activists and school employee organizations that want more limits on when exemptions are granted. Group blasts 'massive loophole' in EBR school board's proposed industrial tax break After more than a year of deliberation, the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board is preparing to adopt guidelines for handling requests for in Together Baton Rouge was critical of new language that says the new guidelines would apply only to ITEP exemption requests begun after Aug. 20. The organization wants the new guidelines to apply to a handful of already completed projects that are in the pipeline but have yet to receive ITEP exemptions, including a handful from ExxonMobil. The organization wants to use the added tax revenue from denying these ITEP requests to increase the salaries of school employees as well as for other educational purposes. And in another departure from the Metro Councils guidelines, the School Board plans to ask the Baton Rouge Area Chamber to work with its finance department to devise the forms ITEP applicants will have to submit to establish clear baselines and projections for the outcomes. The Metro Council plans to rely solely on the city-parish's finance department to handle these duties. Gaudet said he doesnt want to make that the sole responsibility of the school systems Finance Department because it would cost money to do it internally, those folks have other duties and tax exemptions are not their area of expertise. Board member Kenyetta Nelson-Smith objected strongly to that idea. Nelson-Smith was defeated in her re-election bid on Nov. 6 and the Baton Rouge Area Chamber was one of the organizations opposing her. Thats extremely problematic for me, Nelson-Smith said. I prefer to have a neutral partner. Gaudet said hed be okay with finding a different third party to handle those duties. Our community has been dealing too quietly for too long with a growing crisis. For years we have made cuts in mental health stabilization, and as a result, we have taken what should be a health issue and put it on the backs of law enforcement. This is a poor use of our communitys limited resources, and it does a disservice to those affected by illness when we treat them like criminals. As a former chief of the Baton Rouge Police Department, Ive seen first-hand the pivotal role that a mental health crisis stabilization center can play in our community. Previously, when our police officers encountered individuals experiencing a crisis, either after being called by a concerned family member or loved one, or even by a community member, officers could transport these individuals to a place called the MHERE, or the Mental Health Emergency Room Extension, at the Earl K. Long Hospital. The MHERE provided a place where individuals in crisis could receive stabilization services. However, with the closure of Earl K. Long in 2013, the MHERE also closed, and along with it, the alternative to parish prison. Letters: Keep Baton Rouge safe, prosperous with vote for MovEBR, mental health center on Dec. 8 East Baton Rouge Sheriff Sid Gautreaux estimates that 70 percent of people in the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison have a diagnosed mental healt Now, police officers and other first responders do not have the option of transporting those in crisis to a local facility equipped with the tools necessary to stabilize and treat mental illness or related substance abuse. Instead, they are forced to choose between the emergency room or the parish prison. As a result, our officers are taken off the streets for large chunks of time, and those in our community who are sick remain in the crisis cycle. At a time when our parish is experiencing spikes in violent crime, as well as a 300 percent increase in the number of deaths by overdose since 2012, we are at a tipping point in how we respond to these issues. On Saturday, Dec. 8, East Baton Rouge voters have the opportunity to correct course. As a long-time civil servant, I ask my fellow community members to turn out and VOTE YES for the proposed mental health crisis stabilization center. Visit geauxvote.com to find your polling location; polls are open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Trust me, we are paying for it either way. Lets put our money in a place where we will get the results we need for our law enforcement officers, our community, and those in our own families who may someday need this resource to save their life. Jeff LeDuff former chief, Baton Rouge Police Department Baton Rouge Pedestrians walk past streetcars on Canal street in New Orleans, Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2018. The Downtown Development District and Astor Crowne Plaza turned on more than 1 million lights on Canal street. Former President George Herbert Walker Bush, who died Saturday at 94, was the last World War II veteran to serve in the highest office in the land. Bushs passing points to the Greatest Generations continuing exit from national life. Were losing more World War II veterans by the day, and with them, direct historical memory of a global conflict that continues to shape the world today. Thats why historical treasures like the National World War II Museum in New Orleans and the USS Kidd in Baton Rouge are so important. Like many of his contemporaries, Bush volunteered for military service after the Japanese attack on U.S. naval operations in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on Dec. 7, 1941 77 years ago today. The attack claimed more than 2,400 Americans, including 45 of Louisianas native sons. Among the dead was Rear Admiral Isaac C. Kidd Sr., after whom the USS Kidd, a World War II-era naval vessel now docked in downtown Baton Rouge as a museum, is named. As a Navy pilot, Bush was shot down in the Pacific and narrowly escaped capture and the prospect of torture and death at the hands of the Japanese. When a Navy submarine came to the rescue, the shaken 20-year-old uttered only four words: Happy to be aboard. Walt Handelsman: The time George H.W. Bush requested my cartoon Hello, Im calling from the White House Office of The President. May I speak to Walt Handelsman? Bushs service in a cause that was won with the help of allies was a deep reminder of the need for collaboration among friends in the pursuit of liberty. As president, he helped preserve and grow a stable and free Europe as the Soviet Union collapsed. Long after he was plucked from oblivion in a hostile sea, Bush lived to see other threats to the cause of freedom. On Dec. 7, 2001, while that years attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were still fresh in public memory, Bush spoke at the dedication of the Pacific Wing of whats now known as the National WWII Museum in New Orleans. He noted that while members of his generation often said, Remember Pearl Harbor, Americans embroiled in the war on terror had their own slogan: Remember September 11. Each generation of Americans faces new challenges to national security. Remembering past threats and the resolve with which they were answered can renew our sense of purpose. All the more reason to honor George Herbert Walker Bush today, and remember Pearl Harbor. The Jesuit order released a list Friday morning of 42 priests and other members who have been credibly accused of sexual abuse. Of those names, 19 had ties to the New Orleans area, and six had claims tied to their time at Jesuit High School. It's unclear whether most of the abuse claims of the other 12 occurred while they were stationed in New Orleans. Scroll below for names, bios and pastoral assignments for the 18 with New Orleans ties. +13 Jesuit order releases list of priests, others credibly accused of abuse; 17 with ties to N.O. Leaders of the Jesuit religious order released a list of 42 priests and other members Friday morning who have been credibly accused of sexual Jesuits who were part of the New Orleans Province facing 1 claim of sexual abuse of a minor or a vulnerable adult. (4) Jody Blanchard, SJ Birth: 1953 Ordination: 1983 Status of Individual: Left Society of Jesus 1994 Estimated Timeframe of Abuse: 1980s Removed from Ministry: Left Society of Jesus 1994 Pastoral Assignments: St. Charles Borromeo Church, Grand Coteau, La. Tulane Catholic Center, New Orleans Immaculate Conception Parish, Baton Rouge, La. Strake Jesuit College Preparatory, Houston Details: He faced one credible claim of abuse, the Jesuits said. Thomas J. Hidding, SJ Birth: 1950 Ordination: 1986 Status of Individual: Left Society of Jesus 2003; deceased 2005 Estimated Timeframe of Abuse: 1980s Removed from Ministry: 2002 Pastoral Assignments: Jesuit High School, Tampa, Fla. Jesuit College Preparatory School, Dallas Holy Name of Jesus Parish, New Orleans Loyola University, New Orleans Sacred Heart Church, Tampa, Fla. Immaculate Conception Parish, New Orleans Gesu Parish, Miami Details: He faced one credible claim of abuse, the Jesuits said. The New Orleans province in 2002 deemed credible an allegation of sexual abuse against Hidding from an incident at Jesuit High School in Tampa in the early 1980s, news account say. He served in the campus ministry of Loyola University in New Orleans from 1987-1992, then returned to New Orleans in 1997 to serve as associate pastor at Immaculate Conception Church until 1999. Thomas J. Naughton, SJ NOTE: This is Father Thomas Naughton of the former New Orleans Province, not Bro. Thomas Naughton of the former Missouri Province. Birth: 1933 Ordination: 1965 Status of Individual: Left Society of Jesus 2009; deceased 2012 Estimated Timeframe of Abuse: 1970s Removed from Ministry: 2002 Pastoral Assignments: Jesuit High School, New Orleans Jesuit High School, El Paso, Texas Jesuit High School, Tampa, Fla. Jesuit College Preparatory School, Dallas St. John's Co-Cathedral, Shreveport, La. Manresa House of Retreats, Convent, La. Strake Jesuit College Preparatory, Houston Jesuit Seminary and Mission Bureau, New Orleans Montserrat Retreat House, Lake Dallas, Texas St. Kilian Parish, Mission Viejo, Calif. Details: In 2002, Naughton was stripped of his duties at St. Kilian Church in Mission Viejo, Calif., following accusations that he molested a boy in 1978, when he was president of Jesuit College Preparatory School in Dallas and the minor was a student, according to The Times-Picayune. It was the one credible claim of abuse received against him, the order said. He had previously run the Manresa Retreat House in Convent for several years and before that taught at Jesuit High School in New Orleans, The Times-Picayune said. Naughton had been president of Jesuit High in Tampa from 1969-1972. The Jesuit order cautioned people not to confuse him with a religious brother of the same name. Elmo J. Rogero, SJ Birth: 1908 Ordination: 1944 Status of Individual: Deceased 1959 Estimated Timeframe of Abuse: 1950s Removed from Ministry: N/A deceased when allegation received Pastoral Assignments: Jesuit High School, New Orleans Loyola University, New Orleans Spring Hill College, Mobile, Ala. Immaculate Conception Church, New Orleans Jesuit High School, New Orleans Details: He faced one credible claim of abuse. Rogero served in parishes in New Orleans and Georgia before he became a student counselor at Jesuit High School in New Orleans. Jesuits who were part of the New Orleans Province facing more than one claim of sexual abuse of a minor or a vulnerable adult. (8) Claude P. Boudreaux, SJ Birth: 1924 Ordination: 1955 Status of Individual: Deceased 2016 Estimated Timeframe of Abuse: 1960s Removed from Ministry: 2004 Pastoral Assignments: Jesuit High School, Tampa, Fla. St. Michael's College, Batticaloa, Sri Lanka St. Mary's Church, Batticaloa, Sri Lanka Spring Hill College, Mobile, Ala. Jesuit High School, Shreveport, La. Sacred Heart Parish, El Paso, Texas Jesuit College Preparatory School, Dallas Curia of the Society of Jesus, Rome, Italy Jesuit House of Studies, New Orleans Jesuit High School, New Orleans Details: Boudreaux faced more than one claim of sexual abuse, the Jesuit order said. He was removed from ministry in 2005 after the order received what it deemed to be a credible report of sexual abuse of a minor more than three decades earlier, according to The Times-Picayune. The Jesuits released few other details, citing the victims right to privacy. Boudreaux, a native of Houma, was sent for medical treatment. Afterward, he lived at the Ignatius Residence in New Orleans, according to his obituary. When that home closed in 2013, he relocated to the St. Camillus Jesuit Community in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. Can't see video below? Click here. Charles G. Coyle, SJ Birth: 1932 Ordination: 1965 Status of Individual: Left Society of Jesus 2004; deceased 2015 Estimated Timeframe of Abuse: 1960s-70s Removed from Ministry: 2002 Pastoral Assignments: Jesuit High School, New Orleans Jesuit College Preparatory School, Dallas Jesuit High School, New Orleans Jesuit High School, Shreveport, La. Spring Hill College, Mobile, Ala. Woodstock College, Woodstock, Md. Newton High, Newton, Mass. Strake Jesuit College Preparatory, Houston Spring Hill College, Mobile, Ala. Holy Cross High, New Orleans Tulane University, New Orleans Ignatius House Retreat Center, Atlanta, Ga. Montserrat Retreat House, Lake Dallas, Texas Pastoral Ministry, New Orleans Details: Coyle faced multiple abuse claims, the Jesuit order said. He was removed from ministry after being accused in a 2002 lawsuit of abusing two boys in the 1970s at Newton South High School outside Boston. A later lawsuit accused Coyle of sexually abusing a boy while Coyle was a seminarian in Baltimore, according to The Times-Picayune. He was living in New Orleans at the time the allegations were made but wasnt attached to a parish. Edward D. DeRussy, SJ Birth: 1926 Ordination: 1957 Status of Individual: Deceased 2001 Estimated Timeframe of Abuse: 1970s Removed from Ministry: Restricted from ministry with minors 1991 Pastoral Assignments: Jesuit High School, New Orleans Jesuit High School, Tampa, Fla. Jesuit High School, El Paso, Texas Spring Hill College, Mobile, Ala. Strake Jesuit College Preparatory, Houston Sacred Heart Church, Tampa, Fla. St. Joseph Church, Zephyrhills, Fla. St. Benedict Church, Crystal River, Fla. Ignatius Residence, New Orleans St. John's Hospital, Nassau Bay, Texas Details: DeRussy faced multiple claims, the Jesuit order said. According to Jesuit High School in New Orleans, he was teaching English and Latin there at the time the alleged abuse took place. Donald Dickerson, SJ Birth: 1936 Ordination: 1980 Status of Individual: Left Society of Jesus 1986; deceased 2018 Estimated Timeframe of Abuse: 1970s-80s Removed from Ministry: 1986 Pastoral Assignments: Jesuit High School, New Orleans Jesuit College Preparatory, Dallas St. John Berchmans Parish, Shreveport, La. Loyola University, New Orleans Details: A lawsuit was settled in 2009 that accused Dickerson of abusing Jesuit High School students in the 1970s while he was a seminarian. Dickerson was at Jesuit High from 1973 to 1975. A separate suit filed in 2010 accused Dickerson of rape in 1982 at St. John Berchmans in Shreveport. He had previously worked at Jesuit Prep in Dallas. Francis M. Landwermeyer, SJ Birth: 1934 Ordination: 1966 Status of Individual: Left Society of Jesus and priesthood, 2011; deceased 2018 Estimated Timeframe of Abuse: 1960s-70s Removed from Ministry: 2010 Pastoral Assignments: Jesuit College Preparatory School, Dallas Jesuit High School, Shreveport, La. Jesuit High School, New Orleans Jesuit High School, Tampa, Fla. Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisc. Loyola University, New Orleans Mercy Cross High School, Biloxi, Miss. St. Thomas the Apostle, Charleston Heights, S.C. Nouvel Central Catholic High, Saginaw, Michigan Cardinal Newman High School, Columbia, S.C. Central Catholic High, San Antonio Antonian High School, San Antonio St. Cecilia, San Antonio Details: A Dallas native, he faced multiple claims of abuse, the Jesuit order said. Jesuit High School in New Orleans said at least one of the alleged instances of abuse took place while he taught there while studying to become a priest in 1961-62. Landwermeyer was on the faculty of St. Johns High School in Shreveport when it opened in 1959. He apparently was working at Marquette University in 1976, then was principal at Jesuit High in Tampa. He left there in 1980 for Loyola University in New Orleans. He later became a priest at a church in South Carolina. Landwermeyer died in September at age 84. 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 Austin N. Park, SJ Birth: 1918 Ordination: 1955 Status of Individual: deceased 2013 Estimated Timeframe of Abuse: 1960s Removed from Ministry: N/A - already out of ministry due to dementia when allegations were received Pastoral Assignments: Jesuit High School, Shreveport, La. Jesuit High School, New Orleans Spring Hill College, Mobile, Ala. Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish and Shrine, San Antonio Colegio San Ignacio, Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico Jesuit High School, El Paso, Texas Gesu Parish, Miami, Fla. Christ the King Church, Grand Coteau, La. Sacred Heart Church, Tampa, Fla. Immaculate Conception Parish, New Orleans St. Joseph Church, Houston St. Mary's Church, Greenville, S.C. Our Lady of the Rosary, Greenville, S.C. Sacred Heart Parish, El Paso, Texas Oakdale Facility, Oakdale, La. St. Philip Neri, Kinder, La. St. Charles College, Grand Coteau, La. Details: He was the subject of multiple claims of abuse, the Jesuit order said. Jesuits' reason for keeping abuse claims against Donald Pearce quiet? His victim requested it The decision not to disclose alleged sexual abuse committed by a former Jesuit High School president resulted from a victim's request that the J. Donald Pearce, SJ Birth: 1925 Ordination: 1959 Status of Individual: deceased 2016 Estimated Timeframe of Abuse: 1960s Removed from Ministry: Retired from ministry in 2003 due to poor health Pastoral Assignments: Jesuit High School, Shreveport, La. Jesuit High School, New Orleans Spring Hill College, Mobile, Ala. Loyola University, New Orleans Corpus Christi Minor Seminary, Corpus Christi, Texas Gesu Parish, Miami Holy Name of Jesus Parish, New Orleans Details: Pearce faced multiple claims of abuse, the Jesuit order said. According to the order, the abuse took place during a decade that he largely spent at Jesuit High School in New Orleans in various capacities, including Spanish teacher, disciplinarian and president. He retired to a Jesuit residence in 2004. Norman J. Rogge, SJ Birth: 1925 Ordination: 1956 Status of Individual: Deceased 2009 Estimated Timeframe of Abuse: 1960s-70s Removed from Ministry: 2002 Pastoral Assignments: Jesuit High School, Tampa, Fla. Jesuit College Preparatory School, Dallas Sacred Heart Church, Tampa, Fla. St. Charles Parish, Grand Coteau, La. St. Ignatius Church, Mobile, Ala. St. Patrick Church, Montgomery, La. Immaculate Conception Parish, New Orleans St. Charles College, Grand Coteau, La. Details: Rogge was arrested in Florida in 1985, accused of sexual misconduct with an 11-year-old Tampa boy at a vacation spot the previous year while he served as pastor of a Catholic church in Montgomery, La. He pleaded no contest and wound up at a Catholic treatment facility in New Mexico, according to a 2002 news story that said Rogge had also been accused of groping a young teen and fondling others during nude swimming lessons. Rogge had earlier pleaded guilty to contributing to the delinquency of a minor, in 1967. He remained a priest, going on to serve at Christ the King Church in Opelousas and St. Charles Borromeo in Grand Coteau, before the Diocese of Lafayette ousted him in 2002. Jesuits facing a single allegation who worked in New Orleans at time when removed from ministry (1) Bernard P. Knoth, SJ Birth: 1948 Ordination: 1977 Status of Individual: Left Society of Jesus and priesthood 2009 Estimated Timeframe of Abuse: 1980s Removed from Ministry: 2003, by the Chicago Province Pastoral Assignments in this province: Loyola University, New Orleans (President) Details: Knoth was removed from ministry and resigned as president of Loyola in 2003 after being accused of sexually abusing a student at Brebeuf Jesuit Prep in Indianapolis in 1986. He has long denied wrongdoing and later entered private business in Florida. Its the lone allegation against him, the Jesuit order said. The order and archdioceses in Indianapolis and New Orleans all have included him on their lists of credibly accused clergy. Jesuits with ties to New Orleans who are facing more than one allegation. (3) Cornelius J. Carr, SJ (Former New York Province, now U.S Northeast Province) Birth: 1920 Ordination: 1951 Status of Individual: Deceased 2013 Estimated Timeframe of Abuse: 1970s, 1990s Removed from Ministry: 2005 (by the New York Province due to allegations they received) Pastoral Assignment under this province: Jesuit High School, New Orleans Carr also worked at the following locations (Although they are in the area covered by the New Orleans Province, he was under the jurisdiction of the province of which he was a member, now known as the USA Northeast Province, Society of Jesus): St. Augustine Cathedral Basilica, St. Augustine, Fla. Christ the King Church, Jacksonville, Fla. Details: Carr faced multiple claims of abuse, the Jesuit order said. At Jesuit High in New Orleans, where he worked from 1976 to 1980, he was accused of walking in while janitor Peter Modica was raping an adolescent boy, then joining in the abuse by masturbating. Order officials later paid a $450,000 settlement after the alleged victim, Richard Windmann, confronted them in 2012. Jesuits president at the time was audio recorded describing Windmanns claim as credible. Carr spent his last days at a Jesuit residence hall at Fordham University in Bronx, N.Y. Fordham officials later apologized, saying they werent aware of Carrs past when he lived there, close to both the university and a nearby high school. Neil Carr, Jesuit High teacher accused of abuse, makes Aymond's list The list of credibly accused clergy released on Friday by New Orleans Archbishop Gregory Aymond includes one Jesuit priest whose alleged crime Alfonso Madrid, SJ (Province of Mexico) Birth: 1915 Ordination: 1950 Status of Individual: Deceased 1982 Estimated Timeframe of Abuse: 1960s, 1970s Removed from Ministry: N/A deceased when allegations received Pastoral Assignments in this province: Jesuit High School, New Orleans San Felipe Church, Albuquerque, N.M. Our Lady of Guadalupe, San Antonio Sacred Heart Parish, El Paso, Texas Note: The Province of Mexico staffed St. Ignatius Parish in El Paso, Texas; Madrid worked there under the Province of Mexico. Details: According to the Jesuit order, he faced multiple claims of abuse. Claude L. Ory, SJ (Brother) (Former New Orleans Province, now Maryland Province) Birth: 1938 Ordination: N/A (Jesuit brother) Status of Individual: Member of Maryland Province; removed from ministry and lives under supervision Estimated Timeframe of Abuse: 1970s Removed from Ministry: 2007 Pastoral Assignments: Spring Hill College / Jesuit House of Studies, Mobile, Ala. Jesuit High School, El Paso, Texas St. John's Parish, Shreveport, La. Loyola University, New Orleans Jesuit College Preparatory School, Dallas Ignatius House Retreat Center, Atlanta Jesuit High School, New Orleans Ignatius House Retreat Center, Atlanta Loyola College, Baltimore Details: Ory was accused in 2007 of repeatedly sexually molesting an underage boy while working at Jesuit in New Orleans between 1974 and 1977, a case that was ultimately settled. He also faced repeated sexual abuse allegations at Jesuit in Dallas, where he moved after his time in New Orleans, and was fired. After time in Mobile, Ory ended up at Loyola College in Baltimore and was removed when the Dallas-related allegations surfaced in 2007. He appears to be living at a Jesuit residence in Baltimore. Jesuits with ties to New Orleans named as suspected abusers by other provinces, regions, archdioceses or dioceses (3) Charles Bartles, SJ Birth: 1936 Ordination: 1965 Status of Individual: Deceased 1993 Estimated Timeframe of Abuse: 1970s or 1980s Removed from Ministry: N/A deceased when listed Pastoral Assignments: Jesuit High School, Shreveport, La. Jesuit High School, Tampa, Fla. Campion College, Kingston, Jamaica Marist High School, Atlanta Alaska Mission (Oregon Province) Immaculate Conception Church, Bethel, Alaska St. Ann Church, West Palm Beach, Fla. Instituto Souza, Campinas, Brazil Details: One person accused Bartles, a Shreveport native, of sexual abuse in a claim brought against the Diocese of Fairbanks in Alaska, according to diocese bankruptcy filings. The details of the accusation have not been made public. According to his 1993 obituary, Bartles was the associate pastor of St. Ann Church in New Orleans and the organizer of local alcohol treatment programs, in addition to missionary work he did in Alaskas bush country. (A Times-Picayune obituary describes him as a New Orleans resident who organized programs to treat alcohol addiction in the city while being an associate pastor at St. Ann Church. He was accused in a claim brought against the Diocese of Fairbanks in Alaska, according to documents filed in a 2010 bankruptcy organization.) Thomas J. Hatrel, S.J. Birth: 1922 Ordination: 1952 Status of Individual: Deceased 1988 Estimated Timeframe of Abuse: 1980s while applied to the Oregon Province Removed from Ministry: N/A deceased when allegation received Pastoral Assignments: Jesuit High School, New Orleans Jesuit High School, Tampa, Fla. Immaculate Conception Grade School, Fairbanks, Alaska St. Ignatius Church, Alakanuck, Alaska Details: A 2007 lawsuit accused Hatrel of committing abuse while assigned to Alaska beginning in 1979. Benjamin Wren, SJ Birth: 1931 Ordination: 1961 Status of Individual: Left Society of Jesus 1996; Deceased 2006 Estimated Timeframe of Abuse: 1970s-1980s Removed from Ministry: N/A no longer a Jesuit, deceased when allegation received Pastoral Assignments: Jesuit High School, Dallas Jesuit High School, El Paso, Texas Loyola University, New Orleans Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan Loyola University, New Orleans Community of John the Evangelist, New Orleans Details: Wren spent 35 years teaching Asian History and Zen classes at Loyola University in New Orleans. He left the priesthood to marry in 1996. After he died in 2006, he was accused in a lawsuit of raping the granddaughter of a co-worker on Loyolas campus on hundreds of occasions over seven years beginning in 1978, when the girl was 5. The man nicknamed Zen Ben Wren allegedly threatened the victim with physical and spiritual harm if she reported him to anyone. Loyola and church officials settled the case in July for what was described as a significant amount. Grammy-winning jazz trumpeter Irvin Mayfield and his longtime friend and business partner Ronald Markham face new accusations related to charges they illegally siphoned off $1.4 million in New Orleans Public Library Foundation money, much of it to themselves. +3 Audit: Mayfield's Jazz Orchestra overspent on food, lodging; diverted donations A new legislative audit of the troubled New Orleans Jazz Orchestra says that the nonprofit's embattled founder, Irvin Mayfield, and his busine A superseding indictment handed up Thursday marks the second time that federal prosecutors have added charges and additional details to the original 19-count indictment brought against the two men last year. Thursdays charging papers add only one criminal count accusing Markham of making false statements bringing the total number of charges against the two musicians to 24. But the new indictment also adds new allegations under a conspiracy charge that accuses Mayfield and Markham of numerous attempts to deceive library foundation auditors. Mayfield is now accused of asking a friend who worked at a local church to hold about $70,000 in library foundation funds in a church bank account. Mayfield allegedly told the friend he was trying to avoid moving the funds to an organization of which he was a board member. Mayfield and Markham also are accused of lying to foundation auditors about a money transfer to the Youth Rescue Initiative, another organization in which Mayfield was involved. +2 U.S. Attorney: Irvin Mayfield, Ronald Markham face new wire fraud, money laundering charges The federal government has filed four new charges of wire fraud and money laundering against Grammy-winning New Orleans trumpeter Irvin Mayfie The new indictment also accuses the two men, who were given nearly unfettered control of the library foundation's money, of doctoring board minutes in late 2013 to change line items and dollar amounts of foundation funds transferred to Mayfields New Orleans Jazz Orchestra. Mayfield and Markham, who each at one point served as president of the library foundation's board, then allegedly used those altered board minutes to justify the transfers to other board members. The newly added charge against Markham alleges that he lied to the FBI, claiming he was ignorant about who altered the board minutes. Markham's attorney, Sara Johnson, said the new charge is based on a theory that prosecutors had before either man was first indicted. "I can't think of a reason why they chose not to charge it (until now) other than to keep the story in the news," she said Thursday. The new indictment against Mayfield, 40, and Markham, 39, appears to argue that the two men were well aware that they were covering up what prosecutors in U.S. Attorney Peter Strassers office suggest was a well-crafted ploy to enrich themselves through library donations. Both men pleaded not guilty to prior indictments in the case and have remained free on bail. +3 Irvin Mayfield pleads not guilty in federal court; case 'tainted' by leaks, attorney says Jazz trumpeter Irvin Mayfield and his business partner Ronald Markham walked into federal court Thursday and pleaded not guilty to a raft of f Mayfield drew praise in the city for his musical artistry and his promotion of the city after Hurricane Katrina, before investigative reports by WWL-TV sparked a federal investigation into his use of the library foundation's funds, which donors had intended to support the city's public libraries. The feds allege that Mayfield and Markham, a pianist, stole from the foundation, where they sat as board members between 2011 and 2013. Prosecutors claim Mayfield lived a jet-setting life with foundation funds, including expensive stays at luxury hotels in New York City. Mayfield, though, has claimed poverty in court, telling pre-trial services officials that his monthly bills exceed his roughly $800 a month in income as a musician. Can't see video below? Click here. The two men are both charged with one overarching conspiracy count, six counts of wire fraud, a count of conspiracy to launder money, 13 counts of money laundering and aiding and abetting, and one count of obstruction of justice. Mayfield alone faces an additional charge of mail fraud, and Markham faces the new count of making false statements. The most severe charges carry a maximum 20-year sentence for each man. +11 Jazz trumpeter Irvin Mayfield keeps on making music, despite federal indictment Being hit by a 19-count federal indictment and subsequent storm of bad publicity might prompt some musicians to maintain a low profile, at lea +5 Irvin Mayfield, Ronald Markham allowed to make South Africa trip with $100K bonds, judge says Two New Orleans musicians facing federal criminal charges will be allowed to perform at a jazz festival in South Africa in June, a judge ruled Federal Public Defender Claude Kelly, who is representing Mayfield, has alleged that federal prosecutors tainted the case against his client by leaking information from grand jury proceedings to a WWL-TV reporter. Angry members of the country's startup community say the passing of the government's encryption legislation on Thursday will curb Australia's tech export success for decades to come. The 'Assistance and Access' bill passed the House of Representatives late on the last sitting day of parliament for 2018, after Labor made the surprise decision to vote through the laws without some of its suggested amendments ahead of a review in 2019. Attorney General Christian Porter asserted the importance of the bill in the House of Representatives on Thursday. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Larger telco companies have warned the laws, which would allow authorities to compel developers to modify systems to access encrypted information, may lead to unintended security flaws. But smaller IT businesses and startup developers say they will now feel real consequences as they look to launch new businesses. You can hear Neneh Cherry's sneakers scuff the sidewalk as she chants under her breath. "Blessed are those who struggle/ Oppression is worse than the grave/ Better to die for a noble cause/ Than to live and die a slave." The muttered recitation is kind of like the active polarity of her new record, Broken Politics. It's balanced near the end by the passive: a second incidental recording titled Cheap Breakfast Special. Neneh Cherry holds on to the mantra, "blessed are those who struggle". Credit:Wolfgang Tillmans "It goes on and on and on, right?" she tells her husband as they peruse the menu in a favourite New York cafe. "Hmm, I dunno " The two iPhone interludes share the same soundtrack: a soft-chiming vibraphone climbing up and down a bog standard middle C arpeggio. That's life, right? Revolutionary manifestos one day, eggs on toast the next. Sydney University academics have criticised the suspension of an academic who showed students material featuring the Nazi swastika imposed over Israel's flag, saying it was a body blow to academic freedom. By Friday afternoon 30 academics, including several emeritus professors, had signed the open letter arguing that academic freedom was "meaningless if it is suspended when its exercise is deemed offensive." Sydney University lecturer Tim Anderson during a recent trip to North Korea. Credit:Facebook The academic at the centre of the controversy, senior lecturer in political economy Tim Anderson, has also been criticised by federal ministers for visiting Syria and North Korea, where he expressed solidarity with their dictatorial regimes. Earlier this week, Sydney University served Dr Anderson a termination notice, saying the swastika material amounted to serious misconduct that was "disrespectful and offensive, and contrary to the university's behavioural expectations". "Numerous" tip-offs from members of the public led to the arrest and subsequent charging of a 30-year-old man on Friday after reports of a peeping Tom on Sydney's northern beaches. A 13-year-old girl noticed a man looking through a window of her home in Collaroy Plateau about 10.45pm last Friday, and she alerted her parents. On Sunday, police released an image of a man who may be able to assist with inquiries into the incident. Credit: NSW Police They searched the yard and did not find the man. However, a check of the homes security footage showed a man walking around the property. On Sunday, police released images of a man they believed would be able to assist with inquiries, and appealed for public assistance in identifying him. A 30-year-old man charged with peeping Tom offences is an agent at a prominent northern beaches real estate agency, who sold the home next door to the house where he was allegedly seen looking through a window at a 13-year-old girl late one evening last week. Isaac Teu, from Collaroy Plateau, was arrested at the Dee Why office of real estate agency Doyle Spillane on Friday morning, where he worked as a leasing and business development executive for seven years. Isaac Teu was taken to Dee Why police station where he was being interviewed. Credit:NSW Police He was arrested after he was allegedly noticed by the 13-year-old girl, who saw him peering through a window of her home in Collaroy Plateau about 10.45pm last Friday. The girl then alerted her parents, who searched the yard and did not find the man. However, a check of the homes security footage showed a man walking around the property. Wolf Creek star John Jarratt will have to wait until July next year to try to clear his name over a historical rape allegation following a delay by prosecutors. The 66-year-old actor is accused of sexually assaulting a woman at a house in Randwick, in Sydney's eastern suburbs, in September 1976. John Jarratt outside court on Friday. Credit:AAP He has strenuously denied the claim and was due to enter a plea at Downing Centre District Court on Friday. But the judge was told prosecutors wouldn't be ready to serve the indictment until 2019. Triple M Brisbane radio listeners will see yet another shake up on the breakfast show with the departure of Lawrence Mooney less than one year since joining Greg Martin and Robin Bailey on deck. Brisbane's Triple M breakfast program with Marto, Robin and the Moonman has taken out the top spot in radio ratings. Credit:Triple M This follows the success of the trio taking the lead in radio ratings in Queensland, dropping Hit105's Stav, Abby and Matt from their reign with an increase audience of 12.3 per cent from 0.8 per cent. Mooney replaced host Ed Kavalee, who had been on for the four years, but has called it quits. Triple M Brisbanes sporting all-rounder Ben Dobbin will also present breaking sports news throughout the show. The story behind a Supreme Court fight pitting a Queensland council and the federal government against each other over water safety begins decades ago, court documents show. Toowoomba Regional Council links its legal action over contamination from toxic firefighting foams to water sourced from Oakey since the drought in the mid-2000s and water from underground bores dug since 1950. Oakey Army Air Base is at the centre of a toxic fire fighting contamination issue. The Department of Defence in 2014 issued public statements warning residents not to drink water from underground water near the Oakey Army Base because the water had been impacted by perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contained in firefighting foams used there. Documents lodged in Brisbane's Supreme Court to support the council's negligence claim show the council commissioned the Oakey Water Treatment Plant to treat water from council bores. A Melbourne man has admitted in the witness box that he "snapped" on the night he drowned his ex-lover in a bathtub and that it was not, as he had claimed, part of a pre-arranged suicide pact. Murat Davsanoglu was on trial for murder, but the Supreme Court jury was discharged on Friday morning, a day after the 43-year-old confessed in the witness box he had "snapped" and murdered Ozlem "Ozzie" Karakoc, 34. Murat Davsanoglu arrives at the Supreme Court for an earlier hearing. Credit:Luis Ascui The confession came two weeks into the trial and after 18 months of him claiming her death in Dandenong last July was the result of a suicide pact they had been discussing for months previously. Prosecutor Diana Piekusis SC had been questioning Davsanoglu about whether he had considered his actions would leave Ms Karakoc's daughter without a mother. We didnt see them. We didnt even hear them. It was literally the alarm that woke us, he said. But that short minute has had long-term effects. The father-of-two has invested in sensor lights and security cameras, and beefed up security around his home. He is more aware of outside noises. And when darkness falls, the family dog now gets locked inside. That moment when you go downstairs and you realise someone has been in your house, and you were asleep with your kids upstairs, is pretty scary, he said. Ronan, 43, tells a similar story. He was asleep upstairs with his wife and two girls in their Caulfield South home when they awoke to a bang downstairs. Tired from a late game of squash and steeling himself for an early-morning flight, he initially blamed their pet husky until a torchlight was beamed into their bedroom window. I checked outside, and nothing was there. Inside, everything was in its place. Wallet and keys on the kitchen bench, laptop at the door. Nothing appeared to have moved or be tampered with, he said. Illustration: Matt Golding Credit: But when he opened his wallet to pay for breakfast at the airport, he found it empty. A phone call to his wife, who also found her purse bare, and they realised their doggy door had been used by a thief. They were in and out in 30 seconds, he said. But it should be noted that while there were 31 aggravated home burglaries in Caulfield in 2015/16 and 30 in 2016/17, this number dropped to 17 last year, echoing a similar downturn in the statewide data. In a bid to stamp out burglaries in the area, a Victoria Police spokeswoman said police had increased patrols around known Caulfield hotspots and were targeting repeat offenders. Areas with among the highest rates of aggravated residential burglaries in Melbourne include Fitzroy, Collingwood and Carlton in inner Melbourne, Carrum and Frankston in Melbournes south-east, and Clyde on Melbournes fast-growing suburban fringe. A burglary is classified as aggravated by police if the resident was inside the house at the time the address was being targeted but it does not mean the victim came into direct contact with the crook. Home invasions, where a group of assailants carry out a home burglary and often go out of their way to antagonise the occupant, make up about 6.7 per cent of aggravated residential burglaries. Last year 206 of the 28,337 residential burglaries in Victoria were classed as home invasions. But while the rates of aggravated home burglaries were their third-highest in a decade last year, the rate of non-aggravated home burglaries hit a 10-year low last year. Firefighters work to put out the blaze. Credit:Channel 7 The fire has been contained but is still not under control. A cool change is expected to hit the fire ground about 10pm. The CFA will spend the next several hours dumping water on the fire's east to try to cut the risk of it getting away when the change comes through. It is still unknown whether any homes have been lost. The CFA has confirmed several sheds have been destroyed. The fire is being treated as suspicious and is believed to have started from three points. Police are investigating. Trains on the Geelong line are back up and running. Motorists are being asked to avoid the Princes Highway and some roads remain blocked off by authorities. A firefighter has been taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation. Fortunately, no other injuries have been reported. We are going to wrap the blog up for the day. Thanks for following along. You can keep up with the latest news on the Little River fire by reading our story here. Residents in the Little River area should check the Vic Emergency website in case the fire situation changes. Following months of negotiations the state government has accepted a $121 million funding offer from the federal government for WA remote communities but long-term funding is still uncertain. In June this year the National Partnership Agreement on Remote Housing expired, triggering a public feud between the WA and federal governments over whose role it was to fund the remote housing of 12,000 Indigenous West Australians across 165 remote communities. Funding has been secured for remote Indigenous communities for one more year. Credit:Greg Newington The partnership saw the federal government giving WA $110 million every year for ten years with the state paying about $90 million annually for power, sewage, water and maintenance. The federal government offered WA one final $60 million payout over three years, amounting to an exit fee contingent on WA matching it. A 36-year-old Butler man will face court later this month after a concerned Good Samaritan caught him allegedly indecently dealing with a 10-year-old girl on Thursday. The incident took place in the northern Perth suburb on Thursday morning, when a member of the public noticed the man approach the young girl near the intersection of Lukin Drive and Connolly Drive, and became concerned with how he was touching her. The woman stopped her vehicle to check on the childs welfare but as she approached the man fled the scene. The woman stayed with the child and called police to report the incident, leading to an investigation that canvassed local businesses and sent out extensive patrols to track down the man. Police arrested the man at a home in Butler later in the afternoon and established he had no relationship to the girl and was not known to her before Thursday morning. Jakarta: Asylum seekers based in Indonesia say they will not attempt to come to Australia by boat, despite warnings from the Morrison government that any change to the rules governing medical evacuations from Nauru could restart the flow of vessels. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has seized on the proposed migration law amendments, which would make it easier for asylum seekers in offshore detention to get medical transfers to Australia, to argue Labor poses a "risk to our borders" and the government's hardline approach. Asylum seekers, including Mohammad Khan Nori and Ehsan Ehsani, outside the immigration detention centre in West Jakarta. Credit:Karuni Rompies But four asylum seekers in Indonesia brought into question those claims in interviews with The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. Kandiha Kayuran, a Bangladeshi asylum seeker who has previously tried and failed to reach Australia by boat, as the attempt was stopped by Australian authorities, said the policy change would not spur another attempt. The machine behind the successful "yes" campaign on same-sex marriage will turn its sights on discrimination against LGBTI people in schools, the workforce and the law in a major revamp aiming to take the fight directly to Prime Minister Scott Morrison in 2019. Declaring discrimination did not end with the legalisation of marriage equality one year ago today, the group will lobby for an end to exemptions that allow religious organisations to discriminate against gay, lesbian and transgender people - at schools and other workplaces. Lawyer and activist Anna Brown will head the new lobby group Equality Australia. Credit:Eddie Jim It also stands ready to fight the government's looming response to Philip Ruddock's review of religious freedom, which was initiated a year ago to quell the concerns from churches and MPs about the effects of same-sex marriage. The Equality Campaign will rebrand as Equality Australia and will be led by new chief executive Anna Brown, a former director of the Human Rights Law Centre and a key player in the marriage equality movement. Thousands of Melbourne train services were disrupted over the past year as paramedics or rail staff were called to help unwell passengers, the vast majority of whom had minor ailments due to a hangover or skipping breakfast. On average, at least two commuters a day fell ill on Melbourne trains, causing lengthy delays on services across the network. Until now, unwell passengers have been treated on board the train by ambulance paramedics or rail staff, when usually all the person needs is fresh air and a glass of water. The vast majority of medical events related to people not eating breakfast, being dehydrated or suffering the effects of a big night, Victoria's chief paramedic Alan Eade said. Landmark laws will give security agencies new powers to obtain the encrypted communications of criminal suspects. How far do the powers go? And what do they mean for you? Here's what you need to know. What's happening? Tech giants such as Apple, Google and Facebook can be forced to help Australia's law enforcement agencies read our private messages under new laws designed to ensure wrongdoers can't hide behind encryption. What is encryption and how does it work? Seoul: North Korea is expanding an important missile base that would be one of the most likely sites for deploying intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of reaching the United States, two experts on the North's missile programs said, citing new research based on satellite imagery. The activities at the Yeongjeo-dong missile base near North Korea's border with China and the expansion of a new suspected missile facility 11 kilometres away are the latest indications that North Korea is continuing to improve its missile capabilities, said Jeffrey Lewis and David Schmerler of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey in California. And they come despite US President Donald Trump's repeated claims of progress in efforts to denuclearise the North. Smoke from an explosion rises last month as part of the dismantling of a South Korean guard post in the Demilitarized Zone dividing the two Koreas. Credit:AP Lewis and Schmerler said they were still not sure whether Yeongjeo-dong and the new facility under construction in nearby Hoejung-ni, both in the mountainous area near North Korea's central border with China, were separate bases or parts of a larger single operation. But their geographic locations make them ideal to "house long-range missiles," they said in a report they were preparing. Rio de Janeiro: With his inauguration just weeks away, Brazilian President-elect Jair Bolsonaro is assembling a Cabinet of ministers with starkly different views on key issues like climate change, the economy and China that is raising questions about the direction the far-right leader will take Latin America's largest nation. Since being elected in October, Bolsonaro has appointed a finance minister schooled in neoliberal economics, a foreign minister who describes globalisation as "an anti-human and anti-Christian system," supporters and critics of China's role in the region, several retired military generals and a justice minister who is arguably the world's most renowned corruption fighter. Kaigang Chief Kreta holds a letter of protest outside the transition office of President-elect Jair Bolsonaro, in Brasilia. Indigenous demands include the demarcation of native lands and the protection of the National Indian Foundation. Credit:AP Analysts say the eclectic choices made by the former army captain who takes office on January 1 portend clashes not only within his Cabinet but possibly with Bolsonaro himself, since some of their views are at odds with his campaign promises. "We are already seeing clear signals of tensions," said Oliver Stuenkel, an international relations professor at the Fundacao Getulio Vargas university and think tank. AUTO LAB RADIO Saturday December 8, 2018 WNYM Radio AM 970 7-9 AM - Helping You Enjoy The Drive Auto Lab Talk Radio on New York City's WNYM Radio AM 970 Is Streamed Worldwide On TheAutoChannel.Com Car Question or Concern? Automotive Career Opportunity, Call Toll Free 888-692-7234 To Speak With An Auto Lab Expert Auto Lab is a 28 year old interactive automotive-focused New York City radio call-in show hosted by Professor Harold Wolchok. Featuring an in-studio panel of experienced hands-on automotive experts sharing accurate, honest, practical and street-smart car repair, automotive career opportunities and vehicle and repair buying advice. Auto Lab is also about the automotive industry, its history, and its culture, presenting the ideas and advice of leading college faculty, authors, and automotive practitioners in a relaxed, conversational interactive format. Listeners can find audio recordings of the past 20 years of archived Auto Lab shows as simulcast on The Auto Channel; The Auto Lab Index Page includes; Audio-on-Demand Archives, Community College Auto Program Database, Guests Pictures This Weeks Show: December 8, 2018 In - Studio Harold Bendell- Major Auto Tim Cacace- Master Mechanix Libby DeMarco- Broadway Sunoco Audra Fordin- Great Bear Auto Repairs & What Women AUTO Know David Goldsmith-Urban Classics Jerry Pastore-B & J Diagnostics Johanna Pastore D & J Diagnostics Joanne Porcelli, Esq. Michael Porcelli, Bronx Community College CUNY Nicholas Prague- MTA Interviews Robert Erskine, Senir European Correspondent , Suffolk England "WOMEN JUST LOVE THE MUSCLES" Sharon Sudol, Senior Correspondent John Russell, Senior Correspondent "VOLKSWAGEN PASSAT GT" Russ Rader , Senior Vice Preside Insurance Institute for Highway Safety "MINOR CRASHES CAN RESULT IN BIG HEADLIGHT REPAIR BILLS" Robert Sinclair AAA NORTHEAST "MTA POCKETBOOK ISSUE" DAVID MACHOLZ, ACADEMIC CHAIR-AUTOMOTIVE TECHNOLOGY, SUFFOLK COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE "TRAINING & JOB OPPORTUNITIES FOR AUTOMOTIVE TECHNICIANS" Photographer Nguyen Phuc Thanh's work Photographer Nguyen Phuc Thanh took photo of Long Coc tea hills in Phu Tho province, Vietnam. He says that Long Coc is the most beautiful tea mountain in Vietnam with hills shaped like upside down bowls. The photographer added that at the beginning of winter, there is more fog with the lower temperatures, which makes the scenery even more amazing during sunrise. The Sony World Photography Awards, produced by the World Photography Organisation, is one of the most celebrated and diverse photography competitions in the world. Registration for the prizes is free, with the winners announced next April. The Photographer of the Year winner will be awarded USD25,000 at an awards ceremony in London in April 2019, and a selection of over 600 works will then be exhibited at the Somerset House in London, with over 30,000 visitors expected. After a record number of entries in 2018, the Sony World Photography Awards are well on their way to another successful competition. This leading free photography competition has taken place for the past 12 years and is divided into four divisions: Professional, Open, Youth, and Student./. Security personnel patrol in Tiananmen Square ahead of a vote on constitutional amendments at the National People's Congress in Beijing on March 11, 2018. China's rubber-stamp parliament is set on March 11, to hand President Xi Jinping free rein to rule the rising Asian superpower indefinitely, with potential abstentions offering the only suspense in the historic vote. / AFP PHOTO / GREG BAKER (Photo credit should read GREG BAKER/AFP/Getty Images) China Mobilizes 100,000 Lawyers to Pledge Loyalty to Constitution, Socialism Unprecedented nod to constitutional governance may hint at emerging political winds in Beijing Chinese authorities directed almost 100,000 lawyers in more than 400 cities across the country on Dec. 3 to take part in an unprecedented mass vow of loyalty to the Chinese constitution on the following day. Dec. 4 is Chinas fifth Constitution Day, as mandated by legislative amendment in 2013, the year current Chinese leader Xi Jinping took office. While Xi has diverged from previous Chinese leaders by advocating for constitutional rule in his speeches, these themes have often been toned down when run by Chinese Communist Party-controlled state media. As part of the days events, the lawyers were instructed to pledge that they would be loyal to the Constitution, loyal to the motherland, and loyal to the people while representing the legitimate rights and interests of litigants and working hard to build a socialist country ruled by law, Chinese state-run media reported. On Nov. 28, the China Lawyers Association announced that it would issue a new rule requiring all lawyers to participate in an official oath ceremony every year. Its the first time that such a large activity has been organized to promote the Chinese constitution. Chinese Justice Minister and Deputy Minister of Public Security Fu Zhenghua was present to see hundreds of lawyers make the vow in Hohhot, a city in Chinas Inner Mongolia region. There is much skepticism about the authenticity of the activities, since the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has the power to follow or ignore national law as it sees fit. Notably, not all Chinese lawyers were included in the celebrations; among those not invited to take part are high-profile human-rights lawyers. Dai Peiqing, a rights lawyer in Shanghai, wasnt invited to make the vow. He told Radio Free Asia (RFA) that they didnt invite us [rights lawyers to the ceremony]. We were marginalized. Qin Yongpei, a human-rights lawyer in Guangxi Province, told RFA that the move seems to be an effort by the Chinese regime to further extend its control over lawyers who may not practice the law according to the Partys wishes. If you dont make the vow, they wont let you pass the annual lawyers inspection. The annual inspection will be held soon, and the vow is related to it, Qin said. In China, lawyers must pass an annual inspection to maintain the right to practice. Xis Constitutionalism In a Constitution Day instruction, Xi Jinping, who is currently on a state visit to Portugal, asked Chinese legal professionals to strictly implement the constitution and strengthen its supervision. According to state-run media, Xi described the Chinese constitution as the fundamental legal guarantee for Chinas reform and opening up and socialist modernization. He also stressed the key role the document should play in the countrys governance under the Partys leadership. For decades, however, the Communist Party has ignored the rights and restrictions stipulated in the constitution. Millions of people have been violently persecuted in CCP political movements since it seized power in 1949. Today, political dissidents and religious believers continue to be repressed by the Partys security, propaganda, and legal apparatus. Many civil activists advocating constitutionalism have been arrested and persecuted, including Xu Zhiyong, founder of the New Citizens Movement. Shen Liangqing, a retired Chinese prosecutor, told The Epoch Times: All Chinese know that the constitution is only a decoration. If you really follow the constitution and exercise the rights it grants, you will be treated like a criminal. Xis high-profile advocacy of constitutionalism started near the beginning of his time in power, and comes at a time of crisis for the Chinese regime and Xis political power. Over the past year, aggressive U.S. trade policies have added to Chinas already worrying economic slowdown. At the same time, Xi has incurred resistance from within the Communist Party due to his wide-reaching anti-corruption campaign. CCP officials associated with Xis political enemies have consistently hampered Xis efforts at implementing stated economic and political reforms, They have even issued veiled criticisms of his leadershipotherwise taboo in Chinas authoritarian system. The Party finds itself at a crossroads as its political legitimacy and economic strength decline. Xis conspicuous gestures of support for normal features of government, such as constitutional rule, present a nuanced contrast to the CCPs tradition of ruling above the law, and might be a roundabout means of preparing his administration for future crisis. Leo Timm contributed to this report. A 13-year-old autistic student turned violent at Guiding Hands School in El Dorado, California on Nov. 28, 2018 and died after being restrained, the local sheriff said on Dec. 6, 2018. (Google Maps) 13-Year-Old Autistic Student Dies at California School After Being Restrained A 13-year-old autistic student turned violent at his California school and died after being restrained, the local sheriff said. The incident took place at Guiding Hands School about 30 miles east of Sacramento on Nov. 28. The El Dorado County Sheriffs Office said this week that the boy turned violent and school staffers stepped in and restrained him to prevent other students and staff from getting hurt, reported the Los Angeles Times. While he was restrained, the autistic boy became unresponsive and someone called 911 as a teacher administered CPR. The student was rushed to Mercy Hospital of Folsom and later to UC Davis Medical Center but ultimately died, though its not clear exactly when he passed away. The boy was 6 feet tall and weighed 280 pounds, the office said. Deputies are investigating the incident and have found no evidence of foul play or criminal intent as of yet. State Suspends Certification In response to the death, the state Department of Education suspended the certification of Guiding Hands, which is a private school. The department has launched an investigation into the matter. An investigation by the El Dorado County District Attorney is ongoing. A source told the Sacramento Bee that a teacher at Guiding Hands is under investigation for using a prone restraint to subdue the student for around an hour. The restraint immobilized the student in a face-down position. The suspension means the school will not be able to accept additional students. In the meantime, the department is continuing its investigation to see if further action is necessary, said Bill Ainsworth, spokesman for the state Department of Education. El Dorado County Sheriffs Office spokesman Sgt. Anthony Prencipe said the investigation isnt a criminal probe. We are going to look at the totality of the circumstances, and make a decision based on whats there, Principe said. Deputies have been called to the school 27 times this year. The school had 137 students and 16 full-time staff members as of the 2017-2018 school years. Its students have special needs and range from kindergarten to 12th grade. Our motto, Acceptance of All, Exclusion of None comes as a result of our full inclusion classes, where students come together to help each other learn and grow. We serve a population of all ability levels, the school stated on its website. In a statement issued to KCRA on Dec. 6, the school said: It is with heavy hearts that we share the very difficult news that a beloved member of our school community has passed away. Out of respect for the family, and the on-going investigation, we are unable to share full details at this time. #Update: Autistic student dead after being restrained at private school; state suspends certification https://t.co/C76p6J6IVW The Sacramento Bee (@sacbee_news) December 7, 2018 Prior Restraint Incident In 2002 and 2003, school staff forcibly restrained another teenage student, Tracee Lamerson, multiple times, according to court records; her mother, Deborah Lamerson, sued the school in 2004. She told The Bee that in one case, her daughter broke her arm in an accident on the school bus. When she arrived at the school, she kept asking to call her mother but staff wouldnt allow her and restrained her after she became agitated. I was so afraid to go back, Tracee Lamerson, now 29, said. I dont like that they are still open and that they can restrain anyone. Katie Kaufman, another former student who attended from sixth to eighth grade, told Fox 40 she was restrained as a form of discipline. I would call them an abusive school, honestly, she said. I mean would get upset or something and they would jump on top of you, Kaufman said. Even if it was like you got upset and started cursing, or something, they would just jump on top of you right away thinking you were going to start swinging. From NTD News Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton listens as former President Bill Clinton speaks during the annual Clinton Global Initiative conference at the University of Chicago in Chicago, Ill., on Oct. 16, 2018. (Joshua Lott/Getty Images) A Damning NSD Email Chain Exposes the Steele Dossier On both Dec. 5 and Dec. 6, reporter John Solomon at The Hill released two bombshell columns in which he made massive revelations about the ongoing SpyGate & Uranium One scandals. A Damning NSD Email Chain Exposes The Steele Dossier In his first column titled FBI Email Chain May Provide Most Damning Evidence Of FISA Abuses Yet, Solomon revealed that House Representative Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) recently added an email chain from the Justice Departments National Security Division (NSD) to the list of SpyGate documents that Republicans in Congress want President Donald Trump to declassify. Solomons report starts this way: Just before Thanksgiving, House Republicans amended the list of documents theyd like President Trump to declassify in the Russia investigation. With little fanfare or explanation, the lawmakers led by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) added a string of emails between the FBI and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to their wish list. Nunes and other sources say this email chain from inside the NSD reveals that top officials in the DOJ, the FBI, and NSD lawyers had concerns about the reliability of the biggest piece of evidence that was going to be proffered to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) to get a warrant to spy on the Trump campaign. That main piece of evidence is the now infamous Steele dossier. Heres a brief summary of the major problems with the Steele Dossier: It was created by political operatives being paid by the Hillary Clinton 2016 presidential campaign and the DNC. The only accurate information in it that has been verified at this point are things that were already publicly available information at the time it was writtensuch as Carter Pages very public trip to Russia. The Dossier contains many allegations that are now known to be falsesuch as former Trump Organization lawyer Michael Cohens alleged trip to Prague to pay off some hackers. At this late datethis is going to be hard to believe, I know, but its truenone of Christopher Steeles sources for his dossier have been publicly identified or acknowledged. Plenty of peopleincluding mehave speculated who one or more of the supposed Russian sources might be, but none have been verified as of yet. Despite all those problematic facts about Steeles dossier, it was still presented to the FISC as being good, solid, verified intelligence straight from the intelligence community and not from a bunch of stridently anti-Trump political operatives who were very well paid to create it. Solomons article now suggests there is email evidence from inside the DOJ itself that proves the top officials that proffered that dossier to the FISC as evidence knew it was not only unverified but that it was a political smear job funded by the other campaign in the 2016 election. Trump & Sessions Used Private Firms To Investigate As if this wasnt enough of a bombshell, on Thursday afternoon Solomon posted another huge scoop: Feds Received Whistleblower Evidence In 2017 Alleging Clinton Foundation Wrongdoing. Last week, news broke about a Clinton Foundation whistleblower who was the target of a very well publicized FBI raid. The public cover story about that raid went like this: Whistleblower Dennis Nathan Cain suddenly was outed publicly and it became known he had thousands of incriminating documents related to the Clinton Foundation, so he was almost instantly raided by the DOJ/FBI looking to seize the documents. Well, that was the cover story. The actual story is that Cain had already given the documents to the FBI and the IRS over a year ago, as Solomon notes here in his latest article: The answer to the second question may reside in 6,000 pages of evidence attached to a whistleblower submission filed secretly more than a year ago with the IRS and FBI. That evidence was assembled by a private firm called MDA Analytics LLC, run by accomplished ex-federal criminal investigators, who alleged the Clinton Foundation engaged in illegal activities and may be liable for millions of dollars in delinquent taxes and penalties. In addition to the IRS, the firms partners have had contact with prosecutors in the main Justice Department in Washington and FBI agents in Little Rock, Ark. And last week, a federal prosecutor suddenly asked for documents from their private investigation. The 48-page submission, dated Aug. 11, 2017, supports its claims with 95 exhibits, including internal legal reviews that the foundation conducted on itself in 2008 and 2011. There is a lot to unpack there. First, note that the documents the people behind that FBI raid were hoping to seize had already been given to the DOJ over a year ago. So why conduct a raid? Were those involved not aware of this information? Also note that despite the fact the documents were seemingly highly incriminating, the IRS decided to take no action based on them. Meanwhile, the DOJ and FBI had opened up an investigation into these things through U.S. Attorney John Huber and his team. Look out for several firings and sudden resignations at the IRS soon. So why didnt the SpyGate plotters, who are still inside the federal government, and those whove already resigned or been fired, get any warning this was coming? How were all the traditional tripwires bypassed? The clue is found in this statement: That evidence was assembled by a private firm called MDA Analytics LLC, run by accomplished ex-federal criminal investigators. Only now, at this stage, more than a year and a half after it began, has the true brilliance of what Trump, Sessions, Rosenstein, Horowitz, and Huber have been doing beginning to surface. The Spygate plotters were caught completely by surprise because early on the investigative work was being done by private firms stocked with experienced former federal criminal investigators. Trump and company completely bypassed the Swamp and froze it out. Nothing could leak because all the usual suspects inside the federal agencies werent involved. Last weeks revelation that Huber and his U.S. Attorney team could be investigating the Clinton Foundation for a year, and that nothing about that leaked, is mindblowing enough. The new information is truly stunning. Brian Cates is a political pundit and writer based in South Texas and the author of Nobody Asked For My Opinion But Here It Is Anyway! He can be reached on Twitter @drawandstrike. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer waves next to German Chancellor Angela Merkel after being elected as the party leader during the Christian Democratic Union party congress in Hamburg, Germany, on Dec. 7, 2018. (Reuters/Fabian Bimmer) Merkel Protege Kramp-Karrenbauer Becomes New German CDU Leader HAMBURGGermanys Christian Democrats elected Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer on Dec. 7 to replace Angela Merkel as party leader, a decision that moves her into the pole position to succeed Europes most influential leader as chancellor. Kramp-Karrenbauer, 56, is Merkels protege and was the continuity candidate favored by the party elite. She won the leadership with 517 votes of 999 votes cast by delegates. Her rival, Friedrich Merz, won 482 votes in a run-off. A former state premier in Saarland, where she led a three-way coalition, Kramp-Karrenbauer has a reputation for uniting support across the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and a talent for striking alliances with other parties. Sometimes dubbed mini Merkel, Kramp-Karrenbauer is admired by the CDU upper echelons for her appeal across the party. I have read a lot about what I am and who I am: mini, a copy, simply more of the same. Dear delegates, I stand before you as I am and as life made me and I am proud of that, Kramp-Karrenbauer said in a passionate speech to the congress. Playing up her experience in regional government, she added to cheers and loud applause, I learned what it is to leadand above all learned that leadership is more about being strong on the inside than being loud on the outside. Merkel said in October she would step down as party chief but remain chancellor, an effort to manage her exit after a series of setbacks since her divisive decision in 2015 to keep German borders open to refugees fleeing war in the Middle East. There was jubilation as the result of the run-off was announced. A tearful Kramp-Karrenbauer thanked her rivals and invited them to share the stage with her in a show of party unity, which delegates applauded. Earlier, an emotional Merkel bowed out as party leader, telling the congress, It has been a great pleasure for me, it has been an honor. Prior to the vote, one senior CDU official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said many delegates were undecided before the congress and could be swayed by how the candidates presented themselves on the day. Kramp-Karrenbauer has differentiated herself from Merkel on social and foreign policy by voting in favor of quotas for women on corporate boards and taking a tougher line on Russia. She told Reuters that Europe and the United States should consider blockading Russian ships over the Ukraine crisis. But on what lies ahead for the CDU, Kramp-Karrenbauer said when campaigning, I have no particular recipe. During the campaign, she took a more cautious stance on the future of Europe than Merz, who said Germany should contribute more to the European Union as it benefits from a euro common currency that is too weak for our economy. Last month, Kramp-Karrenbauer told a business conference, With every wish to take Europe forward with a German-French nucleus, the proposals must always fit with German interests. Party insiders say she gets on well with Merkel. The chemistry is good, said one senior CDU official. By Paul Carrel and Madeline Chambers The Aquarius rescue ship of SOS Mediterranee organization is moored at the port of Marseille, France, on Oct. 6, 2018. (Jean-Paul Pelissier/Reuters) Aquarius, the Last Mediterranean Refugee Rescue Ship, Ends Operations PARISThe last refugee rescue ship working in the Mediterranean Sea, Aquarius, has ended her operations, French NGO Medecins sans Frontieres said late on Dec. 6, blaming harassment from Italy and other countries. This is a somber day, Nelke Mander, Medecins sans Frontieress general director, said in a statement. The end of our operations onboard the Aquarius will mean more death in the sea, deaths that are avoidable and without witnesses. The decision to moor the Aquarius is the result of a constant denigration, smearing and obstruction campaign led against Medecins sans Frontieres and SOS MEDITERRANEAN by the Italian government and supported by other European countries, the NGO said. The Aquarius was recently accused of trafficking waste and criminal activitiesaccusations that are ludicrous, Medecins sans Frontieres said. Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini has repeatedly closed Italian ports to the Aquarius, forcing it to sail for days with dozens of rescued migrants aboard to find a port in other countries. Salvini has refused to take more migrants from the Aquarius, demanding other European Union countries take a share of migrants. He also said the rescue ships like Aquarius encouraged people to take the sea to cross towards Europe. Europe has seen the biggest influx of people for decades in the past three years, many fleeing conflicts and poverty in the Middle East and Africa. Sea arrivals have dropped sharply, but the political aftershocks are still reverberating. The ship was commissioned in February 2016 and has rescued almost 30,000 people in international waters off Libya, Malta and Italy. She has remained moored on Marseilles since Oct. 4, after transferring 58 migrants on Malta during her last mission. Medecins sans Frontieres estimates 2,133 people died attempting to cross the Mediterranean in 2018, mainly embarking from Libya. By Inti Landauro Arrested Huawei Executive and Her Father Own Nearly $39 Million in Hong Kong Properties After Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou was arrested, Hong Kong media have unveiled details of the local properties owned by her and her father. Meng, the CFO of Huawei Technologies and her father, Ren Zhengfei, founder and chairman of Huawei, owned 22 property tenements in Hong Kong with a value of about HK$300 million ($38.4 million). Meng was arrested in Vancouver on Dec. 1 at the behest of U.S. authorities on suspicion that she violated trade sanctions targeting Iran. Meng is the eldest daughter of Ren and his ex-wife Meng Jun. She entered Huawei in 1993 and worked there secretly for more than two decades. In 2013, the fact that she was Rens daughter was finally made public. Her brother Ren Ping also holds an important position in the company. Hong Kongs Apple Daily reported on Dec. 7 that Ren Zhengfei purchased property in Hong Kong under an assumed name. In 2003, he used the name of Huawei to purchase four connected high-rise tenements in Island Harbourview, one of the largest private housing estates in Tai Kok Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong. In 2004, he bought the remaining two tenements on the same floor, and then all tenements on two other floors. He purchased a total of 18 tenements, each of which are worth HK$ 3-4 million (several hundred thousand dollars) in that year. Meng used her name to buy tenements in Sorrento, a residential complex occupying the northern edge of Union Square in Hong Kong with the price of HK$33 million ($4.22 million). The next year, she bought a duplex tenement on Island Harbourview with HK$18 million ($2.3 million), which is believed to be Meng and her husbands residence in Hong Kong. All the 22 tenements receive funds from mortgages, estimated at $HK300 million, according to the report. Meng was also president of three listed companies in Hong KongHuawei Tech. Investment Co., Ltd., Huawei International Co. Limited, and Hua Ying management Co. Limited. Huawei has not been listed, and the companys capital and management status is not transparent. In addition, its president Ren Zhengfei was a former officer of the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army (PLA). Sun Yafang, former chairman of Huawei, had served in the Ministry of State Security (MSS) for a long time before joining the company in 1992. After joining Huawei, he was responsible for businesses with governments of different countries and militaries. Huawei, with its military background and national security background, has made Western countries, including the United States, alert to national security issues when dealing with the company. In 2012, U.S. Congress published a report warning that Huawei could be acting on behalf of the CCP to spy on American citizens. Background Info on Huaweis CFO Meng Wanzhou Emerges As Her Arrest Draws Scrutiny Meng Wanzhou, CFO of Chinese tech giant Huawei, has been thrust in the media spotlight after her arrest in Canada on Dec. 1 for possible violations of U.S. sanctions on Iran. Meng is the daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei. Ren was the former director of the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) General Staff Departments Information Engineering Academy. Notably, father and the daughter do not share the same last name due to the prominent social status of Mengs mother, Meng Jun, according to Chinese media. Meng Juns father was Meng Dongbo, deputy secretary of a political committee with the East China Field Armyan army of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) during Chinas civil war. Meng Dongbo also held other positions during his long political career, including CCP secretary of Dukou, a city in southwestern Chinas Sichuan Province, deputy governor of Sichuan, deputy director of the standing committee of Sichuans 6th Peoples Congress, and a representative of the 5th National Peoples Congress. Meng Dongbo was Sichuans vice-governor when Ren and Meng Jun were married during Chinas Cultural Revolution. Because of the political prominence of the Meng Family, Ren had an uxorilocal marriagemeaning that he moved to live with Meng Juns family following the marriage. As a result, their first child Meng Wanzhou, born in 1972, took on her mothers last name. Ren was born in Guizhou, one of the poorest provinces in China. Chinese culture traditionally follows a patrilineal family system, whereby women marry into their husbands families. Some men, however, do marry into their wives family due to the higher economic or social status of the latter. Thanks to the assistance of Meng Dongbo, Ren Zhengfei was able to join the Chinese military, paving the way for him to be the founder of Huawei, which is made more remarkable by the fact that his family was persecuted during the Cultural Revolution because both his parents were intellectuals Rens father was a school principal of and his mother was a teacher. Ren has six younger sisters and brothers. The Cultural Revolution, which lasted for ten years from 1966 to 1976, was a destructive political campaign launched by Chinas first communist leader Mao Zedong. The campaign created tens of millions of victims, with intellectuals like teachers and principals being labeled as class enemies. Ren Zhengfei and Meng Dongbo eventually divorced. Ren went on to re-marry twice, both times to his secretaries. Meng Wanzhou, 46, had dropped out of high school but took up a job at a bank in Chinas southern metropolis of Shenzhen. She joined Huawei in 1993, and was named CFO in 2011. But her ties to Ren was not publicly revealed until 2013which drew speculation that she would succeed her father to take Huaweis helm. Meng Wanzhou has a younger brother, Ren Ping, who used to be called Meng Ping before taking on his fathers last name. Margaret Gieszinger, 52, was arrested after police got word of a teacher endangering students with scissors at University Preparatory High School in Visalia, California, according to the Visalia Times-Dispatch in a Dec. 5 report. (Tulare County Sheriff's Office) California Teacher Arrested After Forcibly Cutting Students Hair While Disrespecting National Anthem A California teacher who reportedly cut a students hair while incorrectly singing the words to the U.S. national anthem has been arrested. Margaret Gieszinger, 52, was arrested after police got word of a teacher endangering students with scissors at University Preparatory High School in Visalia, California, according to the Visalia Times-Dispatch in a Dec. 5 report. An alleged video of the incident shows her calling a student over to a chair. The student then sits down and she lops off a piece of his hair while screaming the lyrics to The Star-Spangled Banner. Later, the video shows the teacher pointing the scissors at another student before the class runs out of the room, screaming. The teacher is singing all the while. Visalia teacher belts Star Spangled Banner while cutting student's hair in class Watch as frightened high schoolers run out of Margaret Gieszinger's chemistry class after she starts chasing after kids to cut their hair. This happened Wednesday morning at University Preparatory High School in Visalia. Students tell me this wasn't the first time Gieszinger had an apparent breakdown. More at 11 on ABC30 Action News Christina Fan ABC30 Dont you touch me! said another student in another video, Fox News reported. Gieszinger now faces charges of felony child endangerment and her bail was set at $100,000, the Times-Dispatch reported. Sequoias District Police Chief Kevin Mizner told YourCentralValley that she followed a student out with the scissors. Eventually, other staff members got her to put the scissors down. She stopped teaching for the day and went home. Police talked to students and saw cell phone footage of the incident. They collected enough evidence to arrest her. ABC30 reported that she came into class and told students it was hair cut day. We think shes going to try to be funny and be like Oh did you really think I was going to cut his hair? But she did cut a hair off, and she started singing the Star Spangled Banner and she was singing it really loudly as she ceremoniously tossed a chunk of hair behind her, said an anonymous student in the report. The student added: I hope I never have to see her at the school again because I know for a fact I can never see her as a respectable authority figure in my life. All students are safe, Principal Eric Thiessen told the paper on Dec. 5. One of her students, Lilli Gates, recalled the bizarre scene and said its out of character for the teacher. When everything was going on I was terrified, and I so badly wanted to blame her. I was scared she was going to come back, Gates said. She added: What she did to my classmates and I is inexcusable. I am not trying to make excuses for her, I simply ask everyone to reconsider how they view her. She is a loving and kind lady. She is usually all smiles and laughs. This is not the Miss G. we know and love. Parent Speaks Out Another parent of a student, Sara Rocha, said on Dec. 3, in another incident, Gieszinger apparently made her daughters friend cry during class. It happened after a test went missing, and she blamed the students. (Students) asked for help, she said. But were told they had to go back to class. Rocha, who is also a teacher, said shes is disappointed in the schools lack of intervention. We have to take it seriously when (students) come to us, she said. We absolutely need to listen to kids. This breaks my heart. Rocha added that the school is a great school and teachers make a strong effort. Ive always felt safe at UPHS, she said. But the fact kids asked for help and didnt get it makes me really sad. Gieszingers teaching credential was suspended twice: once in 2006 and another time in 2017, according to the Times-Dispatch. Its not clear why her credentials were suspended and each one lasted 14 days. A school official told the Times-Dispatch that Gieszinger will not return to her classroom while that a highly-qualified substitute teacher will take over. School administrators will work closely with the new teacher until a replacement teacher is hired, the official. Some 225 students are enrolled in the high school, which opened in 2009. School Responds Tulare County Office of Education, which oversees the high school, is now investigating the scissors incident. It issued a lengthy statement to ABC30: The staff at University Preparatory High School and the administration at the Tulare County Office of Education are deeply concerned for the students who were subjected to the disturbing behavior in Margaret Gieszingers class yesterday morning. To support all students on the UPHS campus today, we have sent top counselors from our mental health services program. They will continue to be available to the students as long as necessary. We take very seriously the safety of the students in classrooms and on the COS campus. We move decisively when questions of inappropriate and unprofessional conduct are brought to the attention of UPHS administration. In this instance, we promptly removed Ms. Gieszinger from her classroom and worked closely with the COS Police Department. We are reviewing all available information and will take the most severe employment action appropriate. Ms. Gieszinger will not return to her UPHS classroom. A highly-qualified substitute teacher has been placed in the classroom for the remainder of the semester. UPHS administration will work closely with this teacher until a replacement teacher is hired. At this time, we cannot discuss further the details of this matter out of respect for due process, student privacy rights, employee privacy rights, and law enforcements ongoing investigation. We appreciate the prompt actions of the COS Police Department, and appreciate the patience and understanding of the community as we continue to handle this unfortunate incident. Comeys Testimony a Promising Chance: Ex-FBI Agent As former FBI Director James Comey heads to Washington to testify before the House committees on Friday, Dec. 7, a former FBI agent said this may create a promising opportunity for the FBI to reopen the investigation on Hillary Clintons use of unauthorized email server, or for the Justice Department (DOJ) to initiate one. Comey announced on Dec. 3, through his attorney, that he will testify, under a set of preconditions, before the House Judiciary Committee and the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. The committees agreed to provide Comey with a transcript of his testimony within 24 hours and the ex-FBI head will be free to share the transcript and discuss his testimony, Comeys attorney David Kelley told the Epoch Times. A subpoena has also been sent to the former Attorney General Loretta Lynch. Since October 2017, the committees have been investigating actions taken by the FBI and DOJ during their investigation into the Clinton email probe along with actions taken in relation to the investigation of the Trump campaign and related matters. The subpoenas for Comey and Lynch mark the final stage of committees investigation. Marc Ruskin, a former FBI undercover agent who spent 27 years with the bureau, suggested that Comeys coming testimony is a promising chance if the House lawmakers ask the right questions. The House members should ask specific, direct, and probing questions as to how the investigation had been conducted and who made the decisions, and why, leading up to the July 5 statement, he said, referring to Comeys surprise exoneration of Hillary Clinton in July 2016. It also depends on Comeys answers, he added. If Comey testifies under oath, lying to Congress under oath is the crime of perjury, he added. Who Made the Careless Decision? On July 5, 2016, in a statement from the FBI, Comey concluded that Clintons handling of classified information via an unauthorized private email server was extremely careless, suggesting the DOJ file no charge for Clinton. Although we did not find clear evidence that Secretary Clinton or her colleagues intended to violate laws governing the handling of classified information, there is evidence that they were extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information, Comey said in a statement back in July 2016. Comeys statement, which had originally included the criminal term grossly negligent, was edited down by former FBI agent Peter Strzok to extremely careless, eliminating a key phrase that could have had legal ramifications for Clinton. Comey then concluded suggesting, Although there is evidence of potential violations of the statutes regarding the handling of classified information, our judgment is that no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case. Ruskin said Comeys toning down from what was criminal to careless in his statement was unprecedented because the FBI is responsible for preparing the report, while the decision to charge is up to the DOJ or a grand jury. My opinion is the White House did not want the attorney general to make the announcement that Clinton would not be prosecuted, as the decision would appear to be politically motivated, he said. So they pressured Comey to do it, thus exceeding the traditional limitations on the role of the FBI. In a Feb 2018 report by the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (pdf), Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) has suggested that a text message between Strzok and his mistress, FBI lawyer Lisa Page, raised additional questions about the type and extent of President Obamas personal involvement in the Clinton email scandal and the FBI investigation of it. On a Sept. 2, 2016, text exchange, Page said that she was preparing the talking points because potus [President of the United States] wants to know everything were doing. From NTD News Anastasia Lin (L) and Dr Sophia Bryskine of Doctors Against Forced Organ Harvesting (R) at a panel discussion on forced organ harvesting in China in Sydney, Australia, on Dec. 5, 2018. (Loritta Liu/The Epoch Times) Communist Infiltration From China a Grave Concern at Organ Harvesting Film Event Beijings attempts to exert its influence in other countries unwittingly became a pressing concern at a recent organ harvesting film screening and panel discussion in Sydney, Australia, for the Vietnamese community. Co-hosted by the Falun Dafa Association in Australia and the Vietnamese Community in Australia NSW chapter, more than 140 members of the Vietnamese community attended the event about Chinas state-sanctioned organ harvesting crimes on Dec. 5. After the film, the audience asked many engaging questions about what the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is doing in the region. The CCP appears to be exerting both economic and soft power influence in Australia and around the world, a Vietnamese audience member said in broken English. He asked that given the reports of apparent CCP interference in Australia whether the country stands a chance of being able to address credible reports of the crime of forced organ harvesting. Read More Australian University Cancelled Documentary Due to Chinese Consular Pressure, Documents Reveal China is a very powerful country, and they are communist, another Vietnamese audience member at the event said. She asked whether Australia can play a role in holding the CCP account for its human rights abuses when the CCP defiantly bars countries from meddling in its internal affairs. Speaking at the panel, former Miss World Canada and human rights advocate Anastasia Lin encouraged the Australian community and government to take heart in standing firm in the face of the totalitarian regimes heinous crimes. We in the West actually have a lot more leverage than we think but we have never used it, she said. I know the CCPs tactics way too well because they used it on me. If they try to intimidate you and you stand up for your values, they will see you have a backbonethey tested the water and it didnt succeed, so they will back down. A speaker at the panel, Dr. Sophia Bryskine from Doctors Against Forced Organ Harvesting (DAFOH), acknowledged the CCPs many attempts to influence Australian society. Theyre infiltrating us, Bryskine said. There needs to be a general rethink as to how we deal with a country like China and how much appeasement we can do, or whether we actually draw the line in the sand and say, Its not okay to dictate how we teach our university students; its not okay to have Confucius Institutes; its not okay to tell our politicians what to do, and its also not okay to influence our media and the communities.' Lin said Western countries should come together to combat the CCPs infiltration and soft power influence. We need to establish a front, a union, between other like-minded Western countries, so that China can get a message that [we] will work together to contradict this kind of infiltration, she said. When one country, media, or academia sticks up [to the Chinese regime], its very vulnerable. It often feels very isolating and I see cases like this all around the world. Lin said the CCP has been infiltrating foreign countries on all fronts, giving examples from Hollywood Studios to the AMC theatre chain; to the CCPs propaganda mouthpiece Peoples Daily being inserted in major papers in the United States; to Confucius Institutes and Chinese student associations around the world. But Lin says it is possible to conduct trade without compromising values. When all of the countries decide to speak together, I bet China cant lose all our trade, because their economy is slowing down. And without us, what can they do. From what we know, the CCP need us [Western countries] more than we need them. Among Chinese people, theres a consensus. We call the Chinese Communist Party the paper tigereverybody knows that. They pretend to be so big but really theyre paper, she said. Lin drew from her own experience of being labelled persona non-grata (a person who is not welcome) by the CCP in 2015 because she had spoken out about its widespread human rights abuses. If they would declare a 25-year-old beauty queen persona non grata, which is the highest level of diplomatic punishment, that shows how fragile they are. A 25-year-old theatre student can intimidate them and make such a big PR disaster for them. Just to show what? To try to intimidate the West. If we see how vulnerable they are, we know we have our leverage. Were actually doing this for the Chinese people too, Lin added, noting that the Chinese are among the biggest victims of the CCPs human rights crimes. The CCP [is] not equal to the Chinese people. Read More Chinese Consulate Tried to Exclude Falun Gong From Perth Christmas Parade, Coordinator Says The interest in the film followed the Dec. 3 release of a report from a parliamentary inquiry that proposes the Australian government adopt 12 measures to combat organ trafficking and transplant tourism crimes involving Australians who are overseas. Among them is the proposal to make it a crime for Australian citizens to obtain an illegally harvested organ while overseas. While Australia has strict laws for ensuring and regulating ethical practices in organ donation and transplants that occur within the country, the current legislation does not encompass extraterritorial crimes. In the NSW Parliament, Greens MLC David Shoebridge is also seeking to pass a bill that will at the very least prohibit NSW residents from going overseas and buying illegally harvested organs. At least 12,000 organs were sold on the black market in 2017a trade that is worth up to A$2.3 billion ($1.7 billion) globally each year. Cases of local exploitationwhere organs are stolen or purchased at a low price from socially vulnerable victims in countries like the China, Philippines, India, Central America, Egypt, and the Middle Easthave been widely publicized. People may be kidnapped, killed and sold, especially children, for their organs, according to the UN Regional Information Centre for Western Europe. However, in the case of China, the majority of crimes occur within a controversial state-sanctioned system in which organs are sourced from prisoners. This is a politically sensitive issue for the CCP, which has tried to suppress any discussion of the subject. Watch Next: How Doctors in China Turn into Murderers Former Chinese surgeon Enver Tohti said he was turned into a killing robot while thinking he was working for a great cause. Dog the Bounty Hunter Denies Assault Allegation After Airport Confrontation Duane Dog the Bounty Hunter Chapman denied assaulting someone at the Denver International Airport this week. There was no assault. A young man approached Dog at the Denver Airport in a very hostile and aggressive manner, clearly looking to start trouble, the Chapmans family attorney, Andrew Brettler, told People magazine on Dec. 6. Chapman was reportedly taking his wife, who is stricken with cancer, from the airport after she underwent emergency surgery late last month. DOG THE BOUNTY HUNTER Denver, Colorado. "In the video, Dog and Beth can be seen getting into an elevator with an airport handler, and appear to be trying to leave the situation before it https://t.co/FsRDLsGXGO Akwesasne Today (@akwtoday) December 7, 2018 The attorney added: He insulted Dog and Beth, hurled racial slurs at Dog, and threatened to cut Beth if she could get out of her wheelchair. The Chapmans attempted to distance themselves from this individual, but he followed them to the elevator where he continued to shout profanities at them. The Chapmans called for airport security, Brettler said. Eventually they were able to get in their vehicle without further incident. According to the Denver P.D., airport surveillance footage show this individual was the aggressor and that Dog did not assault him, as alleged. The Chapmans intend to press charges against this individual and his father for harassment and for disturbing the peace. According to the Blast, a man threatened Beth, who was in a wheelchair, saying, Tell that [expletive] to get out of the chair, Im gonna cut her in half. A video of the alleged incident was posted by The Blast, showing Duane Chapman and Beth Chapman in an elevator with a baggage handler. A group of men are seen jeering them. This is my son and you put your [expletive] handsyou put your hands on my son, one of the men in the clip said. Another said, Dog Bounty Hunter put his hands on a juvenile. In the video, Duane yells back: Lets go outside, brah. When Duane and Beth landed, a man allegedly went up to the two and said, Hey Dog, I got a bounty on my head; what the [expletive] you gonna do about it? Denver Police told the Blast that an allegation of simple assault was made against Duane Chapman and an investigation is underway. No arrests have been made. The Chapmans added to the website that the allegations arent true, saying they are the real victims. Investigators also reviewed airport surveillance video, and our sources claim the video defends Dogs story, The Blast said. Colorado Visit Duane Chapman told a publication that the pair decided to go home to Colorado following his wifes procedure in Los Angeles. They say the cancer follows the path of least resistance, so it goes downward. Half of her lung was full of water, Duane Chapman told Us Magazine on Dec. 2. But shes much more comfortable now [that] she can breathe, but she just wanted to come back to Colorado, she loves it here. The report claimed she left the Los Angeles hospital against the wishes of her doctor. They told us they didnt want her to leave the hospital, but she was adamant, she just wanted to be home, Chapman explained. We have the test results coming in tomorrow. He said Beth was in a wheelchair to the plane and then a wheelchair on the other side before they were brought home. He added: Beth slept for almost an entire day, and she was more comfortable, then she got up and she was trying to do things around the house, trying to do laundry and wash the dishes, I said to her, Ive done all that, dont worry. Chapman said shell get the results of his wifes biopsy soon. Yes, Im nervous about the test results tomorrow, he told the magazine. Its like you kinda know whats gonna happen, but youre hoping and praying its not. In September 2017, Beth revealed she had stage II throat cancer and was undergoing treatment. After months of a nagging cough, a routine checkup resulted in a diagnosis of stage 2 throat cancer, she wrote at the time. I have what is referred to as a T2 Tumor in my throat that is blocking my breathing. My doctors are suggesting immediate treatment and surgery before the disease progresses. According to reports in late November 2018, her cancer appears to have returned. She had a lump in her throat twice the size of last time, and they performed an emergency surgery yesterday, Dog told Us magazine after this weeks procedure. They cut a hole in her throat so she can breathe; she can still talk. [Shes] doing the best she can and remains incredibly strong. Previously, the two have credited their faith for her beating cancer the first time. Faith is probably the number one thing in our lives, no matter what were faced with. Through this cancer episode, we had to drum up as much faith as we could. And the Bible talks about having faith as small as a mustard seed. And thats not much. And I thank God that we had at least that much faith to get her through that, Duane said at the time. Duane, earlier this year, said he would help hunt down a fugitive who made threats against President Donald Trump. He was hired by a friend of the then-fugitive, Shawn Christy. I have a very hot lead, Chapman told a local news outlet time. I have delivered messages to him. My goal is not to shoot him but get him to surrender. Christy was later captured by U.S. Marshalls. Shohrat Zakir, chairman of China's western Xinjiang region, speaks at the Xinjiang delegation meeting during the ongoing annual meeting of the National People's Congress in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on March 13, 2018. (GREG BAKER/AFP/Getty Images) Ex-Prisoner Says Chinas Vocational Training Centers a Complete Lie Uyghur Reveals Chinese Communist Party's Crimes in Xinjiang Chinas claims that Xinjiangs mass internment campswhere at least one million predominantly ethnic Uyghurs are being heldare vocational training centres are completely fake and made up, a former Uyghur camp detainee has told The Epoch Times. Countering claims made by the Chinas ruling Communist Party, who in October described the facilities as free vocational training centers that make life more colorful, the former detainee, Gulbakhar Jalilova, said they are lying through their teeth, adding that she never saw a single classroom. Xinjiang governor Shohrat Zakir told state-run Xinhua news agency that people detained in the camps will advance from learning the countrys common language to learning legal knowledge and vocational skills. But 54-year-old Gulbakhar said instead of learning vocational skills, I moved from camp to camp, room to room, and never saw anybody spending any time learning something. Gulbakhar, a Kazakhstan national and businesswoman, was held in an all-female camp in Xinjiangs capital, Urumqi, for just over 15 months before she was released in September this year. She was detained after being falsely accused of transferring $17,000 into a company called Nur. She was released by officials after they said they had been told she was innocent. She was tricked into traveling to Urumqi after receiving a phone call from her business associates daughter. She was told there were big problems and that she needed to come to the capital immediately from her home in Kazakhstan. She was arrested upon her arrival. The CCPs narrative of providing detainees with vocational skills to help with employment does not add up, the 54-year-old said, because the types of women held in camp with her were very rich, educated people, such as businesswomen, doctors, nurses and teachers. They werent homeless people or those with no money who needed trainingthats a lie from the CCP, she told The Epoch Times. They could afford to go overseas and then when they came back, they were detained. But amongst the claims Zakir made, as the CCP moved to legalize the facilities, is that detainees are offered practical opportunities, such as learning about businesses in garment making, mobile phone assembly, and ethnic cuisine catering. The CCP has long justified its measures against Uyghurs, the majority of whom are Sunni Muslim, saying the facilities aim to educate and transform those that it deems at risk of the three evil forces of extremism, separatism, and terrorism. Uyghurs, alongside other ethnic minorities like the Tibetans, as well as faithful believers who remain outside state control, including house Christians and Falun Gong, have long been targeted by the CCP for transformation through re-education. Chinese state broadcaster CCTV aired a 15-minute segment in October, offering a glimpse into life inside one of the centersthe Hotan City Vocational Skills Education and Training Center. The trainees can be seen reading from large textbooks in the clip and are shown learning various skills such as baking, woodworking, sewing, and cosmetology. Whatever the CCP shows on TV and videosits all fake and made up. There are no classrooms. We just sit in our rooms and stare at the wall. The door only opens to punish you, thats it, Gulbakhar added. While Chinas state TV footage showed rooms with air conditioning, decorated with bunting and balloons, Gulbakhar said it is a depiction far from reality. Detainees are confined to their rooms, poorly treated, and kept in shackles in overcrowded conditions, she said. Those in her camp were forced to ingest unknown medicine daily and were injected with a substance every month which numbs your emotions. They were also subject to various forms of torture including food and sleep deprivation, physical punishments, while some were even killed, she said. Chairing a Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) hearing on Nov. 29, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio said given the daily realities in communist China, where Uyghur Muslims are rounded up and interned in camps, Tibetan monks and nuns are forced to undergo political re-education sessions, Falun Gong practitioners are reportedly sent to legal education centers for indoctrination, and Christian believers are harassed and imprisoned, many observers are describing the current wave of repression in China as the most severe since the cultural revolution. Rubio added he believes the CCPs motivation behind the escalating crackdown is an obsessive desire to create a sort of unified, national identity, which must be stripped of anything that competes with itethnicity, religion, ethnic cultural tradition. China analyst Dr. Samantha Hoffman from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute added at the hearing that the ongoing repression in China is about protecting the Chinese Communist Party. The CCPs concept of what we would call national security I think is better translated as party state security, she said. [T]here are dimensions dealing with the internal struggle for power and then dealing with everything outside the party; controlling the narrative, controlling the ideological space. That means that the state security methods extend far beyond Chinas borders and thats why you see the harassment of overseas Chinese. Correction: A previous version of this article misspelt the Ms. Jalilovasizes first name as Gulbukhar. The correct spelling is Gulbakhar Jalilova. The Epoch Times regrets the mistake. Former FBI director James Comey (L) arrives for an interview forum with investigative reporter Carol Leonnig at The Washington Post, on May 8, 2018 in Washington. Comey discussed his stormy tenure as head of the FBI during the forum. (Win McNamee/Getty Images) FBI Email Thread Likely to Raise Tough Questions for Comey A crucial email string sent by top FBI and Justice Department (DOJ) officials in late 2016 is expected to become the subject of some of the most difficult queries for former FBI Director James Comey on Capitol Hill on Dec. 7, as he faces Republican lawmakers in a private interview. Comey and former Attorney General Loretta Lynch are the last witnesses to be interviewed by the joint task force of House lawmakers as they conclude a year-long investigation, which has uncovered potential abuses of government surveillance against the Trump campaign, among other issues. The email thread in question was handed to lawmakers after months of requests. According to House Intelligence Community Chairman Devin Nunes, the thread shows FBI officials were aware of evidence being withheld from a secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court when the bureau applied for a warrant to spy on former Trump-campaign associate Carter Page. For months we have been reviewing emails between the FBI and DOJ and others that clearly show they knew about information that should have been presented to the FISA court, Nunes told Fox News on Nov. 18. It is real evidence that people within the FBI withheld evidence from the FISA court. The emails were handed to lawmakers in redacted form and remain classified. They make up one of four classified document troves that lawmakers are demanding to be released to the public. Comey signed three of the four FISA applications to monitor Page, personally certifying that Page is an agent of Government of Russia. Page vehemently denies that allegation and was never charged with a crime after a year of surveillance. The core of the evidence for the FISA application consisted of the Steele dossier, an opposition research document filled with unverified claims about President Donald Trump. The Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee paid for the document, a fact that top FBI and DOJ officials withheld from the FISA court. Besides its funding, several other issues with the dossier were left out from the FISA application, including the fact that Christopher Steele, an ex-spy from the UK who wrote the dossier, was biased against Trump and broke the FBIs rules for confidential human sources by talking to the media. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte issued subpoenas to Comey and Lynch in late November. Comey launched a brief legal attempt to quash the subpoena, but withdrew the suit after the committee agreed to make his testimony voluntary rather than compelled. President Donald Trump fired Comey in May last year, triggering a series of events that led to the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller. Then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein recommended Comeys dismissal. In a letter (pdf) explaining his recommendation, Rosenstein said Comey usurped the power of the attorney general, broke with established practice for announcing declined criminal investigations, and refused to admit his errors. The committee will provide Comey with a full transcript of the testimony and he will be free to discuss the proceedings. In January, Democrats will take control of the House and likely terminate investigations initiated by Republicans. The joint task force is expected to release a report on the probe by the end of the year. Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) strands from a double helix model on display at the Science Museum April 23, 2003 in London. (Photo by Paul Gilham/Getty Images) Florida Mom, 88, Has Emotional Reunion With Daughter She Thought Had Died in Childbirth An 88-year-old woman had an emotional reunion with a daughter she gave birth to at age 18. She had mistakenly believed that her only child died in childbirth 69 years ago. Genevieve Purinton, 88, never had another child and all eight of her siblings are now dead. She said that after she gave birth decades ago in Gary, Indiana, hospital staff told her that the baby died. I said I wanted to see the baby. They told me she died, Purinton told Fox 13. The staff lied because Purinton was an unwed mother, according to her daughter. Because she was an unwed mother, she was told that I had died. She continued with her life not knowing I was still alive, Connie Moultroup told CNN. Moultroup, 69, was taken to an orphanage and adopted by a California couple. On Dec. 3, her daughter Moultroup walked through the door of the assisted living center in Tampa where Purinton lives. They reunited after Moultroup submitted an Ancestry DNA kit that led her to a phone call with a newly found cousin. I said, Heres my mothers given name. She said, Thats my aunt and shes still alive,' said Moultroup. Purinton found out that her daughter is alive and that she has a granddaughter and great-grandchildren. The pair hugged for a long time and cried. Youre really not dead, Purinton said. Im not dead, her daughter replied. Genevieve Purinton says she was told that her daughter died shortly after birth in 1949. But it turned out that daughter, Connie Moultroup, was adopted and lived most of her life not knowing her biological mother. This month, the pair reunited: https://t.co/pViDrA3g51 NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt (@NBCNightlyNews) December 6, 2018 Dream Come True Bonnie Chase, Moultroups daughter, said that her mother would dream of reuniting with her birth mother. It didnt help that after Moultroups adoptive mother died when she was five years old, her stepmother was abusive towards her. She would fantasize about her mother rescuing her since she was 5-years-old, Chase, 50, told NBC. Its truly her life-long dream. Chase bought her mom the DNA kit for Christmas last year. It was just a cool Christmas present and it has completely changed our lives, Chase, an insurance agent based in Vermont, said. It took me a while to use it, but when I finally got the results I went from having only three known relatives (a daughter and two grandchildren), to 1,600 relatives. I was floored, Moultroup told CNN. She plans to meet two newly found half-sisters from her fathers side of the family in January. Were thrilled that Ancestry was able to play a part in helping to connect Genevieve Purinton with her daughter after 69 years, Jasmin Jimenez, a spokeswoman for AncestryDNA, told NBC via email. We wish her and her family the best, and that this is only the beginning of an enduring relationship. The popular genealogy company offers the DNA testing for around $80. From discovering their ethnicity to connecting with distant relatives, the largest DNA network in the world is helping more people find the singular story in their DNA. Yours is just as unique, revealing traces of your family historywho your ancestors were and where they came from, the company states on its website. Chase said theres been lots of joy and tears. Were criers, she said. We just cry a lot. There were a lot of tears and theres been a lot of tears the entire time since then. Its been really amazing. From NTD News France Braces for Trouble, Macron to Address Yellow Vest Anger PARISFrance hunkered down for another wave of potentially violent protests on Dec. 8, as embattled President Emmanuel Macron planned to address the nation next week over public fury at the high cost of living, senior allies said. Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said the 3-week-old yellow vest revolt had created a monster and vowed police would have no tolerance for violence, with much of Paris in lockdown and tens of thousands of police deployed nationwide. Named after the fluorescent safety vests that all French motorists must carry, the protesters are billing their planned action on Saturday as Act IV of worst unrest seen in the capital since the 1968 student riots. Castaner warned that radicals would likely again infiltrate the protest movementa backlash against high living costs but also, increasingly, a revolt against Macron himself, including his perceived loftiness and reforms favoring a moneyed elite. These last three weeks have created a monster, Castaner told reporters. Our security forces will respond with firmness and I will have no tolerance for anyone who capitalizes on the distress of our citizens. Some 89,000 policemen will be on duty nationwide to forestall a repeat of last Saturdays destructive mayhem in exclusive central districts of Paris. Police in Paris will be backed up by armored vehicles equipped to clear barricades. Senior allies of Macron said the president would address the nation early next week. Navigating his biggest crisis since being elected 18 months ago, Macron has left it largely to his prime minister, Edouard Philippe, to deal in public with the turmoil and offer concessions. But the 40 year old is under mounting pressure to speak more fully as his administration tries to regain the initiative following three weeks of unrest in the G7 nation. The President will speak early next week. I think this is what the French people want, they want answers, Transport Minister Elisabeth Borne told Sud Radio on Friday. Macron has not spoken in public since he condemned last Saturdays disturbances while at the G20 summit in Argentina and opposition leaders accused him of turning the Elysee Palace into a bunker where had taken cover. Is Macron still in Argentina? He must surely have an opinion, hard-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon said on Twitter on Tuesday. The president himself must speak, main opposition conservative Republicains leader Laurent Wauquiez told Europe 1 radio on Thursday. Forgotten France After the Dec. 1 riots in central Paris and sometimes violent demonstrations in dozens of other cities and towns across France, the government offered a rush of sweeteners to soothe public anger. It started by scrapping next years planned hikes to fuel taxes, the first major U-turn of Macrons presidency, costing the Treasury 4 billion euros ($4.5 billion). But protesters want Macron to go further to help hard-pressed households, including an increase to the minimum wage, lower taxes, higher salaries, cheaper energy, better retirement provisions, and even Macrons resignation. But, mindful of Frances deficit and not wanting to flout EU rules, Macron will have scant wriggle room for more concessions. The gilets jaunes (yellow vest) movement remains amorphous and hard to define, with a rapidly shifting agenda and internal divisions. One faction, which dubs itself the Free Yellow Vests, called on protesters not to travel to Paris on Saturday but criticized Macron for refusing to hold direct talks. We appeal for calm, for respect of public property and the security forces, Benjamin Cauchy declared in front of the National Assembly. His group are seen as moderates within the broader movement. The forgotten France is the France of the regions and it is in the regions that the France will show peacefully their anger, Cauchy said. Smashing Things The Eiffel Tower, opera house, and Louvre are among dozens of museums and tourist sites in Paris that will close on Saturday to pre-empt feared attacks by yellow vest militants. Luxury boutiques and restaurants in fancy neighborhoods and near the presidential palace erected barricades and boarded up windows. Department stores Galerie Lafayette and Printemps said they would not open in the capital on Saturday. The trouble is jeopardizing a timid economic recovery in France just as the Christmas holiday season kicks off. Retailers have lost about 1 billion euros in revenue since the protests erupted, the retail federation said. On the French stock market, retailers, airlines, and hoteliers suffered their worst week in months. Patrick Delmas, 49, will shut his Le Monte Carlo bar next to the Champs Elysees on Saturday, blaming hoodlums from anarchist and anti-capitalist groups, as well as the yellow vest movements violent fringe. We have lost 60 percent of business over the last 15 days, he said. The problem is all those people who arrive with the sole intention of smashing things up. By Richard Lough Demonstrators stand on a destroyed car during a protest of yellow vests against rising oil prices and living costs, near the Champs Elysees in Paris, on December 1, 2018. - (Alain Jocard/AFP/Getty Images) France to Deploy Almost 90,000 Security Personnel for Act IV of Protests PARISIf social-media trends prove correct, Act IV of Frances so-called yellow vest movementa reference to the fourth week of protests over fuel tax hikes planned for Dec. 8will be the biggest yet. Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said 89,000 police nationwide would be deployed, about 8,000 of which would be placed in Paris, where rioters torched cars and looted shops off the famed Champs Elysees boulevard, and defaced the Arc de Triomphe with graffiti directed at President Emmanuel Macron. Local officials in 15 areas around the capital were also asked to remove anything in the streets that could be used as projectiles. In addition to the increased police presence, 12 armored vehicles belonging to the gendarmerie, part of the military, will be deployed for the first time in a French city since 2005, when riots broke out in the capitals suburbs. There is concern about far-right, anarchist and anti-capitalist groups like the Black Bloc, which have piggybacked off the yellow vest movement. The demonstrations began in November to push back against Macrons planned fuel tax hikesequivalent to about 25 cents a gallonas part of his climate change-related policies. On Dec. 1, the most violent day of the protests to date, demonstrators set vehicles on fire, destroyed property, and clashed with police. In its latest update, police assessed the damage at more than $4 million. In response to the demonstrations, Macron initially announced Dec. 3 that the tax hikes would be suspended for six months. He later said that the tax increase would be scrapped altogether, making an appeal for calm. For some, however, Macrons retreat isnt good enough. There are close to 100 social-media groups related to the yellow vest movement, organized by different regions and black blocks, a label referring to violent protesters. Sources close to the presidency have warned of a potential coup in French media, although those claims couldnt be independently verified. French Le Figaro reported that Macron asked his cabinet not to go to government buildings this weekend. The unrest has exposed the deep-seated resentment among non-city dwellers that Macron, whose popularity is now at about 20 percent, is out-of-touch with the hard-pressed middle class and blue-collar workers. They see the 40-year-old former investment banker as closer to big business. Trouble is also brewing elsewhere for Macron. Teenage students on Dec. 6 blocked access to more than 200 high schools across the country and clashed with security forces. About 700 students were arrested, French media reported. Farmers and truckers are also threatening blockages and strikes from Dec. 9. Reuters contributed to this report How Huaweis Rise Coincided With Telecom Giant Nortels Demise Intelligence experts sound alarm about Huawei's involvement in Canada's 5G network News Analysis TORONTOChinese telecommunications giant Huaweis footprint in the development of the next generation of mobile technology in Canadawhere Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou was arrested on Dec. 1 at the request of U.S. governmenthas been a sore point for Canadas relations with its intelligence and security partners, including the United States. There are also allegations that have lingered since 2012, when news broke that Huawei may have benefited from the persistent Chinese hacking and IP theft that experts say played a part in the eventual demise of Nortel Networks Corp., the crown jewel of Canadas high-tech industry for decades. Senior U.S. officials have been warning that Canada should shut out the Chinese firm from Canadas 5G network, the next evolution in wireless technology. The United States, Australia, and New Zealand, all Canadas allies in the Five Eyes intelligence alliance which also includes the UK, have shut out Huawei from their 5G networks. In the UK, the BT Group said this month it is removing Huawei equipment from its 3G and 4G mobile operations, and will not be using Huawei technology in its 5G network. The majority of Canadians dont want Huawei involved in the 5G broadband network, that much is clear from a recent Nanos poll commissioned by the Globe and Mail. According to the poll, the ratio of those wanting Huawei shut out to those wanting it involved is three to one. There may be plenty of reasons for Canadians to want Huaweis hands off the countrys networks. Warnings against Huawei and the other Chinese telecom giant ZTE have been raised by prominent figures in the American and Canadian intelligence communities. [Huawei] is essentially under the control of the Chinese government, was the caution by the former head of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Ward Elcock in a CBC interview. A scathing report published in July by an agency of the intelligence apparatus in the UKwhere Huawei has been allowed to be part of the phone and internet networkconcluded that the countrys network is at risk because of shortcomings in Huaweis processes. But there are other events in recent memory that should have Canadians concerned about a firm linked to Beijing being active in Canadas telecom sector. A Tale of Two Telecom Giants Nortel was the big success story of Canadas technology industry. At its height, it employed close to 100,000 people worldwide and reached a market cap of $283 billion. The failure of the firm has been the subject of academic studies and attributed to multiple factors. But Brian Shields, a former senior security adviser at Nortel, thinks IP theft by Chinese hackers that presumably aided Nortels competitors was one of them. It really hurt a lot of people here, because we had jobs and we lost them, Shields said in a 2014 interview with NTD Television. These were the people who we worked with for many years, and it just hurts. Shields first learned about the hacking in 2004 and saw it continue through to 2009, when he left the company. At first, the hackers were using accounts of executivesincluding the CEOto access files, Shields told NTD Television. Once discovered, the hackers changed tactics, and instead used accounts of employees based in China, as Nortel had operations there. From the level of sophistication of the hacking operation, it was clear to Shields that it was the state that was behind the hackings. It was very organized what they were doing over there, it was very advanced, he said. A 16-year-old hacker isnt going to take an electronic document on some diode and its transmissions. What is he going to do with that? He alleged the main benefactor of the data would have been Huawei. While Shields provided no proof that Huawei was receiving the data, he raised the questions: Where was the manufacturer that was reaping the benefits of this? Was it the companies in Russia or France that were suddenly doing real good? No. It was economic espionage, and we lost an industry here in Canada. Thats what happened. Nortel filed for bankruptcy in 2009 and its stock price dropped below $1, leaving thousands of employees without jobs and pensioners in a state of limbo. On the other side of the world, Huawei was celebrating its expansion outside of China throughout the 2000s. By 2010, the company was listed among the Global Fortune 500 corporations. Mark Anderson, a well-known U.S. technology guru and CEO of Strategic News Service that offers research and information on technology and economics, said it was no coincidence that Huawei was rising at the same time that Nortel was going down. Huawei took the international telecoms equipment market by storm by charging about an average of 40 percent less than the market rates. They were able to do that because they were a [Chinese Communist] Party-related company, Anderson said in an interview. Thanks to government subsidies and gift contracts from the Chinese military, the company was under no pressure to achieve a profit. There were other factors in Huaweis success, too, he said. It was using stolen IP at the same time, so it didnt have any sunken costs in research and development, and the result was you could charge anything you wanted to. In Andersons assessment, Nortel was Canadas best company, but IP theft by China absolutely destroyed the company. Huawei has been sued by Motorola over allegations that its former employees stole trade secrets and provided them to Huawei. It has also been sued by Cisco for allegedly copying its source code. Both cases were settled out of court. A more recent lawsuit in California launched by a former Huawei employee alleges that he was fired after refusing to use a fake identity and pose as an employee of a fake company to gain entry to a tech summit hosted by Facebook, which had previously refused entry to Huawei. The lawsuit alleges that other Huawei employees who did attend the event compiled a report that included integration plans from competitors at the summit, and transferred the plans to the companys product teams in China. The Epoch Times contacted Huawei Canada for comment, but the company didnt respond by press time. In a previous interview with The Epoch Times, Scott Bradley, Huawei Canadas vice president of corporate affairs, said Huawei is a private company and is not a state-owned enterprise. At a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing in February, FBI Director Chris Wray referred to Huawei and ZTE as companies beholden to foreign governments, urging against allowing them to gain positions of power inside our telecommunications networks. Huawei CFO Accused of Fraud for Hiding Business Relations with Iran, Court Hears VANCOUVERMeng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei, is wanted on fraud charges in the United States, her bail hearing was told. Meng is accused of committing fraud because she told banks in the United States that Huawei and Skycom, a Hong Kong-based company reportedly doing business with Iran, had no connection. However, the court heard from lawyers representing the Canadian government that Huawei effectively controlled Skycom. Meng, 46, was initially granted a publication ban by the British Columbia (BC) Supreme Court, which was subsequently lifted ahead of her hearing. She was arrested in Vancouver on Dec. 1, and is sought for extradition by the United States. The United States issued her arrest warrant on Aug. 22, and BC authorities issued a provisional arrest warrant for her on Nov. 30. In making their case for denying her bail, Canadian government lawyers said Meng has no meaningful connections to Vancouver, and that her massive resources make the amount of her bail pledge irrelevant. Meng pledged C$1 million for bail. If you have infinite resources, the value of pledges diminishes, said John Gibb-Carsley, attorney for Canadas justice department. Mengs father is worth $3.2 billion. Mengs extensive pattern of dishonesty was cited as another reason to deny her bail, as was the fact that she stopped traveling to the United States after learning about the investigation into her case. Mengs lawyer, David Martin, said the Huawei executive would not breach court orders because of her personal dignity. He argued that her wealth should not disqualify her from getting bail, and suggested use of tools such as electronic monitoring to ensure she stays in the country. Gibb-Carsley argued that electronic monitoring would reduce the risk of Meng fleeing, but cant prevent it. Meng has two valid passports, according to Martin. Her Hong Kong passport was seized upon arrest, while her Chinese passport arrived late last night, and she is willing to surrender it along with her expired passports, Martin said. Meng could face up to 30 years in jail for each alleged offence. Gibb-Carsley compared Mengs case to that of Su Bin, a Chinese businessman accused of stealing U.S. military secrets who was denied bail in a BC court in 2014, presenting the case as a precedent to also deny bail to Meng. Mengs bail hearing will resume on Dec. 10. Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau told reporters on Dec. 6 that he had been informed of the arrest a few days ahead of it taking place. Trudeau said at the time that he had not been in contact with China or its ambassadors about the case, CBC reported. Skycom The lawyers for the attorney general of Canada told the court Huawei used Hong Kong-based company, Skycom, to do business with Iran from 2009 to 2014, in violation of U.S. sanctions. Meng is accused of concealing the true nature of Huaweis relationship and Skycom to banks in the United States. This caused the banks to indirectly breach sanctions when they cleared transactions for Huawei, Gibb-Carsley said. In 2013 Reuters reported that Skycom had tried to sell embargoed American-made computer equipment to telecom companies in Iran. The report alleged Skycom had close links to Huawei. At that time, several banks asked Huawei if those allegations were true, Gibb-Carsley said. Meng made a presentation to one of the banks in 2013, in which she said Huaweis dealings with Skycom were part of its normal business operations and that it was no longer a shareholder of Skycom, he said. However, Huawei and Skycom were effectively the same company, Gibb-Carsley said. He argued that Huawei ran Skycom as a subsidiary, adding that Skycom employees used Huawei email addresses and referred to themselves as Huawei employees. Ties to Beijing Meng, who also goes by the names Cathy and Sabrina, is not only Huaweis CFO but also its deputy chair of the board of directors and its founders eldest daughter. Huawei CEO and founder Ren Zhengfei is a former member of Chinas Peoples Liberation Army (PLA), where he worked as an engineer helping to build its communications network. The company has been under scrutiny for its ties to the Chinese regime, raising concerns in the intelligence circles about the use of its equipment for spying for Beijing. [Huawei] is essentially under the control of the Chinese government, former chief of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Ward Elcock told CBC. The United States, Australia, and New Zealand, all members of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance that also includes Canada and the UK, have banned Huawei from their 5G networksthe next generation in wireless technology. In the UK, BT Group announced this month it is removing Huawei equipment from its 3G and 4G mobile operations, and will not be using Huawei technology in its 5G network. In an interview with the Australian Financial Review, former CIA chief Michael Hayden said there is evidence that Huawei spies for Beijing. A recent article from the newspaper The Australian says that officials in Australia have received reports about Chinese spies using Huawei to infiltrate a foreign network. Under Chinas National Intelligence Law, Chinese organizations have to support, assist, and cooperate with state intelligence work. The heads of six U.S. intelligence agencies, including the CIA, FBI, and NSA, have warned against using Huawei products due to security concerns. U.S. Bureau of Land Management photo shows a sage grouse in this undated photo. (Bob Wick/BLM/Handout/Reuters) Interior Department Proposes Looser Protections for a Bird, to Boost Drilling, Mining The U.S. Interior Department on Dec. 6, proposed easing Obama-era protections for a bird, the greater sage grouse, to boost oil drilling and mining across Western states, a win for energy companies but a setback for conservationists. The proposal, announced by the departments Bureau of Land Management, fits within the Trump administrations broader plan to increase energy production on federal lands by rolling back environmental regulation. The BLM said the proposal would open up hundreds of thousands of acres of grouse habitat in states like Colorado and Utah to oil and gas leasing, allow for changes to grouse habitat boundary maps, and remove obstacles to new coal leasing. Interior Department Deputy Secretary David Bernhardt, a Colorado native and a former energy lobbyist, said the proposals reflected the interests of Western States that host the chicken-sized prairie fowl, which is considered by conservationists to be a key indicator species for Americas dwindling sagebrush ecosystem. With todays action we have leaned forward to address the various states issues, while appropriately ensuring that we will continue to be focused on meaningfully addressing the threats to the Greater Sage-Grouse, he said. Former president Barack Obamas 2015 plan to protect the ground-dwelling bird imposed restrictions to development in their habitat, but in a concession to business groups fell short of placing them on the endangered species lista move that would have imposed far more rigid rules. But miners, oil drillers, and ranchers in some Western states have said the plan unnecessarily hurt economic development. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke last year had ordered a review of protections for the sage grouse to ensure conservation efforts do not impede local economic opportunitiesone of numerous reviews of Obama-era environmental protections launched by President Donald Trumps administration. Bobby McEnaney, a spokesman for the Natural Resources Defense Council, called the move a bald-faced giveaway to the oil and gas industry. This rolls back a conservation plan that was carefully crafted by states, ranchers, conservationists, and public officials to protect this iconic Western bird and the unique sagebrush landscape it inhabits, he said. Sage grouse are now believed to number between 200,000 and 500,000 birds across 11 Western states and southern Alberta. By Richard Valdmanis Judge Allegedly Tells Stay-at-Home Mom Who Asked to Be Dropped From Jury Duty: Dont Care About Your Children A Fresno, California, woman blasted a local judge this week after the judge made allegedly critical comments toward her about not having childcare. Christa Pehl Evans, who had three children under the age of 7, said she reported for jury duty on Nov. 20, raised her hand, and said she should be excused because she needed to take care of her kids. Evans also said she breastfeeds her youngest and homeschools her other two children. Judge allegedly tells stay-at-home mom who asked to be excused from jury duty: 'I don't care abou https://t.co/cvWRsm2bi6 via @YahooLifestyle Patriotic Lady (@Stips620) December 7, 2018 Judge James Petrucelli then allegedly insulted the mom, she claimed. Petrucelli told Evans and another woman, I dont care about your children, according to a Facebook post she made on Nov. 21. He had this attitude toward me that I was some dumb mom, which is a broader problem in this country, she told the Fresno Bee. I have a PhD from Princeton, and being a mother is the hardest job Ive ever done. I felt like I had to defend myself for mothering my children. Petrucelli asked who was caring for her children when she was in jury duty. She said her husband had stayed home from work, according to the report. What happens when he does not take a day off or if you are sick? Petrucelli asked her. Evans replied, I take care of my kids when Im sick. Petrucelli then asked her: If you got hit by a Mack truck and went to the hospital? That would be an issue. It has not happened yet, she replied. Another woman, a stay-at-home mother of an 18-month old and who is pregnant, also asked the judge to be excused on the same day, according to the Fresno Bee. She told the judge shes a doctor, and he told her she could afford child care. Im amazed that people dont have child care available to them, Petrucelli told the unnamed woman. Evans said his comments were unnecessary. For me, I understood that she was worried about the regularity of her childs schedule, Evans said. But it was like he just wanted her to suck it up. I found it very offensive and insensitive. Evans said she was excused for jury duty but was ordered to come back in January, saying, Ill have to go through all of this again. On Facebook, she pilloried the judge. I am more than happy to serve on the jury when my children are older, but my most important duty to this country at this moment is to raise loving human beings, a job that consumes me all day and many nights she wrote and went on to defend stay-at-home mothers. Paid work is not the only work that matters, she added. His conversation with me went on and on in front of the entire courtroom, she wrote in her post. There were almost 300 people at the courthouse called to serve jury duty, and Judge James Petrucelli chose to berate two mothers of young children. In contrast the man in the room asking to get off the jury because he needed money from his job to support his family was not questioned. Judge Petrucelli simply nodded his head in agreement with him. Judge Defends Comments, Denies Allegations Petrucelli said he stood by his comments. Its my responsibility to ask those questions. Im not offended by anything I said, he said, adding that his questions were meant to probe into any financial hardships. But people have different sensitivities. He first denied the Mack truck comment, but later reviewed the comment and said, I have said that to people before, to make a point about what happens if theres an emergency. Petrucelli added, I do have a tendency to get peoples attention. Theres no two ways about it. In the interview, he denied her allegations that he acted out of malice. Why wouldnt somebody call me and have me apologize if theyre offended? It is not my job or thought process to offend anybody. I do this every day. We have thousands and thousands and thousands of jurors come through, he said. I mean, I have so many people come up to me away from court and tell me what a wonderful experience it was to be in my courtroom and so on. He was first elected in 1998 after working as a civil attorney and sheriffs deputy in Fresno. He was re-elected in November 2016, running unopposed. Bakersfield.com reported that in 2015, the state judicial commission censured Petrucelli for ordering some correctional officers to release from jail a friend of his who was charged with domestic violence. Officials described his actions as serious misconduct. In 2007, he was reprimanded by the state commission for poor behavior towards county employees and lawyers for making comments that are discourteous, sarcastic or demeaning to those appearing before him, according to the report. He also got two letters reprimanding for infringing on lawyers rights and raising his voice with county workers, the report stated. That happened in 2001 and 2002. Stay-at-Home Moms According to Pew, more mothers are staying home in the United States: The share of mothers who do not work outside the home has risen over the past decade, reversing a long-term decline in stay-at-home mothers. (In the U.S. today, 71 percent of all mothers work outside the home.) Two-thirds are traditional married stay-at-home mothers with working husbands, but a growing share is unmarried. Meanwhile, more Americans say a stay-at-home parent is the best option Despite the fact that most mothers in the U.S. work at least part time, 60 percent of Americans say children are better off when a parent stays home to focus on the family, while 35 percent say they are just as well off when both parents work outside the home, Pew said. Late Top Chinese Physicist at Stanford Had Connection to Beijing VC Investments in Silicon Valley Zhang Shoucheng was a renowned physicist at Stanford University with a number of academic prizes to his name. His scientific discoveries earned him a spot in the U.S. honorary society National Academic of Sciences, in 2015. A year earlier, Zhang and his teams research in a material called a topological insulatorwhich led to the discovery of a new state of matterled Thomson Reuters to predict that his team would win the Nobel Prize in physics. They didnt win, but the research was seen as critical for further developing semiconductor chips with a greater storage and processing capacity. That is an innovation the Chinese regime is especially keen on getting its hands on. Chinas lagging domestic semiconductor industry has forced it to rely on foreign-imported chips for manufacturing electronic devices. But because it wants to become a tech-manufacturing superpower, Beijing has resorted to economic espionage, aggressive business acquisitions, and other underhanded tactics to seek an edge over Western competitors. These methods were described in detail by the U.S. Trade Representatives Section 301 report on Chinas intellectual property theft practices released in Marchfindings that led the United States to impose punitive trade tariffs on Chinese goods. In a November update to the Section 301 report, a new section appears on how the Chinese regime has established a presence in Silicon Valley, with an eye toward investing, then eventually accessing vital technology from U.S. startups. Mentioned in the report is Digital Horizon Capital, a venture capital (VC) firm founded by Zhang. On Dec. 1, Zhang died unexpectedly at the age of 55, after a battle with depression, according to an email sent by Zhangs family and obtained by the South China Morning Post. Sean McCormack, who said he was a family spokesman, confirmed that Zhang committed suicide, in an email on Dec. 6. The Epoch Times contacted the Palo Alto police department, but was told Stanford University would field related questions. Stanford didnt respond to a request for comment at press time. A look into Zhangs history and his venture capital firms funding reveal a systematic scheme by the Chinese regime to poach cutting-edge technology developed in Silicon Valley. Zhangs Background Zhang was born in Shanghai and attended Fudan University, one of Chinas most prestigious schools, according to Chinese media reports. He later came to the United States and in 1987, obtained a doctoral degree in physics at State University of New York, Stony Brook, according to his online CV. His research in the realm of quantum physics caught the attention of the Chinese regime. Zhang was recruited under the Thousand Talents programa Beijing-led effort to attract top scientists and engineers from overseas to work in Chinain 2008 to conduct research at Tsinghua University, another top school, according to a Jan. 2018 article published on the website of Beijing-based think tank Center for China and Globalization. The article explains that Zhang helped advance quantum research in China, crediting him with helping to develop the first-ever China research lab that produced a physics academic paper worthy of the Nobel prize. The lab was a collaboration between Tsinghua and the state-run Chinese Academy of Sciences. Of note is that Zhang was selected as an academician at the Chinese Academy. The Thousand Talents website also recently cited in a Nov. 2018 post that Zhang was hired onto a team of overseas strategic scientists to establish a special committee in Silicon Valley. This committee would help promote the development of Beijings high-tech industryin other words, recruit other scientists to work for the benefit of the Chinese regimes goals. Zhang made clear his desire to assist the Chinese regime. In an interview published in January by Chinese news portal Sina, he expressed that his VC firm would help bring back the front-lines of research to China. Zhangs Company In fact, Zhangs VC firm has caught the U.S. administrations attention for being the recipient of Chinese state funding. In an update to the Section 301 report released in November, Digital Horizon Capital (DHVC), previously named Danhua Capital, is listed as an example of Chinas web of entities established in Silicon Valley to further the industrial-policy goals of the Chinese government. Such VC firms invest in a wide range of startups, then to varying degrees have access to information, technology, and the ability to influence and potentially coerce management, according to the Section 301 update. Digital Horizon Capital traces its funding to Chinese state-affiliated entities. An investment arm of the state-owned firm Zhongguancun Development Group (ZDG) has backed a number of VC firms in Silicon Valley, including DHVC. When DHVC was first established in 2013, Beijings mayor attended the companys signing ceremony in Silicon Valley, according to the report. A press release on the ZDG website explained that DHVC would focus on innovative tech developed at Stanford and other nearby universities, for the purpose of steering projects to Beijings Zhongguancun tech hub to commercialize. Zhongguancun capital goes out and foreign advanced technology and human capital is brought in, the press release read. ZDGs investment arm helped convince Chinese tech giants Alibaba and Baidu to contribute to DHVCs first round of funding, raising the total to about $91 million, according to the report. iFlyTek, a Chinese voice-recognition company that has received Chinese state funding and works closely with Chinas Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, has invested $5 million in DHVC. BOE Technology Group Co., a tech firm that counts the Chinese regime as its biggest shareholder, invested about 60 million yuan ($8.9 million). The report noted that Meta, an augmented-reality startup thats among the 113 companies in DHVCs portfolio, announced in September that it would lay off half its employees in Silicon Valley and move operations to China, after the Chinese government pressured Chinese investors. DHVC also invests in Cohesity, a data management company that counts the U.S. Department of Energy and U.S. Air Force as clients, according to a Reuters report. Scrutiny of VC Investment The issue of Chinese VC funding for U.S. startups has set off alarms with U.S. authorities over the potential for poaching U.S. technology. In August, U.S. Congress passed the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act, which would provide more scrutiny powers to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), a federal agency that reviews business deals with potential national security risks. CFIUS now has the power to review any foreign investment, both direct and indirect, that may give the investor access to non-public technical information, or board or observer rights, according to the U.S. Treasury Department, which oversees CFIUS regulations. Global law firm DLA Piper noted on its website that startups and their investors now will need to consider the new regulations with regards to foreign funding. Cathy He and Daniel Holl contributed to this report. This article was updated to provide confirmed details on Zhangs death. The New England Journal of Medicine tweeted several disturbing-yet-visually striking photos, showing a single-piece cast made of a blood clot that matched the mans bronchial tree, which transports air to and from the lungs. (Google Street View) Man Coughs up Cast of Lungs Intact Bronchial Tree: Researchers Warning: Graphic photo below I just coughed up a lung is a term thats not supposed to be taken literally. But for one 36-year-old California man, it was. The New England Journal of Medicine tweeted several disturbing, yet visually striking photos, showing a single-piece cast made of a blood clot that matched the mans bronchial tree, which transports air to and from the lungs. The unidentified patient was receiving treatment at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Medical Center and was fitted with a pacemaker. The journal said that over the span of a week, the patient was coughing blood and phlegm before coughing up a six-inch wide cast of the tree. The right bronchial tree consists of three segmental branches in the upper lobe, two segmental branches in the middle lobe, and five segmental branches in the lower lobe, the authors wrote. The patients trachea was subsequently intubated, and flexible bronchoscopy revealed a small amount of blood in the basilar branches of the right lower lobe. A 36-year-old man was admitted to the ICU with an acute exacerbation of chronic #heartfailure. After a ventricular assist device was placed & anticoagulation therapy initiated, hemoptysis developed, and he expectorated a cast of the right bronchial tree. https://t.co/QfqeqwWzXt pic.twitter.com/nXW201rjCT NEJM (@NEJM) December 3, 2018 The man died a week later, according to the journal. His medical history included heart failure with an ejection fraction of 20 percent, bioprosthetic aortic-valve replacement for bicuspid aortic stenosis, endovascular stenting of an aortic aneurysm, and placement of a permanent pacemaker for complete heart block, it said. An Impella ventricular assist device was placed for management of acute heart failure, and a continuous heparin infusion was initiated for systemic anticoagulation. Following the incident, a tube was placed in the patients throat to allow him to breathe. Georg Wieselthaler, a transplant and pulmonary surgeon with the University of California at San Francisco, explained to The Atlantic: You have high turbulence inside the pumps, and that can cause clots to form inside. So with all these patients, you have to give them anticoagulants to make the blood thinner and prevent clots from forming. Wieselthaler said the patient coughed deeply and spat out a large, odd-shaped clot that was folded. Wieselthaler and his team unfurled the clot and discovered the bronchial tree. We were astonished, Wieselthaler said. Its a curiosity you cant imagineI mean, this is very, very, very rare. In 1926, a case study said a 34-year-old woman apparently coughed up a large piece of membrane and it was a cast of the trachea, both bronchi, and several bronchioles. In 2005, a pregnant woman coughed up a smaller cast of a bronchial tree. She survived the ordeal and was able to deliver her child. Gavitt Woodard, a clinical fellow in UCSFs thoracic-surgery department, attempted to explain why it happened. Because it was so large, he was able to generate enough force from an entire right side of his thorax to push this up and out, Woodard said. Bronchi are the main passageway into the lungs. When someone takes a breath through their nose or mouth, the air travels into the larynx. The next step is through the trachea, which carries the air to the left and right bronchus. The bronchi become smaller the closer they get to the lung tissue and are then considered bronchioles. These passageways then evolve into tiny air sacs called alveoli, which is the site of oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange in the respiratory system, says Healthline. Merkels Party Votes for New Leader, and New Era in Germany HAMBURGAngela Merkels Christian Democrats vote on Dec. 7, to decide who replaces her as party leader and moves into pole position to succeed her as German chancellor. The frontrunners are Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, a Merkel protege seen as the continuity candidate, and Friedrich Merz, a Merkel rival who has questioned the constitutional guarantee of asylum to all politically persecuted and believes Germany, Europes biggest economy, should contribute more to the European Union. Merkel said in October she would step down as party chief but remain chancellor, an effort to manage her exit after a series of setbacks since her divisive decision in 2015 to keep German borders open to refugees fleeing war in the Middle East. The new CDU leader will be chosen by 1,001 delegates who vote at a party congress in Hamburg. The winner will likely lead the CDU in the next federal election due by October 2021. A survey by pollster Infratest dimap for broadcaster ARD on Thursday showed 47 percent of CDU members favored Kramp-Karrenbauer compared with 37 percent for Merz and 12 percent for Health Minister Jens Spahn. Merz, 63, who lost out to Merkel in a power struggle in 2002 and is returning to politics after a decade in business, is backed by CDU members tired of Merkels consensual politics. He won support this week from party veteran Wolfgang Schaeuble. Dangerous Candidate Economy Minister Peter Altmaier, a Merkel ally, said: I am convinced that with Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer we have the best chance of the CDU winning an election, adding she would be the most dangerous candidate to face the center-left Social Democrats and the ecologist Greens. Kramp-Karrenbauers trump card is her record as former state premier in Saarland, where she led a broad coalition with the Greens and pro-business Free Democrats, alliance-building skills useful in Germanys fractured political landscape. Kramp-Karrenbauer, 56, has differentiated herself from Merkel on social and foreign policy by voting in favor of quotas for women on corporate boards, opposed by Merkel, and by taking a tougher line on Russia. She told Reuters last week Europe and the United States should consider blockading Russian ships over the Ukraine crisis. But on what lies ahead for the CDU, Kramp-Karrenbauer says: I have no particular recipe. By contrast, Merz takes clear positions that appeal to rank-and-file party members hungry for a more clearly defined party after 13 years under Merkel as chancellor. He wants tax cuts, a stronger EU and a more robust approach to challenging the far-right. Merz will benefit from the fact that 296 of the delegates at the congressalmost a thirdwill be from his home state, the western region of North Rhine-Westphalia. One senior CDU official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said many delegates were undecided before the congress and could be swayed by how the candidates present themselves on Friday. It could come down to the speeches on the day, he said. By Paul Carrel Mom Jailed 10 Years for Death of Her 3-Week-Old Baby Partner sentenced for the same length of time A couple will spend the next 10 years behind bars for the death of their three-week-old infant in the United Kingdom, according to reports on Dec. 7. The BBC reported that Roxanne Davis, 30, and Sam Davies, 24, from Gosport, are equally culpable in the brutal death of their infant son, Judge Jane Miller told the court. The court heard that the child, named Stanley, died of a skull fracture and brain haemorrhage when he was just 24-days old in March 2017, ITV reported. The judge blamed three separate incidents for causing the childs 32 other fractures. The medical evidence is he would have cried inconsolably for 10 to 30 minutes, which means both of you would have been aware of his distress because the flat was so tiny. One of you may have been absent when one of the sets of injuries was inflicted, but not all, Miller told the defendants. The childs mother cried during an initial hearing last month and shouted: Hes a murderer, apparently referring to the father. Miller then told the mother: Much of your upset is self-serving crocodile tears. Your upset was more about you rather than Stanley. The judge added: You were delighted to show him off to family and friends but when you were back at home and he wasnt a fashion accessory, you were happy to hand him over to your partner. A court heard the couple had a quarrelsome relationship. Police came to their home after neighbors heard yelling, ITV reported. The two also tested positive for marijuana and cocaine at the time of being arrested, Sky News reported. A health visitor, a common term used to describe a registered nurse or midwife, spotted a bruise on the infant on March 16 but a doctor identified it as a birthmark, the report said. A mother and her ex-partner have both been jailed for 10 years for being responsible for the "brutal" death of her three-week-old son https://t.co/um8YIGE3pq pic.twitter.com/mfGUErz4Im ITV News (@itvnews) December 7, 2018 Miller described their cocaine and marijuana use during parenthood as irresponsible in the extreme, the BBC reported. You both had quick and hot tempers and were violent towards each other, she said. You colluded to conceal Stanleys injuries and deceived doctors and midwives, the judge added. I am unable to be sure which one of you systematically injured Stanley. Both of you could and should have been capable of standing up to each other. Defense attorney for the mother Katie Thorne said her client suffered from depression, adding: Miss Davis case has always been that she didnt cause the injuries. Miss Davis did accept her strong feelings of guilt in failing to protect Stanley, according to ITV. The fathers attorney, Sally Howes, claimed her client had great sadness and a great feeling of guilt. He is clearly a very immature man and his diagnoses of ADHD and emotionally unstable personality disorder are recent, and will have to be addressed at a later stage, Howes said. Detective Chief Inspector Fiona Bitters of Hampshire Police said they were unable to charge the two with murder even though they completed a thorough investigation. We havent been able to charge with murder, she said. Many people feel that should have been the case but we are guided by the law and I think weve charged them with the right offense andin terms of the maximum sentence for thatthis reflects the serious nature and the tragedy of this case. Michael Sot, 20, a student at The College of New Jersey, died on Dec. 4, 2018, two days after the car he was driving was hit by an impaired driver in Ewing, New Jersey. (Michael Sot/GoFundMe) NJ Restaurant Apologizes After Manager Fired Student for Trying to Attend Friends Funeral A New Jersey restaurant apologized after a text message exchange was revealed. It showed a manager firing a college student for trying to attend the funeral of a friend who was killed by a drunk driver. The husband of the manager, Ben, who also owns Cafe 72 in Ewing Township, issued a statement saying the student was not fired. Her last shifts were this weekend before leaving for holiday break to be with her family and friends until January 28th. This private conversation was not related in any way to the mourning of Michael, he wrote in a statement published on the cafes website. Although this interaction was displayed completely out of context by a friend of the employee and drastically misrepresents Katie and our establishment, we recognize that there is NOTHING that excuses it. We carelessly let the stresses of family and business replace the professionalism, respect, and empathy that every employee and person deserves. The owner highlighted the restaurants charitable work and said that it will donate $1,000 to the GoFundMe fundraiser for the family of the student who was killed. We would also like to add to this donation by giving another 10% of all sales the remainder of this week in his honor. Thank you for taking the time to read this and we wish everyone a happy and healthy holiday season, he said. Text Messages The series of messages between the manager, Katie, the owners wife, and the employee, who has not been identified by name, was published on Facebook and went viral recently, reported New Jersey Advance Media. The student texts Katie asking if anyone could cover for her. She explains that he close friend passed away, posting a link to a story about how Michael Sot, 20, a student at The College of New Jersey, died after the car he was driving was hit by a drunk driver. Im trying to find a cover for my shifts so I can attend the funeral service rather than call out and leave you guys hanging, the student wrote. The manager replies, Oh wow thanks. Just dont come back to work. I like you but Im sick of all staff not taking their job seriously and just [expletive] expect me to cover all of your shifts, added the manager. I have a business to run at the end of the day. And a family. The student says that she is trying to be responsible by alerting the manager and finding someone to cover the shift. Letting someone go because of a death is unethical, the student said. Im not playing this game. If you cant work and there is no one [to] cover the shift in order for the restaurant to operate I have to let you go. Sorry, the manager said. After the exchange went viral, the cafes Yelp reviews and ratings have plunged as customers and others also slammed the cafe on social media. The restaurant later removed its Facebook page. College Student Dies Sot, the college student, was the designated driver and was making sure his friends got home safe, a friend who started the fundraiser wrote on the page. The fundraiser raised over $68,000 at the time of this publication. Sot was rushed to the hospital on Dec. 2, with serious injuries and passed away on Tuesday, two days later. The car Sot was driving was slammed into head-on by a vehicle driven by David Lamar V, 22, when Lamar tried to pass by vehicles on Pennington Road in Ewing near the colleges campus, police officers told the Asbury Park Press. Lamar ended up crossing the double yellow line and hitting Sot, who was driving in the opposite direction. Lamar is facing second-degree vehicular manslaughter after Sots death in addition to seven counts of assault by auto. According to a criminal complaint, he was impaired while operating his 2018 Kia Optima. What happened here was a tragic accident, Robin Lord, Lamars attorney, said in an email sent to the Advance Media. David maintains his innocence and we are investigating the exact cause of the accident. We send our sympathies to the victims and the family of the boy who lost his life. Lamar is being held in the Mercer County Jail to await a detention hearing. Jenna Passero, 21, one of the injured, told the Park Press that her boyfriend Ryan Moore, a senior at The College of New Jersey, was in critical condition from the crash; he suffered a traumatic brain injury, spinal injury, and broken pelvis. Three other students from the college were among the injured. Danielle DeFlores, another student injured in the crash, suffered a traumatic brain injury, liver lacerations, a dislocated left hip, and a broken right femur, according to the complaint. Matthew DeGenova was hospitalized with cuts to his face and feet and a dislocated right hip while Anthony Galante suffered a serious brain injury, among other injuries. A remains in the hospital with a traumatic brain injury, spinal injury and a broken pelvis. A passenger in Lamars car was also injured, suffering bladder and spinal injuries. The passenger hasnt been publicly identified. From NTD News Mark Harris speaks to the media during a news conference in Matthews, N.C., on Nov. 7, 2018. (Chuck Burton/AP File Photo) North Carolina Democrat Challenger Drops Concession Amid Midterm Election Probe The Democrat trailing in a North Carolina congressional race withdrew his concession on Dec. 6 as state election officials investigated allegations of absentee ballot fraud. There has been no confirmation of absentee ballot fraud in the unresolved 9th Congressional District race, but the states Republican Party said that if evidence was found then it would support a re-election. Unofficial totals have Republican Mark Harris leading McCready by 905 votes. But the state elections board refused to certify the results last week because of allegations of irregularities and concerted fraudulent activities involving mail-in ballots in the district. The board is meeting later this month to hear evidence, but its unclear whether the race will be settled then. The board could order a new election. McCready initially declined to seek a recount but said the allegations changed his mind. I didnt serve overseas in the Marines to come home to NC and watch a criminal, bankrolled by my opponent, take away peoples very right to vote. Today I withdraw my concession and call on Mark Harris to end his silence and tell us exactly what he knew, and when, said Dan McCready on Twitter on Dec. 6. He also called on supporters for a fresh injection of funds to support his efforts. Ballot Harvesting North Carolina law allows only a family member or legal guardian to drop off absentee ballots for a voter but some voters in the county said in affidavits offered by the state Democrat Party that people came to their homes to collect their ballots. In some states, such as California, such ballot harvesting tactics are legal. A state election board spokesman confirmed Thursday that subpoenas seeking documents had been sent to the Harris campaign, the Red Dome Group, which worked for Harris, and the campaign committee of the sitting Bladen sheriff. The board released documents showing that McCrae Dowless, the contractor hired by Red Dome, seems to have collected the most absentee ballot request forms in Bladen County this fall. Dowless has a felony criminal record. A campaign lawyer said earlier this week that it wasnt aware of any illegal conduct in the 9th District race. Harris said last week that his victory should be finalized while the board investigated. I support any efforts to investigate allegations of irregularities and/or voter fraud, as long as it is fair and focuses on all political parties. There is absolutely no public evidence that there are enough ballots in question to affect the outcome of this race, Harris said in a statement, reported ABC 11. State GOP Executive Director Dallas Woodhouse said that if the states election board were to show that absentee ballot issues changed the outcome, he would support a new election. If they can show a substantial likelihood it could have changed the race then we fully would support a new election, he said. If not, the results should be certified, he added. U.S. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said Thursday the House retains the right to decide who is seated and could take the extraordinary step of calling for a new election if the winner isnt clear. Chairman Steps Down In the midst of the investigation, the chairman of the State Board of Elections stepped down from his position after Wake County GOP Chairman Charles Hellwig filed a complaint about tweets that the chairman sent. Andy Pentry, the chairman, sent a series of missives slamming President Donald Trump. When he became chairman of the Board of Elections, no matter how partisan he may have been, he had a duty to act in a way that was at least let us see he was fair, neutral. Maybe he has personal opinions, thats fine, Hellwig said at a press conference on Dec. 1, reported ABC 11. When you do the things he did and say the things he said publicly, that just rips away our confidence in the system. Penry made his Twitter account private and said he wanted to step down so that his issues wouldnt distract from the voter fraud investigation in the 9th Congressional District. The Associated Press contributed to this report. From NTD News Parents Arrested After Seven Children Found Living in Horrible Conditions: Police The parents of seven children who were found living in deplorable conditions in Leadwood, Missouri, were arrested on a slew of charges, said police. Kristina Hillhouse, 35, and Robert Hillhouse, 39, are facing charges of endangering the welfare of a child after police found their two children wandering around a neighborhood with no shoes and no clothes in November, KMOV reported. When they went into the home, officials made a horrible discovery, said the report. A 5-year-old boy and an 8-year-old girl were found 50 feet away from their home, but they apparently didnt recognize it, KMOV reported. The kids were with an older neighbor who told officials the kids lived in a yellow house where the Hillhouses lived. In a police report, the officer said that based on his experience, a child not knowing where they live or not knowing what the outside of their home looks like is a sign the child has been inside the home for a long period of time. He added they are not able to see the outside world, the Daily Journal reported. Police put the children into a police vehicle and went to the house. After knocking on the door, there was no response, according to the report. The door was apparently already open, and officials said it appeared unsanitary inside. Officials found Kristina asleep in bed with a 5-month-old. Then police discovered a child asleep in a chair covered with grime and human waste. All of the children were wearing clothing soaked in urine and had human waste on their feet, the report said. The beds of the home were covered in decaying food and much worse, police said. Department of Family Services officials were called by the officers. This is where a Leadwood couple was living w/7 children in inhumane conditions. Feces was smeared all over floors, walls, furniture and was caked on the childrens feet according to police. Robert & Kristina Hillhouse arrested & charged @KMOV pic.twitter.com/9d0pEE4HsV Russell Kinsaul (@russellkinsaul) December 7, 2018 A police report stated that while officers waited for Department of Family Services workers to arrive the officer checked out the bathroom and saw a childrens potty chair on the floor by the sink which was overflowing with human waste, the Daily Journal reported. Dirty diapers, overflowing toilets, and waste was all over the bathroom floor. The officer said the toilet likely wasnt operating properly for some time. The officer found more of the same in a childrens bedroom and in the master bedroom. He said the kitchen was one of the worst rooms in the house, with flies swarming around dirty dishes and overflowing trash bags, the Daily Journal reported. Overall, the children ranged from a few months in age to 10 years old, the KMOV report stated. Police are now requesting a bond of $150,000. House of Horrors Update A few weeks ago, a judge in California denied a request from Louise Turpin to participate in a mental health diversion program, a mother of 13 who allegedly abused and held them captive inside a home in Perris, according to People magazine. Superior Court Judge Bernard J. Schwartz, however, said Turpin posed an unreasonable risk to the public, the Riverside County District Attorneys office said in a statement. Louise Turpin, 50, and husband, David Turpin, 56, were January with a number of counts of torture, false imprisonment, and cruelty to a dependent adult. Police Reveal Puzzling New Details in Wisconsin Teen Jayme Closs Kidnapping The sheriff investigating missing Wisconsin teen Jayme Closss abduction and her parents murder has revealed perplexing new details of the disturbing case. Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald spoke exclusively to DailyMailTV about the investigation into the night James and Denise Closs were killed and their teenage daughter was kidnapped. He told reporters that the items at the crime scene were strangely undisturbed and nothing seemed out of place despite an attack that was clearly violent. Orderly Crime Scene The house wasnt disturbed at all from what we were able to tell, Fitzgerald told the station. Thats part of the confusing part of this case. A gunman shot the Closs couple to death in their house on Oct. 15, snatched their 13-year-old daughter, and vanished. Fitzgerald said the shooter was inside the house for only four minutes. It doesnt appear that anything was taken, it doesnt appear that Jayme packed up any clothing, he added. He said that Denise and James Closs sustained wounds causing them to die instantly. No Forensic Evidence Investigators are also troubled by the utter lack of forensic evidence left by the killer. Thats the frustrating part of it, Fitzgerald told DailyMailTV. Weve had four different lab teams look at the scene before we released it. We were very strategic. When we discovered it was a major crime we sealed it off immediately. But if Im in your house for minutes and I only step five feet inside your home Im probably not going to leave a big footprint. Bullet Casings The sheriff said the only thing the shooter left behind was bullet casings. The caliber of the rounds fired was something Fitzgerald would not reveal, saying that this information was being withheld as a matter of investigative strategy. Only the killer is going to know that and thats information we have to hold close to the case so that when we catch this person we can convict them, he said. We are looking for that gun, he added. We are looking for a firearm. A Desperate Hope Fitzgerald revealed that its possible that in the course of interviews with members of the community, detectives may already have spoken with Jaymes kidnapper. But despite the combined efforts of the FBI, State Police and Sheriffs Department, as well as a $50,000 reward for information leading to an arrest or Jaymes discovery, investigators still have little to go on and nothing more than hope to suggest the teen is still alive. Jaymes aunt, Jennifer Smith, made a televised emotional plea last month for anyone with information to contact the authorities. She also spoke out directly to the missing girl. Jayme, not a moment goes by that were not thinking of you and praying for you, said Smith during a press conference at the Barron County Sheriffs Department on Oct. 24. Your family and friends miss you so much. Your sparkling eyes, your bright smile, your soft little giggles. More recently, Smith told DailyMailTV that she believes someone in the community knows something that could break open the case. I feel that she is alive and she is close by. I just feel it. I do truly believe somebody out there knows something. I think someone in Barron is keeping a secret. Jayme continues to be featured on the FBIs kidnapping and missing persons list, and a nationwide search for her continues, but the 2,300 tips given to officers have not led anywhere. It is very frustrating, Fitzgerald said. Its lots of ups and lots of downs and the downs hurt because you think Were going to get her. Were going to find her. Were going to solve this case. And then it doesnt happen, or that tip isnt true. The sheriff said investigators have recently begun re-interviewing people and combing through earlier interviews for clues that might have been missed. It really stings, he said. But you just have to keep believing and keep that hope alive that well bring Jayme home. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission logo adorns an office door at the SEC headquarters in Washington, on June 24, 2011. (Jonathan Ernst/File Photo/Reuters) SEC to Consider Stricter Shareholder-Proposal Rules WASHINGTON/NEW YORKThe chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said on Dec. 6, that the regulator will consider stricter rules for submitting shareholder proposals at annual meetings, including the ownership and resubmission threshold. Jay Clayton, in an address outlining the regulators agenda for 2019, told an audience at a New York event hosted by Columbia Universitys School of International Public Affairs that the SEC would also consider subjecting proxy advisory firms to stricter requirements for transparency and conflict of interest disclosure. Last month, Reuters reported that the SEC was poised to consider changes to the rules that allow company shareholders to advance special resolutions on charged issues like climate change and gun violence. Industry groups say the rules allow special interests and proxy advisory firms that recommend how investors should vote to hijack corporate boardrooms with costly demands. The move could set up the SEC for a clash with investors, who worry any rule changes would diminish their ability to hold company management accountable. Earlier on Thursday, SEC Commissioner Robert Jackson also called for the regulator to consider imposing stricter disclosure requirements on institutional fund managers relating to how they vote in corporate elections. The front page of a website set up by The American Conservative Union, on Dec. 6, 2018. (Screenshot/rejectpricecontrols.org) Senior Health Adviser Pushes Back Against Conservative Groups on Drug Price Controls WASHINGTONOn the same day John OBrien was appointed as the next senior adviser to the Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary for drug pricing reform, he published a blog post targeting conservative groups opposed to the administrations attempts to rein in high drug prices by pegging them to other countries. On Dec. 6, the American Conservative Union (ACU) took out a full-page ad in The Washington Times saying HHSs plan to peg drug prices for seniors to prices in over a dozen countries will force Americans to accept government price controls for live saving drugs based on deeply manipulated prices from Greece, Finland, France, and other socialist nations. [This] is directly out of the Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton playbook, the ACU said in the ad. Adopting price controls from European countries that restrict access to care is not a market-based solution. The ad was targeting the departments proposed International Pricing Index that would peg what the Medicare Part B program pays for drugs to prices in 16 other countries: Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, and the UK. The United States pays 80 percent more than other countries for a standard basket of 27 drugs, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said in a recent report. At the end of the proposals five-year test phase, HHS predicts drug prices for Medicare Part B will decrease by 26 percent. OBrien says that Medicare Part B, which mainly covers drugs administered in a physicians office, currently accepts the drug industrys pricing based on an average sales price of what other Americans pay, which enables and subsidizes socialist governments and their artificially low price fixing regimes. Instead of letting drug companies raise prices on Americans, drug companies should negotiate better prices in other countries or walk away if they dont get the deal they want, he says. Or, they could continue giving cheaper prices to countries overseas and take a cut in their drugs reimbursement from Medicare, he said. Because Medicare makes up such a large part of the U.S. market, he believes drug companies will opt to play by Medicares new rules. The International Price Index is still in the proposal stage, and HHS will seek comment until Dec. 31, but the administration is already putting its full weight behind it. HHS Secretary Alex Azar said in an October speech at the Brookings Institution that this was the best way to bring down prices while respecting free market prices that companies have set. OBrien also referred to a Sept. 26 op-ed in The Washington Times by the director and president of Americans for Tax Reform that encouraged the administration to ensure that other countries remove their innovation-destroying policies when negotiating free trade agreements. Another op-ed by Americans for Tax Reform, published by The Hill, that OBrien seems to be pushing back against says the administration is surrendering to socialist style price controls that would suppress the development of the next generation of cures. Let us remember that the best way to support future pharmaceutical innovation is to build a sustainable market-based system for pricing prescription drugs, OBrien said. The possible savings American patients would receive over five years represents less than 1 percent of pharmaceutical R&D spending during that time. The pharmaceutical industry has offered no evidence of that amount having a meaningful impact on innovation, he added. OBrien is filling the spot left by Azars former senior advisor for drug pricing reform, Dan Best, who was found unresponsive outside a house in Washington on Nov. 1. His death was later ruled a suicide. OBrien previously served as a regular adviser to the secretary for health reform and drug pricing, as well as the deputy assistant to the secretary for health policy in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. John OBrien has already been an integral leader in HHSs efforts to bring down the high price of prescription drugs, said Azar in a statement. As a senior advisor, he will carry forward the legacy of our departed colleague Dan Best and build on the substantial progress that has already been made. Survivors Gather at Pearl Harbor for Attack Remembrance PEARL HARBOR, HawaiiAbout 20 survivors gathered at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, to pay tribute to the thousands of men lost in the Japanese attack 77 years ago. They joined dignitaries, active duty troops, and members of the public in observing a moment of silence at 7:55 a.m., the time the bombing began on Dec. 7, 1941. John Mathrursse traveled to Hawaii for the event from Mountain View, California. He was an 18-year-old seaman second class walking out of the chow hall on Ford Island to see a friend on the USS West Virginia when the bombing began. The guys were getting hurt, bombs and shells going off in the water. I helped the ones that couldnt swim, who were too badly injured or whatever and helped them to shore, said Mathrusse, now 95. He carried injured people to the mess hall and set them on mattresses grabbed from the barracks above. The youngest of the survivors are now in their mid-90s. Still, most stood to salute for the national anthem. Adm. Phil Davidson, commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, said the nation can never forget the heavy price paid on that day. He cited 21 vessels damaged or sunk, 170 planes destroyed, more than 2,400 people dead, including servicemen and civilians. Despite these losses, it did not break the American spirit. In fact, it charged it, he said in a keynote address. This year, no survivor from the USS Arizona attended the ceremony as none of the men were able to make the trip to Hawaii. The Arizona sank after two bombs hit the ship, triggering tremendous explosions. The Arizona lost 1,177 sailors and Marines, the greatest number of casualties from any ship. Most remain entombed in the sunken hull of the battleship at the bottom of the harbor. Dozens of those killed in the attack have been recently identified and reburied in cemeteries across the country after the military launched a new effort to analyze bones and DNA of hundreds long classified as unknowns. In 2015, 388 sets of remains were exhumed from the USS Oklahoma and buried in a national cemetery in Honolulu. The Oklahoma had the second-highest number of dead after the Arizona at 429, though only 35 were identified in the immediate years after the attack. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency has identified 168 sailors and Marines from the Oklahoma since the exhumations three years ago. It has said it expects to identify about 80 percent of the 388 by 2020. Several families were scheduled to rebury their newly identified loved ones on Friday, including Navy Seaman 1st Class William Bruesewitz of Appleton, Wisconsin. Hes expected to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery near Washington. By Audrey McAvoy Teenager Electrocuted Through Earphone as Phone Charges Prompted by instinctive unease, Mohd Zahrins mother returned home at lunchtime during her factory shift to see him. She found the 16-year-old lying as she left him in the morning. When she moved closer, she found his body unresponsive and cold, but with no sign of injury or disease other than bleeding from his left ear, still wearing an earphone. The coroner found that the Malaysian teenager had died of electrocution on Dec. 3, according to local media reports. He is thought to have been shocked through the earbuds plugged into his phone while it charged. Graphic photographs circulated locally on social media are claimed to show blood coming from Zahrins ear, which appears to be blackened. In one image, an earphone bud is blackened on one side. His mother had assumed he was sleeping when she saw her son lying on the floor earlier in the morning and had left for work. But, feeling uneasy, she returned home at lunch, thinking she might cook for him, to find him still lying there. She then tried to wake him up and as she touched him, the boys body felt cold, Salam District police chief Deputy Superintendent Anuar Salam told The New Straits Times. There was no sign of injury other than bleeding from his left ear. The victim was wearing an earphone and his adjacent cellphone was charging, Salam said. A medical officer who was rushed to the home said that Mohd had died that morning. The coroner later confirmed that the Malaysian teenager had died of electrocution. Salam confirmed that there was a burning effect in his left ear, reported Utusan. When one of his brothers later went to turn off the charging cable, it gave him a small shock, according to reports. His phone was charging next to him. SAYS Mohd lived in Rembau district in the south of the country, about 50 miles south of Kuala Lumpur. He was described as a cheerful and friendly student and was much liked, according to his schoolmates. Although hes a form four student, but hes very close to junior students, he likes to joke and tease us, one of them told Kosomo. A family member, who asked not to be named, told BH, He often cooked for his mother and brother during school holidays and the night before the incident he had asked his mother to come home for lunch together. We are very sad with his departure. Last year, in Vietnam, another teenager was reportedly killed by a faulty cable that was charging her phone on her bed as she slept. Le Thi Xoan, 14, was found by her parents lying on her bed unconscious in November last year, The Sun reported. Her parents rushed her to a local hospital but doctors were unable to revive her. A burnt white iPhone 6 cable was found on her bed by police in the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi. It is thought that tears in the cords casing exposed the live wires inside and that she had rolled onto it in her sleep. An Alabama man narrowly escaped death while he was sleeping with his phone on charge in his bed. He told ABC 13 that he fell asleep in his bed while wearing his dog tag around his neck. However, the dog tag fell between the charger and the extension cord, turning his necklace into a conductor. Wiley Day suffered second- and third-degree burns on his neck and hands, the news outlet reported. Top Court Hears Double Jeopardy Case With Ramifications on Russia Probe A lawyer for an Alabama man convicted of the same offense in state and federal courts urged the Supreme Court to rein in the federal governments prosecutorial powers, in a double jeopardy case that could have ramifications for those affected by special counsel Robert Muellers ongoing Russia investigation. Muellers shadow loomed large over the oral arguments in the case on Dec. 6, even though he wasnt mentioned. The case has attracted interest because it could have an impact on Muellers ongoing investigation of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and other Trump associates. Manafort entered guilty pleas to conspiracy charges unrelated to the Trump campaign or the 2016 election, and he has reportedly been cooperating with Mueller. States may yet pursue indictments against Manafort and other individuals associated with the president. As of August 2017, Mueller had reportedly been collaborating with then-New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman to prepare a case against Manafort. Trump could pardon Manafort and others, but his clemency authority covers federal, not state, offenses. Trump has not ruled out a pardon for Manafort. It was never discussed, but I wouldnt take it off the table, the president told the New York Post a week ago. In the case before the Supreme Court, the petitioner, Terance Martez Gamble, was convicted of felony second-degree robbery in Mobile County, Alabama, in 2008, and on two counts of domestic violence five years later, according to a case preview by Alan Raphael of Loyola University Chicago School of Law. Both Alabama and federal law forbid convicted felons from possessing firearms. Gambles car was pulled over for a traffic violation in 2015. Police found a gun in his car. Gamble pleaded guilty to a state-level charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm and completed a one-year prison term. Based on the same search and weapon that gave rise to state charges, during the prosecution the federal government charged him with possessing a gun while a felon. Before pursuing the indictment, the U.S. attorney obtained permission from the Department of Justice under something called the Petite Policy to bring the charge. The policy allows federal prosecutions after state convictions in certain circumstances. Gamble argued the federal charge should be dismissed because he claimed it violated his Fifth Amendment right against being placed in legal jeopardy twice for the same crime. A U.S. district court threw out the motion citing the separate sovereigns exception to the Double Jeopardy Clause. Since its ruling in Abbate v. United States in 1959, the Supreme Court has allowed successive prosecutions by separate sovereigns, such as the federal and state governments, even though the subsequent charge would be barred if both were brought by the same government, Raphael writes. Gamble pleaded guilty to the federal charge and received a sentence of 46 months. The Atlanta-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit upheld the federal conviction. On June 28, the Supreme Court agreed to hear Gambles appeal from that decision. Gamble argues the separate sovereigns exception should be overruled because the language in the Double Jeopardy Clause makes no exceptions, and is contrary to the meaning intended by the framers, old English precedents, and legal writings from England and the early United States. The separate sovereigns exception to the Double Jeopardy Clause is inconsistent with the text and original meaning of the Double Jeopardy Clause, Gambles attorney, Louis Chaiten of Cleveland, Ohio, told the justices. There is no dispute that the text of the clause was understood to incorporate English practice. And there was no practice of inter-sovereign successive prosecutions in all of English history or in American history for the first century of this republic after their framing. Justice Elena Kagan challenged Chaiten. And if we were to adopt the rule that you suggest, it might very well be that either the federal government would have to subordinate its interests to the states or that the states would have to subordinate their interests to the federal government. Kagan said Chaitens argument seemed frankly, a little bit one-note. She said 30 justices have upheld the separate sovereigns exception. If the legal exception were to be overturned, how does it work as a practical matter? Chief Justice John Roberts asked Chaiten. Is it a race to the courthouse? Roberts said. The Trump administration says there is no good reason to overturn 170 years of precedent that are consistent with the separate sovereigns exception. Under Americas constitutional framework, both the federal and state governments are sovereign and their powers ought to be respected, Assistant to the U.S. Solicitor General Eric Feigin and Texas Solicitor General Kyle D. Hawkins told the court. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who referred to placing an individual in double jeopardy as a double whammy, said Feigin. You have to concede, wont you, that this rule, this separate sovereign rule, has been widely criticized by both academics and federal judges? Addressing Feigin, Justice Neil Gorsuch expressed concern about the proliferation of federal crimes which number over 4,000 statutes now and several hundred thousand regulations, and of the opportunity for the federal government to seek a successive prosecution if its unhappy with even the most routine state prosecution. And that it is awkward, isnt it, to say that there are two sovereigns who get to multiply offenses against you? Gorsuch said. I cant think of another case where federalism is used, as Justice Ginsburg indicated, to allow greater intrusions against the person, rather than to protect more against them. Trade Talks Between US and China Will Continue Despite Arrest of Huaweis CFO The repercussion following the arrest of Huaweis chief financial officer in Canada amid the ongoing Sino-U.S. trade war is going to be minimal, following comments by officials from both the United States and China. Meng Wanzhou, Huaweis CFO and daughter of the companys founder Ren Zhengfei, was arrested in Vancouver on Dec. 1 at the request of the U.S. law enforcement, on the suspicion that she violated U.S. trade sanctions against Iran. On the day Meng was arrested, U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping met at the sideline of the G20 summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina and both leaders agreed to halt the trade dispute for 90 days starting on Dec. 1. Meng now faces extradition to the United States. There are speculations that Mengs arrest could potentially unravel any progress in the Sino-U.S. trade war because of her fathers strong ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Ren, a former director of the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) General Staff Department Information Engineering, was in charge of telecom research for the PLA before founding Huawei. Despite these speculations, the trade ceasefire agreed by the two leaders continues to be on track. Gao Feng, a spokesperson for Chinas Ministry of Commerce, said at a press conference on Dec. 6 that the meeting between Trump and Xi in Argentina was a success, and the two leaders have reached important consensus. Additionally, Gao said communication between China and the United States is smooth and we (China) are confident about reaching an agreement in the next 90 days. U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) wrote on his Twitter account on Dec. 6 that Mengs arrest has nothing to do with the trade war. Rubio added, Its an action by federal prosecutors for alleged violations of law, not leverage in a trade dispute. And unlike China, she will have the presumption of innocence until proven otherwise. National Security Adviser John Bolton, in an interview with U.S.-based National Public Radio (NPR) on Dec. 6, stated that he knew in advance that the arrest was coming from the Justice Department. Bolton added that he didnt know if Trump knew about the arrest before it happened, given that these kinds of things happen with some frequency we certainly dont inform the president on every one of them. An unnamed U.S. official on Dec. 7 told Reuters that it was a Justice Department matter and not orchestrated in advance by the White House. The unnamed White House official also told Reuters that Trump did not know about Mengs arrest before meeting with Xi in Argentina. White House trade and economic adviser Peter Navarro, while voicing optimism about Sino-U.S. trade talks, warned that Beijing has a long record of breaking its promise on trade, he said in a recent interview with Voice of America (VOA). What were demanding is that China obey the rules of the international road, and become a fair actor in international trade, and surely that will require a restructuring of the model thats now predicated on state-owned enterprises, protectionism, mercantilism, Navarro stated. Beijing is known to have violated its World Trade Organization (WTO) commitments by providing hefty subsidies to domestic industries and supporting state-owned companies, while enforcing policies favorable to Chinese companies, such as pressing foreign companies doing businesses in China to transfer their intellectual property to domestic joint ventures. Hong Kongs media HK01 pointed out that if Meng was found guilty of violating U.S. sanctions on Iran, she could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison, under the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations (ITSR). Who Is William Barr, Trumps Pick for Attorney General President Donald Trump said he will nominate former Attorney General William Barr to return to lead the Justice Department. He was my first choice from day one, Trump said, upon leaving the White House for Kansas City, Mo., on Dec. 7. Trump said he hoped for a quick confirmation of Barr by the Senate, calling the man one of the most respected jurists in the country and a terrific man. Barr would replace Jeff Sessions, who resigned at Trumps request a day after the November midterm elections. The office is being held in the interim by Sessionss former chief of staff Matthew Whitaker. Barr would inherit a department that under Sessions leadership sought to implement Trumps tough stance on illegal immigration and operations against human trafficking, drug trafficking, and transnational gangs, particularly MS-13. He would also oversee the special counsel investigation into allegations that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to sway the 2016 election. Recently, there have been signs that the investigation is nearing its end after a year and a half and a slew of indictments, none of which have substantiated the allegations. Whos Barr? Its been decades since Barr served in the federal government. He was first recruited to join the Justice Department in 1989 by the late President George H.W. Bush. He served as Bushs attorney general from 1991 to 1993. He served under Bush before that, however. After finishing his graduate studies, Barr joined the CIA between 1973-1977 and toward the end of that period, occasionally helped write testimony for the director, who, at the time, was Bush, The Washington Post reported in 1991. It was Barr who, at the onset of Bushs presidency, provided legal reasoning used by the administration to justify the invasion of Panama and the arrest of Manuel Antonio Noriega, the paper wrote. He also wrote an opinion that states the administration has the power to arrest terrorists overseas, even in violation of international law. The most radical period I had probably was when I was sort of a moderate Republican, Barr once quipped to an associate, according to the paper. Trump would find Barr to be a conservative, too. During his 1991 confirmation hearing, Barr said he disagreed with the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that constrained the states ability to ban or limit abortion. He said, in his opinion, the right to privacy put forth in the Constitution doesnt cover abortion, and that the matter should be left for states to decide, the Los Angeles Times reported at the time. On Mueller In his more recent opinions, Barr defended Trumps firing of FBI Director James Comey in 2017, which prompted the hiring of special counsel Robert Mueller. It was widely recognized that Comeys job was in jeopardy, regardless of who won the election, Barr wrote in a May 12, 2017, Washington Post op-ed. Barr sided with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who recommended that Trump fire Comey for overstepping his authority. In July 2016, Comey exonerated former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton of criminally mishandling classified information, a step that should have been left to then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch or, if her impartiality was in question, her deputy, Rosenstein argued. Barr agreed. I think it is quite understandable that the administration would not want an FBI director who did not recognize established limits on his powers, he said. Barr also seemed to question the grounds for hiring Mueller, who took over the Russia probe from the FBI after Comeys departure. The notion that the integrity of this investigation depends on Comeys presence just does not hold water, Barr said, pointing out that the probe was run by lower-ranking agents and overseen not by Comey, but by Rosenstein and Dana Boente, then-acting head of the departments National Security Division. After Mueller established his team, Barr criticized the fact that many of Muellers lawyers donated to politicians, and overwhelmingly to Democratic ones. In my view, prosecutors who make political contributions are identifying fairly strongly with a political party, he said, The Washington Post reported in July 2017. I would have liked to see him have more balance on this group. Regarding the merits of the investigation itself, Barr thought there was more basis for probing the Uranium One controversy than any supposed Trump-Russia collusion, he told The New York Times in 2017. To the extent it is not pursuing these matters, the department is abdicating its responsibility, Barr said. Uranium One In 2010, the Russian-owned firm Rosatom gained control of 20 percent of U.S. uranium reserves by purchasing a majority stake in the company Uranium One. The deal was approved by multiple agencies in the Obama administration, including the State Department, which was headed by Clinton at the time. At the time, the Mueller-led FBI was aware that Russian authorities operated a large-scale campaign 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. In addition, companies linked to Rosatom gave millions to the Clinton Foundation. Former President Bill Clinton got a $500,000 speaking fee from Renaissance Capital, an investment firm with an interest in the Uranium One deal and ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. At the time, Mueller failed to investigate potential criminal activity of Clinton, the Clinton Foundation, and Rosatom, according to documents that were reportedly collected by a former FBI contractor worker Dennis Nathan Cain and provided to the Justice Departments Inspector General. Confirmation While Barrs past comments might stir opposition from Senate Democrats, the nomination will almost certainly not come up for a vote until next year. Republicans will control the chamber with a 53-47 majority in the new Congress convening in January. I do think hes worthy of consideration. I am concerned he has said some negative things about the special counsels office and some of the prosecutors he had in place, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) told MSNBC on Dec. 6, after Barrs name surfaced. Klobuchar is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which has jurisdiction over the nomination. Reuters contributed to this report. Update: The article has been updated with information regarding Barrs views on the special counsel investigation and the Uranium One affair. Cincinnati Police said an infant who was taken by his biological parents was found safe, Local12 reported on Dec. 7. (Ohio Attorney General's Office) 2-Month-Old Baby Taken by Biological Parents Is Found Safe: Police Cincinnati Police said an infant who was taken by his biological parents was found safe, local news outlets reported on Dec. 7. Kelly Schmid and Clint Roach Reidmiller, police said, do not have custody of the child, Cobain Reidmiller, WCPO reported. Cobain was taken on Dec. 5 from a home on North Hill Street in Harrison, Ohio, Local12 reported. Officials said they were concerned because Schmid has a history of drug problems and Reidmiller has a history of violence, the report said. Schmids drug addiction and Reidmillers violent tendencies caused the child to be placed with his grandmother, officials told WCPO. The child is now in the custody of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. Two other people were arrested, and police said they were facing charges of obstructing justice. If you have any information that can help Harrison police, contact the office at 513-367-3715 or Crime Stoppers at 513-352-3040. UPDATE: This alert has been canceled. The child has been located. Thank you for your assistance. Statewide #Ohio Endangered #Missing Child Alert: Authorities believe 2-month-old Cobain Reidmiller was taken from a home in Harrison, Ohio, by his non-custodial parents, Kelly Schmid and Clint Reidmiller. Call 911 if you see the child or adults, the Ohio Attorney General wrote. UPDATE: This alert has been canceled. The child has been located. Thank you for your assistance. Statewide #Ohio Ohio Attorney General Other details about the case are not clear. There were about 464,324 missing children reported in the FBIs National Crime Information Center last year, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Under federal law, when a child is reported missing to law enforcement they must be entered into the database. 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. The Cincinnati Enquirer reported earlier this year that for 2017, there were 70 homicides in the city, compared to 61 in 2016. Total violent crime, which includes rape, robbery, and aggravated assault, is up 2 percent over the last three years, department data show, the report said. This week, an Ohio woman went viral after throwing grease on a victim in Cincinnati. Thompson was booked for felony assault and was taken to the Hamilton County jail, Fox19 reported. She poured the hot grease on someone she had been arguing with. They got into a dispute in Cincinnati on Dec. 2, and the subject of the argument was not immediately clear. The fight escalated and Thompson tossed grease on the person, police stated. The victim wasnt identified by police. US Senators Applaud Canadian Arrest of Huawei CFO Following Reports of Violating Iran Sanctions U.S. lawmakers from both sides of the aisle condemned Huawei and applauded strong action to hold the company accountable, following news of the Chinese telecom giants chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou being arrested in Canada on Dec. 1 at the request of the U.S. authorities. Meng was arrested on suspicion of violating U.S. sanctions on Iran, according to media reports. Her bail hearing is scheduled for Dec. 7 as she awaits possible extradition to the United States. U.S. senators pointed out that Huawei has long been considered a threat to U.S. national security owing to its close ties to the Chinese Communist Party. The recent arrest confirmed their wariness of the company. On Dec. 5, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) compared Huawei to Chinas other top telecoms firm, ZTE, which was punished by the U.S. administration earlier this year for failing to adhere to agreements for its violation of Iran sanctions back in 2017. This news highlights that Huawei is also violating U.S. law. At a bare minimum, we must hold both companies to the same standard. More importantly, we need a comprehensive plan to hold the Chinese and their state-sponsored entities accountable for gross violations of the law and threats to our security, Van Hollen said in a statement. In April, ZTE was slapped with an export ban forbidding American companies from supplying it tech parts and software, causing the companys operations to shut down. The ban was lifted in July only after it agreed to pay a $1 billion fine and comply with regular inspections. Other senators also expressed that they supported U.S. sanctions on Huawei. If Huawei has been helping violate US sanctions by transferring US technology to Iran they should be barred from operating in the US or from purchasing US technology, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fl.) wrote in a Twitter post on Dec. 6. If @Huawei has been helping violate US sanctions by transferring US technology to #Iran they should be barred from operating in the US or from purchasing US technology. Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) December 7, 2018 Meanwhile, Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) urged U.S. President Donald Trump to hold Huawei fully accountable for breaking sanctions law, as it failed to do in the case of ZTE, in a Dec. 6 statement. He added that Canada, a key U.S. ally, should reconsider allowing Huawei to supply the countrys 5G wireless infrastructure. Back in October, he and Rubio sent a letter to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urging him to consider the potential national security risks of Huaweis entry in Canadas 5G development. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) also urged Canada to take bold action, surmising that the Chinese regime would do everything possible to intimidate the Canadian government to send her back to China, he wrote in a series of tweets on Dec. 6. Our ally Canada must stand strong and extradite her to the United States, where she will face something China does not have: a fair, impartial justice system, he added. Cruz characterized Huawei as a Communist Party spy agency thinly veiled [sic] as a telecom company. Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) also told the Associated Press on Dec. 5 that he applauded the Canadian authorities cooperation in arresting Meng. Huawei has largely been shut out of the U.S. market following security experts, intelligence officials, and lawmakers concerns that its products could be used to spy on American citizens. In August, Trump signed into law a bill that bans the U.S. government and government contractors from using Huawei and ZTE technology. US to Reveal Charges Against Chinese Hackers Federal prosecutors are expected to unveil criminal charges as soon as next week against hackers linked to Chinese intelligence for allegedly stealing data from U.S. companies, according to people familiar with the matter. A senior U.S. intelligence official described the Chinese operation, known as Cloudhopper, as one of the most expansive and successful hacking schemes ever recorded. The pending charges were first described in a story by the Wall Street Journal on Dec. 7. The breaches by hackers associated with Chinas Ministry of State Security have allowed China to gather large quantities of data on a wide range of American businesses, according to two U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the investigations. Cloudhopper focuses on hacking large, third-party, data storage companies, and cloud software service companies that store data for U.S. companies and government agencies. Cyberattacks connected to Cloudhopper began at least as early as 2017, according to a report from British multinational defense contractor BAE Systems, which has an internal cybersecurity research unit that publishes some of its findings for marketing purposes. The Justice Department and the National Security Agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Chinese embassy in the United States did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The charges may be followed by sanctions and other punitive measures, according to one of the U.S. officials. The official did not say exactly who might come under sanction. Cloudhopper is considered a major cyberthreat by private-sector cybersecurity researchers and government investigators because of the scale of the intrusions. Over the last several years, as companies around the globe have sought to cut down information technology spending, they have increasingly relied on outside contractors to store and transfer their data. When a managed service provider is hacked, it can unintentionally provide the attackers access to secondary victims who are customers of that company and have their computer systems connected to them, experts say. Its a large-scale concern because of how broad it is and how pervasive this access is, said Rob Joyce, a senior adviser to the National Security Agency. What weve watched is after theyve gotten into managed service providers, its our belief that they havent been completely pushed out. That is strategic high ground, Joyce said in an interview in October. By Christopher Bing The Huawei logo is seen at a Huawei store at a shopping mall in Beijing on July 4, 2018. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File) Huawei CFOs Arrest Further Reason to Ban Chinese Company From Canadas 5G, Say Tory MPs The arrest of Huawei executive Wanzhou Meng has given the Conservatives additional ammunition in pressuring the federal government to ban the Chinese telecom giant from Canadas 5G network. Meng, the CFO of Huawei Technologies and the owners daughter, was arrested in Vancouver on Dec. 1 at the behest of U.S. authorities on suspicion she violated Iran trade sanctions. During question period on Dec. 6, Conservative MP Pierre Paul-Hus asked whether Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will take the step of banning Huawei in light of Mengs arrest. Ms. Meng is accused of trying to circumvent the US embargo against Iran. In addition, the director of CSIS was very clear when he warned the government of the intensification of state-sponsored espionage maneuvres, Paul-Hus said, referring to recent comments by David Vigneault, the director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. In his reply, David Lametti, parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, noted that the Liberals promised Canadians we would improve quality coverage and price for their services. 5G is an emerging technology that is part of that picture, he said. However, when it comes to Huaweis participation in that system, we will rely on our intelligence services to provide us with the kind of advice that they have traditionally given us. We will never ever compromise our national security. Paul-Hus countered that Lametti was using old lines from a couple of weeks ago, because the situation is changing rapidly. Currently, the majority of Five Eyes countries have banned Huawei. Today, it is reported that British Telecom has confirmed that it is removing Huawei equipment from key areas of its 4G network and the MI6 manager has been questioning the Chinese company about its activities in the U.K. telecommunications infrastructure. Our economic, security and military interests are at risk, he said. MP Dan Albas also raised the issue of Mengs arrest and banning Huawei from Canadas fifth-generation wireless, the latest iteration of cellular technology. The CFO of that communist Chinese government-controlled company is suspected to have violated sanctions on Iran. This is not an organization we want involved in our communication network. Our allies say act. Our security officials say act, yet this government refuses to do anything, he said. Every day we get more reasons to ban Huawei from our 5G network. Yesterday, it was a warning from the head of CSIS. Today, it is the CFO of the company being arrested in Vancouver for allegedly violating sanctions on Iran. Huawei will be forced to spy on Canadians for the Communist Chinese government. Will the Liberals finally commit to securing our next generation network and ban Huawei? In his reply, Lametti reiterated that national security would not be compromised. We will rely on our national security experts in making a final decision. I can assure this House that that decision will be one that reflects Canadas national security interests, he said. Although he didnt single out China, Vigneault said foreign interference and espionage are the biggest threats to Canadas national interest, indicating businesses, academic institutions, and the technology sector, such as Canadas emerging 5G technology network, are potential targets of state-sponsored espionage. The United States, Australia, and New Zealand, three of the five members of the intelligence alliance Five Eyes, have banned Huawei from their 5G networks, leaving only Canada and the United Kingdom without a ban. Mengs arrest has been dominating the headlines all week. It is expected she will be extradited to the United States after a court hearing in Vancouver on Dec. 7. A previous version of this article misstated the date of Mengs arrest. The Epoch Times regrets the error. Police in Richmond asked the public on Facebook for information about Anthony Akers whereabouts. (Richland Police) Washington State Man Responds to Own Wanted Poster, Sparking Online Exchange With Police A 38-year-old Washington state man and a local police department had a humorous exchange on Facebook after the man commented on his own wanted post, telling them to calm down. Police in Richmond asked the public on Facebook for information about Anthony Akers whereabouts. Reports said he has a history of illegally possessing prescription drugs, resisting arrest, and violating protection orders. Akers made comment on the post, assuring them that he would cooperate and turn himself in the near future. Wanted Wednesday! Anthony Akers (38) is wanted by the Department of Corrections for Failure to Comply. If you have any information please call 509-628-0333, wrote Richmond Police on the social media website. He replied in the comments, Calm down, Im going to turn myself in, according to the Tri-City Herald. Police then responded that they would even offer him a free ride to the station. Hey Anthony! We havent seen you yet. Our business hours are 8:00 am5:00 pm Monday through Friday. Of course if you need a ride you can call non-emergency (509-628-0333) and we will pick you up, police said in a response. Thank you, tying up a couple loose ends since I will probably be in there [for] a month. Should be there in the next 48 hours, Akers then told them. After several days, people wanted to know if Akers had actually turned himself into the police. On Dec. 3, police then offered a comical response. Dear Anthony, is it us? Last Wednesday we reached out to you as wanted. You replied and even said you were going to turn yourself in. We waited, but you didnt show. After you stood us up, we reached out again- this time offering you a ride, police said. You replied and said you needed 48 hours. The weekend came and went. We are beginning to think you are not coming, officials said. Please call us anytime and we will come to you. 509-628-0333. Akers then issued an absurd explanation and apology. Dear RPD, its not you, its me. I obviously have commitment issues. I apologize for standing you up, but let me make it up to you. I will be there no later then lunchtime tomorrow, I know you have no reason to believe me after what I did to you, but I promise that if I dont make it on my own by lunchtime tomorrow I will call for a ride to assist me with my commitment issues, he said. Thank you in advance to your response if you are patiently giving me another chance with us, I know I dont deserve it, he wrote. P.S. Youre beautiful, Akers said, adding an emoji. Later, he took a selfie before entering the station. Here for our date sweetheart, he captioned. Safest Cities in Washington According to KOMO News, citing the National Council for Home Safety and Security, the city of Sammamish was ranked as the No. 1 safest city in Washington state. Its followed by Lynden, West Richland, Camas, Maple Valley, Bainbridge Island, Kenmore, Washougal, Oak Harbor, and Snoqualmie, according to the report. Meanwhile, Tacoma had the highest violent crime rate in the state at 9.5 per 1,000 residents. Tukwila had the highest property crime rate. Tacoma was ranked 77th safest out of 80 cities, and Seattle, the largest city, was ranked 69th. Nearby Everett was ranked No. 60. According to 24Wallst, Tacoma, with a population of 211,000, has a 16.3 percent poverty rate and as a low household income compared with other cities in the state. The median household income in Tacoma, Washington, is far lower than the statewide median. The typical Tacoma household earns $55,996 a year, while the median income across Washington is $67,106. The lower incomes may be due in part to a weak job market. Tacomas annual unemployment rate stands at 6.6%, well above the 5.4% state unemployment rate, it says. Tacoma is also the most dangerous city in Washington. There were 947 violent crimes for every 100,000 people in the state in 2016, more than triple the 302 per 100,000 violent crime rate across Washington as a whole. Violent Crime Down in 2017 In September 2018, the FBI said Americans committed fewer violent and property crimes in 2017, according to statistics. The violent crime rateincluding offenses such as murder, robbery, and aggravated assaultdropped by almost one percent and is still about 4 percent above the 2014 rate. The murder rate dropped by 0.7 percent. After historic increases in violent crime in 2015 and 2016, we are beginning to see encouraging signs, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement at the time. But our work is not done. While we have made progress, violent crime and drug trafficking continue to plague our communities and destroy the lives of innocent, law-abiding Americans. Of the estimated 17,284 murders in 2017, more than half occurred in larger citieswith populations of more than 100,000. There are fewer than 300 such cities in the United States, and while they account for less than 30 percent of the countrys population, many of them contribute far beyond their share to national crime rates and have done so for years, even decades. While the national murder rate inched down to 5.3 per 100,000 residents, it spiked by 15 percent in Philadelphia, to a rate of more than 20 per 100,000 residents. Columbus, Ohio, saw a massive 54 percent murder rate increase, reaching nearly 16.3 per 100,000 residents. Reuters contributed to this report White House Huddles With Tech Execs on Future of Jobs WASHINGTONThe Trump administration, which has had strained relations with technology companies, met on Dec. 6 with top tech executives to discuss ways to ensure American dominance of innovation and the future of high tech jobs. Chief executive officers who participated included Microsoft Corp.s Satya Nadella, Alphabet Inc.s Sundar Pichai, Qualcomm Inc.s Steven Mollenkopf, and Oracle Corp.s Safra Catz, the White House said. President Donald Trump briefly stopped by the meeting that focused on the latest and next-generation technology, including artificial intelligence (AI), a White House official confirmed. We would like their bold ideas to ensure American dominance on AI, 5G wireless communication, quantum computing, and advanced manufacturing, a senior White House official said. White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, and senior advisers Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, the presidents daughter and son-in-law, were at the session, which was closed to the press, unlike previous sessions with CEOs. Trump has clashed with tech companies in the past over policy decisions that drew outrage in Silicon Valley. This marked the highest profile administration tech meeting in more than a year. Days into his administration, Uber Technologies Inc.s then CEO quit Trumps business advisory group over immigration policies. In August 2017, Trump disbanded two high-profile business advisory councils after several chief executives quit in protest over the presidents remarks condemning violence at the Charlottesville riots in Virginia. Before that, Trump met in June 2017 with the heads of 18 U.S. technology companies including Apple Inc., Amazon.com Inc., and Microsoft, seeking their help to make the governments computing systems more efficient. But the White House has held many meetings with tech firms at lower levels and Trump has met at least twice this year with Apple CEO Tim Cook. The White House said it wants to ease regulatory barriers to advanced technologies like drones. Trump in October signed a presidential memorandum to develop a long-term comprehensive national spectrum strategy for mobile technology 5G. In May, the Trump administration said it would not stand in the way of AI development, while acknowledging the burgeoning technology will lead to job losses. AI and deep machine learning have raised concerns about whether machines will control man, privacy, cybersecurity, as well as the future of work, companies and experts say. Trump has had several clashes with technology companies since taking office, including his claims that Google, Facebook, and Twitter have an anti-conservative bias for trying to silence people. He has also criticized Amazon for paying too little to the U.S. Postal Service for shipping packages. Next week, the House Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing with Pichai to discuss Republican allegations of bias against conservatives, a charge Google has denied. By David Shepardson Bill Priestap, assistant director for the FBI's Counterintelligence Division; before the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill on July 26, 2017. (Yuri Gripas/AFP/Getty Images) With Priestap Leaving FBI, Few SpyGate Players Remain in Place Most of the officials linked to the spying operation on the Trump campaign have left the bureau There are few people left in the FBI and the Justice Department (DOJ) who were involved in the counterintelligence investigation targeting the presidential campaign of Donald Trump, at least in high positions. One of the last top officials involved, Assistant FBI Director Bill Priestap, was just confirmed to be retiring by the end of the year. Many specifics about the investigation remain murky. Officially, the FBI launched the probe in July 2016 to investigate allegations that the Trump campaign was colluding with Russia to sway the election. That probe was taken over by special counsel Robert Mueller in 2017, yet the allegations remain unsubstantiated. On the other hand, evidence has emerged that the so-called Steele dossier, which was paid for by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and Hillary Clintons presidential campaign, was used to obtain a FISA spy warrant on Trump campaign volunteer Carter Page. A memo by the House Intelligence Committee released earlier this year revealed that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court was left in the dark about the extensive use of the Steele dossier in the application. It also showed that in one instance, a Yahoo News article, for which the author of the dossierformer MI6 agent Christopher Steelewas the source, was used to corroborate claims made in the dossier. The FISA spy warrant on Page was renewed three times, well into Trumps presidency. The application and its renewals were signed off on by top FBI and DOJ officials, including then-FBI Director James Comey, then-Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe, then-Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, then-Acting Deputy Attorney General Dana Boente, and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. Of them, only Rosenstein remains in his previous role, while Boente was appointed FBI General Counsel in January. Comey, McCabe, and Yates all have been fired. The spying on the Trump campaign, which also involved the use of other intelligence assets such as spies, as well a foreign intelligence, has become known as Spygate. The original FBI probe was overseen by Priestap, who headed the FBIs counterintelligence division. Directly under him, as the lead agent, was Peter Strzok, who was the deputy assistant director until he was reassigned, then fired on Aug. 10. One of the agents on the case was Joe Pientka. It reportedly was he and Strzok who questioned Trumps newly appointed national security advisor, Michael Flynn, on Jan. 24, 2017. Based on that interview, Flynn was charged and pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI. More than a year after his plea, Mueller has recommended no prison time for Flynn. Pientka appears to still be with the bureau. Top lawyers at the FBI have also exited. James Baker resigned as FBI general counsel sometime before May 4. His deputy, Trisha Anderson, left the bureau around early September. Two lower-level FBI lawyers assigned to the FBI probe were revealed by Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) to be Sally Moyer, unit chief of the National Security Law Branch, and a more junior attorney, Kevin Clinesmith. Meadowss assertions are corroborated by public documents and inquiries made by The Epoch Times. If Meadows was correct, the two lawyers came into the crosshairs of DOJ Inspector General (IG) Michael Horowitz for messages they exchanged after Trumps election. On Nov. 22, 2016, Moyer asked Clinesmith whether hed rethought his commitment to the Trump administration, to which he replied: Hell no. Viva le resistance, according to the IGs June 14 report, which only identified the employees as FBI Attorney 1 and FBI Attorney 2. Based on those designations, Clinesmith also lamented Trumps win the day after the election, writing to another employee that he was devastated and couldnt wait to leave today and just shut off the world for the next four days. Plus, my [expletive] name is all over the legal documents investigating his staff, he also wrote. It appears both lawyers are still employed by the FBI. The FBI wouldnt comment on personnel matters below the executive level, but The Epoch Times was able to confirm in June that both lawyers were still with the bureau. Also gone from the bureau is McCabes special counsel, Lisa Page, who quit in May, months after the IG revealed texts she exchanged with Strzok. The two not only used government-issued phones to hide their affair, but they also expressed a strong bias against then-candidate Trump and for his opponent, Clinton. In one of their conversations, Strzok vowed to stop Trump from becoming president. In another, the two discussed having an insurance policy in the unlikely event that Trump won the election. Other FBI departures include Comeys chief of staff, James Rybicki, and Comeys special assistant, Josh Campbell, who quickly landed a position with CNN. Comeys confidant, Michael Kortan, retired as the head of FBI public affairs, Fox News learned in February. On the DOJ side, departures include Acting Assistant Attorney General Mary McCord, who was reported by CNN to leave in May 2017. David Laufman, head of the National Security Division, stepped down in February, The Washington Post reported. One DOJ official who played a crucial role on the Russia probe, Bruce Ohr, was stripped of his Associate Deputy Attorney General title and was removed as head of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, but still remains employed by the department. It was Ohr who was funneling unsubstantiated claims from Steele to the FBI, even after the FBI terminated Steele as an informant. Steele was hired, through Fusion GPS, by the Clinton campaign and the DNC to produce a dossier on Trump. Despite Comey admitting in a June 2017 testimony before Congress that Steeles dossier was salacious and unverified, the FBI used it to request a FISA warrant on Page. A member of a Yemeni rebel delegation prepares to fly accompanied by a UN peace envoy, heading for high-stakes talks in Sweden with the government aimed at ending the country's devastating war, on Dec. 4, 2018 in Sanaa. (Mohammed Huwais/AFP/Getty Images) Yemen Warring Sides Agree at Start of Talks to Free Thousands of Prisoners STOCKHOLMYemens warring sides agreed to free thousands of prisoners on Dec. 6, in what a U.N. mediator called a hopeful start to the first peace talks in years to end a war that has pushed millions of people on the verge of starvation. U.N. mediator Martin Griffiths told a news conference in a renovated castle outside Stockholm that just getting the warring sides to the table was an important milestone. The war has killed tens of thousands of people and spawned what the United Nations calls the worlds direst humanitarian crisis since a Saudi-led Arab coalition intervened in 2015 to restore a government ousted by the Iran-aligned Houthi movement. No talks have been held since 2016, and the last attempt in Geneva in September failed when the Houthis did not attend. Griffiths said the prisoner swap agreed at the start of the talks would reunite thousands of families. The International Committee of the Red Cross said at least 5,000 would be freed. The war, widely seen across the region as a conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran, has been stalemated for years, threatening supply lines to feed nearly 30 million inhabitants. The Houthis control the capital Sanaa and most populated areas, while the ousted government based in the southern city of Aden has struggled to advance despite the aid of Arab states. Humanitarian suffering in one of the worlds poorest countries has added to pressure on the parties to end the conflict, with faith in the Saudi-led war effort flagging among Western allies that arm and support the coalition. Outrage over the Oct. 2 murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the kingdoms Istanbul consulate has also undermined Western support for Riyadhs regional activities. Diplomats are expected to shuttle between the warring parties to discuss other confidence-building steps and the formation of a transitional governing body, a U.N. source said. The Swedish hosts called for constructive talks to end what Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom called a catastrophe. Griffiths, flanked by the two delegations, told them not to waiver. Hodeidah Complex Griffiths wants a deal on reopening Sanaa airport, shoring up the central bank and securing a truce in Hodeidah, the countrys main port, held by the Houthis and a focus of the war after the coalition launched a campaign to capture it this year. This could lead to a wider ceasefire to halt coalition air strikes that have killed thousands of civilians, and Houthi missile attacks on Saudi cities. A U.N. source said that the two sides were still far from agreement on the three issues, especially on who should manage Hodeidah port and whether the Houthis should entirely quit the city. Hodeidah is very complex, the source said. The United Nations is trying to avert a full-scale assault on Hodeidah, the entry point for most of Yemens commercial goods and aid. Both sides have reinforced positions in the Red Sea city in sporadic battles after a de-escalation last month. The other main route in and out of Houthi territory is the Sanaa airport, but access is restricted by the Saudi-led coalition which controls the air space. The head of the Houthis Supreme Revolutionary Committee, Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, said in a Twitter post that if no deal is reached to re-open the airport, the movement could close it on the ground to all traffic including U.N. flights. By Aziz El Yaakoubi Two cell phones manufactured by ZTE, China's No. 2 smartphone maker, are seen on a store shelf in Miami, Florida, on May 14, 2018. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images) ZTE Accused of Helping Venezuelan Government Chinese telecom giant assisted Maduro regime in establishing a Beijing-style control over its citizens, say US senators WASHINGTONChinese telecom giant ZTE Corp. may acquire additional U.S. sanctions as the companys business with the Venezuelan government faces new scrutiny. Senators Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) warned the Trump administration that ZTE was helping China export surveillance tactics to the Nicolas Maduro regime. The senators sent a letter (pdf) to U.S. Secretaries of State, Treasury, and Commerce, urging an investigation into companys activities. In the letter, the senators referred to a recent Reuters report, stating that the Chinese telecom firm assisted the Venezuelan government in establishing control over its citizens. According to the Reuters report, ZTE helped the Maduro regime to build a database that enables the monitoring and tracking of Venezuelan citizens and, since 2016, to centralize video surveillance. We are concerned that ZTE, by building this database for the Venezuelan government, may have violated U.S. export controls and sanctions laws, as well as the terms of the Commerce Departments June 2018 superseding settlement agreement with ZTE, the senators said in the letter. ZTE has a history of breaching U.S. government sanctions. In April, the Commerce Department found ZTE had violated a settlement reached in 2017, and blocked the company from buying crucial components and software from American technology companies. ZTE is highly dependent on U.S. suppliers like Qualcomm, Google, and Corning to manufacture its cellphones and telecom equipment. The ban nearly brought the company to the brink of bankruptcy, prompting a rare intervention by Chinese leader Xi Jinping. In June, ZTE reached a settlement with U.S. authorities, agreeing to pay a total of $1.4 billion in fines and to overhaul its board of directors and senior management ranks. In exchange, the United States lifted the ban. The Venezuelan government hired ZTE to build a database and develop a mobile payment system for a smart ID card, the lawmakers wrote. The project was inspired by Chinas national identity card program that tracks the social, political, and economic behavior of citizens. It enables the government to monitor everything from a citizens personal finances to medical history and voting activity. The system in Venezuela was built using components from Dell Technologies in the United States, which alarmed the senators. ZTE installed data storage units built by Dell Technologies, the letter stated. Though Dells transaction appears to have been with ZTE in China, we are concerned that ZTE may have violated U.S. export controls by misidentifying the end-user or purpose of the end use. ZTE is Chinas second-largest telecom equipment maker. The company is publicly traded, but its largest shareholder is still a Chinese state-controlled enterprise. Violations A spokesperson for the Commerce Department confirmed that they received the senators letter. The Department of Commerce will remain vigilant against any threat to U.S. national security and continues to diligently implement the settlement agreement with ZTE. We have no further comment at this time, stated the spokesperson in an email. As part of the settlement deal in June, ZTE has allowed the U.S. Commerce Department to monitor the companys behavior. Both Rubio and Van Hollen have been vocal about ZTEs potential violations and retaining sanctions on the firm. We have not received a response to our letter at this point, stated a spokesperson for Van Hollen. Van Hollen co-sponsored a legislation introduced in September called the ZTE Enforcement Review and Oversight (ZERO) Act. The legislation requires the Commerce Department to put ZTE out of business if it violates the current agreement with the United States. On Dec. 1, as part of a U.S. probe, Canada arrested Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Huawei, another Chinese telecom company. The United States was pursuing Meng, the daughter of Huaweis founder, in a criminal probe related to the violation of sanctions against Iran. Huawei and ZTE are two sides of the same coin, said Van Hollen in a statement, adding that Chinese telecommunications companies represent a fundamental risk to U.S. national security. While the Commerce Department focused its attention on ZTE, this news highlights that Huawei is also violating U.S. law, he said. We need a comprehensive plan to hold the Chinese and their state-sponsored entities accountable for gross violations of the law and threats to our security. Correction: A previous version of this article misstated the day when Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Huawei, was arrested. Meng was arrested on Dec. 1. The Epoch Times regrets the error. Metro-North will have a 24-hour booze ban on Metro-North trains during the SantaCon in New York City. The annual event combines a costume parade and a drinking-drenched pub crawl that has sometimes resulted in raucous incidents involving way too merry Santas. The ban is in effect from noon Saturday to noon on Sunday. Alcohol will not be permitted on Metro-North trains and stations to maintain safe and orderly travel during this weekend's SantaCon event. MTA police officers will be on duty at Grand Central Terminal and stations throughout Metro-North territory, as well as on trains to enforce this 24-hour restriction. MTA 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. SantaCon day, held annually in early December, is one of three times a year the MTA bans alcohol. The other times are New Years Eve and St. Patricks Day. The first SantaCon was held in San Francisco in 1994 as a protest against the rampant consumerism that has become associated with Christmas. It has since spread to hundreds of cities, including Stamford, which held its SantaCon last week NORWALK Plans for a pilot program starting September 2019 that could bring longer and additional days in the upcoming school year, as well as curriculum changes, are raising the concerns of Norwalk teachers. The plan is to use Rowayton School, the districts only School of Distinction, as deemed by the State Department of Education, as a model to close the achievement gap and improve educational opportunities at one of three elementary schools where the number of high-needs students is significantly higher than Rowaytons. The proposal, which could affect Brookside, Jefferson or Kendall, was laid out by Superintendent of Schools Steven Adamowski at Tuesdays Board of Education meeting. According to Mary Yordon, president Norwalk Federation of Teachers, it was the first time details were released to teachers. Clearly, some of these ideas in the School of Distinction plan were great. Teachers are eager to do what it takes to serve these kids, Yordon said Thursday. But, she added, Were really surprised by these measures. The whole model had not been shared with teachers until Tuesday night. Were trying to orient ourselves. Its important to include teachers when were expecting teachers to implement the instruction. To qualify as a School of Distinction by the state Department of Education, a school must earn a score of 85 or better according to the states Next Generation Accountability Plan, fall within the top 10 percent of schools in the state according to the Accountability Index, or show high levels of growth. At this point, none of the three schools still in the running for Norwalks improvement plan qualify for the state designation. But, the administration has decided to take the lessons learned at Rowayton and apply them to school with a large high-needs population. For that reason, Adamowski said, investors have shown interest and between the Grossman Foundation, of Greenwich, and the Heidenreich Family Foundation, of Stamford, half of the estimated $1.2 million annual cost associated with making the change has been pledged. The School of Distinction undertaking attempts to determine what it would take to bring all students in the school, in a school that has 63 percent or more high-needs students, to the highest level in our state, Adamowski said Tuesday. The superintendent told the school board the experiment would hopefully provide answers on how to close the achievement gap and improve the performances of the districts highest-need students. In addition to a year with five more instructional days and longer (eight-hour) school days, the change would entail coherent blocks of instruction, including 120 minutes of literacy, 90 minutes of numeracy and 60 minutes of STEM. We have to realize this may not be what people want because, quite often, the customer doesnt know what they want, they know what they have. And theyre not able to appreciate the effect of something until they actually try it and do it and see the results, Adamowski said during Tuesdays meeting. If we simply had people do what they want, we would just do more of the status quo. Among 10 School of Distinction tenets are addressing needs of diverse learners, rigorous and relevant curricular model, school climate and ambitious leadership. Curriculum changes would include implementing Singapore Math and overhauling the recently redesigned K-12 music education curriculum in favor of the Kodaly method, an approach to music education named after 20th-century Hungarian composer Zoltan Kodaly. Next steps include determining the school in January, meeting with additional investors in the spring, beginning implementation steps in the spring and summer and then beginning phase one of implementation in September. For Yordon, it feels like too quick a turnaround with so many questions lingering in her mind, and the minds of the teachers she represents. The timeline is very short to overhaul a school by next September with some potential dramatic consequences, Yordon said. I would love to have an understanding of the research that supports some of these recommendations. That wasnt part of the presentation. I would look forward to hearing more about that. Yordon said she believes more hours in school can be a good thing, if implemented properly, but guessed that some students would get tired or become rambunctious. She also noted that changing one school in the district to a 187-day model could adversely affect parents with children in other schools on a different calendar, with breaks at different times of the year. While the proposed 187-day school year falls within a 2017 contract negotiated with the teachers union that allows for up to 200 days of schooling per year, the extended school day plan would need to be negotiated separately, Yordon said. Yordon said she hopes the community will have a chance to weigh in on the proposed changes, but worries it might be a fait accompli. That has been the history of this administration. Once a plan is developed and made public, typically that plan is implemented, Yordon said. Board of Education Chairman Mike Barbis said Thursday that the board was mostly in listening mode at Tuesdays meeting. He said hed heard from several members of the board who had concerns about what he called an ambitious timeline. The concept is, subsequent to implementing all this, your results would really start working their way up. On its own, it would become a School of Distinction, Barbis said. We want to have more Schools of Distinction, not because the title is so important to us, but its more what you accomplish by being a School of Distinction. justin.papp@scni.com; @justinjpapp1; 203-842-2586 COLLINSVILLE A local Collinsville resident has gone above and beyond to help out recent tornado victims in the Taylorville area. Chris Hudzik was able to gather a truckload and trailer full of donated items to victims of the recent tornado that struck the Taylorville area. Hudzik then drove the items to Taylorville himself to make sure the area received the items. The National Weather Service says that at least 26 tornadoes touched down in Illinois last Saturday, making the outbreak the states largest on record for the month of December, most of those tornados hit Taylorville and the areas surrounding it. More than 20 people were injured and more than 500 structures were damaged in Taylorville. Hudzik was able to gather so many items after simply just making a Facebook post. He said that shortly after making the posts, items were beginning to show up on his front lawn. However, after gathering all of the items, Hudzik saw a post of the Red Cross and the Taylorville Board of Directors asking for money donations only- not items. For Hudzik, this felt like a kick in the gut. Not everyone can give cash. Some people dont have a lot to give, but they still want to help out, Hudzik said. Even if you dont have money some people have clothes or blankets or a $2 case of water. After going back and forth about what to do with the donations; Tuesday night he finally decided he was just going to bring the goods down himself. Even if I had to drive down there and just go door to door, I was going to make sure people got this stuff, Hudzik said. Me and a friend of mine were talking about it and we were just going to set up in a parking lot and just start handing things out if we had to. With the help of some friends, he was able to secure a storage unit near Taylorville to store the items while he had the chance to distribute them to food pantries and shelters in the surrounding areas. All of his donations were able to get into the hands of residents who needed them. Hudzik is no stranger to service, he says that he always tries to do something around the holidays to help out those in need. He started doing this after his mother was diagnosed with cancer a few years ago. If I got to keep her, I figured it only makes sense to keep paying it forward, Hudzik said. But he doesnt think of himself as a hero. For that, he credits workers who have been working night and day since the tornado hit; police officers, power company workers, firefighters, and others. Those are the ones that should be getting more media coverage. Its still rough out there. Anything you can do to help, anything you can donate, Hudzik said. Im even thinking about making another trip. Hudzik said that when he returned home Wednesday, there were more items waiting for him on his doorstep. ALTON The 11th annual Cookies and Cocoa raised $3,050 and brought in tons of toys, coats and bicycles. There will be a lot of happy kids Christmas morning, said host Freer Auto Bodys Margaret Freer. I cannot thank the community enough for always supporting us and helping make a difference. We are blessed in so many ways, we are grateful we can help others. Cookies and Cocoa is an event for the United Ways and The Telegraph/Intelligencers Community Christmas, where the public drops off donations and enjoys homemade cookies, cocoa and good will. We have supported Community Christmas for 27 years. This is our favorite community project, said Freer, whose granddaughters Taylor and Lily Freer helped serve the holiday goodies to guests on Nov. 29 at the body shop, festively decorated for Christmas. The need is even greater this year. Lots of kids would not have Christmas if it were not for the giving people in our community during Community Christmas. Taylor and Lily sponsor and host their own event, Christmas in July, for Community Christmas during the summer. This year, they raised $40,900 at that event, which gives the giving event for families in need a jump start, well before it officially starts at the first of November. Also, the girls and their cousin, Emily King, shopped on Black Friday and purchased 23 bicycles for Community Christmas. Steve Schwegel, owner of Alton Physical Therapy, Ed Schwegel and John Schwegel, also donated three bikes. The Steve Dale family and John Hamilton donated one bike, respectively, for a total of 31 bikes so far. Phillips 66, based in Wood River, donated the cardboard donation boxes again this year and Edwardsville High School students continued with the tradition of prepping the boxes. Alton High School also contributes to Community Christmas through its annual non-perishable food drive, which provides 90 percent of the food donations for the program. ST. LOUIS After a decade in dock, the historic 1920s-era Delta Queen riverboat will cruise again. President Donald Trump signed legislation on Tuesday authorizing the 285-foot-long riverboat immortalized in poems and songs to cruise again along the Mississippi and several other rivers. The Delta Queen was sidelined in 2008 by a federal law prohibiting overnight excursions on wooden vessels. Both U.S. senators from Missouri Democrat Claire McCaskill and Republican Roy Blunt co-sponsored a bill to allow the exemption, which requires modifications to the wooden portions of the vessel, most of which are cabins and public areas. The hull is already steel. Today marks the beginning of a new chapter in American steamboat history, Leah Ann Ingram, vice president of the Delta Queen Steamboat Co., said in a statement. This was the first big step in returning the Delta Queen to the waterways, where she belongs. The Delta Queen began operation in 1927. Passengers have included presidents Herbert Hoover, Harry Truman and Jimmy Carter. It served as a naval ship during World War II and is designated as a National Historic Landmark. The Delta Queen Steamboat Co. is based in Kimmswick, Missouri, near St. Louis, but the boat itself is undergoing repairs in Houma, Louisiana. The upgrade will include replacing boilers original to the boat, along with generators, plumbing, the steam line and heating and air conditioning. The total cost is estimated at $10 million to $12 million. The company expects to begin three-, five- and seven-day cruises on the Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee, Cumberland, Kanawha, Arkansas and Illinois rivers in 2020. The Delta Queen is expected to visit more than 80 ports each year, including St. Louis, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, New Orleans, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Louisville, Kentucky, and Chattanooga, Tennessee. Blunt said more than 170 jobs are expected to be created in Kimmswick, and cited the benefit of many of the cruises beginning and ending there. This important part of our nations history will create jobs and strengthen our states growing tourism industry, Blunt said in a statement. EDWARDSVILLE Police are investigating a burglary in which the victim identified a stolen computer tower he built by hand. The victim, who lives in the 200 block of Parkview Court, Edwardsville, reported the burglary on July 12, but additional information became public on Wednesday. The victim told officers that a computer tower, a gaming laptop and several other pieces of computer equipment were taken from his home. OFallon police were given information about the crime in Edwardsville and notified Edwardsville police on Aug. 17 that a burglary similar to the Edwardsville case had occurred in their city. OFallon police said they had arrested and charged Dominique Hudson, 27. OFallon police obtained the suspects cell phone, which yielded pictures of suspected stolen equipment. One of the pictures was of a computer tower, apparently inside Hudsons home. The victim of the Edwardsville burglary identified the computer tower without prompting, according to a court document. Hudson was out on parole when the burglaries occurred. He was sent back to Southwestern Illinois Correctional Facility, where he is serving time for three previous burglaries. Details of the burglaries are included in a sworn statement filed by Edwardsville police in an effort to search Hudsons cell phone. Ad MarketBeat New this week - 2,466 interested Black Friday Special: Get MarketBeat Daily Premium for Just $5.00. Tired of following stock tips from "the experts" that don't pan out? Feel like you're always zigging when the market is zagging? Sick of CNBC talking heads? Stop listening to the noise and sign up for the last financial news source you will ever need: MarketBeat Daily Premium. Register today and get 75% off your 2021-2022 subscription. GroupM Sri Lanka became the countrys most awarded media agency in 2018, successfully adding two more GOLD awards to its collection at the Campaign Asia Agency of the Year Awards held in Mumbai on the 4th December2018. The Rest of South Asia Media Agency of the Year category was dominated by GroupM agencies, with Mindshare Sri Lanka receiving the coveted Media Agency of the Year GOLD Award, as well as The Digital Agency of the Year GOLD Award. Campaign Asia is the foremost industry voice in advertising and communications, with publications across five continents. Its prestigious annual Agency of the Year Awards, now in its 25th cycle-recognizes inspired leadership, management excellence, outstanding business performance and overall achievement in the advertising and communication industries. Mindshare emerged triumphant with two GOLD awards in both media & digital categories going head to head with tough competition from regional agencies and local agencies. In Sri Lanka, GroupM celebrated yet another outstanding year with its agencies bagging victories in both local and global arenas. GroupM Sri Lankas reputation for big hauls at the annual ceremony, honouring effective marketing communications and agency performance across the region, borders on tradition, and is testament to the agencies collaborative strength and established industry leadership. In 2018, GroupM agencies received the highest number of awards claimed by a media agency for outstanding performance and effectiveness, re-establishing GroupMs stance as a trailblazer of innovation in Sri Lankas advertising and communication industries. As the countrys largest media investment management and consolidation agency, it has proved itself as the flag bearer of industry excellence and the trendsetters in gold standards. Mindshare is GroupMs primary agency launched in Sri Lanka in 2006. Its success lies in the collaborative networks it builds with clients, media networks and other partners and a team of fearless professionals who work together to challenge tradition with creativity. Their specialization in marketing communications has helped them provide 360 degree solutions backed by data analytics and consumer insights, targeted towards achieving the marketing objectives of clients. The agencys core strengths have been channelled to products and services rooted in media; performance marketing, data visualization and collaboration, new content models, e-commerce services, IOT services, budget setting and allocation, channel planning, data management platforms and data handling services. Mindshare occupies a significant regional and global footprint in media. As a full service agency in the 21st century, Mindshare redefined volume in the industry using a scale based approach to benefit clients in media investment management and was instrumental in creating GroupM. In 2012, the company coined the phrase adaptive marketing, placing agility at the heart of Mindshares approach alongside the three pillars team work, speed, and provocation. The agencys DNA is about finding new ways to work and invest and strivingto stay ahead of the curve. Its professional team of experts are nurtured by world class training and development opportunities, which enable them to secure many wins for the agency over the years. Commenting on the wins, Sabry Haniz, Chief Operating Officer, GroupM, commented: It is an honour to be recognised by the industry yet again, but more importantly, we value our clients and the partnerships that inspire our team members to harness their passion and creative energies into delivering the best media solutions. A special thank you to all our clients and partners for their unwavering support and trust throughout the years in the powerful client-agency partnership that has enabled us to deliver trailblazing media ideas and unparalleled agency performance. Commenting further on the Digital Agency of the Year win,GroupM is in a leadership position within the digital agency landscape of the country, much like its lead in the traditional sphere. The digital revolution continues to disrupt and drive the evolution of the modern-day marketing landscape and being recognized as a trailblazer in this sphere too is testament to our capabilities and the distinct advantage we offer to our clients in terms of intelligence, inventiveness, data and insights. Our formula is deeply rooted in agility and competitive advantage both in the product offerings which is unrivaled by any other in the market and the ingenuity in which its fused to deliver the best results for our clients. Speaking on the wins Mindshare Sri Lankas General Manger, Erosha Tennakoon said, Winning these awards shows us that were on the right track with the values we embody as an agency, and the work we do with our clients. Our commitment to practice Mindshares 3 ethos of Speed, Provocation and Teamwork has enabled us to continuously get recognised in significant forums such as this and set benchmarks for the media advertising industry in Sri Lanka. The close, open and constructive relationships we enjoy with our clients have always set us apart from the pack in this industry its the reason for our success. We thank Campaign Asia for recognizing this and look forward to meeting and exceeding expectations as we always have. GroupM Sri Lanka along with its flagship agency brand Mindshare and Wavemaker, is known to have dominated at award circuits during previous years, both in global and local media-creative forums like Festival of Media APAC & GLOBAL, Spikes, MMA Smarties, WARC, and Effies. The groups work has also made waves at the most celebrated creative advertising forums like CANNES. At a time of unprecedented political turmoil when Sri Lankas political leadership and peoples mainline representatives are in a crisis where for most of them their reputation has been shattered, the world on Wednesday marked the fifth anniversary of the death of South Africas legendary President Nelson Mandela. Much is the inspiration, the encouragement and ideals that Nelson Mandela could give to world leaders and politicians. We hoped that in overcoming the current crisis our leaders also will take the right perspective and paradigm shift from Mr. Mandela and become game changers. Thereby they will be remembered in the golden pages of our history, rather than ending up in a garbage dump. One of his main lessons was that he lived for democracy, and a free society, would fight for it, and was even ready to die for it. After serving decades in prison and suffering much, he peacefully won the power struggle of South Africas black majority and became the President in July 1994. The people loved him and he could have served for a lifetime, but chose to retire after one term. This is another important lesson for our leaders who appear to have problems in letting go because power corrupts even the best of leaders. Instead of persecuting the white minority leaders, President Mandela set up the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), where the white minority leaders were given an opportunity to admit their guilt, to be forgiven and play their role in society. During the proceedings of the TRC, one military officer was on trial for killing the husband and the only son of a coloured woman. When he pleaded guilty, the commission asked the woman how she would respond to it. She made two requests. One was to be shown where her husband was buried so that she could go and pay her respects. The woman paused before making her second request. A hushed court also waited and when the judge asked what her second request was, she told the young killer, I want you to come and be my son. The young killer collapsed in disbelief, but through Nelson Mandela, the world came to know of the power of repentance, forgiveness and reconciliation. Mr. Mandela was born on July 18, 1918. Hearing the elders stories of his ancestors valour during the wars of resistance, he dreamed also of making his own contribution to the freedom struggle of his people. Mr. Mandela began his studies for a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University College of Fort Hare but did not complete the degree there as he was expelled for joining in a student protest. He later completed his BA through the University of South Africa and went back to Fort Hare for his graduation in 1943. According to the Mandela Foundation, the legendary leader, while increasingly politically involved from 1942, only joined the African National Congress in 1944 when he helped to form the ANC Youth League. Mr. Mandela rose through the ranks of the ANC Youth League and through its efforts, the ANC adopted a more radical mass-based policy, in 1949. In 1952 he was chosen as the National Volunteer-in-Chief of the Defiance Campaign with Maulvi Cachalia as his deputy. This campaign of civil disobedience against six unjust laws was a joint programme between the ANC and the South African Indian Congress. He and 19 others were charged under the Suppression of Communism Act for their part in the campaign and sentenced to nine months of hard labour, suspended for two years. A two-year diploma in law on top of his BA allowed Mandela to practise law, and in August 1952 he and Oliver Tambo established South Africas first black law firm, Mandela & Tambo. At the end of 1952, he was banned for the first time. As a restricted person he was only permitted to watch in secret as the Freedom Charter was adopted in Kliptown on June 26, 1955. On October 9 1963, Mr. Mandela joined 10 others on trial for sabotage in what became known as the Rivonia Trial. While facing the death penalty his words to the court at the end of his famous Speech from the Dock on April 20, 1964, became immortalised. I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all people live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs are, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die. On this Mandela Remembrance Day, we would like Sri Lankas leaders and other politicians to ask themselves, how many are ready to die for democracy and a free society. Mt. Pleasant city planners are preparing for a busy year in 2019, when they are expected to deal with two big issues: The citys Master Plan update and zoning decisions related to marijuana businesses. At its meeting Thursday, the Planning Commission approved a special use permit for an Airbnb short-term rental at a home on Arnold Street. The rest of the meeting was spent in a work session. At the work session, City Planner Jacob Kain told the board that it is likely the first medical-marijuana provisioning centers and grow operations in the city will be coming to the board for special use permits in April. Commissioners had several questions about the businesses and even more questions about what the process would be now that recreational marijuana is legal in Michigan. Under the new state law, cities have to opt out if they do not want recreational marijuana businesses in their jurisdiction. Mt. Pleasant has not yet made a decision. The state has until a year from now to create regulations, and the first recreational businesses are expected to open in Michigan in 2020. Kain told the planning board that their conversation Thursday meant they are the first city board to discuss the issue. A decision to opt out or to stay in will have to be made by the City Commission. Here is a look at some of the issues discussed: Medical marijuana Under the citys ordinance, enacted earlier this year, the city will allow up to three provisioning centers, up to five Class A grow operations and up to three Class B or C grow operations. The application deadline is Feb. 1, with a lottery drawing, if necessary, set for Feb. 13. After that, those businesses will receive pre-authorization from the city. They then will have 30 days to file for a special use permit, which needs Planning Commission approval. That timetable means the first ones likely will be before the Planning Commission in April. So far, only one applicant has filed with the city: Green Bronco LLC has applied for two licenses, one at 1318 E. Pickard and one at 1322 E. Pickard. Kain said the city expects more to apply in January, as there is no advantage in applying early. Many would-be businesses are waiting for Phase 1 approval from the state, a prerequisite for applying with the city. Commissioners asked if would-be business owners have to own a building when they apply with the city. Kain said they do not, as they could have a lease agreement or a purchase agreement. They do need to have a specific location secured when they apply. Only one application per site is allowed. Kain said if a business had more than one site and won more than one license in the lottery, it could give up its secondary locations if it wanted to. The city would then give the approval to the next business in line. If we drew three provisioning centers, and it happened that two were the same entity, and they really just wanted one and not the other, they could withdraw the second and we would go to No. 4 on the list, he said. Kain was asked why everyone wouldnt try to game the system. I think the limiting factor on that activity is the availability of property. Most of the folks that Im talking to are trying to find a property that is in their price range, that is suitable to what they want to do, thats in a location that they want and is, oh by the way, also available for sale, he said. Thats a pretty small list. Each applicant has to pay a $5,000 administrative licensing fee up front and a $200 application fee per site. If they are not chosen in the lottery, they get the $5,000 back. The city has no limits on the number of processing centers, safety compliance labs, or secure transporter businesses it will approve. Those can apply at any time and also would need a special use permit. Recreational marijuana Commissioner Christine Ortman and others were interested in knowing if recreational and medical would be in separate buildings. Kain said it is his understanding that they could be in the same building, but with different counters or areas. The owner would need to be licensed for both. The medical marijuana facilities are still separate from the recreational facilities. They arent one and the same. You arent automatically entitled to be one or the other because you have the other license, he said. However, the recreational law is going to give medical marijuana facility license holders first dibs at the recreational market. The way I understand that is if, lets say (someone) has a medical marijuana facility in Lansing. She could go to the state and apply for a recreational provisioning license for Mt. Pleasant. It doesnt have to be the market you are already in. You just have to be a state license holder for medical already in order to have that first-dib opportunity. The state is going to have to create their rules for this, but it sounded like its going to be set up in a way that you might walk in, go to the right for medical marijuana and go to the left for recreational marijuana in one facility. There would be separation. The product would be different, the products origin would be different, Kain said. He said the two would stay in their separate worlds throughout the whole process, from seed to sale. The state will be issuing regulations, but the city can enact its own ordinance, similar to how medical marijuana worked. First step will be for the City Commission to decide if it wants to opt out while the state works on regulations or opt out entirely, or stay in. Theres going to be a lot of local decision making. Its going to be similar to medical marijuana in the sense that there are different facility types. There is the ability to have a local licensing process, just as with medical marijuana regulation, Kain said. On the other hand, The law has a lot of nuances and differences to the medical marijuana law that were going to have to work through and figure out exactly how those two interface, he said. Master Plan The city is updating its Master Plan. Kain said city staff met for the first time with the consultant, McKenna and Associates, on Thursday. One of the first steps will be to get residents input. Kain said events will likely take place in April. The Master Plan is updated every five years and was last updated in 2014. Final approval is expected in 2020. The Parks and Recreation Master Plan also is being updated, and Kain said the goal is to get input from the public for both. If your passion is X, one of the things we really want to do with this project is get those people, while theyre here, were going to find a way to make them talk about other things too. Were glad you came in to talk to us about parks, but we also want to talk to you about Mission Street, about housing, about the environment. What do you think about those things? Weve done that in the distant past, and those were some of the most well-received projects that weve done in this community, he said. Kain also said he told the consultants that one of his goals is for the new plan is something that is easy for everyone to read and understand. In other business: The board unanimously approved a special use permit for a short-term rental at 1017 S. Arnold St., requested by the owners, Thomas C. Olson Jr. and Tracy Warren Olson. Consistency not necessarily a virtue in politics 19A delivered three blows to Rajapaksa family Basil cautioned his elder brother about wisdom of being sworn in as PM without a viable majority Gota and Namal not well-disposed towards each other Political patronage, nepotism and family bandyism widely prevalent By D.B.S. Jeyaraj Former President and current Kurunegala district MP Mahinda Rajapaksa was interviewed regarding the present political situation by Kelum Bandara of Daily Mirror last week. One of the questions posed to Mahinda in the interview was There is perception among some that you took over the government entering through the backdoor despite your ability to win elections in the future. What is your view? Mahindas somewhat defensive response was as follows; There is no such thing called capturing power through the backdoor. A political party is not meant to be in the opposition forever. It should try to become the ruling party on the very first occasion made available to it. We vowed to topple the government after two Vesak Poyas. One Vesak Poya is over. We toppled the government before the next Vesak Poya. Our duty is to topple the government if it is possible. It is actually in the greater interests of the country. The previous government alienated the national assets. If it continued, there would be nothing left in the country for posterity. We reversed the move to introduce a separatist Constitution. Otherwise, it would also have been declared as adopted by voice vote in Parliament (Ekath aye uye gala sammatha karai.) In that context, we have taken a correct decision in the interests of the country. We also faced a similar problem with regards to the Free Trade Agreements at that time. The previous government did not think of the country. They acted in their personal interest and the interests of foreign countries. The question posed by about the perceived backdoor entry by Mahinda Rajapaksa to the prime ministerial seat is a perplexing point that has been the subject of many a political discussion. After the remarkable electoral performance of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) at the local authorities elections in February 2018, it was clear that the writing was on the wall for the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe Government. The situation was such where the confident Mahinda Rajapaksa camp was demanding elections to the Provincial Councils where polls were due. The government had no convincing answer. It was simply trotting out lame excuses for delaying elections thereby strengthening the impression in the country that a return of the Rajapaksas to power through elections was inevitable. In a further twist, President Maithripala Sirisena and Mahinda Rajapaksa who were supposedly at loggerheads with each other seemingly buried the hatchet in a political move aimed at undermining Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. The political grapevine buzzed with the news that the Sirisena and the Rajapaksa camps had realigned politically. There were also unconfirmed reports of clandestine canvassing of members from many shades of opinion within Parliament. A substantial number of MPs from the SLFP as well as sections of the UNF were tipped to switch loyalties. There was a strong possibility of the UPFA-SLFP faction within the government officially pulling out. Speculation was rife that the political reconfiguration process would result in a defeat for the government during the budget vote. If and when this happened President Sirisena was expected to appoint Mahinda Rajapaksa as the Prime Minister who would then be seen as commanding the confidence of the House in a drastically-reconfigured Parliament. This belief began gathering momentum and it seemed that the return of the Rajapaksas was inevitable. Many even began preparing for such an eventuality. PURPORTED PRIME MINISTER AND MINISTERS Against this backdrop, where Mahinda Rajapaksa was expected to march in triumphantly towards his rightful position of Prime minister through the proverbial front door, recent events have belied all such speculation. Instead of the anticipated front door entrance, Mahinda made an unexpected backdoor entry. On October 26 President Sirisena removed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and replaced him with Mahinda Rajapaksa as prime minister. The newly-appointed Premier did not have a majority. In order to facilitate the cobbling together of a majority of MPs through various incentives, Parliament itself was prorogued until November 16. Although some MPs did jump from horse to horse through suspected horse deals and were rewarded with posts and perks, there were no large-scale crossovers. As a result of which a viable majority eluded Mahinda Rajapaksa. This very obvious truth was demonstrated on more than one occasion with a majority of Parliamentarians voting adversely against the purported Prime Minister Rajapaksa and his purported ministers. President Sirisena then dissolved Parliament and scheduled fresh elections in another controversial move. Several Fundamental rights petitions were filed against the presidential decree and a Three -Judge Bench of the Supreme Court issued a stay order after preliminary hearings. In a related development, 122 MPs sought a writ of Quo Warranto from the court of appeal against purported Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and 48 others functioning as purported cabinet ministers, state ministers and deputy ministers respectively. The Appeal Court too issued an interim order temporarily restraining Mahinda Rajapaksa and others functioning as Prime minister and as ministers pending final determination of the case. Likewise a seven judge bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Nalin Perera commenced hearing the FR petition cases against dissolution of Parliament and scheduling of elections. In what appears to be an indecent haste to capture power, Mahinda Rajapaksa seems to have miscalculated badly in getting himself appointed as a Prime Minister without a majority to Replace a Prime Minister with a majority The cumulative result of all these happenings has resulted in the diminution of Mahinda Rajapaksas political stature and reputation. Notwithstanding the current political crisis, there is no doubt that Mahinda Rajapaksa is the single-most popular mass-figure in the seven Sinhala majority provinces of Sri Lanka. In spite of this mass support, Mahinda Rajapaksa has been unable to utilize it appropriately and mount the Prime Ministerial seat gloriously. His hasty, ill-advised attempt to grab power through Machiavellian stratagems has resulted in Mahinda cutting a pathetically forlorn figure. The man described as the Medamulana Machiavelli has been denied the spoils of prime ministerial office. Furthermore his larger than life image has been considerably dented. Mahinda is depicted by his detractors as a selfish, power hungry politician without principles or scruples who would resort to diabolical measures to seize power. While Maithripala Sirisena goes on ranting and raving against Ranil Wickremesinghe, the downsized Mahinda is not very vocal nowadays. The once mighty roar of the Lion of Ruhunu is mostly inaudible and whenever audible, sounds like a howl of a Hyena deprived of its (not so rightful) prey. BRANDED WITH STAMP OF ILLEGITIMACY It is in this context that friend and foe alike keep wondering as to why Mahinda Rajapaksa has placed himself in this predicament. In what appears to be an indecent haste to capture power, Mahinda Rajapaksa seems to have miscalculated badly in getting himself appointed as a Prime Minister without a majority to Replace a Prime Minister with a majority. His short- lived, highly-contested stint as Prime Minister is now branded with the stamp of illegitimacy. This makes many ponder as to why Mahinda was in such an undue hurry to grab power through questionable methods when power may have been handed over to him on a platter had he been patient. The Kurunegala district MP himself is aware of such opinion and has tried to offer explanations whenever possible. His response in the Daily Mirror interview is one clear example. There have been other such instances too. Some days before the interview, Mahinda Rajapaksa addressed a gathering at his office on Nov 25th.The text of a speech delivered by the Ex-president was issued as a media release. In that speech Mahinda made reference to this burning question and stated as follows Some people ask me why I accepted office when there was less than 18 months to go for the next elections. I have heard members of the UNP saying that if I had been patient for another 18 months, I could have won the ensuing election with a two thirds majority. We did not form a government to continually administer the country but to hold a general election. The President explained in his address to the nation that he appointed me as the Prime Minister only after things reached a stage where he had absolutely no other option. When the government is entrusted to me in such circumstances, I cannot in all fairness, shun the responsibility. This was not a question of political power. The fate of our country and the futures of our younger generation were at stake. Furthermore, if after everything was said and done, it was still we who would have to assume that responsibility anyway, there was much to be said for assuming office before further damage was inflicted upon the country. Since Mahinda was debarred from contesting the presidency, some of Mahindas political minions began exploring the possibility of making Mahinda Prime Minister with executive powers This then is the essence of Mahinda Rajapaksas explanation of why he chose to grab power so hastily through an unorthodox procedure instead of waiting a little longer to gain power via appropriate channels. According to Mahinda he has done so for the sake of the country and the people. He says he was motivated not by the lure of political power but by a supreme sense of duty and because he was conscious of his responsibilities. President Sirisena was in a difficult situation and turned to him (Mahinda) for help and that was why he took on the responsibility says the ex-president. When the government is entrusted to me in such circumstances, I cannot in all fairness, shun the responsibility. This was not a question of political power. The fate of our country and the futures of our younger generation were at stake. Noble sentiments indeed! POWER, POSITION, PRIVILEGES AND PERKS Although political leaders often claim that they are in politics to serve the people, the reality is something different. One thing we have learnt from past experience is that in Sri Lanka almost all politicians claim to have altruistic motives for doing politics. None of them admits or acknowledges that he is in politics for the pursuit of power, position, privileges and perks of office. Consistency is not necessarily a virtue in politics. Many of them switch sides smoothly whenever it suits them. Avowed policies are altered easily. Their family members and cronies prosper within a short time of a politician getting appointed to an influential post. Political patronage, nepotism and family bandyism are widely prevalent. Political dynasties proliferate. Yet the politicians will continue to repeat ad nauseam that they have dedicated their lives to the people and are making huge sacrifices to uplift the masses. Therefore when politicians say they are accepting office due to patriotic motives , such utterances need to be taken not merely with the proverbial pinch of salt but with a hefty fistful of it. So when a veteran politician like Mahinda Rajapaksa says he resorted to a premature power grab for the country and people alone that cannot be accepted immediately at face value. His claims need to be scrutinized more intensely and intricately. Any political analysis of the underlying motives behind Mahinda Rajapaksas illegitimate power grab has to delve deeply into recent happenings of a political nature within the Rajapaksa family circle. The turbulent intra-family political currents within the Ruhunu Rajapaksa family and the deterioration of inter-personal relations between President Sirisena and his Prime minister Wickremesinghe need to be examined in detail to comprehend the prevailing political situation and understand - not necessarily accept or condone the reasons behind Mahinda Rajapaksas impatient power seizure exercise. A basic undeniable fact of contemporary life in Sri Lanka is the political importance if not supremacy of the Rajapaksas. In that context the succession stakes issue within the Ruhunu Rajapaksa clan plays a pivotal role in the on going political drama A basic undeniable fact of contemporary life in Sri Lanka is the political importance if not supremacy of the Rajapaksas. In that context the succession stakes issue within the Ruhunu Rajapaksa clan plays a pivotal role in the on going political drama. The Medamulana Dynasty in the Ruhunu Rajapaksa clan comprises the family members of former State Councillor and Parliamentarian Don Alvin (DA) Rajapaksa namely Mahinda Rajapaksa and his brothers Chamal, Basil and Gotabaya along with Mahindas son Namal and Chamals son Shasheendra. Although the Ruhunu Rajapaksa family has been in politics for several decades, its ascendancy to the pinnacle of power came only after Percy Mahendra Rajapaksa, known to his country and the world at large as Mahinda Rajapaksa, became Sri Lankas fifth Executive President on November 18, 2005. FIRST FAMILY IN SRI LANKAN POLITICS Thereafter, the Rajapaksas established themselves rapidly as the numero uno family in Sri Lankan politics. Apart from Mahinda Rajapaksa as President, family members and extended family members monopolised plum positions. Various posts in different spheres -- from Defence Secretary to diplomatic representative -- were held by the clan. During the days of the Rajapaksa regime it was an open secret that no major enterprise or project could be undertaken in the island without the blessings of at least one Rajapaksa. Nepotism and Family bandyism was a way of life under the Rajapaksa dispensation. The Ruhunu Rajapaksas perceived as the first family in Sri Lankan politics began ruling the roost in an authoritarian mode. With the 18th Constitutional Amendment being passed, the two-term limit for contesting Presidential elections was removed. It appeared that the politically-invincible Mahinda Rajapaksa was set to rule Sri Lanka for life as President. When presidential elections were called ahead of time, party secretary and senior Cabinet minister Maithripala Sirisena defected and became the common opposition candidate. The January 2015 Presidential poll resulted in Maithripala Sirisena (51.28%) defeating Mahinda Rajapaksa (47.58%). A UNP-led coalition government was formed with Ranil Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister and Maithripala Sirisena as President. The 19th Constitutional Amendment re-imposing the two-term limit for the Presidency was passed. With Mahinda Rajapaksa being Constitutionally-debarred from contesting the presidency again, it appeared that the political fortunes of Ruhunu Rajapaksas were on the wane. A number of inquiries probing the alleged corruption and abuse of power by various Rajapaksa family members were initiated. Cases were filed in court and a few Rajapaksas like Basil and Namal were even imprisoned for short periods. Gotabaya Rajapaksa continues to wage many legal battles to ward off arrest and possible detention. Whatever the state of relations between Gotabaya and Namal, Mahinda is too seasoned a politician to let that cloud his judgment or turn hostile to his brother. Mahindas primary concern was to recapture power as quickly as possible The 19th Constitutional amendment delivered three blows to the Rajapaksa family. It reversed the 18th constitutional amendment by restricting the Presidential terms of office to two. Since Mahinda Rajapaksa had served two terms as President he was disqualified from contesting the Presidential elections again. This was the first blow. The 19th Amendment also debarred dual citizens from contesting Presidential and parliamentary polls. This rendered Mahindas brothers Basil and Gotabaya ineligible to contest as they were US citizens also. This was the second blow. 19A also raised the age limit to be President. Earlier it was 30 but now it was 35. Mahindas eldest son Namal Rajapaksa was born in 1986. As such he would only be 33 next year and therefore cant seek the presidency even if he wanted to. This was the third blow. SLPP BECAME AN ESTABLISHED POLITICAL ENTITY In such a situation, many political observers felt that the writing was on the wall politically for the Ruhunu Rajapaksas. But that did not happen. Despite the adverse setbacks, the political stock of Ruhunu Rajapaksas continued to remain on par with Medamulana Mahinda continuing to retain his position as the single-most popular political leader in the seven provinces outside the North and the East. Moreover, the newly-formed Sri Lanka Podujana Party (SLPP) which revolves around Mahinda Rajapaksa got the better of both the UNP and SLFP and emerged as the leading victor at the local authorities elections. The SLPP with its symbol of lotus bud became an established political entity known popularly as Pohottuwa. In such a situation the Mahinda-led opposition seemed confident that the days of the Sirisena -Wickremesinghe government were numbered and that the political resurgence and return to power of the Ruhunu Rajapaksas was inevitable. Since Mahinda was debarred from contesting the presidency, some of Mahindas political minions began exploring the possibility of making Mahinda Prime Minister with executive powers. With the newly formed SLPP winning splendidly at the local authority polls it appeared that any candidate with Mahindas backing could romp home the winner in the presidential stakes. Thereafter Mahinda would be made prime minister with maximum powers possible. The Rajapaksa camp began asserting boldly that either Mahinda or a suitable person nominated by him would be at the helm of Sri Lankan affairs soon. Although no candidate was openly named, there were organized efforts to prop up Mahindas brother and former Defence secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa as the presidential candidate. It was said that Gota would relinquish his US citizenship at the appropriate time and become an eligible candidate. Gota himself began promoting himself indirectly through organizations such as Viyathmaga and Eliya. While the prospect of Gota being Presidential candidate was welcomed by many in the Rajapaksa camp there were some dissidents too particularly within the family circle. In an unexpected turn of events, the rising tide of optimism within the Rajapaksa camp started ebbing with distressing news of simmering tensions within the Rajapaksa extended family. Much of this was due to the 19 A ill- effect it was felt. In the absence of Mahinda who among the Rajapaksas could contest the presidential elections? Was the multi-crore question. Though Gota was the front -runner, there was opposition to him too. It was rumoured that Mrs. Shiranthi Rajapaksa and eldest son Namal along with Basil Rajapaksa were not enthusiastic about Gota. Speculation was rife and the rumour mills began working overtime. The political grapevine began humming with sensational dollops of news about dissension and divisions within the Rajapaksa clan. It was as if the Rajapaksa family was tearing itself apart over the P residential candidacy stakes. It was against this gloomy backdrop that the Pater Familias of the DA Rajapaksa family initiated a proactive move to resolve differences and forge unity. Though Mahinda is the most powerful and influential member of the family he is not the head of the family according to socio-cultural norms. In the absence of parents that honour goes to the eldest son in the family. Chamal Jayantha Rajapaksa born on October 30, 1942 is the eldest of Don Alvin and Dona Dandina Rajapaksas nine children comprising six boys and three girls. Mahinda is the third child and second son. MEETING OF RAJAPAKSA SIBLINGS Chamal Rajapaksa arranged for a meeting of the Rajapaksa siblings in March this year. The meeting was held at the residence of one of DA Rajapaksas daughters. The Rajapaksa brothers and sisters converged at the venue without their spouses or offspring being present. The objective of the family conclave was to unanimously select an alternative to Mahinda to contest the Presidential elections. The selected candidate would contest polls and hopefully win the elections. Thereafter he would take steps to transfer power back to Mahinda Rajapaksa. The methodology for this would be devised at the appropriate juncture depending upon the prevailing political circumstances and environment. Until such a transfer of power is effected the chosen candidate would abide by Mahinda and be guided by him. Chamal Rajapaksa declined to be the chosen candidate. Basil also opted out. This left Gotabaya who was willing. Gota said that he would renounce his US citizenship in due course and that the entire process would not take more than two to three months at the most. Basil also extended his support to Gota and said that he would help him run the government if elected. It was agreed that Mahinda would remain head of the party while Gotabaya would be the presidential candidate. Mahinda also said that it would be premature to announce the candidacy now and said he would do so when the time was conducive. This was agreed upon. Thereafter the Rajapaksa family demonstrated through their actions that they were closing ranks. Mahinda and Basil visited Gotabayas Viyathmaga office publicly. Gota reciprocated by visiting the SLPP party headquarters officially. The Rajapaksa siblings also re-iterated in media interviews that there was no dissension among them. Everything seemed hunky-dory and it seemed to be only a matter of time before Mahinda would officially announce Gotabayas presidential candidacy. But then something seemed to have gone wrong with the Rajapaksa family plans and there was soon hidden discord. The family consensus on a presidential candidate did not seem to be valid any more. It appeared that Gotabaya was being opposed within family circles again. Mahinda Rajapaksas interview to The Hindu newspaper during his trip to New Delhi in September strengthened this impression further. When Mahinda was asked about the possibility of his brother being a contender at the presidential poll, he did not endorse Gota or anyone else for that matter and instead laid down what could be termed as conditions. He said, My brother is certainly a contender, but the party and the coalition will have to decide who the people want. In replying to a related earlier question Mahinda said, another option is to announce a candidate acceptable to all. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDACY OF GOTABAYA RAJAPAKSA What this meant was that the prospective candidate should be acceptable to a broad constituency and that the decision on a candidate should be endorsed by the Pohottuwa party and the joint opposition coalition. It was well-known that Mahinda had steadfastly refrained from publicly naming his ex-defence secretary sibling as the presidential candidate despite strenuous efforts by the pro-Gota lobby. In the Hindu interview, the conditions stipulated by Mahinda were double-edged as far as Gotabaya Rajapaksa was concerned. Would Gota be endorsed by all shades of opinion in the SLPP and joint opposition? Gota may be acceptable to a large number of Sinhala Buddhists but would he be acceptable to substantial segments of the religious and ethnic minority communities in the Island? If the answers are positive then the presidential candidacy of Gotabaya Rajapaksa would be a certainty. If the answers are negative then there could be no firm decision on Gota being the chosen candidate. This demonstrated reluctance on the part of Mahinda to name Gotabaya as the presidential candidate spoke volumes about intra-family splits and prolonged the prevailing state of uncertainty. According to informed sources familiar with inner -currents within the Rajapaksa clan say the family consensus on nominating Gotabaya Rajapaksa as the Presidential candidate did not last long despite the initial euphoria. The main reason according to these sources was that the decision had been taken by the Rajapaksa siblings without the concurrence of their spouses or off- spring. The main obstacle to Gotabayas candidacy was Mahindas wife Shiranthi and eldest son Namal. They were worried that once the mantle of leadership in the form of the presidency was donned by Gotabaya, the chances of it ever falling upon Namal were remote. It was no secret that Uncle Gota and Namal were not well-disposed towards each other. Gotabaya feels that one of the chief reasons for Mahinda losing the presidential poll in 2015 was due to the conduct of his sons notably Namal. Gota in fact had even lost his cool and pitched into Namal in the aftermath of the defeat. Though Namal had kept silent, there are reasons to believe that the nephew had thereafter fought a guerilla war through media circles against Gotas potential candidacy. It is well -known among journalist circles that many of the inspired leaks in the media that are hostile to Gotabaya can be sourced to the pro-Namal establishment. A controversial incident in this regard was the purported negative remarks made by outgoing US ambassador Atul Keshap to Mahinda Rajapaksa at a one to one meeting about Gotabaya Rajapaksas presidential candidacy. It is strongly suspected by concerned parties that circles close to Namal were instrumental in a Northern newspaper scooping the news story. ELDEST SON NAMAL RAJAPAKSAS POLITICAL FUTURE Whatever the state of relations between Gotabaya and Namal, Mahinda is too seasoned a politician to let that cloud his judgment or turn hostile to his brother. Mahindas primary concern was to recapture power as quickly as possible. If Gotabaya was the best possible candidate to spearhead a Rajapaksa renaissance in politics, he was quite prepared to back his brother notwithstanding resentment evinced by Shiranthi or Namal. Nevertheless as a father, he was very much interested in Eldest son Namal Rajapaksas political future. According to unconfirmed reports Mahinda is believed to have asked Gota privately that after becoming president Gotabaya should ensure and guarantee a smooth political passage for Namal Rajapaksa as Gotabayas successor if possible. Gota known for his blunt, direct manner of speaking had supposedly refused point blank. The ex-defence secretary had said that no one could guarantee anyone anything in politics. Gota had said it was up to Namal to forge his political future to the best of his ability and that he (Gota) would help him as much as possible but could not and would not provide a fool -proof guarantee. Mahinda apparently was disappointed by this. Even if there was cause for Mahinda to be miffed with Gota over the Namal factor it was not that issue which made the ex-president review the family decision to go ahead with Gota as presidential candidate option. Subsequent course of events compelled Mahinda to do a re-think about it. Firstly there was opposition within the Mahinda camp towards Gotabayas candidacy. Though Gota had sizable support within the broad folds of UPFA SLFP- SLPP combine, there was opposition too. The outspoken comments of Kumar Welgama and Vasudeva Nanayakkara opposing Gotas candidacy being indicators. Furthermore there was Basil Rajapaksa. Although Basil was prepared to abide by the family consensus on Gota many in the SLPP were not prepared to do so. They made this known to Basil effectively and the master political planner who was responsible for the Pohottuwas victory at local polls began having second thoughts. There were two concerns. Basil was trying to re-invent the SLPP into an inclusive political party with the aim of wooing the minority communities as it was felt reliance on a sole Sinhala constituency alone was counter-productive politically. There were valid doubts whether Gota could appeal to the non Sinhala Buddhist constituency. The second concern was about the alternative political apparatus being built up by Gotabaya to mobilise support for him. The vast array of professionals, captains of commerce, former defence service personnel and Buddhist leaders from clergy and laity being engaged in the pro-Gota campaign was impressive. But how was this newly formed alternate power bloc going to fit in with political party formations in the traditional mould like the SLFP, SLPP and UPFA? Was Gota planning to run a presidential administration outside the parliamentary cabinet of ministers? HITLER-GOTA REMARKS BY ASGIRIYA ANUNAYAKE THERA More importantly the political conduct of some prominent persons supporting Gotabaya and their public utterances were chauvinistically hawkish. Their pronouncements and viewpoints may have titillated ethno-populists and ethno-supremacists within the majority community but aroused fear and loathing among moderates of the majority and minority ethnicities. Gota himself seemed to be unwilling or unable to control these extremist elements. An example being the remarks about Hitler - Gota made by the Asgiriya Anunayake Thera. Under these circumstances there were doubts firstly about Gota winning at the presidential hustings even if he were eligible to contest. Secondly there were misgivings about the forces unleashed by Gota running amok if and when victory was registered. Given this conflicting situation Mahinda Rajapaksa seemed to be mulling over the decision to announce Gotas candidacy publicly. For one thing the presidential poll was due only in 2019 and there was no hurry. But the real reason seemed to be that Mahinda himself was reluctant to make a formal announcement about Gota being the presidential candidate. In spite of many direct and indirect entreaties made by Gotabaya and by others on Gotas behalf that an announcement should be made Mahinda Aiya was not ready to do so. It was not that Mahinda was opposed to Gotas candidacy but the ex-president seemed unwilling to do so at this juncture. It was as if he was waiting for the correct time to commit himself or as if he was procrastinating in the hope that a better option may turn up. Gotabaya himself sensed this and was unsure of being nominated as the presidential candidate. Hence, his reluctance to relinquish his US citizenship at this point of time. If he were sure then Gota would have given up his US citizenship promptly. So Gota engaged in the waiting game while promoting his campaign through regular meetings held by organizations and groups affiliated to him. Meanwhile events began to overtake. The pace and course of political currents necessitated a drastic alteration of Mahinda Rajapaksas plans and objectives. It became importantly imperative for Mahinda Rajapaksa to capture power directly as early as possible. Mahinda could not afford to wait patiently for the 2019 presidential poll. He decided to dispense with the Gotabaya as candidate plan temporarily and instead decided to jump into the fray himself. Mahinda was even prepared to patch up differences with Maithripala Sirisena and form a tactical alliance with the president for this purpose. Earlier Mahinda wanted to split the Sirisena-led SLFP from the so called Yahapalanaya Government and harness enough MPs from all sides to defeat the residual UNF Budget in a Parliamentary vote. Thereafter Maithripala would appoint Mahinda as premier in reconfigured Parliament. However when Maithripala Sirisena for reasons of his own wanted to expedite matters by removing Ranil Wickremesinghe and immediately replacing him with Mahinda Rajapaksa as PM, the ex-president did not want to miss that opportunity. LULLED INTO A FALSE SENSE OF COMPLACENCY Even though he did not have a majority of MPs supporting him in Parliament, Mahinda was prepared to be appointed as premier. Mahinda however was supremely confident that he would be able to get many more than the numbers required within a very short time. For one thing Maithripala had already assured him that the numbers were there pending finalization. Besides flatterers like SB Dissanayake lulled him into a false sense of complacency by telling Mahinda that there would be a landslide of defections from all parties when it became known Mahinda Rajapaksa was the new Prime Minister. It is reliably learnt that Basil Rajapaksa cautioned his elder brother about the wisdom of being sworn in as Prime Minister without a viable majority in hand and had suggested that Mahinda wait until the Ranil regime was defeated in the Budget vote and capture power in a more credible and effective manner. But Mahinda would not hear of it. He told his younger brother in Sinhala that power would not come in the way we want or at the time we want and that when an opportunity to seize power loomed large on the political horizon, it should be grasped immediately without delay. It was this line of thinking which resulted in Mahinda Rajapaksa making a power grab through the backdoor. The best laid plans of Mahinda and Maithripala turned awry due to their failure to garner a majority among Parliamentarians. The end result has been a colossal political crisis that has paralysed the nation and made Sri Lanka an object of scorn internationally. Why then did Mahinda Rajapaksa with his years of vast political experience embark upon this risky political venture? What are the reasons and motives that compelled him to opt for a backdoor entry to the seat of power in such a hurry? And where does the current situation leave Gotabaya Rajapaksa? Some of the answers to these burning questions have been touched upon briefly in this article. The issues would be discussed in greater detail in a forthcoming article. D.B.S. Jeyaraj can be reached at dbsjeyaraj@yahoo.com From left - MullenLowe Sri Lankas Senior Vice President / Executive Creative Director, Dilshara Jayamanna; Vice President / Executive Creative Director, Chandu Rajapreyar;Chief Executive Officer, Thayalan Bartlett and Associate Vice President and Client Service Director, Sean Pompeus with theGoldaward MullenLowe Sri Lanka was awarded Gold in the Rest of South Asia Creative Agency of the Year category at the Campaign South Asia Agency of the Year Awards 2018 held recently in Mumbai, India. This accolade is a result of the consistence with which MullenLowe Sri Lanka continues to push conceptual and executional boundaries to create engaging work that has helped its clients' brands receive an unfair share of attention. Renowned for its creative excellence, the agency works with brands from 80% of Sri Lanka's top 10 most advertised categories and 50% of the top 20 most advertised categories. It has done some landmark work for brands such as Sunlight detergent, Clear shampoo, Rexona deodorant, Nations Trust Bank, Maliban Spicy Cracker, FriMi, Close Up toothpaste and Marmite during the year. Collaborating with the best local and global technical talent, the agency produced 101 TV commercials in 2017 about 1.9 commercials a week and is on track to produce 125 commercials in 2018. Furthermore, 4 pieces of branded digital content created by MullenLowe Sri Lanka in 2018 reigned at No.1 on YouTube in Sri Lanka. All this has helped MullenLowe Sri Lanka register remarkable business growth. The agency saw its business growing by 27.3%, well above the industry average in 2017, with new business accounting for 22%. And it is poised to deliver similar growth numbers in 2018 too, despite trying market conditions. Commenting on this, Thayalan Bartlett, Chief Executive Officer, MullenLowe Sri Lanka, said, MullenLowe is a new age communications company that has produced work that has become conversational . Its idea centric media neutral approach is yielding immense value for our clients brands and we are thankful for their trust in us. This award has been enabled by some great relationships with clients, collaborative partnerships with our stakeholders and an immensely close working culture within our internal teams. Winners in the Rest of South Asia Creative Agency of the Year category It is an honor to be awarded Agency of the Year at both the Campaign South Asia awards as well as the Effie awards Sri Lanka in the same year. It comes at a time when the very definitionof advertising is being challenged. These accolades are a testament to the belief our clients have in our unique idea driven solutions that help differentiate and elevate brands in todays cluttered mind space and marketplace, said Dilshara Jayamanna, Senior Vice President / Executive Creative Director, MullenLowe Sri Lanka. In a drastically changing, digital-led advertising landscape, we are determined to continue doing work that is intelligent, experiential and measurable. And it is heartening to see the consistent efforts of our teams,in creating such path breaking ideas that resonate with the consumers of our clients brands, being recognized. We are delighted to end the year on this sweet note, said Chandu Rajapreyar, Vice President / Executive Creative Director, MullenLowe Sri Lanka. The Campaign South Asia Rest of South Asia Creative Agency of the Year Gold award comes on the heels of the agency being recognized as the Most Effective Agency of the Year at the 2017 Effie Awards held in Sri Lanka, earlier this year. Established as LDB Lintas in 1993, and thereafter referred to as Lowe LDB, the agency is a vibrant creative legacy. It came to be known as MullenLowe as a result of a merger with US based network Mullen in 2015. A majority of MullenLowes business comes from global FMCG giant Unilever. In addition, it works with some of the countrys leading brands in carbonated soft drinks, banking and finance, insurance, biscuits, milk foods, sanitary napkins, lubricants, foods, FinTech, personal care and beauty products, mobile communications, data and consumer electronics. Foreigners caught in smuggling tonnes of cannabis oil to Europe BANGKOK: Two foreigners and two Thais have been arrested on charges of making tonnes of cannabis oil in two warehouses in Samut Prakan and smuggling it to Europe. Friday 7 December 2018, 09:09AM Police display seized cannabis oil allegedly produced at a warehouse in Samut Prakan by a gang that smuggled the drug to Belgium, at the Narcotics Suppression Bureau in Bangkok on Thursday. Photo: Tawatchai Kemgumnerd The arrested foreigners were identified as 67-year-old UK national Joseph Toole and 65-year-old Canadian Kulik David. The Thai suspects are Suriyan Suwanchairob, 34, and Supakit Kaeoma, 54. Deputy national police chief Gen Chalermkiat Sriworakhan told a news conference yesterday (Dec 6) that police were informed of the illicit business in March.The smugglers hid the cannabis in compressed coconut peat, or coir, and exported it to Belgium. A shipment was intercepted in Antwerp. Police raided the warehouses on Monday and seized 70.22 kilogrammes of cannabis oil in 57 bottles, 6.6kg of cannabis paste and chemicals. Mr Suriyan was arrested in Sakon Nakhon province, Mr Supakit in Bangkok, and the two foreigners in Pattaya. Gen Chalermkiat said the Canadian was suspected of being one of the financiers of the illicit business and the Briton directed production. The gang has allegedly been producing the oil in Bang Phli for over a year, and to have smuggled five tonnes of cannabis oil to Belgium. He also said police believed the gang included a Japanese financier. Mr Suriyan was allegedly responsible for guarding drugs and equipment and Mr Supakit ran a shipping firm which allegedly handled the smuggling side of the operation. Read original story here. He negotiated with the apartheid White regime and without bloodshed shared the ruling powers with the White minority, abiding with principles of equal opportunity to all citizens He adhered to the Constitution of the country to the letter which was adopted in May 1996 by the Parliament of South Africa and never transgressed any of its clauses to be in power for life During this critical juncture when our country is going through a constitutional crisis, reading about the life of a statesman like Nelson Mandela seems to be an interesting learning experience to us all. Five years ago, Nelson Mandela, world renowned African leader, Nobel Peace Prize winner and the first Black President of South Africa, passed away. Many leaders and representatives from 90 countries attended his funeral. The Blacks who had an overwhelming majority did not have any political right in the apartheid South Africa. Mandela fought for one person one vote and the rights of his brothers and sisters. He was tried unjustly as a terrorist and a political agitator and was imprisoned for 26 years from 1964 to 1990. Once released from prison, he negotiated with the White Prime Minster W.F. De Klerk for a democratic Constitution where all citizens would have voting rights. In 1994, Nelson Mandela was elected as the President of South Africa with an overwhelming majority. He negotiated with the apartheid White regime and without bloodshed shared the ruling powers with the White minority, abiding with principles of equal opportunity to all citizens. Former White Prime Minister W.F. De Clerk became one of the members of his Cabinet. Mandela was admired throughout the whole world for the way he negotiated an amicable political settlement with the White supremacists. He was called the Gandhi of modern times and besides the Nobel Peace Prize, he was awarded multiple honours from all around the world including the US Presidential Medal for Peace, Lenin Peace Prize from Russia and Bharat Ratna from India. Refused Second Term The 1996 Constitution allowed him to run a second term. But in 1997 he resigned from the party leadership and refused to run for a second term. At the time of retirement, the Gallop polls showed 80% support for President Mandela. After retirement, he was active in initiating social activities to uplift the ordinary Black African people. He also raised funds to find a solution to the AIDS epidemic among the Blacks in Africa. He overcame a bout of prostate cancer after retirement, but got respiratory infections at the end of his life and was hospitalised on several occasions. On December 8, 2013 he succumbed to a severe lung infection. In 1994 he divulged his political ideology: A friend once asked me how I could reconcile my creed of African nationalism with a belief in dialectical materialism. For me, there was no contradiction. I was first and foremost an African nationalist fighting for our emancipation from minority rule and the right to control our own destiny. But at the same time, South African and African continents are part of the larger world. Our problems, while distinctive and special were not unique, and a philosophy that placed those problems in an international and historical context of the greater world and the course of history were valuable. I was prepared to use whatever means necessary to expedite the erasure of human prejudice and the end of chauvinistic and violent nationalism. Lessons we can learn The worlds politicians can learn an enormous number of lessons from the life of Nelson Mandela. He was strongly urged by his party supporters not to resign from the party leadership. But he trained two or three younger people in the African National Congress and gave up his leadership to them. He fought and won the democratic rights for his people with patience and sacrifice. He spent 26 years of his life in prison facing harsh conditions because he was convinced about his mission to his people. The whole nation and leaders of the other African countries urged him to contest the presidential election at least for one more term. He gracefully rejected to run for a second term. According to opinion polls, 80% of South African people wanted him to contest. He never thought that the survival of the South African democracy depended on him being at the helm of the government. He once said, I am not a messiah, but an ordinary man who had become a leader because of extraordinary circumstances. He adhered to the Constitution of the country to the letter which was adopted in May 1996 by the Parliament of South Africa and never transgressed any of its clauses to be in power for life. He respected the Constitution which enshrined a series of institutions to place checks on political and administrative authority within the constitutional democracy. He respected the will of the people both Blacks and Whites in the country. He worked hard even after retirement from politics to eradicate the AIDS virus, poverty and hunger from the African continent. From the international monetary awards he received, he created the Mandela Foundation in 1999 based in Johannesburg to focus on rural development of Africans, school construction and combatting HIV/AIDS. He created the Mandela Rhodes Foundation to provide postgraduate scholarships to bright African students. He publicly criticized some of the African leaders such as Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe who were holding on to their power. He strongly opposed the NATO intervention in Kosovo and the US-UK intervention in Iraq, labelling the Iraqi invasion as a tragedy. A strong follower of Mahatma Gandhi of India and Martin Luther King of America, he gained universal franchise and political freedom for his Black South Africans. His biographers called him, one of the most revered persons of our time. Another called him a global icon. Phuket Police stop-and-search nets 142k pills of meth, 3kg of ice PHUKET: A simple stop-and-search of a car coming onto the island at the Phuket Checkpoint has led to three arrests and the seizure of 142,022 pills of ya bah (methamphetamine) and three kilograms of ya ice (crystal meth). drugspolice By Eakkapop Thongtub Friday 7 December 2018, 03:58PM In total, 142,022 pills of ya bah and three kilos of ya ice (crystal meth). Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub The series of arrests began with officers taking into custody Kitti Phenrak, 28, from Phang Nga, at the Phuket Checkpoint at 9:50pm last Sunday night (Dec 2), Tha Chatchai Police Chief Col Prawit Sutthiruang-arun announced today (Dec 7). Present of the announcement was Adm Vitharnaratch Kesanee, Chief of Staff at the Royal Thai Navy Third Area Command, based at Cape Panwa, on Phukets southeast coast. Kitti was driving a white Phuket-registered Toyota Vios onto the island when police officers at the check point asked him to pull over and requested to inspect the car, Col Prawit explained. Inside the car, officers found six packs containing an estimated 60,000 pills of ya bah, with each brown paper pack emblazoned with the number 9999. Two packs of the drugs were found in the drivers door, two packs were found under the drivers seat and another two packs were found hidden under the mat in the drivers side footwell. Officers also found 22 pills of ya bah in the blue plastic packs and about one kilogram of ya ice in a green tea packet hidden under the front passenger seat. Kitti was charged with possession of a Category 1 drug with intent to sell, and questioned further. During questioning by police, Kitti agreed to confess to the charge in order to have his sentence reduced. In doing so, he also co-operated with police by giving them information that led to the arrest of two more suspects, Col Prawit explained today. Subsequently, officers from the Phuket Provincial Police Investigation Division and the Phang Nga Provincial Police Investigation Division, as well as from the Region 8 Police Narcotics Control Office arrested the two suspects in Phang Nga on Monday (Dec 3), he said. Apichart Kotsab was arrested in Kapong District, Phang Nga, at 4:30pm. Officers making the arrest also seized an estimated 38,000 pills of ya bah and two kilograms of ya ice. At 7pm that night, officers arrested Manit Phomchun in Takua Pa District, Phang Nga. Officers making that arrest seized an estimated 44,000 pills of ya bah. Apichart was taken to Kapong Police Station, while Manit was taken to Takua Pa Police Station. Both were charged with possession of a Category 1 drug with intent to sell. Both Apichart and Manit and the drugs seized in placing them under arrest will he handed over to the Tha Chatchai Police so that they can be processed as a single case, Col Prawit explained. Why Jesus? He is the way and the truth and the life worth living Opposition politicians may not like it but investors are applauding the rejection of Hydro One Ltd.s $6.7-billion takeover of U.S.-based utility Avista Corp. Shares in the power company controlled by the Ontario government closed at $21.53, up $1.16 or 5.7 per cent, on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Thursday. On Wednesday, Washington State regulators said they would not allow Ontarios largest utility to buy Avista for fear the provincial government, which owns 47 per cent of Hydro Ones shares, might meddle in Avistas operations. Financial analysts had predicted investors would welcome the news because the deal, announced in July 2017, would have eroded earnings per share and weakened Hydro Ones balance sheet. The Washington regulators denial of Avista is a positive development for the shares, in our opinion, said analyst Ben Pham of BMO Capital Markets in a report on Wednesday. While this may sound odd, we note that the Avista deal is expected to be EPS dilutive and result in a weaker balance sheet for (Hydro One). Not acquiring Avista and refocusing its attention on its core Ontario franchise ... would likely be viewed positively if the deal ultimately breaks. Decisions are yet to come from Idaho and Oregon state regulators, but Washington was probably the most important as the state contains customers making up about 60 per cent of Avistas rate base, Pham said. He pointed out that a $137 million break fee is to be paid to Avista if the deal collapses due to a failure to obtain regulatory approval. CIBC analyst Robert Catellier raised his 12-month Hydro One target price by 25 cents and said many shareholders will feel relieved that the deal had failed. He warned that the companys earnings power could deteriorate as the province seeks to reduce power bills by 12 per cent. Read more about: EDMONTON Aurora Cannabis says it will supply medical cannabis to Mexico through a partnership with pharmaceutical manufacturer and distributor Farmacias Magistrales. Farmacias recently got the green light to import cannabis, which Aurora says is the first and only import license granted by federal Mexican authorities to date. Auroras chief executive Terry Booth says the exclusive partnership expands the cannabis growers early mover advantage in Latin America. The Edmonton-headquartered pot producer says Farmacias has a reach of roughly 80,000 retail points, and 500 pharmacies and hospitals across Mexico. It adds that Farmacias has also received licences from Mexicos Federal Commission for Protection Against Health Risks to manufacture and distribute products with CBD and THC. Shares of Aurora rose as much as 10 per cent to hit $7.82 in intraday trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Read more about: MONTREALFinance Minister Bill Morneau says the ongoing U.S.-China trade dispute is distracting from talks aimed at solving the steel tariffs issue between Canada and its largest trading partner. At an event in Montreal Friday, Morneau said the Americans Pacific trade row puts multiple challenges on their plate. That means weve got a challenge in getting this focused on in the near term, he said. Morneau said his office is in contact daily with U.S. officials as well as metal producers and purchasers, but could not offer a timeline for an end to the tariffs. U.S. President Donald Trump slapped tariffs of 25 per cent and 10 per cent on steel and aluminum imports, respectively, from Canada in May, prompting retaliatory tariffs by Canada on $16.6 billion worth of U.S. goods. Meanwhile, American tariffs against China have triggered a tit-for-tat trade war affecting hundreds of billions of dollars in goods over the past year. Despite a 90-day ceasefire announced Thursday in which the two countries agreed to suspend tariff hikes and work toward a resolution, the Dec. 1 arrest of Chinese telecom Huawei Technologies chief financial officer by Canadian authorities at the request of the U.S. Justice Department threatens to sour negotiations with Beijing. Morneaus remarks came hours after the first ministers conference kicked off two blocks away in downtown Montreal Friday morning. Premiers Doug Ford and Francois Legault of Ontario and Quebec have said they plan to bring up concerns over tariffs, particularly in relation to the automotive and aerospace industries. Read more about: EDMONTONThe fall sitting of the Alberta legislature, which wrapped Thursday, was fuelled by ongoing oil woes and dominated by pipeline talk. StarMetro compiled a list of takeaways from the whirlwind that was the last six weeks of government business. Its potentially the last time MLAs take their seats in Edmonton before the 2019 election campaign kicks off. Another sitting could happen in the spring, if an election isnt called. Besides key government decisions and an oil crisis, there was drama, a party departure, anticipated legislation left by the wayside and action at the independent members end of the house. Government leaders would not commit to a date for the next election or say if a decision had been made to have another spring sitting. Meanwhile, official Opposition Leader Jason Kenney called on the NDP government to call the election by Feb. 1, meaning it would take place in early March. Read more: Alberta legislature ends what could be last sitting before vote Alberta to cut oil production, Premier Rachel Notley says NDP pressured over sexual misconduct reports, experts concerned about complainants The next (legislature) session should belong to Albertans, the United Conservative Party leader said on Thursday. 1. The oil differential crisis No development best captures the tone of the last legislature sitting like the oil differential crisis, which began to make waves in November. The government watched the price of Western Canadian Select crude drop to staggering lows, hovering around $14 a barrel. The price of West Texas Intermediate was around $50 a barrel, and the difference put pressure on the government to act. The government claims the differential is costing the Canadian economy $80 million every day and is hurting Alberta royalties. Premier Rachel Notleys final decision on what to do came on Sunday: Alberta is to cut oil production by 8.7 per cent for a temporary period. Every month, the province said it will review the cuts of around 325,000 barrels per day set to begin in January and readjust as needed. The market reaction to Notleys decision was swift. On Monday, the price for Western Canadian Select soared to about $19.75 a barrel after being down to around $10 previously. 2. Parties thinking together Although Notley and Kenney spent much of their time during question period sparring over the energy industry, pipelines, and the carbon tax, the differential crisis marked a bipartisan moment between the two leaders. Kenney, along with the Alberta Party, had called on the government to enforce curtailment on the energy industry before the final decision from Notley. After Notley appointed three special envoys to meet with energy industry leaders in November to help sort out the differential, Kenney said he met with one, Brian Topp, to lay out his proposal of a 10 per cent production curtailment. The decision by Notley, opposed by many big players in the energy industry with integrated businesses, was praised by Kenney. I think what it reflects is a growing political consensus, Kenney said at the time. Hopefully, weve played a constructive role in that. Subscribe to the Star to support deep local reporting in your community 3. NDP controversies It wasnt all good news and chummy bipartisanship. The NDP faced down two situations that shook up the legislature. First, ex-NDP MLA Robyn Luff made some allegations that the governing party had a culture of fear and that she felt bullied as a backbencher. The representative was eventually turfed by the NDP after she refused to sit in the legislature as an act of protest. She spent the rest of the sitting as an independent MLA representing Calgary-East. Luff said she will not be running in the next election. However, after the Luff storm, the NDP said it had investigated two allegations of sexual misconduct against MLAs within the caucus since 2015. The government maintains the matter was handled internally through a third-party investigation and that the instances did not involve criminal conduct. These complaints were handled by the process, and the outcome was education and some one-on-one, said Health Minister Sarah Hoffman at the time. 4. No legislation to ban conversion therapy A highly anticipated private members bill that was announced in September by NDP MLA for Edmonton-Castle Downs, Nicole Goehring, sought to ban conversion therapy. Conversion therapy is used to try to change how a person identifies in their gender or sexual orientation. There is no scientific evidence that the practice is effective. But the bill never made it to the legislature. While I didnt get to introduce my (private members bill) to ban conversion therapy this session, I am still committed, along with our government, to ending this hurtful practice, Goehring said in a statement to StarMetro. Both she and Hoffman said that Albertans would hear more about the bill soon. 5. Pipelines Much of the back-and-forth during question period focused on pipelines. The UCP often slammed the NDP for its supposed anti-pipeline activities in the past. Of course, the governing NDP shot back that it had been trying to get a pipeline through. Those hopes were dealt a blow in August with the Federal Court of Appeal decision on the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, which stated the federal government hadnt done proper consultation with Indigenous groups or fully considered tanker traffic along the coast of British Columbia. The project is on the back burner while the federal government deals with the issues outlined by the court. The lack of pipeline capacity is one of the main reasons why the differential got so wide, sitting at around $40 between WCS and WTI. Alberta has a backlog of about 35 million barrels of oil, causing prices to plunge. And without more pipelines to ship it out, the backlog had grown, causing the production cuts. Notley said she was putting together a plan to buy 7,000 rail cars to help ship an additional 120,000 barrels of oil per day, which she hopes gets going in late 2019. 6. The independent corner of MLAs grows Some call it political Siberia, some call it The Island of Misfit Toys, but the independent corner of the house welcomed MLA Robyn Luff into the fold after she was kicked out of the NDP caucus. She joined Derek Fildebrandt of the Freedom Conservative Party, Richard Starke, an independent Progressive Conservative MLA, and Prab Gill. 7. The last PC The final act of a 44-year political dynasty in Alberta ended when the last Progressive Conservative MLA still standing decided to call it quits. The PCs were cleared out by a shocking NDP landslide in the 2015 election, but Richard Starke had always maintained his political stripe and refused to join other parties that came knocking. The MLA for Vermilion-Lloydminster told reporters in November that he wasnt going to be running again in 2019. This is the time for me to move on to new challenges and new opportunities, Starke said at the time. He called serving his constituents one of the greatest experiences of my life. Starke said his next goals in life would be getting a puppy, learning Italian, and possibly writing a book. There are things that Id like to say, he said of his literary ambitions. 8. Legislation passed Of course, there was legislation passed in the fall sitting. Government house leader Brian Mason spoke to reporters on Thursday and said, I think a great deal was accomplished that will make a lasting difference in peoples lives. He cited the raising Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped (AISH) rates, capping tuition for post-secondary students, establishing a new funding structure for Edmonton and Calgary, and bringing in protection for medical patients from sexual abuse just to name a few of the governments initiatives. 9. Kenney has regrets over his past The UCP leader was asked about a clip from about 2000 floating around online of him talking about campaigning to overturn a law regarding extending hospital visitation rights for gay couples in San Francisco during the AIDS epidemic. Kenney said the campaigning was in 1989 and he said since the early 2000s, he had been a supporter of domestic partner arrangements for couples regardless of sexual orientation. But when asked if he regretted some of his views in the early days, Kenney said, Sure, there are things that Ive done and said in my life that I regret. When asked if the remarks in the online clip were part of his regrets he said, Sure. Read more about: A team of archaeologists from Shanghai Museum in China recently conducted an excavation mission in Sri Lanka to find links with the ancient silk route. It happened at a time when China had launched its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) based on the ancient silk route to improve connectivity with the rest of the world. Sri Lanka is among the countries that pledged cooperation with BRI. Chen Jie, who led the five-member team, in an interview with Daily Mirror speaks about the mission and archaeological finds made. He also sheds light on Sri Lankas positioning on the ancient silk route. Excerpts: Q How do you see the positioning of Sri Lanka in the ancient silk route? The Maritime Silk Route starts from Chinese coastal ports, extending through Southeast Asian countries to the Indian Ocean, Red sea and then Europe and even East Africa. It has constructed an international network for trade and cultural exchanges, promoting the development of countries along the route. Located at the heart of the Indian Ocean and right in the middle of the sea route between the East and the West, Sri Lanka has played a pivotal role in the maritime trade. Links between Sri Lanka and China can be traced back to over 2000 years ago. In the 5th century, eminent Chinese monk Fa Xian spent two years in Sri Lanka studying Buddhism. From the 6th century on, exchanges between the two countries have become more and more frequent. Notably in the 15th century, Zheng Hes fleet made several stops in Sri Lanka during his voyages. People from both sides expanded trade and enhanced friendship. The trilingual inscription which was found in Galle in 1911 is important evidence of this milestone. From 2018 on, the Sino-Lanka Archaeological Project has been launched through cooperation between the Central Cultural Fund and the Shanghai Museum. A joint archaeological team has been deployed to explore the economic, cultural and religious exchanges among different countries through excavation and research of the sites and relics related to the Maritime Silk Route in Sri Lanka. Q What did you discover during excavations? During August and September this year, the Sino-Lanka Archaeological team started its first mission in Jaffna, the important port city in Northern Sri Lanka. The Allaippitti site in Kayts was excavated while a test-trench was dug inside the Kayts Fort. There are important findings, especially in the Allaippitti site. Quite a number of Chinese ceramics were found, providing significant evidence of the trade links between Sri Lanka and China. The excavated artefacts are mainly Chinese ceramics, accompanied by a few local and Southeast or South Asian pottery. The Chinese ware can be dated to the second half of the 11th century and early 12th century, in the late Northern Song dynasty in China. The majority of Chinese ware was produced in the coastal areas of Guangdong and Fujian provinces. The most identifiable pieces are products from Chaozhou and Xicun kilns in Guangdong, while a small number of sherds are from Yaozhou kiln in Northern China. In the late Song period, Guangzhou surpassed ports in Zhejiang and Fujian provinces and became the most important port for overseas trade, which definitely led to the boost of the Xicun and Chaozhou kilns for export porcelain. These excavated wares will certainly shed light on the researches of maritime routes, trade network as well as the links between Sri Lanka and China. Q What is the special reason for you to undertake your work in Jaffna? Jaffna is an important port in Northern Sri Lanka. It is adjacent to the Indian subcontinent and is an important channel for early sea routes. In the past archaeological investigations, many Chinese types of porcelain were found in Jaffna, so this area is an important place to understand the early Sino-Lanka relations. Q How can the two countries cooperate with each other to preserve the archaeological heritage? Cultural heritage is an historical treasure left by humans in the past. These heritages are important material to understand the interrelationships of early human civilizations, so it is first necessary to recognise their historical values through research. With the construction of the city and development of the economy, some cultural heritages are in danger of serious damage. If we do not strengthen the protection of cultural heritage, we will lose them and our memories of history forever. Therefore, we should cherish and care for them together. In recent years, China has accumulated a lot of experience in the protection of cultural heritage. If possible, the two countries can cooperate in the protection of cultural relics, the use of cultural heritage and museum management to preserve the heritage of human civilization. Q What are the areas for further archaeological explorations? Sri Lanka is an island with many important ports along the coast and a large number of remains associated with the Maritime Silk Road. The joint archaeological team will study the theme of the Maritime Silk Road and carry out archaeological investigations and excavations of relevant port areas. In addition to Jaffna, areas that may work in the future include Trincomalee and Galle. Q How do you look at the Buddhist lineage between Sri Lanka and China? Links between Sri Lanka and China can be traced backed to over 2000 years ago. This fact is not only based on the records of literature, but also confirmed by archaeological findings. Not only in the ports of Sri Lanka, but also in urban cities like Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa, a large number of Chinese ceramics, coins and other cultural relics have been discovered. These show that Chinese goods have always been very popular products in the maritime silk trade at that time, or in the relationship between China and Sri Lanka. The influence of different countries is not one-way. In the long history of exchanges, Sri Lankas Buddhist tradition has also had an impact on Chinese religious thought. According to literature, there are Buddhists who came to Sri Lanka from China like Fa-Xian and Sri Lanka had sent people to China to promote Buddhism. EDMONTONThe Northern Alberta Institute of Technology wrapped up a three-week campaign encouraging students to stand up against sexual violence Thursday with a solemn memorial for the 14 women killed at Montreals Ecole Polytechnique. Tables draped in black cloth, arranged to look like coffins, were set up in the Centre for Applied Technology foyer, with one for each of the women slain at the Montreal engineering school 29 years ago. Each table had a white rose with a framed photo and information about one of the victims. We are a polytechnic, so we think its important that we commemorate a day like this, because there are so many similarities between NAIT and Ecole Polytechnique, said NAIT student programs co-ordinator Tim Ira. And our goals are similar. We want to create a culture here that is supportive of women, where women feel safe and where they feel empowered to do well and study. On Dec. 6, 1989, a 25-year-old man entered Ecole Polytechnique with a rifle and a hunting knife and claimed he was fighting feminism before shooting 28 people, killing 14 women, and then committing suicide. The foyer display was accompanied by TVs playing videos on loop of news coverage from the day of the shooting, as well as interviews with survivors. Hundreds of students came by to pick up educational materials and sign a banner pledging to help end sexual violence. Student programs assistant Rosie Colangelo said honouring the victims on the anniversary, now marked as the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women, is important because a lot of students dont see sexual violence as an immediate issue, or even pass it off as a joke. When were talking about the extreme end of the spectrum where lives are lost because of the sexual violence, were also able to dial it back to what was the foundation behind that? What was the culture that existed that allowed this to happen? she said. Making it more of a relevant topic is why I think its very important. Because they are young and theyre still learning and theyre experiencing it in all kinds of ways, and its just sort of allowing them to have the conversation, know that its OK to ask questions, know how they can get supports. NAITs White Ribbon campaign included First Responder to Sexual Assault and Abuse Training for staff, and a series of workshops and lectures for students on topics like consent, rape culture, and bystander intervention. NAIT also brought in This is What it Feels Like, an interactive exhibit designed to show men what it feels like for women to experience cat-calling and street harassment. Ira said some students wanted to learn very specific skills around how to intervene if they see inappropriate or aggressive behaviour. I think a lot of students can recognize when a situation isnt acceptable, but they dont feel confident enough, or dont feel like they have the skills to actually step in safely and make a decision to act, he said. The school reached out to students through social media, with Instagram stories asking students for feedback on whether various situations represented examples of sexual violence. Ira said each story got 300 to 500 responses, many sparking important discussions. In some cases categorically students reject and say, No, thats not cool, that is sexual violence. And in some cases, theres a bit more of a conversation, Ira said. Students can easily identify assault, harassment, groping as things that arent acceptable. But what theyre not recognizing are some of the foundational attitudes that lead to the tolerance of those things. Ayaa Tanash, a second-year digital media student who signed the pledge banner, said she was unaware of the Ecole Polytechnique massacre until she stumbled across the display Thursday. She said its important that schools highlight sexual violence and the factors that contribute to it, as many students dont seem to take the issue seriously. A lot of people will make really ignorant remarks, Tanash said. I know people specifically here who think that rape is a different thing but cat-calling and making sexist jokes and things like that doesnt contribute to sexual violence, which I think is totally inaccurate. Read more about: A scathing report from Ontarios Auditor General raises serious concerns about the state of elevator safety in the province, but members of the industry say the public isnt at risk. In her report, released Wednesday, Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk slams the agency that regulates elevators, the Technical Standards and Safety Authority (TSSA) for poor oversight. She writes that in 2018, just over 80 per cent of elevators failed their TSSA inspection. Most Ontario elevators and escalators are not fully in compliance with safety laws, and the situation is getting worse, the report found. The report noted there have been 487 reported safety incidents involving elevators the TSSA determined had been caused by elevators not operating in compliance with applicable safety laws in the last five years. As well, safety incidents caused by elevators not operating in compliance with safety laws have more than tripled in five years, from 37 in 2013/14 to 137 in 2017/18. The report noted the TSSA does not have consistent inspection standards, and a small number of companies dominate the market and have been failing to make sure elevators meet safety laws. Read more: Highlights from the 2018 auditor general report Editorial | A sensible solution to Ontarios elevator problem Elevator safety mishaps have doubled in Ontario during the past five years, data reveals The issue is particularly relevant in Toronto, where so many people live in tall towers. So many people take the elevator as part of their basic commute, said Councillor Josh Matlow, who added he often hears complaints from tenants in his downtown Toronto ward about elevators. Just like any other mode of transportation they would expect that the government is ensuring that they are safe and monitored and well maintained. And clearly this is not the case. Matlow calls the report incredibly concerning. I expect that the government to take immediate action to make sure that every elevator in Ontario is safe, and is inspected and can provide assurance to every resident in every building that when they or their children get on that elevator, that theyre going to be safe, he said. At Queens Park Thursday Minister of Government and Consumer Services Bill Walker called the auditors findings on the TSSA disturbing and unacceptable, and said he has requested the TSSA board to come back with a report and recommendations by January 31, 2019. We recognize there are serious concerns with elevators. We are currently examining options on improving elevator safety and availability and overall oversight of TSSA, he said in a followup statement to the Star. Sean McCormick, business manager for the International Union of Elevator Constructors Local 50 Toronto, said he doesnt think the provinces elevators are unsafe. But said there is definitely lack of maintenance being done, especially with a recent shift from monthly to quarterly maintenance. Bonnie Rose, president and CEO of the TSSA safety authority, said Wednesday her agency takes our accountability for administering Ontarios public safety mandate extremely seriously and has already established a plan to address the auditors concerns around elevators and other matters to strengthen our ability to keep Ontarians safe. On its website the agency has posted a five-point plan, which includes using enhanced data to identify risks and being transparent in reporting findings to the public. Rob Isabelle, CEO of elevator consulting firm KJA Consultants Inc., said the report paints a picture of disaster and a system heading toward the abyss, which is not accurate. From a safety point of view, its not a crisis, he said. He added there are tons of safety fallback measures to prevent disaster scenarios in elevators; for example, they are mandated to have at least four cables in case one snaps. Isabelle said the bigger problem is elevators being shut down and being shut down for a long time, which he blames on a labour shortage. If you have a not-so-good service-provider, you could actually have the elevator shut down for two weeks, he said. If youre wheelchair-bound, youre on the fourth floor, the elevator is down, you cannot get in and out of your apartment. Doug Guderian, president of elevator contractor Elevator One, said the numbers in the report show a concerning trend, but said the state of Ontarios industry still compares favourably to other jurisdictions. Id rather ride an elevator 20 times in Ontario than once in Quebec, he said. with files from Kris Rushowy and Robert Benzie Less than 24 hours after retiring, a jury has convicted two men in the brutal beating death of 25-year-old music journalist Zaher (Zack) Noureddine in midtown Toronto almost three years ago. Jurors found Patrick Smith, 28, not guilty of first-degree murder but guilty of second-degree murder. Smith, who was also found guilty of assault for stomping on Noureddines co-worker, Mitchell Conery, wept in the prisoners box for several minutes after the verdicts were read out. Matthew Moreira, 34, pleaded not guilty to murder, and not guilty to robbery, but guilty to the lesser offence of attempted robbery. Moreira was convicted of manslaughter. Smith had attempted to plead guilty to manslaughter. A third man, William Cummins, 32, is still facing a first-degree murder charge and is set to be tried separately in the new year. He has also tried to plead guilty to manslaughter, which the Crown has rejected. Noureddines family, who are from Ottawa, were in the courtroom when the jury came back Thursday around 5 p.m. Jurors retired to deliberate Wednesday night. Its not fair, they killed my son, a sobbing Magda Noureddine, the victims mother, yelled as a family member led her out of the courtroom. Her husband, Hassan Noureddine, said the family is disappointed the jury didnt convict the pair of first-degree murder as charged. Were not very pleased, he said, At least we still keep those guys behind bars for some time. Nothing will replace the loss of Zack but that is the thing that we have to live with from now on, forever I guess, Hassan Noureddine said. He thanked the witnesses who came forward. Without them there wouldnt have been any case. He added his son, the first born of three, was not targeted by the three strangers, any person could have been the target. Crown attorneys Bev Richards and Mihael Cole argued the trio was guilty of first-degree murder because Conery was confined during the attack. Under the Criminal Code, an accused is guilty of first-degree murder if the death is caused while committing forcible confinement. Dressed in business attire and leaving a restaurant, Noureddine and Conery were walking to Conerys parked car just before midnight on Dec. 29, 2015, when three men emerged from an alleyway. Conery testified he was punched on the side of his head, knocked to the ground and had his head stomped on. Moreira ordered him to give me your wallet and its all over. While lying on the ground, Conery testified he watched Smith and Cummins punch and kick Noureddine in the head and face. Several witnesses who were outside a nearby St. Louis Bar and Grill started shouting and scared the trio off. The first trial ended in a mistrial after the previous judge ruled the prosecution had improperly introduced video evidence to the jury. Superior Court Justice Suhail Akhtar presided over the just-completed trial, which began in mid-November. Sentencing was set for March 29. I was just sitting here reminiscing, says Sarah Doucette when we meet outside of the High Park subway station adjacent to a half dozen tall apartment towers. I stood here campaigning in the mornings as people came out of the buildings like ants from a hive. Doucette says after she was elected councillor of former Ward 13 she returned to that spot to thank residents for voting for her. After Premier Doug Fords government cut the number of Toronto city councillors midelection, her ward was merged with Ward 14 to form a new, giant Ward 4, Parkdale-High Park. She decided not to continue running for re-election after serving as councillor here since 2010, allowing Ward 14s Gord Perks the sole incumbent advantage. Conscientious councillors know their wards inside out, so I asked Doucette if shed go for a walk through the ward with me, a kind of peripatetic exit interview to get a glimpse of what she knows. Theres a three-storey daycare going in here with a playground on the roof, she says, pointing to a soon-to-be demolished home next to High Park station. She describes a plan by the owner that would also put kiosks along the bus bay platform leading into the station, but Doucette says the TTC is reluctant and worries about liability. There are 10,000 people living in this neighbourhood and only a handful of convenience stores, she says. Imagine if people could drop off or pick up their dry cleaning or kids on the way to and from the subway. This potential retail is a small example of the kinds of urban details local councillors can be advocates for. Read more: Sarah Doucette wont seek re-election in 25-ward council 25 wards, 25 faces: Here are Torontos new city councillors Opinion | Edward Keenan: Torontos new council has as many Michaels as visible minorities Those 10,000 people live in one of Torontos great apartment clusters at the top of High Park, but there are contentious plans for more. As we walk through the towers in a park style buildings, she points out places where new, proposed residential towers are in various stages of planning. Residents include renters and owners in the towers, people living in affordable housing and single family homeowners, she says. Theyre not against more density, but they dont want to overwhelm what works really well right now. Once on Bloor St., walking west, we admire some of the handsome older walk-up apartment buildings facing High Park, one even called, romantically, Sunny South. Mixed in this stretch of Bloor are offices, a large seniors building where community meetings are held, as well as an assisted-living facility that Doucette says she advised to add more units by tapping into the City of Torontos Open Door Affordable Housing Program. Ive passed by here many times yet didnt notice some of this or know the stories. Its why walks like these are so valuable to me. As Ive written here before, outgoing councillors should record walking oral histories of their time in office. They, and their staff, hold some of the institutional memory of the city. This is where I do all of my shopping, she says as we enter Bloor West Village. The only thing were missing are a hardware and music store. Doucette points out new solar panels the Business Improvement Area (BIA) organization has installed, replacing older ones from decades past. Theres new pedestrian lighting coming, she says. Itll be motion detecting so itll turn on as you walk down the sidewalk. The BIA here was the first of its kind when it formed in 1970 to compete with Sherway Gardens mall that was soon to open nearby. Its model has since spread to nearly 100 areas in Toronto and more than 300 in Ontario, with more around the world. Along the way, people recognized her and say hello. Today is your first day as a free woman, says one. Another says, You look light. Doucette smiles, but tells one she misses her staff. She says people continue to ask her about things in the neighbourhood. In Swansea, we walk the hilly residential streets marked by dozens of major renovations as the once modest homes upsize. Each block seems to have a memory for her: a hoarder whose family had the difficult job of moving him out of his house; the Windermere United Church basement where volunteers with the Period Purse charity package menstrual products to be delivered to womens shelters. Swansea is remarkably hilly and filled with public staircases, secret passages of sorts, one even named The Souster Steps after the poet Raymond Souster who lived nearby. Its weird walking around now, she says. I felt a responsibility for all of this. Ill still pick up twigs and call 311 when I see something, but Im going to start carrying Gord Perks business cards and when people ask me about something that needs fixing, Ill hand them one and say, call him. Without help from the Parkdale Community Legal Services clinic in fighting an illegal eviction from his home of several years, Phil MacInnis says he would be homeless or dead. Now its the clinic facing eviction and uncertainty about its future location, with Parkdale residents concerned it may be relocated away from the community it has helped fight rent increases and bad landlords since 1971. In mid-October, the clinic was served with a termination notice by landlord Martin Usher ordering it to vacate the office space it has rented for 18 years by Jan. 1, 2019, according to information provided by the clinic at a community meeting Wednesday. The clinic argues this violates the terms of its lease agreement. A new building is being constructed at the site, and the clinic was to move to the new buildings third floor paying increased rent after a brief relocation during the construction phase. Our clinic is facing uncertainty in our tenancy, said Johanna MacDonald, the clinics director, at a packed community meeting at the clinic location at 1266 Queen St. W. on Wednesday night. Negotiations with the landlord continue, she told the room, adding the landlord said the clinic may be able to stay on for a short time past Jan. 1. In the meantime, she said the clinic is expected to continue to provide services and representation. Still, the landlord is not agreeing to abide by our current agreement, she said. Read more: Parkdale tenants granted stay of eviction by Landlord and Tenant Board Which neighbourhoods have seen large spikes in rent? The Star mapped 5 years of rental data in 15 Canadian municipalities Tenant involved in Parkdale rent strike served with eviction notices In an email, Usher, the buildings owner, told the Star his family has been active in the Parkdale community for nearly 50 years and has rented space to the Parkdale clinic for extremely low rent for nearly thirty years. Unfortunately the cost of operations has sadly not permitted this to continue and though we have tried to deal with Parkdale Community Clinic in a fair and respectful fashion, they seem not to want to appreciate the need to recognize modern-day costs, he said. The Star sent Usher the clinics specific allegations that the termination notice had broken the terms of the lease agreement, but did not receive a response. In a Thursday interview, MacDonald said she still believes a solution can be found as negotiations continue. She said the support from the community shown on Wednesday was powerful and indicates how important is to find a long-term solution for the clinic. Addressing the meeting, board member Bryan Daley noted the irony of the situation that the clinic is now fighting the same pressures that brought him to the clinic in the first place. It shows that no one is safe from what is happening with gentrification, even an organization like PCLS, he said in an interview. Its almost scary to see someone who has your back and is there to support you is being pushed away. The eviction comes as Parkdale faces the pressures of rapid gentrification, including rent hikes and the loss of affordable housing. Councillor Gord Perks (Ward 4) who represents the area, said the clinic remains vitally important to the community. The clinics current circumstances illustrate a huge crisis facing the area as important neighbourhood services are being priced out. At the meeting MacDonald told Parkdale residents the clinics funder, Legal Aid Ontario, had not yet agreed to fund a lease longer than a year, a term she said is too short for stability. In an interview, Jayne Mallin, a vice-president of Legal Aid Ontario said the organization is fully committed to keeping the clinic based in Parkdale. She said that interim solutions have been discussed that might include giving the clinic some rent-free space on University Ave. to use as well as finding space at other Parkdale-based community organizations to minimize disruption. Every solution we have been working on with the clinic has included an option for them to remain in Parkdale, she said, adding that LAO understands the importance of the clinic maintaining a space in the community. Mallin said the organization is hopeful the clinic and landlord will be able to come to a resolution, and if not, will work with the clinic to find an appropriate space in the neighbourhood in the long-term. Past clients of the clinic say the services they accessed there changed their lives and stress the importance of keeping the clinic in the neighbourhood. Maureen Adams came to the clinic because she needed help reuniting with her son after she left Barbados with her young daughter because of an abusive relationship in 2013. She got the assistance she needed and said the accessible location of the clinic made a big difference. If you are going to school, you are taking care of a baby, even if you are working you arent going to get a day off to say I need to go to Parkdale Legal, but its right here in the community, she said. Tsering Paldon, a settlement worker at the nearby Parkdale Intercultural Association, works closely with the clinic in helping the areas large Tibetan community with housing and immigration issues. Everyone who doesnt know what to do comes here, she said. Phil MacInnis says the community will rally to support the clinic which empowered him to fight for his own rights. If this place goes because they want to put lofts here, its a shame, he said. This has to stay in Parkdale. If it doesnt there are going to be so many people lost. The union representing TTC workers is warning that the Presto fare card system is still plagued by reliability issues and isnt capable of handling the influx of users expected when the agency discontinues the Metropass program next month. In a Dec. 4 letter sent to Premier Doug Ford, the president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113 recounts a litany of problems with Presto devices he says have been observed by union members. He argues TTC workers rather than contractors hired by Presto should take responsibility for upkeep of the fare devices in order to improve reliability. Unfortunately, Presto is not ready, reads the letter, which is signed by ATU Local 113 president Frank Grimaldi and was obtained exclusively by the Star. It is critical that Metrolinx, the TTC, and the Ontario government take immediate and urgent action to fix the Presto fare card systems failures to ensure a smooth transition of Metropass users to the Presto fare card system. Both TTC management and Metrolinx, which oversees the Presto system, counter the unions assertion, saying the system is prepared for the switch. On Jan. 1, the TTC plans to end its Metropass program, which currently accounts for about 40 per cent of all trips on the system. Customers will be able to buy a monthly pass on their electronic Presto card instead, and about 200,000 customers are expected make the switch. Share your thoughts Quoting anonymously from statements purportedly made by some of the unions 11,500 transit workers, the letter says that malfunctioning fare card readers can mean that between 10 and 20 per cent of fares arent being paid during a typical bus drivers shift. The union also asserts that it can take up to an hour for Presto fare readers to go live once a driver starts their vehicle, and reload machines at subway stations sometimes take customers money without putting any funds on their cards. The union also says it can take hours, days, or even weeks for Presto to send someone to fix a faulty device, during which time vehicles can be taken out of service. Presto is responsible for maintenance of most fare card devices. The main exception is fare gates at subway stations, which are owned by the TTC. However, the software that operates the gates is Prestos responsibility. Metrolinx contracts out the maintenance of the Presto system to private firms, including the devices manufacturer, a German company called Scheidt & Bachmann. The union argues that Presto reliability would improve if TTC workers, who already operate and maintain transit vehicles, were also authorized to handle repairs to the fare card machines. Grimaldis letter calls on the province to end the privatization and contracting out of work on the TTC. TTC spokesperson Heather Brown said the agency has procedures in place with Metrolinx to ensure Presto contractors are on site within a timely manner to address any malfunctions. Presto carries out first and second line maintenance activities every night at all garages and streetcar houses. Card readers are repaired within 24 hours except if the vehicle is in service or undergoing repairs, she said. Brown said the reliability of Presto readers on buses and streetcars is above 98 per cent, and the devices take an average of only three to five minutes to go live once a bus driver starts the vehicle. She acknowledged it could take longer if Presto has performed a recent software update, but the TTC has no record of it taking up to an hour. We are confident that Presto is ready for the transition away from Metropasses, Brown said. Annalise Czerny, executive vice-president for Presto at Metrolinx, also said the agency is ready to take on former Metropass users. She noted that last month 800,000 TTC riders per day used Presto. She acknowledged the mixed accountabilities that result from Presto being responsible for maintenance of fare card devices on vehicles controlled by the TTC can cause challenges, but the two agencies work together to resolve any issues. To be fair, its taken the organizations a bit of time to get those processes in place because that is part of the change, she said. I think were getting better and better. Compared to where we were a year ago, were improving. Were seeing our stats consistently getting better. The Presto system was intended to modernize fare payment on Torontos transit network but has been controversial ever since the provincial government imposed it on the TTC in 2011. Presto devices initially experienced high failure rates, and the systems full implementation on the TTC has repeatedly been delayed even as costs exceeded original estimates. Despite initial assurances it would save the TTC money, the agency now believes Presto will cost more per year than its outgoing system of tickets, tokens and passes. This week the TTC announced the debit and credit payment options will be removed from the Presto fares and transfer machines on its new streetcars. It said the function, which made it easier for riders to pay their fares, was causing the machines to be unreliable. As the Star reported in October, an internal TTC document said that Presto devices continued to perform below reliability targets and at levels not sustainable over the long term given the impact on customers, revenue, and reputation. The TTC has billed Metrolinx for $4.2 million in lost revenue it says it incurred as a result of faulty Presto devices over two years. The TTC plans to stop accepting tickets and tokens in favour of Presto at the end of next year. A spokesperson for the premier didnt return a request for comment Thursday. Ben Spurr is a Toronto-based reporter covering transportation. Reach him by email at bspurr@thestar.ca or follow him on Twitter: @BenSpurr Read more about: SAN DIEGOU.S. Border Patrol arrests on the Mexican border jumped 78 per cent in November from a year earlier to the highest level in U.S. President Donald Trumps presidency, with families and children accounting for a majority for a third straight month. The numbers are the latest sign that people who cross the border illegally are increasingly families and children travelling alone, a trend that began several years ago but has accelerated since summer. The Border Patrol made 25,172 arrests of people who came as families in November, nearly four times the same period last year, parent agency Customs and Border Protection said. There were 5,283 arrests of unaccompanied children, up 33 per cent from a year earlier. Overall, the Border Patrol made 51,856 arrests on the Mexican border last month, up from 51,001, or 1 per cent, in October and up from 29,085 in the same period of 2017. It was the fourth straight month-to-month increase. Many families and children, predominantly from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, turn themselves in to agents and seek asylum or some other form of protection, a dramatic change from several years ago when people who crossed illegally were largely Mexican men who tried to elude capture. Central American asylum seekers have low approval rates. But many stay in the U.S. while their cases wind through backlogged immigration courts, which can take several years. Katie Waldman, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson, said the November arrests are the predictable result of a broken immigration system including flawed judicial rulings that usurps the will of the American people who have repeatedly demanded secure borders. She singled out a Nov. 19 ruling by a federal judge in San Francisco to halt a new policy to deny asylum to people who enter the country illegally. The ruling infuriated Trump, who made illegal immigration a top priority during his 2016 campaign and in the White House. Read more: U.S. agents fire tear gas as some migrants try to breach fence Clash with migrants spotlights force at the border Family separations at border down, but dozens still affected Our country cannot afford unchecked, undemocratic mass migration policies written by activist judges, Waldman said. We will continue to push Congress to step up and address these legal failures. The Border Patrol operates between ports of entry. When adding 10,600 who were stopped at official crossings in November, there were 62,456 detained for entering the country without authorization. Thats the highest level since June 2014, during the middle of former president Barack Obamas second term and at the peak of an earlier influx of Central Americans families and children. Trump, who has made border wall construction a top funding priority, dispatched 5,600 active-duty troops to the Mexican border in November as a large caravan of Central American migrants moved through Mexico to the northern border city of Tijuana, across from San Diego. Read more about: HOUSTONThe Air Force failed six times to report information that could have prevented the ex-airman who killed more than two dozen people in a Texas church from purchasing a gun, according to a government report released Friday. The Department of Defence inspector generals report details Devin Patrick Kelleys decade-long history of violence, interest in guns and menacing of women. That history culminated in Kelleys November 2017 attack on the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, the church his wife and mother-in-law attended. The dead included several children, a pregnant woman and a 77-year-old grandfather. Kelley served almost five years in the Air Force, during which he was courtmartialed and sentenced to one years confinement for assaulting his wife and stepson. He was able to purchase four firearms after being discharged in 2014, three of which he carried into the church. The Air Force was blamed immediately after the shooting for not reporting the assault to the FBI. The conviction would have been a red flag in the mandatory background check when Kelley tried to purchase a gun. Fridays report says Air Force investigators who spoke to Kelley failed four separate times to fingerprint him and turn those prints over to the FBI. The report also says the Air Force failed twice to submit its final report of the case to the FBI. Air Force investigators were not trained to submit fingerprints or the final report to the FBI, the inspector general found. The Air Force squadron that investigated the assault used on-the-job training as its primary method of instruction for fingerprint collection and submission, the report says. However, this training was insufficient and was not based on any established curriculum or policy requirements. The Air Force said in a statement Friday that corrective action has already been taken. It has reviewed all case files since 1998, and all criminal history reporting requirements that would preclude someone from purchasing a firearm have been updated. Gunmen in many American mass shootings have repeatedly been able to exploit loopholes or lapses in background checks. Fridays report also details some of the many warning signs against Kelley. His first wife, Tessa Kelley, accused him of choking her multiple times and once holding her head under a shower head and saying, Im going to waterboard you. Waterboarding is an interrogation technique that the United Nations says is considered torture. After Air Force authorities opened an assault investigation against him, Kelley was ordered to be detained before trial because his commander believed he was dangerous and likely to harm someone if released. Kelley had searched online for body armour and weapons, according to the report. Kelley was later charged with misdemeanour animal cruelty after someone saw him punch a dog several times. He was also investigated for sexual assault in his hometown of New Braunfels, Texas, but authorities didnt pursue the investigation in what the local sheriff has since called an error. The report also says Kelley was reprimanded in 2012 for using a disparaging word against a female supervisor and then denying it. Four years later, his former supervisor received a Facebook message from Kelley in which he used expletives and said: You should have been put in the ground a long time ago. Better hope I dont ever see you. PARISFrance prepared Friday for a fourth iteration of violent protests that have rocked the government of President Emmanuel Macron in recent weeks. Authorities announced that nearly 89,000 police officers would be dispatched throughout the country during the weekend, while many popular attractions announced unusual closures. After nearly a month of weekend riots, the so-called yellow vest movement originally launched as a response to a carbon tax designed to curb climate change has come to represent the gravest political crisis France has seen in years. The anger reached a fever pitch in Paris last weekend, when protesters burned cars, desecrated historic monuments and clashed with police in violent exchanges unseen since the upheavals of 1968. On Wednesday, the government agreed to withdraw the contentious carbon tax, but the yellow vests have vowed to continue the violence regardless. Tensions mounted further Friday after footage of a standoff between French police and a group of arrested high school students who had threatened them went viral on social media. On Friday, the French government sought to diffuse widespread anxieties over another crippling riot. Christophe Castaner, Frances interior minister, said that the movement only featured about 10,000 members. Thats not France, he said. But the source of the Interior Ministrys statistics was unclear: As of Friday afternoon, one of the yellow vest movements Facebook groups had more than 156,000 members, and was active with a seemingly constant stream of new posts, polls and live videos. An affiliated Facebook group had more than 280,000 members. Of the 89,000 officers to be dispatched throughout France, 8,000 will be on patrol in Paris. This weekends security presence will represent a significant increase from last weekend, when 65,000 officers were on duty. Read more: Opinion | Rick Salutin: Frances yellow vests and the tarsands of Alberta Paris riots over fuel taxes dim hopes for climate fight Yellow vests riot in Paris, but anger is rooted deep in rural France For the moment, Macron, whose approval ratings continue to fall this week to as low as 23 per cent has not yet weighed in on the coming protests. An Elysee Palace official told The Washington Post that the French leader would speak sometime early next week but could provide no further details. In Paris, locals braced for the worst. A network of 39 municipal hospitals announced a reinforced vigilance plan for Saturday that included extra emergency capacities: 162 were injured and treated in local hospitals last weekend. Shopkeepers, meanwhile, boarded up store windows during a weekend that would normally feature prime holiday shopping. Authorities barricaded streets. In a statement Friday morning, Frances national monuments association announced that the Arc de Triomphe and many other popular sites would close Saturday. The Louvre Museum, the Orsay Museum and many other sites also announced closures. Read more about: LONDON A cargo ship on Friday rescued a British sailor after a violent storm ripped off her mast and flung her yacht end over end in the Southern Ocean as she competed in a solo round-the-world race. British sailor Susie Goodall tweeted ON THE SHIP!!! soon after the Hong Kong-registered MV Tian Fu arrived at her location. The cargo vessel had been travelling from China to Argentina when it diverted to reach her. Race officials have been in regular radio contact with the 29-year-old Goodall, who lost her mast 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometres) west of Cape Horn near the southern tip of South America. Her rescue unfolded early Friday, when the Tian Fu found Goodall an hour before daylight. In a message to race officials at 1115 GMT (5:15 a.m. EST), she confirmed that she had sighted the Tian Fu and that sea swells were up to 4 metres (13 feet) high. Those conditions make a rescue more difficult, said Paul Owen of the International Federation of Shipmasters Associations. Its not a very hospitable place, said Owen, a former captain. But that was only the beginning of her troubles Friday. Goodalls engine failed and could not be restarted, limiting her ability to manoeuvr. Without an engine, her stricken yacht, the DHL Starlight, had to drift with its sea anchor before the master of the MV Tian Fu could manoeuvr the 40,000 ton cargo ship alongside it. Goodall was the youngest entrant and the only woman in the Golden Globe competition that began July 1 in Les Sables-dOlonne, France. Only five of the 18 skippers who began the race still remain. They are trying to sail roughly 30,000 miles (48,280 kilometres) alone, non-stop and without outside assistance before returning to the same French port. Strikes estimated to cause industry a loss of approximately Rs.240mn per day Reiterate Rs.1,000 is easily attainable with just 1kg productivity increase Warn that gratuity and wages could rise to Rs.20bn annually Point out that revenue-share model has potential for as much as Rs. 80,000 monthly earnings In the wake of indefinite strike action declared by trade union (TU) leaders from December 4 onwards, the Planters Association of Ceylon (PA) yesterday firmly reiterated the position of its membershipthat a 100 percent increase in daily basic wages as demanded by the TUs simply cannot be sustained by the industry. All Regional Plantation Companies pay their employees through what is earned as revenue; however the demands of trade union leaders far exceed this capacity. At this crucial moment, we urge all stakeholders, especially those whose daily living depends on this industry, to consider the fatality of this industry and those dependent on it if impractical, untenable decisions are taken, PA said in a statement. It added that the RPCs have already advanced multiple productivity- linked models that could easily enable workers to earn beyond Rs. 1, 000 per day. This times RPC proposal is a 20 percent increase in the basic wage escalating it from Rs.500 to Rs.600. A 33 percent increase in the Attendance Incentive (AI) up to Rs.80 plus the Productivity Incentive (PI) and Price Share Supplement (PSS), all totaling Rs. 940 per day, amounting to an average increase of Rs.3,375 per month per worker. Additionally, tea harvesters who are able to bring in harvests above the norm will continue to be entitled to an over-kilo pay of Rs.28.75 per kilo in excess of the plucking norm which could easily expand their earnings beyond the Rs. 1,000, the statement said. The PA noted that current TU demands are devoid of any incentives, which could in effect curtail the earning potential of the worker by locking them into a system that only provided for a basic daily wage. In the interim, the PA estimated that the ongoing strike action would cost the industry approximately Rs.240-250 million in losses each day in the tea and rubber industries. At a time when the industry is already suffering from depressed international market conditions, and the ongoing withdrawal of the much needed chemical weedicide from the domestic market, the PA cautioned stakeholders against resorting to measures that would further weaken the industry. Further explaining why 100 percent increase in the wage is unviable, PA said extreme demands for a 100 percent wage hike could only be sustained if the average sale price of Sri Lankan tea at the auction was to increase up to Rs.850 per kg. As at November of this year, the average sale price of tea stood at Rs.558 per kg while the cost of production (COP) was Rs.630 per kg. At present, Sri Lankas COP in tea is the highest in the world and has debilitated RPCs revenue generating ability. Notably, 70 percent of Sri Lankas COP is solely the cost of labour. Moreover, PA said RPCs would have to absorb a staggering Rs.20 billion increase in wage and gratuity costs if the basic wages are increased by 100 percent to Rs. 1,000. The PA further noted that the price of Sri Lankan tea in international markets has continuously dropped by approximately Rs. 20 each week over the recent past, while almost 35 percent of tea produced went unsold at the last auction. Rubber COP stands at approximately Rs.360 per kg where the average selling price is just Rs.230 per kg. Hence, PA reiterated the urgent need for the industry to immediately move away from the daily wages system instituted in the colonial era and progress towards a modern wage model. By this, the employees aspirations could be met through a productivity-based model, which would only require tea harvesters to raise their annual average output by a single kilogram. The PAs membership cannot agree to a demand that would jeopardize an entire industry which involves not only growers but tea factory owners, exporters and the entire value chain. Moreover, we urge employees to examine carefully the facts placed before them. In RPC estates where a revenue sharing model has been successfully implemented, workers now earn between Rs. 50,000 to Rs. 80,000 each month. The current wage model is not sustainable, and those arguing for it must be made to understand the immense earning potential that is open to them if they will work in partnership with us, the PA emphasized. The PA concluded its statement by noting that a transition to a productivity-based model would provide the harvesters a significantly greater earning potential and urged trade unions to see this potential and do whats best for the estate communities. WASHINGTONPresident Donald Trump said Friday he will nominate William Barr, the late President George H.W. Bushs attorney general, to serve in the same role. Trump made the announcement while departing the White House for a trip to Missouri. He called Barr a terrific man and one of the most respected jurists in the country. During his tenure, he demonstrated an unwavering adherence to the rule of law, Trump said of Barr, while addressing a law enforcement conference in Missouri. Theres no one more capable or qualified for this role. He deserves overwhelming bipartisan support. I suspect hell probably get it. If confirmed by the Senate, Barr would succeed Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who was forced out by Trump in November following an acrimonious tenure. Sessions chief of staff, Matthew Whitaker, is currently serving as acting attorney general. Trumps fury at Sessions for recusing himself from the Russia investigation which helped set in motion the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller created deep tensions between Trump and his Justice Department. He sometimes puts the word Justice in quotes when referring to the department in tweets and has railed against its leaders for failing to investigate his 2016 campaign rival, Hillary Clinton, as extensively as he would like. Barrs selection is a continuation of this law and order presidency, Whitaker said. Read more: William Barr emerges as leading attorney general candidate in Trump discussions 2 attorneys general to subpoena Trump Organization, Treasury Trump fires Attorney General Jeff Sessions, endangering Mueller investigation Bill is supremely qualified, highly respected at the Department of Justice and will continue to support the men and women in blue, he said. Democrats will presumably seek reassurances during confirmation proceedings that Barr, who as attorney general would be in a position to oversee Muellers investigation, would not do anything to interfere with the probe. The investigation appears to be showing signs of entering its final stages, prompting a flurry of tweets from the president Thursday and Friday. But an attorney general opposed to the investigation could theoretically move to cut funding or block certain investigative steps. Barr was attorney general between 1991 and 1993, serving in the Justice Department at the same Mueller oversaw the departments criminal division. Barr later worked as a corporate general counsel and is currently of counsel at a prominent international law firm, Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Still, while in private practice, Barr has occasionally weighed in on hot-button investigative matters in ways that could prompt concerns among Democrats. He told The New York Times in November 2017, in a story about Sessions directing his prosecutors to look into actions related Clinton, that there is nothing inherently wrong about a president calling for an investigation though Barr also said one should not be launched just because a president wants it. He also said there was more reason to investigate a uranium deal approved while Clinton was secretary of state in the Obama administration than potential collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign. To the extent it is not pursuing these matters, the department is abdicating its responsibility, Barr told the newspaper. He also wrote an op-ed for The Washington Post in May 2017 defending Trumps decision to fire former FBI Director James Comey, one of the actions Mueller has been examining for possible obstruction of justice. He was quoted two months later in a Post story expressing concern that members of Muellers team had given contributions to Democratic candidates. In my view, prosecutors who make political contributions are identifying fairly strongly with a political party, Barr said. I would have liked to see him have more balance on this group. Barr had been on a White House short list of contenders for several weeks, said a person with knowledge of internal discussions who was not authorized to speak publicly. But some inside the White House were concerned that Barr was too aligned with establishment GOP forces. Trump said Friday Barr had been his first choice from Day One. RIMBO, SWEDENThe United Nations refugee agency said Friday there were nearly 1,500 civilian casualties in Yemen from August through October, the latest grim tally to emerge from a four-year civil war as opposing parties hold talks in Sweden. The announcement came as Yemens Iran-backed Houthi rebels and the internationally recognized government, supported by a Saudi-led coalition, met for a second day for U.N.-sponsored talks aimed at halting the bloodshed. UNHCR urged the two sides to do more to protect civilians, saying data from Yemen shows an average of 123 civilian killed and wounded every week during the three-month period, in a war that has killed at least 16,000 civilians. On Friday, at the venue in a castle in the town of Rimbo, north of Stockholm, U.N. envoy Martin Griffiths and various delegates from Yemen were seen walking on the grounds. During a break outside the talks, Othman Mujali, minister of agriculture from the Hadi government, said his side was ready to make concessions to help relieve suffering and prop up the economy. There are trust building measures upon which we will build goodwill, with them leaving Hodeida and ceasing to skim off funds, he said. We are ready to release prisoners of war and pay wages to people, if they carry on with what were agreeing upon. Read more: Yemen peace talks begin with agreement to free 5,000 prisoners U.S. ambassador to Yemen accuses Iran of stoking regional conflicts The Houthi delegation later said that talks had been divided into five main sections, including opening up Sanaa airport for aid, adding that the prisoner swap would include all detainees from both sides. The first section is the political framework, the second section is the airport ... then Sanaa and the economic measures and humanitarian issues, and the fifth and it has been discussed and finished is concerning the detainees and prisoners of war, senior Houthi negotiator Abdul-Malik al-Ajri said. The talks opened Thursday on an upbeat note, with the warring sides agreeing to a broad prisoner swap, boosting hopes that the talks would not deteriorate into further violence as in the past. In a release from Sanaa later Friday the rebels said their delegation had met with Griffiths and looked forward to having success in the talks and making concrete progress. The international envoy discusses the importance of such consultations and affirmed that progress must be made on three important issues: the general framework, political solution and calm, and confidence-building measures, they said. Yemens conflict, which has pushed the country to the brink of famine, pits the internationally recognized government against Shiite rebels known as Houthis, who took the capital of Sanaa in 2014. The Saudis intervened the following year. U.N. officials have sought to downplay expectations from the talks, saying they dont foresee rapid progress toward a political settlement but hope for at least minor steps that would help to address Yemens worsening humanitarian crisis and prepare a framework for further negotiations. UNHCR says of the 1,478 civilian casualties, 33 per cent were women and children. Thats a total of 217 women and children killed and 268 wounded. An Associated Press investigation published Friday has revealed evidence of torture at detention sites run by Yemens Houthi rebels. There has also been international outrage against the coalition over abuses. The AP has exposed torture at secret prisons run by the UAE and their Yemeni allies and has documented the deaths of civilians from strikes by drones in the United States campaign against al-Qaedas branch in Yemen. Read more about: Ontario Auditor General Bonnie Lysyks tome of an annual report released this week laid plenty of criticism firmly at the feet of the last Liberal government. She called them out for lax oversight of some programs and the dubious cost-effectiveness of others. Of particular note is what she had to say about the cost of political interference. Lysyks concerns related to the political interference at Metrolinx that altered transit priorities and drove up costs by more than $400 million over the last decade. This type of mismanagement ends right here, right now, Treasury Board President Peter Bethlenfalvy said of the auditors findings. If only that were true. Premier Doug Ford and his Progressive Conservatives are busy making these problems worse, not better. Take Hydro One, for example. Ford blustered his way through the election promising to get rid of Mayo Schmidt, the so-called six-million-dollar man who was then Hydro Ones CEO, and simplistically suggesting that would help reduce electricity bills. Now we know that promise essentially killed Hydro Ones multi-billion-dollar takeover of American energy company Avista Corp. And that will cost Hydro One and by extension the taxpayers who own half the company well over $100 million in termination fees and penalties, not to mention reduced share value. Regulators in Washington State blocked the takeover this week, having decided that political interference in Hydro One by the Ford government made the deal too risky to approve. And who can blame them? Hes still not done. Having forced Schmidt to retire and the last Hydro board to resign, reports indicate that Ford is pushing for his choice for Hydro One CEO over the new boards shortlist of candidates. And for those counting, the new chief executive is likely to be in the ballpark of a four-million-dollar man, so when all the costs of getting rid of Schmidt are factored in Ontario is even further in the hole thanks to Ford. Mistakes start to accumulate for every government of every political stripe the longer theyre in power. Some are honest policy missteps, others the result of political hubris. The Wynne and McGuinty Liberals had 15 years to accumulate a little of both. But in just over five months Fords mistakes born of meddling have covered an astonishing amount of ground. In the last week alone, his penchant for hiring and firing has brought into disrepute no less than the head of the OPP, the countrys second-largest police force, and cost the province tens of millions along with its reputation as a serious place to do business. Worse still, Ford is unrepentant about all of it, which suggests he intends to continue down this path. I will never apologize for keeping my promises to the voters, Ford said after news broke of the scuppered Hydro One deal and its associated costs. Voters must be wondering what promise he thinks hes keeping. Ford said he would ferret out government waste and Liberal insiders. But so far all hes done is drive up costs and create uncertainty in the private sector, and used his position as premier to settle personal grudges and take unprecedented steps to get his own insiders into positions of power. When Lysyks report was released on Wednesday, NDP Leader Andrea Horwath saw it not only as condemnation of the last Liberal government but as an ominous warning of where Ontario is headed under the Ford government. Political interference comes with costs. And Fords short time in office has been replete with reckless moves to rip up contracts, get rid of people he doesnt like and install his allies in key positions. And, as Horwath said, hes leaving families to pay the bill. Ford and his yes-men gaggle of ministers dont see it. Thankfully, others do. But to avoid having to answer for this in question period, the Ford government passed a motion to adjourn the legislature a week early. They wont be back until the middle of February Is this what a government for the people looks like? Read more about: A spectre is haunting Canada, or at least the parts of it susceptible to the allure of populist right-wing thinking. According to the latest theory sweeping these quarters, our borders are about to be erased, our citizenship undermined, our very sovereignty reduced to naught. The alleged culprit? A document wordily entitled the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, to be adopted next week by Canada and dozens of other countries at a United Nations-sponsored conference in Marrakech, Morocco. On a plain reading of the 34-page agreement, its a list of mostly laudable objectives to deal with the flood of global migration. The basic idea is that, with some 258 million people seeking refuge, its better for countries to work together to treat migrants decently and reduce the number of people fleeing their homelands. It is, the document makes clear, a non-legally binding cooperative framework. It explicitly states (see page 2, paragraph 7) that participating nations remain free to set their own immigration policies. Yet in the fevered world of far-right commentary, the Global Compact has been turned into the latest scheme of power-mad globalists to erase the nation state and flood the west with unwanted migrants. Rush Limbaugh warns it means a massive influx of legal migration into our countries. The loony but popular Infowars site claims theres a UN plan to flood America with 600 million migrants. Closer to home, a columnist in the Toronto Sun calls the compact a radical global scheme that undermines Canadas laws and traditions while pushing for mass migration and open borders. For Canadians, all that was a noisy sideshow until this week when Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer joined the populist bandwagon. In the House of Commons, he denounced the Trudeau governments support for the compact. It will, he warned, give influence over Canadas immigration system to foreign entities. It could, he went on, shape how the media reports on immigration issues (this in response to the most problematic clause in the document, calling for sensitizing and educating media professionals.) It would open the door to foreign bureaucrats telling Canada how to manage our borders. Its not clear how much, if any, of this Scheer actually believes, given the mostly banal nature of the document and its repeated assertions that it wont bind Canada to actually doing anything. What is clear is that by signing on to the anti-UN campaign Scheer has made a deliberate choice to stoke fears about the influx of migrants across our border and about immigration in general. This is nothing new for the Conservatives. They played that card in the dying days of the 2015 election campaign with their promise to root out barbaric cultural practices. And the leadership campaign that followed their defeat saw a contest between Conservatives more inclined to talk tough on immigration and those who didnt want to go near the hot-button issue. Now Scheer has evidently decided that megaphoning fears about the UN agreement is how he intends to position his party for next Octobers federal vote. That narrow issue alone may not mean much. But it sends a clear message that Scheer is listening to the segment of the population attuned to the populist, far-right message. In part this is a defensive move by Scheer against a perceived threat from Maxime Bernier and his new Peoples Party of Canada. Bernier has gone hard on the immigration issue and joined the clamour against the UN Global Compact before Scheer jumped on board. The Conservatives obviously dont want Bernier stealing votes from voters who think theyre soft on migrants. And theyre very aware that anti-immigration sentiment is particularly strong in Quebec, whose newly elected small-c conservative government has just cut the provinces annual quota for newcomers by 20 per cent. But this goes far beyond a mere electoral tactic. Scheer is putting himself in pretty bad company here. Never mind the likes of Limbaugh and Infowars. The Trump administration has refused to have anything to do with the Global Compact, along with the governments of Australia and a growing list of European countries run by right-wing populist parties including Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic. Right-wing parties in countries like Belgium are also undermining support for the agreement. Its troubling, to say the least, to see the Official Opposition throwing in its hand with such extreme elements. For the most part Canada has maintained an all-party consensus on immigration; it would be dangerous and divisive if a major federal party heads down the road of populism and nativism on this issue. The Conservatives certainly arent there yet, but they are setting the stage for a debate next year over immigration and particularly on the influx of migrants coming over the border from the United States. Theyll try to portray Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as weak on border security and blame his government for the increase in numbers and the rising bill for dealing with them. Its a legitimate debate. But it could easily turn nasty if one of the parties chooses to blow it out of proportion and feed fears for electoral advantage. Weve seen how easily that can happen in many other countries, and its the last thing we need to import into Canada. Scheer and the Conservatives have a moral responsibility, as well as a political one, to stop the debate in this country from going bad. Their position on the UN migrants compact is a worrisome sign that theyre on the wrong path. Read more about: OTTAWAThe federal government is considering further restrictions on handguns but will stop short of an absolute ban, as the cost to buy back legally owned handguns is pegged as high as $2 billion, the Star has learned. Escalating gun violence across the country, including Toronto, spurred calls for the federal Liberals to act. After public consultations, deliberations are now underway with a proposal being readied to take to cabinet early next year. Among options under consideration are the imposition of tougher legal obligations on gun owners such as mandatory storage in secured lockers at a shooting range, not at home, and wider powers for police to preventively suspend a gun owners licence where there is a risk someone may be harmed. For instance if a health professional raises an alarm about an individuals mental health, police would be able to act to suspend a licence in absence of a criminal charge or the registration of a criminal conviction. A senior government official who was granted anonymity in order to discuss the debate underway within government, said no final decisions have been made about whether to propose a ban on handguns and assault weapons. In the case of the latter, there is no precise definition in law of just what an assault weapon is, but the government wants stricter controls on assault-style firearms, said the source. Overall, the Liberal government is looking to package a combination of measures that will be effective at addressing gun violence and at curbing the diversion of legal guns into illegal hands; and there are doubts that a ban will have the desired effect, according to the insider with knowledge of the file. It appears, however, there is public support for a handgun and assault weapon ban in most parts of the country, with the source citing internal polling that indicates 70 per cent of Canadians would support a ban. The numbers vary across regions, the source said, with the highest support in Quebec at 76 per cent, roughly 73 per cent in Atlantic region, 70 per cent in the Greater Toronto Area and support dropping to as low as 50 per cent in western Canada. (That overall number 70 per cent appears slightly higher than a recent opinion survey by Nanos Research conducted for CTV News, published in September, which said 48 per cent support a ban, while 19 per cent somewhat support a ban.) After the tragic Danforth shooting last summer, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appointed Scarborough Southwest MP Bill Blair as minister of border security and organized crime reduction, and instructed Blair, a former Toronto police chief, to work with Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale to examine a full ban on handguns and assault weapons in Canada, while not impeding the lawful use of firearms by Canadians. Blair has said he wants to complete his examination by the end of this year. On Thursday in Montreal where the 29th anniversary of the Ecole Polytechnique massacre was marked Trudeau pointed to Bill C-71 which his government has already introduced in the Commons that tightens some aspects of current gun laws, but said we are very open to doing more. Certainly there is the problem of criminals access to assault weapons and handguns and we will be looking at measures to continue to keep our communities safe. Subscribe to the Star to support political reporting and analysis from our award-winning journalists in Ottawa The mayors of Toronto and Montreal have urged Ottawa to adopt an absolute ban on handgun sales. Toronto Mayor John Tory also wants the Liberal government to enact tougher penalties for gun traffickers, tougher bail controls on accused persons with a track record of gun crimes, along with stricter gun storage laws. The deadline for online consultations has passed, and Blair completed stakeholder consultations last week. The source said the federal Liberal cabinet is not expected to deal with whatever recommendations arise from Blairs examination until the New Year. A second Liberal source suggested it is more likely that the government would look at enacting stricter storage, transportation and transfer regulations than an outright ban. There are 1,400 shooting ranges across Canada where restricted and prohibited gun owners could be required to safely store their guns. Gun laws already require secure storage and handling of firearms and ammunition. Yet advocates of stricter gun laws like Wendy Cukier, a co-founder of the Coalition for Gun Control formed nearly 30 years ago in the wake of the 1989 Montreal massacre at Ecole Polytechnique, say a ban on handguns and assault-style weapons is crucial. In an interview, Cukier said an integrated approach to gun violence is needed, including better screening of licence applicants, support for victims, and more resources for intelligence-led policing to counter smuggling, and she added a ban is key to that. Whatever the measures are, they have to reduce access and reduce the risk that people who shouldnt get those guns will get them, said Cukier in an interview. And I dont know what besides a ban could achieve that result. She added had governments acted sooner, the number of restricted and prohibited weapons would not have already ballooned from about 350,000 in 2004, to about 1 million, according to the annual reports of the commissioner of firearms. The notion of banning certain firearms raises questions such as whether Ottawa would grandfather those owners who already have legally registered handguns and allow them to keep their weapons, or whether the government would buy back their weapons. The source said the $1.5 billion to $2 billion estimate for a handgun buyback was based on a loose estimate of 1 million handguns registered in Canada. The source added there are probably twice that number in illegal, unregistered handguns in circulation. In fact, the RCMP-led Canadian Firearms Program says 861,850 handguns were registered to individuals in Canada as of Sept. 30, 2018. The Mounties say those handguns are registered to 292,701 licensed gun owners. On top of that, according to the federal government, there are about 100,000 other non-handgun firearms usually rifles and shotguns legally owned and registered in Canada. The federal governments consultation document published to inform public debate on a handgun ban says in most cases, individuals own handguns for sport shooting or as part of a collection and it acknowledges most gun crimes are not committed with legally-owned firearms. But the same document outlines a big concern for Blair and the government: that thefts from legal owners represent a growing source of illegally-acquired domestic handguns and other firearms, citing a 70-per-cent increase in break-ins to steal a firearm between 2010 and 2017 (from 673 to 1,175 incidents, according to Statistics Canada). It says there is no information about whether the thefts were from individuals or businesses, or whether they were related to improper storage or transportation of firearms. It acknowledged any ban of handguns or assault weapons would primarily affect legal firearms owners, while the illicit market would be indirectly affected as there would be fewer available to potentially divert. Federal Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer says if he formed government he would review laws and repeal any regulations or policies that unnecessarily target law-abiding gun owners. He says he would ensure Parliament, not the RCMP, has sole authority to reclassify guns, and he would provide more money for police to target gangs, to support programs for youth, and to conduct rigorous background checks on would-be gun owners. Read more about: OTTAWACanadas stunning arrest of a top executive of Chinas telecom giant Huawei on a U.S. extradition request rippled through stock markets and around the world Thursday, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau saying he had nothing to do with the decision by Canadian justice officials. The arrest on Saturday of Meng Wanzhou, Huaweis chief financial officer and daughter of the companys founder, Ren Zhengfei, was made by the appropriate authorities, Trudeau said. In Montreal, the prime minister told reporters he was given a few days notice that this was in the works. Trudeau was in Argentina last week at the G20 summit, after which U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping met Saturday the day of Mengs arrest and announced a temporary truce in a tariff war that has prompted fears of a global recession. Stock markets that had plunged amid uncertainty over the supposed truce fell again at news of Mengs arrest, before staging a comeback by the end of Thursday. Trudeau insisted that no one at the political level in his government was involved in the decision to approve the Chinese business executives arrest, and that he had no direct or indirect conversations with any of my international counterparts on this. In French he confirmed he had not spoken to President Xi. I can assure everyone we are a country of an independent judiciary and the appropriate authorities took the decisions in this case without any political involvement or interference, said Trudeau. Read more: What we know and dont know about the arrest of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou Huawei arrest fuels anxiety over the security of Canadas 5G dealings Huawei CFO arrested in Vancouver for possible extradition to the U.S. The RCMP executed a provisional warrant issued by Canadas Justice Department at the request of the FBI, a Canadian police source said. Ian McLeod, a Justice Department spokesperson, said the arrest took place Saturday afternoon at the Vancouver airport. The U.S. now has 60 days to provide Canada with its formal request for extradition and supporting documents. There are several other steps before a judge might allow an extradition request, which is ultimately up to the minister of justice to approve. Now that Meng has requested a publication ban in the matter, McLeod said the Canadian government will not comment further, and will only reveal what position it will take on whether she should be released on bail at a court hearing, scheduled for Friday at 10 a.m. American news outlets reported the U.S. wants Meng extradited as part of a U.S. investigation of an alleged scheme to use the global banking system to evade U.S. sanctions against Iran. The Chinese government made its outrage clear Thursday in statements in Beijing and in Ottawa, demanding her immediate release. The Chinese Embassy in Ottawa issued a statement noting Canada, at the request of the Americans, arrested a Chinese citizen not violating any American or Canadian law. The Chinese side firmly opposes and strongly protests over such kind of actions which seriously harmed the human rights of the victim. The Chinese side has lodged stern representations with the U.S. and Canadian side and urged them to immediately correct the wrongdoing and restore the personal freedom of Ms. Meng Wanzhou. We will closely follow the development of the issue and take all measures to resolutely protect the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens. Subscribe to the Star to support political reporting and analysis from our award-winning journalists in Ottawa The dramatic arrest appears to have unfolded like a chapter in a John le Carre novel, full of international intrigue and mystery, said trade expert Adam Taylor. Taylor, head of Export Action Global, and a past aide to a former Conservative international trade minister, says he was shocked by the news. Huawei is such an integral part of the Chinese march into the western world, that Canadas role in nabbing one of its top executives at the request of the Americans could derail any hopes Canada had of broadening trade ties with China, he said. It is hard to discount the effect it will now have. The story is also cloaked in secrecy, but the allegations are a major twist in ongoing tensions between China and the U.S. which are vying to flex their global economic and political might. Nevertheless, in Beijing, a top official suggested the two countries might still resolve their tariff war. The latest development is certain to factor into crucial decisions Canada must make about whether Huawei can be trusted to take up a role in providing equipment for the next generation of 5G wireless networks around the world. Already the U.S., Australia and New Zealand have moved to ban Huawei from supplying gear for their networks. Huawei has long sought to increase not just a share of the global smartphone market but to become a lead player in the next generation of wireless networks around the world, as countries move to adopt faster 5G technology. In Canada, the previous Conservative government took a go-slow approach to allowing Huawei into the telecommunications market. The current Liberal government is in the midst of what it calls a comprehensive review of what role Huaweis technology should play. In the Commons, the Conservatives demanded the Liberal government ban Huawei. MP Dan Albas called it a Communist Chinese government-controlled company that will spy on Canadians. In Montreal, Trudeau was asked why Canada is not following three of its trusted English-language Five Eyes intelligence-sharing allies on banning Huawei equipment. Dodging a direct answer, he said, The protection of citizens and of our institutions is of course of primary importance to this government and thats why we work with our world class intelligence agencies and follow their recommendations. Canadas top secret signals security agency, CSE, refused Thursday to say whether there had been any increase in cyber attacks by China on Canadian companies or infrastructure in the 24 hours since the Huawei executives arrest became public. Scott Jones, director of the Canadian Centre for Cyber-Security, said only that there are constant daily attacks by any number of state and non-state actors, and that Canada must continuously be in defensive mode. He said that it would be premature to reveal any conclusions about Huawei, and said the governments assessment will take account of Canadas unique circumstances such as the size of the country and an urban/rural split in deciding whether to allow Huaweis to take part. James Lewis, of the Washington-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies, told CBC the arrest is part of a larger campaign to get countries to toe the line on Iran sanctions. The arrest sends a message that if you dont pay attention to sanctions on Iran it will not be business as usual. He added that Canada, as a trusted security partner of the U.S. that must share the same concern about security vulnerabilities, had little choice but to respond positively to the U.S. arrest request. I think Canada did the right thing, he said. The government is easing daycare age ratios for the provinces youngest children loosening restrictions that were introduced five years ago after a number of baby deaths. The move raised alarms among child-care advocates as well as the opposition at Queens Park, who say kids safety is at stake. Any time you water down the ratios of children and particularly toddlers, who need a lot of attention you risk putting kids in a situation where they may not have the amount of adult supervision that they require, said NDP Leader Andrea Horwath. Lets not forget weve had some horrifying situations happen in our province where private daycare providers that were not licensed were putting kids at risk, and where children actually died, she said. That should not be happening in our province and we should not be watering down any regulation that has to do with the safety of the most vulnerable amongst us, which is our children. Under the Restoring Ontarios Competitiveness Act, the province plans to allow a home child-care operator to supervise three children under age 2 up from the current two. It also will allow two providers to look after six infants or toddlers at a time, up from the current maximum of four, with the rules applying to both licensed and unlicensed caregivers. As well, providers wont have to count their own children toward the total number of kids in care as soon as they turn 4. Currently, the age limit is 6 years. The changes are part of an omnibus bill introduced Thursday that is designed to cut red tape for businesses everything from posting workplace safety signs to restrictions on wireless phone providers that could lead to higher bills for cellphone users. MPP Kathleen Wynne said under her previous Liberal government, reforms to the daycare sector were made after extensive consultations with providers and experts and were all designed to create a safer, more enriched environment for kids. The former premier wondered what is behind the child-care revisions in the bill, which came as a surprise on Thursday. There havent been any consultations on those kinds of changes, added Wynne. There hasnt been any discussion on why we would want to loosen the regulations when what we are trying to do is create more systematic and safer care. It feels like its going in exactly the opposite direction than we should be going, as more and more people need child care and need to rely on the rules to keep kids safe, she said. Carolyn Ferns of the Ontario Coaltion for Better Child Care said the sector is scrambling to understand the impact. They are deregulating. They are trying to do child care on the cheap, Ferns said. They put it in this huge omnibus bill on the last day. Its cut and run. Ferns was particularly alarmed about changes that would allow two caregivers to look after six babies, six other children as well as their own kids. Its like running a mini-child care centre out of a home with nowhere near the type of oversight that a child-care program would have, she said. Its letting home child care go wild. When do we get to a point where its just not safe, she added. I dont care how many adults you have in there. How many kids are you going to squeeze into a house? New Democrat MPP Doly Begum, her partys child-care critic, said such a move could lead to scary ratios. The early years are crucial when it comes to brain development, and Im not sure what this would mean in terms of care, in terms of learning we have to be careful of how we implement those policies, said Begum. I am all for creating more space for children, Im all for giving people a chance to earn more money, added the MPP for Scarborough Southwest. But they are not really increasing the amount of people taking care of our babies all they are saying is hey, you are taking care of two, now you can take care of three. Child-care expert Martha Friendly called the proposed changes disgusting. Am I surprised? I am shocked, she said. This is making regulated care less safe. No other government in Ontario has gutted child-care regulations in this way. In a memo to operators, Education Minister Lisa Thompson said the people of Ontario gave our government a clear mandate to make life easier for families all across this province. ... I believe that a strong child care and early years system plays a key role in helping families raise their children. Quality programs allow parents to pursue their career goals while simultaneously giving their children benefits to help them better prepare for school and for life. She said the changes will cut red tape, improve quality, and also help families better afford child care and give them more options. Thompson noted that the age changes better align the child care and early years system with schools, and reflect the fact that children in Ontario are eligible to attend kindergarten in the year that they turn 4 years old. But Begum said removing the requirement for third-party operators running after-school programs for kindergarten students in schools to have early childhood educators means kids could be supervised by untrained adults. Thursdays announcement comes on the heels of the Ford governments move last summer to lift limits on for-profit child care. Read more about: Premier Doug Ford insists hes not to blame for U.S. regulators zapping Hydro Ones $6.7 billion takeover of Avista Corp., which will cost Ontario taxpayers tens of millions in cancellation fees. In his first public statement since Washington state rejected the Ontario utilitys proposed takeover of Avista citing political meddling by Fords government, the premier was unrepentant. Upon assuming office we acted decisively to keep our promise to Ontario voters, Ford said Thursday, referring to his decision to get rid of Mayo Schmidt, the Hydro One CEO he derided as the $6-million man for his hefty salary. I will never apologize for keeping my promises to the voters. We are reducing hydro rates and, after years of neglect, finally putting the ratepayer first, the premier said. Energy Minister Greg Rickford, meanwhile, appeared to be holding out hope that the deal could somehow be salvaged. That was one of three regulatory bodies decisions and that is not an expected outcome. Hydro One and Avista are reviewing that decision and considering their options, Rickford told the legislature. Outside the house, the minister rejected the suggestion that political interference scuttled the bid. Im not sure thats what the decision said, he said. Ford emphasized that the setback doesnt change our focus on bringing down hydro rates and protecting the people of Ontario. This is a deal that was put together by the former board and former CEO of Hydro One a deal that did nothing to lower hydro rates for Ontario residents, the premier said, adding ratepayers should not take a back seat to foreign regulators. Our government ran on a clear promise to clean up the mess at Hydro One. This included a firm commitment to renew the Hydro One senior leadership that had lost the confidence of Ontario ratepayers. The people of Ontario elected us to follow through on this promise, he said. The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC) said the $6.7-billion deal was not in the public interest because it was evident decisions impacting Hydro One were influenced by political considerations in Ontario. Read more: Opinion | Jennifer Wells: Hydro One madness sparks well-founded fears in U.S. Doug Fords Hydro One shakeup could risk $3.4-billion Avista acquisition Opinion | Jennifer Wells: Hydro Ones takeover of U.S. utility sparks customer backlash: This is an incredibly bad idea Schmidts departure was followed by the resignation of the entire board, which state regulators said suggested Ontario was willing to put political interests above those of shareholders. The cancellation deal will result in Hydro One paying a $103-million kill fee plus untold millions in lost share value since the province owns the largest stake in the utility. In a joint statement Wednesday, Hydro One and Avista, which serves 400,000 electric and natural gas customers in eastern Washington, said they were extremely disappointed in the decision. The UTC warned the risk of Fords government interfering in Hydro Ones affairs was significant. This, in turn, could diminish Avistas ability to continue providing safe and reliable electrical and natural gas service to its customers in Washington, the regulator said. TOP STORIES. IN YOUR INBOX: For the days top news from the Stars award-winning journalists, sign up for our daily headlines newsletter. Hydro One is 47 per cent owned by the Ontario government after former Liberal premier Kathleen Wynne controversially sold off a majority share of the utility. Both Fords Progressive Conservatives and Andrea Horwaths New Democrats opposed the Liberal sell-off. But Horwath blasted the Tories for their bumbling in the electricity sector. The Washington state regulators were pretty clear: This is a government that does whatever they want, whenever they want and they cant do business with people like that, she said. Robert Benzie is the Stars Queens Park bureau chief and a reporter covering Ontario politics. Follow him on Twitter: @robertbenzie Read more about: VANCOUVERA family of five from Barriere, B.C. was airlifted to a Vancouver hospital Thursday for carbon monoxide poisoning the second such incident in as many days in the province. Shannon Miller, communications officer for B.C. Emergency Health Services, said paramedics responded to two adults and three children who were exposed to the deadly gas. They were brought to a Vancouver-area hospital from their home, about 60 km from Kamloops, in serious but stable condition. The incident comes a day after nine people in a Vancouver office block were admitted to hospital for exposure to carbon monoxide. As of Thursday afternoon, eight of the individuals had been released from hospital, and the ninth was scheduled for discharge later that day. The carbon monoxide affected two offices in the block at Fir St. and West Fifth Ave.: Glotman Simpson (a group of consulting engineers) and Durante Kreuk Ltd. (a landscape engineering company). About 50 employees from the two companies evacuated the building for about two hours Wednesday morning. The odourless, colourless gas can be produced when fuel is burned. A FortisBC spokesperson said Wednesdays incident was traced to a faulty boiler in the office building. A title search on the office block revealed the building is owned by S.O.G. Investments Inc., which lists Geoffrey Glotman as a principal officer. Geoffrey Glotman is also the name of the managing principal of Glotman Simpson. A senior manager at Glotman Simpson declined to provide StarMetro comment on the carbon monoxide poisoning on behalf of the company Thursday. WorkSafeBC, the provinces occupational-health-and-safety arm, has a set of protocols that employers must follow when carbon-monoxide poisoning occurs in a workplace. The companies will have to complete incident reports by Friday, and WorkSafeBC officers who went to the workplace yesterday will complete an inspection report next week. WorkSafeBCs report may lay out steps the employers should take to prevent carbon-monoxide poisoning from happening again. The occupational-health-and-safety authority amped up its carbon-monoxide prevention and awareness materials after a 2008 tragedy at a Langley mushroom farm, which saw the deaths of three employees. What WorkSafeBC recommends to help prevent carbon-monoxide poisoning: Reduce use of combusted gas as much as possible Have carbon-monoxide detectors in place and working properly Maintain equipment like boilers and furnaces and install proper ventilation Have a written plan for what to do if workers become exposed to carbon monoxide Read more about: Cancellations reach 20% at some hotels State-run airline hit by weak European demand Latest setback for island economy after rating downgrades (Colombo) REUTERS: Sri Lankas travel industry is starting to suffer the fallout of a political crisis in the middle of its peak tourist season, as uncertainty prompts cancellations by both business and leisure visitors. Tourism makes up about 5 percent of the Indian Ocean islands US $87-billion economy, but the Presidents sacking of the Prime Minister late in October triggered a crisis that credit rating agencies say has already hit economic prospects. We have cancellations in the region of about 20 percent, said Chandra Mohotti, a manager at the luxury Galle Face Hotel in the capital, Colombo, which has about 200 rooms. Normally our hotel would be full. We are offering discounts because of the fear that allocations will not be utilised. Peak season for holidaymakers from Europe, a major source of tourists, along with India and China, typically runs from December to March. But numerous flight bookings have been cancelled, especially from Europe, a source at national carrier SriLankan Airlines told Reuters. The crisis started just when tourists take a decision where to go, said the source, who declined to be named. (It) has discouraged many of them. Mahinda Rajapaksa, who replaced Ranil Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister, lacks a parliamentary majority and has been prevented by a court from holding office, delaying the 2019 budget and leading to violent scenes in parliament. Business travel has also been hit by the crisis, with firms moving meetings to elsewhere in Southeast Asia. There have been some cancellations and some have shifted to Singapore and Indonesia, said Sanath Ukwatte, President of The Hotels Association of Sri Lanka (THASL), adding that conference and exhibition bookings were the worst hit. Harith Perera, President of the Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators (SLAITO), said he had also seen cancellations in the corporate sector. At the moment bookings have slowed down and that is a concern, he said. If the current crisis drags on, then the impact will be significant. Cancellations are not only from European tourists, but from everywhere. November tourist arrivals up 17%; tourists from India, Europe surge Seemingly undeterred by the ongoing political crisis, which was triggered on October 26, the November tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka rose 16.8 percent year-on-year (YoY) to 195, 582, the data released by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority showed. Asia and Pacific continued to be the largest source of tourist traffic to Sri Lanka with 47 percent of the total traffic received in November 2018. India, United Kingdom, China, Germany and Australia were Sri Lankas top five international tourist generating markets in November. India was the largest source of tourist traffic to Sri Lanka with 20 percent of the total traffic received in November. United Kingdom accounted for 11 percent of the total traffic, while China, Germany and Australia accounted for 10 percent, 10 percent and 5 percent respectively. Arrivals from Asia & Pacific region rose 2.4 percent YoY to 91, 406. South Asian arrivals led by India rose 8.4 percent YoY to 49, 378. Tourists from India during November rose 21.4 percent YoY to 49, 378. Chinese arrivals fell slightly by 1.8 percent YoY to 18, 888. Tourist arrivals from Europe rose 37.1 percent YoY to 89, 716, led by tourist arrivals from the U.K and Germany, which rose 61.1 percent to 21, 971 and 89.6 percent to 18, 754 respectively. Arrivals from Switzerland also rose 85.7 percent YoY to 3, 531 largely owing to chartered flights from Switzerland. Tourist arrivals from Russia rose only 2.9 percent YoY in November to 8, 090. Meanwhile, arrivals from Americasmainly the U.S. and Canadarose 23.9 percent YoY to 10, 183. Visitors from the Middle East however recorded a 12.1 percent YoY decline to 3, 235. The cumulative tourist arrivals in the first 11 months of 2018 were little over 2.08 million, up 11.2 percent YoY. Although the tourism authorities were originally targeting to attract 3 million tourists this year, it is likely that Sri Lanka would end 2018 with around 2.3 million tourists. Tourist arrivals in 2017 hit an all-time high of 2.11 million, which represented a 3.2 percent YoY growth. Tourism revenues rose by a similar percentage to an all-time peak of US$3.63 billion. According to the provisional data released by the Central Bank, earnings from tourism during the first nine months of 2018 rose 11.6 percent YoY to US $ 3.21 billion. The government had originally set a US$ 4.5 billion earnings target for the industry this year. VANCOUVERBritish Columbia enters its final day of voting Friday in the referendum on changing its electoral system, with more than four-in-10 voters having returned their ballots. The referendum asks whether B.C. should switch to a proportional representation voting system or keep its current first-past-the-post system. But even in the final days, many voters expressed confusion about what is on the ballot and how they should vote. Voting closes at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, and since Elections BC must receive all ballots by that time and no later, its too late to send yours in the mail. But you can drop them off until that time at any Referendum Service Office or, outside the Lower Mainland, a Service BC centre. Here is everything we know, and what we dont yet know, about the referendum, its controversies and how British Columbians are participating. StarMetro will continue to update this file as the story develops. Read more: Explainer: Experts abroad weigh B.C. voting systems in referendum Electoral referendum turnout set to exceed 4-in-10 voters, even as Surrey, Burnaby and Vancouver turnout tanks Indigenous representation rising steady since electoral reform in New Zealand 20 years ago, says Maori statistician Last updated: Dec. 6, 2018 WHAT WE KNOW When well know the results: Dont expect them any time soon. It will take days to count all the votes. Even though more than 1.3 million ballots have already been received by Elections BC, counting of votes wont start until the voting period ends. According to a government source who was not authorized to speak to media, results in the referendum are expected around Dec. 20. Where to vote by Fridays deadline: Ballots must now be dropped off in person at a referendum service office before 4:30 p.m. Friday. Their locations around the Vancouver area can be found on Elections BCs website. That many, many people were confused: A key argument from the No side was the complexity of the ballot. It has two questions, the second of which is a multiple-choice question asking voters to rank their preferences. But British Columbians have voted on a multiple-choice ballot before: in 2002, when voters were asked eight questions about whether they supported restricting First Nations ability to hunt in provincial parks, receive tax exceptions or expropriate private property. Even having a two-part ballot question with four alternatives is nothing New Zealanders couldnt handle when they voted for proportional representation in three referenda. Voters there actually had five choices between two questions. Multiple-option ballots are challenging for ordinary people, admitted Jack Vowles, professor of history, philosophy and political science at the Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. To cast an informed vote, people are being expected to achieve a level of knowledge of electoral systems arguably beyond the expertise of political scientists who dont specialize in the field. What the referendum is about: This is B.C.s third referendum on proportional representation but the first to require only a simple majority to pass, rekindling reformers hopes of having Legislature seats better reflect the popular vote. This idea is known as proportional representation. The ballot asks two questions: first, whether we should keep first-past-the-post voting or change to proportional representation; and second, to rank three proportional systems in order of preference. Voters can answer both questions or just one. Why opponents are so opposed to it: The B.C. No Proportional Representation Society argues that any of the proportional options on the ballot would be a risky move for the province, potentially giving extreme fringe parties a foothold in the Legislature, as has happened in some countries with the system. Additionally, opponents argue that proportional systems tend to lead to less stable coalition governments made up of many small parties, as opposed to two main parties in our current system that alternate power every few elections. And critics say rural voters would be sidelined by larger riding sizes and a watered-down vote that would concentrate power in cities. Why supporters want proportional representation: Pro-rep fans say that the number of seats in a Legislature should reflect the actual number of people who voted for their parties. So if a party gets 30 per cent of the vote in B.C., they argue that party should have 30 per cent of the seats. Under the current system, because only one MLA is elected per riding who got more votes then their rivals, a party with millions of votes in every region of the province could be completely shut out of the Legislature. What the four electoral options on the ballot are: Question one asks whether voters prefer our current first-past-the-post system or a proportional system. And question two asks them to rank their preference for rural-urban, mixed-member or dual-member proportional representation. StarMetro has offered explainers of all four electoral systems on the ballot and provided insight about each system in turn: first-past-the-post, rural-urban, mixed-member and dual-member proportional. How our current system to elect MLAs works and why people like it: Even the status quos critics will acknowledge what our current system does well: elect majority governments and have fewer political parties represented in parliaments. Thats because instead of reflecting the population at large in how many MLAs are in the Legislature, first-past-the-post only requires each elected MLA to gain more votes in their own local riding than any other local candidate, even if they dont have a majority of the local vote. Thats called having a plurality of the vote, sending a single person to represent their district. Experts say first-past-the-post is a horrible misnomer for what should actually be called the single-member plurality electoral system. How proportional systems generally impact things like ethnic and gender diversity in parliaments as well as voter turnout: It is indisputable in the data available, and studies by top academics, that more proportional systems tend to increase the diversity of parliaments most commonly studied are ethnic makeup, womens representation and the presence of marginalized groups such as Indigenous Peoples or LGBTQ people. In New Zealand, Maori Indigenous seats in parliament tripled almost as soon as the country moved to mixed-member proportional representation, for example. But it is also true that Maori there had already been making significant gains in seats in the preceding years, and parliaments across Canada have seen growing diversity amongst women and minority MPs and MLAs under first-past-the-post. And among countries that are part of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, voter turnout under proportional systems has tended to grow, even as it slowly drops in elections around the world. Which electoral systems feature the most extremists or violence: Numerous political scientists from B.C., Ontario, New Zealand, the U.K. and Australia have all agreed that no particular electoral system has a monopoly on extremists, particularly in this era of rising populist nationalism around the world. First-past-the-post fans say its the most stable system. Because it tends to favour two-party systems with a single majority government, it generally excludes fringe groups, unlike proportional systems that foster fringe parties. These critics cite proportional countries bringing the far-right closer to power, such as in Austria, New Zealand, Germany or the Netherlands. But proportional representations fans counter that such can be the outcome in our Westminster system, citing the current minority parliament in Britain where the Conservatives rule thanks to a deal with a formerly extremist militia-linked Northern Irish party that has just 10 seats and recent victories under first-past-the-post of Donald Trump, the Brexit movement and in India and the Philippines. How many people have already voted, and whether that is unusual: Of a registered 3.5 million voters in B.C., more than 1.3 million have already returned their ballots as of Thursday. Thats a turnout of 40.5 per cent, although of that about five per cent still need to be screened and processed by Elections BC. That meets the threshold stipulated by BC Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson, who opposes proportional representation and calls the referendum a rigged game for the NDP and Greens. Speaking to reporters after a Nov. 8 debate with NDP Premier John Horgan, Wilkinson attacked the idea of 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. Who voted most, and who voted least: 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. The impact (of when a riding got its ballot) has clearly decreased, and we have observed a convergence, Breguet said on Twitter. 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. With its daily turnout tracker, StarMetro found that the Vancouver region has so far returned significantly fewer ballots than most of the province. Vancouver was well below the provincial average, with a mere 33 per cent voter turnout, very close to the Lower Mainlands regional average. The provinces worst turnout has for the past week been in Surrey, where an average of just 28 per cent of registered voters had their ballots processed by Elections BC. Next-lowest was B.C.s northwest region including the North Coast, Skeena and Stikine districts, with 29 per cent turnout, and Burnaby and Richmond saw roughly 30 per cent vote. B.C.s highest turnout was 50 per cent in North Saanich and the Islands. Left-leaning Vancouver Island as a whole leads the province regionally, with a 42 per cent turnout, followed by four Kootenay ridings with 40 per cent and the North Shores districts one per cent behind. The right-leaning Okanagan and Kamloops areas were also high, with a 38 per cent turnout. Whether previous referendums had minimum numbers of participants: There was no minimum threshold needed for this referendum, nor for the Liberals two previous electoral in-person referenda, nor for their mail-in votes on the harmonized sales tax and public transportation which had a turnout of 53 and 49 per cent respectively but had much longer campaign periods. WHAT WE DONT KNOW How you should vote: As our mission is to be a paper for the people that reports, investigates and effects change, StarMetro wont tell you how to vote on either question. In addition to our explainers on the four options, we have reported extensively on the facts and issues, whats at stake and any rhetoric from both sides that may be exaggerated or incorrect. Another popular resource thats been widely used to help voters make up their minds is the citizen-run website ReferendumGuide.ca, which offers a 5-10 minute quiz that Elections BC declared a non-partisan, independent resource. Who won: Sorry until the results are in, likely some time around Dec. 20, we have no idea how the province voted. However, a Nov. 20 survey by Research Co. pollster Mario Canseco found that, on the first question, first-past-the-post was in a dead heat for support with proportional representation, with many still undecided. In his online survey of 800 voters, 40 per cent 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 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. How many people voted but missed the deadline in the last two mail-in referendums: In the 2011 referendum on the harmonized sales tax, 8,472 ballots were thrown out because they arrived after the 4:30 p.m. deadline. In the 2015 plebiscite in the Metro Vancouver area, 2,592 voters tried but failed to get their ballots in on time. Thousands of others arrived on time both times but werent counted because people forgot to include their secrecy envelope and certification envelopes in the package or for similar reasons. IMPORTANT NOTE: As a result of rotating strikes at Canada Post, the voting period for the 2018 Referendum on Electoral Reform has been extended to 4:30 p.m. on December 7, 2018. Voters are encouraged to return their completed voting package as soon as possible. Visit elections.bc.ca/referendum for more details. What exactly your future provincial election ballot could look like: Thats been a question thats dogged the entire campaign, and one the opposition has jumped on, citing what the BC Liberals called 29 questions unanswered before the campaign. Some proportional electoral systems involve multiple ballots. Others involve voting multiple times on the same ballot for different types of MLA for instance in mixed-member, for a local constituency MLA and a regional MLA. A huge recurring question has been whether proportional representation would include closed-party lists or open-party lists, the former being where political parties get to choose a list of candidates they put on the ballot as a block and who get seats to make the results proportional. An open-list system lets voters rank those party-supplied candidates one-by-one. After mounting pressure to clarify, Horgan vowed he would use his partys majority to ensure only an open-list system, which tilts power toward voters and not parties, would be considered. But so many of the details of the implementation of a Yes vote remain to be determined by a Legislature committee, in public view but nonetheless dominated by the NDP and their Green allies. Thats raised concerns among BC Liberals. Why certain regions voted in such low numbers: Why some of B.C.s most diverse regions voted in such extremely low numbers particularly in Surrey, Richmond and Burnaby will be a crucial question to explore after the results are in, particularly to determine whether the questions could have been more simply phrased or whether outreach efforts could be improved in the future. Read more about: VANCOUVERA five-year-old PowerPoint presentation is at the centre of criminal allegations against the chief financial officer of Chinese-owned tech giant Huawei in a case that has implications for international relations, trade and the future of Canadas telecommunications infrastructure. Meng Wanzhou was taken into custody on Dec. 1 at the Vancouver airport. The arrest, carried out at the request of authorities in the United States, has infuriated the Chinese government and worsened pre-existing tensions between the two global heavyweights. On Friday, the first day of Mengs bail hearing at the B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver, Crown prosecutors revealed the nature of the claims for the first time. A warrant from the Eastern District of New York alleges Meng knew Huawei was operating a company called SkyCom to do business with Iran, which has been subject to U.S. sanctions since 1979. The U.S. authorities allege Meng committed fraud by telling an HSBC executive her company was in compliance with U.S. sanctions against Iran limiting communication technology. The meeting took place in 2013, but the location was not revealed. Meng, wearing a green sweater, appeared relaxed in the courtroom, even sharing a laugh with her lawyer before the hearing began. A man who appeared to be her husband, Liu Xiaozong, gave her a thumbs up as she looked back at the gallery. When StarMetro approached the man during a break and asked whether he was Mengs relative, he held up his palm as lawyers whisked him away. U.S. authorities argue Meng broke the law when she told the banker that Huawei and SkyCom, another telecommunications company, were separate entities. In court on Friday, the Crown presented affidavits detailing information from U.S. law-enforcement officials saying former SkyCom employees told them the two companies were operating as one, including using Huawei employees to manage SkyCom in Iran. The allegation is SkyCom is Huawei, said Crown prosecutor John Gibb-Carsley. Mengs lawyer David Martin countered, saying Huawei once owned shares in SkyCom and Meng sat on the companys board, but the shares in the company were sold after 2009 and SkyCom became an independent contractor to Huawei. Martin argued SkyComs business interests in Iran involved benign, domestic telecommunications equipment. As Meng fights for her freedom, the case has sparked a furious response from officials in Beijing who accused Canada and the U.S. of violating Mengs human rights. The arrest comes at a time of already heated relations between the U.S. and China, as the two countries have battled over trade tariffs for months. Canadian officials say they had no choice but to make the arrest due to an extradition agreement with the U.S. Huawei is currently in partnership with leading Canadian universities across the country as well as companies such as Telus, with whom it is developing interconnected 5G networks in Canada. Some experts say Canada could still suffer retaliation or the cooling of relations with Beijing, a country with which it is seeking more trade. In Ottawa, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he met last weekend with Chinese President Xi Jinping and within the past few weeks with Premier Li Keqiang. He downplayed any risk to China-Canada relations posed by the arrest. With China we always talk about human rights and the rule of law, and we always look for ways to deepen our economic participation. That will continue, Trudeau said. We have a very good and productive relationship. Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland also dismissed concerns that Mengs extradition proceedings could be a setback or even pose a risk for Canadians in China, repeatedly stressing this was a case where there was no political involvement. Like the prime minister, she said the decision to issue a provisional warrant at the request of U.S. authorities was handled at the officials level. Due process has been and will be followed in Canada, Freeland said. Nelson Cunningham, a former U.S. federal prosecutor and special adviser to the Clinton administration, anticipates Meng will remain behind bars pending the outcome of her extradition. In the systems I know, someone like this would be highly likely to be in custody while their matter is being adjudicated. Theyre such a flight risk, and because we know that if she leaves Canada, shell go to China and shell be beyond the reach of process, Cunningham said. I would be shocked if she were released on bail. Subscribe to the Star to support deep reporting on national issues The bail hearing will continue Monday. The review will last for days, if not weeks, according to Vancouver immigration lawyer Richard Kurland. Cunningham suspected Mengs arrest could be seen as a warning against those who defy U.S. sanctions, which cover Irans shipping, financial and energy sectors. Within the Trump administration, there are powerful cross-currents here, he said. Because they very much want to punish Iran by limiting trade with Iran, and by punishing companies that violate those sanctions. But the move could also have repercussions for Canadian-Chinese relations, he said. I could imagine the Chinese government could be putting a great deal of pressure on the Canadian government, Cunningham said. Theres a big disagreement right now between the U.S. and its closest allies, I believe Canada being one of them, over how to interpret what sanctions ought to be enforced against Iran and what sanctions should not. Matthew Dube, New Democrat MP and critic for public safety and emergency preparedness, said earlier this week that the opposition has heard concerns from Canadas allies. The United States, Australia and New Zealand have banned the company from participating in the construction of 5G networks because of security concerns, and Washington has been increasing pressure on Canada and Britain the other two members of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance to follow suit. Last month, the Weekend Australian published an article citing secret intelligence reports showing Huawei officials were pressured at some point in the past two years to provide password and network details to infiltrate a foreign system. At that time, the report prompted experts in Canada to reiterate concerns that working with Huawei is a grave mistake. Weve heard assurances but blind assurances from the minister of public safety and the prime minister, Dube said. And I think that, ultimately, its incumbent on them to provide the proper assurances whether that has to be done privately for reasons of national security to parliamentarians and hopefully to the public as well. This is critical infrastructure, and I think we need to, obviously, adjust ourselves accordingly. In November, StarMetro reached out to Huawei five times for comment on privacy and security allegations but received no response. On Nov. 5, a tech publication reported that Huawei categorically denied it has ever provided, or been asked to provide, customer information for any government or organization. Meng, who had permanent residency in Canada that expired in 2009, was arrested on her way to Mexico from Hong Kong. In court, the Crown argued that Meng has no meaningful connection to Vancouver and access to vast resources and connections, making even a million-dollar surety insufficient to deter her from leaving the country. The Crown alleged Meng has shown a pattern of avoiding the United States, suggesting she suspected an investigation was taking place. Meng could face up to 30 years for each charge, but the number of charges has not been revealed. Mengs lawyer argued she is not a flight risk because her familys reputation would be damaged if she broke any conditions of a potential release, at the same time arguing that the allegations from the U.S. are not fully detailed. This PowerPoint is from 2013. Five years ago. If there was conspiracy ... to mislead financial institutions ... if Huawei and its employees were engaged in this activity, I ask rhetorically: Why has this company not been charged? Martin said. An affidavit prepared by Meng said she owns two homes in the upscale Vancouver neighbourhoods of Shaughnessy and Dunbar and spends several weeks a year in the city. Those properties are worth $15 million and $2.7 million, respectively, according to property assessment records. Martin also argued that her husband is currently in Vancouver and her daughter will be attending school in the city, so she has sufficient reason to stay. Meng holds two valid passports, one from Hong Kong and one from China. Her Hong Kong passport has already been seized by authorities, and the other is being prepared for surrender to the RCMP. Ms. Meng will remain here, Martin assured the court. With files from Tonda MacCharles Read more about: President Maithripala Sirisena today ruled out a snap presidential election despite several parties such as the United National Party (UNP) urging him to so. He told Daily Mirror that he would not act according to the political agendas of others. Under the country's Constitution, the President can declare a presidential election at any time after four years if he intended to seek a fresh mandate. If there is a snap presidential election, only I have to declare it. I have no intention of doing so. I am not ready to comply with the political agendas of others, the President said. When asked whether he would contest for a second term at the presidential election scheduled for later next year, he said it was too early to decide on it. There is no need to decide on it now. If you look at the past one month, politics has been riddled with happenings on an hourly basis. As media personnel, you all have so many news stories. That is what happened during the past five weeks. Who could say what will happen in a period of one year from now? We cannot say anything now, he said. (Kelum Bandara) Read the full story on tomorrow's paper Dear Zealots: Letters From a Divided Land By Amos Oz Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 140 pp. $23 --- The Israeli author Amos Oz is the sort of writer a big old country like ours hasn't had since Mark Twain. Oz's 30-book career has spanned more than 50 years of Israel's 70-year existence, and he has played a role possible only for authors in young nations: a formative voice shaping his country's culture, offering not merely prose but prophecy. One of the most outspoken advocates of a two-state solution since Israel's Six-Day War and a founder of the 40-year-old advocacy group Peace Now, Oz writes fiction of a piece with his politics, illuminating the complex humanity of both Israeli and Palestinian characters damaged by war. Coming of age at a time when people like him - native-born, kibbutz-influenced, adamantly secular, left-leaning Israelis of European descent - were his country's elite, Oz has now lived long enough to see that power structure shift, diffused by demographic changes favoring more religious as well as non-European Jews, and by ongoing attacks from the country's enemies regardless of who is in power. It's a rough time to be an aging Israeli lefty. In his newest book, "Dear Zealots," Oz takes on his country's dilemmas by addressing what he sees as the basis of them all: fanaticism. It's a subject that ought to find eager readers well beyond the Middle East, as civil discourse in the United States and elsewhere has become an oxymoron and moderation a near-impossibility. Immunity from fanaticism, Oz declares, involves a "willingness to exist inside open-ended situations that ... cannot be unequivocally settled."Oz is a world-class literary master of such situations, but "Dear Zealots" is not at all open-ended. It is full of Oz's unambiguous condemnations of other people's zealotry, and perhaps inevitably, it descends into a single-mindedness of its own. This raises a fascinating question: Can moderation be effectively defended? Dear unzealous readers, that cannot be unequivocally settled. Oz has largely responded to his country's developments in the current century by looking backward, producing in recent years a series of works recalling his 1940s Jerusalem childhood and his youthful years on a kibbutz - including his autobiographical masterpiece, "A Tale of Love and Darkness," in my opinion one of the greatest books in modern Hebrew literature. Oz remains popular on the international lecture circuit, and his public talks are the source of most material in this book, which seems intended as a vision from an old prophet. But as the Bible demonstrated long ago, the Hebrew prophetic genre doesn't lend itself to moderation, nor to irony. It seems to have escaped Oz entirely that titling your book "Dear Zealots" is not a great way to make friends. "Dear Zealots" opens with an analysis of fanaticism that attempts to reach down into each of our souls. "Fanaticism begins at home," Oz tells us. "Its milder manifestations, which we all know, are expressed in the ubiquitous urge to change, just slightly, your beloveds, your children, your siblings, your partner, your neighbors - to change them for their own good." This is extremely thought-provoking: Isn't the desire to "change, just slightly, your beloveds" also what we might call education? Oz is careful to note that not all zealotry is equal, but it is hard to read this book without wondering, as he mentions fanatical vegans and antismoking advocates, whether you might unwittingly be a zealot yourself. If so, fear not, for fanaticism is treatable. The best antidote to zealotry, Oz argues, is "curiosity and imaginative power ... to ask, once in a while: What if I were her? Or him? Or them?" These are questions worth asking, and they are rarely posed on Twitter. Asking those questions is what literature does best, and Oz poses them magnificently in his fiction. But this book is no novel, and Oz does very little imagining here. What emerges instead is an eloquent description of Jewish culture's "vibrant anarchist gene that engenders constant and vehement dispute," and the tradition's appetite for multiple perspectives and interpretations. Oz correctly points out that Judaism's inherent openness to debate has disappeared among many religious Jews, but this discussion soon deteriorates into an angry and, dare I say, zealous rant. At one point, after quoting a religious interpretation of Israel's secular pioneers, Oz declares, "Such an insult is intolerable." Tolerance apparently has limits. I happen to be disposed toward many of Oz's ideas, especially his understanding of modern secular Hebrew culture as an authentic heir of the religious tradition. I love Oz's novels and memoirs, which have often recalibrated my thinking. For these reasons I was disappointed to find this book lacking in imagination, especially regarding the evolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in our current century. Ultimately it leaves far too much from the past 20 years unsaid. The problem here is that Oz's beloved Israeli left suffered a crippling blow not from fanatics within Israel but from fanatics outside it - namely, the Second Intifada, the barrage of high-casualty attacks on civilians in the early 2000s sponsored by extremist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah, whose stated goal is not a negotiated agreement but rather the destruction of Israel. These attacks came in the wake of an unprecedented, if deeply flawed, Israeli land-for-peace offer which then-Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat walked away from and, in a less-discussed correlation, in the wake of Israel's unilateral withdrawal from a buffer zone in southern Lebanon that it had controlled for more than a decade. Something similar happened a few years later in Gaza, where Israel unilaterally withdrew the settlements that were said to be the obstacle to peace; the withdrawal resulted in Gaza's transformation into a launchpad for thousands of missiles aimed at Israeli civilians. These attacks resulted in a security crackdown that ordinary people in the West Bank and Gaza continue to endure, while ordinary people in Israel run to bomb shelters every time missiles fly over Gaza's border. The Israeli left offered no satisfactory explanations for why precisely the olive branch moves it had long promoted were followed by babies being blown up in pizzerias, and it was this reality that led many Israelis sympathetic to Oz's ideas to reluctantly take their votes elsewhere. One would think that a 2018 Hebrew book about fanaticism would address the mental meat-grinder the Israeli public went through when exactly the choices Oz advocated correlated with a dramatic increase in fanatical attacks from the country's most zealous enemies. To his credit, Oz does not completely ignore this problem. Near the book's last page, he mentions that "the Palestinians are essentially waging two different wars with us. On the one hand, many of them fight to end the occupation and for their just right to national independence ... Every decent person must support such a struggle, albeit not all the means the Palestinians use. On the other hand, many Palestinians are waging a war of fanatical Islam, a war for their fervent aspiration to demolish Israel ... That is a criminal war that any decent person must resist ... [and] many Palestinians are waging both these wars at the same time." Oz makes a parallel point on the Israeli side, avowing the right to Jewish national independence and the lack of a right to appropriating West Bank land. This is an honest assessment of a profound problem, and perhaps it is too much to ask Oz for a solution. But Oz betrays his readers when he diagnoses this problem and then proudly offers the same two-state rhetoric he has been offering for 50 years - long before Israel's religious factions had the influence they have now and long before "fanatical Islam," to use Oz's term, seized power in Gaza and southern Lebanon. Oz is strangely proud that his thinking has not evolved. "That is what I wrote fifty years ago and I still believe it today," he writes of his assessment of the situation as a real estate dispute. This would make sense if the apparently pragmatic solutions that Oz wrote about 50 years ago hadn't demonstrably failed in the intervening years. Oz offers some cheerful hopes about how nothing is "irreversible" and dramatic change is always possible. If we dare doubt that what failed in the past will succeed in the future, he implies, we must be unimaginative fanatics. It feels like an even greater betrayal for Oz to wrap up his prophecies with a cute one-liner such as: "It's hard to be a prophet in the land of prophets. There's too much competition." While reading this book, I thought of other Israeli writers who dive deep into their country's conflicts and bring forth serious engagement with "fanatics." One who comes to mind is the journalist Yossi Klein Halevi, a former Jewish extremist, who writes not only with compassion comparable to Oz's and a similar desire for two states, but with deep reporting about real people unlike himself. Another is the philosopher Micah Goodman, whose best-seller "Catch-67" starts where Oz's ideas end, offering both description of and prescription for the current situation in a way that doesn't dismiss the "zealots" throughout the Israeli political spectrum and their genuine concerns. These thinkers have their own biases and flaws, but they and others like them (including those far less famous) are doing the hard work of creating spaces in Israel for people to connect across profound divides, and even more important, they have demonstrated an ability to listen to others and moderate their perspectives as a result. The competition is winning, and it's time for Oz's imagination to come up with some new material. --- Horn is the author of five novels, most recently "Eternal Life." ST. LOUIS (AP) After a decade in dock, the historic 1920s-era Delta Queen riverboat will cruise again. President Donald Trump signed legislation on Tuesday authorizing the 285-foot-long (87-meter-long) riverboat immortalized in poems and songs to cruise again along the Mississippi and several other rivers. The Delta Queen was sidelined in 2008 by a federal law prohibiting overnight excursions on wooden vessels. Both U.S. senators from Missouri Democrat Claire McCaskill and Republican Roy Blunt co-sponsored a bill to allow the exemption, which requires modifications to the wooden portions of the vessel, most of which are cabins and public areas. The hull is already steel. "Today marks the beginning of a new chapter in American steamboat history," Leah Ann Ingram, vice president of the Delta Queen Steamboat Co., said in a statement. "This was the first big step in returning the Delta Queen to the waterways, where she belongs." The Delta Queen began operation in 1927. Passengers have included presidents Herbert Hoover, Harry Truman and Jimmy Carter. It served as a naval ship during World War II and is designated as a National Historic Landmark. The Delta Queen Steamboat Co. is based in Kimmswick, Missouri, near St. Louis, but the boat itself is undergoing repairs in Houma, Louisiana. The upgrade will include replacing boilers original to the boat, along with generators, plumbing, the steam line and heating and air conditioning. The total cost is estimated at $10 million to $12 million. The company expects to begin three-, five- and seven-day cruises on the Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee, Cumberland, Kanawha, Arkansas and Illinois rivers in 2020. The Delta Queen is expected to visit more than 80 ports each year, including St. Louis, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, New Orleans, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Louisville, Kentucky, and Chattanooga, Tennessee. Blunt said more than 170 jobs are expected to be created in Kimmswick, and cited the benefit of many of the cruises beginning and ending there. "This important part of our nation's history will create jobs and strengthen our state's growing tourism industry," Blunt said in a statement. Aslan, played by Logan Elliott, and the White Witch, played by Joey Heflin, fight in the final battle during a dress rehearsal for The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe being performed at Lifebrook Church in Bethalto. The production, part of Christmas Spirit Week in Bethalto, is being produced in conjunction with Ivy Heights Church of God and the Village of Bethalto. Both the Friday, Dec. 7 dinner show and Saturday, Dec. 8 matinee sold out. A centaur, played by Anya Alexis Wilkie, fights two giants from the White Witchs army in the final battle during a dress rehearsal for The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe being performed at Lifebrook Church in Bethalto. The production, part of Christmas Spirit Week in Bethalto, is being produced in conjunction with Ivy Heights Church of God and the Village of Bethalto. Both the Friday, Dec. 7 dinner show and Saturday, Dec. 8 matinee sold out. JERSEYVILLE A Jersey Community High School student is accused of sharing drugs he reportedly had for sale through social media. Wade A. Grant, 18, of Godfrey was charged Nov. 21 with possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance and possession of a controlled substance after police said he posted a photo of drugs he was trying to sell on the social media platform Snapchat while at school. Weather officials have classified three tornadoes in west-central Illinois on Saturday as F1 storms after surveyors examined damage and the path taken by the twisters this week. Meteorologist Ed Shimon of the National Weather Service in Lincoln said tornadoes that touched down in Pleasant Hill, Valley City and Beardstown caused damage to both structures and trees, as well as some vehicles as they passed through. Tornadoes are rated on a scale that goes from F0, which is a minor system, to F5. An F1 tornado is classified as moderate and is capable of wind speeds from 73 to 112 mph. Each site was examined by meteorologists and crews to estimate the intensity and scale of the storm. Each of the west-central Illinois tornadoes was estimated to have winds upwards of 90 mph during the height of intensity, Shimon said. At 1:54 p.m. Saturday, the first tornado touched down near Pleasant Hill and traveled more than a mile and a half northeast, with a 25 yard-wide base. The tornado produced wind speeds up to 98 mph. There were some grain bins that sustained damage, Shimon said. There was a barn that was rolled roughly 25 yards off its foundation, others that had roof damage. There was a lot of tree damage. Roughly 45 minutes later, another tornado touched down north of Valley City where it produced winds up to 110 mph. The tornado traveled for just over a half mile with a base path 110 yards wide. The tornado was on the ground just under two minutes, but cause significant tree damage, as well as destroyed the roof of a mobile home near County Highway 21. The tornado also damaged the walls of the mobile home. There tornado crossed Highway 21 twice before lifting from the ground, Shimon said. In Beardstown, a tornado that touched down at 3:25 p.m. travelled on the ground for roughly eight minutes, covering 4.3 miles with a maximum width of 200 yards. Shimon was one of the surveyors in Beardstown after the tornado hit. The tornado caused significant damage to the Beardstown water plant. It hit the water plant, where it did some damage to pumps and thing, Shimon said. It knocked out three of the four wells in the field near the plant. Thats why Beardstown had some problems with their water. The tornado also caused tree and roof damage along its path. In all, 26 tornadoes were reported across the state Saturday, a rare occurrence for December. The most serious hit Taylorville, about 65 miles southeast of Jacksonville. More than 500 buildings were damaged and 26 people were injured in that storm. Samantha McDaniel-Ogletree can be reached at 217-245-6121, ext. 1233, or on Twitter @JCNews_samantha. SEOUL, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- South Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) held a vice-ministerial-level meeting Friday at the inter-Korean liaison office in the DPRK's border town of Kaesong. Seoul's unification ministry vice spokesperson, Lee Eugene, told a press briefing that Vice Unification Minister Chun Hae-sung was scheduled to participate in the meeting between chiefs of the inter-Korean liaison office in Kaesong slated for 11 a.m. local time (0200 GMT). Chun's DPRK counterpart is Jon Jong Su, vice chairman of the DPRK's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland. They have served as co-heads of the liaison office, which was opened in September for round-the-clock communications between the two Koreas. During the meeting, Chun and Jon would review the implementation of agreements, which the leaders of the two Koreas reached, and make comprehensive discussions on relevant issues, the vice spokesperson said. [ Editor: WPY ] The China International Friendship Cities Conference was held from November 14 to 16 at Wuhan in the Hubei Province of China. This conference was hosted by the Chinese Peoples Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, the China International Friendship Cities Association and Wuhan Municipal Peoples Government. Sri Lanka-China Society Vice President Jinith de Silva represented the association at the conference attended by some 800 local and foreign delegates. During the international confab, the Sri Lanka-China Society signed three Memoranda of Understanding with the following Friendship Associations with the support of Chinese Peoples Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries in Beijing; 1.Henan Province Peoples Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries 2.Wuhan Peoples Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries 3.Hunan Province Peoples Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries This will enable the Sri Lanka-China Society to enhance twin city programmes, exchange professionals, youth and schoolchildren who will be beneficial for the country in the long-run. Picture shows Wang Xiang, Vice President of the Wuhan Peoples Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, and Jinith de Silva, Vice President of the Sri Lanka-China Society, at the MoU signing ceremony on November 18 at Wuhan. Uganda ChristianUniversity was founded when the historic Bishop Tucker Theological College waspromoted as a university in 1997. Bishop Tucker Theological College trainedclergy and educators during its 84-year history from 1913-1997. The localchief, Hamu Mukasa, granted land for the college to operate in Mukono.International partnerships were part of the Colleges missionary history. TheChurch Mission Society teamed with Ugandan leaders and others to assure theCollege had the necessary intellectual and other capital. By the late 1990s,the Church of Uganda sought to have a broader impact on society through thehigher education not only of clergy but of other professionals as well.Uganda Christian University was established in 1997. Wageningen Centrefor Development Innovation (WCDI) is the interdisciplinary and internationallyfocused unit of Wageningen University & Research Centre. CDI works onprocesses of innovation and change through facilitating innovation, brokeringknowledge and supporting capacity development. Wageningen UR Uganda isimplementing a 4 year ISSD Plus project funded by the Embassy of the Kingdom ofthe Netherlands, Kampala. The programme aims to strengthen the development of avibrant, pluralistic and market-oriented seed sector that is able to addresskey challenges that hamper the seed sector development such as seed qualityassurance and availability of foundation seed. The project is implemented incollaboration with the National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO) forpublic varieties and food crops and private sector for vegetable seed. Touched by the compassion of the nurses who tended to her... Marvel released the first trailer of the final chapter of the acclaimed Avengers franchise. Christened Avengers: Endgame, the trailer gives little away. The story continues from the calamitous climax scenes of Infinity War, as the remaining heroes on earth struggle the cope with the losses they suffered in the fight with Thanos. But, they have devised a plan to fight back. This will work, Black Widow assures Captain America. I dont know what Im going to do if it doesnt, he replies. The movie will mark the end of some characters like Captain America, played by Chris Evans. The movie will be followed by Spider-Man: Far From Home. Actor Chris Hemsworth had earlier said that Avengers 4 would be even more shocking than its predecessor Avengers: Infinity War. The 34-year-old actor, who plays superhero Thor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), said that he was blown away after reading the scripts of both the films. "If you were shocked by [Infinity War], I think the second one is even more shocking, for other reasons entirely," Hemsworth said in an interview with Esquire magazine. "That's what kind of blew me away the first time I read both scripts, is how they managed to orchestrate so many different characters but give them each their own separate shot and moments, and have it be elevated and feel fresh and uniquenot just like a messy, thrown-together assembly of these guys," he added. -Inputs from PTI The Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) today criticized United National Party (UNP) Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe for meeting foreign ambassadors and high commissioners at Temple Trees on Wednesday. MP Shehan Semasinghe said entertaining foreign envoys at Temple Trees was a misuse of public property. The UNP still continues to venerate foreign embassies and high commissions. How can a prime minister who was removed from the post entertain envoys at Temple Trees? Today, the official residence of the prime minister is being used for conspiracies. It has become a haven for conspirators," he told a news briefing. Mr. Semasinghe said the UNP had failed to nominate someone other than Mr. Wickremesinghe to the post of Prime Minister because of an internal crisis in the party. President Maithripala Sirisena has clearly said he would not reappoint Mr. Wickremesinghe to the post of prime minister. But the UNP has been unable to put nominate another member because of internal issues," he said. Commenting on the recent parliamentary sessions, Mr. Semasinghe said Speaker Karu Jayasuriya should be held responsible for convening these sessions by spending tax payers money. All these sessions were held to promote one political party, he said. (Lahiru Pothmulla) The tenth edition of the Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival will focus on women issues, health, current affairs and childrens literature. The festival, which commenced in 2010, will have eminent personalities from all walks of life attending the function, which will be held at Park Street Heritage of Kolkata. The author of Less, Andrew Sean Greer, who is also the 2018 Pulitzer Winner for fiction, will grace the occasion, along with feminist writer Ira Mukhoty. Mythology author Devdutt Pattanaik and historian Ramchandra Guha will also participate in the debates. With presence of authors like Shobhaa De, debates on the #MeToo movement could take centre-stage. Writers Upamanyu Chatterjee, Ravish Kumar, historian Rajmohan Gandhi and parliamentarian Shashi Tharoor will participate in the three-day eventfrom January 18 to 20. Formed ten years back, the Kolkata Literary Fest is the distant cousin of the Jaipur Literary Fest, endeavouring to bring "Kolkata to globe and globe to Kolkata". The fest is now a regular fixture in the city, which commercialises books and arts but had never commercialised the debate on literature and social issues. Apeejay Surendra Group also runs the famous Oxford Book Stores across India. The fest has now entered its tenth year. In 2020, the Kolkata outlet of the iconic Oxford bookstore will complete 100 years. "We are proud that the bookstore has been a mecca for generations of book lovers. It is quite remarkable that AKLF has, while representing diversity, continued to be firmly rooted in our community in Kolkata, a rare city whose citizens still value the life of the mind," said Maina Bhagat, director of Oxford Bookstores. The fest will not be confined to literary intellect. Like previous years, there would be live theatre performances, heritage walks, street theatre, eclectic live musical performances, film screening and even cooking worships, amid food for serious thought. Opposing Maharashtra government's tax regulation, Bollywood celebrity vanity van association will go on an indefinite strike from December 10, a move likely to affect shooting of Akshay Kumar's Kesari and Netflix's Sacred Games 2. The "non-cooperation movement" against the state government by the All Camper Van Owner's Association which has 250 vans under it will leave around 500 workers with no jobs and hit over 5,000 workers who earn from daily wages. Ketan Rawal, President, All Camper Van Owners Association, said their client roaster includes A list stars like Ajay Devgn, Saif Ali Khan, John Abraham, Arjun Rampal, Kangana Ranaut, Sonakshi Sinha, Taapsee Pannu, Disha Patani. "Ajay is shooting for his home production Tanaji, Kangana's shoot is on, Saif is doing Sacred Games 2, John's Batla House Mumbai schedule will begin now. Arjun is doing a web series, Sonakshi and Taapsee are both shooting for a film with Akshay. "So everyone is busy with shoots right now. If the vans aren't available, the shooting will be hampered. Honestly, we are feeling bad. I've been in the industry for 25 years and believe the show must go on but we are being harassed a lot," said Rawal. The association is opposing Maharashtra government's rule which charges tax for each vanity van at Rs 5,000 square meter, amounting to RS 1,25,000 per annum. Rawal said requirement of the vans will be high for films, specially in places where there is no make up room, such as for Sacred Games. "Sacred Games is being shot in Dharavi. They are shooting at real locations, on the streets. There's no make up room facility there so how will they be able to shoot? Naturally they would require the vans. "Karan Johar's Kesari shoot is on too. They are saying if the vans don't come for five days they'll incur losses of RS 5 crores," he added. The association said they have communicated their decision to the actors and are awaiting a response from the government. "Our intention is not to halt Bollywood shooting, we are feeling bad but we are now helpless. It's our request, with folded hands, to understand and cooperate with us," he added. The BJP on Friday approached the Election Commission demanding action against the Congress and its president Rahul Gandhi for his interview published in an English daily on Thursday, claiming it is a "shining example" of paid news. A delegation including Union ministers J.P. Nadda, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and BJP's media in-charge Anil Baluni submitted a memorandum to the poll panel enclosing a copy of the interview that was published from Hyderabad, saying "the reporting by way of an interview...is shining example of paid news." Addressing the media after meeting the poll panel officials, Naqvi said, "Just a day before the polling in Telangana and Rajasthan, Rahul Gandhi through his interview, which was actually a paid news, tried to influence voters and electoral process also. It is a violation of electoral reforms." Naqvi further said that Gandhi in his interview cited a survey to claim that the Congress is winning and BJP is losing elections in all the five states. "This news (interview) comes under the category of paid news. As per the rules no campaigning or such interviews should be done 48 hours before the polling. Gandhi intentionally tried to influence voters and free and fair process of election. We demand an immediate action against him and his party," he said. The BJP in the memorandum further said that the interview "goes against the very spirit and parameters of the permitted coverage in the compendium of poll panel's compendium of instructions on the media related matters". In a major setback to the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal, a division bench of the Calcutta High Court on Friday overruled a single bench order which had denied permission to the Bharatiya Janata Party to hold a rath yatra in the state till January 9. The division bench headed by Justice Biswanath Samaddar lashed out at advocate general Kishore Dutta for not responding to BJP's application for permission to hold the rath yatra. The court asked the chief secretary, the home secretary and the director general of police to sit with three BJP representatives by December 12 and finalise the route and procedure of the rath yatra. They would have to inform the court about their decision by December 14. The court questioned the single bench order, saying that the decision to stretch the case till January 9 would result in giving only an academic permission rather than serving its actual purpose. The division bench asked the advocate general why the state government sat over the application submitted by the BJP on October 29. As Dutta failed to give a proper justification to the state administration's decision, the court told him not to be bias and called the no-response of the state government as an "astounding silence". "Why do you see the colour of the political party? Why don't you give space to the opposition party as well?" a lawyer quoted one of the judges as saying. The court also said that decision of the state government, after meeting the BJP leaders, could not be arbitrary and without reason. The verdict of the division bench is seen as a major embarrassment for the Mamata Banerjee government. No leader of the ruling Trinamool Congress has agreed to respond to the verdict so far. A buoyant BJP said party president Amit Shah would hold a meeting on Saturday with top BJP leaders in the state to chalk out its strategy. "What can I say? It's a big defeat for the state government and the ruling party? The rath yatra will happen and Mamata Banerjee would not be able to stop it," said Biswapriya Roy Chowdhury, state vice president of the JP. Earlier, Shah lambasted the chief minister in Delhi. "Mamata Banerjee would not be able to stop us in Bengal. We would march ahead in Bengal and the rath yatra would happen with the consent of the court." It remains to be seen whether state government would go to the Supreme Court against the verdict. Declaring that nobody can stop the BJP's planned rath yatra in West Bengal, party chief Amit Shah on Friday alleged the state recorded the most political killings in the country. Shah was speaking at a press conference in New Delhi a day after the Calcutta High Court denied the BJP permission to launch its rath yatra from Friday. Shah was scheduled to inaugurate the rath yatra, which would begin from multiple locations, in Coochbehar. "We will definitely carry out all yatras; nobody can stop us. BJP is committed to change in West Bengal. The yatra has not been cancelled, just postponed," Shah said. Shah noted the rath yatra, which was originally planned to cover the whole of West Bengal over 40 days, had only been postponed, not cancelled. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other senior BJP leaders from across the country were expected to participated in the rath yatra, the biggest-ever mass mobilisation by the party in West Bengal. The BJP filed an appeal before the division bench of the Calcutta High Court on Friday against the denial of permission for its rath yatra. The BJP had claimed it would appeal to the Supreme Court if the Calcutta High Court did not allow the rath yatra. Meanwhile, senior BJP leaders in West Bengal including national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, Arvind Menon, Mukul Roy and state party chief Dilip Ghosh held an emergency meeting in Coochbehar after the rath yatra was put on hold. BJP leaders claimed if the rath yatra was not conducted, it would send a wrong message to the party's rank and file. (With PTI inputs) Democracies do not go to war with each other Countries most prone to war are not democracies or autocracies, but countries in between We need jaw jaw not war war, said Winston Churchill rather hypocritically. Still, he would be glad to see that the number of wars around the world has fallen dramatically since the end of World War II, despite the conflicts in Korea, Africa, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Lebanon, Pakistan versus India, Central America, Cyprus, ex-Yugoslavia, Syria and now Yemen. Compared to centuries past this has been a remarkable era, yet one not often acknowledged. Interstate wars, apart from India versus Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran and Yemen, have vanished off the map. The wars that remain are civil wars. The democracies do not go to war with each other, as British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher long ago observed. A detailed study made by the Economist last month, analyzed all international wars since 1900, along with the belligerents wealth and degree of development. It counted all conflicts in which at least 100 people per year were killed, excluding deaths from terrorism, massacres of civilians outside combat, starvation or disease. The data showed a strong correlation between democracy and peace, with the exception of the US. The countries most prone to war these days are not democracies or autocracies; they are countries in between. A similar finding applies to prosperity. Middle-income countries are more warlike than very poor or rich ones. Why? Wars are expensive, and citizens in tyrannies struggle to organize uprisings. Perhaps a little political competition or wealth makes it easier to take up arms. The development and growth of international law have undoubtedly had a cooling impact. Grotius, the great Dutch philosopher, wrote in the early 17th century: Where judicial settlement ends, the war begins. The data showed a strong correlation between democracy and peace, with the exception of the US. The countries most prone to war these days are not democracies or autocracies; they are countries in between To wage war was not a criminal act. It was what States did to uphold the law. Grotius was a clever man but in fact, his writings sanctioned the two terrible world wars. We now realize that legalizing war legitimized violence and blocked routes to peace, as written by Oona Hathaway and Scott Shapiro in their seminal book, The Internationalists. It was a successful Chicago Corporate lawyer, Salmon Levinson, who wrote in 1917, The only real way to bring an end to the war is to outlaw war. All the plans made before assumed the legality of the war. Levinson drew up a plan to outlaw war unlike any other peace plan than under discussion. Levinson organized a global social movement around the idea of Outlawry. He made an impact. At a special conference in Paris of major countries on August 27th, 1928, the French Foreign Minister Aristide Briand, declared that the day would mark a new date in the history of mankind and the end of selfish and willful warfare. By signing a treaty, soon to be known as the Kellogg-Briand Pact, the nations of the world would no longer treat war as a lawful means to resolve disputes. Briand said the treaty would attack the evil at its very root by depriving war of its legitimacy. That day, 15 nations signed the Peace Pact, and within a year nearly every nation in the world did the same. For the first time in history, a war was considered to be illegal. Tragically, the Pact didnt survive the pressure of events and the selfish, nationalistic, views of antagonistic countries. The first challenge came from Japan when it invaded Manchuria in 1931. The League of Nations was paralyzed. The other important institution, the International Court Of Justice, whose charter said that disputes had to be submitted to it, was ignored. The US Secretary of State, Henry Stimson, started to think about sanctions- Sanctions of peace to replace the sanctions of war. In January 1932 Stimson delivered diplomatic notes to Japan and China, saying, The US Government does not intend to recognize any situation, treaty or agreement which may be brought about by means contrary to the covenants and the obligations of the Pact of Paris. The League allowed that Japan might take Manchuria but Manchuria would not belong to Japan. Later, other signatories of the Pact- Germany, Japan and Italy- ignored it. At the end of the Second World War, the United Nations Charter included the words of the Pact verbatim: All members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state. There was one exception- if the Security Council authorized force to keep the peace. Today we look at a world where territorial conquest has all but disappeared. Immunity for Heads of States no longer exists. The International Criminal Court can prosecute those accused of war crimes. Before 1928 the average State could be expected to be conquered once in a persons lifetime. Now, it is once or twice in a millennium. Progress? Yes, a lot of it. Most people, especially politicians, are blind to this momentous achievement. Copyright: Jonathan Power. An estimated 67 per cent of over 2.80 crore voters cast their ballots in Telangana on Friday in an election that will test the popularity of the ruling TRS supremo K Chandrasekhar Rao and the wisdom of the great gamble he made in going for early elections. Barring stray incidents of clashes and malfunctioning of voting machines at a few places, the polling was largely peaceful, including in areas affected by Maoist insurgency. "As of 5 pm, we have reports that the polling was at 67 per cent. Webcasting shows that some people are still in queues. So, we expect the polling to go up by another two per cent," the state's chief electoral officer Rajat Kumar told reporters. Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Jitender told PTI that the entire polling process was "incident free". However, independent reports said TRS and Congress workers clashed at a place in Nagar Kurnool district. Kumar said there was a delay in start of polling at some booths on accounts of malfunctioning of EVMs and voter verifiable paper audit trail machines. Thirty odd complaints of model code violation were also received. Vote was taken for all the 119 seats of Telangana assembly for the first time after the division of Andhra Pradesh and creation of India's youngest state in 2014. The Congress has stitched together "Praja Kutami" (People's Front) with the TDP, Telangana Jana Samiti (TJS) and CPI in a bid to wrest power from the TRS, which is seeking a second term in office. The TRS has gone it alone in the polls and so has the BJP. As many as 1,821 candidates including a transgender are in the electoral fray. Counting of votes would be taken up on December 11. Polling largely peaceful in Rajasthan About 74 per cent of the 4.74 crore registered voters had cast their vote in Rajasthan where elections were held Friday for 199 of the 200 assembly seats. At the close of the polling, the Election Commission said the turnout 73.85 per cent, less than a percentage point short of the 75.23 registered in 2013. Officials said the final figure could be higher. Polling began at 51,687 booths across the state at 8 am. The police reported a few clashes among supporters, but said polling was largely peaceful. Paramilitary jawans opened fire in the air to disperse miscreants trying to force their way into a booth at a village in Alwar's Shahjahapur. In Bikaner's Kolayat, two groups clashed outside a polling booth and a vehicle was torched. In Sikar too there was a clash. Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, Pradesh Congress Committee chief Sachin Pilot and other leaders were among those who exercised their franchise. Raje (Jhalrapatan), Pilot (Tonk), former chief minister Ashok Gehlot (Sardarpura) are among the 2,274 candidates in the fray. The election in Ramgarh constituency of Alwar district was put off following the death of Bahujan Samaj Party candidate Laxman Singh. The results will be out on December 11, along with those from the other four states which saw Assembly elections in the past few weeks. In about 130 constituencies, the contest appears to be mainly between the BJP and the Congress. In the current House, the BJP has 160 seats and the Congress 25. The voter turnout in Rajasthan and Telangana steadily picked up after polling began for the assembly elections on Friday morning. By 1pm, 49 per cent voter turnout was recorded in Telangana, while in Rajasthan, nearly 42 per cent turnout was recorded at the same point. While polling has been reported to be mostly peaceful in Rajasthan, reports emerged of EVMs malfunctioning in some booths. In Ahor constituency of Jalore district, voters protested about electronic voting machines malfunctioning. An EVM was replaced owing to technical complaints in Bikaner's Kisamidesar. In Jaipur's Adarsh Nagar, voters alleged they were asked by a poll official to vote for a BJP candidate. Nearly 4.75 crore people are entitled to exercise their franchise in Rajasthan. In Telangana, the Congress alleged its Kalwakurthy candidate Vamshi Chand Reddy had been assaulted by BJP supporters when visiting a polling station. Chief Electoral Officer Rajat Kumar told reporters that the district electoral officer was inquiring into the incident. Nearly 1 lakh security personnel have been deployed for duty during polling in Telangana. Counting of votes in Rajasthan and Telangana will take place on December 11, along with the votes polled in Mizoram, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. Pakistan Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua said Friday that Islamabad is ready to host the 19th SAARC Summit, two years after it was called off when India declined to participate following a deadly terror attack in the country. Janjua addressed a ceremony organised by Ministry of Foreign Affairs to celebrate the 34th SAARC Charter Day in collaboration with the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Arbitration Council and SAARC Energy Center. Janjua said being the founding member, Pakistan stands steadfastly by the principles of the SAARC charter. Janjua emphasised that only through adhering to the principles of sovereign equality and mutual respect among member states, the SAARC grouping can achieve the cherished goal of a prosperous and developed South Asian region. She pointed out that the SAARC countries over the years have focused on poverty alleviation. However, life of a large population remains far from satisfactory. "We have enormous responsibility to deliver on this front," she said. The Foreign Secretary said South Asia being home to 1.7 billion talented, energetic and educated human resource and abundantly blessed with natural resources must not be left behind. She also reiterated that "Pakistan stands ready to host the 19th SAARC Summit." The 2016 SAARC Summit was to be held in November in Islamabad. But after a deadly terrorist attack on an Indian Army camp in Uri in Jammu and Kashmir in September that year, India expressed its inability to participate in the summit due to "prevailing circumstances". The summit was called off after Bangladesh, Bhutan and Afghanistan also declined to participate in the Islamabad meet. Maldives and Sri Lanka are the seventh and eighth members of the grouping. Last month, Pakistan said it would invite Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the SAARC Summit. However, India said that unless and until Pakistan stops terrorist activities in the country, there will be no dialogue and participation in the SAARC. Montreal, Dec 7 (AFP) Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday that politics played no part in the arrest of a top executive of Chinese tech giant Huawei, who was detained on a US extradition request. "I can assure everyone that we are a country (with) an independent judiciary," Trudeau told a tech conference in Montreal. "And they took this decision without any political involvement or interference." The prime minister declined to comment further on the case, citing a court-ordered publication ban sought by Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou, arrested at the request of US authorities as she was changing planes in Vancouver. Earlier, Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan also stressed that Canadian police agencies "work independently" of the government. "We have a good judicial process in regards to the next steps. It'll take it's course," he added, dismissing concerns of a diplomat row with Beijing over the arrest. Canada's cyber security chief, however, said Ottawa was prepared for any possible retaliatory cyber attacks over the arrest. "I think one of the key things is that we always have to be resilient no matter what the possible trigger could be," Scott Jones, director of the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security, told a press conference. Jones happened to be presenting his office's first report on cyber security threats assessment. Meng Wanzhou is scheduled to appear in court on Friday for a bail hearing. (AFP) AMS AMS AMS By Carol Morello, Loveday Morris (c) 2018, The Washington Post Dec 07, 2018 - A resolution that would have condemned the militant group Hamas and its attacks on Israel failed to pass the United Nations on Thursday, despite an aggressive campaign by the United States and Israel to cast it as a vote on peace and terrorism. Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, argued for a simple majority vote, but a last-minute rule change was passed that foreshadowed the resolutions failure. The vote also represented a political disappointment for the Trump administration, which had lobbied hard to get many Arab states to break away from their routine support of the Palestinian position and support the anti-Hamas resolution. But all the Arab states voted against it, even those that have signed peace treaties with Israel. Their refusal to back the U.S. resolution comes just weeks before the White House prepares to unveil a proposal to get Israelis and Palestinians back to the negotiating table. Support from the Arab states is considered crucial to getting it launched, and the U.N. vote suggests it might get a standoffish reception. The Kuwaiti representative, speaking on behalf of the Arab bloc, condemned violence and extremism but expressed concern that the U.S. draft resolution skirted any mention of a two-state solution and sought only to condemn one party in the conflict. London, Dec 7 (AFP) The price of Brent North Sea oil rocketed five percent Friday on reports that OPEC and non-OPEC crude producers had agreed to slash crude output. Brent surged to $63.07 per barrel, while New York's WTI advanced by almost 5.0 percent after Bloomberg reported that producers, including oil kingpins Saudi Arabia and Russia, had agreed to cut output by a combined 1.2 million barrels per day. (AFP) AMS AMS Baran (Patiala), Dec 7 (PTI) Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh Friday gave debt relief against commercial bank loans to the tune of Rs 1,771 crore to 1,09,730 eligible marginal farmers in four districts of the state. The amount is being transferred to the accounts of the marginal farmers directly and the process will be completed by Saturday, the chief minister said at a state-level function, where he handed over debt relief certificates to 25 farmers. The farmers covered in this phase belong to Patiala, Ludhiana, Sangrur and Fatehgarh Sahib districts. Addressing the function, the chief minister said that in the next phase, farmers having landholding of 2.5 to 5 acres would get debt waiver towards both cooperative and commercial bank loans. He said waiver of up to Rs 2 lakh had been given to all the marginal farmers and also the small farmers. He said cooperative bank loans worth Rs 1,815 crore of 3.18 lakh marginal farmers had been waived in the first phase, in addition to the Rs 1,771 crore commercial bank loans of 1.09 lakh marginal farmers in Friday's state-level debt relief function. He announced that as many as 2.15 lakh small farmers of cooperative banks would be covered in the third phase, while 50,752 small farmers of commercial banks would be covered in the fourth phase. Underlining the need to export sugar and potatoes to Central Asian countries, the chief minister said he had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to include these items in the export list, which was cleared on Thursday. If the Government of India allows Punjab to export these products, sugarcane and potato farmers of the state would be immensely benefited, he added. He expressed concern about the problem of spurious seeds, agri-chemicals and other inputs that reach the farmers and said his government was maintaining a strict vigil to check sale of such products. He said that a special campaign to ensure balanced use of fertilisers had led to reduction in urea and DAP consumption by 1 lakh MT and 46,000 tonnes respectively during kharif season this year as compared to the previous year. This, he said, resulted in net saving of about Rs 200 crore. He said that a campaign was launched to educate the farmers about judicious use of agro-chemicals on basmati. As a result, the quality of basmati grain had started meeting international standards and farmers were getting better prices, he said. This year, farmers are getting Rs 3600-4000 per quintal as against Rs 2600-3000 last year, he added. Reiterating his commitment to the seamless procurement of crops, the chief minister said his government had ensured hassle-free procurement of paddy in spite of unprecedented heavy rains at the end of September. Till now, more than 187 lakh tonnes of paddy have been procured, he said. He said the state, in collaboration with experts from Israel and Punjab Agricultural University, would lay special focus on water conservation so that this precious natural resource can be conserved. PTI VSD ABM ABM (Eds: Disclaimer: The following press release comes to you under an arrangement with PR Newswire. PTI takes no editorial responsibility for the same.) SHENZHEN, China, Dec. 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Reed Huabo Vape Expo, known as RHBVE, has officially announced its fair date in 2019. After 4 years of the expos' successful experience in Shenzhen, RHBVE decided to set its date earlier, from August 29th -31st, 2019, since they received feedback from exhibitors that this will allow them more time to sufficiently produce and transport expo orders. Meanwhile, overseas buyers can bring the next half year's orders to the expo since August is the end of the summer holiday. As the partner of China's only official e-cig association, ECCC, RHBVE has a variety of top brand exhibitors in E-cig, E-liquid, pods, kits, and heat-not-burn device industries. They will have the chance to hold the 2nd China Vape Industry summit during the expo, as the first edition achieved great success by cooperating with APVI (Indonesia vape association), ECTA (Canada vape association), and Intersteam (German expo organizer). International buyers will be the main target visitors of RHBVE 2019, since RHBVE has already made a detailed plan for invited buyers by providing information on visiting overseas expos, media advertisements and collaborations with other countries' vape associations. RHBVE has a specialized exhibit area for different countries' groups. For instance, RHBVE has reached an agreement with Intersteam Vape Expo, bringing a Chinese exhibitors group to Vape Expo Berlin-Germany, organized by Interstream, from June 14th-16th. In return, Intersteam will bring exhibitors and visitors from Europe to Shenzhen for RHBVE from August 29th -31st. Highlights of the 5th RHBVE: 150 Exhibitors and over 30,000 visitors; 10,000sqm exhibition area; Database of over 2,000 vape stores and leading vape distributors across China; Database of 500,000 buyers with 26 years' experience in organizing the leading Gift & Home Show in China; Supported by China Electronics Chamber of Commerce Electronic Cigarette Industry Committee(ECCC). Website: vapexpoen.reedhuabo.com Instagram: VapeExpoChina Facebook: Vapexpochina PWR PWR (Eds: Disclaimer: The following press release comes to you under an arrangement with PR Newswire. PTI takes no editorial responsibility for the same.) BSE: 500257 | NSE: LUPIN | REUTERS: LUPIN.BO | BLOOMBERG: LPCIN MONTREAL, Dec. 6, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Lupin Pharma Canada is pleased to announce the approval from Health Canada for ZAXINE 550 mg (rifaximin) for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhea (IBS-D) in adults. ZAXINE for IBS-D is being launched in December of 2018 under a strategic licensing agreement with Salix Pharmaceuticals, Ltd., one of the largest specialty pharmaceutical companies in the world committed to the prevention and treatment of gastrointestinal diseases. The agreement grants Lupin exclusive rights to promote, distribute and market ZAXINE in Canada. This is in addition to ZAXINE's previously approved indication for the reduction in risk of overt hepatic encephalopathy (HE) in adults.1 Canada has one of the highest rates of IBS worldwide, affecting 13-20% of the population.2, 3 Of those who do suffer from IBS, about one third have IBS with diarrhea as the primary symptom. Although the exact cause of IBS-D is not known, scientists believe that the microbiota in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract plays an important role in the development of the symptoms associated with IBS-D, such as abdominal pain, bloating, and diarrhea.1 Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Sofia Mumtaz, President - Pipeline Management & Legal, Lupin said, "We are delighted to receive the approval from Health Canada for ZAXINE (rifaximin, 550 mg tablets) for the treatment of IBS-D. With this new indication approved, the medical fraternity and patients will now have access to an effective medication against one of the most rampantly prevailing issues of IBS-D." "There is an unmet treatment need for those who have irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhea, so this is great news for those still grappling to manage their digestive symptoms", said Gail Attara, Chief Executive Officer of the Gastrointestinal Society, a patient group known for its popular website, www.badgut.org. The safety and efficacy of ZAXINE 550 mg three times daily for 2 weeks were demonstrated in 3 Phase-III placebo-controlled trials. After treatment, significantly more ZAXINE-treated patients experienced self-reported relief of IBS symptoms.1 In addition, a significantly greater proportion of ZAXINE-treated patients reported relief of abdominal pain and improvement in stool consistency.1, 4 "In irritable bowel syndrome, it is not always easy to manage the symptoms effectively," said Dr. Guy Aumais, MD, CSPQ, FRCP (C), Gastroenterologist at Maisonneuve-Rosemont and Associate Professor, University of Montreal. He further added, "ZAXINE is a short-term, two-week therapy for IBS-D, which will act on symptoms such as diarrhea, bloating and abdominal pain, with lasting relief. With this indication, we now have an interesting new option in the management of IBS-D." "An alteration in host-microbiota interactions is a factor in the expression of subsets of IBS patients. ZAXINE has been shown to improve symptoms in diarrhea predominant IBS-D and its action is likely mediated through attenuation of host microbiota interactions and subsequent symptom generation. This is an important new treatment option for IBS-D patients", said Dr. Stephen Collins MBBS, FRCP (UK), FRCPC, Professor, Department of Medicine at McMaster University. ABOUT ZAXINE (RIFAXIMIN) ZAXINE (rifaximin)'s primary mode of action reduces the bacterial load and bacterial products that can negatively affect the patient, alleviating the most common symptoms of IBS-D including bloating, abdominal pain and diarrhea.1 As an antibacterial agent that acts locally on the microflora of the gut thereby altering the gut microbiota, ZAXINE represents an important new therapeutic option in the treatment of IBS-D. About Lupin Limited Lupin is an innovation led transnational pharmaceutical company developing and delivering a wide range of branded & generic formulations, biotechnology products and APIs globally. The Company is a significant player in the Cardiovascular, Diabetology, Asthma, Pediatric, CNS, GI, Anti-Infective and NSAID space and holds global leadership position in the Anti-TB segment. Lupin is the 13th largest generics pharmaceutical company in terms of market capitalization (30th September 2018, Bloomberg) and the 8th largest generics pharmaceutical company in terms of revenues (30th June 2018, Bloomberg LTM) globally. The Company is the 3rd largest pharmaceutical player in the US by prescriptions for the Total Market (IQVIA MAT September 2018); 3rd largest Indian pharmaceutical company by global revenues (30th June 2018, Bloomberg LTM); 6th largest generic pharmaceutical player in Japan (IQVIA MAT September 2018) and 5th largest company in the Indian Pharmaceutical Market (IQVIA MAT September 2018). For the financial year ended 31st March 2018, Lupin's Consolidated sales and Net profits before exceptional items were at Rs. 155,598 million (USD 2.41 billion) and Rs. 13,934 million (USD 216 million) respectively. Please visit http://www.lupin.com for more information. You could also follow us on Twitter www.twitter.com/lupinglobal. CIN: L24100MH1983PLC029442 Registered Office: Lupin Ltd, 3rd Floor, Kalpataru Inspire, Off Western Express Highway, Santacruz (East), Mumbai 400 055. ZAXINE (rifaximin) is manufactured by: Salix Pharmaceuticals, Inc. 400 Somerset Corporate Boulevard Bridgewater, NJ 08807 USA In Canada, ZAXINE (rifaximin) is distributed exclusively by: Lupin Pharma Canada Ltd 1001 Bd. De Maisonneuve East Suite 304, Montreal, Quebec H2L 4P9 Canada References: ZAXINE Product Monograph. Salix Pharmaceuticals, Inc., November 30, 2018. http://cdhf.ca/en/disorders/irritable-bowel-syndrome-ibs/section/resources https://www.badgut.org/information-centre/a-z-digestive-topics/ibs/ Pimentel M, Lembo A, Chey WD et al. Rifaximin Therapy for Patients with Irritable Bowel Syndrome without Constipation. N Engl J Med 2011; 364:22-32. PWR PWR PWR (Eds: Disclaimer: The following press release comes to you under an arrangement with PR Newswire. PTI takes no editorial responsibility for the same.) NEW DELHI, December 7, 2018/PRNewswire/ -- 20 lucky people won a free trip to London Customers also won other exciting prizes like iPad, silver coins and discount on watches Adding more delight to its happy customers, Timex, one of the leading watchmakers in India, announced the lucky winners of the Timex Howzatt offer. Timex is taking 20 lucky winners of Diwali Howzatt offer for a free trip to London in 2019. To top it all, many customers also won other compelling prizes like iPad, silver coins and attractive discount on watches. (Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/680504/Timex_Logo.jpg ) With the onset of festive season, Timex announced the Howzatt offer in India between 10th October 2018 to 15th November 2018 through a massive advertising campaign. The campaign excited Timex customers to not only own a watch from the global brand but also win exciting prizes. Under the offer customers who bought any 'Timex' or 'Helix' brand watch from www.shop.timexindia.com or from any authorized retailer, got a golden opportunity to win an assured prize by scratching a card and win exciting prizes like Trip to London, Ipads, Silver Coins or discount. The company ran the Howzatt offer scratch card promotion PAN India (except the state of Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and wherever prohibited by Law). Announcing the winners of this offer, Manoj Joshi, Head Sales, Timex Group India Limited, said, "At Timex we have always believed in customer loyalty and making our customers feel special. We have always rewarded our loyal customers and have helped them in making some memorable moments which they can always cherish. Therefore, this festive season with our Howzatt offer, we will be sending the lucky winners to London, so that we can give them a beautiful experience for the lifetime." Apart from trip to London, other customers who purchased Timex and Helix watches during the offer period have also won 50 Apple iPads, thousands of silver coins and exciting discount on the watches. About the Timex Group: Timex Group designs, manufactures and markets innovative timepieces around the world. Timex Group is a privately-held company headquartered in Middlebury, Connecticut with multiple operating units and over 5,000 employees worldwide. As one of the largest watch makers in the world, Timex Group companies produce watches under several well-known brands, including Timex, Timex Ironman, Timex Expedition, Nautica, Guess, GC, Salvatore Ferragamo, Versace, Versus and Opex. The Timex brand, launched in 1950, sells millions of watches each year worldwide. Source: Timex Group PWR PWR Dehradun, Dec 7 (PTI) A ban has been imposed on the screening of the film "Kedarnath" in seven districts of Uttarakhand in view of protests by Hindu outfits, a senior official said Friday. The decision has been taken by District Magistrates concerned in view of the situation prevailing in their areas, ADG (law and order)Ashok Kumar told PTI on Friday. There will be no screening of the film in seven districts of the state where Hindu outfits have protested against the film burning effigies of film-makers, he said. The districts where the film has been banned include Dehradun, Haridwar, Nainital, Udham Singh Nagar, Pauri, Tehri and Almora, the ADG said. The district magistrates of Nainital and Udham Singh Nagar had on Thursday imposed a ban on the screening of the film. Set against the backdrop of the 2013 deluge, the film, which depicts the love story of a Muslim porter and a Hindu girl on a pilgrimage to Kedarnath, releases Friday. Sushant Singh Rajput and debutante Sara Ali Khan portray the lead characters in the movie. Those seeking a ban on the film accused it of hurting Hindu sentiments and alleged that it was promoting love jihad. PTI ALM DV DV Mumbai, Dec 7 (PTI) Opposing Maharashtra Government's tax regulation, Bollywood Celebrity Vanity Van association will go on an indefinite strike from December 10, a move likely to affect shooting of Akshay Kumar's "Kesari" and Netflix's "Sacred Games 2". The "Non-cooperation movement" against the State government by the All Camper Van Owner's Associationwhich has 250 vans under itwill leave around 500 workers with no jobs and hit over 5000 workers who earn on daily wages. Ketan Rawal, President, All Camper Van Owners Association, said their client roaster includes A list stars like Ajay Devgn, Saif Ali Khan, John Abraham, Arjun Rampal, Kangana Ranaut, Sonakshi Sinha, Taapsee Pannu, Disha Patani. "Ajay is shooting for his home production "Tanaji", Kangana's shoot is on, Saif is doing "Sacred Games 2", John's "Batla House" Mumbai schedule will begin now. Arjun is doing a web series, Sonakshi and Taapsee are both shooting for a film with Akshay. "So everyone is busy with shoots right now. If the vans aren't available, the shooting will be hampered. Honestly, we are feeling bad. I've been in the industry for 25 years and believe the show must go on but we are being harassed a lot," Rawal told PTI. The association is opposing Maharashtra government's rule which charges tax for each vanity van at Rs 5,000 square meter, amounting to RS 1,25,000 per annum. Rawal said requirement of the vans will be high for films, specially in places where there is no make up room, such as for "Sacred Games". "'Sacred Games' is being shot in Dharavi. They are shooting at real locations, on the streets. There's no make up room facility there so how will they be able to shoot? Naturally they would require the vans. "Karan Johar's 'Kesari' shoot is on too. They are saying if the vans don't come for five days they'll incur losses of RS 5 crores," he added. The association said they have communicated their decision to the actors and are awaiting a response from the government. "Our intention is not to halt Bollywood shooting, we are feeling bad but we are now helpless. It's our request, with folded hands, to understand and cooperate with us," he added. PTI JUR SHD SHD New Delhi, Dec 7 (PTI) Megastar Amitabh Bachchan has donated Rs 50 lakh to an Gurgaon-based NGO working towards the welfare of senior citizens. The veteran actor donated the amount to The Earth Saviours Foundation, a non-profit organisation situated in Bandhwari Village of Gurgaon district of Haryana. NGO founder Ravi Kalra along with comedian Kapil Sharma had participated in the recently concluded Kaun Banega Crorepati's Karmveer episode. He had won Rs 25 lakh in the reality game show. Kalra, in a statement, said Bachchan was moved by the NGO's efforts towards taking care of old people and promised to donate. The megastar kept the promise and donated Rs 50 lakh to the NGO on November 20. "It was a most moving experience for me and indeed all present during the KBC Karmveer programme that you honoured us with, some days back. Hearing you narrate your stories, was a most horrifying moment for all," Bachchan said in a letter to Kalra. "As committed during the programme I am attaching herewith my contribution towards the noble cause that you undertake for the deprived. May you continue to bring succor and happiness in the lives of the abandoned. Shall be grateful for your acknowledgement," he added. Kalra said the money would be spent in arranging food, medicine and treatment of the 450 senior citizens staying at the NGO. They also plan to build a hospital in the village. PTI RB BK BK New Delhi, Dec 7 (PTI) The 8th edition of Delhi Comic Con returned with a bang, as it once again brought together the universes of comics, movies, anime, television and gaming for fans of pop-culture. The event at the NSIC Grounds in Okhla here opened on Friday with a special session by Vladimir Furdik, who plays the Night King in the popular American television series "Game of Thrones". The actor interacted with the fans as he shared his thrilling experiences as a stuntman and about his role as the menacing leader of the army of the dead. "I feel elated to be part of this event where everyone is eagerly warm and nice! I had a wonderful time on my last visit to India and was looking forward to meeting my fans and trying the delicious food again. Needless to say, this beautiful country never disappoints," Furdik said. The event also saw the launch of a book titled 'Rhyme Fighters' by Indian comic creator Abhijeet Kini. The book is a series of cartoons, comics and rhymes dedicated to the unsung heroes everyone comes across on the streets and in their homes every day. Kini also launched two of his other comics -- 'Sanskarshala' and 'The Dabbawala'. "When we started out with Comic Con, we had not expected it to reach such a remarkable stature in such a short time," Jatin Varma, founder, Comic Con India, said. As is the tradition, the Delhi Comic Con, this year too, was filled with fans dressed as their favorite film and comic book characters, from age-old classics as Batman and Superman to contemporary characters from new franchises and anime. The pop-culture gala will come to an end on December 9. PTI MAH TRS TRS Islamabad, Dec 7 (PTI) Prime Minister Imran Khan has claimed that the approach of the ruling BJP was "anti-Muslim and anti-Pakistan" and expressed the hope that the stalled bilateral talks could resume after the general elections in India next year. Prime Minister Khan said his government was keen to bring the perpetrators of the 2008 Mumbai attack to book, asserting that it was in the interest of Pakistan. "India has elections coming up. The ruling party [of India] has an anti-Muslim, anti-Pakistan approach. They rebuffed all my overtures....Let's hope that after the election is over, we can again resume talks with India," Khan said in an interview with 'The Washington Post' on Thursday. India has firmly told Pakistan that talks and terrorism cannot go together. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has categorically ruled out the possibility of resumption of bilateral talks with Pakistan unless it stops cross-border terror activities against India. The general elections are due to be held in India in April or May 2019. Speaking about the Mumbai terror attack, Khan said Pakistan wants "something done about the bombers of Mumbai". "I have asked our government to find out the status of the case. Resolving that the case is in our interest because it was an act of terrorism," he said. On November 26, 2008, 10 Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists arrived by sea route and opened fire indiscriminately, killing 166 people. Nine of the attackers were killed by police while lone survivor Ajmal Kasab was captured and hanged after handed down death sentence by an Indian court. Perpetrators of the 26/11 attack, including its mastermind and banned Jamat-ud Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed, continue to roam freely in Pakistan, indicating that Islamabad is not serious in bringing them to justice. The JuD is believed to be the front group for the LeT. The US has offered a USD 10 million bounty for Saeed. After taking charge as prime minister in August this year, Khan said he was ready for peace talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Pakistan sent a proposal in September to hold foreign ministers' level talks in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. India, however, accepted and then rejected the proposal, blaming Pakistan for killing a security personnel in Jammu and Kashmir and accusing it of glorifying terrorism. Both India and Pakistan gave the green signal to the much-awaited Kartarpur Corridor last month. The 4-km-long corridor will connect Dera Baba Nanak in India's Gurdaspur district with Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib Narowal in Pakistan. The corridor will provide visa-free access to the Indian Sikh pilgrims to the gurdwara which is located in Shakargarh in Narowal district of Pakistan's Punjab province. "I have opened a visa-free peace corridor with India called Kartarpur [so that Indian Sikhs can visit a holy shrine in Pakistan]. Let's hope that after the election is over, we can again resume talks with India," Khan said in the interview. It is said that Guru Nanak Dev, the founder of Sikhism, had spent more than 18 years of his life there. The Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara is located on the banks of the Ravi River, about three-four kilometres from the border in Pakistan. PTI MRJ AKJ GSN MRJ Colombo, Dec 7 (PTI) Sri Lanka's Supreme Court on Friday reserved its verdict on a bunch of petitions against President Maithripala Sirisena's controversial decisions 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 apex court heard 13 petitions for four days continuously and Friday's hearing was one of the longest sittings of the Supreme Court in the recent history, lawyers said. The island nation 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. It also issued an interim order on November 13 annulling the gazette notification which made Sirisena's parliamentary sacking temporary illegal. A total of 13 petitions were filed by political parties and civil society groups who claimed that Sirisena's moves to sack Wickremesinghe and dissolve Parliament are in violation of the Constitution. A seven-member bench presided by Chief Justice Nalin Perera on Tuesday began hearing oral submissions on the fundamental rights petitions filed against Sirisena's gazette notification to dissolve parliament. The court on Friday extended its interim order till it decides on the legality of Sirisena's move and reserved its judgement for an unspecified date. Earlier this week, the Court of Appeal halted Rajapaksa and his Cabinet from functioning in their positions in response to a case filed by 122 legislators against the 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. Speaker Karu Jayasuriya has officially conveyed that the House does not recognise Rajapaksa as the legal prime minister until he proved his majority in the House. The United National Front (UNF) coalition led by Wickeremesinghe has moved three motions of no trust against Rajapaksa. However, he refused to step down. Prior to the crisis, Wickramasinghe's party 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. Sirisena has said due to sharp personal differences with Wickremesinghe, he would not reappoint him as the prime minister. However, the UNP claims that Sirisena will be left with no other choice as Wickremesinghe 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 SCY SCY Geneva, Dec 7 (AFP) The crisis engulfing UNAIDS deepened Friday with the release of an expert report that found the agency's leaders, including executive director Michel Sidibe, systematically failed to address bullying, abuse and sexual harassment. It was Sidibe who had pushed for the creation of the Independent Expert Panel, following the accusation that he and the agency mishandled sexual assault allegations against former deputy executive director Luiz Loures. But the panel's findings include a blistering indictment of Sidibe's stewardship, claiming his secretariat is mired in "a crisis which threatens its vital work". "The leaders, policies and processes at UNAIDS have failed to prevent or properly respond to allegations of harassment including sexual harassment, bullying and abuse of power in UNAIDS," the panel said. "The evidence before the Independent Expert Panel of a broken organisational culture is overwhelming." The report, based on dozens of interviews and hundreds of staff surveys, said the agency tasked with coordinating the global response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic suffers from "a vacuum of accountability". "The leadership of the UNAIDS Secretariat fails to accept responsibility for a culture of impunity becoming prevalent in the organisation, a culture that does not ensure a safe and dignified workplace for its staff, and one that fails to respect human rights in line with law and United Nations values," it added. Staff also described "a work culture of fear, lack of trust, and retaliation against those who speak up about harassment and abuse of power," it further said. Sidibe, a Malian national who has led UNAIDS since 2009, has faced intense scrutiny since the Loures case became public. An initial internal UN investigation cleared Loures of wrongdoing. But Loures's accuser, UNAIDS staffer Martina Brostrom, then went public exposing flaws in the first probe including Sidibe's attempt to settle the dispute even as a formal process was ongoing. A new investigation was opened in April. Brostrom told AFP that she hoped the panel's report would lead to Sidibe's ouster. "I want to believe that UN Secretary General (Antonio Guterres) sees the danger that the UNAIDS executive director represents for the whole UN system and that he takes this opportunity to demonstrate that his notion of zero tolerance of harassment is not just an empty slogan," she said. Multiple civil society organisations that work on HIV/AIDS have previously called on Sidibe to resign, but the agency maintained Friday that he had no plans to leave. "The Executive Director is firmly focused on the future. He (is) fully aware that there is a lot of work to do -- across all levels of the organisation --and he is determined to lead that transformation," agency spokeswoman Sophie Barton-Knott told AFP. The decision on whether to force Sidibe out likely rests with the agency's British-led oversight body, the Programme Coordinating Board, which meets next week. But the expert panel detailed an environment that will certainly escalate pressure on him to go. "The Executive Director ... has created a patriarchal culture tolerating harassment and abuse of authority and in his interviews with the Panel he accepted no responsibility for actions," it said. The panel also raised doubts about Sidibe's ability to lead a reform effort, describing the solutions he proposes as "superficial and insufficient." "Our inevitable conclusion from the review is that the state in which we find the organisational culture of UNAIDS is something for which the leadership of the organisation must be responsible and held accountable." Paula Donovan from the Code Blue pressure group, which has led the effort to expose rot at UNAIDS, called on Guterres to act immediately. "In 30 years, I have never heard of an independent report that delivered such a scathing indictment of internal UN leadership," she said, referring to the panel report. (AFP) SCY SCY Woman official arrested by Lokayukta police in corruption case Indore, Dec 7 (PTI) The Madhya Pradesh Lokayukta police have arrested a woman officer on suspicion that she had accepted a bribe. Tribal Works Department's Assistant Commissioner Shakuntala Damor was arrested Thursday night in Kisanganj area of Indore district and Rs 1.60 lakh were allegedly seized from her car. Indore Lokayukta police chief Dilip Soni said that Damor, posted in neighbouring Khargone district, was on her way to Ratlam when she was intercepted. She failed to account for the cash in her possession, he claimed. "We suspect that the cash was bribe money which she had accepted," Soni said, adding that Damor was booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act. "Today we carried out raids at various places connected to Damor in Khargone and Ratlam districts," he said. "We have got hold of documents suggesting that the officer and her relatives own a house, two plots of land, a flat and agricultural land among other assets," another Lokayukta official said, adding that further probe was on. PTI HWP LAL KRK KRK Man ends life by jumping before train, leaves suicide message Thane (Maha), Dec 7 (PTI) A 20-year-old man allegedly ended his life by jumping before a suburban train near Kalyan railway station in Thane district of Maharashtra, police said on Friday. The incident came to light on Thursday after the decapitated body of the victim, who hailed from Netivali village in the district, was found lying on the tracks, police said. According to police, although the motive behind his extreme step was not yet known, the deceased, Rohit Pardeshi, left a video message on his phone which said nobody should be blamed for his death. Inspector Dinkar Pingle of Kalyan Railway police station said a case of accidental death was registered and his body was sent for post-mortem. "Police found that the victim's head was lying on the one side of the track, while the torso on the other side. When we checked his mobile phone, we found that he had recorded a video suicide message," the officer said. In the message, he can be seen saying that he was committing suicide without anyone's pressure and nobody should be held responsible for it. The message also said that he had nobody in the family except his younger brother and all the property should go to him, police said. The video message has also gone viral on the social media, they said adding that further investigation was on. PTI CORR NP NP Coochbehar(WB), Dec 7 (PTI) BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya said Friday that the party would move the Supreme Court "if needed" to hold the much-touted 'rath yatras' across West Bengal. "If needed, we will move the Supreme Court to get justice," he told the media here after the Calcutta High Court modified the single bench order of Thursday and directed the state chief secretary, home secretary and director general of police to sit with three BJP leaders by December 12 and take a decision on the matter by December 14. The Calcutta High Court also came down heavily on the West Bengal government for not responding to letters of the BJP seeking permission for its processions in the state. Vijayvargiya stood by the BJP state leadership saying, "There was no lapse on their part and the entire party stands united and we are with the state (party) president" as he blamed the state government and its policy to "throttle the opposition" for putting on hold the 'rath yatras', which was scheduled to be flagged off by BJP president Amit Shah. Reacting to the HC division bench ruling, BJP state president Dilip Ghosh said, "We thank the court for its verdict. The state government for so many days didnt have time to discuss the matter with us. Now they will sit for discussion". In Delhi, Shah told a press conference that BJP's growth in West Bengal has "scared" Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. He also accused her of "throttling" democracy in the state by denying permission to the three 'rath yatras' of his party. "We will definitely carry out all yatras, nobody can stop us. The BJP is committed to change in West Bengal. The yatras have not been cancelled, just postponed," he said. A party source, however, said on condition of anonymity that the BJP central leadership is unhappy with the party's state leaders as the rath yatra programme had to be put on hold. A section of the leadership felt that the party had to go back on the programme at "the last moment due to lack of proper strategy and planning" when all preparation for the three 'rath yatras' slated for December 7, 9 and 14 was ready. The division bench of Justices Biswanath Somadder and A Mukherjee during the day criticised the state government for not responding to BJP's letters for permission to hold three rath yatras in the state. It modified the single bench order and directed the state chief secretary, home secretary and director general of police to sit with three BJP leaders by December 12 and take a decision on the matter by December 14. Shah was to kickstart the campaign titled 'Save Democracy Rally' from Coochbehar district in the northern part of the state Friday, from Kakdwip in South 24 Parganas district on December 9, and from Tarapith temple in Birbhum district on December 14. The 'rath yatra' was scheduled to cover all 42 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state. PTI PNT KK CK 12 policemen injured in clash with BJP workers Jalpaiguri (WB), Dec 7 (PTI) The police and BJP workers fought a pitched battle in a forested area of Jalpaguri district on Friday injuring 12 policemen, including an additional SP. The addtional superintendent of police was seriously injured after a stone hit him in the eye, Jalpaiguri SP Amitabha Maiti said. The incident occurred near Dhupjhora under Dhupguri police station when the BJP activists were going to a public meeting of senior party leaders in neighbouring Cooch Behar district. A bus carrying BJP workers was stopped by the police near Dhupjhora, a village in a forested area, and the activists got down from the bus and started hurling stones towards the policemen, Maiti said. The policemen were outnumbered by the BJP workers and 12 police personnel, including additional SP Thendup Sherpa, were injured by the stone pelting, he said. Sherpa suffered serious injury in the eye and was hospitalised, said the SP who has visited the spot. A large contingent of Rapid Action Force (RAF) and police were deployed in the area. Several cars and buses were also damaged in the incident. BJP state president Dilip Ghosh alleged in Cooch Behar that the administration and ruling Trinamool Congress workers were obstructing party workers to come to Cooch Behar. The BJP was supposed to hold a rath yatra from Cooch Behar during the day, which could not be held since it was sub-judice. PTI COR NN NN New Delhi, Dec 7 (PTI) The government has called an all-party meeting on Monday ahead of the winter session of Parliament to build a consensus for smooth functioning of the two Houses. At the customary session-eve meeting called by the Parliamentary Affairs Ministry, the prime minister usually lists the government's agenda and seeks the opposition's support for smooth transaction of official business. This would be the last full-fledged Parliament session before the Lok Sabha polls. The results of the assembly elections, in which both the ruling BJP and the Congress have high stakes, are bound to cast a shadow on parliamentary proceedings. The results of polls in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram would be out on December 11, when the session begins. The government would push for the passage of the 'triple talaq' bill pending in the Rajya Sabha. It had promulgated an ordinance to make the practice of instant triple talaq a penal offence. The government also wants the Indian Medical Council amendment ordinance and the companies amendment ordinance to be passed as bills in this session. The Winter Session of Parliament usually starts in November. However, it would be the second year in a row when it would begin in December. The session was delayed this year due to the assembly elections in five states. PTI NAB GVS New Delhi, Dec 7 (PTI) Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday asked party workers to be vigilant after polls close in Rajasthan and Telangana, saying in "Modi's India, the EVMs have mysterious powers". Gandhi on Thursday had urged party workers in two states to put all their efforts at their respective polling booths to ensure the party's win in both the states. Taking to Twitter on Friday, Gandhi asked party workers to be vigilant after polls close. "In MP, EVM's behaved strangely after polling: Some stole a bus and vanished for 2 days! Others slipped away & were found drinking in a hotel. In Modis India, the EVMs have mysterious powers," he said, in an apparent reference to media reports that Electronic Voting Machines or EVMs reached a collection centre in Madhya Pradesh 48 hours after voting ended on November 28. PTI ASK GVS New Delhi, Dec 7 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday urged people in Rajasthan and Telangana to turn out in large numbers to cast their vote. Assembly elections in the two states are being held on Friday. In separate tweets, the prime minister wrote in Hindi and Telugu asking voters in the two states to come out in large numbers to participate in "festival of democracy". On voting days, the PM usually takes to Twitter urging people to exercise their franchise. The votes will be counted on December 11. PTI NAB NAB MIN MIN \R Jammu, Dec 7 (PTI) Tourists will now be able to enjoy a ride around the Mansar lake in Jammu and Kashmir's Samba district on battery-operated cars, officials said. Three battery-operated cars has been introduced by the state Wildlife Protection Department as part of its eco-tourism promotion campaign and ensuring a healthy environment at the most-visited tourist place in the Jammu region, the officials said. The department has procured the eco-friendly vehicles that will keep a check on carbon footprints and allow the tourists to enjoy a ride around the lake, which is, otherwise, very difficult because of its long distance. The initiative would surely go a long way in boosting the tourism at this important tourist destination in Jammu division, K Vijay Kumar, the adviser to Governor Satya Pal Malik, said, while inaugurating the vehicles. PTI AB HMB Hyderabad, Dec 7 (PTI) Over 23 per cent of 2.80 crore voters of Telangana exercised their franchise during the first four hours of polling on Friday. Legislative Assembly elections are being held for the first time in Telangana after its formation. The 2014 Assembly polls were held in undivided Andhra Pradesh. "Polling till 11 AM was reported at 23.4 per cent..a clear trend would emerge by 3 PM," Chief Electoral Officer Rajat Kumar told reporters. Voting commenced at sharp 7 AM, though at some polling stations there was a delay of about 10-15 minutes, he noted. In one or two cases, the EVMs had to be replaced, he said. "It (polling) is going on very satisfactorily..I want to thank Telangana voters," he added. Responding to a query on the alleged attack on Kalwakurthy Congress candidate Vamshi Chand Reddy, Kumar said the district electoral officer is inquiring into the matter. Earlier, Telangana Congress president Uttam Kumar Reddy had alleged that Vamshi was attacked by BJP cadres during his visit to Amangal in his constituency to observe the poll pattern. Polling is underway in the 119 assembly constituencies in the state amid elaborate arrangements. Voting will conclude at 5 PM, except in 13 constituencies classified as Left Wing Extremist-affected where the process ends at 4 PM. The CEO had said those in queues at polling stations before 5 PM would be allowed to vote. Telangana and Andhra Pradesh Governor ESL Narasimhan and his wife Vimala Narasimhan, caretaker Chief Minister K T Rama Rao and his deputy Kadiyam Srihari, state minister Harish Rao, BJP Telangana chief K Laxman, former Union Minister Bandaru Dattatreya, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, TJS president Kodandaram are among the leaders who cast their votes. After casting his vote, Harish Rao said he expected the overall poll percentage to go up. Former Union Minister Chiranjeevi and actors Nagarjuna, Allu Arjun, Nithin, Krishna cast their votes in Jubilee Hills in the city. Meanwhile, Telangana DGP M Mahendar Reddy said polling process had been peaceful across the state. Elaborate and necessary arrangements have been made for law and order, public safety and queue management, he said. Over one lakh personnel from Telangana, central paramilitary forces and those drawn from different states have been deployed as part of security and other arrangements. The Congress has stitched together an allaince, "Prajakutami" (People's Front), along with the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), the Telangana Jana Samiti (TJS) and the Communist Party of India (CPI) to take on the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), led by K Chandrasekhar Rao. The TRS, seeking a second term in office, is going alone, as also the BJP. PTI GDK VVK ROH DIV DIV Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 7 (PTI) The Congress-led opposition UDF disrupted proceedings in the Kerala Assembly Friday, demanding discussion on the Sabarimala temple issue, leading to an early adjournment of the House. UDF MLAs entered the House carrying black banners and sought withdrawal of police restrictions at Sabarimala. Today's session, which began at 9 AM lasted only 18 minutes after Assembly Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan decided to adjourn proceedings due to Opposition protest. The Speaker told protesters that the matter was already taken up by the House earlier and the Chief Minister had given a reply. Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala had Thursday informed the House that three of his party MLAs were on a sit-in protest inside the Assembly complex over the Sabarimala issue and his party was ready for a compromise talk inside the Speaker's chamber. "We had yesterday informed the House that we were ready for a compromise talk with the government inside the Speaker's chamber. However, it seems like the government is not keen on solving the issue," Chennithala told reporters Friday. Three UDF MLAs - V S Sivakumar of Congress, Parakkal Abdullah of IUML and N Jayaraj of Kerala Congress (M) - are on an indefinite satyagraha outside the Assembly hall since December 3 demanding withdrawal of prohibitory orders in and around Sabarimala. However, the Kerala High Court had Thursday said police restrictions and prohibitory orders were not affecting devotees. PTI RRT UD ROH DV DV Chandigarh, Dec 7 (PTI) Two assistant sub-inspectors of the Punjab Police were killed and another two injured on Friday when their car rammed into the back of a truck due to low visibility caused by heavy fog near Barnala district, police said. The deceased ASIs, Gurmit Singh and Malkit Singh, were on way to Patiala for duty from Muktsar, along with two other colleagues, when the mishap occurred near Handiaya town in Barnala. The two other ASIs, Sadhu Singh and Rashpal Singh, suffered injuries in the accident and were rushed to hospital. Police said the car in which the ASIs were travelling hit the rear of the vehicle after the truck driver applied brakes. Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh expressed grief over the death of the two policemen and wished speedy recovery to the injured ASIs. In a condolence message, the chief minister expressed his heartfelt sympathies to the families of the deceased policemen. According to a MeT department official, fog had enveloped many parts of Punjab in the morning including Amritsar, Ludhiana, Patiala, Sangrur, Barnala, Bathinda and Faridkot. PTI SUN CK Ghaziabad, Dec 7 (PTI) The bodies of two men -- one beheaded and the other bullet-ridden -- were recovered in separate places in this district Friday, police said. While the decapitated body was found in the sugarcane fields in Modinagar, the other one was recovered in Vijay Nagar, they said. Senior Superintendent of Police Upendra Agarwal told that the decapitated body of a 32-year-old man was found in sugar cane field near Sikri Khurd village in Modinagar here. The severed head was lying in the field around 15 yards away from the body. The matter came to light only after a farmer informed the police Friday morning. The body was sent for post-mortem and efforts are on to identify the deceased, police said. In another case, a bullet-ridden body of a man was found in his car. The man, identified as 28-year-old Ashwani Sharma, is a resident of Chipiyana village in Gautam Budh Nagar district. Some passersby informed the police that they found the body near a crossing in Republic area. Police have recovered a country-made pistol, cartridges and a bottle of liquor from the car. Prima facie it seems to be a case of suicide, they said. The body was sent for post-mortem, SSP Agarwal said, adding that the police are probing both cases on different angles. PTI CORR CK Noida (UP), Dec 7 (PTI) Two land mafias, who sold flood-prone land along the Hindon river fraudulently showing it as residential space, were Friday booked under the stringent Uttar Pradesh Gangsters Act, the Gautam Buddh Nagar administration said. They have been identified as Devendra Yadav and Satyendra Yadav, who live in Chipiyana Khurd Thori area of Greater Noida, the administration said. "Both of the persons have duped several people of their money by selling them flood-prone land along the Hindon river by fraudulently showing it as residential land. By doing this, they also obstructed the natural flow of the river," the administration said in a statement. District Magistrate Brajesh Narain Singh, based on a report by Senior Superintendent of Police Ajay Pal Sharma, pressed charges under the Uttar Pradesh Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act, 1986, against the duo, an official statement said. "The district administration is committed to ensuring continuous strict action against people of criminal nature. Therefore, similar action will be taken in the future against the mafia and criminals under the Gangsters Act and the Goonda Act, besides considering their expulsion from the district," Singh said. The administration of the district, where law and order has been a major concern, had recently announced attaching properties and stopping financial transactions of nearly 600 people booked under the Gangsters Act since April this year in a major move to check crime. The action has been taken under the Uttar Pradesh Gangsters and the Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act, 1986, which provides special provisions for the prevention of, and for coping with, gangsters and anti-social activities and for connected matters. PTI KIS KJ Thames Water is losing a staggering 150m gallons of water a day through leaks enough to fill 227 Olympic swimming pools. That is 4m gallons more than in the previous year, driven by burst pipes during the heatwave. At the other end of the scale, freezing cold weather in March hit the supplies of around 75,000 customers. Profits at Thames Water fell 47.5 per cent to 67.7million in the six months to September 30 as weather took a toll Profits at the UKs biggest water company, fell 47.5 per cent to 67.7million in the six months to September 30 as a result. The business has been fined more than 128million since 2017 for failing to tackle leaks, and more customers are unhappy. It received 11,083 written complaints about disruptions to the supply, up from 8,242 a year earlier. Boss Steve Robertson said: With the Beast from the East and prolonged heatwave, 2018 has brought the threat and volatility of climate change into sharp focus. Ready for no deal The boss of Thames Water has dismissed scare stories that the nation's taps could run dry if Britain crashes out of the European Union with no deal. Steve Robertson said he has been working with the state to ensure adequate supplies of treatment chemicals imported from the EU, such as chlorine. He said: 'We are already working on contingency plans and have no doubt there will be adequate supplies of the chemicals needed. 'There will be no disruption of water supplies in the UK.' We are acutely aware of the challenges we face and were working hard to get back on track. We worked tirelessly to protect our customers from supply restrictions. However, it has delayed our progress on leakage and other performance measures. Thames said its supply issues were sparked during the heatwave when it was forced to pump 17 per cent more water into the network. Along with shifting ground, this increased the pressure on pipes and caused more bursts. Thames said it was now spending 11.7billion on improvements and hiring around 600 more staff to help with leaks in future. Earlier this year, Robertson agreed to forgo bonuses for the next two years after the company forked out 120million in compensation to customers and penalties for missing targets to cut leaks. He could receive a maximum bonus of nearly 3.8million in 2020 if he hits targets to improve the companys service. Thames has also pledged not to pay any dividends to its new owners until 2020/21. Payments of 20million will then be handed out until 2025. London is no longer the prime location for housebuilder Berkeley Group, which warned of a 'lack of urgency' in the capital's property market. As it announced a 26 per cent fall in half-year profits, but raised its guidance for the full year, Berkeley said it had invested in 11 new sites, all outside London. Though the FTSE 100 giant seemed to be in no rush to buy land in the capital, which it warned in September was 'constrained' by Brexit uncertainty, it hasn't given up on its home market entirely. Berkeley said it had invested in 11 new sites, all outside London Chief executive Rob Perrins said he saw new opportunities in London and the South East as the market factored in economic uncertainty and policy interventions, such as stamp duty hikes. Over the six months ending in October, Berkeley finished 2,027 homes, more than 10 per cent of London's new private and affordable houses. Though pre-tax profit of 401.2m was down on last year's 539.8m for the first half of its financial year, Berkeley said it now expects to make at least 5 per cent more than the 641m it was due to rake in for the full year. The group also promised to extend its shareholder returns programme until 2025, which gives investors a combined 280m per year through dividends and share buy-backs. Shares climbed 1.1 per cent, or 35p, to 3356p. But George Salmon, an equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: 'Sentiment will remain closely tied to the Brexit barometer, since London could well be in the eye of the storm should a disorderly departure [from the EU] trigger a housing meltdown.' After Thursday's slump, the FTSE 100 rebounded 1.1 per cent, or 74.06 points, to 6778.11. John Wood Group, an engineer for oil wells and industrials businesses, was the largest riser it climbed 4.4 per cent, or 26.6p, to 628p as the oil price jumped. Following its brief foray below $60 per barrel on Thursday, the price of oil was up by almost 5 per cent. This gave a helping hand to London's hefty energy sector: Royal Dutch Shell was up 2.8 per cent, or 63.5p, at 2365p. Premier Oil hit new production records and shares shot up 14.8 per cent, or 9.75p, to 75.85p. Satellite firm Inmarsat was vindicated in court after a long- running battle with competitor Viasat over in-flight wifi. Several years ago Inmarsat was granted a contract by the European Commission to build the European Aviation Network, to provide wifi on planes. It then had to obtain permission from the telecoms regulator in each European country to build the network. The UK's Ofcom, as well as other European regulators, granted the licence. But California-based Viasat, which itself wants to muscle in on the network, claimed Ofcom should not have given Inmarsat a licence. It said Inmarsat was in breach of its contract with the Commission, because it was using ground-based infrastructure as well as satellite frequencies to build the network. But Viasat's challenge at the Competition Appeal Tribunal in London was dismissed yesterday. Inmarsat's shares climbed 1.6 per cent, or 6.5p, to 418.4p. Miniature war-gaming manufacturer Games Workshop reported sales of 124m and an operating profit of 41m in the six months leading to December 2. It said its Warhammer game, which now commands increased factory capacity, was in 'great shape' and announced a 30p dividend, taking the year-to-date dividend to 95p compared to 85p last year. The shares rose 4.3 per cent, or 130p, to 3125p. Miner Condor Gold jumped 8.9 per cent, or 2.5p, to 30.5p on announcing it had expanded a site at a project in Nicaragua by 45 per cent. 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. Previous Next 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 Mountfield Group Plc provides construction support and property services to the private and public sectors in the United Kingdom and other European countries. The company operates through Construction and Fit-Out segments. It is involved in the supply of fit-out services, including the supply and installation of flooring systems to data centers, disaster recovery centers, and commercial office buildings; and fitting out and refurbishment of commercial office buildings, hospitals, and education facilities, as well as provides builders work packages on commercial IT facility buildings. The company also designs and builds projects; offers specialist bespoke hard flooring finishes, including timber, stone, and ceramics; provides principal contracting services; and undertakes site assembly for residential and commercial developments. Mountfield Group Plc was is based in Wickford, the United Kingdom. Read More WASHINGTON U.S. Rep. John Faso has just under a month to go before he leaves office, but hes already homeless on Capitol Hill. Thats to say his suite in the Longworth building adjacent to the U.S. Capitol has been given to a new incoming member. His furniture (along with that of all the other lawmakers moving in and out) has been stacked up unceremoniously in the corridor outside the front door, as though hed just been evicted. Which he has, in a sense, through voters in the upper Hudson Valley district replacing him on Election Day with Democratic newcomer Antonio Delgado. Obviously its a disappointment but at the same time, I had told wife early in the summer that if (Republicans) lost 20 seats, Id likely win, Faso said. But if we lost 40, Id likely not. The current tally of GOP seats lost in the 2018 election now stands at 40. So, Faso, 66, is packing his bags and preparing to return to Kinderhook full time to contemplate his future. He wont disclose his strategy for life after a single term in Congress, but he is clear its not going to be retirement. With no agenda to press forward and no coveted committee assignments to seek out and Republicans soon to be in the minority with much less power Faso has time to contemplate his legislative record and what, if anything, went wrong. Among the victories he counts is input on the bipartisan opioids bill that Congress finally approved. Faso was among a small group of lawmakers invited in October to the White House to witness President Donald Trump signing the bill into law. Faso backed a new system pinpointing international shipments of opioids, particularly fentanyl from China. Another Faso proposal that made it into the final draft adds language to the standard Medicare and You booklet given to all seniors entering the system. It informs Medicare recipients of opioid alternatives to avoid painkiller addiction. Congress has yet to pass the Farm Bill but when it does, Faso said, it is likely to include his language on organic food products making sure theyre really organic, and not imposters from overseas and help for young people and veterans interested in farming. But the two legislative items that animate Faso the most are the ones that got away. One is his addition to the Republican Obamacare repeal-and-replace bill, which passed the House last year. It would have alleviated New York counties from sharing New York states end of the Medicaid program financial burden. The bill died in the Senate. Faso argued the county share of Medicaid forced up property taxes in his district and other upstate rural areas. Gov. Andrew Cuomo countered that such a proposal would kick the foundation out from under the shared state-federal program of health insurance for low-income families. Faso also pushed legislation to pre-empt New Yorks Scaffold Law, which dates back to 1885. The state law sets up a strict liability standard for gravity-related construction accidents, basically when a worker falls or something falls on the worker. Strict liability means that when such an accident occurs, the builder or contractor is automatically liable. Faso and others in the state say the law is responsible for exorbitant add-ons to construction projects in order to cover inflated insurance costs: $200 million extra for the new Tappan Zee bridge; $300 million for the Gateway railroad tunnel under the Hudson River. Fasos proposal would require that any federal or federally funded construction project must adhere to the comparative negligence standard, which allows builders and contractors to mount a defense if, for instance, a worker doesnt use safety equipment or follow safety rules. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter. Faso said he was hoping to attach his bill to infrastructure legislation, but the opportunity did not arise. Instead, he wrote a letter to Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao saying the federal government should require the comparative negligence standard when federal money is involved in major New York transit-related construction projects. Faso points to these near misses as evidence of his meat-and-potatoes approach to lawmaking. But ultimately he believes his race against Delgado was a referendum on Trump, a part of the Blue Wave that swept Democrats into control of the House. And he does not believe the controversial ad about Delgado's rap lyrics caused his loss. The lyrics are from the time when Delgado was a budding hip-hop talent in Los Angeles, working under the name "AD the Voice." Produced by the Congressional Leadership Fund, a conservative Super PAC, the ad called Delgado a New York city liberal whose lyrics were profane and offensive and sexist. Many in the district, even some Republicans, denounced the ad as racist and insensitive. Faso pointed out that the ad was outside his control and federal law prohibits coordination with independent groups apart from his own campaign. The ad was provocative but so were the lyrics he authored, Faso said. Since Delgado had never held or run for office, he had no political record, Faso said. The nearest thing one could divine in terms of his political position was the lyrics, he said. So it was a legitimate point of inquiry. SCHENECTADY Five or six years ago, Vinda Birju was wary about walking along Crane Street. But six months ago, he opened Julie's Caribbean cuisine, a West Indian restaurant in the heart of the Crane Street business corridor, with high hopes for the future of his business and the block. "I feel safe here now," said Birjum, who has lived with his family in the area for the past 15 years. "I would encourage anyone from anywhere to come out here because it is getting better." That's music to the ears of the Mont Pleasant Merchants who along with Better Neighborhoods Inc. are at the forefront of an ambitious plan to transform the hardscrabble block of homes and businesses into a destination with an identity that pays homage its history. The groups also want to re-brand as Engine Hill, the Crane Street business corridor from the steep hill on Broadway to Altamont Avenue at the Rotterdam border. "There's a unique history of that area that leads people to be interested in its history," said James Flacke, BNI's executive director. Flacke said Crane Street is now a melting pot of commercial activity restaurants offer Caribbean, Guyanese, and Chinese food, and the block has a pizzeria and fish fry. There's also a laundromat, bank and convenience store. Over the decades, Crane Street came on hard times. "It's been through a period of disinvestment where the clients moved away and the businesses moved away," said Flacke. "The growth of suburbia is the decline of urban neighborhoods in America." He estimated that one third of the buildings in the heart of Crane Street are vacant. BNI has applied for a $500,000 state grant for upgrades to nine properties between Broadway and Altamont Avenue. The funding would help merchants "dress up, spruce up the front of their buildings," said Pastor James Bookhout of Bridge Christian Church, president of Mont Pleasant Merchants. Bookhout said the area has improved during the 5 years his church has been there. "We've seen the crime rate drop. We've seen more people from our community seem to be more interested in changing the community. We're seeing people clean up in front of their businesses and homes more," he said. The 10,000-square-feet former Rite Aid next to his church is being renovated into a community center. When it opens, Bookhout said, he plans to have banquets and concerts there, and the community will be able to use it for other social gatherings. A few blocks from the church, construction is underway on a new library on the site of a notorious bodega that was a magnet for crime before it was shut down and demolished. The city is fixing up a nearby park, and a new $13 million Boys & Girls Clubs of Schenectady facility serving Mont Pleasant and Hamilton Hill residents is set to open in September at Quackenbush Park. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter. With the city, county and nonprofits are working together, Flacke said, "We feel like things are gelling so that we can get some traction to improve the area. We think one of the ways to attract more businesses and more people is to renovate and make it a nicer place to shop and visit." BNI got involved in the project because of its dedication to neighborhood preservation, and the group wants to rehab and renovate homes on streets around Crane Street. Birju said he wishes there were more lighting and cops patrolling the area, preferably on foot, which would deter the loitering around some of the corner stores. Mahroof Karim said he has not had any problems in the year he has been managing Faisal West Indian Grocery & Halal Meat. "When I open I had 100 customers, now I have 200," said the Pakistani immigrant, who attributed his success in part to the specialty items he carries that no one else offers. "Every week we see somebody different and customers tell me that it's good and they feel safe coming late." The store closes at 9 p.m. Bookhout said plans call for focusing focus in the future on businesses elsewhere in Mont Pleasant, including along Chrisler Avenue and Congress Street. "What we want to do," he said, "is to try to tie the business district in Mont Pleasant together with the downtown shopping district because we're not too far apart." Beijing China on Thursday demanded that Canada release an executive of Chinese tech giant Huawei who was arrested in a case that compounds tensions with the U.S. and threatens to complicate trade talks. Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies Ltd., faces possible extradition to the United States, according to Canadian authorities. The Globe and Mail newspaper, citing law enforcement sources, said she is suspected of trying to evade U.S. trade curbs on Iran. Huawei, the biggest global supplier of network gear used by phone and internet companies, has been the target of deepening U.S. security concerns. Under President Donald Trump and his predecessor, Barack Obama, Washington has pressured European countries and other allies to limit use of its technology. The U.S. sees Huawei and smaller Chinese tech suppliers as possible fronts for spying and as commercial competitors. The Trump administration says they benefit from improper subsidies and market barriers. The timing of the arrest is awkward following the announcement of a U.S.-Chinese cease-fire in a trade war that has its roots in Beijing's technology policy. Meng was detained in Vancouver on Saturday, the day Trump and Xi Jinping met in Argentina and announced their deal. U.S. national security adviser John Bolton told NPR that he knew of the pending arrest in advance. He declined to talk about the specifics of the case and said he didn't know if Trump knew about before it happened but added that there has been enormous concern about the practice of Chinese firms like Huawei allegedly using stolen U.S. intellectual property. He said that would be a major subject of negotiations with China. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he was given a few days advance notice of the intention of Canadian authorities to arrest her but said it was the decision of law enforcement and there was no political interference. "I can assure everyone that we are a country of an independent judiciary and the appropriate authorities took the decisions in this case without any political involvement or interference," Trudeau said. He also said he could not comment further because of a publication ban. A spokesman for Canada's justice department said Meng requested the ban and the department could not comment further. Stock markets tumbled on the news, fearing renewed U.S.-Chinese tensions that threaten global economic growth. Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 2.5 percent and the DAX in Germany sank 1.8 percent. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter. A Chinese government statement said Meng broke no U.S. or Canadian laws and demanded Canada "immediately correct the mistake" and release her. Beijing asked Washington and Ottawa to explain the reason for Meng's arrest, said a Foreign Ministry spokesman, Geng Shuang. He said arresting her without that violated her human rights. But the Ministry of Commerce signaled that Beijing wants to avoid disrupting progress toward settling a dispute with Washington over technology policy that has led them to raise tariffs on billions of dollars of each other's goods. China is confident they can reach a trade deal during the 90 days that Trump agreed to suspend U.S. tariff hikes, said a ministry spokesman, Gao Feng. Trump's tariff hikes on Chinese imports stemmed from complaints Beijing steals or pressures foreign companies to hand over technology. But U.S. officials also worry more broadly that Chinese plans for state-led creation of Chinese champions in robotics, artificial intelligence and other fields might erode U.S. industrial leadership. "The United States is stepping up containment of China in all respects," said Zhu Feng, an international relations expert at Nanjing University. He said targeting Huawei, one of its most successful companies, "will trigger anti-U.S. sentiment." "The incident could turn out to be a breaking point," Zhu said. This is the first official visit to Vietnam by PM Hun Sen since Cambodia set up its sixth-tenure Government in September, on the threshold of the 40th anniversary of the victory over the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime (January 7, 1979 - 2019). The visit is taking place in the context of Vietnam Cambodia relations witnessing great development. Vietnamese people congratulated Cambodians on their achievements under reign of King Norodom Sihamoni and leadership of the Royal Government. In particular, the country successfully held theelection of the sixth National Assembly (NA) with a high voter turnout, which showed the voters' confidence in the country's future development. The ruling Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP) won the majority of votes in this general election. Cambodias security, political and social situation is stable; meanwhile its economy reaches a high growth with an average GDP growth rate of 7% per year. Agriculture, textiles, tourism and construction are the main pillars. The countrys external relations have been strengthened and expanded. We are happy to see that experiencing the ups and downs of history the peoples of the two countries have gone through thick and thin together, cooperated and helped one another for the cause of national liberation and construction in each country. This particular tradition of solidarity has become a common, invaluable and sacred asset of the two nations that needs to be preserved and promoted by the two peoples. Over the past years, the two sides have regularly exchanged high-level delegations to promote long-standing friendship and comprehensive cooperation in a deeper, more efficient and reliable manner. The two PMs met to exchange issues related to bilateral cooperation on the sidelines of international conferences such as the second Mekong-Lancang Cooperation (MLC) Summit in Phnom Penh in January as well as the sixth Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS-6) Summit and the 10th Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam Development Triangle Summit (CLV-10 in Hanoi in March. The two sides also held the 16th meeting of the Vietnam-Cambodia Joint Committee on Economic, Cultural and Scientific-Technological Cooperation; signed several new cooperative agreements and inaugurated the radio stations funded by Vietnam in Cambodian provinces. Cooperation in the fields of economics, trade and investment have been increasingly developed. Bilateral trade reached US$3.8 billion in 2017, a year-on-year increase of 30%. Vietnam has now 206 investment projects in Cambodia with a total registered capital of US$3.02 billion, being among the fifth largest foreign investors in Cambodia. The business and investment activities of Vietnamese enterprises in Cambodia have been highly valued by its leaders, significantly contributing to social welfare and development of the host country. Cambodias investment in Vietnam has seen growth with 18 projects worth a total US$58.125 million so far. Cooperation in border management between Vietnam and Cambodia has been fostered. The two countries have maintained joint patrols, timely exchange information and coordinate each other to handle arising issues. Both sides are striving to complete the demarcation of their land border in the shortest time possible to build a borderline of peace, stability, friendship, cooperation and sustainable development. Cooperation between relevant ministries, branches and localities of the two countries has also been promoted. Vietnam and Cambodia coordinated closely in regional and international cooperation frameworks such as the United Nations, ASEAN, ASEM, the Greater Mekong Sub-region and the Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam Development Triangle. PM Hun Sens official visit to Vietnam is an important political event, affirming determination of leaders and people of both countries to further strengthen Vietnam Cambodia in a deep, stable and sustainable manner. The visit also aims to develop the two countries relations of good neighbourliness, traditional friendship and comprehensive, sustainable and long-term cooperation to a new height, for the benefit of two peoples as well as for peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world. London As the shipping industry faces pressure to cut climate-altering greenhouse gases, one answer is blowing in the wind. European and U.S. tech companies, including one backed by airplane maker Airbus, are pitching futuristic sails to help cargo ships harness the free and endless supply of wind power. While they sometimes don't even look like sails some are shaped like spinning columns they represent a cheap and reliable way to reduce CO2 emissions for an industry that depends on a particularly dirty form of fossil fuels. "It's an old technology," said Tuomas Riski, the CEO of Finland's Norsepower, which added its "rotor sail" technology for the first time to a tanker in August. "Our vision is that sails are coming back to the seas." Denmark's Maersk Tankers is using its Maersk Pelican oil tanker to test Norsepower's 98-foot deck-mounted spinning columns, which convert wind into thrust based on an idea first floated nearly a century ago. Separately, A.P. Moller-Maersk, which shares the same owner and is the world's biggest container shipping company, pledged this week to cut carbon emissions to zero by 2050, which will require developing commercially viable carbon neutral vessels by the end of next decade. The shipping sector's interest in "sail tech" and other ideas took on greater urgency after the International Maritime Organization, the U.N.'s maritime agency, reached an agreement in April to slash emissions by 50 percent by 2050. Transport's contribution to earth-warming emissions are in focus as negotiators in Katowice, Poland, gather for U.N. talks to hash out the details of the 2015 Paris accord on curbing global warming. Shipping, like aviation, isn't covered by the Paris agreement because of the difficulty attributing their emissions to individual nations, but environmental activists say industry efforts are needed. Ships belch out nearly 1 billion tons of carbon dioxide a year, accounting for 2-3 percent of global greenhouse gases. The emissions are projected to grow between 50 to 250 percent by 2050 if no action is taken. Notoriously resistant to change, the shipping industry is facing up to the need to cut its use of cheap but dirty "bunker fuel" that powers the global fleet of 50,000 vessels the backbone of world trade. The IMO is taking aim more broadly at pollution, requiring ships to start using low-sulfur fuel in 2020 and sending ship owners scrambling to invest in smokestack scrubbers, which clean exhaust, or looking at cleaner but pricier distillate fuels. A Dutch group, the Goodshipping Program , is trying biofuel, which is made from organic matter. It refueled a container vessel in September with 22,000 liters of used cooking oil, cutting carbon dioxide emissions by 40 tons. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter. In Norway, efforts to electrify maritime vessels are gathering pace, highlighted by the launch of the world's first all-electric passenger ferry, Future of the Fjords, in April. Chemical maker Yara is meanwhile planning to build a battery-powered autonomous container ship to ferry fertilizer between plant and port. Ship owners have to move with the times, said Bjorn Tore Orvik, Yara's project leader. Building a conventional fossil-fueled vessel "is a bigger risk than actually looking to new technologies ... because if new legislation suddenly appears then your ship is out of date," said Orvik. Batteries are effective for coastal shipping, though not for long-distance sea voyages, so the industry will need to consider other "energy carriers" generated from renewable power, such as hydrogen or ammonia, said Jan Kjetil Paulsen, an advisor at the Bellona Foundation, an environmental non-government organization. Wind power is also feasible, especially if vessels sail more slowly. "That is where the big challenge lies today," said Paulsen. Wind power looks to hold the most promise. The technology behind Norsepower's rotor sails, also known as Flettner rotors, is based on the principle that airflow speeds up on one side of a spinning object and slows on the other. That creates a force that can be harnessed. Rotor sails can generate thrust even from wind coming from the side of a ship. German engineer Anton Flettner pioneered the idea in the 1920s but the concept languished because it couldn't compete with cheap oil. Recently, we've seen a couple of terrific exhibitions of the Japanese woodblock prints called ukiyo-e. There was the broad, multi-century survey last year at the Clark, and the complete display this year of a single series by Hiroshige at the Albany Institute of History and Art. Now the Hyde is hosting a big, interesting show, "Ukiyo-e to Shin Hanga: Japanese Woodcuts from the Syracuse University Art Collection," which is a perfect introduction to the intense two centuries of Japanese printmaking now so revered and influential. It might be easy to look at the obvious big names there are lots of nice landscapes from Hiroshige and portraits by Utamaro but the strengths lie further out. And in. Note the subtle interior showing ikebana, or flower arranging. Several women sit and watch another woman demonstrate, some green fronds in her hand. This is something as revealing as ordinary life, delicate and polite, and rendered by Kitao Masanobu with simple feeling. Don't miss the lone print by the legendary Hokusai, a nearly black and white view from his famed "100 Views of Mt. Fuji." This is not an ukiyo-e, but rather two woodblock pages taken from an e-hon, or illustrated book, a neglected genre now available up close. In "At Eternity's Gate," a vivid, intensely affecting portrait of Vincent van Gogh toward the end of his life, the artist walks and walks. Head bowed, he looks like a man on a mission, though at other times he seems more like a man at prayer. Often dressed in a blue shirt, he carries an easel, brushes and paint strapped to his back, trudging in light that changes from golden to wintry blue. One day in 1888, he puts his battered boots on the red tile floor of his room in Arles, France. He quickly begins creating a simple painting of them; the original now hangs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The journey of those shoes from humble floor to museum wall tells a familiar story about van Gogh, whose painful life is part of a lucrative brand known as Vincent the Mad Genius. In "At Eternity's Gate," the director Julian Schnabel imagines a different Vincent. This Vincent a magnificent Willem Dafoe is not defined by that brand but by the art with which he at once communes with the world and transcends it. Schnabel is interested in this difficult, mercurial man and attentive to his hardships. Strikingly, though, his interest has a rare quality of tenderness to it, perhaps because, unlike most filmmakers who make movies about great artists, he is fundamentally preoccupied with art itself. It seems almost impossible, or maybe foolish, that anyone would take on another biography of van Gogh, who died in 1890 at 37. All this time later, he can feel embedded and even lost in myth, a near-afterthought to the multiple interpretations of his life and work as well as to the inexorable churn of commercial exploitation. Working from a script he wrote with Jean-Claude Carriere and Louise Kugelberg, Schnabel approaches van Gogh's life by drastically condensing it and skipping or skimming over biographical milestones. His earlier struggles and professional and personal disappointments are often expressed obliquely and in Dafoe's feverish eyes and attitude. Dafoe, with his surprising, sometimes terrifying mouth, and his skull visible beneath skin as tightly stretched as canvas, has one of cinema's great faces, and Schnabel makes delicate use of both its ragged beauty and expressive range. Dafoe's thin, coiled physicality suggests both fragility and determination, while his tensile face flutters with an astonishment of emotions that, by turns, suggest a yielding or off-putting sensibility. (Few actors can look so frightening or so beatific in such rapid succession.) Vincent's agonies render moot the age difference between the character and actor; Dafoe is 63, and his deepest creases can seem like evidence of Vincent's current and past suffering. The movie begins with a brief flash-forward to Vincent, awkwardly and with mounting desperation asking a confused young peasant woman (Lolita Chammah) to pose for him. The story then flips to Paris and settles into its primary time frame with Vincent and his younger brother Theo (a moving Rupert Friend), whose close friendship and money sustain him. Opening with a glimpse of the future is an overworked framing device, but the Paris scenes have snap and a fitting dankness, and it's where van Gogh meets an imperious, seductive Gauguin (a perfect Oscar Isaac). Soon, van Gogh is in the South of France, where he finds his light and enters a period of feverish creation. Vincent's time in the south begins with a gust that introduces a palpable sense of bone-deep cold and of isolation that lingers even when the sun brightens. Instead of relying on reams of exposition, Schnabel introduces this period by focusing on Vincent's face and body, underlining his physicality and the material conditions that help shape his sense of self and art. It's here that the movie begins to soar, reaching toward its elegiac title with shocks of beauty and gathering waves of concentrated feeling. Together, Schnabel and Dafoe sensitively transmit van Gogh's desire to "paint what I feel and feel what I paint." Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter. The first scene of Vincent in his room in Arles vibrantly conveys the roughness of his life and how that texture finds its way into his work. After he takes a small canvas ("Landscape With Snow") out of his bag, the skittish camera pans from the painting to his feet and up his body, and then settles on his furrowed face. He hunches, as if still steeling himself against the cold, and the wind bangs open and shut the window that brings dim, blue light into the small, shabby room. He bites an apple, wiggles a toe poking through his sock, takes off his boots and begins painting them. By the time Vincent brushes on gobs of yellow and red, a man, a room and a world have come into visual and sensual focus. The results don't exactingly reproduce the painting in the Met that this copy is based on; the colors, scale and setting are different. The shoes Vincent paints more rightly belong to Schnabel, who has staked his claim on van Gogh both by making this movie and re-creating his art. (Schnabel and Dafoe share painting credit with Edith Baudrand.) That may be practical given the number of featured canvases, but it is also strikingly arrogant to paint over, as it were, van Gogh. To howl at this or any of the other liberties that Schnabel takes in "At Eternity's Gate," though, is to miss the point: The movie is a freely subjective portrait of van Gogh by another artist trying to see, paint and feel as he did. Schnabel draws on the historical record when it suits him, including by pulling lines from van Gogh's letters. At one point, Vincent says that a "grain of madness is the best of art," an observation borrowed from one of his missives. This man, much like the real one, is acutely aware of his fragilities. Yet by adamantly focusing above all else on van Gogh's work and its transporting ecstasies Schnabel has made not just an exquisite film but an argument for art. ALBANY - Dozens of Ramsey Place homeowners are staunchly opposed to a proposal to narrow their road with greenspace that would hold back water during heavy rains. Opponents say the bioswales gently sloped landscaping with vegetation thats designed to remove debris out of surface runoff and retain water during heavy rains will require regular maintenance and a more cost-effective solution should be pursued. I found that bioswales notoriously fail in the first five years regardless of where you are in the country, said Edward Vining, a resident leading the charge against the green infrastructure. They failed by and large because theyre not well-maintained. Were in an aging in place community, most of us are elderly. They dont want the additional responsibility of taking care of a bioswale. More Information The highlights: Throughout Albany, flooding and combined sewer overflows are issues that need to be addressed. The city as well as other Hudson River cities are under a state order to reduce the overflows into the Hudson. Ramsey Place has more impervious surface, allowing for rainfall to travel down the residential street and flood Hackett Boulevard. Some neighbors also are concerned about speeding on Ramsey Place. Albany Water Department officials proposed narrowing the 30-foot-wide street by seven feet (3.5 feet on either side) to install bioswales, gently sloped landscaping with vegetation and underground water retention. Narrowing the street would slow down traffic, officials say. Bioswale opponents don't want the street narrowed nor do they want to maintain the bioswale. Officials say the city would be responsible for the maintenance. See More Collapse But exactly what will be installed to hold back water then slowly release it to Hackett Boulevard still is in its infancy, Albany Water Department officials said, and having met with residents, theyll be coming back with a revised design. We had a proposal to do as much storage of storm water as we can get on Ramsey Place, said water department Commissioner Joseph Coffey. The means and method of that were still looking at. In November, Water Department officials presented plans to install bioswales to Ramsey Place residents to address constant flooding issues on Hackett Boulevard in the Helderberg neighborhood. During heavy rains, water flows down Ramsey Place from New Scotland Avenue and pools in the lower lying areas of Hackett Boulevard. The goal is to hold back between 100,000 and 200,000 gallons of water, Coffey said. If Albany installed bioswales, the existing curb would be moved so a new storm pipe could be installed without removing all the trees. The landscaped portion would be sloped down and planted with vegetation, where runoff would drain into a perforated pipe underground that connects to a separate storm sewer. Officials said the separate storm sewer would reduce the potential for sewage backups, which occur in various parts of Albany due to much of the citys underground infrastructure being a combined sewage and storm water pipe. This leads to sewage overflows and backups in peoples homes during heavy rain events. Part of the plan would mean narrowing the 40-foot-wide street, which residents say would change the character of the neighborhood. It really does change the texture of the street and changes the feel of the area for the residents who live here, Vining said. For perspective, Delaware Avenue, which is a two-lane road with parking on either side, is 36 feet wide. While Vining said the street is fine how it is, Common Council member Judy Doesschate who lives at the corner of Ramsey Place on New Scotland said other neighbors are concerned about speeding drivers on their residential street. Since I started on the council, people have been complaining to me about the excessive speed because Ramsey is excessively wide, Doesschate said. A lot of people like the width of the road, but there are also a lot of people who dont like the speed that cars travel, plus were under a court order to reduce the amount of raw sewage dumped into (the Hudson) river. Doesschate said narrowing the street about 3.5 feet on either side with bioswales would slow traffic while also addressing flooding and sewage overflows further downstream. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter. Theres also concern standing water would attract mosquitoes and the bioswales wouldnt be properly maintained, resulting in their failure, Vining said. Instead, the department should repave the street with porous asphalt that would absorb heavy rainfall, he suggested. Bioswales dont have standing water since runoff drains into a perforated pipe underground and arent designed to encourage mosquito growth, according city's presentation on bioswales. The water department would maintain the bioswales just as it does other green infrastructure, Coffey said. If the city were to use porous asphalt on Ramsey Place, more of the road would have be dug up to install underground basins to store the water and could result in removing more trees and disruption to the neighborhood, Coffey said. Ramsey Place is one of eight sites the water department identified for pursuing flood and combined sewer overflow remediation. The capital city and several other river cities in the Capital Region are under a state order to address the overflows into the Hudson River. Meanwhile, more frequent heavy rainfall has crippled communities across the region and municipalities have tried to pursue projects to make infrastructure more resilient in order to mitigate the flooding that comes with the storms. Some of those projects already completed include man-made wetland and water retention tanks under Woodlawn Park's Babe Ruth Field to help ease flooding in the Pine Hills neighborhood around Ryckman and Hansen avenues and porous concrete that runs into a bioretention basin under Quail Street. CORRECTION: This article has been updated to accurately reflect the widths of both Ramsey Place and Delaware Avenue. Houston More than a thousand friends and aides said farewell to George H.W. Bush at a Houston funeral Thursday, punctuated by tears, hugs and yet more pointed references to the restraint and kindness he projected in a time when such virtues were celebrated in presidents. The 41st president was buried hours later on the grounds of his presidential library at Texas A&M University, after the memorial service at St. Martin's Episcopal Church, where he and his wife of 73 years had long worshipped. "He possessed the classic virtues of our civilization and of his faith," James Baker, his secretary of state during an era of transformation in the world order, said in his eulogy. "George Bush was temperate in thought, in word and in deed. He considered his choices and then he chose wisely." "His incredible service to our nation and the world are already etched into the marbles of time," he continued, recounting Bush's stints as an 18-year-old Navy pilot in World War II, and later as a congressman, ambassador to China and the United Nations, director of the CIA, then vice president and president. "He had the courage of a warrior," Baker said. "But when the time came for prudence, he always maintained the greater courage of the peacemaker." Bush died at his home in Houston on Friday at age 94 after years of deterioration from a form of Parkinson's disease. More than 11,000 people waited for hours overnight to pay respects to Bush as he lay in repose at the family's church. Thousands more had lined up as he lay in state in the Capitol rotunda before a state funeral at the Washington National Cathedral on Wednesday that brought together all living presidents. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter. After the service, a special Union Pacific train painted to resemble Air Force One carried his casket and members of his family 70 miles, past thousands of onlookers, to his final resting place at the Bush presidential library at Texas A&M University. A military honor guard lifted the casket from the hearse upon arrival in College Station. With intermittent rain hitting Bush's adopted and beloved home state, the flag draping the casket was covered in plastic. A military band played ruffles and flourishes and "Hail to the Chief" one final time for the former commander in chief, then the national anthem. Navy fighter jets roared overhead, 21 of them, the final pass in a missing-man formation a high honor for a lost comrade. His burial plot was beside his wife, Barbara, who died in April, and their daughter Robin, who died of leukemia in 1953 at age 3. Albany New York's education lobby including unions, superintendents, school boards and PTA members wants the state to pitch in an additional $2.2 billion in school aid next year. The request, which would bring state school aid from $26.7 billion this year to $28.9 billion during the 2019-20 year, comes even as the number of students in New York state is steadily dropping. Despite that, members of the Educational Conference Board, a coalition of leading education-related groups, contends the students who remain in New York have greater needs, as many are poorer and needier than in prior years. Whether it is poverty, disability, mental health services or learning English, the needs of todays students are real and they are growing, reads a statement from the ECB, which includes the state Council of School Superintendents, School Boards Association, School Administrators Association, New York State United Teachers and the Big 5 school systems of New York City, Yonkers, Buffalo, Syracuse and Rochester. The group also noted that between 2007 and 2017, theres been a 14 percent increase in students with disabilities, a 15 percent rise in those getting free or reduced-price lunch, which is a key poverty marker, and an 18 percent jump in English language learners. The request comes as the state Board of Regents next week will put in its annual request for state aid. The Regents last year requested an additional $1.6 billion. At the time, Gov. Andrew Cuomo initially called for a $769 million increase. Lawmakers wanted a higher amount and the final budget brought a $1 billion increase. The steady decline of pupil numbers statewide, with exceptions in some locations, has prompted some discussion about the way state aid is given out to the states nearly 700 school districts. Overall, the state had 2.6 million public school students last year, compared to 2.9 million during the 1999-2000 school year, according to an earlier report by the Empire Center, a fiscally conservative think tank. That number is sharply down from a high of 3.5 million in the early 1970s. The drop stems from a dip in the population as well as an ongoing decline in the number of people who live in much of upstate New York. Some districts, notably in urban areas, however, have grown, due in part to immigrants who have settled there. New York Citys public school population remains the largest by far, with more than 1.1 million students. The overall statewide decline is exacerbating what some say is an imbalance in the way state aid is given out. The underlying Foundation Aid formula is warped, said David Friedfel, director of state studies at the Citizens Budget Commission fiscal watchdog group. Overall, Friedfel believes that too much of the aid goes to relatively wealthy districts that can rely more on property taxes to support their schools, and too little goes to poor districts, where there is less property wealth and, often, poorer students. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter. Another complication comes with hold harmless provisions in state law that mean no district gets less, even if its students numbers are dropping. For instance, Friedfel pointed to state records showing that the Albany district has grown by about 16 percent between the 2006-07 and 2016-17 school years. More for you New York's student population is on the decline The Berne-Knox-Westerlo district in the rural Hilltown region of Albany County, however, decreased by about 30 percent over the same period. There are lots of ways the money can be spent, regardless of how many students are there. BKW's newsletter last Spring noted that the district had received a additional $97,000 in Foundation Aid, which is a baseline allocation that goes to all of the schools. That money was set to pay for a technology initiative to provide students with computers. Either way, Friedfel noted that on a per pupil basis New York spends almost twice as much as the national average. As of 2016, New York schools spent an average of $22,366 compared to $11,762 nationally. Per pupil spending in New York also grew more than 50 percent faster than the national average between school year 2011 and 2016, 17.2 percent versus 11.4 percent. rkarlin@timesunion.com 518 454 5758 @RickKarlinTU A federal judge has rejected NXIVM founder Keith Raniere's latest request to be released on $1 million bond while his criminal case is pending. The order, handed down this week by U.S. District Judge Nicholas A. Garaufis, cited Raniere's continued flight risk, noting again that he had traveled to Mexico in the fall of 2017 when a federal investigation of his organization was intensifying. In rejecting Raniere's second request for bond, the judge also cast aside the defense argument that he would not run away because it would damage his reputation. "(Raniere) submits that, if he fled, he would risk losing the love and respect of his friends in particular, the love and respect of his sureties, who would lose the money they had posted for bail," the judge wrote. "Considering the charges Raniere faces, the potential loss of love and respect is an unavailing substitute for a financial stake in his appearance." Raniere, 58, could serve up to life in prison on the sex-trafficking charges he faces, and potentially decades in prison if convicted on charges of wire fraud, racketeering and forced-labor conspiracy. He had proposed his $1 million bond would be secured by three properties owned by others, but the government said the value of those properties, owned by NXIVM clients, is only about $170,000. During a court proceeding in the case on Thursday in Brooklyn, the judge questioned the defense team about the government's concerns that a trust fund set up earlier this year by Clare Bronfman, NXIVM's longtime operations director and an heiress of the Seagram's liquor fortune, was being used to pay the legal costs for Raniere and his five co-defendants, including Bronfman herself. Raniere's attorney, Marc Agnifilo, wrote a letter to the court on Wednesday saying the government's concerns that the trust fund might unduly influence Raniere or his co-defendants to fight the charges is misplaced. "The truth is that government files this ... motion now, six months after being told about the trust, because of its vexation over the fact that none of the defendants have pleaded guilty and wish to blame this on divided loyalties," Agnifilo wrote. "The government, however, conveniently ignores the most obvious reason for defendants pleading not guilty. That is, of course, because the defendants are not guilty." But the government noted that Bronfman was indicted as a co-conspirator in July, changing the circumstances of her financial support for the other defendants in the case. "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," the U.S. attorney's office wrote in a letter to the judge on Nov. 30. The government also raised concerns that a female witness who had been subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury in the case told them that an attorney she had been directed to, and who was being paid by Bronfman, had said "he would not continue to represent her, and by extension, her legal fees would not be paid, if she did not invoke the Fifth Amendment and decline to answer questions." Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter. "If similar conditions are being placed on Bronfman's co-defendants, expressly or otherwise, the advice provided by their counsel might be similarly affected," the government wrote. The judge asked defense attorneys for more information about the trust fund arrangement, but did not issue a ruling on the matter Thursday. Raniere's other co-defendants in the case are actress Allison Mack, NXIVM's president Nancy Salzman, her daughter Lauren Salzman, and Kathy Russell, a longtime NXIVM bookkeeper. Raniere, whose organization has been described by at least one expert as a cult, was taken into custody in late March at a luxury beach villa in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, along the Pacific Ocean. He was deported to the United States and arrested on criminal charges. In Mexico, authorities said, Raniere got rid of his mobile phone and used encrypted email to communicate with his followers. They said it took Mexican authorities nearly two months to locate and detain him. Raniere and Mack were indicted in April on charges of sex trafficking and forced labor conspiracy. On July 25, the criminal case expanded under a superseding indictment that elevated the charges against Raniere and Mack, and added as defendants Bronfman, Russell and Nancy and Lauren Salzman. The new indictment charged the six defendants with crimes that include identity theft, harboring of aliens for financial gain, forced labor, sex trafficking and wire fraud. Raniere is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn while the case is pending. The other defendants have been released on bond and conditions that include home confinement. NISKAYUNA - The town's Board of Ethics reviewed and dismissed a complaint by former Niskayuna Police Chief Lewis Moskowitz against Board Member Denise Murphy McGraw for voting to renew a contract with Proctors Theater, a client of her lobbying firm, to broadcast town meetings. But town Supervisor Yasmine Syed, a Republican, questions how the ethics board was formed and personal relationships between certain members and McGraw, a Democrat. In response to that charge, McGraw maintains her relationships with ethics board members as "neighborly and social." The town's ethics code states that a town officer shouldn't use their position to take or fail to take action that results in personal financial benefit for a customer or client. In May, McGraw voted yes on a resolution to pay $10,000 to Open Stage Media, managed by Proctors, for two years of broadcasting services. The measure passed unanimously. The town has paid Proctors a total of $35,000 since 2012 for their services. McGraw is a partner of Hill, Gosdeck and McGraw lobbying firm, which does mostly pro-bono work for Proctors, including helping secure a $5 million tax incentive. The Aug.3 complaint was lodged by former Niskayuna Police Chief Lewis Moskowitz, who sued the town over a pay raise and retired in 2009. The complaint, obtained by the Times Union, said McGraw's vote resulted in financial benefit for her client. The five-member ethics board reviewed the complaint at three meetings and dismissed it on Nov. 28. The 3-1 vote concluded that McGraw didn't violate the town's ethics code. Board Chair Rabbi Matthew Cutler told the Times Union he abstained because of personal connections with the complainant. The letter Moskowitz received from the ethics board said that "the complaint did not state a claim of an ethical violation of the Town of Niskayuna Code of Ethics by a Town of Niskayuna officer or employee" as defined by a certain section. "I was miffed by the letter that I received stating that I didn't include sections that were violated when in fact my complaint does," Moskowitz told the Times Union. Vincent Valenza, the only member who voted that there was an ethics violation, declined to comment. Jill LaFlamme said that after the review she found there was no conflict of interest but wouldn't give further explanation. Remaining members David Olsen and Tracy Cazer could not be reached for comment. In an emailed statement, McGraw said she has no financial relationship with Open Stage Media, a subsidiary of the Proctors Collaborative. A majority of her firm's work with Proctors is pro-bono and Proctors only provides a small fee for administrative services to comply with New York state regulations, her statement said. "I am gratified, but not at all surprised, that the ethics committee found no wrongdoing. There has never been any, and I am pleased that this issue can now be put to rest," McGraw said in an emailed statement. Philip Morris, CEO of Proctors, confirmed the relationship and said the two had been working together for about eight years. He said he was not aware of the ethics complaint against McGraw, nor concerned after learning about it. McGraw has been a Town Board member since January 2010. In 2011, she introduced a resolution to enter into a contract with Open Stage Media. McGraw said the company is the only provider of public television channels in Schenectady. After a presentation from Philip Morris on Feb. 17, 2011, a March vote to enter into a contract was unanimous. To date, Proctors has received $35,000 for these services from Niskayuna, according to town Comptroller Paul Sebesta. Supervisor Syed, a first-term Republican, said her concerns with the ethics board predated this complaint. After a Times Union investigation last November revealed that the town lacked an ethics board, Town Board members put together a list of potential members after interested residents reached out. The list was reviewed by former town supervisor Joseph Landry. Per law, the ethics board is evenly divided between political parties. Olsen and Cutler are Democrats, Valenza and Cazer, Republicans. LaFlamme is registered as a Conservative. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter. Syed wasn't involved in the process, since it took place in the month between her election and inauguration. "I do have concerns about the makeup of the ethics board, in particular because I was never involved in the process of appointing members," Syed told the Times Union. "My concern is that the ethics board members are personally connected to Town Board members and in this case it's one of those situations where you follow the money and you have some of the ethics board members who are neighbors, personal friends, part of political campaigns of people on the Town Board, so how fair can they be?" Member Tracy Cazer is the daughter of former town historian Don Cazer, who was in the post from 2016 until 2018. He donated $100 in Oct. 2017 to McGraw's political campaign and wrote a letter to the editor praising McGraw in the Daily Gazette. It is allowed under the town's ethics code for ethics board members to contribute to campaigns, but not to work for them. McGraw and LaFlamme are friends, and a Facebook post by McGraw shows they went out to dinner and a movie on Aug. 29 after both of their children started as freshman at college. McGraw said that she knows four out of five members of the ethics board and has never met the fifth. She said her relationships with them are neighborly and social and she has never discussed any matter before the ethics board with any of them. Ironically, the contract with Open Stage Media was already contested in the budget process this fall. In Syed's proposed 2019 budget, she cut out the contract to save money by streaming online in-house after a conversation with the town's director of technology, she said. Town Board members pushed back against the proposal. A press release by John Della Ratta called it a "blatant attack on transparency." The final budget passed by the Town Board kept the contract with Open Stage Media. McGraw in her emailed statement said she was committed to transparency through public access television. "On behalf of Niskayuna residents, I am very concerned about the politicization of the ethics committee process and the ongoing attacks on valuable services provided by our town's public access television channels," she said. Syed told the Times Union one of the reasons that she ran for office is because residents told her they were concerned about "self-dealing and subterfuge" in Town Hall. "As an elected official, they put their trust in us to lead ethically," Syed said. "If we can't be trusted to be open and transparent with our votes, can they trust we're doing what's best?" Brendan Lyons contributed to this report. ALBANY A day after a panel voted to give New York lawmakers a significant raise for the first time in two decades, many questions remained, including what reforms state legislators will have to pass in exchange for future hikes and whether the process implementing the raises is legal. In addition, some Capital Region lawmakers' futures is uncertain. If new restrictions on outside income are enacted, lawmakers with substantial outside incomes might be prompted to leave their public positions. By law, the four-member compensation committee, which was created by state lawmakers, must send its written recommendations by Monday to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and the state Legislature. Ahead of the report's release, a number of lawmakers were withholding judgment until the specific language of the document is known. A spokesman for Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie whose conference will have to decide whether to pass the reforms recommended in exchange for future pay raises declined to comment until the written report is available for review. Under the recommendations described at the panel's meeting this week, lawmakers would receive their first salary increase in less than a month, with a $30,500 increase to $110,000 taking effect in January. Their base pay would then go to $120,000 in 2020, and reach $130,000 in 2021. In order to secure raises after 2019, the Legislature might be forced to adopt legislation that restricts their ability to earn income from private employment. The committee endorsed imposing on legislators the same limitations as members of Congress, who are limited to earning 15 percent of their government salary from outside income and are prohibited from certain private professions. Any limitations, as proposed by the committee, wouldn't take effect until Jan. 1, 2020 or midway through the next two-year legislative cycle and before the November 2020 elections. After January 2020, legislators could still earn up to $18,000 in outside income under this proposal. In the Capital Region, senators Neil Breslin and George Amedore, and Assembly members Mary Beth Walsh, John McDonald and Phil Steck, each earned more than than the proposed cap from annual outside income in 2017, according to their financial disclosure forms. Eileen Miller, a spokeswoman for Amedore, a Republican homebuilder with a significant income from that business, said the lawmaker is awaiting the final report before making a decision about his future. Amedore opposes the pay increases, but also the income limits, because they would limit the ability of people with real-world business experience to serve in the Legislature, Miller said. "The fear is that it would diminish the quality of the Legislature," Miller said. Another Capital Region lawmaker who could be impacted is McDonald, a former Cohoes mayor and pharmacist whose family has operated a pharmacy in that city for decades. McDonald said on Friday that he planned to "find a way" to continue operating the pharmacy business while serving in the Legislature. "I'm not going to let four people in a room decide what to do with my family business of 88 years," McDonald said. "We serve people all over the Capital Region. We deliver to people that work in the state Capitol. I'm not just going to close up shop." Also, it's possible there may be no prohibition to lawmakers with outside income shifting the income from their private business interests to family members, including spouses. McDonald worried, however, that other businesspeople would decide not to run for office in the future if the pay restrictions were imposed. He said the restrictions could also create a new class of lawmakers with less diverse types of experience and who may be more reliant on the support of special interest groups. McDonald noted that following corruption scandals involving former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and others, the Legislature had passed a number of reforms relating to the disclosure of outside income. With Democrats set to take charge of the state Senate next month, a number of previously stalled measures also will likely be passed, he said. Still, there was no mention on Thursday by compensation-panel members of any proposal to limit the outside income of executive branch employees. "I find it interesting that the outside income limit applies to the Legislature, but not statewide elected officials," McDonald said. It's more than theoretical: While in office, Cuomo has made more than $780,000 off the publication of his memoir, "All Things Possible," despite the book's poor sales. Albany Assemblywoman Patricia Fahy, a fellow Democrat, said lawmakers including Amedore and McDonald have been valuable assets to the Legislature due to their business experience. "Small- and medium-sized businesses are the backbone of the upstate economy, so having a homebuilder or the pharmacist or a coffee shop owner is very important," said Fahy, who herself has no outside income, and took a substantial pay cut to become a state lawmaker. "You want to have a broad breadth of experiences, and people who have the pulses of their own communities." Fahy was not sure whether the Assembly Democratic conference would respond to the proposal restricting outside income. She hoped that lawmakers could "thread the needle" to make it possible for lawmakers such as McDonald and Amedore to continue to serve, while addressing the kinds of problems that arose around former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, whose lucrative but illegal outside work in the form of kickbacks led to his federal conviction on corruption charges. Some lawmakers reacted favorably to the proposals. Democratic state Sen.-elect Andrew Gounardes, an attorney from Brooklyn, told the Times Union the panel's proposal is a "good marriage" since the significant pay raises come with the requirement that lawmakers essentially serve full-time. Yet the future of the reform remains murky: Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, a member of the four-person compensation committee, said last week that it was "open to question" whether the committee had the ability to impose the restriction on outside income. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter. Committee Chair H. Carl McCall, a former state comptroller, concluded Thursday's meeting by referring vaguely to a number of good government reforms, such as campaign finance reform, that the committee might include in its final report. It's not clear if those issues would be part of the performance measures used to determine whether lawmakers would receive future increases. The committee also expressed support for eliminating most legislative leadership stipends, which start at $9,000 a year. They proposed retaining the perk for a handful of top leaders, including the $41,500 for the Senate majority leader and Assembly speaker. Last week, during the committee's second hearing, Heastie, the lone state legislator to testify publicly before the panel, voiced support for a pay raise, but wouldn't make a commitment to limiting outside income. Incoming Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, a Democrat, revealed on Thursday that she recently voiced her support for a wage increase in private discussions with the committee members. She also indicated the state Senate will likely pass limitations on outside income in the upcoming legislative session. Many of the lawmakers making substantial outside incomes are part of the state Senate Republican conference, who will be in the legislative minority in January for the first time since 2010. A Stewart-Cousins spokesman declined to say why she declined to publicly testify, or how she came to privately be in contact the committee members. It's unclear how many other state lawmakers may have reached out privately to the committee's members. The compensation committee's website does include a catalogue of written comments it has received. Besides Heastie, the committee also received comment from Republican state Sen. Chris Jacobs, who recommended ending stipends for committee and leadership positions. In addition, Democratic Assemblyman James Skoufis and Republican Assemblyman Kevin Byrne jointly called for an end to the practice of lawmakers "double-dipping," or collecting both salaries and state pensions at the same time. The panel also recommended increasing the governor's salary of $179,000 to $200,000 in January. It would increase to $225,000 in 2020 and $250,000 in 2021. The lieutenant governor's salary of $151,500 would be $190,000 in 2019, $210,000 in 2020, and $220,000 in 2021. The recommendations for the governor and lieutenant governor would require action by the state Legislature to implement. The salary for the state comptroller and attorney general would go from $151,500 to $190,000 in 2019, $210,000 in 2020, and $220,000 in 2021. The committee has been dogged since its creation in the state budget by questions about its legitimacy, including whether the state Constitution allows lawmakers to delegate the pay increase issue. For one, Queensbury resident and constitutional activist Robert Schulz, who has filed lawsuits against state government in the past, says the pay raise is illegal. Republican state Sen. Sue Serino, a realtor from Hyde Park, issued a statement on Friday opposing the panel's recommendations because non-politicians across the state were struggling to make ends meet. "What's worse, this process completely circumvented the voices of New Yorkers by bypassing the Legislature and the very people elected to represent them," Serino said. "Further, I believe this proposal put forth by the pay commission creates a situation that will absolutely encourage lawmakers to become career politicians." 3 1 of 3 Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Saratoga County District Attorney Show More Show Less 3 of 3 BALLSTON SPA - A Saratoga Springs man who beat and killed a 29-pound Boston terrier with a hammer was sentenced to two years in Saratoga County jail, the maximum allowed by law, District Attorney Karen Heggen said. A jury found Aaron Brinkley guilty of aggravated cruelty to animals for inflicting the injuries on Riko on Oct. 6, 2017. Brinkley hit his dog several times, Heggen said. When the dog tried to fend Brinkley off by biting his thumb, Brinkley beat him with the hammer, causing serious injury including fractured teeth and internal trauma, Heggen said. Someone must remember when the heroes are gone. For decades Eileen ODea Roach, 74, has tried to do just that. Over the years shes compiled letters, photographs and memorabilia from her brothers service in World War II, including that of Edward Ted ODea, a Pearl Harbor survivor. Roach said her brother made it part of his lifes work to make sure Americans remembered that day. ODea enlisted in the Army in December 1940, a year before the Japanese attacked the Hawaiian naval base. He had been working for the Civilian Conservation Corps in Bolton Landing and had returned home to go to school. His mother refused to sign his enlistment papers but his father, a World War I veteran, was more understanding. Soldiers had some say in their placement then and ODea tried to mollify his mothers concerns by signing up with the field artillery, radio division in Hawaii. He was a member of the 13th Field Artillery of the 24th Infantry Division. "You see, my mother balked at signing me into the Army because of my age, ODea told the Knickerbocker News in 1962. My father, a Canadian soldier in World War I, was all for it He finally persuaded my mother, arguing that if I got to Pearl Harbor, it was such a tiny, insignificant place, no one would ever fight for it. It would be a delightful spot to serve out the enlistment, he assured her. I agreed and brother, were we ever wrong. Now, 77 years later, nearly all of the men who survived that day with ODea are gone. For the first time, no survivors from the U.S.S. Arizona will be able to attend the annual remembrance ceremony in Pearl Harbor, according to a Hawaiian television station. The memorial to those lost that day is built over the wreckage of the sunken battleship. For Roach, collecting the story of her brothers service is a way of understanding them. She was born in 1944, 24 years after her oldest brother, Gerald. When she met her brothers for the first time they were already men; changed by war. As a 15-year-old I saw Ted as a father-figure to me, she said, explaining that their father died in 1961 when she was 15. He was very close with my mother. When the attack came, Ted ODea thought it was an Army mistake. The red-headed 19-year-old was in an upper bunk in the Schofield Barracks at Hickam Air Force Base next to Pearl Harbor. His unit had a day off to recover from several days of war games and thought it was an accidental continuation of the drill when Japanese planes began to strafe the airfield. The attack killed over 180 people and wounded more than 300 others at that location. "It was difficult to get it through your head that live ammunition was being fired at you as you made your way across a drill field to get a gun. There seemed to be no end of planes as they swooped down, blasting away," he recalled in a 1962 Knickerbocker News story. Roachs oldest brother, Gerald, enlisted after the attack. He was 22. Ted ODea spent the next year at Schofield, then helped train recruits in California according to the Knickerbocker News. He shipped out to England where he was part of the D-Day invasion, seeing action in France, Belgium and Germany, according to news articles and letters sent home to family members. God, when I think of being in civilian clothes and going out to the Kenmore with you, Harry and Jayne, I could cry, honest, ODea wrote to his sister Mary when the war in Europe ended on May 8, 1945. It is too fantastic to believe that I may get out and yet look how much time Ive got in. ODea thrived at first after the war. He and his wife, Jayne, had two children and he started a radio and television repair business in his garage that eventually moved to 346 Central Ave. in Albany. While there he helped start the local Pearl Harbor Survivor Association shortly after the national organization was founded in 1954. A 1957 advertisement in the Times Union called for the groups formation in Albany and he helped form another chapter in Schenectady. The group held ceremonies on the anniversary of the attack and tried to keep the memory of what happened alive. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter. But the war eventually caught up to both ODea brothers who served. Gerald died at 27 after being hospitalized in Marcy State Hospital from the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder. Ted battled demons of his own and Geralds death hit him hard, Roach said. He began drinking heavily. One day his wife couldnt find him in the house and went looking for him. She found him crumpled in a ball by the garage, sobbing. He and Jayne eventually divorced, and she moved to Florida with their children. He moved to a trailer near Schroon Lake, living a hermit-like existence with at least two Labrador retrievers, according to a 1983 profile in the Warrensburg Lake George News. At the time, five years before his death, ODea was the state president of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association and became disgruntled with how the country remembered Pearl Harbor, believing that people were starting to forget the horror of that day, according to the story. But he still came once a week to visit his mother in Albany, often hitchhiking his way, Roach said. His long red hair and wild beard drew attention and at the time, caused her occasional embarrassment. It was also enough to catch the attention of a Knickerbocker News writer who profiled him twice in the 1970s. I was at the store and bent down and there I saw my brothers face on Knickerbocker News, she recalled. ODea died in 1988. He fell outside of his trailer and died of hypothermia on Dec. 14, a week after the anniversary of the attack. Roach grew out of any embarrassment of her brother's hermit-like lifestyle and tried to understand what the war did to him and what his service meant to him. I think it consumed him, she said. Im proud of my father, Ted and Gerald. For me, it was finding my own sense of self, finding my way. I was just driven to find out who my father and brothers were. ODea never returned to Hawaii but several years ago Roach and her husband went. It was profound, she said. I could feel Ted on my shoulder. NEW YORK If the Albany-based lawyers for Syracuse developer Steven Aiello thought their unorthodox bid for leniency would spare their client prison time, they picked the wrong judge as an audience. U.S. District Court Judge Valerie Caproni on Friday sentenced Aiello, the 60-year-old president of COR Development, to three years in federal prison for his convictions in two high-profile corruption trials. She also fined him $500,000. Aiello became the third defendant sentenced this week in the "Buffalo Billion" bid-rigging scandal and received, so far, the stiffest sentence from Caproni. COR's general counsel Joseph Gerardi was sentenced Thursday to 2 1/2 years. Buffalo developer Louis Ciminelli was sentenced Monday to 28 months. Like Aiello, both were fined $500,000. On Tuesday, SUNY Polytechnic Institute founder Alain Kaloyeros will be sentenced. He was convicted in July alongside the three development executives. Aiello's attorneys Steve Coffey, Pamela Nichols and Scott Iseman last month sent the judge a letter asking for a sentence of no more than six months behind bars. They highlighted more than 200 letters from the likes of Syracuse University men's basketball coach Jim Boeheim and Onondaga County Sheriff Eugene Conway attesting to Aiello's qualities. "Dear Judge Caproni: You do not know Steven F. Aiello," the letter began. The lawyers wrote that they wished the judge could have a cup of coffee with Aiello in Syracuse and tour the city's North Side, where neighbors and friends would cross the street "to thank Steve for some advice or some silent act by Steve or his company, COR Development." The judge might have hinted that she was unmoved by the letter when she subsequently denied a request from the defense to move the proceeding into a larger venue to accommodate what the defense said would be a large contingent of Aiello's supporters. Contacted after the sentencing, Coffey said he would appeal the conviction. "We expect to win," the lawyer said, declining to get into specifics. "He's not guilty." Aiello was first convicted at trial in March of conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud for funneling $35,000 to Joseph Percoco, a former top aide to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, in exchange for state action. Aiello sought a "labor peace agreement" for a parking lot COR wanted to build near a hotel project near Syracuse's, wanted the state to expedite the release of money it owed him, and wanted a raise for his son, Steven, who worked for the governor. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter. Percoco was sentenced in September to a six-year sentence. In July, a second jury convicted Aiello and Ciminelli, the Buffalo developer, of wire fraud and wire fraud conspiracy for his part in a bid-rigging scheme. Prosecutors said Aiello, Gerardi, Ciminell and Kaloyeros conspired to rig the bids on $855 million in state contracts for SUNY Poly-related projects to benefit COR and LPCiminelli. Both companies and their executives were generous donors to Cuomo's campaigns. TROY The City Council on Thursday night tabled a resolution to declare the Hudson River community a Sanctuary City in order to fine tune the language of the measure, city officials said just before the start of the meeting. About 40 city residents spoke on the resolution which was approved Tuesday by a 2-1 vote by the councils Public Safety Committee. The Sanctuary City resolution was introduced by Councilman David Bissember, a Democrat, and was supported by the Democratic majority. The resolution went to the full City Council despite opposition by the Republican council members and the Troy Police Benevolent Association, which represents the police forces officers, detectives and sergeants. The Democrats had planned to amend the language of the resolution, but it was later thought that more time was required for this. Mayor Patrick Madden and council members met before the meeting and agreed to table the measure for additional study. Its anticipated that there will be a review to see how other police departments dealt with the issue. The Sanctuary City resolution moved quickly forward in just a few weeks. The police departments leadership had expressed concerns privately about it. On Thursday Officer Nick Laviano, the PBA president, spoke fervently against the resolution. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter. Most of the speakers supported Troy becoming a Sanctuary City. Many of them also spoke Tuesday night at the committee hearing. The resolution directs that police and other employees will not ask about the "immigration status of individuals being provided local government services, except where the receipt of such services or benefits are contingent upon one's immigration or citizenship." The Sanctuary City movement in Troy gained momentum with the May 29 arrest of Dalila Yeend, 35, by city police after she rolled through a stop sign. The officers arrested her for not having a valid drivers license. A judge released Yeend, who was born in Australia and immigrated to the United States from New Zealand when she was 17, on her own recognizance. Police, however, detained her because of an outstanding arrest warrant until ICE agents took her into custody. The mother of two American-born children said Thursday that legal action against her has been dropped by ICE and she has applied for a green card. This year marks the 77th anniversary of the Dec. 7, 1941, surprise attack by Japanese warplanes on Pearl Harbor. The bombardment of the U.S. Pacific fleet and other military sites nearby killed 2,403 Americans, wounded more than 1,000 and damaged or destroyed 18 ships and 347 planes. About 84,000 American military personnel survived the attack. Tipperary is leading the way in Irelands fledgling energy transition. And to highlight its achievements, it showcased its work during a visit to the county by members of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action. A groundswell of community-led action, supported by Tipperary County Council, Tipperary Energy Agency and local skills, training and education has created a small but significant low-carbon ecosystem. The group visited a home in Nenagh which is one of 150 homes across the nation which has benefited from the SuperHomes Ireland scheme. SuperHomes, a unique funding scheme that supports householders in bringing their homes to minimum A3 standard with renewable sources of energy has been spearheaded by the award-winning social enterprise Tipperary Energy Agency. It simplifies the deep retrofit process by bringing energy auditing, design procurement and grants to a one stop shop, giving a typical 60-80% reduction in household energy costs. The group then visited Youghalarra National School, one of 60 non-residential buildings which has been upgraded to date in Tipperary. The works were co-funded by the school and the Government through the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI), supported by Tipperary Energy Agency and carried out by local expert contractors. The school buildings fabric and ventilation were upgraded and renewable heat and electricity installed. During the trip, the group also visited Nenagh Leisure Centre and Cloughjordan Ecovillage. Cloughjordan Ecovillage is a unique project modelling the transition to a low-carbon society and economy, which was established over a decade ago on a 67-acre farm. It is now home to 100 residents, a hostel, bakery, enterprise centre, woodland, allotments and Irelands first community-supported agriculture (CSA) farm. Research shows that the ecological footprint of a Cloughjordan ecovillage resident is less than half the average Irish citizen. Committeee member Sean Sherlock TD described Tipperary Energy Agency as the thought leaders in the whole renewable energy space and that if the experience of the agency can be translated across the country, Ireland will go a long way towards decarbonising the economy and society in general. [December 06, 2018] Consumers in Indonesia want brands to stand up for local causes 95% believe brands should get involved in the issues that matter to them Health and well-being and poverty the most important social issues 53% are more likely to buy a brand more aligned with their views SINGAPORE, Dec. 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Consumers in Asia favour brands that engage in social issues -- provided these are the causes that matter to them personally. According to Purpose in Asia, a new report from Kantar, 90% of consumers in the region and 95% in Indonesia want brands to get involved in the issues they care about, meaning that an authentic brand purpose is now an expectation as opposed to a bonus. Aligning with the issues that matter to consumers also makes business sense. 53% of people questioned in Indonesia said they were more likely to buy brands aligned with their views, and a similar number (57%) said they would be happy to pay 'a little more' for brands with sustainability credentials. The study also revealed a disconnect between the causes that dominate global media and international brand campaigns, and the issues that matter to consumers in Asia. While climate change and gender equality were the two high-profile issues most likely to be seen by people in Asia, causes closer to home mattered most to them personally, such as health and well-being or ending poverty. The results of the study highlight the role of social media in circulating information about causes. TV was still the channel where most people heard abou social issues, however, the rise of social media in many countries in Asia is facilitating a more active form of participation. 62% of people in Indonesia said that they had liked posts on social media around an issue they cared about, and 53% have shared a post or article. And social media was impacting behaviours as a result. 73% of people in Indonesia said they were more conscious of an issue in day-to-day life after seeing a post about it on social media, whilst 38% said they have changed their behaviour as a result. In terms of how brands should engage with issues, authenticity was key. Consumers were quick to challenge brands that outwardly supported a cause, but at the same time had problems with their own business practices, or brands that misjudged the tone needed to engage in emotionally-charged issues. Developed markets were more sceptical of brands' involvement. Only 33% of Australians felt that brands were able to authentically engage with issues, in comparison to India where 74% perceived it as trustworthy brand activity. Consumers believe that brands have a key role to play in advancing the issues that matter to people. Educating consumers about an issue was the top activity cited, followed by initiating and funding programmes to support the issue, and then funding organisations directly. Joy Lee, Regional Digital Consultant for Kantar's Insights Division said: "Brands have understood the power of purpose for a number of years now. However, the challenge lies in identifying what resonates across the diverse landscape of Asia, and then engaging in an authentic way. Brands now have permission to get involved and make a difference. The good news is that this isn't necessarily about making a lot of noise on the global stage. It can also be about supporting local initiatives and driving small but meaningful change where it matters most to people." Notes to editors: About the study: The quantitative research component undertaken for Purpose in Asia surveyed over 3,000 people over 18 with access to the internet. This was carried out by Lightspeed in August and September 2018 across nine markets: Australia, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Taiwan. To ensure alignment, the research used the consistent framework of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs). Social media analysis using Netbase was then undertaken. Data covered a year's worth of comments. Mainland China was excluded as its social media landscape is considerably different; this allowed for better comparability within a more homogenous context. About Kantar: Kantar is one of the world's leading data, insight and consultancy companies. Working together across the whole spectrum of research and consulting disciplines, its specialist brands, employing 30,000 people, provide inspirational insights and business strategies for clients in 100 countries. Kantar is part of WPP and its services are employed by over half of the Fortune Top 500 companies. SOURCE Kantar [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [December 06, 2018] Consumers in Thailand want brands to stand up for local causes 93% believe brands should get involved in the issues that matter to them Health and well-being and poverty the most important social issues 63% are more likely to buy a brand more aligned with their views SINGAPORE, Dec. 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Consumers in Asia favour brands that engage in social issues -- provided these are the causes that matter to them personally. According to Purpose in Asia, a new report from Kantar, 90% of consumers in the region and 93% in Thailand want brands to get involved in the issues they care about, meaning that an authentic brand purpose is now an expectation as opposed to a bonus. Aligning with the issues that matter to consumers also makes business sense. 63% of people questioned in Thailand said they were more likely to buy brands aligned with their views, and a similar number (53%) said they would be happy to pay 'a little more' for brands with sustainability credentials. The study also revealed a disconnect between the causes that dominate global media and international brand campaigns, and the issues that matter to consumers in Asia. While climate change and gender equality were the two high-profile issues most likely to be seen by people in Asia, causes closer to home mattered most to them personally, such as health and well-being or ending poverty. The results of the study highlight the role of social media in circulating information about causes. TV was still the channel where most people heard about social isues, however, the rise of social media in many countries in Asia is facilitating a more active form of participation. 66% of people in Thailand said that they had liked posts on social media around an issue they cared about, and 51% have shared a post or article. And social media was impacting behaviours as a result. 71% of people in Thailand said they were more conscious of an issue in day-to-day life after seeing a post about it on social media, whilst 41% said they have changed their behaviour as a result. In terms of how brands should engage with issues, authenticity was key. Consumers were quick to challenge brands that outwardly supported a cause, but at the same time had problems with their own business practices, or brands that misjudged the tone needed to engage in emotionally-charged issues. Developed markets were more sceptical of brands' involvement. Only 33% of Australians felt that brands were able to authentically engage with issues, in comparison to India where 74% perceived it as trustworthy brand activity. Consumers believe that brands have a key role to play in advancing the issues that matter to people. Educating consumers about an issue was the top activity cited, followed by initiating and funding programmes to support the issue, and then funding organisations directly. Joy Lee, Regional Digital Consultant for Kantar's Insights Division said: "Brands have understood the power of purpose for a number of years now. However, the challenge lies in identifying what resonates across the diverse landscape of Asia, and then engaging in an authentic way. Brands now have permission to get involved and make a difference. The good news is that this isn't necessarily about making a lot of noise on the global stage. It can also be about supporting local initiatives and driving small but meaningful change where it matters most to people." Notes to editors: About the study: The quantitative research component undertaken for Purpose in Asia surveyed over 3,000 people over 18 with access to the internet. This was carried out by Lightspeed in August and September 2018 across nine markets: Australia, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Taiwan. To ensure alignment, the research used the consistent framework of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs). Social media analysis using Netbase was then undertaken. Data covered a year's worth of comments. Mainland China was excluded as its social media landscape is considerably different; this allowed for better comparability within a more homogenous context. About Kantar: Kantar is one of the world's leading data, insight and consultancy companies. Working together across the whole spectrum of research and consulting disciplines, its specialist brands, employing 30,000 people, provide inspirational insights and business strategies for clients in 100 countries. Kantar is part of WPP and its services are employed by over half of the Fortune Top 500 companies. SOURCE Kantar [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [December 07, 2018] Contributing to the development of science and innovation in Canada Government of Canada challenges Canadian small businesses to innovate OTTAWA, Dec. 7, 2018 /CNW/ - The Government of Canada works to support innovators, including small and medium-sized businesses, across the country. Through an investment of over $100 million annually over the course of five years, federal departments and agencies are challenging Canadian small businesses to innovate and grow with the Innovative Solutions Canada (ISC) challenge program by inviting them to come up with new and innovative products, services or solutions in response to specific challenges they face. In December 2017, the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) launched the 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing Challenge to address its specific R&D needs and allow it to contribute further into the field of 3D printing and additive manufacturing research, and support development in this area for the Canadian industry. Now, the NRC is pleased to announce it is investing $435,041 for three contracts to support this challenge. These are the first contracts awarded under the ISC program: B3D Performance Inc. of Montreal ($150,000) ; ; Envisioning Labs Inc. of Vancouver ($150,000) ; and ; and Les Industries Sautech Inc. of Boisbriand ($135,041) . Over the next 6 months, these companies will develop a proof of concept for their solution. If successful, they could be accepted into the next phase of the program and receive up to $1 million to develop a working prototype. The NRC is a key contributor to the ISC program, a coe element of the Innovation and Skills Plan announced in Budget 2017 and the government's commitment to create better jobs and grow the middle class. Quick Facts Funding for the Innovative Solutions Canada program will come from the 20 participating departments and agencies. Each department will set aside funding for this initiative that amounts to one per cent of its 2015-16 combined procurement and internal research and development expenditures. Together, this funding represents more than a $100 million annual investment over the course of five years. annual investment over the course of five years. Innovative Solutions Canada is encouraging submissions from businesses owned and led by women, Indigenous peoples, youth, and members of visible minorities by ensuring those groups are included in the program's outreach plans and activities. In partnership with the Innovative Solutions Canada Secretariat, the National Research Council Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP) evaluates every proposal to help inform departments in their decision-making process at the start and conclusion of the proof-of-concept and prototype development phases. The National Research Council of Canada is the Government of Canada's largest research organization. It is a key component of the Innovation and Skills Plan and of Budget 2018's commitment to supporting Canada's researchers to build a more innovative economy . Quotes "Today's announcement supports the broader efforts of our government to support the scale-up and growth of Canada's entrepreneurs and create middle-class jobs. We are proud to issue challenges to benefit the program, as well as provide the services of NRC IRAP to the evaluation team." Iain Stewart, President, National Research Council of Canada "Through Innovation Solutions Canada, our government is leveraging its enormous purchasing power to ensure Canadian small businesses can grow and innovate. We're turning to Canadians for their best ideas to solve government challenges. Whether it's about finding ways to remove plastic litter from our bodies of water or improving wireless connectivity in connected vehicles, we're investing in Canadian-made solutions." The Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development "Small businesses are the backbone of our economy and employ over 8 million hard-working Canadians. That's why our government is committed to helping small businesses start up, scale up and access new markets. Innovative Solutions Canada is a fantastic program that uses government procurement to help small businesses innovate and then commercialize their innovations. Congratulations to these businesses. I can't wait to see the innovative solutions they come up with." The Honourable Mary Ng, Minister of Small Business and Export Promotion Associated Links Innovative Solutions Canada (Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada) Innovative Solutions Canada Challenges (Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada) Industrial Research Assistance Program ( National Research Council of Canada ) Twitter: @nrc_cnrc Instagram: @nrc_cnrc SOURCE National Research Council Canada [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [December 06, 2018] INVESTIGATION ALERT: The Schall Law Firm Announces It Is Investigating Claims Against Renault SA and Encourages Investors with Losses in Excess of $100,000 to Contact the Firm The Schall Law Firm, a national shareholder rights litigation firm, announces that it is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Renault SA ("Renault" or "the Company") (OTC: RNLSY) for violations of 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The investigation focuses on whether the Company issued false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose information pertinent to investors. The Wall Street Journal reported on November 19, 2018, that Renault's Chief Executive Officer and Nisan's Chairman, Carlos Ghosn, had been arrested in Japan on financial misconduct charges. According to the article, Nissan planned to oust Ghosn after uncovering serious financial misconduct that personally benefited him. Renault holds a 43% stake in Nissan. Based on this report, Renault fell about 7% on the same day. If you are a shareholder who suffered a loss, click here to participate. We also encourage you to contact Brian Schall, or Sherin Mahdavian, of the Schall Law Firm, 1880 Century Park East, Suite 404, Los Angeles, CA (News - Alert) 90067, at 424-303-1964, to discuss your rights free of charge. You can also reach us through the firm's website at www.schallfirm.com, or by email at [email protected]. The class in this case has not yet been certified, and until certification occurs, you are not represented by an attorney. If you choose to take no action, you can remain an absent class member. The Schall Law Firm represents investors around the world and specializes in securities class action lawsuits and shareholder rights litigation. This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and rules of ethics. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181206006035/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [December 06, 2018] Body and Mind Inc. Announces Results from Nevada Licensing Vancouver, Dec. 06, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NEWS RELEASE For Immediate Distribution Body and Mind Inc. Announces Results from Nevada Licensing VANCOUVER, B.C., CANADA (December 6, 2018) Body and Mind Inc. (CSE: BAMM, US OTC PINK: BMMJ) (the Company or BaM) announces the Company was recently informed by the State of Nevada that it will not be awarding a dispensary license relating to the Companys four submitted applications. "Our team is dedicated to increasing shareholder value by focusing its time and resources on improving operational efficiencies, facility expansions, state licensing opportunities as well as mergers and acquisitions, commented Robert Hasman, director of BaM. While we are disappointed with the recent Nevada dispensary applications, the Body and Mind team remains excited about progressing our dispensary and production licenses in Ohio. We continue to review accretive opportunities and look forward to rapidly expanding the Body and Mind brand into California through the recent investment with Green Light District Holdings Inc. (GLDH Investment). Please see the news release dated November 29, 2018 regarding the Companys GLDH investment, which includes details of GLDHs California assets. 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. For further information, please contact: Michael Mills 778-389-0007 [email protected] About Body and Mind BaM is a publicly traded company investing in high quality medical and recreational canabis cultivation and production and retail. Our wholly-owned Nevada subsidiary was awarded one of the first medical marijuana cultivation licences and holds cultivation and production licenses. BaM products include dried flower, edibles, topicals, extracts as well as GPEN Gio cartridges. BaM marijuana strains have won numerous awards including the Las Vegas Hempfest Cup 2016, High Times Top Ten, the NorCal Secret Cup and the Emerald Cup. BaM continues to expand operations in Nevada and Ohio and is constantly reviewing accretive expansion opportunities. Safe Harbor Statement Except for the statements of historical fact contained herein, the information presented in this news release constitutes forward-looking statements as such term is used in applicable United States and Canadian laws. These statements relate to analyses and other information that are based on forecasts of future results, estimates of amounts not yet determinable and assumptions of management. Any other statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as expects or does not expect, is expected, anticipates or does not anticipate, plans, estimates or intends, or stating that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, might or will be taken, occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and should be viewed as forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks and other factors include, among others, the actual results of activities, variations in the underlying assumptions associated with the estimation of activities, the availability of capital to fund programs and the resulting dilution caused by the raising of capital through the sale of shares, accidents, labor disputes and other risks. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. 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 contained in this news release and in any document referred to in this news release. Certain matters discussed in this news release and oral statements made from time to time by representatives of the Company may constitute forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that its expectations will be achieved. Forward-looking information is subject to certain risks, trends and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Many of these factors are beyond the Companys ability to control or predict. Important factors that may cause actual results to differ materially and that could impact the Company and the statements contained in this news release can be found in the Companys filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company assumes no obligation to update or supplement any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities. Michael Mills 778-389-0007 [email protected] [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [December 06, 2018] INVESTOR ALERT: Law Offices of Howard G. Smith Announces Investigation on Behalf of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. Investors (PBR) Law Offices of Howard G. Smith announces an investigation on behalf of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. ("Petrobras" or the "Company") (NYSE: PBR) investors concerning the Company and its officers' possible violations of federal securities laws. The investigation concerns whether the Company issued materially misleading business information to the investing public. On December 5, 2018, Reuters (News - Alert) reported that Glencore and other trading firms paid over $30 million in bribes to employees of state-owned oil company Petrobras in a graft scheme. As part of the scheme, Petrobras employees offered th trading companies lower prices for oil, derivatives, and storage tanks, then shared in the savings. Specifically, top executives of the companies had "total and unequivocal" knowledge of the scheme. On this news, shares of Petrobras have fallen sharply during intraday trading on December 6, 2018, thereby injuring investors. If you purchased Petrobras securities, have information or would like to learn more about these claims, or have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Howard G. Smith, Esquire, of Law Offices of Howard G. Smith, 3070 Bristol Pike, Suite 112, Bensalem, Pennsylvania 19020 by telephone at (215) 638-4847, toll-free at (888) 638-4847, or by email to [email protected], or visit our website at www.howardsmithlaw.com. This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181206006044/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [December 06, 2018] AHF Thanks Senators Grassley and Wyden for Bill to Prevent Drug Companies from Gouging Medicaid AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) today applauded the introduction of legislation that would prevent drug companies from price-gouging Medicaid, the national health care program for the poor. Incoming chairman of the powerful U.S. Senate Finance Committee Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) and its ranking minority member U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) jointly sponsored the "Right Rebate Act of 2018" which would give authority to the U.S. Health and Human Services Department (HHS) to fine drug companies that willfully misclassify products in Medicaid and would allow HHS to recover rebate paments. The bill is in part a reaction to the drug company Mylan misclassifying its EpiPen as a generic drug for purposes of Medicaid payments even though the HHS Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) warned them to stop (background on bill). The HHS inspector general has uncovered that 885 drugs were similarly misclassified, costing the government billions of dollars in unpaid rebates. The new legislation will give HHS the authority to compel drug companies to correct these deliberate misclassifications. "We're very encouraged that Senators Grassley and Wyden, in a welcome spirit of bipartisanship, are tackling the rapacious record of the drug industry. With nearly forty percent of people living with HIV in the US depending on Medicaid to keep them in care, this bill will help stop rich drug companies from ripping off the poor," said AHF's President Michael Weinstein. About AIDS Healthcare Foundation AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest global AIDS organization, currently provides medical care and/or services to more than one million 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/20181206006047/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP Announces Investigation on Behalf of Belden Inc. Investors (BDC) Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP ("GPM") announces an investigation on behalf of Belden Inc. ("Belden" or the "Company") (NYSE: BDC) investors concerning the Company and its officers' possible violations of federal securities laws. If you are a shareholder who suffered a loss, click here to participate. On December 3, 2018, the Company revealed that the Securities Exchange Commission ("SEC (News - Alert)") is conducting an investigation concerning the material weakness reported in its form 10-k filing for the year ended December 31, 2017. On this news, shares of Belden fell $5.43 or nearly 10% to close at $50.45 on December 4, 2018, thereby injuring investors. Follow us for updates on Twitter (News - Alert): twitter.com/GPM_LLP. If you purchased Belden securities, have information or would like to learn more about these claims, or have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Lesley Portnoy, Esquire, of GPM, 1925 Century Park East, Suite 2100, Los Angeles California 90067 at 310-201-9150, Toll-Free at 888-773-9224, by email to [email protected], or visit our website at www.glancylaw.com. If you inquire by email please include your mailing address, telephone number and number of shares purchased. This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181206006005/en/ [December 06, 2018] Edeniq Defeats Aemetis' Lawsuit Edeniq, Inc. announced today that all of Aemetis' remaining claims against the Company were dismissed on summary judgement. In the order granting Edeniq's motion, Judge Peter H. Kirwan of the Santa Clara Superior Court ruled that Aemetis could not sustain a claim for breach of contract "because Aemetis did not deliver to Edeniq a commitment for financing the requisite payments." Further, with regard to the fraud claim, the court held that Aemetis had not "identified nor submitted any evidence that any material fact was misrepresented or concealed" by the Company or its CEO Brian Thome. The court previously dismissed two of Aemetis' other claims, and Aemetis voluntarily dismissed a third claim on October 30, 2018. "We are pleased with the court's decision, which conclusively rejects Aemetis' attempt to force through litigation a merger that it was repeatedly unable to finance in 2016," said Lily Wachter, Edeniq's Chief Financial Officer. "Aemetis could not finance the merger, but instead of acknowledging that fact, they filed a baseles lawsuit in an attempt to buy time and to force us to accept any deal they wanted. The court's order affirms our belief that Edeniq dealt with Aemetis with candor and professionalism throughout the parties' efforts to merge and vindicates us after this long process," said Brian Thome, Edeniq's President and Chief Executive Officer. Edeniq's cross-claims against Aemetis for fraud, negligent misrepresentation, intentional interference, and trademark infringement are set to be heard at a trial later this month. Edeniq's cross-complaint alleges that Aemetis fraudulently induced Edeniq to enter into a merger agreement it could not finance and seeks monetary relief to remedy harm it alleges was caused by Aemetis' interference with Edeniq's business. Edeniq's case also involves a claim against Aemetis' lender, Third Eye Capital, for making false statements that induced Edeniq to enter into the merger agreement with Aemetis. About Edeniq, Inc. Edeniq, Inc. is a leading biotechnology company that develops processes for producing and measuring cellulosic ethanol from corn kernel fiber through its Intellulose technology. Edeniq's Intellulose requires zero capital investment and is easily integrated into existing ethanol production facilities. Edeniq was established in 2008 and is headquartered in Visalia, Calif. with a field office in Omaha, Neb. More information can be found at www.edeniq.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181206006056/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [December 06, 2018] Sonata Software Announces Signing Definitive Agreement to Acquire Australia Headquartered Microsoft Dynamics 365 Partner, Scalable Data Systems, in Line With the Strategy to be a Global Leader in the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business BANGALORE, India, December 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Sonata Software, today announced that it has signed definitive agreement to acquire Scalable Data Systems, headquartered in Brisbane, Australia. Scalable Data Systems is a highly respected provider of business solutions in the Australian market, with a history of more than 25 years and has built a solid reputation in providing Microsoft Dynamics 365 F&O solutions for industry leading clients in Australia especially in the Manufacturing and Wholesale & Distribution. Scalable's IP for Commodity Trading "CTRM" has now earned market leading reputation globally with due recognition accorded to the company as a Microsoft Gold and an ISV Partner. (Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/654282/Sonata_Software_Logo.jpg ) Sonata software has been focused on being a Digital Transformation Partner of choice for customers in Retail, Distribution, Manufacturing, and Travel industries with their unique Platformation[TM] methodology, end-to-end digital platforms and alignment to be a strategic partner for Microsoft in their digital transformation initiatives, based on the Dynamics 365 Cloud based solution. Sonata as in the past acquired IBIS, a US headquartered Dynamics 365 partner, and has its own IP, i.e. Brick and Click for Retail and Modern Distribution, for Distribution and Manufacturing industries; and now with the Commodity IP from Scalable has extended supply chain capabilities focused on Manufacturing and Distribution industries. Commenting on the acquisition, Srikar Reddy, Managing Director & CEO, Sonata Software, said, "Scalable Data Systems brings great value in terms of Microsoft Dynamics 365 capabilities and resources to Sonata. This will provide Sonata with additional IP, and geographical reach, along with a strong fillip to its strategy to be a global leader in the Microsoft Dynamics 365 partner ecosystem with core IPs across wide range of industries and a global footprint, specifically also making us a strong Dynamics partner in the Australian market." Brett Crew, CEO of Scalable Data Systems, commented, "Sonata is an acknowledged leader in the Microsoft Dynamics space and has a great track record of acquiring and nurturing firms for fuelling further growth. With this transaction, Scalable will get an additional capability in the Microsoft tech stack and be able to now address larger and broader opportunities in the market." About Sonata Software Sonata is a global technology company that enables successful platform based digital transformation initiatives for enterprises, to create businesses that are connected, open, Intelligent and scalable. Sonata's Platformation methodology brings together industry expertise, platform technology excellence, design thinking led innovation and strategic engagement models to deliver sustained long term value to customers. A trusted partner of world leaders in the Retail, Distribution, Travel and Software industries, Sonata's solution portfolio includes its own digital platform such as Brick & Click Retail Platform, Modern Distribution Platform, Rezopia Digital Travel Platform, RAPID DevOps Platform and Halosys Mobility Platform, best in class capabilities on ISV digital technology platforms such as Microsoft Dynamics 365, Microsoft Azure, SAP Hybris, Cloud Engineering and Managed Services, as well as new digital applications like IoT, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Robotic Process Automation, Chatbots, Block Chain and Cyber Security. Sonata's people and systems are nurtured to bring together the depth of thought leadership, customer commitment and execution excellence to make a difference to business with technology. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [December 06, 2018] ConnecTechAsia Inks Knowledge Partnership with Ovum SINGAPORE, Dec. 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Asia biggest Telecom, Media and Technology (TMT) event ConnecTechAsia has partnered with leading market data, research and consulting business Ovum to power up its content and knowledge centre. Under the partnership, Ovum will play a key role in boosting event thought leadership by providing strategic consult for the ConnecTechAsia Summit, and by bringing relevant and up-to-date industry insights to all event stakeholders. For the last edition, held in June this year, organiser UBM brought together three flagship TMT events -- CommunicAsia, BroadcastAsia and NXTAsia, under one roof to create ConnecTechAsia. The last edition saw 1,800 exhibitors from 52 countries and 40,000 attendees from 96 countries. In 2019, with the new partnership with Ovum, ConnecTechAsia is looking to build on this foundation to further develop the event into an enriching and holistic business platform for all its attendees, not just during three event days, but 365 days of the year. Comenting on the partnership, Andrew Milroy, Head of Advisory Services, APAC, Ovum says, "ConnecTechAsia is one of Asia's top technology events, and gives Ovum a powerful way of improving how we engage with buyers and sellers in this space. Leveraging this event will enable Ovum to improve the experience of its customers by sharing its content through an industry leading platform. Ovum's partnership with ConnecTechAsia will create Asia's premier stage from which the best technology content can be shared across multiple channels, offering unprecedented market reach." "Knowledge has always been the most powerful asset to have, and in today's world, cluttered with unfiltered information, enterprises need additional clarity to optimise business decisions. With that in mind, we are pleased to welcome Ovum as a knowledge partner for ConnecTechAsia. This new partnership is testimony to our ever evolving commitment to support the TMT industry and facilitate its path towards successful growth in the region," says Ivan Ferrari, Event Director for ConnecTechAsia. For more information on ConnecTechAsia, please visit www.ConnecTechAsia.com. Join our social conversation: FB | Twitter | LinkedIn - #ConnecTechAsia FB | Twitter | LinkedIn - #CommunicAsia FB | Twitter | LinkedIn - #NXTAsia FB | Twitter | LinkedIn - #BroadcastAsia About UBM ConnecTecAsia is organised by UBM, which in June 2018 combined with Informa PLC to become a leading B2B information services group and the largest B2B Events organiser in the world. Please visit www.ubm.com/singapore for more information about our presence in Singapore. Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20181206/2319406-1 SOURCE UBM [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [December 06, 2018] Greenliant Highlights Industrial SSDs at IC China 2018 SANTA CLARA, Calif. and SHANGHAI, China, Dec. 06, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Greenliant will exhibit its broad portfolio of high-reliability solid state storage products at the China International Semiconductor Expo & Summit (IC China) in Shanghai, December 11-13, in hall W3, booth 022. Visitors will be able to discuss their data storage requirements with Greenliants technical experts and see the companys new industrial solid state drive (SSD) products, including SATA M.2 ArmourDrive, and NVMe solutions for datacenters. Designed for embedded applications operating in extreme environments, SATA M.2 ArmourDrive is a high-performance, industrial temperature (-40C to +85C) removable SSD. See SATA M.2 ArmourDrive product information at http://bit.ly/SATA-M2-SSD. For compact, space-constrained systems, Greenliant offers its portfolio of ball grid array (BGA) package NANDrive SSDs. Customers can choose from a wide range of capacities and industry-standard interfaces (eMMC, PATA, SATA). Greenliant will unveil a new line of ultra-high endurance NANDrive products to address the most demanding industrial applications. See NANDrive information at http://NANDrive.com. Greenliant will also display its large capacity NVMe enterprise storage solutions. Available in a standard 2.5 and PCIe add-in card form factor, these high-reliability, high-performance products operate between -40C and +85C, with endurance up to 30 drive writes per day (DWPD) for 5 years. Greenliants enterprise storage products are ideal for defense, aviation, automotive, industrial control, cloud computing and big data applications. According to IHS Markit, Chinas market will continue to contribute a large share of the world total industrial machinery output in the long term, https://technology.ihs.com/604985/global-industrial-automation-equipment-market-will-have-a-revenue-of-usd-2098-billion-in-2018. Visit Greenliant at booth 022, hall W3 at IC China ( http://www.ic-china.com.cn/ ) to learn how Greenliants products meet lifespan, endurance and reliability requirements for data storage in automotive, defense and aerospace, industrial, networking and communications, security and video applications. About Greenliant By leveraging more than 25 years of solid state storage design expertise, Greenliant is dedicated to developing durable, reliable and secure storage solutions for embedded systems and enterprise datacenters. The company is headquartered in Silicon Valley with product development centers in Santa Clara, Beijing, Shanghai, Xiamen and Hsinchu. https://www.greenliant.com Greenliant, the Greenliant logo, ArmourDrive and NANDrive are either registered or trademarks of Greenliant. All other trademarks are recognized as being held by their respective owners. Media Contact: Tara Yingst Greenliant Systems 408-200-8062 [email protected] [December 07, 2018] New Energy Technology Could Save British Hospitality and Leisure Sector 310M-a-year, Report by Centrica Finds LONDON, December 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- UK businesses in the hospitality and leisure sector could save at least 310m-a-year on their energy bills by adopting new energy technologies like solar panels and batteries, according to a report published by Centrica. The report Distributed Energy: Powering the future of hospitality and leisure, found that if just 50% of businesses in the sector adopted new energy technology it would boost UK economic growth by 3.7bn GVA (Gross Value Added) and support 50,000 jobs. The hospitality and leisure sector is the UK's third largest employer and spends more than 1.3bn a year on energy. Businesses have been challenged to improve their energy productivity by 20% by 2030, as set out by the Government's Clean Growth Strategy. Alan Barlow, UK and Ireland Director at Centrica Business Solutions, said: "New energy technology has the potential to drive growth, increase efficiency and help give businesses in the hospitality and leisure sector a competitive advantage. "Investing in this area doesn't just make sense financially. Businesses are increasingly harnessing the sustainability benefits of low-carbon energy technology to attract and retain growing numbers of environmentally-savvy consumers." The research suggests that savings could be achieved by adopting distributed energy technology such as efficient heating and lighting, solar, Combined Heat and Power (CHP) and battery storage. New energy monitoring technology can also help to identify inefficient equipment and processes. To read the report in full, click here. Carbon emissions savings for the hospitality and leisure sector The report follows the publication of Centrica's 'Powering sustainability' report in October, which found that the hospitality and leisure sector could reduce its annual carbon emissions by 14% through the adoption of new energy technology. Centrica calculated that, if just half of hospitality and leisure businesses in the UK adopted distribute energy technology, the sector could reduce emissions by the equivalent of 1.3 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year (1.3 MtCO2e), or the equivalent of 23 million tonnes by 2030. This is equal to the annual carbon emissions associated with the energy use of 421,000 homes, or equivalent to the entire housing stock of Norfolk. Case study: Alton Towers Resort An example of a hospitality business realising the benefits of new energy technology is the 550-acre Alton Towers Resort. It is home to four hotels, a conference centre, more than a dozen restaurants and Europe's largest waterpark. The hotels alone can accommodate 2,500 guests and 400 staff. The facilities team must ensure power is supplied to all of these different buildings as well as provide heat for the 1,000m of water in the waterpark. Centrica Business Solutions installed a combined heat and power unit (CHP) at the resort capable of generating up to 850kWh of electricity. CHP is a form of on-site energy generation that uses the heat by-product of electricity generation so that it can be put to use - in this case, to maintain water temperature in the park. Meeting these two needs from one source results in an annual saving on energy costs for Alton Towers of 12% a year. Notes to editors: The report has been published following the one-year anniversary of the Industrial Strategy, which identified the opportunities for UK industry to harness the global shift to clean growth. The hospitality and leisure sector research form parts of Centrica Business Solution's Powering Britain report, which analysed key sectors including healthcare, industry and hospitality and leisure. Combined, these sectors account for more than a quarter of the UK's GVA, and almost a third of UK employment. The report found that if just half of these sectors invested in energy saving solutions, they could reduce annual energy costs by 980m. The number of dwellings as of 1 April 2017 in Norfolk was 420,360, according to Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government housing statistics published in May 2018 . in was 420,360, according to Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government housing statistics published in . For further detail on all reports, visit www.centrica.com/economicfuture. About Centrica: Centrica plc is an international energy and services company. Our purpose is to provide energy and services to satisfy the changing needs of our customers. Two of our global divisions, Centrica Consumer and Centrica Business, supply energy and energy-related services to over 25 million customer accounts in the UK, Ireland and North America, through strong brands such as British Gas, Direct Energy and Bord Gais Energy. They do this with the support of 15,000 engineers and technicians. We're also developing new and innovative products, offers and services for customers through our five growth businesses: Energy Supply, Services, Connected Home, Distributed Energy & Power (DE&P), and Energy Marketing & Trading. Our Connected Home business has developed the Hive product range, including the smart thermostat, which allows customers to control their energy usage from their phone, while DE&P offers integrated energy solutions for commercial and industrial customers, providing customers with end-to-end services - from insight to optimisation and solutions. Innovation underpins everything we do, which is why we've invested 100m in Centrica Innovations, a venture to identify, incubate and accelerate new technologies and innovations that can help provide the right offers, products and services for our customers. Our third global division, Exploration & Production (E&P), now consists of two business units - Spirit Energy and Centrica Storage. In December 2017 Spirit Energy was launched, a newly formed business combining Centrica's E&P business with Bayerngas Norge. The transaction creates a leading independent European E&P business with an attractive mix of producing assets and development projects. It is expected to deliver medium-term production in the 45-55mmboe range. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [December 07, 2018] Engility's Lynn Dugle honored with Lifetime Achievement Award CHANTILLY, Va., Dec. 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Lynn Dugle, Engility CEO, chairman and president, received the Washington Business Journal's 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award on Dec. 6. The Journal's editorial team chose Dugle for this honor based on her more than 30 years of success in the aerospace and defense industry, culminating in her coming out of retirement to take over the helm at Engility. Dugle was also honored by the Journal in 2017 as one of their Women Who Mean Business. Her leadership and strategic acumen transformed Engility, and positioned the company for its impending acquisition by SAIC. SAIC and Engility announced on Sept.10 that they entered into a definitive agreement under which SAIC will acquire Engility. "Congratulations to Lynn on receiving this prestigious award. Her extensive career and bold leadership make her an extraordinary business woman and colleague," said SAIC CEO Tony Moraco. "I am honored to have worked with Lynn and am proud to continue her legacy through SAIC's acquisition of Engility. Following the close of the acquisition, I am excited to shepherd Engility into its next chapter as part of the SAIC family." Dugle became CEO at Engility in 2016, and President and Chairman of the Board of Directors in March, 2018. Her tenure began with a significant shift in company strategy, moving from a low-cost systems engineering and technical assistance services provider to a best-value, high-end systems engineering and technology solutions provider. Under Dugle's leadership, the company won its largest-ever contract, an intelligence community win valued at more than $400 million, awarded in 2018. The company enjoyed a 115% increase in stock price since announcing Dugle's appointment as CEO. Dugle also streamlined the company's organization, and increased investments in employee development and differentiating technologies. The company launched Synthetic Analyst, a form of explainable AI, in 2017, and MetaSift, a data analytics integration platform, in 2018. Prior to joining Engility, Dugle held leadership roles at Raytheon, ADC Telecommunications, and Texas Instruments. About Engility Engility (NYSE: EGL), a $2 billion technology leader, has thousands of employees around the world working to make a difference. Our history of delivering results for the defense, federal civilian, intelligence and space industries spans more than 60 years. We provide leading-edge solutions and services on Earth, in space and across cyber by leveraging expertise in systems engineering & integration, high performance computing, cybersecurity, readiness & training, enterprise modernization and mission operations support. To learn more about us, please visit www.engility.com and connect with us on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. Media : Investor Relations : Scott Fazekas Dave Spille Engility Holdings, Inc. Engility Holdings, Inc. 703-984-5068 703-984-6120 [email protected] [email protected] View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/engilitys-lynn-dugle-honored-with-lifetime-achievement-award-300760306.html SOURCE Engility [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [December 07, 2018] 8minutenergy and Capital Dynamics Celebrate Completion of the 328 MW Mount Signal 3 Solar Farm 8minutenergy Renewables, LLC ("8minutenergy"), the largest independent solar and storage developer in the U.S., and Capital Dynamics, an independent global private asset management firm, today celebrated the completion and commercial operation of the 328 megawatt-dc (MW) Mount Signal 3 Solar Farm. The project is the largest in the 800 MW Mount Signal solar cluster, which is not only the largest PV project in California, but also among the largest in the world. Mount Signal 3, acquired by Capital Dynamics' Clean Energy (News - Alert) Infrastructure (CEI) business in 2017, commenced construction earlier this year and is being brought to commercial operation ahead of schedule. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181207005089/en/ 8minutenergy and Capital Dynamics celebrated the completion of the 328 MW Mount Signal 3 Solar Farm, part of the largest PV project in California and among the largest in the world. (Photo: Business Wire) 8minutenergy was the original developer of all three solar farms in the Mount Signal cluster. With Mount Signal 1 and Mount Signal 3 both now complete, the cluster has approximately 80% of its total final capacity online. Mount Signal 1 and 3 will generate a combined 1.29 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) of clean, renewable power annually for the residents of 15 Southern California counties - enough energy to power over 1 million people during the daytime and reduce carbon emissions by more than 850,000 metric tons each year. Southern California Edison (News - Alert) and 8minutenergy signed a long-term power purchase agreement for Mount Signal 3's energy in 2014. "This is a big day for California and the entire solar industry. As the original developer of the Mount Signal solar cluster, 8minutenergy is incredibly proud to bring this phase of the largest solar plant in the state to completion. Mount Signal is a clear demonstration that solar is ready to power California's 100% clean enrgy future ahead of schedule," said Tom Buttgenbach, CEO & President of 8minutenergy. "The Imperial County Board of Supervisors, their staff, our dedicated partners, and the outstanding local workforce were all critical in ensuring that we beat our aggressive timeline in bringing Mount Signal 3 to completion. I'd also like to thank Capital Dynamics and Southern California Edison for being tremendous partners on this project." "Capital Dynamics is proud to have the development of Mount Signal 3 completed and now providing hundreds of millions of clean kilowatt hours to the grid. Large-scale solar delivers what California needs, massive amounts of clean energy, reliably, and at a low-cost," said John Breckenridge, Head of Capital Dynamics' Clean Energy Infrastructure team. "By completing such a massive PV project ahead of schedule, 8minutenergy has again proven its world-class development and construction management capabilities." Mortenson Construction provided the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contracting for the Mount Signal 3 plant. Key suppliers included First Solar with 2.8 million Series 4 thin-film solar panels, NEXTracker with its NX Horizon smart solar tracker, and TMEIC with 96 of their Solar Ware Samurai 2700 Central inverters. About 8minutenergy Renewables, LLC 8minutenergy Renewables is the nation's largest independent developer of solar PV and storage projects. To date, 8minutenergy has 10+ GW of solar and storage under development in North America, developed over 1100 MW in operating solar assets, and been awarded 2 GW in power purchase agreements. The company has developed some of the largest solar plants in the world, including the 800 MW Mount Signal farm in California. 8minutenergy has an unmatched ability to produce affordable, clean energy, and to deliver strong financial returns on utility-scale solar and storage projects. The company's Eagle Shadow Mountain Solar Farm in Nevada holds the current record low price for a solar project in America. For more information, please visit www.8minutenergy.com. About Capital Dynamics' Clean Energy Infrastructure Capital Dynamics' Clean Energy Infrastructure (CEI) team holds extensive expertise in investing, financing, owning and operating conventional and clean energy businesses globally. Established to capture attractive investment opportunities in this class of real assets, Capital Dynamics' CEI mandate is to invest directly in proven clean energy technologies - such as solar, wind, biomass, conventional gas generation and waste gas-fueled power generation - across the globe. The CEI team currently manages 3.1 net GW of generation capacity in the United States and Europe.1 About Capital Dynamics Capital Dynamics is an independent global asset management firm focusing on private assets including private equity, private credit, clean energy infrastructure and energy infrastructure credit. Capital Dynamics offers a diversified range of tailored offerings and customized solutions for a broad, global client base, including corporations, family offices, foundations and endowments, high net worth individuals, pension funds and others. The firm oversees more than USD 15 billion in assets under management and advisement.2 Capital Dynamics is distinguished by its deep and sustained partnerships with clients, a culture that attracts entrepreneurial thought leaders and a commitment to providing innovative ideas and solutions for its clients. Founded in 1999 and headquartered in Zug, Switzerland, Capital Dynamics employs approximately 160 professionals globally and maintains offices in New York, London, Tokyo, Hong Kong, San Francisco, Munich, Milan, Birmingham, Dubai and Seoul. For more information, please visit: https://www.capdyn.com/ 1 As of December 1, 2018 2 As of September 30, 2018 View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181207005089/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [December 07, 2018] Site Visit Planned for December 19, 2018 to Initiate Phase 2 Trial of ProscaVax for Early-Stage Prostate Cancer BATON ROUGE, La., Dec. 07, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- OncBioMune Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (OTCQB:OBMP) ("OncBioMune" or the "Company"), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company engaged in the development of a proprietary therapeutic cancer vaccine immunotherapy and targeted cancer therapies, is pleased to provide an update on the Phase 2 clinical trial of ProscaVax being hosted at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), a teaching hospital of Harvard University. In the clinical trial, ProscaVax, the Companys lead immunotherapeutic cancer vaccine consisting of a combination of prostate cancer associated prostate specific antigen (PSA) with the biological adjuvants interleukin-2 (IL-2) and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), is being evaluated for safety and efficacy in patients with low-risk localized prostate cancer compared to patients in Active Surveillance. OncBioMune has confirmed that a site visit is scheduled for December 19, 2018. This is the check-off meeting before beginning enrollment in the clinical trial, which is expected to transpire in the coming weeks. Im very pleased to say that we are now staring down a major milestone for our company with the site visit to be followed by patient enrollment, commented Dr. Jonathan Head, Chief Executive Officer at OncBioMune. Enrollment of the first patient in the study is not only a watershed moment for our company and stakeholders, but for the oncology community as a whole. This is the first Phase 2 clinical trial of its type evaluating a therapeutic immunotherapy vaccine in early stage prostate cancer, a stage in disease where patients are left with no options other than to wait for disease progression. We are optimistic that ProscaVax will demonstrate a meaningful benefit to these patients in great need and that ProscaVax will set a new benchmark as a front-line treatment for prostate cancer. Sign up for OncBioMune email alerts at: http://oncbiomune.com/email-alerts/ . About Prostate Cancer According to the American Cancer Society (ACS), prostate cancer is the most common type of cancer in men other than skin cancer, with about 1 in 9 men diagnosed during their lifetime. ACS estimates that about 164,690 new cases of prostate cancer will be diagnosed during 2018 and approximately 29,430 men will die from the disease this year. Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in men, trailing only lung cancer. Approximately 2.9 million men are living with prostate cancer today. The average age of diagnosis is 66, with the disease considered rare in men under the age of 40. About OncBioMune Pharmaceuticals, Inc. OncBioMune Pharmaceuticals is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company engaged in the development of novel cancer immunotherapy products, based on their proprietary therapeutic cancer vaccine technology designed to stimulate the immune system to attack tumor cells without damaging healthy tissue. Our lead pipeline product, ProscaVax, has successfully completed enrollment and vaccination of the prostate cancer patients and is collecting long-term follow-up results for the 1a portion of their Phase 1a/1b clinical trial. Due to the impressive results and proven safety profile of ProscaVax, OncBioMune is forgoing the 1b portion of the trial to advance ProscaVax into Phase 2 clinical trials A Phase 2 clinical trial is scheduled to commence at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center a Harvard University teaching hospital evaluating ProscaVax as a front-line therapy in prostate cancer patients in the active surveillance category, representing the first mid-stage trial of an immunotherapeutic vaccine in this patient population. OncBioMune also has a portfolio of targeted therapies, some of which are biosimilars and generics to blockbuster drugs. OncBioMune is headquartered in Baton Rouge, LA. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause OncBioMune Pharmaceuticals' actual results and experience to differ materially from anticipated results and expectations expressed in these forward-looking statements. OncBioMune Pharmaceuticals has in some cases identified forward-looking statements by using words such as "anticipates," "believes," "hopes," "estimates," "looks," "expects," "plans," "intends," "goal," "potential," "may," "suggest," and similar expressions. Among other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in forward-looking statements are OncBioMune Pharmaceuticals' need for, and the availability of, substantial capital in the future to fund its operations and research and development; the fact that OncBioMune Pharmaceutical's vaccines and therapeutics may not successfully complete pre-clinical or clinical testing, or be granted regulatory approval to be sold and marketed in the United States or elsewhere. A more complete description of these risk factors is included in OncBioMune Pharmaceutical's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. You should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. OncBioMune Pharmaceuticals undertakes no obligation to release publicly the results of any revisions to any such forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this press release or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by applicable law or regulation. Contact: OncBioMune Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Jonathan F. Head, PhD Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board [email protected] [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [December 07, 2018] INVESTIGATION ALERT NOTICE: The Schall Law Firm Announces it is Investigating Claims Against Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras and Encourages Investors with Losses in Excess of $100,000 to Contact the Firm The Schall Law Firm, a national shareholder rights litigation firm, announces that it is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras ("Petrobras" or "the Company") (NYSE: PBR) for violations of 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The investigation focuses on whether the Company issued false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose information pertinent to investors. Reuters (News - Alert) reported on December 5, 2018, that trading firms including Glencore have been accused by Brazilian prosecutors of paying more than $30 million i bribes to employees of Petrobras, a graft scheme that prosecutors believe may still be ongoing. In exchange for these bribes, Petrobras employees are alleged to have offered the traders better prices for oil and related commodities and services. According to Reuters, top executives of Petrobras had "total and unequivocal" knowledge of the scheme. Based on this news, shares of Petrobras lost more than 5% during morning trading on December 6, 2018. If you are a shareholder who suffered a loss, click here to participate. We also encourage you to contact Brian Schall, or Sherin Mahdavian, of the Schall Law Firm, 1880 Century Park East, Suite 404, Los Angeles, CA (News - Alert) 90067, at 424-303-1964, to discuss your rights free of charge. You can also reach us through the firm's website at www.schallfirm.com, or by email at [email protected]firm.com. The class in this case has not yet been certified, and until certification occurs, you are not represented by an attorney. If you choose to take no action, you can remain an absent class member. The Schall Law Firm represents investors around the world and specializes in securities class action lawsuits and shareholder rights litigation. This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and rules of ethics. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181207005419/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [December 07, 2018] Canada Invests in Cleaner Transportation and Celebrates 100th EV fast charger in Toronto TORONTO, Dec. 7, 2018 /CNW/ - Infrastructure investments in clean transportation systems, such as a charging station network, will make it easier for Canadians to choose electric and less polluting vehicles. This effort is part of our government's commitment to promote clean technologies, reduce pollution and create good, middle-class jobs. The Honourable Kirsty Duncan, Minister of Science and Sport, on behalf of the Honourable Amarjeet Sohi, Canada's Minister of Natural Resources, today announced the official opening of the 100th government-funded electric vehicle (EV) fast charger at the CF Toronto Eaton Centre. Canada now has more than 500 EV fast chargers open across the country. Our government provided $750,000 to AddEnergie Technologies Inc. through the Electric Vehicle and Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Deployment Initiative to build 15 EV fast chargers at Cadillac Fairview shopping malls across the country. The 15 chargers, located in New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario and Manitoba, are open to the public. The funding is part of our government's $182.5-million investment to develop a coast-to-coast charging network for EVs, establish natural gas stations along key routes and stations for hyrogen-fuelled vehicles in metropolitan areas and showcase innovative solutions for charging infrastructure. This investment will also ensure CanadaU.S. alignment of enabling codes and standards for low-polluting vehicles and their infrastructure. Through Canada's national energy dialogue, Generation Energy, Canadians made it clear that building EVs and fossil fuel alternatives is not a luxury but a necessity for Canada's low-carbon future. The Government of Canada continues to support green infrastructure projects that will create good jobs, advance Canada's clean future and help us reach our domestic and international climate targets. Quotes "We are paving the way to a low-carbon future by investing in green infrastructure. These stations are an important step toward lowering emissions and making electric vehicles a viable travel option for Canadians." Kirsty Duncan, Minister of Science and Sport "It is essential that we make driving electric as easy and convenient as possible for Canadians because of the importance of lowering our transportation greenhouse gas emissions. This collaboration by Cadillac Fairview, FLO and NRCan, under Canada's forward-thinking program to facilitate charging infrastructure deployment, demonstrates what is possible when government and industry leaders share a commitment to supporting electric vehicle adoption and offering greener transportation alternatives." Travis Allan Vice-president of Public Affairs and General Counsel, AddEnergie and its subsidiary FLO "The introduction of EV charging stations at the CF Toronto Eaton Centre and at CF properties across Canada is an expression of our commitment to environmental responsibility. Not only is this a step in sustainability, but it also provides a much-needed amenity for a growing number of EV drivers in our local communities." John Massey, Vice President, Operations, Cadillac Fairview Associated Links Go Green With Electric Vehicles Electric Charging and Alternative Fuelling Stations Locator Electric Vehicle Innovation Demonstrations Follow us on Twitter: @NRCan ( http://twitter.com/nrcan ) SOURCE Natural Resources Canada [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [December 07, 2018] The State of Nevada, City of Las Vegas and NTT Reach an Agreement to Accelerate Smart City Technologies The State of Nevada, City of Las Vegas and Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT (News - Alert)), one of the world's largest ICT companies, today announced an agreement to advance and accelerate smart technologies following a Smart City proof of concept that began in September. NTT Group (NTT, NTT DATA, Dimension Data (News - Alert), NTT Communications, NTT COMWARE and NTT Security) will provide the Smart City offering to the City commercially, and the City will start trial-use of the solution during spring 2019 for the consideration of the full-scale service beginning in summer 2019. The City, State and NTT will also explore opportunities to partner on a new briefing center in downtown Las Vegas focused on technology with an emphasis on connected communities, as well as additional areas and cities to implement the Smart City offering. Designed to improve safety, the proof of concept provides information to City personnel to help increase situation awareness and provide a foundation to traffic management and mobility that will create future economic opportunities. NTT Group deployed high-definition video cameras, sound sensors, as well as IoT devices to monitor a geographic area within the city's Innovation District. "Today's announcement is a continuation of the strong partnership between Nevada, Las Vegas and NTT," said Governor Brian Sandoval. "In August, during the trade mission to Japan, we were able to meet and discuss opportunities like this to ensure Las Vegas isnot only a smart city, but the smartest city. I am excited about this opportunity in Las Vegas, and I look forward to watching Nevada become the foremost leader for smart regions in the country." The NTT solution is a secure, distributed platform that deploys micro data centers to sensors in the designated area to improve situational awareness through video and sound data, while also integrating historical data sources, such as crime, weather and social media data. By leveraging cognitive analytics, including NTT Group's corevo(*) artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies, the system learns normal patterns and can detect and alert the authorities of patterns that appear abnormal to reduce response times for first responders. The Smart City solution is built on NTT's innovative Cognitive Foundation architecture, which enables remote creation, management and operation of information and communications technology (ICT) resources, from devices and networks to the cloud. It also incorporates Dell EMC's (News - Alert) hyperconverged infrastructure and IoT gateways, as well as VMware's virtualization software hosting predictive analytics applications. "The future is now, and government must be ready to embrace technologies that can help to address community issues and make cities more livable," said Mayor Carolyn G. Goodman. "The city of Las Vegas is honored to be among the top digital cities in the country. We will continue to push the envelope with partnerships with companies like NTT, setting the stage for continued relationships and breakthroughs." The connected technologies and Smart City efforts are part of the city's larger initiative, Innovate.Vegas, which was created to help provide safe, reliable and efficient civic technology that stimulated economic growth. "The success of our smart city proof of concept in Las Vegas showcases how we can use technology to create a more connected society," said Jun Sawada, President and CEO, NTT. "We plan to leverage and expand our connected technologies to other cities in Nevada, while also deploying similar solutions that will benefit stadiums, manufacturing facilities and other locations where we can help improve public safety." To learn more about the Smart Cities initiative in Las Vegas, visit NTT's website and watch the case study on YouTube. (*) "corevo" is a registered trademark of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation. For more information, visit http://www.ntt.co.jp/corevo/e/index.html. About NTT Group NTT Group is one of the world's largest ICT companies with more than 100 billion USD sales and business footprints in 88 countries and regions, inheriting our story of innovation for more than 120 years. NTT Group accelerates customers' digital agenda with full stack, full life cycle capabilities and world leading research and development, resulting in more than 80 Fortune 100 companies as customers. For more information, visit www.ntt-global.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181207005438/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Insurance Fraud Grinches: 9 Most-Brazen Insurance Scammers of 2018 The holiday season rang in with the year's 9 most-brazen insurance-fraud grinches taking short sleigh rides for long prison terms after foisting outsized and elf-delusional insurance thefts. America's extreme insurance schemers were inducted into the Insurance Fraud Hall of Shame by the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud. Insurance scams are an $80-billion crime annually, raising everyone's premiums. Stay alert for holiday insurance scams - and fraud grinches year-around: Robocalls . Hang up on healthcare robocalls selling bogus "Trumpcare," "Obamacare" and suspiciously low-priced health plans. . Hang up on healthcare robocalls selling bogus "Trumpcare," "Obamacare" and suspiciously low-priced health plans. Stolen medical identity . Avoid medical identity theft protect your sensitive medical information - and good credit. . Avoid medical identity theft protect your sensitive medical information - and good credit. Contractor scams . Steer clear of shady home contractors who steal your downpayment, do bogus repairs and overbill your insurance. . Steer clear of shady home contractors who steal your downpayment, do bogus repairs and overbill your insurance. Senior scams. Seniors are regular targets of scams such as: bogus Medicare cards expensive and unneeded wheelchairs unwanted braces. Burning desire. Two fire fighters died when a brick wall fell on them as they fought an arson fire. Thu Hong Nguyen set the blaze to burn her nail salon for insurance money in Kansas City, Mo. Driven to steal. A vast fraud ring run by Felix Filenger stole fully $23 million for bogus whiplash injury claims from real and setup car crashes in South Florida. Bribes for blood. The largest doctor bribery scheme in U.S. history saw chiropractor David Nicoll stealing more than $100 million. He bribed at least 38 corrupt doctors for false testing of blood samples in Parsippany, N.J. Toddler killer. Erica White poisoned her blind and deaf toddler Tyrael McFall to death for $50,000 of life insurance in the Atlanta area. Maladjusted adjuster. Public adjuster Jorge Fausto Espinosa burned and flooded dozens of homes for $14 million of inflated claims in South Florida. Damage was rigged to look like electrical problems, kitchen accidents and faulty water lines. Home arsonist floored. Fire fighter Patrick Wolterman died when he fell through a seared floor while combating an insurance arson set by Billy Lester Parker and Billy Tucker in Hamilton, Ohio. Pain for profit. Homeless people were inflicted with painful and unneeded spinal injections. Detroit-area streets also were flooded with more than 4 million painkillers in a $300-million Medicare plot by Dr. Mishiyat Rashid. Unsober sober homes. Yury Baumblit ran unsafe flophouses that housed homeless people and addicts in the New York City area. He pushed many into unneeded drug rehab, forced some to take drugs, and evicted anyone who didn't cooperate. Money addiction. Kirsten Wallace co-owned a corrupt sober home that stole the identities of addicts to overbill insurers in a $175-million insurance crime. It was one of the largest health-insurance plots in California history. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181207005456/en/ [December 07, 2018] Scott+Scott Attorneys at Law LLP Files Securities Class Action Lawsuit Against Aphria Inc. Scott+Scott Attorneys at Law LLP ("Scott+Scott"), a national shareholder and consumer rights litigation firm, today announced that it has filed a securities class action lawsuit (the "Complaint") against Aphria Inc. ("Aphria" or the "Company") (NYSE:APHA) and certain of the Company's officers and directors (collectively, with Aphria, "Defendants") for violating federal securities laws. If you purchased Aphria securities between July 17, 2018 and December 4, 2018, you are encouraged to contact a Scott+Scott attorney at (844) 818-6982 for more information. Prior to November 2, 2018, Aphria traded on the OTCQB Venture Market exchange under the symbol "APHQF." The action, which was filed today in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, asserts claims under 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act"), 15 U.S.C. 78j(b) and 78t(a), and SEC (News - Alert) Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, 17 C.F.R. 240.10b-5, on behalf of all persons and entities, other than Defendats and their affiliates, that purchased or otherwise acquired Aphria securities on U.S. exchanges between July 17, 2018 and December 4, 2018, inclusive (the "Class Period") and suffered damages as a result of the misconduct alleged in the Complaint (the "Class"). Aphria is a global cannabis company based in Canada. The Complaint alleges that Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) certain of the Company's recent Latin American acquisitions were worth far less than represented; (ii) the Company was engaged in undisclosed self-dealing; (iii) the quality of Company's cannibus was inferior to competitors; and (iv) as a result of the foregoing, certain of Aphria's public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times. On December 3, 2018, Hindenburg Research released a report, titled "Aphria: A Shell Game with a Cannabis Business on the Side." According to the report, which was also released on Seeking Alpha, "Aphria is part of a scheme orchestrated by a network of insiders to divert funds away from shareholders into their own pockets." In addition, the report found that Aphria's recent Latin American acquisitions are suspect, it engages in undisclosed self-dealing, and its product is inferior. On this news, the price of Aphria stock fell $3.39, or over 42%, over the next two trading days. What You Can Do If you purchased Aphria stock between July 17, 2018 and December 4, 2018, or you have questions about your legal rights, please contact attorney Joe Pettigrew at (844) 818-6982, or at [email protected]. Aphria investors have until February 4, 2019 to move for lead plaintiff. About Scott+Scott Attorneys at Law LLP Scott+Scott has significant experience in prosecuting major securities, antitrust, and employee retirement plan actions throughout the United States. The firm represents pension funds, foundations, individuals, and other entities worldwide with offices in New York, London, Connecticut, California, and Ohio. Attorney Advertising View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181207005457/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [December 07, 2018] BIOPHYTIS Announces One Oral Presentation and Two Poster Presentations at the 11th International Conference on Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle Wasting PARIS, Dec. 07, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BIOPHYTIS (Euronext Growth Paris: ALBPS), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing first-in-class drug candidates for the treatment of age-related degenerative diseases, today announced that abstracts highlighting the Companys lead candidate, SARCONEOS (BIO101) will be presented at the 11th International Conference on Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle Wasting, being held between December 7-9, 2018 in Maastricht, Netherlands. Stanislas Veillet, Ph.D., chief executive officer of BIOPHYTIS stated, We are pleased with these preclinical results that demonstrate SARCONEOS accelerates skeletal muscle cell differentiation from stem cells and increases their energetic metabolism. These specific effects, combined with the stimulation of muscle protein synthesis, explain the significant effect of SARCONEOS on muscle mass, muscle strength and mobility, in animal models of muscular dystrophies. Dr. Veillet continued, In addition, we are pleased to announce the completion of patients recruitment in the SARA-OBS observational study of SARCONEOS. These patients will be eligible to participate to the SARA-INT double-blind, placebo controlled, randomized Phase 2b clinical study in sarcopenia in sites in both the U.S. and Europe. 9 clinical centers are now open in SARA-INT. Details of the oral and poster presentations are as follows: Oral Presentation Title: BIO101 accelerates differentiation and enhances mitochondrial function in skeletal muscle cells Presenter: Maria Serova, Ph.D. Session: D. Late breaking clinical science & clinical trial update Date/Time: Saturday, December 8, 2018 at 11:00 a.m. CEST Location: Ceramique, Crowne Plaza Hotel, Netherlands Poster Presentations Title: BIO101 accelerates differentiation and enhances mitochondrial function in skeletal muscle cells Presenter: Maria Serova, Ph.D. Poster: 4-11 Session: 5 Date/Time: Saturday 8th of December 2018, 11 AM Location: Poster Area, Crowne Plaza Hotel, Netherlands Title: Transitioning from SARA-OBS, an observational study to SARA-INT, a double-blind, placebo controlled, randomized clinical trial to evaluate safety and efficacy of SARCONEOS (BIO101) Presenter: Waly Dioh, Ph.D. Poster: P5-001 Session: 12 Date/Time: Sunday 9th of December 2018, 10 AM Location: Poster Area, Crowne Plaza Hotel, Netherlands About SARCONEOS BIOPHYTIS's lead candidate, SARCONEOS, is a first-in-class drug candidate formulated to activate the MAS receptor for the treatment of neuromuscular diseases. SARCONEOS is currently being tested in a Phase 2b clinical trial to preserve muscle strength, performance and patient mobility in sarcopenia, a degenerative disease characterized by loss of muscle mass, quality, and strength associated with aging that affects up to 50 million elderly people. In addition, BIOPHYTIS is preparing for the clinical development of SARCONEOS in children with DMD, which received orphan drug designation in 2018 from both the FDA and EMA. About BIOPHYTIS BIOPHYTIS SA, founded in 2006, is a biotechnology company specializing in the development of drug candidates to treat the disabilities caused by age-related degenerative diseases. Our clinical-stage pipeline is comprised of SARCONEOS, a MAS receptor activator, to preserve mobility in sarcopenia and Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) patients and MACUNEOS, a drug that binds PPAR to prevent vision loss in patients with dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and other degenerative eye diseases, including Stargardt disease. BIOPHYTIS is based in Paris on the Sorbonne Universite campus and in Cambridge, Massachusetts. BIOPHYTIS collaborates with expert scientists from several Sorbonne Universite institutes including the Paris Seine Biology Institute, the Institute of Myology, and the Vision Institute. BIOPHYTIS is listed on the Euronext Growth market of Euronext Paris (ALBPS; ISIN: FR0012816825). For more information: http://www.biophytis.com Follow us on Twitter @biophytis BIOPHYTIS is eligible for the SMEs scheme Disclaimer This press release contains certain forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes its expectations are based on reasonable assumptions, these forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. For a discussion of risks and uncertainties which could cause the Company's actual results, financial condition, performance or achievements to differ from those contained in the forward looking statements, please refer to the Risk Factors (Facteurs de Risque) section of the Listing Prospectus upon the admission of Companys shares for trading on the regulated market Euronext Growth of Euronext Paris filed with the AMF, which is available on the AMF website (www.amf- france.org) or on BIOPHYTIS website ( www.biophytis.com ). This press release and the information contained herein do not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy or subscribe to shares in BIOPHYTIS in any country. Items in this press release may contain forward-looking statements involving risks and uncertainties. The Companys actual results could differ substantially from those anticipated in these statements owing to various risk factors which are described in the Companys prospectus. This press release has been prepared in both French and English. In the event of any differences between the two texts, the French language version shall prevail. BIOPHYTIS Citigate Dewe Rogerson Stanislas VEILLET International media & Investors CEO Laurence BAULT/Antoine DENRY [email protected] [email protected] Tel: +33 (0) 1 44 27 23 00 [email protected] Tel: +33 (0)1 53 32 84 78 Mob: +33(0)6 64 12 53 61 LifeSci Public Relations Cherilyn CECCHINI, M.D. LifeSci Advisors U.S. Media Contact Chris MAGGOS [email protected] Managing Director, Europe Tel: +1 (646) 876 5196 [email protected] Tel: +41 79 367 6254 [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [December 07, 2018] Healthcare Innovator Ronald Amodeo Joins Dorsey Health Strategies in Minneapolis International law firm Dorsey & Whitney LLP is pleased to announce that Ronald Amodeo has joined the Firm as an Expert Advisor with Dorsey Health Strategies (DHS), a healthcare consulting firm affiliated with Dorsey & Whitney. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181207005541/en/ Ronald Amodeo has joined Dorsey as an Expert Advisor with Dorsey Health Strategies (DHS), a healthcare consulting firm affiliated with Dorsey & Whitney. (Photo: Dorsey & Whitney LLP) Mr. Amodeo was previously the Chief Innovation & Growth Officer at Regional Health in South Dakota, where he was responsible for developing and executing strategies related to business growth in the marketplace, service line enhancement, connected health, innovation, and new ventures and partnerships/collaborations. He was also responsible for Marketing and Sales, Patient Experience, Community Relations, Clinical Research, and developing new revenue streams. Prior to his work at Regional Health Mr. Amodeo was Director of Business Development at Mayo Clinic, where he led enterprise-wide evaluation and development of strategic new business opportunities. Key projects included directing joint venture activities in retail health/wellness, regenerative medicine, and remote condition management via digital health. International projects included developing a medical tourism venture in Asia, as well as business initiatives/relationships in India, Ireland, U.K., Saudi Arabia, UAE and the Czech Republic. Mr. Amodeo has a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Allegheny College, a Master's degree in Information Design from Carnegie Mellon University and Ph.D. studies in History of Science and Technology from the University of Minnesota. "Ron brings a wealth of healthcare expertise and experience that will benefit our health industry clients and Dorsey Health Strategies," noted Ross D'Emanuele, Partner and Co-chair of Dorsey's Healthcare Industry Group. "The health industry is in the midst of a wave of innovations and Ron's deep experience in new business and product development strategy and execution will help address those challenges and opportunities." "Ron has real-world experience as an executive leader in the health industry, and he brings his boots-on-the-ground mentality, combined with his breadth of experience, in a way that helps our clients immensely. His practical expertise allows him to quickly connect the dots between strategy and execution needs, and he has a keen sense for what different health industry players need," noted Shira Hauschen, Managing Principal of Dorsey Health Strategies. "We are delighted to welcome him to the Dorsey Health Strategies team." About Dorsey & Whitney LLP and Dorsey Health Strategies LLC Clients have relied on Dorsey since 1912 as a valued business partner. With locations across the United States and in Canada, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, Dorsey provides an integrated, proactive approach to its clients' legal and business needs. Dorsey represents a number of the world's most successful companies from a wide range of industries, including leaders in banking & financial institutions, development & infrastructure, energy & natural resources, food, beverage & agribusiness, healthcare and technology, as well as major non-profit and government entities. As part of its mission to stay "always ahead" of industry trends, Dorsey offers business consulting services to health industry clients to help plan for the future, manage current change, and stay compliant with health industry federal, state, and local regulations. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181207005541/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] You have reached a premium content area of TOL. To read this entire article please login if you are already a TOL subscriber. Not a subscriber? Subscribe today for access to: Full access to the website, including premium articles videos, country reports and searchable archives (containing over 25,000 articles). WAILEA, Hawaii Qualcomm has just spent a week at its annual Snapdragon Tech Summit trumpeting the imminent arrival of 5G networking in the very near future. Whether it was demos of 5G's faster data speeds, announcements of 5G-ready products such as the Snapdragon 855 processor or appearances from phone makers and network operators to talk up their 5G plans, the message was the same 2019 is the year 5G will be a reality. (Image credit: Qualcomm president Christiano Amon ushers in the 5G era in Hawaii this week. (Credit: Qualcomm)) "From a consumer standpoint, 5G will be there in 2019," Ignacio Contreras, Qualcomm's director of marketing for 5G, told me in Maui this week. "Consumers will be able to buy 5G phones and join 5G networks starting in early 2019." And I absolutely believe that's true. Just as I believe that I'm not planning to rush out and buy one of those early 5G phones. Qualcomm's 5G-ready Snapdragon 855 reference device And that's great if you happen to live in one of the cities where the carrier of your choice is deploying the faster networking standard. But if you live outside those areas or venture beyond 5G's reach, the touted benefits of 5G remain pretty theoretical even as 5G networks come online. 5G's adoption is expected to be faster than what we saw with 4G ("which was already fairly fast," Contreras pointed out to me). But don't expect it to be instantaneous. 5G's bigger benefits are still to come Look, faster data speeds are nothing to sneeze about. When I saw a 5G Moto Mod quickly download a 1GB file in a demo here at Qualcomm's tech summit, I could certainly see how that would improve my day-to-day smartphone use (even if the speeds in the demo here didn't approach what carriers and device makers would expect from a commercially launched 5G network). But the really cool demos on display in Maui this week didn't have a lot to do with smartphones. The 5G Moto Mod works with Moto's Z3 phone. One demo showed how doctors could help patients with physical therapy remotely thanks to real-time video that streamed without any lags. Another demonstrated how 5G could deliver volumetric video to a VR headset. Both of these are impressive feats that speak to 5G's possibilities, but they're not the sort of thing your or I will be doing on our smartphone come this time next year. MORE: What Is 5G? The Definitive Guide to the 5G Network Rollout Kevin Patterson, AT&T's senior vice president of product marketing, told Snapdragon Tech Summit attendees that many of 5G's early impacts will be felt the most in the enterprise space. That's undoubtedly true as the faster network has the potential to influence everything from broadcasting to managing connected devices. Consumers will see an impact, too, but that's more likely to come after developers get the opportunity to build smartphone apps that can take advantage of 5G's considerable strengths. 5G phones sound like they're going to be expensive OnePlus made some news at Qualcomm's get-together by pledging to be one of the first phone makers to support the 5G-capable Snapdragon 855. (The phone maker probably made more news than it would have liked, when the person translating CEO Pete Lau's announcement mistakenly said OnePlus would have the first Snapdragon 855 phone.) But the real story came after the announcement when Lau said that his company's 5G phone would probably cost $200 to $300 more than its affordably priced premium handsets. That's the first indication we've gotten about how much extra a 5G-ready phone might cost. Given that OnePlus sells its phone at a much lower cost than most flagship phone makers you can get the OnePlus 6T starting at $549 adding another couple hundred dollars for 5G connectivity would still give you a device that's less expensive than an iPhone or Galaxy Note. But other device makers less committed to keeping prices down could potentially charge a premium for their initial 5G-ready handsets. And that seems a steep price to pay just to be able to download large files faster or play streaming games without dropping frames. What about data plans? If we only have a hint about what 5G devices might costs, that's more than we know about wireless plans for 5G phones. The good news is that the Big Four carriers have all embraced unlimited data plans in recent years. The bad news is even those unlimited offerings come with limits, as carriers reserve the right to throttle your data speeds if you consume too much data. With 5G phones capable of snarfing down data in a instant, it seems like more unlimited users will run that risk. Reps from Verizon and AT&T were on stage during a panel discussion about 5G this week at Qualcomm's tech summit, and were asked about their data plans in 5G's brave new data-intensive world. Both demurred, with the idea that we'll know more about potential changes to plans once we get closer to seeing some 5G-ready phones. Until data plan pricing becomes more clear, though, the smart play would be to keep your powder dry on 5G. 4G networks will get better, too The launch of 5G doesn't mean 4G networks are going to fall by the wayside. If anything, LTE performance is likely to improve as 5G networks get built out. Some of the 5G equipment used to create a makeshift network in Hawaii this week. That's because congestion on LTE networks is likely to lessen as people with 5G-capable phones hop on other, faster connections. It's like if I were to build an expressway next to a traffic-clogged street. Even if only some cars head toward the expressway, it's still going to free up room for the remaining cars to move around. Me, I'm happy to spend 2019 taking advantage of the extra elbow room on LTE networks once the early adopters flock to 5G. Outlook Again, none of this refutes anything Qualcomm and its assorted partners said about 5G this past week. 5G networks will roll out in 2019, bringing faster speeds with them. And the people who pick up one of the several 5G-ready smartphones coming out next year will reap some benefits. But the more lasting benefits are likely further down the road. And they'll still be there waiting you, even if you're not ready to get on board with 5G right away. Image Credits: Tom's Guide It may be surprising that Microsoft has made repeated calls for lawmakers to regulate facial recognition, since it's a technology the vendor offers itself. But that's exactly what Microsoft chief legal counsel Brad Smith did yet again this week when he published another blog post asking regulators to step in. Let's be clear: it's not like Microsoft wants to make it harder to further develop its Windows Hello or other offerings that rely on facial recognition. Quite the opposite. Smith notes that some of facial recognition's problems stem from its shortcomings. (How short? Well, a civil rights organization discovered that the UK's facial recognition is wrong 98 percent of the time, which means it's more likely to be actively harmful than actually helpful.) Microsoft has no intention of abandoning facial recognition, it simply isn't letting those interests obscure the technology's poses risks. Microsoft spoke with "technologists, companies, civil society groups, academics and public officials around the world" about the issues posed by facial recognition after Smith's initial blog post. Those conversations led it to believe that governments need to address three problems with facial recognition: that current limitations can lead to biased outcomes that may run afoul of discrimination laws, that its spread could lead to invasions of privacy and that "the use of facial recognition technology by a government for mass surveillance can encroach on democratic freedoms." Many of Smith's proposed solutions to these problems come back to requiring companies to be transparent about how facial recognition technologies are developed and used. He called for independent companies to have access to these technologies, for example, so they can determine if they're biased. He also suggested that stores using facial recognition technology to track customers--a tool being developed by Microsoft, Amazon and other companies--be required to inform shoppers of their use so they can decide whether or not they want to shop there. Smith also called back to his claim that facial recognition's advance could make the year 2024 seem like 1984 if left unchecked. "One vision of the future would require that citizens must evade government surveillance by finding their way secretly to a blackened room to tap in code with hand signals on each others arms--because otherwise cameras and microphones will capture and record their faces, voices and every word. Orwell sketched that vision nearly 70 years ago. Today technology makes that type of future possible. ... But not inevitable," he said. The key, according to the exec, will be to "ensure that governmental use of facial recognition technology remain subject to the rule of law" via new legislation. Not that all of the work should fall on regulators; Smith also published Microsoft's principles for developing facial recognition technology and said the company would go into further depth on them next week. Missouri Secretary of State Ashcroft launches investigation into Josh Hawley JEFFERSON CITY * Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft has launched an investigation into the way Attorney General Josh Hawley ran his attorney general's office, Ashcroft's deputy general counsel wrote to the Democratic-allied American Democracy Legal Fund on Thursday. The group wrote to Ashcroft on Nov. GOP vs. GOP smackdown and basically something that our blog community talked about as well . . . The AG was strictly a political stepping stone for most of this guy's career. Checkit: We have been hearing stories about how the autonomous system has failed in cars and even killed people in some cases. How about we talk about a life-saving incident for a change? A 45-year old man in his Tesla Model S was spotted by the cops cruising on an expressway fast asleep. They chased the car for minutes before successfully stopping it. Imagine the dire consequences had it not been for the Autopilot system. Drunk AutoPilot User Will Probably Still get a DUI According to the San Francisco Chronicle, cops in California arrested a 45-year-old man who was sleeping in his Tesla Model S while it was cruising down Highway 101. The driver was in an inebriated state and Autopilot took over once the driver stopped giving inputs to the car. Although it is still unclear if the car was actually running on Autopilot, but it took them over several miles and seven minutes to stop the Model S. The driver, Alexander Samek, was detained after the police spotted his gray color Model S driving at 70 miles per hour Southbound on Highway 101 at 3:30 a.m. and gave it a chase to stop it. How Autopilot Is Supposed To Work Tesla did not comment on whether the Autopilot was engaged or not, but if it actually was, then the technology has saved someones life. The automaker only said that it was looking into what happened here. Since all companies who install autonomous technologies in their cars insist that drivers should always be in control of the car, these kinds of incidents raise concerns about how that technology is utilized by drivers. The way the system is designed, it is supposed to detect if the driver is holding the steering wheel, and, if theyre not, provide a series of warnings. If the driver provides no response at all, the car is supposed to start slowing down on its own within a few minutes, before coming to a complete stop and turning on its hazard lights. What They Had To Say This is what Chronicles report said, When officers pulled up next to the car, they allegedly saw Samek asleep, but the car was moving straight, leading them to believe it was in autopilot mode. The officers slowed the car down after running a traffic break, with an officer behind Samek turning on emergency lights before driving across all lanes of the highway, in an S-shaped path, to slow traffic down behind the Tesla, Montiel said. He said another officer drove a patrol car directly in front of Samek before gradually slowing down, prompting the Tesla to slow down as well and eventually come to a stop in the middle of the highway, north of the Embarcadero exit in Palo Alto about 7 miles from where the stop was initiated. Authorities said the entire operation took about seven minutes. The California Highway Patrol Public Information Officer, Art Montiel told the Mountain View Voice that Its great that we have this technology; however, we need to remind people that ... even though this technology is available, they need to make sure they know they are responsible for maintaining control of the vehicle. Our Take Such instances are definitely heart-warming to read, especially when technology stopped an almost certain fatal incident that was about to happen. On the other hand, people are giving in completely to a technology that is there to assist you with driving, not drive the car for you on its own. No matter how sophisticated and complex, it is artificial intelligence at the end of the day. So, dont be stupid and let technology take over you. What is your take on this whole episode? Do you think this one-off incident was enough to shut down Autopilot critics? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below. Further reading Read our full review on the 2018 Tesla Model S. First Driving Impression: An Honest Take on the 2018 Tesla Model S Nytec presented a special case study at HITEC Dubai on the worlds largest deployed IoT-based guest experience platform created for Carnival Cruise Line (TRAVPR.COM) UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - December 6th, 2018 - Nytec presented a special case study at HITEC Dubai on the worlds largest deployed IoT-based guest experience platform created for Carnival Cruise Line. Speaking at the conference, Vincent Ball, the Vice President for Product Innovation at Nytec, stated, We turned the cruise ship into a virtual smart city at sea. It is the largest most extensive IOT deployment in the world and we are proud to be part of it. At the heart of this experience, is the Ocean Medallion. A wearable that is waterproof, with no buttons and it does some amazing things. The goal for Nytec was to enhance the overall Carnival cruise experience and profitability by developing a portfolio of attractive and desirable accessories that will hold the cruise Medallion, while serving as a form of personal expression for each passenger both on ship and post cruise. When looked at in numbers, it is absolutely remarkable. Vincent said, It was an extensive platform where we touched every part of the customer journey and operations making it a frictionless experience for guests. We installed over 7000 sensors on the ship, designed and engineered the hotel room door access with Assa Abloy, and the Medallion a wearable that enables secure transitions and personalized experiences for each guest. Added to that were 700,000 feet of cables, 1000 readers and 3000 touch displays. Talking about basic improvements, Vincent said, A great example of how we transformed not only the guest experience, but operations too are photos. Before we got involved, Carnival printed every picture on the ship. Now its tied to each guest, visible on 82 touch displays, and the guest can access and purchase these well beyond the vacation. This transformed not only how guest access their photos but the operations too. There is no more printing required so there is no need to have paper or colour printers and ink on the ship which has reduced considerable weight. Endorsed by Dubai Tourism and co-produced by Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP) and Naseba, HITEC Dubai brought together top industry experts to present ground-breaking regional and international case studies, thought provoking panel discussions and game-changing technology demonstrations. The two-day expo was held at the Madinat Jumeirah Dubai from 5-6 December with an aim to facilitate knowledge sharing, networking and deal flow amongst hoteliers and hospitality technology providers. For more information or to register for HITEC Dubai 2018 visit https://www.hitec-dubai.com/ Call Amir Abdin on +971 44 55 7920 or Rouf Hyder Beigh +971 44 55 79 32 ABOUT HFTP Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP) is a global non-profit hospitality association, headquartered in Austin, Texas, USA, that uniquely understands the industrys problems. HFTP has members and stakeholders across the globe. HFTP assists its members in finding solutions to industry problems more efficiently than any organization via its expert networks, research, conferences such as HITEC and certification programs. HFTP also owns the worlds only hospitality specific search engine, PineappleSearch.com. HFTP is recognized as the spokes group for the finance and technology segment of the hospitality industry. ABOUT NASEBA Naseba offers global business facilitation services. The company creates growth opportunities by bringing together people, partners and ideas. It helps clients raise capital, enter new markets, secure partners, close sales and educate workforces. Nasebas goal is to create opportunity and add economic value at every stage of its clients journey. It does this through three key areas: investor services, commercial services and leadership services. Since inception in 2002, Naseba has facilitated deals totalling billions of dollars for its clients. The company has connected over 100,000 global executives through more than 1,000 proprietary business platforms and is an expert in growth markets. For media contact: Hina Bakht Managing Director EVOPS Marketing & PR Mob: 00971 50 6975146 Tel: 00971 4 566 7355 Hina.bakht@evops-pr.com www.evops-pr.com ### Splash Beach Resort, Mai Khao Phuket is positioned to become Indians favorite destination wedding venue in the region (TRAVPR.COM) THAILAND - December 7th, 2018 - [Phuket, 6 December 2018] Kishore Samtani, an entrepreneur from Hong Kong, hosted a reception banquet and 5 day destination wedding celebration for more than 1,300 guests at his son's wedding in the 19-hectare [47-acre] grounds during November 28 December 3, 2018. The wedding of Kunal Samtani, son of Kishore Samtani, to Divya Vaswani was the largest wedding ever held in Thailand with five-day of festivities held at Splash Beach Resort where a 3,200 square metres air-conditioned marquee, Thailands largest, was built for the wedding celebrations. The wedding entourage occupied the entire resort of 615 rooms, villas, all function space and F&B outlets. Guests at the wedding reception were entertained by a number of world-class performances by international artistes, Akon, Jason Derulo, Akshay Kumar and Salman Khan. The resort served guests more than 25,000 meals, 12,000 coconuts, over 1,500 bottles of premium liquor and champagne including Dom Perignon, Yamazaki Single Malt throughout the 5-day celebrations. It was a real honour and privilege to be the venue of choice for the wedding of Kunal and Divya. To be part of Thailand largest wedding ever was a great opportunity for Splash Beach Resort. Our team worked diligently and extremely long hours in the months leading up to the wedding to make everything perfect and memorable for every guest. says John Oshea, Managing Director, Splash Beach Resort. One of the key features of the resort is the 1,000 square meter pillar-less Convention Centre, the largest single-structure conference facility on Phuket. The Convention Centre can flexibly cater to all types of events, the facility can seat 1,000 guests theatre style and cater up to 1,300 guests for a standing cocktail reception, adds Oshea. ### Italy Luxury Tours announce a special trip to the most famous touristic places of Italy including Milan, Lake Como & Lake Maggiore. (TRAVPR.COM) UNITED STATES - December 7th, 2018 - Italy, USA : Italy Luxury Tours announce a special trip to the most famous touristic places of Italy including Milan, Lake Como & Lake Maggiore. Their 09 nights/10 days excellent luxury tour will be the most memorable trip of your life. Italy Luxury Tours is a world-famous touring service provider of exclusive and luxury travel experiences of Italy. Italy is a beautiful land for tourists. It has a green, cool, and calm atmosphere which is an ideal place to relax with your loved ones thats why Italy Luxury Tours offer a wide variety of tourist destinations like Milan, Lake Como & Lake Maggiore. Milan is known as a leading fashion capital of the world and through the combined tour package of Italy Luxury Tours, you get a chance to explore the most developed city in Italy. Milan is also famous for fine dining, vintage shops, and Italian designers. The next destination of this classic tour is the Lake Como. Italy Luxury Tours knows very well that most of the towns around the shore of Lake Como are popular with tourists, walkers, cyclists, and swimmers. So, they have planned to add the city of lakes to the itinerary, so that you can admire the blue water and relax in the luxurious villas of Lake Como. Now, the Italy Luxury Tours do reserve the next half of your journey to explore the beauty of Lake Maggiore, which is the second largest lake in Italy and the largest in southern Switzerland. Italy Luxury tours include various sightseeing activities to cover all the beautiful places around the Lake Maggiore. So, explore the glorious landscapes, enjoy amazing boat rides and find plenty of opportunities for pleasant walks in Lake Como, Orta, Maggiore, and Milan with Italy Luxury Tours. For booking visit: +1 (888) 959 7108. About the company: Italy Luxury Tours is a full-service touring company that offers private tours to all the areas of Italy. Their experienced staff provides excellent service and special touring plans, many of which are custom designed for each traveller or group. All tours are private, making them an ideal way to tour Italy. Company: Italy Luxury Tours Telephone: 1-888-959-7108 Email address: tours@italyluxurytours.com ### It helps to have such a stunning lakeside site. While visiting London recently I watched Grand Designs for the first time, an episode on "extreme houses." There was one we particularly liked, the Lochside House by HaysomWardMiller Architects. It has now won the award for House of the Year from the Royal Institute of British Architects. RIBAThe house is seriously off-grid, by a lake in the highlands, designed for a ceramic artist who must do very well, because this was a seriously expensive house. The description says "all energy comes from the sun and water is pulled up from a borehole," although the plans indicate a generator room. According to the press release: RIBA TRENTON An at-risk youth counselor had his license stripped after he was charged with sexually assaulting a teenage girl, authorities said. Elijah Williams, 26, of Trenton, who worked at Legacy Treatment Services, was indicted on charges of first-degree sexual assault and second-degree child endangerment after Robbinsville Police arrested him in October, the state Attorney Generals Office said. Williams is accused of sexually assaulting a teen between 13 and 16 years old who he supervised at a Mercer County group home run by Legacy Treatment Services, a nonprofit based in Hainesport. Authorities didnt say where the group home is in the county. Williams was arrested by police Oct. 26, and he agreed to a suspension late last month of his homemaker-home health aide (CHHA) certification as part of a consent order with the state, the AGs office said. He is accused of repeatedly assaulting the teen between November and December 2017, while she was under his supervision though not while he was working as a health aide, the authorities said. Another teen also accused Williams of sexually harassing her. These are serious charges, so the Board took immediate action to protect the public, Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said in a statement. Until these allegations are resolved, the Boards action will ensure that this defendant will have no access to patients as a certified homemaker-home health aide in New Jersey. Williams also worked at a Camden County teen group home run by Legacy Treatment Services, which canned him following his arrest. Per the Nov. 27 consent order, Williams license is only temporarily suspended pending the outcome of the criminal case. He cannot practice, identify himself, or perform work as a CHHA and must surrender all copies of his CHHA certificates to the Board of Nursing, which could permanently revoke Williams license if hes found guilty of the criminal charges, The allegations against Mr. Williams raise serious concerns regarding his certification as a homemaker-home health aide, who are trusted to care for vulnerable patients in their homes, often without supervision, said Paul R. Rodriguez, acting director of the Division of Consumer Affairs. Authorities have asked anyone else who may have been victimized by Williams to contact the Board of Nursing at 973-504-6430. TRENTON Acting police director Carol Russell faced a taste of the intense questioning she will likely face when she goes before City Council for a confirmation hearing later this year. Russell, a 20-year retired Trenton Police sergeant, often looked down at notes as she answered a range of questions from at-large councilman Jerell Blakeley that veered from the number of murders the city has experienced to her plan to address a recent spike in violence, highlighted by the Nov. 27 midday execution of a Crip gang member. Blakeley quizzed the acting police director on crime statistics for this year, asking her how many murders and shootings there have been this year. She responded with the numbers 12 murders and 71 shootings but admitted she might be mistaken about the crime stats, which she said had just been requested earlier Thursday by the legislative body. Blakeley also grilled Russell on her educational background, getting her to admit what is already known that she doesnt have a college degree. Russell said she has taken classes at Mercer County Community College but admitted she hasnt attained degree because life got in the way. Russell has faced blowback over her alleged lack of qualifications, which Blakeley attempted to drill down on, asking her for her definition of community policing which her supporters have touted as one of her strong suits. She described interacting and engaging with the community as one of the keys to community policing. Mayor Reed Gusciora has touted Russells experience as a police officer who emphasized community engagement when he announced at his historic pick of her to become the first black woman to lead the police force. But her critics have slammed her as unqualified, pointing to gaps in her resume. Blakeley tested Russells knowledge of the community she was so involved in by asking her to rattle of the troubled crime hotspots in the city, which she said were the same ones as when she was on the force. She cited the Wilbur section, a stretch of Walnut and Monmouth and Hoffman, Stuyvesant and Oakland as areas in which city is focused on crime suppression. She cited the fact that the city hasnt had a murder since Crip gang member Shaela Johnson was viciously gunned down in an ambush-style slaying outside a city deli Nov. 27, the third homicide on her watch, as proof that her plan to attack crime is working. She said officers have worked hard to get guns off the street but didnt have any figures for how many guns have been seized from the city streets. Russell wouldnt directly answer when the at-large councilman asked her whether she supported a still-in-the-works proposal to bring back a deputy police chief to help her out. At one point, she claimed the mayor hadnt talked to her about the proposal though the mayor previously told The Trentonian the idea came up during a brainstorming session with her. When Blakeley informed her there was a story in the newspaper about the prospective move, she said she didnt read the paper, and suggested The Trentonian misinterpreted the mayor. ROBINSINGH@TRIBUNE.COM Vijay C Roy Tribune News Service Chandigarh, December 7 The Centre has tinkered with an export incentive scheme that has left the cotton apparel exporters of northern India high and dry, but brought cheers to the woollen garment exporters. The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has slashed duty drawback rates from 2% to 1.8% in case of cotton garments. For polyester, the new duty drawback rates will be 2.3% from 2.5% earlier, official sources said. The new drawback rates are effective December 19. The move came as a bolt from the blue for the cotton apparel industry, which was expecting an increase in duty drawback rates, Punjab and Haryana-based exporters said. Apparel industry has tremendous potential for employment generation. The industry is passing through an adverse situation due to intense international competition, particularly from neighboring countries. Surprisingly, instead of raising the incentive, it has been reduced, said Ludhiana-based KG Exports Managing Director Harish Dua. Exporters said, there has been a marginal increase in business for the past couple of months mainly due to dollar appreciation, but the industry is far behind the 2016-17 level. The government must also stop raw cotton export to boost exports, he said. There are around 200 cotton garment exporters in Punjab and Haryana. Apparel exporters are required to use various inputs for making garments. About 70% of the material consumed is cotton, which is agri-product coming from farming sector and out of GST ambit. It comes loaded with all embedded taxes, which the farmer has to pay for production and transportation of cotton. During the production process of fabric and garments, electricity gets consumed which is also embedded in the cost of garment. Expenses are incurred on fuel and transportation, exporters said, giving reasons for losing market share in the international market. All these add to the input cost and leads to losing competence over China, one of the exporters said. They added that margins are very thin. Our neighbouring competitors like Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Vietnam have duty advantage of 9.60% in importing countries whereas India does not have the same advantage in the absence of signing of FTA with EU. Our products, therefore, get outpriced and we lose the market, they said. On the other hand, woollen manufacturers said increase in duty drawback rates from 3 to 4.8% will help the exporters. Any kind of support from the government is helpful for the industry. The increase in duty drawback rates will definitely boost the exports from the country and also give some kind of cushion to the domestic exporters which are facing stiff completion from China and other neighbouring countries, said Monte Carlo Fashions Executive Director Sandeep Jain. Garment industry Industry size Rs 30,000 crore Cotton/polyester units in Punjab, Haryana 200 Market leader in woollen garments Ludhiana editorial@tribune.com Naina Mishra Tribune News Service Chandigarh, December 6 According to the Chandigarh Commission for Protection of Child Rights (CCPCR), during an inspection, schools were found violating the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) orders to all state governments and UTs regarding a policy on the weight of school bags. The MHRD had, on October 5, instructed all state governments and UTs to formulate policy regarding school bags, reducing their weight on the lines of guidelines issued either by the State of Telangana or the State of Maharashtra. According to the Telangana model, the weight of the school bag for Classes I and II should not exceed 1.5 kg including textbooks, notebooks and weight of the empty bag. It should be 2 to 3 kg for Classes III to V, 4 kg for Classes VI and VIII, 4.5 kg for Classes VIII and IX and 5 kg for Class X. According to the inspection team, bags of students were still found heavy in spite of the specific guideline by the MHRD. Chairperson Harjinder Kaur said: While inspecting, it was found that children were carrying heavy school bags which is against the MHRD orders. However, Education Secretary BL Sharma said: The CCPCR should not be concerned with the MHRD. They should deal with issues related to child rights. Meanwhile, the Education Department is yet to devise a policy on the weight of school bags. Panel for child rights inspects schools The Chandigarh Commission for Protection of Child Rights (CCPCR) held an inspection to review the mode of transportation opted by schoolchildren on Thursday. The inspection team, led by CCPCR Chairperson and traffic police officials, visited Government Model Senior Secondary School, Mani Majra, and St Soldier International Public School, Sector 28. During the inspection, it was observed that auto-rickshaws ferrying schoolchildren were overloaded. Regular inspection of overloaded auto-rickshaws will be conducted by the commission to ensure safety and security of the children. Officials said schools heads blamed parents for not taking security measures. The inspection team also found that students were unaware of the child helpline numbers. harinder@tribunemail.com Ajay Banerjee Tribune News Service Chandigarh, December 6 As the three-day Military Literature Festival kicks off in Chandigarh on Friday, a look at the literary interests of the three service chiefs shows they have diverse preferences, almost like the forces they command. Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawats favourite book is The Battle of Dien Bien Phu, which is based on the French-Vietnam war and was authored by Jules Roy (first published in 1963). Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba, currently the senior-most military commander, marks The Cruel Sea as his favourite book. It is based on a British naval fleet in the North Atlantic during the World War-II (1939-45) and was authored by Nicholas Monsarrat (first printed in 1951). IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoas preference is more recent, the 2016 released Indias Wars: A Military History, 1947-71, authored by Air Vice Marshal Arjun Subramaniam (retd). The author was a fighter jet pilot, so is the IAF Chief. The book is detailed and has insider viewpoint and provides some lessons for military planners. A Ph.D in Defence and Strategic Studies from the University of Madras, the Air Vice Marshal is said to be researching for a sequel to his book and will cover the 1972-2015 period. Monsarrat served in the Royal British Navy during WW-II and rose to the rank of Lt Commander. He served on warships in the North Atlantic. His book is a portrayal of ordinary men learning to fight and survive in a battle with German U-boats (submarines). The book went on to be made into a movie by the same name in 1953. The Battle of Dien Bien Phu is considered a decisive battle. The Vietnamese rebels led by Ho Chi Minh fought against the French and attacked their garrison, something considered as turning point in the first Indo-China War (194654). The term Indo-China was used for former French colonies Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. After WW-II, French forces tried to re-occupy the area and camped at Dien Bien Phu valley in late 1953. Vietnamese commander Vo Nguyen Giap amassed troops and placed heavy artillery in caves of the mountains overlooking the French camp. Boosted by some Chinese help, Giap mounted assaults, eliminating use of the French airfield. The Vietnamese forces overran the base, which led to the signing of the Geneva Accords of 1954. rchopra@tribunemail.com Ajay Banerjee Tribune News Service Chandigarh, December 7 A three-day (December 7-9) annual military literature festival kicked off here on Friday with hundreds of schoolchildren, military historians from India and abroad, authors, and serving and retired military personnel in attendance. The festivalthis is the second edition, the first one being last year--will have movie shows, discussion of various wars and even one on spies. Notable among the discussions is the one on Anglo-Sikh War (1846); the contribution of Indians to World War I; the attack by the Indian Navy on Karachi Harbour during the 1971 Indo-Pak war; the use of Air Force during the 1965 Indo-Pak war; the over hang of the Sino-India war in 1962; and armoured operations of the 1965 war. Punjab Governor VPS Badnore inaugurated it with the promise that the festival would keep growing bigger. I am sure it will not only be limited or confined to the World Wars that we talked about but the heroism and unparalleled courage of the great Maharana Pratap, Shivaji and many other such warriors on the Indian soil. The Mahabharata, the worlds longest epic, was set in this very region. We will be discussing all this and more, the Governor said. Punjab, he said, had been proudly known as the sword arm of India. It has borne the brunt of ruthless invaders since times immemorial. History has it that the people of this land were subjected to untold horrors and deprivations over the ages. Repeated wars gave birth to a hardy population that brought forth some the finest warriors who walked the earth. With war came sacrifices that spurred great tales of heroism and valour. Western Army Commander Lt Gen Surinder Singh reminded the audience, Wars may not be kinetic as they were. We may move onto domain of space war, cyber warfare and information warfare and newer domains of war fighting. He said, In this region, many great battles had been fought; many generals had commanded men to war. Many men have made sacrifices. The sovereignty has been earned with the sweat and blood of our soldiers. It is good that these stories are told. He suggested that the military literature festival put in place a structure that became stronger as the years passed. As we move forward we must expand this discourse to learn from battles and wars from across the world. Lt Gen TS Shergill (retd), senior adviser to the Punjab Chief Minister and Chairman of the Military Literature Festival, was frank in saying, Soldier is not a killer; he is a warrior; he must know how to handle weapons of the future. He has to be compassionate. >>> PM hosts Singapores Minister for Home Affairs The signing took place after talks between Vietnams Minister of Public Security To Lam and Singapores Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Law Shanmugam in Hanoi on December 6. At their talks, Lam said after the agreement was signed in 2006 and extended in 2012, the cooperation between the two ministries have seen positive strides in various fields such as high-level delegation exchanges, law enforcement, fire prevention, and search and rescue operations. The two ministries have increased information exchanges in preventing terrorism, dealing with chemical, biological, nuclear and radioactive weapons as well as cyber attack risks, Lam said, adding that this is an important premise for the two governments and particularly the two ministries to develop cooperation in the future. He noted that Vietnam will host the 39th ASEAN Police Conference (ASEANPOL -39) in 2019, so his ministry hoped Singapore will support the event to reinforce the central role of ASEAN in general and the security-politics cooperation pillar in particular. In 2020, Vietnam will take the role of ASEAN Chair and host a number of relevant events, Lam said. He suggested the two sides strengthen information exchanges in the fields of mutual concerns such as terrorism, economic crime, wanted criminals, cyber security, and other non-traditional security issues. He asked the two sides to boost cooperation in training and ensuring cyber security as well as share relevant crime information to ensure safety for business and investment activities and for citizens living, learning, working, and travelling in the respective countries. He also recommended maintaining the organisation of the Interpol bilateral conference and promoting experience sharing in law enforcement in fire and explosion prevention. Shanmugam believed that the bilateral cooperation will see new developments and contribute to ensuring security and order in the respective countries as well as regional peace and stability. He pledged to do his utmost to bring the bilateral friendship and cooperation to a new height. The same day, Phan Dinh Trac, head of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committees Commission for Internal Affairs, who is also deputy head of the Central Steering Committee on Anti-Corruption, received the Singapores Minister. editorial@tribune.com Tribune News Service Chandigarh, December 6 The Punjab and Haryana High Court today reiterated its earlier directions on the removal of encroachments in front of houses in the name of greenery. Taking up the matter, Justice Amol Rattan Singh asserted that his house was in Sector 19 and there was a nice green area in front of it. It appealed to the eyes. Yet, it was not acceptable, if it was causing parking problems. The assertion came during the hearing of a traffic regulation case. Taking up the matter, Justice Amol Rattan Singh said greenery could not be maintained at the cost of parking space and encroachments in the name of green areas were required to be removed. Responding to a query by Justice Amol Rattan Singh on the time period required for the purpose of removing the encroachment, the Bench was told that the drive would be initiated from Sector 19 and a months time was required for the purpose. Expressing dissatisfaction, the Bench said the city had 55 sectors and as many months would be required for removing the encroachments, which was not acceptable. The Bench also called for a progress report in the matter and asked the Municipal Commissioner and the Estate Officer to ensure that encroachments were removed from front of houses and institutions so that the area encroached upon in the name of greenery was available for parking. The Bench, during the course of the hearing, was also told that the parking policy was being put in place. It was added that about 198 objections had so far been received. As such, some time was required. The police, meanwhile, were required to be asked not to act too tough. The Bench also made it clear that the residents were required to intimate and take permission from the Residents Welfare Association in case there was a function at someones place and vehicles were required to be parked in large numbers by the guests. The Bench added that the permission would be granted for a specific time. The Bench also clarified that vehicles could be parked on the space between the boundary wall of the house and the footpath, but not on the pathway. The assertion came after the Bench was told that the people were confused where and where not to park. Rapping the Chandigarh Traffic Police for sheer callousness, the Bench, during a previous date of hearing, had made it clear that it would issue contempt notice for repeated non-compliance of its directions on removal of vehicles parked on pedestrian pathways. Justice Amol Rattan Singh had also observed that the parking policy was said to be pending with the Deputy Commissioner for a year. Justice Amol Rattan Singh had asserted that not even a semblance of adequate action being taken was visible, despite directions to the Senior Superintendent of Police (Traffic and Security) that vehicles parked on the pedestrian pathways should be towed away, or clamped down or proceeded against by way of registration of a criminal case under Section 336 (an act endangering the life or personal safety of others) of the IPC. ROBINSINGH@TRIBUNE.COM Tribune News Service Chandigarh, December 7 Traders in Sector 17 have decided to start an agitation next week for implementation of the UT decision to make the sector a no-vending zone. The decision to start a peaceful protest was taken during a meeting of the Joint Action Committee (JAC), Sector 17, here today. Over 150 traders attended the meeting. Neeraj Bajaj, president of the JAC, said they would carry out the agitation in a phased manner. The details of the agitation would be announced on Monday. The protest would continue till Sector 17 becomes a vendor-free zone, he added. Jagdish Pal Kalra, Subhash Kataria, Arun Talwar, HS Gujral, Rajinder Minocha, Kamaljeet Singh Panchi and LC Arora were among those present in the meeting. Kalra said during the initial stage of the protest, they would observe black out from 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm every day, followed by a candlelight march in Sector 17. Later, the agitation would be taken to other markets of the city. The traders said they were forced to adopt the protest way to protect the Sector 17 market from further damage as it had already lost its beauty and business due to vendors who have swarmed the heart of the city. P Stobdan P Stobdan FORMER AMBASSADOR At a recent academic presentation at Tibetology Research Centre, Beijing, Chinese experts on Tibet said when Deng Xiaoping was seeking an accommodation in Tibet in the 1980s, the Dalai Lama was exploring other options in the West to play mischief against China. On his part, Tibet expert Xiaobin Wang claimed that the most belligerent attempt at confronting China came from the Dalai Lama immediately after the dramatic collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. It was the year when George HW Bush took a stance against Chinas repressive religious policy after he became the first-ever US President to receive the Dalai Lama officially at the White House. The Tibetan spiritual leader was perhaps prompted to believe that the mightiest of empires could be pulled down by shared power of religion. Whether or not such assessments are accurate, there was no doubting the Dalai Lamas optimism about a Soviet spinoff effect to either opt for a political process or face bloody political struggles as he also decided to drop the dialogue path. The US Tibet Policy Act Bill (2001) and Congressional gold medal to the Dalai Lama (2007) ensued worst riots across the plateau in 2008. Wang insinuated how the West fostered the Dalai Lama to become a potent force and an icon of resistance against China to wage a psychic war against the Communist regime. Chinas vitriol against the Dalai Lama as an evil separatist never stopped until Xi Jinping came to power in 2013. But the dialogue interrupted in 2010 has never been resumed. Tibets history and polity is rooted in Chinas ritualistic order that cant be changed, Wang asserted. The confusion arose after the British Empire (through eight key conventions between 1876 and 1914) tried to alter Tibets status, from a territory of China to a de facto independent nation. The Dalai Lamas middle way policy is an attempt at regaining a suzerainty status like trying to change the liquid, but not the drug, the Chinese said. The briefing was a part of the rare trip to Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture organised by Chinas foreign ministry to showcase Chinas achievements in Tibet. Ganzi (thrice the size of Punjab) proved its economic vitality: the middle class population here drew income from hydropower, geothermal, mining and tourism. The worlds largest methyl card lithium ore reserve is found here. Its agro-products directly go to Hong Kong, to cite few examples. One could feel the churning ethnic Chinese own shops everywhere. Tibetans are moving towards Chengdu to buy properties. Most Tibetans were discreet in making political comments. A lama in Xiede town said Xi was revered as lingxiu (wise man) and people are very respectful of Xi. Asked discreetly why they were not inviting the Dalai Lama back, the reply invariably was why should we invite him, he left the country by himself! Any prospect of his return would be resisted by the power elite network; people are more interested in better living than risking uncertainty, an official said. Obviously, China still suspects the Dalai Lamas covert intention to split Tibet from China. It is wary of his disruptive potentials. It is not ready to risk the chaos ensuing upon his arrival. Tibet is an outlying region and its vulnerabilities could be exploited by anti-China forces, noted an official in Khanding. Yet, I felt, he is still revered as a god-king by Tibetan folks, though this question was met with polite reticence by local Tibetan officials. Nobody I spoke to in Ganzi and Beijing thought reconciliation is coming anytime soon. No radical policy change is visible though more and more ordinary Chinese are seemingly getting drawn towards Tibetan Buddhism. I was amazed by the areas development and natural beauty. But as for the political takeaways, a bit of self-censorship in observation is needed, not only to avoid blocking access by China, but also to be careful to not hurt Tibetan sentiments about narrating Chinas Tibet story. On the downside, despite Chinas high development achievements, some unsettling elements could be felt. The situation concealed as much as it revealed. I could understand the Tibetan obsession for an epistemological and metaphysical-driven life, but failed to figure out why, as practitioners of the most erudite Buddhist philosophy like the Indians, Japanese, Koreans, Chinese and others, they fail in adopting the transformative changes. Perhaps, the greatest challenge before the younger Tibetan masters should include: firstly, to recognise the hard geopolitical reality; secondly, to employ their brand of Buddhism as a bridge to find a common ground; and thirdly, to catalyse Buddhism for bringing about a transformative change in Tibet. After all, Asian societies have succeeded in spurring an enduring socio-economic change this way. As for India, the Tibet issue seems no longer a crucial sticking point in its relationship with China. But, China definitely requires Indias support if the issue is to be resolved in its favour. Probably, the Wuhan process was just about that! The visit has given rise to the idea that it is now time for India to normalise its traditional trade and cultural ties with Tibet that should include reopening of an Indian Consulate in Lhasa. Equally apt to find ways to send high Tibetan lamas back to Tibet if the fruits of investments made by India on them for such a long time are to be reaped fully. Radhika Ramaseshan Radhika Ramaseshan Senior journalist Much like everything suffused in myth and lore, politics in Rajasthan has shreds of fantasy. One piece of fiction is built on the belief that "chhattis kaum" (or 36 castes) determine an election verdict. In reality, the number of castes far exceeds 36. According to the Rajasthan Government's Social Justice and Empowerment Department, there are 82 backward classes or castes, 50 scheduled sub-castes, each fiercely protective of its identity and often refusing to subsume its distinctiveness in a comprehensive title like Dalits, 12 scheduled sub-tribes, nine categories of denotified tribes and 13 nomadic tribes. These groupings obviously exclude the upper castes and Muslims. Among the pieces that make up Rajasthan's complex social mosaic, nobody can tell which castes constitute the chhattis kaum except to say that the phrase is a metaphor signifying a "loose unity among several castes and communities". Amit Shah, the Bharatiya Janata Party president, used chhattis kaum in his speeches and rattled off a few caste names. The Congress's optimism of wresting power from the BJP is predicated on the "support" it has from this very chhattis kaum. Why Rajputs, Jats back Cong Thirty-six or a 100, what was apparent in the penultimate phase of electioneering was that two of the most powerful castes, the Rajput and Jat, supported the Congress for different reasons. The Rajputs were upset ever since Anandpal Singh, a "dreaded gangster" to the non-Rajputs but a Robin Hood of sorts to the community, was gunned down by the police in an "encounter" in 2017. His daughter Yogita Singh canvassed against the BJP in the Rajput-strong areas. Diya Kumari, the sitting legislator from Sawai Madhopur and the daughter-in-law of Jaipur's erstwhile royal khandaan, was denied a ticket because she had a run-in with Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje over an alleged encroachment on the family's ancestral property in the state capital. She's a Rajput as is Manvendra Singh, the scion of BJP veteran Jaswant Singh. Manvendra's fighting Vasundhra Raje in Jalrapatan in a symbolic contest that, however, carries political import for the Rajputs because they can never forget how Jaswant Singh was passed over for a Lok Sabha nomination from Barmer in 2014. The Jats, true to the land they nurture and revere for making them prosperous, complained of falling on "bad" times for several reasons: the Chief Minister "selectively" waived farm loans, paid no MSP for their produce, gave electricity in small phases and inducted "only" five from their community in her Cabinet despite the Jats transferring their "bulk" votes from the Congress to the BJP in the 2013 Assembly polls. Anger against Raje The palpable anger against Vasundhara Raje, manifest in urban and rural Rajasthan, seemed in large part to have emanated from a mixed bag of policies. 1 Raje-watchers in the state said she was undecided on her priorities although when she sorted these out, she worked on implementing them to a T. In the blend of populism and fiscal reforms that characterised her second regime, early on in her tenure, Raje was ostensibly preoccupied with hosting the "Resurgent Rajasthan" meet to attract investors. Guest for guest, country for country, brand for brand, she was determined that the event should match "Vibrant Gujarat". Her agenda did not go unnoticed by Delhi where the BJP was installed by the time "Resurgent Rajasthan" happened in 2015. 2 Vasundhara Raje did not share an easy equation with the BJP's presiding regime. She carried herself with an aura that she felt a regional satrap deserved in a period when power was seamlessly transferred from Delhi to the BJP's weighty CMs whose importance grew during the 10 years that the party was in the Opposition. She did not realise that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, there was no place for a second chieftain. Instead of making her peace with Delhi, she riled the BJP President by contesting every decision he made for the Rajasthan party organisation. While that earned her brownie points among the large number of legislators who swore loyalty to her, it did not endear her to the Delhi bosses. Differences set aside As Raje fights to keep power with her back to the wall, Modi and Shah, too, have pulled out all the stops to retain Rajasthan, setting aside the issues they might have had with Raje. Shah contained the large-scale rebellion that erupted in the BJP after its candidates were shortlisted and galvanised the Rajasthan party, backed by his trusted lieutenants from Delhi, to purvey the state government's "achievements" on the ground. In part, the workers were re-activated but most of them cannot forget that for the last five years, the Chief Minister had remained largely inaccessible and her ministers were either out of sight or ineffective when they were seen. Barring her allegedly favourite legislators, the rest were apparently twiddling their thumbs. Cong position In a scenario tailor-made for an Opposition victory, the Congress lost the initial advantage it had by flawed ticket distribution, an inability to quell dissidence and employing a confusing narrative that had more elements of "soft Hindutva" than the issues of the day. However, the Congress' candidates and their local managers quickly reckoned it made more sense to talk of urea shortage and no MSP than challenging Yogi Adityananth on Hanuman's caste antecedent. monicakchauhan@gmail.com New York, December 7 An Indian IT contractor, his wife and father have been charged in the US with insider trading after he illegally tipped them with confidential client information he stole while working in the Singapore branch of an investment bank. Rajeshwar Gannamaneni, 36, is a citizen of India with a last known residence in Singapore. He provided nonpublic information about impending mergers, acquisitions, and tender offers to his wife, Deepthi Gandra, 33 and his father, Linga Rao Gannamaneni, 68 who lives in India, The Securities and Exchange Commission said in a statement. The SEC obtained a court-ordered freeze of assets in three US brokerage accounts and one US bank account connected to the alleged trading. The SEC's complaint alleges that between December 2013 and August 2016, Gannamaneni abused his position as a senior software consultant at the investment bank and accessed sensitive, highly-confidential information concerning at least 40 mergers, acquisitions, tender offers and other significant corporate events of the investment bank's clients. Gannamaneni then illegally traded on that information and shared it with his father and wife who unlawfully traded on it, collectively realising illicit profits of about USD 600,000. He also allegedly traded in an account that he controlled that was opened in the name of a family member, who was living in the US at the time. Gannamaneni asked this family member, a cousin who at the time lived in Virginia, to open an investment account at an American brokerage firm, so that he could place trades in this account from Singapore. "As alleged in our complaint, Gannamaneni abused his work-related access to sensitive, market-moving nonpublic information to enrich himself and those he tipped," said Kelly L. Gibson, Associate Director of Enforcement in the SEC's Philadelphia Regional Office. "Our continued use of innovative analytical tools to find suspicious trading patterns and expose misconduct demonstrates our resolve to catch insider traders who seek to take illegal advantage of the U.S. markets for personal gain." The SEC's complaint charges the defendants with fraud and seeks disgorgement of allegedly ill-gotten gains, pre-judgment interest, penalties, and injunctive relief. PTI editorial@tribune.com Sunit Dhawan Tribune News Service Rohtak, December 7 Haryana Minister of State for Cooperatives Manish Grover has courted controversy by offering guns, money and gunmen to residents of a village in the district while campaigning for the municipal elections. The minister had gone to address a public meeting at Pahrawar village in the district on Friday in support of BJP nominee Monu Devi for the seat of municipal councillor from Ward No.10. He was told by some villagers that a rival candidate was roaming with a gun. At this, Grover told the villagers not to be afraid of anyone and offered them guns, money, gunmen and whatever they wanted till the conclusion of the municipal elections. Solah tareekh ki sham tak aapko koi kami nahi aaney doonga. Bandook chahiye, gunman chahiye, paisa chahiye, aur kuchh chahiye, wo bhi dene ko tayyar hoon, the minister said as the gathering cheered. On being contacted, Grover said I merely told them not to be afraid of anyone and assured them of police security in case they felt threatened. The offer for guns and gunmen was made in that sense, he stated. The minister, however, failed to give any satisfactory reply as to why he offered guns and gunmen to the villagers instead of ensuring legal action against the candidate about whom the villagers had complained. Regarding the offer for money, he said that was made in context of preparation for the elections. Meanwhile, local Congress leader and former Rohtak MLA Bharat Bhushan Batra has demanded legal action against Grover for making the said offers. Terming it a violation of the model Code of Conduct, he said the State Election Commission should take cognizance of the matter and ban the minister from campaigning. Senior Congress leader and former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda-supported Rohtak mayoral candidate Sita Ram Sachdeva has lodged a complaint with the State Election Commission, requesting him to refrain Grover from campaigning in Rohtak and getting an FIR registered against him for inciting violence and violating the model code of conduct. editorial@tribune.com Our Correspondent Kullu, December 6 Kullu SP Shalini Agnihotri said a friend of the victim in the Russian woman gangrape case, identified both accused in court on Thursday, during a test identification parade. She said the victim could not come so the test identification parade was done by her friend, who was accompanying her before the crime. The police had arrested Sanjay Kumar (39) from Palampur and Sanjay Tamang (28) from Nepal for the crime. The SP said the victim approached the police and alleged that she was gangraped by two persons on the night of October 25. She said the 33-year-old victim was going from Old Manali towards Hadimba with a Nepalese friend. Both accused tried to rob them, but the Nepalese friend of the victim went to the ATM with one of the accused to give them some cash instead. She said later the accused accompanying the friend of the victim was able to mislead him and the two raped her. The duo is in judicial remand till December 10. editorial@tribune.com Tribune News Service Srinagar, December 7 Former Chief Minister and Peoples Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti on Friday accused Governor Satya Pal Malik of encroaching upon democratic space and threatened to launch an agitation if the Chenab valley and Pir Panjal area were not accorded divisional status, as apparently proposed for Ladakh. She alleged that the way the Governors administration was issuing orders, it appeared that somebodys hidden agenda is being implemented through the backdoor. So many orders have been issued which are against the interests of J&K. We had expectations from the Governor, who has served as a politician, that he would be overcautious given the sensitivities of J&K. Unfortunately, everyday some order is issued which is creating insecurity among people. Barring few, all political parties are worried, Mehbooba said while addressing a press conference in Srinagar. Some days back there was talk about making J&K Bank a PSU. Then there was talk about changing the procedure for state subject certificate and then the Roshni Act was repealed, impacting poor Gujjars and Bakerwals. Mehbooba said there was no emergency for the orders being issued by the Governor. We respect the Governor, but why is he encroaching on democratic space? There was no emergency for these orders. Such decisions could have waited for the elections and the government to be formed. It seems somebodys hidden agenda is being implemented through the backdoor, she said. Mehbooba said there was also talk about Ladakh being given the status of a division. There is Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council in Leh and Kargil. I request the Governor and parties like the National Conference and Congress to demand division status for the Chenab valley and Pir Panjal too, if they have thought about Ladakh, she said. If the Governor decides on divisional status for Ladakh but not for the Chenab valley and Pir Panjal then we will be forced to agitate in a peaceful manner. On Haseeb Drabu leaving the party, she said it was unfortunate. Ahead of elections, people do enter and leave political parties, she said. editorial@tribune.com Doda, December 7 In a major achievement, the police arrested an ISI agent in Kishtwar district on Friday. The police claimed that Sehran Sheikh, alias Abu Zubair, of Malipeth in Kishtwar was working as an ISI agent and had exchanged important information with Pakistan. The police said he was gathering information regarding the police, Armed Forces and security establishments. They said there were inputs that a banned terror organisation was using these agents to carry out terror attacks on security forces in the district. Kishtwar SSP Rajinder Gupta said: We have arrested an ISI agent in Kishtwar who was in contact with Pakistan-based terror organisation Harkat-ul-Mujahideen. He had sent many video clips and pictures of important installations of security forces and the Nashri tunnel to the terror organisation. We have arrested him and further investigation is on. The police claimed that the arrested person had confessed to his involvement. They said they had found that he had exchanged videos, including those of paramilitary forces establishments, with Pakistani numbers. With his arrest, the police have foiled a major terror plot. OC rchopra@tribunemail.com New Delhi, December 7 The J&K government on Friday sought adjournment of the case in the Supreme Court challenging the validity of the sensitive Jammu and Kashmir Resettlement Act of 1982. The Act envisages grant of permit for resettlement of Pakistani nationals who had migrated to Pakistan from Jammu and Kashmir between 1947 and 1954 after Partition. A bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice SK Kaul was told by advocate Shoeb Alam, appearing for the state government, that permission should be granted for circulation of the letter for adjournment of the case. The bench granted the permission. The petitioner, Jammu and Kashmir National Panther Party (JKNPP) had on Thursday mentioned the matter for urgent hearing saying it had been pending for long and needed to be decided. The top court had on August 16, 2016, indicated that it might refer the matter to a constitution bench if it found that some issues needed interpretation of the Constitution. The court had said that it would hear the matter and if during the course of proceedings it is found that no constitutional issue is involved then it would pass an order. JKNPP had earlier told the court that a division bench in 2008 had issued direction to list the case before a constitution bench but the Chief Justice in the same year had overruled the decision and ordered the matter to be listed before a three-judge bench. It had said that people of Jammu and Kashmir who had migrated to Pakistan from 1947 could be considered for their return but their descendants could not be. The party had said that the law passed by the Assembly was draconian, unconstitutional and improper which threatened the security of the state. JKNPP through Harsh Dev Singh, the then MLA, had challenged the Act passed by the J&K Assembly in 1982. In 1982, the Act was first challenged by Singh before the apex court and then Governor BK Nehru had refused to sign the Bill and sent it back to the Assembly. Later, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the then president of the newly constituted BJP, had also filed a petition before the apex court seeking intervention. The matter was considered by the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court in 2001 on a presidential reference. The apex court returned the reference to the President with a three-word pronouncement: Returned, respectfully, unanswered. JKNPP through its then MLA Harsh Dev Singh in 2001 had filed a writ petition in the apex court seeking quashing of the Resettlement Act. The top court while admitting the plea had ordered for stay of operation of the Act and in 2008, the matter was referred to the constitution bench on the plea that the subject related to the interpretation of the Constitution of India. PTI editorial@tribune.com Srinagar, December 7 The Army on Friday paid a befitting tribute to Gunner Rajesh Kumar, who was killed in a ceasefire violation in the Machil sector of Kupwara district on Thursday. In a solemn ceremony at BB Cantonment, Lt Gen AK Bhatt, General Officer Commanding, Chinar Corps, and all ranks paid homage to the slain soldier, a Srinagar-based defence spokesman said. Gunner Kumar, 25, sustained bullet injuries during the ceasefire violation by Pakistan along the Line of Control. He was provided immediate first aid and was evacuated to the 92 Base Hospital, but he succumbed to his injuries, he said. Gunner Kumar had joined the Army in 2013 and is survived by his parents and wife. He belonged to Rejua village of Jalesar tehsil in Etah district of Uttar Pradesh. Meanwhile, the BSF on Friday also paid tributes to Constable Prosenjit Biswas, who was killed in Pakistani firing while defending the LoC in Rajouri district. A wreath-laying ceremony was organised at the Jammu frontier BSF camp at Paloura, where rich tributes were paid to the slain BSF man. Inspector General, BSF, Ram Awtar said Constable Biswas was a brave and sincere borderman and the nation would remain indebted to him for his supreme sacrifice. The mortal remains of the martyr will be sent to Kolkata and then to his native Balla Shisha village in Nadia district of West Bengal. TNS/PTI ROBINSINGH@TRIBUNE.COM Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas wedding and reception pictures, that are doing rounds on the internet, have been keeping their fans hooked since last few days. While we are still not done gushing over these stunning pictures of the couple, Priyanka made a fresh announcement. The actress has changed her name on her Instagram. Her name now reads as Priyanka Chopra Jonas. After Delhi, the newlywed couple is now set to host a grand reception in Mumbai. The latest buzz suggests that the reception will be held on December 20. Although no information about the venue has been disclosed, it seems that the couple has to get into planning mode yet again. Meanwhile, on the work front, Priyanka is set to start with the Ahmedabad schedule of Shonali Bose's The Sky Is Pink. She is also expected to head to Sikkim for promoting her film Pahuna with her mother Madhu Chopra. editorial@tribune.com Shivani Bhakoo Tribune News Service Ludhiana, December 7 In yet another assurance to the industrialists, Minister for Industries Sunder Sham Arora said the state government would refund value added tax (VAT) by March 2019. Earlier, specific dates were given twice by Arora to the industrialists, whose VAT refunds amounting to several crores were still pending. The Minister for Industries was here in the city to inaugurate the 5th MACHMA Expo-2018 alongwith other dignitaries, including Food and Civil Supplies Minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu, Ludhiana MP Ravneet Singh Bittu and MLA Sanjay Talwar. Arora said the one-time settlement policy of the government would revive sick industrial units as most of their interest amount would be waived-off. He said in Mandi Gobindgarh over 200 sick units have been revived and new units were also coming up. Arora said 24 new clusters will be made out of which seven will be in Ludhiana. He added that the maximum fund would be given by the state government for making the cluster and a small amount to the tune of Rs 1.5 crore each would be borne by the industry. Ashu announced a grant of Rs 25 lakh for the Focal Point industry while Arora announced Rs 5 lakh grant to the CICU for establishing centre digital excellence. Besides, Ismail Ayobami Alatise, Deputy High Commissioner, High Commission of Nigeria; Khaldoon Tareq Yaseen, Commercial Attache, Embassy of the Republic of Iraq; George Crytone Mkondiwa , High Commissioner, High Commission of the Republic of Malawi; and her excellence Judith Kapijimpanga , High Commissioner of the Republic of Zambia; were also present on the occasion. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between the Chamber of Industrial and Commercial Undertakings and Small Industries Development Bank of India Equipment for providing loan at very nominal interest to the industry. The CICU members also held one to one meeting with the Ambassadors of Zambia, Malawi and Iraq to discuss future business prospects. rchopra@tribunemail.com Our Correspondent Jaipur, December 7 About 73.64 per cent of the 4.74 crore registered voters cast their vote in Rajasthan where elections were held on Friday for 199 of the 200 Assembly seats. The elections were largely peaceful barring a few sporadic incidents of violence. "This is a tentative polling percentage. It would be finalised later tonight," Chief Election Officer Anand Kumar told a press conference here. Pokhran recorded the highest voting at 86.60 per cent, followed by Nimbahera 84.76 per cent, Manohar Thana 84.22 per cent, and Pilibanga 84.02 per cent. Jalore recorded the lowest at 59.91 per cent. This is the tentative polling percentage and would be finalised later tonight, a Chief Election Office spokesman said. Congress claimed it had received complaints about 400 non-functional EVMs. They were reported to the Chief Election Officer. AICC General Secretary Avinash Pandey accused BJP supporters of booth capturing and violence at 160 places. Poll-related violence was reported from Bharatpur, Dausa, Bikaner and Barmer districts, a poll official said. A vehicle cop was set on fire at Bikaners Jaggasar around 8 am, a cop of Bajju Thana told The Tribune. At least five people were wounded in violent clashes between two political parties after voting ended in Lathi, which comes under Jaisalmer Assembly segment. A vehicle and two shops were set on fire, Special DG Law & Order N R K Reddy told The Tribune. Police rushed personnel to the place, Reddy said, adding that they were still awaiting a detailed report of the incident. Independent candidate Om Prakash Hudla was also manhandled by supporters of a party in Mahava. One person was stabbed during polling at Nagar in Bharatpur district on Friday morning. Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje and veteran Congress leader Ashok Gehlot cast their votes in their constituenciesJhalarapatan and Sardarpura seat in Jodhpur city. Rajasthan Congress chief Sachin Pilot cast his vote at Jaipur's Jalupura booth in the forenoon, and BJP state president Madan Lal Saini went to his is hometown of Sikar for voting. Some 75.04 per cent of the state's electorate had cast their ballots in 2013 assembly elections. As many as 51,687 polling booths have been set up in 199 out of the total 200 assembly constituencies where polling is going on amid tight security. A senior police officer said polling was going on peacefully and elaborate security arrangements are in place. Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, Pradesh Congress Committee chief Sachin Pilot and other leaders were among those who exercised their franchise. Raje (Jhalrapatan), Pilot (Tonk) and former chief minister Ashok Gehlot (Sardarpura) are among the 2,274 candidates in the fray. The election in Ramgarh constituency of Alwar district was put off following the death of Bahujan Samaj Party candidate Laxman Singh. The results will be out on December 11, along with those from the other four states which saw Assembly elections in the past few weeks. Raje, who is the BJPs chief ministerial candidate, is fighting against veteran BJP leader Jaswant Singhs son Manvendra Singh in Jhalrapatan, the constituency she has represented since 2003. Manvendra Singh switched to the Congress just before the election, making the fight tougher for Raje this time. She had won 63 per cent of the votes cast in 2013, winning the seat by a margin of 60,896. Tonk, with a sizeable Muslim population, is a keenly-watched contest between Sachin Pilot and BJP candidate and Rajasthan Transport Minister Yoonus Khan, who is the saffron partys only Muslim face in the elections. The BJP had initially fielded sitting MLA Ajit Singh Mehta in Tonk. But in a change of strategy, the party dropped him and sent Khan to take on Pilot. This is a maiden assembly election for Pilot, a two-time MP who is seen as a chief ministerial possibility if the Congress wins. He has represented Dausa and Ajmer Lok Sabha constituencies in the past. In about 130 constituencies, the contest appears to be mainly between the BJP and the Congress. In the current 200-member House, the BJP has 159 MLAs, while Congress 25, NPP 4, NUJDP 2, BSP 3 and Independents 7. With PTI uttara@tribuneindia.com Shahira Naim Tribune News Service Lucknow, December 7 An Army jawan posted in Jammu and home on holiday could be the person who shot down Syana Station Officer Subodh Kumar Singh during the recent mob attack in Bulandshahr. This alarming fact has emerged during the investigation of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) and Special Task Force (STF) probe into the twin murders, damage to property and related cases in Bulandshahr on Monday following allegations of cow slaughter. Of the videos of the Bulandshahr violence that have emerge, there is one that shows the jawan aiming a weapon as part of the rioting crowd. Following the lead from the video, the investigation team explored this angle. Police grew more suspicious as the jawan is said to have returned to his unit in Jammu immediately after the incident. Police have contacted his unit in Jammu, which has assured to hand him over. A police team has reportedly already left for Jammu. ADG Meerut zone has confirmed police are exploring this angle. Preliminary investigation has confirmed that both inspector and Sumit, the other person killed, were shot by the weapons of identical 0.32 bore. Sumit is suspected to be part of the attacking mob. As police on the spot were armed with 303 bore rifles both victims were clearly shot down by some other weapon. The personal weapon of Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh, missing along with his mobile since the mob violence was also of the 0.32 bore. So either the SOs weapon was used to shoot him and Sumit or some other illegal weapon was used. uttara@tribuneindia.com Smita Sharma Tribune News Service New Delhi, December 7 The Centre continues to mount pressure on social media groups in India to deploy pro-active tools to identify objectionable content and remove them from platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Google, Instagram, Whatsapp and YouTube. Senior government sources have told The Tribune that the government wants these platforms to check content that could be obscene or incite violence. Sources claim regular conversations between team leads and representatives of these groups and Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) bureaucrats on the matter is proving productive. A senior delegation led by Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba and including officials from other security agencies has held meetings with these social media platforms to review the steps taken. These sometimes fortnightly interactions have been successful. Complaints rate has gone up from 60 to 80 percent in less than two months, an MHA official said. Social media platforms in India have come under severe criticism with several mob lynching or rioting cases triggered reportedly by fake news or hate messages propagated through Whatsapp and other platforms inciting fear and violence in different parts. Officials says that the utility of these platforms is not disputed, but there are concerns about enforcing directives issued to them under relevant provisions of the IT Act and Telegraph Act. Directives include blocking or removing objectionable content and if an offence is made out to help identify the account and facilitate the prosecution process. Social media giants are reluctant to share consumer details to protect data privacy and to prevent policing under the pretext of security. Whatsapp, which made some specific changes that included limiting to five the number of contacts that a message can be forwarded to at one time, has also undertaken a campaign to spread awareness about Dos and Donts through advertisements in national media. According to sources, in one of the recent interactions last week the industry leaders had with Gauba, the UK model was suggested whereby Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools and some NGOs have been roped in to curb the social media menace. We have asked them to have grievance redressal officers in India, as some of them do not have yet, an official added. harinder@tribunemail.com Lucknow, December 6 The 26th anniversary of demolition of Babri Mosque passed off peacefully in Uttar Pradesh today, with Hindu and Muslim organisations observing the day as shaurya diwas and black day, respectively. While the VHP and Bajrang Dal burst crackers and resolved to build a grand Ram Temple in Ayodhya, Muslim outfits held protests to express grief. In Ayodhya, Mahant Suresh Das of Digambar Akhara said Ram Temple is the biggest issue facing the country. We must go to the peoples court and convince the public for construction of Ram Temple, he said. There are reports of protests being held in Kerala, Hyderabad and Maharashtra. Meanwhile, the Calcutta High Court today denied permission to the BJP to hold a rath yatra to be flagged off by party president Amit Shah from Cooch Behar tomorrow. This was the first of the three rath yatras the BJP had planned to build up the momentum for its poll campaign. PM Narendra Modi and UP CM Yogi Adityanath were supposed to hold public meetings during the yatra. The HC said it could not take place till the next hearing on January 9. PTI/TNS shalender@tribune.com Vijay Mohan Tribune News Service Chandigarh, December 7 Senior armed forces veterans today sounded a note of caution against the politicisation of military operations and building up of a hype that could have a detrimental effect on the planning of future operations. Speaking on cross-border operations and surgical strikes at the Military Literature Festival here, Lt Gen DS Hooda (retd), former General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Northern Command, who had supervised the surgical strikes, said the overhype following the 2016 surgical strikes across the Line of Control proved to be of little help. It isnt good to have political dissonance in military matters and all parties need to come together on a common platform at least in the strategic arena. In this case, there was too much political banter on both sides, he said. Emphasising that some publicity was required in this case as too many questions were being raised in civilian and military domain over the series of terror attacks on defence installations, Lt Gen Hooda warned that surgical strikes were high-risk operations and publicising these could impact thinking and impose a sense of caution on the leadership. Dubbing cross-border operations at the tactical level a way of life on the LoC, Lt Gen Hooda said it was for the first time that such an operation had been carried out at such a large scale, involving five raids in operational area of two corps, with approval coming in from the highest political level. There was a fair amount of panic on the other side and the Pakistani army was completely shocked. Thats why they didnt respond, he said. The raids were planned as retribution to terror attacks and were not the result of any strategic thought process, he said, adding that their success resulted in moral dominance and raised the morale of Indian troops. The trend of politicians questioning the Army at public forums is the biggest threat to military operations and needs to be guarded against, former Army Chief Gen VP Malik (retd) remarked. Lt Gen NS Brar (retd), former Deputy Chief of Integrated Defence Staff, said the most critical issue involving cross-border operations was these should serve larger national and strategic objectives, which he wasnt too sure had been done in this case. Pointing out that cross-border operations were intended to make sure that any terrorist strike became cost-prohibitive to the enemy, Lt Gen JS Cheema (retd), former Deputy Chief of the Army Staff, said such strikes were meant for tactical assertiveness along the LoC and it would be too simplistic to assume these would make Pakistan change its strategy. We must have an effective response mechanism because inaction will only embolden the enemy, he added. rchopra@tribunemail.com United Nations, December 7 India has abstained from voting on a UN General Assembly draft resolution put forward by the US that would have condemned the activities of Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza. The resolution Activities of Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza got 87 votes in favour, 58 against with 32 abstentions. The resolution failed to be adopted on Thursday as it could not garner two-thirds support in the General Assembly. India was among the 32 countries that abstained from voting on the resolution which would have condemned Hamas for repeatedly firing rockets into Israel and for inciting violence, thereby putting civilians at risk, and for its use of resources in Gaza to construct military infrastructure, including tunnels to infiltrate Israel and equipment to launch rockets into civilian areas. The resolution had specified that further engagement by the UN Secretary-General, and the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, in efforts to de-escalate the situation in Gaza, was also needed. Through a procedural vote held before the main vote on the resolution, the Assembly had voted to apply the two-thirds majority requirement for the adoption of the draft. Before the voting, US Permanent Representative to the UN Nikki Haley said despite more than 500 General Assembly resolutions condemning Israel, not one condemning Hamas has ever been adopted. She described the two-thirds decision, which passed by just a handful of votes, as unfair adding that the Hamas resolution was an opportunity for States to do the right thing. There is nothing more anti-Semitic than saying we cannot condemn terrorism against Israel, while we would not hesitate for one minute to condemn the same acts if they were taken against any other countryThe people who have suffered by far the most because of Hamas are the Palestinian people. For their sake, the world should speak out against the destruction of Hamas and what it continues to cause, she said. Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon said the resolution had been a chance for UN redemption and that those who had voted against it should be ashamed of themselves. He said Hamas exploited the people of Gaza, adding that the organisation is in flagrant violation of international law. There is no difference between Hamas, and Al-Qaida and Boko Haram, he said, adding that as the Jewish people are celebrating Hanukkah, the plurality of Member States of the United Nations had chosen to condemn Hamas. A number of states explained their reasons for voting against the resolution. The Saudi Arabian representative stated that, since 1967, Israel had not respected any General Assembly or Security Council resolutions, whilst Kuwait and Irans representatives said that the resolution ignores and deflects attention from the root causes of the conflict. The representative of Kuwait called for respecting relevant United Nations resolutions in efforts to address the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and stressed the importance of a two-state solution based on pre-1967 borders. Speaking after action had been taken on the drafts, the Permanent Observer for the State of Palestine said the strong support for draft that was adopted was an unequivocal affirmation, especially significant in view of actions aimed at eroding the global consensus for a just solution for the Palestinian people. PTI rchopra@tribunemail.com United Nations, December 7 India has strongly criticised the UN for its failure to show resolve in sanctioning new Taliban leaders who continue to perpetrate violence and destruction in Afghanistan and aided by those harboured in safe havens in its neighbourhood, a veiled reference to Pakistan. Counsellor in Indias Permanent Mission to the UN Eenam Gambhir said at a UN General Assembly debate on the situation in Afghanistan it is clear that the terrorists who planned attacks against Afghanistan are not interested in peace. The goalposts for them have changed. The terrorists and their supporters have now set up industries amongst them of narcotics and illegal mining in the territories they control stealing the resources of the Afghan people and to fund more violence and terrorism, she said. Gambhir said while the people of Afghanistan strove for better lives and a peaceful future, the challenges they faced had only increased in the recent past. She cited the recently released Global Terrorism Index, which named Afghanistan as the worlds deadliest country for terrorism with one quarter of all worldwide terrorism-related deaths during 2017 occurring in the country. India strongly criticised the UNs failure to deal with the source of terrorism wreaking havoc in the war-torn country. Despite these challenges, the UN has not demonstrated the resolve to deal with the source of the problem. The Security Council sanctions committee, which refuses to designate new leaders of the Taliban or to freeze the assets of the slain leader of Taliban, is falling short of what is expected of it by the Afghans and international community, she said. From the lessons from the past we, who are located in New York, are aware that peace in Afghanistan is tied to the peace and security in the entire world, she added. Gambhir noted that while the international community advocated that there is no military solution to the issue, the Taliban, aided by their supporters, continued to pursue military operations perpetrating violence and destruction, like the recent attack in Kabul, over several parts of Afghanistan. In a thinly-veiled reference to Pakistan, Gambhir said these offensives are planned and launched by those who are harboured in safe havens in the neighbourhood of Afghanistan. These sanctuaries have, for years, provided safety for the dark agendas of ideologically and operationally-fused terror networks like the Taliban, Haqqani network, Daesh, Al-Qaeda and its proscribed affiliates such as the Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed. Gambhir said the reports of the Secretary General repeatedly demonstrated that the violence and terror in Afghanistan was showing no signs of abating. We witnessed an increased frequency of attacks, in places never imagined before; even the sick and wounded in hospitals, young boys and girls in schools, praying devotees in mosques, and even mourners at funerals, were not spared by the forces of terror and violence, she said. The General Assembly held its annual debate on the situation in Afghanistan during which it adopted a resolution by a recorded vote of 124 in favour to none against, with three abstentions (Libya, Russia, Zimbabwe). Through the terms of the draft resolution, the Assembly pledged its continued support to Afghanistan as it rebuilds a stable, secure and economically self-sufficient state, free of terrorism and narcotics. It further encouraged all partners to support constructively the Government of Afghanistans reform agenda and emphasises that threats to stability and development in the country and the region require closer and more coordinated cooperation. Gambhir lauded the enthusiastic participation of the people of Afghanistan in the parliamentary elections held last month despite terrorist violence, saying this reflects their desire and faith in democratic governance and rejection of forces that foment and spread terror and violence. Democracy in Afghanistan is taking deeper roots, she said. PTI shalender@tribune.com Tribune News Service New Delhi, December 7 The Supreme Court today imposed a cost of Rs 50,000 on a lawyer for filing a frivolous PIL levelling allegations against Finance Minister Arun Jaitley relating to capital reserve of the Reserve Bank of India. A Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi also barred advocate ML Sharma from filing PILs until he deposited the money. We find no reason whatsoever to entertain this PIL, said the Bench, which also included Justcie Sanjay Kishan Kaul. Sharma alleged the Finance Minister favoured waiving loan of up to 55,000 crore given by PSU banks to prominent corporates who had been giving donations to a particular party. What is this PIL? You cannot go on with such misadventure. What exactly is this? You are saying the Finance Minister is plundering the capital reserve of the RBI. We dont subscribe to such plea and picking up on people. You are not bringing honour to this institution. Why do we permit you to go ahead with this PIL? the Bench asked Sharma who alleged interference by the Centre in RBIs functioning. The Bench imposed the cost on Sharma as he continued accusing the Finance Minister of plundering the capital reserve of the RBI even after dismissal of his petition. The Bench was visibly upset over Sharma making the Finance Minister the main party in the PIL. harinder@tribunemail.com New Delhi, December 6 Expressing serious concern over 14,926 deaths in road accidents due to potholes in the last five years, the Supreme Court today said the number was probably more than those killed on border or by the terrorists. A Bench headed by Justice Madan B Lokur said it was unacceptable. It asked the Centre to respond to a report filed by the Supreme Court Committee on Road Safety. The panel headed by former SC Judge KS Radhakrishnan has highlighted the number of deaths due to potholes in India. Earlier, the top court had asked the Supreme Court Committee on Road Safety to look into the matter. It had also said that people who have lost their lives as a result of accidents due to potholes should be entitled to compensation. Referring to media reports, the court had said, So many are dying due to accidents caused by potholes. Reports say that more people have died due to accidents caused by potholes than in terror attacks. It had asked the committee to file a report within two weeks. TNS shalender@tribune.com Yash Goyal Our Correspondent Jaipur, December 7 At 74.02 per cent, Rajasthan saw a voter turnout slightly lower than it was in 2013 (75.23 per cent). Despite the registration of about 40 lakh new voters, the poll percentage slipped by 1.21 per cent. Barring a few incidents of clashes, the polling remained peaceful. This is a tentative polling percentage, Chief Election Officer Anand Kumar told a press conference here. Pokhran recorded the maximum turnout at 86.60 per cent followed by Nimbahera 84.76, Manohar Thana 84.22 and Pilibanga 84.02 per cent. Jalore saw the lowest turnout 59.91 per cent followed by Marwar Junction at 59.96 per cent. Special DGP NRK Reddy said at least five persons were injured in a clash between Jat and Rajput supporters after polling had ended at Lathi. A vehicle and two shops were set afire. The supporters came in jeeps and raised slogans. Another vehicle was set ablaze in Jaggasar, Bikaner district, a cop at the Bajju police station said. Independent candidate Om Prakash Hudla was reportedly manhandled in Mahwa. Paramilitary jawans opened fire into the air to disperse a crowd trying to force its way into a booth at a village in Alwars Shahjahapur. AICC general secretary Avinash Pandey accused BJP supporters of booth-capturing and violence at 160 places. Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje cast her vote in Jhalrapatan, Congress Ashok Gehlot in Sardarpura in Jodhpur city and PCC president Sachin Pilot in Jaipurs Jalupura booth. BJP state president Madan Lal Saini, accompanied by supporters, cast his ballot at his hometown Sikar. Among the Congress bigwigs in the contest are Ashok Gehlot, Sachin Pilot, CP Joshi, Rameshwar Dudi, Girija Vyas and sitting MPs Raghu Sharma and Harish Meena. It is Pilots maiden Assembly election. A two-time MP from Dausa and Ajmer, he is seen as a possible CM candidate, if the Congress wins. In the current House, the BJP has 160 seats and the Congress 25. rchopra@tribunemail.com New Delhi, December 7 The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on industrialist Vijay Mallyas plea challenging the ongoing proceedings in a Mumbai court to declare him fugitive economic offender. A bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice SK Kaul sought the probe agencys response on the plea against the ongoing trial before a special court under the money laundering act. The ED moved the special court seeking to declare the London-based industrialist a fugitive economic offender under the Fugitive Economic Offender Act, 2018. The apex court issued notice on Mallyas plea but refused to stay the proceedings before the Mumbai special court. The Bombay High Court recently dismissed Mallyas appeal. The industrialist has filed an appeal against the high court order. PTI rchopra@tribunemail.com Vibha Sharma Tribune News Service New Delhi, December 7 Accusing Mamata Banerjee of subverting democracy, BJP chief Amit Shah on Friday said the West Bengal Chief Minister had stalled the partys rath yatras as she was scared of the impact they would have created in the state. She is scared of the BJP, he said, launching a strident attack, recounting past incidents to allege lawlessness in the state. He was addressing a press conference here. By stopping these yatras and stopping the BJP programmes you will only fuel peoples anger, Shah told Banerjee saying the BJP would continue to make efforts to reach out to people of West Bengal. I can understand her fears but people of the state are with the BJP, she should understand, Shah said, adding that he would lead the yatras and reach Kolkota on Saturday. The Calcutta High Court on Thursday had refused permission to the BJP to hold the Rath Yatra in Coochbehar after the West Bengal government had refused to allow the event saying it could cause communal tension. Shah was scheduled to flag off the yatra, touted as the partys biggest political campaign in West Bengal, on Friday. pardeepdhull@gmail.com New Delhi, December 7 Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday asked party workers to be vigilant after polls close in Rajasthan and Telangana, saying in Modis India, the EVMs have mysterious powers. Gandhi on Thursday had urged party workers in two states to put all their efforts at their respective polling booths to ensure the partys win in both the states. Taking to Twitter on Friday, Gandhi asked party workers to be vigilant after polls close. In MP, EVMs behaved strangely after polling: Some stole a bus and vanished for 2 days! Others slipped away & were found drinking in a hotel. In Modis India, the EVMs have mysterious powers, he said, in an apparent reference to media reports that Electronic Voting Machines or EVMs reached a collection centre in Madhya Pradesh 48 hours after voting ended on November 28. PTI editorial@tribune.com Sarika Sharma Tribune News Service Chandigarh, December 6 Theatre veteran Kewal Dhaliwal, an Indo-Pak peace crusader, and Suresh Sharma, acting director of the National School of Drama (NSD), have been shortlisted for the post of Director, NSD. This is for the first time that persons from the two states has made it to the final list for the top post of the countrys premier institute. The post fell vacant after former director Waman Kendre was recently told to leave before his term ended. Dhaliwal, president of Punjab Sangeet Natak Akademi, is an NSD alumnus and has been active in theatre for the past 35 years. He has been an active proponent of progressive theatre in Punjab. An advocate of Indo-Pak peace, he had been inviting Pakistani artists to perform in India. Suresh Sharma is the chief of NSD Repertory Company. He runs a theatre training institute, Himachal Sanskriti Shodh Sansthan in Mandi, along with his wife Seema Sharma. Sources said around 100 nominations were received for the post. Of these, 10 were shortlisted and invited for an interview. The interviews were held last month. A panel of senior playwrights and directors selects the final three. But this time, four have been selected. The other two are Tulasidhara Kurup, a playwright from Kerala, and Abdul Latif Khatana of Jammu & Kashmir, chief of Theatre in Education Company of the NSD. He was also among the final three candidates in 2013 as well along with Kendre and Arundhati Nag. The panelists included Arjun Deo Charan, a playwright from Rajasthan and acting chairman of the NSD, Hindi playwright DP Sinha and playwright Manoj Mitra. Talking to The Tribune, Dhaliwal said the final decision would be taken by the Ministry of Culture in consultation with the Home Minister and the PM. It was expected after the Assembly elections, he added. editorial@tribune.com GS Paul Tribune News Service Amritsar, December 6 In one of the biggest seizures of gold along the India-Pakistan border, the Customs Department recovered a 32-kg consignment from the Integrated Check-Post (ICP) last evening. Its market value is around Rs 10 crore. The gold was concealed in an apple consignment from Afghanistan, loaded in a Pakistani truck. Commissioner, Customs, Dipak Kumar Gupta said the truck entered Indian territory around 2.30 pm. Our team found a carton of apples in which two gold bars weighing around 1.2 kg each were concealed, wrapped in black carbon paper. During a thorough checking of all cartons, 27 gold bars were recovered. They have a cumulative weight of 32.654 kg, he said. The identity of the New Delhi-based importer was yet to be disclosed. The gold bars, their packaging, the apples and the cartons were seized under Section 110 of the Customs Act, even as the truck was impounded. Gupta said the Pakistani driver, identified as Gul Khan, was let off after questioning. The matter was being taken up by the Indian customs authorities with their Pakistani counterparts. Aerial, land routes editorial@tribune.com Tribune News Service Chandigarh, December 6 The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) will celebrate its 98th Sthapana Divas by organising bhog of akhand path at historic gurdwaras in all Assembly constituencies of the state on December 14. A meeting of the core committee of the party was held here today. It decided that the party would participate in nagar kirtan to be organised by the SGPC as part of the 550th Parkash Purb of Guru Nanak in which religious marches would start from three religious takhts of the Khalsa Panth. These marches will converge on the historic shrine at Sultanpur Lodhi. Though the agenda items discussed today were mainly on partys bid to win back the Panthic vote base, sources said the political programme for the next three to four months was also discussed. With the general elections just a few months away, the meeting discussed all political programmes that the party intends to undertake. The meeting was presided over by party president Sukhbir Singh Badal. The party decided to stand by the beleaguered farmers who have been cheated by the state government with fake promises on the payment of sugarcane dues. The committee demanded immediate release of DA allowance to government employees. The members welcomed the initiative taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to build the Kartarpur Corridor. The party lauded the life-long struggle by Jathedar Kuldip Singh Wadala for getting the corridor opened. editorial@tribune.com Tribune News Service Bathinda, December 6 The district has been put on high alert following intelligence input that dreaded terrorist Zakir Musa has been spotted in the state and is hiding in Bathinda or Ferozepur area. The 8 Garhwal regiment of the Army has been deployed at the city railway station. The cantonment area is on high alert. Senior police officers held a meeting with Army officials. Besides, the police have intensified patrolling in the city. Bathinda SSP Dr Nanak Singh said after the intelligence input, high alert had been sounded. He said personnel of the Army, police and GRP today conducted a thorough search at the city railway station. Earlier, nearly 150 posters of Musa showing him as wanted were pasted at the railway station. Musa is the chief of Jammu and Kashmir-based Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind terror outfit having links with Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). He was a student of an institution in Mohali district from 2010 to 2013 before he took up arms. He is said to be well-acquainted with places and people in Punjab. Intelligence agencies had earlier alerted that six to seven JeM terrorists had been spotted near Ferozepur and were planning to move towards Delhi. editorial@tribune.com Jupinderjit Singh & Balwant Garg Tribune News Service Chandigarh/Faridkot, Dec 6 The six-month-long dharna at Bargari by Panthic organisations is all set to be lifted on Sunday following an announcement by Sikh leaders that they were satisfied with the government action in sacrilege and police firing incidents, besides its efforts for the release of Sikh detainees or their transfer to Punjab jails. The announcement was made by Baljit Singh Daduwal at Bargari. The government welcomed the move and praised the Bargari Morcha leaders and supporters, saying this was one of the most disciplined and peaceful protests. Rural Development and Panchayats Minister Tript Rajinder Bajwa said Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh would decide who to send or whether to send anyone or not to Bargari. He said the government had noted that the protesting bodies never caused a law and order problem or supported Khalistan or Sikh Referendum 2020. He said the protesters even condemned the attack at Nirankari Bhavan, Amritsar. Bajwa and other Congress leaders, besides police officials and the head of a prominent dera in Jalandhar played a major role in reaching the peace deal. Bajwa said the government had conceded to their major demand by taking up the release of Sikh detainees or their transfer to Punjab jails. He said the SIT probing sacrilege and police firing incidents even questioned former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and showed its sincerity in investigation. Dhian Singh Mand, the acting parallel jathedar of Akal Takht, who has been leading the dharna since June 1, said the government had accepted most of their demands and a public announcement would be made on Sunday. uttara@tribuneindia.com Aman Sood Tribune News Service Patiala, December 7 Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Friday promised loan waiver to 10 lakh farmers in the state. The chief minister was in Patiala to distribute waiver certificates to farmers who had asked the state government to waive farm loans. The money would get credited into farmers accounts on Saturday morning, he said at a Debt Relief Function his government had organised at Patialas Baran village on Friday. Punjab government has earmarked Rs 1,771 crore for the states 1.09 lakh farmers who hold less than 2.5 acres of farmland and have outstanding farm loans from commercial banks. Fridays event was the second such function the state government organised. The state government plans to waive outstanding loans of farmers with 2.5-5 acre land holdings in the next phase. The government will extend the waiver scheme to landless labourers in the subsequent phases. The chief minister claimed that his government had waived Rs. 1,815 crore of farm loans of 3.18 lakh marginal farmers in the third phase. Some 2.15 lakh small farmers would be covered in the third phase, and 50,752 in the fourth. Sugar export Singh said the central government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi had approved his request to include both sugar and potatoes in the list of exports to Central Asian countries. If the Government of India allows Punjab to export these products, sugarcane and potato, farmers of the state would immensely benefit, he said. He said his government taken steps to tackle the problem spurious seeds, agro-chemicals and other inputs in the state. Singh claimed a special campaign to balance use of fertilizers had led to reduction in urea and DAP consumption by 1 lakh MT and 46,000 tons in the Kharif season of 2018, leading to a net saving of about Rs. 200 crore. editorial@tribune.com Aman Sood Tribune News Service Baran (Patiala), December 7 Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Friday announced extension of the loan waiver scheme to farmers with landholdings of 2.5 to 5 acres. He said his government had written to the Centre about tackling the potato glut and ensuring export of sugar to Asian countries. Capt Amarinder gave debt relief certificates against commercial bank loans to the tune of Rs 1,771 crore to 1,09,730 eligible marginal farmers of four districts. The amount was being transferred directly to the commercial bank accounts of marginal farmers and the process would be completed by Saturday, the Chief Minister said at a state-level function. He symbolically handed over debt relief certificates to 25 farmers from Patiala, Ludhiana, Sangrur and Fatehgarh Sahib. Farmers with landholdings of 2.5 to 5 acres will get debt waiver for both cooperative and commercial banks and my government will waive the loans of the landless labourers in the subsequent phases of the implementation of the waiver scheme, he said. The Chief Minister announced that 2.15 lakh small farmers who had taken loan from cooperative banks would be covered in the third phase, while 50,752 small farmers who had taken loan from commercial banks would be covered in the fourth phase. Underlining the need to export sugar and potatoes to Central Asian countries, the Chief Minister said he had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to include these items in the export list, which was cleared yesterday. Capt Amarinder expressed concern about the problem of spurious seeds, agri-chemicals and other inputs that reach the farmers and said he would not allow this to happen. The outstanding debt had increased more than fourfold, to Rs 2,08,000 crore, by the time SAD-BJP governments term ended and the Congress government has been working hard to ensure financial benefits to the farmers to transform the farming sector, MLA Hardyal Singh Kamboj said. Former Union minister Preneet Kaur lauded the Punjab government for taking its prestigious debt relief programme to the next level. Sunil Jakhar, PPCC chief, said Punjab had witnessed a steep decline in the number of farmer suicides, which was nearly 1,000 in a year during the SAD-BJP rule, but had now come down to 250-300 due to the pro-farmer initiatives of the Capt Amarinder government. Also present on the occasion were Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal, Rural Development and Panchayats Minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Technical Education Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, Industries Minister Sham Sunder Arora, PWD Minister Vijay Inder Singla, Health Minister Brahm Mohindra, Power Minister Gurpreet Singh Kangar and Animal Husbandry Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu. editorial@tribune.com New Delhi, December 7 Paramjit Singh Sarna, president of the SAD (Delhi), said Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) chief Manjit Singh GK and executive committee members did not follow the legal procedure while submitting their resignations. According to the Delhi Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1971, the DSGMC chief and the executive members should submit their resignation before the General House. If the General House accepts the resignation, the executive committee is dissolved and the president can call the election for a new committee, Sarna claimed. Director of the Directorate of Gurdwara Elections, Delhi, Shurbir Singh said, I have received a letter from the DSGMC on the executive committee election. I will examine this in the light of the Act before replying to the gurdwara committee. TNS editorial@tribune.com Charanjit Singh Teja Tribune News Service Amritsar, December 7 Two days after Jalandhar Divisional Commissioner B Purushartha submitted his report on the Amritsar train tragedy to the Chief Minister, key organiser of the Dasehra event Mithu Madan said he would challenge the report in the court. Madan, son of councillor Vijay Madan, claimed that he was yet to receive a copy of the report. There were media reports on the submission of the probe report to the government. The government has not made it public so far. Besides, I havent got any official information in this regard. In my statement to Purushartha, I had said that I had taken all necessary permissions and the mishap occurred due to the negligence of the government agencies concerned. I am not responsible for the mishap, said Madan. Amritsar DC Kamaldeep Singh Sangha said, We have not received any direction from the government to take action in this regard. The government will send separate directions to all departments concerned on further action. If the government suggests criminal action, they will write to the police. shriaya.dutta@tribuneindia.com BOSTON MIT scientists have designed a system that could store renewable energy, such as solar and wind power, and deliver it back into an electric grid on demand. The system, described in the journal Energy and Environmental Science may be designed to power a small city not just when the sun is up or the wind is high, but around the clock. The new design stores heat generated by excess electricity from solar or wind power in large tanks of white-hot molten silicon, and then converts the light from the glowing metal back into electricity when it's needed. The researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US estimate that such a system would be vastly more affordable than lithium-ion batteries, which have been proposed as a viable, though expensive, method to store renewable energy. They also estimate that the system would cost about half as much as pumped hydroelectric storagethe cheapest form of grid-scale energy storage to date. "Even if we wanted to run the grid on renewables right now we couldn't, because you'd need fossil-fuelled turbines to make up for the fact that the renewable supply cannot be dispatched on demand," said Asegun Henry, Associate Professor at MIT. "We are developing a new technology that, if successful, would solve this most important and critical problem in energy and climate change, namely, the storage problem," Henry said. The new storage system stems from a project in which the researchers looked for ways to increase the efficiency of a form of renewable energy known as concentrated solar power. Unlike conventional solar plants that use solar panels to convert light directly into electricity, concentrated solar power requires vast fields of huge mirrors that concentrate sunlight onto a central tower, where the light is converted into heat that is eventually turned into electricity. "The reason that technology is interesting is, once you do this process of focusing the light to get heat, you can store heat much more cheaply than you can store electricity," Henry said. Concentrated solar plants store solar heat in large tanks filled with molten salt, which is heated to high temperatures of about 538 degrees Celsius. When electricity is needed, the hot salt is pumped through a heat exchanger, which transfers the salt's heat into steam. A turbine then turns that steam into electricity. The researchers have outlined their concept for a new renewable energy storage system, which they call TEGS-MPV, or Thermal Energy Grid Storage-Multi-Junction Photovoltaics. Instead of using fields of mirrors and a central tower to concentrate heat, they propose converting electricity generated by any renewable source, such as sunlight or wind, into thermal energy, via a process by which an electric current passes through a heating element. The system could be paired with existing renewable energy systems, such as solar cells, to capture excess electricity during the day and store it for later use. The system would consist of a large, heavily insulated, 10-metre-wide tank made from graphite and filled with liquid silicon, kept at a "cold" temperature of almost 1927 degrees Celsius. A bank of tubes, exposed to heating elements, then connects this cold tank to a second, "hot" tank. When electricity from the town's solar cells comes into the system, this energy is converted to heat in the heating elements. PTI pardeepdhull@gmail.com Brasilia, December 7 At least 12 people were killed on Friday, including six policemen, in an early morning shootout between police and bank robbers in a small town in northeastern Brazil, the state governors office said. Five hostages, including two children, died in the shootout, local media reported, when police interrupted a gang trying to rob ATMs at two bank branches on the main street in Milagres in the interior of Ceara state. Our preliminary information is that 12 people died, including six police officers, a spokeswoman for the governor said by telephone. The G1 news website, quoting Milagres Mayor Lielson Landim, reported that the five dead hostages belonged to the same family. Their car had been hijacked on a nearby highway and taken into town by the armed gang. Broadcaster GloboNews said it was the family of a local businessman and that two suspects had been arrested by police. The gang escaped in two vans without taking any money, G1 said. A local press report said the body of one bank robber was found in an abandoned vehicle by police. Police were searching for gang members with the help of a helicopter, the mayors office said. Reuters sanjiv@tribunemail.com London, December 6 Prime Minister Theresa May said on Thursday that British lawmakers faced a choice ahead of a vote on her Brexit deal: approving her deal or facing an exit with no deal or even the reversal of Brexit. May said she was speaking to lawmakers about giving parliament a bigger role in whether the Northern Irish backstop arrangement would be triggered, though she gave few details. May said some in parliament were trying to frustrate Brexit and that she did not think another referendum on Brexit was the right course. "There are three options: one is to leave the European Union with a deal... the other two are that we leave without a deal or that we have no Brexit at all," May told BBC radio. "It's clear that there are those in the House of Commons who want to frustrate Brexit... and overturn the vote of the British people and that's not right." May repeatedly sidestepped questions on whether she would delay the Dec. 11 vote but did hint at possible concessions on the Northern Irish backstop. "There are questions about how decisions are taken as to whether we go into the backstop, because that isnt an automatic," she said. "The question is: do we go into the backstop? Do we extend what I call the implementation period?" Reuters EU court ruling on Dec 10 Luxembourg: The European Court of Justice will deliver its judgment on whether Britain can unilaterally reverse its move to leave the European Union on December 10, the court said on Thursday. The ruling, delivered with unusual urgency, will come on the eve of a crucial vote in the British parliament on whether to accept a Brexit deal negotiated by Prime Minister Theresa May. Reuters sanjiv@tribunemail.com Tehran, December 6 A suicide bomber killed two persons and injured many outside the police headquarters in the port city of Chabahar in restive southeastern Iran on Thursday. This terrorist act led to the martyrdom of two members of the police force, the provinces deputy governor in charge of security, Mohammad Hadi Marashi, said. Chabahar governor Rahmdel Bameri said earlier that four persons were killed, but later revised the death toll. Chabahar has a deep-water port on the Gulf of Oman and with Indian assistance, Iran has been developing it as a major energy and freight hub. AFP India condemns attack New Delhi: India on Thursday strongly condemned the terrorist attack in Chabahar in Iran. We express our condolences to the government and people of Iran and the families of the victims of the attack, said a Ministry of External Affairs statement. PTI sanjiv@tribunemail.com Washington, December 6 The United States believes that the decision on picking the next Dalai Lama should be as per Tibets religious traditions and that it is not a role of the state, a top Trump Administration official has told lawmakers, hinting that it will oppose any move by China to impose its own Dalai Lama. The United States has a very clear position that religious decisions should be made within religious organisations and that this isnt the role of the state, Laura Stone, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, told the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific and International Cybersecurity Policy during a Congressional hearing. The Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs was responding to a question from Senator Cory Gardner. China has said that they will pick the next Dalai Lama. The Tibetan Policy, actually in 2002, mandated that American officials visit Tibet on a regular basis. I want to get into both of these. If China proceeds and tries to impose a Dalai Lama, what will the United States response be? the senator had asked. Gardner said it was clear that this Congress would not recognise a Chinese imposition. Stone said the senator asking such a question was an important signal in itself to the Chinese government that this was the kind of issue that the United States was watching very closely and at very senior levels. In his remarks, Gardner said the crackdown in the Tibet Autonomous Region was intensifying while Beijing continued to refuse negotiations with the Central Tibetan Administration. PTI monicakchauhan@gmail.com Islamabad, December 7 Prime Minister Imran Khan has accused the US of "pushing Pakistan away" and said he would never want to have a relation with Washington where his country is treated like a "hired gun". "I would never want to have a relationship where Pakistan is treated like a hired gun -- given money to fight someone else's war," Khan said in an interview with the Washington Post on Thursday, referring to the 1980s war against the Soviet Union and the ongoing war on terror. We should never put ourselves in this position again. It not only cost us human lives, devastation of our tribal areas, but it also cost us our dignity. We would like a proper relationship with the US, he said. Asked to elaborate on the ideal nature of relationship that he would like to have with the US, Khan said: "For instance, our relationship with China is not one-dimensional. It's a trade relationship between two countries. We want a similar relationship with the US." He said Pakistan was not "hedging" towards China, rather it was Washington's attitude, which had brought a change in the bilateral relationship. "The US has basically pushed Pakistan away." Asked why he "harboured anti-US sentiments", Khan said disagreeing with Washington's policies did not make him "anti-American". "This is a very imperialistic approach. You are either with me or against me." Khan condemned the 2011 US operation in Abbottabad that killed Osama bin Laden, saying that it was "humiliating" that Washington did not trust Pakistan to kill the terrorist. "It was humiliating that we were losing our soldiers and civilians and (suffering terrorist) bomb attacks because we were participating in the US war, and then our ally did not trust us to kill Bin Laden," he said, adding that the US "should have tipped off Pakistan". "We did not know whether we were a friend or a foe." He also dismissed claims that there were safe havens for terrorists in Pakistan, saying that "there are no sanctuaries in Pakistan". Referring to US President Donald Trump's South Asia policy, Khan said he was committed to having dialogue to achieve peace in war-torn Afghanistan. "I talked for years about how there was no military solution in Afghanistan and they called me Taliban Khan. Now I'm happy that everyone realises there is only a political solution." Welcoming the US bid to engage in talks with the Afghan Taliban, he said that Islamabad did not want the US to leave Afghanistan in a hurry as they did in 1989. "The last thing we want is to have chaos in Afghanistan. There should be a settlement this time." IANS IN the world of work, the human resources area is at the heart of meeting the needs of employees. On November 24, the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) launched its Training and Development Centre. Were providing training for the employees so that theyre better able to deliver service not only to the internal stakeholders, but to the external stakeholders as well, said Chief Administrator Bernadette Solomon-Koroma. A PRISON officer with 26 years of service was shot dead yesterday in front of his fruit and vegetable stall in Valencia. He is the 26th prison officer to be murdered in the last 30 years. Police said around 1.30 p.m. Trevor Serrette, 48, of Sangre Grande was sitting behind the counter at the stall located off the Eastern Main Road, Valencia. He was there with a 64-year-old relative and a friend when a white Nissan AD Wagon with two men stopped in front. I suppose I dont think of myself as a man really. I think of myself more as an artist. It is typical of Jackie Hinkson that he would identify more with the one that has consciously defined his life, all 79 years so far. What surprises me about that whole idea of me as an artist is how it started, and how it evolved, because I didnt understand how that happened. Trek: There is a reservoir in Logwood (Hanover Parish about 10?-15? miles from downtown Negril) where ALL of Negril's water is sourced - as well as (now) water for Mt. Airy and Orange Hill and that area. The system was put in around 1995. It was obsolete by 1998 due to unfettered growth all over Negril. As a result where I live in Negril (deep West End, past the Lighthouse) we struggle with low pressure and outages frequently. They did some upgrades when they were building the distribution to Orange Hill and other places in that area and for that season our water was great all season. This year so far though we've had very low pressure again and even though "they say" they do not lock off the West End when its busy on the beach I'm skeptical. It would seem that coastal places have tons of water and west Jamaica got above average rainfalls this fall however it is still important for everyone to do their part in conserving. Don't let water run randomly...turn off the faucet when you brush your teeth...ask your housekeeper not to change your bed linens and towels at all if you are staying a week or less, if more, only once every 5-7 days. Don't ask hotel staff to do your laundry at hotel facilities. The residents of Negril thank you! That said, and I know that was COMPLETELY off-topic - the water in Negril is safe to drink from the tap. I prefer to filter my drinking water but in decades of coming here I've never gotten sick on anything I've ate or drank. Hi Vietnam Experts. Thank you for your assistance for upcoming Dec-Jan trip! I would appreciate input in regards to the following itinerary! Hanoi 2 nights Highlights: Temple Lit, Mus Ethnology, Citdel, 1 Pillar Pagoda, HCMC Stilt House, Quan Temple, Hoan Kiem Lake, old quarter:), water puppets. SAPA 2 nights--- what transfer is best to take? my husband and daughter took overnight train in europe not long ago and there was no a/c in summer and they are skeptical CAT BA 2 nights - what transfer is best? Hoi An 4 nights Hue 1 nights? Ankor Wat 3 nights? HCMC 2 nights flight out ALSO I have read it is very easy to book flights (to get to Hoi An then HCMC) and that the cost does not fluctuate if booking days before. Please let me know if that is true even in late Dec -early Jan? It sounds like there are many tour guides, easy to access in Hanoi Old Quarter area, is that expected to be accurate in Late Dec / early Jan? Do you anticipate that we should book Water Puppets, and tours for all cities in advance? I was thinking of taking tour for one day in Hanoi, Hoi An, SAPA, Hue, HCMC, then exploring on our own. Does that sound reasonable for English speaking tourists on first trip to SEA? Thank you Hi, I looked up the FAQs on the travel forum on massages and it has a link to a 2010 thread. I'm not sure if much has changed after that so thought it would be best to ask. Are the massages in Vietnam nowadays akin to "Thai" massages. When we visited Chang Mai, we were impressed with a womens reform facility that trained prisoners on massages and offered them a way back into society on the completion of their sentence. Tourists could book massages, and while not fancy at all, these places were very neat, clean and hygeinic and the massages were very good. We would love to support any such initiative in Vietnam. Is it normal to find good massage parlours abounding in Vietnam or is it still the same as what the article says (Unpaid labour relying heavily on tips offering little more than a rub-down). We will be in Hanoi, HCMC, and Hue, so any cities that are more recommended than others, please let us know. Thanks, Hello! I am planning a 19 day trip to Japan this January with my wife and three boys ages 10, 7, and 4. We are all super excited, my wife and boys have never been to Japan and I want to introduce them to so much, Mostly, my priority is to have an itinerary that is rich in experience and doable, not too ambitious with a young family, whose kids are pretty eager to try new things. I want to post my planned itinerary and get feedback on whether I am going to, a) have my family fall in love with Japan, or b) completely exhaust them. I realize, it may be hard to say without knowing my family, but generally, what are thoughts on itinerary below: Day 1 Arrive Tokyo at 5 pm arrive go to hotel to sleep! Day 2 wake up and go to nearby 47 Ronin Sengaku ji temple memorial site, then go to Shinjuku and go to Metropolitan Tower to see the city from up high, then go explore Omoide Yokocho to eat tasty yakitori, Back to hotel for early bed. Day 3 Go by shinkansen to Nagano and Snow Monkeys at Jigokadani Park. stay at local ryokan. Day 4 Enjoy morning onsen. In afternoon, train and bus to Magome, in Kiso Valley on the Nakasendo highway. Check into ryokan, then wander about town in yakuta and relax. Day 5 Wake up, do several km hike / walk to Tsumago. Then, catch bus and train to Kyoto (where we stay with relatives for 6 days that will include daytrips to Nara and Osaka aquarium. Day 11 Take shinkansen to Matsuyama, Shikoku to enjoy Dogo Onsen. Day 12 maybe rent a car to go exploring remote villages in Shikoku. Fun? or Crazy to rent car in remote Japan? Day 13 .Ferry to Hiroshima using JR Pass. Visit Hiroshima Bomb Memorial, then go to Nagasaki Day 14 explore Nagasaki, Chinatown, then, go see city skyline at night from observation deck Day 15 Long Shinkansen ride to Hakone, take cable car up to ryokan, enjoy onsen. Jan 16 See lake view of Mt, Fuji, explore park. Then, in evening, return to Tokyo Jan 17 Wake early and go to Disney Sea. Enjoy an exhausting day of rides. Jan 18 Day of Tokyo lounging, If up to it, sightsee Harajuku, Akihabara, maybe visit the "new" location of the Tsukiji fish market, Toyosu Fish Market. Do you think it will be interesting? Jan 19 LAST FULL DAY IN JAPAN (cry!) go to Kokugikan Sumo Tournament (hopefully!) Jan 14 morning, enjoy last morning in Japan. In afternoon fly home from Hanada Airport. Realistic? Any suggestions on days that are too ambitous? Please, parents, give me your honest opinion! ACDC, you didn't raise the question of any hope for lower prices. Although I completely agree that you risk disappointment if you DON'T purchase in advance, it does take extra time and planning to try for discounts. From your list, only the Radio City Christmas Show might have any discounts - but they would be for undesirable times, like Christmas Eve or 11:00AM in the morning. And because school is out for all the days you're here, discounts (and empty seats) will be scarce. There is a very long thread already here about discount codes for Radio City. It takes a bit of computer savvy to manipulate the display options to show you which tickets are discounted and which are full price. And the discounts can be depleted (leaving either only full-price, or no tickets at all) for any given performance. I don't remember reading it here, but two of the side streets around Radio City have been closed to cars so far this month. I heartily approve, since it's a pedestrian-friendly rule. But it makes it even harder to get to Radio City. (At least the police are not (yet) herding street-crossers with flexible red construction fencing ... .... To the extent that the street closings help a profit-making company (same owner as the Knicks, among other entitites), one could object. We are staying 3 nights in April (17-20) in Extended Stay America Secaucus (dates not flexible)., total cost for 2 adults and 3 kids under 10 is $530 which seems very reasonable. NJ Transits 320 bus stops right outside and brings us to Port Authority. Hotels in Manhattan and very expensive and I am wondering if there is any point looking for something in around a budget of $250-300 all in per night. We have been many times but without kids and have no problems with public transport and I am thinking that regardless of where we stay in Manhattan we would have to use transport anyway. Would it be possible to get something in that budget or am I better off sticking to Secaucus? We plan on visiting numerous places all over Manhattan and Yankee stadium during our stay. How do I get from the airport (JFK, LGA, or EWR) to Manhattan? What To Do During Layovers? Vacation Apartment Rentals Violate NYC Laws Hotels: Kitchenettes and kitchens in 100+ Manhattan Hotels Hotels: Two queen beds plus a kitchen/kitchenette Hotels: Guests under 21 years old (but at least 18) Hotels: Which ones charge an additional Resort or Facilities Fee Hotels: When is the best time to go for cheaper rates? What are the Must-See's and Must-Do's? How Do I Ride the Subway (UPDATED)? Tips, Hint and Suggestions for First Timers SCAMS to avoid in NYC What Will the Weather Be Like During My Trip? Any Good Websites for Researching My Trip? How Safe is New York? Where to Eat in NYC Where to eat in NYC - Part 2 Celiac in the City? (gluten free) Which Area Should I Stay In? Is There Cheaper Lodging Outside Manhattan? How Much Do I Tip People? Are the New York Pass, Explorer Pass or CityPass worth it? How Do I Hail a Taxi? Public restrooms/toilets. Where do you go when you GOTTA GO? Where are the best areas for shopping? How do I find Discount Tickets for Broadway Shows? What are the NYC Halloween events for 2021? Thanksgiving 2021 in NYC: What to Do & Where to Eat Christmastime in NYC 2021: Dates for the Trees-Windows-Markets-Ice Skating+MORE! Christmas Day 2021 in NYC: What to Do & Where to Eat What Should I Do on New Year's Eve? How Will I Survive the Cold Weather? Where are the Farmers Markets and Street Fairs? What is there to see and do near WTC/SOL/Brooklyn Bridge/SI ferry? What should I know about visiting the 9/11 Memorial and Museum? What Is There to See and Do in Brooklyn? How Do I Get to the Brooklyn Bridge? What Is There to See and Do in Queens? Exploring neighborhoods - where should I go and what should I see? Which is the best? ESB or TOTR or OWO? Which are the significant churches in Manhattan? Hidden Gems in the city - not so touristy How do I get from NYC to the Meadowlands and back? I'm Getting Married in NYC...what do I need to do? Should I Buy Knock-Off Purses? What to Do with Kids and How to Do It? What should we do at night -- especially with kids or under 21's? Places to eat (and drink) with a view Where is the Old FAQ? Trip Reports: Families with Young Kids - Add yours! Trip Reports: Groups of Friends - Add yours! Trip Reports: Couples - Add yours! Trip Reports: Families with Teenagers - Add yours! Trip Reports: Solo Travelers - Add yours! Trip Reports: Families of Adults - Add yours! - Patrick Kilonzo said he has been in need of the transplant for several years - He is working on setting up his organisation that will be taking care of wildlife - Once it is up and running, he will take months off to undergo the transplant - The surgery will be performed in India in the early months of 2019 - He noted several people had offered to help him but he still needs more help Patrick Kilonzo Mwalua first came to the limelight when photos of him supplying drinking water to wild animals at the Tsavo National Park after driving for hours went viral on the interweb. Kilonzo, popularly known as the Water Man, won the hearts of many and even as he continues doing what he does best, but it turns out he now needs our help. Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens. READ ALSO: US couple narrowly escape death after panga wielding gang attacks them in Maai Mahiu Kilonzo had been recognised for his commitment to save the lives of dying wildlife by using tankers to transport water to them. Source: Twitter READ ALSO: Photos of impressive Makueni mother and child hospital which has put other governors to shame In a Facebook post he shared and seen by TUKO.co.ke on Thursday, December 6, the man with a big heart is scheduled to undergo a kidney transplant in India. Kilonzo who has been working on setting up his organisation said once it is up and running, he will be taking a few months off to take care of his health. "I know I have been quiet on my Facebook lately but do not worry, I am still working hard in my effort to help wildlife, for the past few months I have been busy registering my organistion as a trust here in Kenya," he said. READ ALSO: Uhuru meets Githeri Man again, awards him after completing rehabilitation Kilonzo, popularly known as the water man, won the hearts of many Kenyans then took a back seat to continue doing what he does best . Source: Twitter "I am working to have the organisation up and running so that I can take some time in the coming month to focus on my health and prioritise the kidney transplant I have been needing for several years," he added. According to Kilonzo, he will be traveling to India in a couple of weeks to make prior arrangements with the doctors for the transplant to be conducted in early 2019. "I know there are very many wonderful people out there who have offered to help me and I would be very grateful to anyone still available to help," he said. READ ALSO: Mbeere North MP keeps promise, gifts KSh 2K to woman who delivered in his constituency He added he was looking for someone to help him on how best to make arrangements for his travel, appointment bookings, accommodation and transportation while in India. TUKO.co.ke earlier reported Kilonzo had been recognised for his commitment to save the lives of dying wildlife by using a tanker to transport water to a waterholes in the park. "My friends, today the number of animals was so huge and the waterhole was dry dry dry!! Last night a big herd of buffaloes drunk all the water and I just arrived at the right time and found animals waiting for water, " he said in one of his earlier posts. READ ALSO: Barren woman who received uterus from deceased donor gives birth to baby girl The drought not only affected Kenyans but also its wildlife after water points and vegetation dried up. Source: Twitter "It was great to see almost all types of animals at the same waterhole but at the same time very sad with insufficient water. Water is life and we need more water until March when we are expecting rains," he added. This was after the county was ravaged by drought which even forced President Uhuru Kenyatta to declare it a national disaster. The drought not only affected Kenyans but also its wildlife after water points and vegetation dried up in most of the national parks and game reserves. 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: Kenya Breaking News Today Come tomorrow, a new slate will be voted into the National Association of Athletes and Admin Ukrainian military units are reinforcing Ukraine's border with Russia as part of the introduction of martial law in the country, President Petro Poroshenko has said in an interview with Polish TV channel TVN24. "Our paratroopers and military units are now moving to the Russian border to strengthen our defensive capabilities. This became possible owing to martial law," Poroshenko said. He noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin hoped the introduction of martial law in Ukraine would postpone presidential elections. "But only one person, Putin, will take advantage of this. We will not give him such a chance," Poroshenko said. The head of state stressed that the introduction of martial law in Ukraine would not violate any civil rights, including electoral rights. Poroshenko recalled that presidential elections would take place in Ukraine on March 31. He also said that he as president would do everything he can to protect the rights of Ukrainians. op Russia has a challenging number of ships in the Black Sea that can threaten NATO members Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko wrote this in his article for The New York Times, the press service of the head of state reported on Friday. "These recent events have a direct bearing on the security of all of NATO. Russia now has a challenging number of naval ships in the Black Sea, meaning it can threaten NATO members Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey. And that may just be the beginning," Poroshenko said. The head of state also said that Russia has a significant presence in the Baltic Sea. "Recently, Russia's fighters were intercepted, not for the first time, over the Baltic region and had not filed a flight plan. Who can guarantee that this was not a rehearsal of patrols over the notorious Nord Stream II gas pipeline being built by Russia through the Baltic Sea to challenge Europe?" he wrote. On November 25, Russian border ships committed aggressive actions against Ukrainian ships that were en route from Odesa to Mariupol. Russian special forces fired on and seized three Ukrainian ships in the Kerch Strait, as well as 24 sailors. op Ukraine will strengthen cooperation with Lithuania in reforming the defense sector. President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko said this at a joint press conference with President of the Republic of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaite in Kyiv, an Ukrinform correspondent reported. "We emphasize the need for further development of our cooperation in the field of defense and security, and we will strengthen cooperation with Lithuania in reforming our defense sector," the head of state said. In addition, the president noted that among topical issues of further cooperation between Ukraine and Lithuania were the issues of energy security and protection of critical infrastructure, the joint work in the framework of cybersecurity and countering Russias propaganda and disinformation campaign. ish Lithuanian Economy Minister Virginijus Sinkevicius has described relations with Ukraine as a promising start-up. Relations between Ukraine and Lithuania can be described with a modern term startup. I am sure that this startup will be a success. In particular, the trade turnover between Ukraine and Lithuania has increased by 20%. The enterprises are moving in the right direction of cooperation. I believe that the start-up of Ukraine and Lithuania is promising as the bilateral relations between the countries have great potential, Sinkevicius said at the opening of the 4th Ukrainian-Lithuanian Economic Forum, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. Sinkevicius added that the choice of Ukrainians regarding the European path of development was a powerful signal for Lithuanian business. The 4th Ukrainian-Lithuanian Economic Forum is held in Kyiv with the participation of representatives of the governments of Ukraine and Lithuania, business associations, economic experts and entrepreneurs. The forum participants discuss the progress of the Ukrainian-Lithuanian trade, economic, investment cooperation, the prospects for further cooperation between the entrepreneurs of both countries. ol Canada will allocate $24 million to support electoral reforms, election observers, gender equality and inclusive governance in Ukraine, Global Affairs Canada has reported. Canada is a steadfast partner of Ukraine. Today, the Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of International Development, announced that Canada will contribute up to $24 million to support electoral reforms, election observers, gender equality and inclusive governance in Ukraine, the statement reads. Global Affairs Canada stressed that "electoral observation missions are key contributors to strengthening democratic institutions." "Canada will support Ukraine by committing a significant number of Canadian observers to support both a Canadian bilateral observation mission and, if called upon next year, an Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) election observation mission," the statement noted. At the same time, Canadas support will focus on the greater democratic participation of civil society, the empowerment of women in the democratic process and combatting the spread of disinformation and interference. Canada stands with Ukraine on its journey to implement reforms, including strengthening democratic institutions; promoting womens political participation; building public confidence in electoral processes; and deterring fraud, intimidation and violence, Global Affairs Canada summed up. A thematic event Problem of Militarization of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol (Ukraine) and Parts of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov was held within the framework of the 25th OSCE Ministerial Council meeting. The event was held with the assistance of the delegations and with the participation of the heads of the foreign affairs ministries of the United States, Canada, Poland, Lithuania, Denmark, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Latvia, Romania, Georgia, and Estonia, the press service of the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine reports. "A wide audience of participants and the media were shown the evidence of militarization of Crimea, which is currently occupied by Russia, and the direct armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine in the Kerch Strait area, which poses a serious threat to the entire Black Sea region," the statement reads. In their speeches, the partners expressed full support for Ukraine, called for the immediate release of Ukrainian prisoners of war and also discussed possible steps towards deterring the aggressor. The Foreign Ministry stressed that the presentation was of great importance in the context of consideration of the draft resolution Problem of Militarization of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol (Ukraine) and Parts of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov by the UN General Assembly in December. ol The use of force by Russia in the Sea of Azov region was unacceptable. The use of force was unacceptable, State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland Samuli Virtanen said at the OSCE Ministerial Council meeting in Milan on Thursday, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. Finland is concerned about the growing militarization of Crimea and, accordingly, of the entire Black Sea region. Finland, the diplomat assured, fully supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and will never recognize the annexation of Crimea by Russia. The representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland called for the full implementation of the Minsk Agreements by both parties and the search for a political solution to the conflict through dialogue. It is also necessary to demand unhindered access of humanitarian assistance to the residents of eastern Ukraine, he emphasized. Virtanen thanked Ambassador Apakan for the activity of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine and recalled that Finland was participating actively in it. ol Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has once again noted that Turkey supports Ukraines sovereignty and territorial integrity. He stated this during the 25th meeting of the OSCE Ministerial Council in Milan on December 6. "We fully support Ukraines sovereignty and territorial integrity, including Crimea," Cavusoglu said. The Turkish minister also noted the important role of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission in Ukraine as part of the peace process. He also called on all parties to comply with existing obligations. ish Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has met with Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite, who is on an official visit to Ukraine. The official meeting ceremony took place on the square near the Mariyinsky Palace in Kyiv on Friday, according to an Ukrinform correspondent. A number of bilateral documents are to be signed after the talks of the two leaders. In addition, the presidents of Ukraine and Lithuania will hold a joint press conference. Poroshenko and Grybauskaite will also take part in the work of the 2nd Ukrainian Women's Congress. op The end of the war in eastern Ukraine is a priority for the OSCE. France is fully committed to the full implementation of the Minsk agreements. Permanent Representative of France to the OSCE, H.E. Ambassador Veronique Roger-Lacan stated this during the 25th meeting of the OSCE Ministerial Council in Milan on December 6, an Ukrinform correspondent reported. "On November 11, we marked the 100th anniversary of the truce [the end of the First World War]. And after 100 years, terrible military actions have been taking place in eastern Ukraine for more than four years. The end of hostilities is a priority for the OSCE," the French ambassador said. She stressed that France together with Germany was always ready to remain a mediator in the Normandy format for the sake of the full implementation of the Minsk agreements. Veronique Roger-Lacan once again stressed that France supported the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. The French ambassador also said that one of the OSCE members annexed the territory of its neighbor, destabilized the region and unreasonably seized the vessels. She stressed the need to de-escalate the situation in the region and to respect international law and the OSCE principles. ish Ukraine's First Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Maksym Martyniuk has been appointed acting minister of agrarian policy and food. A respective Cabinet of Ministers resolution of November 28 has been posted on the government website. "To vest First Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine Maksym Petrovych Martyniuk with the temporary fulfillment of duties of the minister of agrarian policy and food of Ukraine," reads the resolution. Agrarian Policy and Food Minister Taras Kutovy tendered his resignation on May 23, 2017. The Verkhovna Rada accepted his resignation on November 22, 2018. op The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission should be provided with free, unimpeded and secure access throughout Ukraine, including the occupied Crimea and along the entire border between Ukraine and the Russian Federation. Foreign Minister of Denmark Anders Samuelsen stated this during the 25th meeting of the OSCE Ministerial Council in Milan on December 6. "The OSCE SMM should be provided with free, unimpeded and secure access throughout Ukraine, including Crimea and along the entire state border between Ukraine and Russia," he stressed. The foreign minister also condemned any actions that impede the work of OSCE observers in Ukraine and put their lives at risk. Samuelsen also added that Denmark provided the OSCE SMM with additional funds. The SMM plays a key role in reporting on the conflict. And therefore, I am pleased to announce that Denmark will provide an extrabudgetary contribution worth more than EUR 550,000 for the SMM activities, in addition to our contribution of this year, he stated. ish Spain is very concerned about Russias actions in the Sea of Azov and calls for respecting international law and ensuring freedom of navigation. Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Borrell said during the 25th meeting of the OSCE Ministerial Council in Milan, an Ukrinform correspondent reported. "We are deeply concerned about the escalation of the situation in the Sea of Azov and Russias actions there. We call for de-escalation and the observance of international law and freedom of navigation," he said. The Spanish minister stressed that "the conflict in Ukraine is a huge challenge to security in Europe" and the international law must be restored. "Spain will continue to defend the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine within internationally recognized borders," the Spanish foreign minister said. According to him, the Minsk agreements remain the best option for a peaceful resolution of the conflict. Also, Spain will continue to support the work of the OSCE SMM in Ukraine. ish Lithuania has imposed national sanctions on the Russian Federation over its aggression against Ukraine in the Kerch Strait. We know that the international organizations have not yet adopted any sanctions against Russian actions. However, we imposed our national sanctions in protest against the attack in the Kerch Strait. We also decided to provide assistance in form of munitions, we send our instructors, military instructors, cyber instructors and humanitarian aid. We also support all civil initiatives of our people to help you in your struggle," President of the Republic of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaite said at a joint press conference with President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. Petro Poroshenko thanked Lithuania for the imposed national sanctions against those involved in the aggressive actions in the Sea of Azov and called on the international partners to impose sanctions on the Russian Federation over its aggression in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov: We urge our international partners to impose tough sanctions in order to stop aggressive attacks of Russia in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov and ensure freedom of navigation in the region. He also stressed that the aggressive actions of Russia, which disregards the Minsk agreements and aggravates the situation in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, is a direct threat to European security and a challenge to the entire democratic world. As reported, President of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaite makes an official visit to Ukraine on Friday, December 7. ol On December 10-14, Ukrainian Parliament Speaker Andriy Parubiy will make a working visit to South Korea, where he will discuss visa waiver program for Ukrainian citizens. "I've postponed this invitation several times, but this time I promised to make a visit because we are on the threshold of important decisions. In particular, I plan to come to the final stage of the discussion on visa liberalization between Ukraine and South Korea. South Korea is currently one of the most dynamic economies in the world and one of twenty most effective world economies. It is important that Ukraine could have a visa-free regime with South Korea," Parubiy said in an interview with the Rada TV channel on Friday, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. It is planned to sign the cooperation agreement between the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and the South Korean Parliament, he noted. The speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament added that the security issues would be discussed during his visit. ol Thirty-eight UN member states have become the co-authors of the Declaration on the 85th anniversary of the Holodomor of 1932-1933 in Ukraine. "For the first time, the declaration condemns the policy of the Stalinist regime, in particular, forced collectivization and confiscation of food, which led to the death of a significant part of Ukrainian people. The need to unseal the archives for establishing the historical truth and raising awareness of the causes and consequences of the tragedy is underscored," speaker of the Permanent Mission of Ukraine to the UN Oleh Nikolenko said in an exclusive commentary to an Ukrinform correspondent. Nikolenko explained that the document had been prepared on the initiative of Ukraine. However, the number and geography of the states, which joined the declaration as its co-authors, has increased significantly compared with the previous declarations on the Holodomor anniversary. "The new signatories include Chile, which became the first Latin American country to join the Ukraines initiative, Bulgaria, Slovenia and Montenegro from the Balkan region, neutral Switzerland, and also Portugal and the Netherlands. The countries of the Middle East, Europe, Northern and Latin America are on the list," he said. The diplomat noted that Ukraine highly appreciated their support for the declaration and the international solidarity with Ukrainian people in honoring the memory of the victims of 1932-1933 Holodomor. This document reminds the world countries about a duty to prevent the recurrence of such terrible crimes in the future, Nikolenko stressed. Pursuant to the procedure, the declaration will be released as an official document of the UN General Assembly. Since 2003, the victims of the genocide of Ukrainian people have been commemorated at the United Nations level every five years. ol More than 3.8 million people in Ukraine living in eastern regions, where the the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) is taking place, need humanitarian assistance, the UN News has reported. At the end of last year, the UN requested $204 million for humanitarian operations in eastern Ukraine, where 3.8 million people are waiting for aid. As of today, the plan was funded only by 37%. This is $29 for each person, the report reads. Next year, the UN will request less money for humanitarian aid to residents of eastern Ukraine. Next year, the UN plans to provide assistance to 2.3 million Ukrainians, requesting $162 million for these purposes - 13% less than this year, the UN said. The United Nations estimates nearly 132 million people around the world will be in need of humanitarian assistance in 2019. The U.N. said in its 2019 Global Humanitarian Overview that despite recent "global economic and development gains," humanitarian needs are still on the rise. Because of this, the U.N. is appealing to donors for nearly $25 billion in an effort help almost 94 million "of the most vulnerable" with things like food, shelter and health care. ish Ukraine insists on the immediate access for representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to the wounded Ukrainian sailors captured by the Russian Federation. Iryna Herashchenko, First Deputy Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada and Presidents Representative for the peaceful settlement of the situation in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, told this to an Ukrinform correspondent in the scope of the 2nd Ukrainian Womens Congress. "We are very concerned about the health of our sailors. Visits were denied to them despite all efforts of our authorized person Lyudmila Denisova [the Commissioner of the Verkhovna Rada for Human Rights]. She continues to demand this meeting ... We insist on immediate access, especially to the wounded sailors, including the one in grave condition, and we insist on the access for international doctors, in particular, representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross. Because we have very little confidence in the words of the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Russian Federation, Herashchenko said. She stressed that the captured sailors are prisoners of war and they must be immediately released. 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. The "court" of occupied city Simferopol in Crimea arrested all the captured sailors for two months. The captured Ukrainians have been taken to Moscow's Lefortovo Prison and three wounded to prisons medical center. iy The event creates a good chance for the three countries to review their past cooperation and learn from the experience in the implementation of the trilateral joint statement on drug prevention adopted at the previous meeting, as well as map out orientations and plans for the time ahead, said Lao Deputy Minister of Public Security Lieutenant General Somvang Thammasith, who is also head of the Lao steering committee for drug control, combat, and prevention. Senior Lieutenant General Le Quy Vuong, Vietnams Deputy Minister of Public Security, suggested the three neighbouring countries hold annual meetings to exchange their viewpoints and experience in jointly addressing drug-related issues, which are becoming increasingly complex both in the region and the world. He reiterated the determination of Vietnamese drug prevention forces to work closely with Cambodian and Lao counterparts to crack down on crime in general and drugs-related one in particular for the peace, and healthy and sustainable development of each nation. As drug trafficking not only affects social order and security, but also causes great economic losses and threatens national stability, the three countries agreed to increase collaboration and share responsibility to minimise cases of this in each society. Participants recognised the remarkable efforts of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia in preventing drug smuggling at border gates and stressed the importance of sharing information and conducting investigations on illegal cross-border drug trading. The three nations agreed to focus their endeavour on realising the post-2015 drug-free vision of the Association of the ASEAN and the goal of securing the ASEAN community against illicit drugs 2016-2025. They recommended enhancing cooperation with other nations in ASEAN and actively collaborating within the framework of the 1993 Memorandum of Understanding on Drug Control in the Greater Mekong Sub-Region to implement the 10th sub-regional action plan (SAP 10) on drug prevention and control adopted at the MoU ministerial meeting in Phnom Penh in May 2017. Delegates suggested giving priority to the implementation of measures against the cross-border trade of illegal drugs and enhancing coordination in the field, while supporting the operation of transnational drug offices and improving the capital of specialised agencies. They agreed to raise awareness of people in the three countries about the risks of drug abuse and strive to build a drug-free border residential areas and border lines of peace and friendship. The 18th meeting is scheduled to take place in Vietnam in 2019. Bedri Hoti knows what it means to be stateless. For years, he led a marginal existence in poverty because the country where he spent most of his life did not acknowledge his right to live there. By contrast, Boro Topolic lived a perfectly normal life for decades, only to wake up one day and discover he had become stateless. They are among nearly 3,000 people in Croatia who are stateless, or at risk of statelessness, most of them Roma. Neither Bedri nor Boro is Roma. Both came to Croatia from other parts of what was the Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia. Both suffered the consequences of administrative decisions. UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is campaigning to end statelessness, which affects millions of people worldwide, denying them basic human rights that citizens take for granted. See also: Brazil makes dream of belonging come true for stateless activist They often are not allowed to go to school, see a doctor, get a job, open a bank account, buy a house or even get married. On the fourth anniversary of its #IBelong Campaign to End Statelessness by 2024, UNHCR called on states to take faster and more resolute action to help meet the campaigns goal. Today I call on politicians, governments and legislators around the world to act now, to take and support decisive action to eliminate statelessness globally by 2024, said High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi. For Bedri, not having documents meant barely living. After the European Court of Human Rights backed him in April this year, Croatia began to put matters right. Bedri has now received a travel document issued under the 1954 Statelessness Convention, enabling him to travel and claim his rights. Civil Rights Project Sisak, a non-governmental organization that partners with UNHCR, supported Bedri and Boro with free legal advice and legal aid. I had my own car and I rented my own flat. I was satisfied. Despite seeing progress in his case, Bedri, 56, still lives in one shabby room in an abandoned house in the town of Novska, just over 100 kilometres from the capital. His neighbours give him food and allow him to tap into their electricity supply and use their shower. For years, he has not been able to work or receive social benefits. I have survived only because of the kindness of individuals, he says. Bedri was born in Kosovo** to Albanian refugees. He moved to Croatia when he was 17. I came for work, he says. I was offered a job as a waiter in Novska and then I got work as a mechanic. I had my own car and I rented my own flat. I was satisfied. Bedri stayed in Novska during the Croatian war between 1991 and 1995 and was conscripted as a skilled civilian to repair vehicles for the Croatian army. However, his application for Croatian citizenship, submitted during the war, was refused on the grounds that he was an Albanian citizen. I had never been to Albania in my life, he says. He was issued with a Croatian identity card for foreign nationals. Meanwhile Boro Topolic, now 63, was going happily about his life. For 40 years, he worked hard, paid his taxes and was never in trouble. He came to Croatia from Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1975. He worked as a welder in the shipyards of Rijeka and Split and had a job in a Zagreb factory that made steam boilers. Now he drives a taxi. I couldnt believe it. It was a great insult. His nightmare began in May 2014, after he tried to buy the flat he rents in a municipal block in Zagreb. For this, he was required to have Croatian citizenship. He had Croatian permanent residency and a Bosnia and Herzegovina passport. He was assured that if he renounced his citizenship of Bosnia and Herzegovina he would be accepted as a Croatian. He went ahead, only to have the Croatian authorities turn him down, leaving him stateless. I couldnt believe it, he says. It was a great insult. Bedri Hoti and his dog Lux outside his home in Novska, Croatia. Despite having spent most of his life in Croatia, the authorities did not recognize his right to live there. UNHCR/Zsolt Balla He found out he had become stateless when he went to pick up his documents ahead of a planned trip to Serbia, where his daughter was about to give birth. I wanted to be there for the birth of my grandson, he says. When he applied for Croatian citizenship, he had been given a formal guarantee he would be accepted, on the basis of which he renounced his citizenship of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He was asked to visit the office to meet an intelligence officer. He asked me questions I had answered a hundred times before why was I in Croatia? he says. And he made insinuations about my marital status. A month later, I got a rejection. An official letter from the interior ministry told Boro that, for reasons in the interests of the Republic of Croatia, he should be denied citizenship. What prospects are there for a man of my age? It was too late for Boro to recover his Bosnia and Herzegovina citizenship. Meanwhile, he has been issued with a stateless persons Croatian passport, which allows him to travel, although he must obtain a visa to go to Serbia. He will also receive his pension when he retires next year, as he made full contributions. I know there are people in worse situations, he says. In a worse situation was Bedri Hoti who, for nearly 25 years, could neither work nor receive benefits. The best he could hope for were odd car repair jobs that brought a little cash in hand. Travel was out of the question and he was unable to marry. Now he has been recognized as stateless, under the 1954 Statelessness Convention, and given a Convention travel document. In eight years, he will be able to apply for Croatian citizenship. There is light at the end of the tunnel. At the same time, there is the realization that time has been lost. Receiving a pension will be tricky since Bedri could not make contributions and social welfare will be small, at best. Im 56 now, he says wistfully. What prospects are there for a man of my age? If you want to know more about how you can make a difference to the lives of people like Bedri and Boro, join our #IBelong campaign to end statelessness in 10 years. Displaced Yemenis stand amid ruins in Sana'a's Old City, Yemen, February 2017. UNHCR/Mohammed Hamoud Nearly 1,500 civilian casualties were reported in Yemen in the period between August to October this year, according to the UNHCR-led Protection Cluster in Yemen. This means an average of 123 civilian deaths and injuries every week during this period. Each new day of the conflict inflicts more suffering on an already battered and exhausted civilian population. Given the heavy human cost, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, urges parties to the conflict in Yemen to improve the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure. According to data published in the latest Civilian Impact Monitoring Report (CIMP), an estimated 670 incidents of armed violence resulted in 1,478 civilian casualties during a three month period. Of this total, thirty-three per cent were women and children, of which 217 were killed and 268 injured. Homes and hospitals also continue to be sites of violence. Twenty three per cent of all deaths and injuries (336 civilian casualties) during this period were reported in houses. Attacks on health infrastructure and first responders also resulted in 154 civilian casualties, while attacks on buses and vehicles resulted in 316 casualties. The casualty totals during this period were driven both by the intensification of hostilities across active frontlines in Yemen and mass casualty incidents. Saada and Al Hudaydah governorates, which remain flashpoints of conflict in Yemen, accounted for the largest number of casualties within this period, while 26 mass casualty incidents, in which ten or more civilians were killed or injured, accounted for more than half of all overall casualties. Almost four years of conflict in Yemen have resulted in the worlds largest humanitarian crisis, leaving 75 per cent of the population, 22 million people, in need of assistance and displacing more than 2.3 million people from their homes. According to the UN, more than 65,000 Yemenis are estimated to have been killed or injured in the conflict. UNHCR is responding to the needs of displaced Yemenis with emergency cash assistance and other forms of aid. Since the beginning of the year UNHCR has provided almost 250,000 displaced and conflict affected Yemenis with cash assistance. UNHCR reiterates however that only a peaceful resolution of the conflict can halt further suffering and stem humanitarian needs. A link to the CIMP report is available here: https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/civilian-impact-monitoring-report-august-october-2018 For more information on this topic, please contact: Poroshenko stressed Russia's attack in the Kerch Strait and the Black Sea on November 25 was not an isolated incident. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has stressed the need not to allow Russia to spill its aggression into the Sea of Azov. "With Crimea and Donbas under occupation, our common task is not to allow Russia to spill its aggression into the Sea of Azov. And an 'Azov package of sanctions' against Russia would be the least the world should respond with this time. While the West is speaking, Mr. Putin is acting. It is time to respond," he wrote in an article for The New York Times on December 5, 2018. Read alsoEvidence of Russia's direct aggression against Ukraine shared with OSCE In 2014, for the first time in seven decades, a state sought to redraw Europe's map by way of military aggression, he said. "Russia's theft of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula commanded condemnation and economic sanctions from around the world. But as the news coverage moved on, Moscow was left to design a new assault: a 12-mile bridge between Russia's mainland and Crimea," he said. "The Ukrainian people will not watch as Russia continues its creeping annexation of our country. Four years ago, in the aftermath of our revolution, Ukraine alone was not able to withstand a Russian military adventure. But today our resolve is strong, and we are prepared to stand up to Russia. This is why I have enacted limited martial law in Ukrainian territory near the Russian border, so that we are able to mobilize and protect our security should Russia dare to intensify its aggression. But we also need the support of the international community in the form of further sanctions against Moscow for its latest assault," the president said. Poroshenko stressed Russia's attack in the Kerch Strait and the Black Sea on November 25 was not an isolated incident. "Since 2014, Russia has regularly violated international rules of navigation and treaties in both those waters and the Sea of Azov. It has stolen our energy supplies and fisheries, harmed Ukrainian livelihoods, and blocked traffic and trade to our ports." "Russia is engaging in economic warfare, trying to slowly suffocate our export markets. Jobs have been lost, livelihoods destroyed, food is being wasted, and goods intended for Europe and the Middle East delayed. The words of Western condemnation this fall have only worsened Russia's behavior," he said. Poroshenko says Ukraine's ships never aggressed Russia's Navy, never opened fire despite being goaded, were attacked with gunfire and missiles, and were seized while sailing home in international waters. "This was a direct, unprovoked military attack by Russia's armed forces on Ukraine's. Moscow did not hide behind 'little green men' as it did in Crimea in 2014 or its servicemen on 'vacation' as it claimed when hostilities started in Eastern Ukraine the same year. Moscow does not even try to deceive the world this time." "The crisis continues, with our servicemen and boats being held in Russian custody, hundreds of ships being blocked in the Sea of Azov, denied permission by Russians to pass through the Kerch Strait. These are not just Ukrainian ships; they carry the flags of other countries and they have effectively been commandeered by Russia," Poroshenko added. Poroshenko says Russia's objective is obvious: It wants to return to an era where property and land are seized by force. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said Russian President Vladimir Putin is "weaker than he would have the West believe." "Despite Kremlin propaganda, Mr. Putin is weaker than he would have the West believe. The West can by raising the cost of his aggression force him to fall back into line," he wrote in an op-ed article for The New York Times on December 5, 2018. Read alsoPoroshenko stresses need not to let Russia "spill its aggression into Azov Sea" "How much more hostility will it take before the West's words of concern graduate into the hard currency in which the Kremlin trades strength? Russia has deployed chemical weapons in Britain; undertaken cyberattacks and hacking attempts across the West; bombed civilians in Syria; fomented a war in Eastern Ukraine that has caused more than 10,000 Ukrainian deaths; and spread disinformation to confuse, anger and frighten citizens around the world. Is now not the time to act?" Poroshenko wondered. The Ukrainian president insists democratic countries must now make a choice: Stand up for what is right or continue appeasing President Vladimir Putin. "If history has taught us anything, it is that appeasement has deadly costs," the president said. Poroshenko says Russia's objective is obvious: It wants to return to an era where property and land are seized by force. "President Trump showed true leadership by canceling his meeting with Mr. Putin at the G-20 in Argentina over Russia's seizing of Ukrainian ships and sailors. We have enjoyed tangible support from the White House and Congress, including defensive weapons, stronger sanctions and more secure American energy supplies. Together, partners on both sides of the Atlantic can continue to raise the cost to Russia for threatening our collective security," he said. The Ecumenical Patriarch reiterated that according to historical data and archival documents, the Holy Metropolitan of Kyiv had always belonged to the jurisdiction of the Mother Church of Constantinople. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople has sent a letter to head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) Metropolitan Onufriy explaining the reasons for granting autocephaly to the Ukrainian church and inviting him to take part in the upcoming unification council. The letter dated October 12 was published by unofficial translation by Metropolitan of the UOC-MP Oleksandr (Drabinko) on Facebook. Read alsoMoscow Patriarchate not to participate in church unification council in Ukraine The Ecumenical Patriarch reiterated that according to historical data and archival documents, the Holy Metropolitan of Kyiv had always belonged to the jurisdiction of the Mother Church of Constantinople founded as a separate metropolitan, occupying the 60th position on the list of the dioceses of the Ecumenical Throne. And later, the local Synod in Russia "unilaterally cut itself off from canonical authority, i.e. the Holy Great Church of Christ (1448), but other metropolitans in the city of Kyiv, being lawful and canonical, were consistently and tirelessly subordinate to the Ecumenical Patriarchate as the Kyiv clergy and laity did not accept their subordination to the center from Muscovy." And in 1685, the Moscow patriarch personally appointed the Metropolitan of Kyiv, which Constantinople had previously done, thus violating the canons. Ecumenical Patriarch Dionysius IV then actually turned a blind eye to the violation of the canons and allowed the Moscow patriarch to appoint the Metropolitan of Kyiv, however, provided that when the metropolitan performs the bloodless and holy sacrament, he should first of all remember the esteemed name of the Ecumenical Patriarch. Taking into account all the historical facts, the Ecumenical Patriarch concludes that the historical Kyiv Metropolitan must be transferred back under the Ecumenical Patriarchate's jurisdiction, while Onufriy could no longer be called the "Metropolitan of Kyiv" after the establishment of the canonical church in Ukraine and election of its primate. Read alsoUkraine must be prepared for Russia's religious provocations expert "The Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate during the session of April 22, 2018, took note of the requests sent from time to time from the clergy and laity regarding the independence of the blessed Ukrainian land, which was framed into a separate sovereign state, but above all with a goal of curing existing splits and divisions, since the sister church of Moscow has failed to cure them they unanimously decided to give the status of an independent internal structure, i.e. 'autocephaly,' to the Ukrainian state. Until the formation of the hierarchy in Ukraine into the body and its definition after the election of its primate, who, in accordance with our decision, will be given a Patriarchal and Synodal Tomos, we inform Your Eminence that in Ukraine there is the highest canonical authority, which is the Holy Great Church of Christ, as it was from ancient times." "We wanted to inform Your Eminence about these preliminary decisions of the Mother Church through the exarchs appointed by us to Kyiv, but, unfortunately, you refused to interact with them. Returning now to the same issue for the second time in this Patriarchal letter and addressing you as 'His Eminence Metropolitan of Kyiv,' for practical use and kindness, we inform you that after the election of the primate of the Ukrainian church by an authority consisting of the clergy and laity, you will not be able to ecclesiologically and canonically bear the title of the Metropolitan of Kyiv, which you still have despite the violation of the described conditions of the official documents of 1686," the letter says. Based on this, Bartholomew called on Onufriy to "immediately and in the spirit of harmony and unity" take part in the upcoming unification council of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and the election of its primate. "Of course, Your Eminence is allowed to be a candidate for this position. We also ask you and your hierarchy to communicate with former Metropolitan of Kyiv Filaret and former Archbishop of Lviv Makariy and others since they have been fully reinstated by us in the bishopric, but not in their posts and titles, according to our positive decision in response to requests they had repeatedly sent us, as Divine and Holy Canons 9 and 17 of the Holy Fathers of Chalcedon clearly and wisely proclaim," the letter says. Filaret said the UOC of the Kyiv Patriarchate would have the largest number of representatives at the unification council, namely 40 bishops would represent it. Head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC-KP) Filaret has said over 50 bishops will take part in the unification council for the creation of an independent local Orthodox church in Ukraine, which is scheduled for December 15. Speaking in Chernihiv, he said the UOC of the Kyiv Patriarchate would have the largest number of representatives at the unification council, namely 40 bishops would represent it. The existing Ukrainian Autocephalous Church will be represented by 12 bishops, while the UOC of the Moscow Patriarchate will send three or four representatives. Read alsoPatriarch Bartholomew explains Metropolitan Onufriy reasons for Ukraine church's autocephaly (Letter) Filaret says there is a furious struggle for non-unification and non-recognition of the Ukrainian church nowadays. "Moscow is doing all this, but through the local accomplices in Ukraine. It is spreading rumors that the patriarch will resign and will not run. This is not true. I will be patriarch to death, because the enthronement was in 1995. And no one will remove this grace," he said. Filaret also highlighted the church unification agenda: the adoption of the charter of an independent local Orthodox church in Ukraine and the election of its head would be considered during the unification council. He expressed the hope the event would bring change for the better. "We will not accept the worst. And we will reject everything inappropriate if it is demanded from us," Filaret said. As UNIAN reported earlier, a decision was announced after a meeting of the Holy Synod on October 11 that the Ecumenical Patriarchate proceeds to granting autocephaly to the Church of Ukraine. In addition, the legal binding of the Synod's letter of 1686 was abolished, thus taking the Kyiv Metropolis from under Moscow's canonical jurisdiction. Also, head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC-KP) Filaret and head of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC) Makariy were reinstated in their canonical status. On October 12, the UOC-KP urged the hierarchs of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) to prepare for a special unification council. On November 3, Poroshenko and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I signed an agreement on cooperation and interaction between Ukraine and the Ecumenical Patriarchate. On November 19, the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople said the Holy Council of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine would be held in December. On November 29, the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate drafted the Ukrainian Church's constitutional charter in anticipation of the issuance of the Patriarchal and Synodal Tomos. On December 5, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said the Orthodox churches in Ukraine would gather for a unification council on December 15. The Russian foreign minister assured that they "are well." Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Ukrainian sailors who were captured by Russian coast guards near the Kerch Strait will remain in custody in Russia at least until the completion of trial. Speaking with journalists after the OSCE ministerial meeting on Friday, Lavrov confirmed that the Ukrainian consuls had been allowed access to the prisoners, and assured that the sailors "are well," European Pravda reports. "They are now under investigation. When the investigation is over, there will be a trial. They violated Russian and international law, 'penetrated' our territorial waters. When there is a court ruling, then we will decide," Lavrov said, stating Russia's position on the matter. The Russian minister believes that in this situation, any country would have seized Ukrainian naval vessels. "The United States even ordered to shoot at anyone crossing the border. We didn't do that," he said. Read alsoU.S. could disconnect Russia from SWIFT over aggression against Ukraine As UNIAN reported earlier, on the morning of November 25, Russia blocked the passage to the Kerch Strait for the Ukrainian tugboat Yany Kapu and two armored naval boats Berdyansk and Nikopol, which were on a scheduled re-deployment from the Black Sea port of Odesa to the Azov Sea port of Mariupol. The Ukraine Navy Command noted that the Russian side had been informed in advance of the intention to re-deploy the vessels in accordance with international standards to ensure the safety of navigation. The Russian coast guard ship "Don" rammed the Ukrainian tug, damaging the Ukrainian vessel. As the Ukrainian boats were heading back in the Odesa direction after being rejected passage via the Kerch Strait, Russian coast guards opened aimed fire on them. Read alsoRussian infowars: FSB to claim captured Ukrainian sailors injured in skirmish between each other All 24 crew on board were captured and later remanded in custody for two months, charged with "illegal border crossing" (the sailors are facing up to six years in prison). Three crewmen were injured in the attack. The Russian-controlled court in the occupied Crimea ruled to remand all 24 POWs in custody, after which they were transferred to Moscow-based Lefortovo and Matrosskaya Tishina detention centers. The official referred to the latest developments as a competition that falls short of armed conflict. Russias seizure of Ukrainian naval vessels is a manifestation of its disregard for global rules and intent to test the West, the top U.S. military officer said Thursday. Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the Trump administration was not discussing a military response to the Nov 25 incident in the Kerch Strait, in which Russias coast guard seized three Ukrainian vessels that Moscow claimed had veered into its territorial waters, according to The Washington Post. It says a lot about Russias respect of international norms and standards, Dunford said during a Washington Post Live event. What took place in the Sea of Azov is consistent with a pattern of behavior that really goes back to Georgia, the Crimea and the Donbass in the Ukraine, he said, referring to Russias steps to assert itself beyond its borders over the past decade. The incident, which occurred as the Ukrainian vessels sought to enter the Sea of Azov from the Black Sea in an area where Russia has built a bridge linking the illegally annexed Crimean peninsula to mainland Russia, was a stark illustration of Moscows military superiority over Ukraine. It also raised the prospect of further conflict between Russia and Ukraine, at odds over Moscows 2014 annexation of Crimea and support for militants in eastern Ukraine. Read alsoVolker comments on Russia's seizure of Ukrainian ships We refer to this as a competition that falls short of armed conflict, where what the Russians are really doing is testing the international communitys resolve in enforcing the rules that exist, in this case clear violations of sovereignty, Dunford said. Some sort of international response which could be exclusively diplomatic and economic was needed or Russia would continue to take such actions, Dunford said. More than 10,000 people have died in fighting in Ukraine since 2014. The response from Dunford and other military leaders, including Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, illustrates the balancing act Washington faces in its desire to support Ukrainian sovereignty and check Russias extraterritorial ambitions while also seeking to avoid a military confrontation with Moscow. The schedule of visits to other captured sailors has already been set. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs says that Ukrainian consuls in Moscow have already visited seven Ukrainian sailors in the Matrosskaya Tishina and Lefortovo detention centers. "We are taking systemic measures to protect the rights of Ukrainian sailors who are prisoners of war, illegally held in the Russian Federation. Thanks to the coordinated, persistent actions of our consuls, diplomats have gained access to the prisoners of war," Serhiy Pohoreltsev, Director of the Consular Service Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, told UNIAN. "Yesterday, the consul visited three injured sailors in Matrosskaya Tishina. Today, he visited four sailors in Lefortovo. The guys are brave. The dates for visits to sailors held in Lefortovo have been determined, including on the 10th, six people will be visited, and on the 11th another six people, and on the 12th five people," the diplomat said. Read alsoRussia not to release captured Ukrainian sailors until verdict handed down Lavrov At the same time, he clarified that the injuries of the three military are "not life-threatening." "The issue of their legal defense has been resolved. The state will pay for the relevant services of lawyers to protect the rights of sailors who are prisoners of war. All involved ministries and agencies of Ukraine are taking comprehensive measures, actively working to get our prisoners of war back home as soon as possible," he said. According to Pohoreltsev, an important component is a consolidated international position and support for the calls for the release of Ukrainian sailors by Russia. There were delegates of some NATO Allies who thought they had misunderstood Putin's words. Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius claims that Russian President Vladimir Putin at a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council in 2008 called Ukraine an "artificial entity" and a "history error." The top diplomat recalled the 2008 NATO Summit, which was held in Bucharest (Romania), where "there was big discussion and fight between two teams," an UNIAN correspondent reported from the conference titled "Ukrainian Path to NATO: Achievements and Future Prospects." One group of countries, including Lithuania, defended the position that Ukraine and Georgia should be provided with a Membership Action Plan, which should have been a kind of a signal. Read alsoThrough Kerch Strait provocations, Moscow seeking to undermine international maritime law According to Linkevicius, an MAP plan is simply a "bureaucratic tool." But others said that we cannot do this because it is too provocative. We will provoke opponents, and notably Russia, and that will be a big problem, the Lithuanian foreign minister said, adding that the countries that supported the provision of MAP appeared to be right. Later, the war began in the South Caucasus, and Russia occupied South Ossetia and Abkhazia. "It also reminds me of the 2008 meeting of the NATO-Russia Council. It was not an open meeting, but it would not be a great sin if I quote President Putin saying to NATO Allies during the NATO-Russia Council and during that meeting, trying as always to teach and lecture them: 'With whom are you cooperating? With Ukraine? It's not a country, it's some artificial formation, some mistake in the history, and you know that it's not normal.' And everyone was looking at each other and saying: what is he talking about?" the minister stressed. "[Members of NATO] could not believe, maybe they [thought] misunderstood something, but we were among the few who said no, he means it," said the Lithuanian foreign minister. The year 2008 was not about Ukraine, it was about Georgia. But later it was Ukraine it was Crimea. Again, those who were surprised were not us. We said: you should not be surprised because it was something done in Georgia, and surprise was agreeable," said Linkevicius. RIDLEY TOWNSHIP Michael Capozzoli was re-elected president of the Ridley School Board at its annual reorganization meeting for the 18th consecutive year, and Beverly Kapanjie will continue to serve as vice president, an office she has held for 12 years. Capozzoli has been a member of the school board for 41 years. He is a former teacher at the Leedom Elementary School. He is associated with Capozzoli Catering and is active with the Ridley Township Business Association. Its a pleasure to serve this board, the community and especially, the students of the Ridley School District, Capozzoli said after his re-election. Kapanjie became a member of the school board 30 years ago. She taught German at Marple-Newtown High School before joining Hoffmans Candle Corner, a family-owned business that operated for decades in Prospect Park and later in the township. An accomplished pianist, she also gives private piano lessons. Our Ridley School District is an amazing community and its an honor to serve on the Ridley School Board, Kapanjie said. And I am so proud of our administrators, teachers, students and a special thanks to maintenance and custodial staff and bus drivers for all they do. The board reappointed John F.X. Reilly as solicitor, Cynthia Cherkas as treasurer and Francis Bascelli Jr., truancy officer. In a business matter before the board, district superintendent Lee Ann Wentzel sought and received approval of a 3-year lead testing cycle to remain in compliance with Act 39 of 2018 under which schools may, but are not required, to test for lead levels annually in the drinking water of any facility where children attend school. The Ridley School District has chosen to be proactive in testing for lead levels in water, Wentzel explained in her request. All school buildings have been tested and found not to exceed the EPA standards. Wentzel said the district practices routine and interim control measures by cleaning aerators, flushing stagnant water in pipes, and providing bottled water. Ukraine should adopt new laws on the Security Service of Ukraine, intelligence services, and management of classified information. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization identified five main areas of reform of Ukraine's security and defense sector for 2019. Speaking at a Kyiv conference on Friday, Alexander Vinnikov, head of the NATO office in Ukraine, noted that after the adoption of the law on national security, it is also necessary to pass a number of other laws, according to an UNIAN correspondent He mentioned the need to adopt a new law on the parliamentary committee for oversight over the activities of intelligence and security services. The official also spoke of the law on the Security Service of Ukraine, which should strengthen, within the framework of the reform, the elements contained in framework law on national security. Also, he noted the need for a new law on intelligence services and a law on managing state secrets and classified information. Read alsoAt 2008 NATO-Russia Council, Putin called Ukraine "artificial formation" and "mistake in history" Linkevicius Vinnikov also stressed that the fifth element is the reform of the defense industry and the public procurement system in the field of defense. The head of NATO office in Ukraine noted that the Alliance sees these areas as priorities for reform next year, since there is an ongoing transition from theory to practice in the implementation of defense reforms. In addition, he cited priorities for a longer-term period, including a comprehensive overview of the security and defense sector and the development of professional military education. If Ukraine's warships stop passing through the Kerch Strait, "this will mean that Russia has fully occupied the Sea of Azov." Ukrainian Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak says ships of Ukraine's Navy will continue passing through the Kerch Strait between the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. "We have not violated a single clause of any agreement; we've acted exactly the same way as the previous time. But we will not give up our right to pass through the Kerch Strait and our right to be present in the Sea of Azov," he told TV Channel Pryamiy. The minister says that the next sail will take place when the Navy is ready. "When we are ready to carry out a new sail to rotate our units, we will have a similar passage in keeping with all international rules and rights. By that time, I think, international pressure on Russia will let them know that they are not fulfilling international obligations," Poltorak said. Read alsoEleven ships violate ban on entering occupied Crimea's ports in November If Ukraine's warships stop passing through the Kerch Strait, "this will mean that Russia has fully occupied the Sea of Azov and we will simply lose another territory. We cannot let it happen," 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. The decision is non-binding. Another Ukrainian region has joined a campaign to ban the use of cultural products, namely movies, books, songs, etc., in the Russian language in the public. This decision was supported by 68 out of 84 members of Ivano-Frankivsk Regional Council on December 7, an UNIAN correspondent reported. Three members did not vote. The ban shall be in effect in the region until the end of the Russian occupation of Ukraine. Read alsoUkraine's Deputy PM: Ukrainian language quotas on radio stations grow to 35% While putting the decision to the vote, member of the council Ihor Debenko said it would be non-binding. The move is aimed at preventing escalation of tension in society and incitement of ethnic hatred. This measure is also to protect Ukraine's information space from hybrid effects of the aggressor state and to overcome the consequences of long-term linguistic russification. Also, the regional council recommended that local authorities take a similar decision. Previously, a moratorium on the public use of Russian-language cultural products was introduced in Lviv and Zhytomyr regions. The Moscow Patriarchate stated that the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew "had no right" to convene church meetings in Ukraine. Onufriy, head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, "did not bless" the clergy of the UOC-MP for participation in the Unification Council of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The Holy Synod of the UOC-MP made the decision at its meeting on December 7. The Moscow Patriarchate stated that the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew had no right to convene church meetings in Ukraine, while the unification council itself was allegedly illegal, as representatives of schismatic groups would take part in it." Read alsoKyiv Patriarchate responds to reports on Filaret's stance toward top position in new church "In this regard, the episcopate, the clergy, monks, and the laity of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church [of the Moscow Patriarchate] shall receive no blessing to participate in the so-called unification council," the Synod ruled. As UNIAN reported earlier, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew on October 12, 2018, sent the Primate of the UOC MP, Onufriy, a letter, explaining the reasons for granting Ukraine Church autocephaly and calling on him to attend the unification council and reiterating his right to run for the top position in the new church. Ukraine's foreign minister took part in the 25th OSCE Ministerial Council in Milan on December 6, 2018. Ukraine has come up with an idea of deploying a joint peacekeeping mission of the United Nations and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in Russian-occupied Donbas, eastern Ukraine. "Today, there has been a very interesting presentation from the OSCE, including those who work in the Minsk [talks] format. They have understood the insanity that has been happening there cannot last any longer. And we've come up with an initiative that there should be a real peacekeeping mission a joint mission of the UN and the OSCE both with the military and police components, and with the international administration," Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Pavlo Klimkin told journalists on the sidelines of the 25th OSCE Ministerial Council in Milan on December 6, 2018. Read alsoEvidence of Russia's direct aggression against Ukraine shared with OSCE "This, of course, is not yet the mission we wanted and we have constantly been lobbying, but, at least from the point of view of a mindset, it is definitely a good step in the right direction. We will try to develop it," he added. As UNIAN reported earlier, Klimkin said on September 26 that Ukraine, the United States, Germany and France had long ago prepared a joint draft resolution for the UN Security Council on the deployment of peacekeeping forces to Donbas. The minister promised that the countries would submit this document for consideration by the UN Security Council. One enemy troop was killed and another two were wounded, intelligence reports say. Russia's hybrid military forces mounted six attacks on Ukrainian army positions in Donbas in the past 24 hours, with one Ukrainian soldier reported as wounded in action. Read alsoUkraine reports "escalation signs" in Donbas "One Ukrainian soldier was wounded in the past day. According to intelligence reports, one occupier was killed and another two 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 7, 2018. The Russian occupation forces opened aimed fire from hand-held and automatic grenade launchers, heavy machine guns and small arms to attack the defenders of the villages of Chermalyk, Vodiane, and Lebedynske. The enemy also employed 82mm mortars, shelling the Ukrainian positions near the village of Novotoshkivske, while those near the town of Maryinka came under fire from small arms used for provocation. "Since Friday midnight, Russian-led forces have attacked the Ukrainian positions near the village of Taramchuk, using heavy machine guns. No Ukrainian army casualties have been reported since the start of the day," reads the report. Local author Huda Al-Marashi has written a memoir of growing up in a conservative Muslim Iraqi-American family and how that influenced her marriage expectations. First Comes Marriage: My Not-So-Typical American Love Story chronicles her life of dual identities and deciphering religious rules. Al-Marashis autobiography is dedicated to themes of love and sexuality, usually taboo subjects in traditional societies. Al-Marashi, whose writing has appeared in the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and Al Jazeera, lives in Encinitas with her husband and three children. Q: How did you negotiate your dual identities growing up? Does your past influence your writing today? A: The funny thing is, as a young girl, I didnt even know I was negotiating a dual identity. I didnt have the words to describe it in that way. All I knew was that we were different, but I couldnt tell you precisely what made us different. I knew my parents and grandparents spoke a different language at home and that we belonged to a religion that nobody else in my school belonged to, but I didnt always know what things went with which culture. I think thats a fairly common experience for young people. I remember my daughter telling me, once, how she told her classmates at school that she had rice with yogurt for dinner, which is very common in the Middle East to eat plain yogurt with a savory dish. And how surprised she was when everyone turned up their nose in disgust. She thought that was something everyone did. But it also came as a great relief to me in high school and college to learn the term dual identity and to know that my experiences as an Arab-American were actually common to anyone straddling two sides of hyphen. In my writing, it was really important to me to acknowledge that there is this tension here, between a sort of seamless existence between two worlds where you exist in both so naturally that you are hardly aware of it. Then at other times, there is this experience of real conflict where that dual identity cleaves the mind, as I describe it in my book. Q: For you, what was the difference between Muslim love and American love? Why? A: This issue gets to why representation is so important. Growing up, I never encountered a Muslim protagonist in a love story whether that be in print or on film, so I drew this false conclusion that Muslims didnt have love stories worth telling. I didnt blame it on immigration or the fact that I was living in the U.S. and not hearing those stories. I just assumed that Muslims only had stories like the relationships I saw around me these match-made couples where the hope was to find a good person who checked all the boxes and then you learned to love them. But American love got to be this mysterious, fragile thing that was worthy of celebration in every art form. And what I realized as I got older is, one, how damaging it is to be excluded from love stories because it suggests that certain groups of people are not capable of this fundamentally human experience, and, two, how false this presumption is. There is no culture that doesnt experience love. Muslim and Arab poets have been speaking an exquisite language of love for centuries, but growing up in the U.S., I had never been exposed to it. This is one of the most overlooked but painful by products of immigration this experience of forming an opinion about your own culture and community in absentia. I wanted this narrative to not only point to the ways we are misinformed about our own cultures as the children of immigrants, but also to contribute to the growing body of literature about the Arab-American or Muslim-American experience. Q: In what ways was your marriage tied to loss? How was it a new beginning but also an end? A: All marriages bring about an ending of sorts. You get assigned this new role, wife or husband, that carries with it centuries of convention. Then you take two people who had previously been wholly unique individuals, put them in a house together, and all of sudden they are both reenacting whatever ideas they grew up with regarding those roles and how it applies to their lives. So, there is the loss of who you were as a single person and who you were in your nuclear family. Its also the birth of this new family dynamic, a household thats essentially made up of your in-laws married to your parents. Q: Will your children have arranged marriages when they are ready, too? Why or why not? A: I think the language surrounding arranged marriage needs to change. Its a stigmatized term that makes people chafe, especially in Western society, and its no longer entirely relevant. For better or worse, the role of the matchmaker has been usurped by dating apps, and I dont think a lot of people in the West realize that they are also coupling in a way that mimics this very traditional custom where you are looking at someones picture and their information in a profile and then deciding whether youd like to get to know them more based on the impression you formed from the data in front of you. What Id like to pass onto my children, and everyones kids, for that matter, is a character-driven focus in marriage. Weve got to have a greater emphasis on choosing a partner based on who they are as a person. Feelings are great, but I dont know that how you feel about this person should supersede whether theyd make a good partner long term. The most important questions I think people need to ask about a prospective mate is, does this person build you up or bring you down? Do they have your best interest at heart? What are they like when they are angry? Do they argue kindly? And I wish it could become less taboo to talk about getting married for these pragmatic reasons. Love is the only right answer to why you are marrying someone in American culture, but we have a very myopic view of love when love can look like a lot of different things. Kindness is the best form of love even if doesnt come with the sparks and butterflies weve been trained to look for. Q: What two pieces of advice would you give young adults about marriage today that you wish you knew before you married? A: Number one is take care of yourself. Our spouses are such easy targets. In our current soul-mate culture, its all on your spouse to fulfill you, to complete you, to make you happy. However, when you start to chafe in an otherwise healthy relationship, more often than not, something in you has gone unfulfilled, and its a restlessness from within, from your own unrealized dreams and passions for yourself. The best thing for my marriage is my writing because it keeps me from taking out my creative frustrations on my spouse. I think all humans are creative beings and most of us are cut off from meaningful creative pursuits. But finding time to produce something you find meaningful can align so many other areas of your life. And, two, keep up healthy, strong relationships with your friends. Its great when your spouse is your best friend, but its equally important to have other friends that you can lean on for different kinds of emotional support. Q: After your first year of marriage, you and your husband moved to Guadalajara, Mexico, so he could attend medical school. Did the new surroundings raise questions about your own culture and community? A: At the time, I had been wrestling to define my bicultural identity, and entering this third space made me question that tight binary of Arab and American to see that these descriptors really were quite relative. Yes, certainly there are things that divide American and Middle Eastern cultures, but to a certain extent the behaviors and attitudes I was pigeonholing into those categories are present in all communities. And, it taught me to see my own identity in a more forgiving way. I wasnt a bad kid because I didnt speak Arabic better. My family just landed in a town in California where there were not many other Arab families, and Id never been afforded the opportunity to learn Arabic better. All those very family-focused cultural practices that I thought were so uniquely Arab, like the big family dinners and the multigenerational homes, were part of Mexican culture, too. All of these discoveries helped me to come to terms with my own story to realize that immigration invariably changes people. Where you land also influences the way you change and how much. Mexico is where I realized how little control we have over the way we assimilate and that it really wasnt something worth assigning so much emotion and value to. We are all a part of this grand movement of people that has been going on since the beginning of time. We just dont all have memories of our ancestors migrations. Q: Did marriage and life in Mexico feel like a tragic Shakespearean misunderstanding? Please explain. A: Absolutely, but thankfully without any tragic consequences. The early years of my marriage were based on so much misunderstanding. As a young girl, I tried to intuit too much of what my culture and religion expected of me, but I was basing my entire concept of my community on this micro society made up of my parents and their friends. I conjured up this airtight story that I was expected to marry this boy, that it would have been devastating if I didnt, and that it would have ended years of family friendship, when in reality, it wasnt my culture producing those expectations as much as it was me this child observing a world that had no outside influence to contradict the views being expressed inside our home. This was long before the age of satellite television or the internet, so anything I heard from my parents about what was acceptable or allowed in Iraqi culture, I believed. Q: What did teaching at the girls Catholic orphanage do for you while you were in Mexico? A: Those girls gave me a family to dote on. Coming out of a big extended family, it was unmooring to have no one who needed me to care for them, and those girls irreversibly shaped me as a mother. I arrived in Mexico in my early 20s when I still thought kids were something to check off a list: husband, career and kids. Spending time with those girls, before I became a parent, made the gravity of bringing a human life into this world very real to me. I swore that if I ever brought kids into the world that they would have to be my first priority, and although that frame of mind has probably made me lean toward over-parenting my own children, I think that awareness was really important for me as a young woman who had grown up thinking kids were something you could just squeeze into your career. Q: Why were you a contradiction of helpfulness and a hurt to your husband? A: I think we all have incredible power in a relationship, to build up but also to take down our partners. I gave my husband my time and support when it came to his education and his career, but then I was also very quick to remind him how much I had helped him. Now, I tell my children if you cant give something without feeling resentful about it later, dont do it because you are essentially punishing the other person with your helpfulness. Q: What is the power of storytelling? A: Storytelling is the ultimate form of communication. I could write articles all day long that are chock-full of stereotype-busting facts, and maybe itll have an impact on a reader on an intellectual level, but storytelling changes hearts. It makes you walk in someone elses shoes and live their life alongside them. It creates a bond between readers and characters, and knowing that was one of my primary motivations to write this book. I remember thinking if I could soften the way one person feels toward Muslims, Arabs, or Iraqis, then this all worthwhile. And I still feel that way. Q: Anything youd like to add? A: My never-ending gratitude that there are readers in this world that make space in their minds and hearts for stories about people that are from different cultures and communities. A writer can have all sort of grandiose ideas about what storytelling can do to bring about change, but none of that impact is possible without readers. For more information, visit hudaalmarashi.com (@rukhshanmir) A total of 620 perennial and non-perennial channels comprising 4,184 canal miles will be cleared of silt in a campaign to be initiated from December 26. LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 6th Dec, 2018 ) :A total of 620 perennial and non-perennial channels comprising 4,184 canal miles will be cleared of silt in a campaign to be initiated from December 26. This was said by Punjab Minister for Irrigation Sardar Mohsin Khan Leghari while talking to the media at Irrigation Secretariat here on Thursday. The irrigation department has finalised the de-siltation campaign plan for Rabi 2018-19, the minister said. The first phase of the campaign will start from December 26 and it will continue till January 30 in the perennial canals of the system. During the first phase, a total of 2194 canal miles of 316 perennial canals of the irrigation system will be de-silted. Works on Mangla command canals are scheduled from December 26 to January 16, whereas works on Tarbela command canals are scheduled for January 13 to 30. The minister said that the second phase of the campaign would be launched in March and it would continue till April 15 on selected non-perennial channels of the system. During the second phase as many as 304 non -perennial channels spread throughout the system will be de-silted. (@rukhshanmir) The tourists from France and Belgium Friday visited Takhtbhai archaeological sites in Mardan district and evinced keen interest in the historical remains of Buddha era. TAKHTBHAI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 7th Dec, 2018 ) :The tourists from France and Belgium Friday visited Takhtbhai archaeological sites in Mardan district and evinced keen interest in the historical remains of Buddha era. KP Tourism Corporation has arranged the visit for France and Belgium tourists to Takhtbhai remains in connection with International Mountain Day which was also followed by a motorbike rally from Islamabad to Takhtbhai and afterwards left for Bishigram Swat. Speaking on the occasion, French tourist Barbara Deleri said that Pakistan is a peaceful country and the hospitality they received here would be remembered forever. He said five male and four female from France and a female from Belgium are part of the delegation which would also visit the historical sites of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Swat and Kalash valley of Chitral. General Manager KP Tourism Corporation Muhammad Ali and Archaeological Conservator Aamir Umer briefed the visiting foreign tourists about historical importance of Takhtbhai remains. He said that KP government was taking practical steps for the promotion of tourism in the province and has plan to develop four tourists' sites every year. The KP government is providing all possible facilities to foreign tourists visiting the historical sites in the province. On the occasion, he also presented books on tourism to the visiting delegation of France and Belgium. Leader of Club-46, Maani Iftikhar, a participant of the biker rally said that observing International Mountain Day is meant to appraise the people about beauty and grandeur of mountainous ranges of Pakistan. He also visitor to ensure cleanliness of mountainous terrain. He said that tourism promotion would also lead to promoting national economy and appeal to the people to avoid littering shopping bags and other disposable items in the mountains and instead bring them back. Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Friday said that Pakistan would extend all kind of assistance for early completion of Turkmenistan Afghanistan Pakistan and Iran gas pipeline (TAPI) project. ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 7th Dec, 2018 ) :Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Friday said that Pakistan would extend all kind of assistance for early completion of Turkmenistan Pakistan and Iran gas pipeline (TAPI) project. The minister expressed these views during a meeting with CEO, TAPI Pipeline Company Ltd Muhammetmyrat Amanov. The Minister apprised the visiting guests that first inter government agreement of TAPI was signed in 2010 by the member countries. Ghulam Sarwar underlined the need for the earliest completion of much needed project. The CEO TAPI Pipeline Company Limited expressed desire to have an inaugural ceremony in March 2019 in Pakistan. The minister said leadership of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Iran would be invited to attend the ceremony in Pakistan. The minister further added that total length of the pipeline was about 1680 kilometers extending from Turkmenistan to Afghanistan and Pakistan and up to Pakistan-India border. The TAPI gas pipeline would supply 3.2 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day. The estimated cost of the project is $8.5 billion. The meeting was also attended by Ambassador of Turkmenistan Atadjan Movlamov, MD, ISGSC Mubeen Saulat, and Additional Secretary Petroleum Sher Afghan Khan. (@ChaudhryMAli88) Abkhazian President Raul Khadzhimba has expressed confidence that his Syrian counterpart Bashar Assad would pay a visit to the breakaway republic in the future. SUKHUM (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 07th December, 2018) Abkhazian President Raul Khadzhimba has expressed confidence that his Syrian counterpart Bashar Assad would pay a visit to the breakaway republic in the future. "Yes, there was an invitation. And I am sure that such a visit will take place," Khadzhimba told Sputnik and the RT broadcaster in an interview, when asked whether the Syrian leader could be expected to visit the republic. According to Khadzhimba, Abkhazia and Syria can develop cooperation in economy, medicine, education, tourism as well as agriculture and transport infrastructure. On Thursday, the Abkhazian parliament ratified the Friendship and Cooperation Treaty, signed by the two countries in Damascus on September 4, during the Abkhazian leader's visit to Syria. In May, Syria officially recognized the breakaway republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which seceded from Georgia in the 1990s but are still considered by Tbilisi as part of the country. In June, Khadzhimba said that the two sides had launched the process of opening their embassies in Damascus and Sukhum respectively. (@rukhshanmir) The African Union (AU) is proposing the establishment of a brigade within the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) to tackle the spread of terrorism and criminal groups in the West African country, the AU commissioner for peace and security, Ambassador Smail Chergui told Sputnik MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 07th December, 2018) The African Union (AU) is proposing the establishment of a brigade within the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) to tackle the spread of terrorism and criminal groups in the West African country, the AU commissioner for peace and security, Ambassador Smail Chergui told Sputnik. "So I think it's time maybe to consider or reconsider such an option, which has been proposed by countries of the region, and which consists in reconfiguring MINUSMA using its current capabilities, without any surge in the force, but having a brigade within what is authorized by the Security Council, with a specific mandate to deal with issues of terrorism and transnational criminal networks," Chergui said. MINUSMA was established in April 2013 to carry out security-related tasks in Mali. As of October 2018, the number of the mission's personnel deployed in Mali reached 15,469. The African Union, headquartered in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, is a continental union comprised of 55 member states, which aims to achieve regional integration and increase solidarity among African countries. (@rukhshanmir) Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, who is on a three-day official visit to the United Kingdom, is expected to return to Malaysia earlier than scheduled LONDON (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 7th Dec, 2018 ) :Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, who is on a three-day official visit to the United Kingdom, is expected to return to Malaysia earlier than scheduled. Dr Wan Azizah said she had to return early to Malaysia to attend an important meeting, which is the Pakatan Harapan (Alliance of Hope) Presidential Council meeting, in the Federal capital on Saturday. "I have to attend a meeting with Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, which is the Pakatan Harapan Presidential Council meeting. As the Pakatan Harapan president, I have to attend the meeting," she told Malaysian journalists covering her visit to the United Kingdom late Thursday. All programmes scheduled to be attended by the deputy prime minister on her last day visit to the United Kingdom have been cancelled. Dr Wan Azizah, who did not seek re-election as Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) president in the party election recently, is now the party's Advisory Council chairman. She arrived in London last Wednesday for her first official visit to the United Kingdom, after being appointed as Deputy Prime Minister on May 21 following Pakatan Harapan's victory in the 14th general election. Over 800 refugees have returned to Syria from Lebanon and Jordan over the past 24 hours, the Russian Defense Ministry's Centre for Reconciliation of Opposing Sides and Refugee Migration Monitoring said on Friday. MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 07th December, 2018) Over 800 refugees have returned to Syria from Lebanon and Jordan over the past 24 hours, the Russian Defense Ministry's Centre for Reconciliation of Opposing Sides and Refugee Migration Monitoring said on Friday. "Over the past day, in total 869 people returned to the Syrian Arab Republic from the territory of foreign states: 134 people (40 women and 69 children) left Lebanon for Syria via the Jaydet-Yabus and Talkalakh CPs [checkpoints], and 735 people (221 women and 375 children) from Jordan via the Nasib CP," the center said in its daily bulletin. A total of 227 internally displaced Syrians returned to their homes over the same period, it added. The center noted that the Syrian engineering units had cleared of mines 9.5 hectares (23.5 acres) of land in three provinces, defusing 33 explosive devices, including three improvised. During the day, seven houses were restored, a bakery in Abu Rubays in the province of Hama and a water tower in Hamoryah in the province of Damascus. In Aleppo, the restoration of the building of the Armenian Evangelical Church has been completed. Over the past 24 hours, the center provided medical assistance to 24 people, including 15 children, in the town of Al-Salhiyah in the province of Deir ez-Zor. Syria has been in a state of civil war since 2011, with the government forces fighting against numerous opposition groups and terrorist organizations. 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 process, along with providing humanitarian aid to civilians and being a guarantor of the ceasefire. Gabriel Benitez, 12, a 7th grader at Notre Dame Academy, was inspired by his older sister, 14-year-old Cathedral Catholic High School freshman Daniella Benitez, to raise the money to build a home for a family living in poverty. Through the nonprofit organization Build a Miracle, it costs $16,000 to take a family from living in a shack to a fully furnished home with plumbing, electricity, bedrooms, a bathroom and shower. Gabriel and his sister Daniella were part of a Notre Dame-sponsored home build last year, and since then, Daniella had committed to building one home a year through her own leadership efforts. After seeing Daniellas success with recruiting a team of volunteers and helping families in need, Gabriel was motivated to do the same. This past summer, he spearheaded his own BAM (Build a Miracle) team, including his older sister Alexis Jammo, his aunt Bessma Loussia, the Lakmin family, the Aon family, the Purcell family, the Martin family, Sylvia Toma, Valerie Aljajawai, the Luddy family, the Attar family, the Thompson family, the Thurman family, the Dziura family, the Toma family, and also enlisted the help of celebrities Phaedra Parks and Mario and Courtney Lopez, to raise the money needed to build a home. On Nov. 3, Gabriel and other volunteers traveled to Tijuana to meet their newly adopted family, and to mix and pour the cement, laying the foundation for their new home. On Dec. 1, they went back down to Tijuana to paint, furnish and reveal the home to its grateful new occupants. UAE Energy Minister Suhail Mazrouei said Friday he was hoping that Chad, Uzbekistan, South Africa present at the meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-cartel members of oil output cuts deal would join the agreement soon. VIENNA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 07th December, 2018) UAE Energy Minister Suhail Mazrouei said Friday he was hoping that Chad South Africa present at the meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-cartel members of oil output cuts deal would join the agreement soon. "I would like to acknowledge some of the additional non-OPEC producers who have joined as observers and I hope that in the near future they will join us in the Declaration. These are Chad, Uzbekistan, South Africa as well as the African Petroleum Producers Association. Welcome," Mazrouei said at the opening of the OPEC-non-OPEC meeting in Vienna. Mazrouei stressed that the cooperation on the deal had been "fruitful." "We all benefited from it. Let's hope that this cooperation continues not only for 2019, but for the years to come," Mazrouei said. Kenyas Catholic Bishops pray: We pray that God gives the Church, especially in the frontiers, the strength and courage to remain steadfast in faith in the face of hardships, temptations and real risks to life as our friends Fr Victor and Cosmas did. Africa Service Vatican City We would like to offer our prayers and condolences to the families, friends and congregations of the two priests who were brutally shot dead this month. A Jesuit priest, Fr Victor Luke Odhiambo was killed in South Sudan, and a Mill Hill young priest Fr Cosmas Omboto Ondari who were killed in Cameroon. We offer our prayers and condolences to the families, friends and congregations that have been greatly hurt by the killings. We pray that God gives the Church, especially in the frontiers, the strength and courage to remain steadfast in faith in the face of hardships, temptations and real risks to life as our friends Fr Victor and Cosmas did. May their souls rest in peace, the Bishops say in their Pastoral Statement titled, Whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers that you do unto me (Mathew 25:40) released Wednesday, this week. Challenges facing Kenyan society The Kenyan Bishops have been meeting in an Ordinary Plenary Assembly at Bishop Mensa Pastoral Centre, in Isiolo County, located 285 Kilometres north of Nairobi. The Bishops also address themselves to Kenyan societys various challenges that include the importance of political integrity, ethics and the importance of waging war against corruption. Safeguarding Children The Pastoral Statement also speaks about the Bishops resolve to deal with issues of protecting children particularly under the care of the Church. Dear Kenyans, we would like to address this reality. There are three related problems here: Child abuse, children getting pregnant and abortions, reads the Statement. The Bishops say that the violence and evil committed against minors and vulnerable members of a society is a sign of a morally sick society. As your shepherds, we shall do everything possible to implement policies on child protection and safeguarding of these vulnerable members and require all who work with minors to commit themselves to these policies. Other areas, in the Statement, to do with safeguarding children include teenage and schoolgirl pregnancies in Kenya as well as the rise in cases of abortions. The Sovereign Order of Malta has expressed its satisfaction for the soon-to-be signed Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration. By Linda Bordoni Developed by the United Nations over a 2-year process, the Compact is the first blueprint of its kind for states to work together to govern migration respecting human rights and the rule of law. The Order of Malta is one of the signatories of the Compact. It has Permanent Observer Status at the UN General Assembly and it will be in Marrakesh on 10 and 11 December to endorse the document. Speaking ahead of the signing ceremony, Albrecht von Boeselager, Grand Chancellor of the Order of Malta, expressed his satisfaction for the endeavor and spoke of the input the Order of Malta has been able to contribute to the drafting of the Compact that attempts to address all dimensions of international migration in a holistic and comprehensive way. Listen to the intervierw with Albrecht von Boeslager Von Boeselager explained that thanks to its long-standing and solid experience in assisting migrants and refugees through many different projects across the globe, the Order of Malta was able to offer much insight and value, and indeed participated in negotiations and procedures right from the beginning of the drafting process. He said that a lot of its input focused on technical points and on highlighting the role of religion and faith-based organizations. Helping migrants, but also having an influence on the decisions of migrants in their countries of origin he said. The Compact: an achievement in itself Bearing in mind that the Compact is not a binding document, von Boeselager said he believes that we must be very satisfied that it was possible to draw-up such a Compact in negotiation with almost all countries of the world. That, he said, is a great achievement! Von Boeselager expressed his confidence that it will have an effect, and pointed to the fact that in some countries they are already starting to implement some of the measures, like negotiating resettlement figures: which country can take how many people. He said that for many the very negotiations, for example, for the Compact have been an eye-opener. The issues have become much more visible for many decision-makers he said. Strong and weak points Von Boeselager said that in his opinion the strongest point contained in the Compact is not a point, but the fact that it is a multi-lateral Compact. Migration cannot be tackled by one nation alone. Its a world-wide phenomenon, and the fact that the UN and all participants succeeded in having a multi-lateral compact is the strongest point he said. As for the weak points, von Boeselager said there are quite a number of points where we would have wished that would have been even more concrete, but as further consultations are also part of the Compact, we are confident they can also be addressed later. All in all I think its a great success he said. Signing ceremony The Grand Chancellor also explained that the Signing Ceremony is taking place in Marrakesh because Morocco has been one of the drivers and leading countries in the endeavor. He said the meeting on 10 and 11 December is a formal gathering where the Compact will be confirmed by participating countries. He added that it also foresees a couple of consultations, including assessments on how the implementation will be done and the way forward. The role of Pope Francis Pope Francis has repeated called on all men and women of goodwill to welcome, protect, promote and integrate migrants. The Section for Migrants and Refugees that he heads at the Vatican Dicastery for Integral Human Development, has contributed its experience and voice to the process and the blueprint. Von Boeselager said the Popes concern for the issue comes across loud and clear: Nobody can ignore his voice. Pope Francis is one of the very few, if not the one remaining moral authority in the world. I think people listen to his voice, he concluded, whether they then follow it is another question, but I am sure he is heard! Nevada Northern Railway has launched the third annual Phoenix Challenge in partnership with First National Bank of Ely and anonymous donors, who will match up to $100,000 raised by Dec. 31, 2018. All membership fees, renewals and additional donations will be put toward the railways third regenerative project that will upgrade Locomotive 81, which hasnt been worked on since 1949. Removing old parts, cleaning and replacing them will make the iron horse operational in 2020 and ensure Nevada Northern Railways longevity. Rising from the Ashes The Phoenix Challenge was inspired by the mythological regenerative bird dying by fire and rising from the ashes, much like the life cycle of steam locomotives; and much like the challenges that Nevada Northern Railway has overcome since 2008, when the steam engine was out of commission and the railway museum took an economic hit as a result. Each time Nevada Northern Railway lights a fire in a steam locomotive it consumes a portion of the machine. Steam engines die over time but with hard work, engineering knowledge and plenty of funding, they can rise from the ashes and be reborn for future generations to learn from and enjoy. In 2008 Nevada Northern Railway did not have a functioning steam locomotive, which is the most popular draw for visitors. The result was a 30 percent decrease in ridership and a 40 percent decrease in overall revenue. The Phoenix Challenge was created to raise crucial funding so Nevada Northern Railway can continue to operate for the public and train future mechanical engineers. Every Donation Makes a Difference Ten years later, initiatives like the Phoenix Challenge, combined with incredible hard work from staff and volunteers, have grown Nevada Northern Railways annual ridership by 58 percent and increased its annual income by 70 percent. This month every dollar Nevada Northern Railway receives will be matched, up to $100,000, to pay for Locomotive 81s renovations, ensuring the railway has a functioning steam train in 2020, when the existing steamer will be down for its required two years of maintenance. Nevada Northern Railway is accepting dollars contributed toward the Phoenix Challenge or allows donors to choose specific train parts theyd like donate like new rod pins, crown and side brasses, rod brasses, shoes and wedges. The renovation grand total is $114,465.44 and no matter the amount, every donation adds up to make a huge difference. With no government funding, Nevada Northern Railway is grateful for all of the members, volunteers and donors who help it thrive. Visit www.nnry.com or call 775-289-2085 to learn more and make a donation. Las Vegas, the popular resort city for gambling in the United States, is not all about casinos; it is also about vodka and wine. The city offers a plethora of options for wine lovers of every hue and shade. One can either quaff a mixture of slushie and vodka in a plastic cup or sip wine in a smooth glass. Regardless of whichever option you consider, possibilities are endless for the city. Do you prefer colored drinks such as white, rosy or red? If yes, then here is a list of top 10 wine bars or the best wine bars in Las Vegas which you should definitely check out. Marche Bacchus Marche Bacchus is a wine bar in Vegas with a distinctive appeal. The mere sight of it, wherein swans swim along Lake Jacqueline at a close proximity. The best part about this wine bar is that it provides a European escape at a distance of only ten miles from the popular city of Las Vegas in the United States. Plus, one can also sit back and try out delectable Mediterranean and French cuisine such as pasta, seafood and steak. In terms of wine, it provides the visitors with the option of choosing their favorite drink from 950 popular brands. Also, one can buy a bottle from the shops that are located in its immediate neighborhood. It is an ideal place to pay a visit both for lunch and dinner. If you wish to enjoy lunch at this restaurant, you can have it between 11 am and 4 pm on Mondays through to Saturdays and between 10 am and 4 pm on Sundays. For dinner, there are two different sets of timings: 5:30 pm to 9.30 pm between Sundays and Thursdays and 5:30 pm to 10 pm on Fridays and Saturdays. Address: 2620 Regatta Drive, Suite #106 Las Vegas, NV 89128. La Cave La Cave is one of the best wine bar in Las Vegas which features on the wish list of every visitor. Apart from wines of the highest quality, it also comprises high-quality furniture such as cosy tables to give every visitor a memorable experience so they keep coming back for more. As far as the atmosphere of the place is concerned, it is lively and noisy. While people of a few words are likely to find the atmosphere a bit too noisy for their liking but it compensates for this feature with a number of other features. A fantastic atmosphere aside, it also offers palatable food and wine. The top dishes of the wine bar include Thai basil chicken tortilla, Crostinis beef and bean salads. Also, the aesthetics of the place are exceptional and a stand at par with some of the other top-notch wine bars a run for the money. Location: 3131 Las Vegas Blvd South, Wynn Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, NV Fiamma Italian Kitchen Fiamma Italian Kitchen is a restaurant with a lovely ambience and delicious food. It has also earned rave reviews as the best wine bar in Vegas from its visitors for its top-notch quality of services. It operates between 5 pm to 10 pm between Sundays and Thursdays and 5 pm 10 pm between Friday and Saturday. In terms of cuisines, the primary options available at the restaurant include vegan options, Italian and other gluten-free options. Location: 3799 S Las Vegas Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89109, USA Partage The wine restaurant, one of the best wine bars in Las Vegas, provides the visitors with the opportunity to not only taste the specially prepared menu by the experienced chefs of the restaurant but also catch the action while they prepare food. In terms of wine, it has signature cocktails for visitors. As for food items, it offers American, continental and numerous other options to choose from. Location: 3839 Spring Mountain Road Las Vegas, NV 89102 Oyster Bay Seafood and Wine Bar When it comes to dining at Oyster Bay Seafood and Wine Bar, a famous wine bar in Vegas, there are two things that come to ones mind: sear food and wine of the highest quality. People visit this restaurant for the sake of splendid fish. Plus, there are also other delicious marine dishes. Though budget-conscious people are likely to find the idea of dining at this wine bar in Las Vegas, it compensates for it with the quality meal and dining service. Location: 3663 Las Vegas Blvd S Las Vegas, NV 89109 Flemings Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar For loyal customers as well as new entrants alike, Flemings Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar carries significance for two core elements: steak and wine. Location: 6515 S Las Vegas Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89119, USA Wine Cellar Tasting Room As the name suggests, Wine Cellar Tasting Room is the ultimate destination for those who have a special liking for wine. This wine bar possesses one of the best collection of wines in the United States worth millions of dollars. By the glass, it offers more than 100 options. If you meet someone in Las Vegas, this is a great place for romantic dinner. Location: 3700 W Flamingo Road, Las Vegas, NV 89103, USA Grape Street A wine cellar with rustic charm and brick walls, Grape Street attracts the attention of visitors to the Downtown Summerlin. Its sky-high shelves are packed with bottles and consist of numerous wine glasses. Despite a common food menu, it offers every visitor with the opportunity of exploring with different wine options. Location: 2120 Festival Plaza Dr Ste 160 Las Vegas, NV 89135 South Summerlin Hostile Grape Hostile Grape attracts the attention of wine lovers with calm ambience. It boasts a collection of an impressive array of wines from Germany, South Africa, Spain, France and Italy. Visitors can pick and choose from over 160 brands of wines available in the collection. Location: 12300 S Las Vegas Blvd, Henderson, NV 89044, USA Mezzo Bistro & Wine Also known as a hidden treasure in the Northwestern region of Las Vegas, it is a restaurant which serves steak, Italian and seafood menu. From Beef Wellington to Chilean Sea Bass, it offers some special menu on a weekly basis. Also, it consists of an amazing wine list of (about 30 wines) with a plethora of options to choose from. Location: 4275 North Rancho Drive #130 Las Vegas, NV 89130 So, the list of bars given above constitute one of the best wine bars in Las Vegas. Because preferences vary from one person to the other, it is strongly recommended that you should check out all these places before making the call on the final one. Vietnams Ministry of Industry and Trade has just released Circular No.39/2018/TT-BCT (Circular 39) providing guidance on the procedures for inspection and verification of origin of exported goods before and after the issuance of certificates of origin (C/O). Circular 39 will come into effect on December 14 and includes two forms of examination, examination of dossiers, and on-site verification at production establishments. Circular 39 Examination of dossiers Examination of the origin dossiers can be carried out if the competent authorities in the importing country have proposed such inspections. In addition, the domestic C/O issuing authorities can also inspect in case there are signs of origin frauds. Other local domestic functional agencies can also request for coordination if there are signs of violation. Inspection and verification at production establishments If the examination of dossiers and other documents are not sufficient to determine the origin or if they suspect of fraud, the competent authorities of importing countries can request for the examination of C/O documents and inspection and verification of goods at production establishments. In addition, the local C/O issuing authority can also initiate the verification of the origin of goods to meet their requirements of risk management and frauds. Other domestic agencies can also suggest for inspections. The new regulations will increase the coordination amongst the domestic authorities, customs offices, and traders in importing countries. Going forward, the frequency of such inspections and verifications are expected to increase, and will lead to reduced violations and origin frauds. All bets placed on Phu Quoc casino, illustration photo source AFP Key points of Vietnams casino legislation Casino operation - Casino operators must open registers or issue electronic cards to monitor visitors leaving and entering their premises. These registers or electronic cards must be kept for a minimum of two years for inspections by local authorities if required, or five years for operators which are permitted to allow Vietnamese citizens. - Dossiers for Vietnamese citizens to present their financial abilities to play in casinos according to Article 12 of Decree 03 need to contain one of the following documents: - Documents proving taxable incomes of Level 3 or higher as prescribed in the Law on Personal Income Tax: A certified copy of the personal income tax declaration already finalised or finalised by the tax office, or a confirmation of tax obligations by tax authorities proving that players have had taxable incomes of Level 3 or higher for one year before playing at the casino. - Documents proving a regular income upwards of VND10 million ($434.78) per month. - Players are responsible for the accuracy and truthfulness of the documents when presenting them to the casino for entry. Management of conventional money - At least five working days before putting conventional currency into the business, the casino operators must register its form, code, quantity, and type with the local finance departments and the tax office directly managing it. - The casino operator has the right to suspend the use of conventional currency which was registered at the state management agencies, according to the management requirements. Principles of accounting and management of turnover and expenses of casino operators - Casino operators must separately account revenue, expenses, and profits related to casino operations and must separately monitor these items in the accounting system and financial reporting. - The determination of turnover and expenses for declaration and tax payment for casino business activities shall comply with the current tax law. The integrated resort and casino complex, with Vingroup holding a 50 per cent stake, has been selected as the first venue to take part in a three-year pilot programme that will see the longstanding ban on locals gambling in casinos lifted. The complex is set to begin operation in 2021. Actually, the Phu Quoc complex is expected to mark a wider push for major casino developments across Vietnam, which so far has been a slow process. On January 16, 2017, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc signed Decree No.03/2017/ND-CP, which took effect on March 15, 2017, allowing locals entry in casinos in a three-year trial. The Phu Quoc complex and another in-development project in the northeastern province of Quang Ninh were tipped as being the only venues that would be allowed to participate in the trial. There are numerous hopeful gaming resorts in the works throughout Vietnam but the government has so far only granted one of the projects the go-ahead. It is believed that the pilot can eventually lead to others. Jones Lang LaSalle, an American specialist real estate service, said in a recent report on the future of the Vietnamese gambling industry that major international operators have been expectantly eyeing the local market for some time. According to the firm, the lifting of a ban that prohibits locals from playing in casinos would have a favourable effect on the industry. It is believed that more international investors could be attracted to the Southeast Asian country and will invest further into the wider tourism industry. Augustine Ha Ton Vinh, an expert in the casino business, told VIR, The government has allowed Vietnamese people to play in the casino in a pilot project. If they want to attract international investors, it should also consider geographic factors such as the location. If only remote areas are being considered, it is really hard to attract foreign investment, especially world-class casino investors. Vinh explained that in other countries, major developers have built and operated well-known casinos in multi-functional complexes. These have not been built primarily for gaming, but are combined with a number of other facilities such as conference halls, hotel rooms, restaurants and other leisure facilities. Those complexes operate very successfully and the governments are able to invest profits raised from casinos back into public facilities, therefore benefiting society as a whole. However, many gambling outlets are located in the downtown areas of major cities, he said. Stephen A. Crystal, a former Las Vegas casino owner, said an operators financial success in the Asia-Pacific region is strongly dependent on the right planning. Thus, a good strategy could encourage investors to move forward with their plans and pursue new gambling related opportunities. Crystal said the risks and challenges for any investor entering Vietnam are already well established, but the potential benefit of being the first mover in the new market is huge. I returned to Vietnam earlier this year and had high hopes for a casino development deal I signed in Phu Quoc, he said, revealing little information about the specific project. The conditions for the local trial include a number of fiscal hurdles, including a daily casino entry fee of VND1 million ($43.47) or a monthly pass for VND25 million ($1,086). Gamblers also have to demonstrate a monthly income of at least VND10 million ($434.78). Casinos will be required to keep a detailed record regarding the comings and goings of local people to ensure accurate data for the local authorities to deduce the results of the trial. How BOD can support companies pursuit of long-term sustainability in Vietnams fast-growing economy has been brought up at the discussions today at the Annual Corporate Governance Forum 2018 on Governing for Sustainability. The forum has been co-organised by the Vietnam Institute of Directors (VIOD) and the Vietnam Corporate Governance Initiative (VCGI), in partnership with the State Securities Commission of Vietnam (SSC), the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HOSE), and the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX), and supported by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Switzerlands State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), and the Government of Japan. The Annual Corporate Governance Forum discussed how the BOD can facilitate sustainable growth The forum is being held against the backdrop of Vietnams goal to join the group of higher middle-income countries through rapid and sustainable growth. To help achieve this target, businesses have a common interest in building a strategic vision for sustainable business, while balancing environmental and social factors. Ha Thu Thanh, board chairperson of VIOD and Deloitte Vietnam, said BODs have a key role to play in creating such sustainable business development strategies. With BODs in Vietnam facing increasingly complex challenges in building a strategic vision for sustainable business while balancing environmental and social factors, the forum will help board members and senior executives learn more about global trends and good practices in sustainable development as well as create a valuable networking platform to connect and share experiences in corporate governance practices towards sustainable development for businesses. IFC has seen capital markets increased interest in how BODs respond to issues related to environmental and social impacts. The environment, society, and governance have become important factors in investors decisions, said Kyle Kelhofer, IFC country manager for Vietnam, Cambodia, and Lao PDR. With clear links between good environmental and social performance and long-term profitability, boards that commit to sustainability best practices will be better positioned for greater investment and engagement from investors. A key factor contributing to a boards performance is its diversity, especially as corporate governance best practices encourage diversity in gender, nationality, experience, occupation, and position. The diversity of board members supports them to evaluate issues from a variety of perspectives before making decisions and to complement each other to increase the effectiveness of the BOD, said Vu Bang, member of the Prime Ministers Advisory Group and Chairman of VCGI. This annual forum underlines VIODs efforts to improve BOD professionalism in Vietnam, with good corporate governance playing a pivotal role in the sustainable development of businesses. VIOD and VCGI have also launched the 2018 Vietnam Corporate Governance Country Report and VIODs corporate membership programme for directors. VIOD is an independent organisation, governed by a board of directors comprising of private sector representatives in collaboration with and supported by the SSC, HOSE, and HNX under VCGI. VOID seeks to promote corporate governance standards and best practices in the Vietnamese corporate sector. VCGI, meanwhile, was launched in December 2016 by IFC, HOSE, and HNX with support from SSC. VCGI acts as a platform to collaborate and promote good governance practices in the Vietnamese corporate sector. SOEs must enhance corporate governance State-owned enterprises (SOEs) must focus on enhancing corporate governance to improve operation efficiency after privatisation, experts said at a conference discussing change management and SOE ... How whistleblowing and UK corporate governance can raise Vietnam The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) recently held a workshop titled How Whistleblowing and UK Corporate Governance Code Helps Vietnamese Companies ... Crackdown on cash crime, Source: BIDV As the country vows to clean up its banking industry, several high-ranking bankers have been prosecuted. In the latest case, Tran Bac Ha, former chairman of the state-owned Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV), was taken into custody by Vietnams Ministry of Public Security last Thursday, due to alleged violations of banking operations. Along with Ha, three of his juniors at BIDV were also arrested: Tran Luc Lang, former senior executive vice president; Kieu Dinh Hoa, former head of BIDV Ha Tinh branch; and Le Thi Van Anh, former head of BIDV Ha Tinh branchs corporate division. Beginning working at the Binh Dinh branch of BIDV in 1981, Ha was appointed CEO in 2003 and subsequently became chairman in 2008. In 2016, Ha reached retirement age and resigned as chairman. However, in 2013, rumours began to circulate on Vietnams stock market that he was arrested for helping out the ill-fated Southern Bank, which he vehemently denied as groundless and foolish. Although this rumour eventually died down, in 2014 Ha was once again embroiled in a fresh scandal regarding his involvement in the Pham Cong Danh saga. Danh, former chairman of Vietnam Construction Bank and a prosecuted criminal, admitted that he took ah the assistance of BIDVs board and then-chairman Ha. Rather than asking Danh for collateral, BIDV used its own assets to secure this massive loan, which was later used by Danh to set up bogus companies and commit other fraudulent activities. The State Bank of Vietnam estimated that at least VND2.5 trillion ($108.7 million) was embezzled due to Danhs wrongdoings. Rumours of Has arrest re-emerged in 2017, before he was finally expelled from the Communist Party of Vietnam this June. Following Has arrest last week, BIDV issued a statement assuring clients and customers that everything is business as usual. The issues related to the violations, which occurred some years ago of the above-mentioned individuals, have been proactively reported by BIDV to competent authorities. BIDV will continue to coordinate with the competent authorities to handle the case inaccordance with law. The bank added that as the largest commercial bank in Vietnam, it will always maintain continuity and stability for businesses, regardless of Has case. The arrest of Ha, and other former BIDV executives, is another milestone in Vietnams fight against financial wrongdoings. Tram Be, former Southern Bank chairman, was a high-profile accomplice of Danhs who was arrested in 2017. Be was accused of buying out Sacombank in order to transfer bad debts to the financial institution from Southern Bank. Similar to Ha, Be also lent Danh VND1.8 trillion ($78.26 million) of Sacombanks money. After Bes imprisonment, Sacombank was able to recover the entirety of the loan. As well as Pham Cong Danhs associates, other bankers have also been prosecuted for subpar lending practices. Tran Phuong Binh, deputy CEO of Dong A Bank, for example, was able to withdrawn VND1.16 trillion ($50.4 million) from the bank for personal use. In this case, personal use included giving loans to the convicted businessman Phan Van Anh Vu. At least 26 people have so far stood trial for this case, including Binh, Vu, other Dong A Bank employees and senior leaders from Ho Chi Minh City and Danang. The opening ceremony of the new DHL Express facility in Hanoi Many studies have shown that Vietnamese consumers are more and more fond of foreign goods and that they are willing to pay a higher price to buy the items they like, even from halfway around the world. In addition, Vietnam is also increasingly exporting goods, which makes international express a fertile land. According to the General Department of Vietnam Customs, as of November 2018 the import-export turnover reached nearly VND418.45 billion ($18.19 million), up 13.7 per cent over the same period last year. In particular, export turnover increased by 15.1 per cent and import turnover increased 12.4 per cent. Cross-border trade continues to be a powerful drug for logistics units. The world's most prestigious international courier brands, DHL of Germany, TNT of the Netherlands, as well as FedEx and UPS of the US, have joined and considered the express delivery market in Vietnam as "golden soil." Today, DHL Express, the worlds leading international express service provider, opened a new service centre at Sai Dong B Industrial Park in Hanoi, located at 1 Huynh Tan Phat. With an investment of VND143 billion ($6.22 million), the new service centre is the largest DHL facility in Hanoi, poised to further support the trade flows between Vietnam and the region, as well as the world. This is testament to DHL Express long-term commitment in Vietnam to provide the best services to meet customers needs. T/he new DHL facility in Hanoi "Having been in the business for more than 30 years since our establishment in 1988, DHL has honed our market leadership through our dedication to service excellence. The logistics industry in Vietnam has grown rapidly in the past few years and is expected to continue growing in the coming years. As a leading logistics provider, we see it as our duty to contribute and support our customers to be a part of this growth trajectory. The successful launch of our new service centre is testament to our commitment to enabling more businesses to grow and leverage the opportunities in the international market place, said Shoeib Reza Choudhury, general director of DHL-VNPT Express. Located in one of the fastest growing economic industrial zones in North Vietnam, this latest investment by DHL Express further bolsters the companys network in the country. The new facility covers a total area of 5,800 square metres, 55 per cent of which (3,200 square metres) are allocated for warehouse space. It will feature state-of-the-art equipment to optimise processes and increase efficiency. The service centre will support businesses in the central business district of Hanoi, areas located in the north, south, and east of the city, as well as Nam Dinh areas with pick-up and delivery services. DHLs existing service centre in the west of Hanoi will continue to support businesses in that region. Shoeib Reza Choudhury shared at the opening ceremony DHL Express Vietnam has two dedicated aircrafts with 22 weekly flights, 155 vehicles, and 19 facilities in the three main cities of Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Danang. About the corporations reason to invest in a new service centre in the west of Hanoi, Shoeib Reza Choudhury said that Sai Dong B Industrial Park has a strategic geographical location, with customers based in the central business district of Hanoi. Notably, this new service centre is double the size of its existing facility in the west and saves 30 per cent power with 100 per cent LED lighting. Talking about the market segment, the general director of DHL-VNPT Express said that 90 per cent of the firms customers are businesses and DHL Express only exploits the abroad service, which means shipping from Vietnam to abroad and vice versa. DHL offers an unrivalled portfolio of logistics services ranging from national and international parcel delivery, e-commerce shipping and fulfilment solutions, international express, road, air, and ocean transport to industrial supply chain management. With about 360,000 employees in more than 220 countries and territories worldwide, DHL connects people and businesses securely and reliably, enabling global trade flows. With specialised solutions for growth markets and industries including technology, life sciences and healthcare, energy, automotive and retail, a proven commitment to corporate responsibility, and an unrivalled presence in developing markets, DHL is decisively positioned as the logistics company for the world. The MoU marks tthe beginning of the partnership between Fayfay.com and Ho Chi Minh City The MoU was signed by Tran Ngoc Dong Quan, deputy director of the Ho Chi Minh City Tourism Promotion Centre, along with Kingston Lai and Kelvin Wu, the co-founders of Fayfay.com, at Bep Nha Luc Tinh Restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City, in the presence of industry experts and members of the media. Ho Chi Minh City is an important destination on Fayfay.com and we look forward to partnering with the Ho Chi Minh City Tourism Promotion Centre to showcase the citys vibrant architecture, rich culinary scene, and authentic local experiences, said Lai. We believe strategic joint promotional activities with the Tourism Promotion Centre will enable us to leverage our online platform and inspire Hong Kong travellers to visit Ho Chi Minh City, added Wu. As an e-commerce platform dedicated to authentic Vietnamese travel experiences, Fayfay.com not only focuses on curated on-the-ground packages, but also provides all the must-have travel essentials in one convenient place. On the site, travellers will find several resources, such as Visa on arrival applications, SIM cards, and private transportation services. In addition, the site is full of opportunities to book memorable hands-on activities, such as lantern-making or silversmithing workshops. Hong Kong will be our focal market in the coming years, and we hope that travellers from the city will be inspired to visit Ho Chi Minh City thanks to the exceptional activities and experiences showcased on Fayfay.com, said Quan. Together with Fayfay.com, we hope to make a significant contribution to tourism in Vietnam through joint promotional events, roadshows, and media familiarisation trips. To celebrate the MoU, Fayfay.com and the Ho Chi Minh City Tourism Promotion Centre led a group of representatives of Hong Kong media agencies to visit Ho Chi Minh City on December 3-7, with flight sponsorship courtesy of Vietnam Airlines. From the airlines warm hospitality to the enticing street food, French-colonial architecture, thriving markets, and hands-on experiences, participating media representatives enjoyed an enriching introduction to Ho Chi Minh City. Fayfay.com is a Hongkong-based e-commerce travel platform dedicated to local experiences in Vietnam. Meaning fly, fly in Cantonese, Fayfay.com aims to make visiting Vietnam as hassle-free and enriching as possible with a convenient one-stop shop for travel must-haves, authentic experiences, and keepsakes. The platform taps into a shared passion for adventure by partnering with local merchants to take travellers beyond the tried-and-tested itineraries. The carefully curated experiences include everything from treks through breath-taking landscapes, delicious dining experiences, authentic encounters, and deep dives into the vibrant Vietnamese culture. Ousmane Dione- Country director, World Bank in Vietnam Vietnam has been a global success story in developing the power sector over the last few decades. This success has been a key contributor to the countrys socio-economic development, high and sustained economic growth, excellent performance in terms of poverty reduction, and the general wellbeing of its citizens. Two areas need to be highlighted on this success story - one is on rural electrification, and the other on power sector reform. On rural electrification, Vietnams access rate increased from 14 per cent in 1993 to over 99 per cent this year. Over that 25-year period, more than 14 million households or 60 million people have been connected to the grid. It is an incredible achievement. Needless to say, the financing requirements of the sector have been huge. Only since 2010, the sector invested about $80 billion in generation, transmission and distribution, and between now and 2030, another about $150 billion needs to be raised. Electricity consumption remains comparatively low by international standards. For example, per capita electricity consumption is currently about 1,700-kilowatt-hour a year, which is one-third of China or one-fifth of Australia. As the economy continues to grow strongly and as the Vietnamese become more affluent, electricity demand will continue to grow at about 8 per cent per year for the next decade. Electricity tariffs remain below full cost recovery levels and Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) does not receive direct subsidies from the Vietnamese government. Hence, let me stress that EVN and the sector have been highly effective and efficient using official development assistance (ODA) funds. Of course, this was only possible because of the leadership, dedication and technical capabilities of the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) and EVN management and its staff. On power sector reform, about a decade ago the government set out a clear roadmap for implementing competition and restructuring the sector. The motivation was to move from a vertically integrated monopolistic market structure to a fully competitive power market. The government needs to be complemented to continue to be fully committed to introduce a competitive power market. We are half-way through implementation, and by 2020 the wholesale electricity market will be fully operational. Experience with market liberalisation have been positive to date contributing to a well-run power sector public utility EVN, which is technically and operationally sound, but also allowing private sector participation in generation. I believe I can speak on behalf of all the development partner community that we have been privileged to contribute to that success story. International finance institutions and bilateral donors have provided technical assistance and financing over the last two decades to support the government on the rural electrification agenda, upgrade and expand vital transmission and distribution networks, develop public and private power generation projects and support the electricity and gas sector reform and restructuring agenda. The challenge is the future and the energy sector cannot rest on past achievements. It is widely known that the challenges the power sector needs to overcome over the next two decades are substantial to ensure it achieves its goals to provide sustainable, clean, affordable and reliable power supply to the people of Vietnam. One key question is how to meet future energy demand, while also complying with governments objectives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and meet its climate change targets. That of course refers to the contentious issue on the role of coal in the future energy mix. Another challenge is how to mobilise the large investment requirements, estimated at around $8 billion annually to meet fast growing power demand. EVN and the public sector cannot raise those funds and private sector, both domestic and international, will need to play a more prominent role in power sector financing. To tackle those two key challenges, the World Banks strategic energy engagement in Vietnam centers around two initiatives. First, on the energy transition - we support the government to identify and implement technically, financially and socially sound solutions to reduce the future use of coal, primarily for power generation. While there are no quick fixes or a silver bullet to tackle the coal challenge, we believe there are four central activities that need to be implemented in parallel by the government to reduce coal update for power generation: scaling up renewable, especially wind and solar; promoting natural gas and liquefied natural gas; increasing energy efficiency investments; and promoting regional power trade, especially with Laos and southern China. Second, the public sector and ODA financing will not be sufficient to meet the power sectors huge investment requirements. Hence, under the banks Maximizing Finance for Development initiative, we are supporting the government to find and implement solutions to bring in more private and commercial financing for the energy sector. This initiative is particularly relevant in the context of Vietnams recent IBRD graduation and sovereign borrowing constraints due to the governments debt ceiling policy. Three key pillars need to be tackled to mobilise more private and commercial finance in the power sector. These are launching a competitive IPP programme in power generation as part of Power Sector Development Plan 8 with a contractual framework that attracts both international and domestic investment; preparing electricity and gas state-owned enterprises to access commercial finance through credit ratings and non-sovereign bond issuance; and supporting banking and capital market reforms to improve availability of local currency finance, which is critical for both projects and corporate finance for energy investment projects. The grand opening ceremony of Hanwha Aero Engines The grand opening ceremony attracted the participation of Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh; Nguyen Van Binh, head of the Central Economic Commission; Phan Xuan Dung, Chairman of the National Assembly Committee for Science, Technology and Environment; Chu Ngoc Anh, Minister of Science and Technology; Lee Chul of the South Korean Embassy; as well as Hanwha Group president Kim Seung Yeon, and other high-ranking officials. Nguyen Van Binh speaking at the opening ceremony By 2024, Hanwha Aero Engines is expected to have around 900 employees with an investment of $370 million. Thus, I hope Hanwha Aero Engines will be a symbol of technology transfer between South Korean firms and Vietnam, thus helping the country improve its technology capacity, said Binh. Kim Seung Yeon emphasised that the factory will be an important project, enabling Hanwha to become a global manufacturer of aero engines. The factory also signifies Hanwhas long-term commitment to Vietnam. The Deputy PM touring the factory Licensed in July 2017 and kicked off in September 2017, the $200 million factory is expected to contribute to training high-quality manpower for the city, creating thousands of jobs, and transferring technology to the country, thus increasing the two countries ties. At present, around 40 technicians from the South Korean parent company are present at the factory to help train 200 Vietnamese technicians. Hanwha Aero Engines is a unit of Hanwha Group, which last year made a revenue of $63 billion. In recent years, Hanwha has invested $1 billion in a number of projects in Bac Ninh, Long An, Hanoi, and Ho Chi Minh City which have greatly contributed to Vietnams development. The South Korean group is seeking co-operation with Vietnamese private-run conglomerate Vingroup in finance, automobile spare parts, solar energy, and security. It is also expanding operations in the fields of insurance and asset management, with units such as Hanwha Techwin, Hanwha Aerospace, and Hanwha Energy. As estimated, by 2022 Hanwha will invest nearly $4 billion in the aviation and national defence industry to expand its operations overseas and to increase global competitiveness. Hanwha Life expands distribution system through co-operation Co-operating with insurance distributor WorldLink Vietnam will be part of South Korea insurer Hanwha Life Vietnams strategy to expand its distribution system to offer its ... Nidec Group to pour $200 million into Hoa Lac Hi-Tech Park Nidec Techno Motor Corporation's investment in Hoa Lac Hi-tech Park will start development this month and is expected to be launched in next January. Ulkemizde iki gun boyunca etkili olan yags sonras su basknlarnn meydana gelmesi, bircok ev ve is yerini su basmas ve ozellikle Girne ile Lefkosa arasndaki yolda biriken su nedeni ile bir sure trafik aks saglanamamas dunya basnna da yansd. Haber saygn haber ajanslarndan Reuters tarafndan da abonelere gecildi. Atina kaynakl haberde "4 kisi selde hayatn yitirdi" baslg kullanld. Vietnam is searching for overseas partners with roots in hi-tech and innovation, Photo: Le Toan The Vietnam Business Forum (VBF) 2018 is set to open on December 4. Appearing at the event will be representatives from the government, ministries, as well as international organisations and business associations such as the chambers of commerce of Europe, the US, South Korea, and Japan. These representatives, along with others, have been the voice of hundreds of businesses across Vietnam. Themed "Sharing the Opportunities in Global Trade Movements", the VBF is expected to focus on financial resources for infrastructure development; improving knowledge to serve the modernised industry; and solving issues facing businesses, with an aim to create a favourable business climate to leverage more FDI in Vietnam, and to stimulate sustainable economic growth. Last week, RION Co., Ltd a Japanese manufacturer of commercial products based on science and technology joined a conference held by Vietnams Ministry of Transport and the Japan International Cooperation Agency to seek opportunities to provide sound and vibration measuring instruments to Vietnamese airports. We have recently worked with the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam on plans and will begin installing the instruments at Noi Bai International Airport first early next year and then at Tan Son Nhat International Airport, and then Long Thanh International Airport. We are also targeting the eastern cluster of the North-South Expressway project, Ken-ichi Simizu, CEO of RION, told VIR. Operating in Vietnam since 2015, RION has so far worked with Bach Mai Hospital to provide medical equipment. Now it is planning to boost its footprint in the country by working with Hue Hospital and others in Ho Chi Minh City, and venture further into aviation and road infrastructure projects. New economy model RION is an example of new movements among foreign enterprises in Vietnam. According to Nguyen Mai, chairman of the Vietnam Association of Foreign-Invested Enterprises, there emerged a new trend of foreign investment inflows into Vietnam called the New Economy Model (NEM), meaning cross-border investment without capital contribution to Vietnamese partners. Unlike in previous years, when foreign direct investment (FDI) was the only channel, besides mergers and acquisitions, NEM has emerged in 2017 in line with the countrys innovation strategy and the development of domestic enterprises, Mai told VIR. Vietnam is quickly drafting its national strategy to catch up with the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the rapid development of new technologies, driven by its vision of stimulating inclusive socio-economic development through science and technology. Therefore, the country is definitely looking for partners who have strong expertise in technology development and innovation. Meanwhile, cities and provinces in Vietnam are developing plans to become smart cities, thus bringing in huge opportunities for multinational corporations (MNCs). Seeing the potential, other leading technology groups from Sweden and other countries are venturing further into Vietnam, with Ericsson, Siemens, ABB, Volvo Buses, Roxtec, and Axis being the most prominent names. Ericsson signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Science and Technology to establish an Internet of Things (IoT) innovation hub in Hanoi in the first half of 2019. Ericsson is investing in the nations future, leveraging ICT as the engine of growth and prosperity, and we are committed to continuing to invest for the next 25 years and beyond, said Denis Brunetti, president of Ericsson Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos. Ericsson has been in Vietnam for 25 years, investing in science and technology innovation, and then fostering technology innovation by co-operating with Vietnamese ministries, agencies, and local enterprises. The Swedish firm has been co-operating with a number of telecoms and technology giants such as Viettel, MobiFone, and VNPT. This MoU is aimed to foster startup innovation. Recently, ABB showcased its latest IoT technologies built on the ABB Ability platform, including a demo of its smart factory in the northern province of Bac Ninh, ABB Ability Smart Sensor, and ABB Ability Data Center Automation virtual reality exploration. The company has been co-operating with Vietnams leading private conglomerate Vingroup, cement producer The Vissai, and many others to promote its technology innovations and achieved success so far in Vietnam. Also, Germanys Siemens has agreed to provide digital solutions across the entire automotive OEM value chain for VinFast to realise Vingroups Made-in-Vietnam car manufacturing dream. Besides Vingroup, Siemens is partnering with many other Vietnamese corporations, ministries, and agencies and is seeking for even more. Many others from Japan, South Korea, the US, and EU are also studying co-operation opportunities in the transport sector in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Danang, which already have smart city development plans. Experts like Mai claimed NEM has increased the quality of FDI in the country by strengthening domestic enterprises, thus improving the competitiveness of the economy as a whole. New trend, new strength Looking at the performance of Vingroup, the significance of NEM is apparent. As a multi-sector group focusing on healthcare, pharmaceuticals, property, education, high-tech agriculture, and retail, the group is growing at a tremendous pace, and has become a national brand shouldering the nations dreams. It established VinFast in 2017 and has been co-operating with Siemens and others from Germany, Italy, and the US to manufacture engines, designs, and other parts for its cars and motorbikes. Vingroup also recruited famous talents from leading MNCs like Vo Quang Hue of Germanys Bosch who helps boost links with Germany and other MNCs. Vingroups plan has attracted strong interest from MNCs. Though they have yet to invest directly in Vietnam, they transfer technology, share experience and business governance, nurturing this dream. Twenty years after Vietnam granted the first investment licence to an automobile joint venture Toyota Vietnam, Vietnam-based automakers have yet to create a truly Vietnamese car, and have been sticking to assembly at a relatively high cost compared to competitors like Thailand and Malaysia. It is too early to confirm whether the plan will succeed, but it has so far made a big bang with the A Star is Born award from AUTOBEST and the thousands of registered buyers. This reflects the growing strength of this Vietnamese conglomerate, Mai noted. A few days ago, Vingroup received approval for its investment plan in a smart electronics manufacturing plant worth nearly VND1.2 trillion ($52.17 million) in Hanois Hoa Lac High-Tech Park. To be completed in the second quarter of 2019, the project will create a brand of smart electronics on par with international standards. With the target on research and development, as well as software and high-tech industrial production, more MNCs are seeking co-operation with Vingroup. Deo Ca Investment JSC and gigantic telecom group Viettel and many others are also examples of Vietnamese companies benefiting from NEM. Transport projects have often been blamed for sluggish development, thus increasing total investment costs. However, Deo Cas projects have always been completed on schedule, thanks to improved business governance and advanced technologies. Deo Ca has been co-operating with German and US investors in technology and human resources training, thanks to which the company is said to now hold the worlds most advanced technologies in tunnel dredging and construction. The company is the investor and operator of Deo Ca Tunnel in Central Vietnam, one of the countrys key infrastructure projects put into operation in August 2017, right on schedule, as well as Cu Mong Tunnel, which is expected to come online in early 2019 also in the central region. In a similar vein, Viettel, in co-operation with Ericsson, has just announced providing 5G services by 2019 and making 5G available nationwide by 2020. Viettel is now present in more than 10 countries and is one of the worlds biggest telecoms service providers with 240 million subscribers and dreams of expansion in the months to come. The facts prove that NEM has not only contributed to the growth of domestic companies but also changed the FDI landscape across several sectors. Foreign investors now tend to seek co-operation with powerful Vietnamese counterparts to jointly develop projects. In addition, in Fourth Industrial Revolution era, experts forecast the new FDI trend for Vietnam to turn the black spot of technology transfer into a bright spot in the FDI picture. The new FDI trend is also hoped to ease worries about a fall in the countrys FDI attraction so far this year, and promises better quality and stronger inflows in the future. According to the Ministry of Planning and Investment, in the first 11 months of 2018, foreign investors pledged $30.8 billion in investment, down 6.8 per cent on-year. Japan, South Korea, and Singapore remain the countrys three biggest foreign investors, while processing and manufacturing, realty, and retail receive the most attention. During the period, FDI disbursement is estimated at $16.5 billion, up 3.1 per cent on-year. It is expected that FDI disbursement will make up 23 per cent of total public investment this year. It is a reasonable ratio amidst the growing strength of domestic companies, Mai noted. Talented chef Alberto Curia will deliver a wide range of unique Argentinian dishes at Chit Chat restaurant in the Hotel Equatorial. The guests will have the chance to experience the authentic flavours of traditional Latin American dishes, highlighted by empanadas, caramelised carbonada humita de choclo, stewed pork neck with Malbec apricot sauce, milanesas (fried pork), and the speciality short ribs steak served with a glass of Argentinas premium wines while enjoying an exciting Tango dance performance. With more than 20 years of experience in creating Argentinean and Mediterranean cuisine, Alberto Curia has served as an honorary chef of the Argentine Ambassador and as Argentina's Gastronomic Ambassador, and has worked alongside the Embassy of Argentina to organise culinary cultural exchange events in Italy, Egypt and Hong Kong, amongst other countries. Argentina Week 2018 is organised by the Argentinean Embassy in Vietnam to mark the 45th anniversary of Vietnam-Argentina diplomatic ties, with the aim of promoting the image of Argentina, its people and cultural characteristics to the Vietnamese public. The General Statistics Office (GSO) last week reported that in the first 11 months of the year, the manufacturing and processing sector rose by 12.2 per cent on-year, the highest 11-month level since 2011. This sector creates 80 per cent of Vietnams industrial growth. The manufacturing and processing sector has made a spectacular breakthrough to continue to become a key driver of the economys industrial production, said a report on Vietnams 11-month economic situation by the National Centre for Socioeconomic Information and Forecast. According to the GSO, electronics and garments are among the key drivers of the sector, up 11.2 and 11.5 per cent on-year respectively, with major companies like Samsung performing well. Samsungs export turnover sat at about $54.4 billion last year, holding over 25.4 per cent of Vietnams total export turnover of $214 billion. The company also occupied 95 per cent of the total export turnover of South Korean businesses in Vietnam. It is expected that the group will fetch about $55 million in export turnover this year, and more next year. Samsungs contributions have also helped to drive the 11-month industrial production growth of several provinces, such as Bac Ninh (8.4 per cent) where the companys projects are worth over $9 billion, and Thai Nguyen (12.3 per cent), which is home to $5 billion in Samsung investment. It is expected that Samsung Electronics Vietnam Thai Nguyen, currently employing 70,000 people, will earn $22 billion in export turnover this year. Do Duc Anh, sales manager of Cong Anh Garments JSC in the northern province of Hai Duong, told VIR that in the first 11 months of 2018 the companys total production value climbed by about 19 per cent on-year to about $18 million, with an export turnover expanding 21 per cent on-year. We feel optimistic about our performance because we have landed some big contracts for the first half of next year, Anh said. We are also recruiting more workers to meet production demand. Other industrial sectors joined electronics and garments in ascending strongly in the same period, such as metal (23.7 per cent), medicines (22.3 per cent), steel (40.9 per cent), and animal feed (17.5 per cent). It has been suggested that if oil and gas production pulls out of its steady decline, the economys production would increase at an even greater rate. In the first 11 months of 2018, the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas reduced by 5.5 per cent, in which crude oil declined 11.9 per cent. State-run PetroVietnam reported that, for this year, its revenue will be about VND589.3 trillion ($25.62 billion). The group will exploit 13.2 million tonnes of crude oil and 9.6 billion cubic metres of gas, while producing 21.6 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, 1.54 million tonnes of nitrate, and 11.77 tonnes of petrol. According to the government, the economy will grow at least 6.7 per cent this year, thanks to strong performance in key sectors such as agro-forestry-fishery up 3.3 per cent, and industry and construction up 7.59 per cent. Services are also up 7.35 per cent, the highest rise since 2008. Total revenue of retail and service consumption is set to climb 10.5-10.8 per cent for 2018. After carving out a firm niche in the domestic and foreign markets, Trung Nguyen Legend of Trung Nguyen Group on December 6 began marketing its second new product set named Trung Nguyen Legend Capsule with three flavours inspired by Thien (Meditation) philosophy and Roman and Ottoman cultures. In the context of the continuous development of the global coffee industry, particularly with the boom of single-serve coffee, Trung Nguyen Legends new coffee capsules showcase a creative new strategic direction. Moreover, with the coffee capsule market currently largely dominated by global brands such as Nespresso, Carraro, Lavazza, and Gimoka, Trung Nguyens new product is expected to create fiercer competition in the high-class global coffee industry. On December 6, Trung Nguyen Legend officially introduced new product set named Trung Nguyen Legend Capsule with three flavours: Thien (Meditation) Roman Ottoman According to Trung Nguyen Legend, throughout the past 22 years of constant betterment, the group has developed its coffee products by combining and purifying the best of the three cradles of the globes coffee culture and history Thien (Meditation), Ottoman, and Roman values. Thien (Meditation) combines spiritual life with the eastern philosophy of God Earth Human, while the Roman capsules provide the powerful, straightforward tastes achieved by roasting, grinding, and blending. Meanwhile, the east-west marriage is manifested in Ottoman culture where coffee was honoured as a drink which helped expand consciousness and creativity and played an important role in Ottoman life. Trung Nguyen Legend Capsule is the first and only coffee product capture quintessence of three global coffee cultures Trung Nguyen Legend Capsule is the first coffee product that gathers the special features of these three cultures, offering them. As a new brand in the single-serve coffee industry, Trung Nguyen Legend has invested in the most modern technology in the world, importing its production lines from Italy which operate fully automatically in a closed-loop process to churn out the highest quality products. At the launching ceremony, co-founder and director of Neuhaus Neotec talked about the special, difference features of the Trung Nguyen Legend Capsule product As a new brand in the single-serve coffee industry, Trung Nguyen Legend has invested in the most modern technology in the world, importing its production lines from Italy which operate fully automatically in a closed-loop process to churn out the highest quality products. Fabrizio Brambati, president of Brambati S.p.A the supplier of technology for Trung Nguyen Legend Capsule, said, "With many years of supplying capsule production technologies for world-famous brands, I am really impressed with the vision of Trung Nguyen Legend. A brand from a developing country like Trung Nguyen Legend which has decided to seriously invest in capsule coffee and cover all aspects from quality to cultural values, creating a different spirit for each product has surprised us. In particular, not only making a difference in taste and quality, Trung Nguyen Legend has announced that the new capsule product of roasted and grilled coffee uses environment-friendly material. If most of the other capsules in the world are made from aluminium and plastics, which can take up to 150-200 years or even 500 years to completely decompose, Trung Nguyen Legend Capsule packages can decompose in the natural environment within only 18 weeks. In addition, the bio-plastic used for Trung Nguyen Legend Capsule can block up to 99 per cent of the air exchange between the inside and the outside of the capsule, which helps the product keep its freshness and characteristic flavour. With its sizeable investment in technology, Trung Nguyen Legend has once again affirmed its leading position in the global coffee industry by producing coffee capsules which can easily be stored and are not harmful to the environment. Participants of the programme excited to experience special, different features of the Trung Nguyen Legend Capsule product As a new player, Trung Nguyen Legend Capsule has designed flexible products which can be used by different makes of coffee machines in the market, in addition to LegendEra machines, which were particularly designed for Trung Nguyen Legend Capsule. At the moment, the three flavours of Trung Nguyen Legend Capsule Thien (Meditation), Roman, Ottoman are available at all stores of Trung Nguyen Legend and E-coffee nationwide. It is expected that by 2019, many other new products of Trung Nguyen Legend Capsule and LegendEra will land in the market. The new set of Trung Nguyen Legend Capsule products is expected to continue conquering coffee devotees in the world and create a new wave in the global single-serve coffee market. Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street in London on Dec 5, 2018 to attend Prime Minister's questions in Parliament. (Ben STANSALL/AFP) May said lawmakers could have a greater say over an arrangement to avoid border checks with Ireland that could see Britain tied to EU rules for years after it leaves the bloc in March. The so-called backstop is the key reason many of her own Conservative MPs and her Northern Irish allies opposed the divorce deal, putting her on course for defeat in Tuesday's vote. "People are concerned about the role of the UK in making these decisions. And the obvious, in terms of the UK, is for it to be parliament that makes these decisions," May told BBC radio. Ministers admit the deal struck with Brussels last month is not perfect but say it is the only option for an orderly Brexit after four decades of membership. Civil servants on Thursday briefed senior MPs and ministers on plans for a "no deal scenario", which some commentators suggested would focus minds on the implications of rejecting the agreement. But the scale of the threatened defeat has left some speculating whether May could postpone the vote. Senior Conservative MP Graham Brady, said he would welcome deferring the vote if it meant clarifying the issue of the backstop. Former prime minister Tony Blair told reporters at an event in parliament: "Personally I don't see what the point is of going down with a huge defeat." VOTE ON THE FUTURE In Brussels, EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier said the deal was "the only and best agreement possible". "Now is the moment for everyone to take their responsibilities," he told a committee of regional representatives. But the European Court of Justice may yet throw a spanner in the works with a ruling due Monday on whether London has the right to simply call off the entire Brexit process. May has rejected the idea. But with her deal facing defeat and Brussels not budging, the premier's range of options appears to be shrinking. May commands a slim majority in the House of Commons thanks to a deal with Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), but the DUP is fiercely opposed to her plan. The opposition Labour Party has said it could propose a confidence vote if May loses next week. Her chance to convince Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to give her more time in a one-on-one TV debate, which had been expected on Sunday, vanished when the second of two channels in discussions about carrying it live pulled out on Thursday. Corbyn and May had spent more than a week arguing about the potential debate's format. But the premier received some good news when the DUP's parliamentary deputy leader Nigel Dodds said his party would back May in a confidence vote if one comes after her deal is defeated. "Having achieved our aim trying to get to a better deal, it would be illogical then to turn around the next day and say 'let's vote the government out'," he told ITV. "I think then we start on a process to try to get a better deal." 'JUST NOT POSSIBLE' The backstop is an arrangement intended to avoid border checks between British Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland by keeping both in a customs arrangement after Brexit. It would only come into effect if London and Brussels fail to agree a new trading relationship by the end of a post-Brexit transition period, in December 2020. But official government legal advice says the backstop could see Britain left indefinitely in the new customs arrangement, with no power to unilaterally withdraw. Under May's deal, if the new trade deal is not ready in June 2020, Britain will have an option to extend the transition for up to two years to avoid going into the backstop. May has suggested parliament make that choice, but former foreign minister and leading Brexit supporter Boris Johnson rejected that idea. "This is simply not possible," he tweeted. "Under her deal, the EU has the legal right to stop us extending the transition and make us enter the backstop - whatever the PM or parliament says." Vietnamese dishes using local materials have potential in the franchise industry for food. - Photo vietnambiz.vn Statistics from the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) showed that the number of Vietnamese businesses involved in franchising, and those licensed to operate in the field abroad is modest at only three enterprises. Meanwhile, at present, Vietnamese brands that have had or intend to apply the franchise have included Hoa Huong Duong bubble tea, Trung Nguyen coffee, Pho 24, Highlands Coffee, Tuan Map Bread, and Viva star coffee. Nguyen Phi Van, founder and chairwoman of the Retail and Franchise Asia, said with the increasing integration and the rapid progress of bilateral and multilateral trade agreements, Vietnamese enterprises must improve their operation and their products quality to compete with same brands in the region. She said Vietnamese dishes using local materials have potential in the franchise industry for food. Health services, salon and repair services will be the trend of franchise in the coming time, said Van, adding that the model requires enterprises to invest in plans and resources before the franchise progress. Franchising began in Vietnam in the 1990s with the introduction of well-known fast food chains like KFC, Lotteria and Jollibee. It began in regional countries like Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand in the 1980s. Foreign businesses have been investing to bring their brands abroad, however, this has not yet had development for Vietnams brands so local businesses do not have much understanding of or experience with it. More Vietnamese businesses have been exploring new business opportunities available via franchising. Nevertheless, there are risks a franchisor should investigate before engaging in business in Vietnam. On the other hand, Vietnamese franchisees need to be knowledgeable about the business as well as seek consultancy from industry experts to avoid risks. Economic expert Le Dang Doanh said Vietnamese businesses need to lift themselves through investing and use of technology to improve the quality so they can compete. According to Doanh, franchising helps businesses fully tap capital and human resources from their partners to expand, thus increasing sales and profits from franchise fees to improve the value of their brands and their position in the market. This is a very smart way of mobilising capital and human resources from foreign investors, he said. Not only bringing great benefits to franchisors, this model also minimises the risk to franchisees. Thanks to the prestige of big franchisors, products of small- and medium-sized enterprises are consumed a lot and known by consumers. Through the model, these businesses can save huge amounts of money that they would spend on advertising and promotions. Experts said franchising in Vietnam will develop further in the next three years, especially brands from the Southeast Asian countries as Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines will have the advantage of logistics and transportation. Representatives from Malaysias Franchise Association said foreign investors need to be aware of everything involved in the Vietnamese market. Malaysia has a franchise law, and its businesses that bring their national brands abroad receive much support from the Malaysian government, they said. The MoIT has licensed 17 foreign enterprises specialising in franchises to operate in Vietnam so far this year, according to statistics from the ministry. The franchise market features both domestic and foreign enterprises. The ministry said there were 213 businesses with hundreds of trademarks licensed for franchising in Vietnam over the last decade. A series of world-famous brands in the fields of fast food, hotel, restaurant, cosmetics and clothes have been rapidly entering the Vietnamese market, with expanding scale. These brands include McDonalds, Baskin Robbins, Pizza Hut, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Burger King, Swensens, Lotteria, Tous Les Jours, BBQ Chicken, Warehouse, Topshop and Coast London. Countries across Asia have been creating policies around Industry 4.0 and Vietnam cannot be an exception, Photo: Le Toan Assigned by the prime minister and the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI), the Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM) is compiling a draft of the national Fourth Industrial Revolution, with specific targets and action plans currently discussed for ministries, sectors, and agencies. The draft was announced for the first time last week. One of the strategys prime targets is to grab opportunities arising from the revolution, increase the countrys GDP and employment, and attract more high-quality foreign direct investment (FDI). According to the strategy, Vietnam stands ready to receive new technologies. It will have to change many types of policies to adapt to Industry 4.0, said Nguyen Thi Tue Anh, deputy director of the CIEM. Under a CIEM study on the draft, it is expected that joining Industry 4.0 will help increase Vietnams GDP by another $28.5-$62.1 billion, equivalent to a rise of 7-16 per cent, by 2030 as compared to the current time. Besides, per capita GDP will likely climb by an additional $315-640 by 2030 thanks to an increase in labour productivity and employment. The benefits for Vietnam will be huge, far higher than the countrys participation in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), which can give only an additional 1.32 per cent rise to the Vietnamese GDP by 2035, as stated by an MPI report, said Dang Quang Vinh, vice head of the CIEMs Board for Business Environment and Competitiveness. Besides, Vietnam will be able to generate 1.3-3.1 million new jobs by 2030 under the impacts of Industry 4.0, said Vinh who is one of the drafters of the strategy. However, these benefits will become true only when Vietnam has more sturdy policies in favour of people and enterprises. The strategy, if medium-level technologies are applied, will likely enable the country to see strong growth in many key economic sectors by 2030, such as manufacturing (16 per cent), wholesale and retail (20 per cent or $9.5 billion), agro-forestry-fishery (12 per cent), supply of electricity, gas, and air conditioning (23 per cent), and finance-banking-insurance (14 per cent or $3.5 billion). For example, the manufacturing sector will grow by an additional $7-14 billion through new technology applications, while the sum will be $4.9 billion for the agricultural sector thanks to the saving of costs and improvement of productivity, Vinh said. The communications and industry sector will climb 77 per cent, or an additional $2.5 billion, against the scenario without a strategy, he added. According to the CIEM, new industrial sectors resulting from Industry 4.0 will be the key growth propellants for Vietnam, such as the Internet of Things, media, and digital economy. They will also support other sectors to improve their competitiveness, increase revenue, and develop new products and services. The new industrial sectors will include e-commerce ($40 billion in revenue by 2030), artificial intelligence ($420 million), data analysis ($730 million), cloud computing ($2.2 billion), vehicle hailing ($2.2 billion), fintech ($1.5 billion), and smart agriculture ($1.7 billion). New policies are quite necessary to attract more high-quality investment into these sectors, said Vinh. Currently, Vietnam has great potential to develop its own Industry 4.0. For example, the country is now a big consumer of ICT products and services, with a value of $12.7 billion last year, which is expected to rise to $13.4 billion this year. Currently, many nations have been developing their own strategies on the issue, such as Chinas Made-in-China 2025, Japans Society 4.0, and Japan resuscitation strategy, Malaysias My-i4.0, Singapores 23 plans on digital transformation, Indias Smart City Mission and Industry 4.0 Centre, Indonesias Making Indonesia 4.0, and Thailands Thailand 4.0. Industry 4.0 offers great opportunities to Vietnam. Without it, the country will continue lagging behind other nations, said a CIEM report on Vietnam and Industry 4.0. Taking advantage of Industry 4.0 is the easiest way for Vietnam to turn itself into a modern and affluent nation and develop a modern industry in the shortest period of time. Thus, the country needs to mobilise all necessary resources to implement its Industry 4.0 strategy, the report stated. Cambodias first ever computing camp is due to be held in Siem Reap this month to promote literacy on cyber security, open-source software, social innovation and the benefits of open data, according to its organizers. The five-day ICT Camp 2018, organized by Open Development Cambodia (ODC), an NGO, will be held in the northern Cambodian city from December 17 to December 21. Thy Try, ODC executive director, said the themes for the camp were chosen by its funders through a survey. The idea for the event came from a similar annual event held in Bangkok for all Mekong region countries since 2008. Camp participants come from a variety of fields, both in the public and private sectors, he added, who wish to receive training on best practices when using modern technology. In our upcoming camp, we have a small budget for participants who have creative ideas or have problems but do not know how technology can solve them, so they can contact me with the organizing committees or experts and propose projects, he said. We will give them grants to implement the projects for three months after the camp. It doesnt mean that you can only study, but if you study on a particular thing and want to test it, they can test it, and this is what makes the camp different from other camps. Mak Puthea, who will speak at the event on the use of ICT for development, said mobile usage in Cambodia had increased interest in technology. So this tool can be used to transfer information to communities and citizens in locations where we work, he said. He added that his talk will focus on how technology can be applied to various development sectors, such as education. Lay Kimchou, an OCD volunteer and camp organizer, said it allowed her to network with like-minded individuals and discover new trends that she could apply in her day job as a digital marketing specialist. I want to learn about security, she said. When I manage pages on Facebook, I need to pay money through Mastercard or Visa. So I want to know how to protect my money from theft of hacking. Phos Sovann, information ministry spokesman, said the ministry supported the camp, adding that he hoped participants will get more ideas and knowledge about it [ICT]. Fut Kheun carefully steers his wooden longboat among the treetops and roofs that stick out above the water and then turns off his engine to pause. This is all that remains visible of Srekor Village 1 where his family lived for generations on the banks of the Srepok River in northeast Cambodia until a large downstream dam turned the area into a huge reservoir in September 2017. The gold-coloured spire and curving roof of a small wooden pagoda still juts above the water line like a monument to the lost village. He quietly viewed the scene and said, Our ancestors graves have been drowned in the flood. The Lao and Kreung indigenous minority villagers who lived here would honour their ancestors through ceremonies at the graves in accordance with their Buddhist-animist beliefs, and they would worship at the pagoda. Fut Kheun, 39, said his and other families were deeply affected by the loss of the spiritual site, and their homes, farms and fishing livelihoods. I want to live here where we are content, he told a visiting VOA reporter. I dont want to leave and betray my ancestors spirits; they are submerged under 4- or 5-meter-deep water. His family is among some 60 families from Srekor 1 Village who have refused the governments order to accept a compensation package and housing at several remote resettlement sites. About 800 other families - all belonging to various hill tribes from four villages near the Srepok and Sesan Rivers in Stung Treng Province - have reluctantly accepted the offer after years of protesting in vain against the construction of the mostly Chinese-funded, 400-megawatt Lower Sesan 2 Dam. I will absolutely not go to the new site The holdout families have set up makeshift houses in a community forest on higher ground about 1 kilometer away from Srekor 1, where they can still move around in their boats and be close to their former village. I am not happy with the compensation offer and the important thing is that I want to protect my old village, said Fut Kheun. I will absolutely not go to a new site, I suggest they build a new village for us in the community forest area. The families are struggling to get by here, living off newly planted crops and forest products, while they lack government services such as education or health care. Living conditions are difficult and villagers say illness is common; some residents have even died since they moved. The ancestors are submerged that is what is making us sick. There are no more spirits from our parents and ancestors here [to protect us], Fut Kheuns 85-year-old father, Noy Fut, said during an interview at the site. Nat Sota, 65, said she planned to stay put here as it was better than the resettlement site because it has drinking water and because she planted some crops, though she worried about the lack of education for her grandchildren. Asked about the governments refusal to acknowledge the holdout families, she said, I am not angry with the government project since it is for the countrys development. I dont protest against them. But I just ask for land for rice, and a farm and house here. Government pushes through dam Local and international activist groups have long supported the villagers in their attempts to resist the project and gain better compensation, but these efforts were met by severe government pressure and sometimes arrests. Activists also warned of a heavy environmental and socio-economic impact beyond the 33,000-hectare reservoir, as the dam at the confluence of the Sesan and Srepok Rivers will block fish migration from the Mekong River. This could cut fish stocks with 9.3 percent across the Mekong Basin where millions of people rely on fishing, according to a study by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in the U.S. Prime Minister Hun Sen and his government have downplayed such impacts and approved the $816-million project. It was built by a joint venture comprising Royal Group Co. Ltd. of Cambodian tycoon Kith Meng, Electricity of Vietnam, and Chinas state-owned Hydrolancang International Energy Co. Ltd., the latter owning the projects majority share. Victor Jona, a spokesman of the Ministry of Mines and Energys department of energy, said the dam went ahead as it is important to Cambodias energy masterplan. This aims to increase domestic supply far above the current capacity of 2,500 Mw and provide a 100-percent electrification rate nationwide by 2020, up from the current 87 percent in rural areas. Jona said all eight turbines of the dam were now running and energy production was going well. He added that dam construction on the Mekong is also a consideration to further raise power supply. The tentative plan for the massive Sambor Dam in Kratie Province is highly controversial and a leaked government-commissioned study has warned of a devastating impact on the Mekongs fisheries and ecosystem. Jona said the hill tribe villagers simply had to make way for development and are taken care of at the relocation site. He suggested that the number of families refusing compensation was dropping and they should just settle for the governments offer. [Only] at the beginning life is a bit difficult for villagers, he said, when asked about the resettlement site conditions. Resettlement site not suitable to live Villagers who accepted the offer, however, described resettlement conditions as inadequate and government support lacking. The area has few livelihood opportunities and villagers are cut off from the rivers that were the regions transport ways and provided fish and other resources. Vann Hong, a 50-year-old Lao minority villager from Srekor 1, said his compensation offer included a simple wooden house on a 20-by-50 meter plot, $4,200 for loss of crops, and about 5 hectares of farmland on which he had planted cashew nut trees. Some 15 months after the relocation, however, authorities have still not provided basic services. The schools lacked teachers, while a constructed water reservoir was often dry, leaving residents to pay for drinking water delivery from outside. I have to buy water and spend around 120,000 Riels [$30] to 150,000 Riels [$37.5] a month, Vann Hong said, adding that this was a significant expense as his only cash income came from sawing wood. Tem Sophoan, a teacher at Sre Sronok Primary School at the site, said, We have one class that has around 70 students Normally in schools there are maximum 30 students per class. He added that the secondary school building stood empty as it had no teachers at all. Vann Hong lamented his plight, but said he felt powerful. It is not suitable [to live] here but how can I protest more? If I had a choice, I would go back to my old village, he said. I have prayed and asked my ancestors to come to stay with us at the new village. Amid global market instability, and the arrest of a senior Huawei executive in Canada, the Trump administration holds a firm line on US/China trade talks, the future of 5G technologies, and a final wordless goodbye to an American President For decades in a small village in northern Afghanistan's Balkh province, dozens of families have lived in one- and two-story houses made from ammunition, where 3-meter-long live rockets are used as ceiling beams. After a few explosions, the villagers now want the Afghan government to remove the weapons. Qand Agha, leader of Qazi Abad village, told VOA that several people have been wounded or killed because the rockets have exploded. "A villager was killed when he was trying to move and place one of the rockets on his home's roof," Agha said. WATCH: Afghan Villagers Use Live Rockets to Build Homes, Bridges About 400 Russian-made BM-21 rockets have been used as beams in an estimated 40 houses. Villagers tried to keep the weapons a secret because they did not want to lose the materials for their houses, but periodic explosions forced them to inform the government. Mohammad Zarif, a local shepherd, said a rocket exploded as he was collecting them. "I was tending cattle then, and used to collect the rockets. One day, a rocket exploded, and I lost one of my eyes," he said. Sayed Mohammad Yazdanparast, spokesperson for the Advocacy Network on Disabilities in Balkh, said there were many other such residences in the province. "These people are poor, and fear of losing their houses has forced them not to report it to the authorities," Yazdanparast said. Remove and rebuild Recently, a team at the Danish Demining Group, a humanitarian mine action unit in the Danish Refugee Council, visited the village and promised to remove and neutralize the rockets and rebuild the houses. "This is life-threatening for the villagers, especially for kids living here," said Abdul Hakim Noorzai, DDG's chief of operations. Removing all the rockets from 40 houses could take up to two months to complete, DDG said. War remnants Afghanistan is one of the most mined countries in the world. Since 1979, when the Soviet Union invaded the country, an estimated 640,000 land mines have been buried across the country, according to HALO Trust, an international humanitarian mine clearance organization. Local and international demining organizations, including Halo Trust, have worked for decades to clear the mines and unexploded ordnance in Afghanistan. They have cleared large swaths of areas in the country, but remnants of war, including unexploded ordnance, continue to kill and injure Afghans. Though some of the explosives found in Afghanistan date to the Soviet invasion, others are from recent wars, including the civil war of the 1990s and the ongoing Taliban insurgency. The Taliban rely heavily on improvised explosive devices to carry out roadside bombings in parts of the country. Each year, unexploded ordnance kills hundreds of civilians, including children. Survivors often lose limbs or eyesight or suffer other life-changing injuries. In 2017, the U.N. Assistance Mission Afghanistan recorded 639 civilian casualties (164 killed and 475 injured) due to explosions; 81 percent of the casualties were children. These figures do not include casualties caused by terror attacks by the Taliban or Islamic State. Dozens of Afghan families in a small village in northern Afghanistan's Balkh province are living in homes where rockets are used as ceiling beams. The villagers have been using live rockets to build one- and two-story buildings. Some have lived under roofs made with live ammunitions for almost 20 years. After a few explosions, the villagers asked the government to remove the rockets. VOA's Mirwais Bezhan reports from Balkh. As Iraq marks the first anniversary of its victory over Islamic State, tensions are rising in the terrorist group's former strongholds as attacks continue and security forces conduct near-daily operations. Locals fear the militants hiding in the deserts and mountains are emboldened by recent killings, and warn the group's resurgence is likely if sectarian tensions and economic disparity are not addressed. VOA's Heather Murdock has this report from Mosul and the surrounding countryside in Iraq. In the desert outside Mosul there is a giant sinkhole, once thought a natural wonder, with stories about it going back for generations. There are believed to be as many as 10,000 or more bodies decomposing inside, unceremoniously dumped by Islamic State militants, after or during the killings. And as Iraq marks the first anniversary of its victory over IS, this area is still strewn with so many bombs that authorities do not expect to recover those remains soon, if at all. But in places formerly controlled by IS, locals say they are more worried about their future than the past. Militants may have lost almost all of their territory, but attacks continue and residents fear the group will once again rekindle its campaign of all-out violence. "We know where the explosives are, so we are not afraid of them," explains Sarhan, a 15-year-old shepherd who guides us toward the sinkhole. "But we are afraid of militants coming back, so we have guns now." Last year, the military banned civilians from coming here after people were killed by the bombs buried in the dirt. But residents like Sarhan remain in their homes and soldiers ask him to show us which paths are safe. Another shepherd guides his flock through a stream as we walk. The bones of militants killed more than a year and a half ago lie scattered in the mud. "Why has nobody gotten rid of these bodies?" I ask. "What? It's a crime to bury the bodies of terrorists," the man says, moving his sheep along. Refocusing efforts On average, IS has conducted 75 attacks a month in Iraq in 2018, claiming more than 1,500 civilian lives, according to new report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based research group. The death toll is considerably less than in 2017, when IS still held physical territories, but the group appears to be refocusing its efforts on government targets, the report says. "Islamic State militants are seizing on local grievances," it reads, "taking advantage of ungoverned space by operating from cell structures to conduct hit-and-run attacks, kidnappings for ransom, targeted assassinations, and bombings using improvised explosive devices." Iraqi security forces are conducting near-daily operations to thwart these attacks, capturing and killing fighters as well as launching airstrikes, including a cross-border offensive in neighboring Syria that killed 40 militants last month, according to the Iraqi military. At his base in Mosul, Major-General Najm al-Jabouri says that while they are still fighting, Iraq is much safer than it was last year. But extremist ideas, he says, cannot be eradicated by force. "They don't have much power, but their ideas still exist," he explained. "God willing we will finish them." Sectarian tensions But in the year since the victory, some crucial elements of establishing a long-term peace have not been addressed, adds the CSIS report. Entire neighborhoods remain flattened and sectarian tensions have increased. In war, Sunni, Shia, Kurds and Arabs stood together against IS, but since then relations have deteriorated, taking attention and resources away from recovery. Continued attacks and the memory of IS savageries feeds the sectarianism. "This was a nice place," says Fatima, a 77-year-old mother of 12 in a village near Khafsa. "But those dogs came in and ruined it all for us." Three of Fatima's sons were killed by militants and another was kidnapped, destroying her family's financial future. This kind of violence has left yet another schism in Iraqi society, with the families of IS fighters mostly still languishing in camps, unable to go home. A block from her home, the word "Daeshy," meaning IS militant, is scrawled on a burned-out house. If the wife or the children of the IS militant that once owned that home wants to return, they are clearly not welcome. Growing discontent In Mosul, once the de-facto capital of IS in Iraq, locals say when Iraqi and coalition forces retook the city they were relieved. They had endured three years of extremist rule, a bombing campaign and months under siege. If nothing else, they were safe. But in the year and a half since the battles subsided in the city, long-term safety has become more and more questionable. And recent car bombings at a restaurant here and in the western city of Tikrit have shattered the illusion that attacks are limited to remote areas where IS can still operate. At a cafe in the Jadida neighborhood, where airstrikes killed hundreds of civilians on a single day last year, workers say the bombing of a nearby restaurant last month shocked the neighborhood. Mosul is also still reeling from the war, with reconstruction largely in the hands of individual home and business owners, and entire districts are still in piles of rubble. Widespread disillusionment with the government, isolation and extreme poverty are often among the key reasons IS was able to take and hold Iraqi territory in the first place. Officials in Mosul say rebuilding the hospitals, bridges and other major infrastructure projects will require billions of dollars, and funding from the central government has been slow and vastly lacking. "There is so much to take care of after the war," says Mosul Mayor Zuhair Mohsen al-Araji in his office. "And we get very little support from Baghdad." "Why don't they give the money?" asks one reporter, as he turns his microphone off. "Is it about corruption or they just don't care?" "This is Iraq," says the mayor. "It is both." A newly enacted law rushed through Australia's parliament will compel technology companies such as Apple, Facebook and Google to disable encryption protections so police can better pursue terrorists and other criminals. Cybersecurity experts say the law, the first of its kind globally, will instead be a boon to the criminal underworld by undermining the technical integrity of the internet, hurting digital security and user privacy. "I think it's detrimental to Australian and world security,'' said Bruce Schneier, a tech security expert affiliated with Harvard University and IBM. The law is also technically vague and seems contradictory because it doesn't require systematic weaknesses so-called "back doors'' to be built in by tech providers. Such back doors are unlikely to remain secret, meaning that hackers and criminals could easily exploit them. Back doors were central to a 1990s U.S. effort to require manufacturers to install a so-called "Clipper chip" into communications equipment so the government could listen in on voice and data transmissions. U.S. law enforcement officials, including Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, are again pushing for legislation that would somehow give authorities access to secure communications. The Australian bill is seen by many as a beachhead for those efforts because the nation belongs to the "Five Eyes'' security alliance with the U.S., Britain, Canada and New Zealand. "There is a lot here that doesn't make any sense,'' Schneier said of the Australian bill. "This is a technological law written by non-technologists and it's not just bad policy. In many ways, I think it's unworkable.'' A leading figure in cryptography, Martin Hellman of Stanford University, said it appears the bill would "facilitate crime by weakening the security of the affected devices.'' Blow against 'evil work' The law won final legislative approval late Thursday, parliament's final session of the year. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said it was urgently needed. "This was very important legislation to give police and security agencies the ability to get into encrypted communications,'' he told Nine Network television. "Things like WhatsApp, things like that which are used by terrorists and organized criminals and indeed pedophile rings to do their evil work.'' He noted that the opposition Labor Party "had to be dragged to the table'' and backed the legislation as an emergency measure out of concern extremists could target Christmas-New Year crowds. Labor lawmakers said they want amendments passed when parliament resumes in February. Opposition leader Bill Shorten said he supported the current bill only because he could not "expose Australians to increased [national security] risk.'' Duncan Lewis, director-general of the Australian Security Intelligence Organization, noted during hearings that extremists share encrypted messages that Australia's main secret service cannot intercept or read. President Morry Bailles of the Law Council of Australia, a leading lawyers group, criticized the bill's swift parliamentary journey though lawmakers knew "serious problems exist'' with giving law enforcement "unprecedented powers to access encrypted communications.'' Australian law enforcement officials have complained that the growth of end-to-end encryption in applications such as Signal, Facebook's WhatsApp and Messenger and Apple's iMessage could be the worst blow to intelligence and law enforcement capability in decades. Federal Police Commissioner Andrew Colvin said it hampers criminal investigations at all levels. Apple argument But Apple, in comments filed with parliament in October, argued that "it would be wrong to weaken security for millions of law-abiding customers in order to investigate the very few who pose a threat.'' The company's iPhones, because of their strong encryption, are bulwarks of national security around the globe and help protect journalists, human rights workers and people living under repressive regimes. "The iPhone is national security infrastructure right now,'' said Schneier. "Every Australian legislator uses the systems and devices that that law will target, and making them insecure seems like a really bad idea.'' Apple also complained in October that the bill was "dangerously ambiguous.'' One apparent contradiction confounds technologists. The legislation says the government "must not require providers to implement or build systemic weaknesses in forms of electronic protection ('back doors')'' but also says it can "require the selective deployment of a weakness or vulnerability in a particular service, device or item of software on a case-by-case basis.'' Technologists say that the mathematics underlying encryption and the way its encoded into software make it impossible to decrypt a single user's communications without affecting all users. Eric Wenger, director of cybersecurity and privacy policy for the U.S. technology giant Cisco Systems, warned during debate on the bill that Australia could be at a competitive disadvantage if its data were not regarded as secure. Australia was a major driver of a statement agreed to at the Group of 20 leaders' summit in Germany last year that called on the technology industry to provide "lawful and non-arbitrary access to available information'' needed to protect against terrorist threats. An investigation into whether political operatives in North Carolina illegally collected and possibly stole absentee ballots in a still-undecided congressional race has drawn attention to a widespread but little-known political tool called ballot harvesting. Its a practice long used by special-interest groups and both major political parties that is viewed either as a voter service that boosts turnout or a nefarious activity that subjects voters to intimidation and makes elections vulnerable to fraud. The groups rely on data showing which voters requested absentee ballots but have not turned them in. They then go door-to-door and offer to collect and turn in those ballots for the voters often dozens or hundreds at a time. Some place ballot-collection boxes in high-concentration voter areas, such as college campuses, and then take the ballots to election offices when the boxes are full. North Carolina In North Carolina, election officials are investigating whether Republican political operatives in parts of the 9th Congressional District harvested ballots from minority voters and didnt deliver them to the election offices. In some cases they are accused of harvesting ballots that were not sealed and only partially filled out. Ballot harvesting is illegal under state law, which allows only a family member or legal guardian to drop off absentee ballots for a voter. Investigators are focusing on areas in the district where an unusually high number of absentee ballots were not returned. They want to know whether some ballots were not turned in as promised to the local elections office, were unsealed or only partially filled out. Republican Mark Harris leads Democrat Dan McCready by 905 votes, but the state elections board has refused to certify the results. The head of the state Republican Party said Thursday that he would be open to holding a new election if there is evidence of fraud. Sick, elderly and poor Supporters of ballot harvesting say they worry the North Carolina election may give an important campaign tool an unnecessary black eye. These groups see their mission as helping voters who are busy with work or caring for children, and empowering those who are sick, elderly and poor. Collecting ballots to turn in at a centralized voting hub also has been an important tool for decades on expansive and remote Native American reservations. Sometimes we think of voting as this really straightforward process and we often forget that all voters, but for new voters in particular, theres a lot of confusion when voting about when they actually have to vote by, where they have to take their ballot to, said Rachel Huff-Doria, executive director of the voter advocacy group Forward Montana. Arizona Several states have tried to limit ballot harvesting by restricting who can turn in another persons ballot. In Arizona, a video that showed a volunteer dropping off hundreds of ballots at a polling place prompted a debate that led to an anti-ballot harvesting law in 2016. I think at any level, Republican, Democrat or anything, its wrong. Its a terrible practice, said former Arizona Republican Party chairman Robert Graham, who backed the law. People should be responsible for their own votes. The Arizona law making it a felony in most cases to collect an early ballot was challenged in federal court before the 2016 election, and blocked by an appeals court. The U.S. Supreme Court stepped in and allowed the law to be enforced. Further challenges have so far been unsuccessful, most recently just before the midterm election. Montana Montana was the latest state to pass an anti-ballot harvesting law when voters approved a referendum last month. Al Olszewski, a Republican state senator, said he proposed the ban after two of his constituents in northwestern Montana complained of pushy ballot collectors coming to their homes. For a woman in her 70s thats maybe frail and lives alone and feels intimidated, at least now they can say please leave and have confidence that the law is behind them, he said. Voting-rights advocates are dismayed that such laws are being passed without evidence of actual ballot fraud happening, at least before questions were raised about the activities in the North Carolina congressional race. They say restricting who can collect ballots punishes certain voters without doing anything to actually detect, deter or punish fraud. If you have an honest person who is trying to help voters, then who they are doesnt matter as long as they return (the ballot), said Myrna Perez, the deputy director of the Brennan Center for Justices democracy program. California California went in the opposite direction when it passed a law in 2016 to allow ballot harvesting. Republicans felt the new laws effects during this years midterm elections after congressional districts that GOP candidates were leading on Election Day flipped to the Democrats when a flood of last-minute mail-in ballots were counted along with provisional ballots. The rout included several seats that had been held by Republicans in the former GOP stronghold of Orange County, where more than 250,000 mail-in ballots were turned in on Election Day. And in the agriculture-dominant Central Valley, Republican incumbents Jeff Denham and David Valadao saw their leads disappear after a tally of late-arriving ballots. Valadao, for example, had an initial lead of more than 7 percentage points, but Democrat T.J. Cox pulled ahead after winning 56 percent of the votes counted after Election Day. Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan described Californias election system as bizarre in an interview with The Washington Post. Californias situation underscored that ballot harvesting is an important tool for political parties. Orange County Republican Party Chairman Fred Whitaker wrote in a newsletter last month that Republicans must develop a response to this new law that allows us to remain competitive. Even Olszewski, the sponsor of Montanas anti-ballot harvesting measure, acknowledges that laws such as his are unlikely to eliminate ballot harvesting completely. Such micro-targeting of voters when used with technology to identify individuals political leanings has become too important and effective in get-out-the-vote efforts, he said. I think the Democrats, theyre the ones that figured it out and were far more successful in 18, in this election, than the Republicans ever were, he said. The Republicans, what Im hearing right now early on is, holy cow, we need to learn how to do this as good or better than the Democrats at harvesting ballots. We have the data. Zimbabwe's biggest food processing company this week said it is closing its wheat mills because it cannot import the commodity amid foreign currency shortages. Analysts say Zimbabwe's land reform program is the root cause of this and it is likely to cause shortages of products made with flour in the southern African country. The CEO of National Foods Limited, Michael Lashbrook, Thursday said he hopes Zimbabwe's government will help the company pay wheat suppliers so it does not have to close its flour mills. He said the government had made some local wheat available to millers, but he said quality bread flour required imported grain to be blended with local varieties. Panashe Chikore was hoping to get a temporary job at National Foods during the Christmas season. He is disappointed to hear the company's mills have to close. "When I was growing up, I looked forward to getting employment or those who are employed would take care of others, so that we all have a decent life," he said. "But if it is now like this, it becomes heavy. It is only that things got tough, I wanted a decent job to make be survive." WATCH: Bread Shortage Feared in Zimbabwe as Wheat Mills Shut Down Zimbabwe's economy has been ailing since the early 2000s when the country's farm sector went into a nosedive. Both cash and basic goods are increasingly in short supply, prompting calls for the government to fix the situation. Zimbabwe Farmers Union Executive Director Paul Zakariya says the wheat shortage is the result of controversial land reforms that displaced most commercial white farmers and rewarded black peasant farmers who had no experience and no resources to work the land. "When we had that adjustment in the resource that we call land, a lot of things in production and productivity in that sense was negatively affected," he said. "We saw the trends now going down from 2002 or 2001 when we hit a peak of 235,000 metric tons of wheat in Zimbabwe. We dipped to very, very low and pathetic levels of about 20,000 metric tons during the 2010 period up to the 2015 period." He says Zimbabwe can produce sufficient wheat again, under the right conditions. "Farmers in Zimbabwe, if they are supported adequately with the resources that are required, they can push the production levels to levels where the manufacturing capacity cannot even handle, because we used to do that." For now, there are fears that bread is going to disappear from store shelves and the price for wheat products will skyrocket, making life even more unaffordable for the average Zimbabwe citizen. Cameroon says it has created a committee to disarm and reintegrate hundreds of separatist fighters and Boko Haram terrorists who put down their weapons. But analysts say the committee has a long road ahead in English-speaking regions, where fighting between the government and separatists has intensified. Ngoran Nora read the names of 30 people whose homes were set on fire before she escaped Thursday from the northwest town of Kumbo. She told her community members in Yaounde that the military killed at least 15 people in the villages of Meluf, Kikaikom, Mbveh and Tooy over two days after gunmen engaged them in battle. She said soldiers might have targeted people they suspect collaborate with separatists, or did not inform them about the fighters' presence in the villages. The violence comes less than a week after President Paul Biya created a national committee for the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of former Boko Haram fighters in the far north and former separatist fighters in northwest and southwest regions. The government said the committee was created to assist hundreds of former fighters who heeded Biya's call to drop their guns and be pardoned, or killed by the military. Joseph Motaze, political analyst with the Cameroon-based Center for the Rehabilitation of Former Fighters, said the committee is a good first step. But he suggested that Biya should reduce the military's presence in the northwest and southwest regions to show he is ready to make peace. He said it is imperative for the government to start negotiating with armed groups in the restive English-speaking regions and immediately drop the idea of using war as a solution to the crisis. He added that the fighters are becoming violent to a point where they are kidnapping and killing people who do not share their views, and taking administrators hostage to make the area totally ungovernable. The armed groups want to form an independent English-speaking state. The majority of Cameroon's population speaks French. Francis Fai Yengo, a retired civil administrator appointed to head the disarmament committee, said he will need the support of everyone to be able to succeed. He said he has to set to work immediately because the task ahead of him is enormous. He called on all Cameroonians to propose ideas and contribute to the peace initiative so that all of the youths who have taken up weapons can make wise decisions to emerge from the bushes and live like peaceful citizens in their own country Cameroon. The separatist war has killed more than 1,200 people, according to the government. China is demanding Canada immediately free a top executive of a giant telecom firm arrested last Saturday on a U.S. warrant. The charges against Meng Wanzhou are unclear. But Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper says she is suspected of trying to evade U.S. sanctions against Iran something U.S. officials have been suspecting about her company, Huawei, for the last two years. Police arrested Meng at the Vancouver airport. She faces possible extradition to the United States after a bail hearing on Friday. A Chinese statement said Meng did not break any U.S. or Canadian laws and that Beijing expected Canada to "immediately correct the mistake" and release her from custody. Meng was arrested on the same day President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping met at the G-20 summit in Argentina and announced a 90-day truce in their trade war. U.S. national security adviser John Bolton told National Public Radio that he knew of Meng's pending arrest in advance and was unclear whether Trump knew of it when he met with Xi. Bolton added that the suspected theft of U.S. intellectual property by Chinese firms will be a major part of trade talks with China. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who has been having his own trade troubles with China, said he also knew in advance about the arrest. But he called it a judicial matter and said politics had nothing to do it. Meng is Huawei's chief financial officer and the daughter of the company's founder. Huawei is the world's largest supplier of equipment used by telephone and internet providers, and the world's third-biggest manufacturer of smartphones. The Trump administration said that not only do Huawei and other Chinese firms have an unfair advantage on the world market because of government subsidies, but they are also possible national security threats from suspected spying. The U.S. nearly put another large Chinese firm, ZTE, out of business earlier this year when it banned the company from using U.S. technology. Officials discovered ZTE was selling its products with U.S. technology to Iran and North Korea. ZTE agreed to pay a $1 billion fine and replace its entire board of directors. The recent arrest of a top Huawei executive in Canada has put a spotlight again on the Chinese telecommunications giant. Huawei (pronounced Wah Way) is little known inside the U.S. except as a target of U.S. security agencies. Yet the Chinese telecommunications firm recently passed Apple as the No. 2 seller of smartphones worldwide after Samsung and is in a race with other telecom firms to build out the next generation wireless network, known as 5G. What is Huawei? Huawei, based in Shenzhen, is a Chinese telecommunications equipment and hardware firm, the largest supplier of networking equipment used by communications firms. It has more than 150,000 employees and has stood out from other Chinese tech firms because of its large presence outside of China. In addition to selling laptops and TVs, it is the leading smartphone maker in its home market and is increasingly selling its high-end phones ($600-$800) in countries across Africa and Asia. But it is nearly locked out of the U.S. market. What are the U.S. government concerns? Since 2012, the U.S. government has raised the alarm on suspicions that Huawei's hardware may have a technical backdoor that could be used by the Chinese government to gather intelligence. This concern has only increased in the race between the two countries to create the 5G network, which will provide faster internet technology. Huawei has denied that its products pose any security risk and says it is a private company. This week Canadian authorities, at the behest of the United States, arrested the firm's chief financial officer over allegations that the company has done business with Iran, in violation of U.S. trade sanctions. What has the U.S. done to limit Huawei? This year, the FBI and CIA were among federal security agencies that warned U.S. consumers not to buy phones built by Huawei or its affiliate Honor branded phones that were sold in Best Buy and on Amazon's online site. More recently, the U.S. has lobbied countries not to buy Huawei products. New Zealand and Australia announced they were banning their wireless carriers from using Huawei's equipment. BT, a United Kingdom telecommunications group, said it would not buy equipment from Huawei as it builds its 5G network. And AT&T didn't go through with a deal with the Chinese smartphone giant to sell its phones to U.S. consumers. What might happen next? It's unclear if Huawei can keep growing if it doesn't gain a foothold in the U.S. consumer market. And, as China and the U.S. race to build the 5G network, there will be more scrutiny of the Chinese telecom firm. But one observer says the tensions between the two countries are bigger than the 5G race. "These huge Chinese tech companies are bulking up and they are getting into everything," said Rebecca Fannin, founder and editor of Silicon Dragon, a media and events group covering the tech industry worldwide. "They are innovating fast, sometimes faster than U.S. firms, and there are growing tensions over that issue, which is going to be more pronounced as it goes forward." A top Chinese technology executive faces U.S. charges related to business dealings with Iran, a Canadian prosecutor said Friday, after the executive's arrest rocked financial markets around the globe. In a packed courtroom in Vancouver, a Canadian prosecutor argued that Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of tech giant Huawei, should be denied bail pending possible extradition to the United States because she was a flight risk. She has spent most of the past week at a women's detention facility in a suburb of Vancouver. The prosecutor disclosed that Meng was wanted by the United States for allegedly deceiving financial institutions about the relationship between Huawei and another tech company, SkyCom, based in Hong Kong, that is alleged to have sold U.S.-manufactured technology to Iran, in violation of U.S. trade sanctions. In the first glimpse of the case against Meng, prosecutors alleged during the five-hour hearing that she was not truthful to U.S. banks who had asked her about links between the two firms. An attorney representing Meng, David Martin, told the court "there is no evidence" that SkyCom was a subsidiary of Huawei during the period in question, in 2013 and 2014. The bail hearing is set to resume on Monday. If extradited to the United States, Meng would face charges of conspiracy to defraud multiple financial institutions. The arrest of Meng in Vancouver, at the request of the United States, surprised financial markets after Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping agreed to a trade truce last weekend in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Stocks plummeted Thursday after news came out of Meng's arrest, which followed months of already shaky markets affected by the U.S.-China trade war. Trump sounded a note of optimism on Friday about the trade talks with China, tweeting that "China talks are going very well!" The U.S. and Canadian governments have so far said little about the Meng case. But China has demanded her release, saying she violated no laws in Canada or the United States. Meng is the daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, a former engineer in China's People's Liberation Army. Chinese state media have argued that the United States is abusing the law to hurt the company's international reputation. However, concerns about Huawei have been growing for some time. Since 2012, the U.S. government has raised alarm about suspicions that Huawei's hardware may have a technical back door that could be used by the Chinese government to gather intelligence. Huawei has denied that its products pose any security risk and says it is a private company. Just days before scores of countries sign up to a landmark U.N. migration pact, a number of European Union nations have begun joining the list of those not willing to endorse the agreement. The 34-page U.N. Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration is to be formally approved in Marrakech, Morocco, on Dec. 10-11. The drafting process was launched after all 193 U.N. member states, including the United States under President Barack Obama, adopted in 2016 a declaration saying no country can manage international migration on its own and agreed to work on a global compact But the United States, under President Donald Trump, pulled out a year ago, claiming that numerous provisions in the pact were "inconsistent with U.S. immigration and refugee policies.'' Despite its non-binding nature, Bulgaria signaled this week that it will not sign the pact, as did Slovakia, whose foreign minister resigned in protest at his government's stance. Meanwhile, Belgium's government was teetering on the brink of collapse, riven by coalition differences over the pact. "It's way too pro-migration. It doesn't have the nuance that it needs to have to also comfort European citizens,'' Belgium's migration minister, Theo Francken, said Thursday. "It's not legally binding, but it's not without legal risks,'' he said, adding that rights laws are being interpreted widely in EU courts and those rulings are tying the hands of migration policy-makers. Francken said his right-wing N-VA party wants "nothing to do with it.'' But Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel took the migration agreement to parliament Thursday, where it was approved against the wishes of the N-VA, the biggest party in his governing coalition. The arrival in Europe in 2015 of well over 1 million migrants most fleeing conflict in Syria or Iraq plunged the EU into a deep political crisis over migration, as countries bickered over how to manage the challenge and how much help to provide those countries hardest hit by the influx. Their inability to agree helped fuel support for anti-migrant parties across Europe. Experts say the pact is an easy target. Leaving it can play well with anti-migrant domestic audiences and pulling out has no obvious negative impacts on governments. "The ones who opposed the global compact, have they read it? It is only a framework of cooperation with all countries,'' EU Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos said Thursday. "It is not binding. It doesn't put in question national sovereignty.'' Other EU countries to turn their back on the document are Hungary and Poland, which have opposed refugee quotas aimed at sharing the burden of Mediterranean countries like Italy, Greece and more recently Spain, where most migrants are arriving. But the withdrawal of Austria holder of the EU's presidency until the end of the year has been of high symbolic importance. Conservative Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, in a coalition with the nationalist, anti-migration Freedom Party, announced Austria's departure from the pact in October, highlighting "some points that we view critically and where we fear a danger to our national sovereignty.'' Francken said that never before had the head negotiator for the European states, Austria, "pulled out the plug. That gave a lot of political shock effect in all countries.'' It remains to be seen whether North African countries and others like Turkey, which the EU has outsourced its migrant challenge to see this as a new sign that migration management can only be done on Europe's terms. France is bracing for a fourth consecutive weekend of violence with competing marches Saturday by so-called "yellow vest" protesters and those demanding climate action. While authorities reinforced security and closed iconic sites, it is unclear if it will be enough to stop the wave of violence that amounts to President Emmanuel Macron's biggest crisis to date. Even for a country accustomed to protest, recent violence reached levels not seen in decades. The tally so far: four dead, hundreds injured, stores vandalized, iconic monuments defaced. Some compare today's uprising by so-called "yellow vests" named after the fluorescent jackets the French carry in their cars to the 1968 demonstrations that rocked France. Anger over a fuel tax hike has exploded to encompass a wider set of grievances by ordinary French struggling with low salaries and high expenses. Paris seemed back to normal this week after last Saturday's rioting, with the graffiti scrubbed off major monuments. The sun was out on the city's famous Champs Elysees. So were the tourists. One of them, Malaysian tourist Lawrence Hii, said Paris "is quite a lovely city, so just a protest to show their rights it won't hurt the tourists." But a few blocks away a different story unfolded. The regional chamber of commerce estimates the violence has cost local businesses tens of millions of dollars not counting lost business from closing during the protests. "In the past we've had a million people in the streets without damage," said Didier Kling, president of the Paris Regional Chamber of Commerce and Industry. "What's new is there are fewer people on the streets, but they're more determined. They're a lot more mobile and a lot more violent." Business is down for shops and restaurants. Tourists are canceling hotel reservations right at the start of the holiday season. The last time that happened was after the 2015 terror attacks. After pushing through unpopular reforms to make France more competitive, the government reversed itself this week, scrapping a gas tax hike it claimed would help fight climate change. But that's not enough for the "yellow vests." Many claim they're for the environment, but against more taxes. The protests are now spreading to include other groups. Xavier, a yellow vest protester, said the government "has given us some answers, but they're not enough. The divide between people and politicians is too big they have no idea how we live every day." Polls indicate most French support the "yellow vests," but they're worried about the growing violence. Macron's popularity has sunk to record lows. Critics call the president who is rich out of touch. Business executive Alain Alain said the problem is "we're governed by technocrats. These are people with company cars, who don't pay their restaurant bills who don't even know what the minimum wage is." What appears certain is that there is another turbulent weekend ahead with no end in sight. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is stepping down after 18 years as the party leader of the center-right Christian Democratic Union. In her farewell speech at the CDU congress Friday in Hamburg, Merkel thanked her staff and said the party "is never just one person by him or herself, but always all members together." Merkel reminded her fellow party members that experience has shown "how much strength and momentum we can develop" when faced with difficulties. During her half-hour speech she received several standing ovations. Some delegates held up placards saying, "Thank you, boss!'' Merkel announced in October she would not run for re-election as the party chairperson, but she planned to remain chancellor until the end of the current term ending in 2021. However, it is possible that elections could be called before then. Merkel, 64, is stepping down after a series of polls have shown a decline in popularity because of her liberal refugee policy. The two main contenders for the leadership post are CDU General Secretary Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (AKK), 56, and corporate lawyer Friedrich Merz, 63. A third candidate, Health Minister Jens Spahn, 38, an outspoken critic of Merkel's 2015 decision to welcome more than 1 million asylum-seekers to Germany, is running a distant third. Merkel has led Germany since 2005, and has moved the CDU steadily toward the political center. Greek police clashed with protesters Thursday after demonstrations to mark the 10th anniversary of the killing of a teenage boy by police, which triggered the country's worst riots in decades. Hundreds marched peacefully through central Athens in a tribute to 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos who was shot dead in 2008. After the evening march, police fired tear gas to disperse protesters hurling petrol bombs at them in the bohemian Exarchia district, where the unarmed boy was killed. Some of the protesters set garbage containers on fire and set cars alight. Earlier, people laid flowers and lit candles during a memorial service on the spot where Grigoropoulos was killed. Police had deployed more than 2,000 officers in Athens. Some in full riot gear formed protective cordons outside parliament and hotels in the city, while a helicopter hovered over the central Syntagma Square and neighboring districts through the day. Around noon, hundreds of students marched toward parliament. Clashes also broke out during demonstrations in the northern city of Thessaloniki, with police firing tear gas and stun grenades at protesters hurling stones and petrol bombs at them. On the night of Dec. 6, 2008, hours after Grigoropoulos was shot, thousands took to the streets of Athens, torching cars, smashing window shops and looting. The riots, which were also fueled by anger over unemployment and economic hardship in a prelude to Greece's debt crisis, lasted for weeks. Brunei, an oil-rich nation in Southeast Asia, watched with near horror as world energy prices fell from 2014 to 2016. Reserves were running out. Its lifeblood of 80 years at stake, the tiny, wealthy country is looking for other sources of prosperity. China is offering to be a source, and its China that stands to prosper politically. Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to support joint exploration with Brunei for oil and gas, likely in a rectangular block of the South China Sea extending from the Bruneian coastline on the island of Borneo. Thats Bruneis exclusive economic zone, but China says some of it falls under its flag. A deal would help Beijing by showing skeptics in Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam that ties with China pay off despite sovereignty disputes like who should rule Bruneis exclusive economic zone. Chinas saying, Were promoting joint development, were willing to cooperate, its win-win for everybody, said Carl Thayer, professor emeritus with the University of New South Wales in Australia. Without a better name around Southeast Asia, China risks more pressure from an alliance including Australia, India, Japan and the United States. Those countries, more militarily powerful as a unit than China, want Beijing to quit expanding control in the disputed sea over objections from smaller Asian governments whose economic zones overlap Chinese claims. Brunei as a model China has invested about $4.1 billion in Brunei. Theres an energy equipment service contract, to start, and Chinese companies built a 2,680-meter-long sea bridge. One offered $79 million worth of bonds earlier this year to fund a petrochemical plant. A $3.4 billion oil refinery is in the planning stages. Any deal that China has with ASEAN would be a good role model. Its like the onion skin being peeled off one by one and it makes (a) good business case for China that they are interested in the commercial part of it, said Eduardo Araral, associate professor at the National University of Singapores public policy school. ASEAN refers to the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations. For Brunei the good thing is they dont have to fend off China, he said. Energy makes up some 60 percent of the Bruneian GDP. The economy shrank 2.5 percent in 2016 before rising 1.3 percent last year along with world energy prices, but much of the undersea fuel near Bruneis coasts is tapped out. Brunei keeps quiet about the sovereignty problem with China even as fellow Southeast Asian states Vietnam and Malaysia, under new Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, speak out. China takes Bruneis silence as goodwill and a vote for more ties with Chinas $12 trillion economy, the worlds second largest. In late November the Chinese president met Bruneis Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah in the Southeast Asian leaders capital Bandar Seri Begawan. The leaders agreed to support relevant enterprises of the two countries to cooperate in the areas of maritime oil and gas resources, Chinas official Xinhua News Agency reported Nov. 20. Brunei has just 430,000 people but sits on 1.5 billion barrels of crude oil reserves plus 15 trillion cubic feet of natural gas beneath the seabed, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The Philippines may be next for a China deal. In November Manila and Beijing signed a memorandum of understanding that establishes a process to do joint offshore oil and gas exploration. Malaysia leads in the South China Sea with access to reserves of 5 billion barrels of crude oil and 80 trillion cubic feet of gas. Search for equity Whether other countries trust China as an energy exploration partner depends on how a Brunei deal takes shape. It should be done under the laws of both sides and international agreements, South China Sea analysts say. You have to find out under whose law, under whose jurisdiction this kind of joint exploration (takes place), said Termsak Chalermpalanupap, a fellow with the ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore. In the past, it was always under Chinese law, under Chinese jurisdiction, which implied that everything in the South China Sea belongs to China. Thats the main objection. A deal with Brunei consistent with a China-ASEAN maritime code of conduct would help Beijings cause, said Carl Baker, director of programs with the think tank Pacific Forum CSIS in Honolulu. The code, still being negotiated, would spell out how to avoid mishaps despite sovereignty issues. China might also consider deferring its claims, he said. China, backed by Asias strongest armed forces, has upset the other five maritime claimants by building up small islets for military use and passing coast guard ships through disputed tracts. If China could convince Brunei to undertake joint exploration in a disputed area, it would certainly help set a precedent for others, Baker said. Editor's note: We want you to know what's happening, why and how it could impact your life, family or business, so we created a weekly digest of the top original immigration, migration and refugee reporting from across VOA. Questions? Tips? Comments? Email the VOA immigration team: ImmigrationUnit@voanews.com. 'Compelling evidence' of genocide The crimes committed against Muslims in Myanmar surpass "ethnic cleansing," according to several recent reports. The violence propelled hundreds of thousands of people to leave the country, and Holocaust experts want the U.S. to take a firm stand on how it is defining the conflict. Numbers on immigrants U.S. President Donald Trump talks regularly about the dangers of immigrants, especially those from Central America. But where are his numbers coming from? And do they matter as much as the president and other administration officials insist? Power to the people For tens of millions of people displaced around the world, living in areas with makeshift access to electricity can be a challenge. At a town hall meeting in Kenya, VOA talked with refugee residents and experts about the options for sustainable energy solutions. Challenge on asylum Lawyers for the plaintiffs in a case filed last year claim they have more evidence the U.S. government is turning away asylum-seekers along the U.S. border, or in some cases not giving people a chance to claim asylum. Amid tear gas and confusion for some migrants, 13 people are pressing ahead with the legal challenge. The lawsuit adds to an already fraught asylum process that becomes more bogged down every year and is already facing other legal challenges. The Trump administration met resistance from a federal judge after rolling out a policy to deny asylum to people who had entered the country illegally. Making it legal Guinea-Bissau is making good on the promise to give ID cards to Senegalese refugees, some of whom have been living in the country since the early 1990s. Israel told Lebanon's army and U.N. peacekeepers on Thursday to destroy a tunnel it said had been dug by the Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement across the border into Israeli territory. Israel's military said this week it had identified a number of passages and sent diggers and troops close the frontier to block them. The peacekeepers, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), confirmed the existence of a tunnel near the "blue line" frontier between the two countries in a statement on Thursday, describing it as a "serious occurrence. Israel said its operation would stop on its side of the border. But Israeli media on Wednesday quoted a unnamed senior official saying Israel could broaden its actions into Lebanon. There was no immediate reaction from Hezbollah or Lebanese authorities. All parties say the situation has remained calm on both sides of the border. But the Israeli operation has focused attention on a frontier across which Israel and Hezbollah fought a war in 2006. The Israeli military said in a statement it "holds the Lebanese government, the Lebanese Armed Forces and United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon responsible for all events transpiring in and emanating from Lebanon." It added that one of its commanders had showed one of the tunnels to the head of UNIFIL, Major-General Sefano Del Col. "We urge ... that UNIFIL take action together with the Lebanese armed forces to clear the area, clear the access to the tunnels and make sure that it is not used for (hostile) purposes against Israel," said Lieutenant-Colonel Jonathan Conricus, a senior military spokesman. UNIFIL said in its statement it was "engaged with the parties to pursue urgent follow-up action. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said this week Hezbollah was planning to send militants through the tunnels to launch attacks and he expanded on his comments on Thursday. "Hezbollah wants to insert several battalions to our territory with the aim of isolating communities, towns and kibbutzim (collective farms) to continue its reign of terror and abductions which could take place simultaneously," he told a meeting of foreign diplomats. He said Hezbollah's tunnels were big enough to be used by motorcycles, small vehicles and groups of people. Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil has instructed the country's envoy to the U.N. to complain that Israel is waging "a diplomatic and political campaign against Lebanon in preparation for attacks against it, Hezbollah's al-Manar TV said. At the ministrys regular press conference in Hanoi on December 6, Hang briefed the media about these outstanding achievements which were contained in the country's third-cycle UPR that was officially submitted to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC). The UPR is an inter-governmental mechanism of the UNHRC aimed at reviewing issues related to the human rights of all UN member countries. It was made periodically every four or five years to the principle of dialogue, cooperation, equality, objectivity, transparency and construction. Vietnam supports the UNHRCs UPR and is always serious in making the review and implementing the recommendations it accepted in the first-cycle UPR in 2009 and the second-cycle UPR in 2014, Hang said. The third-cycle UPR deals comprehensively with the guarantee of human rights in Vietnam since the second-cycle UPR, updates laws and policies pertaining to human rights, reports on the outcomes of ensuring human rights across the board, and screens the implementation of the recommendations Vietnam accepted in the second-cycle UPR. The report also defines prioritized commitments of the country in the coming years. As by October 10, 2018, Vietnam implemented 175 out of the 182 recommendations it accepted in the second-cycle UPR, or 96.2%. The remaining seven recommendations are being implemented or are being considered for implementation at an appropriate time. The report lists a number of outstanding achievements of Vietnam in ensuring human rights, including the adoption of the 2013 Constitution and the revision and issuance of over 90 legal documents relating to the guarantee of human rights. Vietnams per capita income has continuously increased and the income of poor households has risen between 15-20%. Meanwhile, the multi-dimensional poverty rate dropped from 9.88% in 2015 to 7.69% last year. Some 38% of ethnic minorities have moved to the group with higher economic conditions (the national level is 28%). Universal kindergarten education for five-year-old children and universal primary education have been implemented in all 63 cities and provinces. The percentage of women owning enterprises hits 27.8% while the percentage of female National Assembly deputies in the 2016-2021 tenure is 26.71%. There were achievements in ensuring civil and political rights, including the right to equality before the law, the freedom of the press and the Internet freedom. Peoples religious and spiritual life has been thriving with over 95% of the population leading a spiritual or religious life, Hang said. * In response to reporters queries regarding the conditions of Vietnamese people living in France in the face of protests in the European country, she said that no Vietnamese have been reported as affected in the protests. Upon the occurrence of the protests, the Embassy of Vietnam in France has kept a close watch on the situation and assigned personnel to watch a hotline to promptly assist Vietnamese citizens in case of difficulties, she said. The French Ministry of Interior announced that to date, no foreigners have been affected in the incidents, she added. She noted that the MoFA has instructed the Vietnamese Embassy in France to continue to closely follow the situation and contact local authorised agencies to obtain information and be ready to conduct citizen protection if necessary, as well as apply appropriate measures to warn Vietnamese citizens not to travel to locations of the protests. In case of emergency, it is recommended to contact the hotline of the Vietnamese Embassy 33 0144 146 400 or the citizen protection hotline 84 981 848 484. * Regarding the Republic of Korea (RoK)s adoption of new visa regulations for Vietnamese citizens, she said: We welcome this step from the Republic of Korea and believe it will facilitate the two countries people-to-people exchanges and promote tourism and cooperation in trade and investment, thus contributing to strengthening the Vietnam-RoK strategic partnership. Lawmakers from two House committees interviewed former FBI Director James Comey behind closed doors Friday, likely the last time they will do so before Republicans in the chamber cede power to Democrats in January. House Republicans indicated they were not satisfied with Comey's answers and said they might try to bring him back another day. House Democrats accused the Republicans of asking politically motivated questions. Comey spoke to reporters after the conclusion of the interview, criticizing both the content of the questions and the fact that the hearing was behind closed doors. "After a full day of questioning, two things are clear to me: One, we could have done this in open setting, and two, when you read the transcript, you will see that we're talking again about Hillary Clinton's emails for heaven's sakes," Comey said. Comey was subpoenaed last month to testify about investigations into the Trump campaign's alleged ties to Russia and the emails of then-candidate Donald Trump's rival, Clinton. Lawyers' instructions California Congressman Darrell Issa said Comey had two lawyers during Friday's interview and said they repeatedly instructed Comey not to answer "a great many questions that are clearly items at the core of our investigation." President Trump echoed that criticism in a tweet Friday: "It is being reported that Leakin' James Comey was told by Department of Justice attorneys not to answer the most important questions. Total bias and corruption at the highest levels of previous Administration. Force him to answer the questions under oath!" Democrats disagreed that Comey wasn't being cooperative and complained that the session was not public. "This was, again, a frivolous attempt by Republicans to drag old investigations into the limelight," said Democratic Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee. She said Comey "asked for this to be a public hearing, which we believe it should. And so in 24 hours, the full transcript should be released to the press." Comey initially resisted appearing before the House committees, arguing the GOP-led investigation in the decision-making by the FBI and the Justice Department in 2016 and 2017 was politically motivated. He also called for the hearing to be held in public. However, he later agreed to the closed-door interviews after gaining a promise that a transcript of the session with the House Judiciary as well as the House Oversight committees would be released to the public after 24 hours. Trump has repeatedly called the Russia probe a "witch hunt" and accused Comey and his close colleagues of being corrupt. In one of a series of tweets early Friday, the president criticized Comey and the probe led by special counsel Robert Mueller into Russia's hacking of the 2016 U.S. national election. "Robert Mueller and Leakin' Lyin' James Comey are Best Friends, just one of many Mueller Conflicts of Interest...," the president tweeted. Conspiracy theory? Democrats say Republicans are trying to fuel a conspiracy theory to protect Trump from the ongoing Russia probe led by Mueller. Democrats say they will scrutinize Trump's attacks on the FBI and the Justice Department when they assume control of the House of Representatives in January. They have also urged their Republican counterparts to shield Mueller from any attempts by Trump or his acting attorney general, Matthew Whitaker, to impede the investigation. The search-and-rescue ship Aquarius, which has helped about 30,000 migrants avoid death in the Mediterranean Sea, is suspending its operations. The humanitarian groups Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and SOS Mediterranee said European governments were forcing them to end the rescue runs. The Aquarius has been docked in Marseille, France, since early October after Panama revoked its registration at the behest of the right-wing, anti-immigration Italian government. The ship has been rescuing migrants who were trying to make the dangerous crossing from Libya to Europe in inadequate rafts and dinghies. "The end of Aquarius means more lives lost at sea; more avoidable deaths that will go unwitnessed and unrecorded. It really is a case of 'out of sight, out of mind' for UK and European leaders as men, women and children perish," Vickie Hawkins, head of MSF UK, said in a statement. 15,000 deaths The International Organization for Migration said that about 15,000 migrants have drowned in the central Mediterranean since 2013. An estimated 2,133 have died this year alone. The Aquarius was the last rescue ship operating in the Mediterranean. Last year, five groups were running rescue ships. At the height of the migrant influx in 2015 and 2016, NGO vessels worked alongside Italian coast guard ships. The election of Italy's coalition government this year on an anti-migrant platform rapidly ended the cooperation, and rescue boats have been prevented from docking in Italian ports. Migrant arrivals in Italy have since fallen to pre-crisis levels following a series of hard-line measures drafted by far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini. Now rescue missions fall on national coast guard crews from Europe and North Africa, who tend to return the rescued migrants to the country they set off from, usually Libya. NGO groups describe conditions for the migrants there as "inhuman," with allegations of arbitrary detention, torture, rape and killings by human smugglers and security forces. Henry Ridgwell contributed to this report. Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in Malawi are protesting a bill that, among other things, seeks to establish a new regulatory authority for such organizations. The NGOs have served Parliament with an injunction restraining it from debating the bill until it is reviewed, but legislators refuse to back down. The NGO Act Amendment Bill imposes heavy fines and prison sentences on NGOs and their directors should they breach the law. But NGOs say the bill is an attempt to close down human rights groups, an allegation supporters of the bill deny. Those who proposed the draft legislation say it largely seeks to amend the Nongovernmental Organizations Act so it complies with constitutional standards. Currently, NGOs elect members to a board that regulates their operations. Under the new law, the board would be replaced by an NGO Authority, whose members would be appointed by a cabinet minister. Charles Kajoloweka, an executive member of the Human Rights Defenders Coalition, a grouping of NGOs protesting the bill, said the problem is that the bill also empowers the NGO Authority to suspend and deregister organizations. One such scenario, he said, is a case where groups that stand against corruption or challenge the establishment "will be simply deregistered just the very same day this bill will be passed into law." The proposed legislation would raise the penalty fee imposed on an NGO flouting the law from the current $70 to $20,000, and would impose a seven-year jail term on NGO leaders found in breach of the law. Kajoloweka said this is worrisome. "So, for example, if you delay submitting a report to the NGO Authority, you could be fined to pay MK15 million [$20,000]," he said. "Then the directors of the organization have to be sent to prison for seven years. This basically is a ridiculous provision. It's a provision that can only be found in authoritarian states." Mavuto Bamusi, adviser to the president on NGOs in the Office of the President and Cabinet, told VOA the aim of the amendment bill is to make the NGOs more accountable to people they save. "The way the NGO bill has been framed is to make sure that villagers derive value from the projects that NGOs claim to do," he said "And we say this knowing that there are some so-called civil society leaders who are simply enriching themselves at the back of poor Malawians." Bamusi said the formation of the NGO Authority is not to gag NGOs, but simply to do away with the current situation whereby NGOs regulate themselves through the NGO board. "You cannot allow a sector regulate itself," he said. As an example, he said the private sector has institutions that regulate its actions and behaviors. "And in the case of the civil society," he went on, "we run the risk of having a civil society that is amassing absolute power contrary to the notions of limited powers under democratic set up." However, the NGOs have so far obtained a court injunction restraining parliament from deliberating on the bill until amendments are made. But First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Esther Mcheka-Chilenje, said in parliament this week the National Assembly Powers and Privilege Act does not allow any interruption of business while parliament is sitting. "Therefore," she said, "such an order may not be served or executed on Parliament. Therefore, Parliament is at liberty to proceed with its business without interferences. I so rule." But NGOs say the National Assembly risks facing contempt of court charges if it ignores the court's injunction on the matter. In January this year, the government also attempted to hike annual fee that NGOs pay to the NGO board from $70 to $1,400. The NGOs are still challenging this with a court injunction. The United Nations says the humanitarian crisis in Yemen is the worst in the world. As the country's warring parties hold U.N.-mediated talks in Stockholm, the World Food Program (WFP) in Rome is calling for immediate access because millions of people need food. More than 20 million people in a country with a population of over 29 million are expected to need humanitarian assistance next year. The WFP says a food security survey in October carried out by Yemeni and international experts found that more than 15 million people were in "crisis." "This report is devastating," said WFP Executive Director David Beasley. "It realizes our worst fears that people are starving to death in Yemen. They need our help and we are on the ground doing everything we can. In fact, that report is showing that the number of people on the brink of starvation is doubling. We plan to scale up to about 12 million people as fast as we can, depending upon the access and the money that we get from people around the world." The U.N. agency has been reaching 7 million to 8 million people with food and nutritional supplements. Now, with the situation growing worse, the WFP is calling for unimpeded access around the country so it can increase the distribution of food and other vital supplies. The agency is also calling for an increase in funds. The conflict in Yemen between Iran-backed Houthi rebels and the internationally recognized government supported by a Saudi-led coalition has been going on for four years. More than 16,000 people have been killed, according to U.N. figures. The humanitarian situation has deteriorated in recent months because of a widespread economic collapse. Violence has also been on the rise in the rebel-held port of Hodeida, which is considered crucial to bringing in for food and other supplies. An academic who has been exposing the back-door methods of the Chinese seeking to influence New Zealand politics as well as the country's media and universities says she is being targeted and harassed by Beijing. Professor Anne-Marie Brady has asked for government protection after suffering what she describes as a yearlong campaign of intimidation by Beijing, saying she fears for her security and the safety of her family. And more than 150 China experts from universities and think tanks around the world are supporting her appeal for protection, urging New Zealand's government to assign a security detail to Brady, an expert in Chinese politics at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch. "Brady has become the target of a series of incidents which, taken together with attacks from party-directed media, are consistent with an intimidation campaign," the experts say. "New Zealand authorities have been less than forthcoming in their support for a prominent scholar targeted by a foreign power, at times even adopting a dismissive posture an attitude appreciated by PRC [China's] state media." Ugly tactics Last February, Brady's home and university office were broken into, and laptops and a thumb drive containing her research were stolen. Last month, the tires on her car were tampered with and a mechanic warned her if she had stopped at high-speed, the car would have spun out of control. Brady says she was targeted after the publication of her "Magic Weapons" study detailing Beijing's influence on public life in New Zealand. She told an Australian parliamentary committee earlier this year that China was seeking to infiltrate New Zealand party politics, media and education in a bid to shape public opinion, warning both Australia and New Zealand appear to have been singled out as "test zones" for China's "covert, corrupting and coercive activities." New Zealand's police and intelligence service are investigating the break-ins and car tampering. Brady says she has made multiple requests for protection. Police officials say they have some "positive lines of inquiry," and Interpol is now involved but declined to comment further. Attempts to influence In her study, Brady says China has an integrated global strategy "to guide, buy or coerce political influence abroad ... on a larger scale than that being carried out by any other nation" with efforts underway to infiltrate political and foreign affairs circles as well to utilize the Chinese diaspora in order to "turn them into propaganda bases for Beijing." Chinese populations can sometimes be used as a cover for intelligence activities, she warned. "China's foreign influence activities have the potential to undermine the sovereignty and integrity of the political system of targeted states," she wrote. She says Chinese President Xi Jinping "has led a massive expansion of efforts to shape foreign public opinion in order to influence the decision-making of foreign governments and societies." The title of her study, "Magic Weapons," is a reference to the description Xi Jinping gave for using individuals and organizations outside China to promote the interests of the Communist Party. Shortly before Brady's study, Yang Jian, a New Zealand member of parliament born in China, was accused of having links to Chinese intelligence and failing to reveal a decade he spent teaching at China's top linguistics academy for military intelligence officers. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has said she "supports and defends the legal right to academic freedom," but has declined to comment further on Brady's claims of a harassment campaign before police have concluded their investigation. China responds The Chinese embassy in New Zealand says Beijing has not been targeting Brady. And it says Beijing isn't involved in any hostile acts against the country. "Speculations on China's role in New Zealand politics are totally groundless," it said in a statement. But academics, rights activists and journalists have maintained a drumbeat of support for Brady. In their open letter, the China experts from around the world say under Xi Jinping's rule domestic repression has increased, "as illustrated by the fate of hundreds of human rights lawyers and activists rounded up." They say China scholars overseas are also being targeted. "Another form of this escalation are the unprecedented attacks on foreign scholars and researchers of contemporary China, be it in the form of Cultural Revolution-style in-class harassment for their views and opinions, denial of visas, threatened or actual libel suits or, in some cases, detentions during research visits in mainland China," it says. China's expanding influence has prompted the alarm of several Western governments and their spy agencies. In June, Australia's parliament approved new national security legislation, following disclosures of Beijing-linked political donations. New Zealand has also been rocked by a political donations scandal. In October, the Trump administration sharpened its criticism of Chinese interference in the United States, issuing warnings about Chinese influence in American higher education. "Beijing provides generous funding to universities, think tanks and scholars, with the understanding that they will avoid ideas that the Communist Party finds dangerous or offensive," U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said in a speech at the Hudson Institute in Washington. "China experts in particular know that their visas will be delayed or denied if their research contradicts Beijing's talking points," he said. The Chinese government has denied the accusations. President Donald Trump will name State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert as the new U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, U.S. news agencies said late Thursday. Trump was expected to make the announcement official in a tweet Friday. Nauert came to the State Department after a stint at Fox News as an anchor and correspondent, where, according to her State Department biography, she covered global and domestic crises and interviewed top politicians and military officials Prior to Fox, Nauert worked at ABC News. If she is nominated and accepts the position, she could face tough questioning during Senate confirmation hearings about her apparent lack of diplomatic or policymaking experience. She is said to be close to both the White House and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and she has traveled extensively with the secretary. Nauert would replace Ambassador Nikki Haley, who announced in October she would be leaving the job by the end of the year. A rescue operation began Thursday for a British woman who was sailing solo in an around-the-world race and was stranded in the Southern Ocean after a storm battered her boat. Susie Goodall texted that she was "safe and secure" after being briefly knocked unconscious when the storm flipped her boat end over end and destroyed its mast. On the race website, Golden Globe Race officials said they had been in regular radio contact with Goodall since she regained consciousness. Goodall, 29, was the youngest skipper and the only woman participating in the 48,280-kilometer (30,000-mile) race. On Wednesday, Goodall texted race officials, "Taking a hammering! Wondering what on earth I'm doing out here,'' and sent her position. Hours later, she tweeted, "Nasty head bang as boat pitchpoled [somersaulted]. She then tweeted that her rig had been "totally & utterly gutted!'' She also reported that shed lost most of her equipment and was unable to make any makeshift repairs. Goodall was about 3,200 kilometers (1,990 miles) west of Cape Horn, near the southern tip of South America. Chile diverted a ship to her location to rescue her, and it was expected to reach her Friday. The race began on July 1 in Les Sables-d'Olonne, France, with 18 skippers from around the world. After Goodall's exit, just seven remained in the hunt. The race will end at the same port. The sailors are expected to sail alone, nonstop and without outside assistance. They are also not allowed to use most modern technology, including satellite navigation, and the yachts must have been designed before 1988. A group of U.S. senators is asking pointed questions of Facebook about reports the company allowed the auction of a South Sudanese child bride on its site reports that turned out to be untrue. The bipartisan group of nine senators directed a letter to Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday. The senators called the alleged auction of the teenage girl a human rights violation, asked Zuckerberg what steps Facebook is taking to "ensure that no persons are trafficked, auctioned or sold on any of your platforms." "It is time that Facebook start taking real responsibility for abuses wrought on its platforms. It is not enough to say that you were unaware of the problems on your site," the senators said in a statement. However, it now appears Facebook did not host any kind of auction for the 16-year-old girl. The story began on October 25 when a message posted on Facebook announced that a family in South Sudan's Eastern Lakes state was accepting bids for the teenage girl's hand in marriage. The post showed a photo of the girl standing next to an unidentified man smiling broadly. The post, which has since been deleted, said the leading bidder had offered 500 cows and three cars for the girl, and said other men were planning to join the bidding. VOA's South Sudan in Focus program reported on the post and the alleged auction on November 6, after South Sudan's National Alliance for Women Lawyers condemned both the post and the practice of forced underage marriage for South Sudanese girls. VOA has since learned the post was written by a Ugandan man not related to the girl or her family. The post brought attention to the girl's situation, but was not an effort by the family to solicit bidding. Role of dowry Rights group Plan International has reported that the girl was married off to the winning bidder on November 3. The group's country director for South Sudan, George Otim, acknowledged in a statement that suitors offering dowries for potential brides is a common practice in South Sudanese culture. But he added, "nothing can excuse the way this girl who is still a child has been treated as nothing more than an object, sold off to the bidder prepared to offer the most money and goods." Otim asked the South Sudanese government to investigate reports that high-ranking government officials took part in the bidding and suspend them if necessary. Speaking to VOA last month, South Sudanese lawyer Suzy Natana said parents should consider dowry as a token of appreciation rather than payment for their daughters. "Dowry is not necessarily a bad thing because it leaves a simple token of appreciation that has invested in our culture, but it has to be regulated. There has to be some form of regulation and if it is just a token, then even if it is just one cow or two cows that is given out as a form of dowry, a token of appreciation, that's good enough but the moment we start attaching value to this token, then there comes a problem," Natana said. Natana encouraged girls to report cases of forced and early marriages to the police and to women's organizations. Facebook response Facebook spokesperson Sarah Pollock told VOA that human trafficking is not permitted on the social media platform. She said the October 25 post violated Facebook's policy. "Auctioning another individual falls within our definition of human trafficking and we removed this post as soon as we became aware of it," Pollock said. However, she acknowledged that Facebook did not remove the post until November 9, which she says is when the company first learned about the post. "We removed the post and permanently disabled the account belonging to the person who posted this to Facebook," Pollock told South Sudan in Focus. She said Facebook is always working to improve its methods "to identify content that breaks our policies, including doubling our safety and security [team] to more than 30,000." It remains to be seen whether that information will satisfy the senators, who asked Zuckerberg to respond to their questions by December 20. A group of human rights lawyers has filed a lawsuit against the government of South Sudan for sexual violence on behalf of 30 women and girls who were allegedly raped by members of the army and the presidential guard. Antonia Mulvey, director of Legal Action Worldwide, a nonprofit network of human rights lawyers, said the South Sudan army committed "brutal" sexual violence, including sexual slavery, sexual torture, rape and gang rape against women and girls. Mulvey says the complaint was lodged Thursday in Geneva at the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). "They [CEDAW] will review the complaint and a copy will be sent to the government of South Sudan for comment," Mulvey said. Scale of sexual violence According to the LAW statement, the victims include a 12-year-old girl who witnessed the rape of two sisters and a neighbor after being raped herself. Other allegations: * Scovi, 27 years old and a mother of four, was gang raped by five government soldiers. * Mary, 30 years old, was gang raped by four government soldiers in front of her children. After recovering, she fled with her children and was again gang raped by another group of soldiers, while the men and children in the group were made to watch. * Gloria, 24 years old, was gang raped by government soldiers in front of her two sons, aged five and two. Her husband later left her, saying she was infected with HIV. LAW works in Africa, the Middle East and South Asia and predominantly focuses on addressing sexual violence through legal intervention. In Bangladesh, LAW is co-representing 400 Rohingya women and girls in their victims' submission before the ICC. "At this time, we can't say this [South Sudan] case will go ICC. However, what we want to do by lodging this complaint to the U.N. committee is to remind the international community of the brutal sexual violence taking place on a daily level against tens of thousands of South Sudanese women and girls," Mulvey said. Government reaction In response to the claim, presidential spokesman Ateny Wek Ateny said the LAW group wants to destabilize South Sudan. "I think this group has a hidden agenda, given that the whole world is talking about this [September 12] peace agreement signed in Khartoum and Addis Ababa. There is a positive talk about the implementation of the peace agreement and this group (LAW) wants to put South Sudan back to polarization." Mulvey wasn't surprised by the government's reaction. "The standard response, particularly to [accusations] of sexual violence, is to deny that it occurred in the first place," Mulvey said. Doctors Without Borders reported the attacks last week. The medical aid group said it treated 125 women and girls who were raped, beaten and brutalized in South Sudan's Rubkona County between November 19-29. Divisions deepened at the U.N. climate talks Thursday, pitting rich nations against poor ones, oil exporters against vulnerable island nations, and those governments prepared to act on global warming against those who want to wait and see. The stakes were raised by a scientific report that warned achieving the most ambitious target in the 2015 Paris climate accord to limit emissions is getting increasingly difficult. Fresh figures released this week showed that emissions of heat-trapping carbon dioxide jumped the highest in seven years, making the task of cutting those emissions one day to zero even more challenging. Negotiators at the climate talks in Katowice, Poland, still disagree on the way forward but have just a few days to finish their technical talks before ministers take over. "It's going to be a big challenge," said Amjad Abdulla, the chief negotiator for the Alliance of Small Island States. "We are going to forward the sticky issues to next week." Among the splits that need to be overcome before the conference ends on Dec. 14 are: * The question of what kind of flexibility developing countries will have when it comes to reporting their emissions and efforts to curb them. The issue is central to the Paris rulebook, which countries have committed to finalizing this year. Environmental activists insist that countries such as Brazil, with its vast Amazon rainforest, and China, the world's biggest polluter, should have to provide hard data on emissions and not be treated like poorer nations who don't have the ability to do a precise greenhouse tally. Complicating matters, a group of rich countries that includes the United States and Australia is seeking similar leeway as developing nations. * Several oil-exporting countries have objected to the idea of explicitly mentioning ways in which global warming can be kept at 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit). The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a body made up of scientists from around the world, recently proposed "policy pathways" that would achieve this goal, which foresee phasing out almost all use of coal, oil and gas by 2050. But Saudi Arabia and some of its allies say it would be wrong to cite those pathways in a text about future ambitions. * Developing countries are frustrated that rich nations won't commit themselves to providing greater assurances on financial support for poor nations facing hefty costs to fight the effects of climate change. European governments argue that they are bound by budget rules that limit their ability to allocate money more than a few years in advance. What's clear is that few countries are moving in the right direction to halt global warming. "The first data for this year point to a strong rise in the global CO2 emissions, almost all countries are contributing to this rise," said Corinne Le Quere, who led the team that published the emissions study this week. "In China, it's boosted by economic stimulation in construction. In the U.S., an unusual year, cold winter and hot summer, both boosting the energy demand. In Europe, the emissions are down but less than they used to be, and that's because of growing emissions in transport that are offsetting benefits elsewhere," she told the meeting in Katowice. Le Quere, the director of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research at the University of East Anglia in England, noted some positive news. "We have renewable energy," she said. "It is displacing coal in the U.S. and in Europe, and it is expanding elsewhere. "It's not enough to meet the growing energy demand in developing countries in particular," she said. "But the industry is growing." Host nation Poland, which depends on coal for 80 percent of its energy needs, is among those demanding help for workers in coal and gas industries who could lose their jobs as nations shift to cleaner energy. In light of the deep divisions over how to best fight climate change, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is considering returning to Katowice to push for a strong declaration. "It very much remains a possibility," U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Thursday. "If he feels his presence will be useful, he will go back. But no decision has yet been made." 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A mudslide shut down Pacific Coast Highway and surrounding roads in and around Malibu neighborhoods charred by last months massive fire that destroyed hundreds of homes. Kirby Kotler and his neighbors spent days before the storm stacking 18,000 sandbags behind their homes along the highway. But when heavy rains arrived, mud, water and rocks blasted through the bags and across their properties. Kotler, who wielded water hoses to beat back the flames in November, used a tractor to keep the debris from entering his home. Saving my house once again, said Kotler, 57, a lifelong Malibu resident. Im more than a little concerned. If we get another blast of heavy rain therell be no stopping the hill from coming down. Malibu officials reported no injuries and no major property damage. Plane slides off runway At Hollywood Burbank Airport, about 15 miles (33 kilometers) north of downtown Los Angeles, nobody was hurt when a Southwest Airlines plane from Oakland skidded off a wet runway as it landed. The plane came to a stop in a graded area designed to slow aircraft that overshoot the runway, the Federal Aviation Administration said. As we landed, you could feel the brakes, passenger Grant Palmer told KABC-TV. Then I started noticing the plane going sideways. Palmer said he was prepared to tuck into an emergency posture while his unflappable co-worker continued writing emails during the rough landing. Needed rainfall brings accidents Los Angeles and the rest of Southern California sorely need rainfall. Virtually the entire region is experiencing drought conditions, with portions of Los Angeles and Ventura counties and areas along the Mexican border in extreme drought. The storm provided a big boost in and around Los Angeles. The downtown area set a new rainfall record for the day with 1.9 inches (4.8 centimeters) of rain, nearly double the previous record set in 1997, the National Weather Service reported. Normal monthly rainfall for December is only a bit more, 2.33 inches. While rain caused numerous accidents and backups on LA-area freeways, heavy snow forced the closure of Interstate 5 in the Grapevine area between Los Angeles and the San Joaquin Valley. The hourslong shutdown along the key north-south route caused backups for miles. Motorists were urged to use caution on mountain passes, where up to 6 feet (1.8 meters) of snow was predicted at higher elevations. More evacuations Mandatory evacuations were ordered for hundreds of homes in Trabuco Canyon in the Santa Ana Mountains south of Los Angeles and Lake Elsinore neighborhoods in Riverside County. Both were burned in another massive wildfire earlier this year. Video showed a churning, muddy torrent full of tree trunks smashing down a bridge guardrail. In Orange County, flooding closed several schools. Floodwaters also submerged several cars in Costa Mesa and rain partially collapsed the roof of a commercial building in Irvine but no injuries were reported. In San Diego County, rain partially collapsed the roof of a child care center in Carlsbad. Nobody was injured and the children, staff and even pets inside were evacuated, including a chinchilla, a snake, a scorpion, a tarantula, a leopard gecko, two toads, a tree frog, a bearded dragon and a lizard, KSWB-TV reported. A portion of southbound State Route 170 in Los Angeles was shut down after mud flowed onto the roadway. Firefighters rescued motorists from cars stuck in a flooded intersection in the citys North Hollywood area. Firefighters also rescued a man from the flood-swollen Los Angeles River in suburban La Habra. Storm waters in the concrete flood-control channel have swept away people in previous years. The Taliban has killed at least 14 Afghan soldiers and taken more than 20 others hostage in the western Afghan province of Herat, which borders Iran, officials confirmed Friday. Separately, a counter-Taliban airstrike in central Uruzgan province killed at least seven Afghan security forces. The latest violence coincided with a Taliban statement defending and boasting about its five-year Islamist rule in Afghanistan, which was ended 17 years ago by a U.S.-led military invasion. A spokesman for the Herat government, Jailani Farhad, told VOA that insurgents stormed and captured the Afghan National Army (ANA) base manned by the soldiers in the Shindand district. There were injured soldiers among the hostages, confirmed Taliban and Afghan officials. The Taliban also released a video allegedly of the captive soldiers, though the authenticity of the footage could not be verified immediately. Officials in Uruzgan explained the deadly airstrike had actually been called in to prevent insurgents from overrunning Chinartoo district center following an early morning Taliban offensive. U.S.-backed Afghan security forces continue to suffer massive battlefield casualties. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani revealed last month that government security forces have lost nearly 29,000 personnel since 2015. Washington has lately renewed efforts to push for a negotiated settlement to the 17-year-old war with the Taliban and has engaged the insurgent group in direct talks. Taliban defends past government Battlefield gains and diplomatic engagement with the U.S. have apparently emboldened the Taliban to more rigidly demand withdrawal of U.S. and NATO forces from Afghanistan before they will participate in an intra-Afghan peace dialogue to end the conflict. The insurgent group's so-called Preaching and Guidance Commission in a statement Friday listed details of what it claimed were "unprecedented activities of the Islamic Emirate [the Taliban]" government that eradicated narcotics from the country and improved security, economic and social conditions of Afghans. The commission alleged that narcotics trade has since flourished to record levels under the U.S.-backed administrations in Kabul. The Taliban took control of most of Afghanistan in 1996 and remained in power until the U.S.-led coalition invaded the country to dislodge the Islamist movement from power for sheltering al-Qaida leaders Washington blamed for plotting the September 2001 terrorist attacks on American cities. While U.N. national surveys supported Taliban drug eradication claims at the time, the fundamentalist regime had remained under severe criticism during those years for barring girls from education and women from leaving their homes without a male family member accompanying them. Afghan and U.S. officials say the country has made significant achievements particularly in areas such as women's rights and female education. There were fewer than one million children in school when the Taliban were in power, but current official estimates show the number has risen to nearly 10 million in the last 17 years. About half of the students are girls. The total opium-poppy cultivation area decreased by 20 percent in 2018 but it was still the second highest measurement for Afghanistan since the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) began monitoring in 1994. The potential opium production decreased by 29 percent to 6,400 tons from an estimated 9,000 tons in 2017. At the end of rows of carefully placed flags along this Houston sidewalk, just outside the metal gates of West Oak Drive South, is a makeshift memorial filled with flowers and teddy bears, honoring a local resident who was, at least to Donna Platt who lives nearby, more than just a president. Very nice, we would run into him, and not just me but all the neighbors, in the bank doing his banking business or in the grocery store he liked to go to the grocery store and it was just like saying hi to another neighbor, she told VOA after taking a few pictures to document the memorial for posterity. Though he was born in New England, the Lone Star State is where George H.W. Bush built an oil business after serving in the Navy during World War II, and where he launched his political career. The final return of the 41st president of the United States to West Texas, which he represented in Congress in the 1960s, and the place he called home over the last three decades, was a bittersweet, bipartisan occasion. WATCH: Texas Bids President George H.W. Bush Final Farewell I feel like it was an historical event, said Sylvia Epperson, who admitted not voting for him, but nevertheless waited nearly two hours to board a shuttle bus that carried her to St. Martins Episcopal Church, where she and thousands more paid final respects to President Bush. Only 45 men have been the oresident of the United States so far, she told VOA. They are charged with a tremendous task. It is something that should not be taken lightly. And I dont think President George H.W. Bush took it lightly. A great leader, said Carl Dry, commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars post in Navasota, Texas. President Bush was and is a veteran of the VFW, and we honor all our veterans. Dry was among thousands who braved wet weather to bid a personal farewell to the former commander in chief of the U.S. military. A once-in-a-lifetime event as far as Im concerned, he told VOA as he awaited one of the more anticipated moments of the Texas ceremonies. The journey of President Bushs flag-draped casket through Navasota by train was a rare event, the first such trip in almost 50 years, and attracted large crowds along the railroad tracks. Since this is such a great event for our little town, said Dry, we felt honored and obligated to come and pay our respects to him and his family. It was also the reason 11-year-old Layla Johnson skipped school in Denton, Texas, and traveled to Navasota with her family to be an eyewitness to history, something she admits left her with mixed emotions. Its kind of sad, because people honor him with great respect and he gave us back that respect by working for us, she said. President Bush joins his wife, Barbara, and their young daughter Robin who died of Leukemia in 1953 on the grounds of his library and museum in College Station Texas, which is now their final resting place. The top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee warns the United States is being outgunned in cyberspace, already having lost its competitive advantage to Russia while China is rapidly closing in. "When it comes to cyber, misinformation and disinformation, Russia is already our peer and in the areas of misinformation or disinformation, I believe is ahead of us," Senator Mark Warner told an audience Friday in Washington. "This is an effective methodology for Russia and it's also remarkably cheap," he added, calling for a realignment of U.S. defense spending. Warner, calling Russia's election meddling both an intelligence failure and a "failure of imagination," strongly criticized the White House, key departments and fellow lawmakers for being too complacent in their responses. As for China, Warner called Beijing's cyber and censorship infrastructure "the envy of authoritarian regimes around the world" and warned when it comes to artificial intelligence, quantum computing and 5G mobile phone networks, China is "starting to outpace us on these investments by orders of magnitude." In contrast, the Democratic senator laid out a more aggressive approach in cyberspace, with the United States leading allies in an effort to establish clear rules and norms for behavior in cyberspace. He also said it was imperative the U.S. articulate when and where it would respond to cyberattacks. "Our adversaries continue to believe that there won't be consequences for their actions," Warner said. "For Russia and China, it's pretty much been open season." Warner also delivered a stern message to social media companies. "Major platform companies like Twitter and Facebook, but also Reddit, YouTube and Tumblr aren't doing nearly enough to prevent their platforms from becoming petri dishes for Russian disinformation and propaganda," he said. "If they don't work with us, Congress will have to work on its own." The Trump administration unveiled a new National Cyber Strategy in September, calling for a more aggressive response to the growing online threat posed by other countries, terrorist groups and criminal organizations. "We're not just on defense," National Security Adviser John Bolton told reporters at the time. "We're going to do a lot of things offensively, and I think our adversaries need to know that." Top U.S. military officials have also said their cyber teams are engaging against other countries, terrorist groups and even criminal organizations on a daily basis. Warner on Friday praised elements of the new strategy, particularly measures that have allowed the military to respond to attacks more quickly. But, he said, on the whole it is not enough, pointing to Trump's willingness to "kowtow" to Russian President Vladimir Putin during their Helsinki Summit over Moscow's election interference efforts. "No one in the Trump administration in the intel [intelligence] or defense world doesn't acknowledge what happened in 2016," he said. "But the fact that the head of our government still [finds] it's hard to get those words out of his mouth, is a real problem." President Donald Trump is now blaming the Russia probe for his historically weak poll ratings. Trump's latest attack on the investigation comes as prosecutors are expected to reveal more information about two key figures in the probe, former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and Trump's former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen. VOA National Correspondent Jim Malone has more from Washington. U.S. President Donald Trump Friday sharply criticized his former secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, after the nation's former top diplomat described the president as "undisciplined" and someone who suggested policies and actions that violated the law. The president, who fired Tillerson by tweet in March of this year after months of turmoil between the two men, returned to twitter Friday to hit back at the former Exxon CEO, calling him "dumb as a rock." The president appeared to be responding to Tillerson's first on-camera interview since leaving office. In the interview, which was taped Thursday evening, the former secretary of state publicly recounted that it was a challenge for him to switch from working at a highly disciplined corporation, and go to work for a president, "who doesn't like to read, doesn't like briefing reports." "So often, the president would say, 'Here's what I want to do, and here's how I want to do it,' and I would have to say to him, 'Mr. President, I understand what you want to do, but you can't do it that way. It violates the law.'" U.S. President Donald Trump has announced he will nominate State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert as the new U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. "She's [Nauert is] going to work with Nikki Haley to replace Nikki at the United Nations. She'll be ambassador to the United Nations," Trump told reporters at the White House early Friday. "She's very talented, very smart, very quick. And I think she's going to be respected by all." Haley announced in October she would be leaving the job by the end of the year. Nauert joined the State Department in April 2017 after a career in broadcast journalism, first serving under former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, and then under current Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. In addition to serving as spokesperson, Nauert also served as acting under secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs from March to October of this year. She came to State from Fox News, where she co-anchored Fox and Friends, the morning program that Trump says he watches regularly. The president's other recent hires from Fox News include White House communications chief Bill Shine and National Security Adviser John Bolton. Diplomatic experience If she accepts the position, Nauert could likely face tough questioning during her Senate confirmation hearings about her apparent lack of diplomatic or policymaking experience. But since Republicans will continue to hold a majority in the Senate when the new Congress convenes in January, she is likely to be confirmed. News agencies, quoting unnamed U.S. officials, said that the White House has decided to downgrade the U.N. ambassador to a non-cabinet level position. The move would likely mean the ambassador would report to the Secretary of State, not the president, reducing the position's policymaking power. When asked about the announcement Friday, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told VOA, "I cannot make any comments before the Senate confirmation, but I am ready to work very effectively with any ambassador of the United States." Nauert is said to be close to both those in the White House and Pompeo, and has traveled extensively with the secretary, including to North Korea. The Wilson Center's Aaron David Miller says Nauert has a different profile from past U.S. ambassadors to the United Nations. "I think Heather Nauert is smart. She is a quick study. She will learn the brief. But, I think it [the U.S. ambassador job] is not going to be what it was under Nikki Haley, which was a serious competitor under a vacuum at the NSC [National Security Council] and at the State Department under Tillerson." Miller, who advised several secretaries of state under Republican and Democratic administrations, said Haley took advantage of the "empty space" created by media-averse Tillerson to stake out positions on a whole range of foreign policy issues, and that is not likely to be the case with Nauert. "Heather Nauert is not going to be a big-time player in the deliberations on substance in the administration," he said. "I doubt, on an issue like Syria, unless it pertains to the U.N., that the president is going to call her up and say, 'What do you think?'" U.S. position on world stage Both Trump and Pompeo have been highly critical of the United Nations and other multilateral institutions, with Pompeo noting in a Brussels speech earlier this week that "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." Heritage Foundation fellow Brett Schaefer said Nauert has proven she has the ability to explain and defend U.S. foreign policy, the core requirement for being a U.S. ambassador to the world body. "She is obviously extremely knowledgeable and well-versed in the foreign policy of this administration and has answered questions and defended it in front of a number of different press inquiries," Schaefer said. Schaefer notes, though, that Trump already has a foreign policy team in place: Pompeo and Bolton. "Now in terms of formulating policy, I suspect that she is not going to play the role that Nikki Haley did as ambassador to the United Nations," Schaefer said. "Ambassador Haley was a far more high-level figure, particularly early in the administration." Russia, Israel, Myanmar During Nauert's twice weekly briefings at the State Department and her own trips, she has shown a passion for human rights issues. While serving with Tillerson, Nauert took trips on her own initiative, visiting Myanmar and Bangladesh last year to meet with Rohingya refugees. She also visited Israel, and has strongly defended Trump's controversial decision to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem. Friday, Israel's ambassador to the U.N., Danny Danon, said he welcomed Nauert's nomination as U.S. ambassador. "Ms. Nauert has stood by the state of Israel in her previous positions, and I have no doubt that the cooperation between our two countries will continue to strengthen as ambassador to the U.N.," Dannon said in a statement. On other foreign policy issues, such as Russia, the State Department acting under secretary has sometimes struck a different tone than Trump, using fierce language to call out Moscow's "aggressive behavior." "The idea that Russia is calling for a so-called humanitarian corridor, I want to be clear, is a joke," she remarked during a briefing, when asked about Russia's support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Nauert is a graduate of Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism and Mount Vernon College in Washington. The 48-year-old is a wife and mother of two young sons, and was born in Rockford, Illinois. A former U.S. attorney general known for supporting sweeping presidential powers is President Donald Trump's choice to again run the U.S. Department of Justice. Trump said Friday that William Barr, who was attorney general during the administration of the late former President George H.W. Bush, is his selection, describing him as "a terrific man, a terrific person, a brilliant man." The president told reporters at the White House that Barr, a 68-year-old conservative Republican and corporate lawyer, "was my first choice from day one. Respected by Republicans and respected by Democrats." Later in the day in a speech to law enforcement personnel in Kansas City, Trump said that during Barr's previous tenure running the Justice Department, he "demonstrated unwavering adherence to the rule of law." Barr would replace acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker, who was appointed by the president to lead the Justice Department last month after Trump fired Jeff Sessions, a former U.S. senator and one of Trump's earliest supporters in the 2016 election. But Trump had soured on Sessions, repeatedly criticizing him for recusing himself from the investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, which the Justice Department oversees. Whitaker has been criticized for his past remarks about special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, including suggesting it would be a "red line" for the special counsel to investigate Trump's finances. Barr is "a continuation of this law and order presidency," Whitaker said while introducing Trump at the Kansas City event, adding that the former attorney general is "supremely qualified, highly respected at the Department of Justice and will continue to support the men and women in blue." But Barr's previous comments about Mueller's teams also are receiving scrutiny. He told The Washington Post last year he had concerns about political donations made by members of the special counsel's team. "Prosecutors who make political contributions are identifying fairly strongly with a political party," said Barr, who served as attorney general between 1991 and 1993, when Mueller oversaw the Justice Department's criminal division. Barr has worked as a corporate general counsel with telecommunications companies and is currently with the Washington office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP, a top global law firm. He will have to be confirmed by the Senate. WATCH: Trump Announces Nominees for UN, Attorney General "Hopefully that process will go very quickly, and I think it will go very quickly," Trump told reporters Friday on the White House South Lawn. The number two Senate Republican, John Cornyn of Texas, who regards Barr as "a very good choice," predicts there will be enough votes from his fellow party members to secure confirmation, though he notes, "I think it is going to be challenging in any event." Democrat Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, a member of the Senate's judiciary committee, says Barr will face strict vetting. "I will demand that Mr. Barr make a firm and specific commitment to protect the Mueller investigation, operate independently of the White House, and uphold the rule of law," Blumenthal said in a statement, noting "past comments suggesting Mr. Barr was more interested in currying favor with President Trump than objectively and thoughtfully analyzing law and facts." Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement that the Senate would carefully examine Barr's record and views, and that he would have to "commit under oath" to ensure the special counsel's investigation proceeds unimpeded and Mueller's final report will immediately be made available to Congress and the public. Given the president's "demonstrated lack of regard for the rule of law and the independence of the American justice system," added Schumer, "his nominee for attorney general, William Barr, will have a steep hill to climb in order to be confirmed by the Senate." Turkey appears to be increasing pressure on Saudi Arabia over the death of Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Riyadh's Istanbul consulate. Turkish prosecutors have issued indictments for two Saudis allegedly involved in the killing, while Turkey's spy chief, Hakan Fidan, reportedly briefed senior American senators and CIA chief Gina Haspel in a closed-door meeting Thursday on Khashoggi's killing. According to the reports, the U.S. lawmakers initiated the meeting. "They (Ankara) think, they can still impress some senators and put some pressure on the (U.S.) administration," said Turkish political scientist Cengiz Aktar. "But as long as the American administration chooses not to touch MBS (Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman), the issue is closed, and (Turkish President Recep Tayyip) Erdogan will be the loser in the mid- and long run as Saudi Arabia is now bitterly opposed to the Turkish regime." U.S. President Donald Trump has said the United States will stand by Saudi Arabia even though he acknowledged Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman may have known about the Saudi operation. Ankara is campaigning to keep the Khashoggi killing on the international agenda through a slow but steady drip of information disseminated to the world's media. On Thursday, Turkish newspapers published images purported to be of Saudi Arabia's intelligence chief at the consulate, alleging he was a crucial member in the plot. The journalist had gone to the consulate to collect documents so he could marry his fiancee. Khashoggi, who wrote columns for The Washington Post, was killed after entering the building in early October. This past week, Istanbul prosecutors indicted Saudi deputy spy chief Ahmed al-Asiri and Saudi al-Qahtani, both former aides to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, in connection with Khashoggi's killing. The indictments may be largely symbolic since Riyadh has refused to extradite anyone allegedly involved in the killing, maintaining that the suspects will face justice in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi government has said rogue agents are responsible for Khashoggi's death. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters at a recent NATO meeting in Brussels his government will not hesitate to seek an international route to achieve justice if its current efforts fail. Analysts point out Ankara's stance on Khashoggi has diverted international attention over Erdogan's treatment of domestic journalists. "Erdogan tried hard to make a new image with his stance over this murder," said Aktar, who now works with the University of Athens in Greece. Yet on Friday, the Vienna-based press watchdog, International Press Institute, strongly condemned Turkey's media freedom record. "Journalism in Turkey is clearly in crisis, and this is clearly a crisis for Turkey itself," said IPI executive member Sandy Bremner at an Istanbul press conference. Bremner went on to say journalists should not be regarded as enemies of the state because they ask difficult questions of the government and the rich and powerful. "We have seen absolutely continuing evidence of the absolute targeting of journalists, just for doing their jobs," added Bremner. Bremner is part of a delegation that held talks this week with the Turkish government and journalist organizations. The IPI said 162 journalists are in jail, 88 of whom are in pre-trial detention. Of those detentions, 132 occurred after the 2016 failed coup against Erdogan, which led the Turkish leader to impose emergency rule. The IPI says since then, journalists have been sentenced to a total of 429 years behind bars, including five life sentences. Seventy newspapers and 41 TV and radio stations have also been shuttered. The government maintains no journalist has been jailed for his or her reporting. Authorities have defended imposing emergency rule as necessary on the grounds that those responsible for the failed coup still pose a threat to democracy. However, Barbara Trionfi, the IPI's executive director, said one of the most worrying findings of her visit to Turkey was that even with the end of emergency rule this year, there was little sign of improvement. "The fact is the situation we have in Turkey today is that the restrictions on journalists' ability to operate are becoming the normality," said Trionfi. "It's not the outcome of a situation that is exceptional, but it is becoming normalized both in legal terms by turning emergency decrees into laws, and because of economic and political reasons that do not allow the existence of alternative voices." Trionfi also underscored they only met with senior Turkish civil servants, in contrast to previous visits when they met with government ministers and Erdogan. Yemen's warring factions met Thursday in Sweden for talks that could be a step toward ending the 4-year-old conflict. The United Nations-backed meeting in the Swedish city of Rimbo is the first in two years between the Saudi-backed government and the Iran-backed Houthi rebels. VOA's Zlatica Hoke reports these new talks are taking place amid international outrage about a growing humanitarian crisis in Yemen. CP Vietnam celebrates 25 years of operations CP Vietnam Corporation (CP Vietnam) celebrated the 25th anniversary of its operations in Vietnam with a promise to continuously promote sustainable economy in the country based on its core philosophy "3-Benefit to Sustainability for the Country, People, and Company." The company marked its success with a recognition from the Vietnamese government as it became the first-ever Thai company to receive the Order of Labour (3rd class Award). CP Vietnam has created solid business performance toward sustainability principle throughout its 25 years of operation, according to Sooksunt Jiumjaiswanglerg, CEO of Agro Industrial Business and co-president of Charoen Pokphand Foods PCL (CP Foods). He added that CP Vietnam focuses on improving the capacity of all stakeholders and contribution to the society. "The company would like to express our utmost gratitude toward the government of Vietnam for 25 years of support. Moreover, we would like to thank farmers who work with us, our employees and Vietnamese consumers for supporting our products," Montri Suwanposri, president of CP Vietnam, commented. He explained that the company is operating agro-industrial businesses, including its "Feed Farm Food" model. The company has also created jobs for over thousands of families across Vietnam. "CP Vietnam is one of an outstanding taxpayer of Vietnam for several consecutive years. In addition, the company's revenue also directly supports CP Foods business," Suwanposri said. In 1993, CP Vietnam was established as a food conglomerate, covering both livestock and aquaculture businesses. Currently, it has more than 20,000 employees. Over 98% of the staffs, including high-level managements, are Vietnamese. The company produced five million pigs, 200 million eggs and 80,000 tonnes of chicken product in 2017, Jirawit Rachatanan, CP Vietnam's executive vice president of swine business, pointed out. Some of those outputs were provided by local contract farmers. The contract farming model can greatly mitigate the risk of fluctuating product price, CP said. Particularly, 2,410 of its contract farms were not affected by low pork price, which plagued the local pig industry a couple of years ago. Many independent farmers were severely affected, with some of them having gone out of business. Rachatanan added that, in addition to farming, 546 CP Pork shops are operated by local entrepreneurs. The CP Pork shop initiative has created jobs for locals as well as improving food safety. CP Vietnam also reported a significant progress in poultry business. It has recently invested in the first phase of a poultry processing complex for export production. The facility is considered to be the most modern chicken processing facility in Southeast Asia with a capacity of one million chicken per week. In addition, the company is exporting around 20,000 tonnes of products made from shrimp and pangasius dori to Japan, England, Australia, China and Europe annually, said Adisak Torsakul, the company's executive vice president who is in charge of its aquaculture business. He added that CP Vietnam has made a significant success in mitigating risk of the shrimp disease outbreak with its "CP Combined Model." The approach, which transfers many of the industry's best practices to small scale farming, has gained approval from both farmers and the government. It also helps the farmers to maximise the production and lower fatality rate. "The achievement in Vietnam's combined shrimp farm has become a role model for CP Foods' business across the world," Torsakul said. In term of industry development, CP Vietnam has introduced modern farming technologies and techniques to local farmers, helping them to improve outputs and achieving sustainable status. Subsequently, farmers' quality of life is greatly improved in the past two decades, CP Vietnam said. - CPF The United States has accused Russia and Syria of fabricating a story about chemical weapons use by Syrian rebels. The United States said Friday it had "credible information" that the account by Russia of chemical weapons use in Syria in November was false and said that Russian and Syrian forces instead had fired tear gas, State Department spokesman Robert Palladino said. Russia's defense ministry had said on Nov. 24 that Syrian rebels fired grenades containing chlorine near the government-held city of Aleppo. Syrian state media also reported the account, saying that about 100 Syrians were hospitalized with breathing difficulties. However, Palladino accused Russia and Syria of creating the false report as "an opportunity to undermine confidence in the cease-fire in Idlib," the last stronghold of rebels fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Russia responded to the purported attack with air raids on Idlib. "We caution Russia and the regime against tampering with the suspected attack site and urge them to secure the safety of impartial, independent inspectors so that those responsible can be held accountable," he said. Palladino said that the United States is concerned that Syrian officials have maintained control of the site to "potentially fabricate samples and contaminate the site before a proper investigation of it by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons." The United States, the United Nations and other Western governments have repeatedly accused Assad's forces of using chemical weapons over the last several years. Syria's government has denied the charges and has blamed the attacks on rebels. Ciham Ali Abdu has brown eyes and a broad smile. As a teenager, she found inspiration in art, fashion and language. Growing up in Asmara, Eritrea, she enjoyed time with friends, music and swimming. In family photos, Ciham appears carefree. She poses casually for the camera, her hair pulled into a braided ponytail. But other realities were just out of frame. After a border conflict with Ethiopia ended in an uneasy truce, Eritrea was on a war footing, and the authoritarian government was prone to punish anyone who challenged the presidents grip on power. That desire for retribution would thrust Ciham into the crosshairs, her family says. Relentless grief Ciham was born in Los Angeles, California, but moved to Asmara, the capital, as a young child. Eritrea isnt a rich country, but Ciham lived a comfortable life. Her father, Ali Abdu Ahmed, was a high-ranking government official and trusted confidant to President Isaias Afwerki. In 2012, when Ciham was 15, her father was Eritreas information minister. He shared updates about the country with the world and articulated key policy points. Suddenly, and for unknown reasons, Ali had a falling out with Isaias, setting off a chain reaction that would leave the top ministers family broken. In November 2012, Ali fled to Australia to seek asylum. Weeks after his defection, Ciham attempted to cross the border into Sudan. She was apprehended, and her family has neither seen nor heard from her since. Human rights groups, along with Cihams family, believe she has been languishing in prison. Day after day, they wait anxiously for news: information about her whereabouts; clues about her health; a sign that she is still alive. Six years later, they have heard nothing. The Eritrean government refuses to acknowledge Cihams American citizenship or her mere existence. The U.S. government has been similarly non-committal, acknowledging only that they have seen reports about Cihams case. For Cihams family, the total information blackout has added to the ongoing anguish. It is excruciating, and relentless grief and agony, Saleh Younis, Cihams uncle, told VOA in an email response. Pressure points Cihams family believes the Eritrean government wont release her without outside pressure. But the U.S. forfeited a major bargaining chip when U.N. sanctions were lifted without preconditions, Saleh said. I dont understand how the U.S. gave up its sole leverage sanctions unilaterally, without demanding to know the whereabouts not just of Ciham Ali but its embassy employees. Those employees have been missing even longer, Saleh added. But the United States could still push for answers, he said, through its relationships with countries that influence Eritrea Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates. [The U.S.] should consistently raise this issue just as it would if, say, an American religious leader was to disappear, Saleh said. Incommunicado Neither arbitrary arrest nor indefinite detention is uncommon in Eritrea, where the government treats dissent and perceived threats to its authority with swift, harsh justice. In a 2016 report, a United Nations commission of inquiry concluded that dissidents face systemic torture, enslavement and reprisals against family members. But Cihams case is unique, Saleh said, because no reliable information about her whereabouts or well-being has emerged. My dad was frequently arrested, and my younger brother is arrested. In each case, we got information from people who used to be in prison with them, or saw them when they were being hospitalized. But with Ciham, she is just marking her sixth year in prison, and there is nothing. The rare communications the family receives from regime loyalists and unknown messengers involve upsetting details about what has happened to Ciham, but Saleh said its impossible to separate what might be legitimate from what he called sadistic messages designed to further punish Cihams loved ones. Immediate and unconditional release Ahead of a high-level U.S. delegation to Asmara led by Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Tibor Nagy earlier this week, the international rights group Amnesty International called on the United States to request the release of Ciham and other prisoners detained without trial or legal representation. We are demanding that the U.S. envoy shall prioritize human rights, and shall not leave human rights concerns as expendable when dealing with political interests with the Eritrean government, Fisseha Tekle, a human rights researcher with Amnesty International, told VOA. Assistant Secretary Nagy must make robust representations to push for the immediate and unconditional release of both Ciham and all those detained across the country solely for peacefully exercising their human rights, said Joan Nyanyuki, Amnesty Internationals director for East Africa, the Horn and the Great Lakes. Fisseha underscored that Amnestys concerns extend beyond Ciham. Including Ciham, there are so many people who have been arrested without trial, without charge, for so many years, and the condition of their arrest its not even known, he said. On a conference call for media Thursday, Nagy didnt address Cihams case, and neither the U.S. nor the Eritrean government responded to interview requests for this story. With no leads to follow or diplomatic breakthroughs to draw hope from, Cihams family can, for now, only find comfort in their memories, and a collection of photographs that depict an innocent girl unaware of the upheaval that would soon engulf her. The United States failed Thursday to win condemnation of the Palestinian militant group Hamas in a vote at the U.N. General Assembly. While 87 member states said the group, which fires rockets into Israel and has targeted civilians with suicide bombs, should be condemned, 58 were opposed and 32 abstained. Before considering the U.S. measure, member states voted to require a two-thirds majority to pass it, as opposed to a simple majority. The U.S. fell short of the necessary votes, despite strong support from the European Union all of the bloc's members voted for it. "The question before us now is whether the U.N. thinks terrorism is acceptable if, and only if, it is directed against Israel," U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley said ahead of the vote. Haley, a staunch advocate of Israel, equated rejection of the U.S. proposal with being anti-Semitic. "Because there is nothing more anti-Semitic than saying terrorism is not terrorism when it is used against the Jewish people and the Jewish state," she said. "There is nothing more anti-Semitic than saying we cannot condemn terrorism against Israel, while we would not hesitate for a minute to condemn the same acts if they were taken against any other country. "I want to ask my Arab brothers and sisters is the hatred that strong?" Haley continued. "Is it so strong you will defend a terrorist organization?" Israel's U.N. ambassador praised the "plurality of member states that stood by the truth and condemned Hamas," but he had harsh words for those which rejected the measure. "Your silence in the face of evil reveals your true colors," Danny Danon said. "It tells us what side you are really on: a side that doesn't care about the lives of innocent Israelis and Palestinians who have fallen victim to the terrorists of Hamas." Hamas has ruled over the Gaza Strip since 2007. In 2014, it fell into a deadly conflict with Israel and a fragile cease-fire is in near-constant peril. In recent months, tensions have flared between Hamas and Israel over Palestinian protests at the border fence and a stepped-up barrage of rockets fired into Israel by the militants. Living conditions in Gaza are dire, with huge fuel and electricity shortages. Although the Palestinian Authority and Hamas are locked in a rivalry and power struggle, the Palestinian envoy to the United Nations lobbied hard for the defeat of the U.S. proposal, framing it in the wider context of the Palestinian struggle for independence and statehood. "We reject cynical attempts to reduce the Palestine question to a matter of violence and terror," said Ambassador Riyad Mansour. "This is a political, territorial and human rights issue. It is an issue to end occupation." While the U.S. measure failed to be adopted, a second draft put forward by Ireland, reiterating the call for a "comprehensive, just and lasting peace" based on existing U.N. resolutions, was overwhelmingly adopted. General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding, but are viewed as carrying moral weight with the voice of the international community. While there may be a change in U.S. leadership at the United Nations as Ambassador Nikki Haley departs and State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert takes her place, analysts say there is unlikely to be a change in the direction of U.S. policy and attitude at the organization. "For better or worse, the administration's U.N. policy is pretty established at this point, and there's no reason to expect that Nauert will deviate from the 'America First' course that Haley, [National Security Adviser John] Bolton and [Secretary of State Mike] Pompeo have set," Stephen Pomper, the International Crisis Group's U.S. program director said in an email to journalists Friday. "The question is whether she has the negotiating skills to deal behind the scenes with the Russians and the Chinese over issues like North Korea," Richard Gowan, senior fellow at the U.N. University Center for Policy Research in New York, told VOA. "Nikki Haley did not have diplomatic experience, but she did have experience of political negotiation in South Carolina, Nauert doesn't have that sort of background." Influential role Haley, who plans to leave her U.N. post by the end of this year, has had an unusually influential and high-profile role as ambassador. During the first year of the Trump administration, she stepped into a void left by then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and elevated her profile both domestically and internationally. She has had President Donald Trump's ear and support and became instrumental on important issues, including North Korea, Iran and moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem. But with the arrival of Pompeo and Bolton in the past year, Haley's influence has declined. "Haley lost a degree of autonomy when John Bolton became the national security adviser, because he had strong views about the U.N.," the International Crisis Group's Pomper noted. Bolton is a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and he famously holds a great deal of disdain for the organization. He once said that if the U.N. building "lost 10 stories [floors], it wouldn't make a bit of difference." Nauert will also have to carve out her own style of leadership at the U.N. While Haley has been tough in public, "taking names" of countries who do not align with U.S. interests, she is by most accounts collegial in private. Nauert, a former Fox News journalist, lacks political or diplomatic experience. "The upside is that this could mean a bit less grandstanding for the domestic base," said Pomper. "The downside is that she is likely to have less weight with counterparts, Congress and the president." Guterres 'ready' for U.S. diplomat U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who took office a few weeks before Trump in 2017, told VOA on Friday that "I cannot make any comments before the Senate confirmation, but I am ready to work very effectively with any ambassador of the United States." The secretary-general has cultivated a close working relationship with Haley. The United States is the largest single donor to the U.N.'s regular budget, contributing more than $1.2 billion annually, and Haley and Guterres have worked together to implement reforms to make the U.N. more efficient, in part to save U.S. taxpayers money. "That process is still ongoing, and Nauert is going to need to work closely with Guterres to make sure these reforms are fulfilled and they do have financial benefits for the U.S.," the U.N. University's Gowan said. Yemen's Houthi rebels say they will decide Friday whether the government is serious about peace talks. "We have no problem holding talks with the other side. We will judge whether the Stockholm talks are serious or not tomorrow," a rebel spokesman told an Arabic language television network. The U.N.-sponsored talks opened Thursday in Rimbo, Sweden, north of Stockholm. WATCH: UN Envoy: Success of Yemen Talks Depends on Warring Sides These are the first talks between the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels and the Saudi-supported Yemeni government since 2016. They are aimed at moving toward a political settlement of the 4-year-old war. U.N. envoy Martin Griffiths reported some progress after the first full day of talks Thursday when both sides agreed on a prisoner swap. "I'm also pleased to announce the signing of an agreement on the exchange of prisoners, detainees, the missing, the forcibly detained, and individuals put under house arrest," Griffiths said. "It will allow thousands of families to be reunited and it is product of very effective, active work from both delegations." Griffiths urged both sides to "work in good faith ... to deliver a message of peace." But one of the main hurdles will be the port city of Hodeida, where nearly all food and humanitarian aid deliveries are made. The rebels control the city. The Saudi-led coalition trying to drive the Houthis out of Yemen say they receive Iranian-made weapons through the port a charge Iran denies. Much of the recent fighting has been in and around the city. The Yemeni government is demanding the rebels withdraw. They refuse. U.N. and humanitarian groups say a dangerous disruption of food and medical deliveries through the port will make a dire humanitarian situation even worse. Nearly 80 percent of Yemeni civilians lack food, medicine, and fresh water and the entire country is on the edge of famine. Saudi-led airstrikes against the rebels are compounding the misery wiping out entire neighborhoods and destroying hospitals. A Saudi missile strike on a busload of children in August killed 40. The coalition called the attack "a mistake." More than 10,000 people have been killed since the fighting broke out in 2014 when the rebels seized the capital of Sanaa, forcing the government to flee to temporary exile in Saudi Arabia. The U.S. Senate is considering a resolution demanding the Trump administration cut off all military aid to the Saudi coalition. Yemen's Saudi-backed government has proposed reopening the Houthi-held airport in the capital Sanaa on condition planes are inspected in the airports of Aden or Sayun which are under its control, two government officials said on Friday. The Houthis rejected the proposal floated at U.N.-sponsored peace talks in Sweden that are aimed at cementing confidence-building measures that could lead to a cease-fire to halt airstrikes by a Saudi-led coalition and Houthi missile attacks on Saudi cities. But given this is only the second day of the talks due to last until December 13, and with both sides are coming under mounting pressure for action because of the human toll of the war, there could be room for concessions. The war has killed tens of thousands of people and spawned what the United Nations calls the world's direst humanitarian crisis, since the coalition intervened in 2015 to restore a government ousted by the Iran-aligned Houthi movement. The warring sides agreed on Thursday to free thousands of prisoners, in what U.N. mediator Martin Griffiths called a hopeful start to the first peace talks in two years to end a war that has pushed millions of people to the verge of starvation. Griffiths wants a deal on reopening the airport, shoring up the central bank and securing a truce in Hodeida, the country's main port, held by the Houthis and a focus of the war after the coalition launched a campaign to capture it this year. Sanaa airport, which has been bombed several times, is in Houthi territory but access is restricted by the Saudi-led coalition, which controls the air space. Marwan Dammaj, Yemen's minister of culture in the internationally recognized government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, told Reuters Sanaa airport should be re-opened to put "an end to the people's suffering regarding transportation." "But it should be a domestic airport from where Yemenis can go to Aden and then leave to international destinations," added Dammaj, a member of the government delegation. Hamza Al Kamali, another member of the delegation, said airplanes must stop in airports in the southern city of Aden or Sayun, east of the capital, for inspection before leaving Yemen. The Houthi delegation head at the peace talks, Mohammed Abdusalam, rejected the proposal. "The airport should be opened in accordance to international standards, and we do not accept inspections," Abdusalam told Al Jazeera television. A U.N. source declined to comment. Stalemate The United Nations is also trying to avert a full-scale assault on Hodeida, the entry point for most of Yemen's commercial goods and aid. Both sides have reinforced positions in the Red Sea city in sporadic battles after a de-escalation last month. Yemen's government is sticking to its position that Hodeida should be under its control, said Kamali. "We say that the city should be controlled by a police force from Hodeida's sons and not the Houthis. We cannot legitimize the presence of the Houthi in Hodeida." Abdusalam said the port of Hodeida must be kept apart from the military conflict, and that a government should be formed first before all parties are disarmed. The war, widely seen across the region as a proxy conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran, has been in stalemate for years, threatening supply lines to feed nearly 30 million inhabitants. The Houthis control Sanaa and the other most populated areas, while the ousted government based in the southern city of Aden has struggled to advance despite the aid of Arab states. No peace talks have been held since 2016, and the last attempt in Geneva in September failed when the Houthis did not attend. The humanitarian suffering in one of the world's poorest countries has added to pressure on the parties to end the conflict, with faith in the Saudi-led war effort flagging among Western allies that arm and support the coalition. Outrage over the October 2 death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the kingdom's Istanbul consulate has also undermined Western support for Riyadh's regional activities. A congressional hearing on Zimbabwe in the United States capital, Thursday, revealed the continued U.S. interest in Zimbabwe, but also the insidious suspicions against the government of President Emmerson Mnangagwa by U.S. officials, following his disputed July 30 election victory. Outgoing Republican U.S. Senator from Arizona, Jeff Flake, who is behind the recent revisions to the controversial Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Amendment Act of 2018, which lays out conditions of reform for Zimbabwe to regain full U.S. support, said the hearing aimed to evaluate the situation. The purpose of todays hearing is to get a better understanding of the course Zimbabwe is on so that in the months ahead, Congress can evaluate U.S. policy options, and play a constructive role, said Senator Flake, who was among the many foreign observers allowed to observe the elections. Flake acknowledged what he called promising signs, such as the proposed budgets presented by the Ministry of Finance and the Reserve Bank, as well as the promised repeal of two pieces of legislation deemed a threat to press freedom and also citizen rights to gather freely. President Mnangagwa has pledged to push parliament to repeal two controversial measures passed by the (former President Robert) Mugabe regime that directly contradict Zimbabwes constitution, and for the first time in decades, democratic space is being opened in Zimbabwe, said Flake, adding that the corrupt shake downs that Zimbabweans faced on a daily basis for years, under the Mugabe era have been a thing of the past since his ouster. On the downside however, Flake referenced the countrys lack of strong economic performance and also harassment of opposition members. President Mnangagwa has largely been saying the right things, but some of the reforms however, have been slow to come. Zimbabwe may be open for business as is the slogan now, but foreign direct investment has not flowed into the country as many are still weary of the investment climate there. On the economy, Flake said Zimbabwes economy has gone from bad to worse, leaving many with no access to cash opposition figures and their families continue to be harassed at times. In referring to this, the harassment faced by opposition leader Tendai Biti was mentioned several times. Echoing this position was fellow Republican U.S. Senator, Chris Coons of New Jersey, who too visited Zimbabwe during elections. Coons said Mnangagwas rhetoric falls short of delivering real tangible reforms so far. There is indeed a significantly more open society and economy than there was under (former President Robert) Mugabe, but it is significantly short of what a free, fair and open society looks like, where rule of law dominates, where elections and opposition, elections happen regularly, opposition is free to speak, where press is truly unhindered, said Coons. If you read a transcript of our meeting with President Mnangagwa, if you read transcripts of his speeches, if you read the editorial he wrote in the New York Times, hes saying all the right things. Our challenge is the doing, Coons stressed. Representing the private business sector in Zimbabwe, Managing Consultant Joel Mutizwa of JMS Strategic Pathways in Zimbabwe, acknowledged the problems in Zimbabwe, but challenged the senators position on the lack of more aggressive reforms, which he said had Zimbabweans equally expecting a quick fix in what he termed, a crisis of expectation. People, having been in bondage for 38-years now want everything today. There is a palpable sense that in fact solutions must be proffered now, today, or yesterday if possible, Mutizwa said. Mutizwa said the reality on the ground was quite different, and piled praises on Mnangagwas bold efforts to fix the economy, and other fundamental issues, facing the country, namely, fiscal indiscipline, current account imbalance, and unsustainable domestic and international debt, corruption, infrastructural decay, unemployment, deepening poverty and lack of economic competiveness across the economy. Mutizwa credited Mnangagwas new, trimmed down cabinet dominated by technocrats, for turning around the economy. He cited revisions to the indigenization laws implemented by former President Mugabe, which restricted majority or 51% ownership of major sectors of the economy to indigenous Zimbabweans. Today as we speak, the law requiring any investor to cede 51% of their equity to locals has been removed. And what we have now is a situation where investors can come into any sector of the economy except for two: platinum and diamonds, said Mutizwa. He implored the U.S. to drop the sanctions on Zimbabwe, which the U.S. has said are targeted to only specific individuals and entities. Mutizwa said contrary to that claim, the sanctions present one of the biggest hurdles to Zimbabwes economic growth. Number one hurdle are sanctions, said Mutizwa. The sanctions are real. We hear talk that there are targeted sanctions, but the impact, the net impact of the sanctions on Zimbabwe is large. We are aware of course of the country risk which is associated with the negative that is painted as a result of sanctions. The risk premium in Zimbabwe is anywhere between 20 and 25%. We are aware of the trade restrictions Zimbabwe is not able to access AGOA (Africa Growth and Opportunity Act) for example, which many African countries are accessing at the moment. However, Todd Moss of the Washington-based Center for Global Development dismissed Mutizwas claims that the government is opening up the climate for investment, and that sanctions are hurting the country. Moss, who urged the U.S. government to be extremely cautious in engagement and use strategic patience, also called for continued pressure on Zimbabwe saying the claims that sanctions hurt the country, was a complete red herring. The (Zimbabwe) government blames U.S. sanctions for their economic troubles rather than grappling with their own mismanagement and corruption, said Moss. Zimbabwes leaders cannot borrow, not because of U.S. sanctions but because they have not paid their bills and are now more than $5 billion in arrears, and blaming the U.S. is just another example of this government failing to take responsibility. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Africa, Matthew Harrington, who also gave testimony before the senators, said the U.S. has welcomed the change in tone by the Mnangagwa administration and said he welcomed a better relationship with Zimbabwe. We want Zimbabwe to succeed and we would welcome a better relationship, but the ball is squarely in the governments court to demonstrate it is irrevocably on a different trajectory, said Harrington, elaborating that a better relationship was contingent upon the reforms that are spelt out under the revised ZIDERA. There are several steps the government of Zimbabwe could take, that would send a strong signal its own people and to the international community that it is serious about taking the country into a new more positive direction. First, it should repeal laws such as the Public Order and Security Act (POSA), and the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA), which have long been used to suppress the human rights of people in Zimbabwe Second, the government should immediately end the harassment of members of the political opposition, it should drop charges against former finance minister and prominent opposition figure Tendai Biti and all those who have been arbitrarily detained for exercising their human rights and fundamental freedoms. Third, the government should hold perpetrators of the August 1st violence fully accountable, and fourth, government should move quickly to ensure that legislation is consistent with the 2013 constitution. To the above, Mutizwa said the government has already committed to repealing AIPPA and POSA, and that the government has already aligned 209 of the 299 statutes that were not in synch with constitution, while the remaining 49 were under reviews. Additionally, said Mutizwa, Mnangagwa and his government has taken an unambiguous stance to rejoining the international community and clear Zimbabwe of the status of being a pariah state. We note, Mr. Chairman, a shift by the leadership of Zimbabwe, from a narrative of politics and hate speech that dominated the Mugabe era, to a narrative of economic engagement and economic progress. Mutizwa said the country needs at least 12-18 months to transition to level expected by the U.S. Other senators present at the hearing where Democratic U.S. Senator Cory Booker from New Jersey. Photo: Getty Images In the next few days, if you so desire, you will find a number of articles that attempt to explain what the Grammys really mean for the music industry. Do they matter? Are they irrelevant? Already, outgoing Recording Academy president Neil Portnow has said I think were incredibly relevant and on point. Which, in a way, has never really been the deal with the Grammys. The truth is, the Grammys are important, but theyre not necessarily an accurate representation of the music industry as a whole. There is no reason that these two ideas need to be reconciled. If Drake somehow wins zero awards, that does not make Drake less popular. That Ariana Grande was not nominated for more awards does not negate her impressive musical achievements this year. The Grammys are their own world, and they matter exactly as much as we let them matter. Here are some of the major snubs (Taylor Swift!) and surprises (to be honest, they played it pretty safe this year). Read on. Taylor Swifts Reputation got snubbed for Album of the Year. Like everything else in Taylor Swifts career, the timing of the artists releases has been designed for maximum strategic advantage. An album would arrive every two years, always in the fall, with the lead single dropping before the the Grammys cutoff date, and the album coming after. Thus, in theory, Swift would be up for a major award at every Grammys ceremony: first Record of the Year, then Album of the Year, then Record of the Year, and so on and so on. Swifts hegemonic dominance of the musical landscape would be ensured. But as the German generals learned in the autumn of 1914, even the most precisely engineered war machine can break down. The lockstep scheduling was first to go: After encountering an unforeseen mid-decade backlash, Swift decided to wait three years between 1989 and Reputation. The latter albums lead single, Look What You Made Me Do, was kept off the ballot entirely at the 2018 Grammys, and this morning, the unthinkable occurred: Reputation got snubbed in the new eight-strong Album of the Year category, making it the first Swift LP not to make the cut since 2010s Speak Now. In all, she only managed to garner a single nod, for Best Pop Vocal Album. Will we look back at the 2016 ceremony, the night 1989 won Album of the Year, (and, just as importantly, in retrospect, the night Swift reignited her feud with Kanye West), as her high-water mark at the Grammys? Nate Jones Kendrick Lamars Black Panther soundtrack is nominated. On paper, its not especially surprising that Kendrick would secure a Grammy nom for pretty much anything he did in a given year, but that he would along with a host of other artists like Mozzy or SOB x RBE who would not normally be Grammys contenders get nominated for this compilation is notable. The Black Panther soundtrack is a dense, often sad collection of abrasive rap songs that dont so much cross over as they do double down on their regional specificity. In other words, its a soundtrack to a major motion picture that makes no attempt to appeal to new fans, and its a better listen for it. Sam Hockley-Smith Childish Gambinos This Is America is nominated for song of the year. Talking about the state of the music video in 2018 is complicated. Theyre undeniably still important, and there are still many great, occasionally transcendent videos being shuttled through the pipes and cogs of the internet (thats how it works, right?), but what happens when you separate a great video from the song that accompanies it? The video for This Is America is an easy contender for the best of 2018, and is an important piece of art in its own right but the song without the video? Its good, but it loses a lot of nuance. This Is America is ultimately a short film with an original song attached to it. Without the video, much of its power is lost. This Is America is also up for Video of the Year, which it should win. Leave this category to one of the other nominees. (Shallow is going to win. If it doesnt, I owe every single person in America five bucks). SHS The Carters get relegated to genre categories. Tell the Grammys fuck that 0 for 8 shit, Jay-Z declared on Everything Is Loves Apeshit. The joint Jay-Z and Beyonce album was full of the kind of playful experimentation that becomes possible when you dont really need any more hits. Sure, the Carter family is so far past caring about this night of golden sippy cups, but maybe theyll scoop up another one anyway? Mom and Dad scored three nominations Friday morning: Best R&B Performance (for Summer), Best Urban Contemporary Album, and Best Music Video (Apeshit). Hunter Harris Howd the Backstreet Boys end up here? The Best Pop Duo/Group Performance category is a bit wacky this year. On the list weve got one obvious winner (Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga for you guessed it! Shallow, though I guess theres a chance that Cardi and Maroon 5 could take this) and then a bunch of songs that were fine? Is there a place somewhere where everyone is worshipping Justin Timberlake and Chris Stapletons Say Something? The fact that this list features other Backstreet Boys contemporaries means that this is exactly the right time for their reunion, but probably not the right time for a whole entire Grammy nomination. SHS HAAA AH AH AH AH, AAAH AAAH, AH AH AH AH HAAA. Yes, that is the Shallow scream. Even though the soundtrack was released too late to be eligible for this years Grammys, the lead single Shallow is in the mix. (Are you even ready for Grammy nominee Bradley Cooper? Its what he deserves!) A few of last years soundtracks popped up too: the compilation soundtracks for Call Me by Your Name and Lady Bird, plus Sufjan Stevenss CMBYN tear-jerker Mysteries of Love. HH Once again, trying to parse the rock categories is a futile exercise. Okay so: The Arctic Monkeys are nominated for Best Rock Performance for Four Out of Five, but not for Best Rock Song or Best Rock Album, though they are nominated for Best Alternative Music Album, which is, by default, a sort of indie-leaning category that acts as a catchall for music that might not obviously fit into the rock categories, despite the fact that the Monkeys Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino, is very much a rock album in the most traditional sense. It is, at this point, not worth getting hung up on how the Grammys choose to talk about guitar-based music that isnt country, but Greta Van Fleet are nominated for three awards and they have a good chance of winning all of them. SHS The Best Rap Album winner is genuinely impossible to predict. Drakes not here, and Im pretty confident Nipsey Hussle is an outlier, so this ones really down to Cardi, Mac Miller, Travis Scott, and Pusha T. Each released an album worthy of this award this year, and each came from a markedly different place: Cardis album was a coronation after an incredible year, Travis Scotts Astroworld delivered on the psychedelic promise of some of his best earlier work, Pusha Ts album was a focused, mean, and cold return to form for both himself and Kanye, and Mac Millers already very good, melancholy, lush, final album gained a lot of weight after his tragic passing. This could go to any one of them. SHS The Best Dance/Electronic Album category is home to one of the more progressive albums of the year. and itll be shocking if it wins. Sophie who has produced incredible songs for Charli XCX and Vince Staples, among many others released Oil of Every Pearls Un-Insides this year, and it is a sleek, affecting experimental take on pop music. Its pretty out there, and at times abrasive, which means its a hard sell here, but if it does win, that means that Grammy judges have their eyes toward the future, and that should be an exciting thing to even the most cynical music fan. SHS Kanye is nominated for exactly the award he should be nominated for. Kanye has had an, uh, complicated year. But lets put that aside for a second. Not in the separate the art from the artist way (were long past that), but in a way that looks at what he did do this year, and more specifically at the beginning of the summer. Kanye produced five albums that ran the gamut from vintage Kanye soul-flips to more progressive material (say what you want about ye, but the production is worth a closer listen). Would giving him this award be, by default, rewarding bad behavior, or would it be recognition of an ambitious run of music that he just barely pulled off? SHS Drake. Drake is pretty evenly divided between rap-specific categories and the more big-name blockbuster awards. Hes got a decent chance at winning Album of the Year for Scorpion, which would make it easier for the Grammys to give the rap awards he is nominated for to other deserving contenders. Drakes placement in some of the more general categories makes sense, and it says a lot about where Drake sits in the landscape of pop music as a whole. Its no secret that rap is the dominant form of pop, and Drake is a major part of that. Quality aside (Scorpion is fine), it would be ridiculous if Drake wasnt nominated for the categories hes been nominated for. His placement is neither a snub nor a surprise; thatll come when they start handing the awards out. SHS Photo: Roadside Attractions However admirable, movies that center on people struggling with addiction tend to be more alike than unalike, especially when 12 Step programs rear their inevitable heads. So, Im tempted to praise Peter Hedgess taut Ben Is Back for taking a hard turn halfway through in a different direction, even if that direction is toward cheesy melodrama. The odd thing is that the movies first half the part thats familiar from such recent addiction dramas as Beautiful Boy is superbly effective. Not so much the opening, in which Hedges cuts back and forth between Holly Burns (Julia Roberts) radiating pride in her kids at a Christmas pageant (warm, golden colors) and her 19-year-old son, Ben (Lucas Hedges, son of Peter), in a hooded coat, traipsing miserably around the outside of the locked family house (chill, pale colors): Thats ham-handed. But what comes next catches you up. Holly pulls into the driveway with her kids, and there stands her oldest, on an unannounced leave from an inpatient program called Sober Living; and she leaps out of the car and runs to embrace him while, in the back seat, Bens sister, Ivy (Kathryn Newton), texts her stepfather in a panic. Ben isnt supposed to be home. Hes troubled and hes trouble. I feel as if every time I turn into my driveway I might see Lucas Hedges, too. Hes everywhere. He had a small but vivid part in Jonah Hills teen drama Mid90s and gave a subtle, intelligent performance as a pastors son in a different sort of therapeutic program (pray away the gay) in the recent Boy Erased. He holds his own as the playwrights pensive alter ego and narrator in the marvelous production of Kenneth Lonergans Waverly Place, now on Broadway. (See it above all for Elaine May.) But Im still trying to get a fix on him. He doesnt have the electricity of his Beautiful Boy counterpoint, the hotshot Timothee Chalamet. He stands back a little, as if still working things through. That unfinished quality worked well in Boy Erased (the character hadnt formed an identity yet) and equally well, for different reasons, in Ben Is Back. In early scenes, Ben is rigid. His shoulders are locked and he has inmate eyes they cast subtly around the room for threats or opportunities. Some of his readings sound unnatural, but is it Hedges or Ben whos acting badly? Addicts tend to be bad actors. They lie reflexively, to other people and sometimes themselves. Our early uncertainty about him works it makes the movie scarier. Newtons Ivy gives us cues, looking at Ben as if she cant trust a word he says, and so does Bens stepfather, Neal (Courtney B. Vance), whose role in life is now whether he likes it or not, and its plain that he doesnt to be a check on his wifes overflowing mother love. Ben Is Back is an occasion for Roberts to go for it, and I cant remember ever seeing her work this hard. She puts Hollys love for Ben and her terror that hell relapse and die in every gesture, every glance, every breath. Shes so high-strung youd almost buy it if Ben blamed her for driving him to drugs, but thats not the movies point of view. (Holly is meant to be Super Mom and not Black Hawk Helicopter Mom.) Shes exhausting to watch (I wish that Hedges had taken her down a peg so we couldnt see the acting), but she certainly gives the movie its gnawing sense of dread. Every time Holly walks ahead of Ben, you see her thinking she should turn around because he might in the intervening two seconds have disappeared out the window or jammed a needle into his arm. You can feel her stomach flipping over as she stands in the doorway of the bathroom with her back to her son as he pees into a cup. Will he produce a vial of untainted urine from his pants? How might the next minute lead to his death? Unlike the makers of Beautiful Boy, Hedges is careful to give us some perspective on just how lucky Ben is to be white and from an affluent home. He does this chiefly by making Hollys second husband black and having Neal say that if Ben had also been black, he would likely be dead. (Vance doesnt get to show his full range, but he vividly evokes a conflicted soul.) Hedges puts us squarely in a world in which opioids dangle before people on all parts of the socioeconomic spectrum, promising a sense of well-being and delivering death-in-life and often just death. A scene in which Holly takes Ben to the mall for clothing and bumps into the boys former physician now in the middle stages of dementia is more than a little contrived; but in addition to giving Roberts a chance to hiss a death wish into the old mans ear, it suggests a world of predatory medicating. Ben, meanwhile, feels responsible not just for the pain he has caused his family but the lives he played a role in destroying. (Was he prosecuted for dealing heroin? The film doesnt say.) Ben Is Back steers around one of the difficulties of making a realistic addiction movie, which is on display in Beautiful Boy: The addict comes home clean and then relapses and then gets clean and relapses and you think, Do we have to go through this again? But thats what wears you down about addicts: You have to go through it again. And again. Hedgess alternative is to plunge Ben and, consequently, Holly into a plot involving nasty dealers who learn that Bens back in town and kidnap a beloved family pet. (I know how primitive can a movie get?) So you get mother and son driving around suburban New Jersey on Christmas Eve (lots of ambient holiday staples in the air) checking in on the places where Ben once used or dealt or someone he cared about died. Its a good idea done well until the last 20 minutes, when the leap from a realistic addiction drama to a hairs-breadth Hollywood rescue movie is too jarring to ignore. Its potent, though. No matter how hard you fight the last shot, its devastating. And anything that gets people kids, parents, family pets to watch movies that dramatize the opioid crisis is worth getting behind. Ben Is Back makes you dream of a world in which no one needs movies like Ben Is Back. Best of 2018 The best entertainment of 2018, as chosen by Vultures critics. Click here to see selections for every subject and more. Photo-Illustration: Maya Robinson/Vulture A note on methodology: For the sake of comparing apples to apples, this list is comprised solely of bound comics volumes released in 2018. Ongoing series released as individual staple-bound issues were only eligible in the form of their collected editions (which is why Mister Miracle isnt here, given that its bound collection wont be available until 2019). We also kept things simple by only surveying (a) volumes containing previously uncollected material and (b) comics initially released in English. Okay, on to the books. 10. All the Answers by Michael Kupperman (Simon & Schuster) If the past is a foreign country, a parents past is a country that colonizes you. In blocky monochrome, Michael Kupperman, a cartoonist best known for his head-spinningly funny humor comics, takes a hard left turn into the dramatic. Here, he documents the early life of his father, who became briefly renowned in the mid-century for appearing regularly on a quiz show starring child prodigies. The pressures and idiosyncrasies of that curious role broke the lad to a certain extent, and the echoes of that shattering reverberated into the authors relationship with his dad. In a thematic grace note, the book also provides remarkable insight into American Jewish identity, something that was crucial to the fathers fame and that has been totally lost on the son. All victories are high-interest loans, with the true cost obscured until its time to pay the piper. 9. The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang (First Second) As great kids comics continue to dominate the charts and raise a generation that doesnt give a shit about superheroes, the burgeoning canon gets a new addition in luscious pastel. Jen Wang offers up a compelling period piece set in the declining days of European aristocracy, when class lines were beginning to blur. So, too, were gender lines, at least in Wangs view. This is a fairy tale in which a pauper girl and a prince are united by their shared love of dresses and elaborate femme presentation. Their friendship is as fervent as it is turbulent, and Wang renders their saga with a deceptive cartooniness, one that packs a far more subtly emotional punch than typically comes with this visual style. There are plenty of odes to being yourself out there in the youth-comics marketplace, but this one goes down with exceptional smoothness. 8. Upgrade Soul by Ezra Claytan Daniels (Lion Forge) I hesitate to describe anything that occurs in Upgrade Soul. Although it doesnt rely simply on the cheap thrill of twists to keep you interested, the surprises it affords to the reader are delicious and should be savored. Okay, fine, I can dish a little: Ezra Claytan Daniels here crafts a story about a pair of elderly geniuses who elect to have their consciousnesses put into upgraded bodies, only to find that they have in fact been cloned, with their old selves coexisting alongside new ones that look like toddler-size fetuses. From there, the story only gets weirder and darker, and Daniels keeps your eyeballs peeled with the help of his remarkable gift for lumpily tactile deformity and agonizingly evocative expressions. Daniels is a person of color, as is the male half of the couple, and one of the most fascinating leitmotifs of the book is its exploration of what identity and legacy mean in a specifically nonwhite context. In an industry that far too rarely gives POC the auteurs chair, Upgrade Soul is a meaty counterweight. 7. The Pervert by Remy Boydell and Michelle Perez (Image) The sumptuous watercolor ugliness of Seattle acts as backdrop to this chronicle of a trans escort meandering through an increasingly complicated life of copulation with tragic cartoon characters. In the form of The Pervert, Remy Boydell and Michelle Perez have conjured up one of the most unforgettable bildungsromans to grace the comics page in recent years. The anthropomorphic beast at the storys heart is going through transitions both physical and mental when we pick up the narrative, and we thrill as they fuck and suck their way out of a haze of self-doubt and poor decisions. They never quite make it to clarity, but then again, who does? The elegant figure work here takes the so-called furry genre of human-animal art to the highest echelons its ever achieved in sequential art. No small trick. 6. Young Frances by Hartley Lin (AdHouse) In the immortal words of the poets of Blink-182: Work sucks, I know. In Young Frances, up-and-comer Hartley Lin builds out a young womans life in illuminating detail and agonizing nuance. The tale told is that of Frances, who works at an office job she sorta hates but is pretty good at, and who spends her free time with a woman she sorta hates but is pretty good friends with. As her professional commitments pile up and her personal life spins out, she is forced to ask questions about what, exactly, happiness looks like and whether youll ever be sure that youre on the path to it. The panel layouts are simple but the draftsmanship is sumptuous and the storytelling is top-notch, making for a narrative meal that leaves one satisfied and enriched. 5. I Am Young by M. Dean (Fantagraphics) A string of evocative short stories, many of them about musical experiences, are presented in comforting curves and hallucinatory color. In the slim volume that is I Am Young, newcomer M. Dean immediately announces herself as one of the most relevant young voices in North American comics. Each swift piece of fiction raises your eyebrows with its unique melody, singing of a too-young bride, two best friends who dream of being writers, a girl on acid at a dance, and, over the course of several interspersed chapters, a pair of British Beatlemaniacs whose lives we see touch at various points in the history and afterlife of the Fab Four. If youll allow me to continue to abuse the music metaphors, Deans artwork is a symphony for the eyes, causing the reader to dance from one innovatively constructed page to the next, only slowing down enough to make you gasp again at the next cymbal-rush climax. 4. Passing for Human by Liana Finck (Random House) In which twisted scribble-people learn that love doesnt fix your life. Liana Finck is capable of elaborate pen work, but chooses here to be deliberately crude. Oftentimes, her figures in Passing for Human barely look like figures at all, but thats sort of the point. In telling us about her own tortured relationship history and that of her beloved parents, Finck wants us to see that were all crudely constructed by our creator, whoever that might be. We are ourselves, but we are also our shadow-selves, the selves that we think no one can see, and, whether motivated by passion or fear, we collide into one another at reckless speed, destroying whatever was in our path. The story starts with a new first chapter over and over again, implicitly conveying the assertion that there is no such thing as a true beginning except, perhaps, for the fact that this book is surely the beginning of a notable trajectory for a remarkable young talent. 3. Drawn to Berlin by Ali Fitzgerald (Fantagraphics) As the conflicts and deprivations of the 21st century grind away at the foundations of global society, people move and the West loses its shit. In an age of rising anti-immigrant sentiment, let Drawn to Berlin, Ali Fitzgeralds humanist memoir of drawing comics with refugees while investigating the ghosts of the German capital, be a much-needed corrective. The thick chiaroscuro of Fitzgeralds pen bundles us up for a story about the ways in which people pretend life is simpler than it ever actually is. Flight is her subject, whether its that of Middle Easterners coming to Berlin today, that of Eastern European Jews coming in the interwar period, or that of her own journey toward greater understanding of her desires. Fitzgerald doesnt quite know what she wants to be, nor what she wants the book to be, but thats perfectly okay ambiguity and lack of easy answers make this one of the best works of nonfiction sequential art to grace the page in a good long while. 2. Sabrina by Nick Drnaso (Drawn + Quarterly) Grief and fake news swirl together in a heady brew thatll turn your stomach. There has been much ballyhoo about Nick Drnasos latest book this year, and the attention is well-earned, as this is one of the most unsettling comics ever put out by a major publisher. A woman disappears and, driven by anxiety and grief, her significant other makes questionable decisions while shacking up with a friend who works a desk job for the military. As the circumstances of the disappearance are called into question by the paranoid fever swamps of the internet, both mens lives are thrown wildly out of balance and one sees how chillingly easy it would be to find oneself trapped in a similar morass with no clear way out. Most alarming of all, perhaps, is what Drnaso builds in front of our eyes with an unmistakable visual deftness: chunky figures with incongruous smiles and dead exurban landscapes where terror is always just below the minds crust. 1. Berlin Book Three: City of Light by Jason Lutes (Drawn + Quarterly) As our own era darkens, an epic sticks the landing and finds a relevance it could never have imagined at its inception. Jason Lutes began serializing Berlin in 1996 and, for more than 20 years, readers have been over the moon about this ongoing narrative of the sunsetting Weimar Republic. Two volumes had already been released, City of Stone and City of Smoke, both of them better than just about any comic ever published, and this year finally brings the completion of the story-cycle in City of Light. The Teutonic ensemble is all here: Marthe the artist, Kurt the journalist, Anna the bon vivant, Irwin the revolutionary, Silvia the street kid, Otto the Brownshirt, and on, and on, and on. We begin with shocking cameos from historical figures and then quickly get on with the business of taking everyones journey and the journeys of a city and the democracy it failed to uphold to a climax that both stirs and surprises. We do not end with the stereotypes one might expect from a story about the rise of the Nazis, which makes sense because Berlin was never really a story about the rise of the Nazis. As a goose-bumps-inducing series of two-page spreads brings matters to something resembling a conclusion, youll see that Lutes, with his nano-thin lines and perfectly rendered faces, was always trying to send us an urgent message: All that is good is only supported by all that is kind. By Straits Times , Dec. 05, 2018 WASHINGTON (WASHINGTON POST) - The single most effective weapon in the fight against climate change is the tax code - imposing costs on those who emit greenhouse gases, economists say. But as French President Emmanuel Macron learnt over the past three weeks, implementing such taxes can be politically explosive. On Tuesday (Dec 4), France delayed for six months a plan to raise already steep taxes on diesel fuel by 24 cents a gallon and gasoline by about 12 cents a gallon. Read More: Join us - become an Elderado today at: LarryElder.com Follow Larry Elder on Follow Larry Elder on Twitter "Like" Larry Elder on Facebook Photo: Columbia Records Some people say life is short, but actually, life is long. Theres so much time to become interested in something, then eventually grow to hate it. This is how we distract ourselves from the inevitability of death and the inevitability that we will die while watching Instagram Stories. For example, remember Pokemon Go? For another example, remember when we decided it was nice to wear skirts over jeans? When I was 13, I had a poster of Fred Durst taped to the ceiling over my bed. And if something doesnt eventually bore or repulse you, it is doomed to disappoint you. See: Louis C.K., hoverboards, democracy. The only thing that stands the test of time is Mariah Careys Christmas album, Merry Christmas. I mean it. The ONLY thing. And Im not just talking about All I Want for Christmas Is You, which has proven its cultural dominance by earning Mariah $60 million in royalties over the years and being the only song played at CVS. Im talking about the deep cuts, too the five songs exclusively about Jesus being born, the Santa Claus Is Comin to Town (Anniversary Mix). It is impossible to get tired of this album; listening to this album is never a disappointing choice. As an experiment, try listening to it for the rest of your life, and youll see what I mean. Mariah Carey released Merry Christmas, her fourth studio album and first Christmas album, on November 1, 1994. She was 24 years old, and on the album cover, she wore a full Santa bodysuit, kneeling into a pile of snow in a way that suggested the suit was, improbably, 100 percent waterproof. Somewhere in suburban Illinois, my mom heard a clarion call, which sounded like Mariah screaming, Glo-ooooooooo-oooooria!!!!!! Over the next decade, my mother would play this album roughly five thousand times, in the process indoctrinating her oldest child (me) a Jewess merely six years away from incorporating Mariah Carey into her Bat Mitzvah theme into the cult of Merry Christmas. Its now been 24 years since the albums initial release, which means that since my moms unwitting hypnosis via whistle tone, an entire Mariah Carey could have been born, grown up, recorded Merry Christmas, then waltzed outside in a bodysuit to fall into a pile of snow on purpose. Over that time period, the album has sold more than 15 million copies around the world to become the best-selling Christmas album of all time, plus deeply inspired Justin Bieber. Personally, I have listened to this album so often that I have learned all of the words, then forgotten every single one of them because they began to sound like nothing. Despite being an idiot who has subscriptions to Tidal, Apple Music, and Spotify (please let me live my streaming ho life), I purchased Merry Christmas on vinyl last month. My point is, I am a Merry Christmas psychopath who comes from a long line (the longest possible line, if you think about it) of original Merry Christmas psychopaths. And my nearly two decades of research have led me to conclude that it is the only thing that will never let me down. No matter how many times you listen to Merry Christmas, you will always be stunned by the number of syllables that Mariah Carey is able to give to previously small words. Her vocals are spectacular, of course, but her lung capacity is disturbing. In Gloria (In Excelsis Deo), Mariah gives the word Bethlehem nine syllables, the word deo eight syllables, and the word newborn five syllables. On Santa Claus Is Coming to Town, she gives the word town 10 syllables (11 if you count the woo! at the end of the word). Get gets seven syllables in Miss You Most (at Christmastime). Mariah sings the word Jesus upwards of 40 times on this album. And guess what? It never stops sounding great! Gloria (In Excelsis Deo) has aged particularly well. Recently, a friend of mine tried to floss to this song. It worked. If you can find a better emo Christmas anthem than Miss You Most Everybodys smiling / The whole world is rejoicing / And everyones embracing / Except for you and I you havent truly suffered. And if you are not inspired to give birth to a religious figurehead in a pile of hay after listening to Jesus Born on This Day, thats fine, but please make yourself available to babysit mine. In the years since Mariah personally gave birth to Jesus, the Pop Star Christmas Album has become near-ubiquitous, which means you might be reading this and asking yourself, Isnt Michael Bubles Christmas album just as important and good? What about Ariana Grandes Christmas and Chill? Or the Pentaton . Dont you dare talk to me about the Pentatonix right now, first of all. Second of all, I do like Christmas and Chill, thank you for reminding me. But I still consider every single pop star Christmas album an unmitigated failure next to Mariahs. This is because every other pop star has tried to make Christmas sexual. Buble and Grande are out here trying to convince you to fuck after Christmas dinner! Youre very full! Christmas is not about sex, and Mariah knows that. Christmas is about forgetting you have a body. Christmas is about forgetting you and everyone you love will die, and that the trees were chopping down and stuffing with lights will soon cease to exist, and that one day we will all be beheading our family members during the great water wars. Christmas is about life in the sense that its not about actual life, but a fake and temporary life where drinking thick, aged milk filled with alcohol is acceptable. Christmas is about claiming all you want for Christmas is a person, when really you want a sweatshirt featuring a picture of Ariana Grande fingering the planet. Christmas is about zipping yourself into a full-body suit and kneeling in the snow, smiling, even though youre fucking freezing, because how is that suit waterproof when it also looks very fluffy? Merry Christmas understands that Christmas is patently absurd, a sexless fantasia, a brief and fleeting annual moment where cold weather is good, begging people to come home is not thirsty, and a Jewish woman can write an entire essay about music based on Jesus. Christmas turns us all temporarily insane. And viewed through a certain lens, Merry Christmas is also insane it contains at least three songs about the exact same night, and at one point informs us we will be in trouble with an imaginary man if we cry. But Merry Christmas looks upon us without judgment. It does not mind if we floss to its Latin, or if Justin Bieber gently bastardizes its main track. Its the gift that keeps on giving and takes nothing in return, except for $60 million. Photo: Amazing Grace Movie LLC This story was originally published in November 2018. Were republishing it today for the release of Amazing Grace. In January 1972, Aretha Franklin came to Los Angeles to create what would become her greatest artistic statement. Over two consecutive nights at the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts, before a live audience that included her father Reverend C.L. Franklin and her mentor Clara Ward (as well as Mick Jagger and Charlie Watts), she recorded her return to the gospel music she had grown up singing as a teenage prodigy. Accompanied by Reverend James Cleveland and the Southern California Community Choir, Arethas sessions would be released later that year as the double album Amazing Grace. Her most personal record, it also became her most popular release, certified double platinum, the biggest-selling album of her career as well as the best-selling gospel album of all time. But the liner notes of the original vinyl record revealed what must have been Arethas greatest frustration: The recording of this album was filmed by Warner Brothers, Inc. with Sydney Pollack directing. No movie was ever released, and the fate of what had become of the film project remained one of Hollywoods most enduring mysteries. Enter Alan Elliott, a young Atlantic Records employee in 1990 when he first learned about the long-lost movie. Over the next 28 years, Elliott worked like a cinematic Sherlock Holmes to at first crack the case (it turns out Pollack, who died in 2008, had neglected to use a clapper to sync images with audio) and then to salvage the film. Along the way, Elliott mortgaged his home several times to buy the existing footage, edit the film, and pay for insurance and lawyers; he needed the latter in abundance, as Aretha sued several times to prevent the movie from being screened, including its scheduled world premiere at the 2015 Telluride Film Festival. After Aretha passed away at 76 in August, her family and Elliott quickly came to an arrangement, and last month, the film a remarkable document of the Queen of Soul at the height of her powers finally premiered at two sold-out, emotional screenings at the Doc NYC festival. Now a songwriting professor at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, Elliott grew up in Hollywood, the son of composer Jack Elliott (who co-wrote the themes from Barney Miller and Charlies Angels and was the longtime musical director of the Grammy Awards). Elliott spoke to Vulture over the phone from Los Angeles while driving to meet the city superintendent to finalize plans for a star on the Walk of Fame for the films choir. Amazing Grace without a directors credit for Pollack, per his familys wishes opens at Film Forum this Friday for a one-week-only engagement in order to qualify for Academy Award consideration, with a nationwide release slated for 2019. When did you first hear Arethas album Amazing Grace? In 1972 when I was 8 years old. Quincy Jones was a very close friend of my fathers, and he was producing her next record, Hey Now Hey (The Other Side of the Sky), and that was a big deal at my house. Was Amazing Grace an album that stayed with you throughout your youth and into your college years? Yes. I was hired by Atlantic Records to become their A&R person for black music in 1990. When I was there, I was introduced to Jerry Wexler, who was one of the owners of Atlantic Records and co-produced the record. Jerry and I became very close, and Jerry said at a certain point, You love Amazing Grace? I said, Yeah. He said, We filmed it. I was like, What? He was like, Yeah, theres a director, Sydney somebody. In the small world that is Hollywood, Marilyn and Alan Bergman used to drive me to camp, so they introduced me to Sydney Pollack. So Sydney and I started having the conversation in 1990. Sydney never tells me about why the movie never got finished. Theres sort of this mythos that had been built up in the intervening 18 years that Aretha didnt have a contract or something, but he never told me that the big problem was that he couldnt get the sync together. Eleven years ago, I knew I needed a life raft off the Titanic known as the record business, and I remembered Amazing Grace, so I called Jerry Wexler, who was down in Sarasota, Florida, while my wife was pregnant with our first child, and I said, What about Amazing Grace? And he said, Yeah, youre the Don Quixote type; why dont we get into that? So Sydney and I and Jerry are working on it together. That worked very well for a couple months, and then Sydney got pancreatic cancer. By that point we had been intimate enough to start to have the conversation of what kind of movie would it be, and we had sort of hit a logjam: Sydney wanted to do talking heads and I didnt. I was like, nope, the movie is actually in there; its not going over to Quincy Joness house and talking about how important it was. One day, I got a call from Sydneys assistant saying Sydney wants to talk with you and hes going to be very blunt with you. Sydney was a Method actor, and I think he wanted to fuck with me a little bit, in a fun way, for the least comfortable conversation Ive ever had. Now, I knew Sydney was sick: At my wedding, the best man was Ari Emanuel, and the man who officiated was Larry Gelbart, who wrote Tootsie. Larry had told me that Sydney was sick. So Sydney called and said, Hi, Alan. And I said, Sydney, Im so sorry youre sick, and he turned it around and said, Im not sick, Alan. Im fucking dying, but Im calling because I want you to finish the movie. I know you know it better than I do, and Im going to make sure you get to finish it. So Sydney and Ari Emanuel went to Warner Bros., and we expropriated the movie at Sydneys request. Then the fun started. What was your reaction when you first saw what you had bought? It was literally boxes. Sydney had died and then there was this delivery of all this stuff. There were just reams of documents and releases and things. There was an invoice to pay the choir director for lip-reading, and that was the tip-off that something is not right here. I started just going backward in sort of a detective way: Why were they lip-reading? It was, Oh, they dont have any sync. There is no work print. There is no assemblage that he had made. Sydney had no experience doing documentaries. Sydneys guys were turning the cameras on and turning them off, so they had thousands of pieces of footage in 1972, where footage hung on a clothesline with a hook and then had to be synched up to a quarter-inch piece of tape, so they had no chance. What was also a huge mystery was that in the archives there were releases for every single everything everything was documented, except there was no Aretha Franklin contract, so that was very odd. The film company could not find her contract. At a certain point, I came up with the idea that perhaps Michel Gondry would be a good director to help me finish the movie because he had made Dave Chappelles Block Party, so I contacted him on Facebook and he was really nice. We had a meeting, and I showed him the footage and he was kind of blown away. He was going to do it, and the idea was wed pay Aretha a million dollars and wed get the original choir and the original band and put everybody together at the original church and do one last song as a coda. So we were going to do that, but Aretha came back right before we were going to sign the papers and said, Julia Roberts gets $10 million a movie, so I should get $5 million. We didnt have $5 million, so she just didnt want to do it in the end. Then Gondry called me and said, I have to go do The Green Hornet, but my editor Jeff Buchanan, he loves the footage and hed like to cut a trailer to show you how much he can do. So Jeff cut the trailer and it was great, and its the same exact trailer that we use now. That ended up as a happy accident, and Jeff and I figured out how to edit the movie together in this really unique way where he was in New York and I was in Los Angeles. When did you have a rough cut? We had had a family and friends screening in New York in August 2011 and Aretha heard about it and got upset and sued me. From Arethas side, you can only imagine how angry she was. She had been promised her Woodstock. They had told her that she was going to be a movie star, that this was the follow up to Woodstock in a very serious way in terms of corporate synergy. The record company made a great record and the film company just bungled it. I can only imagine the heartbreak she had from 1972 to want to get that out into the world. What is the feeling when the person for whom youve devoted your life to finally bringing their masterpiece to the worlds movie screens sues you? At the time, youre just sort of confused, cause it never made any sense, but in hindsight it makes complete sense in that she was upset about the fact that they messed it up in 1972. Did she ever see the film? She saw the film I think in 2015. In August 2015, she gave an interview to the Detroit Free Press saying that she loves the film, but she thinks there are some legal issues. Did you meet her at the time? I only met her once for five seconds, maybe eight seconds, in 2008 I believe. Jerry Wexler had told her that I was going to come to a concert that she did in Los Angeles. Now, when you go to an Aretha Franklin concert, its usually about 85 degrees inside, so Im in this wool suit, sweating, at the House of Blues in Los Angeles for about two hours. Then Im ushered backstage, and I wait about 45 minutes to an hour for her to come out, and its about 90 degrees backstage because she liked to keep it very warm, and then I was introduced to her. I genuflected and I said, Miss Franklin, Jerry Wexler sent me. Im so excited to meet you. Its so terrific. Im the one who owns Amazing Grace. And she looked at me and said, Well be speaking. And that was it. What was the upshot of the 2011 lawsuit? So she sues me, and I take a Pollyanna approach to it, which is, Okay, this is an excuse to negotiate. So we crafted a deal that said we need to negotiate in good faith, and then we never heard from her, and her lawyer disappeared. She would change agents, and there was no manager, so there was no real way to negotiate. She did all her own negotiating, from what I was told. Then in 2013, Warner Bros. Films discovered her contract, which was really what I thought was going to be this great moment because now I would be allowed to negotiate with whomever she had, knowing that we had her contract but that was not the case. For a year or so, I tried to negotiate and tell her that we had her contract, and that didnt work. So in 2015, we went to Telluride, and we were waiting in line for the directors lunch on the Friday that the film is gonna open. Its 11 a.m., and I get a call saying were being sued in federal court in Denver and that we have to hire a lawyer for an emergency injunction at 3 p.m. So they sued the film festival and it was just chaos. At the end of the day, she showed up on the phone to talk to the judge, and the judge was very impressed that Aretha Franklin had called him, and he gave her a 14-day stay in the state of Colorado. It was a shock to the First Amendment, it was a shock to the fact that she had a contract, but everything superseded it because she was Aretha Franklin, and who wants to say no to Aretha Franklin? The judge didnt want to say no to Aretha Franklin. Then they said Aretha wanted money, and we said, Okay, how much? I again took it as a hopeful sign that we could negotiate. They said, Okay, you can show the movie in Toronto next week, but you can only show it for buyers, you cant show it to the public. Then a bidding war ensued, and Lionsgate won, and then we tried to craft a contract for six months and it didnt work out. At the time, it was a huge heartbreak, obviously, but what I didnt know at the time was that she had pancreatic cancer. I had been corresponding with Sabrina Owens, who is now the executor of the will, we had become friendly, and somewhere around there, she told me that she was not well. And then, Aretha said that she wanted to negotiate through another lawyer, that she wanted to negotiate and get another deal done, and then we tried, and she just disappeared. Wasnt there a 2016 Telluride cancellation as well? Yeah, that was the second time we tried it. They said to us that they wanted to negotiate another deal after the Lionsgate deal fell apart. We tried, and then Sabrina hipped me to the fact that Aretha just wasnt well, and that was heartbreaking. I didnt start the movie to stick it in the eye of Aretha Franklin, that wasnt the intended thing. I wanted to work with Aretha Franklin. I wanted to bring glory to Aretha Franklin; it was never to be disrespectful to Aretha Franklin. So when Sabrina and I were talking and she said shes not well, there was just nothing to do, so we sat on it. So you and your producing partner Terrell Whitley were invited to Arethas funeral in Detroit in August? When Aretha passed, Sabrina reached out and asked if we would come to the funeral, so we went to Detroit. A couple weeks later, Sabrina reached out and asked if we would come to Detroit again and show the film to the family, so we did. There was a lot of emotion when we showed it. So she called me on the way home, and Sabrina negotiates for a living, shes one of the heads of HR for labor relations for the University of Michigan, so within I believe three to five minutes, we had a deal. Its all crazy. I could be overestimating. She said, Well, you should make me an offer. And I said, Okay, how about this? And she said, How about that? And I said, Okay, great. Was that surreal after that whole 46-year saga, to have it all wrapped up so suddenly? Its all crazy. Its the craziest story that I know of in show business. I think weve lapped the field on crazy. Are there distribution plans beyond the one-week runs in New York and Los Angeles? Were sussing it out. How are we going to do stuff that is meaningful to her legacy? I feel very protective, and I think Sabrina does, too, of how do we sort of do this for us, by us. Were really excited about finding a good distribution partner, but it has to be someone who understands that we are going to be doing these events in a noncorporate fashion with Reverend William Barber, with the Poor Peoples Campaign, with Clean Water for Flint, with voter registration, and arent scared by that and actually are interested in that. So weve been very picky about the conversations. And, look, its also a brutal, brutal business, so if we dont find distribution, well do it by ourselves. There are other ways besides going through a giant distribution company. As you can tell, after 11 years, Im not a volume business. You oversaw the entire postproduction; is there anything left in the film that has Sydney Pollacks touch? One of my favorite moments is the last shot of the movie, which is Aretha after shes sat down and finished with everything, and Sydneys just standing over her shoulder. Thats a really emotional moment for me, always, because he was such a terrific guy, and I would never have been able to make the movie without him. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. On Thursday, WAAY 31 learned more about the train that carried President George H.W. Bush to his final resting place. People were able to look into the car carrying the President's body on Locomotive 4141 as it slowly made the trip to College Station, TX. The train was manufactured by Progress Rail, which calls Albertville home. The train will forever be added to things Albertville is known for, "Mainly we are known for our stupendous high school band and we are also known for Mueller, which is a very large manufacturer of fire hydrants," said Christian Chaw of Albertville. Chaw said they can now be proud of the town's connection to this historic event, "It does give me a sense of pride being from this community considering we did a favor for one of our founding fathers; our modern day founding fathers," said Chaw. The father of Lt. Governor-Elect Will Ainsworth owns Progress Rail. Ainsworth told WAAY 31 in a statement, "The work ethic, quality workmanship, and deep patriotism of Alabamians was on full display around the world today as a locomotive made in our state carried the 41st President to his final rest. Our state leaders can point with pride to train number 4141 as they work to recruit new companies, jobs, and opportunities to Alabama. The fact that my father and his business played such a large role in this historic event is something my family and I will carry with pride for the rest of our days." People in Albertville said this will be a big part of the town's history moving forward, "It's very important to be able to look back on something and say 'Guess what? You were here. You were a part of this,'" said Tricia Smith. "It's going to be in text books in years to come, and it's probably going to be in lectures sooner or later," said Chaw. The people WAAY 31 spoke to said they want to see the town bond and grow closer together knowing they were part of history. An Arizona couple pleaded guilty to driving 900 miles with two small children in the trunk of their car, the Associated Press reported. Michael Fee and Amber Freudenstein will spend 30 days in jail for two misdemeanor counts of child endangerment. According to the Sheriff in Wyoming who arrested the couple, a "third party" contacted the department and told them about the situation. According to court papers, the couple had their German shepards in the backseat of the car and placed the 6 and 10-year-olds in the trunk because there was not enough room inside the car. The older child was allowed to get out of the trunk in Utah, but was then forced to ride on the passenger side floorboard of the car. Per the Casper Star Tribune, Freudenstein told deputies she planned to drop off the children in Wyoming before returning to Arizona with three different children and the two dogs. Virginia College's Huntsville campus will close this month due to the nationwide Education Corporation of America closure. On Thursday, Alabama Senator Doug Jones wrote to ECA's CEO, Stu Reed, asking him to assist students in the transition. The closure was announced on Wednesday. A representative with Virginia College said the school will close December 18 at the end of the current term. For past information on the closing, click HERE. After abruptly closing the doors, your decision to make students and families wait nearly two weeks to receive any information about their next steps is simply unacceptable. You have a responsibility to these students, including our veterans and service members, to ensure they have all of the tools and information they need to move forward, including the choice between receiving a discharge of their federal student loans or transferring to a similar program if they can find an institution willing to accept their credits, Senator Jones wrote. On Thursday around 5 p.m., Florence Police officers responded to a fight at North Seminary Street where they found Joshua Daniel laying on the sidewalk unconscious and bleeding. Witnesses told officers that Daniel and another man had come into a business together and gotten into an argument that started the fight. The other man left the scene before officers arrived, and detectives are currently working to locate him. Daniel was flown to Huntsville Hospital and remains in critical condition. Decatur Police ask that anyone with information about the incident call Detective Drew Harless at (256) 760-6559, use social media or text a tip to 274637 using the keyword FPDTIP along with the message. Alabama Senator Richard Shelby announced Friday that the U.S. Department of Transportation is awarding a highway infrastructure improvement grant to the City of Decatur. "The funding will allow for much-needed improvements and enhancements to the current infrastructure in Decatur, Shelby said. As Alabamas transportation needs evolve, it is important that we find ways to support rapid growth, especially in rural areas." The $14,222,671 in federal funding will be used to construct an overpass bridge at the intersection of State Route 20 and Bibb Garrett Road. The project also includes ramps, a new access road, better lighting for highways and pedestrian safety accommodations. The grant is intended to help in bridging the gap between Decatur and other employment hubs in Alabama, Shelby said. The creation of a Highway 20 overpass and exchange is the catalyst of growth and change our city has been striving to achieve, Decatur's mayor, Tab Bowling, said. The 40th annual Spirit of Christmas Past Homes and Luminary Tour in Huntsville has been rescheduled due to inclement weather from Saturday, December 8 to Saturday, December 15 from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. The event will feature lit streets, music and tours of First Methodist Church and four private homes. For more information, click HERE. (CNN) -- This year was full of discovery throughout the cosmos. We were dazzled by beautiful images from space telescopes; marveled at the discovery of planets, stars and objects; were intrigued by a lunar mystery solved by missing Apollo mission data; and saw the first confirmed image of the birth of a planet. Things were just waiting to be found in our own corner of the universe, like 12 new moons around Jupiter, Earth-like characteristics on Pluto and a possible super-Earth orbiting a neighboring star. More studies suggested water on Mars and the moon. And astronomers found the fastest-growing black hole ever. Of course, speculation abounded over where signs of life may be found outside Earth. Here are some of the most amazing discoveries and space happenings of 2018. 'Oumuamua and other interstellar visitors Although it's been over a year since a cigar-shaped object came rapidly tumbling through our solar system, we learned even more about this interstellar visitor in 2018. The object, nicknamed 'Oumuamua, was discovered in October 2017 by the Pan-STARRS 1 telescope in Hawaii. The name is Hawaiian for "a messenger that reaches out from the distant past." Studies based on the observations made during its "flyby" have deemed it a new class of cometary interstellar object, although researchers are still debating how the long, dark-red object accelerated. The surface of it looked like a comet's core, but it didn't have a "coma," the atmosphere and dust around comets as they melt and release gases. And this year, Harvard researchers mentioned in a research paper that it was possibly a probe sent from an ancient civilization -- although other experts were skeptical of this suggestion. Meanwhile, an interstellar immigrant that originated outside our solar system was found hiding around Jupiter in May. The exo-asteroid, named 2015 BZ509, was captured by the gas giant's orbit during the early days of our solar system 4.5 billion years ago. It moves in a retrograde orbit around Jupiter and serves as a warning to other "visitors." " 'Oumuamua is a visitor to the solar system," said Helena Morais, study author and professor of statistics at Sao Paulo State University in Brazil. "That was a nice and important confirmation that interstellar objects can pass by. If they pass by, then they may also be captured in a stable orbit, as it is the case of 2015 BZ509." Repeating fast radio bursts from space The only known repeating fast radio burst in the universe keeps sporadically flaring. These radio flashes usually last a millisecond and have unknown physical origin. People love to believe that they're from an advanced extraterrestrial civilization, and this hypothesis hasn't been ruled out entirely by researchers at Breakthrough Listen, a scientific research program dedicated to finding evidence of intelligent life in the universe. The newest detections allowed researchers to discover that the radio bursts themselves are polarized and coming from an environment that contains an incredibly strong magnetic field. They were also able to detect the radio bursts at a higher frequency than ever. The radio burst itself releases a "monstrous" amount of energy in each millisecond, comparable to what our sun releases in an entire day, the researchers said. So is it coming from a black hole, a powerful nebula or a neutron star? Or is it something else? Only time, and more detections, will tell. "We can not rule out completely the ET hypothesis for the FRBs in general," said University of California, Berkeley, postdoctoral fellow Vishal Gajjar of Breakthrough Listen and the Berkeley SETI Research Center. 'Ghost particle' from space found on Earth For the first time, scientists were able to trace the origins of a ghostly subatomic particle that traveled 3.7 billion light-years to Earth. The tiny, high-energy cosmic particle is called a neutrino, and it was found by sensors deep in the Antarctic ice in the IceCube detector. The discovery was announced in July. Scientists and observatories around the world were able to trace the neutrino to a galaxy with a supermassive, rapidly spinning black hole at its center, known as a blazar. "What we've found is not only the first evidence of a neutrino source, but also evidence that this galaxy is a cosmic ray accelerator," Gary Hill, a study co-author, associate professor at the University of Adelaide's School of Physical Sciences and member of the IceCube collaboration, said in a statement. "I have been working in this field for almost 30 years and to find an actual neutrino source is an incredibly exciting moment. Now that we've identified a real source, we'll be able to focus in on other objects like this one, to understand more about these extreme events billions of years ago which set these particles racing towards our planet." Scientists say the discovery heralds a new era of space research, allowing the use of these particles to study and observe the universe in an unprecedented way. And the finding suggests that scientists will be able to track the origin of mysterious cosmic rays for the first time. A combination of observations and data across the electromagnetic spectrum, provided by observatories on Earth and in space, makes this a prime example of how "multimessenger" astronomy is helping make discoveries possible. Multimessenger astronomy also contributed to the discovery of the neutron star collision that created light, gravitational waves and gold in October 2017. Why is Tabby's Star flickering? More than 1,000 light-years away, there is a star that has been baffling astronomers since it was first observed in data collected by the Kepler mission. It's now largely known as Tabby's Star, named for Tabetha Boyajian, a Louisiana State University Department of Physics and Astronomy assistant professor. For no obvious reason, Tabby's Star has been dimming and brightening in strange and unpredictable ways. It has dimmed for a few days or a week at a time. And then there's the fact that it grew fainter over the past century. It's an F star, which is supposed to maintain constant brightness. So what was causing the dips in light? Hint: not an alien megastructure. That theory has been debunked by the latest data set released in January. "Dust is most likely the reason why the star's light appears to dim and brighten," Boyajian said. "The new data shows that different colors of light are being blocked at different intensities. Therefore, whatever is passing between us and the star is not opaque, as would be expected from a planet or alien megastructure." If anyone feels disappointed that the main culprit is most likely dust, rather than an alien megastructure, Boyajian offers this: "This is definitely something new and exciting. Even if it is dust, what kind of dust does this?" Kepler and Dawn come to an end The week bridging October and November saw the end of two landmark NASA missions: Dawn and Kepler. Both mission conclusions were expected, and they ran out of fuel within two days of each other. Kepler, a nine-year planet-hunting mission, discovered 2,899 exoplanet candidates and 2,681 confirmed exoplanets in our galaxy, revealing that our solar system isn't the only home for planets. Kepler allowed astronomers to discover that 20% to 50% of the stars we can see in the night sky are likely to have small, rocky, Earth-size planets within their habitable zones -- which means liquid water could pool on the surface, and life as we know it could exist on these planets. Dawn's 11-year mission sent it on a 4.3 billion-mile journey to two of the largest objects in our solar system's main asteroid belt. Dawn visited Vesta and Ceres, becoming the first spacecraft to orbit two deep-space destinations. Vesta and Ceres are considered to be like time capsules from the beginning of our solar system. The experiments Dawn carried out enabled astronomers to look at the different ways Vesta and Ceres formed and evolved, as well as revealing that dwarf planets can also host oceans. New beginnings for new missions Although we bid farewell to historic missions, 2018 was an exciting time for groundbreaking new ones to launch. NASA's TESS, InSight and Parker Solar Probe all had successful launches this year and are already sending back new science, with the promise of discoveries in 2019. TESS, a planet-hunting satellite, launched in April. The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite is NASA's next mission in the search for exoplanets, or those that are outside our solar system, and TESS will be on the lookout for planets that could support life. It picked up where Kepler left off. TESS will survey an area 400 times larger than what Kepler observed. NASA expects TESS to allow for the cataloging of more than 1,500 exoplanets, but it has the potential to find thousands. These exoplanets will be studied so that NASA can determine which are the best targets for missions like the James Webb Space Telescope. The Mars InSight lander launched in May and landed on the Red Planet on November 26. The lander is already sending back photos and will begin science operations after a few months, when all of its instruments are on the surface. It will be the first lander to investigate the deep interior of Mars. This will tell us not only about the history of Mars but about other rocky planets in our solar system like Earth. The Parker Solar Probe, named for pioneering astrophysicist Eugene Parker, launched in August and has come closer to the sun than any spacecraft. This is the agency's first mission to the sun and its outermost atmosphere, the corona. The mission will last seven years and provide data to answer key questions about the sun. The observations and data could provide insight about the physics of stars, change what we know about the mysterious corona, increase understanding of solar wind and help improve forecasting of major space weather events. And OSIRIS-REx, NASA's first asteroid sample return mission, just reached the asteroid Bennu after traveling through space for two years. Red Planet rovers In June, the Curiosity rover found organic matter in Martian soil samples taken from 3 billion-year-old mudstone and detected methane in the atmosphere. "With these new findings, Mars is telling us to stay the course and keep searching for evidence of life," said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters. "I'm confident that our ongoing and planned missions will unlock even more breathtaking discoveries on the Red Planet." And while Curiosity has had another great year of photos and science on the Red Planet, it's been a sad one for the Opportunity rover. On May 30, a dust storm began on Mars. By mid-June, the storm became "planet-encircling." Although Curiosity was largely unaffected, Opportunity was stranded in the dark and has maintained radio silence ever since. NASA is hoping that winds will knock dust off of Oppy's solar panels so she can recharge and start communicating again. Until then, all they can do is try paging her each day with the hope of a response. And in November, NASA selected the landing site for the next Martian mission: the Mars 2020 rover. Is that an exomoon? In October, astronomers announced the discovery of what could be an exomoon, a moon outside our solar system. The exomoon, which is estimated to be the size of Neptune, was found in orbit around a gigantic gas planet 8,000 light-years from Earth. This would be the first exomoon ever found. Although moons are common in our solar system, which has nearly 200 natural satellites, the long search for interstellar moons has been an empty one. Astronomers have had success locating exoplanets around stars outside our solar system, but exomoons are harder to pinpoint because of their smaller size. The scientists behind this discovery are hesitant to confirm that the new find is an exomoon due to some of its peculiarities and the fact that more observation is needed. However, the finding is both promising and intriguing. The moon, which orbits a giant exoplanet called Kepler-1625b, is incredibly large, comparable to the size of the gas giant Neptune in our solar system. There's no analog for such a large moon in our own system. In our sky, it would appear two times bigger than Earth's moon, the researchers said. Christa McAuliffe's lessons finally taught Christa McAuliffe never got to realize her dream of teaching from space. The 37-year-old social studies teacher from Boston was selected above nearly 11,000 educators as the primary candidate for the first Teacher in Space Mission. But the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after launching on January 28, 1986, taking McAuliffe's life and those of the six astronauts aboard. McAuliffe's lessons have remained untaught and forgotten, until now. Astronauts filmed some of her original lessons on the International Space Station, continuing McAuliffe's legacy 32 years after they were planned. It's fitting that the two astronauts, Joe Acaba and Ricky Arnold, are both former educators. The lessons touch on liquids in zero gravity, Newton's laws, effervescence (bubbles or fizz in liquid) and chromatography, or the separation of a mixture. The first of McAuliffe's lessons has been completed, and the lesson plans are available through the Challenger Center's website. "Filming Christa McAuliffe's lessons in orbit this year is an incredible way to honor and remember her and the Challenger crew," said Mike Kincaid, associate administrator for NASA's Office of Education. "Developed with such care and expertise by Christa, the value these lessons will have as new tools available for educators to engage and inspire students in science, technology, education and math is what will continue to advance a true legacy of Challenger's mission." Life could be on these water worlds Last year, astronomers announced that ocean worlds like Jupiter's moon Europa and Saturn's Enceladus may be the best chance for finding life outside Earth in our solar system. Both are icy with subsurface oceans. Now, the discovery of complex organic molecules in plumes that rise from Enceladus' subsurface ocean further suggests that the moon could support life as we know it. And old data from NASA's Galileo mission to Jupiter in 1997 revealed some of the best observations to date that plumes of water vapor and icy materials erupt from a literal hot spot on Europa. NASA plans to further explore ocean worlds in our solar system through the Europa Clipper mission, the first to explore an alien ocean. The Europa Clipper, named for the innovative, streamlined ships of the 1800s, will launch in the 2020s and arrive at Europa after a few years. Europa Clipper's instruments will be capable of "sniffing" the atmosphere of Europa, with more than 40 planned flybys. The flybys will be less than 228 miles above the surface, in the observed range of the plumes, which can reach 124 to 228 miles above the surface. And although the Cassini mission made close flybys of Enceladus before coming to an end in 2017, proposals for missions to further study Enceladus have been submitted to NASA. Detecting complex organic molecules in its plumes needs further investigation, researchers said. "Specific identification of these organic compounds is the next step in our search for life in Enceladus' ocean," said Hunter Waite, program director at the Southwest Research Institute and Cassini's Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer principal investigator. "The complexity of the organic compounds identified was beyond our wildest expectations: nonsoluble complex organics floating as a film on an alien ocean. Wrap your head around that." Students at Virginia College are scrambling to figure out their next steps after the school announced it will be shutting its doors next week. WAAY 31 talked to some students and found out many of them are single parents who went back to school with the hopes of giving their children a better life. "That was my whole motive to make a better life for my kids and now that's all been taken away from me," said Raqueal Hamlett. Instead, what most of them got is a bunch of debt and no degree. "My son this morning, he said 'Mama, your school is on TV", you know, and I'm like 'Mama won't be going to school anymore,' and he's like 'Why mama?'" said Hamlett. This is the question Hamlett and her fellow Virginia College classmates have after learning the Huntsville campus is closing. The school sent students a letter Wednesday telling them they'll close next week. They won't get refunds and they have to find somewhere to transfer their credits. With just five months left in her program, Hamlett is left frustrated. "You've put a damper on so many peoples lives, because so many people wanted to come to school. They want to make it better. They want to do this. They want to make it better." After her husband died, Hamlett enrolled in school paying $3,000 out of pocket and leaving her full-time job for a part-time job all to make a better life. Her classmate, Katharane Edwards, also made huge sacrifices to return to the classroom. "We had to take out a loan and so that I could come here, and I couldn't find a job to work with my hours so I couldn't work, and eventually we had to move back in with my parents." Both Hamlett and Edwards are still processing the news and figuring out what to do next. "I don't know how much more I can take because it's like every time you turn around when you make 10 steps forward, you make 20 backwards and I'm so close to the end and that's what hurts me so much," said Hamlett. Not only are the students affected by the sudden closure, but the teachers are too. Many of them learned they would not receive severance packages they had been promised. Education Corporation of America, which is based in Birmingham and owns Virginia College, posted information on its website. It said Virginia College and its other for-profit schools lost their accreditation on Tuesday. Rome city council invites residents to report sightings of starlings. Rome city council has issued a starling hotline as part of its efforts to move the birds away from the centre of the capital. Residents can report "murmurations" of starlings in Rome by calling the dedicated number - 800904113 - between 15.30 and 17.30 from Monday to Friday. In addition, the city's sanitation and refuse collection agency AMA Roma has activated a special starling unit dedicated to removing the birds' droppings, or guano, from the streets of the capital. The city recently drafted in falcons to move some of the wintering starlings - whose numbers are estimated anywhere between 1.5 and four million - away from centre of Rome. Photo RAI News Fire destroys Giulio Passami l'Olio in central Rome. A fire broke out during the night of 6 December at Giulio Passami l'Olio, a well-known wine bar and restaurant on Via Monte Giordano, in the historic centre of the capital. The fire was extinguished by firefighters who arrived quickly on the scene, and there was nobody injured in the incident. Police believe the blaze broke out around 40 minutes after the restaurant closed, possibly due to an air conditioner overheating in the kitchen. American marching bands and cheerleaders celebrate New Year's Day in Rome. Some of America's best-known high school marching bands will stage a free, family-orientated parade in central Rome on 1 January to celebrate New Year's Day.The 13th edition of the annual event involves a dozen American marching bands joining forces with renowned Italian musical folk groups to perform alongside majorettes, street performers and dancers, starting in Piazza del Popolo at 15.30. The parade runs along Via del Corso, Via dei Condotti, Piazza di Spagna, Via del Babuino, Via di Ripetta, Piazza Augusto Imperatore, Via del Corso and comes back to Piazza del Popolo for a grand finale. The 2.5-hour extravaganza, which will also feature giant helium balloons, is bookended by a series of concerts in Rome and Frascati in the days either side of the main event on 1 January 2019.For full details see website or Facebook page Even after todays rebound, the price is 25 percent lower than two months ago, he said. There is room for oil prices to continue to bounce into the early months of the new year. However, a full recovery to where oil prices were two months ago is most likely to be in the second half of 2019. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington, shown in 2011. (NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images) The U.S. economy added 155,000 jobs in November, missing expectations for more robust growth, and the unemployment rate stayed at a 49-year low of 3.7 percent, federal economists reported Friday. But hiring has remained strong overall as 2018 wraps up. American employers have added more than 200,000 jobs in four of the past six months, even in the face of economic curveballs such as trade tensions, jittery markets and hurricanes. Construction saw a steep slowdown in November, said Martha Gimbel, research director for the Hiring Lab at Indeed, an employment website. Growth dropped from 24,000 jobs in October to last months 5,000. One sectors volatility shouldnt cast a shadow over the promising broader trends, she said. 155,000 is not the number people were dreaming about, Gimbel said, but its a perfectly solid number. Analysts predict that payroll growth in 2018 is still on track to beat the previous years average monthly gains of 182,000 positions and could surpass 2016s average monthly increase of 195,000. Most measures of the U.S. economy have been holding up quite nicely, said Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst at Bankrate, a personal-finance website. The question is: How much slowing is there on the horizon? [Under Trump, the jobs boom has finally reached blue-collar workers. Will it last?] Some economists worry that 2018s growth pace isnt sustainable next year with such a tight labor market. The unemployment rate reached 3.7 percent in September and has since held at that level. Employers complain that a talent shortage is thwarting their growth plans, asserting that it is increasingly difficult to find people with the right skills. Thats good news for employees, though. Heightened competition seems to be driving up wages after years of lagging since the Great Recession. The Labor Departments October jobs report showed that the typical workers earnings had grown by 3.1 percent in the past year the biggest jump since 2009. Wage growth stuck to that rate in November. Some of that increase, however, is being eaten up by inflation, which has also ticked up this year. Health care, professional services, and transportation and warehousing work tied to online shopping have led the recent hiring spree, and manufacturing has seen unusually high levels of growth, with an increase of 288,000 jobs over the past year. Production jobs in durable goods washing machines, refrigerators, microwaves, air conditioners has fueled much of that upswing, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), suggesting people have more money to spend on big-ticket items. Were in a really good spot if you ask me, Larry Kudlow, the presidents top economic adviser, said on CNBC after the jobs report surfaced. Were getting tremendous increases in growth. The smaller-than-expected gains in November shouldnt trigger concern, Jamie Dimon, chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, said in a Friday call with reporters. That may just be a bump in the road, he said. Still, some economists caution that not every worker is reaping the benefits. Labor leaders say wage growth among service workers is lacking. Some blame declining union membership and the rise of subcontractors, which have cramped pay and access to paid time off and health insurance. Service workers dont have the leverage to take advantage of tight labor markets, said AFL-CIO chief economist Bill Spriggs. Employment in the private sector looked generally healthy in November, payrolls processor ADP reported Thursday, with employers recording 179,000 new positions. (Octobers ADP count was revised down to 225,000 from 227,000.) The overall number was a fall from the 237,000 new positions added in October, per the latest BLS figures, which largely made up for jobs lost during Hurricane Florences brutal September run through the Carolinas. President Trump celebrated the recovery, telling reporters last month, That was shocking for a number of people, and that was a tremendous number by any standard. The trade war with Beijing, however, continues to rattle investors. Though Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping appeared to reach a temporary truce during their dinner in Argentina last weekend Trump agreed to hold off on a tariff increase scheduled to take effect Jan. 1 reports Wednesday that a prominent Chinese executive had been arrested in Canada at the United States request have dampened optimism around negotiations. Trade tensions are starting to eat at business confidence, said Lindsey Piegza, chief economist at the financial-services company Stifel. Weve seen a pullback in terms of investment. Businesses are starting to question whether they do want to take on that additional hire. Meanwhile, Trumps tariffs have not shrunk the U.S. trade deficit. That gap hit $55.5 billion in October, a 10-year high, new Commerce Department data showed Thursday. Plunging soybean exports to China played a role sales of the crop overall fell by $800 million. Heather Long contributed to this report. Todays Headlines The most important news stories of the day, curated by Post editors and delivered every morning. Email address By signing up you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy The main reason champagne is the ne plus ultra of bubbly is the way it is made, with a second fermentation occurring in bottle to give the wine its sparkle. This method is used around the world, and often noted on the label as the champagne method, traditional method or methode traditionnelle. Other wines are artificially carbonated in the tank following the alcoholic fermentation. Italys prosecco is the most successful of this style. Really cheap American fizz seems to inject more headaches into the wine than bubbles. White Christmas, like a lot of holiday classics that get replayed on your TV every year, has an awful lot of meanwhile. Moments wherein we, the viewers, are forced to encounter our countrys complicated history, right alongside medleys of our most cherished songs sung by our most beloved stars. An awful lot of moments that get so much right, but meanwhile getting so much wrong. In the same way that Baby, Its Cold Outside is now dragged as a ballad of rape culture but meanwhile, it remains compulsively hummable. Officials with the Save Our Vote coalition have deployed more than 100 signature collectors outside supermarkets, government buildings, bars and even dog parks to pull off what seems like an insurmountable task. They are paying circulators $3.75 a signature with the possibility of more, quadruple the standard rate. Workers have been working around the clock in a Northwest D.C. house since last Thursday, verifying that signatures belong to registered D.C. voters. Twenty years ago, few people cared that teenagers who might benefit from a college-level course and test werent getting the opportunity to take them. Many average students were warned away from the AP test, even though they were going to college. When I pointed out to a principal in affluent Shawnee Mission, Kan., that fewer than half of his AP U.S. History students took the test, he said that wasnt important. They still scored high on standardized tests such as the ACT, he said. He preferred that test-score measure in which success is closely related to family income. Tajideen admitted in the plea agreement to engaging in up to $1 billion in transactions cleared through the U.S. financial system that were barred under sanctions laws and wiring at least $30 million to unwitting U.S. vendors for what Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Gillice has said were purchases of poultry and grains and an order for small safes from a California company. It was one of the central questions debated before a federal judge in Maryland on Friday as Ocean City officials defended their ban on bare female chests at the beach. The hearing in U.S. District Court in Baltimore was the latest in the legal battle between the popular resort destination which says it wants to protect its family-friendly image and a Maryland woman who says the ban violates equal-protection laws. A U.S. judge ordered the Justice and State departments Thursday to reopen an inquiry into whether Hillary Clinton used a private email server while secretary of state to deliberately evade public records laws and to answer whether the agencies acted in bad faith by not telling a court for months that they had asked in mid-2014 for missing emails to be returned. View this post on Instagram Macros of this weeks Strain of the week Deadhead OG from @followculta. This strain is great for pain relief, stress, depression and tons more! Deadhead is perfect for daytime use and will give you a little spark of energy and joy. :@joeycreel Defense attorneys rested their case Thursday after a long delay involving their last witness, Joshua Matthews, who was among the last people to spend time with Fields in the minutes leading up to the crash. Matthews, who was held in contempt for failing to show up to court on time, testified that he drove to Charlottesville to attend Unite the Right and met Fields and two other rallygoers that afternoon. By then, chaos had erupted downtown between white supremacists and counterprotesters, a state of emergency had been declared and the rally had been canceled before it was scheduled to begin. This story has been updated. A 20-year-old woman was fatally shot Friday morning in Alexandria, police said. At around 9:45 a.m., officers responded to the 5500 block of Holmes Run Parkway for the report of a shooting, Alexandria police said in a statement. They found a woman on the street with an upper-body injury, and she was taken to a hospital, where she died, the statement said. The woman was identified by police as Diamond Moore, 20, of Alexandria. Police are asking anyone with information to contact them at 703-746-6689. This is the fourth killing in Alexandria in 2018, according to police. Speaking at the first ever meeting of the Vietnam-Belarus Business Council and the Vietnam-Belarus Business Forum, Belarus Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food Igor Brylo said Vietnam is a traditional trade partner for his country in Asia. The 2016 free trade agreement between the Eurasian Economic Union and Vietnam has boosted investment and trade between the two countries significantly, he said. Vo Tan Thanh, Director of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industrys HCM City office, said last year bilateral trade rose 7% to US$101 million. The two countries are making efforts to increase the figure to US$500 million as agreed by their governments, he said. In 2016 Belarusian-Vietnamese joint venture MAZ Asia, Belaruss first investment in this country, was licensed in the northern province of Hung Yen. It has finished the construction of a plant and expects to produce 1,500 Maz trucks a year in the first phase, Thanh said. Belarus firms also plan to invest in several other projects in manufacturing and dairy and set up a bus assembly plant in Vietnam, he said. As the countrys economic hub, HCM City is a promising location for Belarusian businesses, he said. Denis Nikolaev, trade counsellor at the Belarusian embassy, said his country has set up joint production plants in Vietnam, transferred technology and trained human resources. Belarus is willing to shift from pure sales of goods to Vietnam to technology transfer and setting up joint production plants, Brylo said. Besides, Vietnam could act as a gateway for Belarus to enter ASEAN markets, while his country could be one of the gateways for Vietnamese goods such as seafood, tea, coffee, and others to penetrate the Eurasian Economic Union, he said. Andrei Shakhanovich, deputy chairman of the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said 60 leading businesses, which are showcasing their products at the 2018 Vietnam Expo in HCM City and participating in the forum, hope to find new partners in HCM City. We promise to make more efforts to promote cooperation between businesses of the two countries. Nguyen Quang Hung, chairman of the Vietnam-Belarus Council, expressed the hope that many Vietnamese and Belarusian firms would explore trade, investment, science and technology, and tourism opportunities. The council will be a good channel for dialogue between businesses and government agencies of the two sides, he said. Furthermore, the council will help to find solutions to the difficulties faced by enterprises doing business in the other country, he said. The event was organised by the VCCI and the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The report, released Friday by the Virginia Chamber Foundation, said operations of the Amazon offices alone will produce an estimated annual $6.4 billion from 2019 to 2030, supporting an average 27,928 jobs each year in the region. The total impact, which includes spinoff businesses and those that arise to serve the new employees, will be more than twice that, the report said. That project also faced a setback Friday, as three judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit issued a stay against a permit from the Fish and Wildlife Service regulating that pipelines impact on endangered species. The court had earlier found that the permit was hastily issued, and it granted the stay at the request of environmental groups so the new permits can be more closely reviewed. It is on these slopes of the Rocky Mountains that the U.S. Forest Service would pioneer a novel approach to rid forests of the detritus from epidemic levels of beetle infestations that wiped out 38,000 square miles of trees an area larger than the state of Maine. Whats left fuels historic wildfires, prevents wildlife and cattle from finding forage, threatens to topple onto campsites and slows regeneration of trees needed to sustain the beleaguered timber industry. Shooting leaves man dead, officer injured: A single gunshot critically injured a police officer and killed another man Thursday as the two struggled after the officer responded to a report of a disturbance at a dentist office about 25 miles southeast of Atlanta, authorities said. Henry County police officer Michael Smith was in critical condition Thursday afternoon, a Georgia Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman said. Smith responded to a 911 call and began talking with Dimaggio McNelly, 53, of McDonough, Ga. The officer fired his stun gun multiple times, but it had no effect. The gunshot was fired from the officer's gun as the two struggled after McNelly lunged at the officer, the spokeswoman said. It wasn't immediately clear which man pulled the trigger. He alone created the violence and he alone bears the responsibility for his course of action, Ayub said. He went there with a plan and a purpose and that was to take innocent lives. The burden lies solely with him, not those who tried to save lives, those who tried to escape and certainly not with those who died while simply trying to enjoy an evening with friends. That is a risk on both sides of the negotiating table. The hostile reaction of other E.U. member states to the United Kingdoms insistence on separation is understandable. But they must set aside their hurt feelings and balance their concerns over others leaving. They must concentrate on their long-term self-interest. The E.U. will be significantly diminished by the departure of the United Kingdom, which has the second-largest economy of the E.U. member states and one of the largest military forces, and it is an international power of long standing. The E.U. has special, unique relationships with Norway, Switzerland and Canada. It is difficult to understand why it cant have one with the United Kingdom. It turns out that Bradford, who had no criminal record, was not one of the men who were arguing and had nothing to do with the original shooting. When the officer encountered him, Bradford was trying to lead bystanders to safety; he was legally armed with a handgun, though some witnesses have said the weapon was holstered. According to an independent autopsy conducted at the behest of Bradfords family, the officer shot him three times from the rear in the back, neck and head. For too long, Congress has failed to act in a meaningful way to combat the threat posed by climate change. Powerful special interests have a stranglehold on many of my Republican colleagues; some GOP legislators even refuse to acknowledge that climate change is happening. So despite the immense size of the problem, despite wildfires that sweep through the West and hurricanes that grow more powerful over the years, real action on climate change has been stymied by the denialism of the president and too many Republicans in Congress. While notable progress was made during the Obama administration to stimulate renewable-energy technology and fashion international agreements to reduce carbon emissions, the Trump administration has shamefully undone much of that progress and appears unwilling to take any new steps to combat climate change. Worst of all, the administration is pulling the United States out of the Paris climate accord, giving a green light to countries such as China and India to increase carbon emissions by unacceptable amounts. Khashoggi became a vulnerable target after he visited the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul in September to obtain papers for his fiancee. He was told to return the following week to complete the paperwork. Meanwhile, according to two Saudi sources, Qahtani helped gather a circle of intelligence and military operatives who were trusted by the royal court. The team sent to Istanbul was commanded by Maher Mutreb, a general involved in intelligence work who had been detailed to the royal court and was responsible for MBSs communications security when he traveled abroad. A senior Saudi official told me Thursday that Qahtani was currently banned from traveling and is under custody as announced Nov. 15 by the Saudi public prosecutor. The public record establishes definitively that Khalid bin Salman participated in the coverup of the Khashoggi slaying, which the CIA says was almost certainly ordered by his brother. The ambassador also may have played a part in the murder plot itself. Several news organizations, including The Post and the Wall Street Journal, have reported that the ambassador directed Mr. Khashoggi, who lived in Virginia, to visit the consulate in Istanbul to obtain a document he needed for a planned marriage, and assured him he would be safe there. Khalid bin Salman denied the reports. But, as already has been thoroughly established, he has no compunction about lying. And in one of his own statements, he said he had maintained regular contact with Mr. Khashoggi when he was in Washington. For the Chinese, its unthinkable that the U.S. government could be operating on two different tracks regarding the same basic issue. But thats what happened this week, officials told me. While trade negotiations commenced on the political level, U.S. law enforcement was already working on the Meng arrest, and it happened to play out at roughly the same time. If at this point you think I am painting a fantasy of a world that never existed, let me give you a vivid example. On the Titanics maiden voyage, its first-class cabins were filled with the Forbes 400 of the age. As the ship began to sink and it became clear there were not enough lifeboats for everyone, something striking took place. As Wyn Wade recounts, the men let the women and children board the boats. In first class, about 95 percent of the women and children were saved, compared with only about 30 percent of the men. While, of course, first-class passengers had easier access to the boats, the point remains that some of the worlds most powerful men followed an unwritten code of conduct, even though it meant certain death for them. It was also a dark day for U.S. diplomacy and its traditional support for democratic values, now an occasional afterthought for the Trump administration. The State Department said the United States had worked diligently for a compromise that would allow CEU to remain in Hungary. As The Posts Griff Witte reported last week, the U.S. ambassador to Hungary, David B. Cornstein, an 80-year-old New Yorker who made a fortune in the jewelry, gambling and telemarketing industries, and who boasts of a longtime friendship with President Trump, initially tried to push Hungary for a compromise. But Mr. Orban rebuffed his efforts at which point t he ambassador obtusely described the conflict as little more than a grudge match between Mr. Orban and Mr. Soros. It had to do with two men, Mr. Cornstein said. It doesnt have anything to do with academic freedom. Then, he perniciously cast the blame on Mr. Soros, comparing the universitys situation to his experience owning jewelry shops within a department store. I was a guest in another guys store, he said. The university is in another country. It would pay to work with the government. Rather than focus on the questions of whether and when someone deserves to get back the right to vote, as we have for decades, we need to oppose the very idea that government should be able to take away this fundamental right in the first place. We must resist any effort to tinker with the current lifetime ban on voting by amending it to separate people convicted of felonies into politically defined classes, or to amend the language to constitutionalize barriers to voting such as required repayment of court costs, fines and fees essentially a modern-day poll tax. All citizens should be able to use their right to vote. Full citizenship means having a voice in government. This segment of the party believes we are not going to get anything under Trump, so lets stand for something, said the aide, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the record. But when we are saying that, its really hard for other members to do something short of that. Trump announced his endorsement of the measure last month and has pushed McConnell in private conversations to put the bill up on the Senate floor for a vote. Yet Trumps advocacy has not changed the calculus for McConnell, who faces reelection in 2020, the people familiar with the majority leaders comments said. And some of the bills supporters say they wish the president would do more like pressure senators on Twitter or make more frequent and forceful public comments on the legislation. Kilimnik, who is believed to be in Russia, has been charged by Muellers office with conspiring with Manafort to obstruct the investigation into Manaforts work in Ukraine. According to the new filing, Manafort pleaded guilty to conspiring with Kilimnik in an effort to compel witnesses in Muellers probe to give false testimony, only to deny it in a post-plea interview, before reversing himself again and conceding that his plea was truthful. If this investigation finds proof of illegal activity on either side to such a level that it could have changed the outcome of the election, then I would wholeheartedly support a new election to ensure all voters have confidence in the results Harris said in the video. It was the primary donor to Red and Gold, a super PAC that was active in the Arizona Senate primaries attacking Republicans. It was the main giver to Highway 31, contributing $3.1 million of the $4.5 million the super PAC spent to help Democrat Doug Jones win the Alabama Senate race in 2017. In both cases, the super PACs were structured so that donors would not be disclosed until after the election. Late in the afternoon at the presidential library on the campus of Texas A&M University, with Bushs family, now led by his son, former president George W. Bush, looking on, his casket was lowered into the ground alongside his wife of 73 years, Barbara Bush, who died in April, and their daughter Robin, who died of leukemia in 1953 at age 3. Though Congress avoided a partial government shutdown Friday with a bill funding the government for two more weeks, lawmakers and Trump are still battling over how much border security funding to provide as the president continues to press for more money through public comments and his Twitter feed. Backers of the criminal justice bill also want to send the measure to Trump by the end of the year, before the Democratic-led House is sworn in and potentially demands more far-reaching changes that would be anathema to the Republican-led Senate. Comey and Mueller, both veterans of the Justice Department, have known each other for more than a decade and have said they respect one another, but associates of both men say they are not personal friends and did not socialize outside work functions. Both men were registered Republicans for most of their adult lives. Nonetheless, the resolution secured an unprecedented 63 votes last week to clear an opening procedural hurdle, and if it remains largely unchanged, is expected to sustain enough support to proceed past the Senate, according to both its supporters and critics. But odds are lawmakers will not be able to force House leaders to give it a vote before the end of the year and there is nothing preventing Trump from vetoing the measure. Based on what I have read, I am very concerned that voter fraud did occur, Kobach, the Kansas secretary of state, said in a telephone interview with The Washington Post. He said it was unclear whether the alleged wrongdoing was broad enough to change the outcome of the election. A quarter-century of vicious conflict, triggered by spillover from the Rwandan genocide in 1994, has been accompanied by deprivations of food, medicine and shelter that have shattered North Kivus society. Amid the widespread trauma and desperation, foreign companies have continued to extract the regions extensive mineral wealth, often paying protection money to armed groups, stoking the conflict. The U.N. peacekeeping mission established in 1999 and now the most expensive in the world has been the target of violent protests over its perceived ineffectiveness. Suspicion of outsiders is common and rooted in history. China has more incentive than the U.S. to stop the escalation, said Yanmei Xie, an analyst at the Gavekal Dragonomics consultancy in Beijing. The Chinese priority is to stop the U.S. from launching crippling sanctions against Huawei. If the U.S. does what it did to ZTE, theres very little China can do to prevent Huawei from collapsing, and thats not in Chinas interest. The miners say they are worth it. The work is dangerous. Methane levels must be constantly monitored. The miners don special garb to avoid the slightest chance of a spark of static electricity. In the tunnels, the earth above is constantly shifting and buckling. In May, five people died in a neighboring mine after a tremor: two were drowned, two were crushed by timbers, and one was cut in half. Grabon was part of the rescue effort. In Kramp-Karrenbauer, she gets a partner who shares both her outlook and her style. Last spring, Merkel tapped her to be general secretary the No. 2 job in the party in a move widely seen as an effort to groom her for national leadership. Before that, Kramp-Karrenbauer had been state premier in the tiny west German region of Saarland, where she was known for working across party lines and earned widespread approval. After nearly a month of weekend riots, the yellow vest movement originally launched as a response to a carbon tax designed to curb climate change has come to represent the most grave political crisis France has seen in years. The anger reached a fever pitch in Paris last weekend, when protesters burned cars, desecrated historical monuments and clashed with police in violent exchanges unseen since the upheavals of 1968. Earthquake strikes near Anchorage, Soyuz rocket blasts off from Kazakhstan, state funeral for former U.S. president George H.W. Bush and more images from around the world. Nov. 30, 2018 An aerial view of damage to a road, south of Wasilla, Alaska, after a magnitude-7 earthquake hit the Anchorage area. Photos: The scene after a powerful earthquake strikes near Anchorage Marc Lester/Anchorage Daily News/AP To address concerns that the immigrants would depress wages for Japanese workers, the new law stipulates they must be paid the same as their Japanese peers. But many other details including rules to prevent labor abuses remain to be fleshed out and are due to be specified in a Justice Ministry ordinance before the end of the year. It says a lot about Russias respect of international norms and standards, Dunford said during a Washington Post Live event. What took place in the Sea of Azov is consistent with a pattern of behavior that really goes back to Georgia, the Crimea and the Donbass in the Ukraine, he said, referring to Russias steps to assert itself beyond its borders over the past decade. The special counsels office wrote that Cohens lies to Congress obscured the fact that the Moscow Project was a lucrative business opportunity that sought, and likely required, the assistance of the Russian government, and that, if completed, the Trump Organization could have received hundreds of millions of dollars from Russian sources in licensing fees and other revenues. They noted, as Cohen had already admitted, that he and Trump discussed the project well into the campaign. Since Trump appointed Whitaker last month, the Justice Department has refused to say if he has consulted ethics officials, or plans to, about whether he should recuse himself from the Russia probe. Whitaker was publicly critical of the investigation before his appointment and has faced pressure, mostly from Democrats, not to take a supervisory role. The Old Timer Free Access Somebody wrote a letter to the editor of the Endeavor News last week about all of the kids who are... The Old Timer Free Access If you folks back in the Land of the Endless Mountains get some snow cover, Im sure everyone will be... The Old Timer Free Access Who says Friday the 13th is a silly superstition? It came a few days early for me when I did... The Old Timer Free Access The giant aircraft carriers that our Navy has today would look like rowboats when compared to Noahs Ark. Can you... Court limits on the governments ability to hold children in immigration jails and an acute shortage of detention space mean that most asylum seekers who arrive with children are processed and quickly released from custody, usually with a GPS tracking device and a court date with an immigration judge far into the future. Tillerson often said he woke up every morning worrying that a State Department employee would be harmed on his watch. That buttressed his conviction not to rush moving the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, saying it would take years to build a facility to adequately meet all the security needs of the workers. Trump wanted the relocation to take place much faster, and a small mission opened in East Jerusalem in May, weeks after Tillerson was canned. I like and respect Bill Barr. I know hes an institutionalist who cares deeply about the integrity of the Justice Department, so Im sure hell use standard career resources he has to judge what he should be involved in and shouldnt be involved in, said Comey, speaking on Capitol Hill. But Bill Barr is a talented person who was a good attorney general the first time. I liked him very much then. I think hell serve the Justice Department well. Nauerts first year on the job was frustrating, U.S. officials said, and she began to emerge only after Trump fired Tillerson by tweet. She marked her first anniversary in the position during her first foreign trip with a secretary of state, going to Toronto with John Sullivan, the deputy secretary of state who was acting as secretary until Mike Pompeo was confirmed. Mengs lawyer, David Martin, said she would not risk embarrassing her father or her country by fleeing before her extradition hearing. He also said Meng has family and two homes in Vancouver and that she would put up property as collateral and surrender her Chinese and Hong Kong passports. A landmark lawsuit to ban top executives at one of the nation's biggest wealth managers from managing superannuation funds has sent the $2.8 trillion industry reeling. In the wake of stinging criticism at the royal commission, the prudential regulator on Friday took its first court action against a superannuation company in ten years suing wealth manager IOOF and a suite of its top executives for allegedly not acting in the best interests of its superannuation members. The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) alleges that IOOF chief executive Chris Kelaher, chairman George Venardos along with three other executives are not fit and proper people to handle retirement savings due to their alleged lack of understanding of conflicts of interest within the group. Experts said the move signalled APRA's gloves were off after years of being a more soft-touch regulator of retirement savings. Loading The market is now questioning what this means for Bunnings and its customer base of weekend do-it-yourselfers and trade professionals, as houses change hands less often and fewer new housing constructions break ground. It will definitely be tested," says Raaz Bhuyan, a long-time Wesfarmers watcher and principal at investment manager Wavestone Capital. Given its large market share across categories, he says, Bunnings will struggle to maintain its previous levels of growth with the boost from Woolworths calling time on its failed rival Masters in late 2016 also having washed through. Thats why they went to the UK - if there was that much growth here in Australia they wouldnt have gone there." With the Bunnings UK and Ireland venture having turned into a disaster that burnt through $1.7 billion of investors' value, the company is now focused firmly on Australia and New Zealand. Bunnings' earnings were $1.5 billion last year, after growing at between 10 and 12 per cent over the past three years, while its return on capital last year was 49.4 per cent. That's compared with 32 per cent at Kmart and Target and 9 per cent at Coles. Its comparable sales - a measure that removes the impact of opening new stores - grew 7.8 per cent last year, and averaged 8 per cent annually between 2013 and 2017, growing market share and defying tepid growth across much of the retail sector. Maquarie analysts expect the slowing residential housing market to hit Bunnings' sales growth, and think it will fall to 3 per cent in 2021 - which will be the lowest level since 2011- while Citi expects sales to fall to 3.6 per cent next year and 3 per cent in 2020. Most retailers would be happy with 3 per cent," says Citi analyst Bryan Raymond. "But for Bunnings, which has consistently delivered high-single digit like-for-like growth, 3 per cent is a material change." Tough conditions Schneider joined Bunnings in 2005 and was elevated to head of Australia and New Zealand in 2016, while senior management was tied down with its unfolding disaster in the UK. Having landed the top job in May last year, he is now steering the business through what are arguably the toughest market conditions in a decade. He acknowledges Bunnings tight relationship with the housing cycle, but talks down the risk that softening prices poses to its business. What we see when houses are bought and sold is the work that goes into getting it ready for sale and the work the new owners put in once theyve purchased it, he says. When people aren't buying or selling homes as often, what we see is more activity around whats being done inside the home. The home is a great place to not only raise a family and live a great life, but its also a reasonably good investment vehicle over the long term, so we tend to see that shift from churn-based work to alterations and additions. For his part, Schneider predicts more of a correction than a crash in house prices. Even if the renovation market remains robust and Bunnings' aisles full, Citi's Raymond says shoppers will buy cheaper products as the value of their homes fall, which is what happened to American chains Home Depot and Lowes during the global financial crisis. "Theres always a need for people to go, for repair and maintenance of the home - the thing I consider the risk is consumers trading down," he says. Bunnings has started selling drones. Credit: Photo: AFP If your house is worth less year-on-year, youre less likely to invest in the most premium items to put in your home. Thats where the sales can swing around even for the likes of Bunnings." To keep the dial moving, Bunnings is expanding the types of products it stocks, to include not just hardware and outdoor living but also lifestyle solutions. Schneider gives a few examples: assisted living fittings for people living longer and wanting to stay in their own homes; kennels and equipment for pets; and indoor plants and decorative light fitting for renters wanting to put their own stamp on their home. Storage is another growth opportunity, with the trend towards more compact urban living creating demand for products that make better use of people's space. How people define DIY is changing, says Schneider. If youre renting a house, you can change the look of a room in an afternoon. Were just thinking about those sorts of things really sensibly, not just in terms of what product we sell but what problem are we trying to solve." Likewise, emerging technologies are opening up new categories. A DIY space in one of its Melbourne stores, for example, is being converted to showcase "smart home" automation products, such as lights and front-door intercoms controlled by smart phones. If you said two or three years ago will Bunnings sell drones, I would have said not a chance. But actually theyre a great product - you can watch a builder fly it up to a roof and check for cracks and things like that with no safety issues," he says. Loading The other hedge in its business Schneider points to, and wants to grow, is its share of the trade market, which he says is more resilient than DIYers when the housing market softens. And he feels particularly confident about his core trade customers - small operators who build one to five houses a year or work on extension and renovations - expecting them to fare better than those working on major developments. Bunnings knows that at least 35 per cent of its sales are to trade customers, and Schneider thinks he controls more than 50 per cent of his core, sole-trader builders spending. The share of other segments is much lower, like flooring, and especially plumbing, which is dominated by trade specialists Reece, Tradelink, and Swan Plumbing. Reece, the countrys largest plumbing supplies company, has grown its profit steadily over the past five years, with its net profit up 6.1 per cent to $224 million and its first-quarter results showed organic growth of about 6 per cent. The number two player Tradelink is owned by the joint listed Australian and New Zealand building materials group Fletcher Building - which has recently flagged a weaker outlook because of Australian housing. Theres quite a lot of opportunity for us to disrupt that market and grow, Schneider says. He said undercutting rivals on products like PVC piping and cement dont sound exciting but could lure more tradies its way, while Bunnings longer opening hours were already a drawcard. The push for more trade business will see Bunnings bump further up against the network of 680 independent Mitre 10, Home Timber & Hardware and True Value Hardware stores which wholesaler Metcash supplies. Those stores are more closely geared to trade customers, making up 65 per cent of sales compared to Bunnings' 35 per cent, and Metcash chief executive Jeff Adams says he is ready to respond to any attacks from Bunnings on price. We feel were in a pretty good place, but that doesnt mean people from time to time will do things to try to buy sales," Adam says. Our retailers, many of them have been in business for 20, 30, 50, 100 years - they have those relationships and relationships in that business mean a lot." About 35 per cent of sales in the Metcash network are to retail DIY customers, while only 5 per cent are from multi-dwelling or apartment construction - the segment Adam says will come off hardest. At Bunnings, Schneider says that newer innovations are helping it grow its trade customers. Bunnings has recently launched a self-checkout function for its trade customers, similar to that being trailed in some supermarkets and other retailers. It lets tradies scan each item they need with the Bunnings PowerPass app and then finalise the purchase in the Bunnings app. Its not the sort of thing wed have thought Bunnings would do but actually it has been fantastic, says Schneider. The feedback so far has been really positive. Tradies have always told us theyre time poor, and so queuing up is a pain - weve just taken that out. And for retail customers, Bunnings' anomalous position as a major retail without an online shopfront (baring one for special orders) will soon change. The business will have a full click-and-collect offer at all its stores within the next 18 to 24 months, Schneider expects. With 7.9 million users last month, Bunnings' website is already Australia's third most visited shopping website, according to data service Hitwise. Bunnings disastrous foray into the United Kingdom and Ireland between 2016 and earlier this year hasnt killed the prospect of taking the hardware chain offshore again, and it's already doing some wholesale trade to Pacific nations. If you have a housing recession, theres plenty of other businesses in the listed market Id be worried about before them. Raaz Bhuyan, Wavestone Capital If an investment opportunity presents itself, it gets looked at, but it terms of my big priorities at the moment its not on my radar, says Schneider. The biggest opportunity for growth is in Australia and New Zealand, he says, where it expects to open 10 to 15 new stores every year. Loading Retail sales figures released this week showed them ticking up 0.3 per cent, about in line with expectations, driven by food and apparel sales. Hardware sales were down 0.3 per cent. Economists put most of the blame for low retail turnover on weak wage growth, but there is a growing view that falling house price could reverse the "wealth effect" that has been supporting sales. "When you live in a house and you bought it for $10 and its now worth $15, you think 'well shit Im worth a bit more money'," says veteran retailers Gerry Harvey. "When the house you bought for $10 is worth $10 five years later, and if it drop from $10 to $9.50, then youre going think, 'oh shit, Im going backwards', and youre not as confident." Analysts say that after Bunnings, Harvey Norman is the next major retailer after Wesfarmers most exposed to the turnover and construction of homes that need to be filled with furniture, whitegoods and electronics. Harvey Norman's sales in Australia fell 0.2 per cent between July 1 and November 23 this year, on a comparable basis, and earnings from local stores fell 7 per cent last year. Its share price, meanwhile, has fallen 20 per cent this year. Harvey, its co-founder and executive chairman, says his sales are being held up by overseas migration, which Prime Minister Scott Morrison has flagged cutting. "If you didnt have those extra... people then your sales might be down 5 per cent," Harvey says. Ive been thinking about institutions a lot lately. About how if there is anything that characterises our current political moment of disillusionment, anger and a rampant, destructive cynicism, it is that we no longer seem to believe in any institutions at all. Try to name one; its more difficult than youd think. Our trust in politics even in democracy itself is at an all time low. Whatever belief we once had in the idea that business, for all its self-interest, was aligned with some trickle-down social interest has been blown up by whichever scandal takes your fancy: the banking royal commission; the rapacious practices that delivered the financial crisis; the Libor episode back in 2012, in which small numbers of people easily manipulated interest rates for their own gain. Illustration: Andrew Dyson Credit: The church? See the Royal Commission into child sex abuse. The media? Its almost embarrassing to have to explain the level to which its trust has eroded. That we now have a US President in open war with journalistic accountability, who has weaponised fake news as a way of discrediting whatever very true news he doesnt like, and that he only profits politically from this, says everything necessary about the medias standing. The High Court? Traditionally, that has been about as esteemed as it gets, but even its trust is eroding. An Essential Survey from 2011 found that 72 per cent of Australians trusted it. This year it was at 61 per cent, which is roughly where it has been for a few years now. Scott Morrison and Bill Shorten are getting ready for a rematch over who can gain the upper hand in Parliament. The Prime Minister faces the serious risk of losing a vote in the House of Representatives when it resumes in February a moment that could trigger demands for an early election. The Opposition Leader faces attacks over his position on border protection, ensuring two months of argument over whether he is weakening the regime that turns away asylum seekers. Some questions are difficult but important. Has Labor just voted for a bill that goes too far to weaken the power of the immigration minister? Is Labor supporting changes that prevent the minister refusing a medical transfer to Australia for an asylum seeker convicted of a serious crime? Everything comes down to the bill that passed the Senate on Thursday afternoon and almost came to a vote in the House of Representatives the same day. Morrison may have escaped a test of his numbers in the lower house this week but the bill is now on the agenda for the resumption of Parliament on February 12. During the event, the US diplomat expressed his belief that Vietnam will make a good development plan on the basis of the market economy and the private economic sector to promote its international integration, thus ensuring domestic economic growth and contributing to prosperity and defence-security in Indo-Pacific region. The workshop focused on the Indo-Pacific strategy, economic impact on Vietnam and measures to promote sustainable development in Vietnam and regional nations. The ambassador said the strategy aims to build a market economy and open investment environment in the principle of supporting, protecting and respecting the right of individuals to invest in this region, including Vietnam. The US invested over US$500 million in implementing the strategy in 2018, he said. According to the diplomat, US firms have invested in over 1,500 new projects worth more than US$61 billion in the Indo-Pacific region. Vietnam and the US have potential for enhancing cooperation in digital economy, information technology, infrastructure and energy, Kritenbrink said. Deputy Foreign Minister Pham Quang Vinh said as a member of ASEAN, Vietnam wants to cooperate with other ASEAN nations to promote the regional economic development. The US plays an important role in the Indo-Pacific region, while the ASEAN also holds a crucial role for the US, Vinh said, affirming that Vietnam supports the US and strongly pledges to promote sustainable development in the region. Vietnam will continue to cooperate with the US at bilateral and multilateral levels in the framework of US-ASEAN strategic partnership to reach common benefit, contributing to the regions prosperous development, he stressed. Vietnam applauds cooperative initiatives to push trade ties between the US and regional countries, including Vietnam, Vinh added. Sharing Vinhs opinion, Chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry Vu Tien Loc spoke highly of creativeness, sustainability and inclusiveness of the Indo-Pacific region, saying that he believes the joint efforts of governments and the private economic sector will be key to the success of the Indo-Pacific strategy. He underlined the need to enhance dialogues and build specific action programmes to realise the goal. Participants in the workshop debated issues related to economic trend in the Indo-Pacific region, financial infrastructure for international trade and e-commerce. The US is among the top 10 investors in Vietnam, with about 900 projects worth over US$10 billion. The economic and trade ties between the two countries have witnessed a strong development in recent years. Their enterprises and investors hope to boost trade cooperation not only at the government level but also in the private economic sector. New York (CNN Business) Investors should start getting used to wild market swings. That's the advice of Savita Subramanian, Bank of America's head of US equity and quantitative strategy. "Volatility is the new normal," Subramanian told CNN business correspondent Alison Kosik on "Markets Now" on Thursday. "We need to just prepare ourselves for volatile markets." Most recently, the Dow has been reacting to news on the trade war between China and the United States. The arrest of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou in Canada at the request of the United States renewed doubts about the US-China truce and sent the Dow plunging on Thursday. Before that, stocks rallied on news of a truce and then fell as uncertainty returned. But even if trade tensions ease, Subramanian expects the markets to continue to swing over the next few years. "One of the most reliable predictors of market volatility is the yield curve," she explained. The yield curve is the gap between short and long-term Treasury rates, an metric that can shows investors' sentiment about economic performance in the future. The yield curve has been flattening, a signal of concern that the US economy could enter recession in the coming years. Though Subramanian doesn't necessarily see a recession on the horizon, she sees the flattening as "a very good predictor that volatility is likely to remain." Investors shouldn't take the warning as a recommendation to sell, Subramanian noted. "The worst thing to do in a volatile market environment is to sell on emotion or panic sell," she said. "That is the route to under-performance." Investors should be picky about their stocks and hold on to them. Software makers, financial firms, utilities and health care companies are a good bet, she said. "Markets Now" streams live from the New York Stock Exchange every Wednesday at 12:45 p.m. ET. Hosted by CNN's business correspondents, the 15-minute program features incisive commentary from experts. You can watch "Markets Now" at CNN.com/MarketsNow from your desk or on your phone or tablet. If you can't catch the show live, check out highlights online and through the Markets Now newsletter, delivered to your inbox every afternoon. :www.edition.cnn.com 80 tons of F4 explosives seized and 4 webshops blocked Eurojust/Europol joint press release Illegal fireworks are a huge Europe-wide problem. Their unregulated distribution causes considerable safety risks to those shipping and buying them due to their substantial explosive character, as well as millions of euro in tax losses for some economies. A remarkably high level of cooperation and coordination among judicial, police and customs authorities, and the extensive support of Eurojust and Europol, contributed to the successful dismantling of this sophisticated organised crime group (OCG). Action days in Poland, the Netherlands and Germany in the past three weeks have resulted in 35 OCG members arrested in Poland, nine of whom are still detained, and the seizure of fireworks, the blocking of webshops and more than 150 searches of residences and businesses. Four webshops involved in the sale of the illegal fireworks by the OCG, bombashop.com, ultrasshop.com, psychoeffect.eu and pyrofans.eu, were blocked at the request of the Dutch authorities, and their data were seized. In Poland, 80 tons of F4 fireworks were seized from a warehouse, an amount large enough to fill four large shipping containers. Unmarked parcels containing illegal fireworks were also intercepted and seized in Poland, the Netherlands and Germany prior to distribution to the buyers, thus avoiding possible harm to innocent people, including postal employees. The members of the OCG are being investigated by the Polish authorities for participation in a criminal organisation, trafficking in pyrotechnic material and explosives, tax fraud and money laundering. The Polish investigation targeted the OCG, which was active since 2012. The OCG, primarily composed of Polish nationals, was involved in the trafficking of fireworks illegally sold online to clients throughout Europe, and shipped by courier and normal post in unmarked packages. The OCG was suspected to have shipped approximately 1 500 kg of pyrotechnics, including approximately 500 kg of F4 class, every day to different Member States. The German investigation targeted the buyers of illegal fireworks in Germany, who ordered via one of the webshops without possessing licences for explosives. During simultaneous house searches of the 50 suspects throughout Germany, customs authorities seized 315 kg of pyrotechnics and improvised explosive devices plus firearms and ammunition. Several houses required evacuation to ensure that the pyrotechnics and explosives could be removed safely. In addition, 74 allegedly illegal postal shipments, with a gross weight of approximately 400 kg, were detected and checked at courier services. Pyrotechnics inside the shipments were seized. (Click on image to enlarge). The objective of the Dutch investigation was to halt the activities of middlemen and consumers, as well as the distribution of illegal fireworks on behalf of the OCG in the Netherlands. The Dutch authorities blocked Dutch Instagram accounts from which illegal fireworks were sold. In preparation for the action day, multiple European Investigation Orders (EIOs) were exchanged between Poland, Germany, the Netherlands and France requesting searches of premises and seizures. Eurojust enhanced cooperation between parties and promoted discussions about the goals of the actions. It also supported coordination of the investigations during coordination meetings and facilitated the execution of EIOs. At Europol, multiple operational meetings were held since 2017. Data from the servers used by the online webshops was analysed, and intelligence packages were shared with all the involved Member States, informing them about suspicious clients who ordered pyrotechnics from these different webshops. Europol experts were sent to Poland to support the police actions there. Thanks to the success of this action, the flow of illegal fireworks in Europe has been greatly reduced, just in time to interrupt the New Year's buying season. But in terms of elder poverty rates, the US does much worse than Canada (23% vs. 11%, respectively). She chalked up Canadas lower poverty rates in part to the countrys more generous pension thats funded by taxes from all wealth and income, compared to US Social Security thats funded by earnings alone. Citing University of Toronto Professor Keith Ambachtsheer, she said the system of tax breaks that the US applies to retirement plans could also play a role. Tax breaks in American retirement plans are more generous to the rich, with the top 20% in terms of wealth getting around 70% of the benefit. The Canadian plan has some good features Americans dont have, Ghilarducci continued. She said Canadian workplace retirement plans are portable, and those who participate in a Pooled Registered Pension Plan (PRPP) a voluntary supplement to the Canadian state pension system that was adopted in 2012 will see lower fees than in individual plans. Because of their pooling and investment diversity, she added, PRPPs also offer lower investment risks for employers and employees. But since theyre voluntary, coverage is low. Compared to the US, Canadas health care system also lifts a significant financial weight off its citizens shoulders. Canadas system is government-funded and accessible to all without co-pays or deductibles, she said. In contrast, the US Medicare program extended to people over 65 can require high premiums and co-pays, and doesnt cover dental, vision, hearing aids, and long-term care; overall, it covers only about 60% of American seniors healthcare costs. But the Great White North faces a looming threat: with the national savings rate dipping to its lowest in more than a decade the household savings rate fell to 0.8% in the third quarter this year, and has averaged 1.4% over the last year theres a strong feeling that the countrys economic growth is ending. The household savings rate for the US, meanwhile, was 6.6% in August, though it is still lower than it was in the 1980s. U.S. prosecutors charged four men with tax evasion and fraud in schemes first revealed by the Panama Papers leaked from law firm Mossack Fonseca. An indictment unsealed this week in the Southern District of New York charged the four with conspiracy to commit tax evasion, wire fraud, and money-laundering conspiracy. The DOJ said the defendants were part of a decades-long criminal scheme perpetrated by Mossack Fonseca. In April 2016, 11.5 million documents from Mossack Foneca were leaked to a German newspaper. The documents posted online by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists revealed details about more than 200,000 anonymous offshore companies used to hold secret bank accounts and other assets. Its not always illegal to own or control anonymous companies. But the companies are sometimes used to evade taxes, launder money, and hide assets. Mossack Foneca shut down at the end of March this year. It had operated for nearly 40 years. At its peak the firm employed about 600 people in its headquarters in Panama and more than a dozen offices around the world. The four men named Tuesday were Ramses Owens, Dirk Brauer, Richard Gaffey, and Harald Joachim von der Goltz. Brauer, 54, is a German citizen. He worked for an affiliate of Mossack Fonseca Mossfon Asset Management. He was arrested in Paris on November 15. Von der Goltz, 81, also German, was arrested Monday in London. Richard Gaffey, 74, an American accountant, was arrested Tuesday in Boston. Owens, 50, a Panama citizen, worked for Mossack Fonseca as a lawyer. He remains at large, the DOJ said. Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman said the four allegedly shuffled millions of dollars through offshore accounts and created shell companies to hide fortunes. Owens and Brauer allegedly marketed, created, and serviced sham foundations and shell companies formed by Mossack Fonseca. Von Der Goltz was allegedly one of Mossack Fonsecas U.S. taxpayer clients. Gaffey, the DOJ said, helped Von Der Goltz evade U.S. income taxes and reporting requirements, and worked with Owens to help another U.S. taxpayer client of Mossack Fonseca defraud the IRS. The DOJ also charged Gaffey and Von Der Goltz with four counts of willful failure to file reports of foreign bank accounts. Von Der Goltz faces an additional two counts of making false statements. ___ Richard L. Cassin is the publisher and editor of the FCPA Blog. Brad L. Mortensen Named 13th President of Weber State University December 6, 2018 OGDEN The Utah State Board of Regents has selected Brad L. Mortensen as the thirteenth president of Weber State University. President Mortensen brings both institutional familiarity and broad perspective to his new role as president of Weber State University. He is widely respected by our community partners, and is a thoughtful and effective higher education leader, said Harris H. Simmons, chair of the Board of Regents. Throughout his career, he has been highly focused on student success and inclusiveness. President Mortensen is passionate about Weber State University, and his experience, vision, and dedication will ensure that the institution continues to thrive. Mortensen was selected after a 21-member Presidential Search Committee, co-chaired by Regent Jesselie Anderson and Weber State Trustee Chair Nolan Karras, narrowed an extensive pool of applicants to four finalists. I believe President Mortensen is the right president for Weber State, and his significant experience and strong commitment to students will be of great benefit to the university and the Utah System of Higher Education, said David L. Buhler, commissioner of higher education. I look forward to working closely with him. Mortensen joined Weber State in 2004 and has served as Vice President of University Advancement for 11 years. He develops partnerships and philanthropic resources that promote educational access, student success, inclusiveness, and faculty and staff vitality. He leads communication and strategic efforts to strengthen alumni and community connections, and recently began guiding Weber States efforts to support regional economic development. Active with several Northern Utah organizations, he has chaired the Ogden-Weber Chamber of Commerce and United Way of Northern Utah. Utah Business recognized him as 2018 CXO of the Year. His prior professional endeavors include the Utah System of Higher Education, Utah governors office, Arizona legislature, and two policy fellowships. Mortensen earned a bachelors degree from Utah State University, a masters degree from Syracuse University, and a doctoral degree from the University of Utah. I am honored to be selected to lead Weber State University, and to help chart the next chapter for this great institution. As a Wildcat for the past 14 years, I know firsthand that Weber State has strong ties to our community and is committed to the success of our students. Thats been our hallmark for 130 years, Mortensen said. I look forward to continuing my work with faculty, staff, trustees, alumni, community, and especially students. Our Weber State family remains dedicated to providing educational access and opportunity for all. Earlier this year, Weber State President Charles A. Wight announced his intention to step down in May 2018. Norm Tarbox has served as interim president of Weber State since then. Interim president Tarbox will stay on until the new president is in place. ### About Weber State University Visit weber.edu to learn more about Weber State University. About the Utah System of Higher Education The Utah System of Higher Education (USHE) is governed by the Board of Regents and is comprised of Utahs eight public colleges and universities. The CEO of USHE is the Commissioner of Higher Education. For more information, visit higheredutah.org. For photos, visit the following link. wsuucomm.smugmug.com/Presidents-Office/2018-President-Candidates/Brad-Mortensen For video, visit the following link. https://youtu.be/ vrkS08evw8c The One Act at Kimball High School progressed very well throughout the year, competing at Western Trails Conference, South Platte Valley Association and district competitions in recent weeks. The One Act cast this year consists of two seniors, three juniors, two sophomores and one freshman. The play is Albert Hitchcocks, The Thirty Nine Steps,a live radio play. The main character, Richard Hannay, portrayed by Alexander Flores, is framed for the murder of Ms. Anabela Smith, portrayed by Noah Rabin. Its a murder he didnt commit. Pamela Stewart, characterized by Kiersten Anderson, meets Mr. Hannay unexpectedly in her train compartment. He kisses her to prevent his capture by the police. As the play progresses, they slowly fall in love, but they do not get married. WTC awarded four actors and actresses from Kimball as all conference actors that included Kiersten Anderson (Pamela Stewart), Noah Rabin (Anabela Smith and professor), Corey Gardner (announcer), and Maddison Merryfield (newspaper girl and detective). Judge Tyler Thompson presided over both the WTC and District preformances, and provided constructive criticism for both preformances. At WTC, Thompson had multiple comments about the acting, props, tech ideas and made his own professional suggestions. He also expressed how impressed he was with the play at the District competition. Although the One Act preformance was over time by two minutes, the students had a great year together, and are excited for the next year to begin. Greenwich private-equity group Amulet Capital Partners announced this week the acquisition of health communications and data firm Open Health, with plans to merge the British company with a similar business that it already owns. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The new organizing, comprising Open Health and medical-communications firm Peloton Advantage, will operate with approximately 520 employees. Open Health CEO David Rowley will continue in the role, supported by an executive team including Open Health co-founder Sandy Royden and Peloton co-founders Carolyn Clark and Michael McLaughlin. This is a transformational merger creating attractive pathways for growth for both Peloton and Open Health, Ramsey Frank, Amulet partner and co-founder, said in a statement. We look forward to supporting the combined teams efforts to offer personalized solutions to biopharmaceutical clients across a range of medical affairs, commercial, health-economics outcomes research, real-world evidence and market access functions. Parsippany, N.J.-based Peloton focuses on publication planning and related content development for medical-education programs. We have known David for many years and are delighted to merge with the Open Health team, Clark said in a statement. This merger significantly expands our client footprint and financial profile globally, adding meaningful scale and profitability to our company. Founded in 2011, Marlow, England-based Open Health focuses on oncology, rare diseases and specialist medicines. The merger of Peloton and Open Health provides very strong strategic, geographic, therapeutic and management synergies, Rowley said in a statement. Both teams believe that as a combined entity we can provide a wider range of services to our current clients, as well as allowing for geographic expansion of core competencies on both sides of the Atlantic and beyond. Amulet focuses solely on health care. Its investments generally range from $25 million to $150 million. The firm is based in downtown Greenwich, at 55 Railroad Ave., with a team that has approximately 50 years of private equity experience. pschott@scni.com; 203-964-2236; twitter: @paulschott Jordan Grice / Hearst Connecticut Media MILFORD Two New Haven women were charged after police said they took more than $200 worth of merchandise from a store at the Connecticut Post Mall last week. Leona Nixon, 26, and Tarrah Matthews, 18, both of Whalley Avenue in New Haven, were each charged with sixth-degree larceny, conspiracy to commit sixth-degree larceny and criminal trespassing. STAMFORD Police say the swastikas drawn in bright-colored chalk with hearts on the sidewalk outside the downtown library last month were likely related to a Hindu religious celebration. Lt. Tom Scanlon said investigators conferred with a Hindu swami and a member of the FBI Hate Crime Unit and determined the drawings were part of the Hindu celebration of lights known as Diwali. Scanlon said police initially investigated the incident outside the Ferguson Library as a hate crime because they were unaware of Diwali and since there was a Jewish lecture scheduled for that night at the library. Police have released an image of a suspect who was captured on security video, but have not been able to identify him. We want the community to know that if at some point we do identify this person we will follow up on this investigation, Scanlon said. But at this point, we felt it was important to put this information out there, because we knew a lot of people were concerned and sensitive to this issue. Hate crimes have been on the decline in Stamford. There were six incidents last year, down from eight in 2016, according to statistics compiled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. There were 10 Stamford hates crimes in 2015 and nine in 2014, according to the FBI stats. Assistant Police Chief James Matheny, who has offered safety and security training to several Stamford temples, said without additional evidence about last months drawings, the incident will not be recorded as a hate crime. Sgt. Paul Guzda, the lead investigator on the case, said the FBI expert examined photos of the swastikas and determined they were non-threatening and likely related to Diwali. He meticulously went over the designs, and in his expert opinion, he felt the symbols more closely resembled those used by the Hindus during Diwali, Guzda said. Guzda said a Hindu swami also said the swastikas could have been related to Diwali. These were drawn in pastel chalk, not black spray paint, Guzda said. Stamford Rabbi Daniel Cohen, of Congregation Agudath Shalom, said he trusts the results of the police investigation. I leave those determinations to the experts, Cohen said. I trust the Stamford police department. They have always been committed to standing up to antisemitism. If through their investigation that is what they think, thats fine. We need to continue building bridges. Diane Sloyer, CEO of the United Jewish Federation of Stamford, New Canaan and Darien, said she was not so sure. Sloyer said she researched the Diwali symbols and found subtle differences that she believes proves the ones found outside the library were anti-Semitic. Why say good luck instead of happy holidays, if they were taking the time to write something, Sloyer said. I have a hard time believing it, she said of the police theory in the case. I believe otherwise. jnickerson@stamfordadvocate.com Compliance professionals have many factors to consider when assessing the bribery risk of their companies proposed investments or engagements globally. Industries have different dynamics, companies have different business models, and business partners and intermediaries have different relationships and backgrounds. Alongside these factors are the particular risks presented by a given country. The idea that anti-bribery risk assessment should include consideration of the national context is well established, and may even appear self-evident. Country risk is among the factors specifically highlighted as relevant by enforcement agencies in both the United States and the UK. While the importance of country-level risk is widely understood, its assessment remains a challenge. National contexts are deeply nuanced, and a robust measurement of a given countrys risk should reflect that. Since 2014, TRACE International has worked to address this challenge with its publication of the TRACE Bribery Risk Matrix, the most recent edition of which was issued Thursday. By providing not only a top-level summary score for each country but also scores for the varied factors that contribute to bribery risk including the degree of opportunity for bribery solicitation, the strength of deterrence efforts, governmental transparency and civil-society oversight the Matrix attempts to go beyond reductive rankings and to explore the diverse profiles that country-level risk can assume. This exploration is an ongoing effort. As previously reported on the FCPA Blog, TRACE has made a concerted effort over the past year to work with leading anticorruption scholars to better understand the nature of bribery risk and how it can be more helpfully assessed. And while building that understanding is a long-term project, our working groups insights have led to some more immediate improvements to the Matrix methodology. For example, our review of past assessments has suggested to us that a countrys anti-corruption laws as such have little bearing on its overall risk profile. We found instead that in assessing a countrys ability to deter bribery, it was more helpful to consider a softer aspect of enforcement the less formal ways in which a societys attitudes and practices can serve to dissuade corrupt behavior. Weve accordingly replaced our earlier Proscription subdomain with the new category of Dissuasion. Being able to see how the Matrix domains and subdomains are constructed can go a long way toward helping interpret and improve the associated scores. So, as another addition to the Matrix this year, we have created the Matrix Data Browser, a free and public online tool that allows users to observe not only how each country ranks along each dimension of assessment, but how each data point contributes to those assessments, and to study the historical trends and relations between each of the variables underlying the Matrix calculation. Moving forward, we will continue to probe the subtleties of measuring international business bribery risk. We are particularly interested in understanding how different factors may have different effects stronger or weaker, beneficial or detrimental based on varying societal, political, economic, or geographic conditions. In the meantime, we hope this new edition of the Bribery Risk Matrix and the availability of the Matrix Data Brower will encourage increased exploration of the nature and causes of business bribery risk, the better to strengthen ourselves against it. ____ Robert Clark is the Manager of Legal Research at TRACE International, where he oversees a team of lawyers responsible for the production of analytical content. A new approach to addressing Vancouvers housing affordability crisis has been proposed by an academic at UBC but landlords may not like the headline change. Professor Thomas Davidoff says that Vancouver is a great place to buy property but not a great place to make a living in terms of tax policy. "Generally, economists believe that taxes should be higher on goods that are supplied or demanded inelastically," he said. "Because Vancouver has notoriously inelastic housing supply, one might expect property tax rates to be higher here than elsewhere in Canada; however, property taxes are actually very low in Vancouver. We have a high tax base because properties are expensive, but by any measure the property tax burden is low here." The professors model calls for changing the basis for taxation of rental homes from their value to their potential rent. This is based on his calculation that Vancouvers property taxes should be four times higher than a typical Canadian city rather than lower. Higher property tax for landlords, but cuts to other taxes "What I am proposing is a transfer from owners to renters, meaning property owners would pay more taxes and renters less, but everybody would pay less income and sales tax," said Davidoff. The plan would mean that those who are earning good incomes, on which they pay tax, along with high rents, would benefit. Property owners would pay more in property tax but would offset some of that with lower income and sales taxes. However, Davidoff acknowledges that the proposal is politically tricky. Especially when considering views of older voters near or past retirement age. "For them, raising property taxes means less money in their pocket, it means the value of their property falls, and given where they are in life, they've already paid most of their income and sales taxes, so they would perceive this as very unfair to them. Politicians that hope to implement something like a budget-neutral transfer of property to income and sales taxes have to be very careful how they do it." The full study is published in the Canadian Tax Journal. The Luzerne County Schools & Homes in Education (SHINE) program at Wilkes University celebrated the nationwide Lights on Afterschool project by offering a virtual Lights On! STEM lesson to its students and their families. Supplies were distributed beforehand to the students and included everything needed to make a flashlight with an LED bulb. The Zoom lesson, sponsored by UGI, explained where electricity comes, how it can light a bulb, and the history of electricity. Farmstead, a San Francisco, CA-based AI-powered digital grocer that sources and delivers fresh, local food from farm to fridge in 60 minutes, raised an additional $2.2M in funding. Backers included Artis Labs, Resolute Ventures, Y Combinator, Red Dog Capital and other investors. The company, which has raised $7.5M in total funding to date, intends to use the capital for geographic expansion. Led by CEO and co-founder Pradeep Elankumaran, Farmstead leverages AI-powered predictive analytics models to predict demand, supply accordingly, deliver orders of fresh local products in less than an hour, and minimize food waste. The company operates in the Bay Area since 2016. FinSMEs 07/12/2018 HomeToGo, a Berlin, Germany-based vacation rental search engine, closed its latest round of funding and acquired its US competitor Tripping.com. The round, which brought total funding raised to date to more than $150m, was led by Insight Venture Partners, with participation from Acton Capital Partners, DN Capital, and Global Founders Capital. HomeToGo will continue to run Tripping.com as a brand. Founded 2014 by Wolfgang Heigl, Dr. Patrick Andrae, and Nils Regge, HomeToGo provides a vacation rental search engine that allows people to search and compare over 15 million accommodation offers in over 200 countries from more than 300 partners, including: Booking.com, VRBO, HomeAway, and TripAdvisor. With intuitive features such as flexible dates, users can find their ideal vacation rental according to their preferred destination, travel dates, budget, and amenities. It includes the brands Casamundo and (now) Tripping.com. The company currently employs more than 150 people and operates local websites in 13 European countries, the United States, Australia, Brazil, Mexico, Russia, Japan, and Hong Kong. FinSMEs 06/12/2018 NEW YORK - Just two days after being named host of the Academy Awards, Kevin Hart stepped down following an outcry over past homophobic tweets by the comedian. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 6/12/2018 (1086 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. FILE - In this Dec. 11, 2017 file photo, Kevin Hart arrives at the Los Angeles premiere of "Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle" in Los Angeles. Hart will host the 2019 Academy Awards, fulfilling a lifelong dream for the actor-comedian. Hart announced Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2018, his selection in an Instagram statement and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences followed up with a tweet that welcomed him "to the family." (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File) NEW YORK - Just two days after being named host of the Academy Awards, Kevin Hart stepped down following an outcry over past homophobic tweets by the comedian. Capping a swift and dramatic fallout, Hart wrote on Twitter just after midnight Thursday that he was withdrawing as Oscars host because he didn't want to be a distraction. "I sincerely apologize to the LGBTQ community for my insensitive words from my past," wrote Hart. Hart, who is in Australia for a comedy tour, also tweeted Friday morning: "The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. Martin Luther King, Jr." Earlier Thursday evening, the comedian had refused to apologize for tweets that resurfaced after he was announced as Oscars host on Tuesday. In a video on Instagram, Hart said the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences gave him an ultimatum: apologize or "we're going to have to move on and find another host." "I chose to pass on the apology," Hart said. "The reason why I passed is because I've addressed this several times." The film academy didn't respond to messages Thursday evening. Hart has since deleted some of the anti-gay tweets, mostly dated from 2009-2011. But they had already been screen-captured and been shared online. In 2011, he wrote in a since-deleted tweet: "Yo if my son comes home & try's 2 play with my daughters doll house I'm going 2 break it over his head & say n my voice 'stop that's gay.'" In an earlier post Thursday, Hart wrote on Instagram that critics should "stop being negative" about his earlier anti-gay remarks. "I'm almost 40 years old. If you don't believe that people change, grow, evolve? I don't know what to tell you," said Hart, who added, in all-caps: "I love everybody." Hart's attitudes about homosexuality were also a well-known part of his stand-up act. In the 2010 special "Seriously Funny," he said "one of my biggest fears is my son growing up and being gay." "Keep in mind, I'm not homophobic, I have nothing against gay people, do what you want to do, but me, being a heterosexual male, if I can prevent my son from being gay, I will," Hart said. GLAAD, the advocacy group for LGBTQ rights, said Thursday that it reached out to Oscars broadcaster ABC, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, and Hart's management to "discuss Kevin's anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and record." Comedian and actor Billy Eichner said "a simple, authentic apology showing any bit of understanding or remorse would have been so simple." It's not the first time an Oscars host has been derailed by anti-gay remarks. Ahead of the 2012 Academy Awards, producer Brett Ratner, who had been paired with host Eddie Murphy, resigned days after using a gay slur at a film screening. Murphy soon after exited, as well. That year, a tried-and-true Oscars veteran Billy Crystal jumped in to save the show, hosting for his eighth time. This time, speculation has already been rampant that few in Hollywood want the gig, for which few win glowing reviews. The film academy moved up this year's ceremony to Feb. 24, giving producers little time to find a replacement. At a Hollywood event Thursday night, comedian Kathy Griffin, whose career suffered last year when she posted a photo on social media that looked like a beheaded President Donald Trump, said Hart messed up, yet had empathy for the situation. "He wrote that tweet eight years ago when gay marriage wasn't even legal yet, so we all do things. God knows in my 23 specials I've said heinously inappropriate things," she said. Griffin hoped Hart's departure would open the door for a woman comedian to host the show. "I want more women to host the Oscars and in the entire history of the Oscars, they've only been hosted by three women, three times and so we haven't levelled the playing field yet," she said. Terry Crews, who described Hart as a "brother," said he respected Hart's decision to walk away from the show. "I'm thankful that he acknowledged things that maybe weren't right, and he'll come back from this," Crews said. "We do have to admit our guilt and say, 'Hey I messed up and let's fix this thing.' I think that he will do that, and he has always done that." ___ Associated Press writer Marcela Isaza contributed to this report. EDMONTON - Aurora Cannabis says it will supply medical cannabis to Mexico through a partnership with pharmaceutical manufacturer and distributor Farmacias Magistrales. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 7/12/2018 (1085 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Cannabis seedlings are shown at an Aurora Cannabis facility, Friday, November 24, 2017 in Montreal. Aurora Cannabis is striking a distribution deal to supply medical pot to Mexico. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz EDMONTON - Aurora Cannabis says it will supply medical cannabis to Mexico through a partnership with pharmaceutical manufacturer and distributor Farmacias Magistrales. Farmacias recently got the green light to import cannabis, which Aurora says is the first and only import license granted by federal Mexican authorities to date. Aurora's chief executive Terry Booth says the exclusive partnership expands the cannabis grower's early mover advantage in Latin America. The Edmonton-headquartered pot producer says Farmacias has a reach of roughly 80,000 retail points, and 500 pharmacies and hospitals across Mexico. It adds that Farmacias has also received licences from Mexico's Federal Commission for Protection Against Health Risks to manufacture and distribute products with CBD and THC. Shares of Aurora rose as much as 10 per cent to hit $7.82 in intraday trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Companies in this story: (TSX:ACB) VANCOUVER - Fears of retaliation against China-based staff of Canadian companies in the wake of a Chinese tech exec's arrest in Canada are overblown at the moment, but experts say that could change if the situation escalates. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 7/12/2018 (1085 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. In this July 4, 2018, file photo, the Huawei logo is seen at a Huawei store at a shopping mall in Beijing. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File VANCOUVER - Fears of retaliation against China-based staff of Canadian companies in the wake of a Chinese tech exec's arrest in Canada are overblown at the moment, but experts say that could change if the situation escalates. Meng Wanzhou, CFO of Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies, was arrested at Vancouver's airport while in transit on Dec. 1. and faces extradition to the United States on unspecified charges. Chinese officials have demanded her release, and the incident has sparked speculation that China could retaliate by arresting Canadians working abroad in the country, as many large Canadian corporations have offices or retail outlets there. However, it's too soon to think about possible retaliatory measures, experts say. "I think at this stage, there is no implication yet," said Lynette Ong, an associate professor with the Munk School. "But I think if this event were to escalate, it might have implications for security of Canadian businesses and Canadian business people operating in China." As of 2015, Canadian businesses had 531 locations across China spanning several sectors, including energy, education and agriculture, according to data compiled by researchers at the University of Toronto's Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy. Companies with sizable footprints in China include Manulife Financial Corp., Thomson Reuters and Restaurant Brands International, which has several Burger King locations in China and plans to bring more than 1,500 Tim Hortons coffee shops to the country over the next decade. All declined to comment. Other Canadian companies with Chinese interests include Bombardier Inc., Magna International Inc. and Canada Goose Holdings. None responded by time of publication. Currently, China is referring to Meng's arrest as "hooliganism," said Ong, adding escalating rhetoric from China or the U.S. could be a gamechanger. If China begins to portray the act as unreasonable, unfair or bullying, she said, then retaliation could come though it's too soon to speculate what form that could take. Sui Sui, an associate professor at Ryerson University's Ted Rogers School of Management, doesn't believe China would target Canada as the arrest came at the behest of the United States, and Canada is caught in the middle. However, it could impact future Chinese investment in the country, she said. Huawei has announced hundreds of millions of dollars in planned investments in Ontario. The company partnered with the province to double the size of Huawei's Canada Research Centre operations in Kanata by 2020, which includes creating 250 new jobs. The company promised to invest at least $500 million in the province over the next five years in an announcement made near the end of 2014. If businesses are worried about their employees getting arrested in Canada, they're less likely to do business here, said Sui. "It's not only about Huawei... Also other Chinese business people could be worried," she said, noting the size of the firm doesn't matter. The arrest also casts a shadow on future trade negotiations with China, said Sui Much will depend on how the Canadian government responds and whether it will calm the situation, she said, by making statements that indicate how much it continues to want a treaty relationship with China. Follow @AleksSagan on Twitter MONTREAL - Finance Minister Bill Morneau says the ongoing U.S.-China trade dispute is distracting from talks aimed at solving the steel tariffs issue between Canada and its largest trading partner. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 7/12/2018 (1085 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Finance Minister Bill Morneau speaks to reporters in Ottawa on November 22, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick MONTREAL - Finance Minister Bill Morneau says the ongoing U.S.-China trade dispute is distracting from talks aimed at solving the steel tariffs issue between Canada and its largest trading partner. At an event in Montreal Friday, Morneau said the Americans' Pacific trade row puts "multiple challenges on their plate." Federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau speaks to the media at the First Ministers conference Friday, December 7, 2018 in Montreal.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz "That means we've got a challenge in getting this focused on in the near term," he said. Morneau said his office is in contact daily with U.S. officials as well as metal producers and purchasers, but could not offer a timeline for an end to the tariffs. U.S. President Donald Trump slapped tariffs of 25 per cent and 10 per cent on steel and aluminum imports, respectively, from Canada in May, prompting retaliatory tariffs by Canada on $16.6 billion worth of U.S. goods. Meanwhile, American tariffs against China have triggered a tit-for-tat trade war affecting hundreds of billions of dollars in goods over the past year. Despite a 90-day ceasefire announced Thursday in which the two countries agreed to suspend tariff hikes and work toward a resolution, the Dec. 1 arrest of Chinese telecom Huawei Technologies' chief financial officer by Canadian authorities at the request of the U.S. Justice Department threatens to sour negotiations with Beijing. Morneau's remarks came hours after the first ministers' conference kicked off two blocks away in downtown Montreal Friday morning. Premiers Doug Ford and Francois Legault of Ontario and Quebec have said they plan to bring up concerns over tariffs, particularly in relation to the automotive and aerospace industries. If you asked people in the know which Winnipeggers are wealthy enough to be able to write a cheque for $100 million today, the name Gary Ng would probably not be top of mind. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 6/12/2018 (1086 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. If you asked people in the know which Winnipeggers are wealthy enough to be able to write a cheque for $100 million today, the name Gary Ng would probably not be top of mind. But last week, the 34-year-old Lindenwoods resident and financial services entrepreneur paid $101 million cash for Vancouver-based PI Financial Corp., a national full-service brokerage with 300 staff managing about $4.5 billion in assets. Ng is not a well-known character in Winnipeg, and the small national firm he operates called Chippingham Financial Group has stayed out of the limelight in an industry that includes some big personalities. But the charming, confident son of Hong Kong immigrants makes no excuses for his success and scoffs at those who suggest it came overnight. "I didnt come from money. Ive worked very hard for a long time and have taken substantial risks," he said. "But Im still the same guy. Ive just got a nicer watch now." Ng may or may not have been on radar screens as an up-and-comer, but senior management at PI Financial was aware of him, having briefly connected six years ago when PI Financial acquired Union Securities, the firm Ng started his career with as a futures trader in the Union Securities offices in Winnipeg in 2008. It might not be self-evident, but the timing of the start of his career was auspicious. The slightly quirky Ng remembers his starting date Feb. 2, 2008 because it was the day his hamster died. But it was also one month before the TSX peaked at 14,714 before starting a precipitous slide into what became the Great Recession. But Ng made his first significant financial stake in those ensuing months, making "tens and tens of millions of dollars" for himself and his clients shorting the S&P 500 index "in a very, very heavy way" in its slide to the bottom in 2008-09. "I am a strong believer that if everything is hunky-dory, then its very hard for a new player to come in. The old kings will continue to rule," he said. "But when there is chaos, thats an opportunity." And Ng did take advantage of the situation. "We rode it all the way down. You never get to the dead-nuts bottom but we got pretty close, then we rode it all the way back up for the last eight years," he said. In 2012, when PI acquired Union, Ng was the top trader, and senior management flew to Winnipeg to offer Ng a big signing bonus to stay on with PI. "They didnt really know who I was, they just knew I was the top trader," Ng said. "I smiled and said I really appreciated them coming all the way out to buy me lunch. I told them I was going to buy my own firm, but that we should stay in touch." Six years later, Ng was the one buying PI in a deal that he said took just a couple of hours to conclude. The way Ng tells it, there really wasnt any negotiation at all. "I told them I did not want to negotiate. I asked for a no-dicker sticker number... a fair valuation, a number they were happy with," he said. During the years between his departure from Union and his acquisition of PI Financial, Ng started Chippingham Financial Group in a small Toronto office with his partner, Sepoy Wong, another Winnipegger. They built it into a small full-service brokerage business with five offices across the country including one in Winnipeg with a staff of eight people. But the efforts to recruit brokers to grow Chippingham proved time-consuming. Earlier this year, Ng acquired Rothenberg Capital Managament, a long-standing Montreal financial planning business. Through it all, Ng and his wife have maintained a Winnipeg residence, but hes now going to have to spend more time in Vancouver, where PI Is based. "My wife and I are looking at places now," he said. "But I have lived in Winnipeg all my life. Its my mailing address. My mom and dad are still here. (His father is a retired mechanic and mother a retired MTS secretary.) Im a very proud Winnipegger. I have worked all over the world in Hong Kong, Singapore, London, Germany but I always come back to Winnipeg." There were some raised eyebrows in the industry that perhaps Ng is paying too much for PI Financial, but after the past six years growing one dealer at a time, it gives him instant scale and a platform for future growth. It is an industry truism that every market that goes up will come down at some point, but its not something Ng is too concerned about with the timing of his PI acquisition. Among other things, he believes his relative youth gives him that much more ability to have the patience to operate in whatever cycle the markets present. "The average age of my peers is about 68 years old. If they are sitting at their desk in Toronto or Calgary or Vancouver thinking the market is looking kind of toppy, they might wonder if they really want to ride it down and back up for another supercycle," he said. "They dont have that type of runway. I have a runway of 40 years." Ng says he plans to do more deals and grow out the PI Financial platform with more brokers and dealers across the country. "Im a friendly guy," he said. "I am not a conqueror. I am here as their succession plan." martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca VANCOUVER - A Canadian prosecutor urged a Vancouver court to deny bail to a Chinese executive at the heart of a case that is shaking up U.S.-China relations and worrying global financial markets. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 7/12/2018 (1085 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Foreigners look at a Huawei computer at a Huawei store in Beijing, China, Thursday, Dec. 6, 2018. Canadian authorities said Wednesday that they have arrested the chief financial officer of China's Huawei Technologies for possible extradition to the United States. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) VANCOUVER - A Canadian prosecutor urged a Vancouver court to deny bail to a Chinese executive at the heart of a case that is shaking up U.S.-China relations and worrying global financial markets. Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of telecommunications giant Huawei and daughter of its founder, was detained at the request of the U.S. during a layover at the Vancouver airport last Saturday the same day that Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping of China agreed over dinner to a 90-day ceasefire in a trade dispute that threatens to disrupt global commerce. In this undated photo released by Huawei, Huawei's chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou is seen in a portrait photo. China on Thursday, Dec. 6, 2018, demanded Canada release the Huawei Technologies executive who was arrested in a case that adds to technology tensions with Washington and threatens to complicate trade talks. (Huawei via AP) The U.S. alleges that Huawei used a Hong Kong shell company to sell equipment in Iran in violation of U.S. sanctions. It also says that Meng and Huawei misled American banks about its business dealings in Iran. The surprise arrest, already denounced by Beijing, raises doubts about whether the trade truce will hold and whether the world's two biggest economies can resolve the complicated issues that divide them. "I think it will have a distinctively negative effect on the U.S.-China talks," said Philip Levy, senior fellow at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and an economic adviser in President George W. Bush's White House. "There's the humiliating way this happened right before the dinner, with Xi unaware. Very hard to save face on this one. And we may see (Chinese retaliation), which will embitter relations." Canadian prosecutor John Gibb-Carsley said in a court hearing Friday that a warrant had been issued for Meng's arrest in New York Aug. 22. He said Meng, arrested en route to Mexico from Hong Kong, was aware of the investigation and had been avoiding the United States for months, even though her teenage son goes to school in Boston. Gibb-Carsley alleged that Huawei had done business in Iran through a Hong Kong company called Skycom. Meng, he said, had misled U.S. banks into thinking that Huawei and Skycom were separate when, in fact, "Skycom was Huawei." Meng has contended that Huawei sold Skycom in 2009. In urging the court to reject Meng's bail request, Gibb-Carsley said the Huawei executive had vast resources and a strong incentive to bolt: She's facing fraud charges in the United States that could put her in prison for 30 years. Meng's lawyer, David Martin, argued that it would be unfair to deny her bail just because she "has worked hard and has extraordinary resources." He told the court that her personal integrity and respect for her father, Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, would prevent her violating a court order. Meng, who owns two homes in Vancouver, was willing to wear an ankle bracelet and put the houses up as collateral, he said. There was no bail decision by the judge on Friday so Meng will spend the weekend in jail and the hearing will resume Monday. Justice William Ehrcke said he would think about proposed bail conditions over the weekend. Huawei, in a brief statement emailed to the AP, said that "we have every confidence that the Canadian and U.S. legal systems will reach the right conclusion." The company is the world's biggest supplier of network gear used by phone and internet companies and long has been seen as a front for spying by the Chinese military or security services. "What's getting lost in the initial frenzy here is that Huawei has been in the crosshairs of U.S. regulators for some time," said Gregory Jaeger, special counsel at the Stroock law firm and a former Justice Department trial attorney. "This is the culmination of what is likely to be a fairly lengthy investigation." Meng's arrest came as a jarring surprise after the Trump-Xi trade cease-fire in Argentina. Exact details of the agreement are elusive. But the White House said Trump suspended for 90 days an import tax hike on $200 billion in Chinese goods that was set to take effect Jan. 1; in return, the White House said, the Chinese agreed to buy a "very substantial amount of agricultural, energy, industrial" and other products from the United States. The delay was meant to buy time for the two countries to resolve a trade conflict that has been raging for months. The U.S. charges that China is using predatory tactics in its drive to overtake America's dominance in technology and global economic leadership. These allegedly include forcing American and other foreign companies to hand over trade secrets in exchange for access to the Chinese market and engaging in cyber theft. Washington also regards Beijing's ambitious long-term development plan, "Made in China 2025," as a scheme to dominate such fields as robotics and electric vehicles by unfairly subsidizing Chinese companies and discriminating against foreign competitors. The United States has imposed tariffs on $250 billion in Chinese goods to pressure Beijing to change its ways. Trump has threatened to expand the tariffs to include just about everything China ships to the United States. Beijing has lashed back with tariffs on about $110 billion in American exports. An editorial in a Chinese Communist Party newspaper highlighted the challenges to Huawei and called on the government to ease geopolitical and ideological tensions with the West. "The severe political discrimination and repulsion from the U.S. reflect an undeniable fact the political gap between China and the U.S. and a few other Western nations is too wide to bridge," the Global Times wrote. Fears the Huawei case might spark renewed U.S.-China trade hostilities have rattled global financial markets. On Friday, the Dow Jones industrial average plunged nearly 560 points. But in a sign the case might not derail the Trump-Xi truce, Beijing protested Meng's arrest but said talks with the Trump administration would go ahead. Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesman Gao Feng said China is confident it can reach a deal during the 90-day timeout. Still, Cornell University economist Eswar Prasad warned that "this incident highlights the huge gap in trust between the two sides, casting a pall over the tough negotiations that still lie ahead. It will clearly take more than one convivial dinner between the leaders of the two countries to start bridging that gap." ___ Gillies reported from Toronto and Wiseman reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Frank Bajak in Boston, Joe McDonald in Beijing and Yuri Kageyama in Tokyo contributed to this report. BEIJING, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping's latest trip to Europe and Latin America boosted China's ties with cooperation partners and steered global economic governance on the right path, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi has said. Wang told reporters that Xi's nine-day trip, which was concluded on Wednesday, also helped guide China's relations with other major countries on a path of long-term stable development. From Nov. 27 to Dec. 5, Xi paid state visits to Spain, Argentina, Panama and Portugal, and attended the 13th Group of 20 (G20) summit in Buenos Aires. Xi also met with leaders of other major economies, including U.S. President Donald Trump, on the sidelines of the summit. The trip, said Wang, helped "increase stability in the international situation at a critical time, provided a sense of direction for the international system that has been undergoing profound changes, and inject positive energy into the international community troubled by worries and anxieties." PROMOTING G20 COOPERATION, MAJOR-COUNTRY RELATIONS One of the highlights of Xi's trip was his attendance at the G20 summit in Buenos Aires, 10 years after the first G20 summit was convened by the world's major economies to jointly tackle common challenges. At the ly-watched summit, Xi suggested the group steer the world economy responsibly, stay committed to openness and cooperation, and play a leading political role in nurturing favorable conditions for international trade and fighting climate change. On the sidelines of the summit, Xi and Trump had in-depth discussions in a friendly and candid atmosphere and charted the course for the two countries to properly resolve their existing problems and push forward bilateral relations. Xi also met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other world leaders for bilateral and multilateral talks, and attended an informal leaders' meeting of the emerging-economy bloc of BRICS. Thanks to China's efforts, said Wang, the G20 summit reached consensus on major international issues and released a declaration, sending out a right, positive and stabilizing signal to the world. EXPANDING COOPERATION WITH EUROPE Xi's state visits to Spain and Portugal ushered in a new era in China's bilateral ties with the two countries and infused fresh vigor into China-EU relations, said Wang. During Xi's visits, China and the two countries demonstrated their joint commitment to strengthening partnership and expanding cooperation in various fields. Both Spain and Portugal are actively involved in the international cooperation within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and China will work with them to further synergize development strategies and create new space for practical cooperation, Wang said. Xi also reached consensus with leaders of the two European countries on consolidating the China-EU comprehensive strategic partnership and supporting multilateralism and free trade. Noting that this year marks the 15th anniversary of the China-EU comprehensive strategic partnership, Wang said Xi's trip will further energize cooperation between China and European countries. China and the EU's joint efforts to safeguard multilateralism and build an open world economy not only conform to both sides' interests but also benefit world stability and prosperity, Wang said. CEMENTING CHINA-LATIN AMERICA RELATIONS Xi's state visits to Argentina and Panama, Wang said, not only enriched China's relations with the two countries but also strengthened the overall cooperation between China and Latin America. In Argentina, the two sides agreed to jointly usher in a new era of their comprehensive strategic partnership, and signed a joint action plan for the next five years and some 30 cooperation documents. In Panama, which established diplomatic relations with China 18 months ago, Xi's visit further fortified the basis of bilateral ties. The visits to the two countries were also "a reflection of the robust growing relations between China and Latin America," Wang said, adding that BRI cooperation is expanding rapidly to Latin America. China and Argentina agreed to extend their comprehensive strategic partnership to cover BRI cooperation, and China and Panama vowed to synergize the BRI and the National Logistics Strategy of Panama 2030. "The Latin American countries are enthusiastically embracing the Belt and Road Initiative and looking forward to r ties and deeper shared interests with China," Wang said. PRESENTING CHINA'S DEVELOPMENT PATH Throughout the trip, the Chinese president also made efforts to expound China's development path and philosophy and help the rest of the world to better understand China, Wang noted. Xi told the world that his country, which is celebrating the 40th anniversary of its reform and opening-up policy, will carry out a new round of reform and opening-up at a higher level, so as to promote its development and create more opportunities for worldwide common development. On China's foreign policy, Xi reiterated that China will always be a builder of world peace, a contributor to global development, and a guardian of the international order. During the trip, Professor Peng Liyuan, wife of the Chinese president, took part in a variety of activities to promote cultural and people-to-people exchanges and enhance China's friendly ties with other countries, which Wang said demonstrated China's unique soft power. Facts have once again proved that Xi's vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind is drawing together the aspirations of people across the world for peace, development and prosperity and becoming increasingly popular, Wang said. "President Xi's latest trip is yet another successful practice of major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics," he said. This has been a record year in terms of European tech investment, according to The State of European Tech 2018, a comprehensive data-driven analysis of European technology conducted by venture capital firm Atomico. Tech is powering the economic growth in the continent, but not everyone is benefiting from it. Therefore, the investments have not only tried to fix certain issues but have also shown areas that are lacking. For instance, investors are not democratizing the gains, and European companies need to address diversity and inclusion tools, and also find hidden talent pools. So, what are the highlights of this year in terms of European tech investment? Lets take a look! What Has Happened this Year? Diversity & Inclusion Problem Diversity is a problem in various aspects because many people discriminate based on certain aspects. For example, this year, 93% of capital was invested into all-male founding teams. Conversely, about 46% of women have reported that theyve been discriminated in the tech sector in Europe. This can be really frustrating for them, especially since the investments mostly went to all-male teams. In addition, women and minorities are usually underrepresented when entering the ecosystem. The Growth of the Tech Industry In order to keep something going and successful, things need to grow and become even better, thus generating results. Its the same with the tech industry that is growing in Europe. In 2018, Europes tech industry has grown 5x faster compared to the other European economic areas in terms of Added Gross Value. This level has been accelerating in the previous years. Also, the employment rate has grown by 4% in 2018. This is a big difference if you put it side by side with the overall EU employment growth, which is 1.1%. Europes Hidden Tech Talent Pool Mobilization In many domains, there are still undiscovered talents. Finding them can help the individual and general growth. As such, this year, the European ecosystem has become more interconnected and distributed than it has ever been before. Now, there are 5.7m professional developers on the continent. This is an additional 200,000 compared to the previous year and can be compared to the 4.4m in the US. Furthermore, there are 15 European cities that have over 50,000 professional developer populations that have seen less than $1B in total capital investment since 2013. So, there will be more tech hubs emerging, with big cities such as Vienna, Cologne, and Warsaw having large developer populations, but not attracting a lot of investment. How Much Money Was Invested in the European Ecosystem? This year, there was a colossal investment in technology in Europe. Compared to 2013, when $5bn were invested, in 2018, it has reached as much as $23bn with the top hubs receiving funds being London, Paris, Berlin, Barcelona, Stockholm, Hamburg, Madrid, Dublin, Oxford, Cambridge, Zurich, etc. The top sectors receiving investments include Fintech, Enterprise software, Health and Transportation. In addition, four tech IPOs or direct listings of European tech companies have reached valuations of more than $5 billion on the opening day. The list includes one of the most popular companies nowadays, which is Spotify. Beyond Spotify, the top 10 largest VC-backed IPOs by market cap at exit in 2018 include Ayden, Farfetch, Avast Software, Elastic, Funding Circle, Home24, Westwing, Nayva, and Marley Spoon. Three of the top 10 largest tech IPOs in the world in 2018 were contributed by Europe. Final Thoughts Although its been a great year for the European tech, there are surely some challenges to consider too. As an example, many investments went to all-male companies, while 46% of females said they faced discrimination. Thankfully, investments helped resurface these issues, and now they can be fixed. MONTREAL Premier Brian Pallister is challenging his colleagues to come forward when theyre responsible for the patchwork of laws and regulations that impede economic growth. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 7/12/2018 (1085 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. MONTREAL Premier Brian Pallister is challenging his colleagues to come forward when theyre responsible for the patchwork of laws and regulations that impede economic growth. "What we have to start doing is being more transparent as provincial leaders on what we're doing and what we're not doing. And if some of the premiers don't want certain regulatory changes, they can say so," Pallister said as he left meetings with the other 12 premiers and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Montreal. While other premiers focused on the federal carbon tax and Albertas plunging oil price, Pallister said his months-long push to break down barriers to interprovincial trade is bearing fruit. He also said Ottawa is hinting at support for a transmission line to send some of Manitobas hydro power to coal-dependent neighbour Saskatchewan. While he voiced support for helping Alberta get its oil to market and briefly decried the federal carbon tax, Pallister struck his own path Friday by homing in on trade rules and requirements that vary by province. Statistics Canada estimated last year those barriers have Canadians paying whats effectively a 6.9 per cent tariff on goods brought from another province. "I wanted these things resolved 20 years ago. That being said, we've made more progress in recent months than we've made in long, long time as a country," Pallister told the Free Press. In July, Ottawa and the provinces identified 23 issues for their departments to sort through, but postponed dealing with trucking requirements, such as fuel permits and the timelines for semi-trailer registration. "Some of our trucking companies, I'm told, have had to change tires at provincial borders. Just crazy stuff," the premier claimed. Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister arrives at the first ministers' meeting in Montreal on Friday. (Paul Chiasson / The Canadian Press) The trucking industry has a strong foothold in Manitoba, and Pallister said he "should have something to announce fairly quickly" around harmonizing their tire regulations. Pallister pointed out that territories will likely need their own rules, because their roads are constructed differently than the provinces. For him, its an example of legitimate differences that some jurisdictions will have to hold onto while others cut red tape that doesnt serve a purpose. "Each of these things on their own don't sound like a big deal, but they add up. And there are hundreds and hundreds of these types of impediments." "Perfection's been the enemy of the achievement of any real progress," he said, "because when you need everybody to agree, they dont." Feds may alter environmental-review law, amid channel-outlet concerns MONTREAL Premier Brian Pallister is facing down some opposition in his push to have Ottawa fast-track Interlake flood-prevention channels, a topic he raised in meetings Friday with all 13 premiers and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. click to read more MONTREAL Premier Brian Pallister is facing down some opposition in his push to have Ottawa fast-track Interlake flood-prevention channels, a topic he raised in meetings Friday with all 13 premiers and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. In a discussion about regulations and red tape, Pallister brought up the Lake Manitoba and Lake St. Martin flood-prevention channels, which Ottawa has supported but flagged for a thorough environmental review. Pallister has warned that looming reform of reviews of that kind could ensnare the project. Bill C-69 aims to clarify the scope of reviews and include the role of Indigenous communities. Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said Ottawa will consider amending tis legislation, even though its already under Senate debate. "The commitment we have today is that the federal government will work with the provinces, as they move forward with that regulatory framework. We look forward to that, and that is new." Among those raising concerns about the $540-million outlet channels is Manitoba Metis Federation head David Chartrand, who took part in an early Friday audience between Trudeau and Indigenous leaders, which the premiers later joined. Ottawa has invited MMF to weigh in on the case. Chartrand said in an interview he plans to raise the risk of zebra mussels and competing fish species flowing through those outlet channels, and the chance this will devastate Metis settlements that rely on fishing for food and their income. "If we don't do a proper study, are we going to try and fix it 20 years later, and find out we've caused so much eco-damage that we can't reverse it? There's too many unknowns, he said. We need proper consultation. Meanwhile, Chartrand said he is also trying to get premiers on board for what he said will be a construction bonanza, thanks to federal dollars to build homes, daycares and schools in Metis settlements. He said premiers from British Columbia and Saskatchewan expressed an interest, but Pallister did not. It's good for Manitoba, it's good for me; we're going to be paying taxes, he said. Were bringing to you a gold platter full of goodies. And you're not even opening the door to let us bring it in. Dylan Robertson Close Pallister also said Ottawa seems open to supporting a project that aims to send some of Manitobas hydro into Saskatchewan; he said Trudeau was "excited" the idea of "a hydro pipeline" spanning at least from Quebec to Saskatchewan. In late October, Manitoba Hydro inked the largest of three recent deals with SaskPower to send electricity to the neighbouring province for two decades beginning in 2022, through a transmission line announced in 2015. Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe didnt give any details on what Ottawa said, but explained that the discussion came in the context of Albertas struggles to get oil to market and the need to better link and export all forms of energy. "We talked about the opportunities for corridors between our nation for all energy products," he said. "It's incumbent on us to maximize that value." Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, flanked by New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs, Ontario Premier Rob Ford, Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic Leblanc and Premiers Francois Legault of Quebec, Stephen McNeil of Nova Scotia and Bob McLeod of the Northwest Territories, addresses the opening session of the first ministers meeting. (Paul Chiasson / The Canadian Press) The premier said in a teleconference with reporters that it was a "win, win, win" for weaning Saskatchewan off coal-fired power, providing Manitoba an outlet for its excess hydro production and helping Ottawa meet its carbon-reduction targets. "Well be pursuing that with enthusiasm," he said. Meanwhile, Pallister had little to say about the federal carbon tax, which Ottawa will impose on Manitoba next year after the premier scrapped his own flat tax two months ago. "I'm not interested in having a fight with the prime minister today on this issue. But ultimately we have to agree to disagree on this approach," he said. On the eve of the meeting, media focused on premiers threatening to walk out or, in one case, dismissing federal briefings as "fluff." The acrimony seemed to dissipate Friday, although Ontario Premier Doug Ford slammed Ottawa, claiming it had moved its climate-change goalposts by asking Ontario to cut more greenhouse-gas emissions. Premiers otherwise seemed content, but pointed to little concrete progress on virtually any issue. Pallister said it was a productive six hours of discussion. "The prime minister's a congenial human being and he I think did an admirable job of building on that goodwill as we went through the meeting," he said. "The reality is: we're thinking people, so we're not always going to agree." dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca The Quebec government's plan to raise the legal age for using cannabis to 21 from 18 is drawing the ire of some public-health experts, who say the move will backfire. This article was published 6/12/2018 (1086 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. The Quebec government's plan to raise the legal age for using cannabis to 21 from 18 is drawing the ire of some public-health experts, who say the move will backfire. The legislation introduced Wednesday morning is just the second bill from the new Coalition Avenir Quebec government, which decimated the Liberals in the province's October general election. Raising the age for cannabis was part of the CAQ's campaign platform, but the new bill goes further than that. It will also prohibit the possession of marijuana on university and college campuses (with an exception for university residences), ban Quebec's government-owned Societe quebecoise du cannabis stores from opening within 250 metres of those campuses, and add new prohibitions on where cannabis can be used. On Wednesday, Quebec Premier Francois Legault implored young people not to use cannabis, saying in French the drug is dangerous. But raising the age to legally use marijuana to 21 could also expose young Quebecers to risks, said addictions researcher Jean-Sebastien Fallu, an associate professor at the University of Montreal's school of psychoeducation. Signs at Societe Quebecoise du Cannabis stores could soon be changed to 21+ after the Coalition Avenir Quebec government indroduced legislation Wednesday to raise the legal age for using cannabis. (Ryan Remiorz / The Canadian Press files) Cannabis is popular among young people, and the now-defunct federal prohibition against it never stopped them from using marijuana, he said. "And if prohibition did not prevent them to use, I don't think that raising the age will," Fallu said. Instead, he expects those young cannabis users to go back to accessing the drug from illicit sources. "That's a problem because we know that there can be pesticides that are bad for the brain, (and) there can be also all sorts of THC levels on the black market," he said, referring to marijuana's main intoxicating ingredient. Fallu is also concerned that an 18-year-old Quebecer won't be able to legally use cannabis, but will be allowed to use another risky drug alcohol. "There's no scientific grounds to do that," he said. "It's illogical." The Coalition Avenir Quebec party won a majority government in the province's October election, making Francois Legault the new premier. (Jacques Boissinot / The Canadian Press files) Using cannabis does carry a possible risk to mental health, Fallu added, but "you cannot just do health policy based on one potential consequence." The federal law that legalized cannabis on Oct. 17 set the minimum age to use the drug at 18, but let provincial and territorial governments increase it as they saw fit. If Quebec passes the new law which seems inevitable, given the CAQ's majority in the provincial legislature it will be the only second jurisdiction in Canada where the age of majority for alcohol is out of sync with the age for cannabis. (Manitobans can legally tipple on their 18th birthday, but must wait another year to use cannabis.) Quebec native Kira London-Nadeau chairs the national board of the drug policy reform group Canadian Students for Sensible Drug Policy. Even though the CAQ campaigned on its cannabis age increase, the McGill University graduate student said she's startled that the government is actually going through with it. "I must say, I am surprised at the really flagrant disregard for scientific evidence and the professional recommendations of a number of experts on this file," said London-Nadeau, citing a recent open letter signed by 10 public-health experts, including Fallu, that argued against the age increase. (The new bill does have the support of Quebec's professional psychiatric association.) Enacting a new prohibition for younger cannabis users could put them at risk by driving them to the illicit market, said London-Nadeau. "(Quebec has) created a whole infrastructure that is safer and more reliable for people who are over 21, yet (this law will) leave that age bracket of 18 to 20 to continue with this alternative that isn't as safe," she said. The new legislation would ban Societe quebecoise du cannabis stores from opening within 250 metres of university campuses. (Ryan Remiorz / The Canadian Press files) Surveys and polls consistently find Quebecers use cannabis less than Canadians in other provinces, and London-Nadeau said she often encounters stigmatizing language used to describe the drug in Quebec's French- and English-language press. The CAQ's supporters in rural and suburban Quebec likely have more negative perceptions of cannabis, suggested former journalist Graham Fraser, now a visiting professor at the McGill Institute For the Study of Canada. "It's less likely to be seen as a benevolent pastime and more likely to be seen as dangerous," he said. That stigma is rooted in a prevailing public perception in Quebec that marijuana is inextricably linked with organized crime, said Fraser. But Quebecers are definitely aware of the theory that organized crime could actually benefit from the province's impending marijuana age increase. An editorial cartoon published Thursday in the Journal de Montreal depicts a young man being turned away from a legal cannabis store. Around the corner, a gangster in a leather motorcycle vest pops a bottle of bubbly as he thanks Premier Francois Legault, and suggests Legault should do the same thing for alcohol. solomon.israel@theleafnews.com Twitter: @sol_israel A woman accused of killing a 50-year-old Winnipeg man inside his North End apartment told a jury Thursday she didn't witness or commit the fatal stabbing. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 6/12/2018 (1086 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A woman accused of killing a 50-year-old Winnipeg man inside his North End apartment told a jury Thursday she didn't witness or commit the fatal stabbing. Lorie Knott, 23, is accused of second-degree murder, along with her then-boyfriend, Billy Joe Linklater, in the June 2016 death of David Sanderson, who was stabbed 33 times. For about five hours Thursday, Knott took the witness stand to testify in her defence. She pinned the blame on Linklater, telling court for the first time he told her he stabbed Sanderson because the older man wanted to "buy me for sex." Under cross-examination from Linklater's defence lawyer, Martin Glazer, Knott admitted lying to police, saying she was trying to protect the man she loves. After her arrest 2 1/2 years ago, she told police during a 17-hour interrogation there were other people with Sanderson, besides her and Linklater, on the night the 50-year-old died. "I was only saying that to protect Billy," she said Thursday. Knott said she was blackout drunk when she and Linklater met Sanderson during the early hours of June 22, 2016. They approached him on the street and offered to sell Sanderson a cigarette for $1. Sanderson wound up buying them alcohol at the Northern Hotel vendor. The three of them walked to a home in the North End -- Knott said she didn't remember whose home it was -- and drank together. She said she remembers only certain details of the night, including hearing Linklater and Sanderson talking in "hushed" tones. Knott said she went to the bathroom to avoid confrontation, and emerged to see Sanderson slumped over in a chair. She said she hugged Sanderson, getting his blood on her clothes, and told him, "Oh, God, I'm so sorry." "I was sorry 'cause I didn't do anything. I didn't help him," she testified through tears. The jury was shown video surveillance footage of Knott and Linklater walking down a street some time later. Knott was shoeless and wearing only her undergarments, but testified she didn't remember undressing. She said she didn't know Sanderson was dead until three days later. She told the jury she'd taken her shoes off after arriving at the home, and didn't remember what happened to them. Crown prosecutors presented evidence the shoes were found inside Sanderson's home, stained in his blood. Knott testified she "blacked out so many times," but Glazer suggested she was "just picking bits and pieces out." "The person doesn't really pick what they remember," Knott said. She admitted she didn't tell police all that she remembered. Glazer suggested Knott was the killer, asking her if she'd pulled a knife from her backpack after Sanderson grabbed at her, and later took off her bloody shoes. She denied the suggestions and said Linklater later told her he'd grabbed a knife from the kitchen. "Billy said he wanted to buy me for sex," she said. During her interview with the police, she said Linklater didn't stab Sanderson. Investigators showed her a photo of her young daughter and urged her to choose her child over defending her co-accused. She didn't implicate him until she took the stand Thursday, saying she had told her lawyer, Mike Cook, she wanted to testify. Her cross-examination continues Friday. katie.may@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @thatkatiemay SAN LUIS OBISPO, CALIF. A former pastor from Winnipeg is on trial in California, facing allegations he travelled to the city of Arroyo Grande to have sex with a supposed 15-year-old girl he met online. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 7/12/2018 (1085 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. SAN LUIS OBISPO, CALIF. A former pastor from Winnipeg is on trial in California, facing allegations he travelled to the city of Arroyo Grande to have sex with a supposed 15-year-old girl he met online. Nathan Rieger, 53, has pleaded not guilty to a felony count of meeting with a minor for lewd purposes. If convicted, he faces up to four years in state prison, according to court records. Rieger is accused of engaging in sexually explicit online conversations with an Arroyo Grande police detective, who he believed was a teenage girl. He was arrested Aug. 10, in an Arroyo Grande parking lot, where he had allegedly planned to meet the girl. Rieger worked as a pastor at the Winnipeg Centre Vineyard Church, and resigned after he was arrested. Jury selection for the trial began Monday, and jurors heard opening statements Wednesday. On Thursday, San Luis Obispo deputy district attorney Julie Antos called to the stand James Jolly, an Arroyo Grande police detective who specializes in investigating internet crimes against children. Jolly described for jurors an online chat he conducted with Rieger, under the guise of being a 15-year-old girl, over the course of a week in early August. It was unclear from Thursdays testimony what online platform they were using, but Rieger reportedly communicated with Jolly using the name "Anon." Jolly testified, in response to Riegers requests, he sent outdoor selfie photos of an unspecified woman and stated repeatedly his avatar was 15 years old. Rieger, who stated he was 37, began the conversation with flattering comments such as "Youre beautiful," but he soon became more explicit, asking the supposed girl about turn-ons and past sexual encounters, according to testimony. Jolly described how he carefully maintained the conversation by using vague language and by encouraging Rieger to explain his intentions. "Im looking for (him to say) something very black and white thats difficult to interpret any other way," Jolly told the court. And Rieger allegedly did, saying he wanted to introduce the girl to "new pleasures," among other extremely graphic comments. Throughout the conversation, Jolly repeatedly reminded Rieger his avatar was 15, wasnt old enough to drink, and had to "sneak out" from her grandmothers house to meet, according to a transcript of the communication displayed for jurors. Jolly said he worked over several days to encourage Rieger to show he understood he was suggesting committing a crime. "My career could be at stake because of your age," Rieger allegedly wrote. In another comment, Rieger allegedly wrote: "I know (the age of consent) is 18. But I think I still want you." According to the transcript, Rieger allegedly told the avatar he was an "experienced Dom" or male dominatrix and sex is "much nicer without a condom." However, Rieger was apprehensive about meeting the supposed girl, allegedly writing he had been "catfished before." He allegedly requested the girl send another photo, this one in which the girl touched her nose to ensure he was talking to a real person. After Jolly produced such a photo, Rieger allegedly wrote: "All of my doubts are gone... Lets do this." San Luis Obispo Tribune The future of the citys Indigenous council on policing and crime prevention, which reports to and advises the Winnipeg Police Board, is up in the air. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 7/12/2018 (1085 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. The future of the citys Indigenous council on policing and crime prevention, which reports to and advises the Winnipeg Police Board, is up in the air. The council, which is made up of local leaders from the Indigenous community, is being disbanded at the end of its three-year mandate. Whether it will be reinstated in some capacity, or scrapped, remains unclear, police board chairman Coun. Kevin Klein (Charleswood-Tuxedo) said. "Its not that were not going to replace it, but were going to review it now to see if it needs to be made into something else, to see if we can make it better," he said Friday. The councils mandate was to advise the police board on how Indigenous public safety and the relationship between police and Indigenous Peoples could be improved. It met up to four times per year. The three-year mandate for the board expires at the end of this year, and it remains unclear how long a review will take, Klein said. "We want to talk to the members and see if it was effective enough, or if we need to make changes to make it more effective," he said. "I would really like to see people sitting at the same table. "I dont think we necessarily need to have two different ones maybe we do. But it would be nice to see more inclusion right at the (Winnipeg Police Board)." Kleins comments came shortly after the police board met Friday. It was his first as chairman since being nominated to the role last month by Mayor Brian Bowman. At the meeting, Winnipeg Police Service Chief Danny Smyth outlined recent initiatives the force has undertaken, including an increased focus on Transit safety and ongoing battles to combat property crime. The number of hours officers have spent on city buses rose to 48 in October from 30 in September, Smyth said the result of WPS brass encouraging members to increase their visibility on Winnipeg Transit vehicles. "Over time, our members are adjusting to the way they walk the beat. Were asking them to jump on the bus, take a short trip on the bus, have a presence on the bus," Smyth said. "Its become clear from feedback from both the community and, frankly, from Transit that they would like to see more of a presence. "It works well with our downtown strategy." The chief highlighted concerns about thefts at Winnipeg liquor stores, which, combined with the citys methamphetamine crisis, is causing property crime rates to go up. So far in 2018, property crime is up 21 per cent over 2017, WPS statistics show. ryan.thorpe@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @rk_thorpe When Shaneen Robinson-Desjarlais found out in April she was pregnant with her second child, she knew she wanted to tackle the challenges of labour and birth differently this time. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 6/12/2018 (1086 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. When Shaneen Robinson-Desjarlais found out in April she was pregnant with her second child, she knew she wanted to tackle the challenges of labour and birth differently this time. "That was the first thing I said to (my husband, Martin)," she said. "Im not going to put myself through what I went through again." It was a little over four years ago, but Robinson-Desjarlais, 38, said she remembers her sons birth clearly. She arrived at the hospital with her family, but her regular doctor wasnt working that day. Her birth plan had outlined a water birth and nitrous oxide for pain, but she was told neither was available. She brought a gown she had worn in Indigenous ceremonies that she wanted to wear to give birth, but was informed, plainly, she would have to change into a hospital gown. "I just felt like there was no empathy there," Robinson-Desjarlais said. "There was no basic human kindness. I was treated like a number, like I was nobody." This time, shes hoping to take a more traditional approach. As a Cree woman, Robinson-Desjarlais said she wants to get back to Indigenous birthing philosophies. "When you have a child in our traditional ways, its a sacred thing," she said. "Youre supposed to have your aunties, your sisters, your cousins, your mother, your grandmothers whoever you want as your support system." Right now between working full time and caring for her four-year-old son, Sampson, and a three-year-old foster daughter with her husband Robinson-Desjarlais is also in the process of looking for an Indigenous doula through the Manitoba Indigenous Doula Initiative. Without access to one, the former CTV News reporter and University of Winnipeg grad worries shell be left without a voice in the childbirth process. "The lack of support that I felt at such a sensitive time like, youre bringing life into the world, becoming a mother for the first time," she said. "And me as an established, educated woman for me to feel so vulnerable and disrespected and anxious and stressed, I can only imagine what young women that cant even advocate for themselves are going through." While the doula initiative is open to all Indigenous women, its these women in particular young women, women dealing with addiction issues, women at risk of having their children apprehended by Child and Family Services the initiative focuses on, doula co-ordinator Angie Cote said. "This initiative is all about empowering women," Cote said. "Keeping the families together, and to help the women deal with their issues of trauma, their issues of whatever theyre going through in their lives. Just to help them reclaim their voice." Doulas trained through the initiative are paired with expectant mothers who apply for the program. They help guide the women from the prenatal stage, to labour and delivery, all the way through postpartum. The doulas offer spiritual guidance and connections to practices based in Indigenous culture and teachings, such as smudges, placenta ceremonies and naming ceremonies for babies. Since it started, the initiative has trained over 60 women as Indigenous doulas. But this isnt enough to keep up with the increasing demand for their services, particularly in remote communities, Cote said. Despite this growing interest in the initiatives services and its mission to eventually lower the number of children in care in Manitoba right now there are over 11,000, about 90 per cent of whom are Indigenous there is still little hard evidence linking the initiatives services to its goal of reducing child apprehension rates. But several new projects aim to fill that research gap. A pilot project in partnership with the doula initiative kicking off in April, for example, will follow 200 women using Indigenous doula services in Brandon, Winnipeg and Dauphin to determine how many kids stay out of foster care. A separate research project looking at Indigenous doulas as a culturally-based health approach is tracking First Nations women in Nelson House, Cross Lake and Grand Rapids to explore the impact of the doula initiative for women in remote communities who travel for birth. "It feels like this is the right way. This is the direction that we need to go to help ourselves, to help our women, to help our communities, to help our children," Cote said. "Its keeping the families together, its rebuilding communities, its helping the traditional keepers of our communities and families become whole again by being able to be a part of their childrens lives." Last December, the Manitoba government created a legislative review committee to make recommendations to improve provincial child welfare legislation. The committees final report was released in September. While the government isnt obliged to act on the committees recommendations, the report proposed the province reduce its child welfare rate the highest in the country by first focusing on supporting struggling families through community programs. The report did not make any specific recommendations about Indigenous doulas, but it did stress the critical role of community-based prevention and early intervention services in reducing the number of children in care in Manitoba. "I think that we should be looking at anything and everything that works," said Progressive Conservative MLA Andrew Micklefield (Rossmere), chairman of the legislative review committee. "If it works if its part of the solution, if it can be demonstrated to help people, and to help children then my recommendation would be that we look to acknowledge or partner with any organization that fits that kind of mandate." The Manitoba Indigenous Doula Initiative is still relatively new it started just over two years ago and any concrete data linking it to reducing child apprehension rates wont be available until either of its research projects are completed. Whether the province decides to act on the committees recommendations, the doula initiative will continue trying to keep up with demand for its services, and women like Robinson-Desjarlais will continue anxiously awaiting their due dates. "Indigenous elders, our women, tell us that when a child is born, the way in which theyre born is very significant," said Robinson-Desjarlais, one hand over her belly. "Im praying that everything goes well for this one." Caitlyn Gowriluk is a journalism student in Red River Colleges creative communications program. Manitoba has far and away the highest rate of domestic homicide among the provinces, averaging roughly eight victims per year, new research shows. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 6/12/2018 (1086 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Manitoba has far and away the highest rate of domestic homicide among the provinces, averaging roughly eight victims per year, new research shows. From 2010 to 2015, Manitoba held a domestic homicide rate of 3.36, which is calculated from the number of victims per 100,000 people. The figure is contained in multi-year research from the Canadian Domestic Homicide Prevention Initiative. The study found more than three-quarters of domestic homicide victims in Canada are women. "It has been several years that Manitoba has been double the national rate for violence against women," said Lorie English, executive director of the West Central Womens Resource Centre in Winnipeg. "This is the first time Im seeing that were the highest rate for deaths, but its not surprising. This has been a persistent problem, so we knew it was out of control." The report was released Thursday on the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women, which is also known as White Ribbon Day. It's held each year to commemorate the 1989 Ecole Polytechnique massacre. Marc Lepine shot and killed 14 women at the Montreal school before turning the gun on himself. His suicide note outlined his hatred of feminism as motivation for the attack. Executive director of the West Central Womens Resource Centre, Lorie English, isn't surprised Manitoba has the highest rate of domestic homicides in the country. (Wayne Glowacki / Winnipeg Free Press files) While the numbers fluctuate from year to year, domestic homicides defined as "the killing of a current or former intimate partner, their children, and/or other third parties" dropped slightly during the period probed. In 2010, there were 96 domestic homicides; in 2015, there were 77. During that time, Manitoba had 43 cases, or a rate of 3.6. In terms of province, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick were next: both had domestic homicide rates of 2.28. Two territories had higher rates of domestic homicide victims: Nunavut and the Northwest Territories, which had 27.82 and 16.75, respectively. Manitoba also had the highest percentage, and total number, of Indigenous victims. Of the 43 domestic homicide victims in the province, 12 (28 per cent) were Indigenous. The domestic homicide rate for Indigenous peoples in Manitoba was also high, coming in 5.37 victims killed per 100,000. The only province with a higher rate in this category was New Brunswick (6.81). English said a significant percentage of the women who turn to her agency for help are Indigenous, and the majority of them have experienced domestic violence. A dozen roses and a dozen candles to mark each of the slain women in Manitoba this year as approximately 100 people gathered at the legislature's rotunda Thursday evening to mark the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. (Phil Hossack / Winnipeg Free Press) Its important for agencies to not only help heal the victims' trauma, but also to take steps to break the cycle of violence by working with perpetrators and children who have witnessed their actions, she said. "Supporting the healing of the victim is important, but there also needs to be other steps taken. The violence cycle perpetuates unless we break it. The work needs to be well-resourced and it needs to be holistic in its approach," English said. "Unless we break the cycle, we wont ever see these numbers go down." On Thursday, a ceremony was held at the Manitoba Legislative Building to honour the national day of remembrance. The report, which tracked and analyzed data from across the country for the 476 people slain during the five-year period, also focused on four vulnerable groups: Indigenous peoples; refugees and immigrants; people living in rural, remote or northern areas; and children. Taken together, those four groups represented 53 per cent of domestic homicide victims. Manitoba placed fourth among provinces and territories when it came to immigrant and refugee victims (nine per cent) and rural, remote or northern victims (11 per cent). "This report is a painful reminder that domestic violence is a major public health, social and criminal issue that affects thousands of Canadians. We highlight several cases to remind the reader of the lives lost to domestic violence and the family and friends left behind," the report reads. ryan.thorpe@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @rk_thorpe When the North End Family Centre shut its doors in October, area residents worried it meant the end of its beloved annual Christmas party. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 6/12/2018 (1086 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. In September, the North End Family Centre announced it would be shutting down due to debt, reduced funding streams and organizational issues. (Wayne Glowacki / Winnipeg Free Press files) When the North End Family Centre shut its doors in October, area residents worried it meant the end of its beloved annual Christmas party. Now, a Winnipeg community group is using its weekly gathering to make sure one of the former centres longest-standing traditions continues on. Meet Me at the Bell Tower is encouraging people to bring something extra to its weekly Selkirk Avenue rally Friday night: new, unwrapped toys to give to be given to area children at the revived celebration Tuesday. "If we can do one small thing, like get a toy for a kid so that they can have a little bit of a happier Christmas, then that's something we're glad to do," Michael Redhead Champagne, founder of Meet Me at the Bell Tower, said Thursday. Michael Redhead Champagne is encouraging people to bring toys to its weekly Meet Me at the Bell Tower rally Friday night. (Tyler Walsh / Winnipeg Free Press files) For years, the Main Street organizations Christmas party was an event the community looked forward to, and an experience many wouldnt have otherwise had, said Kyle Mason, who founded the centre in 2009, and served as its executive director until he left for another position in 2017. In September, the centre which had provided free programming for families and children, and a laundry facility announced it would be shutting down, effective Oct. 4, due to debt, reduced funding streams and organizational issues. When Mason heard it was closing its doors, he and a group of volunteers moved to make sure its holiday tradition didn't end. "If nothing else, the annual Christmas party needed to continue," said Mason. "If you're already struggling to make ends meet and put food on the table, the idea of doing Christmas highlights your struggle even more. It just makes life that much more difficult." Organizers are trying to make this years gathering feel like any other year, he said. It will return to St. John's Anglican Cathedral, volunteers will serve hundreds of Christmas dinners, and there will be a "toy store" where parents and caregivers can select items to bring home and wrap for their children. "That way, they could choose something that they know their child likes," said Mason. "It was much more like a shopping experience, as opposed to a handout." Over the years, the Christmas party became wildly popular. In its busiest year, volunteers served about 1,000 meals and gave out more than 600 toys, Mason said. This year, volunteers will cap attendance at 300 adults to keep the event manageable without the full resources they used to have. Organizers are already expecting about 200 children, Mason said, which means they will have to collect at least that many toys by Tuesday. "We're really hoping that people will come out to the bell tower on Friday night, and that people are able to drop off a brand-new toy there," he said, adding many in the North End are still feeling the loss of the community gathering place. "The North End Family Centre didn't close from a lack of involvement from the community, or a lack of need," said Mason. "I'm hoping that something can come and fill that gap." caitlyn.gowriluk@freepress.mb.ca MONTREAL While tanking oil prices and the federal carbon tax are not on the official agenda as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau meets with premiers and territorial leaders here Friday, both issues are bound to garner a lot of attention. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 6/12/2018 (1086 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. MONTREAL While tanking oil prices and the federal carbon tax are not on the official agenda as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau meets with premiers and territorial leaders here Friday, both issues are bound to garner a lot of attention. The meeting is supposed to tackle interprovincial trade barriers, but the historically low price of oil, due to a glut on the market, appears set to derail that topic. Economists have warned the problem is having negative effects across the country, not just in Alberta, whose economy depends on oil. Some of the premiers had pushed Trudeau to put it on the agenda, during a teleconference on Wednesday. The Liberal government has wanted to focus on business-tax competitiveness, its environmental goals and improving trade between the provinces, an issue Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister has advocated for nationally. On Thursday, Alberta Premier Rachel Notley urged Ottawa to "cut the fluff" and focus on the oil crisis. Ontario Premier Doug Ford threatened to walk out of the meeting if it doesnt include discussions on the "job-killing carbon tax," though he later met with with Trudeau, and apeared somewhat appeased. Dominic LeBlanc, the federal minister for intergovernmental affairs, dismissed the threat of a walkout by Ford, characterizing carbon-tax opponents as environmental laggards. "Premiers can practise whatever partisan politics they want on the eve of a first ministers meeting," he told reporters. "Canadians I think will judge harshly people who don't want to constructively engage." Ford, along with the premiers of Saskatchewan and New Brunswick, held a news conference Thursday to repeat their criticism of the federal carbon tax, which Ottawa will impose on their provinces next year. Manitoba will also be forced to adopt the federal carbon tax, but Pallister didn't attend the news conference because he was travelling to Montreal from Winnipeg. On Wednesday, Pallister said the agenda should focus on the oil crisis, and he didnt raise the carbon tax issue. "Clearly, when some of your family are suffering, you should be concerned about that, and right now we have some real, real problems affecting the oilpatch and that affects the GDP of our country," Pallister had said. The premier noted the meeting only includes about four hours of open discussion, after briefings from officials and ministers. "The meeting time is very brief, and I think we really need to focus on a couple of key economic issues right now," he said, citing interprovincial trade barriers. Pallister raised the issue at the premiers meeting in July. Since then, jurisdictions have standardized some regulations, including construction codes. The premier believes trade barriers cost each family in Canada about $1,500 a year or the equivalent of a seven per cent tariff on all the goods and services that are traded within the country. LeBlanc highlighted the "patchwork quilt" of provincial regulations in a speech to the Montreal Chamber of Commerce Thursday. He cited progress on harmonizing the definition of "vodka," which prompted some in the audience to laugh. LeBlanc said that federal rules used to mean vodka could only be sold in another province when derived solely from wheat or potatoes. He said that only allowed two Manitoba firms to market the drink abroad and within the province. The rules changed recently. LeBlanc said success at Friday's meeting would mean "substantial progress" on removing internal trade barriers "on a much more accelerated scale." Pallister said he would discuss Manitobas meth crisis in private conversations with fellow premiers. With files from Larry Kusch dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca Premier Brian Pallister told a business audience Thursday that fixing the province's finances is "hard slogging," an effort that requires countless small decisions that add up to big savings. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 6/12/2018 (1086 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Premier Brian Pallister told a business audience Thursday that fixing the province's finances is "hard slogging," an effort that requires countless small decisions that add up to big savings. "We're fixing (the finances) carefully and we're fixing them gradually, but we're fixing them," he told an audience of 1,200 at his annual state of the province address, sponsored by the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce. "This isn't just $10-million decisions. It's thousands and thousands of $50,000 decisions," he said. Although many thought the premier would use his speech to tout the province's new economic growth action plan, Pallister made only passing reference to it towards the end of his 40-minute talk. He told the crowd to look at a website for more information about the plan. Eschewing the podium, the premier sat in a chair on stage in the cavernous hall in the new section of the RBC Convention Centre, speaking informally and peppering his speech with anecdotes. His main message was that his administration is willing to roll up its sleeves and examine every aspect of government and look for efficiencies, which he said would save money and improve service. He bristled at the term "austerity" to sum up his government's approach in improving the province's bottom line, saying the Tories have increased spending in health by $700 million over the past two years, and expanded the budgets of the departments of families and education. "We're investing in the most compassionate departments of government because these are demand-driven portfolios," he said. During his more than two years as premier, Pallister has been known to speak as enthusiastically about the small things government can do to improve efficiency as the big things. He said he learned long ago the importance of "paying attention to the small stuff." For instance, the government installed GPS locators in government vehicles close to two years ago. The information it gleaned led it to reduce the number of government vehicles by 20 per cent and save close to 10 per cent on fuel, he said. He also said because of various efficiencies, the province is able to build seven new schools in the coming year for the price of five. The premier has been encouraging civil servants to give the government ideas about how to do things more efficiently, and promised Thursday to put another $20 million into a pot to carry out their best ideas. He also defended the government's use of outside consultants. The Free Press recently found that since the Tories came to office in 2016, the government has spent more than $16 million to give it advice on an array of policy issues, from health care reform to the horse racing industry. "We've invested in consulting... firms that know about best practices, that understand, because they've looked at the global situation, how we can become the best at what we do," he told the crowd. "We need to understand that investing in expertise is important. It shapes our future," he said. Pallister boasted that during the past year, Manitoba has led the country in vehicle sales, real estate investment, farm cash receipts, wage growth and private-sector investment. At the same time, Winnipeg emergency room wait times have trended downward, he said. larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca JUST six weeks into the job, the recently elected board of the Winnipeg School Division has pushed for reducing the voting age to 16 and allowing non-citizens to vote in school board elections. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 7/12/2018 (1086 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. JUST six weeks into the job, the recently elected board of the Winnipeg School Division has pushed for reducing the voting age to 16 and allowing non-citizens to vote in school board elections. Now, its testing the waters to see how voters and ratepayers feel about raising property taxes more than the two per cent limit suggested by the province. JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Chris Broughton, Winnipeg School Board chairman: We want to know from the parents and ratepayers what their values are, and what they want to see us do. The WSD has added a three-question survey as part of its 2019-20 budget consultation process. It asks respondents if theyre OK with a property tax increase above two per cent, if it means there wont be program cuts. "We want to know from the parents and ratepayers what their values are, and what they want to see us do," board chairman Chris Broughton said Thursday. "Weve been elected to represent them, and the provincial government is imposing this position that they dont want us to go above that percentage." A spokeswoman for the Education and Training Minister Kelvin Goertzen pointed to a February 2018 news release, indicating Goertzen (who took over the portfolio Aug. 1) plans to follow the course set by former minister Ian Wishart. Wishart said at the time Manitoba was maintaining "a balanced approach to providing students a quality education while creating efficiency and controlling costs within the public education system." "(Goertzen) says we are planning a similar approach next year, where we expect school divisions to manage their expenditures responsibly when they create their budgets, and make decisions that best suit students needs and consider the impact on taxpayers," spokeswoman Andrea Slobodian said in an email. Last year, Manitobas public school population grew 0.9 per cent, with Premier Brian Pallisters government providing the smallest funding increase since the 1990s and capping spending. Broughton said hes expecting another challenging year in 2019-20. "Its going to be a tough budget, given the political climate were in with austerity and the need to find savings in an education system thats been chronically underfunded and forced to make cuts for many years," the WSD board chairman said. "When we are facing challenges and barriers to education and high levels of child poverty, having the education system underfunded to the degree that it is is a challenge. In the Winnipeg School Division -- comprised of 78 schools, 33,000 students and 6,000 employees -- trustees are getting out to talk to the people in their wards. Theyre presenting the pre-budget survey to district advisory committees, which include representatives from schools and parent councils, and student advisory committees, said Ward 6 trustee Yijie (Jennifer) Chen. "I have heard form many schools and parents about the importance of maintaining and enhancing programs, so we need to ensure we dont cut these programs," said the first-year trustee. Cutting school programs and supports to stick to a two per cent property tax limit will end up hurting local ratepayers and Manitoba taxpayers, as well as students, she said. "My ward has many low-income and newcomer families who rely on these supports, and limiting them will negatively impact our whole community," said Chen. "As school trustees, we have the responsibility to ensure any taxes levied for our schools are spent efficiently and responsibly. Having said that, arbitrarily capping school property tax revenue at two per cent limits our ability to support the programs our children need." The province, meanwhile, is embarking on a review of K-12 education in Manitoba. "We will invite public input on topics such as school funding and taxation as part of our K-12 review in 2019," Slobodian said in an email. "We continue to provide significant funding to give students the best education possible." Broughton worries by the time the review is finished, it will be too late to save programs and supports from the chopping block. "Im hopeful that the provincial government will see a need to invest in K-12, but I think it will take the K-12 review for them to see the challenges education is facing in Manitoba," he said. carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca Last fall, federal Families, Children and Social Development Minister Jean-Yves Duclos announced a national housing strategy. The 10-year, $40-billion plan marks the first time in a generation that the Canadian government has re-engaged as a full partner in affordable housing. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 7/12/2018 (1086 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Opinion Last fall, federal Families, Children and Social Development Minister Jean-Yves Duclos announced a national housing strategy. The 10-year, $40-billion plan marks the first time in a generation that the Canadian government has re-engaged as a full partner in affordable housing. It also pledged to introduce legislation to enshrine a right to housing for all Canadians. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau declared, "Housing rights are human rights and everyone deserves a safe and affordable place to call home... one person on the streets in Canada is too many." A year later, far too many Canadians still lack a home offering security, peace and dignity. The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says 1.7 million households are without good quality, affordable housing that meets their needs. In Winnipeg, at least 1,500 people experience homelessness on any given night. International legal instruments, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, already recognize the right to housing. The 2015 Sustainable Development Goals further commit the global community to guarantee access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing by 2030. But in Canada, we are still waiting for the introduction of right-to-housing legislation. Civil society advocates have developed an effective framework. At a minimum, legislation should affirm housing as a fundamental human right. It would provide a mechanism to hold governments accountable for their records on homelessness and housing security. An independent body should analyze the systemic issues that prevent the realization of the right to housing, drawing on the knowledge of those with experience of homelessness. This would ensure that proposed solutions meet their actual needs. Canada must also set targets and timelines for the elimination of homelessness and the provision of affordable housing. In particular, right-to-housing legislation should explicitly recognize a distinct right to housing for Indigenous people. In Winnipeg, at least two-thirds of all people experiencing homelessness are Indigenous. The federal government has a legal obligation for housing for Indigenous people, including those on and off reserve. Canada has also adopted the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Article 23 recognizes "Indigenous Peoples have the right to be actively involved in developing and determining" social programs that affect them, including housing. Reconciliation demands that we provide Indigenous communities with resources to meet their housing needs as much as possible through institutions they themselves control. However, legislation alone will not immediately solve the problem of homelessness nor bridge the gap that exists between supply and demand of affordable housing in Canada. Canada requires hundreds of thousands of units of affordable housing for those currently in need. These cannot be conjured up overnight by legislative fiat. Other jurisdictions that have enacted right-to-housing legislation, such as Scotland, South Africa and France, still face problems of homelessness and housing insecurity. What right-to-housing legislation can do is provide a benchmark for demanding progress on the elimination of homelessness and tracking improvement in housing security and affordability. To reach these goals, substantial funding remains necessary. Sadly, Canada has been slow to make these investments. Much of the $40 billion in promised funding will only roll out after the next election. Several provinces, including Manitoba, still have not signed bilateral funding deals to replace the Investment in Affordable Housing program, which ends next year. Since the Manitoba Progressive Conservatives took power in 2016, there has been no construction of social housing and little affordable housing of any type. Meanwhile, hundreds of units have been lost to privatization or disrepair. Thousands more losses could follow without immediate support to non-profit operators, as many of their existing funding agreements are set to expire. Implementing a right to housing for all Canadians requires a long-term strategy. Planning must extend beyond the four-year mandate of any particular government. That is why right-to-housing legislation is vital. It creates a compact with Canadians that the government has an ongoing commitment to provide housing as an essential element in safeguarding the rights to life, liberty and security for everyone. Canadians had high expectations when the government announced the housing strategy last year. Despite delays, it continues to hold promise to significantly reduce homelessness and meet the needs of hundreds of thousands of Canadians. A legislated right to housing would be a catalyst for ensuring Canada fulfils this promise. Josh Brandon is a community animator with the Social Planning Council of Winnipeg and a member of the Right to Housing Coalition. Have you noticed how there are no more lines to talk to live tellers in banks? Twenty years ago, I remember having to think about scheduling my time to wait in line to do my banking and trying to strategize going at non-peak hours. Today, on the rare occasions I have to go, I can be in and out in less than five minutes. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 7/12/2018 (1086 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Opinion Have you noticed how there are no more lines to talk to live tellers in banks? Twenty years ago, I remember having to think about scheduling my time to wait in line to do my banking and trying to strategize going at non-peak hours. Today, on the rare occasions I have to go, I can be in and out in less than five minutes. It's not just banking. Industries such as travel and food delivery have changed dramatically over the years all thanks to going virtual. On the other hand, the experience of getting health-care services looks pretty much the same as it did decades ago. Patients are still travelling long distances, taking time off from work and being crammed in waiting rooms for hours, all the while potentially catching each other's germs. In an age when Skype, FaceTime, Zoom and other telecommunication applications are the norm, why don't we have more virtual health-care visits? Even texts, email and plain old telephone services could be used to speed up or even replace a large portion of face-to-face appointments. Sure, communication channels need to be secure and privacy needs to be maintained, but these aren't technological barriers anymore. Unless you're going in for a health emergency, a surgical procedure or a health-care provider needs to physically examine the patient by hand, there's no reason we couldn't do many aspects of health care virtually. The health benefits and cost savings to both the system and patients of delivering smarter health care while the patient stays at home could be enormous. Some advancements in virtual delivery of health care have already been made particularly for rural and remote regions. The Ontario Telemedicine Network is one of the largest telemedicine networks in the world. According to its 2016-2017 annual report, videoconferencing through its network has resulted in 284 million kilometres of patient travel avoided, leading to more than $77 million savings in avoided travel costs. Beyond the advantages of virtual visits, smart systems to monitor patients at home, such as photos for applications like dermatology, and wearable technology to monitor things such as heart rate and physical activity, can be used to give clinicians information on how the patients are doing at home in real time. A case in point is home monitoring of patients with chronic conditions. There is growing evidence from clinical trials that if implemented properly, home monitoring of heart failure patients supports self-care and clinical management, which in turn decreases hospitalizations and death. Toronto's University Health Network has a smartphone-based telemonitoring program called Medly that uses an app for patients to send their data such as weight, blood pressure and symptoms from home. Patients then get automated self-care instructions based on their data and their health-care providers get alerted if necessary. The University of Ottawa Heart Institute's Telehome Monitoring Program also has patients sending in their data with a home monitor. A cardiac nurse reviews the data daily and follows up as needed. Unfortunately, these are the exceptions, not the norm. Other ideas such as replacing some in-person visits with virtual visits supported by home monitoring, and visits to determine the right dose of medications are just now being proposed and studied. In some cases, technology can even eliminate the need for clinical visits completely virtual or otherwise. A recent study examined sending digital photos of skin conditions from family doctors to dermatologists within the same urban hospital; the large majority of these teledermatology cases were resolved without the patient having to see a dermatologist at all. This saved significant time and money for both the patients and the system, while providing faster service. So how do we get to the point where going to see a health-care provider is only done as often as buying a new car? The answer may lie largely in how health care is funded. Expansion of bundled care, when a group of providers gets a single payment to cover all the care needs of a patient for a specific health issue, and models of funding tied to patient outcomes, could help drive innovation to achieve transformation in health care such as virtual care. For example, successes from Ontario's six pilots of bundled care models included reductions in readmissions, length of stay and emergency department visits, all while improving patient and provider experiences. Importantly, we also need visionary decision-makers who will champion such disruptive innovations and embrace new models of care to make the system work better for everyone. Emily Seto is an assistant professor and lead for Health Informatics at the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto's Dalla Lana School of Public Health. She's also a contributor with EvidenceNetwork.ca, which is based at the University of Winnipeg. WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen, was in touch as far back as 2015 with a Russian who offered "political synergy" with the Trump election campaign, the federal special counsel said Friday in a court filing. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 7/12/2018 (1086 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. FILE - In this June 21, 2017, file photo, special counsel Robert Mueller departs after a meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington. Mueller is set to reveal more details about his Russia investigation as he faces court deadlines in the cases of two men who worked closely with President Donald Trump. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File) WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen, was in touch as far back as 2015 with a Russian who offered "political synergy" with the Trump election campaign, the federal special counsel said Friday in a court filing. Filings by prosecutors from both New York and the Trump-Russia special counsel's office laid out for the first time details of the co-operation of Cohen, a vital witness who once said he'd "take a bullet" for the president but who in recent months has become a prime antagonist and pledged to come clean with the government. Federal prosecutors said Friday that Cohen deserves a substantial prison sentence despite his co-operation with investigators. He is to be sentenced next week, and may face several years in prison. Michael Cohen, former lawyer to President Donald Trump, leaves his apartment building on New York's Park Avenue, Friday, Dec. 7, 2018. In the latest filings Friday, prosecutors will weigh in on whether Cohen deserves prison time and, if so, how much. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) In hours of meetings with prosecutors, Cohen detailed his intimate involvement in an array of episodes, including some that directly touch the president, that are at the centre of investigations into campaign finance violations and potential collusion between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin. In one of the filings, Mueller details how Cohen spoke to a Russian who "claimed to be a 'trusted person' in the Russian Federation who could offer the campaign 'political synergy' and 'synergy on a government level.'" The filing says the meeting never happened. Cohen also discussed a Moscow real estate deal that could have netted Trump's business hundreds of millions of dollars and conversations with a Russian intermediary who proposed a meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin as well as offering synergy with the campaign, prosecutors said. Michael Cohen, former lawyer to President Donald Trump, leaves his apartment building on New York's Park Avenue, Friday, Dec. 7, 2018. In the latest filings Friday, prosecutors will weigh in on whether Cohen deserves prison time and, if so, how much. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) Cohen, dubbed Trump's "legal fixer" in the past, also described his work in conjunction with Trump in orchestrating hush money payments to two women a porn star and a Playboy model who said they had sex with Trump a decade earlier. Prosecutors in New York, where Cohen pleaded guilty in August in connection with those payments, said the lawyer "acted in co-ordination and at the direction" of Trump. Despite such specific allegations of Trump's actions, the president quickly tweeted after news of the filings: "Totally clears the President. Thank you!" In addition, the filings reveal that Cohen told prosecutors he and Trump discussed a potential meeting with Putin on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in 2015, shortly after Trump announced his candidacy for president. In a footnote, special counsel Robert Mueller's team writes that Cohen conferred with Trump "about contacting the Russia government before reaching out to gauge Russia's interest in such a meeting," though it never took place. A portion of a court filing by prosecutors from the special counsel's office released Friday, Dec. 7, 2018, laid out for the first time details of Cohen's cooperation with investigators and took positions on the punishment he should face. (AP Photo/Wayne Partlow) In an additional filing Friday evening, prosecutors said former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort lied to them about his contacts with a Russian associate and Trump administration officials. Manafort, who has pleaded guilty to several counts, violated his plea agreement by then telling "multiple discernible lies" to prosecutors, they said. Prosecutors in Cohen's case said that even though he co-operated in their investigation into the hush money payments to women he nonetheless deserved to spend time in prison. "Cohen did provide information to law enforcement, including information that assisted the Special Counsel's Office," they said. "But Cohen's description of those efforts is overstated in some respects and incomplete in others." In meetings with Mueller's team, Cohen "provided information about his own contacts with Russian interests during the campaign and discussions with others in the course of making those contacts," the court documents said. Cohen provided prosecutors with a "detailed account" of his involvement, along with the involvement of others, in efforts during the 2016 presidential campaign to complete a deal to build a Trump Tower Moscow, the documents said. He also provided information about attempts by Russian nationals to reach Trump's campaign, they said. However, in the crimes to which he pleaded guilty in August, he was motivated "by personal greed and repeatedly used his power and influence for deceptive ends." Prosecutors said the court's Probation Department estimated that federal sentencing guidelines call for Cohen to serve at least four years in prison. They said that "reflects Cohen's extensive, deliberate and serious criminal conduct." Prosecutors say Cohen "already enjoyed a privileged life," and that "his desire for even greater wealth and influence precipitated an extensive course of criminal conduct." ___ Associated Press writers Larry Neumeister in New York and Michael Balsamo in Washington contributed to this report. RIMBO, Sweden - The United Nations' refugee agency said Friday there were nearly 1,500 civilian casualties in Yemen from August through October, the latest grim tally to emerge from a four-year civil war as opposing parties hold talks in Sweden. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 7/12/2018 (1086 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. In this Nov. 15, 2018 photo, 10-year-old Affaf, who weighs 9,6 kg (21 pounds), sits with her parents at a hospital in Hajjah, Yemen. The U.N. food agency said Thursday, Dec. 6, 2018 it is planning to rapidly scale up food distribution to help another 4 million people in Yemen over the next two months, more than a 50-percent increase in the number reached now, if access can be maintained in the poor, war-stricken country. (Marco Frattini/WFP via AP) RIMBO, Sweden - The United Nations' refugee agency said Friday there were nearly 1,500 civilian casualties in Yemen from August through October, the latest grim tally to emerge from a four-year civil war as opposing parties hold talks in Sweden. The announcement came as Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels and the internationally recognized government, supported by a Saudi-led coalition, met for a second day for U.N.-sponsored talks aimed at halting the bloodshed. UNHCR urged the two sides to do more to protect civilians, saying data from Yemen shows an average of 123 civilian killed and wounded every week during the three-month period, in a war that has killed at least 16,000 civilians. On Friday, at the venue in a castle in the town of Rimbo, north of Stockholm, U.N. envoy Martin Griffiths and various delegates from Yemen were seen walking on the grounds. During a break outside the talks, Othman Mujali, minister of agriculture from the Hadi government, said his side was ready to make concessions to help relieve suffering and prop up the economy. "There are trust building measures upon which we will build goodwill, with them leaving Hodeida and ceasing to skim off funds," he said. "We are ready to release prisoners of war and pay wages to people, if they carry on with what we're agreeing upon." The Houthi delegation later said that talks had been divided into five main sections, including opening up Sanaa airport for aid, adding that the prisoner swap would include all detainees from both sides. "The first section is the political framework, the second section is the airport ... then Sanaa and the economic measures and humanitarian issues, and the fifth and it has been discussed and finished is concerning the detainees and prisoners of war," senior Houthi negotiator Abdul-Malik al-Ajri said. The talks opened Thursday on an upbeat note, with the warring sides agreeing to a broad prisoner swap, boosting hopes that the talks would not deteriorate into further violence as in the past. In a release from Sanaa later Friday the rebels said their delegation had met with Griffiths and looked forward to having success in the talks and making concrete progress. "The international envoy discusses the importance of such consultations and affirmed that progress must be made on three important issues: the general framework, political solution and calm, and confidence-building measures," they said. Yemen's conflict, which has pushed the country to the brink of famine, pits the internationally recognized government against Shiite rebels known as Houthis, who took the capital of Sanaa in 2014. The Saudis intervened the following year. U.N. officials have sought to downplay expectations from the talks, saying they don't foresee rapid progress toward a political settlement but hope for at least minor steps that would help to address Yemen's worsening humanitarian crisis and prepare a framework for further negotiations. UNHCR says of the 1,478 civilian casualties, 33 per cent were women and children. That's a total of 217 women and children killed and 268 wounded. An Associated Press investigation published Friday has revealed evidence of torture at detention sites run by Yemen's Houthi rebels. There has also been international outrage against the coalition over abuses. The AP has exposed torture at secret prisons run by the UAE and their Yemeni allies and has documented the deaths of civilians from strikes by drones in the United States' campaign against al-Qaida's branch in Yemen. ___ Rohan reported from Cairo. Associated Press writers Jamey Keaton in Geneva and Hassan Abdallah in Cairo also contributed to this report. There is not enough analysis data for BlackRock Floating Rate Income Strategies Fund. 4.4 Community Rank Outperform Votes BlackRock Floating Rate Income Strategies Fund has received 68 outperform votes. (Add your outperform vote.) Underperform Votes BlackRock Floating Rate Income Strategies Fund has received 35 underperform votes. (Add your underperform vote.) Community Sentiment BlackRock Floating Rate Income Strategies Fund has received 66.02% outperform votes from our community. MarketBeat's community ratings are surveys of what our community members think about BlackRock Floating Rate Income Strategies Fund and other stocks. Vote Outperform if you believe FRA will outperform the S&P 500 over the long term. Vote Underperform if you believe FRA will underperform the S&P 500 over the long term. You may vote once every thirty days. Previous Next 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 Macquarie Group Limited provides diversified financial services in Australia, the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates through four segments: Macquarie Asset Management (MAM), Banking and Financial Services (BFS), Commodities and Global Markets (CGM), and Macquarie Capital. The MAM segment provides investment solutions to clients across various capabilities, including infrastructure and renewables, real estate, agriculture, transportation finance, private credit, equities, fixed income, and multi-asset solutions. The BFS segment offers personal banking products comprising home loans, credit cards, transaction and savings accounts, and vehicle finance; and wrap platform and cash management, financial advisory, private banking, and stockbroking services, as well as investment and superannuation products. It also provides deposit, lending, and payment solutions and services to business clients, such as sole practitioners to corporate professional firms. The CGM segment offers products in the areas of equities, fixed income, foreign exchange, commodities and technology, media, and telecoms; risk and capital solutions; and specialized asset finance solutions. The Macquarie Capital segment provides advisory and capital raising services. It is also involved in facilitation, and principal lending and investments; and trading of fixed income, equities, foreign exchange and commodities, as well as provides broking services, corporate and structured finance, leasing services, capital raising and advisory services, and underwriting services;; Further, the company engages in the distribution and management of funds and wealth management products. The company was founded in 1969 and is headquartered in Sydney, Australia. Read More There is not enough analysis data for Eaton Vance California Municipal Income Trust. 4.8 Community Rank Outperform Votes Eaton Vance California Municipal Income Trust has received 64 outperform votes. (Add your outperform vote.) Underperform Votes Eaton Vance California Municipal Income Trust has received 25 underperform votes. (Add your underperform vote.) Community Sentiment Eaton Vance California Municipal Income Trust has received 71.91% outperform votes from our community. MarketBeat's community ratings are surveys of what our community members think about Eaton Vance California Municipal Income Trust and other stocks. Vote Outperform if you believe CEV will outperform the S&P 500 over the long term. Vote Underperform if you believe CEV will underperform the S&P 500 over the long term. You may vote once every thirty days. Previous Next Eaton Vance Tax-Advantaged Global Dividend Opportunities Fund is a closed ended equity mutual fund launched and managed by Eaton Vance Management. It invests in public equity markets across the globe. The fund seeks to invest in the stocks of companies operating across diversified sectors. It primarily invests in dividend paying value stocks of companies. The fund employs fundamental analysis to create its portfolio. It benchmarks the performance of its portfolio against the MSCI World Index. Eaton Vance Tax-Advantaged Global Dividend Opportunities Fund was formed on April 30, 2004 and is domiciled in the United States. Read More Medtronic Plc is a medical technology company, which engages in the development, manufacture, distribution, and sale of device-based medical therapies and services. It operates through the following segments: Cardiac and Vascular Group; Minimally Invasive Technologies Group; Restorative Therapies Group; and Diabetes Group. The Cardiac and Vascular Group segment consists of products for the diagnosis, treatment, and management of cardiac rhythm disorders and cardiovascular disease. The Minimally Invasive Technologies Group segment focuses on respiratory system, gastrointestinal tract, renal system, lungs, pelvic region, kidneys, and obesity diseases. The Restorative Therapies Group segment comprises of neurostimulation therapies and drug delivery systems for the treatment of chronic pain, as well as areas of the spine and brain, along with pelvic health and conditions of the ear, nose, and throat. The Diabetes Group segment offers insulin pumps, coninuous glucose monitoring systems, and insulin pump consumables. The company was founded in 1949 and is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. Read More Augusta Gold Corp., a junior exploration company, engages in the acquisition and exploration of mineral properties in the United States. It primarily explores for gold, silver, and other metals. The company holds interests in the Bullfrog gold project located in the north-west of Las Vegas, Nevada. It also owns, controls, or has acquired mineral rights on Federal patented and unpatented mining claims in the state of Nevada for the purpose of exploration and potential development of metals on a total of approximately 7,800 acres of land. The company was formerly known as Bullfrog Gold Corp. and changed its name to Augusta Gold Corp. in January 2021. Augusta Gold Corp. was incorporated in 2007 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada. Read More Invesco Dynamic Credit Opportunities Fund is a close-ended fixed income mutual fund launched by Invesco Ltd. The fund is co-managed by Invesco Advisers, Inc., Invesco Asset Management Deutschland GmbH, Invesco Asset Management Limited, Invesco Asset Management (Japan) Limited, Invesco Hong Kong Limited, Invesco Senior Secured Management, Inc., and Invesco Canada Ltd. It invests in the fixed income markets across the globe with a focus on the United States. The fund invests in securities of companies that operate across diversified sectors. It invests in fixed income securities such as senior secured floating rate loans, fixed rate loans, and collateralized debt. The fund employs fundamental analysis with a bottom-up security selection process to create its portfolio. It conducts in-house research to make its investments. The fund benchmarks the performance of its portfolio against the Credit Suisse Leveraged Loan Index. It was formerly known as Invesco Van Kampen Dynamic Credit Opportunities Fund. Invesco Dynamic Credit Opportunities Fund was formed on June 26, 2007 and is domiciled in the United States. Read More iShares MSCI Pacific ex Japan ETF's stock was trading at $37.77 on March 11th, 2020 when Coronavirus reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Since then, EPP stock has increased by 27.6% and is now trading at $48.20. View which stocks have been most impacted by COVID-19. Surge Energy Inc. explores for, develops, and produces oil and gas in western Canada. The company holds interest in the Greater Sawn Lake assets located in Northern Alberta; Valhalla/Wembley property located in northwestern Alberta; Sparky assets located between Provost and Wainwright in eastern Alberta and western Saskatchewan; and Shaunavon properties located to the southwest of Swift Current, Saskatchewan. It holds an average working interest of approximately 83% in approximately 109,941 net developed acres and approximately 92% in approximately 152,344 net undeveloped acres in Greater Sawn area; approximately 70% in approximately 16,032 net developed acres and approximately 74% in approximately 8,208 net undeveloped acres in Valhalla area; and approximately 76% in approximately 80,213 net developed acres and 96% in approximately 58,598 net undeveloped acres in Sparky area; and approximately 61% in approximately 88,178 net developed acres and approximately 39% in approximately 10,483 net undeveloped acres in Edmonton and other minor areas. As of December 31, 2020, it held interests in 316 net oil and 13 net gas wells in Greater Sawn area; 56 net oil and 4 net gas wells in Valhalla area; 466 net oil and 10 net gas wells in Sparky area; 176 net oil wells, as well as an average working interest of approximately 100% in approximately 23,409 net developed acres and 13,698 net undeveloped acres in the Shaunavon properties; and 28 net oil wells and 7 net gas wells in Edmonton and other minor areas. The company was formerly known as Zapata Energy Corporation and changed its name to Surge Energy Inc. in June 2010. Surge Energy Inc. was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada. Read More 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. Read More KBR, Inc. engages in the provision of differentiated professional services and technologies across the asset and program life-cycle within the government services and hydrocarbons industries. It operates through the following segments: Government Solutions, Technology Solutions, Energy Solutions, Non-strategic Business, and Other. The Government Solutions segment provides full life-cycle support solutions to defense, space, aviation, and other programs and missions for military and other government agencies. The Technology Solutions segment combines KBR's proprietary technologies, equipment, and catalyst supply and associated knowledge-based services into a global business for refining, petrochemicals, inorganic, and specialty chemicals as well as gasification, syngas, ammonia, nitric acid, and fertilizers. The Energy Solutions segment provides full life-cycle support solutions across the upstream, midstream and downstream hydrocarbons markets. The Non-strategic Business segment represents the operations or activities which the company intends to exit upon completion of existing contracts. The Other segment includes corporate expenses and general and administrative expenses not all Read More Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, presides over the first plenary session of the national leading group on science and technology in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 6, 2018. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing) BEIJING, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has called for deeper reform to inspire creativity throughout society, and make technological innovation better support and guide the development. Li, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, made the remarks at the first plenary session of the national leading group on science and technology, which he heads. Li said innovation is vital for a country's future and destiny, and China should amplify its strengths in human resources and domestic market to advance its technological innovation and facilitate high-quality development as the country is going through economic transformation and upgrading. Li called for focusing on breakthroughs in key technologies, fostering new growth drivers, and promoting technology-economy integration. He asked for deeper reform on the management system for science and technology and stronger protection of intellectual property, to create a favorable environment for innovation. Li highlighted the role of basic research as the root of the scientific system, calling for strengthened long-term and consistent support for basic research, and urging enterprises and other social forces to invest more in this field. He noted that the spirit of scientists should be promoted to encourage researchers to devote themselves to researching, adding that more opportunities should be created for young people, and an honest, rigorous and pragmatic academic atmosphere should be built. Han Zheng, another member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, also attended the meeting. Lincoln National Corp. is a holding company, which operates multiple insurance and retirement businesses through its subsidiary companies. It provides advice and solutions that help empower people to take charge of their financial lives with confidence and optimism. The company operates through the following segments: Annuities, Retirement Plan Services, Life Insurance, Group Protection, and Other Operations. The Annuities segment provides tax-deferred investment growth and lifetime income opportunities for its clients by offering fixed and variable annuities. The Retirement Plan Services segment includes employers with retirement plan products and services, primarily in the defined contribution retirement plan marketplaces. The Life Insurance segment focuses on the creation and protection of wealth for its clients by providing life insurance products, including term insurance, both single and survivorship versions of universal life insurance, variable universal life insurance, and indexed universal life insurance products. The Group Protection segment offers group non-medical insurance products, which includes term life, disability, dental, vision and accident and critical illness Read More The following companies are subsidiares of Lloyds Banking Group: A G Finance Ltd, A.C.L. Ltd, ACL Autolease Holdings Ltd, ADF No.1 Pty Ltd, Addison Social Housing Holdings Ltd, Alex Lawrie Factors Ltd, Alex. Lawrie Receivables Financing Ltd, Amberdate Ltd, Anglo Scottish Utilities Partnership 1, Aquilus Ltd, Automobile Association Personal Finance Ltd, BOS (Ireland) Property Services 2 Ltd, BOS (Ireland) Property Services Ltd, BOS (Shared Appreciation Mortgages (Scotland) No. 2) Ltd, BOS (Shared Appreciation Mortgages (Scotland) No. 3) Ltd, BOS (Shared Appreciation Mortgages (Scotland)) Ltd, BOS (Shared Appreciation Mortgages) No. 1 plc, BOS (Shared Appreciation Mortgages) No. 2 plc, BOS (Shared Appreciation Mortgages) No. 3 plc, BOS (Shared Appreciation Mortgages) No. 4 plc, BOS (Shared Appreciation Mortgages) No. 5 plc, BOS (Shared Appreciation Mortgages) No. 6 plc, BOS (USA) Fund Investments Inc., BOS (USA) Inc., BOS Edinburgh No 1 Ltd, BOS Mistral Ltd, BOS Personal Lending Ltd, BOSSAF Rail Ltd, Bank of Scotland (B G S) Nominees Ltd, Bank of Scotland (Stanlife) London Nominees Ltd, Bank of Scotland Branch Nominees Ltd, Bank of Scotland Central Nominees Ltd, Bank of Scotland Edinburgh Nominees Ltd, Bank of Scotland Equipment Finance Ltd, Bank of Scotland Foundation, Bank of Scotland LNG Leasing (No 1) Ltd, Bank of Scotland London Nominees Ltd, Bank of Scotland Nominees (Unit Trusts) Ltd, Bank of Scotland P.E.P. 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Leasing Ltd, CBRail S.A.R.L., CF Asset Finance Ltd, CF1 Ltd, CM Venture Investments Ltd, Cancara Asset Securitisation Ltd, Capital 1945 Ltd, Capital Bank Leasing 12 Ltd, Capital Bank Leasing 3 Ltd, Capital Bank Leasing 5 Ltd, Capital Bank Leasing 9 Ltd, Capital Bank Property Investments (3) Ltd, Capital Personal Finance Ltd, Cardiff Auto Receivables Securitisation 2018-1 Plc, Cardiff Auto Receivables Securitisation 2019-1 Plc, Cardiff Auto Receivables Securitisation Holdings Ltd, Cardnet Merchant Services Ltd, Cashfriday Ltd, Cashpoint Ltd, Caveminster Ltd, Cedar Holdings Ltd, Celsius European Lux 2 S.A.R.L., Central Mortgage Finance Ltd, Chariot Finance Ltd, Cheltenham & Gloucester plc, Cheltenham II Securities 2020 DAC, Cheltenham Securities 2017 Ltd, Chepstow Blue Holdings Ltd, Chepstow Blue plc, Chester Asset Options No.2 Ltd, Chester Asset Options No.3 Ltd, Chester Asset Receivables Dealings Issuer Ltd, Chester Asset Securitisation Holdings Ltd, Chester Asset Securitisation Holdings No.2 Ltd, Chiswell Stockbrokers Ltd, Clerical Medical Finance plc, Clerical Medical Financial Services Ltd, Clerical Medical International Holdings B.V., Clerical Medical Investment Fund Managers Ltd, Clerical Medical Managed Funds Ltd, Clerical Medical Non Sterling Guadalix Hold Co BV, Clerical Medical Non Sterling Guadalix Spanish Prop Co SL, Clerical Medical Non Sterling Megapark Hold Co BV, Clerical Medical Non Sterling Megapark Prop Co SA, Clerical Medical Non Sterling Property Company S.A.R.L., Cloak Lane Funding S.A.R.L., Cloak Lane Investments S.A.R.L., Conquest Securities Ltd, Corbiere Asset Investments Ltd, Create Services Ltd, Credit Card Securitisation Europe Ltd, Dalkeith Corporation, Deva Financing Holdings Ltd, Deva Financing plc, Deva One Ltd, Deva Three Ltd, Deva Two Ltd, Dunstan Investments (UK) Ltd, Edgbaston RMBS 2010-1 plc, Edgbaston RMBS Holdings Ltd, Elland RMBS 2018 plc, Elland RMBS Holdings Ltd, Eurolead Services Holdings Ltd, First Retail Finance (Chester) Ltd, Fontwell Securities 2016 Ltd, Forthright Finance Ltd, France Industrial Premises Holding Company, General Leasing (No. 12) Ltd, General Reversionary and Investment Company, Gresham Nominee 1 Ltd, Gresham Nominee 2 Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 1) Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 10) Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 11) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 12) Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 13) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 14) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 15) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 16) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 19) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 20) Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 21) Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 22) Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 23) Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 24) Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 25) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 26) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 27) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 28) Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 29) Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 3) Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 30) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 31) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 32) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 33) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 34) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 35) Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 36) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 37) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 38) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 39) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 40) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 41) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 44) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 45) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 46) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 47) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 48) UK Ltd, Guildhall Asset Purchasing Company (No 3) Ltd, Guildhall Asset Purchasing Company (No.11) UK Ltd, HBOS Covered Bonds LLP, HBOS Final Salary Trust Ltd, HBOS Financial Services Ltd, HBOS Insurance & Investment Group Ltd, HBOS International Financial Services Holdings Ltd, HBOS Investment Fund Managers Ltd, HBOS Social Housing Covered Bonds LLP, HBOS UK Ltd, HBOS plc, HSDL Nominees Ltd, HVF Ltd, Halifax Credit Card Ltd, Halifax Financial Brokers Ltd, Halifax Financial Services (Holdings) Ltd, Halifax Financial Services Ltd, Halifax General Insurance Services Ltd, Halifax Group Ltd, Halifax Investment Services Ltd, Halifax Leasing (June) Ltd, Halifax Leasing (March No.2) Ltd, Halifax Leasing (September) Ltd, Halifax Life Ltd, Halifax Loans Ltd, Halifax Ltd, Halifax Mortgage Services Ltd, Halifax Nominees Ltd, Halifax Pension Nominees Ltd, Halifax Premises Ltd, Halifax Share Dealing Ltd, Halifax Vehicle Leasing (1998) Ltd, Heidi Finance Holdings (UK) Ltd, Hill Samuel Bank Ltd, Hill Samuel Finance Ltd, Hill Samuel Leasing Co. Ltd, Home Shopping Personal Finance Ltd, Horizon Capital 2000 Ltd, Housing Association Risk Transfer 2019 DAC, Housing Growth Partnership GP LLP, Housing Growth Partnership LP, Housing Growth Partnership Ltd, Housing Growth Partnership Manager Ltd, Hyundai Car Finance Ltd, IBOS Finance Ltd, ICC Enterprise Partners Ltd, ICC Equity Partners Ltd, ICC Holdings Unlimited Company, Inchcape Financial Services Ltd, Intelligent Finance Financial Services Ltd, Intelligent Finance Software Ltd, International Motors Finance Ltd, Kanaalstraat Funding C.V., Katrine Leasing Ltd, LB Healthcare Trustee Ltd, LB Motorent Ltd, LB Quest Ltd, LB Share Schemes Trustees Ltd, LBCF Ltd, LBG Brasil Administracao LTDA, LBG Capital Holdings Ltd, LBG Equity Investments Ltd, LBI Leasing Ltd, LDC (General Partner) Ltd, LDC (Managers) Ltd, LDC (Nominees) Ltd, LDC GP LLP, LDC I LP, LDC II LP, LDC III LP, LDC IV LP, LDC Parallel (Nominees) Ltd, LDC V LP, LDC VI LP, LDC VII LP, LDC VIII LP, LTGP Limited Partnership Incorporated, Legacy Renewal Company Ltd, Leicester Securities 2014 Ltd, Lex Autolease (CH) Ltd, Lex Autolease (VC) Ltd, Lex Autolease Carselect Ltd, Lex Autolease Ltd, Lex Vehicle Finance 2 Ltd, Lex Vehicle Leasing (Holdings) Ltd, Lex Vehicle Leasing Ltd, Lime Street (Funding) Ltd, Lingfield 2014 I Holdings Ltd, Lingfield 2014 I plc, Lloyds (Gresham) Ltd, Lloyds (Gresham) No. 1 Ltd, Lloyds (Nimrod) Specialist Finance Ltd, Lloyds America Securities Corporation1, Lloyds Asset Leasing Ltd, Lloyds Bank (Branches) Nominees Ltd, Lloyds Bank (Colonial & Foreign) Nominees Ltd, Lloyds Bank (Fountainbridge 1) Ltd, Lloyds Bank (Fountainbridge 2) Ltd, Lloyds Bank (I.D.) Nominees Ltd, Lloyds Bank (International Services) Ltd, Lloyds Bank (Stock Exchange Branch) Nominees Ltd, Lloyds Bank Asset Finance Ltd, Lloyds Bank Commercial Finance Ltd, Lloyds Bank Commercial Finance Scotland Ltd, Lloyds Bank Corporate Asset Finance (HP) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Corporate Asset Finance (No.1) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Corporate Asset Finance (No.2) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Corporate Asset Finance (No.3) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Corporate Asset Finance (No.4) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets Wertpapierhandelsbank GmbH, Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets plc, Lloyds Bank Covered Bonds (Holdings) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Covered Bonds (LM) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Covered Bonds LLP, Lloyds Bank Equipment Leasing (No. 1) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Equipment Leasing (No. 7) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Equipment Leasing (No. 9) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Financial Services (Holdings) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Foundation for England & Wales, Lloyds Bank Foundation for the Channel Islands, Lloyds Bank General Insurance Holdings Ltd, Lloyds Bank General Insurance Ltd, Lloyds Bank General Leasing (No. 11) Ltd, Lloyds Bank General Leasing (No. 17) Ltd, Lloyds Bank General Leasing (No. 20) Ltd, Lloyds Bank General Leasing (No. 3) Ltd, Lloyds Bank General Leasing (No. 5) Ltd, Lloyds Bank GmbH, Lloyds Bank Hill Samuel Holding Company Ltd, Lloyds Bank Insurance Services Ltd, Lloyds Bank International Ltd, Lloyds Bank Leasing (No. 6) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Leasing (No. 8) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Leasing Ltd, Lloyds Bank MTCH Ltd, Lloyds Bank Maritime Leasing (No. 10) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Maritime Leasing (No. 13) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Maritime Leasing (No. 17) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Maritime Leasing (No.16) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Nominees Ltd, Lloyds Bank Offshore Pension Trust Ltd, Lloyds Bank Pension ABCS (No. 1) LLP, Lloyds Bank Pension ABCS (No. 2) LLP, Lloyds Bank Pension Trust (No. 1) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Pension Trust (No. 2) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Pensions Property (Guernsey) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Properties Ltd, Lloyds Bank Property Company Ltd, Lloyds Bank S.F. Nominees Ltd, Lloyds Bank Subsidiaries Ltd, Lloyds Bank Trustee Services Ltd, Lloyds Bank plc, Lloyds Banking Group Pensions Trustees Ltd, Lloyds Capital GP Ltd, Lloyds Commercial Leasing Ltd, Lloyds Commercial Properties Ltd, Lloyds Commercial Property Investments Ltd, Lloyds Corporate Services (Jersey) Ltd, Lloyds Development Capital (Holdings) Ltd, Lloyds Engine Capital (No.1) U.S LLC, Lloyds Far East S.A.R.L., Lloyds General Leasing Ltd, Lloyds Group Holdings (Jersey) Ltd, Lloyds Holdings (Jersey) Ltd, Lloyds Hypotheken B.V., Lloyds Industrial Leasing Ltd, Lloyds International Pty Ltd, Lloyds Investment Bonds Ltd, Lloyds Investment Fund Managers Ltd, Lloyds Investment Securities No.5 Ltd, Lloyds Leasing (North Sea Transport) Ltd1, Lloyds Leasing Developments Ltd, Lloyds Nominees (Guernsey) Ltd, Lloyds Offshore Global Services Private Ltd, Lloyds Plant Leasing Ltd, Lloyds Portfolio Leasing Ltd, Lloyds Premises Investments Ltd, Lloyds Project Leasing Ltd, Lloyds Property Investment Company No. 3 Ltd, Lloyds Property Investment Company No. 4 Ltd, Lloyds Property Investment Company No.5 Ltd, Lloyds Secretaries Ltd, Lloyds Securities Inc., Lloyds TSB Pacific Ltd, Lloyds UDT Asset Leasing Ltd, Lloyds UDT Asset Rentals Ltd, Lloyds UDT Hiring Ltd, Lloyds UDT Leasing Ltd, Lloyds UDT Ltd, Lloyds Your Tomorrow Trustee Ltd, Loans.co.uk Ltd, London Taxi Finance Ltd, London Uberior (L.A.S. Group) Nominees Ltd, Lotus Finance Ltd, MBNA, MBNA Direct Ltd, MBNA Europe Finance Ltd, MBNA Europe Holdings Ltd, MBNA General Foundation, MBNA Global Services Ltd, MBNA Indian Services Private Ltd, MBNA Ltd, MBNA R & L S.A.R.L., MBNA Receivables Ltd, Mainsearch Company Ltd, Maritime Leasing (No. 19) Ltd, Membership Services Finance Ltd, Mitre Street Funding S.A.R.L., Molineux RMBS 2016-1 plc, Molineux RMBS Holdings Ltd, Moor Lane Holdings Ltd, NFU Mutual Finance Ltd, NWS Trust Ltd, Nominees (Jersey) Ltd, Nordic Leasing Ltd, Ocean Leasing (July) Ltd, Oystercatcher Nominees Ltd, Oystercatcher Residential Ltd, PIPS Asset Investments Ltd, Pacific Leasing Ltd, Penarth Asset Securitisation Holdings Ltd, Penarth Funding 1 Ltd, Penarth Funding 2 Ltd, Penarth Master Issuer plc, Penarth Receivables Trustee Ltd, Pensions Management (S.W.F.) Ltd, Peony Eastern Leasing Ltd, Peony Leasing Ltd, Peony Western Leasing Ltd, Permanent Funding (No. 1) Ltd, Permanent Funding (No. 2) Ltd, Permanent Holdings Ltd, Permanent Master Issuer plc, Permanent Mortgages Trustee Ltd, Permanent PECOH Holdings Ltd, Permanent PECOH Ltd, Perry Nominees Ltd, Prestonfield Investments Ltd, Proton Finance Ltd, R.F. Spencer And Company Ltd, Ranelagh Nominees Ltd, Retail Revival (Burgess Hill) Investments Ltd, SARL Coliseum, SARL Hiram, SAS Compagnie Fonciere De France, SCI Astoria Invest, SCI De LHorloge, SCI Equinoxe, SCI Rambuteau CFF, SW Funding plc, SW No.1 Ltd, SWAMF (GP) Ltd, SWAMF Nominee (1) Ltd, SWAMF Nominee (2) Ltd, Saint Michel Holding Company No1, Saint Michel Investment Property, Saint Witz 2 Holding Company No1, Saint Witz 2 Investment Property, Salisbury II Securities 2016 Ltd, Salisbury II-A Securities 2017 Ltd, Salisbury III Securities 2019 DAC, Salisbury Securities 2015 Ltd, Sandown 2012-2 Holdings Ltd, Sandown 2012-2 plc, Sandown Gold 2012-1 Holdings Ltd, Sandown Gold 2012-1 plc, Savban Leasing Ltd, Scotland International Finance B.V., Scottish Widows Administration Services (Nominees) Ltd, Scottish Widows Administration Services Ltd, Scottish Widows Annuities Ltd, Scottish Widows Auto Enrolment Services Ltd, Scottish Widows Europe, Scottish Widows Financial Services Holdings, Scottish Widows Group Ltd, Scottish Widows Industrial Properties Europe B.V., Scottish Widows Ltd, Scottish Widows Pension Trustees Ltd, Scottish Widows Property Management Ltd, Scottish Widows Schroder Personal Wealth (ACD) Ltd, Scottish Widows Schroder Personal Wealth Ltd, Scottish Widows Schroder Wealth Holdings Ltd, Scottish Widows Services Ltd, Scottish Widows Trustees Ltd, Scottish Widows Unit Funds Ltd, Scottish Widows Unit Trust Managers Ltd, Scottish Widows Fund and Life Assurance Society, Seabreeze Leasing Ltd, Seaspirit Leasing Ltd, Share Dealing Nominees Ltd, Shogun Finance Ltd, Silentdale Ltd, St Andrews Group Ltd, St Andrews Insurance plc, St Andrews Life Assurance plc, St. Marys Court Investments, Standard Property Investment (1987) Ltd, Standard Property Investment Ltd, Sussex County Homes Ltd, Suzuki Financial Services Ltd, Swan Funding 2 Ltd, Syon Securities 2019 DAC, The Agricultural Mortgage Corporation Plc, The British Linen Company Ltd, The Halifax Foundation for Northern Ireland, The Mortgage Business plc, Thistle Financing Holdings Ltd, Thistle Investments (AMC) Ltd, Thistle Investments (ERM) Ltd, Thistle Leasing, Three Copthall Avenue Ltd, Tower Hill Property Investments (10) Ltd, Tower Hill Property Investments (7) Ltd, Tranquility Leasing Ltd, Trinity Financing plc, UDT Budget Leasing Ltd, UDT Sales Finance Ltd, Uberior (Moorfield) Ltd, Uberior Co-Investments Ltd, Uberior ENA Ltd, Uberior Equity Ltd, Uberior Europe Ltd, Uberior Fund Investments Ltd, Uberior Infrastructure Investments (No.2) Ltd, Uberior Infrastructure Investments Ltd, Uberior Investments Ltd, Uberior Nominees Ltd, Uberior Trading Ltd, Uberior Trustees Ltd, Uberior Ventures Australia Pty Ltd, Uberior Ventures Ltd, United Dominions Leasing Ltd, United Dominions Trust Ltd, Universe The CMI Global Network Fund, Upsaala Ltd, Vine Street IX LP, WCS Ltd, Ward Nominees (Abingdon) Ltd, Ward Nominees (Birmingham) Ltd 1, Ward Nominees (Bristol) Ltd 1, Ward Nominees Ltd 1, Waverley Fund II Investor LLC, Waverley Fund III Investor LLC, Waymark Asset Investments Ltd, West Craigs Ltd, Wetherby II Securities 2018 DAC, Wetherby III Securities 2019 DAC, Wetherby Securities 2017 Ltd, Wood Street Leasing Ltd, and Zurich Insurance Group - UK Workplace Pensions and Savings Business. The following companies are subsidiares of Quest Diagnostics: AmeriPath, AmeriPath Cincinnati Inc. (OH), AmeriPath Cleveland Inc. (OH), AmeriPath Consolidated Labs Inc. (FL), AmeriPath Florida LLC (DE), AmeriPath Hospital Services Florida LLC (DE), AmeriPath Inc. (DE), AmeriPath Indianapolis PC (IN), AmeriPath Kentucky Inc. (KY), AmeriPath Lubbock 5.01(A) Corporation (TX), AmeriPath New York LLC (DE), AmeriPath Texas Inc. (DE), AmeriPath Tucson Inc. (AZ), American Medical Laboratories, American Medical Laboratories Incorporated (DE), Associated Clinical Laboratories L.P. (PA), Associated Clinical Laboratories of Pennsylvania L.L.C. (PA), Athena Diagnostics, Athena Diagnostics Inc. (DE), Blueprint Genetics, Blueprint Genetics FZ-LLC (UAE), Blueprint Genetics Inc. (DE), Blueprint Genetics Oy (Finland), California Laboratory Associates, Cape Cod Healthcare - Business, Celera, ClearPoint Diagnostic, Clearpoint Diagnostic Laboratories LLC (TX), Cleveland HeartLab, Cleveland HeartLab Inc. (DE), Clinical Laboratory Partners, Colorado Pathology Consultants P.C. (CO), ConVerge Diagnostic Services, Consolidated DermPath Inc. (DE), DFW 5.01(a) Corporation (TX), DGXWMT JV LLC (DE), Dermatopathology of Wisconsin S.C. (WI), Diagnostic Laboratory of Oklahoma LLC (OK), Diagnostic Pathology Services Inc. (OK), Diagnostic Reference Services Inc. (MD), ExamOne Canada Inc. (New Brunswick), ExamOne LLC (DE), ExamOne World Wide Inc. (PA), ExamOne World Wide of NJ Inc. (NJ), Focus Diagnostics, HemoCue, Hoffman M.D. Associated Pathologists Chartered (NV), Institute for Dermatopathology Inc. (PA), Isabella Street Urban Renewal LLC (NJ), Kailash B. Sharma M.D. Inc. (GA), Kilpatrick Pathology P.A. (NC), LabOne, LabOne LLC (MO), LabOne of Ohio Inc. (DE), Laboratorio de Analisis Biomedicos S.A. (Mexico), Lancet Labs, MACL, Med Fusion LLC (TX), Med fusion, MedPlus, Mid America Clinical Laboratories LLC (IN), Nomad Massachusetts Inc. (MA), Nuclear Medicine and Pathology Associates (GA), Ocmulgee Medical Pathology Association Inc. (GA), Pathology Building Partnership (MD) (gen. ptnrshp.), PeaceHealth Laboratories, PhenoPath Laboratories, PhenoPath Laboratories PLLC (WA), Q Squared Solutions Holdings LLC (DE), Q Squared Solutions Holdings Limited (UK), Quest Diagnostics (Shanghai) Co. Ltd. (China), Quest Diagnostics Brasil Holdings Ltd. (UK), Quest Diagnostics Clinical Laboratories, Quest Diagnostics Clinical Laboratories Inc. (DE), Quest Diagnostics Domestic Holder LLC (DE), Quest Diagnostics HTAS India Private Limited (India), Quest Diagnostics Health & Wellness LLC (DE), Quest Diagnostics Holdings Incorporated (DE), Quest Diagnostics Holdings Ltd. (UK), Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (MD), Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NV), Quest Diagnostics India Private Limited (India), Quest Diagnostics Infectious Disease Inc. (DE), Quest Diagnostics International Holdings Limited (UK), Quest Diagnostics International LLC (DE), Quest Diagnostics Investments LLC (DE), Quest Diagnostics Ireland Limited (Ireland), Quest Diagnostics LLC (CT), Quest Diagnostics LLC (IL), Quest Diagnostics LLC (MA), Quest Diagnostics Massachusetts LLC (MA), Quest Diagnostics Mexico Holding Company Trust (Mexico), Quest Diagnostics Mexico S de RL de CV (Mexico), Quest Diagnostics Nichols Institute (CA), Quest Diagnostics Nichols Institute Inc. (VA), Quest Diagnostics Receivables Inc. (DE), Quest Diagnostics Subsidiary Holdings Ltd. (UK), Quest Diagnostics TB LLC (DE), Quest Diagnostics Terracotta LLC (DE), Quest Diagnostics Venture LLC (PA), Quest Diagnostics Ventures LLC (DE), Quest Diagnostics do Brasil Ltda. (Brazil), Quest Diagnostics of Pennsylvania Inc. (DE), Quest Diagnostics of Puerto Rico Inc. (PR), Quest HealthConnect LLC (CA), ReproSource, Reprosource Fertility Diagnostics Inc. (MA), Solstas Lab Partners, Sonora Quest Laboratories LLC (AZ), Specialty Laboratories Inc. (CA), Summit Health, UMass Memorial Medical Center - Anatomic Pathology Outreach Laboratory Business, Unilab Corporation, and Unilab Corporation (DE). The following companies are subsidiares of MetLife: 1001 PROPERTIES LLC, 10700 WILSHIRE LLC, 1201 TAB MANAGER LLC, 150 NORTH RIVERSIDE PE MEMBER LLC, 1925 WJC OWNER LLC, 23RD STREET INVESTMENTS INC., 500 GRANT STREET ASSOCIATES LIMITED PARTNERSHIP, 500 GRANT STREET GP LLC, 60 11TH STREET LLC, 6104 HOLLYWOOD LLC, AFP GENESIS ADMINISTRADORA DE FONDOS Y FIDECOMISOS S.A., AFP PROVIDA S.A., AGENVITA S.R.L., ALICO EUROPEAN HOLDINGS LIMITED, ALICO HELLAS SINGLE MEMBER LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY, ALICO OPERATIONS LLC, ALICO PROPERTIES INC., AMMETLIFE INSURANCE BERHAD, AMMETLIFE TAKAFUL BERHAD, American Life Insurance Company, BEST MARKET S.A., BIDV METLIFE LIFE INSURANCE LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY, BLOCK VISION HOLDINGS CORPORATION, BLOCK VISION OF TEXAS INC., BORDERLAND INVESTMENTS LIMITED, BOULEVARD RESIDENTIAL LLC, BUFORD LOGISTICS CENTER LLC, CC HOLDCO MANAGER LLC, CHESTNUT FLATS WIND LLC, CLOSED JOINT-STOCK COMPANY MASTER D, COMPANIA INVERSORA METLIFE S.A., CORPORATE REAL ESTATE HOLDINGS LLC, COVA LIFE MANAGEMENT COMPANY, DAVIS VISION INC., DAVISVISION IPA INC., DELAWARE AMERICAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, DES MOINES CREEK BUSINESS PARK PHASE II LLC, ECONOMY FIRE & CASUALTY COMPANY, ECONOMY PREFERRED INSURANCE COMPANY, ECONOMY PREMIER ASSURANCE COMPANY, EURO CL INVESTMENTS LLC, EXCELENCIA OPERATIVA Y TECNOLOGICA S.A de C.V., FEDERAL FLOOD CERTIFICATION LLC, FORTISSIMO CO. LTD, FUNDACION METLIFE MEXICO A.C., GLOBAL PROPERTIES INC., General American Life Insurance Company, Grand Bank N.A., HASKELL EAST VILLAGE LLC, HIGH STREET SEVENTH AND OSBORN APARTMENTS LLC, HOUSING FUND MANAGER LLC, INTERNATIONAL TECHNICAL AND ADVISORY SERVICES LIMITED, INVERSIONES METLIFE HOLDCO DOS LIMITADA, INVERSIONES METLIFE HOLDCO TRES LIMITADA, JOINT-STOCK COMPANY METLIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, LHC HOLDINGS, LHCW HOLDINGS, LHCW HOTEL HOLDING, LHCW HOTEL HOLDING LLC, LHCW HOTEL OPERATING COMPANY, LONG ISLAND SOLAR FARM LLC, LUMENLAB MALAYSIA SDN. BHD., Logan Circle Partners, MARKETPLACE RESIDENCES LLC, MAXIS GBN S.A.S., MC PORTFOLIO JV MEMBER LLC, MCJV LLC, MCMIF HOLDCO I LLC, MCMIF HOLDCO II LLC, MCP - WELLINGTON LLC, MCP 100 CONGRESS MEMBER LLC, MCP 1500 MICHAEL LLC, MCP 1900 MCKINNEY LLC, MCP 2 AMES LLC, MCP 2 AMES ONE LLC, MCP 2 AMES OWNER LLC, MCP 2 AMES TWO LLC, MCP 220 YORK LLC, MCP 22745 & 22755 RELOCATION DRIVE LLC, MCP 249 INDUSTRIAL BUSINESS PARK MEMBER LLC, MCP 3040 POST OAK LLC, MCP 350 ROHLWING LLC, MCP 4600 SOUTH SYRACUSE LLC, MCP 550 WEST WASHINGTON LLC, MCP 60 11TH STREET MEMBER LLC, MCP 7 RIVERWAY LLC, MCP 9020 MURPHY ROAD LLC, MCP 93 RED RIVER MEMBER LLC, MCP ALLEY 24 EAST LLC, MCP ASHTON SOUTH END LLC, MCP BLOCK 23 MEMBER LLC, MCP BRADFORD LLC, MCP BUFORD LOGISTICS CENTER 2 MEMBER LLC, MCP BUFORD LOGISTICS CENTER BLDG B LLC, MCP BURNSIDE MEMBER LLC, MCP CENTER AVENUE INDUSTRIAL MEMBER LLC, MCP CLAWITER INNOVATION MEMBER LLC, MCP COMMON DESK TRS LLC, MCP DENVER PAVILIONS MEMBER LLC, MCP DILLON LLC, MCP DILLON RESIDENTIAL LLC, MCP ENV CHICAGO LLC, MCP FIFE ENTERPRISE CENTER LLC, MCP FRISCO OFFICE LLC, MCP GRAPEVINE LLC, MCP HIGHLAND PARK LENDER LLC, MCP HUB I LLC, MCP HUB I PROPERTY LLC, MCP LODGE AT LAKECREST LLC, MCP MA PROPERTY REIT LLC, MCP MAGNOLIA PARK MEMBER LLC, MCP MAIN STREET VILLAGE LLC, MCP MOUNTAIN TECHNOLOGY CENTER MEMBER TRS LLC, MCP NORTHYARDS HOLDCO LLC, MCP NORTHYARDS MASTER LESSEE LLC, MCP NORTHYARDS OWNER LLC, MCP ONE WESTSIDE LLC, MCP ONYX LLC, MCP PARAGON POINT LLC, MCP PLAZA AT LEGACY LLC, MCP PROPERTY MANAGEMENT LLC, MCP SEATTLE GATEWAY INDUSTRIAL I LLC, MCP SEATTLE GATEWAY INDUSTRIAL II LLC, MCP SEVENTH AND OSBORNE MF MEMBER LLC, MCP SEVENTH AND OSBORNE RETAIL MEMBER LLC, MCP SHAKOPEE LLC, MCP SLEEPY HOLLOW MEMBER LLC, MCP SOCAL INDUSTRIAL ANAHEIM LLC, MCP SOCAL INDUSTRIAL BERNARDO LLC, MCP SOCAL INDUSTRIAL CANYON LLC, MCP SOCAL INDUSTRIAL CONCOURSE LLC, MCP SOCAL INDUSTRIAL FULLERTON LLC, MCP SOCAL INDUSTRIAL KELLWO00OD LLC, MCP SOCAL INDUSTRIAL LAX LLC, MCP SOCAL INDUSTRIAL LOKER LLC, MCP SOCAL INDUSTRIAL REDONDO LLC, MCP SOCAL INDUSTRIAL SPRINGDALE LLC, MCP STATELINE LLC, MCP THE PALMS AT DORAL LLC, MCP TRIMBLE CAMPUS LLC, MCP UNION ROW LLC, MCP VALLEY FORGE LLC, MCP VALLEY FORGE ONE LLC, MCP VALLEY FORGE OWNER LLC, MCP VALLEY FORGE TWO LLC, MCP VANCE JACKSON LLC, MCP VINEYARD AVENUE MEMBER LLC, MCP VOA HOLDINGS LLC, MCP VOA I & III LLC, MCP VOA II LLC, MCP WATERFORD ATRIUM LLC, MCP WEST BROAD MARKETPLACE LLC, MCP ENGLISH VILLAGE LLC, MCPF ACQUISITION LLC, MCPF FOXBOROUGH LLC, MCPF NEEDHAM LLC, MCPP OWNERS LLC, MCRE BLOCK 40 LP, MEC HEALTH CARE INC., MET 1065 HOTEL LLC, MET CANADA SOLAR ULC, METLIFE 1007 STEWART LLC, METLIFE 1201 TAB MEMBER LLC, METLIFE 425 MKT MANAGER LLC, METLIFE 425 MKT MEMBER LLC, METLIFE 555 12TH MEMBER LLC, METLIFE 8280 MEMBER LLC, METLIFE ACOMA OWNER LLC, METLIFE ADMINISTRADORA DE FUNDOS MULTIPATROCINADOS LTDA., METLIFE ALTERNATIVES GP LLC, METLIFE ASHTON AUSTIN OWNER LLC, METLIFE ASIA HOLDING COMPANY PTE. LTD., METLIFE ASIA LIMITED, METLIFE ASIA SERVICES SDN. BHD, METLIFE ASSET MANAGEMENT CORP., METLIFE ASSIGNMENT COMPANY INC., METLIFE AUTO & HOME INSURANCE AGENCY INC., METLIFE BL FEEDER, METLIFE BL FEEDER LP, METLIFE BORO STATION MEMBER LLC, METLIFE CABO HILTON MEMBER LLC, METLIFE CAMINO RAMON MEMBER LLC, METLIFE CAPITAL CREDIT L.P., METLIFE CAPITAL LIMITED PARTNERSHIP, METLIFE CAPITAL TRUST IV, METLIFE CB W/A LLC, METLIFE CC MEMBER LLC, METLIFE CHILE ADMINISTRADORA DE MUTUOS HIPOTECARIOS S.A., METLIFE CHILE INVERSIONES LIMITADA, METLIFE CHILE SEGUROS DE VIDA S.A., METLIFE CHILE SEGUROS GENERALES S.A., METLIFE CHINO MEMBER LLC, METLIFE COLOMBIA SEGUROS de VIDA S.A., METLIFE COMMERCIAL MORTGAGE INCOME FUND GP LLC, METLIFE COMMERCIAL MORTGAGE INCOME FUND LP, METLIFE COMMERCIAL MORTGAGE ORIGINATOR LLC, METLIFE COMMERCIAL MORTGAGE REIT LLC, METLIFE CONSQUARE MEMBER LLC, METLIFE CONSUMER SERVICES INC., METLIFE CORE PROPERTY FUND GP LLC, METLIFE CORE PROPERTY FUND LP, METLIFE CORE PROPERTY HOLDINGS LLC, METLIFE CORE PROPERTY REIT LLC, METLIFE CORE PROPERTY TRS. LLC, METLIFE CREDIT CORP., METLIFE DIGITAL VENTURES INC., METLIFE EMEKLILIK VE HAYAT A.S., METLIFE EMERGING MARKET DEBT BLEND FUND, METLIFE EU HOLDING COMPANY LIMITED, METLIFE EUROPE INSURANCE d.a.c., METLIFE EUROPE SERVICES LIMITED, METLIFE EUROPE d.a.c., METLIFE EUROPEAN HOLDINGS LLC., METLIFE FINANCIAL SERVICES CO. LTD, METLIFE FM HOTEL MEMBER LLC, METLIFE FUNDING INC., METLIFE GENERAL INSURANCE LIMITED, METLIFE GLOBAL BENEFITS LTD., METLIFE GLOBAL HOLDING COMPANY I GMBH, METLIFE GLOBAL HOLDING COMPANY II GMBH, METLIFE GLOBAL HOLDINGS CORPORATION S.A. De C.V., METLIFE GLOBAL INC., METLIFE GLOBAL OPERATIONS SUPPORT CENTER PRIVATE LIMITED, METLIFE GROUP INC., METLIFE HCMJV 1 GP LLC, METLIFE HCMJV 1 LP LLC, METLIFE HEALTH PLANS INC., METLIFE HOLDINGS INC., METLIFE HOME LOANS LLC, METLIFE INNOVATION CENTRE LIMITED, METLIFE INNOVATION CENTRE PTE. LTD., METLIFE INSURANCE AND INVESTMENT TRUST, METLIFE INSURANCE BROKERAGE INC., METLIFE INSURANCE K.K., METLIFE INSURANCE LIMITED, METLIFE INTERNATIONAL HF PARTNERS LP, METLIFE INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS LLC, METLIFE INTERNATIONAL LIMITED LLC, METLIFE INTERNATIONAL PE FUND I LP, METLIFE INTERNATIONAL PE FUND II LP, METLIFE INTERNATIONAL PE FUND III LP, METLIFE INTERNATIONAL PE FUND IV LP, METLIFE INTERNATIONAL PE FUND V LP, METLIFE INTERNATIONAL PE FUND VI LP, METLIFE INTERNATIONAL PE FUND VII LP, METLIFE INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT HOLDINGS, METLIFE INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT HOLDINGS LLC, METLIFE INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT LIMITED, METLIFE INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT LLC, METLIFE INVESTMENTS ASIA LIMITED, METLIFE INVESTMENTS LIMITED, METLIFE INVESTMENTS PTY LIMITED, METLIFE INVESTMENTS SECURITIES LLC, METLIFE INVESTORS DISTRIBUTION COMPANY, METLIFE INVESTORS GROUP LLC, METLIFE IRELAND TREASURY D.A.C., METLIFE JAPAN US EQUITY FUND GP LLC, METLIFE JAPAN US EQUITY FUND LP, METLIFE JAPAN US EQUITY OWNERS, METLIFE JAPAN US EQUITY OWNERS LLC, METLIFE LATIN AMERICA ASESORIAS E INVERSIONES LIMITADA, METLIFE LEGAL PLANS INC., METLIFE LEGAL PLANS OF FLORIDA INC., METLIFE LHH MEMBER LLC, METLIFE LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, METLIFE LIFE INSURANCE S.A., METLIFE LOAN ASSET MANAGEMENT LLC, METLIFE MAS S.A. DE C.V., METLIFE MEMBER SOLAIRE LLC, METLIFE MEXICO HOLDINGS S. DE R.L. DE C.V., METLIFE MEXICO S.A., METLIFE MEXICO SERVICIOS S.A. DE C.V., METLIFE MIDDLE MARKET PRIVATE DEBT FUND LP, METLIFE MIDDLE MARKET PRIVATE DEBT GP LLC, METLIFE MIDDLE MARKET PRIVATE DEBT PARALLEL FUND LP, METLIFE MIDDLE MARKET PRIVATE DEBT PARALLEL GP LLC, METLIFE MULTI-FAMILY PARTNERS III LLC, METLIFE MUTUAL FUND COMPANY, METLIFE OBS MEMBER LLC, METLIFE OFC MEMBER LLC, METLIFE ONTARIO STREET MEMBR LLC, METLIFE PARK TOWER MEMBER LLC, METLIFE PENSION TRUSTEES LIMITED, METLIFE PENSIONES MEXICO S.A., METLIFE PET INSURANCE SOLUTIONS LLC, METLIFE PLANOS ODONTOLOGICOS LTDA., METLIFE POWSZECHNE TOWARTZYSTWO EMERYTALNE S.A., METLIFE PRIVATE EQUITY HOLDINGS LLC, METLIFE PROPERTIES VENTURES LLC, METLIFE RC SF MEMBER LLC, METLIFE REAL ESTATE LENDING LLC, METLIFE REINSURANCE COMPANY OF BERMUDA LTD., METLIFE REINSURANCE COMPANY OF CHARLESTON, METLIFE REINSURANCE COMPANY OF VERMONT, METLIFE RETIREMENT SERVICES LLC, METLIFE SAENGMYOUNG INSURANCE COMPANY LTD., METLIFE SECURITIZATION DEPOSITOR LLC, METLIFE SEGUROS S.A., METLIFE SENIOR DIRECT LENDING FINCO LLC, METLIFE SENIOR DIRECT LENDING FUND LP, METLIFE SENIOR DIRECT LENDING GP LLC, METLIFE SENIOR DIRECT LENDING HOLDINGS LP, METLIFE SERVICES AND SOLUTIONS LLC, METLIFE SERVICES CYPRUS LIMITED, METLIFE SERVICES EAST PRIVATE LIMITED, METLIFE SERVICES EEIG, METLIFE SERVICES EOOD, METLIFE SERVICES SOCIEDAD LIMITADA, METLIFE SERVICES SP Z.O.O, METLIFE SERVICIOS S.A., METLIFE SLOVAKIA S.R.O. V LIKVIDACII, METLIFE SOLUTIONS PTE. LTD., METLIFE SOLUTIONS S.A.S., METLIFE SP HOLDINGS LLC, METLIFE SYNDICATED BANK LOAN FUND SCSP, METLIFE SYNDICATED BANK LOAN LUX GP S.A.R.L., METLIFE THR INVESTOR LLC, METLIFE TOWARZYSTWO FUNDUSZY INWESTYCYJNYCH S.A., METLIFE TOWARZYSTWO UBEZPIECZEN NA ZYCIE I REASEKURACJI S.A., METLIFE TOWER RESOURCES GROUP INC., METLIFE TREAT TOWERS MEMBER LLC, METLIFE WORLDWIDE HOLDINGS LLC, METROPOLITAN CASUALTY INSURANCE COMPANY, METROPOLITAN DIRECT PROPERTY AND CASUALTY INSURANCE COMPANY, METROPOLITAN GENERAL INSURANCE COMPANY, METROPOLITAN GLOBAL MANAGEMENT LLC., METROPOLITAN GROUP PROPERTY AND CASUALTY INSURANCE COMPANY, METROPOLITAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, METROPOLITAN LIFE SEGUROS E PREVIDENCIA PRIVADA S.A., METROPOLITAN LIFE SOCIETATE de ADMINISTRARE a UNUI FOND de PENSII ADMINISTRAT PRIVAT S.A., METROPOLITAN LLOYDS INC., METROPOLITAN LLOYDS INSURANCE COMPANY OF TEXAS, METROPOLITAN PROPERTY AND CASUALTY INSURANCE COMPANY, METROPOLITAN TOWER LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, METROPOLITAN TOWER REALTY COMPANY INC., MEX DF PROPERTIES LLC, MFA FINANCING VEHICLE CTR1 LLC, MIDTOWN HEIGHTS LLC, MIM CLAL GENERAL PARTNER LLC, MIM EMD GP LLC, MIM I LLC, MIM METWEST INTERNATIONAL MANAGER LLC, MIM ML-AI VENTURE 5 MANAGER LLC, MIM PROPERTY MANAGEMENT LLC, MIM PROPERTY MANAGEMENT OF GEORGIA 1 LLC, MIM THIRD ARMY INDUSTRIAL MANAGER LLC, MISSOURI REINSURANCE INC., ML - URS PORT CHESTER SC MANAGER LLC, ML 300 THIRD MEMBER LLC, ML ARMATURE MEMBER LLC, ML BELLEVUE MANAGER LLC, ML BELLEVUE MEMBER LLC, ML BRIDGESIDE APARTMENTS LLC, ML CAPACITACION COMERCIAL S.A. DE C.V., ML CERRITOS TC MEMBER LLC, ML CLAL MEMBER LLC, ML DOLPHIN GP LLC, ML DOLPHIN MEZZ LLC, ML MATSON MILLS MEMBER LLC, ML MILILANI MEMBER LLC, ML ONE BEDMINSTER LLC, ML PORT CHESTER SC MEMBER LLC, ML SENTINEL SQUARE MEMBER LLC, ML SLOANS LAKE MEMEBR LLC, ML SOUTHLANDS MEMBER LLC, ML SOUTHMORE LLC, ML SWAN GP LLC, ML SWAN MEZZ LLC, ML TERRACES LLC, ML THIRD ARMY INDUSTRIAL MEMBER LLC, ML VENTURE 1 MANAGER S. DE R. L. DE C.V., ML VENTURE 1 SERVICER LLC, ML-AI METLIFE MEMBER 1 LLC, ML-AI METLIFE MEMBER 2 LLC, ML-AI METLIFE MEMBER 3 LLC, ML-AI METLIFE MEMBER 4 LLC, ML-AI METLIFE MEMBER 5 LLC, MLIA MANAGER I LLC, MLIA PARK TOWER MANAGER LLC, MLIA SBAF COLONY MANAGER LLC, MLIA SBAF MANAGER LLC, MLIC ASSET HOLDINGS II LLC, MLIC ASSET HOLDINGS LLC, MLIC CB HOLDINGS LLC, MLJ US FEEDER LLC, MM GLOBAL OPERATIONS SUPPORT CENTER S.A. DE C.V., MMP CEDAR STREET OWNER LLC, MMP CEDAR STREET REIT LLC, MMP HOLDINGS III LLC, MMP OLIVIAN OWNER LLC, MMP OLIVIAN REIT LLC, MMP OWNERS III LLC, MMP OWNERS LLC, MMP SOUTH PARK OWNER LLC, MMP SOUTH PARK REIT LLC, MREF 425 MKT LLC, MSV IRVINE PROPERTY LLC, MTC FUND I LLC, MTC FUND II LLC, MTC FUND III LLC, MTL LEASING LLC, MTU HOTEL OWNER LLC, NATILOPORTEM HOLDINGS LLC, NEWBURY INSURANCE COMPANY LIMITED, OCONEE GOLF COMPANY LLC, OCONEE HOTEL COMPANY LLC, OCONEE LAND COMPANY LLC, OCONEE LAND DEVELOPMENT COMPANY LLC, OCONEE MARINA COMPANY LLC, OMI MLIC INVESTMENTS LIMITED, PACIFIC LOGISTICS INDUSTRIAL SOUTH LLC, PARK TOWER JV MEMBER LLC, PARK TOWER REIT INC., PJSC METLIFE, PLAZA DRIVE PROPERTIES LLC, PNB METLIFE INDIA INSURANCE COMPANY LIMITED, PREFCO FOURTEEN LLC, PREFCO XIV HOLDINGS LLC, PROVIDA INTERNACIONAL S.A., SAFEGUARD HEALTH ENTERPRISES INC., SAFEGUARD HEALTH PLANS INC., SAFEHEALTH LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, SEVENTH AND OSBORN MF VENTURE LLC, SINO-US UNITED METLIFE INSURANCE CO. LTD., SOUTHCREEK INDUSTRIAL HOLDINGS LLC, ST. JAMES FLEET INVESTMENTS TWO LIMITED, SUPERIOR PROCUREMENT INC, SUPERIOR VISION BENEFIT MANAGEMENT INC., SUPERIOR VISION HOLDINGS INC., SUPERIOR VISION INSURANCE INC., SUPERIOR VISION INSURANCE PLAN OF WISCONSIN INC., SUPERIOR VISION OF NEW JERSEY INC., SUPERIOR VISION SERVICES INC., Safeguard Health Enterprises, Security First Group Inc., THE BUILDING AT 575 FIFTH AVENUE MEZZANINE LLC, THE BUILDING AT 575 FIFTH RETAIL HOLDING LLC, THE BUILDING AT 575 FIFTH RETAIL OWNER, THE DIRECT CALL CENTRE PTY LIMITED, TRANSMOUNTAIN LAND & LIVESTOCK COMPANY, UVC INDEPENDENT PRACTICE ASSOCIATION INC., VERSANT HEALTH CONSOLIDATIONS CORP., VERSANT HEALTH HOLDCO INC., VERSANT HEALTH LAB LLC, VIRIDIAN MIRACLE MILE LLC, VISION 21 MANAGED EYE CARE OF TAMPA BAY, VISION 21 PHYSICIAN PRACTICE MANAGEMENT COMPANY, VISION TWENTY-ONE MANAGED EYE CARE IPA INC., Versant Health, WDV ACQUISITION CORP., WFP 1000 HOLDING COMPANY GP LLC, WHITE OAK ROYALTY COMPANY, and WHITE TRACT II LLC. Yext, Inc. is an emerging growth company engages in software development. It offers a cloud-based digital knowledge platform, which allows businesses manage their digital knowledge in the cloud such as financial information, resources and performance of these resources on a consolidated basis and sync it to other application such as Apple Maps, Bing, Cortana, Facebook, Google, Google Maps, Instagram, Siri and Yelp. It offers the Yext Knowledge Engine package on subscription basis, which has an access to Listings, Pages, Reviews and other features. The Listing feature provides customers with control over their digital presence, including their location and other related attributes published on the used third-party applications. The Pages feature allows customers to establish landing pages on their own websites and to manage digital content on those sites, including calls to action. The Reviews presence enables customers to encourage and facilitate reviews from end consumers. The company was founded by Howard Lerman, Brent Metz, and Brian Distelburger in 2006 and is headquartered in New York, NY. Read More National Bank of Canada engages in the provision of commercial banking and financial services. It operates through the following segments: Personal and Commercial, Wealth Management, Financial Markets, US Specialty Finance and International (USSF&I), and Other. The Personal and Commercial segment involves in banking, financing, and investing services offered to individuals and businesses as well as insurance operations. The Wealth Management segment focuses on the investment solutions, trust and lending services, and other wealth management solutions offered through internal and third-party distribution networks. The Financial Markets segment includes banking and investment banking services and financial solutions for large and mid-size corporations, public sector organizations, and institutional investors. The USSF&I segment comprises specialty finance expertise activities of subsidiary ABA Bank, which offers financial products and services to individuals and businesses; and activities of targeted investments in certain emerging markets. The Other segment encompasses treasury activities such as asset and liability management, liquidity management and funding operations, certain no Read More NovaGold Resources Inc. explores for and develops gold mineral properties in the United States. It primarily owns 50% interest in the Donlin Gold project consisting of 493 mining claims covering an area of 71,420 acres located in the Kuskokwim region of southwestern Alaska. The company was formerly known as NovaCan Mining Resources (1985) Limited and changed its name to NovaGold Resources Inc. in March 1987. NovaGold Resources Inc. was founded in 1984 and is based in Vancouver, Canada. Read More Nuveen Arizona Quality Municipal Income Fund is a closed ended fixed income mutual fund launched by Nuveen Investments, Inc. The fund is managed by Nuveen Asset Management, LLC. It invests in the fixed income markets of Arizona. The fund invests in municipal securities and other related investments the income, exempt from regular federal and Arizona income taxes that are rated Baa or BBB or better and having an average maturity of 18.66 years. It employs fundamental analysis with bottom-up stock picking approach to create its portfolio. The fund benchmarks the performance of its portfolio against the Standard & Poor's (S&P) Arizona Municipal Bond Index and Standard & Poor's (S&P) National Municipal Bond Index. The fund was formerly known as Nuveen Arizona Premium Income Municipal Fund. Nuveen Arizona Quality Municipal Income Fund was formed on November 19, 1992 and is domiciled in the United States. Read More The following companies are subsidiares of Ingersoll Rand: 211 E. Russell Road LLC, Air-Relief, Belliss & Morcom Brasil, Belliss and Morcom, Boardwalk Enterprises, Charm Merger Sub Inc., CompAir, CompAir (Hankook) Korea Co. Ltd., CompAir Acquisition (No. 2) Ltd., CompAir Acquisition Ltd., CompAir BroomWade Ltd., CompAir Canada, CompAir Finance Ltd., CompAir GmbH, CompAir Holdings Limited, CompAir Holman Ltd, CompAir International Trading (Shanghai) Co Ltd, CompAir Korea Ltd, CompAir South Africa (SA) (Pty) Ltd., CompAir UK Ltd, CompAir USA, Consolidated Distribution Holdings Ltd., DV Systems Inc., Emco Wheaton, Emco Wheaton GmbH Branch, Emco Wheaton Gmbh, Emco Wheaton UK, Emco Wheaton USA Inc, Enza Air Propriety Limited (South Africa), GD Aria Holdings #2 Limited, GD Aria Holdings Limited, GD Aria Investments Limited, GD First UK Ltd, GD German Holdings GmbH, GD German Holdings I Gmbh, GD German Holdings II GmbH, GD German Investments GmbH, GD Global Holdings, GD Global Holdings II, GD Global Holdings UK II Ltd., GD Global Ventures I B.V., GD Global Ventures II B.V., GD Global Ventures III B.V., GD Industrial Products Malaysia SDN. BHD., GD Investment KY, GD UK Finance Ltd., Gardner Denver (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Gardner Denver Austria GmbH, Gardner Denver Bad Neustadt Real Estate GmbH & Co KG, Gardner Denver Belgium NV, Gardner Denver Brasil Industria E Comercio de Maquinas Ltda., Gardner Denver CZ + SK sro, Gardner Denver Canada Corp, Gardner Denver Cyprus Investments II Ltd., Gardner Denver Cyprus Investments II Ltd. - US Branch, Gardner Denver Cyprus Investments Ltd., Gardner Denver Cyprus Investments Ltd. - US Branch, Gardner Denver Deutschland GmbH, Gardner Denver Engineered Products India Private Limited, Gardner Denver FZE, Gardner Denver Finance II LLC, Gardner Denver Finance Inc & Co KG, Gardner Denver France SA, Gardner Denver France SAS, Gardner Denver Group Services Ltd, Gardner Denver Group Svcs Ltd, Gardner Denver Hoffman, Gardner Denver Holdings, Gardner Denver Holdings Limited, Gardner Denver Hong Kong Investments Limited, Gardner Denver Hong Kong Ltd, Gardner Denver Iberica, Gardner Denver Industries Ltd., Gardner Denver Industries Pty Ltd., Gardner Denver Industries Pty Ltd. Branch, Gardner Denver International, Gardner Denver International Ltd., Gardner Denver Intl Ltd Middle East Regional Rep Office, Gardner Denver Investments, Gardner Denver Italy Holdings S.r.L., Gardner Denver Japan, Gardner Denver Kirchhain Real Estate GmbH & Co KG, Gardner Denver Korea, Gardner Denver Korea Ltd, Gardner Denver Ltd, Gardner Denver Ltd South Africa, Gardner Denver Ltd., Gardner Denver Ltd. Branch (Ireland), Gardner Denver Machinery (Shanghai) Co, Gardner Denver Machinery (Shanghai) Co., Gardner Denver Nash Brasil Industria E Comercio De Bombas Ltda, Gardner Denver Nash Deutschland GmbH, Gardner Denver Nash LLC, Gardner Denver Nash Machinery Ltd, Gardner Denver Nash Machinery Ltd., Gardner Denver Nederland BV, Gardner Denver Nederland Investments B.V., Gardner Denver Oberdorfer Pumps, Gardner Denver Oy, Gardner Denver Petroleum Pumps, Gardner Denver Polska Sp z.o.o., Gardner Denver Pte Ltd., Gardner Denver S.r.l., Gardner Denver Schopfheim GmbH, Gardner Denver Schopfheim Real Estate GmbH & Co KG, Gardner Denver Schweiz AG, Gardner Denver Slovakia, Gardner Denver SudAmerica S.r.l., Gardner Denver Sweden AB, Gardner Denver Taiwan Ltd., Gardner Denver Thomas, Gardner Denver Thomas GmbH, Gardner Denver Thomas Pneumatic Systems (Wuxi) Co., Gardner Denver Thomas Real Estate GmbH & Co KG, Gardner Denver UK, Gardner Denver Water Jetting Systems, Garo Dott. Ing. Roberto Gabbioneta S.r.l., Hamworthy Belliss & Morcom, ILMVAC (UK) Ltd., ILS Innovative Labor Systeme, ILS Inovative Laborsysteme GmbH, Indonesia Foreign Trade Representative Office, LeROI, LeRoi International Inc, MP Pumps Inc., Mako Compressors, Nash, Nash Elmo, Oina VV, Oina VV Aktiebolag, Robuschi, Rotary Compression Technologies, Runtech Systems, Runtech Systems (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Runtech Systems Inc., Runtech Systems OY, Shanghai CompAir Compressors Co Ltd, Shanghai Compressors & Blowers Ltd., Syltone, TCM Investments, TIWR Real Estate GmbH & Co. KG, TODO AB, Tamrotor Marine Compressors AS, Thomas Industries, Thomas Industries Inc., Tri-Continent Scientific, Welch Vacuum Equipment (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Zinsser Analytic, Zinsser Analytik GmbH, and Zinsser NA. This blog covers software patent news and issues with a particular focus on wireless, mobile devices (smartphones, tablet computers, connected cars) as well as select antitrust matters surrounding those devices. The Toronto-Dominion Bank, together with its subsidiaries, provides various personal and commercial banking products and services in Canada and the United States. It operates through three segments: Canadian Retail, U.S. Retail, and Wholesale Banking. The company offers personal deposits, such as chequing, savings, and investment products; financing, investment, cash management, international trade, and day-to-day banking services to businesses; and financing options to customers at point of sale for automotive and recreational vehicle purchases through auto dealer network. It also provides credit cards; real estate secured lending; auto finance; consumer lending; point-of-sale payment solutions for large and small businesses; wealth and asset management products, private banking, investment advisory, and trust services to retail and institutional clients; and property and casualty insurance, as well as life and health insurance products. The company also provides capital markets, and corporate and investment banking services, including underwriting and distribution of new debt and equity issues; advice on strategic acquisitions and divestitures; and trading, funding, and investment services to companies, governments, and institutions. It offers its products and services under the TD Bank and America's Most Convenient Bank brand names. The company operates through a network of 1,085 branches, 3,440 automated teller machines, and 1,223 stores, as well as offers telephone, digital, and mobile banking services. The Toronto-Dominion Bank was founded in 1855 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada. Read More Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited provides various banking and financial products and services in Australia, New Zealand, the Asia Pacific, Europe, and the United States. Its Australia Retail and Commercial division offers various products and services to consumer customers through the branch network, mortgage specialists, contact centers, self-service channels, and third-party brokers, as well as financial planning services. It also provides asset financing for medium to large commercial customers, agribusiness customers, small business owners, high net worth individuals, and family groups. The company's Institutional division offers documentary trade, supply chain and commodity financing, cash management solutions, deposits, payments, and clearing services; loan syndication, loan structuring and execution, project and export finance, debt structuring and acquisition finance, and corporate advisory services, as well as loan products; and risk management services on foreign exchange, interest rates, credit, commodities, and debt capital markets. It serves governments, and global institutional and corporate customers. The company's New Zealand division provides banking and wealth management services to consumer, and private banking and small business banking customers through its Internet and app-based digital solutions, network of branches, mortgage specialists, relationship managers, and contact centers; and traditional relationship banking and financial solutions for medium to large enterprises, agricultural business segments, and government and government-related entities. Its Pacific division offers various products and services that include retail products, and traditional relationship banking and financial solutions. This division serves retail customers, small to medium-sized enterprises, institutional customers, and governments. Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited was founded in 1835 and is headquartered in Melbourne, Australia. Read More There is not enough analysis data for NovAccess Global. 4.5 Community Rank Outperform Votes NovAccess Global has received 94 outperform votes. (Add your outperform vote.) Underperform Votes NovAccess Global has received 43 underperform votes. (Add your underperform vote.) Community Sentiment NovAccess Global has received 68.61% outperform votes from our community. MarketBeat's community ratings are surveys of what our community members think about NovAccess Global and other stocks. Vote Outperform if you believe XSNX will outperform the S&P 500 over the long term. Vote Underperform if you believe XSNX will underperform the S&P 500 over the long term. You may vote once every thirty days. Previous Next Siemens Aktiengesellschaft, a technology company, focuses in the areas of automation and digitalization in Europe, Commonwealth of Independent States, Africa, the Middle East, the Americas, Asia, and Australia. Its Digital Industries segment offers automation systems and software for factories, numerical control systems, motors, drives and inverters, and integrated automation systems for machine tools and production machines; process control systems, machine-to-machine communication products, sensors and radio frequency identification systems; production and product lifecycle management software; mechatronic systems simulation and testing software; and cloud-based industrial Internet of Things operating system. The company's Smart Infrastructure segment supplies and connects energy systems and building technologies to enhance efficiency and sustainability; and supports customers to address technology shifts. Its Mobility segment provides passenger and freight transportation, such as rail vehicles, rail automation and electrification systems, road traffic technology, digital solutions, and related services; and mobility system services. The company's Siemens Healthineers segment offers medical technology and software solutions; and clinical consulting and training services. Its Siemens Financial Services segment provides leasing solutions and equipment; and debt and equity investment products. The company was founded in 1847 and is headquartered in Munich, Germany. Read More The following companies are subsidiares of Tesco: Adminstore Limited, Adsega Limited, Alfred Preedy & Sons (Trustees) Limited, Alfred Preedy & Sons Limited, Anthony Heagney Limited, Arena (Jersey) Management Limited, Armitage Finance Unlimited, Armitage Luxembourg s.? r.l., BLT Holdings 2010 Limited, Bath Upper Bristol Road Management, Bedminster Estates Limited, Beehythe Estates limited, Berry Lane Management Company Limited, Blinkbox Books Limited, BlinxBox, Booker Group, Brian Fords Discount Store Limited, Broadfields Management Limited, Brookmaker (GP) Limited, Broughton Retail Park Nominee 1 Limited, Broughton Retail Park Nominee 2 Limited, Broughton Retail Park Nominee 3 Limited, Broughton Retail Park Nominee 4 Limited, Buckingham Road (Bletchley) Management Company Limited, Bugden Ltd, Buttoncable Limited, Buttoncase Limited, Canterbury Road Management Limited, Cardiff Cathays Terrace Management Company Limited, Careneed News Limited, Cheshunt Finance Unlimited, Cheshunt Holdings Guernsey Limited, Cheshunt Hungary Servicing Limited Liability Company, Cheshunt Luxembourg S.? r.l., Cheshunt Overseas LLP, China Property Holdings (HK) Limited, Chirac Limited, Cirrus Finance (2009) Limited, Cirrus Finance Limited, Cirrus Luxembourg s.? r.l., Clarepharm Limited, Clondalkin Properties Limited, Comar Limited, Commercial Investments Limited, Crazy Prices, Crest Ostrava a.s, Cullens Holdings Limited, Cullens Stores Limited, Daily Wrap Produce Limited, Day And Nite Stores Limited, Delamare Cards Holdco Limited, Delamare Cards MTN Issuer plc, Delamare Finance PLC, Delamare Group Holdings Limited, Delamare Holdings BV Netherlands, Delamare Luxembourg s.? r.l. Luxembourg, Delamare One Limited, Dunnhumby Ventures LLC, ELH Insurance Limited, Edinburgh Butterfly Farm Limited, Edson Investments Limited, Edson Properties Limited, Ek-Chai Distribution System Co. Ltd., Euphorium (London) Limited, Euphorium (North London) Limited, Euphorium Group Limited, Euphorium IP Limited, Europa Foods Limited, Faraday Properties Limited, Flitwick Pharmacies Limited, Food & Wine Lovers Limited, Forum Liberec s.r.o, Freds Food Construction Limited, Freehold and Leasehold Property Fund, Gain Land Limited, Genesis sp. z o.o., Gibbs News Limited, Gibbs Newsagents Limited, Gida Sanayi A.S., Giraffe, Giraffe Cafe Limited, Giraffe Concepts Limited, Golden Island Management Services Limited, HIT hypermarket Sp. z o. o., Halesworth SPV Limited, Harris and Hoole Holdings Limited, Harris and Hoole Limited, Harris and Hoole Nominees Limited, Homeplus, Hymall Co. Ltd., J E Properties Holdings Limited, Jasper Sp. z o. o. Poland, KSS Retail Limited, Kabaty Investments Tesco (Polska) Sp. z o. o. Sp.k, Kingsway Fresh Foods Ltd, Koxka Hungary Refrigeration LLC, Launchgrain Limited, Launchtable Limited, Laws Stores Limited, Lazada Group S.A., Lee (Southern) Limited, Lek?ren? Tesco Bansk? Bystrica k.s. Slovakia Limited Partnership, Lek?ren? Tesco Dunajsk? Streda k.s. Slovakia Limited Partnership, Lek?ren? Tesco Ko?ice k.s. Slovakia Limited Partnership, Lek?ren? Tesco Lama k.s. Slovakia Limited Partnership, Lek?ren? Tesco Nitra k.s. Slovakia Limited Partnership, Lek?ren? Tesco Petr?alka k.s. Slovakia Limited Partnership, Lek?ren? Tesco Pie?tany k.s. Slovakia Limited Partnership, Lek?ren? Tesco Pre?ov Vukov k.s. Slovakia Limited Partnership, Lek?ren? Tesco Senec k.s. Slovakia Limited Partnership, Lek?ren? Tesco Spi?sk? Nov? Ves k.s. Slovakia Limited Partnership, Lek?ren? Tesco Trenc??n s.r.o. Slovakia Limited Partnership, Lek?ren? Tesco Zlat? Piesky k.s. Slovakia Limited Partnership, Lek?ren? Tesco Zvolen k.s. Slovakia Limited Partnership, Linebush III Holdings Limited, Linebush III Limited, Linebush IV Limited, Linebush Limited, Linebush V Limited, London and Home Counties Superstores Limited, Lowfoods Limited, M & W Limited, Merrion Shopping Centre Ltd, Mills (East Midlands) Limited, Mills (West Midlands) Limited, Mills Group Holdings Limited, Mills Group Limited, Mobcast Services, Monread Developments Limited, Morgam Holdings Limited, Morgam News Limited, Motorcause Limited, NPL (Hardgate) Limited, Nabola Development Limited, NutriCentre Limited, OC FORUM Liberec Ltd., Oakwood Distribution Limited, Obchodn? dom Bratislava s.ro, Obchodn? dom Ko?ice s.ro., Obchodn? dom Nitra s.ro., Obchodn? dom Pre?ov s.ro., Old FEHC Inc., Old FEPC LLC, One Stop Community Stores Ltd, One Stop Convenience Stores Limited, One Stop Stores Limited, One Stop Stores Trustee Services Limited, Orpingford, Orpington (Station Road) Limited, Oxford Fox and Hounds Management Company Limited, PEJ Property Developments Limited, Paper Chain (East Anglia) Limited, Pharaway Properties Limited, Power Supermarkets Limited, Premier Garage (Worthing) Limited, Pulford Foods Limited, R.J.D. Holdings, Retail Property Co. Ltd, S Bottomley & Bros Limited, Sanders Supermarkets Limited, Sandtable Limited, Sarcon (No. 239) Limited, Seacroft Green Nominee 1 Limited, Seacroft Green Nominee 2 Limited, Shire Park Limited, Shuke Advertising (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, Snowman Retail 1 Limited, Snowman Retail 2 Limited, Sociomantic AB, Sociomantic Labs B.V, Sociomantic Labs Inc, Sociomantic Labs Internet Hizmetleri Limited ?ireketi, Sociomantic Labs LLC, Sociomantic Labs Limited, Sociomantic Labs Private Limited, Sociomantic Labs Pte Ltd, Sociomantic Labs S.r.l, Sociomantic Labs SARL, Sociomantic Labs Servicos Web Ltda, Sociomantic Labs Sp.z.o.o., Sociomantic Labs s.r.o., Sociomantic S.L.U., Sociomantic labs GmbH, Spen Hill Developments (Holdings) Ltd, Spen Hill Developments (Portishead) Ltd, Spen Hill Developments (Tonbridge) Limited, Spen Hill Developments Limited, Spen Hill Management Limited, Spen Hill Properties (Holdings) plc, Spen Hill Properties (Southend) Limited, Spen Hill Regeneration Limited, Spen Hill Residential No 1 Limited, Spen Hill Residential No 2 Limited, Station House Welling Management Limited, Statusfloat Limited, Stewarts Supermarkets Limited, Streatham Management Company Limited, T & S Management Services Limited, T & S Properties Limited, T & S Stores Limited, TESCO (POLSKA) sp. z o.o., TESCO Akad?mia K?pz?si ?s Fejleszt?si Kor?tolt Felelss?g T?rsas?g, TESCO MOBILE POLSKA SP. Z O.O., TESCO STORES SR a.s., Tapesilver Limited, Teesport (GP) Limited, Teesport (Nominee) Limited, Telegraph Properties (Kirkby) Limited, Tesco (Foxtrot 1) Limited, Tesco (Foxtrot 2) Limited, Tesco (Fujian) Industry Limited, Tesco (Jersey) Limited, Tesco (Overseas) Ltd, Tesco (Yorkshire) Limited, Tesco Aqua (1LP) Limited, Tesco Aqua (3LP) Limited, Tesco Aqua (FinCo1) Limited, Tesco Aqua (FinCo2) Limited, Tesco Aqua (GP) Limited, Tesco Aqua (Nominee 1) Limited, Tesco Aqua (Nominee 2) Limited, Tesco Aqua (Nominee Holdco) Limited, Tesco Atrato (1LP) Limited, Tesco Atrato (GP) Limited, Tesco Barbers Wood Limited, Tesco Bengaluru Private Limited, Tesco Blue (1LP) Limited, Tesco Blue (FinCo2) Limited, Tesco Blue (GP) Limited, Tesco Blue (Nominee 1) Limited, Tesco Blue (Nominee 2) Limited, Tesco Blue (Nominee Holdco) Limited, Tesco Capital No. 1 Limited, Tesco Capital No. 2 Limited, Tesco Card Services Limited, Tesco Card Services Limited, Tesco Card Services Ltd., Tesco Chile Sourcing Limitada, Tesco Coral (GP) Limited, Tesco Corporate Treasury Services PLC, Tesco Depot Propco Limited, Tesco Distribution Holdings Limited, Tesco Distribution Limited, Tesco Dorney (1LP) Limited, Tesco Dorney (GP) Limited, Tesco Dystrybucja Sp. z.o.o., Tesco EU IT Services s.r.o., Tesco Employees Share Scheme Trustees Limited, Tesco Estates Limited, Tesco Europe B.V. Netherlands, Tesco Family Dining Limited, Tesco Food Sourcing Brazil Representa??o De Servi?os Ltda., Tesco Food Sourcing Limited, Tesco Foundation (Nadacia Tesco), Tesco Freetime Limited, Tesco Fuchsia (1LP) Limited, Tesco Fuel Limited, Tesco Global Employment Company Limited, Tesco Guangdong (HK) Co. Limited, Tesco High Beech Limited, Tesco Holdings BV, Tesco Holdings Limited, Tesco Home Shopping Limited, Tesco Hungary (Holdings) Limited, Tesco International Franchising s.r.o., Tesco International Internet Retailing Limited, Tesco International Services Limited, Tesco International Sourcing Limited, Tesco Ireland Holdings Limited, Tesco Ireland Limited, Tesco Ireland Pension Trustees Limited, Tesco Jade (GP) Limited, Tesco Joint Buying Service (Shanghai) Co Limited, Tesco Kipa Kitle Pazarlama Ticaret Lojistik ve, Tesco Kirkby (General Partner) Limited, Tesco Kirkby (LP) Limited, Tesco Kirkby (Nominee 1) Limited, Tesco Kirkby (Nominee 2) Limited, Tesco Kirkby (Nominee Holdco) Limited, Tesco Kirkby (Unitholder 1) Limited, Tesco Kirkby (Unitholder2) Limited, Tesco Lagoon GP Limited, Tesco Licences Limited, Tesco Lotus Retail Growth, Tesco Lotus Retail Growth Freehold and Leasehold Property Fund, Tesco Maintenance Limited, Tesco Mauritius Holdings Limited, Tesco Mobile (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Tesco Mobile CR s.r.o., Tesco Mobile Communications Limited, Tesco Mobile Ireland Limited, Tesco Mobile Ireland Limited, Tesco Mobile Limited, Tesco Mobile Services Limited, Tesco Mobile Slovakia s.r.o, Tesco Mobile Slovakia s.r.o., Tesco Mobile CR, Tesco Nanjing Zhongshan, Tesco Nanjing Zhongshan (HK) Co. Limited, Tesco Navona (1LP) Limited, Tesco Navona (GP) Limited, Tesco Navona (Nominee 1) Limited, Tesco Navona (Nominee 2) Limited, Tesco Navona (Nominee Holdco) Limited, Tesco Navona PL Propco Limited, Tesco Opticians Limited, Tesco Overseas (Holdings) Limited, Tesco Overseas Investments Limited, Tesco Overseas ULC, Tesco Passaic (1LP) Limited, Tesco Passaic (GP) Limited, Tesco Passaic (Nominee 1) Limited, Tesco Passaic (Nominee 2) Limited, Tesco Passaic (Nominee Holdco) Limited, Tesco Passaic PL Propco Limited, Tesco Pension (Jade) Limited, Tesco Pension Investment Limited, Tesco Pension Trustees Limited, Tesco Personal Finance, Tesco Personal Finance Compare Limited, Tesco Personal Finance Group Limited, Tesco Property (No.1) Limited, Tesco Property (Nominees) (No.1) Limited, Tesco Property (Nominees) (No.2) Limited, Tesco Property (Nominees) Limited, Tesco Property A.S., Tesco Property Finance 1 Holdco Limited, Tesco Property Finance 1 PLC, Tesco Property Holdings (No. 2) Limited, Tesco Property Holdings Limited, Tesco Property Limited, Tesco Property Nominees (No.5) Limited, Tesco Property Nominees (No.6) Limited, Tesco Property Partner (GP No.2) Limited, Tesco Property Partner (GP) Limited, Tesco Property Partner (No.1) Limited, Tesco Property Partner (No.2) Limited, Tesco Red (1LP) Limited, Tesco Red (GP) Limited, Tesco Red (Nominee 2) Limited, Tesco Red (Nominee Holdco) Limited, Tesco Sarum (1LP) Limited, Tesco Sarum (GP) Limited, Tesco Seacroft Limited, Tesco Secretaries Limited, Tesco Services Limited, Tesco Sourcing India Private Limited, Tesco Stores (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Tesco Stores (Thailand) Ltd, Tesco Stores CR a.s., Tesco Stores Limited, Tesco Technology Services HK Limited, Tesco Treasury Services PLC, Tesco Trustee Company of Ireland Limited, Tesco Underwriting Limited, Tesco Vin Plus SA, Tesco Worldwide Limited, Tesco for Thais Foundation, Tesco-Global Stores Privately Held Co. Ltd, Tesco.Com Limited, The Brookmaker Limited Partnership, The Teesport Limited Partnership Limited Partnership, The Tesco Aqua Limited Partnership Limited Partnership, The Tesco Atrato Limited Partnership, The Tesco Blue Limited Partnership Limited Partnership, The Tesco Coral Limited Partnership, The Tesco Dorney Limited Partnership, The Tesco Kirkby Limited Partnership Limited Partnership, The Tesco Navona Limited Partnership Limited Partnership, The Tesco Passaic Limited Partnership Limited Partnership, The Tesco Property (No.2) Limited Partnership, The Tesco Red Limited Partnership, The Tesco Sarum Limited Partnership, Trent Hypermarket Private Limited, Trigger Retail Ltd, Valiant Insurance Company DAC, Value House Properties Limited, Variable Preference, Ventnor High Street Management Company Limited, Verulam Properties (2001) Limited, Verulam Properties Limited, Victoria BB Sp z.o.o., WE7, WSC Properties Limited, Wanze Properties (Dundalk) Limited, Weymouth Avenue (Dorchester) Limited, Whitecastle Properties Limited, Wm. Low Supermarkets Limited, Woolwich Central Residents Management Company Limited, Worple Road Plc, Xiamen Firste Property Limited, Xiamen Firste Property Limited, aAcklam Management Company Limited, dunnhumby (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, dunnhumby (Thailand) Limited, dunnhumby Canada Limited, dunnhumby Consulting Services India Private Limited, dunnhumby Czech s.r.o., dunnhumby Employment Company Limited, dunnhumby Holding Limited, dunnhumby Hungary Kft, dunnhumby IT Services India Private Limited, dunnhumby Inc, dunnhumby International Limited, dunnhumby Ireland Limited, dunnhumby Italia Srl., dunnhumby Limited, dunnhumby Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., dunnhumby Netherlands B.V., dunnhumby Norge A.S., dunnhumby Overseas Limited, dunnhumby Poland Sp z.o.o, dunnhumby Slovakia s.r.o., dunnhumby South Africa (Pty) Ltd, dunnhumby Trustees Limited, and dunnuhumby. Thales SA is a holding company that engages in the manufacture, marketing, and sale of electronic equipment and systems for aeronautics, naval, and defense sectors. It operates through the following segments: Defense and Security, Digital Identity and Security, Aerospace and Transport. The Defense and Security segment designs and delivers systems for the following domain: land, air, naval, space, and cyberspace. The Digital Identity and Security segment develops digital identity and Security solutions for a private and government customer base and some digital businesses. The aerospace segment encompasses the Avionics and Space Global Business Units. The Transport segment offers Ground Transportation Systems and services such as rail signaling and control systems and passenger payment collection solutions to operators and transport infrastructure manager. The company was founded in 1893 and is headquartered in Paris, France. Read More The following companies are subsidiares of Procter & Gamble: "Procter & Gamble Services" LLC, "Procter & Gamble" LLC, Agile Pursuits, Agile Pursuits Franchising, Arbora, Arbora & Ausonia, Arborinvest, Billie, Braun (Shanghai) Co., Braun GmbH, Braun-Gillette Immobilien GmbH & Co. KG, Celtic Insurance Company, Compania Procter & Gamble Mexico, Compania Quimica S.A., Corporativo Procter & Gamble, Cosmetic Products Pty. Ltd., Detergent Products B.V., Detergent Products SARL, Detergenti S.A., Eurocos Cosmetic GmbH, FPG Oleochemicals Sdn. Bhd., Fameccanica Data S.p.A., Fameccanica Industria e Comercio Do Brasil LTDA., Fameccanica Machinery (Shanghai) Co., Fater S.p.A., Fountain Square Music Publishing Co., Gillette (China) Ltd., Gillette (Shanghai) Ltd., Gillette Aesop Ltd., Gillette Australia Pty. Ltd., Gillette Canada Holdings, Gillette Commercial Operations North America, Gillette Diversified Operations Pvt. Ltd., Gillette Egypt S.A.E., Gillette Group UK Ltd, Gillette Gruppe Deutschland GmbH & Co. oHG, Gillette Holding Company LLC, Gillette Holding GmbH, Gillette India Limited, Gillette Industries Ltd., Gillette International B.V., Gillette Latin America Holding B.V., Gillette Management LLC, Gillette Nova Scotia Company, Gillette Pakistan Limited, Gillette Poland International Sp. z.o.o., Gillette Poland S.A., Gillette U.K. Limited, Gillette del Uruguay, Giorgio Beverly Hills Inc., Hyginett KFT, Industries Marocaines Modernes SA, LLC "Procter & Gamble Novomoskovsk", LLL "Procter & Gamble Distributorskaya Compania", Laboratorios Vicks, Liberty Street Music Publishing Company, Limited Liability Company 'Procter & Gamble Trading Ukraine', Limited Liability Company with foreign investments Procter & and Gamble Ukraine, MDVIP, MERCK KGAA NPV, Marcvenca Inversiones, Modern Industries Company - Dammam, Modern Products Company - Jeddah, New Chapter, New Chapter Canada Inc., Olay LLC, Oral-B Laboratories, P&G Distribution Morocco SAS, P&G Hair Care Holding, P&G Industrial Peru S.R.L., P&G Innovation Godo Kaisha, P&G Israel M.D.O. Ltd., P&G K.K., P&G Northeast Asia Pte. Ltd., P&G Prestige Godo Kaisha, P&G Prestige Service GmbH, P&G South African Trading (Pty.) Ltd., PGT Health Care (Zhejiang) Limited, PGT Healthcare LLP, PPI ZAO, PT Procter & Gamble Home Products Indonesia, PT Procter & Gamble Operations Indonesia, Phase II Holdings Corporation, Procter & Gamble (Chengdu) Ltd., Procter & Gamble (China) Ltd., Procter & Gamble (China) Sales Co. Ltd., Procter & Gamble (East Africa) Limited, Procter & Gamble (Egypt) Manufacturing Company, Procter & Gamble (Enterprise Fund) Limited, Procter & Gamble (Guangzhou) Consumer Products Co. Ltd., Procter & Gamble (Guangzhou) Enterprise Management Service Company Limited, Procter & Gamble (Guangzhou) Ltd., Procter & Gamble (Health & Beauty Care) Limited, Procter & Gamble (Jiangsu) Ltd. China, Procter & Gamble (L&CP) Limited, Procter & Gamble (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Procter & Gamble (Manufacturing) Ireland Limited, Procter & Gamble (Shanghai) International Trade Company Ltd., Procter & Gamble (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Procter & Gamble Acquisition GmbH, Procter & Gamble Administration GmbH, Procter & Gamble Algeria EURL, Procter & Gamble Amazon Holding B.V., Procter & Gamble Amiens S.A.S., Procter & Gamble Argentina SRL, Procter & Gamble Asia Pte. Ltd., Procter & Gamble Australia Proprietary Limited, Procter & Gamble Azerbaijan Services LLC, Procter & Gamble Bangladesh Private Ltd., Procter & Gamble Blois S.A.S., Procter & Gamble Brazil Holdings B.V., Procter & Gamble Bulgaria EOOD, Procter & Gamble Business Services Canada Company, Procter & Gamble Canada Holding B.V., Procter & Gamble Chile , Procter & Gamble Chile Limitada, Procter & Gamble Colombia Ltda., Procter & Gamble Commercial LLC, Procter & Gamble Commercial de Cuba S.A., Procter & Gamble Czech Republic s.r.o., Procter & Gamble DS Polska Sp. z o.o., Procter & Gamble Danmark ApS, Procter & Gamble Detergent (Beijing) Ltd., Procter & Gamble Deuttschland GmbH, Procter & Gamble Distributing (Philippines) Inc., Procter & Gamble Distributing New Zealand Limited, Procter & Gamble Distribution Company (Europe) BVBA, Procter & Gamble Distribution S.R.L., Procter & Gamble Eastern Europe, Procter & Gamble Ecuador Cia. Ltda., Procter & Gamble Egypt, Procter & Gamble Egypt Distribution, Procter & Gamble Egypt Holding, Procter & Gamble Egypt Supplies, Procter & Gamble Energy Company LLC, Procter & Gamble Espana, Procter & Gamble Europe SA, Procter & Gamble Export Operations SARL, Procter & Gamble Exportadora e Importadora Ltda., Procter & Gamble Exports, Procter & Gamble Fabricacao e Comercio Ltda., Procter & Gamble Far East, Procter & Gamble Finance (U.K.) Ltd., Procter & Gamble Finance Holding Ltd., Procter & Gamble Finance Management S.a.r.l., Procter & Gamble Financial Investments LLP, Procter & Gamble Financial Services Ltd., Procter & Gamble Financial Services S.a.r.l., Procter & Gamble Finland OY, Procter & Gamble France S.A.S., Procter & Gamble Germany GmbH, Procter & Gamble Germany GmbH & Co. Operations oHG, Procter & Gamble GmbH, Procter & Gamble Grundstucks-und Vermogensverwaltungs GmbH & Co. KG, Procter & Gamble Gulf FZE, Procter & Gamble Hair Care, Procter & Gamble Hellas Ltd., Procter & Gamble Holding (Thailand) Limited, Procter & Gamble Holding France S.A.S., Procter & Gamble Holding GmbH, Procter & Gamble Holding S.r.l., Procter & Gamble Holdings (UK) Ltd., Procter & Gamble Home Products Private Limited, Procter & Gamble Hong Kong Limited, Procter & Gamble Hungary Wholesale Trading Partnership (KKT), Procter & Gamble Hygiene & Health Care Limited, Procter & Gamble Inc., Procter & Gamble India Holdings, Procter & Gamble Indochina Limited Company, Procter & Gamble Industrial - 2012 C.A., Procter & Gamble Industrial Colombia Ltda., Procter & Gamble Industrial S.C.A., Procter & Gamble Industrial e Comercial Ltda., Procter & Gamble Interamericas de Costa Rica, Procter & Gamble Interamericas de Guatemala, Procter & Gamble Interamericas de Panama, Procter & Gamble International Operations Pte. Ltd., Procter & Gamble International Operations SA, Procter & Gamble International Operations SA-ROHQ, Procter & Gamble International S.a.r.l., Procter & Gamble Investment Company (UK) Ltd., Procter & Gamble Investment GmbH, Procter & Gamble Italia, Procter & Gamble Japan K.K., Procter & Gamble Kazakhstan Distribution LLP, Procter & Gamble Kazakhstan LLP, Procter & Gamble Korea, Procter & Gamble Korea S&D Co., Procter & Gamble Lanka Private Ltd. Sri Lanka, Procter & Gamble Leasing LLC, Procter & Gamble Levant S.A.L., Procter & Gamble Limited, Procter & Gamble Manufacturing (Thailand) Limited, Procter & Gamble Manufacturing (Tianjin) Co. Ltd., Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Belgium N.V., Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Berlin GmbH, Procter & Gamble Manufacturing GmbH, Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Procter & Gamble Manufacturing SA (Pty) Ltd, Procter & Gamble Marketing Romania SRL, Procter & Gamble Marketing and Services doo, Procter & Gamble Maroc SA, Procter & Gamble Mataro, Procter & Gamble Mexico Holding B.V., Procter & Gamble Mexico Inc., Procter & Gamble Middle East FZE, Procter & Gamble Nederland B.V., Procter & Gamble Netherlands Investments B.V., Procter & Gamble Netherlands Services B.V., Procter & Gamble Nigeria Limited, Procter & Gamble Nordic, Procter & Gamble Norge AS, Procter & Gamble Operations Polska Sp. z o.o., Procter & Gamble Overseas India B.V., Procter & Gamble Overseas Ltd., Procter & Gamble Pakistan (Private) Limited, Procter & Gamble Partnership LLP, Procter & Gamble Peru S.R.L., Procter & Gamble Pharmaceuticals France SAS, Procter & Gamble Philippines, Procter & Gamble Polska Sp. z o.o, Procter & Gamble Portugal - Produtos De Consumo, Procter & Gamble Product Supply (U.K.) Limited U.K., Procter & Gamble Production GmbH, Procter & Gamble Productions, Procter & Gamble Productos de Consumo, Procter & Gamble RHD, Procter & Gamble RSC Regional Service Company Ltd., Procter & Gamble Retail Services BVBA, Procter & Gamble S.r.l., Procter & Gamble SA (Pty) Ltd, Procter & Gamble Satis ve Dagitim Ltd. Sti., Procter & Gamble Seine S.A.S., Procter & Gamble Service GmbH, Procter & Gamble Services (Switzerland) SA, Procter & Gamble Services Company N.V., Procter & Gamble Services Ltd., Procter & Gamble Share Incentive Plan Trustee Ltd., Procter & Gamble South America Holding B.V., Procter & Gamble Spol. s.r.o. (Ltd.), Procter & Gamble Sports and Social Club Ltd., Procter & Gamble Sverige AB, Procter & Gamble Switzerland SARL, Procter & Gamble Taiwan Limited, Procter & Gamble Taiwan Sales Company Limited, Procter & Gamble Technical Centres Limited, Procter & Gamble Technology (Beijing) Co., Procter & Gamble Trading (Thailand) Limited, Procter & Gamble Tuketim Mallari Sanayii A.S., Procter & Gamble UK, Procter & Gamble UK Group Holdings Ltd, Procter & Gamble UK Parent Company Ltd., Procter & Gamble Universal Holding B.V., Procter & Gamble Verwaltungs GmbH, Procter & Gamble Vietnam, Procter & Gamble d.o.o. za trgovinu, Procter & Gamble de Venezuela S.C.A., Procter & Gamble de Venezuela S.R.L., Procter & Gamble do Brasil S/A, Procter & Gamble do Brazil, Procter & Gamble do Nordeste S/A, Procter & Gamble-Rakona s.r.o., Progam Realty & Development Corporation, Redmond Products, Richardson-Vicks Real Estate Inc., Richardson-Vicks do Brasil Quimica e Farmaceutica Ltda, Riverfront Music Publishing Co., Rosemount LLC, SPD Development Company Limited, SPD Swiss Precision Diagnostics GmbH, Scannon S.A.S., Series Acquisition B.V., Shulton, Surfac S.R.L., Sycamore Productions, TAOS - FL, TAOS Retail, Tambrands Inc., Temple Trees Impex & Investment Private Limited, The Art of Shaving - FL, The Dover Wipes Company, The Gillette Company, The Gillette Company LLC, The Gillette co., The Procter & Gamble Distributing LLC, The Procter & Gamble GBS Company, The Procter & Gamble Global Finance Company, The Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Company, The Procter & Gamble Paper Products Company, The Procter & Gamble U.S. Business Services Company, This is L., US CD LLC, Vidal Sassoon (Shanghai) Academy, Vidal Sassoon Co., WEBA Betriebsrenten-Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH, Walker & Company Brands, and iMFLUX Inc.. The following companies are subsidiares of Kroger: 84.51 HQ Building Company LLC, 84.51 LLC, Alpha Beta Company, Ansonborough Square Investors I LLC, Ansonborough Square Retail LLC, Ardrey Kell Investments LLC, Bay Area Warehouse Stores Inc., Beech Tree Holdings LLC, Bell Markets Inc., Bleecker Ventures LLC, Bluefield Beverage Company, Box Cutter Inc., Brier Creek Arbors Drive Retail LLC, CB&S Advertising Agency Inc., Cala Co., Cala Foods Inc., Cheeses of All Nations Inc., Country Oven Inc., Crawford Stores Inc., Creedmoor Retail LLC, Dillon Companies LLC, Dillon Real Estate Co. Inc., Dillons, Distribution Trucking Company, Dotto Inc., Edgewood Plaza Holdings LLC, Embassy International Inc., FM Inc., FMJ Inc., Farmacia Doral Inc., Food 4 Less GM Inc., Food 4 Less Holdings Inc., Food 4 Less Merchandising Inc., Food 4 Less of California Inc., Food 4 Less of Southern California Inc., Fred Meyer, Fred Meyer Inc., Fred Meyer Jewelers Inc., Fred Meyer Stores Inc., Glasswing Labs LLC, Glendale/Goodwin Realty I LLC, Grubstake Investments LLC, HT Fuel DE LLC, HT Fuel NC LLC, HT Fuel SC LLC, HT Fuel VA LLC, HTGBD LLC, HTP Bluffton LLC, HTP Plaza LLC, HTP Relo LLC, HTPS LLC, HTTAH LLC, Harris Teeter, Harris Teeter LLC, Henpil Inc., Home Chef, Hood-Clayton Logistics LLC, Hughes Markets Inc., Hughes Realty Inc., I.T.A. Inc., IRP LLC, ITAC 119 LLC, ITAC 265 LLC, Inter-American Foods Inc., Inter-American Products Inc., J.V. Distributing Inc., Jondex Corp., Jubilee Carolina LLC, KCDE 2012 LLC, KCDE 2013 LLC, KCDE-2 LLC, KCDE-3 LLC, KCDE-4 LLC, KCDE-5 LLC, KGO LLC, KPF LLC, KPS LLC, KRGP LLC, KRLP Inc., KV Anderson LLC, Kee Trans Inc., Kessel FP, Kiosk Medicine Kentucky LLC, Kirkpatrick West Retail LLC, Kroger Community Development Entity LLC, Kroger Dedicated Logistics Co., Kroger Fulfillment Network LLC, Kroger G.O. LLC, Kroger LM Real Estate Holdings LLC, Kroger Limited Partnership I, Kroger Limited Partnership II, Kroger MC Holdings LLC, Kroger MTL Management LLC, Kroger Management Co., Kroger Management Corryville LLC, Kroger Management NMTC Athens I LLC, Kroger Management NMTC Champaign I LLC, Kroger Management NMTC Champaign II LLC, Kroger Management NMTC Cincinnati I LLC, Kroger Management NMTC Dallas I LLC, Kroger Management NMTC Danville I LLC, Kroger Management NMTC Logansport I LLC, Kroger Management NMTC Missouri I LLC, Kroger Management NMTC Oak Ridge I LLC, Kroger Management NMTC Olney I LLC, Kroger Management NMTC Omaha I LLC, Kroger Management NMTC Portsmouth I LLC, Kroger Management NMTC Starkville I LLC, Kroger Management NMTC Topeka I LLC, Kroger Management NMTC Warrenton I LLC, Kroger NMTC Fremont I LLC, Kroger OZ1 Inc., Kroger OZ1 LLC, Kroger OZ2 Inc., Kroger OZ2 LLC, Kroger OZ3 Inc., Kroger OZ3 LLC, Kroger Opportunity Fund I Inc., Kroger Prescription Plans Inc., Kroger Specialty Infusion AL LLC, Kroger Specialty Infusion CA LLC, Kroger Specialty Infusion Holdings Inc., Kroger Specialty Infusion TX LLC, Kroger Specialty Pharmacy CA 2 LLC, Kroger Specialty Pharmacy CA LLC, Kroger Specialty Pharmacy FL 2 LLC, Kroger Specialty Pharmacy Holdings 2 Inc., Kroger Specialty Pharmacy Holdings 3 Inc., Kroger Specialty Pharmacy Holdings I Inc., Kroger Specialty Pharmacy Holdings Inc., Kroger Specialty Pharmacy Inc., Kroger Specialty Pharmacy LA LLC, Kroger Texas L.P., LCGP3 Home Cooking Inc., Latta Village LLC, Local Mkt LLC, Main & Vine LLC, Matthews Property 1 LLC, Mega Marts LLC, Michigan Dairy L.L.C., ModernHealth LTC, Murrays Cheese LLC, Murrays LIC LLC, Murrays Table LLC, Pace Dairy Foods Company, Paramount Logistics LLC, Pay Less Super Markets Inc., Peyton's-Southeastern Inc., Plum Labs LLC, Pontiac Foods Inc., Queen City Assurance Inc., RBF LLC, RGC Southeast Properties LLC, Ralphs Grocery Company, Relish Labs LLC, Rocket Newco Inc., Roundy's, Roundys Acquisition Corp., Roundys Illinois LLC, Roundys Inc., Roundys Supermarkets Inc., Second Story Inc., Shop-Rite LLC, Smiths Beverage of Wyoming Inc., Smiths Food & Drug Centers Inc., Southern Ice Cream Specialties Inc., Stallings Investors I LLC, Sunrise R&D Holdings LLC, Sunrise Technology LLC, TLC Corporate Services LLC, TLC Immunization Clinic LLC, TLC of Georgia LLC, The Kroger Co. of Michigan, The Little Clinic LLC, The Little Clinic Management Services LLC, The Little Clinic of Arizona LLC, The Little Clinic of Colorado LLC, The Little Clinic of IN LLC, The Little Clinic of Kansas LLC, The Little Clinic of Mississippi LLC, The Little Clinic of Ohio LLC, The Little Clinic of TX LLC, The Little Clinic of Tennessee LLC, The Little Clinic of VA LLC, Topvalco Inc., Ultimate Mart LLC, Ultra Mart Foods LLC, Vine Court Assurance Incorporated, Vitacost, Vitacost.com Inc., Woodmont Holdings LLC, and YOU Technology. When Mark and Bill Corcoran laid eyes on an elegant ballroom stage in their new senior living community at Judson Manor, Bill got a glimpse of the retired couples "second act"bringing professional theatre to University Circle. Wouldnt that be a great space for a musical? Bill mused. And the proverbial curtain opened on Theatre in the Circle , now in its third season at Judson Manor. The country's only resident-driven professional theatre company based in a retirement community, Theatre in the Circle was nominated for a 2018 Cleveland Arts Prize in August. Our performances arent talent shows. Judson residents are sophisticated patrons of the arts, retired from cultural arts boards and professional careers in the arts, says Mark. Seniors now seek high-quality life experiences during their retirement years. Their newest showa musical adaptation of the OHenry classic, "Gift of the Magi"will be presented later this week (running December 6-9). The production was adapted through the music and lyrics of composer Peter Ekstrom, a Cleveland native who now resides in New York City. Its a timeless story about innocent giving, says Peter, who is delighted his adaptation has come back home. To date, it has been performed at hundreds of theatres across the country. Ekstrom will attend all five Cleveland performances. The show is part of a 2018-2019 slate that also includes productions of "Liberace!," "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown," and "Pump Boys and Dinettes." All productions are led by the Corcoransmanaging director Mark (a marketing professional and musician) and artistic director Bill (a trained classical pianist with a long career as a theatre director, writer, composer, and educator). We were drawn to University Circle for its rich artistic offerings, says Bill. But professional theatre was missing up here. They also saw the opportunity to fill a niche for seniors with mobility issues who might have issues accessing Playhouse Square, so they developed their community theatre concept specifically for Judson. 60 percent of the audiences are residents and 40 percent are theatre patrons from all over Cleveland. Seating 125 patrons, each performance is immersive, with barrier-free access and hearing loop connections available. Each season, four to five productions are presented. The company hires local equity and non-equity actors, a chamber orchestra, a professional lighting engineer, costumer, and stage manager. One emerging trend in musical theatre is the one-act performance, with no intermission. This format works for our residents, says Bill. Theatre in the Circle selects its productions through Cocoon, its incubator program. Local musical theatre mavens accept works from writers and composers across the U.S. to help them develop their work. It also promotes theatre career education, offering paid internships in production skills to students at Cleveland School of the Arts. Performances of "Gift of the Magi" will take place December 6-9get show times and more information here. Theatre in the Circle is located at 1890 E 107th St., Cleveland, OH 44106. 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. 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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. 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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. 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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. Weatherford International plc, an oilfield service company, provides equipment and services for the drilling, evaluation, completion, production, and intervention of oil and natural gas wells worldwide. The company operates in two segments, Western Hemisphere and Eastern Hemisphere. It offers artificial lift systems, including reciprocating rod, progressing cavity pumping, gas, hydraulic, plunger, and hybrid lift systems, as well as related automation and control systems; pressure pumping and reservoir stimulation services, such as acidizing, fracturing and fluid systems, cementing, and coiled-tubing intervention; and drill stem test tools, and surface well testing and multiphase flow measurement services. The company also provides safety, downhole reservoir monitoring, flow control, and multistage fracturing systems, as well as sand-control technologies, and production and isolation packers; liner hangers to suspend a casing string in high-temperature and high-pressure wells; cementing products, including plugs, float and stage equipment, and torque-and-drag reduction technology for zonal isolation; and pre-job planning and installation services. In addition, it offers directional drilling services, and logging and measurement services while drilling; services related to rotary-steerable systems, high-temperature and high-pressure sensors, drilling reamers, and circulation subs; managed pressure drilling, conventional mud-logging, drilling instrumentation, gas analysis, wellsite consultancy, and open hole and cased-hole logging services; reservoir solutions and software products; and intervention and remediation services. Further, the company provides equipment and drilling tools; tubular handling, management, and connection services; equipment rental services; and onshore contract drilling and related services through a fleet of land drilling and workover rigs. Weatherford International plc was incorporated in 1972 and is headquartered in Baar, Switzerland. Read More Xcel Energy, Inc. operates as a holding company, which engages in the generation, purchase, transmission, distribution and sale of electricity. It operates through the following three segments: Regulated Electric Utility, Regulated Natural Gas Utility and All Others. The Regulated Electric Utility segment generates, transmits and distributes electricity primarily in portions of generates, transmits and distributes electricity in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, North Dakota, South Dakota, Colorado, Texas and New Mexico. In addition, this segment includes sales for resale and provides wholesale transmission service to various entities in the United States. It also includes commodity trading operations. The Regulated Natural Gas Utility segment transports, stores, and distributes natural gas primarily in portions of Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, Michigan and Colorado. The All Others segment engages in steam, appliance repair services, nonutility real estate activities, processing solid waste into refuse-derived fuel and investments in rental housing projects that qualify for low-income housing tax credits. The company was founded in 1909 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, MN. Read More 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 When 13-year-old Hania Aguilar is laid to rest in North Carolina on Saturday her father will be nearly 3,000 miles away. The US State Department has denied a temporary visa for Noe Aguilar to travel from Guatemala to attend services for his teenage daughter, according to the father's attorney. Central America Continents and regions Crime, law enforcement and corrections Crimes against persons Criminal offenses Funerals Guatemala Kidnappings and abductions Latin America Passports and travel visas The Americas Travel and tourism North America North Carolina Southeastern United States United States Embassies and consulates Government and public administration Government bodies and offices Government departments and authorities Immigration Immigration, citizenship and displacement International relations International relations and national security State departments and diplomatic services Homicide Murder "I had hoped they would find it in their hearts to let me be there for my daughter's funeral," Aguilar told CNN in a brief phone interview Friday. "It's very sad. She was my princess. She will always be my princess." Immigration attorney Naimeh Salem said US embassy officials in Guatemala denied the temporary visa on grounds that Aguilar "didn't have enough ties to his home country, Guatemala." "That is not true," she said. "He has family there and his own business." NC governor asks US ambassador to reconsider Hania's body was found last week in water off a rural road after she was abducted last month outside her home in Lumberton, North Carolina, police said. Salem said her client has requested another visa interview but has not heard back from US embassy officials in Guatemala. State Department spokeswoman Marlo Cross-Durant said details of individual visa cases are confidential. "All visa applications are adjudicated on a case-by-case basis in accordance with the requirements of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) and other applicable laws," her statement said. "The Department of State makes every effort to facilitate legitimate travel by international visitors. We are also fully committed to administering U.S. immigration law and ensuring the integrity and security of our country's borders." In a letter, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper asked the US ambassador in Guatemala to reconsider the visa application decision so Hania's family "can properly mourn their lost child in this tragic and extraordinary case." "As you can imagine, the family is devastated by the loss of such a promising young lady who was loved (by) her family, friends and was one of the top students in her class," wrote Cooper. Additionally, about 10,000 people have signed a petition in support of the father's visa request, according to CNN affiliate WSOC. Father will stay home or take a long walk during funeral Hania's grandfather and a maternal aunt received temporary visas to attend the funeral, according to Aguilar and Salem. "This hurts," Aguilar said. "This is not a visa for sightseeing or staying in the country. I'm fine in my own country. I have work here. I only wanted a day or two to bury my daughter." Aguilar said he last saw his daughter in 2005. He said they spoke on the phone and her mother talked to him about their daughter and sent photos. Salem said Aguilar had lived in US and moved back to Guatemala when Hania was an infant. "She was very far away but she was always close in my heart and mind," Aguilar said. Aguilar is not sure what he will do on Saturday at the time of the funeral. "Maybe I'll get lost somewhere," he said. "I don't know how I will deal with it. I'll either stay home or take a long walk alone." Hania, an eight-grader at Lumberton Junior High School, was abducted outside her home in rural Lumberton on the morning of November 5, authorities said. Her body was found last week in Robeson County, Lumberton police Chief Michael McNeill said. Lumberton is in southeastern North Carolina, near Interstate 95, about 95 miles from Raleigh. Man arrested and charged with 10 felonies Police said she was kidnapped in a relative's SUV that was idling in the driveway on a morning before school. Authorities issued an Amber Alert at the time. A witness saw a man dressed in black and wearing a yellow bandana force Hania into the vehicle. Police said they have no reason to think Hania knew her abductor, and her family is cooperating with the investigation. The stolen SUV was found abandoned less than 10 miles from Hania's home at the Rosewood Mobile Home Park, authorities said. Michael Ray McLellan, 34, was later arrested in the kidnapping and killing, said Shelley Lynch of the FBI Charlotte office. McLellan went before a state magistrate at the Robeson County Detention Center early Saturday and is being held there with no bond. He has been charged with 10 felonies, including first degree murder and statutory rape of a person under age 15. His first court appearance is expected Monday morning. UTICA -- After releasing a draft environmental impact statement on the proposed downtown hospital, Utica's planning board held a public meeting, Thursday, to hear the public's thoughts on the draft. The draft details significant effects the hospital could have on the environment. Those effects include impacts on land, air, groundwater, and human health. The public shared their thoughts on the draft. It is my belief that its all about the environment, said attendee Brett Truett. The environment people live in. Ive been investing in downtown Utica for a number of years and the hospital kind of came out of nowhere and its kind of sidetracked a lot of progress. Other people would say its created more progress. Despite impacts the hospital could have on the environment, some people who attended the meeting lobbied for the hospital. "I think that the hospital would be just what we need, said attendee Lucretia Hunt. Itll continue on with the movement going on now for the revitalization. Truett owns a property in the footprint of the downtown hospital. He says the proximity of the proposed hospital to train tracks could be a safety concern. Theres derailments that happen across the country every other day and for someone to say that a train will not derail in the next 65 years, in the vicinity of downtown, is an opinion and I think facts will bear out that it is a risk and if he [places] the hospital at St. Lukes, that risk goes away, Truett said. Still some residents say they are eager to see change in the city. A lot of those buildings down there have been there a long, long time some are dilapidated, Hunt said. I know there are existing businesses there, that are still there, and hate to give up which I can understand. But I think thats an ideal spot. I think its going to be the future of the city. Written comment from the public will be accepted until December 27. After the public comment period, a final environmental impact statement will be drafted. LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - For Senator Ron Alting, making sure everyone is included in the new bias crimes bill is paramount, but some state lawmakers want to think twice about that for the safety of the bill. We need to put our actions in writing and make sure the rest of the country and world knows that Hoosiers believe this," said Indiana District 22 Senator Ron Alting. He is co-authoring a bias crimes bill with District 8 Senator Mike Bohacek. Senator Alting said they made it a priority to add some kind of verbal inclusion of every background into this bill and that the language was clear, with little room for interpretation. Indiana is one of five states in the nation that does not have this kind of legislation. The Senators authoring this bill want to get Indiana of that list as soon as possible. Hoosiers are better than that, said Senator Alting. He said it was important to make sure no one could be left out of this bill. "It covers somehow some way with legal wording or not every group of people that there is," he said. From LGBTQ, to our first responders, even to white supremacist groups, it's all about protecting our constitutional right to free speech. Even if the KKK wants to have a rally, their speech in terms of what they are saying is protected in this, he said. Its when words turn to actions that the new law would come into play. He wants the parameters of what is breaking the law and what is not to be very clear to judges. But its not white supremacy groups that has some lawmakers worried when it comes to this bill passing, its gender identity. This refers to the transgender community. Speaker of the Indiana House, Brian Bosma, has expressed concern on if the bill will successfully pass both the house and senate if "gender identity" is included. He said in a statement, My recent comments regarding hate crimes legislation focused on what I believe has the best chance of passing both houses of the General Assembly in the coming session. There are passionate people on all sides of this issue, and successfully threading this needle will be extremely difficult. I personally believe that using the bias crimes definition currently in statute and adopting a sentence aggravator linked to that definition has the best chance of success." Trying to remove gender identity from the bill is inviting crime against the transgender community, said Nicki Anderson, co-director of Trans-Lafayette. Its saying that its ok and its not ok. Senator Alting said it's normal, and expected, for not everyone in the statehouse to be on board. Thats what democracy is all about and thats what makes a good bill, he said. I respect those that believe on the other side and I respect them having the right to disagree. However, some key players are on board. Namely Governor Eric Holcomb has said he supports the bill with gender identity included. Im super excited that we have a lot of leaders who are not just Democrats but also Republican who support this, said Anderson. It tells you what kind of a governor we have in Governor Holcomb, said Senator Alting. Our governor has enough common sense and enough compassion and caring for all people and believes in inclusion to know that this language needs to be in and it needs to be passed. Similar laws have been passed in individual communities around the state such as Indianapolis, Bloomington, Lafayette and West Lafayette. Senator Alting recalled being the deciding vote on passing the law in Lafayette. The sky is not falling in these places, he said. Life will move on and its just that it will move on in respect of all people. Respect Senator Alting said he believes is true to the core of Hoosier values. Were a loving people, compassionate, caring, inclusive, we respect all people, he said. We dont necessarily agree with a lifestyle or a country where someone came from, but what we do agree is we respect that you have the right to believe in what you want to believe. Anderson believes the safety of the transgender community will be in jeopardy if they are not included. "The transgender community is the most vulnerable and the people that are going to have the most crime against them because of who they are, she said. She emphasized that they are ordinary people with the right to be protected. "They're your neighbor, they're your person at the grocery store, they're the person standing next to you at the bank, she said. They are no different." Some are worried that this bill could bring back the ghost of hard memories that were a result of the Religious Freedoms Restoration Act. That if this doesnt successfully pass, Indiana could be burned on the national stage again. This bill is very black and white that is laid out so layman can read it and understand it, said Senator Alting. Were not putting a smoke screen like they did the RFRA bill. He said if the bill fails, he doesnt expect it to bring nearly the amount of backlash from the nation that RFRA did, and shared why this bill is important for Indianas growth. We need it for economic development, to bring and recruit good scientists, he said. We need it at our universities to attract and retain good professors but more importantly, we need it because its the right thing to do. He said he has a question he asks his colleagues who may be on the fence: This is simply are you in favor of protection of all people in the great state of Indiana or are you not? he said. He said gender identity is not going anywhere in the Senates version of the bill. In terms of the Senate, we will keep that language in the bill and we will vote on it with that language in it, he said. He said its time for change. "It's been talked to death for years, he said. This is something we just need to do and move forward." The bias crimes bill will be part of the 2019 legislative session which starts on January 3rd. Aaron De Groft '88 to step down as Muscarelle director at end of calendar year David Brashear HON 07 named interim director Aaron De Groft '88, director of William & Marys Muscarelle Museum of Art, has announced he will step down from the position at the end of the calendar year. Longtime Muscarelle advocate David Brashear, who has served on the museums board for nearly two decades, including leading it as chair, will become interim director effective Jan. 1, 2019. We thank Aaron De Groft for his 13 years as director of the Muscarelle a period that saw our museum grow substantially in national and international relevance and wish Aaron well as he considers the next phase of his career, said Provost Michael R. Halleran, indicating that De Groft will serve in a consulting role during the transition. The university announced plans in 2016 for a new facility, The Martha Wren Briggs Center for the Visual Arts, which will be funded by private gifts. The center will be home to the Muscarelle Museum of Art. The provost also noted that the timing of De Grofts decision will allow the next director to be fully involved in this important project. We are also very thankful that David Brashear has agreed to lead the museum during this interim period, Halleran said. David brings to this role a great deal of knowledge about the museum and the university, and I know he will serve as an excellent bridge during the transition. The Muscarelle Museum of Art, which opened in 1983, was established with the mission of advancing art and artists, building a dynamic and vibrant community on campus, promoting thought-provoking dialogue and encouraging diverse and creative thinking. It has provided valuable research opportunities and offered curatorial experience to W&M students. De Groft has served as director of the museum since 2005. Exhibitions during his time include loans from the Medici Collections, landscape paintings from the Uffizi, Golden Age Dutch landscapes from Dulwich Picture Gallery, Michelangelo drawings from the Casa Buonarroti and Caravaggio paintings from Italian collections. In 2015, the Muscarelle organized the major exhibition Leonardo: The Idea of Beauty. In 2017, the Muscarelle hosted Botticelli and the Search for the Divine: Florentine Painting from the Medici to the Bonfires of the Vanities. "This has been a tremendous opportunity to serve my alma mater and to give back just a bit of what it has given me, said De Groft, adding that he plans to pursue other career interests, including entrepreneurship opportunities related to his experience with traveling museum exhibitions. I want to thank everyone, including members of the Muscarelle Museum of Art Board, our staff, student interns, fellows and university colleagues, that have helped make the museum what it is today, an internationally recognized art museum. I look forward to pursuing many new things in the future but will always have the Muscarelle and William & Mary in my fondest of memories." Added Robert Roberson, chair of the museum foundations board of trustees, The museum made great strides during Aarons tenure and he will be missed. We will maintain the momentum on so many initiatives, most importantly realizing his vision for an appropriate, new museum space. We are delighted to have David Brashear move us forward during this important time." Brashear, who graduated summa cum laude with a degree in economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and then received an MBA from Harvard, has extensive experience with the museum, the arts and educational institutions. Brashear was made an honorary William & Mary alumnus in 2007 and has served on the Muscarelle Board of Trustees since 1999, serving as chair from 2004 to 2008. Since 2013, he has chaired the capital campaign for the museum. Brashear is an accomplished photographer and his work has been featured in several museum exhibitions. He has studied architectural history at Columbia University and has written extensively on the subject. In addition to his involvement at William & Mary, Brashear is currently a trustee and vice chair of the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation and is chair of the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts. He formerly served as president of the Bronxville Board of Education and vice chair of the WHRO-Hampton Roads Educational Telecommunications Association. A longtime commercial real estate investor and developer, Brashear is president of Edgewood Investors. Its an honor to be asked to serve in this interim role at the Muscarelle, Brashear said. Its a critically important time in the life of the museum and the future is extremely bright. I thank Aaron for his time as director and for his partnership over the last 13 years and in ensuring a smooth transition. The director of the museum reports to the provost. Halleran said William & Mary will conduct a national search for De Grofts successor, with the timing to be decided in the spring. Internet censorship is the control and suppression of what the public can access, view, or publish on the internet. It is enacted by states, individuals, or organizations. The degree of internet censorship varies from one country to another. Most democratic states have moderate censorship, but some countries enforce strict censorship. Countries censor the internet for various reasons such as to control the spread of propaganda and fake news online, prevent access to obscene materials, copyrights, harassment, and to promote the use of domestic products. The following are countries that enforce a high degree of internet censorship. 10. China China enforces strict internet censorship known as "the Great Firewall of China." The country seeks to regulate domestic internet consumption, access to popular foreign websites, and reduce cross-border traffic. The Great Firewall limits access to popular sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google products such as YouTube, Search, and Gmail. The public initially opposed internet censorship but over time, the program influenced the development of the internal internet economy and promoted the development of domestic companies by reducing the effectiveness of foreign organizations. 9. Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia has an efficient and effective system of internet censorship that blocks material considered immoral under Islamic laws and political content that are against the royal family or national policies. Popular foreign websites are not blocked but are restricted. Services such as Telegram and Facebook are subjected to data throttling that prevents image and file sharing. Sites that publish illegal content and offensive anti-Islamic materials such as gambling, X-rated materials, and websites that publish pirated material are occasionally blocked. On the positive side, internet censorship has proved successful in preventing the spread of jihad and pro-terrorism content in the country. 8. Vietnam Vietnam adopted the Chinese handbook of internet censorship and turned it into a political weapon. The communist regime in the country ensures that the citizenry does not view anti-government and anti-communist contents. Although much of censorship is political, the state bans bloggers and social media users from publishing or gathering information concerning government authorities. Constitutional Decree 72 established the provisions to filter internet content and allows the government to take down material it considers offensive and a threat to the traditions and national security of the country. 7. Ethiopia Internet freedom in Ethiopia continues to decline since the beginning of the decade as the government impose measures to curb the recurrent anti-government protests organized over digital platforms. In November 2015, protests against the marginalization of the Oromo people turned into demonstrations seeking regime change after students organized demonstrations in the capital Addis Ababa through social media. In October 2016, the government declared a state of emergency and the country experienced an internet blackout. Throttling and shutdown are a common practice in urban environments. 6. Cuba Cuba censors the internet by preventing access to specific sites and limiting infrastructure that to access the internet. In 2006, reporters without borders listed Cuba as an "internet enemy because of internet filtering policies in the country. In 2007, the government relaxed the censorship policies, and the citizens were allowed to own computers and smartphones. The state has notoriously bad internet connectivity, and Cubans can only access the internet through their cell phones by signing up to one of the many public hotspots spread across urban areas. 5. Somalia Less than 2% of the population in Somalia have access to the internet. A large percentage of those who access the internet is in the northern region, which is relatively peaceful compared to the rest of the country. Despite the minuscule internet connectivity, internet censorship is heavily practiced. Censorship in the country is enforced by shutting down the internet or access to certain websites critical to the government. 4. Syria Internet censorship in Syria peaked after the Arab Spring began in 2011. The censorship was meant to curb the anti-government movements that were sprouting up in social media advocating for a regime change. Although the internet is censored across the country, censorship is prevalent in government control regions. The government blocks access to particular websites especially those related to politics, human rights, minorities, and those that publish anti-government materials. 3. Iran Iran enforces strict internet censorship where anti-government and X-rated materials are entirely banned while websites especially social media are heavily censored. About half of the 500 most popular sites in the world are blocked in the country. American and European organizations top the list of censored websites. The state has gone and extra length to ensure that VPNs and proxies are not used to circumvent the censorship. Internet speed in the country is capped at 128 kbps which is about half of the speed in the United States. 2. Eritrea Censorship in Eritrea stretches from the internet, the media, advertising, and even to speech. Although the state has not employed the use of sophisticated internet filtering systems, the government does not hesitate to block sites critical of the regime. Access to x-rated services and some Google services such as YouTube are also blocked. 1. North Korea North Korea censors every aspect of the citizenry ranging from television and radio content to the activities in school. The citizens of North Korea only use smartphones produced in the state. The internet as we know, does not exist in North Korea but instead the government has created clones of social sites such as Facebook. There are two versions of the World Wide Web in North Korea. High-ranking government officials and selected persons use a protected web site while the other is accessible to the public and consist of a few social sites and thousands of information promoting the regime. To make matters worse, the internet can only be accessed through a dial-up connection. The population of Vienna, Austrias capital, was significantly influenced by migration and industrialization. In 2012, more than 39% of the 660,000 Viennese population had a partial or full migrant background. These backgrounds included Hungary, Germany, Romania, Ex-Yugoslavia, and Poland. According to UN-Habitat, Vienna could be the fastest growing city in Europe until 2025. German is the official language of Austria. The German that is spoken in Austria is known as Austrian German, and the Viennese population speaks a dialect known as Wienerisch or Viennese German. Population History of Vienna Vienna was the capital of Austria-Hungary in the years between 1867 and 1918. In 1910, Vienna had a population of about two million people. It was the largest city in Europe after Berlin, Paris, and London. Vienna had the second largest Czech population in the world after Prague. The First World War made many Hungarians and Czechs return to their countries. Their return resulted in a massive decline in the population of Vienna. Viennese German Dialect Viennese German, which is also known as Wienerisch, is a specific dialect that is spoken in Vienna. Some of the features of this dialect are not even recognized by people in Lower Austria who are their neighbors. There are some differences in pronunciation of some specific words between Austrian German and mainstream German. However, it is not very difficult for a German-speaking foreigner to comprehend what is being said in Viennese German. The physical and cultural proximity and the historical developments in Austria have had a significant influence on the languages used in Vienna. Most of the inhabitants in Viennese have Hungarian, Slovak, or Czech origin. Quite a number of them still understand these languages of their ancestors. The Viennese German languages have been influenced to some extent by these native languages. People traveling to Vienna have been encouraged time and again to be conversant with the German language. This would enable them to get over the language barrier especially when interacting with the older generation. The younger generation as well as professionals are very cautious and are willing to help those with language challenges. Other Languages in Vienna English is the most common foreign language in Vienna. Children learn English in school from an early age. English is the primary language for most of these children. However, many older individuals cannot speak English. Places such as hotels and restaurants use English as their official communication language. Written information and signs are written in two languages; English and German. Other common languages that you may come across include Italian, French, and Spanish. However, the prevalence of Italian, French, and Spanish languages is quite low as compared to English. The Italian language has not spread much in Vienna, but it is widely spoken in other regions of Austria especially in the southern region. WASHINGTON, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Department of Defense said on Thursday that the United States and its allies conducted an observation flight over Ukraine earlier that day. The Pentagon, in a statement, called it "an extraordinary flight under the Open Skies Treaty." The Treaty on Open Skies was signed in March 1992 and became one of the major confidence-building measures in Europe after the Cold War. It took effect in 2002 and currently has 34 state parties, including Russia and most members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The Pentagon emphasized that "the timing of this flight is intended to reaffirm U.S. commitment and support to Ukraine and other partner nations." On Nov. 25, three Ukrainian naval ships and more than 20 sailors attempting to sail through the Kerch Strait from the Black Sea to the Sea of Azov were seized by Russian forces for allegedly violating the Russian border. The Ukrainian Navy called the incident an "act of aggression," saying it had informed Moscow in advance of the passage. Meanwhile, Russia said it had received no such report and the ships ignored multiple warnings by the Russian border guards. The White House had earlier canceled a planned meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin during the Group of 20 summit last weekend due to Russia's confrontation with Ukraine. The U.S. military has started preparations to dispatch a warship into the Black Sea amid the tension between Russia and Ukraine over the Kerch Strait incident, U.S. media reported on Wednesday. Enditem In a radio interview on December 6, President Lenin Moreno effectively demanded that WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange leave the Ecuadorian embassy in London. Assange was granted political asylum by Ecuador in its embassy in 2012 because he faces the danger of prosecution in the US in retaliation for WikiLeaks publication of leaked information exposing US war crimes, diplomatic conspiracies, intelligence agency spying and political intrigues. Hinting at the prospect that he will renege on the protection provided to Assange by his predecessor Rafael Correo, Moreno said: I do not like the presence of Mr. Assange in the Ecuadorian embassy. Moreno claimed that he had been given a guarantee by Britain that Assange would not be extradited if he faced the threat of a death sentence. The road is clear, Moreno incredibly declared, for Mr. Assange to take the decision to leave into near freedom. Julian Assange The near freedom Assange would face if he walked out of the embassy would be immediate arrest and imprisonment by British authorities. He would be prosecuted for breaking the bail conditions he was forced to endure while he fought a legal battle against a Swedish extradition warrant to answer questions over the fabricated, and ultimately abandoned allegations that he may have committed sexual offenses in Sweden. While held in a British prison cell, the US would apply for his extradition. Between November 2010 and June 2012, British courts repeatedly dismissed the case presented by Assanges lawyers that the Swedish warrant was nothing more than a pretext to have the WikiLeaks editor rendered to a country where he would be imprisoned under harsh conditions while his extradition to the US was organised. Throughout this protracted legal battle, Assange, an Australian citizen, was denied the support that Australian authorities were responsible to provide. Instead, the Labor government at the time lined up completely with Washington and denounced him as a criminal. It refused to launch the necessary international diplomatic and legal campaign against his treatment and to secure his immediate and unconditional right to return to Australia. Under those conditions, Assange sought asylum from Ecuador. Economic and geopolitical conditions have since changed and Moreno, on behalf of the Ecuadorian capitalist elite, has moved to restore relations with US imperialism. In exchange, he is prepared to throw Assange to the wolves. In March this year, his government vastly escalated the pressure on Assange to leave by cutting off his ability to communicate with the outside world and denying him any personal visitors apart from his legal representatives. Taken at face value, Morenos statements suggest that he is more than prepared to accept Assange facing extradition to the US and being sentenced to decades, or even life imprisonment, for publishing leaks that let the world know the truth. Britains purported guarantee on the death penalty was not some concession in the Assange case, but simply a restatement of its longstanding policy. Since June 2012, the British government has maintained it will arrest Assange if he leaves the small embassy building for any reason. He has been condemned to what the United Nations described as arbitrary detention, deprived of access to direct sunlight and necessary medical and dental treatment. Barry Pollack, a legal representative of WikiLeaks, rejected Morenos position and Britains purported guarantee. Pollack told the British Telegraph: The suggestion that as long as the death penalty is off the table, Mr Assange need not fear persecution is obviously wrong. No one should have to face criminal charges for publishing truthful information. Since such charges appear to have been brought against Mr Assange in the United States, Ecuador should continue to provide him asylum. The fight for the freedom of Julian Assange is a matter of fundamental political principle. Anyone who refuses to defend him cannot make any credible claim to uphold any of the democratic rights won over centuries of struggle against despotism and which were extended and expanded through the mass struggles of the international working class. The Australian government, controlled since September 2013 by the conservative Liberal-National Party Coalition, has never shifted from its shameless collaboration in the persecution of one of its own citizens. This year, the Coalition government and Labor opposition have ignored the demand, made at the June 17 demonstration in Sydney organised by the Socialist Equality Party and addressed by John Pilger, that Australia diplomatically and legally intervene on Assanges behalf. Moreover, media publications, the Greens, self-styled independent members of parliament, trade unions, and pseudo-left organisations, which all at one time declared that it was essential to defend Julian Assange, have joined Labor and Coalition in the vendetta. For years, they have assisted the persecution of Assange and the broader attack on democratic rights, by remaining silent and abandoning any action to secure his freedom. The pro-imperialist positions and perfidy of the Australian ex-liberal and ex-left milieu is duplicated by their counterparts around the world. In the United States, the Democratic Socialists of America, the International Socialist Organization and other pseudo-left formations follow the line of the Democratic Party and the US intelligence agencies, which denounce Assange as a Russian agent because WikiLeaks published leaks during the 2016 election that underscored the right-wing, anti-working class character of Hillary Clinton and her campaign for the presidency. In Britain, the self-styled left Jeremy Corbyn, since becoming Labour leader has never repeated his previous declarations of support for Assange. Mays government would not have been able to proceed with its threats to arrest the WikiLeaks publisher and hand him over to the Trump administration, without Corbyns tacit support. Across Europe, the assorted pseudo-left parties, from Syriza in Greece, to Podemos in Spain, to the Left Party in Germany and Unsubmissive France, say nothing about the assault on media freedom, the censorship of oppositional voices on the Internet and the persecution of Assange and WikiLeaks. The complicit silence is all the more pernicious now. Last month a US court document inadvertently revealed that the Department of Justice has filed and sealed unspecified charges against Assange, as he and his defenders have insisted is the central issue from the outset. The slander about sexual offences and over the exposure of Clintons campaign are simply pretexts to destroy WikiLeaks and intimidate and terrorise all independent media and would-be whistleblowers exposing great power and corporate criminality. On Sunday, December 16, the SEP in Australia will be holding a public meeting, livestreamed around the world via Facebook, to outline and discuss the next stage in the campaign to secure the unconditional freedom of Assange, including his right to return to Australia if he chooses to do so, with a guarantee of protection from any extradition to the US. The author also recommends: SEP meeting and livestream on December 16: What next in the fight to free Julian Assange? On Friday, a congress of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in Hamburg will elect Angela Merkels successor as party leader. Merkel, who has led the CDU for 18 years, announced her resignation as party leader in October after massive losses in Hesses state elections. She wants to remain Chancellor, however, until the end of the regular legislative period in the autumn of 2021. Three candidates are up for election in Hamburg: CDU Secretary General Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (56), Health Minister Jens Spahn (38) and Investment Manager Friedrich Merz (63), who retired from active politics 16 years ago. Over the past few days, the three candidates have presented themselves to the public at eight CDU regional conferences and in countless interviews and media appearances. The media celebrate this as a rebirth of democracy in a party which held its last open election of its chairman in 1971, when Rainer Barzel prevailed against Helmut Kohl, who later became chancellor. The open culture of discussion will revive the party and increase its attractiveness, many comments claim. In fact, nothing of the sort is the case. What distinguishes all three candidates is their detachment from the problems and concerns of the vast majority of the population. They compete, over who can shift Merkels policy furthest to the rightbe it on refugees (Kramp-Karrenbauer), the harassment of welfare recipients (Spahn) or support for the financial markets and the super-rich (Merz). The public reaction remains understandably negative. The big hype about Angela Merkels successor does not benefit the CDU, commented Forsa boss Manfred Gullner on his institutes latest poll. The CDU does not win any major sympathies among the electorate, there can be no question of a mood of optimism. The CDU remains at 27 percent in the Forsa poll, its coalition partner SPD at 14 percent. If elections were held now, the Grand Coalition would no longer have a majority and would only reach 41 percent. Only a coalition of the CDU and the Greens, which are in second place with 22 percent, could hope for a narrow majority of deputies. Otherwise only alliances of three or more parties would yield a government majority. The mantra used by the candidates and numerous media to justify the CDUs further shift to the right is that Merkel has placed the party too much in the centre of society and thus created space for the growth of the far-right AfD, which must now be reconquered. In the editorial published in its latest edition, Der Spiegel calls for an honest debate about the mistakes of the Merkel era; otherwise the CDU would be threatened with ruin. It was a mistake to move the CDU so far to the left that the AfD could easily take the place of the CDU, it declares. And it was wrong to allow months of loss of control at the German borders. The CDU must admit this to itself, even if it is tantamount to matricide. At the regional conferences, Merz promised that he would not accept the AfD sitting in 16 state parliaments and with 12.6 percent in the Bundestag. He was confident that he could change thatby adopting the policy of the AfD. Kramp-Karrenbauer promised a tough line in migration policy, which she would make her top priority. We need an intelligent border regime: Transit centres, dragnet controls, bilateral agreements for rapid repatriation, she told the Merkur newspaper. Spahn, who has long advocated an anti-refugee line, accused Hartz IV recipients of having their livelihood financed by ordinary workers and their taxes, and demanded tougher sanctions if they miss deadlines or turn down poorly paid work. The claim that Merkel has moved the CDU to the left turns reality upside down. An objective assessment of her 13-year chancellorship proves the opposite. Under Merkels responsibility, Germany has developed into the most unequal country in Europe, where one in six lives in poverty and around 40 percent of all employees work in precarious conditions. In Greece, Portugal and other European countries, Merkels name is synonymous with brutal austerity programs that have ruined the lives of millions. During her chancellorship, after five decades of military abstinence, Germany again developed into an interventionist power, with troops in Afghanistan, Iraq, Mali and numerous other countries. The short-term opening of the borders to refugees in the summer of 2015 was not motivated by humanitarian reasons, but by fears of an uncontrollable crisis in the Balkans. It has long since been replaced by the ruthless closing off of European borders, mass deportations and the construction of camps in which refugees are imprisoned. Merkels government and the state have ideologically and politically supported the rise of the AfD. This was obvious when the head of the secret service, Hans-Georg Maaen, publicly supported the far-right party. What distinguishes Merkels era, which is approaching its end, from her replacement as CDU leader, is not a left-wing policy, but her close cooperation with the SPD and the trade unions in implementing an extremely right-wing policy. There is no social regression and no dismissal that has not been worked out and supported by the Social Democrats and the unions. When Merkel took over the chairmanship of the CDU in April of 2000, the CDU was politically on the floor, and the German economy was in crisis. Helmut Kohl had lost the Bundestag elections in the autumn of 1998 after 16 years as Chancellor, and the CDU was involved in corruption scandals. Merkel used this to outmanoeuvre Helmut Kohl and his team, including Wolfgang Schauble and Friedrich Merz. At that time, she promoted a neo-liberal economic programme that provided for the abolition of solidarity-based health insurance and progressive income taxation. But the SPD and the Greens took the burden off her shoulders. With the Agenda 2010 and the Hartz laws, they created a mechanism that effectively destroyed the social achievements of the post-war period. When Merkel won the Bundestag election in 2005 and formed her first coalition with the SPD, she was able to rely on these measures. With the exception of the years 2009 to 2013, in which she formed a coalition with the Free Democrats, she has always ruled in a grand coalition with the SPD. Characteristic of her close cooperation with the SPD and the trade unions is an evening in March 2010: The then head of the IG Metall union, Berthold Huber, celebrated his 60th birthday in the Chancellors Office. Invited as guests were the president of the employers association Martin Kannegiesser, the bosses of Siemens and Volkswagen and the leaders of various works councils. Today the unions are hated and the SPD is collapsing. The mood in the working class is boiling. In France, with the Yellow Vests, a powerful social movement has developed outside of the control of the trade unions and the traditional parties. This is the real reason for the CDUs shift to the right, and not the alleged competition with the AfD. It is preparing to violently suppress social protests and political resistance against social attacks, militarism and state repression. It will not only closely work with the AfD, but also with the SPD and the unions. Friedrich Merzs return to politics symbolizes this shift to the right. More than nearly any other German politician, he embodies the naked interests of capital. The former parliamentary party leader of the CDU has been active as a business lobbyist for 16 years and is currently chairman of the supervisory board of the German branch of the worlds largest investment company Blackrock. He was brought back into politics by Wolfgang Schauble, the architect of the austerity diktat for Greece. Schauble, who still has a lot of influence in the CDU, has openly called for his election. Merz obviously has not only the CDU presidency in mind, but also the Chancellors Office. It remains to be seen whether he will cooperate with Merkel or whether he will seek a change of government in the near future. The FDP has already signaled its willingness to cooperate with Merz, should the Grand Coalition come to an early end. But even Merkels temporary stay in office or the election of Kramp-Karrenbauer, who is given the best chances for party chairmanship alongside Merz, will not change this course of development. Merkel has proven her adaptability time and again throughout her long career. Kramp-Karrenbauer is an arch-conservative Catholic. She could possibly have an easier path to forming a coalition with the Greens than Merz. The Greens have moved closer to the CDU in recent years and have formed a joint government with it in two of its former strongholds, Baden-Wurttemberg and Hesse. Workers and youth must prepare for violent attacks, which they can only counter by organizing independently and fighting for a socialist program. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasios latest housing plan, which is supposed to create or preserve 300,000 units of affordable housing by 2026, would fall far short of the actual need, according to a newly released report by New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer. The citys critical lack of housing that is affordable to millions of its working-class residents has been growing increasingly acute. Mayor de Blasio, touted as a progressive Democrat, now in his second term, was originally elected in 2013 on a promise to address the citys ever-increasing economic inequalitythe Tale of Two Cities. Instead, inequality, including as manifested in the rising cost of housing, has continued to worsen. A 2016 report by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) found that New York State had the greatest degree of income inequality in the US. The study found that the top 1 percent accumulated 45 times the income earned by the bottom 99 percent. The peak of income inequality in the state was found, not surprisingly, in the New York City borough of Manhattan, the home of Wall Street. The average income of the top 1 percent ($8.1 million) was 116 times that of the bottom 99 percent ($70,500). A 2017 report by the citys Independent Budget Office corroborated this pattern. Comparing data from 2006 to 2014, it found that, based on an annual sample of 770,700 tax returns, the share of total income received by the bottom half of earners dropped from 7.4 percent to 5.6 percent. The hyper-concentration of wealth was even greater at the very top. Over the same period, the income of the uppermost one 10th of 1 percent, about 3,700 tax filers, in a city of over 8.6 million, received 24 percent of total income. This extreme inequality in wealth among the citys residents is starkly expressed by the lack of affordable housing. One gauge of the yawning gap between the citys elite and the bulk of the population is the number of people living in the citys homeless shelters. It is now over 60,000, having increased by roughly 10,000 during de Blasios tenure. This does not include many thousands more who are unsheltered, living in the rough. This marked increase in homelessness highlights the growth of inequality, illustrating an acceleration in the rate of deteriorating conditions that stretches over decades. According to Stringers report, entitled NYC For All: The Housing We Need, 580,000 city households are severely rent-burdened, paying more than half of their income for housing (the rule of thumb for affordability is no more than 30 percent of income). The great majority of those, roughly 90 percent, have incomes below $47,000 per year for a family of three. Stringer calculates that for a quarter of these de Blasios housing plan is inadequate to meet their needs. De Blasios plan relies on what is called inclusionary zoning which requires developers receiving certain considerations from the city to include a percentage of supposedly affordable units along with those at market rates. In order to assure profitability for the developers, the ratio of affordable to market rate units must be maintained at a level that effectively displaces many of the former working-class residents. Furthermore, the gauge of what is affordable is set so high that the poorest segment of the population is excluded. The mayors plan provides for the construction of as many units for middle-income familiesthose making $155,000 per yearas those making $28,000. The plan has been roundly criticized as promoting gentrification. Stringers report also points out that the city has not even met its stated goal of creating permanent housing for 5 percent of its homeless population, having so far reached only 1 percent. Stringers proposed solution to the extreme lack of affordable housing consists of having the city provide loans to developers. It represents a slight modification to previous approaches that have proven utterly inadequate to address the problem. His proposal would include requiring an increase of the proportion of the most affordable units, to be funded by making some adjustments to real estate taxes. These would supposedly raise an additional $400 million from the citys wealthiest residents, while leaving the basic structure of the housing industry in private hands. The citys affordable housing agency has estimated that the cost of Stringers proposed subsidy to private developers could approach $10 billion. And, in any case, the chance of enacting such a tax increase on the citys elite is effectively nil. Scott Stringer, also a Democrat, is rumored to be considering a run to replace de Blasio, who is term-limited. Real estate developers are major donors to the campaigns of both Democrats and Republicans. A 2016 study by ProPublica, The Real Deal and the National Institute on Money in State Politics found that the real estate industry had made $83 million in political donations since 2000. Another report indicated that since the late 1990s, donations to city and state political campaigns using the Limited Liability Corporation (LLC) tax loophole amounted to over $188 million, much of that from real estate interests. In the recent election, several progressive Democrats ran pledging not to take donations from real estate interests. The idea that this will somehow allow them, once elected, to promote policies that will truly benefit the working class is laughable, since the rights of developers and landlords to maximize profits remains intact. Others made verbal criticisms, but accepted money anyway. De Blasio, who won with the support of many who believed that he would fight inequality, has himself come under scrutiny for accepting large donations from developers who may have received favors in return. The reality is that under capitalism, developers sole interest is the maximization of profit, which can be achieved most effectively by the construction of high-end housing for the wealthy. Decades of schemes to entice the real estate industry with various incentives to build an adequate quantity of housing that is affordable to the working class, such as the now-defunct 421-a tax abatement, have been an abysmal failure. Pressure on working class tenants is growing at every level. Another recent study, this one by the Urban Institute, a Washington, DC-based think tank, funded by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), found that landlords are increasingly refusing to accept rent subsidy vouchers for low-income tenants under the federal program known as Section 8, because they can charge much higher rates in the open market. The federal government is simultaneously tightening its regulations for the program, making the vouchers even more difficult to obtain. At the same time, the citys public housing system, the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), the largest in the country, which was once considered a major success, has been allowed to deteriorate to the point where tenants are subjected to a virtual hell on earth. Decades of decreased budgets have led to rampant mold and vermin infestations, persistently leaking plumbing, and repeated, sometimes prolonged outages of heat and hot water. It is estimated that the NYCHA has a current capital needs deficit of $32 billion. De Blasios proposed solution is again based on the private sector, which is notorious for the poor and exploitative conditions in the working-class housing it already owns. The mayors plan to raise revenues includes turning over management of some NYCHA complexes to private firms, selling air rights, and permitting the construction of new apartment buildings, including a significant proportion of market-rate units, on open space within existing complexesall of this inevitably leading, ultimately to the privatization of the entire system. A similar scheme had been proposed by the previous mayor, Republican Michael Bloomberg. The author also recommends: New York City affordable housing crisis continues to worsen [3 October 2018] New Census Bureau report details poor conditions in New Yorks Public Housing [28 September 2018] Acting at Washingtons behest, Canadian authorities have arrested a senior executive of Huawei Technologies, the Chinese telecommunications giant, for allegedly violating US economic sanctions against Iran. The arrest and impending extradition of Meng Wanzhou to the US is a diplomatic and geopolitical provocation. Asian and other global stock markets fell sharply Thursday, due to expectations that the US effort to seize and prosecute Meng will roil US-Chinese relations and torpedo the 90-day truce in the US-China tariff war that US President Trump and Chinese President Xi agreed to on the sidelines of last weekends G20 summit. Meng is not just the chief financial officer and one of four deputy chairs of Chinas largest private company and the worlds second largest maker of mobile phones. She is the daughter of Huaweis founder and current head, Ren Zhengfei. Meng was reportedly arrested in Vancouver last Saturday, while changing planes. However, her arrest was made public only on Wednesday evening. She is to appear at what Canadian authorities have described as a bail hearing today. That Mengs arrest was a calculated provocation is underscored by its timing. US National Security Adviser John Bolton has said that he was aware Meng was in the process of being apprehended when he joined Trump for his Saturday evening dinner meeting with Xi and other top Chinese officials. Yet the Americans breathed not a word about the bombshell they were about to burst, with Canadas assistance. As Li Daokui, a prominent scholar at Tsinghua University put it, Imagine that Facebooks Sheryl Sandberg was detained in Japan or Korea at the request of the Chinese government. Imagine what the political response would be in the US. US officials and Republican and Democratic Congressional leaders have all hailed Mengs arrest, which is fully in line with American global strategyboth in targeting Chinas high-tech sector and in using US sanctions to threaten and bully states, political leaders, and US corporate rivals around the world. Americans are grateful that our Canadian partners have arrested the chief financial officer of a giant Chinese telecom company for breaking US sanctions against Iran, enthused Republican Senator Ben Sasse, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Chinese authorities, as would be expected, have vehemently protested Mengs arrest. Detaining a person without providing an explanation has undoubtedly violated her human rights, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang. China, said Geng, has made clear its stern position to the Canadian side and the US side respectively on this, demanding them to immediately clarify the reason for the detention, immediately release the detainee and earnestly protect the legal and legitimate rights and interests of the person involved. Mengs arrest has huge global geopolitical implications. First, it underscores Washingtons determination to enforce its punishing, illegal sanctions against Iran. In recent months, top US officials have repeatedly threatened to personally target corporate executives and bankers, including those from SWIFT and other European-based firms, if they refuse to serve as conscripts in Washingtons economic war on Iran. Second, and even more importantly, it represents a significant escalation in the ever deepening economic and military-strategic conflict between the US and China. For both commercial and military reasons, Huawei is a major US target in this conflict. Washington has been demanding that its partners in the US National Security Agency-led Five Eyes global spying networkCanada, Britain, Australia and New Zealandtake action to limit Huaweis role in their cellphone networks, and to outright exclude it from the development of 5-G mobile communications. This is being justified on security grounds, that is, on the claim that Chinese authorities could work with Huawei in the same way the NSA does with Microsoft, Apple and other US computer and telecommunications giants to create backdoors that facilitate state surveillance. But there are also huge commercial and military-security motivations for the US offensive against Huawei and Chinas other major telecommunications manufacturer, ZTE. The latter has been subject to US financial and other penalties for allegedly violating US sanctions on Iran and North Korea. Washington is determined to prevent Beijing from realizing its goal of becoming a leader in the production of high-tech goods by 2025, because this would eat into the market share and profits of US high-tech companies and threaten Americas military superiority. The United States, Australia and New Zealand have already banned Huawei from their respective 5G networks. On Wednesday, British Telecom announced that it would exclude Huawei from its 4G operations, two days after the head of Britains secret service MI6, Alex Younger, warned that London had to take a decision about how far it was willing to go in its dealings with the Chinese tech giant. Japanese media are reporting that Tokyo will announce today a ban on government purchases of Huawei and ZTE equipment. Canada has come under increasing pressure from Washington to take action against Huawei. I continue to strongly urge Canada to reconsider Huaweis inclusion in any aspect of its 5G development, introduction and maintenance, said Republican Senator Marco Rubio, in welcoming Mengs arrest. In October, Rubio and Democratic senator and vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee Mark Warner co-authored a letter to the Canadian government that said Canadas access to intelligence-sharing through the Five Eyes could be jeopardized if it did not exclude Huawei and all other "Chinese state-directed telecommunications companies from the development and deployment of the countrys 5G network. In a statement that suggested all major Chinese firms should be viewed as national security threats, Warner and Rubio declared, There is ample evidence to suggest that no major Chinese company is independent of the Chinese government and Communist Partyand Huawei, which Chinas government and military tout as a national champion, is no exception. Sections of Canada's military-security apparatus, including two former heads of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) and a former head of the NSAs Canadian partner, the Communications Security Establishment, have seconded these calls. Meanwhile, the countrys most influential newspaper, the Globe and Mail, has published a series of lurid reports, based largely on innuendo and unsubstantiated claims, complaining about growing Chinese political influence in Canada. This campaign has been aimed not just at prodding the Liberal government to take action against Huawei, but also at putting the brakes on its plans to pursue a free trade agreement with China. Yesterday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirmed that he knew in advance of Mengs arrest, before making the absurd claim that it was a purely administrative-judicial matter and that he and his government played no part in a decision with huge consequences for Canadian-Chinese and global interstate relations. Trudeau and his Liberals have been bending over backwards to accommodate the Trump administration, with the aim of securing a revised North American Free Trade Agreement that preserves largely unfettered US market access for Canadian big business and the Canada-US military security partnership on which the Canadian bourgeoisie depends to assert its imperialist interests around the globe. As part of the revised NAFTA (or the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, as Trump likes to call it), Canada agreed to a US demand for a provision prohibiting if from concluding a free trade agreement with a non-market economya clear reference to Chinawithout prior approval from Washington. The Canadian governments complicity in Mengs arrest underscores that with the rapid escalation of economic, military and geopolitical tensions between Washington and Beijing, Ottawa is lining up four-square behind US imperialism. Indeed, the Canadian military now touts the South China Sea and Strait of Malacca, likely key battlegrounds in any US-China clash, as of vital strategic importance to Canada. This shift is motivated above all by the understanding, which has guided Canadian imperialist policy for the past three-quarters of a century, that it can best pursue its own predatory global interests in alliance with Washington and Wall Street. Absent the revolutionary intervention of the international working class, the logic of American imperialisms increasingly desperate drive to thwart Chinas rise and thereby shore up its global power is a catastrophic war. In a bellicose speech in October, US Vice President Mike Pence accused Beijing of pursuing a comprehensive and coordinated campaign to undermine support for the president, our agenda, and our nations most cherished ideals. In terms reminiscent of the anti-communist tirades of the Cold War, he denounced China for military aggression and outlined a strategy for diplomatic, economic and military confrontation with China, declaring ominously, We will not stand down. We will not be intimidated. On December 3, Foreign Affairs, published by the US. Council on Foreign Relations, and Scientific American hosted a panel discussion entitled Do Nuclear Weapons Matter? Gideon Rose, the editor for Foreign Affairs and one of the three participating panelists, explained that the panels purpose, over two-and-a-half decades since the end of the Cold War, was to discuss the contemporary significance of nuclear weapons. The three panelists all have deep ties to the US State and Defense Departments. Rose himself was a staff member of the National Security Council under the Clinton administration in the mid-1990s. As the editor of Foreign Affairs since 2010, he has overseen and taken a direct part in the debate over US foreign policy under both Democratic and Republican administrations. The second panelist, Elbridge Colby, served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense from 2017-2018. He is one of the principal architects of the latest US National Defense Strategy, which advocates a shift of US imperialisms focus away from the war on terror and towards great power competition, i.e., war with Russia and China. Colby is the author of an article published recently in Foreign Affairs titled If you want peace, prepare for nuclear war, a modern adaptation of the Latin phrase, si vis pacem, para bellum (if you want peace, prepare for war). In it he argues for the US adopting a strategy to fight a limited nuclear war. The third panelist, Nina Tannenwald, served in the US State Department under the Obama administration. In introducing the panel discussion, the event's moderator, Curtis Brainard, Managing Editor of Scientific American, stressed that they all could agree that a lot has changed in the last 10 years, and that the specter of nuclear conflict...has come back to center stage. He posed the question, After so many years of detente, what happened? A large portion of the forum centered on the rapidly deteriorating relationship between the US and Russia on one hand, and the US and China on the other. Tannenwald argued that one of the principal reasons the world is experiencing a new qualitative arms race is Russias bringing us back to the old geopolitics. Colby, while agreeing that Russia is the more pointed reason that nuclear weapons have reemerged in the international security environment, argued that China was the cause for the more fundamental, structural shift in U.S. foreign and nuclear policy. Summing up the quarter century of US-led and instigated wars that followed the dissolution of the Soviet Union, now giving way to the reemergence of great-power competition, Colby stated, I think that the last 25 years was the exceptional period in history, rather than the period that were living in now. Both Tannenwald and Colby agreed that one of the main differentiating elements between the Cold War of yesteryear and the new period of global military confrontation opening up today is an absence of ideological conflict in the latter. Colby stated that post-WWI to 1991 was a highly ideological period in human history, and that the kind of area that were likely entering into is one where ideology is a component, but not as defining as it often deemed to be during the Cold War. What is more defining in terms of the driving forces behind the present eruption of global militarism and the threat of nuclear war was not explained. Skepticism was expressed during the discussion in relation to the primacy given to the development, deployment and potential use of nuclear weapons. Colby stated that during the Cold War, the continual imagination of wars by the ruling classs war planners ultimately prevented any exchange of nuclear weapons. Thats one of the reasons why I think we need to get back to what I call Cold War thinking in the best sense, which is we think about it, and then its unlikely to happen, rather than ignoring it, which makes it more likely, he said. Rose, who stated during the Q&A that he was more pro-nuke than Colby, insisted that, although the world is going to hell in a hand-basket and nobody knows whats going on, nonetheless, every time you seem to give a couple of these human countries a pair of [nuclear weapons], they stop fighting each other, hence, the nuclear issue isnt the one that keeps me up at night. He added, revealingly: nuclear weapons are good for one thing and one thing only, if youre a rational person, which is essentially giving you a get out of jail free card for your regime from external attack. When you have them, you will not be deposed in a war for regime change; when you dont have them, you are open to it. Look at Gaddafi, look at Saddam. While advancing this cynical, though undeniable, argument, Rose made no mention of the source of these external attacks and regime change operations. This conversation between the supposed smartest people in the room can only be understood within the context of the increasing military expenditures and growing number of military exercises being conducted by the US and its NATO allies and partners throughout the world, all of which point to a heightening preparation for a major military confrontation. A resurgence of the class struggle internationally and the growth of economic nationalism and global financial instability is leading the capitalist ruling class to turn toward war as a solution to its crisis. A report published in November by the congressionally-appointed National Defense Strategy Commission reviewing the US National Defense Strategy (NDS) stated that the security and wellbeing of the United States are at greater risk than at any time in decades, and that Americas military superiority, which provided the foundation upon which it was able to assert its global hegemony following World War II, has eroded to a dangerous degree. Therefore, the report urges the US to increase its spending on every aspect of the military. A two-war force sizing construct makes more strategic sense today than at any previous point in the post-Cold War era, yet the NDS adopts what is functionally a one-war sizing construct, it states. The major theaters for the two wars American imperialism is driving towards with its incessant provocations against Russia and China constitute the eastern and western entrances of the Eurasian landmass. This week has seen Secretary of State Mike Pompeo issue an ultimatum to Russia giving it 60 days to submit to what Washington defines as compliance after which the US will abrogate the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, putting the world on a hair trigger for nuclear conflict. NATO has built up its forces on Russias doorstep, while Ukraine has sought to provoke a conflict in the Azov and Black Seas, while declaring martial law in preparation for war. With regards to China, the world's second largest economy, Washington has recklessly carried out relentless freedom of navigation operations, including sending warships through the sensitive Taiwan Strait three times this year. Against this backdrop of rising tensions between the worlds largest nuclear-armed states, Tannenwald stated that the issue today is the rising chance of a use of nuclear weapons due to miscalculation or inadvertent use. As an example, for what could potentially trigger a nuclear world war, she cited the Hawaii false alarm in January, when people had about 36 minutes to duck and cover until the correction came on the air and that it was just a testthat is how we could get into nuclear war. She continued: Imagine that if President Trump tweeted, all Americans should evacuate South Korea, and if it was a particularly tense moment between the US and North Korea, Kim Jong-un could mistakenly take this as a signal that the U.S is about to launch a nuclear war. Summarizing the utterly reactionary content of the policies these state-connected figures propose to prevent such a catastrophe, Tannenwald stated that although the number one goal should be to prevent the use of nuclear weapons...one of the ways to do that is to actually separate your conventional and your nuclear forces very clearly so that the target is not confused about what kind of weapon is coming at them." She went on to spell out the scenario of a rapid escalation of a clash between the US and China into a full-scale nuclear war: When you have a cruise missile that can have a nuclear or a conventional weapon, or like in China where they have their nuclear subs and their conventional subs operating in the same control system, operating near each other if the U.S. attacks China intending only a conventional attack, China may lose the ability to control its nuclear submarines, and then ... it provokes China to respond with a nuclear strike. Similarly, if youre using a cruise missile, and the target cant tell whether its conventionally or nuclear armed then potentially the country will respond with a nuclear attack. Her answer to this evident threat of a nuclear confrontation? If were going [in] this new arms racing direction, we need to be pursuing talks with both, especially Russian and China, about how these technologies interact, and what constitutes stable deterrence in this new world, and thats not happening. The forum provided only a glimpse into the kind of discussions that are being held with the top echelons of the US military and intelligence apparatus in which thinking the unthinkable has clearly returned with a vengeance, resulting in active preparations for total war involving nuclear weapons. The claims that nuclear war is unlikely because it is irrational, that the only concerns are accidental and inadvertent use of these terrible weapons and that talks will solve the issue are a combination of duplicity and naivety that only serve to cover up the real driving force toward a global conflagration. The only rational answer to the threats discussed in the forum is the abolition of nuclear weapons. Instead, the US is planning to spend $1.7 trillion to modernize its nuclear arsenal. The drive toward war is based not upon rationality, but rather the crisis of a world capitalist system gripped by the insoluble contradiction between the nation-state and the global economy and confronting the growth of class struggle internationally. Only the working class, united on an international basis and mobilized in the struggle to put an end to the capitalist system can stop the threat of a nuclear Third World War. The French government of banker-turned-President Emmanuel Macron is preparing for a major confrontation with yellow vest demonstrations and other protests this weekend, as the political crisis gripping the French state intensifies. The interior ministry is planning to deploy 89,000 riot and military police throughout the country on Saturday, including 8,000 in Paris, backed by armored cars in the streets of the capital for the first time since 2005. This follows the positioning of snipers on Paris rooftops during last Saturdays protest. Police are trying to intimidate protesters with threats that they expect fatalities and more arrests than at all the previous protests combined. In a desperate attempt to play for time, the Macron government postponed and then announced the cancellation of the fuel tax that provoked the initial protests. However, anger continues to grow, bringing in broader sections of the population motivated by a diverse set of class issues. Demands for wage and pension increases, taxing the rich, and for a redistribution of wealth are spreading. On Thursday, thousands of high school and university students participated in protests against education reforms and tuition increases. Police responded with repression and over 700 arrests. One video broadly shared online showed police rounding up students, whom they forced to kneel, some against a wall, in rows of dozens. This is just a preview of the state crackdown that will be meted out this weekend. As the French government prepares a massive police-state crackdown, it is absurdly denouncing protesters as a danger to democracy. The Elysee presidential palace yesterday called on political parties and trade unions, the business community to appeal for calm and declared that it is no longer time for political opposition, but for unity around our Republic. Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said that protests threaten the safety of the French people and our institutions. After Macron recently hailed Philippe PetainFrances Nazi-collaborationist dictator during World War IIhe is in no position to lecture anyone about democracy. The danger to democracy comes not from the struggles of workers and youth against the dictates of the banks, but from the capitalist ruling elite, represented by figures like Macron, cowering behind his phalanxes of riot police and tanks. With the development of the protests, the basic class issues are coming to the fore. The New York Times, in a worried article published Thursday, noted that the protests in France are not tethered to a political party, let alone a right-wing one. Instead, The uprising is mostly organic, spontaneous and self-determined. It is mostly about economic class. It is about the inability to pay the bills. It is the fact that the protests emerged outside of the existing institutions, including the trade unions, that has lent them an explosive character. Responding to the widespread support for the protests among workers, unions have called limited strike actions for next week. However, the aim of the unions, which have the closest connections to the state, is to contain and corral the movement, and thereby bring it under control. Macron has no intention of acceding to the demands for social equality and a redistribution of wealth that are driving the protests. The actions of the government are dictated by the class interests that it represents and by the demands of the global markets and financial institutions. Developments within France are a national expression of a global process. In every country, the ruling class is seeking to enforce a new round of attacks on wages and working conditions. However, the growth of the class strugglepropelled by grotesque levels of social inequalityis also developing as a global process. It is to the international working class that French workers and youth opposed to Macron must turn for support! The past year has been characterized by a significant intensification of class conflict around the world. The year began with protests by Iranian workers against social cuts, followed by strikes in Europe for wage increases by Turkish and German metalworkers. In the United States, teachers struck in defiance of the union bureaucracy, followed by teachers in Britain, Tunisia and France. Strikes in France against Macrons privatization of the National Railways broke out, together with student protests against Macrons regressive education reforms. Workers in countries across Europe struck against Ryanair, and workers internationally struck against appalling working conditions at Amazon, run by the worlds richest man, Jeff Bezos. The year is coming to an end amidst growing working class anger internationally. After an explosive protest by tea plantation workers in Sri Lanka last month, organized on social media to demand a 100 percent wage increase, the tea plantation workers are mounting strike action despite union opposition. Anger is building among US auto workers, as the unions and corporate management jointly plot mass layoffs and plant closures as part of a global restructuring of the auto industry. And, largely unreported in the media, strikes involving hundreds of thousands of workers are shaking South Korea, Chile and other countries. In its 1988 world perspectives resolution, the International Committee of the Fourth International pointed to the implications of the globalization of capitalist production for the development of the class struggle: It has long been an elementary proposition of Marxism that the class struggle is national only as to its form, but that it is, in essence, an international struggle. However, given the new features of capitalist development, even the form of the class struggle must assume an international character. Even the most elemental struggles of the working class pose the necessity of coordinating its actions on an international scale. At the start of the year, the World Socialist Web Site said that 2018 would be characterized above all by a growth of the class struggle. Developments are now confirming this prognosis. For the working class, this raises critical strategic questions. Anger and opposition are not sufficient. The working class needs organization and a political perspective. To coordinate their struggles, workers need their own organizations, completely independent of the pro-capitalist trade unions. The Parti de legalite socialiste (PES) calls on French workers and youth to immediately form committees of action in every workplace, neighborhood and school. These committees must unify the struggles now unfolding, prevent them from being dissipated and sold out, and organize actions to protect workers from repression. In France, these committees would allow the yellow vests, largely drawn from rural and provincial city workers, to unify with the broadest sections of the working class, including immigrant workers in the suburbs of Frances largest cities, and to fight racist attempts to divide workers along ethnic lines. The development of independent organizations of working class struggle is inextricably connected to the building of a revolutionary leadership. In France and every country, the basic task facing the working class is the samethe overthrow of the capitalist system through the conquest of state power, the expropriation of the corporate and financial elite, a massive redistribution of wealth and the socialist reorganization of economic life. The most critical issue of all is the construction of a Marxist leadership in the French and international working class. Only in this way will the mass movement be able to acquire a consciously socialist character, opposing capitalism and war, and posing the question of the transfer of state power to the working class. The PES, the French section of the International Committee of the Fourth International, is the only political party in France fighting to expand the struggle throughout the French and international working class, on the basis of the program of international socialist revolution. We call on workers and young people in France and throughout the world to contact and to join the ICFI. Teachers at fifteen Acero Charter Schools, one of more than 34 charter school operators in the city of Chicago, completed their third day on strike Thursday. Pickets are scheduled to resume early Friday morning. About 500 suburban Geneva, Illinois teachers have also completed their third day on strike. A large rally of teachers, parents and students was held on Wednesday. The Acero Charter School teachers in Chicago are demanding a reduction in class sizes, increased classroom resources and pay increases to bring their compensation and conditions closer to teachers and paraprofessionals in Chicago Public Schools (CPS)who are themselves underpaid and overworked. Clerks and support staff at Acero do not have scheduled pay increases and are demanding them. Teachers are also asking for assurance that Acero students and families will not be turned over to ICE without a court order. Other charter school teachers have authorized strikes in recent weeks, including those at Chicago International Charter Schools, Civitas Education Partners, and Quest Management. The United Educators for Justice union, which merged this year with the CTU, is keeping teachers in the dark about negotiations, is limiting demands to paltry changes, and is isolating the Acero teachers from other teachers throughout the city. On Wednesday, the CTU announced its endorsement of Toni Preckwinkle, the longtime president of the Cook County Board of Commissioners and fixture of the Democratic Party establishment in the city, which has overseen the attack on public education. WSWS reporters spoke with teachers picketing in front of their schools in the early morning Thursday. Caroline teaches 7th and 8th grade science at Acero Clemente in Galewood. I have four science classes, two seventh grade and two eighth grade classes. I try to do as many hands-on labs as I can, but with 32 students it really limits us. I usually bring papers home to grade. That can be 2-3 hours a night. They don't pay me to be here early, but I have to in order to have everything ready that I need. I need to be here 45 minutes early and stay 45 minutes late and take additional work home, and they dont compensate me for that. The number one thing that Im out here for is smaller class sizes, Caroline added. We are not even demanding a number. We want Acero to discuss lowering class size, and they wont even discuss it. Most of these people making these decisions, they were never teachers, so its frustrating that they are telling us class size doesnt matter. The other issue is fair compensation. We had nine teachers leave last year because they could make more somewhere else. We want equal pay so that teachers stay here. Caroline gave a detailed explanation of the overcrowding problem in her classroom. The National Science Teachers Association recommends 24 [student in a class] for science labs for safety. Some of the 8th grade kids tower over me, so having 32 bodies in the room when we are doing labs is a safety concern for moving around the room. Getting down to 30, 28 at this point would be great. Caroline also explained that teachers were not aware of the status of negotiations: All I know is whats being put out; Acero is dragging their feet on the big issues. Theres some movement on the little things, but the big issues that we are out here for, I dont think theres much movement. Judith coordinates the office at Acero Las Casas in Pilsen. She spoke with the WSWS about the dangerous and exploitative conditions at Acero, the product of decades of bipartisan school reform. For the four and a half years Ive been here, Ive been alone for two and a half years in the office. When I talk to other schools in the neighborhood or CPS schools, theres more than one person in the office. My job is very difficult. I basically run the entire office, plus finance, plus field trips, plus food, special events, attendance, files, records, transfers, everything that has to do with the office. Im the nurse as well. I am basically five to ten positions rolled into one person. Try to compact that into an eight-hour day; its impossible. My days do not end at 4:15. I leave almost every day at 6, 6:30, 7, and I have a part-time job. I work an additional twenty hours at a retail store to help with my finances, and Im still barely making ends meet. United Educators for Justice has deliberately kept its proposals as vague and minimal as possible, asking only for some reduction in class sizes and some reduction in work hours or rise in pay. The main aim of the unions is to contain the anger of teachers throughout the city and prevent a movement that would bring teachers and other workers into conflict with the Democratic Party, which runs the city and has presided over the attack on public education. The Democrats, with the backing of the CTU, have led school reform that has closed district schools, laid off teachers, and expanded charters. In 2012, the CTU shut down a nine-day strike of CPS teachers, paving the way for Mayor Rahm Emanuel to escalate the attack on public education. On Wednesday, the CTU house of delegates voted to endorse Preckwinkle for mayor, which was followed by endorsements from other unions. After hugging CTU President and International Socialist Organization (ISO) member Jesse Sharkey in front of the news cameras Thursday, Preckwinkle stated, Todays endorsements reflect a coalition built from a shared commitment to working families. Preckwinkle has proposed various education measures, including a return to an elected school board, a freeze on new charter schools and public-school closings for four years or her first term, and real progressive revenue for neighborhood schools. The proposal for a temporary halt to school closings clearly leaves open the possibility that more will be shut down. Preckwinkle has a record of advocating budget cuts, pension reform and other regressive measures. Preckwinkle has been courting the support of the unions and the pseudo-left, including the Democratic Socialists of America faction of the Democratic Party and the ISO. She has stated in recent weeks that she will support a change to Illinois laws, including an end to the current ban on rent control (which involves changing the Illinois state constitution), and changes to income tax structure. This is not the first time CTU has attempted to back Preckwinkle for mayor. In 2015, Preckwinkle was asked to run against Emanuel and declined. Karen Lewisthen the CTU presidentannounced her plan to run but pulled out after a cancer diagnosis. The CTU then backed Preckwinkles floor speaker, Jesus Chuy Garcia, for mayor and provided generous financial support. Asked if Preckwinkle would get the millions CTU gave to the Garcia campaign in 2015, Sharkey demurred: I would say theres no way were going to match dollars with the corporate-funded candidates, that have big law offices and work for big business. Far from representing the interests of working-class people in the city of Chicago, the unions represent major institutional interests within the Democratic Party and the upper middle class and are seeking to secure their interests in a Preckwinkle mayoralty. These are the same unions that suppressed a struggle against Emanuels attack on education. Given Preckwinkles decades-long record as a Democratic Party politician, including serving as the official head of a party that has overseen the dismantling of public education and social services, her posturing as a supporter of education is so much empty bluster. The CTU, in backing her, only demonstrates its own hostility to the working class and the teachers it claims to represent. A WSWS reporting team contributed to this report. A right-wing campaign by an alliance of Blairites and Zionists to no-platform Labour MP Chris Williamson has been extended to several major universities. Williamson is being targeted because he is the most prominent supporter of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to have denounced the smearing of party members as anti-Semites for opposing Israeli repression of the Palestinians. He has described this as proxy wars and bullshit and the weaponisation of anti-Semitism for political ends. He has also been vocal in his support for mandatory reselection of MPs that the Blairites fear might provide a focus for widespread support for them being deselected. The campaign against Williamson on campus began early last month when the executive of the Sheffield Labour Students (SLS) society indefinitely postponed a meeting at the university on the war in Yemen at which he was to speak. This was in response to a complaint from the Sheffield Jewish Society (JSoc), which accused Williamson of encouraging a culture of anti-Semitismlargely due to his defence of others accused by the Blairites and sacrificed by Corbyn, such as Marc Wadsworth and Ken Livingstone. JSoc used the pretext of an announcement by the London Metropolitan Police of an investigation into 42 allegations of anti-Semitism in the Labour Party. The cancellation of the Sheffield meeting became a launch pad for a nationwide offensive wherever the Blairites and Zionists have influence within student groups. Late November, a meeting was held by Westminster Constituency Labour Party featuring a Chris Williamson MP presentation followed by Q&A. University College Londons Labour Students Society attacked the Westminster CLP and declared that they would not campaign for its parliamentary candidate, Steven Saxby, a prominent Corbyn supporter, until Williamson was barred and an apology issued. The demand was taken up immediately by Labour Students societies at Birkbeck, the London School of Economics and Kings College London. Royal Holloway University, Imperial College London, and Edinburgh Universitys Labour societies followed shortly afterwards. A joint letter was issued by the London groups condemning Williamson for his anti-semitic apologism. Because it was so nakedly against Labours constitution, the threat not to campaign for Saxby was rescinded and attributed to an individual. But this was of a piece with a campaign conducted by a small and unaccountable clique using their positions in groups without active participation to issue statements claiming to represent the collective views of the Jewish community and of the Student population. The joint letter by London groups, for example, was issued after a meeting between reps, i.e., without discussion or a vote by members. The actions taken at local level are part of a carefully planned national offensive that includes Labour Students, which is dominated by the Blairites, and the pro-Zionist Jewish Labour Movement. But the successes registered have been made possible only by the refusal of Corbyn and his allies to mount any real opposition. In response to every attack mounted by the right-wing, the default position of the Labour left is to retreat, appease and then abandon their own stated policy and adopt that demanded by their opponents. As well as sacrificing Wadsworth, Livingstone and others, Corbyn also agreed to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Society (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism which effectively criminalises opposition to Zionism. This collusion was epitomized by Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell welcoming the Met Police investigation even as it was being used as an excuse for witch-hunting Williamson. Predictably Corbyn et al have maintained absolute silence on the campaign against Williamson. To do otherwise would involve a conflict with the partys right-wing, which is anathema to the supposed left. Instead, it is Williamson himself who is now under threat. Throughout the summer, Williamson enjoyed a high profile among the Labour left for running a series of meetings under the banner of The Democracy Roadshow. He urged Labour members to support mandatory reselection as a means of strengthening the Corbyn wing of the party, which he entertained ambitions to eventually lead. Instead this put him into an unintended conflict with Corbyn as the party leader and his trade union backers retreated on mandatory reselection immediately prior to Labours annual conference in September. To deselect an MP previously required a vote by 50 percent of local branches and affiliated trade union branches within a constituency. The popular demand of members was for an automatic contest in every constituency, but the NEC agreed instead to the active disaffection of one third of branches and affiliated trade unions before any contest against a sitting MP. Williamson criticized the GMB and Unite unions for abandoning their previous position supporting mandatory reselectionwithout criticizing Corbyn for doing the same. Unite General Secretary Len McCluskey responded by attacking Williamson for undermining the wishes of Corbyn for a compromise as expressed in Corbyns closing speech to conference appealing to the Blairites for unity in the partys broad church. The next month it was leaked to the Huffington Post that Williamson might become the first MP to be deselected under the new rules, by his Derby North CLP, in a move initiated by the trade unions. He is his own worst enemy. He doesnt know when to stop, one source said. With the possibility that he will be the latest Corbyn supporter to be thrown to the wolves, Williamson has been reduced to complaining as an individual of a hateful smear campaign while citing the importance of the old Labour movement maxim that unity is strength. Meanwhile the Sheffield Labour Students society has seen a rout involving the resignation of half its committee in the aftermath of the cancelling of the Williamson meetingwhich was only opposed by three people. The Socialist Equality Party (SEP) and International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) warned that, left unopposed, the de-facto ban on Williamson would have a chilling impact on free speech. The World Socialist Web Site wrote November 12: By its actions, the SLS has become an accomplice in the politically motivated anti-Semitism witch-hunt led by the Blairites, the Zionist lobby, establishment media and intelligence agencies against Corbyn. The WSWS warned, While Corbyn and Williamson are the immediate targets, the witch-hunt against them has a broader political purposeaimed at suppressing the growing anti-war sentiment among students, young people and the entire working class, including to Israels brutal subjugation of the Palestinians. This warning has been vindicated. Shortly after the attack on Westminster CLP, the Cardiff University students union was also denounced by the Union of Jewish Students (UJS), Cardiff Jewish Society (JSoc), and the Jewish Chronicle for an appalling motion titled, Protecting our Palestinian and Jewish students. The motion called for the union to endorse a zero-tolerance policy to antisemitism, but was still accused of deploying a skin-deep mention of combating antisemitism in an attempt to kosher BDS [the boycott campaign against Israel] and attacked for opposing Israels repression of the Palestinians in the Occupied Territories as a system of occupation and colonialism. Cardiff student unions support for a definition of anti-Semitism that did not follow the IHRA in proscribing reference to the State of Israel as a racist endeavor was described as an implicit threat to the safety of Jewish students. The SEP and the IYSSE call on all students who are members of the Labour Party to reject the no-platforming of Williamson and take up the fight to drive the right-wing out of the Labour Party and from the student movement. We call on all students to wage a counter-offensive against the witch-hunters, in defence of democratic rights and free speech as part of an independent struggle for socialism. The IYSSE offers the only genuine political home for those students seeking a way forward out of the dead-end into which Corbyn and the Labour left are trying to lead them. The Yellow Vests who have taken to the streets in France for the past three weeks to protest against the president of the rich, Emmanuel Macron, have caused panic not only in the Paris government, but also in the Berlin headquarters of Germanys Left Party. Abhorrence of any revolt from below is written into the DNA of the Left Party, which emerged from a fusion of the Stalinist state party of former East Germany with a group of Social Democrats and trade union bureaucrats from the West. To paraphrase Friedrich Engels, it is more frightened of the least popular movement than of all the reactionary plots of all the Governments put together. The Left Party instinctively regards any social movement that is not controlled and held in check by the trade unions as a right-wing conspiracy. A week ago, the WSWS pointed out that the Left Party's house organ, Neues Deutschland (ND), reacted with open hostility to the protests in France. Now the co-chair of the party, Bernd Riexinger, has spoken out to denounce the Yellow Vests. The potential of ultra-rightists in the ranks of the movement is worrying, he said. In Germany such fraternisation of left and right-wing sentiments is unthinkable. ND gave prominence to Riexinger's derogatory remarks in its online edition and supplemented them with an interview with a French trade unionist who warns that the street protests are a dangerous development. I refuse to take part because the Yellow Vests are strongly supported from the right, ND cites Michel Poittevin, an official of the Solidaires-SUD union. Above all, Poittevin is outraged that the unions, which have a long record of isolating, breaking, and selling out every social movement, have no influence over the Yellow Vests. It was a movement that we as left trade unionists cannot fathom. People have organised themselves, who are not or only tangentially in a union, or who even do not want to join one, he laments. Poittevin compares the protests against Macron with the Italian Five-Star Movement and the French Poujadists, a far-right party that achieved temporary electoral successes in the 1950s and in which the National Fronts founder, Jean-Marie Le Pen, was active. This is nothing less than a vicious slander. The Yellow Vests movement is directed against the decades-long redistribution of income and wealth from the poor to the rich, which has made life impossible for many working-class families. It is part of an international working-class offensive that manifests itself in a growing number of strikes and protests. The increase in the gasoline tax by the former investment banker Macron, who had previously lowered taxes for the rich, was simply the last straw. Even many bourgeois media outlets opposed to the movement must admit to this fact. The December 4 editorial in the daily Le Monde states that the inability of successive governments to respond to the global financial crisis of 2008 has fuelled anger on the most powerful of breeding grounds, the sense of inequality. The striving for social equality has revolutionary implications. It can only be realised through the overthrow of capitalism and requires an international, socialist movement of the working class. This is diametrically opposed to the goals of the extreme right, which fuel nationalism, divide the working class, and are preparing to defend capitalism with brutal force. If extreme right-wingers seek to influence the movement and are partly able to do so, then it is only because they can exploit the anger and frustration of broad layers with those alleged leftists who have been and remain at the forefront of the attacks on the working class. This applies not only to the French Socialists and the German SPD, but also to the Left Party, which is pressing ahead with austerity policies in Berlin and other federal states where the party is part of or heads the administration. Riexingers denunciation of the Yellow Vests plays into the hands of the extreme right. What worries him is not the potential of ultra-rightists in the ranks of the movement, but rather its revolutionary potential and the fact that it is developing outside of the straitjacket of the unions and established parties. Before taking up the leadership of the Left Party, Riexinger was a full-time Verdi (public service union) secretary in Stuttgart and is familiar with these issues. The Left Party can accommodate and even ally itself with the far-rightas its idol Alexis Tsipras did in Greece, where he implemented a reckless austerity program in a coalition with the far-right Independent Greeks. But the Left Party cannot accommodate and ally itself with a movement that threatens the capitalist order. In contrast to Riexinger, the head of the Left Party faction in the Bundestag, Sahra Wagenknecht, expressed support for the Yellow Vests. I think it's right for people to defend themselves and protest when politics makes their lives worse, she said. She hoped for stronger protests in Germany against a government that cares more about the interests of business lobbyists than the interests of ordinary people. In fact, the differences between Riexinger and Wagenknecht are purely tactical. While Riexinger denounces the Yellow Vests, Wagenknecht believes it is necessary to influence the movement in order to prevent it from developing in a socialist direction. Jean-Luc Melenchon, with whom Wagenknecht and her husband Oskar Lafontaine work closely, is very explicit in this regard. In a recent blog post, the leader of La France Insoumise wrote that he is jubilant about current events, which he describes as a peoples revolution (revolution citoyenne). According to Melenchon, the movement confirms that the concepts of the proletariat and the socialist revolution no longer play a central role in historical dynamics. In fact, it is Melenchon who wants to prevent the movement from assuming a more proletarian character and moving towards socialist revolution. He insists that it remain peaceful and democratic and that it must be resolved in the framework of the existing institutions. In other words, he wants a people's revolution that does not affect capitalist property relations and the institutions of the bourgeois state. The Parti de l'egalite socialiste (PES), the French section of the International Committee of the Fourth International, is the only political tendency that fights to expand the struggle against Macron, to mobilise support in the French and international working class and set up action committees independent of the unions to direct and organise the struggle. Japanese authorities last month arrested two activists affiliated with the student organization Zengakuren (All-Japan League of Student Self-Government) for distributing leaflets in July at Toyo University, a private campus. The pair was held for nearly three weeks before being released on November 22 without charges being filed. Police detained Yohei Sakube, 27, and Yuichi Utsumi, 38, on November 4 while the two headed to an annual rally at Hibiya Park in Tokyo co-sponsored by various groups, including the Doro-Chiba labor union. Both men joined Zengakuren as university students and have had a history of arrests over the years for similar actions. The leaflets Sakube and Utsumi handed out encouraged students to attend a then-upcoming rally. That the police waited until the day of the Hibiya Park demonstration points to two things. First, the police used the arrests to intimidate other attendants of the rally and to make clear that their organizations are under state surveillance. Second, this was part of a crackdown on left-wing activists, demonstrating the fear in the ruling class that their messages will gain a hearing among students and other disaffected layers of society. There has been a stepped-up campaign in recent years by the government to suppress oppositional speech. The Japanese ruling elite is well aware of widespread hostility within the working class and youth to remilitarization and attacks on social conditions. It does not want a repeat of the summer of 2015, which saw mass protests around the country to denounce military legislation allowing Japan to take part in wars overseas alongside an ally. While the Democrats and the Japanese Communist Party politically contained these demonstrations, a renewal of protests could spiral out of the hands of the official left parties. The police also conduct raids on university campuses and dormitories to arrest members of groups like Zengakuren. Officials at various universities work with the authorities, expelling activists from Zengakuren and related organizations from their campuses. This government repression represents a wider danger. During the past five years, the central and local governments have passed new laws, such as the 2013 state secrecy law and the 2017 conspiracy law, that make almost any dissenting political activity illegal, including holding peaceful demonstrations or going on strike. Prime Minister Shinzo Abes government is already engaged in a campaign against free speech, particularly in the media. Last year, UN special rapporteur on freedom of expression David Kaye accused Tokyo of attacking the media over issues like the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster and Japans actions during World War II, and silencing public debate on these issues. Kayes report stated: The Special Rapporteur has identified significant worrying signals. The direct and indirect pressure of government officials over media, the limited space for debating some historical events and the increased restrictions on information access based on national security grounds require attention, lest they undermine Japans democratic foundations. In 2016, three news anchors at different stations, known for their criticism of Abes government, were removed from their positions almost simultaneously. Koichi Nakano, a professor of politics at Sofia University, said at the time: There is plenty of anecdotal evidence that shows that Abe, and [Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide] Suga in particular, have been very active in applying pressure and wining and dining media bosses. According to Reporters without Borders (RSF, Reporters Sans Frontieres), Japan currently ranks at 67th in press freedom, having fallen from 11th in 2010. In August, the organization stated: Japanese journalists have complained of a general climate of mistrust and hostility towards them, especially when they are dealing with the government. RSF demanded that Tokyo investigate a suspected attack on independent journalist Shunsuke Yamaoka after he was seriously injured in a fall at a Tokyo subway station. Yamaoka, who investigates connections between Abe and the Yakuza, or Japanese mafia, had received threats and believed this was no accident. Police refused to look into the matter, claiming there was no surveillance footage in the area where Yamaoka fell. In schools, references to Japanese war crimes, including the militarys use of comfort women (i.e. sex slaves) and the Rape of Nanjing are being whitewashed or removed altogether. This is bound up with Tokyos push to dragoon a new generation of youth into fighting wars of imperialist aggression once more. The Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly too has approved new laws targeting free speech. In October, Tokyos governing body passed an anti-discriminatory speech law to go into effect in April. In March, the Tokyo assembly amended the citys Anti-Nuisance Ordinance to include the vague term harassment, which could be applied to anti-government speech or protests. The media has promoted this supposed anti-hate speech law as a necessary measure to combat discrimination toward ethnic minorities and people in the LGBT community, both in public places and online. However, the law lacks specific details, so that, for example, an event at a public park could be shut down if alleged hate speech were used. This raises several issues. What constitutes hate speech? Could denunciations of Abe or other government officials fall into this category? The new laws coverage of speech online also indicates greater surveillance of the internet. To silence anti-war demonstrations or similar protests, right-wing groups could create provocations using hate speech, thus inviting the police to shut down entire events. Abe has cultivated and promoted far-right nationalism in Japan, particularly through his association with Nippon Kaigi, which supports a renewal of Japanese militarism and historical revisionism. There is a long history internationally of laws nominally directed against right-wing and reactionary organizations and individuals being used against the working class. Significantly, the Japanese Communist Party, which is part of the political establishment, backed the hate speech law, along with the right-wing nationalist Tomin First no Kai, the leading party in Tokyos assembly. The UK government will invest 20 million ($25.5 million) into the region's creative industries to help inspire and attract new talent, scale up existing businesses, boost skills, and provide education. Only a small portion of that cash will be spent directly on games, however, with just 390,000 ($500,000) being set aside for the UK games industry. In terms of game-specific investments, 200,000 ($255,000) will be used to upscale the Digital Schoolhouse programme, which brings play-based creative computing workshops to classrooms around the UK. The additional 190,000 ($242,00) will be put towards building out the UK Games Fund's new Pitch Development Programme to help promising companies secure funding grants for their projects. Elsewhere, around 14 million ($17.9 million) will be used to start a new Creative Careers Programme, which will look to raise awareness of employment opportunities in the sector by working with schools and colleges around the country. A further 4 million ($5.1 million) will be used to scale up creative enterprises in Bristol, Greater Manchester, and the West Midlands, helping those businesses access finance and translate their ideas into investment. The government will also spend 2 million ($2.6 million) on continuing the 'Get it Right' campaign to continue educating consumers on the dangers of copyright infringement. JACKSON, Miss. (WTVA) - Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood has joined a group of attorneys general to fight robocalls. The bipartisan group is comprised of 40 state attorneys generals. Their goal is to stop or reduce annoying and harmful robocalls. The group is reviewing the technology that major telecom companies are pursuing to combat illegal robocalls. This is in addition to the ongoing effort being made by the Mississippi Public Service Commission. Robocalls and spoofing are technological problems that need technological solutions, in addition to regulatory improvements and legal enforcement, Hood said. Thats why we are actively engaging carriers to implement solutions as quickly as possible. He says his office and the Mississippi Public Service Commission issued two consumer guides during the summer. The guides have information regarding robocalls for both mobile and landlines. MORE: Download the guides here The information guides consumers through their options on both the state and national level in registering for Do Not Call lists and reporting violations of those lists, Hood continued. Alabama Attorney General Steve Mashall is also among the group. JACKSON, Miss. (WTVA) - Another deer in Mississippi has tested positive for Chronic Wasting Disease. The free-range, 1.5-year-old male white-tailed deer was collected on November 23 in Marshall County. This was from initial testing. A sample will be sent to the National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Iowa for an additional, definitive test. This is the first animal to test positive for the disease in Marshall County. The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks is encouraging hunters to assist with CWD monitoring efforts by voluntarily submitting samples for tests. MORE: Here's how you can provide samples CWD affects cervids such as white-tailed deer, elk and mule deer. The disease is fatal to those animals. According to MDWFP, there is no evidence that CWD poses a risk for humans. However, it is recommended that people avoid contact with infected animals. The other cases were in Issaquena County and Pontotoc County. MORE: Information about Chronic Wasting Disease JACKSON, Miss. (WTVA) - The Mississippi Supreme Court has denied a motion for a hearing over lethal injection drugs in an Itawamba County capital murder case. Thomas Edwin Loden, 54, is on death row in the kidnap, rape and killing of Leesa Gray in June 2000. The incident had been videotaped by Loden, according to court records. Loden had filed a request to hold a hearing for post-conviction relief challenging the use of sedatives or anesthesia drugs in the cocktail. The Mississippi Department of Corrections uses midazolam, and Loden provided an expert opinion saying the drug may not properly render someone unconscious and prevent them from feeling pain. In denying his request, the Mississippi Supreme Court says the U.S. Supreme Court has already ruled on the issue and Loden didn't provide any evidence contrary to those previous findings. StarVR, a joint VR venture from Acer and Starbreeze, has temporarily suspended the StarVR Developer Program as the company undergoes the operational shift of going from a publicly traded company to a private one. According to Road to VR, the shift comes after StarVR was delisted from the Taipei stock exchange last month and amid rumors that majority owner Acer is concerned about the companys future. Originally, the StarVR Developer Program sought to get the StarVR One VR headset, access to dev support, and the techs SDK in the hands of developers interested in creating apps for the wide-FOV virtual reality headset. The process required developers to apply for the program on the StarVR website, after which the company would review applications and grant approved parties access to dev tools and the opportunity to purchase one of the first production units of the StarVR One for $3,200. Devs that had already joined the program received an email from StarVR informing them that the program has been put on hold. Attempting to fill out the application for the StarVR Developer Program on the initiative's website also returns a similar message. We regret to inform you that the StarVR Developer Program has been put on hold until further notice, reads the text of the email obtained by Road to VR. We believe it is the most responsible course of action to put the StarVR Developer Program on hold while our company is in the process of going private, which may entail some changes to our operations. Your interest and support for StarVR is greatly appreciated. We understand that many of you were looking forward to purchasing the StarVR One headset, and apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. While Starbreeze hasnt been majority owner of StarVR for over a year at this point, StarVRs transition comes as Starbreeze itself is enduring some rough times. Starbreezes CEO Bo Andersson stepped down earlier this week as the company filed for administration following the underwhelming release of Overkills The Walking Dead. City administration appeal denied : Court shuts down Sunday shopping in Bonn BONN There will be no Sunday shopping this weekend in Bonn, nor the following weekend in Bad Godesberg. An appeal from the City of Bonn was rejected by a high court in Munster. Teilen Teilen Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Tweeten Tweeten Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Drucken In both Bonn city center and in Bad Godesberg, there will be no Sundays open for business before Christmas. Trade union Verdi got a Cologne court to block the city from the planned store openings. The City of Bonn then appealed the ruling to a higher court in Munster, but the appeal was denied. The Munster higher court followed the reasoning of the administrative court in Cologne, stating that the city administration made procedural errors. The city administration should have let the city council decide on the exact dates of the Sunday openings (December 9 in Bonn city center and December 16 in Bad Godesberg) instead of relying on a previous city council decision from 2017. The judges do not consider this procedure to be compatible with the store opening laws that apply to North Rhine-Westphalia. Secondly, the Munster court said the city had defined the locations for store openings too broadly. It would have meant that stores which were not in the immediate vicinity of the Christmas markets could have also opened up for Sunday shopping. The focus would no longer be on the Christmas market in the city center, but on the opening of the shops themselves. This contradicts the regulation on Sunday shopping as there must be an appropriately large occasion for businesses to be permitted to open in the immediate vicinity. Karina Krober of the City Marketing Association was disappointed in the decision and had hoped the shops would be permitted to open this Sunday. "This is no service to anyone. Our goal is the same as that of the trade union, namely to preserve jobs and the urbanity of the city. With this decision, only online trade will be further encouraged". The fact that the city administration apparently made procedural mistakes "is bad for us, but mistakes are made," says Krober. She also said they had offered to talk to representatives of the trade union Verdi but no talks had taken place. Modern economy hotel to be built : Former student dormitory makes way for hotel The former student dormitory on Erzberger Ufer is being demolished to make way for a hotel. Foto: Benjamin Westhoff Bonn An old student dormitory turned refugee shelter is being torn down on the banks of the Rhine to make room for a new hotel. Located near the city center, it should be completed in the third quarter of 2020. Teilen Teilen Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Tweeten Tweeten Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Drucken Once it offered students a roof over their heads, then it served as an emergency shelter for refugees for several years. Now the dormitory on Erzberger Ufer near the Beethovenhalle is being demolished. A hotel is to be built in its place. It will feature 210 rooms and an underground car park with 40 parking spaces. The site, 3100 square meters in size, belonged to the City of Bonn and was sold to Landmarken AG for 4.16 million euros. A terraced outdoor restaurant facing the Rhine is also planned, which could be used as a venue for open-air concerts, readings and other performances. Landmarken is expecting the completion of the new building complex on Erzberger Ufer in the third quarter of 2020. This is within Beethovens anniversary year when many international guests are expected to attend the numerous events honoring Ludwig van Beethoven in Bonn. The hotel will be operated by the Prizeotel hotel group, which currently operates four hotels, in Bremen, Hamburg (two hotels) and Hanover. Prizeotel also wants to open new hotels in locations such as Berne, Munich and Vienna in the coming years. The hotel brand calls itself a modern economy hotel and belongs to the Radisson Hotel Group. Orig. text: lis/ck GREYBULL Shopko announced this week that it would be closing 39 stores in 19 states. Shopko Public Relations Manager Michelle Hansen said there will still be more than 300 Shopko stores open throughout the country, including the one in Worland. According to the Shopko website, there are 13 Shopko stores in Wyoming. The Greybull store is the only store in Wyoming scheduled to close. This leaves stores in Worland, Thermopolis, Powell, Afton, Buffalo, Douglas, Green River, Lander, Mountain View, Newcastle, Torrington and Wheatland. According to a prepared statement released by Shopko, Shopko deeply values its employees and the communities it serves. It is never an easy decision to close a location and Shopko thanks its employees for all their support and hard work as well as its customers. Despite all of the stores efforts, as we reviewed the long-term outlook on profitability, sales trends, and potential growth we came to the difficult decision that it was necessary to close these stores. The release also stated that Shopko will assist those who are interested in transferring to open positions at other locations, or will provide severance benefits according to the companys guidelines. The Greybull Shopko has 12 employees, plus additional employees in the pharmacy. The Greybull location opened in October 2012. The Greybull Shopko housed the communitys only pharmacy store. The most important part that we need to be concerned about is keeping our pharmacy here in town, Greybull Mayor Myles Foley said. He said as soon as he heard about the closing he contacted building owner Ron Fiene. Were getting things worked out, I believe, so that the pharmacy will stay in town. Were hoping it will be in the building that it is at right now. I think something will be worked out. He said there was a lot of work done to secure the pharmacy in the Shopko building so it would be good to be able to locate a new pharmacy there. Foley added, Im sad to see a retailer leaving. Im actually kind of surprised but I do feel something else will fill in that building quickly, because Greybull is doing quite well as far as new businesses and existing business. Liquidation of all 39 stores begins today with closing scheduled at the end of February, according to Shopko Public Relations Manager Michelle Hansen. ABOUT SHOPKO Shopko is owned by an affiliate of Sun Capital Partners, Inc., a leading private investment firm focused on leverage buyouts, equity, debt, and other investments in market-leading companies. Founded in 1962 and headquartered in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Shopko Stores Operating Co., LLC is a $3 billion retailer that operates more than 370 stores in 26 states throughout the Central, Western and Pacific Northwest regions. Retail formats include 126 Shopko stores, providing quality name-brand merchandise, great values, pharmacy and optical services in small to mid-sized cities; five Shopko Express Rx stores, a convenient neighborhood drugstore concept; 6 Shopko Pharmacy locations; two Shopko Optical locations and 234 Shopko Hometown stores, a smaller concept store developed to meet the needs of smaller communities. Saving the print media in Hungary is of public interest, the Government Information Centre (KTK) has said, referring to the government decision to exempt from oversight the Central European Press and Media Foundations acquisition of Opus Press, Echo TV, New Wave Media Group and Magyar Idok Publishing. The law prohibiting unfair market practices and restriction of competition enables the government to give certain company holdings the status of special national strategic significance, the statement said. The cabinet has so far made 21 such decisions, so the decision affecting the Central European Press and Media Foundation is not without precedent, it added. The chief reason for the government decision is that saving the print media in Hungary lies in the public interest. The opposition Socialist Party said it would sue Hungarys Media Council over its failure to act against the acquisition of Echo TV, Magyar Idok, New Wave Media and Opus Press by the Central European Press and Media Foundation. Addressing a press conference, Gergely Orsi, the deputy leader of the partys Budapest chapter, noted that since the announcement of the acquisitions, the government had declared the acquisitions of strategic national significance, thus exempting the transaction from the scrutiny of the Competition Office (GVH) and the Media Council. The Socialists believe the courts have a right to oblige the council to scrutinise the transaction, Orsi said. Though the classification of the acquisitions as of strategic interest may mean that the transaction cannot be examined by the GVH, this does not apply to the media council, he argued. He said that if President Janos Ader stays silent on the matter, it would show that he only represents the unity of the Fidesz party media. Socialist MEP Istvan Ujhelyi told the same press conference that [Prime Minister Viktor] Orbans media mafia was in breach of not just democratic decency but also the European Unions founding treaty, its Charter of Fundamental Rights and EU regulations on public financing. Ujhelyi said he would file a complaint against the measures with the EUs competition commissioner and the European Parliaments economic and monetary affairs and internal market and consumer protection committees. Prime Minister Viktor Orban , in a letter to Ronald S. Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress, expressed his surprise that the WJC leader had asked him to limit freedom of speech and the freedom of the press by calling on him to condemn an image that recently appeared on the cover of business weekly Figyelo, which Lauder had called anti-Semitic. In the letter forwarded to MTI by Bertalan Havasi, the prime ministers press chief, Orban wrote that despite my respect for you, I cannot fulfil such a request. Hungarys government pursues a policy of zero tolerance regarding anti-Semitism, Orban wrote. The governments actions leave no doubt that it feels responsible for Hungarys Jewish citizens and works to guarantee their security, he added. He reassured Lauder that the WJC could continue to count on Hungarys zero-tolerance approach to anti-Semitism. Orban added that he was surprised that Lauder had only seemed to address controversies that involved left-leaning and liberal Jewish public figures. The prime minister noted he had yet to receive a letter from Lauder concerning Jewish citizens who cooperate with the government or are right-leaning. Havasi said Orban attached to his letter past front covers of liberal business weekly HVG and the liberal weekly Magyar Narancs which depicted right-leaning Jewish figures. Orban told Lauder that it was hard to comprehend his left-wing and liberal bias. The prime minister said he was unsure whether to interpret Lauders letter to him as a political statement or a show of support for the Jewish community. He added that he would express his gratitude to the WJC president if it were the latter. MTI Photo Michael Cohen may have flipped on Donald Trump, offering federal prosecutors audio recordings and other evidence incriminating the President of the United States in felony campaign finance violations but he likely wont receive a get out of jail free card. Cohens decision to plead guilty rather than seek a pardon for his manifold crimes does not make him a hero, federal prosecutors wrote as they recommended Cohen be sentenced to at least 51 months in prison in documents filed Friday. Prosecutors from the Southern District of New York are recommending that President Trumps former lawyer-fixer serve a substantial term of imprisonment. Cohen is scheduled to be sentenced on Wednesday. Special Counsel Robert Mueller, with whom Cohen also cooperated in the Russia investigation, said he did not have a position with regard to Cohens sentencing, adding simply that Cohen went to significant lengths to assist the probe. The filing is particularly bad news for Trump, as it indicates that prosecutors believe Cohen committed the campaign violations at the direction of the president. The news that prosecutors believe the president committed a felony was the cherry on top of a day filled with bad news for the commander-in-chief: not only did former FBI Director James Comey, whom he fired, testify before Congress, but new court filings concerning Cohen and Trumps former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, were poised to jeopardize his presidency. The self-proclaimed Hemingway of Twitter must have had a sense it was going to be bad because he preemptively tapped out a string of tweets casting aspersions on the integrity of the Russia investigation and the special counsels motives (punctuated by a sober commemoration of Pearl Harbor). Now, hours later, the filings appear to confirm the presidents worst fears: the walls of the Russia investigation really are closing in around him. Heres what weve learned so far. Story continues Michael Cohen The prosecution for the Southern District of New York was not as kind to Cohen as Mueller was to Michael Flynn, for whom he recommended no prison time. The SDNY wrote on Friday that it respectfully requests that this Court impose a substantial term of imprisonment, one that reflects a modest downward variance from the applicable Guidelines range. This range is 51-63 months, which means Cohen could be going away for a while. Cohens decision to plead guilty rather than seek a pardon for his manifold crimes does not make him a hero, the filing read. In August, Cohen pleaded guilty to eight criminal counts counts, including tax fraud, making false statements to a bank and, most notably, campaign finance violations resulting from pre-election payments made to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal, with whom Trump allegedly had affairs. In pleading guilty, Cohen admitted that the payments were made at the direction of Trump. In the sentencing memo filed Friday, the SDNY also iterated that the payments were directed by Trump. This is significant. The Justice Department is alleging in court that the president directed his onetime lawyer to commit two felonies. Brad Heath (@bradheath) December 7, 2018 Though prosecutors acknowledged that Cohen cooperated to a certain extent, the filing notes that Trumps former fixer repeatedly declined to provide full information about the scope of any additional criminal conduct in which he may have engaged or had knowledge. By contrast, Muellers office wrote that Cohen has gone to significant lengths to assist the Special Counsels investigation, that he has provided the special counsels office with information about his own conduct and that of others on core topics under investigation and that this information has been credible and consistent with other evidence obtained by the special counsels office. Mueller added some of the of the information provided by Cohen pertained to his contacts with persons connected to the White House during the 2017-2018 time period as well as to discrete Russia-related matters. For example: TRUMP ASKED COHEN TO REACH OUT TO RUSSIA IN SEPTEMBER 2015. pic.twitter.com/WMhyKlIdGD emptywheel (@emptywheel) December 7, 2018 Cohens legal team said in a filing last week that the presidents former lawyer had voluntarily met with the special counsel on at least seven occasions, during which time he reportedly provided dozens of hours of testimony potentially damaging to Trump. Despite his cooperation with the special counsels office, Mueller stressed on Friday that Cohens crime of lying to Congress about a potential Trump Tower in Moscow was serious, and that the sentence imposed should reflect the fact that lying to federal investigators has real consequences, especially where the defendant lied to investigators about critical facts, in an investigation of national importance. Paul Manafort Last week, Mueller announced that the presidents former campaign chairman breached his agreement with the special counsels office by not only lying to investigators, but also to the FBI on a variety of subject matters. Mueller promised more details would be forthcoming, and on Friday his office filed a new document that, despite being heavily redacted, shed new light on what Manafort allegedly lied about. The document says Manafort made false statements to Muellers office and the FBI about five different subjects: his interactions with a man named Konstantin Kilimnik, who worked closely with Manafort on their hugely lucrative political consulting work in Ukraine; Kilimniks role in witness tampering efforts that Mueller says Manafort also participated in; a wire transfer to a firm working for Manafort; information related to a different Justice Department investigation; and Manaforts communications with members of the Trump administration. In other words, Mueller claims that Manafort repeatedly lied to his team, blowing up his plea deal signed in September and likely increasing his eventual sentence. Much of Muellers filing laying out Manaforts lies is redacted: Sadly, much of Mueller's new Manafort filing looks a lot like this: pic.twitter.com/wWYlg7dJRx Andy Kroll (@AndyKroll) December 7, 2018 The identifying information about the separate DOJ investigation Manafort allegedly lied about is also redacted, as well as many of the details about Manaforts interactions with Kilimnik about which he also apparently misled law enforcement officials. But there are no redactions in the portion of Muellers memo that outline how Manafort, even after his legal troubles became grave, allegedly stayed in touch with the Trump administration: There are no redactions, however, in the portion of Mueller's new Manafort filing that describe how he allegedly lied about his ongoing communications with the Trump administration (even after he'd gotten into legal trouble): pic.twitter.com/KjvngnldEy Andy Kroll (@AndyKroll) December 7, 2018 One detail is incredible: According to Mueller, Manafort had been in communication with a senior Administration official up through February 2018. That was the same month Manafort was indicted by Mueller. In his interviews with the Special Counsels Office and the FBI, Manafort told multiple discernible lies there were not instances of mere memory lapses, Muellers team writes at the end of the filing. If the defendant contends the government has not acted in good faith, the government is available to prove the false statements at a hearing. None of this is good news for the president, who has reportedly submitted written answers to Muellers investigators while also communicating and coordinating with Manaforts legal team. On Friday, the presidents lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, signaled that Trumps legal team planned to respond with a time-honored tradition: deny, deny, deny. In the questioning of Manafort, they did tell them at the time that they believed he was lying about certain things related to us that hes not lying about, Giuliani told CNN. And on one of the worst days of his presidency, Trump, of course, did what Trump does best: Pete Shelley of the Buzzcocks in the 1970s. (Photo: Consequence of Sound) Pete Shelley, leader of the legendary British punk band the Buzzcocks and one of rocks best and most biting lyricists, has died from a suspected heart attack. He was 63. Its with great sadness that we confirm the death of Pete Shelley, one of the U.K.s most influential and prolific songwriters and co-founder of the seminal original punk band Buzzcocks, the band said in a statement. Petes music has inspired generations of musicians over a career that spanned five decades and with his band and as a solo artist, he was held in the highest regard by the music industry and by his fans around the world. Photo: The Telegraph Shelley, who was born Peter McNeish, formed the Buzzcocks with Howard Devoto in Manchester, England, after the pair attended a life-changing Sex Pistols concert in February 1976. Adopting a suitably Pistols-esque moniker and recruiting bassist Steve Diggle and drummer John Maher, they played their first show opening for the Pistols at Manchesters Lesser Free Trade Hall on June 20, 1976, and quickly became a force to be reckoned with in the burgeoning punk scene. In January 1977, they issued their Spiral Scratch EP the first punk record to be self-released (Shelley borrowed roughly $300 from his father to record and issue it on the bands own New Hormones label), thus laying down the DIY blueprint for countless indie bands to come. Devoto left the band only four days after the EPs release, but the Buzzcocks soldiered on, with Diggle switching to guitar and Shelley taking on most of the lead vocals. In fall 1977, the Buzzcocks signed to United Artists Records, which gave the band complete artistic control, and in a breathless period between 1978-79, they released three masterpieces of the punk age: Another Music in a Different Kitchen, Love Bites and A Different Kind of Tension. However, the Buzzcocks were, first and foremost, the premier singles band of the first punk wave, thus making their 1979 A-sides compilation, Singles Going Steady, one of the greatest punk albums of all time. Story continues Although many of the original British punk groups, including the Sex Pistols, focused mainly on the political issues of the era, Shelleys lyrics dealt with interpersonal politics, exploring such timeless matters of the heart as one-sided crushes, doomed romances, rejection, jealousy, betrayal and, in the infamous Orgasm Addict, sexual frustration. (I think one of the most meaningful parts of politics is how people relate to each other. I mean, you create your own society through relationships with other people, Shelley told me in 1996. So, its actually more important than other political issues that you may have forgotten about in five years.) Shelleys heart-on-ragged-sleeve love/hate songs Love You More, Ever Fallen in Love? (famously covered by Fine Young Cannibals in 1987), Promises, What Do I Get? and Why Cant I Touch It? were all highlights of Singles Going Steady, whose coy title cleverly hinted at this recurrent theme. However, Shelleys lovesick laments were never tedious; instead, they were the type of songs seemingly specifically engineered to win over the listener in three minutes or less, with impeccable melodies, singalong choruses, and Shelleys crisp, coquettish vocals lending his caustic words just the right amount of pitch-black humor. By applying punks spotty-faced adolescent aggression to the radio singles hooks-and-harmonies format, he and the Buzzcocks created short, sharp, souped-up powerpop (emphasis on power) that sacrificed neither the snottiness of the former nor the sweetness of the latter. In the process, Shelley laid the groundwork for pop-punk and emo bands like Green Day, Nirvana and Fall Out Boy, as well as Britpoppers ranging from Blur to Supergrass. While many of Shelleys disciples went on to much greater mainstream than the Buzzcocks ever did, Shelley, in my 1996 interview with him, expressed no bitterness. Having money is only one element of success, he reasoned. There are other measures of success, such as people liking what we do, and influencing people. And I think Ive been proven successful in that. As far as the financial part of success, that will come in time. When the Buzzcocks disbanded in 1981 (Shelley and Diggle reunited the group in 1989 and proceeded to release six more critically acclaimed studio albums, with various lineups, between 1993 and 2014), Shelley who had released one electronic music solo album, Sky Yen, prior to the Buzzcocks formation became a leader of the 1980s synthpop movement. His quirky 1981 music videos for Telephone Operator and Homosapien were early-MTV staples, and the latter song, an international club hit, was banned by the BBC for explicit reference to gay sex, thus cementing Shelleys status as an LGBTQ icon. In occasional press interviews, Shelley discussed his bisexuality and sexual fluidity, and it is noteworthy that his songs never employed gender-specific pronouns, thus rendering his lovelorn lyrics relevant to listeners of all orientations. Shelley was a proud punk until the very end, regularly touring and recording. The Buzzcocks were in the middle of celebrating their four decades as a band and were scheduled to perform an anniversary concert in the Netherlands next Friday. Follow Lyndsey on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+, Amazon, Tumblr, Spotify Gabrielle Union and Dwyane Wade reflect on their painful path to parenthood originally appeared on goodmorningamerica.com Just weeks after Gabrielle Union and Dwyane Wade welcomed their daughter, Kaavia James Union Wade, via a gestational carrier, the couple is opening up about their journey to parenthood in a new interview with Oprah Winfrey. In a primetime special entitled "Oprah at Home with Gabrielle Union, Dwyane Wade & Their New Baby," which airs Saturday on OWN, Union stated that even after having had a number of miscarriages, she never gave up her dream of having a biological child. Despite Wade's concerns that fertility treatments were getting "dangerous" ("I always tell her, 'I want this baby just as much as you do, but I married you and you are the most important thing to me,'" he said), Union still felt pressure to carry a child before she turned to surrogacy. "I've always been of the mindset, because this is what people tell you: you work hard, you do the right things, you're a good person, it will happen for you -- eventually," she explained. "I could not let go of this idea of creating life within me, that I could feel, that tied me to him, that he could be a part of, that the world could be a part of. I'm not letting myself and all these people down. I need to have -- I need to be pregnant for everybody, including myself." (MORE: Gabrielle Union and Dwyane Wade welcome 'miracle baby' via surrogate) Story continues Neither Union, 46, who has been open about her fertility struggles, nor Wade, 36, went public with the pregnancy until the day after Kaavia's birth on Nov. 7. She is the first child for the couple, who wed in 2014, though both are raising Wade's three sons from previous relationships. Despite their joy about the new addition, some of the reactions on social media, Wade told Winfrey, were painful for them to digest. "The most hurtful thing was once we had our baby and everyone started to talk about, 'Why is she in the bed, holding the baby? Why's she got a gown on? Why's she acting like she just had a baby?'" he recalled. "Once again, people are uneducated on the process and why we decided to go skin-to-skin as soon as our baby came out." (MORE: Gabrielle Union reveals adenomyosis diagnosis, here's what to know about it) In 2017, the actress wrote in her memoir, "We're Going to Need More Wine," that over the course of three years, she'd had "eight or nine" miscarriages and felt "my body has been a prisoner of trying to get pregnant." This past August she revealed that she'd been diagnosed with adenomyosis, a form of endometriosis that can result in infertility. "Towards the end of my fertility journey, I finally got some answers, because everyone had just sort of chalked it up to Youre a career woman, youve prioritized your career, you waited too long and now youre just too old to have a kid,'" she said. "'And thats on you for wanting a career.'" "The reality is I actually have adenomyosis, she added. "There is nothing you can do about adenomyosis. The gag is that I had adenomyosis in my early 20s." Prosecutor wants death penalty for border agent accused of killing 4 women originally appeared on abcnews.go.com The Texas border patrol supervisor who confessed to killing four women in September may receive the death penalty, authorities said. U.S. Border Patrol agent Juan David Ortiz, 35, was indicted Wednesday on charges of capital murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, unlawful restraint and evading arrest or detention in the deaths of four sex workers in September, according to Webb County District Attorney Isidro Alaniz. Ortiz, a 10-year Border Patrol veteran, allegedly told investigators he killed the women in an effort to "clean up the streets" in Laredo, Texas. If Ortiz is convicted, Alaniz said he'll seek the death penalty. (MORE: Border patrol agent kills woman attempting to cross Texas border) "By day, he was a family man. The evidence shows that he was a supervisor, that he would go about his daily activities like anybody here," Alaniz told reporters on Wednesday. "At the nighttime, he was somebody else -- hunting the streets ... for this community of people and arbitrarily deciding who he was going to kill next." Juan David Ortiz (The Associated Press) Among the four women -- Melissa Ramirez, Claudine Luera, Guiselda Cantu and Janelle Ortiz -- allegedly murdered by Ortiz, three died of gunshot wounds, and one, who also was shot, from blunt-force trauma, authorities said. Ortiz also was charged with committing aggravated assault against Erika Pena, who told police he attempted to abduct her. According to police, Ortiz picked up victims in his truck in Laredo, near the U.S.-Mexican border, and killed them over a two-week span beginning in early September. Ortiz was arrested Sept. 15 after Pena escaped from Ortiz's vehicle when he pulled a gun on her, police said. (MORE: Texas woman accuses Border Patrol agent of demanding ID, stopping her for speaking Spanish) "The scheme in this case, from Ortiz's own words," Alaniz said, "was to clean up the streets of Laredo by targeting this community of individuals who he perceived to be disposable, that no one would miss and that he did not give value to." ABC News' Mark Osborne contributed to this report. There's been a 'tremendous response' for 2-year-old in need of rare blood type, blood center says originally appeared on abcnews.go.com The organization leading the worldwide search to find units of a rare blood type for a 2-year-old desperately in need of life-saving cancer treatment has received a "tremendous response" to the family's public plea to locate donors, a representative told ABC News. OneBlood has received 12,000 emails alone since releasing a campaign Monday to locate donors for a type of blood so rare that less than 4 percent of people on the planet possess it, Susan Forbes, vice president of marketing and communications for OneBlood, told ABC News. "The world is really rallying around this little girl to try and find some compatible blood for her," Forbes said. (MORE: 2-year-old needs rare blood type to save her life, now there's a worldwide search underway) Before Zainab Mughal's story was made public, the family held local blood drives near their home in Miami in an effort to find a match, Forbes said. When no matches turned up, the team decided to "cast a wider net," Forbes said. PHOTO: Zainab Mughal, 2, is in good spirits despite already receiving four rounds of chemotherapy to treat her high-risk neuroblastoma, her parents said. (WPLG) Zainab, who was diagnosed with high-risk neuroblastoma about two months ago, is missing a common antigen in her red blood cells known as Indian-B, her parents, Raheel Mughal and Mariam Mehmood, said in an interview Thursday. Because the antigen is so common, it's difficult to find blood donors who don't have it, Forbes said. In addition, the donor will need to be of Pakistani, Indian or Iranian descent, and have blood types "O" or "A" to be a match, Forbes said. No one in Zainab's immediate and extended family has been a match. (MORE: A new promising cancer drug may have saved this 9-year-old's life and holds promise for thousands more) Mughal and Mehmood knew their daughter was seriously ill due to constant fevers and constipation as well as a mass that had grown on her stomach while her arms remained skinny, they said. Story continues After Zainab was diagnosed, doctors did not have a single unit of blood in stock to transfuse her, Mughal said. PHOTO: Zainab Mughal's parents, Raheel Mughal and Mariam Mehmood, pleaded with the public to donate blood and give their young daughter a chance at surviving. (WPLG) So far, OneBlood has located three matches, including one in the United Kingdom near London, with the help of the American Rare Donor Program, Forbes said. All three have since sent units of blood to the Miami area, where the family lives, Forbes said. But it's still not enough, Zainab's parents said. Zainab will need about seven to 10 donors who can stagger blood donations for the course of her treatment, Forbes said. (MORE: Blood purity: How a bizarre obsession advanced science) Zainab will also have to undergo two bone marrow transplants because her cancer has spread to her bone marrow, the family said. The transplants will make her stronger and allow doctors to give her higher doses of chemotherapy, Forbes said, but they currently only have enough units for one surgery. Without a second surgery, Zainab will have a higher chance of relapsing, her father said. Mughal and Mehmood have a "strong faith" that Zainab will make it because of the strength she's displayed throughout her illness. Even after the fourth round of chemotherapy, she was still active, smiling and playing, her mother said. PHOTO: Florida resident Zainab Mughal, 2, is in need of a rare blood type to support her treatment for neuroblastoma. (OneBlood.org) The only time Zainab's spirits are low is when she goes to the hospital because she knows she'll be poked and prodded by needles, Mughal said. The search to find blood for Zainab is an "industry-wide" effort within the blood banking community, Forbes told ABC News. "Every blood center in this country is trying to find compatible blood for this little girl," she said. PHOTO: Zainab Mughal, 2, is missing a common Indian-B antigen, meaning shell need a rare donor who is also missing that antigen. (OneBlood.org) In addition, Zainab's case is "bringing awareness" to others who may be lacking the Indian-B antigen, and identifying them and adding them to the rare donor program will be a "wonderful thing, not only for Zainab but for future people also in the same situation as her," Forbes said. Mughal urged well-wishers to go out and donate blood, describing his daughter's need as a "death-and-life situation." "Everybody who's listening, please go out and do donate the blood," he said. "Your blood is not gonna be wasted." Trump announces he'll nominate William Barr as next attorney general originally appeared on abcnews.go.com President Donald Trump announced on the White House South Lawn Friday that he will nominate William Barr as his next attorney general. Barr served as attorney general previously under President George H. W. Bush. He must still be confirmed by the Senate and, if so, would oversee special counsel Robert Mueller at a critical time in his investigation that involves the president. "He was my first choice from day one, respected by Republicans and respected by Democrats," Trump told reporters as he left the White House on a trip to Missouri. "He will be nominated for the U.S. attorney general and hopefully that process will go very quickly, and I think it will go very quickly," Trump said. Speaking later at an event for law enforcement officials once he landed, he said there was respect for Barr from both sides of the aisle. "There's no one more capable or more qualified for this role. He deserves overwhelming bipartisan support and I suspect he'll probably get it," Trump said. Trump called Barr "one of the most respected jurists in the country, highly respected lawyer," and "a terrific man, a terrific person, a brilliant man." The president said he didn't know Barr before he began the search for a new attorney general. (MORE: Everything you need to know about Trump's possible next attorney general) I am pleased to announce that I will be nominating The Honorable William P. Barr for the position of Attorney General of the United States. As the former AG for George H.W. Bush.... Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 7, 2018 In introductory remarks for the president Friday in Missouri, acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker praised the president's decision. Story continues "He's supremely qualified, highly respected and will continue to support the men and women in blue," Whitaker said. "I commend the president for this excellent choice." Trump had told advisers Thursday he intended to nominate Barr, multiple sources familiar with the matter told ABC News. PHOTO: President Donald Trump waves to the press as he prepares to depart the South Lawn at the White House in Washington, Dec. 7, 2018. (Jim Young/Reuters) The presidents' aides had previously floated the idea of Barr retaking his post in the Justice Department, sources said. The Washington Post first reported the news. Barr did not respond to ABC's request for comment. A source close to Barr said he is likely to accept the job if offered. (MORE: What Trump's attorney general shortlisters have said on the Russia probe) In the early 1990s, as attorney general, Barr supervised Mueller in his work as head of the Justice Department's Criminal Division. PHOTO: President George H. Bush gestures while talking to Attorney General William Barr in the Oval Office of the White House, May 4, 1992 in Washington. (Marcy Nighswander/AP, FILE) Barr has been somewhat critical of Mueller's investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 elections and has claimed there is more basis to investigate former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for her role in approving the 2010 acquisition of U.S. uranium stockpiles by a Russian energy company -- a complicated deal that has come to be known simply as Uranium One. "To the extent it is not pursuing these matters, the department is abdicating its responsibility, Barr told the New York Times. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut, said in a statement Friday that he would demand a firm commitment from Barr to protect the Mueller investigation. As a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Blumenthal will be part of Barr's confirmation hearings. "I will demand that Mr. Barr make a firm and specific commitment to protect the Mueller investigation, operate independently of the White House, and uphold the rule of law," Blumenthal said in the statement. "The Senate must closely scrutinize this nominee, particularly in light of past comments suggesting Mr. Barr was more interested in currying favor with President Trump than objectively and thoughtfully analyzing law and facts." Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said he has known Barr for many years and hoped he would uphold the rule of law and protect Mueller's investigation "against any interference." Leahy said Barr has "a long record in both the private sector and public service that needs to be thoroughly vetted by the Senate," including his recent comments "about investigations of keen interest to the president who is nominating him." Barr also supported President Trump's firing of former FBI director James Comey, writing in an op-ed in the Washington Post that Trump made the right move. "Unfortunately, beginning in July, when he announced the outcome of the FBI investigation into Hillary Clintons use of a private email server while secretary of state, he crossed a line that is fundamental to the allocation of authority in the Justice Department," Barr wrote in the 2017 article. "While the FBI carries out investigative work, the responsibility for supervising, directing and ultimately determining the resolution of investigations is solely the province of the Justice Departments prosecutors. With an investigation as sensitive as the one involving Clinton, the ultimate decision-making is reserved to the attorney general or, when the attorney general is recused, the deputy attorney general." Barr also at one point took issue with the political affiliations of those on Muellers team, telling the Washington Post in July of 2017 that "prosecutors who make political contributions are identifying fairly strongly with a political party." Barr was referring to reports in the Washington Post that eight of Muellers prosecutors had donated to Democrats in the past. Republicans like Sen. Lindsey Graham, incoming chairman of the Judiciary Committee, issued a statement supporting Barr, calling him a man of the "highest integrity." Graham also noted that the Justice Department needed new leadership, a jab at former Attorney General Jeff Sessions. "Mr. Barr is highly capable, highly respected and will provide new and much-needed leadership for the Department of Justice," Graham said. "I will do everything in my power to push him through the Senate Judiciary Committee and onto the floor of the Senate for eventual confirmation as soon as possible." Richard Cullen, who served as a U.S. Attorney under Barr, describes him as a good pick for the role. "I have worked with him for over 25 years and I believe it would be a great choice," Cullen told ABC News. "He is a wise man with great intellect and skills and someone who has broad experience in both the government and business world." Trump moving ahead with second Kim summit despite working-level frustrations originally appeared on abcnews.go.com The Trump administration is moving ahead with plans for a second summit between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un despite growing frustration among U.S. officials about the lack of progress on getting North Korea to denuclearize. Nearly six months after their first meeting in Singapore, the scramble towards another sit-down is a sign of how far apart the two sides are, with the U.S. demanding North Korea dismantle its nuclear weapons program entirely and take steps to do so before it wins sanctions relief and North Korea continuing to develop those weapons systems, something it never explicitly promised to halt. It's precisely because things are stalemated that Trump wants to sit down with Kim again, National Security Advisor John Bolton said this week, but that has undermined his administration's ability to negotiate with the North Koreans and get them to move towards denuclearization, according to several analysts. PHOTO: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, right, and Kim Yong Chol, a North Korean senior ruling party official and former intelligence chief, arrive for a lunch at the Park Hwa Guest House in Pyongyang, North Korea, July 7, 2018. (Andrew Harnik/AP, FILE) "It totally cuts Secretary of State Pompeo and the Special Representative Steve Biegun at the knees," said Jung Pak, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. "What is the incentive for North Korea to actually talk about the meat and potatoes of denuclearization with the Special Representative and the Secretary of State if the National Security Advisor has said, 'Nothing's happening, so we have to go straight to the top'?" (MORE: 5 moments you missed from the North Korea summit: The biggest developments from overnight) Pompeo was supposed to meet with his counterpart, North Korea's chief nuclear negotiator and former spy chief Kim Yong Chol, in New York in November before North Korea canceled the trip at the last minute. His Special Representative for North Korea Steve Biegun, who was tasked with leading working-level talks with North Korea, has yet to meet with North Koreans for his own meetings over three months after his appointment. Story continues "They've clearly avoided having these working-level talks, which is where agreements are generally hammered out in advance of a summit," said Adam Mount, a senior fellow at the Federation of American Scientists. "The North Koreans calculated that they can come up with better deal from talking to the president directly." PHOTO: Andrew Kim, center, the head of the CIA's Korea Mission Center, arrives with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (not in picture) at Sunan International Airport in Pyongyang, July 6, 2018. (Andrew Harnik/AFP/Getty Images) Pompeo's meeting with Kim Yong Chol still has not been rescheduled, sources tell ABC News. But CIA Korea Mission Chief Andy Kim who has been Pompeo's right-hand man on this issue since Pompeo was CIA Director was reportedly at the Demilitarized Zone on Monday to meet with North Korean counterparts, according to South Korean media. It's unclear who attended for North Korea or what the aim was, but the two sides are still trying to settle on a date and location for a second summit. Bolton said Thursday the administration expects it to take place in January or February. (MORE: Trump's meeting with North Korea was 'failed summit' that was 'all about show': Leon Panetta) "All this summitry and diplomacy will continue because it works for North Korea," said Sue Mi Terry, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "They're making progress without having to do anything on the denuclearization front... They're on their way of getting eventual international acceptance, North Korea, as a nuclear power, a responsible nuclear power." PHOTO: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks during a media availability with South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha at the State Department on May 11, 2018, in Washington. (Alex Brandon/AP, FILE) While the U.S. has touted the talks and a lack of missile or nuclear tests as progress, North Korea has taken no steps to dismantle their existing nuclear weapons stockpiles something analyst point out they never promised to do. Instead, they have destroyed a missile engine test site and a nuclear test site, although they have not admitted international inspectors to verify that. Pompeo said after a trip to Pyongyang in early October that would happen "as soon as we get it logistically worked out," but two months later, there's been no public progress. In the months since the Singapore summit, North Korea has also expanded a key long-range missile base known to the U.S. and worked on construction at a nearby newly discovered missile facility, according to a new analysis of satellite images by the Middlebury Institute at Monterrey's James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies. PHOTO: North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un talks to South Korean President Moon Jae-in during a visit to Samjiyon guesthouse near Mount Paektu in Samjiyon in this picture taken Sept. 20, 2018, and released by Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) via KNS. (KCNA VIA KNS/AFP/Getty Images) It's evidence that the regime continues to "mass-produce and deploy existing types of nuclear-armed missiles," according to the report's authors, Jeffrey Lewis and Dave Schmerler. But it's not technically a violation of the declaration Trump and Kim signed at the Singapore summit because North Korea "never said it would" disarm, as Vipin Narang, an associate professor of political science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, tweeted Wednesday. Instead, they committed to the more vague term "denuclearization," just six months after Kim vowed to expand mass produce nuclear weapons in a New Year's Day speech -- a promise he is clearly keeping. "If North Korea had made the decision to disarm, they would be behaving differently. They're perfectly capable of participating in working-level and presidential talks and demonstrating consistent, substantive progress," said Mount. "They are not doing that, which I think should tell the White House something about their intentions." Almost anyone entering the workforce knows the eternal dilemma of the unpaid internship: Youre supposedly getting paid in experience so that you can eventually attain an actual paying job. The only problem is, experience doesnt pay the rent, and often the only people who can even consider these opportunities are those who can afford to do soaka those who already have an advantage. Shockingly, the majority of congressional offices rely on unpaid internship programsmeaning the government is helping to perpetuate an unfair system. But newly elected congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is taking a stand. The politician has vowed to pay her interns, and shes also shining a light on the fact that many congressional staffers are criminally underpaid. Time to walk the walk. Very few members of Congress actually pay their interns. We will be one of them. https://t.co/BuKCDSai0K Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Ocasio2018) December 5, 2018 Several people on Twitter remarked that there technically are funds for interns, but Ocasio-Cortez noted that the allotted amount doesnt provide much per person when you break it down. This is true! The fund is $20,000 per member for interns (we can have 4 interns max at a time - DC & district). Thats $20k for 4 people if you want full staff, anything more l requires MRA supplementation. https://t.co/uv5PTKXpgf Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Ocasio2018) December 5, 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, Ocasio-Cortez also tweeted. If thats the case, they can cut down on staff to pay them well. Or raise the MRA. (The MRA refers to the Members Representational Allowance, which is the budget each member of Congress receives each session.) We are loving the dedication, transparency, and passion that Ocasio-Cortez is bringing to her new role, and we cannot wait to see what she accomplishes in the next two years (and the 50 years after that). Photo credit: ILMARS ZNOTINS - Getty Images From Town & Country When Denmark's Crown Princess Mary arrived in Latvia yesterday for an official visit, she appeared to be channeling American first lady Jackie Kennedy with her look. Mary stepped out for an official welcoming ceremony at Riga Palace wearing an round-necked pink coatdress, which was cinched at the waist with a belt and featured silver and pink embellishments. She paired the look with a matching pillbox hat, dainty pearl earrings, and pink leather gloves, all three signatures of the '60s style icon. Photo credit: ILMARS ZNOTINS - Getty Images Mary is hardly the first royal to take sartorial inspiration from Kennedy, who is widely regarded to be one of America's most fashionable first ladies. For example, here is the Duchess of Cambridge at Easter services in 2017, wearing a buttermilk-colored pillbox hat and a matching coatdress. Photo credit: WPA Pool - Getty Images And here is Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex wearing Black Halo's "Jackie O" sheath dress to a Commonwealth women's empowerment reception back in April, before her royal wedding. Photo credit: Chris Jackson - Getty Images But Mary's choice to emulate Jackie's iconic pink suit is an interesting one, particularly given the outfit's dark historical significance. Jackie wore the "line for line" replica of Chanel (as first lady, she needed to be seen in American-made clothing) on the day her husband JFK was assassinated. And she refused to take the blood-soaked garments off as Kennedy's Vice-President Lyndon Johnson was signed in as commander in chief. "Let them see what they've done," she said. Photo credit: Keystone - Getty Images Her entire look has been preserved and is currently stored in the National Archives. Everything except her gloves and hat, that is-those have been lost to history. But don't expect to see Jackie's suit anytime soon. The outfit was bequeathed to the archives under the stipulation that it won't be displayed publicly until 2103, so as not to "in any way to dishonor the memory of the late President or cause unnecessary grief or suffering to members of his family." ('You Might Also Like',) A New Jersey restaurant threatens to fire employee who wants to attend the funeral of Michael Sot. (Photo: Instagram/GoFundMe) A restaurant in New Jersey is in hot water after threatening to fire an employee who wanted to attend a friends funeral. The unnamed female college student from the College of New Jersey (TCNJ) and hostess at Cafe Seventy-Two texted her boss, identified only as Katie, to check if there was another host who could take one of her shifts. As seen in screenshots of the exchange, Katie immediately replied, Are you serious? No, before the employee took an opportunity to explain the reason she had asked. Someone close to my [sic] just passed away, and Im trying to find a cover for my shifts so I can attend the funeral service rather than call out and leave you guys hanging, the student wrote, along with a link to the announcement of Michael Sots death, who died in a car accident on Sunday. The response received by the employee reads: Oh wow thanks. Just dont come back to work. Screenshots of the conversation were posted to Facebook. (Photo: Facebook) I like you but Im sick of all staff not taking their job seriously and just f***ing expect me to cover all of your shifts, Katie said. I have a business to run at the end of the day. And a family. Despite the employees effort to explain her dedication to her job, the extenuating circumstance surrounding this specific ask and the unethical nature of what her boss was threatening, Katie simply said, Im not playing this game. Screenshots of the exchange were soon thereafter posted to a TCNJ Facebook group, where students showed their support for the employee by saying that they would no longer bring their business to Cafe Seventy-Two. Students also decided to trash the restaurant on both its Facebook (which has since been deleted) and Yelp pages. I used to come here often as I love supporting small businesses, but I can guarantee I will never again spend a penny here as they dont deserve it at all. Completely disgusting, one person wrote in a recent review. Another said, Absolutely repulsed by the boss and her lack of empathy and respect towards an employee. Story continues The restaurants co-owner, and Katies husband, Ben, wrote the following apology, ensuring that the employee wasnt fired and revealing their donation to Sots GoFundMe, and posted it to their website. Hello to all of our loyal customers. My name is Ben, the owner and operator of Cafe 72, a long standing family run business. I am also the husband of Katie Cafe 72. You may or may not have seen some posts on social media reflecting an interaction with a current Cafe 72 employee whom is also a TCNJ student affected by the recent tragic death of Michael Sot. The employee was not fired. Her last shifts were this weekend before leaving for holiday break to be with her family and friends until January 28th. This private conversation was not related in any way to the mourning of Michael. Although this interaction was displayed completely out of context by a friend of the employee and drastically misrepresents Katie and our establishment, we recognize that there is NOTHING that excuses it. We carelessly let the stresses of family and business replace the professionalism, respect and empathy that every employee and person deserves. We have received countless hate emails, bad reviews and threatening phone calls and ask that they STOP. We understand the anger and animosity that has been created by these posts, and ask for the communities forgiveness. On behalf of Cafe 72 and our family, we offer our sincerest apology. We have been residents of Ewing and operated business for many years in this township. Cafe 72 has gone above and beyond for Ewing Township and TCNJ through gas explosions, hurricanes, snow storms and other tragedies and will continue to do so. We recognize that it is our patrons and the community that make us special and a place to come together as one. We would like to turn the tremendous amount of negativity around and create as much positivity as possible by contributing $1000 to Michaels GoFundMe page. We would also like to add to this donation by giving another 10% of all sales the remainder of this week in his honor. Thank you for taking the time to read this and we wish everyone a happy and healthy holiday season. Ben and Katie declined Yahoo Lifestyles request for comment. Still, comments from enraged students and former Cafe Seventy-Two customers have yet to stop. Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle: Video shows McDonalds employees kicking out sweet old lady minding her business Code for no black people: New York bars racist dress code sparks online debate Restaurant manager sacked after refusing to serve customer in MAGA hat Follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. Beni (DR Congo) (AFP) - Seventeen people have been killed in two attacks by the ADF militant group in the troubled Beni region of eastern DR Congo, a local mayor said Friday. Twelve civilians died in Mangolikene on the outskirts of Beni city in North Kivu on Thursday while another five were killed overnight in the Paida area, mayor Nyonyi Masumbuko Bwanakana told AFP. Explosions were heard overnight in Paida, according to local civil society representative Kizito Bin Hangi. The regional army's spokesman said the five killings in Paida happened during an attack on barracks in the city. "We are searching for ADF (fighters)," Captain Mak Hazukay said. The government has often blamed the group for killings, robberies and kidnappings, but sometimes it is unclear who the true assailants are. The Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) is a shadowy armed group rooted in Ugandan Islamism that has killed hundreds of people since 2014. But analysts say the ADF's motives for attacks can vary in a region where armed conflict is hampering efforts to curb an Ebola outbreak. The attacks came a day after opposition candidate Martin Fayulu visited Beni to launch his campaign ahead of this month's high-stakes presidential election. Fayulu is among a host of candidates contesting the race in a nation that has not known a peaceful transition of power since gaining independence from Belgium in 1960. In all, 21 candidates are registered to run in the December 23 race to replace 47-year-old Joseph Kabila, who has ruled since 2001. Paris (AFP) - The charity-run migrant rescue ship Aquarius will end its missions in the Mediterranean, with humanitarian group MSF blaming Italy and other European states for smearing and obstructing its work. The vessel, chartered by SOS Mediterranee and Doctors Without Borders (MSF), has been stranded in Marseille, in the south of France, since October after Panama revoked the right to fly its flag following a request from Italy's far-right, anti-establishment government. The ship became a symbol of the diplomatic crisis surrounding the arrival of migrants in Europe when Italy slammed shut its ports in June and left the ship stranded with 630 people on board. Aquarius has helped almost 30,000 migrants at sea who have attempted the perilous journey across the Mediterranean. "This is the result of a sustained campaign, spearheaded by the Italian government and backed by other European states, to delegitimise, slander and obstruct aid organisations providing assistance to vulnerable people," MSF said in a statement Thursday. "Coupled with the EU's ill-conceived external policies on migration, this campaign has undermined international law and humanitarian principles. With no immediate solution to these attacks, MSF and SOS Mediterranee have no choice but to end operations by the Aquarius," it added. SOS Mediterranee director of operations Frederic Penard said "giving up the Aquarius has been an extremely difficult decision" but added that the group was "actively exploring options for a new boat". Last month Rome also ordered the seizure of the Aquarius, which had been conducting rescue operations off Libya since 2016, for allegedly dumping toxic waste. According to Italian media, investigators suspect the vessel passed off 24 tonnes of potentially toxic waste as ordinary waste. Prosecutors in the Sicilian city of Catania are running the inquiry into migrant clothing, food leftovers and sanitary waste that was handled at Italian ports from the Aquarius and the Vos Prudence, another vessel chartered by MSF last year. Story continues - 'Excellent news' - Aquarius began its rescue operations off Libya in February 2016 flying the flag of Gibraltar, and later Panama. But it hit rocky waters in June this year when it attempted to dock in Corsica with 630 migrants on board, only for Italy's new populist government to shut its ports to civilian and military boats that have rescued migrants -- saying Italy bears an unfair share of the migrant burden. After also being refused by Malta, the ship finally landed in Valencia in Spain after other EU states promised to take in some of the migrants. It was the first of a series of similar incidents that triggered divisions in the EU over how to tackle migration and its impact on frontline member states Italy, Greece and Spain. The EU is trying to boost its defences against future migrant surges after having sharply reduced arrivals since a 2015 peak as a result of cooperation with Turkey and Libya. The International Organisation for Migration says that about 15,000 migrants have drowned in the central Mediterranean since 2013. During the same period Italy has seen 600,000 migrants land on its coastline. Marine Le Pen, the head of France's right-wing National Rally, tweeted her joy at the news that Aquarius was stopping its operations. "The end of the pro-migrant activities of Aquarius, an accomplice of trafficking mafias, is excellent news." COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- The body of former U.S. President George H.W. Bush was brought to the burial site at his presidential library in Texas on Thursday after a funeral at a Houston church where he was remembered by family members who knew him best as "Gampy." Bush's casket traveled by train from Houston to College Station, Texas, and then carried to the gravesite behind his library by a military honor guard, in a ceremony overseen by his son and former President George W. Bush. Bush, the 41st U.S. president, died last week in Texas at 94. His remains were flown to Texas on Wednesday following a state funeral at the Washington National Cathedral attended by President Donald Trump, the four living former presidents and foreign leaders. "The memorial was a beautiful tribute to President Bush's extraordinary life and a noble legacy to public service," Trump said at a Hanukkah reception at the White House on Thursday. "He was a wonderful man. We will always remember this great statesman and beloved American patriot. He really was very special." Thursday's funeral service in Houston was held at St. Martin's Episcopal Church, where Bush and former first lady Barbara Bush worshipped for more than five decades, and took on a more personal tone with remarks by family members. George W. Bush, who followed his father to the White House after President Bill Clinton's two terms, sat in a front pew near the flag-draped casket and joined in as some 1,000 mourners sang "America the Beautiful." George P. Bush, son of former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and one of the former president's 17 grandchildren, remembered fly fishing and sharing ice cream with the man he called "Gampy." James Baker, a longtime friend who served as Bush's secretary of state, eulogized the former president as a peacemaker and "a truly beautiful human being." "He was not considered a skilled speaker, but his deeds were quite eloquent and he demonstrated their eloquence by carving them into the hard granite of history," Baker said. Story continues Mourners laughed as Baker recalled how Bush would let him know a conversation was over: "'Baker, if you're so smart, why am I president and you're not?'" His voice cracking at moments, Baker said he was at his friend's deathbed last week. Raised in an Episcopalian family in Massachusetts, Bush fused his preppy New England background with the more free-wheeling traits of his adoptive state of Texas, where he moved as a young man to work in the oil industry. That mix was reflected in the music heard at his funeral: the St. Martin's Parish Choir sang "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," country music star Reba McEntire performed "The Lord's Prayer," and the casket was carried out of the church to the thunderous strains of "Onward Christian Soldiers." LOCOMOTIVE 4141 Following the funeral service, Bush's remains were taken by train some 80 miles (130 km) northwest to College Station for the burial alongside his wife, Barbara, who died in April, and their daughter Robin, who died of leukemia at age 3 in 1953. Residents of small towns along the route gathered to wave at the train, a Union Pacific Corp locomotive numbered 4141 and bearing the name "George Bush 41" on the side, as it passed. Bush, a U.S. Navy aviator who narrowly escaped death when he was shot down by Japanese forces over the Pacific Ocean during World War Two, was honored with a 21-plane flyover in a "missing man" formation before he was carried to his gravesite for a private interment. A light rain that had fallen for much of the day in College Station ended just before the train carrying his body pulled into the station. Bush was president from 1989 to 1993, navigating the collapse of the Soviet Union and expelling former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's forces from oil-rich Kuwait. He supported the passage of the American with Disabilities Act, a major civil rights law protecting disabled people from discrimination. A patrician figure who served as vice president to Ronald Reagan, Bush lost re-election to a second term in part for failing to connect with ordinary Americans during an economic recession. He has also been criticized for supporting tough drug laws that led to the disproportionate incarceration of black people, as well as what activists call an insufficient response to the AIDS epidemic. But tributes in recent days have focused on the former Republican president as a man of integrity and kindness who represented an earlier era of civility in American politics. (Reporting by Loren Elliott in College Station, Texas; Additional reporting by Liz Hampton in Houston and Gary McWilliams in Houston, Steve Holland in Washington and Jonathan Allen in New York; Writing by Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles; Editing by Frances Kerry and Peter Cooney) Sao Paulo (AFP) - Doctors in Brazil who brought about the first-ever birth with a uterus transplant from a dead donor say they have two more women waiting to undergo the same procedure. "All the patients that were part of this initial group have already been selected. They have already undergone in-vitro fertilization," one of the physicians, Dani Ejzenberg, told AFP on Thursday. "There are good quality embryos in storage, and now we are awaiting compatible donors so that the transplant can be done." All three women would be part of the "proof-of-concept" experimental phase of the procedure. For it to be then offered more broadly to women as a medical option it would need approval from Brazilian health authorities. - 'Very happy child' - Ejzenberg, a gynecologist at the University of Sao Paulo's teaching hospital, was part of the team that this week revealed the success of their experimental operation carried out in September 2016. That operation involved a uterus from a 45-year-old woman who died of a stroke being transplanted into the body of a 32-year-old recipient who was unable to conceive. The recipient was born without a uterus because of a rare syndrome, according to their account published in The Lancet medical journal. Fertilized eggs were implanted in the uterus seven months later, after a cycle of drugs to suppress organ rejection. On December 15, 2017, the baby girl was born. "She is a very happy child and the mother too feels very fulfilled with this breakthrough," Ejzenberg said. "On December 15 the baby will turn one year old," he said, adding that she was showing "completely normal development from both motor and neurological points of view." Professor Luiz Carneiro, who headed the transplant team, explained that he and his colleagues were proud of the fact that they coaxed life out of their groundbreaking procedure. "We as transplanters are used to transplant organs, and in that sense we saw that it was an opportunity for a very different focus in that we were generating life from this," he said. Story continues The transplanted uterus in the woman was removed during the C-section birth, allowing her to stop taking immunosuppressive drugs. - Lack of live donors - Before the Brazilian experiment, the only options available to women with so-called uterine infertility were adoption or the services of a surrogate mother. The first successful childbirth following uterine transplant from a living donor took place in September 2013 in Sweden, and there have been 11 others since then. But there are far more women in need of transplants than there are potential live donors, so medical teams in different countries have been working to see the viability of using uteruses from deceased donors. Ten unsuccessful attempts had been made -- in the United States, the Czech Republic, and Turkey -- before the breakthrough first live birth in Brazil. The sun reflecting off the side of the moon. Earlier this week, the Inquisitr reported that China could be launching a pioneering lunar mission over the weekend. Since then, sources have confirmed that the historic launch will occur on December 7, with liftoff scheduled for around 1:30 p.m. EST (2:30 a.m. on December 8, local time). Known as the Change 4 mission, this trailblazing endeavor aims to land a robotic probe on the dark side of the moon for the first time in human history. While several lunar landers have made it to the near side of Earths natural satellite including this missions precursor, the Change 3 no manmade spacecraft has ever landed on the lunar far side. According to Space, the Change 4 mission will take to space atop a Long March 3B rocket scheduled to blast off into orbit from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in the Chinese Sichuan province. Click here to continue and read more... Chinese President Xi Jinping told North Korea's foreign minister Friday that he hoped Pyongyang and Washington will address each other's concerns so peace talks on the Korean peninsula "continue to make positive progress". Xi met with Ri Yong Ho in Beijing as denuclearisation talks have made little progress since a historic June summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Xi "hopes that both North Korea and the United States can come together, and will take care of each other's legitimate concerns so that the process of peace talks on the Korean peninsula continue to make positive progress," according to the official Xinhua news agency. China is a key player in the diplomatic shuffle as it is North Korea's main diplomatic ally and trade partner. "The international and regional situation as well as the situation on the Korean peninsula remains in flux, so timely exchanges and the coordination of positions between China and North Korea are still extremely essential," said Xi. For his part, Ri said North Korea "remains committed to the denuclearisation of the peninsula," according to Xinhua. Ri also met Foreign Minister Wang Yi. "China and North Korea should continue to push the situation on the peninsula to develop positively towards denuclearisation," Wang said, according to a foreign ministry statement. "China hopes that the DPRK and the United States will maintain dialogue and balance their concerns and achieve the goals set by the DPRK-US Joint Statement," it said, referring to a text agreed by Trump and Kim in June. Talks on nuclear disarmament on the Korean peninsula between the US and North Korea have stalled in recent months, with Washington pushing to maintain sanctions until its "final, fully verified denuclearisation" and Pyongyang condemning US demands as "gangster-like." In June, Trump and Kim opened up a face-to-face dialogue in Singapore after months of trading military threats and pointed barbs. Story continues The two leaders signed a vaguely worded agreement on denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula, but progress has since stalled as Washington and Pyongyang spar over the meaning of the document. North Korea has taken few concrete steps to abandon its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes. Trump said Saturday he hoped to hold a second summit with Kim in early 2019. Xi and Trump discussed North Korea at the G20 summit in Argentina last weekend. Ri's visit to Beijing marked his fifth meeting with Wang this year, as relations between China and North Korea have warmed following a chill. Despite their Cold War-era alliance, China has supported a series of United Nations sanctions against Pyongyang over its nuclear and missile programmes. By Yawen Chen and Se Young Lee BEIJING (Reuters) - China on Thursday expressed confidence in striking a trade deal with the United States within their 90-day ceasefire period, praising the recent meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping as highly successful. In Argentina last weekend, Trump and Xi agreed to a truce that delayed the planned Jan. 1 U.S. hike of tariffs to 25 percent from 10 percent on $200 billion of Chinese goods while they negotiate a trade deal. "We are very confident in reaching an agreement (with the United States) within the next 90 days," China's commerce ministry spokesman Gao Feng said in a weekly briefing, adding both sides have been communicating and cooperating "smoothly" since the leaders met in Argentina. China's ultimate goal during the 90-day trade talks is to remove all U.S. tariffs imposed on Chinese goods, Gao said. His comments come as the arrest of a top executive of Chinese tech giant Huawei by Canadian authorities, on Washington's request, threatens to spark a flare-up in tensions between the world's two economic powerhouses once again. The two countries have hit each other with tit-for-tariffs on goods worth hundreds of billions of dollars in sectors from automobiles to agriculture and energy, stymying trade and redrawing global supply chains. Gao confirmed for the first time since the high-stakes meeting that China had agreed to implement consensus reached by both sides on agriculture, energy and cars, although he did not give details on any specific measures. "We will start with agricultural products, energy, automobiles to immediately implement the issues that the two sides have reached consensus," Gao said, when asked about what is on the negotiation agenda. "Then, in the next 90 days, we will follow a clear timetable and roadmap to negotiate on issues such as intellectual property right protection, tech cooperation, market access and trade balance," he said, stressing the consultations should be based on meeting the interests of both parties. Story continues The White House has said China had committed to start buying more American products and lifting tariff and non-tariff barriers immediately, while beginning talks on structural changes with respect to forced technology transfers and intellectual property protection. The United States has levied additional duties of between 10 percent and 25 percent on $250 billion of Chinese goods this year as punishment for what it calls China's unfair trade practices. China has responded with its own tariffs. "China and United States have reached very important consensus as both sides' interests overlap," Gao said. His comments echoed earlier remarks made by senior Chinese diplomat Wang Yi, who said the meeting was "friendly and candid" and would help to avoid further trade tensions. "All of these help to safeguard China's legitimate interests, and are also in the interests of the United States, and even more are in line with the expectations of the international community," he added in a statement carried on the foreign ministry's website. LINGERING DOUBTS But global markets have been nervous about the prospects of a Sino-U.S. trade dispute spilling over to growing rivalry between both sides in areas such as technology, and many economists have remained cautious about being too optimistic on a temporary truce. The daughter of Huawei's founder is facing extradition to the United States, dealing a blow to hopes of an easing of Sino-U.S. trade tensions and rocking global stock markets. Trump also warned this week of more tariffs if the two sides could not resolve their differences. Hannah Anderson, Global Market Strategist at JPMorgan Asset Management, said there was a lot of uncertainty over the U.S.-China relationship now as both view each other more as a competitor than a strategic partner in trade and economics. "When it comes to the trade policies that have been proposed so far specifically, I think we can all expect that there will be further tariff increases on U.S. imports of Chinese goods, whether that's within the 90-day window that we are now operating under a pause or outside that window," Anderson told a small group of reporters in Beijing on Thursday. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard, Se Young Lee, and Yawen Chen; Additional reporting by Adam Jourdan in Shanghai and Ryan Woo; Writing by Yawen Chen; Editing by Michael Perry and Jacqueline Wong) Prague (AFP) - The Czech Republic's intelligence agency said Friday it had smashed a Russian spying network, after the EU member's pro-Russian, pro-Chinese president had criticised it for poor results. The BIS agency had warned earlier this week that Russian and Chinese diplomats had intensified their espionage activities on Czech soil last year. This led President Milos Zeman, an outspoken ex-Communist, to say Thursday that the report was "gibberish" while intelligence agents were "pettifoggers" who had not identified any specific Russian or Chinese spies. On Friday, BIS chief Michal Koudelka said that earlier this year the agency had told the authorities it reports to that "we had bust the spying network of a Russian intelligence service operating on our territory and paralysed its activity." "Over the past five years, we have prevented dozens of Russian and Chinese intelligence officers from pursuing their activities," he added in the statement. BIS said in its report earlier this week that Russian spies with diplomatic cover capitalised on Moscow's large embassy in Prague, while their Chinese counterparts had "almost unlimited" resources to spend on buying intellectual property. It also attributed a hacker attack on the Czech foreign ministry in 2016 to the Russian intelligence service GRU. This is not the first clash between BIS and Zeman, who won a second five-year term in a January direct vote. Zeman has refused to promote Koudelka on two occasions -- last time in October -- without providing a reason. The Czech Republic was a part of communist Czechoslovakia until 1989. The country of 10.6 million people joined NATO in 1999 and the EU in 2004. FM says four-nation tour by president paying off by easing world's anxiety President Xi Jinping's visits to Europe and Latin America have added stability to the global situation and brought positive energy into an anxiety-plagued international community, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Thursday in Beijing. Xi returned to the capital after wrapping up his overseas trip to Spain, Argentina, Panama and Portugal, which kicked off on Nov 27. In Argentina, Xi also attended the G20 Leaders' Summit, and met with US President Donald Trump and other heads of state. On the overseas tour, Xi supported economic globalization and multilateralism and proactively proposed win-win cooperation, Wang said. During his nine-day itinerary, Xi traveled more than 40,000 kilometers and attended nearly 70 bilateral and multilateral activities. The four host countries all made special arrangements to welcome him, Wang said. While attending the summit in Buenos Aires, the Argentine capital, Xi put forward proposals, promoted cooperation and maintained unity showing great vision and responsibility as the leader of a major country, Wang said. The proposals Xi made there, including enhancing policy coordination and safeguarding multilateralism, reflected the common desire of all nations and strengthened the G20's status as a primary forum for international economic cooperation, Wang added. In discussing trade issues at the event, Xi said the direction of openness and inclusiveness should be upheld, and nations should adhere to relevant trade rules. Xi said China supports some necessary reforms to the World Trade Organization, but the key is to safeguard the core values and basic principles of the WTO, including openness, inclusiveness and nondiscrimination. During Xi's meeting with Trump, the two leaders interacted in a friendly and candid atmosphere, setting the direction for an outline of how to properly handle current problems in bilateral relations, Wang said. The two presidents agreed to push forward coordinated, cooperative and stable China-US relations, Wang said, adding that the US reaffirmed its stance in support of the one-China policy. The discussion of economic and trade issues was "very positive and constructive", and a consensus was reached by the two sides, Wang said. The meeting steered China and the US in the direction of halting any further escalation of trade frictions, returning to a dialogue track, making win-win cooperation a shared goal and bringing benefits to both global trade and the world economy, Wang said. Facts will prove that China and the US have more common interests than they do disagreements, and they have more reason to cooperate than not to, Wang said, adding that China-US cooperation will not only benefit the people of both sides but also the whole world. During his four-nation trip, Xi reviewed the process of China's reform and opening-up and pledged to provide more opportunities for countries to pursue common development. He stressed that China will host the international import expo every year to open the Chinese market further and to build a free, open, inclusive and orderly global economy with all countries. Wang noted that the other countries congratulated China on its achievements in reform and opening-up, and spoke highly of China's proactive actions deepening market reforms and increasing imports. Grace Millane (pictured) has been missing for five days according to her brother. Source: Facebook/Michael Millane Police are searching for a young tourist who went missing after constant contact with her family suddenly stopped. Grace Millane is a 22-year-old woman from Essex who arrived in New Zealand about two weeks ago. She has not returned to her Auckland hostel in several days. Her family became concerned when she did not respond to birthday messages on Sunday, New Zealand Herald reported. She had previously been in constant contact with her family using messaging service WhatsApp. Grace has been missing for 5 days, her brother Michael Millane posted on Facebook on Tuesday. She has not returned to her hostel room in Auckland New Zealand and family members have had no contact since Saturday 1st December. The Embassy have been contacted. Please share and contact if you have any information regarding her whereabouts. A missing persons report was filed on Wednesday and initial investigations are underway, New Zealand Police told Yahoo7 in Australia. Dubai (AFP) - Yemen's Huthi rebels sit at the negotiating table in Sweden with delegates of the internationally recognised government, undefeated on the battlefield and still firmly in control of the capital Sanaa. Saudi Arabia and its coalition partners predicted a quick victory when they launched a military intervention in 2015 to restore President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi after he fled into Saudi exile. But more than three and a half years later, the two sides have fought themselves into a quagmire that has set off the world's worst humanitarian crisis prompting an outraged international community to demand peace. Here is a look at how the outgunned rebels have clung on against the military and financial might of the Saudi-led coalition: - Who are the Huthis? The Huthis come from the minority Zaidi Shiite sect of Islam and have their traditional stronghold in the mountainous north of Yemen. The movement, which takes its name from late spiritual leader Badreddin al-Huthi and his son Hussein, rose up in the 1990s over alleged sectarian discrimination. Between 2004 and 2010, the Huthis fought six wars against Yemen's then-government and battled Saudi Arabia in 2009-2010 after storming over the border. Officially calling themselves the Ansarullah (Supporters of God), the Huthis took part in the Arab Spring protests that forced veteran ruler Ali Abdullah Saleh from office in 2012. In the chaos that followed they later reconciled with Saleh and together they ousted the government of Hadi, Saleh's longtime vice president, who had succeeded him. The rebel takeover of Sanaa set off the Saudi-led intervention in March 2015. The Huthis later fell out dramatically with Saleh and killed the former president in December 2017. - Does Iran support the Huthis? The war in Yemen is viewed by many as a front in the broader struggle between regional heavyweights Saudi Arabia and Iran that has heated up since Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman took over the running of the kingdom's affairs. Story continues The Saudis and their ally the United States say Shiite Iran provides military support to the rebels, including components for ballistic missiles that have been fired over the border. Tehran denies the accusation and insists its backing for the Huthis is purely political. Brigadier Jamal al-Moammari, a former Yemeni air force officer, told AFP that Iranian arms, experts and "equipment to develop ballistic missiles" arrived in 2015. Security analyst Aleksandar Mitreski says Iran helps the Huthis both directly and indirectly. "Where and when possible, Iran supplies the rebels with equipment and training for the Huthis to remain a formidable opponent," he said. The Saudi-led coalition has claimed that members of Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah have been killed in Yemen while training the Huthis. Hezbollah has denied this. - Arms taken from army? Despite the allegations of Iranian support, it appears that the bulk of the Huthi's weaponry comes from stockpiles of the army, much of which remained loyal to Saleh after Hadi's succession to the presidency. Brigadier Abdo Majli, a spokesman for pro-government forces, told AFP that "90 percent of Huthi arms came from Yemeni army depots" taken along with Sanaa in 2014. Majli said coalition warplanes had managed to destroy some of the heavy weapons, but the rebels had concealed the rest in bunkers in its strongholds in the northern mountains. The rebel's impressive arsenal has been on display in the latest battles for the key port city of Hodeida as they deployed tanks to halt the advance of pro-government forces. The Huthis have also laid a large number of landmines and manufacture some of their own weapons, including rockets and reportedly also drones. - Local backing? The Huthis have benefited from home advantage and local alliances as they have faced off against some of the best equipped militaries in the region. Despite hailing from northern Yemen, they know the rest of the country and the terrain very well, said analyst Mitreski. "Aside from geography, what aids the rebels is cooperation with local tribes. Yemen remains a fragmented society along tribal lines, and the rebels capitalise on that," he said. "Local tribal support goes a long way in this conflict." The International Crisis Group said in a report in November that the Saudi-led coalition has underestimated the resilience of the Huthis. "The Huthis are resourceful, committed, experienced and ruthless, and the core fighters are likely to fight until the last man if called upon to do so," the Brussels-based think tank said. Rio de Janeiro (AFP) - Twelve people -- including five hostages -- were killed in northeast Brazil on Friday after police foiled a gang of armed robbers staging simultaneous pre-dawn assaults on two banks in the town of Milagres, officials said. The five dead hostages were members of the same family and included two children, the local mayor, Lielson Landim, told the Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper. They had been returning from a nearby airport when some of the robbers seized them. The secretary for security in the state of Ceara, Andre Costa, said in a statement that an investigation was being carried out to identify those killed and the circumstances of their deaths. Costa did not say whose bullets killed the hostages. Landim had earlier said that, based on initial information, he understood that "the criminals killed the hostages and the police killed the criminals." Two suspects were arrested, according to Costa's office. "A heavily armed group arrived in the town in the early hours and went to the center of town, where they tried to commit the crime. There was an exchange of fire between the suspects and police," it said. It said six gang members were killed and "another six people died from gunshots." The identity of the 12th victim was not immediately clear. Various weapons and explosives as well as three vehicles used in the bank assaults were recovered. - 'Cowering' residents - The gang had launched simultaneous assaults on two banks on the same street in Milagres -- population 28,000 -- shortly after 2:00 am (0400 GMT). According to the G1 news website, the robbers had blocked a street with a truck and stopped the car carrying the family, which included relatives who had just arrived on a flight from Sao Paulo to celebrate Christmas with them. G1 reported that the robbers "executed" the hostages when police turned up. It said some of the gang managed to escape. "I've never seen anything like it. I stayed inside my home, cowering and afraid," a local resident, Mendonca de Santa Helena, told media. "I heard people yelling and crying. It was horrible." Story continues Shaken by the violence, the municipality of Milagres suspended most of its activities on Friday and asked residents to stay at home "until order is restored." Brazil is one of the most violent countries in the world, suffering nearly 64,000 murders last year -- a homicide rate of 30.8 per 100,000 inhabitants that is three times higher than the level the United Nations considers to be endemic violence. On January 1, a far-right politician promising a relentless crackdown on crime, Jair Bolsonaro, will become Brazil's new president following his election in October. By Michel Rose and Jean-Baptiste Vey PARIS (Reuters) - President Emmanuel Macron's government is dropping further fuel-tax hikes in next year's budget in the face of protests across France over living costs, his prime minister said on Wednesday, a day after announcing their suspension for six months. The Macron administration is struggling to defuse the anger driving the "yellow vest" protests, as it reels from the worst riots seen in central Paris in five decades last Saturday. "The government is ready for dialogue and is showing it because this tax increase has been dropped from the 2019 budget bill," Prime Minister Edouard Philippe told the lower house of parliament. The concession was the latest attempt to quell the worst crisis of Macron's presidency after announcing the six-month suspension only the day before. His government indicated earlier that it could also amend a wealth tax that Macron shrank last year to cover only real estate assets, earning him criticism as the "president of the rich". A Macron aide denied that any eventual revision of the wealth tax would represent a major climb-down by Macron, a pro-business former investment banker, adding that the president remained committed to his reform drive. Government spokesman Benjamin Grivet said all tax-related policies needed to be periodically evaluated and, if deemed not to be working, should be changed. He said the wealth tax could be reassessed in the autumn of 2019. "If a measure that we have taken, which is costing the public money, turns out not to be working, if it's not going well, we're not stupid - we would change it," Griveaux told RTL radio. The unrest over the squeeze on household budgets comes as OECD data showed that France has become the most highly taxed country in the developed world, surpassing even high-tax Denmark. Griveaux later told a weekly news conference that Macron had called on all political parties, trade unions and business leaders to press the need for calm. Student protests and planned trade union strikes in the energy and port sectors next week nonetheless underscored the risk of contagion. And with little sign its concessions are calming protesters' nerves, the government is also preparing for a new round of possible violence on Saturday. "I want to tell the thugs, we will stand up to them and won't give an inch," Philippe told lawmakers. Security sources said the government was considering using troops currently used on anti-terrorism patrols to protect public buildings. U-TURN The "yellow vest" movement - so-called because of the high-vis jackets worn by protesters - began with the aim of highlighting the squeeze on household budgets caused by fuel taxes but morphed into a broader, sometimes-violent rebellion against 40-year-old Macron. His administration's shift on fuel tax came after rioters ran amok in central Paris, torching cars, looting boutiques vandalizing cafes and private residences and cafes in affluent neighborhoods. Philippe earlier said the six-month suspension to the carbon-tax would be used to examine other measures to bolster household spending power. It marked the first major U-turn by Macron in his 18-months in office, at a time polls show that barely one in five French people think he is doing a good job. Nearly seven out of eight people told pollsters that the measures did not satisfy the movement's demands, according to an Elabe survey for BFM TV. The poll also found that although 82 percent were against the violence seen last Saturday, 72 percent supported the "gilets jaunes" movement. U.S. President Donald Trump appeared to mock Macron over the policy shift, which could make it harder for France to meet its CO2 emissions reduction target, a core element of the Paris climate agreement of 2015. "I am glad that my friend @EmmanuelMacron and the protestors in Paris have agreed with the conclusion I reached two years ago," Trump tweeted late on Tuesday, as U.N. climate talks take place in Poland on how to enforce global action. "The Paris Agreement is fatally flawed because it raises the price of energy for responsible countries while whitewashing some of the worst polluters." Adding to Macron's difficulties, college students are agitating and the hardline CGT trade union on Wednesday called for strikes in the energy industry and at ports on Dec. 13. Meanwhile, Total said a rising number of its filling stations were running dry as a result of "yellow vest" road blocks. (Refiles to add dropped word hike to headline, no change to text.) (Additional reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta, Richard Lough, Sophie Louet, Myriam Rivet, Emmanuel Jarry and Leigh Thomas; Writing by Luke baker, Richard Lough and Leigh Thomas; Editing by Toby Chopra and Alison Williams) By Andrea Shalal and Sabine Siebold BERLIN (Reuters) - 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. Moscow accuses the 24 sailors of illegally entering Russian waters by trying to pass through the strait. Kiev 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. 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. "NOT TOTALLY UNCONDITIONAL" 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, France'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. (Additional reporting by Andreas Rinke and Michelle Martin; Editing by Riham Alkousaa and Mark Potter) The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) released footage on December 4 that they said showed a Hezbollah operative inside an attack tunnel dug from Lebanon into Israel. The footage shows two people walking towards the camera; they are scared off by what appears to be a small explosion. The Times of Israel, citing an IDF spokesperson, said that the video was filmed by a small Israeli military robot on December 4, shortly before the army announced that the tunnel would be destroyed as part of Operation Northern Shield. According to the IDF, Operation Northern Shield is intended to expose and neutralize cross-border attack tunnels that are being dug by Hezbollah from Lebanon to Israel. Credit: IDF via Storyful (Reuters) - A Democratic U.S. congressman on Wednesday called for an emergency hearing into claims of fraud in a North Carolina election where the state is probing alleged improper handling of ballots by political operatives. Almost a month after Republican Mark Harris declared victory in his North Carolina race for the U.S. House of Representatives, the state's election board is declining to certify the result as it probes mail-in ballots from two rural counties that have been called into question. Democratic U.S. Representative Gerry Connolly of Virginia on Wednesday called for an emergency congressional hearing into the matter, accusing national Republicans including President Donald Trump of hypocrisy for ignoring the case after years of claiming voter fraud without evidence. "While the Republican majority is once again chasing conspiracies, real election fraud is playing out right before us in North Carolina's 9th Congressional District," Connolly said in a statement. He added that minority and elderly voters appeared to have been targeted, and "a cloud of doubt and suspicion hangs over this election result." Trump has repeatedly and without evidence claimed large numbers of illegal immigrants have cast ballots and raised the specter of election fraud during routine but protracted vote counts after the Nov. 6 elections. Leading House Democrat Steny Hoyer on Tuesday said his party may not seat Harris if the election remains in question when Democrats take control of the lower chamber in January. The contest will not affect the balance of power in the new Congress. Democrats already gained enough seats to take control of the House, while Republicans expanded their Senate majority. Based on an initial tally, Harris edged out Democrat Dan McCready by 905 votes. That was before residents of rural Bladen County provided sworn affidavits that people came to their homes and collected absentee ballots that they had not filled in. It is illegal in North Carolina for a third party to turn in absentee ballots. North Carolina's board of elections is also investigating concerns about ballot collection, as well as unusually high interest in absentee ballots in Bladen and Robeson counties. State officials plan a hearing by Dec. 21. The state could order a new election. The U.S. House could also rule on the election outcome. Representatives of Republican Trey Gowdy, who chairs the House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform committee that would convene a hearing into the matter, did not respond to requests for comment. (Reporting by Letitia Stein in Tampa, Fla.; Editing by Scott Malone and Jonathan Oatis) Vancouver (AFP) - Chinese telecom giant Huawei's chief financial officer faces US fraud charges related to sanctions-breaking business dealings with Iran, a Canadian court heard Friday, a week after she was detained on an American extradition request. Meng Wanzhou, 46, was arrested in Canada's Pacific coast city of Vancouver on December 1 while changing planes during a trip from Hong Kong to Mexico -- ratcheting up tensions between the United States and China just as the countries' leaders agreed to a truce in their trade war. A day-long hearing was adjourned until Monday, when the judge is expected to render a decision on bail. Until then, she will remain in custody. Canadian government lawyer John Gibb-Carsley asked for bail to be denied, saying Meng has been accused of "conspiracy to defraud multiple financial institutions" and if convicted faces more than 30 years in prison. She is specifically accused of lying to a US bank, identified by her lawyer as "Hong Kong Bank," about the use of a covert subsidiary to sell to Iran in breach of sanctions. Meng had personally denied to bankers any direct connections between Huawei and the subsidiary, SkyCom, when in fact "SkyCom is Huawei," Gibb-Carsley said, putting the bank in jeopardy of violating sanctions. SkyCom's alleged sanctions breaches occurred from 2009 to 2014, while Meng's alleged fraudulent misrepresentations were in 2013. Meng had been a member of SkyCom's board a decade ago, but the company was later sold, said her lawyer David Martin. US authorities, however, claim Huawei continued to control the company, with Gibb-Carsley noting that SkyCom employees continued to carry Huawei identification and use its email. He suggested that Meng has also shown a pattern of avoiding the United States over the past year since becoming aware of the investigation into the matter, arguing that she has no ties to Canada and has access to vast wealth and political connections -- and thus poses a flight risk. Story continues Huawei said in a Friday statement that it "will continue to follow the bail hearing" next week, expressing "every confidence that the Canadian and US legal systems will reach the right conclusion." Meng's detention in Canada came on the day of a summit at which US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping agreed to a truce in the escalating trade dispute between the two economic powerhouses. China says Meng -- the daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, a former engineer in China's People's Liberation Army -- has violated no laws in Canada or the United States and has demanded her release. Washington and Beijing have exchanged steep tariffs on more than $300 billion in total two-way trade, locking them in a conflict that has begun to eat into profits. Trump tweeted Friday that negotiations to defuse the high-stakes dispute were "going very well," but the messages since Meng's arrest have been mixed, roiling global stock markets. Her appearance at the British Columbia Supreme Court in Vancouver is a prelude to an extradition process that could take months. - 'Princess' of Huawei - CNN, quoting an unnamed official, said the United States saw the arrest as providing leverage in US-China trade talks -- although White House trade advisor Peter Navarro has denied any link to the dialogue. Chinese state-run media said the arrest was part of US efforts to curtail China's tech industry. "The Chinese government should seriously mull over the US tendency to abuse legal procedures to suppress China's high-tech enterprises," said the nationalist tabloid Global Times in an editorial. "Obviously, Washington is resorting to a despicable rogue's approach as it cannot stop Huawei's 5G advance in the market," it went on. Meng spent most of the past week at a women's detention facility in a suburb of Vancouver. If she is released on bail, she has agreed to surrender her passports and submit to electronic monitoring until she is discharged or surrendered for trial to the United States. All security costs would be borne by her. The extradition process could take months, even years, if appeals are made in the case. The court heard Meng's husband Xiaozong Liu owns two mansions in the city. - Repeated setbacks - Canada has a longstanding extradition treaty with the United States, requiring it to cooperate with US Department of Justice requests to hand over suspects. The offense for which extradition is being sought must also be a crime in Canada. A Canadian court must decide if there is sufficient evidence to support the extradition, but then it is left to Canada's justice minister to sign the order. On Thursday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau defended Canada's arrest of Meng, saying politics played no part in the decision. "I can assure everyone that we are a country (with) an independent judiciary," Trudeau told a tech conference in Montreal. Huawei's affordable smartphones have made strong inroads in the developing world, but the company has faced repeated setbacks in major Western economies over security concerns. Canadian officials have said Ottawa was continuing to review Huawei's technology for use in upcoming fifth-generation networks. The company faces being shut out of Australia, New Zealand and US 5G rollouts, and British telecom group BT revealed on Wednesday it was removing Huawei equipment from its core cellular network. The five nations together form the "Five Eyes" intelligence alliance. Jerusalem (AFP) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday hailed majority backing in the UN General Assembly for condemning militant group Hamas even though a draft resolution failed to win enough votes to pass. The US draft won 87 votes in the General Assembly on Thursday compared to 58 against but fell short of a required two-thirds majority. Thirty-two countries abstained. "The draft condemnation of Hamas in the UN General Assembly received a sweeping majority by countries that stood against Hamas," Netanyahu said in an English-language statement. "This is the first time that a majority of countries have voted against Hamas and I commend each of the 87 countries that took a principled stand. "I thank the American administration and US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley for the initiative." Haley, who steps down from her post at the end of the year, has repeatedly accused the United Nations of having an anti-Israel bias. She has defended Israel in its latest confrontation with Hamas, the Islamist group which has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007 and has fought three wars with Israel since then. The United States had won crucial backing from the European Union, with all 28 countries supporting the draft that would have condemned Hamas for firing rockets into Israel and demanded an end to the violence. The European Union, like the United States, blacklists Hamas as a terrorist organisation. It was the first draft resolution condemning Hamas to be presented to the 193-nation assembly, which has been meeting since 1946. Hamas praised the outcome of the vote, describing it as a "slap" to President Donald Trump's administration. "The failure of the American venture at the United Nations represents a slap to the US administration and confirmation of the legitimacy of the resistance," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zahri tweeted, referring to militant groups that oppose Israel. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ruling coalition early Saturday rammed through legislation to bring more blue-collar foreign workers into the country, in a controversial move to address chronic labour shortages. The bill was enacted after the upper house gave approval despite a raft of criticism by opposition parties following its passage through the lower house in late November. Both chambers are controlled by Abe's ruling camp. Under the new system, the government plans to bring in as many as 345,000 foreign workers in construction, food services, nursing and other designated sectors for five years. "We aim at starting it in April next year because we need to swiftly launch the new system in order to deal with the current labour shortage," Abe told parliament on Thursday. But opposition parties claimed that the law fails to address the potential impact on Japanese society of new foreign labour, and does not protect foreign workers' rights. In a bid to block its passage, opposition parties submitted censure motions against Abe and Justice Minister Takashi Yamashita, but they were easily rejected by the ruling bloc. The law allows foreign nationals with skills in sectors facing particularly severe shortages to obtain five-year visas, which would not allow them to bring their families. Foreign workers in those fields who hold stronger qualifications and pass a more difficult Japanese language test will be able to obtain a visa that can be extended indefinitely, eventually leading to residency, and will be able to bring over family. But there have been questions about whether an influx of foreign workers will depress wages, how the workers will be incorporated into Japan's social security system, and worries about exploitation of migrant labour. Many of Japan's low-skilled foreign workers are in the country under a so-called "technical training" programme, which has repeatedly faced allegations of abuse. Story continues "We should not create a new system hastily without reviewing the technical training programme in which problems are mounting," Yoshifu Arita, an opposition lawmaker, told parliament. Businesses have long lobbied for looser immigration rules, saying they struggle to find workers in a country where unemployment hovers around 2.5 percent. The chronic labour shortages are only worsening as Japan's ageing and shrinking population means a declining pool of workers. The ancient reptiles looked a lot like dolphins, and may have been warm-blooded and insulated by blubber. A sea beast from the age of the dinosaurs was actually warm blooded and had insulating blubber and looked like a dolphin. Molecular and mircrostructural analysis of a Stenopterygius ichthyosaur from the Jurassic, 180 million years ago, found that the creatures had skin similar to whales. Like whales and dolphins, they were coloured dark on top and lighter on the bottom, to protect themselves from predators, say researchers from North Carolina State University. Professor Mary Schweitzer said, Ichthyosaurs are interesting because they have many traits in common with dolphins, but are not at all closely related to those sea-dwelling mammals. MORE: Driver told police he was speeding so his McDonalds wouldnt get cold MORE: Girl, 2, drowned in river after wandering away from parents to feed the ducks We arent exactly sure of their biology either. They have many features in common with living marine reptiles like sea turtles, but we know from the fossil record that they gave live birth, which is associated with warm-bloodedness. This study reveals some of those biological mysteries. Co-author Johan Lindgren said, Both the body outline and remnants of internal organs are clearly visible. The ancient reptiles looked a lot like dolphins, and may have been warm-blooded and insulated by blubber. Remarkably, the fossil is so well-preserved that it is possible to observe individual cellular layers within its skin. Researchers identified cell-like microstructures that held pigment organelles within the fossils skin, as well as traces of an internal organ thought to be the liver. They also observed material chemically consistent with vertebrate blubber, which is only found in animals capable of maintaining body temperatures independent of ambient conditions. Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UK Paris (AFP) - This decade has seen massive movements of people fleeing war, poverty and persecution. Here are some key cases. - Since 2011: Syria - The Syrian war has killed more than 360,000 people since it began in March 2011 and it has led to a massive exodus of people, mostly to camps in neighbouring countries. More than half the country's 23 million population has fled, with 6.6 million of those internally displaced and more than 5.6 million going abroad. Turkey took in the biggest number, with the UN refugee agency UNHCR registering more than 3.6 million there, followed by Lebanon with less than a million (Beirut says it is 1.5 million) and Jordan with 673,000 (1.3 million according to Amman). Hundreds of thousands of Syrians have also fled to Europe, and most notably to Germany. - 2013-2018: South Sudan - Independent since 2011, South Sudan became mired in civil war in 2013 that lasted five years and left more than 380,000 people dead and forced some 4.2 million people -- a third of the population -- to flee. The UNHCR says nearly 2.2 million have left the country and are now spread across neighbouring countries -- in Uganda (785,000), Sudan (764,000) and Ethiopia (422,000). - 2015: Mediterranean - The massive and regular arrival of migrants via the Mediterranean and into Europe over recent years has provoked a major crisis in the bloc with some member countries adopting particularly tough new measures. After a peak in 2015 of more than one million migrants landing on Europe's shores from the Mediterranean, the numbers have dropped to more than 362,000 in 2016, 172,000 in 2017 and 132,000 since the start of 2018. Of those who have arrived in 2018, 108,400 have reached Europe by the sea, according to the International Organization for Migration. Some 2,130 died making the journey. There have been some flashpoints, including the controversy over the 629 migrants aboard the Aquarius rescue ship stranded in the Mediterranean after Italy and Malta refused to let it dock. Story continues Policy on migration has been one of the major points of friction between countries in the bloc. - Since 2015: Venezuela - The United Nations says some three million Venezuelans are now living abroad, 2.3 million of whom have moved since 2015, fleeing the country's severe economic, political and social crisis. Neighbouring Colombia, which shares a border of 2,200 kilometres (1,367 miles) with Venezuela, has taken in the most, around one million, followed by Peru (at least 550,000) and Ecuador, with around 300,000. The exodus of the Venezuelans is, according to the UNHCR the most massive displacement of people in recent Latin American history. - 2018: Honduras - A caravan of thousands of migrants mostly from Honduras left the Central American country to escape violence and poverty and by mid-November they had reached the US border. Other caravans coming from Central America joined them and other migrants travelled by foot and hitchhiked to cover the thousands of miles in the hope of being granted the status of refugee in the US. Some 6,000 people gathered in the Mexican city of Tijuana but were unable to cross the border after US President Donald Trump deployed thousands of soldiers who forced a number of migrants to turn back. By Stefanie Eschenbacher and Michael O'Boyle MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is taking aim at the finances of the powerful Jalisco cartel in what a top anti-money laundering official said was an opening salvo in the fight to stop criminal gangs from flourishing with impunity. Santiago Nieto, the new head of the finance ministry's Financial Intelligence Unit, told Reuters on Thursday he had filed a complaint against three businesses and seven people linked to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. On Wednesday, the finance ministry had said Nieto's unit filed its first complaint with prosecutors, but it provided no details. The move against the Jalisco cartel, a relative newcomer that has risen to become one of Mexico's most dangerous criminal gangs, sends a "first message" under Lopez Obrador, who took office Saturday, of his government's determination to crack down on drug gang finances, Nieto said. "I am convinced the best way to prevent criminal behavior is by sending a message that these types of acts that violate trust and social norms will be punished," he said in a telephone interview. Mexico's drug war has raged for over a decade despite the capture of kingpins such as Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman. Although cartels have splintered, the flow of drugs north has continued unabated, while violence in Mexico hit record levels last year. In October, the United States offered a $10 million reward for information leading to the arrest of the suspected leader of the Jalisco organization, Nemesio Oseguera, also known as El Mencho. Nieto said he was able to quickly file his complaints with prosecutors because the businesses and people they targeted already appeared on the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) so-called blacklist of drug traffickers. Complaints from the Financial Intelligence Unit generally include sufficient evidence to prompt prosecutors to open criminal investigations. Leftist Lopez Obrador, who has pledged to fight corruption, has repeatedly stressed that he wants good relations with the United States, Mexico's neighbor and main export partner. To improve prosecutions, Lopez Obrador will need to overhaul the attorney general's office (PGR), which has been criticized for systematically failing to punish money launderers by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global organization that sets standards for fighting illicit finance. "A lack of intelligence is not the issue. The problem is how do you transform that intelligence into evidence you can bring to a court of law," said Alejandro Hope, an analyst who worked for Mexico's national security intelligence agency, "We will see if the problems remain at PGR or not." A FATF report early this year pointed to a declining rate of already-low prosecutions based on data from the intelligence unit. Nieto said action by authorities slowed even more in 2018, the last year of President Enrique Pena Nieto's administration. The number of complaints from the unit declined and only three of them led to charges this year, he said. The new government would focus on filing more criminal complaints, freezing more bank accounts and seizing more goods and valuables from wrongdoers, Nieto added. He said the government would also make a top priority of targeting the gangs and gas stations involved in rampant fuel theft. Lopez Obrador this week said he would soon unveil a plan to tackle fuel theft, which has become one of Mexico's most pressing economic and security dilemmas. (Reporting by Stefanie Eschenbacher and Michael O'Boyle; editing by Frank Jack Daniel, Grant McCool and Tom Brown) Rimbo (Sweden) (AFP) - Yemen's government would not rule out an offensive on the key port of Hodeida if rebels refuse to withdraw, sparking an immediate rebuff by the Huthi insurgents as the warring sides met for UN-brokered talks on Friday. Nearly four years into a war that has pushed 14 million Yemenis to the brink of mass starvation, the Saudi-backed government of Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi and Huthi rebels, linked to Riyadh's archrival Iran, are in the rural town of Rimbo, Sweden for what UN officials expect will be a week of negotiations. Government representatives, rebel spokesmen and UN Yemen envoy Martin Griffiths have all said the talks are not aimed at finding a political solution to the conflict. Both Yemeni parties have threatened to leave the talks if certain demands are not met. Among the issues under discussion are potential humanitarian corridors, a prisoner swap, the reopening of the defunct Sanaa international airport, and Hodeida, the rebel-held city at the heart of an ongoing government offensive. The goverment has held firm to its demand that the Huthis evacuate the western governorate of Hodeida, home to a Red Sea port that is the entry point for 90 percent of food imports to impoverished Yemen, and hand the area over to security forces. The rebels, however, refused that demand Friday, saying it was "not on the table". - Military option still open - The Sweden talks mark the first meeting between the two sides in two years. The last round of talks, in 2016, broke down after three months. While the days leading up to the gathering saw the government and rebels agreeing on a prisoner swap deal and the evacuation of wounded insurgents, both parties have publicly traded threats and accusations in Sweden. The two sides have not yet met face-to-face. The government, which accuses the Huthis of arms smuggling from Iran through Hodeida and Sanaa airport, was not open to negotiations on control of the port, a member of the delegation said Friday. Story continues "We are now in negotiations in response to calls by the international community, the UN and the UN envoy. We are still looking into means towards peace," said Agriculture Minister Othman al-Mujalli. "But if they (the rebels) are not responsive, we have many options, including that of military decisiveness," he told reporters in response to a question on the rebel-held city. "And we are ready." Mujalli said the UN could play a "supervisory" role, but he rejected the idea of placing management of the port in the hands of a third party. The Hodeida battle, launched in June, has sparked fears for more than 150,000 civilians trapped in the city. UN Yemen envoy Martin Griffiths, who has pushed for months for the Yemen talks, urged both parties to spare Hodeida, "a humanitarian pipeline to the rest of the country". - Sanaa airport - A prisoner swap has been agreed between the two sides, to be overseen by the International Committee of the Red Cross after the talks. The two parties are also looking at the potential reopening of Sanaa airport, located in the rebel-held capital and largely shut down for three years, sources in both delegations said. The Saudi-led government camp controls Yemeni airspace and maritime borders. The government is demanding planes be searched in Aden or Sayoun, two government-held areas, en route to or from rebel-held Sanaa -- a proposal the rebels immediately rejected. "We are keen on the opening of Sanaa airport, and we demand the opening of Sanaa airport ... but we are looking into who will supervise Sanaa airport," said Abdulaziz Jabari, a presidential advisor and member of a Yemeni government delegation at the talks. Jabari also floated the idea that the airport could serve as a hub for domestic flights. Huthi representative Abdulmalik al-Ajri turned down both demands. "Sanaa airport is an international airport," Ajri told AFP. Saudi Arabia and its allies joined the Yemeni government's fight against the rebels in 2015, triggering what the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis. At least 10,000 people have since been killed, according to the World Health Organisation, as children are bombed on buses, recruited as child soldiers and die of hunger. Other rights groups estimate the death toll could be five times higher. 2216239002 WASHINGTON Amid the hymns, prayers, tears and tributes for George H.W. Bush at his state funeral Wednesday, there was also plenty of laughter. That's befitting of a man who loved to laugh, especially at himself, as his son recounted. "He placed great value on a good joke," former President George W. Bush said during his eulogy. "That's why he chose (Alan) Simpson to speak." The former senator from Wyoming, known for his sense of humor, had the mourners who filled Washington National Cathedral chuckling as he told stories about singing "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" with Bush after attending a performance of Andrew Lloyd Webber songs with the president. "A few days later, he's getting hammered by the press for some extraordinarily pithy bit of trivia, and suddenly he sings out, 'Don't cry for me Argentina,'" Simpson recalled. "The press then wrote that he was finally losing his marbles." Former Sen. Alan Simpson, R-Wyo, center, speaks with former President George Bush, right, as he walks to a podium to speak during the State Funeral for former President George H.W. Bush at the National Cathedral, Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018, in Washington. Simpson also added a bit of humor to a serious anecdote about Bush agreeing to a budget deal, knowing it would hurt him politically because it went against his pledge to not raise taxes. Bush said that on the tough choices, he had to think about his country before his party. "He was a man of such great humility," Simpson said, adding, "Those who travel the high road of humility in Washington, D.C., are not bothered by heavy traffic." More: George H.W. Bush funeral: These are the moments you missed More: George W. Bush, choking back tears, lauds his father as 'the best father a son or daughter could have' Former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney of Canada, who was close to Bush, recounted Bush's first NATO meeting as president where he took copious notes. Even after the leaders of Great Britain and Germany had spoken, Bush continued to write and write and write as the prime minister of Iceland droned on until the NATO secretary-general called for a coffee break. Story continues Bush put down his pen and walked over to Mulroney, telling him he'd just learned the fundamental principle of international affairs: The smaller the country, the longer the speech. "George Bush was a man of high accomplishment," Mulroney said, "and he also had a delightful sense of humor and was a lot of fun." When Bush was kidded for mistakenly grabbing the hand of a department store mannequin while courting voters in New Hampshire, he had a ready comeback. "Never know. Got to ask," Bush said. "You can hear the voice, can't you?" biographer Jon Meacham said of Bush's unique patter of East Coast-raised patrician-speak mixed with a fear of self-aggrandizement. "As Dana Carvey said, the key to a Bush 41 impersonation is Mr. Rogers trying to be John Wayne." Bush knew that public speaking wasn't his forte, Meacham noted. He repeated some signature Bush lines, including: "We're enjoying sluggish times, but we're not enjoying them very much." Besides laughing at himself when he was unintentionally funny, Bush had a circle of friends with whom he shared humor by email. George W. Bush described his father's rating system for the quality of the jokes as "classic George Bush." "The rare sevens and eights were considered huge winners," he said, "most of them off-color." But while Bush loved a good joke throwing his head back and giving a great laugh he could never remember a punchline, Simpson said. "And I mean never," he added. "So the punchline for George Herbert Walker Bush is this," Simpson said. "He never lost his sense of humor. Humor is the universal solvent against the abrasive elements of life. That's what humor is." This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Mourners at George H.W. Bush's funeral also laughed and that's the way Bush would have wanted it Abuja (AFP) - Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday refused to sign off on plans to overhaul the country's electoral laws, judging that new rules would cause "disruption and confusion" so close to an election. Africa's most populous nation goes to the polls to elect a new president and parliament on February 16. Governorship and state house of assembly elections will be held two weeks later. Buhari, who is seeking re-election, said he was "concerned that passing a new electoral bill this far into the electoral process... could create some uncertainty about the applicable legislation". Parliament has passed the Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2018 and has been awaiting presidential assent in the hope it would be introduced before polling day. But Buhari said: "Any real or apparent change to the rules this close to the election may provide an opportunity for disruption and confusion in respect of which law governs the electoral process." Amendments should come into effect after the 2019 general elections, he told the speaker of the lower House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, in a letter. Domestic and international observers have expressed concern about electoral fraud, after allegations of vote-buying at recent gubernatorial elections. One of the main amendments in the bill was the compulsory use of electronic voter card readers, which are designed to make it harder to rig the result. Failure of the technology would see a substitute machine brought in to the affected polling station and voting postponed up to 24 hours, the bill proposed. Under the current legislation, card readers that scan fingerprints and other personal data are optional. Election officials can revert to traditional paper ballots and electoral lists should the technology fail. That happened in 2015 when then-president Goodluck Jonathan voted in his hometown, forcing him to register by hand. Buhari had no such problems when he voted. Story continues Technical glitches with the handheld readers at 300 of the country's 150,000 polling stations forced the election to run over into a second day. Other proposed amendments in the bill included limits on election campaign funding and the cost of nomination forms for political candidates. The head of the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre and civil society election monitor Situation Room, Clement Nwankwo, said it was a "sad day for Nigeria's electoral progress". Buhari had refused three earlier versions and failed to present his own version, he wrote on Twitter. (Reuters) - North Carolina's board of elections identified political consultant Leslie McCrae Dowless as a person of interest on Friday amid a probe of possible absentee ballot fraud in a disputed U.S. congressional election. The board has refused to certify Republican Mark Harris as the winner of the Nov. 6 election for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives as it investigates possible fraud involving absentee ballots from two rural counties. In a statement, the board said it has assigned four investigators to the probe and issued subpoenas to the Red Dome Group, a consulting firm that Dowless performed work for, along with the Harris campaign committee and the campaign for a local Bladen County sheriff candidate. Residents in rural Bladen County have provided sworn affidavits that people came to their homes to collect absentee ballots they had not filled in. In North Carolina, it is illegal for a third party to turn in absentee ballots. Two women have told WSOC-TV in North Carolina that Dowless paid them to collect absentee ballots and deliver them to him. Dowless worked for the Red Dome Group, the station reported. Neither Dowless nor Red Dome has responded to requests for comment. If fraud is uncovered, the board could order a new election. Harris edged out Democrat Dan McCready by 905 votes last month, but McCready on Thursday withdrew his concession. Harris, in a video posted on Twitter on Friday, said: "I was absolutely unaware of any wrongdoing." The Republican said his campaign was cooperating with the state investigation and he would support a new election if the probe finds proof of illegal activity that could have changed the outcome of the vote. (Reporting by Grant Smith in New York; Writing by John Whitesides in Washington; Editing by Colleen Jenkins, Dan Grebler and Jonathan Oatis) Sao Paulo (AFP) - The reputation of Odebrecht, a Brazilian construction giant, has become linked with corruption after it admitted to paying hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes in a dozen countries to secure public works contracts. But, following a corporate overhaul and the conviction of its former boss Marcelo Odebrecht -- still under house arrest after spending more than two years in prison -- the group insists it has turned a corner. "The most critical period has passed," said the CEO of the Odebrecht conglomerate's core engineering and construction division, Fabio Januario, 47, named to his post following the scandal. He emphasized in an interview with AFP that the company is forging on with business, while acknowledging that some corruption cases were still hanging over the company from probes in Brazil, the US, Switzerland, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Panama and Ecuador. He did not give details of those cases because "we have to maintain confidentiality." But he said "big progress" had been made, notably anticipating an imminent agreement with authorities in Peru, where four former presidents faced allegations of taking Odebrecht cash. - Sheen lost - Odebrecht, however, is far from having recovered its sheen. It lost its investment grade rating following the revelations that formed part of the sprawling Car Wash corruption probe in Brazil that has claimed numerous corporate and political scalps. In December 2016, the US Justice Department announced Odebrecht S.A. and its petrochemical joint venture Braskem would pay a $3.5 billion fine -- a record in international corruption cases -- after admitting to paying $788 million in bribes across 12 countries. Brazilian officials discovered Odebrecht had been especially active in bribing politicians to help secure inflated construction contracts and to influence legislation. Latin American governments are now wary of giving Odebrecht public contracts, with Colombia notably looking to block it from competing for tenders for 20 years. Story continues And ratings agencies say the Brazilian company is burning through cash, reducing liquidity. Januario, however, was upbeat, noting that 11 of 18 public works it was handling were outside Brazil. He said Odebrecht's "transformation" should reassure public and private sector contractors, and asserted that cash-flow was "healthy." He also dismissed any suggestion of changing Odebrecht's name to put distance between the company and its recent disgrace. "Despite the problems, the brand is recognized for its competence, for its technical excellence," he said. "Nobody combines cement, sand and steel and has more capability to carry out projects than our company." - 'Non-partisan' - Januario also downplayed any negative outlook from a new government taking charge in Brazil next month that will be headed by a far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, who campaigned on anti-corruption policies, and whose justice minister will be a judge who led the Car Wash probe. "We are non-partisan, we provide services to society through its governments," Januario said. He said he was "optimistic" about the incoming justice minister. "Our vision is positive," he said. The corporate behemoth was founded in 1944 in the northeastern state of Bahia, by Norberto Odebrecht, grandfather of Marcelo. At its pre-scandal peak, in 2015, it had 128,000 employees, with gross revenues of around $39 billion and activities in 25 countries. But afterward its payroll was cut by a third as revenues shrank. Originally sentenced to 19 years in prison, Marcelo Odebrecht eventually struck a plea bargain, testifying in exchange for a reduced sentence that allowed him to move to house arrest in his luxurious Sao Paulo mansion. His testimony implicated outgoing President Michel Temer and many of the country's top politicians. Vienna (AFP) - OPEC members and 10 other oil producing nations, including Russia, agreed Friday to cut output by 1.2 million barrels a day in a bid to reverse falls in prices in recent months. Energy ministers reached the deal -- which takes effect from January 1 but has already sent prices surging on oil markets -- after two days of talks at OPEC headquarters in Vienna. "OPEC group countries are contributing 800,000 barrels per day as a cut, and the non-OPEC (countries) will be contributing 400,000 barrels per day," Emirati Oil Minister Suhail Mohamed al-Mazrouei said at a news conference. OPEC and its partners, which together account for around half of global output, met against the backdrop of a glut in the market which had led to oil prices falling by more than 30 percent in two months. Mazrouei said that three countries had been allowed exemptions from the agreement due to "special circumstances". "Those countries are Iran and Venezuela because of the sanctions and Libya because of the fact that unfortunately they are on and off," he added, alluding to the impact on Libyan production of continuing conflict there. Mazrouei said that the exemptions mean that the cuts introduced by other member states are "going to be a bit higher than just the average for everyone". For his part Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak -- whose country is the world's second biggest producer of oil -- said that the agreement "should help the market reach a balance" and recognised that negotiations had been "complex". - Not enough? - The price of Brent crude, the European benchmark, surged 4.43 percent on Friday to $62.7 as of 17:15 GMT. But some said Friday's deal may not be enough to keep oil prices buoyant. "I would describe the cuts as close but not close enough with regards to eliminating the global oil glut," said Stephen Brennock, oil expert at London brokerage PVM. Story continues "A combined reduction of 1.5 mbpd was needed to avoid a supply surplus in the first half of next year," he told AFP. "Accordingly, the price outlook for the coming few months still remains skewed to the downside despite todays knee-jerk reaction." The deal was announced after Novak held bilateral meetings with several counterparts, including Iranian Energy Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, before the full meeting. However, the major players all had their own reasons to look to others to act first and the details of how any cuts will be shared out will be key. Novak said that Russia, which leads the non-member countries in the so-called OPEC+ alliance, would introduce cuts "gradually" to allow for "climatic and technical conditions" but aimed to reach the cuts target "in the next few months. OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, had to bear in mind pressure from the United States after President Donald Trump demanded in a tweet on Wednesday that the cartel boost output so as to lower prices and help the economy. The kingdom's diplomatic position has been badly weakened by the furore over the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Trump insists he will stick by Riyadh despite the outrage but he has been also ramping up the pressure for more oil. However, at Friday's press conference Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih sought to play down Trump's influence on the decision, saying: "Over 2018 I have met with consumers in Asia more often than I have read tweets coming out of the White House." India had also asked for action to bring down high oil prices, he said. In addition, while admitting that "many consumers are suffering from the high cost of energy", Falih said: "I take the opportunity to plead with consumer nations to take it easy on their own people with taxation," claiming that this was the main driver of prices at the pump. In June, OPEC and its partners agreed to allow for a boost in production by Saudi Arabia and Russia to compensate for the expected losses in output from Iran after the US dramatically withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal in May and decided to re-impose tough sanctions. However, the US then granted temporary waivers to eight countries, including crucially China, to allow them to carry on importing Iranian oil, contributing to a plunge in oil prices which wiped out the gains seen since early 2017. Paris (AFP) - Amid loud calls for him to end the "yellow vest" crisis gripping France, President Emmanuel Macron will address the nation Monday as authorities count the cost of weeks of anti-government protests. The president will speak to the French people at 8:00 pm (1900 GMT), his Elysee office announced -- Macron's first public comments after four weeks of nationwide anti-government demonstrations which again turned violent Saturday in Paris and other cities. Macron, who has been the target of many protesters' anger over his perceived pro-rich policies, was expected to announce "immediate and concrete measures" to respond to the crisis, added Labour Minister Muriel Penicaud. The embattled 40-year-old president will also meet trade unionists and business leaders earlier Monday. Officials said anti-Macron riots in Paris Saturday had been less violent than a week earlier, with fewer people injured, but damage to property across the capital was far worse. Burned-out cars dotted the streets in several neighbourhoods Sunday as cleaners swept up the broken glass from smashed shop windows and bus stops. "There was much more dispersion (of protesters), so many more places were impacted," Paris deputy mayor Emmanuel Gregoire told France Inter radio. "There was much more damage." The southwestern city of Bordeaux was also badly hit by rioting on the fourth weekend of nationwide protests. What began as demonstrations against fuel tax hikes has ballooned into a mass movement over rising living costs. Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said the unrest was a "catastrophe" for the French economy, with roadblocks playing havoc with traffic and riots putting off tourists from visiting Paris. Parts of the capital went on lockdown Saturday, with department stores shut to avoid looting, along with museums and monuments including the Eiffel Tower. Protesters hail overwhelmingly from rural and small-town France but have a range of different goals, from lower taxes to Macron's resignation. Story continues "It is clear that we underestimated people's need to make themselves heard," government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux told Europe 1 radio. "It is anger that is difficult to understand from an office in Paris," he acknowledged. Alain Juppe, mayor of Bordeaux where a protester lost his hand after picking up an anti-riot grenade, joined calls from across the political spectrum for Macron to respond. "This disorder must end," the former prime minister tweeted. "The president must speak, and speak quickly." - Mass arrests - The protests have shown little sign of easing since they began on November 17. The interior ministry said 136,000 people took part nationwide in Saturday's protests, which turned violent in several cities including Marseille and Toulouse. In Paris, around 10,000 "yellow vests" flocked to the Champs-Elysees and other areas. Nationwide, more than 2,000 people were detained -- over 1,000 of them in Paris as police vowed "zero tolerance" for trouble-makers. France's chief prosecutor Remy Heitz said those arrested had "a very similar profile to last week", including many far-right and far-left agitators. Most of the protesters rounded up were men younger than 40, without previous criminal records, from across France. "Prosecutors have clearly decided not to let the violence committed in Paris go unpunished," he told reporters, adding that nearly 100 minors were among those detained. - Wage hikes ruled out - The crisis facing a leader who had been hailed internationally as a youthful defender of liberal values, is being closely watched abroad. Spain's El Pais newspaper said it was the first time Macron was "hesitating, giving the impression that he does not know what to do". He has already offered protesters a string of concessions, including scrapping further fuel tax rises in 2019 -- a major climbdown for a president who had vowed not to be swayed, like his predecessors, by mass protests. But so far he has refused to back down on another policy hated by the "yellow vests": his decision to scrap a tax on the assets of France's wealthiest. Penicaud on Sunday also rejected the idea of a hike in the minimum wage, saying it would have knock-on effects for the whole economy. "We know that destroys jobs," Penicaud told LCI television. "If we raise all salaries automatically, many businesses would just go bust -- or they would have to raise their prices, and no one would pay for their services." - Russian propaganda accounts? - The movement has spread beyond France's borders, with around 400 arrested at a "yellow vest" event in Brussels on Saturday and peaceful demonstrations taking place in Dutch towns. In France, authorities have also launched an investigation into social media activity from accounts allegedly drumming up support for the protests, sources told AFP. According to Britain's Times newspaper, hundreds of online accounts linked to Russia were used to stoke the demonstrations. Citing analysis by New Knowledge, a cybersecurity company, the Times said the accounts spread disinformation and used pictures of injured protesters from other events to enhance a narrative of brutality by French authorities. burs-kjl/mlr/boc Gaza City (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - Employees of the Hamas administration in the Gaza Strip began collecting their salaries for a second month Friday, after Qatar pumped more money into the territory with Israel's blessings. The fresh cash infusion from the Gulf state comes as tensions along the border between Gaza and Israel have cooled in recent weeks after a controversial truce deal in November halted a major flareup between the Jewish state and Hamas. Twenty Palestinians were wounded by Israeli fire during protests along the frontier Friday, the health ministry in the enclave said, but demonstrations were far smaller than previous months. The new funds from Qatar arrived despite the ceasefire with Hamas unleashing a political crisis in Israel that saw Avigdor Lieberman resign as defence minister after accusing premier Benjamin Netanyahu of going soft on Gaza's Islamist rulers. Hundreds of employees of Hamas government departments waited in long queues outside banks in the Gaza Strip from the early hours, AFP reporters said. The Hamas-run finance ministry announced in a statement to local media that the money would be distributed over the next two days, with employees receiving 50 percent of their salaries. Doaa, a 36-year-old employee at the women's ministry in Gaza, said she came early in the morning to receive her salary. "This payment helps us to live our life and meet the needs of our children, even if only a little." In Qatar's operation, a total of $90 million is to be distributed in six monthly instalments of $15 million, according to authorities, primarily to cover salaries of officials working for Hamas. A first tranche of $15 million was distributed in early November, and the second one was brought into Gaza late Thursday by Qatari ambassador Mohammed al-Emadi, Hamas sources said. The Qatari envoy to Gaza also met Hamas leader Ismail Haniya. - 'Prints, pictures, signatures' - Story continues The Qatari cash is part of a push for calm between Hamas and Israel, that was supposed to see an end to months of violent protests along the Gaza-Israel border in exchange for an easing of Israel's crippling blockade of the coastal enclave. But on November 11, Hamas and Israeli undercover troops had a bloody gun battle following a botched Israeli raid in southern Gaza. In the following days, Hamas fired hundreds of rockets at Israel in response, with the Israeli army striking Hamas targets in Gaza. A ceasefire two days later ended the violence, but Lieberman, who was opposed to the Qatari money transfer, resigned. Speaking Thursday, Netanyahu defended the Qatari agreement, saying it had achieved "quiet" on the border. He said energy-rich Qatar, a longtime Hamas ally, had been the only country willing to provide the funds, and that Israel had mechanisms to assess where the funds went. Qatar "passes on to us finger prints, pictures, signatures, so that the money doesn't just go in to anyone," Netanyahu told foreign diplomats. Hamas has controlled Gaza since pushing out rival faction Fatah in a 2007 near civil war. Fatah civil servants were then instructed not to work, so Hamas has hired around 40,000 additional staff. Hamas and Israel have fought three wars since 2008. Beirut (AFP) - France on Friday warned Lebanon it could lose the international community's goodwill and much-needed investments if it takes any longer to form a government. Lebanon's economy has looked on the brink of collapse for some time but a Paris conference dubbed CEDRE in April earned it $11 billion in aid pledges. Polls held the following month gave Saad Hariri a new term as prime minister but Lebanon's fractious political class has since failed to agree on a government line-up. Seven months on, a breakthrough does not seem imminent and French Ambassador to Lebanon Bruno Foucher warned that Lebanon stood to lose a lot. "We deeply regret that our Lebanese friends are not able to agree on a government," he said during a press conference held on a French frigate making a stop in Beirut. The amounts pledged in Paris were unexpectedly high and other conferences have also mustered support for Lebanon, whose economy has been in a downward spiral for years due to political divisions and corruption. The outbreak of violence in neighbouring Syria in 2011 added to those woes, keeping tourists away and triggering a massive influx of refugees that has strained public services. "The lack of a government in Lebanon means running the risk that this dynamic in the international community is lost," Foucher said. "That moment could pass." The French envoy explained that a new government was needed to undertake the programme contained in the CEDRE plan and warned that investors would not wait for forever. "There are other countries that may need international assistance," he said. Government formation is often a drawn-out process in Lebanon, where a complex governing system seeks to maintain a precarious balance of power between its various political and religious communities. Milan (AFP) - Russia on Friday insisted that Ukrainian sailors it captured after seizing their vessels will go on trial for violating its maritime borders, despite international calls for their release. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the 24 Ukrainian sailors currently in pre-trial detention will be put in the dock for violations of Russian and international law. "When the investigation is over, there will be a trial," he told reporters after a meeting in Milan of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). Russia's top diplomat suggested that after a trial verdict, measures could be taken to improve the sailors' situation, without specifying if they could be pardoned or released as part of an exchange with Kiev. "As soon as the trial is over, we will have different possibilities in accordance with Russian legislation," he said. "Then it will be possible to say how to make their lives easier or agree to some concrete steps. But this will be done only after the trial has been completed." Last month Russia opened fire on three Ukrainian 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 were detained. Despite international calls for their release, the courts ordered the sailors to be held in pre-trial detention for two months and they are now in Moscow. Three of them are undergoing treatment for injuries. The seamen face up to six years in prison for illegally crossing Russia's borders. Critics of the Kremlin have warned Russia is preparing a show trial. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has insisted they are "prisoners of war" and should be immediately released. Ukraine has introduced martial law in border and coastal areas for 30 days following the incident. The seamen have joined a long list of Ukrainians jailed in Russia including filmmaker Oleg Sentsov, who refused food for 145 days in an Arctic penal colony earlier this year. Story continues The incident with the Ukrainian ships was the most dangerous in years between the ex-Soviet neighbours. They 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. Speaking to reporters, Lavrov also denounced what he said were Washington's plans to ditch the New START nuclear treaty, set to expire in 2021. "There's an impression that the groundwork is being laid for the destruction of this document too," he said. The two former Cold War enemies have recently clashed over the fate of another key arms-control treaty, the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty (INF). Lavrov also slammed Washington for the arrest of Huawei's chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, in Canada at the request of the United States, saying it sought to apply its laws outside its jurisdiction. "These are very arrogant, super-power-like policies. Even the United States' closest allies already find them annoying," Lavrov said. "It's time to put an end to this." Jerusalem (AFP) - Police questioned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's wife Sara on Friday, her lawyer said, with media saying it was over new suspicions of fraudulently misusing public funds. Public radio said that Sara Netanyahu arrived at the headquarters of the National Fraud Squad, near Tel Aviv, late in the morning. There was no immediate confirmation from police, who have issued statements on previous interrogations of the Netanyahus on a raft of different graft allegations. But Sara Netanyahu's lawyer said late Friday afternoon, after the last round of questioning was over, that the suspicious, which would amount to nothing were another illustration of the Netanyahus' "persecution" by Israeli law enforcement authorities. "At the end of the investigation it will become evident that this was another case of fabrications and tales of the state witness Nir Hefetz, which are totally false," Yossi Cohen said of the Netanyahu family's former spokesman. "When the other cases crash, new lies are invented," he said. "How much longer will the persecution of the Netanyahu family continue," asked Cohen in a statement issued via the Netanyahu family's spokesman. On Sunday, police recommended charging the premier and his wife for bribery and other offences. It was the third such recommendation against them in recent months. Netanyahu denied the accusations, but the cases against him have led to speculation that they could eventually force the long-serving prime minister to step down. Sara Netanyahu went on trial in October for allegedly using state funds to fraudulently pay for hundreds of meals. Haaretz daily said Friday that the latest allegation against her relates to fraudulent presentation to a government watchdog of receipts for charitable donations. It said that if the suspicions are verified, they would be added to evidence in her existing trial. Police in February recommended indicting Netanyahu in two other corruption investigations. Story continues The attorney general must decide whether to file charges. The premier has repeatedly called the allegations against him a plot by his political enemies to force him from office. The recommendations in February involved separate cases of alleged bribery. In one, allegations against Netanyahu include seeking a secret deal with the publisher of Israel's top-selling newspaper Yediot Aharonot to ensure positive coverage in return for pushing forward a law that would have limited the circulation of a rival. The other case involves suspicions the premier and his family received luxury gifts from wealthy individuals in exchange for financial or personal favours. Netanyahu has been prime minister for a total of more than 12 years, from 1996 to 1999 and again since 2009. Polls suggest he would still win if elections were to be held now despite the accusations. Student protesters in Toulouse, France, took to the streets for the fourth day in a row on Thursday, December 6, clashing with police and even assaulting a journalist, according to the citys mayor. According to France Bleu, between 2,000 and 3,000 students initially gathered at Universite Jean-Jaures to protest change to the Baccalaureat on Thursday. Violence began when a portion of those assembled marched towards Saint Cyprien, near the city center. As they marched, protesters smashed bus stops, set fires, and threw projectiles at police, Toulouses Depeche du Midi reported. In one instance, a protester confronted a journalist, assaulting him and destroying his camera. Toulouse Mayor Jean-Luc Moudenc condemned the violence, saying todays protesters arrived with the sole goal of causing chaos. Security forces have responded to the escalation, firing tear gas and working to control and disperse the crowds. Footage recorded near Pont Neuf shows a group of police officers carrying riot shields advancing down a narrow street towards protesters. Shouts and bangs could be heard and a column of smoke is visible in the distance. In another clip, police formed a line and launched tear gas into a square. Credit: @ro0main via Storyful MADRID (Reuters) - Spain on Friday insisted that a Brexit deal should make clear Madrid would have a direct say how the future relationship between the EU and Britain could impact Gibraltar, and this would have to be discussed bilaterally. "It is clear, and the government is determined, that it must be absolutely guaranteed that any agreement between the European Union and Britain require the prior approval of Spain, relating to Gibraltar," government spokeswoman Isabel Celaa said. (Reporting by Isla Binnie; Editing by Julien Toyer) Border Patrol agent Juan David Ortiz has been indicted for capital murder for the killings of four women in and around Laredo, Texas. Ortiz confessed to the four murders when he was arrested in September, after one woman escaped and informed authorities that he had pointed a gun at her. Webb County District Attorney District Attorney Isidro Alaniz announced at a press conference on Wednesday that the state of Texas intends to seek the death penalty. All five of the women Ortiz abducted, including the woman who escaped, were sex workers, and Ortiz reportedly considered himself a vigilante authorities, on the other hand, called him a serial killer. Alaniz said at the press conference that Ortiz wanted to, clean up the streets of Laredo by targeting individuals he deemed to be disposable and that no one would care about. People he did not give value to. The case was presented to a grand jury over the course of two hours Wednesday: How Ortiz picked up his first victim, Melissa Ramirez, on September 3rd, and drove her to a remote road before shooting her twice in the head. He killed his second victim, Claudine Ann Luera, the same way 10 days later, after she told Ortiz she knew he was the last person seen with Ramirez. One day after that, he picked up Erica Pena, who also mentioned Ramirez before he pointed his gun at her. She jumped out of his moving truck and ran to a gas station, where she found a state trooper and told him what had happened, putting authorities on Ortizs trail. Before they could apprehend him, however, he killed his final two victims, Guiselda Alicia Hernandez, and Janelle Ortiz, that same night. The grand jury returned indictments against Ortiz after 20 minutes. In addition to the capital murder charge a higher charge than the four counts of first degree murder he was originally charged with Ortiz was also indicted on one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon; one count of unlawful restraint with reckless exposure to serious bodily injury; and evading arrest. Ortizs attorney was not immediately available for comment. Story continues Ortiz, by day, he was a family man, Alaniz told reporters. The evidence shows that he was a supervisor. That he would go about his daily activities like anybody here. He appeared normal by all accounts and circumstances. At the nighttime, he was someone else, hunting the streets of San Bernardo for this community of people and arbitrarily deciding who he was going to kill next. Alaniz also explained that the death penalty is warranted in this case for a number of reasons: The horrific nature of the murders. His complete disregard for human life. His vigilante mentality. He violated his oath to his country and his agency that he swore to protect, and a lack of mitigating circumstances. The evidence that was presented to the grand jury this morning showed that he killed these four innocent individuals in a cold, callous and calculated way. Ortiz has been suspended without pay since his arrest, but the U.S. Customs and Border Protection has not yet severed ties with him completely. EDINBURGH (Reuters) - British security firm G4S confirmed on Thursday that five of its employees, including one UK national, were killed in an attack on one of its sites in the Afghan capital on Wednesday. Four of those killed were Afghan nationals. "It is with great sadness that we can confirm that five of our employees were killed and 32 were injured, five of them seriously, in an unprovoked, criminal attack on one of our compounds in Kabul on 28 November 2018," G4S said in an emailed statement. (Reporting by Elisabeth O'Leary, editing by James Davey) United Nations (United States) (AFP) - Days ahead of an international conference in Morocco to endorse a UN migration pact, the United States made the case Friday for opposing the deal that it shunned a year ago and which has since prompted a wave of withdrawals. In a lengthy statement, the United States said the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration represents "an effort by the United Nations to advance global governance at the expense of the sovereign right of states to manage their immigration systems." The non-binding pact agreed in July last year has become a target for right-wing and populist politicians who have denounced it as an affront to national sovereignty. The US, which quit negotiations in December 2017, expressed concern that supporters of the agreement would use it to build "customary international law" or "soft law" in the area of migration. The three-page US statement outlined a number of objections such as a provision in the compact stating that detention of migrants should be "a last resort," arguing that this was inconsistent with US law. Washington is also concerned that it "downplays the cost of immigration to destination countries" such as the "loss of employment opportunities" for low-skilled workers and "stresses on public services." The US statement came with the UN preparing to host a two-day conference opening on Monday in Marrakesh to endorse the pact, despite a string of defections. Hungary withdrew last year and since then Australia, Israel, Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Austria, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Belgium Latvia, Italy and the Dominican Republic have quit the pact or expressed strong reservations. - No closed door - The global pact lays out 23 objectives to open up legal migration and better manage the influx as the number of people on the move worldwide has increased to 250 million, or just over three percent of the world's population. Story continues When the deal was approved in July, it was held up as an example of a UN diplomatic success achieved without the United States at a time when President Donald Trump is questioning the relevance of the world body. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said it was "regrettable" that some countries had over the past week walked out but added that there was no "closed door" and that they were "always welcome to come back." Stressing that the pact was non-binding, he recalled that the accord was aimed at helping countries manage migration and did not pose a challenge to state authority over borders. "It seems to defy logic to see how you can manage migration without having a global conversation," he said. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will travel to Marrakesh for the conference to be attended by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the most high-profile leader at the event. The document will return to the UN General Assembly for approval at a session scheduled for December 19. Andrew Sullivan (Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photo: T.J. Kirkpatrick/Getty Images) Wisconsin Republican attempts to reduce Democrats power before they take the governorship in January is a huge issue for a liberal democracy, columnist Andrew Sullivan said. Sullivan, in an interview on the Yahoo News podcast The Long Game, said that the Republican-controlled legislature in Wisconsin is treating the opposition party as if it is not legitimate. Sullivan wrote in a recent column for New York magazine that every aspect of the American political system is under strain, is less trusted, and that if this trend continues, political violence could ensue. What we dont know, in other words, is when the legitimacy of the entire political system could come into doubt, across the ideological spectrum, in a way that might sanction undemocratic responses, Sullivan wrote. The Wisconsin GOPs power grab during a lame duck session after an election in which they lost the governorship and the attorney generals office is part of the erosion of the norms that Sullivan said are essential for a functioning democracy. What we havent really had in America is the party as in the Communist Party or as in a complete ideological or cult party which operates under the assumption that it has an almost divine right to rule and that other people dont, and therefore manipulates the system to prevent the other side having any real say in it, Sullivan said on The Long Game. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a Republican, is expected to sign some or all of the legislation that has been passed in recent days. The GOP has voted to restrict early voting, to block the new governor Democrat Tony Evers from withdrawing the state from a lawsuit against the Affordable Care Act, to limit the new governors ability to seek waivers from federal programs and to dramatically weaken the new attorney general also a Democrat in lawsuits involving the state or state laws. Charlie Sykes, a former conservative talk radio host from Milwaukee, wrote Thursday that there is some precedent for the Republican measures, given the way Democrats tried eight years ago to limit Walkers ability to negotiate with state employee unions. Story continues But Sykes, who has known Walker personally for years, wrote in the Atlantic that signing the legislation would be an especially classless way for Walker to leave office and would tarnish his reputation in ways that Im not sure he grasps. Whats happening now in Wisconsin, and similar moves in Michigan, will only escalate the cycle of hyper-partisanship, wrote Sykes. In his New York column, Sullivan expressed concern that ongoing disrespect for established democratic norms makes him concerned that if President Trump were to lose the 2020 election in a close contest, he could refuse to vacate the White House. Sullivan mused that the day before the next president was supposed to be inaugurated, Trump was perfectly capable of refusing to leave and saying that millions voted illegally, and he isnt leaving and this is a coup by the Deep State, and the people need to come out on the streets to support their president. Sullivan has long been a provocative and contrarian polemicist, and, to many, an enigma. He is an advocate of the gay rights movement who also decries identity politics, which he believes is damaging the business and media sectors as well. He is a searing critic of President Trump, but has at times aligned himself as a conservative. Im very hostile, deeply hostile toward Trump, but I also think the forces on the left are extremely dangerous as well insofar as they undermine the very intellectual and motivational principles behind liberal democracy, Sullivan said. At a recent Heritage Foundation forum, Sullivan bashed political correctness and the kind of online mob mentality that is common on the left. This call-out culture, this moral shaming is also deep within human nature of course. But online interaction disinhibited it, allowed us increasingly to respond to public debate in terms entirely of identity rather than ideas, Sullivan said. Almost every single argument is about whether Im white, whether Im male, whether Im LGBTQRSTUVWXYZ, or not. But then he pivoted to a similarly blunt criticism of the adoption by the Republican Party of white identity politics and the elevation of this horrible, hideous, racist human being to the presidency. You cant criticize identity politics on the left without seeing how it has been emboldened, legitimized and empowered by identity politics on the right, Sullivan said. As Sullivan spoke, a man in the audience stormed out of the room. You say Trump is a racist? Prove it! the unidentified man shouted when asked by Yahoo News why he walked out. Ironically, much of the criticism of identity politics is that people are too quick to call others racist, and that the theory of microaggressions is based on the idea that the intention behind someones words or actions doesnt matter, only the result. But the deeper critique of identity politics is that free and open inquiry into controversial topics is becoming harder as people grow fearful of having conversations where they can try to understand different points of view, express their own and gain understanding. Download or subscribe on iTunes: The Long Game by Yahoo News _____ Read more from Yahoo News: Imagine jumping out of a helicopter, seeing what an outfit looks like before trying it on, or becoming a leading character in a favorite video game. The latest technology from high-tech companies Photuro and Mantis Vision is bringing consumers one step closer to realizing these visions. Israels first-ever three-dimensional photography booth was recently inaugurated at the Ayalon Mall in Ramat Gan, with people were lining up to try it. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter A 3D camera contains all the depth information, meaning that from the image itself you can get the (exact) measurements of a person, Shabtay Negry, Chief Business Officer (CBO) of Mantis Vision, explained to The Media Line. If I capture you in 3D, I can get your height, your width, the thickness of your palmthe data contains all the information and we can gather all the dimensions with high accuracy. Big Brother Goes 3D (Photo: David Lee) The state-of-the-art kiosk contains 22 cameras and high-quality lighting. Those wishing to create their very own avatar need only to fill out a form, select the image specifications, step into the booth, and within seconds an accurate virtual model is sent to their smartphone. You can scan yourself into different backgrounds and embed yourself within video games like Grant Theft Auto. The sky is the limit, Ronen Hakimi, co-founder & CEO of Photuro, told The Media Line. Up to five people can be photographed simultaneously, and the technology also enables people to create a personalized 3D-printed sculpture. Though these miniature statues are pricyrunning anywhere from $60-$600the virtual model costs only $12, which means almost everyone can have their very computer icon. While other companiessuch as Shapify in the United States and Omote in Japanoffer a similar service, the Israeli technology differs by providing individuals with immediate access to their virtual image. If you tried to get your digital model from other companies, you would see that its much more difficult and it takes much more time, Hakimi noted. This technology allows you to receive your image in very high quality within minutes. It seems there is already a keen interest in the technology in a number of sectors, including robotics, shipping andperhaps most notablysurveillance. (Lets say) you have a database of suspected (criminals) that you would like to arrest. We can create a 3D database with our 3D cameras that can capture anyone trying to (get into a specific location) without them needing to be (motionless), Negry explained. (The technology) can capture the face and entire body and take a biometric signature (based on this information). However, some fear that the technology could, under certain circumstances, be used for nefarious purposes. As 3D images become increasingly sophisticated, creating fake video segments, for example, might one day be as simple as pressing a button. This could, in turn, produce an even greater preoccupation with the fake news phenomenon. Overall, technological advancements are liable to blur the line between reality and fiction, leading to completely new forms of human interaction, both with products and among each other. The question is, are we ready for it? Article written by Maya Margit A new luxurious community center renovated by the Israeli Embassy in South Africa was inaugurated last week in Johannesburg, despite pressure from the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement to scrap the project. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter The community center, located in one of the toughest neighborhoods in the town of Soweto, on the outskirts of South Africa's biggest city, was unveiled despite the tensions between the two countries, which culminated last May when the African state recalled its ambassador in Israel. The project in Sowetoconsidered the symbol of the struggle against the apartheidwas completed within several months. The opening of Soweto community center Since May, Israel's ambassador to Pretoria has been promoting social projects involving the local population all across the country in the fields of agriculture, women's empowerment and more. The project in Soweto was initiated by Danny Adeno Abebe, a former Yedioth Ahronoth reporter who serves as a central emissary of the Habonim Dror movement and the Zionist Council. As part of the project, titled "Your Neighbors," Abebe organized monthly meetings between hundreds of Jewish children and Israeli emissaries and local children living in the slums. In the meetings, the kids did homework together and danced, among other activities. However, the fact that the community center lacked a roof became a significant obstacle in holding activities there, especially during rainy days. The makeshift roof became moldy, and the musical equipment was destroyed by the water. Abebe invited Lior Keinan, Israel's ambassador to South Africa, to visit the neighborhood and meet with the local leadership, who asked for help in repairing the roof. Keinan agreed to assist, but once the local BDS activists became aware the project is being sponsored by the Israeli government, they attempted to put pressure on the local leadership to halt the renovation plans. "Its a public relations stunt financed by the apartheid state in the Middle East," stressed the activists in an official statement. Nevertheless, the residents of Soweto decided to cooperate with the Israeli aid since the project was meant to greatly benefit the local population. Sign at the community center Last Wednesday, the renovated centerwhich now boasts a sign noting the contribution of the Israeli embassyhas been officially unveiled. Keinan and Abebe, who were both in attendance, performed a traditional dance along with the locals. Abebe said the community center plays an integral part in the lives of more than 400 children living in Soweto, where they can now spend their time doing homework without the dangers of getting drenched by rain. The Palestinian Authority (PA) has planted millions of olive trees in the West Bank in a ploy to lay claim to land and set facts on the ground, according to an internal report by the Israeli Civil Administration (ICA). Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter According to the report, which was written by the head of the Agriculture Department in the ICA and brought to light by the Zionist civil rights Lavi organization, the Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture has implemented a plan to take over land by planting olive trees. "According to data collected by the Palestinian ministry, the space on which the trees were planted amounts to some 975,000 dunams (241,000 acres) on which 14.7 million olive trees have been planted, 11.9 million of which bear fruit," the report said. Palestinians plant 15 million olive trees (file photo) (Photo: Reuters) "The expansion of the cultivated area is due to the Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture's flagship plan, which calls for the planting of a million olive trees (more than a million in practice)," the senior ICA official wrote. "As part of the project, the ministry, together with other organizations, provided Palestinian farmers in Judea and Samaria with about 300,000 olive tree seedlings," he explained. Palestinian woman picks olives (file photo) (Photo: EPA) There were plans in the past of a Palestinian agricultural takeover, but its scope was much smaller than the data presented in the report. According to a special report by Regavim, a right-wing pro-settler organization, from 2013 to 2017, hundreds of new agricultural sites that cover thousands of dunams were added; and more than 150 new roads were created, stretching over hundreds of kilometers. The implications of the Palestinians' "land grab" tactics are significant and clear. According to the Land Law, which applies to the West Bank as well, continuous processing of land allows the farmer to claim ownership of that land. According to Regavim's report, Palestinian agricultural activity focuses on areas near Jewish communities and constitutes a strategic asset, since agricultural activity cuts off future territorial contiguity. Palestinian farmer collects olives (file photo) (Photo: EPA) "The planting of more than one million trees by the Palestinians should be seen as a million warning signs to the State of Israel, which has turned a blind eye to the illegal Palestinian takeover," said Yishai Hamo, Regavim's coordinator of operations. The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) stressed in response to the report that "the document written by Samir Muadi, agriculture staff officer in the Civil Administration, was written as an internal report based on data compiled by the Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture. These figures are not verified by ICA officials." "We would also emphasize that the data relate to the entire Judea and Samaria area, including Areas A and B. Furthermore, since this data has not been verified, the ICA is working to examine and confirm the data. The Civil Administration will continue to enforce illegal incursions into state lands that do not include private lands in Area C," the statement from COGAT read. An unarmed US Air Force plane with American and international observers flew a special flight over Ukraine Thursday in a show of solidarity after Ukraine's naval confrontation last month with Russia in the Black Sea, the Pentagon said. In a statement, the Pentagon called it an "extraordinary" flight under the Open Skies Treaty, which is an international accord that gives each member country the right to conduct, and the obligation to accept, unarmed military observation flights. The purpose to is promote transparency in military activities. Lebanon's Ambassador to the United Nations, Amal Mudallali, demanded Thursday the UN Security Council to condemn Israel for its activities in his country. "Israel is waging a diplomatic campaign against Lebanon, and has breached Kafr Kila's communication network, while sending Lebanese citizens recorded messages warning them from explosion," Mudallali wrote in his letter to the Security Council. According to Mudallali, Israel's actions are a violation of UN resolution 1701 that ended the 2006 Second Lebanon War. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo slammed the United Nation General Assembly, after A US-sponsored draft resolution to condemn the Hamas terror group had failed Thursday to win the required two-thirds majority at the UN. "Following Just days after Hamas indiscriminately fired thousands of missiles at Israels citizens, UN could not muster a resolution condemning this band of terrorists. This is yet another disgraceful act of bias toward the Jewish State," Pompeo tweeted. A US attempt to get the United Nations to condemn violence by Hamas terror group for the first time failed on Thursday because the draft resolution fell short of votes needed in the General Assembly. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter The resolution required two-thirds support and while Assembly resolutions are non-binding, they can carry political weight. The US text received 87 votes in favor, 58 against, 32 abstentions and 16 countries did not vote. Outgoing US Amb. to the UN Nikki Haley speaking before the GA In an earlier procedural move requested by Kuwait, the 193-member body narrowly voted to require two-thirds support and not a simple majority for adoption of the draft resolution. Nikki Haley at UN (: ) X Outgoing US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley had written to member states on Monday to urge them to vote for the US-drafted text, warning them: "The United States takes the outcome of this vote very seriously." UN votes Haley, who will step down at the end of the year, has been a staunch defender of Israel. "Before the General Assembly can credibly advocate compromise and reconciliation between the Palestinians and Israel, it must on record, unambiguously and unconditionally, condemn Hamas terrorism," Haley told the body before the vote. The United States is working on a long-awaited plan to broker peace between Israel and the Palestinians, but the Palestinians are skeptical and have accused the Trump administration of siding with Israel on core issues. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo slammed the UN for rejecting his country's draft resolution. "Following Just days after Hamas indiscriminately fired thousands of missiles at Israels citizens, UN could not muster a resolution condemning this band of terrorists. This is yet another disgraceful act of bias toward the Jewish State," Pompeo tweeted. Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters that "rejecting the American drafted resolution against the resistance represents a blow to the American administration and reaffirms the legitimacy of the resistance." Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commended the 87 countries that voted in favor. Israel's UN Ambassador Danny Danon speaking before the General Assembly (: ) X "While it did not achieve a two-thirds majority, this is the first time that a majority of countries have voted against Hamas and I commend each of the 87 countries that took a principled stand against Hamas," Netanyahu tweeted. Israel's UN Ambassador Danny Danon said the countries that rejected the draft resolution should be ashamed. Haley and Israel's UN Ambassador Danny Danon For more than a decade Gaza has been controlled by Hamas under an Israeli-Egyptian blockade. The economy has collapsed, creating what the World Bank describes as a humanitarian crisis with shortages of water, electricity and medicine. Iran's Deputy UN Ambassador Eshagh Al Habib Israel says it has no choice but to enforce its blockade to defend itself against Hamas, which calls for Israel's destruction and has used Gaza as a base for missile attacks. Iran's Deputy UN Ambassador Eshagh Al Habib accused the United States of trying to deflect the attention of the world from the root causes of the conflict and said "we recognize Hamas as a legitimate resistance movement fighting for the liberation of Palestinian territory from foreign occupation." The Taliban staged a coordinated attack overnight on two Afghan army outposts in western Herat province, killing 14 Afghan soldiers and taking another 21 captive, a provincial official said Friday, the latest in a series of daily attacks by insurgents on the country's beleaguered national security forces. Herat provincial council member Najibullah Mohebi said the assault began late on Thursday in Shindand district. Fighting lasted for six hours before reinforcements arrived and repulsed the insurgents, but not before they captured 21 troops. Israel is prepared to take action in Lebanon against Hezbollah cross-border tunnels if necessary, an Israeli cabinet minister said on Friday. IDF said earlier this week that it had found a number of passages dug across the Israel-Lebanon border to be used in carrying out attacks inside Israel. The Israeli military sent mechanical diggers, troops and anti-tunneling equipment to the border to shut them down. The army, which launched Operation Northern Shield on Tuesday, has said its activity would, for now, stop on the Israeli side of the border. Turkey and the United States have agreed to speed up efforts to put in place an agreement on Syria's Manbij by the end of the year, a working committee between the NATO allies said on Friday. Earlier this year, Turkey and the United States reached a deal over Syria's Manbij, after months of disagreement, under which the Kurdish YPG militia is to completely withdraw from the town. Ankara, which considers the YPG a terrorist organisation, says the withdrawal has yet to happen. During Friday's meeting the two sides also agreed to continue to work on joint planning with regard to other areas, as mentioned in the Manbij roadmap. Qatar paid the salaries of nearly 30,000 Gazan civil servants on Friday, delighting the impoverished workers but angering some in the deeply divided Palestinian leadership who balked at the intervention of a foreign power. Thousands queued in the winter cold to get their cash at post officesone of which was decorated with a large mural of Qatar's emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and the message "Thanks Qatar". "If the Qatari donation stops, we will be destroyed," said 45-year-old civil servant Ammar Fayyad, the main bread-winner in his 13-strong family. Palestinian sources said Friday's payout, thought to be around $15 million, was part of a $90 million Qatari donation that began in November and is due to be paid into Gaza over six months. The Palestinian health ministry said Friday the IDF gunfire has wounded 33 Palestinians protesting along the Gaza-Israel perimeter fence. Thousands of Palestinians demonstrated Friday despite wintry weather, throwing rocks with slingshots at Israeli troops deployed behind the fence. The soldiers repeatedly fired volleys of tear gas and live fire, witnesses say. Hamas, the terror group controlling Gaza, has maintained such protests on a weekly basis since March, accelerating or scaling them down to pressure Israel and mediators into easing Gaza's crippling blockade. Meanwhile, thousands of Hamas' civil servants queued outside banks to collect paychecks donated by Qatar. For the second straight month, Israel allowed Qatari mediators to inject cash, hoping it would calm tensions. US President Donald Trump on Friday called former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson "dumb as a rock" and "lazy as hell" a day after the former diplomat said he had warned the president against doing things that would violate the law. "Mike Pompeo is doing a great job, I am very proud of him. His predecessor, Rex Tillerson, didn't have the mental capacity needed. He was dumb as a rock and I couldn't get rid of him fast enough. He was lazy as hell. Now it is a whole new ballgame, great spirit at State!" Trump wrote on Twitter. Trump fired Tillerson in March after a series of public rifts over North Korea, Russia and Iran policy, dismissing the former Exxon Mobil Corp chief executive in a tweet. In addition to policy disputes, relations were strained by reports that Tillerson privately called Trump a "moron." By RALPH ANSAMI [email protected] IRONWOOD The Ironwood City Commission has scheduled a public hearing for Monday at 5:20 p.m. on an ordinance to prohibit marijuana establishments in the city. The ordinance is designed to protect public health, safety and welfare, according to the Monday agenda. After the hearing, the commission will act on the ordinance to prohibit marijuana establishments. Recreational marijuana use was approved in Michigan in the November mid-term election, but cities can opt out of allowing marijuana establishments. The city commission previously voted on... The New South Wales (NSW) Department of Planning has recently issued a draft proposal to alter the Affordable Rental Housing State Environmental Planning Policy 2009 concerning the number of rooms allowed in boarding houses in low-density residential zones. The proposal included rules capping the size of new boarding houses to only 12 rooms in low-density areas. Minister for Planning Anthony Roberts said that changes had been drafted to address community issues on local impacts of select boarding-house developments. "Establishing a maximum number of boarding rooms per site in low-density zones will help to better manage any amenity impacts of boarding-house developments on adjoining and nearby properties," he said. However, the Urban Taskforce said that the planned changes were pandering to elitists. Urban Taskforce CEO Chris Johnson said that if the changes are implemented, boarding houses in many areas of Sydney will be unfeasible where affordable housing is much needed. This proposal follows changes introduced in June 2018 to require 0.5 car spaces per room up from 0.2 spaces. These additional onerous requirements greatly affect the feasibility of boarding-house development, resulting in a diminished supply of this type of affordable accommodation," he said. Currently, there is an evident shift from home ownership to rental housing in NSW's capital, and the Urban Taskforce is concerned about the erosion of support for boarding houses from the government. "The concerns of communities about this housing type can be handled through quality design so that boarding houses compliment the local character of an area. We suspect, however, that the community concerns are more about objecting to the people who live in affordable rental housing than concerns about the buildings," Johnson said. Latest News Boston, Massachusetts - Minnesota-based medical device manufacturer ev3 Inc. has agreed to plead guilty to charges related to its neurovascular medical device, Onyx Liquid Embolic System, and pay $17.9 million, the Department of Justice announced Tuesday. Covidien LP, whose parent acquired ev3, separately paid $13 million to resolve False Claims Act allegations resulting from its alleged payment of kickbacks in connection with another medical device, the Solitaire mechanical thrombectomy device. The Department of Justice will hold corporations accountable when they violate laws designed to protect consumers and protect public funds, said Assistant Attorney General Jody Hunt of the Department of Justices Civil Division. This resolution demonstrates the Departments continued commitment to protect taxpayer dollars and deter companies from putting profits before patient safety. Pursuant to a criminal information filed today in U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, ev3 will plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge in connection with the companys distribution of adulterated Onyx, in violation of the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. As part of the criminal resolution, ev3 will pay a criminal fine of $11.9 million and will forfeit $6 million. According to the plea agreement, Onyx was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a liquid embolization device that is surgically injected into blood vessels to block blood flow to arteriovenous malformations in the brain. The FDA has approved Onyx only for use inside the brain. Despite the FDAs limited approval of Onyx, from 2005 to 2009, ev3 sales representatives encouraged surgeons to use Onyx in large quantities for unproven and potentially dangerous surgical uses outside the brain. The companys sales force continued to tout unapproved and potentially dangerous uses of Onyx even after FDA officials told ev3 executives that they had specific safety concerns regarding uses of Onyx outside the brain at a 2008 meeting. FDA officials told ev3 executives that a study would be required to gain approval for uses of Onyx outside the brain and to ensure that the benefits of the device outweighed the risks. Rather than conduct a study to ensure the safety and effectiveness of Onyx for uses outside the brain, ev3s sales representatives sometimes attended surgical procedures and provided explicit instructions to surgeons regarding how to use Onyx for unapproved surgical procedures outside the brain, including in quantities far larger than what would be used in the brain. According to the criminal information, ev3s management also set-up a system of sales quotas and bonuses that incentivized sales representatives to sell Onyx for unapproved uses and trained the sales force how to instruct physicians on unapproved uses of the device. Covidien acquired ev3 in 2010, subsequent to the course of criminal conduct covered by the plea agreement. Covidien was acquired by Medtronic in 2015. Although Medtronic played no role in the criminal conduct, the company has agreed as part of the ev3 criminal resolution to implement new compensation structures to ensure the sales force responsible for marketing Onyx is not incentivized to sell the device for unapproved uses. Medtronic has also agreed to conduct compliance monitoring related to the Onyx sales and marketing components. ev3 disregarded laws designed to protect patient safety, said United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling for the District of Massachusetts. The U.S. Attorneys Office is committed to protecting patients and the integrity of federal health care programs, and we will continue to use our criminal authority to ensure that medical device manufacturers play by the rules that protect the public and ensure quality of care. Unnecessarily putting patients at risk to increase profits, as the government alleged in this case, will not be tolerated, said Christian J. Schrank, Special Agent in Charge for the Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. We will continue to work with our federal partners and hold accountable companies that use deceptive practices to increase their bottom line. Consumers rely on the FDA to ensure that theres a reasonable assurance of safety and effectiveness for the approved uses of medical devices. When manufacturers ignore the FDAs regulatory authority, they undermine these crucial assurances and put lives at risk. Our Office of Criminal Investigations investigated a bad actor who marketed their device for unapproved uses, potentially harming patients, said FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D. The ev3 agreement to plead guilty announced by the U.S. Department of Justice today is an example of the FDAs comprehensive commitment to ensuring the safety of medical devices and investigating companies that put patients at risk. A key part of our overall efforts to promote safe and effective innovation and protect patients is our enforcement work related to unsafe practices and bad actors. In addition to investigating such activities, were advancing other new policies to assure post-market device safety, as we recently outlined in our Medical Device Safety Action Plan. The FDA is also committed to fully implementing a new active surveillance system that will enable the agency to harness real-world evidence from medical records and patient registries to more swiftly identify device safety issues and enable more informed decision-making. Covidien separately has agreed to pay $13 million to resolve its civil liability for allegedly paying kickbacks to induce the use of its Solitaire mechanical thrombectomy device. The Solitaire device is intended to restore blood flow and retrieve a blood clot in certain stroke patients. The United States alleged that Covidien caused false claims to be submitted to Medicare and Medicaid by paying kickbacks to hospitals and institutions to induce them to use Covidiens Solitaire device. Specifically, the United States alleged that after receiving FDA clearance for the Solitaire device, Covidien launched a registry to pay hospitals and institutions to collect data about user experiences with the device. For about two years beginning in August 2014, Covidien paid a fee to hospitals and institutions that participated in a registry each time they used a new Solitaire device and reported certain clinical data about their practices for treating stroke patients to Covidien. Covidien solicited certain hospitals and institutions for the registry in order to convert their business from the competitors product and/or persuade them to continue using Covidien products, and knowingly and willfully used the registry as a means of increasing device sales. The civil lawsuit was filed by Jeffrey Faatz, who worked for Covidien from 2012 to 2014, under the qui tam, or whistleblower, provisions of the False Claims Act. The Act allows private parties to sue on behalf of the government for false claims and to share in any recovery. As part of todays resolution, Mr. Faatz will receive $2,015,000. The case is captioned United States ex rel. Doe v. Covidien PLC et al., Civil Action No. 8:15-cv-01796 AG (JCGx) (C.D. Cal.). Illegal kickbacks bring fraud and abuse into the Medicare system, said U.S. Attorney Nicola T. Hanna for the Central District of California. As part of an aggressive marketing campaign for its medical device, Covidien allegedly found a way to subsidize facilities that agreed to use its product often convincing them not to use devices sold by another manufacturer. Patients deserve to know that their medical providers are offering the best possible treatments and are not making decisions based on increasing the bottom line for health care providers. The plea agreement was the result of a coordinated effort among the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Massachusetts and the Civil Divisions Consumer Protection Branch, with assistance from the FDAs Office of Chief Counsel. The criminal investigation was conducted by the FDAs Office of Criminal Investigations, HHSs Office of the Inspector General, the Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of the Inspector General, and the Federal Bureau of Investigations. The civil settlement was the result of an investigation by the Justice Departments Civil Division, Commercial Litigation Branch, the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Central District of California, and the Office of Inspector General at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The False Claims Act claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only and there has been no determination of liability. 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. Popular Kumawood actor, Michael Afranie, has reportedly donated GH1 to the NDC office in Kumasi to support Mahamas 2020 bid. A photo of the actor handing the one cedi note to an NDC official has gone viral on social media with many people wondering why he would make such a meagre contribution. According to a report sighted by YEN.com.gh on Mynewsgh.com, Afranie said Mahama had been his longtime friend. Kumawood actor Micheal Afrani donates GH1 towards Mahama 2020 bid. Photo credit: Mynews.gh.com Source: Facebook READ ALSO: Lesbians dont make me sleep in school Yaa Jackson releases bombshell Therefore, he saw it necessary to donate the little he has to support him. He added that Mahama also donated generously to him when he contested for MP for Manso Nkwanta Constituency in the Ashanti Region, as an independent candidate. Former President Mahama has been my longtime friend and he generously donated towards my cause in the run-up to the 2016 Parliamentary Election of which I contested at Manso Nkwanta, Afranie said. READ ALSO: I should have put my GHC 2M in Kumawood than Menzgold - Man tells sad story He was of the firm conviction that Mahamas return in 2020 would be a blessing for Ghana, especially, miners in the country because Ghana is hard now. The veteran actor has served as an Assemblyman in the area. It could also be that that was the only sum he could afford since the movie industry had reportedly been 'dead' for sometime now. In a related development, a Kumawood actress, Tracey Boakye, has also donated an amount of GH2,000 to Mahama. She said it was in response to calls by the Mahama campaign team to support with the little one has to enable him pay for the GH420,000 for filling fee and nomination form. READ ALSO: Opambour, Duncan-Williams, 3 other pastors belong to occult groups Former occult grandmaster claims Other grassroots supports of NDC were also seen joining long queues to make little donations to the former president. According to them, only Mahama can win power for the NDC come 2020, and so they wish to support him. Latest update has it that NDC has finally reduced the filling fee from GH400,000 to GH300,000, following complains by some of the aspirants and NDC members. Meanwhile the presidential primaries have been slated for January 19, 2019. READ ALSO: We are sick as NPP; no competent people to do work Ken Agyapong fires in latest video Ghana News Today: Colleges of Education Closed Indefinitely / Work Continues at GIJ | #Yencomgh READ ALSO: Lawrence Tetteh breaks silence on Shatta Wale death prophecy Click here to get the latest exciting English Premier League news. Get match highlights, reports, photos & videos all in one place. Source: Yen - Nigerian pastor Dr. David Oyedepo has said he is dangerously wealthy but has not received anything from government - He said he has a clear conscience before God that he made him rich and not any political figure or party - Oyedepo said whatever he wanted came to him Popular Nigerian pastor, David Oyedepo, the presiding bishop of Winners Chapel International, has declared that he is dangerously wealthy. He was quoted by a Ghanaweb report seen by YEN.com.gh to have said: I am dangerously wealthy, I am rich, whatever I want comes; thats what they call wealth. The bishop was reportedly speaking to members of his church, which according to reports is also known as Living Faith Church Worldwide. READ ALSO: Kumawood actor Michael Afranie donates GH1 to Mahama; explains why According to the affluent pastor, he made his riches from God and not any government and for this he had clear conscience. It is not clear if he was being accused by some people of making his riches through past or present governments in Nigeria. I dont share any booty from any government. I have a clear conscience; I am dangerously wealthy, the bishop stressed. READ ALSO: Agent mistaken for a thief; beaten Captain Mahama style at Madina in sad video He was reportedly speaking at the opening session of Shiloh 2018, the annual gathering of the members of the Living Faith Church dubbed Dominion at its international headquarters in Nigeria. Oyedepo also warned those he described as political gladiators to understand that authority is now domiciled in the church, saying, If the church says you are going nowhere, there is nothing you can do. READ ALSO: The biggest mistake of my life was investing GH2M with Menzgold rather than Kumawood Man weeps sadly According to him, the authority that enthroned the church was from heaven and not man-made, therefore, no man can touch or change anything about the church It (the church) is not something that we organise; it is by the hand of God. You can be upset, it wont change anything, he added. He told the congregation, which included 4,512 delegates from 43 nations of the world that God would confirm in these last days that heavens rules in the affairs of men. If the church comes against any arrogant, puffing fellows, they shall be messed up, he stressed. READ ALSO: Opambour, Duncan-Williams, 3 other pastors belong to occult groups Former occult grandmaster claims Oyedepo was in the news years ago following a brawl he had with Bishop George Agyeman, who was then a pastor of his church overseeing the Ghana branch. Agyeman, according to reports, had a misunderstanding with Oyedepo concerning how proceeds from the church were being distributed between Ghana and Nigeria. Feeling cheated for Ghana, Bishop Agyeman was said to have broken away from Oyedepo and started his own church, Winners Chapel Ghana, and took away some of Oyedepos church members, mostly Ghanaians away with him. Therefore, the church became divided and both had the names Winners Chapel Ghana and Winners Chapel International. However, YEN.com.gh cannot independently confirm if this was the reason why Oyedepos church, Winners Chapel International, now bears the name Living Faith Church Worldwide. READ ALSO: Lawrence Tetteh breaks silence on Shatta Wale death prophecy Ghana News Today: Colleges of Education Closed Indefinitely / Work Continues at GIJ | #Yencomgh READ ALSO: We are sick as NPP; no competent people to do work Ken Agyapong fires in latest video 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 BEIJING, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- Macao will be given more support to participate in the Belt and Road (B&R) construction, according to an arrangement signed between China's top economic planner and Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) on Thursday. The arrangement on supporting Macao's full participation in the Belt and Road construction, signed between the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the Macao SAR government, focuses on cooperation in financial, economic and trade sectors as well as promoting development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Under the arrangement, Macao will be encouraged to provide financing services for the Belt and Road construction, build itself into a financial service platform for commercial and trade cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking countries, and promoting the internationalization of the renminbi. Macao will also be encouraged to develop into an important transport hub and trade logistics center for the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, according to the arrangement. It also called for more effort to align the B&R with plans to build Macao into a global center for tourism and leisure, as well as a China-Portugal business cooperation platform. A joint conference system has been set up for the implementation of the arrangement. The first joint conference was held Thursday after the arrangement signing ceremony. Las Vegas, NV, Dec. 06, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Earth Gen-BioFuel (OTC:EGBB), EarthGen or the Company, announces that it has engaged Dr. Niccolo Caderni to direct the companys operations in Europe. Dr. Cademi will head our international operations for sourcing, supply and marketing operations in Europe. This will position the company for housing projects inside the EU and as well as direct access to natural raw materials and innovative construction technology. We believe that there is a growing demand for Tiny Homes in the EU and Earth Gen wants to be in a position to address this growing market as a complement to our fabrication and marketing plans in the US. We are planning to open offices near the financial district in London during the first quarter of 2019. Earth Gen plans to enter into exclusive agreements with a wood fabricator that has developed proprietary labor saving modular wall panels, a key component in reducing the production costs of our Tiny Homes. We plan to use the panels in our Tiny Home construction process to deliver unique floor plan options and at the same time reduce engineering and labor costs. Robert Hayes CEO, stated, having offices in Europe will diversify our international exposure to new construction technologies and provide a platform for our sales efforts in the EU recreational housing market and sales of our affordable housing units in countries around the globe. Dr. Niccolo Caderni, Director of European Strategies, is the recipient of the 1978 Award of the Italian Physical Society for his research on General Relativity. Dr. Caderni has held academic positions at Cambridge University, the University of California, and the University of Pavia, amongst others. In the mid 1980s, Niccolo developed an interest in the then nascent field of technology transfer, and developed his career as a technology strategist. Dr. Caderni has held positions as a senior investment banker at Bankers Trust International, a Managing Director at Phillips, then the third largest auction house in the world, and a Senior Advisor to the Bentinck Thyssen family. He also served on the Board of the Centre for European Policy Studies in Brussels. In 1997 Dr. Caderni co-founded IPG AG, a technology incubator with a portfolio of new media companies focusing on the delivery of digital content, and in 2000 was elected Chairman of the Board of Webiz Holding BV, the private equity fund of the Italian utility giant ENEL, Europes second largest energy provider. About EarthGen-BioFuel Earth Gen-Biofuel Inc. plans on basing its main manufacturing facilities in the U.S. and addressing domestic and international needs for affordable living housing units. The Companys goal is to deliver high quality low cost dwelling units that employ technology that works for owners of our homes and meets the requirements of sustainability for our environment and the locations where our units form new communities. Please visit our introductory web site at www.egbb.world . Forward-Looking Statement This press release may contain forward-looking information within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In accordance with the safe harbor provisions of this Act, statements contained herein that look forward in time that include everything other than historical information, involve risks and uncertainties that may affect the Companys actual results. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and there are a number of important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements made by the Company, including, but not limited to, plans and objectives of management for future operations or products, the market acceptance or future success of our products, and our future financial performance. Further caution is given as the Company is not current with its public disclosures and limited information about the Companys financial condition or operations is available to investors adding additional risk to potential investors. Investor Relations Contact Zhang Junwen checks the result of a patient's examination at the Kashgar Prefecture Second People's Hospital in Kashgar City, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Nov. 23, 2018. Zhang Junwen, 37, is a doctor of the Xinhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine. He came to Kashgar in August 2018 with another 19 docotrs from Shanghai to conduct medical service and provide trainings for local doctors. (Xinhua/Hu Huhu) INDIANAPOLIS, Dec. 07, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On December 11, 2018, Indiana Minority Health Coalition in partnership with Side Effects Media and the Indianapolis Recorder will host two statewide virtual town hall meetings. The meetings will address both prenatal and postpartum maternal child health matters and health disparities. "Indiana ranks 45th for infant mortality and 46th for maternal mortality. We recently learned that the Black infant mortality numbers have increased." said Tony Gillespie, Vice President of Public Policy & Engagement "IMHC is fortunate to have great partners to focus on improving health and birth outcomes for Black Moms and Babies." Panelist on December 11, 2018 will include: Dr. Kristina Box, Indiana State Health Commissioner; Indy W. Lane, MD, Obstetrician-Gynecologist; Bianca Gillespie, Advocate, Mother, Volunteer Doula in Training; Ashley Rainey, MSN, RN, Labor and Delivery Clinical Educator. The second town hall meeting will be held on January 8, 2019 with more information forthcoming regarding panelist. Who: Indiana Minority Health Coalition Side Effects Media + Indianapolis Recorder What: Statewide Town Hall Meetings When: December 11, 2018 11:00AM- 12:30PM Where: WFYI Indianapolis 1630 North Meridian St, Indianapolis, IN 46202 For more information, contact Taroue Brooks, Event Planner, Publicist and Lifestyle Architect at 202.431.1119. Theses virtual town hall meetings will also be available via YouTube nationally. Follow this link to register https://happierbirthdays.eventbrite.com . MEDIA CONTACT: Taroue Brooks, 202.431.1119 Taroue.brooks@yahoo.com Governments around the nation are working to design the best vaccine policies that keep both their employees and their residents safe. Although the latest data shows a variety of polarizing perspectives, there are clear emerging best practices that leading governments are following to put trust first: creating policies that are flexible and provide a range of options, and being in tune with the needs and sentiments of their employees so that they are able to be dynamic and accommodate the rapidly changing situation. First Appeared in 1981 Shared Values One of the best-known Amish traditions is that when a members barn burns down, the rest of the community comes together to build a new one.As many as a million Christian Americans are inspired by that biblical principle of mutual aid to help pay for one anothers medical bills. Participants in so-called health care share ministries, which are generally cheaper than regular insurance, make monthly contributions to help pay the health care bills of other members. In return, they receive help when they need it.Health care share ministries have grown steadily since the Affordable Care Act became law in 2010. But many health care experts warn that members risk being crushed by unforeseen medical bills, and that the growing popularity of the ministries could end up burdening people who dont participate.It is lousy coverage, said JoAnn Volk, a research professor at Georgetown Universitys Center on Health Insurance Reforms and co-author of an August 2018 brief on health care sharing ministries from the Commonwealth Fund, a private health policy foundation.In areas where the ministries are especially popular, Volk said, they might siphon enough healthy people out of the local insurance market to increase premiums.The ministries are not considered health insurance because, unlike insurance, members are not guaranteed that their claims will be paid. Neither the ministries nor their members assume the financial liability of other members. Participants are not precluded from also having health insurance policies, but the ministries say its unlikely that many do.What gets covered as a shareable expense is usually far less comprehensive than what is required by law for health insurance. For example, share ministries often do not cover preventive health care, medicines for chronic conditions, mental health care or treatments arising from non-biblical lifestyles, such as maternity care for out-of-wedlock pregnancies or substance abuse. They do not pay for abortions.Nevertheless, many members praise the share ministries for their fellowship and as a cheap alternative to paying premiums for commercial health insurance.Cliff McManis, pastor of Grace Bible Fellowship in Sunnyvale, California, said the option has worked perfectly for his family.When his family health insurance premiums climbed to about $1,600 a month five years ago, he decided to sign up with Samaritan Ministries, one of the largest sharing ministries in the country.McManis, married with four children, says his monthly sharing payments have never exceeded about $450 a month, and hes been content with the coverage, which has included payments for his sons surgery for a broken nose and his wifes recent surgery to remove a tumor in her belly.Were a hundred percent satisfied, he said.Although he said he joined the ministry out of financial considerations, the religious aspects were a surprise major bonus.Checks to cover his wifes surgery have arrived from strangers across the country, most of them accompanied by prayers for her recovery.Those prayers are probably the biggest encouragement we received, he said, and we value that.The first formal health care sharing organization didnt make an appearance until 1981. Thats when the nonprofit Christian Healthcare Ministries in Ohio was formed. It purportedly remains one of the largest share ministries, although it doesnt disclose membership numbers.At least 104 health care sharing ministries now operate in the United States, according to the Alliance of Health Care Sharing Ministries. Only seven open membership to all comers rather than those from certain denominations or churches. All are Christian. There is no evidence of Jews or Muslims having similar organizations in the United States.Several of the larger ministries claim to operate in all 50 states, but the alliance says half of the U.S. membership is concentrated in 10 states: California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas.The ministries say membership grew steadily after the passage of the ACA, which required that all Americans enroll in health insurance plans that provided a comprehensive set of benefits detailed in the law.The ACA specifically exempted people belonging to health care sharing ministries whose members, the law said, share a common set of ethical or religious beliefs and share medical expenses among members in accordance with those beliefs and without regard to the State in which a member resides or is employed.Members of the health care sharing ministries were not subject to the penalties levied on those failing to be in an ACA-compliant health plan.Congress eliminated that mandate, effective next year.The ministries grew from under 200,000 members before the ACA to about a million today, the Commonwealth Fund report says, but those numbers are based on self-reporting.There is little confirmed data about either the membership levels of the largely unregulated organizations or the amount of money they disburse and for which services.Christian Healthcare Ministries says on its website that its members have shared over $3.5 billion in each others healthcare costs over 35 years.Thirty states passed so-called safe harbor laws for the ministries, stating that they are not insurance companies and are therefore exempt from insurance regulations. But the remaining states do not regulate them either.We tell people that if they have a problem, we cant help you and the courts cant help you, said Martin Swanson, administrator for health policy at the Nebraska Department of Insurance.Last month, his department, after receiving questions from consumers, issued an alert specifying that sharing ministries are not insurance and cannot be compelled to pay any members medical bills.Whether anyone chooses to assist you with your medical bills as a participant of this organization will be totally voluntary, and neither the organization nor any participant can be compelled by law to contribute toward your medical bills, the alert says. Regardless of whether you receive payment for medical expenses or whether this organization continues to operate, you are always personally responsible for the payment of your own medical bills.Because the ministries are exempt from insurance regulations, the only recourse members have is to file complaints with state attorneys general. But in their survey of states, authors of the Commonwealth Fund report say even the authority of the attorneys general is limited.An official from an unidentified state told the authors that in investigating a case of unpaid claims, the state realized it couldnt compel the ministry to act without clear evidence of fraud.(Attorneys general offices in Texas, California and Florida did not respond to requests for information on consumer complaints about sharing ministries operating in their states.)The large ministries all have internal appeals processes, but members have no recourse to go to court to challenge denials.Some of the ministries explicitly state in their promotional materials that they are not insurance, and in interviews, officials with some of the organizations acknowledged that health care sharing doesnt make sense for everyone.The ministries require members to agree to a set of shared values. Solidarity HealthShare, a Catholic-oriented health care sharing ministry with 6,000 members, for example, states Our core beliefs are rooted in Sacred Scripture and the Sacred Tradition of the Catholic Church.Most require members to adhere to virtuous lifestyles, which, for Samaritan Ministries, another of the big ministries with 258,000 members, means not drinking to excess, avoiding tobacco, not using illegal drugs, attending church at least three out of four weeks, and abstaining from sex outside of marriage or with someone of the same gender.All the ministries say they are rooted in biblical calls to serve fellow humans. Its there in Romans 12, said Anthony Hopp, a vice president with Samaritan: Be devoted to one another in love.He described health care sharing as almost like crowdsourcing for health care, people of faith coming together to share medical bills directly, person to person, household to household directly.Some of the ministries automatically deduct membership fees from members accounts and then disburse the money to needy members. Others instruct members to send checks directly to the other members, which they then verify.Payments may go directly to providers or toward reimbursement of members. (The payments are not tax-deductible.) All ask members to pray for one another and to send personal, prayerful messages.We know our contribution is going directly to certain people, said Kellie Soper of Tempe, Arizona, a tutor whose family has been in a health care sharing ministry since 2016. Whereas with insurance, its just going to some companys profit.In addition to the virtuous lifestyle restrictions, the ministries place other limits on what constitutes a shareable medical expense. Some do not take people with pre-existing conditions unless they have been symptom-free for a period.Some, such as Christian Healthcare, Christian Care Ministrys Medi-Share and Samaritan, do not cover routine preventive care, such as physicals, mammograms and colonoscopies. Christian Healthcare and Medi-Share do not cover mental health. Several cover prescriptions but only for a limited time span.Members can generally see any provider they wish. Because they are technically uninsured, they are often able to receive discounts.Richard Gundling, senior vice president of the Healthcare Financial Management Association, an association of financial managers of health care organizations, said that most providers are comfortable working with the ministries.And for members of a certain bent, the ministries are a way to meld religious belief with medical necessity.Its not for everybody, said Bradley Hahn, CEO of Solidarity HealthShare, but it may be for those who want to be faithful to their religion and be supported by others in their faith community. The judge deciding the Medicaid expansion lawsuit has denied a stay request by the outgoing LePage administration, but set a new Feb. 1 deadline to begin enrolling people in the expanded health insurance program.From a practical standpoint, the latest ruling makes the lawsuit moot. Gov.-elect Janet Mills, a Democrat who will be sworn in on Jan. 2, has vowed to begin enrolling people as soon as possible after her administration takes over.Maine voters approved Medicaid expansion in a November 2017 referendum by a 59 to 41 percent vote, but Republican Gov. Paul LePage, an expansion opponent, has refused to implement it. About 70,000 low-income Mainers will be eligible for Medicaid under the expansion.The advocacy group behind the voter referendum, Maine Equal Justice Partners, sued the LePage administration this spring, arguing that the Maine Department of Health and Human Services failed to follow the law by refusing to implement the expansion.Despite winning in court, the delays caused by having the court process play out have postponed implementation, and with Mills taking over in January, Maine will be complying with the law.The ruling by Superior Court Justice Michaela Murphy on Thursday supports Maine Equal Justice Partners but delays the start date for enrollments from Dec. 5 to Feb. 1."This is good news in that the court is denying the request for a stay, at the same time the court is extending the deadline for rulemaking and enrollment to February 1st," said Robyn Merrill, executive director of Maine Equal Justice Partners, in a statement. "The extension and the deadline will ensure that the new administration that supports Medicaid expansion will be implementing the law so that it's done right, and people will get the care that they're eligible for."Benefits will be retroactive to July 2, according to the ruling.A LePage spokeswoman did not return messages from the Press Herald seeking comment Thursday.Murphy, the judge, wrote that on the central argument in the case -- whether eligible Mainers should be permitted to enroll in Medicaid despite the LePage administration's objections over funding -- she is siding with Maine Equal Justice Partners."The court would emphasize that the extension of the deadline to comply should not be confused with a central holding of the prior order. The people of Maine enacted a law that requires payment of Medicaid benefits to an expanded class of Maine citizens, and any person who meets the qualifications clearly spelled out in the Expansion Act are entitled to those benefits as of July 2, 2018," Murphy wrote in Thursday's ruling.Merrill said that the case sets an important precedent for future governors who may be reluctant to implement laws they don't like."In our democracy, the executive branch much follow the law and needs to be held accountable if they don't," Merrill said in a phone interview. "If they ignore the law and are not held accountable, the system falls apart."Medicaid expansion is a key component of former President Obama's signature domestic legislation, the Affordable Care Act. Some conservative states have refused to adopt Medicaid expansion, but 37 states and the District of Columbia have done so.The stay request, filed on Nov. 26 with the state's Business and Consumer Court, argued that implementing expansion would have "far-reaching negative consequences" and would "prompt a fiscal crisis."Murphy dismissed that argument, calling the fiscal crisis claim "fiction."Medicaid expansion will cost state taxpayers about $50 million to $60 million per year, but Maine will receive more than $500 million annually in federal funds to help pay for health care for newly eligible Medicaid enrollees. The Legislature approved $60 million in funding for Medicaid expansion this summer, but LePage vetoed it, arguing that the funding package contained one-time "budget gimmicks."Mainers earning as much as 138 percent of the federal poverty level -- $16,753 for an individual and $34,638 for a family of four -- were eligible to apply for Medicaid coverage on July 2. Thousands did, only to receive letters of denial from DHHS.Scott Ogden, a Mills spokesman, said the expansion will happen as soon as possible."Governor-elect Mills has vowed to begin implementing voter-approved Medicaid expansion as soon as she assumes office," Ogden said in a statement. "It is her goal to see that eligible Mainers are able to enroll for coverage as soon as possible so that they may begin receiving the health care that will improve their lives quickly thereafter."House Speaker Sara Gideon, a Democrat, said the "end is in sight.""I am eager to work in partnership with Governor-elect Mills to ensure this law is followed and that more Mainers are accessing the care they deserve to be and stay well," Gideon said in a statement. Forty years ago, Congress amended civil rights law to cover pregnant women, giving them federal protection against being fired, reassigned, docked pay or denied benefits based on their condition. The Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 required employers to allow women who are pregnant the same leaves of absence theyd give an employee on leave for sickness or disability.It was a landmark piece of legislation. But it hasnt stood up very well in an era when many more women are in the workplace. For one thing, it doesnt apply to businesses with fewer than 15 employees. Its also full of loopholes. Employers dont have to accommodate a pregnant womans need to work sitting down, to use the bathroom more frequently or to have a private area to pump milk after the babys born. Even though pregnancy discrimination has been illegal for a generation, its still pretty rampant, says Sarah Fleisch Fink, director of workplace policy at the National Partnership for Women and Families. It exists across industries, race and ethnicity, although it disproportionately impacts women of color. Women are still fired for being pregnant.The limitations of the 1978 law gained national attention in 2015, when a driver for United Parcel Service sued the company for forcing her to take unpaid leave during her pregnancy because her doctor warned her against lifting boxes heavier than 20 pounds. The case made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that women did have a right to ask for special accommodation for pregnancy if they could prove that the employer had made similar accommodations for other employees.In 2016, the National Partnership for Women and Families released a report claiming that over the previous four years, more than 30,000 complaints of pregnancy discrimination had been filed either with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or a state-level employment fairness agency. The report found that 28 percent of those complaints were filed by black women, who made up 14 percent of the workforce. Another report by the same organization claimed that around 250,000 women are denied requests annually for some sort of pregnancy accommodation in the workplace.Every year since 2012, U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler has introduced the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act in Congress, which would require that employers provide reasonable accommodations for pregnant women. It has not yet received a hearing. In the meantime, however, states have been stepping in to fill the void -- and striking up unusual partnerships along the way to protect pregnant workers. Just as employers have to accommodate you if youve had a back injury or are in a wheelchair, they have to treat you just as well for conditions related to pregnancy, says Emily Martin of the National Womens Law Center. States really have been taking the lead on this and stepping into the vacuum of leadership.Twenty-three states now have pregnancy discrimination laws in place, 18 of them enacted in the last five years. The most stringent are in Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, New Jersey, North Dakota, Vermont and the District of Columbia. They require all employers -- no matter the size of the company -- to put in place a set of commonly sought pregnancy protections. Other states have passed somewhat less demanding laws, which require reasonable accommodations in place for public employees. A reasonable accommodation is usually defined as allowing a pregnant woman access to things that would keep her safe at work, such as seated workstations, more frequent bathroom breaks and the freedom to carry water around the workplace. Many of the new state laws require proof of an undue hardship on the employer before a reasonable accommodation request can be denied.While issues of womens health and workplace fairness tend to be linked to ideological and partisan disputes on issues such as abortion, the pregnancy anti-discrimination campaign has not had that problem. It includes purple and red states, and they pass with bipartisan support, says Fleisch Fink. And many times, they pass unanimously. Its a no-brainer; it keeps women attached to the labor force.In some instances, the issue has brought together ideological opposites. Weve been seeing some really interesting alliances between pro-life groups and feminist and workers rights groups, says Jennifer Reisch, legal director of Equal Rights Advocates, a California-based legal group.For Beth Bernstein, a Democratic state representative who co-sponsored pregnancy legislation in the South Carolina House, working with the pro-life constituency was instrumental in getting her bill passed. In particular, Bernstein was able to win the support of Republican Rep. Greg Delleney, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and a vocal pro-life lawmaker. Coming from either a pro-life or pro-choice mindset, Bernstein says, we all care about the health of the expectant mom. Just having a senior member of the majority party support, it meant a lot.South Carolina is the latest state to require employers to provide reasonable accommodations. Its law was enacted this year and went into effect in September. South Carolina is the second Southern state -- Texas was first -- to pass a pregnancy discrimination law. Its law mandates that all employers with 15 or more workers offer reasonable accommodations for pregnancy-related needs.Since her bill was passed, Bernstein has been approached by lawmakers from surrounding states about how to get a pregnancy discrimination law passed in the South. I emphasize bipartisan support, she says. Then getting the business community involved, and explaining that its not going to cost you more money, and its going to improve your morale overall.Those who are skeptical of pregnancy discrimination laws argue that they constitute overregulation of private workplaces and serve mainly to drive up the number of discrimination complaints. During the 2015 Supreme Court fight between UPS and the pregnant driver, pro-business organizations such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) filed briefs supporting UPS. But 23 pro-life organizations, including Americans United for Life and the Susan B. Anthony List, supported the pregnant employee.The far-right Eagle Forum, founded by Equal Rights Amendment foe Phyllis Schlafly, was the only traditional family values organization to take a stand against pregnancy discrimination laws during the Supreme Court battle. While the eradication of typical -- or even stereotypical -- families was the goal of the feminist movement, Congress generally has taken the more moderate path advocated by UPS here, Eagle Forums lawyers wrote in a brief supporting the company.During Pennsylvanias 2015 legislative session, a representative from NFIB testified that the organization was neutral on the bill but warned of unintended consequences. A determination as to what constitutes a reasonable accommodation is very subjective and requires a fact intensive inquiry, the group argued.It claimed that the bill would allow employees to decide on the accommodation and that the employer would need to accept it unless it could prove an undue hardship, a difficult standard for a business to meet and an expensive issue to litigate. According to NFIB, most small employers do not carry insurance against discrimination claims and the cost of one case could force some small firms out of business. The bill did not make it through the Pennsylvania Legislature, but the Philadelphia City Council passed a similar version soon thereafter.So far, most of the fears of business organizations havent been borne out. California, which has one of the oldest pregnancy discrimination laws, has seen a steady downturn in pregnancy-related discrimination claims in the past three years. Pregnancy complaints made up 6.6 percent of all employment claims in 2015; in 2017, the number was down to 3 percent. In California you hear a lot of grumbling about overregulation of employers, says Reisch, but you dont really hear complaining about this.In South Carolina, the state Chamber of Commerce initially resisted pregnancy legislation, but lobbying by the bills supporters eventually pushed the chamber to neutral on the final bill. What were saying, Bernstein explains, is if someone needs to have a stool, you cant say thats an undue burden. [Same with] giving someone a water bottle or a room to express milk. People would say, Oh, youre requiring a lactation room, but thats not what were saying -- just offering an empty office can work.Despite the recent round of successes at the state level, pregnancy discrimination activists continue to insist that the ultimate goal is a comprehensive new federal law. With the 40th anniversary of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, its important to take stock of where we are and where we need to go, argues Martin of the National Womens Law Center. Its critical now that your ability to sit or lift heavy objects should not [determine] whether you can keep a job. Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft has launched an investigation into a complaint that Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley used public resources in his successful bid for the U.S. Senate.The American Democracy Legal Fund on Nov. 2 filed a complaint with Ashcroft, claiming that Hawley used out-of-state political consultants to direct the activities of public employees in the attorney general's office to raise Hawley's political profile as he prepared to mount a campaign for U.S. Senate."Josh Hawley's flagrant abuse of his taxpayer funded office for his own political gain deserves immediate investigation," said Brad Woodhouse, ADLF president, in a statement. "We're heartened to see Secretary of State Ashcroft give this racket further scrutiny."Hawley's office said they welcomed the investigation."We are delighted to cooperate with the Secretary of State's Office and put these ridiculous allegations to bed once and for all," said Mary Compton, a spokeswoman for the Missouri Attorney General's office. "These allegations are totally meritless and nothing more than a partisan attempt to slander the work of the Attorney General's Office. As we have said before, no taxpayer resources were ever expended for campaign purposes. And no government employees ever participated in campaign or political activities."Ashcroft and Hawley are both Republicans.The complaint from ALDF, a Democratic group, was based largely on reporting by The Kansas City Star, which in an Oct. 31 article detailed how political consultants steered the attorney general's office under Hawley's watch. The Star obtained emails, text messages and other records showing that Timmy Teepell and Gail Gitcho, political consultants from Louisiana and Massachusetts, exerted influence in the attorney general's office to the point that some staff became uncertain about the chain of command in the office.The article also detailed how Hawley, with the help of his consultants, sought to raise his political profile, a stark contrast to his message during his 2016 campaign for attorney general that he was not another ladder-climbing politician continually trying to reach higher office."This constitutes a misuse of public funds," the American Democracy Legal Fund's complaint says.Hawley defeated Democratic incumbent Claire McCaskill on Nov. 6The Star has obtained a copy of a letter sent by Ashcroft's office to the American Democracy Legal Fund, confirming the investigation and requesting copies of any documents or any first-hand knowledge the organization had to support its complaint against Hawley.Ashcroft's office has authority to investigate election-related offenses but lacks subpoena power, according to an email that Ashcroft's office sent to The Star last month. Description GIS - 07 December, 2018: The International Anti-corruption Day will be observed on 09 December 2018, with the aim of raising awareness on the harmful effects of corruption and of the role of the United Nations United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) in combatting and preventing corruption. This year the chosen theme for the celebration of the International Anti-Corruption Day in Mauritius is, Moris san koripsion depann lor mwa . The commemoration of the International Anti-Corruption Day is an opportunity to take stock of the progress achieved so far in the fight against corruption, raise general awareness about the destructive effects of corruption, and secure the communitys active engagement in the national fight against corruption. The General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the UNCAC on 31 October 2003 and it entered into force on 14 December 2005. Mauritius was one of the first countries to sign the Convention in 2003 in Merida, Mexico, and later ratified it in December 2004. On this occasion, in a message addressed to public servants, the Director General of the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), Mr Navin Beekarry, highlighted the far reaching consequences of corruption, which as a hideous crime can undermine social and economic development in all societies. Moreover, it breeds inequality, unfairness and injustice. He emphasised that any act of corruption is considered as a serious criminal behavior and conduct that represents a risk to the offender both on a professional and personal level. Mr Beekarry recalled that the ICAC, as an anti-corruption body is leading a national fight against corruption for a corruption-free Mauritius , by adopting a national strategy against corruption in partnership with its stakeholders, including Public Officers. He indicated that besides investigation and prosecution, it has over the years undertaken a sustained preventive educational campaign to embed corruption resistance within the structures of public and private sector organisations and create general awareness amongst public officials and the public at large on the need to fight corruption and nurture a culture of integrity. A number of projects/programmes/tools, he added, have been developed for implementation in the public sector, including Guidelines for Public Officers, the Public Sector Anti-Corruption Framework, the designation and training of Integrity Officers within Ministries and Parastatals, Integrity Management Toolkit and Best Practice Guides, among others. He appealed for an active engagement of public servants to support these initiatives as they are geared towards bringing about a change in mindset so that personal integrity becomes central to Public officers actions and initiatives. According to the Director General, everyone is assigned with the social responsibility to fight against corruption and that the community at large should join forces and develop a strong partnership to eliminate corruption for a better world for children and the next generation. Description GIS - 07 December, 2018: Government is near to achieving its objective of constructing 10,000 social housing units in due course, highlighted the Minister of Housing and Lands, Mr Purmanund Jhugroo, yesterday at the inauguration of Residence Rose at Notre-Dame in the presence of several eminent personalities. In his address, Minister Jhugroo pointed out that since January 2015 till date, some 4900 social housing units have already been constructed and that some more 3500 units are expected to be completed. He underlined that Government is committed to providing necessary support and assistance as regards the construction of Smart Residences which are equipped with adequate amenities and recreational facilities. He further emphasised that the construction of these units is part of an improved social housing policy through which Government wants to foster equality among the low income groups and ensure a better quality of life of the vulnerable. The Minister highlighted that the Residence Rose, comprising of 32 housing units, will enable families to live in dignity and in a healthy environment. The families, he added, will also have access to many facilities such as green spaces, children playgrounds, petanque courts, parking spaces, and health tracks. He underscored that the National Housing Development Company has established several criteria for the allocation and widening of housing units and for other related construction works. On this score, he encouraged the beneficiaries to respect these criteria, to properly upkeep their housing units and avail themselves of the facilities. Description GIS 07 December, 2018: A Regional Centre of excellence on cybersecurity and cybercrime is being set up in Mauritius by the Ministry of Technology, Communication and Innovation and will serve as a common platform for countries to discuss how law enforcement agencies can detect, handle and prosecute cyber criminals. The Minister of Technology, Communication and Innovation, Mr Yogida Sawmynaden, made this statement yesterday at Voila Hotel, Bagatelle, during a seminar on Cyber Incident Management and Essential Services Protection, in the presence of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade, Mr Seetanah Lutchmeenaraidoo, and other personalities. The seminar was organised by the Ministry of Technology, Communication and Innovation in collaboration with the European Union (EU), in the context of the EU Cyber Resilience for Development Project (Cyber 4D). In his address, Minister Sawmynaden highlighted that the Cyber 4D project aims at increasing the security and resilience of critical information infrastructure and networks supporting the critical services of priority countries, including Mauritius, while ensuring compliance with human rights and the rule of law and good governance principles. The project, he pointed out, which started in March 2018 and will run over 42 months, is funded by the EUs Instrument contributing to Stability and Peace. Expected outputs, he stated, are Strengthened Cybersecurity Policy, Strategical, and Coordination Frameworks; Increased Cybersecurity Incidence Response Capabilities; and Fostered Networks of Cyber Expertise and Cooperation. The Minister underscored that the role of Mauritius in the Cyber 4D project will be that of one model cyber resilience country to share its experience and best practice within the region. The unlimited borders of cyber space and emerging technologies, he observed, have provided cyber criminals an unparalleled opportunity to compromise as well as damage a countrys critical infrastructure and one of the global and strategic challenges is how to sustain a safe environment while continuing to expand the benefits of a free and open cyber space. He emphasised that, as Government recognises the serious threats caused by cyber criminals, the National Cyber Security Strategy and the National Cyber Crime Strategy have been developed to address cyber threats, protect the critical infrastructure of the country, and enhance the capabilities of law enforcement to detect, handle and prosecute cyber criminals. The National Cyber Incidence Response Plan has also been drafted by the Ministry and is now in the finalisation stage, he added. For his part, Minister Lutchmeenaraidoo underlined that Mauritius can become a lighthouse for the whole region when it comes to Information and Communication Technology (ICT). He added that Mauritius has the duty to share its knowledge and expertise in ICT with other African countries. The baby survived (TNS) The popularity of telemedicine has soared among Minnesotans in the past decade, with urban dwellers seeking the convenience of routine care online and rural residents videochatting with distant doctors for everything from prescription refills to psychiatric sessions to cancer consults.A first-of-its-kind report used a Minnesota database of health insurance claims and found that the number of telemedicine visits increased sevenfold from 2010 to 2015. The study is part of a special edition of the influential journal Health Affairs that assesses the national impact of telemedicine a broad term to describe billable patient care that isnt provided face to face, including online queries and videoconferencing.[The study] really illustrates the multiple ways that telemedicine is being utilized in the health care system and really starts to get at the question of whats working and whats not, said Jean Abraham, a co-author of the local study and a professor in the University of Minnesota School of Public Health.Most of the increase was in virtual visits by privately insured patients in metro areas, who used online portals such as VirtuWell to receive routine care for sore throats and skin rashes.Such visits accounted for only 20 percent of the 11,113 telemedicine visits in Minnesota in 2010, but 60 percent of the 86,238 visits in 2015.Patients in rural areas used telemedicine more to connect with doctors in other communities either to avoid long drives for routine checkups or to get second opinions from specialists, the data showed.Duluth-based Essentia Health has videoconferencing in every one of its clinics in northern Minnesota. Patients in International Falls, for example, can connect remotely with doctors in seven different specialties, including psychiatry and cardiology.We use it to bring the specialists to the rural environments, said Maureen Ideker, a senior telehealth adviser at Essentia, who helped set up one of the states first programs at Tri-County Hospital in Wadena in 1994. You can share the scarce resources.Essentia also links doctors and pharmacists with patients to taper dosages of opioid painkillers, or help them manage or avoid opioid addictions.Mayo Clinic provides similar specialist support to smaller hospitals, including advice on managing premature births. Dr. Christopher Colby recalled how a hastily arranged video link helped him guide Mankato doctors in 2013 on whether to resuscitate a baby born at the threshold of viability at 22 weeks.The baby survived, he said, adding that the case inspired Mayos formal telemedicine neonatology program.Claims data showed less growth in telemedicine among patients covered by state and federal programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. That could change now, because Medicare has relaxed rules that it would pay for telemedicine only for patients outside metro areas, said Pam Mink, a co-author of the study with the state Health Department.Researchers said they were pleased to find a high number of videoconferencing appointments for psychiatric care. Rural access to mental health specialists has been a problem in Minnesota amid rising depression and suicide rates.Half the telemedicine visits, whether online or via video, were completed by nurse practitioners or physician assistants. However, almost 1 in 5 involved psychiatrists who assessed patients or updated their medication or treatment regimens.Telemedicine may be emerging as an option to overcome some of the geographical barriers [to] specialty care in Greater Minnesota, particularly in the area of mental health, said Jan Malcolm, state health commissioner.Telemedicine accounts for less than 1 percent of all patient care visits, but the local study suggests continued growth. Abraham noted that her research did not assess the effectiveness of virtual vs. in-person visits, just the numbers of them.Technology hasnt improved to the point that a doctor could do a colonoscopy remotely, but better screen resolution and broadband networks have made telemedicine more useful, said Matt Anderson, a senior vice president for the Minnesota Hospital Association.Patients have gained comfort with the distance, he said, recalling one young person saying it would be creepier to see a therapist in person.Individuals are much more accepting and sometimes even eager to get services through virtual mechanisms, Anderson said, than they are face to face.